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I wanted to follow-up on my visit to Lamar, CO, yesterday, and how better than in the words of my host, Pastor Darren Stroh of First Baptist.

I attended the Day of Prayer event today in town.  Pastor Kristina, the organizer, and I were the only in-town pastors that showed up.  And the organizer, frustrated that only 11 showed up looked at us and said, “How about we just have the pastors pray today.”  I was reminded of your analogy of whether we are called to be trade schools or general contractors.  I politely suggested that God hears the prayers of all, whether they are polished or not.  In fact, he oftentimes listens closer to the unpolished, heartfelt prayer than the Pharisees.  Everyone got to pray.

Afterwards, I encouraged him telling him that to focus on who wasn’t there wasn’t helpful for him.  “You cannot reach the world from where you are not.”  He asked me where I got that.  I smiled and said, “The training yesterday that you were invited to but missed.”  

All that to say that your words impacted Lamar the day afterwards and from that point forward.  Thank you for being the messenger of God in our midst.  

The day went well, including safe travel 3 hours each way through wide-open country. The first gas station I saw after leaving my house was at the 150-mile point, 35 miles from Lamar!

I opened by asking them, “If one person came to you wanting to grow in their Christian walk, what would you do?” I challenged them to invest in people intentionally, reaching the world “from Lamar.” I shared “as your servant was busy here and there, he was gone,” from 1 Kings 20.40. Don’t be so busy being busy that you forget what God told you to do in Ephesians 4.11, 12:

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.