The summer for the Vaughn family is always packed. Some people experience the “lazy days of summer”, but we are of those that have discovered that summer is our craziest and busiest time of the year. When our kids were younger we enjoyed the lazy days. We would scope out the VBS schedules in our community and hit as many different ones as we could and then spend the rest of the day somewhere in the water or in the shade. However, once our girls got big enough to serve along side of us… the lazy days were left behind us.

This year we will begin the month of June serving as a family for the FCA Youth All Star Baseball Tournament. We will be given the opportunity to share and show the gospel to at least two hundred seven through ten years olds and their coaches, along with whoever is there to support them. Then we will serve with our church as we host a VBS that reaches at least a thousand kids (kindergarten through 8th grade) in our community. The last day of VBS we will all leave that same afternoon for Orlando, where we will serve with the International Children’s Ministry through First Baptist Kissimmee. We will return from Orlando and the first of July, Shelby and Rebekah will be attending Camp at Shocco. Rebekah as a student and Shelby will be serving as a student intern. Then Shelby will be leaving to serve with the Romanian American Missions in Spain. Of course July and August will be filled for me with more opportunities to serve with the FCA with our local camps and community events.

The Vaughn family summer is all about purposely sharing and showing the gospel with as many people as the Lord allows to cross our path. We are thankful to be able to do so. We are also thankful, and give thanks to God, for all those who partner with us through giving and participating in the fundraising opportunities that go toward the cost of serving.

We thank God for them, for those who partner with us in ministry, go with us where ever we go. When we stand before the Lord one day and give an account for our deeds, because of their partnership, who we reach they reach, who we serve they serve. It’s not just about the momentary earthly financial provision, it’s about an eternal heavenly treasure deposit.

As I stepped into mission work with the FCA the Lord gave me many passages in Scripture that I cling to as I raise funds for this ministry. This is hard for me, and we have learned through our Bekah’s first mission trip fundraising opportunity that she has my struggle with this endeavor as well. It took months of prayer and preparation for the Lord to get me ready to step out in faith and seek the needed funds for the ministry of FCA to be able to bring me on staff. One of the passages He gave me was Philippians 4:15-20,

¹⁵ You yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone; ¹⁶ for even in Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs. ¹⁷ Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to your account. ¹⁸ But I have received everything in full and have an abundance; I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God.¹⁹ And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. ²⁰ Now to our God and Father be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

The Lord had to teach me that when I went out to seek funds for the ministry I was not asking people to give to me, I was simply being used by Him to give people an opportunity to give to HIM.

As I am finishing up my last week of teaching through the life of David, I was reminded of this truth again through 1 Chronicles 29:9-18,

⁹ Then the people rejoiced because they had offered so willingly, for they made their offering to the Lord with a whole heart, and King David also rejoiced greatly. ¹⁰ So David blessed the Lord in the sight of all the assembly; and David said, “Blessed are You, O Lord God of Israel our father, forever and ever. ¹¹ Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O Lord, and You exalt Yourself as head over all. ¹² Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all, and in Your hand is power and might; and it lies in Your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone. ¹³ Now therefore, our God, we thank You, and praise Your glorious name.

¹⁴ “But who am I and who are my people that we should be able to offer as generously as this? For all things come from You, and from Your hand we have given You. ¹⁵ For we are sojourners before You, and tenants, as all our fathers were; our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no hope. ¹⁶ O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided to build You a house for Your holy name, it is from Your hand, and all is Yours. ¹⁷ Since I know, O my God, that You try the heart and delight in uprightness, I, in the integrity of my heart, have willingly offered all these things; so now with joy I have seen Your people, who are present here, make their offerings willingly to You. ¹⁸ O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, our fathers, preserve this forever in the intentions of the heart of Your people, and direct their heart to You;

So as I think on all those who have chosen to partner with us, and as I think on the God who has called us and chosen us, my heart cries out with David, “but who am I and who are my people that we should be able to offer as generously as this? For all things come from You, and from Your hand we have given You...”

I do not know why the Lord has saw fit to allow our family to serve Him in this way, but I am so very grateful that He has… To see where this Vaughn family began, to know the pit that He pulled us up out of, and to know, that I know, that I know what He can do with any wretch that cries out to be saved from this body of death (Romans 7:24) is why I push through the awkward to ask others to join us on the mission.

³³ Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! ³⁴ For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? ³⁵ Or who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to him again? ³⁶ For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.

Romans 11:33-36

While reading this particular verse the Holy Spirit quickened my mind to several New Testament passages…

For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.

1 Corinthians 3:9-17

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But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; 

1 Corinthians 4:7

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This past Wednesday I was blessed to have the opportunity to speak at an event that was focused on uniting the body of Christ and reminding us that the Lord has called His disciples to be one. As I prepared for this night I experienced spiritual warfare like I really never had before an event before. I look back now and realize the weight that had been on my shoulders and my mind as I studied… The burdens and concerns that kept being thrown into my mind. The fog that clouded my head as I tried to put all that I had studied in an understandable order of progression so that I might convey what the Lord had been teaching me. The fact that on the day of, I received texts from many letting me know that they were praying for me. My husband and children repeatedly asking me if I was okay and encouraging me and praying for me… all confirm that for some reason the enemy of our souls did not want this message heard.

I believe with all my heart that the very words of Jesus Himself in John 17 reveals to us why the enemy of our souls did not want this message heard…

¹³ But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves. ¹⁴ I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. ¹⁵ I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. ¹⁶ They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.¹⁷ Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. ¹⁸ As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. ¹⁹ For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.

²⁰ “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; ²¹ that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.

²² The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; ²³ I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.

Here is a video of the night:

As we listen to that Remember the Titans clip there were three points I wanted to make through it, but time did not allow it Wednesday night.

In the clip Yoast tried to dismiss Boone’s exuberance in having the players out running at three in the morning by claiming they were a high school football team and not the marines.

Then in another part we see Julius encourage a teammate to not stop running and reminded him that there was no time to rest

Finally as it closes we hear Boone give his Gettysburg speech to hopefully get it through to his players that this challenge before them was about more than football…

(Remember the Titans video clip: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uiqdA1B3_Nc) 

As I watched this clip I see it as a picture of our challenges today in the body of Christ. We are all supposed to be on the same team. Our allegiance to the same Head Coach, and I believe we can take the three points seen in this clip and apply them to ourselves today… because after all the challenges that we face today in the church is about more than just our “church”. It’s about reaching the people that Christ died for us to reach.

It’s time church. It’s time. So therefore…

1. No excuses (Luke 14:16-20, Romans 1:20, 2 Corinthians 9:8)
2. No time to rest (Galatians 6:9, Revelation 2:3, Hebrews 12:1)
3. No more fighting amongst ourselves (1 Corinthians 1:10-13, Ezekiel 33:6, 30-33)

There is a church sign that I pass almost daily coming to and from my house. It is six simple words, but they speak volumes…

Love God. Love People. Serve both. 

That’s it beloved. That’s it. The two commandments on which hang all the rest. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:34-40).

As I was preparing for this I watched a message by Ravi Zacharias based on the life of Jonah. As he closed out his message he asked these two questions:

What portion of human suffering and the world’s pain has the LORD called you to and are you willing to take it?

Are you bearing your burden for what God is calling you to bear?

So I close this post asking… Are you where I was, just “going to church” but not BEING the church? Do you know your message? Do you know the gospel and the God of the gospel? Do you know your purpose? Are you willing to lay aside the pursuit of your own kingdom in order to proclaim His kingdom?

Our main focus must not be our own kingdoms, our own lives, our own church… but our focus must be on being obedient to Christ and laying down our lives and following Him no matter the cost.

I am not in any way trying to patronize the importance of our denominational views or our personal convictions, compellings, and opinions concerning the Scriptures, but when the world and even non-christianese speaking sporadic church attenders see us debate and quarrel and finger point and name call about things… that are not key to salvation by grace through faith in Christ… then we lose them.

The simple fact of the matter is we can’t all fit into the same building anyway. Besides that, we were called from the beginning to scatter and multiply and cover the whole earth. In the book of Genesis, at Babel, when the people wanted to all stay together instead of going out and covering the earth the Lord came down and confused their languages so that they would scatter. Has it ever occurred to us that the Lord has given us different personalities and needs and thoughts on worship and organization all for the simple purpose of helping us scatter so that we can reach ALL people?

Think about it.