I’m just a Noisy Gong, and a Clanging Cymbal
It has only been 6 days, and my mind is already blown, my reliance on God has risen, and I am extremely in love with my savior. This first week here in Ireland, I have been stretched in my faith in so many ways. I have had to step out of my comfort zone on many occasions, and have been faced with multiple beliefs and religious make-ups. I have loved every minute of it, even when in tears of frustration.
This month my team and two other teams are staying in Coleraine, Ireland, and working with a church called, The Vineyard. The people of the church have been so sweet, hospitable, and loving towards us. They have poured into us, and have trained us in multiple of their ministries. One of the ministries that we have been apart of is Sunday food give-away, where we invited folks into the church after church service for coffee, tea, and scones, and give away groceries, while loving on them and their families and having conversations with them. Sometimes it wouldn’t lead anywhere, but others you got to talk about the life while walking with Jesus. We also did a similar thing called “Open Door”, along with the talking and having tea with others; some of us also got to tell our stories to the people afterwards. It was really amazing. We also did something called “Treasure Hunting” where we prayed for God to reveal some people we may encounter during the day and to strike up a conversation with them, and pray for them. (my blog titled “ I’ll take “L” for Two Hundred” is about this. )
Well the most stretching thing I have encountered this week so far has been our “Healing on the Streets” ministry training. I have never been apart of instant physical healing, or even really studied, or thought much about it. To be honest I thought it was weird and I was really just unsure of a lot of it. When we started, I surely just tried to keep an open mind and just listen. I thought I would just listen to the truths, and just brush off the fallacies that I had always known. Instead, I went in and expected nothing. I wanted to let my mind grow. After day 2 of the training, seeing things I have never seen, and hearing things I had never thought about, I was frustrated, angry, and just stunned. I didn’t know what to think. For hours, I poured out my unbelief, I screamed out my anger, and I let my tears flow. I felt lost. I felt like I was no longer grounded, I felt as if I had no belief.
Through all of this my team mates were going through a lot of the same struggles. After the initial debrief of our training, we came back after ministry, and sat around and began to worship God in our passion and desire for more of Him. We started speaking words of truth to each other. Taking turns reading passages after passages (with the help of 3 pints of ice cream shared by 7 of us) and just yearned, and thirsted for our God to show us what He wants. One of the verses one of my teammates came to was 1 Corinthians 13:1-3:
“If I speak in the tongues of men, and of angels, but I have not love, I am only a resounding gong or clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.”
This right here is why it does not matter. If I do not have love, I will not gain a thing. Earlier on in 1 Corinthians 12, talking about the spiritual gifts, everyone is part of the same body. You cannot be a foot, and say you aren’t part of the body. No matter my gifting, I am still a part of the Church’s body, as long as I have love. God’s first command is to Love God, and love others as yourself.
A.W. Tozer, in his book “The Best of A.W. Tozer, talks about the power of a church. He states, “ Its security is its deadliest foe”. As soon as I am secure in where I am with my relationship with the Lord, then that is when I should be worried. I am so grateful, and blessed to be able to question where I stand. I shouldn’t be comfortable. I need more of Him, and that is how I will seek it. I know my God has called me to the place I am, I am exactly where I am supposed to be, and I will rely on Him to show me the way.
More pictures!!!
Beautiful scenery!
Im climbing mountains!!!
Thats from the top facing down!
On our day off, we went to a natural wonder of the world "Giants Causeway"
