Are You Ready?

During this Advent season, we get ready for the coming of Baby Jesus.  As God provided us the ultimate present in His Son, we too prepare CHRISTmas presents from our hearts.  So Advent is a time of preparing presents to share, but more importantly, it is a time when we are being prepared for Christ.  In Luke chapter 3, verse 3, we hear of John the Baptist preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  You and I can identify with that. We too were baptized. We too were washed out of our sins and into new life with Christ. We too experienced a turning away from sin and a turning toward God. Advent is also a time when we are  reminded  of  being  in  a  constant state of readiness. As we are informed in Matthew 24, Christ will return to us “like a thief in the night”. If you fall aleep at the wheel, there’s bound to be trouble.

     Part of being ready is to be prepared to share the Good News.  Christ gave us that responsibility before ascending into heaven.  So, are you ready to share the Gospel? When  I  ask  that  question, I  get  a  real variety of answers, but they really amount to:  no; not now; not ever; maybe; yes and often a lukewarm yes.  So I ask other questions to clarify, “Are you baptized and partake in communion? Ok, you’ve been refined and are undergoing refinement. This is good. Do you believe that your sins are forgiven?    Do you trust in Christ as Lord and Savior? Is Christ in your life?  If the answers are yes, then, you are ready.  Does it help to attend church services regularly and become involved in the life of a church? Yes. Does it help to know Scripture well? Does it help to get special training in Gospel outreach?  Yes.  But, the bottom line is, you are ready.  

     The excuses? “I didn’t go to seminary.  I’m not equipped to do that.  I need to do more bible study, before I’m ready. I don’t have an outgoing personality. I’m too tired just surviving. I might hurt someone’s feelings.”  These are the same kinds of excuses used by the guy who says, “I’ll go to church when I retire.” Brothers and Sisters—You need not be John the Baptist or Apostle Paul to share the Gospel.

     About 8 years ago, shortly after the founding of CAME, Hmong Missionary Yia Vang and I were invited down to Hickory, North Carolina to meet with a number of Lutheran church leaders in Catawba County.  They were interested in exploring ministry to the large Hmong population there, immigrants from Laos. Although there were some Baptist and Missionary Alliance churches among the Hmong in the area, they were very small groups and about 90% among the Hmong were unchurched in the area.   During the meeting, the time came for the question,  “Are You Ready?”, but no one was asking it, so I asked it, “Are You Ready now to do your Lord’s bidding?  Are You Ready to share the Gospel among these people whom God has sent your way?  

     There were a lot of scared people in the room. There had not been any  new Lutheran mission work or church planting in that county for over 25 years. Not even one Hmong was a member of one of our congregations.  

     The CAME Board and I made a somewhat triumphant return to Hickory in early Advent. We met with missionaries David Vang of the Hickory Hmong Lutheran Mission and Danny Xiong of the Charlotte Hmong Mission, both identified and mentored by CAME missionaries Yia Vang of Wisconsin and Fungchatou Lo of Minnesota.  In addition to leading the first Hmong church plant in Newton, which has its own facilities now, David has also planted a second mission due east in Mount Airy, NC, identified and mentored an additional missionary for that post and is planting another station in Winder, GA.  

     In the mean time, Danny gave up a very good job last year to start planting a station in the Charlotte area and devoting himself to studies at a seminary program for ordination.  He is looking at planting an additional station in downtown Charlotte, looking for larger gathering facilities and interviewing leaders for an apprentice missionary.

    Christ made readyour Brothers and Sisters in Catawba County. From see-mingly nothing, we now have hundreds of newly Baptized and confirmed Hmong, in our midst. From a few volunteers to full-time missionaries serving the Hmong now and hundreds of volunteers deployed to assist, God rendered them ready.    

     My brothers and sisters in Christ – God is so gracious that not only did He send His only Son to die in our stead,  he even sent a Preparer to ready us for His coming.  God is so gracious that He has still not returned for close to 2000 years, giving us every possibility of becoming ready for his return.  We fall asleep during our watch, and yet he wakes our from our slumber to be vigilant.  He even allows us to take part in helping others become ready.  What a joy for us to have the opportunity to be preparers..   

ARE YOU READY?  If not, may the grace of God take root in your heart, through the hearing of His word.  May it be so.  Amen.

And now may the grace of God, which transcends all human understanding, stand guard and keep ready your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus!  Amen..

| Events || Conferences || Articles || Prayers |

If you have any questions or comments feel free to e-mail: office@cameministries.org