It has been a long time since I have written any kind of reflection and, frankly, I went through a sort of dry spell for a while where I felt like God was not saying much. Recently however the lid has been blown off of all of that and God is asking me to take some steps that feel like stepping off of a cliff.
Coming from my North American cultural upbringing I have it ingrained in me to never attempt something without first having a good idea of the outcome, especially when it comes to our finances. Living here in Nicaragua I have been constantly challenged to see the Nicas trusting God with their finances because they do not have the savings accounts, investments, etc. Their faith, when it comes to trusting God to provide for their physical needs, is in a whole different league from my own faith.
Why might it be that they trust God so much more to provide for their needs? Probably because they do not have all of the "safety nets" that we always have behind us in North America. We are always encouraged to "save for the rainy day" and buy insurance for every possible eventuality that we can imagine. When we have all of these things in place what do really need God for anyway? I always have my own means to resolve any problem that might present itself.
I have become fully convinced that until I take a leap of faith in regards to my finances, and stop relying "on my own understanding", I will NEVER grow in my faith. If I really believe that God will take care of me then I need to live that way and stop trying to set it up so that there is no room for him to work.
I know that God is calling us, as Abraham, to step out into the unknown. Admittedly, the "play it safe" side of me wants to resist this idea, but I am learning to give my fears to God and am excited to see what God has in store for us.
So if in the near future you hear that we are doing something that seems sort of crazy be sure that we have "jumped off the cliff" and are growing in our faith as we see God provide for us. It is an exciting prospect to give EVERY ASPECT of our lives over to our Loving Father.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Holiness
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.” Philippians 4:8
Over the course of the past year God has been convicting us to be more vigilant about what we read, watch and listen to. He has impressed on us that everything that enters our mind/spirit feeds us. This food can either be healthy, nurturing, up building food, or it is poison. There really is no middle ground. If something we are reading, watching, or listening to is not building and feeding our spirit it is poisoning us and many times opening doors for the enemy to work in our lives.
For many years we had been blind to this truth. Of course, we stayed away from the really obviously demonic, but we allowed the world and the lukewarm members of the body to convince us that there really was no danger. “That is a really good movie. What does it matter if there is nudity, infidelity, or graphic violence? I know that those things are wrong but watching them is not going to cause me to go out and do the same.” Or, “I’ve been working hard and I’m exhausted so I just want to relax and enjoy a show or a steamy romance novel. I don’t agree with the values that they portray, but there really is no harm.”
We would like to kid ourselves and think that we can partake of the things of the world and they will not affect us, but the Word tells us in I Corinthians 5:6b that, “… a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough”. Also, “… or what fellowship can light have with darkness?” (2 Cor. 6:14b) If we are filling our spirits/minds with darkness there is no room for light. I John 1:5, 6 says, “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.”
Admittedly, it is often not easy, but we must die daily to our fleshly desires. I have been a fan of “The Simpsons” and “The Office” for a long time, but if I am really honest I would say that neither of those shows builds my spirit. To the contrary, they either blatantly or subtly portray violence, foul language, infidelity, sexual relations outside of marriage, and various other themes that are contrary to my beliefs and principles. If I spend time filling my mind with those things it is certain that I did not spend that time feeding my spirit, and it is also likely that I have opened doors for the enemy to build strongholds in my life.
The path to holy living is littered with temptations and detours. Sadly, it appears that most Christians today have given in to the deceitful lies of the enemy and instead of standing with each other against the devil we try to convince each other that there really is no harm in these activities.
A couple years ago I had the opportunity to spend the evening with a group of students from a prominent Mennonite College. After we had finished eating our dinner I was shocked and dismayed when almost the entire group (and the professor) went out onto the dance floor at the restaurant (when the restaurant was chosen we had no idea that there would be music and dancing in the evening) and joined the other patrons in an hour of gyrations. I ask myself, “What is the ultimate purpose of this type of dancing?” It is to provoke sexual excitement, period! The same goes for books with detailed descriptions of love scenes, movies with sex scenes, etc.
If we are taking part in these activities and filling our minds with garbage, how are we ANY different from the world? We are meant to be “light on a hill”. If we treat sex as casually and cheaply as the world, how will they know it is something beautiful, sacred and mysterious? The Bible tells us to keep the marriage bed pure and honorable. This cannot happen when we bring somebody else (images from a book or movie) into our marriage bed. How do we expect to have a pure and holy relationship with our spouse with these images in our minds?
In 2 Cor. 6:17 Paul quotes Is. 52:11 when he says, “Therefore come out from them and be separate.”
Dear friends, lets stand together and exhort each other to holy living. Let’s not be afraid to speak up and say, “I don’t think we should be watching this, listening to this, reading this, joking about this, or talking about this.” I distinctly remember a couple years ago when a brother wanted to share that his daughter appeared in a picture with a sports star, but he warned that on the same website it was possible to encounter some images of cheerleaders. I really appreciated his message to everyone (especially the men) that we need to be careful what type of images we are viewing. We need more of that type of courage to stand up for what is right.
I am praying for revival in the church, but if we want to hear God’s voice and see his power displayed in our lives we need to remove the darkness and not allow the devil a foothold in our lives. I imagine being able to meet with my brothers and sisters and share together (with as much excitement as we talk about sports) about what God’s been doing in our lives
Pray for me that I might be able to choose holiness and stand against the devil’s schemes.
Your brother in the fight.
Over the course of the past year God has been convicting us to be more vigilant about what we read, watch and listen to. He has impressed on us that everything that enters our mind/spirit feeds us. This food can either be healthy, nurturing, up building food, or it is poison. There really is no middle ground. If something we are reading, watching, or listening to is not building and feeding our spirit it is poisoning us and many times opening doors for the enemy to work in our lives.
For many years we had been blind to this truth. Of course, we stayed away from the really obviously demonic, but we allowed the world and the lukewarm members of the body to convince us that there really was no danger. “That is a really good movie. What does it matter if there is nudity, infidelity, or graphic violence? I know that those things are wrong but watching them is not going to cause me to go out and do the same.” Or, “I’ve been working hard and I’m exhausted so I just want to relax and enjoy a show or a steamy romance novel. I don’t agree with the values that they portray, but there really is no harm.”
We would like to kid ourselves and think that we can partake of the things of the world and they will not affect us, but the Word tells us in I Corinthians 5:6b that, “… a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough”. Also, “… or what fellowship can light have with darkness?” (2 Cor. 6:14b) If we are filling our spirits/minds with darkness there is no room for light. I John 1:5, 6 says, “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.”
Admittedly, it is often not easy, but we must die daily to our fleshly desires. I have been a fan of “The Simpsons” and “The Office” for a long time, but if I am really honest I would say that neither of those shows builds my spirit. To the contrary, they either blatantly or subtly portray violence, foul language, infidelity, sexual relations outside of marriage, and various other themes that are contrary to my beliefs and principles. If I spend time filling my mind with those things it is certain that I did not spend that time feeding my spirit, and it is also likely that I have opened doors for the enemy to build strongholds in my life.
The path to holy living is littered with temptations and detours. Sadly, it appears that most Christians today have given in to the deceitful lies of the enemy and instead of standing with each other against the devil we try to convince each other that there really is no harm in these activities.
A couple years ago I had the opportunity to spend the evening with a group of students from a prominent Mennonite College. After we had finished eating our dinner I was shocked and dismayed when almost the entire group (and the professor) went out onto the dance floor at the restaurant (when the restaurant was chosen we had no idea that there would be music and dancing in the evening) and joined the other patrons in an hour of gyrations. I ask myself, “What is the ultimate purpose of this type of dancing?” It is to provoke sexual excitement, period! The same goes for books with detailed descriptions of love scenes, movies with sex scenes, etc.
If we are taking part in these activities and filling our minds with garbage, how are we ANY different from the world? We are meant to be “light on a hill”. If we treat sex as casually and cheaply as the world, how will they know it is something beautiful, sacred and mysterious? The Bible tells us to keep the marriage bed pure and honorable. This cannot happen when we bring somebody else (images from a book or movie) into our marriage bed. How do we expect to have a pure and holy relationship with our spouse with these images in our minds?
In 2 Cor. 6:17 Paul quotes Is. 52:11 when he says, “Therefore come out from them and be separate.”
Dear friends, lets stand together and exhort each other to holy living. Let’s not be afraid to speak up and say, “I don’t think we should be watching this, listening to this, reading this, joking about this, or talking about this.” I distinctly remember a couple years ago when a brother wanted to share that his daughter appeared in a picture with a sports star, but he warned that on the same website it was possible to encounter some images of cheerleaders. I really appreciated his message to everyone (especially the men) that we need to be careful what type of images we are viewing. We need more of that type of courage to stand up for what is right.
I am praying for revival in the church, but if we want to hear God’s voice and see his power displayed in our lives we need to remove the darkness and not allow the devil a foothold in our lives. I imagine being able to meet with my brothers and sisters and share together (with as much excitement as we talk about sports) about what God’s been doing in our lives
Pray for me that I might be able to choose holiness and stand against the devil’s schemes.
Your brother in the fight.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
The Battle
Recently I have been reminded, again, that the enemy is relentless in his schemes to destroy us. The church that we had previously attended here is currently embroiled in problems with the pastor (again!). They are having serious marital issues and of course this is causing all kinds of stress and discouragement for the congregation.
As we have learned even more about the dysfunctional nature of marriages here in Nicaragua I have become more and more convinced that the enemy does not work in the same way in all parts of the world. It appears that here in Nicaragua he focuses on destroying the family unit and therefore destroy the message of Christ to a lost world. Infidelity is the norm, a sensual way of dress the custom, and lack of trust for one's spouse to be expected.
The solution is war! Out-and-out war in the heavenly realms. I have committed to come against the schemes of the devil. Enough apathy! It is time we realize that the fight that we have with our spouse, the disagreement in the church, or our clash with our co-worker is not really about a struggle with "flesh and blood", but rather is a fight in the spiritual realm.
As we have learned even more about the dysfunctional nature of marriages here in Nicaragua I have become more and more convinced that the enemy does not work in the same way in all parts of the world. It appears that here in Nicaragua he focuses on destroying the family unit and therefore destroy the message of Christ to a lost world. Infidelity is the norm, a sensual way of dress the custom, and lack of trust for one's spouse to be expected.
The solution is war! Out-and-out war in the heavenly realms. I have committed to come against the schemes of the devil. Enough apathy! It is time we realize that the fight that we have with our spouse, the disagreement in the church, or our clash with our co-worker is not really about a struggle with "flesh and blood", but rather is a fight in the spiritual realm.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
What are we here for?
Psalm 82:3-4: Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
James 2:15-16: Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?
James 4:2b-3: You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
These verses and countless others in the Old and New Testaments challenge my worldview and beliefs about money and my purpose here on earth. My number one purpose is for relationship with the Father. Judging by how many times the Bible talks about caring for the widows, orphans, poor, weak and oppressed I would have to say that these people groups are close to God's heart and should be high on my list of priorities. Accordingly, God has laid a burden on my heart for this sector of society.
Recently, through a variety of methods, God has been revealing to me that many of my (and societies) views of money and comfort are incredibly selfish and self-centered. James states it very well when he says that we ask to spend on our own desires. How true!
What do we do when we get that raise, Christmas bonus, tax refund, or inheritance? We go buy the nicer car, bigger house, new TV, new toy, etc. Recently I read that John Wesley determined early in life what amount of money he needed to live and promised that anything that he earned above that amount he would give away to the poor. When he made that pact he did not earn much more than the determined amount, but by the time of his death he was earning 50 times that amount and was giving all of the extra away. He also said that if he died with more than 10 British pounds in his possession he would consider that he had stolen that money from someone in need.
How about it? How often do we decide that our car isn't good enough, our house is too small or old, our clothes are out of style, or dare I say it, our church building is inadequate? Meanwhile, a majority of the world's population is living hand to mouth with barely enough food to survive or decent clothes to wear. In the communities where we work the houses are tiny and often made of sticks and mud with black plastic as a roof. One woman in particular, whose house is about 10' wide by 20' long is always welcoming people to sleep in her house. I know that at least on one occasion 14 people spent the night in that tiny house. How many of us think that our 3 bedroom homes are too small, when more than likely our living rooms are larger than this woman's house?
These recent revelations have challenged me to re-evaluate all of my desires and plans. I still struggle with knowing when to give, how to really help someone, and knowing what is excess. This will likely be a struggle for the rest of my life, but I am content to know that God is still working on me.
James 2:15-16: Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?
James 4:2b-3: You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
These verses and countless others in the Old and New Testaments challenge my worldview and beliefs about money and my purpose here on earth. My number one purpose is for relationship with the Father. Judging by how many times the Bible talks about caring for the widows, orphans, poor, weak and oppressed I would have to say that these people groups are close to God's heart and should be high on my list of priorities. Accordingly, God has laid a burden on my heart for this sector of society.
Recently, through a variety of methods, God has been revealing to me that many of my (and societies) views of money and comfort are incredibly selfish and self-centered. James states it very well when he says that we ask to spend on our own desires. How true!
What do we do when we get that raise, Christmas bonus, tax refund, or inheritance? We go buy the nicer car, bigger house, new TV, new toy, etc. Recently I read that John Wesley determined early in life what amount of money he needed to live and promised that anything that he earned above that amount he would give away to the poor. When he made that pact he did not earn much more than the determined amount, but by the time of his death he was earning 50 times that amount and was giving all of the extra away. He also said that if he died with more than 10 British pounds in his possession he would consider that he had stolen that money from someone in need.
How about it? How often do we decide that our car isn't good enough, our house is too small or old, our clothes are out of style, or dare I say it, our church building is inadequate? Meanwhile, a majority of the world's population is living hand to mouth with barely enough food to survive or decent clothes to wear. In the communities where we work the houses are tiny and often made of sticks and mud with black plastic as a roof. One woman in particular, whose house is about 10' wide by 20' long is always welcoming people to sleep in her house. I know that at least on one occasion 14 people spent the night in that tiny house. How many of us think that our 3 bedroom homes are too small, when more than likely our living rooms are larger than this woman's house?
These recent revelations have challenged me to re-evaluate all of my desires and plans. I still struggle with knowing when to give, how to really help someone, and knowing what is excess. This will likely be a struggle for the rest of my life, but I am content to know that God is still working on me.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Passion
As usual I really enjoyed worshipping together with other believers yesterday. The worship was quite powerful and the message very pointed. The brother spoke from I Corinthians where it says that when we meet together everyone should have something to share, and thus edify the body of Christ. However, he went a direction that I did not expect. He said that for that to be possible we must be spending that time investing in our relationship with God. If not, we will not have anything to share when we meet together. He went on to speak about the importance of our time spent with God, passion for God, reading the Word, and praying. This is an area where I have made progress in the last months, but still lack much in the way of discipline, especially when it comes to prayer. I have really enjoyed reading the Word; it has come alive for me.
As another preacher said recently, "If we don't have passion for God, we will not have passion for the lost." How true. It is very humbly to take an honest look at myself and realize where my passions lie. Too often I am more passionate about things other than my relationship with God. Where do put my energies and what do I spend my time thinking about?
Think about it!
As another preacher said recently, "If we don't have passion for God, we will not have passion for the lost." How true. It is very humbly to take an honest look at myself and realize where my passions lie. Too often I am more passionate about things other than my relationship with God. Where do put my energies and what do I spend my time thinking about?
Think about it!
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Faith
I think that, perhaps, in a previous blog I have written about faith, but it has been on my heart again recently, so here goes. It has been revealed to me, once again, that having faith and trusting God is an incredibly freeing thing. This has been on my mind as we look toward the future, after we end our term here with MCC in July 2010. My human, westernized, inclination is to try to “figure it all out”. What am I going to do, how are we going to make a living, etc. However, I have heard very clearly from the Lord, a couple of times, that he is asking me to trust him. The amazing part to me is that, instead of feeling more stressed about not knowing how things are going to work, I feel free. I know that He has an incredible plan for my life and I know that all the resources in the world are his. Why in the world would I have any reason to doubt that he will take care of us? I am excited to see what it is exactly that he has in store for us, but I am at peace waiting on his timing.
Que el Señor les bendiga grandemente!
Que el Señor les bendiga grandemente!
Another lesson in rights
Just when I think that I have a good perspective on the things that are "mine" God sends another test my way to see just how tightly I am holding onto my possessions. On Saturday, as I was enjoying an hour away eating breakfast with my lovely wife, the jeep was broken into and the radio and a set of sockets were stolen. This happened on a busy street with lots of foot traffic. I never even dreamed that something like that would happen in that location. Anyhow, as in the past when various other small things have been expropriated, I was challenged, once again, to realize that all of the "things" that I like to think are mine, are really God's things. I can quickly judge just how tightly I am holding onto those things by my reaction when I found out that they have been taken. Do I rejoice or am I infuriated that someone would dare to do such a thing? Well, I wouldn't say that I rejoiced, but am happy to say that I have found that I can have peace even in such circumstances.
Here is the rest of the story: We had parked almost directly in front of an internet cafe where a friend works. We went in and said hi then walked 50' down the street to eat. A bit later the friend looked out and saw that someone was in the jeep so he said, "hey, isn't this steve's jeep". The kid said that it was someone elses and so, since he didn't see us anywhere, our friend went back inside to work. We returned to the jeep a bit later and quickly realized what had happened. I started it up to leave and, being that the power wire for the now nonexistent radion was shorted out inside, melted all the wires together that went to the positive battery terminal. After a quick "farmer fix" another friend accompanied me to our favorite electrician and he had it all fixed up before lunch.
On a side note, when I bought the jeep the ignition was so worn that any key in the world would start it. It was on my list of things to fix until a couple weeks ago a friend came to work and said that he had a dream that the jeep was stolen. Within a couple days I went and had the ignition replaced. What would have happened if I had not had it replaced? Who knows, but I firmly believe that God speaks to us in many different ways.
The Lord bless you and keep you. May His face shine upon you and give you peace."
Here is the rest of the story: We had parked almost directly in front of an internet cafe where a friend works. We went in and said hi then walked 50' down the street to eat. A bit later the friend looked out and saw that someone was in the jeep so he said, "hey, isn't this steve's jeep". The kid said that it was someone elses and so, since he didn't see us anywhere, our friend went back inside to work. We returned to the jeep a bit later and quickly realized what had happened. I started it up to leave and, being that the power wire for the now nonexistent radion was shorted out inside, melted all the wires together that went to the positive battery terminal. After a quick "farmer fix" another friend accompanied me to our favorite electrician and he had it all fixed up before lunch.
On a side note, when I bought the jeep the ignition was so worn that any key in the world would start it. It was on my list of things to fix until a couple weeks ago a friend came to work and said that he had a dream that the jeep was stolen. Within a couple days I went and had the ignition replaced. What would have happened if I had not had it replaced? Who knows, but I firmly believe that God speaks to us in many different ways.
The Lord bless you and keep you. May His face shine upon you and give you peace."
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