Relationship

Character is vital to a person's growth and development, but if character is pursued without relationship, it quickly descends into legalism. But if it is tied to relationship, it has life.

The first key to understanding this is to know that God is a relational God. To say that he is relational means that he interacts with us, he is with us, he lives life with us. Hebrews 4:12 says that, "the Word of God is alive and active." Since God cannot lie or be separated from his Word, and since the Word became flesh, we can say that God is 'alive and active.' God is a live God who not only has good character, but also has life.

In Genesis chapter 3, God is seen walking in the garden in the cool of the evening. The Bible makes it seem as though this was a normal occurrence. Although Adam and Eve hid themselves because of their sin, they didn't seem shocked that God was there in the garden. When Jesus was on the earth, he not only taught what was right, but he also had relationships with people. He went to weddings and celebrations, he talked with people, he ate, he drank. For me personally, one of the greatest depictions of Jesus, and one that says 'relationship' to me is the depictions that show him laughing. He is full of the joy of the Lord and he expressed that through his life.

Since we are the creation of God, and we are created in his likeness, we are also created for relationship. We are created for relationship with Him, and we are created for relationship with others.

As disciples of God and disciplers of others, we should always be trying to make our relationship with God deeper. The ways that we do that are through spending time with God, loving him, reading his Word, praying and worshiping him. But it is very important that these things don't become duties, but they should become habits that we do out of love. These things (praying, reading the Word, etc.) are all ways that God has given us to be able to spend time with him, they are expressions of love. But the moment that these things become duties, then they lose their purpose. They will start to suck our life instead of give it.

Also, God created us for relationship with others. As children, it is so easy to make friends. Many times, if you put two kids together in the same room with a bunch of toys, they'll inevitably start to play together and interact. I remember as a teenager, I became best friends with another guy in my church simply because we lived close together. Simple proximity drew us closer. As we get older though, circumstances change and we start to lose our close friends and because of various circumstances, it becomes harder to make new friends. I think that especially men need to guard against isolation. I have seen examples in many other men's lives, and I see in my own life, that when men get by themselves, they start to get 'weird.' They start to do things that they normally wouldn't do, or live a different lifestyle, or begin to compromise. But relationships are like the ropes that tie us to the anchor (Jesus Christ), they keep us from drifting. God meant for us to fight the good fight and to live this Christian life with others.

Therefore, we must pursue relationships - relationship with God and relationship with others. It is what we are created to do. And, it is what brings us life.

Mourning in Phnom Penh

Close to the riverside in Phnom Penh

Thursday, November 25 will be set aside as a national day of mourning in Cambodia.

On Monday night around 10pm, thousands of people were celebrating the annual Water Festival on a small island just south of the main riverfront area. Joining the island to the mainland is a small bridge. As hundreds of people were on the bridge, something sparked a panic and a stampede began. Some people fell off of the bridge into the water while others were crushed. In all, over 300 people died and several hundred more were injured and rushed to the hospital.

Thankfully, none of our church members perished, but I did here that one of our church members was injured. However, some people in our church had friends or relatives who died or were hurt and surely everyone in our church and city was affected by this tragedy.

During the Water Festival, many people from all over Cambodia come to Phnom Penh to participate in the festivities. The main attraction is the boat races on the river. Teams come from every part of the country to compete. The estimate is that the population of Phnom Penh (just under two million) doubles for the days of this festival. Therefore, it is very likely that many people from all around the country have been affected by this tragedy. Prime Minister Hun Sen said that it is the biggest tragedy to take place in Cambodia since the Khmer Rouge.

Please join us in praying for Cambodia. Please pray for physical healing for those who have been injured, pray for emotional healing for those who lost family members and the pray for the blessing of God to be on the Christians who are comforting friends and loved ones at this time.

Character

In continuing on about discipleship, I wanted to share some ideas that I had on the 4 components of discipleship (character, relationship, authority and reproduction/discipleship). Specifically, in this post, I want to talk about character.

God says in the Bible, "be holy as I am holy." There is no question about God's standards for character. In God's original intent, when God created Adam and Eve, He created them without sin and He expected them to stay that way, but they sinned and didn't stay that way. But God's initial plan for Adam and Eve is that He wanted them to be representatives of His character on the earth. This also, is God's plan for Christians and the place that we want to lead our disciples to as we teach them and live life with them.

Another interesting thing about character is that God seems more concerned about the heart then about the outward actions. It's about heart motivation and not necessarily about behavior. In Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, he talks about how the law says, "Don't do this, don't do that", but he told his disciples that what's more important is what's in the heart - and that is equivalent to sin. Jesus introduced a higher standard of holiness, inner holiness, not just outward obedience to the law. Jesus also taught that the greatest commandment is to love God and to love others - motivations that start in the heart. Even when Jesus confronted someone's behavior, he did it to expose what was in their heart. Take for example, the rich young ruler. The reason that Jesus said that it would be difficult for him to enter into the kingdom of Heaven was not because of the amount of money that he had, but because his money was where his treasure was. The fruit of Spirit are also inner issues of the heart.

So, as we disciple people in the area of character, I think that it's important that we do not concern ourselves so much with the outer actions, but we need to be led by the Holy Spirit as we develop relationships with others and help to lead them in discovering their own heart motivations. This is where we really get to know people, we discover what is in them, and we get to share in what God is doing in their hearts.

And as we disciple/mentor people with a love for their hearts, God opens up our hearts and fills us with compassion. We will see past all of the outward things like actions, behaviors, dress, etc. and see people's hearts the way that God sees them.

Kids' Korner - October 25, 2010

This Justus here everyone, and we are having lots of fun here in Canada. It wasn’t a real long trip here from Portland, but we had fun in the airports and on the airplanes. Then, a couple of days after we got here was Thanksgiving. We had lots and lots of food and fun with our cousins and relatives. It was a little cool on that day, but we got outside and played in the leaves and ran around outside. Daddy says that it’s really beautiful with all of the fall colors.
Another cool thing that we get to do here is to play at lots of different playgrounds. They’re everywhere! There is one that is close enough that we can walk there from Grandpa and Grandma’s house. We go there at least two or three times a week. Daddy and Grandpa took us to a different one today. We had lots of fun.

This is Caleb here, and I had my first sleepover at my cousins house while we’ve been here. It’s so much fun being with my cousins. We have lots of fun with Jason, Renae and Cameron. They have Legos and even a Wii! So much fun.
We also went over to a friend’s house for dinner one day and they have a house close to a woods. Before dinner, we went for a walk in the woods and we saw lots of pinecones and even a beaver’s dam! It was my first time that I have ever saw one before, and it’s really cool because I just learned about beavers in my school last week. It was neat to see it in real life.

This is Emma checking in. Right now, Mommy and I are in New York City visiting a good friend of Mommy’s. We took the train here from Hamilton a couple of days ago. We are having lots of fun seeing things and being with Mommy’s friends. There are even some kids close to my age here, so I am getting to make new friends too. In a couple of days, Daddy and the boys are coming to New York to meet us here before we go down to Baltimore and visit our other cousins. Charlotte and Gideon are looking forward to playing with all of us.
Overall, we are all having lots of fun. Even though Caleb still has to do school every day, we are all very, very happy and we are enjoying our time in Canada very much. Thank you so much for your prayers for all of us. God is with us and is blessing us all along the way.

Have an awesome day!
 
Caleb, Justus and Emma

4 Components of Discipleship

In my last post about discipleship, I talked about the numbers of discipleship. And it is a very real fact that we can reach the world in our generation. It is a long-term commitment, but with the help of the Holy Spirit it can be done.

The question that arises after thinking about the numbers is this, “What does discipleship mean?” and “What does discipleship look like?”

In continuing to look at the example of Jesus, we see that discipleship to him was definitely more relational than it was institutional. He never taught in a classroom, though he did teach in the synagogue. He also taught as different situations arose. He taught his disciples as needs came, as he healed people, as people opposed him and as people asked him questions. Mostly, Jesus taught in a way that was relatable to His disciples, and he taught as they lived life together. For us, that means that in whatever place we are, in whatever we are doing, we can disciple others. Whether we are working in a steel mill, an office complex or a school, there are people around us that God wants us to disciple, and we disciple as we live life with those around us.

 However, the fact that Jesus’ discipleship was relational, doesn’t mean that it wasn’t intentional. He definitely had a purpose in everything that He did. He didn’t do anything by accident. He had a plan for his disciples.

In the book of Genesis, we see that when God created Adam and Eve, He created them for a plan or a purpose. Genesis 1:26-28 and Genesis 3:8 show us four reasons that God created man. These four reasons are 1) to have the character of God, 2) to have a relationship with God 3) to exercise the authority of God on the earth and 4) to reproduce and fill the earth.

As we look at Jesus’ training of his disciples, we can see that Jesus taught in these four areas as well. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught about character. As he taught about prayer, he was teaching them about how to have a relationship with God. He was also an incredible example in his relationship with God through prayer. In his healings and miracles, he was an example of how to use the authority that He had been given from His Father. He also sent out his disciples to exercise their authority in healings and casting out demons. Finally, in his last words to his disciples before he ascended into heaven, he told them to reproduce and fill the world with disciples.

These are four vital areas – character, relationship, authority and reproduction – are the areas where we are to be grow every day, but the are four areas in which we are to disciple those around us.

Let’s be examples in these four areas in our lives and also disciple and train at least one other person this next year. Together we can start changing the world and we will see a huge difference in the next thirty years!

Sharing at Living Hope

Well, our family is back in Hamilton after an awesome trip to Baltimore. We visited Angie's brother and sister-in-law, Ben and Rebecca Malmin. We had a great time with them and we made lots of fun memories with them and their kids.

I wanted to take a quick minute to let you know about something that is coming up next week. For all of you who are in the Hamilton area, we are going to be having a time of sharing about Cambodia on Wednesday. Pastor Bob Leach has invited us to tell about some of the things that God has been doing in Cambodia, how the church has been growing, the lives that are being touched and how we have been involved. We will be at Living Hope Christian Assembly (1045 Garth Street in Hamilton - the corner of Garth Street and Limeridge Road) on Wednesday, November 10th at 7:00pm. If you need directions or any further information, please let us know and we'd be happy to help you out

We can't wait to see you there!