A year ago…

I was at the funeral of my life-long, best friend. It was deeply sad for me as I don’t think I’ve ever been that sad before, except for the death of my grandfather when I was 7.

Grief, or deep sorrow, must be experienced and not stifled. Don’t stuff your grief.

But through that time, I had to be very intentional in my thinking. I had to replace some bad thoughts with good ones. I did NOT do that alone as I had several godly people speaking God’s TRUTH in LOVE to my heart. It sunk in over time and though the period of sorrow seemed like forever, I am now moving forward.

I feel for many of you who lose a loved one: child, spouse, parent, friend, etc. It is very tough. We have people who will be compassionate toward you and will meet with you while you grieve so that the truth in love will begin to replace any maladaptive thinking you may be having. Let the body of Christ minister His love to you during this time. Biblical counseling will remind you that this earth is not our final destination as we are just passing through. We are on our way to heaven only because of the great love of the Father Who sent His Son to pay our sin debt and clothes us in His righteousness now (John 3:16).

Really, this world is not designed to be a place that we want to stay in. We should long for the new earth and new heavens when we will be with the Lord forever under His loving care.

-Mark (I would be lost withouth God’s truth and the hope of His Second Coming)

Hope for Japan – 2009

One of the many blessings of serving Christ in this ministry is to meet committed believers who share a burden for hurting souls. In the past 3 years, the Lord crossed my path with Steven Taylor who has a burden for hurting souls in Japan!

Steven and his wife plus 3 children are in Japan now. They are learning the language now – though Kyehee has a head start as she is fluent in Korean and has a real knack for languages.

Their blog is http://blog.hopeforjapan.com/ - we are grateful to be supporting them in ministry. If you’d like to support them, also, they are missionaries with T.E.A.M. at www.teamworld.org or you can donate to our ministry as well (just specify so that we will know to give it to them!). 

Japan is one of the most spiritually dark countries in the world meaning that less than 1% are Christian there. They need the life-giving, hopeful message of the Gospel. If ever a place needed biblical counseling, it’s Japan.

-Mark (saddened that a reported 600 suicides occur WEEKLY in Japan)

CURIOUS CASE: Benjamin Button

Last night I had the opportunity to catch a movie with some fellow believers.  We watched the new Brad Pitt motion picture “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”. I will preface what I am about to share with the fact that I am NOT a movie critic.  However, I am a Christian who tries to reconcile the things that my eyes see and ears hear through my God given Biblical Perspective.  The movie is centered around a young boy who is born old. As he grows, he actually is becoming younger.  Life in reverse.  As I left this morally lacking movie, I asked the Lord to give me something from the time invested s0 that I can look back on the experience in a positive light as a learning opportunity.

As I began thinking more about it,  it became clear that this movie exemplifies how hopeless we are without a Savior.  As we grow up, in Christ (EPH 4:15) He provides us with hope through the possession of an eternal perspective.  However, if we do not find Christ and grow in Him we only become more fixated on a hopeless world and the end which awaits all of us. 

I am thankful through a healthy diet of God’s Word,the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and God authoring my steps, He protects me from being drawn away, deceived or discouraged with the world’s lies regarding faith, hope & love….

Bottom line, the movie wasn’t enjoyable but the lesson from God was!

 

-Jason  (all things work together for the good of those that love the Lord….Romans 8:28)

New Year’s Resolutions…. Got vision?

It’s that time of year again… As the last few days of 2008 find their way into the history book, what do you find yourself saying “Next year I am going to…” about?  There are plenty of typical New Year’s Resolutions ranging from Losing Weight, Managing Finances, Working Out, Better Family Time, etc….  What about Spiritual resolutions?  What really matters long term?  When it comes to your walk with the Lord, are you closer to Him now than this time last year? 

The Bible states that without vision, the people cast of restraint. Proverbs 29:18  It is absolutely crucial for us to have short term and long term vision  (resolutions as they are called this time of year).   What are you focused on?  If it’s God, then you are bound to have a vision outside of your own abilities. You see, God is the great vision giver!  He wants to use us for His good purposes.  Everyone quotes Jeremiah 29:11,  but have you seen in the verse that it’s God that gives us the future and hope. And they are both tied to one another!

 

 

So if you aren’t currently following a God given vision, what better time than New Year’s to get your schedule cleared and begin to listen to Him.  He has your plan. He holds your future. He is your hope….

WHAT VISION ARE YOU FOLLOWING?

 

Jason (Writing down the vision so that others may see)

Everette Shoub – final post

Thank you all for praying and for your encouraging words to me. One of my dearest friends died today and it’s really thrown me a curve. There will be a memorial service for him on Monday, October 13th in Mobile, Alabama. I’m not sure when or where, but I’ll be there to grieve my friend. I think it’s important to grieve, not as those without hope, but as one who has hope in Christ.

I Thessalonians 4:13-14 says: “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.“** Those who are “asleep” are meant to be those who are physically dead. 

My hope is only in Christ. I only trust Him to resurrect me from the dead when I die just as He was resurrected from the dead by the Father when He died on the cross and was buried in the tomb.

**The Holy Bible: English standard version. 2001 (electronic ed.). Good News Publishers: Wheaton.

One bit of good news from all of this is that I have re-acquainted with some of my closest friends from the last 25 years. Many of them I’ve not spoken to in over 10 years, I’m ashamed to say. Everette brought us back together and I plan to stay in touch with them.

A final note – Everette was an organ donor. Because he was so young, some of his organs were very strong and will end up helping many people. God is redemptive meaning He brings good from bad situations.

-Mark (grieving my own sin but recognizing that I’m forgiven in Christ because Jesus is Lord)

Hope or cope? (part 10) (last one, I promise!)

One of the most hopeful passages of Scripture is in I Cor. 6:9-11: “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” – The Holy Bible : English Standard Version., 1 Co 6:9-11 (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001).

I love verse 11 because it says, “such WERE some of you” meaning that they were saved, delivered, and sanctified from having to live a lifestyle of sin. Those enslaved to a life of adultery, drunkenness, thievery, greed and selfishness are freed in Christ. That’s real hope!

The world cannot offer answers in Christ to overcome problems. The church and discipleship programs like ours DO offer the wisdom and power of Christ to resolve problems!

I’m NOT saying that Christians will NEVER be tempted or have to deal with their fleshly, sinful nature again – that’s a reality we all face until we get to GLORY where we will live eternally! However, Christians have the ability to CHOOSE to do right by the power of Christ to overcome sin and the temptations to sin. It is NOT coping with sin since the power is there. The responsibility is on the Christian to choose righteously according to Scripture!

-Mark (living by God’s grace and power to overcome the temptations to sin in my own life!)

 

Hope or cope? (part 9) (Prince Caspian)

Recently, I took my fam to see the second Chronicles of Narnia film based on the book by C.S. Lewis. There are several great themes in the movie, but one of them was about rushing in AHEAD of Christ. The Christ-like figure was Aslan, the lion, and the main characters were tempted to solve problems in their own strength. (I won’t spoil the movie for you!)

I thought about biblical counseling and the importance of both the counselors and counselees relying upon the power of the Holy Spirit to solve problems. Real hope only comes from the divine power of Christ. Counselees are urged to DO the work required by God to overcome their problems according to the Holy Scriptures; however, they are NOT to do so by their own strength but to ask the Lord through prayer to provide the power necessary to overcome the particular problem being addressed.

God is faithful and He can be trusted to provide the power necessary. When He does so, He alone gets the glory.

Sometimes, we face insurmountable odds (like in the movie) to overcome our fears, a looming divorce, or an anger problem. When we get broken and cry out to Jesus, He answers us with real hope and power through the Holy Spirit working in conjunction with the Word of God.

Don’t settle for coping with your problems for the rest of your life. Cry out to Jesus and begin doing what God requires in His Word. God will bless Christians who put the hard work of obedience to Christ in action!

-Mark (obedience is better than sacrifice)