The Character of Abba Father’s Heart – Joy

/2 Comments/in , /by

How do you define joy? I am a visual person so what helps me define JOY is by what I see. A few Sunday’s ago I was preaching in a church in Lesotho Africa and it was winter in the Southern Hemisphere. Yet, in this cinder block building with hard chairs, a chilling draft, and without heat people came in their Sunday best with smiles ready to encounter God in worship.

By the end of the service those of us who were shivering at the beginning of the service were plenty warm and removing our jackets as we were caught up in the worship service where heavens fire invaded our hearts. Now, for those of us from the western world this is hard to comprehend. Nothing in this particular external environment would typically bring us joy or pleasure. There was no heat; hard chairs, poor lighting, and the volume of the music broke all decimal rules.

And what about all the internal suffering these people brought into the worship service that morning. Extreme poverty, one of the highest death rates in the world because of HIV/Aids, and daily living under the injustice of a corrupt political system. Not to mention a host of other social issues like rape, a huge orphan population and lack of educational opportunities. Yet, somehow in spite of both external and internal battles these people face there was an overwhelming spirit of joy that flowed out of the hearts of these beautiful worshipers.

When I think about the joy I personally experienced that Sunday, surrounded by Besotho followers of Christ engaging in worship I know the source of their joy has to be rooted in God. How could one find joy based on the lack of external comfort in the building or the hardships and suffering in their lives? Yet, JOY invaded their hearts. JOY from a Father in heaven who is complete joy. This JOY is released through the Holy Spirit upon all His children who make Him their hope in the midst of what many of us would label a hopeless situation.

This joyful worship experience in Africa makes Nehemiah 8:10 come to life, “the joy of the LORD is my strength.” You can translate that, “the joy of the LORD is my everything.” Knowing the Father = Joy and His Joy becomes everything you need.

As I remember dancing before the Father with my brothers and sisters in Africa, I praise Him for how they have taught me that He is the source of TRUE JOY!

 

 

The Character of Abba Father’s Heart – Empowered to Serve

/3 Comments/in , /by

A special thank you to Danell for writing such inspiring blogs while I was in Africa.

Each time I walk on African soil I am in awe of how God empowers his children to serve in ways that bring Heaven to earth. Lesotho Africa is one of the poorest countries on earth and has the second highest HIV rate in the world. Yet the Father’s love continues to overcome the darkness and bring light through ordinary people full of God’s Spirit. Let me share a couple of stories that highlight this.

Our team stayed at Beautiful Gate Care Center, a refuge for abandoned babies. While we were there a 1-month-old baby girl arrived, she was found at a nearby dam. This tiny malnourished child was quickly enveloped in love by staff and volunteers a like. She went from orphan into a family of care workers that treated her as a child of the King, with the hope that she will one day be adopted.

One of our days was spent at the Good Shepherd Center. This is a place that cares for unwed mothers and their babies. Many of these teen mom’s have been raped and are ostracized from their community and literally have no place to go. I watched as 13 teen-age girls from Holland Christian High School, led by their teacher Mike Verkaik, showed Christ’s love in amazing ways. It was a day of singing, sharing testimonies, holding babies, laughing, dancing, and crying together. One of the nuns who work at Good Shepherd said, “There is something special about these Holland Christian girls.”

This was a particularly memorable trip for me as this was the first time my wife Patty was able to travel to this country that I love so much. I was so blessed as I watched her minister to a pastor’s wife of a local church where I preached. Patty was able to listen, love, and give words of encouragement to a beautiful woman who has suffered much because of the battle wounds of being a pastor’s wife. We were asked to pray over the pastoral staff and their wives, it was a powerful time as the nearness of God’s healing presence was evident.

One chilly night – yes it gets cold in Africa, and our lodging had no heat! – any way, during our evening “family time” I was recapping the events of the day and all that we were experiencing in Lesotho. It struck me how the Father takes our “YES” to be His servant and how He uses it to unleash His glory through us, as He did through Mary mother of Jesus (Luke 1:38). This “YES” to serve others will bring in His Kingdom in powerful ways, this is the church of Jesus Christ at it’s best. Truly, this team, at this moment, was at Beautiful Gate because Ray and Sue Haakenson, co-founders of Beautiful Gate, said YES to care for 7 abandoned babies in 2002. They had no idea that their “YES” would impact 13 high school girls in 2015. And I guarantee that their “YES” will impact countless others for the Father’s glory!

Your Father is waiting to empower you to serve in His Kingdom……. all He needs is your YES!!!

The Character of Abba Father’s Heart – Empowering Prayer

/0 Comments/in , /by

WEAK people pray! And what they pray for is the Father’s Empowering Presence in their life.

Last week we left off with Peter and John thrown into jail because they were living and loving Jesus (Acts 4:8-13). The religious leaders were dumbfounded with what to do with these Jesus followers, so they threatened them, told them to stop speaking and teaching in the name of Jesus, and released them.

However, instead of skipping town, Peter and John went to the church and called a prayer meeting and prayed for the empowering presence of the Father.

“…Now, LORD, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus,” (Acts 4:29-30).

Knowing their weakness they asked the Father to speak and heal through them. The disciples could only accomplish these things because they knew they belonged to the Father. The Father loves to answer the prayers of the weak: “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly” (vs.31).

This last year God has continued to show me how weak I really am and how daily I cannot continue without the empowering presence of my Heavenly Father. I would like to ask the faithful readers of this blog to pray for Patty, myself, and the team from Holland Christian High School as we travel to Lesotho Africa. Together, we are blessed to be able serve at Beautiful Gate Care Center, attend God-ordained meetings about a ministry center in one of the villages, preach the gospel in a local church, and encourage the local pastor and his wife. As we minister to orphans, families torn apart by HIV aids, and a country struggling with extreme poverty we know that there is nothing we can bring on our own, but humbly pray that in our weakness the healing presence of Abba Father’s love through Jesus brings everlasting hope. Through the prayers of the Father’s children glorious things can happen just as they did in the book of Acts, thank you in advance for your prayers!

Also, I am pleased to share with you that Danell, one of the board members of Oceans Ministries, will be writing the next two blog entries while I am in Africa.

The Character of Abba Father’s Heart – Empowering the Weak

/1 Comment/in , /by

The Spykstra family has a new Sunday night ritual; at 8 pm we watch a mini series called “AD: The Bible.” This historic drama depicts the explosive growth of the early church after the death and resurrection of Jesus. The writers have done a masterful job depicting the characters. There is Caiaphas the sinister high priest, Pilate the heartless Roman governor, Herod the puppet Jewish King, and in sharp contrast the rag tag group of disciples led by Peter and John.

As the events in the book of Acts unfold a world system dictated by money, power, and back-alley deals done in secret attempt to crush the Gospel Movement. The power people are baffled as to why their self-seeking schemes are unable to derail the passion and courage of seemingly insignificant followers of Jesus. A specific example is found in Acts 4 where Peter and John are arrested for healing a crippled beggar. This healed man gave authentic glory to God the Father and Jesus His Son right in front of the temple. When the religious leaders heard about it and asked Peter and John by what power or name did they do this healing, Peter – filled with the Holy Spirit – blurted “it is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed… Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved,” (vs.8-13).

Now ponder with me the response of the religious leaders in vs. 13, “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.” Check out the word “ordinary” in the Greek it means “idiot” or “unlearned.” Yes, the religious leaders were right, these men were not scholars, or powerful politicians or part of the elite, just “idiots.” BUT these men “had been with Jesus.” These men were empowered by their Father with the living Spirit of Jesus Christ and had become an unstoppable force.

In the mini series the power people are depicted as living in constant fear, yet the “weak” disciples live with a supernatural boldness that confounds the world around them. It is easy today to get discouraged as you look at the powerful people and forces that seem to be in control of shaping culture. However, when we reflect on the simplicity of the early church that definitely faced the same demonic strongholds, we can be encouraged. The Father loves to take the weak that “have been with Jesus,” and empower them to turn the world upside down.

Our Father is looking for the weak that realize they need Jesus to wash away their sin and fill them with the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. If you are one of the weak get ready for a new move of the Father who is about to unleash Jesus through you to bring His glory and fame far and wide.

The Character of Abba Father’s Heart – Empowering

/0 Comments/in , /by

A few days ago I sat at a Colorado State Track meet and encountered two different pictures of empowering. As we were sitting in the stands there was a family right behind us excited for the upcoming relay race that their daughter was in. The gun went up, went off and went off again, which meant a false start. The dad behind us went nuts as his daughter false started and disqualified the team. His rant about his daughter being the worst athlete on the track caused the whole family to leave. A few minutes later the dejected daughter sat next to her father looking for some words of encouragement but very little came. It was heartbreaking to hear her sobs without her father consoling her with a hug or one word of comfort.

As the tragic scene was unfolding behind us, on the track the opposite was taking place. The Special Olympics ran a 100 meter dash. As the gun went off the large crowd stood to their feet with cheers and loud applause. The last athlete to cross the finish line was a blind contestant who had a friend running with him, giving instructions and encouragement the whole way. The closer he got to the finish line the cheers permeated the stadium and his hands raised in joy as he completed the contest.

I was praying that the father behind me saw what was going on and it touched his heart to do the same for his brokenhearted daughter.

As we move on in looking at the Character of Abba Father’s Heart we want to look at how He empowers His children with the Holy Spirit, who floods our hearts with encouragement, boldness, and love. This coming Sunday we celebrate Pentecost where Abba Father unleashed His empowering Spirit on a bunch of weak men and women who failed Jesus during his darkest moment, in a sense they got disqualified from their spiritual race. But Abba found each of them through Jesus and put his loving arms around them and said, “get ready for the greatest race of your life.” Yes, they should have been disqualified and so should I, but we have Dad who meets us in our brokenness and weakness. He, like the guide for the blind runner, comes alongside by the Holy Spirit and empowers us with words of encouragement and love that lead us to the finish line of our spiritual race.

Focus the next few days on Acts 1 & 2 and think about the broken disciples waiting for the Gift of the Father, His empowering Spirit, to lead them on the race of all races. How the Father would take a Peter, who denied His Son three times 50 days earlier, and turn him into “Rocky,” full of passion and courage to live as one empowered by his Father’s love. You may have failed and been disqualified in your spiritual walk, but sit down next to your Father, think about the Cross, and listen to what He says through His Spirit – and get ready to run again!