The Call

Amidst the mess of all my boxes, I just discovered my journal from the very first mission trip I was apart of, with YWAM LA, back when I was only 13 years old. My handwriting was terrible. But my notes and entries blew me away; God did mighty things in me in those two weeks. I found the following excerpt from the day after I heard God's call to ministry.

Father, at last night's lecture you gave me the chance to give you my heart, and life. Thank You. Do You know what? I'm very glad I took that chance. I no longer have to worry about my future, my will or my plans. I've heard Yours. I accept. I give You my heart, my soul, my past, my present and my future. Take them please. I am willing to give You my life, that it may be a blessing to others. You gave me a message last night, "Go ye into all the world and preach the good news," "To the ends of the earth." You have sent me and I will go, into all the world, preaching Your Good News! I find it so amazing that You would pick me to go into all the world. That you would fit me in to the Great Commission. That You have the time to look at me and say; here is where I want you and this is what you should be doing. Well Father it goes over my head. You want me! Please don't let me dissapoint You. May I make You proud. Thank You for choosing me! Amen.

Oh man, I wish I had that kind of clarity and certainty now! I was passionate, my thoughts were simple, I was naive. But I loved God, I had met Him, and I knew I would follow Him from that point on. I can remember that lecture. Not anything that was said, but where I sat and what that moment was like.
And I look back now, almost 10 years later, and wonder that God has indeed sent me into the ends of the earth, and called me into His work. That He has seen fit to use me. And I wonder, how much that decision and promise made to God, have shaped the course of my life. And if this is what He has done in the last 10 years, what will He lead me into in the next decade?
I marvel at my 13-year-old words and faith. And then I remember that I also saw fit to eat a bag of M&M Peanuts for breakfast each day of our trip. I was a bundle of maturity, and passion and childhood. Perhaps I still am. But He has seen fit use me!

The Irresistible Revolution

Have any of you read "The Irresistible Revolution"? I'm working on it, for the 2nd time, and it's kicking my butt, again! Maybe this time my life might be changed to the core. If not, I'll read it again!
The basis of the book is this:
Isn't there a whole lot more, perhaps a completely different "more" to the call of Christianity, than what the North American church is living and teaching? Are we not called to know and love and serve the poor, "to place them among the princes of our own people" (Psalm 111)? Was our Saviour not a homeless man, who didn't make friends with the good religious people, but sought out the "sinners" and the suffering? And if He knew and cared for the poor, and we claim we are following Him, shouldn't we know the poor? Did He not care for others imaginatively, curing blindness with a mud/spit paste, and zapping 5 loaves and 2 fish into enough for thousands? Did He not invite us into a new family, and way of being where global Christians are not like family, but are in fact our very brothers, sisters and mothers? Did not the early Church reject the way of the Roman world, sharing everything with each other, even fasting so that everyone might eat? Didn't Jesus say to "love our enemies", and wouldn't that mean we don't bomb them? Isn't there a big difference between giving to charities and actually knowing the poor? Didn't Jesus say that the world hated Him, so they would hate us too?
That's it, my synopsis of a 300-something page book, which is far more elloquent, far more butt-kicking and sure to wreck your life. Perhaps the Bible is already speaking these things to you, and you don't need another book to point out the things you've already heard. Or perhaps you are easily forgetful, and culturally stuck, and you can easily skip the "tough" words of Jesus. Perhaps you're like me.
So if you are, if you are wondering if you're missing something, if Christian faith is supposed to be more than what you're living right now. Then buy, borrow, whatever, get the book! And read it. And ask God to give you the courage to read and hear all the words of Christ, not just the ones that would our lives happier, easier, nicer. I don't think Jesus is in that business!

(The Irresistible Revolution, Shane Claiborne)

101 Wishes

Do you dream big dreams?
There's an article on 24-7 right now about dreaming big dreams. So often our sights are set on the attainable... maybe the sensible. But if God has promised to give us the desires of our hearts, if all things are possible through Him then maybe we should try to dream a little bigger.
What would happen if you were to take out a page of loose leaf, or A4, or a new Word doc and start making a list of things you dream of? What if you set out to make a list of 101 Wishes?
That's the challenge of the article, to take the time to dream a little bit. I bet that your list would get off to a roaring start, the first 10 or 20 flying from your fingers. But eventually (perhaps sooner than later), they'd probably start to slow down, and you'll be left to imagine the impossible, the far-fetched, the idealistic.
So I'm extending the challenge - write your wish list. I haven't yet, I'll have to work on it, but off the top of my head I can guarantee you that my list will include:

• I want to learn at least 4 languages.
• I want to swim with a Manatee.
• I want to be an excellent midwife, to deliver many-many babies!
• I want to play jazzy piano.
• I want to be less selfish, to love others more.
• I want to run a 10K.

What about you?