By Donathan Hutchings

I read your Nearing Midnight article today and your question “What should Christians be doing?” It intrigued me. I gave it a lot of thought and this is what I came up with. I became a Christian several years ago and I wondered what I should be doing. I started praying.

Not the kind of prayers you hear or read so many other Christians pray, but a prayer asking our Lord for work. I prayed that He would use me in whatever His will required. At that time, he put a thirst for knowledge for his Word in me and I began to read and study the Bible. During this time, I prayed continually for guidance. I continued on this track until His message became clear.

This time seems now like preparation for the real work He has for me ahead. I kept praying the same prayer; that He would use me according to His will. It’s been two years now of intense study and I have found myself telling others about what the Lord has done for me; getting involved in church activities (media engineer, executive secretary, and assistant Sunday school superintendent), to assistant Sunday school teacher.

In the past few weeks, He has called me to preach. He has laid the ground work in me and for me and now it’s time for me to step up with His help and His words. I guess what I am trying to say is that each believer should first pray. Not the selfish prayer, but the one that asks the Lord to use us. He will take care of the circumstances to place us where He needs us.

Also be willing to do what He needs us to do. Expect preparation beforehand. A person can’t just jump right in on his/her own knowledge and expect to be successful. Before studying, my own arrogance told me that I already knew everything I needed to know about the Bible. I can’t describe the feeling I got when I realized what I knew of His Word amounted to nothing. I didn’t have a clue.

Finally, go the extra mile like He told us to.

To sum up:

1. Pray and study your Bible.

2. Be willing.

3. Go the extra mile.

This is just my humble opinion of what we can do for Christ.

By Jim Whitesell

1. Assess your relationship to God. Have you publicly accepted Jesus as your Savior and been baptized? If not, stop here and commit your life to Jesus. If you have already committed your life to serving Christ then continue to item 2.

2. Assess your relationship with those that you love. Do you have anything that you are angry about or hold against your loved ones? If so, fix the problem and continue with the list.

3. Assess your Relationship with your Neighbor. Do you know them, get along with them and pray for them? If not, start doing so if at all possible.

4. Assess your relationship with your church. Are you involved in a Christ centered, Bible believing local church? If not, then try to find one.

5.Assess your treasures. Are you giving to local, regional, national and/or worldwide Christian missions that proclaim Jesus as the Christ?

6. Assess your Time. Do you give of your free time to your 1) Local church, 2) Your family, 3) local Christian school, 3) local Community?

7. Assess your Talents. Every Christian has at least one gift given to them by God. Are you using your gift to encourage the faithful and to reach the lost?

8. Assess your prayer life. Jesus called every Christian to a life of prayer. We are to pray without ceasing. A simple suggestion: I challenge every Christian father to pray quietly with his family before each meal including each and every time his family goes out to eat at a public restaurant. Imagine what a witness it would be to the world if Christian families were seen praying in public places. It may be hard for you to do at first, but I will guarantee that the food will taste better.

9.Assess the amount of time you spend reading God’s Word. How do you know what God is like unless you spend time getting to know Him by reading Scripture.

10. Now go and do! After all of this self assessment, it is time to “go and do” what God has asked us to do, to help fulfill the Great Commission:

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20 NIV).