Wanted: "Catherine's"

Just a little while ago I was scrolling Facebook seeing what's new...actually there are many other things I should be doing, thus why I have this love/hate relationship with Facebook. I never really get much from post's not to diss my friends, a few speak to my heart but for the most part to be really honest it's a waste of time. Brutal, I know. Today a young woman by the name of Catherine blessed my heart! She's a freshman in High School, she's been homeschooled up till now so going to public school from that is a major adjustment, this homeschooler would know about that, it's culture shock!!
Being a missionary on the mission field in Portland has had it's challenges, so I could totally relate with what this young lady. This was her status:

"I started high school a few weeks ago. It's nothing like I thought, meaning its worse than I thought. After the first week, I was begging my parents to take me home! I hated it! It was the worst experience ever! But they told me to tough it out, so I did. After the second week, I was crying for mercy! I couldn't stand it anymore! But my parents kept pushing me and telling me to go to God. My attitude towards God changed. Truthfully, I hated God. I didn't like what He was doing to me. I wanted Him to take me out of school. But God saw through my selfishness and didn't give in. Today I finally realized, this is where God truly wants me! I look around and see the need for Christ! The students, teachers, staff, etc; everyone there is looking for some one to shine their light. Some one to be willing to stand out. And today I realized, God wants that person to be me! And I want to be that person! I enjoy serving everyone at school! I enjoying loving on them and standing out! Ya, it's still hard to get up at 6am and be at school all day listening to curse words and get back at 5pm and have no time to myself. But truthfully, I need to be at school. They need Christ. And I want to be that person that when they see me, they don't see Catherine. Catherine is a horrible person! I want them to see Jesus! I want to walk in the room, and they feel Jesus fill it up! When I speak, I want people to get goose bumps because they feel God pouring out of me! Today I realized, what a privilege I have! I get to be Jesus in flesh!!! Thank you God for choosing me!"

The world, and our schools need more "Catherine's." It's people like Catherine who though still so young are fully committed to the ways of the Lord that will change a generation.
As I have worked in Portland, one of my goals is to see "Good News Clubs" implemented into area schools. In this goal I have been praying every morning these specific requests, and I encourage you to please pray with me. Pray for Catherine, and that more kids will step up and be bold in being ministers of reconciliation where God has planted them. School is nothing like it was 10, 20, 30 years ago. Our kids are up against spiritual war. All Christians are up against spiritual war.
Power Packed Prayers for Public Schools:
1. Love- John 13:35
2. Repentance of Christians- 1 Corinthians 10:32
3. Truth- Proverbs 23:23
4. School Board- Romans 13:1
5. Principal- Proverbs 2:1-11
6. Teachers who are not yet believers- Romans 5:8
7. Christian Teachers- Hebrews 10:25
8. Support Staff- 1 Corinthians 1:19-21
9. Special education decisions- Isaiah 56:1
10. Rejected Students- Isaiah 1:17
11. Failing Students- 1 Thessalonians 5:14
12. Children of divorce, abuse, and neglect- James 1:27
13. Children with emotional disturbance- Matthew 15:22-28
14. Violence- Psalm 34:7, 57:1
15. Suicide- Isaiah 66:13, 2 Corinthians 1:3
16. Forces of Evil- Isaiah 8:19-20, Micah 5:12
17. Evolution- Genesis 1:1, Psalm 14:1
18. Christian programs- 1 Corinthians 12:12-13
19. Christian students- 1 Timothy 4:12 (Kids like Catherine)
20. A chosen generation- John 4:23-24, 1 Peter 2:9
21. An Open Door- Matthew 7:7, 1 Corinthians 16:9

I hope you will commit to pray these not only for your area schools, but for schools nationwide. Those of you who are in high school, commit to be a Catherine. Step out of your comfort zone, you want to be a rebel? Follow Jesus! Not many are doing that.
I find myself praying tonight, "Lord, give us more Catherine's, may more kids step up and say 'yes' to You!"
God bless you as you seek Him, and reach others for Him!

Defense

"Your own wickedness will punish you. You will see what an evil, bitter thing it is to forsake the Lord your God, having no fear of Him. Now turn from your sins, and turn to God, so you can be cleansed of your sins." -Jeremiah 2:19, Acts 3:19

This week in Portland we have been at an Upward basketball camp with another mission team from Georgia. On the second to last day we shared the Gospel using a tract custom to basketball. One of them stood out more than any of them to me, because it is the key to winning not only Portland, but all of man to Christ, and away from Satan.

DEFENSE!

When on the court defense is when you are on the opponent's side looking to get the ball so they don't score. That is what we are doing here in Portland. This is what we use to keep Satan from adding people to His scoreboard. It sure does feel like we are in the enemies territory. In 2 Corinthians false teachers were challenging Paul's ministry and authority. Paul asserted His authority, not because he was Paul, but because he knew who his God was, and is, that Jesus is in Him. Through him pronouncing his authority it preserved correct Christian doctrine. Through his sincerity, love for Christ, and concern for people were his defense. 2 Corinthians 10 is the foundation for this trip very much. God has given us authority in Portland through Him, just like He gave Paul authority. He has given us weapons to defeat the enemy so the Good News can go forth. There are several words in this passage of scripture from 2 Corinthians 10 that outlines the attitudes we should possess when we are fighting against Satan, and winning souls for Christ. Paul reminds us to be: gentle, kind, and bold. Our motives must be right, otherwise we will not be passionate about what we are fighting for. We will not be sincere, nor will we truly have a love for Jesus and what He did on the cross for the people who surround us. We are to fight not on a human level, that is why we are to be kind, gentle, and loving. We are fighting a Spiritual battle:

"We use God's mighty weapons, not mere worldly weapons, to knock down the Devil's strongholds. With these weapons we break down every proud argument that keeps people from knowing God. With these weapons we conquer their rebellious ideas, and we teach them to obey Christ."

This requires that we put on the armor of God as outlined in Ephesians 6. Our defense is truth, God's righteousness, the Good News, Faith, and Salvation. Before we can even put on the armor, it is necessary that I be stripped before Christ of every self love and every covering, every mask.

This was such a great camp to be apart of. The kids could earn stickers as they played and trained of what they showed the most that day. They were able to earn: Effort, Sportsmanship, Defense, Offense, and Christlikeness. So this exposed them to the concept of this language, and idea. Then we presented the gospel using these same phrases.
Effort- We can put effort into doing things right but fail, Romans 3:23
Sportsmanship- God wants us on His team but our sin separates us. Then Jesus came so we could be on His team, John 3:16
Offense- Jesus is the way to win, we must ask Him to forgive us, Romans 10:9-10
Defense- We should turn and run to God! We must Repent, and turn away, Acts 3:19
Christlikeness- We should run with God. Start living for Jesus, obeying Him, Galatians 2:20

I don't know about any of the other kids, but I didn't have any accept Jesus on my team. I sat with each one personally and asked if they knew Jesus. Some said flat out NO! And didn't want to know, others were very guarded about it, and others really did know Jesus. Keep praying for these kids. Some of them we will see again the last week of July before we come home at a day camp.

Mission: Portland

My missionary journey to Portland Oregon will begin next Monday. I wanted to share with you an overview of Portland and what I and my team will be faced with when we arrive.
The Columbia River Gorge speaks to the spirit of adventure and exploration for a nation. It embodies the untapped potential of a still young country, with timeless geography. Portland is the gateway, not only to the gorge, but also to the open spirit of the Pacific Northwest. If Chicago is broad shoulders, Portland is broad horizons.
It is home to arguably one of the most beautiful waterfalls in the United States. Multnomah Falls is certainly the most easily accessible major falls on the continent.
But the beauty and promise of Portland belie the dark spiritual shroud over the area. Portland is a post-modern, non-Christian outpost. The city was the first major metropolitan area in the U.S. to elect an openly gay mayor. Tolerance is touted as a virtue over truth.

Send North America: Portland is strategically focused not only on the metro area of Portland and Vancouver, Wash., but also the influential communities of Eugene and Corvallis, home, respectively, to the University of Oregon and Oregon State University. Portland Send North America City Coordinator Clay Holcomb says the spiritual oppression in the area is openly discernable.
“Portland is a center for sex trafficking in America,” says Holcomb. “Pornography is huge here. There is a massive homosexual community. The spiritual darkness is strong here and the area is not open to Christ. Sexual sin is celebrated and people actually believe this is the correct way to live. It is the embodiment of 2 Corinthians 10. Those have become formative verses for me.”
One of the bright places is Trinity Church, planted in 2010, and one of the few recent Portland church plants to survive. The church has some 200 members in community. Another encouragement is the foundation of strong partnerships with sending and supporting churches, like Greater Gresham Baptist Church in Gresham, Ore. But the need is great for more of all of these elements for the city.
“We need people to mobilize to pray for the city and for us,” says Holcomb. “We need people to pray for the protection of planters and their families who must raise children in this environment. We need churches to partner with us and we need church planters, interns and apprentices. We have identified the locations where churches are needed. We need the people.”

My team and I will be working with Rev. Holcomb, and at Trinity Church as well as Greater Gresham. You can check back on this website (exposingjesus.blogspot.com) as I will hope to be posting updates and recording the journey. God bless you as you pray for me and my team and others like us.

It's Not Your Mission

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." -Acts 1:8
We're never allowed to use Jesus for our mission. It's Jesus' mission, and we're a part of it. Jesus' mission is under his sovereign rule. His mission is the expansion of his kingdom through the church for all nations. The most loving thing we can do is tell people about Jesus and tell them that everything that is contrary to Jesus is wrong.

The Door of Mission

"What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name." -Revelation 3:7-8

The church at Philadelphia in what is now Turkey last 1200 years. It lasted till 1342 when at last Isalm took over and either martyred the remaining Christians, or the remaining Christians fled. Philadelphia was known as the church of opportunity, they were a church planting church; they were missional. They had church plants predominately in India. Because of their faithfulness, and by the sovreign will of God they were a working, alive, and active church unlike the church of Sardis who had given up and died. Philadelphia was Jesus driven, though they were surrounded by false teachings, and satanism, they were strategically placed originally to spread satanism, but by God's grace, and will He changed that, and instead they had before them opportunity to spread Jesus. It was a door only God could open and close. The same can be said in our lives as individual Christ Followers, and in the life of our churches both locally and globally.
We see Paul mentions doors of opportunity in his letters to the church at Corinth, and Colosse.

"But I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost, because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me." -1 Corinthians 16:8-9

"Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for me..." -2 Corinthians 2:12

"And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains." -Colossians 4:3

What was one of things that made the church at Philadelphia so successful in reaching people, and the Lord allowing their doors to stay open for 1200 years? They possessed "little strength." The means He does everything and we obey. We do nothing, and do not last without Him. You see, Jesus builds the church (Matthew 16:18). Jesus loves His church, we are His bride. He is the one who calls, and chooses, and we respond in faithfulness to Him. The door stays open to the faithful, those who are faithful to:
-Right living which is obedience
-Right doctrine which is commitment to the Word of God:
-Does the Word tell us to stay comfortable among our own people, drinking coffee and discussing our theologies, and philosophies, debating, and criticizing? No! Jesus said to "Go!" (Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 1:8). It's not enough to know, but we must equally DO. Seizing opportunity, working.
-Naming the name of Jesus. Is He still hearing His name mentioned? Otherwise we have denied Him.
The door closes to unfaithfulness. Jesus will shut their doors, and name them as belonging to Satan. This looks like:
-Unconfessed sin
-Moral infidelity
-Financial misuse
-False teaching
This is a church or person who is not growing, not reaching people, not making disciples, not planting churches. And what a sad when God has no use for a church, or person anymore because of their unfaithfulness. When He closes the door. Still yet, there is time for repentance. We can make it right through the blood of Jesus, He is in the redeeming business.
Last year, I was challenged to pray for my church every time I pass through a doorway, and simply pray, "Jesus, please keep the doors of my church open." To expound on this, may it be, that Jesus would not only keep the door of opportunity open in our churches, but in our personal lives. That we would be a people who always have the Bible open, who are always studying the Scriptures, seeking ways that we can learn, and change, and grow by the grace of God. The church was birthed by a sermon, and it is grown and sustained through the preaching of God’s Word. I pray we all walk through these doors of opportunity that are so graciously opened to us, that we would never take lightly every single opportunity to proclaim the name of Jesus. I leave you with this encouragement:

God Has Always Had A People
Many a foolish conqueror made the mistake of thinking that because he had forced the Church of Jesus Christ out of
sight, that he had stilled its voice and snuffed out its life.
But God Has Always Had A People
The powerful current of a rushing river is not diminished because it is forced to flow underground. The purest water is
the stream that bursts crystal clear into the sunlight after it has fought its way through solid rock.
There have been charlatans who like Simon the magician, sought to barter on the open market that power which
cannot be bought or sold.
But God Has Always Had A People
Men who could not be bought and women who were beyond purchase.
Yes, God Has Always Had A People
There have been times of affluence and prosperity when the Church’s message was nearly diluted into oblivion by
those who sought to make it socially attractive, neatly organized and financially profitable. It has been gold
plated ,draped in purple and encrusted with jewels. It has been misrepresented, ridiculed, blotted and scorned.
These followers of Jesus Christ have been according to the whim of the times elevated as sacred leaders and martyred
as heretics. Yet through it all, there marches on that powerful army of the meek, God’s chosen people that can’t be
bought, flattered, murdered or stilled. On through the ages they march.
The Church, God’s Church Triumphant, is Alive and Well!
Now listen child of God. It’s alive!
Discouraged pastor it’s His Church and it’s alive!
Lonely Missionary sow your seeds with confidence!
It’s alive my broken hearted friend!
Old saint you’re not alone and forgotten, the Church is alive!
Busy mother cast your cares on Jesus!
It’s alive young student. You’re not alone in serving the Lord!
Faithful father there’s rest in the Lord! The Church is alive!
Cynical skeptic you haven’t killed God with your noisy unbelief.
He’s Alive!
So family of God raise your hands and praise the Lord.
For the Church, God’s Church Triumphant is Alive and Well!

God bless you as you serve Him, and reach out because all need to hear...

Praying for Missionaries

"For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." -Colossians 1:9-14

Colossians was written by Paul, to the church at Colosse. Though Paul had never been there, or met any of the people, he wanted to assure them that he was praying for them, and knew of their faithfulness to God. Paul came close to Colosse on his third missionary journey, however, because it was a smaller and "less important" city than nearby Laodicea Paul did not visit. The tactic for spreading the gospel in that way was to target the major cities, then it will filter out into the smaller cities, and hence saved time and energy.
Sometimes we are not sure how to pray for missionaries, and other leaders we have, or have never met. Paul faithfully prayed for the Colossians though he had never met them. His prayer in the whole first chapter teach us how to pray for others. We can pray they:

1. Know God's will
2. Gain wisdom and spiritual discernment and understanding
3. Please and honor God
4. Bear good fruit
5. Come to know God more intimately
6. Be filled with God's strength
7. Have great patience
8. Stay full of Christ's joy
9. Always be thankful

May we all as believers strive for these kinds of things. For those of us on the front lines of ministry, we need these things even more so engrained in us. We must also remember that Jesus is the head of church, and the church is His tool for carrying out His mission.
May we all stay faithful to Him, and be great Kingdom representatives, and builders.