the heart of the city

I'm moved by people, by big groups of people, by the city life. My team is headed this next week to a camp in Illinois, so we've spent the weekend hanging out in Chicago. The guys suprised the girls tonight with a nice note and fun night out on the town as a team. It was a blast! But as we walked among the swarms of people I couldn't help but ache a little. There are so many people out there begging for somebody to care a little, to share a little. The streets of Chicago and every other town in America and around the globe are bursting at the seams with people who desperately need Christ. That's so humbling... and disturbing.

I was thinking as I was walking, "God, send me to the city." I want to bring hope to hopeless people; I want to bring the good news of salvation to the lost. I don't know where God will lead me in days and years to come, but I pray that maybe He'll lead me to the heart of the city. I believe that the heart of the city is broken, and it's broken in ways that only God can mend with His love and His grace that was demonstrated in perfect victory on the cross. I recently read a book that contained a simple quote "God-sized wounds require God-sized answers." They've got real big problems out there "in the world"- but there ain't nothing God can't handle. There ain't nothing He can't sovereignly mend or restore.

I'm quite sure my thoughts probably resemble very little clarity or sense... but it's 1:30 in the AM so not a lot is clear for myself either :)

in the beginning God...

Gen. 1:1 says "In the beginning God created..." - that is such an incredible statement! It blows my mind. The complexity of that sentence is really quite mind-boggling if you think about it. In the beginning of measured time as we know it, God was already there... and He had always been there. But it's that word "created" that is so particularly crazy to me. Out of nothing and for no apparent reason, GOD CREATED all things with intimate care and intricate detail. Everything with precision, He created a universe that is far beyond our understanding and comprehension.

The theme at Camp Lamoka this past week was Creation and it was such a sweet reminder of just precisely how small and insignificant I am in the scheme of things. Our God, MY GOD... is emmense, enormous, unfathomable, unthinkable, incomprehensible, and incredible. To think that the God who uttered words and light came forth... and the God who made the galaxies and has the power to roll them up like a scroll... and the God who made all creatures with crazy awesome detail... is the God who breathed LIFE into ME! That God wants an intimate relationship with ME! Why? I will likely never know or understand. "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me!" -David. I took a little extra time this past week to look at the creation around me and stand in awe of the Creator God who fashioned all things. There is such beauty and divine detail in each and every one of God's works of art! It's breath-taking. (Literally, if you're on the top of a mountain...)

Isaiah 40:12-15 - "Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with his span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains scales and the hills in a ballance? Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord or what man shows him his counsel? Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as the dust on the scales; behold he takes up the coastlands like fine dust." Then it picks up at the end of the chapter with the often quoted section (vs. 28-31), "Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." That passage got me thinking. (Shocker, I know.) Most would probably agree that God's big and He's in control and on and on... but how many of us really believe those things. "THE LORD (my Lord) IS THE EVERLASTING GOD & CREATOR OF THE ENDS OF THE EARTH...." And that is the God who supernaturally strengthens the weary and enables the weak. Eph. 1 tells us that the power that raised Christ from the grave IS IN YOU & ME! Why do I so often forget His goodness? Why do I so often cage His power? Why do I so often think that my ways are higher than His? Someone, please tell me where the logic in that lies.

Oh God, help me to trust your heart and lean wholly on your strength, fully on your wisdom. Help my life to be an Hallelujah- a chorus of praise always. "You are beautiful beyond description- Majesty enthroned on high. And I stand in awe of you... Holy God to whom all praise is due, I stand in awe of you."

the glory of the gospel

"Gospel" seemed to be the buzz word at Camp Eden two weeks ago... in all the sessions, in devos, in one-on-ones, it was everywhere! I realized that I often forget the glory of the gospel- the miracle of salvation, the victory over sin & death, the hope of Heaven! How do I do that? How does that happen? It doesn't make sense.

Anyway, it was so neat to watch God at work on the front lines, rescuing those trapped by the grip of Satan. Each day as I spent one-on-one time with my girls I had the privilege of laying out the gospel & the plan of salvation. What a beautiful opportunity. It only took a couple of days to realize that my whole cabin was on their way to a Christless eternity. But praise be to God- He saved every last one of them!

I hope I don't soon forget the events of Thursday night (at Eden). All week Elisabeth & I had been planting as many gospel seeds in our girls as we could, but it didn't seem to be clicking with them. Thursday night, however, it was after 11 & my girls couldn't sleep & Elisabeth was out of the room for a few minutes... so to kill time I started going around the room asking the girls to share what they were most afraid of. To my suprise, they each said they were most afraid of going to Hell. DING! DING! DING! Hello, open door! About that time Elisabeth joined us again and I filled her in on the girls' fear. We started to talk to the girls a little about how they can KNOW FOR SURE that they'll go to Heaven when they die. Elisabeth asked one of them if she'd like to go out on the porch and talk about it. Then another piped up, so I went with her. While I spoke with the one girl, 2 other girls had been added to the family. It was so fun to watch the joy of salvation fill the cabin. The excitement was contageous and one more girl decided it was time she talked things through as well, so she and Elisabeth headed to the porch! I stayed in the room and talked with the brand new believers. One said something like, "I know I should be tired, but I just feel SO ALIVE for the first time!!" Another asked, "Are we supposed to be happy or sad, because people keep coming in here crying?" When the last girl came in from the porch all the girls yelled with excitement "What happened!? Are you saved?" I had to laugh.

It was such a beautiful thing to watch the 180 deg. change in those girls' lives. They were excited to go to chapel and take notes and find the passages (with the help of the index). The last night of camp 3 of the girls stayed up late reading John and saying things like "I always thought this book was boring, but it's so cool!"

"I feel so ALIVE!" echoes in my ears even now. What a great thought. I'm reminded of John 10:10, "I have come that you may have LIFE and have it TO THE FULL." That life is in me! Romans 8:6 says "...the mind controlled by the Spirit is LIFE & PEACE."

Oh God, teach me the glory of the Gospel each day. Remind me of the riches of grace & the blessings of mercy. May the "old, old story 'bout the Savior come from glory..." never bore me. Father, put a song of salvation in my soul and on my lips, & may I always sing its tune.

impact 2010

I'm chillin' comfortably in a sweet hotel in Denver as I write. The mountains are in view- it's great, I love Colorado! It's crazy to finally be on the road with the team! I've been counting down the days for so long that it didn't seem like it would ever really come around. I'm excited though to get this show on the road.

I spent a lot of time last summer in Thessalonians and fell in love with Paul's heart for ministry. It's such a challenge to me as I head into the first official week of the tour. I want to serve like Paul served! It's so easy for me to get wrapped up in the world of "Numero Uno" and neglect the people and opportunities around me. My prayer for this summer is that I will fade into the background. I will always only fail when it's all about me. The simple truth in the matter is that it's not about me and I'm not needed in this equation. It's that clay pot concept again... 2 Corinthians 4:7 says "But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us." Verses 10 and 11 go on to say that "[we are] always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh." Oh, that Christ would be manifested in ME! I am just an ordinary little pot made of clay, but what lies inside me is a treasure, what is within me is EXTRAordinary! God is beyond big, He's beyond good, and therefore I am left with no other options than to make much of the treasure I carry in this little clay pot. It is so exciting to know that the power that raised the dead to life and saves hopeless sinners is INSIDE OF ME and I have the privilege to proclaim it, to shout it from the roof tops (pun intended).
I can't wait to watch God Almighty work in my heart this week at Camp Eden and the weeks to come. I can't wait to watch God work in my campers' lives. May God get all the glory for what He will do!

grace

tax collectors and sinners

I was watching a show on A&E called "INTERVENTION" and it got me thinking. For several years now I've had a dream that tugs at my heart and resurfaces from time to time. Every time I see or hear something that deals with drug/alcohol abuse, homelessness, prostitution, inner city violence, teen pregnancy, etc. my heart just aches. I want desperately to offer hope, to offer relief. I want to listen to their stories. I want to feel their pain. I want to be a part of their better ending. I realize that within me is HOPE, within me is LIFE- and it's the cure to their cancer. I stumbled upon a poem that was convicting:

What, finally, shall we say?

What, finally, shall we say
In the last moment
When we will be confronted
By the Unimaginable, The One
Who could not be measured or contained
In space or time
Who was Love Unlimited?

What shall we answer
When the question is asked
About our undeeds committed
In his name—
In the name of him
For whose sake we promised
To have courage
To abandon everything?

Shall we say
That we didn’t know—
That we couldn’t hear the clatter
Of hearts breaking—
Millions of them—
In lonely rooms, in alleys and prisons
And in bars?

Shall we explain
That we thought it mattered
That buildings were constructed
And maintained
In his honor—
That we were occupied
With the arrangements
Of hymns and prayers
And the proper, responsible way
Of doing things?

Shall we tell him
That we had to take care
Of the orderly definition of dogmas
So that there was no time
To listen to the sobbing
Of the little ones
Huddled in corners
Or the silent despair
Of those already beyond sobbing?

Or, shall we say this, too:
That we were afraid—
That we were keeping busy with all this
To avoid confrontation
Wih the reality of his meaning
Which would lead us to repentance—-
That it was fear that kept us
Hiding in church pews
And in important boards and committees
When he went by?

—Ursula Solek

Jesus paved the way for this kind of selfless love. Matthew 9:10-13 says "While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and 'sinners' came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, 'Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and "sinners"?' But when he heard it, he said, 'Those who are well have no ned of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, not and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.'" I want to walk in Jesus' footsteps and offer hope to the tax collectors and sinners... because in all reality, I am no better than they, only I have been rescued by the grace of my Father.