Pure Religion



Serving the Soul of Others: "A Heart for God is our Aim"

 Hello again my soul brothers and sisters, I hope your experience with fasting has been going well, be sure to email me your questions (or refer back to my 2nd blog “We’re on a Mission from God”).

Today, we are highlighting the Heart Shot ministry. Below is a picture of their fearless leader Troy Bendickson and the Heart Shot team. Take note! They are on a mission from God.

You can find out more about the Heart Shot ministry at Heartshot.org or contact Troy at 678.492.1989.

I’ll explain more about their ministry and how you can help, but first I want to help you understand how serving others is, in a way, a fast that strengthens the soul.

Think back for a moment on a time that you served someone else. You loved your neighbor by mowing their lawn when they were out of town or you took them dinner when they were dealing with a tragedy. There are many examples (big and small), but think about how that made you feel, a lot of times…we get a good feeling when we do something good for others.

That’s normal, and while we shouldn’t do good for others to just make ourselves feel better, let me help explain where that feeling comes from.

Think of all things you do in a given week…a lot of what we do and think about is done because of our own desires and needs that we have. For example, we go to work because we need money and we need to take care of our families.  Furthermore, we take care of our families because it’s our responsibility, but we also do it for selfish reasons…because we love them!

So think for a moment how serving others (with no strings attached – with no expectations of getting something out of it) …becomes a fast from your own selfish desires. When you withhold meeting personal needs to help meet the needs of others…it helps you detach from your own desires (which is good for your soul).

This is good for your soul because this is what you were made to do…you were made to LOVE.

That’s what the greatest commandment reminds us to do: Mark 12:30-31 “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

 Consequently, when you spend most of your time loving yourself or your loved ones, you deprive your soul from one of the very things it was created to do…serve.

Therefore, I want to challenge you to take the time serve someone in need this summer, The Bible calls us to look for these opportunities, Romans 15:2-3 (MSG) - Each one of us needs to look after the good of the people around us, asking ourselves, “How can I help?”

Here is how you can help the Heart Shot Ministry:
Besides teaching archery and foundational truths of Faith, Heart Shot serves those in need. One of the ways it does this is by mowing lawns for widows in the summer and shoveling snow for them in the winter. You don’t have to be involved with archery to help serve in this manner so contact Troy if you would like to help.

In particular, Heart Shot needs help mowing lawns over the next couple weeks while Troy is out of town. Many of the lawns don’t take more than 15 to 20 minutes to mow. If you can volunteer to mow a yard or two over the next couple weeks. Contact me, Jason Hight at 563.607.1577 or Jason@adventurecommunity.org

Fathers, this is a good teachable opportunity with you and your kids. I’ll be covering a few yards for Heart Shot over the next couple weeks, and I’ll be taking my sons to help. On the way, to and from, we will discuss why we are doing what we are doing…that Pure Religion…“is to look after widows and orphans in their distress”(James 1:27).

I’m a Soul Man,
Pastor Jason

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