We recently had a guest speaker at our ACTION team meeting in Manila. He told us that his in-laws have a plaque hanging in their house. It says:
If you are called to be a missionary, don't stoop to be a king.
Then he added this challenge to us:
If you are a missionary, don't stoop to distractions that hinder you from worshiping the King.
Wow. Lord help us to not be distracted from worshiping you and focusing on what you have called us to do!
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Tho He slay me... by Os Hillman
This is how we know we are in Him: Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did. -- 1 John 2:5b-6
When Christ came to earth, He came to bring to mankind the gospel of the Kingdom. Over the centuries, the Church has tended to emphasize only a portion of the gospel. That portion is the gospel of salvation. (However), Jesus came that we might have more than just salvation. He came to give us a whole new life that was accompanied by signs, wonders, and His Spirit living in us and revealing Himself to us daily. He came so that we might walk on this earth as He did. If our lives are not reflecting the same things as Jesus' did, we must ask why? I have noticed (three distinct types of believers) throughout my 24 years of walking with Christ.
First, many of us come to Christ out of a need for salvation. Our hearts have been touched by His call on our lives. We reason and analyze the claims of Christ and make a decision for Him. It is the convenient time to accept Him in our lives. This first stage is often characterized by a “Bless me, Lord” attitude toward God. It is the first stage that primarily brings salvation into our lives. Some never really go past this first stage.
The second stage is the crisis stage. A crisis takes place in our lives, and we are motivated to seek Christ with a whole heart. However, this motivation is not out of pure love for Christ; rather, it is motivated by the desire to get out of the pain of living. The motivation is to solve the “what” versus the “why” in my life at the time. This stage is best characterized as “Help me, Lord.”
In the third stage we begin to experience the gospel of the Kingdom. It is the place where Jesus resided in His walk with His heavenly Father. It is the (place of conviction). The numbers of people who live at this level are quite few, but these people are experiencing the reality of a walk with God that is foreign to all others. They are seeing daily occurrences of His involvement in their lives. They're motivated by a deep love for Him. They know Him. These people have an attitude characterized by these thoughts, “Have me, Lord; though He slay me, still will I trust Him.”
Where are you today? Have you merely accepted His salvation to simply float along? Or do you seek Him with a whole heart only when a crisis occurs? His desire is for you and me to live a life of conviction, (motivated) by our love for Him and His love for us. This is where we will experience the gospel of the Kingdom.
When Christ came to earth, He came to bring to mankind the gospel of the Kingdom. Over the centuries, the Church has tended to emphasize only a portion of the gospel. That portion is the gospel of salvation. (However), Jesus came that we might have more than just salvation. He came to give us a whole new life that was accompanied by signs, wonders, and His Spirit living in us and revealing Himself to us daily. He came so that we might walk on this earth as He did. If our lives are not reflecting the same things as Jesus' did, we must ask why? I have noticed (three distinct types of believers) throughout my 24 years of walking with Christ.
First, many of us come to Christ out of a need for salvation. Our hearts have been touched by His call on our lives. We reason and analyze the claims of Christ and make a decision for Him. It is the convenient time to accept Him in our lives. This first stage is often characterized by a “Bless me, Lord” attitude toward God. It is the first stage that primarily brings salvation into our lives. Some never really go past this first stage.
The second stage is the crisis stage. A crisis takes place in our lives, and we are motivated to seek Christ with a whole heart. However, this motivation is not out of pure love for Christ; rather, it is motivated by the desire to get out of the pain of living. The motivation is to solve the “what” versus the “why” in my life at the time. This stage is best characterized as “Help me, Lord.”
In the third stage we begin to experience the gospel of the Kingdom. It is the place where Jesus resided in His walk with His heavenly Father. It is the (place of conviction). The numbers of people who live at this level are quite few, but these people are experiencing the reality of a walk with God that is foreign to all others. They are seeing daily occurrences of His involvement in their lives. They're motivated by a deep love for Him. They know Him. These people have an attitude characterized by these thoughts, “Have me, Lord; though He slay me, still will I trust Him.”
Where are you today? Have you merely accepted His salvation to simply float along? Or do you seek Him with a whole heart only when a crisis occurs? His desire is for you and me to live a life of conviction, (motivated) by our love for Him and His love for us. This is where we will experience the gospel of the Kingdom.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
News from ACTION Zambia
Greetings from Lusaka. We had a great flight here and did not suffer from jet-lag at all. Fortunately I have had a lot of energy and that has been a real answer to prayer. It has been a great and meaningful experience to visit the Ripleys and the ACTION Zambia team here in Lusaka. I have been learning a lot and it will be hard to leave on Sunday. Today is the Zambia presidential election so pray for safety and peace in the aftermath of the election.
There are a lot of differences from this place compared to Manila and where I was in Niger. But when I was in church on Sunday and listened to the wonderful African singing with great joy, I couldn't hold back the tears. A flood of memories came to my mind. It is so good to worship the Lord with people from other races and cultures. Good practice for heaven, eh?
HIV/AIDS dominates so much of ministry and society here. They estimate maybe 1 in 5 or 6 people that we meet here are infected. I have met several, young and older. It is a sobering experience. One missionary told us how ironic it is that if we are in a room with an AIDS person, we want to protect ourselves. But the truth of the matter is that the AIDS person needs to be protected from us because they can't fight off any illnesses we may be carrying.
I will write more about our experiences later but here is a website to tell you something of what we've been up to. Thank you for your prayers.
http://ripleysinzambia.blogspot.com/
There are a lot of differences from this place compared to Manila and where I was in Niger. But when I was in church on Sunday and listened to the wonderful African singing with great joy, I couldn't hold back the tears. A flood of memories came to my mind. It is so good to worship the Lord with people from other races and cultures. Good practice for heaven, eh?
HIV/AIDS dominates so much of ministry and society here. They estimate maybe 1 in 5 or 6 people that we meet here are infected. I have met several, young and older. It is a sobering experience. One missionary told us how ironic it is that if we are in a room with an AIDS person, we want to protect ourselves. But the truth of the matter is that the AIDS person needs to be protected from us because they can't fight off any illnesses we may be carrying.
I will write more about our experiences later but here is a website to tell you something of what we've been up to. Thank you for your prayers.
http://ripleysinzambia.blogspot.com/
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