The Gospel of Great Joy

The announcement to the shepherds from the angel was “…I bring you good news of great joy…” Joy is the first note of the gospel. Great Joy! So, what is so great about this joy?

First, it is great because this joy is good news for all the people, for everyone; no one is left out. Before the angel said that this good news was for them, he said it was for everyone, even them; even you!

Then, the angel said that this good news was a Person, the Son of David, a Savior, Christ the Lord. In saying that, the angel said it all. The long-awaited and promised, Deliverer, Anointed, Eternal God, Himself entered His creation as a baby boy. This was good news of great joy because of Who had come and what He would do. This is the key to experiencing the great joy of the gospel; knowing your Savior, Jesus Christ the Lord.

There are some who equate joy with happiness, which comes and goes, dependent upon the weather (conditions). The great joy of the gospel is not dependent upon conditions. That is why the book of James can say, “Count it all joy when you encounter various trials, knowing….” You can experience the great joy of the gospel in a great trial, difficulty, or disaster if you know what you can know in the midst of it. Many Christians are not experiencing this great joy because they have not learned what they can know in every situation and so they do not know the first thing of the gospel, the great joy it has in it!

Some are only joyful if their prayers get answered, or people are nice to them, or they receive some blessing of some kind. But the great joy of the gospel is also when prayers go unanswered, when people are rude, crude, and down-right mean to you, and even when you are in a “blessing drought;” even then you can experience great joy, if you know the One who is with you and what He is doing in you, with you, through you, as you, in the world around you! Joy, Joy, Joy!

Jesus said in His prayer (He allowed John to listen in on it) in John 17:13, that He was praying so that His disciples could have His joy fulfilled in them. The great joy of the gospel is the answer to Jesus’ prayer. It is great because it is a great prayer request of Jesus and it if for everyone, who will receive it.

To summarize: The great joy of the gospel is a Person, knowing Jesus Christ the Lord as your Savior and the work that He is doing in you, regardless of the conditions. He is with you and is at work in you, with you, through you, as you, in the world around you; no matter what is happening around you. His joy is yours because of the work He is doing in you, with you….His work is bring out His life from within you for the glory of God the Father. He gets the glory and you get the Joy!

What a deal. What a God. What a Savior. What a season to celebrate.

Staying Un-Offended; Part 2

The first step to staying un-offended is to get rid of anything that has offended you. The word “offended” comes from the Greek word skandilidzo  (pronounced skandel-idzo). Sound like a word in English. That’s right, our English word “scandal” comes from this Greek word. It means to stumble.

 So, one of the ways to find out if you have been offended is to ask yourself what has tripped you up or has caused you to limp, maybe not physically, but in your soul. You get offended when your soul gets wounded. Receiving healing from the Holy Spirit is the only way to be made whole (healed). Until God heals your soul you will limp along, causing others to get tripped up.

If you go back to Matthew 11:1-6 to the story of the disciples of John the Baptist you will notice that Jesus sent them back to John with a word from Isaiah; actually, from three places in the book of Isaiah. This was John’s book. He knew it backwards and forwards. But this word was more for his disciples than for him. They needed to be following Jesus, not John. It was one of the clearest words on the identity of the Messiah in the Old Testament. Why would they return to John? I guess because he was their friend. They liked him a lot. Many people have gotten offended because they stayed with a friend instead of going on with Jesus!

This instructs us that God’s Word is essential in staying un-offended. But more than staying in the Word is to be looking for Jesus in the Word. The Scribes and Pharisees knew the Word, but missed Jesus because they were not looking for Him in it. The Magi (Gentile magicians) found Jesus by following a star and one verse of Scripture from Micah (Matthew 2:1-12) simply because they were seeking for the promised Messiah, the King of the Jews. Jesus is on every page of the Bible for those who are hungry for Him and for more of Him. Keep your eyes on Jesus and He will keep you un-offended.

 Then, you must be able to know the difference between being grieved and feeling pain and being offended. Jesus experienced grief and pain but never stumbled. He was never offended. A maturing believer living in our sin-filled and fallen world will be deeply grieved and pained over the condition of humanity.

How did Jesus handle this? He prayed. He taught. He wept. He went out doing good. He sent others out to preach and heal and drive out demons. He overcame evil with good. He drove back the darkness with the Light of everything He received from the Father, and He stayed faithfully obedient to the Father. So can you because by faith Christ lives in you, with you, through you, as you, in the world around you. Again, keeping your focus on Jesus and your ears tuned to the Word of God you can not only live in this fallen world, but rise above it for the glory of God.

So, staying un-offended means that you keep short accounts with the insults, the accusations, the sin-soaked world, by continually casting all of your burdens upon the Lord, knowing that He will sustain you, He loves you, He cares for you, He has forgiven you of every offense and so you can too forgive every offense. Let it go. Look ahead. Keep your eyes on Jesus…on your knees, in the Word, and out into the world for Him!

Staying Un-Offended; Part 1

“And blessed is the one who is not offended by Me.” Matthew 11:6. Jesus said this powerful statement to the disciples of John the Baptist. John was in prison and had only been hearing the reports of the deeds of Jesus; not His teachings. As a result, John had become discouraged and confused about the identity of Jesus and even his own, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” Basically John was asking, “Are you who I thought you were, or are you who I thought I was?” That is called confused. So, he sent his disciples to Jesus to hear first hand.

 First question: What were the John’s disciples still hanging around John for? John had clearly pointed his followers to Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29-36). There is a hint that maybe the followers of John were upset over the condition of their Rabbi, John. In fact, as you look at the other Scriptures referring to John’s disciples you notice a progression of offense; Matthew 9:14-17, the question about fasting, and John 3:25-36, the question about why John was losing followers and Jesus was gaining followers. This is an indication that John’s disciples had been offended.

People get offended for various reasons; a close friend or family member gets hurt by someone, unmet expectations, refusing to forgive, but mostly an immature spirit (a cry baby, today known as a meltdown-kid). The problem with being offended is that it spreads, distorts, pollutes, and it probably the number one reason we do not experience revival in our nation. The church in the US is a big cry baby! Mad because it is not getting what it wants, when it wants, the way it wants, with convenience and ease. Staying offended prevents maturity.

Second question: I wonder if the disciples of John expected their Rabbi to be treated better by God? Maybe to them it seemed as though it was not fair. John had been faithful. John had been popular. What happened? Unmet expectations are a major cause of being offended. God had done what they expected. They were offended by God.

Another symptom of being offended is blaming others for your being offended, even blaming God. Blaming others is what small children do, cry babies (my dad had another name for being a cry baby that I have decided not to print; some of you probably know that other name for cry-baby!). But when I find myself in an offended state it is only because I have chosen to be offended. The choice not to chose is made by default most of the time. Refusing to chose is a choice and the default choice will always lead to sin.

Confusion about what is known and what is not yet known is another condition that leads to being offended. One indicator of maturity is the acceptance of the truth that God is at work in all things that happen to you, working them together for good in you, to form Christ in you for His own glory! This means that nothing comes to you until the Father approves it. God does not cause all things, He uses all things to form Christ in you. For a child of God, everything is a stewardship from God that we will give an account for. Impatience rather than perseverance is another mark of immaturity. Refusing to wait upon God and refusing to accept the fact that you do not have all the information yet leaves you vulnerable to being offended.

If you are in an offended state right now, grow up you big cry-baby! It is your own fault. Take responsibility for it and repent. You are hindering the growth that God wants to give you. You cannot give yourself growth but you sure can keep yourself from growing.

In a few days, more on this subject, like, how you can grow up and how to tell the difference between grief, pain, and offense. And what to do about this offensive culture we live in so that it does not get inside you and cause you to be offended. Until then, pray giving everything to God, your offense, your pain, your grief, your unmet expectations, your friend that is hurt by someone, everything that seems unjust to you…give it all to God. “Cast your burden upon the LORD, and He will sustain you.” Psalm 55:22.

Blessed Like a Tree

Psalm 1 and 2 are both the introduction to the book of Psalms as well as the conclusion. They combine to reveal the outcome of a person who allows God’s Word to shape their prayers and life.

Psalm 1 begins with the phrase, “Blessed is the man who…”  The first thing about the blessed man is seen what he has said “no” to. He has seen that a person cannot serve God and the world; the two are opposites. The ways of God are not the ways of man.

The ways of man are seen in the downward progression of first listening, “…does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly,” then in keeping company with, “…nor stands in the way of sinners,” then in sharing the influence that has been received and reinforced by that company, “nor sits in the seat of the scoffers.” That way has been rejected by the blessed man because God’s way has been chosen.

God’s way begins with His Word. “But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night.”  The delight he has developed in God’s Word is the result of meditating on it. At first God’s Word seems hard to understand. Understanding does not come from more and more study, it comes from the Holy Spirit. He and He alone reveals the truth and delight of His Word. Meditation on the Word means asking the Holy Spirit over and over, as the Word is mulled on over and over, for light and meaning.

The Hebrew word for “delight” is hapes (pronounced hop-is) and means to feel great favor and pleasure in something because of its intrinsic qualities. It is mostly used in the Old Testament of God and the “delight” He has for various things. For example in 1 Samuel 15:22 when Samuel told Saul that God has greater delight in obedience than in sacrifice. This means that the delight you develop for God’s Word actually comes from His Holy Spirit in you. He delights in His own Word and shares that delight with you!

The blessed man is described “…like a tree, planted by the steams of water,” A tree that is planted by the steams of water speaks of intentional planting. God plants us in His Word. His will is that we stay in His Word with the Holy Spirit teaching us all the days of our lives.

When you stay in the Word, the Word grows in you and, like a tree, produces leaves and fruit. Leaves and fruit are the only two things a tree produces. Without leaves and fruit a tree is just firewood.

 The first one is “…that yields fruit in its season,” The fruit that the Word produces is the glory of God. God designed our lives to glorify Him and Him alone. The way that He designed this to take place is by being planted in His Word. His will and ways have not changed since the beginning. Every occasion and situation in life is another opportunity for the glorious light of God’s characteristics to shine forth from your life, if you are planted in His Word. Whether it is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness…it all reveals God’s glory.

The other thing is tree produces is leaves. The promise of God for the blessed man is “…and its leaf does not wither,” So, what are the leaves of our lives in Christ? There are two references to the leaves of the Tree of Life, Ezekiel 47:12 and Revelation 22:1-2. The Ezekiel reference describes the Tree of Life during the Millennium (the thousand-year reign of Christ on earth following the battle of Armageddon in Revelation 20:1-6), while the Revelation reference describes the Tree of Life in the New Heaven and Earth following the Great While Throne judgment.

In both passages it describes the purpose of the leaves as healing for the nations. One thing we all know about the shade of a tree; it is refreshing. To sit under the shade of a great tree is restful whether there is a hammock involved or not!

The promise of God for the blessed man is that his life will always be an invitation to others for them to enjoy the rest and refreshment of God in his life. There is something about just being around someone who is planted in the Word. It is refreshing just to be near and to listen to someone like that.

Psalm 1 sums up the blessed man by saying “…in all that he does, he prospers.” The Hebrew word “prospers” is tsalock (pronounced tsa-lock), which means to complete, to triumph, to be strong, to overcome. It does not mean that you will have an abundance of things; this is the “American” definition of prosperity. Prosperity in the Bible is more related to being faithful than the accumulation of things or having it easy. Being prosperous, according to God’s definition, means that you will rise above every circumstance in your life with God-honoring and Christ-exalting glory!

Be sure that you stay in God’s Word, meditating in it, growing by it, and being fully aware of God’s beautiful purposes being carried through to fullness by it. You will be blessed just like God designed from the very beginning.

How To Be Blameless

Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible as well as the longest prayer in the Bible. It is as beautiful as it is instructive. It teaches us how to pray, which is the most important prayer request you can ask; “Lord, teach us to pray…” Luke 11:1.

                                                         
The first three verses of Psalm 119 are the only verses in the Psalm that are not a prayer.
 
“Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD. Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with their whole heart. They also do no wrong, but walk in His ways.”
 
These verses describe the outcome of allowing this prayer to shape your prayer life for a lifetime of praying. The three words and phrases that it uses to describe that life are blameless, keep His testimonies, do no wrong.
 
Some are overwhelmed by the impossibility of ever becoming blameless, or always keeping God’s testimonies, or never doing wrong. But that is because we think in terms of performance but the Bible does not; it presents perfection as progress in a particular direction; and that particular direction is in following God’s Word.
 
Progress is seen in the three phrases walking in the law, seeking Him, walking in His ways. The only way this can be done is to trust and obey, one step at a time; not with perfect performance but by faithful progress in His Word.

Allow God’s Word to shape your prayers and begin seeing what He can do. “Lord, teach us to pray…” 

Mongolia Part VII; Last Entry on Mongolia

Our team (the four of us from the US, the leading pastor in that region of Mongolia, and four young Mongolia professionals that served as our interpreters) traveled from Choibalsan to the city of Baganuur. Pastor Amara lives in Baganuur and has one of the strongest churches in Mongolia. For the next part of our trip, Pastor Amara had arranged for pastors from the remote areas of that part of Mongolia to meet us at a camp north of Baganuur.

                                                                                           
The camp is located in the foothills of the mountainous area of Mongolia. It is situated in a beautiful valley beside a large river. The camp is used by various groups. It consists of about 20 gers, which are igloo-like canvas tents. The ger is the typical Mongolia home. We saw them all through the countryside and even in the towns. At the camp, each ger had five beds along the outer edge of ger with a wood-burning stove in the center. The top of the ger is open, like a teepee, and can be covered when raining. In the middle of these gers is a dining hall where we ate our meals. There are three “outhouses” on the outskirts of the camp.

 We arrived late in the evening and it was cold. We got settled in our ger, built a fire, and were very comfortable and tired. About 35 pastors and church leaders had already gathered and were ready for our first session. They quickly warmed up to us and during the five days that we were together we shared wonderful times of teaching and worship together. Each day we met together for meals, for pastoral training, for worship, and fellowship. Our team grew to love the Mongolian pastors and church leaders.

Each day we would get up early and walk around the hills that surround the camp for our quiet time. It was so beautiful to see the vastness of Mongolia from the hills. At the top of many of these hills are piles of rocks with a large stick in the middle and a blue cloth tied to the top of the stick. These are “prayer altars” to the earth and sky gods that many of the Mongolians worship. They reminded us of the “high places” in the Old Testament that were dedicated to the Baals.

Two highlights for me at the camp were the Lord’s Supper we shared together with the pastors, and early one morning as I was awakened by singing. It was still very dark and I could hear singing. A group was singing How Great Thou Art in a language I did not know. It was 5 AM.

I got up and went out to find a South Korean mission team that had arrived at the camp during the night. The South Korean believers are strong about getting up early and praying. About 35 of them had gathered down by the river and were having their prayer time together. I joined them. They did not know me but welcomed me with open arms. They sang and prayed and sang and prayed. Their leader led in a message from 1 Timothy. The brother next to me showed me the Scripture in English from his smart phone. As the sun was coming up they were ready to conclude and asked me what church I was with. I told them and the leader, I found out later was the pastor, asked me to give the blessing. I spoke the blessing from Numbers 6:24-26, “May the LORD bless you and keep you…” It was a highlight for me because the South Korean church has been leading the way in the world in prayer ministry and missions for over 35 years. It was a thrill for me to join in with one of their prayer services.

We left the camp and traveled back to the capital city of Ulaanbaatar and spent four days teaching and encouraging the group of young professionals that David Beckett had led to Christ and discipled while they were going to the university in South Korea. These young people all have jobs in the downtown district and are on fire for the Lord. It was encouraging to be around such strong young believers with such influence in their nation.

While we were in the capital we stayed in a guest house in the downtown district. We were able to share Christ with two German professors who were in Mongolia doing research. I had used the phrase “born again” and one of them overheard me and asked to meet with me to know more about it. That evening, I met with both professors, one a Tibetologist (studies Tibetan history and religion) and the other a linguist studying ancient Mongolian script. We met that evening over tea.

 They both spoke very good English. I complemented them on knowing two languages so well. They corrected me and said that they both speak seven languages fluently.  What an interesting conversation we had as I shared from John 3 on the new birth. Neither man saw the need to be born again, but they listened and were interested in the gospel.

Our trip to Mongolia was amazing. I pray that our Lord will allow me to go back. The Kingdom of God is alive and growing in outer Mongolia! We were glad that God allowed us to receive such a blessing from Him through them there.

Mongolia Mission Trip; Part VI

We arrived at Ganah’s apartment and found the three pastors waiting for us. Nine of us crowded into Ganah’s small living room and started the “quiet time.” They began by singing some praise songs in Mongolian. Some of them we recognized. Then we had a brief time of prayer, each person praying out loud, but softly. Then, the main pastor spoke to me through the interpreter and said, “We have been meditating on the parables in Matthew 13. Please share with us your thoughts on their meaning.”

 I began by explaining the Greek word for parable, which means to throw down along side of something. The parables were simple stories with the eternal truth of God for anyone who was hungry for a word from God. Jesus said that He taught in parables so that those who had a hunger for God’s word would want more and those who did not would only talk about what a nice story it was. Then I began sharing the eternal truth found in each story.

About 15 minutes into the lesson, I noticed that Terry Taylor, who was sitting next to me with the door between us, had put his head down and was silently weeping. I did not know what was wrong, but kept going. After a few minutes he lifted his head back up and others began to ask questions and to respond to the lesson I was teaching.

After about 45 minutes of questions and discussions we sang and prayed again and concluded our “quiet time” together. Then the pastor of the main church in Choibalsan spoke to me again through the interpreter and said, “We would like for you to come and teach our church leaders, tomorrow if possible. And we want your team to conduct the service today at our church after we go out into the community and invite anyone who may be interested in knowing about Jesus Christ.” We accepted their gracious offer.

The pastors left and Pastor Amara, the Mongolian pastor on our team, said that what happened was very unusual. He said usually the Mongolians take much longer to trust outsiders. Terry spoke up and said, “I will tell you what happened. About 10 minutes into the lesson, suddenly, I felt the Holy Spirit fill the room and unite our hearts with theirs. I do not know of any other way to describe it except the Lord united us together with them. I was overcome by it and began to weep.” It was a wonderful experience that God gave to Terry and to us with them.

That afternoon about 25 of the church members met at the church, divided up into teams of two or three, and went out into the community to invite people to the service we were planning. About 4:30 PM the praise band (about 5 young people from the church) began to play and the teams started coming back, along with the people. By 5 there were about 50 people in the room, by 5:30 about 75. By the time Pastor Amara began to preach the room was filled to the back with about 100 people, 70 or more from the community.

After Pastor Amara spoke, I shared the gospel, then others from our team spoke sharing testimonies and Scriptures. David Beckett was the last to share. When he concluded it was about 7 PM. Everyone was still there. He asked for the pastors to come forward. About nine of us spread out across the front of the church. Then he invited anyone who wanted to receive Christ or to ask for prayer to come forward and speak to one of the pastors. Before the youth praise band could start playing, the people started coming forward and for the next 30 minutes we ministered to people one by one. Many of them came in tears.

None of the ones that came to me could speak English and I did not have an interpreter. They would look at me and speak in Mongolian. I did not have a clue what they were saying. I would say to them, “I don’t know what you just said, but God understood it and I am going to pray for you to be saved, or healed, or whatever the need may be in your life, to be fully met by Jesus Christ.” Then I would begin praying and they would too. What a time we had. The whole front of the church was full. Each of us pastors were praying and ministering to people.

Finally everyone was seated again and started singing. Our team left to go back to the hotel about 7:45, but they stayed. We learned the next day, that they stayed and sang for some time after we left.

The next morning, Sunday, we met with the church leaders early and taught from the New Testament words for “servant,” from the Greek. The Mongolians have a gift for learning different languages and they loved the Greek word studies. We connected. I felt the Spirit and revival just like I have in Uganda and in Indonesia. By the time church started the place was full again and with the Spirit of excitement and revival.

Our team left the church at noon to get catch the Mission Aviation Fellowship plane that was to pick us up at 2. Their church service was still in full swing when we left. They were having revival and we were grateful that God had allowed us to get in on it with them. What a time we had in Choibalsan. Next blog; the flight in the Mission Aviation Fellowship plane to the camp with the training for the pastors of the “remote” churches in eastern Mongolia.

Mongolia, 2012; Part V

Pastor Amara told us that the Mongolian Christians would probably be a bit “stand-offish” at first. He said that so many cults had come into Mongolia and had confused the new believers over the few years that the church had been growing. We understood and appreciated the fact that they would want to know where we were coming from. Sound doctrine is a Bible term from the Greek world of medicine. It literally means “healthy” teaching. It is also the term for being saved. In other words, sound doctrine is Christ-centered doctrine that stays close to the cross.

We walked from Ganah’s apartment building a few blocks to a main street and then to a two-story hotel/restaurant building; hotel on the bottom floor and restaurant on the second floor. Pastor Ganah had reserved the whole restaurant for us that evening. We met with the pastors and church leaders of the main church and the three house churches in Choibalsan. We all sat around a big table in the middle of the room. We enjoyed a wonderful meal of salad, lamb, potatoes, carrots, and bread. One by one, we introduced ourselves to everyone.

One of the first things I noticed is that as soon as they would share their name they would give their age, so we did too. They would tell when they received Christ, when they got married, how many children/grandchildren they had, and what they did in the church. The Mongolian culture is very family oriented. We followed their lead and shared just as they did. When it was my turn, I told them my name (Charles…I learned that “Bubba” sounds like something related to what a horse leaves behind), and that I am 59 years old, that I received Christ as a young child, married to Beth for 40 years, two sons, both doctors, six grandchildren, and that I was a pastor in the church in Kingsland, Texas, USA. One of the other pastors immediately spoke up and through the interpreter said that I sure got married at a young age. I responded that if he were to see Beth he would understand why I didn’t wait! The whole room thought it was funny.

By the time everyone had introduced themselves we were about finished with the main course. We shared that the reason we came to Choibalsan was to see if there was a church there and wondered if they would be open to going out to invite others in the city to meet with us for a service to discuss the claims of Jesus Christ from the Bible. We also wondered if they would be interested in a time of training and teaching for the pastors and church leadership. There was an awkward silence. They looked around at each other for a moment and then the pastor of the main church spoke up and said that they would discuss it and get back with us tomorrow (Saturday).

Then, the main pastor made a request that surprised me. Through the interpreter, he told me that they would all be meeting together in the morning for quiet time at 7 AM and wondered if I would bring the devotion for the quiet time. I quickly agreed knowing that I had the rest of the evening to get something ready. Then he made another request I wasn’t prepared for. He asked me to give them the Scripture I would be sharing from so that they could be meditating on it before morning. As the interpreter said that, my mind started racing through various Scriptures and studies that could be appropriate. Parables are always appropriate no matter what the culture, so I said that they could meditate on Matthew 13, a whole chapter of the parables of Jesus; thanking Him silently for giving me something at such short notice! They seemed to nod with approval.

As we went downstairs, Greg and I had already decided that we were going to see if they any rooms available and what the price would be. We found out that they had a room with three beds available across from the lobby with a bathroom down the hall for $35 a night. We took it. We then learned that no one else was staying at the hotel. If we took the room, we would be the only ones there. We got with Terry and David and told them. David said that he wanted to stay with Ganah and Terry and Greg and I said we would stay at the hotel. For $35 it was very nice and was within our budget for the trip. The three of us slept great. We woke up early to learn that the $35 included breakfast.

After breakfast we made our way over to Ganah’s apartment to go with David, Pastor Amara, and Ganah to the place we would have the quiet time. When we got there, we learned it was to be in Ganah’s little living room. Only the pastors were present. It was crowded. As they sang a few worship songs, I had the same feeling that I have had when I would go to a church to preach in view of a call to be pastor. I knew they wanted to know what kind of doctrine we had. I was praying like crazy. Next blog, I will tell you the unexpected thing that happened next.

Mongolia Mission Trip, 2012; Part IV

We flew about two hours on Mongolia Airlines out to the city of Choibalsan, a city of 45,000 on the eastern border of Mongolia. China and Russia share a border within about 100 miles of this major city. The airport is about ten or fifteen miles out of town. Mongolia is mostly flat with a few rolling hills in the east and mountainous in the west.

                                                               

The airport is out in the middle of nowhere, with literally nothing around it except green pastures. As we were coming in I thought we were going to land on the grass until a concrete runway appeared only seconds before we touched down. As we made our way up to the main building (there is only one building), I notices a herd of horses just off the runway and was grateful they did not decide to cross the runway as we were coming in!

                                                                                                                        

We got out on the tarmac. There were no other planes at the small, concrete block building called Choibalsan International Airport. There are about 40 people in the airport waiting to get on the plane to fly back to UB. Mongolia Airlines flies out to Choibalsan and back twice a week. Surrounding the airport are several man-made hills that were used by the Russians as underground hangers when Mongolia was a satellite of the old U.S.S.R. You can still see the doors and the way they used to be camouflaged. Today, it looks like some of them are used as barns.

We got our bags and went out to the front of the building. There is one lone dirt road that leads from the airport toward the city of Choibalsan in the distance. There are seven of us in all; our team of four from the states, Pastor Amara who is one of the leading pastors in central and eastern Mongolia, and two young ladies who are our interpreters (students of David’s when they were at the university in S. Korea.

One of the young ladies is from Choibalsan but has not been home in several years. Her name is Bogie. When she left home to go to Korea she was not a Christian. Her family still lives there. They are the ones who told her that they thought there was a Christian church there. She called her father to come get us. He told her that he found a Christian missionary and that he would be coming out to get us. In just a few minutes, Ganah, a missionary from UB, drove up in a rented van to get us. He and Pastor Amara went to seminary together in UB and have a surprise reunion. We drove for about thirty minutes on the main road into Choibalsan weaving around mud holes and ruts.

Choibalsan is an old mining town, heavily influenced by the Russians. Its buildings are square and rectangular concrete structures with little architectural decor. Ganah lives in one of the many “apartment houses.” These apartment buildings are what you would picture in the rough part of Brooklyn or Detroit. Just outside his building is a man completely passed out with an empty bottle in his hand. We went up five flights of stairs to his small apartment. His apartment is a one bedroom, one bath, kitchen/living room set up. Ganah and his wife have three small children. We learned that he came to Choibalsan as a first generation home missionary to Mongolia.

When the U.S.S.R. fell apart in the late 80’s, South Korean missionaries started coming into Mongolia. They have been the ones to lead the revival and spread of Christianity across Mongolia. Ganah represents the first generation of Mongolian children “raised in a Christian home” to now take the lead in the church in Mongolia. His vision is to see a strong missionary church in Choibalsan for eastern Mongolia that can easily reach into Russia and China with the gospel. He told us that there is one strong church of about 60 members in Choibalsan with three house churches connected to it. In all about 100 believers. He also told us there are several cults in Choibalsan including the Moonies and the Bahia, an offshoot of Buddism.

Ganah made arrangements for us to meet the leaders of the main church and the house churches for dinner that night (Friday). He also said that the five men could stay in his apartment. The two ladies would stay with Bogie’s parents in a much nicer apartment several blocks away.

Ganah’s apartment is very small. As we left to go to dinner at a restaurant nearby, I looked around and could tell that one of us could sleep on the couch and that there was just enough room on the floor for the rest of us. Terry is a couple of years older than me, so we all knew who would get the couch! As we got up to leave, Greg’s backside was wet. He told me that one of the little ones must have been sleeping on the couch. We didn’t tell Terry. In the next blog I will tell you about the surprise at dinner. Stay tuned.

Mongolia Mission Trip, 2012; Part III

We arrived in Ulaanbaatar, the capital city of Mongolia, about 3 PM on Thursday, August 9^th. David Beckett, our team leader, had made arrangements with one of the students he had led to Christ in Korea to meet us at the train station and take us to the guesthouse. We arrived at the UB Guesthouse a few hours later. It is in the heart of the downtown district of UB (short for Ulaanbaatar). We drug our bags up three floors to an old and crowded four-bedroom, two bath apartment. Each bedroom has bunk beds. Ours is one of the smallest rooms with two bunks that fill the room except for a very small table. It is crowded with four men, four bags, and four carry-ons.

We are exhausted after three days of travel in three airports (San Antonio, Newark, and Beijing) and two train stations. The bag that I am dragging around has now been on five mission trips and I have decided it was one mission trip too many. This will be its last one. One of the little wheels fell off in Newark.

The UB guesthouse is like the train and Beijing guesthouse, full of young people from all over the world. One of the young ladies that traveled with us on the train is staying at the UB guesthouse. The Lord had given us a couple of opportunities to share with her about her relationship with Christ on the train, and how, again, at the UB guesthouse. We also were given an opportunity to share with a young couple from Holland. Over the past three days, on two airplanes, one train, and two guesthouses we have been able to share Christ with young people from at least five different nations of the world. This has been a mission trip of its own. The young people that we have been around in these guesthouses and the train easily engage in spiritual conversations.

Thursday night was a bit noisy because the guesthouse was full. Friday morning we had a worship service under a little shelter in the middle of a small park in front of our guesthouse. We were reading from Matthew 6 about how God takes care of the sparrows and the lilies, when suddenly some small sparrows flew in under the shelter with us and were chirping and eating crumbs left by someone’s sandwich from the day before. God had given us a demonstration of the Scripture we had just read. While we quietly sang a few worship songs, Terry noticed a small boy, about ten years old, in the distance. He knew from his actions (going through some trash cans) and by the way he was dressed and from the time of day (very early) that he was living on the streets. We took up a quick collection and David took it over to him.

A few hours later we were on a shuttle on our way to the airport for our flight to Choibalsan, a mining town in far eastern Mongolia with a population of about 45,000. Our shuttle would have been stopped over here for “overcrowding” but there it was okay. We were literally sitting on top of each other, but again, the Lord gave us the opportunity to share our faith with people. I was next to a young Mongolian man who had a great interest in our presence in Mongolia. He described himself as a casual Buddhist. He said that he had heard about Jesus Christ but was unfamiliar with the story of the Bible. Greg had brought several small “God Story” devices. These small, solar powered devices have a 90 minute message of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation in three languages, Mongolian, Russian, Chinese, and Tatar. We gave this man one of these devices.

After a two-hour flight we were in the eastern corner of Mongolia. I have been in places that I considered to be “remote.” Choibalsan is by far the most remote place I have ever been. If we had taken a van it would have been an 20 hour trip because most of the way there is over dirt roads in poor condition. One of the pastors had heard a rumor that there was a church there but was not sure. Our plans were to find the church if it was there and encourage them. If not, we were planning to share Christ with people for a few days and see if one could be planted. More about it in the next blog. Stay tuned.

Mongolia Mission Trip; Part II

We left from the Beijing train station about 9:00 AM. The country-side through China was beautiful. It was rugged mountains with beautiful valleys. By about 11:00 PM we had stopped at the Chinese/Mongolia border. We had been told that the border crossing could take up to five hours due to the fact that the wheels on each car had to be realigned to fit the Mongolian train tracks, plus the Chinese immigration officers were very particular.

About thirty minutes after we had come to a stop, the officers came to our booth and asked for our passports. They were very stern. They took each passport, carefully examining the photo with the person and asking questions about name, birth date, and spelling of name. Without another word, they kept our passports and went to the next car. I noticed that they had a stack of passports from the other passengers.

Outside our window was the Chinese immigration buildings with guards. After the officers took our passports, we began to notice people getting off the train and walking around. Greg and I got off to stretch our legs and look around. We noticed people walking into the building and coming out with soft drinks, chips, and souvenirs. We recognized a blond-headed lady who we had spoken to during the day from our car. She was from France. She came up to us eating an ice-cream bar. We asked where she got it and she told us inside. Greg and I both decided that an ice-cream bar would sure taste good. Only hours before we had skirted the Gobi desert and ice-cream seemed to be a wonderful idea.

We went in the building, found the store, which was full of train passengers, got our ice-cream bars and started back out. When I got to the glass doors they were chained shut! Like with a huge chain and lock. I said, “Greg, we are chained in and can’t get back on the train!” Greg was looking out the window and said, “What train? It’s gone!” Sure enough, the train was gone and we were locked inside a Chinese immigration building at 12:30 at night…with melting ice-cream bars.

We took comfort that we had not gotten left behind because there were so many other passengers locked in with us. Greg and I found a couple of chairs and for the next two hours shared mission trip stories and Bible insights together. We wondered how Terry and David were doing and wished we had stayed on the train with them. I told Greg, “Please hold me accountable never to follow a French girl with an ice-cream bar ever again.” He agreed as long as I would do the same for him.

About 3 AM we saw the train return and people started gathering at the locked doors. They soon unlocked the doors and we all got back on the train. Terry and David said that when the train started moving they worried about us for a moment but then prayed and committed us to the Lord and then rejoiced that they has stayed on. They said the train went about a mile or so down the track and then went through a long series of stops and starts changing out the wheels.

We all got back on the train. The Chinese officers came around with our passports, went through the drill again of asking us how we spelled our names, birthdates, looking us over to check our faces with the passport picture, and by about 3:30 AM we were on our way. We quickly got in to our bunks and were lulled to sleep by the rhythm of train on the tracks. It was a short night and by 3 PM we were rolling into the capital city of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar. Next blog I will explain what happened next.

Mongolia Mission Trip 2012 Report; Part 1

God put Mongolia on my heart the spring of ’08. I began doing research and discovered that Mongolia had been experiencing a revival since 1990. According to Operation World, a missions research manual, there were only four known Christians in Mongolia in 1989. Today there are over 50,000, with that number growing daily. This rapid growth is due to the demise of the old Soviet Union and South Korean missionaries who have been working in Mongolia for the past 25 years. Of course, the main reason is because God’s Spirit has been blowing across this vast nation. I wanted to go to get in on that revival. Mongolia is twice the size of Texas with a population of 2 million. Over have of the population lives in the capital city of Ulaanbataar, known as UB. The others live out on the steppes in small canvass igloos called gers. These “country Mongolians” are the original horsemen of the world. Horses are their livelihood. This was another reason I wanted to go to Mongolia.

I was supposed to go to Mongolia with David Beckett in July, 2010. I had to cancel that trip due to my bout with malaria that summer. David was then the Chaplin at Hongdong University in South Korea. He had met a group of Mongolian students at the university, led them to Christ, and was discipling them in 2010. They had taken him to Mongolia on a few mission trips. David told me in 2010 that there were many pastors in Mongolia who were new believers and were asking for pastors to come help them with some pastoral training. But the pastors were also very particular because many cults had also been coming into Mongolia. David had met one of the leading pastors in eastern Mongolia which was key in bringing other pastors in to teach.

David Beckett led our trip to Mongolia along with myself, Terry Taylor, a deacon in Kingsland’s First Baptist Church, and Greg Lewis, the founder and president of Go and Tell Ministries. The dates for our trip were August 6-22. We had been planning and preparing for months.

The Sunday before we left, I asked the children of our church, during the children’s sermon, to be our prayer partners for the trip. I asked them to pray two verses from Psalm 34 each day we were gone and that we would be praying that Psalm for them as well. We adopted the song Ten Thousand Reasons, by Matt Redman, as our song for the trip. It came out of Psalm 34. The children also gave us the five-fold blessing for a mission trip; “Drink lots of bottled water, don’t eat too much, pray like crazy, give’em Jesus, and come back changed!”

We left San Antonio at 6:30 AM the next day, August 6^th. We flew to Newark and then “over the top” to Beijing, China. I had never flown over the North Pole before. It was an 18 hour flight, and never got dark. We landed in Beijing in the middle of the afternoon on August 7^th. This was a special time for me because 30 years earlier, August 7, 1982, God called me into the ministry. Now, 30 years later, I was in Beijing, China on my way to teach pastors in remote areas of Mongolia!

We spent the night in Beijing in a guest house called the 365 Inn. It is located near the Forbidden City in the heart of Beijing. This hostel was filled with young people from all over the world. We briefly spoke with some from the UK that evening. The next morning we were up early to the train station to board a Chinese train on the Trans-Siberian Railway, the longest railway in the world, for our two-day train ride to Ulaanbataar, Mongolia.

Shortly after the train got underway we discovered there were people from all over the world on the train with us. During the two days of travel were able to engage people from eight different nations in spiritual conversations about Christ. A father and his adult daughter from Germany were led to Christ by our team during the trip. This turned out to be a mission trip of its own.

Our little booth on the train was made up of two bench seats that doubled as beds, with two bunk beds overhead that folded up during the day. There was a small table by the window. Our bags fit under the bench seats. Outside our booth was a narrow hall way that went the full length of the car.

There were about twenty cars on our train. The last one was the dining car. Going from car to car was an experience with both cars moving side to side. You would step between them to cross over to the next car being careful not to get your foot caught in the “cross-over plates” from both cars. You could see the tracks as you crossed. It was quite the thrill ride just getting to the dining car. Each car had its own bathroom, similar in size to an airline restroom. The only difference is that when you “flushed” you saw the train tracks! Each car also was equipped with a boiler with hot water for tea or coffee 24 hours a day.

We shared some wonderful times of worship and Bible study which actually drew people to our booth to ask us questions about what we were singing. Worship-based prayer from the Scriptures draws people to Christ.

The border crossing from China to Mongolia was a four-hour experience I will never forget! I will write about it in the next blog.

Favorite Worship Songs; But Why?

What are your favorite songs for worshipping God? It is interesting that we identify singing songs with worship? In the Bible, songs were primarily for teaching truth about God, His mighty deeds, and His promises. The second song in the Bible is found in Exodus 15 right after Pharaoh’s army was destroyed by God in the Red Sea crossing. Miriam wrote a song to teach the nation of Israel of God’s miraculous deliverance. (The first song in the Bible was written by a one of Cain’s descendants, Lamech, bragging about how mean he was.)

Music helps you remember words and events. You probably learned the alphabet by singing it. Some learned the books of the Bible with a simple song. Scripture can be memorized easiest by singing the verses in a song. There are many cultures in the world that have not had their language reduced to writing that have preserved their history in songs. Songs teach. That is their primary purpose.

So why do we sing in our worship services? Good question. What are the best songs to sing in our worship services? Divisive question. We all have favorite songs, but how did they become our favorite songs? And if songs are not primarily for worship, what is?

The Bible teaches that the main characteristic of worship is sacrifice (Genesis – Deuteronomy), but not just sacrifice, but a particular kind of sacrifice. The acceptable sacrifice for God, the one that has a “pleasing aroma” (Leviticus 1:9, 13, 17), is the sacrifice with faith, with humility, with obedience, with brokenness. God sees His Son in that kind of sacrifice and it pleases Him.

We worship God by offering ourselves to God as a living sacrifice with faith, with humility, with obedience, with brokenness. As God accepts our offering, we experience joy, His joy! God does not want a song of praise, He desires your song of praise, with faith, with humility, with obedience, with brokenness! Without you in that condition, its just words to God (1 Samuel 15).

One of the reasons a particular song becomes a favorite is because in your past, when you sung it with faith, humility, obedience, brokenness, God added His joy to it and you identified it with worshipping Him because you both enjoyed it together. But understand this; it was not the song that God enjoyed, it was you and the condition of your heart (with faith, humility, obedience, brokenness) when you sung it to Him.

Try this:

·         Identify some of your favorite songs and when they became favorites and see if at that time your heart was in that condition.

·         Identify in your favorites the truth you learned about God, His mighty deeds, His promises and how those truths led you, and continue to lead you, to grow in your faith, humble you, encourage obedience, or convict you to brokenness.

·         As you hear and learn new songs addressing God or songs about Him, humble yourself before Him, learn what the song is teaching about God, and be sensitive to the Holy Spirit as He convicts you of sin and go with Him to the place of brokenness, the cross. It won’t matter if it is an old song, new song, fast song, slow song, with or without certain instruments. All that matters is that it is your sacrifice with faith, humility, obedience, and brokenness as the main beat and melody. These are God’s favorites.

Redemption or Regeneration?

Oswald Chambers is one of my teachers. In his book, Conformed to His Image; The Servant As His Lord, (not a quick read) on pages 9-10, brother Oswald challenges our self-centered Christian culture. He moves us out into deeper water than we feel safe in.

“We must distinguish between the revelation of Redemption and the experience of regeneration. We don’t experience life; we are alive. We don’t experience Redemption; we experience regeneration, that is, we experience the life of God coming into our human nature, and immediately the life of God comes in it produces a surface of consciousness. But redemption means a great deal more than man is conscious of. The Redemption is not only for mankind, it is for the universe, for the material earth; everything that sin and the devil have touched and marred has been completely redeemed by Jesus Christ.

There is a day coming when the Redemption will be actually manifested, when there will be a new heaven and a new earth, with a new humanity upon it…What the Redemption deals with is the sin of the whole human race, not primarily with the sins of individuals, but something far more fundamental, viz., the heredity of sin.

Pseudo-evangelism singles out the individual, it prostitutes the terrific meaning of the Redemption into an individual possession, the salvation my soul.” Oswald Chambers

Becoming a Trillionaire Overnight

That’s what happened to Ira and Ann Yates on October 28, 1926. They had traded their small store in Rankin Texas for a 26,000 acre ranch “west of the Pecos.” Their family and friends thought they had lost their ever-loving minds. Nothing was west of the Pecos except trouble. There was some newly discovered oil exploration in West Texas in the early 1920’s but nothing west of the Pecos.

For several years they struggled to pay the taxes. The drought took their sheep and goats. The blowing sand nearly drove Mrs. Yates crazy. The ranch was about to go under. In desperation, Ira contacted a friend who worked for Transcontinental Oil to see if they would be willing to drill a test well on his ranch. They were not interested because the “experts” of the day did not believe there was any oil “west of the Pecos.”

Yates finally convinced Transcontinental to try a test well. After 23 days of drilling, at a depth of 1,000 feet, the Yates 1-A came in. A gusher. It spewed oil, rocks, and chunks of earth hundreds of feet in the air. They dammed up a large draw to catch the oil, which soon became a lake of black gold.

Over the next three years, several more wells were drilled producing over 41 million barrels of oil. Then in 1929 the Yates 30-A came in producing 200,000 barrels of oil a day! A world record. Oil at that time was being sold at $1.19/barrel. In 1929 $238,000 a day was a lot of money. Today it would equate to about $3.4 million a day! From just one well! A new town sprung up as a result of the Yates oil field. They named it Ira-ann after the Yates couple. Today it is Iraan, Texas.

On January 11, 1989 the Yates Field, now one of the largest oil producing fields in the world, produced it’s 1 billionth barrel. Today, it is still producing, and it is estimated that there is an additional billion barrels of oil still in the field. The Yates family went from dirt poor to multi-billionaires overnight.

When I hear that story, I think of the poor guy that traded his ranch and ended up with the store in Rankin selling dry goods. I also think of the many days that Ira and Ann must have considered selling out and getting out from under the financial burden of a piece of land that was worthless, not knowing that they were sitting on billions of dollars of oil.

Many Christians live in that same ignorance today, not knowing of the unsearchable riches that are found in Christ. In 1 Corinthians 2:12 it says, “We have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit Who is from God, in order that we might understand the things freely given to us by God.” That verse tells me that the Holy Spirit, as my Teacher and Guide, will lead me to discover the surpassing wealth and value of what I am already in possession of in Christ and Him in me, if I am willing to spend the time with Him each day, studying, praying, and seeking after Him. He is of greater value than all the oil and gold and precious jewels that have ever been found or ever will be.

Start drilling some test wells today. In Christ, you are already in possession of an eternity of wealth.

Sinless or Sin Less?

Same letters but totally different words and meaning. There are some who believe you can reach a point of becoming sinless and not sin anymore. Baloney. The Apostle Paul at the end of his ministry, writing to young Timothy, referred to himself as the chief of sinners.

Yet, Paul knew that he was a saint. He addressed the Christians in all of his letters as saints. He taught in his letters to the church in Rome, the church in Ephesus, the church in Colossae, and the church in Corinth that when Christ died, we died with Him. When Christ was buried, we were buried with Him. When Christ rose from the dead on the third day, we rose with Him. One of his favorite terms is “in Christ.”

That means that in Christ all of your sins are forgiven; past sins, present sins, future sins. You are completely made right with God through faith in Jesus Christ, now and forever. In Ephesians 2:6 he even says that you are seated with Christ in the heavenly places! You are holy in Christ because Jesus paid sin’s penalty and you died with Him and then rose with Him. You have a new Life in Christ because He now lives in you. You in Christ and Christ in you. You are a saint in Christ.

But you still sin. Go figure. What’s the deal? In Romans chapter 7 Paul shares his testimony (I believe close to the end of his life) of the struggle with the “sin that dwells in me…” 7:17, 20, 23. Then in the eighth chapter he shares the victory over the power of sin by walking in the Spirit, and  not in the flesh. He also tells of the assurance we have that one day we will be delivered from the presence of sin, “the redemption of our bodies,” 8:23.

Theologians have talked about it terms of saved (past tense, completed action), being saved (ongoing process of sanctification), and will be saved (resurrection and glorification). In Christ, we are saved from the penalty of sin, we are being saved from the power of sin, and we will be saved from the presence of sin.

Being saved from the power of sin, today, is the struggle. We must learn how to win. In Romans 13:11-14, Ephesians 4:17-32, and Colossians 3:1-17, Paul uses the phrase, “…put off…and put on…” to describe how to walk not in the flesh but in the Spirit. What you put off are the grave clothes of your former dead-life with Adam which was dead, dead, dead in sin. Like Lazarus, you are now alive in Christ but still have the old grave clothes hanging on you. Put them off and move away from the tomb! The grave clothes in those verses are described by actions and attitudes that are associated with sin and death. You don’t have to think that way, act that way, treat others that way anymore. You are alive in Christ with Christ living in you, with you, through you, as you!

But when you do sin, here is what to do; first thank God that He has shown you what is offensive to Him in your thoughts, your feelings, your choices, and in your bodily habits. Then repent by thanking Him for the fact that you are forgiven because 2,000 years ago you died with Christ, were buried with Christ, and rose with Him. Then ask God to teach you His ways so that it will be in your experience as He has declared in His word, dead, buried, and risen with Christ to walk in newness of life.

God will continue to reveal to you the cleansing and renewing He is accomplishing in you day by day as you walk in the Spirit. This will continue for the rest of your life, just like Paul’s testimony. The closer you walk with the Lord, the more you will realize how deeply entrenched sin is and you will experience the ongoing change of becoming more and more like Jesus Christ; faith to faith and glory to glory. Not yet sinless, but definitely sinning less and less!  

Tired of Sin Getting the Best of You?

A believer still fights with sin; daily. The Bible talks about overcoming the power of sin in Romans 5:12-8:39. This is a section of Romans that you should read again and again. In this section Paul talks about the sin that dwells in him (7:17, 20, 23), and the Spirit of God that dwells in him (8:9, 10, 11). He also describes the daily choice of the one you present yourself to obey (6:1-23). You must make a daily choice to place yourself under the Spirit’s authority or you will automatically fall under the power of sin to obey its lusts.

One of the most instructive passages about this choice is found in Luke 2:51-52 where it describes Jesus as a boy and simply says, “And He went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them…and Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.” This means that as a 12 year-old boy, Jesus already was able to recognize, respect, and submit to the authority that the Father had placed Him under. Jesus had authority because He recognized, respected, and submitted to the authority in His Life!

Recognizing, respecting, and submitting to the authority that God has place in your life is a conscience decision. If you do not willingly make that decision you will automatically fall under the power (authority) of sin in your life. You don’t even have to think about it. You will just automatically stay under it, deceived into thinking that you are in charge, when in fact, you are simply a slave to the sin that dwells in you.

God has put in place authority for you to be under in creation, in family, and in society in order to teach you how to willingly, daily, and consciously be under His authority in your life by the Spirit Who dwells in you. When you begin to recognize, respect, and submit to the authority in creation, in family, and in society, you will be more prone to recognize, respect, and submit to the authority of His Spirit, Who dwells in you. A person under authority has it! Once you have it, then there is a power in you that is greater than the power of sin and you rise above it.

Isn’t it amazing how a huge 747 sitting on the runway, full of passengers, is able to fly? How does it overcome the law (power) of gravity? By a greater law (power), the law of aerodynamics. When the plane hits a certain speed, with the design of a particular wingspan, and with proper guidance, it overcomes the law of gravity. It doesn’t strain for it, or try harder and harder for it; it simply rises with it. The Spirit of Jesus does not have any trouble overcoming sin. And He lives in you, if you died with Him on the cross, God also raised you up with Him on the third day. You have authority (power) over sin!

Does that mean you are sinless? You don’t have to worry about being perfectly sinless for a while. What it does mean is that you are able to sin less and less. Progress toward perfection is what you should experience as the Spirit of God dwelling in you reveals more of more of the sin the dwells in you and you experience more and more of His power in you as you repent by recognizing, respecting, and submitting to His presence in you. This is bad English but good theology. Don’t try it until you get tired of sin getting the best of you.

Are You a Thermometer or a Thermostat?

A thermometer changes its temperature with the environment. A thermostat sets its temperature and then influences the environment around it.

Far too many of God’s people are like a thermometer. When it gets hot around them, their mercury goes up too. When it gets cold around them, they get that way too. When it gets mean and nasty…they do too, boring… they do too, exciting…dry…they do too.

But God designed us to be more like a thermostat. Our temperature is set by the Holy Spirit in union with our spirit on Love, Joy, Peace… When the temperature is hot around us, we cool things down; when it is cold, we warm it up…. We influence the environment rather than reflect it. Jesus called this being His witnesses in the world.

How to switch from being a thermometer to becoming a thermostat.

·        Get new “mercury,” by receiving a new heart. When you receive Jesus Christ He gives you His Spirit. He lives in you, with you, through you, as you, in the world around you. He reflects the Father, not the world.

·        Keep your mind stayed on the Lord by staying in His Word each day. As you keep a verse in your mind and review it throughout the day, your “setting” will remain on Him.

·        Keep your “filters” changed by spending time with God each day in prayer, in His Word, and by serving Him. Our lives get clogged with the world by just living in it, but time with God will keep the filters clean and unclogged.

·        Be obedient to the Lord rather than to the world, the flesh, or the devil. As you obey the Lord, His Life is experienced by those around you.

No one ever walks into a cool house on a hot day and talks about how wonderful the thermostat is. But they will talk about how wonderful air conditioning is. As you walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh, those around you will experience Him and will praise God from Whom all blessings flow!