One Life To Live

Here is an excerpt from a wonderful book I am finishing up. I hope that it challenges you as it has challenged me. Take some time to consider how you are living your life and how you are using the talents you have been blessed with.

"Consider what happens when all of us begin to look at our professions and areas of expertise not merely as means to an income or to career paths in our own context but as platforms for proclaiming the gospel in contexts around the world. Consider what happens when the church is not only sending traditional missionaries around the world but also businessmen and businesswomen, teachers ans students, doctors and politicians, engineers and technicians who are living out the gospel in contexts where a traditional missionary could never go."

From Radical, by David Platt

Pray about how God would lead you to live out your faith right where you live as well spending a week this next year share the gospel in another context. May God open your eyes to the way the Lord is at work and empower you to make radical decisions that will reshape your life forever!

Petrified Believers

Have you ever seen a piece of petrified wood? It looks more like stone than wood. I have only seen a couple of pieces of the wood. It looks cool but it is just there. Hard as a brick and not living. Our spiritual life can be this way. I visited with a friend of mine the other day and he talked about wanting to grow more in his faith. This guy is serving part time in a church and feels as though it has all become routine for him. His walk with the Lord seems stale and old. There is very little life in him and he feels as though something is missing. I hate this for him, because I know I can't give an answer that will fix it. Closeness with God is not fixed with an answer or merely manufactured over coffee. I offered support and prayer. I told him that I believed in him and that I believed he was on the right path. It may take time, but the Lord will speak to him as he seeks Him.

Have you ever felt petrified? Kind of like you are shell of your former self? You may look alive but there is nothing in the tank. You look like you have things together but secretly you know stuff is a mess. Others think your life is good but you know it to be a struggle. I am sure you have felt this way at some point in your life, but God walks us through these times to deeper places of trust. Our life with God is ever flowing and never the same. I think what we need is to grasp what Eugene Peterson called, "A Long Obedience in The Same Direction". We must learn to persevere and to continually run to the Lord as we live out the moments entrusted to us.

I am not sure where you are right now, but take some time and draw aside to seek him. Place yourself in a position for God to work. Allow the Lord the space to move in your life. Abide in Him and you will bear fruit. (John 15:5) The Lord will restore your joy and give you a sense of the refreshing life He longs for you to have.

A Redirected Focus

I have been tired of my little pickup for awhile now. I have had it for the past 14 years. Honestly, I really do like my truck and will keep it even when I do get something else. But my recent travels to Africa gave me an adjustment on my attitude. I was able to take a long a look at the things that matter and don't matter in this life. I was able to revisit how my life should be lived. I want to live my life in a way that is counter-cultural. This means that I will not give in to materialism when it rears it's wicked head in my life. My truck runs fine but the newER car I was looking at runs much better and the air conditioning works all the time. But even still, I don't feel that I need to have a new vehicle right now, rather I need to focus my life on other matters of greater importance.

I am thankful for our trip to Africa, but it ruffles my materialistic feathers, and man that is hard. I need to hear God's voice of discipline even though it is still painful. God will lead us and will guide us in the way of life, but we must be ready, this journey is not for the faint of heart.

Walking with the Jesus is not easy, but it is the best.

Considerations and Consternations

Over the next few posts I plan to give some thoughts on our trip to Guinea. It is a great privilege of mine to lead students on mission trips around the world. From these experiences I have been impacted in so many ways. I am most grateful to have seen the Lord at work in many contexts. I leave invigorated and challenged.

I love seeing how God does His unbelievable work in other contexts. It is sad that we forget about the Lord working in our "home base" until we are exposed to his fresh work around the world. We get so used to our life and settling for the status quo, that we need to be shaken out of the dull-drums in order to "see" his work through the eyes of faith. The Lord is present and at work all over this beautiful planet. God is bigger and his arms reach beyond our imagination.

So let me ask you? Have you gotten lost in the day to day of your life? Have you forgotten that God is always present and at work in your life and the community where you live? You need not travel thousands of miles to be reminded that the Lord is always at work. Sure it can help, but it is not necessary to see God's faithful hand at work.

What can you and I do? Ask the Lord to open your eyes. Ask the Lord to take you to a place where you see his work through faith. Today do something for the Lord that you have never done before. This will break up the routine you are in and get you off the comfort seat in your faith.

God is at work. The question is, do we see it and are we going to join him?

Africa - Missions - Etc.

Our team of 10 will be leaving tomorrow for our second trip to Guinea. We are most excited about the opportunity to go back and work with these wonderful people. The Lord has given us an opportunity to work with some of the most amazing missionaries. They have given their lives(19 years of work) to touch the lives of those far from God. Last year we had such a great experience and we expect to have another wonderful experience again this year. Please pray for us as we go serve in the name of Christ.

We must not treat missions as a trip, rather we must see it as way of life. If missions were just a trip, then we could easily compartmentalize it and go on with business as usual. But the truth is we have to live our lives in way that lives out the Gospel of Jesus Christ daily. We can't take the weekend off or go to work without having the eyes of Jesus Christ lead us. No we must be shaped by Christ in all we do.

"Press on..." The Apostle Paul to the Phillipian Christians

Value

Where does your value come from? What are you worth? Is their a price on your life? God thinks so. He seems to think that you have great value. Most of the time people allow other things give them their value.

What gives you a sense of worth? Is it your career? Is it your name? Is it your financial status? Most people allow these aspects of their life to define them. The problem is these items in our life can change randomly and often. We are not guaranteed another day let alone that our wealth will last a lifetime. But this does not stop us.

The truth is we must realize that all external value is variable and can't be trusted. We must find our value in the fact that we are loved by God and he displayed this for us in Christ.

So let me ask you again. Where does your value come from? Only when we find our value from the significance God places on us we will never be satisfied. The Lord is overall and in all and when he fills us we are then changed by him. Everything changes.

You have value because God says you have value and that is enough!!

The Great Invitation

It has been a while and I'm so glad to be back actually. I miss taking the time to write out some of my thoughts. It really does seem that it has been way too long. This morning in my sermon I used Matthew 22:1-14 as my text. The text explains that the Kingdom of God is like a king who invites people to a wedding feast and wants them to come and join him at the feast. But they turn him down. The people are caught up in trivial activities and won't slip away for the banquet.
When was the last time that you gave God the cold shoulder and turned aside toward your own desires. Have you ever turned God down? I have and I am sure you have. My prayer tonight as I go to bed is that I would be more mindful of the opportunities in front of me. I want to make the most of them. May God give us the courage to do all that he places on our hearts. May the Lord take us to new places as we walk with Him daily.