Glorifying God for His Gifts

So, it's Christmas time and people are in the hustle and bustle of giving gifts. We are busy with the many lists for family and friends and trying to find the "perfect" gift for those we love most. I have been reminded continually in the past few weeks that the greatest gift that we have ever been given is the gift of grace. This gift has been given in many different forms to all people in the world...this gift is the Good News that Immanuel has been born!

Immanuel means "God with us" and God IS with us IF we are followers of Jesus. The Christmas season is often seen as one of "free" gifts and children and adults often respond to gifts in different ways. Some are excited about it and grateful for anything they get and some are ungrateful and offended. The Good News of this Christmas is that God sent Jesus as a gift. He sent His Son to forgive sins and to heal brokenness.

I was reading in Matthew chapter 9:1-8 this morning and was impacted by the words of Christ as he told a paralytic "Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven." But there were some self-righteous religious people there thinking to themselves that it was blasphemous for Jesus to forgive this man's sins. Jesus knew their thoughts and asked them this question, "Why do you think evil in your hearts?" Isn't that a tough question for anyone to answer? Ask yourself that question...why do I think evil in my heart? Isn't it strange to think about that? Jesus then tells the paralytic man that he is healed and he can get up and go home...AND he does! How amazing is that? But in reality what is more amazing, a mans sins forgiven or that a paralytic can walk?

The response of the people was one of fear and glory to God. Verse 8 says "they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men." What an amazing thing that they missed...Jesus was Immanuel, God with us! We can really miss who Jesus is during Christmas. We can focus on the play at church, the gifts under the tree, or even the fun times with family and friends. We can get caught up in what we get or don't get. We can even thank God for all the gifts and people he has put in our lives. We can be so focused on this material world that we forget that we have Jesus! Let us remember that "though He was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor that by His poverty we might become rich" (2 Cor. 8:9). That Jesus "being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him," (Heb. 5:9)...that God gave us the greatest gift, grace through faith "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God..." (Eph. 2:8)

May you all have a Merry Christmas and enjoy your family, friends, and gifts BUT most importantly remember the greatest gift of all and glorify God for it: Jesus was born, He lived, He died, He rose again, and now He sits at the right hand of God!

Generous Treasure

"God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him." This is such a powerful statement by John Piper and one to truly mark our lives by. The depths of this statement reach into our hearts and minds and draws out questions. Can I truly say that God is being most glorified in me? Am I really satisfied in God? This world makes hundreds of offers each day. Every offer seeks to bring about satisfaction or gratification.

Have you ever noticed that the commercials on TV or on the side page of Facebook are geared toward catching your interest? Have you noticed that they seek to persuade you that you need "this" thing or "that" thing to be satisfied or happy? On Facebook, they track what you post about, the pages that you like, and probably way more things than we realize. What do these things say about you and I?

The current sermon series from church is about being generous and we discussed that last night in our life group. One of the greatest indicators of what satisfies us and what our heart desires is to see where our money, time, words and deeds are spent. Jesus said "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is there will be your heart also.”

This is an assault on the views of our society and culture where we are told to look out for number one, me! We ask those having marriage troubles, “are your needs being met?” “Oh they’re not, well they don’t deserve you.” We focus on ourselves and we tell others to focus on themselves. We neglect the very words of truth that give life! Jesus didn’t give us this so that we would live a less fulfilled life, he gave us this because he wants us to live the most satisfied life we can. His life is the example we all should follow. He gave up his seat at the right hand of God, his kingdom, his power, and humbled himself to become like us. He lived the life we could not live (sinless) and exchanged it for our extremely sinful life.

One beautiful picture of this is of a father or mother teaching their child not to do something because it will hurt them but showing them the right way to use something. “Don’t touch the fire, it will burn you”…”use the fire this way and it is good and beneficial to you”. Such are the commands of our heavenly Father. This brings into question our belief in Him and what He has told us in His Word. As we approach Christmas and begin to get gifts and give gifts, let us remember not to store up treasures here on earth but to store up treasures in heaven. The encouragement that Jesus gave is not to deter us from giving or receiving but to give with eternal purposes in mind. If we give a shirt as a gift, it will eventually rip or tear, our shoes will wear thin, and even our earthly lives will end.

The time we have on earth can be fulfilling when we find our satisfaction in God alone. The beauty is that God’s commands and instruction bring about fulfillment in us. Marriage for God’s glory is immensely fulfilling. Marriage for your own satisfaction will crumble. Raising children for God’s glory is fulfilling (not easy), raising children for your own glory is destructive. A personal faith is fulfilling for a time but a personal faith that is shared brings immense pleasure and deeper knowledge of God. Jesus did not come to build a material kingdom he came to build a kingdom of people. He commanded us to go and make disciples not as a duty but as a joy. May we look to His Spirit, which is in us to lead and guide us. We cannot do this in our own strength, which is why he gave us the promise that ALL authority in heaven and earth has been given to him. Let us seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

Why Rest?

 

Why Rest?

Over committed, under energized, and internally exhausted!?  As many of you read this your thinking, “Yea, that’s me, but hey, I’m ok!” My prayer in sharing this devotion is that you realize that you are not ok.  No one is when we hit this place.  And for the believer, we know, our Father demands rest, not as a burden, but as a necessity to a full life in Christ. 

Woe to us America, a nation know for days full of go, go, do, do, and everyone be “busy busy” because that’s the norm now.  Daily, we are going to work, working too much at work, thinking about work while not at work, working while not working, taking children here and there, meetings all day just to have another meeting(ya’ll all know what this means!!), planning meals, cooking meals, or not cooking meals and choosing to just going to eat out, so on and so on. 

Then there is the new and improved “social network”, Facebook, twitter, LinkedIN, many others, and I’m sure we will see “the Latest” come out tomorrow.  Oh yea, let’s not forget “There’s an app for that…”, or if you cant find the information just “Google” it!  Life and busyness not only surrounding us, but if we want to, only a click of a button away!

Unfortunately, our world is now functioning off of these things, verses using them as assets or plusses when needed.  Busyness in the year 2012 comes with a whole new meaning.  So much so, that you can be so consumed in it, that you are deceiving yourself that your not busy.  That’s just plain vanity! And all this said with understanding, these things in themselves are not “bad” and if anything “good”, but too much of a good thing is not so good!

We can all confess that we are caught up in this a lot, whether by choice, survival, or just mere addiction.  And if we are really honest with ourselves we have become so addicted and deceived that we 

1. Cannot say “no”, and are absorbed and taken away from real relationships around us...

2. We like it so much that we use it as an excuse to avoid priorities in our life, like taking care of our own bodies, and others whom we love, or...

3. Without busyness we lose our sense of identity and purpose, and are scared to death of “not” having something to do.  We let busyness become what make us or breaks us, and use it to keep our status, or to avoid our true status, overcommitted, under energized, and internally exhausted!

Many times throughout the day, I find myself interacting with the community.  I love to engage with others and find out how they are doing.  “How are you!?” I will ask, “Busy!” I get as a reply, accompanied with a sigh, which I can’t tell means something like, “I’m so glad I’m busy”, or “I’m so tired of being busy!”.  It’s almost an ire paradox!  One that I myself have said to others on certain days. 

There is a battle that goes on within all of us as we think, “Well, being busy is good isn’t it? But why am I so tired of it? And why do I keep pursuing it!?”  A battle that we have MUST bring balance to!

Now, all of us can agree, there are seasons of life where being busy is necessary, because the duties and necessities of life all come at the same time.  Sometimes it is work requirements, other times family situations that require more of your time, and the all famous situation, both issues at the same time!  So, truth be told, we all experience life busyness, and it is just how the cookie crumbles.

So, hear me as I address the seasons in between, and honestly, the times where we are all shooting our own selves in the foot with toiling, vanity, mindless activities, and senseless work that really, in the end, has no benefit, and if anything is killing relationships and Jesus’ gracious offer of life to the full. 

Believer, is this really how God created us? Despite the fact he had to save us from our sinfulness and is continuing to reconcile sinners to himself, is this really the life He desired for us to experience?  So much busyness that we don’t know if we are coming or going, what we have or haven’t done, and so lost in our own selves that we have no sense of what’s going on? 

Did our God, maker of the heavens and the earth, maker of all things in 6 days, and resting on the 7^th, create us to be consumed in mindless activities?  Or as he did on the 7^th day, rest in all his work, desire for us to do the same, and take time to rest, reflect and be renewed?  Now, be reminded that our God, didn’t take the 7^th day to rest because he was tired from the other 6!  Oh no, He was simply satisfied in his work, so much so, that he rested to enjoy it, reflect on it, and declare it “holy”. 

What can we learn from this? 

-That, there are days to work and days to rest. 

-Times to take care of business, and times to reflect on your work, be renewed by time away from it, and enjoy the relationships that surround you! 

-To take time to worship the Father by rejoicing in His ways, His mercies over your ways, and His love he has poured over you. 

-To rest in the knowing that despite all your vanity and toiling, you can rest in the assurance of your salvation, and the joy of life in Jesus. 

-That despite even your mindless pursuits and restless ways you can rejoice that our Father weaves everything together for His Glory. 

-That in the rest of down time we can fill ourselves with the alive and renewing Word of God, and there we find true life, and a real, tangible way to deal with the issues of this fading world.

Each of us needs rest.  We all need time to unwind our senses, our bodies, our spirits, and to reflect on the happenings (past and present) verses what “has” to happen (future). Our future is ordered by the Lord, this we can trust in faith, by “believing of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”

Oh, how your life will take such a new meaning when you rest, reflect, and recover in the shadow of the Almighty!  A refuge of mercy, grace, and love.  No place of toil and vanity. All that is necessary is that we take time to do this, or “not to do”, however you see it! 

I pray today that you take time to rest.  If you need help, ask the Holy Spirit to help you rest.  He wants to.  Come to him all who are weary and burdened and He will give you rest, take his yoke upon you, and learn from Him, for He is gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For his yoke is easy, and his burden is light!

May you experience rest today, the way our Father designed it for you, away from the toil of this present world, and into the promise of eternal life in the next! 

Feelings or Faith

Things have been burdensome lately. One of the things that I have struggled with in my walk with the Lord has to do with feelings and faith. So often our culture focuses on how we feel about something. We use our feelings as the deciding factor on so many things from politics to our personal faith in God. Our filter on life cannot be based on how we feel because our emotions portray a distortion of what the truth is. This I know from first hand experience but also because I have observed it destroy the lives of many. What we do when we act and react to life with feelings does not just affect us, it affects those we are around. As a believer this is why we are commanded to love each other. We cannot in our own strength respond in faith, hope, and love which is why we need the Holy Spirit (Rom. 12:1-3).

I have been reading in Romans 12 and 2 John today and what they both have been speaking to is the life of a Christian and what I have noticed is how the consistent appeal is not to feelings but to faith...but faith not as we so often think but faith that has action. Consider what Paul is telling those in Romans 12:1, "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship." Does he take them first to how they feel? No, he takes them to the character of God, "the mercies of God". Then he takes them to how to respond to this truth...sacrifice as worship.

In 1 John 5:1-3, we find John going to belief in Jesus and love of God the Father as an evidence of being a child of God. John continues in describing our knowledge of God by actions of love, "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome." He also gives us the promise that God's commands are not burdensome. Isn't this the opposite of what we think? This plays itself out in our lives in so many ways. How often do we despair because things aren't going the way we feel that they should? Don't we find ourselves complaining and whining about our circumstances? I know that I do and I have to repent of that sin in my life. But the glorious joy we can have is that Jesus paid for those sins and even more powerful that he overcame them when he rose from the dead! Thank the Lord for his overwhelming grace and his Spirit that we can call to when we need wisdom and strength (when I am weak, he is strong).
I've been going through what seems like a relentless cycle of the need to feel independent...that I can do things in my own strength and in my own understanding. That is a recipe for disaster (lean not on your own understanding). When I operate on my own I am alienating the body of Christ and even the Holy Spirit. God has given us the Church as a way to encourage and strengthen us. Many see the Church in an unhealthy way, and I have been there but by God's grace and the Spirit's work, I am seeing the beauty of the brokenness in the body of Christ. When we are commanded to offer our bodies as living sacrifices, we aren't left with a vague picture of what that looks like, we are left with a clear picture. Listen to Paul's words:
"Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."

May the Lord continue to grow in us a faith that is sure and founded upon His Word. May we be obedient to what he commands and not fall prey to our feelings. When we do fall, may we repent. Most of all, let us glorify God in our love for him and our love for others.

It's been a while...

Sorry for the lapse in posts. Life has been a bit hectic...God has been good and faithful. We are sending Mandi to the Dominican Republic tomorrow! She will be meeting with our friends and family there and seeing first hand and participating in a training camp for Meeting God in Baseball. This will be the first time that either of us will have worked directly with this ministry which is a huge step for us as we are now raising our support under Meeting God in Baseball as they are our 501 C 3 and financial accountability.

Some other fun things that have taken place...

 We had a few neighborhood children and friends come over and eat some chili and smores!

As our heart for the Dominican grows, it is awesome to be able to use the things that the Lord has blessed us with to reach our neighbors with the Gospel by building relationships with them. One of the families we met this past weekend is from Israel and the family is Muslim. I'm not sure how devout they are but how awesome that the Lord has put us in the same neighborhood! Please be praying for Sana and Sammy as we have opportunity to share Jesus with them. Also, pray for these sweet little girls and their mother.

Mandi and I had the opportunity to share with Collide Ministries last night on "repentance". It was a wonderful time of teaching for us and we pray that we communicated the importance and essence of what repentance is. The Lord has been such a great foundation for our marriage and it has been amazing to see what He has done in our short time so far. We pray that He continues to lead and guide us and to use us for the furtherance of sharing Christ to the world.

Updates on finances: As of today, we are around 35% of our monthly support...65% more to go! We would ask that you pray for us and help us in any way possible. We are still seeking out monthly supporters. If you know of others who would be interested in helping us with proclaiming Christ through baseball and equipping pastors and church leaders in the Dominican Republic then please contact us. We are excited about the future and the opportunities that will open up. There is a vision to branch out into other countries while using baseball and BILD teachings.

Please contact us with any opportunities to share regarding our plans for ministry in the Dominican Republic. We would love to meet with our friends, family, and churches to see how we can partner together in taking the Gospel to the Dominican Republic and to our own cities.

Pure Religion...

The greatest problem we face today in the philosophy of man is that man thinks he is innately good. That man in and of himself can determine what is good, loving, and true. The atheist claims that ALL religion is bad yet they are wrong. Man is bad and if man creates religion then it will be bad. Yet if God has created one true religion then it has to be good because God is good and in him there is no evil. James1:26 speaks of the man who “thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.” James continues on with this by describing what is true religion.

As I was thinking about the view of humanity in our society and how we view man’s opinion as the ultimately reality of truth, I was reminded of how sexual immorality is being promoted by our society. The greatest place I see this is in how homosexuality is now being accepted and even pushed through various media. Last night the NBC Olympics coverage even had a segment on a diver who was apparently homosexual. It reminds me of the ever growing battle for the sanctity of the Church, the holiness of God’s people and the call for us to be separated from the world. As I searched for some deeper clarification on what “sexual immorality” is, I came upon Matthew Henry’s commentary on 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 where he says the following:

“Our bodies have been redeemed from deserved condemnation and hopeless slavery by the atoning sacrifice of Christ. We are to be clean, as vessels fitted for our Master's use. Being united to Christ as one spirit, and bought with a price of unspeakable value, the believer should consider himself as wholly the Lord's, by the strongest ties. May we make it our business, to the latest day and hour of our lives, to glorify God with our bodies, and with our spirits which are his.”

It ties in with James and his exhortation to “keep oneself unstained from the world”…this is part of the fulfillment of what James says that God views as pure religion. The other part is in regards to taking care of the widows and orphans. It seems like many people today like to focus on the part about taking care of widows and orphans but often neglecting the part regarding sanctification. I like how John Piper defines sanctification, "progressively becoming like Jesus. Gradually becoming like Jesus, or becoming holy. Becoming conformed to the image of Christ." So, as we are doers of the word and not hearers only, let us be transformed by the renewal of our minds. Let us look to the needs of the widows and the orphans...the least, the last, and the lost. But let us also keep in step with the Spirit so that we can progressively, gradually become more like Christ.

Chapter 3: Cold hands...but NO cold feet!

 

Chapter 3:  Cold hands…but no Cold Feet! (Mandi’s perspective)

A Little Park right on the water is cute and all, unless it is about 50 degrees and windy, then, it’s just another place you don’t go! 

Well, there we were, parked with no one around, and Jeremy says, “Let’s go for a walk!”  All the while, knowing, that I hate being cold, and it’s the last thing I want to do on a relaxing Friday adventure! 

Walking so close we could have been Siamese twins, and shaking because of the chill factor, it wasn’t long before Jeremy turns me into himself, pops the ring out and says “Will you marryyy-yyy meee??”  

“Yesss!” I chattered back as I know that my lips were at that point, purple! (Go Pirates, Arghhh!) 

“We’re engaged” hit the text messages, phone calls, and Facebook real quick, and before long we found ourselves in the midst of planning a wedding. 

“A wedding!!?!? AHH!!”  That one season of life where you get real close to your family, as you prepare to break away, and as scripture tells us, originating in Genesis, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall become united and cleave to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” 

 We are thankful to our family, who along this whole journey has supported us %100 percent in our ventures, jobs, decisions, and failures. 

They have lavished us with unconditional love just as our Heavenly Father does.  Our family to this day continues to be the ones we can trust, depend on, and always call for help.

Dad, I guess I STILL do that everyday, don’t I?!  Thank you for always teaching me by example how to do for others, sacrificing whatever it takes to “fix” whatever is broken. 

Moma, I do the same to you too, but my greatest joy comes from our conversations about the Lord we have now more than ever!  What a blessing and joy to be able to truly have this foundation in our lives. 

Bob and Tandy, thank you for letting me spend the rest of my life here on earth with your humble, God fearing, loving, compassionate, goofy son!

We are thankful for our friends, who walked through these days with us as an intimate support system, praying for us and giving wisdom as the first day to the rest of our lives drew near. 

Jenny, I am thankful for you, as my sister in Christ.  Over the years you have been that woman in my life who will ask me (and I to you) point blank, “How’s your heart?” and ready to discuss for hours sometimes truth; transparent, ugly, beautiful, truth. 

A woman who for 31 days before my wedding prayed through Proverbs 31 with me, as God help me understand it was only the Holy Spirit and his work within me that would teach me to be the godly submissive wife to Jeremy.  

May 2011 provided an opportunity for Jeremy and I to have our first experience together in the DR.  A trip of Jeremy coming to see and meet what I can call a second home, and second family to say the least.  These days were special, and as we prepared to go and serve together there it was over a time of prayer with His family, that the Lord humbled us together, to love and serve those in desperate poverty. 

In the midst of job changes from a semi-professional baseball team, which the Lord used to open doors into scouting, equipment, and connections for the boys in the DR, to involvement into the organization familiarly know as The Salvation Army, I begin to see in full effect, how God’s grace was really being poured out over our lives.  How His sovereign and perfect will heals, protects, guides, and sanctifies us along the way. 

Captains, thanks for hiring me to be apart of the Mission of God, and living into the call of Jesus on our lives, in true sacrifice through your lives. “And if you pour out that with which you sustain your own life for the hungry and satisfy the need of the afflicted…” Isaiah 58:10

September 2011 came and we found ourselves preparing for a New Family Store grand opening, and wedding on consecutive weekends.  A whirlwind to say the least, but surely one of the sweetest and most memorable time of our lives. 

Plans were set, pastor Marcos flown in, and the wedding party began their march down the aisle, towards the groom and preparing the way of the bride.  Vows were shared and we committed ourselves to our Savior, then to each other, a time of worship and adoration through communion, closing the celebration with a song that says it all to well, “So good, so soo good to me, Jesus!”

Game time at the reception included the wedding party dancing down together to Jock Jams! Jams, pump it up!!  Ohh how appropriate for the lineup at hand!  Ladies and gentleman, thank you all for sharing in this special day, the sacrifice made, and the joy it is to have you in our lives!  And to all who stayed to dance, bless you!

We dance, to the cupid shuffle, of course.  We sang, we laughed, hugged, cried, almost forgot to sign our marriage license, then, well, let the “married games” begin!(wink, wink)

Our Story Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Full Speed Ahead! (Jeremy’s perspective)

After the “official” conversation had taken place, we embarked upon a journey over the next four months to engagement. I’m not so sure either of us imagined that we would be engaged on March 25, 2011 but that’s what happened.

Through those 4 months we grew to understand each other and spend time playing tennis, watching movies, going to church, having coffee, watching sports, and simply enjoying each other in conversation. We found our pasts were very different yet very much what has made us who we are and where we are in our relationship with Jesus. The greatest conversations centered on the grace we have experienced through God in giving His Son.

These four months were a wonderful time filled with getting to know each other and getting our families to meet! That was really exciting because we all come from different backgrounds and that always makes for a good time. We had our “first” Christmas and that just so happened to be the first time we told each other “I love you.” The next day we had 11 inches of snow on the ground!

Mandi left for the Dominican Republic and was there during New Year’s Day. It was one of her many trips that she had been on through the years and her last one without me! January and February sped by with us talking about marriage and ministry and being missionaries in another country…wanting to give up our comfortable lives to know God deeper and to take the Gospel to people who need to hear it.

During this time I was training for my first running race, which just happened to be a half marathon. I had gotten talked into it by my friend Ben from church and the date was set for March 20^th…5 days before our engagement. Mandi and our friend Moth supported me in the race but had trouble keeping up with me because I was chugging full speed during the race. Moth has been a great friend first to Mandi and now to us…she’s been a piece of our story as all good friends are.  ( I love my mothy! -Mandi)

Here I am, finishing my race and planning to pop the question soon after. Mandi and I love sunsets and that was one thing that we shared with each other through pictures and texts during those few months…so my plan was sunset at the beach. The only problem is that a storm came up and was going to be a miserable day on that Saturday so I had to improvise…Friday night was going to be the night! The plan was New Bern and the place was a little park right on the water.

Our Story Chapter 1

Without boring you into a whirlwind of “This is a story of a guy and a girl…who fell in love…yada yada yada…”  Let me just start with Chapter 1:

Chapter 1:  Blind Dates…Oh no! (Mandi’s perspective)

Yes, it all started with a blind date.  As awkward as they are, a blind date at a baseball field, without really realizing it was a blind date. “He’s here!?” says the coach of a team I was doing lessons with.

“Jesus has returned!?” my first hearts desire and wonder as I pondered what in the world he is talking about. 

“Who’s here?” I asked back dazed and confused.  “Jeremy, you know, our neighbor we were telling you about.” 

Oh, how the Lord knows I sure love surprises, and humoring in this way, he sure did bring a curve ball on this one.

“Oh yea, Jeremy” I replied with a confident hesitancy, thinking, “Here we go…another disaster ready to go down!” 

Walking towards him, I noticed his pale skin and long monkey arms, cute baby face, and humbled stance.  As I reflect on this, I am telling on the full scan that women run through in about 1.8 seconds, or really just the time between one blink and another.

After and awkward handshake, and invite into the lesson, we spent sectioned out times, talking about you know the basics, surfacey information that I honestly don’t remember now, but just enough to realize, “Hey, I could talk to him some more, especially about Jesus.” 

Phone numbers exchanged, were lost, and exchanged again.  The conversations here and there.  Phone conversations.  Late night dates at Chick-Fil-A, trying to talk over one another as the lady mopped the floors! Friendly conversations completely centered on common interest, pet peeves, silly jokes, and of course our understanding of Jesus, the bible, authors and pastors we are a follower of, and other random things.  Walls were high, emotions low, and transparency beginning to develop. 

Weeks past, and Jeremy found himself at the Homeless shelter helping me move a someone’s stuff from the storage unit and to his own home. I figured “If this one is legit, then he’s gonna have to serve with me!!”

“Just down the road.” the guy tells us, turned into a 30 min ride into the middle of no where, down a dirt path, through metal gates, and to a trailer hidden in the back of the woods.  Whew, I could only imagine what he was thinking as we drove and drove and drove, and it got darker and darker and darker. 

Well, this left room, for a long, and awkward “Do you want to be official” conversation, and the beginning of the rest of our lives together! 

Grace

I started reading a book by D.L. Moody entitled "Sovereign Grace". In this book, Moody seeks to draw out the great emphasis of grace as a free gift from God. There are many good quotes so far but here are a few that have stuck out to me the most.
"Thousands have been kept out of the kingdom of God because they do not realize what this free gift is. They think they must do something to merit salvation."

"The thief would have continued breathing out his blasphemies, had not grace arrested his tongue and tuned t for glory."

"My friend, we would have been this day wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness-Christless-hopeless-portionless-had not grace invited us, and grace constrained us."

"When the church and the world wake up to the fact that works before salvation go for nought, then-and not till then, I believe-men will come flocking into the kingdom of God by hundreds. We work from the cross, not to it. We work because we are saved, not in order to be saved. We work from salvation, no up to it. Salvation is the gift of God."

"God works in us; and then we work for Him. If He has done a work in us, we certainly ought to go and work for others. A man must have this salvation, and must know it, before he can work for the salvation of others."

"The religion of Christ is not man working his way up to God; it is God coming down to man. It is Christ coming down to the pit of sin and woe where we are, bringing us out of the pit, putting our feet upon a rock, and a new song in our mouth."

"If we look at salvation as a new life, it must be the work of God. God is the author of life: you cannot give yourself life. If we consider it as a gift, it must come from one outside of ourselves."

"Salvation is freely offered to all, but the trouble is that men do not believe God's Word, and do not accept the gift."

Going Going Gone!

Check out our video from previous trips to La Romana. This will give you an idea of what it is that we are working on in regards to baseball. There are also some pictures with regards to our friends Marcos and Candace. Marcos and Candace are good friends and are already living in the Dominican. Going Going Gone!

Holiness and Redemption: God’s Choice, Man’s Response

Today God has been teaching me about the holiness and redemption of God, in a way that I have never understood before.

In redemption we see God sending Jesus to save us “from” our sin, but we must remember he saved us “unto” Himself.  Meaning, it wasn’t just a “get out of hell” free card, but more of a “hiring” into the pursuit of holiness that God is, has, and desires for us to be completed in.

It’s important to understand that as Jesus saved us from hell, he redeemed us back towards heaven.  So, in this we accept grace, unmerited favor and choice, that God so loved us that He chose us, FOR the purpose of being made perfect and whole before him on that day when Jesus returns.

Here we have truth: that God in his sovereign will and love, chose and redeemed us.  The key is our response and engagement in this truth.  If we don’t recognize, acknowledge, and respond to this truth, the truth has no power in our lives.  Now, that doesn’t make the truth less powerful, it just personally has no affect on the person.

Andrew Murray says it this way in his book “The Path to Holiness” page 44 “God has made us His own, and allows us to say that we are His, but He waits for us to yield to him and enlarged entrance into the secret place of our inner being so that He can fill us with His fullness.  Holiness is not something we bring to God or do for Him.  Holiness is what there is of God in us.  God made us His own in redemption that He might make himself our own in sanctification.  Our work in becoming holy is the bringing our whole life, every part of it, into subjection to the rule of our holy God, putting every member and every power upon His alter.”

He later goes into talking about truth and recognizing it subjectively.  “What God sanctifies is holy with a divine and perfect holiness as His gift.  Man has to sanctify himself by acknowledging this and then maintaining and carrying out that holiness in relation to all his life before God and man.  God sanctified the Sabbath day.  Man has to sanctify it by keeping it holy.  God sanctified the firstborn of His own; Israel had sanctify them by giving them over to God.  God is holy. We are to sanctify Him by acknowledging and adorning and honoring that holiness.  God has sanctified His great name; His name is Holy.  We sanctify or hallow that name as we fear and trust and use it as the revelation of His Holiness”

So, here we read words of man’s response to God’s holiness: “Yield to him”, “the secret places of our inner being”, “bringing our whole life, every part of it, INTO SUBJECTION to the rule of our holy God; putting every member upon his alter”, “acknowledging this”, “maintaining”, “carrying out that holiness IN RELATION to all his life before God and man.” "Man has to sanctify it by keeping it holy." and so on...

It is only with the help from the Holy Spirit that we can “respond” and fully live into holiness.  As much as it is our own pursuits and responsibilities, the Holy Spirit gives us the wisdom, knowledge, discipline and will to surrender our lives before the holiness of God.  Recognizing and adoring Gods full holiness is key to responding.

If we really don’t believe in faith God in His full truth and holiness, nothing else really holds power in our lives.

Let us pray that we will pursue with joy, obedience and discipline the Holy Spirit as it teaches us the pure and true Holiness of God.  In this, let us respond to our redemption in Jesus, with a subjective right view of God and his desire to acknowledge him as Holy One.  In our responsibility and putting off of all areas of our lives to His control, we become sanctified before Him, which is what our whole redemption story is all about, and what God meant for His people in the redemption of them to Himself through His son Jesus!

May our prayers be of “humble adoration….hungry for wisdom and truth, praying for complete surrender of all areas of our life.  To desire to be refined in our inner souls, made whole and prepared as the bride awaits the groom.  A mere desire to be righteous and holy, redeemed and new.  Amen.” 

Warming Up

Last night was our first speaking opportunity to share about our vision and plan to move to the Dominican Republic. Many times we overlook the divine hand of God in our lives and I believe that is because we rarely look for it. But when we are on a specific mission or are relying totally on the Lord, we see him move in "mysterious ways." God's sovereign hand guided us to meet our friend Paula in the parking lot after our coed softball game, paving the way for the opportunity to speak last night. It was a night that one of our friends had some baseball equipment to give for us to take down to La Romana...that opened up the conversation with Paula. Paula and Mandi worked out the details for us to go share but we had to move the original date to last night.

It was such a pleasure to share with our new, kind, and gracious friends who were rotary club members in the town of Ayden, NC. I'd never been to a rotary meeting before but apparently they always sing one song out of their songbook and the song "ironically" happened to be "Take Me Out to the Ballgame"...tell me God doesn't have a sense of humor or order our steps!

The more that we lay aside our plans and seek the Lord, the more he reveals himself in the minute details. There are many stories that we can share and would love to begin keeping track of those in our journey to go. I leave you with this imagery from Mark 4:35-41 of Jesus and his disciples in the boat with the storm. In this passage, the disciples begin to freak out about the storm as their lives were in danger (so they thought) and Jesus was asleep. The disciples wake him up saying, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" It's very important that we look at who they believe Jesus, it's very important who we believe Jesus is. If Jesus is just a good moral teacher then there's really nothing he can do to stop the storm. If he's a prophet, there's not much he can do. But if he is the Son of God then he can surely save them. Jesus then rebukes the wind and sea and it calmed. Jesus then questions the disciples "Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?" Was Jesus questioning their faith in his abilities or was he questioning their faith in who he was? The disciples then ask themselves "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?" That is the question today...who is this Jesus? If he is simply a good teacher then we have no need to do anything more than take his teachings as advice BUT if he is the Son of God then we must be changed by his loving commands. In fact, if we believe he is the Son of God then we will be changed and we will love him and obey him.

Preaching the Gospel with Faith

This is from a couple weeks ago and I was going to expound some on this quote but it's really sufficient in communicating a piece of faith that is often neglected. I think the thing that I would add is that often we are unsure of what to say when we share the Gospel with people but the simple fact is that we are reported Good News of real events. We are simply presenting the true story of who Jesus is and what he did and what that means for those who believe. So without further ado...
“St Paul expected his hearers to be moved. He so believed in his preaching that he knew that it was “the power of God unto salvation” [Rom. 1:16]. This expectation is a very real part of the presentation of the Gospel. It is a form of faith. A mere preaching which is not accompanied by the expectation of faith, is not a true preaching of the Gospel, because faith is a part of the Gospel. Simply to scatter the seed, with a sort of vague hope that some of it may come up somewhere, is not preaching the gospel. It is indeed a misrepresentation of the gospel. To preach the Gospel requires that the preacher should believe that he is sent to those whom he is addressing at the moment, because God has among them those whom He is at the moment calling: it requires that the speaker should expect a response.” Roland Allen

The Beginning

Many events in life are game changers. This is the beginning of one of those moments and it involves two people together on a mission. This mission is to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ to people in the Dominican Republic. The two people are Jeremy and Mandi Stewart. We have had a desire to love and to serve God through full time vocational ministry for many years now and this journey is now a reality. God has worked greatly in our lives and has shown us so much grace and we believe that our next steps in obedience to him and his word are to sell our belongings here in Greenville, North Carolina and move to La Romana, Dominican Republic.

You may be wondering what the title means but you've probably heard it while watching baseball or highlights on ESPN or even said it yourself. Mandi and I love baseball/softball and thought it was an appropriate expression for our journey. You may already know a little about Dominican baseball players such as Albert Pujols, Robinson Cano, Pedro Martinez, Juan Marichal, David Ortiz, etc. but in the Dominican, baseball is god. Our desire is to use our passion for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and baseball to impact the lives of the Dominican people. Baseball is really just an excuse to share the beautiful news that Jesus has provided reconciliation with God, that if we believe in him and repent of our sins we will truly be saved. The depths of that truth are life changing.

There's a second part to all of this...we want to go and equip believers to preach and teach God's word faithfully. So, part of that will involve training pastors on how to rightly divide the word of truth (2 Tim. 2:15). We will be working with Marcos Lykins to do this. Marcos has been a missionary for many years and in multiple countries. Working with him will be a wonderful time of mentoring for both Mandi and I. It will truly be a game changer in our lives and we hope that it will also be a game changer in the lives of our family and friends here in the United States and for our "family" and friends in the Dominican Republic.