I have been blessed to be surrounded by Christ-followers my entire life. I decided to become a Christ-follower myself at 5 years old. I will soon be 37 years old. So after following Christ for 30 plus years, I am still amazed at the glaringly obvious things I and my fellow Christ-followers have missed in the teachings of Jesus!
Let's take one of the most basic things that most "Christians" do - Praying over our meals. We typically bow our heads and ask God's blessing over our food. Nothing wrong with that, right?
Well, I have always been "that kid" who had to drive both my parents and my teachers crazy by asking that annoying question that no adult wants to constantly hear, "WHY?"
Why do we bow our heads and ask God's blessing over our food? Probably because we saw our parents do this, because they saw their parents do this and so on.
But I was recently reading in Matthew 14:19 "Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, lifted his face to heaven in prayer, blessed, broke, and gave the bread to the disciples." It is fascinating to me that Jesus takes the exact opposite posture in prayer that we do. He lifts his face to heaven, instead of bowing his head.
I began to ponder what the posture of lifting your face versus bowing your head communicates. Bowing your head could communicate surrender or humility, but it also could communicate guilt and shame. Once we repent of our sins and establish relationship with Jesus as our LORD, the Bible says we can now come "boldly to the throne of grace!" As Christ-followers we can come to God the father as Jesus did, as a son! If my children come to me with their face down, I suspect they are guilty of something. We don't have to come to God as lowly peasants, but as loved an accepted children.
I also love the fact that Jesus by lifting his face to heaven was ignoring the distractions of his current situation and reconnecting with his father. By lifting his face to heaven he was taking his eyes of the temporary and looking to the seat of order of all things eternal. He knew that food was a temporary thing but his relationship with the Father was eternal.
Also this word "blessed" in the text we take to mean that we ask God to bless our food, but the Jewish tradition was for the head of the household to "bless" or give thanks to God for the food. By bowing our heads we signify our insufficiencies, but by looking to heaven we signify God's abundance. Here is an example of a Jewish food "blessing": "Blessed art Thou, LORD our God, King of the universe, who by his word brings about all things!"
I challenge you to try this. Begin looking to heaven and thanking God for his blessings!
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Sunday, October 28, 2012
The Pride of the Homeless!
This morning I was on my way to church and I saw my homeless friend Alex standing by the side of the road begging. I pulled over and asked him if he wanted to go to church with me. He looked down at his clothes and said "No I just wouldn't feel comfortable."
"hey don't worry about it I am wearing Jeans and a t-shirt to church today."
"No I just wouldn't feel comfortable."
"We are having a special day today where we are having a free meal after church."
"No I just wouldn't feel comfortable."
"We are giving a weeks worth of groceries to every family that needs them."
"No I just wouldn't feel comfortable. If I walk in there looking like this, everyone will look at me."
"Don't worry about it, you can sit next to me, I am a pastor no one will give you a hard time."
"No I just wouldn't feel comfortable."
I drove away so sad that I couldn't convince Alex to come with me. I sat through the entire church service sad that I couldn't get Alex to come with me. I was sad that he had this idea that church was a place that he would feel out of place and where people would judge him.
Most importantly I was taken aback by my realization that it was Alex's pride that kept him from receiving help from the church. He has nothing but yet he was too proud to humble himself to come to church with me.
James says that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Our pride is the number one thing that will keep us from experiencing God's grace. Not the ugliness of our sin but the ugliness of our pride.
My experience with Alex has made me realize that our pride has nothing to do with how rich or poor we are but it is a sickness of our heart.
I will continue to do what I can to minister to Alex because he is the assignment God has given me and I desperately want him to experience the grace of Jesus Christ, but I realize that just like us, pride is the number one obstacle to him experiencing God's blessings.
"hey don't worry about it I am wearing Jeans and a t-shirt to church today."
"No I just wouldn't feel comfortable."
"We are having a special day today where we are having a free meal after church."
"No I just wouldn't feel comfortable."
"We are giving a weeks worth of groceries to every family that needs them."
"No I just wouldn't feel comfortable. If I walk in there looking like this, everyone will look at me."
"Don't worry about it, you can sit next to me, I am a pastor no one will give you a hard time."
"No I just wouldn't feel comfortable."
I drove away so sad that I couldn't convince Alex to come with me. I sat through the entire church service sad that I couldn't get Alex to come with me. I was sad that he had this idea that church was a place that he would feel out of place and where people would judge him.
Most importantly I was taken aback by my realization that it was Alex's pride that kept him from receiving help from the church. He has nothing but yet he was too proud to humble himself to come to church with me.
James says that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Our pride is the number one thing that will keep us from experiencing God's grace. Not the ugliness of our sin but the ugliness of our pride.
My experience with Alex has made me realize that our pride has nothing to do with how rich or poor we are but it is a sickness of our heart.
I will continue to do what I can to minister to Alex because he is the assignment God has given me and I desperately want him to experience the grace of Jesus Christ, but I realize that just like us, pride is the number one obstacle to him experiencing God's blessings.
Friday, October 26, 2012
Would Jesus Trick or Treat?
I had an interesting experience yesterday. I was a chaperone (aka fancy French word for unpaid babysitter) on my son's fifth grade field trip to the Cedar Rapids Art Museum. The first display that we were taken to was a Mexican "Day of the Dead" Altar. Our "docent" (aka fancy Latin word for unpaid tour guide) took 20 minutes explaining the altar and taking questions / comments from the fifth grade students. The altar was covered in pictures of two apparently famous Mexican's. One a male who I had never heard of and another of a unibrowed female who I also had never heard of. The altar also had the most random assortment of skeletons, devils, demons, deceased cats, a nude couple making out, ancient aztec warriors and a portrait of Jesus.
The docent's description of the "Day of the Dead" celebration was basically that this was a day of ancestor worship and a hope that the ancestor's ghost would visit their descendant's celebration. After the description the Q & A session that followed was quite humorous. Fifth grader's question, "Why is that part so creepy?" Highly educated docent's response, "Well, actually it isn't creepy, but quite fascinating." After many similar exchanges, the final exchange was the most striking. Wise beyond his years fifth grader's comment, "I don't see how anyone could see this as anything but creepy!" Highly educated docent's response, "Well, actually I love it and want to set up one in my home!"
I found this exchange to be so telling of our culture around this time of year. We encourage children to celebrate something that they are naturally repulsed by . . . DEATH! I didn't train my 6 year old daughter to be freaked out by Ghosts, witches, skeletons, dead bodies, coffins, zombies and the like. She just innately is. Why would I as a highly mature and educated adult try to convince her that these things are actually cute, cuddly and a lot of fun! It doesn't make any sense. Just think about how oxymoronic the phrase "Happy Halloween" sounds. "Happy celebration of fear and death!"
Historically, Christians have reacted to Halloween in a variety of different ways: 1. Condemn it. Basically we study the history of halloween, preach against it, tell anyone that has anything to do with halloween that they are going to hell, turn off our lights and hide in a corner on halloween. 2. Sanctify it. Have a non-Halloween "Hallelujah" Party, have everyone dress up in "Biblical" costumes and play "pin the tail" on Balaam's Donkey. 3. Celebrate it. This is the ol "If you can't beat em join em" philosophy. We carve Jack-o-lanterns, dress our kids up as witches, ghosts and zombies, go trick-or-treating, maybe even toilet paper someone's house.
How you respond to halloween is between you and God. I have been all over the map on this issue. I have found myself in all three of the aforementioned Christian camps. But I have found striking weaknesses in all three. 1. Condemn it. Are there things about halloween that I don't think God is too crazy about? Absolutely! But what good are we doing for our friends and neighbors if all we do is condemn them. 2. Sanctify it. I think we come across so irrelevant and cheesy when we try to "Christianize" everything. 3. Celebrate it. As I have already mentioned I think there are many aspects of halloween that as Christ-followers we should be repulsed by.
So what should we do? I think that we have a fourth option. 4. Illuminate it. Jesus said in Matthew 5:14-16 "You are the light of the world--like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden." "Let your good deeds shine out for all to see." Jesus doesn't give us the options of hiding or blending in. He tells us to shine. So maybe this Halloween is a great opportunity to meet your neighbors. Maybe it is an opportunity to talk with your kids about how to respond to our culture. Maybe it is a great opportunity to shine light on the darkest day of the year!
The docent's description of the "Day of the Dead" celebration was basically that this was a day of ancestor worship and a hope that the ancestor's ghost would visit their descendant's celebration. After the description the Q & A session that followed was quite humorous. Fifth grader's question, "Why is that part so creepy?" Highly educated docent's response, "Well, actually it isn't creepy, but quite fascinating." After many similar exchanges, the final exchange was the most striking. Wise beyond his years fifth grader's comment, "I don't see how anyone could see this as anything but creepy!" Highly educated docent's response, "Well, actually I love it and want to set up one in my home!"
I found this exchange to be so telling of our culture around this time of year. We encourage children to celebrate something that they are naturally repulsed by . . . DEATH! I didn't train my 6 year old daughter to be freaked out by Ghosts, witches, skeletons, dead bodies, coffins, zombies and the like. She just innately is. Why would I as a highly mature and educated adult try to convince her that these things are actually cute, cuddly and a lot of fun! It doesn't make any sense. Just think about how oxymoronic the phrase "Happy Halloween" sounds. "Happy celebration of fear and death!"
Historically, Christians have reacted to Halloween in a variety of different ways: 1. Condemn it. Basically we study the history of halloween, preach against it, tell anyone that has anything to do with halloween that they are going to hell, turn off our lights and hide in a corner on halloween. 2. Sanctify it. Have a non-Halloween "Hallelujah" Party, have everyone dress up in "Biblical" costumes and play "pin the tail" on Balaam's Donkey. 3. Celebrate it. This is the ol "If you can't beat em join em" philosophy. We carve Jack-o-lanterns, dress our kids up as witches, ghosts and zombies, go trick-or-treating, maybe even toilet paper someone's house.
How you respond to halloween is between you and God. I have been all over the map on this issue. I have found myself in all three of the aforementioned Christian camps. But I have found striking weaknesses in all three. 1. Condemn it. Are there things about halloween that I don't think God is too crazy about? Absolutely! But what good are we doing for our friends and neighbors if all we do is condemn them. 2. Sanctify it. I think we come across so irrelevant and cheesy when we try to "Christianize" everything. 3. Celebrate it. As I have already mentioned I think there are many aspects of halloween that as Christ-followers we should be repulsed by.
So what should we do? I think that we have a fourth option. 4. Illuminate it. Jesus said in Matthew 5:14-16 "You are the light of the world--like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden." "Let your good deeds shine out for all to see." Jesus doesn't give us the options of hiding or blending in. He tells us to shine. So maybe this Halloween is a great opportunity to meet your neighbors. Maybe it is an opportunity to talk with your kids about how to respond to our culture. Maybe it is a great opportunity to shine light on the darkest day of the year!
Friday, October 19, 2012
What about planned parenthood?
I recently had a lively facebook debate about the necessity of organizations such as planned parenthood. It started out as a post stating that many people only associate planned parenthood with abortions. It said that they provide so many other services that many poor people could not afford, such as annual check ups that the facebook poster had personally benefited from.
Everyone on the facebook thread seemed to be agreeing with the post so I decided to dive in and stir things up with a dissenting viewpoint. Boy that sure made things fun! I appreciated the dialog. It confronted my own stereotypes.
I must admit when I think of planned parenthood, I imagine images of nefarious doctors walking around in blood covered lab coats with evil laughs rejoicing about all the babies they had killed that day. I was confronted in this conversation with statements such as "Our local planned parenthood doesn't even perform abortions," and "Abortions are only 3% of what planned parenthood does." I cannot verify the veracity of such claims but chose to hear things from a differing viewpoint. Doing so helped me to realize that maybe my stereotypical misunderstandings had to be addressed.
I want to be crystal clear about what I believe that the Bible teaches about this issue. Life begins at conception! Abortion is killing a human being created in the image of God and deeply loved by him! With that said, this issue is so much more complicated than I would like to admit, and my facebook conversation helped me see just that.
The bottom line is that people need help and the help they need will not be achieved by sign waving activists telling pregnant teenage girls that they are going to hell. I firmly believe that government is not the answer. The church filled with followers of Jesus Christ passionate about helping the poor and fighting injustice is the answer.
Will I vote for Godly leaders who I hope will fight to end abortion? Absolutely! Will that solve all of our problems? Absolutely not!
What I will fight against is the assumptions our world seems to be based upon such as: "Teenagers are going to have sex anyway." "We need to stop unwanted pregnancies."
"Teenagers are going to have sex anyway, so lets teach them safe sex," seems like such an insane line of reasoning. Our current approach to drug prevention is simple "Say No to drugs." How insane would it be to change to the following policy in educating elementary students: "Students are going to use drugs eventually so lets teach them how to use them safely!" Has the abstinence from drugs message solved all our problems? No! But what would our country look like if we used the "Safe drug use" approach?
Is abstaining from sex until marriage easy? No way! Is it a lofty goal? Absolutely! It is something that my wife and I committed to prior to marriage and it was the best decision we ever made. We made the decision, because we had adults in our lives who believed in us and taught us the value of following God's design for sex.
So I had several take aways from my facebook conversation: 1. Maybe I have some stereotypes that need to be addressed. 2. It is refreshing to have a healthy dialogue with someone of an opposing viewpoint. 3. Lets not argue about surface issues but lets get down to the underlying assumptions.
Everyone on the facebook thread seemed to be agreeing with the post so I decided to dive in and stir things up with a dissenting viewpoint. Boy that sure made things fun! I appreciated the dialog. It confronted my own stereotypes.
I must admit when I think of planned parenthood, I imagine images of nefarious doctors walking around in blood covered lab coats with evil laughs rejoicing about all the babies they had killed that day. I was confronted in this conversation with statements such as "Our local planned parenthood doesn't even perform abortions," and "Abortions are only 3% of what planned parenthood does." I cannot verify the veracity of such claims but chose to hear things from a differing viewpoint. Doing so helped me to realize that maybe my stereotypical misunderstandings had to be addressed.
I want to be crystal clear about what I believe that the Bible teaches about this issue. Life begins at conception! Abortion is killing a human being created in the image of God and deeply loved by him! With that said, this issue is so much more complicated than I would like to admit, and my facebook conversation helped me see just that.
The bottom line is that people need help and the help they need will not be achieved by sign waving activists telling pregnant teenage girls that they are going to hell. I firmly believe that government is not the answer. The church filled with followers of Jesus Christ passionate about helping the poor and fighting injustice is the answer.
Will I vote for Godly leaders who I hope will fight to end abortion? Absolutely! Will that solve all of our problems? Absolutely not!
What I will fight against is the assumptions our world seems to be based upon such as: "Teenagers are going to have sex anyway." "We need to stop unwanted pregnancies."
"Teenagers are going to have sex anyway, so lets teach them safe sex," seems like such an insane line of reasoning. Our current approach to drug prevention is simple "Say No to drugs." How insane would it be to change to the following policy in educating elementary students: "Students are going to use drugs eventually so lets teach them how to use them safely!" Has the abstinence from drugs message solved all our problems? No! But what would our country look like if we used the "Safe drug use" approach?
Is abstaining from sex until marriage easy? No way! Is it a lofty goal? Absolutely! It is something that my wife and I committed to prior to marriage and it was the best decision we ever made. We made the decision, because we had adults in our lives who believed in us and taught us the value of following God's design for sex.
So I had several take aways from my facebook conversation: 1. Maybe I have some stereotypes that need to be addressed. 2. It is refreshing to have a healthy dialogue with someone of an opposing viewpoint. 3. Lets not argue about surface issues but lets get down to the underlying assumptions.
Friday, October 5, 2012
Are Christians too political?
One of the most common criticisms of the church, is that it is too political! I have quite a mix of thoughts and feelings about this statement. I cringe at this statement being made about the church, because there are some things about politics that I absolutely despise: such as the blatant dishonesty and the incredible level of self-serving statements and actions that characterizes most politicians.
I have heard some preachers state that politics will not change the world. That our world will only be changed through devoted Christ-followers being changed by the truth of God's word and then bringing that change into our communities one life at a time. I couldn't agree more with this statement, but I am concerned with the excesses of this philosophy.
The excesses include timid preachers who are reluctant to say anything remotely "political" from the pulpit. They have been duped into thinking that they are not allowed to speak on such issues and that they might "offend" people or be punished by the government. Another excess is "Christians" who feel like it is pointless to get involved in politics at all. They refuse to vote or even have an opinion on "political" issues, because "Jesus wasn't a politician."
Let's look at the excess that all preachers should be nonpolitical. Was Jesus political? Yes and No! He never positioned himself to try to take a political leadership role, but yet he chose a political revolutionary in Simon the zealot to be one of his 12 apostles. He had withering diatribes directed at the Pharisees who we often view as religious leaders but who were political leaders as well. John the Baptist had his head chopped off because he was willing to publicly criticize King Herod. Saying that preachers should not make political statements has no biblical precedent.
This statement has no historical precedent as well. Our founding fathers received most of their inspiration for the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution from biblical principles that were expounded upon by their pastors. These preachers spoke freely against the injustices of government from their pulpits.
In one sense I feel like the church is not political enough. Should the church be concerned about issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage? Absolutely! Should Christ followers blindly follow a political party? Absolutely not! Should Christ followers speak out against an immoral and corrupt government? Absolutely! Should Christ followers allow politics to create division between us? Absolutely not!
I believe that Christ followers should have more conversations about political matters. I think Christ followers should become more informed of our distinctly Christian foundation as a nation. The more I discover about our Christian heritage as a nation the more inspired I become! I challenge you to check out this website www.wallbuilders.com Our nation has thrived for 236 years like no other country before because of our Biblical foundation! The only way we will continue to thrive is if we return to this biblical foundation!
I have heard some preachers state that politics will not change the world. That our world will only be changed through devoted Christ-followers being changed by the truth of God's word and then bringing that change into our communities one life at a time. I couldn't agree more with this statement, but I am concerned with the excesses of this philosophy.
The excesses include timid preachers who are reluctant to say anything remotely "political" from the pulpit. They have been duped into thinking that they are not allowed to speak on such issues and that they might "offend" people or be punished by the government. Another excess is "Christians" who feel like it is pointless to get involved in politics at all. They refuse to vote or even have an opinion on "political" issues, because "Jesus wasn't a politician."
Let's look at the excess that all preachers should be nonpolitical. Was Jesus political? Yes and No! He never positioned himself to try to take a political leadership role, but yet he chose a political revolutionary in Simon the zealot to be one of his 12 apostles. He had withering diatribes directed at the Pharisees who we often view as religious leaders but who were political leaders as well. John the Baptist had his head chopped off because he was willing to publicly criticize King Herod. Saying that preachers should not make political statements has no biblical precedent.
This statement has no historical precedent as well. Our founding fathers received most of their inspiration for the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution from biblical principles that were expounded upon by their pastors. These preachers spoke freely against the injustices of government from their pulpits.
In one sense I feel like the church is not political enough. Should the church be concerned about issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage? Absolutely! Should Christ followers blindly follow a political party? Absolutely not! Should Christ followers speak out against an immoral and corrupt government? Absolutely! Should Christ followers allow politics to create division between us? Absolutely not!
I believe that Christ followers should have more conversations about political matters. I think Christ followers should become more informed of our distinctly Christian foundation as a nation. The more I discover about our Christian heritage as a nation the more inspired I become! I challenge you to check out this website www.wallbuilders.com Our nation has thrived for 236 years like no other country before because of our Biblical foundation! The only way we will continue to thrive is if we return to this biblical foundation!
Saturday, August 25, 2012
It's time to give up!
From time to time I read things from the Bible like I have never read them before. I was recently reading one of Jesus' most famous sermons from Matthew chapter 5. Jesus starts of his sermon with this statement: "God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him." I am so utterly shocked by this statement! I ask myself if the American church has forgotten this verse was even in the Bible! Has anyone told all of the prosperity gospel preachers about this one? If you looked at the church in America would anyone realize that Jesus even made such a statement. We teach the opposite. We teach that God's blessings make us financially rich, that God wants us to have more! But what if God wants us to have less. Would anyone buy that book or watch a TV preacher talk about that message? I don't have to surrender to the idea that God wants me to be rich. I like that idea! In fact, I love that idea! Who wouldn't? But it requires great surrender to follow someone who starts off there most famous sermon with "God blesses those who are poor." Now before you think I am preaching that every true disciple of Christ needs to take a vow of poverty, I will admit that Jesus is talking about a character trait that goes much deeper than how much stuff we have or what our bank account balance is. The danger with our wealth is that it numbs our awareness of our need for God. That is what Jesus is preaching about our constant surrender to the fact of our overwhelming need for God!
Jesus says next that "God blesses those who mourn." Once again Jesus blesses something that we want nothing to do with. Who wants to be poor? I want to be rich. Who wants to mourn? I want to be happy. In fact, we spend the majority of our life based around the illusive "pursuit of happiness." Happiness is a moving target. As soon as you think you have it, somehow it slips like sand through your fingers and you our off and running after it again. God wants to give something that is much more secure than happiness. He wants to give us joy. He wants to give us peace. But those things only come through this scary word that I keep saying: SURRENDER
Jesus goes on to say that "God blesses those who are humble." Now I could rant and rave about how our culture celebrates pride and not humility but I realize that humility by necessity must be a hidden gift. If our culture constantly honored humility and humble people it would tempt humble people to lose the very character trait that we our celebrating. Humility is a very difficult thing to shine a light on. It is simple impossible to be proud of how humble you are. Humility only comes through consistently surrendering to our need for God. Humility is simply admitting that everything we have and everything we are is a gift from God.
Following God is most definitely not easy but it is obnoxiously simple! Being a Christ follower is centered around one word: Surrender. It isn't easy to give up our obsession with obtaining more possessions and instead pursue purpose. It isn't easy to give up our obsession with happiness and instead desire holiness. It isn't easy to give up success for significance, but yet it is simple. It all involves surrender!
Jesus says next that "God blesses those who mourn." Once again Jesus blesses something that we want nothing to do with. Who wants to be poor? I want to be rich. Who wants to mourn? I want to be happy. In fact, we spend the majority of our life based around the illusive "pursuit of happiness." Happiness is a moving target. As soon as you think you have it, somehow it slips like sand through your fingers and you our off and running after it again. God wants to give something that is much more secure than happiness. He wants to give us joy. He wants to give us peace. But those things only come through this scary word that I keep saying: SURRENDER
Jesus goes on to say that "God blesses those who are humble." Now I could rant and rave about how our culture celebrates pride and not humility but I realize that humility by necessity must be a hidden gift. If our culture constantly honored humility and humble people it would tempt humble people to lose the very character trait that we our celebrating. Humility is a very difficult thing to shine a light on. It is simple impossible to be proud of how humble you are. Humility only comes through consistently surrendering to our need for God. Humility is simply admitting that everything we have and everything we are is a gift from God.
Following God is most definitely not easy but it is obnoxiously simple! Being a Christ follower is centered around one word: Surrender. It isn't easy to give up our obsession with obtaining more possessions and instead pursue purpose. It isn't easy to give up our obsession with happiness and instead desire holiness. It isn't easy to give up success for significance, but yet it is simple. It all involves surrender!
Monday, July 16, 2012
When God doesn't make sense. . .
I have been a follower of Christ for over 21 years now and I must admit that there are still so many times that I don't understand God or the way he works. I just returned this morning from a missions trip to Costa Rica. It was an absolutely an amazing experience, but not at all what I thought it was going to be.
Let me give you a little background. When I was 16 years old I said yes to God's voice which I felt like was saying "Go on a missions trip." One night I was praying fervently about where God would want me to go and I clearly heard him say "Costa Rica." I just knew once I heard that direction that I would be on a plane to Costa Rica that summer. Well it didn't work out that way at all. Instead, that summer I found myself doing missions work in Mexico. Actually, this God-given dream for Costa Rica didn't come true for 20 years. Why did God so clearly tell me to do something that he didn't want me to do till 20 years later? I have no idea. Sometimes, God doesn't make sense!
We started out this journey this year thinking God was sending us to Mexico, but then we felt it change to Costa Rica! Twenty years ago, I felt a call to Costa Rica but ended up in Mexico. Why does God work this way? I have no idea. Sometimes, God doesn't make sense!
Our family stepped out in faith to go on this missions trip (all 5 of us!) We knew it was going to cost us thousands of dollars, but we prayed and asked God to provide it all. God is so faithful. Through people's generosity, we were blessed with every penny, an amazing answer to prayer!
While, I was at it I figured I would pray another prayer, which I knew was totally selfish. I prayed that while we were in Costa Rica God would allow Dianne and I to swim in the ocean with our kids. We prayed this prayer despite the missions trip directors consistent statements that our ministry site was no where near the beach and that it wouldn't be possible. To make a long story short, we found ourselves zip-lining in the rain forest 2 minutes from the beach on our free day!
Here is the funny part. Our bus broke down on the way to the rain forest which delayed us a couple of hours. This meant that our dream to swim with our kids in the ocean, looked like us swimming for 30 minutes while it rained. Why did God answer my totally selfish prayer in such a non-climatic way? I have no idea. Sometimes, God doesn't make sense.
Finally, because God revealed this journey to me 20 years in advance, we were praying and believing God for amazing things. As a group we prayed for thousands of salvations, miracles, healings and a revival to break out in Costa Rica. Instead, our trip consisted of loving on poor children, disabled children, and orphans. What I thought was going to happen didn't happen at all. We didn't sweep the country of Costa Rica as Christian Rock Stars, instead God broke our hearts for the things that break his heart. Why did it happen this way? Because sometimes God doesn't make sense.
As I look back on this trip, I wouldn't have it any other way. God says "My thought are higher than your thoughts, my ways higher than your ways." God blessed us in incredible ways through this adventure but not at all the way we anticipated, because sometimes God doesn't make sense!
Let me give you a little background. When I was 16 years old I said yes to God's voice which I felt like was saying "Go on a missions trip." One night I was praying fervently about where God would want me to go and I clearly heard him say "Costa Rica." I just knew once I heard that direction that I would be on a plane to Costa Rica that summer. Well it didn't work out that way at all. Instead, that summer I found myself doing missions work in Mexico. Actually, this God-given dream for Costa Rica didn't come true for 20 years. Why did God so clearly tell me to do something that he didn't want me to do till 20 years later? I have no idea. Sometimes, God doesn't make sense!
We started out this journey this year thinking God was sending us to Mexico, but then we felt it change to Costa Rica! Twenty years ago, I felt a call to Costa Rica but ended up in Mexico. Why does God work this way? I have no idea. Sometimes, God doesn't make sense!
Our family stepped out in faith to go on this missions trip (all 5 of us!) We knew it was going to cost us thousands of dollars, but we prayed and asked God to provide it all. God is so faithful. Through people's generosity, we were blessed with every penny, an amazing answer to prayer!
While, I was at it I figured I would pray another prayer, which I knew was totally selfish. I prayed that while we were in Costa Rica God would allow Dianne and I to swim in the ocean with our kids. We prayed this prayer despite the missions trip directors consistent statements that our ministry site was no where near the beach and that it wouldn't be possible. To make a long story short, we found ourselves zip-lining in the rain forest 2 minutes from the beach on our free day!
Here is the funny part. Our bus broke down on the way to the rain forest which delayed us a couple of hours. This meant that our dream to swim with our kids in the ocean, looked like us swimming for 30 minutes while it rained. Why did God answer my totally selfish prayer in such a non-climatic way? I have no idea. Sometimes, God doesn't make sense.
Finally, because God revealed this journey to me 20 years in advance, we were praying and believing God for amazing things. As a group we prayed for thousands of salvations, miracles, healings and a revival to break out in Costa Rica. Instead, our trip consisted of loving on poor children, disabled children, and orphans. What I thought was going to happen didn't happen at all. We didn't sweep the country of Costa Rica as Christian Rock Stars, instead God broke our hearts for the things that break his heart. Why did it happen this way? Because sometimes God doesn't make sense.
As I look back on this trip, I wouldn't have it any other way. God says "My thought are higher than your thoughts, my ways higher than your ways." God blessed us in incredible ways through this adventure but not at all the way we anticipated, because sometimes God doesn't make sense!
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