The "Bean"

In Hong Kong, I went to Starbucks to get a cup of coffee.  I noticed their advertisement and took this picture.  I thought Starbucks shares their story clearly and simply.  It made me think:  Can we share the Gospel and the Christian story with such clarity and simplicity?  

Starbucks knows the process of maturing the "bean" to make coffee.  Are you engaged in the process of helping christians mature?  

Starbucks is attempting to reach the world with the coffee bean.  Are you meaningfully involved in reaching the world with the Good News of Christ?

Starbucks knows that the rich flavor of coffee only comes out of the bean when it is roasted and put in hot water.  What comes out of us when we go through the fire or find ourselves in hot water?  

Starbucks - reaching the world one bean at a time?   Can I say, Christian - are you reaching the world by "bean" (being) an ambassador of Christ right where you are?  

Join us and other "beans" (beings) for excursions to Asia this summer.  For more information, go to www.e3leadershipgroup.net.

from one “bean” to another.

Doug

ambitious for what?

Therefore, we also make it our ambition to be pleasing to the Lord.  2 Corinthians 5:9

The explorer of Antarctica, James Cook, once said, “I ... had ambition not only to go farther than any man had ever been before, but as far as it was possible for man to go.”

He was a man of ambition.  As Christians, we must be men and women of ambition as well.  Whereas, Captain Cook was ambitious for himself, we must be ambitious for God!  God is worthy of nothing less from us. Thee are many stories of men and women who because of an insatiable desire accomplished great things.  I am not aware of any person, who desired very little and yet accomplished anything great.

Often, as believers we have not thought it right to pursue “great things”.  We tend to think that this reeks of pride and arrogance.  And to be candid, this has and does happen in the Name of Jesus to our shame.  Someone has said, “there is no room for pride in ministry.”  Amen. Yet, I think we can pendulum swing to the far extreme in the other direction and develop a false sense of humility.  This actually can easily become an excuse for us to stay in our comfort zone and become complacent. 

Humility is not opposed to greatness. Humility is a recognition that I am not here to seek great things form myself (Jeremiah 45:5).  Humility is a recognition that if I am going to be involved in something great (like the Great Commission) I must live in a daily dependence upon the Lord and in supportive community with His people.  

Jesus never said it is wrong to desire to be great.  On the contrary, He said, “whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant and whoever wishes to be first shall be your slave, (Matthew 20:26-27).  Jesus also said, “whoever keeps and teaches His commandments shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven, (Matthew 5:19).  Jesus never put down anyone for desiring to be great.  He redefines what greatness is and He transforms our desires for greatness.

It is not wrong to desire.  Buddhism teaches that desire is the source of suffering.  Therefore, the goal of Buddhism is to remove or extinguish desire so there can be harmony.  Christianity teaches that although our desires have done bad or even mad, it is through the transforming power of Jesus Christ that our desires are transformed.  Jesus renews our mind and purifies our desires. For example:  “He who hungers and thirsts for righteousness shall be satisfied, (Matthew 5:6).  “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart”, (Psalm 37:4).  “For it is God who is at work in you , both to give you the desire and the ability to work for His good pleasure”, (Philippians 2:13).  

What do you need then to leave your mark on this world for His glory?  In a word, focus.  If you are careful, you can inscribe your name on a piece of wood by using a magnifying glass as you focus the sun’s rays.  Otherwise, the sun will beat down on the wood all day long and never leave a mark.  Even so, if we are to leave the mark of the Gospel in this world, we must focus our lives around three aspects of spiritual ambition.

Spiritual ambition is made up of vision, passion and action.  If you have vision but no passion or action all you have is a fantasy.  If you have passion without a clear vision and action, then you have passion out of control.  This would be like water pouring out of a fire hydrant without the hose or the fireman to direct the water.  Action with no vision and no passion is legalistic or meaningless activity.  It is mere duty obligation which won’t last long.  But when all three are working in concert with each other then you turn ordinary events into something that is atomic.  This is spiritual ambition.

God called Caleb, “a man of a different spirit”.  He was a man of ambition (vision, passion and action).  Caleb’s vision was founded upon God’s promise given to him through Moses when he was forty years old.  At eighty-five Caleb is as passionate about the vision God had given him forty-five years earlier, (Joshua 14:10-12).

This was Caleb’s vision.  It burned in his heart for more than forty years!  Caleb made God’s promise his life vision.  Caleb made God promise his passion.  Caleb acted in faith on God’s promise.  It became reality.  

What was different about Caleb from all of the others?  He followed God fully because he was a man of spiritual ambition — a man of vision; a man of passion; a man of action.  

May God raise up many men and women today with a Caleb spirit!  

doug

Do you see what I see

When Peter was introduced to Jesus for the first time, Jesus said, “You are Simon; you shall be called Cephas (which translated means Peter).” What’s up with the name change?
Names in the Hebrew culture had and have much more significance than they do in our western culture. Names speak to the identity and roles of a person. Jesus changes Simon’s name to Peter for He is casting a new vision for Peter’s life. This is where life transformation starts — with our identity.
In the Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, Witch and The Wardrobe - four children named Lucy, Susan, Edmund and Peter are renamed by Aslan the Lion when he crowns them as Kings and Queens of Narnia. Aslan did not see them as children but as kings and queens fulfilling their roles in the land of Narnia.
Even so, Jesus does not see Simon as Simon. He sees Simon as Peter (Petros - a fragment of a rock). Jesus sees Peter differently than Peter sees himself. Jesus sees Peter as a man of God who will have great impact in advancing the Kingdom of God to the world.
I make three observations about Peter’s first encounter with Jesus. #1. Jesus casts a new vision for the fisherman Simon into a fisher of men. Every Jewish boy growing up dreamed of being a Rabbi/teacher of Israel. Obviously Peter did not make the cut so he was following in the footsteps of his father the fisherman. Simon was used to casting nets to catch fish but now Jesus casts a vision for Peter that caught his heart and Peter follows in the footsteps of the Master.
Jesus wants to do the same for you and me today. He wants to catch our hearts for the Kingdom. He has a new name for each one of us who follow Him; a name that gives us a new identity and a new role in this age and in the age to come.
#2. Jesus sees Peter differently than Peter saw himself. Jesus sees us as we will become not just as we are. Do you see yourself the way God sees you? How does God really see you. Read these passages, memorize, meditate on them so that they become the essence of your identity: Rom 8:15-16, 2 Cor 5:17, Gal 3:26, Eph 2:10, Eph 5:1, 8 …
#3. Jesus transforms an ordinary man into a man of God who became a world-changer. Peter was an uneducated and an untrained man in the ways of the Rabbincal school but he was a man who hung out with Jesus and the result was a supernatural transformation of a life.

The key to a transformed life; hang out with Jesus.

in the grip of His grace,

Asia Travels

Asia - 10-24 through 11-12

We go to listen, learn, build, explore, coach, resource, network

East Asia #1: October 26-28

We had a rich time with the Loveland family (missionaries for 10 years in Taichung).  The picture is of our "Taiwanese family from our summer mission camp.  We had a reunion on a Saturday night.  In the picture is also Michael Mayor (blue shirt) from LSCC.  He is there for one year learning about missions.  

The Loveland's will be moving back to KC due to Pam's parent's health.  David will work with me with in cross cultural opportunities in the KC area. He also will continue to work with Taiwan, and travel with me as a trainer/coach as well.  

Peter (in the green) and his wife (next to him) will lead the house church and we will continue to work with them along with another missionary family that we have joined for many years in the summer for the American Life Camp. (in July).  I invite you to prayerfully consider joining next summer's mission camps in Taichung and be a part of making friends for eternity by living and sharing the Gospel with seventy to one hundred Taiwanese college students.  Contact me for more information: 

East Asia #2:  October 28-29  

Ching Yu and I traveled to another city for the next few days and met with two house church pastors ( Pastor Z & Y) whom we met last year.  Last summer we had a mission team partner with them.  This time we prayed and interacted on how we can go further in our partnership both with summer teams and also for leader training opportunities during the rest of the year.  

They are also interested in finding good private/Christian high schools in the U.S. to give guidance to some of their families who desire to send their children to the U.S. for their education. So, I promoted SCA -  a private school near us. 

China sends more students each year (235,000) to the U.S. for education. The next largest people group comes from India (96,000). South Korea sends (70,000) students.  We have many contacts with student ministries working with international students on U.S. campuses that we are able to recommend in sending their college kids to.  One of our objectives is to build a "bridge" as a two-way partnership from the U.S. to Asia where we can send Americans for a one year to two year term and also receive Asian students and connect them to good campus ministries and or churches.  This year we have have eight students studying abroad for at least one year in various cities and countries in Asia.  

East Asia #3:  October 30-31

We traveled to our next city to meet with Pastor P.  He is very interested in us coming back and speaking at a college student gathering on the theme of holy living — A life that please God, 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8.  We spent the day with him in listening to their needs and talking about ways we can join in partnership and participate in what God is doing through his network of churches.  

East Asia #4: Oct 31-Nov 1  

We are in transit through Hong Kong to our next destination. This is a picture of the massive crowd coming toward us in the MTR (the Hong Kong subway).  It still amazes me how efficient Hong Kong is in moving the masses of people everyday and it is very clean!

East Asia #5: Nov 1-2   

We conducted a one-day conference called: "A Colorful Life".  We focused on six episodes on Abraham's life as the example of a person living by faith.  We broke the seventy attendees into ten groups and then I shared from the life of Abraham.  I instructed the groups to talk about what lesson of faith they learned from each episode and to write it out in a sentence that started like this, "Faith is .............."   After they worked out their faith sentence, they drew a picture of their sentence.  The picture to the left is an example of one of the group's drawing.  It represents Abraham being called by God to leave his homeland and all that he was comfortable with to a land of the unknown.  Each group posted their drawing on the wall and gave a report of what their faith sentence was and how their drawing depicted their sentence.  It was a full day and a lot of fun!

East Asia #6: Nov 2-5

We then traveled to another city where an American family has been living for two years.  They have a small gathering of believers who worship on Sundays in their home.  This past August, we helped six American college students move to this city and enroll in the University to learn language and culture. They plan on being at this university for six months and then they will relocate to another city and university to continue their cultural and language learning.  The long term is for some of these students to be prepared for a longer term role in this country or return home and join international student ministry on U.S. college campuses.  

East Asia #7: Nov 6-7

On November 6th, we traveled to a nearby city and met for the first time a wonderful young couple the Lord is using to grow a solid fellowship of believers in their  home.  We had the privilege of sharing a message in the evening to about a gathering of 20 believers.  It was truly a rich time of Worship and Word.  We had a meal together and we also talked about future possibilities for us partnering and participating in what God is doing in them and with them.  This was one of the highlights for me in meeting this group of believers in sweet fellowship with the Lord!

East Asia #8 Nov 8-9

We conducted a core leader team retreat which we called, " Times of Refreshment".  Together we explored the first chapter of Ephesians with future retreats planned to continue to travel through the spiritual riches of this letter from God.  The picture illustrates some of our findings from the Book of Ephesians in answering the question:  "What is the Church?"  What metaphors did the Apostle Paul use in the Book of Ephesians to describe the nature and function of the church of Jesus Christ.  We added drawings (orange post it notes) of some of these metaphors as we discussed with each other what these mean to each one of us both individually and what these mean to us as a team.   
We also will be conducting various workshops on servant leadership, preaching, pastoral development and transformational theology.  Our American team of six will be moving to this city in a few months and enroll in a famous university to further their cultural learning experience. 

Headed to Chicago: Nov 10

I arrived in Chicago on Sunday and went to bed.

Chicago for a one day Doctrinal Ministry Team meeting:  Nov 10-11

On November 11th-12th, I participated with a jet-lagged head at a Doctrinal Ministry Team meeting. Even though I was not mentally sharp at this point, it was a tremendous time to listen, discuss, and dialogue on a variety of doctrinal topics for future articles and a seminar at our annual Pastors conference

Going Home: Nov 12

Home sweet home - yeah.  I get to be with my bride!

I thank God for you and your heart-felt prayers, for the Lord gave us strength every step of the way and allowed us to be used by Him, for Him, and through Him to bring Him glory and honor!  

Psalm 67,  doug

Discovering grace in unexpected places

God's grace discovered in unexpected places.

The Israelites are boxed in — "in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea"  Exodus 14:1-2.  The Red sea in front of them and the Pharaoh's army behind them.  They had no where to go.

In their unbelief, the Israelites imagined that God had led them here to be destroyed in the wilderness.  Yet, is was God who led them here to show them His great power and His glory.

Unbelief, "leads us to interpret God in the presence of the difficulty, instead of interpreting the difficulty in the presence of God.  Faith gets behind the difficulty and there finds God, in all of His faithfulness, love and power... If only we could look upon a difficult crisis as an occasion of bringing out, on our behalf, the sufficiency of divine grace, it would enable us to preserve the balance of our souls, and to glorify God, even in the deepest waters."  C.H. Mackintosh

It is this place  — where we are weak and with no other way — we can discover the grace of God.  For God says His grace is sufficient for us.  His power is perfected in our weakness.  2 Corinthians 12:9

The Israelites had no where to go but ... God made a way... through the sea on dry land and saved Israel that day.  If you are living in Pi-hahiroth between Migdol and the sea, read carefully Exodus 14, stand still and when the Lord shows you the way, walk by faith with Him and worship Him!

The 8R's of God's Calling

How do we discover God's calling on our life?  Ask the eight "R" questions to help you digest God's call on your life.


Starting point:
R1 — Responsibility: What are you responsible for to God and to one another?   (see Mark 12:28-31; 1 Peter 2:5,9; 1 Timothy 5:8, Hebrews 10:24-25)

R2 — Reward:  What gives you joy?  (see Nehemiah 8:10)

R3 — Return:  Where do you and or others see God at work in your life?  (see 1 Corinthians 12:4-7

R4 — Ruin: What breaks your heart? (see Nehemiah 1-2)

R5 — Repent:  What do you need to change?  (see Isaiah 30:15)

R6 — Risk:  Where do you need to step out in faith (see Joshua 1 / Hebrews 11:6)

R7 — Refresh: How and how often do you get alone with the Lord? (see Mark 1:35, Matthew 11:28-30, Acts 3:20)

R8 — Request:  Are you saturating all of these in prayer?  (see 1 Thessalonians 5:18

in weakness made strong

Paul’s Thorn in the flesh — 2  Corinthians 12:7-10

The Lord said to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness” 2 Corinthians 12:9a

Other than Paul’s radical conversion from his zeal for Judaism and for the Law of God  to embracing Jesus as the Christ, Paul’s experience with the “thorn in the flesh” is a defining moment in his life. 

The Apostle Paul could have very easily exalted himself with the vision of Christ at his conversion (Acts 9:3-9); the vision that he had of Paradise (the third heaven, 2 Corinthians 12:2-4) and the direct call as an Apostle by Jesus Christ (Galatians 1:1).  If he had boasted in these “credentials”,he would have been just like the false brethren and his accusers that were undermining Paul’s apostleship to the Corinthian believers.

So, God, in His mysterious mercy gave Paul a thorn in his flesh to keep him humble and dependent upon Him.  The word thorn is the Greek word skolops which means anything pointed or specifically a stake.  This stake in Paul’s body was painful.  At first, Paul pleads with the Lord with great urgency and petition to remove this painful infirmity.  He does so three times and would have continued but the Lord spoke to Him about the necessity of the “stake” in order to keep him humble and trusting.  

Paul learned a very important lesson from God about how to live the Christian life and how to be an effective leader building up the church of God and advancing the Kingdom of God to all nations.  The lesson is this: God made us as dependent people and it is our weaknesses that help us daily rely on God with favor and empowerment.  The calamities and the trials that Paul went through, (see 2 Corinthians 1:8-10, 4:7-12, 6:3-10, 11:18-12-10), did not suggest that his apostleship was faulty or that he was disqualified from ministry but they were actually credentials for his apostleship!  

It was through this thorn along with all of the other weaknesses that God made the man — Paul into the greatest missionary to the Gentile the world has seen!  

Paul embraced his “stake” and his weakness, (2 Corinthians 12:9-10), when he heard God’s words, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness instead of despising them.  He understood that these weaknesses were not enemies but friends in helping him to depend upon God moment by moment in order to experience God’s empowerment for his life and his ministry.  

In life and in ministry we have been “handicapped”.  We all have weaknesses.  God orchestrates these weaknesses in such a way to teach us that we are not adequate in ourselves but that He is our adequacy, (2 Corinthians 2:16, 3:5-6).   He is our sufficiency! He is the One who comes to our aid and our help to enable us to live out our conversion, to declare the good news and to build up the Church of Jesus Christ.  

Four Motivations for Ministry

Motivations for Ministry

2 Corinthians 4:1-14

To understand the concepts of this section it is helpful to get the big picture of 2 Corinthians.  In Second Corinthians, Paul is both describing his apostolic ministry to the Corinthian church and defending it against false apostles.  The book is divided into three primary sections: 

Paul’s apostleship and apostolic authority had been undermined and attacked by someone and or a group of false apostles in the church at Corinth.  They attacked his motives, his message and his credentials.  This of course troubled Paul and was greatly concerned about the welfare of the church plant.  In this letter he opens up his heart in a remarkable and transparent way for all the Corinthians to see his great love and godly concern for them, not for himself.  In this letter, he models what it means to be a true servant-leader of Jesus Christ. 

In chapters one and two, he explains his motives and in chapters three through five.  he describes his ministry.  In chapter three, Paul contrasts the Old Covenant with the New Covenant.  This can be seen as “in the face of Moses” contrasted with “in the face of Jesus Christ”.  He explains that the Old Covenant though it came in glory, it was a fading glory, (italics mine, 2 Corinthians 3:7).   Whereas, the New Covenant is seen in the face of Christ which remains in glory, (italics mine, 2 Corinthians 3:11, 14).  The major point that the Apostle Paul makes is that the New Covenant is superior to the Old Covenant and that he is a servant of the New Covenant.  

In the New Covenant those who behold the glory of the Lord are being transformed  from glory to glory through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, (2 Corinthians 3:18).  However, this does not mean that everything in life and ministry will alway be glorious or smooth sailing!  In fact the opposite is true.  This is why Paul shares his struggles with the Corinthian church in chapters 1, 4, 6, 11-12.  He models for them what a true servant of Christ is like and what a servant of Christ may go through.  As Helen Keller said, “Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet.  Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.”  

It is the fourth chapter that Paul unpacks the motivation for his apostolic ministry.  Here he describes four motivations for not losing heart in being a servant of God. 

First he says, “Therefore since we have this ministry, as we received mercy we do not lose heart”, (2 Corinthians 4:1).  Paul does not lose heart in ministry because the New Covenant is ministry of life, glory, righteousness and transformation, (2Corinthians 3:6, 8, 9, 18)! In the New Covenant the Christian has been given the indwelling Holy Spirit who is at work in each one to transform them from glory to glory into the image of Christ!  So, Paul does not through in the towel when things get rough instead he remains motivated to keep pressing on toward the upward call of God.  .

Secondly, Paul stays motivated because he understands that he is in a spiritual war.  He writes to the Corinthians, “and even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of the age has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they may not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, ( 2 Corinthians 4:3-4).

The implication of these verses is that Paul’s antagonists claim that Paul’s gospel message is veiled or obscure.  Yet, he understands that even if the hearers don’t get it, it is because of the spiritual blinders the god of the age has established.  Later in this letter Paul refers to weapons that are divinely powerful Christians have to do battle with the evil one.  One such weapon is prayer.  

A third motivation for staying motivated in ministry is because of the indescribable treasure that is entrusted to each believer.  Paul says, “For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness”, is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ”, (2 Corinthians 4:6).  

Paul realizes that he is carrying a divine treasure — the gospel of Jesus Christ.  He has a responsibility to reveal or to share the knowledge of this treasure and point people to Christ, not to himself.  Then Paul explains how God gets this awesome treasure to shine through our lives.  He says we have this treasure in “earthen vessels”.  And just as Gideon had his army break the “clay pots” for the torches to shine against the enemy when they attacked the Midiantes, (Judges 7) even so, trials and difficulties that the Christian goes through is not intended by God to wipe him out but to cause the “light of the knowledge of the glory of God” to shine out.  God intends this so that “the surpassing greatness of power displayed may be of God and not from ourselves” (2 Corinthians 4:7). 

And lastly, the final reason for staying motivated in ministry is seeing life through an eternal lens versus a temporal lens.   Paul writes, 

“Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day for momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).

The Apostle Paul went through unbelievable and excruciating difficulties but it was these very difficulties that gave Paul the opportunity to show the glory of the Gospel.  Paul was not living for comfort; or promoting himself as his antagonists were. He was living in the New Covenant and with the sure hope of eternal glory!  Notice how he views the personal crucifixions of this life from and eternal perspective: momentary contrasted with eternal; light contrasted with weight and affliction contrasted with glory.

These are some of the motivations that kept Paul on course so that at the end of his life he could confidently say, “ I have fought the good fight.  I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous judge will award to me on that day and not only to me but also to all who have loved His appearing”, (2 Timothy 4:7-8).  

Imagine

I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.  You shall no over gods before Me!  Exodus 20:2-3

This is the starting point of life.  Everything — every life and every society is to be built upon and centered on this most indispensable and preeminent truth.  This is the first Truth to be anchored to. If we are untethered here, we end up a drift into personal and cultural chaos.

Life - our life does not start with us.  It starts with God.  If we start with "us", we have no objective truth to define who we are or why we are here.  We have no underlying basis to treat the rest of humanity with dignity from the womb to the tomb.  We end up creating our own gods — in our image for us to control and yet we come undone.  This is precisely what happens to any individual and society who rejects  God (see Romans 1:18-32).

Look among the nations who have government as god and not God as God.  The State takes the place of God and defines our worth and value.  How does the State treat its people — with compassion or as chattel?  Are children considered a blessing or burden?  Does the State promote the sanctity of marriage (between one man and one woman) and family?  Or does the State redefine both according to its whim?  How will the State treat the elderly when its medical system cannot bear the economic weight?

For example, we partner with an orphanage is an Asian country where false gods are the religion of that country. The children of the orphanage have not lost parents or relatives but they have been abandoned by them. They are left to either die or else they get taken to be shipped to a neighboring country and sold into slavery as sex slaves.  

The State is impersonal and you and I are merely its pawn or a number.  In contrast, The LORD is the eternal-personal-Covenant-making-keeping God.  He sets us free to live within the bounds of His righteous nature.  He is eternal:  There is no other.  He alone dwells in immortality and is sovereign over all.  He is personal:  He is not an it.  He is not an impersonal force or law.  He knows us, loves us and is with us! He is the Covenant-making-keeping God.  He brings us into a covenant relationship with Himself based on His performance, not ours.  He alone is the One who determines our worth and value as created-dependent beings.  We are to treat each other with care and compassion; with justice and mercy; with grace and truth because this is who God is.  

Imagine - what we would be like, what a country would be like, whose God is the LORD!  

Psalm 33:12,

doug

citizens of heaven

I was moved. Afterwards, I told the group I was with that every American ought to attend one of these at least once in their life.

Tuesday of the past week, a group of about nine of us went to the Harry S.Truman Library for Ming Xue Liu's (Michele) citizenship ceremony.  Michele is Chinese and she and her husband own a Chinese restaurant in Lee's Summit, MO.  She has been attending our ESL (English Second Language) training so she can get her U.S. citizenship.  She has worked very hard and in the process we have become good friends.

We sat in the audience and witnessed forty-nine men and women from 27 countries (example: China, Togo, Cuba, Honduras, Iraq, Mexico, Vietnam, Bangladesh ...) become U.S. citizens.  The Judge warmly welcomed these "aliens" to our country.  The reference to God was woven all the way through the ceremony.  A high school choir sang the Battle Hymn of the Republic.  Each of the attendees stood up one by one and announced what country they came from.  And then .... they all stood up and declared their allegiance to the U.S. so help them God.  They are now Americans!  I was moved.

Then, I reflected on a day to come, when all of God's people from every nation, every language, every ethnic group will stand one day before The Throne of Grace where the Sovereign Lord rules, reigns and sustains.  And we will declare from our heart our allegiance to Our King and Redeemer.  We will all bow our knee and declare Jesus is LORD!  Their will be a choir - angelic!  And we will enter the Kingdom of God in all of its splendor and majesty, not as subjects, but as sons and daughters of the King; not as slaves but as kings and priests before the King of Kings and High Priest forever!  The scene was poignant.

I was in tears.  I cannot wait for that day!

Even so, come Lord Jesus!

Summer Asia Travels 2013

Asia trip June - July 2013

We left for Asia on June 24th.  There were three of us who stayed for one month and there were others who came for various lengths of time.  

Our first location was in Taichung Taiwan where we spent time with a new Great Commission Church plant.  This church is located in an area where there are no known churches in northern Taichung.  It is very close to a university campus. So, our team spent time with the leadership church team to build into their lives, we went to the campus to share the Gospel, we prayed over the city, and I had the privilege of sharing at the new church Sunday gathering with communion.  

The next week we spent 4 days at the American Life Camp.  We helped start this camp many years ago.  The camp is designed with the four dynamics of transformation in mind (spiritual dynamic, relational dynamic, experiential dynamic and instructional dynamic).  This year we had 60 Taiwanese college students and or graduates.  We broke out into 5 households.  We lived together for four days like a family with the Taiwanese.  During this time we shared how we celebrate Christmas, Easter and the Fourth of July in the States.  Each of our “families” lived out each one of these holidays and as we did this we were able to clearly share the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  

We shared our life stories. I shared many Bible stories especially the Prodigal Son story. And asked them who they were in the story. I also asked them why the story ended with out and ending.  At the end of our camp I challenged them again with this story and how were they going to finish the story from their own life.  Below is a picture of my Taiwanese "family"

One of the members of our household lives is a missionary and lives in Taichung. He has been doing a fantastic job of following up with the Taiwanese students.  We are planning a reunion when I go back.  (picture of team)

We then went onto other locations. We put on a business/leadership camp. It was a three day camp also designed with the Four Dynamics in mind.  We had twenty-four Asians at the camp and broke up into five team/households.  Each team designed and opened a restaurant.  In the process of defining what kind of restaurant, name, slogan, mission, team building exercises and leadership principles we got to know each member of our team very well.  We again shared our life stories and the Gospel through personal conversations.  Up to four Asians came to Christ.  One of them is named Jessie. She hung out with us the day after the camp.  A week after camp we had a lunch provided by the sponsoring church to have as many “campers’s come back for follow through.  Ten Asians came back - seven from the camp and three that the campers invited.  We had lunch and broke up into another set of five groups where we ate and shared the Gospel for three hours.  Two more got saved. One of the newly saved was a friend that Jessie had invited to come and whom she had been sharing Christ with during the week.  We shared discipleship themes such as - Assurance, Baptism, Opposition, The Word, Prayer, The Church, The Holy Spirit and Sharing the Faith.  It was a God moving experience.  (picture)

One of the new Asians that came - Mandy has a music teacher who has been sharing the Gospel with her and I got to share with as well.  She is very close to the Kingdom - pray for her.  We met her friend, Echo and with three other students the next day close to campus.  Once again, we ended up sharing the Gospel in three small groups with these students who were all ears.  Their teacher was with us as we shared and he with one of our Asian church partners is following up with these students.   This is a picture of the music store and teacher with some of his students that we shared with.  

We held another camp in a different location - Hong Kong.  It was a leadership camp designed around John 13.  The theme was Leadership - Jesus style and it was also build around the Four Dynamics.  We partnered with a HK church.  We started with their church service.  We ate a meal after church and then with ten students the eight of us went to a three day camp in a mountainous region with the sea next to us.  We had barbecue in the a thunder storm.  We planned on visiting the homeless and ready to give them some clothes, a coupon for a restaurant, a bath and we were planning on asking if we could demonstrate love and dignity for them by washing their feet but we got rained out.  Instead we were able to go to the beach next to us and clean up the filthy place.  The host church loved the leadership camp idea and want us to come back and grow this with more of the members.  

Ching Yu and I went to another location to meet a friend of mine.  We were introduced to possible new partners for future camps and future leader trainings.  While we were meeting in this location one of our team members, Tami, went back to follow through more with Jessie.  She invited Tami to her home.  Her parents had never had a foreigner in their home before and were very excited even though they are not followers of Christ.  They were not real pleased that their daughter had become a Christian but they still openly welcomed Tami into their home and invited her to come back.  I was impressed that Jessie had already shared with her parents that she became a Christian - pray for her.  

In summary, the trip was very fruitful and is still bearing fruit.  We made many new friends.  We made new partnerships with a couple of churches and other ministries.  We have three new volunteer representative for e3 Leadership in various places that will help us with logistics, set up and administrative issues.  

We are tired but very blessed!  

How do you spell abide?

“The iron is in the fire, the fire is in the iron.”  

This is the idea of what it means to be abide in Christ.  Jesus said, Abide in me and I in you . . .  I am the vine, you are the branches, he who abides in me and I in him , he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.  John 15:4-5

The secret to the life of Christ - His words, His wisdom, His works, His fortitude, His compassion, His endurance et al came from His unbroken fellowship with the Father.  And Jesus is now telling His disciples in John 15 that they must learn to remain in fellowship with Him!  

There is no cookie cutter methods or a formula for abiding in Christ.  Christianity is not a formula.  It is a relationship!  We all connect with God differently but there are somethings we have in common.  

How do you spell “abide”?  T I M E.  We must make time, invest time, spend time with Jesus.  This is the idea of the iron in the fire and the fire in the iron.  In order to have the fire in the iron, the iron must have time in the fire.  It is then that the iron is moldable.  The blacksmith is able to bend, mold, and shape the iron when the iron abides in the fire and the fire abides in the iron.  

Time in the Word - John 15:7.  Not just reading the Scripture but meditating, ruminating, contemplating, deliberating on Scripture so that we submit to it, yield to it in order that it might teach us, reprove us, correct us and train us.  2 Tim 3:16-17.  Here the idea is to get in the Word in such a way that the Word gets in you.  Just as the iron is in the fire and the fire is in the iron.  

Time in God’s love - John 15:9.   God has a special affection for you — you are beloved by God.  1 Thessalonians 1:4.  Are you aware of God’s love.  I don’t mean that you know intellectually that God loves you but that you know (personally, experientially) God loves you.  Ephesians 3:19.  How have you experienced His love, or sensed His love?  What declarations of God’s love from Scripture do you know?  How are you dwelling or remaining in the love of God?  What does that look like for you?  

How do you abide in Christ?  What will you do to improve your abiding in Him?

in the grip of His grace,

Our God is "too small"

O magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt His Name together, Psalm 34:3  To magnify - means to make something larger than it is.  When we magnify God, we don’t make Him larger, but our understanding of God grows larger.  To magnify the Lord is to make everything else small.  Our tendency is to magnify our problems and shrink our view of God.  This is backwards and upside down thinking. It is just plain wrong. The Lord is a great God and great King above all gods, Ps 95:3  In Prince Caspian of the Chronicles of Narnia, Aslan says to Lucy, “you will find me bigger.”  It is not that Aslan grows bigger.  It is Lucy’s understanding of Aslan that grows bigger.  Let’s follow the David’s exhortation in Psalm 34 and magnify the Lord and together, let’s exalt His name.

Thinking about marriage and culture...

Same Sex Marriage — What Say You?

“If we truly love each other why don’t we have the freedom to marry whomever we want regardless of gender?”  

Sounds right doesn’t it?  I mean who is against freedom?  

However on second thought what do we mean by freedom and is it true we are free to do whatever we want?  Really?  Freedom is not the ability to do whatever we want but the power to do what is right.  

I heard a man on the radio use this analogy. He said, “ just as we should not discriminate and prohibit people from two different races from marrying so also we should not prohibit two people of the same sex to marry. They should be free to marry whomever they want.”   Is he serious?  As Dennis Prager has stated, “There are enormous differences between men and women, but there are no differences between people of different races. Men and women are inherently different, but blacks and whites (and yellows and browns) are inherently the same. Therefore, any imposed separation by race can never be moral or even rational; on the other hand, separation by sex can be both morally desirable and rational. Separate bathrooms for men and women is moral and rational; separate bathrooms for blacks and whites is not.”

We are not free to marry whomever we wish and there are many good reasons for this.  We are not free to marry a family member — incestual marriage is an illegitimate marriage.  We are not free to marry another if we are already married — polygamy is illegitimate.  Why are these two examples taboo?  And what right do we have to continue to say these are illegitimate marriages if we permit same sex marriage?  In doing so, don’t we open Pandora’s Box to all sorts of possible so-called marriages?  If not, why not?  

Why should we care who marries whom?  Marriage is the oldest institution of mankind.  It is over 5,000 years old and exists in every single human culture around the globe.  Every culture, every civilization, every religion has recognized marriage as that of between the two sexes: a man and a woman.  Why is this?

Greg Koukl from Stand to Reason asks the question, “Which came first, bricks or buildings?”  Of course bricks came before buildings. Bricks are the building blocks for buildings.  Even so, marriage came before civilization.   If civilization came first then marriage is simply a matter of social order.  But if marriage came first then marriage is the foundation of family and family is then the foundation of civilization.  When we alter marriage, we are altering the very foundations on which society is built.   And history shows us that when we mess with sexual mores we end up in a societal mess.  

For example, Philip Yancey writes in the “Lost Sex Study” about scholar J.D. Unwin’s “Sex and Culture”.  “He studied 86 different societies.  His findings startled many scholars - above all, Unwin himself - because all 86 demonstrated a direct tie between monogamy and the "expansive energy" of civilization.  He found with no exceptions that these societies flourished during eras that valued sexual fidelity. Inevitably, sexual mores would loosen and the societies would subsequently decline, only to rise again when they returned to more rigid sexual standards.”  

The real issue here is not one of freedom.  It is an issue of authority.  On whose authority do we define marriage?  Is this authority up to each individual to decide?  Is it the domain of government to determine what makes a marriage?  Or is there a higher authority, namely the One who designed marriage for the benefit of mankind — our Creator.   Jesus, who came to testify to the truth said,  “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE, and said, FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”  Matthew 19:4-6.

In removing the sacred boundary of marriage between a man and a woman we reject God’s original design.  We reject His ways and claim we have a better idea.  Yep, we think we know better and can determine for ourselves what is right and wrong.  

Here we go again – swallowing the fruit.  

The way of the Christian Life

It starts with and ends with Christ.  C.S. Lewis says, “The person who is most Christ-like is not the one who is most gloriously fulfilled in every moment of life but the one whose life has in it unbelievable elements of crucifixion.” (paraphrased). 

The Apostle lays out five very important truths about living the Christian life from Galatians 2:20. 

1.      “I have been crucified with Christ.”  — It starts with crucifixion.  The person I was when I was “in Adam” is now dead.  God no longer sees me in the sea of sinful humanity. 

2.   “It is no longer I who live” — the “old man” - who I was in Adam as a member of the old humanity is now forever done away through crucifixion. 

3.   “The life that I now live in the flesh” — the new me in Christ!  It is the same “me” but with a new standing and identity before Almighty God.  I stand before Him in Christ — justified (declared by God as righteous and as a result a member of His covenant family. 

4.  “I live by faith in the Son of God” – this is the new principle on how we live out our justification: by faith or trust in the Son of God.  He is the centerpiece, the core, the source and the resource of my life!  God made me to live in a deep intimate union with Him! Why?

5.  “who loved me and gave Himself up for me” — The reason why we should trust Christ and live for Christ is, He loves us so!  He has loved us with an everlasting sacrificial, radical love.  His love has no limit.  His love has no measure.  He loves us with an everlasting love.  He loves us with an unquenchable love.  He loves us with a love that is incomprehensible. The vast dimensions of His love — the height, the depth, the width, the breadth are infinite.  He loved us even while we were yet sinners. So, if God loved us while we were yet sinners and did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all. Will He stop loving us now that we are His sons and daughters?  This is the love of God, not that we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (satisfactory sacrifice) for our sins, 1 John 4:10.  ((And if we are loved so by God, then we also ought to love one another, 1 John 4:11))

This is the way to live out our new life in Christ - in love and faith with Him.   I do not come to Christ by faith and then proceed to live out my new life in Christ on my terms or in independence from Him (see Galatians 3:3).  The way of the Christian life is to learn to walk by faith in the Son of God.  Notice we don't just walk by faith but by faith in Christ.  In others words, to trust Him and to trust in Him.  

Too often I have focused on living "for" Him which is of course true. But the question I have wrestled with is how do I live for Him?  The answer I have found is by living "with" Him.  Living for Him is my life's purpose.  Living with Him is how I fulfill this life calling.  What an incredible privilege - to enjoy fellowship with, as C.S. Lewis puts it, "The Three-Personal God"  — The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit everyday!  

God has spoken

God is there.  He is not silent.  He has spoken.

God has spoken in many ways but His primary way is through the Son.  Jesus is the logos - the  Word, John 1:1.

The Word is - it has always existed.  There has never been a time when the Word was not.  The world came into existence by the Word, Psalm 33:6.  The Word is The source of life; The source of everything that exists.  The Word defines everything. The Word is The Reference point, The Standard, The Principle around which the entire universe revolves.  The Word is the Reason by which everything came into being.  The Word is.

The Word speaks. The Word expresses.  The Word reveals.  The Word creates.  The Word sustains.  The Word was and is and always will be.

The Word is God, the eternal.  The Word is singular: Word not words; One not many.

The Word was face to face with God. God with God.  What was the Word doing before the Word created?  God, The Word was in face to face fellowship with God.  The Word enjoyed deep, united, loving, intimate communication with God.

The Word is in eternal fellowship and out of this fellowship the Word spoke the heavens and the earth into existence for God's good pleasure.

The Word is not an it.  The Word is a Person — The Person called the Son, John 1:2-4,18.  This Word became human, the visible expression of the invisible God, John 1:14.  The Word has a name - Jesus!  Jesus is the Word and Jesus came to reveal, to make God known. Without the Word translated into humanity, we have no idea what God is really like.  All of our thoughts are mere speculations. But the Word came and revealed God to us, John 1:18.  Why? So, we could enter into this fellowship eternal.

We tried to kill the Word but we cannot kill that which is.  The resurrection is God's exclamation point - The Word thrives eternal and you are invited into fellowship with Him by putting your trust in what God says.  Word.

Who Killed Jesus?

Here are the words to a song we used to sing in our campus fellowship days that moved me to tears and still does. I can remember the first time I sang this not aware of the last stanza.   I am humming the tune even as I type.


Who Killed Jesus?

Was it Roman soldiers, with their tools of war,
Driving nails through hands that did no wrong?
Mocking and abusing, crowning Him with thorns,
All the evidence is very strong.
Who killed Jesus many years ago?
Who is guilty of a crime so low?
Why did He have to die? What is the reason why?
Who killed Jesus? I would like to know.

Was is Pontius Pilate? He was governor,
Trying to decide the case that day.
Finding that the Savior, had no fault His own,
Was he guilty when he turned away?
Who killed Jesus many years ago?
Who is guilty of a crime so low?
Why did He have to die? What is the reason why?
Who killed Jesus? I would like to know.

Was it Hebrew children, proud of who they were?
Shouting "crucify Him" at their King?
Trading their Messiah, for a common thief,
Turning down the kingdom He could bring.
Who killed Jesus many years ago?
Who is guilty of a crime so low?
Why did He have to die? What is the reason why?
Who killed Jesus? I would like to know.

When I think of Jesus and the way He died,
How upon Him all my sin was laid.
All the other people fade away from view,
Its for me the sacrifice was made!
I no longer wonder any more.
I have found what I've been looking for.
My sin demanded hell.
On Him the judgment fell.
I am guilty, no its plain to see,
That it was really me!

The Day God Changed Clothes

Jesus ... laid aside His garments.    John 13:4

On Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday, the Thursday before the Resurrection, Jesus and the disciples were observing the Passover Meal.  

Jesus knew that this would be the last meal that He would have with His disciples who were His also His companions and friends.   He had every right for this evening to be about Him but He laid aside the garments of rights, of privilege, of position in order to take up the servant's towel and wash the smelly, filthy feet of these twelve men including the one who betrayed Him.  Jesus changed clothes.  

We take clothes for granted.  But clothes not only cover us they also at least outwardly tell you we are — whether we are male or female (although in our day this is being blurred).  They can also point to what our status is in society.  

This reminds me of another day in which God changed clothes.  When Jesus, the eternal Son, emptied Himself, He laid aside thee garments of glory in order to be wrapped in humanity (Philippians 2:6-7; John 1:1, 14).  He walked amongst us. He ate with us.  He laughed and cried with us.  He suffered with us.  

He changed clothes again and wore the garments of a servant (Philippians 2:7).  He told us that, "He did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45).  Although He is the Eternal Sovereign, the Most High God, He chose the garments of a bondslave. He refused  to be adorned Himself with pride, power, prestige, or popularity offered to Him by the tempter.  He chose rather the adornment of the Cross.

He traded in His robe of glory to wear the servants cloak.  He yielded His cloak to take on the naked shame of our filthy sin-stained calloused hearts.  Here He chose a wooden stake reserved for vile criminals to hang His garment of humanity on.  It is here, at the Cross, declothed in exposed humanity, He hung like a worn out rag suspended between heaven and earth in our place.  He exchanged His cloak of Righteousness in order to cover our nakedness before God with His Righteous Robe and took upon Himself our filthy rags (2 Corinthians 5:21). 

The day that God changed clothes is the day that changed the course of history and has changed my life.   

The Wisdom and Power of God

What do you see when you survey the Cross?

At first glance —

When I survey the Cross I see weakness but the wisdom of God is displayed here. 
When I survey the Cross I see shame but God uses it for our salvation.
When I survey the Cross I see a mess but it is God’s masterpiece.
When I survey the Cross I see death but God uses it to put death to death.
When I survey the Cross I see utter foolishness but it is here we see the forgiveness of God.
When I survey the Cross I see senselessness but it is here we see how serious a sin really is.
When I survey the Cross I see brutality but it is here the scandalous beauty of God is unveiled.

If we humble ourselves at the Cross we see both the wisdom and the power of God —

At the Cross, we see Jesus drinking the cup of the holy Justice of God!
At the Cross, we see Jesus pouring out the unfathomable, vast dimensions of God’s love toward us
At the Cross, we see Jesus, the  Son of God, who died for us to rescue us and bring us Home! 

The Cross changes everything...  even what we sing about.   

Listen to the words of Isaac Watts in the Hymn, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

His dying crimson, like a robe,
Spreads o’er His body on the tree;
Then I am dead to all the globe,
And all the globe is dead to me.

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

Isaac Watts

What do you see?

1 Corinthians 1:17-18 (23-25)