Mexico

This past Easter Break, I traveled to San Luis Mexico, a poverty-stricken town in northwest Mexico, mere miles from the Arizona or California state border, yet immersed in the living conditions of a third world country. It was my second trip to this place, and my second stay at an orphanage overseen by Caring Hearts Ministries. The time there, as always, was refreshing. The Lord is good to His children, as evidenced in what I experienced with the church there in San Luis. Their approach to their faith is a lot different than the usual, Western/American/my approach. I believe that there lack in material things greatly influences the way they pursue their faith: whether by valuing the little they do have, or by truly seeing the power and provision of a gracious and benevolent God. There is something earnest and sincere about my brothers' faiths in San Luis - something living, and not constricted, something vibrant, and not choked, something unseen, and not commercial. It gave me hope, and it gave me encouragement. Every time I visit that place, I taste a little of that heavenly gift, I see a little more of God's Church, and I learn a little more about what it truly means to carry one's cross, to live out the gospel, and to truly follow Christ.

I could go on and on about what occurred in Mexico last week. I could tell of the criminals I worshipped with, the believers I prayed with, the children I learned from, the poverty I yearned for, the freedom that abounds with the Spirit's presence. I could tell of the Lord's blessings poured out on His people. But, alas, I am mortal, I am finite, and could never fully tell of God's grace and His provision and His blessings.

God is good, Amen and Amen, let His people find joy in Him. He has given us salvation. Let us rejoice in our rescue, let us love our Redeemer - not only with words, and gatherings, and "sharing," but with living and doing and loving other people. Let us drop our overly-infatuated lust for emotional joyrides and the individual quest for experience, and let us live as Christ's church, of one accord, and one purpose - to love God and to love others. To give glory to Christ for being our only hope and our only Savior, and to live in the grace we have received, and to pass on grace to others who come in our path. Let us sincerely devote ourselves to prayer, let us unashamedly stand for THE Truth, and let us invest ourselves, diet ourselves on God's holy and infallible Word. Let us quit the patterns of THIS world, ITS desires and pollutions, and let us fix our eyes on Christ Jesus. Let us not become distracted by what is seen, let us not focus on the minutia and irrelevance of what is fallible and faulty, what is sinful and seductive, what is worldly and wicked. Let us hold fast to our faith, and see the Lord as our life - that without Him we would truly perish. And let us not view our lives as monuments, we are but dust. Only in the hands of our Creator can we hope to be of use, can we hope to leave a mark, can we hope to change a life, and not for our own gain. For we fade, we fall, we fail. But Christ's Kingdom - yes! that which is everlasting - THIS is the end for which we labor and strive. For our King's glory, our King's Kingdom.

Oh, if only we could do this. If only I could do this. God give us strength. God give me grace!

Israel

One thing I want to do before I die is visit Israel. And by visit, I mean spend quality time there, getting to know the area where Jesus lived and where He spoke, and where He loved people. I think that would be so neat. To visit Jerusalem, and see where He spoke in the Temple, to go to Him outside the camp - literally - and to visit Bethlehem, and to see Nazareth, and Cana, and the Jordan River. To soak it all in. To meditate, to pray, to read the Word. In that area - to love people in that area. Just to experience the culture there. The same culture Jesus lived in, which, granted, has changed, but which retains a lot of the heritage that Jesus experienced. I just want to grow closer to Him.

Christmas Eve

"For to us a Child is born,
to us a Son is given,
And the government shall be on His shoulder,
and His name shall be called,
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Isaiah 9:6

"In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shown around them; and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."

Luke 2:8-11

Some Things

There are two things that I will be certain of in this life:

1) God is good, all the time.
2) God is holy, all the time.
3) God is love, all the time.


I am blessed beyond belief, and so much more than I deserve. Thanks be to God!


*Edit - by two things, I mean three things. 12.22.2007

The Immeasurable Wonders of a Holy God

"A child kicks its legs rhythmically through excess, not absence, of life. Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, "Do it again," and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony.

But perhaps God is strong enough...It is possible that God says every morning, "Do it again," to the sun; and every evening, "Do it again," to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike: it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we."

-G. K. Chesterton in Orthodoxy

Live.

i was dead and alive,
she was like wine turned to water, then turned back to wine.
you can pour us out, we won't mind.
a scratch around the mouth of the glass,
my life is no longer mine...


if they ask you for a sign of the Father,
tell them it's movement, movement, movement!

Faithfulness.

The Lord is good. He is good. He is good, He is good, He is good. He is always good. Always, He is good. God is good! God is good. Is the Lord good? Yes, He is good. He is good, all the time. All the time, He is good. God is good. The Lord is good! He is good.

He is good.