Teacher, Will You Be My Brother?...

Before we got to Cambodia we spent some time praying as a team asking God what to be expecting during our time here.  One thing that I felt strongly was that we were going to have the opportunity to pour into and disciple future leaders of Cambodia.  At first I felt like that was kind of a lofty expectation but I decided I would pray more into it and ask God to open those doors.

We have been able to get to know a lot of amazing men that are involved at the Battambang YWAM base (where we stay).  Each of these guys has the potential to be amazing leaders in the church in Cambodia.  Last week I was reminded of that prayer I prayed in Kona before we got here and I was really encouraged that we actually got to do what I felt like God told me we would get to do. 

Earlier this week God blessed me even more with another opportunity that I did not expect.  I got to spend time with and disciple a young man in my math class named Thumith who I strongly believe is going to be a very influential leader in Cambodia.  He is a senior at Dewey (the school I teach at) and he is going to graduate at the top of his class in August.  On Monday he stopped me as I was leaving to go home and he asked me if we could meet to talk after school on Tuesday. 

When Tuesday came I didn’t know what to expect but our time together was better than I could have asked for.  He told me about his dreams to go to college in the US and to eventually get involved in Business/Government in Cambodia and to end the corruption in this nation. Pretty big dreams for a senior in high school… We talked about what he needs to do to achieve those dreams and it was a good conversation.  But then he told me that he constantly worries about the future and about providing for his parents who are divorced.  I got the chance to share with him that no matter whether you are rich or poor you will always worry unless you trust in God to take care of you.  Long story short he was really open to the Gospel and I got to pray for him.  He didn’t accept Christ but he is definitely interested in learning more.

The icing on the cake was the ride back to his house.  Out of nowhere He said “I am happy and I feel so much better since talking to you teacher.”  I was so honored and humbled because I didn’t feel like I had done much. But I knew that my simple prayer brought him peace that he had never experienced before.  And then when he got off my bike and I was about to leave he said, “Teacher, can I ask you one more question?  I feel so happy and I feel like I just met a brother from my dreams… Teacher, will you be my brother?”

My heart may have melted a little as I said “Yeah man!  Of course! We can definitely be brothers!” 

God is sooo good and sooo faithful.  Thumith and I plan on staying in touch and I am going to give him a “Jesus Film” as a present before I leave.  I really believe God has big plans for my brother and I am so honored that I got to get to know him during my time here.

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” –Ephesians 3:20-21

Friendship with God

I got a chance to preach in a small village church on Sunday about some things God has been teaching me in my own life.  This is a spark notes version of what I taught.  I hope you find it encouraging and not too heretical… I’m still new at this.  But as Don Stubbs once told me as Christians we are supposed to “Teach what you know, and grow as you go.”

John 15:15 reads “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”

When we read the word of God it’s essential to understand the context in which things are written.  I know when I first learned that everything in the bible was for me it got me really excited.  But it wasn’t until later that I realized that not everything is for us today, BUT, everything is available for us as we grow closer to God. 

This quote from John 15 is Jesus speaking to the disciples who he had been with for three and a half years.

The whole chapter is helpful to understand the qualifiers for this great statement in verse 15 but the most important parts come from verses 12-14:

¹² My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command.

Verse 12 explains his command, to love as He loved us.  Verse 13 explains what that love looks like, laying down your life.  Then verse 14 tells us what the requirement for friendship, obedience to his commands, one of which is stated in verse 12.  And because of Jesus’ audience, the disciples, he goes on to say that they have obeyed his commands and now he had promoted them to the status of friends.

Everyone starts as servants, and we move to friendship by being faithful as servants.  But the important thing to remember is that we never graduate from being servants.  One day when Christ returns we will be his bride and enter into marriage with Him. In marriage your spouse should be your best friend and you should be his or her biggest servant.  Even though you have been promoted to a marriage relationship you have not graduated from friendship or from being a servant.  This is the same with our relationship with Christ.  We never graduate from serving Him.  Moving to friendship means that we actually move into co-laboring and dreaming with God.  God begins to share His heart and His dreams with us and we work with Him to see them come to pass.

But we must be ok with doing what we are told and being faithful with what we know we are supposed to be doing from reading the written word before we expect to know all His plans and dreams for us.  This faithfulness gives us access to God’s heart.

In Matthew 25, the parable of the talents, the Master first gives the servants a little and he waits to see what they do with it.  When he returns and finds that some of them gained more talents he says “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share in your master’s happiness!”

So we see that there are two clear consequences of faithfulness; more responsibility (I will put you in charge of many things) and friendship (come and share in your master's happiness).  We are always crying out for God to reveal His will for our lives.  But before we do that we need to ask ourselves if we are being faithful in the small things we already know we are supposed to do according to the word of God.  Are we being joyful always? Are we doing everything as if we are working for the Lord?  Are we loving our neighbor as we love ourselves? Are we honoring our parents and the authority that God has placed in our lives?...

God wants to reveal his dreams over our lives.  But a premature release of these dreams could destroy us.  If we are not mature enough to pursue the great plans He has for us, He can’t reveal them to us.  He wants friendship with us and it’s available for each and every one of us.  He wants to dream with us! He wants to co-labor with us!  But it takes faithfulness to get there…

Happy Mother's Day!

This week’s blog is dedicated to the #1 mom in the world.  Ironically, the #1 mom in the world and my mom happen to be the same person.  Lucky me, right? For any of you who don’t know my mom here’s a short list of the highlights:

1) This woman is one of the most beautiful women, inside and out, that I know. Whether she’s hanging around the house in sweatpants or sending people’s jaws to the floor at Adam’s wedding because of that killer dress she was wearing, she always carries a beauty that you can’t explain until you see it.  She’s just a total babe. You can even ask my dad.  He’ll tell you.

2) She is constantly blowing the roof off of my definition of servant-hearted.  Just when I think I’m sacrificial, I hear about something my mom did for someone who just lost a loved one, who is sick, or just someone God put on her heart, and I realize I haven’t yet scratched the surface of servant-heartedness.

3) She is so teachable and so hungry for the deep things of God.  She is a modern day female Brother Lawrence. While she does the mundane jobs that are required to keep things in the Kirsch house going, you can bet that the radio is blasting worship music or the laptop is playing a podcast of one of her favorite preachers.  And if it’s early in the morning or late at night you will probably find her sitting in her chair or in bed reading the word of God or a Christian book. She is constantly asking me for more worship music and for more preachers she can get teachings from.  She is just so after the Lord’s heart!

4) She is the worst croquet player in our family.  And the worst Rack-O player.  And definitely the worst Uno player.  And I don’t know whether or not she’s the worst at the shell game at the beach, but she’s definitely bottom 50% for sure.

5) She wrote me notes while I was in college like almost every week.  I think I started to take that for granted but people would always tell me they were jealous of that.  I constantly get told how amazing my mom is and I’m thankful for that because I take it for granted that everyone’s mom is as thoughtful and constantly encouraging as mine.

6) She can beat your mom in a 5k.  Seriously.  She’s a beast.

7) She is a woman of prayer.  If you need a covering you should definitely hit her up.  I believe that a lot of the blessing and favor I have received in my life has been a direct result of my mom’s unceasing prayers.

8) She’s a killer cook/baker.  And she ALWAYS remembers what vegetables you want in your salad.

9) She hates that I wrote this for everyone to see because she never wants the attention to be on her.  But guess what mom, you’re awesomeness has flown under the radar for too long.  The people need to know how awesome you are.  But more importantly, you need to know how awesome you are and how much I wish I could be with you on Mother’s Day to tell you in person.

I could go on but I’ll end by saying, she has truly set the bar for me for what I want in a wife one day.  I love you mom!  I’m so blessed to have you in my life.  Happy Mother’s Day Mom!

Proverbs 31:10-31... Read it. It's her

Dancing in the Rain

We’re halfway home.  Time in Cambodia has flown by.  We’ve had some amazing experiences but as expected we’ve had our fair share of hard things too. Living in community with 12 people is hard enough but add heat, lack of food, and spiritual warfare to the mix and you’re bound to have a few bumps in the road.  Last week our girls found out that a few of them had lice so tensions were particularly high and people (including myself especially) were taking themselves a little to seriously. Wednesday was Kelby’s birthday, and it couldn’t have come at a better time for us.

Kelby is one of our constant sources of life and positivity and her birthday brought us just that, life and positivity.  We were able to have a team breakfast of homemade French toast which was a good time for us to all be together with “celebrate” as the only thing on the agenda.  And we were able to go out to dinner as well, which was another story.  Sandwiched in-between the two, during our afternoon prayer time, we decided to have an acapella worship session/time to pray for each other for the Holy Spirit to refresh us.  Being the extravagant God that He is, the Lord decided to bring a thunderstorm on Battambang in the middle of the hour and we all ran outside and danced and sang in the rain.

Amidst the chaos, (it was literally chaos… people running, jumping, dancing, screaming, and laying on the ground) I stopped running around and just lifted my hands to heaven and said thank you to our good Father who loves to give us good gifts.  As I stood there with my hands in the air I felt like God was saying directly to my heart “I’m so proud of you but you’ve been losing sight of why you’re here.  You’re not here to stress about how the team is spending money.  You’re not here to tell other people what they could do better.  You’re not here to “win souls.” You’re here to fall more in love with Me and to fall in love with My people and let me do the rest.  I’ve called you here because we’re friends and I just wanted to show you what I’m doing in Cambodia and let you be a part of it for a while.”

I almost started to cry as I started asking God to forgive me for getting hung up on pointless things and things that I can’t control and for forgetting to just love Him.  I believe that Tuesday was a turning point for our whole team and especially for me.  We have two different one-hour prayer/worship sets every day, Monday through Friday, and without any real worship leaders those times are like pulling teeth from time to time.  We have taken ourselves so seriously and been stressing about the quality of the worship and getting too focused on each other instead of keeping our eyes fixed on the Lord.  But since God revealed to us that what He is calling us to is just simple friendship and raw worship, everything has been different.  No one is looking around the prayer room in comparison.  People who like to dance, dance.  People who sit down and sing, sit down to sing.  There is freedom and it’s so beautiful.  And all it took to get us there was God showing up with rain for a birthday worship dance party. 

"The Chief goal of man is to glorify God and fully ENJOY him forever" -Westminster Catechism

A Table Changes EVERYTHING

On Tuesday night we decided to throw a dance party for the café Eden staff.   The café is closed on Tuesdays and it’s really their only day they have to do anything fun at all.  We’ve learned that the majority of young adults in Cambodia are the primary providers for their entire family (most of their parents don’t work anymore).  And on top of that most of the café workers are trying to go to University full time.  So you can imagine sleep and fun get put on the back-burner.  They are totally servant-hearted and sacrifice so much for their families.

So basically the pressure was on to make this dance party a huge success because they gave up their one free night to come, AND they rarely get to do things like this.  So a few of us spent the day moving around furniture, decorating, baking cookies and banana bread, cutting up mangoes, making a playlist and getting fired up for the party. 

Only two of the people on our team know many of the workers very well (me and a girl named Ariel, because we help there in the mornings) so the beginning of the party was a little awkward trying to introduce everyone to each other.  As people were trickling in and getting introduced we tried to put on music and start dancing but as I looked around I saw white people dancing and Cambodians sitting and watching… Not the look of a successful party! 

It was time to pull out plan B.  We needed to save this party cuz it was dying fast! At Cambodian weddings they bring out a little table and put it in the middle of the dance floor and basically walk/dance in a circle around the table.  Here’s a taste: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFlmkOd2tGs).  So we got the manager’s phone and put on some traditional Khmer dance music and boom, we had ourselves a party!  About 30 seconds into the song almost every Cambodian worker was dance-walking and doing weird stuff with their hands around the table (seriously check out that youtube clip... it's just like that). 

After a couple of songs of that we took a chance and put on some other dance music, held our breath, and excitedly watched as one of the Cambodian girls literally picked up the table and moved it off the dance floor so we could all dance… And the rest is history.  We danced the night away to American group dance songs, Christian Hip-Hop songs, and Khmer dance music.  All the workers left with smiles on their faces and they all said they had a great time! 

It was such a privilege to get to bless these amazing people in this way.  Since the party I’ve seen an obvious change in how the workers who I didn’t know as well have interacted with me at the café.   They could tell that our hearts were pure and we didn’t have an agenda.  All we wanted to do was have a party with them and get to know them.  And because we took the time to do that the opportunities for discipleship and relationship are opening up! I was invited to spend the day next Tuesday with one of the servers named Pak and he’s going to take me around Battambang on his moto to see the sights… SO STOKED!

Moral of the story… A table changes EVERYTHING!!

“David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the LORD with all his might,” -2 Samuel 6:14

WORDS

I think I’ve written before about how in the Cambodian culture it’s not normal for someone’s parents to tell him or her they love them.  In fact they consider it inappropriate for the word love to be used to describe any relationship besides a husband and wife.  I think I realized, at least to some degree, how that could have some negative implications on the people in this nation.  But lately I’ve been thinking about the other side of the coin and I’m just recently realizing how powerful words can be if you DO use them well.

I left Cambodia for 7 days to go home for my brother’s wedding (Which was so awesome by the way!  I’m so honored to welcome Ginny into our family! I couldn’t ask for more in a sister-in-law!).  And when I got back I didn’t expect the kind of reception I received.  The Cambodians I work with and have gotten to know from Café Eden (the café I work at in the mornings) were way too excited to see me.  They talked about how much they missed me and I heard from one of the girls on my team that they asked every day when I was getting back. 

I was really humbled by this and spent some time thinking about what I could have done in the 12 short days I was here in Cambodia with them before the wedding to warrant this kind of greeting. I didn’t crack some crazy awesome jokes, I didn’t buy them sweet presents, all I really did was ask them about their lives and encourage them in who I was realizing they were and in the things I saw them doing well.  It’s amazing what speaking life into people who rarely experience encouragement can do to knit your hearts together in such a short time.

Proverbs 18:21 says “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”  It’s so true, there is so much power in what we say.  While words can be used (or not used) to tear people down they also have the power to lift people up into the greatness God is calling them too.  As I’ve been asking God to give me His eyes and His heart for people I’m starting to see even more of the greatness in people than I ever have before.  Speaking life to someone and encouraging them isn’t, and shouldn’t ever be, fake.  Everyone has greatness in them because they were created in the image of God.  As we ask for God’s heart for people He will reveal it to us and will enable us to speak it out to them. 

This interaction with the Cambodian workers at Café Eden has made me even more aware of how powerful words are.  I hope and pray that I can become someone who people love to be around because they feel known and loved by their heavenly father through me.  Love and missions has never felt so easy.  Giving someone a straightforward compliment about WHO THEY ARE not something they have done is so counter cultural for some of us and although it feels awkward it was what we were made to do.  And the fruit of this kind of living is so much greater than we realize.

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” -1 Thessalonians 5:11

Changing Destinies

A group of people from our team has been going to a village church to help with a kid’s camp, construction, and praying for the sick people in the area.  I went there the first two days we were here because my morning job at the Christian Café hadn’t started yet.  What I experienced when I went there is hard to explain with words but I’ll try.

Immediately as we pulled up on our bikes the kids are yelling “Hello!... Hello!” (They love to show off the English they know).  After we yelled “Hello!” back, we got off our bikes and I could tell they were sizing us up, wondering what we were going to do.  After I gave the first kid a hug and picked him up they realized what were there to do and I watched as the floodgates opened.  I was a hug machine/jungle gym for the next three hours.  This started out as the fulfillment of everything I was hoping to experience on outreach; I was getting to show love to these kids who so desperately needed it (and who doesn’t love to be the center of attention for a bunch of little kids).  But to be honest I began to get really annoyed and frustrated after about fifteen minutes to a half hour of this.  Some of the kids became really territorial and would grab, pull, or even hit or kick the other kids I was holding or playing with (And I took my fair share of blows as well).  I wanted them to chill out and stop jumping on me because there was times when I had up to 5 or 6 kids hanging on my legs, arms, and neck and they were fighting and yelling at each other.  When I caught myself feeling this way my heart broke and I had to repent.  I went from annoyed to feeling deep sadness.  I couldn’t even speak their language yet they were so jealous for a simple hug and for my attention that they would fight over it.

I began to feel powerless knowing the statistics about how many of these kids are most likely not only being neglected, but probably physically and sexually abused on top of that.  They were so hungry for real genuine love and all I could do was hug them and smile…  I felt like I needed to do so much more but I couldn’t think of what to do.  So, I began to pray over the kids as I was holding them.  I began to pray protection over them and blessing and favor over their lives.  I prayed for God to bring people who would call out the greatness in them and help them walk out the great plan He has for them.  People who would tell the girls they were beautiful and valuable, and the boys they were strong and smart. 

From everything we have heard about human trafficking in Cambodia, it’s villages just like this one where people come and buy, or sometimes just take, children from poor families because the families don’t feel like they can provide for all their kids.  It was so surreal to think that it’s possible that next week some of these kids might not be at the Bible school because they've been taken and they could be on the streets being raped 5-10 times a night.  This is a reality I have a hard time dealing with, especially after I see their innocent faces smiling and watch them dance to bible songs.

I’ve been thinking about all this a lot and been wondering how much good we are even doing with these kids and yesterday I had a conversation with Kelby, one of our staff, that left me feeling really encouraged.  She shared how she also felt powerless at times and all she could do was pray, hug, and smile.  But she encouraged me that God is faithful and He answers the prayers of His children that are according to His will.  She talked about knowing that our prayers literally shift things in the spirit as we come into agreement with what God wants for these little ones and that we are literally changing the eternal destinies of not only these few, but the ones they will impact down the line as well.  We have to trust that God is faithful to hear the cries of His people on the behalf of those who can’t speak for themselves. When we see injustice we have to be moved to prayer and we must believe that it is changing things.  This is our inheritance and this is what we were made to do, change destinies! 

So take a moment and pray for the millions of little boys and girls who are being trafficked all over the world, and believe that your prayers are changing the lives of real people with real emotions and real smiles… It’s such an honor to partner with God in setting the captives free in this way.  Let’s never take it for granted!

“I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none.” - Ezekiel 22:30

Getting Equipped and Getting Excited

Last week our classes were a little different than usual.  Instead of having a speaker on a “Spiritual” topic we had elective week.  During the week we got to choose a class to take for MWF and TR to prepare us for practical ministry in our outreach locations.  I took the Justice Water class on Monday Wednesday and Friday.  During the class we learned how easy it is to make sand water purification systems, tippy-tap sinks for hand washing, latrines, and rain catchment tanks.  I did this with three other members of my team and we were excited about how easy these things were and how much they could change the lives of the people living in the villages in Cambodia.

On Tuesday and Thursday I took a class on how to teach on inner healing.  The great thing about this was that the married couple that taught us went to Cambodia last year for their outreach so all the examples they used were about how they saw people healed in Cambodia.  Seven people from my outreach team did this and we are excited to teach it in Cambodia.  The people there have never experienced the love of God because they don’t believe in a god of love.  Also we learned that in their culture it is inappropriate for a kid to tell his mom or dad that they love them and the parents would never say it to their children either.  There is no affirmation in their culture so people believe a lot of lies about themselves and their self-worth because they are never told otherwise.  We have heard that there were instances in which the team last year did the inner healing from a Christian perspective, and then after people received healing they accepted Christ because of how dramatically He changed their lives.  We serve a healing loving God!!  I’m so excited to share similar testimonies with you all!

After spending the week getting prepared with practical skills and praying even more for Cambodia than we have in previous weeks I can say I’m antsy to get there.  God has already begun to give me His heart for the people there and I can’t wait to get there and start loving on some Cambodian people who desperately need to experience the love of God.  I leave tomorrow and will be there until June 4^th.  Prayers are appreciated!

¹ The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
   because the LORD has anointed me
   to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
   to proclaim freedom for the captives
   and release from darkness for the prisoners,^[a]
2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor
   and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
 ³ and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
   instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
   instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
   instead of a spirit of despair.  

Isaiah 61:1-3a

The Word of Their Testimony

Revelation says “They overcame by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony.”  There’s so much power in simply hearing what Christ did for us at the cross and what He is doing for us today.  A group of DTS students from the last quarter just got back from their outreach and last night we had a time where they came and shared stories (testimonies) of what God did on their outreaches to build our faith before we leave.   All I can say is now I CAN’T WAIT to go!!! 

There was stories of blind eyes opened, deaf ears opened, crippled legs healed, food multiplied, people being set free from alcoholism, Muslims accepting Christ, supernatural provision of places to stay, and just crazy amounts of favor from the Lord.  But my favorite story was from a young guy who had just graduated from high school last year.  His outreach went to Orange County, California, which is where he grew up.  During the month he was in Orange County he ended up having the privilege of leading 5 of his close friends to the Lord!!  Three of his friends he got to baptize (one in the fountain inside of a big shopping mall).  I love healing miracles and food being multiplied but there was something about this kid’s story that absolutely gripped my heart.

I love my friends at home so much and desperately want them to know the hope I’ve found in Jesus but for some reason it’s so hard to share with them.  But all this kid did was share what had been happening in his life the last three months of lecture phase (his testimony) and his friends could see that he was truly alive because of Jesus. First Peter 3:15 says “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” All it takes is the blood of the lamb and the boldness to share the word of our testimony to completely change someone’s life for ETERNITY!  So good!  Get fired up guys, cuz we live in exciting times!

“He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.” -Matthew 28:6

Blessed are the Peacemakers

For they will be called sons of God! Last night we watched a documentary called “180,” which was super intense.  It got me thinking about a book we read for class that was based on the 8 beatitudes, in particular about what it means to be a peacemaker.

The biggest thing I’m learning is the difference between being a peacekeeper and a peacemaker.  A peacekeeper sweeps things under the rug while a peacemaker attacks a problem head on in love.  They make peace where peace doesn’t currently exist.  Jesus was a peacemaker.  He wasn’t ok with people living in sin because He loved them too much to sit by and watch the enemy take control of their lives.  Even if this meant throwing stuff in the temple or confronting the hard hearts of prideful Pharisees He wanted to see people set free of the chains of sin.

Imagine if He has just tried to “keep the peace”!  He would have allowed the Pharisees to live in judgment of people who didn’t keep the law and they would never have been made aware that they themselves were living in sin.  One of the greatest things that can happen to a Christian is to recognize our sin because that means we get to repent, be forgiven, be changed and become more like Christ.

One of the most significant aspects of a peacemaker is that their heart has to be one motivated by LOVE. If they go out to make peace with a heart motivated by pride and carry a “holier-than-thou” attitude they are not going to make peace.  The goal is peace in the end, but sometimes there may be a hard conversation with some tears involved, but that’s better than you walking away and gossiping to your friends, which ends up with two people in sin.

A couple of weeks ago I was a part of a “Life Siege” which is where you put red tape over your mouth with the word LIFE written on it and you stand outside of an abortion clinic and pray for the babies, doctors, mothers, fathers and the ending of abortion in America.  The tape is supposed to represent the babies who can’t speak for themselves.  If you know me this about as far out of my comfort zone as it gets.  But what I’m realizing is that a great injustice is happening in our country, about 1.3 million people are being murdered every year (about 3700 every day).  The documentary 180 relates abortion in America to the Holocaust in the fact that murder is being legalized based on some people’s definition of what a person is (And there is actually talk in the health community right now of something called a “post birth abortion” that will allow you to “put your baby down” if you find out it isn’t completely physically or mentally healthy after it’s born http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9113394/Killing-babies-no-different-from-abortion-experts-say.html).  What I’m realizing is that as much as I don’t want to offend people and hate confrontation, if I am going to be a peacemaker I can’t simply stand by idly and let this happen. 

You may disagree with this method of standing against abortion or you might even think abortion isn’t bad.  But what I’m realizing is that if my heart is motivated by LOVE for those babies and their mothers and I believe it is murder than I have no other choice than to do something to make peace.  Undoubtedly people will be offended from time to time but I know, with LOVE as my driving force, I’m trying to save lives and keep blood of the hands of people who maybe don’t see any other option. 

I’ve always asked the question, where were all the Christians during the Holocaust?  I don’t want to be speechless if my children and grandchildren ask that same question of me about the abortion genocide. 

Being a peacemaker doesn’t have to just be on an intense level like the ending of abortion.  It starts every day you have a disagreement and the easy thing is to go home and gossip to friends and family about the character of the other person.  It’s the peacemakers who will be called sons of God.

Welp. That was heavy.

PS. I heard this stat the other day.  If one out of every ten Christians in America would adopt an orphan there would be NO ORPHANS LEFT in the world.  And if abortion is ended there will obviously be more but it is still do-able.  If we say we are against something we have to ask ourselves what we’re willing to do about it.

Undeserved Love

I had an amazing week.  God has been teaching me so much.  But most of all He has been showing me that He loves me.  Sounds simple, but when He shows you in the ways I’ve been shown this week it’s a whole new ball game.  I truly received a revelation of how deep and wide is the love of God.. And what’s crazy is that I’m just scratching the surface. 

I won’t go into all of it but the way that it ended says it all… My best friend here, Jordan Taylor, told me he wanted to go grab McDonalds and drive up the mountain a little to eat it and celebrate my awesome week and the end of his fast while the sunset over the ocean.  When we got to McDonalds he told me he was paying for me, which was obviously a nice start to the night.  Then we got to the spot and hung out for a while which was so good just to hear about his week and catch up.  

After a little while he told me that on Monday morning God had spoken to him during corporate worship and told him to fast for 5 days and pray for me.  He said in the moment he knew it was from God and he started to cry just thinking about it.  I was standing right next to him so he prayed for me right then and blessed my week, and at the time I was so pumped and honored by the blessing he prayed over me that I almost started crying too.  Looking back on that awesome prayer it was nothing compared to what followed the next 5 days.

He spent the next 5 days fasting and waking up at 5am to pray a list of about 10 or 15 different things for me every day.  When he told me that, I was blown away and so honored.  He showed me his prayer list and it was amazing how every measurable prayer was definitely answered… And that’s not all.  He went on to pull out 7 hand-written pages of verses and encouraging words he felt God wanted him to share with me.  When he handed them to me and I read the first line “Nathan James Kirsch- man of God, friend of mine” and felt the weight of the 7 pages in my hands I began to weep (which was one of his prayers for the week, that I would cry when I read the words he had gotten for me).  And I cried all the way through every word, increasing more at certain points that were particularly awesome.  I can honestly say that every word and every verse ministered to my heart.  I have NEVER felt that kind of love from anyone, and have NEVER felt so loved by God.  All I could think the whole time I was reading was two things:  Should I stand up to hug him when I’m done or stay sitting to do it, and, what can I possibly do to repay him for this unbelievable demonstration of love and friendship? 

After I finished reading I cried for about 5 more minutes just soaking in the love I felt so unworthy of and I felt God speaking to me.  I felt like He was saying “Jordan did this because he loves you, and you don’t need to repay him… And in the same way you need to stop trying to repay Me for my love because you don’t need to.  I don't love you because you're worthy of it.  I love you because I am love.  So just love me back, tell me thank you and cry if you need to, but you don’t have to earn it or repay me for anything because I’ll ALWAYS out love you… ALWAYS!”

I am beyond blessed!  I will never forget this night!

“If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” –Matthew 7:11

First Thing’s First

I’m the type of person that has to be doing something to feel productive.  By the end of college I was starting to get antsy go serve the Lord.  I felt like my time of being equipped needed to be done and I was ready to go do the stuff we had been talking about for 4 years.  So coming off of that and into a DTS where you spend the first half in the classroom was not my ideal situation.  But I’m so glad I’m here because God has been teaching me some stuff about a life of serving Him that makes me realize I wasn’t ready yet.

One of the most common “Christian” ideas that I carry is this idea of being poured into so we can pour out.  The basic idea is that you can’t love people if you don’t first receive love from God and others.  I think this statement is true but I’m realizing the heart behind it isn’t right… We don’t get filled up SO THAT we can go serve and love.  We can love and serve BECAUSE we have been filled.  But the reason we desire to be filled is that we love Him; which is a response to His extravagant love for us.

The FIRST and greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart soul and mind.  And the SECOND is to love you neighbor as yourself.  The filling picture is a picture of obeying the first commandment only so that we can  better obey the second one. But loving Him is not simply a means to an end.  It's the end goal.  It's His greatest commandment.

In thinking about how backwards my thinking was, I started to realize how badly God wants our hearts.  He's jealous for them.  Not because giving Him our hearts will better equip us to serve Him and love others (though it definitely will).  But because He wants our hearts period. 

I realized how often I read the word of God so that I can know it better to share it with people.  Or I pray so that I can do battle in the spiritual realm on behalf of someone else.  And I’m realizing how little I sit in his presence or read His word or talk to Him or listen to Him motivated by the fact that I want to love on Him because of how worthy He is to be loved.

I realize that Jesus says whatever you did for the least of these you did for Him so our actions for others are in fact one way we can love Him.  But my confession is that loving others has been the main way that I have loved Him to this point in my life.  The other stuff didn't seem productive because it didn't produce a tangible result.  But He’s worthy of so much more than that.  He’s worthy to be told how amazing He is and how thankful we are that we get to love Him.  He’s worthy of our adoration and our awe.  He’s worthy of us slowing our lives down for Him.  He’s worthy of praise and simply being with Him is NEVER a waste of time.

A father loves to see his kids doing good works but he also wants them to stop, relax, and sit on his lap and talk about their day.

It’s because of this revelation that I’m completely ok with being in a place that I talk to and worship my God and King for the majority of the day everyday.  It’s not lazy or unproductive.  It’s obedience.  It’s what He COMMANDS us to do!  How awesome is that?  He’s sooo stinking good!!

“Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.” -Psalm 145:3

Extravagant Provision

Tonight we had one of our weekly all campus services.  Before the speaker came up a missionary from Kyrgyzstan named Jeff came up and shared a short testimony of the work he is doing.  There is a remote people group in Afghanistan that is unreached and he wants to take a team of ten people to go and give them the message of the hope of the Gospel.  The physical needs in this people group are immense but the spiritual need is even more significant.  Imagine an entire people group that has never even heard the name of Jesus!!!  Crazy! 

We took an offering tonight to fund Jeff’s trip.  He told us that he needs $10,000 for their trip as a whole.  At the end of the service one of the YWAM leaders came up and announced the amount that was raised in tonight’s offering… $10,000.07!!!!! 

God loves to give us even more than we ask for.  Tonight it was seven cents more than Jeff asked for.  Just enough to be extravagant, but not too much that we missed seeing His hand on the offering.  He is soooo good and will provide to those who are faithful and want to do his work.

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” –Ephesians 3: 20-21

Unfair Trade

I remember being at lunch in elementary school.  I remember all the guys pulling out everything they brought and offering to trade for the things other people had everyday.  Cookies for fruit rollup, pretzels for chips, that sort of thing.  Every once in a while you would have something that someone else REALLY wanted or was REALLY craving, and you could get something much more valuable in the trade.  But they never complained because what they got was so valuable in their eyes.  Seylar Elementary… Economics 101.

During one of the teachings this week I realized that as Christians we have the opportunity to be a part of the most unfair, lopsided trade of all time.  God so desperately wants our hearts that He is willing to give us eternity in His presence in a place where there is no sickness, no pain, and no heartache in exchange.  And not only that, but He wants to give us abundant life today.  This is not always abundance like the world defines it.  It's so much more than that!  He wants to give us hope, joy, and purpose. 

When it comes to that last part, the abundant life on earth, I feel like we like to exaggerate the sacrifice and minimize the reward.  People act like serving the King is so hard and we are giving up soooo much to do it.  This couldn’t be farther from the truth.  We give up fleeting pursuits at fulfillment for the One who fulfills.  We give up over drinking for the One who quenches eternal spiritual thirst.  This is no sacrifice at all.  This is our great privilege.  And all because he finds our hearts unimaginably valuable.

Now that’s unfair.

“Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.” Luke 6:38

PS. Quick Story: We were praying for Myanmar yesterday in the prayer room and then we saw a news report that was posted about 8 hours later "Myanmar signs cease-fire agreement with ethnic karen rebels to end 63 year insurgency" Cool stuff!!!

The Only Man in the World

Day 1 of my adventure was less than smooth.  Here’s the spark notes:

 

Arriving at the Newark airport it took my dad and I a half hour to find the terminal I was supposed to get dropped off at.

In my excitement I left my pillow and blanket in the car and didn’t realize it until about 10 minutes later. 

The bag check line took so long that I didn’t get my bag checked until 66 minutes before my flight and the cut off is 60.

Unfortunately, the security line was probably the longest one I’ve ever been in. I arrived at my gate 3 minutes after my flight was scheduled to board. 

Minutes after I got there however they announced that they would be boarding from gate 99 instead of gate 70.  Because of the change we had to walk across the terminal and wait for another 40 minutes. 

This caused my first flight to get in late. 

Because of a mix up in the airlines I had to reclaim my checked bag and re check it for my second flight.  But because we got in late I waited until the last minute and it never came.  So I was told my bag with all my clothes and bedding will be shipped to me in the next few days.  And I had to run to catch my flight.

The worst part of everything was that the whole time things were happening I knew my frustration was pointless which only increased the feeling.  I couldn’t help myself from thinking that my dad should turn around to bring me my pillow or that I should cut to the front of each line and explain my circumstances because if they knew how dire my needs were they would clearly part the crowds and let me through.  Then thankfully I realized that there was a better chance I’d be laughed at and decided I’d buy a pillow there and wait in line like everyone else.  I came to the realization that I wasn’t the only person going somewhere.  In fact EVERYONE in the airport was going somewhere.

But the next realization I came to was much more profound.  In God’s eyes I AM the only person in the world, and so are you!  When we want to bring our requests before the Father He lets us cut to the front of the line.  He is a Father that wants the best for his children.  He has billions of children but can give us each the personal attention of an only child.  In Matthew’s gospel we see that God loves to give us good gifts.  And the great thing about our father is he has all the connections.  He can make sure I make my flight and provide me with roommates that offer to share their clothes hours after I meet them.  When I shifted from being frustrated by how close I was cutting everything to thankful for God’s provision it made all the difference.  Despite all the curveballs I was thrown I still made it to Kona safely and my bags will be here eventually.

I have been blown away so far by the great people God has surrounded me with here.  I can truly say that this is where I am supposed to be.  I can tell I will be challenged in areas I need to grow and will be able to serve in ways God has grown me in the past.  He is so good..

“Every good and perfect gift is from above” James 1:17

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28

When You Have What You Pray For

I’ve been praying a lot about my DTS (frequently the same things over and over again) and had this thought the other day.  What if God has answered my prayers and He is getting annoyed that I keep asking for things He has given me?  I realize that the idea of God being annoyed probably isn’t theologically correct but you get the idea.  I’m beginning to see that I pray assuming that praying once isn’t enough and as a result I rarely expect answered prayers.  Or I pray about sanctification in certain areas of my life like teach-ability and humility but think there is a correlation between the amount of prayers I say and how much I grow in those areas.  Almost like there is a big thermometer filled in with the amount of red that corresponds to my humility and each prayer fills it more and a week without prayer drops it down.

I had been praying with Luke 18: 1-8 in mind a lot (which is the parable of the persistent widow).  But I’m realizing that in an attempt to be more faithful and unceasing in prayer, I was praying more frequently, but was disempowering my prayers with an underlying heart of unbelief.  This unbelief snuck up on me.  It was disguised as belief that persistent prayer works but in reality it was faith that praying once can’t work.

When we pray for things we have already been given we lose the opportunity to see our prayers answered.  I’m realizing I need to take the promises of the Bible for what they are and know that God HAS DONE what he says he has done.  It’s time to move from supplication into thanksgiving.  We have a new nature and God wants us to embrace it and begin to walk in it.  He loves to give us good gifts and He is a God that answers prayers.

“You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.” Romans 6:18