Looking Down On Easter

What a great past weekend!  With six services at Allison Park Church to celebrate the Easter Weekend, I had a lot of time to reflect upon the significance of what Good Friday and Easter mean for our lives today.  It’s sometimes easy for me to get in the routine of going through the familiar traditions without grasping a fresh understanding of their significance, but this year, God opened up my eyes to see this Holiday from a different perspective…HIS (at least a small part of it).

We often declare the truth that God knows all things.  There is nothing that catches him by surprise.  He sees all things that have happened, are happening, and have yet to happen.  That means that when God chose to create us (mankind) and gave us the option to choose him or reject him, He knew beforehand that if He did, He would have to go to the cross in order to see his plan fulfilled.

Every day, we are faced with choices where it become necessary for us to determine whether we want to move forward with a certain course of action depending upon the cost…

• “I’d love to eat at my favorite restaurant tonight, but it’s quite expensive”
• “The job pays well, but the hours are very long, and I will always be traveling away from my family”
• “I’d love to be a doctor someday, but 8 more years of school is a lot”
• “It would be great to be an Olympic athlete, but…(well you get the point)”

We often turn down things that we want because the price is too high.  In fact, Jesus even taught about the importance of considering the cost of a choice before moving forward (Luke 14:28).

Jesus knew from the beginning of time that the cost of creating and loving you was that one day He would have to be rejected, beaten, bruised, and nailed to the cross…but He chose to do it anyway.

How great is his love for us!

God was aware of what would have to happen to save us before he ever formed Adam from the dust of the earth.  Throughout the history of the world, He has been moving forward with his plan of redemption step by step, setting the scene for the big day when the plan would be fulfilled.

Jesus came.  He lived.  He served.  He laughed.  He cried.  He healed the sick.  He set the captives free.  He laid down his life.  He died.  He paid the cost listed on the price tag of our free will.

But…He didn’t stay dead.  Death could not defeat the giver of life.  He rose from the grave.  He defeated death.  He conquered sin.  He broke the curse.

Can you imagine the moment when He ascended to Heaven and met with the Father?  The dreaded, excruciatingly painful cost that He had chosen to pay before man ever existed had been accomplished.  The payment plan for the thing that He most desired…a people who would choose and love him…was fulfilled.  They were now his, if they so desired.  Can you imagine as He embraced the Father and exclaimed “We did it!” The work is done.  It is finished.  This was no ‘matter of fact’ moment.  Imagine the sense of accomplishment.  Imagine the pleasure of knowing that your greatest dream had been realized after the greatest cost had been paid.

If paying off a 30-year mortgage is a satisfying feeling, or standing on the medal platform after winning gold at the Olympics is a moment one would never forget, can you imagine the joy and satisfaction of our God in knowing that the highest price the world has ever known for the most valuable reward has been paid?

This Easter, as we celebrated what Jesus has done for us, I believe that He celebrated that too.  I sensed the joy of the Holy Spirit this past weekend as He declared, “Remember…Jesus did it!  He paid the price and now He has achieved what He has wanted since the beginning of time…you.”

Will you choose him today?

Final Ministry Day

Today is the fifth and final day of our medical clinic. In the past 4 days, we have already treated over 700 patients with our amazing team of 2 doctors, 4 nurses, 2 dentists, a dental assistant, 15 ministry team members willing to do whatever it takes, and a chicken in a pharm-a-cy (if you sing that youll get my cheesy joke…I think the Haitian sun must be getting to me).

Yesterday we treated a 2 year old girl named Christerly who was as sick as I have ever seen any child. Her father arrived very early in the morning before any of the team members got to the clinic. She has been sick for months because her father could not afford to take her to the doctor. This is the situation for many children (and adults) in Haiti. We may not be able to fix theses problems in Haiti, but we are able to make all the difference in the world for those we are able to minister to and serve.

We have continued to see people come to know Christ through each gospel presentation we have made, and the team has been aggressively praying with people for healing. We have seen some immediate results through both our prayers and medical treatments, and we are believing for lasting results and continued healing from both our prayers of faith and distribution of medications.

We will finish the day today with a gospel presentation in the large soccer field we pass everday on the way to the clinic. tommow the team will enjoy a day off. Everyone has been working very hard (the doctors even brought their tools to the hotel last evening and worked late into the night serving the employees of our hotel).

Thanks for your continued prayers. We are believing that the work accompished this week will bear lasting fruit for the kingdom of God!

Our Pharmacy & Our Mascot

Dancing on the bus our way to church Sunday morning.

First Day of Ministry

Salvations on First Day of Medical Clinic

First, let me start off by saying THANKS to all of our friends, family members and those from the Allison Park Church family who have been praying for us — we can sense your prayer covering!!

We landed safely and had our first day of Medical Clinic on Saturday morning. But before the medical clinic, we gave a Gospel presentation. Ron Lombardo preached and Lois Janke shared her testimony…and (as you see in the picture above) 5 people accepted Christ!!

Keep us in your prayers this week! You can pray Mark 16:17-18 over us. To prepare for the trip, I made the team memorize those verses. If they didn’t know it, they didn’t get their plane tickets on Wed =) Pray along with us for the Gospel to be presented in all of Christ’s fullness!

Trip Update

I’m sitting on the front steps of our temporary pharmacy as many people who otherwise would have no access to medical treatment pass by on their way to receive the medication the doctors have prescribed for them. We don’t have any running water, there is a live chicken in the closet in the room we are using as the pharmacy, and yet, I’m still able to sit here typing on my iPhone…quite a paradox.

The trip has been wonderful thus far. This team is amazing! We have a group of 23 servant-hearted people willing to do whatever it takes to serve the people of Haiti. We are all enjoying our time together. Everyone is safe and healthy and enjoying the opportunity to make a lasting differnce here with the precious people of Haiti.

In the last 2 days we have treated 300ish (‘ish’ has become a word we use frequently here as we adapt to ‘Haitian time’) people. Many of them have treatable conditions, but have not had access or resources to see a doctor. It is wonderful to see their smiling faces as they leave our clinic having received medication and treatment which will greatly improve the quality of their lives.

We don’t want to simply care for the phsical bodies of those we encounter. Our team will only be here for several more days. Only Jesus can make a lasting difference in their lives. We believe that not only does he desire to save people from their sins, but also to free them from the fear that so often enslaves them and to heal them of their sicknesses. We place our trust in him first and we have been declaring him to be our healer. We have seen some healings, even for people on our team, and we are believing for many more. At the church service yesterday morning and through our presentations at the clinic we have seen 40ish people make decisions to recieve Jesus in their lives and to follow after him.

Please join with us in prayer that during these next 3 days (through Wednesday) of the medical clinic and ministry, many more people will not only recieve much needed medical care, but also salvation, freedom, healing and life!

Ready For Lift-off!!

Haiti Team

Headed to Haiti…

Tomorrow morning, a group of 23 of us will embark on a 10 day journey to Haiti.  Our plan is to come alongside Pastor Hudson and provide medical care to those in desperate need.  We have a couple of doctors, dentists, nurses, and dental assistants on our team, and we are very excited about serving the people of Haiti in a practical way as we also share with them about the hope that can be found in a relationship with Jesus.

As much as I am able (which may be not at all depending on internet, electricity, and phone availability), I will plan to send some updates back that can be posted on my blog so that you can join in on this adventure with us.  Please keep us in your prayers, that the Lord would use us powerfully (I’m believing that many healings will take place outside of the medical care provided) and that He would watch over and guide our every step.

Help Hurting Haitians – Read this…

As many of you have heard, there was a MAJOR EARTHQUAKE in Haiti last evening (Tuesday).  It was a 7.0 magnitude quake, and has DEVASTATED the capital city of Port-au-Prince.  Hudson, the pastor I am connected with in Haiti, lives in Cap-Haitien which is along the Northern coast.  I received an email from him this morning saying that HE AND HIS FAMILY ARE OK.  While Northern Haiti certainly was rocked by the quake, it seems as though the damage they have sustained is substantially less that that which occurred in Haiti’s largest city where BUILDINGS (INCLUDING MANY MAJOR GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS, THE AIRPORT, HOSPITALS, ETC.) CRUMBLED AND MANY LIVES WERE LOST.

Communication is still difficult at the point, but it is clear that Haiti will have a long process of healing ahead.  This is truly a case of ‘GETTING HIT WHEN YOU ARE DOWN’ as Haiti is already the poorest country in this half of the world, WHERE PEOPLE OFTEN GO DAYS WITHOUT FOOD AND 70% DON’T HAVE ACCESS TO CLEAN WATER.  This certainly won’t help.

We have been working with Hudson to do sustainable projects to provide for the basic needs of people in Northern Haiti, but in light of this recent major disaster, WE HAVE STARTED A FUND WHICH WILL SPECIFICALLY BE USED TO HELP IN THE RESTORATION EFFORTS.  If you would like to contribute towards the unimaginable need that the people of Haiti are currently experiencing, you can DONATE ONLINE at

http://www.generationsprojects.com

Simply click on the donate link at the upper right hand portion of the screen and follow the online giving steps.  Designate your contribution to HAITI EARTHQUAKE RELIEF. 100% of assistance received will go directly to meet the immediate need of those affected by this catastrophe.

More Grace Needed

The paper was due for my class on a very specific date. I hadn’t finished it yet. The professor says, “I’ll give you some grace.” The bill came in the mail, but I failed to pay it on time. I called the company and they told me that they wouldn’t charge me late fees because it was still in the “grace period”.

When do we need grace the most? When we don’t meet expectations? When we don’t measure up? When we fail? When we are weak? When we are broken?

Often I have thought that I need the most grace when I have messed up and need God’s grace and mercy to cover my sin. I’m tempted to think that perhaps the greatest picture of grace is when a person who has lived their life in sin and rebellion turns for the first time to God and all of that junk is washed away and they are made new. Picture the death row inmate who has committed horrible crimes finally responding to the love of God and receiving forgiveness and grace for the first time—God washing away his sin and remembering it no more. That is Grace!

But, what if the greatest display of grace isn’t about washing away the past? What if the greatest picture of grace is not what is received when first turning to God but something we experience more and more as we walk with him? James 4:4-6 says:

You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

God is crazy about you. He loves you so much. The bible gives us a picture of this love by comparing it to the love of a husband who is totally in love with his wife. It is a passionate love. It is a jealous love. If the wife of this husband runs to other men to find love, how does the husband feel? Envious? Hated by his wife?

In the same way, God loves us so much that it pains him when we run to the things of this world to find satisfaction. He wants us to find that in him. When we don’t, because of his love for us, it as though we act as a wife who cheats on her husband. That is why the passage uses the word ‘adulterous’.

Something that I have prayed many times in my life is for more of God. I have asked him to fill me with his Spirit more and more. God says that this Spirit ‘envies intensely’. The more I have asked the Holy Spirit to fill me, the louder his voice becomes. As I walk with him more and more, I can hear his voice louder and louder, calling to me with a jealous love. The more of my life that I give to him, the more of me He wants.

As we grow in him, we become more and more aware of the areas in our lives that we have not yet fully surrendered. We begin to see the areas of our lives where we still run to something other than God, and can feel powerless to change the desires and habits that cause us to do so. The closer we get to God, the more we see an accurate picture of the way that we ‘cheat’ him out of his rightful place in our lives.

Yet, the next verse in this passage is the key: “But he gives us more grace.”

You can’t add ‘more’ to anything that is already the greatest. Therefore, we can’t look back at a moment of repentance where we experienced the grace of God covering our sins of the past and view that as God’s greatest demonstration of his grace in our lives. There is so much more grace that God has in store for you. Grace is not about the past, it is the light by which we see presently and the lens through which we view the future.

Grace is not demonstrated in its greatest form at the beginning of our walk with God, but grows each day as we draw closer to him. It is not most poignantly displayed in the mercy show for our failures of the past, but in its ability to lead us into the presence of God now and cause us to look more like Jesus.

Grace is not something that I experienced most profoundly in the past, it is something that I experience in ever-increasing measure presently and will know to an ever greater fullness in the future.

God’s greatest grace in your life is yet to come!