The Call

What are the different ways in which God calls us?

Before we get the call, we have to know His voice.  I am reminded of 1st Samuel 3. Samuel did not yet know the Lord, the word of the Lord not yet being revealed to Him. (vs 7) Three times the Lord called to Samuel and each time he went to Eli the priest whom he ministered to the Lord under. The first two times, Eli said he did not call him. Then Eli realized the Lord was calling Samuel and taught Samuel how to respond. Samuel had to learn how to hear the voice of the Lord.

Later in John 10:27 Jesus says that His sheep listen to His voice, He knows us and we follow Him.  I believe that as new believers we need to be discipled, taught to hear his voice and that as we lean in to Him, talk wioth Him, pray to Him, read His Word...we will begin to hear Him when He calls.

One way the Lord calls us is through prayer. I remember numerous times in our life when my wife and I spent time in prayer and the Lord spoke specifically to us, calling us to new pathds we had not thought of ourself.  One time, while living in Croatia, my wife and I were praying about taking an outreach team to Macedonia and then staying there ourselves when the team departed. I came home one day and my wife was crying. She said the Lord spoke to her some specific things in prayer about our next steps. I wanted to see the list she had made but she said if it was from God, He would speak it to me as well.  5 days later, as I was prayer planning an evening event in another town, I felt the Lord calling me to grab a pen and He clearly spoke some "next step" things to me.  When I got home a couple days later our list matched exactly.

I also believe the Lord calls us through His Word. My call to Salvation came through His Word. I saw the Scriptures and how clearly it says that I had sinned and Jesus made a way for me to be connected to the Heavenly Father via His death on the cross. I eagerly responded to that call. Later, I felt the Lord calling me to missions via the Great Commission. I spent 4 years in missions ministry as a result of that call.

Finally I belive the Lord confirms His call through the consulting of others. Two specific times in my life, in the above story of our future in Croatia and later when we prayed about a move that brought us to Canada, we consulted a pastor and another spiritual leader, asking them to pray with us and for us and to see if what we felt the Lord speaking was also witnessed in their spirit. Samuel went to Eli when he heard the call and I believe we also need to seek the wisdom of others when we feel God calling.

In summary, I believe God calls us through prayer, His Word and the wisdom of our spiritual leaders.

Broken

So I was driving down the road this week and came across this song by the Sidewalk Prophets. I have never heard their music before. This song is from their 2nd Album, Live Like That.  

I found these words challenging




The first verse about brokenness reminds me of when we were preparing to leave Croatia.  Our friend prayed over us as we were going to leave and all I remember her praying was that God would break us.  I thought she was the worst friend in the world.

It took some time but I discovered the benefits of that prayer.  God did take us through a period of surrender and brokenness. Our lives were forever changed.

My prayer is that I live a life like this everyday.

I want Jesus Christ to be my one desire.

What about you?

Are you willing to allow God to break you, empty you out and make you lonely to the point where He is your one desire?

Not in N. America

Here is something you would never see on American or Canadian National News Networks...a story that is positive about the church.

HTV1....is a national television news network in Croatia. Recently they aired a piece on the Church of Christ in Croatia and the story was very positive. It has been translated into English and put on YouTube! I wanted to share it here so you would be encouraged to pray for our brothers and sisters in Croatia. On a side note, my wife Sarah and I know most of the ones interviewed.

Do I Really Mean It?

I remember one time a friend in Croatia stated she would not sing certain worship songs. When I asked her to explain she stated, "Why should I sing that I surrender all if I am truly not surrendering all? I do not want to lie to God."

At the time I thought that was a bit extreme but I now see what she means. Today I had these lines from a worship song bouncing in my head:

All of my ambitions, hopes and plans
I surrender these into Your hands.

It got me to thinking.....do I really mean that? Am I surrendering my ambitions, hopes and plans? As I thought about it I could not honestly say I was doing that.

See this week I have been thinking a lot about surrender. To surrender is to give up, to relinquish. Are we willing to lay it all down, even our lives, for Christ? The spiritual answer would be, Yes! In reality is that my answer?

Would I really let go of everything? Better yet would I willingly let go of everything if God asks?

I'd like to say yes. I really would.

I know this is where God wants me....surrendering daily....at times I struggle. It's easy in some areas...harder in others. For example I can easily surrender my media choices to Him. It's harder when it comes to my own health or that of my family. Do I really believe God can do all things? To protect me and those around me?

Father please help me to trust You more. To not hold on to the things you say to release and to cling tightly to You! I want to trust you, with everything, not fearing this means you will take it but knowing you have a plan that far exceeds any I could come up with. I believe Lord, Help my unbelief. (Mark 9:24) In Jesus Name, Amen!

20 Questions

My Daughter found this little hand held game this week at the Salvation Army. Called 20 questions the game has built in, adaptive artificial intelligence. The more you play the more the game learns. We've been throwing some tough ones at the game and within 20 questions it is getting 80% of our items right. You let the computer know if you are thinking of an animal, vegetable or mineral and it goes from there.

So this game got me thinking about God....

God doesn't need 20 questions to know what is going on in our life! Luke 16:15 says that God knows what's in our hearts. There are actually numerous Scriptures which talk about how God knows us, knows our hearts, etc.

So why do we try to hide things from Him? I remember a man in Croatia, we had a whole conversation about being honest with God. This man was afraid to admit he felt burned out at times. He never wanted to say he got angry with God. He would try to hide/deny these feelings? Why?

God already knows. We don't have to play games with God. He knows if we are angry, frustrated, happy, etc! Look at the Psalms. At least half the Psalms are laments, telling God how the psalmists felt in a situation, about life, etc. Look at Ecclesiastes, Job, etc.

God knows our hearts...let's be honest with Him, talking to Him about our thoughts, feelings, life, etc. He's listening. Share your heart.

The Well

In Croatia, a country that was once a part of Yugoslavia before the war, there is a small town named Krajaschina. In the fall of 1996 I had the privilege of being the first American (at least that was what I was told) to enter this town.

Cows were herded up the rural dirt roads a few miles from the main town. Livestock, typical of a farm area, could be seen all around in the fields.

I was spending the day with a Christian friend from Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. We had come to this town to help his father pick corn on his grandmother’s farm. They needed the corn to feed their family and livestock through the winter months. It was here I heard the story of the well.

A little over one hundred years ago this country village had ten public wells built at various locations around the town. Farmers would come to get water and various military units would water their horses there as well as they passed through the town. As the years went by the wells began to run dry. One by one they stopped giving their cool, refreshing liquid. All accept one.

Only one well has never ceased to give its needed refreshment. Each time a bucket is lowered down the well it comes back up fool of cold, refreshing, clear water. Visiting this well I was reminded of another story about a different well.

Jesus had stopped at a well for a drink and was met there by a Samaritan woman. He asked her for a drink. She stated, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (John 4:9) Jesus proceeded to reveal Himself to her as the Living Water. As she asked questions He responded with a gentle kindness. His responses when to the heart of her real need! The result? He brought this woman into relationship with Himself. She later testified in Samaria about Him.

We all need the water from the well that never runs dry. I know in my own life I have felt really refreshed of late. So sit back and drink of the Lord!

Remember The One

(I wrote this article and it was previously published in World Christian magazine Volume 13, Number 3 September 2000, under the title Remember One)

A crowd or an individual? Does it make a difference? Does one person matter? Even though this issue has been discussed for a number of years, I still see a tendency on the mission field and in evangelism in general, to focus on numbers. We live in a result-oriented society, and I believe that mindset has crept into our ministry. The gauge for successful evangelism is often “how many people accepted Christ?” As a missionary in Croatia, I saw this trend emerge in some of the churches there as well. But we are missing the big picture.

In the New Testament, Jesus taught many large crowds, but what is most recorded is how He transformed individual lives. Whether it was a physical healing or speaking to the needs of the heart, His greatest emphasis was on the individual. He focused on each person’s needs and gave of Himself to meet them. If we look at the women at the well or even Nicodemus, Jesus met them in their place of need and brought them into a relationship with Himself. It was these people who spread the word to the masses, who then came out to see Him for themselves. Jesus did not ignore large assemblies of people, but His focus always turned to the individual in need.

The ministry of Jesus should be our model. We should be prayerfully looking for that one person whose life can be transformed by the power of the gospel. There are many hurting people who will get lost in the crowds if we don’t allow God to use us to seek them out for His kingdom. This is why building relationships is so essential in evangelism.

One of the greatest resources I have found to understand our role in evangelism is the Engel Scale. The scale evaluates a person’s openness to the gospel giving it a value of –10 (atheist) to –1 (ready to accept Christ). The goal believers aim for is to see a person move one step at a time up the scale until they understand Christ’s sacrifice for them and are ready to accept His gift of salvation. It is easier for someone to go from an awareness of personal need (-3) to accepting Christ, than it is to get a person with no effective knowledge of Christianity (-9) to accept Christ. When we focus on helping a person to the next step, we will find that smaller steps forward are easier and come faster than big leaps.

This principle applies for after conversion as well. After someone comes to Christ, they move up the scale in knowledge, love and a growing relationship with Him. The process of discipleship becomes so important. When we walk alongside young believers, we can help them grow at a pace tailored just for them. Paul modeled this with Timothy.

My wife and I have seen it succeed on the mission field in one particular church in Zagreb, Croatia. Whether it was studying the Bible, meeting physical needs or just giving prayer support, we walked beside many in the congregation offering them encouragement and instruction. We saw them gradually grow in their love for God. When we left Croatia, the entire congregation came out to say goodbye. They told us how they were blessed through the relationships we had established with them.

God has used these relationships to spark further growth. Before we left, I talked to a pastor about restarting pastors prayer breakfasts that had fallen into disarray when the focus of the meetings turned from a time of prayer to a time of boasting about each church’s accomplishments and growth. The meetings had stopped for almost a year. I encouraged the pastor to begin the meetings again, and I attended the first few to support his efforts. The focus not only returned to praying for individual pastors in their work, but also resulted in the churches cooperating to advance the kingdom. After I returned to North America, I heard that these meetings lead to citywide worship services. I say this to challenge each of us to turn our focus to investing in individual lives.

We may never know how reaching out to one person might influence future generations. We should remember the one who gave us the example of ministering to the individual. By imitating Christ in this way we can rest assured that while we may not see large numbers of converts, we will see firmly rooted believers who will spread their faith to others. Is it more important to have 100 firmly rooted Christians, or 5,000 people respond to an alter call but never grow in their relationship with God? Jesus reached the multitudes by reaching out to one person at a time. Shouldn’t we follow His example?