December 2011 Newsletter

“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” –John 10:10

Jesus created us beautiful. He created us in His image. There was no hiding; there was no looking down upon, no judgment, pride, envy, jealousy, or selfish ambition.  We once were as we were intended to be, and we treated one another with perfect love, perfect kindness and perfect openness.

Sin destroyed all of that. Beauty was shattered. The unity of God and man was broken. We are now shadows of who we were made to be. “We see that we are merely reflections of reflections left by our predecessors”  –Underoath

But God has not left us to ourselves. He longs to cross the divide. He sent Jesus to rescue us from our pride and self-centeredness. His coming not only gave us eternal life, but empowered and showed us the way we are to live in this life. He humbled Himself to walk among us.

He walked in humility along the highway of holiness, for He did only His Father’s will. He invites each of us to walk with Him hand in hand. And this is restoration.

[Brokenness]

The Christian life begins with one great revival, and is continued in a state of constant revival. This is another expression of justification, happening in a moment, and sanctification, a process that continues for the rest of our life.

Revival is the saving life of Christ poured through us by the power of the Spirit. It is the leaving behind of the old man, and the resurrection of the new man.  Revival can never fill a proud vessel. We must be broken. Just as the Children of Israel had to wander in the wilderness for forty years to learn obedience before they could enter the Promised Land, and as Naaman the Syrian had to humble himself before his leprosy would be cleansed; so God chooses to pour His life through us when we are broken. “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” – James 4:6

Brokenness comes when we have a right view of God and a right view of ourselves.  To know that on our own we are the worst of sinners, that all that we have is because of grace destroys any context for pride.

And furthermore, as we gaze at Jesus, we see that He, though He had every right to exultation did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing and took the form of a servant. We are to have His mind. As we fall more in love with Jesus, we will be broken.

[Cups Running Over]

Brokenness however, is not an end to itself. It is the beginning of revival. It is the shattering of the dam of pride to release the flood of the Spirit. Brokenness does not leave you in sadness, but rather brings you to a place of joy. Broken people are joyful people. “He leads me beside still waters” –Psalm 23:2

“But Love can never be reconciled to an unlovely object, and you are infinitely unlovely by despising God and His Love so long… He can never therefore be reconciled to your sin, because sin itself is incapable of being altered: but He may be reconciled to your person, because that maybe restored and, which is an infinite wonder, to greater beauty and splendor than before.” –Thomas Traherne

Jesus desires to fill us, but He cannot when we are unclean. This is clear all through the temple and sacrificial system. All who went up to enter the temple or served before God were to go through ritual purification and mikveh baths. God is Holy, and He calls us to be holy. Before we can be reconciled to His life-giving spirit we must be made clean.

There is no way to be made clean but by the blood of the Jesus. If we are to live in the constant filling of the Spirit, we must live under His blood. Every thought, action, emotion and attitude that is not in submission to God, all that is sin, we must take captive to the obedience of Christ and be cleansed by His blood.

In this way we will be constantly filled to overflowing, and the love of Jesus will spread to everyone around us. “’Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ Now this He said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive…” –John 7:38,39

[The Way of Fellowship]

One of the chief results of the fall is that man became the center of his own universe. Sin naturally turns us inward onto ourselves. We worship the creation rather than the Creator, specifically, we worship ourselves. As a result, our fellowship with one another is corrupted. We seek our own good, not the good our fellow man. We break fracture into a million pieces the second greatest commandment of God, to love our neighbor as ourselves. Instead there is no one we love like ourselves. We each do what is right in our own eyes.

But through Jesus fellowship with one another can be restored.  Indeed, it must.  It is not an option, for Jesus commanded “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” –John 13:34

Jesus prayed “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.” –John 17:20,21 He desires not just that we have fellowship with one another, but that we have the same closeness and unity that the Father has with the Son.  To fulfill this prayer we must remove ourselves from the center, and put God in the center. As we all draw near to God, we draw near to one another. Our love for God is inseparable from our love for each other. The way of fellowship begins with love.

To be in fellowship with one another requires that we walk in the light “If we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” – 1 John 1:7

In the light there is no hiding. It scares us, for we must be vulnerable and let down our defenses, but is the only place that we will ever find rest. If we belong to Jesus, we are children of light. He beckons all of us out of the shadows into the glimmering light of fellowship with Him and one another.

[The Highway of Holiness]          

“For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life” -Matthew 7:14

“Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion” –Psalm 84:5

Through all of history God has revealed Himself as a God who leads His people on journeys. He first brought Abram from His own land to the Promised Land. Later He led Moses and the children of Israel, though they wandered along the way. Today, most of Israel is scattered amidst the nations, but He promises to one day bring them back. And we as His children are walking towards the Heavenly Kingdom along the Highway of Holiness. This is the Christian life, simply walking the course marked out for us hand in hand with Jesus and one another.

There is only way onto the Highway. That is by the cross. The finished work of Jesus is the only way in which we are able to enter. To come to the cross we must surrender. To give your life to Jesus is to give it all. We do not come to the cross with squared shoulders, but with a bent back, utterly desperate apart from the life that it imparts. “Only the broken can enter the Highway.” We must first be broken before we enter the Highway, but that does not mean that we will not have to be broken again. The old sin nature that we are still at war with will raise its vile head, our pride will try to surface, and we must be cleansed afresh by the blood of the lamb. Our brokenness will be tested. Walking the Highway is not easy, but it is beautiful.

[The Dove and the Lamb]

The Spirit of God is not poured out upon proud people. The dove will rest only on us if we have the disposition of the lamb. Thus we must study the Lamb of God and seek to be like Him.

We are to be simple. No planning or schemes for ourselves. No mistrusting and doubting, but simple trusting in our Shepard. We are to be shorn. Willing to have no reputation or liberty, giving up everything that we suppose is due to us. We are to be silent. Not seeking to vindicate ourselves, make excuses, or lash back. Rather to answer nothing, but have only love for those who sin against us or speak ill of us.

We are to be spotless. No bitterness or resentment, unstained, not responding to sin with a sinful reaction. The dove is to be our captain. We are to submit to Him and let Him lead us in all that we do. And then we will fly, for we will be free.

[Revival in the Home]

God requires us to live these things out in every area of lives. And this begins at home. We are to treat those with whom we are living with every bit of respect, love, grace and humility that we would show to anyone else. It is said that familiarity breeds contempt, this may be true for the world, but it is not the way of the Spirit.

The Christian home is centered around God.  Again, God is light. He calls us to walk in the light. Even in the closeness of the home we can try to hide behind our walls in the shadows. But Jesus came to break down those walls, that we might have true fellowship with one another. Revival is not meant to be experienced alone, but hand in hand. This means hiding nothing, but being perfectly honest about your sins, failures, fears and attitudes.

This is a fearful thing, for we feel safe behind our walls. “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.” – 1 John 4:18

The home that is centered around God will be home that loves. Love leaves no room for selfishness or fighting for one’s own way. To see a home that is experiencing revival is to see a home that is being perfected in love.

[The Mote and the Beam]

If we love each other, we will be grieved when we see things in our brothers and sisters that are hurtful. But often we do not respond to the sin in them in a righteous way, but rather in a prideful or critical way; or if there sin is something that affects us; with resentment and bitterness. This Jesus calls a beam in our own eye. We are so quick to see our brother’s sin, but slow to see our own.

If we are going to be able to help our brother, we must first be cleansed. We must once again be broken, and be washed in the blood of the lamb. Only then will our vision be clear that we may help our brother.

[Are You Willing to Be a Servant?]

“Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” –John 13:13,14

Servanthood is the heart of our new relationship with Jesus. If we are His, we will be like Him. And Jesus was the greatest servant this world has ever known. He asks us this question every day “Do you understand what I have done for you?” and He whispers “serve one another.” When we become broken, when our sin is scrubbed away, we find underneath what we were made to be; servants. The only question is “are we willing?”

A true servant does not serve out of guilt or obligation, but out of love. There have been many servants who have been given their freedom, but chosen to stay with and serve their masters, because they love them. So it is with was. We serve because that is our very heart, we cannot imagine anything else.

[The Power of the Blood of the Lamb]

“And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony…”  -Revelations 12:11

Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins. (Hebrews 9:22) We are utterly without hope apart from the blood of the lamb. The blood is not of one shed in battle, fierce and angry; but of a lamb; led without protest, without struggle, with no thought for itself, but only of others. The blood Jesus is infused with His gentleness, His grace, His quiet majesty.

To experience the power of the blood, we must identify ourselves with the lamb, and be willing surrender all to be made like Him.

[Protesting Our Innocence?]

We try and divide people up into categories. We say there are bad people, and people who are alright, and people who are good, and even some who are great; but the truth is that there are only two categories. There is us; sinful, corrupt, abase, covered in filth, and there is Jesus. He is the only One who is righteous. We are not innocent. We are the guilty. When we stand before the throne, we cannot protest our innocence. Every sin will cry out against us. There is only One who can declare us innocent. His name is Jesus, our innocent sacrifice.

Thus we can look down on no one. The only difference between us and them is the grace of God. Therefore, we put no confidence in the flesh, but cast ourselves at His nailed scarred feet. Only there will we find hope.

“Jesus said… ‘son, your sins are forgiven.’” –Mark 5:2

The following is a paper I wrote for New Staff Class at Gospel for Asia on the book Release of the Spirit by Watchman Nee. All views are my own and do not necessarily represent those of Gospel for Asia.

The river of the Spirit begins high in the mountains, amidst granite peaks. Its source is pure, glacial runoff infused with life giving minerals. The purpose of the Spirit is to bring life to the plains below, that the ground may be watered, the crops flourish and people’s thirst quenched. But to reach the valleys and pastures, the water must flow down from the mountains, carving its path, forming a river bed as an open conduit that it might reach its goal.

We as the people of God have the privilege of being that river bed. Ours is the indwelling of the Spirit, and the Spirit in us is made to flow out of us.

The barrier is this; that we do not allow the river to flow freely through us. We are hard and stopped up. We make dams and pollute the stream. As a result the life of the Spirit does not touch anyone.

A restored person allows the Spirit to flow freely. A restored person has the bounds of the old self removed, and becomes the clean open riverbed that they were created to be. To be restored, the will of self must be broken. The stiff-necked outer man must be obliterated; pride shattered, independence forgotten and all must be consumed into the life of Christ.

The hardness of the outer man springs from reliance upon self. We rely on ourselves when we do not see Jesus for who He is. When we see Him for who He is, with humble attitude and open eyes; we cast ourselves wholly upon Him and His grace. The moment we stop relying on self and rely upon God; the self dies, and the Spirit is released.

When the Spirit is released, all that comes into us we see and hear with our eyes and ears clearly. God is some ways gives us His senses, and we see things the way that He sees them. Our understanding is no longer darkened, and light invades all of our thinking.

Furthermore, when the Spirit is released, all that flows out of us is filled with His life. Our words, our actions, our ministry, our preaching is no longer done in our own strength, but His alone.

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom…” – 2 Corinthians 3:17

It is God’s desire to bring freedom. We have been both set free and made agents of setting others free through the Spirit. We live in freedom and live to bring others into that freedom. Freedom comes to the world through the Spirit flowing through us. For this cause we must throw ourselves at His feet in complete abandonment.

When we are abandoned, the river of the Spirit will run free.

The following is a paper I wrote for New Staff Class at Gospel for Asiaon the book  Road to Reality by K.P. Yohannan. All views are my own and do not necessarily represent those of Gospel for Asia.

The whole of the Christian life is one of being conformed into the image of Jesus. One of the many ways in which God does this is by giving us in some measure; His eyes on the world.

Before we came to know God, we were utterly blind, our vision completely shrouded. We think that we see, but we are so blind that we don’t even realize our blindness. Jesus came to give to give recovery of sight to the blind (Luke 4:18.) He gives us eyes that we may see Him and His salvation. As we grow in the knowledge of God, our vision becomes more like His. Things become clearer. We begin to see things more like the way they actually are. Another way to say this is that we see reality.

Yet so many of us have been content only to glimpse the truth and go no further. We have been born into a system that tells us that things are a certain way, and that is how they should stay. It tells us that we deserve comfort and peace. The system would say the fact that we have them is only natural, in fact, it is our right. The world’s problems are not our problems; the most important thing in life is your pursuing your own dream. From our youth, we are trained to think this way, and it seems like truth. By very definition, when you are deceived you don’t know that you are deceived. And so in this lie, many of us live, knowing no other way than the way we go.

The truth is dim and far off, like a mountain range that we have been told about but can hardly see because of the clouds and haze. We have no real desire to see it or go there, for what little we have heard is that it is hard, dangerous and uncomfortable.

God is calling us back. If we love Him, we will give all to follow. We must come before with open hands, and say “Here am I.” When this is our heart, the veil is lifted from our eyes, and we see the world as Jesus sees it. Our plans, dreams and comforts will no longer hinder us. We will place everything on the altar and live a life of abandonment For Him and His cause of reaching the world with His love.

“…let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith”    – Hebrews 12:1

The following is a paper I wrote for New Staff Class at Gospel for Asia on the book Touching Godliness Through Submission by K.P. Yohannan. All views are my own and do not necessarily represent those of Gospel for Asia.

[The Core of Submission to Authority]

The core of submission to authority is to know who God is, and secondly; to know who you are as His creation. Every piece of creation, from a protons and neutrons linking together in the proper ways to make atoms, to seagulls riding the shifts in the ocean breezes, to galaxies holding their structure as the rotate around their core, every piece of creation submits itself to its creator and to the surrounding system that He has placed it in.

Submission was made manifest to us in the Jesus. The members of the Trinity have from eternity past been in perfect submission to one another. Jesus came down and showed what that looked like as a man. He knew the mind of His Father, and He knew who He was. He did only the Father’s will. His Submission was perfect.

[The Spirit of Submission]

Hupotasso, Submission is a present tense, ongoing verb, like breathing. It is an attitude of the heart that overflows as action. It is a reflection of the posture of your heart towards God and man. The Spirit of God acts in accordance with the will of God, for the Spirit knows the mind of God. This means that the Spirit is in constant submission. If the Spirit of God is living in us, and if we are sensitive to Him, then our hearts will be in submission. You will then see your heart bent in humble love and dedication towards your God. This is the Spirit of Submission.

[The Benefits of Submission]

“To the extent that we submit, we too will know God’s restoration to that life of blessing.” In James 1:16 it says “Do not deceived my beloved brethren, every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.” All that is good, any blessing, comes from God. In perfect submission to God there is perfect restoration to the good that He wants to show to us. As we become more submitted we come into more perfect union with God. This is the benefit of submission. God smiles upon a humble heart. A Christian who is submitted to God and the delegated authority over him will receive a fuller anointing of God’s blessing.

[Christ, Our Example]

Fully God. Fully Man. Jesus came to live life we could not live, and die the death we should have died. In living that life He showed submission to the world, as He yielded Himself wholly to the will of His Father. Each word and act was from a heart of humble obedience, and it was all love. If we seek to live as Jesus lived, we will learn the very heart of submission. In dying on the cross He showed submission to the world. “Not My will, but Yours be done.” “Yet it was the will of the Father to crush Him…” – Isaiah 53:10 Jesus embraced the will of the Father to the uttermost. His submission killed Him. This was love unto death.

As the body of Christ, identifying with our Lord in every way, taking upon ourselves the wounds of Christ as a sign of honor, looking to Him as our example; this is to be our same heart. We will submit to the end, unto death.

[We Must Obey Delegated Authority]

We are all under authority in one way or another. All authority on this earth is delegated. It is God’s will that we obey His delegated authority in the same way that would obey Him directly, for their authority is not their own, but is from Him. Our heart is to be that we will submit ourselves, because we fear God.

[Our Response to Authority]

Submission to delegated authority is not just a concept or something that we say we agree with. When we submit ourselves, there are practical ramifications in every area of our life. Our whole attitude will change, the way we speak to those over us will change, and our whole character will be one of humility and obedience.

At church, we will treat the pastor and elders with respect and reverence, not criticizing or fighting for our own ideas, but seeking to be servants of the body and the leadership. The attitude that we have towards our country’s  government will be one of honor. We will see those placed over us as people who have been placed there by God. At work we will not cut corners, shirk responsibilities, or speak against our bosses. Rather we will go above and beyond what is asked of us, doing our work to the glory of God. And at home we will pursue love, obedience, and unity with determination. We will see the family as sacred, instituted by God. As children, we will obey our parents, as spouses we will submit to one another in self-forgetful love.

Our response to authority is not a solitary piece of cloth isolated from the rest of our existence. Rather it is a complete thread, inextricably woven throughout the entire tapestry of our lives.

[Godly Examples of Submission]

The story of submission is told over and over again in the Bible. We see some who pursue submission to God and man, they are honored and proclaimed as pleasing in God’ eyes; others manifest the spirit of rebellion, and reap the harvest of destruction. Submission is to authority is always motivated by love. We see, patriarchs, kings, prophets, shepherds, all submitting themselves because “they feared God.”

[Why We Rebel]

Rebellion is in our blood. “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through  one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned…” – Romans 5:12 The blood in our veins is from our father Adam. He believed the lie of Lucifer, that we could be “as gods.” This is the insidious core of rebellion, thinking that we are our own gods, seeking our own way instead of His. This is what Adam and Eve did. They acted in the spirit of Lucifer, and all of creation was infected with sin. Rebellion entered the world, and death reigned in our hearts. Since that day, we rebel against anything that is placed over us. Just as at the Fall, it starts with an idea, “I know better, I deserve this” and the idea builds upon itself, forming layers of deception that blind us from seeing the way things really are. We justify ourselves, and seek our own way blindly. We wander farther and farther from the safety of submission and into the shadowlands of rebellion. This is the curse that we groan under. This is what Jesus came to save us from. If He has saved us, rebellion has been purged from our blood. We will cling to Jesus and not allow the spirit of rebellion defile our hearts.

[Biblical Principles for Exercising Authority]

As has already been stated, all authority comes from God. The one in authority must have this define the way that he exercises the power that he has. When you see yourself as a conduit, nothing more than an aqueduct to carry the love and justice of God to those under you, it removes any basis for pride or self-exaltation in your position. If you are on a throne, you have been placed there by His hand, and he can topple you with a breath. When you exercise authority in this light, everything is different.

Another word for leadership is Servanthood. “The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve” Jesus, the King of Kings, the one to whom “all authority” (Matthew 28:18) had been given; this king came to serve. This is to be our guiding principle, leading those entrusted to us as a servant.

[When Our Authorities Go Wrong]

“But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw of such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.” – Deceleration of Independence, 1776

This is a subject that must be approached with fear, trembling and a sober mind. We must begin from a place of asking God to save us from the injustice that we are suffering under. Throughout history, he has revealed as a God that delivers His people from evil men when His people cry out. When authority puts in place law that goes against the law of God, we say with resolve, “We must obey God rather than man.”

Our response to unjust authority must be clothed in prayer. All disobedience must not be tainted by the spirit of Lucifer, rather in humility and determination to pursue God no matter what man says. God will not leave His people alone in the face of in unjust authority. He will show us what our response is to be. If disobedience, to disobey in a way that honors Him. If removing oneself from underneath the authority and going somewhere else, He will show the way. If remaining and suffering, He will give the strength to stand and still obey Him.

[Conclusion]

If we turn our hearts to God, He will teach us the path of submission with a smile on His face, for in Submission we touch the very heart of God.

The following is a paper I wrote for New Staff Class at Gospel for Asia. All views are my own and do not necessarily represent those of Gospel for Asia.

“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.” – 2 Corinthians 3:18

Without vision, we wander. When our vision is fixed on the living God, we walk how He walked, and share His mission.

God sent His son on a mission to earth. In the same way, Jesus has sent us on a mission As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” –John 20:21

Whenever you go on a journey, you bring a compass. So it is with our mission. The core values are the compass that keeps us on the road, which keeps our focus on the heart of God in our mission.

[Core Value 1 Knowing the Lord Jesus More Fully and Intimately]

Jesus is all. “All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” -Colossians 1:18

Jesus created us out of sheer love. This is a mystery.  And what is more, He gave us grace before the ages began. (2 Timothy 1:9) Our existence springs from Him. He knew us before we knew ourselves, knitting each one of us together in our mother’s womb, seeing our very substance before it was formed.

Jesus knows us in all of our frailty. (For He knows our frame, He remembers that we are dust. –Psalm 103:14) We can know Jesus because He knows us. We can love Him because He first loved us (1 John 4:19.)

Knowing Jesus is not just a core value. It is the core of everything. Christ is our life (Colossians 3:4) Apart from Him we cannot breathe.  Apart from Him we can do nothing (John 15:5.)

Thus we see that Jesus Christ is, as scripture says, Alpha and Omega, beginning and end. He is source, center, fabric and goal of all creation.

Furthermore, in relation to us, He is Savior and King, Judge and Advocate and most astonishingly, Brother (Hebrews 2:11.)

These are not mere theological truths to be held in books and placed as treasures of our belief system. These are titles to reveal the literal, sweaty, dusty, humble, strong, suffering, feet in the dirt, hardworking, nail-scarred, exalted, glorious, thrice sanctified God of all creation who came down to earth and lived as man amongst us to save us from our sins.

We are by nature and choice, sinners in rebellion, objects of the wrath of God. Our sin separates us from right relationship with Him. We need a savior to take our sin. We need a mediator to plead our case before the Father. Jesus is the only one who can be this for us (1 Timothy 2:5, John 14:6)

To know God you must be in His presence. The only way to enter into His presence is to be holy. We are not holy, we are covered in filth. Jesus became sin for us and absorbed all of the wrath of God. Through him we receive justification. This, so to speak, brings us so to neutral ground, having no sin. But Jesus’ work on the cross did not only this, but also imputed the His righteousness. So now we stand in the sight of God not only free from sin, but also righteous. (2 Corinthians 5:21) For this reason we can approach the throne of grace with confidence. (Hebrews 4:16)

There is no knowing God apart from the work of Jesus on the cross.

Gloriously, the story is not over at the cross. For death had no hold on Jesus. He rose after three days, proving that He had defeated death. He was the firstborn from among the dead (Colossians 1:18) He was the firstborn of a new race. We all who have been born again are a part of this race. We are now dead to sin but alive to Christ (John 3:8, 1 Peter 2:9,10, Romans 6:1-11)

Knowing God must be done in the shadow of the cross, and the light of the resurrection. The death and resurrection of Christ are the means by which we can enter into knowing Him, from the very beginning and from then on, more fully and intimately, “from one degree of glory to another.”

[Core Value 2 Being a People of Integrity and Excellence]

“Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom.” – Psalm 51:6

“When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth” -John 16:13

Our God is a God of truth. He is the source of truth, He does not lie, or tell partial truths, or shroud the truth in confusion. His word is true and right, all the time “The sum of Your word is truth” – Psalm 119:160

Truth is consistent. Truth is clear. Truth has nothing to hide. Truth always confronts lies. In the same way, as His Spirit is in us, we delight in in truth. This means that we speak the truth always. This also means that we live in truth. Another word for living in truth is integrity.

Satan is the father lies. He has been lying from the beginning. Lying is his native language. (John 8:44) Humanity fell because of a lie, “you will not surely die. You will be like God.” Our sin nature believes the lie. And our lives become inconsistent, unclear, and we start to hide. We make excuses and shift the blame. We become shells of what we were made to be. We do not walk in integrity.

To walk in integrity we must walk in the footsteps of our savior. Jesus is the source of truth. It is only the life of Christ living through us that will enable us to live with integrity, for by ourselves we are lost.

He gives us means by which to live in integrity. The key is to be open with Him and with people. God calls us to keep short accounts with Him. Listening to His voice, listening to our conscience, examining ourselves, not making excuses, repenting of the wrong and getting back on the narrow way.

When we do this, living in truth is natural, not second nature, but first; for we were made in the beginning to live a life of truth. We become restored to what we were made to be. Integrity and excellence becomes overflow of our walk with Jesus, and it spreads to every area of our life; work, ministry, relationships, finances, time, talents, it all becomes infused with truth and clarity. And by His grace we get to be faithful, truthful stewards of what He has given us.

“And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” -John 8:32 Knowing and living by the truth is the center of walking in integrity and excellence.

[Core Values 3 Living in Submission to God's Word]

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” -John1:1

The word of God is different than any other word. It is living. Other words are static, once they have been written down they are set, they speak to us from the past. God’s word is always present tense, speaking to us in a living way the very moment we read it.

God’s word is authoritative. By His word all things all things were made and all things hold together. (Psalm 33:6, Colossians 1:17)

All people, whether they know live, move and have their being by the word of God. But many do not believe this and live rebellion against His word and not in submission. We as His children are different. We recognize that His word sustains us and we seek to live in submission to that word.

In the Bible we have the revelation of His thoughts and words, and actions throughout history. In the Bible we see that it is truly His-Story, that it is not a primarily a book of rules, though it is that; but a grand story of redemption, with Jesus as the Hero. The whole Bible is about Jesus, and everything in it is meant to reveal how desperate and lost we are, and how much we need a Savior.

Living in submission to God’s word is not to abide by a set of rules and be good, moral people. it is rather to encounter the living God that is revealed in the Bible; to throw  ourselves at His feet in desperation as sinners in need of saving. And then being reborn and made new in His image; we become transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2) Then we approach the Bible with the as children longing to hear our Father’s word, longing to be like our Father, to work alongside of Him, do what He does, do what He commands, and do things that make Him smile.

Submission to God’s word is utter abandonment of self-will, and complete love-driven obedience to King Jesus.

[Core Value 4 Being a People of Faith]        

“Without faith, it is impossible to please God.” -Hebrews 11:6

We cannot be a part of God’s family without the grace of God. Faith is the means by which grace comes to you. “For by grace you have been saved, through faith.” -Ephesians 2:8,9 The moment we step into life with Jesus, we become a person of faith.

Often we think of faith in terms of quantity, like water. We long for more faith, echoing the disciples cry “Lord, increase our faith” -Luke 17:5. We see that we can grow in faith (2 Thessalonians 1:3) This is true. Yet Jesus replies that it is the quantity of faith that He is so much concerned with. He says that if our faith is as small as a mustard seed, we can throw mountains and mulberry trees into the ocean. Anyone who has seen the seeds of mustard plants will understand what Jesus means. The point is, nothing is impossible with God. (Luke 1:37)

It is not that our faith is so great, but it is that the God in whom we put our faith in is truly great indeed.

It is for this reason that James can exhort us saying: “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six month, then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit” -James 5:17,18

We are weak, but He is strong. We can be a people of faith because we have been saved by Him. We are His children now. Children have faith in their Father, they have confidence that He loves them and that He is good.

Faith is also a verb. “Faith is the gaze of the soul upon a saving God” -A.W. Tozer. Faith is looking at God, faith is walking after God, faith is believing God when you cannot see, faith is obeying God even when it goes contrary to human reason, faith is forgetting ourselves as we look into eyes of the God who never forgets us.

[Core Value 5 Being a People Committed to Prayer and Worship]

“Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear.” -Isaiah 65:24

“For you, you only, know the hearts of the children of mankind.” -2 Chronicles 6:30

“Pray without ceasing.” -2 Thessalonians 5:17

As children of God, prayer is the breath in our lungs. If our lives are living sacrifices, then everything we do is for Him. If what we do is directed by the Spirit, it is a fragrant aroma to Him. Our hearts are known by God, and He beckons us to know Him.

Prayer is simply talking and listening to God. Children talk to their father, we talk to our Father. Children listen to their Father, we listen to our Father. God primarily has chosen to speak to us through the scriptures, so we pray and we listen, and God reveals Himself through the living word.

Prayer is not just something we do, but part of who we are. It is a supernatural act. When we pray we are caught up in Divine conversation. “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” -Romans 8:26

It is through the power of the Spirit that we are able to pray. It is through prayer that God moves and shapes history. God has somehow given us the astonishing privilege of shaping eternity by talking with Him. It is through prayer also that God changes our mind and draws it into alignment with His. Prayer is where earth and heaven meet, where the temporal contacts the eternal, where mortal man can speak to the God of all as one speaks to a friend.

Prayer is a mystery. It is not always natural or easy, but if we are a people who are committed to God, we will be committed to talking with Him and worshiping Him in all that we are.

[Core Value 6 Having a Servant Lifestyle]

“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant.” -Philippians 2:5-7

Servant hood is an attitude of the heart. A servant lifestyle is an overflow of love. “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God” -1 John 3:1 This is an exclamation of wonder and excitement as we realize how extravagant the love of God, our response is gratitude and a longing to show that same love to others.

The attitude of servant comes when we consider ourselves as less important and seek to see others the way God sees them, as precious and beautiful.

Developing a servant lifestyle is done by looking for ways to bless people and then doing it. The more we practice, the more we taste the blessing of acting like Jesus, and more servant hood becomes internalized not just as something we do, but as part of who we are.

If we are a servant of God, we will be a servant of others. “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example that you also should do just as I have done to you.” -John13:14,15

[Core Value 7 Being a People of Grace and Love]

Where would we be without love? Who would we be without love?

Without love, we are nothing. We can be the most spiritual, righteous, disciplined, prophesying, powerful person, and it is all vapor. We must have love. If we have love and nothing else, we will be alright. Everything else will follow.

This is so powerfully illustrated in the lives of believers in poor places, who as far as this world is concerned, should be miserable. But you look in their eyes, you see the way they care for each other, and you see that they have found it. There is something different. It is the love of Jesus. His love changes everything.

“We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” -1 John 4:16

When we speak of loving people and loving God, we are not speaking of love springing from ourselves, but rather the love of God being poured through us. True love for others springs from abiding in God.

“Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” -1 John 4:11

If we have love, we will have grace. As we grow in God’s love, we realize more and more how desperately we need His grace, and as we look back we see so many times how we have received, as it is written “grace upon grace” (John 1:16)

When we realize how much love has been shown to us, though we are so undeserving, the parable of the ungrateful servant comes into focus. It becomes clear how ridiculous it really is to not have grace for others. How can we hold anything against us when God does not hold the murder of His son against us? How can we say that it is hard to keep forgiving the same things when we fail every day?

When we look at the cross, we cannot imagine not being a people of grace and love.

[Core Value 8 Serving Sacrificially]

Jesus serves us to the point of death. A servant does not stop serving when the task goes beyond a certain point. The servant has no idea of his own personal time, or of a point at which he has served enough. The servant is not his own.

In the flesh, sometimes we struggle with being a servant. It requires us to be humble. It requires us to rearrange our schedule and our priorities.

We are not our own. We were bought with a price. (1 Corinthians 6:20) As John Piper says, we are doubly not our own. First God made us, and then he bought us. There never comes the point where we can claim that our rights have been broken. We have no rights. We do not deserve anything except hell. Everything else is grace. When we start there, claiming anything more than the status of a servant is revealed as the foolishness that it is.

When we come to this place, serving no longer seems like a great hardship. Yes, it is hard. Yes we have to give things up. Yes there is suffering, but God exhorts us to call us to take joy in these things. For in our sacrifices we can identify with our Savior, who paid the ultimate sacrifice. There is a paradigm shift that takes place, and we long to serve, no matter what the sacrifice is.

When we think of the word serving sacrificially, we should not think of some great concession that we have made to God or man, but rather that we should consider it as our duty, and a joyous duty at that (Luke 17:10.)

Then we will seek new ways to serve, and will hold all with an open hand. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, we can serve before Him as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1.)

[Core Value 9 Being a People Sold Out to Win the Lost at Any Cost]

“As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” -John 20:21

Our mission is a continuation of Jesus’ mission. “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” -Luke 19:10 He has seen fit to accomplish His work on earth through us. It is a mystery, but we are actually His body.

There is no salvation apart from Jesus. In Jesus’ day, there were about 300 million people in world. Today the stakes are higher. There are more Dalits alive now than the entire world population at that time. Now there are over six billion, and have of them have never even heard the name of Jesus Every day, 80,000 souls perish apart from Jesus. This knowledge is not something that we can carry on our own. We will break. Only God can carry the weight of the world on His shoulders. But we are identified with His mission to reach them, and we do weep for what He weeps for. His heartbreak becomes our heartbreak, for we share the same pulse.

God’s justice is perfect. Justice will be paid, whether on the cross, or in hell. The good news of salvation, from the very start, was intended for everyone. Today is the day of salvation. Jesus beckons to all with open arms, but many do not know that. It is entrusted to us tell them.

Jesus last command to us was to go into all nations and tell people about Him. This must be the defining direction of our life. We are sold out, any cost, because Jesus is sold out and paid the cost of His life. He did not give up on us. He stopped at nothing to save souls, and so we should stop at nothing to tell those who have never heard. This means for us, that nothing in this world has hold over us, that we are single minded. Everything will burn one day, reaching souls is the only thing that matters.

Again, this is an overflow of love. “God loves each one of us like there is only one of us.” -Augustine. We see the people of the world in terms of masses and numbers, God sees one by one by one by one. He cares deeply and knows intimately every person. He is not willing that any should perish. He desires each one of us to have everlasting life (2 Peter 3:9) This is our desire too. God’s love for the lost becomes our love. Our devotion to reaching the lost is because of love.

[Core Value 10 Being a People Who Work Together With the Body of Christ]

“In him you also are being built together…” -Ephesians 2:22

“And he called the twelve together” -Luke9:1

We as the children of God, by the grace of God, are part of the same family. We all have the same Father. Families work together, pray together, worship together, suffer together, laugh together. The Kingdom of God is invading the Kingdom of Man. The Kingdom of God works totally different than the world works. This is because we all have the same Spirit at work in us.

The world says that we are individuals and that we have to figure it out on our own. The triumph of the one man against all is worshiped by the world. The world says, no one else will help you, you are your own best friend, it is up to you.

Ultimately the enemy pushes people apart, and locks them into isolation.

God brings people together. He invites us to be a unified people (1 Peter 2:9)

Jesus sent out His disciples two by two. He Himself is the One who said “It is not good for man to be alone.” -Genesis 2:18 The sum is greater than the parts. We were not created to live in alone. When we live and serve in unity, we are living out the restoration of how God intended it be. We must not try to reach the world alone. We are the Body of Christ, we work as one man.

“We are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” Ephesians 4:15,16

For four hundred years, Heaven was silent. The deserts of the Negev howled with scorching wind. The people of God toiled under foreign oppressors. Priests carried out the sacrifices at the temple, but the presence of the Spirit was gone. All across Israel, farmers, shepherds, masons, fishermen, worked and cared for their families, trying to hold fast to hope and remember the promise. Some held onto to their faith, but many turned aside and did not love the Lord with all their heart.

And far away, on other continents and distant shores, in the farthest reaches of the world, the souls of humanity all felt the same longing. Sin and hatred seemed unchecked as nations slaughtered and oppressed one another for the sake of their grandfathers’ wars. Darkness reigned in the heart of man.

And then, everything changed. Unto the world, a Child was born. And His name was God with us. The victorious Lamb of God, His life changed the face of history, His sacrifice sent ripples into eternity, and His resurrection left death defeated in the grave.

This is the Story of Salvation.

The book of Acts must be seen as a sequel. Luke’s Gospel is Volume I, Acts is Volume II, and they both tell the same story. The story is the story of God sending His only Son on a rescue mission to earth. Salvation was revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people” – Titus 2:11

The first part of story is of Jesus’ birth, life, death, burial, resurrection and ascension. The savior came and brought freedom. He rescued. He took the sins and shame of the all history upon His shoulders and died as an innocent sacrifice, slain by the wrath of God. Atonement and redemption was worked for all. Death, sin, Satan and demons lay conquered in the grave when He rose. He was the “firstborn from among the dead.” – Colossians 1:18 He was the firstborn of a whole new race. Glorious ones, children of God clothed in His righteousness.

But story of salvation was not finished. “The grace of God has appeared” and now it was time for “bringing salvation to all people.” Salvation was for the whole world. When Jesus ascended from the Mount of Olives, He left the second half of the task in the hands of His children and gave them the Great Commission. That is the story of Acts. It is the physical body of Christ spreading out from Jerusalem, to Judea and to the ends of the earth. This new race of people, indwelt with the Holy Spirit and their feet shod with readiness, set forth and brought the Gospel of Peace to the world. The Gospel traveled far and it traveled fast. By 52 A.D. it had been brought all the way to India by Thomas the Apostle.

The book of Acts is still being written to this day, for the mission is not complete. The Gospel is still going forth, but still, there is half of the world waiting to hear it for the first time. The spread of the Gospel has not been balanced, for God’s children have not been faithful to obey with their whole hearts. There are many nations and languages where the Gospel has resided for a hundreds and hundreds of years, but many others to where it has never come. It is the mission of the Church, the body of Christ to continue until all have heard. God has done mighty things over the past two centuries, and indigenous churches have been planted in some of the most unreached areas of the world. They are now the front lines of the Great Commission amongst those who have yet to hear. It is now the place of the established and blessed Western Church to assist, equip, partner and pray with these national bodies of believers to reach those who have never heard.

This is my place in the Great Commission, to pour out my life in service to God’s servants in South Asia; through any means possible to stand with them in prayer, financial support and training that they might be better equipped to make disciples and begin fellowships in the most remote areas of the subcontinent.

I know that one day people from every tongue, tribe and nation will gather together, and we will sing to the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. I live out my life with that day in view. I will continue to fight on the front lines until He comes or takes me home.

So Spirit, breathe upon us I pray, that we might bring the light of truth into a desperate world.

“…and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.” – Ezekiel 37:10

His scars were deep. One ran across his cheek, from the right ear to the chin. The other was smaller, on his collarbone area. Obasi’s dark brown hands gripped the chains of the swing as he sat, allowing the wind to push him. Faded orange tee-shirt, close shaved head, bright white teeth that were brilliant in contrast to his skin when he smiled, but smiling was rare.

Nigeria had taken away all his smiles. Obasi and his father had escaped genocide. His mother had not. The same knife that slashed his face had taken his mother’s life seconds later. His father had been away at the mines that day. The village was burned to the ground, few survived.

Obasi gazed across the playground at his father, who sat on a picnic table, a neglected newspaper lying next to him. Headlines in the U.K. did not have much to say about Nigeria. His father was a strong, gentle man. Long sleeves concealed muscled arms from a life of hard labor. Somehow, they had made it to the U.K. and began a new life. The laughter and voices of the other children told Obasi that there was still happiness in this world. His father wanted nothing else than for him to be safe like those children.

On the other side of the playground sat a girl named Alisha, about eighteen years old. Her scars were shallow, but many, on both forearms. They were the kind you get from slashing yourself, as if you could bleed out the pain. They were quite obvious to anyone who cared to look, but no one seemed to care to look at Alisha anymore. She wore black pants and a grey tank-top; her eyes were green and pretty, but hidden by her hair.

Most people at school didn’t notice her. Many of her days were spent by the Thames, toes in the water. She often contemplated if she jumped in if it would carry her out to sea. Graduation was soon, and she had no idea what she would do. Alisha and her best and only friend had planned on going to college together. But two years ago she had gotten hit by a drunk driver, and was dead within minutes. They had often come to this playground to sit and talk, but now Alisha sat alone.

Jeremy wore a short sleeved blue polo. He looked good, but all of his scars were inside. He stood at the bottom of the slide, with a smile on his face to catch his little daughter as she came down. He had short blond hair, and tanned skin from the Iraq sun. He had hung up his fatigues a year ago, but still wore them almost every night in his nightmares. He had Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, but would never admit it. He had lost half his squad in a firefight, and he could not forgive himself.

He used to pray for peace, for a quick end to the war, but now he could not find faith to ask again. He wondered if anyone was even listening up there, or maybe God thought it was alright to allow twelve year olds to carry AK-47s. He liked taking his children to the playground, but the sand reminded him too much of the desert, so they usually didn’t stay long.

Obasi was swinging, enjoying the rush of air, and the funny feeling you get when you close your eyes on the swing. When he opened them, he saw a new person on the far side of the playground. He slowed the swing.

He was a man of about thirty. He wore no shoes, his feet stood in the warm sand. His eyes were brown, with hints of the blue sky above reflected in them. He began walking toward Obasi. He passed Alisha and paused, looking at her he spoke two words “Daughter, friend.” She stood up followed him.

“Jeremy, come.” Jeremy walked after him, three children in tow. Everyone at the playground was staring at the new man.

Obasi’s father was walking towards the man. All was quiet for a moment, and then all of them met at the swings. The new man looked straight into Obasi’s eyes. There was sadness there, as only there could be in someone who has lost their closest loved one, and yet also; joy.

“Child, do you know who I am?” Obasi nodded slowly. He knew. As if by a breath, a gust of wind swept across the playground. The loose fitting robe that man had been wearing was stripped off and fell at His feet. He stood with no shirt, in shorts. Nobody could take their eyes off of Him. His back was etched with hundreds of scars, many of which wrapped around his shoulders and stomach. They were deep, and jagged, the kind you get from a Roman whip.

He lifted His hands and took Obasi’s hand’s in His own. There were deep holes in each of His wrists. And Obasi knew; these were scars of love.

“He was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.” – Isaiah 53:5