I will go... only if its fun.

"Take up thy cross and follow Me," I heard my Master say;
"I gave My life to ransom thee, Surrender your all today."
Wherever He leads I'll go, Wherever He leads I'll go,
I'll follow my Christ who loves me so, Wherever He leads I'll go.

He drew me closer to His side, I sought His will to know,
And in that will I now abide, Wherever He leads I'll go.
Wherever He leads I'll go, Wherever He leads I'll go,
I'll follow my Christ who loves me so, Wherever He leads I'll go.

It may be thru' the shadows dim, Or o'er the stormy sea,
I take my cross and follow Him, Wherever He leadeth me.
Wherever He leads I'll go, Wherever He leads I'll go,
I'll follow my Christ who loves me so, Wherever He leads I'll go.

My heart, my life, my all I bring To Christ who loves me so;
he is my Master, Lord, and King, Wherever He leads I'll go.
Wherever He leads I'll go, Wherever He leads I'll go,
I'll follow my Christ who loves me so, Wherever He leads I'll go.

I was called to be a missionary when I was 8. For several years, I have considered this to be the anthem of my life. I have never been afraid of where God would send me. I have dreamed of sleeping in a hut in Africa, walking the streets of a European town, enjoying the hospitality of Latin church members or standing agog at the pagodas of East Asia. In the past, as I have sung songs like these, it has been with dreams in my mind of where “wherever” might be. I never dreamed God would NOT send me somewhere...exciting. I never thought He would tell me to simply go home. As I sat in church on Sunday, we sang this song as part of the invitation (the focus was international missions). At first I sang, unmoved, the lyrics I knew so well… but as I sang, I heard a still small voice speak softly in my ear “My love, you know this is not true. You have fought me about the one place I wanted you most. You have not followed me ANYWHERE. You have not been willing to follow me home.” I felt like someone had dumped a bucket of ice water on my head. I was humbled by my own arrogance to strut around like I had no issues with obedience or surrender or following God. I had no issues so long as it came on my terms and in my way. My goodness I am self-absorbed. And yet, God does not give up. He keeps working His will in my life, no matter how disgruntled I am. That just goes to show you what a loving, faithful God He is!

Unknown

For years I have lived within a “comfort zone.” Even while traveling to third-world countries and finding myself in dangerous situations or completely alone on the missions field, there has been a “comfort zone” quality about it. “Comfort zones” provide a certain level of security, safety, acceptance and pleasure. Adventure, discomfort and possibility lie just outside that bubble of comfort. So why would a “comfort zoneless life” bring me misery? It’s rather confusing to explain but while I’m in the comfort zone, my life holds few surprises. It’s stable, change-less and predictable. I don’t have to exercise much faith and my spiritual growth is stunted. Also, my ministry is hindered because I’m not willing to take risks but because it feels good, I am willing to sustain these losses. Right now, I’m living outside of any comfort zone and there is no foreseeable time in which I will return to a comfort zone. I’m not intrinsically professional and yet I’m in a highly professional job. My passion is ministry and evangelism (if you haven’t noticed) but I find myself in a strictly unreligious environment. There are times I want to quit and give up. I’m scared. Part of me would rather go back to my comfort zone but I won’t. You see, I know I’m in the center of God’s will and with that knowledge, God’s peace is present. I don’t know why He has chosen this place and this time to demolish my comfort zones but it is forcing me to the extremity of my faith and further. When I think I can’t go further without danger or loss, God says, “Take another step my love.” So what about my misery? Well, its there, but it doesn’t have to stay there. This is one of those times when my will has to overcome my emotion and tell it what to do. “Put on your grown-up pants and knuckle through.” So God, its You and me. Let’s Roll.

The Fellowship of the Unashamed

            I am a part of the fellowship of the Unashamed. I have the Holy Spirit Power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure. I am finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tame visions, mundane talking, chintzy giving, and dwarfed goals.

         I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don't have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by presence, learn by faith, love by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by power.

         My pace is set, my gait is fast, my goal is Heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions few, my Guide is reliable, my mission is clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, deterred, lured away, turned back, diluted, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

         I won't give up, back up, let up, or shut up until I've preached up, prayed up, paid up, stored up, and stayed up for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I must go until He returns, give until I drop, preach until all know, and work until He comes.

         And when He comes to get His own, He will have no problem recognizing me. My colors will be clear for "I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.." (Romans 1:16)

          When I first read this poem, I was stunned by its cement-like determination. I was told that it was found scrawled on the wall of a cell in charcoal by a pastor who was condemned to solitary confinement. He died there. This is the testimony he left behind. This story forces the question, what will I leave behind?

In Awe

I live in the south where tropical storms often send us week long downpours as a storms hits land. After days and days of thunderstorms, drizzles and grey, colorless skies, its wonderful to see the sun again. Yesterday, as I was driving home from work, I looked up and saw a stunning rainbow. As I pulled up to a stoplight, I snapped a photo of this beautiful sight. Later, while I was driving, I was thinking about what God was saying when He painted the first rainbow. It is an extravagant display of God’s love and protection of us. While I was thinking about these things, I saw a man and his son driving and the son was trying desperately to capture a picture of the rainbow with his phone. It was then that I thought of how many times God shows us his love and we overlook it. God painted the first rainbow after He flooded the earth. It was His promise to us that He would never cover the earth with a flood. Now, every time there is a huge rain, he sends another arc of colors. It is a reminder that no matter how bad things get, they will never be that bad. There will still be something beautiful after bad weather.

When I was in college, I went to visit a friend in upstate New York. She took me to this “glen” for a walk. It was more like a ravine etched out of the rock that was overgrown and bedecked with greenery. It was and is the most beautiful sight I have ever seen. After wandering around, engrossed in the sights around me, it hit me. God made all of this just because He knows I love it. It wasn’t even His masterpiece. His masterpiece He made with His bare hands, the rest He simply spoke and it existed. It seems that the more I see of this world and all that God has made, the more I am unknowingly in awe of the Creator of the World. It is then that I remember that things like rainbows and glens are nothing compared with Heaven. So what about the boy and his father taking the picture of the rainbow? It reminded me that we are awed by God, even when we don’t realize it.

Public Witness in a Professional World

So, how does a person have a public witness without forcing the Bible down throats? How do take every opportunity to witness but still respect other people and their “free will”? What about not denying Jesus to people? How do all these things work together, especially if you work in a critical or cynical environment where Christianity is seen more as a crutch for the weak-minded?
I sat down with my dad the other day to discuss this very topic. My new job has the beauty of allowing me to meet so many people and many of them are in need. They need a skilled physical and spiritual physician. What kills me is that this does not mean that I can just go around introducing these people to my Love, my Lord. Instead, I have to be silent and pray to myself. Prayer is a powerful thing and I don’t want to belittle that but sometimes I feel like it is insufficient. Like a Tylenol for someone who is having an amputation, it does not begin to even partially relieve the problem.
Dad said the best witness to be is just to be like Christ. Be different from the world. It still feels insignificant but it plants seeds. Wouldn’t I be risking the opportunity to be a light to hundreds of people if I cross the line by witnessing? Isn’t it seen as unprofessional even though salvation is better and more fulfilling that anything else in this world? Am I denying my Savior by keeping silent? I am confused but this I know, God brought me into this job and He will take me out when my job has been fulfilled. All I must do is love on Him and obey Him everyday and He will bless. He will plant seeds. He will tell me when to speak and when to keep silent.

Blog 12: Snake on a Pole

Mother has been added to the number… the number of those claimed by the plague. The snakes are everywhere. They are even in the tents. They’re not just any snakes either. They are asps. One bite from them and a healthy, grown man can die in just a few hours. Just when we think all is lost, word begins to spread. Moses, he raised up a symbol. If you look at it after a snake bites you, you will be healed. It’s a silver snake twined around a wooden pole. Rumor has it that many have been healed, but I am skeptical. How could what is supposed to kill me, give me life? Then my day comes. Dispite my precautions, I’m bitten by a snake. my family and close friends tell me to look at the symbol, but in a moment of unbelief, I refuse. The poison courses through my veins and stills my heart.
I was talking with a friend of mine. We discussed various patients’ need for God. Doctors have such an open door to witness but sadly many of them are lost and there for cannot see spiritually. I made the point that even if all the doctors in the world were saved, not all patients would have an ear to listen. That’s when my friend reminded me of the story in Exodus or Numbers where the Israelites are cursed with a plague of poisonous snakes. Moses tells them that their “salvation” rests in a glance. All they have to do is look at a symbol of a snake on a pole to be healed. Sadly, there is inference in scripture that some of the people refused to look. I have to constantly remind myself that, some people will refuse even so great a gift as a personal relationship with Almighty God. They will refuse because it doesn’t make sense, because it’s too easy or simply out of defiance. As you witness, remember this sad truth.

Jerusalem Road

How do you witness to a Jew, to someone who only believes in part of the Bible? Isn’t it like hearing half the story to only believe in the Old Testament? Don’t you get the wrath of God without His saving love and grace? God is not the inconsistent. He continually restates, throughout scripture, that He loves us and wants us to know Him in all His glory. I was once shown a “Roman Road” to salvation that was entirely Old Testament verses. Part of witnessing is knowing your audience. If you are talking with someone who believes that translators have tainted the New Testament or been in some other way falsified, don’t use New Testament verses to witness. Here are the Old Testament verses I was given for witnessing to a Jew or other person who holds to the Old Testament alone. Notice how similar the “Roman” verses are to the “Jerusalem” verses. (All verses in KJV) If you have taken the time to memorize the Roman Road, pact with me to memorize these as well. It will add depth to your witnessing pool.

Ps 14:3 “They are all gone aside, they are [all] together become filthy: [there is] none that doeth good, no, not one.”

Ecc 7:20 “For [there is] not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.”

Is 59:1-2 “Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid [his] face from you, that he will not hear.”

Lev 17:11 “For the life of the flesh [is] in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it [is] the blood [that] maketh an atonement for the soul.”

Is 53:6 “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

Micah 5:2 “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, [though] thou be little among the thousands of Judah, [yet] out of thee shall he come forth unto me [that is] to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth [have been] from of old, from everlasting.”

Dan 9:26 “And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof [shall be] with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.”

Joel 2:32 “And it shall come to pass, [that] whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.”

http://www.chosenpeople.com/main/index.php/evangelism/157-presenting-messiah-to-your-jewish-friend

The Unexpected Mission Field

“Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.’” Luke 5:31
When do you think people are most receptive to the Gospel? When they are healthy and prosperous or when something in their life isn’t going so well, when they are sick or hurting or in trouble? The answer is obvious but I have been reminded of this recently. I have had the blessing of getting a job at a brand new medical practice. The physician is an Infection Disease doctor so the patients who come into the office are VERY sick. As a result, God has opened my spiritual eyes and made me think of how we look to Him in our sin. We must be quite wretched and bedraggled creatures, consumed with it. On top of this, The past several days, I have been reading in Romans. Chapter six and seven talk a lot about the bondage of sin… but THEN comes chapter eight. I just love that chapter. It talks all about how much God loves us. Nothing can separate us from His love.
The catch is, how do you witness to all those poor people when you are in the business/professional world? This is a question that has begun to plague me. I do what I can, telling people “God bless you” and trying to share my joy with them whenever possible. Any other thoughts? How should I let my testimony shine? So you see my predicament. An entirely new mission field has opened up before me and I am not sure what to do with it. But I am excited by the prospect nonetheless.

The Five Senses

I see myself covered in rotten food sinking into the quagmire of a marshland. I taste the sweat and blood of my own exertions to escape. I have to fight the urge to vomit over the stench of the decaying flesh around me. My feet feel like they have been weighted with iron and dried cement. I hear nothing but the unearthly screams and curses of others in my situation. I put my hands to my ears and clamp my ears shut and anguish fills my heart.
Before I open my eyes again, I notice the sensation of a cool breeze around my feet and legs. I can wiggle my toes. The breeze carries the smell of home cooking, clean clothes and sweet creation past my nose. My eyes spring open and feast on the sight of beautiful black sand beaches, crystal blue water and green, snow-capped mountains in the distance. My ears are tickles by the sounds of breakers, voices singing and laughing and the whispered presence of the One I love. I turn to see Him and He says, “Sweetheart, I’m glad you’re here. Please join me for dinner. We have so much to talk about.” The food is delicious.
“O, taste and see that the Lord is Good: blessed is the man who trusts in Him.” Psalm 34:8
Do not be fooled. God sees our sin, faith, despair, hope, and everything else as reality. He sees it as easy as we see the creation around us. So why, when we look at people who are do not know God, do we insist on looking at them in judgment instead of pity? Why do we not witness to them with the urgency of someone who would rescue a drowning man? How can we be content with paradise knowing that so many people we run in to everyday will not be there to enjoy it with us? Why do we condemn them when we ARE them? God forgive us for our arrogancy! Please, give us Your hands so we can touch the unclean. Give us Your ears so that we can hear their pleads for help in their curses. Give us Your eyes so we can see their need. Give us Your mouth so we can speak sweet words of healing. Give us Your nose, so that we will know the fragrant sacrifice that delights you. Amen.

Of Trust-falls and Crutches

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart: and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”
When God says trust Him in ALL your heart, He doesn’t mean just the easy things. He also doesn’t mean just the things we think about entrusting to Him because they are not as significant. For instance, when I was working at a boarding school in New Zealand, I learned some things about my heart. I learned that my heart is easily distracted by a handsome face or charming accent. I also learned that, when ministry/missions is your passion, it becomes your heart. You are thrilled by “successes” and crushed by “failures.” So, Trust Him with your heart, that deep inner part of you that you would die to protect from pain and only trust to the people closest to you.
Another thing of which God has been reminding me is where to lean. In my world, if I can’t figure out how something could happen, it becomes impossible… a trait I have inherited from my father. This is especially the case with my life of late. I have been looking for a job for quite sometime but can’t seem to find one anywhere… not even in mundane work. Despite this fact, I feel the leading of God to go back to school for my Master’s degree. I have turned to God many times and asked, “Just how do You expect me to pay for school if I don’t have a job?” How foolish I am and how easy it is to mentally squish God into a refrigerator box. Is not God the Creator of all things and all knowledge? Isn’t He the Owner of all things and the Dictator of how resources should be used? Why do I fret because finances are running low and there is no relief in sight? *sigh
So trust, lean and acknowledge. What is the difference between trusting and leaning? Aren’t they basically the same thing. Trust is like a trust-fall. It is a sign of complete abandon or surrender to one’s fate and the hands of the One who catches you. Leaning is like a crutch. It is a persistent aid when a burden is too painful or heavy to bear. Everyday, not just in missions, I need to trust and lean… then acknowledging God is obvious because I never would have made it thus far without Him.

Sincerest Apologies!

The title of this blog gives away much of its content. All I can do is humbly and profusely apologize for neglecting all my readers by not writing a post for some time. God has been very good and faithful to me. He has supplied me with so many blessings that I often take them for granted. My greatest blessing has been that He has given me ministry, people to whom to reach out and give the love of Jesus. I just love to love on people and the pattern of my life does not always give us the opportunity. There is no more to say but to assure you that I will seek to be more consistant in future. Thank you for your attention.

Saints in Lock-up

I've always heard that foreign prisons are the places nightmares are born... but I was surprised by what I found. The prison was large, filled with felons and some of the worst criminals in the country. It served as sort of holding bay for criminals bound for other, higher security prisons in the land. The inmates were ruthless, dirty and hungry. Not exactly the ideal setting for a church let alone a Bible school. But you know, God does not work the way we do. He reaches out to everyone and offers them a personal relationship with Him.
God spoke to a pastor in Johannesburg, South Africa and told him to begin preaching in the prison. It seemed pointless and absurd but God had other plans. The prisoners were more open than expected. They began trusting in Christ. The pastor found Bibles for the inmates and the new believers began to have regular meetings, which became a prison church. God wasn’t done there. Because of the nature of the prison, a holding place before inmates were sent to other facilities, many of the new Christians from this church were sent to other prisons, away from their “home church.” God had so changed the lives of the inmates who trusted in Him that they began to lead others to the Lord. As the pastor of the prison church began to notice this trend, God impressed upon him the need to train pastors for these new churches springing up in other prisons. Acting on the direction of God, the pastor started teaching Bible classes. These classes quickly became a school for pastors. For God, nothing is impossible and He is in control of all things. He loves everyone and calls people from all walks of life to know Him personally.

***Remember to pray for our brothers and sisters who have come to know the Lord in prison. When they re-enter society, they will experience Satanic oppression unlike many of us will ever experience in our lifetimes.

Waiting on God & Live Like You are Dying

Wait. I really hate that word. Wait. It seems like every time I want to do something important, memorable, valiant, I am told to wait. What am I waiting for? Like right now. I graduated in May of 2009 with a BA in Communications. I want to write. I want to create. I want to shine. I am ready to do these things but… every time I ask God what I should do, He says “Wait, my love.” Again I ask, what am I waiting for? It is so hard to put my desires and ambitions aside when there is no clear direction or purpose laid out for me. What do I do while I wait?
I have been contemplating this for several weeks now. If I want to serve the Lord one day, in fulltime ministry, it is time that I know the voice of God and obey EVERYTHING He says. I have been fighting against “wait” for some time. Fighting, until this past weekend rolled around. Suddenly, God brought a thought to mind. What if I had a vision from God, this very night, telling me that I was going to die suddenly exactly one year from today. What would I do? How would I use the time that was given to me? When faced with death, priorities tend to change and what used to be vitally important, suddenly becomes obsolete. So, what about my life and my priorities?
Although this thought might seem morbid or fruitless, a truth came to light. I do not know when God will choose to “call me home.” It could be when I am 90, after a long, full life. Oh the other hand, it could be much sooner than that. All I know is that I have the day, the moment, I am living right now. With this truth, I have decided to change the way I have been living. I am going to live each day like it could be my last. I am going to do some things I have been meaning to do for years, like taking a photography course and becoming fluent in Spanish. I am also going to start valuing small things, like spending time with those I love. Most importantly, I am going to be a witness to the lost and an encouragement to the saved in everything I do. By God’s grace, each moment will be more meaningful and productive. “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called of God.” (Ephesians 4:1, NAS) While I wait, I will walk worthily.

Worship & Evangelism, pt. 1

“Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church.Worship is. Missions exist because worships doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever.” (Piper, pg. 17)
I have started reading “Let the Nations Be Glad” by John Piper. I’m only halfway through the first chapter and already I am convicted and “empowered” by what he has written. Piper explains that without a zealous, captivated love for God, missions would not exist. We were made to love and worship God. Missions is a display of that love and is driven by a desire for others to fall in love with God in a similar fashion. “You can’t commend what you don’t cherish.”(Piper, pg. 17) “Where passion for God is weak, Seal for missions will be weak.”(Piper, pg. 18) Why can’t I remember that I have a relationship and not a religion! It is natural for me to “change the image of incorruptible God” into a slight imitation of it found in corruptible nature. (Romans 1:18, King James Version) (Piper, pg. 28)
What I found the most startling, so far, was the revelation that God is most concerned with giving Himself glory. Does that not sound incredibly selfish and egotistical? And yet, I am human and have not come into full contact with the glory of God so I cannot understand the unavoidable necessity to give glory to God. “The deepest reason why our passion for God should fuel missions is that God’s passion for God fuels missions.”(Piper, pg. 21) So, God is the only One that really matters… why am I surprised?

Think Gospel

Once again, the Bible study I attend has given me a topic on which to write. It’s a topic that has brought great conviction to me this week. I had to ask myself a question… one that you too should ask yourself. How much time do I really devote to Christ? Do I think about Him in all situations?
I was stunned by the idea. As I thought about my life right now, I noticed that I have not been focused on all that God has done for me. I have not made the gospel my “go-to guy.” Rather, I shrank God and His gospel down to the size of my biggest problems. The gospel has the power to be victorious over all. Its not just something to save you from Hell. It is what makes life endurable down here.
I realized right then and there that I had left the gospel, like an old package, on December 5, 1993, the day I got saved. So, what does the gospel mean to me now that I have been living the Christian life for a while? What continued significance does Christ’s Incarnation, Passion, Crucifixion, Resurrection, Ascension and Second Coming hold for my life? Or is it merely important for Salvation? I ask these questions because I have realized that I must understand and love the Gospel in order to be able to spread that love and understanding to others. How can you explain something you don’t understand?
So do you have any thoughts?

An Impossible Command

Titus 3:1 “Remind your people to submit to the government and its officers. They should be obedient, always ready to do what is good.” (NLT)

Luke 6:27-28 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” (ESV)

1 Peter 2:13-15 “Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:” (KJV)

1 Cor. 13:4-6 “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;” (NKJV)

            A Bible study I went to this week hit me between the eyes. I was confronted by a blaring and rather unsettling truth. How do politics and religion unite? Where do my desires for political freedom collide with my calling to witness and see the lost led to Christ? Does my passion for mission and love for people stretch to the people I see as enemies? What about those who hate me and are working to strip me of my coveted freedoms?

            These were the startling questions I began to ask myself. As I looked at my opinions of people, especially liberals and those who do not agree with me, I saw, instead of love, and fist raised in anger. A fist clenched, ready to slam down and crush those who stand in opposition to me. I was stunned. I claim to have a passion to see people love and understand God as I do but what if I held the eternal fate of our president in my hands? What if I had the option of getting the freedom I want, or living in physical bondage and seeing them saved? I have to say, in grief, that I would probably choose to see them suffer rather than suffer myself but know they would be in Heaven. I am supposed to be an example of Christ’s love to the lost rather than put my rights first. When will I learn to put others first.

            Recently, the youth choir from my church went on a missions trip to New Orleans. They were asked to do a service project to clean up the ditches in the city. It was hard, dirty, grubby work. Definitely not something you would volunteer for. Later, when given the option of going door-to-door to invite people to an evangelistic service or go back to the ditches, many of them chose to return to the ditches. Why would they do that? I was very humbled by the idea that they would be return to the ditches. Would I have gone to the ditches of ministry? Would I go back again?

            Submit… no matter what. This is the truth that hit me. Peter and Paul encouraged the early Christians to submit to Caesar. One of the Caesar’s was Nero. I don’t think I would ever be able to submit to a man like Nero… the man who used the living, burning bodies of Christians to light his garden for parties. He burned the city of Rome and blamed the Christians. So, I have been assigned to love those who hate me. The only way I can is to have God’s love in me. Only His love can overcome the injustice I see. His love will blind my eyes to personal attacks and will help me see them as God does, broken people bound in the chains of their sin. Dear God, love them through me, because I can’t.

Consumed

I have been consumed, enveloped by fire and lived. It started from deep within and moved outward until it permeated every part of me. I used to think no one understood, that I was the only one like this… but there are others like me. We share this burning, this consuming flame for one thing. If you share this flame, if you are consumed, stay with me.
    This fire started when I was young. At times, it lays dormant for weeks, even months at a time but the slightest spark can bring it roaring back to life. It is not controlled by external circumstances: the weather, affection from friends and family or the other little pleasantries that make life delightful. No, nothing shifts or abates it. In fact, it seems to grow stronger as time passes. The fire gets hotter and spreads further than it ever has before.
    My fire is given to me by God and is sustained by Him alone. Every time I hear of something God has done or of someone else who has started a personal relationship with Him, the flame is fanned. It rekindles my love for God. It makes my heart feel like hot coals. If you could see it, I bet I would be breathing smoke! I want to scream and laugh and dance and sing and cry and sit in awed silence all at the same time. Sometimes, it is all I can do to restrain myself from wild ecstasy. My passion, my fire is to see lives changed with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the only thing that truly moves me. It’s what I live for! Without it, I would be like ship without an anchor, listless and drifting in no particular direction. I praise God that He changed me life and cleared out “me” to make room for this fire.
    So what about you? Do you have the fire? Have you been consumed with a blazing passion to see lives changed? Tell me about it. It is my desire for us to help each other fulfill this passion and fire, To put action to it. So tell me about your fire and why you love sharing the Gospel.
“Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame of the Lord.” Song 8:6 (NIV)