Pray for Japan

Is your heart breaking? A catastrophic earthquake has struck Japan.


Please, pray for the people of Japan...

The New Covenant

"Behold, the days are coming", declares the LORD, "when I will make a NEW COVENANT with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with her fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they BROKE, though I was their husband," declares the LORD. "But this is the COVENANT I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD: "I will put my law WITHIN them, and I will write it on their HEARTS. And I will be their GOD and they will be MY PEOPLE....For I will FORGIVE their iniquity, and I will remember their sins NO MORE."

Jeremiah 31:31-34b

"And they will say, 'This land that was desolate has become like a GARDEN OF EDEN, and the waste, and desolate, and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited.' Then the nations that are left all around you shall know that I AM LORD; I have REBUILT the ruined places and REPLANTED that which was desolate. I AM THE LORD; I have spoken and I WILL DO IT."

Ezekiel 36:35-36

And likewise the cup after they has eaten, saying, "This cup that is POURED OUT for YOU is the

NEW COVENANT IN MY BLOOD."

Luke 22:20

"Such is the confidence that we have THROUGH CHRIST towards GOD. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim ANYTHING as coming from us, but our SUFFICIENCY is from GOD, who made us competent to be ministers of the NEW COVENANT, not of the letter, but of the SPIRIT. For the letter KILLS, but the SPIRIT GIVES LIFE."

II Corinthians 3:4-6

"But as it is, Christ, has obtained a ministry that is much more EXCELLENT than the OLD COVENANT as the COVENANT HE MEDIATES is BETTER..."

Hebrews 8:6

In Christ Alone

In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand

In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless Babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live, I live

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin?s curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From a life?s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Could ever pluck me from His hand
?Til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I stand

I will stand, I will stand
All other ground is sinking sand
All other ground, all other ground
Is sinking sand, is sinking sand
So I stand

Chivalry is Dead

This story, Chivalry is Dead is so sad. How embarrassing for this school!

Poor guy!

February 19, 2011

"Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints." Psalm 116:15

"But Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of Heaven.'" Matthew 19:14

"He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be any mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." Revelation 21:4

Rest in peace, Jonah.

Spring

I look at the muddy, brown, gray, dead, landscape around me and am tempted to think of the symbolism it gives me about state of my heart.

And then I am reminded of all of the life teeming beneath the surface of this world around me...the magic and mystery of spring. When water and sunlight collide and life emerges from a seemingly dead land.

"O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in your sanctuary, beholding your POWER and GLORY. Because your steadfast LOVE is better than life, my lips will praise you. So will I bless your name as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands." Psalm 63:1-4

Spring gives HOPE. The coming of spring after a long, hard winter is a classic illustrative metaphor. But sometimes our hearts need springtime too. Our hearts need HOPE.

"Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the ROCK that is higher than I, for you have been a refuge, a strong tower  against the enemy." Psalm 61:1-2

Hope is life. But this week, I was reminded of the fragility of life. Our hope is not here, but in eternal life. In our Isaiah Bible Study about God, we are learning about the MIGHT, POWER and SOVEREIGNTY of God. His absolute control of history and individual lives. In this week's study there was a question that stood out, "When is it acceptable to question God?" The appropriate and Biblical answer to that would be, "Never." But in my heart I wanted to write, "When there is the death of an innocent child." Because that's what our family has been unwilling witnesses to this week - the death of an innocent child. A tragic accident...ten minutes alone...the what ifs and maybes and the desire to go back and change the past. The intense emotions, the prayers, tears...we have participated in these as Believers in the Body of Christ should...but by the grace of Christ, it hasn't been us at the hospital all week receiving bad news from surgeons; it's not our pain or our tragedy.

Why?

New believers are like tender plants in spring time. Too much frost, too much sun, too much water, too much wind...all these can kill a small plant. And in spiritual warfare, when you are grappling with cold, hard realities like death, and wrestling with questions such as, "Why would you take my son?", it is like huge blasts of icy wind that can kill infant faith.

Or it can make you stronger.

Sometimes "old" Christians, can feel young. Not new or fresh...but weary, tender, vulnerable, weak...I look at another's pain and I wonder, "Why not me...US?" And I look at the state of my heart - my worries, my desires, my complaints, my wants...me, me, me, my, my, my...and am overwhelmed with acid disgust at my selfishness. My self-centeredness. My sins. My...my...my...

Your Righteouness.

Like light behind a cloud, I am reminded of something bigger then myself...stronger...more glorious...more agonizing...more passionate. And like the hot rays of the sun the TRUTH bursts forth in a song more ancient than Time, more fulfilling then LOVE or ANSWERS...

"I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like a mist; RETURN to me, for I HAVE REDEEMED YOU. SING, O Heavens, for the LORD has done it; SHOUT, O depths of the earth; break forth into SINGING, O mountains, O forest, and every tree in it! For the LORD has REDEEMED Jacob, and will be GLORIFIED in Israel." Isaiah 44:22-23

"HE has REDEEMED my soul from going down into the pit, and my life shall look upon the LIGHT." Job 33:28

"Break forth together into SINGING, you waste places of Jerusalem, for the LORD has comforted His people; he has REDEEMED Jerusalem." Isaiah 52:9

"Christ REDEEMED US, from the curse of the LAW..." Galatians 3:13

Death and life...winter and spring...this earth is a cycle. There is no end to suffering, sickness, death, depression, riots, lies, selfishness, idolatry, bloodshed, murder, ignorance, war, destruction...the list goes on and on...It is the universe we live in. Marred by sin. Eating away, trying to destroy us, destroy who we are and Who we stand in.

But we are not of this world.

We are not part of this cycle of death and sin...though it affects us deeply, painfully.

We are of Another Kingdom.

We have been given HOPE, the eternal Springtime of the heart. Through His life in us we have ABUNDANT LIFE, HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, STEADFAST LOVE, HIS GLORIOUS LIGHT...all these things we walk in, bending low perhaps in the force of spiritual winds and battles, but not breaking. Not always getting our answers, or the answers we want - but confident in this very thing...He who began the GOOD WORK in us, WILL FINISH IT.

March on...march on. Singing as we go...

"THE LORD HAS REDEEMED US."

My Jesus, I Love Thee

My Jesus I love Thee
I know Thou art mine
For Thee all the pleasures of sin I resign
My gracious Redeemer
My Savior art thou
If ever I love Thee
If ever I love Thee
If ever I love Thee, my Jesus ‘tis now

I love Thee because Thou hast first loved me
And purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree
I love Thee for wearing the thorns on your brow
If ever I love Thee
If ever I love Thee
If ever I love Thee, my Jesus 'tis now.

I love Thee in life
I will love Thee in death
And praise Thee as long as Thou lendeth me breath
Oh, I will sing when the death dew lies cold on my brow
If ever I love Thee
If ever I love Thee
If ever I love Thee, my Jesus ‘tis now.

Valentine's Day

They say February is the month of Love. That is because February 14th, is Valentine's Day.

Generally, I hate Valentine's Day.

It's not my intention to always be detrimental - I know I display many dissenting opinions on my blog, and I try to have some reserve, despite how harder it it becoming to ignore the decay of American society. So given that most single people hate Valentine's Day, I should rephrase my opinion and say that I hate what Valentine's Day has become.

Valentine's Day is another one of those holidays, like Christmas and Easter, that has completely lost it's true meaning behind all of the commercialism. There are many people who don't know the true Christian meanings to Christmas and Easter, but many Christians aren't even aware of the Christian roots to Valentine's Day. Many think it is a day in celebration of love, while in fact it is become more like a day to guilt you into buying a gift for the one you love. But neither of these meanings are true. While the truth of Christmas and Easter have slowly decayed over time, the facts behind Saint Valentine's Day has been warped from almost the very beginning.

Early Christianity thrived in the pagan atmosphere of the Roman Empire. The very acts of persecution and
denigration meant to hinder the spread of Christianity, only served to encourage the spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as the blood of the martyrs watered the seeds that their Christlikeness planted in the hearts of their persecutors. And so the Church flourished...

The month of February is the second month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calenders. It is named after the Latin term, februum, meaning purification, via the cleansing ritual of Februa, held on February 15, which acknowledged the coming of Spring. Februa is one of the several Roman festivals and rites that were held in the month of February. 

Valentine, (Valentinus) was a real man, who lived during this significant period of time for the Church, during the reign of Claudias II. History and tradition has blurred a little of the reality, and many historians believe that the traditional figure of Saint Valentine, revered by the Catholic Church, is a combination of several martyrs by that name. The most common belief is that Valentinus was a Christian priest, who secretly married Christian couples, who were forbidden to marry by law, in an effort to stop the advancement of Christianity. When he was caught, he was thrown in prison and tortured. He continued to share his love with those in his care, by sending letters to his brothers and sisters on Christ from prison. Another tradition says, that while in prison he fell in love with a young girl, who visited him in prison. She was the daughter of the jailer, and suffered from complete blindness. Supposedly, God enabled Valentinus to miraculously heal her, before his execution. His farewell letter to her was signed, "From Your Valentine". He was beheaded February 14th, either 269 A.D. or 270 A.D
Not very happy, true. Associating the day of Valentine's death, with a holiday celebrating Love and Marriage is really Geoffrey Chaucer's fault, using the legend of Saint Valentine combined with the original pagan holiday of spring to produce some Romantic/Christian/Pagan celebration in his writings. Very little people realize that February 14th, is more of a solemn remembrance to the martyrdom of a Christian saint, then a time to share flowers and jewelry and  chocolates with the one you love. None but Christ Himself, may ever know who the true Valentine was, and what he did and how he suffered. But it must have been great, if he is still so memorialized.

When I think of these things, and the true meaning and history of Valentine's Day, it is very sobering. But that doesn't mean that it is not cause for a celebration of some kind. Saint Valentine, whoever he truly was, showed True Love in his actions, his life and his death. It takes that perfect Love, that casts out fear, to die for your Christ. To bear all things, believe all things, hope all things and endure all things. (I Corinthians 13) The best, most beautiful, all-encompassing description of LOVE is given by Thomas a Kempis (1380-1471 A.D) in his book, "The Imitation of Christ." I read it and was prostrate. While Valentine's Day has become all about the gifts, instead of the gift of LOVE itself, Thomas admonishes us, "A wise lover regards not so much the gift of Him who loves, as the LOVE of Him who gives. He esteems affection rather than value and sets all gifts below the Beloved."

Remember the gift of TRUE LOVE...not just February 14th, but every day of the year.

"Love is a great thing, yea, altogether a great good; it makes light everything that is heavy, and it carries unevenly all that is uneven. For it carries a burden which is no burden (Matthew 11:30), and makes every bitter thing sweet and tasteful. The noble love of Jesus drives a man to do great things, and stirs him to always long for what is more perfect. Love wills to be on high, and not to be kept back by anything low or mean. Love wills to be free, and estranged from all worldly affection...

Nothing is sweeter than Love, nothing stronger, nothing higher, nothing wider, nothing more pleasant, nothing fuller or better in Heaven and earth; because Love is born of God (I John 4:7) and cannot rest but in God, above all created things. A lover flies, runs and rejoices; he is free and not bound. He gives all for all, and has all in all; because he rests in One highest above all things, from whom all that is good flows. He respects not the gifts, but turns himself above all goods unto the Giver.

Love oftentimes knows no measure, but is fervent beyond all measure. Love feels no measure, thinks nothing of labors, attempts what is above it's strength, pleads no excuse of impossibility; for it thinks all things are possible for itself and all things lawful. It is strong for all things, and it completes many things, and brings them to effect, where he does not Love faints and lies down. Love is watchful, and sleeping, slumbers not. Though wearied, it is not tired; though pressed, it is not straightened; though alarmed, it is not confounded; but as a lively flame and burning torch, it forces its way upward and securely passes through all. If any man Love, he knows what is the cry of this voice. For it is a loud cry in the ears of God, the ardent affection of the soul...

Love is swift, sincere, kindly affectioned, pleasant and delightful; brave, patient, faithful, prudent, longsuffering, manly and never seeking itself. (I Corinthians 13:5) For where a person seeks himself, he falls from Love. (I Corinthians 10:33; Philippians 2:21). Love is circumspect. humble, and upright; not yielding to softness, or to lightness, not attending to vain things. It is sober, chaste, firm quiet...

Enlarge me in LOVE, that in the inward palate of my heart I may learn to taste how sweet it is to LOVE, and in LOVE be dissolved and to bathe myself. Let me be bound by LOVE...let me sing the song of LOVE; let me follow Thee, my Beloved, on High..."

-Thomas a Kempis

Mexico and Missions

"Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints." Psalm 116:15

This past week friends and family put Nancy Davis, age 59, to rest.

I don't know her. I never would have heard her name if she had not left this earth the way she did. But Nancy Davis and her husband Sam, were both missionaries to Mexico, where they had been serving God through the Mexican people for over 30 years. They planted churches, offered support, served and were dedicated to their call. As one friend told CNN, "They lived and breathed Mexico..."

Nancy Davis was shot in the head late January, by a Mexican drug cartel gunman. She died later that day.

This story has been on the news for the past week. In between reports from Cairo, reports on unemployment, and stories on the massive winter storm, FoxNews found a little air time to run this story on the brutal death of an American missionary. And it broke my heart. I pray for her family, and I pray those who loved her, and I pray for those who murdered her.

FoxNews used this story to make the point, yet again, on the danger of the U.S. and Mexican border. Although the Davises were shot at in their truck,  in the outskirts of San Fernando, the media always reminds us that Ciudad Juarez, is one of the most dangerous cities in the world right now. And when I hear that reminder, and stories like Nancy Davis' that show us serving the LORD is always a risk - I can't believe that I actually went on a mission trip to Juarez and had that opportunity from God. It is a memory I will always treasure. It is precious, sobering thing to be used of God.

So...inspired by all of the memories, I looked through my pictures from my Mexican trip, and decided to share some...

                                                                       The desert.

                   BPS - "Bearing Precious Seed", the name of the ministry taken from Psalm 126:6

I know the quality of this picture isn't very good, but the first night we were in El Paso, we climbed to the top of a mountain and looked out over the city lights of El Paso and Juarez and prayed for the cities. It is a special picture to me. Juarez is a city soaked in blood - but it needs the blood of Christ.

Assembling the Gospel of John and Romans in Spanish to hand out.

First day over the border: the minute Jon jumped out of the bus, he marched straight to these kids and handed out tracts.

Cody and a little Mexican kid...so, so, SO adorable!!! (uh, the kid...)

Listening to Bible stories and puppets

Mexican cemetery

Knocking on everyone's gate in this neighborhood sharing the Gospel and inviting everyone to the Preaching that night. We did that every afternoon. It was very common to see drunks, and people high (or low) on drugs wandering around. One group even came right in on a "deal." But they handed the dealer the Gospel anyway. One day, the small group I was with was walking with, were making our way up a small hill. Suddenly, from behind us a truck of Fedarales all dressed in black, with their faces covered, came roaring up behind us, passed us, and stopped at the top of the hill where there was an intersection. The soldiers jumped out and ran to the four corners of the streets with their huge guns. The guy I was with must have seen alarm on my face. He said, "Don't worry, they won't hurt us." I wasn't scared of them, it was the police for goodness sake! I was scared of whoever they were waiting for and scared of getting caught in some crossfire - thankfully, nothing happened. We walked right on past, and started on another neighborhood.

Some significant statue...but I don't remember why...

Shopping in the HUGE shopping center..."Looky! Cheap Mexican pillows...we're such smart shoppers!!"

Downtown Juarez

The border "plaque"...don't need to read it, just walk right on by!

This picture was taking coming back into the States on our last day. I wish I had some pictures of the Fedarales, but we weren't allowed to take pictures of the police or border agents because it's too dangerous for them. They are all targets of the drug cartels.

Horrible. Just horrible.

My friend, Eastlyn, loved the desert. She loved the dry, red, crumbling beauty of the Southwest. I agreed that there was beauty, in a way. But I prefer the green mountains of my Haiti.

But thank you God for answering a three year old prayer and allowing me to go to Mexico!

Egypt and Lebanon

Egypt's capital is up in flames  in political, bloody riots against the thirty-year reign of President Mubarak.

Lebanon's government has been overturned in a coup d'etat by the terrorist group, Hezbollah.

Tunisia and Yemen are both dealing with riots this month as well.

The Arab world is in terror.

All of this on the news this week and this morning. The newscasters voices' are tense and ominous when reporting the violence on the streets of Cairo...the video footage horrendous. The State Department says it is "monitoring this situation", and are gravely concerned, considering that Egypt is "our strongest ally in the Arab world," and the first Arab world to "make peace" with Israel.

And yet none of it is a surprise.

"And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians, and they will fight, each against each other and each against his neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom;and the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out...The LORD has mingled in her a spirit of confusion, and they will make Egypt stagger in all her deeds as a drunken man staggers..." Isaiah 19:2-3, 14

"Ah, stubborn children," declares the LORD, "who carry out a plan, but not mine, who make an alliance, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin; who set out to go down to Egypt without asking for my direction, to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!...Egypt's help is worthless and empty; therefore I have called her, 'Rahab who sits still.'" Isaiah 30:1-3,7

"Behold! You are trusting in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh, king of Egypt to all who trust him!" Isaiah 36:6

"The land mourns and languishes; Lebanon is confounded and withers away..." Isaiah 33:9

"He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an axe, and Lebanon will fall by the Majestic One." Isaiah 10:34

 Please join me in prayer for our brothers and sisters in Christ scattered throughout the Middle East, who are caught in the middle of this spiritual and political strife. May they be strengthened to be Salt and Light of Christ. May they be protected by His shield; and reminded of His promises of a beautiful future.

"Is it not yet a very little while until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest." Isaiah 29:17

"In that day, there will be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the LORD at it's border. It will be a sign and a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry to the LORD because of oppressors, He will send them a Savior and a Defender and deliver them. And the LORD will make Himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians will know the LORD in that day...In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria [Iraq], and Assyria will come into Egypt...In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the Earth, whom the LORD of hosts has blessed saying, 'Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.'" Isaiah 19:19-21;23-24

"I will whistle for them and gather them in, for I have redeemed them, and they shall be as many as before. Though I scattered them among the nations, yet in far countries they shall remember me, and with their children they shall live and return. I will bring them home from the land of Egypt, and gather them from Assyria and I will bring them to the land of Gilead and Lebanon, till there is no room for them...I will make them strong in the LORD, and they shall walk in His name," declares the LORD." Zechariah 10:8-10;12

The LORD Sovereign is in control. All will be well.

Ayiti Cheri

Remembering Haiti.

Isaiah 24

It's amazing how the scriptures open up like a flowing spring of water, the deeper and deeper you get into an inductive Bible study.

That is how I feel studying the book of Isaiah. We are now in chapters 24-27, a section which is called
"Isaiah's Little Book of Revelation" because of the prophecies concerning the Second Coming of Christ and impending Judgement. It reveals the heart of God and His character in the frightening way - the way that no one wants to think about. But the most disturbing discovery, I have figured out, happens when you look into your own heart and compare your attitude to God's attitude of disgust and hate for sin.

It is very sad to read about the coming Judgement. It is sad to think how serious God takes sin and pride, and the lengths He is willing to go to purge His creation of sin and it's affects. But what makes it most heartbreaking, is that all the Judgement and punishment necessary to appease God's wrath was already laid on His Son - when He died on the Cross. Believers, by faith, know that they are spared the wrath of God because of His death and resurrection. But not so for everyone. And sadly, the believers will not be the majority. They will be the remnant. A little bit left over when all the Judgement is finished. That is why is to so very, very important to spread the Gospel. The Bible tells us that the remnant will come out of every nation and island on earth. But who will they be?

At the root of God's justice and judgment however, is His motive behind everyone of His acts. His great Love. The notes on the Bible study showed me how God has "an intense interest in our lives. He calls His people to believe in Him, but when they preferred the security by association with people in the world, He sometimes removed their false security so that, undistracted, they would trust them again."  

God likes the knock out the props sometimes and remind us Who is really our Strength, Refuge and Shadow. (Isaiah 25:4) It is easy to fall into the easy, comfortable routines of the broad path and walk in tune with the world. To feel comfortable in our association with them, their acceptance of us and our activities - perhaps not sins in themselves, but self-focused and forgetful of God.

"Most men, women and children move through their daily routines assuming that everything will keep on as it always has, and that God is really quite tolerant of their indifference to Him. Nothing could be farther from reality...Many people seem to live successfully without honoring God...but apart from Him, fears are unrelieved; happiness is superficial and brittle; relationships hang suspended on the fragility of individual will...immorality becomes the basis for entertainment; families are shattered; institutions become bloated with competition and self-interest, and the creativity of human civilization shrivel and die."

Isaiah 24:14-16a, shows the song of praise that the remnant will lift up to God, "They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the LORD, they shall cry aloud from the sea. Wherefore glorify ye the LORD in the fires, even the name of the LORD God of Israel in the isles of the sea. From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even the glory to the righteous."

The Bible study asked us to read those verses and then asked, "What do these verses describe and what are your thoughts about them?" I thought a long time about that and then wrote:

"When I see the state of the world as it is today, it is so very difficult to imagine the entire human race so focused on praising God, and on the pursuit of True Love and Peace. But I know it will happen and it reveals the frightening intensity of judgement God will "unleash" on earth first..."

The lady giving us our lecture last night made a point that hit me in the heart, "God does not want us to be in love with our life on earth. He has a much better plan in store for us."

And how true that is.

It is so very easy to be swayed be ease and comfort. To get caught up in what the world deems as important...money, comfort, relationship, things. To forget that this world is fragile and will not last. But God will. He is our Rock, and all those planted upon the Rock will stand sure. We, I, am called to serve God, love God, be set apart - holy and separated - from the world and spread the Gospel of Peace in everything I say and everything I do.

I thank God for the privilege of serving Him, and of loving Him. I thank Him for rescuing me. I thank Him for the work He has done and the work He will do.

"And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore." Isaiah 2:4

"He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of the people shall he take away from off all the earth; for the LORD hath spoken it." Isaiah 25:8

The Fellowship of the Unashamed

"I am part of the fellowship of the UNASHAMED.

The die has been cast.

I have stepped over the line.

The decision has been made.

I am a disciple of JESUS CHRIST.

I won't look back...

let up...

slow down...

back away...

or be still.

My past is REDEEMED.

My future is SECURE.

My present makes SENSE.

I am done and finished with low living...

sight walking...

small planning...

smooth knees...

colorless dreams...

tamed vision...

mundane talking...

low living...

and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need...

prosperity

   prominance

position

promotions

plaudits

or popularity.

I don't have to be right, or first, or tops, or recognized, or praised, or rewarded.

I live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience, lift by prayers and labor by the Holy Spirit's power.

My face is set. My gait is fast. My goal is heaven. My road is narrow; my way is rough; my companions few; my Guide is reliable and my mission is clear.

I will not be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded or delayed.

I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice nor hesitate in the presence of the adversary.

I will not negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

I won't...

give up

let up

or shut up

Until I have...

stayed up

stored up

and prayed up

For the cause of JESUS CHRIST.

I must give till I drop, preach until ALL know, and work until He comes.

And when He does come for His own, He will have no trouble recognizing me...

Because my banner will have been clear!"

Last written words of a Rwandan martyr, 1980 

To Carly

Dear Carly,

One year ago today, you went home to be with Jesus. I know there is no time where you are, but it seems to pass so quickly down here. It is a beautiful day today. Everything is a golden brown, and the sun is so warm in a bright, blue sky. It is not a day for grief, but for rejoicing. I have been so blessed to know your family, and I am glad I got to see and spend time with you, before Jesus took you back.

I stopped by your grave today. I love the verse that your Mommy and Daddy chose to put on your headstone:
"I have glorified Thee on earth: I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do." John 17:4
Your life truly glorified God, in your short twelve years on earth. Every time I think of you, your story reminds me of the beauty, sanctity and value of human life. And how much more effort we need to do, to invest and save many other precious lives. Although you did not speak a word or walk a step your entire life - you did more evangelizing than most Christians! Because of you, your Mommy and Daddy know Jesus - and many, many more have given Him glory! It is such a sorry, ugly place down here. Many people would have looked at you as a burden to society. They think it would have been better if you had died as a baby. But they are ignorant, and do not know the truth. God puts high value on innocence. And you were made in the image of an Almighty God. He has made you perfect in His time, just as He promised to do! The only thing that hasn't changed about you, I am sure, is your beautiful smile.

I know your Mommy misses you very much. I have seen her tears, pretty girl, and I know you have too. The grief is very near. But we all know you are far, far better where you are, then you were on this earth. We all miss you and share your family's pain of losing you, just as we are called to do as the body of Christ.

Won't it be wonderful, when we can all share in the joy of that Heavenly Reunion?

Live joyfully, Carly T. You are with Jesus now.