I just returned from a week of camp at Blue Mountain Retreat Center outside of Fredericktown. The camp is for kids going into 6th, 7th and 8th grades. The last night is an opportunity for the kids to "say so." Twenty-four kids gave a first time confession of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. For the counselors there, this makes the week of heat and exhaustion worth it.

Consider these two bits of scripture.

But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." - Romans 10:8-11

Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved praise from men more than praise from God. - John 12:42-43

What a thrill; 24 kids for the first time confessed Christ because they were more interested in the glory of God than the glory of their peers. And over 40 others recommitted their faith to Christ. That's a good week!

- Rob

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
2 Corinthians 4:8-9

Have you ever felt hard pressed on every side, perplexed, persecuted or struck down? We were never promised that we would not experience those things in this life. Being followers of Christ does not exempt us from pain and suffering.

The bigger question is this: Have you ever felt crushed, experienced despair, been abandoned, even destroyed?

The very good news is this; Christ came to walk with you and give you strength through hardship so that you will never be crushed or in despair. You are never abandoned and nothing can destroy you because of who He is!

Are you aware of what an amazing God this is?

I pray that you will find His strength to be sufficient for you no matter what you face today.

If you have not yet accepted Him as your Savior, I pray that this would be the day for you to find Him to be all that you need!

-Angela

You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. - Galatians 5:13

Chapter 5 of Galatians is all about a paradox of freedom. We want to be free, but the truth is we human beings will be enslaved by one thing or another. Paul, in this letter, is encouraging the people of Galatia to choose Christ as master rather than sin; these really are the only two choices. Our freedom comes when we submit to Christ who in turn gives us our life and and sets us free from all unrighteousness.

In this particular verse, though, I wanted to point out Paul's prescription for us when we are tempted to use our freedom to indulge in the sinful nature; it is to serve others in love. I found that quite interesting that it is not to fight temptation by trying to "be better and more holy." No, it is very practical - take the focus off of yourself and put it on another by serving him or her in love.

Been struggling? Who could you serve in love today?

-Rob

Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead. - Galatians 1:1

My small group is starting a study of Galatians. The very first verse hit me harder than it normally would because we have commissioned two mission teams this weekend (a youth team to Toronto and a group of over 40 to Swaziland, Africa) and have another one in Russia.

These teams originate from La Croix Church in Cape Girardeau, just like Paul originated from the blossoming church in Jerusalem. But Paul reminds us and our mission teams who really sends us out - not men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead.

- Rob

I was sitting in the room with my son, Michael, recently as he was watching the movie The Incredibles. He likes to listen to a line over and over (part of his autism) and the line he kept playing that day got my attention.

Mr. Incredible drives into his driveway and a little neighborhood kid sits there staring at him. Mr. Incredible, who was not in a good mood, says,

"Well, what are you waiting for?"

The kids says, "I don't know, something amazing I guess".

Mr. Incredible hangs his head and says under his breath, "Me too, Kid".

I think many of us, like Mr. Incredible, can become disillusioned by life. We're waiting for something amazing to happen. Life doesn't look like we imagined it would. We are sure we were meant for more than this!

What we don't realize is that God works right in the midst of the ordinary. We watch for "amazing" and we miss magical moments. We expect God to do huge things in us and through us, and we miss the everyday ways that He blesses and uses us. We can miss opportunities to love and to be Christ to the world because they weave in and out of our everyday experiences.

Jesus walked among normal people. He seemed to do extraordinary things on normal days. He taught life-changing lessons on normal walks from place to place. He poured into and left His message in the hands of ordinary people.

He was amazing. He was amazing on normal days with normal people.

Maybe we don't have to be "incredible" to be "amazing"!

-Angela

"He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful." 1 Corinthians 1:8-9

Whew! I read that this morning and thought; "What a relief!!" He will keep me strong. He is faithful. I don't have to be strong or figure everything out. My bringing Him glory to the very end has more to do with how faithful He is than how faithful I am.

I simply have to abide in Him, hope in Him, rest in Him. That brings me a lot of peace!

-Angela

Perhaps you've heard the term "nay-sayer" and know that it refers to someone who doubts and is contrary to pretty much everything that is presented. Today I'm coining a new term, "nay-prayer." By this, I'm referring to anyone who doubts or is contrary to anything regarding prayer or for whom praying seems to do nothing but increase doubt and negativity toward God. Pretty much describes all of us at some times or in some ways, doesn't it?

I believe that God intends prayer to be communication between us and him that is anchored in an established relationship of trust, love, and knowledge of one another. However, the opposite is very often true; prayer is borne out of a need or desire we have for a specific outcome and our trust, love, and understanding of God is formed from the results. In other words, instead of trusting God and knowing his character before we pray and regardless of the outcomes, we judge God's character and faithfulness by whether or not we get what we want. This creates "nay-prayers" for sure.

In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus, who was not hindered by sin nor a lack of faith, did NOT get what his heart desired - he did NOT get the cup of suffering he was about to drink taken away from him as he asked. He did find the strength and peace to carry out God's will, and he found it in the Faithful One he already knew loved him. His relationship with his Father was not at stake with the outcome of his request to be spared that deep suffering.

- Rob

Do you feel like your fate is sealed? Does it seem that your situation will never change? On Father's Day we heard differently.

In Daniel 6 Daniel's fate also appeared to be sealed.

17 A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den. The king sealed the stone with his own royal seal and the seals of his nobles, so that no one could rescue Daniel.

As we read on however, we learn that God had more to say about Daniel's situation.

19 At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions' den. 20 When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, "Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?"

21 Daniel answered, "O king, live forever! 22 My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, O king."

Could it be possible that God has more to say and more to work out in your situation as well? The same God who saw Daniel's sealed fate is still at work today and is still able to rescue. Serve Him continually, regardless of how your circumstances look, and watch for Him to be faithful to you.

Philippians 4:6
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

-Angela


Edited: 06/22/2010 at 8:28 AM by abeise

A heart to offer
A soul to give
An old life to die to
A new life to live

Our ransom is paid
Freed from the past
Called to God’s service
Equipped for the task

Armored with boldness,
With faith, truth and right
Conquer the Darkness
And Walk in His light

“… Forget what happened before, and do not think about the past. Look at the new thing I am going to do, it is already happening. Don’t you see it? …” Isaiah 43:18-19

When my children were pre-schoolers, I had them all in the van one day and my 4 year old said from the back of the van, "Mommy, does the Bible say not to worry?" I told her that it did, feeling very spiritual as I quoted: "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." 1 Peter 5:7

Then she said, "So does that mean that worrying is a sin?" That's when I stopped feeling so spiritual and realized that God had just used my 4 year old to point out my sin to me.

In the women's summer class we're doing the book Respecatable Sins: Confronting the Sins we Tolerate. Today I'm reading about anxiety. Here I am, almost 20 years later, and I'm once again aware of my tendency to worry and my lack of trust in God to take care of me and the people I care about in every way.

"Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7

Don't worry about anything, tell God what you need, thank Him, then you will experience His peace.

I will experience His peace, not because He will do everything exactly they way I ask Him to in my prayers. But the asking and then thanking reminds me of how He has already been faithful to me and that I can trust Him to continue to be faithful.

I want the peace of God to guard my heart and my mind. But I have to choose to lay down my anxiety and trust that He is good and able to care for me!

-Angela (recovering worrier)

And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. Then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold-plated metal images. You will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, "Be gone!" - Isaiah 30:20-22

I read this yesterday in my daily reading, and I love the imagery here. Our teacher opening our eyes and ears to see him and hear his direction with the result that we see our idols for what they are - unclean things or filthy rags.

Lord, in the midst of affliction and adversity, show yourself to us and guide us away from the things that have stolen our hearts...our hearing...our sight; and lead us to you. Amen

- Rob

Obedience and Abiding go hand-in-hand. Check this out from John 14 and see if you can see the relationship.

"If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."

...If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him."

- Rob

"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world." - John 17:20-24

Jesus prayer for his disciples, the original twelve and all who would believe after them, is that we would "be in" him (think "ABIDE") as he and the Father are in one another. The results of such an abiding according to Jesus' prayer are a strong witness to the world, display of Christ's power, unity among believers, and a nearness to Jesus that he longs for. Could it be that if we are not abiding the opposite would prevail; a poor witness to our faith, bearing no fruit for the Kingdom of God, dissension and quarreling among believers, and a distant relationship with Christ?

Abide and obey.

- Rob

Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. - John 15:4-12

This is the first, and really the best evidence for the theory I proposed in my last post - that the NT after the Gospels really boils down to "abide and obey." Jesus really could not say it any clearer. We must abide or wither and die spiritually. And we must obey his commands to "remain" (or keep abiding) in his love. And the primary example he gives for obedience is to love others as he has loved us.

- Rob

Over the next few days, we'll be having a conversation about what I see as the basic call of the New Testament after the four gospels. I'll lay out my proposal in this post and then take a look at Scripture over the next several days to see what it has to say.

If the call of the gospels is "repent and believe," I think the call of the remaining books is "abide and obey."

Abiding means "living in" or "making one's home in." The call of the New Testament is to make our home in Christ as he and the Father make their home in us through the presence of the Holy Spirit. Abiding is an active verb and includes daily scripture reading, prayer, meditation, worship and many other creative ways in which we place ourselves in God's presence.

Obedience is pretty straight forward - to do what we are told. Did you bristle when you read that stated so bluntly? It's not easy for individualistic, self-reliant types to simply do what we're told. When we abide in Christ, the Spirit directs our thoughts and actions to those of Christ, and obedience is our following that direction. It involves submitting to God - recognizing God id God and we are not. (Sound familiar from this past weekend?)

Here we go!

- Rob

The mission trip to Guatemala turned out to be more than anyone expected or signed up for! In order, here is what they experienced:

earthquake
volcano
flooding
mudslides
a night stuck on a bus trying to get to the airport

They also experienced the grace of God in a very real way as they made connections down to the second, peace that they should not have had, and grace as they finally got on the plane and home safely.

Brett will be writing in the next day or 2 to give a full report. He told me that he was amazed and grateful for how awesome his team was, how calm they stayed and how well they followed!

Bless the Lord for their safe return. And we bless the Lord for what a blessing they were to the people there!

-Angela

Edited: 06/01/2010 at 11:29 AM by abeise

Some of the students from Ignite are in Guatemala (along with a few of La Croix's own) on a mission trip at New Life Children's Home. If you would like to keep track of them, you can here.

- Rob

From the Lenten Reader, by Mary Fletcher (18th Century spiritual leader and friend of John Wesley...so pardon the old English):

He calls thee to the closest union. and though he knows thou art a perverse rebel, and cannot feel a grain of love but what he puts into thee: yet he doth wait that he may be gracious, and is a thousand times more ready to save thee than thou art to be saved. And so doth he delight in that communion, that the spirit continually cries, "Come."

Tonight is Encounter, an event designed to create sacred space for you to encounter the Lord through reflection, praise, prayer and the Lord's Supper. Come.

- Rob

My favorite line from John Ortberg's "guest appearance" was actually a quote from someone else whose name escapes me now.

"Leadership is disappointing people at a rate they can stand."

- Rob

Is Jesus enough for me? Is HE my portion?

Psalm 142:5 says: "I cry to you, O Lord; I say, "You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living."

The New Living Translation says it like this: "Then I pray to you, O Lord. I say, "You are my place of refuge. You are all I really want in life"

I have been searching my heart and asking myself that question, "Is he really what I want in life?" Or do I really want to be safe and healthy and secure and blessed? Is He my ticket to those things? Do I come before Him and try to do enough so that He'll do what I ask Him to do? Do I come before Him to beg Him to fix things or give me things? Or do I want HIM? Is He really enough for me?

Chris Tomlin sings:

All of You is more than enough for all of me, for every thirst and every need.
You satisfy me with Your love and all I have in You is more than enough

Is His love satisfying me? Is all I have in Him more than enough for me?

I'm praying for Him to fill me so full of Himself that He really is enough for me...all that I need...all that I long for and run after.....then my heart won't be troubled by what is happening to me or around me. My hope will be fully set on Him. My faith will not be shaken.

Take me there, Lord.

-Angela