DAYS OF THUNDER

This clap of thunder. One I’ve never heard before. I’ve never heard a sound like this before in my life of 32 years. What was it? Where did it come from? What caused it? I believe in God, and all of His works. I believe in His power. But for some reason, this was different. I couldn’t help but notice that maybe this time, He was serious. Not like He wasn’t the past 3000 plus times. But this time, among so many others, was different.

Seven months ago, I was in Peru for the second time. This time, working aside a missionary friend from Canada. While I was there, he told me about the thunder in Peru. The thing is, in this part of Peru, thunder doesn’t happen. They don’t get rain and the same weather conditions we see here in North America. If I remember the story right, it was about mid-afternoon on a Saturday. Out of no where, with no warning, there were two or three individual loud claps of thunder. I think if I wanted to put this in a way we could understand, it would be like the single clap of thunder that makes us remember individual storms. The one clap that stands out from the rest. The loudest one that shakes our entire house, and at times, shakes us.

The next day at church, the pastor of a church we were able to visit, spent half an hour explaining to the people of his church what had happened the day before. Understandable I thought, considering most of the congregation had never heard a sound like this before. A sound so loud and so powerful, coming from an unknown source. I can only imagine the questions that would have been on their minds and in their hearts. What was that noise? Where did it come from? Was God trying to get our attention? Is God angry with us? Is God trying to say something important to us? Aside from their questions, what about the unchurched people of Peru? I can’t even fathom the questions and fears they may have had.

This day of thunder came to me in a different, but equally scary and question filled time November 2009. After yet another family Sunday lunch, sitting at the dinner table with my siblings and grandparents, my father announced that he had recently been diagnosed with non-hodgkins lymphoma. CRASH!! The clap of thunder meant for me. The questions immediately started to flow. Why? Why dad? He doesn’t smoke, swear, or drink. He’s an honest God fearing man. When I was still living at home with mom and dad it was nothing to catch dad reading his Bible every morning before work. Learning, studying, and growing His relationship with God. He has taught Sunday school for many, many years. His devotion to the children of his class is hard to compete with. Why him God? What did he do to deserve this? How long does he have? What damage are the drugs going to do to him to possibly shorten his life? How is his body going to react to the treatments? Will he be able to handle them? Or will they not be effective enough? Is this going to kill my father?

Too many families have had the experience of hearing those words come from the mouth of a loved one. It is practically impossible to find someone who hasn’t directly or indirectly been affected by this abomination; and with each and every diagnosis, comes different and varying responses and reactions. Immediately, the questions start to flow. Everyone has their own questions. Everyone has their own ways of coping with traumatic situations. Everyone does what they feel they need to do in order to get through their current circumstance.

That day, at my parent’s house, after the questions had stopped, after my dad told us what the doctors knew and didn’t know about his situation, we sat quietly around the table. Silence was only broken by quiet sobs. Some cried, and some just sat there in shock. We all were in shock. Why? Why him? Stunned. Confused.

Over the next few weeks, the questions didn’t go away. Well, at least not my questions to God. The doctors eventually were able to pinpoint where the cancer was, and were able to give us some idea of the treatment strategy. But as I said, my questions to God were still there. My questions had not only induced fear, but they began to spawn bitterness. During those weeks, I’m not sure the guys I work with had any clue what was really going on in my head, or my heart. At break times, I would sit quietly, mentally and spiritually exhausting all those questions. Trying relentlessly to find answers to some of the most difficult questions I’ve ever had. When I was working, I would lose myself mentally, emotionally, and spiritually while listening to songs on my mp3 player. I had it loaded with various Christian artists. While working, I was worshipping and praying. Asking God over and over again the questions that had plagued me since the day my dad gave us the news. Yes, I was angry at God and bitter with Him for choosing to allow my father to come down with this illness, but what choice did I have? What choice did I have but to turn to Him for answers, that at times, seemed like they would never come.

CRASH!! There it was again. Another clap of thunder. It was as if I was standing in a room with God having a conversation. I can’t remember the exact song, it may have been ‘Be Lifted Up’, but during that song is when I heard the words I will never forget. "Are you willing to sit back, and allow Me to be God?" The words were clear. The words were loud. Louder than the music emanating from my mp3 player. Louder than the thoughts and prayers coming from my heart and mind. Words that were clearer and more profound than any thought I could have on my own. But what did they mean? Who said it? Was it really God? Was it God’s way of comforting one of His children? Was it God’s way of challenging me? Testing me? To see if I could really give this to Him? Regardless of the outcome?

During one of the conversations, our family had with dad in the weeks that followed his announcement, dad, in a way I don’t think I’ve seen him before, told us that he was at peace with whatever the outcome of his sickness and treatments. He told us that he was at peace with God and with what God had given him to deal with. This was a measure of peace I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed before. Today’s message at church included the following passage. Philippians 4:6-7. ‘Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.’ (NLT) My dad, whether he realized it at the time or not, was living out these verses. These verses were being proven because of the obedience my father exhibited. His obedience to God.

"Are you willing to sit back, and allow Me to be God?" These words are with me to this day. They will hopefully be with me until the day I go Home. The peace demonstrated through my father, is one that I cannot fathom. I cannot understand it. Because I’m a hands on person, me sitting back and letting God do His thing is very hard at times. But, that is exactly what God has called me to do, with everything. It is exactly what God has called you to do, with everything. My question, God’s question...with whatever your dealing with...’Are you willing to sit back, and allow Him to be God?"

Oppression

In His name, Oppression Shall Cease...

What does this thought mean? Is it a promise? Is it a hoax? Is it something that we were told just to help us cope with the trials and struggles we deal with on a daily basis? Why does it seem like our oppression will never leave us? When I say ‘our’, I mean the world’s oppression. What draws the line that would seemingly label the word, ‘oppression’? Is oppression the constant wars, massacres, and genocides that have plagued this world since the beginning of time? Is oppression the life that has been created as a direct result of man’s refusal to change or refusal to accept other races, creeds, and lifestyles? Does oppression come in the form of slavery, or does it equal slavery? Could we not call the constant recycling of sin a form of slavery? What are we slaves to, or should I maybe ask, who are we slaves too?

Surely there are various forms of oppression that hover over certain locations of the world. That would be the big picture. But there is also oppression that hovers over each and every person. We all know about the oppression that plagues multiple countries, states, and provinces. It comes in the form of slavery, starvation, war, disease, human trafficking, so called ‘honour killings’, and the list goes on. I will also recognize the forms of oppression that we deal with that we have little or no control over. Earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, and hurricanes, just to name a few. But is there an oppression that enslaves us, as individuals?

Off the top of my head I almost feel overwhelmed by the amount of individual thorns that we daily try to pluck from our sides. Depression, guilt, lust, lies, debt, wayward minds, malice, hatred, abuse (in all forms), pornography, violence, gossip. Those are just a few of the many, many thorns we all have in one shape or another. What caused them? Why do we have them? How can we rid ourselves of them? Will we ever find peace? Will we ever truly be free from this life of oppression? There has got to be a way. There has got to be an answer to all that ails us.

Obviously the only answer and cause of all this oppression is sin and the fall of man. Or at least that is what the Bible would have us believe. Is the Bible trying to convince us, or are we plugging our ears so we don’t need to listen and closing our eyes so we don’t have to see that the truth is right before us? I have lost count how many times the evil one has attempted to get me to believe that we just exist. After this life, that is it. We die, we get buried. No afterlife. No heaven, no hell. We just die. We are not here for any greater purpose. I would venture to say that if we all fell into the trap of listening to his lies, we would all be walking around aimlessly. With no souls. With no spirit. Only looking out for ourselves, completely ignoring the world around us. We would in fact be like zombies. But just maybe the Bible’s claims regarding sin and the fall of man is starting to be overshadowed by God’s grace and love in a different light, and I do mean light. All over the world there are agencies and people working towards a better tomorrow. Some in their own initiative, but some of those, under God’s initiative. Following God to the death. Being and emulating Jesus to the lost, the broken, and the dying.

Why is it at this time of year, Christmas time, when most of the world is rushing around, buying gifts and presents for each other and themselves, when we listen to some of the Christmas carols, we hear and sing words that would cause us to think of God’s love for our world. In the song ‘O Holy Night’, one of the very powerful lyrics is, ‘In His name oppression shall cease’. Is this lyric there to help us ‘reset’ our goals? Maybe to help us refocus at a time when we are so preoccupied with the business of the season. We Spend so much time on presents, parties, food, and getting what we want, we forget what Christmas is truly about.

Every year at this time, I dread leaving the house. Everyone is so busy getting things in order for the sake of having the ‘perfect christmas’, that they rarely take time to really appreciate it. It is always me, me, me, and get the heck out of my way or I’m gonna deck ya! What can we as believers do to help restore the faith we follow? We sing Christmas carols at home and at church, to help us remember what Christmas is really about. The coming of Jesus, our Saviour, the world’s Saviour. But there is something about the carols that I struggle with. Why is it that people in the world, who are not Christ Followers, choose to sing them also? Are they just nice songs that help put people in the ‘Christmas mood’? Do others sing them because they help them relax or to forget about life’s troubles? Are Christmas carols just other songs that Hollywood has taken and romanticized to help make the movies more homely? Or do they sing the Christmas carols because they want to believe in a Saviour? Or maybe they do believe in a Saviour but they only want to show it when it is the easiest? Around Christmas time when the majority of ‘Christian’ North America is in the Christmas spirit. What a minute, I almost forgot; are we as Believers guilty of this as well? Have we forgotten to show the world what Christmas is really about? Are we also guilty of living in a materialistic way? Sure, maybe Christ is in our thoughts often, but what do we do to express his love for the world? To show it? To live it?

Luke 4:18-19 (NLT)

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free.

And that the time of the Lord's favour has come."

MARRIAGE: A GIFT, OR A TARGET?

The ripple effect. We’ve all seen it. Most of us have thrown a rock or a pebble in a lake. We’ve watched the waves pushing out from the centre of impact, where the rock first hit the surface of the still water. The rock hits, causing a seemingly endless rush of waves outward. Pushing and distorting the calm waters around it. Sometimes it seems like the waves never end. The size of the rock directly affects the number of ripples and the size of the waves.

This note is for my married friends, for those who will marry soon, or for anyone whoever plans to marry. Marriage is a gift. God gave this gift to us with the idea of two people giving themselves to each other. In every way. It is God’s way of allowing us to express our passions, happiness, hurts, and struggles with the one person He has set before us. The person who is to be our confidant. Someone who commits to be there, regardless of life’s issues. As the phrase goes, ‘in good times and bad, in sickness and health, for richer or poorer, till death due us part’. What a gift. What a blessing. The single greatest gift besides God sending His only Son to die for us. Earthly marriage is just a sample of the marriage that we will have once we are taken to heaven with Him. We are His bride. Waiting to be carried across the threshold of Heaven’s gate. The single most amazing event of our life.

With that said, when a marriage is working the way God intended, the spiritual growth possibilities are endless. The example we are able to share with our kids, or the example we are able to give our friend about to be married; or like the couple who has been married for many years, the example of love, patience, and selflessness, that so many other younger couples, my wife and I included, can learn from. When our kids see their parents loving each other and being each others strength, it shows them what God’s love truly looks like on a tangible level. No, it’s not the extent of God’s love, but it is a great view.

When our kids and friends see the positive events in our marriage, it serves as encouragement to them. Encouragement to live for God. To see what God has given their parents or their friends. When a marriage is working the way God intends it to, many other things begin to happen. When others see what God is doing in our lives, it presents multiple opportunities and desires for one to seek God further. Hence, the ripple effect. The positive influence of a God lead marriage has endless waves. It begins to implant an idea that makes them want more from God. What that looks like, well, that picture is enormous. Only God can see the hole view. We can only view the smaller parts that we see day to day. The daily choices to live for God can lead them into God events for years to come. Allowing them to experience God in so many different ways and in so many different places. The end result of this, we will not know until He calls us home. Until the day we cross the threshold of Heaven’s gate. But what we can see, are the little ways God moves in their live’s. After all, it is up to our children to carry the Cross to the next generation; a task that is much easier for them to do, if they are given a strong foundation to start from.

All that is just a small idea of the ripple effect of a healthy marriage. Of course, with some reservations. Not all healthy marriages produce children who make good choices. It is up to each child and every individual person to choose to live for Him. Those are the choices that are daily made or daily forsaken. With that said, what about those who choose to daily forsake the choice to live for God? Why do they do it? I could speculate, but there are far to many reasons, influences, or excuses to really be able to say for sure. The only sure thing, is that where there is a ‘healthy’ marriage, or a couple who choose to live for God, there is a huge target. We have a common enemy. This is not a new concept. This enemy has lived longer than any of us. He has had years to attempt to ‘perfect’ his attack. His deviation of marriage. His sabotage.

Satan works night and day to tear apart what God has brought together. His lies and deceit have run their course in our world from the beginning of time. Starting with Adam and Eve. The day the world fell. His work of constantly feeding lies to the children of God. The children that have already been freed from his curse. Unfortunately, God’s children, myself included, tend to forget that we are free from this curse. The curse that is on our earth. As a result, among many other issues, marriages around the world are constantly under attack. I think because of history, Satan knows when a marriage fails, many other repercussions follow. Kids become bitter, hateful, hurt, and shamed. All of which directly influence their decisions to live for God. It may not completely deter them, but it is definitely a road block to growth and to seeing what God really wants to do with them.

In the past few years, my wife and I have witnessed marriage after marriage being attacked and targeted. Martial issues are not a new problem. They have plagued our world since creation. The most prominent marriage issue I remember from the Bible was the affair between David and Bathsheba. David and Bathsheba’s affair was just one example in the Bible of a couple that believed the lies of the enemy. The Bible says that David was a man after God’s own heart. Take a minute and think about what God could have done with/through him if that had never happened. Yes, because of their affair, we are given examples of God’s mercy, love, and forgiveness that we may not have otherwise, but what if it had just never happened? What would David’s reign as king have looked like? How could it have been different? He bought into the lies of the enemy, and his entire kingdom suffered because of it. Again, the ripple effect. These examples are lived over and over again in society today. Why is it though, that seemingly more and more believers are buying into the deceit and manipulation of an enemy that has already been conquered?

This entire piece is being written because within the past year and a bit, my eyes have been opened to a problem that is plaguing our churches. A problem that is there, but it is still so taboo. By why? I am starting to loose count of how many couples, good couples, with good intentions, who are struggling in their marriages. My wife and I have certainly dealt with, and continue to deal with some issues, that only because of God’s grace, we have survived. In our small, private lives, we have become aware of a number of couples who have and are struggling to survive and to see God’s fulness in their marriage. If this is what we are seeing, what aren’t we seeing? We are only two people. But in our church alone there are many couples. Many couples whose lives we don’t see into. I realize that not everyone has the same difficulties, but we all fight. We all have events in life that challenge our faith and our marriages. I also realize that not everyone is comfortable wearing their marital problems on their shoulder; I would dare say that some problems shouldn’t be worn on the shoulder, but should be dealt with in the privacy of a counsellor’s office, or a pastor’s office. But I wonder, if we were more open about our struggles and battles, what could we do for each other? What could God do with couples that were willing to ‘let it all out’?

To my friends, and you know who you are, that right now are struggling in your marriage, I embrace you. I love you. I’m sorry you are in pain. I stand beside you and behind you. I can tell you from my own personal experience that nothing, absolutely nothing, no sin, no hurt, no pain, can keep you from what God truly wants for you. I am still to this day, and to the day I die searching for what God truly wants for me and my wife. If I stop looking, if I sit down and stop fighting to make my marriage what it should be, then the enemy has won. My son and unborn baby will suffer. My family will suffer. My church will suffer. No, I will not fight for the things of this earth. That is just futile. But when I know that my battles today directly or indirectly influence the path of my son and unborn child, I recognize that I have no choice. I need to keep moving forward. You need to keep moving forward. After all, God sent His only Son, to DIE for us. Don’t we at least owe Him this? To keep fighting for Him?

One last note. I truly believe that something on a God scale is happening in our world, and our enemy recognizes it. Because of this, he is and will continue to attack and deter us in anyway possible. I believe our world is on the verge of a new horizon. A world revival. It has already started in countries most of us have never been to, and will never go. God wants to revive North American believers. We have become stagnant, apathetic, and scared to the point that we can’t feel anymore. I have to wonder, I can’t help but wonder, what are you willing to allow God to do, in order to make your marriage what it needs to be and what it should be? What are you willing to do, in order to see what God meant your marriage to be from the beginning, or in order to experience what God wants to do in our world? It could be painful. It could be dangerous. It could be awesome!!

REDEMPTION-Peruvian Style

Well, we are coming into our last few days of our missionary support trip in Peru, and all I can say is, amazing. I continue to struggle with a lot of the things I've witnessed again and the differences in culture as compared to what I've grown up in. I won't say that it has been culture shock, because nothing is really new to me this time around. What I will say is that compared to my last trip down here, I have witnessed many different God movements that I would not have necessarily noticed last time. To see 'the Oasis' completed, compared to last time when it was only about half way finished, was an emotional experience in itself. To witness first hand what can be done when God's people unite their hearts and minds to one purpose. Serving God in whatever form that comes. To see a school/care center that is fully functional when only a few years before, was just a large plot of land that otherwise would be the home of a people desperate to survive on minimal amounts of food and minimal income. Something that most North Americans will never and have never experienced.

Today we went to a church in Manchay, full of the people that directly surround it. People that have so little, except that by God's loving hand of mercy and kindness, have everything at the same time. These same people would not have a place to worship together like this if it was not for the love of God in the hearts and souls of thousands of Christians who have answered to God's voice. I can't describe it. I didn't even get any pictures to show you. Maybe on purpose, maybe by accident, maybe by God's prompting not to take my camera. If you want to see it, maybe you should go down there and witness it for yourself. No words alone can or ever will give you a clear enough picture to see what I've seen, what I've witnessed here. To see a people that so genuinely love God and daily rely on Him for provision. Yes, thats right, daily!!

I strongly feel that the majority of North American christians have forgotten what is it like to 'daily' rely on God's provision. Most of us have jobs that help to pay our bills, put a house over our heads, and food on our plates. Our jobs also pay a lot more over all than most of the jobs here in Peru. Adults, teenagers, children all work together here to afford food for their families. My four year old son has no idea what work is. He won't know the first thing about selling a little toy, tricket, or candy on the street. I pray that he won't know what that type of work is until he is a lot older. He needs to be able to be a kid first. Yesterday in downtown Lima, a nine year old boy was trying so desperately to sell me candy or toys I didn't want or need. He just wanted to make that one sale and then move on. I could have bought something from him. I could have helped him and his family out by purchasing a chocolate bar, but would that have really solved his problems? Even if he had an idea of what would permentantly solve his problems, would that really have been the answer he was looking for?

Over the past few years since my last trip down here, I have struggled many times to see where in the world God's hand of love and mercy has been. I get frustrated, angry, and discouraged when I hear of and see the oppression of our world. I wonder at times where God is. Why He seemingly isn't doing what He promises in His word. The Bible says that He takes care of the sparrows so He will definitely take care of His children if we trust Him to, but why does it seem that more people are starving and dying? Or why does it seem as if more people are suffering oppression due to a lack of proper governing over their countries? Why does this all seem to be happening in such an uncontrollable way? What more can be done? What aren't we doing that we should be doing? Where is God when the world needs Him the most?!

Then I saw Him. I saw the results of His hands. The results of His children being obedient to his voice. I saw my/our brothers and sisters in Christ worshipping Him. The same God we worship and serve. I am not saying that I will never struggle with frustration, anger, and discouragement again, but what I'm saying instead, is that today, along with other days on this trip, God has graciously and freely revealed to me what is it that He has been doing all along. These little pockets of Light are popping up all over the oppressed world we live in. Yes, the world is a very dark place and it doesn't take a genius to see it. Satan and his servants have a strong grip on our world. I think it is very easy for someone to become overwhelmed with the potentially impossible task our God has set out for us; but the idea of trusting God and His sovereignty has been confirmed over and over again to me this time. He allowed/called me to come on this trip so He could show me first hand the fruits of our labour.

All this being said, I can't tell you what to do. I can't force you to do it. Only God can prompt you. If you have felt convicted by something God has inspired me to say in this note, please, don't hesitate to act on it. God's not going to call you or convict you to do something and then not be there with you the hole way along. He doesn't do that. I have been forced to call on God for strenght and help numerous times in the past couple weeks, and I know that I will only have to call on Him more. This is the way He desires us to be. To constantly be in a position that we will always need Him and His hands of love and mercy. The same way that many people in a poverty stricken Peru are forced to call out to Him daily for help.

Oh yeah, the rest of the story in regards to the nine year old boy. Please see the purpose behind me telling you this portion of the story, because I do not intend in any way to lift myself up. It was only done because of the love, grace, and mercy God has shown me. I took the boy into the restaurant and bought him dinner; immediately after receiving his dinner, he quietly thanked me and took his meal out to his family. Once there he began to share a meal meant for one with his family of at least four. What an example this child set for me. What an example this child sets for all of us who have more than we need.

Revival Part II or Maybe Part I, Just With More Passion

The more I live and experience our world in the way God meant for us, from the beginning of time, I see and realize my own faults and errors. What I’m guilty of, what I’m constantly finding myself dealing with, are the lies and hopes of an evil one. The hopes that I will not continue to seek God to His fulness and in any way express His love for our world. The problem is, is that if I chose to turn a blind eye to the problems and sins that plague our world, and yes, my own life, I would go insane. Like most guys, I’m a fixer. When I see a problem, I want to fix it, and yes, at times, at any cost. I’m still learning the fine line between passion for God’s work and responsibility to the life that God have gifted me with. Namely, my family. My wife, my son. In the words of the band Casting Crowns, in their song, Somewhere in the Middle, "...reckless abandon, wrapped in common sense." Knowing that there is a world out there jam packed with hurting and dying people, wishing that at the drop of a hat, I could leave everything behind and go and just let God use me to heal our world. Before you read to much into that statement, I should inform you, I have no intention of leaving my family to do God’s work, because that would be extremely counter-productive. God called me to be a husband and a father, and to that, I am dedicated. To be His hands and arms of love to my family first.

We as believers are called to leave everything behind and to be Jesus to the world at whatever cost, even if it means persecution in the form of death. After all, we all know that Jesus died on the cross, not because He did anything wrong. The only thing He was ever guilty of, was loving too much. Loving a world that would otherwise be hopeless. My sins helped put Him there. The sins of the world, as a whole, put Him there.

All that being said, isn’t there something we are missing? For the past few decades, we believers in North America have been conducting our ‘Christian lives’ in the same manner, thinking that as long as we gather together on Sunday, or in a small group, or down at the homeless shelter, that we are doing all we can. I feed the hungry, I studied the Word with some close friends in the comfort of my house, with my Lennox furnace to keep me warm, I’ve done my part. But have we? Have we done it in the right spirit? I Peter 2 1-3 writes, "So get rid of all evil behaviour. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech. Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness." This evil behaviour is not just limited to ‘deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech.’ It also includes so many other sins, such as lust, adultery, hatred, and that list just goes on. My question, do you lose sleep trying to figure out how your going to make your next mortgage payment? Do you lose sleep trying to figure out where tomorrow’s supper is going to come from? Do wonder what is going to happen to your pension? Are you going to have enough money stored up to take care of you and your family during this financially tough time? Or do you lose sleep trying to figure out how you can better serve the world, to better serve God? We are told not to worry about where our next meal is coming from. The Bible has many examples. I think it starts with the Israelites in the desert. God commands them to only collect the food they need for the day. Not for the week. Exodus 16:4. Philippians 4:19 clearly states, "And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Jesus Christ." There are so many other examples in the Bible of God providing for His children, and as for myself, I know that God has provided for me and my family over and over again. I would dare say that if we all thought about the provision of God, we could all name a time or many times when He has been our fill. Our Provider. My question is, if He has done so much for us, then don’t you think we owe it to Him to seek His face in every part of our life? All this proof, and I not even mentioning the Cross right now! He did that for us and still we are to busy to say thanks! We do our ‘penance’ on Sundays, or before a meal, but that is were it stays.

I agree whole hearted that we need to be in church on Sundays, helping in the homeless shelters, and attending small groups, but have we limited God’s power to those events? Have we forgotten that He is the very God that brought Jesus back to life after the Cross? The very God that gave Jesus the power to heal the blind man, or the power to raise Lazarus. The God that gave Peter the power to heal the lame man at the temple gates.

In 2006, I had the privilege of going to Peru. An experience I will never forget. Seeing children so happy to have one soccer ball. There were over 20 kids. They ran and played around us as we helped construct their school/daycare center. Kids here in North America get crabby because they don’t have the right Ipod or the right clothing on. The need to fit in has completely overtaken the need to just have clothing on their backs and food on their plate. Clothing and food are just assumed. Completely taken advantage of. Take them to a mostly undeveloped country like Peru and they would never last. Even I, as a grown adult, I was challenged and extremely humbled by the adults in Peru. Here in North America, at least in my own family, it is normal to get all of my weeks groceries in one visit to the store. In Peru, they don’t have that opportunity. They don’t make enough to be able to afford that much food, not to mention to afford a fridge or freezer to store that food. They don’t have any choice but to trust that God will provide for them, day after day. I can see that happening here someday very soon in North America. In our current economic situation, there will be many believers who will be forced to look to God for help. There will also be many unbelievers who will ‘pray’ that God will help them.

With all that is and will happen in the near future, now more then ever, we believers will be called to help. We will have so many more opportunities to serve, to love, and to be Jesus to our world. My biggest concern, is that if right now, we are not seeking God and His fulness, and ways to be Jesus to the world, in a time that already is looking bleak, how will we be able to help the needy when the time really comes?

In various parts of the world, there are huge, major spiritual revivals happening. God is making His presence known in places we could never imagine. Fellow believers, brothers and sisters, are being persecuted and tested in ways that we in North America could not even imagine, and in those areas of the world the Word of God is growing. As a result of this persecution, more and more people, just like you and me are being converted, seeing the love that Jesus displayed. In China, there are hidden colonies, in Africa the Muslims are beings converted, and at a cost that is their life! Would you give your life for God? Would you give your families’ life for God? If we are to have the strength to do this, if we have any hope of being able to stand in the face of persecution and death, we need to be searching God. To figure out who He really is. To figure out what His true plan was and is. This is the only way we will survive the coming persecution. We have become so comfortable in our ‘free culture’ that is North America, that I fear we will not have what it takes to stand up to the persecution that we could face any day now. We have just grown to comfortable.

Somehow we need to figure out how to better equip ourselves. To know the Word, and to know God, and how Jesus would have lived. A friend and colleague of mine, Carl Lily, and I were talking this past week regarding the apathy of North American Christians. With love and fear, we talked about how comfortable people have become. Some believers who are generally good people, and generally have a good relationship with God, limit their view on God. Carl gave this analogy. It would be like a man going ice fishing. He goes out into the middle of this huge lake. He sets up his fishing hut, and drills his hole into the 12 inch thick ice. After completing this, he drops his line in the lake. Into that one hole. One after another, he gets one fish at a time. Thinking he is having a great fishing day, he continues on his challenge to catch as many fish as he can. The problem is, is that the lake, like God, is huge. How can he possibly have his best fishing experience with just one hole? Likewise, how can we have our best experience with God with just one venue to experience Him? Whether it’s church, or whether it’s our work with the homeless, as soon as we leave church or the shelter, we should be looking forward to another encounter in which we can demonstrate God’s love, to demonstrate Christ to the world.

With all this being said, in the spirit of revival, I truly believe that there is going to a be major revival in North America. In some parts of North America it has already started. In some places, we are just comfortable and happy with what we think God has given us as believers. The problem is that we let our experiences with God stay between us and God. We don’t share them with the lost. We don’t shared them with the hurting believers. When we figure out who Jesus really was, and what He was really trying to do here on earth, in our human form, then and only then, will we begin to see revival. The same revival and life that has been rising up all over the world, except for most of North America.

REVIVAL

What does a revived heart look like? According to Webster’s New World Dictionary the word revive means, "to return to life or consciousness, or to come or bring back into use, attention, or popularity." As I look back at the moments in my own life, were I thought God had revived my heart, my spirit, I now begin to wonder if I was ever really ‘revived’. As I look at my own life, and wonder what God’s intentions for me are, I find it extremely difficult to not feel overwhelmed by the opportunities He places in my path. It may not be news for you, but when we talk about God’s will for our life, God’s will isn’t a physical place. It isn’t whether or not we should have a hamburger for lunch, or take a healthier route, and go for the salad. To find God’s will for our life we simply need to constantly pursue a greater understanding of His love.
When we go to church on a Sunday morning, how can we sit there, sing a few songs, listen to the message, and then go home as if nothing happened? I realize we are ways in God’s presence, but on a Sunday morning or evening, when we sing, or when we listen to His word being spoken by our ministers, for some dumb reason, we feel closer to God. We feel as if some how we are doing our part by being in church. I am guilty of this as well. While the pastor is speaking, I will follow along with him as he reads from God’s word, and as I’m doing that, a different verse will catch my eye. I will then spend the next 10 minutes reading up on something that has nothing to do with what the pastor is speaking on, just because I am too lazy to do my devotions at home, by myself or in my own time. After the service is over, we stick around, have our little conversations with our closer friends, or in some bizarre circumstances, we might actually reach out to a new person, and then we get in the car, and go for a family dinner or out for lunch. Somewhere between the message and the door, we lose our focus. The focus that seemingly gets a boost that lasts only for a moment. It’s not that we’ve forgotten who we are, and that we are believers, but somehow we forget to show the world. Or maybe to take what we believe and forget to put it into action. Again, I am guilty of this as well. We might get behind the wheel of our car and become impatient with the 80 year old driver in front of us, and make ever attempt to get around him, no matter what. What we don’t realize is that he just saw us drive out of the church parking lot. Based on that little incident, no wonder the world thinks we’re hypocrites. I’m not even talking about everything else we do that the world sees. We get so caught up in our own lives that we totally miss God’s purpose for us in this short time we have on earth. After all, are we not God’s hands, feet, and arms?

Getting back to the revived heart. What should it look like? It can’t be as easy as just sitting in church on Sunday and being nice to a few people throughout the week can it? Does it actually go deeper then this? I would dare say yes. We may help out in a Sunday school class, or help with the offering, or the nursery, or even the worship service, and that is all great. I fully believe that we need to be involved in some aspect. But is merely giving a couple hours each week, to ‘further His cause’, enough? Or should we constantly be seeking ways in which we can further his cause. Maybe constantly be looking for situations to input ourselves, to make ourselves available.

This brings me to my first question. Where is your passion? I think on a large scale, we as ‘believers’ have lost our passion, as well as our longing to truly know God, and to be His body here on earth. Each of us has at least one or two gifts that God has given us to use; and I realize that a lot of us use them to some degree. But what gifts do we have that we aren’t using, because we are afraid of where they could take us? Or what they could do to us? One of the reasons I believe we are not using some of our gifts and have lost our passion, is because we have become so involved in the culture of the world, by putting our desires before God’s.
Right now I’m attempting to read a book written by Shane Claiborne titled The Irresistible Revolution. In one of the chapters, he talks about how "Jesus wrecked his life". That may sound a little out there. After all, God isn’t out to ruin our lives. What Shane is referring to is that if we would just allow God to truly run our lives and to actually believe and do everything the Bible commands, our lives would be turned upside down. We in North America have grown so accustom to having everything we want, and having it now. We put our materialistic desires before God’s desires. How is it that we put our evening television watching ahead of His Word? Maybe we spend 5 minutes reading at family devotions, or 5 minutes reading His word, and call that our personal devotions, but then, for the next hour or two, we put down the Word and turn on the TV, or the internet, or maybe pick up a different book, not related to God at all. If we say we are Believers, if we say we don’t have any idols, then why have the things of our world’s culture taken precedence over God? I am not saying that everything we view and read is bad for us, but is it really that good for us? Over the past few years I have become somewhat ‘addicted’ to certain television programs. Not that they are necessarily bad for me, but they certainly haven’t helped me to further God’s will for our world. In all the time I spend watching these shows, how much time could I have spent reading God’s Word and praying? There are so many resources out there for expanding our relationship with God, and yet I would rather watch a show on tv that will do absolutely nothing to further God’s work. It will do nothing to help me become more like Christ. A lot of these shows have a running story, so that each show is connected to each other. Maybe making us feel that if we miss a show we will be left behind. We grow so attached, and yes, in some cases addicted to those shows. That is what the television companies want. To keep up their ratings, so they can make lots of money. But further than that, that is what Satan wants too. He wants us to be so involved in the false reality of television, that we neglect the Word. That we neglect our relationships with God. That we neglect God. And then we say we have no idols.

This brings me to my second question. Where is your focus? What are you truly seeking from this life? Do we really want God’s will to be our will? Maybe we pray the Lord’s prayer, ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. MAY YOUR WILL BE DONE ON EARTH, AS IT IS IN HEAVEN. Give us today the food we need, and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one,’ Matthew 6: 9-13. (NLT) If we pray this, do we mean it? Do we really want to follow God’s will? If so, are we doing EVERYTHING we can to do that?