Living as missionaries

Dear Foothill Church Family,

The Apostle Paul wrote to Titus, "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in this present age" (Titus 2.11-12)

One of the ways we cooperate with God's mission to save people is to live "sensibly, righteously and godly in this present age." That means we take a look at "our present age" and live as missionaries. Missionaries are not just people who travel to far away places and wear foreign clothes and try to learn a foreign language. If you're a Christian, you're a missionary. And if you're a missionary then you are constantly looking at "this present age" in order to effectively contextualize and communicate the gospel of Jesus Christ. But what does that look like?

In their book, "Total Church", Steve Timmis and Tim Chester ask people to imagine that they are part of a church planting team in a foreign country and then to answer the following questions:

-What criteria would you use to decide where to live?
-How would you approach secular employment?
-What standard of living would you expect as a pioneer missionary?
-What would you spend your time doing?
-What opportunities to share the gospel would you be looking for?
-What would your prayers be like?
-What activities would you engage in with your new friends?
-What kind of team would you want around you?
-How would you conduct your meetings together?

We would all do well to ask and answer these questions for ourselves and even with our home groups. But we would do even better to act on those answers. God has brought salvation to all men. You and I are called to live it out "in this present age."

If you want to read some other tips on missional living made simple, check out this blog post by Jonathon Dodson. Good stuff.

In the meantime, read 1 John 2 and I'll see you this Sunday.

Grace and peace,



Pastors Shaen & Stephen Answer Common Questions about Diet and Exercise

At Foothill Church we take diet and exercise seriously. We seriously like to eat and seriously walk from our car to the office at least twice each day. Seriously.

And nobody is more serious than Pastor Shaen and Pastor Stephen. So we sat down with these two and asked them some basic questions about how they do it. Their answers were so insightful, we just couldn't keep them to ourselves. What they told us was . . . in a word . . .epic. Read and reap great rewards.

Q: I've heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life. Is this true?

A: Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that's it... don't waste them on exercise. Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your heart will not make you live longer; that's like saying you can extend the life of your car by driving it faster. Want to live longer? Take a nap. 



Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables? 

A: You must grasp logistical efficiencies. What does a cow eat? Hay and corn. And what are these? Vegetables. So a steak is nothing more than an efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system. Need grain? Eat chicken. Beef is also a good source of field grass (green leafy vegetable). And a pork chop can give you 100% of your recommended daily allowance of vegetable products. 



Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?

A: Well, if you have a body and you have fat, your ratio is one to one. If you have two bodies, your ratio is two to one, etc. 



Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?

A: Can't think of a single one, sorry. My philosophy is: No Pain...Good!

Q: Aren't fried foods bad for you? 

A: YOU'RE NOT LISTENING!!! ..... Foods are fried these days in vegetable oil. In fact, they're permeated in it. How could getting more vegetables be bad for you? 



Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle? 

A: Definitely not! When you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. You should only be doing sit-ups if you want a bigger stomach. 



Q: Is chocolate bad for me? 

A: Are you crazy? HELLO Cocoa beans! Another vegetable!!! It's the best feel-good food around! 



Q: Is swimming good for your figure? 

A: If swimming is good for your figure, explain whales to me. 



Q: Is getting in-shape important for my lifestyle? 

A: Hey! 'Round' is a shape!

(Okay, so Shaen and Stephen didn't really say this--although it sounds like something they would say. We just got it from an email and have no idea who the author was. It made us laugh so we decided to share it with you).

My Brother is a Hero

John Piper has written a great book called, "Don't Waste Your Life." Every American Christian should read it. Listen to what he writes in the preface:

The path of God-exalting joy will cost you your life. Jesus said, "Whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it." In other words, it is better to lose your life than to waste it. If you live gladly to make others glad in God, your life will be hard, your risks will be high, and your joy will be full. This is not a book about how to avoid a wounded life, but how to avoid a wasted life. Some of you will die in the service of Christ. That will not be a tragedy. Treasuring life above Christ is a tragedy.

I am the youngest of 5 kids. My brother Brad is the 4th child. For the past 10 or so years he's been a chaplain in the U.S. Army. It's not a glamorous job. He doesn't get to speak to a hundreds or even dozens of happy suburbanites on Sundays. On a good Sunday he's got 10 or 20. Usually it's not more than a dozen. He's been on more than one trip to tell a family that their soldier wasn't coming home.

Twice in the last 10 years Brad has left his wife Tina and their 4 children, Samual, Mason, Wyatt and Olivia to serve the men and women of our Armed Forces in far away locations and usually in harm's way. That doesn't count the numerous times he's had to leave for 2, 3 and 4 months for training or battlefield service unannounced. As a father I can't even imagine what it would be like to miss 2-4 years of my children's lives.

As I write this Brad is serving another year in Afghanistan. If you know Brad he likes to be in the middle of the action. He would hate serving in the safety of some rear post where people fill out forms or push pens in quiet offices. He's a soldier and is called to serve Jesus among soldiers.

Today I got an email from Brad. As his biological brother, it scared me. But as his spiritual brother, it inspired me. Brad is exactly what Piper is talking about. He's not avoiding a wounded life. In his service to Christ, he's avoiding a wasted life.

Today, Brad's alarm went off. Moments later he heard a massive explosion. A suicide bomber had just driven a car laden with explosives into the place the local civilian workers line up to work on base. An announcement followed telling everyone to take cover in a hard shelter. Brad's barracks are in a hard shelter and so he waited. A few moments later the same voice told everyone that the explosion had resulted in numerous casualties and injuries and that the wounded were on their way to the base hospital. That was Brad's cue to suit up and go to the hospital for ministry. That was his cue to disregard the announcement to be safe. He had to go. This is what Christ made him for.

Brad spent the next few hours helping doctors care for the wounded, applying tourniquets and helping in any way he could. That's when the second siren sounded and another voice announced that the enemy was trying to breach the perimeter of the base. The voice told everyone to get to a hard shelter and put on their body armor. Brad eventually complied and I'm happy to say he came away without a scratch on his body.

This is what my brother does. This is what it means for him to serve Christ. He's my hero because he refuses to waste his life by treasuring life, even his own, above Christ.

We all have one life. We all were made for God. "Don't waste it."

I love you Brad.

Your admiring brother,

Chris

Mother's Day at Foothill Church

Good morning,

Gentlemen, this Sunday is Mother's Day.  You have been warned.  For the sake of your marriage and keeping sanity in your home, I suggest you not only do something for your own Mother, but for your children's Mother as well.  I'm just saying.

We have a great Sunday planned for all our mothers.  If you were here on Easter you know how good fun it was to see our Foothill Kids leading us in worship.  They are back for a command performance this Sunday and I hear it's going to be great.  I have no doubt.  In addition, we have a special gifts for all of the ladies.  Guys, this gift doesn't count as your "Mother's Day" gift to your mom or your spouse.  Once again, I'm just saying for the sake of domestic harmony!

It's going to be a great Sunday and I hope you'll bring your moms, grandmas, aunts, etc.

I love you guys and I'm looking forward to being with you again this Sunday.

Grace and peace,