• Our hope-filled future is bound up in sharing the story of Jesus, in discipling others, in bringing those disciples together into communities of believers, and in developing and releasing those believers to create other communities... till Jesus the King comes again!

The Gospel Responds to ALL our needs

Posted on June 10, 2020 by wtdavid

Day by day, as we listen to the news reports coming from around the world, we are further struck by the injustice, intolerance, hatred and anger that fills the hearts of people today.  Like the psalmist, we cry out: “Why, O Lord, do you stand far away?  Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?”  (10:1)

The damages caused by pandemic crises, inequality, racism, and a disregard for the lives of others made in the image of God make it hard to know where to begin to respond in the midst of this mess we call our world today.

Our “hope is built on nothing less than Jesus and His righteousness”.  It is the Gospel that responds to ALL our needs.  For we who trust in Jesus, it is self-evident that the only hope for this world is the Gospel of Christ.

Here’s the rub.  First, I misquoted the hymn above by Edward Mote (19th century).  It should read: our “hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness”.  Jesus gave Himself up as a sacrifice for us: His blood was shed for us. He experienced discrimination, prejudice, evil intent, and even an unjust death in order to free us from the power of sin & evil to rule our lives.  Second, for the Gospel to be the answer to ALL the needs of this world, it needs to be the answer to ALL our needs as well.  As a friend once said to me: “If the Gospel is not good news for us each day, it will not be good news for others.” 

That same injustice, intolerance, hatred and anger that we deplore in our world today lurks (lies in wait) in each of our hearts.  The Gospel needs to search our hearts (Psalm 139.23-24) and put its searchlight of truth on those ways where we need repentance and faith.

We are no better than others, but we have a God who is capable of dismantling those ‘hurtful ways’ within us, and a God who continually builds into us the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience ….

I leave us with this prayer:  “We weep. We lament. We mourn. But not as those who have no hope.  May gospel beauty rise from these smoldering, literal ashes. May truth triumph over lies and grace conquer lawlessness. May your people be one as you, O Father, and your Son are one. May the church—the body of Christ, the bride of Christ—rise up as an example of love and with a message of salvation for a weary and war-torn world. Give us grace to serve you, O God, and, if necessary, grace to suffer for what is right. Give us the peace and health and safety we do not deserve. Give us the reformation and revival we need.  Lord have mercy.”

Filed under: Gospel, Repentance & faith, Sacrifice, Sin | Leave a comment »

I can still remember

Posted on May 21, 2020 by wtdavid

I can still remember the first time I heard him speak.  It was at a Christian & Missionary Alliance Conference Center (Delta Lake) just a year or two into married life.  I can even remember the title of his message: “The Crumbling Pillars of Atheism”.  The message was so engaging that when I next looked at my watch, I realized the evening speaker, Ravi Zacharias, had been speaking for 1h15 and I had not even noticed the time go by.  Ever had an experience like that?

What shaped the work to which God called him was the principle he shared at the gathering of itinerant evangelists in Amsterdam in 1983: “We sometimes think it is necessary to so humiliate someone of a different worldview that we think unless we destroy everything he holds valuable, we cannot preach to him the gospel of Christ…what I am saying is this, when you are trying to reach someone, please be sensitive to what he holds valuable.” The direction of apologetics would be changed from that point on.  He sought to bring others to the knowledge of Christ by compassion, sensitivity and a thorough going understanding of the truth of God’s Word.

Two events or historical notes from Ravi’s life provide a small glimpse into what fueled this commitment to Christ.

“On one trip across remote land, Zacharias and his travel companions’ car broke down. The lone jeep that passed ignored their roadside waves. They finally cranked the engine to life and set off, only to come across the same jeep a few miles on, overturned and riddled with bullets, all four passengers dead. He later said of this moment, “God will stop our steps when it is not our time, and He will lead us when it is.” Days later, Zacharias and his translator stood at the graves of six missionaries, killed unarmed when soldiers stormed their compound. Zacharias knew some of their children. It was that level of trust in God, and the desire to stand beside those who minister in areas of great risk, that is a hallmark of the ministry he started.”

“In 2018, Zacharias told the story of standing with his successor, Michael Ramsden, in front of Lazarus’s grave in Cyprus. The stone simply reads, “Lazarus, four days dead, friend of Christ.” Zacharias turned to Ramsden and said if he was remembered as “a friend of Christ that would be all I want.”

Ravi Zacharias entered into the presence of Christ earlier this week. 

May we worship and serve the living Savior with such joy and passion: “To love and serve Thee is my share, and this Thy grace must give.”  (Richard Baxter)

Filed under: Apologetics, Gospel | 4 Comments »

Faithful is He who called you

Posted on October 29, 2019 by wtdavid
Honoring Doug & Alleene

Filed under: Gospel, Thankfulness | 3 Comments »

Worth the read … encore

Posted on October 16, 2019 by wtdavid

I have been working my way through the three volume work of William Gurnall, The Christian in Complete Armour.  It’s Gurnall’s meditation on Ephesians 6 and the armour of God.  A modern version of this work has been published. 

As promised, over the next few weeks, from time to time, I will share quotes from Gurnall’s work. I hope these quotes might be of encouragement and challenge to each of us. As well as to convince some of the benefit of ploughing through the 900 pages! 

Here’s a quote that would strengthen our hearts as we look forward to the World Team Day of Prayer tomorrow and Friday:

“When Satan badgers you with trivial inquiries, do not try to reason with him. Answer him with your present position in Christ and His sure work of grace in your soul. Never forget that the simple truth of the gospel reduces all the intricacies of Satan to a worthless heap of lies … Still another way to fortify yourself against Satan is to preserve the hope of your salvation, which is promised through Christ’s atoning sacrifice. Record God’s special visits to you in the memory book of your heart.  Paste in keepsakes of the occasions when He declared a holiday and came to you in festive robes of mercy, holding forth the scepter of His grace more familiarly than usual.  Keep old receipts written in His own hand for the pardon of your sins. ” 

Filed under: Gospel, Prayer | 3 Comments »

A simple read

Posted on June 28, 2019 by wtdavid

I read a fair number of prayer letters of fellow WT workers.  It allows me to catch a small glimpse of their world and to be more informed in my prayers for them.

Sometimes, a simple read opens a door to an insight into a culture and to how fellow World Team workers are seeking to apply the Gospel in the context where they find themselves. Here’s one recent example:

“It is K- New Year, one of the biggest holidays in this Asian country where everyone travels to their home provinces for a 3-day festival which marks the end of the harvest season … Our family spent some of the holiday in PV province and had the opportunity to attend the infamous Mango Party.  Our fellow teammates, J & C have been hosting the Mango Party for over ten years during K- New Year.  It is an event that embraces the traditions of the K- holiday of playing games and fellowshipping together, but also brings Jesus, our risen Savior, to the forefront during a time in this country where there is much focus on spirit worship … During this holiday, T & I, reflected on how in most religions water represents washing, cleansing, or starting over. As we watched people seek advice and guidance through elders and monks at local temples, our hearts were stirred once again to share the true living water of Jesus Christ with those we live amongst daily.  In our own power and strength, we can never wash away our sin or cleanse ourselves enough. How amazing is it that we have a Savior that loves us so much that he gives us Living Water EVERY DAY so that we may NEVER thirst, that we can come to him in our own broken condition and be accepted into his family and stand in the cover of his grace.”

Imagine that, a Mango Party that offers an opportunity to share the ‘water of life’ with others in that culture.

It was actually at a festival that Jesus made that famous pronouncement: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.  Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” (John 7:37-38)

Thanks to my World Team colleagues who shared this insight in a recent prayer letter!  Much food (or ‘water’) for reflection!

Filed under: Contextualization, Gospel, Sharing the Gospel story | Leave a comment »

Feel like you are in a mid-year funk?

Posted on August 24, 2018 by wtdavid

funk bis bisMany times, at this point in the year (whether you are experiencing summer in the northern hemisphere or winter in the southern hemisphere), we sense this kind of ‘funk’ that comes over us. Now a good dictionary will tell you that ‘funk’ means that one is in ‘a state of paralyzing fear, or a depressed state of mind’.  I might just say, it’s the desire to just stop doing much of anything; often characterized by the phrase: “I mean, what’s the use of doing ___________ (and you fill in the blank)?”

The psalmist knew this very same feeling: “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?”  (42:11)

These times of ‘funk’, in one sense, are part of the human condition, part of a cross cultural worker’s experience.  I guess we could say, they are a sign that we are emotionally real.

However, it’s not the awareness of the ‘funk’ that is the struggle for us, but how we might address it; how we could dig ourselves out of it.

First, we don’t ‘dig’, we grab and hold onto to a hand.  By nature, as cross cultural workers, we are ‘doers’. When a problem arises, we try to figure out a solution and address it.  That persevering, doing attitude is what landed us in the current place where we are serving.  However, addressing the ‘funk’ we may be feeling, begins not by our doing, but by our willingness to admit we need someone else’s help.  It is to reach out our hand to grab hold of the divine hand that is being extended to us. The psalmist figured that out when he wrote in response to the ‘funk’ he found himself in: “Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.” (40:11)

Next, we focus on a person rather than an outcome.  Our prayers can often be a long list of points where we are asking God for results or outcomes.  And there is nothing wrong with pleading with God for those outcomes.  However, our hope is not ultimately in the outcome, but in the One who can bring about the outcome. The psalmist had no assurance of a good outcome at that moment, but he knew the One who was guarding his soul and who would ultimately save him in His way and time.  It’s not the outcome we worship, but our eternal God.

Finally, we write about or share where God has taken us in our journey, so as to not forget.  How many times have you or I come to a situation and found ourselves responding in the same way we did the last time we were in a similar situation?  In part, it’s because we have a short memory and easily forget what God taught us in a previous time and how He desires us to respond in this new situation.  Writing down one’s experiences (another way of saying, journaling) is one way of trying to capture those teachable moments. I’m not a great journal-er, but I’m trying to learn.  I know there are other ways, so we must try to find some avenue by which to help us remember.

Interested in challenging yourself more on this topic?  Consider reading an ‘old’ book: The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, by Jeremiah Burroughs.

Filed under: Attitude, Gospel, Journaling | 7 Comments »

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