Focus Should Be On Jesus Christ, Not A Cup!!!!

FOCUS SHOULD BE ON JESUS CHRIST, NOT A CUP!!!

Hebrews 12:1-2 says: 

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."

    So I was going to make this addition to my blog about my upcoming trip to the Middle East and how prayer is the support to its success.   The reason for the need  and importance of prayer is that this trip has the potential to be the most dangerous of trips and projects that I have taken a team on in a very long time.  However over the last couple of days, there has been a trend on social media that is wrong. 
    Christmas is fast approaching and Starbuck's has again come out with their "Red Cups."  The difference this year is that they are just plain red cups that say Starbucks.  Facebook and other social media have lit up with comments about Starbuck's taking Christ out of Christmas, how people are not going to shop them or patronize them because the red cups don't say Christmas or any other comments about Christmas.  Starbuck's publicly said we want to be more inclusive.  However, reality is that for Starbuck's, it also is a profit factor.  Less printing equates to more bottom line dollars.  Now I have been in Starbuck's recently and have seen all of the normal things in them, the ornaments, the "Christmas Blend Coffee"  (which actually says Christmas Blend Coffee), and all of the other things that say they have gone Christmas. 
    Why are we, and I mean we because all of the Christians out there who are "all up in arms" are representing me; a Believer of Jesus Christ and yes a Christian around the world declaring "War on Starbucks."  You see, your actions here in the USA reflect all Christians around the world.  People it is a RED CUP. 
    Candace Cameron Bure said this yesterday on her Facebook page:

Starbucks War on Christmas?

It's a red cup, folks.

Until Starbucks puts a baby Jesus or nativity scene on the cup while saying Merry Christmas, then pulls it because they say it’s offensive, let’s talk. I don't remember Starbucks ever being a Christian company, do you?  A Santa, a snowflake, some holly, a polar bear, some jingle bells or plain red cup don’t define Christmas for me as a Christian. My relationship with Jesus does.

So, I will joyfully sip on my Starbucks coffee, in a plain red cup, and instead of complaining about the lack of decorations, I will lovingly share the good news of Jesus Christ with friends and co-workers or anyone who's willing to engage in conversation.

    Is she right?  Yes she is right.  Here is my rant and I am yelling it at the top of voice right now....IT IS NOT STARBUCK'S, TARGET, OR EVEN WALMART'S RESPONSIBILITY TO SHARE THE TRUTH ABOUT JESUS CHRIST....IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY!!!!!  The red cup is a red cup, let it go.  If you are that upset about a red cup then get off your duff and start sharing the real truth.  The truth the Jesus Christ came to earth to be a sacrifice for your sins, to create a new covanent so that you and I will have an eternity in Heaven with Him and His Father.  If you want people to know why we celebrate Christmas, then go meet with them and tell them. 



    See the picture above, "Sharing the Gospel with Others-Easy or Difficult."   Pick your battles.  You are making Sharing more difficult.  I am not trying to belittle your belief system, but pick your battles.  A red cup is a battle you are not going to win.  But if you use the red cup as a opportunity to share Jesus Christ, then it is a eternal battle you will win.  For me, I am going to use Starbuck's.  I am going to invite people to have coffee with me at Starbuck's, I am going to get them something in the red cup, and I am going to share with them the LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST, the TRUTH OF JESUS CHRIST, and THE ETERNAL REASON FOR CHRISTMAS. 

THANK YOU STARBUCK'S FOR THE RED CUPS AND THE OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE!!!!  



LOVE....It is an ACTION WORD!!!

LOVE IS AN VERB….AN ACTION WORD

    Last month I wrote my blog on Forgiveness and it seemed right that this month’s blog be about Love.  Another subject that is so needed in the world today.   The word love is thrown around like baseball.  I love pizza (lol, personally I don’t-not a pizza fan), I love the way this looks, I love my car, and it goes on and on.  So do we truly know what the word love means and how to really use it?  Can you love someone, something or anything without having actions to go with it?  Honestly I don’t think you can.  To love it takes actions, not with just words but with an sacrificial emotional act. 

    God’s Word shares with us the story of Jesus, who loved you and me so much that he was willing to give His life so that we would be guaranteed an eternity with Him and His Father, God.  Jesus’s love he demonstrated through emotions and sacrifice.  I am still not positive that I could offer my son or daughter for anyone or anything.  But Jesus was willing to die because He loved you and me.  I am learning this type of love even today.    Please read the below article by Rick Warren and ask yourself at the end…Do my actions show that that you love or are you giving just simple “lip service?”  I would challenge you that if your actions don't match the words then make them match.  Believe it or not, lip service hurts and jeopardizes your love relationship.  It also doesn't take long for the lip service to show through and then start hurting your relationship with that person. 

“The Bible Says Love Is An Action

By Rick Warren — May 21, 2014

“Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.” (1 John 3:18 NLT)

If you really love someone, then you show it by how you act toward that person.

Love is more than attraction and more than arousal. It’s also more than sentimentality, like so many of today’s songs suggest. By this standard, is love dead when the emotion is gone? No — not at all — because love is an action, and a behavior.

Over and over again in the Bible, God commands us to love each other, and you can’t command an emotion. If I told you right now, “Be sad!” you couldn’t be sad on cue. Just like an actor, you can fake it, but you’re not wired for your emotions to change on command.

If love were just an emotion, then God couldn’t command it. But love is something you do. It can produce emotion, but love is an action. 

The Bible says, “Let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions” (1 John 3:18 NLT). We can talk a good act: “I love people.” But do we really love them? Our love is revealed in how we act toward them.

How will you reveal to others that you love them this season? Be specific. Think about each member of your family. How can you show your love to _____?”

Forgiveness: Hard Lessons to Learn

    

FORGIVENESS

 I started to write a blog about the importance of friends and family in the ministry, but as I was writing it, I found that it was turning more to forgiveness.  Forgiveness has really been heavy on my heart.  

    My search about forgiveness began in the Bible, of course.  I found over 200 references to forgiveness in the Bible.  It was a time of reading a lot of eye-opening and soul searching verses.  What I have found as I was studying is that forgiveness takes three steps. 

                                Step 1:  Takes a person asking for forgiveness. 

                                Step 2:  The verbal act of accepting the forgiveness. 

                                Step 3:  The emotional act (the heart) of accepting the forgiveness.

    When someone asks for forgiveness, most are thinking that the person will forgive them.   In order to ask for forgiveness, the person asking must have recognition.  The asking for forgiveness is the recognition that their actions or words hurt someone they care about or love. They realize that they need to ask for forgiveness because of the hurt and actions.  Do they expect forgiveness to be immediate, no; but their hope is forgiveness.  The question arises of what is the time frame for forgiveness?  Honestly if we use Jesus as our example it is to be immediate.  Definitely not a human trait. 

    The next step is the acceptance.  Acceptance of forgiveness is difficult especially if the hurt is deep.  However throughout the Bible we find that God says over and over again we are to forgive.  In fact one of the key verses is when Jesus is speaking and one of the disciples asks how often and Jesus replies, seven times seven fold.   Doing the math alone, it is an infinite number.  So being a follower of Jesus, we are not only supposed to forgive, but are commanded to forgive.  And forgiveness is not a one-time action; it is a multiple time action.

    The third and final act of forgiveness is the heart acceptance.  This is the toughest of all the steps.  This is where the human aspects of forgiveness exist.  It turns from giving “lip service” to the emotional support.  Many years ago, I faced a situation where I was asked to forgive a situation and the person.  It was easy to do the verbal acceptance of my forgiveness but the heart action was terribly hard.  Over time it happened.  However during this time as my heart was forgiving I lost the friendship and love with the person.  When my heart was ready I tried to get back the relationship with the person, but it was not to happen.  Recently I asked the person what happened and what I found out was even more heartbreaking to me.  I found out that during this time, my actions had hurt them more than their initial hurt had caused me.   Their comment was that they had reached out knowing they had caused hurt, but that although I said I forgave them, my actions told them a whole different story.  My heart was broken and my words of forgiveness are never going to be enough.  I lost a friend and a relationship that will never be the same.  What I learned was that you can say you forgive but there MUST be action to our words.  I also learned that when asked to forgive there should never be conditions added to your response.  Image if when we asked forgiveness from Jesus and He says I forgive you but…We are to learn to forgive like Jesus does.   Simple and once He says I forgive, we know it is gone.  I know what you are thinking….it is easier said/written then done.  You are right and that is why as we spend our time here, as Followers of Jesus, we are supposed to be becoming more like Jesus.  Sorry to be blunt and honest but it is the truth and I am struggling every day to become more like Jesus.  Not perfect (by far) but forgiven.

    Imagine what would happen if we went to Jesus to ask for forgiveness and He says yes but does not forgive us with His heart.  Where would we be today?  Where would we be at the Judgement Throne?  How would it be if Jesus said to the Father one of our sins that we had asked forgiveness for that sin, and Jesus says, “Father they asked for forgiveness but I just could not forgive them in my heart?”  That is why once we ask it is cleaned, wiped out, forgotten, gone as far as the east is from the west.  I am not sure about you but I ask forgiveness every day from Jesus for the stupid things I do.  I am glad that Jesus forgives me and they are gone.

    Why did I write this blog?  It is like I have said many times before, maybe what I write is something that you have struggled with or are struggling with.  But it really is something that I am struggling with. 

Where Does Our Value Come From?

 

WHERE DOES OUR VALUE COME FROM?

Journey To Completion

 



    

Genesis 1:26-27

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.   So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God, he created them; male and female he created them."

 

 

    It seems like every time I sit down to write a blog or to say something, that God just reaches into my heart and pulls out part of me.  This is the case as I sit here writing this blog.  I just finished our Great Commission Ministry Update, which I was pretty candid about a huge need that we have and yet as soon as I finished it, I started wondering and doing some quiet reflection of where does our value come from?  Being in a faith-based ministry and watching our monthly income decreasing rapidly, maybe that is why I started questioning my value and where I get it from.  Is it money, family, friends, professional relationship or the work that my value comes from?  I knew but maybe I needed a "refresher course" from God.
    "Value is a personal quality. You can only be value by a person.  You can't be valued by an impersonal force."  Value is a human trait, thus yes I am repeating myself; it takes people or a person to make you feel valued.  Who values us? Where does my value come from? If I do matter, then how much or to who do I matter, and how much do I matter?  Have you ever thought about those questions, I know I have in the past and especially the last couple of months.
      I would first say I am valued by family and friends, or at least I think so.  When they call you, text you, or use social media to tell us we matter, our eyes brighten and our hearts are lifted.  A great example of how our family and friends are affecting our value is through the use of Facebook.  When we post something or it is our birthday (Now be honest with yourself), how many of us don't see how many like it, share it, write a comment or even just wish happy birthday. 
     Yes family and friends definitely affect our value, but there are definitely some problems with seeking our complete value here. 

• It will NEVER be enough.  We will always want more.
• Because of need for more, it could make us always need to be in a relationship.  We will need a relationship to validate our value.  Relationships are tough and take a lot of work to sustain, thus we could end up putting stress upon us and those we are in relationships with.
• It makes us vulnerable.  People change.  Does that mean we are of less value?  A loss of a family or friend, who justifies our value dies or moves away, it can makes us vulnerable and feel like we don't matter. 
• It can become a popularity contest.  Does it mean that more popular people are valued more?  If we are totally seeking our value from family and friends, then does it not make sense that the more popular person is the one of more value. 

    What if our value does not come from personal relationships, does it mean we are seeking them from professional relationships?    "If not from the love of our family and friends, then perhaps from the approval and esteem of our colleagues, our boss, our tutor or even a teacher. Perhaps it is our achievements, our productivity, our success, that will win the respect of others, and underwrite our worth."  As stated above the same problems exist with seeking our value from professional relationships. 
     But we MUST remember that value is a personal quality and I/we/you can only get it from a person.  Our value can ONLY COME FROM ONE PERSON OR RELATIONSHIP.  That person and relationship is God.  He is personal. He is Eternal. And He is Love.
      The advantages of getting our value from God are simple:

1. Everyone can seek it and get it.  There are no elites, no popularity contests, no conditions.
2. We don't have to earn it.  It is a free gift.  It was freely given.  God paid for it already through His Son, Jesus Christ.  Read John 3:16.
3. There is no fear of not being of value.  God is not going to stop loving us.  He is love.  He is eternal.  He is never going to change.  His love is without conditions. 
4. God is infinite.  The value we get from each other is short-lived while we are here, but God is will be there for us forever.  "The value we have in the mind and heart of God is infinite.  To whom do we matter and how much?  To God, and enough to die for us, as our anthem pointed out."

    Now I need to give you the one disadvantage of having our value grounded in God.  It is that we are demanded to share this truth with everyone and thus we MUST treat everyone with the same value that God as for us. 
    So when you are struggling like I have been with my sense of value, please understand that to God you are the most valuable, loved, prized and important person.  God sent His Son to reconcile the world and solidity our relationship with Him, but more importantly we MUST remember that Jesus came just from me....I am of value.

 

    



THE ROAD I CHOSE!!!

 



Waiting For My Flight-A view I see a lot, different place-same view

 

THE ROAD I CHOSE

 

    I have been called a missionary, an employee, a warrior, a man, a leader, a father and the one I choose to call myself is a Servant.  Where I am today, where I will tomorrow and where I was yesterday are all places that I chose to be.  You are probably wondering where I am going with this.  You see, God called me as He does all of His to follow Him and do His work, but like all of us; we have a chose.  A chose to answer that call or a chose to ignore it and walk away.  I chose this road.  I chose it because of the love I have for my Lord and the desire to follow Him wherever He calls. 

     Some of you might think that this is the life.  I get to travel to exotic locations, doing the work of the Lord.  That it is wonderful watching a person make a decision that will affect their life forever.  That I meet exciting and loving people.  I have heard some of you say that I must never worry when I am traveling because the Lord walks with me.  All of the above are very true.  But there is the other part that is not so glamorous. 

     The not so glamorous is the loneliness and worry of the road.  As I make these trips, there is not one trip that is only a few hours long.  The typical trip is an average of 10 days.  This is 10 days away from your family and friends.  It is getting to the airport 3 hours early at the beginning, having a unusually long layover in a "foreign" airport, where although English is spoken it is not their first language so you are struggling to understand, then there are the flights for many hours at a time.  And to make each flight worse, I am making these flights without family and most of the time alone.  Even with a team, I still miss my family, the loneliness of being away from them, and the worry that they will be fine. 

But this is "THE ROAD I CHOSE."  It is the Road that I would not change.

It is a Road that I would not be able to make without the emotional support of my family.  It is the Road that I could not be on without the prayers of the many that pray for us.  It is the Road that I could not be on without the support of many of you who sacrifice so much for us to do this. 

Someday this Road will come to end.  How many more days I will be on this Road I am not sure of.  I will continue this Road until God pulls me away or tells me enough.  But no matter where the Road will lead I will claim the promise from Jeremiah 29:11- "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
 

    

That Time Again.....A Ministry Newsletter Blog

THAT TIME AGAIN!!!

    In just a few days from today, I will begin a season of travel.  The first stop on my travels is viewed in the picture on the left and the other stop this time is below on the right.  Over the next 9 months, I will be traveling every month but one.  It seems like God is  opening lots of doors.  Please pray for me, my family, the people I will be meeting with and of course that God gets the Glory.

    I have been trying to write more blogs and let you know what is going on in the ministry that God has called us in to.  I hope you are reading them because God is really doing some great things in the region.  This trip will be a whole lot of preparation for future projects with teams.  But will also include many opportunities for prayer and sharing the one real Truth. 
    As I told you in the first paragraph, I will be traveling every month but one over the next 9 months.  As you can guess these trips or excursions are tough.  They are tough on many levels, from physical and emotional to financial.  Please pray.
    I will try on this trip to use the blog more to let you know what is going on, where I am and how God is working. 

WHAT IS HAPPENING???
    God has really been taking care of us this year.  He has had to take care of us because if you look at things that have happened, it can only be God who has brought us through everything.  In our lives, good and bad; we need to always look at the hands of God in our lives.  And for us we can see God's hands throughout our lives.  Here are some of the ways we have seen the hands of God:
1.  I had a health scare with my blood pressure spiking to dangerous levels, but I never felt any of the side effects.  Today although we are monitoring it, it is at the lowest levels of my life.
2.  Our son recently got married to a young lady that was an answer to our prayers.  We had prayed that God would bless him with a partner in life that would be a biblical example and that is exactly what God gave him.  They are a perfect compliment to each other and they put God first in their lives.
3.  In the recent years, I have been able to reconnect with friends from my childhood and my college days.  These friends have taught me how to forgive, how to look at my past with fondness and that through it all they are there to walk this road with us. 
    These are just three of the ways we have seen God in our lives but there are so many more.  God is always with us, we just need to look for them.  Jeremiah 29:11 says:  "For I know the plans I have for you--this is the LORD's declaration--plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."  This one verse is something we all must remember.

A TOUGH SUBJECT
    God has really blessed us since we started this journey in 2001, at that time with the International Mission Board, then in 2005 when we started the second part of our journey with International Commission.  Earlier I spoke about God being with you and in our journey with International Commission, we have seen Him so very much in our lives especially in our financial situations, although we have seen our financial situation decrease over the years.  Yes the tough subject I am going to talk about is Great Commission Partnership. 
    God calls us to follow Him.  He really calls us to go therefore and make disciples of the world, sharing His love and good news.  Each of us that are "followers" have this command in our lives.  We are called to GO, to PRAY, and to GIVE.  Some cannot GO, but all of us can PRAY and GIVE.  What are you doing with this command? 
    International Commission is a faith based ministry, which means that we need people (JUST LIKE YOU) to come along side of us to pray for us and to financially partner with us so that we can stay in the ministry.  Is partnership biblical?  Please look at the ministry of Paul and the other disciples who had people and churches come alongside of them so they could continue in the work.  We have been blessed to have many partners who have come alongside of us and it is this core that has kept us going.  Over the last 6 months, our financial Great Commission Partnership has reduced by as much 25% on a good month.  We need you to pray with us about our financial situation.  We have now begun to tap into our savings in order to meet our daily needs.  Pray that God will lift up people who are called to come alongside of us.  Pray that many of our partners who had to reduce or stop their partnership will feel God calling them to increase their amount or begin again.  Please pray that God will continue to meet all of our needs.  Pray that God will give us peace in this current situation.  Thank you for your prayers.

   

A Love Story

   

 

 

Our Wedding Day



 

 

 

A Love Story

    Almost 33 years ago, I met this wonderful person after going through what I thought was one of the toughest years of my life.  I will save that story for another time.  So I walked into our college food service where I worked and met, Jeannine.  You know that saying that "sometimes you just know this is the one."  Well that is exactly how I felt about Jeannine.

    To make our long story short, I asked her out she said no.  But I was persistent and finally she gave in and asked me out and of course I said yes.  Like I say before, I knew she was the one.  A few short months went by and we got engaged.   Then after dating and being engaged for 18 months, we got married.  

    Not long after we were married, we moved.  This would be the first of many moves that Jeannine would agree to without complaint. Eleven in the first 5 years of marriage and then feeling the Call of the Lord and moving to the Middle East.  All without complaint.   This is the way that she has been our whole marriage.  She loves without conditions.  Over the last 30 plus years, Jeannine has been an answer to my prayers more than I have been an answer to her. 
    Jeannine seems to always know what I am thinking, probably before I even know what I am thinking.  She stands next to me in every decision, of which I think many she does not agree with.  As I have followed the Lord, she has followed with me.  I know that she gets concerned and is concerned every time that I leave.  But still she hugs me, kisses me and says that she loves me and is praying for me.  She has cried when I cried and laughed when I laugh.  She supports me when I complain or am upset, never saying a cruel or unjust word.  She stands with me during the darkest moments of our lives and brightest moments.  She is the example in every way what the Bible says a wife is to be.  She loves me a 100 percent of the time, and many times she gives more. 
    This is the woman that God made just for me.  Many have said that God knows and plans for us to prosper and that is what Jeannine is for me.  Without her I would not be the person I am.  She is my gift from God.  We have had almost 33 years together and in one month, we will be married for 31 years.  I would like to have another 33 years with this woman, Jeannine.  She is my life, my love and my everything.