If

By: Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

Honduras Trip Q and A

What: A mostly-Mexican missions trip to Honduras. We will be broken into three teams at three different church sites. Those sites will be ministering in everything from encouraging the church to grow in discipleship, presenting a missions conference, evangelism and children's Bible clubs.

Who:

This short-term trip will give people from 7 different countries and 14 different churches the opportunity to band together get a taste of what missions is like and hopefully encourage them to pursue it further. Our age range is from 18 to 49 and we are quite the motley crew. Our native languages are Spanish, English and Portuguese. However, it is awesome to see how Christ unites us and we are eagerly awaiting what He will do through us!

When: We will be there over Holy Week. We fly out the 15th, participate in our projects from the 16th to the 25 and then fly back on the 26th.

Where: 3 church and ministry locations in La Ceiba, Honduras.

Why:

--The purpose of the trip is to encourage Mexicans to reach out in missions. The prevailing mindset for years has been that the United States sends missionaries and Mexico is always on the receiving end. A major goal of this trip is to challenge Mexican youth to realize the potential that they have to serve and the call that they have from God to go and make disciples of all nations.

--We also pray that this trip would be an encouragement to the Honduran churches that we are going to support.

--Obviously we also pray that through this trip we would have an opportunity to share the reason for the hope that we have within us.

How:

-->In short, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

How (expanded):

--Our main preparation for these ministries has been practicing skits (both for the church and as an outreach), songs, testimonies and devotionals. We realize that unforeseen changes in plans are par for the course in missions work, but our aim is to be as prepared as possible for any situation.

--This past Saturday in our meeting one of our leaders gave us a brief evangelism training in which she addressed the importance of listening to the other person, asking lots of open questions,

--We are also enthusiastic to meet Honduran brothers and sisters in Christ and be able to share our lives and testimonies with them. (1 Thess. 2:8) We pray that the church there will be blessed and strengthened by our time there, albeit brief.

Please be praying that God would give us unity as we are a group diverse in nationalities, denominations and interests. This could be a point of extreme effectiveness as we use all of our different gifts... or it could be a nightmare with a lot of misunderstandings. Please pray that the first would be the case that we would be able to glorify God and that others would know that we are Christians by our love. (John 13:35)

The Love of God

God is love

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 1 John 4:7-10

God loves us even when we are un-loveable!!

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Rom. 5:8

God loves us so much that He did not spare even His own Son to ransom us:

"He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?"

Rom. 8:32

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

John 3:16

"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved."

Eph. 2:3-5

"At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life."

Titus 3:3-7

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

1 John 3:1

Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;

we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Rom. 8:35-39

As I was finding these references, I was reminded that the whole Bible is the story of God's love for us. I mostly focused on His love demonstrated towards humanity in His redemption, but there are so many aspects of God's goodness throughout the Bible, more of which I hope to highlight later. That being said, I pray that the few passages I highlighted were a good reminder for you of the unfathomable love of God.

What is Love?

^{Matt. 5:43-48} “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

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Put another way:

You might be showing love when you rock your precious clean sleeping child to sleep.

-->But the real test of love is if you will reach out to the bully in the garbage dump and care for him... especially when he is biting, scratching and swearing at you to leave him alone.

You might be showing love when you buy your girlfriend roses.

-->But the real test of love is if you would surprise your mom by weeding around her roses.

You might feel like you're "in love" when you daydream about that special someone all day, reliving great conversations you've had or the way he smiles

--> But the real test of love comes when your mind is flooded with memories of how someone has hurt you, down to the very words, tone and facial expressions... and you still choose to care for them and put their interests above your own.

You might be acting in love when you clear the day to spend time with your best friend from out of town.

--> But the real test of love is when you give that clingy person your undivided attention and care, knowing that they are a "black hole" of need that is just going to keep sucking more from you.

You might be showing love when you help a sweet little old lady cross the street.

--> But the real test of love is when you choose to respect your grouchy old neighbor.

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When you work in a desperate, thankless situation just because you love God and you love His people, you will be rewarded and you will be like Christ!!

Just Say "Yes!"

Ella Enchanted and Yes Man are both intriguing movies because they present the idea of two people who can do nothing but obey requests given to them. I am so thankful that God has given us the opportunity to make decisions, not having to say yes to every opportunity that comes down the pike. That being said, I must confess that God has been showing me some areas in which I need to say “yes” more often for His glory, regardless of what I’m feeling. Here are some examples of areas in which I have committed to say “yes” to God this year:

-In areas where I feel inadequate or exposed. (As in verbal and social actions) Lately this has taken the form of sharing in front of large groups of people, with varying factors that add to the nervousness, such as a very formal setting, a long sharing time, or the language barrier of doing it all in Spanish! I have also been intimidated by having to pray in Spanish for assorted reasons, and have had to remind myself that I am doing it for the glory of God and the edification of others… how I look, or what people think of my language skills is not what matters! So I might mess up on a verb tense or two… but what’s the alternative? Leaving someone stranded in a desperate situation with no Christian support? Refusing to obey God’s prompting in my heart? Clearly, stepping out in faith and messing up a verb tense or two is the preferable route!

- Pushing on in God’s strength when I feel tired or inadequate (physical actions). God has been showing me that in ministry settings sometimes I put Him in a box when I put myself in a box, saying that I am too tired or need a rest when it is obvious that He is calling me to take steps of action. Note: I am not saying that rest is unimportant... I'm just saying that it is not the most important thing! When I know that God is calling me to act, I cannot hide behind the excuse of being too tired. Rather I need to step out in faith and allow Him to be my strength. I have been noticing this in the very concrete setting of my quiet times with God. He has been making it undeniably clear that the most important thing I can do in my life or in my ministry is to spend time sitting at His feet. To do that with my schedule, though, tends to mean getting up early before the ceaseless stream of daily activities leaves me with no time to think. Most mornings the thought crosses my mind that "Oh, I'm so tired. Just another half an hour of sleep and I'll be so much more productive." However, that was not Christ's mindset at all! He was busy from dawn till dusk too, but He chose to wake up before dawn to spend time with His father (Mark 1:35). The night before He was crucified, He stayed awake communing with God, rather than "resting up" for the grueling day that He knew lay ahead of Him. Since Jesus was fully human as well as fully God, I know that it is humanly possible to follow His lead on this and that the important thing is that I respond to God's leading.

Thank God that He didn't make us robots without a choice in whether or not we would obey His will. Still, I believe that there will always be areas in which we need to exert some willpower and say "yes" when we would rather say "no." I would encourage you to examine your lives and see if there is anything in your life that you are saying "no" to God in because of feelings of inadequacy, complacency or fatigue. If it is something that God is clearly calling you to, something that would bring Him glory, edify the church or otherwise accomplish His will, I have three words for you: Just Say Yes!

Tomorrow's Saturday

I don't know whether to call this a messed up poem, poetic prose, stream of consciousness, or a drug trip. However, here are some thoughts on the night life in Mexico City. :-)

Tomorrow’s Saturday

The lights from houses on an opposing hillside

Twinkle through the polluted city air like fireflies

Gaudy strings of Christmas bulbs

Also try to mimic lightning bugs

But the busy, blaring colors of the former

Can’t hold a candle to the gentle pulsing glow of the latter

The city—a clanging cacophony by day—

Hums an improvised urban lullaby at night

It’s almost midnight, but the neighbors are still awake

In vacation mode after a month of holiday

And besides, tomorrow’s a Saturday

The churning sea of people that daily floods the city streets

Has been channeled into individual homes

Where everyone has a face, a name, and a joke

What contrast these lively dwellings now create

Against the deserted streets where a chilly night breeze blows

Dogs are barking from every rooftop,

Perhaps offended to be excluded from the merrymaking

Perhaps telling some jokes of their own—

It’s hard to say for sure.

As if in response, each nucleus turns up their music some,

Creating another layer of separation between them and the work-a-day outside world

And adding to the general joy of their own little kingdom

The TV is on like always

But like always it is only background noise

Dirty dishes are stacked on the counter with care

In the knowledge that tomorrow soon will be there

It’s 2:30 and only now are people starting to drift off to sleep,

Likely to wake up late

“But who cares,” they think, with a shrug and a grin,

“And next week we’ll surely do it again

“Tonight was worth it,” they sleepily say,

“And besides tomorrow’s Saturday.”

WHAT'S SNEW?

An old pun runs something like:

Punster: Is it snewing much where you live?

Friend: Huh? What's snew!

Punster: What's new? Not much. What's new with you! :-)

I would like to fill you in a bit on what's snew in my life lately. And there's a lot that's snew. :-)

On December 13th I returned home to spend Christmas vacation with my family and be in my best friends wedding. The wedding was the 18th and was entirely beautiful! Such a lovely picture of human love and a testimony to God's love.

The following weekend was a merry and white Christmas, followed by presenting about Mexico in church. Being involved in an incarnational* ministry in Mexico makes the wonder of God's coming to earth as a baby entirely astounding to me, so both the 25th and the 26th were very meaningful for me.

A week later I put the Pennsylvania snow (not to be confused with snew) behind me and found myself basking in the warmth of Florida, where we witnessed another wedding (one of our family friends from our church down there) and had a long overdue visit with my grandmother. Both were lovely... and in the meantime I enjoyed the gorgeous weather, long walks down memory lane and lightning fast roadtrips with my family.

Under 24 hours from the time our wheels hit the driveway of my PA home, they rolled out again for the airport. At 4:30 AM I arrived at the Pittsburgh airport and by 2:00 I was in the Mexico City one. That was yesterday.