Which of the following are similar to the ways you've served Christ in your family? [check all that apply]
• Taught your kids to see God's glory in nature
• Washed the dishes without being asked
• Played a board game with your kids
• Encouraged your wife to finish her master's degree
• Attended a child's open house at school
• Worked fewer hours to be with your family
• Set an example of a godly prayer life for your children
• Held a crying child
• Swung on the tire swing with your daughter
• Told your wife why you're still in love with her
• Told your son he's got what it takes
• Coached soccer
• Let you child correct you now and then
• Fixed the vacuum cleaner
• Taught your sons to ride a bike
• Listened patiently to a complaint of your wife
• Taped your child's artwork to your office wall
• Admitted to your kids that you were wrong
• Told your children how Christ entered your life
• Cleaned up vomit
• Taught your children to love books
• Been romantic without expecting sex
• Told your daughter she's smart/beautiful
• Set standards for your kids and stuck to them
• Dealt graciously with a busybody neighbor
• Peeled carrots
• Watched movies together
Ground Forces Theme of the Week: Plugging the Hero Gap Tuesday, December 17, 2002
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November/December 200256Ground ForcesTheme of the Week: Plugging the Hero Gap Ground Forces Theme of the Week: Plugging the Hero Gap Tuesday, December 17
Key Bible Verse: How can they hear about him unless someone tells them? (Romans 10:14). Bonus Reading:Romans 10:9–15
Earlier this year, Pentagon brass told a surprised public that air power alone couldn't win the war in Afghanistan. Since Desert Storm, we'd supposed we could bomb our way to victory unscathed. But the Taliban tide turned only after American soldiers put their feet on the Afghan desert. Nobody wins a war without getting up close and personal.
Ditto for missionary service. The church of Jesus Christ can't advance while we merely hover over the territory with our distance ministries. Eventually, somebody has to move into the culture and do the in-your-face work of incarnational ministry.
That doesn't play well in many congregations. We like zooming in and back out. Like laser-guided bombing runs, it is high on adrenaline and adventure. Nothing wrong with that. We need the contribution of short-termers, researchers, and prayers. But we mustn't entertain the misguided notion that long-distance alone will do the job.
The trouble is, between 1992 and 96, short-term missionary trips of two weeks to one year grew by 63 percent, those of one to four years increased by 28 percent, while long-term missionary efforts gained 1 percent.
—Gary Brumbelow in World Pulse
My Response: Have I endorsed a remote-control war?
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