Radical Transformation: Lesson #1

Trying to figure out how to live a Kingdom lifestyle can be daunting. The Bible is littered with timeless Truths and directive Wisdom. After being overseas, in a very different culture/world, my heart has been opened to some different lifestyle techniques; worldly and sacred ones. Then I read the Bible and a collision happens within my soul, my heart, and I am confronted, in a big time way, to tangibly reconcile the tension....When the Bible tells me one thing, and western culture another, it isn't that I am struggling with how to reconcile the two together because I really don't believe we have to do that all that much....what I struggle with is that the Bible tells me one thing, the world another, and the Spirit engages the flesh in an all out War of how I will practically carry out what I know/learn. This War continues to wage in me day by day, night by night. Spirit vs. flesh/world. I take 2 steps forward, 1 step back it seems....The Goal: to divorce myself from the world. How to do it: Read the Word, let the Spirit move, talk to Jesus, embrace accountability, and Trust.

God vs. World, Part 1: 1 Corinthians 9:19

"For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more;"

One needs to look no further than 3 words in this passage: free, servant, and might.

In the context of this passage Paul is saying that he is making himself a servant to all, even though he is free, in order to proclaim the Good News. How does this vastly differ from the world's version of freedom and servants? Let us see.

Freedom
World: autonomy, American Dream, self-centered, individualistic, etc.
God: self-sacrifice, submissive, giving, humble, fearing God, etc.

Servant
World: looked down upon, "the people who do the jobs no one else will do", which is code for the immigrants who work jobs Americans won't work because it only pays $7.00/hr, lazy, not driven, etc.
God: putting others needs ahead of yours, sacrificing time and resources, etc.

And finally...the word: might is very interesting to me in this passage by Paul. We are to become servants, (a.k.a.: give our own lives up for others), give our lives and desires up, so that we might be able to lead others to Jesus. This is amazing to me...Paul doesn't even say that it WILL happen, but that it MIGHT..so, in theory, we could go about our whole lives giving ourselves to others and sacrificing, denying ourselves, so that we MIGHT lead others to Jesus...when was the last time you made a decision that was life altering based on something MAYBE happening. If you are like me, I am often very calculating with my decisions and will make many of them based on the relative "success" of the event happening.

Life Lesson #1: 1 Corinthians 9:19.

Advancing the Kingdom

French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte once said:

"I know men; and I tell you that Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between Him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force! Jesus Christ founded His empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for Him."

The summation of the power of Christ's love and kindness. Amazing and profound. A system of backwards logic: advancing through love, meekness, kindness, gentleness, and compassion. This is the God I follow and serve.

The Invisible Hierarchy

What an alien might say if he came to Earth:

"Humans, as a species, are constantly, and in every way, comparing themselves to one another, which, given the brief nature of their existence, seems an oddity and, for that matter, a waste. Nevertheless, this is the driving influence behind every human's social development, their emotional health and sense of joy, and, sadly, their greatest tragedies. It is as though something that helped them function and live well has gone missing, and they are pining for that missing thing in all sorts of odd methods, none of which are working. The greater tragedy is that very few people understand that they have the disease. This seems strange as well because it is obvious. To be sure, it is killing them, and yet sustaining their social and economic systems. They are an entirely beautiful people with a terrible problem."

God wired us so that He told us who we were, and outside that relationship, the relationship that said we were loved and valuable and beautiful, we didn't have any worth at all. As horrible as it sounds, it would make sense that things of worth are the things God loves, and things that don't have worth are things God doesn't love. I mean, I really started wondering if maybe a human is defined by who loves him. I know it sounds terrible, because we have always grown up believing that a person is valuable even if nobody loves them, and I certainly agree with that because God made everybody and the Bible very clearly states that He loves everybody. But, as Paul said, if those relations are disturbed, the relations between God and man, then we feel the desire to be loved and respected by other people instead of God, and if we don't get that love and respect, we feel very sad or angry because we know our glory is at stake, that if their isn't some glory being shone through us by somebody, we'll be dead inside, like a little light will go out and our souls will feel dark, like nothing can grow there. We'll feel that there is a penalty, by default, for being removed from love.

Donald Miller, "Searching For God Knows What".

Matthew 10:14

The authoritative nature of Scripture is intense. I love it at times, it is scary at times, and it is always consuming, eating to the very core of one's soul. I even love it when Scripture gives us guidance and wisdom even when it may be very hard for an Evangelical Christian, who desires to evangelize, to hear. This is where Matthew 10:14 comes in.

The world truly was not worthy of Bae or Shim. For those of you who don't know these names, they are the two South Korean men who laid down their lives in Afghanistan for the sake of the Gospel. They were treated as less than human, taken as prisoners in a place where they only desired to help. 19 others shared a similar trial. Most of them women, that were help captive for over 3 weeks as evil reared its ugly head. The world can be a very ugly place.

This ridiculous act of evil was brought to every one's attention through the media, and headline coverage from outlets such as Yahoo and CNN. Because of this coverage, millions of Believers united in prayer for the South Korean Believers, their brothers and sisters. 19, less 2 martyrs, were eventually released and allowed to go home......

Praise God for the release and life for these South Koreans. I can already sense and see how God will use this tragedy for His cause. The unified efforts of Believers in prayer, the lives of those directly involved will forever be altered, and God's glory will prevail. Its amazing to see God work in this....its also eye-opening to see the worldly response. Upon release, the South Koreans were pounced upon as they heard vicious attacks from their homeland. Many spoke out against the Koreans, saying that they were "stupid" and "careless" for entering a strictly Islamic land. The South Korean government was also upset with the Koreans, saying that they were considering making the Koreans pay money for the expenses and effort taken to free them, also stating that they "really hurt the Korean's image to the world", that "no one will take them serious as an up and coming superpower in the world". Furthermore the Korean government claimed that the captives "seriously damaged South Korea's reputation." Amazing to see the two sides....I pray that these captive South Koreans never doubt their calling, that as Believers and called to act on behalf of Jesus and His cause, they will always counter the world's systems and desires. That they are "in the world, not of the world." That Jesus promised "persecution" for those who lived out His calling. I thank God for the Koreans.

I worry about Afghanistan. Which brings in Matthew 10:14. One of the conditions of the release of the South Koreans was that the South Korean government had to say they wouldn't let anymore aid workers into Afghanistan. Though some Believers may disagree with me or differ in opinion, I don't necessarily see this as a bad thing. For one, God has used a similar instance as this in the recent past (email me and ask me for further details if you would like to know specifics). Also, Jesus says it will happen too. When commissioning the disciples in Matthew 10, Jesus tells them to take His message to the world, but he also states that if they do not receive it, to "shake the dust from their shoes." In other words, you did what I called you to do and they are not receiving it, so leave. He goes onto say that the city in which this happens will be doomed....People continue to reject the message of Jesus, and God will eventually call His messengers somewhere else....

So, sometimes Scripture can be hard to swallow. I don't necessarily like this passage, but I also realize that God has the power and authority to do this. Thank you God for working Your purpose, no matter what, and that You do deserve ALL people to worship you!

Taliban Agree To Release South Koreans!!

Thank you Jesus!

GHAZNI, Afghanistan - The Taliban agreed Tuesday to free 19 South Korean church volunteers held hostage since July after the government in Seoul agreed to end all missionary work and keep a promise to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year.
The Taliban originally seized 23 South Koreans, but have since killed two of the hostages and released two others. They had initially demanded the withdrawal of South Korean troops from the country and the release of prisoners in exchange for freeing the hostages.
Qari Yousef Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman, said South Korean and Taliban delegates at face-to-face talks Tuesday in the central town of Ghazni had "reached an agreement" to free the captives.
South Korean presidential spokesman Cheon Ho-sun said the deal had been reached "on the condition that South Korea withdraws troops by the end of year and South Korea suspends missionary work in Afghanistan," he said.

German Woman Freed in Kabul

KABUL, Afghanistan - Four suspected kidnappers were captured Monday as Afghan police freed a German aid worker who had been snatched from a restaurant while she ate with her husband, officials said.
Hundreds of police freed the 31-year-old woman in a raid after midnight in western Kabul, not far from the area where she was taken captive on Saturday, said Interior Ministry spokesman Zemerai Bashary.
He said authorities arrested and are interrogating "four suspects who are directly involved in this case." He said more than 300 police took part in the operation.
Police are searching for other accomplices, Bashary said.
Preliminary investigations indicate that it was a criminal gang — and not Islamic insurgents — who carried out the kidnapping, and that they demanded $1 million for the woman's release.

Taliban To Free 2 Hostages

Taliban kidnappers will release two of the 21 remaining South Koreans held hostage in Afghanistan at 4 p.m. (7:30 a.m. EDT) on Monday, a Taliban spokesman said.
"We are releasing two sick Korean hostages at 4 o'clock today. We are going to hand them over between Ghazni and Zabul provinces to the Red Cross," the spokesman, Qari Mohammad Yousuf, said by telephone from an undisclosed location.
Yousuf said the decision to free the pair had been made by the Taliban leadership council, headed by Muhallah Mohammad Omar, as a gesture of goodwill towards the Korean people and South Korean diplomats negotiating for the hostages' release.
The Taliban have killed two male hostages and threatened to kill the remaining 21, 18 of them women, unless a similar number of Taliban prisoners are freed in exchange.