My first update from India! I hope you all enjoy!
Journal Entry from Nov. 6, 2016:
Sitting in a mega church complete with a rock band worship team, an English service, and an American pastor this morning, I was struck by how neutral I felt during worship. I didn’t feel what I normally did when I heard new worship songs in English. I remember getting so into worship like that back in America, feeling so happy, joyful, at peace, and close to God. Instead, what I felt today was that I don’t think I like all the bells and whistles that the American church provides any more. It seemed flashy and like they wanted to manufacture these feelings of joy and peace that used to come so naturally to me back home.
I found myself wishing I had stayed back at our orientation base and gone to a Hindu/English church service with some of my fellow squadmates and maybe 20 members of the community. I had felt closer to God the night before as I listened to a few members of the worship team I belong to take the lead for singing familiar worship songs and the soulful voices of our new Indian friends from the worship school where we’re staying. Yes, attending church in the same place where I had slept the night before seemed comforting and more authentic to me.
But God brought me to this church on this Sunday for a reason. I think He was finally teaching me something that I had long had as head-knowledge back home that He was now making heart-knowledge to me. That is, worship and intimacy with God is not based on feelings. It’s not based on how good the worship music is, whether we recognize the songs or not, or whether the lyrics fit in with our theology. Worship and intimacy with the Lord is about a heart posture, about seeking God and never giving up, and about the beauty in how He pursues us right back, even when we don’t deserve it. It’s not about a method or a formula, and if you miss a day of your devotional Jesus won’t be mad at you.
It’s about getting back up and trying. It’s about learning how to rest in His presence and thriving in doing what He wants you to do each day, where He’s put you, with what you have. Sometimes what you have you might believe is not that much, but God hasn’t just given believers all the material things they own, He also blesses us with all the gifts and talents we have. All He asks is that we use the gifts and talents to serve Him and others by stewarding them well. We don’t have to strive to be worthy of Him because our debt has already been paid. He only asks that we thrive with what has been given to us.
Worship is about expressing our love and gratitude to the God of the universe for giving us everything we already have and for every big and little blessing we receive during the day. Worship is about learning how to thank Him in the hardships and challenges, because these experiences are not there to punish us, but to teach us something and help us to grow.
Intimacy is about seeking Him with everything we have and growing so that we realize that ALL we have is from Him, so in the words of one of my favorite worship songs Head To The Heart by United Pursuit, “There’s no shame, in looking like a fool, when I give You what I can’t keep, and take ahold of You.”
All these material possessions, we can’t keep any of them. Someday each one of us will get old and die. All this wealth we worked for will be passed onto our children, donated, or thrown out. If you have anything you think you can’t part with, then that’s taken the place of God in your heart and become an idol to you. Parting with any material possession is worth it for the Kingdom of God.
***
“As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. ‘Good teacher,’ he asked, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’
Jesus looked at him and loved him. ‘One thing you lack,’ he said. ‘Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.’
At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, ‘How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!'”
~Mark 10:17,21-23
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Praises:
~Wow! Thank you so much to everyone who’s donated recently and thank you Jesus! I have currently raised $15,967!! Praise the Lord!! I am now 91% funded!
~Our team is currently working with our host organization this month to get the stories of children that their organization is working with. Then we send them the videos, pictures, and stories we collected and they help to get sponsors from America and different countries in order to provide these children with education, tutoring for homework, a meal each day, and an opportunity to play fun games and songs for exercise. More stories to come!
Prayer Requests:
~That I would be fully funded by Nov. 30th! Thanks to your generosity, I only have $1,394 left to raise until I’m fully funded! Yay! For the last 9 days, I have to raise 9% of my total support goal. I need to be fully funded in order to stay on the World Race and be able to share stories with you from the mission field about what God is teaching me through others, people I encounter, and the fun adventures my team has along the way! Please prayerfully consider donating towards my mission trip going to 11 countries in 11 months. I have been on the field for 4 months now and God has taught me so much already. How will He use you to impact my life and the lives of everyone I encounter on the field? Any donation, no matter how small, is greatly appreciated.
~If you are unable to give, please feel free to share my blogs (and videos!) with friends, family, and on social media to join me in prayer to meet this goal! With your help, we can continue bringing God’s kingdom to earth.
~Please pray for our upcoming debrief in Cambodia where there may be possible team changes. Please pray for wisdom and discernment for our leadership on where to place each of my teammates and squadmates, as well as for us to have peace about whether our teams change or stay the same.
