Discontent

She is a wanderer in life, unsettled and unsatisfied everywhere she rests.

She never really rests. She pauses before throwing herself into the next moment.


She wants what she cannot have, but she still reaches.

She did not see that she was being loved.

Lessons I'd like to teach

I was communicating to a friend of mine two fundamental lessons that I learned while leading a ministering to women for the first time. (These are featured in an earlier post)

(1) Being cared for is more important than being challenged

(2) Being loved is more important than being admired

After explaining these to her, I thought, "Is this any different from what everyone wants? Do men want something different? Do i want anything different?" So, I've been mulling it over. What lessons would I want someone to keep in mind as they try connect to me?

Here is what I came up with:

(1) Recognize and respect what I have to offer, and invite me to contribute.

(2) Believe in me by extending the gift of trust when I lead or when I follow, and I want the benefit of the
doubt that I can handle a challenge.

Is this a typical?

126

Riding through the township in a small Honda which was so low to the ground that the bumps on the road scratched the bottom of the car as the nursing team rode along the dirt roads with Hillary and Kristin along for the ride. Children in faded, unwashed clothes played in front of their homes in the dirt patches that substitute for front yards in this township. We are looking for a home with the address of 126. This is the address that the man wrote down at the ThembaCare facility where he was treated [how long ago] for HIV.



It is hard to find his address. Looking carefully at the chalk marks on the side of the houses we see in blue the number "120" scribbled on one then the number "134" drawn onto another. Finally, in pink marks we see the number 126. The care giver gets out of the car to deliver the medicines.


The nurse knocks on the door to the small home built from sheets of cardboard and tin. A woman answers the door. it is the wrong address. it is a common mistake. Addresses change often in these shanty towns. These homes are so flimsy that they catch on fire easily. It could be caused by a cooking fire or a heater. Once one home catches flame the fire quickly spreads to other homes nearby. This can change the address system.



The nurse said, "I hope that we find this guy. If we don't find him today, he will be dying in his home."


This is a hard job. You can't help everyone who needs it. There is just so much that needs to be done. She went on to explain how she lost her first patient who, knowing that he needed to take his medicine with food, would eat dirt because he had no food. just so he could have something in his stomach. When, he was found dead his organs were stuffed with dirt.


They look for 126 in the six other townships that they visit that day.



They never find the man. They have to move on.



There are more people who need their medicine today.





The above story was told to me by a young lady who went on a missions trip to South Africa with me. One out of every four adults in South Africa is infected with HIV.

Acts 2-4

makes so much more sense after this last time that i read acts. In chapters 2-4 Paul is appealing to his Jewish brothers to see that God is not concerned with circumcision or following the law. The funny thing is that he is in prison in Rome. He is there because these same brothers mobbed him and caused him to be put in chains.

He is appealing to his enemies to see the truth about faith in Christ. That there own revered forefather Abraham was not circumcised, did not have the Law to follow, yet was accepted by God because of his faith. Why can't grant that God is doing the same for their Gentile brothers?

It hits me hard that Paul was endangered because of his fellow believers locked into the traditions:

"And the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. After he had greeted them, he began to relate one by one the things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. And when they heard it they began glorifying God; and they said to him,

"You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the Law; and they have been told about you, that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs".

"What, then, is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. Therefore do this that we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow; take them and (AR)purify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads; and all will know that there is nothing to the things which they have been told about you, but that you yourself also walk orderly, keeping the Law."

"But concerning the Gentiles who have believed, we wrote,having decided that they should abstain from meat sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication."

Then Paul took the men, and the next day, purifying himself along with them, went into the temple giving notice of the completion of the days of purification, until the sacrifice was offered for each one of them. When the seven days were almost over, the Jews from Asia, upon seeing him in the temple, began to stir up all the crowd and laid hands on him, crying out,

"Men of Israel, come to our aid! This is the man who preaches to all men everywhere against our people and the Law and this place; and besides he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place "

Acts 21:18-28


In an effort to appeal to his brothers who were married to their customs Paul put himself in harms way. he ran into some enemies who had been out for his blood in Asia and they turned a crowd against him. In Romans, Paul is still appealing to Jewish brothers captive to their customs, despite the injury that these kinds of people have already caused him.

When I read Romans this time, i can hear heart behind the intellectual arguments. i hear love not reasonings, appeal not commands

Note to self

remember to Love and Appreciate more than you Evaluate

Keep your friends

Keep your friends.
Love them,
how they need it.
Ask God for help.
Say you are sorry.
Say it a lot.
Keep an open heart.
It will be pierced.
Ask God to heal it.
It will grow stronger.
You need to love.

Father Abraham

Anything that kids do is cute. This is especially true, if they have an african accent. I met these kids on my recent trip to South Africa. They are performed this song for us before we began to work to help improve their education center called Graceland. These kids live on nearby farms and come to Graceland everyday to learn. Without Graceland these kids would not be receiving an adequate education. in the Stelenbosch region of South Africa. They live on nearby farms and

lesson learned leading women's ministry

For a large number of people the following hold true:

(1) Being cared for is more important than being challenged

(2) Being loved is more important than being admired

The same answer

I asked for an answer to solve the conflict in my mind.

How can I believe when I don't understand? When I don't understand the motive behind the action or the intention behind the word, how can I trust?

The answer is the same as always.

Love. Love first. Love persistently.

The Worshipper

To look long upon your loveliness
And be amazed.
Inspired to eschew lesser things
Not worthy of you.

- The Worshipper

Israel, Balaam and me- Pt4

It's been months since I started this. In Parts 1-3 I explored incidents where curses were placed on Israel and Balaam by accepting what God had granted them. (Read the previous posts for more info)

In this post I will draw conclusions about how their situation resembles my own at times. In each of these instances both Israel as a nation and Balaam as an individual were discontent with what God had given them. Israel did not like the food God gave them and became resentful and asked for meat. God told Balaam not to go with the king's men in answer to the king's request that he come and curse Israel. After the king offered to pay a much higher fee then Balaam went to God again hoping to receive a different answer.

In each case God permitted the request. Israel was given meat, and He told Balaam he could go with the king's men. Also, in each case there was a curse. Initially, this seemed unfair to me. If God gives permission for something then it is capricious or mean-spirited to punish people for doing that thing. However, it seems that this is the way that God does things. When, we refuse to be content to embrace his provision or his commands, and instead, pursue our lusts then He allows us to have what we want with the curse that attends it.

Below are a couple of other examples:

Divorce

Malachi 2

"16 "I hate divorce," says the LORD God of Israel, "and I hate a man's covering himself ^[a] with violence as well as with his garment," says the LORD Almighty.
So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith."
Matthew 19:

"3Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?"

4"Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,'^[a] 5and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'^[b]? 6So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."

7"Why then," they asked, "did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?"

8Jesus replied, "Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. 9I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery."

Sexual Immorality

Romans 1:

"22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

24Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.

28Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done."


This is frightening to me. I can persist in asking God for somethings and get what I've asked for even though it isn't what He desires for me.

How will I know that I am doing what is right?
I'll stay close enough to know his heart and see it's reflection in my own.
I think that is what Jesus means by remaining in him.

"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." John15:5

Easily Deceived

About this time every year, I make a concentrated effort to practice gratitude. I minimize the disappointment, regrets, and loses of the past 12 months, and I magnify all of the good things. Here is how I do it:

I remember God's comfort in pain and the lessons learned through trouble. I remember His promises and His character. I rejoice that I am His choice to be adopted into His family and that Jesus is not ashamed to call me brother.

I remember how much I enjoy friends and how precious the relationships in my life are. I decide to believe the best about people's motives. I remember how blessed I am to have so many friends.

I choose to believe the best about myself. I choose to forgive myself. I remember that my future is limited by my faith not by my failures. Then I choose to trust God.

Eventually, I begin to wonder how I could have spent any time being frustrated with myself, bitter at others, or suspicious of God. Then I remember how, I am simple minded and easily deceived.

Silly me

How to Pray-"Our Father"

Chase Bank had this slogan, "CHASE, where the right relationship is everything."

That slogan resonates because it reveals something we know is true throughout life. There are things that I have gotten because of a relationship that would not have otherwise been accessible to me. A number of years ago, I got a new car from my parents because I needed it to commute to work. Around that time though, my cousin also needed a car. My parents didn't get her one, not even an old beat up one. She wasn't less needy. She wasn't less deserving. She just wasn't their child.

When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray (Luke 11:1-2), the first thing that He teaches them is that God is our Father. This means at least two things. The first and most obvious is that we can approach God with the love and respect that a child has for his father. The second is that God thinks of us with the special love and concern that a father has for his children. Because of that relationship, we should expect to get things that we don't deserve and be grateful for them.

We pray, not in the manner that an employee asks his boss for a raise or the way one appeals to a judge for a favorable ruling. It is more like a child asking his dad for some money to get a new toy or for school supplies. In prayer, the right relationship is everything.

Ongoing Paradigm Shift

Paradigm shift still in progress from Holiness focus to Loving God and people focus.

Consequences

Applied :
It's better to be confident at the risk of being proud, than to be self-abasing in pursuit of humility. I find that people need my confidence. So, I'm willing to risk pride. God has promised to oppose me if I am proud, and then, I'll know I've gone overboard and can make the correction.

Being Applied:
It's better to love at the risk of lusting than to combat desire at the expense of being seen as cold. Greater harm to others will result from perceived coldness from me than will come to me from occasionally lusting.

Under Consideration:
It is better to make an attractive presentation at the risk of being vain than to make a useful thing obscure and unappealing in an effort to avoid vanity.

Thembalitsha Missions Trip

Yesterday, I drove to Atlanta to drop off a missions team from our church at the airport. About 14 of our church members are going to visit with Pastor Frank and Kate Christie and volunteer to serve the Thembalitsha Foundation, a community development organization they founded to serve disadvantaged areas of South Africa. You can track their progress at this photo blog.

The Israelites, Balaam, and me- Pt1

The Israelites were getting discontent. Their Father God was fulfilling a promise to their ancestor Abraham by freeing them from slavery and making them a nation of their own in a territory he had chosen for them centuries before (Gen 15:2-16). He had freed them in His signature inimitable fashion causing the world superpower, Egypt their former oppressors, to finance the establishment of their nation. After making them wealthy, He was caring for their needs in this interim period before they received their own territory. However, God's provision became to them unsatisfactory. It was too plain and had become too common. They longed for the variety of tasty food they had in Egypt:

"...If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at not cost- also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite: we never see anything but this manna!"(Numbers 11:4-6)

Father God allowed them the thing that they desired, He gave them meat:

"Now a wind went out from the Lord and drove quail in from the sea. It brought them down all around the camp to about three feet above the ground, as far as a day's walk in any direction." (v. 31)

However, this meat was like poison for them:

"But while the meat was still between their teeth and before it could be consume, the anger of the Lord burned against the people, and he struck them with a severe plague." (v. 33)

This has been a passage that has always puzzled me. Why would God give them something that He knew would hurt them? Even more than that, He gave them something that he would strike them for receiving. That hardly seems fair, just, or even comprehensible. Why would God be so impulsive and irrational? Frankly, I'm afraid of a God who poisons people.

Trusting God for less

I was trusting my Father for too much. It was careless of me. Because I trusted for too much, I regarded His record of faithfulness a bit tarnished. I am beginning to realize my error, and it isn't the first time I have made it. I was trusting His love to do what He never promised His love had given. In trusting his love for less, I feel I can trust His love more.


How Deep the Father's Love for us
by Stuart Townsend

How deep the Father's love for us,
how vast beyond all measure

That he should give his only son,
to make a wretch his treasure

How great the pain of searing loss,
the Father turned his face away

As wounds which mar the chosen one,
bring many sons to glory


Behold the man upon a cross,
my sin upon his shoulders

Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice
call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that held him there
until it was accomplished

His dying breath has brought me life;
I know that it is finished


I will not boast in anything:
no gifts, no power, no wisdom

But I will boast in Jesus Christ:
his death and resurrection

Why should I gain from his reward?
I cannot give an answer

But this I know with all my heart:
his wounds have paid my ransom

Hope Fearlessly Excerpt IV

This message was a long one, but this is the final installment of this series of posts. It is more of a patchwork than the previous posts, but I think the content is still good. I basically left myself room to wing it so my notes are sketchy.

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There are at least 3 interrelated enemies to hope that you will have to face time and again. They are the fear of rejection, the fear of failure, and accusations against God, yourself, and others.

fear of rejection- What if no one supports me? What if I'm misunderstood?

There are two things about the fear of rejection. On the one hand, it is true that you will be rejected in life. I know because Jesus was rejected. Not everyone received his message with joy. Some were offended because of Him. There was a group of religious leaders called the Pharisees who tried to embarrass Him. They tried to silence Him. So, if God in flesh was rejected, what hope have we but the same. John 15:20 tells us the world hated him before it hated you. You will be rejected.


On the other hand, rejection isn't that bad. It is a normal part of life. If you've ever tried to sell candy for a school fundraiser, you know that not everyone wants to support you. Rejection becomes a problem because of insecurity. If who you are is defined by what you think other people think about you, then you will go out of your way to have people like you. Not everyone will like you or will endorse the dreams or desires God has put in your heart. Fear of rejection may also come from a wrong sense of obligation. The only person whose apporval you need is God's.

When God told Peter, a Jew, to go to the house of Cornelius, a gentile, a lot of people had a problem with that. peter had a problem with that. He did it in obedience to God despite the likely prospect of the disapproval of others. This raises an interesting point, you don't even need your own approval. Some things may not agree with your temperament or personality but are required for the success of the desire that God has given you.

fear of failure- What if I mess up? What if I lose? What if it doesn't work? I failed last time I tried; what makes this any different?

Can be a result of pride which honors appearance over obedience
The kindness of God gives us freedom to fail. He is not an impatient abusive taskmaster who will grind you into powder when you mess up. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. When you were God's enemy not even trying to do right, God was for you. How much more now?

accusation- is God really going to honor this promise? Did He really say that?
Are the promises of God true? Did you really hear God? Does anyone really understand? Do they even care?

That's when you have to believe the best. You'll suffer more from blocking something good than from letting in something bad.I'm not talking about when you know it's wrong and do it anyway. but, when you aren't sure. feel free to try. Trust God to guide you. If you take a wrong turn listen to the Holy spirit telling you to stop and turn around.


Since I love God, I will hope in him. Though it takes time, though accusations have come, I will trust God to satisfiy the desires of my heart. I will HOPE FEARLESSLY.

Hope Fearlessly Excerpt II

I continue posting the text of a message I delivered this summer.

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Now, my exhortation to hope fearlessly is not meant to be suggestive, but rather, imperative. This is not merely a preferential state of mind, though it is that. This is not merely a healthy attitude to possess, though it is that. And, it is not merely a positive outlook on life though it certainly is that as well.

No, hope is what love does for love "hopes all things", and to love is commanded. Jesus declares this the greatest and most fundamental of all of the commands:

Mt 22: 35-27
35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and
with all thy mind. "
38 "This is the first and great commandment. "
39 "And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. "
40 "On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

According to Jesus, the first and second greatest commandments deal with love for God and love for people. Taken together these commandments are called the Law of Love. Therefore, the supreme law of the kingdom of God is love. It is the greatest law and a law in which every other law is contained. If you could keep in mind only one law that God has established, it would not be one of the laws about the appropriate manner of presenting one of the ritualistice sacrifices in the old testament law. It would not be one of the various laws against types of sexual immorality. It would not be one of the Ten Commandments. No, it would be the law of Love that you should always remember.

Remember in 1 Corinthians Paul told us what love looks like. In your life then, it is commanded that your relationships with God and with other people should be characterized by love as described in the verse from 1 Corinthians 13:7.

Regarding God:
"If you love the Lord your God you will be loyal to Him no matter what the cost. You will always believe in Him, always expect the best of Him, and always stand your ground in defending Him."

and regarding other people,

"If you love someone you will be loyal to him no matter what the cost. You will always believe in him, always expect the best of him, and always stand your ground in defending him."

An attitude that always believes in and expects the best of God and other people is an attitude of fearless hope.

Hope Fearlessly Excerpt I

I will post a series of excerpts from a message I preached a few months ago. It seemed encouraging to some so I thought it might be useful to others.

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1Cor 13:4-9

4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity
vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not
easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things,
endureth all things.
8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall
fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be
knowledge, it shall vanish away.

In the letter that Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, we read of the character of love. This is important because love is often mischaracterized. For example, Lust is often confused with Love, but

Lust consumes while Love contributes,
Lust grabs while Love gives,
Lust ensnares while love empowers.

Feelings are often confused with love, but

Feelings fade while Love never fails,
Feelings are easily offended while Love overlooks an offense,
Feelings may be self-centered while Love is not self-seeking.

So Paul characterizes love that we not be confused. The particular characteristics of love that I want to draw your attention to today are in verse seven:

"Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."

The Living Bible paraphrases this verse in these words, "If you love someone you will be loyal to him no matter what the cost. You will always believe in him, always expect the best of him, and always stand your ground in defending him."

So because it is commanded of us to love and we know that love believes all things and love hopes all things, I want to encourage you this morning to:

HOPE FEARLESSLY