Hello all. I just realized that it's been a long time since I have blogged. I apologize for my not keeping up. I wanted to share with you something, A YEAR AGO...YESTERDAY, I stepped foot on italian soil! That's right, a year ago yesterday I arrived in Verona, by myself, to embark on the most amazing journey God has ever had me on.

And now, a year ago...TODAY...Hannah arrived. :)

Hello again. It's been a while, I apologize.

A couple of weeks ago Hannah and I went to Modena to spend some time with her friends, the family that came and picked us up in March and took us to Lake Garda. It was such a great weekend. It was time to relax, physically...not really mentally (at least for me, it was all in Italian) and just hang out. Carlo and Loretta are such wonderful people and really just love people. I remember the first time I met them I couldn't really speak to them not understand them because everything was in Italian and I didn't know much then, but now, six months later (because we went in September) I was able to communicate with them and understand, mostly, what they were saying. It was a lot of fun. Also since I didn't take my computer, I took a couple of books and did a lot of reading.

Here are some pictures of that weekend...

Moses?

Okay...so I'm in the process of reading "i am not but i know I AM" by Louie Giglio and it's a really good book. But Giglio is talking about Moses and when he was at the burning bush...here's what the books says...

When He said, "You go and bring them out," He wasn't thinking Moses was going to actually do the delivering. God wasn't counting on Moses' skill or power to break the chains of bondage that held His people captive. God was going to do all the work, He just wanted a leader with skin to speak on His behalf and lead the people to His promised destination. All along God was counting on Himself to pull the story off—not Moses. Definitely not Moses.

When God said, "You go," He was implying: "I am going to do this with or without you, Moses, but I've been searching for just the right partner, a regular guy who will believe that I am able to do exactly what I have said I will do. You just need to merge onto the highway of My agenda—My promised before, now happening, already in motion agenda—and watch Me go. Don't deviate from what I am saying. Trust Me. Follow Me without fear of any man. This is going to be amazing. Oh, and by the way, I could do it all by Myself, but I'm choosing to use a human vessel—a tangible, flesh and blood ambassador for the cause. And I am choosing you, Moses. So now you go!" (pg. 34)

All emphasis of underlines, italics and bolding have been my own.

Efesini 2 (La Nuova Diodati) ITALIAN

Egli ha vivificato anche voi, che eravate morti nei falli e nei peccati, nei quali già camminaste, seguendo il corso di questo mondo, secondo il principe della potestà dell'aria, dello spirito che al presente opera nei figli della disubbidienza, fra i quali anche noi tutti un tempo vivemmo nelle concupiscenze della nostra carne, adempiendo i desideri della carne e della mente, ed eravamo per natura figli d'ira, come anche gli altri. Ma Dio, che è ricco in misericordia per il suo grande amore con il quale ci ha amati, anche quando eravamo morti nei falli, ci ha vivificati con Cristo (voi siete salvati per grazia), e ci ha risuscitati con lui e con lui ci ha fatti sedere nei luoghi celesti in Cristo Gesú, per mostrare nelle età che verranno le eccellenti ricchezze della sua grazia con benignità verso di noi in Cristo Gesú. Voi infatti siete stati salvati per grazia, mediante la fede, e ciò non viene da voi, è il dono di Dio, non per opere, perché nessuno si glori. Noi infatti siamo opera sua, creati in Cristo Gesú per le buone opere che Dio ha precedentemente preparato, perché le compiamo. ...non avendo speranza ed essendo senza Dio nel mondo. Ma ora, in Cristo Gesú, voi che un tempo eravate lontani, siete stati avvicinati per mezzo del sangue di Cristo. Egli infatti è la nostra pace, colui che ha fatto dei due popoli uno e ha demolito il muro di separazione, avendo abolito nella sua carne l'inimicizia, la legge dei comandamenti fatta di prescrizioni, per creare in se stesso dei due un solo uomo nuovo, facendo la pace, e per riconciliare a ambedue con Dio in un sol corpo per mezzo della croce, avendo ucciso l'inimicizia in se stesso. Ed egli venne per annunziare la pace a voi che eravate lontani e a quelli che erano vicini, poiché per mezzo di lui abbiamo entrambi accesso al Padre in uno stesso Spirito. Voi dunque non siete piú forestieri né ospiti, ma concittadini dei santi e membri della famiglia di Dio, edificati sul fondamento degli apostoli e dei profeti, essendo Gesú Cristo stesso la pietra angolare, su cui tutto l'edificio ben collegato cresce per essere un tempio santo nel Signore, nel quale anche voi siete insieme edificati per essere una dimora di Dio nello Spirito.


Ephesians 2: 1-22 (NASB) ENGLISH

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course ofthis world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived inthe lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath,even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace inkindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. ...having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. AND HE CAME AND PREACHED PEACE TO YOU WHO WERE FAR AWAY, AND PEACE TO THOSE WHO WERE NEAR; for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longerstrangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are beingbuilt together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.

From David Platt's book, "Radical". Check out Part 1, 2, and 3. This section is tied directly to Part 3 where David is talking about the question, "What about the needs here?"

It's 6,783,421,727 and counting. As I write this chapter, this is the population of the world. According to the most liberal estimates, approximately one-third of the world is Christian. These estimates include all who identify themselves as Christians, whether religiously, socially, or politically. Likely, not all of them are actually followers of Christ. but even if we assume they are, that still leaves 4.5 billion people who, if the gospel is true, at this moment are separated from God in their sin and (assuming nothing changes) will spend eternity in hell.

Again, 4.5 billion.

And most of them live outside the United States.

In light of all that we have seen in Scripture, certainly God has given us his grace to extend his glory not just to areas of need here but to areas of need around the world. Not either here or there, but both here and there.

In all this missions talk, you may begin to think, Well, surely you're not suggesting that we're all supposed to move overseas. That is certainly not what I'm suggesting (though I'm not completely ruling it out!). But this is precisely the problem. We have created the idea that if you have a heart for the world and you are passionate about global mission, then you  move overseas. But if you have a heart for the United States and you are not passionate about global mission, then you stay here and support those who go. Meanwhile, flying right in the face of this idea is Scripture's claim that regardless of where we live—here or overseas—our hearts should be consumed with making the glory of God known in all nations.

I know there are probably some folks in the church I pastor who wouldn't mind if I left and lived in another nation. I say this kiddingly (I hope!), but, after all, isn't that where people who are passionate about the world go? But this is exactly why the church I pastor is stuck with me (as long as they'll have me). Because from cover to cover the Bible teaches that all the church—not just select individuals, but all the church—is created to reflect all the glory of God to all the world. Because every single man, woman, and child in the church I pastor is intended to impact the nations for the glory of Christ, and there is a God-designed way for us to live our lives here, and do church here, for the sake of people around the world who don't know Christ.

So what is this God-designed way to live? All this talk about having a heart for the world may sound a bit cliche and even seem a bit hollow, but what does it mean to live for the glory of Christ in all nations? 

If you didn't read the previous, I'm reading through "Radical" by David Platt and sharing some of the things he talks about in the book. Currently I'm sharing on the global mission, etc. If you missed the previous posts, check them out here...Part 1, Part 2. This section talks about the question from the "I'm not called to foreign missions" to "What about the needs here?"

Maybe the most common response that arises among Christians regarding the global purpose of God is "What about the needs here?" Why dow e need to be involved in other nations when there are so many needs in our nation?"

Among Christians in Birmingham (where I pastor), I often hear this statement phrased something like this: "I don't need to go to all nations, because God has given me a heart for the United States." Others might say, "God has given me a heart for Birmingham." These statements sound spiritual, but when we probe deeper, they seem more like smoke screens.

The are smoke screens because most of us really are not very concerned about the needs right around us. Most Christians rarely share the gospel, and most Christians' schedules are not heavily weighted in feeding the hungry, helping the sick, strengthening the church in the neediest places in our country.

But even if we are doing these things, we would still be overlooking a foundational biblical truth when we say our hearts are for the United States. As we have seen all over Scripture, God's heart is for the world. So when we say we have a heart for the United States, we are admitting we have a meager 5 percent of God's heart, and we are proud of it. When we say we have a heart for the city we live in, we confess that we have less than 1 percent of God's heart.

Certainly there are great needs here. But must we insist on dividing the Great Commission into an either-or proposition? Who told us that we had to choose to have a heart for the United States or a heart for the world?