A Sweet Supper {With Christ That Night}

It was 1651. An Englishman named Christopher Love was sentenced to death.

He was to be beheaded as a martyr for Christ. On July 14, 1651-- the night before he was to die-- Christopher's wife, Mary Love, wrote this letter to him. At the time, she was eight months pregnant with their third child-- yet if you read the letter, she shows no thought for herself, but an infinitely unselfish love that desired to put Christ ahead of all else.

Lord, make my heart this beautiful.

My Dear Heart,—Before I write a word further, I beseech thee, think not that it is thy wife, but a friend now that writes to thee. I hope thou hast freely given up thy wife and children to that God, who hath said, in Jeremiah 49:11, ‘Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive, and let thy widow trust in me.’ Thy Maker will be my husband, and a father to thy children. O that the Lord would keep thee from having one troubled thought for thy relations! I desire freely to give thee up into thy Father’s hands, and not only look upon it as a crown of glory for thee to die for Christ, but as an honour to me, that I should have an husband to leave for Christ. I dare not speak to thee, nor have a thought within my own heart, of my unspeakable loss, but wholly keep my eye fixed upon thy inexpressible and inconceivable gain. Thou leavest but a sinful, mortal wife, to be everlastingly married to the Lord of glory: thou leavest but children, brothers and sisters, to go to the Lord Jesus, thy eldest brother: thou leavest friends on earth to go to the enjoyment of saints and angels, and the spirits of just men made perfect in glory: thou dost but leave earth for heaven, and changest a prison for a palace. And if natural affections should begin to arise, I hope that spirit of grace that is within thee will quell them; knowing that all things here below are but dung and dross in comparison of those things that are above. I know thou keepest thine eye fixed on the hope of glory, which makes thy feet trample on the loss of earth.

My dear, I know God hath not only prepared glory for thee, and thee for it; but I am persuaded he will sweeten the way for thee to come to the enjoyment of it. When thou art putting on thy clothes that morning, O think, I am now putting on my wedding garments, to go to be everlastingly married to my Redeemer! And when the messenger of death comes to thee, let him not seem dreadful to thee; but look on him as a messenger that brings thee tidings of eternal life. When thou goest up the scaffold, think (as thou saidst to me) it is but thy fiery chariot, to carry thee up to thy Father’s house. And when thou layest down thy precious head to receive thy father’s stroke, remember what thou saidst to me, though thy head were severed from thy body, yet in a moment thy soul should be united to thy head, the Lord Jesus, in heaven. And though it may seem something bitter, that by the hands of men we are parted a little sooner than otherwise we might have been; yet let us consider, it is the decree and will of our Father; and it will not be long ere we shall enjoy one another in heaven again. Let us comfort one another with these sayings. Be comforted, my dear heart, it is but a little stroke, and thou shalt be there where the weary shall be at rest, and where the wicked shall cease from troubling. Remember, though thou mayst eat thy dinner with bitter herbs, yet thou shalt have a sweet supper with Christ that night. My dear, by what I write unto thee, I do not hereby undertake to teach thee; for these comforts I have received from the Lord by thee. I will write no more, nor trouble thee any further, but commit thee into the arms of that God with whom, ere long, thou and I shall be. Farewell, my dear, I shall never see thy face more, till we both behold the face of the Lord Jesus at the great day.

Mary Love, July 14, 1651.

A Single Candle {Speech on Missions}

Hi friends, this is a speech that I used in the NCFCA (National Christian Forensics Communications Association) this past year. I wanted to post it because I never want to forget the Great Commission, and I thought the more I did to remind myself of it, the harder it would be to forget! I hope it inspires or at least encourages you to keep spreading the gospel and supporting those who do full-time!

Baron Van Welz was a German nobleman; he was privileged and wealthy. Yet when he died, he was little known; little cared for; and filled a mere humble grave in Dutch Guinea. How could this happen to someone of such great wealth, titles, and influence? The Baron deeply wanted people to go to the mission field, yet many of his contemporaries preached that missions should be local rather then international and even taught that it was wrong to bring heathens the gospel. Because he saw the need for missionaries when many other Christians and theologians of his day did not, he renounced his title, land, and money so that he might serve God in Dutch Guinea. He said these words, “What to me is the title 'well-born,' when I am born again in Christ? What to me is the title 'lord,' when I desire to be a servant of Christ? What to me to be called 'your grace,' when I have need of God's grace and help? All these vanities I will away with, and everything besides I will lay at the feet of Jesus, my dearest Lord, that I may have no hindrance in serving him aright.” (Welz)

According to the article “A Signal of Need” by Michael Bronson, about 149,000 people who have never asked for Christ’s forgiveness will die today. (Bronson) God has called us to reach these lost people for His glory; yet all too often we allow trivial things to become hindrances from serving Him. Sometimes I wonder if we allow security and wealth to become poor substitutes for the joy of serving Christ. However, as Baron Van Welz realized, there is no title, nor riches, nor comfort that could ever compare to the precious treasure that comes from serving Christ. Today, I would like to talk about the command to be mission minded, the cry for missionaries, and the call that every Christian has toward missions.

The first reason that we should be concerned with missions is because God has commanded us to be. In Matthew 28:19, Jesus says, “Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (NIV, Matthew 28:19) Though this verse is well known, most Christians fail to live it out to the radical and life changing extent that Jesus intended it for. Here, Jesus commands all His followers to go and tell others how wonderful it is to be His disciple! But why does God command us to spread the gospel to the rest of the world? I believe God places Christians willing to follow Him on the mission field for two main reasons: to save the lost, and to glorify Him. First, God has called people to the mission field for the unsaved. John Keith Falconer said, “I have but one candle of life to burn, and I would rather burn it out in a land filled with darkness than in a land flooded with light.” (Falconer) You and I, too, have only one candle to burn. Our whole lives will be lived for a purpose. What do you want that purpose to be? Do you want to use your life to show a dying people the gospel? That is one purpose of missions. Another reason for missions is for the glory of God. Because ultimately, missions is about showing people God’s grace so that they will praise God; we should show others the gospel because God so deserves to hear praises from every person that He created in His image. That is why God has commanded missions.

The second reason we should be concerned with missions is because there are millions who are crying for the gospel and perishing without ever having heard it. In fact, according to the Orthodox Christian Mission Center, “It is estimated that 28% of the world’s population has still not heard the Gospel in a way that they can respond to it affirmatively or negatively. In other words, over 1.8 billion people today have not been presented with the Gospel message.” (Orthodox Christian Mission Center) That cry is painful, isn’t it? That cry that takes place every single second from someone who is dying without the love of Christ? That cry that we as Christians just don’t hear because we just don’t care enough. Most of the time we just don’t think about the global spread of the gospel. We’re so concerned with living our own lives here and now that we don’t think about how Christ will be spread among the nations. About six months ago, my family and I returned from Nagoya, Japan after living there for almost a year. We attended an international church. Our pastor there, Michael Oh, missionary and President of the Christ Bible Seminary, said these words that changed how I thought of missions: “Think about it – you could JUST AS EASILY have been born in the slums of New Delhi or as the son of a Shinto priest. If you had, knowing what you know today, would you not have wanted someone to cross oceans, lands, and cultures to bring YOU the Gospel?” (Oh) All too often, people who have never heard the gospel become just a statistic to those of us who have. We forget that they are real people who are crying for the gospel, and we forget to care. About a year and a half ago, my parents and I had the opportunity to go on a mission trip to Haiti. We stayed at God’s Littlest Angels Orphanage, a Christian orphanage that cares for about 170 children. The children there are hungry for attention. Several of them have AIDS or other diseases. While at the orphanage one day, we were upstairs with one of the young American missionaries, and the toilets began to overflow because of a plumbing problem. We were standing there in sewage water when she turned to us and said, “Even after living at the orphanage for six years, I still wake up every morning thinking what a blessing it is that I can be here.” At first, I actually couldn’t believe it when she said that. I mean, I could see realizing that God wanted her there. But she said that she was in awe of the fact that God had allowed her to go to Haiti, the filthiest and dirtiest place I’ve ever seen. How could she say that? I believe it’s because she had her eyes so fixed on Jesus that His love for the children became her love for those children. She had heard the cry of children who needed to hear about God’s love; and she chose to respond to that cry even if it meant giving up earthly comfort and treasures. She knew God had called her to Haiti and she responded to that call willingly. And that leads us to my final point today—the call to missions.

There’s a story of a young girl who shamelessly told her Aunt one day, “I don’t have much interest in missions at all!” Her patient Aunt replied, “No, dear, you can hardly expect to. It is just like getting interest at the bank. You have to put in a little something first before you get any interest. So it is with missions, the more you put into it of your time, or money, or prayer, the more your interest grows. But something you must put in-- or you will never have any interest.” (Elbourne)
If you don’t have any interest in missions, it may be because you haven’t given enough towards it to receive interest, and right now I would like to discuss with you the call that every Christian has towards missions, towards prayer, and towards giving. First of all, I’d like to ask you a question: if God so called you, would you give up everything here in America to be a missionary where few know the true Savior? Another call we have is the wonderful privilege of praying for foreign missions. Please pray every day for missionaries that you know, and for the spread of the gospel all over the world. Praying for foreign missions helps align our hearts with what God wants for missions—the more we pray for missions, the more our hearts desire to spread the gospel the way God’s heart does. Finally, every Christian is called to give to missions. Let us be like the widow in Mark 12:42, who gave her only two copper coins. The point was not how much she gave, but that everything she had she was willing to give up for the Lord. He didn’t need her gifts, and likewise, doesn’t need our gifts. He allows us to give so we can step out in faith and sacrifice. When we give to the point of sacrifice, that’s when we can say, “As much as I want this, it absolutely pales in comparison to how much I love you, Lord.” I would encourage you to give to the point of sacrifice—just like the widow.

Baron Van Welz made a decision that would be considered by many a foolish one. He chose to abandon his wealth, titles, and success to bring the gospel to heathens. Yet he showed no sorrow in doing that—rather, he was joyful that he had rid himself of those “hindrances” from serving Christ. Comfort and security in America are such alluring things. It is so easy to be distracted by them. But as Baron Van Welz realized, the sacrifice of them is so worth it. By all means, I would ask you to pray and give toward missions. But would you also pray and ask the LORD if He is asking you to go? We all have only one candle of life to burn. Would you rather burn your candle in a land already filled with light or a land that is flooded with darkness?

A Lovely Giveaway!

Hi all... there is a lovely giveaway over at Ray of Sunshine blog! (http://theflipflopfarmgirl.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2011-09-15T13%3A31%3A00-04%3A00&max-results=3)

I'm sorry I haven't posted much lately... I'll try to fix that!

Slow Fade

Do you ever feel strange when God convicts you about something that you used to have strong convictions about, but somewhere along the way... you just lost those convictions? That's happened to me a lot lately. Certain things that I used to feel really passionately about just don't seem as important to me anymore. Let me give you a specific example. Lately, I've been really, really bad about being purposeful about my regular devotion time with the Lord. I do my daily devotions when I'm overly tired or distracted. As if this wasn't bad enough, my devotions are often short and I don't truly challenge myself to be more Christ-like; I just assume that opening my Bible and saying that I did my devotions that will be 'good enough.' I've been going through the motions.

Why do certain convictions just... disappear like that? "Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold." (Matthew 24:12, NIV)

We live in a wicked culture. The world urges us to pursue everything but God: wealth, happiness, fame, boy/girl friends, popularity, anything that makes us 'feel' good. We live in a day and age where our world is much like Ephesus. It's hard to have not even a hint of immorality... because our world is so immoral and it feels like we're being pulled away from God. And sometimes we give in to the world's lies; one seemingly little conviction at a time. I was listening to the song "Slow Fade" last night. It went something like this:

It's a slow fade when you give yourself away...
It's a slow fade when black and white turn to gray...
People never crumble in a day.

Could it be that failing to pursue Christ passionately is something that happens gradually, not because of one drastic choice; but because of a lot of smaller compromises? Because you allow yourself some gray areas where you let go of convictions instead of drawing a firm line between right and wrong?

I can't think of any better way to say it then what John Owen said: "Cease not a day from this work; be killing sin, or it will be killing you." If I don't fight sin with every ounce of my being every moment of my life, then Satan wins. Fighting sin is the hardest struggle in the history of the world. Satan doesn't take breaks; but thankfully God's grace doesn't take breaks either! If Christ is King of your life; not just part of your semi-regular routine, then fight sin. Don't allow little compromises overtake your life. Stand up. Fight the good fight. Kill sin.

Don't give sin a second glance, but keep your gaze fixed on Christ!

So Divine

The last few days, I've been reading the book Crazy Love and thinking about it a lot. It's an amazing book, really. Besides the Bible it's probably one of the most convicting books I've ever read. Probably the most convicting part is an area that talks about being luke-warm; whether or not there is such a thing as a luke warm Christian. This is such a powerful section because our American society has made Christianity into such a religion. We've convinced people and even ourselves that all we need to do is pray the 'sinner's prayer' and 'become Christians' and that's our ticket into Heaven. You know that children's song, "Acts 1, 2, and 3"? It goes something like this:
Act one: Seek Jesus,
Act two: Believe,
Act three: Live for Christ and serve Him faithfully...

But we've entirely left out the second and third steps. We tell people to 'ask Jesus into their hearts' without putting emphasis on the fact that it isn't just the prayer, it's the belief in your heart; and that faith, if real, will manifest itself out in a tangible way that results in godly living.

If you read the gospels, Christ says that we're to go make disciples. He says that anyone who won't take up their cross to follow Him cannot be His disciple. He says not to even waste time burying the dead, but to follow Him as soon as we seek Him and let the dead bury their own dead. He says anyone who is ashamed of Him will not be known by Him when the Father is judging. He says the ones who love Him will obey Him. He says that those who try to look good on the outside without caring what their hearts are truly like are like white-washed tombs that look beautiful but are filled with dead people's bones. He says that if you aren't willing to sell everything you have to follow Him, you can't follow Him at all. He says not to store up treasures on earth, but treasures in Heaven. He says that if you're burdened, you should give it all to Him. He says that when the world opposes you, to remember Him, because they opposed HIM first and HE has overcome the world! He says to love your enemies and pray for those who hurt you. He says that anyone who didn't help the least of these didn't help Him. He says you can't serve money and Him.

How much more radical can you be?

Jesus was radical. He wasn't like anyone else in history. All other teachers and religions have taught that you need to be good enough; He taught that you can never be good enough-- and then He proved it by paying for the sins of those who would follow Him!

But look back over the section of 'He says.' He says all these things to us today. These weren't just things He told people in Scripture; these are commands for today. Yet we're content to just call ourselves Christians because 'that's our relgion' and we go to church for an hour on Sunday mornings. Jesus came to call sinners, of whom I am the worst, yet I'm content to do so little.

I don't want to admit it, but this is the plain honest truth: I often want to still be able to call myself a Christian and have assurance of my salvation without living super radically. I think something along the lines of, "If I don't talk to so and so about Jesus all the time, will He really be ashamed of me when judgment days comes?" When I think about that, I'm saddened because I realize just how bad my heart really is. I'm more concerned about still being a Christian than being totally sold-out for Jesus. I'm not concerned enough with having the same kind of crazy, all-consuming love that He had for me; I'd rather just stick with the comfortable, half-hearted love that I've indulged in for too long.

But we aren't called to be "Christians"; you know, those people who say they love Jesus but won't actually ever serve Him to a point where they have to sacrifice; we're called to let Christ rule our hearts and lives, being "little Christs" (the original meaning of the word "Christian," before it became so distorted by our materialistic, selfish culture).

It's that kind of love that demands my soul, my life, my all. It's a crazy kind of love.

To Die Daily

When you are forgotten, neglected, or purposely set at naught, and you don't sting or hurt with the oversight, but your heart is happy, being counted worthy to suffer for Christ; That is dying to self....When your good is evil spoken of, when your wishes are crossed, your advice disregarded, your opinion ridiculed, and you refuse to let anger rise in your heart or even defend yourself, but take it all in patient, loving silence; That is dying to self.

When you lovingly and patiently bear any disorder, any irregularity, any annoyance; when you can stand face to face with waste, folly, extravagance, spiritual insensibility, and endure it as Jesus did; That is dying to self.

When you are content with any food, and offering, any raiment, any climate, any society, any solitude, any interruption by the will of God; That is dying to self.

When you never care to refer to yourself in conversation or record your own good works or itch after commendation, when you can truly love to be unknown; That is dying to self.

When you can see your brother prosper and have his needs met, and can honestly rejoice with him in spirit and feel no envy, nor question God, while your own needs are far greater and you are in desperate circumstances; That is dying to self.

When you can receive correction and reproof from one of less stature than yourself and can humbly submit, inwardly as well as outwardly, finding no rebellion or resentment rising up within your heart; That is dying to self.
~unknown

Oh, to daily die to self. I don't think there will ever be a more difficult thing to be done. Coming to Christ isn't a one-time commitment, it's a daily commitment to put Christ and others ahead of yourself. It's a commitment to die daily.

Reality Check

There was pounding on the door.

Seconds later, the authorities had broken into my home. They took our Bibles, and now we're left completely without God's word. What is more, all of our friends' Bibles are gone, too, so no one else can share a copy with us. We now have no way to read the Bible; no way to share it with others.

It's gone.

Even thinking about such an experience puts fear in my heart. Yet for much of the world, that nightmare has become a reality.

If you're like me, you take for granted the fact that we are able to read the Bible whenever we want. I mean, honestly, how awesome is that?!? I said, how awesome is that?!?

Seriously? Is that how I usually approach it?

Maybe sometimes. But most of the time, I'm guilty of this:

"Oh. Yah. I need to read my Bible today. That's what every good Christian does, every day. And a good Christian wouldn't ever, ever miss a day. So I have to do it, other wise I'm not giving God the kind of commitment He deserves." Sometimes this results in rummaging the house for my Bible before bed when I left it in a different room earlier that day; or trying to remember if I had read the Bible for "long" enough earlier that day; or reading the Bible when my eyes are closing before bed and checking the clock every minute and eight seconds to see how long I've been reading.



Oh, yah, that's definitely giving God the devotion He deserves.

I kid.

Seriously?!? As I read back over this I cringe at the truth of it. Do I really think that the almighty, sovereign, loving, holy Lord of the universe wants that from me? Is that how I should approach His word-- as an obligation? No. Never.

Seriously? I mean, what on earth is wrong with me?

Of course, I'll admit, as Christians we do have a sense of 'duty' or 'responsiblity' to reading the Word. I'm not one to say, "Well, if you don't feel like reading your Bible, don't!" We should read the Bible every day, whether or not we "feel" like it. But there should be a sense of longing, yearning, and urgency that accompanies that "duty." It should be our highest and first goal to pursue Christ with reckless abandon! Reading Scripture is the first step in glorifying God.

So, I'll go back to the opening. What if that happened to me-- today? Or tomorrow? Or next week? Would I be ready? Would I have His word in my heart so that I might not sin against Him? Or would I simply quote one or two verses that I vaguely remembered off the top of my head? I hate to say it, but I wouldn't be nearly prepared.

So, here lies the bigger question: am I doing anything to change that? I am pleased to announce that as of the day before yesterday, I have a large goal for myself: to memorize all the epistles besides Romans and 1&2 Corinthians before I turn nineteen. Before June 28, 2013, I want to have everything from Galatians to Jude memorized.

Is anyone with me? I could really use some accountability. Please leave a comment if you're in! And then, at least if we fail we fail together!! :) No, but seriously. I think the rewards will be infinitely greater than anything you can imagine.

Behold the greatness of God!