People sometimes see that we're going to Belize for mission work and become skeptical. They question whether we're actually called there, or if we just chose a place we wanted to go and decided on it. To that person, I have this to say. Don't be hatin'! It is cool how God works though.
I've always had a desire to live on an Island. I've even dreamed of saving up some money and going to Jamaica or somewhere in the Caribbean to sell hemp bracelets on the beach, but have since neglected that possibility. As I practiced obedience to God and sought what it was he wanted me to do, doors started to open. All of a sudden that dream I had dormant within me began to come to life. All of the pieces just started falling into place. So in a way, I did choose it because God chose a place that was a desire within my heart, that I had set aside in order to pursue him. So stick that in your pipe and smoke it!!
I think the issue people have with missionaries who go to beautiful places is that from their experience, they have seen people use God as an excuse to do what they want to do, but in reality, God is being faithful to those who are faithful to him. Why do people think you have to be miserable in order to serve God? What a lie that is! God may very well call me to a 'miserable' place, but the fact is, wherever I'm at, He will bring me joy and satisfaction.
Like Paul as he writes in Philippians 4:4 from a horrible Roman jail situation, "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again, Rejoice!"
Because the goal we are seeking is so much greater than the details of this world.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Delight yourself in the Lord
"Delight yourself in the Lord
and he will give you the
desires of your heart."
Psalm 37:4
I have found that the more I delight in him, the more of himself he gives me. It's a transformation process; as you draw near to God and stop thinking about what he can do for you, but instead focus on him in worship and adoration, he will change your heart. You will no longer desire the things and the details of this world, nor will you be concerned about them. God owns everything. It all belongs to him and he will do with all of it what he wants. As you leave those things behind, he will give you freedom, freedom from the worry and stress that those things bring and freedom from the selfishness that they promote. You will have a new life overflowing with joy because all you want is with you always.
"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Romans 12:2
I've heard that as you begin to change your thinking, your brain takes on physical changes. Even just the decision to start thinking more positively or whatever will cause dendrites and other crazy stuff to grow. So... I think as we transform our minds, we begin to take on physical characteristics of Jesus. How cool is that!?
and he will give you the
desires of your heart."
Psalm 37:4
I have found that the more I delight in him, the more of himself he gives me. It's a transformation process; as you draw near to God and stop thinking about what he can do for you, but instead focus on him in worship and adoration, he will change your heart. You will no longer desire the things and the details of this world, nor will you be concerned about them. God owns everything. It all belongs to him and he will do with all of it what he wants. As you leave those things behind, he will give you freedom, freedom from the worry and stress that those things bring and freedom from the selfishness that they promote. You will have a new life overflowing with joy because all you want is with you always.
"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Romans 12:2
I've heard that as you begin to change your thinking, your brain takes on physical changes. Even just the decision to start thinking more positively or whatever will cause dendrites and other crazy stuff to grow. So... I think as we transform our minds, we begin to take on physical characteristics of Jesus. How cool is that!?
Who is healthy?
"For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."
Isaiah 53:12
I know there are some big words in this. This is a prophetical verse about Jesus, written several hundred years before hand. Jesus being without sin took the sins of the sinners as a burden upon himself and took the consequences for them. He interceded for the transgressors, which means he stepped in and drank from the cup of God's wrath, which belonged to us.
Jesus' people are the down and out, the lowest of the low. It's not the healthy that need a doctor but the sick, but aren't we all sick? are not all of our righteous acts as filthy rags before God? is it only the "sick" who know they are sick? who accept healing because they recognize their need for it? I only consider myself healthy because I have the great physician work on me every day. If it weren't for that, I would be a walking corpse! It's not about being strong or independent, but it's about being dependent on Christ and allowing him to take the reigns. The more we allow him to dwell in every aspect of our lives, the more our sickness leaves us. As light is shed in us, our darkness vanishes.
Isaiah 53:6
"We all, like sheep, have gone
astray,
each of us has turned to his own
way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all."
God give me a heart for the sinners.
Isaiah 53:12
I know there are some big words in this. This is a prophetical verse about Jesus, written several hundred years before hand. Jesus being without sin took the sins of the sinners as a burden upon himself and took the consequences for them. He interceded for the transgressors, which means he stepped in and drank from the cup of God's wrath, which belonged to us.
Jesus' people are the down and out, the lowest of the low. It's not the healthy that need a doctor but the sick, but aren't we all sick? are not all of our righteous acts as filthy rags before God? is it only the "sick" who know they are sick? who accept healing because they recognize their need for it? I only consider myself healthy because I have the great physician work on me every day. If it weren't for that, I would be a walking corpse! It's not about being strong or independent, but it's about being dependent on Christ and allowing him to take the reigns. The more we allow him to dwell in every aspect of our lives, the more our sickness leaves us. As light is shed in us, our darkness vanishes.
Isaiah 53:6
"We all, like sheep, have gone
astray,
each of us has turned to his own
way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all."
God give me a heart for the sinners.
Comfort? No thanks
I feel compelled to a life of less comfort. The more I am able to adapt to harsher conditions, the more I feel equipped to fulfill my mission. When I am around too many comforts, I feel uncomfortable oddly enough, like I'm threatened by complacency.
To this point, complacency has been my biggest struggle and I'm ready to break away. My job as a pool cleaner is helping some. Spending 25 hours a day toiling in the sun is helping me build quite the tolerance for heat and b.o. Something about being satisfied with little comforts makes it so much easier to get up and do what you know you must do. You don't feel like you're giving anything up or having to part with anything too good.
I also want to become as low maintenance as possible. The less time, effort and non-renewable energy it takes to sustain what is me, the more effective I will become to do my mission and other such things.
To this point, complacency has been my biggest struggle and I'm ready to break away. My job as a pool cleaner is helping some. Spending 25 hours a day toiling in the sun is helping me build quite the tolerance for heat and b.o. Something about being satisfied with little comforts makes it so much easier to get up and do what you know you must do. You don't feel like you're giving anything up or having to part with anything too good.
I also want to become as low maintenance as possible. The less time, effort and non-renewable energy it takes to sustain what is me, the more effective I will become to do my mission and other such things.
Wherever we go
Here's another verse that God has been showing me a lot lately. I've been reading it and thinking about it for a while and strangely enough, immediately after reading it one day, Camden texted me the same verse. It comes from psalm 139, my favorite chapter in the bible.
Psalm 139:7
"Where can I go from your spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
if I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast."
God comforts us no matter where we are, even if we are in the depths of hell, he will be there with us. We cannot get lost from his spirit. Praise God for that!
Psalm 139:7
"Where can I go from your spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
if I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast."
God comforts us no matter where we are, even if we are in the depths of hell, he will be there with us. We cannot get lost from his spirit. Praise God for that!
Be at rest once more, o my soul
This is the part where I share what God is sharing with me.
Psalm 23
"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
He leads me beside quiet waters,
He restores my soul"
5 "You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies."
I know there is a reason for the time that I am still in Celina, or the U.S. for that matter. I want to be in San Pedro really badly, but I'm waiting on my financial savings. If it were just the money holding me back, God could provide that with no problem. I believe he still has me here for a reason, and I must accomplish that before I go.
This verse comforts me when I feel restless and unsatisfied with where I'm at. He makes me lie down in green pastures. When I get worked up and anxious, running around like a dog chasing its tail, he makes me lie down and rest.
Also in verse 5 "you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies"
when I'm anxious and can see the battle in my midst, He prepares a table for me to sit down and eat. He says not to worry.
In this case, fear is my enemy. Fear of missing opportunity or not seeing people again. But God knows otherwise. He makes me lie down and rest while he takes care of the details.
Psalm 24
"The earth is the Lord's and everything in it."
Why should I worry about what I have or don't have? It's all God's anyway. He will do with all of it what he pleases.
Psalm 23
"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
He leads me beside quiet waters,
He restores my soul"
5 "You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies."
I know there is a reason for the time that I am still in Celina, or the U.S. for that matter. I want to be in San Pedro really badly, but I'm waiting on my financial savings. If it were just the money holding me back, God could provide that with no problem. I believe he still has me here for a reason, and I must accomplish that before I go.
This verse comforts me when I feel restless and unsatisfied with where I'm at. He makes me lie down in green pastures. When I get worked up and anxious, running around like a dog chasing its tail, he makes me lie down and rest.
Also in verse 5 "you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies"
when I'm anxious and can see the battle in my midst, He prepares a table for me to sit down and eat. He says not to worry.
In this case, fear is my enemy. Fear of missing opportunity or not seeing people again. But God knows otherwise. He makes me lie down and rest while he takes care of the details.
Psalm 24
"The earth is the Lord's and everything in it."
Why should I worry about what I have or don't have? It's all God's anyway. He will do with all of it what he pleases.
The Fam
Here are the 12 people I consider to be my missional community. All of us went to Belize for a one week fact finding mission. I love these crazy people.
San Pedro
15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not overcome it.
Matthew 16:15-18
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not overcome it.
Matthew 16:15-18
What's the dillio? (my calling to Belize)
You may be wondering what this Belize thing is all about or how it started, or maybe you've just stumbled across my blog randomly and thought who is this guy and why am I so intrigued by his awesome blog and run-on sentences? well, here's my best attempt at satisfying that for you.
Sometime last year, I began meeting with my mentor, Jeff and several of my closest brothers. We would meet every week for accountability and whatever else. One night, while we were praying, Jeff got a vision. The vision was of us starting a church in a coffee shop. We didn't talk about it much; Jeff tends to have a lot of visions. The next week, as we met, Jeff told us he had a location for the vision he saw.. San Pedro, Belize. That stirred my interest. He had never heard of it before, he had basically just started researching possible places to go and San Pedro just kept coming up. So as he looked into it, he found that Belize is the only English speaking country in Central America, which is a plus! Among other things, San Pedro has a huge need for revival. It's a place where people are hungry and searching, yet their resources are limited and they have a huge need for strong leadership. This whole idea captured my heart and the ideas started flowing.
At the time, I was one week away from auditions for UNT. I had spent the past two and a half years studying and training to get into one of the top music schools in the world as a jazz drum set major. It had been a dream of mine since early high school to study music and move to New York to play jazz, as one of my drum instructors had done. I had poured everything I had into that dream and in an instant, it felt so unappealing. For three days, I fasted and asked God for direction. On the final day of my fast, I asked God to speak to me in a dream....so he did. In my dream, I received a phone call from an unknown number. As I answered, it was my drum teacher, Gene, the one who had been helping me prepare for UNT. Without me saying anything, he said, "I've been thinking about what you said, don't go to UNT." Well if that's not a clear answer, then I don't know what is! So I didn't go to auditions. Here's the crazy part.. As I went to my drum lesson on Monday, Gene asked me how the big audition went. "I didn't go." I told him about the dream and how I felt God leading me toward Belize. His response? I've actually been thinking about that and I'm fully supportive of your decision. I had just mentioned the idea to him a week earlier. That was the beginning of my confirmation.
As I began telling people about this idea, which had already began to take shape, I found that responses were totally different than I expected. Never once did I get a negative reaction. I didn't get any criticism, everyone who heard was filled with joy for me, as though God was preparing the path. Friends, parents, grandparents, relatives and all kinds of people were supportive of me and the path I had set out on. I would have at least expected some confrontation, but that never came.
Sometime last year, I began meeting with my mentor, Jeff and several of my closest brothers. We would meet every week for accountability and whatever else. One night, while we were praying, Jeff got a vision. The vision was of us starting a church in a coffee shop. We didn't talk about it much; Jeff tends to have a lot of visions. The next week, as we met, Jeff told us he had a location for the vision he saw.. San Pedro, Belize. That stirred my interest. He had never heard of it before, he had basically just started researching possible places to go and San Pedro just kept coming up. So as he looked into it, he found that Belize is the only English speaking country in Central America, which is a plus! Among other things, San Pedro has a huge need for revival. It's a place where people are hungry and searching, yet their resources are limited and they have a huge need for strong leadership. This whole idea captured my heart and the ideas started flowing.
At the time, I was one week away from auditions for UNT. I had spent the past two and a half years studying and training to get into one of the top music schools in the world as a jazz drum set major. It had been a dream of mine since early high school to study music and move to New York to play jazz, as one of my drum instructors had done. I had poured everything I had into that dream and in an instant, it felt so unappealing. For three days, I fasted and asked God for direction. On the final day of my fast, I asked God to speak to me in a dream....so he did. In my dream, I received a phone call from an unknown number. As I answered, it was my drum teacher, Gene, the one who had been helping me prepare for UNT. Without me saying anything, he said, "I've been thinking about what you said, don't go to UNT." Well if that's not a clear answer, then I don't know what is! So I didn't go to auditions. Here's the crazy part.. As I went to my drum lesson on Monday, Gene asked me how the big audition went. "I didn't go." I told him about the dream and how I felt God leading me toward Belize. His response? I've actually been thinking about that and I'm fully supportive of your decision. I had just mentioned the idea to him a week earlier. That was the beginning of my confirmation.
As I began telling people about this idea, which had already began to take shape, I found that responses were totally different than I expected. Never once did I get a negative reaction. I didn't get any criticism, everyone who heard was filled with joy for me, as though God was preparing the path. Friends, parents, grandparents, relatives and all kinds of people were supportive of me and the path I had set out on. I would have at least expected some confrontation, but that never came.
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