Guatemala: First Mission Trip

So, Kristen and I have been blessed with the opportunity to go to Guatemala. This will be her third time visiting with the people of Guatemala, and my first time ever leaving the United States. I am extremely excited to go and help people in need and share Jesus with people who need Him. I have always had a heart to share Jesus with people abroad, but have never had the opportunity to go. Planning this trip has been filled with lessons and blessings from God.

As you may well know, mission trips are very costly. At first, Kristen and I were both pretty overwhelmed with the cost of it all. She was invited to go, and so I told her I would help her raise the money that she needed. We set up a website, and made a few Facebook banners, and spent a lot of time creating the video that you see above. At first the response was pretty slow, but we both continued to trust God. Many of the sermons and discussions that were going on at our home church were about abiding in God and trusting in Him despite overwhelming circumstances. I was invited to lead worship at Full Gospel for a few nights, and the guest speaker invited Kristen to come speak at his church. Long story short, over the next few days, God provided enough money for not only Kristen but for both of us to go.

Since that time we have both been overwhelmed by the generosity of the people that we have come into contact with. We are taking about 4 full duffel bags full of donated clothing, all which will be a huge blessing to the people that we are going to minister to. We have purchased a few soccer balls which we are going to bring and hand out to kids. Our hope is that they see our love and know that it is only from God. Please pray for the trip! We want to have a lasting impact on the people of Guatemala. I plan on making a few posts about the trip, if for nothing else but to have it as a keepsake. Kristen and I appreciate all of the support and prayers!

I Am

I am a Christian.

Simply put, this means that I have recognized in myself a void that I cannot fill, a problem that I cannot fix, and an evil that I cannot make good. I have seen Truth, and have come into contact with Goodness, and I have found myself lacking. In my dismay, I have turned to the very source of Truth and Goodness and have found there a Savior, Jesus Christ. The very definition of a Savior is one who saves or rescues someone from danger. I was in danger of a life lived in vain, and an eternity spent in agonizing remembrance of it. I was a criminal living in a lifestyle of sin, bound for judgment when He found me. My search for Him led me to realize that it was Him who was searching for me the whole time. He found me, and he plucked me out of my low position. He took those very things that I lacked upon himself and has given me access again to the Creator, who has filled the void that was inside of me. As the songwriter says:

 “I once was lost, but now am found… was blind, but now I see.”

It is with this newfound vision that I see the world with. What I see is alarming, scary, and overwhelming. It is a society who is quickly making it their sole purpose to negate the very experience that I had with Truth. It is a society that seeks to persuade the world that Truth is relative, and that what one person feels is right is right for them, and what I feel is right is right for me. As soon as I, or people like me, raise their hand and stand against that logic, we are met with cries of ignorance, close-mindedness, and religious zealotry.

A zealot? A zealot is defined as “a person who is fanatical and uncompromising in pursuit of their religious, political, or other ideals.” I will gladly take this definition upon myself. I am zealous! I am zealous, because I have cause to be. There has been a change inside of me, and I must share it with the world. I must tell the world that I was far away from God, but Jesus brought me near. I was broken, and even as a church boy, the worst of all sinners, but Grace found me and saved me.

Now, in light of recent political events, I feel compelled to share what I believe to be true from the Word of God.

I will not stand and say that homosexuality is right. I have judged it against the Truth and found that it is not. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Leviticus 18:22) But, I will love the homosexual, and recognize that their sin is not different from my own. They are in need of a Savior, just as I was.

In the same manner, I will not condone the pastor that preaches the Word on Sunday, and is addicted to pornography the rest of the week (Matthew 5:28). I will not say that abortion is acceptable, when the Bible declares multiple times over multiple people that even while they were in their mother’s womb they were called and set apart for good works. (Isaiah 49:1, 5, Jeremiah 1:4-5) I will not say that adultery, lying, cheating, stealing, lust, idolatry, wrath, vengeance or any other sinful thing is acceptable, because you have accepted it.

This has nothing to do with my politics, and everything to do with a man who has set me free from quite a few things on that list. I was there, I was in sin. I lived without hope, and without a future. But Jesus found me, and rescued me, and now I will live this life hopelessly abandoned to the cause of telling the homosexual, telling the sinner, telling the hurt and the wounded, that Jesus makes whole. Jesus conquers mistakes and changes selfish lifestyles.

You may be thinking the famous phrase that most people think when they feel convicted or feel as though their lifestyle choices are under attack: “Don’t judge me.” You are likely taking that phrase from Matthew 7:1-2:

1“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

What you may not know is that word judge comes from the Greek word "Krino" which means to separate, put asunder, to pick out, select, or choose. You are absolutely right. I have no right to select or separate you according to your works. That is for God to do. He alone can and will divide the just from the unjust. What I can and will do is judge what is righteous from what is not. (I Corinthians 2:15) I will make no apology for saying that Truth is absolute, that Truth is Jesus Christ. I will make no apology for not giving in and saying that a sinful nature is okay. I am not perfect, I am forgiven and my sinful nature has been transformed. If it can happen for me, it can happen for anyone. I will not go with the flow and be swayed by the forceful wind of a society who tries to use the Truth to justify their continued sinful life.

No. I am a Christian. I have been changed. I have been forgiven and redeemed. I lived in sin once, and have been called out of it and set free from it. Call me a zealot if you wish, but I will not apologize for clinging to the one thing that can soften hearts and change lives. I will not compromise what I believe to satisfy the status quo.

I am a Christian. By my nature I am different. I was far away from God, but Jesus brought me near. He changed my heart, and He can change yours too.