Safe in Uganda

When I woke up on Friday morning I just knew that I was in for a trip on a life time. 27 hours later we had arrived at the hotel in Uganda where I was able to finally get a good nights rest. The plane ride was long, the movies were good, and the landings were smooth. As in any long trip it gets to the point that you are done with the joy ride and you just want to get off.

After our one night stay near the airport we got up on Sunday morning to make the three hour trip by van to the churches in which Steve and I would preach. As I looked over the breakfast my mind immediately was taken back to my days in Istanbul and Iraq. Hard boiled eggs, potatoes, and a mixture of fresh cut fruit was start out the morning. There was hot water made with Nescafe at the ready. (I'm always a hit with my Starbuck's via packs.)

Something that morning didn't sit well with my stomach and I found myself by the end of breakfast purging everything I had just eaten. For those you that have gone on missions trips with me, you know that I am a billy goat with a stomach that can handle anything. But not this morning. I started recounting everything I had eaten and drank hoping I didn't somehow ingest some non-bottled water of some kind. Nothing was coming to mind and I felt much better after the purging. As the day when on I had no more problems with food. So, thank you for your prayers. God obviously blessed and took care of me.

We dropped Steve off at the church he would preach and were bombarded by the village kids that all wanted the plastic bracelets Steve had brought. Then we headed to the church that I would preach in another part of town. We found ourselves walking behind homes and shops with half finished concrete walls. We had to step over an open sewage path to get to the small metal building in which the service had already begun. Krystal and I were greeted at the door and seated in places of honor on the stage. We listened to song and testimony of the week long conference they were finishing up. I quickly realized that I was the closing speaker for the conference. I preached a simple message of relationship out of John 17:3 and challenged the people to know God on an intimate level and be empowered with the power of the resurrection. As we closed the service I led them in the sinner prayer but had no one make a profession of faith for the very first time. God knows the hearts. Steve was able to see 10 receive Christ in his Church which was amazing.

After Church we went to see the vision of the missionary in a place he has called the Garden of God. It is a place prayer that all the Ugandan Pastors are excited about as they sanctify this place for the glory of God, train pastors and missionaries, and expand their influence in Uganda.

Then it was time for a nap. I could barely keep my eyes open from the jet lag. After sleeping for a couple of hours I felt so much better. I have a special pillow at home that I use and took me a year and many pillow to discover. I was worried that I would get a good knights rest on whatever pillow I was given, but to my surprise and delight the pillow provided has the same firmness as the one at home. God is so good to me in the little things.

We ended the night by going to a pizzeria that was surprisingly good, and a game of spades with the team. It was exciting but I didn't win. I look forward to all that God has in store for the second day.

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I Have Sinned

David wrote in Psalm 51 after he was confronted by Nathan, "Against you, and you alone have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight." When he wrote these words he had coveted and committed adultery with Bathsheba, killed her husband, cause the death of their new born baby, and covered up the whole thing. But in all of this David knew what sin truly is. Sin is an offense against God.

In our legalistic mindset we equate sin with breaking a law and not breaking a relationship. God doesn't send people to hell because they broke some law, but he does require death for those that break their relationship with Him. When a person sins the offend the King of Kings and The Lord of Lords. God has said the wages of sin is death. If a person choses to offend the King, there is hell to pay.

Paise God that in our defense He sent Jesus to pay that penalty of death so that the relationship with God might be restored and we would have to die. But even for a Christian that has been saved from hell, there is still a need to guard his relationship with the King.

Over the years as I counsel with people I have heard them say. I know the Church doesn't agree with this but ___________________. Although I'm glad they recognize the authority of the Church, the Church is not the one they are offending. They are offending God. It is God who doesn't agree with your sin. It is God that is frustrated with your actions. And even though the church may not know what you are doing, God sees you in your house, at the bar, in your bedroom, and at your computer. It would be better to be concerned with what the King sees more than what the church sees.

This is the difference between having a relationship with God and a religion about God. Is your life an offense to God. Are you in need of repentance. Don't come and repent to the Church. First, fall on your knees and cry out to the one who saves your soul and get things right with God, then with God on your side go and make things right with everyone else. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse use from all unrighteousness."

 

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The Power to Heal

There are so many questions surrounding the gifts of the spirit today. Just as there was in days of Jesus. Remember “Context is King.” When Jesus began his public ministry theLord had been silent for the past 400 years. It wasn’t until the preaching of John theBaptist that the silence was broken. This would mean that it had been several generations since people had seen any kind ofmiracle from God. The Jews had become a superstitious people just as many are todaywho long to see and experience the true power of God.

In Luke 5:17 we read, “And the power of the Lord was with him to heal.”(ESV) You would think this to be a given because we are talking about Jesus after all.Could it be when Christ took on the form of a man that he limited even his abilities asGod and lived like any other man that would be filled with the gifts of the Spirit. Weknow and believe that Jesus was 100% God and 100% Man at the same time for this isone of the seven mysteries of the faith. Another passage to consider is Philippians 2:5-8where it is said of Jesus that He “emptied himself” when he took on the form of a man.The word “emptied” in the Greek is “kenoo” meaning: cause to lose power; emptyoneself. With this understanding it is a lot easier to understand the life of Jesus as heprays to the Father and so forth. He is our example of faith according to Hebrews 12:1-3, which is hard to grasp if He is acting as simply God with skin on. But, it carries a tonmore weight if Jesus had to rely on the Father just as we do today. Therefore the only reason to add this phrase: “And the power of the Lord was with himto heal” would be to illustrate that at that moment he had the ability to heal, and thathe didn’t always have that ability. A careful read of the gospels will show that Jesuswasn’t always healing the sick, but there were times of healing in which he healed themall.

In 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 we read a list of the gifts of Spirit and in that list we find the giftof healing. We are also told in verse 11 that the Spirit gives these gifts “individually asHe wills.” The same Spirit that was empowering Jesus for his earthly ministry is thesame Spirit that empowers you for your earthly ministry. When you have a need for agift God is faithful to provide those gifts, but an individual doesn’t necessarily have thatgift all the time. This was true of Jesus’ earthly ministry as it was for the Apostle’sministry as it is for our ministry today. God gifts us as we need to profit the Body andthe Kingdom of God.

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