Pictures From Youth Group- Back to School Party

Tuesday- From Peru

We had an incredible day yesterday. At first it looked like all doors were being closed to us. The school wouldn't let us in and no one came to the park because of the weather & a public function. But - God had an even greater plan than ours.
We decided to do one on one evangelism in the town. Groups of people were outside so we shared - about 12 were saved.
Then we went again to the school. This time the highest official was there & we received permission to come 2 times for Tuesday. This same official had said no to the previous team.
God then used some unusual circumstances to bring the whole town out & we distributed 1000 tracts & shared the gospel with 100's.
One of the most exciting things that happened is that a door was opened for us to perform the drama & presentations to the military squadron who are here keeping the peace. We will do this on Wed. @ 3:00pm (4:00pm est). Please pray!
We see God's hand on all we do & are confident that what He has planned will occur.

The Team

Defining Discipleship (Part 1)

The following are actual responses from comment cards given to the staff members at Bridger Wilderness Area in 1996:

Trails need to be reconstructed. Please avoid building trails that go uphill. Too many bugs and leeches and spiders and spider webs. Please spray the wilderness to rid the areas of these pests. Please pave the trails…Chair lifts need to be in some places so that we can get to wonderful views without having to hike to them. The coyotes made too much noise last night and kept me awake. Please eradicate these annoying animals. A small deer came into my camp and stole my jar of pickles. Is there a way I can get reimbursed? Please call… Escalators would help on steep uphill sections. A MacDonald’s would be nice at the trailhead. Too many rocks in the mountains.

Citation: Mike Neifert, Light and Life (February 1997), p. 27

These comments and complaints indicate that the people who made them do not really understand what it means to stay in a "wilderness area." They were looking for something convenient and comfortable, but not truly a wilderness experience. In a similar way, many people today do not understand what it means to be a genuine Christian. There are multitudes that often follow Jesus or claim to be a Christian but they do so on their terms and not his. They do not truly comprehend the biblical definition of discipleship.

Because of this ignorance there are many who consider themselves to be followers of Jesus who are not, even though in many ways they do look like followers of Jesus. They go to church, have a profession of faith, read their Bibles, pray, even give in the offering, but they are not the real deal or at least are not living and thinking like the real deal. Jesus confronts this problem in our text today. He makes very, very clear what it means to be a Christian, and therefore there is no reason for anybody to be ignorant or self deceived.

A disciple is a true follower of Jesus Christ. In other words, what we would call a "Christian." If you are a Christian, you are a disciple; if you are not a disciple as Jesus defines it then you are not a Christian. These two terms (Disciple and Christian) mean the same thing in the same way that I mean that the same thing when I speak of my "spouse" or my "wife."

In fact the term "disciples" occurs 269 times in the New Testament, while the term "Christian" only occurs three times. In the Book of Acts we’re told that "The disciples were first called Christians at Antioch (Acts 11:26)." This makes clear that the terms are interchangeable. I wanted this to be clear because I believe it greatly clarifies the seriousness of what Jesus was saying. For instance, Jesus words in verse 27, "Anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple" could also be phrased as "Anybody who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be a Christian." That phrasing somehow gets our attention more and clarifies the seriousness of the issue or subject Jesus is teaching about.

To be a disciple of Jesus you must be committed to him above everything else

In our hearts Jesus must come before our loved ones, self-interest, possessions, careers, hobbies, goals in life, and even our very lives. In practice this commitment to Jesus will be tested and sometimes, in a moment of weakness, Jesus will not come first in our choices, but genuine disciples have made a sincere commitment in their hearts and will not continue to put other things before Jesus.

Jesus says that this commitment level applies to "anyone who comes to me. . ." In other words, Jesus is not speaking exclusively to a special group of Christians such as apostles, evangelists, missionaries, pastors, or even mature believers. He is saying that this principle applies to everyone who would be one of his followers.

Jesus goes on to say, "Anyone who comes to me and does not hate his father, mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters,-yes, even his own life cannot be my disciple." Now the word "hate" here is not meant to be taken literally but is rather used figuratively to express a point. It is hyperbole or exaggeration similar to what we use when we say, "That man was as big as a house. . ." In Jewish culture the word "hate" was used to express lesser love, so Jesus is saying that we must love him much more that we love our closest family relationships or even our own lives. We must love him more than our hobbies, more than our goals in life, more than our careers, and more that our self interest.

Jesus is not speaking of our emotional feelings toward him or our families but rather he is speaking of our level of commitment. He is saying that our commitment to obey and following him must be greater than any other commitment in our lives. In other words, Jesus must be first in our priorities and loyalties. Is this true in your life?

For instance, if following Jesus obediently results in problems or interferes with your closest relationships, will you still follow him? This is no mere hypothetical situation. In other countries following Jesus can sometimes mean being kicked out of the family, losing your children, etc. In our own country, many relationships have encountered problems because one spouse was a committed Christian and the other was not. In such cases Jesus wants us to know up front what it means to be a disciple. He must come before even your closest relationships.

Now some of you may think that this requirement of total commitment to be a follower of Jesus is contradictory to scriptural truth that salvation is a free gift of God. An illustration may help to clarify this issue

Suppose I had a desire to climb Mount Everest. (I don’t have such a desire and I think that those who do are lacking in common sense.) But suppose that I did desire to climb Everest. But it costs about $70,000 to do it and I don’t have that kind of money. Suppose a wealthy businessman heard of my desire and offered to pay for the entire expedition. He would buy all the expensive clothing and gear; he would pay for my transportation, the guides, and the training. It’s totally free for me. But if I accept his free offer, I have just committed myself to months of difficult training and arduous effort. It could even cost me my very life, because many good climbers die trying to climb Mount Everest. It is free and yet very costly.

Are you a Disciple?

Monday- From Peru

We had a great experience on Sunday as we worshiped with & ministered to the churchof San Andrez PiscoThe community is still a disaster area with many destroyed buildings & piles ofdebris. The church has orphans & widows. They are a tired & discouraged people.

Ourhostel is across the street from the beach. It has been fun watching the fishermango out in their boats. Today we are going to a school in the morning and then to a park in the afternoon.We have had several challenges. We found out the bus lines were partially closeddown. At first it looked like our path was temp. Blocked; but God opened the door &we arrived in Pisco as planned.

Then while on the bus, Chris' backpack was stolen which contained his passport. Heand an interpreter took the bus back to Lima @ 3:00am today. 10:00am this morning hewas able to get his passport replaced and will be with us again this afternoon.(Praise the Lord!)

Please pray for the church and pastor Marco as the community is opposing them. Praythat our visit is an encouragement. Pray for the continued health of the team.

Thank you-God is good.

The Team

Update from Peru

Flight out of Miami was delayed slightly, but we arrived in Lima safe and sound. Spent some time at the Bible college and even had some time to go to the Pacific Ocean. Now we are on a four hour bus ride to Pisco  Everybody is happy and doing well...!

When God Seems Unfair Remember This...(Part 2)

God is not arbitrary in his decisions or actions

“What if God, although willing to demonstrate his wrath and make his power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?” God was willing to punish those who rejected him but decided instead to be patient. This means that God was patient with the people of Israel even though they only deserved destruction. This is important because it shows us that God’s actions and decisions are not capricious or arbitrary but are rather governed by mercy and grace.

God always acts with a good purpose even if it is unknown to us. God had been very patient with Israel in the past and has now removed them from their prestigious spiritual position and he has done both of these things with a good reason.

These vessels, which represent either the nation of Israel as a whole or individual people - it is not clear which, were “prepared for destruction.” The word “prepared” makes it sound like God simply chooses and arbitrarily prepares some people for eternal destruction. This is not the case. The Greek word for “prepared” can also be translated as “suitable” or “fitting” and the word is in the passive rather than the active voice, which indicates that it is something they did to themselves rather than God did to them. Here’s the point, God has been very patient with those who were only suitable for destruction because of their own choices and actions. God’s choices were based on their choices.

God is not unfair! God is not capricious! God is not arbitrary in his decisions! In fact God has been very merciful and patient to those who do not deserve mercy. Every decision he has made has been governed by his mercy and grace. Why has God been so patient in withholding judgment? One reason is given in Romans 2:4 which says that God is patient in order to lead people to repentance. Romans 9:23 gives us a second reason why God has been so patient with rebellious Israel.

Paul says God did this to “make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy. . .” The “riches of his glory” refer to the greatness of his grace and mercy. In other words, we look at Israel with all of her rebellion and see that God must indeed be “rich in mercy.” The history of Israel that we have in the Old Testament glorifies God and encourages us because he has been so patient with those who been so rebellious. Some people misunderstand God’s patience as being unwillingness to judge or as lacking in goodness when actually just the opposite is true.

Contemporary Christian singer Chris Rice has a song that speaks to this issue. The song is entitled “Am I Naive?” Some of the lyrics to the song are:

I hear that a God who is good Would never let the evil run so long But I say it’s because you’re good You’re giving us more time Because I believe you love to show us mercy But when will you step into our sky blue And say that’s quite enough, and your time is up.

Chris Rice is saying the same thing as Paul was saying. God has not poured out judgment not because he is unwilling but because he is merciful, but the day will come when God will judge. In either case, whether God pours out judgment or shows patience and mercy, it is not an arbitrary decision. He does so for a good reason.

Christians are referred to as “objects of mercy” and indeed we are, but we are not “objects of mercy” because of God’s arbitrary choice. God chose us for a reason, albeit not a meritorious reason, but for a reason nonetheless. God did not show us mercy because we deserve it, worked for it, or were born of a certain nationality or ethnic group, but rather we are now objects of his mercy because of trusting in Christ and his righteousness.

Every one of us will encounter times when God seems unfair. We will all run into tricky theological questions and actions that seem to call God’s fairness into question.

Will you trust Him?

When God Seems Unfair Remember This...(Part 1)

Romans 9:18-29

As a father of four children, I sometimes have to make decisions that affect their lives. Decisions such as: friendships, dating, bedtime, entertainment choices, allowances, etc... Very often these decisions seem unfair to one or more of the children. In rare cases they will grow angry and demand that I, the father, explain myself. In those situations, the first thing I do is make very clear that because I am the parent and they are the child, I do not have to explain or justify any of my decisions or actions to them. This does not mean that their criticism of me being unfair is valid. It does not mean that I do not have good reasons for the decisions and actions I take. It just means that I don’t have to answer to the demands of a child.

In Romans Paul explains how God chooses to show some people mercy, while at the same time hardening the hearts of others, in particular the people of Israel. Their reaction was similar to my children’s in the aforementioned illustration. They accused God of being unfair and demanded that he explain himself. In response to this, Paul writes these verses. In them we learn two things we all need to know when God works in ways that seem unfair to us.

God is not answerable about his decisions or actions.

The first thing we all need to understand is that God does not owe us an account of why he does what he does, whether in his dealings with Israel and the Gentiles or any other matter. God is not answerable to us about his decisions or actions, yet an accusation against God and the demand for explanation from God is exactly what some people were seeking.

“Why does God still blame us? For who resist his will?” In other words these people are saying, “God hardened our hearts to reject the Gospel and no one can resist his power so what right does he have to hold us accountable for rejecting the Gospel?” Clearly implied in these questions is an accusation that God is unjust and unfair and that he should explain himself.

Keep in mind that this question is not asked with a humble attitude, but with a “talking back to God” attitude as verse 20 states. God is not opposed to us seeking genuine answers to perplexing questions, provided we do so with humility, submissiveness, and an acknowledgement of his right to decline to answer. This is why many Old Testament prophets could sincerely ask God tough questions and not be rebuked while at the same time Job was rebuked by God for demanding an account from God. When we don’t understand God’s ways we need to remember that. . .

Paul asks an important and enlightening question, “Who are you, O man, to talk back to God?” In other words, what right have you to question God or demand explanations from him? You’re just a man and he is God. Could you imagine in the Army a soldier with the rank of private going to the commanding General and accusing him of being unfair for rescinding his unit’s pass privileges and then demanding that he explain himself. The General’s response would be “Who are you O private to talk back to a General?”

God is God and we are not, therefore we have no right to accuse God or question God. Remember your position and God’s position. He is the highest general and we are the lowest private. He is the Father and we are the children, or as Paul explains in verse 21, he is the Creator and we are the creation.
In verse 21 Paul uses the analogy of God as a potter and people as the clay to make the point that we are not in a position to question God. The analogy should not be taken too far since humans are not entirely like clay. We have the ability to make choices, to resist God’s will, and even to talk back to God unlike clay. In other words, we shouldn’t think that every aspect of our lives, including our eternal destiny, is determined by God alone. That would be taking the analogy way too far and beyond the scope of what Paul intended. One thing that will become clear in chapters 10 and 11 is that God’s choices concerning our lives are determined by our choices concerning God.

The imagery of the potter and the clay is also used in Jeremiah Chapter 18 in which God said he was like a potter preparing Israel, the clay, for judgment, but then he call Israel to repent so that he can mold them differently and do good to them. (Jeremiah 18:1-11) This passage and other Scripture verses make clear that God has given us limited free will. Our choices affect God’s choices by his own design.

Does this mean that God doesn’t have good reasons for his decisions and actions? No! Paul never said that, he only said that people had no right to demand that God defend or explain his actions. As a parent I may tell my children that they have no right to question me but that in no way indicates that I don’t have good reasons for doing what I do. Of course I have good reasons for the choices I make and so does God....

Is God in control of you?