Grudges lead only to...

I am blown away at the life of Joseph in Genesis 37-50.  Here is a guy that is almost killed by his own brothers, sold into slavery, falsely accused of rape, wrongly thrown into prison, forgotten about in prison, etc.  These are the not so "highlights" of Joseph's journey.  All this stemming from his brothers selling him  into slavery.  

Joseph had many years to choose not to forgive, many silent moments that he had to build a huge grudge. Knowing how Satan accuses and wants to bring division this was for sure a constant battle not only in the physical suffrage but also the spiritual.

And when Joseph finally had the chance for revenge, to get even with his brothers, what exactly did he do?  Check it out:

“I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt!  And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.... But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. You shall live in the region of Goshen and be near me—you, your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all you have.  I will provide for you there,"

When we choose to forgive, grudges are destroyed.  Forgiveness allows us to live within the fullness of the life Christ has called us to.  It also allows us the power to love and serve those that hurt us.  Live in the freedom of forgiveness.  Ignore the words of the satan, the accuser.  He and others will tell you that you deserve to hold a grudge, that you are right, that you should not forgive!

But truly if we are to be followers of Christ, grudges and unforgiveness has no place in our journey.  Remember the words of our Jesus has he was dying upon "our cross"...

"Father forgive them for they know not what they do!"

Questions...

Do things ever turn out in way that you were not expecting?

As I am writing this I am sitting at my parent's house in the middle of Texas when our family was scheduled to be landing in Haiti today.  We had been anticipating this week, the bags were packed; all we had left were the goodbyes.

And then...

I, John, find myself with high liver counts, jaundice, and extremely weak.   After the initial shock of the inability to return home (Haiti) for a unspecified amount of time, the internal questions became deafening.

"Are you serious?  Why are we still here?  What is the purpose?"

What about on YOUR own journey?  Do things ever happen in your life and all you are left with is questions?

What are we to do with these questions?

Although the questions are very real we must be alert that they can become an assault by the evil one in attempt to steal OUR joy.  As you look at the Spiritual armor in Ephesian 6, the "shield of faith" deflects the arrows of doubt that Satan throws our way.  And what exactly is Satan trying to make us doubt?

That God's way is not the better way!  Satan wants us to DOUBT GOD and trust ourselves, which truly only leads to MORE questions and a troubled spirit.

As I found myself giving into the questions earlier today, I turned to Genesis 1 for a reminder of the GOD I serve.

"In the beginning GOD CREATED the heavens and the earth."  Genesis 1:1

Why is there ever reason a doubt when we serve a God described above?

May you find peace in our journey together as followers of the CREATOR!

My heart is bursting...

My heart is bursting with joy.  Not the joy that makes you jump around and sing/shout, but the joy that streams of tears flow from your eyes!

Why the JOY?
Simply because it is the only visible expression of my thankfulness to you, JESUS for choosing our family to go and serve in a place like Haiti.  A place we get to share the love and feel the love of our LORD and SAVIOR tangibly everyday.

God, thank you for choosing us to go and live amongst the Haitians.  Thank you that my children get to see you so tangible in their everyday life.  Thank you that we understand a little more about your Sermon on the Mount.  When phrases such as "the meek shall inherit the earth" used to be simple words I memorized now are a powerful depiction of who you are.  God thank you for showing us favor and opening the door for this move!

I love you!

The Last Week...

The last week has been a whirlwind.  A whirlwind of tears, fears, unknowns, changed plans, etc.  I have been wanting to write  a blog for a few days, but God has been forming the words within my heart.

So here we go!  Instead of writing the story, I want to share what was shown us in the past week that took us from St Louis du Nord to Port au Prince, to Miami, and back to Texas for a short time to heal, rest and prepare to return to our Haiti home.

1.  I am not God, and God is patient and merciful with me in this.
2.  All things work together for GOOD, the GOOD being for HIS GLORY not our want.
3.  Community rocks.  We have amazing friends and family that surround us!
4.  What is intended for HARM God uses for GOOD!
5.  I am SOOO in LOVE with my WIFE.
6.  Be thankful for what you have now, it is not promised tomorrow.
7.  Friends are like cream, they definitely rise to the top when you need them!
8.  We do not go through anything that CHRIST Himself hasn't faced.
9. Our only security and assurance is in Christ alone; you can put it in nothing else; solid and peace is found within it nowhere else.

I cannot help but close with this song as it captures our heart in the recent journey.

I thought I resigned...

In August I had every intention of stepping away from Youth Ministry forever.  I knew students would always be a part of the journey, but in regards to Youth Ministry I thought we had our final stint at Trinity Bible Church.

That was until 4 weeks ago when a need arose about the concern for the High School Students (orphans) on our campus.

I was like, "God are you serious?"  I truly thought I had stepped away from Youth Ministry.  I thought students were something of the past.  Little did I know those were not the plans God had for us.  The Proverb that I quote regularly came back to hit me between the eyes..."Many are the plans of man but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails."

For the past two week we have been leading out in discipling 15 raw High School students at the St Louis du Nord campus.  They are so hungry for the Scriptures.  I honestly can say that I am in love with Youth Ministry again!!!

Funny note:
Although we live on the same campus, the students are now starting to come over to our house at night.

God, thank you so much for pressing us into your perfect plans.

Learning to surrender to HIS will,

This is a picture of us eating at a local restaurant on Sunday 

after I preached at a local church.