Help! How do we reach those who have never heard? How can we even begin to make a difference in a broken and suffering world and show them who Jesus is? Doesn't God care that our task here on earth seems hopeless and insurmountable? How do we begin to fulfill the Great Commission in our crazy, hectic lives?
I try to answer these questions with statistics I've stored in my mind, preachers I've heard or books I've read. Book learnin'. And then I think of Jesus. And I take time to read His words. And it all begins to make sense. He doesn't need us to worry about the details of how His kingdom will come. He has that all figured out. He is God of the universe, after all. Jesus wants me to use my hands and feet to love His children. He wants me to use my mouth to proclaim His glory. In Matthew 25, Jesus shared a parable of the goats and the sheep and He tells us:
" I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.
Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was Me—you did it to Me."
This is how I'll begin to serve. It doesn't have to be complicated but He never said it was easy. We need patience in the process to become like Him and faith that He will finish the work He has started in us.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Friday, October 14, 2011
~Yes, I Believe in God~
Another story about God revealed through great suffering...
"Seventeen-year-old Cassie Bernall, who died in the Columbine High School shooting in Littleton, Colorado, confronted the fear of sharing her faith as few have. When Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris held their weapons in her face and asked, "Cassie, do you believe in God?" the girl was faced with the most difficult of choices: to deny her faith and possibly live or to profess her love of God and most certainly die.
According to some reports, before Cassie became a Christian, she was considered an outcast herself. But when Cassie asked Jesus to replace the darkness in her life with His light, everything changed. She became like Jesus. Her family witnessed her life change. Her friends were amazed by it. Her teachers commented on it. And Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris watched it-and took note. When they spotted Cassie in the school library and asked her whether she believed in God, the two killers knew the answer. Cassie's life had already lived the answer out loud. What Cassie could not have known when she verbally responded, "Yes, I believe in God," was that her testimony would be heard around the world long after the sound of the fatal gunshots ceased. But before she uttered her final words, Cassie knew, without a doubt, that no bullet could separate her from the love of God or the eternal life He promised her when she gave her life to Him. With everything at stake, Cassie gave her life for the name of Jesus- just as Jesus had given His life for her.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
A Light in the Darkness...Happy Reading!
As promised, here is a story of a woman who was in the middle of the worst pain and suffering a human can endure. And yet, God worked through the suffering and used it for good. I was floored and also changed when I read how Corrie Ten Boom and her sister were thankful, bold and enpowered to use this time in the concentration camp to share the Gospel with dying women who were so receptive to the message. You can read the whole story if you haven't in "The Hiding Place" by Corrie Ten Boom.
Corrie Ten Boom - Light In The Darkness
Without a doubt, anyone who has heard the word "Holocaust" knows that it refers to one of the darkest times in history. The stories that you hear are generally depressing and filled with only suffering and sheer hatred. But this is the story of two women who were able to share light in one of the darkest concentration camps. In this place were Corrie Ten Boom and her sister, Betsie.
Holocaust - A Ray Of Home
"We must go everywhere, and tell everyone." There is no pit so deep that He is not deeper still." Elizabeth Ten Boom ("Betsie") stared into her sister, Corrie's eyes with the pure love that she was.
Ravensbruck was one of the worst concentration camps in Germany. Fleas and lice were so thick that upon entering the bunkroom, one became swarmed in them. The stench of burning flesh from those that were murdered without warning was a constant stare into the face of death. The food was one half pound of bread and one half liter of soup per day. The work was so hard that the women had swollen legs and were losing circulation in no time.
To make matters worse, the women fought one another for everything. They cursed, pushed, and shoved each other. Even if someone was simply stepped on or bumped. Rarely donated clothes and blankets caused horrible uproars. The few nurses who had access to items such as soap, vitamins, and underwear charged prices such as a week's bread ration for undergarments, 25 gilders for soap, and two days' bread for any pills.
So Was There A Ray Of Hope In This Awful Place?
"The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it."
Betsie had been frail from birth and was so weak that she was staggering from the weight of a small pail filled with rocks. The guard laughed at her and imitated Betsie's walk. Some of the prisoners laughed as well. Her sister, Corrie, was astounded. Betsie, too, was laughing! "That is me all right," She said. "But you better let me keep going - any more and I will stop all together." The guard was enraged and began mercilessly whipping Betsie. She cried out repeatedly in pain, but her eyes were filled with compassion.
Corrie and Betsie had smuggled a Bible into the camp and traded it back and forth during the day. If the guards found one or caught anyone having meetings, they were to be executed. At first, the women held these meetings very timidly. But as the weeks wore on and no guards came into the bunkroom, they grew bolder. Corrie marveled at this.
Why was it that no guard came in?
Betsie excitedly told Corrie, "I found out for sure, Corrie. I overheard two guards. The guards will not step foot in the bunkroom because of the FLEAS! Thank God for the fleas!" she exclaimed. The women added that to their prayers daily.
The difficult prices for basic things, commodities that few consider of value, remained the same. But the ray of hope was changing something else. Instead of shoving, clawing, pushing, kicking, or cursing each other, the women were responding with "Sorry! That's okay! No harm done! Excuse me please!" What a change this ray of hope brought in by two women had made.
But How Had Such Gentle Souls Found Themselves Here?
Corrie and Betsie lived with their father, Casper, in Harlem Holland. Casper was a watchmaker and a man of great wisdom. His heart was kind. He was an abundant giver to all in need and well respected in all of Harlem. It was he who went in line and got a star, although he was not Jewish. A Jew in line became angry with him. He replied simply: "If we would all wear them, no one would know the difference between Gentile and Jew."
The Ten Boom house had seven rooms. The roof was right outside Corrie's bedroom window. This was where the "secret room" used to save the lives of hundreds of Jews was hidden. Casper, Corrie, and Betsie took in even the high risk occupants, such as babies and the elderly with breathing problems. They turned no one away.
It was critical to have constant drills, because they never knew when a raid would come. Bedding had to be turned over. No warm spots were to be felt. Others in the house must not be suspected. All waste baskets had to remain empty and trash had to be burned. Food plates must be taken with the people into the secret room, and no food was to be spilled. Can you imagine all this done in under two minutes?
Casper, Betsie and Corrie were arrested and drilled with the same questions over and over again. Corrie was especially drilled by a young, intelligent Lieutenant. He tried to get to her by offering comforts, sitting her in a cozy chair next to a warm fire. Corrie was also very ill at the time, so you better believe that fire felt very good in contrast to her stone cold, lonely cell. The Lieutenant continued to probe, "Tell me about your OTHER work."
"Oh, you mean my work with retarded children?" she would respond. "How we taught them about God in our Bible class."
"Where is your secret room? Where are the Jews?"
"We have no secret room." Corrie was steadfast. No matter how hard and cleverly the guard tried, not one of them ever revealed that there were people in hiding.
Papa - What Is It Like To Die?
Casper Ten Boom was so feeble that he was almost not able to climb into the carriage that took them to the prison. Seeing this, the guard who arrested them said: "Ten Boom, give me your word you will behave yourself, and you can die in your bed, old man, where you belong."
Casper met his cold gaze with an unblinking look. "If I stay behind, I will open my door to anyone who knocks for help."
Shortly after, the family was split apart. "God be with you Papa," the girls called out as he was being dragged away from them, and they from him. "And with you, my daughters." This was the last time they ever saw him.
Casper died, taking ill only ten days after being imprisoned. He was denied medical treatment, and his body was thrown into a pauper's grave.
When given the news of her father's death, Corrie pictured in her mind one of the times where her father's faith and wisdom gave her great peace. Her mother had taken her sister, Nollie, and her with her to comfort a friend who had just lost an infant to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Corrie was really struck by the cold, lifeless body that was clearly in sight. You see, in that culture death was a fact they didn't try to hide.
When he was tucking her into bed that night, Corrie asked: "Papa, what is it like to die?"
Papa Ten Boom did not look away from her, but held his gaze into her eyes. "When we go to Amsterdam, when do I give you your ticket?"
Corrie considered this well before answering. "Just before we get on the train."
Still holding his steady gaze, he said to her: "When the time comes, your Heavenly Father will give you all the strength you need."
Free Before The New Year
Corrie sometimes was very tempted to hate all the cruel men around her, particularly the guard who made life extra hard for them. Betsie constantly told her, "No hate, Corrie. Don't look at it. You know you can only give it to Jesus."
The horrible conditions were weakening Betsie's already feeble body. But the weaker she became physically, the stronger her faith became. It did not take long for her to be excused from work, only waiting for her temperature to reach the required admission level - 104 degrees - And then she must wait for a bed to become available.
Betsie began to talk about a plan. "There has to be a plan, Corrie. We must go everywhere and tell everyone. They will believe us, because we were here. There is no pit so deep that He is not deeper still."
Betsie saw a vision and described it to Corrie. In it was a concentration camp - not the one where they were, but another - becoming a place of refuge for all who had endured as they had, that they might be free. She also described an elaborate house, much bigger than the one she and Corrie grew up in, that would be used for the same purpose. And she saw in the vision that both of them would be free before the New Year.
Betsie died in the hospital before the New Year.
Corrie was released very shortly after, also before the New Year. She found out that just one week after her release, all the women her age were taken to the gas chambers.
Corrie commented later: "When they called out 'Prisoner 66730, Ten Boom Cornelia,' I did a double-take. I hadn't been called by my name in so long."
Can You Believe It?
Corrie later learned that her release came through a "clerical error." She was not supposed to get released at all.
Corrie went into over 60 countries and fulfilled both of Betsie's visions. She told her story to anyone who would listen.
This light that they brought with them is Jesus.
His love gave Corrie what it took to forgive that nasty guard who harassed Betsie and her while they were naked in that freezing shower. The same man who beat Betsie mercilessly. She was able to forgive that man only because of Him.
Corrie Ten Boom - Light In The Darkness
Without a doubt, anyone who has heard the word "Holocaust" knows that it refers to one of the darkest times in history. The stories that you hear are generally depressing and filled with only suffering and sheer hatred. But this is the story of two women who were able to share light in one of the darkest concentration camps. In this place were Corrie Ten Boom and her sister, Betsie.
Holocaust - A Ray Of Home
"We must go everywhere, and tell everyone." There is no pit so deep that He is not deeper still." Elizabeth Ten Boom ("Betsie") stared into her sister, Corrie's eyes with the pure love that she was.
Ravensbruck was one of the worst concentration camps in Germany. Fleas and lice were so thick that upon entering the bunkroom, one became swarmed in them. The stench of burning flesh from those that were murdered without warning was a constant stare into the face of death. The food was one half pound of bread and one half liter of soup per day. The work was so hard that the women had swollen legs and were losing circulation in no time.
To make matters worse, the women fought one another for everything. They cursed, pushed, and shoved each other. Even if someone was simply stepped on or bumped. Rarely donated clothes and blankets caused horrible uproars. The few nurses who had access to items such as soap, vitamins, and underwear charged prices such as a week's bread ration for undergarments, 25 gilders for soap, and two days' bread for any pills.
So Was There A Ray Of Hope In This Awful Place?
"The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it."
Betsie had been frail from birth and was so weak that she was staggering from the weight of a small pail filled with rocks. The guard laughed at her and imitated Betsie's walk. Some of the prisoners laughed as well. Her sister, Corrie, was astounded. Betsie, too, was laughing! "That is me all right," She said. "But you better let me keep going - any more and I will stop all together." The guard was enraged and began mercilessly whipping Betsie. She cried out repeatedly in pain, but her eyes were filled with compassion.
Corrie and Betsie had smuggled a Bible into the camp and traded it back and forth during the day. If the guards found one or caught anyone having meetings, they were to be executed. At first, the women held these meetings very timidly. But as the weeks wore on and no guards came into the bunkroom, they grew bolder. Corrie marveled at this.
Why was it that no guard came in?
Betsie excitedly told Corrie, "I found out for sure, Corrie. I overheard two guards. The guards will not step foot in the bunkroom because of the FLEAS! Thank God for the fleas!" she exclaimed. The women added that to their prayers daily.
The difficult prices for basic things, commodities that few consider of value, remained the same. But the ray of hope was changing something else. Instead of shoving, clawing, pushing, kicking, or cursing each other, the women were responding with "Sorry! That's okay! No harm done! Excuse me please!" What a change this ray of hope brought in by two women had made.
But How Had Such Gentle Souls Found Themselves Here?
Corrie and Betsie lived with their father, Casper, in Harlem Holland. Casper was a watchmaker and a man of great wisdom. His heart was kind. He was an abundant giver to all in need and well respected in all of Harlem. It was he who went in line and got a star, although he was not Jewish. A Jew in line became angry with him. He replied simply: "If we would all wear them, no one would know the difference between Gentile and Jew."
The Ten Boom house had seven rooms. The roof was right outside Corrie's bedroom window. This was where the "secret room" used to save the lives of hundreds of Jews was hidden. Casper, Corrie, and Betsie took in even the high risk occupants, such as babies and the elderly with breathing problems. They turned no one away.
It was critical to have constant drills, because they never knew when a raid would come. Bedding had to be turned over. No warm spots were to be felt. Others in the house must not be suspected. All waste baskets had to remain empty and trash had to be burned. Food plates must be taken with the people into the secret room, and no food was to be spilled. Can you imagine all this done in under two minutes?
Casper, Betsie and Corrie were arrested and drilled with the same questions over and over again. Corrie was especially drilled by a young, intelligent Lieutenant. He tried to get to her by offering comforts, sitting her in a cozy chair next to a warm fire. Corrie was also very ill at the time, so you better believe that fire felt very good in contrast to her stone cold, lonely cell. The Lieutenant continued to probe, "Tell me about your OTHER work."
"Oh, you mean my work with retarded children?" she would respond. "How we taught them about God in our Bible class."
"Where is your secret room? Where are the Jews?"
"We have no secret room." Corrie was steadfast. No matter how hard and cleverly the guard tried, not one of them ever revealed that there were people in hiding.
Papa - What Is It Like To Die?
Casper Ten Boom was so feeble that he was almost not able to climb into the carriage that took them to the prison. Seeing this, the guard who arrested them said: "Ten Boom, give me your word you will behave yourself, and you can die in your bed, old man, where you belong."
Casper met his cold gaze with an unblinking look. "If I stay behind, I will open my door to anyone who knocks for help."
Shortly after, the family was split apart. "God be with you Papa," the girls called out as he was being dragged away from them, and they from him. "And with you, my daughters." This was the last time they ever saw him.
Casper died, taking ill only ten days after being imprisoned. He was denied medical treatment, and his body was thrown into a pauper's grave.
When given the news of her father's death, Corrie pictured in her mind one of the times where her father's faith and wisdom gave her great peace. Her mother had taken her sister, Nollie, and her with her to comfort a friend who had just lost an infant to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Corrie was really struck by the cold, lifeless body that was clearly in sight. You see, in that culture death was a fact they didn't try to hide.
When he was tucking her into bed that night, Corrie asked: "Papa, what is it like to die?"
Papa Ten Boom did not look away from her, but held his gaze into her eyes. "When we go to Amsterdam, when do I give you your ticket?"
Corrie considered this well before answering. "Just before we get on the train."
Still holding his steady gaze, he said to her: "When the time comes, your Heavenly Father will give you all the strength you need."
Free Before The New Year
Corrie sometimes was very tempted to hate all the cruel men around her, particularly the guard who made life extra hard for them. Betsie constantly told her, "No hate, Corrie. Don't look at it. You know you can only give it to Jesus."
The horrible conditions were weakening Betsie's already feeble body. But the weaker she became physically, the stronger her faith became. It did not take long for her to be excused from work, only waiting for her temperature to reach the required admission level - 104 degrees - And then she must wait for a bed to become available.
Betsie began to talk about a plan. "There has to be a plan, Corrie. We must go everywhere and tell everyone. They will believe us, because we were here. There is no pit so deep that He is not deeper still."
Betsie saw a vision and described it to Corrie. In it was a concentration camp - not the one where they were, but another - becoming a place of refuge for all who had endured as they had, that they might be free. She also described an elaborate house, much bigger than the one she and Corrie grew up in, that would be used for the same purpose. And she saw in the vision that both of them would be free before the New Year.
Betsie died in the hospital before the New Year.
Corrie was released very shortly after, also before the New Year. She found out that just one week after her release, all the women her age were taken to the gas chambers.
Corrie commented later: "When they called out 'Prisoner 66730, Ten Boom Cornelia,' I did a double-take. I hadn't been called by my name in so long."
Can You Believe It?
Corrie later learned that her release came through a "clerical error." She was not supposed to get released at all.
Corrie went into over 60 countries and fulfilled both of Betsie's visions. She told her story to anyone who would listen.
This light that they brought with them is Jesus.
His love gave Corrie what it took to forgive that nasty guard who harassed Betsie and her while they were naked in that freezing shower. The same man who beat Betsie mercilessly. She was able to forgive that man only because of Him.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Senseless Nightmare?
If this is the only life there is, it is truly a senseless nightmare. How can anyone believe God is loving and just when we hear about human suffering and atrocities every day. One thing is for sure, I don't have all the answers. I just know that God has revealed some things to me personally and it has affected me enought to share. Human suffering was a stumbling block to my belief in a creator. How could God allow the Holocaust? How could God be in control when a sexual predator kidnaps a young girl and rapes and tortures her for years?
I realize this may seem insensitive to those who have suffered, but as I've mentioned before, I became a believer because of a school shooting. I believe God's ways are not our ways, His thoughts are not our thoughts. He can wipe out a whole nation in order to show us He is God and to let us know that His kingdom will reign. He knows what awaits us on the other side. If Christianity is true, our earthly, temporal lives are but a brief prelude to a life that is going to go on forever. Earth is a small part of a bigger story and our present sufferings simply can't be compared to it. In Romans 8:18, we are told, " I consider that our present suffering are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed to us."
God wants His followers to be part of the solution. As we are transformed, we become ambassadors to a hurting world. We are His arms and legs in actively alleviating the suffering of others. Paul tells us, " Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ...who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
For the next week or so, I want to share some stories of individuals who have suffered or died and how God used thier tragedies for His kingdom that will never, never end. If this has been a stumbling block for you also, I hope this will help to answer your questions and bring understanding to why a loving God would allow suffering.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
I Can't Do It
I became so discouraged the other day. I was trying so hard to love the seemingly unlovable and it just wasn't happening. And I was trying to fix a problem with all my might and I just couldn't fix it. I prayed and begged for help from God. I wanted to be more like Him but it was and is so very hard. What was wrong with my Christian walk?
I was kind of blown away when He answered me that very night. In my reading, I read these very words..."We can't simply make up our minds to love others. The only way we can love the way God wants us to is when the Holy Spirit loves through us, when we give up control of our lives to Him." This may not seem like much to others, but it hit me like a ton of bricks. It was the answer I was seeking and I thanked Him for His grace in answering my pleas.
You and I can't love perfectly. It is impossible. And we can't fix our problems although we sometimes think we can. How do we do something we're incapable of doing? How do we live the Christian life when we are so imperfect? Simply put, we can't. "With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God." Mark 10:27
And that's where grace comes in yet again. God will do it for us. Apart from Him we can do nothing. When we surrender our life to Jesus, He loves others through us. He fixes our problems in ways we may not be able to see or fathom. But we have to give up our human control.
We can do nothing on our own, but others will see Him in us when we let Him lead. God will shine through you when you love your spouse more than you love yourself. Others will see Him when we pray to follow His will, not our own. With God, we can take the hand of the hurting and sick and share the pain. In these everyday acts, He is glorified. But the key is...give up your human tendency to be perfect. Cause you can't be. But with God, all things are possible.
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