The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!" And he said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you [that you have this successful(!) ministry], but rejoice that your names are written in heaven [that you have me forever]."A couple of weeks ago at The Blazing Center, I saw a link to Christ Is Deeper Still and a short caption that said that if you could only read one blog, that should be the one. I couldn't more wholeheartedly agree. For several months now, it is one of maybe two or three blogs I visit daily. And if I could only have one of them, it wouldn't be a difficult choice. What Ray writes is almost always thought-provoking, challenging, and graciously prophetic. Graciously prophetic. That's a rare combination. But above all, it always points us to Christ as all in all, still more awesome than we know. Hearing him talk about his dad in this clip, it's not difficult to understand why he's grown up to become the man he is and why his blog has the flavor that it does.
Luke 10:17-20
The Puritan identity. On a journey to a better country (Hebrews 11:16), going further up and further in to the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God (Romans 11:33) by laboring to delight in the law of the LORD and meditate on it day and night (Psalm 1:2) while the war and conflict relentlessly rage on until Christ comes (Romans 7:22-25) or calls me home.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Ministry Isn't Everything. Jesus Is.
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6 comments:
Hi Chris, I came across this blog and the Kenya Koinonia blog recently through Facebook. Through Veritas I listened to the sermon "Identity Check" . I was greatly encouraged by it & I can't say how grateful I am to God for letting me hear his Word in such a powerful way. thanks letting God use you like that!!
Elise? Did you change your name? Great to hear from you! How are you these days? What are you up to?
Thanks for stopping by and saying hi. I'm glad you you were encouraged by the message. Praise Jesus! The Lord is always so gracious to me in the way He feeds my soul as I prepare to preach and I rejoice if anyone can receive even a fraction of the blessing that I receive through preparation. I thank Him for being pleased to use me in that way.
Grace be with you!
Hi there! I wasn't sure if you would remember me! Stanford feels like a lifetime ago. I go by Elise and Haji, the name my family calls me. I just finished Nursing school and now I'm looking for a job. I got to go to India on a medical mission last month with Peninsula Bible Church, & it was amazing!!!
What are you doing now? Are you in Kenya?
Hey can you recommend some churches down here in Southern California? I emailed Pastor Brad from Veritas because I loved their sermons so much, I was hoping there'd be a similar church plan down around here.
Hi Elise,
That's really cool that you got to go to India. What a blessing! I imagine that must have been pretty intense though, with how different things are there compared to here!
No, I'm not in Kenya. I'm still working in downtown San Jose and I've been going to church in Morgan Hill for the past 3 years but am in the process of transitioning to being part of the core team at Veritas for the rest of the year, with the hope of heading out to Kenya at the start of 2011. The idea is for me to partner with Brad and help lighten his load in any way I can while at the same time getting equipped through this experience at Veritas so that I am better prepared for being able to lead a church plant in Kenya.
What part of SoCal are you in? I have a good friend in South LA who I could connect you with if you are close but the next best option I would say is to go to 9 Marks and enter your zip code to find like-minded churches in the nearby area. This site is one of the means God used to bring me and my friend to West Hills 3 years ago.
I pray God will lead you to a home church you'll be able to grow and serve in. Please let me know if I can help in any other way.
Thanks so much for the link to Mark9, I'll definitely make use of it. I'm in Orange County, so almost forty five minutes south of LA.
yes definitely India was so different from here. we saw a lot of suffering and I never felt like we were doing enough for the Dalits. I thought that when I got back I would have a lot of sad stories to share , but when I look back what stands out most to me is the hope shining out of those places. To see the Gospel transform lives of the people there literally from death to life. We spent a lot of time with HIV patients & dying people who were so filled with hope. one of my favorite places we visited was a Mission hospital, where the missionary runs a n HIV support group. the wife of an HIV positive man has started her own millet mill in her backyard, and with the support of the group is now running her own business. We got to see the mill, it looks like a car engine attached with carpeting to a grinder. it was amazing!!
It's been good connecting with you again Chris! I'm excited and encouraged to hear about the direction you're headed and I will be praying for the church plant in Kenya. I'm pretty sure my email is subscribed to get updates from the Kenya blog.
Sounds like the time in India was really awesome! Thanks for sharing that bit. Very cool to hear about the gospel transforming individual lives!
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