Love > Fear

LOVE IS GREATER THAN FEAR

There are few things as precious to me as my time of prayer with my children each day.  My wife Aracelli and I have two beautiful children whom we are striving to raise in the ways of the Lord.

(Graziella and Renato at the zoo in Lima, Perú)

As I tucked them in to bed the other evening we all said our prayers.  They were still a bit antsy, so I told them that they needed to rest and I did not want to hear any noise or see them walking around. 

Renato, our 3 year old son, answered back “OK daddy!”  Of course, I was fairly certain that it was merely lip service and I would hear him yelling and making a fuss within moments.  

Graziella, our 7 year old daugher, took a different approach.  She was a bit more honest and asked a question which has come out of her mouth on various occasions. 
“Well, what will happen to us if we don’t do what you say?”
My typical reply would be something like “You’ll get a spanking” or “Don’t test mommy and daddy!”,  but tonight I spoke to them about true obedience.

I said “GG” (that’s our nickname for Graziella), “If you are obeying mommy and daddy simply because you don’t want to get punished, then you aren’t practicing true obedience.  If you really love mommy and daddy then obedience should be your natural response to us.  

You obey because you love, not because you’re afraid of punishment.”

WOAH!  

Sometimes the insight we gain from a moment of parenting can surpass years of study and laborious research.

I was telling my children that the reason to obey us and to live appropriately was because they love us, not because they fear us.

Isn’t this exactly what so many do within the church?  

Don’t we often choose to obey God out of fear of hell, sickness, pain, exposure, etc? 

-> How often do we desire to do evil, but avoid it out of fear of consequences, rather than desiring to do good out of love for our Creator??
-> How often, as believers, do we avoid sin or temptation simply because we are fearful that we may be exposed or because we may get punished?  
-> How often do we fall into the trap of attempting to earn our salvation by way of human works?  

This is the great divide between Christianity and all other religions!

We do not do good to avoid punishment.  
We do not do good to earn salvation.  

Our salvation has been earned for us.  
Our punishment was given to Jesus when He went to the cross.  

We do good as a response to our good God.  
We avoid bad because He lived sinless for us.  

Anything of good that flows from a believer is because we are loved by God and in turn have been made to love Him.  We obey because we love and we love because He first loved us. 

This is the essence of the gospel, that we are loved by God and in turn we have come to love Him and obey Him.  Let us contemplate this in our daily walk, we obey out of love, not fear.  Love was Christ's motivating factor when He went to the cross and it is our motivating factor to live holy before Him.

LOVE IS TRULY GREATER THAN FEAR!

The Mission Field

Martin Luther was made famous when he posted his 95 Theses onto the outside of the Castle Church door.  This sign was posted on the inside of a friend's church door...

Though this if far from the 95 theses, it is one thesis that all believers should learn to live by.  When people leave their church the challenge is clear.  This church is declaring that they want their members to be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ.  The pastors are saying to their members and themselves- 

"YOU ARE GOD'S CHOSEN METHOD 

TO SHARE THE GOSPEL 

WITH THE WORLD!!"

The mission field is not a football field.  This is not a game for the superstars to shine while the rest sit back and watch from the stands.  The mission field is wide open and ready for all to go and get into the game.  There is no such thing as a bench-warmer on God's mission field.  The whole church is called to participate and that is what this single thesis is declaring.

Church:  God could have come down and preached the gospel Himself, He could have sent angels, He could have done anything he wanted...but HE CHOSE TO USE US.  God chose us to share His message here on earth and He chose us to be His hands and His feet to the hurting, the lost and the dying.

Every time you leave church I want you to remember this sign.  Sunday service is simply a strategy session for you.  Once you've received your training and your inspiration it's now your turn to get out into the game and make some plays!  

You do not have to be in Peru with us to do missions work... YOU ARE ON THE MISSION FIELD DAILY.  So let's get out there and make our 'Coach' proud!!

Peace In The Midst of The Storm

My wife is a true worshipper, she worships in spirit and with her whole heart.  Amongst the various worships hymns that she sings there is one in Spanish which speaks depths of truth with but few words, 

"Hay paz en medio de la tormenta."

THERE IS PEACE IN THE MIDST OF THE STORM:

As I write this blog from the 'safety' of Lima, Peru I am in prayer for my friends and family in the North Eastern portion of the United States.  I think of my family, friends and acquaintances who are going to be facing what may end up being the largest storm in the recorded history of the United States.

It is not my desire to speak on the question of whether this is divine judgment or happenstance.  I don't care whether it's mostly hype or a governmental ploy.  I am not concerning myself as to whether this is the wrath of God or simply an undirected natural occurrence.  

What I would like to speak on are the storms of life in general- be it a "Sandy" or a sin spree.  Our problems could be a hurricane or a hurting heart, devastating winds or demolished dreams, property damage or the loss of a loved one.  

Jesus promised in John 16 that there would be suffering in this life- it's one of the few promises that I don't hear people 'taking hold' of during their faith declarations...  

Yet in the midst of the sufferings of this life we can have the 'peace of God, which surpasses all understanding'. 

(Philippians 4:7)

Not after the storm passes, not prior to the storm touching down- there is peace in the midst of the storms of this life.  In the very center of the madness and chaos, in the moment when you should feel NOTHING but despair; in that very moment Jesus doesn't promise a guaranteed deliverance or a certain freedom, Jesus promises peace!

Be it hurricane Sandy or hurricane cancer, be it the frankenstorm or the failures of sin.  Storms are small compared to our giant God.  His peace can comfort us even in the presence of stormy moments.

Consider God in the midst of your next storm; be it Hurricane Sandy or a major life change- next time you face a storm don't bother telling God how big your storm is.  STAND FIRM AND REMEMBER THE ONE WHO GAVE ALL FOR YOU.

STAND FIRM AND TELL YOUR STORM HOW BIG YOUR GOD IS!!

When you set aside the fears of the moment and focus on the face of God 

He will give peace in the midst of your sufferings.

The Watchman's Hut In The Cucumber Field

“The Watchman’s Hut In The Cucumber Field”

Isaiah 1:8  “The daughter of Zion is left like a shelter in a vineyard, like a watchman’s hut in a cucumber field, like a besieged city.”

Cucumber in this context would typically refer to anything from the melon family. Anyone even remotely familiar with farming is aware that cucumbers, melons, and the like are products that grow at ground level.  They do not typically need guarding because their biggest threat is bugs and little scavengers.  Why then would a cucumber field need a watchman’s hut??

I was led to wonder what this verse meant a while back and began to study it.  Interestingly enough I found a very revealing answer.

In the days of old in ancient Jerusalem there were two major threats to melon crops.  The primary threat were jackals which would come and tear up the crops.  If there was no one to watch out for the terrorizing jackals then the crops would be ruined in an incredibly quick amount of time.  The secondary threat was theft.  The sailors would come out from the sea, anchor alongside a farm, and literally just steal the crops which someone had spent their time, money and effort in developing. 

In order to combat those two threats what a land-owner would do was rather simple. They would construct a make-shift and extremely temporary shelter and would appoint someone to stay there during the crop’s gestation period.  The watchman, typically an elderly gentleman, would stay in the little hut in the midst of the cucumber field and would guard the growing crops.  As soon as they were ripened and ready to fulfill their purpose he would leave and the shelter would literally just crumble on it’s own.

When the Bible references the huts and the watchmen God is being clear about two things:

1-The watchman have left the hut and the crops are up for grabs.

2-The huts are in decay and will fall just as any abandoned shelter in those days.

I believe that the description found in Isaiah 1:8 is an absolute indicator of modern-day Christianity across much of the globe.  The crops represent the Christians in each step of the gestation of their newfound faith.  The watchmen who are supposed to guard from jackals such as false teachers, infectious doctrine, ear-scratching phonies, and the likes- 

THOSE WATCHMEN ARE GONE AND THE HARVEST IS UNDER THREAT FROM THE JACKALS. 

In like manner, the enemy now has free reign to dock his ship alongside the farms and begin to pluck up the fruit before it ever reaches it’s potential.  Just as a sailor would pull alongside the coast and begin to steal the fruit, so does Satan come alongside so many churches and begin to pluck up the fruit before it ever reaches it’s maturity and becomes useful.

The watchmen have abandoned their post and the temples are in ruins.  We cannot expect our fruit to grow like this.  They are under open siege by the enemy without while simultaneously under attack by the animals within and we (the so-called watchmen) are on vacation!

If you are a pastor, a layperson, a leader, or anyone who calls themselves a follower of Jesus Christ consider taking the stand today.  Be the watchman who will protect the 'crops' from the attacks of the enemy and the attacks from within!  Stand up against false teachings, against the scavengers without and against the watered down version of the gospel that is being preached across the globe!

Of Men & Devils

"Cowards never won heaven. Say not that thou hast royal blood running in thy veins, and art begotten of God,

except thou canst prove thy pedigree by this heroic spirit,

to dare to be holy despite men and devils."

-William Gurnall

In the American church we have various anti-biblical dares:

We have the prosperity dare- Just give some money and declare with your mouth and you've dared to challenge God, now He must give you riches regardless of His sovereign will.

We have the purpose dare- If you just live for a specific purpose with all that you have (regardless of whether or not it glorifies God or fulfills His will for your life) then you will be happy and blessed.

We have the theology dares- If you believe these 5 points, these 16 statements, these 19 convictions then you will be saved. Oh yeah, you may want to repeat the magical prayer as well just to be sure.

YET, the lofty thinkers of old had a different ideology of what it meant to take a bold dare. That dare was something that only a true follower of Christ could take- a dare to be holy despite men and devils.

Men represent society as a whole. Our perverse cultures throughout the generations and the most perverse of all in this day and age. To be bold enough to stand against the flow of the stream and stand out as an outcast, to push forward against the ebb and flow and to be hated because of your bull-headed determination.

Devils represent the internal and external forces of hell which cause us to fall. This can be the flesh which battles daily against the Spirit of God within true believers, or it can be the actual demonic forces which tempt, attack and devour us on a regular basis.

The call here by Gurnall is simple- dare to be a light in the darkness, a contrast to all that surrounds you. He says that "it requires another spirit than the world can give or receive to follow Christ fully." In other words, without the help of our God we CANNOT fulfill this dare to be holy. Even with His help we must wake up each day determined to do battle and lay our head down on our pillow only after violently grabbing hold of the kingdom of God (SEE: Matthew 11:12)

I would be a fool to say that a man or woman of God will never fall, even the best warriors will lose a battle or two- but they will stay resolute in their fighting until the greater war has been won! Anyone can fall into the mud, the question is how we react to our fall. Do we stay and wallow in the mud or jump back to our feet so that the Lord may cleanse us once again? Anyone can fall into the mud, but ONLY A PIG WILL STAY THERE TO PLAY.

William Gurnall also said "How uncomely a sight is it to see, a bold sinner and a fearful saint, one resolved to be wicked and a Christian wavering in his holy course." We are to have a BOLD HOLINESS about us in our actions, our beliefs, and our lifestyle. I've said this on various occasions and I'll say it again now...As Christians we should be the best neighbors, the best family, the best tippers, the best employees and it needs to be done for GOD'S GLORY not our own!

The call from Jesus is simple- be ye holy, for I am holy! Without holiness no man shall see the kingdom of God. In the midst of our sin-filled world, the sinful forces of hell, and our sinful inner-man we can still take a stand and boldly and PUBLICLY decree that though we stumble or fall we will keep our eyes fixed on the prize. Yesterday no longer matters and a fall ceases to be a fall once you've stood back up. It doesn't mean that the cuts, bruises and scars cease to exist- it simply means that EACH NEW DAY is filled with NEW MERCIES and NEW OPPORTUNITIES to live for Jesus Christ!

We will battle both men and devils and march on each day as we strive towards the finish line of this life and the beginning of eternity!

Darkness Often Yields The Brightest Light

In the midst of the darkness we can fit in with the shadows
or stand as a point of stark contrast by shining as a bright light.

The Good News Isn't Good News Until You've Heard The Bad News:

Imagine a man who is rotting from within. Yet, the man is fully unaware of his condition. He may see some signs on the exterior. Perhaps he notices a skin blemish or a low grade fever. He imagines that something small may be wrong, but assumes that he can fix it himself or take a tylenol in order to eradicate his condition. The man needs a trained eye who has studied the medical texts in order to point out the acute interior condition for him.

Without that assistance he will continue on with life as usual, fully unaware of what is truly wrong with him.

One day the man sees a small blotch on his skin and decides to go to a doctor. Once he arrives at the office, the doctor tells him all about this amazing medicine and the wonderful benefits that it will provide to the man. This medicine is incredible. The doctor even goes on to tell the man that the medicine is FREE of charge! He then asks the man if he would like the medicine and the man thinks to himself, "Well who wouldn't?" "It gives me a million benefits and costs nothing, why wouldn't I want it?"

The man takes the medicine home and sets it on the shelf in case he should some day feel the need for medicine. Perhaps the man even tries to apply the medicine, but his life stays the same. The blotches don't go away. In fact, though it may have been covered for a period, his condition is now even worse than before.

WHY?

THREE REASONS:

1- The man stood in front of a trained eye which saw that he was sick, but the doctor never told the man about his interior condition. The doctor only spoke to the man about the exterior signs which the man already knew about. He did not inform the man of the interior rotting which was taking place. Therefore, the man left knowing that a medicine existed, but he never knew his deep and urgent need for that medicine.

2- The man wasn't ever told how the medicine works. He heard about it and it's wonderful benefits, but he never heard what it actually did or how it worked. He was told about the miracle drug but never found out why he needed it or how to apply it in his life. He may have tried applying it as a cream, but never really knew that his issue wasn't a skin condition- it was an interior condition; and if he wasn't changed from the inside out then he would have remained sick forever.

3- The man wasn't told about the side-effects that the medicine would give him. He assumed he'd go home and live happily ever after- he didn't hear the FDA disclaimer which is so prevalent in today's pharmaceutical commercials. He only knew the benefits, but never heard about the cost. He couldn't make an educated decision because he was never actually educated about the medicine. He heard about the benefits but left fully unaware of the personal risks.

THIS IS A PICTURE OF CHRISTIANITY IN AMERICA TODAY!!

We have heard about the cross, but no one told us about the immense personal cost. We heard about the joy, but no one mentioned the tribulations. We've been told about grace, bit no one mentioned God's wrath. We've been told that we're saved, but no one had told us what we've been saved from or saved into. We have heard that Jesus will free us but no one told us He wants to change us. We've been told that God wants to hear our prayers, but we haven't been told that God demands to see our holiness.

Someone once said that half of the gospel only produces half of a Christian. And the Lord said that if we're lukewarm He will vomit us from His mouth. Therefore half of the gospel only produces luke warm vomit.

How can the Good News ever be considered as good news

if we don't start out with the bad news?

We live in a lost society surrounded by darkness. The darkness is both external and internal. In the midst of this dark world a light appeared just over 2,000 years ago. That light yielded immense brightness and to this day it is emitting infinite lumination to all whom would be willing to see it. BUT, if we don't draw attention to the darkness within and without, we cannot properly appreciate the light that comes from above. How can I know that I live in darkness unless I see that light exists, and how can I understand what light is unless the darkness has been properly explained to me?

How can I know the mercies of God if I have never experienced difficulty, sorrow, pain and suffering? In the midst of our highest conviction, in the midst of our deepest sorrow, in the midst of our greatest suffering, in the midst of our most trying hardships- that is when the light of Christ shines the brightest.

Rev. Stephen Hill (of the Brownsville revival) is just coming out of a long battle with cancer that nearly cost him his life. In the midst of he and his family's hardest hour is when God shined the brightest. In the center of darkness is when God showed Himself to be most faithful. So it is with the gospel- if we do not know the bad news, we cannot understand the Good News!

"Before I preach love, mercy and grace, I must preach sin, Law and judgment."

- John Wesley

"Evermore the Law must prepare the way for the Gospel; to overlook this in instructing souls is almost certain to result in false hope, the introduction of a false standard of Christian experience, and to fill the church with false converts."

- Charles Finney

"They will never accept grace until they tremble before a just and holy Law." "

-Charles Spurgeon

Feed The Good Wolf

There's an old native story that goes something like this:

One day an elderly grandfather was sharing a story with his grandson. He began to tell the young man about the two wolves that are within every person. He said that there is a good wolf and a bad wolf within each of us and they are constantly fighting with each other. The good wolf wants us to do things that would glorify God, to have patience, to show love to one another, and to follow the commandments God has given to us. The bad wolf wants us to follow another path, to be disrespectful, to follow the lusts of our flesh, to have no self-control, etc...
These two wolves are constantly in a battle with one another and the wolf that wins will eventually control the person that it inhabits. That person will either become a good person or a bad person.

As the grandfather went on his grandson asked the obvious question,

"Grandpa, which wolf will win the fight within me?"

The grandfather replied, "Whichever one you feed."

The moral of the story is that we should feed the good wolf so that it may win the battle.

The Bible doesn't quite put it the same exact way, but that story does point us toward very Biblical premises. We know that our flesh nature is corrupt and desperately wicked. (Jeremiah 17:9) If we feed the sin nature we can expect to reap a sinful lifestyle and eventually an eternity in Hell. (Romans 6:21) If we feed the righteous nature that has been planted in us by Jesus Christ's shed blood, then we will ultimately reap holiness and an eternity with Jesus Christ. (Romans 6:22)

We are called to submit ourselves to God and to 'resist the devil and he will flee' (James 4:7). Satan is like a bully with ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder). If you do not keep him entertained his attention will start to wander off elsewhere and he will move on to another target. He is like 'a roaring lion.. seeking whom he may devour', (1 Peter 5:8) but even a hungry lion will give up on it's target and find food elsewhere if the target proves difficult to obtain.

We are faced with a decision every time that we wake up, every time temptation comes our way, every time difficulty raises it's head, every time our flesh wants us to become lethargic and slack off in our spiritual endeavors or live for materialistic goals. Every day we have to wake up ready to go to battle. Every moment we must remember that we are in a war. The more we feed the sin nature, the materialistic nature, the self-serving nature, we are setting ourselves up for a lifestyle of rebellion and selfishness that bears no eternal fruit. The more we feed the righteous nature, the sacrificial nature, the life-giving nature, we are setting ourselves up to become more like Jesus Christ and to bear an abundance of eternal fruit.

John Piper once said that he hears "so many Christians murmuring about their imperfections and their failures and their addictions and their shortcomings", and he sees "so little war. Murmur, murmur, murmur. Why am I this way? MAKE WAR!!" We are in the midst of a cosmic struggle. This is not a game, THIS IS A WAR! If you lose a battle you get up and fight on to ensure that you win the war overall. Don't stay down when you fall, get up and get cleaned off before you lose the war! No matter what yesterday brought us, WE MUST MAKE WAR DAILY!!!

Sin nature vs. the Imparted Righteous Nature of Jesus Christ.

The good wolf vs. the bad wolf.

WHICH WOLF DO YOU CHOOSE TO FEED?

The True Amen

"The only real test of conviction is the desire and willingness to sacrifice."
-E. Gideon

I've shared before on various occasions from the pulpit that if the audience were to see me during the weakest points of my life they would drive me out of the church and never listen to me again.
Yet, if I were allowed the ability to share every thought they'd ever had (in traffic, at work, during those difficult moments or times of temptation) on a big screen with the entire congregation- then they'd be so ashamed that they'd run all the way to Mexico and never look back once.

I say that to state that I am far from a perfect individual and am in no way qualified to lead SGM, Inc. or to plant Teen Challenge in Peru- yet I am willing.
I will do whatever it takes to ensure that the Lord's name is glorified amongst the forgotten people of our world.

This, in my estimation, is the reason that the Lord is willing and able to use my wife and I- because we are willing to be used.

It is easy in a charismatic and many evangelical churches to get a hearty "AMEN" during a sermon. We're so used to saying "Amen" with our mouths in the church,

but as soon as Monday rolls around we say "No Man" with our actions.

The best AMEN we can give is to live out the message in it's fullness!

The truth is that our convictions don't mean ANYTHING if we aren't willing to change our lifestyle, our spending habits, our behaviors, etc... We can tell the world what we believe till we're blue in the face and NOT ONE HEART WILL BE MOVED. Yet, if we live out even a small fraction of what we believe we will see hearts all over our world melt in the light of our lived out convictions.

After speaking with a close friend tonight I was surprised at how someone he knew worked like a dog at two very high paying jobs putting in 90+ hours per week in order to purchase the house he desired. I was reminded of the times I worked 2 or 3 jobs at the same time in order to purchase something I wanted or to pay for a trip I desired to take. I pictured the average American worker who sweats, toils, suffers hardship and often insult and does it all so that they can have a better lifestyle.

We do it so that we can have a nicer car or a bigger home,

newer toys or better standards of living.

THEN I HAD TO ASK MYSELF- WOULD WE TOIL IN SUCH A MANNER

IF OUR ONLY REWARD WERE THE SOULS OF THE LOST?

I don't have to search long for an answer. The simple answer is NO.

The vast majority of Western Christians DO NOT toil and labor in order to advance God's will or His kingdom, we toil to advance OUR LIVES. We don't work hard to ensure that the lost hear the message of the Savior. We work so that our houses and attics can be filled with goods.

We are so focused on this temporal life that we are missing out on the ONLY REASON we are here on this Earth...TO DO GOD'S BIDDING.

The church is here on Earth for one reason only, and that is to glorify the name of Jesus Christ amongst mankind. Any other reason or motive for our labors, our lifestyle, our expenditures, etc.. is WORTHLESS in the light of eternity. Yet we've settled for smoke when we could have had the fire. We've settled for a message of prosperity when we could have had life change.

Lord help us to be eternally profound and temporally shallow. Help us God to live out the true amen and be willing to sacrifice everything if it means it will bring honor to Your name.

I INVITE EACH READER TO WATCH THIS 50 SECOND VIDEO

AND LET IT SPEAK TO YOUR HEART:

http://youtu.be/dZdMHZ5IZUI

What Are Your Reasons??

There is an ancient prayer that goes like this:

"Teach us, good Lord,

To serve Thee more faithfully;

To give and not to count the cost;

To fight and not to heed the wounds;

To toil and not to seek for rest;

To labour and not to ask for any reward

Save that of knowing that we do Thy will,

O Lord, our God. Amen."

After once again reading this prayer recently I was immediately thrown into a state of self-questioning. I began to ask myself what my reasons are. I know that such vague wording can lead to much confusion, so let me explain...

What are my reasons for serving the children in La Carbonera, Peru? Why do we provide food, education, clothing, medical care, etc... for them? Why have we sacrificed so much to help children that we hardly know personally? Why do so many other families give on a regular basis? Why do some sacrifice $100-$200 of their personal income each month to support these efforts? What are the reasons behind the giving, the toil, the laboring, and the hardship??

What are our reasons for planting Teen Challenge in Villa El Salvador? Do the churches that invite us to come share have an ulterior motive? Do the people who give towards these efforts have hidden agendas? Do we have some personal motive or selfish ambition in doing this work?

An amazing man of God, Paris Reihead, once said:

"If you'll ask me why I went to Africa, I'll tell you I went primarily to improve on the justice of God. I didn't think it was right for anybody to go to Hell without a chance to be saved. So I went to give poor sinners a chance to go to heaven."

Were his reasons noble from a humanistic perspective? ABSOLUTELY.

Were his reasons proper from a moral perspective? ABSOLUTELY.

Were his reasons selfless in nature and empathetic? ABSOLUTELY.

BUT, his motives were not right in the sight of God. Why?

Paris Reidhead explains his motives in his own words,

"I went out there motivated by humanism. I'd seen pictures of lepers, I'd seen pictures of ulcers, I'd seen pictures of native funerals, and I didn't want my fellow human beings to suffer in Hell eternally after such a miserable existence on earth."

Pastor Reidhead goes on to tell us that the Lord showed him that he didn't go to Africa for the sake of the people there or for the sake of the preacher, but for God's sake. Our only motivation should be that God would receive glory. Any humanitarian efforts MUST be done in Christ, for the glory of Christ, and in a manner that makes Christ known- otherwise we're simply putting a band-aid on a severed limb. Any preaching must be done in a manner that glorifies Jesus and honors Him alone; it must focus on His sacrifice and His righteousness- it cannot offer up humanitarian answers or temporal solutions or we've missed the point. If we offer temporal solutions to eternal problems then the results will have eternal implications for those we reach out to.

What are the reasons we are traveling around NY and working here in the US? What are our reasons for reaching out to 10 different nations across the globe? What are our reasons for continuing the work we've begun in Peru?

SIMPLY THIS-

THAT JESUS CHRIST MAY BE GLORIFIED AMONGST ALL MANKIND!!!

When our reasons are in alignment with God and His word we can easily fulfill the calling of the individual who wrote the prayer above. If we toil and labor and serve and give and suffer and fight for anyone or anything other than the glory of God then we do so in vain. But if our strivings are done to the glory of God then our hearts will not faint when hardship arises, rather our souls will strive onward to assure that we answer the call of our Lord in Matthew 28:19.

What are your reasons?

What drives you to do what you do on a daily basis?

Are your motives self-serving, humanitarian, or personal in nature?

OR are you living your life in such a manner that Jesus Christ, and Him alone, may receive the glory in all of your dealings??

Like A Weaned Child

Psalm 131 is one of the shorter chapters in the entire Bible, but it's words are potent!

"O Lord, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore." -ESV

I thought about that quite a bit the first time I ever read it. I began contemplating what it would have been like in the days before formula, the years before pacifiers. What was it like when the baby stayed at home 24/7 with mommy in their humble habitations and was then forced to be torn away from mother's breast and weaned in order to take on solid foods?

It must have been a brutal transition for both child and mother, especially without the comforts of modernity. Imagine a small baby receiving his comfort, his nutrition, his calm, and even his ability to rest from his mother's breast. Everything that he knows is found in this identity and now he must grow and must be weaned off of the breast and put onto something of greater substance- something that will cause greater growth and physical nourishment.

Though I am certainly no theologian I have studied the scriptures to a decent extent, but I had never heard a sermon or a theological dissertation on this particular passage of scripture. When I began contemplating what King David could have been referring to I came to a personal conclusion, I then went on to see if any Bible commentaries or theologians agreed with that assessment and they do.

LIKE A WEANED CHILD IS MY SOUL WITHIN ME.

When those infants were taken away from the one thing they found comfort in it became a difficult and trying experience for them and the hardest of their short little lives, but it opened the door to possibilities that they never knew existed. When a baby is weaned from the maternal milk he begins to try new flavors, new textures, etc.. A whole new world opens up to the baby and that one comfort that they couldn't do without quickly becomes a fading memory in the light of their new and much more abundant lifestyle.

When David said that he was like a weaned child he was in essence saying what each sincere Christian must say. I am not claiming to be someone great or haughty. I am no one and nothing before you, God! I am no greater than a small child, than an infant. Yet I want to be someone who is completely and utterly given over to you. Wean me from my sin, wean me from the worldly ways I've known. Though it aches me and tears my heart out from within me- wean me from my flesh and my sin Lord and teach me what it means to live abundantly in You!

This should be the cry of each believer- from day one until the day that we die. We are to calm and quiet the yearning for sin from within our sin filled selves. We are to be weaned from all that we once knew, painfully and sadly weaned.

There will be times when our flesh desires that old milk. We will yearn for it at times and we will look to it with affection and sadness- but to be torn from our past and brought into our future is going to be a costly and difficult task, yet it is necessary for a sincere follower of Christ.

I've watched as woman had to leave the man they've loved for years. I've watched as addicts had to be torn from their 'best friend' in drugs/alcohol/cigarettes. I've seen people give up friendships that meant the world to them. I've seen people give up even seemingly innocent things in order to bring glory to Christ's name.

This is the call of Christ- to leave all that is comfortable, familiar, easy, and all that our hearts desire and to follow Him with reckless abandon.

Like a weaned child our soul should eventually cease to long for the old ways and become content with the much greater things that God has given to us. Are we being weaned daily from the world and beginning to ingest the spiritual meat that our Father has prepared for us?

Like a weaned child has our sin slowly lost its place of comfort and fulfillment in our lives or are we a child in need of a weaning?

Two Christian Lizards

THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF CHRISTIAN LIZARDS:

Every preacher has done it at one point or another, and it was bound to happen to me...

This past Sunday I was preaching in Albany and I felt a tug in my heart to preach from the heart and not from my notes so I threw the notes out the door and began allowing the Spirit of God to direct and guide me. As I was in the heat of the moment two great points hit me. The two types of Christian lizards.
I announced that I had two points to share...then, I touched on type one and completely forgot to share what the second lizard was. OOPS!
See what happens when we don't use notes ;-)

Since I missed the chance to share in Albany I figured now would be the suitable opportunity to share the two types of Christian lizards.

The way I look at it we have two types of lizards in many of our churches in America today. The unfortunate thing is that there is one lizard which is highly predominate across the modern western version of Christianity. That lizard looks much like you and much like me, perhaps one of the readers may do some soul-searching and find that they are part of this group.

The first lizard is a chameleon...

This type of lizard fits in at church. They worship with fervor and they give a hearty "AMEN" during the sermon. They tend to volunteer from time to time and like to socialize with church people. They speak 'Christianese' and act in a manner worthy of a Sunday morning service. They throw their money into the offering so all can see. This type of lizard is comfortable being around the church and around Christians.
The issue with this type of a lizard is that the chameleon doesn't only adapt to the church and the church people, the chameleon blends in wherever he goes. The chameleon fits in with the church, but the chameleon also fits in with the world.
This type of lizard looks just like the world and acts just like the world. They go out to all of the parties. They complain about their bosses in the workplace. They are comfortable being around the world and being around sin. Often when they encounter sin they choose to partake as well and do so gladly. They don't give good tips, they don't volunteer unless it gives them recognition. They are just like the world.
The 'Christian' chameleon isn't a Christian at all. They are social believers whom have learned to adapt to whatever situation they are in. In the church they are Christians, in the world they are sinners, in reality they are lost! These people fit in with everyone and live for nothing. They give Christ a bad name and they give the world an excuse to continue in their sin. This is the chameleon.

The second lizard is a lacertid lizard:

This type of lizard sheds it's skin frequently, nearly every day. They are famous for the constant shedding of their skin. These lizards are almost never comfortable. They are always striving for a new-self and striving to release the old-self. The lacertid lizard doesn't fit in anywhere and stands out everywhere he goes, because unlike the chameleon his colors don't adapt based on his environment. He stays the same everywhere he goes and sheds his old skin on a near-daily basis.
In the not-so-famous words of The Remnant Militia:
"I'm still shedding, crawling out of my old skin. You've been reintroduced again."

Far too many 'Christians' are content to be chameleons; adapting to church, adapting to the world, living in a world of self-delusion and never being true to their self.

Yet, for a Bible-believing Christian, EVERY new day should be a new US. As believers this isn't a petition- God commands it. We are to die to our flesh daily and pick up our cross EACH DAY. If we are made new in Christ then each new day is a new chance to shed the old man and reintroduce ourselves to Christ. We should wake up ready to shed off any of the dirt, filth and grime from yesterday and start each new day as a new man or woman.

Every believer should strive to be a lacertid- true to self, ridding themselves of their old nature daily, becoming new each day. All of us have fallen short of the glory of God, but we must ask if sin will rule or Christ...
WILL TOMORROW BE A DAY TO DIE TO SELF?
WILL TOMORROW BE A DAY TO BECOME RENEWED IN CHRIST?
OR will tomorrow be another day to try fitting in and continue living a lukewarm life despite the warnings in Revelation 3:16.

Let us awaken to Christ, shed off the old man, and become new in Him once again!! Just as the lacertid needs the light of day in order to shed his skin, so we need the light of God to shed off our old man.
AWAKE OH SLEEPER AND ARISE FROM THE DEAD AND CHRIST WILL SHINE ON YOU!

THY ROD AND THY STAFF

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;

thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."

-PSALM 23:4-

As a youth I had a horrible habit of skimming over assigned reading in school. I would skim the entire book but absorb just the main points so that I could say that I finished the task at hand.

In like fashion, many of us approach the Bible in this same manner. We have a tendency to pick out the catchy parts and set the rest aside. Psalm 23:4 is no exception to this habit. If you took away my emphasis above what would stand out to all readers would be "though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou are with me". This is an amazing statement and it stands the test of time as one of the most famous verses in all of the 31,102 verses in the Bible.

BUT- In case the title of this blog and the highlighted portion of the Scripture above have eluded you I'd like to focus for a moment on a specific portion of Psalm 23:4.

"Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."

By reading the above verse a simple lesson in deductive logic would lead us to an interesting conclusion:

The psalmist feared no evil because God comforted him with His rod and staff.

The questions we are then led to is "What does that mean? How does God comfort us with His rod and His staff?"

THE ROD:

When a shepherd would care for his sheep he would carry two instruments with him at all times. The first instrument was a rod.

The rod was meant for a two-fold purpose.

1- If any enemy would come to attack the sheep the shepherd would beat that predatory animal over the head with his rod and thus drive away the threat to his sheep.

2- When a sheep was really pushing his luck and was being rebellious against the shepherd it would receive a blow. The shepherd would give the sheep a nice knock on the head to remind it who was boss and to break it's rebellious spirit.

Simply put, Psalm 23:4 is telling us that God's rod of correction will keep us from attacks from our enemy (Satan) and it will keep us from attacks from our biggest enemy (our own flesh) which constantly leads us to rebel against Him.

THE STAFF:
The shepherd had another instrument that was always on hand, and that second instrument was his staff.

The shepherd's staff was a long stick, much like a walking stick and at the end of it was a crook. There was a large lip on the end of the staff that was designed much like the hooks used in the Vaudeville shows of old. We've all seen the clips on television- where someone had a bad act and they were forcefully pulled off the stage with a shepherd's crook.

In like manner a shepherd would watch his sheep diligently and when a sheep would begin to stray off of the path of safety the shepherd would wrap his crook around it's neck and guide it back onto the path of certainty.
The shepherd's number one concern for his sheep was their safety and their arrival at the proper destination.

Likewise God has a shepherd's staff that He uses to keep us off of paths that lead us away from Him and into danger. He will gladly direct us back to the path of safety with his staff.

THE GOOD NEWS:

In order to fully appreciate the Good News of Jesus Christ and the nature of God's comforting power we need to first come to grips with the bad news.

We read the good news in Psalm 23:4 and sometimes ignore the bad news, but you see; The Good News doesn't really shine through in it's fullness until it is contrasted with the bad news.

The bad news simply put is this: WE ARE DEPRAVED BEINGS.

Mankind is sin-sick and cannot cure himself, the answer is not within himself- the answer is the external, eternal Almighty God.

We are under the curse of sin and death and because of our sin we deserve nothing more from God than an eternity in Hell- that is the HORRIBLE NEWS.

Yet, while we were still sinners Jesus Christ came and died for us so that we could be free- nothing that we could have done would free us, but Jesus came to offer Himself as an atonement to reconcile us to God the Father.

That is what makes the Good News so GOOD! When we were at our worst Jesus gave us His best!!

What better news could there possibly be?

God Himself stepped out of eternity and into the temporal

solely to receive the just punishment meant for us.

There is no better news!

The beauty of Psalm 23:4 isn't that we have comfort in times of distress. The beauty is that we can know that God is there in the times of hardship and the times of abundance. He is there to correct our rebellion and to pull us back on the path of safety when we have wandered astray!

God has a rod to protect us from external attacks and to correct us when we rebel within ourselves.

God has a staff to direct us towards His path which leads unto salvation.

Next time we are struggling or going through difficulty; next time we receive a heavy blow to the head- instead of immediately saying "The devil is attacking me".

Let us ask the questions:

"Is the Lord trying to show me something?

Is this heavy blow from the rod of God's holy correction?

Is this yank in another direction because God is pulling me back onto His perfect path?"

Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me!

ARE YOU BEARING FRUIT?

One of my favorite stories in the New Testament comes from Acts chapter 4.

Let me set the stage for you..
John and Peter were taken before the rulers, the elders, the teachers of the law and even the high priest, Annas, was there to question them. Peter and John were basically on a preliminary trial because they were uneducated shlubs who didn’t have the right to teach on religion but they were out preaching Jesus around town. Therefore the religious leaders were asking them how they could dare to teach about Jesus without proper theological doctrine and proper credentials to support them (sound like any churches you’ve seen today?).
John and Peter even went so far as to heal a man- how dare they! They healed a the lame beggar and various people were aware of the miracle. Because of their actions Peter and John were brought before the religious authorities to be questioned as to how and why they would do such a horrible thing like healing a man without having a THD or PHD attached to their name first.

They replied in an amazing manner which you can look up on your own in Acts 4.
What struck me wasn’t necessarily their reply in the matter, what stood out to me was the reaction of the crowd. “When they (the religious leaders and the crowd of likely onlookers) saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished.” In other words they were ignorant men, or as one Bible commentary states of the original Greek term used to describe them- Peter and John were idiots. Obviously the people couldn't understand how foolish men could do such amazing works and preach with such authority, but the Bible goes on to tell us how the rulers and the crowd came to understand the source of their authority...

“They took note that these men had been with Jesus.”

How did they know that these men had been with Jesus?
Was it because they saw it with their own eyes? Perhaps but not likely. Was it that someone whispered into their ear telling them that they were the ones who walked with Jesus? Not likely. The reason I don’t believe that is because even at the death of Christ on the cross only one person recognized Peter; but once Peter cussed that twelve year old girl out and swore he wasn't with Jesus she backed off of him. These men were basically unknown.

How then did the people know that they had been with Jesus?
BY THEIR ACTIONS.
Their lifestyle was a testimony to the fact that they had been with Jesus Christ.

Is your lifestyle a testimony that you have been with Jesus or like so many others are you living the same life you once lived but now doing it with the banner of Christ above it?

Matthew Henry said in his commentary:
“And the followers of Christ should act so that all who converse with them, may take knowledge that they have been with Jesus. That makes them holy, heavenly, spiritual, and cheerful, and raises them above this world."

Various other commentaries on the Bible take the same stance. These men were known to be of the fold of Christ by their actions and lifestyle. Their power and authority came from above and it was evident to all present. People knew that they had been with Jesus because their lifestyle looked like an old park bench wrought with the carvings of youthful dereliction.. The words "JESUS WAS HERE" were carved into their lives for all to see.

Are you recognizable as a part of God’s fold? Are you bearing fruit in keeping with repentance? Do you bear the scars of a bond-servant, have you been sealed with the seal of the one who owns you? Is it apparent to all that you are of the fold of Jesus Christ or are you indistinguishable from the world?

Does your life preach for you or do your words have to justify before others what your actions never could- that you are of the true vine of Christ? We have churches that tell us that if we say the magical prayer we're set for life regardless of how we live after saying that prayer. If Jesus is truly all-sufficient for us then our lifestyle will reflect it and we won’t have to seek out preachers who will justify our sin. We will stand firm in the work Christ did on the cross and stand certain of our faithfulness to Him because of the evidence visible in our daily life.

Are you bearing fruit in keeping with repentance or does your lifestyle negate your verbal declaration of faith?

THE FOUR CROSSES

The Four Crosses:

We come to a crossroad in our life. We aren’t sure where we want to go, but we know that we need to make a choice. We need to find out which way we’re headed and why we’re heading that way. This is the first cross that each of us must come to in life. We must ask ourselves what it is that we believe, why it is that we are living, and which path it is that we will take.

We then come to the cross of Christ. We see that we cannot save ourselves; we realize that we have no hope of freeing ourselves from our sin and our flesh. We know that Jesus died for us and that He can provide us with eternal life. Now, as we stand in front of the second cross, we’re forced to make a decision as to whether we will receive Jesus’ free gift of salvation. Whether we will walk away from Christ’s cross unchanged, having seen the mercy of Almighty God, or whether we will receive what Jesus did on that second cross and begin living for Him.

The third cross we come upon is the cross of death. This is the cross that all believers must first jump up on. I do not mean to say that we literally climb upon a wooden post, but a metaphorical cross appears before us. At this point we must choose to die to our carnal selves and we must carry that cross as a reminder for the rest of our lives. Just as in Christ we have all died…. The Word says that in Adam all men die, but I am not talking about a death in the physical sense, I am talk about death to the fleshly world and desires. In Christ all men die to their desires, their nature, their will, their wants, their sin.

Unfortunately far too many Christians think that this is the end of the road. Many Christians have gotten to the point where they came to the cross of Christ and they’ve made a decision to follow Him and they even decided to jump on their own cross and die to their flesh- but then they stop. They’ve been fooled into believing that God’s ultimate goal for their lives is to be sin-free. They think that getting sin out is the ‘Missio Dei’. We decide that the ultimate goal of a Christian is to be free from sin.

Yet, we see men like David who had an extramarital affair and murdered a man to try to cover it up. Abraham who got so sick of waiting on God that he had sex with and spawned a child with his maidservant. We see Spurgeon, the prince of preachers, who was so addicted to smoking that the tobacco companies used his face and personal quotes about cigarettes as a logo to sell their products. These were men who had sin in their lives and they failed in some aspect or portion of their life; but they did far more for the cause of God than nearly any others throughout history.

Why?

Because they were willing to be obedient. Obedience is better than sacrifice and quite frankly we DO need to get the sin out of our lives- but we need to be obedient FIRST AND FOREMOST!

This is where we come to the fourth cross. If we look at the progression we see a man who stumbles upon a crossroad. After standing at the fork he makes a short deliberation and then decides to follow God’s narrow path to see where it leads him. When he walks just a short way down this road of discovery and curiosity about faith in Christ he is then taken to the cross of the Almighty One whom gave himself as a sacrificial atonement. The man stands before the cross of Christ and decides that in and of himself he has no good thing to offer and he cannot take that step towards God, Therefore he will receive the open door, the bridged gap, that Christ has made for him when He died on the cross. Once he has stepped away from the cross that led to his salvation he is now led to another cross which is calling to him. It is his own cross. Will he now die to his carnal desires and his own will? Will he now get up on that cross and die? Will he cross over from life in and of himself to death in Jesus Christ? He chooses to die to himself and take up his own cross. A wise decision and one that will change every fiber of his destiny!

BUT… there’s still more.

He has crossed from life into death, but now he needs to cross back into life. The fourth cross is a crossing from death to the flesh, into a new life in Jesus Christ. This is where so many believers fail. We love the freedom that Christ offers- freedom from sin, freedom from self, freedom from pain, freedom from religion and fruitless personal strivings, freedom from hell. Yet we sit back in joy, having been purchased at the highest price any has ever paid, and we do nothing to return the favor to the King. Too many believers have failed to take the fourth step- or at least to fully take it.
When a man or a woman comes to that fourth cross and decides to come back to life in Christ Jesus he or she makes a declaration tantamount to that of the apostle Paul.
“For me to live is Christ and to die is gain!”

We have now made the decision that our efforts, our time, our money, our belongings, our everything is going to be used to bring glory to God and not to ourselves. We have decided that we will now live to advance the cause of Christ, not the cause of self. We have become a people who live to serve and bless others- not because it’s easy or it’s natural (although with time it becomes that way), but because we feel indebted to the One who gave everything for us.

We cannot skip out on any of these four crosses or our personal walk with Christ will be lacking and our salvation can be brought into question. Have you come to the crossroad? Have you seen the cross of Christ? Have you taken up your own cross and died to yourself? Have you crossed over from a fruitless life into a metaphorical death and back into life in Christ so that you may live each moment for the glory of God?

Many See The Vision, But Few Catch It!

I have a clear picture in my mind of the typical American church, most people in the US have a similar image within their mind's eye.

It doesn't look too different from a professional ball game:

There are key players who stand in front of the audience and keep them entertained and satisfied. The key players in our churches aren't very different in practice from our pro-athletes; they are the superstars who were 'called' by God to go and preach the gospel. They were called to give of themselves in every aspect, while the rest of us just sit back and receive.
(or at least thus it would appear to an outsider)...

We've done it this way in our churches for quite some time, around a century. The superstars do the bulkload of the work while the rest of us sit back and participate by way of the occasional cheer, a little (at times even a large) donation, and a few prayers. Not very different from a sports fan when you think about it.

This style of church has become commonplace in the US and has even been exported elsewhere in the world. Just the main players are called, it's their job- their career. Only the starters should be in the game, the rest of us are backups and spectators; "Why we aren't called to full-time ministry... they are!"

I'll never forget when a young man asked me to talk to his family about Christ. He came to me and told me how he had recently converted within the last year or so and he wanted someone to share the gospel with his family. When I asked what they said when he told them about Jesus he said the following:
"Who me? I've never really shared that with them. I mean I'm not a minister and I don't think it's my style or my job to talk to them about that kind of stuff."

I was baffled! I told him that it was the responsibility of every believer to preach the gospel and I began sharing with him some creative methods for sharing his testimony or at least inviting them to church. I found out shortly after that he still hadn't taken that step because according to him that was someone else's job.

Unfortunately this is not the exception, this has become the American standard!

BUT, that's not the Biblical standard!!

There are two clear callings in the Bible:

1- The call to salvation.
This is the call from sin, into repentance, and into freedom at God's side.
(Matthew 9:13, Matthew 22:14, Luke 13, Acts 2:39, Romans 8:30, Galatians 5:13, etc..)

2- The call to preach the gospel.
This is a call for ALL BELIEVERS! To preach the gospel in action, in deed, and in word to our neighbors, our family, our friends, the state, the nation, and the world!
(Matthew 28:18-19, Acts 16:10, Matthew 24:14, Mark 13:10, Acts 8:4, Acts 10:42, etc..)

There is no pastoral call, no missionary call, no evangelist call. There is just a call to preach the gospel! Why then aren't we catching the vision? Whether it's as the lawn mower, the floor sweeper, the worship director, the bereavement coordinator, the cook, the deacon, or the pastor- we all ought to be preaching the gospel in action, word, and power! Just a few months ago in Peru two of our workers were ribbing on each other and one said to the other "Your job is to hold the microphone for Matt if the stand breaks during his preaching." The other wisely replied, "If that's my job then I'll do it with joy so that I can bring glory to Christ's name and facilitate the gospel to the 3,000 in attendance tonight." Once we realize that there are no minor roles in the Lord's work we'll be free to develop into the people we ought to be!

I contemplate the thousands of people who have seen the vision of our ministry in Peru and have seen the suffering of the children there and have even given a donation or said a prayer. I then am reminded that out of the thousands who've seen and heard and even the dozens who've gone to Peru and visited; only a few have really caught the vision. There is a list of maybe a half dozen to a dozen people whom I can name that have really put in a little elbow grease to help raise funds, open doors, or do something of eternal value to make sure those kids receive food, education, and opportunity. There are hundreds with immense talent and thousands with something to offer to advance that cause YET only a handful have taken the vision and ran with it. Most look at it as my and Aracelli's responsibility to care for the children at the school in Peru not the church of Christ as a whole.

I've often asked myself- What if just 20 people did 2 fundraisers a year? What if just 10 people really worked to make a difference? How different would the lives of the less fortunate be? How many more new opportunities would they have? How many other schools or orphanages could we plant across the world? If I gave more of my time, my efforts, my money- how many more lives would be touched? Why am I content to give so little? Why are you? Why don't we do more for those in need and for the lost?

How different would the local church look if every individual was truly working as an active member in the body of Christ? Why are so many of the appendages in the body of Christ asleep? Someone once said that we need to be the change that we want to see in others. If we aren't willing to step up, who will?

On numerous occasions I have been told that the church should do 'this' or 'that'. "Why doesn't the church do this?", they ask. "Why doesn't pastor do that?", they ask. "Why don't you just do a chicken dinner to get funding", they say. I always respond with the same... "That's a great idea, you should take it by the horns and run with it! You can really make an impact." Then for some crazy reason, almost inevitably, we don't do it... WHY?

Oh yeah, we aren't called to full-time ministry. Those people are, so it's their job. We'll just throw our scraps into the offering plate and send up a little prayer and walk away feeling content. Maybe when we're really moved we'll give sacrificially or spend 10 or 20 minutes praying for the need.
Or maybe we won't? Maybe we'll wake up! Maybe we'll catch a vision and give of our time, money, efforts, and passion to help reach the lost. Maybe we'll give up a little self-pleasure or *gulp* even a necessity (or at least things deemed necessary by American society) to help feed the poor? Maybe we'll live a truly purpose-driven life and live for the benefit of others and not just ourselves?

Lord help me to scan my life to see what I can give up for your glory!

I fear that when it's all said and done each of us will look back at our lives much like the character who played Oscar Schindler did in the movie Schindler's List. We will be standing there at the end of it all taking off our watches and desiring to sell our goods so that we can touch just one more life, but it'll be too late. Those lives will have been snuffed out by things we could've prevented and those souls will be lost eternally because we didn't step up. For now we're content to live a life of self-absorption and self-advancement while the world dies of curable disease and starvation. We're content to play church while over a billion will die without ever hearing the name of Jesus Christ. We're content to amass wealth while the world suffers and perishes. Are we living with vision and driven by vision, or are we just seeing it?

Dear God, help me to catch the vision- not just to see it! Help us to remember that we are all called to preach the gospel with our actions, our lifestyle, our money, our time, and even with our words when it's necessary. Help us not to have regrets when it's all said and done, but to be able to stand strong at the end of it all and say:
"I'm leaving this world a better place than it was when I found it!"p

The Opportunity Of A Lifetime!

I'll never forget that night some 12 years ago. As I sat there in the balcony of Brownsville Assembly of God and listened to Rev. Steve Hill preaching he said something so profound that I haven't forgotten it since. He spoke of Leonard Ravenhill and shared a piece of advice that great man of God shared with pastor Steve years prior.

Leonard told him: "When opportunity comes, do not pass it up! You must seize the opportunity of a lifetime during the lifetime of the opportunity!"
It would be this very advice that would lead Steve Hill to stay at Brownsville A/G and to cancel all of his speaking engagements in order to preach the nightly services at the revival.

It is a simple statement: "Seize the opportunity of a lifetime during the lifetime of that opportunity". Yet as simple as that advice may seem it can be revolutionary when put into practice in our own lives...

We tend to think of opportunity as a catalyst that will somehow help us in life. As Americans part of our mindset is individuality and we respect such character traits as self-sufficiency and self-improvement. As such when I say the word opportunity the first thing we think of by default is some open door that will lead to greater things for us, our family, or our career. We think of opportunity as being something that will advance our cause.

It was just over six years ago that a different type of opportunity came knocking on our door. Aracelli (my wife) was speaking with her mother on the phone and after hanging up she came to me with a very serious look on her face. For a moment I began scanning my brain to contemplate if I had left the toilet seat up, thrown clothes on the floor, or some other deficient action attributed to those with Y-chromosomes. Thankfully it was none of the above.

Aracelli told me that her mother, an Assemblies of God pastor in Peru, and another pastor there were overwhelmed because of a small village outside Trujillo, Peru that they had just visited. She went on to say that there was no church, no school, no running water, and no electricity. The people of that village were earning an average wage of $120/year and living like modern day slaves working 14-16 hour days on the nearby farmlands.

What perplexed me most about the situation wasn't just that these poor people worked hard on the farmlands and yet had nearly nothing to eat. What surprised me most was that they lived within a half hours drive from a local church, but no one from that church (or any of the dozens of other nearby churches) had gone out to reach them. They had a church building in the center of that farmland, but it had gone abandoned years prior and no pastor would come to disciple them because there was no offering or salary involved.
There was an amazing opportunity for the local churches to reach a forgotten people but no one stepped up to help that lost village. Many of the people there were caught up into witchcraft and would go to see the shaman (witchdoctor) whenever they could. Unfortunately some there there still do. They were a lost people in need of a Savior...

As I contemplated what (if anything) we could do to help I reasoned within myself that we didn't have the contacts, the funds, the experience, or the knowledge to help these people. After all, I was waiting for my own opportunities to arise so that I could advance my own personal life. Yet that nagging feeling that I should partner with those two local pastors pushed and pushed against me and I could almost audibly hear the voice of Pastor Steve Hill saying
"Don't miss this opportunity!" After a very short deliberation Aracelli and I decided to start sending sufficient funds monthly so that my mother-in-law and the other pastor could start a Sunday school for the kids and give them food each Sunday morning. It was a small opportunity to help that quickly turned into a large responsibility.

Within months that Sunday School had over 50 children and not too long after that we began paying an out of work teacher to sit on the rocks outside of the abandoned church there where she taught about 10 of the kids how to read and write each day. Then, in 2005, we decided that opportunity once again was knocking and it was time to respond. We went to our home church pastor, Randy Czyz, and asked him if the church could help to build a school. In all honesty we had no clue what we were doing. We didn't know about the legalities of such an action, we didn't have a background in building or planting, we didn't have resources to fund the school on an ongoing basis, we had almost no contacts to help us on the US or Peruvian side of things...
BUT, Pastor Randy saw an opportunity.

Pastor Randy wasn't looking for an opportunity to advance the name of World of Life A/G (his and our home church), he wasn't looking for an opportunity to make his name known. What pastor Randy saw was an opportunity to help those in need and to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ into a forgotten area. Our church took a leap of faith and took up an offering and enough money came in for us to construct a small building with two rooms and one class with about 10 students.
Now just 5 years later we have 18 staff members, five rooms, running water, electricity, a kitchen, and much more as well as 60 students enrolled at Nuevo Jordan School. We are helping hundreds there yearly with various outreaches, humanitarian support, and free seminars. The church there has been rebuilt and reopened and many locals attend there. We are in the process of expanding the school and plan on continuing this work until the Lord's coming! Has it been easy? NO. Do we still struggle constantly? YES- just this past month we were nearly $1,000 shy of our monthly budget at the school.

We didn't benefit from these actions and have sacrificed more than I'd care to share publicly- but Aracelli and I would do it all again without hesitation if we had to and we will continue helping the people of La Carbonera, Peru for as long as the Lord permits!

It has been six years of arduous labor with many victories and plenty of defeats. It has been very difficult raising a ministry from the dust, but we are thrilled that the Lord gave us that opportunity and helped capacitate us to make it become reality.

THEN late last year another opportunity came knocking on our door.....

This opportunity came with a serious hitch: leave your family, leave your friends, leave your careers, leave your possessions and GO! Aracelli and I knew that we had to go to Peru and we really weren't sure what we were going to do there, but then a knock came at our door (more like a phone call really). We were told that there was a large project that would begin sometime in 2011 if we would oversee it and we were asked whether we would be interested in moving to Peru and helping.

Would we be willing to go to Peru and plant the first ever Teen Challenge in that country?

When we Americans hear the word opportunity do we contemplate it in it's entirety? Do we truly understand that many opportunities that are God-derived are sacrificial and difficult in nature? That the kingdom of God truly is taken by force and can often be violent (although not typically physically violent) in nature.
Would we be willing to leave it all and move to Peru to work on the streets of Villa El Salvador amongst gang members, prostitutes and drug addicts? Would we be willing to uproot our two little children (Graziella 4 years and Renato 6 months) and bring them 5,000 miles away into a lifestyle of sacrifice and hard work?

We have decided that Leonard Ravenhill was correct. We may never be multi-millionaires and we may never have huge homes with big boats and picket fences... But when it's all said and done and we sit on our death bed contemplating whether we'd spent our life for God or for ourselves we don't want to regret how we spent our time and our money. We don't want to be at the end of the journey wishing we had taken up the opportunities that were once set before us; thus, we decided to drop it all and take up the cause of Christ. We decided to start once more from the bottom up and to raise another ministry from the dust as we have with Shekinah Gloria Ministries starting that fateful day in 2004.

What about you? Will you take the opportunities placed before you? Is there something God has placed before you that you've hesitated to grab hold of because you don't have the time, the resources, the knowledge, or the passion to do?
I've failed more times than I can count and missed opportunities to self-sacrifice for Christ's glory on more occasions than I care to consider: but we have decided to move forward and take this opportunities by it's horns. I can't say how it all will turn out and I'm sure there's plenty of hardship, labor, and difficulty ahead- but I wouldn't miss it for the world!
Will you take the opportunity to pray for this effort? To give towards this effort?

Will you take the opportunities that the Lord places before you?
Perhaps it's to go on a missions trip?
Perhaps it's to give financially or materially towards someone who is doing His work?
Perhaps it's to start a small group or to disciple a new believer?
Perhaps it is to interceed for your pastor, friends, family, or neighbors?
Perhaps it is to GO- to go to your town, to your city, to your state, your nation, and even to the world!

With billions who have never heard the name of Christ and millions perishing right here at home: Will we decide to set our own ambitions aside when an opportunity comes knocking and seize that opportunity during it's lifetime OR will you sit back one day with all of your amassed plenitude and wish you had made a move when God gave you the chance?

"Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall shine upon thee!"

EPHESIANS 5:14