Lately, God has been radically enhancing my perspective on the urgency and all consuming nature of the Gospel. There are moments that my passion threatens to tear me apart. I have been earnestly praying that God will temper my passion without allowing it to be tamed, neutered or domesticated. Much of my apprehension towards blogging has stemmed from my fear that, should I attempt to put my passion into written form, I would either write a novel or become agitated at my inability to convey the most important message of all time. In spite of these fears, I will do my best to draw you into the inner chambers of my heart and mind.

There are two kinds of people in the world: Saved and Unsaved.

There are two kinds of people in the world: Saved and Unsaved!

Saved: Those who have been made aware of the damnable state they are in due to their sins; and, consequently have been drawn, irresistibly, by the grace of Jesus Christ to repent of their sins, confess Christ as Savior and Lord of their lives, believing that Christ's death was both necessary and sufficient for the propitiation of their sins. Believing that Christ, being raised from the dead by God the Father, reigns eternally in triumph over sin and death, forever ensuring that we who are found in Christ have the matchless hope of eternal life.

Unsaved: Entrenched in sin which separates them from a Holy God and destines them for a just damnation to an eternity in hell (perpetual weeping and gnashing of teeth).

Eternity...take your life and multiply it by 10. You can almost grasp the immensity of that timeframe. Now take your life and multiply it by 100. Few can wrap their minds around this number let alone multiplying your lifetime by

1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

These aren't simply words and numbers!!! These are souls!!!

"Every day people go down to the pits of a deepest dark hell! Your neighbors, your friends, your relatives. And you don't want to 'blow your witness'. You don't want to 'turn them off'. You don't want to make them feel like you're trying to get them saved, so you don't, and so they go to hell. And I'm asking you, 'What are you giving them in return?'. A cool friendship? I'd rather have people hate me and the knowledge that I tried to save them." ~Keith Green

This message falls first and foremost on my heart. I am under heavy conviction by the Holy Spirit even as I attempt to finish this post.

It is very hard for me to communicate the truth of the gospel to people whom I cannot speak with due to language barriers. My heart aches for the lost souls here in Draganesti, Romania. But I must wake each day and beseech the Lord that He would work mightily through the lives of the local missionaries. Where I cannot vocally proclaim the Gospel, I will do all I can to live it out and support those who can.

Romans 10:14-15 

"How then will they call on Him in whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!'" 

We each have our roles to play, but all have a joyous obligation to loving God and loving others.

Matthew 12:29-31 

"Jesus answered, "The foremost is, 'Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

How do we love God?

Answer: Obeying His commandments. (John 14:15, John 14:21, John 15:10)

God commands that you love your neighbor as yourself.

What is the greatest way you can love your neighbor?

Answer: To share the Gospel with them!

If we want to love God fully, we will be sharing the Gospel with everyone.

Oh, Church! Arise!

I am broken by the message I just penned as I recognize the countless times that I fail to live this message out. God's grace is so comforting and sustaining. But let me never grow so familiar with this grace (as I find myself in need of it at every turn) that I go on sinning against my Lord and Savior (Romans 6:1).

April Showers bring May flowers, and mayflowers bring pilgrims.

We are pilgrims in a foreign land with a message of Hope and Love to proclaim to all who will listen.

The Gospel goes forth!

Sincerely,

A man who is falling more passionately in love with His Savior.

My life for the last month...

February 26: landed in Hong Kong & secured bus transportation to the city of Guangzhou in southern China. Bought a warm fleece as I tried to acclimate myself to the below freezing temperatures (a stark contrast to the intense heat of Malaysia).

February 27: Took a 3 hour bullet train to Hengyang, China where I would spend the next 10 days with Scott's team at ICC (International China Concern).

February 28-March 7^th: loved on some of the most beautiful children I have ever had the privilege of holding. I spent a lot of time encouraging Scott's team to ground themselves even deeper in the Gospel as the source of their love, strength, motivation, etc.

March 7^th-8^th: Purchased a sleeper cabin for my 17 hour overnight train ride to SanMenxia, China where Brandon's team was working with another branch of ICC.

March 8^th-14^th: loved on more beautiful children and spent a lot of time encouraging Brandon's team to fight for a greater level of unity that is fueled by a common goal in the Gospel.

March 14^th-15^th: Drew and I boarded an overnight train to Beijing. We had chosen to get seats instead of sleeper units for the 9 hour trip in order to save money...bad choice. We experienced one the most restless nights as my backpack had to be stored between my legs due to the lack of storage compartments, threat of theft, and general overcrowding of the train. When they run out of seats on the train, they simple begin selling standing tickets in an attempt to squeeze as many people as they possibly can on the train. Crazy time...

March 15^th: Rest!lol I was exhausted from all the traveling and the lack of sleep on the train during the previous night. Went to TGI Fridays in Beijing for a mouth watering burger. I can't begin to explain how blessed we are to have such good food at our disposal in America.

March 16^th: Visited the Great Wall!!! Our hostel took us on a terrific tour of a restored section as well as an ancient section of the wall. We hiked 10k of the wall...I'm out of shape.lol

March 17^th: Prepared for the squads 8 month debrief which began on the 18^th. Most of the teams arrived at the hostel during the day. It was great getting the opportunity to see everyone again!

March 18^th-21^st: These were four of the most encouraging, grueling, stretching, maturing, revealing and exhausting days of my race, thus far. Saturday night I got a whopping 7 hours sleep, followed by 6 hours, 5 hours and 4 hours. I loved spending time with our former squad leaders (Lucas and Sarah) & the staff that poured into me so much throughout the four days of debrief.

March 22^nd: Boarded a plane bound for Moscow at 11:50am. I failed to sleep at all on the plane due to enticing movies and great conversations. Arrived at Moscow with a 5 hour layover that I used to talk with my parents and brother for the first time in 5 weeks. Finally arrived in Kiev, Ukraine at 9:30pm and headed to the train station where I boarded a 9 hour train to l'viv, Ukraine. After getting my bed set up on the train I passed out feeling great joy at a full month where I gave all I had to offer. 

God is good, all the time!

Trying to recap a month of ministry is a daunting task. I have great empathy for missionaries around the world that try to use script in communicating their experiences to supporters in the United States. If a picture speaks a thousand words, I would need millions of words to express all that I saw over the past month. For your sake, I will try to be brief, yet detailed, in my account.

Kevin, Dre and I split up between the teams last month due to the vast distances between the various ministries we were partnered with during our stay in China. I was to visit Scott and Brandon's teams who were working with an organization called International China Concern (ICC). ICC is a Christian development organization bringing love, hope and opportunity to China's abandoned and disabled. Founded in 1993 by David Gotts, International China Concern exists to help the disadvantaged live life to the full and to their God-given potential.

My heart was broken, yet again. Due to China's one child policy, many families will discard a child once it becomes evident that the child suffers from a physical or mental disability. While I was staying with Scott's team, I had the opportunity to tag along with Scott and Cameron while they played instruments and sang to the children (music therapy). With little musical talent of my own, I was delighted to hold children and hum Christian nursery tunes.

Snot and saliva dripped on my shoulder as I tried to provide a few moments of comfort and unconditional love to these precious outcasts. Most of the children received great care from ICC, but there were a small group of about 20 children that were still being looked after by the Chinese Welfare Department. I was not prepared for the horrific site of children who are so malnourished, they look like holocaust victims. I've been to Auschwitz and the holocaust museum in Israel. I never imagined that I would see people so malnourished in the world today.

I began to loath and hate the government social workers for their heartless treatment of these children. It took many hours of prayer and quiet meditation to see how conditional my own love had become. I was willing to love those whom it was easy to love, but wanted to turn my back on those I deemed undeserving of love. Praise God that He was faithful to soften my heart to the resounding message of grace in the gospel! The extent of my love and understanding of the gospel was truly tested in my reaction and treatment of the governmental social workers. But for Christ's grace...am I any different or more deserving of grace than they? No.

What a privilege it was to encourage believers, love the "least of these", and live the gospel in China. I am living a full life!

Thank you for supporting me as I take the gospel to the ends of the earth.

After spending 5 days in Gua Musang, Kevin, Dre & I traveled to Kuantan to visit Scott's team. We spent 2 days in Kuantan and then traveled with Scott's team to their new location in Jerantut. While traveling, I continued to notice ornate Islamic temples in towns throughout Malaysia. These temples caused me to reflect upon the beautiful Hindu temples that I saw while visiting Angor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia. For a few moments, I started to wonder why our places of corporate worship did not look as beautiful and ornate as the temples of other religions. In many ways, I was like the Israelites in 1 Samuel 8 looking around at what every other religion had and wishing that we could be like them. Fortunately, this was merely a passing thought and I was quickly brought to reflect on the simple truth that Christianity consists of the most beautiful and ornate temples in the world. For every believer is a living temple, unique, full of beauty and grace.

It has been my privilege to encourage and be encouraged by living temples throughout the world. Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit and there is nothing more ornate or beautiful that man can construct to house the Spirit of the living God

A simple truth...but one that has been revealed to me in greater depth as I travel the world and see temples from various religions.

Continue to pray that I will not overlook simple truths in my attempt to tackle some difficult concepts and teachings in scripture.

Over the last two weeks, I have been traveling throughout the country of
Malaysia visiting teams, encouraging churches, sharing the gospel and fellowshipping with Malaysian, Indian and Chinese believers. Lately, I have found it very difficult to sit down and write a blog. God has been teaching me so many lessons and spiritual truths that I often arrive at a computer only to find that I cannot come up with the proper words to express my experiences and revelations. I desire to break away from my "writers-block" and update you with the happenings of my life over the last few weeks. Bear with me as we catch up a little bit...

First, I was quite sick when the squad began to travel from Cambodia to Malaysia two weeks ago. We had a 2 hour plane ride from Phnom Penh to Kuala Lumpur. This was followed by 6 hours waiting in a train station before boarding a train bound for Gua Musang in Eastern Malaysia. The 11 hour train ride was one of the most jolting rides of my life. However, we finally arrive in Gua Musang and were met by Kumar, an Indian believer involved in teaching English and preaching the gospel to the local inhabitants. It was such an encouragement for me to see the faith of Kumar lived out in his moving from his hometown so that he could answer the call of Christ to minister in one of the most closed, Islamic states in Malaysia. He was filled with such joy...the kind that can only come from living a life of total abandon to the will of Christ.

Quick update on the spiritual climate in Malaysia...

Malaysia is home to a wide variety of religious groups, of which the most prominent are Islam, Hinduism & Buddhism. It is legal for Christians to practice their faith in Malaysia, but it is illegal for them to witness to any Muslim. You can be arrested and thrown into prison (or deported if you are a foreigner) if anyone accuses you of trying to share the love of Christ with a Muslim. Islam is the largest religion in the state and is protected by various state and national laws. Needless to say, this is a tough spiritual climate and I am blessed to be on the front lines, praying and sharing Christ with all who will listen.

Please take a moment to pray for the believers toiling in Malaysia and for the hearts of the local people.