Faith and Deeds

Well, hello again my fellow people.  This tour, we started out in CA then traveled through-out the northwest and Midwest. It has been a real adventure.  We made a couple of stops in Idaho (that great potato state) that were really fun.  We were with one church for about a week where we did multiple services at schools, churches, stores and at a nursing home.  The nursing home was currently under construction and so the residents had to be in a specific area of the building and none of them were all-too-happy.  It was an impromptu service that was arranged about 30 minutes before we got there by the pastor that we were with.  We arrived at the home and went into the room that all of them were sitting in.  Not all of them were even facing us, but we introduced ourselves and went about doing all of our skits.  The one that I picked to end with was about this little elderly lady whose husband is sick and no one ever comes to visit her until the very end.  You get to see a lot of the pain that she experiences being alone.  I had done that skit at nursing homes before and usually the residents there really enjoyed it.  Well this time none of them looked like they really appreciated it.  I was beginning to question whether or not I should have done that skit when I looked in the back of the room and I saw the pastor crying.  Awhile later, we went to the church and I was sitting in the pastor's office with him.  He leaned forward on his desk and told me that he wanted me to know that I started a ministry in their church.  He went on to explain that he and his wife had been talking for weeks about starting a nursing home ministry out of their church and they had just been putting off.  Well when he saw the skit, God used it to spark that reminder in him. He said that he was so convicted because his heart had been like the one in the skit who wouldn't spend any time with the elderly lady because he claimed he had too much stuff to be doing.  He told me that his church was going to begin to do ministry and visit the nursing home every week and he thanked me for being obedient to God and doing that skit. 

I shared this story because I was able to see first-hand how God convicted a man to start a ministry with those who need something or are less fortunate than ourselves. We all need to be looking after those that are in need. In the book of James, chapter 2 it says, "What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such a faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, 'Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?  In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." (James 2:15-17 NIV)

This verse tells us very clearly that we need to be doing something about the pain that we see around us. The part that really stuck with me was when it says, "Can such a faith save him?" Here James is questioning the idea that if we believe in God yet doing nothing to help those around us that we are truly in harmony with Jesus Christ. And as harsh as that sounds, it totally makes sense.  If you read on from there, James talks about how the only evidence of our faith that we have, period, is our good deeds.  Is that the only thing that ignites good deeds? No. But we really need to evaluate ourselves if we lack the one thing that can prove that we have faith. He then says, "You say you believe that there is one God. Good!! Even the demons believe that-and shudder." (2:19 NIV) He is saying that our confessing isn't good enough. Even the demons do that.  If all we are doing is confessing and believing our faith in God, we are no different that the demons mentioned in this verse. James tells us that we need to prove our faith in God, and we do so by taking action and helping those in need. Think of it like this: We are all called to be Christ-like. ("Be holy, as I am holy" 1 Peter 1:16)  So, if we are portraying the character of Christ, can we really help but do righteous works? And to finish off this section, I want to say one of my favorite quotes regarding this topic: "Faith without works is like a screen door on a submarine." 

Well, my peeps, I thank you once again for all of the amazing support that each of you have been to me during the past almost 3 years of my life.  I greatly appreciate all that you have done and continue to do. Not just for me, but for those around you and for the One True King. I'm coming up on my last tour that I will be spending with the New Life Drama Company on the road. However, I still have the opportunity to take one last mission trip with them even after I'm done traveling with them here in the states. I would absolutely love to be able to go on it, where ever it may be.  I'm not sure exactly at this point where, but hopefully I'll find out soon.  Any and all support that you can offer would be most of help. Again thank you for all that you do. May God bless you and keep you.

-Nathan Sheets
NLDC