Missions

I'm sure a lot of people have heard me say that I want to do missions work, but far fewer have ever heard me really dive into why, or have heard me talk about how strong that desire is. See, even as a child, I told my grandparents I wanted to travel. At that point I just wanted to see the world, I wanted to meet new people and experience new things. As the years went on, and I started following the convictions I had, I started to feel a very strong pull towards international missions. Now, as a dreamer, I wanted to pack a bag and leave as soon as I got some money. Reality brings it back into focus, and also tells me to be more cautious of where I go. I almost went to China, to do some work there, but i began to feel like I was trying to make something happen, rather than follow.

Later, in February of 2007, I was given the chance to go to Thailand, with Matt. My father approved (a miracle in itself at the time) and the money was more than taken care of. I knew I was supposed to go. Now, it was a great first trip. I was exposed to a completely different culture, and had great people to teach me. It wasn't quite what I had in mind as far as sharing the Gospel with people who haven't heard it, or who haven't heard much of it. There were decently nice hotels and food along the whole trip, though I do repent for complaining when I had to resort to rice and soy sauce..(the food at the place we were for the majority of the time was...less than desirable.)

If I find myself in a situation where there is that much comfort..that much "stuff"...how will I do when there is far less? When the hotel or room is cramped and dirty? When the only choice I have for food is something I really don't like? Will I prove true to the teachings of Paul about being a missionary and a minister of the Gospel...being content in all things? That trip brought out parts of me I loved, and parts I have been trying to kill.

I don't see a missions trip on our agenda anytime soon, but Lord willing, one will come. I'll try to post some pictures from our time in Thailand, for any who are interested. For now, check out this website that was such a great inspiration to my early dreams of missions work. www.traveltheroad.com

View some of their episodes. Pray for them and the places they go. And if you would like, pray for me. That the vision God gave me would not be lost. That my passion would continue to burn, and that I would know when the right opportunities come.

Thank You.. God be with you.

-Shannon

Scripture that speaks for itself.

Isaiah 53

1 Who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
And as a root out of dry ground.
He has no form or comeliness;
And when we see Him,
There is no beauty that we should desire Him.
3 He is despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
4 Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He opened not His mouth;
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment,
And who will declare His generation?
For He was cut off from the land of the living;
For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.
9 And they made His grave with the wicked—
But with the rich at His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was any deceit in His mouth.
10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him;
He has put Him to grief.
When You make His soul an offering for sin,
He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,
And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.
11 He shall see the labor of His soul,and be satisfied.
By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,
For He shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great,
And He shall divide the spoil with the strong,
Because He poured out His soul unto death,
And He was numbered with the transgressors,
And He bore the sin of many,
And made intercession for the transgressors.

I absolutely love this scripture. No matter when, or how many times I read it, it speaks to me. Its all amazing, but the last part is what speaks out to me today. "By His knowledge my Righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities." "And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors." Its really enlightening for me. Things I know and hear on a regular basis, but...made intercession for the transgressors? So while I slap His face and choose my own way over His, He intercedes on my behalf. While I run from Him and deny Him in my life, He is calling out to the Father for me. How clear a picture, that when my heart returns, He is so close. He is their waiting, interceding for me, and when He sees me turn around, He runs to welcome me.

I cant ever imagine finding a love like that on earth, I've just never seen anything like it. Humans cant do it. We are always hurt and that casts shadows in our minds that don't allow us to love unconditionally. But we should strive. I should pray for my friends, my husband, my family in this manner, and should rejoice to be there when all is made right. And more so, I should remember the sacrifice that allows me to return. I should continue to kill the pride that would have me be stubborn and quick to anger. It feels like a long hard road, but it only is if its traveled alone.

Today, I'll read some more of Ecclesiastes, take some time to evaluate what causes my heart to run to anger instead of patience, and cry out for mercy to be able to choose the right way in my heart.

A day of differences.

I woke up this morning..like uber-happy. (that means really happy). I was really excited that it was cold again, a high of like 42. I was also happy that I was going to be baking..which I love.

Well, the weather stayed the same, cold and rainy, but my cake failed miserably. It tasted great, but couldn't be used for what I wanted, so now I'm searching through backup ideas for something I can have for tomorrow. For some background information, I'm baking this for a Chocolate Sunday event at the church here, its all chocolate desserts, being judged. I want to have something that looks nice, and hopefully my #2 idea is going to work out, its a little easier.

Overall, the past week has been refreshing. I've been reading in the first few chapters of Acts, remembering what the first Church family was like. Seeing the changes in the apostle Peter. Its a great book about change. I've been seeing a lot of need for change in myself, and it helps to see a real case of true change, passionate following of Christ, and a family that supports each other. I have to wonder, what happened to a community of believers who sell everything to live together and give to each other as they need? What happened to loving the whole Church more than your own gain?

On a lighter note, it is supposed to snow tonight, a possible accumulation of an inch or so, then rain tomorrow. But at least its some snow. Which makes me happy. Snow in October?? Not in NC! We are excited. :)

Vanity?

So,on Friday nights our group has been studying Ecclesiastes. And of course, everyone agrees about how depressing, or negative most of the book is. Strangely enough, I've never looked at it that way. I've always found this book to be refreshing. It kind of feels like a grandpa sitting down to tell his kids/grandkids "Nothing we do on this earth is really worth anything, unless we do it for the Kingdom of God. So enjoy whats here, because its a gift from God, but live to further the eternal Kingdom" That idea, for me, is refreshing and freeing. I don't have to live fore whats here, because it all passes away and comes to nothing. Only the eternal remains. So only whats done for Christ will remain. That really makes me happy. Its not about the pain, grief, struggle, and injustice..(or economy) of this world. That all really means nothing, except what it refines in us for Christ's sake!! Matt and I caught up with the group by reading through Chap 3, and here is what stuck out to me:

12 I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives,
13 and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God.
14 I know that whatever God does,
It shall be forever.
Nothing can be added to it,
And nothing taken from it.
God does it, that men should fear before Him.
15 That which is has already been,
And what is to be has already been;
And God requires an account of what is past.

So after all the negativity about meaningless things, we have here a beam of light. He wants us to see here that even though all the labor and strife of the world is for no real gain, we are to enjoy the good of our labor as a gift from God. Not to be bound to it...or to gain our worth from it, but to enjoy. Why? Because we have the assurance that what God does...He does forever. It lasts, it does not pass away. Our work for the Kingdom does not pass away as this earth will, it stands firm to the end. (Only, of course, because God gave us the grace and strength to do it in the first place.)

And God requires an account. So to waste the life away doing nothing for others, and wasting our money with no conviction...we will give an account. This book as to be seen in light of other scripture. We cant see the meaninglessness as a freedom to do nothing. It simply means our work here is not our master. Enjoy the fruit of our work...not work double the hours just to have a higher grade house or car at the expense of family or the Church body.

Its complicated to think about sometimes. For me, it is a breath of fresh air. This world has nothing for me, except a way to serve Christ faithfully until He sets up the real Kingdom I live for. Until then, I just pray that I can be faithful in my work, and in my relationships, and in my life. To please Him. That is the goal.

For what is eternal life?

John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

Hebrews

Well, I thought I might start off by making my first real post about a scripture that interested me recently. I read Hebrews yesterday for a school lesson. The whole thing is pretty intense, and it has some really passionate parts. The one that hit me the most, was when the author described the faith of the OT believers... :

"And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth."

Then he comes to a point...He says that even with this testimony of faith, they did not see the Christ and His new covenant. But we have. That was the next thing pointed out here. What should our response be? :

"Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

The right hand of the throne of God...where He remains today. As described earlier in the book, he sits there as our High Priest..interceding for us and providing that communion with God. How great a Savior! We were not just saved...we were brought near. We have one who intercedes to the Father on our behalf. So we should lay aside every weight, every sin. What room is there for that in the life of one for which so much was given?

Its a very odd place, to read something like that and know that we still have a sin nature. Our only real option is to go to that High Priest, that Savior. To ask for strength to withstand. To be humble enough to know what we cannot do on our own. We want to please God, and the only way to do so is in the way He made, and by His strength. how weak we are without Him!

My prayer is for us all to consider the weight of what the OT saints endured..what the apostles endured, and what millions of believers worldwide still endure for the sake of the Gospel. Not for TV, not for XBox, not for music or entertainment, and certainly not for prestige. They risk(ed) all for the sake of spreading the gospel...how much more should we with all this opportunity learn to be humble, and to sacrifice, and to live for others.

Be Blessed!

New Beginning

I deceded to go with a new blog, considering all the new things that have been going on for me in the last year or so.

Myonly goals in having this blog is to bring out some issues of my own, or issues in the world that I find interesting, or want to share. I may also show some pictures (i'm getting the new camera body for my Canon in the mail within a day or 2).

I really want to focus on my lessons every now and then. Sharing something from the books i'm going through. Who knows. Hopefully i'll have lots to share.

Thanks for your interest.