Showing posts tagged with “faith”

The easy way to have a huge ministry impact

Anonymous asked: Hi Unka Glen, my church youth group is going on a mission to Christian youths in the barren small towns of UAE, Middle East, and in September, we’ll be going to other parts of the Middle East. They asked me to give a few talks, and I’m honored and really excited, but most of all, I’m scared. Speaking’s not really my forte. Would appreciate some tips. Thank you! :)

Unka Glen answered: Dang girl, the United Arab Emirates? If you’re ever in Chicago, the milkshakes are on me. Working with Chicago gang members might sound pretty tough to you, but believe me, I’ve got mad respect for what you’ll be doing.

As for tips, I’ve got a great one on this, and you’re gonna love it. When it comes to any kind of missions, there are two big things you want to accomplish, the first is to listen to the people, get a sense of their struggles, see the obstacles in the path of their forward spiritual progress, and speak to those obstacles, hopefully breaking them down.

That’s a bit much to ask of you on a short-term missions trip.

The other big thing you want to accomplish in missions is encouragement and exhortation. In my operation, I make it clear, I can preach to these people, sort them out, help them see the way forward, and handle all the technical and theological aspects of moving them forward, but without the encouragement of their brothers and sisters, it’s not going to do much good.

Encouragement and exhortation are pretty simple to express, hard to mess up, and the effectiveness you can add to the existing ministries on the ground is truly substantial. So leave the fancy stuff to the professionals, and focus on encouragement and exhortation. You can be the kind of vital encouragement that gives people what they need to take it to the next level.

So what might be encouraging to them? Well, maybe they have family pressure to not become Christian. So you tell them that they have family all over the world, and we’ve got your back, and we love you, and we’re praying for your earthly family, that you would find favor with them, and that they would be drawn closer to the Lord.

Maybe they’re dealing with persecution from the local government. Encourage them that the early church had to meet in secret too, but that great things came out of those hard times, and that you expect that they will gain a strength others only dare to dream of, and that they are becoming the kind of Christians that are respected the world over.

Break the strongholds that say they should be ashamed of their chains, and put the crown of glory on their heads.

And that leads us to exhortation. The goal of exhortation is to call people to their higher selves. To show them that they are FAR stronger than they think they are, and that they can keep going. They may be weary from their struggles, and they may be near the end of their strength, but they’re nowhere near the end of God’s strength.

Exhortation is about coming alongside others and saying, “c’mon and give this one more try. I’m right here with you, let’s lift it together.” It’s about telling people they’ve got the enemy trembling. It’s about telling them to look at their troubles and and say, “mountain, get out of my way!”

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for God is faithful to fulfill His promises. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another…” Hebrews 10:23-25a

Thank you for this! I’m just going to keep that here. :)

“In the long term, where do you see yourself?

I see myself serving God with the talent He has given me, regardless if other people regard me as “successful” or not. Basta sa Kanya, panalo na ako.
”

—- Elisa Aquino

unkaglen:

Christianity is not a belief system.
Christianity is how I got rescued from being lost in darkness for all eternity.
Christianity is how I was sought by God, ransomed, and freed.
Christianity means I owe God everything. And more. So I’ve given Him myself.

Christianity is not a religion.
Rules and rituals had nothing to do with my rescue.
I was ransomed by the blood of the only Son of God Himself.
Rules and rituals did not save me, and they can’t keep me saved.

Christianity is what I do.
In ancient days, sometimes when a slave was freed, he decided to stay with his master anyway.
That slave would press his ear to the doorpost and his master would pierce his ear.
This would tell the world: I am free, but I choose to serve.

Pierce my ear, oh God.
Let me dwell in your house, and show you my thanks.
This is what a Christian is.
It’s not just something I chose to believe in, it’s the life I live in my Master’s house.

“I believe in Jesus. That means I believe less and less in money, good looks, success, popularity and all the other stuff people say will bring you security and happiness. I believe less and less in my own ability to run my life. The more I believe in Him, the less I need anything else.”

—Lee Younger (via unkaglen)

“That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.”

—2 Corinthians 4:16-18 ♥ (via thunderpopcola)

“I realize now that I don’t want to be around people who know everything about God. I want to be around people who are still figuring this faith thing out, just like me. I realize that we’re not just supposed to be experts at doctrine but experts at love. That some people have legitimate questions that can’t be neatly tied up in a single: “It’s God’s will” or whatever other Christian cliche we choose to lob at them. People need to hurt, question, grieve and doubt so that they can get to a point where their faith is a lot more real. And, in love, we need to let them wrestle with that tension. Because here’s what I’ve learned: it’s not our job to fix God’s people – it’s our job to hold them. And when we do, I personally believe that God Himself meets them in the middle of their brokenness.”

—

My Issue With Church, Everyday Isa

(via themorninglight)

an influx stream of information. unstoppable. how do we stop it? i don’t know. what do we do with it? i want to stop. and just take break. i am so tired.

i’m about to call up and say i can’t make it tomorrow. i can’t stand up in front pre-teens and teens, to encourage them about Your word. my body tells me it doesn’t have any more strength except to walk back to its resting place.

as i ponder on, someone posted this.

“now faith is being sure of what we hope for & certain of what we do not see.” - Hebrews 11:11

so, alright. I’m not as ready as I wanted to be, but yes, I am sure of how i hoped my words would touch the hearts of those who need it. i guess for tonight, I’ll see how it goes in the morning and have faith.

I Just Can’t Believe In Jesus

jedbrewer:

Anonymous asked:
I believe and trust in God but I cannot seem to believe in Jesus. I try repeatedly to read the Bible and accept Jesus as my savior but I just can’t seem to get it. I can’t believe the stories that are told in there. Also, I don’t agree with the whole homosexuality is a sin thing. I believe that God loves all of his children and should be accepted. Will God not love me because I can’t find belief in Jesus?

Jed Brewer replied:

I dig your honesty, and you’ve got a good heart. And I can relate.

Look, let’s speak plainly for a second: there are an enormous number of people who call themselves Christians and act like complete idiots.

Growing up, “Christians” made my life miserable. They told me I was evil to be into what I was into. They told me God was ashamed of me. They told me I didn’t belong.

And I believed them. For a long time, I believed them.

And, of course, they used Jesus to make me afraid. His words were the proof of how bad I sucked, how terribly I didn’t measure up.

Until, one day, I realized that Jesus was talking about them. Here are some examples:

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.” (Matthew 18:6)

“Jesus replied, ‘And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.’” (Luke 11:46)

“For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:20)

Anon, to boil it down, here’s what Jesus is saying, “Holy cow do a lot of you religious people suck!”

And here’s the thing: you agree. And so do I.

When you start a relationship with somebody, you don’t need to be on the same page about everything. You actually can’t be – that’s not how relationships work. You start out with some point in common, and you go from there.

You think a lot of religious people suck. So does Jesus. You think religious people treat folks in the LGBTQ community shamefully. So does Jesus. You think love, mercy, and acceptance are beautiful. And so does Jesus.

So, if you’re wanting to develop a relationship with Jesus, start there. Guaranteed: you will reach points where the two of you don’t agree. Jesus has that effect on all of us. But don’t worry about that. Start where you agree. Start reading what Jesus said to the fancy religious people of his day, and see how much that resonates with your own feelings. Start reading what Jesus said about justice and mercy and compassion, and see if you don’t feel the same way.

He’s not scared of your doubts, and he’s impressed with your heart and your honesty. And I think the two of you would love hanging out together.

I love what I have and I love my studies and work. Yes, it’s weird of me. But it’s the truth. It’s weird, but I do. I also love my church and being with people who congregate praise Him. But how do I balance it all?