Chillin in South Africa has definitely been an awesome experience… For several awesome reasons.
We’ve been here in Johannesburg, South Africa for only a week, and God has yet again poured out his love and truth within my very soul.
And this hasn’t really come from studying the word, sitting alone with God, or jamming out to some sick worship music… It’s come from going, serving, evangelizing, and giving what I have to others. And it’s funny… I’ve gotten filled up more by giving out what I have rather than trying to seek out more religion for myself.
During this past week, around 20 of us went and did what we call “ATL’s”… Which stands for Ask The Lord. What we do, is we go out in groups of only a few, and seek the Lord in what the Spirit is wanting to do… Who should we talk to… What should we say… How should we heal… It’s a time that’s intentional in seeking after the Holy Spirit’s power, and what He is willing to use us for…whatever it may be… whoever we may come across.
During these times, I got to talk to several people and help them out in any way I could.. And of course, the biggest thing I could possibly give to others, is the Holy Spirit.. So I got to pray over and bless these people with the best thing I have.
Telling stories honesty just doesn’t do reality justice.. So I know by telling you the names of these people and the words that were said and the things that happened, you might respond in a way like “oh that’s so cool”, “oh how nice”, “wow, that’s awesome”, or anything along those lines.. And you know what.. I believe you would probably mean those words. But the thing is, it would be just another story and just another moment in time to where people are updated on the incredible things God’s doing in and through and around me..
But to be quite frank, I’m tired of those responses. Because those kinds of responses don’t ever seem to lead into replication.. It’s just good for people to hear and move on with their lives… But that’s not why I’m on the race, and that’s not why I’m writing this blog.. I wouldn’t waste my time.
Instead, I hope that these words are sharp enough to cut through the deception and sleepiness of what the Church has become, and encourages all of us to rise up, stand up, and start sprinting forward with their walk with Christ… that people will stop settling and start striving. Read my last blog if you want to know what striving looks like, because, well, striving looks like fire.
So, I pray that you might read these words and understand them in a new, fresh revelational kind of way… (Also, please continue to understand that I absolutely love the Church. I love my home church and the global church. But as Christ did himself, I do not mind stepping on toes to get the truth across. And it’s out of love that I have that boldness and desire for what the Church is and who we are called to be).
This week I talked to eight different individuals…
Meet Frank. A human being. Created wonderfully and fearfully. Designed and created in the very image of God himself. Loved beyond measure. He works on cars. He has very little money. He wants to leave where he’s at but he can’t. He wants a better job. The look in his eyes told me he’s not super happy with where he’s at in life. Yet he’s forced to be doing what he’s doing. He’s unnoticed.
Meet Mr. Orange shirt (I don’t know his name). A human being. Created wonderfully and fearfully. Designed and created in the very image of God himself. Loved beyond measure. He’s homeless. He’s been sick for the past few months. His eyes, shot yellow. His hands, shaky. His body, hot. He’s sitting on the street. Eyes that have absolutely no hope for the future. Eyes that are giving up, yet seemingly want another chance. He has no money. He has no job. He’s hungry. He’s hurting. And person after person after person after person are just too busy to stop. Thousands if not millions of people walk by this man every single day… Like he’s a ghost. He’s unnoticed
Meet Thempan. A human being. Created wonderfully and fearfully. Designed and created in the very image of God himself. Loved beyond measure. He’s homeless. He’s tired. He’s young. He has faith in God. He’s hungry. He has worms. And he’s probably the sweetest man I’ve ever met. And person after person after person after person just keep waking by like he doesn’t even exist. He’s unnoticed.
Meet Pumalele. A human being. Created wonderfully and fearfully. Designed and created in the very image of God himself. Loved beyond measure. He lives at a shelter. Two weeks behind on “rent”. Doesn’t have a reliable job. Bold and strong enough to come up to people and tell them straight up his situation. He’s dealing with depression. And too many people say sorry, can’t help ya. He’s unnoticed.
Meet Pastor (I don’t remember his name). A human being. Created wonderfully and fearfully. Designed and created in the very image of God himself. Loved beyond measure. He’s encouraging to us. He’s sharing testimonies. He’s very passionate and spirit led. He gives to everyone he can… day after day. He provides for those in need. And get this. He has no income. Nor does he get any checks from the government. The Lord provides completely, and so much so, he has enough to give away. He seeks the Lord like crazy.
Meet Shirel. A human being. Created wonderfully and fearfully. Designed and created in the very image of God himself. Loved beyond measure. This woman… I tell you what, I bet I’m going to cry as I type these words. She’s 25. She stays at a shelter with family and her five year old son. She’s pregnant and due next month with a beautiful baby girl. She has cancer. The baby daddy, he’s Muslim. She’s been abused… She’s unnoticed.
Meet two Jehovah Witnesses. Human beings. Created wonderfully and fearfully. Designed and created in the very image of God himself. Loved beyond measure. They believe they believe in the truth. They are confident in what they are saying. They speak as though other “believers” need to learn. They see the world as a dark dark place. They speak heresy.
These people are real people. They have real lives. They have real souls. They have real feelings. They have real needs.
I got to speak life and truth to every single one. I got to pray with every single one. The Holy Spirit was present with every single one because I was in their midst and I am the temple that carries the Living God inside of me.
What greater privilege in the world than to be able to go and live out the very gospel that’s alive within me.
And part of what that looks like is reaching out to others: rich or poor, healthy or sick, black or white, it doesn’t matter. Why? Because the very reason that the gospel is the gospel, is living inside of every single person who puts their faith in Christ (listen to Beautiful Things by Gungor and Come Away/Let me in by United Pursuit as you sit and think of all those around you who are crying for help… Crying for more. Crying for a second chance).
I cannot fully express how much love was flowing within and out of me during these interactions. And I can promise you this: it was not my love flowing within and out of me… it was Gods.
How can strangers truly and genuinely love other strangers…
Their faces are replaying in my mind, and I stand here imagining these people as Christ sees them. Strangers can’t truly and genuinely love other strangers… But that’s the thing. Since Christ is in me, and he created both me and the other person, I can actually love these people with real love. And it’s one of the sweetest things I’ve ever been able to experience… There’s no greater thing on this earth, than experiencing God’s beautiful, perfect, unfailing love.
And how did I experience this love? It wasn’t by feeding myself with more spiritual food for myself.. (And that’s not a bad thing. It’s good). But It was actually quite the opposite! It was by feeding others… with words and actions…
I was able to feed those who were hungry, clothe those who were naked, and pray for the Spirit to do His thing and heal what He needed to heal and pour out what He needed to pour out.
Reality becomes a little bit different when you actually have faces to look at and voices to hear and hands to touch… Reality becomes a lot different.
And the Lord’s love especially hit me as I got to talk to that beautiful strong hearted 25 year old woman… I can’t explain to you the love that I was experiencing… It was beyond me… And not even an hour from our interaction, our group came together to worship. And the only thing I could do is think of her…. All I could see was her face. All I could do was cry. All I could do was become consumed by the Fathers love… And I couldn’t help but ask Jesus to hold her hand as she walked “home”. I couldn’t help but groan and cry out for her…
You see… I’m convinced that the Church likes to settle in the two foot deep side of the pool… A lot of us like to just be deep enough to say that we’re in the water. You can’t dive in the shallow end let alone swim in it… But there’s a 15 foot drop off just feet in front of them. A lot of us just won’t dive in the deep in… Yet that’s exactly where the diving and swimming and splashing happens… In other words, a lot of us just go to church and try to do good things, and maybe even go to bible study or small groups here or there. Yet as I read in Scripture, that is not what having the Living God dwelling inside of us looks like… Not even close.
And it’s cool.. Because the very thing that compels the Church to dive in the deep end, is His love. I know… The deep end’s scary… But the awesome thing is, there is no fear where Gods love is present. So. If His love is permeating within the Church, fear of the unknown and deep waters are no excuse, for His love casts out all fear. There is no fear where He is present.
And so not only will His love compel us to jump in and start making some waves, the moment we get in the water, the more love that’s waiting to consume us.
So, it’s up to you… You can choose to stay in the shallow end and settle for a little bit, or dive in the reality that He’s wanting to give you. And part of that, is by you giving to others… And not just your money or other material things.. But your time. Your heart. Your love…. Your God. You might be surprised by how awesome it is to love these people and give them everything you got…
Don’t take my word for it… I dare you to try it. I dare you to live out the Gospel. I dare you to let the Holy Spirit completely guide where you should go, what you should do, and who you should talk to. I dare you to show others the Holy Spirit. I dare you to obey the Great Commission. I dare you to take in the homeless, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and heal the sick without having to have an “organized” event that you advertise for weeks in advance to buy people into helping… I guess what I’m ultimately saying is… I just dare you to love your neighbor as yourself… Sound familiar?
And in all this, I just want everyone to be very clear what they believe and what the Word says… For there are people out there who use Scripture to defend their heresy (like my Jehovah Witness friends)… So I’ll make this truth (and very big truth) made clear… This may be the clearest most important foundation for seeing who God is (since, you know, I keep talking about His love) and understanding how powerful the Gospel really is.
John 1:1-5, 14
“In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He existed in the beginning with God.
God created everything through him,
and nothing was created except through him.
The Word gave life to everything that was created,
and his life brought to light to everyone.
The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness can never extinguish it……
So the Word became human (flesh) and made his home among us.
He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness.”
To be very very clear!!!
The Word has always existed.
The Word was with God and the Word was God.
Everything was created through him.
The Word gave life to everything.
The Word became flesh.
THE WORD IS JESUS!
Jesus is God.
And to blow our minds a little bit more… Go to Genesis (I could pull up tons more but this will be the last one)…
Genesis 1:26
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, to be like us…..”
God made man in His image…
Notice then how the words “us” and “our” are plural… Well I wonder why!!
God is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit… That’s the image we were created from!!
And if that’s not cool enough, check this out…
God is Father, Son, Holy Spirit.
Man is body, soul, spirit.
…. If you’re not mind blown you never will be.
So, as we dive in the deep end, let’s understand what we’re diving into and what’s nudging us off the side and into the water.
We’re talking about a God that’s so awesome, He’s undeniably unexplainable. His love is so big, we can’t even begin to comprehend. His presence is so powerful, that no man can survive with experiencing the fullness of who He is.
We’re talking about a God that loves us so dag on much that He came down here himself and was crucified on he cross so that we may be seen as righteous before a holy God because He now sees himself in us instead of the sin that has enslaved us!
I mean… This is some awesome, radical, incomprehensible, incredible, amazing, astronomical, astonishing, jaw dropping, news!!! So why wouldn’t His children be jumping in that deep end!!!
So… There ya go. All from one week in South Africa…
I pray that the readers of these words will take em and run with em… For these words come from a place of experience, love, and truth.
– Ryan F
