The past few weeks have been great but intense to say the least. Two weeks ago, Sam and I got married. One week ago, we had an interview with a regional director for CARES teams (an apartment ministry we are applying for). And this past Friday, we were offered an apartment to serve in about 20 minutes from SWBTS.
Lord, why does this scare me so much? All we would be doing is loving on people like you command us to do already. You are a holy and righteous and just God. You are not a God who causes those who follow you to be fearful. God, I prayed and told you that whatever you wanted us to do, we would do it. Now that it seems you are leading this way, I keep praying for you to give direction and to lead us down the right path...YOUR path. What if that is what you are doing and I am afraid that I will fail? I have a pretty good feeling that is the case.
However, the funny thing is that it is not up to me to fail. Maybe to fail would be to not even try. I still feel like I will fail though. I know that God is in control of all of it and that anything I could do could never thwart His plan...otherwise, He would not be sovereign and all-powerful and all-knowing.
My desire is to make the gospel known to all nations, but sometimes I don't feel like I can do it. Then, I remember that I can't do it anyway. Every time I have gone on a mission trip (overseas in particular), it has been clear that it was God who opened the door and arranged the meetings with people who I was able to share the gospel with. And it was also Him who brought about the results. In my opinion, I have never shared the gospel or preached well. Any responses that have ever come as a result surprise me. I think, "I barely remember what I even said but I am pretty sure I did not share it well enough for this to happen." The thing is that I was right. I didn't share it well enough to cause any response at all. It was Him every single time.
I guess I often begin to focus too much on the weaker areas...where I think I can't do something, instead of focusing on what God is doing through me despite my weakness. Nonetheless, I can't allow fear to to guide me...it must always be the Lord.
Faith can be a scary thing sometimes. When the Holy Spirit prompts us to do something, we don't always know what lies on the other side of that step of faith. However, the fear of the unknown can't keep us from taking that step. We may know know what will happen but we do know that the One leading us is good and will not lead us astray.
"I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."
-Philippians 3:7-14
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Monday, June 7, 2010
I think God has something here...
I listened to a sermon today by David Platt, the pastor of The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, AL. The sermon was essentially pointing out that all believers have been issued the command to make disciples of all nations...not just the ones who become foreign missionaries. He shared a statistic/scenario that I have heard before (and you probably have too), but for some reason it struck a cord this time.
The first scenario goes like this...
If a single church led to Christ and baptized 10 people per week, they would lead 520 people to Christ in one year. If they continued this for 30 years, they would lead 15,600 people to Christ. Most churches in America would consider that a great success, but it would only put a small dent in the lost in the United States.
The second scenario goes like this...
If a single Christian led one person to Christ and spent an entire year discipling them, there would only be two by the end of one year. The following year both of them would disciple someone...bringing the number to four. If they kept doubling for 30 years, there would be almost 1.1 billion disciples of Christ. That is almost the entire population of China.
Platt went on to say that maybe the model that Jesus gave for making disciples was a lot better than our model. Granted the results are a lot slower at first, but God desires depth of relationship not amount of numbers in the pews on Sunday mornings.
Imagine for a second each one of us took Jesus' approach to making disciples. Imagine we took the time to show someone how to pray, how to study the Bible, how to serve the poor, how to give sacrificially and live missionally. Do you think that the world would look differently? Do you think that the Church would look differently? The reason you and I are Christians today (and this implies the work of God in our lives as well) is because Jesus entrusted the task of making disciples to 12 uneducated, lowly men.
May the followers of Christ of our generation be filled with a passion for the lost and be fueled by the grace and power of God. Whether we realize it or not, we do not have much time left on the earth. People and all of creation are groaning in eager expectation for the Bridegroom to return for His Bride, the Church. Let us respond swiftly to the command to go and make disciples of all nations.
"And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come."
-Matthew 24:14 (NIV)
The first scenario goes like this...
If a single church led to Christ and baptized 10 people per week, they would lead 520 people to Christ in one year. If they continued this for 30 years, they would lead 15,600 people to Christ. Most churches in America would consider that a great success, but it would only put a small dent in the lost in the United States.
The second scenario goes like this...
If a single Christian led one person to Christ and spent an entire year discipling them, there would only be two by the end of one year. The following year both of them would disciple someone...bringing the number to four. If they kept doubling for 30 years, there would be almost 1.1 billion disciples of Christ. That is almost the entire population of China.
Platt went on to say that maybe the model that Jesus gave for making disciples was a lot better than our model. Granted the results are a lot slower at first, but God desires depth of relationship not amount of numbers in the pews on Sunday mornings.
Imagine for a second each one of us took Jesus' approach to making disciples. Imagine we took the time to show someone how to pray, how to study the Bible, how to serve the poor, how to give sacrificially and live missionally. Do you think that the world would look differently? Do you think that the Church would look differently? The reason you and I are Christians today (and this implies the work of God in our lives as well) is because Jesus entrusted the task of making disciples to 12 uneducated, lowly men.
May the followers of Christ of our generation be filled with a passion for the lost and be fueled by the grace and power of God. Whether we realize it or not, we do not have much time left on the earth. People and all of creation are groaning in eager expectation for the Bridegroom to return for His Bride, the Church. Let us respond swiftly to the command to go and make disciples of all nations.
"And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come."
-Matthew 24:14 (NIV)
Thursday, April 8, 2010
The Greatest Wedding Ever
Imagine that today is your wedding day, and you are the bride (guys you too...stick with me for a minute). You are standing just outside the sanctuary. Your Father is ready to walk you down the aisle. You are nervous but excited at the same time. Your Father leans over and whispers, "You'll be fine. I will always be with you." All of a sudden, you feel as if peace has been draped over you like a warm blanket. You know that your future won't always be easy, but it will be good.
Then, you hear the music build. The doors fly open as everyone stands and turns toward you. You see their smiles as they think about how beautiful you are. But you smile because you know that it was your Father who paid for this day to be so special. All of a sudden, you notice that something is very strange.
As you make your way down the aisle, you notice that your Groom looks different. You have pictured how this day would look your entire life, but this day is not looking anything like you pictured it would. Instead of the Groom wearing a tux, He is only wearing a filthy cloth wrapped around His waist. Where you imagined a bright smile would be, you only see the grimace of agony as blood drips from His beard to the carpet (which the church building committee was not happy about). And instead of Him standing proudly at the altar, He is anguishing from pain due to the nails in His hands and feet that are holding Him to a cross.
At first, you are not even sure this is the Man who proposed to you. But that isn't all that is strange about the ceremony...there is no minister! You look to your Father with a confused look on your face. He smiles, leans over, and kisses you on the cheek. Then, He walks up and stands before you and your Groom and motions for everyone to be seated.
After a few introductory remarks, your Father looks to the Groom and says, "Do you promise to love your bride, to give yourself up for her, to pray over and wash her in the Word, to love her more than you love your own body, to love and to cherish her 'till death do you part?"* The Groom slowly lifts His head as He struggles to breath. He turns to you, smiling as if the pain is all worth it, and says, "I do." It wasn't until that moment that it began to click in your mind that your Groom was giving up everything, even His life, to be united with you.
Now, your Father turns to you and says, "Do you promise to love your Husband, to submit to Him in all things, to respect and to follow Him wherever He may lead, to put His desires before your own, to love and to cherish Him 'till death do you part?"** As tears begin to stream down your face, you turn to your Groom and say, "I do." After actually saying those words which you had been rehearsing for weeks and months, you now begin to realize that this union will also cost you everything.
What happened next was something that you will never forget for the rest of your life. Your Groom struggles to straighten Himself and yells at the top of His lungs, "IT IS FINISHED!" But before you even realize what is happening the ground begins to shake like in an earthquake, and like a flash, the power completely goes out. It is so dark inside the sanctuary that you can't even see your own hand right in front of your face.
After about three minutes, the power comes back on. Everyone is checking on the person next to them to make sure that they are ok but wait...where did the Groom go? You can hear similar whispers in the crowd as others begin to wonder the same thing. Then, you hear the sound of a door opening and look toward the doors you entered through. Out steps a Man robed in white and shining like a great Light. You realize that this Man is your Groom! However, He looks different now. He is no longer scarred and bloody on a cross. He walks as one who has won a great victory, and your heart seems to almost burst the closer He gets to you. Your Groom walks up to you and holds your hand as He turns and nods to your Father as if to say, "You can continue."
With joy overflowing, your Father looks upon both of you and says, "With my power, I now pronounce you Husband and wife. You may now kiss your bride." In that moment, something changed inside of you. You knew that the rest of your life was going to be radically different. For so long, you had run from Him not understanding how He could love you after some of the things you had done. Until now, you did not understand why He pursued you the way that He did, but you are so glad that He did.
As you looked into His eyes, He smiled and said to you, "Even though life may be tough sometimes, I will always be with you and never leave you." Your smile grew even bigger as the both of you turned, hand in hand, to face the crowd. It still seemed so unreal, but you knew it was the real thing. Nothing had ever felt so real. After your Father shared a few final words, the two of you walked down the aisle and out the doors to begin your new life together.
*Ephesians 5:25-30
**Ephesians 5: 22-24
Then, you hear the music build. The doors fly open as everyone stands and turns toward you. You see their smiles as they think about how beautiful you are. But you smile because you know that it was your Father who paid for this day to be so special. All of a sudden, you notice that something is very strange.
As you make your way down the aisle, you notice that your Groom looks different. You have pictured how this day would look your entire life, but this day is not looking anything like you pictured it would. Instead of the Groom wearing a tux, He is only wearing a filthy cloth wrapped around His waist. Where you imagined a bright smile would be, you only see the grimace of agony as blood drips from His beard to the carpet (which the church building committee was not happy about). And instead of Him standing proudly at the altar, He is anguishing from pain due to the nails in His hands and feet that are holding Him to a cross.
At first, you are not even sure this is the Man who proposed to you. But that isn't all that is strange about the ceremony...there is no minister! You look to your Father with a confused look on your face. He smiles, leans over, and kisses you on the cheek. Then, He walks up and stands before you and your Groom and motions for everyone to be seated.
After a few introductory remarks, your Father looks to the Groom and says, "Do you promise to love your bride, to give yourself up for her, to pray over and wash her in the Word, to love her more than you love your own body, to love and to cherish her 'till death do you part?"* The Groom slowly lifts His head as He struggles to breath. He turns to you, smiling as if the pain is all worth it, and says, "I do." It wasn't until that moment that it began to click in your mind that your Groom was giving up everything, even His life, to be united with you.
Now, your Father turns to you and says, "Do you promise to love your Husband, to submit to Him in all things, to respect and to follow Him wherever He may lead, to put His desires before your own, to love and to cherish Him 'till death do you part?"** As tears begin to stream down your face, you turn to your Groom and say, "I do." After actually saying those words which you had been rehearsing for weeks and months, you now begin to realize that this union will also cost you everything.
What happened next was something that you will never forget for the rest of your life. Your Groom struggles to straighten Himself and yells at the top of His lungs, "IT IS FINISHED!" But before you even realize what is happening the ground begins to shake like in an earthquake, and like a flash, the power completely goes out. It is so dark inside the sanctuary that you can't even see your own hand right in front of your face.
After about three minutes, the power comes back on. Everyone is checking on the person next to them to make sure that they are ok but wait...where did the Groom go? You can hear similar whispers in the crowd as others begin to wonder the same thing. Then, you hear the sound of a door opening and look toward the doors you entered through. Out steps a Man robed in white and shining like a great Light. You realize that this Man is your Groom! However, He looks different now. He is no longer scarred and bloody on a cross. He walks as one who has won a great victory, and your heart seems to almost burst the closer He gets to you. Your Groom walks up to you and holds your hand as He turns and nods to your Father as if to say, "You can continue."
With joy overflowing, your Father looks upon both of you and says, "With my power, I now pronounce you Husband and wife. You may now kiss your bride." In that moment, something changed inside of you. You knew that the rest of your life was going to be radically different. For so long, you had run from Him not understanding how He could love you after some of the things you had done. Until now, you did not understand why He pursued you the way that He did, but you are so glad that He did.
As you looked into His eyes, He smiled and said to you, "Even though life may be tough sometimes, I will always be with you and never leave you." Your smile grew even bigger as the both of you turned, hand in hand, to face the crowd. It still seemed so unreal, but you knew it was the real thing. Nothing had ever felt so real. After your Father shared a few final words, the two of you walked down the aisle and out the doors to begin your new life together.
*Ephesians 5:25-30
**Ephesians 5: 22-24
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