“If the cruel torture of crucifixion
could not silence our Lord’s prayer for
His enemies, what pain, pride,Â
prejudice, or sloth could justify the
silencing of ours?”    John Stott
Believing and Behaving
In the study of Acts, we are seeing the stresses and strains that grew out of preaching of the gospel to people whose roots were firmly planted in Judaism. This clarifying article , “Does our Ability to act Morally depend on Who we Worship?” by John Piper addresses what Paul was facing chapter after chapter of Acts.Â
This helps us weigh what was at stake when Judaizers sought to pull the gospel off the axis of Jesus and what He has done– to some man centered religion about what man seeks to do for God.Â
Our goal of making ourselves the source of righteousness reveals who we are worshipping!
I am reminded of a quote that I have read in so many places I do not know who to give credit to:
All we have or have ever had to offer God is sin!
Rainbow Connection
June 14, 2004
Dear Jane,
I trust the time with Nancy and David Writebol was good for all, they seem like such a devoted missionary couple. I told Mike I hope you heard stories of people impassioned for Christ. I look forward to seeing them at Enrichment Week in San Antonio.
I went to Owino Market on Monday and bought 57 T-shirts, 2 pair of sandals, 42 pairs of shorts and 5 book bags for under $100. Each outfit for the children costs 75 cents! For the last two days I have been culling worn out, too little clothes from the cottages and replacing them with “new” things. The children are thrilled and are colorful as rainbows. When I give new clothes to the children, I have to first take the old ones away. If I leave them in the cottages, the mamas continue to have the children wear them no matter what the condition. This is not a culture that has the luxury of “throwing things out” — it just is not done here. They really do not have any understanding of why I come and take things away! It is very difficult for them and they continue to tell me that a pair of shorts or shirt is still good–regardless of the holes or faded look.
When I do get clothes out of the cottages, it is when they are in better condition than what most children in the surrounding areas are wearing. I take the clothes that are recyclable to Central Baptist in Wakiso and let Susan distribute them to the children in her congregation. I will never forget the day we went there for Sunday School and a little three year old girl came in by herself totally naked except for a string tied around her waist. I actually bought her a church outfit and knickers which she was so proud of she lifted her dress for everyone to see!
I had a fun morning with the aunties and children. It is Hero’s Day and so all the children were home doing chores from 9-10. At 10 the aunties had promised them that we would go get mangoes. Kasmiri our gardener got a long pole and jabbed at the mangoes until he had knocked about 15 out of a tree. We had a feast. 
They like to eat their fruit before it is ripe here so the taste of an unripe mango is about like a Granny Smith apple. We sat and laughed and enjoyed those mangos and it was a sweet time of fellowship.
Later, Mike and I went to town for groceries and we found my favorite
cracker in stock so I am a happy woman! It is difficult to find crisp things here and I get so hungry for that. Mike discovered a cracker made in Malaysia that is really the ticket! I can’t tell you how thrilled you can get when you find something like what you loved in the States–it makes a party!
It is Marsha’s afternoon to cover the activity time and dining hall so I am in with Casey who is off from school. We gave Edith a ride home from work and she took me to her place to meet the 2 orphans that she raises along with her own 3 children. John and Norbert are from 2 different women who have died of AIDS and named Edith as the caretaker. Edith’s countenance about this is never that it is burdensome or out of the ordinary to pick up a couple of extra children. She cannot imagine that there was any other response than to joyfully take these children in. One of the boys is infected with HIV but Edith has kept that from the other children so that he will not be ostracized. In material things, this family is not rich but in love and care they are most blessed!
Well it is the end of the day and I am going onto the porch with a glass of tea, my Bible and watch the sun go down…..
I hope the Lord is very near you today my friend.
with much love,
lissa
Its All About Me
“If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves.Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross.”Philippians 2:1-8
Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.” Luke 9:23
The verse is Philippians snatches the rug out from under my natural “Me-ology.” Jesus was not like us Americans! He did not think equality was the highest value in life! For Him the highest good–the greatest joy was found in emptying Himself for the sake of others. He did not demand that it be all about Him–even though in reality it is!
As Paul describes the self giving attitude of Christ, he invites us to consider a value that he says leads to complete joy…having the same mind and the same love as Christ.
“I am personally convinced that this submission, this dying to self, this crucifying of pride is crucial to our joy. We think of denying self as somber, grim-faced business when it is in truth a prelude to dancing.
The reason our death [to self] increases the joy level all around is that it also increases the love level all around.
Only when we die to self can we fully love another.
Self is a devilish creature, demanding all of our energy, wanting our constant attention, reaching even into our pocketbooks for favors.
How can we ever hope to be attuned to another when self screams for our constant care?
When self is alive and well, it offers us an all-or-nothing proposition.
We either pacify self, or crucify it!”
Judson Edwards
Pathway to joy is the pathway that goes from “Me-ology” to “Thee-ology!”
God Grew Tired of Us
Over the weekend our family rented the documentary “God Grew Tired of Us.” It is the story of 3 of the “lost boys” of Sudan who were resettled in America. 
These were boys who had survived incredible challenges and who had grown up in Kakuna refugee camp in Kenya. The “lost boys” were children who fled Sudan by the thousands when many of them were just toddler age. Their journey was as compelling as it was disturbing. Marching over a thousand miles in search of sanctuary when the civil war broke out in their land, about half of the 27,000 died on the journey.
The young men in this documentary–Panther, Daniel and John allowed the cameras to see the challenges of relocation. The boys felt guilty for having food when they knew their brothers in Kenya were still starving. they felt selfish living well when their friends were living without. These emotions prompted them to send some of their meager earnings back to friends and family in Africa.
They longed for the deep sense of interdependence and community that had sustained them for all their years in the refugee camps. They experienced hurt and confusion when Americans allowed busyness and their desire for independence and privacy to overrule expressions of kindness and caring. They were enormously grateful for the opportunity to have a new life but baffled at how much “life” they lost when the bonds of deep relationships had to be severed in the move to America.
“ After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing near the throne and in front of the Lamb.” Revelation 7:9
It seems tragic to me that there are people in the world who feel forgotten by God, or think that they have become tiresome to Him.
How will we represent the Lord so that their vision of Him can be set right?
It is not God who has tired of these brothers and sisters in Africa–or who ignores the results of wars that continue to displace thousands— it is us.
“But Zion said, ‘I don’t get it. God has left me. My Master has forgotten I even exist.’
‘Can a mother forget the infant at her breast, walk away from the baby she bore?Â
But even if mothers forget, I’d never forget you—never. Look I have written your names on the backs of my hands.Â
The walls you’re rebuilding are never out of my sight…You’ll know then that I am GOD. No one who hopes in me ever regrets it.”
Isaiah 49:14-23Â The Message
John Piper is Bad
Those who know me know how much I have been influenced by the teaching of John Piper. This video pokes a little fun at him and is too funny! Take a look!
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-GxkAJ1OBU]
Nothing will be Impossible for God
Today, I asked the Lord to unite my heart with those of His children who are sitting in dark jail cells because of their love of Jesus.Â
Today, I confessed to the Lord that I rarely think of those who are persevering in faith after been ostracized and hated by family and friends because they honor the name of Jesus.
Today, I thanked God that He is a God who sees the distress of each of His suffering saints with the eyes of compassion, that He hears their cries for mercy and His heart inclines to rescue, that He is a God of justice and a Shepherd of His flock.
Today, as I sit in comfort, I asked the Lord to comfort my brothers and sisters with the prayers of those who have the persecuted church on their minds and hearts.
Today, in this devotional, I was reminded that nothing will be impossible for my God. AMEN