Receive the Tears of your Father!

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The River Chapel was full of Beautiful Gate staff and Oceans’ team members to watch an adoption ceremony. I’ve had many opportunities over the years to witness this extraordinary exchange but this one penetrated deeply into my soul.

 

A single Basotho woman sat next to her teenage daughter on the couch, both had their arms wrapped around a beautiful baby girl. All three were wide-eyed as songs were sung and speeches made. As the adopting mom was asked to come forward to sign the official papers, she gently handed the child over to her older daughter and all of a sudden her emotions took over. Tears flooded down her face with deep sobs breaking forth as she came forward to sign the documents.

 

Her tears were infectious and soon many in the room wiped their eyes overwhelmed by the significance of the moment. One of the house moms stood up, and with tears streaming down her checks, belted out a praise song in Sesotho. Before long the room was engulfed with heartfelt worship!

 

I sat towards the back of the room, taking it all in and sensed the Spirit say, “this is how the Father feels when He adopts one of His children through the blood of His Son Jesus.” My mind envisioned the Heavenly Father taking a pen dipped in the blood of His perfect Son Jesus and writing my name in the book of Life and as He wrote tears flooded down His face. To tell you the truth I’m just like that little child sitting on the couch being adopted. I am clueless to the enormous exchange that brought me into the forever family of God with all rights and privileges of a true son, (see Eph. 1:4-5).

 

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! (1 John 3:1).

 

Receive the tears of your Father’s love-this incredible love that has brought you into His forever family. Know and believe that you are deeply loved!

 

 

 

 

The Steps of A Disciple

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A disciple of Christ will experience amazing highs and difficult lows and yet grow to know the amazing power and love of Kingdom of God breaking forth into the world.

Be blessed as you listen to Michele Bennett’s story of living as a radical disciple of Jesus Christ in Lesotho Africa.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 19:55 — 36.5MB)

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From Orphan to a Messenger of the King!

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Listen to the amazing story of a young young man named Lerato and his journey from Lesotho, Africa to Japan.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 22:55 — 42.0MB)

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Crashing the Gates of Hell – Cross-Feet

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I’m back in the beautiful Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho Africa. Every time I take the long hop over the Atlantic Ocean and huge jump down most the continent of Africa I ponder how I got here. Through marriage, ministry and moving I have held dreams, goals, and objectives in my heart and mind and Africa was never part any of it. Yet for the last several years Africa has been a dominant focus. Africa has taught me much but perhaps the greatest life lesson has been developing within me an obedient trust in following the hard promptings of the Spirit.

I use the word “hard” because often the ways of God don’t always make logical sense-at least according to the ways of the world. Obedience usually demands some sort of cost and offers little in the way of comfort and security. I hate to think about what my life would be like today without taking that first step to this glorious land way back in the spring of 2003.

In Matthew 16 Jesus suggests breaking the strongholds of hell by using broken followers who seek to build their lives on the Rock of Jesus Christ. He calls this radical group of followers the “church” and He hands them the “keys of His Kingdom,” a powerful Gospel message to live and shout out to the nations.

Jesus keeps His strategic plan to build His Kingdom simple. In fact, it would do us well as the “church” today to scrap many of our strategic plans with our goals and our objectives for His. Read on in Matthew 16 to discover this transforming gem:

Anyone who wants to be apart of this Gate Crashing Crew needs to take up the cross daily and follow Him. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it but whoever loses their life for His namesake will find it…(vs.24,25).

Did you catch that? Jesus is suggesting for us to daily die to self and find real life by following in His radical steps. These steps demand a daily trust to move when He moves and to wait when He waits. In other words, we exchange our feet of self-will for CROSS-FEET that daily climb to Calvary and die to our control so that we can live out the heart of Christ.

The land and people of Africa continue to display this simple message of Christ to my heart. “Tim, follow Me into the great unknown, knowing that I am all you need!” I guess that’s why I need to continue to travel to Africa-it’s not an easy message to live into. Yet, whenever I have followed Him, no matter the cost, He has brought me into a Kingdom life that offers so much more than my ego-controlled existence.

Try walking in the dust of Rabbi Jesus today. Yes, it will demand cross-feet, and there will be times where it hurts as you fight your self-will. But you will taste Heaven’s life and be part of a movement that will storm the gates of hell with the glory of the Father’s love and you will not want to go back.