Liberia...Here We Come!

I thought that you might enjoy a picture of the kids who are going on the Liberia trip with Dave and I. This picture is actually missing one - my niece, Anna, from Chicago. But pictured above, from left to right, is Nate Weflen, Nicole Wisen, Christopher Wisen, Alex Wisen and Alex Tarnow. The puppets have various names, depending on which kid is using it to hit the person next to him. We thought that the children at the church might find the puppets compelling enough to listen to a Bible story, so as I tell the story, these children will be sitting on the floor with their hands raise high above their heads, acting it out as I go. I am hoping that by the time we do it in front of the Liberian children, the joy of hitting and biting each other will be gone and the boys will behave with their respective puppet. It should be fun...

I also thought I'd post our schedule for the trip, so you could pray accordingly each day. Note: I explained in class that a Liberian schedule and what we would call a schedule are two different things. The times don't mean a thing, so look at this list as a possibility of what might happen each day!

Thank you for your prayers and I hope that you all have a great week!

Kristen

"Praise the Lord, all nations;
Laud Him, all peoples!
For His lovingkindness is great toward us,
and the truth of the Lord is everlasting.
Praise the Lord!"

Psalm 117


Friday, April 2/010

Dave and family arrive at RIA------------------5:50PM


Saturday, April 3/010
Pick up at hotel----------------------8:30 AM
Women's Conference------------------9:00 AM - 12:00 noon
LUNCH/REST------------------------12 noon - 2:00 PM
Community Outreach------------------2:30 PM - 4:00 PM
Ministry to kids----------------------4:20 PM - 5:30 PM
Evening Prayer Service-----------------6:00PM - 7:30 PM


Sunday, April 4/010
Pick Team up at hotel-----------------9:50 AM
Sunday School----------------------10:00AM - 10:55 AM
Easter Service-----------------------11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
LUNCH/REST------------------------1:20PM - 3:30 PM
Ministry to Kids----------------------4:00PM - 5:00PM


Monday, April 5/010
Leave for Buchanan-------------------7:00AM
LUNCH / REST----------------------12:00 noon – 1:45PM
Widows learn about project/Conference---10:30AM - 1:00 PM
Ministry to Kids (in Buchanan) -----------2:00 PM- 4:00 PM
Evening Prayer Service-----------------6:00 PM – 7:30 PM


Tuesday, April 6/010
Pastors or Women’s Conference in Buchanan-----9:00AM-12:00 noon
Leave for Monrovia------------------------1:30 PM
SUPPER/ REST-----------------------------6:00 PM ff


Wednesday, April 7/010
Pick up at Hotel--------------------------7:30 AM
Devotion with SOGA’s Teachers--------------8:00 AM – 8:15AM
Visit SOGA’s Classes----------------------8:15 AM – 10:00 AM
Visit and meet with ELWA------------------10: 30 AM – 11:30 AM
LUNCH--------------------------------12:00 PM
Leave for RIA----------------------------3:00 PM

Traditionalist or Truth-seeker?

All over the world today believers and nonbelievers alike are celebrating Palm Sunday. Yes, I said "nonbelievers," because not much has changed since the original event. The world loves to embrace tradition without embracing truth, and the millions who wave palm branches today will be shaking their fist at God by tomorrow morning. The tradition produces a sense of involvement in something greater than simple, everyday life. But the practicality of the truth behind the tradition is not something that anyone wants to embrace.

Let me explain.

After Israel returned to the Promised Land through the leadership of Moses and then the military cunning and faith of Joshua, the people settled into a cyclical routine of walking in faith, falling into sin, God giving them over to a foreign nation to get their attention, their crying out for salvation, God raising up a judge to bring them victory over the occupying force, and walking in faith again, only to repeat the cycle over and over again. This is all recorded in the book of Judges. After doing this over and over, the people finally demanded of God a king to rule. Though God told them they didn't need a king - they had Him, they still wanted that figurehead. So after reigning through judges, God provided kings.

Enter Saul, the people's wrong choice, then David, followed by Solomon. Then it got interesting. There was a civil war in Israel and the tiny nation of God became two nations. Good kings and bad kings served intermittently until finally both nations were conquered and taken into captivity.

By the time Christ showed up on the scene, Rome was occupying Israel and not only providing the leadership but still oppressing the people as well. The Jewish kings were a thing of the past. Four hundred years of silence from God was broken with the voice of John the Baptist crying in the wilderness to make way for the Lord. Then Jesus arrived and for three years He began to speak with such authority and power that the people gathered en mass to hear the Word of the Lord. In essence, their memories were sparked and once again God had sent a prophet, perhaps even a judge or a king who would lead them out of their oppression from evil Rome. God had done this in their past and finally, once again, God had heard their cries and was sending them salvation in the form of a prophet, a judge or a king.

Technically He was all three.

Jesus.

When Jesus entered Jerusalem on that foal of a donkey, Matthew 21:4,5 tells us that He did it to fulfill prophecy: "Say to the daughter of Zion, Behold your King is coming to you, gentle, and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden..." The people were nearly in a frenzied state, because their king was coming to save them from their oppression. Their cries of "Hosanna!" were heard for miles. "Hosanna," by the way, means "Save us!" Jesus was their Savior. After hundreds of years of silence, God had once again moved in Israel and provided salvation.

But Jesus wasn't quite what they had expected. He didn't rally the troops and storm the palace. He cleansed the temple, which was the least of Israel's concerns. He cursed a fig tree and confronted the religious leadership - all of this after they had given Him a king's welcome. Jesus was a disappointment to the oppressed people and within days they were shouting for His death rather than His salvation.

What they didn't understand was that Jesus definitely came to save them, just not from their oppressors. He came to save them from themselves. He came to restore a path of relationship with His Father. Once that was completed, He would return to save them from the world, but first things first - He had to offer Himself as a propitiation for their sins. A replacement. And when immediate, physical, social relief didn't flow from His being, the people turned on Him.

Now don't stress out. It's all good. It was a part of the plan. But the tradition of following a voice of God to deliverance was placed above the truth of the situation. Jesus was the Messiah, but He didn't fit the Old Testament mold of salvation.

Today, on Palm Sunday, children will sing and wave palm branches and their parent's hearts will warm to the scene. But when the service is done, most will return home and the truth of Jesus' offer of salvation will not change the home's dynamics. Selfishness will rule the hearts of the inhabitants and they will continue to buy into the lie that God's Word is not truth, that it is not sufficient to change lives, that it's teaching is cultural and outdated, and that most of the stories are fairy tales meant to teach symbolic lessons. Therefore, it is discarded.

For most, the scriptures are disappointing. It is not what people want. It doesn't fit their mold of the role God should play in man's life. Therefore, if the scriptures are disappointing, so is the God of the scriptures. So they "celebrate" Palm Sunday, but they reject its significance when they refuse to accept (or even read) His Word.

It doesn't have to be that way. The truth of God's Word and the truth of Jesus' sacrifice can change your family, it can envelop your life and it can reign in your heart. But you have to break from tradition. You have to stop doing things simply because it's on a calendar or it's a habit. You have to stop and recognize the truth of the Word, believe it and act on it.

James exhorted believers to be doers of the Word, not hearers only and that includes worship. As you think through the account of Palm Sunday, and the historical events of this week, ask yourself, "How does the truth of these events affect my day-to-day life?" and "Am I a traditionalist or am I a truth-seeker?"

May I encourage you this week to compare your expectations of God with His Word and embrace the truth of what the cross means for believers. Don't gather with the crowd and join in on the frenzy for the sake of tradition. Make it personal and make it real. If you do, you will dwell in a place called humility and gratitude, as you thank the Lord for His truth - the truth of Who He is and the truth of who you are, plus the truth of what He accomplished on the cross.

Groundwork for Grace

In the beginning God...

It's not "In the beginning man crept up onto the shores of the earth..." or "In the beginning a large, unexplained bang caused a reaction we call man today...", but "In the beginning God."

He was here before the beginning, and He'll be here after the ending. He's written the whole story, from start to finish, choosing leading characters and supporting actresses and actors for the exact roles He intended. He has a script and He is causing all things to work together for good, despite our failings and Satan's attempts to change the outcome. None of this is a bother to Him and none of this is a surprise to Him.

We do not have a reactionary God, but a sovereign One.

It is amazing to me that though we are created in His image, we are so different from Him. We do not live our lives with sovereign minds, but rather we embrace the reactionary life as if it is our only choice.

"I can't believe she said that!"

"I can't believe they passed that bill!"

"Who could possibly have predicted 9-11?"

"How am I supposed to live with that man?"

"I can't help it if my child has ADD!"

"This is not my fault! I'm a victim..."

Oh, don't get me wrong. We are not God and we'll never be gods. Don't believe Oprah when she tells you that you've got it in you to be a god, because you don't. But you can be Christ-like. Not omniscient or omnipotent or omnipresent, but kind, forgiving, compassionate, humble and gentle.

Yes, you can.

So, how do we live with a sovereign mind, if we can't be omniscient? Come on, you know the answer - we set our mind on the things above.

We put our trust in the Almighty Elohim Who spoke the very world into existence by the mere sound of His voice.

We rest in the love of Shiloh, knowing that His peace has restored our relationship with His Father.

We call on Adonai as a servant calls on a beloved master.

And we respond to the trials of life with the answer, "Not you, but God."

Because we know Him, we trust Him and we understand from His word that He is in complete control, working to accomplish His will in our lives to complete His story.

In Genesis God lays the groundwork to bring grace to man. He chooses for Himself a people through which Shiloh would come, and then He displays a personal relationship with the families involved to show His level of interest. It's not because He has anything at stake - there is no doubt that He will accomplish what He sets out to do. When Jesus agreed to be the sacrifice in eternity past, it was a done deal. Nothing could stop it. But I thank the Lord that He graciously recorded His story so that I could see His hand in a personal, life-changing way.

But ladies, the story is not over. Though grace has come, He's coming again. And we are witnesses to world events that are destined to bring about the last days. Will they happen in your lifetime? What will be required of you if you are here during those days? Is it possible we're closer than we think?

Rather than choose to live a reactionary life, rest in the sovereign hands of your Father and stay in His word. He fulfilled every prophecy concerning His first coming literally. Know what the Word teaches about His second coming because there is a good chance He'll do it exactly like He said He will.

What a privilege it is to be a part of His story and even greater privilege to personally know the Author!

Come quickly, Lord Jesus!

Not You, but God

You do what you do and you feel how you feel because you think what you think.

This is one of the foundational principals in biblical counseling, and I suppose that if modern psychology were truthful, they would agree that the way a person thinks affects their feelings and actions. It's a pretty simple concept that we tend to take for granted. But the truth is undeniable - our actions reveal our mind.

Let's look at a few examples to flesh this out. First, Lot. He chose the most fertile land for himself and his flocks when his Uncle Abraham offered him his choice. We are told he chose the land in the south because it reminded him the most of Egypt. So he moves near to Sodom and Gomorrah, both exceedingly wicked in the sight of the Lord, and eventually moves within the city gates. He becomes involved with the leadership and offers his virgin daughters to the men who are ravenous to get their hands on the angels/visitors. He barely escapes destruction with his daughters, but loses not only his wife but his married children who think he is joking when he tells them to leave. And in the end, he fathers the children of his daughters because he drinks himself into oblivion every night to forget why he's living in a cave.

What do Lot's actions reveal about his thought process? Why was Lot drawn to a worldly, materialistic way of life? Did he live with an eternal perspective or an earthly one?

Now, granted, we have to make some assumptions here because we don't know the mind of Lot. And we are also warned of being judgmental, but for the sake of self-examination and application, we will continue on. We are told in II Peter 2 that Lot was tormented by the sin that surrounded him, but why didn't he separate from it? I think we'll all agree that Lot's actions reveal a mind set on pleasure and prosperity, at any cost. The torment he experienced was from knowing what was righteous and still choosing to ignore it.

Joseph. We have studied him in depth and we know that from serving his father to overseeing Potiphar's house to running Pharaoh's prison, Joseph worked hard, displayed integrity and showed compassion to those in his charge. Once he moved from prison into the Egyptian leadership position, he remained the same person - responsible, reliable and compassionate. When his brothers fell in fear before him, he calmed their fears by revealing his thoughts - not you, but God. He recognized God's undeniable hand on his life and he held no contempt, for he knew that God was sovereign over his life. This thought process produced great prosperity in Joseph's life, and I am not talking about material prosperity. I am talking about the fruit that comes from living with an eternal perspecitve - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control and faithfulness. I will save you the reading of how each of these qualities were present in Joseph's life, but the fact that these words describe him tells us that his mind was set on God. It's the only way to produce the fruit of the Spirit.

So, gals, stop for a moment and write out a description of your life. Don't go all the way back to childhood, just hit the highlights of 2010. What situations have you found yourself in? Marriage struggles? Parenting challenges? Financial stress? Moving? Loss of job? Maybe you've had a pretty smooth first three months of the year. What filled your time? What did you put your energy into? If someone was going to assess only your actions, what would they conclude that your mind is set upon? How would they describe your thought process?

"Not you, but God" is a great motto to adopt. No matter what happens, can you put that mindset into play? If your husband is cranky after work, can you step back and ask yourself, "What is God trying to teach me? What does he want me to learn here?" And when your husband asks forgiveness, can you smile and tell him what God is teaching you through that circumstance?

It's a whole new way of thinking, isn't it?

And that's exactly the point...