Today, I was reading Romans 6. Usually when we think of Romans, we think of verses like Romans 1:16 ("I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the Power of God for salvation to everyone; first the Jew, then the Gentile") or Romans 12:1-2 ("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 act of worship. Do not be conformed to the ways of this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."), and the one verse that Paul uses to summarize his thoughts in Romans 6 is 6:23 ("For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.").
I love how through the first half of the chapter, he explains how when we're baptized,that "We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:4) and how because we were buried by baptism we find newness in life, where his grace abounds.
Paul goes on to write about how we are obedient slaves of the one whom we obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness. We have been set free from sin by his grace, in which Christ Jesus came down to Earth, as fully God (being the second part of the trinity) and fully man, born of a virgin, living a sinless life so that he would be the perfect sacrifice to God, and with his death, burial, and resurrection he conquered sin and death, and through that we can live because of his sacrifice for us.
Like Paul writes in Romans 6:23 that the wages of sin is death. All we know as flawed and sinful humans is sin. Death is our wage. It's what we earn. We get nothing else by ourselves other than Death. Anyone who says there's more than one way to heaven, or that they'll get to heaven because they are a good person, is a liar. Jesus proclaimed that there was only one way. John 14:6 Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Anyone who says you can get to heaven apart from Jesus LIES!
"...But the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord." Christ is a gift. His grace is a gift. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith. This is not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast." Christ is nothing that we deserved. His grace is nothing that we can earn, but something that he freely gives.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Random thoughts about Missions
We've all seen the shirts that say "This shirt is illegal in 52 countries." I know I've seen it all over the place in the Christian world (and I've only been here for 4 years).And no matter how cool we think we look wearing shirts like that, I ask the question, "Have you truly thought about what it would be like if you lived in a nation where you could be arrested or killed for what you believe?" Think about it. Everyday, in places like China, Iran, Iraq, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Somalia, etc., Christians are getting arrested, shot, sentenced, whatever, just because they believe in Jesus. Most of these nations are located within the "10/40 window." The 10/40 Window is an area of the world that contains the largest population of non-Christians in the world. The area extends from 10 degrees to 40 degrees North of the equator, and stretches from North Africa across to China. Pray for the nations.
I sometimes hear Christians complain (and I am guilty of this myself mind you) about things here living as a believer in one of the richest countries in the world, and I wonder if they'd sound the same on the other side of the planet.
Jesus calls us to be a missional church (the church is not a building, it's the body of believers). Often times when we hear people pray about missions in the church, they usually bring up the "Great Commission" from Matthew 28:19, which Jesus says "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Sounds pretty straight forward. Because we are a missional people, we all are missionaries in some since. There are different types of missionaries (and even sub-classes of the sub-classes), but I will keep it to 3 for now.
The first type of Missionary is the Goer. They are the ones that physically go out, whether its to our own nation or to a hostile nation to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. Some people are called to go out and be the hands and feet of the Body of Christ and bring aid to people and to share the gospel.
The second type of missionaries is the Senders. They financially support the Goers with what God has blessed them with. One thing about senders that's often overlooked is something that Jesus brings up in Luke 10:2. Some people get bummed because they feel they haven't been called to be a goer, and they don't have the financial backing to be a sender, but they don't read the second half of the verse. Luke 10:2 reads, "And he said to the, 'The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.'" Most people forget that the most important part of being a sender is being an intercessor. In face, we are to all be intercessors. we're to pray that God sends his laborers into the fields.
Lastly, the final type of missionary is the disobedient. They are the people who do neither.
As you all know, I've been involved with a missional organization called Teen Mania Ministries, and through them I've been able to go to the mountain tops of Peru, the jungles and islands of Panama, and to the barrios of Mexico, proclaiming the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
Missions has become a total passion of mine. I know I am not called to the mission field full-time, but I am thankful that out Lord has blessed me with the opportunities to get involved with short-term missions so that I may pass on the passion for missions when I become a pastor myself. But for now, God has called me to the mission field short term.
This summer, I am planning on going on another trip with Teen Mania ministries, thins time to a completely new place for me. I will be heading to a place where I do not speak the language, that's not even in the western hemisphere (which I myself have never left in my life). I know I've told a lot of people that I was going to be going to Israel this summer, but after weeks of prayer and meditation, I feel like God is calling me to go to India this summer. This will be my first experience in a hostile nation. I am thoroughly excited that I feel God's calling to a nation that so desperately needs Him, and I would ask you would join me in prayer over the next several months as I prepare to go to India, and raise support, but more importantly, pray for the people we'll meet there. Pray for the people who are going on the trip. Pray that God starts doing a work in them, preparing their hearts for what He's going to do.
I'm excited to see what God's going to do this year.
I sometimes hear Christians complain (and I am guilty of this myself mind you) about things here living as a believer in one of the richest countries in the world, and I wonder if they'd sound the same on the other side of the planet.
Jesus calls us to be a missional church (the church is not a building, it's the body of believers). Often times when we hear people pray about missions in the church, they usually bring up the "Great Commission" from Matthew 28:19, which Jesus says "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Sounds pretty straight forward. Because we are a missional people, we all are missionaries in some since. There are different types of missionaries (and even sub-classes of the sub-classes), but I will keep it to 3 for now.
The first type of Missionary is the Goer. They are the ones that physically go out, whether its to our own nation or to a hostile nation to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. Some people are called to go out and be the hands and feet of the Body of Christ and bring aid to people and to share the gospel.
The second type of missionaries is the Senders. They financially support the Goers with what God has blessed them with. One thing about senders that's often overlooked is something that Jesus brings up in Luke 10:2. Some people get bummed because they feel they haven't been called to be a goer, and they don't have the financial backing to be a sender, but they don't read the second half of the verse. Luke 10:2 reads, "And he said to the, 'The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.'" Most people forget that the most important part of being a sender is being an intercessor. In face, we are to all be intercessors. we're to pray that God sends his laborers into the fields.
Lastly, the final type of missionary is the disobedient. They are the people who do neither.
As you all know, I've been involved with a missional organization called Teen Mania Ministries, and through them I've been able to go to the mountain tops of Peru, the jungles and islands of Panama, and to the barrios of Mexico, proclaiming the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
Missions has become a total passion of mine. I know I am not called to the mission field full-time, but I am thankful that out Lord has blessed me with the opportunities to get involved with short-term missions so that I may pass on the passion for missions when I become a pastor myself. But for now, God has called me to the mission field short term.
This summer, I am planning on going on another trip with Teen Mania ministries, thins time to a completely new place for me. I will be heading to a place where I do not speak the language, that's not even in the western hemisphere (which I myself have never left in my life). I know I've told a lot of people that I was going to be going to Israel this summer, but after weeks of prayer and meditation, I feel like God is calling me to go to India this summer. This will be my first experience in a hostile nation. I am thoroughly excited that I feel God's calling to a nation that so desperately needs Him, and I would ask you would join me in prayer over the next several months as I prepare to go to India, and raise support, but more importantly, pray for the people we'll meet there. Pray for the people who are going on the trip. Pray that God starts doing a work in them, preparing their hearts for what He's going to do.
I'm excited to see what God's going to do this year.
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