Youth Workers Needed in the Mission Field

If you love the Lord, love young people, and love to share Christ, then you are needed in the mission field. The following quote is an intro to a request for help from an SIM Youth Ministry Coordinator. You can read the rest of the post here.

As I make contact with people seeking to connect with young people around the world in mission contexts I hear one request time after time. It is “Can you send us people to work with young people”. It is one request that keeps nagging away with me because I so want to be able to help them right now but the reality is that there are not too many people putting their hand up to go and minister and connect with young people.

For God's Sake

This is some great Scripture to meditate on.

Even our trials, and pains are for His sake!
Everything, Everything is for His Glory, no glory for us.
As He says in verse eleven, His glory He will not give
to another.

Isaiah 48:9-11

9 “For my name's sake I defer my anger,
for the sake of my praise I restrain it
for you, that I may not cut you off.
10 Behold, I have refined you, but not
as silver; I have tried you in the furnace
of affliction. 11 For my own sake, for my
own sake, I do it, for how should my name
be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.

An Irresistible God!

The following is a quote from a poet, Stephen Dunn, who is not a Christian. Notice how he describes beauty. This is how a regenerate person sees Christ. Christ is beautiful, and so wonderful that He is irresistible! You can read the rest of this article at Desiring God. Link Here

"I just think beauty is irresistible. It disarms us. Takes away our arguments. And then if you expand the notion of beauty—that there is beauty in the tawdry, beauty in ugliness—things get complicated. But I think that beauty, which is more related in my mind to the sublime, is what we cannot resist."

Made in the Image of God

A lot of times I just ponder on the fact that we are made in the image of God. But what does the image of God really look like? The sad part is that many people only know the image of God based on their own culture. I have been blessed in that I have been to many parts of the world and seen many cultures.

So here are a few pictures to give you some perspective of what the image of God looks like in Namibia.

Why Desiring God exists.

I thought that this was a really good post on the Desiring God website today.

Desiring God, like all fallen, finite human ministries and people, sees “in a mirror dimly” (1 Corinthians 13:12). We do not claim to be perfect in what we know. And we do not claim to know all that can be known. Nor do we claim to see what we know more clearly than others may see it.

But we do say with Paul, “Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, ‘I believed, and so I spoke,’ we also believe, and so we also speak” (2 Corinthians 4:13). Though we do not know everything there is to know, and though we do not know anything perfectly, yet we do know many things truly and confidently, because of God’s revelation and his Spirit. To give a few examples:

To Read the examples given and the rest of the article click here.

Pastor Conrad Mbewe: The African Spurgeon

Last Of The Pictures

More Pictures

Pictures of the Kids

I have not posted any pictures of the kids in a while, so here are some of the good ones.

The Will Of God Part 2

Today as I was reading in Exodus Chapter 4, I came to, what can be, a controversial verse:

Exodus 4:21

And the LORD said to Moses, "When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.

It does not say that Pharaoh's heart was hardened, but it says that God would harden his heart so that he would not let the people go. This is important I think, to understand once more, that no one in this world is here for themselves, but we are here for God's purpose alone. I know from my own experience that this is hard water to swallow.

Our sinful nature wants it to be about us, and no one else. But we had no part in our creation; we were created by a being much more significant than ourselves. That creator is God, and He has a purpose for each individual He creates. But God did plan us to be a part of His purpose and His will. He came to earth as a mortal man, died on the cross for sinful people. This in itself is very unique, because Christianity is the ONLY religion in the world that is not about works, or doing things for your own benefit. Christianity is the only religion to where you CAN NOT SAVE YOURSELF. We can only be saved by our Creator, God!

In this saving process, it is still all about God! I am thankful that my life is not up to me, and that I have a creator, an awesome God, that knitted me in my mother's womb, and knew me before the beginning of time; a God to which also, knows what is best for me and has a plan for my life. If only I would live each second of every minute of every day with a firm grip on this promise!

Joseph And God's Will

A lot of times we feel like we have to find out what God's will is for our lives, and then once we think "WE" have figured it out, we start trying to make it happen. Ever been in those shoes? Some of you may be right now. I know I have been there before.

Take Joseph for instance. He did not ask to have the dreams that God gave him about the future rule over his brothers, niether did Joseph ask to be sold into slavery. Joseph never asked to be in such a noble position for the Pharoh of Egypt, but look at how God grew Joseph into the man that He determined for him to be in Genesis 45.

4So Joseph said to his brothers, "Come near to me, please." And they came near. And he said, "I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. 5And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. 6For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. 7And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. 8So it was not you who sent me here, but God.

Joseph, I am sure, had anger towards his brothers for a long time, but God finally showed him that it was not about Joseph, and what was good for Joseph, but that it was all about God and what God wanted for his life. Joseph said "God sent me" three times in three verses above, and all the time Joseph was right in the center of God's will.

We could search all our lives to try and find out what God's will is for our lives, but the thing is, we are right in the center of it already. God's will for our lives does not mean living a life of eternal bliss on Earth. There are a lot of days, months and maybe, just maybe YEARS of hard pressed trials, pain and suffering, but in the end, we were always right where God put us at. Right where God wanted us to be. Molding and shaping us for His purpose, not ours. And that's OK, because it is not about us, it's all about God!

Watch out for That PLANE!

Could you imagine seeing this ahead of you as you are speeding down the road in your car?

Water Carnival in South America??

A great friend and missionary, Jamie, is in Loja South America working in what is called a Cafe' ministry. Seems that a country wide tradition is to have water fights among people of all ages! How cool is that.

You can read the post here. Also, keep her in your prayers as she does the Lord's work in South America!

Site Here

Frozen Grand Central

This is pretty cool.

The Faith of a Canaanite Woman

"And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” And he answered, “It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table.” Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly."

This is out of Matthew chapter 15. I have read this scripture many times before, but I got stuck on the following dialogue between Jesus and the Canaanite Woman. Jesus is walking through Tyre and Sidon among people in the day that were despised. Then I noticed what Jesus says to her, "It is not right to take the Children's bread and throw it to the dogs." And she replies "Yes Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the masters' table."

I meditated on this a while to figure this out. The Children are God's chosen people, the bread is Jesus and the dogs are those who I would assume reject Christ. But the faith the woman had as she is in the streets pleading, and shouting to Jesus to heal her daughter. She was a person rejected by many, and she would settle to get the mere crumbs, leftovers of what Jesus had to offer. And Jesus showed her compassion and because of her faith her daughter was healed.

I would love to hear your thoughts, or what God may have revealed to you in this scripture.

The Near Sacrifice of Isaac and the Sacrifice of Christ

Once again this year I am trying to read through the Bible, but as of late I have started to do something different. This year I am trying to learn more historical facts about what I read. I am a bit behind on my reading, but today I was reading in Genesis 22 about the "Near" sacrifice of Isaac. The Bible says that they went to the land of Moriah. So I did some research and what I found is that researchers think that the "Land of Moriah" was probably not an area of land, but was actually a summit or a mount. Further research finds that this mount was probably Golgotha.

Does Golgatha ring a bell? Golgatha, or Calvary is where God sacrificed Christ for the atonement of sin for those who believe in Christ as their Lord and Savior. How cool is that! I always knew that there was some foreshadowing in the near sacrifice of Isaac and the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, but to possibly have been at the same place!

One last note, just as Abraham was to kill his son of his wife Sarah, God at the right time provided an alternate sacrifice to take his sons place. And God did the same thing for us, in that just at the right time, God sent an alternate sacrifice, Jesus, to be put to death for the atonement of sin.

Some Images of Namibia

Psalm 4

As I read this last night, it really gave me a lot of comfort, so I thought I would just share that with you.

"1Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!You have given me relief when I was in distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer! 2O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame?How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? 3But know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself;the LORD hears when I call to him.4 Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. 5Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the LORD. 6There are many who say, "Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O LORD!" 7You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. 8In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety."

Mohler Possible Nominee for SBC Pres

I hope that he gets this position. See the post here.

Also read the comments about the post. Notice all the emphasis on the fact that the church he attends only give 3% to the Cooperative Program (CP).

Really is a shame how much is put on that percentage given to the CP Fund, and not on the Godly Person and leader that Al is.

Christmas Picture of the Kids