The Insanity of God

In my hometown Tuesday is the "cheap night" at our local movie theatre.  So, yesterday afternoon late, Hubster and I decided we'd see a movie.  At first, we were looking to go see "Ben Hur", which has been out a few days. Then, we noticed that there was going to be a one-night, single showing of a movie called, "Insanity of God".  Intrigued, we read the description on Fandango, and knew our choice was made.

The theater was packed.  We also ran into some of our church's ministerial staff and church friends were there, which was cool.  We sat down with our popcorn and Coke, and began to be blown away.

Here are my take-aways from this powerful movie.

1.  Most of us American Christians have no idea what persecution for our faith is like.  In countries that are "closed" to the gospel of Jesus Christ, persecution is generational.  Persecution is considered to be both a familial as well as a spiritual birthright.  In China, unless you have been to prison for your faith in Jesus Christ, you are not fully trusted by the underground Christian community.  Prison is their seminary.

2.  There is One True Church of Jesus Christ.  Do you pray for "the persecuted church"?  I have, and do.  But, there is not "the persecuted church" and "the free church"; there is just The Church.  One Body, consumed and propelled by One Spirit, following One Savior, our Lord Jesus.  Similarly, there are not "missionaries" and those that "fill the pews".  We are all missionaries, or should be.  I was shamed to hear the words of my denomination's current leader who said that of the millions of members of our denomination in America, most will go to their graves without having told one, single person the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I can only conclude that our reluctance to share the gospel on a day-in, day-out basis is due to our belief that either: 1) It is not a truth worth sharing or 2) Jesus doesn't really matter.
Yes, we pray for "the persecuted church" because we see them as "the needy ones"; we ought to pray for "the flabby church", because we are the ones who are poor, and wretched, self-indulgent and blind.

3.  God wastes nothing.  No trial or tribulation or hardship we endure, especially those we suffer because of our faith in Jesus Christ, ever goes unnoticed or unused by God.  We may never see how God will use it; but, He will.  Or, we may get to see how God uses it, but not completely.  For example, there is a story in the movie about a man imprisoned for his faith.  In the filming of the movie, as that scene was re-enacted on celluloid, for posterity, the Spirit of the Living God moved yet again, using that trial for His glory AGAIN!
Think about Paul's imprisonment.  Honestly, I do not think he had ANY idea that his little letters would form the backbone of the New Testament.  Many of them were written while he was under house arrest for his faith.
So, if you are suffering today because your Savior and Lord is Jesus Christ, and you are faithfully following Him, God will use and continue to use your sorrow, your pain, your loss to grow your faith as well as the faith of others, and perhaps even those around the world, especially if we yield to Him and let Him be God.
Don't think that your faithful ministry is for nothing. He never wastes anything, but instead uses it all to His glory.

4.  Finally, the movie made me consider the kind of faith I want.  And, here's my renewed commitment.  I want:
a faith based on the Word of God, no matter the cost,
a faith courageous in every circumstance,
a faith that enables me to truly see with Spirit-eyes EVERY opportunity, and to seize it
a fighting faith, one that confronts evil and defeats it
a miraculous faith that "moves mountains"
a faith that I don't merely possess, but a faith that possesses me, a radical, insane faith.

…16Therefore we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, yet our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17For our light and temporary affliction is producing for us an eternal glory that far outweighs our troubles.18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.…

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Dearest, precious, most Sovereign Father, Your all-powerful works among us humans demonstrate Your perfect plan....a plan that seems rather insane to us most of the time.  Often, it requires us to make super-human sacrifices, because Jesus matters.  He matters eternally, both now and forever. And, because He is all-in-all, no persecution we endure here is either insignificant or forgotten.  I thank you for that.  Almighty One, I lift up to You in prayer today all who love You truly and who are giving their last ounces of strength in Your service, moment to moment.  Strengthen our flabby faith, Jesus, and make us into warriors, brave-hearted warriors, for the sake of Your name, and for the spreading of Your gospel, over the whole world.  In Jesus' name, amen.

Holy Hugs All 'Round

Yesterday, as on most Wednesday mornings now, I posted at what is becoming one of my favorite sites, leahadams.org.  Leah, although I've not met her in person, is such a gracious Christian sister!  I hope to meet her in person this summer and learn at her feet a bit.  She has a feature on her blog that allows other bloggers to "chime in" on an announced topic.  That feature is called The Loft.

The topic yesterday was "Friendship", and I thought about that as I read Romans 16:1-16.  We find ourselves at the end of the wonderful book of Romans.  I hope my personal study of it has blessed you over these past two months.  Tomorrow's post will bring us to the final installment in this series.

In these sixteen verses, Paul sends "holy hugs" to those people of the Roman house-churches whom he knows most well.  Some of them were in prison with him (vs.7).  He lived with some as a houseguest (vs. 3) for some time.  One was a mother-figure to him (vs. 13).  And on and on.

But, the common characteristic all these folks share is that they not only profess a love for Jesus Christ, but they are "pulling on the same team" with Paul.  They all have the same focus.  Most are commended for hard work and personal sacrifice for the sake of the spreading of the gospel.

All this reminds me of some of my far-flung friends, whose hearts are knit to mine.  Most are new friends, whom I've met through the missions emphasis of the wonderful church Hubster and I attend. Here are a few to whom I'd like to give holy hugs this morning, since I can't give them one in person.

• Justin and Brittany and kids - - - missionaries planting a church in the Bywater area of New Orleans.
• Miss Hilda - - - who preaches the gospel to prisoners and encourages them, in the NOLA area
• Alexandra, Coop and Rachel - - - students at NOBTS, helping also with the Bywater church
• Lana and Andrew - - - planting a church way across town, among thousands of refugees
• Judy and Gary - - - always on the look-out for opportunities to minister to those of the Muslim faith
• Cesar and Gabi, Fio and Jorge, Vale and Matteo, Gloria, Vivi, Rolans and Friene - - with Zona Zegura and Village of the Children ministries in Cusco and Cachora, Peru
• Donna - - - laboring in the wilds of British Columbia
• Erick, Steve, Leon, Mark, Barbara, Teri, Erin, Leah, Jerralea - - - telecommunications/internet evangelists extraordinaire!

All these (and others) have my heart and my prayers, that God will expand and explode your ministries as you faithfully serve Him.

Like Paul's list, these are my "list of stars".  But, you know, we can all be shining stars for the Savior. These on Paul's list were merely doing what they had been called to do.

Take Phoebe, for instance.  In some translations, she is described as a deaconess. Therefore, Romans 16:1-2 is used by some to argue that churches should have female deacons or elders.  Regardless of how you believe about that, let's not argue about it.  What is in a title, after all?  If you want to be a "deaconess", Gals, then serve like one!  The Lord Jesus' "well done" can't be matched by any earthly title anyway.  It is He you serve, and His commendations alone you should seek.  All else is merely fleshly pride, in my book; and I know, because I am so susceptible to it.

Well, brothers and sisters, no matter where or how you serve the Lord, build each other up in the faith today and pray "like there is no tomorrow", because...who knows?  The Lord Himself may descend from Heaven with a shout today!  And, even if He does not, we are not promised the next "tomorrow".  "Work while it is yet day...." (John 9:4)  and have a blessed one!

Father, I thank you for my brothers and sisters in the faith, who work hard to advance Your kingdom, exercising their spiritual gifts, being the Bride of Christ.  Your Beloved is so beautiful in Your eyes, Lord Jesus!  Amen.

Privileged Children

The parents left the house early in the morning, telling the children they could not say when they would return.  Before leaving, however, they gave the children a list of jobs to complete in their absence.  The list included tasks that would care for the family, but also a list of tasks to reach out to those outside the family.  After some time, the parents returned.  They found that the children had completed pretty well the items on the list most closely affecting their comfort and well-being. Unfortunately, the items designed to bring others relief and comfort were left undone.  The children had chosen to bless themselves instead of blessing others.

25 As he also says in Hosea:

“I will call those who were not my people, ‘My people,’ and I will call her who was unloved, ‘My beloved.’”
26 “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’
there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’”

Romans 9:25-26

"Not my people!"  Isn't that what we, the Church, often say?  Although we have been commanded by our Lord to take the gospel to the ends of the Earth ("to every creature" - - Matt. 28:19-20), we often wallow in our largesse, turning a blind eye to those who have not heard.  American Christians are like the children in the story, choosing to spend our time and energy on our own "happiness".

Let me make a polarizing, yet thoroughly scriptural statement:  every Christian is a missionary, in some capacity.   Last week, my church held a powerful missions conference.  Many missionaries from the Far East, from Russia, from South America, from other U.S. states, and from "across town" came to be loved on, to tell us about their ministries, to encourage us to support the spreading of Jesus Christ's gospel.  My family was very blessed to meet new, dear friends and to be challenged to do the following:

1.  Love More
This is the basis for being an obedient missionary (that is, an obedient Christian!).  When we love God supremely, we will be supremely obedient to His mandate to spread the gospel.
When we love Him madly, we also love people to an equally insane level.  The two cannot be separated.  This is why, when asked what God's greatest commandment is, Jesus gave two new ones which supersede, overarch The 10:  "Love God with all that is in you, and then love your neighbor as much as you love yourself." (Mark 12:29-31)  The love we have received through Jesus Christ compels us... (2 Cor. 5:14)

2.  Look More
This means forming the habit of looking for opportunities to spread the gospel in your everyday life. There are opportunities all around us.  As we shower God's love on other people, doors will open to tell them of His amazing grace.  God honors our obedience.  If we are an unloving people, a close-handed people, stingy with our love, our time, our money, our hearts, we will not see many opportunities to witness to others.  The opportunities will still be there; we will just not see them.
If we sincerely pray that God will open our hearts and eyes, He will.  And then, if we pray for additional opportunities, He will reveal them to us.

3.  Obey More
It is not enough to merely see; we must then obey.  When God opens a door, we must walk through it.  Now listen, Christian friend: God does not call every one of us to the foreign mission field. However, He places each one of us IN a mission field - - this field called our "circle of influence". Here is how it works:  as we work diligently, obediently in our current field, He will enlarge it.  He will give us more opportunities to spread His good news of salvation.

Let's not live our Christian lives in disobedience, as privileged children.  You can bet that the parents in my story disciplined their children when they returned home.   God has entrusted to us life-changing news and a love that knows no measure.  Let's "let it shine"!

Father, I thought of Hebrews 11:38 at the women's brunch with the lady missionaries last week, as they told of illnesses and threats on their lives and other horrors, as they told of souls saved and lives transformed.  "People of whom this world was not worthy".  Oh Lord!  Please move our bowels to compassion!  May we all become those people, a Body that is always ready to, in exercising our spiritual gifts, "go and tell".  In Jesus' name, amen.

Go Ye

Good morning,

Tomorrow, I leave for Peru, on a 8-day mission trip, to teach, sing and otherwise minister in various ways to new churches in Cusco, the orphans at Village of the Children in Cachora and the unsaved in various places.  There are 6 people on our team.  We would greatly appreciate your prayer support as we go.

Please pray specifically for :

• souls to be saved from sin's devastation, which leads to an eternity in Hell
• Christians to be discipled, equipped and encouraged
• team members to be filled with the Holy Spirit and not be distracted by less-important things
• traveling mercies
• protection from the attacks of our enemy, the evil one
• that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, will receive all the honor and glory and blessing, because only HE is worthy

I am so grateful for my loving husband, who will be keeping things grounded at home and who supports me to do the work I have been called to do.

Because of so many unknown factors, I will not be consistently blogging for several days, as I do not know what the availability of internet services will be.  If I can, I'll post; if I can't, I won't.  I'm going to try to be as responsive to the Holy Spirit about how He wants me to spend my time while in the field.

Thank you for visiting my blog and reading the devotional posts here.  I look forward to reuniting with you in a few days.

May the Lord bless you and keep you!

Ephesians 6:10-18  J.B. Phillips New Testament

In conclusion be strong—not in yourselves but in the Lord, in the power of his boundless resource. Put on God’s complete armour so that you can successfully resist all the devil’s methods of attack. For our fight is not against any physical enemy: it is against organisations and powers that are spiritual. We are up against the unseen power that controls this dark world, and spiritual agents from the very headquarters of evil. Therefore you must wear the whole armour of God that you may be able to resist evil in its day of power, and that even when you have fought to a standstill you may still stand your ground. Take your stand then with truth as your belt, righteousness your breastplate, the Gospel of peace firmly on your feet, salvation as your helmet and in your hand the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. Above all be sure you take faith as your shield, for it can quench every burning missile the enemy hurls at you. Pray at all times with every kind of spiritual prayer, keeping alert and persistent as you pray for all Christ’s men and women.

Father, there is none like You.  Following in the footsteps of your Son, serving You, is such a privilege, whether it be in my own home, or town...or whether it be in a remote corner of the world. There is no greater calling.  Thank you, not only for loving me, forever and ever, but for loving this empty, pale and poor world so much that You gave us Your Son.  There is no greater love than this. In Jesus' name, amen.