Last night was Reval's last Acts class. Next week the students will take their final exam. At the end of the class Reval mentioned that people have a tendency to say, "Oh the great apostle Paul," and say, "God worked through him so much, why don't we see that today?" But there are people, all over the world. The reason why we don't see much of this in the Americas is that, frankly, people lack faith in God.
We later discussed that it's not just the lack of faith, but the lack of interest. Upon hearing of the misplaced faith some say, "That's so true in my own life," but unfortunately soon forget. Most say, "That's probably true," but they also fail to do anything about it. Few say "That is so true," and actually move. This lack of interest is spurred by a love of comfort. Even those who are involved actively in "ministry" can get too comfortable where they are. The Lord placed in me a conviction last night. No longer can we part of the comfortable couch potatoes that say, "Why yes, it is a pity that there are so few with enough faith to let God work through them." We must get off the "couch" and actively pursue the will of God. People like Paul and Billy Graham weren't born with the kind of faith they died with. God grew their faith as they took steps foward in their relatioship with God. Like a baby that leaps into the arms of its father, never doubting that he will catch him, we must take those steps of faith getting out of our comfort zones and being bold for Christ! In those moments that we feel the Spirit leading us into potentially uncomfortable situation we need to, instead of saying that we can't do it, allow the Holy Spirit to fill us and give us the words to speak to that person at work, or that neighbour.
In those moments when I often chicken-out God reminds me of the amazing liberty that we have in the Americas to share our faith with anyone that God puts in our path. We do not yet have to worry about being killed, imprisioned, or fired for sharing the good new of Jesus Christ. In places where the consequences are very serious the gospel is being widely spread.
I know that this message has been preached over and over again, so that's why this time something has to be done about it. We must take advantage of the freedom we have in the Americas while we still have it.
Well that turned out longer than I thought. We just wanted to share a little of what God has been doing personally in our lives.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Ladies' Tea
I bet you're super happy to find out how the Ladies' Tea went earlier this month. Well, it went great! We had about 40 ladies. Some that come to the church regularly, but most of the were moms from the Kid's Club.
We had all decided that it would be better to make the keepsakes ourselves instead of going out and buying them. We made book marks and cold-ceramic flower magnets. There were about 4 or 5 of us working on those. I had never made anything from ceremic before; it was so fun! We had to grab a chunk of the 'dough' and add paint to it mixing it with our hands. When Jossy and I did the green 'dough' the paint came off our hands but not off our nails. We both looked like the Joker!
After months of prayer and preparation it was finally the big day. As soon as service and lunch were over we got to work decorating. Balloons, flower table center, letter cutouts of the theme verse, tableclothes, etc. Several ladies pitched in by making all the door prizes such as: necklaces and earings, purses, doilies, and table runners. Others made the food: tequeños (kind of like a skinny fried wanton with cheese in the middle) with guacamole, little egg sanwiches, Maracuyá or passion fruit juice, and , the famous of Peru, Causa!
Things got started a bit late and didn't quite go according to plan, but God had His own plans. There were songs, raffels, a drama, testimony, and a small teaching on Proverbs 31:10-31. Everyone really seemed to like it! The guys got dressed up and served the food. Julio however, poor thing, watched the kids the whole time. The moms were very grateful. Though none raised their hands to show their want to accept Christ, God know their hearts. The ladies from the weekly Bible Study will be getting together to call and/or visit the others that came.
We had all decided that it would be better to make the keepsakes ourselves instead of going out and buying them. We made book marks and cold-ceramic flower magnets. There were about 4 or 5 of us working on those. I had never made anything from ceremic before; it was so fun! We had to grab a chunk of the 'dough' and add paint to it mixing it with our hands. When Jossy and I did the green 'dough' the paint came off our hands but not off our nails. We both looked like the Joker!
After months of prayer and preparation it was finally the big day. As soon as service and lunch were over we got to work decorating. Balloons, flower table center, letter cutouts of the theme verse, tableclothes, etc. Several ladies pitched in by making all the door prizes such as: necklaces and earings, purses, doilies, and table runners. Others made the food: tequeños (kind of like a skinny fried wanton with cheese in the middle) with guacamole, little egg sanwiches, Maracuyá or passion fruit juice, and , the famous of Peru, Causa!
Things got started a bit late and didn't quite go according to plan, but God had His own plans. There were songs, raffels, a drama, testimony, and a small teaching on Proverbs 31:10-31. Everyone really seemed to like it! The guys got dressed up and served the food. Julio however, poor thing, watched the kids the whole time. The moms were very grateful. Though none raised their hands to show their want to accept Christ, God know their hearts. The ladies from the weekly Bible Study will be getting together to call and/or visit the others that came.
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