Blessed are the Servants!

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“If I don’t serve I become like a teenage boy with too much time on my hands…” I was having coffee with a good friend last week when he nailed it with the sentence above about the importance of serving others.  He went on to talk about how he has learned that he finds the greatest joy doing deeds for others.  He went on to add, “It can be mopping floors, picking up trash, or having coffee with someone who needs to share their heart and being available to listen.”

With a sense of humor my friend tapped into the very DNA that runs deeply through our veins. We are created in the image of the triune God, who represents perfect and complete love and this God has manifested that love through acts of unconditional sacrifice. From the very beginning of time we have been designed to serve. However, because our first parents, Adam and Eve,  listened to satan’s lie the act of serving others has been distorted.  The false truth of making ourselves god and focussing primarily on  our own desires will result in ultimate satisfaction. Hmm how did that go for Adam and Eve? You and me?

As we enter into this precious season of Advent, many churches will light advent candles each Sunday. The fours candles represent hope, love, joy and peace. All pointing to the greatest act of service ever given to the world-the amazing gift of Jesus coming to earth. From His very conception in a virgin’s womb, to His birth in an animal shelter, and His obedient life culminating at the cross, this SERVICE was to the least and broken. Yes to you and me.

As Jesus stated so clearly in Mark 10:43-45  indeed this was His mission and it is to be the mission of all those who follow Him:

“If you want to be the greatest, then live as one called to serve others. The path to promotion comes by having the heart of a bond-slave who serves everyone. For even the Son of Man did not come expecting to be served by everyone, but to serve everyone, and to give His life as the ransom price for the salvation of many.”

When we desire to live out the mission of Christ through service- His Kingdom begins to invade our hearts with hope, love, joy, and peace as represented in those advent candles.  Serving ignites something deep inside of us, it can’t always be defined or described but it just feels right.

One of our greatest joys as a ministry is to observe what happens when young people travel to Africa and are “ruined” so to speak, by serving the least of these (see Matthew 24:45-51). We call the trips Kingdom Encounters because it is by serving, by giving of themselves-they encounter Jesus and His Kingdom. We have seen so many “ruined” to the kingdom of this world and find the Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ when serving others.

Having coffee and a enjoying a delicious donut with my friend reminded me of the blessings of serving others. Serving brings hope, love, peace and joy deep into our souls as His Kingdom awakens and flows and grows through loving others by serving. I was challenged  to find ways to serve others this season, perhaps you will be challenged as well.

 

 

 

 

“Stay in the Boat!”

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“I heard God say to me in the vision, ‘Stay in the Boat!” When Chantelle stopped me the other day on the streets of Fishhoek, South Africa to tell me about a vision she recently had, my whole body was covered with goose bumps for so many reasons.

When my wife and I met Chantelle a little over 4 years ago she was homeless and just had a baby. The father of this beautiful baby girl had committed suicide before she was born. Chantelle, started to attend a Monday prayer service that Patty and I were going to at Overflow Church. We invited her to be apart of a recovery group Bible Study we were doing on Tuesday nights.

As we worked through the Lord’s Prayer and the Twelve Steps of AA we watched God do an amazing work in her heart. As the Spirit worked healing from past addictions He also provided a place for her to live and daily bread to sustain her.

Ab0ut six months ago Oceans Ministries contributed to the start up of a preschool for the community on at Overflow Church.  For Patty and I this was a great joy because both of our moms were preschool teachers and even taught together for several years. The first official volunteer for was Chantelle, who was able to bring her daughter Leela for free.

Chantelle has done so well and the preschool has grown to the point where the director hired her and will help pay for her to get a degree in early childcare. Miracle!

But let me go back to my divine appointment I had with her.  In the vision she was in a boat like the ones in Jesus’ day.  In the front of the boat was a man who had the sail wrapped around him. The water was still. The boat was going nowhere. However in the next scene of her vision the man took the sail and hoisted it up the mast and then wind picked up and the boat slowly began to move.

The man turned around, and Chantelle said that she immediately knew it was Jesus, and He said these simple words, “Stay in the Boat!” Chantelle, said after these words were spoken an overwhelming peace filled her soul. She knew that He was directing her future and no matter what she had to trust Him and “stay in the boat.”

Another reason why I was physically and spiritually touched by the words “Stay in the Boat” is because recently my mom has been battling with a rare form of cancer.  During the last few conversations and prayer times with her I’ve felt called to tell her to “Stay in the Boat!” I couldn’t wait to call my mom and tell her about Chantelle’s vision with the exact same words “Stay in the Boat!” What a Father God who hears our prayers and knows the cries of our heart. Meeting Chantelle walking on the streets of Fish Hoek and hearing her vision was a gift to remind me, my mom,  and perhaps some of you to “Stay in His boat.”

Life is a mystery like being in a boat that we are not in control of.  Sometimes there is no wind and it appears like we are going nowhere. At other times the boat is being pounded by horrific waves and we feel like we are about to sink. But the Spirit of Christ speaks to us and says, “Trust Me, stay in the boat!”  He has the perfect Haven which He is leading us to and grants peace to fill our hearts no matter what happens on the journey.

I’m not sure where your boat is at these days, but may you too hear Jesus say, “Stay in the Boat! I’m with you now and forever!”

“Peace be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great fear and said to one another. “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”

Mark 4:40-41

 

I’m Thankful Mirrors!

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One of the greatest reasons to live a life of THANKSGIVING is the gift of Seeing the glory of God.  Now this doesn’t mean we have to be like Moses and spend 40 days on a mountain fasting and praying to get a glimpse of the backside of the glory of God.  We live in days where His glory is evident all around if we just take time to look.

The other week I was sitting in the back of The Gospel Outreach church in a township of Masiphumelele. The 4 hour worship service was great and you could truly feel the presence of God. But as I looked over to my left I saw His shining glory mirrored in full display. She was walking down the isle bringing a young child to be seated at the front of the church. There was no halo over her head nor beams of light in her stoic face, just a powerful glory that lead me to thanksgiving for what He has done in and through her life.

She had her first child at a young age,  later would marry a man with 3 kids and have 1 of their own. When their child was 5 her husband unexpectedly past away leaving her a mother of 4 to provide for the family. All she really had was her relationship with God to bring her through this wilderness. She prayed, worshiped, read her Bible, and worked hard to bring her family through.

Patty and I would not have survived our work at Oceans Retreat Center without her. When Oceans bought the campus she came with it along with her daughter Sunny. She cooked, cleaned, helped with repairs, got up in the middle of the night standing in sewage to help us battle the flooding. She was a rock in the middle of all the storms we faced. We we spent hours with her crying out to God for miracles in our personal lives and life in South Africa.

Not long ago she faced another crisis with her oldest daughter’s family and was called by the Lord to take two of her young grandsons to live with her. She felt she needed to move back to Massi into a home she owned and raise these boys through the power of the Christ who lives in her. The other day dinner was severed at her house and what a blessing to see the grandsons become young men who are seeking to walk with Christ just like their older aunt Sunny who I predict will be president of South Africa someday.

That Sunday watching her use her gifts at church I saw God’s glory. A faithful servant, who faced impossible odds, yet who clung to her faith in a God who loved her and would bring her through.  Just like it says in 1 Cor. 3:18, she mirrors the glory of God;

“We can all draw close to Him with the veil removed from our faces. And with no veil we all become like mirrors who brightly reflect the glory of the Lord Jesus, we are being transfigured into His very image as we move from one brighter level of glory to another. And this glorious transfiguration comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

I’m thankful to the Oceans Board and all all who support Oceans Ministries for funding Thobeka to be a missionary mirror of the Father’s glory. As she mirrors His love to her family, to the church where she is the key leader, and to a community that is in desperate need to see the glory of Jesus.

This thanksgiving look around you and think about those who mirror Christ glory to you. Give thanks and ask God to fill you with His Spirit to also be a mirror in a world that needs to see Jesus.

Fighting for the Soul!

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There is nothing like a good water balloon fight!  It has turned summer here in South Africa and I got to take part in a water balloon fight on our Oceans campus with the high school students. It was an epic battle with kids and teacher’s soaked. The laughter was loud and contagious stopping people on the street to observe the duel.  But as I was talking with Bryan the principal earlier, many of these kids are suffering deeply inside. From battles at home, to peer pressure, addictions, to deep seated insecurity produced by being saturated by social media. The enemy is working overtime lobbing attack after attack at these young people.

I think many of can also identify with the constant assault of being pounded by the dark powers that are relentlessly targeting our minds and souls for defeat and destruction.

For the last few weeks I have been dwelling in the little book of Jude. I have been daily reading this 1 chapter book written by the half brother of Jesus and the message I keep getting is that we need to fight for our own souls and the souls of others like these students mentioned above.

The last few verses of Jude end with 7 commands which were given to help God’s beloved children fight for their soul and the souls of others around them.  Here is a quick summary of how we fight from vs. 20-23;

  1. Fight on the Foundation of Faith – We can only overcome by standing on the Rock Solid Promise of Jesus Christ found in the Gospel. We need to daily pick up this Sword of the Spirit and attack the “father of lies.”
  2. Fight on your Knees – as one translations puts it – “by praying every moment in the  Holy Spirit!” The battle is one in the heavenly realm as we moment by moment we breath out prayers before a mighty King who will fight on our behalf.
  3. Fight for Love – Our greatest need is to daily fasten our hearts to the love of the Father. Victory flows out of knowing His love for us and responding to that love with all our hearts.
  4. Fight from Forgiveness – We have been given mercy and forgiveness through the Cross. We are seated forever secure on the heavenly mercy seat washed in perfect blood.
  5. Fight for the Family – As we have been given mercy and forgiveness we give the same to our brothers and sisters who are struggling around us.
  6. Fight for the Lost – Called to fight for those who are lost by sharing the Gospel so that they are “snatched out of the fire.” The   Gospel expands His glory all over the earth.
  7. Fight your Flesh – Daily we need to fight the desires of the flesh that seek to pollute our soul. Daily die to self and follow in the steps of Jesus to victory.

Does the list overwhelm you? It does me. But keep reading. We don’t fight these battles alone. Let this glorious doxology bring you great courage and joy as you fight through the faith given you through Christ who lives in you. We can’t lose this fight in Him.

“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of His glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen!” (24-25)

So fight from the place of victory for the One in you is greater than any dark power aligned against you!

 

Can You Hear the Voice of Wisdom?

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Can you hear the voice of wisdom? Not always an easy voice to hear especially in our extremely loud culture. But the voice is always there calling out to us if we are willing to silence the other voices and listen.

A few weeks ago I hit Psalm 150 in my daily quiet time reading and normally the next day I would start all over again with Psalm 1. But something nudged me to flip over a page and start praying through the book of Proverbs.  I’ll be honest, nothing against the Proverbs but the Psalms are my happy place.

Perhaps it is the season I’m in or all that is going on in our world, but I have been so blessed by the Spirit speaking to me in this book of Wisdom. I’m trying not to rush through but rather soak in every verse and just listen. This is what I’m hearing, Wisdom is a timeless gift to receive wherever the day may bring.

Solomon, who wrote most of these poetic truths, was honored by God as he sought the gift of wisdom above all else(1 Kings 3). During his reign the kingdom grew and the people experienced a heavenly shalom. Sadly, later on Solomon turned away from the voice of wisdom and seeds of chaos were planted that eventually divided the kingdom in the next generation.

Proverbs tells us that wisdom is birthed when we come to know “the fear of the LORD,” (1:7). The Hebrew word for “fear” implies so much more than our English word. The best way I can wrap my mind around this word “fear” is to describe it as daily being consumed by the glorious beauty of God.  When I encounter His glory wisdom will be revealed. And we know the revelation of wisdom ultimately is from the lineage of Solomon: Jesus (See Isa. 11:1-2, 1 Cor. 1:30, Col. 2:3).

Encountering the glorious face of Jesus will lead to a life of surrender and obedient worship, which is a life directed by Wisdom. How thankful I am for a Sunday School teacher who had me memorize Proverbs 3:5-6.  I had no idea at the time how key that verse would be for a life guided by Wisdom.

To me this proverb means placing my life in the the faithful hands of Jesus even when life doesn’t make sense, continuing to seek after Him, and desiring to know Him with the deepest longing in my heart.  A wonderful promise follows: “He will direct my path,”  His wisdom will lead me and will lead you into His forever Kingdom of loving peace!

All the voices we continue to hear from our loud and proud world offering to fill our emptiness only lead to a banquet of pain, shame, and spiritual death. But how different the voice of Wisdom, it is a voice that brings us to a table of healing, forgiveness, hope, and an everlasting love the fills our greatest need to belong.

With all the voices yelling out to you I pray that you will listen to Wisdom.  I challenge you to put aside social media for a time and tune into the Spirit’s voice. Maybe turn to the book of Proverbs, listen to Jesus’ voice, and find the shalom you were created for.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight.”

 – Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV