Missions-God’s greatest glory campaign

Getting psyched for summer missions!  Can’t wait to attend Vision conference.  The whole concept of being a short term/long term missionary is something God has laid on my heart for awhile now.  Been reading a book given to me from our good friend Matt who is a missionary from our home church.  The book is called Half Time by Bob Buford.  The author covers the idea that the first half of your life is about achieving success and the second (last) half is about achieving significance.  Really makes me think about the footprint I leave in this world and what did I do for the cause of Christ.  Looking at how God has led me and molded me to where I’m at in my life right now has me putting the pieces of the puzzle together and realizing that God has something big in store for me and the second half.

On the topic of missions, I was reading some more in Cat and Dog Theology  in the chapter called God’s Greatest Glory.  In it the author states “the goal of bringing every ethnic group before the living God to reveal His greatest glory is the story of the Bible.”  Check out how God planned to get His greatest glory.  After God wiped out the human race with the flood,  Noah and his family were commanded by God in Genesis 9:7, “be fruitful and multiply; populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it.”  But as we read in Chapter 11 they didn’t quite do all that they were commanded.   They didn’t spread out and create diversity.  They disobeyed God and remained one people. 

“Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words” (Gen. 11:1)

“They said come let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth. ” (Gen. 11:4)

In God’s great plan to bring the greatest glory to Himself, He had a different idea for these people and the human race.  The book goes on to say “He (God) was committed to seeing His glory revealed in such a way that would create diversity and later allow Him to unite it in harmony.  So He did in one moment what should have taken centuries to do.  He took their common language and broke it down into many different languages, and instantly created diversity.  In this way He could make them spread out and then bring them back together in harmony at some later date.  Now, instead of just one group of people, there were many groups of people.  And the stage was set for God to work His ‘greatest glory’ campaign.”

Now this brings us to the Great Commisssion  from Jesus in Matthew 28:19, “Go therefore and make disciples of ALL nations.”  Makes even more sense and is defined a bit more with the facts of the event at the Tower Of Babel.

Check out these verses from Psalms 46:10 and 1 Cronicles 16:23-24. 

So does God, in the end, get the greatest glory He deserves??  The answer is revealed in Revelation 5:9

“And they sang a new song saying, Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.”

Makes you think about your role in Christ’s command to GO, doesn’t it.

Keep focused

Reading today in Acts 16:16-34.  As Paul and Silas are going to the place of prayer they meet up with a slave girl possessed by a demon that gives her the power of fortune telling.  She follows them and keeps crying out, “These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation!”  And she does this for “many days”.   Yes she, (the demon) is actually proclaiming truth (and remarkably other demons in scripture have also proclaimed truth(s) (Mark 1).   So after many days this gets on Paul’s last nerve and he casts out the demon from her.  After thinking about this for a while and trying to figure out why he would do this I have to assume maybe she was saying this over and over again in a mocking or irreverent way?  This really made sense to me as I thought about my own prayer life…. Here’s why:

Isn’t it just like the devil’s nature to start bugging you and distracting you when you really want to focus on ministry, on praying, on reading the Word. Maybe even mocking what you are trying to do for God? And even accusing you, and bringing up certain sins and struggles you have in your life?  Here was Paul and Silas “going to the place of prayer” and look who shows up to distract, annoy, and keep them from being focused.  

There’s so much more to be taken from this text:

•  If the truth was being said reverently by the demon, was God using this example to “magnify” Himself, since the truth was coming from someone(thing) that hated Him.
• Was the girl(demon, Satan) tring to gain credit from hanging out and associating with Paul and Silas for many days so they could make more money and deceive more people? People would think she had some connection with God and could tell the future and therefore deceive more.  Satan can come as an angel of light-remember not everything that has the name of Jesus attached to it is from God!
• Could Satan have been using her to discredit Paul’s message by having her hang out with them for several days.  She was well known. vs 16 says she “was bringing her masters much profit by fortune-telling”.  If people (potential converts) saw her hanging out with Paul and Silas this could discredit their message.

Lord keep my eyes focused on You. “May my life be one unbroken gaze, fixed upon the beauty of Your face.”

Friday Foto

 THE TRICK IS TO
FIND THE MAN IN THE COFFEE BEANS:   This is bizarre -
after you find the guy – it’s so obvious.
Once you find him – it’s
embarrassing, and you think, Why didn’t I see him immediately?


Doctors have
concluded that if you find the man in the coffee beans in 3 seconds, the right
half of your brain is better developed than most people. If you find the man
between 3 seconds and 1 minute, the right half of the brain is developed
normally. If you find the man between 1 minute and 3 minutes, then the right
half of your brain is functioning slowly and you need to eat more protein If you
have not found the man after 3 minutes, the advice is to look for more of this
type of exercise to make that part of the brain stronger!!!And, yes,
the man is really there!!!

The sacrifice of one for many

 What a great short film that was nominated for an Academy Award.  Powerful.

Go to www.mostthemovie.com to order the entire 33 min. dvd

Wordless Wednesday

Watch till the end.  Please comment.  All opinions and thoughts welcome.

Interesting explanation

Got this in an email & I thought it was interesting. 

Why did Jesus fold the linen burial cloth after His resurrection?
      

The Gospel of John (20:7) tells us that the napkin, which was
       placed over the face of Jesus, was not just thrown aside like the
       graveclothes. The Bible takes an entire verse to tell us that the napkin
       was neatly folded, and was placed at the head of that stony coffin.

Is it really significant? Yes!    
 
      In order to understand the significance of the folded napkin, you
       have to understand a little bit about Hebrew tradition of that day.
       The folded napkin had to do with the Master and Servant, and every
       Jewish boy knew this tradition. When the servant set the dinner table   for the master, he made sure that it was exactly the way the master wanted it. The table was furnished perfectly, and then the servant would wait, just out of sight, until the master had finished eating, and the servant would not dare touch that table, until the master was finished. Now if the
       master was done eating, he would rise from the table, wipe his
       fingers, his mouth, and clean his beard, and would wad up that napkin and toss it onto the table. The servant would then know to clear the table.
       For in those days, the wadded napkin meant, “I’m done”. But if the
       master got up from the table, and folded his napkin, and laid it beside his plate, the servant would not dare touch the table, because……….
 
       The folded napkin meant, “I’m coming back!”
 
 
       He Is Coming Back!!!!

The weekend is finally here!

For me, a rough work week means it’s harder to get into the Word and to pray for some reason.  Anyone else like that?  Tired, I guess.  Here’s a verse that I’m always reminded of when the going get’s rough.

Isaiah 40:27-31

27 Why do you say, O Jacob,
and speak, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my right is disregarded by my God”?
28 Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
30 Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.

Friday Foto

Christ lightning strike is electric intervention

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

This amazing picture taken of the Christ Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro puts a new meaning to the phrase ‘touched by the hand of God.’

The 130 foot tall statue which is located on the peak of the Corcovado Mountain, was stuck by lightening during a storm in the Brazilian city displaying this divinely electric image.

Named one of the modern Wonders of the World in 2007, the statue which is the largest one of Christ and can be seen for miles appeared unscathed from the miraculous bolt.

Valentines day thought

John 15:13

          13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

He paid the price…

Reading in 1 Corinthians 6 today and I used www.crosswalk.com to get different translations.  Very helpful.  I like the way The Message translation put 1 Corinthians 6:12 and 6:19-20:

6:12

Just because something is technically legal doesn’t mean that it’s spiritually appropriate. If I went around doing whatever I thought I could get by with, I’d be a slave to my whims

6:19 Or didn’t you realize that your body is a sacred place, the place of the Holy Spirit? Don’t you see that you can’t live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you.

6:20 God owns the whole works. So let people see God in and through your body

And another translation from The New Living translation

6:12

You may say, “I am allowed to do anything.” But I reply, “Not everything is good for you.” And even though “I am allowed to do anything,” I must not become a slave to anything

6:19  Or don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself,

6:20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

He paid the ultimate price for all of me-heart, mind, and soul.  May others see Christ in me today. Thank you Jesus for taking on yourself what was meant for me. 

                

A conversation with God

One of the chapters in the book Cat And Dog Theology is titled Winner’s Circle Theology and it talks about how we sometimes read a story of a person of the Bible and we like to identify with the winner, the victor, and the champion in the scriptures.  But maybe we should look for a lesson OUTSIDE the winner’s circle sometimes.  Take for instance the story of Job.  Everybody likes to identify with Job.  Job is put through some pretty tough trials and through faith comes out on top and is blessed greatly. We love that story!  But what lesson can we learn from Job’s kids.  They all died.  Yeah, and that’s the point the book is trying to make.  Why do we always relate to the one who always comes out alive in the end?  Why do we always relate to the main character in the story?  We should relate to anyone in the scriptures who can teach us a life lesson.

The book asks the tough question, did God love Job’s kids as much as Job? The obvious answer would be yes.  But did God have a plan for their lives?  The author comes up with a possible conversation between Job’s kids and God.

Kids:  Lord do you mind if we have a few moments with You?

Lord:  Oh, of course.  Absolutely!

Kids:  Umm, Lord, we’re kind of curious-why did we all die at the same time?

Lord:  Oh, I  love you all so much, and I allowed you all to come home early.

K:  Lord, just why exactly did You do that?

L:  I wanted to reveal My glory by teaching your father a lesson.

K:  What!  You took us home early just to teach our father a lesson?

L:  Yes, that’s right.

K:  But God, my brothers and I had a business, and it was just starting up. It was going

      really well,” says one.  And the oldest adds, “Yes Lord, and I was to inherit my

      father’s business.”  One daughter remarks, “Yes Lord, and I was dating this person,

      and we were going to get married and have kids.”  Her little sister adds “And, God, I

      was hoping to get married too.”  And another one says, “I was hoping to go into the

      ministry.  I had all these plans.”  And then in unison they all say, “In the midst of all    

      this, you wanted to teach our father a lesson?  What about us?”

L:  I’m sorry you’re so confused.  You see, it’s not about you.  It’s about My plan and

      revealing my glory in a myriad of ways.  And I allowed you to die early so that I

      could reveal My glory through your father.

K:  But, Lord, it doesn’t seem fair!

L:  Well, just to let you know, the way I run My creation is not based on fairness; it is

      based on revealing My glory.  And in what I did through your father, My glory shone

      brightly; but here, I have something for each of you.

Then God rewards them in ways they never would have imagined!  They are speechless but finally mutter some words.

K:  What!  We get all this?

L:  Yes, I love you so much, and you played your roles so well in being a part of

      revealing My glory.

K:  But, God, we don’t deserve all this!

L:  I know.  But it has never been based on what you deserve either.  Giving you this

     continues to radiate and reflect My glory, and that is what it has been about from the

     beginning.  Some I bless with things, some I allow to be persecuted, and some I bring

     home early-it’s all a beautiful stained-glass window revealing My glory.

*from the book Cat and Dog Theology