Where is your Joy?

Life is full of seasons.  We legitimately experience all of what these seasons have to offer. We have seasons of growth, seasons of immense fruit, seasons of great harvest, but we also have seasons of drought.

I was in a drought. I left for vacation in Maui in a weird place spiritually. In three days three different friends said ,” You know Branden, you can only give out of the overflow of your life”. I knew God was speaking but I didn’t know what that meant exactly.

I was sitting on my Lanai in Maui reading through the book of Galatians. There really was no rhyme or reason why it was Galatians, I just chose it. In my reading I came to a section in chapter 4. In this particular passage Paul asks the Christians throughout the region of Galatia, “What has happened to all your joy?” In context, Paul is getting onto them because they have started believing a lie about their lives. They were adding burden upon burden to their relationships with God. It was Jesus AND this, that, and the other thing- that is what brings true righteousness. They had ASSUMED the gospel.

When you think of the gospel, what do you think of? When I say gospel I am referring to the “good news” of Jesus. Sure there is a large part of the population that think very negatively about that word, but how about those of us who find the word gospel to be a powerful, life-changing word. What do YOU think?

For most of us it is THAT thing THOSE people need.  Our goal is to evangelize or share that good news with those people. It is the thing we share with the people in the world who need it. One they “accept” this thing, that’s it- they got it, they received it, they are in. The end.

Really? The end? Is that the extent of the gospel? Is the gospel a one time event in the lives of the followers of Jesus?

The books of the New Testament were written to Christians. Yes, Christians. Paul and the other writers wrote to churches and early believers. If the extent of the gospel is a message for THOSE people who need Jesus, then why do they, specifically Paul, reiterate the gospel over and over, and over?

He does it so that we won’t assume the gospel. When we assume the gospel we forget the gospel. What is the gospel? The gospel is that the God of the universe invaded human history, took on human flesh in the person of Jesus, lived a sinless life, chose to die on a Roman cross, died, was buried, and rose from death three days later. He did all of this so that you and I could have life.

On the cross Jesus took on our unrighteousness and imputed or gave us his righteousness. So that when God looks upon  all those who trust in Christ and are set free from sin, he no longer sees us he sees the righteousness of Jesus. Do you know what that says? That says there is NOTHING you can or have to do to earn the love of God. NOTHING. You don’t have to stop going to rated R movies, don’t drink, don’t chew, or go with girls that do. You have to trust in Christ and the Holy Spirit transforms your heart.

Back to Galatians. Paul was saying over and over again how they had abandoned their faith for legalism. Right before the verse I shared, he says, “Though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself”. In other words, he is saying, “You used to care so much about people, about me, about loving, and caring. What has happened to that joy”?

He knew what had happened. They had assumed the gospel. They took too much burden on themselves for their righteousness, their deeds, the lives of their family and friends. They had forgotten that it is not about their righteousness but CHRISTS.

I had assumed the gospel. I realized sitting on the Lanai that day that I had assumed and therefore forgotten that it is not mine, but his. It is not my job to change lives, it is his. It is not my responsibility when others fail, it is his. I am a co-heir with Christ, a son of the king.

I need the gospel. Daily. No more is the gospel THAT thing for THOSE people. I need to hear it and own it daily. It is when I feel good about life, and no longer feel the weight of the cross that I am in trouble.

So I ask, has the gospel lost its power and its weight? Have you come to the place where you have assumed the gospel. I would encourage you read Ephesians (or any letter from Paul) and let the words fall like water on a dry and weary land.

Ephesians 2:1-9

 ¹ As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, ² in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. ³ All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh^[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. ⁴ But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. ⁶ And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, ⁷ in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast.

Love Your Enemies?

I was hitting the waves on Kaanapali Beach when I heard the news that broke yesterday. Osama Bin Laden is dead. That’s what I was hearing. Mixed emotions filled my soul. First, gratitude that he wouldn’t be able to hurt anyone again and sadness because without Christ, there is no hope.

Then I saw Facebook light up with responses. Some, jeering hatred, some shouts of jubilation, and yet some upset at everyone who was so happy at the death of this man.

This morning I saw this post on the Resurgence website that brought clarity about how we as Christians should respond. Some of what this post said was like a dagger of conviction to my soul. I believe the words of Jesus are true. If this is the case, then if I have had hatred or anger against a brother in my heart, I am already convicted of the same crime as Osama…Praise be to God for Jesus, my savior, my redeemer.

I hope you enjoy the article.

Youth Ministry=Discouragement?

I have been in full-time youth ministry for over 6 years now. There are a lot of things I have learned in those 6 years, most, the hard way. However, If there is anything I have learned from being in youth ministry it is the word Discouragement. It doesn’t take long being involved in youth ministry for any amount of time before you start to feel some sense of discouragement.

Discouragement because you: aren’t seeing enough fruit, can’t save your students, aren’t making progress, your students are all of the sudden not showing up, you have a student that is probably the spawn of Satan and is constantly distracting the other students, or perhaps you are just in a spiritual low, which leads to great discouragement.

Can you relate with those?

There is a time in life when we all get discouraged about something, but in youth ministry it tends to happen more often than not. ESPECIALLY this time of year. We start the year off so strong off of an amazing week of camp and then as the weeks and months go by little pieces of us are chipped away bit by bit until one day we look at our students and wonder, “Have I even made a difference”?

If I had a nickel for every time I asked that question I would be a very wealthy person. If you have asked that question, you are not alone. We ask it often.

Why? I mean seriously, I thought serving God was supposed to be easy. God opens doors and closes them. When he opens it we just waltz right in and start moving, right? Wrong. Serving God is hard. It is hard because when you serve God, you are not serving “The Prince of this world”, Satan. He HATES it when you are serving God and will do WHATEVER it takes to make sure you fail.

If you need proof, please turn on the news, watch the TV, or talk to your students. Satan is winning in the lives of this generation. He is on target to obliterate their souls and you have decided to stand in the gap for them. Therefore, there is no doubt Satan is going to do anything he can to get at them. If you stand in the way, it means he will attempt to go through you.

Jesus promised this in John 15:18-20 “”If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.”If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.”Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master ‘ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.”

And Matthew 5:11 “Blessed are you when you are persecuted. Blessed are you when people persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you”.

Also, Ephesians 6:12-17. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

When you are feeling the spiritual oppression it is only because you have decided to stand in the way of his attempt at destroying our students.

Then he begins to tear you down where he knows he can get you. Do you feel inadequate? Do you think it would be easier doing something else? Is life getting too busy? These are just a few of the things he will begin chipping away at but for you it might be something completely different. He wants you to feel those things because it will lead to you getting out of the enemy’s way. In fact, when you are being persecuted it is a good sign because it means you are actually being effective in the kingdom of God. If you were not effective, you would be be persecuted.

When you are discouraged it is important to know why. It’s also important to know what to do. Often we are concerned with our students and “ministry” and we neglect our own personal time with Jesus. Without falling on our faces before the LORD and seeking him in prayer, we CANNOT combat against the schemes of Satan. There will always be something better to do than spend time with Jesus, this is precisely what Satan wants, so we must find that time!

It’s also important to remember a few key things: 1. You are not the savior. Jesus is. 2. You do not produce the fruit. Jesus does. 3. You should not have all the right answers. 4. It’s normal to need help. 5. Despite what you feel, you are making a difference. 6. Satan is trying to tear you down.

Make an encouragement folder. Place any encouraging note, comment, or text (written down of course) inside this folder. Then, in times of discouragement read the contents of the folder to remind you that God is at work.

I have been in full-time youth ministry for over 6 years now. There are a lot of things I have learned in those 6 years, most, the hard way (sound familiar?). I want to help you navigate through youth ministry, but I cannot do that if you do not ask. In 6 years I have picked up a few tricks, learned a bit about how to engage students, and learned how to avoid land mines. I am here to help you succeed so you don’t have to learn the hard way! (By the way Kenny, Krina, Katie, and Paul also have tremendous youth ministry experience as well)

Finally, stick with it. Apple trees bear fruit in season. If you care for an apple tree out of season and then bail right before the season you will miss out on the best apples of your life. If we bail (I am guilty of wanting to from time to time) we will not see the fruit at harvest time.

Stay the course, run the race, and keep fighting the good fight, it’s too important of a battle!

Faith of our Fathers

I was not raised in church.

Therefore, I do not have the history or background that most people in the church have, so most things about the culture of church don’t make a whole lot of sense. Some, small things, like the mass freak-outs when any sort of change happens or something as catastrophic as when the worship music is turned up or down too much for ones liking, are things I don’t understand, but I can deal with.

There is one thing though that really drives me crazy. It actually makes me a little mad. Not too mad, just mad enough. =)

There are a number of Christian pastors around the country that are, well, very well known. Some might call them “Christian Celebrities”. I don’t know what I would call them, but I know they have a lot of influence and a lot of press time.

I listen to a lot of podcasts by these guys. I listen to Matt Chandler at The Village Church, Mark Driscoll at Mars Hill , Francis Chan, wherever he is, and even Rob Bell at Mars Hill Bible Church.

Do you know what they all have in common?

It certainly is not theology, denomination, or even style.

One thing they have in common is: They are all reaching massive amounts of people for Christ. Some do it with a passionate forward approach, still some with a subversive dialogue, and others with reaching out with their resources to meet the needs of the poor.

The other thing they have in common is, the massive amounts of “Christian” people that take shots at them and tear them down.

A while back, Mark Driscoll from Mars hill Church in Seattle posted something that said something to the effect of, “It’s a Jay-Z kind of a day”. His facebook page was lit up will all sorts of people writing some pretty vicious words attacking him.

Are we supposed to agree with everyone’s style?

Their music choice?

Are we supposed to agree with everyone’s methodology?

How about the minor issues of theology?

No, we are not called to agree with them. What are we called to do?

We are called to be completely unified with them. In fact, Paul, in Philippians 2 says ” Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”

Complete unity.

Like Minded.

One in Spirit.

Consider others better than yourselves…

When we take cheap shots at other believers for how they are doing ministry, what they say, or how they say it, we are negating the exact thing we are called to do.

We can’t even get it right ourselves.

Jesus said, “They will know you are my disciples by your love for one another.” John 13:35

Man, if we can’t love one another, how will the world ever look in on us and see a difference?

I have to wonder, how was Charles Spurgeon, Oswald Sanders, Oswald Chambers, and DL Moody looked at in their day?

I’ll bet people were taking shots at them too.

And now they are considered some of the most brilliant minds of our faith.

I wonder who will be the Charles Spurgeon of the 21st Century and we as believers are sitting back and taking shots.

Could it be Driscoll? Chandler? Bell? Chan?

I don’t know.

But, what would happen if, instead of spending our energy in writing comments on these Christian “celebrities” blog posts or facebook posts, we spend time doing what Jesus commanded us to do-Make disciples who make disciples?

Just what’s been on my mind.

The Mystery of Christ

Almost one week into Lent and I’m sure it is getting tough. This is about the time most people give up. I have some thoughts for us.

I have been in the process of finishing my degree at Multnomah University in Portland. Recently I was in a class on the Gospels and the main focus was the gospel of Matthew. It just so happens it is one of my favorite books in the bible.

Last night we were in the final week of Jesus’ life and I saw something I had never seen before or at least haven’t seen in a while.  I saw a profound sense of humanity in Jesus. Before you go ringing the alarms of heresy it’s pretty clear in scripture Jesus was fully God but also fully man. We often focus on the fully God part as if he is out of our reach and unattainable.

In the last days of Jesus life he faced the betrayal of one of his closest friends who sold him to the authorities for the price of a slave, he faced the knowledge of the pain and suffering of the cross, and he faced the fact that all of his closest friends deserted him as he hung on the cross.

Have you ever been betrayed? Have you ever been deserted? Have you ever faced immense pain on your own?

I have.

There is comfort in the reality that Jesus faced the same things and yet remained true to his mission, the salvation of the world.

When we are lost, alone, afraid, our natural tendency is to run from Jesus. He is big enough to handle the crisis. He is big enough to handle the pain, anguish, sorrow, and anger. He went through it too.
This leads me to the season of Lent. As we dive headlong into Lent may we see, as it is written in Hebrews 4:14-16 “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

This is the time to remember this mystery that our great high priest, Jesus, is with us. As we are seeking repentance and returning to Jesus may we remember it is because of HIS faithfulness, HIS life, and HIS sacrifice.

He’s worth repenting and returning to!

{Lent} Isn’t That a Catholic Thing?

I wasn’t raised going to church. Even when we did go to church it wasn’t to a traditional church with traditional celebrations. Oh sure I would occasionally go with my grandma to the local Catholic Church but I did not know much about religion, faith, or even God.

Traditions are funny aren’t they? We all have them. For some, it’s the day you open presents at Christmas, for others it’s the food you eat at Thanksgiving. We are pretty intense about our traditions. If I don’t have turkey on Thanksgiving it bothers me. My tradition says I need to have turkey on thanksgiving.

Why? Well, because it’s always been that way. Right?

This is exactly what we do with seasons in the Christian Calendar. See, the first Christians set the year up in different seasons to celebrate different pieces of the life of Christ. For instance, Advent is the season of Christ’s birth, symbolizing the coming of the Messiah (Jesus). Right after that is the season of Epiphany or light. This season celebrates the light Christ brought into the world and it lasts until about 6 weeks before Easter.

Now we are heading to the Christian season of Lent. Like I said, I wasn’t raised in a traditional church but there is something inspiring about the traditions. I often hear people say, “Lent, oh yeah the catholic thing”. I didn’t know what to say. Was it? Wasn’t it? What was it? So, I did some research.

What did I find? Lent is NOT a Catholic thing. It’s a Jesus thing. Lent was designed as the 40 days (or 46 days depending on tradition) before Easter. It was designed around Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness being tempted. It is a season of REPENTANCE and RETURNING  in preparation for the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Originally it was used as the preparation time for new believers who were to be baptized at Easter, but soon spread throughout all of Christianity.

To repent is a simple concept. It is literally to turn 180 degrees from one thing and move toward another. The first Christians realized how we are prone to wander from God. They knew we allow things to slowly take the place of God in our lives and they knew we needed a season to turn from all that takes us from God and move us toward the resurrected Jesus. So, what is holding you back from Jesus? What is replacing Jesus in your life? Perhaps it’s time to repent and do serious business of using this season to return.

To put it most simply: Lent is a season of death. Death to self, wants,  and desires knowing that life and resurrection is coming. Jesus’ call is radical, but INFINITELY worth it!

This season of Lent I am following a guide produced by Evergreen Church in Portland found here. It gives a great explanation and even a guide for what to give up.

Social media is one thing I am walking away from, but I will blogging on the Lent Journey so for tips, strategies, and ways to grow in your relationship with Christ during this Lent Season. Stay Tuned!

::SIDE NOTE::

Today begins Lent. It is called ASH Wednesday. You may notice people walking around with ashes on their forehead. Those ashes are from last years palm fronds from Palm Sunday (The Sunday before Easter, the day Jesus entered Jerusalem to be killed)…Just an FYI

Going down in flames

From the minute I left bible school ministry was on my mind. I could not think of another thing I wanted to do but serve God. When I envisioned what it looked like I saw a smooth road filled with transformed lives.

What I found when I got here was something very different. I found disillusionment, burnout, and waning passion. I talk to many of my friends who are in the same boat. We wake up in the morning and ask, “will they ever get it?”.

Did you know that ministry is one of the highest burnout rates of all professions? Eugene Cho, in his blog Death by Ministry says, “48% of them think their work is hazardous to their family’s well being. Another 45.5% will experience burnout or depression that will make them leave their jobs. And 70% say their self-esteem is lower now than when they started their position. They have the 2nd highest divorce rate among professions. Who are they? They are pastors.” I encourage you to read the blog to see the startling statistics.

Lessons from the pit

I wanted to write a blog on burn-out because I feel like it is prevalent right now in a lot of people I know. If you are wondering what authority I have to speak on burnout, my answer is simple. Experience. I have experienced burnout twice. You know the old saying, “fool me once shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me”? Well, apparently I’m a fool because I let burnout sneak in not once, but twice in my life. It’s brutal.

Symptoms of burnout include:

(1) Decreased energy –‘keeping up the speed’ becomes increasingly difficult;
(2) feeling of failure in vocation;
(3) reduced sense of reward in return for pouring so much of self into the job or project;
(4) a sense of helplessness and inability to see a way out of problems; and
(5) cynicism and negativism about self, others, work and the world generally.

When I was burning out, I did not have the energy to even think. It was a difficult place to be.

How does it start?

It is a slow fade. It really is. It starts with a “season” when things are overwhelming or extremely busy. Then more people need more of you and you have less to give. Then busyness begins taking over. My mantra to my wife in this time was “It’s just a season it will pass.” That was a lie. It wasn’t going to pass. Shortly after that you find yourself slipping into all the symptoms. Being overwhelmed becomes normal. Soon, the hole is too big, light no longer shines, and you are at the bottom without the energy to even try to get out.

The Cause?

I’m going to be honest here. The cause most often is the propensity we have in the Western Church to do think we can do it all by ourselves. The lack of personal time spent focusing our hearts and minds on Jesus. I felt the spiritual needs of my students were more important than my own spiritual needs. What a lie from the pit of hell! There is a reason why the burnout rate of pastors is so high. It is taxing. It taxes us emotionally and spiritually. I just read the following quote by Henry Nouwen that I found so profound he said, “I was living in a very dark place and the term ‘burnout’ was a convenient psychological term for spiritual death”. I can’t agree more

What a stupid cycle we get ourselves into. Without our own spiritual health in order we CANNOT lead others, but we think we must lead others before we can work on ourselves.

If it’s so tough is it worth it?

When a leader is healthy physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually it is absolutely amazing. I am in the healthiest place spiritually, physically, emotionally, and mentally than I have been in a really long time. It took me stepping back from a lot of things I felt were “mission critical” for a season. I didn’t meet with many people during the summer, I did less “program” stuff, and I focused on my own spiritual health. I can truly say, when I am on my game in all of those areas, the ministry is SO fruitful. Even in times when it is less fruitful, I have the strength to press on.

(re) Focus

Are you going down in flames? Do you feel the symptoms? Instead of this being a “season” why don’t you TAKE a “season”, cut back, and breathe. It will be the best thing you can do. When you hear the voice saying “but there is too much to do”, don’t listen. If you don’t care for yourself NOW, you never will. There is light at the end of the tunnel, the hole is not too big, and the light will shine again!

May this be an encouragement for you.

Nepal 1

Psalm 24:3-4 “who may ascend the hill of the LORD? who may stand in his holy place? He who does not lift his soul up to an idol or swear by what is false”

Yesterday I was confronted with the tough reality of the world. See, in the USA we lift our souls to idols but we don’t identify them blatantly as “god”

This week marks the largest Hindu festival in nepal. It marks worship to one of their goddesses. All day people are walking around bowing down at the statues and altars all over the city. They are sacrificing goats in hope to appease this goddess.

I am broken for these people. There Are less than 2% Christians in Nepal out of the 6 million people. It breaks my heart to see these people trying to appease something that isn’t real meanwhile the living God wants to know them!

This is the first time I have been confronted with true Hindu worship and it’s dark.

Please pray for the people of Nepal that they would come to know the true God!

Bastogne

I love watching anything about WWII. Actually, I am very fascinated with the history of all wars, but there is something special about WWII. I saw that Band of Brothers was on TV the other day so I took the liberty of recording 7 of the episodes. I have been absolutely taken captive by what these men went through. I have often asked myself what I would do in that situation…I still don’t know if I could handle it. On a side note, I desperately want to sit down with someone who went through that and just hear their story. If not now, it may not happen they’re only getting older.

Anyway, I just got done watching the section called Bastogne. It depicts the battle of Bastogne. You truly have to watch the movie to get the whole picture. The gist of the situation is that Easy company has been asked to hold the line just outside of Bastogne a city in France I believe. The task of holding the line is something Easy has done before, but this time it is not as simple. It was the middle of winter. Freezing cold winter. They have no winter clothing, are low on ammunition, and have no medical supplies. Day after day they are being shelled, shot at, and they are losing men left and right.

I saw a parallel with Bastogne and the Christian life. There are those of us who have said yes to the call of Jesus and have surrendered all that is “ours” and given it to him. Our pursuit is Jesus Christ and him crucified. By the way, I’m not talking about pastors. I’m talking about followers of Christ that have submitted to all of the above. How much different is this than the war effort? You enlist or respond to the draft, you give it all up for the same cause, and you fight for one thing and that is your country.

We are zealous, excited, and passionate for the cause of Christ. We get involved in church and pour our hearts into ministry. Sometimes we feel as though we have taken ground. There are slight glimmers of hope that the war is being won. We see a person’s life transformed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ and we rejoice. Soon though, we find ourselves in Bastogne. It’s freezing (our faith seems to be slowing), we are short on ammunition (our passion is cooling), and we feel ourselves loosing the battle. We see people we care about taken out by the enemy. We fight on the battle field with an enemy that is infinitely more powerful than we are and though we know “greater is he that is in me than he who is in the world” we feel like it’s not true. Though we know the end of the story. We feel like we lose.
We are fighting on the battle field taking shots from the enemy. The enemy is clever, disguised sometimes as a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The enemy is strong, fierce and desires only to steal, kill, and destroy. At Bastogne we feel like all hope is gone.

Do you know what I love about WWII? It doesn’t end at Bastogne. It continues, and guess what? We win. The allied forces destroy the German and we come home victorious.

Do you know what I love about Jesus? It doesn’t end in our battle fields. It continues, and guess what? We win. The army of Jesus Christ destory’s the enemy, restores hope, redeems the broken, heals the sick, gives sight to the blind, releases the oppressed, and enters into glory with the king of kings and the Lord of Lord’s.We will take shots from the enemy, but in the end, who’s the one sitting at the right hand of the father?

So my brothers and sisters that have given it all for the Kingdom. When you face those moments, may you always remember “¹⁰Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹²For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. ¹⁸And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”.

The Will of God

Some people are driven by facts. Some people are driven by desires. I am driven by emotions. No, I don’t just sit around and weep. But when I get excited about something, I get EXCITED!

I love Africa.

Literally, not a day goes by without me thinking about it. I want to go back. I want to see my brothers and sisters!

Since I left I have been dreaming of the day when I can return. So, I about a month ago I was approached with an opportunity to travel to Africa again in October to do evangelism in the Universities. Naturally, you would think I jumped at the opportunity, but I didn’t.

Something within me felt uneasy about it. The timing, the money, and I was wrestling with the type of ministry. Was it the best use of my gifts? I didn’t know.

During the exact same week somebody from another organization approached me about traveling to Nepal around the same time in October.

I have no desire to travel to India or Nepal. When I say no desire I mean ZERO, NIL, ZILCH, NADA. So, here I am confronted with yet another opportunity but I don’t want to go. So, I told the guys across the table from me that I would pray about it. My plan was to legitimately give this one to the Lord because if it were to happen it would only be because of him.

I am emotionally driven, therefore I tend to make emotional decisions. When I want to do it, it must be the will of God, but when I don’t. He must not be moving. My wife understands so many things about the LORD better than I do. She understands when it is God’s will even though she doesn’t want to do something. This is an area I want to grow in.

So my prayer was literally, “Lord, I want to know what your will is outside of my emotions. If you want me to go, you are going to have to make it very clear. Please show me a sign”. I felt a little like Gideon. So, I threw out my fleece. The obstacles were timing and money. I am starting school around that time, the start of a new ministry season, my wife’s approval of me being gone for so long, and of course paying for the trip.

I asked my supervisor what he thought. He said, “I think you should do it. What an awesome opportunity”. Then I asked my wife, Katie, she said, “I think it’s great, go for it.” Then I realized that I could miss the first week of school and still be fine. Soon after the finances all fell into place and I realized that God had answered my prayer.

I still wasn’t emotionally connected with going to Nepal, but the Lord had come through on every fleece I threw out. So, I’m going to Nepal in October and now I am extremely excited. We are going to be teaching indigenous pastors how to read and study the bible. Some of these men are recent converts whose only bible training is the crusade they came to know Christ in. They literally have no training or knowledge and God has chosen me to have a hand in advancing his kingdom over there. How humbling is that?

I’ll let you know how you can pray as we get closer!