UPCOMING MISSION TRIP

MISSION TRIP TO PHILIPPINES: I will be traveling with the Training Leaders International team to the Philippines to teach the book of 2 Timothy to a group of Pastors. This is the final course of the 9 course three year curriculum so these Pastors will be celebrating their graduation. I am looking forward to my third visit with this group. We leave on May 24th and return on June 3rd. If you would like to donate to this trip see header HOW TO DONATE TO MY TRIP.

 
"But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death." (James 1.14-15) From an early age we sinners have learned to allow our normal human desires to become the god we serve. Our materialistic and permissive society helps us to make these desires lord over us. Each one of us is tempted to fulfill our own desires with people and things and excesses that are in disobedience to God. God wants to, and can, meet all of our desires in accordance to His will and in His time as we learn to obey Him. By the power and work of the cross the lordship of our desires is broken and Jesus is made Lord of our desires. Our desire for Jesus overrules the desires of the flesh. As we learn to walk in the Spirit and make God our God, our desires are naturalized again, even though their attraction to be satisfied by sin will not be fully removed until we get those new bodies when our redemption is complete. So let us grow in our desire for Jesus so that the lures and enticements that call our desires to lord it over us will be put in place by our submission to the our Lord Jesus Christ. Be in the Word of God and in the presence of God regularly and learn to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. Flee those lust of the flesh. Run to Jesus. Put away those false intimacies of the mind, those vain imaginations, and let your mind be transformed by the Word of truth.
 

DO GOOD - SUFFER- ENDURE IN CHRIST

PRAY WITH ME FOR AFRICA: In the democratic republic of Congo (DRC) the long despised and neglected Pygmy people have turned to Christ in large numbers. Pray for deeper understanding and commitment for nominal believers and  for the building of disciples and Bible based churches.

As a follower of Jesus Christ you have been called to suffer and endure as Christ did. Christ suffered and endured suffering without sinning, seeking to deceive, or threatening in retaliation those who caused the suffering. Neither should we retaliate against those who hate and badger us for the name of Christ. Instead, when we suffer we are to continue to entrust ourselves to God who judges righteously, even as Jesus did. Are concern is to be right with God, not to be praised by men (Galatians 1.10).

If we are doing good to others they are attacking us because they see the image of Christ in us or because the goodness we are showing them is exposing their deep hurts and needs and what they find deficit in their lives. We are not to take these attacks personally but as a plea for pity and as a cause for us to pray and show mercy because they need Christ. As Christ our master suffered so suffering is promised to the true believer (Philippians 1.29; 2 Timothy 3.12), but our response is to be Christlike in the character of Christ. Remember both suffering and a Christlike response is part of your calling as a follower of Christ who follows in his steps.
Here are some precious verses to meditate on this week: "if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly." 1 Peter 2.20b-23
Have a blessed week and pray for us who are attending the T4G 18 conference in Louisville KY. 

Good articles for this week:
He Preached a Big God with a Broken Heart: Charles Spurgeon (1834–1892)
Suffering will come when we place our authority on Christ and the Bible.
 
Fire breaks out at World Food Program warehouses in Yemen
Pray for Yemen's great need of good and Jesus Christ.

CALLED TO OBTAIN A BLESSING

PRAY WITH ME FOR AFRICA: Since 1980 the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has religious freedom. Many social, health and education services are now maintained by Christian groups because of a lack of a functioning government. DRC is 92% Christian (50% Catholic, the remaining Protestant and independent churches). Much of this Christianity is nominal and embraces traditional African beliefs. The cost of human life to missionaries has been high both in the Simba rebellion of 1964 and internal conflicts since 1991 to today. Pray for present missionaries and a benevolent and effective government.

FLAG OF DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

Blessings on you! I often add this as a closing remark in emails, cards and so on. I was especially surprised this week when reading 1 Peter 3.9. In my mind, as I read, I anticipated the final words of verse 9 to be "bless, for to this you were called, that you may be a blessing". So often Christians are called to give of themselves in every circumstance, but in this verse the act of blessing those who do evil against us and abuse us is so that we will obtain a blessing. The following verses, 10-12, validate this promise with a quote from the Old Testament. Then in verse 14 Peter writes, "But even if you should suffer for righteousness sake, you will be blessed".

 The principle at work here is that God sees and knows our circumstances as verse 12 tells us, and God will bless His people as they submit to Him and bless others and do not become angry or take revenge. "If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you." 4.14. You see we live before God, in submission to God, and God's desire is to bless us as we bless, forgive, and love others in God's name and for God's glory. This is not the way of the world but the way of God in the world. We are blessed, not with material things, but with the indwelling Spirit of God who is glorifying us in Christ. Seek to be blessed by God through your obedient attitude to God and toward others.

Good articles from this week:

Pleasure Set Him Free from Sexual Sin: Augustine (354–430)

Cross purposes: The battle for Christianity in Canada

A long article that shows Christianity without the authority of God's Word. This is what you can expect in the church in the coming years. A Christianity that is not Christian but lawless.

https://trainingleadersinternational.org/stories/857/higher-power

You may have already read this story from my trip to Liberia