At the end of chapter 6 in the book the author shares an analogy of how our life of faith ought to be like. I thought I would share it.
" Think for a moment of your life as a house with many rooms. Your faith cannot be just one more room in the house, equal with your job, your marriage, your political affiliation, or your hobbies. No, your faith must be like the very air you breathe, in every room of the house. It must permeate not just your "Sunday worship," or even your vocation and your behavior at home, but also your dealings with everyone around you- including the poor. That's how deep the commitment must be.
So What does God expect of you then? Everything."
A few paragraphs earlier he is discussing the passage in James that speaks of being a doer of the Word not just a hearer and he said this.
" You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that- and shudder. (part of James chapter 2)
Here James stated in black and white that belief is not enough. It must be accompanied by faith demonstrated by actions. My former pastor and good friend Gary Gulbranson once said, "It's not what you believe that counts; it's what you believe enough to do." I think James would have liked Gary's understanding of the gospel in action. "
Friday, July 31, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
The whole gospel in action
In chapter 5 the author shares this gripping account of a Cambodian Pastor and his church. It speaks for itself.
"We had traveled for some hours up the Mekong River in a wooden boat. Our purpose was to visit the pastor of a small house church, a man named Roth Ourng. Pastor Ourng was a small man with a big smile. He eagerly bade us to climb the stairs to his small bamboo house on stilts. Pastor Ourng's day job was rice farming, but he pastored a small church of 83 members that he had started a few years back. His congregation met in his tiny home each Sunday morning to worship.
As we sat with Pastor Ourng, we talked about his community, his congregation, and farming. He was eager to know about churches in the United States and whether we had Bible commentaries and study guides that helped us understand Scripture. His only book was a Bible in the Khmer language, a treasure to him. "But" he said, "this is a difficult book, and I would love to have other books to help me understand it." I realized that in comparison, I lived in a nation literally drowning in Christian books, commentaries, and resources.
Pastor Ourng showed us the handmade two-stringed musical instrument that served as his church's "orchestra" For a wedding or special celebration, he said, his church would send runners to two different churches, 30 miles in each direction to borrow their guitars. Then the next day they would run them back. This made me think of my own church's million-dollar pipe organ.
After a while I asked him, "Pastor, living in a country that is more than 90 percent Buddhist, how did you come to be a Christian?" The story he told me was confirmation of the power of the gospel in action.
"Five years ago," he said. "World Vision came to our community and began to work. I was suspicious of these outsiders to our community and was convinced that they had their own hidden agenda. You see, in Cambodia, since the genocide by the Klmer Rouge, we are always distrustful of strangers. But these people from World Vision [also Cambodians] set up a TB clinic to care for those suffering from TB. They improved the schools our children attended, and they taught better agricultural methods to the farmers to improve our yields. But I was still suspicious and even angry, convinced that they were up to no good. Why would these strangers help us? I thought.
"One day I decided to confront them, and I went to the World Vision leader and demanded to know why they were here. His answer took me by surprise. He said, "We are followers of Jesus Christ, and we are commanded to love our neighbors as ourselves. We are here to show you that God loves you."
"I said in response, "Who is this Jesus Christ that you talk about?"
"The man went and got me this Bible that you see here today and gave it to me. He told me that everything about Jesus was in this book. That night I went home and read the book of Genesis. I was truly amazed because in this Genesis I met the God I had wondered about all of my life. I met here the God who created heaven and earth, the Maker of the universe. The next morning I ran back and told him what I had read but said that I still did not know that Jesus he talks about. He told me he would take me to the city to meet with a Christian pastor that would explain these things to me. Some weeks later he took me and my friend to meet the pastor. He opened his Bible and read to us many passages about Jesus and explained the good news of salvation. At the end, he asked if we wanted to become disciples of Jesus and commit our lives to Him. We both said yes and that day committed to follow Christ as our Savior."
I was overwhelmed by this man's story. His encounter with Christ began with Christians who came to serve the poor--nursing the sick, educating the children, and helping increase food for the hungry. So compelling was this service that it provoked questions in the mind of a curious man: Why are you here? Why are you helping us? The answer to these questions was the gospel, the good news.
"Pastor, that is a wonderful story," I said. "Now, what about the eighty-three peoople who worship at your church; how did they come to follow Jesus?" "I was so excited to learn about Jesus," he said, "that I had to share this good news with everyone I knew. These eighty-three, they are my little flock."
Wow. There, in a bamboo house in Cambodia, I heard echoes of the Great Commission: "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you" (Matt. 28:19-20). And I knew I had just witnessed the whole gospel--in action.
"We had traveled for some hours up the Mekong River in a wooden boat. Our purpose was to visit the pastor of a small house church, a man named Roth Ourng. Pastor Ourng was a small man with a big smile. He eagerly bade us to climb the stairs to his small bamboo house on stilts. Pastor Ourng's day job was rice farming, but he pastored a small church of 83 members that he had started a few years back. His congregation met in his tiny home each Sunday morning to worship.
As we sat with Pastor Ourng, we talked about his community, his congregation, and farming. He was eager to know about churches in the United States and whether we had Bible commentaries and study guides that helped us understand Scripture. His only book was a Bible in the Khmer language, a treasure to him. "But" he said, "this is a difficult book, and I would love to have other books to help me understand it." I realized that in comparison, I lived in a nation literally drowning in Christian books, commentaries, and resources.
Pastor Ourng showed us the handmade two-stringed musical instrument that served as his church's "orchestra" For a wedding or special celebration, he said, his church would send runners to two different churches, 30 miles in each direction to borrow their guitars. Then the next day they would run them back. This made me think of my own church's million-dollar pipe organ.
After a while I asked him, "Pastor, living in a country that is more than 90 percent Buddhist, how did you come to be a Christian?" The story he told me was confirmation of the power of the gospel in action.
"Five years ago," he said. "World Vision came to our community and began to work. I was suspicious of these outsiders to our community and was convinced that they had their own hidden agenda. You see, in Cambodia, since the genocide by the Klmer Rouge, we are always distrustful of strangers. But these people from World Vision [also Cambodians] set up a TB clinic to care for those suffering from TB. They improved the schools our children attended, and they taught better agricultural methods to the farmers to improve our yields. But I was still suspicious and even angry, convinced that they were up to no good. Why would these strangers help us? I thought.
"One day I decided to confront them, and I went to the World Vision leader and demanded to know why they were here. His answer took me by surprise. He said, "We are followers of Jesus Christ, and we are commanded to love our neighbors as ourselves. We are here to show you that God loves you."
"I said in response, "Who is this Jesus Christ that you talk about?"
"The man went and got me this Bible that you see here today and gave it to me. He told me that everything about Jesus was in this book. That night I went home and read the book of Genesis. I was truly amazed because in this Genesis I met the God I had wondered about all of my life. I met here the God who created heaven and earth, the Maker of the universe. The next morning I ran back and told him what I had read but said that I still did not know that Jesus he talks about. He told me he would take me to the city to meet with a Christian pastor that would explain these things to me. Some weeks later he took me and my friend to meet the pastor. He opened his Bible and read to us many passages about Jesus and explained the good news of salvation. At the end, he asked if we wanted to become disciples of Jesus and commit our lives to Him. We both said yes and that day committed to follow Christ as our Savior."
I was overwhelmed by this man's story. His encounter with Christ began with Christians who came to serve the poor--nursing the sick, educating the children, and helping increase food for the hungry. So compelling was this service that it provoked questions in the mind of a curious man: Why are you here? Why are you helping us? The answer to these questions was the gospel, the good news.
"Pastor, that is a wonderful story," I said. "Now, what about the eighty-three peoople who worship at your church; how did they come to follow Jesus?" "I was so excited to learn about Jesus," he said, "that I had to share this good news with everyone I knew. These eighty-three, they are my little flock."
Wow. There, in a bamboo house in Cambodia, I heard echoes of the Great Commission: "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you" (Matt. 28:19-20). And I knew I had just witnessed the whole gospel--in action.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Quotes from the book
In the book there are many quotes at the beginning of the chapters all throughout, I thought I would just share many of them that I liked in no particular order.
Christ has no body on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which Christ's compassion for the world is to look out; yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good; and yours are the hands with which He is to bless us now. Saint Teresa of Avila
Kindness has converted more sinners than zeal, eloquence, or learning.
Frederick W. Faber
The true gospel is a call to self-denial. It is not a call to self-fulfillment.
John Macarthur
The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet. Frederick Buechner
Growth demands a temporary surrender of security. Gail Sheehy
Hell will be full of people who thought highly of the Sermon on the Mount. You must do more than that. You must obey it and take action. John Macarthur
In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I- I took the one less traveled by. And that has made all the difference. Robert Frost
A holy life will produce the deepest impression. Lighthouses blow no horns; they only shine. D. L. Moody
If God only used perfect people, nothing would get done. God will use anybody if you're available. Rick Warren
I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world. Mother Teresa
Christianity is flourishing wonderfully among the poor and the persecuted while it atrophies among the rich and secure. Philip Jenkins
Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it. Helen Keller
We are continually faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems. John W. Gardner
He who is dying of hunger must be fed rather than taught. Saint Thomas Aquinas
Sometimes I would like to ask God why He allows poverty, suffering, and injustice when he could do something about it. Well, why don't you ask Him? Because I'm afraid He would ask me the same question. Anonymous
We've drifted away from being fishers of men to being keepers of the aquarium.
Paul Harvey
We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Mankind wants glory. We want health. We want wealth. We want happiness. We want all our felt needs met, all our little human itches scratched. We want a painless life. We want the crown without the cross. We want the gain without the pain. We want the words of Christ's salvation to be easy. John Macarthur
I love the recklessness of faith. First you leap and then you grow wings.
William Sloane Coffin
Action springs not from thought, but from a readiness for responsibility.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ. Mohandas Gandhi
A church that lives within its four walls is no church at all.
Pastor Morgan Chilulu
If you think you are too small to make a difference, try spending the night in a closed room with a mosquito. African Saying
Use what talents you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best. Henry Van Dyke
Make your life a mission- not an intermission. Arnold Glasgow
The one who says it can't be done should get out of the way of the one who is doing it. Chinese Proverb
We can do no great things, only small things with great love. Mother Teresa
Christ has no body on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which Christ's compassion for the world is to look out; yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good; and yours are the hands with which He is to bless us now. Saint Teresa of Avila
Kindness has converted more sinners than zeal, eloquence, or learning.
Frederick W. Faber
The true gospel is a call to self-denial. It is not a call to self-fulfillment.
John Macarthur
The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet. Frederick Buechner
Growth demands a temporary surrender of security. Gail Sheehy
Hell will be full of people who thought highly of the Sermon on the Mount. You must do more than that. You must obey it and take action. John Macarthur
In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I- I took the one less traveled by. And that has made all the difference. Robert Frost
A holy life will produce the deepest impression. Lighthouses blow no horns; they only shine. D. L. Moody
If God only used perfect people, nothing would get done. God will use anybody if you're available. Rick Warren
I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world. Mother Teresa
Christianity is flourishing wonderfully among the poor and the persecuted while it atrophies among the rich and secure. Philip Jenkins
Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it. Helen Keller
We are continually faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems. John W. Gardner
He who is dying of hunger must be fed rather than taught. Saint Thomas Aquinas
Sometimes I would like to ask God why He allows poverty, suffering, and injustice when he could do something about it. Well, why don't you ask Him? Because I'm afraid He would ask me the same question. Anonymous
We've drifted away from being fishers of men to being keepers of the aquarium.
Paul Harvey
We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Mankind wants glory. We want health. We want wealth. We want happiness. We want all our felt needs met, all our little human itches scratched. We want a painless life. We want the crown without the cross. We want the gain without the pain. We want the words of Christ's salvation to be easy. John Macarthur
I love the recklessness of faith. First you leap and then you grow wings.
William Sloane Coffin
Action springs not from thought, but from a readiness for responsibility.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ. Mohandas Gandhi
A church that lives within its four walls is no church at all.
Pastor Morgan Chilulu
If you think you are too small to make a difference, try spending the night in a closed room with a mosquito. African Saying
Use what talents you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best. Henry Van Dyke
Make your life a mission- not an intermission. Arnold Glasgow
The one who says it can't be done should get out of the way of the one who is doing it. Chinese Proverb
We can do no great things, only small things with great love. Mother Teresa
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Chapter 4 " A most distressing disguise"
The author explores the passage found in Matthew 25:40, "And the King will answer and say to them, Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me." He says this;
"The question for you and for me is this: will Christ find evidence of our genuine concern for his beloved poor when he looks at the fruit of our lives on that day? Further, what might He be calling you to do today? What new steps of faith might you take to demonstrate your own concern for the least of these?
One last startling aspect of this passage is the remarkable claim of our Lord that whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine you did it for me. Even the good sheep in this passage were surprised at this. What they had seen as simple human gestures of love to the needy turned out to be gestures to a Christ incognito. Mother Teresa once said in the faces of the poor whom she served, she saw Christ in his most distressing disguise."
"The question for you and for me is this: will Christ find evidence of our genuine concern for his beloved poor when he looks at the fruit of our lives on that day? Further, what might He be calling you to do today? What new steps of faith might you take to demonstrate your own concern for the least of these?
One last startling aspect of this passage is the remarkable claim of our Lord that whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine you did it for me. Even the good sheep in this passage were surprised at this. What they had seen as simple human gestures of love to the needy turned out to be gestures to a Christ incognito. Mother Teresa once said in the faces of the poor whom she served, she saw Christ in his most distressing disguise."
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Chapter 3 thoughts- Hole in our Gospel
I am almost finished with the book, its one of those that's hard to put down, so I am behind on sharing my thoughts. Here are some things from chapter 3 that really stood out to me.
The chapter is titled " You lack one thing" in reference to the rich young ruler who came to Jesus asking for eternal life. After a exchange where he began to think he was already doing ok, Jesus tells him one thing you lack, go and sell everything and give it to the poor, then come follow me. Of course as he was very wealthy and had many possessions (see American Christians) he was not willing to let go of his "stuff" and so he walked away from Jesus and we never hear from him again. The chapter has a quote at the beginning under the title that really hit me. It was a quote by Frederick Buechner who said once, " The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the worlds deep hunger meet." I wonder, are we as American Christians listening to Gods call, are we there meeting the deep hunger we see from those all around us in the world, or are we like the rich young ruler, unable to let go of all of our "stuff".
Later in the chapter, when the author, Richard Stearns, who is the President of World Vision U.S., shared how he struggled when God called him to this position. He actually told the organization no at first. He continued to agonize over it and a thought came to him one night in a church service. His thought was simply,what if there are children who will suffer somehow because I failed to obey God? He thought hadn't I always taught my kids that actions had consequences? What if my cowardice costs even one child somewhere in the world his or her life? He recounts how he could not live with that thought, so he broke down. God had broken him and he knew he could no longer run from him. That reminds me of that moment in my life, as I walked out of the historic Moody Church in downtown Chicago, where I felt the pull clearly of God to go get that book from the speaker on orphans and the need for churches to get involved. I remember debating in my mind should I go or not. I thank God I did and we remain dedicated to do what he has called us to do, rescue just one child, who without our action, may lose their own life. We can't live with that!
The chapter is titled " You lack one thing" in reference to the rich young ruler who came to Jesus asking for eternal life. After a exchange where he began to think he was already doing ok, Jesus tells him one thing you lack, go and sell everything and give it to the poor, then come follow me. Of course as he was very wealthy and had many possessions (see American Christians) he was not willing to let go of his "stuff" and so he walked away from Jesus and we never hear from him again. The chapter has a quote at the beginning under the title that really hit me. It was a quote by Frederick Buechner who said once, " The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the worlds deep hunger meet." I wonder, are we as American Christians listening to Gods call, are we there meeting the deep hunger we see from those all around us in the world, or are we like the rich young ruler, unable to let go of all of our "stuff".
Later in the chapter, when the author, Richard Stearns, who is the President of World Vision U.S., shared how he struggled when God called him to this position. He actually told the organization no at first. He continued to agonize over it and a thought came to him one night in a church service. His thought was simply,what if there are children who will suffer somehow because I failed to obey God? He thought hadn't I always taught my kids that actions had consequences? What if my cowardice costs even one child somewhere in the world his or her life? He recounts how he could not live with that thought, so he broke down. God had broken him and he knew he could no longer run from him. That reminds me of that moment in my life, as I walked out of the historic Moody Church in downtown Chicago, where I felt the pull clearly of God to go get that book from the speaker on orphans and the need for churches to get involved. I remember debating in my mind should I go or not. I thank God I did and we remain dedicated to do what he has called us to do, rescue just one child, who without our action, may lose their own life. We can't live with that!
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Hole in our Gospel - Chapter one
I came across this thought in the book and I liked it so much I thought I would share it. It is appropriate in all aspects of our lives, It specifically speaks to me of the plight of the orphan children in the world.
" When we become involved in people's lives, work to build relationships, walk with them through their sorrows and their joys, live with generosity toward others, love and care for them unconditionally, stand up for the defenseless, and pay particular attention to the poorest and most vulnerable, we are showing Christ's love to those around us, not just talking about it. These are the things that plant the seeds of the gospel in the human heart."
I cant help but imagine and dream of a day when our child comes to know our King personally, and think that maybe, just maybe, as they consider how God moved in our hearts and many of you to get them a mommy and a daddy, that it would be this real example of his love that might be that seed that is planted in their hearts and grows to a completed work of saving grace in their lives.
Now, let me ask you, wouldn't that be something?
" When we become involved in people's lives, work to build relationships, walk with them through their sorrows and their joys, live with generosity toward others, love and care for them unconditionally, stand up for the defenseless, and pay particular attention to the poorest and most vulnerable, we are showing Christ's love to those around us, not just talking about it. These are the things that plant the seeds of the gospel in the human heart."
I cant help but imagine and dream of a day when our child comes to know our King personally, and think that maybe, just maybe, as they consider how God moved in our hearts and many of you to get them a mommy and a daddy, that it would be this real example of his love that might be that seed that is planted in their hearts and grows to a completed work of saving grace in their lives.
Now, let me ask you, wouldn't that be something?
Friday, July 17, 2009
The hole in our Gospel
I shared the prologue of this book some time ago that I downloaded from the web. I finally purchased it the other day and it arrived today. I plan to share parts of the book over time as I read through it and it impacts me. Tonight I have read so far the opening comments from others who have read it, the introduction and the prologue. I was hit by a short prayer referenced in the prologue from the founder of World Vision, Bob Pierce. He once prayed this. As you consider his short prayer, ask yourself if this true of your own life.
" Let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God."
" Let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God."
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Bad news
Well its been a while since I posted, most of you know my Dad passed away on he day of my last post, our wedding anniversary, June 25th. He died suddenly of a massive heart attack. He is home with my King now and he would not want to come back even if he could. Its been hard. Losing a parent as I am sure many of you know, is really something strange and difficult to make it through. On the way home from the hospital the night he died, God gave us a beautiful rainbow, my son Josh said it looked like it stretched all the way from our home to the hospital. It was comforting and it had tears streaming down my face. God was reminding me that he keeps his promises. I will see my Dad again!
We also received additional bad news this past Thursday on the adoption front. We received a letter from Shaohannahs Hope. They are not able to grant us any money to assist with the adoption. Sometimes its hard to know what Gods plan is but all we know is that he has a plan and so we will continue moving forward in faith. Sometimes you just have to wait on God.
We also received additional bad news this past Thursday on the adoption front. We received a letter from Shaohannahs Hope. They are not able to grant us any money to assist with the adoption. Sometimes its hard to know what Gods plan is but all we know is that he has a plan and so we will continue moving forward in faith. Sometimes you just have to wait on God.
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