Are you following his commandment?

 

 

 Who can be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ?

 

 

Let's see if I remember how to do this. Writing has never been my thing, but I enjoy trying. So, I ask forgiveness for any mistakes my wife does not catch.

 

I have been really getting to know a lot of new faces. Some campers and some Christians that have joined us. As I meet new Christians, I wonder what there intentions are. Are they feel gooders or are they really the hands and feet? I will be honest, I have seen both in over five years of serving the homeless. I believe there are too many in our world doing acts of kindness rather than actually spreading the gospel as we are commanded. What do I mean by this?

 

Let's look back at the very beginning. We all know the story of Adam and Eve. C'mon you know it. The first man and woman. God takes a rib from the first man and makes a woman. Lesson one, never fall asleep, ok just kidding. God can take whatever he wants. One simple rule: don't eat from this special tree. Okay, we are talking about the Garden of Eden. The very name makes you think of the most amazing place, so you know there are fruits all over the place. Granted they didn't have caution tape or barricades to block them from this tree. In this story Eve listens to a serpent. Let's think about it, listen to a God that created you or this slimy serpent that most likely has not even been named yet. I'm not speaking for everyone, but I would go with obeying a God that created you. Hello, you were just created by dirt and up to this point you're perfect. You had just one law to obey. Now, this is unlike today. When my wife says don't eat the cookies I just made, I am going to have three before she catches me and maybe two if I am fast enough. Now if God said stay away from this tree, I will stay away from this tree. What I am getting at is this: the world we live in and all the problems were because Adam and Eve could not stay away from this one tree. That, in my opinion is not that hard. I would not care if a serpent said I would become God of Gods. I am a walking pile of dirt, so God if your going to tell me something, I'm going to listen. Are you?

 

 Christ, while on earth, did some wonderful things. Point proven he was the Messiah. Sorry to tell you my Muslim friends. Your can make a trip to look at this little rock that fell from the sky.  You can call it the Mecca, but keep in mind- this spiritual walk from Allah that is supposed to change your life might be messed up. Why? Because there is a stand 200 yards from the Giant Rubik's cube looking thing that holds this rock that sells, "I went to the Mecca and all I brought back is this t-shirt." There is something wrong with that. However, Jesus raised the dead and made meals for thousands. Jesus took the time to teach children. He was so humble he washed his disciples feet. Jesus displayed God's love and forgiveness. I know the question pops up why didn't he forgive the first couple? Well I do not have the patience for that answer. But, if you want email me and I will give you Pastor Ben's phone number. So, once again, our Lord Jesus Christ said go and make disciples. He did not say you have to go to a country and crash on the dirt ground and preach to people that have no clue what you are saying. I believe that spreading the gospel happens in this order: Get good with God yourself, then your family, then your neighbors and you go wherever you can in order to preach the gospel. So, he did not tell us not to eat from a tree, that mistake was already made. He commanded us to spread the word of Christ. Are you going to do this? I will speak for my family and the answer is yes. As for me and my house, we are here to serve you Lord. No questions asked.

 

 

 

 So, where do you begin? Well, my wife and I made a decision to start our kids young. They have been part of everything we do in our ministry. When we serve, they do. When they are asked to pray, they have a choice. They know who Christ is and they know what our Lord has asked of us. Some families give the option to serve or not. I know there will come a day when they will choose to serve or not.  I know I will, with the help of the woman that has my rib, (aka my wife) continue to teach our kids what one commandment we are to follow.

 

 

 

 

If you are doing it, are you doing it to out of acts of mercy or are you spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ? There really is a difference. What do you think about when you are serving the homeless. Do you judge them? If you have never served the homeless what do you think of when that word is mentioned?  I had someone say they are a bunch of thieves and low lives. Ignore them and they will go away. I am here to tell you are wrong if you think that. You want an example? I went fishing last year with a man who runs a ministry. During that fishing trip, he told me a lot. He talked about his dad that played for a local college team and how he was really not such a nice guy, which carried over to how he treats his son now. He felt regret about that and we talked about it for awhile. Then he went on and bragged about committing fraud from his home owners insurance on missing fishing gear. Not nickles and dimes, but thousands of dollars. Then he went on to say he got away with it twice in a couple months time. All he could do is laugh about it. The next day, I was out serving with this man, when he told a couple of guys they were in trouble because they stole some food from a local grocery store. This brother went on and on about how they should be in jail and they have whatever they have coming to them. The whole truth is these two guys were trying to feed their wives. Not stock up more fishing gear and they were not abusing their sons. They were not pretending to serve our Lord. They were real.  They didn't lie  and when they were in our prayer circle one of them had tears in their eyes and they gave their wife a huge hug. That little time we had with them by following Jesus commandment gave them a little hope. That little hope grew and now they are off the streets and they have jobs. As for the brother I mentioned, I pray for him.  So you can follow Jesus commandment and spread the gospel or you can pretend. But, here's the secret. Keep this in mind, because this secret is a game changer. Ready? Christ knows!!

He is like Santa, he has a naughty or nice list. The present he offers- it is way better than any chubby man with a red bag can give you. Are you following His commandment?

 

I know this is a long blog. And you can shut it off. The to be continued button is controlled by you. But, I want to address a couple more things.

 

I have been asked by several, because I don't attend church am I a Christian? I cannot answer that. I have my views and I might be wrong, but this is my families blog so you get my opinion. Over the last year, we have been through the ringer. With changes in our ministry and me having to shut my mouth about what really happened because I want to be the better man. With financial problems, family disagreements and my friends going through things that I cannot help with except for prayer, I have found several Angels. They don't go to church for health reasons, some do go to church just not a lot. However, they have always been there when I was down. When I was ready to close shop and shut the ministry down.  They would call  me up and it was like lightning striking me. It was a Godly energy boost that I believe they were sent to me to be in my life to keep me focused. Because of them and my team of true fellow disciples, I have seen the most wonderful events ever with our ministry. So, when we say, we are on the front lines of Christ's Army, these people are the secret service acting on behalf of Christ. They are behind the scenes and pushing me to be a better Christian and I am blessed for that. They are doing Christ's work and I believe that with everything in me.

Once again I will ask, "Are YOU doing what you are commanded to do? Are you serving our Lord by teaching the words of Christ?"

 

I want to thank our fellow team members. I know I have said it in the past, but we really do have the best team ever. I know we will be adding more to the team. But Shawn and Nicole you bring a freshness to the team.  You both trust the Lord and when we go out looking for camps it was fun. I don't know how searching for homeless is to be fun, but I laughed and felt the Holy Spirit directing our steps.

Ward and Lisa. Ward you have become a mentor. You have been a true friend.  If it wasn't for you and your wife, I am not sure we would have survived what we went through.  

I believe and have always believed we have become a family. One that I pray will follow us for eternity.

 

 A special thanks to everyone for all your work with "The Invitation." Sandy and John McKenna, Mike and Teri Richardson, The LOS family for making an event that had such an impact on not just campers, but on everyone that served at this fantastic event. You all are remarkable. The way the churches came together and worked on this event. It was the way I believe Christ had in mind when he talked about the church. He never put a specific name on that church.  All of  the churches coming together and serving one God. Thank you from our family.

God Bless,

Michael "Bubba" Hogan