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Read through Habakkuk this weekend and was reminded again how truly amazing life is when we see it through the eyes of God.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).

We studied the men of faith in my Sunday School class last week and I was struck by the circumstances in which these people were in. Much worse situations than I can possibly imagine, but they had a hope, a conviction of something that was beyond their circumstances. They believed God. And because they did, the persecution, the suffering, the killing, the poverty… paled in comparison with the knowledge of where they were going and who was waiting for them at the finish line in the race of life.

They endured hardship for the sake of knowing Christ, the Messiah. The lives of the OT saints ended without them ever seeing the coming of the Messiah, and yet they believed. I find that remarkable. We live in an immediate gratification culture where RESULTS and PRODUCTION are the indicators of success. For the Christian success lies not in those indicators, but where your heart is and in whom are you putting your trust in all circumstances..

The end of Habakkuk points to a similar understanding: (3:17-19)

17 Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.
19 The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.

Even in the midst of DEEP ECONOMIC DEPRESSION, the prophet Habakkuk looks not to the impending DOOM, but rejoices in the LORD.

My recent prayer is for our eyes to be set on the LORD, that we can rejoice in the LORD and that with Christ we too may endure the hardships of life with JOY in any and all circumstances. May we be known for our joy.

Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

AMEN.

This from Mars Hill Church, Pastor Mark Driscoll

Jesus gives an old command in a new way. In John 15 Jesus reminds us we need to be connected to the source in order to bear fruit. There is no love without abiding and there is no abiding without love.

John15:1″I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5″I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

9″As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command. 15I 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. 16You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 17This is my command: Love each other.

Been thinking of this lately:

Luke 15:3-7 Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

Almost 1/2 of all Americans have donated to help Haiti recover. But Haiti needs something more fundamental than relief from the present situation; they need jobs that they can count on for years ahead.

According to this article in the NYTimes, Haiti is full of possible sources of export including Mangoes, Coffee, light manufacturing, and possibly tourism but needs basic infrastructure like roads, electrical grids and ports.

Found this link through Harvard Econ Prof. Greg Mankiw’s blog.

Still news of aftershocks and estimated 150-200k dead. Please continue to pray for Haiti and her people as well as for the relief efforts that are still under way.

If you have time, please watch this report from Mars Hill Church and Churches helping churches.

I was fortunate/blessed to have heard a talk from International Justice Mission last week. They work in countries and try to get governments to stop human trafficking, sex slave, and other types of human rights violations. They have a new movie coming out and they said it would be a great educational tool as well as a starting point for dialog on some of the ongoing injustices in the world.

See the movie. Build a movement. Change the world.

At The End Of Slavery – Extended Trailer from International Justice Mission on Vimeo.

I’m filing this under prayer because I know there are so many factors involved when dealing with this topic… it truly is mind boggling…

Was reading through my old blog entries… this one still gets to me… though I don’t remember the context in which i was writing back then. Who are you, the fallow or the plowed?

“There are two kinds of ground: fallow ground and ground that has been broken up by the plow.

“The fallow field is smug, contented, protected from the shock of the plow and the agitation of the harrow. Such a field, as it lies year after year, becomes a familiar landmark to the crow and the blue jay. . . . Safe and undisturbed, it sprawls lazily in the sunshine, the picture of sleepy contentment. . . . Fruit it can never know because it is afraid of the plow and the harrow.

“In direct opposite to this, the cultivated field has yielded itself to the adventure of living. The protecting fence has opened to admit the plow, and the plow has come as plows always come, practical, cruel, business-like, and in a hurry. Peace has been shattered by the shouting farmer and the rattle of machinery. The field ? has been upset, turned over, bruised, and broken, but its rewards come hard upon its labors. The seed shoots up into the daylight, its miracle of life, curious, exploring the new world above it. Nature’s wonders follow the plow.

“There are two kinds of lives also ? the fallow and the plowed.

“The man of fallow life is contented with himself and the fruit he once bore. He does not want to be disturbed. He smiles in silent superiority at revivals, fastings, self-searchings, and all the travail of fruit bearing and the anguish of advance. The spirit of adventure is dead within him . . . he has fenced himself in, and by the same act he has fenced out God and the miracle.

“The plowed life is the life that has . . . thrown down the protecting fences and sent the plow of confession into the soul . . . Such a life has put away defense and has forsaken the safety of death for the peril of life. Discontent, yearning, contrition, courageous obedience to the will of God these have bruised and broken the soil till it is ready again for the seed. And as always fruit follows the plow.”

– A.W. Tozer in Paths of Power

Just listening to some of the mp3s based on Luke 15:11-32 from Tim Keller entitled the Prodigal God. Very good stuff.

I know this is another marketing ploy to get churches and christians to spend money on a new bible, but it does have its merit in that it encourages people to read the Word of God.

After listening to Bryan Chappell’s talk in the Gospel Coalition on

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, I decided that it would be good to re-read the bible again.

Like a marathon runner wanting to improve his personal best through running and strength training… we can’t hear God or even know God unless we hear the preaching and reading of his Word. So if anyone is interested in joining us, we will begin June 1 and read through August 31… That comes out to be about 12 pages a day depending on your bible or about 30 minutes a day.

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