Rachel's Blog

Time/Words

I recently read a very convicting article on the need for brevity in conversation in the work force. I won't share the whole article (although it was excellent). I thought I would share a few points that especially convicted me. Not just about how I conduct myself at my job, but about everyday life and the way I use my words in "normal" conversation. 

1. Excuses.
Regardless of veracity, are almost always a waste of time. The often reveal a lack of trust in God to reveal truth and an arrogance that I have a reputation to protect.

Wow. So, if that was all I had read - that would have been enough. Read it again. Think about how many times during the day you make excuses. If you're like me, you will soon realize how OFTEN you make an excuse for something and in reality it's simply..."arrogance that I have a reputation to protect, or a lack of trust in God to just be TRUTHFUL." ouch. 

2. Need for Man's Affirmation.
Does that extra sentence make me look clever? Does my boss really need to know that I worked three hours on something? Why?

Enough said. 

3. False Humility.
A prideful preoccupation with appearing humble adds countless unhelpful phrases like, "This may sound totally stupid, and I'm just an idiot, but..." If I'm so unsure of my message, I shouldn't share it. If I am sure, then I should just say it.

Again. wow. This struck home with me. Seriously, if you have to excuse something before you say it. You probably shouldn't.

4. Narcissism.
Excellent assistants get over themselves. I'm on my boss' mission, not vice-versa. If I foster a sense of self-importance in my work, I will waste everyone's time with my opinions. 

Apply this to every area of your life. I asked myself, "How often do I share my opinion when it is not called for, not appreciated, or simply inappropriate?" Too. too. often. You are who you are because of the grace of Jesus Christ. It was NOTHING you did and NOTHING you will ever do. 

Lord, please guard my tongue!!

[Excerpts taken from 7 Tips for Pastoral Assistants, Tim Chester and Steve Timmis]

Willing to do anything...

I received this email from a daughter of one of our missionaries. She just returned from a missions trip to Senegal. It was thought provoking and convicting for me to read. I recommend reading this if you have a moment.
 

I cannot believe that a month has already gone by and that I am back in France. First of all I want to thank each one of you for your prayers and your support; without your help, my trip to Senegal would have never been possible. During one of our first meetings in Senegal, Mr. Cushman (a teacher from Northland who stayed with us during the first 10 days of our trip) talked to us about the fact that this trip was not about us "doing something for God", but rather God using this trip to change us. He was so right! When I first arrived in Senegal it seemed like I had arrived into a different world. There is no way to really explain what it is like for those who have never been there. Nothing was familiar or even comparable to anything I had ever known before. I realized that although I had grown up the daughter of missionaries, I personally never had to make any sacrifices. I saw my parents' sacrifice to go to a foreign country to share the Gospel, but I on the other hand had grown up in France and never knew any differently. It is so easy in the United States to get excited about going to another country and to say that I would be willing to go anywhere God sent me. When I arrived in Senegal, however, if I was completely honest with myself I do not think I could have said that I would be willing to go back to Senegal permanently.

To spend a month in Senegal was easy, because I always knew that I would be leaving in a month to return to all of my comforts. It is so easy to take all of the many comforts we enjoy for granted. Having the water cut off almost every morning (and once for two days straight!), having the electricity cut off at times, no air conditioning in 90 degree weather with extreme humidity, and no trash system (they simply throw any waste into the street and the garbage that is picked up is dumped into the river), and so many other things were quite a slap in the face. It was very difficult to get used to the filth and the oppressive heat in Senegal, and yet missionaries like Josh and Julie Mead have decided to leave their friends and family and everything familiar to go to such a place... why? For the Gospel! Because the people in Senegal are 98% Muslim and are dying every day without Christ. God is so good, He gave our team so many opportunities to clearly share the Gospel with people who were very open and some who were even searching for the truth. I was able to hand out a few Bibles as well to some of the girls I befriended.

Please pray for Thioro, Zeyna, Marie, Bijou, Yassine, and Couna who were all very open. I hope to be able to continue witnessing to them over the internet.

I thought a lot while I was there about sacrifice and about the way one should live in order to be able to not only share the Gospel, but truly live a Gospel-centered life. It seemed so much more evident while I was there because the standard of life was so low and people were so poor. I wondered if in order to minister to these people, it would be necessary to accept the same standard of living as theirs.

But having spent time there, I think it is more about the way we view what we own. Clearly it is not wrong to own material things, but rather how those possessions are used. I thought a lot as well about whether living 100% for God means simply dropping everything and sharing the Gospel all of the time. I thought a lot about verses such as II Tim. 3:12 "Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted" and Luke 14:26-27 "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple" and what these verses really meant. I read the testimony of Paul of whom was said "These men who have turned the world upside down," and wondered if the world was once turned upside down by someone who took Christ literally, is it still possible today?

Is it simply that I do not actually take God at His Word? Yet at the same time I had to remember that any results that can be seen are only because of God. The prophet Jeremiah's ministry was to a people group who was not going to turn to God, and yet Jeremiah still glorified God by his ministry. My goal in life needs to be to glorify God, not to see people come to Christ. It is not because I see hundreds of people come to Christ through whatever ministry God has for me that I am glorifying God more than someone who works for 40 years in a people group in which no one accepts Christ as their Savior. I thought a lot about whether or not I would be willing to go to such a people group, because God commands it and He deserves our obedience. The Wolof people in Senegal are a very closed people. Senegal is a part of the 10/40 window, and the Wolof people in particular are an extremely closed group. They are not necessarily a lovable people group either.

Just spending a month there I can see how it could get very oppressive living there. The boys there are often very forward and perverted, and many of the people we came in contact with only befriended or spoke to us in order to receive money. Although sometimes it was easy for me to get frustrated with them, I had to remind myself that they do not know Christ. There is no reason they should act like Christians when they do not know Christ. So often I get upset at unsaved people for acting like unsaved people! And yet through the challenges, God showed Himself so faithful and manifested His greatness and goodness time and time again. First of all God protected us, none of us ever became sick or were injured. God also allowed us to make numerous real friendships with Senegalese. We met many students at the university, and we also made several contacts through our English class that we taught four evenings a week. One time, Jen and I met up with one of the girls from the university and after talking for a while about general topics, Jen and I began to pray silently that we would have an opportunity to share the Gospel with this girl although I somewhat doubted He would answer my prayer.

I asked her randomly what she enjoyed doing and she answered reading.

I then asked her what types of books she enjoyed reading and she told me the Bible! I definitely was not expecting that answer! God gave us an opportunity to clearly share the Gospel with her! Please pray for Zeyna's salvation. I learned while I was in Africa that all God requires of us is our faithfulness in all things great or small.

Whether it means cleaning or painting the church, babysitting, spending time with contacts or simply trying to be an encouragement to other team members, all I do should be and can be for His glory. The results are totally up to Him. During my early teen years, I promised God that I would go anywhere He called me to go or do anything He asked me to do. Yet when I arrived in Senegal, I had a hard time still saying those phrases. But throughout my stay in Senegal, God reminded me of all He has done for me, and of His faithfulness throughout my life and in particular during our trip to Senegal. One night after a cookout at the beach, I went for a walk down the beach and promised God that wherever He wants me to go, I will go. Although there were times throughout my stay that were difficult, I am so grateful for the opportunity that God gave me to go. I learned so much and grew so much during my stay there. God gave me a fuller view of Himself and helped me to better understand what a Gospel-centered life really looks like. So thank you =) He is worth it!

Alyssa

Philippians 1:3-6

Perception

Perception

In the Washington DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007, a man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about forty-five minutes. During that time approximately two thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After three minutes, a middle-aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds before hurrying to meet his schedule.

4 Minutes:

The violinist received his first dollar. A woman threw money in the hat, and without stopping, continued to walk.

6 Minutes:

A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 Minutes:

A three year-old boy stopped, but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard as the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.

45 Minutes:

The musician played continuously. Only six people stopped and listened for a short while. About twenty gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of thirty-two dollars.

1 Hour:

He finished playing, and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition. No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before the metro station performance, Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where each seat averaged one-hundred dollars.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste, and people's priorities. 

The Questions Raised

In a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?

Do we stop to appreciate it?

Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made, how many other things are we missing?

Source: The Washington Post

Just Think About It

Breathless Adoration

"There is no God like thee...which...shewest mercy unto thy servants, that walk before thee with all their hearts."
II Chronicles 6:14

The theory [of impromptu service planning] is that if the meeting is unplanned the Holy Spirit will work freely, and that would be true if all the worshipers were reverent and Spirit-filled. But mostly there is neither order nor Spirit, just a routine prayer that is, except for minor variations, the same week after week, and a few songs that were never much to start with and have long ago lost all significance by meaningless repetition. 

In the majority of our meetings there is scarcely a trace of reverent thought, no recognition of the unity of the body, little sense of the divine Presence, no moment of stillness, no solemnity, no wonder, no holy fear...

The whole Christian family stands desperately in need of a restoration of penitence, humility and tears. May God send them soon.

We would do well to follow our old-fashioned forbears who knew what it was to kneel in breathless, wondering adoration in the presence of God.

-Tozer

February 26, Tozer on the Holy Spirit

I have watched and observed church services for a little less than 20 years [before that I was dancing on the front row during my mom's solos - the holiness of a worship service was lost on me as a toddler lol]. I am afraid that the routine of "church" has gotten many Christians into a rut that is equal to that of a ritualistic religion. We would never say "Hail Mary" with a chain of beads, yet our prayers become almost identical in repetition. We would never dream of adding to or taking away from the Bible, yet we feel that if we departed from the "old paths" [of the last 50-80 years] we would be considered almost heretical. 

I'm not saying that all we do in church is meaningless and heartless. I believe that there are many godly, sincere Christians who do come to church to worship the Lord and hear solely from His Word. However, I also know that there are a great number that come to either soothe their conscience or to give themselves a certain appearance. I would like to challenge you with two, shall we say, "ideas":

1. Determine that you will treat your "church time" not as time to talk with your friends or something-you-have-to-do-or-everyone-will-think-you're-wicked, but you will consider it time to spiritually revive your soul and a time to renew your relationship with the Lord.

2. Think about what it would be like if we threw out all the commentaries, books, manuals, sermons, etc. and just lived the Christian life the way the Bible said. If we worshipped God the way they did in the Bible - and didn't worry about any other denomination or person. Just the Bible. Just our wonderful, absolutely holy, matchless Saviour. How different would your life be? How different would my life be?

Worth It

I am grading papers for my husband, Michael. He teaches a 7th and 8th grade Bible Class and their most recent project was a two page paper on "Prayer."
 
"The specific time that I pray is when I am finished doing my devotions at night. When I do not do my devotions or pray it always feels like I have emptiness inside my heart because it is like I rejected God for a day. I strive always to do my devotions every day because I do not like feeling the emptiness inside my heart."
 
John E., 8th Grade
 
No matter the frustrations that are involved in teaching teenagers, little moments like this make it worth it all. :)

Personalized Plan

I have been contemplating for quite awhile what I should write for my first "offical post." I am new to the blogging world, and I realize that it's about time I got my act together. =) I came across this paragraph in the prayer letter of an elderly missionary who has served the Lord her entire life. As soon as I read it I knew that I needed to share this. So often we live our lives in constant comparison of God's plan for us to the plans that He has created for others, never realizing what we are doing. When God created me, He made a personalized plan for ME.  Comparing your personalized plan to someone else's can lead into dangerous territory. My mom says it this way: "When you compare yourself to others, you either become vain or bitter." Hopefully, this will be an encouragement to you to live YOUR personalized plan.
 
"For years, I believed that bigger was better; that much was blessing; that busy signals God’s approval. Believers look at their schedule, crowds, programs, and how much “they do for Jesus.” From this, they conclude that God is greatly using them. When our eyes move from the cross and empty tomb to anything else – be it ever so good – we are useless as servants of Christ. Not every Christian planted by God (Isaiah 61:3) produces the same amount of fruit. Some more, some less! Stop trying to be like others or make others like you – Jesus is supremely better. God made the rabbit and the turtle. With men, the rabbit always wins. God is pleased when both do the best they can. How absurd that running here and there, doing this and that, proves God’s blessings.”