EDITORS: INGE CANNON AND SARAH HARTWIG
DESIGNER: YOUR CREATIVE PEOPLE
PUBLICATION ADVISORS:
JON CROCKER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
DALE CRAWFORD, ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR
FORREST MCPHAIL, REGIONAL DIRECTOR FOR ASIA, AUSTRALIA, AND OCEANIA
ALAN PATTERSON, REGIONAL DIRECTOR FOR EUROPE, AFRICA, AND THE MIDDLE EAST
TIMOTHY BERREY, DIRECTOR OF MISSIONARY RECRUITMENT
MARSH FANT, DIRECTOR OF CHURCH PLANTING AND REVITALIZATION
JON
CROCKER
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
My missionary life in Mexico City required peri-
odic visits to two government offices, neither
of which ever filled me with happy anticipation.
Various situations took me to the Mexican
immigration office, which served as a reminder
that I was a foreigner. I was living in a country
that was not my own, and I
had various responsibilities
because of that status. Other
circumstances necessitated
visits to the United States
Embassy. That building and
the business I handled there
identified me as an expat. Not
only was I not from Mexico,
but I was also outside my own country. I was
both a foreigner and an expat.
These excursions provided many opportunities
to reflect on the Bible’s wonderful descriptions
of believers as citizens of a different realm. “Our
citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20). By
God’s sweet and mighty grace in Christ, we
are not “from here.” God has rescued us, and
we will always be out of place in a world that
hates Christ. We are foreigners.
We are also expats, outside our future home
in the new heavens and new earth. In addition,
the Bible uses the word pilgrims to make clear
that this current arrangement is temporary. We
will not always be foreigners and expats. We
are journeying home, and our hearts echo the
sentiment expressed in the old hymn:
On Jordan’s stormy banks I stand,
And cast a wishful eye
To Canaan’s fair and happy land,
Where my possessions lie.
Paul’s words in Philippians 3:20 regarding
our heavenly citizenship serve as part of his
argument that we not imitate those “enemies
of the cross of Christ” who “set their minds
on earthly things” (3:18–19). There are people
whose whole lives revolve around this world.
But the Christian is a citizen of heaven, so our
lives should be oriented toward heaven. This
issue of Sowing & Reaping examines the theme
Laying Up Heavenly Treasure.
May the Lord use these arti-
cles to give us great joy in
our true citizenship, stir us
to seek first God’s kingdom,
and enable us to anticipate
the day when we will look on
our Savior and be at home
with Him forever.
DIRECTOR
A W O R D F R O M T H E
05
BY TIMOTHY BERREY
OBSTACLES TO LAYING UP
TREASURE IN HEAVEN
09
BY ALAN PATTERSON
HEAVENLY-MINDED PRAYING
ABOUT EARTHLY NEEDS
03
BY JON CROCKER
WHY LAY UP
TREASURE IN HEAVEN?
07
BY FORREST MCPHAIL
PRACTICAL IDEAS FOR LAYING
UP HEAVENLY TREASURE