Global/Local: it’s a phrase that covers what we are talking about on Sundays right now.  It’s the realization that we send missionaries to Japan, for example, but there are also Japanese people living near us.  It doesn’t make sense to care about the people over there, and ignore the people right here.  Of course, there are other kinds of people who are without the life of Christ who are all around us.  We need to reach out globally, while also caring for people locally.

We were blessed this past Sunday to enjoy a taste of global/local.  Our oldest daughter and her husband have befriended a JMU student from Japan.  She joined us for lunch this past Sunday, and will be a part of family functions here and there.  She asked me the obvious questions: what do you do for a living?  She really had no category for the job of pastor.  That gave me a chance to explain what the Bible is and how each week we try to understand and “study” it.  She asked me, “So you are still in school?”  (i.e., you are studying the Bible and teaching it?)  I told you she had no categories for it!  I explained to her that while I know the Bible fairly well, I am always gaining new insights and considering fresh ways it should shape my living.  I explained our belief that God has spoken to us, and we want to carefully treasure His words.

So the “big chicken” got knocked down pretty easily!  (Listen to last week’s sermon).  She asked the questions!  There will be further conversations as she joins us for Christmas.  We will learn together about each other’s culture, and we will get to talk, quite naturally, about our faith.

There are golden opportunities for all of us.  Do you know where they are in your life?

In Him,

Don