So when my life uprooted to Moody Theological Seminary (the name became official). I was totally encouraged by 95% of the people I told. Regardless of their endorsement or not, "What are you going to do after?" was almost always the follow-up question. I would reply with the ever-good: "trust God." "Follow His leading."
Today when I met for my first consultation with my new psychiatrist. I anticipated being placed in "the Christian box". Most psychiatrists i've met with since submitting to Jesus put proclaiming born-agains into a: co-dependent, ready to quit medication, unable to understand depression category. Ironically if you say you have no faith belief, most psychiatrists recommend having one. However today's evaluation was not typical. This guy is the chairman of the board of psychiatry for Sinai medical group (big group). So I had to give straight answers, I couldn't help but be nervous. Why couldn't i just go out of my way to find a Christian phychiatrist. Doctor and i hit it off, he gave me restaurant recommendations in Cicero. (you know you're in good with someone in Chicago if they give you restaurant recommendations.)
What surprised me was when he asked me "what do you want to do after school?" And without a hesitation, -as if spoken by my heart, I uttered: "Community development." It was a sort of surprise. Yes it helps that I'm reading a book about it right now that has consumed me so much that instead of a quick read, I'm taking in every word regardless of when the paper is due on it.
I am in total respect for the existing Christian community models in Chicago: Bethel Church, Lawndale Community Church, South Asian Friendship Center. They performed gentrification of neighborhoods God's way: Amazing. God turned around wasted communities through churches that pushed its functions as a church to include: Daycare, Employment agency, Medical center, Legal consultation, Housing cooperatives, moving and storage, recreation centers and more; all done "brick by brick" over multiple decades within the community itself. They didn't send people downtown to work, they generated employment within the community.
Incredible stories of Christians constantly partnering cross denominational, cross political, focusing (not on the differences) only on the injustice, and needs apparent within a specific community. All for the benefit of the poor, the alien, the widow, the orphan, the elderly, single moms, and the sick. Community development is the social elixir bringing the morally motivated together. This is the befriending of a church to an entire community through their specific needs as well. Remember if 75% of converts come to faith through friends or relatives. Isn't this a fast track for the Lord to give us all new friends?
In a way, community development is seen as a preemptive effort to avoid building homeless shelters, food banks, soup kitchens, addiction recovery clinics (not do away with them, some models include these too). In the hopes that Jesus would transform the cycle of poverty and those in need would be commissioned to work and make life happen within the locale of the community as Christ regenerates. And the broken find trust in Jesus.
So when it comes to urban ministry Moody is the cheerleader for Christian community development through collaboration. They promote this way more than church planting in my opinion. So a non-profit organization called Christian Community Development Assocaition (CCDA) based out of Chicago has documented models and practices to transform communities in Jesus' name based on past examples. They have an annual conference that is not to be missed if this is your thing.
I have been praying ever since I came to Moody about God planting a vision for His labor in my life. Can we pray about this direction, to distinguish if this is the work He has prepared for me. If so, that is would be met with collaborations even now at Moody. Maybe i could go and glean off the existing communities in Chicago today.
So quite apparently in the last weeks God has (so it seems) been stretching my heart for the unsaved. I don't ever recalling crying for anyone regarding their absence of Christ (other than myself); Or seen evangelism as an imperative to growing your faith. It so is!! And community development?? Did it just come from the sky and tug at my heart strings? We'll see. Reading all about this make the reader one giant optimist -and there's nothing wrong with that.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Monday, February 1, 2010
We-Here
Two days, three tanks of gas, 1,000 miles, two pounds of red vines, and lots of prayer went into getting me here. -Chicago that is. I received a warm welcome. Which off set any overwhelming feeling of "what in the world am I doing back here."
God blessed me immensely on this trip I cashed in any tears for a couple of prayers. Songs, silence and sermons abounded. I was held in good company by a slew of angels and any time I would get a doubtful noise from my car. I remember the advice of a brother in Christ who said: "Nic if you're afraid of the car during the trip. Just lay a hand on it!"
Things went gold star well. Thank God for this. that last sentence was not a statement but an imperative: can you thank Him. Incredible to see the good Lord ushering in this time of formal training and refining with a steady road trip. I'm in the midst of finding a place to live. Please pray for wisdom about location. It will be key lots of factors to consider. Could you also make a mention to Jesus about Him transforming my thoughts through faith rather than the old rambling thoughts and self-worry combo. Many thanks to you.
Delighted to be serving God.
God blessed me immensely on this trip I cashed in any tears for a couple of prayers. Songs, silence and sermons abounded. I was held in good company by a slew of angels and any time I would get a doubtful noise from my car. I remember the advice of a brother in Christ who said: "Nic if you're afraid of the car during the trip. Just lay a hand on it!"
Things went gold star well. Thank God for this. that last sentence was not a statement but an imperative: can you thank Him. Incredible to see the good Lord ushering in this time of formal training and refining with a steady road trip. I'm in the midst of finding a place to live. Please pray for wisdom about location. It will be key lots of factors to consider. Could you also make a mention to Jesus about Him transforming my thoughts through faith rather than the old rambling thoughts and self-worry combo. Many thanks to you.
Delighted to be serving God.
The Lo-Down on Living
My first four days have been heavily baby(niece), craig's list(apartment) and culture clash(where's Denver). I'm in the final phases in solidifying a one bedroom in Cicero. A town notorious for shady politicians, reselling used grave plots and south (poor) side living. God has sifted me here, I'm confident of that. The following reasons I give to back up my statement: After two days of looking around non-stop for a place to live (slowly getting bummed) I decide to go see Moody on Friday. Its employee appreciation day and no one could help me with information on my financial aid, and housing concerns. Well I linger talking to a door greeter and she makes some calls and finds someone who can help me with finding a roommate. It turns out its just a binder with postings, all outdated, and what i found totally unusual is that there was an ad for a Cicero Church that owns 8 units and rents them out to Moody students or missionary types.
Cicero is about fifteen minutes away from my work one way, and fifteen minutes away from brother Olivier the other way. to sweeten the deal even more, the good Lord situated me two blocks from the Pink line EL to haul me over to Moody. The pastor and the board of directors of this church are going to be my landlord. The place has some old furniture to get me started! Here's another great advantage. They will let me move in early (pre-sept) for free if I help fix up the place.
What an ushering of blessings this move is turning out to be. At times i feel like i've never trusted God so much, -well there's when I first believed but this is trusting God to manifest in the circumstantial here and now. scary, fulfilling, blessed. I'm thrill to see how God is working.
Next phase to pray for -should you feel moved. Is Financial aid. Moody being private and graduate school has very little options to lend. I've applied to the one company that helps moody grads and their APR ridiculous and not fixed. Pray for another option and that its not too late. I just don't like my options so I'm going to meet with them again.
I'm in prayer for you too. So send me your requests. In Jesus we have life!
Cicero is about fifteen minutes away from my work one way, and fifteen minutes away from brother Olivier the other way. to sweeten the deal even more, the good Lord situated me two blocks from the Pink line EL to haul me over to Moody. The pastor and the board of directors of this church are going to be my landlord. The place has some old furniture to get me started! Here's another great advantage. They will let me move in early (pre-sept) for free if I help fix up the place.
What an ushering of blessings this move is turning out to be. At times i feel like i've never trusted God so much, -well there's when I first believed but this is trusting God to manifest in the circumstantial here and now. scary, fulfilling, blessed. I'm thrill to see how God is working.
Next phase to pray for -should you feel moved. Is Financial aid. Moody being private and graduate school has very little options to lend. I've applied to the one company that helps moody grads and their APR ridiculous and not fixed. Pray for another option and that its not too late. I just don't like my options so I'm going to meet with them again.
I'm in prayer for you too. So send me your requests. In Jesus we have life!
Interesting Encouragement Enclosed
I've been blessed with a know-how to cook a tasty pork chop. Isn't there a Psalm that says to constantly tell others what God has done for you? That is why I mention the chop.
The week was a quick one. I didn't get saturday night off so i couldn't make it to Sunday service. i was super bummed. -not out of some legalistic imperative, but because i love worshiping God (with that community of believers). There's learning, admitting, emitting joyfully. So today, after sleeping, I was able to go to a hymn sing at my prof's house. We were packed (20+) in this little bungalow sitting anywhere. and some standing. I love the words of hymns. I shared my testimony twice not because of ego or "check this whackness". Rather because I feel i have no right to decline when people ask (refer back to the first paragraph). Its God's story of glory and He seems to be using it lots out here.
So this week cover the Moody students in prayer. we're going to "Boys Town" and calling on God to do a coup. Each year there is this outreach in the gay/lesbian/bi-/transgender community in Chicago. Its this friday. We divide up into groups: some people go in the gay bars, some pray up and down the street, others have these giant boards at street corners asking questions like "What would you say the church?" "What would you say to Jesus?" and passer-byes can write whatever. the goal is to listen, to engage in conversation and to speak to this great misunderstanding that Christians hate gay people. Our love is to see into the hearts of our neighbors case by case. Instead, the gay lifestyle has frustrated our collective love into a phobia. I'm very aware that Leviticus states gay acts as being detestable to God. -Christ died for them too. Rich is His mercy.
So lots on my plate including a lunch date with my nearest niece!! I've had a week of struggle regarding temptation and sin -Its so distracting from the life I'm walking with God. Now that i mention it, nothing could be further from God. Jesus brings me back. One of my favorite Bible stories is Matt 18:10-14 it the one of the Shepherd who leaves his flock to get the one sheep that wandered away.
I'm gonna share a little told detail about my conversion. i feel it on my heart because I try to place myself in the shoes of a gay person and them accepting Christ and the implications regarding how he lives. When i submitted to the truth of Christ on November 10 2006, God birth a willingness to change my smoking, drinking, sex seeking. i still did them for months. I just wanted Jesus more and the promise of a renewing life. No matter the behavior, God wants to be first served in our days. God tells us that being in relationship with Him is more important than the dirt that clings to us. So with confidence in Christ, I ask the Spirit to keep on cleaning house. I'm ready now.
Lets love and serve the Lord first.
The week was a quick one. I didn't get saturday night off so i couldn't make it to Sunday service. i was super bummed. -not out of some legalistic imperative, but because i love worshiping God (with that community of believers). There's learning, admitting, emitting joyfully. So today, after sleeping, I was able to go to a hymn sing at my prof's house. We were packed (20+) in this little bungalow sitting anywhere. and some standing. I love the words of hymns. I shared my testimony twice not because of ego or "check this whackness". Rather because I feel i have no right to decline when people ask (refer back to the first paragraph). Its God's story of glory and He seems to be using it lots out here.
So this week cover the Moody students in prayer. we're going to "Boys Town" and calling on God to do a coup. Each year there is this outreach in the gay/lesbian/bi-/transgender community in Chicago. Its this friday. We divide up into groups: some people go in the gay bars, some pray up and down the street, others have these giant boards at street corners asking questions like "What would you say the church?" "What would you say to Jesus?" and passer-byes can write whatever. the goal is to listen, to engage in conversation and to speak to this great misunderstanding that Christians hate gay people. Our love is to see into the hearts of our neighbors case by case. Instead, the gay lifestyle has frustrated our collective love into a phobia. I'm very aware that Leviticus states gay acts as being detestable to God. -Christ died for them too. Rich is His mercy.
So lots on my plate including a lunch date with my nearest niece!! I've had a week of struggle regarding temptation and sin -Its so distracting from the life I'm walking with God. Now that i mention it, nothing could be further from God. Jesus brings me back. One of my favorite Bible stories is Matt 18:10-14 it the one of the Shepherd who leaves his flock to get the one sheep that wandered away.
I'm gonna share a little told detail about my conversion. i feel it on my heart because I try to place myself in the shoes of a gay person and them accepting Christ and the implications regarding how he lives. When i submitted to the truth of Christ on November 10 2006, God birth a willingness to change my smoking, drinking, sex seeking. i still did them for months. I just wanted Jesus more and the promise of a renewing life. No matter the behavior, God wants to be first served in our days. God tells us that being in relationship with Him is more important than the dirt that clings to us. So with confidence in Christ, I ask the Spirit to keep on cleaning house. I'm ready now.
Lets love and serve the Lord first.
Lock the Word in Your Heart
I wasn't the Moody student with the best story. But i was there, and instead of me talking about the richest mercy known to all. I listened for a good hour to one man's arguments about how the Bible is "a work of man". He referenced specific omissions, definition compromising and inclusions that corrupt the message of God and point instead to church. The two cents I tried to make in defense of our unchanging God (revealed to us in the Bible) is: no matter the translation, the Spirit lives and moves in the Word. So the words the reader reads will dwell in their heart and accomplish what God intended. So when people started removing the "th" off of verb endings in the King James. God giveth the reader less of a lisp. Not a hindered message!
The irony of this man's (early 50's, white, father and homosexual) experience with Jesus is that the message of the Holy Spirit is the most meaningful part for him. He took comfort in the day of Pentecost, knowing that God deliberately poured out His good Spirit on earth for us all. "Jesus is here, dwelling in each one of us", (given my past, i know the Spirit of Jesus didn't always dwell in me).
We talked about Jesus' sacrifice, shed blood for sins. He told me the word sin was simply meant to mean a "mistake". That forgiveness from God is achieved by simply asking for it and wanting to do better. -Not through the shedding of blood.- I asked why the sacrificial system was needed for Israel then if they were truly God's people. He told me that people were sacrificing everything back then.
He held the Bible on par with "all the other holy books by man like the Koran which are all sent by God's spirit to do his good work." I reminded him that Christ died for each of us, and that is the truth we must submit to before His Holy Spirit can dwell in us.
To me i learned lots. I was able to see the extent of brokenness and convoluted thinking that customizes God into something that agrees with us. I'm no stranger to these deceptions. If it weren't for the unswerving voice of God summoning my soul, I might still be leaning on my own understanding. Brothers, sisters in case you didn't know, I blasphemed a ton, I created my own religion -no joke I could have been a candidate for the latest David Corresh. Jesus gives mercy to even the most defiant of thinkers.
That said, Jesus: His mercy is rich for me. The Holy Spirit: His sanctification is imperative for me!
So i still want to talk to gays who profess Jesus and ask them: "how can i talk about the Christian's duty to repent, sanctify and conform to Christ?" (ie: work out your faith in fear and trembling. better to enter heaven with a missing limb and healthy.) What an amazing testimony is in store for God, from the gays who rely on the Holy Spirit to more fully repent and conform them to Christ. God has such a purpose of this neighborhood its easy to loose sight of that.
I used to vibe with a pick and choose mind set about God. Now i know that's deception: God has shown it and shamed Satan through its demise in my life. In turn, the call of ministering I'm exploring is with the mentally ill, the emotionally unpredictable, religion-self starters(falsifying scriptures), and addicted. Jesus just smashes theses demonic devices. He is the superior Spirit in the Spiritual world!
I'm committed to pray for the people in boys town which really is named Lakeview. Especially those that have a willingness to accept so many of Jesus' teachings, that they would be overwhelmed by the convicting power of the Holy Spirit and let God change them.
The rest of the night was filled with surface level talks, rejection, and sharing with other Moody students. Some amazing things happened. they are collecting stories of what God did and sending them back to us compiled if you want me to forward them to you let me know.
The irony of this man's (early 50's, white, father and homosexual) experience with Jesus is that the message of the Holy Spirit is the most meaningful part for him. He took comfort in the day of Pentecost, knowing that God deliberately poured out His good Spirit on earth for us all. "Jesus is here, dwelling in each one of us", (given my past, i know the Spirit of Jesus didn't always dwell in me).
We talked about Jesus' sacrifice, shed blood for sins. He told me the word sin was simply meant to mean a "mistake". That forgiveness from God is achieved by simply asking for it and wanting to do better. -Not through the shedding of blood.- I asked why the sacrificial system was needed for Israel then if they were truly God's people. He told me that people were sacrificing everything back then.
He held the Bible on par with "all the other holy books by man like the Koran which are all sent by God's spirit to do his good work." I reminded him that Christ died for each of us, and that is the truth we must submit to before His Holy Spirit can dwell in us.
To me i learned lots. I was able to see the extent of brokenness and convoluted thinking that customizes God into something that agrees with us. I'm no stranger to these deceptions. If it weren't for the unswerving voice of God summoning my soul, I might still be leaning on my own understanding. Brothers, sisters in case you didn't know, I blasphemed a ton, I created my own religion -no joke I could have been a candidate for the latest David Corresh. Jesus gives mercy to even the most defiant of thinkers.
That said, Jesus: His mercy is rich for me. The Holy Spirit: His sanctification is imperative for me!
So i still want to talk to gays who profess Jesus and ask them: "how can i talk about the Christian's duty to repent, sanctify and conform to Christ?" (ie: work out your faith in fear and trembling. better to enter heaven with a missing limb and healthy.) What an amazing testimony is in store for God, from the gays who rely on the Holy Spirit to more fully repent and conform them to Christ. God has such a purpose of this neighborhood its easy to loose sight of that.
I used to vibe with a pick and choose mind set about God. Now i know that's deception: God has shown it and shamed Satan through its demise in my life. In turn, the call of ministering I'm exploring is with the mentally ill, the emotionally unpredictable, religion-self starters(falsifying scriptures), and addicted. Jesus just smashes theses demonic devices. He is the superior Spirit in the Spiritual world!
I'm committed to pray for the people in boys town which really is named Lakeview. Especially those that have a willingness to accept so many of Jesus' teachings, that they would be overwhelmed by the convicting power of the Holy Spirit and let God change them.
The rest of the night was filled with surface level talks, rejection, and sharing with other Moody students. Some amazing things happened. they are collecting stories of what God did and sending them back to us compiled if you want me to forward them to you let me know.
Mobbin' 3 Deep with the Compassion Shorties
Meet two of my closest friends at Moody: due and past due. Pray for this mental blockage I have going on. God is busy restoring me! It doesn't help that i've been sick, concentrating is hard when you're running a fever. I don't remember procrastination being such a part of me. Thanks for praying!! I'll let you know how it goes.
I roll up on time to the Moody dorms at 10. I'm waiting for the Compassion kids (who are my age now) to come down so we could go shopping. Five minutes go by and still nothing. Then they called me and said "come up we are having tea." -I was looking to do this favor and get on with my day.- So I went up, had that creamy Kenyan tea. After 45 minutes the last member of our group arrived. He had some tea and a pancakes too, then we were off to Kohls.
Big "up's" to my bro and his family to let me borrow "the griswald" (his station wagon). (This trip was the highlight of my weekend). I got to take the Compassion International kids (who are on scholarship at Moody) winter shopping. I had Uganda behind me, Bolivia in the other back seat and Kenya was my co-pilot. I showed them a picture of my Compassion kid and I told them I wrote to him yesterday. They were pleased. "It makes such a big difference to the kid." Jimmy said.
Dude these guys aren't even accustomed to shopping. -let alone for winter clothes. Jimmy was like "yeah i saw snow for the first time the other day." I asked him what he thought. He said: "yeah, it was good. it covered everything. I was surprised, everything. I thought i could walk on it but i fell through." Philip commented "shopping in America must take forever there's so much choice."
They kept asking me "is this what i need for winter?" As they hold some hunting gear with ear flaps. They would open the packaging of sealed long-johns to size them up. (I would have stopped them if we were at Target). Jimmy had these huge skiing gloves and asked: "I have to have these. Or i will go cold." I told him they were for skiing or snowball fights. I showed him the slick, leather city gloves; but he compromised on some double thick fleece ones.
They got a gift certificate from Compassion and after they went through the line I saw they had like $70 on the card left. And he's hands it to me saying: "Here bro i will buy those bowls for you." Suddenly the $15 matching bowl set i selected didn't seem like a needed purchase. I told the cashier i changed my mind and didn't want them. I thanked Jimmy for the gesture. I felt i needed to see my money more in the the way they see money. As a gift, to steward goodness and meet needs -I just need 4 fully functional bowls; not Kohl's latest expansion on their greatest-cutest-pleasant slow-glazed ceramic bowls with a fringe that is to die for.
So i don't have matching bowls at my place. It was 2:30 by the time we got back and they asked me if they could cook for me. I was hesitating but then Jimmy said "Come on Nic you are on African time today." So I obliged and enjoyed some tasty fresh Kenyan food (collard greens sautéed with ground beef and onions over rice).
He's in a long distance relationship, a much longer distance relationship than me. I was comforted by this and his stories. He said daughter-in-laws and mothers in his country fight lots. Because the son takes care of the mothers until marriage. "They bring their mother sugar every week." So his girlfriend steals the sugar from his mother.
I roll up on time to the Moody dorms at 10. I'm waiting for the Compassion kids (who are my age now) to come down so we could go shopping. Five minutes go by and still nothing. Then they called me and said "come up we are having tea." -I was looking to do this favor and get on with my day.- So I went up, had that creamy Kenyan tea. After 45 minutes the last member of our group arrived. He had some tea and a pancakes too, then we were off to Kohls.
Big "up's" to my bro and his family to let me borrow "the griswald" (his station wagon). (This trip was the highlight of my weekend). I got to take the Compassion International kids (who are on scholarship at Moody) winter shopping. I had Uganda behind me, Bolivia in the other back seat and Kenya was my co-pilot. I showed them a picture of my Compassion kid and I told them I wrote to him yesterday. They were pleased. "It makes such a big difference to the kid." Jimmy said.
Dude these guys aren't even accustomed to shopping. -let alone for winter clothes. Jimmy was like "yeah i saw snow for the first time the other day." I asked him what he thought. He said: "yeah, it was good. it covered everything. I was surprised, everything. I thought i could walk on it but i fell through." Philip commented "shopping in America must take forever there's so much choice."
They kept asking me "is this what i need for winter?" As they hold some hunting gear with ear flaps. They would open the packaging of sealed long-johns to size them up. (I would have stopped them if we were at Target). Jimmy had these huge skiing gloves and asked: "I have to have these. Or i will go cold." I told him they were for skiing or snowball fights. I showed him the slick, leather city gloves; but he compromised on some double thick fleece ones.
They got a gift certificate from Compassion and after they went through the line I saw they had like $70 on the card left. And he's hands it to me saying: "Here bro i will buy those bowls for you." Suddenly the $15 matching bowl set i selected didn't seem like a needed purchase. I told the cashier i changed my mind and didn't want them. I thanked Jimmy for the gesture. I felt i needed to see my money more in the the way they see money. As a gift, to steward goodness and meet needs -I just need 4 fully functional bowls; not Kohl's latest expansion on their greatest-cutest-pleasant slow-glazed ceramic bowls with a fringe that is to die for.
So i don't have matching bowls at my place. It was 2:30 by the time we got back and they asked me if they could cook for me. I was hesitating but then Jimmy said "Come on Nic you are on African time today." So I obliged and enjoyed some tasty fresh Kenyan food (collard greens sautéed with ground beef and onions over rice).
He's in a long distance relationship, a much longer distance relationship than me. I was comforted by this and his stories. He said daughter-in-laws and mothers in his country fight lots. Because the son takes care of the mothers until marriage. "They bring their mother sugar every week." So his girlfriend steals the sugar from his mother.
Splurgin' 'bout Spurgeon
I wanted this e-mail title to be "splurgin' about Spurgeon." I had to do a class presentation on Charles Spurgeon who is nothing short of a madman (in a passionately good way) for the Lord. Some random facts about Mr. Spurgeon:
He wrote enough sermons and Christian literature to fill the 27 volumes of the Encyclopedia Britannica.
He asked regulars in his congregation to skip the service so new comers could have a seat.
He preached 600 sermons by the time he was 20. (He came to personal relationship with Christ at 15.)
One of his sermon writings was used by a merchant as a wrapper for butter. The customer gave her life to Christ.
He had a weakness for fine cigars.
He studied the book of Psalms for 20 years and wrote a commentary about them called The Treasury of David
His autobiography is like a 1000 pages.
In going through the Truth Project i remember the narrator saying that Christians today don't intellectualize. The Christian mentality is weak and embarrassed. If that's the case we need to turn up some Spurgeon and start turning in some book reports! The dude is oh so quotable, he had simple words to convey deeply the truth of God. Lookie hear:
"The glory of the church is when she lays aside her respectability and her dignity, and counts it to be her glory to gather together the outcast, and her highest honor to seek amid the foulest mire the priceless jewels for which
Jesus shed His blood."
"I take it the highest proof of Christ's power is not that He offers salvation, not that He bids you take it if you will, but that when you reject it, when you hate it, when you despise it, He has a power whereby He can change your mind, make you think differently from your former thoughts, and turn you from the error of your ways."
"by perseverance the snail reached the ark"
"A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes."
"anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, but only empties today of its strength." ETC...
He wrote enough sermons and Christian literature to fill the 27 volumes of the Encyclopedia Britannica.
He asked regulars in his congregation to skip the service so new comers could have a seat.
He preached 600 sermons by the time he was 20. (He came to personal relationship with Christ at 15.)
One of his sermon writings was used by a merchant as a wrapper for butter. The customer gave her life to Christ.
He had a weakness for fine cigars.
He studied the book of Psalms for 20 years and wrote a commentary about them called The Treasury of David
His autobiography is like a 1000 pages.
In going through the Truth Project i remember the narrator saying that Christians today don't intellectualize. The Christian mentality is weak and embarrassed. If that's the case we need to turn up some Spurgeon and start turning in some book reports! The dude is oh so quotable, he had simple words to convey deeply the truth of God. Lookie hear:
"The glory of the church is when she lays aside her respectability and her dignity, and counts it to be her glory to gather together the outcast, and her highest honor to seek amid the foulest mire the priceless jewels for which
Jesus shed His blood."
"I take it the highest proof of Christ's power is not that He offers salvation, not that He bids you take it if you will, but that when you reject it, when you hate it, when you despise it, He has a power whereby He can change your mind, make you think differently from your former thoughts, and turn you from the error of your ways."
"by perseverance the snail reached the ark"
"A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes."
"anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, but only empties today of its strength." ETC...
Let Loose the Lion
I wanted to give you a follow-up on my job situation. As much as i want work and school to compliment each other it seems my loyalty to school is being thwarted my the demands of my work. Maybe this is just because I worked the last 6 day in a row, or that I work through the night.
Work is still tough, its just too gangsta'. I got a co-worker that goes by Pimp-juice and wears shades at night and no one cares . My management approach is so different that some of the people don't give me a chance. They praise the leadership of my peer to my face, which makes me envious to some extent. My effort is there, I stay late constantly and I have an urgency to get things done and done right. The problem is that I'm not very good at doing it. It will come with time, its just that in the next three weeks I have the biggest set of the year to do.
Music hasn't gotten much better, sometimes I'm setting an isle that is directly below a speaker for like 5 hours its just blaring. Much like parenting, this exudes an impatience i didn't know I had. i'll spare the details about the lyrics. They play a couple of hours of Latino music which is way more mello, although the latino rap is just as bad and i know enough spanish to be grossed out about what they say. I'm so surprised that its ok with everyone.
I witnessed my faith to the general manager of the store and another executive during a volunteer event. They were prying about what made me go to Moody. So I told them of God's rich mercy and grace through Jesus. And then i shared my testimony, how my life changed by submission to the single truth of God. Things were a little weird for the next few shifts but the those talks are pleasing to the Lord and well worth it. Upper management overall likes me, I was praised for being lighthearted, and volunteering (they post on a board in the hall way.) As soon as I heard that, I just stopped to give God the credit because it is Christ through me that make that happen. When i worked in Colorado before i knew the Lord I was hungover on the power equipment, cutting open bags of candy because of the mad munchies and on final warning for my attitude. In contrast, I'd say a clear 180.
So I'm hanging tough. I had a friend tell me that God allows intensity to build and cause friction until its apparent what He wants you to do. One element will outweigh the other. So work and school; Chicago and Colorado; I don't know God's will about all this and its hard for me to chill about it and get that godly perspective in.
One things for sure Moody is a blessing.
Work is still tough, its just too gangsta'. I got a co-worker that goes by Pimp-juice and wears shades at night and no one cares . My management approach is so different that some of the people don't give me a chance. They praise the leadership of my peer to my face, which makes me envious to some extent. My effort is there, I stay late constantly and I have an urgency to get things done and done right. The problem is that I'm not very good at doing it. It will come with time, its just that in the next three weeks I have the biggest set of the year to do.
Music hasn't gotten much better, sometimes I'm setting an isle that is directly below a speaker for like 5 hours its just blaring. Much like parenting, this exudes an impatience i didn't know I had. i'll spare the details about the lyrics. They play a couple of hours of Latino music which is way more mello, although the latino rap is just as bad and i know enough spanish to be grossed out about what they say. I'm so surprised that its ok with everyone.
I witnessed my faith to the general manager of the store and another executive during a volunteer event. They were prying about what made me go to Moody. So I told them of God's rich mercy and grace through Jesus. And then i shared my testimony, how my life changed by submission to the single truth of God. Things were a little weird for the next few shifts but the those talks are pleasing to the Lord and well worth it. Upper management overall likes me, I was praised for being lighthearted, and volunteering (they post on a board in the hall way.) As soon as I heard that, I just stopped to give God the credit because it is Christ through me that make that happen. When i worked in Colorado before i knew the Lord I was hungover on the power equipment, cutting open bags of candy because of the mad munchies and on final warning for my attitude. In contrast, I'd say a clear 180.
So I'm hanging tough. I had a friend tell me that God allows intensity to build and cause friction until its apparent what He wants you to do. One element will outweigh the other. So work and school; Chicago and Colorado; I don't know God's will about all this and its hard for me to chill about it and get that godly perspective in.
One things for sure Moody is a blessing.
Can We Worship the Lord?
God glorified Himself in my book. I know He deserves the glory, seldom are the days when I see His glory bonking me on the head enough times for me to be like "duh God is doing His work through me." So lets praise Him for what he's done, to me, to you, to all of circumstance.
Today it was all God. The Lord just handed me a glimpse into how much he loves me.
Just ask my brother, last night i was clogged with anxiety about work. And if we remember the Spurgeon quotes "anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, but only empties today of its strength." But God knew how i would come to work dreading the circumstance. So God kept me in His word all day before that. I had a team of praying people just covering me, wise advisors replying to my hardships. Giving me insight on attitudes to have so Jesus would be seen though me. Some gave me verses to cling to others chapters to read. people told me they could relate and thus brought comfort. So thank you, praise God. God used you to get to my heart and frazzled mind.
Just before work I spent time in silence (rare). Quiet time for me has rallied prayer in helping me let go of things so God can work. it was good. I just clung to Jesus, knowing that He is mighty to save. -Not just the day I came to faith, but Jesus me saves everyday. That's the stuff! God's glory imparted in bitty ways to carry us forward and keep us relying on Him and safe in the fold of God.
I know I'm still not out of the woods but I feel I have confidence. And can move past the sludge in the workplace that slowed my gears down. I thank the Lord for you. Willing to read this and pray and count on God to save me and share of your heart or a verse that illuminate my experience.
I fully am grateful to God for His body of believers.
Today it was all God. The Lord just handed me a glimpse into how much he loves me.
Just ask my brother, last night i was clogged with anxiety about work. And if we remember the Spurgeon quotes "anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, but only empties today of its strength." But God knew how i would come to work dreading the circumstance. So God kept me in His word all day before that. I had a team of praying people just covering me, wise advisors replying to my hardships. Giving me insight on attitudes to have so Jesus would be seen though me. Some gave me verses to cling to others chapters to read. people told me they could relate and thus brought comfort. So thank you, praise God. God used you to get to my heart and frazzled mind.
Just before work I spent time in silence (rare). Quiet time for me has rallied prayer in helping me let go of things so God can work. it was good. I just clung to Jesus, knowing that He is mighty to save. -Not just the day I came to faith, but Jesus me saves everyday. That's the stuff! God's glory imparted in bitty ways to carry us forward and keep us relying on Him and safe in the fold of God.
I know I'm still not out of the woods but I feel I have confidence. And can move past the sludge in the workplace that slowed my gears down. I thank the Lord for you. Willing to read this and pray and count on God to save me and share of your heart or a verse that illuminate my experience.
I fully am grateful to God for His body of believers.
Starting a Fire
Things have been busy. I'm starting to get some work back and thus far I have gotten great scores. Praise the Lord i didn't think I had it in me. Last week our president got inaugurated by a group of people that don't run the Moody day to day stuff. it looked like a creepish everybody in black robes gala, lets adorn our prez with a giant gold medallion, get him on his knees and pray for him. My school's 130 years old and he's the eighth president. And the first one in a long time that is a missionary. His vision and speech caused quite a buzz among the profs. He wants the undergrads to be taking a language class every semester to become proficient by the time they leave. It doesn't stop there (I feel totally off the hook because I'm already fluent in French.) He wants them to go to the communities in Chicago that speak that language and get plugged in. Kinda ambitious. Then again Moody picks up the tuition tab. He's got a drive for the biblical and missional meeting the urban and global.
That's stuff fires are made of, I'm glad to be a part of a school fixed on diversifying, answering to globalization and urbanization. We're sharing the Gospel message, learning a culture and customizing a sensitivity. My school isn't focused on pumping out pastors to be in preexisting churches (although there is a need for that too).
Peoples, I need to be covered in prayer again. Well the Moody Graduate school. About 20 of us are going to the Cook County Juvenile hall. Its the nation's largest we are going to be sharing the Gospel message with kids as little as 9. I just know these kids probably in a spiritual spot deeper than other kids their age who don't have a criminal record. So i anticipate a hunger, a willingness to listen to the Gospel of hope. That was the advice given by my prof to share testimony and a Bible study that has a message of hope through.
We have a break down of 30 minutes in each cell. We each do 5 cells. Many have contrived their own beliefs based on a street life that caused them to experience more than they should have ever needed too. Convoluted Christianity is also another possibility, many islamic backers as well.
So keep us lifted up, That the light of our loving Savior would take increase in our lives so we would decrease and be used for Jesus. All this is going down Sunday morning. Pray for: "Divine appointments on Sunday for these kids" as my Professor would say.
Lets watch how the Lord works.
That's stuff fires are made of, I'm glad to be a part of a school fixed on diversifying, answering to globalization and urbanization. We're sharing the Gospel message, learning a culture and customizing a sensitivity. My school isn't focused on pumping out pastors to be in preexisting churches (although there is a need for that too).
Peoples, I need to be covered in prayer again. Well the Moody Graduate school. About 20 of us are going to the Cook County Juvenile hall. Its the nation's largest we are going to be sharing the Gospel message with kids as little as 9. I just know these kids probably in a spiritual spot deeper than other kids their age who don't have a criminal record. So i anticipate a hunger, a willingness to listen to the Gospel of hope. That was the advice given by my prof to share testimony and a Bible study that has a message of hope through.
We have a break down of 30 minutes in each cell. We each do 5 cells. Many have contrived their own beliefs based on a street life that caused them to experience more than they should have ever needed too. Convoluted Christianity is also another possibility, many islamic backers as well.
So keep us lifted up, That the light of our loving Savior would take increase in our lives so we would decrease and be used for Jesus. All this is going down Sunday morning. Pray for: "Divine appointments on Sunday for these kids" as my Professor would say.
Lets watch how the Lord works.
Prison Soup for the Soul
I just wanted to honor God for His working among us. I want to bless the name of Jesus for His love showing up where darkness is more familiar. I'm talking about the big house yo. (not the "big, big house with lots and lots of room. A big, big yard...") the slammer where I talked to this 15 year old kid. He had a reverence of God, his sketches prove that God has a Catholic place in his life. One sketch was the praying hands with a rosary, another i saw was a eye and inside of it was the crime scene he committed and he's still holding the gun and the caption reads "I'm sorry." Heavy stuff, He wanted to get out. That was his only prayer. I asked him how he prays and he started to recite the "our Father." My prayer for him is that he would come to know God through the Bible. -He lit up with a healthy pride when i asked him if he reads. Being there was the first time he ever read of his own will. So I suggested reading John. My testimony comforted him. He said he was going to get out and stay away from his past and gangs. I told him it could only work through Jesus being your light, guide and path. He said he would pray that Jesus would reveal himself more.
Then a Moody friend and I went to the solitary lockup area and prayed at the doors calling for the all-surpassing Holy Spirit of Christ occupy those rooms. It was sone as they slept. Solitary confinement: they got a bed in there, sheets and that's it.
The real challenge for me came next where we found out that the church service some of the other Moody people were putting on was running late so the last group scheduled won't be able to go to service. So they sent me and a soft-spoken, small, light-hearted, suburbanite, a godly Moody gal to have a talk with a dozen convicts. We just let the Lord do it, -Let it be clearly known that under usual circumstance I would be rambling like a southerner, heartbeat freaking and hard to figure out (like leading out in BSF).
God had a hold of us (antennas recieving) and the message was about prayer. lots of questions and answers. The kids took us down the weirdest and funniest of bunny trails. But we really got to the "why praying", and the to "who to" of praying, and if praying is really like talking to God what are ways we can listen. The calvary backup came about 15 minutes into it and broke up the big group for one on one time and we did another 15 minutes of that.
So I talked to two others, I noticed that no one sat to talk to them. And they were the most answer-ready among the group. The first guy had a pastor lineage and knew the Bible better than me. He's a 17 year old who wants to be in the NFL and write motivational books. His prayer request was for God's timing and justice amid the crime. And that he could better explain things to his family so they wouldn't be so judging.
The other is in the word every day. He gets out in like the next two weeks. He admitted that its easy in here. But out there "life catches up" to him. He said he's been prophesied about three times to become a pastor so he sees his time in jail as testimony building. I didn't think it was funny. I told him to find and ask and cling to someone that can disciple him like a pastor or someone who's faith he admired.
I just want to conclude with a huge request for prayer for the Chaplin of the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center. Many in the jail administration are opposed to this ministering and want to squeeze it out of the jail. So direct your prayers to this matter too. He's getting pressure without rest it seems. In my opinion he's a terrific fit, his heart is just bent by God this way.
Then a Moody friend and I went to the solitary lockup area and prayed at the doors calling for the all-surpassing Holy Spirit of Christ occupy those rooms. It was sone as they slept. Solitary confinement: they got a bed in there, sheets and that's it.
The real challenge for me came next where we found out that the church service some of the other Moody people were putting on was running late so the last group scheduled won't be able to go to service. So they sent me and a soft-spoken, small, light-hearted, suburbanite, a godly Moody gal to have a talk with a dozen convicts. We just let the Lord do it, -Let it be clearly known that under usual circumstance I would be rambling like a southerner, heartbeat freaking and hard to figure out (like leading out in BSF).
God had a hold of us (antennas recieving) and the message was about prayer. lots of questions and answers. The kids took us down the weirdest and funniest of bunny trails. But we really got to the "why praying", and the to "who to" of praying, and if praying is really like talking to God what are ways we can listen. The calvary backup came about 15 minutes into it and broke up the big group for one on one time and we did another 15 minutes of that.
So I talked to two others, I noticed that no one sat to talk to them. And they were the most answer-ready among the group. The first guy had a pastor lineage and knew the Bible better than me. He's a 17 year old who wants to be in the NFL and write motivational books. His prayer request was for God's timing and justice amid the crime. And that he could better explain things to his family so they wouldn't be so judging.
The other is in the word every day. He gets out in like the next two weeks. He admitted that its easy in here. But out there "life catches up" to him. He said he's been prophesied about three times to become a pastor so he sees his time in jail as testimony building. I didn't think it was funny. I told him to find and ask and cling to someone that can disciple him like a pastor or someone who's faith he admired.
I just want to conclude with a huge request for prayer for the Chaplin of the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center. Many in the jail administration are opposed to this ministering and want to squeeze it out of the jail. So direct your prayers to this matter too. He's getting pressure without rest it seems. In my opinion he's a terrific fit, his heart is just bent by God this way.
31 is the New 3
"And can it be that I should gain an interest in the Savior's blood. Died Him for me who caused His pain and oh for Adam's helpless race." Love that hymn. I think the next time someone asks me what type of music i listen to I'm gonna say: hymns! not indie rock, rap, jazz, R and B, not even christian music. -Just hymns baby, that's the ticket.
Praise the Lord Jesus Christ, (it feels good just typing that). Three years ago today I placed my faith and invited the mercy and grace of Jesus into my heart. An action I couldn't understand, but desperately needed (it is the cry of all humanity). My life has been changed by the mighty breath of God. He is the all surpassing love that trades wretchedness for righteousness. How special today is, to have a moment in time when: "I know whom I have believed and am persuaded, that he is able, to keep that which I've committed unto Him against that day."
About to two months ago, my teacher, Doc as we call him. had a hymn sing at his house, i went and the old man next to me wanted to hear my testimony. So i gladly told and he was struck at God's mercy, he just had a lasting impression of what God did for me. It turns out that he was Doc's dad and he has committed himself to pray for me regularly. How humbling it is to have people in the faith who are like champions for Jesus, resolved to pray for me and the cause of Jesus in my life (i'm talking about ya'lls too). So Doc asked me if i could share to the class my testimony. Since its God's story i feel i can never deny a request for hearing my testimony.
I equipped myself with a batch of my classic oatmeal butterscotch cookies to celebrate with and headed to Moody. It was a tremendous blessing we studied the life of David Wilkerson and the current state of slum violence in Chicago. Then I shared and the class just celebrated with me. Such encouragement, prayer and retrospect as to what God has blessed me with, how he changes me in the application of the Bible and ongoing healing.
"To God be the glory great things He hath done so loved He the world that He gave us His son. Who yielded His life, an atonement for sin and OPENED THE LIFE-GATE that all may go in. Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, let the earth hear His voice. Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord let the people rejoice. Oh come to the Father through Jesus the Son and give Him the glory great things He hath done,"
Just a good day, who knew three felt so good,
I had to share the celebration with ya'll.
Happy, birthday. Happy, happy birthday.
Praise the Lord Jesus Christ, (it feels good just typing that). Three years ago today I placed my faith and invited the mercy and grace of Jesus into my heart. An action I couldn't understand, but desperately needed (it is the cry of all humanity). My life has been changed by the mighty breath of God. He is the all surpassing love that trades wretchedness for righteousness. How special today is, to have a moment in time when: "I know whom I have believed and am persuaded, that he is able, to keep that which I've committed unto Him against that day."
About to two months ago, my teacher, Doc as we call him. had a hymn sing at his house, i went and the old man next to me wanted to hear my testimony. So i gladly told and he was struck at God's mercy, he just had a lasting impression of what God did for me. It turns out that he was Doc's dad and he has committed himself to pray for me regularly. How humbling it is to have people in the faith who are like champions for Jesus, resolved to pray for me and the cause of Jesus in my life (i'm talking about ya'lls too). So Doc asked me if i could share to the class my testimony. Since its God's story i feel i can never deny a request for hearing my testimony.
I equipped myself with a batch of my classic oatmeal butterscotch cookies to celebrate with and headed to Moody. It was a tremendous blessing we studied the life of David Wilkerson and the current state of slum violence in Chicago. Then I shared and the class just celebrated with me. Such encouragement, prayer and retrospect as to what God has blessed me with, how he changes me in the application of the Bible and ongoing healing.
"To God be the glory great things He hath done so loved He the world that He gave us His son. Who yielded His life, an atonement for sin and OPENED THE LIFE-GATE that all may go in. Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, let the earth hear His voice. Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord let the people rejoice. Oh come to the Father through Jesus the Son and give Him the glory great things He hath done,"
Just a good day, who knew three felt so good,
I had to share the celebration with ya'll.
Happy, birthday. Happy, happy birthday.
Sermon Slaps
Have you ever heard a sermon that you weren't ready to hear? It's kinda like Matlock turning the case upside down in the courtroom, breaking the witness down in front of the judge. So Sunday we got into some of the lowest common denominators of sin struggles. The passage used was in Luke 8 when Jesus is sleeping on the boat during the storm. The problem was the panic of the apostles due to their lack of faith. I lose sight of God's omnipresence, I have a hard time walking by faith when something's rocking the boat. -Have you ever experienced God's peace? That all-surpassing tranquility? I think my soul has found rest, and my burdens have been lifted, but the blessing of peace?
Next came those common denominators, inhibitors of peace. I have refused blessings from the Lord. God wants to tell me I'm smart but i hold up to Him the papers of diagnosis saying, no I'm crazy. God wants to tell me I'm handsome through a special lady. But in large part, I refuse it because I've been overweight for a long time and I have people I love calling me butterball. This is stuff i don't admit to others but it affects me daily. Its a manipulation of shame that Satan has leveraged into me (i've allowed it to nestle). So now when I'm trying to be studious, and grow my intellect through the studying at Moody. And the Lord just wants to fill me up with blessing through brain and heart growth. However, the shame of my mental past quickly becomes a peace prohibitor. instead i pump up the procrastination, i get impatient when i read because I'm slower than your average grad student. -God isn't comparing me to others. He wants me to succeed and pass. Its shame imposed on my life that rejects God's blessing.
Were not finished, another common denominator was fear that keeps the storms raging when the peace of Christ is sleeping within. This was particularly in regards to the future. As a young believer in Jesus Christ I have less of an excuse than I imagine an older believer does. Because the plans i had for my life were botched, crumbled and voided. Jesus breathed new life into me. That contrast from how I'd been living is so obvious to me that Its a severe lack of faith for me to not trust God with what's going to happen with my life. Does that make sense? Yet fears is a-brewing in terms of: Marriage, fatherhood, career I haven't had many examples of that stuff working to honor God. I'm fearful, and anxious this is adult stuff that has implications beyond just me. Really though, God is mighty to save! And His peace can be prized and desired above all this. The God I know and serve just wants me to worship Him, trust in his plan and have faith.
I'm not in control, I'm not out of control; I'm blessed and dearly, dearly loved by the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Love and peace,
Next came those common denominators, inhibitors of peace. I have refused blessings from the Lord. God wants to tell me I'm smart but i hold up to Him the papers of diagnosis saying, no I'm crazy. God wants to tell me I'm handsome through a special lady. But in large part, I refuse it because I've been overweight for a long time and I have people I love calling me butterball. This is stuff i don't admit to others but it affects me daily. Its a manipulation of shame that Satan has leveraged into me (i've allowed it to nestle). So now when I'm trying to be studious, and grow my intellect through the studying at Moody. And the Lord just wants to fill me up with blessing through brain and heart growth. However, the shame of my mental past quickly becomes a peace prohibitor. instead i pump up the procrastination, i get impatient when i read because I'm slower than your average grad student. -God isn't comparing me to others. He wants me to succeed and pass. Its shame imposed on my life that rejects God's blessing.
Were not finished, another common denominator was fear that keeps the storms raging when the peace of Christ is sleeping within. This was particularly in regards to the future. As a young believer in Jesus Christ I have less of an excuse than I imagine an older believer does. Because the plans i had for my life were botched, crumbled and voided. Jesus breathed new life into me. That contrast from how I'd been living is so obvious to me that Its a severe lack of faith for me to not trust God with what's going to happen with my life. Does that make sense? Yet fears is a-brewing in terms of: Marriage, fatherhood, career I haven't had many examples of that stuff working to honor God. I'm fearful, and anxious this is adult stuff that has implications beyond just me. Really though, God is mighty to save! And His peace can be prized and desired above all this. The God I know and serve just wants me to worship Him, trust in his plan and have faith.
I'm not in control, I'm not out of control; I'm blessed and dearly, dearly loved by the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Love and peace,
An Inconvenient Truth
My apologies to Al Gore for the copyright snafoo, but I have a truth that barges on my convenient life more.
My life has been riddled with conviction to find a justice in poverty ever since Manila in '95. Which truthfully was the biggest outward motivator to quit believing in God back in high school. Trash dumps are a trip yo. I know, Cicero has one of Chicago's waste management facilities. Stanky dealings!
But Trash dumps with 30,000 people living on it choke up the eco-humanity side of digging through the trash. The people just blended into the "Smokey Mountain" as they called it in the Philippines. The sense memory of the smell when I attend mass on smokey mountain is still with me. There was a landslide/trashslide several years ago that closed the place, at least for overnighters.
This book I'm reading has commissioned me to think about injustice, oppression, abuse, rape, genocide, exploitation, corruption, poverty etc... I'm as open to this book as I was to Manila. This time instead of repelling me from God; its has brought me to the cross and His physical suffering and its significance. I'm not well read on any of these topics of injustice so this book struck me at point blank range. Thankfully all major points were coupled with Scripture. -Tons of it because God is very clear in His Word about His judgement, His wrath, His revenge regarding injustice.
The great commission version 2.0 (if you'll indulge me) would certainly include an bondage lifting amendment. How cake would it be for an unbeliever freed from oppression in the name of Christ to want to Follow Him. Coming to Christ is so obvious to the captives that are freed by Christ's body on earth n'est-ce pas? Similarly, my addiction removal was a huge motivator in my life to know that it is God's truth doing the work; lifting that out of my life and snapping the self-imposed abuse. God's interest in the abuse of power is not mild. Though we may have grown numb and oblivious to the brutal abuse of this world (everyday), God maintains a fresh, holy hatred of injustice.
From conviction, stories, Scripture and application; this book helps me think of forced child labor in India ahead of my vulnerabilities and stresses in my spiritual life. The book argues that its true what we see from missionaries or on TV its just not real to us. So lets bridge the gap. Lets stand ready to exploit every moral hesitation (civil rights), the exploitation of the powerless and defenseless (Rwanda) and the morally vulnerable (child labor and prostitution).
So lets visit and deliberate with corrupt government leaders in third world countries for Christ's cause, Or maybe run a shelter to prevent kids from being abducted into the underbelly of Hong Kong's drug world. Or maybe go on a long term mission trip to fight state-supported discrimination in Uganda. Or maybe write letters and monthly support a child through Compassion, World Vision etc.. Or maybe pray specifically for a missionary or an injustice theme or region of injustice. Or look up the many passages about God and the oppressed in the Bible. Or maybe just pray that God can help us weep about this more. And if you still don't have enough to grasp with the freeness of your hands: you can get Good News About Injustice by Gary Haugen and read it and be open to its message.
"If we really want to know God, to really understand Him, we must come to understand His passion for justice and His gut-level indignation at the abuse of power."
"In a world of pain, how could one worship a God who is immune to it." Our sufferings become manageable in light of Christ's suffering."
My life has been riddled with conviction to find a justice in poverty ever since Manila in '95. Which truthfully was the biggest outward motivator to quit believing in God back in high school. Trash dumps are a trip yo. I know, Cicero has one of Chicago's waste management facilities. Stanky dealings!
But Trash dumps with 30,000 people living on it choke up the eco-humanity side of digging through the trash. The people just blended into the "Smokey Mountain" as they called it in the Philippines. The sense memory of the smell when I attend mass on smokey mountain is still with me. There was a landslide/trashslide several years ago that closed the place, at least for overnighters.
This book I'm reading has commissioned me to think about injustice, oppression, abuse, rape, genocide, exploitation, corruption, poverty etc... I'm as open to this book as I was to Manila. This time instead of repelling me from God; its has brought me to the cross and His physical suffering and its significance. I'm not well read on any of these topics of injustice so this book struck me at point blank range. Thankfully all major points were coupled with Scripture. -Tons of it because God is very clear in His Word about His judgement, His wrath, His revenge regarding injustice.
The great commission version 2.0 (if you'll indulge me) would certainly include an bondage lifting amendment. How cake would it be for an unbeliever freed from oppression in the name of Christ to want to Follow Him. Coming to Christ is so obvious to the captives that are freed by Christ's body on earth n'est-ce pas? Similarly, my addiction removal was a huge motivator in my life to know that it is God's truth doing the work; lifting that out of my life and snapping the self-imposed abuse. God's interest in the abuse of power is not mild. Though we may have grown numb and oblivious to the brutal abuse of this world (everyday), God maintains a fresh, holy hatred of injustice.
From conviction, stories, Scripture and application; this book helps me think of forced child labor in India ahead of my vulnerabilities and stresses in my spiritual life. The book argues that its true what we see from missionaries or on TV its just not real to us. So lets bridge the gap. Lets stand ready to exploit every moral hesitation (civil rights), the exploitation of the powerless and defenseless (Rwanda) and the morally vulnerable (child labor and prostitution).
So lets visit and deliberate with corrupt government leaders in third world countries for Christ's cause, Or maybe run a shelter to prevent kids from being abducted into the underbelly of Hong Kong's drug world. Or maybe go on a long term mission trip to fight state-supported discrimination in Uganda. Or maybe write letters and monthly support a child through Compassion, World Vision etc.. Or maybe pray specifically for a missionary or an injustice theme or region of injustice. Or look up the many passages about God and the oppressed in the Bible. Or maybe just pray that God can help us weep about this more. And if you still don't have enough to grasp with the freeness of your hands: you can get Good News About Injustice by Gary Haugen and read it and be open to its message.
"If we really want to know God, to really understand Him, we must come to understand His passion for justice and His gut-level indignation at the abuse of power."
"In a world of pain, how could one worship a God who is immune to it." Our sufferings become manageable in light of Christ's suffering."
Deadlines and Intimacy with God
It sounds demanding on my part to call you this, truthfully we all need doses and doses of prayer. Its almost a pride issue if I don't ask for prayer; Especially given my current circumstance. Ya'll cover me would you? To our loving intercessor Jesus in heaven, submit Nicolas because times are abrasive spiritually.
God is the same yesterday, today , and tomorrow.
And I'm not. Because in my yesterdays, God grew faith in a "loose timing" that made it feel all elective on my part. Almost as if I got to choose an activity to know God more and at my leisure. Meaning I was seeking out meetings that would grow me in God, developing fellowships that fed me even at work, and I was hating my sin. I was always curious to find an emotionally satisfying Christian musician or film. A good cry now and then to remind myself how merciful God is. I miss this "romance" of a relationship with God. It seems in retrospect, that I was controlling lots of those decisions, they were good decisions and God used them for sure. That's why I miss them.
Today, is a much spicier pepper. I made a choice to go to Moody back in June and I'll admit I wasn't thinking about what that implied. So it seems I'm grumbling about all these sub-decisions stemming from my one: to move to Cicero and go to Moody. Some of you might be scared to get an update about my work: its not much better, though my relationships are more meaningful there. I just really want to transfer to dayside. Overnight makes me miss worship at my church quite often.
The demands of school are squarely on my shoulders as I enter into this last week of school. I don't currently have the mental determination to look my work in the face and do something about it. I brim with anxiety and shame thinking Grad School is for more proficient minds. Its sink or swim time. I need to give this to God more. One more week of hard work and then a month off.
Don't get me started about how much I miss my darling girlfriend, family, church family, and Colorado nature. Now a-days, It seems that i'm "in the throws" of it. Studying the Bible is an obligation to crank out study assignments instead of God revealing Himself. (I miss BSF) Spurgeon was a major stress inducer instead of a sold-out (young adult) for God kinda guy. I do get inspired, its just that: God needs to regain His throne in my life, and the stuff inbetween us needs to get behind me.
Tomorrow holds the will of God if i seek it. With it comes many blessings. It will take nothing short of God's doing to finish with everything completed. Whatever the outcome, I'm going to do my best to grain closeness with God and write those papers.
To top things off I'm about to be an uncle (x5) next week, she's gonna be a Chicago niece. so could you pray for that too.
God is the same yesterday, today , and tomorrow.
And I'm not. Because in my yesterdays, God grew faith in a "loose timing" that made it feel all elective on my part. Almost as if I got to choose an activity to know God more and at my leisure. Meaning I was seeking out meetings that would grow me in God, developing fellowships that fed me even at work, and I was hating my sin. I was always curious to find an emotionally satisfying Christian musician or film. A good cry now and then to remind myself how merciful God is. I miss this "romance" of a relationship with God. It seems in retrospect, that I was controlling lots of those decisions, they were good decisions and God used them for sure. That's why I miss them.
Today, is a much spicier pepper. I made a choice to go to Moody back in June and I'll admit I wasn't thinking about what that implied. So it seems I'm grumbling about all these sub-decisions stemming from my one: to move to Cicero and go to Moody. Some of you might be scared to get an update about my work: its not much better, though my relationships are more meaningful there. I just really want to transfer to dayside. Overnight makes me miss worship at my church quite often.
The demands of school are squarely on my shoulders as I enter into this last week of school. I don't currently have the mental determination to look my work in the face and do something about it. I brim with anxiety and shame thinking Grad School is for more proficient minds. Its sink or swim time. I need to give this to God more. One more week of hard work and then a month off.
Don't get me started about how much I miss my darling girlfriend, family, church family, and Colorado nature. Now a-days, It seems that i'm "in the throws" of it. Studying the Bible is an obligation to crank out study assignments instead of God revealing Himself. (I miss BSF) Spurgeon was a major stress inducer instead of a sold-out (young adult) for God kinda guy. I do get inspired, its just that: God needs to regain His throne in my life, and the stuff inbetween us needs to get behind me.
Tomorrow holds the will of God if i seek it. With it comes many blessings. It will take nothing short of God's doing to finish with everything completed. Whatever the outcome, I'm going to do my best to grain closeness with God and write those papers.
To top things off I'm about to be an uncle (x5) next week, she's gonna be a Chicago niece. so could you pray for that too.
Sylvie, Biscuits and Other Lovely Things
Praise God for making me hang when I was ready throw in the towel with my classes. Its a thing of the past save the knowledge gained. I'm sitting pretty. Next semester I'm slated for Acts, Spiritual Integration Lab (not graded), and evangelism and apologetics. Many thanks for dealing with my emotional outbusts on the old typewriter.
Joining the conclusion of my classes yesterday to plant me firmly on the ground is Sylive... at the risk of offending my lady, dare I say: there's a new girl in my life. "In this corner, weighing in just under 9 pounds, all the way from Chicago Illinois via her mother's womb is the heartbreaker/dream-maker/nap-taker Sylvie, Suzan, Currat." She's a real contender for my heart. Just a bushel of quiet new-born goodness. beautiful, and perspective imposing.
Speaking of lovely things, If I call you "biscuit!" that means you're in. Its my self-made term of endearment. True buttermilk or southern style biscuits go down in my book as treat, all the time. For those wondering, there is no such thing as a flakey biscuit, that is merely a croissant hybrid invented by those out-of-the-box thinkers at Pilsbury.
All this to say thanks for sharing in my life through prayer, concern and encouragement. -I feel like I'm writing to a bunch of biscuits right now! That was truely a lovely thing to get what i got from ya'll. So I'm keep up my end, and gladly accept any prayer requests you have. I'm probably going to write again to ya'll but for insurance reasons: Merry Christmas. Now you may not get a niece for Christmas, (but you know someone who did)! But we did get the savior, the lover of our soul how rich is His love for our lives: every last human of a being.
Joining the conclusion of my classes yesterday to plant me firmly on the ground is Sylive... at the risk of offending my lady, dare I say: there's a new girl in my life. "In this corner, weighing in just under 9 pounds, all the way from Chicago Illinois via her mother's womb is the heartbreaker/dream-maker/nap-taker Sylvie, Suzan, Currat." She's a real contender for my heart. Just a bushel of quiet new-born goodness. beautiful, and perspective imposing.
Speaking of lovely things, If I call you "biscuit!" that means you're in. Its my self-made term of endearment. True buttermilk or southern style biscuits go down in my book as treat, all the time. For those wondering, there is no such thing as a flakey biscuit, that is merely a croissant hybrid invented by those out-of-the-box thinkers at Pilsbury.
All this to say thanks for sharing in my life through prayer, concern and encouragement. -I feel like I'm writing to a bunch of biscuits right now! That was truely a lovely thing to get what i got from ya'll. So I'm keep up my end, and gladly accept any prayer requests you have. I'm probably going to write again to ya'll but for insurance reasons: Merry Christmas. Now you may not get a niece for Christmas, (but you know someone who did)! But we did get the savior, the lover of our soul how rich is His love for our lives: every last human of a being.
Intentional Intensions
My faith life at the conclusion of school seemed overexerted, -how to regain heart? The reintroduction of making faith something through deliberate choice to spend time with God is back! But what does that mean and look like?
Rather than "taking a break" from the Word as I'm doing with my studies I got this little pocket book called Promises. In it there is God's promises to us regarding the many topic of life before&after. Since God is unfailingly faithful to His promises I figured it best to dig in and claim'em in prayer.
With the distance from the school and work combo I realized that work was a huge strain in my life due to the inconsistencies. They were trying to break-a-brotha-down. So i wrote a winded e-mail to the leadership of my store asking for the following changes in exchange for a continuing commitment.
1 to work four days for ten hours instead. All the other over night TL (team leaders) get that, I'm the exception because of the uniqueness of what I do, (At least i feel needed)
2 the days off would be consecutive. If you've ever worked overnight you know that days off don't feel like that unless they run together
3 to observe the Sabbath. I didn't want to sound legalistic in this request, because my salvation isn't hinged on this one command. But still, this is how i put it: "I have a fear of the Lord above all else. I don't want to anger Him. instead I want to be renewed by rest and fellowship on sunday." Basically I asked for Saturday or Sunday night off.
4 a set schedule that fit into my school needs. (every now and then an exception will do)
5 to resign as AD captan. I signed up for resetting isles not putting up AD.
Could we pray for these? I'm meeting tomorrow night with my HR to discuss this. I think its hard to find joy at my work, but these changes would confirm that God wants to use me there still. Sometimes I feel worn out from the battle there. i know God has given us a spirit of power in Christ and not timidity or weariness. At the end of some shifts I'm feeling more like roadkill. Leading is hard to take and give. At least i got a niece to hold about the size of a collegiate football with legs and arms.
Rather than "taking a break" from the Word as I'm doing with my studies I got this little pocket book called Promises. In it there is God's promises to us regarding the many topic of life before&after. Since God is unfailingly faithful to His promises I figured it best to dig in and claim'em in prayer.
With the distance from the school and work combo I realized that work was a huge strain in my life due to the inconsistencies. They were trying to break-a-brotha-down. So i wrote a winded e-mail to the leadership of my store asking for the following changes in exchange for a continuing commitment.
1 to work four days for ten hours instead. All the other over night TL (team leaders) get that, I'm the exception because of the uniqueness of what I do, (At least i feel needed)
2 the days off would be consecutive. If you've ever worked overnight you know that days off don't feel like that unless they run together
3 to observe the Sabbath. I didn't want to sound legalistic in this request, because my salvation isn't hinged on this one command. But still, this is how i put it: "I have a fear of the Lord above all else. I don't want to anger Him. instead I want to be renewed by rest and fellowship on sunday." Basically I asked for Saturday or Sunday night off.
4 a set schedule that fit into my school needs. (every now and then an exception will do)
5 to resign as AD captan. I signed up for resetting isles not putting up AD.
Could we pray for these? I'm meeting tomorrow night with my HR to discuss this. I think its hard to find joy at my work, but these changes would confirm that God wants to use me there still. Sometimes I feel worn out from the battle there. i know God has given us a spirit of power in Christ and not timidity or weariness. At the end of some shifts I'm feeling more like roadkill. Leading is hard to take and give. At least i got a niece to hold about the size of a collegiate football with legs and arms.
Cool is Jesus on the Inside
I had a phone call with my five year old nephew that is fixated with things that are cool, his list included: "A wallet chain, torn jeans, snowboarding, da Bulls, and a mohawk." (He's right about the Bulls). I was working the angle that those things are all on the outside and what's really cool about people can only be found on the inside. He insisted by naming people who were cool and the tricks they could do on a skateboard. I dropped the lesson of what a downward spiral it is to work at looking cool to gain the approval of others. A great "chasing after the wind" if i'm not mistaken. I then tried to bring Jesus into the conversation but the words coming out were so like weird and forced, kinda like a tract to an unbeliever. Isn't it hard enough keeping a phone conversation interesting with a 5 year old (almost 6)? As much as God wants to be in relationship with my nephew, I feel like i was pushing the issue, -Like God's counting on me to save the kid: God doesn't need me to accomplish His will. So instead of thumping scripture at my lil'shortie man Martin, I considered it a lesson for myself. Doesn't God commission us and so when the Spirit moves within isn't it generally effective, gentle and fluid? Not robotic, bullhornish or forced. So I gave up and talked about gnarly-ness.
2009 is gone and so is my steam heat. My apartment is froze. I have to wear a coat and a winter hat when doing the dishes. Only in my bedroom is the temperature tolerable. I've let myself get irritated and mad about this because i'm not dwelling comfortably. What about the homeless on these single-digit nights? Satan must tempt their anger with the cold way worse then me. And i so easily gave in to bellyaching, I'm still kinda doing it by this mention here. So I let the Cicero Bible Church know and they're sending someone out. I feel like i get to know more of that church the more my apartment needs repair. The last three times its been a different church member fixing the problem.
That church is historic, big and beautiful the congregation is made up of the faithful fifty certainly sad. It has a radio broadcasting booth from back in the day and a classic southern looking sanctuary.
Chistmas was a blessing, New years was a blessing probably the best one ever!! except for the one when i was like 7 watching Wonder Woman on tv waiting for midnight. I had my front tooth hanging by one last root so when Wonder Woman would spin around to change into uniform, i would spin my tooth at the same time, and it wouldn't hurt as much. It came out that very night. As for this last one I took my lady to see the Jersey Boys. (best musical ever). Then we took a ferris wheel ride in sub 0 weather. And fireworks, reflections, shrimp/catfish, and a thirty dollar cab ride because i forgot the el to my place stops running during late night.
2009 is gone and so is my steam heat. My apartment is froze. I have to wear a coat and a winter hat when doing the dishes. Only in my bedroom is the temperature tolerable. I've let myself get irritated and mad about this because i'm not dwelling comfortably. What about the homeless on these single-digit nights? Satan must tempt their anger with the cold way worse then me. And i so easily gave in to bellyaching, I'm still kinda doing it by this mention here. So I let the Cicero Bible Church know and they're sending someone out. I feel like i get to know more of that church the more my apartment needs repair. The last three times its been a different church member fixing the problem.
That church is historic, big and beautiful the congregation is made up of the faithful fifty certainly sad. It has a radio broadcasting booth from back in the day and a classic southern looking sanctuary.
Chistmas was a blessing, New years was a blessing probably the best one ever!! except for the one when i was like 7 watching Wonder Woman on tv waiting for midnight. I had my front tooth hanging by one last root so when Wonder Woman would spin around to change into uniform, i would spin my tooth at the same time, and it wouldn't hurt as much. It came out that very night. As for this last one I took my lady to see the Jersey Boys. (best musical ever). Then we took a ferris wheel ride in sub 0 weather. And fireworks, reflections, shrimp/catfish, and a thirty dollar cab ride because i forgot the el to my place stops running during late night.
Outreaches Reaching Out to Unbelievers
Grab ahold of your seat belts and hang onto yer cowboy hats. Moody is now in session. Spring is in the air (semester that is). And we're kicking the outreaches off with a bang. That's right. We're going to the Pacific Garden Mission next week. One the oldest and biggest homeless shelters in Chicago. It is famous because that is were the hugely popular preacher Billy Sunday came to faith or so the statue reads back in early 1900's. Now its home to many especially during the winter season. So about 30 of us are going a week from today. I'm so excited about it I just was hoping we could start praying for it now. We're going to have a service, then split up by gender for some one on one listening time, then some testimonies, then a time of acoustic worship and wrapping things up with prayer one on one. Gods gonna be there, to teach me something new, win some souls and blessblessbless.
Also my reason for joining the urban studies track at Moody is two fold. One, given the redeeming of my past I have a broken heart for mental hospitals and the spiritual warfare therein. But two, is homelessness. Ever since I saw third world poverty first hand, i've been crying out to God about injustice -even as an unbeliever. So please pray for a stirring within me regarding my calling. That God would use the PGM to plant a firm vision to how i can be used for his purpose. Plainly put, I don't know the wonderful things he has for my life. But i'm super stoked for that ride!!
So my classes are a hit. Urban anthropology is focusing on Chicago we're gonna learn first about the history, social structures, multiculturalism, politics, demographics. Then we get to plug that into a community analysis, sub-culture and/or ethnic group evaluation of our own choosing within the city. Highlighting the needs of others is the goal, to give way to effective ministry/vocations objectives.
On my first day of class I decided I wanted to become friends with this one guy in my class. He asked me what class I was going to next and I told him Evangelism and Apologetics. He got psyched: "Dude that's the best class. People get saved in that class. How many classes can you say that people got saved in!!. I'm gonna be praying for you and that class." I was floored at his enthusiasm, he was just so pleased to hear about souls being won for the Lord. My prayer for that class is that I would experience and grow in faith so much that I would be like him by the end of it. Just sold out for the cause of Christ encountering people. Where's my zeal for that now?
Well I got to get to the laundry, errands and homework done. Please pray for my relationship with my lady Lindsey its tough being apart and communicating well at the same time. Also my month old niece has been going in and out of the hospital with fevers and illness, Its been rough (on her parents too) hearing stories of what Doctors have to do to diagnose the problem. With added prayer maybe little Sylvie could get a healthy diagnosis from the Lord instead. So cute that baby.
Blessing and continuation in the love that Jesus has,
Also my reason for joining the urban studies track at Moody is two fold. One, given the redeeming of my past I have a broken heart for mental hospitals and the spiritual warfare therein. But two, is homelessness. Ever since I saw third world poverty first hand, i've been crying out to God about injustice -even as an unbeliever. So please pray for a stirring within me regarding my calling. That God would use the PGM to plant a firm vision to how i can be used for his purpose. Plainly put, I don't know the wonderful things he has for my life. But i'm super stoked for that ride!!
So my classes are a hit. Urban anthropology is focusing on Chicago we're gonna learn first about the history, social structures, multiculturalism, politics, demographics. Then we get to plug that into a community analysis, sub-culture and/or ethnic group evaluation of our own choosing within the city. Highlighting the needs of others is the goal, to give way to effective ministry/vocations objectives.
On my first day of class I decided I wanted to become friends with this one guy in my class. He asked me what class I was going to next and I told him Evangelism and Apologetics. He got psyched: "Dude that's the best class. People get saved in that class. How many classes can you say that people got saved in!!. I'm gonna be praying for you and that class." I was floored at his enthusiasm, he was just so pleased to hear about souls being won for the Lord. My prayer for that class is that I would experience and grow in faith so much that I would be like him by the end of it. Just sold out for the cause of Christ encountering people. Where's my zeal for that now?
Well I got to get to the laundry, errands and homework done. Please pray for my relationship with my lady Lindsey its tough being apart and communicating well at the same time. Also my month old niece has been going in and out of the hospital with fevers and illness, Its been rough (on her parents too) hearing stories of what Doctors have to do to diagnose the problem. With added prayer maybe little Sylvie could get a healthy diagnosis from the Lord instead. So cute that baby.
Blessing and continuation in the love that Jesus has,
Recognize, Evangelize and Jesus 101
About a month ago I was struggling to feel much passion for my relationship with Jesus. Sins were confessed out of seeming obligation, Prayers were short and infrequent, Reading Scripture felt like reading an insurance form, Blessings seemed absent and Gratitude to God was insincere if mentioned at all. -Not where I wanted to be given the rich mercy and grace afforded to me.
Our culture and faith lives seem so expectant to constantly changing and growing. So how was I to change and grow in Christ if I was in the "doldrums"? So I went and got me some Jesus 101. Since the Word seemed like a foreign language at the time, I dove into a book that would plainly state the arguments for submission to Christ. That book was basically someone evangelizing the reader. It was composed of arguments for the unbeliever to consider. Page after page, day by day, within me grew this conviction of faith. I was letting out some "Amens" while I read.
There was God breaking it down for me through the essential truths!! Before you knew it I was good to go: Walking in loving gratitude, newish, crispy. Weird how that closeness in Jesus came from recalling rather than changing or growing. How valuable it is to remember what God has done. Ya dig???
I wish you guys had front row seats to my evangelism class (like me... what a gift). My prof pours out his pleas for reaching a lost world, desperately, seriously. He suggested that the majority of Christians are filled with a good life in view of Christ's mercy. They settle for a good life, when the best life waits and untouched. That is found in sharing the Gospel and watching its power to transform.
Did you know that God entrusts the Gospel to us. He has faith in us to share the Gospel.
I want you to know that evangelism is a community thing with key components for floatation: self-growth, prayer, collective outreach and continued contact. Its not below anyone to graciously, straightforwardly beg another: "Please consider the Gospel." Add some repetition, customize the delivery and leave it in the hands of the Holy Spirit. Jesus challenged the women at the well differently than Nickodemus, differently than the rich young ruler, differently than the Pharisees.
Its an evangelistic lifestyle that we need to generate. That is why we're all good for God's using. We can settle for a good life and be riddled with a growing inability to talk about God with those who need Him most. Or get the best of a life lived for God in evangelizing. Do we cry about and pray for the reality of hell for unrepentant unbelievers? Or is our faith not contingent on loving others in a way that will convince them of Jesus? 75% of converts come from a friend or family member evangelizing. Call on God's power to do this, its easy to forget about mentioning the urgency of salvation when we're so relational with family.
I want to keep myself in check by saying this: I have shared God with some unbelievers, hairy ones even. I'm no good at it. I haven't prayed a "sinner's prayer" with anyone. I'm not even good at pointing to the right passages in scriptures to do so. Thankfully I'm in a class that's asking me to memorize the passages of salvation like Roman Road passages. It is not my will to win souls but Christ in me. If Christ is in my heart and I speak form my heart than evangelism is automatic. Its totally my will to get over the uncomfortableness of it by faith in the seeds planted and the further owning of my faith in what the Bible says.
Can we pray about this? and the non-followers of Jesus.
Our culture and faith lives seem so expectant to constantly changing and growing. So how was I to change and grow in Christ if I was in the "doldrums"? So I went and got me some Jesus 101. Since the Word seemed like a foreign language at the time, I dove into a book that would plainly state the arguments for submission to Christ. That book was basically someone evangelizing the reader. It was composed of arguments for the unbeliever to consider. Page after page, day by day, within me grew this conviction of faith. I was letting out some "Amens" while I read.
There was God breaking it down for me through the essential truths!! Before you knew it I was good to go: Walking in loving gratitude, newish, crispy. Weird how that closeness in Jesus came from recalling rather than changing or growing. How valuable it is to remember what God has done. Ya dig???
I wish you guys had front row seats to my evangelism class (like me... what a gift). My prof pours out his pleas for reaching a lost world, desperately, seriously. He suggested that the majority of Christians are filled with a good life in view of Christ's mercy. They settle for a good life, when the best life waits and untouched. That is found in sharing the Gospel and watching its power to transform.
Did you know that God entrusts the Gospel to us. He has faith in us to share the Gospel.
I want you to know that evangelism is a community thing with key components for floatation: self-growth, prayer, collective outreach and continued contact. Its not below anyone to graciously, straightforwardly beg another: "Please consider the Gospel." Add some repetition, customize the delivery and leave it in the hands of the Holy Spirit. Jesus challenged the women at the well differently than Nickodemus, differently than the rich young ruler, differently than the Pharisees.
Its an evangelistic lifestyle that we need to generate. That is why we're all good for God's using. We can settle for a good life and be riddled with a growing inability to talk about God with those who need Him most. Or get the best of a life lived for God in evangelizing. Do we cry about and pray for the reality of hell for unrepentant unbelievers? Or is our faith not contingent on loving others in a way that will convince them of Jesus? 75% of converts come from a friend or family member evangelizing. Call on God's power to do this, its easy to forget about mentioning the urgency of salvation when we're so relational with family.
I want to keep myself in check by saying this: I have shared God with some unbelievers, hairy ones even. I'm no good at it. I haven't prayed a "sinner's prayer" with anyone. I'm not even good at pointing to the right passages in scriptures to do so. Thankfully I'm in a class that's asking me to memorize the passages of salvation like Roman Road passages. It is not my will to win souls but Christ in me. If Christ is in my heart and I speak form my heart than evangelism is automatic. Its totally my will to get over the uncomfortableness of it by faith in the seeds planted and the further owning of my faith in what the Bible says.
Can we pray about this? and the non-followers of Jesus.
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