Going back by the Grace of God

"For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that with out ceasing I mention you always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God's will I may now at last succeed in coming to you."- Romans 1:9-10

Though I have not faced the trials and persecution that Paul faced which prevented him from visiting Rome, I have had a longing to return to South Africa ever since I left. Now, it appears that my longing will be satisfied as the opportunity has arisen for me to go back. This coming December will be very eventful. I will walk across the stage and receive my diploma from Appalachian State University and then in a matter of a couple of days I will be flying to Cape Town. I am extremely excited about this opportunity to go back and minister to and be ministered to by the people of Cape Town.

It will be bittersweet though. It will be my first Christmas away from my family which will be tough on me and my family. But Christmas is about Jesus and what better way to celebrate than to be serving Him on the mission field. So please be in prayer for this trip. Right now the door is open but I am aware that God in His sovereign plan could have something else in store. But if it is His will, I will be back in South Africa.

wow has it been that long?

So yeah most of you have probably stopped reading this. I understand. It has been an extremely busy stretch for me but I plan on getting back to writing as soon as school is out. Another reason for the lack of blogging has been my increasing use of twitter. Many people use blogs to write about their everyday lives but I mainly use my blog to write about things regarding my faith. My last couple of entries, especially the Running from Blessing ones took almost an hour to write. I haven't had that kind of time but hopefully this summer I'll get back to it. See you in a little under a month.

Why should I stay?

Taking a quick break from the current series. It takes a while to write each one of those and school has been really busy so I haven't had adequate time. But I wanted to just share something that I have been thinking about a lot recently.

Missions.

I used to think it wasn't for me. Then I thought that maybe short term missions was good and I could do that. Now that I've done that, I can see God working in me. Three weeks in South Africa was honestly easy. I wasn't homesick. Sure I missed family and friends but I didn't really miss the States. I loved learning about a new culture. Being in a new place. I saw the need firsthand. The harvest is plenty. The workers are few.

I've been reading Crazy Love and studying with my college group at home. Jesus showed us crazy love. It doesn't make sense. That he would do what he did. It was crazy. Why shouldn't I do something crazy? Why should I just live the normal life? A mediocre life? Missions is crazy. Especially if you are an American. We have EVERYTHING here. We are so freakin BLESSED. It is easy to live here. Why not leave and do something crazy?

Why should I stay here if I believe Jesus is who he said he was? Why should I stay here if I say I follow Christ? He went places that didn't make sense for him to go. He went places where harm was almost certain. Persecution a guarantee. If he did it, why shouldn't I?

If I believe that every word he spoke was true, why should I stay? He said that he offers eternal life. He said that he offers abundant life. He offers satisfaction that nothing on the earth can provide. He says that hell is real and that those who do not trust in Him will be there for eternity. If I believe these things, why should I stay when there are so many people who have NO IDEA about this Man and what he did for them?

How can I be so selfish? How can I be such a pansy and exchange the glory of Christ for a nice 9 to 5 and a two story house? Why should my comfort be more important than the needs of the world?

Why not do something crazy? He did. See I don't think it would make much sense for me to do something like that. I mean in the next year I'll have a college degree. I have pretty good grades so grad school is a reality. Down the road I'm sure I could find a nice job that pays well. Raise a nice family, in a nice neighborhood. But why not take a risk? My accomplishments and and future success does not compare to Christ. As Paul said, its trash.

If I believe God is my shield and my comfort. That he is ALWAYS with me, why should I be scared to do something like that. Why not take a risk that's not really a risk if the One I'm following has never let me or anyone else down?

I'm not saying that I will definitely be spending the rest of my time in a foreign country but unless I hear other wise I believe I will be spending some time overseas. Don't know the details but God is showing me how great the need is how much he cares about the nations.

So I could really use some prayers for guidance and courage. It's easy to say all this stuff. It's a lot harder to go out and do it.

Running from Blessings: Poor in Spirit

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven."- Matthew 5:3

Last year I took a class about social problems. One of the many things we discussed was poverty. I learned about a term called absolute poverty. This term references the poorest of the poor. People who are living in absolute poverty live on less than a dollar a day. They are incapable of providing for themselves. In other words they lack self sufficiency. They can not afford food, housing, education, etc. They cannot afford their basic needs.

When I went to South Africa this summer I witnessed this kind of poverty. I don't know if it was officially "absolute poverty" but many of the people in Klipheuwel cannot help themselves, especially on the informal side. They can't afford food. They can't afford adequate housing. They can't afford their medicine for AIDS or TB. They can't afford to take the taxi to town to go see the doctor. That's why what Helen and Estelle do in Klipheuwel is so needed. Many of these people are so poor they cannot help themselves.

Many people have read this verse, including me, and said Jesus has a heart for the poor and we should take care of the poor. I believe this is bad interpretation. Jesus does care about the poor and we should take care of the poor. I am not denying that. But two mistakes are made when reading this verse that way. First, we don't look at ourselves but rather look at other people. Secondly, we misunderstand who the poor in spirit really are.

Notice that Jesus says poor in spirit not poor in possessions. Jesus is not just talking about the people who don't have enough money to live or all the people who are struggling to make ends meet. He is talking about a completely different type of poverty, spiritual poverty. People who cannot help themselves in a spiritual sense. People who are are over their heads in debt because of sin. People who cannot do anything to help the situation.

The hard to swallow truth about this verse is that Jesus isn't talking about a certain part of the population. He is talking about everyone. You and me. The truth is, while you are probably reading this while sitting in a nicely heated or air conditioned room and using a computer that cost hundreds of dollars and the same can be said for me as I write this, we are born into absolute spiritual poverty. We are all in this predicament. We are helpless. All of a sudden Jesus' words aren't so warm and fuzzy.

This concept was extremely hard for me to grasp. I used to think that I was a pretty good guy. I thought I could work my way to heaven. I used to tell myself that because I go to church, don't cuss that much, don't have sex, make good grades, and so on that I was worthy of heaven. I remember sitting in church one night and while we were praying I was looking around comparing myself to everyone. I completely rejected this idea that I was spiritually poor and that my good deeds could not pay my way in to God's Kingdom. I think a lot of people struggle with this. We don't want to look at ourselves and realize that we are helpless. That our sin has completely destroyed our spirit. We are by nature self righteous. I don't know of anyone who claims to be perfect but we deny that we are really that bad. We like to think that we are good. But throughout Scripture we see that this isn't the case. We see that all have sinned. (Romans 3:23) That no one is good except God alone. (Mark 10:18)

But after studying the Sermon on the Mount, I have to ask: why do we run from embracing our depravity, our spiritual poorness? Why do we think so highly of ourselves? The people that embrace and acknowledge this fact about themselves are labeled as blessed by Jesus. By embracing our spiritual poverty, I don't mean celebrate the fact that we are sinners. We shouldn't delight in the fact that we offend a holy God. But we should understand this truth about ourselves rather than deny it and lie to ourselves about how good we think we are. Jesus says that the Kingdom of Heaven belong to the poor in spirit. No we will not earn the Kingdom of Heaven but God gives it to us. Its a gift not a wage.

Ephesians talks several times about the riches of God's grace. Revelation is full of imagery of golden items in heaven, even golden streets. People who acknowledge their spiritual poverty are blessed with the riches of God. No I am not adopting Joel Osteen's theology and saying that if you acknowledge your brokenness that you will magically become rich. However, having a relationship with Christ is the most valuable and precious treasure anyone can have. With that relationship comes so many blessings, including eternal life spent in heaven, where we will see the Throne of God. The life of a follower of Jesus is truly a rags to riches story.

Acknowledging that we are poor in spirit is the first step to entering into the Kingdom of God. Seeing and accepting our brokenness shows us our need for a Savior and there is no amount of money, no house big enough, no car nice enough to surpass the riches and blessing of knowing Jesus.

So why run from the label of poor in spirit? Accept it and allow Christ to change you and give you His righteousness because we certainly can't create our own. Only He has the power to lift us out of the absolute spiritual poverty that we are born into and push ourselves further into.

Blessed are the poor in spirit. Lets stop running from God's blessing and put aside our false sense of righteousness and embrace the Righteous One, Jesus Christ.

Running from Blessings: Introduction

Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Matthew 5:1-12 (ESV)

Over the last few weeks, I have become pretty familiar with this passage. We have been looking over it in the Bible study I am involved in and the church I have been attending has been going through this same scripture.

I have read and heard this scripture a lot. I have always just taken it at surface level and thought that it was pretty straight forward. Some of it is straight forward but some of it is so much deeper than surface level and God has been teaching me the deeper levels of His words.

This summer I went to Student Life Camp with the youth and the theme for the week was "Flip." We talked about how following Jesus goes against everything the world teaches us. The Sermon on the Mount is no different. Every characteristic that Jesus labels as "blessed" is a characteristic that goes against our very nature. We want to be blessed but it is so hard for us to put aside our natural tendencies so that we can actually be blessed. To be honest, I think we “panzify” Jesus’ sermon. This is one of those passages that make people feel all warm and fuzzy inside but I believe if we look deeper, this is a very convicting and challenging sermon. I believe that it is hard to be “blessed” and more often than not, we run from these blessings.

The next several blog posts will break down each point of the Sermon on the Mount so that we can be challenged to deny ourselves and become the blessed ones that Christ wants us to become.

"Preacher tellin the truth and it hurts"

Shocking, embarrassing, and heartbreaking statistics about The Church.

Three Pictures for Three Years

Happy Three Years Erin. Just in case you need a reminder about why I think you are so awesome click here. I love you.

Breaking the habit

So I'm trying to break the habit of being a horrible blogger. Its a hard thing to get back into once you slack off a little bit. I have some great ideas that should be coming up soon, its just a matter of taking the time to sit down and type them out. But in the mean time I thought I would give you some great advice......go buy David Crowder Band's new CD "Church Music." It is unbelievable. Their last album was a bit of a disappointment but this one makes up for it. Go get it. Now. Stop reading this and go buy it.
One more thing for you, in case you need a good laugh......

Words can't describe how bad this is......

Klipheuwel and a Call to Action

Helen, Estelle, and Inside Out

Ministering to the Elderly

We had an amazing opportunity to go spend time with the Elderly people of Klipheuwel. Our team went twice but because I was sick I had to miss the second time. We helped them practice for some type of senior citizens' games that were going to be held in the coming months. It was so much fun to see how full of life and energy these people were. You could tell they were so excited to be out of the house and have something to do that was just for them. It made them feel special. I hate I missed this but on the last day the team was with them, they expressed how grateful they were because they feel so forgotten in their community. It meant a lot to them that we were there and they asked that we would never forget them.

When we were done with the field games with them we had the chance to share a meal with them which eventually turned into this.....

South Africa Pictures

Here are links to see my pictures from South Africa:

Pictures from Klipheuwel

The team and other people I was with in South Africa

Sights of South Africa

Nkupane

*Nkupane's nickname means "My Brother"

Break from South Africa posts, Student Life, Target and MJ, and the Lake

I am really sorry that I have been inconsistent with blogging this summer. Working with 100 kids every day has been extremely exhausting. When I get home I have no desire to use my brain therefore I have been slacking on the blog. My apologies to my audience of very few. But don't worry more is to come about South Africa, just not this week.

This week I will be venturing to Liberty University with Grey Stone's youth group for Student Life Camp. I went last year and had a blast so I expect to have a great time this year too. Hopefully there will be no seizures and strep throat this year.

Have a great week with out me and I'll see you kids later.

P.S.- Just got Michael Jackson's greatest hits CD for 10 bucks at Target. Steal. Don't judge me for liking his music.

P.P.S.- I come back from camp Friday and then turn around and head to the lake for the day with the college peeps from G-Stone. I'm on a boat. Well not yet but I will be.

All things to all people

"I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the Gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings." 1 Corinthians 9:22-23 (ESV)

This is one of my favorite verses when it comes to ministry. I have always believed that the best way to minister to people is through relationships and most of the time relationships are started because of a common bond. But what happens when we have no common ground with someone? When they are from a culture completely different than ours? A different background? A different race? A different social class? Instead of just walking away, we must become.

Many times we fail to become. I know I have failed at this many many times. Usually, when we can't relate to someone we just move on and just say someone else will come along and befriend that person. But when we do that we are neglecting God's word. When we come across someone we can't relate to we must get on their level and create the common bond.

I put this verse in practice for the first time, that I can remember, in South Africa. Before going to South Africa, I was nervous about being able to relate to this young men. We are from different countries and completely different environments. We have a language barrier and a race barrier. However, it wasn't hard to relate because of one simple thing.....a soccer ball.

Growing up I have always made fun of soccer. I always said it was a girls' sport. It was for boys who couldn't play football. I hated it. Mainly because I never played it. But here I was in South Africa standing in front of the boys who I came to share God's love with and the main opportunity I had to relate with these guys was the game of soccer. Needless to say, I didn't stand there and make fun of the game or make fun of them for playing what I used to call a wimpy sport. Instead, I became a soccer player for them. Because of this sport doors were opened for us to find more common bonds with the boys.

We could have gone in to the town and made all of the kids sit down for an hour while we preached to them but it wouldn't have been effective. Instead, we came to them and participated in their favorite past time. We showed them that we were here for them. That it wasn't about the rich, white, Americans. It was about them. About how much God loves them and how much we love them.

Jesus took the same approach. Instead of just sitting up in heaven and snapping his fingers to save us, which he has all the power and authority to do, he became like us. He came to us and related with us to show us how much he loves us.

Paul did the same thing when he became a minister to the Gentiles. A people who he once hated and looked down upon. He became like them. He lived with them. I'm sure he even broke his Kosher diet and ate some pork so that he could relate to them.

So the next time you encounter someone that you have a hard time relating to, become something to them. Find a way to build a bridge to that person. Get out of your comfort zone and try something new. Who knows you might actually enjoy whatever it is. I still suck at soccer and I was schooled by kids almost half my age but because of my time in South Africa, I have a new found appreciation and interest in soccer. My eyes have been glued to the t.v. the last couple of weeks whenever there has been a Confederation Cup soccer game on. Plus the fact that the games are being played in South Africa adds a little extra interest for me.

The Soccer Boys sporting their new soccer jerseys that they made.

Thandi's Story

Meet Thandi. Thandi was a big part of our trip. We saw this beautiful baby grow up right in front of our eyes. At such a young age she already has such an amazing life story. The cool thing though is that there are many more pages in her life story to be written. Thandi is in the process of being adopted by Helen, one of the missionaries we worked with.

Thandi is from Klipheuwel which is the town that we worked in. One night, Estelle (one of the other missionaries) got a call about a baby that was found abandoned in the town. Since she was out of town she called the police to go out to the town to investigate. They began to search for the Thandi's parents and in the mean time the Thandi was sent to an orphanage. Being at the orphanage did not work out too well for Thandi. She is an extremely quiet and passive baby. Since she didn't cry very much, she didn't get much attention. Helen and Estelle stayed involved with her and visited her often. They saw that Thandi's social skills were slipping since she was not getting attention. Helen felt responsible for her so she decided to bring Thandi home. The search continued for the parents but while the wait was going on Helen began to imagine the possibility of adopting Thandi. At this point, Thandi's name was still unknown. Helen began to throw around some ideas, one of which was Thandi.

After some time the mother of the child was found. Helen and Estelle were able to find out that the baby's name was Nolunthando which means girl of love. Thandi is the short version of the name. Helen couldn't believe that a name that she was throwing around to call this anonymous baby was actually her real name.

When Thandi's mother was found, Thandi's story became less of a mystery. Her mother was found in the hospital, dying from Tuberculosis. She was pencil thin. Accompanied by a social worker, Helen and Estelle took Thandi to see her mother. They placed her on her mother's lap and tears began to fall from her frail mother's eyes. The big muscular social worker had to excuse himself from the room, it was just too much for him. Because of her mother's illness, Thandi was left in the care of her father who kept her for a few weeks and then ditched her on the side of the road. Niether he or his family wanted anything to do with her. Partly because they thought she might be sick too.

To God's glory, Thandi is a healthy and beautiful baby. Helen is currently going through the adoption process. The only thing that could potentially rain on this parade is family members, who have shown no interest in Thandi so far, coming forward to claim her just so they can get a check from the government.

Helen joked and said that her only goal for Thandi was to make her smile and then she could take her back to the orphanage. But it didn't work out like that and now Helen is a mom and Thandi is a loved daughter.

Guess who's back....

Well I'm back in the States and in the grind of things. Sorry for the month long blogging break. Obviously, there was not much time for me to keep up with my blogging while in South Africa and then I have just been lazy for the last eleven days. But I wanted to thank all of you for the much love, support, prayers, and videos that have been sent my way. It has all been greatly needed and appreciated.

My next few blogs will focus on my time in South Africa. I just want to encourage you to remember that these are not just stories but reality. I had heard the stories and seen the pictures but some things did not become real to me until I saw them for myself, to me some of the stuff was just stories and pictures nothing more. So my prayer for you is not that you would read this and say "that's nice" or "sounds like Stephen had a great time" but my prayer is that you would be moved to action. That you would be decide to make a difference. That you would realize that there is a world full of people who need people like you and me to forsake the comfort of our air conditioned houses, soft beds, and full refrigerators and go. They need us to go and share the love of Christ with them. The love that changes. The love that renews. The love that brings hope. The love that brings light into the darkness.

Thanks again for the love and support and I hope you enjoy reading about my experiences in South Africa.

Happy Mom Day

Happy Mother's Day to all you Mom's out there.

Do something nice for you mom today. She deserves it. Mom's are awesome, especially mine. Over the lats 10 years I have discovered that my mom is one of the strongest people in the world. Chuck Norris and Tim Tebow have nothing on her. But I'm not talking about physical strength. I'm talking about that kind of strength that comes from within. Ever since my dad died 10 years ago, it has just been my mom raising my brother and me. My mom has a really gentle and quiet spirit about her which could be taken as weakness but over the last 1o years I can honestly say there is nothing weak about her. She has done an amazing job raising us and she has loved us with a love that can only be God given.


Go hug your mom and tell her you love her and thank God for her every day. Not just Mother's Day.

conGRADulations

Congratulations Erin. I'm so proud of you. You are the greatest middle school teacher I know. Wait, I really only know two so that's not saying much. But if I did know more, I know you would still be the best. You have done such an amazing job over the last 4 years and the future is looking even better for you. You are going to impact so many kids' lives. I'm glad you understand the meaning of grace because that's the only reason you agreed to date me and I'm glad I have been able to be part of the the journey for the last 3 years. Good job E.


P.S.- Just to prove that I am not just saying Erin is a great teacher just because she is my girlfriend, here is the video that was played during graduation that featured a top student from each College of Education department. I'm probably embarrassing her but she deserves the credit.

P.P.S.- I'm dating a college graduate. Erin, you really are a cougar.