Consider the Joy of the Cross in your life...

What is our Joy and Hope when we consider the cross for our lives?

In Proverbs 13:7 it says, There is he that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing: there is he that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches. Which one sounds better, riches or greater riches? Don't think of riches as material gain and wealth in this world but think of inner-riches verses inner-poverty. It starts with You and Me, not what we currently have. What we possess can never determine who we are, but rather what is it that possesses us? Is it SELF or is it Christ? In Phil. 2:1-11, Christ says, fullfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded...let each esteem the other better than themselves...look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others...Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: In life there is always some sort of joy before us. This is called hope and it is what carries us through life, but what if it only turns into me? That my only Joy is me and not something greater? Christ said you have to be likeminded as I was. He was the the One who took on the form of a servant and became obedient unto death. He made Himself of no reputation, meaning He emptied Himself and took on something greater. Imagine that, Jesus emptied Himself to take on something greater!!! The greatest reputation is the one found in Heaven and in Hell but not on this earth. In Heb. 12:2-3 it says, "who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame....for consider Him that endured such contrition...." I once heard that the Joy that was before Christ was us. That when He saw the cross He only saw you and me -- beloved lost souls! And I believe this is what carries us through life with Christ. When we see the cross what is "the joy set before" us? This could be someone that God has put on your heart, maybe a burden for a whole country or just the simple call to pray and hear from God. Its a decision that must be made based on the plan and call of God for our lives. Obedience is imperative! But what we find through the cross is great riches that can not be explained or made up, they are simply GREAT RICHES!

Roger

Team Lunch: Good Food, Great Fellowship!

Bible College Tea Time

Plan or no Plan, just go!

We went on some casual evangelism on saturday morning after our team meeting. Pastor Matti didn't really give us much direction, just to walk around the neighborhood and ask people if they knew of a nearby church. :-)

So we split up, and Gulshoda and I started up the street...I was feeling a little lost and intimidated by the situation because I'm just not used to this kind of thing! I'm used to knocking on doors in the ghetto of Baltimore, not walking around a street in Turkey. Gulshoda noticed that I was looking a little worried/perplexed, probably because I kept asking "So...where do you think we should go...?" And she said, "its OK to not have a plan. God does the most amazing things when I don't have a plan." So, without really having much of a choice, I just kept walking w/ her. It started to rain and my doubts began to creep in.
We stopped by this office where a lady Gulshoda knows works...but the door was all locked up and no one was there...so we were out of ideas. As we walked along in the rain, I started to just enjoy chatting with Gulshoda and stopped worrying about what we should or should not be doing. When we turned the corner, guess who was walking down the street? Gulshoda's friend! She was on her way to the office and invited us to come out of the rain and have some tea. We had a wonderful talk with her and her friend who came in after us. They are planning on coming to church and also have another friend they want to bring. I have a tiny little beginning of a vision to have a ladies' bible study soon...
This whole experience is just one more way that God is slowly teaching me that I really cannot understand how He works and He really doesn't need me to. He just needs me to go anyway!

The Joy of a BK Whopper...oh sweet gluttony!

Turkish Mini Golf

Gastro-enteritis...

I wanted to thank everyone for their prayers while Roger has been sick. He was very sick for about 3 days (high fever, chills, stomach pain, headaches, among other less pleasant things) before we decided it had gotten bad enough to warrant a hospital visit. So we went to the ER of the "Amerikan Hastanesi" (American Hospital) and he was given the treatment he needed...that is, besides the loving care that I was so faithfully giving him. =) Turns out something he ate gave him an infection in his bowels. But we are back home now, w/ enough antibiotics to kill a small army of bacteria! He is already feeling much better, and we're planning on going to church tomorrow night! Thanks again for your prayers, they are priceless.