Our Daughter Tabitha is on a mission trip to the Philippines. Here is a clip from her blog…

His little ones – He wants it all.
Hello there!

I just have to say… the bread in Manila IS as good as they say! First off, I just gotta say thank you Jesus for getting us all here safely. It has been a crazy couple of days. From the second we got here it feels like we have been going on and on. It’s only been two days! But we must have some serious supernatural help because there is no way we would be able to accomplish as much as we have without His mighty help and sweet guidance. God is faithful.

Like I was saying, I know I speak on behalf of us when I say that it has been the craziest 72 hours of my life. From feedings, to the Jaz home (where the beautiful Josie’s angels reside), to the darling children’s home. We have already managed to get on one another’s nerves and take patience to new and extreme levels. But through that, we find ourselves learning, constantly challenged, and growing!

This is my very first time to the Philippines. And man, I love it already! I love what God is doing here and I look forward to what He will be doing. I could go on and on about the adorable children. Welcoming hearts, smiling eyes, and precious laughter. But at the same time, I see the disappointment. People go in and out of their lives. I see the hurt, feelings of being unwanted. And the worries of what’s to come or what’s to end. I see a people who don’t know what or rather WHO to cry out to. They want hope, freedom, true joy! My prayer is that we would be the hands and feet of Christ. And through that, they would know that they are apart of the body. They are such a significant part of The Kingdom. And He wants them ALL.

I had the opportunity to go on a feeding for the first time with a couple of my team members. It was overwhelming. The whole way there I was asking: “Please God, please fill every hungry stomach. Multiply the food! Every person that comes will eat. Whether they come with a bowl, cup or plastic bag. Feed your little ones.” (I had heard that several times there was not enough food and they had to leave the village without feeding everyone) I was determined that that would not be the case this time around. And sure enough, the whole village ate. In fact, some even came back for seconds! Praise The Lord!

So yes, we are being challenged in different ways! Personally, I find this trip very revealing. You learn a lot about yourself and one another. You have time to slow down and reflect. In a sense, you are forced to deal with yourself and where you stand with God. And what that means to stand with God. You can either chase after lies or run to the truth.

“How long are you going to love what is empty and seek what is a lie?” – Psalms 4:2

My prayer is that each and every one of us would be hungry for the truth, a real relationship with Christ. Because once you got that down, everything else just flows. I pray that He would speak to each of our little hearts and that we wouldn’t just think about it and be like “oh, that’s a cool thought!” But also dig a little deeper and let the things that we learn translate in our hearts and reflect in our very beings! 🙂

Thank you so much for keeping us in your prayers and thoughts.

Be blessed!
– Tabby

Sorry it has taken me so long to get #2 out there. Part of the reason is that this has yet to become a habit. I so appreciated the many comments from #1, but because this is an all new tool to me, I also still have to figure out how to use it.

So my second post is more of a sharing than it is a newsletter. Still, hope you enjoy it : )

Take it or Leave it

“Blessed is he who is not offended because of me…” MT 11:6

Jesus told us unequivocally that offenses would come (MT 18:7). Experience tells us the same. Unless you are a monk who lives in a cave completely separated from people, you are going to have plenty of opportunities to be offended.

So the question then becomes not whether we will encounter offense, but when. So it is best be ready. Since it has been marvelously stated that the quality of one’s life is a result of the choices one makes, let me suggest a couple with regards to offense.

First, just because an offense is given, it does not mean that it has to be received. The Greek word for offense comes from the word meaning to bait a trap. So, simply put, if we take the bait offered to us by an offense, we better watch out cause our leg is going to suddenly be locked in irons and we are not going anywhere. So, friends, do not take the bait. Leave it. Don’t touch it or even stare at it in wonder. There is grace, so just walk.

OK, although this is a clear choice, it is still not easy; and usually such traps catch us unawares. Although the choice to drop the issue opens the trap and let’s us go free, it’s still not easy, and it stings. And sometimes traps leave scars.

In answer to this, Jesus teaches us a principle about offense in these words he spoke to John the Baptist while he was in prison. You see, in answer to John’s question about whether or not Jesus was the Messiah, Jesus assured him of the facts, that He performed all the works that could only be done by the Son of God. But he didn’t stop there. Jesus did not want John to receive an offense because Jesus, though God, did not seem to care that he was in prison. Hadn’t He inaugurated His ministry stating that He would “set the prisoners free”?. To this Jesus deftly adds the words quoted above, “blessed is he who is not offended.” It seems clear Jesus wanted John the Baptist (and us) to be offense-free. It was bad enough that he was in one prison without being in a prison within a prison.

Bill Johnson shares great insight on this verse when he gives us a second clear choice that we can make when an offense is given: choose to dwell on the positive and not on the negative. Don’t fixate on the fact that you are in prison. Dwell on the fact that the blind are seeing and the dead are being raised. Dwell on what God is doing, not what He is not doing. Get your mind off of those things that offend and back on God. In this way you can actually be free no matter where you, even in a real prison.

On a personal level, though there are times when someone intends to offend you (that is another study, based on Matt 18:7), most of the time people do not mean to hurt you. So what should you do? Recall all the good things that the offending person has done. Dwell on those things and not on the unintended blunders borne out of weakness, or ignorance, or just a bad day! In this way, you are releasing the one who has offended you, and imparting grace to him or her. Not only that, Jesus says you will be blessed. Well amen to that!

If we look around we will probably see the rubble and debris around us that symbolize offenses. As I see it, you again have a choice. You may decide to go around and collect them, then build them into a wall. Some people even take it to the next level; they collect other’s offenses too. If you really work hard at it, you might even have a fortress when you are done! Too bad they don’t know that by the time they are done, they are the only ones living there.

Or of course you can throw the debris in the rubble heap over the cliff. This is the choice to not only forgive (release) another, but to forget. That’s two goats: one to forgive, the other to send away into the wilderness (Lev 16:7-10). You’d be surprised at how good it becomes to walk or run or play in these kinds of fields. No rubble! No tripping and stubbing toes! Some people even take it to the next level; they start clearing the rubble of the people around them. This is when it really gets fun. Why, you can even raise a banner over this area, such as was prophesied by Isaiah nearly 3000 years ago:

Go through, go through the gates!
Prepare the way for the people;
Build up, build up the highway!
Take out the stones,
Lift up a banner for the peoples! 62:10

You know what the banner says? “Offense-free Zone”. Let’s raise it for all to see.

Nathan arrived early Christmas morning. In the weeks before Christmas we were never sure if he was going to be able to make it. With Anna and Liz coming all the way from America, it just didn’t seem right that he wouldn’t be able to make it.

God is always on time.

We went to Hong Kong, Joyce and I along with the four oldest kids, to take care of a number of things related to our status before they all had to go back to schools and work. The last evening, from 10PM til 4:30AM we laughed and cried, we reminisced and we dreamed. His Presence was so real as we closed our time in prayer only hours before we would scatter to the four winds.

I turned my face Chinaward. Visiting our campus workers and their on-fire college student converts in GZ. Visiting our pioneering House Church partners over Sour Fish Head Soup to press in to God’s heart and to each other’s to chart our course for reaching another village, another people group. Visiting church leaders to plan for more advanced training, of stockpiling the tools and weapons they need, of mobilizing more workers, of raising up the next generation. Visiting team members in the border areas, reaching refugees, coordinating efforts to reach a city, a region, with revival in the air.

This blog should have been SPREAD OUT over many individual messages. But alas it is my first try. Take it as a China buffet, not a set meal.

I chose perfect timing because I could point to situation after situation in these few weeks where the timing could not have been better. I know, it should not surprise us that His timing would be perfect. And yet I always seems to come that way: surprising, fresh, unique. If we expected the things He does, we would not live in a constant state of awe. And yet it is His nature to stay perpetually novel–that our hearts may be primed to thanksgiving, and drawn to worship.

My last day in China I received an urgent document from overseas to take care of a pressing need, received back my passport with updated one year visa which was supposed to have come days earlier, and had a divine appointment which could change the course of one aspect of our work for years and years to come.

Did I just say that God is always on time?

Oh yes, I leave for our annual retreat tomorrow, beginning with our leadership meetings. Earlier this week I was asked to review a book written by our friend Bob Sorge. Its subject is exactly what we are covering during our conference, and has served to perfectly supplement and fill out my thoughts about what to share.

God has perfect timing.

Please be in prayer with us that not only HIS timing will be perfect, but ours will be as well. Pray we would be in tune with His heart, and in step with His Spirit. Amen.