Are You A Winner??

What would you do with $640 million dollars?



Seems as everyone was talking about it this week and the excitement just continued to grow as time for the Mega Millions Lotto drawing drew close.  It was interesting to listen to what people said they would do with their winnings: “Pay off bills.”  “Quit work.”  “Go on an incredible vacation.”  “Give some to a charity.”  “Help people.”  “Invest a good chunk of it.”  “Help the Lord’s work.”  “Move to a nice place.”  “Build a beautiful home.”  “Buy a championship hunting dog.”  “Fill my car up with gas.”



Maybe even more interesting was the spirit of “good will” that was evident.  I heard statements like “Hope you win!”  “Good Luck!”  and “Remember me with your winnings.” passed around by friends and strangers alike.  Good will that rivaled that of  Christmas and New Year’s.



And somebody did win … although it’s uncertain at this time how many people actually are in on the winning numbers.



The idea of being incredibly wealthy can sure stir the imagination and encourage people to dream toward a brighter tomorrow.



Take a few moments and think about the following passages of Scripture.  They speak of the goodness that God has bestowed upon His children.  As Christians, do they create a sense of excitement within you?  What will you do because of the riches God has given to you?  Has the realty of your inheritance changed your lifestyle and attitude?  Are you living differently because of what God has provided for you?  Has your wealth made you dream “God-sized dreams?”



Ephesians 1:18 ¹⁸ I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people,



Ephesians 3:16
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,



Philippians 4:19
And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.



1 Timothy 6:17
Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.



Philemon 1:6
I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ.



Now ask yourself if your excitement over these riches matches what you would have felt had you won the $640 million lotto.  I don’t know about you, but I tend to get excited about what my heart and mind truly values in life. 



Hope you see yourself as a winner today.

DELHI - The Unthinkable Does Exist

If you are a parent, what would be the worst thing that you could image for your children; for your family?  Poverty?  Hopelessness?  Disease?  Unemployment?  Death?  Malnutrition? Addiction?  Children sold into slavery or prostitution?  Starvation?  Abandonment?

Today I saw virtually all of this during a short stint at one of the many slums of Delhi, India - a city that is the 8th largest in the world with over 16 million people.  According to the Hindu News, some 52 percent of the city's population live in the urban slums; where all of the above takes place daily.  And our particular slum had tens of thousands of people living in conditions that bordered on the unthinkable.  Here is just a portion of what I experienced:

**Safe drinking water was problematic, **sewers ran literally down the middle of 8 foot wide alleyways, **homes were stacked on top of each other on every side, **entire families and extended families lived in rooms that are not much bigger than 10 x 10, **disease of every kind was rampant, **tons of garbage was strewn everywhere, **the men and children were wearing mud-caked, dirty, and tattered clothes while the women wore incredibly colored clothing in an attempt to maintain their respectability and culture, **a heavy dank smell choked our sensibilities and airways and left me feeling suffocated, **a feeling of demonic oppression from the countless pagan temples through-out the slum covered us like a heavy morning dew, and **hundreds of children followed us like we were the piped piper leading them from darkness into light.  **Less than 8.2% of the people we saw had a bathroom they could call their own .. the rest had to go in the streets, next to their homes, in the flowing ditches that streamed down "main street," or hike to stand in line at a foul public restroom.

I along with the GYI Lead Team [http://gyi.cc/] were there at the invitation of Rev. Abraham Sahu of the Full Gospel Trust of India / Philadelphia Church [http://www.tfgtrust.org/] to learn how a compassionate church can make a slight dent in the misery of the multitudes of a dark and sin-afflicted world.

The church was truly "Jesus-like" in their attitudes and actions and demonstrated God's love in countless way.  They had a school for all ages, fed hundreds of homeless children, provided business and computer training, ran a Biblical school to introduce people to Christ [only .416% of the people are Christians], established programs to rescue people from addiction, slavery, and prostitution, created a financial institution for the people, ministered to lepers, HIV/AIDS affected people, and the dying, interceded and dealt with those who were demonically oppressed and possessed, and provided legal advice and advocacy to those who need it.

My senses and emotions were on overload as I took this all in and tried to process the "WHY" of the situation.  I wanted to fix it ... or at least help; something that I think any moral caring person would have felt.  But after walking through the slum, talking and praying with residents, and learning hundreds of facts and figures .... I simple sat stunned by it all and reflected on God and His love for humanity. 

What must He think when He sees the effects of man's sin and selfishness upon His children?  I know that my heart felt just a little broken by what I had experienced and I know that His is too --- because He loves all of mankind.  He loves us all so much that He sent His Son to die for the penalty of our sin, to make a way for us to be empowered by His life here, and to seal us for eternity when we turn from our sin and place our complete faith in Him.

That is what the church is all about ... that is what your lives should be all about .... bringing God's love to a world that desperately needs Him.  I hope that Grace will be a church like the church that I experienced today ---

CALCUTTA {Kolkata} -- Where do we even begin?

‎The first few days of my India trip have been spent in Calcutta, India which is a city of 16 million.  I flew from Grand Rapids to Detroit, 8 hours to Amsterdam, 5 hour layover, 8 hours to Delhi, India, 8 hour layover, and then nearly 2 hours to Calcutta. 

The traffic is incredible … how a gazillion cars can all maneuver here … it’s like ants streaming toward or away from a picnic.   

I have been at the GYI Forum listening to discussions and reports on church planting, movement building, and leadership development from around the world.  Today we take several hour bus ride only to then get on boats and take a several hour boat ride up the river to take part in church planting --- Indian village style.  I will be very much like the book of Acts lived out and experienced.

Here’s a brief snapshot of India today:

·         It is the second most populous country in the world, with over 1.21 billion people (2011 census),

·         One in six people on the planet live in India

·         India is projected to be the world's most populous country by 2025, surpassing China with its population reaching 1.6 billion by 2050.

·         India has more than 50% of its population below the age of 25 and more than 65% hovers below the age of 35.

·         It is expected that in 2020, the average age of an Indian will be 29 years, compared to 37 for China and 48 for Japan

·         Only the continent of Africa exceeds the linguistic (2000 language groups), genetic and cultural diversity of the nation of India.

·         India is the most populous country of Sikhs, Hindus, Jains and Bahá'ís.

·         India contains the majority of the world's Zoroastrians (even ahead of Iran),

·         India is home to the third-largest Muslim population in the world after Indonesia and Pakistan.

The following comments are from Steve Addison, an author on movements of God, on his observations of India.

·         Christianity is an Indian faith - Christianity made it to India during or soon after the apostolic age. There is good reason to believe it was the Apostle Thomas who brought it there.

·         There have been followers of Jesus in India for 2,000 years.  Today Christians account for less than 3% of the population, but they are directly involved in 20% of primary education; 25% of care for widows and orphans; 30% of work with the handicapped, AIDs patients and lepers.

·         In Calcutta we are told that the largest church is 4000 people. The second largest is 400 people.

 70% of India’s 1.2 billion people live in its 600,000 villages, the rest live in the 5,000 towns and 380 cities.  The question from a Christian perspective is … “What will it take to see communities of disciples multiplied throughout every village, town and neighborhood?”

 And that is why I’m in India this week … to learn what we can do to reach the people of India one person at a time.

INDIA

Saturday, March 10th I am leaving for India to take part in a Global Youth Initiative conference (see www.gyi.cc). India will soon become the world’s largest mission field with 1.1 billion people, with 2,000 language groups, and the religious demographics currently show that only around 2% of the population is Christian – and that would include all varieties. As you can see, the mission field there is incredible in size.

In Calcutta (now called Kolkata) I’ll be joining with 34 leaders from 16 countries from around the world. The forum that we are taking part in is a peer-learning community. We all gain insight from other GYI partners and their ministries, the host culture, and sharpen our understanding and skills in disciple making, Jesus style. Our host ministry is Big Life one of the Indian GYI partners that focuses on rapid church multiplication. One high light will be when our group takes a full-day field trip by bus and boat to see New Testament church planting in action … as it happens.

For part of the trip I will be staying at the Baptist Missionary Society. This is the mission started by William Carey (1761 – 1834) known as the “Father of modern missions”. His famous saying is “Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God.”

• I’ll see the home ministry and grave of Mother Teresa, visit a church that ministers to one land fill (DUMP) in which 50,000+ people live --- “Yes LIVE!!”, a church planting ministry that has launched 6,500 church plants in the past 8 years, and spend time with our missionaries Mark Edwards and Andrew Tay.

The second half of the trip I will be in New Delhi as part of the Lead Team for GYI. We’ll be strategizing how to create movements of disciple making around the globe and new ways to impact people groups and nations.

Grace Church has helped make an impact in all of this by praying for these men and their movements, resourcing with our financial giving, and releasing me to train these men and to learn what God is doing around the world.

Please pray for my trip March 10th – 19th, good travels and health, and for God’s leading in all leaders who will be taking part in this venture. Especially pray for my recent contacts in Japan with church planters who want to bring disciple making to that nation.

Matthew 9:36-39a 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 39 Go …..”

Pray Through ....

One of my dear friends, Steve Hudson, recently shared this in his prayer letter and I thought it well worth circulating via my blog.  He writes …

Mark Batterson, in The Circle Maker, his most recent book (on prayer) writes...

“This happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him” … John 9:3

How many times did the blind man in John 9 pray for healing? How many times did his parents beg God to give their little boy his eyesight? I wonder how many prayers went unanswered. Or did they? Ultimately, the man born blind was healed but not until it would yield the greatest glory.

Let’s be honest, 90% of our prayers revolve around personal comfort, not God’s glory. Too often we try to pray away every problem. But what if that is the very thing that God wants to leverage for his glory? Let’s not be too quick to pray away the pain, the suffering, the situation, the problem. Let’s not just pray “get me out” prayers. We sometimes need to pray “get me through” prayers.

We need a paradigm-shift in our prayer lives. It’s not about us. It’s all about God. And when you begin to pray for God’s glory above and beyond everything else it’s a game changer! You no longer pray away every problem. You pray through the problem. You know that God might do a miracle, but that isn’t the goal. The goal is God’s glory. And if suffering with grace yields more glory to God then so be it.

Remember when Paul prayed that God would take away his thorn in the flesh? God didn’t answer that prayer the way Paul wanted. Why? I’m not entirely sure. Maybe it forced a greater dependence upon God which yielded more glory for God. Maybe it kept him humble. But God has reasons that are way beyond our reason! I’ve prayed that God would heal me of asthma so many times I’ve lost count, but God hasn’t chosen to answer that particular prayer. I’m still asking, but in the meantime I’m trusting that my Father knows best.

Too often we’re so anxious to “get out” of difficult situations that we never “get anything out” of those difficult situations. We don’t learn the lessons God is teaching or cultivate the character God is developing. Sometimes prayer is meant to change external circumstances and bring deliverance. Sometimes prayer is meant to change us internally and help us walk through those situations with His grace, His power. It takes discernment to know what God wills, but let’s not try to pray away the very thing God wants to leverage to put His glory on dis-play!

Don’t pray away. Pray through.