On Sunday evening I will be speaking to the men of our church on Nehemiah 6. The title is “Completing the Task”.

Nehemiah 6:15-16 says, “So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month of Elul, in fifty-two days. And when our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of God.”

Here are a few observations.
1. When you and I accomplish or finish a task strong, God is glorified.

When our enemies (or people who oppose us) see a great task accomplished, do they attribute it to our cleverness or to the Lord?
Do we walk in such a way that points to God at all times. Nehemiah’s enemies knew that God accomplished the task because it was great, and because Nehemiah continued to point the source of the accomplishment to the Lord.

2. Our goal should be to accomplish the task God has given us here on this earth.

God has given you and a task on this earth. We are to be men and women who walk faithfully. We are to rear Godly children. We are to worship Him as the giver and sustainer of life. We are to bring others to the foot of the cross and show them Jesus. Do we do that? Are we striving to accomplish the mission God has given us?

3. There are some things only God can do.

Many times God will ask you and I to perform an impossible task. One that seems so great that only He can be the explanation. When He asks us, do we do it. I have a friend who is a pastor. Many times I have heard him pray that God would help us accomplish a task in such a way that only He can be the answer. There are some things that Only God can do!

John Paton was a missionary to the New Hebrides a century ago. This was a place inhabited by cannibals who had a history of eating any foreigner who came on shore.

“I was besieged with the strongest opposition on all sides. One of my divinity school professors told me that I was leaving certainty for uncertainty. I was leaving work in which God had made me greatly useful for work which I might fail to be useful and only throw my life away for the cannibals. One dear old Christian deacon said to me: ‘The cannibals! You will be eaten by cannibals!’”

I replied, “Mr. Dickson, you are advanced in years now, and your own prospect is soon to be laid in the grave, there to be eaten by worms. I confess to you that if I can but live and die serving and honoring the Lord Jesus, it will make no difference to me whether I am eaten by cannibals or by worms. And in the great day, my resurrection body will arise as fair as yours in the likeness of our risen Redeemer.”

“Indeed the opposition was so strong from nearly all, and many of them warm Christian friends, that I was sorely tempted to question whether I was carrying out the divine will or only some headstrong wish of my own. This caused me much anxiety and drove me close to God in prayer. But, again, every doubt would vanish when I clearly saw that all at home had free access to the Bible and the means of grace with gospel light shining all around them while the poor heathen were perishing without even the chance of knowing all God’s love and mercy to me.”

I love the change of the year. It means that things can start fresh. Goals not accomplished last year can be assessed, re-evaluated and re-executed. Hopefully, we are all taking the time to look back over the past year and thank God for the incredible things that He has done for each one of us. I know Jon and I are doing just that today. We had quite an eventful 2009 and have a lot to be thankful for. Jon’s job shifted, our church hired a new pastor, we got out of debt, we decided to home-school the girls, we traveled to Costa Rica with T.A.C.T.I.C.A. and we made a decision to follow God’s call to move from pastoral ministry to missions. I understand that some of these changes have been in the works for more than last year, but 2009 provided the necessary events to finalize the decision process. As a result, most of the previous goals have been scrapped for new goals altogether because of the new journey that God is leading our family on. We are thrilled with what God has done and anticipate His work in the coming year.

(Click Here) to download our December update and prayer letter, “McGinnis Mayhem”.

As Joni and I were thinking and praying about God’s calling and direction for our life in missions one word kept coming up in the conversation as we talked about TACTICA Ministries. That word was… STRATEGIC. God used that word (as well as His Word) to show us that not only God was moving us into missions but that He was asking us to join the Team TACTICA. TACTICA strives to be strategic in all that they do. God has opened a door for the Gospel to reach the authorities in Central America and it takes a strategic plan as well as a sovereign God to keep that door open and make the most of the opportunities to see officers come to Christ.

Do I live my life just as strategically? Do I make the most of every opportunity to reach the lost around me? Am I strategic with my time and do I have a “plan of attack” when it comes to ministry and evangelism?

Just an early Wednesday morning thought I was pondering.

Yesterday, Joni & I ran into a good friend at Walmart. He asked us, “What’s been going on? How far are you guys along in “the process”?” Here’s a quick update on all that we have been doing since our announcement.

Since our announcement on November 15th, Joni & I have been working on refining the “Informational Packet” we want to get into the hands of the pastors we come in contact with. You can download a (low resolution version) by clicking here. You’d be surprised how long it takes you to get it the way you like it. We have met with one church (informally) and have another meeting with a pastor from that church coming up. We also hope to have one more meeting with a mission’s pastor this month from another church to get our name out there.

Here’s our goal/strategy as of today. As long as we have Ryan & Gretchen (our future teammates) here, we want to use them and their contacts strategically. After Christmas and New Years, we want to hit as many breakfast/lunch engagements as possible to get our information out there to pastors. We have 40+ “hard contacts” that we want to hit. Many of those Ryan & Gretchen could come with us…we’ll see.

This week (by Friday) we hope to have our first Newsletter sent out. In that letter we hope to have finalized information on where and how to begin sending support as individuals and churches.

Finally, I continue to perform my duties at Berean Baptist Church, in Portage Michigan. I have had and continue to have meeting,, counseling, teaching and administrative duties at the church. Berean is keeping me Full Time until the end of March and then we are going to be tapering down.

Joni & I really want to keep things on that pace so we can get down there soon. We’ve seen too many missionaries become complacent when money comes in. Our goal is to push hard until we’re there. Ultimately, we’re not going to worry though. God is in control of all of those details. He asked us to obey and follow Him on this journey…so we will.

Yesterday I was feeling a little convicted. I had a bad attitude. I think it’s pretty funny to see what God uses to help us grow. Yesterday, it was a snow blower.

If you have been keeping up in the news, the state of Michigan has been getting hammered with blizzard-like conditions. At my house, we were dealt over 12 inches of snow. Naturally, it was time to pull out the snow blower. It took about an hour to get my driveway all cleared out. Then… I noticed my neighbor’s driveway. Feeling a little compassion over the possibility of shoveling all that snow with a shovel, I began to blow it. With every turn of the blowers’ blades my mind began to wander. I noticed a car in the driveway. Where was my neighbor? I was certain he was home. Why wasn’t he out there helping me…I mean after all, it was HIS driveway. Then the feeling of conviction came over me. How many times do I treat God the same way? How many times do I take Him for granted? He has done so much for me…and many times I do nothing in return.

As I finished my driveway AND my neighbors, I was able to look out my window and wave at my very grateful neighbor getting in to his car. Why did he not help? Maybe he didn’t know I was doing it. Maybe he was still in bed. It doesn’t matter anyway. If blowing his driveway is one way I can tell the Lord thank you for all he has done for me, then it was time well spent.

James 2:18 “But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”

How can you tell when God is asking you to step out on a limb? How do you know when God is asking you to take a step closer to the edge of the cliff to help reach the lost? These are a few of the questions Joni and I have been asking ourselves for the last year. Yesterday morning, Joni and I announced to our church we feel God has been asking us to move into full time missions in Costa Rica. To some, it came as a surprise, to some it did not. God has been working on our hearts for quite some time and to be quite honest, it hasn’t all been fun. But, God is faithful and we can clearly see his hand in this next big step for our family.

So what does this mean for the McGinnis’? We don’t know yet? It is our desire to go to Candidate Class at ABWE (Association of Baptist for World Evangelism) March 7th-15th. We will need to start the long application process. We will need to put our house on the market. We will need to begin to thin out what we own to lighten our load, as well as begin to network and develop a strategy to get the word out about our decision and new life direction.

Our goal will be to work with T.A.C.T.I.C.A. Ministries. Their mission is to fulfill the Great Commission by investing into the lives of Central American authorities and their families through high quality police training, evangelism and discipleship.

What will we be doing? 1. Joni and I will be specifically involved in the discipleship of new believers. 2. Joni will be using her gifts of hospitality and helps as we host police teams, Ticos (Costa Rican Nationals), and church teams. 3. I will also be the point person for most church related teams that come down. (To name a few)

Please be praying for us. Joni and I are extremely excited…and very nervous. This is a huge step for us and our four children (as you can imagine). We are not the first to take this step in to missions, but it is a first for us. When God calls you to the edge of the cliff, there’s no safer place to be, but that doesn’t make the cliff any less scary.