Bruce Ahlberg Ministry

Perseverance

2012-02-09T15:53:00.001-06:00

Have you ever started a project or a class or some other endeavor and then failed to complete it? Or have you worked hard to accomplish something and then saw it all disappear perhaps through no fault of your own and then have to start all over to do it again? To complete any task we must have perseverance. I think of William Carey, a missionary to India, who wrote by hand a dictionary of the Sanskrit language which took years to accomplish only to see it go up in flames when a fire ravaged the building where the dictionary was kept. He had no back up copy, there was only one and he had to start over again to rewrite the dictionary. It was a major setback for him but he possessed a character trait of perseverance which enabled him to succeed.

We live in an era of wanting everything quickly and this gets transferred into our lives when it comes to making decisions about what we should do. Often we are presented with choices in which one can happen quickly and the other will take much more effort in order to accomplish. Fast and easy are often the choices that we make and in doing so we cheat ourselves out of gaining something more valuable and important.

A pastor I know has a son who just began training to be a doctor in Guatemala. It will take 6 years for him to complete his studies and it is a rigorous course he will undertake. Without the ability to persevere it will be easy to quit and find another occupation that is perhaps less demanding and most likely less rewarding.

The dictionary defines perseverance as : continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition.

We all enjoy having some things come easy but most of life involves great effort against great opposition, difficulties and failures to be able to achieve something of value. People who take the easy route seldom accomplish anything of value. Those who are willing to take risks and persevere through all the adversity are able to achieve things beyond what they thought was possible.

I have been reading the book of Exodus and thinking about the challenge it was for the Israelites and especially for Moses to leave Egypt and face all the trials that were before them. They were walking into unknown territory. I don’t think any of them had been through the wilderness. They had been slaves for many years and the only thing they knew was how to work hard to please the ruler. When Moses came to lead them to freedom, they had to develop trust in him and perseverance through all of the changes in decisions of Pharaoh who stated he would let them go but then changed his mind to keep them captive. God was at work accomplishing his purposes to be able to send the Israelites out of Egypt with the financial support of the Egyptians who readily gave them gold, silver and clothing to send them on their way. After all the plagues that they endured they were more than ready to be done with them. God was at work to bring glory to his name among all the nations not just Egypt. His name and his fame would spread through the nations causing them to tremble before his people. Moses and the Israelites had to persevere through this time of testing and not give up on God’s promise to bring them out of captivity.

When they finally were released there was great joy among the people but it was short lived as they faced the barrier of the Red Sea. Because of their lack of understanding and lack of faith in God and Moses, they misinterpreted the circumstances when they saw Pharoah’s 600 chariots coming after them. To gain their freedom, they had to persevere with God’s plan and not turn back. Some thought Moses had brought them out only to set them up for failure. God never sets us up for failure but for success. He knows the end from the beginning and he asks us to trust him and persevere in the circumstances we are facing so we can reach the goal. God’s plan was to destroy the Egyptian army. The Israelites did not know this, all they knew was that the enemy was right behind them and they were seemingly trapped. God intervened and kept the Egyptians from advancing by placing a cloud between the two camps, while sending a strong easterly wind to part the waters of the Red Sea and make a dry path for the million plus Israelites to cross.

When we persevere in adversity and opposition as we follow God’s call he will go before us and make a way for us. If we quit and give up we surrender our dreams, goals, desires and return to our captive state. When the Israelites crossed the Red Sea and saw the Egyptian army destroyed they rejoiced with song and dance. They were ecstatic and well they should have been to finally be out from under the harsh labor of Pharoah. I think God allowed Pharoah to make life harder for them so they would have greater joy when they were set free.

One would think it would be smooth sailing from this point for the Israelites but they were in for several more challenges that would test their faith and perseverance. It did not take too long before the water supply they had brought with them was consumed. After 3 days of journeying they were dry and the only water that was available was not potable but bitter. Ex. 15:22-25

²²Then Moses ordered Israel to set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water. ²³When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter. That is why it was called Marah. ²⁴And the people complained against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” ²⁵He cried out to the Lord; and the Lord showed him a piece of wood; he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.

This was yet another test that God had set before them to see if they would trust him for a miracle and persevere in their faith or if they would murmur and complain. They responded negatively which seemed to be their natural bent. They were not convinced of God’s promise to bring them to the Promised Land. When we are not convinced we easily complain. God intervened by miraculously purifying the water and meeting the needs of the people. Their next destination was an oasis in Elim that had plenty of fresh water for them.

The next test was lack of food.

Exo 16:1 They set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt.

Exo 16:2 And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness,

Exo 16:3 and the people of Israel said to them, "Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger."

The Israelites had been out of Egypt for a month and all their food was gone. They were challenged again in their faith in God’s ability to provide for them along with their perseverance in adversity. In this situation they looked back at what they had in Egypt and longed for the meat and bread that filled them forgetting about the hard life of slavery.

The flesh is always at war with the spirit. It always wants to drag us down and send us in the wrong direction to keep us from accomplishing God’s best and the true longing of our spirit. It always exaggerates the problem, looks for a quick fix and distorts our perspective. It relies on rationalization of solutions that are contrary to what God wants us to do in the circumstances. The physical hunger they experienced had one solution and that was to retreat to Egypt and forget about the promises God had given them. Retreat for the purpose of quitting is never the right option. It is always the wrong choice. If we retreat to regroup and renew our strength to move forward that is another thing, a good thing. The Israelites lost sight of the future and no longer wanted to persevere. The flesh always seeks for instant gratification while the spirit is willing to endure because it sees the future with eyes of faith in the promises of God. The flesh brings no profit or benefit. It is destructive and leads to death of a vision, dream and goal.

God again demonstrated his care for the Israelites by providing manna every day. Again they had to trust him to provide and obey what he told them to do regarding gathering it each day and a double portion on the Sabbath. In all these tests God was trying to establish in their minds his faithfulness and concern for their needs. He was also training them in obedience to his word. They would need to trust and obey him when they faced the opposition in the Promised Land. The wilderness experience was a time of learning, trusting, persevering in preparation for the future.

God had already miraculously delivered them from the Egyptians but the Israelites would need to learn how to fight against their enemies and that was the next test they faced. To prepare them for this they had to face the Amalakites. Amalek was a descendent of Esau. They opposed the Israelites and would not give them safe passage to the Promised Land. Moses commanded Joshua to gather men to fight against them. This would be hand to hand combat that would require faith, obedience and perseverance. God gave them victory. Ex. 17:8-13

⁸Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. ⁹Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some men for us and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” ¹⁰So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. ¹¹Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed; and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. ¹²But Moses’ hands grew weary; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; so his hands were steady until the sun set. ¹³And Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the sword.

God gave the victory but he required the Israelites to fight the battle until the enemy was defeated. God’s goal was to completely remove the Amalekites because of their opposition to him. We will like the Israelites face opposition to God’s call on our lives. It is at this time that we will have to learn to depend on the Lord to fight for us and with us and we will need perseverance to continue until the enemy is defeated. When Israel entered the Promised Land they were to completely destroy the enemy because God knew that if they remained in the land they would be a persistent problem and draw the hearts of the people away from him.

One of the enemies of perseverance is contentment. Once Israel entered the Promised Land and began their conquest to possess the land they reached a point where they stopped fighting for what was promised to them and they became content with what they had. They stopped short of achieving everything God had promised to give them. Joshua reprimanded them for their lack of perseverance in obtaining all they could have. Joshua 18:2-3

²There remained among the Israelites seven tribes whose inheritance had not yet been apportioned. ³So Joshua said to the Israelites, “How long will you be slack about going in and taking possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you?

This is a challenge we all face. It is easy to become content where you are at and just hunker down and just continue with the status quo. We have to guard our hearts against this form of laziness that can easily creep into our lives and bring us to a stalemate in our pursuit of what God wants to give us. There must always be a drive within us to press on to achieve what God has for us. It requires perseverance on our part to motivate us to keep active in our pursuit of God’s plan for our lives. Paul had this drive that propelled him to keep moving forward with God. Philippians 3:13,14

¹³Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

Paul had a passion to know Christ in all his power and to experience the fellowship of his sufferings. He did not rest on any past accomplishments but continued to strain forward as a runner reaching for the finish line to win the race.

This should be our desire as well, to passionately pursue Christ and persevere in our efforts to carry out his work while we are on this earth. There must be a desire on our part for spiritual growth but also a desire to continue to seek for ways that we can carry out God’s desire to reach the nations through evangelism and discipleship.

John Shippam related a story to me of a church that was composed of many elderly people who had lost their passion for reaching people with the gospel. They were more concerned with their comfort that they were about reaching souls and discipling young people. They made a decision to release the youth pastor so they could use the money to build a ramp that would benefit the elderly. God help us to never reach that point in our lives where we are more concerned about our personal comfort and contentment than we are about reaching people with the gospel.

Another enemy of perseverance is delays and discouragement.

It happened in Southwest Asia in the 14th Century. The army of Asian conqueror Emperor Tamerlane (a descendant of Ghengis Khan) had been routed, dispersed by a powerful enemy. Tamerlane himself lay hidden in a deserted manger while enemy troops scoured the countryside.

As he lay there, desperate and dejected, Tamerlane watches an ant try to carry a grain of corn over a perpendicular wall. The kernel was larger than the ant itself. As the emperor counted, sixty-nine times the ant tried to carry it up the wall. Sixty-nine times he fell back. On the seventieth try he pushed the grain of corn over the top.

Tamerlane leaped to his feet with a shout! He, too, would triumph in the end! And he did, reorganizing his forces and putting the enemy to flight. (source:Bible study tools.com)

I think of the many missionaries who have labored for years in countries that are very resistant to the gospel message. William Carey labored for 7 years before he saw his first convert in India. Adoniram Judson labored for 8 years before seeing any results. Delays and discouragement can cause us to quit or they can propel us to stay faithful, become creative and trust God for the results. The nations of India and Burma (Myanmar) are indebted to two men who would not give up but persisted in their calling. Many missionaries today are laboring in countries that are very difficult to reach and their persistence and perseverance to stay faithful to their calling will produce results that they may or may not see in their lifetime. God is in control and he only asks that we be obedient to what he asks us to do. At times we get to see the fruit of our labor while other times we may see it only through the eyes of faith. We have to be persistent like the ant was and keep doing what we know we need to do.

Paul encouraged the church at Ephesus to persevere in prayer.

¹⁸Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. Eph. 6:18

Prayer is one of our greatest weapons yet for many people is seldom used with perseverance. We are challenged in Scriptures to “keep asking, keep knocking, keep seeking”. Paul is saying to all of us that we need to keep each other in our prayers, to keep praying for the needs of our brothers and sisters in Christ. Paul always asked for prayers to be offered for him and he offered prayers constantly for the churches he established and ministered to. Our prayer lives must have this dynamic of perseverance because our prayers accomplish God’s work. It is encouraging to hear people say to me that they are praying for me daily or almost every day. They are persevering in prayer on my behalf and I am grateful for it.

Tonight I want to encourage each of you to be persevering in our walk with the Lord. The easiest thing to do is to quit, give up, settle for second best, rest in our contentment, allow discouragement and delays to cause us to stop doing what we know we should do. Victory and success is the fruit of those who are willing to persist in spite of opposition and adversity. We are all facing challenges and we need to pray for each other. I want to take some time tonight to do that, to pray for each other that God will help us persevere in the battle until we see get the victory.

Whatever you are facing tonight, God wants you to know that He is fighting the battle for you and with you. He will accomplish his purposes in your life as you stay strong in your pursuit of him and preserver in the battle.

Integrity

2012-01-25T10:23:00.003-06:00

The news in the USA in recent days has been focused on Newt Gingrich and his past marital problems. He was accused by one of his wives of asking for an open marriage so he could get out of his marriage vows of fidelity to her. He denied this charge but it does bring up the issue of a value that is critical in everyone’s life and that is integrity.

The word integrity means:

1: firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values : incorruptibility

2: an unimpaired condition : soundness

3: the quality or state of being complete or undivided :completeness

God has provided examples for us in the scriptures of people who had this quality. Joseph the son of Jacob had many admirable qualities one of which was integrity. He grew up in home where his father did not model this core value and in fact Jacob’s name meant “supplanter, someone who supercedes another by force or treachery”. Perhaps he learned of how he took advantage of his brother’s weakness to steal his birth rite or the deception that he used to steal the blessing from him.

In spite of a bad example, Joseph demonstrated his integrity on several occasions and because he lived out this core value was brought into positions of responsibility and honor. Joseph had moral values that he would not compromise. He was a participant in the first Reality program called “Desperate Housewives”. Potiphar’s wife had no moral scruples and was constantly trying to seduce Joseph. Each time he refused her and this only caused her to continue her pursuit. We don’t know what she looked like but I assume she was an attractive woman based on her husband’s position and the beauty treatments known to be a part of the culture. She thought she could take advantage of Joseph’s situation being a young, single man who was away from home and seemingly very available. As much as she pleaded and tried to seduce him, he held firm to his moral integrity and would not give in to her.

Joseph was a man ruled by moral principles and not by carnal passions. He had a core value that is lacking in most of the world today where immorality is on the rise and the moral values that were once foundational in our cultures are being rewritten to accommodate sinful choices. A recent study of teenage pregnancy rates found that the USA has the highest rate of any developed country.

If ever there was a day when the value of integrity needed to be demonstrated it is today. Just as God told Cain,

Gen 4:7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it."

It is the same message that we need to hear today. We are all exposed to temptations and situations that will test the integrity of our heart. Joseph’s integrity placed God’s values and his relationship with God above the temptations of Potiphar’s wife. His reply to her attempt to seduce him was,

Gen 39:9 He [Potiphar] is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except yourself, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?"

Joseph recognized her desire for a relationship with him as great wickedness. It was not viewed by him as a small thing that would be between consenting adults with no one finding out. Joseph did not downplay it but saw it as it was as an affront to God’s nature and character. God’s standard of holiness and righteousness would be compromised and Joseph was unwilling to commit this act of sin. His first concern was for God and his relationship with Him. His second concern was for his relationship with Potiphar and the trust that had been built between them. He was unwilling to do something that he knew would break the bond of trust between them. The ramifications for this act would be great and Joseph had the foresight to see this.

The integrity of Joseph’s heart was stronger than the temptations presented to him on a daily basis. This is one of the tactics of the enemy to try to wear us down by the constant presentation of temptations in our lives. If we are not resisting we will eventually cave in to the demand. We have to learn to master sinful desires by living lives of integrity based on the Word of God. When we have the knowledge of the righteousness and holiness of God and we have the mindset to resist every temptation because we know what we should do and we see the consequences of destruction it will be easier for us to overcome sin.

We have to be on the alert because Satan will try to catch us at an opportune time. He is crouching at the door and when we open it he is there to present the temptation. We have to guard ourselves from opening doors we are not meant to open because we know they lead to temptation and destruction. Satan does not open the door, we do.

Job’s integrity was tested when he went through the trial of physical affliction of sores breaking out all over his body. He must have been a horrible sight such that his wife thought it would be better to die than go through the suffering. Her comment to him was:

Job 2:9 Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die."

Job was unwilling to compromise his integrity to be relieved of physical pain. He could not entertain the thought of cursing God for the situation he was in even though he did not understand why this was happening to him.

When things go wrong in our lives we can be tempted to blame God and turn away from Him. God gets accused of many things that happen in life that are not his fault. In these trying times our character is revealed and we are tested to see how we will respond. Will we give in or will we stand upon our integrity.

In the story of Louis Zamperini in the book, “Unbroken” he was put to a test that revealed his integrity. Louis was severely beaten everyday by one of the head guards in the Prisoner of War camp in Japan during WWII. This guy was without mercy and how Louis survived these sadistic beatings is a miracle. Not only was he beaten daily but all of the prisoners were fed very sparingly. The food that was sent to them by the Red Cross was stolen by the soldiers who worked at the P.O.W. camp. Malnutrition and dysentery were a constant problem among the captives. One day Louis was brought to another city where the Japanese produced radio propaganda programs to provide misinformation to anyone listening. However, with Louis they allowed him to announce that he was alive and was doing well. Prior to this, he was declared missing in action and mostly likely dead so the opportunity to make this announcement that he was alive would be the first time anyone in the USA would find out his status. Later Louis was called in to make another announcement that was written on a piece of paper. After reading it he realized that the Japanese where trying to use him to state lies about what was happening and he refused to do it. The officials told him if he would cooperate he would not have to return to the camp but could live at this site and have a very comfortable living. He would have his own bed with a mattress, three good meals every day, a bathroom and shower among other amenities. When you consider what life was like in the P.O.W. camp for most people it would have been easy to give in and take up the offer. Certainly people would understand and be forgiving when they found out the conditions he faced daily. But Louis held firm in his integrity that he would not betray his country and cooperate in spreading lies to deceive people. The officials again presented their offer and he again refused. When they opened the door of one of the rooms, he saw several soldiers from different countries sitting in comfortable chairs. These men had all given in to the Japanese and were cooperating with them by making the announcements. Louis said that when the men saw him they immediately cast their eyes to the ground and would not look at him. They felt guilty for what they were doing and were not living according to the integrity of their heart.

For Louis the integrity of his heart could not even consider this option and it was inconceivable to him that these men could make this decision to cooperate with the enemy. The same thing must apply in our lives. When we give in to sin we are cooperating with the devil and fulfilling his plans of destruction. Like Joseph we have to be able to say, “how could I do this?”

Last night we were out on the streets talking with the homeless and providing a little food for them. I talked with a couple of the men who stated they were Christians and had accepted Christ as their Savior. Yet their lives were bound up in addictions because of choices they make each day. I encouraged one of the men to resist the temptation to take drugs on a moment by moment basis. It is easy to give in especially when your body is craving for a drug but as we take a stand and cry out to God when can overcome with the strength God provides. I talked to this man about how when we give in to temptation we are not living a life that is pleasing to God and we are siding with Satan’s plan to destroy us. Some of these men will need to be placed in treatment to get them to the point where the drug is not driving their behavior and they will have the freedom of their will to resist. Others who are not addicted have to make the decision to resist on a moment by moment basis and live according to the integrity of their heart and not the demands of the flesh for gratification.

When you read about King David in the Psalms he often refers to living according to the integrity of his heart. Yes, David had his moral failure with the incident with Bathsheba and Uriah. He was confronted by Nathan the prophet and he made his heart right with God.

But David also lived according to the integrity of his heart.

Psa_101:2 I will ponder the way that is blameless. Oh when will you come to me? I will walk with integrity of heart within my house;

He gave thought to the way that was blameless. His heart’s desire was to do what was right in the sight of God. When we live with integrity we focus on what is going to be pleasing to God. We evaluate our plans and actions in advance to make sure they line up with God’s righteousness and holiness.

David understood the value of walking in integrity.

Psa_25:21 May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you.

He would wait for God to preserve him and not act rashly and do something against the moral values he had.

These values were inculcated in David’s life to the degree that he asked God to judge him according to the integrity of his heart.

Psa_7:8 The LORD judges the peoples; judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me.

David knew that if he were to be judged by his integrity he would be found not guilty because he was living a righteous life. Few of us can probably make that same claim or desire to be judged by our own integrity. We all too often do not live up to what we know to be God’s standards. I do not think David was being boastful but rather he was a man after God’s heart seeking to live according to God’s standards of righteousness.

Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived saw the benefits of walking in integrity.

1. Wisdom and protection

Pro_2:7 he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,

We can expect God to provide wisdom to us when we are walking in integrity. The communication link with God will not be hindered by sin and we can walk in the assurance that God will give us the wisdom we need. God shields us from making wrong decisions because we are walking in the integrity of our heart. The protection is in knowing what we should do or how we should respond.

2. Security

Pro_2:21 For the upright will inhabit the land, and those with integrity will remain in it,

Pro_10:9 Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out.

One of the issues that illegal immigrants face is whether they will be able to stay in the land or be deported. They cannot walk securely because they are constantly looking over their shoulder to see who is following them. The stress of living like this will take its toil. Another thing that happens to them is they are exploited by people who know the fears they have and the problems they encounter. My friend is a detective and he has many stories of illegal immigrants being robbed and exploited but because they are illegal. When they are victimized, they do not want to report it for fear of deportation. Once we start walking outside of what we know is right, we open ourselves to a host of other problems that will complicate our lives.

Chuck Swindoll in his book “Growing Deep in the Christian Life p. 159-160 gives this example of a man who walked in integrity and dishonesty at the same time.

Several years ago, in Long Beach, California, a fellow went into a fried chicken place and bought a couple of chicken dinners for himself and his date late one afternoon. The young woman at the counter inadvertently gave him the proceeds from the day-a whole bag of money (much of it cash) instead of fried chicken. After driving to their picnic site, the two of them sat down to open the meal and enjoy some chicken together. They discovered a whole lot more than chicken--over $800! But he was unusual. He quickly put the money back in the bag. They got back into the car and drove all the way back. Mr. Clean got out, walked in, and became an instant hero. By then the manager was frantic. The guy with the bag of money looked the manager in the eye and said, "I want you to know I came by to get a couple of chicken dinners and wound up with all this money. Here." Well, the manager was thrilled to death. He said, "Oh, great, let me call the newspaper. I'm gonna have your picture put in the local newspaper. You're the most honest man I've heard of." To which they guy quickly responded, "Oh no, no, don't do that!" Then he leaned closer and whispered, "You see, the woman I'm with is not my wife...she's uh, somebody else's wife."

3. Internal guidance system

Pro_11:3 The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.

Integrity is the moral compass within us. God has given us a conscience that if it is trained properly will guide us in making right decisions. He has also given us his Word and the Holy Spirit to show us what to do. In times of temptation we can rely on our integrity to guide us in making the right decision. It is the filter through which we can judge things.

In his book Integrity, Ted Engstrom told his story: "For Coach Cleveland Stroud and the Bulldogs of Rockdale County High School (Conyers, Georgia), it was their championship season: 21 wins and 5 losses on the way to the Georgia boys' basketball tournament last March, then a dramatic come-from-behind victory in the state finals. "But now the new glass trophy case outside the high school gymnasium is bare. Earlier this month the Georgia High School Association deprived Rockdale County of the championship after school officials said that a player who was scholastically ineligible had played 45 seconds in the first of the school's five postseason games. 'We didn't know he was ineligible at the time; we didn't know it until a few weeks ago,' Mr. Stroud said. 'Some people have said we should have just kept quiet about it, that it was just 45 seconds and the player wasn't an impact player. But you've got to do what's honest and right and what the rules say. I told my team that people forget the scores of basketball games; they don't ever forget what you're made of.'

4. Blessings passed down to his children.

Pro_20:7 The righteous who walks in his integrity-- blessed are his children after him!

One of the greatest blessing we can give our children is the example of someone who lived a life of integrity. Family histories reveal the power of lives of integrity as well as the lives that have been lived in sin. We have a tremendous amount of influence in the lives of our children and this can never be taken lightly. Jonathan Edwards, one of the greatest evangelists in America and his wife were godly people who left a legacy of the power of walking in integrity.

“The legacy left by the Edwards family demonstrates the effect of a gospel-centered home. Over four hundred descendants of Jonathan and Sarah Edwards have been traced. Of these, fourteen became college presidents, roughly one hundred became professors, another one hundred ministers, and about the same number became lawyers or judges. Nearly sixty became doctors, and others were authors or editors.”

(Alvin Reid: http://alvinreid.com/archives/199)

5. Deliverance

Pro_28:18 Whoever walks in integrity will be delivered, but he who is crooked in his ways will suddenly fall.

When we walk in integrity, God will be with us and deliver us. He defends those whose hearts are right with him and even in times when we are perhaps ignorant or lack knowledge of certain dangers, he will come to our rescue.

One of the saddest and scariest stories I've ever heard was about a young evangelist. He was just barely 21, on fire for God, effective in his preaching and soul-winning, and in great demand from local churches. He had preached several large crusades and was soon invited to an area-wide effort at which he would be the main speaker. Though he was not yet even out of college, he was a protégé of international evangelist, Sammy Tippit, and was admired and considered wise. Though he didn't have a steady girlfriend, he dated regularly at Bible college. Spiritually he was alert and mature. He was, however, naive. The first night of the crusade he headed up the counseling ministry in a large room near the pastor's study. A beautiful teen-ager asked if she could speak with him personally. He tried to assign her to someone else, but when she persisted, he agreed for her to wait until he was finished with the others. More than an hour after the meeting had ended, the rest of the counselors and counselees had left, and he was alone with the young girl. A few minutes later she burst from the room, screaming, "He made a pass at me! He wanted to make love to me!" That very night the pastor of the host church and a small group of the crusade planners confronted the young preacher and demanded an explanation. He denied the girl's charge but had no witnesses. The girl had seemed an upstanding young woman in the church, and there was no reason to disbelieve her story.

"What did happen in that room?" the pastor demanded. "To tell you that would to be to make an accusation behind someone's back," he said. "Which is what happened to me. I ask only that I be allowed to face my accuser." The pastor and the others canceled the rest of the crusade and agreed that the young woman should be asked to face the preacher in their presence. Two nights later she showed up with her parents at a private board meeting. The pastor asked if she would care to speak about her charges against the preacher. "She has already said all she has to say, "her father said sternly, her mother nodding and glaring at the accused. "Would you, son care to share your version of what happened in that room the other night?" "No, sir," the evangelist said. "I see no future in that. Only she and I know the truth, and I cannot defend myself. I'd just like to say this to her. Cindy, you know what happened and what didn't happen in that room. If you don't tell the truth, I will be branded and may never preach again. This will damage my reputation and that of this church, and even that of God. If I did what you say I did, I deserve no better, but we both know that is not the truth. I'm begging you in the name of Christ to set the record straight." The silence hung heavy as the board and her parents watched her face contort into a grimace before the tears began to flow. "I lied," she said quietly. "I'm sorry. I lied. He didn't make a pass at me; I made a pass at him. When he turned me down I was so embarrassed and ashamed and angry that I made up that story. I'm so sorry!" (Jerry Jenkins, Hedges, 1989, Wolgemuth & Hyatt, pp 76-78.)

Living with a clean conscience is invaluable. We may deceive others but we will not deceive God or ourselves.

We are all tempted daily and no one is perfect. We fall and fail to live lives of integrity but we have a Savior who extends forgiveness if we are willing to confess our faults and take responsibility for our sin.

As missionaries we are held to a higher standard and that is only right. We represent Christ and our lives must be lived in a way that there is not a disconnect between what we teach and what we do. If there was one group of people that Jesus came down hard on it was the Scribes and Pharisees who claimed to be living righteous lives but in reality were not practicing what they preached. In Jesus’ terms they were “hypocrites, blind guides, blind fools, blind men, whitewashed tombs, snakes, vipers.” Certainly not terms of endearment for people who thought they had everything right.

We live in a culture that has a great deal of dishonesty and disrespect for laws and Biblical morality. We are not here to point the finger but show by example and through instruction in the Word of God, what it means to walk in the integrity of our heart. We are all aware of situations where people who claim to be Christians are not living with integrity. My friend Pastor Antonio has a church in San Pablo La Laguna. One family that formerly attended his church has a father who has and continues to sexually abuse his daughter who is now in her early 20s. He has violated her since she was young and has had 2 children born through her. The father has recently bought a larger bed so his wife can sleep on one side of him and his daughter on the other. When Antonio began to teach the people about marriage and fidelity to your wife, the dad stopped coming to church. It is a sick situation and I pray that this father will start living according to the moral principles of God’s Word.

We have a great challenge but also a great opportunity to be a force of righteousness through living lives of integrity. Our lives should demonstrate the benefits and blessings of walking in integrity. If you are struggling to walk in the integrity of your heart do yourself and every other missionary a favor to seek help and if need be leave the mission field to get your life in order. If you know someone who is struggling and not receiving help, reach out to them and provide guidance for them to help restore them. The enemy is crouching and we are his target. We have to guard each other and admonish each other to live in integrity so our ministries will be effective and not be discredited.

Follow me...

2012-01-10T13:07:00.003-06:00

What doe it mean to be a follower of Jesus? Some people prefer to not use the term “Christian” but rather “Christ follower” because of the bad name some have given the term “Christian.” I am reading a book called, “Tea with Hezbollah” and one of the disturbing things mentioned in the book is the behavior of a group of Christian in Lebanon during the war in 1982. They invaded homes of Muslims and raped and killed thousands of people. For many people the name “Christian” has a horrible significance. The same thing could happen to people who call themselves “Christ followers” should a segment of this group commit acts that will label them as evil.

What we call ourselves has meaning but the most important thing is how we live our lives as followers of Christ. As we begin a New Year, I want to challenge each of us to live as true followers of Christ. I want to look at some scriptures that talk about being a follower and what that means to each of us.

Mat 4:18-22 While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Personal

When Jesus launched his ministry, he personally called people to follow Him. He came to each of them and personally gave them an invitation to follow him. Jesus was invited them to a close, personal relationship with him. Jesus cares about each one of us and his invitation is extended to all. He is not a discriminator of persons, everyone is equal before him. He chose common, ordinary men to follow him. He desires our friendship. He is every bit as much personal as we are. For many people this is a difficult concept to understand. “God with us…Immanuel”. Each of us must have a personal encounter with Jesus in which we respond to his call to follow him.

Compelling

We are not sure how much the disciples knew about Jesus at this time but evidently they knew enough that they were willing to leave their profession and family to follow him. The Jews had been waiting for thousands of years for the Promised Messiah and when Christ began his ministry and announced to these men that they should leave all to follow him they left it all behind to follow him. Perhaps they followed him with wrong motivations based on lack of understanding of what the Messiah would do when he came but nonetheless they followed him.

There is something about the call of God on each of our lives that must be as compelling as what the disciples felt. Jesus does not call us to “try him” but to “trust him” and follow him. A.W. Tozar said that we have to make the call a challenge to the people. If it is made to be an easy thing in his experience people left the faith easily. The call is to abandon it all to follow him.

“As is”

Christ comes to us just as we are and invites us to join him in the work he wants to accomplish in us and through us on the earth. He did not wait for the disciples to make themselves better or more worthy. One of the things I encountered in Haiti is that some of the people felt unworthy to come to Christ as they were. They felt that they had to take care of some things before they would be acceptable to him. We can never make ourselves good enough to be acceptable to God in our own righteousness. We all come as equal sinners unable to do anything that can meet God’s standards of holiness and righteousness. We have to come to him in humility just as we are. God is happy to take us “as is”. If you have ever bought a car “as is” you know that there are no guarantees because the car has issues. In buying it you accept the fact that you will need to fix and repair it. Jesus takes us just as we are with full knowledge that we need fixing and he is happy to take us because he know exactly what we need.

Purpose

Jesus had a purpose in calling people to follow him. He promised to make them become “fishers of men.” I am sure that they had no understanding of what this would mean at the time of the calling. The disciples seemed to not understand much of what Jesus said to them until after the Holy Spirit was given to them and he taught them what Jesus’ words meant.

Jesus is in the people business and he wants to teach us how to reach people and bring them to him so he can fix them. He wants to use each one of us to bring people to him. Sadly very few people actively share their faith. One statistic regarding evangelism is that 95% of N. American Christians have never personally shared their faith. Fishermen know that fish do not normally jump in the boat. They have to go to where the fish are and have a strategy to catch them. This is our mission, our life work to bring people to Jesus and allow him to change them to become like him.

Adventure

Jesus called these men to a life of adventure. They did not know what they were getting into but history records what they experienced during their time with Christ and after his ascension into heaven. The disciples saw miracles of healings, multiplication of food, supernatural events like walking on water and changing water into wine, resurrection of dead people and hearing the audible voice of God just to name a few. They also experienced difficult times like being beaten, stoned, imprisoned, shipwrecked, abandoned and financial challenges. Yet through it all God was faithful to bring them through every trial. Following Christ will bring us to places and people we never thought possible. Life with God is never boring and if it seems that way to you then you really don’t know him. To me this is the greatest of all adventures is knowing God. Discovering God’s character and nature is something that we will experience throughout eternity. When we respond to become a follower of Christ we enter into a new life that has its entire focus on being obedient to what Christ asks of us. Christ himself becomes the only one that can bring true satisfaction to life. Knowing him becomes our greatest joy and brings the greatest satisfaction in life.

Priority

When Christ calls us, he must become the priority of our life. He does not want to be something we add to our life; he wants to become our life. Many people who call themselves followers today live compartmentalized lives in which Christ is really only a part of their life. He wants to be our life!

To follow him means we must leave behind anything that will be a hindrance. These disciples left behind their business to be able to dedicate their complete lives to following Christ. It was not that their profession was evil but the call of Christ was to leave it all behind because he had something more important for them to learn and do. He wants us to willingly lay down anything that is a hindrance so we can experience his best and his fullness in this life. For many people is will mean separating themselves from people who will not be in agreement with their decision. It may be breaking off of a relationship that you know is going in the wrong direction. It may mean selling all to follow him.

Costly

As Christ was preparing his disciples for his eminent death he spoke some very challenging words.

Mat 16:21-26 From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, "Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you." But he turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man." Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?

To be a follower of Christ is costly. Peter did not understand things from a spiritual viewpoint. He interpreted from his human perspective when he rebuked Jesus for his prediction of his death. Peter wanted to preserve Christ’s life but Christ’s purpose in coming to earth was to give his life as a ransom for our sins. The challenge Jesus gave to his disciples was that they too must be willing to deny themselves and their human reasoning, take up their cross which meant experiencing a cruel death reserved for the most vile criminals and follow him. Being a follower of Christ means that we view things from an eternal perspective and make decisions based on it. It means we are willing to die as Christ died for a cause that is greater. The disciples would face death in the future, a form of death that was cruel. When Christ called his disciples to follow him, he made it very clear that it was not going to be easy but it would be rewarding. In losing their lives they would find true life. We have many examples today of believers who are being persecuted for their faith. They are being tortured, their homes and churches destroyed, they are denied work and suffer discrimination for their faith in Christ. As followers we must be willing to accept this to prepare us for a time when we may experience it. Self-denial and suffering are part of the call to be a true follower of Christ. We must be willing to pay the cost of being a disciple just as Christ was willing to pay the price for our salvation.

Rewarding

Mar 10:28-30 Peter began to say to him, "See, we have left everything and followed you." Jesus said, "Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.

At one point in Jesus’ ministry, Peter responded that they had left all to follow Jesus. Peter had placed his all on the altar to follow Jesus. I love the reply that Jesus gave to Peter when he said that those who truly have left all to follow him will receive 100 times more of the things people value most in this life and also would receive more in the life to come. Yes it is costly to follow Jesus but it is also rewarding. What we lay down for him, he gives back to us in a different way. When we become followers of Christ a whole new world is open to us in the Body of Christ. I have been blessed by the Body of Christ not only here in the USA but also in the other countries I have been able to visit and minister. There is something about the hospitality of the family of God that is a huge blessing to me and many who have traveled. God takes care of his children and he uses his wonderful family to do it. The rich young ruler was unwilling to depart with his possessions to follow Christ. He overestimated the value of his possessions and underestimated the riches that are only found in following Christ wholeheartedly. It is not what you own that is important; it is who owns you that really matters. When Christ takes control of our lives, we begin to experiences the tremendous riches he has for us.

What is your ambition?

As we begin a New Year, I pray that each of us will be obedient to follow Christ where he leads us. He has new adventures for each of us in this journey of faith. There is much to do to fulfill his desire that all men will have the opportunity to hear the gospel. There is much to do as we labor to make disciples of those who have placed their faith in Christ. There is much to do to reach out and meet the needs of people who are suffering, being abused and exploited, experiencing hardships and trials, persecution and the challenges of overcoming poverty. Perhaps this year Christ will lead you into a new arena of faith to meet the needs of people around you or people in another country. There is always more to do and as Paul wrote in Romans it was his ambition to go to Spain to preach the gospel.

Rom_15:20 and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation,

He had accomplished many things in his life but there was still more to do. As a follower of Christ what will be your ambition in this New Year?

I want to close with a story that has and continues to impact my life. It is the story of Father Damien. He was a priest in the Catholic Church who gave his life to minister to a group of lepers on the island of Molokai in Hawaii. When the need was presented to the group of priest serving in Hawaii to go to the island of lepers, Father Damien and three other priests volunteered to go and live among the people to minister the love of Christ to them. Originally he was to serve only 3 months and then be replaced by the other priests. He was the first one sent out and after a short time he told his superior that the people needed someone to be there all the time with them and he was willing to be that person. He was told before going to the island that he was not to touch the people lest he get leprosy. He found this impossible to do. How can you love someone without touching them? Father Damien build homes for the people, attended to their medical needs as much as he was able, ministered to their spiritual needs, built coffins and buried them. He gave his all to the people and in doing so contracted leprosy after spending 12 years with them. He died 3 years after contracting leprosy. The people in the leper colony wanted him buried on the island where they lived but his home country of Belgium also wanted him buried there as he became a hero for his sacrificial love. His body was taken to Belgium but at the request of the people of Molokai his right arm and hand were brought back to be buried on the island. It was his hands and arms that embraced them, loved them and served them for the 15 years he was with them.

Each of us has the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of other people and as we truly follow Christ, he will provide those opportunities and give us the ability to do what he has called us to do. We are called to be fishers of men and to demonstrate the love of Christ to fallen humanity.

What will be your ambition this year as you follow Christ? What has he placed in your heart to do that will be different this year? He has something for each one of us and we must be willing to follow him wherever he leads at whatever cost.

The Humility of Christ

2011-12-22T13:52:00.002-06:00

This past week Christopher Hitchens, a prominent atheist, died of cancer at the age of 62. Many people prayed for him but he told them to not waste their time. He stated there would be no death bed conversion at least while he was conscious.

In an article in the Christian Post, Sep 07, 2010, it reported:

With less than two weeks before “Everybody Pray for Hitchens Day,” cancer-stricken Christopher Hitchens is encouraging believers to hold off on praying for him.

“I don’t mean to be churlish about any kind intentions, but when September 20 comes, please do not trouble deaf heaven with your bootless cries,” the atheist author wrote in a first-person article for Vanity Fair’s October 2010 issue.

“Unless, of course, it makes you feel better,” he added, echoing a past comment.

For Hitchens there was not enough proof to convince him that God exits and that Jesus was anything more than a mere man.

It is sad to read about his death but even more tragic that he never knew the love of God that was demonstrated in sending of His Son Jesus to the earth. I am sure that Hitchens heard more about God than the average person as he debated many people and wrote many books against belief in God. He died in unbelief having had many opportunities to hear the truth of the gospel. God has given man a free will because he does not want to force us to love him but make a choice to love Him. There is no freedom if we have no choices. Though Hitchens made the wrong choices about his beliefs in God, he was free to make them and was willing to accept the consequences of his beliefs.

As we prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ, I cannot help but think of the humility of Christ, who left the glory and splendor of heaven to come to earth. Nothing we could ever do to change our living conditions could ever compare to what Christ did in humbling himself to come to earth. As bad as slums of India or Haiti are to live in after you have lived in a beautiful home cannot compare to the change in conditions that Jesus was willing to accept in becoming a human being. No other religion has a god who humbles himself to become a man like Jesus did.

His birthing room was a far cry from what most people experienced even during the time of his birth. A dirty manger filled with animal excrement and strong unpleasant odors was not a place for a King to be born. When Mary Queen of Scots gave birth to her son who would become King James, she gave birth to him in a room that had gold all over the ceiling. There were security guards in the room to ensure that the baby would not be taken and exchanged for another baby. The royal lineage had to be preserved and given special treatment. Yet Christ who was destined to the King Eternal was not afforded anything more than a filthy manger for his birth.

His first visitors were not people of royalty or of any importance in the eyes of the world. They were lowly shepherds, people who were despised for their occupation and would probably have been an embarrassment for anyone if they appeared unannounced and uninvited to visit. Yet God valued them and sent the angel to them to be the first to hear of the birth of the Savior of the world. They were thrilled to be visited by an angel and have the opportunity to see the long awaited Messiah. Can you image how they must have felt when they came to the manger and no one but them was there to celebrate the birth. Perhaps it may have seemed odd to them but also what an honor it was for them to be invited to see the King. God exalts the humble and humbles those who want to be exalted and are full of pride. We have to come to God in humility just as he humbled himself. We come to him on his terms, not demanding that he meet our terms before we will accept him. Those who are proud and will not humble themselves will never know God. The humble shepherds believed the message of the angel, they did not ask for more proof before they would believe. They were rewarded for their faith and obedience by being the first to see Jesus. God honors humility, faith and obedience. The proud will never be able to know and enjoy a relationship with God because they are demanding something of him that he is not obligated to give. God has already revealed himself in creation, He has revealed himself in Christ and now we have his written word that also reveals his nature, character, his works, his ways and his plan of salvation for all who will believe. Christ is alive today, seated at the right hand of God and he is alive in his people who have accepted his sacrifice for sins and given him Lordship of their lives. We who believe are now his ambassadors because Christ now dwells in us. We also are God’s messengers to the world.

The humble God after his birth had to flee with his parents to Egypt to spare his life. He was an exile and immigrant and was forced to live in a foreign country for two years before it was safe for him to return. Though he was just a toddler, he was still God in the flesh. How odd for God to flee for his life. The Creator of the Universe and all of life to have to be running for safety! Again we see the humility of God. He could have zapped Herod and taken him out to spare his Son but he chose to allow him to become an immigrant. I am not sure how they were received as extranjeros in Egypt but there were thousands of Jews living in the country and they must have found people to live with and help them make the adjustments to life in another country.

The humble God grew up in a humble home with his earthly father working as a carpenter. No one would ever suspect him of being anything or anyone important based on the status of his father Joseph. One would think that a future King and Messiah would have at least been born into a family whose father was a priest of religious leader of the Jews. God humbled himself by being raised in a common and ordinary family so as to not draw attention to himself.

When Jesus embarked on his ministry, his own family did not understand him. Neither did the public recognize him as anything other than the “son of Mary” which was a term given to a child who did not know who his father was. How humiliating it must have been for Jesus to be labeled in this way. Jesus humbled himself and submitted to his Father in everything he did. His teaching were not his own but what his Father had revealed to him. He lived a very humble life, not even having a place to lay his head. He endured the mocking of the religious leaders, was falsely accused and unfairly tried and sentenced to death. He was beaten beyond recognition and stripped naked as he hung on a cross that was a form of punishment reserved for the worst criminals. How much more could one be humbled than what Jesus experienced?

Why did God chose to come to earth in great humility? I believe he came this way to show us the depth of his love for us and his willingness to stoop to the lowest level to reach every person of every social and economic status. No one can accuse God of being a respecter of persons, one who is prejudiced against one group or another, one who is not concerned about all people. He came in humility to show us as well how we also must come to him. His humility is the example we must be willing to follow if we want to come to him on his terms. Pride is the sin that caused Lucifer to rebel against God and be thrown out of heaven. Pride is the sin that will keep us from receiving Christ as Lord and Savior. Those who reject him do so in pride, believing that they know more or are too proud to submit themselves to the truth that God has revealed to them. They will be without excuse on judgment day, there will be ample evidence against them but the greatest evidence will be the appearing of Christ himself. Every knee will bow before him but for many it will be too late.

No one but God knows the eternal destiny of Christopher Hitchens. We would hope that before he died he had an opportunity to repent and be forgiven. God’s desire is that today be the day of salvation for all who are willing to humble themselves and confess that Jesus is Lord. He does not want any to perish to eternal hell but has given man the freedom to accept or reject his Son.

God will not always strive with an unbelieving person. There will come a day when there will be no more opportunity for repentance. A friend of mine is a pastor and one night he received a call from a lady who needed prayer. It was 11 p.m. but he and his wife traveled for 25 minutes in their car to visit and pray for her. The husband of the lady was a witch doctor and had caused many problems in the family. As the pastor was praying for the lady, the Lord spoke to him in his native language and told him to tell her husband that today was the day he needed to repent and reconcile his relationship with God. The pastor communicated this message to the witch doctor but it did not faze him. He refused to surrender his life to Christ and be reconciled to God. The pastor and his wife continued to pray for him and his wife for a while longer. The Lord again spoke to the pastor and told him that this would be his last opportunity to reconcile with God. If he did not do it, he would die that night. The pastor again told the husband this message and told him that he needed to prepare his family for his death if he refused to repent of his sin. This man again refused to humble himself and repent. The pastor prayed some more for him and then the Lord told him he had done what he asked him to do and he could return home with his wife. On his way home he received a phone call from the wife and she told him that her husband was dead.

God will not be mocked. Those who defiantly reject him and side with the devil as this witch doctor had done will be judged. Yet God in his mercy sent the pastor to share the gospel and give the warnings. He did not have to do this but because of his love he sent the pastor to share the message. If you are one who has constantly rejected the gospel message, please take note of this story and realize that you too are on a road that will lead to death and judgment which will result in eternally living in a place that was created for Satan and the fallen angels. It will not be a pleasant place but will be one of torment. Jesus spoke very clearly about hell and what it will be like. You may not want to believe that such a place exists but it does not negate the fact that it does exist and it will be your final destination.

We have been created by God for the purpose of bringing glory to him. He is a holy God and sin cannot be in his presence. Sin entered the world through the decision of Adam and Eve to believe a lie of the devil and every human being has made the same decision and is guilty of sinning against God. But God in his great love for us, sent Jesus to take care of the sin problem and make possible a way for us to be reconciled to him and be able to enjoy an intimate and eternal relationship with God. If we reject what God has done for us, how he humbled himself to become a man to die for us and be the sacrifice for our sin, the only just judgment against us is to be rejected by God because we have rejected Him. This is not God’s desire but it is the consequence that we will face if we reject him because of our pride.

Don’t waste another minute of your life living for yourself, rejecting Jesus because of your pride. Humble yourself under the hand of God and he will exalt you. He will save you from your sin and give you a life that will be filled with his presence, his joy, his love, his mercy and his grace. What will you gain by holding on to your beliefs? What benefit will you receive that can compare to what God has prepared for those who love him? Rejecting God is your choice but when you realize what you are accepting and what you will not be receiving, to me it is a very foolish and selfish choice. Jesus said this, “What will a man gain if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul.” What will you give in exchange for your soul? Money, fame, success, drugs, sex, position, power? These will all pass away and all you will have left after you leave this earth is your soul that you exchanged for temporal things rather than eternal things. In the end, the truth will be revealed to those who rejected it and they will go to the place of their choosing to spend eternity living as they lived life on earth, separated from a God who loved them and desired only the best for them.

The Jesus I never knew

2011-12-17T08:27:00.002-06:00

Phillip Yancey has written a book entitled, “The Jesus I never knew.”

There are many people who have a wrong understanding of who Jesus is and as a result have rejected him or are not surrendering their lives to him but are following after their own desires. I was reading the Revelation of Jesus Christ written by the Apostle John who was banished to the island of Patmos because of his testimony of Jesus. John got caught up in the Spirit and was given a revelation of Jesus whom he knew in the flesh while he lived on earth but in his vision had a different view of Christ in all of his glory.

John had the privilege of living with Jesus for 3 years. He saw Jesus in his humanity, how he hungered, was thirsty, got tired from walking, wept at Lazarus’ death and was called the son of Mary which described him as an illegitimate child whose father was unknown. John saw Jesus as fully human but he also saw how he yielded himself in obedience to his heavenly father and broke the laws of nature bringing healing to the blind, deaf, lame, sick, demon possessed and raising people from the dead. Jesus set aside his divinity to take on flesh and live in obedience to his heavenly Father. John was an eye witness to the miracles of Jesus, his death and resurrection. He left everything to be a follower of Jesus and spent his life proclaiming the gospel message and conveying the messages that Jesus taught.

The last image John had of Jesus was when he ascended into heaven. But now as he was banished to Patmos, he had a revelation of a glorified Jesus he had never seen or known before. John saw Jesus as he is today.

We need to see Jesus as John saw him, especially during this time of year when we focus on his birth. For some people Jesus was simply a human being, no different than you or I. He was a baby in a manger, lived as a human being and did many good things. To others he is viewed as one sent from God as a prophet or teacher but not a Messiah or Savior of the world.

When John was caught up in the Spirit, he saw and heard Jesus in a completely different realm than he had ever known before. .

John describes Jesus initially in terms of how he knew him during his ministry and after his resurrection. He called him, “the faithful witness, the first born of the dead, the ruler of the kings on earth.” Rev. 1:5

Then he describes what Christ has done for us.

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood

Rev 1:6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Then he describes what will happen when he returns as he had promised.

Rev 1:7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

A day is coming when there will be great celebration of his return for those who have recognized Jesus as Messiah but it will also be a day when those from every tribe of people who rejected him will wail and beat their chest when they realize they were wrong in their beliefs about him.

Rev 1:10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet

Rev 1:11 saying, "Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea."

Rev 1:12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands,

Rev 1:13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest.

Rev 1:14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire,

Rev 1:15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters.

Rev 1:16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.

Rev 1:17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead.

John saw Jesus in his glorified body that I am sure was difficult for him to describe. He saw a powerful being and his only response was to fall to the ground in worship. This is the reaction we all must have toward Jesus. He alone is worthy to be worshipped. He is the Holy One, the Righteous One, the only one worthy of praise.

I was listening to a message called “Ten shekels and a shirt” by Paris Reidhead which is a classic message that I recommend to each of you. The message included stories of the evangelists George Whitefield and John Wesley. These men had a tremendous respect for the holiness of God and the horribleness of our sinful state. They cried out against sin because they saw how much God hated it because of what it has done to the relationship he originally intended and still desires to have with his creation. They did not take sin lightly but preached with great passion to stir the hearts of men to see themselves in their sinful state and turn to God for salvation. I don’t know how well their message would be received today in a culture that is afraid of the word sin and views it as a hate crime when it is used against certain sinful behaviors.

Whitefield preached to a crowd of 20 thousand people at Boston Commons. He told the people “you are monsters, monsters of iniquity, you deserve hell. The worst of your crimes as criminal as you have been is that you have not had the good grace to see it. If you will not weep for your sins and your crimes against a holy God, George Whitefield will weep for you.” He would put his head in his arms and weep like a baby not because they were in danger of hell but because they were monsters of iniquity that did not see their crime.

John Wesley was a preacher of the righteousness and holiness of God, and when he would stand and preach for 2 to 3 hours as he was accustomed to in the open air and he would exalt the holiness of God and the law of God and the justice of God and the wisdom of his requirements and the justice of his wrath and his anger. Then he would turn to sinners and tell them about the enormity of their crimes and open rebellion, their treason and their anarchy, the power of God would so descend the company that on one occasion that has been reliably reported that when the crowd dispersed, 1800 people were lying on the ground utterly unconscious because they had a revelation of the holiness of God and they had seen the enormity of their sin. God had so penetrated their minds and hearts that they had fallen to the ground.

I think at times we are guilty of presenting a Santa Claus God who gives people what they need and we do not emphasize the holiness of God and our rebellion against Him. God deserves to be glorified and only a redeemed person who has truly repented from their sin can bring glory to Him. Our passion must be to bring God glory and honor that He alone deserves. His true character and nature must be proclaimed to a world that does not know him or His Son, Jesus.

The Moravians sent hundreds of missionaries to unreached parts of the world. When they sent them out they stated, “May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of his suffering.” The reward is worshippers who will bring glory to God through their repentance and lives that honor his holiness and righteousness.

John had a revelation of Jesus that caused him to bow before his holiness.

This is the Jesus I believe that all will see when he returns and every knee will bow before him and acknowledge that he is Lord. This is the Jesus we need to proclaim to the world. A Jesus who is alive, who is all powerful, who is full of love, who conquered death and is in control of the destiny of the world. He is actively involved in the lives of those who have surrendered to his Lordship and he is coming again.

As we prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ we need to remember that there are 2 billion people who have never heard of Jesus nor had the opportunity to hear the gospel message proclaimed. They need a revelation of Jesus in his holiness and righteousness in order that they too can repent and surrender their lives to God and bring glory to His name.

The Joshua Project has compiled these statistics regarding the people who have yet to hear the gospel.

A Church for every People Group

Global Total 16,600

Unreached / Least Reached 6,900

The Gospel to the Ends of the Earth

True Believers 10%

Nominal Adherents 20%

Heard, no response 40%

Virtually no exposure 30%

God is using all forms of technology to reach the unreached world. He is revealing Jesus to a world that is losing hope and is mired in sin. Christ is the only hope; he is the only answer to the sin problem of all of mankind. This Christmas let us be proclaimers of the holiness and righteousness of God that will give people the true motivation for repentance and surrendering their lives to Christ.

We serve a Christ who gave his blood for our sins and now reigns in heaven. He is coming again and His desire is that all the nations have an opportunity to hear the gospel message. We have been entrusted with the gospel and we must make every effort to reach every nation for the glory and honor of the Lamb. It must always be our number one priority because the eternal destiny of every soul depends on whether they have accepted or rejected the gospel. The church must make the necessary resources available so that the unreached can hear. Less than one penny of every dollar given to all Christian causes goes to financing pioneer church planting among unreached people groups. This must change. Our job is to proclaim it to all the world and as we do our part, the Holy Spirit will call them to repentance.

This Christmas, may we boldly and unashamedly proclaim the reason Christ came to earth. May we seek for opportunities to share the message and never shy away from clearly announcing the wonderful message of God becoming man to redeem him from his sin.

Haiti Outreach

2011-10-22T11:04:00.002-05:00

Currently I in Haiti with our 11 DTS students. We are working with YWAM Haiti in St. Marc doing a lot of evangelism in schools, parks and in the local prison. We have shared the gospel with over 1000 people during our first 5 days of ministry and look forward to our next 2 weeks here before we move on to our next destination in Haiti. The people have been receptive to our presentations which feature several dramas and testimonies of the students. We end each presentation with a call for salvation but we have not seen many people come forward which may be in part to a cultural attitude of not wanting to stand out in the crowd. We know that the word will not return void and we trust God to be planting it in the hearts of the people in spite of what we can or cannot see.
Next week we will be working with Pastor Beau who works in a poor area that is known for witches and voodoo. I met him last week and he shared that the witchdoctors came to his house one day with a pistol and machette and threatened to kill him if he continued to preach the gospel. He told them that they did not control his life and has continued to preach the gospel and seen many come to Christ. We look forward to partnering with him.
Please keep our team in prayer as we minister in the days to come.

Motorcyclist Discipleship Training School

2011-09-23T08:35:00.004-05:00

Our YWAM base in Antigua, Guatemala will be offering a new Discipleship Training School designed for motorcyclists. The MC DTS will be conducted in both Guatemala and in the USA. The classroom phase will begin on February 19, 2012 at our base in Antigua. This is a beautiful time of year to be in Guatemala, the weather will be 75-80 degrees each day with lots of sunshine. Participants will also get to experience the huge celebration in Antigua during the Holy Week where thousands of people come to Antigua. But most importantly it will be a time of drawing near to God, seeking Him and learning from him what it means to be a believer.
The outreach phase will be conducted in the USA at the conclusion of the classroom phase. We are planning on visiting several areas of the USA on motorcycle to work with a variety of people groups. Our focus will be evangelism, discipleship and mercy ministries.
Class size will be extremely limited due to the nature of the DTS. You can get more information as well as an application at our YWAM Antigua website: www.ywamantigua.org

Spiritual Growth=Change

2011-08-27T12:40:00.002-05:00

One day while I was a church attending a class one of the members who had known Christ for many years remarked, “I don’t think I have grown spiritually at all during the past year.” He stated this with regret and concern that maybe he was not doing something right to facilitate growth.

I think all of us at times feel the same way, perhaps frustrated that we are not growing in the areas we need to or not growing as quickly as we want to grow. Spiritual growth is measured by change. If we are not changing it means we are not growing. Tonight I want to share some things that I pray will help you in your pursuit of God and growth in your relationship with him.

The first thing that is essential to growth is knowledge of the truth. Joh 8:31, 32 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

The word “know” in Greek is ginowsko which has the understanding of experiential knowledge, absolute knowledge, and certainty. When you know the truth in this way, it is embedded in your heart and there is no doubt because it is proven by your experiences as well.

Truth has to be the foundation of what we believe. Your beliefs will determine what you value and your values will be reflected in your behavior. Truth must be at the very core of our being. God has given us truth through His Word and through His Son, Jesus. Jesus is the Word and apart from knowing the Word intimately and experientially we will not grow spiritually and see change in our lives. The Word of God contains the truth about the character and nature of God, about ourselves, about the world we live in and the opposition that we face and how we can overcome and be changed. If we are not exposed to the Word of God and not allowing it to be our standard we will not have the foundation established to change and grow spiritually. We have to filter everything in life through the Word of God. We give meaning to events through our understanding of the Word of God not vice versa in which we give meaning to the Word of God through our experiences. We interpret our experiences through the truth of the Word but we do not interpret the Bible through our experiences.

Jesus claimed to be the Truth (Jn 14.6). He did not have an identity problem, he knew who he was, where he came from, why he was sent to the earth and where he was going after he died. He was absolutely convinced of this and lived his life accordingly.

On Saturday night I talked with a young man named Rene. He was carrying a huge trophy that he won in a wrestling contest. He had only been wrestling for a month and he had beaten another competitor who had years of experience. He was proud of his accomplishment. He told me that the reason he started wrestling was because he wanted to have an identity that he could be successful at something. He had experienced many failures in his life and needed to do something that would validate his worth as a person. His identity and purpose in life was centered in himself and not in Christ. His understanding of Truth affected his beliefs, values and behaviors.

When we are born again and receive Christ as Lord and Savior the Word of God is planted in our hearts as a seed.

1Pe_1:23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;

Seeds contain all the information that is needed to grow into the plant or tree it is destined to become. All the potential is locked up in the seed. This is exactly what happens to us when we receive the Word at salvation. The incorruptible seed of the Word is planted in us and we have the potential to become everything God has placed within the seed. To know our potential we only need to study the life of Christ. Everything that he was and did are the same things we can become and do. In fact he said that we would do even greater things than he did (Jn 14.12). When we know who we are that will determine what we can do. The seed planted in us is the Truth and as we come to understand the Truth we will become the people God has destined us to be.

We have to know the Truth in our mind and in our heart. Truth that is only theory will not produce change, it will just give us a big head. But Truth that is in our hearts is put into practice through our daily experiences to bring the changes that God desires in us.

When we are born again we are given a new nature but we still battle against the old nature of fallen Adam that we inherited. We would like to just see it disappear but it does not work that way. It seems that we never fully escape from the presence of the old nature but what we do experience is seeing the new nature taking control of our lives. Our old nature has to be put to death so the new nature can take control.

Col_3:5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

This is a process in which the Holy Spirit reveals truth about ourselves and we make decisions to put it to death. We recognize that this is not the nature of God and we put it to death.

Bob Mumford told the story of a man who got saved in his church. He was the owner of a strip club and Bob thought he would immediately shut it down. He said the Lord told him not to talk to him about it but let him take care of it. A couple weeks after his salvation experience Bob talked with the man and asked him if the Lord had been speaking to him about anything. The man said yes that he felt convicted of mixing water with the whisky he was selling to his customers!

God has given us his Holy Spirit to lead us into the Truth (Jn 14.26). He is our Teacher who reveals truth to us in a variety of ways but I believe primarily it is as we study the Word of God. The Spirit and the Word work together to bring change in our life. If we are not dedicating time to study the Word and being taught the Word we will not see change. We have so many resources available to us today to help us study the Word that we are without excuse. We have the 12 DTS students with us for 5 months and they have set aside this time in their lives to focus on understanding the Truth and applying it to their lives. It is a rich and rewarding experience that they may never have like it during the rest of their lives. It is an opportunity to change and grow spiritually if it is used properly.

In Jesus’ prayer for his disciples as well as for us he prayed: Joh 17:17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

Sanctification is separation for holy service. The thing that separates us for holy service is the truth. We understand truth through the Word.

The Apostle Paul writing to Timothy emphasized the importance of the study of the Scriptures.

2Ti 2:15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

2Ti 3:14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it

2Ti 3:15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

2Ti 3:16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

2Ti 3:17 that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

If we do not know the Truth we will not be competent to carry out the work of God. A person who sets out to build a home must have the right knowledge of what is needed to build the house or it will be a disaster. When we were in Haiti we saw hundreds of buildings that were poorly built and collapsed in the earthquake. The builders were obviously incompetent in their knowledge of how to build a home that would withstand an earthquake.

We have to be solidly grounded and competent in our knowledge of the Truth of God’s word if we want to do His work in a way that will endure.

Billy Graham has done a great work for the Lord through his years of ministry. Yet he regretted that he did not spend more time in preparation, sharpening the ax so to speak. If your ax is not sharp you can still cut down trees but it takes a lot more time and effort.

Abraham Lincoln said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four hours sharpening the ax.” I encourage you to take the time needed to sharpen the ax spiritually and continue to keep is sharpened. Don’t think that it won’t get dull while you are working. You must constantly be sharpening it to be able to do the work competently for the Lord.

Take advantage of the opportunities God gives you to be grounded in his Word. Study daily on your own as well to keep yourself sharp with the Truth.

The prophet Hosea said of the nation of Israel, “my people are destroyed by lack of knowledge” Hos 4.6 The same thing will happen to us if we do not know the Word of God and let it be the Truth we live by.

The second thing needed for spiritual growth is testing or trials. This is where theory is put into practice and your character is defined and refined. We find out what we are made of during our tests and trials and at times we find out that we are not living the truth we believe. When we are confronted with situations that we may or may not have asked for, we have a choice to make as to how we will respond that will reveal the level of truth we have embedded and lived out in our heart.

We can fail the test and find out that we really are not the person we thought we were.

We can respond correctly but not with the right attitude, we grudgingly do it and do not enjoy it.

Or we can respond as Peter and James said knowing that it is producing in us the nature of God or perhaps revealing the truth of the nature of God that is in us.

1Pe 1:6-7 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith--more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire--may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Jas 1:2-4 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

One test that seems to come up frequently is whether we will delay gratification or impulsively or by choice satisfy our desires. One of the marks of maturity as a believer is the ability to wait, to delay gratification until it is the right time. Many people are suffering from bad economic decisions today because they did not wait until they had the money to purchase things and gave into their impulse to buy now pay later. Saving for the future and delaying purchases until you have the cash to buy it is a foreign concept to many people and it has gotten them into great debt. Sexual gratification is also another area that many people both young and old struggle with. The world has no problem with instant gratification but God’s standards require self-control and waiting until you are married before uniting yourself with the opposite sex in a life time committed relationship. When we feel we have certain rights over our bodies and our lives we have not matured in our faith where we understand that our bodies are not our own but have been bought with the price of the blood of Christ who is our new owner.

Another test we often face is how we will react to accusations or offenses against us. Spiritually we can look at a person who is attacked, falsely accused or maligned and see if they respond with maturity in their reaction which is in the opposite spirit or immaturity by instantly responding in the same spirit of the accusers. Our response will reveal our level of maturity. Willow Creek church’s leader Bill Hybels experienced this recently when one of the speakers, the head of Starbucks withdrew from the leadership conference after a homosexual group accused Willow Creek of being anti-homosexual which was not a true statement. Bill Hybels responded to the false accusations with grace and also regret that the accusers did not contact him before hand to find out the church’s position on homosexuality. He then encouraged Christians to go to Starbucks and purchase coffee from them. There was no malice or unkind words spoken against the accusing group nor the leader of Starbucks.

We are tested daily in our thoughts, attitudes, words and actions through the circumstances we face. God in his mercy allows us to see ourselves as we are so that the process of change can begin. This can be a difficult process as we allow the Holy Spirit to dig deep into our past to expose the roots of our problems. His goal is to bring liberty and freedom by revealing the lies and replacing them with the truth.

Test and trials are part of God’s plan of spiritual growth. We can learn from them or ignore them resulting in growth or stagnation. We can submit to God in the trial and allow the HS to teach us or we can reject the trial and miss out on the opportunity to see change effected in us.

God brings these things to us in his perfect timing so we can receive the healing he desires for us. We have to welcome the tests and trials because they have the potential to lead us to permanent change and Christ likeness.

The final aspect of bringing change in our lives is our willingness and desire to allow God continual access to our lives and allow other believers to help us change. We are in need of constant change because of our depth of sin and struggles we face as God peels off the layers of our sin to get at the core. We are going to be in the change process throughout our lives and God is his great love for us will be revealing areas to us that he wants to change. Our growth will be determined by how much access we give him to our lives and how we respond to his working in us. We must make the decision that we truly want to change and we are willing to go through the process to be changed. Often God uses people to help us identify the areas that need to be changed and uses them to impart truth to us that can transform our lives.

I am reminded of the story of Naaman (2 Kings 5:1-15) who was a Syrian military commander with leprosy. A little Israelite girl who was carried off in captivity, revealed to him that there was a prophet of God who could heal him of his leprosy. Leprosy is a horrible disease and anyone who has it wants to be healed from it because it progressively gets worse. Naaman desired to be changed. He believed change was possible and was willing follow the advice of this little girl. He was willing to travel 150 miles to see the prophet Elisha because he wanted to be set free from his leprosy. But when he arrived he went to the King of Israel instead of the prophet but the King could not help him. He had to go to the right person to receive the help he needed. God gives us the Holy Spirit and his Word to help us but he also uses people in his body to help bring the change we desire. We too must go to the right people to receive the help we need for change.

There is a clip from the Bob Newhart show that demonstrates how some people think you should deal with your problems.

His advice is very simple “Just stop it.” Obviously he was not the right person for this lady to go to and receive the help she needed. Make sure you go to people who can truly help you change.

Naaman went to the prophet and was given advice on what he needed to do but it was not what he wanted to hear. He wanted the prophet to simply wave his hand over him and instantly be healed. Instead he was told to go to the dirty Jordan River and dunk himself in it seven times. It did not make sense to him and his pride initially kept him from receiving the counsel and acting on it. We too will need to deal with our pride when we are given counsel regarding what we must do to change. If we truly desire to change then we will take the medicine and do what we are instructed to do by the Lord. Naaman finally humbled himself and realized that he would not be healed if he did not follow the instructions given to him. When he obeyed he was healed completely. God’s desire is to change our lives into the image of his Son. He has a plan and we need to be obedient to whatever he asks us to do.

Perhaps tonight the Holy Spirit is speaking to your heart about areas that he wants you to surrender to him and allow God to bring the changes that he desires. God wants us to walk in the truth, he desires to conform us to the image of his son but we must desire the same. God does not force us to change but he empowers us to change when we recognize the areas that we need his help to change. David prayed
“Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!” Ps 139:23. He wanted to change and he invited God to show him what needed to be changed. I pray tonight that you will take time this week and ask God to show you any area of your life that he wants to change and then in obedience to him do exactly what he asks you to do.

God loves us as we are but he also loves us so much that he does not want us to stay as we are. He wants us to become like Him and he lovingly reveals to heal and change us.

The Road Less Traveled...August 2011

2011-08-19T15:56:00.003-05:00

Compassion DTS
Our Compassion Discipleship Training School is now in its third week. All 12 of our students arrived and God is working in their hearts to bring the changes that he desires. It is a special time for each of them to focus on their relationship with God, learn to live in community and minister to others. Please keep them in your prayers that God will keep them healthy and that each day will be a day of learning and drawing near to Him.

Outreach Plans
The classroom phase will end on October 14th and our plans for the 8 weeks of outreach are to minister in Haiti for 5 weeks and Guatemala for 3 weeks. Last year we spent the entire outreach in Haiti and saw many people Outreach Plans
The classroom phase will end on October 14th and our plans for the 8 weeks of outreach are to minister in Haiti for 5 weeks and Guatemala for 3 weeks. Last year we spent the entire outreach in Haiti and saw many people come to Christ. Haiti is still recovering from the earthquake of January 2010 and only 6 % of the rubble has been removed. People continue to live in the tent cities as they wait for homes to be built so they can relocate. We are planning to partner with YWAM in St. Marc for part of our time in Haiti. They have been greatly used of God after the earthquake to bring relief to the people and they continue to minister to many people in need. We will also be teaming up with a couple of other ministries during our 5 weeks there. It will be a challenging yet fruitful time for our students as they minister to one of the poorest nations in the western hemisphere. We are also planning to work in Guatemala with children who have a rare form of cancer caused by the sun. They live very isolated lives and we want to spend time with them to share the love and compassion of Christ.
The students and staff will need to raise $2000 each for the outreach. If you would like to help support them with a donation I know it will be a great encouragement. Our goal is to raise the funds needed in the next 4 weeks. Please designate your donation as “DTS Outreach”. Thank you for your participation in the lives of the students and staff as well as the people we will reach during the outreach.

On-going Ministry
While our focus is now on the DTS we continue to conduct our weekly ministries to the children in our neighborhood, the homeless, the lost and the English speaking community. We have also been working with some of the local women to teach hygiene and food preparation to help them and their families live healthier lives. We will be doing some evangelistic outreaches in the next couple of months using the movies that have been donated by Billy Graham. Last week during our weekly “Soul Patrol” I talked with a young man named Giovanni. He was 20 years old and shined shoes for a living. His father was murdered 8 years ago. Giovanni attended school for only one year and has been working ever since to help support his mom who lives a couple of hours away. I had the opportunity to share the gospel with him as well as help him with some food and money for his rent. He was renting a small room but when he could not pay the rent the owner locked his room with the few possessions he had stored in it. Life is hard for so many people in Guatemala and I thank God for the people we have been able to help and give them hope for a better life
Elections
In about one month Guatemala will have its elections for President and representatives. Please pray that there will be peace during this time and that the right people will be placed in office. The needs of Guatemala are great and so much can be done with the right people in office.
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Thank you for your continued support of the ministry in Guatemala. In these difficult financial times I am so grateful for the sacrifices you have made to financially help keep everything going and allow me to be here. Please continue to pray for our work and pray for the processing of my paperwork for Permanent Residency which I hope will be approved shortly

Contribution address

YWAM Chico
15850 Richardson Springs Rd
Chico, CA 95973
(Please attach a note to designate your donation)

Correspondence address
Bruce Ahlberg
3ra Av 1-30 Zona 6
Ciudad Vieja, Guatemala

www.ywamantigua.org

Motivation in Ministry

2011-07-24T07:39:00.001-05:00

When you study the life of Paul, you wonder what motivated him to continue in the ministry God had called him to. Paul paid a great price in following Christ. Immediately after he was struck blind on the Damascus road, Ananias was told that Paul would suffer for the sake of Christ and I wonder if he shared this with Paul.
Act 9:15 But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.
Act 9:16 For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name."
Paul lived an extraordinary life and stayed faithful to the Lord throughout his entire life. He never quit in spite of all the challenges he faced. The church in Corinth that he established even questioned his qualifications as an apostle. When he wrote to the church in Corinth he defended his call to ministry and equality with the other apostles.
2Co 11:5 Indeed, I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles.
2Co 11:6 Even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not so in knowledge; indeed, in every way we have made this plain to you in all things.
He even stated that he endured more suffering and hardships than anyone and went on to list all the things that happened to him in his pursuit of fulfilling God’s call on his life.
2Co 11:23 Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one--I am talking like a madman--with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death.
2Co 11:24 Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one.
2Co 11:25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea;
2Co 11:26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers;
2Co 11:27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.
2Co 11:28 And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.
Paul had a determination to fulfill his ministry, to pour himself out regardless of the cost or price of obedience. Nothing else seemed to matter to him and whatever trial or hardship or punishment that came his way was simply considered part of consequence of his calling. I am sure Paul did not enjoy these difficult times. Being whipped 4 times with 39 lashes each time must have caused intense pain that stayed with him for several days. Paul must have been Satan’s #1 enemy because of the damage he was doing to his work. He was targeted all the time because of the impact he was having on a lost world. Paul probably fought battles that you and I have yet to face. The level of intensity he encountered was most likely greater than you and I have ever faced. What was it that kept Paul running the race, fighting the enemy, constantly moving forward to advance the Kingdom and caring for the church that often had big issues to resolve? How did Paul stayed motivated to continue in the ministry?
I think of several things about Paul that I believe helped motivate him in his pursuit of God and I believe these are the same things that will help us as well.
First, Paul saw his horrendous condition before he met Christ. He saw how wretched a man he was before he encountered Christ. In Romans 6 he even stated that he was a wretched man who struggled to do what was right and often did the opposite thing he wanted to do before he met Christ.
Rom 7:22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being,
Rom 7:23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.
Rom 7:24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
Paul called himself the chief of sinners.
1Co 15:8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
1Co 15:9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
1Co 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
The damage he did to the believers prior to his salvation must have stayed with him throughout his life. Yes he was forgiven but the memory of what he had done was never wiped away. Paul saw himself for who he was, fully admitted his faults and realized that apart from God’s intervention in his life he would have continued to live a misguided life and caused further damage to God’s Kingdom. Paul recognized he was a debtor to Christ. He had nothing on his own that could ever give him what Christ had given him through salvation.
Eph 3:7 Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power.
Eph 3:8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,
When he looked back on his life before he met Christ, he had nothing to boast about, all was loss to him.
Php 3:7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
Php 3:8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ

Whatever accomplishments he may have achieved when he was a devout Pharisee were considered as filthy rags to be thrown away. Paul did not have a high view of himself or his accomplishments in his life before he met Christ.
Prior to know Christ Paul stated that men are hostile toward God and he was including himself in this description. In Romans 1 Paul states that mankind recognizes that there is a God through the creation yet they choose to not believe in him because in doing so it will require them to submit to him.
Rom 1:28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.
Rom 1:29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips,
Rom 1:30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,
Rom 1:31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
Rom 1:32 Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
We are rebels against God because we want to do what we want to do. Paul recognized this in his life as well.
We live in a time when people do not really want to admit how rebellious they are toward God. Most people will admit they are not perfect but they do not see themselves as rebels against God. They compare themselves with others according to human standards and in most cases they can say that they are not as bad as some people. Paul did not compare himself with others, he compared himself to the standard that God had set and in doing so saw himself for who he truly was and how desperately he needed Christ to save him from his sin and sin nature. If we do not see ourselves in our state of rebellion against God, being at enmity or hostility against God we will find it difficult to see a need to change.
Eph 2:1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
Eph 2:2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience--
Eph 2:3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
One of the great motivating factors in Paul’s life is that he knew where he came from and how lost he was even though he was a very religious person. He saw the depth of his sin and was indebted to Christ for what he had done for him. We too must remember where we have been and how lost we were without Christ. Some of us have gone through some very difficult things in our lives before we met Christ and the consequences of our sinful lives perhaps are still with us. Others may have not experienced the same degree of sin but all of us were sinners bound for hell before Christ came into our lives to rescue us. The punishment and the destination of sinners regardless of the severity or amount of sin is the same.
In the jail that used to be in Antigua there were 2 sections. One section for people without money and the other for people with money. Those with money stayed in an area that was protected from the other section. They had a couch, refrigerator, tv, stove and the beer truck stopped each week to make deliveries. Hell is not like that, there is no special place for people who have committed what we would call lesser sins. All sin comes from a heart of rebellion against God and hostility toward God. The destination is the same. Paul knew what God had saved him from and eternity in hell and from living a life of rebellion against God. What Christ had done for Paul, I believe this was a primary motivation in fulfilling his call in spite of the difficulties he faced.

A second thing that motivated Paul was his love for Christ and his church. Because of his love for Christ he accepted his call to be an apostle to establish the church that is the Body of Christ. Christ and his church are inseparable; serving the church was serving Christ. Paul’s love for Christ was reflected in his love for the church. He labored to establish a local church wherever he was sent to proclaim the gospel. When you read any of the letters he wrote to the churches you quickly see how much he loved the church and how he longed for the church to become everything God wanted it to be. He encouraged, admonished, labored in prayer, disciplined, rebuked, made financial sacrifices, set standards for leadership, promoted unity, combated division, confronted sin, taught sound doctrine all for the purpose of making the church what it was designed to be. Paul’s love for Christ’s Body was evident and he devoted great effort to establish and maintain a healthy church. As an apostle, this was his calling and he could not walk away from it. To do so would be an act of disobedience to the Lord. His love for Christ was evidenced by his obedience to him and his service to the church. Our love for Christ must be the motivation for our obedience to his call in our life. Each of us has a calling from God just as Paul was called to be an apostle and establish the church. We do not pick and choose what we will do for the Lord. God asks us to love him and from this love serve him in whatever calling he gives us. When you truly love someone, you are willing to do whatever they desire that is in agreement with the word of God. There is a devotion to the person that is evidenced in our willingness and desire to do what is pleasing to them. Paul’s love for Christ motivated him in his service to him.
2Co_5:14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died;
We never read where Paul refused to do what God asked him to do. As you grow in your love for Christ, it will become easier for you to make changes in what you do for him. He may ask you to go a completely different direction or pursue an entirely new field. If you truly love him and know that he loves you, it will not be a hard thing to make the changes. Your heart will be set on being obedient to him and you trust him to take care of you as you walk out the calling. Faith works by love.
Gal_5:6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.
If we truly love God it will not be a difficult thing to walk by faith because we trust the one who is leading us. Many people struggle with trying to figure out what they should do with their lives while other people choose to do what they want to do and do not give God consideration. Our first priority is to love God and develop our relationship with him. Out of this relationship of love we learn to set aside our selfish ambitions and make ourselves available to him to fulfill his calling on our lives.
Psa_37:4 Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
I believe that if we focus our attention and love on God he will make clear what he desires of us and we will respond in obedience because we desire to please him.
A third motivation of Paul was knowledge of the reward that would be given to him for completing his calling. Paul said, ‘I press on to receive the reward of the high calling.”
Php 3:13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,
Php 3:14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Paul had been given a glimpse of heaven and I believe he understood that there was a reward waiting for him as he completed the mission God had given him. We do not know all that God has prepared for us but what we do know is that is will be beyond our wildest dreams and expectations.
1Co_2:9 But, as it is written, "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him"--
Paul understood that he did not labor in vain.
1Co 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
The work he was doing for God had benefits on earth but also benefits for eternity. God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.
Heb 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
He does not forget what you have done in obedience to him but takes note and will reward each of us for what we do to bring honor to him.
We are destined to be joint heirs of the rich inheritance God has for us. We will reign with him through out eternity and enjoy the presence and glory of God. We have so much to look forward to and like Paul stated
Php 1:21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Php 1:22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.
Php 1:23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.
Though Paul knew that heaven was a better place to be, he also knew there was fruitful labor for him to accomplish until the day God called him home. This should be our example as well that we continue in the race and remain motivated to accomplish fruitful ministry until our time on earth is over and we go on to receive our eternal reward.
When you begin to feel that you are waning in your motivation for service remember and remind yourself of these three things.
1. Where you have come from and where you would have been without Christ’s intervention.
2. Truly loving Christ and the work he has called you to do.
3. The reward that awaits you when you receive your inheritance.

The Road Less Traveled...July 2011

2011-07-04T08:32:00.003-05:00

Happy 4th of July to my USA friends and family! I pray it is a great day of celebration of the freedom God has given to a nation that has been blessed in so many ways.
June was another great month of ministry as we continue to host teams and reach out into our community as well as other cities in Guatemala. We hosted a team from Louisiana and then had a YWAM Discipleship Training School team from Los Angeles stay with us for a week. The students were all from South Korea and were on their final weeks of their 2 month outreach and were looking for a place to minister so they contacted us on short notice and it all worked out for them to come. God has ways of fitting things together when we allow him to work in and through us. Only a few of the 9 adults spoke a little English and no one spoke Spanish so it was a bit of a challenge to communicate but it all worked out and their ministry was well received. We had a couple of days of Kids Club ministry with the team and the neighborhood kids really enjoyed learning about Korea. We enjoyed some of their Korean foods and were able to share with some of the families in the neighborhood as well. While the Korean team was with us we were also joined by 3 students from the DTS in Guatemala City who also came to finish their outreach phase. They plugged into our ministries and were a great help and blessing to us. We also had an intern, Dave Miller, from Philadelphia Bible University with us for 6 weeks. Dave is not a stranger to us as he participated in our discipleship school back in 2006. While here he met his wife who was studying Spanish in Antigua and they eventually married. He is finishing his degree and will begin full time ministry in a church. We have had a variety of people with different types of ministries working with us and we have truly enjoyed each one.
Currently we are hosting a group of 23 youth and adults from Georgia and will have one more team after they leave coming from Minnesota for a week of ministry before we begin the DTS at the base. It will be nonstop until December 15 for all our staff. We have 13 students coming for the DTS and we are looking forward to working with them. We have been blessed to have a new staff member join us who was a former student in a previous DTS we conducted. She will be helping with the DTS as well as taking on the hospitality of the base along with other ministries that we conduct. This has been an answer to our prayers and we thank God for his faithfulness to send the help we need.

Church Construction Update
Last month I sent out a request to help Pastor Antonio finish the construction on his church "Vida Real" (Real Life) in San Pablo La Laguna. Through the generous offerings of several people all the money has been raised and the new roof will be put in place soon! This has been a true miracle for the church to see God provide for their needs through the Body of Christ. I plan to be at the church when they have its dedication. I remember almost 5 years ago that we dedicated the piece of land that the church is now constructed on and prayed that God would do miraculous things through the church to reach out into the community. Thank you for praying and giving to help this church that is making a difference in their community.
International meal
One of the things I enjoy about YWAM is the opportunity to meet people from other countries and enjoy or at least try the foods they prepare. In this picture we had people speaking 5 different languages but our common bond was Christ.
Movie Night
Last Friday night we traveled to Parramos to show a film in the Central Park of the city. We were able to show about 10 minutes of the movie before the rains came and forced us to move to another location. We had four young men who had never gone to church or read a Bible come to Christ after the movie.

Helping the poor
Many of the children who come to our Kids Club live in very difficult situations. Eder and Carolina who head up the Kids Club make a point to visit some of the families each week. Often they find out the families have very little to eat and lack jobs to be able to provide. Some of the families have an absent father either due to death or abandonment. When we discover these needs we visit the families with some food and pray for them. We will be reaching out to the moms of the children who come to the Kids Club as well by inviting them to a special meeting to share a Christian movie and in the future help educate them on hygiene and nutrition for their children as well as share Christian principles for raising their families. Several of the children come to both the morning and afternoon session of the Kids Club as they are not attending school. One mom brought her deaf daughter to our meeting and asked for special prayer for her. She said her daughter could hear if she had a hearing aid but many who receive hearing aids are unable to pay for the batteries to be able to continue to use them. Please keep our Kids Club ministry in your prayers as it is such an important ministry for the future of the children.
Thank You!
I appreciate your prayers and financial support that have enabled me to be here. May God richly bless your life.
Contribution address:
YWAM Chico
15850 Richardson Springs Rd
Chico, CA 95973

Correspondence Address:
Bruce Ahlberg
3ra Av 1-30, Zona 6
Ciudad Vieja, Guatemala

Do you fear God?

2011-04-26T14:34:00.001-05:00

When the United States invaded Iraq to overthrow Sadaam Hussein, they came in with a tremendous amount of firepower with the intention of causing “shock and awe” among the people leading to a quick surrender. When the Iraqi forces experienced the superior firepower of the opposing militaries they quickly deserted their army and allegiance to Sadaam Hussein. The hearts of the soldiers melted in fear and they quickly changed their minds. The shock and awe produced fear and trembling.
The Bible speaks about fear and trembling but not in the same sense as what happened in Iraq. There is a Biblical fear of the Lord and a trembling that comes from a proper understanding of the character and nature of God.
When we read portions of the Old Testament we often come across statements such as these:
Isa 66:1-2 Thus says the LORD: "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.
Jer 5:21-22 "Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes, but see not, who have ears, but hear not. Do you not fear me? declares the LORD. Do you not tremble before me? I placed the sand as the boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass; though the waves toss, they cannot prevail; though they roar, they cannot pass over it.
Psa 119:120 My flesh trembles for fear of you, and I am afraid of your judgments.
The word tremble according to Strong’s dictionary means: to twirl or spin, to writhe in pain, to fall grievously,
We don’t like to think about fear and trembling as a physical and mental reaction we should have in our relationship with God. We would much rather relate to the softer side of God who is gentle, compassionate, kind and merciful. Yet we cannot neglect the kindness nor the severity of God. We need to have a healthy understanding of greatness of God and the holiness of God. He is not to be treated as though he were just a common person. He is God and there is none other like Him. He wants us to take Him seriously and honor his Word through our obedience.
Israel’s failure
One of the problems the Israelites faced was going through all the rituals and ceremonies without a humble and contrite heart. Soon the sacrifices came to mean little to them, they were just an obligation, not a true desire of their heart to worship God in obedience to His word and love for him. It became routine, common and the true meaning was lost. Eventually they tried to offer sacrifices that were blemished, not even respecting the word God had given them through Moses. They lost their reverence for God and the things of God. They honored God with their lips, they said all the right things but their heart was far from Him. Their heart was set on doing things they wanted to do, God was a sideshow to them. They neither feared nor reverenced him. They did not tremble at God’s Word. In the end they gave themselves to worship false gods, idols made by the hands of man turning their backs on God and provoking him to wrath. There was no fear of God which according to Proverbs 8:13 is the hatred of all sin in thought, word and deed.
Pro 8:13 The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.
Our Challenge
This same issues is something we as believers must constantly be on guard against it happening in our lives. Maintaining a proper fear of God, a humble and contrite heart is needed in this day when it is so easy for us to take lightly the things of God and focus on ourselves, doing things our way, according to what we desire. We become accustomed to the grace and mercy of God and make it cheap, taking advantage of it so we can do things we know are not a reflection of a true fear and reverence for God. This warped view of God has led many believers to embrace universalism. The Christian Post quoted a survey that indicated 1 of 5 Christians believe in universalism which means that everyone will eventually go to heaven because a loving God could not send anyone to hell. He will make a way for everyone to get into heaven. Some believe that even if people are sent to hell, God will continue to reach out in love for them until his love breaks the hardness of their heart and they are saved from their sin and brought into heaven. The Bible does not teach that at all. It teaches that few will find the narrow road that leads to heaven. There are no second chances after death.
Paul understood that one of the reactions to the knowledge of grace was that the people may think they could or should sin more so more grace could abound.
Rom 6:1-2 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
When we come to Christ we receive a new life, a life that desires to not sin, to be holy even as God is holy.
1Pe 1:14-16 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy."
If there is no desire for holiness, no fear of God which translates into a hatred for sin, no trembling before Him, then one has to question the depth of understanding of God’s nature and the depth of commitment to live in obedience to Him.
In Jesus’ first sermon given at the Mount, his first two beatitudes set the attitude that we must have if we are going to be serious and devoted followers of Christ.
Mat 5:3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
To be poor in spirit means that we see ourselves in our poverty of spiritual status before God. We see how needy we are, how much we need God and need to pursue Him wholeheartedly because in our own strength we fall short of what he requires of our lives. We see that we are nothing in ourselves but because of the grace and mercy of God we have received everything we need in Christ. Apart from Christ we are nothing and have nothing of value to God. When God looks at us, He sees the Christ in us, the righteousness we have received in Christ that has made us acceptable to him and useful to the work of His kingdom. We easily recognize physical or material poverty, it is all around us in Guatemala. But are we as quick to recognize our own spiritual poverty? Jesus said those who see their spiritual poverty are blessed, they are happy.
When we can see our poverty, it causes us to humble ourselves before God with a contrite and broken spirit. Have you ever had those moments when you remember how you responded in your flesh and carnal mind and you shake your head and say to yourself, “What was I thinking!” We see our lack of spirituality and we can only call upon the grace and forgiveness of God. I have had many flashbacks that have caused me to tremble at my own sinfulness and selfishness. Oh how I wish I could relive those moments so I could change the memory. Had I been living in the true fear of God and trembling at His Word I would have never done those things because I would have had the correct attitude toward God, His Word and how He wants me to treat people.
We sing “I am desperate for you.” We will only be able to sing this and mean it when we see our poverty of spirit and how much we must call upon God and cry out to Him to be our life. Jesus said those who mourn will be comforted. We mourn over our spiritual condition when we see ourselves in our great need.
We do not in our human and fleshly nature like to admit our poverty. We like to be self reliant, not needing anyone or anything because we are the captain of our ship. We fight against this attitude all the time when we do not consult others or insist on our way or are quick to give advice to another person without seeking God’s wisdom.
Christ modeled this humility by constantly seeking to only say and do what the Father revealed to Him.
Joh 5:19 So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.
He came to do the will of His father, not his own.
Joh 6:38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.
His teachings were not his own but what the Father had revealed to Him.
Joh 7:16 So Jesus answered them, "My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me.
Christ lived with a dependency upon his Father and without humility he would never have been able to do this. Humility causes us to submit ourselves to God and to one another. We realize our poverty and need and are willing to submit ourselves to God and to each other in true humility.
Because of our poverty of spirit we have to learn to first go to God and in humility and contriteness of heart to seek His wisdom and counsel so we don’t just do what we want to do. We come to God in humility, dependence upon Him because we see our need and in expectation that He will respond. Joy Dawson is one woman who has learned to seek God in her ministry and life. She was invited to speak at a conference but when she prayed about what she should teach, the Lord did not give her a word to share with the people. So when she got up to speak she told the audience that she did not have a word from God and they would have to wait in prayer with her until he gave her something to say. Now for most people this would be very uncomfortable and perhaps humiliating but for Joy she did not care about pleasing people but being obedient to God. She said she waited joyfully for 10 minutes and then the Lord gave her a word to share with the people. She has learned to fear God, to wait upon him until he speaks before she acts.
Pro 18:1 Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment.
This verse is talking about someone who is so intent on getting what they desire that they refuse to seek the counsel of anyone, isolating himself from everyone. He is not open to receiving counsel and in truth does not want it. When we isolate ourselves we insulate ourselves from the help of others and we do it because we do not want them to speak against what we have already determined we want. In so doing we shut out sound judgment and we are destined to fail.
Humility and contriteness of heart is also demonstrated when we invite the counsel of others who will also seek the mind of God. I believe that when we have this attitude we please the heart of God and He will give us what we need.
When the early church had to make a decision about what to do with the new Gentile believers, they met together in Jerusalem to seek the wisdom of God. They came up with a solution that “was good to us and to the Holy Spirit”.
Act 15:28 For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements:
They did not come up with their own solution based on their own ideas but relied on the Holy Spirit to show them what was the right way to respond to the issue they faced. This response reflected that they understood they were poor in spirit and needed the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
When we recognize this poverty of spirit it should drive us to our knees in prayer. We should be less prone to make quick decisions based solely on our own understanding and desires. We should immediately seek God for his wisdom and trust that he will give us the answer and the wisdom we need. If we are in a crisis God will respond and give us the solution as we seek Him.
The early church learned quickly to take God seriously and not try to deceive the Holy Spirit. When Ananias and Sapphira were stuck dead because they lied to the Holy Spirit, great fear came upon the people.
Act 5:11 And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.
The church did not shrink nor were people afraid to join the church but it grew quickly and God did great signs and wonders among the people.
Act 9:31 So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.
When God is feared and taken seriously it has a positive effect and people are drawn to him in repentance.
When you read of the revivals in England and in the USA during the 1800 and early 1900 one of the amazing results was how people were convicted of their sin as the fear of the Lord came upon them. Bars were shut down and people fell under conviction of their sin. They got serious with God and abandoned their sins to seek Him with all their heart. There was a healthy fear and trembling that took place in these revivals.
We need to pray and ask for the fear of the Lord to come upon us in our daily pursuit of God. When we have the fear of the Lord it will be demonstrated in hatred for evil and a desire to be obedient to whatever the Lord asks of us. Our main desire will be to please him and do what he desires in instant obedience.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Prov. 1:7). If we desire to grow in knowledge of God it begins with having an understanding of the fear of the Lord. We must pray not only for ourselves to have this fear but also for those who are teachers and preachers of God’s Word who are held at a higher standard because of the influence they have (James 3:1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.)
We must also pray for the lost that the fear of God will come upon them to cause them to repent and seek God wholeheartedly. In the ministry to the homeless many of them are where they are at because of a sinful lifestyle that is marked with addictions to drugs. In talking with some of them there is no desire to totally give up what is holding them back and keeping them in their situation. There is no fear of God, no hatred for the sin that is keeping them in bondage. They are playing with sin and it is destroying their lives. We need to start praying for the fear of God to fall upon them, for such a hatred of what they are doing that they will repent from it and renounce it and seek the help they need to see their lives completely transformed.
Joy Dawson told a story of an evangelist with YWAM Allan Williams. Before he came to Christ, he was living a life of a pagan. He was a sailor and spent every weekend on shore in the bars. When he arrived in New Zealand he did the same things he always did, got drunk and lived immorally. But during this time several people in New Zealand were praying for the fear of the Lord to fall upon sinners and bring them to salvation. One day when Allan was walking down a main street of Auckland he suddenly said to himself, “Is there no other way to live?” As he kept repeating these words he saw a church and went into it, kneeling in prayer, he asked God to show him if there was another way to live. The next day he went walking again and walk into a coffee shop. A believer sitting next to him began to share the gospel message with him. He listened but did not make a decision for Christ at this time. Two days later he was walking the same street and another man came up to him and invited him to go to an evangelistic service at a mission and he accepted. At this service he accepted Christ and never turned back from following him. Allan became one of the most effective street preachers in YWAM and has led many people to Christ.
As we come in contact with people who are lost let’s begin to pray that the fear of the Lord will fall on them to turn them away from sin and toward God who desires to set them free.
I believe God is calling us to a higher standard in these days when evil abounds. He wants us to be separated unto him. When we reverence Him and fear Him, we lay the foundation upon which he can build our lives based on the knowledge of him and live a holy life to honor Him. He wants us to take Him and His word seriously. As we live this out, we can pray for others to also live in the fear of the Lord and enter into the life of obedience that God desires and deserves.

So What?

2011-04-19T17:53:00.002-05:00

I remember one time witnessing to some young girls from the USA in Central Park of Antigua who were not believers in Christ and were in fact quite hostile toward Christians. When they were told that Christ died for them, one girl said “So what, a lot of people die for other people.” To her the death of Christ was not anything more special than the death of someone who perhaps gave their life to protect freedom or some other cause. She did not understand what the death of Christ accomplished because she did not understand her need for a Savior. When we understand our status before God without Christ we should tremble. The prophet Isaiah had this experience when he was in the presence of God.

(Isa 6:1-7) In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost (undone); for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

When Isaiah stood in the presence of God, he saw himself for who he was and his comment was “Woe is me for I am undone.” The word undone can be translated disintegrated, or coming apart. He felt shattered in the presence of a holy God because he knew he was a man of unclean lips. He saw himself as he truly was and how unworthy he was to be in the presence of a holy God because of his sin. The holiness of God, his utter separation from sin and hatred of sin, is a concept foreign to many people today. We tend to downplay sin and make it a trivial thing that everyone does so get used to it kind of thing rather than see it for what it is in the eyes of God and what he had to do to take care of the problem of sin. The world tries its best to make us insensitive to sin until we reach the point where we accept behaviors identified as sin in the Bible, as normal.

When Peter met Christ and saw his miraculous power at work, he saw himself for who he was.

(Luk 5:1-8) On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.”And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”

When we have a revelation of the holiness of God, we see ourselves as we truly are and we are made aware of our sinful state. We live in a time when people do not want to see God for who he is, they want to see him in the way they have created him so they can continue living a lifestyle that is not in agreement with his standards. I read of a couple in England who were rejected as potential foster parents because they said that homosexual behavior was wrong and because of this they were deemed unfit to be foster parents because they would teach this belief to others which in the eyes of the authorities were wrong. Your Christian beliefs may disqualify you from work with a government that has accepted values that are not in alignment with the Scriptures. The separation of true believers in Christ and the truth of the Bible is becoming more defined each day. God’s holiness is not understood and it is being trampled under the feet of those who have no revelation of this aspect of God’s character and nature. It is the responsibility of the Holy Spirit to convict the world of sin. He has to reveal to the heart of man his sinful condition before a Holy God so that he will feel undone. If we do not have this revelation, we will never grasp the significance of the death of Christ and what he has accomplished for us.

Sin has infected the entire world, no one is exempt from its influence. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Sin brought death to mankind, physical death and eternal separation was what Adam and Eve received when they disobeyed God. Adam was not created to die but to live with God eternally, sin cut his life short as well as the lives of all who would be born after him. Physical death meant separation from God and the possibility of living eternally with God no longer existed. God did not want to be eternally separated from his creation that he created to have an eternal relationship with him. The only way the death penalty could be taken away was to deal with the problem of sin that brought death. The solution was found in Christ who was slain before the foundation of the world. God’s plan was to send His Son who would live a sinless life and give his life as a sacrifice to meet the just demand of God for payment for sin.

In preparation for Christ’s death on the cross for mankind’s sin, God introduced the sacrificial system in the Passover feast celebrated by the Jews at this time of year. The symbolism and the significance of this event would be fulfilled and explained in the death of Christ. The lamb that chosen by each family and was slain symbolized the Lamb of God who would one day come to take away the sins of the world. This lamb was unblemished and was a mature lamb just as Christ was sinless and at a mature age. When the blood of the lamb was spread on the door posts of each home, the death angel passed over it and the lives of all inside the home were spared. Death of the first born whether animal or male was required. Those who did not offer the lamb lost their first born son. Christ was God’s first born and he had to die, he had to shed his blood, in order for God’s justice to be served and the death penalty to be met. His blood represented his life and through his blood we received forgiveness for our sins so that we would not be eternally separated from God. The problem of sin and its penalty were taken care of on the cross where Jesus willingly laid down his life and shed his blood for us. His blood cleanses us from all our sin, it wiped out the record of all our wrong doings past present and future. Without the shedding of blood there can be no forgiveness of sin and the penalty of death and separation would still be upon us.

Jesus experienced the wrath of God for sin when he took on our sins. We no longer have to experience the wrath of God because Jesus took our place. Those who have placed their faith in the finished work of Christ have been liberated from the wrath of God and the penalty of sin.

God could not overlook sin; it was too serious an offense and a violation of his nature to brush it off lightly. Payment had to be made to maintain the character of God. He could not be a holy or loving God if he allowed sin to remain and not go unpunished. True love is demonstrated in hatred of sin. Every parent hates to see things happen to their children that will destroy them. Their love for their child is demonstrated in their hatred of things that will destroy or harm them. God has a holy hatred of sin because of the death and destruction it has brought into the world. He cannot tolerate it and remain holy or say that he loves us. Sin stirs up the wrath of God and Jesus became the object of God’s wrath when he took upon himself the sins of the world. The most violent display of God’s wrath was demonstrated in the crucifixion of Christ. God’s full wrath against sin was placed on Jesus. As Jesus hung on the cross and neared his time of death, darkness came upon the physical earth which is symbolic of the darkness of sin that would enter Jesus. When the full brunt of sin was placed upon Jesus he cried out, “It is finished!” In the Old Testament sacrificial system when the priest offered the lamb to be slain he would state, “It is finished.” Jesus used those same words when he offered himself as the sacrifice for our sins.

Immediately after this the heavy curtain that separated the Holy of Holies from the Holy place was torn from top to bottom signifying that access to God was not completely restored. When a Jewish father learned of the death of a son, he would rip his clothing from top to bottom.

The debt of sin has been paid in full and the death of Christ was the full payment God required. Paul used this analogy .

Colossians 2:13-15; 13And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made youalive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, 14erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. 15He disarmedthe rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.

In the days of Paul it was customary for the debt of a person to be written by the debtor on a piece of paper and placed on the door of their home as a reminder of what they owed. When the debt was paid the person who the debt was owed would write that the debt had been paid in full and fold the paper over so that no one would see the debt. Another way that was used to eliminate the debt record was to wipe the ink from the vellum that was used to record the debt. The ink did not penetrate the vellum so a person could use a wet cloth and wipe completely clean the ink record of the debt. Christ’s death wiped clean the record against us which was the Law that we could not keep. Christ paid a debt he did not owe and I owed a debt I could not pay! How can we say “So what?” when we understand what Christ has done for us in our helpless condition! We should be doing cartwheels, handstands, loud shouting and whatever expressions that reflect the gift we have received. Christ has done for us what we could never do for ourselves. The weight of debt has been lifted off of us and we are free!

Christ’s death satisfied God’s just requirement. It is the only solution for the problem of sin in the world today. Nothing but the blood of Jesus could satisfy God’s justice. Thank you Jesus for your blood!!!

Christ’s resurrection was the capstone of the work of Christ. His resurrection makes possible our resurrection.

(1Co 15:12-17) Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead. But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.

Had Christ not been raised we would not have the hope of eternal life. If there is no resurrection Paul stated that we have been fools because we are destined to the grave and that is all there is. If Christ was not raised from the dead it would mean that falsehood and lies are stronger than the truth. If the enemies of Christ has succeeded in destroying him, their lies would have been stronger than the truth he proclaimed. John 8:40 “ but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did.”

It would have also meant that evil and hatred were stronger than goodness and love. If Christ was not raised from the dead then these forces that were unleashed in the crucifixion were stronger than goodness and love. We would have no hope that evil and hatred would ever be overcome.

If Christ was not raised from the dead it would mean that death is stronger than life. We would have no hope of being resurrected from the dead, the grave would be our final destination.

Our resurrection means we will be transformed with a new body just as Christ was transformed. The physical limitations we have experienced will be eliminated. We will receive a glorified body that will not perish but live for eternity with God. The apostle John said, 1Jn 3:2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. It will be an instantaneous transformation that takes place, we shall be changed. Doctors can do a lot today to transform our bodies. We can receive artificial limbs, someone else’s organs and now they are able to take someone else’s face and put it on you. But all of these things are temporal, death will come to all of us but through the resurrection of Christ we too will be resurrected to a new body and life that will be beyond any human description. God has something special prepared for us and we will have to have a new mind and body to be able to enjoy it. I can’t wait for that to happen, in fact I have asked God in 2011 to give me a visit to heaven. Now I don’t know if I will get my request and I am not asking for an early death, I just want to get a little glimpse of what is waiting for us. If you are interested in joining me let me know so that when the journey happens I can ask if you can come with us!

We want to remember Christ tonight as we take the communion elements. Jesus had a great desire to celebrate the Passover with his disciples. He made special arrangement to be with them in a private room where he would have his final meal with them. When he took the bread and the wine he gave them new meaning. The bread would from now on symbolize his body that would be beaten to shreds and placed on the cross. The wine represented his blood that would symbolize the new covenant that would never need to have a high priest make sacrifices of animals nor all the ceremonies that accompanied the sacrificial system.

(Heb 9:11-23) But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

Mat 26:26-29 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

As we prepare to celebrate the Resurrection Day, let us always be mindful of all Christ has done for us through his death that has enable us to have access to God and the hope of life eternal.

God's Heart for the lost

2011-04-14T14:54:00.001-05:00

Jesus came to show us the heart of His Father toward the lost and in every encounter Jesus had with people we understand more clearly what God is like and what we are also to become. Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well in Samaria gives us a clearer understanding of God’s heart toward the lost.
When Jesus encountered the woman at the well in Samaria, he did several things that crossed barriers between the Jews and Samaritans. He crossed an ethnic and religious barrier by talking with a Samaritan. There was no love between these two groups of people, they were bitter enemies of each other. The Samaritans were not considered true Jews because they intermarried with the pagan nations after their captivity in 722 B.C. and lost their identity as a nation and became known as the lost tribes of Israel. They were also at odds with the other tribes because they did not worship in Jerusalem but worshipped at Mount Gerizim. The Samaritans were considered as pigs to the true Jews.
The Jews in route from Galilee to Judea had to pass through Samaria which was in between the two areas or take an alterative route that was twice as long. So in order to save time Jesus and his disciples were passing through.
Another barrier was the gender issue of talking to a woman. Rabbis were not supposed to talk to women or their wives or daughters in public. Women in general were not treated with great respect nor given equal opportunities for education and training in the Law. A sect of Jewish Pharisees would close their eyes when a woman was coming toward them so as to not look at them. This caused them to run into things which caused some physical pain. The woman Jesus was talking to had another strike against her as she was a 5 time divorcee and was currently shacking up with a man. There were enough strikes against her to keep a true Jew and Rabbi away from her and this is why the disciples were shocked to see Jesus interacting with her.

Their small confined world needed to be expanded to see God's love for all people and desire to give them "living water." They needed a revelation of the heart of God and Jesus modeled that to them. Tonight I want to look at several of the misunderstanding the disciples had about the heart of the Father toward the lost as we look at the actions and words of Jesus.
John 4:31-42

Joh 4:31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, "Rabbi, eat."
Joh 4:32 But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you do not know about."
Joh 4:33 So the disciples said to one another, "Has anyone brought him something to eat?"
Joh 4:34 Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.
Joh 4:35 Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, then comes the harvest'? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.
Joh 4:36 Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together.
Joh 4:37 For here the saying holds true, 'One sows and another reaps.'
Joh 4:38 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor."
Joh 4:39 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me all that I ever did."
Joh 4:40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days.
Joh 4:41 And many more believed because of his word.
Joh 4:42 They said to the woman, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world."

The disciples did not understand Jesus' motivations for talking with this woman. The scriptures said they did not say anything to him when they returned from shopping and saw Him talking to her but John records what was going through their minds..." "What do you seek?" or, "Why are you talking with her? You have to wonder what they were thinking Jesus was after, was it good or bad? Maybe they thought Jesus had some bad motives in talking to her. Perhaps they put themselves in the situation and thought about what they would have been seeking from this woman who came alone. Jesus' motivations are always pure; they are always with the best in mind for whomever he is talking to. The disciples perhaps wrestled with the idea of impure motivations but they did not say anything. We can often do the same thing with God. We question him in our mind and lack understanding of why he is doing something in our life or the life of another person. God's motivations are always based in his love for us, there can never be an evil thought in God's mind in his dealing with us.
Or perhaps the disciples had learned by this time to not question what or why Jesus did the things he did. Maybe they at least understood that he had good reasons and motivations for what he did even though they did not understand and inwardly questioned his actions because of their prejudices against Samaritans and women.
Our motivations in talking with people have to come from our obedience to God and they must be pure. Jesus was concerned about the spiritual well fare of this woman. He understood her wrong beliefs as well as the rejection she faced from many people. His motivation was to bring truth to her and be a blessing to her life. In crossing the ethnic, religious and gender barriers Jesus demonstrated that he cared for her as a person and the things held against her would not keep him from demonstrating his concern for her.

Jesus gave this woman value, she was worthy of his time and effort to engage in a conversation with her.
The disciples did not give this woman the same value that Jesus gave her. She was a 5 time loser when it came to marriage fidelity. She probably did not have many friends and came to the well by herself at the hottest part of the day. She was doctrinally way off and ethnically not the right pedigree. Jesus saw past all of that but the disciples could not. They were locked into a different mindset that would not give any value to this woman. Jesus saw a woman who needed understanding. She needed to be set free from misunderstandings and be given the opportunity to see her true Messiah. Jesus could have completely ignored this woman and the disciples would have totally understood and agreed with his actions. But Jesus came to save sinners not condemn them. The value of the human soul cannot be measured and that is why it is imperative that every person has the opportunity to meet the Messiah. Jesus did not care what the disciples might think when they saw him talking to her. He saw a person of infinite value who deserved to know the truth. He was willing to taint his reputation to talk with her because she was of such value in the eyes of God.
Sometimes the hardest thing for us is to look beyond the exterior or even the interior of a person to see their true value to God. How we treat people and interact with them is often a reflection of the value we give them. We are all of equal value and importance to God and if this were not true Jesus would not have become a man to save us from our sin. Often we need to just get over our prejudices and preconceived ideas and get beyond our limited understanding so we can get to the real issue and the need of lost people.
If you have never had the opportunity to listen to "A Man Called Norman" by Mike Atkins I would encourage you to do it. It is the story of Mike's befriending his neighbor Norman who was an outcast in his city. Mike was able to get over many of his self imposed barriers, get beyond Norman’s limitations and idiosyncrasies so he could get to the heart of Norman and reveal the Messiah to him. It is a great testimony that I know you will enjoy.

Another thing the disciples did not understand was the real purpose of Jesus' life. They often only thought in terms of the physical and did not see the spiritual aspect of Jesus life and words. When they wanted him to eat he came up with a reply that they did not understand in the sense that Jesus meant it to be understood.
"I have food to eat that you do not know about." Their first thoughts and only thought at this time was that Jesus was talking about physical food. Jesus often seemed to communicate at a level that they were not able to understand and I am sure it was a bit frustrating for them. Their lack of spiritual understanding was evident in their response. ”Has anyone brought him something to eat?" The disciples did not understand that they were spiritual beings that had a soul that lived in a body. They saw and interpreted things through their 5 senses and thus did not understand the spiritual things Jesus was communicating to them. Years later they could look back and say, "Oh now I get it!"
The food Jesus was talking about was his true purpose in life "My food is to do the will
of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.
This took precedence over physical needs and this was the priority of His life. The very thing that gave Him life was His obedience to His Father. His greatest desire and I believe His greatest joy was found in doing the will of His Father.
This has to be our focus as well, knowing and doing the will of the Father. There are two areas we must focus on to accomplish the will of God.

One is to destroy the works of the enemy by proclaiming what Christ has done to defeat him. Jesus' resurrection has stripped him of his greatest weapon, the fear of death. The resurrection of Jesus is the greatest moment in history because of its impact on Satan. As long as Satan could kill people in their sin they would never be able to be united with a Holy God. He experienced being cast out of heaven because of his own rebellion. He understands that sin brings death and his greatest tool was creating a fear of death and its destiny. We were helpless to do anything that could take away this fear. We were in bondage to the enemy whose greatest delight is to see people killed and die in their sin. He knows there destiny and when Jesus died he thought the battle was won. Christ's resurrection destroyed his power and liberates everyone who believes in Christ from the fear of death. Every time we proclaim the gospel message we do violence to Satan and his demons. They do not want to hear the gospel proclaimed and we can see the wrath of the enemy in the laws of certain religious beliefs that today are killing people who do not believe as they do. This belief is 100 percent inspired by Satan because its whole purpose is to impose death and silence the voice of messengers of the gospel. Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life, he who believes in me will never die." These are powerful words that destroy the work of the enemy.

The second focus is to establish God's Kingdom and will on earth as it is in heaven. Heaven is our pattern. If it exists in heaven then we need to bring it to earth. Establishing God's Kingdom means we bring heaven to earth. When Jesus came to earth he brought the Kingdom of heaven to earth through his acts of obedience to the will of His Father. Everything that Jesus did was in response to what he saw his Father do. Jesus performed the will of His Father which involved revelation of truth and its proclamation, miracles, signs and wonders.
Bill Johnson, pastor of Bethel Church in Redding, Cal. made this statement. "We often form our theology based on the things that don't happen rather than on the things that do happen." When someone is healed of a sickness we don't base our theology on the healing but instead base it on those who were prayed for but not healed. If sickness is God's will then why should we fight against it? Will we not be fighting against God? If we base our beliefs on what heaven is like it will solve some of the areas that we see confusion. We have to believe with all our heart that what God desires on earth is the same thing he has in existence in heaven. Our job is to bring that Kingdom to earth but that will only happen when we truly believe that this is what God desires.
We can look at the end times prophesies in a couple of ways. We can see them as promises of what is going to happen and sort of just give in and say it is coming to an end and there is not much we can do about it. Or we can look at these words as being descriptors of the conditions that we will face in the battle to establish God's Kingdom. I believe God wants us to engage in the battle with greater intensity in spite of all the things that are happening that are causing some to lose heart and lose faith. We are not to throw in the towel but take up the towel and serve as Jesus served. Our goal is to establish as much of the Kingdom of God as is possible until they day Jesus returns to reign for 1000 years.

The disciples also did not understand the time factor.
Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, then comes the harvest'? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.
The harvest as they viewed it was in the future but in Jesus' eyes it was now. The Samaritans were the harvest field and the time of the harvest was now. I believe that God is opening a door for the gospel in several of the nations in the Middle East. I listened to a message from Andrew White, a Vicar from the Anglican church of England who has been working in Iraq for 13 years. He reported that the church is growing and God is doing miracles among the people. Christians have been killed and Andrew asked God what he should do and he told him to get the Islamic leaders together for a meeting at which he presented a fatwa. A fatwa is an Islamic religious ruling, a scholarly opinion on a matter of Islamic law.
He did that and presented the problem of the killing of Christians and since that time there has been any killings.
God is opening the doors in Libya as well. CBN in their news broadcast called "World Christian News"(April 1: 6.50) has reported that there is an openness to the gospel and a great need for literature to be given to the people.
We must understand the time and act quickly because the harvest is ripe. We have to always be ready to share with people. The devil will always tell you that this is not the right place or time to do it. You may be in a public place or in your work place and it may seem to be awkward but when the opportunity is there we have to take advantage of it. Delayed obedience is disobedience. We need to be more concerned about being obedient to God than any lies and limitations the enemy may place in your mind to tell you to wait.
The time for the Samaritans to hear the message from Jesus was now and after Jesus' conversation with the woman he stayed in the city for two days to minister to the lost and many came to believe in Him.

The disciples also needed to have the same vision that Jesus had. They had to lift up their eyes so they could see the harvest. Their focus was on getting through Samaria and they missed seeing the harvest field of souls that was there. We can miss out on what God wants to do because we are so focused on the next thing that we do not see what is in front of us or around us. We have to be in tune with the Holy Spirit and respond when he puts a message in our heart to talk with someone. God has spoken to Jesus about this Samaritan woman's life and Jesus knew that this was given to him to be used to open her heart to him. God revealed to Jesus that this woman had been married five times and was now shacking up with a man. I don't think he did this to shame her but used it as a way to get her attention and reveal His true nature and mission. Words of knowledge have a way of getting our attention and are gifts from God to show us his love and concern for us. We need to keep our eyes open to see what God sees so we can respond as He wants us to respond. As we learn to walk in the Spirit and hear God's voice I believe He will reveal things to us about people that will open their hearts to receive the gospel. One of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is the Word of Knowledge where the Holy Spirit supernaturally gives you knowledge about a person or situation. It is a great gift to have when we are witnessing to people. The Samaritan woman was so impressed that she went back to her village and invited the people to meet Jesus. "He told me all that I ever did." was her summation of Jesus' conversation with her. Ask God for his vision to see the harvest field of souls and for the gift of the word of knowledge to help open the door to the soul of a person.

The final area the disciples did not understand was the process of sowing and reaping when it pertains to the salvation of people. God is always at work to prepare people to receive the gospel message. He has placed eternity in the hearts of people. When we talk with people we are either ones who are sowing seeds of the gospel in the heart of the person or we may be the one who leads them to Christ. We may not always see instant results but we must believe that when the word is sown it will not return void. It will produce results. Some seed may take years to take root and grow while others will be planted in fertile soil and come to Christ quickly. Our witness must always draw people to Christ and give them a clearer picture of the love of God for them.
In the news of recent days we have witnessed the response of the Muslims in Afghanistan after the pastor Terry Jones from Florida had a trial on the Koran and it was burned. The Daily Beast reported the following:
"During his day in New York City, in full peace-maker mode, Jones promised Today show host Carl Quintanilla that his church wouldn't burn any Korans, "not now, not never." By the New Year, however, Jones had come up with a knockout pitch. The church couldn't burn Korans—but what if it was no longer a church? What if it was, instead, a courtroom, the Koran was on trial, and burning was one of the possible penalties? "The complaints about International Burn a Koran Day was that it was unfair," the pastor told The Daily Beast. "Muslims told us that it was not a book of violence but one of peace. We said, OK: a fair way to discern that would be to put the book on trial. We'd bring charges against it and invite them to defend it." The charges were the following:
"1) Crimes against humanity: training and promoting terrorist activities throughout the world. 2) Death, rape, and torture of people worldwide whose only crime is not being of the Islamic faith. 3) Crimes against women, against minorities, against Christians with the promoting of prejudice against anyone who is not a Moslem."
The Koran was found guilty and sentenced to burning. The aftermath has been horrible as over 20 people have been killed by irate Muslims.
NBC April 3 ( 6:13) gave this report.
The political process and relationships that have been established have been set back by these actions and I am sure the spiritual advances in the lives of many of these people have also been damaged. Actions like these hardly show the love of God for the Muslim world. Has the burning of the Koran drawn people to Christ or driven them further away?
We must be careful of what type of seeds we are planting in the hearts of people. We must speak the truth in love if we want it to be received and responded to positively. We do not have to apologize for the truth but we must be careful how we speak against what other beliefs and trust the Word of God to be living and active, sharper than a two edged sword (Hebrews 4:12). The Word of God will accomplish more than any negative criticism we speak against people. We have a message of love, redemption, healing, freedom, forgiveness and grace that this lost world needs to hear.

Jesus came to reveal God's heart for the lost. In his interaction with the Samaritan women and through his teaching to the disciples at this incident we see more clearly what this involves.
1. Our motivation in sharing with people must always be pure and for their benefit.
2. We must give them the same value that God does putting away all or our preconceived ideas and prejudices.
3. We must embrace our true purpose as Jesus did by destroying the works of the enemy and establishing the Kingdom of God.
4. We have to understand the time of the harvest is now and take action.
5. Our vision must be focused on the ripened harvest and not ourselves.
6. Our witness is part of the process of sowing and reaping. Our seeds must always draw people closer to acceptance of Christ as Savior.

I pray that each of us will have the heart of the Father toward the lost and be actively sharing the gospel message as Jesus has demonstrated to us in his life and ministry.

The Cultural of Abundant Life

2011-03-29T13:07:00.001-05:00

We live in a time when death and destruction are all around us and it seems to be on the increase with everything that is happening in the world today. The natural disasters, revolutions and increase in violence have the potential of causing our attention to be focused on death. For some people life is too hard or is meaningless and they make decisions to end their life and often the life of other people who they have seemingly insurmountable issues. In my home state of Minnesota a 16 year girl was murdered by her17 year old boyfriend who then committed suicide. He had been planning this act and left evidence of it on his computer. Japan is a nation with a high suicide rate because of its emphasis on success and the pressures that are created from it. We need to continue to pray for the people in Japan who have suffered great losses that the temptation to end their lives will be replaced with the message of hope that comes from the gospel.
During this time in Guatemala there is great emphasis on the suffering and death of Christ. You will see many processions that play the dirge music and show Mary weeping and Christ's suffering. The term the passion of the Christ means the suffering of Christ. It is important for us to remember what Christ endured for our sins and we must never take lightly the suffering he encountered physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually when he was on the earth. He came to earth to give us life through his death. He came to free us from the bondage of sin so we could experience life in its fullness. He wants us to celebrate being a culture of abundant life and not death. Jesus came to show us the life that we can have when we are in right relationship with God.
In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said,
Mat 6:25 "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Mat 6:27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?
One of the first things Jesus addressed was being anxious about the basic life needs of food, drink and clothing. Jesus wants us to be free from these concerns so we can focus on what is really the essence of life. The reason we can do this is explained in the next verses that assure us that God, our Father knows what we need and will be faithful to provide for us when we focus on seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
(Mat 6:32) For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
(Mat 6:33) But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
(Mat 6:34) "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

We will experience the life God wants for us when we first set our mind on seeking the things that have the highest priority: God's Kingdom and His righteousness. God wants us to be free in our thinking to be able to have fellowship with Him and enjoy our relationship with Him. Anxiety about the basic needs of life will distract us from our true focus that will give us the life that God has for us.
Rolland and Heidi Baker are tremendous modern day examples of people who have placed their trust in God’s faithfulness to fulfill his word to meet physical needs. Many times they have seen food multiplied to meet the needs of the people who they did not expect to come. They minister in Mozambique where the needs are great but as Heidi has stated, “Jesus is more than enough.”
Anxiety and worry can consume our lives and for many people it does. If we are in right relationship with God we can have confidence that He will fulfill his promise to provide for the basic needs of life. Paul encouraged the Philippian church to be anxious for nothing
(Php 4:6) do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Through trust and prayer, the enemy of anxiety can be conquered and we can be free to focus on the work of the Kingdom.

Another enemy of experiencing the life God has for us is covetousness.

Jesus also spoke against covetousness because it is a major distraction to keep us from experiencing real life.
Luk 12:15 And he said to them, "Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

The word covet means to “always desire to have more” Vine’s dictionary

We are a consumer driven society and the focus of our life is not to be on the accumulation of possessions, striving after things that bring only temporary pleasure. Advertisers play on our greed and a feeling of entitlement to have more things that we so deserve even if we cannot afford them. I noticed that Best Buy stores are now offering to buy back your computer when you want to upgrade to the next level. They want to eliminate any concerns that you may have about selling your computer so you can buy a new one. There will always be better, faster, easier etc. things that will be on the market and we must be careful that we do not allow greed or covetousness to motivate our actions. John D. Rockefeller was an extremely wealthy man. When asked how much was enough, he replied, " A little more." For him there was never enough and with that focus one will always be seeking for more. We can spend a lot of time thinking, planning, searching for the next new thing that we have to have and this will divert our attention away from the things that really matter in life.

One example of a believer who lived a life without many possessions was Sundar Singh. He felt that God had called him to be a teacher of His word among the people of India, Nepal and Tibet. He spent most of his life walking through these countries sharing the gospel with the people. The only things he carried with him were the saffron tunic he wore, his sandals and his Bible. He depended on God to supply his needs for food and shelter. He often refused to accept gifts from people because he did not need them. One time he was given a blanket which he kept only for a few minutes because he met someone who needed it and he gave it away. He lived his life not trying to accumulate possession or coveting after things. He was content with the little that he had and to fulfill his calling he did not want or need much of anything else. He may be an extreme example because he did not have other responsibilities such s a wife or family to care for yet his heart attitude is one that is a model for us to follow.
Everything we have should be held with an open hand to be able to freely give it away without any feelings of loss. The more things we possess the more time we have to devote to maintain them or built a place to store them. Sometimes the greatest freedom we can experience is found in giving away all the things that are cluttering our lives and taking away our focus from what is really important.

A third obstacle to living the life God has for us that Jesus taught is trying to save our life or protect and preserve our life. This is living for yourself and making sure that you keep everything that is yours and build a fortress to ensure that it will not be taken from you. “The natural tendency is to save our lives by selfish, complacent, routine, petty existences. We may indulge our pleasures and appetites by basking in comfort, luxury, and ease, by living for the present, by trading our finest talents to the world in exchange for a few years of mock security
When we try to preserve our lives we miss out on the real life God has for us. We have to lose this life in order to gain the life the truly is life.

Luk 9:23 And he said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
Luk 9:24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
Luk 9:25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?

Following Jesus requires us to die to our self life and place everything under His Lordship. It may require that we lay down our life for the sake of His Kingdom. Fear of death can keep us from being obedient to follow after Christ and his call upon our lives. The life on earth is temporary and we tend to live it as safely as we can which can keep us from stepping out in faith and obedience to what God calls us to do.

Sundar Singh was on a journey with another man and they were walking through the snow in the mountains when they saw a man who had slid off the path, down the mountain and was laying motionless. The man who was with Sundar wanted to keep going and not risk helping the man in need. The weather was getting worse and it was cold and in his mind the delay and the dangers involved in rescuing this man were going to jeopardize their ability to reach their destination. Sundar ignored his advice and went down the slope to rescue the man while his partner decided to go on without him. Sundar rescued the man who could not walk and carried him on his back toward their destination. In route, they came across a man who was lying on the path. He had frozen to death. When Sundar looked at the man's face he recognized that it was his partner who had left him behind. Sundar realized that the man he was carrying caused his body to generate heat from the extra weight and effort he had to make to carry him and because of this he was able to keep from freezing. In being willing to lose his life, he actually saved it. When we take risks for God in obedience to Him he honors and rewards us. Being "safe" is not our highest priority and can be one of the greatest hindrances to advancing God's kingdom.
I recently listened to a message by Afshin Ziafat, given at Dallas Theological Seminary. He told about a young man named BJ Higgins whose story is captured in the book about him called, "I would die for you."
At 8yrs old BJ accepted Christ. When he was 9-10 years old he was actively sharing his faith on school bus with great passion telling the passengers that they would be going to hell if they did not accept Christ. When he was 13-14 years old he was sharing faith on line on a regular basis, leading people to Christ. At age 15 he was called to mission field and wanted to go to Morocco, a Muslim nation. He and his sister went to Peru on mission trip where he contracted and died of a rare disease. The book that was written about his life was based on the diary he kept. The impact of BJ's short life has touched many people, possibly more than it would have touched had he not died. Afshin learned from this book, that BJ accepted Christ after hearing him preach at his first outside speaking engagement. He and his wife decided that they wanted to meet BJ's parents after contacting them via the internet. When they met Afshin learned more about the impact of BJ's life.
After BJ's funeral his parents took his ashes to Morocco, the country BJ felt called to serve. They walked up a hill that overlooked a Muslim village and poured out his ashes and prayed for the village. The Muslim guide was told about BJ's life and he was greatly impacted by his story and eventually gave his life to Christ. He is now pastoring one of the underground churches in Morocco. BJ's life also impacted another life of a young man from Sudan.
When BJ’s father was on a bus in Kenya a Sudanese young man sat down next to him and he shared his faith with him. The young man wanted a Bible but the only Bible he had was BJ’s with all of his treasured writings in it. He was reluctant to give it to him because of its value to him but he did. He prayed for him and God spoke to him that he was praying for the next evangelist in Kenya. He shared this with the 15 year old young man who was the same age as BJ when he died. Today this man is preaching the gospel in Kenya.
We never know the impact our life will have on people when we surrender it completely to the Lord and allow Him to direct us wherever He wants us to go. Even in death our lives can bear much fruit.
The life that Jesus has for us is an abundant life. Anxiety, covetousness, selfishness and self preservation keep us from experiencing the real life Jesus has for us.
Joh 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
The word for life is "zoe" which is the life of God, the very life that He gave to Jesus. Jesus wants us to experience and live the same life he had. The zoe life is a life of abundance because God is not lacking in anything.
The words more abundant in the Greek mean: super abundant, superior in quality and excessive. I relate the abundant life to the fruit and the power of the Holy Spirit. Some may want to relate this verse to material things but to me the Kingdom of God is not about possessions or things. It is more about the inner qualities that reflect the character and nature of God that God wants us to have in abundance. When the fruit of the spirit is in operation in my life I am living the zoe life.
Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
Gal 5:23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
In a world that is filled with hatred, killing, anger, deception, selfishness, greed, and all the other works of the enemy the value and importance of having the fruit of the Spirit growing in our lives becomes more obvious to those who do not have it.
Afshin Ziafat grew up in a devout Muslim family that fled Iran to the USA when he was young. While living in the USA, he and his friends would throw rocks at a group of Catholic nuns when they left their home. One day his friend threw a rock that broke a clay pot the nun was carrying. He was afraid of what would happen to him so he turned to run away. He tripped and fell and was injured. The nun approached him and he thought she would harm him for what he had done. Instead she bent down and tended his injures. That image profoundly impacted these young boys as they witnessed the fruit of the Spirit working in the life of the nun. She responded in the opposite spirit because she was controlled by the Holy Spirit.
How we respond to opposition will reveal our character and the maturity level of the fruit of the Spirit in us. When we have the abundant life in us it can flow out of us in times of adversity and trial and be a witness to the world that expects the opposite. In the midst of every storm in life we can experience the life of God in abundance. When we are squeezed by ungodly actions of people, difficult circumstances, trials and tests of our Christian beliefs, our true fragrance will be emitted.
Abundant living is living the life of God. It is living with the evidence of the fruit of the Holy Spirit and the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit. Paul understood the greatness of this power that was at work in him and his prayers and writings to the churches and leaders reflect this.

To the Ephesian believers he wrote:
Eph 1:19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might
Eph 3:16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,
Eph 3:20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,
To the church at Colossae he wrote:
Col 1:11 May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy,
Col 1:29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.
To the church in Thessalonica he wrote:
1Th 1:5 because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.
To Timothy a young pastor he wrote:
2Ti 1:7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
God supernatural power is at work within each of us and He wants us to learn how to operate in its power as part of the abundant life He has for us.
Holy Spirit fruit plus Holy Spirit power will make us witnesses and workers who will experience the abundant life God desires for each person. Let us never settle for anything less than what God desires and has made available to us.

When good things happen to bad people

2011-03-22T10:08:00.000-05:00

We all wrestle with understanding why bad things happen to good people but tonight I want to look at the opposite of this, “when good things happen to bad and needy people.”

God is his grace gives certain things to everyone and we will look at that later but first I want to look at an issue that we see frequently and that is wicked and selfish people who obtain good things by doing evil things such as manipulation, exploitation and abuse of their powers. Asaph and Job wrote about this issue.

Asaph wrote about this in Psalms 73:1-12

A Psalm of Asaph. Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.

But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped.

For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

For they have no pangs until death; their bodies are fat and sleek.

They are not in trouble as others are; they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.

Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment.

Their eyes swell out through fatness; their hearts overflow with follies.

They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression.

They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongue struts through the earth.

Therefore his people turn back to them, and find no fault in them.

And they say, “How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?”

Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches.

It is difficult for us to understand why the wicked live at ease while so many who seem more deserving struggle for survival. To us it seems unfair, unjust and we wonder why. In the news recently the lifestyles of some of the world’s leaders have been exposed. Former President of Egypt Mubarak is worth billions of dollars in a nation where the majority of the people live on less than $2 per day. Khadafi who rules over Libya is also extremely wealthy and has no problem flaunting it in a nation that also has a majority of the people living in poverty. The list could extend to many leaders, business owners as well as common people of the world who are evil people yet live lives of comfort and luxury. It is easy for us to condemn them and question why they get away with what seems to be great inequity and injustice.

Job had the same questions that Asaph had when he was placed on trial.

Job 21:7 -20

Why do the wicked live, reach old age, and grow mighty in power? Their offspring are established in their presence, and their descendants before their eyes. Their houses are safe from fear, and no rod of God is upon them. Their bull breeds without fail; their cow calves and does not miscarry. They send out their little boys like a flock, and their children dance. They sing to the tambourine and the lyre and rejoice to the sound of the pipe. They spend their days in prosperity, and in peace they go down to Sheol.They say to God, ‘Depart from us! We do not desire the knowledge of your ways. What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? And what profit do we get if we pray to him?’ Behold, is not their prosperity in their hand? The counsel of the wicked is far from me. “How often is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out? That their calamity comes upon them? That God distributes pains in his anger? That they are like straw before the wind, and like chaff that the storm carries away? You say, ‘God stores up their iniquity for their children.’ Let him pay it out to them, that they may know it. Let their own eyes see their destruction, and let them drink of the wrath of the Almighty.

The problem Asaph and Job had when they viewed the prosperity of the wicked is that they did not consider that God will have a day of justice for all of mankind. He sees everything and knows the thoughts and intentions of the heart of every person. A day of reckoning will come and for some it will happen while they are still alive when their schemes are uncovered and they are brought to trial in civilian court or some other form of judgment takes place to strip them of what they have. God has established his law of sowing and reaping. He will not be mocked and in one form or another those who have exploited, manipulated and gained wealth in ways that dishonor God’s nature and character will be judged and punished. As believers we have a responsibility to bring to light the things done in darkness that are destroying people’s lives. We cannot sit back and not respond thinking that in the end they will pay for what they have done. We have to be the defender of the weak, the poor, those enslaved by others of which there are more than 27 million people in this category. God loves justice because it is his nature and when we carry out his justice it releases people and brings glory to God.

When we see the wicked prosper we need to trust in God’s perfect judgments be executed but we also need to take action to rescue the oppressed and bring the violators to justice in a way that reflects God’s nature and character. I think all of us have read of cases in Guatemala where the people took justice into their own hands and put to death people who were accused of committing crimes. Some times their actions are based on the impunity of the courts and the corruption that takes place in the justice system. When the violator is not caught or properly punished which is a very common the people take things into their own hands because they lack confidence in the system to execute justice. In Guatemala less than 5% of the crimes committed are brought to court which only serves to justify the actions of the people who bring their own form of justice to bear on the violator. This not the right way to resolve the issues of injustice and we cannot condone these actions.

We must be careful in what we call “good” because much of what we call good may really be evil based on how it is obtained, how it is used and what are the final results. If receiving all the pleasures and goods this world has to offer alienates me from God or keeps me from even seeking God how can that be a good thing? If I exploit other people or lie or steal to gain something that is good, how good is it? We have to look at what is good from God’s perspective and not our own.

Jas 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

If we do not acknowledge God or see that every good and perfect gift comes from him then we will be quick to use those things exclusively for our own benefit because we claim ownership of them rather than the Christian concept of stewardship of everything God has given to us. Our sinful nature is very selfish. We think of ourselves first, what is best for me, what I want always takes precedence. We live in a very fallen world and we see injustice and selfishness on a daily basis. Yet God’s eyes are not blind to those who seem to be living in luxury at the expense of others. Their day of justice will come and the kingdoms they have built will be counted as nothing when the see the King of Glory and see themselves for who they really are.

Pro 10:22 The blessing of the LORD makes rich, and he adds no sorrow with it.

Those who gain through evil means have a sorrow added to it by the Lord. That sorrow may be experienced in this life or at the judgment seat on the final day.

People who do evil to obtain what appears to be good things is one thing but I also want to look at why things that are truly good things, gifts from God, are given to bad and needy people. You and I are or were in this category at one time in our lives.

In a word this defines grace. God’s undeserved or unmerited favor, receiving something that we do not deserve.

God’s nature is one of goodness. The original Saxon word for God really meant “the good.” God is good and there is no evil in him. His goodness is extended to all of mankind, the rich, the poor, the righteous and the unrighteous, he causes good things to happen to everyone. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said, “so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. “Mat 5:45

Psa 104:14 You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth

Psa 104:27 These all look to you, to give them their food in due season.

God is his goodness and grace has provided a fertile earth and all that is needed to give food to all of his creation.

God’s greatest act of grace was his gift of Jesus. Through this gift of grace we see God’s goodness to provide a way for our sins to be forgiven, our relationships to be restored and the gift of eternal life given to all who receive God’s gift in Christ.

Rom 2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

God wants his goodness to lead men to repentance. This can only happen when the eyes of our understanding are flooded with the light of God’s truth. Then we can see clearly that every good thing we have in life is a gift from God and our response must be one of complete surrender to Him who is the Source of all goodness. We realize that without God we are nothing and everything that we have given greater value in our life of sin is as nothing. When we see ourselves properly we can only admit that we are not deserving of anything. Every one of us has fallen short of God’s original intent for our lives. Before we surrendered our lives to God, we lived as though He did not exist and the world revolved around us. We did not seek Him but He sought us. His love for us caused him to give us the greatest most undeserved gift possible and that was his Son who would give his life to ransom ours. God has given the greatest good gift to a world that is full of evil. Paul stated in Rom 5:8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

A good thing has happened to bad people and we are one of them. We did not deserve it but God in his grace, gave us what we did not deserve. God made Jesus to be our sin that we may become righteous or in right standing with Him. The blood that Jesus shed on the cross was the just payment of a righteous God. The blood satisfied the requirement God demanded to pay for the sins of all of mankind. This blood was God’s grace in action. Ravi Zacharias tells the story of a man who survived the assault on the hotel in Mumbai in 2008 where over 200 people were slaughtered by the assassins. When the assassins began shooting the people this man went down to the floor and pretended he was dead even though he was not shot. When asked afterward why he was not killed he said the man next to him had been shot and because his blood was splattered on his body, the assassins thought he was dead. The blood of this man spared his life. You and I have received the blood of Jesus and the death we deserved has been atoned for by the blood of Jesus. This is the good thing God has given to bad people.

John stated in John 1:16 “And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” The grace of God was not just a one time gift but it is a continual gift to us. God loves to give good things to people who do not deserve them. This is his nature, he enjoys who he is and giving his grace is something he delights in doing.

We are to be people of grace, willing to give freely and generously to people who some may claim are not worthy. God calls us to demonstrate His grace to a fallen world and that can take on many forms. One of the ways we have been able to extend God’s grace and show His goodness is through some building projects and distributing food to the needy.

We have been able to build a few homes for people in need in San Pablo La Laguna. We work through a couple of pastors who know their community and see people in need. We have built a couple homes for people who many have deemed unworthy of receiving them because of the way they live. Many ask why we built a home for this family when the parent’s are not saints. In their minds there are people more deserving than the ones selected. Regardless, the need that they have for a home is there and often there are young children involved or circumstances that happened such as a mudslide that destroyed their previous home that brought about the need. Our hope is that through the gift of the home they will see the goodness of God and desire to know Him. If we wait until people are good enough we will probably never help them but if we are people of grace as our God is a God of grace we will give to meet the needs of people and trust God to work in their lives to bring about the awareness of his goodness to them.

We have also received food that we are giving away to people in need as a way of demonstrating God’s goodness and His grace. Mark and Dayle have been taking food to the homeless people living near the Mercado each week. The need is obvious and though some may label these people as unworthy God sees them differently and through the giving of a meal to them our prayer is that they will see a God who sees and responds in love to meet them at their point of need.

God has created us to do good works because it is through our good works that people can see God’s goodness and give glory to Him. This has to be the motivation for the work God has given us and we must always give God the glory for the good things we are able to do to help people. We are simply God’s instruments he has chosen to use to bring glory to him. We must be quick to give him the honor and point people to Him. Just like a compass always points to true north our good works should always point to God.

Paul wrote to Titus and encouraged the people to be devoted to good works.

Tit 3:8 The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people

Tit 3:14 And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful.

Good works are ways that we get to demonstrate the grace of God to people. Works do not save us but give evidence that we are saved from selfish and judgmental living. Good works flow out of a new nature we have received. We have a new nature of goodness that is reflected in Christ who lives in us. What better people to be the recipients of good works than those who do not know God or live for Him. I can not think of a better way to demonstrate God’s love and grace than through tangible acts of kindness and goodwill to people. People may not completely understand our motive and some may think that we are trying to get something out of them or back from them but when they do understand that it is a free and unconditional gift they are receiving I believe it will help open their hearts to see God in a new perspective. I would much rather leave people with an image of a God of love and grace than one of judgment and condemnation.

Paul specified 2 types of works; those that are profitable and excellent and those that meet urgent needs. Our works should be quality that of excellence that reflect that we care enough to give something of value and worth. Giving someone a stale piece of bread or one that has mold on it communicates a strong message to the recipient. Some may say it is better than nothing but the question we need to ask is, is this the best I can give from what I have? Does this meet the standard of excellence and profitability that God would want me to hold myself to? We can not use a different standard when it comes to doing good works for other people. “Good enough” , “Beggars can’t be fussy”; “It’s better than nothing” are phrases that I have said and heard from others when it comes to helping some people. These are not the standards God expects of us because they do not reflect how he feels about the people and what he wants for them.

The last home we built was for a family near the base. When I went to visit them and see what they needed and what we could do for them, I had in my mind what would be best and explained to the dad what we could do. When I came back to see them a couple days later, they presented me with some of their own ideas of what they would like. At first I thought their ideas were not going to work and I stated again what we could do. After I left I began to think about their needs and desires and what would be best for them. I changed my mind to give them what they really wanted and needed. I did not want to insist on my ideas and in the end have the family a little upset that I did not care about what they needed. So we built the home the way they wanted within the budget we had and everyone was happy. The same thing happened with the stove built for them. I had in mind what I thought would be a great stove that was developed by a guy who worked in Guatemala with the Peace Corp for a couple of year. I downloaded the instruction in Spanish complete with pictures of how to build the stove and showed it to the son-in-law who would be building the stove. I simply asked him to read it over and let me know if this was something he could do and if not we would look at some other options. After looking at the design, he came up with a bigger and hopefully better way to do it. The stove is about twice as big as I had originally thought it would be but it is exactly what the family needs to help them with their tortilla business. It was done with excellence and I pray it will be profitable for their business.

The other type of work Paul described is meeting urgent needs. We have seen the urgent needs in Japan and I hope you have been able to give in some way to help meet the needs. There are many worthy organizations that are doing a lot to help the people and we can give with confidence that our gifts will go to the need.

World Vision’s founder was Bob Pierce. The organization came as a result of a trip that Bob took to China when he was working with Youth For Christ. During the trip, he shared the gospel message at a school of 400 children living on an island off of China. He gave an invitation for the children to receive Christ and then told those who gave their lives to Christ to go home and tell their parents that they were going to be Christians. Bob wrote what happened next.

“Well, when I came to the mission school the next morning, Tena (the school teacher) met me with a little girl in her arms. The child’s back was bleeding from the caning her father had given her when she went home and announced that she was a Christian, and she was going to live for the one true God…she’d gone home and told her father who was incensed because that by turning to Christ she had dishonored his ancestors.”

The school teacher told Bob Pierce that he was not leaving the island without doing something for her. The girl could not return home and the teacher did not have the resources to care for her as she was already taking care of several children. Bob had only $5 with him which he gave to the teacher but the teacher was very adamant in holding Bob responsible for the on-going care of the children. She said to him, “That’s just the beginning, Bob Pierce. You will send me five dollars every month. I ‘ll let her sleep in the kitchen like my other six do, and I promise you I’ll take care of her.” Bob had to make a decision whether he would make a one time gift or a long term commitment to help this girl. Bob made a commitment to send money each month and wrote Tena’s name in his Bible as a record of his commitment. This was the beginning of World Vision that still operates today in many parts of the world. Like Bob Pierce, we all have opportunities to reach out and meet urgent needs of people and for some of you this will develop into a ministry that will involve a greater commitment of your time, energy and resources. Bob Pierce is remembered for a statement that he wrote in his Bible while on Kojedo Island which many of you may have heard that shaped his life and ministry and I pray it will do the same for each one of us. “Let my heart be broken with the things that break the heart of God.” These are the things that God reveals to us and calls us to action to display His goodness and grace through the good works we are able to do to meet needs. (Bob Pierce This One Thing I Do)

As you spend time in Guatemala I pray that God will speak to you and show you exactly what your mission of good works should be. It will be a great challenge as you pursue the mission but you will also see God’s great provision because you are manifesting His nature and character to the people He loves and cares deeply for each person.

The Road Less Traveled...March 2011

2011-03-15T10:21:00.002-05:00

Greetings from Guatemala! It is hard to believe all the changes that have taken place in recent days in the Middle East and in North Africa. People are crying out for freedom from oppression from rulers who have had control over their nations for years. My prayer is for the true freedom that is only found in Christ will be the guiding force as new governments are established. The truth of the gospel is the only message that brings true freedom and I pray that the gospel message will be freely shared in these nations. I am grateful for the openness that we have in Guatemala to share the gospel message. We continue to take advantage of the op-portunities available to us to reach out to the lost and are thankful for the teams that have come that have shared not only the message but their lives with the people.

During February we hosted Faith Harvest Helpers from Washington. They came to help distribute the shipment of

food, medicine and books they sent but due to delays at the port where it was received they were unable to do it. However, they ministered in schools, drug treatment centers, to the homeless, and in churches. The contents of the shipment have been distributed to several groups who will give it to people in great need in Amatitlan, San Pablo, and Chiquimula. Food was also given to the Teen Chal-lenge center in Guatemala City. It is a blessing to be able to give to the many people who truly need these items.

Currently we are hosting a team from Canada. This is their third trip to work-with our base. They are ministering in the hospital in Antigua that is also an orphanage for disabled children. These kids thrive on attention and even though the majority can not talk they love to be held and feel the human touch. The group is also conducting ministry to the children who live near our base. We host a weekly Kids Club and the extra efforts of the team help bring in more children who will become a part of our weekly ministry. The children have enjoyed music, stories, crafts and games.

Thank you for your prayers for more staff. We are blessed to have a young married couple, Eder and Carolina, who were stu-dents during our last DTS now on staff.. They are conducting our Kids Club and helping with hosting the teams staying at the base. One of the big challenges they have is to learn English as most of our teams come from the USA and Canada. God has provided a teacher for them and curriculum that they are studying. They will also be helping staff our next DTS in July which will have several Spanish and English speaking students.

II spent last week teaching at the DTS in Guatemala City. It was a great time to work with their staff and be able to be a part of their school. We look forward to our next DTS and are grateful for the stu-dents who have been accepted and will be attending.

Prayer Requests:

Pray for the 3 families who will be receiving new homes from the donations that have been given.
Pray for Eder and Carolina as they study English that they will enjoy learning and not get discouraged. Pray also for their sending Guatemalan church that they will
give generously for their support of their first ever missionaries.
Pray for more bilingual staff for our base.
Pray for the ministries that we conduct each week: Kids Club, English Worship Service, Evangelism and Feeding program.
Pray for outreach teams to come in April and May.
Pray for the students planning to attend the July DTS that the money needed will be supplied.

Outreach Teams in January

2011-01-26T07:12:00.004-06:00

This month has been filled with lots of ministry with visiting teams. We have been hosting the YWAM Montana DTS since we came back from Haiti. They have been doing a variety of ministries in the area and they spent a week in San Pedro La Laguna working with Pastor Antonio and his church in San Pablo. One of their projects was to help build a home for a family in San Pablo. Money was donated by a family in Wisconsin who decided to give toward the construction of a home instead of giving each other Christmas presents. Their generosity has helped a family that was living in a home made of mud and cornstalks. The family now has a home made of cement blocks with a concrete floor and metal roof. Definitely a major home improvement for them.
We also hosted a team from Spirit Lake, Iowa form the First Presbyterian Church. They build a home for a family living near the base. Their previous home had a cement floor and two layers of block and on top of the block was cornstalks used for the walls. The team laid over 500 cement blocks to make new wall and we extended the house about 5 feet to give the family more room. In addition they made a very nice bunk bed for the 2 girls so they no longer have to sleep in the same bed as their parents. The family was so appreciative of the work of the team and the blessing of having a much better home to live in.
Finally we hosted a team from Colorado Springs, "Springs Church" whose pastor is David Wilkerson's son Gary. This team of 17 was part of a mini Discipleship Training School hosted by the church. At the conclusion of their 12 weeks of meeting once a week they came to Guatemala to minister in 2 churches in San Pablo La Laguna conducting services in the churches for children, youth, married couples, ladies and the entire church. They shared their stories of redemption and God's provision for their lives and had a tremendous impact on the people.
I thank God for these teams He has sent and the difference they have made in the lives of many people.

The Savior of the World Has Come!

2010-12-25T09:13:00.002-06:00

We celebrate the birth of Christ today with people from every nation, tongue, people and tribe. Christ came to save the world from sin and the judgment that will come to all who do not receive him. Christ came to earth to give his life as a ransom, to pay the debt he did not owe that you and I might receive forgiveness and eternal life. His birth came in fulfillment of the prophecies given in the Old Testament. God is his love sent his Son in human flesh to live among men and become the sacrifice for our sin. While we were yet sinners Christ died for us in order that the punishment for sin would be paid for through his blood. Today we celebrate the unfathomable love of God given in the gift of His Son, the Savior of all of mankind.
Do you know Him and all He has done for you because of His great love? He longs to be your Savior but you are the one who will decide to accept Him or reject Him. His love for you will never change, receive His love today and let Him transform your life into what He originally designed it to be.

Transforming a Nation

2010-12-14T11:57:00.000-06:00

Tonight I want to share about our outreach to Haiti as well as some principle in transforming a nation. Haiti is considered one of the poorest nations in the world and the earthquake of January 12, 2010 has devastated the country and little has been done to rebuild the nation. The extent of the damage was greater than I had imagined. In Port a Prince, the capital, almost every city block had one or more buildings destroyed. We took a tour of the city and saw the extent of the damage in several areas. One of the most memorable areas was the National Palace which to me symbolizes the state of the nation. It is broken and needs to be fixed yet nothing has been done other than keep people away from it. Over a million people are living in tent cities in tents donated by many different nations. We did not go into any of the tent cities in Port a Prince but we were able to do some ministry in a tent city near the mission house we stayed at our last 4 weeks. All of the people living in the tents have lost their homes and at this point do not have a place to go until their property if they own it can be cleared of the rubble. Many people prior to the earthquake were squatters and had no title to the property where they built their homes. This presents a huge problem for the people trying to get financial help to rebuild a home on property that they do not own. Since the government did give out deeds there have been many parties laying claim to pieces of property which will have to be settled in court. This will bring even greater delay to the reconstruction process of homes, schools and hospitals. 90 percent of the land is legally unclaimed and people are making claim to the land, fighting over it and making rebuilding even harder. Habitat for Humanity is committed to build 40,000 houses in PAP in the next few years. They cannot build the homes because of the claims against the property they want to build the homes.

We saw very little being done to clear the rubble. The heavy equipment needed to clear the rubble has been donated by many countries but it is sitting in the port because the government will not release it. The missionary that we worked with the final four weeks had a vehicle shipped from the USA and when he went to pick it up he saw many heavy equipment vehicles in the same area of his truck that had been donated by governments and relief organizations. Many nations have pledged to help but very little of the money has been given due to the corruption in the government and lack of accountability. 10 billion dollars has been pledged by over 50 countries but only 700 million has been received. The government of Haiti has failed its own people and many officials have stolen money from the people for their own personal greed. The current Haiti government will not allow outside organizations to monitor how the money that is pledged will be spent. The greatest problem facing the nation of Haiti is not the economic problem but the moral problem that have devastated the nation. 34 Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. Prov. 14.34

Its greatest need is a transformation of the heart of the people which can only come through the preaching of the gospel and faithfully living it out in every aspect of life.

Haiti has more missionaries per capita than any nation of the world. There are over 9,943 mission agencies in Haiti which means there are thousands of missionaries working in the country. You would think that with that many missionaries there would be more progress on bringing change to the nation. I know God is at work through his people and I know it is His desire to see this nation transformed. It seems like a daunting task yet it is not impossible. Many people are greatly discouraged and even some missionaries are losing hope as they continue to see conditions not getting better.

Charles Kraft is a well-known author and missionary who has worked in countries like Haiti that are controlled by animism and voodoo. In his experience working in these cultures he found that there needs to be three encounters to bring transformation to the people.

The first is a Truth Encounter. At the core of the worldview of the people is their beliefs about what is real and true. Many people have never had the Truth of the gospel presented to them and they live with a worldview that is based on a false understanding of God. They fear their gods because their gods have power to curse or bless. In order to appease their gods and receive what they need, they must practice certain rituals and rites that are very detailed and must be done exactly as told or they will not receive what they need. They do not know of a God of love who desires to give them good things and loves them unconditionally. The truth of the Bible needs to be clearly presented to them to free them from the bondage of the false beliefs they have accepted. Jesus said, “You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32. It is the truth of God’s word that will transform individuals, families, communities, cities and nations. The preaching of the gospel is our number one mandate because transformation as God has planned cannot take place apart from the truth of His word.

Great Commission (Matthew 28:19)

We have the model-Jesus “As the father has sent me so send I you.” John 17. 18

We have the motive-love “For God so loved the world…”John 3:16

We have the mandate: Go and make disciples

We have the method: preach

We have the message: the gospel

We have the magnitude: the whole world

The enemy, satan, has blinded them to the truth and he is holding them in bondage. Food, medicine, hospitals, homes, orphanages, schools and other humanitarian aid are needed but they in themselves do not meet the greatest need of the people which is the truth of God’s word. All of these can be vehicles in which the gospel can be shared and must be shared. God cares about the whole person but the greatest need is to have an encounter with truth.

One of the disheartening things we experienced in Haiti was an attitude of “Give me” among some of the people. They were not interested in hearing the gospel and were focused only on receiving something material from us. We saw this in young children and in adults. But we also met people who were seeking for the truth and when the gospel was presented they received it and gave their lives to Christ.

God in His wisdom has chosen the foolishness of preaching to communicate His truth. We must never back down from this mandate and seek for creative ways to communicate the message so that the people will understand. We used the Jesus film children’s version frequently on our outreach. Whenever we showed it we drew large crowds and always had people come to Christ. It was a method that was very effective along with the dramas and testimonies we gave.

The second encounter needed is a Commitment Encounter. Once people have heard the gospel and believe it to be true they must make a commitment to abandon all other beliefs and hold exclusively to the truth of the word. All too often in animistic cultures they people are accustomed to seeing change or answers quickly and when they do not receive answers quickly through their prayers they revert to the spiritists for help. When a person comes to Christ there must be repentance, complete turning away from every belief and practice that is in opposition to the truth. There cannot be a syncretistic mixture that was seen in the Catholic church in Haiti that allowed a mixture of Christianity and voodoo. Christ calls us to a complete and exclusive commitment to follow Him. He challenged those who wanted to be his followers to deny themselves, take up their cross and follow him. If He is the Truth then He must be followed, there can be no compromise or half-hearted commitment. Believing in Him is not a mental assent. The word belief has as its true meaning “by your life”. There has to be a commitment to live your life by the truth of God’s word which means there must be teaching given to them so they understand the Word. One of the things we observed was churches that did not interpret the Scriptures accurately and rejected people who did not conform to their beliefs. We met a couple of ladies who were rejected by a church and not allowed to enter because they wore pants and had tattoos. Not all churches have this warped doctrine but it was sad for us to meet people who wanted to be a part of a church but did not meet the standards to be accepted. We actually helped to start a church in the neighborhood of these ladies who seemed to have a real hunger for the truth.

Several times when we were out sharing the gospel we were confronted by Christian people who seemed to really focus on the issue of women wearing pants. They would get very passionate about their belief that women should not be allowed to wear pants. One time we were witnessing to a group of young ladies when another group of people passing by stopped to listen and then they began a discussion with our interpreter who was a pastor about the issue of wearing pants. The focus of the conversation changed from sharing the gospel to debating about pants. The girls we were witnessing to left the conversation and walked down to talk with Marianne. The pants debate finally ended and we again shared the gospel with the young ladies and two of them received Christ. It is a sad day when the primary focus of some believers is on outward things and not the condition of the heart.

Another thing we encountered was people thought they needed to change before they could really commit their lives to Christ. They felt that they would not be accepted unless they made changes or got themselves to be good enough for Christ to accept them. They did not understand that true change can only happen when Christ comes to rule their lives as they make a commitment to Him. We had to encourage the people with this attitude that Christ would bring the changes as the progressed in their knowledge of the truth. Sanctification is a process that is continually a part of our Christian life. When we make a commitment to Christ to become a follower he takes us “As is.”

The final encounter is a Power Encounter. People who live in animistic cultures have witnessed the power of satan. They have seen demonic power at work and fear it. For these people to convert to Christ they must experience Christ’s power as a greater power than satan. Philip Steyne in his book, “Gods of Power” stated the following:

“Throughout the history of the Church, she has been engaged in power encounters against the forces of evil. Therefore, to presume that a person can come out of the domain of darkness into God’s Kingdom without a power showdown, assumes that Satan will allow transfer of membership without a battle. The Bible doesn’t support this notion.” P. 210

Christ has given us power over the enemy. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but are powerful. 2 Cor. 10:3-5

3 Indeed, we live as human beings,but we do not wage war according to human standards;4 for the weapons of our warfare are not merely human, but they have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments 5 and every proud obstacle raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ.

Demonic powers must submit to Christ. As believers, “greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.” 1 Jn 4.4

Christ did not leave us clueless or powerless regarding the enemy. We have been given authority through Christ to exercise power over the forces of darkness. The unsaved must see this and experience this especially those who have been involved in the dark side of the spirit world.

While in Haiti we saw Voodoo temples and talked with people who practiced voodoo. Several times after presenting the gospel the people would say no to the invitation. When asked what held them back they would state they were not ready. One man was 92 years old and said he was not ready. His days were definitely numbered yet he did not want to give his life to Christ. We learned that the rejection was often because they were practicing voodoo but did not want to admit it. One lady we shared the gospel with said she could not make a decision to accept Christ without her husband’s approval. Even though we told her that she would stand alone before the judgment seat and be accountable for her decision she was not persuaded. Her husband came home while we were talking with her so she went to ask him to come to talk with us but he refused. Another lady who was with her told us after we left them that the couple was practicing voodoo.

When these three encounters: truth encounter, commitment encounter and power encounter; are experienced individuals will be transformed and the culture can be changed as the truth of God’s word is put into practice in every area of life.

The nation of Haiti is in desperate need of transformation. The beliefs and attitudes that rule the country need to be replaced with the truth of God’s word. The gospel must be proclaimed through committed believers who know the power of God. The church must rise up and begin to exert influence in every area of life to establish the Kingdom of God in the country. It is easy to be discouraged by the corruption and devastation but God is not calling his church to sit back and wait for help. He is calling his church to be on the frontlines setting an example to people who have accepted a counterfeit system of beliefs. We saw very few people actually working to clean up the rubble and garbage that was thrown everywhere. We did see on a couple of occasions a group of people wearing shirts that said “Working for food or money.” I am not sure why people are not doing much to clean up their country and begin the rebuilding process. It is a completely different attitude than what was demonstrated by the people of Germany after WWII when many of their cities were completely destroyed. The German people used their hands and hand tools and wheelbarrows to clear the rubble. In Berlin there remains a large pile of rubble where the people brought it after clearing their property. It remains today as a memorial to the hard work of the people to restore their nation. I pray that this attitude will become part of the transformation of the Haitian culture. Haiti needs a leader or leaders like Nehemiah who had a passion to rebuild the fallen walls of Jerusalem and in doing so reestablished the true identity of the people of Israel who were in captivity. He encouraged the people to “rise and build” and the people responded and accomplished the task in only 52 days because they had a “mind to work.” I believe that God wants to establish a new identity for the people of Haiti which will only happen as they allow God to bring transformation to their nation.

We were blessed to be able to work with a church called, “The Body of Christ.” They were actively involved in relocating people on their property in Babancourt that served as a refugee camp for 1500 people. Most of the refugees have returned to Porta Prince but there are still families living at the site. The church is constructing homes on their property and has a long-term goal of making it a community with a hospital and community center to serve the needs of the people.

Haiti is in the process of electing a new president and representatives in their government. While we were there the first election took place but the results have been disputed and riots have erupted in the capital. Many of the people are angry and are demanding another election. It is perhaps a defining point in the history of this nation and we must continue to pray that whoever becomes the next group of leaders in Haiti will take a stand for truth and justice and work for the good will of people. But above all we must pray for the truth of God’s word to be the foundation of the country and that the values that are taught and principles taught in the Scriptures will become the standards of the nation.

Pray for the missionaries and mission organizations that are working in Haiti. It is not an easy country to live and the spiritual environment is challenging. Pray that more teams will go to Haiti to help bring the transformation that is needed. Pray for encouragement among the missionaries who are giving so much of themselves to help the people. Pray for the church in Haiti to take action and set a good example to the people.

Banana Church

2010-11-22T07:25:00.003-06:00

Sunday,we ministered in a new church that is located in a field of banana plants. It is surrounded by channels of water that carry the waste water to a river so the odor at times can be pungent. A group of about 40 believers gathered to worship in the simple structure in a plot of land the pastor purchased and gave to the church after his other church was destroyed by the earthquake on January 12 in Haiti. His desire is to build a structure and purchase more land to expand the church. It was a privilege for us to be a part of what God is doing here amidst people who have suffered greatly yet are willing to sacrifice to see his Kingdom advance in their nation.

Outreach to Haiti

2010-11-20T06:33:00.002-06:00

We were able to finally show the entire Jesus film, children's version on Thursday night to a crowd of 300! We simply hung a bed sheet on the wall of a business and used the PA system to announce it. We were delayed about an hour due to some technical problems but the people patiently waited and the longer we waited, more people came. At the end of the film we wanted to give an invitation but as soon as we started speaking the generator used to power our system rain out of fuel. It got real dark fast and the people scattered but at least they saw the entire film which is a very powerful took in presenting the life of Christ. We pray that hearts were ministered to by the message of the film and that the Holy Spirit completed the work of bringing conviction of sin, righteousness and the judgment to come.

Haiti Outreach

2010-11-18T05:57:00.003-06:00

We are continuing to share the gospel by going to homes in the area. The people are open to hearing the message and many are responding to receive salvation. We have also been hosting a Bible study for some people who we have met and shared Christ. They have been rejected by some of the churches because they do not wear the right clothes and some have tatoos. Not all the churches are legalistic as these but the ones that are have a very negative impact on people who really want to know the Lord. We will be showing the movie on Jesus to the people tonight. It is the shorter version for children but it has been very effective in reaching all ages and it is in the language of the people. We are working with a Pastor to help start a church with the people who are coming to Christ through the ministry we are doing. Please continue to pray for us as we labor together in the harvest field God has placed us for the next 2 weeks.

Haiti Outreach

2010-11-01T12:31:00.000-05:00

I am currently in Haiti with our DTS students for the next 5 weeks. We arrived on October 17 and spent our first week ministering in Port au Prince. I was overwhelmed by the extent of the damage from the earthquake of January 12, 2010. There are countless buildings and homes that are damaged and some reduced to rubble. I saw very little work being done to clear the rubble as there seems to be few machines available to deal with the problem. It will take years to clear and rebuild everything that has been damaged at the rate of progress that is currently happening. One of the most telling signs was the condition of the National Palace that is totally damaged and nothing has been done to remove it and rebuild. It is a symbol of the state of the government here, broken and in need of major repair. We came along side of a church called "The Body of Christ" and ministered in 3 different churches as well as several school. We also visited an orphanage that is in great need of funds to fix what has been damaged and finish the construction of the building. It cares for 47 children who have been orphaned. It is a very simple facility and the children have very little. The food was being cooked over a fire because they did not have gas in the propane tank. The children sang the National Anthem of the USA to us and they really enjoyed the ministry the student conducted for them.
Our second week was spent north of Port au Prince in Babancourt. We stayed in a camp that was set up to house the people whose homes were damaged after the earthquake. There were about 1500 people originally living in tents in this camp but many have left or return to their homes. We worked with the church on the grounds and also conducted ministry in several public and private schools. We had around 30 receive Christ as Lord. It has been very hot in Haiti and it has taken our team a bit of time to adjust to it. Electricity was scarce in our first home we stayed in and in the camp we only had electricity when the generator was started at night. The church treated us well and we did not mind living in tents for the week, it was actually cooler than staying in the home the first week. While we were at the camp there was an outbreak of cholera in communities around us. We know of 2 people who died near us.
We are now at our 3rd ministry site in Fonds Parisiens for the next week. We will be doing a lot of evangelism in the community.
God has used our students in a marvelous way and even though the conditions are harsh at times they have stayed strong and focused on the mission. Please continue to pray for them.

Identity Crises

2010-09-30T13:25:00.001-05:00

Identity Crises, Confusion
We are living in a day in which personal and gender identity is in a state of crises and confusion for many people. Gender identity is now much more than just male and female. We have an organization called the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transexual) that defends the rights of people to express themselves any way they desire.
In New York it was proposed that young students would not have to declare their gender until they were sure of who they were and if they wanted to change their identity they could do it at any time. We are seeing an increase in the number of people who are living with a different identity than what they were born.
Guatemala and El Salvador have serious problems with gangs. In El Salvador a law was passed recently that would allow the police to arrest anyone who was in gang and put them in jail. Many who join the gangs are looking for a new identity and a sense of belonging to a group of people. They cover their bodies with tattoos that are identification marks of being part of their gang or they wear certain clothing in a specific way that identifies them as one of the gang members. Being identified with the gang is very important to them as it gives them a place to belong and a purpose for living even though it is not at all what God created them to be and do. There is a new movie called “Reparacion” about the gangs in the prison in Guatemala.
The identity of these gang members has been the result of growing up in a home without a father who did not help them identify who they are and unfortunately many churches were guilty of not reaching out to help them realize their true identity in Christ. Your identity determines your purpose in life.
The enemy has been very successful in creating massive confusion regarding man’s true identity. You can choose who you want to be regardless if it is against God’s original design for mankind. We are expected to be tolerant of others choices and not try to force a moral standard upon them. Let them be who they want to be is the mantra of our day. There is increased acceptance and pressure to give approval to the identity that a person chooses for himself or herself. The ultimate goal is to get everyone to believe that it is natural and choice is not involved.
The Bible is very clear about our identity and our purpose in life. We have been created in the likeness and image of God and our purpose in living is to know God and enjoy a personal relationship with Him that is based on love. God created us with a free will to choose to love Him. As we read the Bible we see what has happened to man when he has lost his identity and lives outside of the boundaries God has established. When Adam and Eve sinned against God a major change happened immediately. They lost the glory that clothed them and the innocence in which they lived after they ate of the fruit. They alsol lost the intimacy they had with God. Immediately they were filled with fear, hid from God and tried to cover up their nakedness. They knew they had violated God’s command and their reaction of hiding and covering themselves because a change had taken place. They were no longer innocent people but were people who were ashamed. They had a new identity that was not what God had originally intended for them. Man quickly degenerated as this new identity was passed on to succeeding generations. Man became so wicked in this new identity that God had to wipe out the human race and start over again with Noah and his small family. God chose Noah and then Abram to be the people whom He would reveal Himself and reestablish the identity of God’s people. Through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob a nation of people were created who would understand their true identity through the revelation God gave them through the laws and the prophets. The nation of Israel was to be a kingdom of priests who represented God to man and interceded between man and God (Ex. 19:5,6). Through the nation of Israel God would send the Messiah who would make possible the restoration of man to God. The intent was that the nations would come to know God through His chosen people and understand their true identity through their relationship with God. Israel did not do a very good job at being the nation that followed God. They identified themselves with the gods of the other nations and abandoned their true identity and purpose. Eventually they were taken captive by the Assyrians and Babylonians as punishment for their abandonment of God. When the captors destroyed their cities and took them into their lands they immediately split the people up and dispersed them throughout the land to destroy their identity as a nation. Separation and isolation were great tactics to destroy the identity of the people. Yet in spite of their efforts to disperse them and destroy their identity, God maintained a remnant of people who would not lose their identity. The story of Daniel and the 3 Hebrew young men is a great example of how the conquering nation tried to change their identity. First they were removed from their homeland, separated from their families and everything that was familiar to them. Then they were given new names that were names to honor the gods of their captors and give them a new identity. (Daniel 1:6,7)
Their names carried meaning. Daniel meant God is judge, or my judge. Hananiah’s name could be translated, Jehovah is gracious. Mishael’s name, as Daniel’s, contained the shortened form for God (el) and meant who is like God. Azariah’s name asserted that Jehovah helps. These godly names were changed into compounds of the names of the Babylonian gods.
To make them forget the God of their fathers, the guide of their youth, they give them names that savour of the Chaldean idolatry. Belteshazzar signifies the keeper of the hidden treasures of Bel; Shadrach—The inspiration of the sun, which the Chaldeans worshipped; Meshach—Of the goddess Shach, under which name Venus was worshipped; Abed-nego, The servant of the shining fire, which they worshipped also. (Matthew Henry Commentary)
Next they were reeducated in the knowledge of their captors. Finally they were asked to adopt the customs of the Chaldeans and forsake the laws God had established. This was the point where they would not give in. They would not bow to the gods of their captors and identify themselves with them. They knew their God and they were determined to not compromise their true identity as children of the One True God.
Our enemy tries to do the same thing with each of us to get us to lose our true identity. He tries to separate us from other believers by creating divisions or he tries to exploit us when we are in a situation in which there are few believers. He wants to isolate us so we feel alone and then are more susceptible to his temptations to adopt new gods and standards for living. Unfortunately many Christian college students fall away from the faith because of the isolation they feel as believers in a godless campus that is filled with many opportunities to be engrossed in sin and be accepted.
One of the reasons we have the Monday night worship service in English is to counter this tactic of the enemy to isolate and separate believers who come to Antigua. It is easy to fall away from the faith in Antigua, the temptations are there and being away from home where no one knows you makes it even easier to give in to temptation and change your identity. When I came to Antigua in 1999 the Lord put in my heart the desire to start these meetings because I saw and felt the need for fellowship among the English speaking people who were here. These meeting have been going on since January 2000 and I am glad you have come to be a part of it. It is a great way to meet people, get connected and be encouraged in your faith.
Beside separation and isolation the enemy will do his best to expose us to a new way of thinking about life. He will try to destroy our Christian world view and replace it with the current philosophies that the world embraces. If you are not solidly grounded in your faith or a Christian worldview of life, you will be unprepared to recognize and refute other world views and begin to adopt them as part of your life. Someone once said, “If you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything.”
One of the greatest examples of the power of wrong values and philosophies of life was witnessed in Germany when Adolf Hitler rose to power. I recently read the biography of Dietrich Bonheoffer and learned many things about what was going on in Germany when Hitler’s philosophy of life ruled the nation. He viewed the Jews, the disabled and the elderly as expendable. He sanctioned the death of millions of Jews and used them for medical experiments that were unconscionable. He saw no value in disabled children and ordered them put to death. Much of this happened without the knowledge of many of the people in Germany and when people found out they were appalled that these things were happening. Unfortunately the church did not make a united stand against him for a variety of reasons. One of the reasons was the people were afraid they would lose their identity when they would eventually be defeated. Those who were opposed to Hitler tried hard to convince Britain that they were serious about overthrowing Hitler and they did not want the whole world to think that everyone was in agreement with his philosophies. A few Christians tried to overthrow Hitler and kill him but were unsuccessful. Hitler’s worldview influenced an entire nation and led to the death of millions of innocent people. Ideas have consequences and we must be vigilant to expose false philosophies that undermine God’s values. When you lose your true identity, you expose yourself to many ideas and philosophies that can be very destructive and your purpose in living becomes something God never intended.
When you call yourself a follower of Christ you will be put to the test. It may be in a small thing or something that could have devastating consequences. Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego and Daniel were all faced with decisions to conform to the ways of their captors or stand faithful to their beliefs. They were asked to eat food that was against their beliefs but they refused to do it. They were asked to bow down to the idol and refused to do it. The consequences were not good, a fiery furnace waited for them. God honored their stand for righteousness and protected them. Daniel refused to stop praying against the order of the King and was thrown into the lion’s den. He stood for his beliefs and God stood with him. These men refused to change their identity and their beliefs. They knew who they were and whose they were.
What you believe will be tested, the enemy will make sure you go through the fire to see what you are made of and what is your true identity. I knew some Christian people who bought a roundtrip plane ticket with the intention of having one person fly on the first part of the trip and a different person fly back using the same ticket. In their mind it was a way to save money as a one way ticket is always more expensive. So in order to do this they had to created a false identity card so when they presented it at the check in counter it would match the name on the ticket. They were able to do it and they did not get caught. But in retrospect they were willing to expose themselves to a damaged reputation and possibly a fine for the sake of saving a few dollars. How valuable is your reputation? What is your price? I heard another example of a youth pastor who when attending college used the identity of someone else to play basketball in a health club so he would not have to pay the nonmember club fee. When asked his name at the desk, he gave the name of a friend who was a member of the club and then stated that he had forgot his membership card that had a photo i.d. He got in and began to play basketball when the attendant at the desk came to the gym with the person who he had stated he was!! He had been caught and now established a reputation with the attendant that he was a liar, deceiver and willing to sell his reputation for a small amount of money.
Some of you may have read the news of the past week in which a pastor of a megachurch in Atlanta has been accused of sexual abuse of 4 teenage boys in his church. He has denied the charges and time will tell whether he is truly innocent. He is going to go through one of the greatest testings in his life and I pray that he truly is found innocent of all charges.
None of are exempt from having our identity tested and we all must be careful to keep ourselves in the love of God and always respond with love toward God whenever we are tested.
God has made you in His image and likeness, He has chosen you, He has called you, He has made you a new creation in Christ, you are His, He has you in the palm of His hand, you are precious and of great value to him. Your identity is found in Him. Your purpose is found in Him. Your values, beliefs and behaviors are to reflect who you are in Him. Paul stated, “It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.” His new identity was found in Christ and that is the beauty of Christianity. We remain unique in our personality, gifting and abilities yet we share the same values of Christ. Christ is forming his character in us, conforming us to his nature yet expressing it through our uniqueness.
Erwin Lutzer, pastor of Moody Church in Chicago told the story of one of his daughters who invited a friend over to their house to play when she was only 4-5 years old. Her friend was not acting right, she was doing a lot of bad things that bothered Erwin’s daughter. Finally his daughter asked her friend, “Do you have Jesus living in your heart?” Her friend replied that she did and Erwin’s daughter responded, “I think you have a bunch of other people living in there as well.”
When Christ comes to dwell in us, we have a new identity. We no longer have to try to be someone we are not. We can be free to be the person God created us to be.
We are going to watch a drama performed by our DTS students called “King of Hearts”. It is a powerful drama about how we try to hide behind a false identity.
We need to establish our identity in Christ. We can be free in Christ to be who we have been created to be. We do not need to try to be something we are not to hide our fears or present a false image to other people.
In Christ we discover our true identity and our purpose. Celebrate your uniqueness and enjoy the great variety of personalities in the Body of Christ. Be secure in your identity in Christ. Don’t be a copycat, be who God created you to be.

The Road Less Traveled...September 2010

2010-09-15T19:08:00.000-05:00

Responding to Problems

2010-09-07T18:33:00.001-05:00

Recently in the Guatemala news there was a report of a man who was shot to death near the Immigration office in Guatemala City. I was just there a couple of weeks ago and never thought that someone would be shot in this location because of all the people who are there. The news reported that the man who was killed had been working outside the Immigration office for many years helping people with their paperwork. They speculated that someone did not like his work and decided to hire assassins to take him out. A permanent solution to one problem but it also created a series of other problems.
Problems are a part of life. Someone once said there are no problems just people. Almost all of our problems are a result of relationship issues. How we confront our problems and deal with them will determine how we will grow as believers.
At times we wish we could just push a button and have our problems disappear. I watched an episode of Bonanza, an old television show our family watched every Sunday night that presented a very unique way to deal with problems. Here is one episode in which the Cartwright family and their hired hands went to San Francisco to celebrate. Unknown to them was a ship that needed workers and they worked in cooperation with a local drinking establishment to get people in a very unique way that was also used to solve problems people caused in the bar. In the scene we will watch one of the Cartwrights, Hos who was looking for their hired men as well as his father who had disappeared after going to the bar. He came searching for answers created a stir in the bar trying to solve the missing persons problem.
A very unique way to solve a problem at least for a short period of time. But life is not that easy, problems come to us and often require a lot of thought and energy to resolve them. We are always faced with choices in how we will resolve situations and problems we encounter. I want to look at three responses to problems tonight.
Denial
The easiest thing for many people is simply deny that there is a problem. It is easy for us to deny something that in our mind does not exist. At times we have blind spots in certain areas of our life. It may be a habit or attitude that we have that has become part of our behavior and we do it unconsciously and are really unaware of its effects on other people. We are unaware of our issues until someone brings them to our attention. Once we are made aware we have a decision to make and often we choose to deny we have a problem.
A friend of mine related how his dad would come home every day, sit in his chair and read the paper and no one could interrupt him or say anything to him. His dad did not realize how his behavior was shutting out his children and building a wall of separation between them. This went on for years and it was not until recently that when he was confronted with his past behaviors. His immediate reaction was to deny that he had done anything wrong. Awhile later he realized what he had been doing and he asked his children to forgive him. For years he was blinded to what he was really doing and I am sure he wishes he could relive those days. It took years for his children to get up enough courage to confront him with many of the behaviors that had driven them away from him. He was not a very approachable person and I am sure they thought it was not worth the effort to try to talk about something he would deny being a problem. Denial is often our first reaction when we are confronted by someone who points out a fault that we have. Denial is never a solution. It only serves to alienate people from you who perhaps love you and are trying to help you. For most of us this is our usual response when someone confronts us with an issue. Our pride keeps us from really listening and accepting what the other person is telling us. It is easy for us to deny what they are saying and discredit them stating that they do not know what they are talking about. We get offended perhaps by the way it was spoken to us or by the words they spoke and we become defensive. We quickly shut these people out. When we are confronted we need to be aware of the response of our heart. We may say the right words to the person confronting us but our heart is not in agreement with them. We placate them with words yet remain in denial of what they have said. Pay attention to what is really happening in your heart. The Holy Spirit is very good at bringing an uneasy feeling when we are in denial. There will be heaviness in our spirit that we must acknowledge.

Delay
A second reaction when confronted with a problem is to delay doing anything about it. We accept the fact that there is a problem but we do not want to do anything to confront it and do what needs to be done. Sometimes we think that given enough time it will go away or if we move away the problem will not follow us. Last year there was a young man around 30 years old who lived in Antigua and came to our coffee house when we had it in operation. He came to some of our meetings and seemed to want to get his life in order. We never really knew all of his past but one day he was in Central Park in Antigua when agents from Interpol arrested him in the park and brought him back to the USA to face charges for crimes he had committed. Rather than face his problems and taking care of cleaning up his record he decided to flee to Guatemala thinking it was a safe place and he would go unnoticed. Yet I am sure that in the back of his mind, he knew that he was delaying the inevitable. He eventually went to court and was convicted and given a 5 year sentence in jail. He was in the end relieved that he finally came to terms with his past even though it meant going to jail for awhile. The Bible is pretty clear when it states, “Be sure your sin will find you out.” (Numbers 32.23). The longer we delay the greater the level of anxiety builds in our heart. King David tried this tactic of delay. He thought he had his sin covered when he committed adultery with Bathsheba and she became pregnant. His secret did not remain a secret because God would not let him get away with what he had done. It was tearing David apart and God in his mercy sent Nathan the prophet to uncover the secret and help David get the healing he needed. Psalms 32 addresses the issue David had with his own sin and how it tormented him.

Psalms 32: 3-4
3While I kept silence, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long.
4For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.

The longer we delay the more misery we bring to our lives. It affects us spiritually, emotionally, and physically. There really is no benefit in delaying our confession. God waited patiently for David to come to him and admit his sin but David delayed and suffered for it.

Deal Truthfully
The final option is to deal truthfully with our problem by admitting it is a problem and seeking the forgiveness and help we need to get back on track. When Nathan confronted David, David knew he had to deal with his problem, admit his sin and receive God’s forgiveness.
Psalms 51
3For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
4Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment.

. Unconfessed sin is really a huge ball and chain that is attached to us. It hinders us from progressing and causes great pain. When we finally deal honestly and truthfully with our problem we set in motion the healing process. The healing begins with our relationship with God because all sin is an affront to God, David acknowledge that he had sinned against God first and foremost. Once this relationship is restored the next step is to rebuild the other relationships that have been damaged by our actions and attitudes. This can be a very difficult thing to do because you have to humble yourself and go to ask forgiveness and bring restitution to the people you have offended. We put ourselves at risk of being rejected, reviled and renounced when we do this. We cannot control the reaction or response of the offended person and we have to be prepared to receive this. It will be painful and it may be costly but it can also be the first steps in restoring a relationship built on honesty and transparency. When Christ talked to Zacchaeus the tax collector, who were known for taking more money than they should have from the people, his response was pretty amazing because he offered to repay anyone he had taken money from, four times as much as he had stolen.

8 Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.” Luke 19:8.
Restitution and restoration must always be at our own expense and it may be costly but relationships and a clean conscience are more valuable than money. The word restoration means to set a broken bone back in place. This can be painful but when the bone heals it is stronger than when it was before it was broken.
When it comes to restoring a relationship we have to be willing to do what the other person asks of us. We really are in no position to demand anything from them. As long as what they ask of us is not excessive we have to be willing to submit ourselves to do what is necessary.
If we are willing to go through confession and restitution we can be used of God to teach other’s His ways.
Once David understood what God was trying to establish truth his life through dealing with his sin he submitted himself to God to receive the forgiveness, healing and restoration he needed.

6 You desire truth in the inward being;
therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and put a new and right spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from your presence,
and do not take your holy spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and sustain in me a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will return to you
When he completed the restoration process, we will
Have a heart that seeks to be taught God’s wisdom
Have a heart that is clean before the Lord
Experience joy and gladness
Receive a clean heart and a right spirit
Enjoy intimacy with God through the Holy Spirit
Have a spirit that is willing to submit to God

When this is our experience then we can like David teach other sinners the ways of God so they could return to Him.
When we have been restored, God can take our failures and use them as teaching tools for others who are in the same situation or are on the verge of making the same errors we committed. Our testimony of restoration can be used to offer hope to others who are not walking in the freedom God wants them to experience.

God’s goal in revealing and dealing with sin is not punishment but restoration of our lives and our relationships. We can choose to deny the problem, delay our response or we can deal honestly and truthfully with what has been shown to us and begin the restoration process.
Let God have his way in your life when you encounter problems. Allow him access to your pain and he will bring more freedom than you could have imagined.

Knowing Christ

2010-08-21T20:05:00.002-05:00

Knowing Christ
7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Phil 3:7-10
Paul wrote these words while he was imprisoned in Rome. He had no regrets regarding his life of service to the Lord. In the previous verses Paul recounted what his life was like as a religious zealout, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, the cream of the crop regarding what he thought it meant to be a True Jew. Paul understood that everything he tried to accomplish for God was truly a work of the flesh, it was his own efforts to be a righteous person according to the Law. Paul thought he had the perfect pedigree that is until he truly met Christ. When he understood who Christ was and what he had done for him, Paul changed his thoughts about his past life. Those things that were of value to him and others he counted them as a loss. They did not add value to his life but rather robbed him of having the true knowledge of Christ. The righteousness he thought he had gained through the works of his flesh did not accomplish the righteousness that can only be found through faith in Christ.
Righteousness means to be in right standing with God. When you are in right standing with God you are accepted by him. The only way we can be acceptable before him is to be clothed with the righteousness of Christ. When Paul discovered this truth it set him free. That is why he called it the excellence of knowing Christ. He found the key to being righteous before God and it was through the work Christ did on the cross. Paul could now declare, “I am the righteousness of God in Christ.” This truth completely set him free from trying to fulfill the demands of the law. Paul lost everything he regarded in his past life as important. He lost his status among the Jewish leaders. He lost his position and all the entitlements that came with him. Muslims experience this same loss when they come to Christ. Many are completely rejected by the family and it is as though they have died and no longer exist. For some they may be killed because they have left Islam and their killing is justified in the Coran. Paul lost everything and was persecuted severely for following Christ. All the prestige he once felt was now counted as nothing because he found the knowledge of Christ. What Paul gained in knowing Christ far exceeded anything he had ever been given or ever would be given living as he had previously without Christ.
For Paul and for us as believers the greatest knowledge we can ever have is the knowledge of Christ. Everything else in life is secondary to knowing Christ. Our passion must be the same as Paul’s, to gain the knowledge of Christ and continue learning about him for all of our lives. Paul wrote in Colossians 2: 3 that in Christ “…in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge..” The more we seek to know Christ, the more knowledge and wisdom we will gain. It requires effort on our part to seek after Christ, to study the Scriptures and apply ourselves to the understanding we gain.
We live in a world that is full of information but what the world needs is a revelation of Christ because in Him is found all wisdom and knowledge. The enemy has been very successful in sidetracking people from knowing Christ through philosophies and other religions. Over ½ of the world is lost, separated from God and pursuing other gods. Many have made up their own religion based on good works or other ideas that will not make them righteous before God. Only Christ can make us righteous before God, acceptable to Him. If you are trusting in anything else you will be disappointed, you will not be accepted into the Kingdom of heaven.
The cry of Paul’s heart was “that I may know him.” I like how the Amplified Bible states it, “that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding [the wonders of his person] more strongly and clearly.” Knowing Christ comes progressively, we don’t understand all there is to know about him. He reveals new things to us about his Person as we continue to passionately pursue gaining knowledge of Him. Christ wants greater depth of our understanding of Him and greater intimacy as we gain more knowledge of Him. The more you know the better it gets and in Christ there is no end. We will never reach the point where we will know it all, we will constantly be exploring the wonders of Christ throughout eternity.
We have just begun our DTS and our goal is “To know Him (Christ) and make Him known.” The students have set aside these next 5 months of their lives to pursue this knowledge of Christ and take that knowledge and share it with a lost world.
I pray that this is the goal for each of us, to know Christ as he really is and for who he is. ..I pray that each of us will never settle for only partial knowledge of Christ, to be content where we are at and miss out on all the Christ has for us. Are you hungry for the knowledge of Christ? Are you passionately pursuing to know Him intimately and in greater depth? How is your spiritual appetite for the wisdom and knowledge that comes through Christ? There is no greater study to pursue than the study of God and Christ. All the other pursuits of knowledge in any area of life as exciting as they may be can never compare with knowing Christ. The earthly knowledge we gain will all pass away but the knowledge of Christ is eternal.
Paul not only wanted to know Christ but he also want to know, understand and experience the power of Christ displayed in his resurrection. Christ through his resurrection defeated the greatest power on earth, the power of death. Death brought finality to life and many people live in fear of death. Many people believe that once you die, it is over. There is nothing after physical death. Other religions teach that you will be reincarnated into another life form based on the life you lived on earth. Christ demonstrated to the world that the power of death was defeated when he rose from the grave. The resurrection power changes everything. If we are raised from the dead then this life on earth is temporal, death in the physical is only a transition to the eternal. The resurrection power of Christ is available to the believer today. There is nothing more powerful than the power to transform a life. We can see the power of God being demonstrated in the earth today through the signs, wonders and miracles that are happening. These miracles defy the laws of nature and are inexplicable. Healings are being reported where metal parts placed in the body are disappearing or the person is able to do things they never were nor should be able to do with the metal part in their body. These amazing miracles are nothing to be compared with the resurrection power that will one day transform this human body into a new heavenly body that will never get sick, never experience pain or suffering and will become an eternal body. This is real power and we get to experience it.
Paul also wanted to understand and participate in the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings. Paul already had experienced a great deal of suffering, physically, mentally and spiritually. He was not asking for a life of pleasure and ease but desired to live in conformity to the death of Christ. The servant is not above his master and if Christ was willing to suffer in the flesh, Paul was also willing to do the same for the sake of Christ. This is not a message that is popular among many believers today who want to experience just the blessings of the Christian life. To think about suffering for Christ is not on the radar screen, it is to be avoided. This attitude to me reflects that the person does not really understand the surpassing value of knowing Christ or the excellency of knowing Christ. Whatever suffering or persecution may come from following Christ is worth it if it will bring others to Christ and allow us to be a witness unto him. The thought of suffering or inconvenience or living at a lower standard of living to have the opportunity to share Christ with others is difficult for many believers to embrace yet desire. Paul was willing to go through many forms of suffering, knowing that Christ had suffered greatly for him. Christ's sufferings continued when Paul admittedly persecuted the church and for this Paul was very repentant. During WWII when decisions were made to invade enemy territory, one of the factors that was always given consideration is how many lives would be lost in the battle. It was inevitable; people were going to die from enemy fire or friendly fire. It was always a difficult decision for those in authority yet the prize they were trying to gain, the freedom of the people, was worth the expenditure of human life. Thousands of soldiers gave their lives for the freedom of people they did not know. We have something more valuable than earthly freedom. We must be willing to experience suffering and persecution so that others will come to know Christ.
The final frontier for missions is going to require people who are willing to suffer for Christ. The nations that are most resistant and militantly opposed to the Gospel will require people who are willing to suffer for the sake of Christ. It will require people like Paul who want to share in the sufferings of Christ. It will not be easy but it will be very rewarding because you will be one who has the privilege of bringing Christ to people who have never heard of him or have been given wrong information about him. Those who are willing to go, to be afflicted and suffer for the sake of Christ will experience him at a deeper level of intimacy and comfort. I read this poem that I think reflects the life of many believers who want a comfortable life.
Comfort me, Lord, and... pay my bills
Comfort me, Lord, and... cure my ills
Comfort me, Lord, and... remove my fears
Comfort me, Lord, and... dry my tears
Comfort me, Lord, and... increase my wealth
Comfort me, Lord, and... preserve my health
Comfort me, Lord, and... plead my case
Comfort me, Lord, and... enlarge my place
Comfort me, Lord, and... tell me "why?"
Comfort me, Lord, and... set me on high
Comfort me, Lord, and... do what I say
Comfort me, Lord, and... do it today
The Spirit listened as I uttered my mind
He said not a word as I pleaded and pined
And then He spoke in the language of conviction
Saying, "Comfort isn't comfort in the absence of affliction."

Are we really willing to go through affliction for Christ or do we just want to be comforted from the seemingly minor things in life that have consumed us?
Paul’s attitude and desire was to be conformed to Christ’s death. It was not that he had a death wish but rather that he was willing to pay whatever price that was required of him.
Paul was a seeker of the intimate and deep knowledge of Christ, not head knowledge but experiential knowledge of Christ. He was also sought to understand and experience the resurrection power of Christ and finally he was willing to share in the sufferings of Christ for the privilege of bringing the Gospel message to the lost.
Paul challenged the believers to follow him as he followed Christ. He pursued Christ with passion to know Him and serve Him. May the same be said of our lives.

Honor all people

2010-07-21T20:42:00.000-05:00

1 Peter 2:17 Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.
The words Peter wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit have been stirring in my heart. Especially the first words, “Honor all people.”
When Peter wrote these words the Christians in that day were being persecuted and were under fire. They were going through trials of their faith, much of which was being caused by people who hated and despised them. So when Peter wrote that the believers should honor all people, he was including those who were their enemies and persecutors as well as the governing authorities. All people means all people not just the ones we like, agree with or agree with us.
To honor someone means we give them value, we elevate them and esteem them. We can give honor to someone based on their position or office. If the President of Guatemala came into the room we would give honor to him because of his position of authority. We may have fear of the person because they have power over us to make our life miserable or more difficult. The authority may be benevolent and our motivation of honoring him is perhaps to get their approval for something we want or need. Our self preservation may kick in and influence our behavior. If a police officer pulls you over for speeding or some other infraction you will do whatever you can to show honor and respect for him or her because they have power over you. It is like a survival mechanism kicks in and you do what you need to do to escape what may happen to you. You will respond in a way to protect yourself and speak in a way that you hope will lessen the fine or get you off the hook. Our motive may be purely for self preservation and have nothing to do with truly honoring the police officer with a sincere heart. We put on our best behavior, our nicest voice, using terms of respect etc. to try to impress the officer and keep us from more trouble. And as soon as we are away from them we revert to our normal attitude toward them which may be good or bad. In this sense we are giving honor more to the position the person is in and the power he has over us rather than the personal worth or value of the person. Honoring the position of the person is not a bad thing but there is a deeper motivation for honor that I believe God wants us to practice in every relationship all the time.
Honoring people has to be base not on what they do or their behaviors but rather on who they are as persons created in the image of God. Because they are valued by God and are eternal souls created in God’s image and likeness, we are to give them honor. If we base honor on position and power we will give greater honor to a select group and overlook those who are less powerful or are considered marginal by society. James wrote about this problem in the church where people of wealth were given seats of honor while the poor were dishonored and made to sit down by the footstool, a lowly place. (James 2:1-6) Dishonoring the poor is practiced in many nations today. India has a caste system that is supposedly disbanded and not recognized by the government but in actuality it still exists among the people. There are still outcasts and untouchables who have little value other than doing all the dirty work the other classes will not do.
I visited the Potter’s House ministry at the dump in Guatemala City recently. They work with the children and parents who live and work in the dump. Both children and adults, 10,500 each day, are rummaging through the dump seeking for anything they can sell or recycle. Many people call them Scavengers but the Potter’s House calls them God’s treasures because they see the people through God’s eyes and not man’s. These people are every bit as valuable to God as anyone else. By calling them God’s Treasures, they are giving them the honor and respect that they deserve. It is so easy for us to use derogatory terms toward people we don’t like or who have some fatal flaws. He is a drunk. She is worthless. He is a mooch. She is a moron. We can all add words that we have used to label people based on their behavior. We may not have said these words to their face but nonetheless we have either thought them or spoken them to others. All these words and labels demean the other person and dishonor them for what God has made them.
We honor God’s creation also by recognizing the destiny God has for each person. We may look at a person’s past or their present situation and find it difficult to want to express honor. But if we look at that person based on the potential God has placed in them we can honor them for what they can become in Christ. I can honor them by supporting the design and purpose God has for their lives. We need to speak to that destiny, call it out, confirm it in the lives of people who are confused, lost and may not even be aware of what God has destined for them.
We can look at several stories in the Bible that bring out the importance of honor. One of the first displays of dishonor and honor involved Noah and his sons. Genesis 9:20-27
After the flood, Noah imbibed in a little too much wine and basically passed out in his tent. He had taken off all his clothes and was lying on the ground. Ham dishonored his father by looking on his nakedness while his brothers Shem and Japheth did the honorable thing and covered up their father without looking at him. Ham was quick to take advantage of his father who was in a state where he was not aware of what he had done. His disrespect for his father brought on a curse while the respect and honor shown by Shem and Japheth was rewarded with prosperity. They honored their father in spite of his condition while Ham exploited the situation. When people are at their weakest or displaying bad behavior do we show them honor or dishonor them by taking advantage of them or speaking evil against them? When we show honor to people at their weakest point we honor God and will be blessed.
Another incident of showing honor involved David when he was fleeing from Saul (1 Sam. 24:1-15). David had the opportunity to sneak up on Saul and put him to death while he was in the same cave as Saul. Saul was unaware of David’s presence while he relieved himself in the cave. David rejected the advice of his men to take advantage of the situation and kill Saul but instead he only cut off part of his garment. David did not want to kill Saul but he wanted him to know that he had spared his life and the piece of his garment would be a constant reminder to him. In this situation David had power over Saul and he could have used this power for his own benefit but he refused. We may look at David’s actions as justified, after all Saul had attempted to kill him on a couple of occasions and even then was in hot pursuit of David to put him to death. If anyone was justified in seeking revenge or relieving himself from all the trouble Saul brought it was David. Yet after David cut the garment he was convicted of his actions because he did not show honor to the man God had anointed as king of Israel. How many times have we felt justified in our actions of dishonoring another person because of what they have done to us? When we are offended, taken advantage of, had things stolen or destroyed by others, falsely accused or cursed by someone we can quickly justify a retaliatory response and feel like we have not done anything wrong because they deserved it! We have to guard our heart from acting or reacting with a spirit of revenge or justification and seek to demonstrate honor to those who have wronged us.
We are commanded by God to honor our parents.(Ex. 20:12) It comes with a reward of a long and good life. We honor our parents because they have given us life and brought us into the world. They created our lives and through them we have the opportunity to receive eternal life. Even if they were horrible, abusive, and negligent and perhaps rejected us or abandoned us, they were still used of God to bring us into existence. Our birth was part of God’s plan and our parents were instruments God used to bring us into existence. Through our physical birth, we have been given the privilege of knowing God and becoming one of His children who will dwell with Him for eternity. Your parents have given you an awesome, invaluable gift in spite of what they did or did not do for you. They should be honored because they gave you life. For many people this is a huge step to take because of the abuse that has happened and the pain that they carry in their hearts. I believe the healing process can begin when we take this first step of honoring our parents in spite of their failures.
In my life as a teenager I struggled with truly honoring my dad. He was a good provider for our family but he had some flaws that really affected me. I joined the US Army when I as 18 in part to get away from a home situation that was very hard on me. As difficult as Basic Training was, I was glad to be away from home and not have to deal with the things that were there. While in the military, I rededicated my life to Christ and began to really understand what it meant to have a personal relationship with Him. Through many people God placed in my life I began to see how I had not honored my dad as well as other people. God changed my heart toward my dad and when I returned home, I began to treat him with more honor and respect. There were still times of difficulty but I strived to always honor my dad and our relationship changed for the better. The last month of my dad’s life I was able to help care for him. We talked about things I had never addressed and I learned a lot about my dad. On the night he died in our home, I knelt down beside him as he lay dead on the bathroom floor and held his head in my lap and thanked God for the life of my dad and for the life he had given me. I regret that I had not shared those same words with my dad while he was alive and I encourage each of you to not wait to show honor to your parents and thank them for giving you life.
The Bible also commands us to show double honor to those who have ruled well and have given themselves to share the Word of God.
Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine. 1 Thes 5:17
And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem [honor] them very highly in love for their work’s sake. 1 Thes. 5:12, 13

It is an awesome privilege and responsibility to share the Word of God with others. It cannot be taken lightly thus the preparation time and constant study of the Word is imperative for the healthy growth of the church. Those who labor in this regard are to be given double honor because of the value and importance it plays in the life of the believer.

We are also to give honor to one another by giving preference to each other.
Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; Rom. 12:10

We show honor to others by giving preference to them. We prefer them over ourselves, we step aside and let them go first. I used to teach in a Christian school and when it was time to leave the class to go somewhere the students would line up at the door. It was always a race to see who would be first and often there was pushing and shoving to be the head of the line. Many times I would have the children do an about face which then made the last person in line the first as a way to teach them to not continue this behavior as it worked against them and did not show preference to others. We give preference to others when we allow them to go first to get what they need or when we allow them to do what they think is best instead of demanding our way. Some issues are worth fighting for but I think many things really have little significance in the grand scheme of life and by giving preference to the other person we promote unity among us. Some people have the “my way or the highway” mentality. They are so self centered that it is difficult or next to impossible for them to let others have their say or their way. These people get offended when their way is not followed. They have not learned how to give preference to others and they will constantly face opposition and create ill will until they make changes. Some people because of their personality may be shy and find it hard to vocalize their needs or desires. They need to be drawn out, invited to share and listened to or they will feel slighted or overlooked and may think they are being treated as second class citizens. When we give preference to them we honor them and acknowledge their ideas and contributions as being valuable.
We give preference to others by knowing what it is they like. As we get to know people, their likes and dislikes, we can give them the things that will bring joy and satisfaction. If I do not take time to get to know the other person I will not know what things they prefer. Sometimes it is not always possible to give people their preferences but when we can we need to make an effort to do so. It goes a long way in promoting good relationships and makes people feel that they are valued and honored for who they are. I remember going on a mission trip to Mexico with about 50 people. Feeding a group like that took a lot of planning and we could not cater to everyone’s preference. One lady who was on her first trip came through the line to get her food and when she was handed her piece of buttered bread, she commented, “I prefer to have my bread buttered on all four corners.” This was not a preference that we could accommodate at that moment and to be honest it torqed the cook who had been laboring for quite awhile to make a great meal for us. She did not say anything but you could have cooked an egg on her head. You can take a request like this and think that this person should just be grateful to have a nice hot meal and blow it off. Or the next time you butter the bread you could put it on all four corners as she preferred and show honor to her. It is a small thing but meaningful at least to that person.
Paul in writing to the church in Rome emphasized the need to honor every part of the body of Christ. Each part is important and the parts that seem to be weaker or less honorable need to be given more honor. The hidden people or the small people as BP has termed them need to be given more honor than those who get the most attention. We must recognize publicly the contributions of the people who are in the background who really are instrumental in making things happen. When I was in India I was treated with great honor. I was not used to this type of treatment and it was a little hard for me to receive it. Yet I knew that if I did not accept it I would offend the people who were honoring and preferring me. Everything that happened was made possible through the people who worked behind the scenes to organize the meetings and crusades. These are the people who need to be given special honor and recognition and the evangelist I went with made it a point to acknowledge them as well as all the people who had been praying for the crusade.
But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, Rom 12:20-23

Special honor is to be given to those who have endured hard times because of their faith in Christ.

Indeed we count them blessed [give great honor]who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful. James 5:11
I had the honor of meeting Richard Wurmbrand who was known for all the torture he went through when he as a pastor in communist Russia. I read the book about his life called, “Tortured for his faith” and it has made a lasting impression on me. When he came to speak at my church, there was a great sense of honor for this man who endured unbelievable punishment. He has gone on to be with the Lord by the organization he founded called “Voice of the Martyrs” continues to bring awareness of the persecution of Christians that is happening throughout the world.

Another important area in which honor needs to be shown is the institution of marriage. The writer of Hebrews stressed “Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.” Heb 13:4
. It is not to be cheapened and dishonored through pre or extra marital sexual relations. It is a sacred and holy union between two people who have taken vows to honor and cherish each other for life. Marriage is under attack today, it is not being held in honor as a covenant between a man and a woman. Marriage is being redefined and has been extended to include same sex couples. Last week the news reported that same sex marriage has now been legalized in Argentina, the first Latin American country to do this. The marriage bed is being defiled and God will judge those who have robbed it of its sanctity.

Coupled with this is the admonition to husbands to give honor to the wife. Failure to honor her will hinder prayers being answered. God takes it seriously enough to not respond to the prayers of husbands who do not honor their wives. Someone once said you show honor to your wife by knowing what makes them tick and what ticks them off. Dwell with your wife with understanding. This is not mission impossible! It if was not possible it would not have been written in the Scriptures. Someone has said that it takes 20 years to learn how to love your wife and when you love your wife you understand how to honor her.
Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered. 1 Pt. 3:7

The final area of honor that Paul writes to the Corinthian church is to honor our body and spirit which are God’s property.
For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify [honor] God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. 1 Cor. 6:20

The city of Corinth was filled with prostitution. Men thought nothing of going to the temple prostitutes and having sex with them. In the Roman culture a wife was used to bear children and a prostitute was used to fulfill man’s sexual desires. Paul’s admonition to them was that this physical union was more than just a physical thing but it was the uniting of spirits. Our bodies and our spirit belong to God and we must take care of it and use it to bring honor to God. We can extend the meaning of this to also include how we take care of our bodies in what we eat, the rest we give it, and the physical exercise we do to keep it functioning properly. We make this part of our DTS because our bodies are an instrument that God uses for ministry and if we do not care for it properly we will be limited in our ministry.

God is a God of honor and it is evident in the relationship between the members of the Trinity. They each honor and glorify each other. Honor is an important part in the life of the believer and it must be given to all. We are to be a culture of honor to a world that seems to value dishonor. The challenge of showing honor comes to each one of us every day in our interactions with others and the thoughts we express in words or keep to ourselves. Seek ways you can demonstrate honor to all. Learn to give preference to others and value them for who they are and the divine destiny God has for them. Give special honor to your parents, to those who have suffered for their faith and to those who bring God’s word to you. Honor the institution of marriage as a sacred trust between a man and woman; don’t let anything or anyone strip it of its value. Husbands seek ways to show honor to your wife and value her as God does. Finally, honor God with your body and spirit by treating it with respect and care because it truly belongs to God

Communication with God

2010-06-29T07:54:00.002-05:00

Apple has just introduced the new 4G I phone. I do not know much about these phones as I do not own one but my friends have them and they are pretty amazing. You can spend a lot of time playing with all the gadgets and applications available. However shortly after the new phone was introduced people noticed that the phone itself did not work properly, receptivity dropped dramatically when the phone was held a certain way which was the way most people hold the phone when making or receiving a call. If you placed your hand on the edges of the phone you were interfering with the antennae and consequently hindering the reception and communication ability. Some have called this the “death grip.” I thought about this in terms of our relationship with God and how we can be hindering communication with him by things we do. I think all of us want to have clear communication with God. We want to be heard and hear Him when He speaks to us but often we do things that will hinder two-way communication.
The Scriptures are very clear that God does communicate in a personal way and he wants to communicate with each of his children. He is a relational God and relationships that lack communication are not very satisfying. You can track through the Old and New Testament and find numerous verses that verify that God does speak to his people.
God spoke directly to Adam and Eve in the garden (Gen 2,3)
God spoke to Abram and called him to leave his homeland (Gen 12)
God spoke to Moses face to face (Numbers 12)
God spoke to young Samuel (1 Sam. 3)
In the life of Jesus, he spoke to his Father and only did what his Father told him to do (John 6)
God’s desire as a Father is to establish regular and meaningful communication with his children. This is normal in human relationship unless there has been something that has gone wrong in the relationship. Floyd McClung wrote about a young man he met in Afghanistan that grew up in a very dysfunctional and hostile home environment.
I'll never forget the time Steve asked me if I wanted to know the happiest day of his life. Little did I realize the shock awaiting me as I expressed my eagerness to know more about this young man who until that time had remained closed, and unwilling to talk about himself or engage in normal conversation. The locked-in pain and hostility seemed to explode in a torrent of anger: 'I'll tell you the happiest day of my life,' said Steve with a strange smile on his face. 'It was my eleventh birthday and both my parents were killed in a car accident!'
I could hardly believe what I was hearing as Steve rushed on. 'They told me every day of my life that they hated me and didn't want me. My father resented me, and my mother continually reminded me that I was an accident. They didn't plan on me coming along, and didn't want me either. I'm glad they're dead!' (The Father heart of God)
Someone like Steve would find it difficult to believe in a father who loved him and wanted to establish a relationship with him that involved healthy communication. For many people the first step in establishing communication with God is just believing that he truly loves them and wants to talk with them.
As I have been studying more about Islam one of the main differences between Christianity and Islam is the view of God as a relational God. This is lacking in Islam and to many people it becomes just a series of rules to follow to make sure you are doing the right things to please Allah. The disciplines and ritual along with all the rules and regulations that you are to follow replace any personal intimate relationship with God. You are told what to do and how to do it and to many people this is a lot simpler than establishing a relationship that has real communication with God.
If you have any doubts about God’s desire to establish a relationship with you based in his love for you and desire to communicate with you individually, you need to deal with this as it will always be a hindrance to you.
A second barrier to communication is disobedience to the Lord. I think of Saul when he was King of Israel and how he was hindered in his communication with God through his willful disobedience. His disobedience caused God’s prophet and main spokesperson, Samuel to abandon him. Saul who did not listen and obey the voice of God’s prophet was now left on his own which is how he was conducting himself anyway. God gave him what he wanted. In Saul’s situation it led to disaster and ultimately he was so desperate to receive advice that he sought a medium who contacted the spirit world and was able to communicate with the spirit of the deceased Samuel. Using mediums was forbidden by God and explicitly stated in the commandments God gave to Moses. But it did not matter to Saul. He was so desperate that he resorted to this form of guidance.
1Sa 28:3-18 Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in Ramah, his own city. And Saul had put the mediums and the necromancers out of the land. The Philistines assembled and came and encamped at Shunem. And Saul gathered all Israel, and they encamped at Gilboa. When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. And when Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD did not answer him, either by dreams, or by Urim, or by prophets. Then Saul said to his servants, "Seek out for me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her." And his servants said to him, "Behold, there is a medium at En-dor." So Saul disguised himself and put on other garments and went, he and two men with him. And they came to the woman by night. And he said, "Divine for me by a spirit and bring up for me whomever I shall name to you." The woman said to him, "Surely you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off the mediums and the necromancers from the land. Why then are you laying a trap for my life to bring about my death?" But Saul swore to her by the LORD, "As the LORD lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing." Then the woman said, "Whom shall I bring up for you?" He said, "Bring up Samuel for me." When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman said to Saul, "Why have you deceived me? You are Saul." The king said to her, "Do not be afraid. What do you see?" And the woman said to Saul, "I see a god coming up out of the earth." He said to her, "What is his appearance?" And she said, "An old man is coming up, and he is wrapped in a robe." And Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground and paid homage. Then Samuel said to Saul, "Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?" Saul answered, "I am in great distress, for the Philistines are warring against me, and God has turned away from me and answers me no more, either by prophets or by dreams. Therefore I have summoned you to tell me what I shall do." And Samuel said, "Why then do you ask me, since the LORD has turned from you and become your enemy? The LORD has done to you as he spoke by me, for the LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David. Because you did not obey the voice of the LORD and did not carry out his fierce wrath against Amalek, therefore the LORD has done this thing to you this day.
God does not want us to consult with mediums for advice; he wants to communicate directly with us through his Holy Spirit and through his Word. When people seek to use other means such as mediums, fortune tellers, tarot card readers, palm readers, psychics and other forms of communication they expose themselves to the demonic realm and cut themselves off from receiving communication from God.
Our disobedience to what God has made clear to us to do or not do, is a major hindrance to receiving further communication from God. When we willfully reject what he has asked of us, we take ourselves out of the communication link with God.
Isa 59:1 Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; Isa 59:2 but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
If you feel confused or feel like God is not communicating with you, one of the first things you need to do is check your heart and your daily walk with the Lord to see if you are living in disobedience. David felt a heaviness and separation from God after his sin with Bathsheba.
Psa 32:2-4 Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah
Our sin will hinder our communication with God just as it hinders our communication with people. All of us have experienced this when we have sinned against another person. Our communication is hindered until we get our relationship right with the person we have offended. Restoration will occur when we humble ourselves and have a contrite heart to ask for forgiveness. Once we are forgiven the communication link is restored. We also need to forgive others who have offended us. If we harbor unforgiveness we are putting up a barrier because it is another form of sin. Forgiveness is releasing a person from the punishment they deserve but it also releases us from carrying the burden of our pain and hurt they caused. When we truly forgive we are set free and the communication link to God is restored.
Our communication can also be hindered by outside and inside interference. Even though the signal may be clear if there are outside noises competing with your attention, you will not hear properly. I have a slight hearing loss and certain tones are very difficult for me to hear and this becomes even a more pronounced problem when there are other noises in the background. It is hard for me to hear what is being said and I often have to get closer to the person or get away from the noise in order to hear what they are saying. In our communication with God we face the same issue. We are hindered from hearing God’s voice when we allow other voices to compete with him or distract us from focusing on hearing his voice. We have to be able to shut off the voices within our head as well as the voices and noise from the outside to accurately hear what God is saying to us. When Jesus wanted to hear from his father he got alone, away from the disciples and crowd so he could focus his attention on his father. We live in a day when there are so many distractions that it is hard to focus. You can be receiving so much information at one time that it is hard to focus unless you shut off the source of input. Quiet your heart and mind so you can focus on hearing and remove all the things that can be a distraction when you want to communicate with God. Get alone, get in a quiet place and enjoy uninterrupted communication with God. All of us need to do this on a daily basis and if you are not spending time alone with God you are hindering receiving the communication he wants to have with you. God can and does speak to us outside of this time but we still need to get alone daily with him. When we spend time alone with God our spiritual reception will be fine tuned and we will recognize how God speaks to us and when we are in those times of busyness and distractions we will be better able to recognize when God is speaking to our spirit.
Another hindrance to hearing God’s voice can be physical problems and sickness.
Ill health and physical wellbeing affect our ability to hear God clearly. Tiredness, anxiety, headaches, chronic fatigue and depression cause a dullness or fogginess so that God's voice cannot easily be heard clearly. Some illnesses include the hearing of voices so that it is hard for people to hear God's voice at times.
Joy Dawson has been a teacher with YWAM for many years and I recommend reading any material she has written. She is one woman who hears from God because she takes time to wait upon the Lord. She suggests some very practical principles for hearing God’s voice and these are principles YWAM uses during intercessory prayer.
First, expect God to speak to you and thank him in advance. Communicate with God with an expectation that God is going to speak to you. Thank God in advance for what he is going to do to communicate with you.
Secondly, Take authority over the voice of the enemy and his demonic forces. We can command him to be silent and not interrupt our time with the Lord. God has given us authority and we must exercise it so the enemy cannot have entrance. The enemy will try to put wrong thoughts into our minds. He will bring up things that have no bearing on what we are doing in order to distract us. He is often forceful and impatient and there is no peace when he speaks but rather we feel agitated.
The third thing is to silence our own human voice, our own desires of what we want to hear or see done. We can come to God with our agenda of things we want to tell him but we must be willing to lay these down so we can hear what God wants to speak to us. We simply state that we are dying to our desires, emptying ourselves of our thoughts and demands on God so we can have free and clear communication with him.
The fourth area is one we have already mentioned and that is to make sure we have no unconfessed sin that will hinder our communication.
Fifthly, After we have done these things, we can expect God to speak to us as we wait upon him.
God can speak to us in a variety of ways such as:
Bringing to mind a particular Bible verse or simply giving us a reference to look up.
Giving us a mental picture or an image.
We may have a vision presented to us.
Speaking a word or phrase to our mind.
Giving us an impression in our mind, a thought that comes to us that we may or may not understand.
A physical sensation. You may have pain in a certain area of your body or a cold or hot feeling.
Learning to hear and recognize God’s voice takes time to develop. Don’t be discouraged if you are not hearing like you think you should. I am constantly asking God to help me hear clearly.
How can we test what we hear to be sure that it is really God?
Here are some tests that will help us evaluate what we are hearing.
Does it correspond with what you read in the Bible?
Is it consistent with the character of Jesus?
Will its application bring peace and encouragement, or will it produce strife?
Does it sit well on my spirit?
Do other people or circumstances confirm what you are hearing?
Does it lead to life or death - in the widest sense of these terms?
Does it cause me to feel the "anointing" of the Spirit (a very subjective test, but useful with experience)?
God has communicated very clearly to us through his Word and he has given us the Holy Spirit who is commissioned to teach us and lead us into all truth. We can be confident that God will communicate clearly to us because it is his desire to do so. As we eliminate the hindrances and understand how God speaks to us we will begin to enjoy a deeper and more intimate relationship with him.