Monday, December 7, 2009

Jesus Is Coming!


Location: Small town near Deva, Romania (Tuesday the 8th of December 2009 at 7am)
So much to say, and so few words (in the four or five languages I have studied) to describe it! "Wow!" might have to do!

You will remember that we were preparing boots and socks for our December outreaches. We spent two chilly days among mountains of boots and bags of socks in an old, dusty, unheated garage (see for yourself!). But our work with over 5000 pairs of boots has already begun to pay off!

What do you see in these other pictures? A vacant lot surrounded by construction materials and demolished pieces of whatever used to be here? I see a sidewalk where several dozen people heard that Jesus is more than a baby who smiles on Christmas cards, and that they need to make the first step toward a God who is waiting for them in love!


These are a few photos from our outdoor venue for yesterday's children's program. But that stunning success was only a small link in a chain of awesome God-events that filled yesterday's measley twenty-four hours! I very much wanted to write last night, but I was exhausted!


We arrived Saturday night, hosted by a local ministry and church. We made preparations, then caught a few winks before church the next morning. All four of our team members present spoke during church, and the morning was a powerful foreshadowing of the days to follow. Lunch with a missionary and some of the local teens gave us extra enthusiasm as we hurried to make last minute prep for a children's program that afternoon. Having drafted several of the teens, we were amazed by their participation, and we were SO blessed to watch God work. With only four team-members from Sighisoara, we had expected a tough weekend. We found ourselves gliding through the activities in pure joy, our task easy and the result delightful!

Having learned that we would add a youth-group type meeting to Mondays already-packed schedule, we spent the night in more prayer and preparation, rather than in celebration of a great Sunday. We were operating in the face of some very discouraged ministers here, and we did not want to do excellent programs and leave--our aim was to do excellent programs while equipping them to do the same, leaving them with hope, determination, and an optimistic vision for the work that would follow.

Monday dawned early as my fellow intern, I., and I hopped in the car and headed into town. It will not surprise you that I had found out I already knew someone in this small town, and she had invited me to speak my "perfect American English" to her English class. When we arrived, she asked if I had prepared my speech (I had prepared nothing.). She also asked if I was nervous, and when I told her I was used to speaking in front of people, she warned me that these were not "normal" people. I. and I dove in and worked as a team, with him helping me translate, and we roared with laughter all morning! I spoke to three classes, and I have so many stories that I cannot tell them all. But a few highlights to whet your imagination include this...

We invited the principle/director to class--she had seemed initially hesitant to let us in since we had not made arrangements in advance, and then she smiled in the back of the room during my lesson!

We "snuck" into one class during their ten-minute break before class and gave them a teaser of what to expect, and they willingly gave up their next twenty-minute break to study English with me between classes!

My lessons included rapping, spelling MISSISSIPPI, speaking in dialect, confiscating notes, accidentally falling on the floor, tracing my shoe on the blackboard, professional wrestling, a pet elephant, and so much more!
Not only was class fun, but we saw some kids who had come to our program the day before. When we were entering the building, one little boy was leaning out the bathroom window yelling, "Hello, hello! I was at the church yesterday!" After a morning like that, I. and I were pumped up, and I. said we should go to school every day!

But we did not have time to revel in that experience, because the the next one was waiting for us! We hurried to the local soup kitchen (the "Cantina"), where we presented three programs for the folks who came during the next couple of hours. Several of them were kids from the church the day before, or from the school that morning, and they enjoyed our puppets and juggling and vocal-band. The teacher I knew even came to lend a hand, and neither could she escape recognition by the kids.

Then we all piled in the car for the next adventure--the program that transformed the vacant lot into a joy-filled demonstration of the power of God, surrounded by smiling "kids" from baby to adult. We used the last bits of sunshine to say goodbye and to arrange our things before racing the sunset to the church, where we set up for the evening with the young people. We almost had time to sit down while we swallowed a snack, and then we started full-speed ahead. Our evening included workshops on puppets, juggling, and choreographed dance, a time for games, worship, and preaching, and prayer and testimony. We saw the gates of Hell tremble as the Lord moved among the young people of C. last night, breaking some of the oppression that the people here have felt. We do not know the half of what was begun last night, but I believe this community will watch it blossom for months and years to come. Please pray for them!

We give God the glory, reminding ourselves that we could have done nothing without Him! We also thank Him, because He gave us the privilege of serving here this week, and He united our team in a very special way.

Today we will head back to our home base, just long enough to change our luggage before heading to the Brasov area tomorrow for the rest of the week. Thank you for your prayers--you are as much a part of this as we are. Romania thanks you for your prayers, too--there president was decided yesterday after Sunday's vote was counted, and though I know little about the man, he was the candidate most for whom most Evangelicals seemed to be voting. Not only did I get to go to school in Romania yesterday, but I got to go to the polls the day before (I didn't vote though; don't worry!).

Like Jesus' mother Mary, I am treasuring all these things in my heart, eager to see what God has in store for us today and each day after. We have been reminding ourselves that He might come back any day, and we are ready! But until then, we are going to help as many others be ready as we can!
Be blessed this day, and be ready--Jesus is coming!
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A Rose From Home

A Rose From Home

My Story (As prepared for my church congregation this spring--2009)


I have a story to tell you. I am the main character, but the story is not about me. I have traveled several parts of the world, but my adventure has been closer to home. I am twenty-six years old. My story begins like many of yours…

I grew up going to church. I had been born into a family who labeled themselves “Christian,” in a country that labels itself “Christian.” Every Sunday found me attending a worship service and Sunday school in a mainline denomination church. I served as an acolyte, attended Vacation Bible School, helped my dad count and record the offering money, sang in the youth choir, was a leader in the youth group, and occasionally served as liturgist. Baptized as an infant, I was confirmed at the age of twelve, thus becoming an “official” member of the church. Then, hurt by the church, my family left to find another.

Have you ever been hurt by the Church?

After months of searching, we settled into a very large independent church. Things were different there, and I was quickly welcomed and at home among new friends that truly had a passion for Jesus. The Word of God was taught boldly from the pulpit, and I was introduced to a missions-aware lifestyle. So it was with regret that I said goodbye only a couple of years later to move with my family to another church. I purposely remained aloof, not wanting to make new friendships before I left for college a year later. Besides, I was loosing my faith—or so I thought—and I didn’t want anyone to know. I was asking scary questions like “Is there really a God?” and, if so, “Is He the Christian God?” and “Would I be Christian if I had been born in another part of the world?”

Have you ever asked yourself unsettling questions about what you believe?

So I headed into college under a cloud of confusion that only worsened for the next two years. Though I didn’t know what I believed anymore, I continued to go to church every Sunday, and to help lead worship in chapel. Most importantly, even during this questioning, I continued my morning habit of daily study of the Bible. I had begun at age twelve, reading at first a chapter per day, then ten minutes each morning, then an half-hour, and so on. So, only by the grace of the very God I doubted, I remained anchored in His Word and in His community, though I felt like a fake most of the time. Since then I have learned that “fake” is the worst insult the world can give us; that is why the label of “hypocrite” is so offensive.

Have you ever felt like a fake?

Six weeks with missionaries in South Africa followed by a year in France began to teach me what life with God is all about. I began rebuilding my faith, this time it belonged to me, in contrast to me borrowing the faith of my parents, church, or anyone else. In my parent’s basement in 2003, on either Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve, I invited Jesus to live in me; perhaps I had done so before, but I didn’t recall—but since 2003, I have never forgotten that moment. Unfortunately, nothing changed. I continued to do my best to act like a Christian, as I had done for so long.

Have you ever found yourself “doing your best” to be a good person, or to act like a Christian?

Though I did not realize it at the time, I was quenching the Spirit, even though I had welcomed Him into my life. During the next few years, the LORD continued to nurture me, and slowly things began to change. Several tough months in Idaho birthed my prayer-life. I spent three years being humbled in a job that was my informal seminary training. In 2007, a short stint in Mexico helped me to see things as they were, and not long afterward, I was baptized by immersion. No baptism of any kind can save a lost soul—only Jesus can do that. However, this baptism was an important covenant between me and God, symbolizing not only my death and resurrection with Jesus and my public profession of faith, but it also my life change, the beginning of my bearing fruit. “For each tree is known by its own fruit…”according to Luke 6:44. During the past year and a half, the LORD has provided me with an informal pastoral internship in my church, teaching me every aspect of discipleship. Simultaneously, I have been studying unceasing prayer and worship. I am now very different than I was five years ago.

In the Book of Acts (which tells the story of the earliest years of the Church) every time a person decided to follow Christ, two things took place—though not always in the same order. Each person experienced a life change, which I call the “baptism of repentance,” as well as the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, which I call the “baptism of the Spirit.” Looking back, I realize that the Holy Spirit was living in me in 2003, but it wasn’t until I surrendered everything to God, as represented by my immersion, that I allowed the Spirit to have His way in me and transform my life. “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now life in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. (Galatians 2:20)”

Have you invited Jesus to live in you? Have you allowed the Spirit to transform your life?

I tell you this story for two reasons. First, I tell this story in order to boast in the LORD! May God our Father get all praise and glory forever! Second, I tell this story because it is relevant to you. Likely you have heard that I am leaving the country: I have let my light shine before you; please let your light shine within the Church, too! This congregation is in revival, and as each of you allows the Spirit to revive you, the entire Church will be revived and utterly transformed, to the glory of the Most High God. And for His glory is the reason He created us; the reason He sent His only Son to reveal Himself to us; the reason He became Sin for us and died for us on the cross—while we were still sinners; and the reason that He conquered death and offered us eternal life with Him.

It will cost you a lot—in fact, it will cost you everything, your very life. But if you have never surrendered your life to Christ Jesus, if you have never invited Him to send His Spirit into you and to transform your life, then do it right now. Just let go of everything to which you are desperately clinging; stop trying to do it yourself! This is the very reason you are still breathing in this physical life—God has been delaying His judgment of this sinful world because He is waiting for you—2 Peter 3:9 says He wants none to perish!

If you have already invited the Spirit into your life, then live like it! Bear fruit! Anyone and everyone who meets you or knows you or sees you or hears you should know immediately and clearly that Jesus the Christ lives in you and loves them! That is how stark the contrast should be between your life and the world around you!

Have you immersed yourself in God’s Word and in prayer in the last twenty-four hours?

If you call yourself a follower of Christ, then there is no excuse for not communing with Him daily! Anchor yourself in the Word! God has revealed Himself to us through His Son, Jesus Christ, and the Bible is a complete and accurate record of that revelation. And prayer is humbly letting Him love us. Let Him love you! God doesn’t need us, but He wants us! God doesn’t need us to live for Him—He wants to live in and through us! Let us love and fellowship with one another, even when you disagree! Pray for each other—the names in the church directory are a great place to start! Church, we are not only the Body of Christ, but we are the Bride of Christ. We have allowed ourselves to get bedraggled and stained—now let us stand to the glory of God! Let’s let Him purify us, restore us, and love us!

My dear Brothers and Sisters, if you have ever once been blessed by God our Father at work in me, then I urge you, please, take seriously His desire to love and work in you, beyond anything you can ask or imagine! I have told you the beginning of my story—may it end in glory to the Father, in the Name of Jesus, by way of His Spirit.

Now, what is your story?