When Everyone Thinks They're a Christian...

-My 6^th update in Peru with some more thoughts on what I've been seeing/learning/thinking about.

Ingrid has set it up so that I “teach” English at the university two days a week, Monday and Friday. She really intends on it being an opportunity to generate contacts and build relationships with people for evangelistic purposes. This isn't normally my “thing” or my “style” of ministry but I was happy to do it and it gives me more opportunities to interact with the people, learn more Spanish, and most importantly...weasel my way into talking about God haha.

She has delegated to a couple of girls the responsibilities of coming up with the topics for each meeting and creating brochures to outline the topics. Last week after finishing our Monday meeting where we talked about jobs and professions, the girls asked me what topic I would like to discuss for the following Monday (two days ago). I suggested “religion,” because I thought, “What better and easier way to bring up Jesus Christ than in a discussion about religion!” When I was a new Christian, a topic like this would have been unsettling to me because I really didn't know much about other religions, what other people believed, or the magnitude of differences between Christianity and every other religion. Now however, I enjoy talking with people of different beliefs and it gives me a great opportunity to show how and why Christ stands infinitely high above all the rest.

I began the “English class” by asking everyone some general questions about religion such as, “What do you think about the different world religions?” “What do you think the differences are? Or do you think they're all the same?” I just wanted to hear where they were coming from, what their idea of religion was, and if they had any knowledge about any of the major world religions. What really struck me is that almost everyone in the classroom claimed to be a Christian, one student said he was catholic and equated it to Christianity, and one girl vehemently professed her atheism. I hadn't even asked them what they considered themselves to be but they volunteered this information.

The sad thing is that everyone pretty much considered all the religions to be pretty similar, even the students who professed to be Christian (more on this in a minute). I got some of the common answers of, “I think whatever religion is good for a person is fine, I have no problem with it, as long as it helps them.” Or, “I think people need something to believe in to help them live.” The atheist girl said something along the lines of, “I don't think there's a need for a God, as long as you do good works.” The atheist girl also considered Islam and Christianity to be very similar, and one of the students who claimed to be a Christian considered Jehova's Witnesses to be “Christians,” and went on to say that, “Some Christians don't believe in the trinity.”

After letting them talk for a while and hearing their thoughts I decided I would start delving into the different things I heard them say. I didn't want to come out and make it seem like I was rebuking them (because most of what they said was very untrue), I just wanted to make them think so that they would see the error in their statements for themselves and most of them were very interested in what I had to say so I was able to go a little more in-depth. In response to the statements of “I think all religions are fine as long as it helps them,” or “They're all similar,” I explained to them that it is impossible for them all to be similar or for all of them to be correct just for the simple fact that they contradict each other. I gave the example of Jesus' famous statement, “I am THE way, THE truth, and THE life, NOBODY comes to the Father EXCEPT through Me.” This statement automatically eliminates the notion that Christianity can be the same or as equally effective as Islam, Buddhism, or anything else. Jesus is either lying here or he's telling the truth, so Christianity is either better than all other “religions,” or it's worse, but it cannot be the same. I told them that the real question isn't what religion helps somebody but which is true? Because if you're believing in something that's not true then you're wasting your time, you're still going to die one day like everybody else and if you've got it wrong then there's eternal consequences, and the fact that you were “helped” by the belief you held to while alive won't do you any good.

I also explained to them that if Jesus is who he says he is, and if he really died and he's really alive today, then we cannot ignore him. We cant say “it doesn't matter,” because if he is who he says he is then that has dramatic implications on how we live our lives, and who we live our lives for. We cannot live for ourselves, ignoring the existence of our creator if Jesus was telling the truth. If he is who he says he is then there are consequences for the things we do, but more than that there's hope. I elaborated a little more but my goal was to get them to think.

I gave them some more reasons why Christianity is different from every other world religion. Three of the main differences that I like to explain to people and that I explained to them are as follows,

1. All these other “prophets,” “teachers,” and “moralists,” such as Confucius, Mohammed, Buddha, etc etc, came to make bad people good. Jesus came to make dead people live. The bible says that we are dead in our sin, and indeed the wages of sin is death, it's not about good and bad because the bible says that nobody does good...not even one. (Romans 3..also I think Psalms 14 which I believe is what Paul quoted).
2. In all these different religions, you have someone who comes and says, “Hey I'm a prophet and I've come to help you find god.” Only in Christianity do you have someone who comes and says, “I'm God, who's come to find you.”
3. In every other major world religion you find some system of works. Where your good deeds must outweigh your bad deeds. Christianity alone says that even our greatest works are like filthy rags before God. We cannot do enough, and it is not based on our works but instead on our faith in the only one who was ever able to fulfill the law perfectly and “do enough,” Jesus Christ. Christianity alone has a salvation based upon grace, grace through faith.

It also amazes me how anybody could ever see Islam and Christianity as being similar. There are so many blatant contradictions between the two. Islam denies the entire gospel which is central to Christianity. They don't believe Jesus was the Son of God, they don't believe he died on the cross, and they don't believe in his resurrection. Nor do they believe he will return again to reign, in fact in their version of “Revelation,” they believe that when Christ comes back (not that he ever died, they believe he ascended to heaven without ever dying) he will be an aid to execute all the “infidels” including us Christians, and that after he is done he will die and then ascend to heaven again. Our Christ is their anti-Christ, Islam and Christianity have no common-ground, they are opposed. Clearly a religion inspired by satanic forces. Their entire eschatology is an almost exact opposite of ours in the book of Revelation, you see so many borrowed scenarios but the roles of the people are opposite, and the people who fulfill different roles are opposite. I didn't go through all this about Islam with them but I'm writing it here just in-case it helps any of you if you've ever had any questions about the differences.

Now I want to talk about what I said really struck me, the fact that most of the students claimed to be Christian. Like I said, I didn't even ask anybody what they personally believed, but one of the guys who showed up later who was helping me translate what they were saying kept asking everyone “What are you? Are you Christian?” Most of them would respond slowly and hesitantly as if to think about it for a minute before answering in the affirmative. What I came away with in my mind upon leaving that meeting Monday night was this thought, “Wow...the toughest crowd of people to evangelize/talk about God with are people who already think they're Christians.” It's also very frustrating because you have a group of people who think they get it, who think they're on their way to heaven, who think they're saved, and they really have no idea. It is also with these types of groups that I find the need for much patience. I think this is perhaps one of Satan's greatest deceptions, deceiving people into believing that they are in the “correct faith.” You preach the gospel to them and they say they've heard that before, you talk about what it means to live a Christian life and how fruit is the evidence and they all think they bear fruit because they're nice to their friends and give a coin to a homeless person every now and then. But you can really tell when someone is not a Christian, when they have no grasp on what it means to be a Christian, when they have no idea what you're talking about when you explain essential doctrines of Christianity, or as in the example I gave...when they believe Mormons and Jehova's witnesses are Christians too. But they think that because they read their bible a couple times a week or walk into a building once ever now and then (talking about Church) that they're Christian.

I think God gave me the greatest preparation for encounters like these. Because this story is also part of my own testimony. My entire life I believed I was a Christian. I thought that because I believe Jesus had existed that I was a Christian, for me it was a matter of choosing which of the world's major religions to align myself with, and I chose Christianity. I never talked about Jesus, I never read a bible, and as I stated in my last blog post, I never considered or acknowledged God any day of the first 21+ years of my life. If anybody ever asked me what “religion” I was, I always responded with “Christian.” If I was ever asked, “Do you think you're going to heaven?” My response was always, “Yes.” Why did I think I was going to heaven? Well, the same reason why many of the people I talk to think they're going to heaven, I thought because I was a good person. You know, I've never killed anybody, I've only stolen a few times, I've never caused serious harm to anyone, yea... I thought I was going to heaven because I was better than most people. But that was my problem, I was comparing myself to the standard of other people. Other sinful people, other imperfect people. Now of course I know that the standard is not other people, but God. And his standard is absolute perfection, there is no sin in heaven, there is no imperfection, God is holy and perfect and so we are to be holy and perfect. But we cant, and that's why God gave the law, to show people their utter incapability after the fall to keep God's standard. We became totally depraved, dead in our sin and trespasses, unable to please God. But he gave us the law to point to Christ, to show that we cannot be righteous on our own...we need the righteousness of someone else, someone who is able to fulfill the law. And of course the only one capable of doing that, the only one qualified was the God-man Jesus Christ. And that through faith in him, his perfect life, his death and resurrection...his righteousness is imputed to us, and we may be seen as perfect in the eyes of the Father. Meanwhile our sin is imputed to him...the great exchange, he took on our sin and we took on his righteousness. Only he could have paid the price because only he is perfect, and only he is capable of withstanding the infinite and perfect wrath of God because only he is infinite and perfect himself. Of course the benefit of Christ's work on the cross is only enjoyed by those who believe, those who don't are not seen as being righteous in the eyes of God because they have not trusted Christ as being Lord and Savior, they have not entrusted him to take on their sin, and so they die in their sin and the result is eternal/infinite hell because they've sinned against an eternal/infinite God.

When you ask somebody, “Why should God let you into his kingdom” you can tell those who are Christians and those who aren't right away. A Christian will respond by saying something like, “Because Christ has paid for my sins, I will go to heaven because of his work on the Cross for me...etc etc” But someone who doesn't get it will respond by saying, “Because I'm a pretty good person, I go to church, I give to the poor, God understands...” That was me. It's almost comical to me at times, I remember having a class my freshman year of college with two Christian kids. I didn't know it at the time but they were trying to evangelize me. We would have group projects together and they would talk to me about Jesus. I remember one time in particular I was in the library with one of them named Tim and he asked me if I loved Christ. Of course I had considered myself to be a Christian at the time so I told him, “Yes.” But my answer wasn't very certain, it felt more of an obligation, like he was judging me or something and I needed to say yes. I would look over my shoulder hoping nobody was listening, thinking to myself, “Who in the world talks about Jesus like this, so open, so loud, like he's really real.” I was ashamed of the name of Christ, I didn't want to talk about him, and I definitely didn't want other people to hear me talk about him...I mean what if one of my friends would have heard that?? Of course today I wont shut up about Christ, people get tired of all my facebook statuses about Christ because that's what I use it for. I don't care what anybody thinks, I'm not ashamed of my God and my Creator (Rom 1:16). I remember being asked one day before I was saved, in light of the Columbine High shootings, “If someone put a gun to your head and asked you if you believed in Christ, would you say 'Yes' if you knew they'd kill you?” My answer was something like, “No, probably not, I'd just tell them 'No,' God would understand.” You put a gun to my head today and ask me if I believe in Christ and I'm going out emphatically saying, “Yes!”

In the United States we have a big problem because Christianity in the U.S. is “tradition.” Especially in the south, people grow up and part of their weekly ritual is to go to church, that's what their parents did, their grandparents, etc etc. To many people, going to church is just as American as going to a baseball game and eating a hotdog. They hear about Christ several times a year yet have no idea who he is. Or they go to church thinking they're safe, that they're pleasing God...but if they only knew it was about faith and not works. Back when I was involved with my fraternity before I was saved, I knew some kids who would go to all of our parties, get drunk, sleep with women, and then go to church and “confess” their sins, thinking they were all ok, their slate was clean, and they could repeat the same routine the following week. I'm reminded of the famous quote from Leonard Ravenhill who said, “I'm astounded, bewildered, confused, baffled when people tell me there are 75 million people in America that are filled with the Holy Ghost and we're the most rotten nation on earth.” Certainly if we truly had as many Christians in America as we have the amount of people who claim/profess to be Christian, our nation would be much different, and wouldn't be so Godless... I think Ravenhill had a great point. I was shocked to see that this phenomenon has infiltrated other countries as well, though I think here in Peru its for different reasons... It's certainly based upon “tradition,” but not the same “tradition” as in the U.S. Here the tradition is Catholicism, so there's a huge spirit of religion.

Anyway, to draw this to a close... I continued talking with the students for a bit and then one of them asked me how I know Christ is real. That was the question I was waiting for! I then was able to share a little about me, my testimony, and the changes God had done in my life. I got to tell them about the hope and joy that Christ brings, how I no longer fear death, I no longer worry about my circumstances in this world because my hope is in another world. One student asked me if I received certain blessings after this. I explained to him that I certainly did, God has blessed me with much, but that following Christ does not exempt one from trials, tribulations, and afflictions in this world. Jesus himself told us to count the cost. He told us this because as Christians we will still face the troubles everyone else faces, but even more since we will face opposition, we will be persecuted for our faith, regarded as fools by the world, laughed at, mocked, and sometimes even physically beat or put to death. That is why Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:19 “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are most of all to be pitied...” Because if my hope is in him for only this life, if there's no resurrection, if Christ isn't risen, and we will never be raised, then we are to be pitied and regarded as the worst fools on the planet, since we volunteer ourselves to be mocked, to undergo persecution, etc etc. If we're only believing in the equivalent of Alice & Wonderland as our hope through this hard life, we are truly fools, but of course we know that to not be the case. Christ is risen, and because of that we face everything in this earth, in this life, with such a great hope, with a such a great joy, that we can endure everything...because our focus is on the coming Kingdom and not our current circumstance. It was my pleasure to explain all of this to them, I just hope some seeds were planted, one of the students (the Catholic one) asked me to give him my email address so I'm guessing he's interested in hearing more, pray for that.


"But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for the reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect." 1 Peter 3:15


Thank you for reading, I hope someone was encouraged, please continue praying for everything that's going on down here!

Update numero cinco! (This one's Loooooooonngg)

It's been a while since the last time I've written anything and I guess I should do it more frequently just for the simple fact that it helps me to get all my thoughts out on paper, because during missions my thoughts are always many. This post is really three posts in one.. first a brief description of the past week with the youth group, then I guess a little bit of “preaching” which is really just me typing about some things I've been thinking about, and then some thoughts about my mission experience thus far in Peru. You might need to take a coffee break in between or get up and stretch if you're not one who likes to read a lot... haha.

This last week was a very busy one for me but I was definitely blessed. A team from the youth department at Southpoint Community Church came here for a week-long STM (short term mission). Among them were a few familiar faces, friends whom I have not seen in a while, and I was happy to see them.

The first thing I want to say is how amazing this youth team was. I had not known any of the students prior to their arrival here and so I did not really know what to expect. I guess from now on I really should always expect my expectations to be blown out of the water whenever God is involved, and God is surely involved in the lives of these teenagers...this much was evident to me. Their hearts were really into their service here, and their boldness to step out in faith again and again was very encouraging to me.

It was a very long week, every day we were all up at the crack of dawn and did not return until midnight or later. The days were full, going from one school to another, preaching the gospel, sharing testimonies, and performing a drama that depicted Christ's love for us. This time though, I was a bystander, I was only there to help the students, it was a week of ministry for them. And while they may believe that their ministry here was to all the non-believers at all of the schools we visited, they also ministered to me. Hearing their testimonies was tear-jerking, what they have gone through at such a young age, and what God has brought them out of and transformed them into is nothing short of miraculous and incredible. I am rarely ever around teenagers in my day-to-day life so I guess I'm not up-to-date with everything they deal with in this day and age. That being said, I was in shock at some of the things I heard.

The bible tells us that the world is falling apart, that the wicked are only becoming more wicked, and that sin is only going to become more prevalent but sometimes I guess we can take the reality of this for granite. When I was hearing their testimonies my mind was really gripped with thoughts of the prevalence of sin in this world and to be honest it was really saddening, but then I was overcome with joy hearing and seeing what Christ had done in their lives to free them from sin. I am always amazed at the change in people from before Christ to after Christ. When the bible says that we are a new creation (2 Cor 5:17) it really means that we are a new creation, it's not speaking figuratively. The supernatural work of salvation is just as miraculous an act of God as the physical creation of our bodies or of the universe.

To me this is also one of the best evidences of my salvation, and of the fact that there is a God and that this God is personal. Certainly God has revealed himself to us in many ways, and many times we try to point at all these different things to show that God exists, and there's nothing wrong with that, but we often overlook ourselves. I'm not speaking just of the physical creation of man and woman, all of our intricacies, the complexity of our eyes, our symmetry, our ability to look at the stars and wonder, the amazing amount of information in our DNA and the way in which it's carried out, our desire to love and be loved, I'm speaking about those of us who are Christians. Because to me, the greatest proof is in the change. Seeing people who used to curse God, hate God, people who never gave God a single thought in their life, people who used to love every kind of sin you can imagine...seeing these same people now preach the very Christ they once trampled all over. Apart from God, this is inexplicable. When we are made new creations our whole nature is changed. It's not just as simple as one day we didn't believe intellectually that Christ really lived/died/rose again, and then someone convinced us and now we believe that. No, it's far more complex. This gets into one of my favorite doctrines in the bible.. the doctrine of regeneration.

As I just said, when we are made new creations, our very nature is completely changed. We have new desires. We love things we used to hate or things we never gave thought to, and we also hate things we used to love, we hate the very things that we were at one time so comfortable doing. Allow me to use myself as an example here... I went from never giving God a thought in anything I ever did in my entire life to desiring to acknowledge him in all my ways. In fact, since they day I was saved, I have not gone a single day without thinking about God. Not only that, but its not just as if I give thought to God once or twice a day, but God is constantly the focus of my mind. The bible uses “slave talk,” many analogies to slavery such as the fact that through the blood of Christ we have been “bought with a price,” and indeed many of the epistles begin with the apostles introducing themselves as slaves to Christ. Some bibles say “bond-servant” but the proper translation of the Greek word “Doulos” is “slave.” The HCSB and some others get this translation correct. Anyway....you ask where I'm going with this? Whatever controls our minds is what we are a slave to. If you're constantly thinking about money then guess what...you're going to be a slave to money. If you're constantly thinking about women, then you're going to be a slave to lust. I went from being a slave to a number of things to being a slave to God, everything I do and everything I say proceeds from a mind that considers the approval of God. Now, this does not mean that I always obey, because I do not...and that is when I am in sin, but my point here was to show the drastic and miraculous result of the work of the holy spirit in me causing me to undergo what the bible calls “regeneration.”

I used to sin uncontrollably, my conscience was completely fine with committing what I now know to be blatant violations to God's holy and perfect law. In fact, I don't even think I knew what “sin” was. I used to curse several times a day, probably more than I remember. This changed overnight. I'm not talking about some ongoing therapy sessions with a psychiatrist, I'm talking about an overnight change without talking to anybody except for God. I went from cursing constantly to being utterly disgusted and ashamed of some of the things I used to say. In fact, its not as if these words would pop into my head and I would have to bite my tongue to keep from saying them. On the contrary, since the day I was saved I've never had a desire to say those words that I once loved. I remember a few months ago I was scrolling back as far as I could through my facebook posts from before I was saved and I came across some of the things I would put as a status, I couldn't believe it, I literally had to convince myself that I was the one who typed those words, I didn't even recognize myself, and of course I was ashamed at the things I used to say.

Another thing that changed instantly is the way in which I looked at women. I used to have no problem looking upon women lustfully. After all, that's the culture we live in now right? A culture that says that women are nothing more than objects made for men to stare at. You don't have to try hard to figure that out, look at our TV shows, our billboards, our advertisements. I see advertisements that are selling merchandise that have absolutely nothing to do with women at all and they stick a woman next to it who's wearing as few articles of clothing as possible. All they're doing is using women as items because they know that men are controlled by their lustful passions, and as the slogan goes... “sex sells.” The sad thing is that these women don't seem to mind being used, anyway I'm going off on a tangent here. My point is that I used to be just like the rest of the “world,” I had no problem with these TV shows, or these advertisements, in fact I enjoyed them because I enjoyed looking at women in that way. Hey guess what? Not anymore. Not only am I ashamed that I used to look upon women in such a way, and not only do I hate every ounce of me that ever has any desire to look at a woman like that again, but when I see these advertisements, or when I see real women walking around who dress like that I am grieved. Because I know that they have no idea what they're actually worth. They don't know that women were created for a much greater purpose than to merely be someone's sex object. They don't know that instead of being created to show off their bodies they were instead created to glorify the God that made them. They find their affirmation from the amount of men who look at them instead of from the God who has more love for them than any man could ever provide, especially the type of men that they often attract.

Lastly I'd like to just share a change that is not unique to me but that does not occur among every convert because we all have been given different gifts in the body of Christ and I believe that this change coincides with what God has gifted me with. This is also something that I have heard of from other Christians, mostly from pastors whom I listen to, and it is also something that occurred overnight. Before I was saved I never read. I rarely ever opened up any of my school textbooks which were “required” readings, let alone did I ever read anything for “pleasure.” If only you could see my own personal library of books that I have read in the less than two years that I have known Christ... I'm still waiting for God to give me a Barnes & Noble gift card or something haha. Seriously though, overnight I was given an insatiable hunger and thirst for God. I HAD to know more about him, I HAD to know who he was. The bible became the most interesting thing in the world to me and I couldn't get enough. Within a couple of weeks of being saved I had already read the Gospel of John (maybe another but I don't remember), Tim Keller's “The Reason For God,” and the C.S. Lewis classic, “Mere Christianity.” Almost two years have gone by and this has not stopped. I'm sitting in my room in Peru right now with a stack of books that I brought with me, I've read 3 of them in the less than two months that I've been here and I'm working on another. Please do not take this the wrong way, I am not bragging about myself, I am bragging about my God, because I believe with 100% of my being that it is he who has given me this desire and that he has done it for several reasons.

At first I thought it was just so that I could understand all the questions I had. I had many questions ranging from evolution to the problem of evil. So I would read everything I could to answer my own questions. I began to be very interested in “Apologetics” which by the way has nothing to do with apologizing because I would never apologize for being a Christian. I was also interested in what science had to say, was evolution really a fact? Were there any smart, credible, Christian scientists out there who had sound reasons for not believing in evolution? Then from science I went to philosophy and on and on and on.

My main hunger and thirst was for understanding the Word of God. I don't even remember how it all started but I began listening to sermons online from pastors like John Piper, reading articles, listening to conferences. I had roommates who probably thought I was crazy (even though some of them were Christians) because my favorite thing to do was literally to listen to sermons. I just had to know what God meant by what he said in his word. I didn't want to settle for what I wanted a particular verse to mean, or to guess what I thought it might mean, I had to know what it meant and thankfully God has lead me to listen to some of the best bible teachers in the world. I now see why God gave me these desires. Not only was I being satisfied because my own questions were being answered, but I was beginning to be able to answer the questions that others had for me. Not just other Christians but non-believers as well. I realized how much joy I received from teaching the bible to others, for helping others to see the great truths that are contained within God's holy word. And not only that but instead of being weary of atheists who like to ask the tough questions, I was happy to sit down and discuss anything with them. Because the same questions they ask me are questions that I once had for myself... and because of Gods work in me, I had done my homework. I even began writing up papers to my professors who teach evolution as fact, showing them several reasons why it can not and never will be considered a fact, as well as showing them evidence for a creator...though I knew all along that they could never come to a knowledge of God through mere intellectual assent because it is a revelation of God and man cannot know God through worldly wisdom. (1 Cor 1:18-25)

As you can probably tell, I could go on and on and on about all of the drastic changes that took place in my life upon being saved, many of which were instant, others are on-going as sanctification takes place. I'm sure some psychologist somewhere has some clever terminology that he'd use to explain all of this but I am certain of one thing... Never in a trillion years would I ever have chosen Christ. Just like the bible says in Romans 3, I was not seeking after God (because nobody seeks God...only what he can give them), in fact I thought I was already a “Christian.” These changes are nothing less than supernatural, my mind was completely re-wired, and I truly am a completely different person today than I was before that cool October night in 2009. It is now my delight to preach the same Christ that I was once ashamed of ever mentioning, the proof is in the change. If you are Christian and you are reading this then I know you can relate to me because this drastic change happens to every one of us.

I wasn't even planning on writing all that about regeneration... It kinda just happened as I was talking about the testimonies of the youth group and how amazed I was at what Christ had done in their lives, it all just popped into my head. Anyway, if you're still with me I'm going to share a little bit about my missions experience in general so far.

I think sometimes the term “missions” is romanticized or glamourized. I myself have been guilty of having a sort of romanticized view of missions in the past. I mean, you read all these inspiring books of missionaries or see these movies where all these cool things happen and you get the idea that all missions are like that all the time. This is definitely not the case. I was just talking with a friend of mine from the states and he was sharing with me about some of his experiences on a trip that he went on to Africa (I think). He described missions in a way that I would certainly agree with, he said that they can be a “spiritual workout.”

I know that there are missionaries all over the world who are sacrificing much more than I am, and are even often in life or death situations. I believe the most difficult missions are when people go somewhere that the gospel has never been heard, to a “people group” who has absolutely no clue who Christ is. But these areas are often very dangerous and the Christians who go there are usually risking their lives. I will not pretend to speak on behalf of them because I believe what they are doing is definitely different from what I am doing, and I think it is them who are the real missionaries... I'm simply a long-distance evangelist. But for me and for what I am doing I definitely would consider this to be a “spiritual workout.” There are spiritual highs and lows, just like a roller coaster. And there are also physical effects as well.

Please don't take this part of the blog to be me throwing a pity party, I'm fine, I'm just explaining the realities of missions...believe me I want to be here and I take great joy in doing the Lord's work regardless of the consequences...which really aren't consequences at all but instead bring great delight and satisfaction. With that being said, let me explain to you what I mean. Sometimes you get to experience the great joy of someone responding positively to the gospel. You see them broken over their sin and crying, asking you every question that comes to their mind about Christ and what he has done for them. This is probably my favorite part about missions but it is also the least frequently occurring. I guess I should not be surprised because Christ said that the way is narrow, and few will find it...the reality is that many more will not be saved than those who will, that's just what the bible says. But for every person that you get to see accept Christ for who he is, you see 15 others who just don't get it. People who you labor with for long periods of time, explaining to them the truths in the bible, people who for a time look like they are getting it, only to show that they really never had a grasp on it to begin with. You try to get people to come to bible studies or to church and they say they're going to come, you wait for them for an hour and they never show. Not only do they not show but they don't even call you to let you know. I am never mad at people for this sort of thing, I'm only telling you this so that you understand that there are many disappointments involved with missions. In fact I know a missionary couple who have been in Peru for over 4 years now who have not even seen one convert. This must be very hard because at some point you really want to see fruit from your labor, but we cannot be about numbers because salvation is a work of God and not of man... you might be able to give an emotional speech and get a bunch of “decisions,” but you wont be getting a bunch of converts, and there is absolutely a difference between decisions and genuine converts.

Sometimes you see people listen to you or “accept Christ” for the wrong reasons. I don't want someone to listen to me because I'm tall, white, and have blue eyes. I want them to listen to me because they are intrigued by the person of Christ. When the youth group was here we would go places and get cheers like we were rockstars, hundreds of people asked us for autographs, and many girls wanted to take pictures with us (the guys). I hated that, that's not what I was there for, and the reality is many times we get attention for the wrong reasons.

Sometimes your body goes through stress. I've been here for not even two months and I've probably lost almost 20 lbs. Partly because I've been sick a couple of times and partly because sometimes there's just no time to eat. I came here expecting this to happen, I'm not complaining about it, it's part of the sacrifice I was willing to make. I just want you to see that missions aren't what you see in Hollywood. You might have a bible study one night and plan for it to be over at a certain time so that you can go eat dinner. It turns out that a few of the people are really intrigued about Jesus and about what the bible says so you stay and talk with them. One hour turns into two, two into three. All of a sudden there are people crying out for God. All the places to eat are closed and there's no way to get dinner now but believe me that's the last thing you're thinking about when something like this happens. In fact something like this almost happened a few nights ago with myself, Ingrid, and Marcelle but I'm pretty sure we got to see at least one salvation that night. In a scenario like that, one scripture comes to mind.... “Man cannot live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” I wasn't even hungry when we finished even though I hadn't eaten hardly anything all day, It was just so awesome to be a part of something like that and witness God's supernatural work on someone's life that all of my fleshly desires such as eating were completely overwhelmed and consumed by joy in the spirit.

Sometimes it gets lonely. When you leave your home country, everything you're accustomed to, your friends, your family, the comforts you're used to enjoying, the foods you're used to eating, and travel to another land where people speak a language that you don't fully understand...sometimes all of this hits you and you feel like you're the only one. I am thankful because I believe God has given me a heart for missions anyway so I am glad to be here, and I'm not someone who gets home-sick, but I would be lying to you if I told you I've never felt lonely. I am living by myself and sometimes I wish there was someone to talk to. But I have learned that its moments like these that serve to draw you closer to God, because even when you have nobody around you, you always have him. You really have to learn to cling to God and allow him to be your companionship. We always read in the bible, and we're always taught that God is omnipresent, that he is everywhere, that he's with us wherever we go...but do we really believe that truth? Do we live as if it were actually true? This truth is my greatest sense of comfort when I would otherwise be driving myself crazy being alone for such long periods of time. Not only that but it has helped me to truly appreciate the times when I do have fellowship with others, this is one of the reasons why I was so happy to spend time with my friends from the states and the youth group who just visited.

Lastly I just want to share something that I believe God has placed upon my heart while I have been down here. I have been thinking about this every now and then for a while now but I haven't actually sat down and considered the full weight of it until recently after hearing the testimony of a friend of mine. I will use a quote to summarize what I've been thinking, “You get one life...it will pass, and only what you do for Christ will last.” I think sometimes we (or at least I speak for myself) forget the reality of just how short our lives are and how uncertain we are of tomorrow. The bible says that life is but a vapor, and not only that but we're not all promised our 80+ years of life. I could die next week in a car accident at the age of 23. The truth is... I just don't know when the Lord has ordained to call me home. All I know is that for everyone who is in the kingdom of God, we have all been given a purpose to fulfill with our time here on earth and that God will sustain us unto completion of that purpose...and after that, well you really don't want to be here longer than you have to anyway right? God does not just save us and then say, “Well I sure hope you're able to survive until you do this, this, this and that for me.” No, he provides for us and sustains us so that we can complete the good works that he has laid out before us. And while I think he has a lifetime of ministry ahead for me, my purposes in his kingdom might all be fulfilled tomorrow and my time might be up. I cannot take this life for granite.

If we truly believe that Christ is who he says he is,and that he is risen, and that “To live is Christ and to die is gain,” then what should our lives look like? What are we doing for him? Because everything else doesn't matter, only what we do for him, and I don't want to waste this life that he's given me...this life that's really not even mine because it's been bought with a price. If we were worth dying for, then is not Christ worth living for? This is a reality that I need to fight to keep on my mind at all times, especially when I become selfish because it's never about me... it's always been about him and bringing him glory. Do you know the only reason why Christians are even still on this earth? Because God has not only ordained for people to be saved but he has ordained the means by which they would be saved...through the hearing of the gospel. And who has he ordained to preach the gospel? Us...he chose to use us in his great plan of redemption. He didn't need us, but he chose to use us...how humbling is that? That the God of the universe, the creator of heaven and earth and everything in it would choose to use us? The fact that I get to do anything in his holy name is beyond me, especially in light of my sin. But what does that mean for us? That means that we have a purpose...we're not just here for the fun of it, we have a reason for being here. Certainly all of us have our own individual purposes that God has given us but in the big picture we are all here for the same reason. When you get to heaven and you stand before the throne of God, you're not going to wish you had spent more time watching TV, you're not going to wish you had spent one more day of the week perfecting your tan, you're not going to wish you had made more money (or spent more money). No, instead you're going to wish that you had done more for the cause of Christ, that you had shared the glorious gospel with more people, that you had spent more time encouraging fellow believers, and ultimately that you had spent more time living for the kingdom that you could never see instead of living for the one you could see. When I see people who are doing this, people who do not take their life for granite, it is more encouraging than a thousand people patting me on the back saying “good job.” I pray that more of us would live our lives with purpose, that we would see the gospel as what it is...truly good news, and that we would be obedient and faithful to proclaim it and live a life that the world may mock, but that Christ will one day say to us, “Well done good and faithful servant, you have fought the good fight, you have finished the race...now enter into eternal rest with me.” 

Update 4: A Great Night at Church!

Yesterday was so exceptional that I have to blog about it by itself! I've been in Nueva Esperanza for the last day and a half staying in the house of my friend Dimas and his family. Nueva Esperanza is about an hour south of where I live at. The reason why I've been here is because I was invited to speak at Dimas' church yesterday night and its just more convenient. Aside from that it's been cool staying in a different area (I'm always interested in the culture in different areas). Dimas' family have been very kind and the food here has been good just as it has everywhere else in Peru. We went to get breakfast about 20-30 minutes from here at a place that is famous for “Chicharrones” which is a popular Peruvian breakfast. It's pork, cooked/sliced sweet potatoes, and onions in a lemon-juice sauce in between some bread made like a sandwich. To me this sounded more like a lunch but apparently served with coffee this is a popular breakfast! Needless to say I was not disappointed!

Church is where things got interesting. Like I said in my last post, we had Church at night because the presidential elections took place during the day and in Peru it is mandatory that every citizen vote. (On a side note, Ollanta was the winner). I knew that I was going to be speaking last night, I even knew what I was going to be speaking about (missions/evangelism), so I thought I was prepared. What I didn't know is that I'd be singing! Some of you who know me know that I'm a terrible singer. That being said, I never would volunteer to sing but I really had no choice. One of the worship songs that was sung was in three different languages, one of which was English. I was lucky enough to be in the front row and next to a girl whom I had previously met who knew I spoke English and she just happened to be a member of the worship team and had a microphone. When the English parts came up she put the microphone up to my mouth and I had no choice but to sing... I gave it my all but I'm still glad I didnt have to hear myself. The picture is actually on facebook, you should look at the faces of the people around me...I have yet to determine if those are expressions of surprise, horror, or both. Either way it was fun and I had a good time. To me the most amazing part of the whole night was seeing different people from different parts of the world worshiping the same glorious God. Once I got to the pulpit I told them that it was my first time singing on a microphone in church, and that for their sake I hope it was also the last.

As I said, my message was on evangelism and missions because that's what I was asked to speak about. I really enjoyed preaching, to me the most enjoyable thing to do is to share/teach others what I know about God and what he has revealed to us in his holy Word. I came away from last night with more confirmation about my calling. It's fitting that my first time preaching in a church to a congregation was to a Spanish speaking congregation in the very country I feel called to. Afterwards I also received some very kind comments from some of the people about my preaching. The most encouraging comment was, “I hope I get to hear you preach again.” I hope I have the opportunity to in the future, but hopefully next time I won't need a translator. I definitely think there's a reason for some of the desires we have, if they are Godly. I believe there is a reason why God has given me a desire to study his word and a reason why I get joy out of sharing what I learn with others, and a reason why I desire to learn the Spanish language, and a reason why I love the culture, and why I'm here now. I would be very surprised if this is not indeed where I have been called to, we'll have to see what God does in the future and how he uses all of these things. I do thank him for the gifts he has given me, and for the desires I have. I always pray that he would make his desires mine, so that I am always walking in his will and not only doing what he has called me to do but delighting in the service he has appointed me to.   

Peru: What Week is it?

The days are going by quickly and I'm often losing track of time. I guess it's been a while since my last update so I will try to recall some of what I've been up to and seen in the past couple of weeks. This will be more of a random stream of consciousness than it will be organized...

Yesterday was interesting, Carlos, a friend of mine who is among the group of guys that I am discipling told me that he had his cell phone stolen. He said this very casually so I figured “Oh, you left your phone somewhere and someone took it, that stinks but... no big deal.” Upon further questioning, he revealed that this was no ordinary theft. He had been robbed, at gunpoint. He told me that while he was walking the street in the morning, a man approached him and put a gun to his head asking him for his money. Carlos had lied to the thief and told him that he only had 2 Soles, the thief became very upset and was asking, “Who carries only two soles?” So he asked for his cell phone, and eventually realized that Carlos had more than two Soles and wound up taking 50. Carlos acted as if this event was no big deal, in fact he was shocked to find out that this had never happened to me in the States, as if this is a normal occurrence down here. I asked him if he had told the local police, he laughed and said that telling them was pointless, that they don't do anything about it. I was in awe because in the States if you're robbed at gunpoint it's a big deal, you file a police report, maybe there's some news coverage, and the police conduct an investigation to try and find the suspect. Here that is not the case. I asked Carlos if anybody had been around when this happened, he and his girlfriend both responded to me by saying that in Peru it doesn't really matter if anyone is around, they just watch but they don't do anything. Anyway, he wound up telling me that I need to be very careful, though I don't think I needed him to tell me that after hearing this. If I was in the same place he was I surely would have been robbed since I'm a gringo and many people assume that gringos have a lot of money.

I spend about four days/week here on the campus of San Marcos university. These days are spent meeting with people, discipling guys, and helping Ingrid and the girl she's training to evangelize. Sometimes Ingrid has conferences on the campus and she always introduces me and then asks me to introduce myself in Spanish. This is fun for me because I get to practice my Spanish and people are always interested in what I have to say since I am obviously not from here. Many times people ask me to help them with their English speaking skills as well. Sometimes Ingrid asks me to speak to the people at these conferences/meetings after she is finished. This can be challenging because she usually asks me to speak on the topic that she just finished talking about but I always come unprepared because I never know what she's going to be speaking about ahead of time, and not only that but I don't understand everything she says when she's speaking to them and I don't want to say the exact same things she just said to them when I speak.

One thing I always try to do is tie everything to Christ. I will talk about whatever topic she has asked me to address but before the end of my speaking I always try to point to Christ. The reason for this is simple. We can talk about the problems people have, the difficulties they will face in life, the current social issues, and what it means to have purpose all we want. But if we don't talk about Christ we're only skimming the surface. Premarital sex is not the problem, abortion is not the problem, self esteem issues are not the problem, lack of purpose is not the problem, drugs are not the problem. The problem is sin, and all of these are a result of sin, they are issues that arise because we have sin in this world. If we want to be effective we have to go to the root of all these issues and deal with the cause, we can tell people that drugs are bad until we're blue in the face, but until we get them them to recognize their sin, and deal with their sin, it doesn't matter because they're always going to have the propensity to use drugs, and if not drugs, they will gratify their sin by means of another method. Dealing only with these issues is akin to putting a band-aid on cancer, and that's why I point to Christ, because he is the ultimate cure. It is he and he alone that can deal with every single one of these issues, and that's how you give people hope. If all we do is give them a bunch of facts about why X is bad, and tell them not to do X then all we're giving people is a list of do's and don'ts. It is absolutely imperative that we make people aware of the actual root cause of all their problems, of all their shortcomings, and all their struggles, and then give them the answer to all of them; Christ.

Like I said I've had some opportunities to speak, sometimes to groups of people who do not know Christ, and sometimes I get to teach, disciple, or preach to those who do know Christ and are seeking a deeper understanding. My opportunities here to share the gospel or to teach are limited because of my lack of fluency in the Spanish language. I can only do these things when I have someone to interpret for me. I can have conversations in Spanish, I can get around on my own, but I cannot say anything I want and I certainly cannot teach the Bible in Spanish yet. Hopefully I will be able to the next time I come here. It does seem like God is preparing me for a future ministry here or in another Spanish speaking country at least. I wouldn't know how else to explain my desire to learn the language, my love for the culture, the fact that I'm taking Spanish classes at my University, and the fact that through God's providence I'll be sharing a room with my friend Andres from Columbia this year when I return to the states. And since my communication abilities are limited and I cannot do full-on ministry while I am here this time, what I am trying to do is take advantage of the time by learning the culture, continuing to learn more of the language, and learn what I can for when I return. That is not to say that I cannot be involved in effective ministry in other areas, certainly I am always building relationships with people and doing ministry in other ways than just teaching or preaching, but one day I would like to return and teach/preach more often and more openly. Anyway, that's all for now, more to come later!

Also, if any of you have any specific questions about anything I'm doing down here, about the culture, or whatever, just ask! I leave a lot out because I couldn't possibly write about everything I see or everything I'm involved in!


*****Edit****

I almost forgot! Sunday is the presidential elections here. Because of this the University has been closed until Tuesday because it gets crazy here during elections.  It is mandatory that every Peruvian citizen vote.  There are two candidates that remain.  Ollanta and Keiko.  Keiko would be the first woman to be president in Peru.  But I've heard that her father was once president and was involved in a lot of corruption.  He's currently in prison for somehow stealing millions of dollars (from what I'm told).  Keiko has also mentioned pardoning her father upon getting elected.  Everyone I talk to in the church tells me that she is the better and least corrupt of the two options but that neither choice is really a good choice.  The other candidate is Ollanta who wants complete control of the government, he wants to bring in what seems to me like a socialist regime though I do not know all the details.

I will be going with Dimas tonight to spend the night at his house (about an hour from here) and tomorrow he has asked that I speak about evangelism/missions to the church he attends (he asked his pastor and his pastor agreed).  It is very humbling to me to be a guest speaker at a church, especially when I am only 23 years old, but I know that the authority of what I say does not come from me, but from the Word of God, I'm just called to be obedient to preach it faithfully without twisting it or changing it and that is what I hope to do.  I'd appreciate all of your continued prayers with everything that is going on down here! Thanks!