Fighting Injustice Isn't Free

With only two weeks of lectures to go, the focus of our Justice DTS is beginning to shift forward to outreach. We are sending one team to Japan and another to Cambodia and Nepal, where they will present the Good News of Jesus and combat poverty, human trafficking, and other injustices. As they get ready to go out, there are so many things they have to do to prepare, from team building to getting vaccinations. The biggest need, however, is for the finances to come together. It turns out that flying to these places and fighting for justice isn't free; in fact, it requires a lot of resources. Because of this, many of the students and staff are still lacking funds for their outreach fees - the Japan team needs about NZ$8000, while the Cambodia/Nepal team needs NZ$33,000! Please watch the videos below to find out more about what they will be doing, and consider giving and/or praying. As you may know, I will not be joining this DTS on outreach because there is so much preparation needed to launch the Pilgrimage DTS in October; however, I'm still really invested in this DTS and want to see them successfully go on outreach! Thank you for your interest and support!

Cambodia & Nepal Team:

Japan Team:

Blessed Are the Busy...?

This post is a reflection that I included in my monthly email update for June. You can read that entire update here. And if you'd like to receive my email updates each month, just click here and enter your name and email address!

Blessed are the busy,
for they will please God with their many activities.

If only Jesus had said these words in the beatitudes, along with the other values of the kingdom of God! If he had, most people in the Western church would be incredibly blessed, most of all DTS leaders. But the reality is that God has said nothing of the sort. Instead, he says things like:

Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord their God. (Psalm 146:5)
...Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him. (Jeremiah 17:7)

He even says silly things like "Be still, and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10) which we hardly know what to do with, especially when our schedules get extra busy.

I have especially been wrestling with this as I have rediscovered just how frenetic the pace of a YWAM DTS can be. Between morning lectures, worship, intercession (prayer), staff meetings, justice class, bible studies, small groups, emails, exercise time, one-on-ones, and frequent special events and trips, it is a pretty full schedule. However, I've discovered that we can respond to busyness in two ways. First, we can face it in our own strength, deciding that our many tasks take precedence over relationship with God and letting them crowd Him out of our lives. The alternative is that we make God our help and our hope, understanding that in busy times our need for God is actually that much greater.

A couple weeks ago, we had a busy week to top all busy weeks, and I reverted my old habit of independence, trying to navigate it in my own strength without really going to God for help. By God's grace it turned out OK, but by the end I was exhausted, both physically and mentally. Fortunately, though, as the dust settled I came to the Father and He began lovingly teaching me, speaking about how in Him there is a rest that doesn't depend on schedules and free time, and telling me how I was made to walk hand in hand with Him, leaning on Him and consulting Him even concerning the smallest matters of life. Amazingly, when we choose the second option - running to God instead of relying on self - busyness actually drives us closer to God rather than away! Despite the continued rapid pace of DTS, I find that I am spending time with Him, listening to Him, asking Him questions, and receiving revelation and comfort from Him more than ever! So kick independence in the tail and run to the Father in your need - He is gracious and compassionate, [extremely] slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love!

"God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him,

for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs." (Matt. 5:3)

Dan

Life-Giving Discomfort

[If you receive the Vine of the Mountain's weekly email newsletter, "Think on These Things," this blog post will look very familiar. But if you don't go to the Vine, read on!]

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it." - Mark 8:34-35

Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. - Romans 8:17

At my church (The Vine of the Mountains) this past Sunday, our pastor Owen Fulghum talked about how familiarity brings us comfort. And while it might feel nice at times, this comfortable familiarity can blind and numb us to the overwhelming wonder and the always-fresh power of the gospel. This got me thinking, and I realized this relatively simple concept has major significance for the life of our church community, and the lives of many other Christians living in the United States and around the world.

The truth is that we live in a culture that values comfort to the extreme, not only physical comfort, but also the social and spiritual versions as well. It's not much of a stretch to say that comfort tends to be an idol of ours. This has become especially apparent to me since I returned from New Zealand, where I had been embedded in a YWAM culture with very different values. In fact, our American culture of comfort actually felt oppressive to me, and I struggled against the lulling, numbing comfort of distractions and possessions which was opposing the vibrant, passionate life I had gained in the Spirit.

You see, the YWAM experience has shown me that we just don't grow when we're comfortable - growth requires tension. The exciting and passionate "life abundant" that Jesus offers requires that we are stretched and challenged. My experience of being led by the Spirit has always involved walking on the edge of discomfort. When everything is familiar, we feel quite capable of doing life on our own. But as we walk into the unknown and unfamiliar, our self-reliance gets shaky. The newness produces tension in our lives as we are pushed to place our dependence on God and trust Him. We usually don't like it while it's happening, but  as we get to the other side we realize we have experienced his faithfulness and changed for the better.

Despite our continual search for comfort (or perhaps because of it), most of us feel like there is already quite enough discomfort in our daily lives without inviting it. So we sometimes (or often) go to church just wanting comfort - a reprieve from our daily stresses. I myself have done this plenty of times. I arrive at church still tired from a busy week, just hoping to blend in and receive a comfortable dose of familiar songs, an inspirational message, and friendly faces. But the reality is that if we really want to the know the Living God, that kind of mentality won't get us very far. The gospel of Christ and the ministry to which he has called us are much bigger and much more unsettling than that.

Because the prevailing current of our culture pushes us to seek this numbing, desensitizing sort of comfort, avoiding it will require nothing less than challenging actions which will stretch you past the familiar - your comfort zone. It will probably require you to be vulnerable, take risks, obey God when his commands seem over the top, and step out in faith when worldly wisdom advises against it (2 Corinthians 5:7). Becoming fearless will require that you face your fears, especially the fear of what other people think of you. What an uncomfortable prospect!

I think that to press deeper into who God really is (and the story he has for us), we have to decide as churches and individual Christians that we will follow Jesus and to come to church not with the primary intention of finding comfort, but of encountering God. Certainly, in the Presence of God there is comfort, but there is also so much more: stunning revelation, unnerving freedom, staggering power, overwhelming love, a distressing (sometimes offensive) amount of grace, and profound healing. The comfort our Father offers is not what the world offers - it is not a life of shallow pleasantry that dulls and numbs, but a sanctuary in the midst of a vibrant life of great hardship and adventure, a bastion of joy and peace in the midst of a battle.

If God truly can accomplish more than we can ask or imagine (Eph. 3:20), then the reality must be that what we are familiar with, no matter how good, is not the full picture of God's goodness and power. Further on, in the uncomfortable newness, there is much more. And He is inviting us into it… together.

Grace for the Journey,

Dan

[I myself will be stepping back out of the familiar as I depart for New Zealand today! As I help staff a Justice DTS and then work to launch our first-ever Pilgrimage DTS in October, I'll be walking further into the unfamiliar and further away from comfort. But I know from previous experience that God will meet me and walk with me, giving me life and comfort as I trust in the One who is Faithful and True (Rev. 19:11).]