Well we have completed the applications for YWAM Tyler. We're really excited. We just need to get them in the mail, and hand out our references that we need to get from our Pastor and some friends. Then we wait and see if we get accepted. What an awesome time of reflection. Some of the questions on the application really made you think about your motives for doing it and your walk with Christ. Oh, and there's the section on if you die while doing the outreach YWAM's not responsible for shipping your body back to your home country. Lots of medical questions and junk like that too. What a good and gracious God we have that we have these opportunities to serve Him. We have the privilege of joining with Him in the greatest work. All glory be to God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
May His name be great among the nations!!
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Cadbury Mini-Eggs
Easter is coming. Evidence is all over the place. Easter bunnies (which by the way is a pagan concept, if you don't believe me look it up http://www.allaboutjesuschrist.org/origin-of-the-easter-bunny-faq.htm) are making there way into stores along with the usual compliments of assorted candies and eggs and other various decorations.
My wife and I are especially fond of the Cadbury Mini-Eggs. We look forward to this time of year with great eagerness since this is the only time that we can purchase them. If you've never had them, don't try them, they're addictive. Thinking about how eagerly we look forward to those little pieces of candy that aren't particularly good for you and only offer a short burst of satisfaction makes me wonder why we don't long as much for the coming of Christ and the fulfillment of His reign as ruler of God's kingdom. We all spend so much time and energy longing for earthly things that God and His Kingdom get lost in the shuffle.
As Robin and I have been preparing to enter the mission field, it has become increasingly clear that our whole way of thinking needs to change to be more focussed on fulfilling the Great Commission. God's desire is that His name will be glorified throughout the earth, and nothing should stand in the way of that, not material things, not our comfortable lives, and not even family. Robin's parents have been less than overjoyed at the thought of us packing up and leaving with their grandchildren (they might miss us as well). Lately God has been laying some verses on Robin to get the point accross that we are to be obedient no matter what. Here are a few of the verses that have come up in her Bible reading lately:
Mark 10:24-31
Matthew 8:18-22
My wife and I are especially fond of the Cadbury Mini-Eggs. We look forward to this time of year with great eagerness since this is the only time that we can purchase them. If you've never had them, don't try them, they're addictive. Thinking about how eagerly we look forward to those little pieces of candy that aren't particularly good for you and only offer a short burst of satisfaction makes me wonder why we don't long as much for the coming of Christ and the fulfillment of His reign as ruler of God's kingdom. We all spend so much time and energy longing for earthly things that God and His Kingdom get lost in the shuffle.
As Robin and I have been preparing to enter the mission field, it has become increasingly clear that our whole way of thinking needs to change to be more focussed on fulfilling the Great Commission. God's desire is that His name will be glorified throughout the earth, and nothing should stand in the way of that, not material things, not our comfortable lives, and not even family. Robin's parents have been less than overjoyed at the thought of us packing up and leaving with their grandchildren (they might miss us as well). Lately God has been laying some verses on Robin to get the point accross that we are to be obedient no matter what. Here are a few of the verses that have come up in her Bible reading lately:
Mark 10:24-31
The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, "Who then can be saved?"
Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God."
Peter said to him, "We have left everything to follow you!"
"I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first."
Matthew 8:18-22
When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go."Matthew 10:34-39Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
Another disciple said to him, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."
But Jesus told him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead."
"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn
" 'a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law -
a man's enemies will be the members of his own household.'"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
These verses are sometimes hard to hear, but speak the truth blunty. Following Christ is not to be a walk in the park with everything going well and good. The Christian life is going to marked with suffering because you have chosen to set yourself apart as His follower and are willing to do anything that He desires for you. What do you need to give up to show your allegiance to Christ and the furthering of His Kingdom? Is it not going to see movies that are unfit for anyone, especially Christians, to see (like the current movie Watchmen (for a review see here))? Is it not giving in to gluttony? Gossip? Porn? What sets you apart for Christ? We are called to be transformed, not to conform to this world. Jesus has called you to be His amassador to this world. We cannot be ambassadors of Christ and wallow in the filth of this world. The book of Revelation warns us of being lukewarm, either be hot or cold, otherwise you are in danger of being spewed.
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