no more…

It is becoming clear to me that my belief in myself is meaningless. It is becoming clear that Jesus has a desire to not only save the lost, but the believers as well. I came to the Middle East to seek out the lost, however I believe Gods desire to heal me and make me whole is just as strong as His desire to save those who do not know Him. Saving is something that Paul describes as a process. Before I loose some people, let me be clear that I am not arguing about the assurance of our place in the Kingdom, rather, the life that is lived while in that Kingdom, here on Earth.  I am a frequent reader of RelevantMagazine.com, and today, a certain article caught my eye by a guy from Indiana, named Brandon Andress.  As much as I wish this was from my own study it is not.  In it he described the Matthew 8 passage concerning the Roman Centurion and his lame servant (or child, depending on translation).  In the article, Andrass notes that the Greek word used for “heal” in Matthew 8:7 is the word “therapeuo” meaning simply what it says, “heal, to make well.” Jesus states that, “I will come, and heal him.”  This wouldn’t be of interest, except for the Roman’s response in 8:8. “…Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed.” The word used for “healed” is different than the one used by Jesus in 8:7. This word is “iaomia.” It refers to a different type of healing: “to make one whole, to bring about salvation.”  The verses following contain this word for heal, and states that the servant was “iaomia” that very hour. This is the same word used by Peter when he describes our salvation by stating that, “by His stripes we were healed (1 Peter 2:24).

The desire of Jesus is to make us whole.  It goes so much farther than salvation unto eternal life. It is salvation unto healing, and binding the brokenhearted. It is salvation unto a life that is abundant and free.  His desire is to save us and to do so by making us whole.  This process is not a walk down an aisle or a one time prayer we made when we were 11. It is life. It is walking in the light of the One who loved us, and whose desire is to make us heal, bind, and mend.

We cannot boast for it is His doing alone that brings us to this salvation. It is his doing that brings us to wholeness in Him.

This song has been a huge encouragement to me as of late. I pray it is for you as well.

Isaac Watts’ “No More My God”

No More My God, I boast no more
Of all the duties I have done
I quit the hopes I held before,
To trust the merits of Thy Son

No more my God
No more my God
No more my God
I boast no more

Now, for the loss I bear his name,
What was my gain I count my loss
My former pride I call my shame
And nail my glory to His cross

Yes, and I must, I will esteem
All things but loss for Jesus’ sake
O may my soul be found in Him
And of His righteousness partake
Amen, amen

The best obedience of my hands
Dares not appear before Thy throne
But faith can answer Thy demands
By pleading what my Lord has done

i am learning…

I am learning to understand and listen to people here. Some of you just had a heart attack (my mother included).  It seems, that as an American, Gospel-believing guy, that I don’t know everything. Shocking, I know.  (Hopefully you are catching the sarcasm.)

My life, previous to this year, has been spent inside a bubble of a sub-culture called the American Evangelical World.  This is the place where we have our own bookstores, radio-stations, schedules and views that concern us, the American Evangelical.  Obviously, I do not condemn these things, but growing up in that environment has defiantly had its positive and negative impacts.  In my life, I have seen the un-saved, lost or the un-evangelized as nothing more than a project, merely a ministry opportunity.

The idea of “us” and “them” has become something that influenced the way I make friends.  The idea that “you shouldn’t have friends that aren’t Christians, at least, not close friends,” simply has left me lacking.  When I read the Gospels and see Jesus truly being a friend toward those who are less than “Christ-like,” (i.e.: tax collectors, prostitutes, interested religious leaders, not to mention all of the disciples) I begin to realize that our opinion of, “in the world and not of it,” is completely un-Christ-like.  I have friends who are Muslim. Only by being their friend, in the truest sense of the word, can I begin to understand them, and begin to truly love as Christ would have us to. It is an amazing thing to have a relationship with someone so different.  God has given us his love.  He has counted us friends and heirs with Jesus himself.  Jesus is that “friend that sticks closer than a brother.”   How better to show His love, than to be that same friend to someone else, no matter how different. I have come to believe that it is really not a question of what is the best philosophy. It is a question of who do we love more. Is it comfortable little atmosphere of Christianity? Or is it our neighbors, whom we gossip about the way they live, and how they are bringing down the neighborhood?

“Truly, I say to you, as you did not do unto one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.”
-Yesuah ( Matthew 25:45)

Is it possible that we love ourselves more than our Savior?