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The God of Elijah - Part Two

9/19/2013

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I was awakened by the direct ray of the sun through the single window of our attic.  "This isn't rain!"  I said.  It was already past seven o'clock.  I got up knelt down and prayed.  "Lord," I said, "please send the rain!"  But once again, ringing in my ears came the word:  "Where is the God of Elijah?"  Humbled, I walked downstairs before God in silence.  We sat down to breakfast -- eight of us together, including our host -- all very quiet.  There was no cloud in the sky, but we knew God was committed.  As we bowed to say grace before the food, I said, "I think the time is up.  Rain must come now.  We can bring it to the Lord's remembrance."  Quietly we did so, and this time the answer came with no hint whatsoever of rebuke in it.

"Where is the God of Elijah?"  Even before our Amen, we heard a few drops on the tiles.  There was a steady shower as we ate our rice and were served with a second bowl.  "Let us give thanks again," I said, and now we asked God for heavier rain.  As we began on that second bowl of rice, the rain was coming down in buckets-full.  By the time we had finished, the street outside was already deep in water and the three steps at the door of house were covered.

Soon we heard what had happened in the village.  Already, at the first drop of rain, a few of the younger generation had begun to say openly:  "There is God there is no more Ta-wang!  He is kept in by the rain!"  But he wasn't.  They carried him out on a sedan chair.  Surely he would stop the shower!  Then came the downpour.  After only some 10 or 12 yards, three of the coolies stumbled and fell.  Down went the chair and Ta-wang with it, fracturing his jaw and his left arm.  Still determined, they carried out emergency repairs and put him back in the chair.  Somehow, slipping and stumbling, they dragged or carried him half-way around the village.  Then the floods defeated them.  Some of the village elders, old men of 60 to 80 years, bareheaded and without umbrellas as their faith in Ta-wang's weather required, had fallen and were in serious difficulties.  The procession was stopped and the idol was taken into the house.  Divination was made.  "Today was the wrong day," came the answer.  "The festival is to be on the 14th with the procession at six in the evening."

Immediately when we heard this, there came the assurance in our hearts:  "God will send rain on the 14th."  We went to prayer:  "Lord, send rain on the 14th at 6.00 pm and give us four good days until then."  That afternoon the sky cleared, and now we had a good hearing for the Gospel.  The Lord gave us over thirty converts -- real ones -- in the village and in the island during those three short days.  The 14th broke, another perfect day, and we had good meetings.  As the evening approached we met, and again, at the appointed hour, we quietly brought the matter to the Lord's remembrance.  Not a minute later, His answer came with torrential rains and floods as before.

The next day, our time was up and we had to leave.  For us, the essential point was that satan's power in that idol had been broken, and that is an eternal thing.  Ta-wang was no more "an effective god."  The salvation of souls would follow, but was in itself secondary to this vital and unchanging fact.

The impression on us was a lasting one.  God had committed Himself.  We had tasted the authority of the name that is above every name -- the name that has power in heaven and earth and hell. In those few days we had known what it is to be, as we say, "in the center of God's will."


This is an excerpt from the book, SIT, WALK, STAND by Watchman Nee.  For the first part of this story, click here.  

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.


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The God of Elijah - Part one

9/18/2013

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On January 9th, we were outside preaching.  Brother Wu with some others were in one part of the village and suddenly asked publicly:  "Why will none of you believe?"  Someone in the crowd replied at once, "What have a god -- one god -- Ta-wang (Great King), and he has never failed us.  He is an effective god."  

"How do you know you can trust him?" asked Wu.  "We have held his festival procession every January for 286 years.  The chosen day is revealed by divination beforehand, and every year without fail, his day is a perfect one without rain or cloud," was the reply.  "When is the procession this year?"  "It is fixed for January 11th at eight in the morning."  "Then," said brother Wu impetuously, "I promise you that it will certainly rain on the 11th."  At once there was an outburst of cries from the crowd:  "That is enough!  We don't want to hear anymore preaching.  IF there is rain on the 11th, then your God is God!"

I was elsewhere in the village when this occurred.  As soon as I heard of it, I saw that it was most serious.  The news had spread like wildfire, and before long, over 20,000 people would know about it.  What were we to do?  We stopped our preaching at once, and gave ourselves to prayer.  We asked the Lord to forgive us if we had overstepped ourselves.  I tell you, we were in deadly earnest.  What had we done?  Had we made a terrible mistake, or dare we ask God for a miracle?

The more you want an answer to prayer from God, the more you desire to be clear with Him.  There must be not doubt about fellowship--no shadow between.  If your faith were in coincidence you could afford to have a controversy with Him, but not otherwise.  We did not mind being thrown out if we had done something wrong.  After all, you can't drag God into a thing that is against His will!  But, we reflected, this would mean an end to the Gospel testimony in this island, and Ta-wang would reign supreme forever.  What should we do?  Should we leave now?  

Up to this point, we had feared to pray for rain.  Then like a flash, there came the word to me:  "Where is the God of Elijah?"  It came with such clarity and power that I knew that it was from God.  Confidently, I announced to the brothers, "I have an answer.  The Lord will send rain on the 11th."  Together we thanked Him, and then, full of praise, we went out--all seven of us--and told everyone.  We could accept the devil's challenge in the name of the Lord, and we would broadcast our acceptance.

As we went to our evening prayer, we all began once more to pray for rain -- now!  That it was that there came to us a stern rebuke from the Lord:  "Where is the God of Elijah?"  Were we going to fight our way thru this battle, or were we going to rest in the finished victory of Christ?  What had Elisha done when he spoke those words?  He had laid claim in his own personal experience to the very miracle that that his lord Elijah, now in the glory, had himself performed.  In New Testament terms, he had taken his stand by faith on the ground of a finished work.

We confessed our sins again.  "Lord," we said, "we don't need rain until the 11th morning."  We went to bed and the next morning (the 10th) we set off for a neighboring island for a day's preaching.  The Lord was very gracious, and that day three families turned to Him, confessing Him publicly and burning their idols.  We returned late, tired out but rejoicing.  We could afford to sleep late tomorrow.


This is an excerpt from the book, SIT, WALK, STAND by Watchman Nee.  Tomorrow, we will see the result of Brother Wu's bold faith in the God of Elijah.


BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

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Can people really change?

8/23/2013

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I wanted to tell you one story I encountered at Shepherd Community Center. It’s about Curtis Adkins, who when growing up looked like a tragedy waiting to happen.

His father left the family. They moved every three to four months in the city. Adkins would switch schools and fall behind, so school officials put him in classes for learning disabilities.

By middle school Adkins thought of himself as a troublemaker, and so did school authorities. He was expelled from one school and sent to another one. He landed in juvenile court on minor charges. He tried drugs, abused alcohol, and got kicked out of his mother’s house.

As a homeless teen, Adkins stayed on friends’ couches. Often that profile adds up to a life of crime and prison—but this young man also bumped into people who wanted to help him. A family took him in for a year, on the condition that he join the Shepherd Community Center. There he heard about the small Indianapolis Christian School, where he benefited from small class sizes and tutoring.

Adkins worked at Shepherd and the school to pay tuition. He learned to work at small goals instead of big dreams. He’d earn just enough money for the next semester’s tuition. He would master a basic English or math skill he had missed in earlier years.

Yet it wasn’t always a smooth ride, for Adkins or the people assisting him. Shepherd director Jay Height came to see why Adkins had been booted out of school. “He was obnoxious,” Height recalled. “I kicked him out when he was first here.”

Another family recommended that he join them on a short mission trip to serve in Bolivia. “I thought I was poor, staying with people here and there,” Adkins said. “Then I went to a Third World country and saw kids without shoes and moms raising their kids in the street.”

He also saw a new side of Christian faith. Adkins had tried to improve himself to please God: “Before that trip I felt to accept Christ that I would have to change so much in my life. My life would have to be perfect.”

He discovered a different perspective in Bolivia. “I realized that Christ loved me in spite of my sins,” Adkins said. “It wasn’t about ourselves or what we were doing, but it was about what God was doing.”

Adkins does not recall a dramatic conversion. Rather, he had seen many believers show him the love of Christ. Their perseverance in that love was a big factor in his journey.

Some teachers had advised Adkins to forget about college and consider a trade school. He was scared to think about college. But friends at Shepherd thought he could make it, especially after he discovered his audio learning style and made more progress in school. He also fell in love with soccer and wound up playing at Ohio Valley University in West Virginia.

Small goals helped him not get discouraged. He kept his GPA above 2.0 to stay on the soccer team, eventually graduating cum laude.

Adkins is now 31, married, with two children and a stable job. These days he serves at Shepherd Community Center, attempting to steer other at-risk children and teens to the straight-and-narrow path. Jay Height sees Adkins as an important part of a team aiming to break multi-generational poverty on the East Side of urban Indianapolis. “He’s helping us shape our programs because he’s been there,” Height said. “He’s improving our diversity of voice to include those who are the first generation out of poverty.”

When tempted to give up, friends who had helped him encouraged Adkins to change course: “I started moving in the right direction because I didn’t want to let these people down.” Now he wants to do something similar for those in the same part of Indianapolis: “People invested in my life at Shepherd. I felt like it was part of my job to come back and invest in the lives of others.”

Adkins doesn’t see himself as a self-made man. He’s grateful to the Lord and friends who came alongside him in times of need.

This post was written by Russ Pulliam for World Magazine.  You can find the original post at:  http://www.worldmag.com/2013/08/how_christ_changed_a_life


BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

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A forest in a tree

8/10/2013

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If you have ever noticed as you are talking to me, I wear a silver necklace. I have worn this same necklace for many years and some people have made the remark that they notice I never take it off. There is a reason for that… it is a reason that has actually evolved over time, but now I understand its full weight. This necklace, given to me by my girlfriend (now wife) so many years ago was actually a replacement to a necklace I wore nonstop that started to fall apart. 
To tell you what it symbolizes will require a story…

Do you ever get the feeling you are being watched? 16 years ago, as I walked through a children’s neighborhood park, I had this feeling. I felt as if I were being followed or watched or stalked. My curiosity was overwhelming so I started to look high and low for the culprit. It was only me and a friend walking in this area so it was an odd feeling to have. As I tried to get my mind off of the concept, I looked up and I found the source. A little boy had climbed a tall tree and was watching every move we made.

We were in this park as a result of being on a mission trip with our youth group to North Dakota. The youth group had split into 3 groups

and our smaller group mission was to clean up this park and to teach object lessons (and play with) kids that we found there. The problem was…there were no kids at this park….well, except this small boy hiding in the tree.

Later, we found this woman who had walked to the park and told us she was this boy’s aunt. We found out the boy’s name was Forest and he was 4 years old. The aunt was somewhat nervous because this particular park had a reputation as a drug dealing hub. Forest was in danger simply by playing at this park.

After a few days of our mission, we saw more and more children come to play at this park. We cleaned it up and made it usable. Parents came to greet us, bring lemonade, and thanked us for making this park a safe play area once again. These children came as a result of Forest and his family spreading the word that the park is now a place of fun… drug dealers, for some reason had moved on to another spot to do business.

At the end of the week, I bought a necklace because I wanted something to remind me of this event. Now, this necklace reminds me of two important truths.

  1. Anything that seems hopeless or lacking worth can be redeemed for good.
  2. Sometimes that which seems weak (4 year old boy) is just what God uses to penetrate the darkness.

This post was written by Rev DeCrastos.  For the original post, go to:  http://other-words.net/2013/08/06/a-forest-in-a-tree/

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"Let's send Islamic Terrorists to hell"

7/1/2013

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I wish there weren't statements like that out there.  But there are:  "With Jihawg Ammo, you don't just kill an Islamic terrorist, you also send him to hell.  That should give would-be martyrs something to think about before they launch an attack.  If it ever becomes necessary to defend yourself and those around you, our ammo works on two levels."  This press release was put out by South Fork Industries of Dalton Gardens, Idaho.  

This Jihawg Ammo (http://www.jihawg.com) comes with catch phrases:  "Peace thru Pork" and "Put some ham in MoHAMed" among others.  As a Christian, I am disturbed by such statements, such advertisements and such a product.  By lacing these bullets with pork, it makes them unclean to Muslims.  So, the premise is, Islamic terrorists believe that if they die in a Jihad, that they go to heaven.  However, if an Islamic terrorist is killed by Jihawg ammo, then he will go to hell.  

Why am I disturbed?  There is an interesting scene in the movie, "End of the Spear"  In that movie Nate Saint is asked by his son Steve Saint, "If the Waodoni attack, will you defend yourself?  Will you use your guns?"  Nate Saint replied, "Son, we can't shoot the Waodoni.  They are not ready for heaven... we are."  If you recall, in this movie, Nate Saint and several other missionaries were killed by the Waodoni.  They did NOT use their guns except to fire into the air in attempts to frighten their attackers.

This post is not about pacifism nor is it about self-defense.  This post is about what this product does to me at an internal level.  That's where I am disturbed.  It makes me wonder if we Christians, really truly care about those who oppose us?  Abraham Lincoln put it well.  If Jihawg ammo was around when he was president, I think he would have again said, "the best way to destroy your enemy is to make him your friend."  Jesus put it better, "if you just love those who love you, what good are you?"  



But what about those individuals "from the OTHER political party"?  Do you want to get rid of THOSE people or are you loving them?  


But what about "THOSE from another race," "THOSE from another religion," "THOSE gays, THOSE homeless, THOSE kids, THOSE old people, THOSE druggies, THOSE crazies, THOSE perverts, etc"  The list can go on and on and on...  


THOSE.  THEM.  OTHER.   Words that don't share the love of Christ.


As a Christian, how are we to treat those who don't agree with us?  Pray for their destruction?  Shoot them?  Send them to hell?  Avoid them?  Not allow them into our church?  


I am not innocent.  This post is written for me as well as you.  What must we do as Christians?  


We need to reach people for Christ.  


LORD HELP US.


BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.


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The portable church is permanent

6/28/2013

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Chances are, the biggest and most memorable events you’ve been to in your life have happened in a set up/tear down venue:

Concerts
Conferences
Weddings
Parties
Graduations

The majority of these events now happen in rented facilities…stadiums, arenas, tents, convention centers or a beach, park or field in the case of many weddings today.

Virtually no artist owns their own concert facility and makes fans fly to their venue to watch them play.

Imagine having to fly to the “Coldplay facility” in England to watch them play.

No, the bands you love most come to you, rent a facility, set up the show and then move to the next town.

It’s also quite amazing to see what can be done in a portable environment.

One of the biggest shows in history was the last U2 tour – the 360˚tour was an unbelievably elaborate set that is hard to believe could be done on the road. The blog photo above is a shot I took a few years ago at the Toronto stop of  their 360˚ Tour. (For more: here’s a 3:00 time lapse video of the 9 day set up/tear down of the set. To see another view including concert footage, click here.)

On a more personal scale, chances are you will attend a college graduation in a tent or a wedding of someone you love deeply on a beach, in a garden or field, in a restaurant or on a farm. 

So here’s the question:

If the biggest and most meaningful gatherings on the planet are portable, why doesn’t the church make portable church a permanent part of the future?

Almost every church starts portable.  But few want to stay there.

Why?

Because there’s a stigma attached to being portable.

People think you’re not a ‘real church’.

Set up and tear down is hard work.

It feels temporary, not permanent.

Can we rethink that?

It’s not that people think you’re not a real church; some Christians think you’re not a real church.

Set up and tear down is hard work when you’re not organized or don’t have bought-in-volunteers; when you do, it’s sustainable.

Maybe it only feels temporary because the idea is fairly new to church world.

At Connexus, we’ve been doing set up and tear down for over 5 years and have discovered to our surprise that it’s a great way to do church for unchurched people.

In fact, last year, we decided that portable church would be a permanent part of our future. 

While we are looking to find a larger facility that would function as a hub to which we have 24/7 access, weekend venues that are portable make sense for us for numerous reasons.

Here are 7 reasons portable church might make sense as a permanent part of the future:

1. The stigma doesn’t exist with unchurched people. I never expected that to be true, but we’ve heard that story many times. Christians who stay away from portable church will always have another building they can go to for church. 60% of our growth at Connexus is from self-identified unchurched people. Many of them tell us they love our venue because it’s not a ‘church’. I’ve never had an unchurched person say “I will come when you have a real building”.

2. Larger churches are finding portable church works.  Read through some of the stories Portable Church Industries outlines and you’ll see portable church isn’t just for small start-ups. Churches of 1000+ are fully portable.

3. Building costs are disproportionately high. Where I live, 30,000 square feet of new construction permanent space will cost you over 8 million dollars. Even with our $1.3 million dollar budget and a $1.25 million dollar capital campaign last year, building a full scale facility from scratch would be a financially oppressive  move.

4. It allows you to pour more money into ministry. As a 5 year old church, we are debt free with money in the bank and margin for the future. Last weekend we were able to spontaneously give a $5000 donation to aid flood relief in Calgary. That would not have happened if we had a $6 million dollar mortgage.

5. New buildings don’t grow your church. I know more than a few church leaders who have poured millions into new venues only to discover they didn’t grow once they opened. Effective ministry will grow a church. A building won’t (for more on that, read this post on three things that won’t grow your church).

6. Portable is flexible. Flexible, agile churches will make a big impact in the future. You can upsize or downsize your venues based on current momentum. Once you’re in a building, you’re committed to or constrained by the size of footprint you created until money is available to change that. Portable is more more flexible.

7. Buildings eventually become mausoleums. Almost every church leader has heard of Charles Spurgeon. But who can name his church? It still exists, but almost died for lack of attenders in the 1970s. The point is this: God uses people to lead ministries, not buildings. Facilities are a means to an end.

I’m not saying churches shouldn’t have buildings. There are times where churches need them and ought to have them.

But there are lots of dying churches sitting on real estate. And lots of growing churches with none. (I also think dying churches should flip the keys to growing churches…but that’s another post).

Has the time come for us to push past the point where we believe that every growing church should have a building?

The time has come for us to give portable church a permanent place in the future of the church.

And get on with building a movement.



This post was written by Carey Nieuwhof.  For the original post, go to: http://careynieuwhof.com/2013/06/why-portable-church-should-be-a-permanent-part-of-the-future/#sthash.i4EChlmf.dpuf

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

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Racism  - Am I part of the problem?

5/28/2013

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The other day, I hired a roofer to come and fix some hail damage on my house.  I told him that my neighbor may want some roofing done too.  I said, "he's from Guadalajara and was telling me that he could get some 'hispanics' to fix my roof and his roof but you might want to see if he needs some work done."  My roofer (a white guy) kind of got this sly grin and said, "he's not a roofer?"  I said, "no, he's an executive for a large bakery company."  My roofer said, "I was joking (still with that sly grin)."  I retorted, "yes I know you were.  I just didn't think it was funny."  The subject was changed and the roofing job was completed.  In the area where we live, there are a lot of homes being built.  A good portion of the construction crews (including roofers) are hispanic.* 

Later, upon reflection of this interaction, I thought to myself, "There I went and did it again.  I came off as a racist.  Why did it matter that my neighbor is from Guadalajara?"  I really like my neighbor.  He 's been nothing but friendly and he brings over items from the bakery and his wife makes us the BEST quesadillas.  My hispanic neighbor came from California before he brought his family to Indiana and built a home next to mine.  I then thought about the number of people who have asked me if my neighbor was here legally.  Honestly, that thought never crossed my mind.  My neighbors on the other side are from California too but are a white mother and daughter.  No one has ever asked me if they were here legally, I have no idea where they lived before California.  

I recall I went to lunch with a couple of white men that were a little bit older than me.  One of them made a disparaging comment about the race of our current president (POTUS).  I didn't laugh.  The other one said with a sly grin, "Oh, you didn't get the joke.  You will get it later when you get home."  I replied, "Yes I got the joke, I just didn't think it was funny."  

In thinking of these two interactions, I have come to a couple of observations that sicken me:

1)  White men seem to have this way of talking that is elitist.  We make comments toward each other that subtly (and not so subtly) put down other races and/or women.  However, we do it in such a way that among respectable Christian men it is not considered racist/sexist (if you're a white guy).  I'm sure that if a person who wasn't white was observing, s/he would notice the elitism.  

2)  If you're a white man and you don't appreciate these subtle comments, you are considered to not be as intelligent as the person making these subtle comments.  These white guys just can't imagine that you just don't appreciate their elitist comments.  They just think that you haven't had enough bad experiences from "those people" to accurately determine that whites are better.  However, they would never come out say that they are better than others.

These two observations aren't new to me, I didn't have an epiphany as I was writing this blog. However, to my regret, I did realize that I contribute to the sin of elitism/racism/sexism.   By being blind to my white maleness, I inadvertently contribute to subtle white, male put downs of others.  Sue (2004) points this out in his excellent article:  "Whiteness and Ethnocentric Monoculturalism:  Making the Invisible Visible"  (see American Psychologist, Nov 2004, pp 761-769).  He states, that white men are "trapped in a EuroAmerican worldview that only allows them to see the world from one perspective...little doubt exists that skin color in this society exposes people to different experiences (p. 762)."  

Sue's last statement that skin color causes different experiences just makes me feel really, really, awful at an internal level. God's Word makes it clear that elitism/sexism/racism is a sin.  Galatians 3:28 points out that we are all ONE in Jesus Christ.  James 2 makes it clear that favoritism is sinful.  King Solomon warns us in Proverbs 6:12-13 that a man who winks with his eyes and signals with his feet is a "worthless person, a wicked man."  I believe that this section of God's Word is talking about those subtle things that people do to create an "us vs them" mentality.  

I long for the day when we will be released from the sin of elitism/racism/sexism.  Unfortunately, I don't think that is going to happen this side of heaven.  However, I'm grateful for times like this when God's Word and God's Holy Spirit speaks to me about my blind elitism.  I don't want to treat people any other way than the way that Jesus treated people. 


Now that you have come to the end of this blog post, I ask you for two things: 1) pray that I will be become more like Jesus, and 2) pray that you will become more like Jesus.


*My understanding is that hispanic is a political term.  I prefer the term latino/a but I use hispanic in this post because that is the term my neighbor used.  


BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

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The Tournament Male

2/15/2013

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Men have within them this desire to always be looking for more.  That could be one of the definitions of a TOURNAMENT MALE.  Men have unusual abilities.   For example, a room can be full of men, yet some will attempt to monopolize the only woman in the room.

Men will be talking, many of them with their backs to the door.  A woman will enter the room and the men with their backs to the door will know, I don’t know how we know, but we know when a woman has entered the room.  Maybe we pick up on the observations of the other men that saw her first.  I don’t know how, but we men have this ability.  

A few moments after the woman enters, men will do one and/or two things: 
1) they will check her out, comparing her to their own wife or girlfriend, or if single, compare her with old girlfriends, and/or 2) they will approach her and start talking to her.  

There will ALWAYS be more than one man who chooses option #2.  Hence, the tournament is on…

Let me share with you my experience with being a TOURNAMENT MALE.

Before having been married for 10 years, we moved to Ecuador to counsel missionaries.  I was excited being on the mission field with a young wife and two sons.  

My office was in an English-speaking church in Quito.  On one occasion, we had a group of about six high school girls visit us from America and the Pastor and I took them to the hospital in Shell Mera.  We stopped at one very picturesque part of the Amazon Jungle where there was this waterfall that fed into the Amazon River.  The Pastor and the most attractive girl took off down the trail (she had been sitting in the front with him and they had been carrying on quite a conversation) and I waited back at the van and walked the remaining girls down the trail.  All the way down the trail, I was brooding.  I was thinking to myself, “why does he get to take off all alone with the prettiest girl and I’m stuck with these five?” 


I was jealous and I was not very cordial on this trip after jealousy set in.  

Sometime on the trip, I don’t know if it was at the hospital or on the trip back, I realized how stupid and selfish I was.  A thought hit me, “You are such a lucky man.  You have a wonderful, beautiful wife and two marvelous sons.  Why in the world do you care about being alone with a high school girl?”  Part of the answer was I was in a competition with the Pastor.  Because he was with the prettiest girl, he was more of a man than I was (or so my ego wanted me to believe).  

The TOURNAMENT MALE syndrome works that way.  My ego was more important to me than anything.   I got jealous.  

When I got back to our apartment in Quito, after the boys were in bed, I told Karyn about this experience.  I told her how I felt and what I discovered about myself.  Karyn said, “yes, I’ve seen that about you and have been praying that God would talk to you about that.”  

That just blew me away.  My wonderful, patient, loving wife chose to let God speak to me about my TOURNAMENT MALE syndrome in His timing rather than confront me directly in her timing.  

I tell you this story, passing on what I learned, hoping it will help you:

-       It’s important to have someone in your life who is willing to pray for you

-       It’s important to be honest with yourself, God and someone who loves you

-       It’s important to listen to God’s Holy Spirit.  He will lovingly confront you about things that need to change in your life.

Let God empower you to keep your ego in check.

Are you a TOURNAMENT MALE?   Every man is.  So, ask God to take you out of the tourney and put you into His hands where you can do what He wants and not be ruled by your jealousy and ego.  

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

My thanks to Dr Don Joy for this concept of the Tournament Male



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God can use ice cubes

2/9/2013

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A Manchineri believer in Brazil, Genesio, recently told missionary Peter Rich, how ice cubes led to his salvation.

 “I used to think that only people that preached God’s Word were able to have ice cubes. I didn’t know what they were. One day I asked my mother, ‘What are those hard things that missionaries have in their cups?’ ‘Son, she replied, ‘That’s just something other people do.

“But I was still curious so I asked Peter, What are those things in your cup? He told me that it was water made hard with cold. I knew he was lying to me. I went home and said to my mother, ‘I think Peter is lying to us. He said those hard things were just water. I know that’s not true.’

“Then one day after we had finished some work we were doing for the missionaries, Peter gave me some water with those hard things in it. I drank the water and asked if I could take the hard things home with me. Peter gave me some water with the hard things in it. I ran home as fast as I could and asked for a bowl to put them in. My mother and brothers and I poked them with our fingers and wondered what they could be. Around midnight we noticed that they were turning into something like water. What could it be?

“Later I was watching when Peter was filling a little tray with water. He said he was going to put them in that box they call a refrigerator and by the next day the water would turn hard. Peter said, ‘Come back tomorrow and I’ll show it to you.’

“The next day I went back and the water was hard. Peter showed me the back of the box and explained that the process that made heat which made the water get hard.

“Not long afterwards I was talking with my brother Tshiko. He was telling me that he didn’t believe the things that the missionary was teaching. I told Tshiko that I also did not believe at first but after seeing how a box made by mere men could take water and transform it into hard rocks I now believed that a God who created all things could surely transform the soul of a wicked person into His image.

“From that time on I looked forward to the meetings because I wanted to learn all I could about this God. I never had any trouble listening from then on. Now I know the true God.”

Genesio along with several other Manchineri believers continues to help Peter translate the Scriptures into the Manchinere language.

Pray that Peter Rich and his co-workers, Genesio and his brother Raimundo, will clearly and accurately translate God’s Word into Manchineri.

This post was written by D McMaster.  You can find the original post here:  http://usa.ntm.org/mission-news/52278/the-testimony-of-the-ice-cube


BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

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What is your goal?

11/27/2012

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It was kind of a surreal experience....   We had just arrived at our mission in Quito and here I was less than 48 hours later standing at the graveside of a man I didn't know and hadn't even met.

I watched as the gravedigger dug the grave by hand.  He would occasionally stop and put his chin on top of the shovel and seem interested in what was going on as he rested.  There was hardly anybody there.  Just the man's wife, a couple of other people, the pastor, myself and the Ecuadorian gravedigger.  Being one of the few English speaking churches in town, the widow called the pastor with whom I served on staff and asked that he do the funeral.   I was there as support.  

The story of this man's life ended sadly.  He was a very successful American businessman who had visited Ecuador frequently and ended up buying some lucrative property in Quito so that he could retire.  He had quite a nest egg.  His goal in life was to retire with his wife at this property in Quito and live a life of ease and luxury.  

What was interesting was that this man and his wife arrived in Quito about the same time my wife and I had arrived.  We may have even been on the same airplane.  What he hadn't considered, as he grew older, was that his health wasn't as good as it had been in the past.  Quito has an elevation of over 9,000 feet (btw - Denver has an elevation of just over 5,000 feet) above sea level.  People who visit Quito often come done with Soroche (altitude sickness).  The symptoms are very similar to carbon monoxide poisoning.  The stress of the Soroche that he was experiencing taxed his body and his heart stopped working.  

So, here we have a man who saved his whole life, gathered quite a bit of money and bought some nice property in Quito so that he could retire, and within 48 hours of achieving his goal, he died.  From what his wife described, it also appeared that he died without knowing Jesus as his Savior.  

Jesus talked about this.  He said, "Now what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your soul?"  

Jesus, who taught a parable about a man who amassed fortune and trusted in himself, said, "You fool!  You will die this very night.  Then who will get everything you worked for?"

Having a goal is not bad in and of itself.  However, if your goal excludes God and is just to please yourself, know that you may never reach it.  If you do, it won't last forever.  

Everyone dies.

Then there is reward or payment.

Yet, if you have a goal and it includes God and pleasing Him, you WILL reach it. 
 

"Don't store up treasure on earth..."  

Make heaven your goal.


BE HOLY.
BE A MAN

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