I was asked again this week, what is Treasure Chest Ministries? Hmmm, sometimes this question makes me stop and think. When that is the case it is usually because God is adjusting our view of Treasure Chest Ministries. Originally it started as an outlet for the passion the Lord put in our hearts for the Body of Christ in the Midwest. There are so many fantastic people who love the Lord but feel stuck or tired or confused. They just need someone to come along side them and show them the next few steps or give them a hug or a word of encouragement.
While that is still true there has been a shift in the “how” we do this. More recently we’ve been challenged by our Pastor and some other circumstances. The challenging question is “Are we a fan or a follower” of Christ? We’ve discussed that if you are not fully committed to something you often become bored. From my observations, when you are bored you often become critical or whiney. “Why isn’t there something fun to do?” Why is the music so loud?” “Are we there yet?” This rings true when it comes to our faith. If we are not fully committed we often just squirm in our chair as we wait for the prayer to finish or the service to end.
Anne Voskamp challenges us this way:
(you can read the whole post here What Does a Bit of Radical Christianity Look Like?)
How in the world can comfortable Christianity ever be Christ’s Christianity?
Is it even possible to be a radical Christ-follower — and own a mini-van, have more than one bathroom, order clothes from Land’s End, and lay your head down on a pillow when He had none? Really? What is the North American church really supposed to do? Anyone want to buy the hogs so we can go? What are mothers really supposed to do?
When Katie sends me the galley of her book, Kisses from Katie
I turn pages, read her story of forsaking the American dream for God-sized dreams. How she picks out scabies burrowing deep into brown skin. How she rocks malnourished babies and sings of Jesus loving them, this she knows. She tells me that if only 8 percent of Christians would care for just one more child, there wouldn’t be any orphans or needy children left.
Aren’t mothers supposed to do something about that? How can I not?
And there’s the soul bankrupt neighbors next door. The lonely widow at church that I last spoke to when there was snow on the ground. The terrified single mama of five who is battling an aggressive cancer and I haven’t got a meal to her yet? Can’t mothers do something about that?
Christ is with the poor and Christ-centric Christianity knows no other orbit but around the aching and the breaking — around the corner and down the street and across the ocean.
What does my life revolve around?
Another way of asking that is am I a “fan or a follower of Christ”? Treasure Chest Ministries is striving to give people, all people, credibility to themselves of who they are. We are Treasures, true treasures to Christ, right where we are today. You are a treasure. You don’t have to change your occupation, or move, or be able to speak in public fluently, although you can if you can. God made you, loves you and planted you right where you are right now. Could He ask you to go somewhere else? Yes, but in the meantime you are where you are for a reason. It can be as simple as sharing cookies with the children next door or changing license plates for the elderly woman down the street. Jesus walked with people while He was here on earth. He shared God’s love by being with the people in his path, the woman at the well for example.
What does my life revolve around? Am I a follower of Christ, fully committed?
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