Guest Blogger...Oswald Chambers

The "Go" Of Unconditional Identification

"One thing thou lackest...come, take up the cross, and follow Me."  Mark 10:21

The rich young ruler had the master passion to be perfect.  When he saw Jesus Christ, he wanted to be like him.  Our Lord never puts personal holiness to the fore when He calls a disciple; He puts absolute annihilation of my right to myself and identification with Himself-a relationship with Himself in which there is no other relationship.  Luke 14:26 has nothing to do with salvation or sanctification, but with unconditional identification with Jesus Christ.  Very few of us know the absolute "Go" of abandonment to Jesus.

"Then Jesus beholding him loved him".  The look of Jesus will mean a heart broken for ever from allegiance to any other person or thing.  Has Jesus ever looked at you?  The look of Jesus transforms and transfixes.  Where you are "soft" with God is where the Lord has looked at you.  If you are hard and vindictive, insistent on your own way, certain that the other person is more likely to be in the wrong than you are, it is and indication that there are whole tracts of your nature that have never been transformed by His gaze.

"One thing thou lackest..."  The only "good thing" from Jesus Christ's point of view is union with Himself and nothing in between.

"Sell whatsoever thou hast..."  I must reduce myself until I am a mere conscious man,  I must fundamentally renounce possessions of all kinds, not to save my soul (only one thing saves a man-absolute reliance on Jesus Christ)-but in order to follow Jesus.  "Come and follow Me."  And the road is the way He went.

Taken from My Utmost for His Highest, September 28th

Perspective...

On Sunday, Joel, Simeon and I met up with an old friend of mine.  I say old because we have known each other since kindergarten.  We pretty much were in the same classes growing up and grew up in the same town.  It has been at least 15 years since I have seen Chris and it took him coming all the way to Ecuador to have an Eastbrook High School reunion!  Meeting up with Chris made me think about a few things...

It doesn't matter how long it's been, how close or distant you were in school or how different you are in your lives, it's ALWAYS good to see old friends.

It's great to hug someone and catch up with them after so many years.

There's not many people (besides family) that have known you all your life and that you get to see again after high school.

Time is an interesting thing...

Chris and I were never extremely close, but when we met up in Quito, we really had a lot to catch up on in our lives.  When you put us next to each other, look at our facebook pages etc, we are probably pretty different, probably as different as we were in school and growing up, but it really doesn't matter.  I guess that is the beauty of, I don't know, time, perspective, life experiences, who knows.

It was a great class reunion here in Quito and I feel very blessed to have re-connected IN ECUADOR with an old friend!

Dreams coming true...

I'm not sure how much I have shared on this blog about the status of our dream...

For those of you who know or don't know, Joel and I have had a dream we feel God has given us to start a center for at-risk children and a medical clinic here in Ecuador.  We have been in discussions for some time with the leadership of our denomination here in Ecuador, called IPEE.  From the beginning, we wanted to partner with the national church here to see if this is even something they had on their radar.  We originally had thought of an orphanage-with the idea of having individual homes with house parents for the orphans.  We have since realized that there are not a lot of orphans here in Ecuador, but there are a lot of children who are at-risk, as well as their families.  At risk can mean there are many kids in the home, mom is a prostitute and kids have to stay home by themselves at night, parents are drug lords, parents are alcoholics, abuse situations, child prostitution, human trafficking...the list goes on.

So, going back to IPEE, the decision was made by 2 leadership committees for the center for at risk children and clinic to be located in the North of Ecuador, specifically in Otavalo.  Some of you may know Otavalo for its large artisan market, but for the Evangelical Covenant Church here in Ecuador, Otavalo is a central location between 2 districts or conferences, the Quechua district and the North district.  The decision was made for otavalo because of location.  With being centered between 2 districts, hopefully both will be able to support the center and clinic.  As you can imagine, after having this dream for over 10 years, and finally seeing pieces fall together is more exciting than you can imagine!

Here's a picture of Ecuador, look for Otavalo a little north and east of Quito.

To add to the excitement, I recently received great news that I will probably be able to practice here, in a little different way, but I can still practice.  When we come back to Ecuador after our year in the states, I will be doing a rural medicine rotation with the medical school here in Ecuador.  After this year, I will be given a license to practice, as a doctor.  For me about this story, check out our ministry blog, The Delplog and click on Licensing in Ecuador.
Additionally, tomorrow (sept 9th) we will be having a group of people that will hopefully eventually serve as part of our board of directors for our non-profit organization (more info to come later on that).  We are excited to spend a week visiting current ministries we will be partnering with in the 2 districts mentioned above and dreaming together about what God has for the future.  You can check out our ministry blog for more info about this as well.

Please continue to pray for this time over the next week.  That the Holy Spirit will be leading and guiding us each step we take!

Blessings to all!

Never underestimate the power of lessons from kids...

Yesterday, after Simeon had gotten dirty after playing, I was washing his feet in the sink and all of the sudden was humbled at the sight I saw.  I was washing his little feet in the sink with soap and water and I couldn't help but be reminded of Jesus washing His disciples feet and what that signified.  In true Jesus form He was showing, very evidently His servant heart.  I was humbled in the fact that I'm not sure I have ever viewed in this significant way the servant-like heart I should have, just like Jesus had with his disciples with my son.  Of course I 'serve' him in many ways, getting him meals, playing together, teaching him, putting him to bed, etc.  But I started thinking am I really "SERVING" him as Jesus was a servant to his disciples.  Let me clarify, I don't think I should be his maid, give him everything he wants, etc...Jesus didn't do that with his disciples either, but the significance of the statement Jesus made by washing his disciples' feet was something set aside for a literal servant in this time.  It was something a King like Jesus would do.  I guess I am saying, when we think of the mundane things we do each day for our kids, maybe taking a different view on it is what we need.

An additional thing I thought about during this experience was that Simeon is a vessel for me to learn through.    For those of you who have kids, you probably understand this.  Simeon teaches me lessons all the time, not knowingly, but he certainly does and he will continue to.  I need to make sure I am open to LEARNING from Simeon, not just teaching him.  I certainly don't get it right all the time, but being open to it, I am learning is very important.  I also see him all the time just being who he is, but influencing those around him.  He opens so many doors for conversation wherever we go just by being SIMEON!  What a great lesson!

 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. ¹³ “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. ¹⁴ Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. ¹⁶ Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷ Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

The Sacraments

Since taking the theology class in July, I have been wanting to write a blog post about the Sacraments...
Sacraments, you say, what are those?  When I think of Sacraments, I think of sacred.  Here is the definition I  came away with from my class regarding what a sacrament is:
    A visible sign of an inward grace.
    Expression of the living presence of God
    Means of grace
    Physical element conveying spiritual reality

Is that what you think of when you think of communion or baptism?

A month ago or so I probably would have said no.  I didn't have a great grasp of what the sacraments mean to us as Christians, but after the class I took, I really encouraged the pastors I was in class with the explain this to the people in their congregations because the sacraments are amazing, mysterious and yes...sacred and holy expressions of God's grace.

I think sometimes we may all be guilty of 'going through the motions' when it comes to communion, I know I have been guilty of this.  But each time I have received communion since taking this class, I have experienced God in an amazing way, a new way after understanding more about the holiness of this experience.

I recently wrote my Consecration paper for becoming a long term missionary with the Evangelical Covenant Church (our sending denomination as missionaries).  Here is an excerpt of what I wrote...

                        Through baptism, we walk in a newness of life.  In the same way, Holy Communion is a “summary act that binds the church’s life to the life of Christ… a visible sign of an invisible grace”.  There is nothing magical about the bread and the cup or the water used for baptism, but it is a mystery.  No one exactly understands what happens during these acts of worship, but it is evident that Christ is there.  Knowing that Christ and His grace are present in the elements is much more important than attempting to explain how they are present .  Holy Communion and baptism are not merely rituals or symbols but are historic acts that are significant.  “By them we are linked with God’s saving acts in the past and God’s redeeming love in the present”.
     On a personal note with regard to the sacraments I just want to say that while taking the class, I really saw the sacraments as just that, sacred.  Before I looked at both more as symbols and not held with the same reverence as I do now.  In both events, baptism and Holy Communion, I feel like we are meeting Christ there; it is a holy and sacred place to experience Him and His grace. We do not come because we are perfect; in fact both events are the perfect places for us as sinners because it is where we meet and experience God afresh and anew.  It is holy and sacred and I am so excited now each time I experience a baptism or communion because I feel I am on holy ground, and God is meeting me there.

Maybe I will write another post at some point about this again, but right now, I encourage you to seek God in understanding what these sacraments mean.  When you experience them the next time, open your heart to what God has for you.  Don't feel like you have to come to the table of the Lord perfect or spotless, we're sinners, but this is the place for us.  The same with baptism, God is present and real and wants us to experience Him in this way.

I will end with a great quote from a song, by, of course, one of my favorites, Kari Jobe...

Come all ye weary and ye broken
Come to the table of the Lord
Come sing the song of the forgiven
Come lay your burden on the word

Come and find peace
Everyone needs a little rest
Everyone needs a little joy
And a song to sing in the darkest night

And life even when it gets you down
Hope will turn it all around
But love is the greatest of these
Everyone needs a little

Sing all ye saints and ye sinners
Call upon the mercy of the Lord
Come sing the song of redemption
Sing about the hope that is to come

Everyone Needs a Little- by kari Jobe