What’s on your bucket list?  Sky-diving?  International travel?  Learning a foreign language?  It seems we all have at least one more thing we want to do before our time on earth is over.  Some of us purposefully have a long list, somehow hoping it’ll keep us here a bit longer.  We try to push death off as long as possible, fearing this final enemy.

But not Paul.  He wasn’t morbid, but was fully aware of his own mortality as he wrote, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body” (Philippians 1:21-24).  Here’s Paul saying, “I’m chained and imprisoned.  I’ve watched other people who believe in God be brutally murdered for their faith and I know the same might happen to me.  In fact, I would even welcome death because then I get to be with my best friend, Jesus.  But, if I die, I won’t be here anymore.  I won’t be able to continue in my hard work of telling as many people as I can about the freedom found in Christ.”

It’s a bucket list that makes me reevaluate mine.  In fact, it causes me to look at all of my priorities again.  Do I show such eagerness to live for Christ?  Am I excited to face suffering, abuse and hardship for the sake of glorifying God?  Or do I profess a faith in God that will only remain steadfast as long as He amply provides for me and protects me from all harms? 

Maybe its time we start to live like we’re dying.

Is it possible to spread the gospel message without fear?

For the majority of my life I would have answered that with a big fat NO. I approached spreading the gospel, well not even spreading, just uttering a peep that I was a Christian, with fear and trembling. Wearing the occasional cross necklace and posting a KLOVE bumper sticker on my car were my witnessing tools.

But now it’s different. I don’t know if times are changing, or if the change has happened in me. Maybe a little of both. I sense an urgency like never before to not only make sure my life is in order spiritually, but deep concern for those close to me who don’t walk intimately with the Lord.

My 20 Year High School Reunion is next month. I’ve had the opportunity to serve on the planning committee for this event, and in so doing have had the chance to connect with many old (and I use that word loosely) friends. Something funny happens when you grow up and remove the masks of high school. You find realness. When it came time for me to complete my bio sheet for the memory book that will be given to all my classmates at the reunion, I found that I suddenly had a boldness that was never there before. I actually wrote about my relationship with the Lord in my bio.

I will admit I was a little proud of myself for writing this, but then it hit me. I really had no choice. I have done nothing in the last 20 years that even compares to what my Heavenly Father has taught me in the last 20 years. It’s not about me at all. It’s about recognizing this Savior of mine and joining Him where He is working.

That’s what Paul did. He joined God where God was working, and it just happened to be in prison.

“Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly. Philippians 1:12 – 14”

Do you see what happened when Paul shared the gospel message in prison? Others were encouraged to speak the Word of God more courageously and fearlessly. I can picture the prison guards looking at one another and saying, “Well if Paul can do this while chained in prison, then surely I can do something.”

God is at work all around us. Perhaps we just need to ask Him to show us where. You may be surprised what He reveals to you and how easy it is to share your faith–even to the Gresham High Class of 1990.