The form doesn't exactly support that...

I was just going through Plant:Uganda forms seeing what new sponsors we have and if any people have signed up for communications so I, selfishly, can email for help, when I ran across the following:

"We want to sponsor two children at $100/month but the form doesn't exactly support that."

Ha. You're right. You don't have that option. I'll get right on that...

Faith

Faith is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted in spite of your changing moods. -C.S. Lewis

Now FAITH is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1


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I may be weak. But YOUR spirit is strong in me. My flesh may fail. But my God you never will. Give me Faith to trust what you say. That You're good, and You're love is great. I'm broken inside, I give you my life. -Elevation Worship

I am so thankful that I serve a God that is faithful when I am faithless. When my flesh fails and my moods shift, he is ever constant and never changing. What a Mighty God.

Restless

"I am restless. I am athirst for faraway things. My soul goes out in a longing to touch the skirt of the dim distance. O Great Beyond, O the keen call..." -Rabindranath Tagore

To the Ends of the Earth....or the End of my Driveway

He said to them: " It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my wintesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. Acts 1:7-9

I must confess, I have had the worst attitude since my return from Uganda. I have been broken and I am eager to return to that place, to love those people, and to share the love of my savior with them. When someone asks me about how things are going, they will get a smile and a simple answer. When they ask me about Uganda, they will get hours of stories, talk of my heart, and discussion about a call on my life. So what is missing? What is the problem? The Lord calls us to go to the ends of the earth, it seems to line up, right?

Wrong.

I have done my people here such an injustice. I have come home and struggled with love for the people I have grown up with all of my life. I see excess, a community that needs more and more. I see wealth beyond compare and think about how that wealth could be used for those sweet children I held, those wounded mothers with nothing, those strong men doing everything to send their children to school. I begin to compare and, in turn, begin to hate. I grow restless in my own skin and cannot wait until the day when I can answer his call.

That is why the passage In Acts is so important, so relevant. Yes, God calls us to the ends of the earth. I pray that one day I may go and serve in such a manner. But God also calls us to be his witness in our Jerusalem, our home. I am here for at least a year. And I do LOVE my city. As I have settled back into Raleigh God has begun breaking my heart for what breaks his. He loves his people here and wants to see them come back to him. And if I am here for a year then that is my calling.


So may I run hard after him wherever I am, loving his people like he would love them. And, when I let myself get in the way as I did after Uganda, may he humble my heart and bring me back, showing me what true love is.

Philippians 2:3-4
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interest, but also to the interest of others.

Let us Love. Love as One Greater.

Let us love. Let us love unconditionally and fully. Let us love with our whole hearts, to the point where our hearts break and our souls are pained. Let us love in weakness. Let us love in strength. Let us love our brothers and sisters when joy overflows and laughter abounds. Let us love our enemies when the road is bumpy and the path seems unclear. Let others know us by our love. May those around us look into our eyes and see the eyes of Christ, touch our hands and feel the warmth of His skin, hear our voice and be calmed by His words, sit next to us broken hearted and know that they have been in the presence of one greater than ourselves. May they leave our presence knowing they have come in contact with more than broken people, although that is what we are, but may they leave us knowing that they have come in contact with a Creator, a Father, a Savior. May they do so because we are so in step with the Spirit that we lose track of ourselves in light of those around us. Let us love.

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Philippians 2:1-4

Responsible...

Lord, now that I have seen, I am responsible. Faith without deeds is dead. Now that I have held you in my own arms I cannot let go until you are...

I have been back for one week. One week. Where are the words?

Uganda. I will tell what I have seen. You will not be a simple memory. You are now my life. You are my heart.

A prophet came to Paul while he was visiting the disciples, telling him that if he went to Jerusalem, the very place he was about to go, that he would be bound. If I heard this news, I would like to say I would respond with reckless abandon, following God to Jerusalem where I had just been called. But a voice in the back of my head says, "Paul, you are crazy! A PROPHET just warned you of your fate. What are you doing?!?" But Paul doesn't flinch.

Acts 21: 12-14
"When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, "The Lord's will be done."

If you don't know the story, Paul goes to Jerusalem and does what Paul does best: gets arrested, for the glory of the Lord. Even while being arrested he gives his testimony to the crowd. It is a great story, one I recommend reading. It is one that really got me thinking, what makes a man do that? Where does he get such courage, such devotion. I love the Lord, but when have I EVER shown it in such a manner? Never, and it is because I am loving the Lord, but I am loving him so comfortably that I don't ever have to give anything up. And honestly, I have met very few who have lived in this way. I have read their stories, yes. Stories of those who are following the movement of the Spirit within them. Those who are uncomfortable with the comfort of this world. Those who would stand next to Paul meaning it when they say "I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die for the name of the Lord Jesus. The Lord's will be done."

The beautiful thing about this kind of work, about this kind of action, is that it is not actually a courage or a martyrdom of our own. As humans we do not posses this kind of servant-like heart on our own. When I ask the question, what makes a man do that, go to a city where he knows he will be arrested for preaching Christ, I already know. It is not who he is, because we, as men, are selfish and weak. It has to be the work of the Spirit within us, and the work of the Spirit, the leading and prodding of the Spirit within our lives, this work is never easy. It is work that cannot be accomplished by human efforts, nor would humans wish to put their efforts into it.

"The truth is that the Spirit of the Living God is guaranteed to ask you to go somewhere or do something you wouldn't normally want or choose to do. The Spirit will lead you to the way of the cross, as He led Jesus to the cross, and that is definitely not a safe or pretty or comfortable place to be."

Francis Chan Forgotten God

So with these truths in mind, why do we look so comfortable? If we really have the Holy Spirit living inside of us, challenging us to follow the way of the cross, why do we resemble the world. Why do the paths we take go alongside those who could care less about our savior?