Words from Poland...

My sister is serving God for 2 years in Poland through the IMB. She recently e-mailed this word to me and others so I wanted to share with you....
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So this week I gave God my appetites. I gave him my appetite for food, for music, for the internet, for relationships and other things. I didn't fast to really have some special word from God that would make everything all clear. Mostly, I wanted to give him these things this week as offerings and sacrifices. It was a week of worship. Though I saw pretty much every emotion known to man and really wondered about my own sanity, it was a good week. There were no huge epiphanies or "ah ha!" moments. But there was a steady desire for God and for right decisions. Two passages of scripture that I learned from this week are...

"The Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 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." Genesis 4:6-7

Sin is pictured as an animal here that is sitting at your door. It is waiting for you to open the door so it can devour you. There's this idea that whatever it is that is sitting at your door doesn't desire the best for you. We see what it does with Cain in the next verse, "Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him."

Passage number two is Isaiah 1:16b-17. "cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause." This passage gives examples of what doing good looks like. These are all relational. It's how we deal with the people around us. My time here should be a time of doing good. My time for as long as I live should be a time of doing good. We must think about what Justice would look like in our relationships. Are we doing evil in our relationships? Or are we seeking justice? Are we pleading the cause of the widow? Are we bringing justice to the fatherless? Are we correcting oppression?

I feel like part of oppression is ignorance. We send teenagers in the states on mission trips all the time and there are always stories of how those short term missionaries had their eyes opened. God changes people when they see with their eyes how the world is and how he sees the people in the world. The moment we see past someone's exterior image and status and our eyes are opened to see into someone's heart--our lives are changed forever. God connects hearts.

My desire, to work toward correcting oppression in Poland among the Roma (notice I say "working toward"), is to see people's hearts be connected. I have this vision to see Poles and Americans have their eyes opened to God's people regardless of their status here in Poland. I'm working toward putting together bike tours through Poland in which we'll have the opportunity to meet new Roma people who live off the beaten paths in Poland.

So thank you for praying with me during this past week and for continuing to pray for me. Thanks also, if you're reading this last paragraph, for reading this lengthy debrief. I hope to be keeping up with my updates more regularly.

"making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it [the mystery of the gospel] boldly, as I ought to speak." Ephesians 6:19

Acts

So I have spent the last couple of weeks finishing out Acts, and I love how the last verse of the book reads. “Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.” This sums up the whole book of Acts. The gospel is a message to be heard and shared by believers. People are meant to hear the message of Christ, and Paul is a major testimony to the effort it takes to spread the gospel to all. Paul takes advantage of every opportunity to speak of “higher things” even when he is stuck on a boat with only bread to eat in chapter 27. He boldly proclaims the gospel!

By looking back on Acts I can’t help but to summarize the whole book by the first 11 verses in the book, and my key verse must be Acts 1:8. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

I’m amazed. After reading through the whole book I now have a better understanding of the power of the Holy Spirit. From verse 8 our power clearly comes from the Holy Spirit. So I pray we may never look to ourselves for power, but I pray we may always look to the Spirit for power and deliverance. My prayer request this week start with the Holy Spirit. May the Spirit guide us in our studies and interactions in this journey here on earth. I pray Christ is our cornerstone and sole focus (Matt 6:33) for He is the greatest and we are blessed to know and see Christ (Matt 5:8).

Compelled by the Spirit

Wow. I stumbled across some incredible scripture this morning. Acts 20…Paul’s farewell to the Ephesians.

“However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.” Acts 20: 24

My boy Lecrae starts off his song “Sold Out” with these lyrics, “Man I consider my life nothing. If I could just finish the race and complete the job the Lord Jesus gave me. I live to tell the world His message. Romans 1:16 I’m not ashamed. I ain’t ashamed. We sold out. Seeking God’s face to we fold out.”

I can’t fully explain in words my desire to complete the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace. This passion in my heart carries two sides of emotion. My first emotion is excitement and thrill to carry out His gospel to those who haven’t heard. My second emotion is humility and unworthiness. Who am I to carry such knowledge and foundational understanding of God’s gospel message? But as I read this passage of scripture Paul first jumps back to the foundation of what Acts seems to be all about: the power of the Spirit. He says in verse 22, “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there.” He is compelled by the Spirit. How great and mighty is the Spirit of God? Obviously God is much greater than us in his plan and schedule for our lives. This I can relate to my current life as my parents are about to move everything to Beaumont, TX. No, they have never lived in Texas, and, yes, they are of the young age of 53. Why are they moving? The Spirit is leading them to a new music ministry at a church that appears to have a very strong congregation. My parents need and desire this journey. We must let the Spirit lead. How pitiful are we when we let our daily comforts lose focus on God’s movement and the Holy Spirit at work in our lives. He is greater. We are less. Nothing in our whole body and knowledge should ever attempt to out-due or out-work Christ and his Holy plan.

*On a side note: Our lazy attempts at life has a direct relationship with people’s attentiveness on mission trips. I pray the Spirit is the sole reason people are attending mission trips today. My heart burns when people attend mission trips solely because of comfort and peace. Why do some continue to bury their spiritual gifts in a trip guided away from their natural ability? Broken relationships? A dislike for others on the trip? I hope not. Let the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ lead your life of missions, and never let evil treasure get in the way.

The bottom line is that we are here to complete the task the Lord Jesus has given us. I pray this is my heartbeat. I pray this is the heartbeat of every Christian in the sanctuary at Temple Baptist. I pray this for my family, friends, and coworkers. Do they see the fullness of Christ? I pray we may never forget the fullness of Christ and the necessity to always be searching for the lost. Take a “risk” and do something different for the Lord’s Kingdom today.

Love for Money

“When the owners of the slave girl realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities.” Acts 16:19.
The power of falsehood among humans is ever so clear in this passage. The owners of the slave girl are obviously wrapped up in money and their own selfishness so they try to get rid of Paul and Silas, which is really them trying to get rid of the Spirit. Then Paul and Silas are thrown in jail, but I’m sure the outcome of this story is not what the owners were imagining. Verse 33 says the jailer and all of his family were baptized. How Glorious! God does work in incredible ways, but I must recognize the huge faith Paul and Silas had. Without worry or stress, Paul and Silas were able to be calm and lead others to the Lord even when tied down in shackles. Man cannot hold the Lord back. And to think, man’s love for money was the start of this whole scene. I know God used man’s love for money to help make this story, but I definitely see how we must abstain from loving money. I pray my heart will not lust after the greatest riches of the world. For I know a man can gain the whole world, but he is worthless when he loses his soul. Our devotion in Christ is so much greater than any fiscal being such as money.
I pray money will be well controlled and respected in our hands and ultimately used for God’s Kingdom.

Through Him

My God My God! I love thee. Today I pour out my heart in scripture. “From Attalia they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been committed to the grace of God for the work they had now completed. On arriving there, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.” (Acts 14:26-27) This passage speaks volumes to me this morning. First of all, they gathered the whole church together to hear the good news and report from their journey. Let’s rejoice together in hearing the good news of the Kingdom! Next, they reported all the GOD had done through them. NO, this is not a life of finishing task of our own, for we are not worthy, but God is the one who we must finish task and duties for. He is the great Messiah and Great deliverer of all things that are good. We must work, flow, and deliver the gospel through Him. For we are weak and wounded in our transgression but he is our Hero of deliverance from the evil one. The last part of verse 27 backs this up in “how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.” How great is God? So great that he controls all things. I can’t fathom all of the knowledge about Him but I have complete faith that he will deliver all of us as we commit our lives to Him. He is the great ambassador of the epic battle to proclaim Truth. He sent his son to Earth to “testify to the Truth.” God is great! This morning I praise his name! He uses us to spread His name. How great a gift is this? We humans, who are stuck in our own problems and sin, have been chosen by the great creator to work in his army and passionately deliver the good news to those who don’t believe.

I pray this is our heartbeat. I pray we can all see this. I pray to God the Father to come rescue us from our evil thoughts and dark deeds. For I know only through him can light shine bright. Only through Him can my light even begin to shine, and because Him does my light shine today.

I pray God will lead us to opportunities. I pray God will use us. I weep to think you have already given me opportunities that I missed because I was too busy wrapping my eyes around the work of darkness. God’s light must be my only point of focus.