Thursday, December 23, 2010

God with us! Amazing!

Emmanuel - God with us! It astounds me that God would even consider coming to the earth in flesh, born of a virgin, fully man and fully God, to carry out the greatest rescue ever. To rescue us from our sin and sinfulness. I have been reading in Ephesians 2 for the past months and am repeatedly reminded that we do nothing in terms of salvation. It was God's grand idea, to redeem his Name and to rescue us. Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, reminds us that we were dead in our sin and in our sinful destructive behavior. It was hopeless. I have worked for 25 years now in medicine and I have never been able to raise someone from the dead, nor to give life back to a dead person. Only God can do that, and that is what Ephesians 2 talks about. When we were dead, Christ made us to be alive, to have a spirit that will respond to God, to that god-hole that we have in our souls. I'm reminded what the old prophet Ezekiel said (Ezek 36) when he prophesied about the time when God would be taking our hearts of stone and replacing them with hearts of flesh - a heart ready to respond to God. And to give us a spirit that would be ready to follow God's ways with joy.

It is amazing, and lest we get it wrong, it is NOT about us, but all about God, His glory, His great name being glorified.

I'm thankful to be a part of a team (IMB and MAF) that is all about getting that message, of God's rescue, to people in their heart language, in a culturally relevant message. It's a message of hope, of forgiveness, of new amazing God-designed purposeful life.

Sally and I are so grateful for each and every Southern Baptist Church member and others that give through our annual Christmas Lottie Moon Offering that funds the largest portion of our mission organizations budget. Already we have been hearing the news that in spite of difficult economic conditions that people are giving sacrificially to continue the task of taking the Good News to ALL peoples. "For God so loved the world that He gave..."
Please continue to pray for us as we work toward the goal that our region has to "Shatter the Silence" in getting the Good News to each and every people in Sub Saharan Africa.

Have a restful, peaceful, joyful time of Celebration of Jesus!

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