Under Construction

13 years ago I took a huge step of faith, joining a team from our church, heading to Africa (Namibia to be specific) on a short-term missions trip.  I had no idea what to expect, but I felt the call to go.  While we were there we tiled the floor of a local church, as well as the floors of a new Bible-training school.  It wasn't glamorous, and it was labor intensive, but it was awesome to be able to serve others. 

On a personal level, I was able to experience first-hand what God is doing across the world.  It was also a pivotal moment in my relationship with Scott, as it was in Africa that God spoke to Scott about our future together. 

Since that time we got married, had two amazing children and I have focused on serving God in our local community.  Scott has been on several other missions trips, bringing his gifts and skills to missionaries in Africa, Guatemala, and Ecuador. 

When our church announced there would be a missions trip this September, the first in several years, to Tijuana, Mexico, both Scott and I were excited and discussed going on the trip together,  Logistically, with two children starting a new grade of school a few weeks before the trip, that was not possible,  And so, we agreed, I would go and represent our family!

We will spend a week in Tijuana, a border town just south of San Diego, with the team. Our primary purpose will be to continue construction on a feeding center for homeless children in the area.  Teams from churches all over the US make trips like this, bringing labor, but also money for materials, and encouragement for the missionaries who have given their life to help reach these children.  Additionally, we hope to connect with the children and others involved in the building, extending the love of Christ to them.

The missionaries we will be serving, Art and Joyce Stoneking have been in the region for many years.  Scott has served on two teams with them, as they have started a boys home and other facilities for homeless children.  I'm excited to meet them and serve them - Scott still quotes Art with nuggets of wisdom!

The cost of this trip is $1,200 per person.  Our church will also be raising $10,000 toward building materials that will likely go far beyond what we are able to use in our week long stay.

I would like to invite you to contribute to this Kingdom-building endeavor.  If you would like to sponsor me for part of the cost of the trip that would be great.  You can also donate money toward the material we will bring to the Stonekings.

Last, but by no means least, please pray!  Pray for the work, for our safety on the trip, for the kids and Scott, and anything else you think of!!  That is a huge support.

What next?

It is hard not to think about eternity when faced with senseless tragedies like we see so often in the news.  After all, I think most of us sense in our hearts that there is something more after we leave this brief life.

 

If you saw a person walking towards the edge of a cliff, would you try and stop them?  If someone you loved was walking towards the edge of a cliff, surely you would try and stop them?  Even if they were walking quickly, eyes wide open to the risk, wouldn't you try and stop them?  Out of compassion and love.  So it is with sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

 

Recent studying has lead me to conclude that there are two major misconceptions in "mainstream Christianity" today, that place us all at risk of walking straight off a spiritual cliff.  The first is that Hell is not a real place, after all, if we speak of a loving God, why would he create this place for us.

 

The Bible is the source of any and all information about the God Christians profess to follow.  Our faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins comes out of this record of his claim to be the Son of God, to live a perfect and sinless life, and to have risen from the dead, declaring a resurrected life for all who follow him.  If that is the case, then we must also look to the Bible as the source for other foundational doctrine.

 

The Bible reveals the nature of Hell in both old and new testament.  We are told that Hell was not created for man, but rather a place of eternal punishment for the rebellious angel Lucifer (aka Satan, the devil), and the angels that chose to follow him and reject God's authority.  It was never intended for man, the precious creation made in God's image.

 

When Adam chose to disobey God, by eating the apple from the tree he was instructed not to eat from, he too chose to follow the nature of Satan, and God handed man over to Satan.   As all men descended from Adam and Eve, we were born under the government of Satan too, inheriting the sin condition, for which the consequence is physical death, and then eternity in Hell.

 

However, God, in his amazing compassion and mercy, was not content to leave us to this destiny.  He planned a way for us to escape the judgement coming to us.  God came himself, as a man, to live a perfect sinless life, and thus break the curse over us, so that any who would turn from Satan and follow Jesus, would be born again, forgiven of sin and inheriting his righteousness.

 

Hell is described in many ways, and Jesus spoke of it more than Heaven.  It is a place of eternal torment: complete isolation, darkness, heat beyond imagination, smelling of Sulphur, hearing screams of pain and agony, with worms that never die eating away at your flesh that never dies.  With no end.  The commentators that I have read believe we are fully conscious of our past, and so we will eternally reconsider our life and the choices we made that determine our eternal destiny. 

 

This is no fairy tale, and not to be ignored.  We are all heading there.  Unless…

 

Jesus declared himself to be the Son of God, the one and only way to eternal life, to Heaven.  His existence, as a real man should not be in question – historical evidence seems pretty conclusive that Jesus of Nazareth was real.  So, this man, who many declare as "good" and a great "teacher" declared himself God!  He was either crazy, or genuinely divine.  He cannot merely be a "good teacher".

 

So, let's say he was speaking truth.  We have come to believe that to accept "the way" through Jesus Christ is to believe that he was the Son of God (this alone is inadequate because even the demons he drove out believed in who he was!!), and water baptism.  This is the second misconception. 

 

Paul declared in Romans 10: If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

 

Anyone can confess with their mouth, and Jesus himself said ""Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven," in Matthew 7:21a.   But he finishes that statement with "but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."

 

From what I have been reading, our lives will display the truth in our hearts.  How we live and what we pay homage to, is what we believe in our hearts.  Jesus said that we need to do God's will to be saved.  That doesn't necessarily mean we need to drop everything and move to Calcutta, ala Mother Teresa!  Let's see what else Jesus said about what it means to do God's will.

 

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me.

Matthew 16:24

 

Right there we see a clear instruction.  We need to reject sin (living to please ourselves, or other people) and take the tough path of following how Jesus lived.  How?  Fully dedicated to glorifying the Father, to sharing the Good News of salvation, of rejecting sin and making right choices, of loving all people in real and practical ways.

 

Even if you start out this way, many people struggle to maintain the eternal perspective that is required to keep on.  The apostle Paul likened the Christian walk to a race, for which me must remember the prize we are running for. 

 

Jesus told us that most people are heading on the wrong path, the easy path, which refers to where our sin nature would lead us if left without discipline.  Those who follow the narrow path, the way to Heaven are few.

 

Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold,

 

but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

Matthew 24:12-13

 

It's not enough to say you believe in Jesus.  If the weight of our sin is truly heavy, when facing the consequences of it, then the joy of redemption in Christ will compel us to seek God for new meaning and purpose in our life.  We should become increasingly aware of our sin, through reading the Bible and the Holy Spirit transforming us into Christ-likeness.  Most importantly, we will begin to grasp why we need God on a moment by moment basis, and why the Fear of God is about fearing being away from him, not being scared OF him.

 

Notice the words of Christ – "stand firm TO THE END".  Being a Christian once upon a time, and then walking away from him, the church, the relationship with God, scripture says that you are in the same jeopardy as the unbeliever.

 

When we get this in perspective, and genuinely pursue personal relationship with God, through prayer and reading his Word, we can have confidence in the day of judgement, that we are in right standing with Him.

 

It's never too late to make this connection.  The criminal who hung on a cross at Jesus's side was forgiven his sins and given a place in Heaven at the very last minute.  It's not about how long you have known that Jesus is the Son of God, it's about truly believing and offering the rest of your life to Him, in response to Him giving His life for you.

 

It's never too soon to make this connection.  We do not know the time or place of Christ's return, much less do we know when our time is up.  If you sense the need to prepare for the next phase of eternity, don't put it off.  If you would like support, please contact me – I would be glad to walk you through it.

Happy Mother's Day

I was so excited to get a picture of the whole family! Although we didn't get one with everyone looking, it's still an achievement!! 

That's Sean, Julie's husband looking at their baby, Addison.  And Derek, Kim's boyfriend to Emma's right.  Alex, Scott's brother is on my left.

Mother's Day

It's Mother's Day here in the U.S. and to help celebrate at church, Scott and I created a fun "photo booth" for all the family pictures women like to take at church on this Sunday.  We had a little fun testing it out on Friday night!!

Being a mother is one of the most challenging roles a person can have, but it's not a job, it's a privilege!  I'm so thankful to have the opportunity to love and pour into these two kids.  as much as they can drive me crazy at times, my frustration is more often borne out of my short-comings, than their deliberate antics!

I don't think I'll ever feel close to being capable of such an awesome responsibility, but that alone will keep me coming back to God, to ask Him to transform me, but also to be their strength where I can not.

Some say it takes a village to raise children.  I say it takes a King!!

Fearless

Emma and some of the kids from our church performed at a non-competitive arts show today.  They all did so great and I'm so proud of Emma!

Toby had his first "kid-pitch" baseball game on Saturday and he got to pitch first!

Checking for the catchers signal on the kind of pitch:

Ready stance:

Pitch:

His form was great, he struck a kid out (good thing) and hit one kid (bad thing!)!!

We walked past Emma's classroom last night and saw this on display - her painting of a poinsettia!

Emma presented her self-guided research project on geodes last night, for a small group of parents and kids.

She was excited to go first and share her project.