a vision for advancing His kingdom

Acts 1:8 "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

Recently I've been encouraged to enlarge my vision of what God can do in our community for the cause of Christ. As I've mulled over what it would take for our city to become a launching pad for world evangelization, a few thoughts have come to mind.

1. We must make God our treasure.
What would this look like?
-Bible study and prayer would become our lifeblood. The prayer life would be developed in believers both personally and corporately. May God raise up men and women who are willing to stand in the gap on behalf of souls.
-Christ would be exalted. Read through one of Paul's letters and count how many times he mentions the name of Christ. How often do we mention His name on a daily basis? What does our teaching and preaching reflect of our love for our Savior or our understanding of the gospel? Are we so filled with Him we can't help but speak of Him?
-We would become willing to give our time, talents, and treasure to Him.
-We would renounce sin and make holiness our aim, seeking to be filled with the Spirit.
-We would take bold steps of faith, based on God's promises. What would happen if we actually took the Bible seriously and began to live out what it says in earnest?
-We would be anointed with the Spirit's power for loving, living, and leading others to Christ.

2. We must make people our treasure.
What would this look like?
-Relationships would deepen as sin is dealt with. Petty grievances would be set aside, serious ones prayerfully worked through with the goal of reconciliation, marriages and families would be healed, love for others would abound.
-We would spend our lives and money on others rather than on ourselves.
-We would begin to reach out to the poor and hurting in our own community.
-Money given to missions would increase.
-A burden for the lost would result in people sharing their faith, first here in this community and then all around the world.

As I survey the current activity of churches in this community, I am encouraged to see glimpses of this sort of work already being done. Yet I believe there is much more God has for us. We have two major colleges and a few junior colleges, and men and women from all around the world who are here for education or career. There are bridges being built in the Spanish-speaking community, in elementary schools, and in the more needy areas of our city. There is much opportunity to reach our world even from one small area of the Midwest.

John Piper is taking a sabbatical from his church. These are the prayer requests he left for his congregation. Perhaps this kind of prayer is a place to start.

Pray for:
-hundreds of people coming to Christ,
-old animosities being removed,
-marriages being reconciled and renewed,
-wayward children coming home,
-long-standing slavery to sin being conquered,
-spiritual dullness being replaced by vibrant joy,
-weak faith being replaced by bold witness,
-disinterest in prayer being replaced by fervent intercession,
-boring Bible reading being replaced by passion for the Word,
-disinterest in global missions being replaced by energy for Christ’s name among the nations, and
-lukewarm worship being replaced by zeal for the greatness of God’s glory.

I want to become the kind of person who treasures God and people. I long for our community to know Christ and make Him known here and all around the world. Please share any further thoughts!

pressing in

The stomach flu has visited our house off and on for four of the past eight weeks, and hit one child three times. This is not the 24-hour virus of my childhood, but one that lingers for days, even a week at a time. Our children have suffered from the most missed school days in one year, and this allergy season is one of the worst ever seen. Nursing sick children has become an almost daily occurance, and my counter and cupboards look more like part of a pharmacy than a kitchen. These are small but wearing afflictions that serve as reminders that we are not in control and live in a world that is not ideal.

Yet won't I seize each of these moments and days as an opportunity to press deeper into my Lord? I love these words of Spurgeon:

"Affliction frequently opens truths to us and opens us to the truth. Experience unlocks truths that were closed. Many passages of Scripture will never be made clear by the commentator, for these must be expounded by experience. Many a verse is written in a secret ink that must be held to the fire of adversity to make it visible. Affliction plows and opens our hearts, so that into our innermost nature the truth penetrates and soaks like rain into the plowed land."

We see God's love for us in this: we have a Savior who entered into our suffering world as a man and learned to triumph in the midst of it. Day by day throughout his 33 years on earth He learned obedience by living every single moment completely surrendered to the will and pleasure of His Heavenly Father (Heb. 5:7-9). The triumph of the cross was won in a few agonizing but short hours, but wasn't it the daily obedience of Christ to His Father that prepared Him for the victory of Redemption?

Sin has wrecked this world and left every person alive wounded in some way by affliction. It has left many souls searching for meaning and coming up short. But there is purpose in suffering for the people of God, and He has promised to work it all for good. Oh, that I may know Christ and the fellowship of sharing in His suffering. Let me turn to Christ--His example, His power, and His help--in every situation. What is the goal? There is divine power in suffering triumphantly with Christ that will draw men to Him. And we will know our Savior better, in ways we could not have known except by experiencing His own near and real presence while enduring affliction. There's nothing like hearing a child say, "Mom, because of this, I've learned to trust God and find His comfort even more." There's nothing like saying it myself.

Philippians 3:10-11 "that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead."

a taste of India

My husband surprised me for my birthday last night by taking me to a local Indian restaurant where 12 of his Indian co-workers and their families were gathered. I can't remember when I've had so much fun--getting to know new people, learning about their country and culture, and sampling delicious food. (The restaurant has six levels of spiciness, and my husband's friends wisely suggested we start at the lowest level.) I found this website with Indian recipes to try. Who knows? This could be just the motivation I need to learn to enjoy cooking! Even more importantly, I hope it can be a bridge to understanding and developing a burden for those of another culture, something that is greatly needed for this stay-at-home mom from Midwestern America.

His life for mine

I remember when my daughter was just a preschooler, hearing the stories of Jesus for the first time. When we came to His sufferings and cross she was especially intrigued, and as a response she drew a picture of herself gazing up at Him. I knew in my spirit that drawing represented where she was in her young spiritual life: simply taking in all Jesus had done for her. It was not long after that she committed her life to Him.

After a year of following the person of Jesus through the book of John, I find myself in a similar place. Just as Pilate said, "Behold, the Man!" I am by faith seeing Him again as if for the first time. I am awed by the majesty of His sufferings and the glory of His character. I can't think of a better response than the words of the hymn below:

Only one life to offer--Jesus, my Lord and King;
Only one tongue to praise Thee and of Thy mercy sing (f0rever);
Only one heart's devotion--Savior, O may it be
Consecrated alone to Thy matchless glory, Yielded fully to Thee.

Only this hour is mine, Lord--May it be used for Thee;
May every passing moment count for eternity (my Savior);
Souls all about are dying, Dying in sin and shame;
Help me bring them the message of Calvary's redemption
In Thy glorious name.

Only one life to offer--Take it, dear Lord, I pray;
Nothing from Thee withholding, Thy will I now obey (my Jesus);
Thou who hast freely given Thine all in all for me,
Claim this life for Thine own to be used, my Savior,
Every moment for Thee.

Easter fun

In our "old" neighborhood, we had the opportunity to host an Easter egg hunt using Family Life's Resurrection Eggs for several years in a row. This year, we finally knew enough people in our new neighborhood to give it try again. "Many hands make light work," and many volunteered their time, talents, and candy to make the hunt happen. Rain fell hard for much of the morning, but our prayers were answered when the sun came out for the afternoon. We changed venues from a wet park to three damp yards and a dry garage, but this seemed to be for the best as well. It gave us an opportunity to let a special older neighbor in on the festivities! There were approximately 45 people in attendance!

The two and under group had their own special eggs filled with things like Goldfish crackers and fruit snacks.

Three to seven year olds....

And eight and up! Some of these eggs were harder to find.

A grandma donated her face-painting skills. We loved how she got into the spirit with her own make-up and costume.

An egg relay using hard-boiled eggs was a hit with the older kids. The younger ones loved the bubbles.

And some sweet faces... who represent why we do this. My favorite part is sharing the story of Jesus' death and resurrection using special Easter eggs we hide with others for the hunt. These kids were captivated! And why not? It's the best story in the universe!

Josiah visiting with our neighbor across the street, who gladly opened his garage on the spur of the moment to host us.

Thoughts on the Resurrection by Spurgeon

Jesus did hang upon the cross, and Death thought to get the victory. Aye, but in its victory it destroyed itself. There are three things in Christ that Death never met with before, all of which are fatal to it. There was in Christ innocence. Now; as long as man was innocent, he could not die. Adam lived as long as he was innocent. Now Christ was about to die; but Death sucked in innocent blood; he sucked in his own poison and he died. Again, blessedness is that which takes away the sting of death. Now Christ, even when he was dying, was "God over all, blessed for ever." All that Death had ever killed before was under the curse; but this man was never by nature under the curse, because for our sakes he was not born into this world a cursed man. He was the seed of woman it is true, but still not of carnal generation. He did come under the curse when he took upon himself our sins, but not for his own sins. He was in himself blessed. Death sucked in blessed blood: he had never done that before - all others have been under the curse - and that slew Death. It was innocence combined with blessedness that was the destruction of Death. Yet another thing. Death had never met before with any man who had life in himself. But when Death drank Christ's blood it drank life. For his blood is the life of the soul, and is the seed of life eternal. Wheresoever it goeth, doth it not give life to the dead? And Death, finding that it had drunk into its own veins life in the form of Jesus' blood gave up the ghost; and Death itself is dead, for Christ hath destroyed it, by the sacrifice of himself; he hath put it away; he hath said, "Oh death, where is thy sting? oh grave, where is thy victory?"

The Hands of Christ

"See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands..." Isaiah 49:16
("Alluding to the Jews' custom--perhaps drawn from Ex. 13:9--of puncturing on their hands a representation of their city and temple, in token of zeal for them." From Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary on the Whole Bible.)

"Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands..." Luke 24:38-39
(Jesus to His disciples, as He was reassuring them after His resurrection.)

On this Good Friday, what a wonder it is to consider our Savior's wounds. By them we are inseparably linked to Him, and He is inseparably linked to us. His value is found there, our value to Him is there as well. What love this is!

Spurgeon said it best... http://www.mindofchrist.net/0008/0254.htm*

*I heard part of this quoted by our pastor at a communion service last night.