When We Stop Being Selfish About Jesus and Start Working Together

"What is all this stuff?" someone asked as they attempted to walk into my office. (The photo above was taken before even more supplies arrived...)

"Supplies for personal care packs. We're having a packing party Thursday night," I explained as I looked around the room. The path from the door to the desk was nearly obliterated from the piles of bags and boxes. 

It was a beautiful sight. 

I tripped over a box of soap, stopped long enough to rejoice over the generosity of the body of Christ, and started moving the supplies to the conference room so I could get into my office without breaking a leg. It took one 6 foot table to hold all the bags people at Harrisburg Baptist Church have already assembled. Two more eight foot tables are now covered with supplies, as people continue to bring gifts for Jesus.

Thursday night is the first "personal care pack" packing party. We're gathering supplies and putting them together in plastic storage bags. They'll be distributed to homeless people, to those who've experienced a natural disaster and are temporarily out of their homes, and to people in less developed countries who are in need. The gift bags "buy" an opportunity to share the good news of Jesus with the recipients. 

If your church is doing an outreach and needs personal care bags to distribute, let me know. If you're going on a mission trip and want bags to share, let me know. This isn't just a "Leanna project." It's a body of Christ project. We're all working together to get the job done.

So far, people from churches in Tupelo, Nettleton, Belmont, Starkville, Saltillo and more towns that I can't remember at this moment, have brought supplies. 

Thursday night, we, the body of Christ, will have a light supper and assemble bags. (6/29/17 6:00 pm Global Outreach offices at 74 Kings Highway, Pontotoc - just off Highway 6)

People from all over are coming. Men. Women. Children. Families. If you want to see the body of Christ in action, come and be a part. 

There was a time, not too long ago, when I worked as a "lone ranger" Christian. I had a private ministry that no one really knew about but me and Jesus. I loved it and, in many ways, I miss those sweet days. 

The problem, however, was that Jesus never intended us to be lone rangers. He intended us to work together to get the job done.

Truly, it's not good to be selfish about Jesus, but I was. I wanted people to know Jesus, but I kinda wanted to do all the work myself, because I wanted all the blessings. I know. It's not a very godly mindset. I've repented. 

God's done a major work in me, and I've learned to share the fun. I've embraced the idea of the body of Christ. It's more beautiful than I ever imagined it could be, more love than I thought possible.

It's really hard for me to believe, but, now, I have an "out loud" ministry that invites people to join in, and they do. It's infinitely better. When the body of Christ works together, in the way Christ intended, we demonstrate to ourselves and the world the kind of love Jesus intended. It's the kind of love that draws people to the Christ in us, and it's beautiful.

I hope you'll join us Thursday evening as we work together to accomplish more than any of us could do individually. We'll eat, laugh, pack, and pray. When we're done, we'll have another set of tools with which to share Jesus. What could be better than that?

I hope to see you all Thursday evening. It's not too late to join in the fun. Here's the link for the list of needed supplies: When the Body of Christ Works Together and Has Fun Doing It

(Amazon has supplies in bulk at greatly reduced prices)

Thanks for being a part, body of Christ! 

"I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one... May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love Me...." John 17:20, 21, 23 nlt
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In case you missed it, here's the link to yesterday's post: When the Blood of Jesus is Too Precious to be Treating Casually 

If you feel led to partner with this ministry (US, Jordan, the digital world), here's the link to give your tax-deductible donations: Global Outreach Acct 4841 

Or you can mail your check or money order to: Global Outreach/ PO Box 1, Tupelo MS 38802. Be sure to put Account 4841 in the "for" line.
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