Pollute to Save the World!

This past weekend I was out shopping with Amanda. After a few hours I was tired and decided to sit in the car while she ran into a store. As I watched the street people as I waited I realized something. Pollution is keeping some of these people alive! Coming from Canada, I have found it hard to get used to the fact that people here just throw garbage into the street or into the river. My reaction is usually one of disgust and anger that the people just don’t seem to know “better”. However, I realized this weekend that the pollution is actually a very important part of life for some people. I watched one man pick through garbage and take an old tire, discarded in the street by some motorist, and he began to cut the tire and make treads for sandals from it. That piece of garbage became a week’s income for this poor man. Had the garbage been properly disposed of, he and his children, may have gone hungry this week. I watched as an elderly lady picked through the trash left on the road and she picked out paper and plastics. These materials are then taken to a recycling depot and she is paid by weight for what she has collected. Again, another family that may starve if the people of this country “knew enough” not to toss their trash on the roads. Certainly I understand there are health risks to having this type of garbage disposal, but my eyes were opened to a new understanding. Instead of considering the environmental and sanitary issues of the pollution, for the first time I considered the livelihood that the pollution gives to the poorest of this nation. In other words, the pollution may be hurting the environment, but it is also saving a few lives along the way. A new perspective from a different way of life.

Hung Between Two Thieves

The Bible tells us that Jesus was hung on a cross at Calvary between two thieves. There seems to be only one explanation for this: Jesus was a thief. Surely the people of the day thought so. This is the reason he was put to death. The religious establishment complained that Jesus announced himself as God. But the Bible clearly states that He thought in NOT ROBBERY to be equal with God.

However, that was only their perception. The fact is, Jesus was a thief, but not for the reasons that the crowd thought. The dictionary defines a thief as one who “takes something belonging to someone else with the intention of keeping it”. Nothing could describe the work of Calvary better then to say that Jesus was a thief!

At Easter we are reminded of this thievery of Jesus. For on that day he took our sins, something that did not belong to him, with the intention of keeping them!  The Bible tells us that he who knew no sin, became sin, that we might be the righteousness of God!

I thank Jesus not only that he died as a thief, but that he was a thief. He reached beyond the law (given to Moses) and took the sins that did not belong to him and refused to give them back! Because of his thievery, we are free!

You Can’t Trust a Button

In this world we are overloaded with marketing. Everyone, it seems, wants us to hear their message and they want us to believe that their message is true and reliable. All types of advertising are used with each method studied to prove that it is a “reliable” tool. But I’ve been learning you can’t always trust these “spin” messages. In the last week I’ve been involved in two major traffic jams. The first was in the old part of the city we live in. This is one of the most densely populated areas I’ve been. I went to see if I could find a few sales but was disappointed. The market was like a giant flea market and it was impossible to locate the things I had hoped to find. On the way home we arrived at a large gate that had been set up in the middle of the road. A traffic policemen explained that they were aiding in traffic flow and had shut off the main road in the old city. I don’t know how this was supposed to aid but that was the excuse. This put thousands of cars into the back allies of the city. A fifteen minute trip took us an hour and a half because of the “aid” provided by the traffic police. This past Sunday, after returning from a service where about a dozen received healing, we hit a backed up location of a small town. This town in 7 kilometers from end to end. The drive through took us 2 and a half hours! Usually there are 2 lanes of traffic traveling each way. On Sunday there were 12 lanes of traffic going one way and one lane coming the other way. On average, the traffic was about 5 cars wide for 7 kilometers each way! Even if the average car was 10 meters long (about 30 feet), which is high even when you consider the busses in the line, that would mean there were about 7000 cars stuck in that jam! And this was all in a town that would be like having all of those cars stuck on the road in Zealand. There were no stores, no restaurants, no place to get a drink, just cars as far as you could see. When we got to the end of the jam I noticed there were no accidents, no construction, nothing that would hinder the traffic so badly EXCEPT that once again the traffic police were “aiding” the traffic flow. I mention these stories for two reasons: 1) they are indicative of the way things can be here 2) the traffic police on both days were wearing bright buttons that boldly stated “The Police Is Your Friend”. I can tell you I didn’t feel really friendly after sitting in traffic for 2.5 hours moving at a speed of 3 kilometers an hour! You see, there may be a lot of messages bombarding our minds and spirits, but just because it can be printed, it is not necessarily true. As my pastor would often say, “Paper doesn’t refuse ink.” The fact that the police claimed to be my friend while causing me great stress cause me to think, what other lies am I believing? People push their messages on me everyday, and maybe I’ve started to believe some messages that are loud but not valid. In fact, I feel there are some reading this post that know what I mean. You’ve been told you are one thing, and although your mind and heart tell you different, the message has been given so strong that you believe it. You believe that you can’t succeed. You believe that you are a failure to God. You believe that there is something wrong with you and there is no hope. You’ve been told that there is a problem with your church and your pastor. You’ve begun to believe the message of the button. Someone has told you that things aren’t right at that church, and although your spirit tells you differently, the message is so prominent that it has become ingrained in your spirit. After all, I might have felt like that the traffic police were causing more problems then they were helping, but how could I argue that in general their work is a good work? And that is where we get trapped. There is enough truth in the messages that bombard our spirits that we begin to rationalize the lie. We believe that it is pointless for us to go to church because we just can’t seem to win the battle over the flesh. And the lie seems to make sense because we rationalize that if church is a place for the Holy and I am a sinner then it must not be for me. But I am learning that you can’t always trust the button. We must consider the source of the message. When my pastor tells me that there is a place for me in the kingdom of God, that message needs to carry more weight in our spirits then the devil saying you don’t belong. Why? The source! Your pastor is looking out for your soul and the devil is trying to trip you up. Just like I can’t trust the traffic police when they say they are looking out for me, the source of the messages tells me I ought to be suspicious.  But there is one source that I trust above all. While I can’t always trust the buttons to tell the truth I can get alone with God and His word and know that what I hear will be truth. Why not get alone with God and hear what he has to say about you? Hear what He has to say about your church, your pastor, your family. You owe it to yourself to learn the lesson God is teaching me today: you can’t trust a button.

The Learning Curve

Well, a few things I’ve beem learning: First, I guess I’ve learned that even with my best intentions it is not possible for me to blog everyday, so my “What I Learned Today” section, will be unoffically known as the “What I learned Today that I Have Time to Blog About”. Sorry.

I have also been learning that we need to be careful what we wish for. That is what I am preaching about this morning for Palm Sunday. The church next door has been wanting a set of American style drums for some time. This week, the Lord provided and answered their request. SInce then I haven’t had a full nights sleep. The drummers are trying to learn the new instrument in time for services this weekend and they have been practicing at night. I guess they work during the day or something. So, one man’s dream has lead to the lack of another man’s dreaming time.

On a final note today, for those who have been reading the news lately, everyone here is safe. None of our church members, pastors, or missionaries has been hurt in any of the events over the past two weeks. Keep praying and I know God will keep it that way.

The Overflow

This is a bit weird but this is something God has been talking to me about and I hope I can explain it as well as he explained it to me. The Bible clearly teaches that God is everywhere. He is ever present, no where absent. David said if I make my bed in hell you are there. He’s everywhere! He fills all time and space! Yet, there are times when we can feel God MOVE among us. The action of moving requires displacing, going from one location to another. But the fact that God is always in all places means he cannot leave somewhere. So, in order to be everywhere and to move he must be able to instantly fill the place he left. That’s a bit deep but think of it like a pool. You can fill a pool with water and set up a pump that will cycle and clean the water. So the pool is full but the water is moving. How? Because the pump insures that as water is being moved out of the pool, it is also instantly pushing new water into the pool. But there is a key. In order for the pool to be completely full while the pump is working, the pump needs to be primed, full of water itself. You can say that the pool is able to have moving water and be full at all times because there is a source of overflow. When God “moves” in a tangible way he is able to do it because of an overflow of his presence in that place! God’s plan for the church is that it be a place of active faith. Jesus said in John 4:14 “whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” Did you catch that? Jesus said that the water he gives us would be in us as a WELL that would SPRING UP. His intention is not that we would only be full of his spirit, but that we would be full AND overflowing! The Greek language seems to indicate Jesus was teaching that we would have a supply of this water in us, but that we would not house the original source of the water. It is when we tap into the source that we can be full and overflowing. That is the moving of the spirit. I’ve heard many say we need to get filled up so we can pour out to others. But it seems Jesus was saying that we ought to be full and overflowing so that others can see what we have. That is not a “fill and empty mentality”. He was saying if we stay connected to the source then the spirit can fill us and flow through us at the same time. The thing that God has been dealing with me about is that we can be full with out being connected to the source. Being full of the spirit does not mean that anything will happen. If water fills a vessel but never moves, it is still there but it is stagnant. This is why people full of the spirit can gather in a church building but the service is still dead. They are full, but there is no flow. We get so concerned with maintaining our full status that we don’t pour out into others. If we did that without being connected to the source, we wouldn’t be full any more. It seems sometimes as Pentecostals we wear being “Full” of the spirit as a badge of honor. But God is teaching me he doesn’t want me full of his spirit. He wants me connected to the source so that he can MOVE, others can feel his presence, there can be life, and I can still be full! Given the chose between full and stagnant or full and moving, I’ll choose the latter every time! And God is teaching me it is a choice, it’s up to me if I connect to the source or not.

Be as Smart as the Devil

Yesterday there were a few large explosions in the city we are living in. As I saw pictures of the events on the internet and in the paper I wanted to scream at some of the people. The culture here is very different then home and one thing I never can understand is the way people flock to danger. My natural reaction to a gun shot or an explosion is to get away. Here people move towards the disaster. They hear a gun shot and run to the sound to see what happened. This usually adds to losses in a bomb blast like yesterday. There was one smaller explosion followed by a second larger bomb. The fact that people run TO the bomb site increases the loss of human life during the second explosion. When I see this happen I just want to yell at people, GET AWAY! I think it is crazy that people would want to put themselves in the line of danger. Even the devil is smarter then that! Jas 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will FLEE FROM you.The devil knows that when you are submitted to God you are dangerous to his kingdom. When he understands that you are a danger he does not flee TO you, he flees FROM you! Even the devil is smart enough to know to get out of a dangerous situation. But as I thought about the craziness of running towards a bomb blast, I realized some times I am not as smart as the devil either. There are areas of weakness in my life, just as there are in yours, and some times, even though I know it is dangerous, I find myself running into temptation rather then fleeing from it. Perhaps this makes us crazier then the people running to the bomb blast. They are putting their mortal bodies in danger, but we who fail to resist the devil are actually running to the source that can destroy our spirits. So, today’s lesson from God to me to you is: FLEE. Paul tells us to FLEE fornication and idolatry. He tells us to FLEE youthful lusts and the perverse disputings of men and he admonishes us to “follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.” Good advice from a man who understands our weakness.

Rom 7:14 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.

Rom 7:15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. Rom 7:16 If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Rom 7:17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. Rom 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. Rom 7:19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.

 That reminds me of myself at times. Doing the evil that I would not, should not, and know I ought not do. It’s a simple lesson, but a hard one to follow through with at times. However, God is faithful and he is reminding me once again: Be as smart as the devil and FLEE.

Put to the Test

Yesterday I told you that God was teaching me about the difference between the spirit of fear and the emotion of fear. Well today he was teaching me that he tests us on the lessons we learn. It seems like we were coming to grips with the understanding of the fear we felt, and today he made sure we were paying attention to the lesson. There were a few more bomb blasts today, one near where Amanda was, and one near the Bible College. The students here were frightened and were surprised that I was not fearful. I explained to them that I know I am in God’s hands and that I would not live in fear. I helped them understand that they were frightened because of the unknown and that they hadn’t heard from their families. I was not afraid because God had already taught me a lesson about fear. I put my faith in Him and knew He would do what was best for me.

So yesterday I learned a lesson, and even though God did not cause these terrible events, He was teaching me that the lessons He gives, are meant to be lived out. Biblical knowledge is not trivia to impress some scholar. God’s word is meant to affect the way we live our lives and today that played out. Thank God for the lessons He teaches!

Things I am Learning

It has been said that we learn something new everyday. In light of that, I’m starting a new post. Everyday, when I have internet connection, I will put up a post about something I have learned in the last 24 hours.

 

In light of some events of the last week God has been teaching me that there is a difference between the Spirit of Fear and the emotion of Fear.

 2Ti 1:7  For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. I know the truth of the above scripture and yet at times we find ourselves afraid. It is a reality living in this part of the world that at time fear will enter into our hearts. This past week has been filled with incidents where we have found ourselves afraid. There has been a concern that maybe this is a sign of weakness in our spirits. However, I realize that God has his hand of protection upon us and that the fear we have felt is an emotion. It comes and goes based on circumstance. However, this is different from the Spirit of Fear. For when the emotion comes upon us we still realize that we have power in the spirit and are acting out of a sound mind. I believe in my spirit that many have beaten themselves in the spirit because they find themselves in fear and think that as a Christian they should not feel the emotion. But I hope what God is teaching me can help someone else, there is a difference between the Spirit of Fear and the emotion of fear. The Spirit of Fear is an attack in the spirit, but the emotion of fear is a result of being human. And when we find our flesh taking over, we can call on Jesus and he will either calm our storms or grant us passage through our storms, but as long as our reaction is to call on Him, then we know we are not departed from the truth and that we can have hope in the midst of the emotion of fear.