A Moody Response

I came across this short anecdote and couldn't help but share it! It was definitely convicting for me because I'm so often quick to criticize when I probably should address my own shortcomings. Anyways, the story is about the evangelist Dwight L. Moody:

"One day a lady criticized D. L. Moody for his methods of evangelism in attempting to win people to the Lord. Moody's reply was "I agree with you. I don't like the way I do it either. Tell me, how do you do it?" The lady replied, "I don't do it." Moody responded "I like my way of doing it better than your way of not doing it."

Wow. Talk about a truth bomb. God, help me to obey you and your commands first instead of trying to hold others to your standards hypocritically. 

No Other God

Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down,
  that the mountains would tremble before you!
As when fire sets twigs ablaze
  and causes water to boil,
come down to make your name known to your enemies
  and cause the nations to quake before you!
For when you did awesome things that we did not expect,
  you came down, and the mountains trembled before you.
Since ancient times no one has heard,
  no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you,
  who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.
                                       ~Isaiah 64:1-4

Selah 

Phil 1:29

"For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only

to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake..."

Victory

There's nothing quite like standing shoulder to shoulder with other men of God, engaging in battle with powers and authorities in Christ's name and on others' behalf, and emerging from battle victorious. I am blessed to have amazing men to stand together and call my brethren with and an awesome God to serve!

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places...With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints..."

-Ephesians 6:12, 18

"but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

-1 Corinthians 12:57

Heading towards the EDGE

I've known since June 6, 2009 that God was calling me to do EDGE with the Navigators, inviting me to pursue Him out of the comfortable and into the unknown and trust him with everything. There's been a HUGE freedom in that knowledge and being able to rest securely in the knowledge that the path before me is laid out. In a lot of ways, that's been one of the major themes of these past two years: God knows where I'm going, so it's ok if I don't as long as I know HIM. He is worthy of my trust and has known before I was even conceived what I would be doing with my life.

However, knowing that I'm supposed to pursue doing EDGE does not equate to knowing everything about next year. There are still a million things that I just don't know the answer to, not even counting the ten million things that aren't even on my radar yet! Among those things that I didn't know was what campus I'd be serving at.

Another major theme for this season of my life has been waiting and hoping in God. Here, just as in other areas, God asked me to be content with not knowing. From a comment that my interviewer made I figured I'd find out where I'd be placed somewhere between mid-March to mid-April. March came and left. April came as well, and was well on its way to leaving and being replaced by May. Still no word.

Finally, during the last week of April that uncertainty changed: for about two weeks now I've known what campus I'll be serving at next year. I've told those of you who asked me directly about it what I know, but I haven't gone around shouting it to you whether you want to know or not :).

I feel that it's been long enough for me to process a bit about the decision to share it.

Next year I'll be on staff with the Navigators here at CSULB! I'm not ignorant of the fact that there are definitely pros and cons to being at ANY school, Long Beach included, but I can't help be anything but excited :). The best part is that it definitely fits into something I distinctly felt God tell me almost four years ago (which will either be in the next blog post or something that I share at Navnite on Tuesday...not sure which yet).

I'm excited for what God has planned for both me and those around me next year. As this season of my life comes to a close, the growth and fruitfulness that I see as I look back makes me just that much more excited about where He's taking me. My prayer for next year echoes Daniel's prayer just after God revealed the interpretation of the king's dream to him:

"Daniel said, 'Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever,

F

or wisdom and power belong to him.

It is he that changes the times and the epochs;

He removes and establishes kings;

He gives wisdom to wise men,

And knowledge to men of understanding.

It is he who reveals the profound and hidden things;

He knows what is in the darkness,

And the light dwells with Him.

To You, O thou God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise,

For You have given me wisdom and power;

Even You have made known unto us the king's matter.' "

~Daniel 2:20-23

more???

1 Thess 4:10b

"But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more." (NASB)


I've been meditating on this idea of excelling "still more"...such an amazing thought! I'll have more to share here after tomorrow night, but I just wanted to share Paul's exhortation: don't settle for staying content with where you're at! An impudent attitude isn't one that's content with where you're at with no future prospects or plans-instead it's one of longing and eager expectation for what God has in store! In the words of another beloved author, "Further up and further in!" :)

Impudence

Our God is an amazing God, Amen?


The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word "impudent" as 1) Wanting in shame or modesty; shameless, unblushing, immodest; indelicate 2) Possessed of unblushing presumption, effrontery, or assurance; shamelessly forward, insolently disrespectful.

I've been dwelling on boldness and impudence for the past few weeks. As I shared at open mic night at Nav Nite, my dad gave me Luke 11:1-13 to read through and meditate on as soon as he heard that I'd been accepted into EDGE. He said, "Begin to ask now...[and] He will answer the impudent prayer." (*impudences is the ESV translation in verse 8 of what appears as "boldness" in the NIV or "persistence" in the NASB)

How can one be impudent with God? How can I present requests to God the same way the man in the parable asked his neighbor for food for his guest at midnight?

By not waiting to ask. By having full assurance that God will take care of EVERYTHING that I need. By taking God's promises at face value and seeing him as Yahweh-yireh, the Lord who sees and provides.

In light of this I've been praying for things in ways that I might not have dared to before. Among other things, I'm already praying (impudently) for God to provide for my fundraising and housing situation next year.


This is where the story gets good and God shows his lovingkindness :D


This past Sunday Zack and I went with Don to a church in Burbank to help him-it was Missions week at the church and so they had a few of the missionaries they were supporting come and share about what they were doing. This church has supported Don and his family for decades now and Don wanted to bring a few "living examples" of what the Navigator ministry at Long Beach was doing. At the two services Zack and I spoke to the people there for about two minutes each during Don's allotted time, answering two simple questions: how the Nav ministry at Long Beach had impacted us and what our plans for the future were.

In answer to the first question I talked about how Navs provided the soil for my faith to germinate, using 1 Cor 3:5-7 and equating my parents, upbringing, and education with Paul and the Navs with Apollos. For the second question I talked a bit about EDGE and going onto staff with the Navigators. I was honest with everyone in attendance and shared that fundraising is a bit of a daunting thing. But I also shared that God's answer to Paul's prayers about his "thorn in the flesh" is the same answer to my needs for next year: "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." (2 Cor. 12:9) I said that that's what next year is all about for me: being weak so that Christ can be exalted through me.

After the first service Zack and I got to talk to a few people from the church but after the second service we had to leave immediately after we were done speaking. Fast forward to tonight at Navs: without saying too much Don came up to me and gave me an envelope with my name on it. I figured it was a thank you note from Don and set it aside for the night. After Don was done speaking I picked it up and opened it.

I was half-right. Along with a thank you from Don was a card with the contact info for one of the missionaries from the church. The last line from Don's note says "This missionary gave this card to me because she wants to support you!"


I have my first donor! And I haven't done anything other than pray for God to provide!

Let me rephrase that, because that's my old view on prayer sneaking through: I've asked impudently and God has accepted the challenge implicit in my prayers, providing before I've even had time to do something that I could claim as my own efforts! I haven't contacted her yet and so nothing is set in stone, but as far as I'm concerned she could tell me that she could only contribute 10 cents a YEAR and the message from God wouldn't change a bit:


"So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened." Luke 11: 9-10


Here I am knocking, God. Impudently, I expect nothing else than for you to answer.