Still Proclaiming!

    Hey, friends! Jennifer Devlin again. For this second post of the week, I'm switching hats from a "board" post to a "speaker" post. Bear with me; I'd like to continue the thought I started earlier this week. Let's think about our drive to proclaim the gospel -- now in our speaking rather than our writing.

     I included this specific photo because it reminds me of a wonderful opportunity I had to speak to a group of believers. We spent the weekend encouraging, teaching, training and discipling. We shared meals, Scripture, prayers and hearts. We experienced a bigger sense of God's family. And, the team I took with me got to see a glimpse into the power of selfless ministry not experienced every day here in fast paced lives we lead.

     See, this was taken on a short-term mission trip. We were a team of gringos pouring into the lives of some amazing Ecuadorians. We didn't get paid for our stint in country or for our superstar presence on a stage. In fact, we saved up and paid out of our own pockets for the opportunity to share our hearts with a people Jesus loves dearly. The group couldn't care who is on our best seller list back home, and they didn't insist on the infamous conference speakers. They just wanted someone who loves Jesus. And we answered the call.

     Why bring this up? Well, if we go back to Acts 4:20, we are called to be a people so passionately sold-out to Jesus that we can't not share the gospel. As speakers, then, we are called to go wherever God tells us to go, and to share the message He has placed on our hearts, whether the crowd pays our set fees, and even if they couldn't care less if we had a book in print or ever stepped onto a stage. On the surface you might think, "well, yeah, of course I'd go speak for free." But think about it. In this age of agents, booking agencies, contracts and fine print, is it still easy for us to listen to the whisper of God over the clamor of the industry? To me, the greater choice is to be open to God's leading, even in the midst of our professional, platform-ladened lives.

     I believe these moments of true obedience to the Lord bring forth greater blessing than any paycheck we could receive, or Amazon feedback someone might write. See, Acts 4:20 people don't focus on the result of the work. The results are left to God. They just know they couldn't make it a day; not even a minute, without sharing why and how Jesus has rocked their world.

Comments

[Curt Iles]

A neat post. I'm a fellow author who travels to Africa. While there I listen, learn, speak, and share. I also give my books away. It is a part of my writing influence as seen through the lens of Acts 1:8

[Stephanie Shott]

Hi Jennifer,
I'm so amazed at the grace of God to lead me to this post today. I'm a speaker/missionary girl who just returned from our annual Ignite Pastors' Conf. that we hold in Costa Rica and I've been struggling with whether or not I need to seek out an agent for my next book.

My first one hits the shelves mid-summer next year (a Bible study entitled, Ecclesiastes: Understanding What Matters Most) and there's so much to this world of writing and publishing that it has me in a tail-spin.

All this talk about marketing, internet presence and having a platform has really made it difficult for me to not get caught up in promoting my book, when all I really want to do is to make Jesus known through any and all means possible.

I currently speak for free and for love offerings. I'm not sure I could or would ever change that way of filling speaking engagements. Your post has encouraged me to keep the main thing the main thing. I think I'll cut and paste it and pull it out anytime I get off track! :-)

[Jeanne Dennis]

Jennifer,

Great post. You echo my heart's cry since I experienced what 's it's like to follow God's call and go.