Preaching To Myself

Sometimes you just got to preach to yourself, and say, "self, here's the way it really is!" I say that sometimes from the pulpit, and I really believe it, and I really practice it. But this morning in my triad meeting, we discussed the pruning process of the Lord in our lives; and I was reminded afresh at the awesomeness and absolute sufficiency and refuge and joy that Jesus is in our lives! Let me share, and preach to myself some more; maybe it will help you too!

God uses lots of things to prune us: friends, family, books, sermons, the Word, teaching, etc., but most of all He uses pain, suffering, loss, and deprivation to break us from things that we don't need and things that hinder the fruit that endures and the joy of Christ! And so with that pain in mind, I kinda began to share some life lessons that Christ has worked through the three most painful times in my life. And I got so excited about how God used the Word and His sufficiency not only to get my through, but to grow me and change me and bring glory to Himself. And I got to preaching a little bit...

And these are just a few places that we are reminded of God's power and sufficiency, but they are tied to the painful times of my life, but biblically speaking:

David experienced and extolled the sufficiency of God in the wilderness, a dry and thirsty land, on the run, persecuted, downcast, deprived, betrayed, hunted, and sought after when He said in Psalm 63:1-7, when He saw the power and glory of God "...Your love is better than life...thus I will praise you and lift up hands in your Name...my soul is satisfied...in the shadow of your wings I will rejoice..." GOD IS SUFFICIENT!

Job, after immense, unspeakable tragedy and loss, said, "though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him," knowing that God alone is enough! Then after 35 chapters of God's silence, some unhelpful friends, and Job's whining (not patience), God speaks. He says to "gird up your loins like a man," I've got something to say. And for four chapters He demands answers from Job about who created the seas and their boundries, and where was Job during all that; and on and on for four chapters. And at the end, God having given no reason for Job's suffering and His allowance of it, Job says that he has spoken of things that he does not understand, and he repents for doubting God. And the message of the book is that God alone is enough. GOD IS SUFFICIENT!

Habakkuk was floored by the news that God was sending the wicked Babylonians to destroy Jerusalem and take them captive into a far away land. He can't fathom why or how God would do this to His children! He finally, after much reflection, at the end of the book says that when he heard the news, his body quivered, bones shook and ached with pain and shock, BUT if the worst case scenario happens "though the fig tree has no blooms, the labor of the olive fails, the fields yield no food, the flock is cut off from the fold, their are no herds in the stalls; Yet, I will rejoice in in the Lord, and I will joy in the God of my salvation! He is my strength..." GOD IS SUFFICIENT!

Paul said that the pain of the "thorn in the flesh" was unbearable, and that he had asked God to remove it, and God had refused. God said, "...my grace is sufficient for you. My strength is made perfect in weakness." So Paul concluded, "Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong." How could he rejoice, take pleasure in pain????? Because He knew that Christ was a greater joy than all the pain in the world! GOD IS SUFFICIENT!

And much more could be said, but I will leave you with that. It is just so good to be reminded of His sufficiency and power; and that He is our Rock and worthy of our trust! May God's strength be manifested and put on display in a world by the suffering of believers who attest to the Refuge of our soul, and take pleasure in trials because He is our treasure!

Preach this message to yourself: GOD IS ALL-SUFFICIENT, SATISFYING LORD OF GLORY!

Peru Trip Aug 2009 IV

When you assault the kingdom of darkness, you should expect the rage of the prince of darkness...

We were working in an area virtually uninhabited by the authentic gospel. No serious evangelical church or work is going on currently in the towns of Masma, Molinos, and Julcan. And they are under the power of the evil one, and he wasn't happy about our assault. This picture is of Geoff, John, and Ander, a man who chased us down to ask us about "our gospel" wanting to know how he could pursue Christ and be born again.

At first we didn't even really notice the severity of the attacks against us. We had a member of our team get sick the week before we left, and he was prohibited from going. Then we had another member of our team's mother get put in the hospital with a potentially serious illness. And he being the only person responsible had to stay behind. Then our flight was delayed 2 hours, and we almost missed our connection, but it was delayed too. And then it was no surprise when our baggage did not arrive in Lima with us. All of these things were assumed to be rather routine...

Then on Monday then attacks became much more violent. First, Geoff's stomach had not really been right since we came, but it wasn't getting fixed--one kinda down. Then Margaret, who was a trooper last year, really began having difficulty with a knee that was going out--two kinda down. Then Kayla, who was the life of our team (pictured above with Don), and also an asthmatic, began to have serious difficulty breathing. This landed us in a Peruvian hospital, not once but twice. The second of which we were really worried that she was having heart issues as well. Then back home, Erika was called back from the Dr. to inform her that the ectopic pregnancy that we thought was resolved was not. And she was in the hospital, then home sick from the effects of methatrexate. Her mother came to take care of her, then she began having chest pains, and they took her to hospital. She came home a couple days ago with a stint, after having bypass surgery six weeks ago!


Like the fog that covered the tops of the Andes, we had days where we could not see His face. And with the Apostle, we were troubled but not crushed, frustrated but not in despair, persecuted but not abandoned, struck down but not destroyed. But we were trusting in an all-wise, all-good, and sovereign God, whose grace was sufficient, and whose gospel was worth this momentary, light affliction, and whose faithfulness was new every morning! We heard from God who always causes us to triumph in Christ, and He gave us Isa 26:20 Come, my people, enter your chambers, And shut your doors behind you; Hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment, Until the indignation is past. 21 For behold, the LORD comes out of His place...

And so we hid in Him, and Margaret made it through, Geoff made it through, neither Don nor I got sick, and we didn't have to send Kayla to lower altitude before our scheduled departure. And most importantly hundreds of people in spiritually dark towns hear the life-giving gospel! God was so sufficient for us during these times! And we are continuing to trust that God will use our suffering and efforts to transform hearts in Peru.

More to come...

What would you say if you were dying next month?

This is an amazing testimony of a wife and mother of two who has terminal cancer. We should be thankful that we serve a God who is sufficient for all these things. Thank God as well for sufferers that suffer well, and champion the magnificence and sufficiency of our Christ! It is a long testimony, but well worth the time. Pray for Rachel Barkley, her husband, and two children as they trust in a sovereign God through this situation--that Christ be glorified in human frailty and transformed lives of believers.