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God’s Chisel

Jeremy Blount shared this one with me.  Thanks man.

Wanting More of God

So Paul put it best when he described in Romans 5:18-23 of how we “groan” inside these “tents” (2 Corinthians 5:1-5). Where we long for more of God and long to experience more of Him and our spirit is willing but our flesh is weak. Our spirit  just hits the “ceiling” of this body  it’s trapped in. But we want more-to break free.  

Charles Spurgeon describes it like this:
The Christian man in the present state is like a bird in a cage: his body imprisons his soul. His spirit, it is true, ranges heaven and earth, and laughs at the limits of matter, space, and time; but for all that, the flesh is a poor scabbard unworthy of the glittering soul, a mean cottage unfit for a princely spirit, a clog, a burden, and a fetter. When we would watch and pray, we find full often that the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. “We that are in this body do groan.” The fact is, we are caged birds; but the day cometh when the great Master shall open the cage door, and release his prisoners. We need not dread the act of unfastening the door, for it will give to our soul the liberty for which it only pines, and then, with the wings of a dove, covered with silver, and its feathers with yellow gold, though aforetime it had lien among the pots, it will soar into its native air, singing all the way with a rapture beyond imagination… How often does my soul feel like an unhatched chick, shut up within a narrow shell, in darkness and discomfort! The life within labors hard to chip and break the shell, to know a little more of the great universe of truth, and see in clearer light the infinite of divine love. Oh, happy day, when the shell shall be broken, and the soul, complete in the image of Christ, shall enter into the freedom for which she is preparing! We look for that, and we shall have it. God, who gave us to aspire to holiness and spirituality and to likeness to himself, never implanted those aspirations in us out of mockery. He meant to gratify these holy longings, or, else, he would not have excited them. Ere long we shall depart—that is, we shall be set free to go in peace.

Waiting Faithfully

Wow it’s been 2 months since I’ve written anything here.  Busy summer for me.  Praying for direction right now as things seem to be in limbo with a few opportunities in front of me concerning different areas of ministry in my church.  Waiting for God’s direction is so tough.  Patience is not one of my gifts.  But I wait faithfully.  Worship and Bible study have been pretty good this summer.  Going through Luke with Matt Chandler’s podcast.  Great stuff.  I love learning something new from the Bible after I thought I’ve heard and known it all.  Great new music too.

Check These Guys Out!

If you haven’t heard John Piper preach or Matt Chandler preach then you have to check out a sample.  These guys are challenging and passionate about Christ.

Remembering Teen Angst

I’ve been thinking lately about how it was like growing up as a teen in the 80’s and trying to live as a Christian.  After giving my life to Christ when I was ten, I didn’t really have much guidance from a mentor or an older person to tell me how I should live.  It was mainly modeled before me in the church I grew up in and watching how my parents lived  it in front of my watchful eye.  (That always reminds me, now that I have eyes watching me.)  I do know that I had something different in me that bugged me.  Something that always gave me this sense of right and wrong.  It  would overwhelm me at times.  I know this was the Holy Spirit in me, guiding me at a young age.  Keeping me from making some big mistakes in life.   But when I wanted to take over and run my life, there would be this battle that would go on, where I thought I knew what was best for me and I would make mistakes (0.k., sin) and I would inevitably end up in front of the church Sunday morning at the altar asking God’s forgiveness.  I just thank God that he never let go and didn’t give up on me. 

Going to a Christian school wasn’t easy.   It seemed like some  adults at my small church thought I had it all together because I went there (by choice-left public school in 9th grade).  There was a lot of pressure on me.  They seemed to think I could “help” their kids by being friends with them and reaching out to them.  I remember one lady getting mad because I hadn’t reached out more to her son that wasn’t  living like she wanted him to.  At 16, I had a hard enough time keeping my own life to together on that narrow path.  I really didn’t like the pressure put on me.  There were times I just felt like giving up.   It sure looked a lot more fun on the “other side”.  Giving in to the pressure of just letting go and doing what the majority of my unsaved friends were doing and even my saved friends.  I couldn’t keep the lies up for long.  The sleepless nights, the voice of the Spirit always telling me it’s wrong. 

As a dad I have to remind myself that my kids are growing up in different times.  I can’t put expectations on them. Like how I think they need to live out their walk with God or how I think they need to look  like or how they should act.  I need to model it in front of them. I need to mirror Christ in front of them.  They need to see me living a “crazy” life of faith and loving God with all I have..  I think back and I don’t remember my dad  ever “telling me ” how I should live, but he lived and still lives a godly life and I just sat back and watched.  I still had some sin in my life in my 20’s that I had to struggle and wrestle with God through.  But He kept me close and I saw that His way of living was best for me.  More of Him, less of me was what it boiled down to.

I know the teens in our church and our christian school are hurting and my wife and I, and other leaders pray for them everyday.  Some feel like giving up.  Some just want to vent or be heard.  It would seem so easy to just give in right now.  It hurts us when one of our kids puts on their facebook words like:

If I had one wish,
I would wish to die,
To go to be with God and loved ones,
Into the Heavens, to forever abide.

I cannot continue this,
I can no longer handle life,
Though I try, I always fail,
And I only find more strife.

I’m reminded of a song that came out in ‘98 that I think summed up all the teen angst of the 90’s that seemed to be the buzz word then.  I think it still resounds today.  We all want to belong, to be heard, to be loved, to fit in.  Some will even believe the lie of giving in and walking away from their faith to have this.

1 John

2:13 I am writing to you who are mature because you know Christ, the one who is from the beginning. I am writing to you who are young because you have won your battle with Satan.

2:14 I have written to you, children, because you have known the Father. I have written to you who are mature because you know Christ, the one who is from the beginning. I have written to you who are young because you are strong with God’s word living in your hearts, and you have won your battle with Satan. NLT

Freedom of Religion?

Check out this video about a pastor who has a bible study at his home that was ordered to be stopped!

Reading 1 John

I’ve been reading the book  A God Centered Church by Henry Blackaby and it’s starts with covering 1 John 1:3-7.  I think the book of 1 John is such a convicting part of the Bible.  It’s really speaking to me and how I need to love my brothers and sisters in Christ.  Sometimes it’s so hard to love other Christians.  Why is that?  Verses 3-7 says that if I say I have fellowship with God then I will have fellowship with other Christians.  I’m really seeing the connection and the reason Jesus gave the commands of “love God”  and then “love one another”.   It’s His plan of salvation to the world revealed through his body of believers.  John 13:34-35.  Especially the forgiveness part.  Look at Matthew 6:14. 

“If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you.  But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.” NLT

So I carry the weight of sin on my shoulders and I build a wall between me and God when I don’t forgive others.  The part of the Lord’s prayer now has some light shed on it for me.  “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”

So a world that is watching me and ultimately seeing God revealed through me and my relationship with others in my church, has got to see a forgiving God who forgives even the most offensive of sins against me.  And I show them Christ’s forgiveness by forgiving those who continually sin against me.  A qoute from Blackaby says, “God is seeking to reveal Himself through us, and for us not to forgive is to give a wrong picture of God to a watching world.”

So my fellowship with God has a direct connection with my fellowship with other Christians.  Verse 7.  This also includes my relationship with my wife and my kids.  It is our relationship with God that determines all other relationships in our life.

Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3:16-19 lays out the foundation.  GOD’S  LOVE.  Here’s a quote from Blackaby from his book,

“Koinonia between the members-love in action-is absolutely vital to the nature of the church and to the purposes God has for the church.  This was God’s strategy from the beginning when He made a covenant with His people, commanding them to love God and one another.  These two commandments are dramatically tied together in the eternal strategy of God to touch a world.  Jesus prayed that the fellowship He had with the Father would be replicated among His people.  Examine carefully Jesus’ prayer in John 17 with a fresh understanding of koinonia.” 

Amazing courage of a 13 yr old girl

If you have the time check out this 6 part story of Deborah.  She’s 13 yrs old and has amazing courage to live her life for Christ.  Some may have their opinions about her family and her life,  but focus on the courage it takes to live this way.  This was a documentary on the BBC and I think they try to make her out as a freak but check out at the 7:30 mark of the last video as to why she lives this way.  Amazing, real passion.  Love it.

  

Good to be home!

We’re back!

Almost Over

Just letting everyone know we said our bittersweet goodbyes after a night of fun with the boys.  We made it through the 3 hour bus ride to the capital where we are staying at WGM’s guest house.  This is some crazy traffic.  Thought NYC was crazy.  We stopped at the Valley of the Angels where the boys bought enough weapons to supply a small band of guerrilla fighters in Central America.  REVOLUCION!

Tonight we go out with the Hawks to a nice dinner and “debreifing”.  There are several other missionaries staying here so we’ll get to know them and interact.  Should be some good discussion tonight.

Keep praying as we fly out tomorrow and hang out at the Miami Airport for 4 and a half hours with this crazy group.  Should be interesting.  See you all soon

Tuesday highlights

The day started with our work project.  No one got hurt during the demo and clean-up.  Only a few stepped on rusty nails.  After lunch we were right back at it and then had dinner.  But just as the bball camp was to start we had a rainstorm that last an hour and a half.  So why not play footballito!  As the rain started down hard the footballito court soon filled up to about 4 inches of rain it looked like a lot of fun so I thought I may never get another chance to play footballito with a bunch of Hondurans during a rainstorm.  Matt Wilson would always tell me how fun it was to play.  They play rough!  Of course Alexander and Taylor were on the same team.  Taylor, currently being the tallest person in Honduras would plant himself in front of the goal and the goalie would throw it from the other end of the goal for him to head it in!  Didn’t always work as these guys are really good.  The losing team had to carry the opposing team on their backs like burros from one end to the other.  It ain’t easy carrying Taylor Martin on your back while he’s hopping up and down!

These guys are a lot of fun.  A few love coming over to our dining hall to play card games like Uno and Skipbo.  We buy them drinks and share our snacks.  This is a great time to show them love.  Except when you catch them passing cards under the table.  Lots of laughs then.  Five boys taught me the game of Skipbo completely in Espanol. 

Well tomorrow is the last bball camp with a skills competition that includes a slam dunk competition!   They have a court with a 8  foot rim.  Should be fun.  I think Kelsey’s going to be the judge.  They can’t wait! 

I was reading today Phillipians 4:10-19 and Paul talks about how these different churches didn’t help him but the Phillipians did and how grateful he is to them.  In verse 17 he says “Not that I’m looking for a gift, but I am looking for what can be credited to your account.”  And in verse 18 ends with him talking about the gifts he received as “they are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.”  

Update tomorrow.  Thurday we leave for the guest house in Tegucagalpa to stay over till Friday.

Monday rewind

Monday was a long tough day.  Started at 5:30 am with breakfast and then a tour of the facilities with Travis.  What an amazing legacy and ministry that started in the 50’s.  Click here to go to their website.   A funny instance was when Travis took us back in the wooded area and showed us the howler monkeys.  Jeremy and Taylor learned that you don’t walk underneath them.  Jeremy was shaking some poop out of his hair for a while.  Taylor and Alexander do great Steve Irwin (Croc Hunter) impressions.  Got it all on video.  Hilarious.  “(in Steve Irwin accent) “Crikey! Stop looking at the monkeys and look at their dung!” Oh and we got into a field with water buffalo and I got some pretty close video and pics.  When we got back we realized how dumb we were as some of us recalled that we thought we had heard at one time that the water buffalo kills more people in Africa than any other animal. 

After lunch we started the work project around 1:00 pm and it consisted of tearing down a section of old roof of a dorm (damaged from way back during Hurricane Mitch) that is going to be restored.  Lots of demolition and clean up.  Every piece of wood saved and recycled as wood is scarce around here.  Their mountains are bare from being stripped and not replaced.  Today we start demolition on a concrete and brick wall.  Should be interesting as we are leaving it up to our guys to come up with the best strategy!  And safest.  There is a dorm  right beside it that was recently completed and it gives us something to look forward to (a vision or goal) to see what eventually will be the finished project. 

Work ended around 4:30 and then dinner and then right to the bball camp at 6 pm.  We got through about an hour and a half until we got this incredible thunderstorm.  We had a little rain yesterday and it was enough to bring out the mosquitoes!  They are much fiercer and persistant!

We already feel like we’ve accomplished our four fold mission objectives and it’s only half way through.  We’ve encouraged the missionaries and their kids, built relationships with the boys, taught them basketball skills, and started a work project. 

I shared  with our group last night Phillipians 3:10 and how this prayer of Paul’s just amazes me.

“I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death…” NIV

We find ourselves closest to Christ (fellowship) when we’re knee deep in the trenches of life and uncomfortable and when life’s the hardest (sufferings) and we have our eyes fixed on His eyes and we keep going and become more like Him through those times.  I’ve  heard stories of missionaries who said that they have never been closer in fellowship with God then when they were in spiritual battles and under threat of death and suffering.  I heard of a couple of Korean missionaries who were in Iraq and they were captured by the Taliban and for like 30 days they were beaten and they were threatened to be killed.  But they kept praying together and worshiping God and eventually they were rescued .  And the amazing thing is they often say to each other, “Don’t you wish you were back there?”  In that time of suffering and torture they found themselves closer to Christ then ever before. 

Yeah it’s hot, and the days are long , and the bugs bite harder, and the food doesn’t always sit well, and sometimes  it’s hard to love  and keep giving yourselves away, but the fellowship with this team and the amazing God that we serve is worth it all.  Because it’s all for Jesus Christ.

Sunday in Honduras

Well today started with church.  Great time of worship songs first, then our team had 45 mins together and then back to the church sanctuary for a sermon completely in espanol with no translator.  Interesting to observe anyway.  Our time of worship together as a team was a bit a music from DC*B and some sharing of what we are learning from our time in the Bible each day.  No surprise those of us that shared are learning the same thing.  Love it.  I shared that I read this morning in Isaiah 58 about the people telling God about how they have fasted and to God they seem eager to draw near to Him, but He says they are doing it all wrong and that’s not the kind of service or heart He is looking for.  Their fasting ends in fights and quarrling and it’s all basically a show they put on.  But in verse 6 God tells them what kind of heart He’s looking for.  What really jumped out a me was verse 10.

10 and if you spend  yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness…NIV

The idea of spending yourself, denying self and giving yourself away are what Christ has taught His followers.   I shared with our team about the rewarding and fullfilling  feeling  when you as a team start the day early and go all day just giving and serving others and at the end of that hard day looking back at what God has accomplished through you, it’s just strengthens your relationship and love with God and with your team. 

So musch happened today -I only have time to share one thing…

Today was about 100 degrees and we were suprised to have a large group as we were told when it gets this hot the boys stay in their rooms until about 4 pm.   The bball camp started at 1pm so it was a bit rough as there was no cloud cover.  The boys had a great time though.  We ended the session with a quick cheer that we came up with during our devotional time.  I had asked Travis as to what the right phrase would be to “talk” to the boys about Christ and what He means to them.  He said something as simple as ?Accepto Jesus Christo?  ?Jesus Christo numero uno? (pointing to your heart).  So that became our session ending cheer in a huddle. 

Jesus Christo  numero uno!……si

Day 2 from Honduras

Well, it’s been another long day here.  Started at 5:30 a.m. and just ended now at 10:00 pm.  Turned out to be a great day.  One of the biggest highlights was the ministering our team did for the misssionaries themselves.  Our team spent the day with them.  Travis and Lori Hawk have been here for 7 years and they really need the encouragement and the fellowship!  As with any missions trip, there is always down time and I myself, personally stuggle with any downtime on a trip like this.  With that said, God showed me this was no ordinary down time.  The time spent with Lori and Travis was a blessing for all.  The deep conversations with them about their faith and what keeps them going was a real eye opener.   Their two little girls had a blast with us too, so they were blessed also.  I really think God’s timing is always right on time.  Travis said the past year has been the hardest, so thank you Lord for putting us here to encourage Your workers so Your work can and will continue!

Today was the first day of the basketball camp.  There was also a big soccer game scheduled at the same time, but thank God there was still a big crowd who were really enthusiastic about learning the game.  I think about 30 +were there. I think it will be bigger tomorrow after we have church service with them and then eat lunch with them.  Pray that we continue to build relationship with these guys and that we are an example of Christ.  Lori says the boys basically ask her “why us?”, “why do they come all the way to do this for us?” 

God is good.  Update again tomorrow.  Oh yeah, only one of our team members got stitches today.  Considering what we were doing it should’ve/could’ve been alot worse.

Love you Tia and Katie-we miss you!  Tia, lots of flys, bugs, lizards, humidity and heat!   You would love it here. Later-ron