Follow Up

As i have been reading this book some like to call the Bible, God has blessed me with insight and humbling thoughts.  Some things i read and take strait to heart, and others i mull over a little bit and then apply them to my life.  But recently i have been reading 2 Kings and today something jumped out at me.

If you have ever read the 2/3 of 1 King and pretty much all of 2 Kings you may have realized two very frequent phrases as it talks about all the Kings that reigned in Israel and in Judah.  The more frequent phrase being " And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord," and the second less frequented phrase is "And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord."

I find it quite interesting that as the Bible talks about most all of the Kings it says that they did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.  For the life of me i can't comprehend why.  I mean some of these kings even sacrificed their own children, they "passed them through the fire."  And then it will mention another King and say that they did what was right in the sight of the Lord.  Every time i get to where that phrase is said i get giddy with anticipation because i love seeing the Kings do what is right in the sight of the Lord.  I love seeing how they are blessed.  But the said truth about it is, is that i have read 21 chapters in 2 Kings and only one time... 1 time out of all the other 20 plus kings, does it mention a king that took down all the other places of worship of the other Gods.  Time and time again it mentioned that kings did what was right in the sight of the Lord but they did not devote to destruction all the things of the other God's.  Only one man thus far has done it, but as his son succeeded him, he put back all those places of worship and built other things to God's and went the complete opposite way of his father.

So this morning as i was reading i thought of these scriptures and the thing that came into my mind was that there was no follow up between the kings that did what was right and the kings that did what was wrong.  It never specifically mentions that the kings that did what was right, did or did not raise their sons in their ways, but you have to wonder if the "good kings" ever discipled or taught their son's the Law of Moses that God gave him.  You have to wonder why their son's turned their back on God.  You have to wonder why did this all happen.

For me, I apply this to missions, and where we are in Alaska.  As i have talked to some of my friends on this team the thought of follow up and making sure we don't just leave these people with any plan or any people who can teach them, is a concern of ours.  As we do all of our events we mention that they need to get involved in a church and a community that they can grow and learn about God in.  We want this community in Anchorage to explode for God and praise his name... but if we just leave, they will do what is evil in the sight of the Lord.

I am not saying God cant change them without us here or if they don't go to church, but all these references in 1 and 2 Kings makes you think, what is going to happen if we leave with no follow up ministry.  Our huge desire is to get the churches to disciple these new believers.  Another desire is that we get specific people from these congregations to help us do this ministry why we are still here so the kids and adults have familiar faces to see and recognize because the truth of this all is by August 31 all of the team i have been working with is leaving.  The truth of this all is, the people that the community has seen working week in and week out with them for over 2 months are leaving. 

I want this community to do what is right in the sight of the Lord, i want them to follow and be disciples of Jesus.  I want these people to grow together, but one thing i have noticed from doing ministry and even reading these scriptures, is that with no follow up and no focus on these individuals, no matter how much WE (our team) did what was right in the sight of the lord, this community of Anchorage that we have reached, with no follow up and with no discipling can and will do what is evil in the sight of the Lord.

The shame of this all is, is i have realized that i have done mission trips before and even gone back to communities where i had previously been and it seems that some people have reverted back to their old ways.  I have been on mission trips before and have seen some where there was no follow up information gathered, or maybe it was overlooked, but still how can we let these new believers make such an amazing decision and give them no way to grow and learn about Christ.

God has been teaching me about community and it is something that i want to grow in with those that are around me, whether friends already or not.  Non the less, i desire to grow with those around me.  I have been reading some amazing things on community and i desire with everything in me that God has put them deep within me and my heart so as i travel around and do mission trips, I help community grow, I help disciple others, and I myself am changed for the better by those around me.

It's just funny to think that we all eventually leave where we are at in one way or another, but are we growing a community around us that when we are gone, will still follow after Christ.