I often wonder (tongue-in-cheek) if when Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few,” it was actually a warning about how busy the work could be! I find that serving in this day of harvest is often energizing and wearisome, engaging and overwhelming. Yet I realize that this is the everyday circumstance where I need to be thankful — above all to give God glory, but also for my own sake.

My natural tendency is to focus on problems — which I think I can do something about — more so than blessings, which are manifestations of God’s grace. But “blessing” is the only way I can describe the dual privilege of being on a leading edge of the Great Commission and serving with an incredible team of co-workers and ministry partners.

It’s funny how easily “the amazing” can turn into “the routine.” This occurred to me a while back as I strolled through the GMO office in Orlando. Large LCD monitors show real-time statistics of how God is touching lives around the world through our ministry — numbers so large that I still have a hard time wrapping my mind around them.

Our team is often abuzz with global activity — I can simultaneously observe one co-worker developing a web site in Arabic, overhear someone on the phone in Spanish, and see that yet another is on a Skype video call to a different hemisphere. A couple of our staff might be processing applications from volunteer online missionaries, while another works to program a new feature for our email response system. Even opening my own email inbox can be an adventure in global partnership.

Recently at GMO’s new Silicon Valley studio (which I helped build-out this summer), I recorded our basic evangelism and discipleship videos in Korean. I’m currently working on plans to do this same set, and perhaps even more content, in five or six other languages. It’s truly exciting to be creating content that God can use to change lives. I also receive the joyful blessing of partnering with mission-minded Believers from other cultures and language groups.

When I joined Campus Crusade for Christ nine years ago (as of this summer), part of my call was to engage others in the Great Commission. As I’ve recorded interviews with our online missionaries, I get to see first-hand how our ministry is fostering a passion for global evangelism and discipleship in other Believers.

Finally, I’m thankful for the partners that God uses to financially support my ministry. Ever week or so, I will download a list of recent gifts — tangible reminders of the vision and mission I share with committed individuals and churches. It is truly an honor to be involved, and to involve others, in a movement that I see God using in a significant way to complete the Great Commission.

Most people might look at Sarah and think she has every excuse to be focused on the challenges of getting through everyday life. But in reality, she is a person who is sharing her heart and love for Jesus with people around the world.  To quote one of my co-workers, “She can’t even feed herself… but she is giving people around the world the Bread of Life.”  In addition, Sarah also serves as a “community leader” and helps other volunteers in responding to emails from spiritual seekers and new Christians.

I produced a short video about Sarah. I hope that you will be encouraged and challenged by her story. If you have not yet considered becoming an online missionary for GMO, I would encourage you to consider applying at www.gmojoinus.com — you can touch people for eternity by spending a few minutes each day answering emails from seekers and new believers.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The 2009 project was good but had a lot of those challenges that you hope — with faith — can be lessons for the future. As the time got closer, I found myself wishing this would just go away. While I hoped someone or some factor would make the decision for me, that didn’t happen. And I couldn’t find peace in letting it go — so, here I am, back in California for the summer!

We have three students working as interns for six weeks in GMO’s Silicon Valley office. Alex C. goes to Marshall University and majors in radio and television; he’ll be working on several video projects and helping us setup a new studio for GMO. Phillip studies software engineering at the Rochester Institute for Technology. Alex H. and majors in computer engineering at Purdue. He and Phillip will be working on several strategic technology projects this summer.

A key difference this summer is that my close friend and co-worker, Jeff, is helping me lead the project, handling several details and spiritual development. Also joining us from Orlando are Justin (one of our programmers) and his wife Kristina (who works with me on video projects). Shortly before we arrived, our Silicon Valley team moved into an awesome new office space that made it easier to accommodate this influx of staff and interns.

Our goal is to help them these guys grow spiritually, professionally, and personally. We want them to see how God can use their specific skills and talents in building His Kingdom. Each of them has trusted God to provide their financial support for the summer. As I write this, we’re a week and a half into the project and I’m truly grateful by the good relationships we’ve developed. I’m also encouraged to see how they have dove into the mission of GMO.

Please take a moment and pray that God will continue to work in and through each of these young men this summer. GMO recorded over 1.5 million indicated decisions in May, and answered 218,949 email contacts — and yet we’re only a fraction of what God is doing worldwide every day. Jesus told us to pray for more laborers to join the harvest, and that’s what this summer is all about.

I shot this video in late March and just completed the final editing. I wish I could have included all that Angie had to share… she has such a wonderful heart for the Lord. Involving people like her in the work of building God’s Kingdom is such a joyful part of working with GMO.

Click here to view the embedded video.

“Faith” is simple word that is difficult to adequately define. It describes the beliefs and convictions that guide our attitude and actions; what I do says more about my faith than what I say. And Biblical truths of what it means to have and apply faith are often repeated as well-meant but shallow, inept clichés. Encouraging someone they need to have “faith the size of a mustard seed” is easy; living it out is a whole different matter.

The familiar words of Hebrews 11:1 define faith as “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. ”  Like the faith heroes of the Bible, we look with hope towards a God who has both kept His promises and still has promises to keep. As followers of Christ, we can understand every problem, every circumstance, and every decision as part of the story unfolding between two bookend events: Christ’s resurrection and Christ’s triumph as King. We live as aliens and strangers in this world, knowing that what we cannot yet see — the Kingdom of God — is far more real than anything we do see.

I am increasingly convinced of the connection between faith, joy, and glory. Faith is simply taking God at His word, trusting in His nature and promises, and turning that truth into actions. Radical faith comes when we take this to the extreme, laying aside sin, doubt, worldly perspectives, and whatever else gets in our way. Faith is how God has chosen to reveal His glory in and through us. Our true and lasting joy comes when God shows up, when He comes through for us. Why should we not want anything less radical quantities of faith, joy, and glory? A faith that is not radical is a faith with unrealized potential.

I doubt that anyone just wakes up one morning and decides “I’m going to become a radical.” Rather, it’s a series of steps, big and small, that lead to radicalism (whether for good or for evil). By any definition, Jesus was a radical; he defied the norms of his contemporaries. So if we are called to follow Jesus’ example of total dependance on God, then we to are called to be radical. Yet if anything is clear from scripture, is that God doesn’t just “zap” us with radical faith; rather, He develops it through a messy, difficult, and often confusing process.

I’ve found myself wondering how many aspects of my life are defined by “radical faith.” It seems like there should be some — after all, I am a missionary! God has shown me that, by His grace, He’s already covered the landscape of my life with situations where I’m going to be in deep trouble apart from Him. Yet I find myself both yearning and somewhat nervous to have God develop in me an ever more radical faith.

Steve Douglass, the president of Campus Crusade for Christ, worked with Crusade staff and students at a local university to develop a Bible study series called Essentials of Spiritual Growth and Multiplication. The basic idea is to help believers understand, apply, and then share core spiritual principles. A while back, my co-worker Mike and I took on the task of turning this material into online courses (“e-learning”) to disciple new believers.

Since this is a discussion-based study, we decided that the best way to adapt it for online use would be to film a “scripted Bible study.” The person taking the course becomes a “virtual” member of the group, answering questions and responding to the discussion. But we had a big problem: we didn’t have the resources or people needed to make this idea possible.

After joining our team last Fall, Kristina began looking at options and found a studio that we could rent at a reasonable rate. And last January, she ?organized GMO’s first-ever “casting call,” asking local Christian actors to come and audition. Mike finalized the scripts he had written, and I began looking for equipment we could borrow.

Driving home weary after the first of our two production days, it struck me how this was an ?incredible example of God’s Kingdom in action. Our five actors and four additional crew members gladly gave of their time and energy to be part of this effort. The studio time and equipment was paid for by the gifts of many donors to GMO and the other ministries that loaned equipment. And, of course, I was there because of the commitment of my ministry partners. God masterfully coordinated the gifts and talents of many believers so that we might impact others — many of whom we will never meet this side of heaven.

There is still work to do to for the four lessons we’re creating, and if this pilot is successful there are 20 additional segments of the Essentials series that can be developed. If if so, it will be awesome to see how God will bring all the pieces together again.

The Psalms, of course, are referring to the commands and laws God gave to Abraham and Moses. This is the foundation upon which Jesus gives His own commands; He said, “I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose.” [Matt. 5:17] Jesus’ death and resurrection fulfilled, once and for all time, the requirements of the Law. But while the Old Testament laws are the “do’s and don’ts” of pleasing God, Jesus’ commands pointed to something even greater. In word and deed, Jesus’ commands reveal His worldview or paradigm — the reality of heaven itself.  In Jesus this reality becomes accessible to mankind: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” [John 14:6]

Jesus’ reality stands in sharp contrast to the reality of earth. “Love the Lord your God … Love your neighbor as yourself.”  “If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.” “Whoever wants to be first must take last place and be the servant of everyone else.” If I wanted to list all of Jesus’ commands, I could simply copy and paste large chunks of the Gospels into this letter. But the point is, Jesus isn’t talking about “doing things better” — He’s talking about doing things completely differently, old nature replaced by new nature. It’s an existence so different that it can only come when one reality gives way to another.

The foundation of Jesus’ reality is His relationship with the Father. The reality of His followers is established by relationship with Jesus and, through Him, the Father. John 15:1-17 is the familiar “vine and the branches” passage where Jesus tells His followers to “abide” or “remain” in Him, in His love, just as He does with the Father. Without this connection, none of Jesus’ commands make any sense, do any good, or are even worth attempting. “Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” [15:5]  How do we do this? Jesus says in verse 10, “When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.” It’s a cycle: we remain in relationship with Jesus by following His commands, which we can only do… if we remain in Him.

Jesus’ commands are not a new 10-point moral code tacked onto the old one. Nor did Jesus give us a formula for following Him and getting God’s blessing. His commands describe the reality God originally intended for us that was then marred by sin. Commands that are not designed to restrict us, but to free us — and bring us the joy for which we were created. Jesus said, “I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!” [John 15:11] Right back to what it says in Psalms — and so much more.

Let’s be honest: there’s something about “obedience” that doesn’t sound like fun — nor does it seem like “good marketing” for our cause. At least on the surface. We are called to live and proclaim God’s reality — an eternal kingdom of joyful relationship — which is far better and desirable than the sin-warped reality into which we’re born. The invitation to follow Jesus is an invitation to enter into His reality. The Great Commission mandate of “teaching them to obey everything I’ve commanded” is about helping others enter and mature in Jesus’ reality; His priorities, perceptions, power, and practices becoming those of His followers.

As I journey with God, He is continually changing the way I think so that in my heart and mind the world’s reality is ever more replaced with Jesus’ reality. In the face of any circumstance or difficulty — from economic jitters to literal earthquakes, personal challenges to future worries — I can choose to define things in terms of Jesus’ reality instead of mine or anyone else’s. In Jesus’ reality, I can say confidently, “With God, all things are possible.” I can regard “the least of these” as truly worthy and valuable.  I can trust “that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God.” And I can celebrate that “nothing can ever separate us from God’s love” — nothing can ever cut me off from Jesus’ reality. [Rom. 12:12; Matt. 19:26, 25:40-45; Rom. 8:28, 8:38]

People worldwide are searching for hope, for meaning… for a different reality. Last year, the Lord allowed Global Media Outreach to tell 67 million people how to enter His reality through faith in Jesus Christ. And 10,502,641people indicated their decision to trust Christ for the first time or renew their commitment. We don’t know what kind of “soil” all these people are — only that they were searching and responding. Yet many of the 1,943,585 people who contacted us by email certainly need to learn the joy and fulfillment of obeying all that Christ commanded.

I can only be truly passionate about that which I’ve truly experienced. The more I know and experience Jesus’ reality, the greater my motivation to tell others about it as well. I trust the same is true for you. Thanks for being part of my mission to help others discover and grow in Jesus’ reality.

From their homes, offices, or internet cafes (especially in other countries), these volunteers are an indispensable resource for Global Media Outreach. In many cases, someone will simply contact us to request follow-up after making a decision to follow Christ. This is an opportunity for one of volunteers to personally pray for him or her, point to some of our online follow-up tools, and offer to answer any questions. Other times, though, someone may contact us with a specific spiritual need — personal tragedies, family difficulties, or other emotional or spiritual issues.

In the last year, the number of emails received by GMO has doubled, to over 200,000 each month. Yet the number of volunteers, currently about 3,700 worldwide, has not kept pace. This is why our ministry is urgently trusting God to help us expand to 10,000 online missionaries in the next several months. While we need many more English-speaking volunteers, other language groups — especially Spanish — have even more urgent needs.

Part of this need can be met by telling more and more individuals about our ministry. But the greater growth will likely come through our increasing number of partnerships with churches in the US and beyond. Many churches already offer short-term international mission trips. By partnering with GMO, churches can give their members an international ministry opportunity everyday — including those who would otherwise be unable to travel.

I’ve recorded video interviews with several of our online missionaries, including my recent trip to Brazil. It’s exciting to hear how a person’s faith and vision for global missions expands through their involvement in GMO. This is a great opportunity for any believer to be actively involved in helping to fulfill the Great Commission.

This post comes with a challenge (maybe you saw this coming): have you considered becoming an online missionary with GMO? In just a few minutes a day, you can help people you’ve never met — in places you may never visit — grow closer to God. What about your church? There are people all around you on Sunday morning who would be thrilled to become more involved in God’s work.

To get started as an online missionary, just go to www.GMOjoinus.com and click “volunteer.” Be prepared to provide one spiritual reference and briefly describe how you became a Christian. And if you do sign up, please let me know — I would be excited to know you are involved! I would also welcome the opportunity to talk to you, your pastor, or missions committee about partnering with GMO.

My trip to Brazil had two purposes. The first was to produce GMO’s basic evangelism and discipleship web video content in Brazilian Portuguese. The other purpose was to record several interviews and gather other footage to create a video documenting the model that has emerged with GMO’s partnership in Brazil. We would like to launch similar partnership in other countries.

The GMO Brazil story began in 2006 when some former missionaries, Brad and Victoria Myers, learned about GMO through their church in California. They realized the potential for this ministry in Brazil, a country where internet access is increasingly common. They then asked our leadership if they could help facilitate training and recruiting volunteer online missionaries in Brazil.

Brad and Victoria went to Brazil and presented the GMO vision and strategy to their friend, Pastor Marcos, and others in Campinas. The pastor’s church, Igreja Baptista El Shaddai, provided a small office space and some funds to help get things started. One of the church’s members, Paulo, began the task of translating GMO’s email response system and training materials into Portuguese. Paulo is now one of our “super volunteers” and helping GMO recruit online missionaries in other Latin American countries.

See more photos from Brazil!

God’s supernatural blessing, working through the commitment of our partners, has transformed a handful of volunteers into a movement of over 500 online missionaries spread across Brazil. In addition to their own country, these believers are having a global impact by responding to Portuguese-speaking people around the world: Portugal, Angola, the United States, and many other places.

From the start, the GMO Brazil partnership has included several other pastors and churches. Today, over 100 churches from multiple denominations have joined the effort: Baptist, Nazarene, Presbyterian, Assemblies of God, Foursquare, and more. Besides involving their members in global ministry, this provides a natural and solid link for those being reached online in Brazil to connect with a local church — a key goal of our ministry.

Victoria Myers met up with me in Brazil and helped organize a celebration for GMO Brazil. (She also helped interpret both the language and culture for me.) On Saturday, September 26, one hundred twenty people gathered at a hotel in Campinas to celebrate what God had done through this ministry partnership. Some flew in from 1000 kilometers away, while others drove 5 or 6 hours to be there.

It’s impossible to put into words the great  joy and blessing it was for me to be with them — to witness the spiritual kinship and unity of purpose they shared with other GMO partners in the US and around the world. With my friend Paulo as the interpreter, I had the privilege of telling the group about some of GMO’s future plans and announce some new web sites being launched in Portuguese.

Even though I had practiced with some with Spanish-speaking volunteers in Orlando, doing interviews in Portuguese was quite intense. I would ask a question, which was then interpreted, the interviewee would respond, and then I would get a quick interpretation of what he or she said. But I ended up with some great material from Pastor Marcos, Paulo, three other pastors involved with GMO, several of our online missionaries… and a couple who came to Christ through one of our web sites!

Since I also needed to capture some other footage of Brazil, I spent a day shooting in São Paulo — it’s the fourth largest city in the world and, of course, has some world-class traffic jams! I was accompanied by my interpreter and two men from Pastor Marco’s church as my guides and security guards. Even though I saw just a sliver, I was struck by the tremendous diversity of people in this city of 20 million — there’s even a “Japan-town.”

I was able to master a few basic words and phrases in Portuguese. And, of course, I had to sample some of the local cuisine… including a “Brazilian hot dog” which is hard to describe, and was kind of tasty (but later required several tablets of antacid). You can see a photo of this “delicacy” and other pictures on my web site.

I’m so thankful for the opportunity to spend time with our GMO partners in Brazil. I was blessed by Pastor Marcos’ heart for reaching his city and, through GMO, the world. The members of his church gave me a very warm welcome and it was a unique pleasure to fellowship with them. I’m humbled to be part of a ministry that is involving so many other committed believers around the world in fulfilling the Great Commission. And I’m all the more thankful for my own team of partners who make my ministry possible.

On my last night in Brazil, many of my new friends asked when I would be coming back. I simply replied, “When God allows” — which I truly hope will be sometime soon!