The staff have left.
Well actually they left about two weeks ago...
Thus begins a long update so please bear with me. :) Agape week was the last week I left off on and the focus was just that, God's agape (or unconditional) love for us.
In 1 John 3:19 it says;
"We love because He first loved us."
God first loved us! How incredible is that? Agape week was full of realization for me, and the message of unconditional love was definitely needed at that point in the trip. As in any long trip people tend to get frustrated or short with each other, quarrels tend to break out over little things, feelings are hurt, the focus upon God is lost because we are caught up in petty human differences (yes I'm very guilty of this).
But the importance of understanding unconditional love is that it allows us to overlook the flaws of others and to continue to live in peace with our brothers and sisters in Christ. It also helps us appreciate our brothers and sisters more. I'm sure that everyone has known, at some point in their lives, someone who was very conditionally loving; for some it has been fathers who love based upon performance, for others a friend who always hopes to gain something off time spent with you, perhaps it is a dating relationship where love is given only if you please the other.
This world is full of conditional love.
And you see that in today's media and society standards, right? On this reality show everyone is in only if it will profit them (the Bachelor/Double Shot at Love come to mind offhand), or even Paris Hilton's "My New BFF" where friendship is based upon who does the most for Paris. There are plenty of examples, but here is the difference we see in Christ...
In Mark 10:45 Jesus says;
"For even the Son of Man came not to be serve but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
That just blew my mind.
Jesus himself, though God in the flesh did not come to have people wait upon him like the Lords and royalty of the time. He had all the power of heaven with Him and yet He humbled himself, and not just humbled himself but laid down His life for the people who had wronged Him. He laid down his life!
I have a hard time many days forgiving those that I do love, much less those who I perceive to have done wrong to me (even though more often than not I am a part of the problem) and yet Jesus loved each and every one of us enough to die for us, so that we might experience eternal glory.
That is unconditional.
It is the example that all should strive to follow as well.
See the more I find out about the character of Jesus Christ the more I see what a radical guy he was, not just then, but even in today's American society.
For example Matthew 5:43-47;
“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that." (NLT)
Love your enemies? Who does that?
Christ did.
So throughout Agape week we focused on encouraging each and loving each other despite flaws we might see.
After Agape week was a week called Answering the Call.
In Mark 8:34 Jesus says;
"And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."
Throughout the week we were challenged to accept every invitation issued by fellow project members to go out and share our faith.
Throughout the week I had the privilege to see 8 new brothers accept Christ into their lives, it is really amazing how when you answer the challenge, despite how you personally feel that day, God blesses the willingness to further His Kingdom. :)
That is what Jesus meant when he said 'deny himself'.
So many Christians in this country today buy into 'vanilla ice cream Christianity', yes we believe in God, yes we may know the facts and the figures, but do we really truly follow?
Christ makes it explicitly clear in Mark that if anyone would follow him, he must deny his own selfish/complacent desires, and actually pick up his own cross.
Well what does that mean to me?
Is it stepping outside my comfort zone to share my faith with someone? Is it giving up a summer to work and chill with my friends to pursue deepening my relationship with Him? Is it giving up a dream for a future that I know will not be glorifying to Him but will only be comfortable to me?
What does picking up the cross look like to you?
This was extremely convicting to me throughout the Answer the Call week. I realized that, yes, I have given my life to Christ, but would I be willing to follow Him anywhere He might lead? Or am I just going to paste the label of 'Christian' upon myself and live a comfortable life in the United States of America, where I do not have to do anything but put my life in 'cruise control' get a typical career, settle down with a family, and not have to pursue the lost in any way shape or form.
That of course lead to another convicting realization; what are my priorities?
Is God in fact my number one priority, and through Him blessings will come? Or am I focusing on doing things in my life first, before I fully give up control?
The disciples of Christ gave up their careers and their families of the time, simply because Jesus said; 'Come and I will make you fishers of men.'
These disciples did not stop there however, each and every one of them (except for John) died a martyrs death for Him!
Hebrews 11:32-40;
"And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.
These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect."
And yet in America today Christians are too afraid to not fit in, or to be laughed at...
Really?
We are in the midst of Feeding the Faith week right now so more updates will come promptly.
I will leave you with one verse of encouragement that I have kept close to my heart this last week and a half or so.
1 Peter 4:12-16,19:
"Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.
Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good."
Hope this message finds you well and blessed!
Your Brother in Christ,
Josh
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
World Vision, Agape Week, End of Beach Week and Updates
Hey all,
Much has happened since the last post and I apologize for the gap and the lack of consistency with the update. Let me start with our World Vision week.
World Vision week came hard on the heels of Unity (All for One) week. The focus was obviously upon missions and the desperate need of many countries to hear the gospel of Christ.
In Luke chapter 10 it says;
"After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves."
To illustrate this we had what is called an "International Dinner".
The project was divided up into different groups and everyone met at the church's gym for the dinner.
I happened to be a part of China's group and so beforehand our group met and went over the ground rules.
We were to speak in whispers
If people from other countries came to China
we could only talk if they initiated conversations
(and we could only answer in 5 words or less).
We could not leave the "country" or area we were sitting
until we had been given solid food (in this case the food was chicken).
After the rules had been made plain to us we went to the location for dinner. There was an area for the Chinese group comprised of a couple blankets on the floor surrounded by folding chairs that formed a perimeter. We all started filtering in to our area and it soon became clear that this space was going to be very cramped. And it was.
There were about 20 of us jammed into a small space. We couldn't really see over the chairs so we really had no idea of what was going on in the outside world.
We were fed rice and water...and that was it.
Oh, and anything that had crosses on it was taken from us. That's right, our cross necklaces, bibles and such were taken. and if we happened to be wearing a shirt that sported one we were told to turn it inside out.
The other "countries" trickled in and went to their respective areas, but the icing on the cake was when America arrived. They were announced with flourish and grandeur and were seated at a table atop the stage that was set up in the gym. They were served incredible dishes, and by served I mean waited on hand and foot. Their drinks were barely 3/4 of the way gone before there was a fresh refill, their plates of hot chicken never emptied.
Other nations looked like they were having an alright time, but I know me and my fellow Chinese were a bit ticked off about the situation we were in as opposed to the lucky Americans.
After awhile other project members started to move about the gym to see what the other countries were up to. Well, all except for our Chinese group. A couple were let out at a time and only for reasons that the "government" approved.
The experience continued for about an hour and a half and I must confess I was getting a bit ticked off by the whole situation. I was cramped, and hungry for real food, and tired of sitting on the ground.
However at the end of the dinner we were all called together for a debrief and given pizza.
As our stomachs were being filled up the illustration was explained by the staff to us.
The chicken in the dinner represented the gospel, and people were only freed from their countries after hearing the gospel (after which they were sent to share with other people). Hence the rule stating we couldn't leave until we were given chicken.
Romans 10:12-15 states;
For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"
America is blessed in all sorts of ways. We live in a free nation of plenty, never knowing want or desperation (or at least not nearly on the scale of many of the world's countries). We have the freedom to share our faith without restriction.
And yet we are comfortable. We hesitate to go forth and share the gospel with other nations. It took the Americans maybe a half hour- 45 minutes to leave the country and to go and share what they had with others.
Put that on a life scale and you will find that American Christians who are comfortable are very afraid of leaving our country. How long will it take us to reach out to the world?
The Chinese on the other hand were persecuted. The government continually tried to suppress our identification with Christ, they would take away any piece of the gospel being passed around and punish those who were found with it.
Similar to the situation in modern China today.
The government is the face of this country, but the people have no voice. The Chinese church is persecuted, yet it grows. By about 2010 however China will be the leading, though unofficial, Christian nation in the world.
We also found out after the dinner that there was a group of about 30 project members who were not even in the gym for the event but rather in the hot stifling attic of the SHAK (our meeting place).
This group represented the lost of the world. They couldn't eat, they couldn't talk, and they couldn't be freed until they had been found. You would think that thirty project members missing from the dinner would have caused concern, but this group was not found until about an hour and a half into the exercise.
The reality is that this world is full of people who have yet to hear the good news of the Kingdom of God and it is our duty as disciples of Christ to find them.
For this I'll echo Romans again:
"Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15And how can they preach unless they are sent?
The seriousness of this reality really moved in many project members' hearts that night including mine. I could not picture living this life and never hearing this good news; that there is a God and that He loves us and will never let us down, even though this world will do so all the time.
Now we have started Agape week and for those that do not know, what Agape refers to is unconditional love. In this case God's unconditional love for us as humans. It is who He is, it is His essence.
But more on Agape week later.
As you read this next bit I would ask that you take this to heart and pray for our Project and the safety of its members in the next 5 weeks.
The first 5 weeks of this Project have seen the initiation, duration and the end of what is referred to as "beach week" in North Myrtle. Essentially what beach week is is week after week of freshly graduated seniors driving down to North Myrtle to spend a week on the beach partying and living for whatever pleases them.
As I mentioned in an earlier blog this often ends up in vandalism, drug use, rampant sex and in some cases rape of young women among other things...
Our complex is located right in the middle of the party area, and that is not an accident. Christ Himself said that:
"It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." -Mark 2:17
And so often once again Christians in this country find themselves locked in the comfort zone of their church bubble.
In the last two weeks we have seen a fight pretty much every night. In one instance a car of four guys pulled up and started beating on an intoxicated student. They all had brass knuckles and even though he couldn't defend himself and passed out they continued to beat him until the sirens sounded close then hopped in their car and drove off leaving this student with a broken jaw lying unconscious on the ground.
This happened a house down from us.
One of our project members was on the phone with some family the other night by himself and was assailed and mugged by drunken partiers right on the back lot of our property.
A knife/tazer/ club brawl between several guys almost broke out about two weeks ago fortunately the police were right on top of it resulting in a massive scatter of 50 students that had gathered to watch.
And most recently tonight our next door neighbors left abruptly because the girls in the house had woken up to guys punching through their windows and threatening them with a gun. And even as I sit here on our porch the police continue to send patrols up and down our block.
These are some of the examples of the ugliness of life that these high schoolers experience when they come down here looking for the "best week of their lives". This is where the gospel is needed most.
Many of these students have not heard. They really feel that there is no reason to live other than just pure experience. They have no conscience about doing these things because they have not been given a reason to. We live in a society that promotes living your life the way you want. "Live for the here and now. No regrets. No consequences." Well the reality is that there are consequences.
You can choose to get wasted every night and deal with the consequence of a run in with the police, or impregnating a girl you've never met (or getting pregnant for the ladies) or even something as simple as waking up with a hangover and letting that steal half a day or more from you.
You can choose to have sex with anyone you want...but you'd better believe that it only takes one time to receive an STD.
You can choose to conform to society's expectations and "live it up" and end up dealing with the consequence of realizing that you are empty and broken because of it in the end.
Everything has a consequence.
Down here many students have been faced with the choice of choosing a life lived for Christ or a life lived for the world.
And the choice to turn away has a consequence too.
This is not saying that this is the only chance they will ever have to receive Christ into their lives. Fortunately for me, my God doesn't give up. He continually pursues us, but ultimately in the end the choice is ours.
Kind of a random tangent to go on but I felt the need to reflect.
On a more uplifting note:
God's faithfulness has spoken volumes to me lately.
He has answered the prayer for my support to be raised, providing all $1,450 two full days before the deadline.
He has shown his faithfulness in empowering this project to witness to the hundreds of students that have been down there for we have seen more than 50 students trust their lives to Christ and over 2,500 more have been able to hear the gospel.
Praise Him!
I would like to leave you with two verses of encouragement for this update.
First is 1 Corinthians 1:26-31
"Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."
and 2 Corinthians 4:5-6
"For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ."
Most humbly in Him,
Josh
Much has happened since the last post and I apologize for the gap and the lack of consistency with the update. Let me start with our World Vision week.
World Vision week came hard on the heels of Unity (All for One) week. The focus was obviously upon missions and the desperate need of many countries to hear the gospel of Christ.
In Luke chapter 10 it says;
"After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves."
To illustrate this we had what is called an "International Dinner".
The project was divided up into different groups and everyone met at the church's gym for the dinner.
I happened to be a part of China's group and so beforehand our group met and went over the ground rules.
We were to speak in whispers
If people from other countries came to China
we could only talk if they initiated conversations
(and we could only answer in 5 words or less).
We could not leave the "country" or area we were sitting
until we had been given solid food (in this case the food was chicken).
After the rules had been made plain to us we went to the location for dinner. There was an area for the Chinese group comprised of a couple blankets on the floor surrounded by folding chairs that formed a perimeter. We all started filtering in to our area and it soon became clear that this space was going to be very cramped. And it was.
There were about 20 of us jammed into a small space. We couldn't really see over the chairs so we really had no idea of what was going on in the outside world.
We were fed rice and water...and that was it.
Oh, and anything that had crosses on it was taken from us. That's right, our cross necklaces, bibles and such were taken. and if we happened to be wearing a shirt that sported one we were told to turn it inside out.
The other "countries" trickled in and went to their respective areas, but the icing on the cake was when America arrived. They were announced with flourish and grandeur and were seated at a table atop the stage that was set up in the gym. They were served incredible dishes, and by served I mean waited on hand and foot. Their drinks were barely 3/4 of the way gone before there was a fresh refill, their plates of hot chicken never emptied.
Other nations looked like they were having an alright time, but I know me and my fellow Chinese were a bit ticked off about the situation we were in as opposed to the lucky Americans.
After awhile other project members started to move about the gym to see what the other countries were up to. Well, all except for our Chinese group. A couple were let out at a time and only for reasons that the "government" approved.
The experience continued for about an hour and a half and I must confess I was getting a bit ticked off by the whole situation. I was cramped, and hungry for real food, and tired of sitting on the ground.
However at the end of the dinner we were all called together for a debrief and given pizza.
As our stomachs were being filled up the illustration was explained by the staff to us.
The chicken in the dinner represented the gospel, and people were only freed from their countries after hearing the gospel (after which they were sent to share with other people). Hence the rule stating we couldn't leave until we were given chicken.
Romans 10:12-15 states;
For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"
America is blessed in all sorts of ways. We live in a free nation of plenty, never knowing want or desperation (or at least not nearly on the scale of many of the world's countries). We have the freedom to share our faith without restriction.
And yet we are comfortable. We hesitate to go forth and share the gospel with other nations. It took the Americans maybe a half hour- 45 minutes to leave the country and to go and share what they had with others.
Put that on a life scale and you will find that American Christians who are comfortable are very afraid of leaving our country. How long will it take us to reach out to the world?
The Chinese on the other hand were persecuted. The government continually tried to suppress our identification with Christ, they would take away any piece of the gospel being passed around and punish those who were found with it.
Similar to the situation in modern China today.
The government is the face of this country, but the people have no voice. The Chinese church is persecuted, yet it grows. By about 2010 however China will be the leading, though unofficial, Christian nation in the world.
We also found out after the dinner that there was a group of about 30 project members who were not even in the gym for the event but rather in the hot stifling attic of the SHAK (our meeting place).
This group represented the lost of the world. They couldn't eat, they couldn't talk, and they couldn't be freed until they had been found. You would think that thirty project members missing from the dinner would have caused concern, but this group was not found until about an hour and a half into the exercise.
The reality is that this world is full of people who have yet to hear the good news of the Kingdom of God and it is our duty as disciples of Christ to find them.
For this I'll echo Romans again:
"Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15And how can they preach unless they are sent?
The seriousness of this reality really moved in many project members' hearts that night including mine. I could not picture living this life and never hearing this good news; that there is a God and that He loves us and will never let us down, even though this world will do so all the time.
Now we have started Agape week and for those that do not know, what Agape refers to is unconditional love. In this case God's unconditional love for us as humans. It is who He is, it is His essence.
But more on Agape week later.
As you read this next bit I would ask that you take this to heart and pray for our Project and the safety of its members in the next 5 weeks.
The first 5 weeks of this Project have seen the initiation, duration and the end of what is referred to as "beach week" in North Myrtle. Essentially what beach week is is week after week of freshly graduated seniors driving down to North Myrtle to spend a week on the beach partying and living for whatever pleases them.
As I mentioned in an earlier blog this often ends up in vandalism, drug use, rampant sex and in some cases rape of young women among other things...
Our complex is located right in the middle of the party area, and that is not an accident. Christ Himself said that:
"It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." -Mark 2:17
And so often once again Christians in this country find themselves locked in the comfort zone of their church bubble.
In the last two weeks we have seen a fight pretty much every night. In one instance a car of four guys pulled up and started beating on an intoxicated student. They all had brass knuckles and even though he couldn't defend himself and passed out they continued to beat him until the sirens sounded close then hopped in their car and drove off leaving this student with a broken jaw lying unconscious on the ground.
This happened a house down from us.
One of our project members was on the phone with some family the other night by himself and was assailed and mugged by drunken partiers right on the back lot of our property.
A knife/tazer/ club brawl between several guys almost broke out about two weeks ago fortunately the police were right on top of it resulting in a massive scatter of 50 students that had gathered to watch.
And most recently tonight our next door neighbors left abruptly because the girls in the house had woken up to guys punching through their windows and threatening them with a gun. And even as I sit here on our porch the police continue to send patrols up and down our block.
These are some of the examples of the ugliness of life that these high schoolers experience when they come down here looking for the "best week of their lives". This is where the gospel is needed most.
Many of these students have not heard. They really feel that there is no reason to live other than just pure experience. They have no conscience about doing these things because they have not been given a reason to. We live in a society that promotes living your life the way you want. "Live for the here and now. No regrets. No consequences." Well the reality is that there are consequences.
You can choose to get wasted every night and deal with the consequence of a run in with the police, or impregnating a girl you've never met (or getting pregnant for the ladies) or even something as simple as waking up with a hangover and letting that steal half a day or more from you.
You can choose to have sex with anyone you want...but you'd better believe that it only takes one time to receive an STD.
You can choose to conform to society's expectations and "live it up" and end up dealing with the consequence of realizing that you are empty and broken because of it in the end.
Everything has a consequence.
Down here many students have been faced with the choice of choosing a life lived for Christ or a life lived for the world.
And the choice to turn away has a consequence too.
This is not saying that this is the only chance they will ever have to receive Christ into their lives. Fortunately for me, my God doesn't give up. He continually pursues us, but ultimately in the end the choice is ours.
Kind of a random tangent to go on but I felt the need to reflect.
On a more uplifting note:
God's faithfulness has spoken volumes to me lately.
He has answered the prayer for my support to be raised, providing all $1,450 two full days before the deadline.
He has shown his faithfulness in empowering this project to witness to the hundreds of students that have been down there for we have seen more than 50 students trust their lives to Christ and over 2,500 more have been able to hear the gospel.
Praise Him!
I would like to leave you with two verses of encouragement for this update.
First is 1 Corinthians 1:26-31
"Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."
and 2 Corinthians 4:5-6
"For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ."
Most humbly in Him,
Josh
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