Hey everyone!
I am home in Raleigh until Sunday, when my family is taking me up to Washington for launch. I got back from South America last Thursday and have been resting and tying up loose ends at home since then.
Our trip was wonderful, and I feel so blessed to have gone. Later this week, I will blog about it, but I have a little more processing to do before then. What I can say for now is that it was strange and wonderful to be there, in a place that feels like home. I felt very liminal, a literary term for a character who finds himself between two worlds, on the cusp of one, while in the doorway of another. That is very literally where I am in life right now, with the season of the college life ending and the world race beginning, with home behnd me and the world ahead; but as I have reflected on this reality I realized that it also reflects where we are spiritually as Christians. We are between worlds, or really, we are coexisting in two realms. On this trip to South America, I think the imagined divide between the physical and the spiritual worlds became less defined. It was in some ways difficult to distinguish them, which is probably because they are indistinguishable, now that Jesus has torn the veil and is bringing His Kingdom on earth just like in Heaven.
God showed Himself to be faithful, powerful, loving, and good. We loved and we were loved. We expienced Holy Spirit's power. We had our paradigms shifted in Argentina. We had our expectations blown away in Chile. Several on our team gave their lives to Jesus in Peru. 200 people gave their lives to Jesus in the jungle, growing their church to 225. That is the Kingdom.
I preached at a youth conference in Lima, and talked about repentance. The theme of the conference was "integridad total!" I would like to share the message God gave me with you all.
In the theme of "total integrity", we must recognize a very important truth from John 15:3-4 "You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me."You are already clean because of what Christ has done. Abide. The message of the gospel is that he did what we cannot. It is an invitation to respond to His work.Repentance is not apologizing. Repentance is not the work of changing your behavior. Repentance is literally changing your mind or your perspective.Matt. 4:17 "From that time on Jesus began to preach, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'" His message was that the kingdom was within their reach and they had to have a paradigm shift to receive it.The Kingdom of Heaven is nothing like the kingdom of this world. It a totally supernatural kingdom that we cannot enter with natural minds. We have to be born again. There is no other way to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus told them that repentance was the way to receive this new life.If we make repentance about what we can do to get right with God, then we have directly gone against Paul's warning in Galatians 2:21 "I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!" If we think that that is repentance, then we make our salvation a works-based salvation, and we set aside the grace of God!We mustn't do this! Brothers and sisters, let's read on and see what Paul says next: "You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain? So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? So also Abraham "believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness" (Galatians 3:1-6).We cannot be good enough for God. Most Christians understand that. What many seem to lose sight of, though, is how we must continue to rely on the Spirit. When we get saved, we may give God our heart and ask Him to grow us in His way, but often times, we slowly begin retracting this offering.For some people, this means that they turn back to sins like drugs, alcohol, lust and sexual immorality. For other people, it means that they begin to think themselves self-sufficient. They notice that they can perform pretty well and turn away from the Spirit and back to the Works of the Law. Both of these paths lead to destruction!Here in Peru, I think many people do not understand God's intention in repentance. Repentance can be confused with confession, and can become just another thing to do. Visiting a priest and telling him what you did wrong every so often is not repentance. Is there a change of perspective? Is there life that follows? When Jesus preached repentance, the sick were healed, the demons were cast out and the lepers were cleansed. That is the point of repentance.Where I am from in the united states, the word "repent" brings to mind mental images of an angry old preacher hitting people with his bible and telling them that they will go to hell if they don't wear longer dresses or have shorter hair. That doesn't really reflect the love of Jesus any better than the burden of constantly needing to return to the confession both.God is calling you to a life of freedom, liberation, and love. That is the point of repentance. Not to feel bad. Not to promise Him you will try harder next time. To have a change of perspective.Paul tells us in Romans 2:4 that "God's kindness is intended to lead you to repentance." Anger isn't the driving force behind repentance. Harsh holiness isn't why it is necessary. It is all about His kindness.For some of you, you have never had a kindhearted father. Maybe he is absent or distant or abusive. For you, God is saying: "Give me a chance to show you my love and kindness. Let me show you that I am gentle and trustworthy. I desire to take away your heart's pain and hurt and replace it with my joy. I will be careful with you."For others, when you encounter the kingdom of heaven, a part of repentance will be throwing off the things that have chained you down. When God changes our perspective our response is to follow Him. The disciples had to drop their nets to follow Jesus. Many people in acts 19 had to burn the demonic books that had power over them. Ask Him to show you what these things are and then come, write them down and burn them away.Hebrews 12:28-29 tells us: "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our 'God is a consuming fire.'" He desires to burn away our chains and is jealous for our affection and attention.
I love you all! I can't believe I launch in a week! Ireland, here we come!
