Otts On Mission
Reflections on ministry, mission, and the Church
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Pity Pushes Away. Compassion Enters In.
When Life Doesn’t Go As Planned… The life of a missionary is one that requires a great deal of flexibility and adaptability. The skills we’ve developed over time as missionaries have served us well in an ever changing world. The things is, even with those skills, objectively speaking, our lives have been anything but stable…
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“Align Your Hearts With My Spirit”
When Light Is Hard To See It is no secret, darkness seems to everywhere. The people of God have continually been asked to find refuge in God in a world that’s grown increasingly antagonistic and dark for many over these past few years. We hold on to the promise God has for his people, which…
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God Will Provide, Won’t He?
Abundant sufficiency One of the things that my family and I have been learning these past few years is that you really need very little to live. Our culture tells us we need more, and we need it now. We’ve seen how our cultural drive for more actually undermines our ability to receive from God…
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All Is Not Lost.
All is not lost.God will come through for us.This I know to be true…Even if we are without a way,His care will still be seen. But He will come through.Of this we can be sure.It is good to wait,to wait quietlyfor the salvation of the Lord. And so we shall.
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All Will Be Well
Lord, surely you seethe toil of your childrenwho suffer under the weightof a world that chooses to surrender to darkness. May the wearisome worries and caresof your peoplebe carried by your mighty handsso that compassion would adornthe hearts and minds of the saints. Render hearts humblethat are prone to pride.Like a shield borne out of…
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Words of Hope
Over the past few years I’ve increasingly heard more and more words of hope from the Lord related to the Church and what He’s doing in our world. Despite what we see and are constantly inundated with each day, our God is a God of hope and promise. Over the coming weeks and months I’ll…
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God Is Good?
Is God Good? “May you always choose to believe that God is good and that he has good for you, no matter the circumstances.” So part of my prayer every night over my boys goes. These words are as much for my boys as they are for me. Some days it is quite difficult to…
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Faith For When We Can’t See
Looking For Light in The Darkness The past few years have been some of the most difficult years of our family’s lives. Since returning from Italy we’ve seemingly found ourselves wandering what’s felt like a never-ending wilderness. We search for a land that we thought God was preparing for us. We have prayed. God has…
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Plans For the Harvest
The Harvest Is Plentiful For years I’ve read Luke 10. I’ve studied it and gone over it too many times to count. In most of the ministry circles I’ve been in, it’s viewed as a central missiological passage. For many it is “the” missiological passage for both the need for workers and the model by…
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My Top 10 Most Influential Books
The Beautiful Life As we began our process of moving to Italy some 10 years ago, I began to meet with a spiritual director. His influence in my life and care for me as we journeyed through support raising, moving, and ministering abroad can’t be overstated. Early on, he made reference to a collection of…