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Posts Tagged ‘gospel’

Swallowing The Truth

Posted on: January 19th, 2012 by Jason Chatraw |

Scott Davis is a Christian comedian and author of the new book, “If My Body Is a Temple, Then I Was a Megachurch: My journey of losing 132 pounds with no exercise” (Ampelon, 2011). He shared some thoughts from his book on what it means to trust God to help us make the necessary changes to achieve a healthier lifestyle. You can learn more about Scott at www.scottdavis.com.

I’ve studied the Bible enough to know the temple in Jerusalem featured large courts as gathering places for different groups of people. King Solomon’s Temple, destroyed by the Babylonians around 586 B.C., had two major courts, the Great Court and the Inner Court. Jesus visited Herod’s Temple, destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. It featured several courts, including the Court of the Gentiles, the Court of the Women, the Court of the Priests, and the Court of the Israelites.

If you’d seen me a few years ago, you’d have known my temple had a food court.

However, if your personal temple is in dire need of remodeling, here’s the tough place I had to start from more than 130 pounds ago: Swallow the Truth.

For years, I swallowed the truth and everything else I could get my hands on. I refused to admit I had a problem, especially in one intensely personal way I will detail later in this chapter.

I told myself my eating habits were fine. All I would admit to was, yes, I had a spaghetti stain on my shirt. I rationalized in ways that now seem laughable: If God didn’t put all those burgers, fries, and desserts on Earth to enjoy, then why did He make them so finger-lickin’ good? I had different ideas on displaying the full Gospel. As large as I was, it didn’t get any more full. I saw no sense in talking about the 500-pound elephant in the room, especially since I was the elephant.

I knew the truth because I knew God’s Word. But I wouldn’t admit the truth because I loved my addiction more than I loved doing the right thing. It led to one place: a personal hell.

TRUSTING GOD

Over a period of years, I realized that I needed a lifestyle change in order to overcome my unhealthy habits, but I also realized I couldn’t do it on my own. I needed to lean on God to help me do it.

But how? How do we trust Him with weight loss? What does it mean to take this to the Lord? It means:

We realize the real battle is spiritual. The key to victory over weight control is to recognize this isn’t the battle of the bulge. It’s a battle for the heart and mind. We are spiritual creatures—the real you is the spirit inside that oversized bag of bones—and therefore everything that touches our lives has spiritual implications.

In Ecclesiastes, Solomon writes, “All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the soul is not satisfied” (6:7). He’s saying what we stuff into our mouths can never bring lasting peace and contentment. Our struggle isn’t physical, it’s spiritual. It has psychological, emotional, and mental ramifications, but the battle is spiritual. Take care of the spiritual foundation first, and the rest has a way of falling into place (see Matthew 6:33).

We spend time in Bible study every day. This is how we take care of the spiritual foundation. Through study of His living Word, God renews our minds to rid us of old habitual thought patterns and retrains us to see ourselves and others as He sees us. Psalm 119:103 states, “How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” Now we’re talking eternal dessert!

We pray. And then we pray some more. Why? Because there is power in prayer. We pray to start the day. We pray to close the night. We pray through the cravings. We pray for strength. We pray for courage. We pray for protection from temptation. We pray during temptation. We pray for discipline and consistency.

We pray to sense God in every bite. “Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” (Psalm 34:8). Nothing rivals the flavor of the Savior.

We obey. When the Holy Spirit whispers in His still small voice that a particular menu item has too many calories or too much salt, we don’t pretend we can’t hear Him. That still small voice may as well be a megaphone at that moment, but sometimes we out-talk God. That’s when we wind up burping lasagna. But it’s not lasagna that sits on our stomachs two hours later. It’s an extra helping of guilt.

We ignore the enemy’s taunts. Yes, we have fallen. Yes, we feel the extra helping of guilt. But failing doesn’t make us a failure. It makes us human. A key to weight loss is ignoring Satan’s giggles and false accusations when we stumble. His lies are a mirage. They’re like a Hollywood movie set, extravagant and convincing on the outside with nothing behind them. They feel heavy but weigh nothing compared to the gravity of God’s truth. When God convicts, He convicts about a particular sin. He is precise because His Word is sharper than any two-edged sword. When Satan accuses, he generalizes. You’re a bad Christian. You’re a loser. You’re a fatty. You’ll never get the weight off. When we stumble, we ask for forgiveness if we have sinned, and we start again, same nose to the same grindstone.

God’s precious Word trains us how to recognize Satan’s lies and believe truth instead. Then it’s up to us to never give up. Ever.

Matthew 6:33 states: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” The “kingdom of God” refers to the rule and reign of Christ not only over the universe but also in our hearts.

That’s why Jesus said the kingdom of God has arrived. It’s already here because He came and He reigns.

“All these things shall be added to you” means God takes care of the rest. When our focus and lives are centered upon Him, God has our backs. Thankfully, He’s strong enough to have my front as well.

Taking everything to God means a daily offering of our lives—every fiber of our being—to Christ and submitting to His authority. We are to ask Him for strength and should trust Him to provide everything we need to persevere. This isn’t a head game. It’s a heart reality.

One verse later, Jesus gives us a final, crucial assurance: “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

In other words, live the cliché: one day at a time. Don’t worry about how tomorrow will be impacted if you mess up today and fall off the wagon and land in the buffet line.

Tomorrow is a new day. Start fresh.

Flying Hope: Enabling Deep Healing to Occur in the DRC

Posted on: November 11th, 2011 by MAF |

Mission Aviation Fellowship Gift Catalog 2011

The new Mission Aviation Fellowship Gift Catalog is out – and it contains some pretty amazing highlights of what MAF is doing around the world. The following is one of the stories from the catalog (Fly Hope, watch the video) that shares how MAF is playing a role in helping leaders in the Democratic Republic of Congo unite once warring tribal factions:

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, church leaders are trying to help heal and reconcile a country that has been torn apart by ethnic and tribal conflicts.

When Daniel Kasereka, the head of Organisation Evangélisation, Intercession and Liberation (OEIL), began his quest to equip local pastors on how to facilitate a biblical reconciliation process in 2004, it was dangerous. While the roads were already challenging due to their poor condition, the presence of armed assailants made traveling them treacherous.

However, MAF solved that problem for Kasereka, flying him across the country to meet with other pastors, as well as flying other pastors to regional reconciliation events. His ministry has since begun to thrive and is more efficient at reaching others in ways that weren’t possible before.

“Now that we have reached all sectors of the community, we are going to the militia,” Kasereka said. “We are teaching them the Gospel and reaching such a big area, thanks to MAF.”

An Unlikely Gift Exchange

Posted on: June 21st, 2011 by Natalie Holsten |

Today, in the name of ministry and relationship building, I got a massage.

Me with Lina and her daughter

My neighbor, “Lina,” has been asking me for weeks if she could give me a massage. She and her husband and their young kids live in a rambling shack beside our house. Over the years, the MAF families in our neighborhood have befriended them, given them work, and helped them with medical bills.

“Please, Ibu, let me do this for you,” she begged. “You’ve done so much for me, and we’re so poor, and this is the only way I can repay you.”

Years ago when I envisioned myself doing missions, I pictured myself in Africa somewhere with a group of half-naked children gathered around me as I told Bible stories with a flannel graph, or maybe teaching English somewhere to a group of college students. But lying on a mattress on the floor with an Indonesian woman vigorously rubbing lotion into my tired arms and legs? Never would have imagined it.

There was something about being on the receiving end that didn’t set right. I felt like I needed to be the one helping her. But I knew that by allowing her to do this for me, I was helping her feel she had something to give to me.

And it truly was a help to me. After months of recurring stomach issues, I have been feeling worn down to a nub, wasted, exhausted. During the hour and a half she spent kneading my weary body we talked––about her relationship with her husband, about the house they’re hoping to build, about her kids, about my upcoming move. Silently I prayed for her.

Lord, bless this woman. Bless her and her family––especially her frail little boy––with good health. May this woman find You as she searches for the truth.

Set Free to Tell the Simple Truth

Posted on: June 9th, 2011 by Sean Cannon | 4 Comments

One of the joys of being a missionary pilot is the unplanned flights that leave you with a special memory. Although I serve and fly in Indonesia now, my family and I first served with MAF in Ecuador. One morning while I was just about to leave our hangar for a day of flying in the Amazon, I noticed someone in the passenger waiting area. It was Dewey, one of the men responsible for killing the five missionaries in the jungles of Ecuador in 1956. While modern law would convict him a murderer, God’s laws have set him free and he is one of the most radically changed men I know––passionate in his dedication to promoting and proclaiming the very God he once tried to destroy.

Dewey

When I asked him what he was up to, Dewey told me he was hoping he could catch a ride on a flight back to his home village. Not only was there a flight heading that direction, but I was the pilot and I even had an extra empty seat. I told him that we would have to make several stops before we got to his village but Dewey didn’t mind––in fact he liked the idea. While he was in Shell, where MAF is based, Dewey had found a children’s illustrated Bible. He was excited to use this simple Bible to share Gospel stories with those still living in the jungle. Better yet, for those that could not read, he could explain with pictures what God has done for them through the sacrifice of Jesus.

Shortly after we landed at our first destination, Dewey jumped out of the plane and began to share the Gospel from his new Bible. It didn’t take long for a small group to surround Dewey as he shared God’s love in a way that I could never have done as a foreigner and non-native speaker. At each of the several stops before we landed in his village, Dewey would preach the Good News to any that would listen.

I was blessed that day to realize how God’s plans are higher than mine, and that still many years later after the “tragedy” in the Amazon jungle, God was making His name famous in ways that I didn’t expect––using a man who truly understood God’s boundless grace and a simple, illustrated Bible.

Teachable Moments

Posted on: June 7th, 2011 by John Boyd |

Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it. – Proverbs 22:6

There’s usually a healthy discomfort that comes with seeing extravagant wealth juxtaposed with abject poverty. It’s troubling enough when we know it’s going on thousands of miles away. But when a short 10-minute drive reveals two vastly different ends of the economic spectrum, it brings up plenty of questions.

While in South Africa with my family this spring, our children were confronted with the grim reality of deep poverty. We drove through posh sections of Cape Town only to travel three miles further down the road to witness the absolute squalor of some townships. It created plenty of opportunities to discuss those challenging questions that we grapple with during our journey of faith.

We used our experience not only to immerse our children in another culture but also to teach them a few things about the character of God, starting with his sovereignty. We also talked with them about God’s grace and His mercy. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be in the same situation as the many people we saw, except for His mercy in our lives. When the “Why?” questions came, we were able to explain that what happened is the result of living in a fallen world where the greed and selfishness of man has created this terrible situation.

I enjoyed watching my children awaken to the heart of God, responding with mercy and love toward those they encountered who had obvious need. They wanted to help everyone. And while that was simply impossible, we were able to talk about ways to truly help others and what that looks like.

Those are the moments that excite you as a parent. It’s thrilling to see the stirring of your children’s hearts as they begin to move in sync with God’s own heart.