Christmas is the most celebrated season of the year. Merriment and joyous signs are everywhere. Houses glow with Christmas lights. Shopping malls decorated with Christmas trees and beautiful garlands are full of people shopping for gifts. Mothers bake and prepare for Christmas dinner. Fathers get their extra bonuses from work. Children make their wish list. Aunts and uncles send their gifts over. The post office becomes busy with cards to be sent. Students pack up and leave their colleges to spend Christmas holiday at home. People hold all kinds of Christmas parties and gift-giving to charities.
Just what really is Christmas that everybody is so busy with it?
I once heard on the radio that Christmas is about caring and sharing to others. Giving to poor and being good. It's all about love the dj concluded. But, just what kind of love is he talking about?
The video I'm sharing below is a wonderful allegory and a great reminder of the True Love that should matter on hearts this Christmas. Please don't walk away from this site without having viewed the video. It's only around six minutes and those minutes you will spend on watching will be more than worth it.
Happy Christmas from Ladies-In-Training! Cherish our Father's great love in our hearts this Christmas and in all seasons to come!
November 13-17, 2008. I had the privilege of going to a nearby province to minister to a church, along with a team of students and one faculty coach from my school. Below is a presentation we made (to present to the school) of what we did during our stay there. Soli Deo Gloria!
Suppose you are a soldier on the front line. The war was on. You load your arms with ammunition. You fired. One dead on the enemy’s front line. Two. Three. Four and until your bullets are gone. But the enemies kept coming. Their number seems to have not diminished despite all your firearm’s effort to hit them. You look beside you. Your fellow soldiers are still firing but some have the same problem that you have: lack of ammunition. You look behind and you see your troop’s lines thinning. You look back to the front. Amidst the thick smoke and dust your enemies are still firing and they’re killing your fellow soldiers.
The enemy’s front lines are closing in. They’re near. There isn’t much time. You flung yourself to the ground, reached for the radio in your pocket and called out, “Private Johnson here. Do you hear me?! Send more troops and extra ammunition! Get it fast! They’re closing in!” Bullets whiz just inches above your head. Nobody answers. Three hills away in your barracks, your fellow soldiers are playing cards with others as spectators. Some are polishing their rifles. Some are in firing practice. Some are in deep argument of tactics for attacks. They were there but none heard you call. You frantically call out again as thick black smoke blinded you. Your call rang out but all that heard you was a room full of maps and defense and attack plans. And none of the soldiers you need. You cried out. Again, no answer.You coughed and breathed heavily as you cried out again wondering where they are. A bullet finally found its way and whizzed through your head. You’re dead. And nobody heard you.
That’s a picture I’ve drawn of how I see missions today. It’s so sad and heartbreaking that missionaries sent to far flung places toil hard and even get killed for His kingdom yet very few at home cares. On Sundays, we hear a lot about on how the Gospel should be proclaimed to the ends of the earth and every after Sunday, we forget and get on with our daily routines, hardly giving thought to the perishing.
I love what John Piper wrote in Don’t Waste Your Life about his “wartime” lifestyle based on 2 Corinthians 10:3-5:
“It tells us that there is a war going on in the world between Christ and Satan, truth and falsehood, belief and unbelief. It tells me that there are weapons to be funded and used, but that these weapons are not swords or guns or bombs but the Gospel and prayer and self-sacrificing love.”
As teens, we need to hear the message of wartime again and again. We need to gear ourselves for war. Easily do we get blinded and drawn with what the world has to offer. Fashion, technology, music, socializing, fun things (cute little things for us girls), and school can easily make us forget the work of the Gospel and our part in it. We forget that billions have no notion yet of who Christ is and that people die everyday. How many of them have heard the gospel?
I have been reading Global: Vision, Passion, Action by L.E. Maxwell. In it is a story Maxwell shared of a missionary’s view of today's missions. It broke my heart and was ashamed of how many times I’ve let the thought of the perishing slip from my mind.
One of the hardest things a front-line soldier has to endure, whether in military world or in the missionary world, are the unknowing, unfeeling, unresponsive folk at home. Let me give you a page from a missionary's experience. He left his station and went exploring in a new needy area in the Far East. He said,
I spent some day finding out roads and details, sleeping in dirty longhouses, people about as wild as they could be, stark-naked men and women... running from me for fear... What were my reactions to this trip? Sadness, impatience, bordering on disgust.
Here's a vast new mission field, ready to be entered, waiting for many years because we have no missionaries to place there. Rich America, with its thousands of young people trained and ready for service, yet not one for these tribal areas. Over the radio, on my return to my station, I heard a music from America, young people singing, "We've a story to tell to the nations;" but it all seemed a mockery. I switched it off.
What more can we do to get these people evangelized? Do the people take us seriously, or are we just miserable enthusiasts? We write books, make movies, send thousands of newsletters, spend furloughs pleading for help, trying to get some to go as missionaries, and the people go out into eternity without Christ, while the church at home glibly sings missionary hymns.
How long are we going to ignore the calls they send from the front? I know, not all of us are called to be in the frontier but as far as missions is concerned, each of us have a part to play in bringing the Gospel to the ends of the earth. We are supposed to be soldiers marching to war. But what have we become? We have become soldiers in the barracks. Complacent. We are content in the safety of our homes, locked in the Christian lifestyle of peace. Never attempting to war with the world. Obliviously, our lives have quietly slipped back in agreement to the world. Our ears have tuned in to our iPods listening to the latest best-selling album, shutting the call on the front. The call that we must heed but chooses to heed not.
A Yiddish Proverb goes "God gave burdens, also shoulders."
When we have burdens, we often ask God to take them away, not knowing that we have to bear them for a special purpose. God gives us burdens to carry to stretch us and help us grow.
This is a poem taken from a friend's blog. It'a about abortion, written from the baby's point of view. It will break your heart.
Month One
Mommy I am only 8 inches long but I have all my organs. I love the sound of your voice. Every time I hear it I wave my arms and legs. The sound of your heart beat is my favorite lullaby.
Month Two
Mommy today I learned how to suck my thumb. If you could see me you could definitely tell that I am a baby. I'm not big enough to survive outside my home though. It is so nice and warm in here.
Month Three
You know what Mommy I'm a boy!! I hope that makes you happy. I always want you to be happy. I don't like it when you cry. You sound so sad. It makes me sad too and I cry with you even though you can't hear me.
Month Four
Mommy my hair is starting to grow. It is very short and fine but I will have a lot of it. I spend a lot of my time exercising. I can turn my head and curl my fingers and toes and stretch my arms and legs. I am becoming quite good at it too.
Month Five
You went to the doctor today. Mommy, he lied to you. He said that I'm not a baby. I am a baby Mommy, your baby. I think and feel. Mommy, what's abortion?
Month Six
I can hear that doctor again. I don't like him. He seems cold and heartless. Something is intruding my home. The doctor called it a needle. Mommy what is it? It burns! Please make him stop! I can't get away from it! Mommy! HELP me!
Month Seven
Mommy I am okay. I am in Jesus's arms. He is holding me. He told me about abortion. Why didn't you want me Mommy?
Every abortion is just . . .
One more heart that was stopped. Two more eyes that will never see. Two more hands that will never touch. Two more legs that will never run. One more mouth that will never speak.
If you're against abortion, post this!
It IS a baby and abortion IS murder!!
If it is not a baby then why do you say you are pregnant?
Taken from Elisha Cross's blog.
WE HAVE TO ABORTION!! Defend those who can not speak for themselves yet!!!
"I would use these words to describe this wonderful man of virtue....
Noble, chivalrous, courageous, fun, true, wise, loyal, passionate, protector, gentle, humble, strong, self-sacrificial, adventurous, patient, loving, kind, serving, intelligent, polite, family centered, lover of truth, steeped in the Word of God, prayerful and hospitable.
These are not the kind of guys that you always notice first in a crowd. But they are the ones that you admire most once you do notice them. They are the ones who go to the person sitting on the side of the church looking left out, and shake hands with a smile. They are the ones that you will find at home instead of in youth group. You will see them sitting with their folks rather than passing notes in the back of church with their friends. You will find them helping in the kitchen or taking out the trash, walking the ladies to their cars and carrying diaper bags even if they don't belong to them.
You'll find them with other guys, in deep discussions about theology, worldview philosophies, politics, and books rather than just talking about the latest football games, computer games and girls. Yet, they can converse on these topics too when needed :- ) . These are the guys who walk on the outside of the sidewalk to protect the lady whom they might be with, and are always watching for ways to take care of her as a sister. When looking for a mate, they want the one who is at home (or wants to be) and "hangs out" with her mom and siblings more than her buddies.
They love a good time, but it usually entails sword fighting, ultimate Frisbee, board games, hiking, touch football, night tag, water balloon fights and G rated movies rather than sports teams, dancing at the bar or movies with violence and sex-who cares if they are in their 20's! A big night on the town includes taking the siblings to the grocery store, the library or out for miniature golf. They are passionate about the things of God and they do not bend on their convictions, no matter what others may say or do. They don't care that some might see them as "goody-goody" or strange for not dating or for spending so much time with their family-they are proud of it!
You might see them on the road at 6:30am rushing to get to a 7:00am catechism class, even though no one is making him go. You will find them in family worship, singing or playing the piano, teaching God's word to his family or sitting at his fathers feet. They write marvelous heart felt letters of encouragement when needed and yet might not say too much by way of personal stuff to many. They keep confidences. You might easily see him with a crowd of little ones about him as he helps to teach them something or play with them. He will watch an old movie and play cards with his siblings or parents ,even when he would rather be playing "Stronghold Crusader" on his laptop.
He would give up his very life for his savior, his ideals and his family. He makes ice cream floats of all kinds-even strange concoctions- and gives his mom tea in bed. He bakes birthday cakes for his friends with his sister's recipes. He learns follow a recipe and make things in the crock-pot because he wants to be able to at least take care of his wife when the baby comes. You are likely to find him under a car, on top of a roof, mowing a lawn, mending the fence, writing a book, working the night shift to help the family-anywhere that will require hard work, initiative and drive-but not for his own sake.
They are so admired and dearly loved by their families because they are an indispensable source of joy and encouragement, strength of character and servitude. They are never truly independent, because they have come to that wonderful place in the Christian life where they realize, that they must be dependent on God alone in His sovereignty, and the people that He has placed in his life.
Therefore, he is a true man's man. A giant. One to look up to. A hero. A leader among his peers. Strong, steady, dependable and one that you could place your life and the lives of your children into his capable and loving hands-with no regrets or fears."
I spent two wonderful days (Friday and Monday) at the True Love Waits Philippines office in Ortigas.
Friday was my training. I sat down with the staff and they told me about the cause: their mission, their purpose. They asked me a few questions, and I did my best to answer, but I flunked in the definition of love (without using the Bible).
Monday was the interview with a contributor of Meg magazine. 'Wag Muna (TLW Phil.) is not about the consequences of rash choices. Of course, for every mistake, there will always be the consequence, but it's not just about that. For every good choice made, there are blessings that follow, and one of them is the joy of serving the Lord wholeheartedly, and the joy of keeping your mind, heart, and body pure.
And that's what I've commited to do. I've commited to not awaken love till the time is right (Song of Solomon 2:7). I've committed to stay pure. I've committed to wait. And in the process of that, I've committed to serving God wholly.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."
Emily Joy Stauffer, 14, a fellow rebelutionary from Alberta, Canada was murdered last September 27 while taking a walk late afternoon.
I don't know Emily Joy Stauffer personally but the song of her life is resounding even if she is no longer with us. Fourteen years may be short-lived but not for Emily. While here on earth, she lived an exemplary life that encouraged and gave joy to others. Many are grieved at her loss but it is her family who grieves the most at the loss of a precious daughter and sister.
The funeral for Emily will be held on October 3, Friday, 11am at Yellowhead Koinonia Christian School in Edson, Alberta.
Pray for the Stauffer family as they bear Emily's loss. Pray also that the culprit be caught and justice be made for her death.
