BY BISHOP W. EARL BLEDSOE
North Texas Conference
Are you tired and feel worn out by church? If so, you need a mission trip!
That’s what I’ve found to be a reliever of stress and boredom. When you invest your life in the lives of others for the cause of Jesus Christ, something amazing happens in return.
In fact, Jesus said it in Matthew 10:39, “If your first concern is to look after yourself, you’ll never find yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you’ll find both yourself and me.”
I’ve seen so many excited and fulfilled lives in our midst. I believe it is because you are deeply involved and committed to missions outside your congregation. A few Saturdays ago, Leslie and I went into the office to get some reading. There were many individuals from various churches there receiving disaster response training to go into south Texas and Louisiana to help churches and families recover from Hurricane Ike.
This past week we visited the Lovers Lane UMC to see so many of you raising funds to purchase vans for Cameroon and celebrating the ministry of the Rev. Wes and Leah Magruder and their family. There is a force among us that has been doing this work consistently and faithfully for many years – it is the work of the United Methodist Women! Wow! What a work! Leslie and I had the privilege of participating in the installation ceremony of newly elected conference officers of UMW. Their work and support of the Wesley-Rankin Community Center in Dallas, Texas and many other outreach efforts around the world is awesome. UMW is not new to the mission field – mission is their field of work, and they do a remarkable job as a team. At the ceremony, I issued a challenge to all the pastors and district superintendents to join with them in this work. I look forward to visiting all the various places where you are putting the Word of God into action.
In 1999 a member by the name of Carol Post gave me a framed needlepoint quote. I have that quote in my home office to remind me when I get tired and feel worn out. It reads: “Preach the Gospel always, if necessary use words.” Let’s give it all we’ve got for the cause of Christ! We are on a mission!
