Maybe it's the isolation, maybe it's the separation from the world that has allowed me to see what I believe more clearly now than I have ever seen before. The world is going through something not seen before in the history of mankind. Perspective is extremely important as we all can see with our own eyes what has been unfolding in front of us all for these past few years. This is only a relatively short period of history in relation the the vast archive of humanity's walk upon this earth.
Perspective teaches us that in order to understand and then be able to react, we must have a firm grasp on what is truth reality and what is learned conjecture.
So what am I talking about?
I will state the obvious; since the dawn of recorded mankind, man has always been seeking the truth surrounding our very existence. I believe that deep inside the heart of every man and woman is a yearning to understand why we are here, where we came from and what we are supposed to do while we live. History of humanity has to be regarded as the plumb line that has shown we are searching for Truth. But, there are some interesting facts about this recorded history that should raise the eyebrows of everyone who seeks the Truth.
Millennia gone past has revealed several facts; in particular, one tiny nation among all those of the world has continued to survive against other nations who have tried many times to destroy her and capture her lands. Some have managed to conquer her lands and people, but always a remnant of the people survive and return to their homeland to re-build. Her enemies destroyed or extinct in many cases.
Israel has recorded history dating back over 4000 years ago, almost the longest recorded history of all nations who have ever lived. Only a few others show records a few scant years older.
This is a factual truth. I want to combine some other details that science has dug up that has produced only more speculation.
Language: Science has deciphered ancient languages to show that all language has developed from a parent root language, not more than 4 to 5 thousand years ago. Before that, science is only speculating. What is interesting and cannot be explained is that several of these base languages are complete with extensive structure, both verbal, and written. Immediately prior to any record of written languages we have only a collective of drawings, pictographs and stone carvings. Even the dating of these examples is speculative simply because methods for dating seem to indicate they all began at nearly the same time in history, within a few hundred years of each other. So science does what seems to be logical in trying to establish that these many different languages seem to be based in a root language. They named this hypothetical language Proto-Indo-European. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Indo-Europeans. Without any evidence, written, or in stone, or otherwise, science has firmly stated that language evolved from this one mother language. It is interesting that this hypothesis exists because science also looked at archaeological evidence of the migration patterns of ancient peoples. Evidence suggests that all migration began in ancient Asia, near Turkey or Iran and spread out from there, around 5,000 to 6,000 years ago. Over the years, dialects in language changed and evolved into different speech, new words, resulting in new languages. Science feels this is the best hypothesis for all language as to how all of these languages came about about at the same time in history; all roughly about the same time. Tied together with migration, languages have evolved as the peoples have moved away from each other, but, all stemming back from only one parent language.
Nice theory...here's another one.
The Bible records the people began to build a tower to honor themselves and be able to reach the heavens so they could also be "like God". At this time, all the people spoke the same language, and had spread out across the lands after the Great Flood; all these descendants of Noah and his sons. God came down and confounded the speech of the people so they could not understand each other. The building of the tower to Heaven ceased and the people dispersed, unable to communicate with each other. The place was called Babel after that. Genesis 11:9.
It is interesting to see that scientific evidence fits hand in glove what the Bible states in recorded history. We have no evidence of a first language anywhere, but science believes all languages are rooted in this one first language. Exactly what the Bible states.
Is it merely a coincidence that the scientific hypothesis for the proof of the beginnings of Language for all of humanity point to one language for all peoples, and is not older than 6,000 years ago?
Science has only recently put together these conclusions when the Bible recorded them almost 4,000 years ago. Yet these same scientists are still resisting the obvious proof staring them in the face.
Now, here's where I am going with all of this up to this point: If we are a species who has evolved from our ancestral ape grandparents and through the course of time, (a short time I might add) How did all of humanity end up in a tiny area of the middle east where the first languages have been discovered? Why has archaeology not discovered any civilization on this great planet older than 6,000 to 7,000 years old? How is it that we have this great explosion of the development of civilization and along with it, language, culture, arts, science...all of which indicate great intelligence far exceeding any other species. What is glaringly obvious to me is this, all of these characteristics of human existence, and development all commenced in recorded history at the same time. This development of humanity occurred within a very short window compared to the alleged curve humanity followed as we evolved from pre-historic man. How is this possible?
While language, culture, science or civilization are not the only definitive proofs for our belief in a creator, our existence as a species does not fit with the model of evolution as science would have us believe. Language and these other characteristics have not evolved in the way evolution has suggested they should have. In fact, the evidence indicates that all civilization suddenly appeared, in a very short period of time, very complex in context, not that long ago and beginning in one specific location on earth. Exactly where the Bible says it started.
While evidence exists for civilizations that are older than recorded language it is interesting to note that all these ancient civilizations are now extinct. Seemingly having died out at the same time around 6,000 to 7,000 years ago. I wonder what could have caused that global catastrophe? We'll save this for another time!
Do not be fooled by conjecture of those who would have you believe that you evolved out of pond sludge over millennia. The evidence is there for those who seek.
Be blessed.
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Thursday, May 21, 2015
Unspeakable Joy
Well that's long enough...I can finally breath again.
Almost a year ago was my last blog, the hiatus endured as a result of a change in direction I felt was coming on through my writing. At first the blogs appeared to develop well as my thoughts and adventures here in the D.R. came out on the screen. Then I began to notice a shift in what I was writing, some of the thoughts appeared almost accusatory, often critical about how people lived, or for that matter, didn't live.
God told me to stop writing.
At first I couldn't put a finger on what was wrong; maybe complacency was settling in, maybe I was losing interest in writing, maybe it was a mid-life crisis. After all, I had not had one yet!
Today God told me what it was.
I had lost the Joy of the Lord.
Such a little thing when you think about it, but then again, such a great big thing as well.
I tried hard to think how this could have happened, I mean, I know I love God! I know why I am here! I know who Jesus is to me! I believe!
So what happened?
I happened.
Let me explain, I know we are not supposed to go back to the ways of our past, but I honestly must admit that part of the old me never died when I accepted Jesus. I just assumed that the parts I wanted to die had died...they did not. I cannot pinpoint exactly what began to turn my head back into the world, and I never did slide all the way back in, but I did notice a frustration edging forward in each day that I seemed not to grasp. The tendency for me to "handle" a situation comes from years of being a manager; I know how to solve problems fast. That's the definition of manager.
Trouble is, as a missionary, this is not my job now. I am not a manager, I am a disciple of Jesus.
But when things are not going the way you think they should be going sometimes our first instinct is not to go to the Lord; I found that I was dealing with problems very much the way I did when I was still running a company back in Canada, and here in the D.R., that method can make you very tired, very quickly. Now fatigued and frustrated, and still not going to the Lord to seek His face, I woke up one morning and felt I had not slept at all. I felt no joy and no desire to face another answer-less day; looking in the mirror, I almost did not recognize the man standing there. I cried out to God inside my head simply because I was not alone in the room. Silence laughed back at me from behind the mirror.
I felt His presence after I left the room, the daylight was just breaking and I stopped to look into the bush which surrounds our yard. Dew clung to the leaves of every tree and bush I could see, a thin mist moved through the low brush pushed by a slight breeze in the growing light.
A smile broke onto my face as I breathed in the freshness of the morning, and His presence enveloped my as I stood there on the terrace. Waves of songs rushed through my brain mixed with sounds of wind, warmth and a rising sensation overtook my body. Unspeakable Joy rising up within and I knew within that I was not alone: He was here, ever-present, inside and all around. Wrapping me up in His embrace with invisible arms that lifted me right out of my former state. The worship continued in my head and I broke out into audible song, the words spilling easily off my tongue.
"Greater is the one who lives in me, greater is the love of Jesus, greater than my sin, greater than the grave, above all other thrones, above all other names, Greater! You are Greater!" kudos to Cris Tomlin for these words and song.
I searched myself to understand why God was interested in me; after-all, I am just a man out of many in this great big world, no-one especially exceptional; good at a few things, not so good at others. Not a lot different than any other man. The overwhelming answer kept coming back to me; "because I love you!"
I tried to deny it, "Lord, who am I that you would love me?"
"You are that which I made, I formed you in your mother's womb and gave you life."
"Your life did not come from any other source, you were not an accident, and you did not cause your life to be on your own."
I knew this to be true. I could not have possibly given myself life, the complexity of life itself is no simple thing requiring massive amounts of information to be created, complied and then ordered into a human. Clearly not an accident.
No, I knew that something gave me life. Do I simply conclude that it must be God because there is no other available explanation yet? Not a simple conclusion, the obvious conclusion.
This is to be a daily truth for the rest of my life.
I must seek Him, I must know Him, He gave me life, and I thank Him for that.
Why He chose me is a question I will continue to seek an answer for; how could I possible look for my own truths when I know that I am nothing apart from Him.
I want, no I desire this Unspeakable Joy every day; this is the rule of my days...rest in His peace, worship in His Joy, seek to know Him.
Fruit of the Spirit, Gal 5:22-23 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."
These fruits are the evidence of an individual who has taken on Christ, because Jesus is all these things. These are the outward activities and appearances of the individual that at times of course can be imitated, but never maintained for any length of time unless that individual has surely taken on Christ. For when the trials of life come on and the pressure is turned up, then these fruits will still show through, the individual will be able to overcome, to endure, to run the race. But if the trials come and the Christian is only "putting on a show", then the real fruit of the flesh will come forth. Whatever is truly residing in our hearts will be manifest in the moment especially when the pressure is on. If this occurs in your life, then you must question if you have really given your life to Jesus, or are you just playing at being saved?
Joy, as fruit, simply overstates the inward nature of God, which is manifest in us. As we take on Christ more and more each day, His Joy overflows into us, bathing our souls with unspeakable happiness. This is not a surreal thing, it is not something of our imagination although we sometimes think we could possible imagine such a feeling. It is certainly more than a feeling, in fact, this Joy is somewhat of an enigma; simply stated, if you have never had the Joy of the Lord, you cannot possibly fathom what it is you are missing.
When the Joy of the Lord comes upon you, you will know it as surely as something unique, entirely. You will know exactly what is to be loved unconditionally by the Father, that He chose to dwell inside you and manifest His will for His creation through you. You will know that is this Joy that encompasses your heart that brings you to the point of compassion that breaks your heart because it breaks the Heart of God. This Joy will be so close to your emotion as a human that when it envelopes you, you cannot control the tears when His compassion is revealed through the plight of His children.
The fruit of Joy is combined and available for us with the other manifest fruit of the Spirit and gives unmistakable proof of a Christ filled individual. As you walk with God, each day growing closer and closer to Him, He will reveal His plan for you in His Kingdom, and your life with Him.
Be blessed
Almost a year ago was my last blog, the hiatus endured as a result of a change in direction I felt was coming on through my writing. At first the blogs appeared to develop well as my thoughts and adventures here in the D.R. came out on the screen. Then I began to notice a shift in what I was writing, some of the thoughts appeared almost accusatory, often critical about how people lived, or for that matter, didn't live.
God told me to stop writing.
At first I couldn't put a finger on what was wrong; maybe complacency was settling in, maybe I was losing interest in writing, maybe it was a mid-life crisis. After all, I had not had one yet!
Today God told me what it was.
I had lost the Joy of the Lord.
Such a little thing when you think about it, but then again, such a great big thing as well.
I tried hard to think how this could have happened, I mean, I know I love God! I know why I am here! I know who Jesus is to me! I believe!
So what happened?
I happened.
Let me explain, I know we are not supposed to go back to the ways of our past, but I honestly must admit that part of the old me never died when I accepted Jesus. I just assumed that the parts I wanted to die had died...they did not. I cannot pinpoint exactly what began to turn my head back into the world, and I never did slide all the way back in, but I did notice a frustration edging forward in each day that I seemed not to grasp. The tendency for me to "handle" a situation comes from years of being a manager; I know how to solve problems fast. That's the definition of manager.
Trouble is, as a missionary, this is not my job now. I am not a manager, I am a disciple of Jesus.
But when things are not going the way you think they should be going sometimes our first instinct is not to go to the Lord; I found that I was dealing with problems very much the way I did when I was still running a company back in Canada, and here in the D.R., that method can make you very tired, very quickly. Now fatigued and frustrated, and still not going to the Lord to seek His face, I woke up one morning and felt I had not slept at all. I felt no joy and no desire to face another answer-less day; looking in the mirror, I almost did not recognize the man standing there. I cried out to God inside my head simply because I was not alone in the room. Silence laughed back at me from behind the mirror.
I felt His presence after I left the room, the daylight was just breaking and I stopped to look into the bush which surrounds our yard. Dew clung to the leaves of every tree and bush I could see, a thin mist moved through the low brush pushed by a slight breeze in the growing light.
A smile broke onto my face as I breathed in the freshness of the morning, and His presence enveloped my as I stood there on the terrace. Waves of songs rushed through my brain mixed with sounds of wind, warmth and a rising sensation overtook my body. Unspeakable Joy rising up within and I knew within that I was not alone: He was here, ever-present, inside and all around. Wrapping me up in His embrace with invisible arms that lifted me right out of my former state. The worship continued in my head and I broke out into audible song, the words spilling easily off my tongue.
"Greater is the one who lives in me, greater is the love of Jesus, greater than my sin, greater than the grave, above all other thrones, above all other names, Greater! You are Greater!" kudos to Cris Tomlin for these words and song.
I searched myself to understand why God was interested in me; after-all, I am just a man out of many in this great big world, no-one especially exceptional; good at a few things, not so good at others. Not a lot different than any other man. The overwhelming answer kept coming back to me; "because I love you!"
I tried to deny it, "Lord, who am I that you would love me?"
"You are that which I made, I formed you in your mother's womb and gave you life."
"Your life did not come from any other source, you were not an accident, and you did not cause your life to be on your own."
I knew this to be true. I could not have possibly given myself life, the complexity of life itself is no simple thing requiring massive amounts of information to be created, complied and then ordered into a human. Clearly not an accident.
No, I knew that something gave me life. Do I simply conclude that it must be God because there is no other available explanation yet? Not a simple conclusion, the obvious conclusion.
This is to be a daily truth for the rest of my life.
I must seek Him, I must know Him, He gave me life, and I thank Him for that.
Why He chose me is a question I will continue to seek an answer for; how could I possible look for my own truths when I know that I am nothing apart from Him.
I want, no I desire this Unspeakable Joy every day; this is the rule of my days...rest in His peace, worship in His Joy, seek to know Him.
Fruit of the Spirit, Gal 5:22-23 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."
These fruits are the evidence of an individual who has taken on Christ, because Jesus is all these things. These are the outward activities and appearances of the individual that at times of course can be imitated, but never maintained for any length of time unless that individual has surely taken on Christ. For when the trials of life come on and the pressure is turned up, then these fruits will still show through, the individual will be able to overcome, to endure, to run the race. But if the trials come and the Christian is only "putting on a show", then the real fruit of the flesh will come forth. Whatever is truly residing in our hearts will be manifest in the moment especially when the pressure is on. If this occurs in your life, then you must question if you have really given your life to Jesus, or are you just playing at being saved?
Joy, as fruit, simply overstates the inward nature of God, which is manifest in us. As we take on Christ more and more each day, His Joy overflows into us, bathing our souls with unspeakable happiness. This is not a surreal thing, it is not something of our imagination although we sometimes think we could possible imagine such a feeling. It is certainly more than a feeling, in fact, this Joy is somewhat of an enigma; simply stated, if you have never had the Joy of the Lord, you cannot possibly fathom what it is you are missing.
When the Joy of the Lord comes upon you, you will know it as surely as something unique, entirely. You will know exactly what is to be loved unconditionally by the Father, that He chose to dwell inside you and manifest His will for His creation through you. You will know that is this Joy that encompasses your heart that brings you to the point of compassion that breaks your heart because it breaks the Heart of God. This Joy will be so close to your emotion as a human that when it envelopes you, you cannot control the tears when His compassion is revealed through the plight of His children.
The fruit of Joy is combined and available for us with the other manifest fruit of the Spirit and gives unmistakable proof of a Christ filled individual. As you walk with God, each day growing closer and closer to Him, He will reveal His plan for you in His Kingdom, and your life with Him.
Be blessed
Thursday, May 8, 2014
Apology Accepted
For the last several years while building the Mission House as well as fitting into the culture and climate of the D.R. I have also delved deeper into studies of why things work the way they do in the world looking at these things from an old Biblical perspective. The study of Apologetics has been around for many years, even going back before Christianity itself was birthed early in the first century. For those of you who know about apologetics I will commend you.
If you don't know about Apologetics I can tell you it is not a study on how to apologize for being a Christian.
Apologetics is a somewhat little used area of base philosophy that looks at all aspects of creation within the physical world as well as the spiritual world and attempts to explain "God" throughout the results we perceive and or experience.
Let me say this another way...this is the proof that God leaves behind in everything He does. Apologetics roots out the proof through deductive reasoning, logic, philosophy and just plain old common sense.
Scripture tells us that we should be able to talk to anyone that asks us why we believe what we believe. What is the truth behind our belief and why? 1 Peter 3:15 states implicitly this, "but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence" NASB
Apologetics does exactly this.
There are apologetic studies in virtually every field of science and philosophy known to man today.
Some are extremely confusing and require a lot of study in order to make sense of and others are fairly easy to get your head around.
The thing to consider here is that this area of study I believe is important for the believer who may need to build up his Faith in God. It is important for the person who doesn't necessarily doubt his belief in Jesus but may have questions that are coming at you all the time.
Let us consider a few questions that are always used by atheists as ammunition against Christianity and the existence of God therefore.
One of the biggest doubts and hardest topics of them all is the question of evil. For centuries non-believers and believers alike have stated "How can a good God allow evil to reign in the world like it does?" The ramifications of individual situations with respect to this question are far reaching. One individual who loves and believes God can go through horrific events like war or maybe even a close family dying through tragedy. These events can cause Faith to waiver and many individuals can come to a point where they might just stop believing that there really is God in their lives.
Happens all the time. So how are those involved in these events deal with the evil that comes upon them? Where was God when they were crying out?
Let's look briefly at a couple of things here...we can have two perspectives for pairing a good God with evil in the world: either logically or through probability.
Logically it does not follow that God exists alongside evil simply because if you state logically the following, if God exists then evil cannot exist
since evil exists then God does not exist
But this logical statement in fact holds no basis for an argument. Atheists will assume that because God has no use for evil that logically He cannot exist. We simply do not know what God is doing with evil from a moralistic point of view. We have neither the intellect nor understanding of God's use of evil for the world.
We react based on what we see and experience, but God knows the outcomes of all of these things in advance and in the future. We of course want to try to understand and sometimes the answer is not so obvious. Take for example, a dying child with Leukemia....many of us can relate and maybe some of us have experienced this kind of tragedy that can be perceived as evil from God. But is it really?
Frankly, from a logical point of view, it would appear that God is evil.
Let me continue with another perspective, probability shows that it is more likely that God exists in our lives and world and universe simply because of all the rest of the evidence which supports His existence. Take for example, The Big Bang. Scientists all over the world now believe almost unanimously that everything came into being from a singular event some time ago and all that you see on this world and in our ever expanding universe came from nothing. Before this event there had to be nothing, not even time...everything began at this one point in time. With a gigantic explosion that produced all the matter, all the energy, all the planets and stars and then life on earth.
All of the known laws of science that man understands today all point toward this singular event.
The atheists and agnostic communities have no answer for this. The atheist position prior to this discovery had been that the universe had always existed and that over these eons of years, life and therefore humanity has evolved out of the matter around. It actually makes sense until the realization of the truth of how our universe began is taken into account...from a singularity. We know this now to be true because we can actually see the billions of stars and planets moving away from a singular point...extrapolating backwards means you come to a point when all the matter in the universe was in one place and something caused it to explode and begin to expand away from this one point in space. Of course science does not yet have an answer for what caused this "Big Bang" and even if science can discover what was the cause, it can never answer the question of why? Science is cold, science is fact and science is unremorseful. God is the only answer that can justify the conditions of life and the universe as we know it today.
Let's look into another bit of science that man has not yet figured out, a conundrum if you will. This little problem of DNA. This is the nail in the coffin of all atheism and yet they still deny the truth.
DNA is the most amazing building block of life necessary and contained within all living matter on earth. DNA is the common thread that runs throughout life and still remains a mystery to science.
Man has been able to decipher the DNA code that forms life, made simply of a handful of simple proteins that contains the information necessary in building cellular material in an organism. Unfortunately science has yet to discover how any of this could have arisen from a pool of historic pond sludge which may have contained the necessary elements required for life.
The fact is this, the more we come to understand all the necessary components required for even constructing a single cell organism the probability of this even occurring by chance become exponential, somewhere in the neighborhood of 1 in 10^40000. This is for only one single cell occurring by chance! The same odds are necessary for lipids and simple carbohydrates necessary for life to happen. Now we are talking exponential impossibilities! There is simply far too much complexity in all of life right from the building blocks of amino acids in DNA to the irreducible complexity of an eyeball in all living creatures that raises questions against macro-evolution.
This complexity is not random and in fact far too consistent and similar within life of all forms not to rule out the presence of some intelligent design. Bottom line, you cannot get the level of information required in all of the DNA and cellular bodies that make up a human and not avoid the mathematical impossibility of randomness as the answer. We are not an accident. I may not understand all the processes that go into the science of DNA and genetic sequencing but I can do the math.
Atheists can and likely will continue to debate that God exists, because that is what they do. I understand they think they are fighting for an independence of self. I get that, I mean we all love to think that we did something or achieved a greatness on our own without any kind of divine intervention or help. I'll give you an example...I am a chef and I know how to make the most amazing prime rib roast...starting with a beautiful cut of aged Angus Rib Roast moving through a series of steps involving seasoning, tying up the roast so it does not fall apart in the oven, then roasting at the right temperature for the exact time necessary to produce the most rich, succulent, mouth watering slice of heaven you will ever taste. A hint of garlic, distinct flavor of Rosemary and pepper, the saltiness of the rich gravy alongside the perfectly roasted Herb crusted Baby Red Potatoes. All of this nestled on a plate beside fresh steamed asparagus seasoned with lemon butter. Who's hungry now?
I described only a tiny talent available to any of us and all of us if we put our minds to it to learn something. The point is this, as humans we have the ability to learn anything another human can do or think of. That is uncanny. Think about it...someone thought about and built a boat to sail across the ocean and discover this island...I can do that too, if I learn how. Someone thought and built a craft that can escape the earth's gravity and sail off into deep space to land on the moon and Mars...I can do that, if I learn how. Someone thought and built a device to see into the tiniest organisms to see how they are put together and how those building blocks are used to build the material which makes up the organism! I can do that...if I learn how.
The greatest apologetic reason we have available to us for the reasoning behind whether or not God is real is right here. In us. Now I am not going to open up a debate as to how old the earth is and whether or not you are a young earth believer or old earth believer is beside the point. Is it possible the earth could be older than the Bible says it is? Yes I suppose because we are not sure, but it is also possible that God made it to look as old as it is...after all He is God right? He can do anything right? Here's the point, we just don't know, but this we do know. Humanity is the most complex organism around today: the most sentient, intelligent and capable of many great things, achievements, abilities, talents, etcetera...the list is endless. Humanity only appeared a few years ago relative to the age of all things we see and know now...or did we? I am going to go back to the math problem I started with about life existing. Science has a problem...a problem that is growing bigger and bigger and more complex every time they discover another bit of information that defines us, that defines life. Each tiny little discovery adds another dimension of mathematical improbability to the equation of life...an already impossibly small probability of chance that even one single celled organism could have been formed by accident...let alone the multi-billioned cell creature, that can reason, and design and build and learn and communicate like we do. And all of us almost 7 billion now having got to this level of intellect in less than 10,000 years! But it gets worse folks...someone designed and built the tower of Babel! Someone designed and built the Great Pyramids! Someone designed and built a great big boat and filled it with animals a long time ago! That was over 3000 years ago folks. Actually I must correct myself...it was God who designed the ark and told Noah how to build it...but Noah still built it! Oh, I guess I can't use that one because the atheists and agnostics require proof.
How can the atheists deny their own existence? How can atheists stare blankly at the masterpiece of humanity and deny that the artist is greater than any one of us? Or all of us put together?
I am sorry...I do not have the faith to be an atheist. I would have to deny everything that even science has discovered and put together about life and our existence.
But no matter how much proof we can throw at them about what God has built in our own universe and in our own complex bodies, they will never understand until they get out of their own way and let God reveal himself directly to them one at a time. No man or woman will ever convince another that God exists through anything we can say or do. But we might plant a seed in their lives. Me might get them to ask the same questions as I did...and those questions will start them on a journey seeking truth...and then they will find God. So that's it then...we must continue to speak the truth about what we believe when we are given the opportunity. Once we have a believer coming to us with questions about God it is our directive if you will to make them disciples once God has revealed himself and they believe. It is God who does the work in any individual, not us doing the work in them. It is only God who reveals himself inside the believer.
My prayer is this quite simply, "If you are asking the same questions as I am, "How is this possible? Why are we here? What is life all about?" Then you can do one of two things. Believe the evidence or deny the evidence. I pray that you believe. God already told us what He did, "For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb. 14I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.…Psalm 139:13
Never doubt for a second who made you, no matter how much people through the evil question at you...no matter how much evil you see around you. I know it's hard, I see the same thing you all are seeing. But I cannot deny Him, and I don't claim to know why He allows so much evil to continue. But folks know this, we live in a fractured world, full of fallen people, and I choose to believe in God who has made me not because the math tells me so, that's the obvious stuff. I choose to believe Him because He chose me first...and that's amazing.
In Love
If you don't know about Apologetics I can tell you it is not a study on how to apologize for being a Christian.
Apologetics is a somewhat little used area of base philosophy that looks at all aspects of creation within the physical world as well as the spiritual world and attempts to explain "God" throughout the results we perceive and or experience.
Let me say this another way...this is the proof that God leaves behind in everything He does. Apologetics roots out the proof through deductive reasoning, logic, philosophy and just plain old common sense.
Scripture tells us that we should be able to talk to anyone that asks us why we believe what we believe. What is the truth behind our belief and why? 1 Peter 3:15 states implicitly this, "but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence" NASB
Apologetics does exactly this.
There are apologetic studies in virtually every field of science and philosophy known to man today.
Some are extremely confusing and require a lot of study in order to make sense of and others are fairly easy to get your head around.
The thing to consider here is that this area of study I believe is important for the believer who may need to build up his Faith in God. It is important for the person who doesn't necessarily doubt his belief in Jesus but may have questions that are coming at you all the time.
Let us consider a few questions that are always used by atheists as ammunition against Christianity and the existence of God therefore.
One of the biggest doubts and hardest topics of them all is the question of evil. For centuries non-believers and believers alike have stated "How can a good God allow evil to reign in the world like it does?" The ramifications of individual situations with respect to this question are far reaching. One individual who loves and believes God can go through horrific events like war or maybe even a close family dying through tragedy. These events can cause Faith to waiver and many individuals can come to a point where they might just stop believing that there really is God in their lives.
Happens all the time. So how are those involved in these events deal with the evil that comes upon them? Where was God when they were crying out?
Let's look briefly at a couple of things here...we can have two perspectives for pairing a good God with evil in the world: either logically or through probability.
Logically it does not follow that God exists alongside evil simply because if you state logically the following, if God exists then evil cannot exist
since evil exists then God does not exist
But this logical statement in fact holds no basis for an argument. Atheists will assume that because God has no use for evil that logically He cannot exist. We simply do not know what God is doing with evil from a moralistic point of view. We have neither the intellect nor understanding of God's use of evil for the world.
We react based on what we see and experience, but God knows the outcomes of all of these things in advance and in the future. We of course want to try to understand and sometimes the answer is not so obvious. Take for example, a dying child with Leukemia....many of us can relate and maybe some of us have experienced this kind of tragedy that can be perceived as evil from God. But is it really?
Frankly, from a logical point of view, it would appear that God is evil.
Let me continue with another perspective, probability shows that it is more likely that God exists in our lives and world and universe simply because of all the rest of the evidence which supports His existence. Take for example, The Big Bang. Scientists all over the world now believe almost unanimously that everything came into being from a singular event some time ago and all that you see on this world and in our ever expanding universe came from nothing. Before this event there had to be nothing, not even time...everything began at this one point in time. With a gigantic explosion that produced all the matter, all the energy, all the planets and stars and then life on earth.
All of the known laws of science that man understands today all point toward this singular event.
The atheists and agnostic communities have no answer for this. The atheist position prior to this discovery had been that the universe had always existed and that over these eons of years, life and therefore humanity has evolved out of the matter around. It actually makes sense until the realization of the truth of how our universe began is taken into account...from a singularity. We know this now to be true because we can actually see the billions of stars and planets moving away from a singular point...extrapolating backwards means you come to a point when all the matter in the universe was in one place and something caused it to explode and begin to expand away from this one point in space. Of course science does not yet have an answer for what caused this "Big Bang" and even if science can discover what was the cause, it can never answer the question of why? Science is cold, science is fact and science is unremorseful. God is the only answer that can justify the conditions of life and the universe as we know it today.
Let's look into another bit of science that man has not yet figured out, a conundrum if you will. This little problem of DNA. This is the nail in the coffin of all atheism and yet they still deny the truth.
DNA is the most amazing building block of life necessary and contained within all living matter on earth. DNA is the common thread that runs throughout life and still remains a mystery to science.
Man has been able to decipher the DNA code that forms life, made simply of a handful of simple proteins that contains the information necessary in building cellular material in an organism. Unfortunately science has yet to discover how any of this could have arisen from a pool of historic pond sludge which may have contained the necessary elements required for life.
The fact is this, the more we come to understand all the necessary components required for even constructing a single cell organism the probability of this even occurring by chance become exponential, somewhere in the neighborhood of 1 in 10^40000. This is for only one single cell occurring by chance! The same odds are necessary for lipids and simple carbohydrates necessary for life to happen. Now we are talking exponential impossibilities! There is simply far too much complexity in all of life right from the building blocks of amino acids in DNA to the irreducible complexity of an eyeball in all living creatures that raises questions against macro-evolution.
This complexity is not random and in fact far too consistent and similar within life of all forms not to rule out the presence of some intelligent design. Bottom line, you cannot get the level of information required in all of the DNA and cellular bodies that make up a human and not avoid the mathematical impossibility of randomness as the answer. We are not an accident. I may not understand all the processes that go into the science of DNA and genetic sequencing but I can do the math.
Atheists can and likely will continue to debate that God exists, because that is what they do. I understand they think they are fighting for an independence of self. I get that, I mean we all love to think that we did something or achieved a greatness on our own without any kind of divine intervention or help. I'll give you an example...I am a chef and I know how to make the most amazing prime rib roast...starting with a beautiful cut of aged Angus Rib Roast moving through a series of steps involving seasoning, tying up the roast so it does not fall apart in the oven, then roasting at the right temperature for the exact time necessary to produce the most rich, succulent, mouth watering slice of heaven you will ever taste. A hint of garlic, distinct flavor of Rosemary and pepper, the saltiness of the rich gravy alongside the perfectly roasted Herb crusted Baby Red Potatoes. All of this nestled on a plate beside fresh steamed asparagus seasoned with lemon butter. Who's hungry now?
I described only a tiny talent available to any of us and all of us if we put our minds to it to learn something. The point is this, as humans we have the ability to learn anything another human can do or think of. That is uncanny. Think about it...someone thought about and built a boat to sail across the ocean and discover this island...I can do that too, if I learn how. Someone thought and built a craft that can escape the earth's gravity and sail off into deep space to land on the moon and Mars...I can do that, if I learn how. Someone thought and built a device to see into the tiniest organisms to see how they are put together and how those building blocks are used to build the material which makes up the organism! I can do that...if I learn how.
The greatest apologetic reason we have available to us for the reasoning behind whether or not God is real is right here. In us. Now I am not going to open up a debate as to how old the earth is and whether or not you are a young earth believer or old earth believer is beside the point. Is it possible the earth could be older than the Bible says it is? Yes I suppose because we are not sure, but it is also possible that God made it to look as old as it is...after all He is God right? He can do anything right? Here's the point, we just don't know, but this we do know. Humanity is the most complex organism around today: the most sentient, intelligent and capable of many great things, achievements, abilities, talents, etcetera...the list is endless. Humanity only appeared a few years ago relative to the age of all things we see and know now...or did we? I am going to go back to the math problem I started with about life existing. Science has a problem...a problem that is growing bigger and bigger and more complex every time they discover another bit of information that defines us, that defines life. Each tiny little discovery adds another dimension of mathematical improbability to the equation of life...an already impossibly small probability of chance that even one single celled organism could have been formed by accident...let alone the multi-billioned cell creature, that can reason, and design and build and learn and communicate like we do. And all of us almost 7 billion now having got to this level of intellect in less than 10,000 years! But it gets worse folks...someone designed and built the tower of Babel! Someone designed and built the Great Pyramids! Someone designed and built a great big boat and filled it with animals a long time ago! That was over 3000 years ago folks. Actually I must correct myself...it was God who designed the ark and told Noah how to build it...but Noah still built it! Oh, I guess I can't use that one because the atheists and agnostics require proof.
How can the atheists deny their own existence? How can atheists stare blankly at the masterpiece of humanity and deny that the artist is greater than any one of us? Or all of us put together?
I am sorry...I do not have the faith to be an atheist. I would have to deny everything that even science has discovered and put together about life and our existence.
But no matter how much proof we can throw at them about what God has built in our own universe and in our own complex bodies, they will never understand until they get out of their own way and let God reveal himself directly to them one at a time. No man or woman will ever convince another that God exists through anything we can say or do. But we might plant a seed in their lives. Me might get them to ask the same questions as I did...and those questions will start them on a journey seeking truth...and then they will find God. So that's it then...we must continue to speak the truth about what we believe when we are given the opportunity. Once we have a believer coming to us with questions about God it is our directive if you will to make them disciples once God has revealed himself and they believe. It is God who does the work in any individual, not us doing the work in them. It is only God who reveals himself inside the believer.
My prayer is this quite simply, "If you are asking the same questions as I am, "How is this possible? Why are we here? What is life all about?" Then you can do one of two things. Believe the evidence or deny the evidence. I pray that you believe. God already told us what He did, "For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb. 14I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.…Psalm 139:13
Never doubt for a second who made you, no matter how much people through the evil question at you...no matter how much evil you see around you. I know it's hard, I see the same thing you all are seeing. But I cannot deny Him, and I don't claim to know why He allows so much evil to continue. But folks know this, we live in a fractured world, full of fallen people, and I choose to believe in God who has made me not because the math tells me so, that's the obvious stuff. I choose to believe Him because He chose me first...and that's amazing.
In Love
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Open Letter To Man
I don't claim to know much about women, but I know enough about what I see going on around me in the lives of other couples and there are some striking similarities and differences between relationships that work and those that don't. Now don't get me wrong, I don't have all the answers here about women and I want to make it clear that the following suggestions are just that...they are suggestions to man that I know will work if you want to have an amazing relationship with your wife.
I married my bride almost 14 years ago now and I can honestly tell you that I love her more today than the day I wed her. We have come to a point where I can see when I do certain things for her every day, I see her react in very different ways every time. I will state categorically that I do not suggest to any man that these things will guarantee your marriage better success, but I do know they work for me. Let me explain a few key points to my brothers first.
I believe if each of us men are truly honest and ask ourselves why we got married in the first place I am sure the responses would vary from guy to guy but overall we could assume men married for Love most of all...I mean really, what else could there be?
Most every guy I know goes through the same process of courtship while developing a relationship that turns into marriage; we use the usual tactics to woo our loves; poetry, song, wine, gifts, flowers, and dates galore. Now of course some of us guys are better at wooing than others and I believe (my opinion) it is our attitude toward our significant other that determines how our marriage life grows.
Most of us men usually stop our courtship routine once we have settled into a routine with our new bride, complacency settles in, we begin to move into a state of simply co-existing. Life becomes mundane, even routine from day to day. I firmly believe that we must be intentional in keeping our relationships strong just as we were intentional in developing the relationship when we first met our lady love.
This can be difficult for some men to continue over the long course of a relationship, simply because most men are selfish, takers for themselves instead of givers to others. Of course the camp of men will strongly disagree with some of these statements, but I challenge these men to look at your own results with your relationship with your spouse or girlfriend and compare your results to what you do for you over what you do for her. Quite simply it boils down to this:
Do you give to yourself more than you give to her on a daily basis?
Now I'm not talking about giving in to her every little whim and whimper. I am talking about creating an air of surprise in your relationship on a daily basis. This involves putting your spouse before you. Men must break the routine that settles in their lives and go back to courting her like you did when you met.
These little things go a long way:
Bring her coffee each morning, even coffee in bed!
Compliment her often, tell her you love her, tell her she is beautiful. I tell my wife she is a blessing to me all the time.
What puts a smile on her face? Each of us knows exactly what makes her happy: Happy wife, happy life!
Encourage her when she is doubtful or afraid, she is looking to us to be strong in the family and if we do not lead then she will be forced to. This alone will cause strife in your life with her.
Get up and help her with dinner, and then with the cleanup; just because you are king of your castle does not mean you get to have her as a slave.
Make her breakfast or dinner or lunch...cook anything from time to time! Every man has a meal he can prepare well and if you don't then learn one!
Raise your children to be respectful of her, they will mimic and copy you; the way you treat your spouse is the way they will treat her. If your children are disrespectful and argumentative with their mother it is because they see it with you. If you have children who are estranged with their mother and or you it is possibly because it started first with you and the way you treated your spouse. They learned it from you! It is a man's responsibility to lead in his house, yes your wife is your partner and your equal but the ultimate authority in the house falls on a man's shoulders. She will begin to despise you if she has to make all the decisions for the house.
Talk to your wife every day, tell her you love her every day.
Open the car door for her, more than once a year!
Introduce your wife to new people before you start into any conversation. If your wife has to introduce herself to anyone in your presence you have already slipped up.
Defend your wife if any man slights her in or out of your presence. If she has to defend herself, she of course will, but it is your job to do this and she will respect you more if you protect her from slander. Of course, she must also keep a civil tongue and not bring strife upon the family through a disrespectful tongue.
Never let the sun go down on your anger with her. She deserves our ear. Her responsibilities as wife, and mother are great. Stop trying to solve her problems, many times she only wants us to listen!
Take your wife on a date...more than once a year! There are 365 days in the year...that means you have 365 daily opportunities to impress her!
Ultimately each man has to look at his own life and decide if he is doing enough to keep his relationship fresh and exciting with his wife. Look honestly at what you do for her and stop expecting her to do anything for you. Trust me when I say this to you: If you give more than you expect to receive then you are doing a good thing.
If you expect her to be your hand maiden and sex slave just because you think you deserve it then you have missed the point entirely. This mentality will only bring you strife and sorrow in your relationship for this is not respectful.
Look at what you have in your possessions. If you treat her less than you treat your truck, you have missed the point of relationship. Do you not think she knows you love your truck more than her?
Finally this admonishment to my fellow man,
Love her, she is your gift from God, your blessing. If you see her as anything else, go back to that time when you first met her. Look at her again with new eyes and never forget why God has put you together. Get out of your own way and live your life together as God intended.
In Love
Mike
I married my bride almost 14 years ago now and I can honestly tell you that I love her more today than the day I wed her. We have come to a point where I can see when I do certain things for her every day, I see her react in very different ways every time. I will state categorically that I do not suggest to any man that these things will guarantee your marriage better success, but I do know they work for me. Let me explain a few key points to my brothers first.
I believe if each of us men are truly honest and ask ourselves why we got married in the first place I am sure the responses would vary from guy to guy but overall we could assume men married for Love most of all...I mean really, what else could there be?
Most every guy I know goes through the same process of courtship while developing a relationship that turns into marriage; we use the usual tactics to woo our loves; poetry, song, wine, gifts, flowers, and dates galore. Now of course some of us guys are better at wooing than others and I believe (my opinion) it is our attitude toward our significant other that determines how our marriage life grows.
Most of us men usually stop our courtship routine once we have settled into a routine with our new bride, complacency settles in, we begin to move into a state of simply co-existing. Life becomes mundane, even routine from day to day. I firmly believe that we must be intentional in keeping our relationships strong just as we were intentional in developing the relationship when we first met our lady love.
This can be difficult for some men to continue over the long course of a relationship, simply because most men are selfish, takers for themselves instead of givers to others. Of course the camp of men will strongly disagree with some of these statements, but I challenge these men to look at your own results with your relationship with your spouse or girlfriend and compare your results to what you do for you over what you do for her. Quite simply it boils down to this:
Do you give to yourself more than you give to her on a daily basis?
Now I'm not talking about giving in to her every little whim and whimper. I am talking about creating an air of surprise in your relationship on a daily basis. This involves putting your spouse before you. Men must break the routine that settles in their lives and go back to courting her like you did when you met.
These little things go a long way:
Bring her coffee each morning, even coffee in bed!
Compliment her often, tell her you love her, tell her she is beautiful. I tell my wife she is a blessing to me all the time.
What puts a smile on her face? Each of us knows exactly what makes her happy: Happy wife, happy life!
Encourage her when she is doubtful or afraid, she is looking to us to be strong in the family and if we do not lead then she will be forced to. This alone will cause strife in your life with her.
Get up and help her with dinner, and then with the cleanup; just because you are king of your castle does not mean you get to have her as a slave.
Make her breakfast or dinner or lunch...cook anything from time to time! Every man has a meal he can prepare well and if you don't then learn one!
Raise your children to be respectful of her, they will mimic and copy you; the way you treat your spouse is the way they will treat her. If your children are disrespectful and argumentative with their mother it is because they see it with you. If you have children who are estranged with their mother and or you it is possibly because it started first with you and the way you treated your spouse. They learned it from you! It is a man's responsibility to lead in his house, yes your wife is your partner and your equal but the ultimate authority in the house falls on a man's shoulders. She will begin to despise you if she has to make all the decisions for the house.
Talk to your wife every day, tell her you love her every day.
Open the car door for her, more than once a year!
Introduce your wife to new people before you start into any conversation. If your wife has to introduce herself to anyone in your presence you have already slipped up.
Defend your wife if any man slights her in or out of your presence. If she has to defend herself, she of course will, but it is your job to do this and she will respect you more if you protect her from slander. Of course, she must also keep a civil tongue and not bring strife upon the family through a disrespectful tongue.
Never let the sun go down on your anger with her. She deserves our ear. Her responsibilities as wife, and mother are great. Stop trying to solve her problems, many times she only wants us to listen!
Take your wife on a date...more than once a year! There are 365 days in the year...that means you have 365 daily opportunities to impress her!
Ultimately each man has to look at his own life and decide if he is doing enough to keep his relationship fresh and exciting with his wife. Look honestly at what you do for her and stop expecting her to do anything for you. Trust me when I say this to you: If you give more than you expect to receive then you are doing a good thing.
If you expect her to be your hand maiden and sex slave just because you think you deserve it then you have missed the point entirely. This mentality will only bring you strife and sorrow in your relationship for this is not respectful.
Look at what you have in your possessions. If you treat her less than you treat your truck, you have missed the point of relationship. Do you not think she knows you love your truck more than her?
Finally this admonishment to my fellow man,
Love her, she is your gift from God, your blessing. If you see her as anything else, go back to that time when you first met her. Look at her again with new eyes and never forget why God has put you together. Get out of your own way and live your life together as God intended.
In Love
Mike
Saturday, April 5, 2014
Choices...
So it has been a while since I last posted; of late I must confess we have been busy doing the things which God has called us to do here in the Dominican Republic. Since February Laura and I have now completed more than five weeks of teams. At times the Mission House was at capacity of 15 people or near there; each team receiving top notch accommodations and meals each day. We feel totally blessed having come this far on our Dominican journey to see the fulfillment of this dream.
God is good, let me tell you. With more teams to come in the year ahead and even bookings into 2015 we see the blessings at hand God has given us. I also know that our work here in the D.R. will have other aspects of Ministry to come.
There is still a burden laid on my heart for the lack of peace many people have in their lives for one reason or another. I feel a genuine compassion towards the issues of life people around us have to endure. As we continue to grow and learn here in the D.R. I find that God has placed opportunity at hand, people we never expected come to us almost daily with the burdens of life. Invariably we see a similarity with their problems and our trials we have already walked through. The counseling becomes evident. Most are unsaved, our new community of neighbors and friends, although our new Christian family on the island also presents opportunity to show how we walk with the Lord. Very simply and without a lot of effort, through our living and loving of the Lord, those around us see God through us. Whenever they come, whatever they say, we can only direct them to our choices made with God in mind. Incredibly, many of them come with questions, or they dump their burdens out in front of us seeking answers. Other times we are just an ear that listens or a shoulder to lean on. What I find interesting is that we don't seek out these people. When we meet new folks, I sense that they are seeking, no not necessarily seeking Mike and Laura...they have no idea what they are seeking. I know they have questions, burdens, griefs and trials and so do they, but they also have within them a desire to be free from these burdens and problems. God built us this way, to seek Him, to trust His ways; and when we follow Him, He carries us through the trials and onto calmer waters. The trouble is this though, even if you are a Christian and believe, we do not necessarily take all of our burdens to Him for help. We try and solve them in our own way, with our strength, with our perceived solutions. Ironically when our problems don't get solved we then turn and blame God for not being there in our lives. I've seen this with people in my own life, I am sure you also know others who do the same, maybe even you. We must continue to strive to build our relationship with Him daily so that we can then become more proficient at working through the trials, with His help! I know this sounds trite or even impossible in many situations, but the truth is many times we get ourselves into messes or trials by the things we have done without God! Our decisions lead us into trouble more often than not, especially when we make those decisions without God! Can you see the point? If you don't know Him, you are constantly falling into trial with one thing or another! Don't get me wrong here; I love life and living it, and I don't always make the right decisions, but this is a truth: when I make decisions with God's will in mind, peace always reigns in my life. That does not mean I do not have trial through those decisions, but I do have the peace of God that carries me through it! When I choose against His will, trial endures, conflict ensues. If each of us is really honest with what is going on in our lives whether we know the Lord or not, we still know the difference between right and wrong. We know which way we should go...and we know which way we should not. What happens after is always a result of the choices we made, good or bad. We have no business blaming God for the mess we find ourselves in after we do what we do! You can pick any example from life here; simply insert the choice into the formula and look at the result you created. God gets far too much blame for our trials and too little credit for our blessings. When things go wrong we blame Him, when things go right, we praise ourselves. How hypocritical are we?
Everyone of us is on a journey through life; if you know God then your journey should involve more of Him; if you don't know God, well then your journey is very much a roll of the dice isn't it? I want to make the point here because I see too many walking into walls time and time again fighting the same battles again and again when the answer is staring them in the face. I realize that it takes time to understand our walk with the Lord each day and that we must be mindful of where others are in their walk as well; no two of us are in the same place as the other with the Lord. I don't have all the answers, nor am I expected to, but I do know this: every time I lean on God, for my life, for my direction, for my choices, He always blesses me with the results. When I lean on my own authority, there is always some kind of mess that comes out of it; today I can say I have fewer and fewer messes.
Ultimately each of us has the choice to make, Follow Him?, or Follow Me?
As for Mike, he will never go back to the world and seek advice: The world is lost folks, the world has no answers. If you see the same thing I do then you can only come to one solution....choose God.
Don't be afraid...you know He's right
Just choose.
Have Faith, get to know Him and He will show you a better way.
I believe it does not matter what you do, if you look to God before every step, you will see greater purpose for your life. You will see God's will for yourself. You will see your life impacting the lives of others. That is purpose.
That is truth.
That my friends is why we are alive.
Blessings
God is good, let me tell you. With more teams to come in the year ahead and even bookings into 2015 we see the blessings at hand God has given us. I also know that our work here in the D.R. will have other aspects of Ministry to come.
There is still a burden laid on my heart for the lack of peace many people have in their lives for one reason or another. I feel a genuine compassion towards the issues of life people around us have to endure. As we continue to grow and learn here in the D.R. I find that God has placed opportunity at hand, people we never expected come to us almost daily with the burdens of life. Invariably we see a similarity with their problems and our trials we have already walked through. The counseling becomes evident. Most are unsaved, our new community of neighbors and friends, although our new Christian family on the island also presents opportunity to show how we walk with the Lord. Very simply and without a lot of effort, through our living and loving of the Lord, those around us see God through us. Whenever they come, whatever they say, we can only direct them to our choices made with God in mind. Incredibly, many of them come with questions, or they dump their burdens out in front of us seeking answers. Other times we are just an ear that listens or a shoulder to lean on. What I find interesting is that we don't seek out these people. When we meet new folks, I sense that they are seeking, no not necessarily seeking Mike and Laura...they have no idea what they are seeking. I know they have questions, burdens, griefs and trials and so do they, but they also have within them a desire to be free from these burdens and problems. God built us this way, to seek Him, to trust His ways; and when we follow Him, He carries us through the trials and onto calmer waters. The trouble is this though, even if you are a Christian and believe, we do not necessarily take all of our burdens to Him for help. We try and solve them in our own way, with our strength, with our perceived solutions. Ironically when our problems don't get solved we then turn and blame God for not being there in our lives. I've seen this with people in my own life, I am sure you also know others who do the same, maybe even you. We must continue to strive to build our relationship with Him daily so that we can then become more proficient at working through the trials, with His help! I know this sounds trite or even impossible in many situations, but the truth is many times we get ourselves into messes or trials by the things we have done without God! Our decisions lead us into trouble more often than not, especially when we make those decisions without God! Can you see the point? If you don't know Him, you are constantly falling into trial with one thing or another! Don't get me wrong here; I love life and living it, and I don't always make the right decisions, but this is a truth: when I make decisions with God's will in mind, peace always reigns in my life. That does not mean I do not have trial through those decisions, but I do have the peace of God that carries me through it! When I choose against His will, trial endures, conflict ensues. If each of us is really honest with what is going on in our lives whether we know the Lord or not, we still know the difference between right and wrong. We know which way we should go...and we know which way we should not. What happens after is always a result of the choices we made, good or bad. We have no business blaming God for the mess we find ourselves in after we do what we do! You can pick any example from life here; simply insert the choice into the formula and look at the result you created. God gets far too much blame for our trials and too little credit for our blessings. When things go wrong we blame Him, when things go right, we praise ourselves. How hypocritical are we?
Everyone of us is on a journey through life; if you know God then your journey should involve more of Him; if you don't know God, well then your journey is very much a roll of the dice isn't it? I want to make the point here because I see too many walking into walls time and time again fighting the same battles again and again when the answer is staring them in the face. I realize that it takes time to understand our walk with the Lord each day and that we must be mindful of where others are in their walk as well; no two of us are in the same place as the other with the Lord. I don't have all the answers, nor am I expected to, but I do know this: every time I lean on God, for my life, for my direction, for my choices, He always blesses me with the results. When I lean on my own authority, there is always some kind of mess that comes out of it; today I can say I have fewer and fewer messes.
Ultimately each of us has the choice to make, Follow Him?, or Follow Me?
As for Mike, he will never go back to the world and seek advice: The world is lost folks, the world has no answers. If you see the same thing I do then you can only come to one solution....choose God.
Don't be afraid...you know He's right
Just choose.
Have Faith, get to know Him and He will show you a better way.
I believe it does not matter what you do, if you look to God before every step, you will see greater purpose for your life. You will see God's will for yourself. You will see your life impacting the lives of others. That is purpose.
That is truth.
That my friends is why we are alive.
Blessings
Friday, January 10, 2014
Rio Vista Still Growing!
Monthly newsletter
January 10, 2014
Wow!
I can hardly believe it is 2014 already!
I mean, did you think that 2013 went as fast as I did? You know what they say,”Time flies when your
havin' fun!”
Or is it the other saying, “The
year’s go by faster when you get older!”
Perspective;
Personally I think it’s
a little of both! No matter, we’re still
here and still moving ahead, one step at a time!
Praise report for the first week of
January, as I reported on our Facebook site for Rio Vista Guest House, we have
confirmed 8 team bookings already for the new year; 6 of them before we get to
May!
The jig is up folks, people are
starting to figure out where they want to put their teams…I love it when a plan
comes together!
We have to give all the credit to God
with the past year and all that will come.
While the road has been bumpy He has always been there for us as we
continued to forge ahead.
As we continue to take bookings for
this year we are ever mindful of the imminent expansion of the facility. Rio Vista was always planned as a 2 stage
project; the 1st stage complete with the ground floor, six rooms and
pool, as well as all the infrastructure for the 2nd and 3rd
levels.
That said we are beginning the
campaign this year to continue the build on the facility. The first additional project needing
completion will be the outdoor commercial kitchen and dining hall; this will
give Rio Vista the capacity required to feed over 50 for each meal. Moreover, once the dining hall is complete we
can move forward on the next 2 levels.
Demand for the facility is already in place as many Mission Organizations have already requested to stay with
us. Praise God we need to build as
the house is already too small! Our current capacity is maxed at 15-16 people
and we have turned teams away as large as 40.
As we enter into the New Year with
our supporters we hope that you would prayerful consider a gift to support this
Mission. All the teams that come to stay
at Rio Vista are working with many other Ministries that have already based
themselves on the North Coast of the D.R.
We are right in the middle of a very large Mission Field and we feel
supremely blessed to be able to serve His people in this way.
This is the current state of the commercial kitchen; Still needs a floor, roof and power to be applied, all the rough build is finished. Budget for completion: $5000
This is the view from the pool-side: a covered dining hall needs to be constructed beside the Kitchen area. Seating is available for 50 when the thatched-roof dining room is finished. This hall frames the pool area and garden! Budget to finish this project: $5,000.
All construction donations are tax-deductible through our associate partner in Canada, Bridges of Hope International Network of Development Agencies Inc.
Blessings
Mike and Laura Boisclair
Sosua, D.R.
849-855-5609
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Patience...
I've known for a long time now, since right around the time I was saved and began to know the Lord and who He is in my life that I would have to write about this topic one day. I have continually prayed to God for the ability to understand His patient nature, His enduring capacity for tolerance with this people He created...created for a purpose. Through the years, and let's keep this in perspective...I'm far from there yet....I've been seeking what God says about patience in the Bible. Invariably and depending on the translation we see the word 59 times in the New Testament. Patience is not used directly in the Old Testament but translations from the Hebrew bring various synonyms of the word; different words are used which show a similar context in the translation, "hupomone and makrothumia translate as suffering or waiting as a determination of the will and not simply under necessity. They also mean endurance and continuance or even steadfastness, even long suffering.
Sometimes it is difficult to understand why we must endure or have patience with anything that seems to try us, but Paul confirms that we must as he even calls God in Romans 15:5 "...the God of patience and consolation..."
He calls us in this manner to be patient, and like-minded with each other in Christ Jesus so that with one voice and one accord we glorify God the Father of our Lord Jesus.
This means we are to be like God and "have patience" with each other, as He is patient with us to grant us mercy and then grace as we take on the Christ-like nature of our Lord. Then we understand how in His infinite patience once we see Jesus for who He is and what He sacrificed by the will of the Father, it is then through Jesus, who can sympathize with our trials and temptations that we can approach God. "Let us therefore draw near with boldness unto the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and may find grace to help us in time of need." Heb 4:16.
You see, there need be no fear of God and the conviction that you feel for the sin you have committed. Of course we must repent of our wrongdoing as our conviction compels us. Then we should see the results in our lives as we are renewing our souls or our "psuche" which is the Greek word used here meaning our mind, will and emotions.
It is our soul, our mind, will and emotions that requires a changing or renewing in order to bring about the desired purpose God has for each of our lives.
Jesus spoke very clearly when he said "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword." Matt 10:34. The sword of course is the Word of God, the Word of course is the Son, Jesus Christ. "For the Word of God is living and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Heb 4:12.
All of this ties together neatly into the Bible that we understand as Truth, patience therefore becoming a root fundamental process in each of our lives. Patience in allowing our minds and therefore our souls to become renewed with the Word of God. Patience to have the continuance of steadfastness of our Christ-like love and governance in our lives. That through the continual application of trust and endurance through our trials we can be assured we will have the victory in our lives. This will ultimately show us the purpose for each of our lives.
We must strive to take hold of our minds, our souls, and allow the Word which has been in-grafted into our hearts given to us by God, "Therefore put away all filthiness and extreme wickedness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls." James 1:21.
It is through this patience, this enduring and our trust in knowing we are moving from faith to faith, using that control of patience in our lives.
"By your Patience, possess your souls." Luke 21:19.
Patience people...its a journey this life in Christ. Ultimately a destination, but then we're talking about heaven now...and that's a whole new blog!
Blessings
Mike
Sometimes it is difficult to understand why we must endure or have patience with anything that seems to try us, but Paul confirms that we must as he even calls God in Romans 15:5 "...the God of patience and consolation..."
He calls us in this manner to be patient, and like-minded with each other in Christ Jesus so that with one voice and one accord we glorify God the Father of our Lord Jesus.
This means we are to be like God and "have patience" with each other, as He is patient with us to grant us mercy and then grace as we take on the Christ-like nature of our Lord. Then we understand how in His infinite patience once we see Jesus for who He is and what He sacrificed by the will of the Father, it is then through Jesus, who can sympathize with our trials and temptations that we can approach God. "Let us therefore draw near with boldness unto the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and may find grace to help us in time of need." Heb 4:16.
You see, there need be no fear of God and the conviction that you feel for the sin you have committed. Of course we must repent of our wrongdoing as our conviction compels us. Then we should see the results in our lives as we are renewing our souls or our "psuche" which is the Greek word used here meaning our mind, will and emotions.
It is our soul, our mind, will and emotions that requires a changing or renewing in order to bring about the desired purpose God has for each of our lives.
Jesus spoke very clearly when he said "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword." Matt 10:34. The sword of course is the Word of God, the Word of course is the Son, Jesus Christ. "For the Word of God is living and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Heb 4:12.
All of this ties together neatly into the Bible that we understand as Truth, patience therefore becoming a root fundamental process in each of our lives. Patience in allowing our minds and therefore our souls to become renewed with the Word of God. Patience to have the continuance of steadfastness of our Christ-like love and governance in our lives. That through the continual application of trust and endurance through our trials we can be assured we will have the victory in our lives. This will ultimately show us the purpose for each of our lives.
We must strive to take hold of our minds, our souls, and allow the Word which has been in-grafted into our hearts given to us by God, "Therefore put away all filthiness and extreme wickedness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls." James 1:21.
It is through this patience, this enduring and our trust in knowing we are moving from faith to faith, using that control of patience in our lives.
"By your Patience, possess your souls." Luke 21:19.
Patience people...its a journey this life in Christ. Ultimately a destination, but then we're talking about heaven now...and that's a whole new blog!
Blessings
Mike
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