Peru: Second Update...

**Sorry Bryan O'hare (and others) I could not make this any shorter, God put a lot on my heart and I could have easily written more, but I could not have written less, I hope you will still read.**

My second week in Peru has gone by much faster than the first. The days are starting to blur together and it's getting more and more difficult to recall the events that took place on a particular day. I'm going to need to start recording everything I do at the end of each day for myself If I'm going to be able to continue writing weekly reports.

I'm writing to you now on the fourth day after coming down with either a terrible stomach virus or food poisoning, I'm not sure what it was, all I can tell you is that it was the absolute worst case of either that I've ever had. I am just now able to keep some food down. I've spent the last 3 days in my bed without stepping outside even once. At one point everything started getting blurry and then it all turned black, I sat down because I thought I was going to black-out and fall down or something but eventually everything went back to normal and I could see. At that time it was the beginning of my sickness and I had absolutely no idea what was wrong with me, for all I knew I had gotten some virus or disease that people who aren't from Peru are vulnerable to, I really had no idea...but there is one lesson to be learned from all of this that I want to share with you. I was not worried, more than that...I still had joy. Yes, even as the whole room turned black and I thought I was going to pass out, I was singing “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was, who is, and is to come...” among other hymns and quoting scripture.

I am not telling you this to boast about how great of a Christian I am or anything of the sort because believe me I have many areas in my walk with Christ that need help and I could surely take a lesson from most of you who are reading this. I am telling you this because I want to share with you something that is promised to ALL Christians. The promise I am referring to is the promise of joy. Joy is different from happiness. Happiness is situational, it is dependent upon your current predicament, it comes and goes, it gets tossed too and fro by the wind and is not something you can ever hope to grab hold of because it always finds a way to escape your grasp no matter how tightly clenched your fists may be. Joy is different. Joy is not focused on the here & now, joy cannot be dampened, tarnished, or destroyed by your current predicament.

There are many scriptures that attest to this but I am not trying to write a sermon here, though I will show just a couple of examples. Jesus himself says, “...No one will take your joy from you.” John 16:22. But lets look at what James said for some more detail. When the world (those who do not know Christ) looks at the following passage, they probably consider it absolute foolishness, it goes against everything we've ever been taught, “Count it ALL (emphasis added by me) joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” James 1:2-4. The world tries to evade trials or get out of them as quickly as possible, but what does the Word of God say? It tells us to count it as joy when we fall into trials, because trials have a purpose...and that purpose is beneficial to the Christian. Certainly this lines up with the famous and often-quoted scripture of Romans 8:28 which states that, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good (emphasis added), for those who are called according to his purpose.” You read that correctly.... Paul did not say “some” things, or “most” things, he said “all” things. For the Christian there is no such thing as a tragedy. Just because you don't understand God's plan or purposes, or you don't know of any immediate good, don't assume that God is not working good in your life. For one thing, his plans and purposes go far beyond your own life, he is far more complex than that, and ultimately he does all things for his glory and his pleasure.

Look at what Paul says in Romans 11 verse 33, “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgments and untraceable His ways!” And then he quotes from Isaiah 40 saying, “For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Or who has ever first given to him, and has to be repaid?” Point blank and simple... you're going to drive yourself crazy if you always try and figure out God's reasoning, purposes, or plans. You have a finite mind, God is infinite and his ways are “untraceable.” That being said, we know that God is for us and not against us, and we know that he only ever does Good, he never does evil, in fact he is incapable of doing evil because that is against his nature as being God. This brings my to my next point, please continue reading.

The Sovereignty of God. This is the absolute most comforting doctrine/aspect of God for me. What does it mean? Well, truth be told it means a lot, but in a nutshell I would describe it as meaning this, “Nothing has ever, or will ever happen without God either directly causing it to happen or allowing it happen.” It means that God is in absolute control at every single moment of the entire universe, if he was not then he would cease to be God. If their was one moment that he was not in control, or one molecule over which he had no power, that moment could be the moment his plan of redemption is destroyed, or that molecule could be the molecule that destroys his plan, in fact, if anything was outside his power, whatever it is, it would be God. Satan can do nothing without God allowing him to do it. But just as in the story of Joseph, what Satan means for evil, God works into good. I would love to type another 8 pages about this but I know not all of you would love to read another 8 pages about this so I will try to bring this to a close.

Why is the Sovereignty of God the most comforting doctrine to me? Because I know that God knows exactly what I'm going through at all times, and I know that if I'm going through it he has either caused it to happen or allowed it to happen, and if it's happening I know that it's for my good, and for his purposes, even if these purposes are never made known to me, but they often are... Think about it, would I be writing any of this if I had not gone through that sickness? Maybe one of you is encouraged by what you're reading, does that not mean that God made my sickness work for good? Worst case-scenario is that I die, but wait, is that really the worst-case scenario for the Christian? No it's not, what does the bible say, “To live is Christ, and to die is gain (emphasis added).”

I had the privilege of talking with a group of students at the university of San Marcos about life in general, and ultimately about Jesus Christ. These students did not know him, most of them believed that Jesus was just a “good man,” and the others said they don't believe in any God. One student even said he believes that we are all our own “gods.” One common theme that stood out to me after hearing some of the responses to the questions we were asking them was the fear of death. I guess I'd be afraid of death too if I didn't know what was going to happen to me after I died. In fact, I used to be terrified of death before I knew Christ. But what does the bible say about death for the Christian? Paul quotes Isaiah and says, “Death is swallowed up in victory...O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” John MacArthur comments on this passage saying that, “The latter quote taunts death as if it were a bee whose sting was removed,” it has no hold on us who are in Christ. After hearing about Christ, all of the students gave us their email addresses, one of them who especially expressed concern about death, provided his phone number (which is rare here) and asked to meet with us again, we are still waiting to hear from him so please include him in your prayers (his name is Jerson).

In conclusion, I just want anyone who reads this to realize that they too can have joy in the midst of suffering or doubt. Thankfully I'm ok. I've been blessed to be friends with a doctor here named Dimas who took a day off to tend to me and get me all the medicine I need and gatorade, as well as say a few prayers for me. I feel better already and I'm starting to get my strength/energy back. But when I was ill, and when everything was turning black, I did not know how sick I was, what I had, or how much worse it was going to get. In my mind, I could have been dying, but I was not afraid in the least bit, I was singing songs and quoting scripture, the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. I find my rest in his sovereignty because if he has ordained it to be then it must be for a reason, and if it's for a reason I know it's for a good reason, and that is enough for me...may it also be enough for you.

Dios te bendiga (God bless you),

-Chris

Peru: Week 1

**I apologize ahead of time for this post (and probably all subsequent posts while in Peru) being very un-polished, I simply don't have extra time to devote to editing. 

Greetings from Peru!

Today is Martes (Tuesday in Spanish), which means I've already been here for a whole week. My time here thus far has been spent more by adapting to the culture and getting used to my surroundings than it has in outright ministry. Part of the reason for this is because of Ingrid's plans for me and the other reason is because there was a recent strike on the campus I'm supposed to be working on and it's been closed.

Before I go any further I have to first thank everyone here who has welcomed me. Ingrid has been a great host, going out of her way to provide more than I need, and cooking some of the best food I've ever had. I've been introduced to some of the guys I will be helping to disciple and they have all been very nice as well as very interested in squeezing every bit of English teaching out of me that they can. The names of some of these men are Elvis, Neder, and Carlos. So far I have spent the majority of my time here with Elvis. The time we have spent together has been very exciting because he knows almost no English at all and my Spanish communication abilities are very limited, that being said, you can imagine what it might be like spending an entire day traveling around the city with someone who cant speak your language. I must say that it has provided much more laughter than frustration, and Elvis is very dedicated to asking me what everything means in English, and I have been learning a lot of Spanish from him as well.

Sunday I was blessed to attend the church here that is pastured by Pastor Luiz Azenero. He's a great man of God that I had the privilege of spending half a day with a couple days prior to church. We had a ridiculously funny moment while we were eating at a plaza. He spilled his juice all over his jeans and his shirt...as I was laughing at him I picked up my Chicha Morada ( a purple drink sort of like tea made with boiled corn + sugar) and the lid came off... I spilled it all over the place though didn't get as much on me as he got on him. It was quite the scene...you would have thought a bunch of kids sat at our table with the mess we had all over the floor/table/chairs, but nope...it was two full grown adults. His 4 year old son Esteban (Stephen in English) was laughing at us and told me in spanish that I needed to hold my cup from the bottom, and that his father needed to be more careful, cute kid...and obviously more wise than the both of us.

Anyway, back to Sunday at the church. Pastor Luis called me up to the stage and introduced me to his congregation, and also allowed me to attempt to introduce myself to them in Spanish! The people were very welcoming and I look forward to getting to know them better and serving them in any way that I can. After church a few of the members took me out to lunch where I had the Peruvian favorite “Pollo a la Brasa.”

The Culture

The culture here is very interesting, it's like night and day from being in the United States. Surprisingly enough, I haven't really experienced any sort of “culture shock,” on the contrary I've been enjoying every minute of it. I feel right at home here, perhaps this is a sign that this is indeed the place of my future ministry, only God knows the answer to that right now though.

I'm living by myself in a small room with a small bathroom, I guess it's comparable to a studio in the United states but maybe a little smaller. There's a security guard booth right outside my window where a guard is stationed 24 hrs/day. The funny thing about it is that often times at night I can hear the security guard snoring away...I wish I got payed to sleep haha. My windows have iron bars going across them and my door has a very large lock on it that I keep locked all the time, though I do not feel in danger at all. One interesting thing about all the houses here is that they all have prison-style security, iron fences with iron spikes going in multiple directions at the top...it's virtually impossible to climb into somebody's yard.

I really need to get adapted to the sleep schedule here, I hear people walking around and talking right outside my window at 5-6 am every morning along with the loudest birds I've ever heard chirping away like there's no tomorrow. Another interesting part of the culture that I'm fascinated by is the significance/importance of music. I hear music playing probably 24 hours/day, the security guard has his own radio that he's often singing/whistling along with when he's not sleeping, and you can often hear other families playing their music as well.

One of the biggest differences between the culture here in Peru compared to the United States is the interaction between people. In the U.S. Everyone pretty much keeps to themselves unless they absolutely have to talk to someone else, most of us don't know our neighbors, we never stop and have conversations with people that live in our neighborhoods, and though we're often in close proximity to others we never speak a word. None of this applies here in Peru. This culture is much more outgoing, affectionate, and outspoken. It's as if everyone is family, now this doesn't apply to everyone but on a large scale it seems to be the case. I often see “strangers,” mingling in the streets, stopping to talk, people don't seem to be afraid of addressing others like they are in the U.S. This is one of the traits of this culture that I admire the most. Another thing to note is that while in the U.S. we greet the opposite sex with a hand shake or possibly a hug if we're good friends, in Peru the opposite sex is always greeted with a kiss on the cheek. I keep forgetting this and extend my hand out for a handshake only for them to lean in for a kiss.

The other greatest difference in culture here is in regards to the traffic/transportation. I am not lying nor exaggerating when I say to you that I honestly think 90% of the cars on the roads here are taxis, buses, and “cambis” which are like small buses. The majority of people here do not own a vehicle. They commute by doing a combination of taking a form of public transportation and walking. Most people take the buses or cambis because they are cheaper than taxis but taxis here are still far cheaper than they are in the U.S. People generally take taxis when they want a more pleasant ride because you can go directly to your destination in one vehicle, it's not crowded, it's safer, more comfortable (more room), and often times faster. To give an example of the cost of a taxi ride... I was able to ride from Pastor Luis' house back to my place for 12 Soles, that's a 30 minute drive for about $4.30 in US dollars. You can take a bus for an even cheaper cost or the infamous “cambis” for even cheaper. Cambis like I said are like small buses, often packed with people, the room between seats is very minimal (especially for someone like me, I'm a giant to most people in Peru) but they are a part of the culture you absolutely have to experience if you come here. Yesterday while I was traveling with Elvis to take pictures of a couple of the high schools that our own church's high-school mission team will be coming here to work in, I was able to travel for about an hour in one direction for 2 soles which would be about .72 cents...try traveling anywhere in the US an hour for only .72 cents...not happening. An hour traveling in your own car and you've just spent $15 on gas which would be about 41.25 soles here.

The traffic here is (from an American perspective) absolutely insane. You know those movies you see of Tokyo where there's a thousand cars on the street an inch apart from each other? It's kind of like that. There is no such thing as lanes here, you have the entire road to be wherever you want to be, there doesnt appear to be any sort of order. In a typical 3-lane road in the US there'd be about 5 cars side by side here, all inches apart from one another. In fact at any moment you're on the road here, you're likely inches apart from another vehicle on all sides of you, I still cant figure out how there's not more accidents, there's no way I could drive here, I'd die in my first ten minutes. But everyone here is more alert, you dont see people talking/texting while driving, doing their makeup, downing a Big Mac, none of that, they expect cars to be very close to them so they constantly have their foot over the break ready to stop. The use of the horn here is also much different. In the US we only use our horns when someone just cut us off, we're mad at someone, or someone is sleeping at a green light. Here horns are an integral part of driving, it's a way of letting other drivers know where they're at in relation to them and signaling the right-of-way. Standing next to a busy street is like being in the presence of an orchestra with no director. You hear lots of noise but it has no order, which is analogous to the traffic.

Anyway, I could write a whole lot more about the culture here but I'm sure Bryan O'hare would agree that I've gone on far too long already :)

Prayer Requests

Please pray for the campus here (San Marcos University) and for the men I will be discipling, Elvis, Neder, Carlos and the others whom I have yet to meet. Also pray for a friend of mine Dimas and Pastor Luis. I'm sure Ingrid would also be very thankful for prayers in regards to her ministry as well...she really needs some men to step up here and be leaders, real men of God. She cannot teach a man how to be a man of God, pray for God to raise up a leader to take care of the ministry of the men. And please continue to keep Pastor Luis' church in your prayers as well, that they would be blessed with wisdom and understanding to grasp the great word he delivers week in and week out, that they would fulfill the great commission, and that they would continue to grow, not only in number but also in Godliness.

I ask also for your prayers for myself. I often feel ill-qualified to be here, or to be anywhere doing the LORD's ministry. I used to pray all the time that God would help me feel the weight of my sin, that I would be disgusted by it so that I would not become numb to it... I didn't want to be able to sin without being aware of it...and thus continue without repenting. God has surely answered those prayers and now it's like I had no clue what I was asking for. I feel a dreadful amount of weight from the “smallest” sins, and I'm made aware every single day just how far I fall short of his glory. Like Paul in Romans chapter 7, I often find myself doing that which I don't want to do. I feel like Isaiah (a man of unclean lips) and many of the prophets who, when shown the glory of God were made to feel like dirt, unworthy of being in God's presence. I know all the correct answers to this, but I need to know it not just on an intellectual level, but to feel it in my heart and my entire being, to live in the grace of God provided to me by the work of his son Christ Jesus. Pray that I do not waste my time here, nor waste this life that has been given to me yet is not even my own for it has been bought with a price..the blood of the lamb. I want to live for the cause of Christ, for his purposes, for his glory, in his will. In fact I'd rather not live at all than to live outside of his purposes, because outside of him there is no such thing as purpose. I want to know that I am here because he has sent me here, I want to know what he would have me do while I am here, and if I am ever to return I want it to be only because he has ordained it that I shall return, not because of any selfish desires or motives. I cannot be led by my heart, because like God tells us in Jeremiah...the heart is deceitfully wicked. My greatest longing in this life is for purpose, and the obedience to fulfill whatever my purpose is in his kingdom. I would greatly appreciate all your prayers in these areas, and especially in the strength/pouring out of God's spirit to aid me in walking by the spirit and not by the flesh, for the ability to resist sin and to set my mind on things that are above and not on things that are on earth (Col 3:2). Thank you.

I'm just a nobody, here to tell everybody, about somebody, who can save anybody

Christianity is not a Game

There are those that might consider this message, or future messages to be “too harsh.” Let me just say that when you are reading anything I write you should consider two things. Do you believe the Word of God to be 100% infallible and inerrant? If this answer to this question is “yes” and you believe the Bible to be truth, the next thing you should do is consider whether or not what I write lines up with the very scripture you believe to be truth. If the answer is “no,” then we have a serious problem and I expect to be confronted about it. If it is “yes”, then I am not being harsh, I am simply stating what ought to be said and perhaps you are used to hearing a sugar coating or watering-down of the gospel. I am not here to make up anything new, or invent some new understanding of the gospel but rather to preach it as it was meant to be preached, the way it was preached by Paul and the apostles, and the way it was preached by Jesus himself. I'm after truth and I pray that if I ever were to stray from that, I would immediately be confronted and restored lest I lead others astray.

I have recently been troubled by the apathetic and quite frankly lackadaisical approach to Christianity many professing Christians are taking.  I have to be careful here because I don't intend on this being an "evidences of salvation" message which is what I will probably write on next week, but I do want people to have a proper view of what being a Christian really means.  

For one reason or another, it seems many people have gotten the idea (whether they are consciously aware of it or not) that Christianity is about adding Jesus to their life instead of making Jesus their life.  I don't even like saying it like that because true conversion is a supernatural work of God in which he makes you into a new creation, you do not make him into anything, I just hope you understand my illustration.   Being a Christian isn't simply about “accepting Jesus” and then continuing to live the way you want to live and calling your life a “Christian” life because you "added" Jesus to it and open up your bible a couple times a week. Francis Chan provides a good description of this in his book Crazy Love, in which he states, 

"Lukewarm people probably drink and swear less than average, but besides that, they really aren't very different from your typical unbeliever. They equate their partially sanitized lives with holiness, but they couldn't be more wrong...The Truth is, their lives wouldn't look much different if they suddenly stopped believing in God" (78-79).

 A Christian life produces fruit, a Christian life is engaged in battle against the god of this world (satan), a Christian life participates in, engages in, and experiences the three parts of this message I am about to lay out  that clearly show Christianity is not a game.  Honestly I think a big part of the problem is the improper view people have of Christ.  I once heard R.C. Sproul say that, "Jesus was not executed for saying, 'Consider the dandelions...how they grow! Jesus was executed for saying, 'Consider the thieves...how they steal.'"  Too many people think Christianity is about some warm fuzzy feeling you get while skipping through fields of dandelions.  

As I said, I will be presenting three biblical reasons dispelling the myth many have of Christianity being a "game," a "fuzzy feeling," or whatever else. These three parts could easily be separated and expounded upon to make up a series of sermons but for the sake/purposes of this blog I will condense them into one message (some of you will laugh at me saying I have “condensed” it when you realize how much you'll be reading to finish this!).

3 (not all) parts of Christianity

I. Self-Denial

II. War/Sin (Can be both separate and conjoined as there is a war on sin)

III. Discipline/Testing (From God)

I.  Self-Denial

I'm sure many of you know where I'm going to go with this one and for good reason, it's one of if not the best passages regarding this topic. In Matthew 16:24-25 Jesus says, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."  This is a regular teaching of Jesus and is repeated in all the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke).  Let's examine this verse for a second.  The first thing Jesus says is to deny yourself.  This means leaving behind all of your fleshly desires, all of your selfish desires, and anything that might hinder you from pursuing Christ and his will.  It's about laying down your own will and inquiring of God what his will for your life would be, realizing that it is no longer you who live but Christ who lives within you. (Gal 2:20).  It does not mean that everyone has to sell all their belongings, give up everything you own, and cease doing all the activities you love. However you should be willing to give up anything at any moment if Jesus were to ask of it. Anything in your life that you would not give up for Christ is an idol and we know that idol worshipers will not inherit the kingdom of heaven.  I could write so much about this as there are many scriptures that help to illustrate this such as Matthew 13:46 where the kingdom of heaven is described as a pearl of great value, so great that a man sold all that he had in order to buy it.  In essence he rid himself of everything he owned for that which is much greater.  Or in Luke 18:22 where Jesus tells a man inquiring of what he must do in order to inherit eternal life, "One thing you still lack.  Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." But after Jesus had said this Luke records that the man, "became very sad, for he was extremely rich."  You see, he wasn't willing to deny himself of his earthly wealth and luxuries, which by the way have zero eternal significance except for an eternity in hell should you be ensnared by such things.  

The next thing Jesus says after instructing us to deny ourselves is to pick up our crosses and follow him.  Now let me make one thing clear, by "picking up our cross," Jesus does not mean that everyone has their own sort of figurative "cross" to bear.  Some people think their job, their mother-in-law, their kids, their disease, or their husband/wife is the "cross" they have been given to bear in this life. That is not what Jesus is saying here. What he's saying is, "If you want to be called my disciples, you better be willing to die." Now I know many of you reading this just jumped back in your seats or started shaking your heads in disbelief.  Notice I did not say that to be a Christian you must die or that every Christian will be called to die for their belief and that if you do not you are not a Christian.  What I am saying, and what Jesus said, is that should you be called to die for the gospel, you must be willing.  John MacArthur describes this passage by saying, "He was demanding total commitment from them--even unto physical death--and making this call to full surrender a part of the message they were to proclaim to others."  Does this part of Christianity sound like a game to you? Does it create a warm-fuzzy feeling inside?  We do not know what our lot in this life is.  Some Christians God raises up into great places for his glory, sort of like what he did to Joseph.  Others are called to die for the name of Christ, sort of like Stephen, the first Christian martyr.  We have to be willing to accept whatever lot God has given us, knowing that regardless of what it is, it is for the glory of God, and while we may not see the initial reason for what that lot may be, we know that somehow, some way, God has ordained it that he may be glorified.

II. War/Sin

These two can be separated or be put together. For example, we are at war everyday (more on this in a second) and we have to deal with sin until Christ returns, but we can also take up war against the sin in our own lives.

My scriptural basis for this section about war (or battle) comes from Ephesians 6:12 which states, "For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens," and also from 2 Corinthians 10:4-5, "For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.  We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ."  Of course there are many other usable scriptures for this but I'm trying my best not to make this into a book.  

I used that passage from Ephesians because I cant just tell you that we are at war without telling you what we are at war against.  God has ordained satan to have have rule over this world for the time being (though not ultimate authority as God is still sovereign and satan can do nothing without God allowing it to happen). Of course we know that this will come to an end but for now satan is the god of this world who "has blinded the minds of unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." 2 Cor 4:4  We are at war every single day to, "not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Romans 12:2.  Part of this war is fighting against the culture that tries to sweep us up to be just like everybody else.  The culture will tell you that it's ok to have sex with your boyfriend or girlfriend because everybody is doing it, it's ok to be promiscuous. The culture will tell you that lying is fine if it means you get that promotion, that pay raise, that A on your test, or even for some "greater good."  The culture will tell you that sensual dressing is fine.  The culture will tell you to do whatever pleases you, whatever you need to do in order to make it to the top, you really can be your own god!  But we know that intercourse outside of marriage is abominable to God, lying is still a sin no matter what and God does not need your lie to accomplish his will no matter what "greater good" you think you are attaining, sensual dressing causes lust which is a sin, and pursuing all of your own goals without ever consulting God, without a care for if he approves is essentially self-worship, also abominable to our perfect, holy, righteous, and just, God. But these things are all around us every single day, satan has influenced every part of this world, you see it in the movies, you hear it on the radio, you drive past the billboards, and worst of all... sometimes you hear it from the pulpit.

We are called above such things, we are called to abstain from a mixing-in with the culture.  We are to be in this world but we are not of this world.  If we are to profess to be Christians we should not act like the world, talk like the world, think like the world, or smell like the world.  I am not saying we should completely remove ourselves from those who are among the lost around us, our friends, our teachers, and our family.  I'm saying we need to separate ourselves from the things they do and pursue holiness.  

If we find ourselves blending into the culture or the ways of the world we will also find ourselves slipping into sin and doing the things we ought not to do. Paul was very familiar with this struggle in one of the most profound passages of scripture where he states, "For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is in my flesh.  For the desire to do what is good is with me, but there is no ability to do it.  For I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do.  Now if I do what I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but it is the sin that lives in me." (Romans 7: 18-19) Needless to say, it's no easy task to keep out of sin, to keep from doing the things we do not want to do, it's a constant battle, a constant fight, all taking place in the spiritual war that is this world until the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.  However we have been given a weapon to fight this spiritual warfare and this weapon is the Word of God. "Take up the sword of the Spirit which is God's word." Eph 6:17  Let me ask you a question, what did Jesus do every time he was tempted by satan during his 40 days in the wilderness?  He quoted scripture.  He began each response to satan with "It is written..."  This is why it's so important to stay in the word.  If you have no knowledge of scripture, if you never read, then you have nothing to use to fight.  You are essentially going to war while voluntarily disarming yourself, that doesn't sound smart now does it?  It's not, it's dumb.  You may as well throw in the towel because you're going to submit to sin every single time if your foundation is not on the word of God.  Not only that but you're not going to have any true knowledge as to who God his, how perfectly holy, just, and righteous he is. How much he despises and hates sin.  If you fear God and you realize how utterly disgusted he is by sin, you are much less likely to commit sin.  I was going to write more about this but I'm already going too-long so I'll continue on to the final point.

III. Discipline/Testing

Without getting into too much, let me just say that the Christian life involves God refining his children so that they may be conformed to his image. God does some of this refining via discipline and testing.  Look at Zec 13:9 "I will put this third through the fire; I will refine them as silver is refined and test them as gold is tested.  They will call on my name and I will answer them.  I will say: They are my people and they will say: THe LORD is our God." And just so you don't think this is only some old-testament concept, let's flip to 1 Pet 4:12, "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you."  The truth is, scripture has many instances describing the testing of believers. God does not test you so that he can know if you are in the faith because he already knows, God knows all. He tests you in order that you might realize your faith is strong, that you can be assured of your salvation. 

If you have not experienced trials, discipline, or persecution as a Christian, I would do a self examination of your heart to see where it is at, and more importantly, to whom does it belong? Because God is not going to convert you and then simply leave you alone, for we know that "He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Phil 1:6 on the contrary he will be disciplining you just as a father disciplines his child. God is not a derelict father and he will not allow you to wander off in pursuit of everything that shines. Just as a father invokes discipline upon his son to correct bad behavior, or even certain inadequacies, so the Lord will do to his children out of love. As a Christian you should never expect a smooth ride, there's going to be several bumps along the way, not just from sin, not just from satan, but also from God who tests and refines those who are his that they may be likened to himself, growing in holiness and understanding, and ultimately bringing him glory. You see, when your various trials are completed, you will often realize that you learned a great deal and grew significantly closer to the Lord. It is then that you will say in accordance with James, "Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance, but endurance must do its completed work so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing." James 1:2-4 and also with Paul, "And not only that, but we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. This hope does not dissapoint, because God's love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us." Romans 5:3-5. Sometimes we are brought to our knees, just know that even on your knees it is not too late to look up. And if trial, pain, persecution, loss, tragedy, discipline, etc, ever brings you in closer relationship to the Lord, then you better believe it was worth every second. Just ask Paul who said, “I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” Phil 3:8 So no brethren...we were never promised a smooth ride as Christians, just a safe landing.

I hope we can all agree that affliction, pain, testing, discipline, war, strife, trials, testing, persecution, potential of death, pain, loss, tragedy, self denial, etc, are not characteristics of a "game," or a "warm fuzzy feeling."  I am not saying we cannot enjoy things in our lives that have been given to us and meant to be enjoyed, I'm just saying as a Christian don't expect your entire life to be a box of chocolates, be ready to fight, and if necessary, even die.

-Chris

*All scripture was taken from either the ESV or HCSB*

**Will be back to edit later**

The Purpose of This Blog

Like many people, never did I think I would wind up writing a blog.  When I thought about it though, it only made sense to combine my enjoyment of writing with my passion for God, and that is what this blog will hopefully always be centered around: God.

As some of you may know, I will be headed to Peru to live for three months this summer to serve the Lord, I will be teaching, preaching, discipling, evangelizing, participating in service projects, helping with a church plant, and bringing hope in the form of Jesus Christ to poor and desolate areas where no hope may otherwise be seen or known. That being said, the original purpose of this blog was to keep those who will be supporting me on this trip informed in regards to what would be happening in Peru and what kinds of things the Lord would be doing through me, and thus through them as well because were it not for their faithful provision, I would not be able to serve in such a manner. This makes them (my supporters) equally important in fulfilling the Great Commission. Not everybody is in a place in life to travel to other nations, some are loaded with their labor for the Lord here, but they can still be involved in the Lord's work abroad by sending others, I am very thankful for these people.

The original purpose of this blog has changed to a much greater purpose, maybe I've been led to do this through the direction of the holy spirit and maybe I haven't. Either way I'm definitely excited about it.  Every day my mind is constantly saturated with thoughts about God. This is something I'm extremely thankful for and I consider myself blessed beyond belief for this alone.  These thoughts can be about several things pertaining to God, anything from theology, different doctrines, the attributes of God, the meaning of a scripture I just read, conviction, repentance, applications/implications learned from scripture, evangelism, missions, the lost, etc etc... I could literally go on and on for quite a while.  Honestly I just had to get some of these things out and onto paper (or screen), my hope is that even one person could benefit from the things I will be writing about but if not at least I have a catalogue of thoughts that I may reflect upon.

I titled this blog "The Knowledge of God," for a reason.  My number one passion in life, what gives me the most joy, and what is absolutely the most interesting and exciting use of my time is discovering more and more of who God is.  This is a process that can really never end because God is just that big and indeed in heaven we will never cease to be amazed by the depth and riches of our God. I base this blog off of a couple different passages, mainly Jeremiah 9:23-24 which states, "Thus says the LORD: Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD."  And also John 17:3, "And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."

From these two scriptures alone we can get a feel for how important it is to know and understand God. My prayer is that there would be an innumerable amount of people in this generation that would come to take delight in the Word and in their understanding of God, I pray that a revival might break out and young Christians would cease to look at the bible as simply a book containing intriguing words of wisdom, but that God's word would become their sustenance for life. That they wouldn't merely base their knowledge of God from what others tell them but instead they would dig into the scriptures for themselves to seek our God who so delightfully revealed himself to us in the pages of the Bible.

I ask people this all the time, "If God said it, then it must be important right?" I just don't understand how there are those who can get more excitement or joy from watching TV, playing a video game, or talking about the latest news from Hollywood. Obviously I am referring to professed Christians here but I mean... even speaking hypothetically, say there was a God who created the entire universe, who created you, who gave you a purpose, and who has offered you eternal life through the greatest sacrifice ever known by giving himself up for you.  One day you find out that he has written a book, wouldn't you not only desire to read it but also do anything you could to get your hands on it?  There are Christians in other nations who are killed for merely owning a bible, here in America we have them all around us yet take this for granite and allow them to collect dust, this is not the mark of someone who truly loves the Lord and my desire is to see this love ignited. Jesus said, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples." John 8:31 He did not mean "If you abide in my word then you will be my disciple," as if it was by works that you have become his disciple but rather, "If you abide in my word that is evidence that you are my disciple." Are you a disciple of Christ?

One of my favorite passages on this matter is 1 Peter 2:2-3 "Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation---if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good." Pastor/Bible teacher John MacArthur explains this passage by saying, "Spiritual growth is always marked by a craving for and a delight in God's word with the intensity with which a baby craves milk." Are you craving scripture like a baby craves milk? If not, do what I did, pray.  Do you not think that God would delight in his children asking him for a greater thirst for him, a greater passion, a greater fire for his word, to love him with a greater intensity?  This is a re-occurring prayer for me, God answered it at a time when I was very apathetic in regards to my longing for him and though I crave more of him every day I continue to pray this, one can never get enough of God. The beautiful thing about this is that I find it to be a cycle, as you seek God out you begin to love him more, the more you love him the more you seek him out and it never ends.

Another point I will make before ending this already too-long introduction post is that you should read with the intent of understanding, not reading merely for the sake of reading.  If you want to know who God is, and if you want to develop a greater and greater love for him, you must understand him.  One of my favorite quotes in regards to this comes yet again from John MacArthur who says, "The meaning of the scripture is the scripture, if you don't have the meaning then you don't have the scripture."  It only makes sense, if you're not understanding exactly what God intended to be understood by a particular passage then you're not understanding that aspect of God, you're missing the whole point. You cant go through scripture extrapolating something in ten different ways to mean something you'd like it to mean, you need to ask yourself, "What does this mean? What did God mean by this?" Once you understand that you can then proceed to weigh the implications it has on your  life and also consider how to apply it.  Be careful though when going through scripture for the purpose of application, many people comb through the scriptures for the purpose of finding themselves in the stories all the while forgetting that the bible is not about you, it's about God. The entire bible is Christocentric. What I mean by this is that while it is healthy to see how you might apply certain scriptures to your life, do not forget who it's really about.  I don't remember if I heard this from John Piper,MacArthur or maybe even Sproul, but one of them have said something to the extent of, "So many pastors look through the scriptures in order to find themselves and their congregation while they should be looking for Christ."


Anyway, that's all for now, more on this and other topics later! I applaud you if you actually read all of that! I will return to edit the numerous mistakes I have probably made but for now I need to study for an exam!

In Christ,

-Chris