Monday, October 29, 2007

The Lord is Faithful

We are coming to the end of our ministry here in Iquitos. It has been a full time of ministry here. I don't have a regular devotional for you today, but would like to share a brief report. The Lord has been so faithful to the people of Iquitos, and to our team. Thousands of souls have been won to the Lord. Hallelujah!
The Lord has put together such a wonderful ministry team that I could not have picked myself, and He has stretched them during this trip. Almost everybody faced something that they had never faced before. My son Ben joined the Eternity Minded Ministries staff last summer and this is his first experience on the mission field leading a ministry team. Ben is doing a fabulous job, but Ben, along with the team, has been stretched. Ben shared "God has provided us as always with ways to connect with the people here in Iquitos. I am so blessed by all the amazing things that we all got to witness and the way that the Lord used each of us for the Kingdom."

We had a team that went out to a mental hospital where they met and worshipped with a group of patients that live in horrific conditions locked behind bars most of the day. They were brought out and our team loved on them and shared just how much God loves each and every one of them; so much that He sent His Son for them; and He is there for them always. Many accepted Christ. Jill Griffin, our director of communications said, "I thought I was just going to visit and love on these people, but as I was standing there God told me that He wanted me to speak, and He began to give me the words. That was a huge stretch for me, but God came through and He gave me His Word. God gave those people the gift of salvation, and God gave me the gift and being a part of it." Erin and Joe Maue are new friends that found out we were going to be in Iquitos at the same time as they were and met with us. Erin interpreted for us at the hospital, and for Erin this was a first and not something that she expected. "I was so nervous at first, but when I realized that Jesus was there, and they really heard us I was relieved. When I saw their hands raised I just started crying."

Some of us were able to watch the portable stoves provided by our partners in action. Over one hundred stoves were distributed. The committee that we visited today feeds over 36 families everyday. They are so grateful to be able to cook faster, and feed more people in their community.

We visited two schools where the de-worming medicine and vitamins was being distributed . Those children were troopers as they swallowed the pills. They did a great job, and now their bodies will be rid of the parasites so they can grow up big and strong. We had enough medicine available at one of the schools to treat all of the teachers and they were so grateful.

We have an incredible group from Grants Pass, Oregon that came with us to provide an eye glass ministry to the people in Iquitos. Over a thousand pairs of eye glasses were distributed here in Iquitos. Many people who could not read a Bible or a newspaper, and now they are able read God's Word. A counselor was waiting to speak with each person that received a new pair of glasses, and they were given a message of love and spiritual healing, and an opportunity to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. As the result of a simple pair of eye glasses given by loving servants, hundreds of people have a new relationship with Jesus and have joined God's Kingdom.

The Lord has been faithful and has done amazing things here in Iquitos. There is so much more to share and we will do so soon after we return. We have really bonded with the people here and they are our family. I can't thank you enough for your partnership in prayer and financial support to touch lives forever. Today we head to the river to minister to some of the villages along the Amazon, and then will be heading to the airport to return back home. We will all miss the people here, and are looking forward to continuing our ministry here over the next two years.

Blessed in Iquitos,

Dan
www.eternityminded.org




Monday, October 22, 2007

The Lord Is My Strength

This morning our flight will take off for Iquitos, Peru at 6:00am. Oh how I dislike international flights that start that early. However, I am still eager to get to Peru with our team of 22 friends to minister to the hurting and the needy.

Someone recently asked me if I ever get used to travel, and doing these Festivals around the world. I can honestly say that I still get a bit nervous in the days leading up to the event. I am fine once I leave my home and head to the airport for the first leg of the journey. I guess it's kind of like how I felt when I played sports in high school and college, nervous until the first play or first hit.

This is our first Festival in Peru so that brings a bit of tension with it as well. We have a great team going with us yet for some this will be their first experience in international ministry and I am concerned that it is a good experience for them. We have been blessed with great teams, great ministry and praise the Lord, great health in past ministries. I expect the same for this trip to Peru.

Because I am weak, I claim Psalms 28:7-8, "The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song. The Lord is the strength for his people, a fortress of salvation for his anointed one." Like Paul I can truly say that because of my weakness I am able to identify God's strength in me. He truly does help me!

So, today there is no devotion from me due to my travels and ministry, yet I would ask that you pray for me and for all those who are ministering along with me. Would you pray for a harvest of souls, for the unity of our team, that we would be a blessing to the people of Iquitos, and finally that our families would be protected while we are gone. I count on you right now to lift up a word to the Lord on our behalf. I thank you for your wonderful partnership in prayer!

God bless you and I look forward to sharing wonderful reports of how God honored himself through our ministry.

Still Moving Forward,

Dan

Copyright 2007 Eternity Minded Ministries - All rights reserved
www.eternityminded.org

Monday, October 15, 2007

Love Is Not An Option

"Thank goodness it's Friday" is a phrase that is known to most of America. Although there are many who work the weekends; there are a host of professions and trades that end the week at 5:00pm on Friday. So, when we look back on our week, how do we evaluate it, or what criteria do we use to determine if it was successful or not? I can promise you that very few of us determine the success of our week based on the criteria of love. We do not go to our favorite restaurant on Friday night evaluating whether or not we loved as God would ask of us during the past week.

Last week we looked at the words of Jesus as he was asked about which commandment was the greatest. His answer was to love God with our whole being because he loves us with his whole being. According to Jesus that is the "Greatest Commandment" of all. The teacher of law did not ask for the second commandment, yet Jesus gave it to him because he knew it was tied to the first. The second one is more visible in that Jesus says, "The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:31)

So, with these two weighty commandments sitting before me, I have to ask myself on Friday, "Did I love God and did I love my neighbor?" These were not commands that were "suggested" by the Lord, or an option that he has given to us. Loving God and loving people are the criteria for which we will be held accountable for. It is an awesome truth that makes me realize that without the Holy Spirit active in my life I will never make it.

There are other passages in Scripture where Jesus shows us that it is not a question of "Who is my neighbor?" rather, "Am I being a good neighbor to those around me?" Jesus identified for us many times that a neighbor is "anyone who has been providentially placed in our path for sympathy and help." (William Hendriksen). The famous quote from the late missionary Amy Carmichael should be remembered here: "You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving."

Why is this love of people so important to the Lord? Human love is patterned after God, it is a glorious aspect of being "Created in the image if God." When we love as he has commanded we become selfless; we then respond to needs in self-giving. This is exactly how Jesus lived because the love of the Father was in him also. I guess I am still stumped on how we can love our neighbor when we don’t even do a very admirable job of loving our brothers and sisters in our communities of faith.

While at the library this week I picked up a reputable Christian magazine that was on the periodical rack. I sat down with it and a couple of more earthy kinds of magazines dealing cars, cycles and currents issues. As I read the Christian magazine I was struck with the thought, "How would an unchurched person view Christianity if they read this magazine from cover to cover?"

As I read the mudslinging, the put downs, the competitive discourses, and all denominational promoting, I realized that they would be totally confused, and probably turned off to Christianity. Jesus said, "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you." A few lines later in John 15:17 he says it again, "This is my command" Love each other." Reading numerous articles in that "Christian" magazine I did not see much Christian about it. How is our society to know the love of God when we tear each other to shreds? As the early church grew after the days of Jesus and the Apostles, a Roman poet wrote of the Christians, "They know one another by secret marks and signs, and they love one another almost before they know one another." I don't think that can be said today especially when "doctrines" enter into discussion.

There are many passages in the Bible that I have questions about or that cause me concern, but the ones where Jesus speaks of love and unity as a sign of those that will be his true followers, well, I just don’t see it. I don't see it in me as I should and I don't see it in my church, and I don't see it in our country, and I don't see it in the world. Yet, Jesus said this is his commandment for us - to love.

Teresa of Avila wrote so well, "Our Lord does not care so much for the importance of our works as for the love with which they are done." And that love will not be expressed through our lives without the ministry of the Holy Spirit being active in our souls. As the Scriptures say, "The fruit of the Spirit is love . . ." I must be filled to over flowing with the Spirit of God in order for me to love those I disagree with, or those that I find unlovely and especially those I would call my enemies.

I think maturity in Christ can be summed up by asking if we are becoming more loving people? We hear sermon after sermon on "becoming more like him" and that would have to mean that we are becoming a more loving person year after year. The reality is that everyone around us knows whether or not we are growing in love and truly becoming "more like him."

Friday is coming. Your week will be over. Will you be able to say, "Yes, I have loved God and my neighbor this past week?" Will you be able to say, "God put someone in my path and I loved them as Jesus would and I helped them." Whatever else you might have accomplished, is secondary to the "Greatest Commandment."

Still Moving Forward,

Dan

Copyright 2007 Eternity Minded Ministries - All rights reserved
www.eternityminded.org

Monday, October 8, 2007

What Does God Really Want?

There are times when following the Lord gets confusing. There are so many voices telling us how we should act if we want to be "Good Christians." There are other voices telling what we should believe to be "in." We get busy with church activities, Christian friends, and at times we wonder if we are truly living an authentic Christian life. The great news is that in reality, the Christian life is quite simple to understand.

Mark informs us in 12:28 that a teacher of the law came to Jesus and asked him a fantastic question. It's a question that should help each of us today. The question was quite simple, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" Thank you Mr. Teacher of Law for being so direct because we get to listen in as Jesus responds. We get to peak into the heart of God and see what is important to him.

Jesus responded with, "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all your soul and with all of your mind and with all of your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no greater commandment than these." Mark 12:29-31

There it is! No parable, no riddle, and no hidden meaning, Jesus puts it plainly so we can all get it. Jesus summed up for us the ultimate goal of the Christian life. Love is what God is after. Without going into all the theology of it, we must be reminded that just like Israel, we as Christians are in a covenant relationship with the Lord. Jesus spoke of the "New Covenant" that was being offered as a result of his death on the cross. A covenant is like a contract except that it involves people and not property. A covenant is a living bond that goes both ways, meaning both parties are part of the covenant.

Jesus is clearly bringing this covenant to the forefront of their minds when he says that we should love God with our whole being. Why should we do this? Because God has loved us with his whole being and in this covenant we are to return that love. If you want to know how much God loves you take a closer look at that verse. Everything that Jesus says we should do with regards to love, the Father has already loved us in the same manner. In other words, God has already loved us with all of his heart, soul, mind, and strength. Praise the Lord. As the Scripture says, we love him because he first loved us!

So with all of the demands that are put on you to perform in your Christian life-teach a class, read a book, be involved in leadership, join a small group, give money and all the rest-what is God looking for? God has been and always will be looking for your desire to be with him and to love him. Everything we do should stem from that desire.

We are often told what activities distinguish whether or not we are "Good Christians." The funny thing is, you and I can do some of those things and not be in love with God at all. I remember quite well early in ministry having a girl in my youth group whose father had been molesting her for years. Yes, he taught a Sunday School class every Sunday. He was always at church and was most certainly considered a "Good Christian." His heart however, was so evil that he was continually raping his own daughter and when his hideous actions were finally exposed he committed suicide. I learned quickly that what you see in people's actions might not tell you at all how they really feel towards God.

The Bible tells us that we look at the outward appearance of man, but God looks intently at the heart. God is not so interested in what we do, but why we do it. God is interested in the motivation behind our actions. The Bible also teaches us that when we do religious duties in the flesh or for the wrong motivation that those activities are pretty much worthless. Because God loves us so much, he wants us in turn to love him, and out of that love should spring our Christian behavior.

I have said it so many times that in my early Christian experience, I was taught to obey not to love. What a horrible tragedy. Can you imagine having a toddler and having your relationship based completely on their obedience to you and not on love? That child would grow up emotionally crippled. For years many preachers communicated that kind of message. The message was come to Christ so you won't go to hell and then be obedient or he will get you and make your life miserable. That just does not lead to a healthy relationship with God at all. God wants first and foremost a loving covenant relationship with us!

I was with a pastor recently and as we shared about our journey with the Lord he reached into his pocket and pulled out a silver ring. It was almost like a key ring; nothing fancy, just a ring. He said, "Do you see this ring? I keep in my pocket all the time and I take it with me wherever I go. It's a physical reminder that God loves me, that he is with me and he wants me to love him." I could understand his actions quite well.

There are many of us who are "visual learners." We have to see things not just hear things in order to get the point. I think Jesus knew many in his audiences were like that as well, thus he would give physical illustrations. I guess that is why I have always liked stained glass windows in cathedrals, they help me see God through the stories they reveal high above the pews.

Maybe you need to carry a ring in your pocket, or a cross or something else that will remind you that God is with you in love, and it is love in return that he most desires. You are in a covenant relationship with God based on love, and that should truly brighten your day!

God Bless You,

Dan

Copyright 2007 Eternity Minded Ministries - All rights reserved
www.eternityminded.org

Monday, October 1, 2007

Your Most Valuable Tool

The following is an excerpt from Dan Owens book, Sharing Christ When You Feel You Can't

The Institute of American Church Growth polled more than 14,000 Christians and asked them, "What or who was responsible for you coming to Christ?" Ninety percent of the responders stated that a friend or relative who cared for them and invested time in them was the primary factor in their decision to accept Christ as their Savior.

Ironically, most of us lose our non-Christian friends within two years of coming to Christ. How are we going to lead someone to Christ if we don't have even one non-Christian friend with whom we are spending time and developing a relationship?

Jesus spent more time with people in their homes and in the marketplace than in the religious settings of the temple or the synagogues. A classic example of this is Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4. His conversation with her, eventually leading to her trust in Him as the Messiah, began at a common place (a well) around a common interest (a drink of water).

A while back I began to realize that many times the right tool for building bridges to people is an activity you enjoy - a hobby or a sport, for example. We always think about taking someone to church so they can hear the Gospel, but sometimes God wants to use the things we do in life to reach others, especially if they share our interest.

When Deb and I got married, I quickly discovered something about her. She was into this things called "crafts." You glue things. You sew things. You create things. Within the first year of our marriage, our second bedroom was taken over by crafts. Honestly, I couldn't have forced my way into that room if I had wanted to.

Deb used her hobby to build bridges into the lives of women who were just as interested in crafts as she was. She does this very, very well, and she also has fun doing it.

Deb and I were at our sons' gymnastics class one time when all of a sudden I couldn't find her anywhere. Then I noticed she was talking to another woman nearby. Later in the car I asked her, "Did you know that woman you were talking to?"

"Oh no," she said, "but we discovered that we will be taking this doll painting class together." When it comes to crafts, Deb knows no strangers.

. . .

When we were still just visiting what became our home church, the director of women's ministries came up to us after a service and told us about the craft classes they were creating so women could bring their friends and build relationships. My wife literally began to cry. I thought. Praise the Lord. Somebody finally figured out that you can use a variety of ways to get people to church and still have fun.

. . .

A few years ago Deb had to be hospitalized while she underwent an operation. I took time off to be Mr. Mom and take care of our boys for five days. Things began arriving at our doorstep during the day. Food. Presents. Cards. Flowers. I'd go to the hospital and say to Deb, "We had a nice meal tonight. It was provided by So-and-So. I don't know who that is. Do you?"

"Oh yea, that's the person I'm making a quilt with," she responded.
"I don't know this person either. Who is that?"
"Oh, we're in a craft class together."

As I listed all the names, I realized it wasn't the people from church who were taking care of our family. It was all the people with whom Deb had developed relationships - people who didn't know the Lord.

. . .

Every Tuesday night was men's doubles night at the tennis club, and I was paired with several different men in the first few weeks. Nothing seemed to click between me and any of my partners until I met Ken. After we played on the same team one Tuesday evening, he said, "I think we are pretty much evenly matched. Why don't we get together sometime and knock the ball around between us?"

Ken and I began to meet regularly after that, sometimes three and four times a week, and since then we have developed a wonderful friendship. We pound each other on the court, and in that process we've gotten to know each other off the court too. Ken is a doctor, works about three days a week, then takes off the rest of the week do do what he wants. I've shared with him that I am involved in Christian communications and broadcasting, and he's been intrigued with that.

One day Ken asked me how I got involved with my work as a minister, and I shared my testimony with him. He is also intrigued with all the traveling I do, and often I will bring back a present for him from the country where I have been ministering. Ken hasn't come to Christ yet, but the bridge definitely is in place.

Do you drink coffee? Did you realize you can use a common interest in coffee to get to know other people? Deb uses a coffee house in our area as a meeting place with her non-Christian friends.

. . .

God could use impressive displays of His power to get the attention of your non-Christian friends. He is completely capable of writing out John 3:16 in the clouds of the sky, for instance. But more often He seems to choose quieter, gentler methods, using people like you and me, tucked away in this community and that neighborhood. Regular people. People who haven't bowed their knee to the gods of their culture.

Sometimes He reminds us about that in a gentle whisper and in the same way points to people who need Him. But we have to listen to Him to hear what He's saying. We can pray for people, design a plan for bridging the chasm between us and them, and understand all the right and wrong tools to using in reaching them, but we also have to hear God.

And when He speaks, it's time to listen and obey.

Blessing to you,

Dan

For more information about Eternity Minded Ministries with Dan Owens, Dan's books, podcasts and devotionals visit http://www.eternityminded.org/.

Copyright 2007 Eternity Minded Ministries - All rights reserved
www.eternityminded.org