Something To Listen To :)

I've been listening to a 4 part message series called "Prodigals" that Louie Giglio spoke at Passion City Church.  It has been an encouragement, and has given me a lot to think about, so I thought I would share the link with all of you!  :)

Part 1 - Surprise
Part 2 - The Power of Here and Now
Part 3 - Speech Interrupted
Part 4 - A Who God In A Do World

Hope

"Can you hear the sound?
His Spirit calling out

These bones are gonna rise
These bones will live again
These bones are gonna rise, gonna rise
These bones will live again"


I just heard this Phillips, Craig, and Dean song (These Bones) for the first time.  Hope is the only word I can think of to describe the feeling I feel right now.  It reminds me of the Valley of Dry Bones in Ezekiel 37.  Right now there may seem to be a valley of dry bones around me.  The truth is that God is saying "Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life.  I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’" (Ezekiel 37:4-6)

"These bones are gonna rise.  These bones will live again."  I can hear it...I hear the rattling of an army awakening...

It's Who I Am

Ever since the summer I've had a few thoughts rolling around in my head.  I guess it's time to get them written down...

Months ago I had a dream.  In the dream I was talking to my mom about moving back to Kamloops.  My mom was trying to convince me to stay here, but I told her "Kamloops needs Jesus just as much as the people here do."  In other words, the need to know the truth of God's love is as great there as it is here.

That dream really impacted me.  It reminded me of how much compassion I have for the lost, and how much I want to see them saved.  It doesn't matter if it's here, or there; whether I'm overseas or in Canada.  Everywhere around me there are people who need the Lord.

In the summer God really tugged at my heart as I was finishing up my last couple months at work.  I had a deep desire to finish well.  It wasn't that I didn't have the desire to make an impact before, it's that as my final day of work drew closer I realized just how much work needed to be done.  I realized that there were parts of my time there where I was too wrapped up in things going on in my own life that I didn't take the time I should have to pray for and love my co-workers.  There were moments where it was just a job, but this summer I realized that God has called me to more than that.  He's called me to be a missionary.  To spread His light wherever I go.

I've always had a desire to tell others about Jesus' love.  And for years I've known that's what my 'calling' is.  To be a missionary.  To go overseas on short missions trips, and come home to work so I can go back on another short mission trip.  This summer though I began to realize even deeper that missions is so much more than going overseas.  It's more than spending time with little Guatemalan children telling stories, and doing skits to show them that Dios es amor.  (God is love.)  Missions isn't just about travelling from one place to the next.  Missions is about spreading the mission of Christ...to seek and save the lost.  (Luke 19:10)  Missions is about who the 'missionary' is.  It's who I am.  It's not where I live that makes me a missionary.  It's the light of Jesus shining through me that makes me one.

And as I was reminded in my dream...Canada needs Jesus just as much as Guatemala.  And since I live here, it makes sense for me to be who I am and be faithful to the call Jesus has given me.

As one of my favourite children's videos, The Donut Man, says, "How can we wait until tomorrow, they're lost in sin and sorrow.  We love, and pray, and give so they might live in Jesus."