Images from March in Istanbul

A list to challenge even the best of them!

We have had an awesome weekend of messages with Pastor Matti back from Damascus full of incredible testimonies of God's work in Syria! In his Sunday night message, he gave a list of questions that he has asked himself and that really touched and convicted me personally. These questions are to challenge you, not condemn you! But I wanted to share them because they are so powerful!
1. When was the last time I really worshiped God?
2. When was the last time I laid down my life?
3. When was the last time I loved unconditionally?
4. When was the last time I sincerely repented?
5. When was the last time I expected something from God?
6. When was the last time I felt someone else's pain?
7. When was the last time I went an extra mile with or for someone?
8. When was the last time I covered someone's shame?
9. When was the last time I gave my voice to the voiceless?
10. When was the last time I looked for someone to minister to?

Casting down Imaginations!

In 2 Cor. 10:3-6 Paul shares with the church his true challenges with his own thought life and how the Holy Spirit taught him to have victory in daily thinking. To me, discipline in daily thinking is one of the most important parts of how we can keep ourselves from living in a life of imaginations. Paul says, without the right understanding of our weapons we can never pull down strongholds in our lives. In the Greek the meaning for stronghold is something that imposes on our human confidence. Meaning a stronghold can take over and change my personality, and influence my ability to make objective spiritual decisions. These strongholds will grow and strengthen if we don't understand that God must pull them down; and then we will try to use carnal weapons to take down carnal strongholds in our lives. And this I believe is what Paul feared most, that a Christian will begin to live in vain imaginations. Today we live in a world where its cool and trendy to live in imaginations, but as we can see, it produces people without real desire and motivation. As long as we live in these imaginations we will always be captive in a world between 2 opinions. The first is the world of reality, here and now, objectivity, and the other is a satanic lie of false light that only gets dimmer and dimmer. In Rom 13:12-14 It says, "the night is far spent and the day is at hand..." and it goes on to say, "cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light!" We all need a bucket of cold water thrown on us sometimes and it should be the Word of God. Jesus says in John 15:3, "You are clean through the words which I have spoken." This is what Paul meant when he said, "Mighty through God." Anything that tries to take the place of God's very Word must be cast down. Because in a world of imaginations everything seems so high and lofty, but in reality, it is the lowest level of living which really profits nothing.

EuroCon 2010 - The Beauty of Holiness

What can we say about this past week in Budapest? For us, it was refreshing, challenging, convicting and encouraging. For our Turks there is no doubt that it was life changing. By the end of the week, the light in their eyes was shining like I had never seen it before. The call of God is tugging at their hearts and it is a mystery to them. There could be no greater blessing than to see them broken by an incredible message or beaming after an amazing song service. These men received something supernatural this week.
For me, there is usually one particular message that really sticks with me after a conference. But this year, there were so many messages that were like arrows into my own personal walk of faith or like soothing balm to my own personal doubts and insecurities. Pastor Scibelli's message about a love that goes "above and beyond" gave me a fresh understanding of how a missionary could serve for 40 or 50 years and still be full of spiritual energy and love-motivated ministry. Pastor Schaller's message on suffering was absolutely unforgettable! His exhortation on alcohol was so heart-felt and right on with the mind of Christ. His message on being stuck between two opinions was so convicting and powerful. To think that I could be missing out on amazing spiritual growth because I have not truly sincerely chosen God's way! If God is God, then I can fully trust Him. If God is God, then I can give Him everything. If God is God, then my life can be sacrificed with joy. If God is God, then the things I hold dear can be gladly given. So how long will you stay between two opinions? Be persuaded that God is God!
Lastly, Pastor Matti said in a church-planting workshop: "People don't have to deserve our ministry. People don't have to deserve our friendship. Don't trust in your intuition about people, but minister in faith. Believe the best of all and be encouraged by God." This is the kind of love that covers sins. This is the kind of love that endures all things. This is the kind of love that we are constrained by.

Eurocon 2010 was life changing for our Turks!

1. Pastor Matti with Veli, Garip and Bora during the missions march
2. The country of Turkey cannot be ignored!
3. After the services, Pastor Matti had a rap to personally go over the messages with our Turks.
4. Our five Turkish men praying
5. Pastor Schaller's messages were incredibly refreshing and challenging!

We will miss you, Istanbul!

We arrived in Budapest safe and sound with only one missed flight and one delayed flight! Praise God! We are really looking forward to this time of encouragement and fellowship, to be refreshed with annointed messages and amazing worship - this is our expectation from God for this Eurocon!
We want to thank everyone again who gave so generously to help send our Turks to Eurocon! We have five amazing disciples coming to hear and receive from God in Budapest!
It is always hard to leave Turkey, even for a conference, and we will miss it. Hopefully when we return, the tulips will be in full bloom and God will continue to use us.

February in GG Istanbul

This month has flown by! We have been very busy studying Turkish everyday, and we have been blessed with alot of visitors - Pastor Ismo & Hannele, Josh (picture below) and Jon Gray, Josh Robbins (Roger's brother), and more!
We have great expectations from God for the month of March! Please pray for good health and traveling mercies.