Call to Die...

I attended the Mission Waco UrBanquet last night and it was a wonderful time, great friends, great food and an absolutely worthy cause www.missionwaco.org. Jimmy Dorrel who is the head of MW was the keynote speaker. He used an illustration that I loved. He talked about going to Calcutta with his wife in the 70's and getting to meet Mother Theresa and commented on the House for the Dying that is an ongoing mission she started there. The travel there brought them to a leper colony and he learned there that lepers lose feeling in their extremities. They cannot feel pain, even to the point of losing limbs. They are completely desensitized. The literalness of how the disease causes them to not feel was tied into how we become desensitized to the poor and hurting among us. We can drive by a homeless person and instead of offering compassion or meeting a need, bring judgment or nothing at all, when it should bring tears.
This story reminded me of another that when I read it, brought me to humble tears, broken and beloved of the Lord. The story is in a book by David Nasser called A Call to Die. It is an intensive 40-day devotional journey of fasting from the world while feasting on God. which is passionate and non-passive approach to the truth, mixed in with illustrations about his own depravity and need for a savior." says Chris Tomlin (worship leader) who wrote the foreword to A Call To Die. I wont go into the details of the story(its in the second week of the book), but it also involves A House for the Dying and reading it, along with fasting from some worldly things changed me. It made me sensitive again, God serving instead of self-serving. If you want to know God in an intimate worshipFULL way, I really recommend this book. It will open your eyes to what rubbish we really feast on in this world.
I also recommend going forth and serving the poor and broken in your community. One thing that God has given to each of us equally is time. Giving your time, as tight as your schedule may be, is one of the most amazing gifts! Spending time with someone, sharing the gospel, sharing a meal, letting them know they are important is a gift you can deliver! And as you show your humility and sacrifice, remember the Lord favors the humble and with sacrifices such as these He is well pleased.