5/30/25

Today was my first full day back after the EFM Future Missionary Retreat in Colorado, and we got to meet with two guys from CSUF, *Levi and *Carson, who are meeting with us this summer to grow as disciples of Jesus and to become better equipped in making disciples of Jesus themselves! Today was our first time meeting with both of them together, and it went great! *Carson joined a little bit later than *Levi, but this gave us a great opportunity to address questions that *Levi has had from what he's been reading and thinking on his own! 

*Levi asked a handful of really thoughtful questions regarding other religions and Christianity, and as we addressed them with him, someone who was listening into our conversation walked over to talk with us. He (Micah) was working in one of the stores we were sitting around and couldn't help but stop and talk when he heard our topic of conversation. It turns out that he grew up in Alabama and was out here for work right now. He expressed that he was drawn to our conversation as he grew up in a southern, Christian home and was surprised to find someone talking about Jesus in, "this God-forsaken land". We inquired more about him, and ended up praying for him after he openly confessed of disobedience in his life right now. It was an amazing encounter as we were able to pray specifically over his work relationships, home relationships, romantic relationships, and his desires for a new career in which he can glorify God through creating with his hands as a gun and knife smith! It was such a blessing to pray with him, and even more so that *Levi was able to join us in the normal Christian practice of praying for people!

After Micah went back to his work, we continued our discussion with *Levi and eventually *Carson when he arrived. Among the many great questions that were asked, I was most fascinated by our conversation surrounding the parable of the sower and the seeds found in Mark 4. In his own study, *Levi had read about the seed which had no root and fell away when trials came, but he wasn't sure what the roots were meant to represent. As we talked about it together, he saw that the hard times couldn't be endured without a real relationship with God. We talked about the hardships that we are promised to have as those who follow Jesus and that some people will walk away from Jesus when that happens because they were only there for the good times. This moved us into a very good time of considering what we are willing to sacrifice for our devotion to Jesus - are we willing to give up comfort, easy familial relationships, conflicting romantic relationships (assuming that you aren't married of course), food, pleasure, etc.? I'm very grateful for this conversation with *Levi and *Carson as it presented a time of reflection to consider what type of soil they are and would like to be.

After our meeting with both of them, Nick, Viany, *Carson, and I had lunch together before Viany, *Carson, and I went to CSUF to walk the campus and pray over the students and ministry there. After our prayer walk around campus, the three of us talked for a while and learned more about the way God has been at work in each of our lives in order to draw us to Himself. It was a great time of fellowship, and I look forward to the time we have this summer to meet and do ministry together!

Later in the afternoon, I had a zoom call with a group of young adults that I've been able to meet with once a week, and we discussed some of the purposes of the body of Christ. We discussed the church's role in equipping the saints for the work of ministry and building one another up (Eph 4:11-13) and further explored what that would look like practically lived out. Our conversation shifted slightly through this exploration, and we began talking about the call of the Christian - which I was more than happy to entertain! It was a lively conversation, that cut straight to the heart of the question: are we called to preach the gospel to everyone, or are our good actions enough? If you read my previous blog, then I'm sure you can figure out how I responded; however, there was a unique objection that I addressed using the parable of the sower and the seed, which is why I'm mentioning it now.

There was a statement made which expressed how we shouldn't seek to share the Gospel with everyone because sharing it without consideration might turn them more against God than had we not shared. As we unpacked this concern more, it became clear that the image that they had of "sharing the Gospel" was not actually about the Gospel, but rather subpoints of obedience to Christ - still valuable, but not the main focus. We revisited the Gospel that Jesus preached throughout His ministry, and then came back to the original question: should we share the Gospel with everyone? Again, there was hesitation to say "yes" as some people might not be ready to receive it and we should rather use discernment in who to share it with. While this could seem to be a logical move from some angles, the question is whether or not it's biblical. For this, we went to Mark 4 and the sower and the seeds.

In the parable, there are a number of things that happen that are significant - some are things that the sower does, and some are things the sower does not do. For example, when the sower goes out to sow, he does not only sow on the fertile ground, but also where it was infertile. The sower didn't check the ground before sowing to make sure that it would accept it, but simply sowed the seed on all soils. As we discussed this in regard to the earlier question, it seemed clear that it is not the sower's responsibility to check the responsiveness of the soil and sow accordingly, rather, the sower is responsible for sowing on all soils. This is an uncomfortable interpretation and response to this question as it places more responsibility on us in sharing the word as we can no longer create excuses of non-reception for why we aren't sowing the word. This is not always and easy pill to swallow, but formation isn't always comfortable. Anticipating some pushback, I would like to make it clear that I am not saying that every moment in time is an appropriate time to share the Gospel, but rather that our sowing should not be limited to only those we think will receive it.