Merry Christmas everyone! Like the others who have posted, I just wanted to reiterate how encouraged I was by talking with you all on our conference call. Going into it, I was incredibly nervous, not having ever met/talked with any of you. However, God was gracious and filled me with peace as soon as we all started talking and laughing together. I know it is going to be a year of growth and fun with you guys!
I have been reading
The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne, which Seth did a multi-day blog on a few weeks ago. If you haven’t read this book, I highly recommend that you pick it up. I have been devouring it. Claiborne is on fire for Jesus, and his passion is contagious. This morning I read a chapter called “Jesus Made Me Do It!” and that instantly caught my eye. The opening paragraph describes how many of us are feeling and the reactions we are receiving from our families about spending a year of our lives sharing the Good News with the world. Claiborne visited Iraq in 2003 in the midst of the war to spread the Gospel and minister to the Iraqi people. When he returned, he encountered interesting reactions:
When I got home from Iraq, a woman came up to me, pointed her finger in my face, and said, “How dare you be so careless with your life and put your mother through all that? Jesus would be shaking his finger in your face, saying, ‘How dare you be so reckless?’” I listened, silently, wondering what Jesus she was talking about. The Jesus who died on a Roman cross and invited his disciples to do the same? The Jesus who taught his disciples that if they wanted to find their lives, they should lose them? (And most of them did, perhaps leaving behind some angry parents.) For centuries, Christians have been jailed, beaten, and executed for preaching that Jesus. How was I to tell this lovely lady that Jesus was actually the one responsible for my traveling to Iraq in the heart of the bombing, not a decision that I would rationally make, even on my worst days?
I just found this an amazing reminder of why we are doing the World Race- because of Jesus. We will not always be safe while we are out of the confines of our comfort zones here in America. But I have faith that God is going to use every situation that we encounter for his Glory.
