A cocoon which I will share

"To believe is to act and to act is to believe"

I continue to wrestle with the implications of this quote.

A prayer of my heart

"Let me not be blind with privilege
Give me eyes to see the pain
Let the blessing You’ve poured out on me
Not be spent on me in vain
Let this life be used for change. "

"I Will Go" by Starfield

My rights and suffering

I read this on my pastor's blog. The ironic thing is that I was having a conversation about this very topic tonight. God is amazing and the more I see Him revealed in His word and in Life the more I fall in love with Him.

John Newton On How Faith Faces Trials
Concerning a believer, Newton writes, "...his faith upholds him under all trials, by assuring him, that every painful dispensation is under the direction of his Lord; that chastisements are a token of his love; that the season, measure, and continuance of his sufferings, are appointed by Infinite Wisdom, and designed to work for his everlasting good; and that grace and strength shall be afforded him, according to his need."

Thus, his heart being fixed, trusting in the Lord, to whom he has committed all his concerns; and knowing that his best interests are safe; he is not greatly afraid of evil tidings, but enjoys a stable peace in the midst of a changing world. For, though he cannot tell what a day may bring forth, he believes that he who has invited and enabled him to cast all his cares upon him, will allow nothing to befall him but what shall be made subservient to his chief desire—the glory of God in the sanctification and final salvation of his soul."

And if, through the weakness of his flesh, he is liable to be startled by the first impression of a sharp and sudden trial, he quickly flees to his strong refuge, remembers it is the Lord's doing, resigns himself to his will, and patiently expects a happy outcome."

The Truth

I saw this last year at a youth convention and recently it came to mind.

Erik's December Japan Update

I just want to thank you those of you for your support both financially and prayerfully and for your encouragement during my last 4 month stay in Japan. This time was profitable both for me personally as well as for the ministry there in Japan. I would like to briefly share with you how I was directly impacted, and how I saw people within the ministry impacted. I will start with sharing about the ministry and then will close with sharing about the challenges and growth that I have experienced in my own life.
Let me briefly describe my roles in the ministry. I am considered an intern at the Lighthouse; specifically regarding the men’s ministry. In some ways I arrived and found that what I needed to do in a lot of ways I had all ready been doing in Lansing. My time with Kainos and other ministries at South had largely prepared me already for the ministry in Japan.
During my time there I was involved in leading and teaching a men’s Bible study which took place on Wednesday nights. In this study we went through the book of Hebrews, and found that time to be extremely challenging and enriching. At the house we provide a meal both on Wednesday and Friday nights. We average 20 – 50 people on that night which means there is a lot to be cooked and prepped for on a regular basis. Working in and around the house with meals and other regular tasks was also part of my duties. At the Lighthouse we also manage a Christian bookstore which carries around three hundred titles. I know this because I am responsible for managing the sales and ordering for the bookstore. You would not believe some of the joy and excitement that I get to see in a sailor when they learn about our bookstore, since we are the only Christian bookstore in Yokosuka, Japan. When I arrived at the Lighthouse I brought with me the Truth Project. I started up two small groups which meet on a weekly basis and went through the lessons. It is exciting to know that there are at least two people who have taken the Truth Project dvd’s to their ships with the intentions of starting groups up on board. The other broader area of ministry which I am involved in is life on life living. What I mean by that is I seek to share life with these men and women continually looking for opportunities to have conversations. My focus is always to asses where they are at spiritually and to point them to Christ both in discipleship and in evangelism scenarios. It was a great joy to watch a young female officer come to know Christ this last summer. I have also had the joy of watching several sailors take great steps in growing in their relationship with Christ.
Personally over the last several months I have really been challenged and stretched in both ministry and in my personal walk with God. In my own personal study and reading the area of pride seems to keep coming up. My eyes have been opened to see just how self confident and self reliant I have been. Also in the area of personal holiness God has been challenging me with having to really look at does the way I live my life really demonstrate what it means to be sold out for Him. Having to learn more how to love the unlovable and how to exercise more patience are also some more areas where God has been stretching me. Of course you will notice that if you look at all of those areas they all are connected to the root of pride.
Keeping in touch with my ministry partners was also a very difficult thing, understanding the importance of this I am taking steps to become more disciplined in this area. Overall I am really excited to see how God has been challenging and growing me.
My future holds another five months in Japan with schooling after that. In November I was accepted to Moody Bible Institute in their undergraduate program with a major in Pastoral ministries. Although uncertain at this point if that is the best direction I am still considering it. One of my other possible choices is to finish a general associates degree from a community college and then go to seminary. My hopes and prayer is that within five years I will be able to complete one of these options and will be in a ministry position full time. I am uncertain still at this point what that direction or position will be, but I have decided that it will be in missions overseas or in mission’s mobilization within the local church. Most likely it will mean doing missions overseas for ten, fifteen, or twenty years and then returning to be a mobilizer within the local church.
It was truly amazing to watch how God provided financially for me during my time in Japan. Both through God’s provision and through staying under budget on my ministry costs; I still have money remaining in my account from last time, but I have a difference which I need to make up in order to return and remain in Japan until June. I thank those of you who partnered with me during this last time and I ask that you would consider continuing to partner with me.
I don’t know that I realized how encouraging it is to have people partner with you. I mean sharing how they have been praying for you, and supporting financially. I am convinced even more of the value and importance of partnering with and sharing in the lives of the missionaries of our local church. That is real, and raw, authentic body of Christ being lived out. So I just wanted to thank those of you who have played that part in my life.

All for His honor and His glory,

Erik Hultquist

Christless Christianity

I have now started a new book called Christless Christianity written by Michael Horton.

As a segway into this book I will tie in one final quote from Crazy Love.

" I believe that much of the American churchgoing population, while not specifically swimming downstream , is slowly floating away from Christ. It isn't a conscious choice, but it is nonetheless happening because little in their lives propels them toward Christ." p. 95

Here is the first paragraph

Liberating a captive church

" Here we are in the North American Church - conservative or liberal, evangelical or mainline, protastant or catholic, emergant or otherwise - cranking along just fine , thank you. So we're busy downsizing, becoming culturally relevant, reaching out, drawing in, making disciples, managing the machinery, utilizing biblical principles, celebrating recovery, user-friendly, techno savvy, finding the purposeful life, practicing peace with justice, utilizing spiritual disciplines, growing in self-esteem, reinventing ourselves as effective ecclesiastcal entreprenuers, and in general, feeling ever so much better about our achievments.
Notice anything missing in this pretty picture?......................."

How about Jesus Christ.

Joy

" There are reasons that we are where we are and who we are, and they are not random. It is the same way with joy in our lives. We tend to think of joy as something that ebbs and flows depending on life's circumstances. But we don't just lose joy, as though one day we have it and the next it's gone, oh darn. Joy is something that we have to choose and then work for."
Crazy Love by Francis Chan p. 146

This is challenging to me because it goes directly against the flow of our american christian church. We usually respond with joy only when our circumstances are calling for it. But what about where the root of all real joy comes from? The fact that everyday when we remind ourselves of the incredible truth of the gospel that we then must respond with joy when remembering who Christ is and what he has done for us. We then in light of the truth of the gospel must choose to fight for joy in all things no matter the circumstances.

More from "Crazy Love"

I finished the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan

Here are a few thought provoking thoughts which challenged me....

True Faith
Is demonstrated by " loving a person after he has hurt you. True love makes you stand out"

" But we need to realize that how we spend our time, what our money goes toward, and where we will invest our energy is equivalent to choosing God or rejecting Him."

" When you are running toward Christ you are freed up to serve, love, and give thanks without guilt, worry, or fear. as long as you are running you are safe."

" A person who is obsessed with Jesus knows that the sin of pride is always a battle. Obsessed people know that you can never be " humble enough", and so they seek to make themselves less known and Christ more known( Matt. 5:16) "

Pride and Arrogance

I have found that this is a continuous battle that rages in my life. The fight against my self, my flesh, the desire to either think more highly of myself, or to put myself before others.

Here is another quote from Francis Chan in his book "Crazy Love"

" Worry - Implies that we don't quite trust that God is big enough, powerful enough, or loving enough to take care of what;s happening in our lives.
Stress - says that the things we are involved in are important enough to merit our impatience, our lack of grace toward others, or our tight grip of control.
Basically, these two behaviors communicate that it's okay to sin and not trust God because the stuff in my life is somehow exceptional. Both worry and stress reek of arrogance."

This next quote comes from Timothy Keller and from his book "The Reason for God"

" Sin is the despairing refusal to find your deepest identity in your relationship and service to God. Sin is seeking to become oneself ( SA -self accualzation) to get an identity apart from him( God)." Paranthesis and their thougths were added for explination.

The crux of it all...

I got here from reading the new book by Francis Chan called Crazy Love. I am only in the first part of the book but so far it looks like it will be a convicting and challenging read. I am sure there will be more to come from this book. I will just leave this thought for now.

" The core problem isn't the fact that we're lukewarm, halfhearted, or stagnant Christians. The crux of it all is why we are this way, and it is because we have an inaccurate view of God. We see Him as a benevolent Being who is satisfied when people manage to fit Him into their lives in some small way. We forget that God never had an identity crisis. He knows that He's great and deserves to be the center of our lives. Jesus came humbly as a servant, but He never begs us to give Him some small part of ourselves. He commands everything from His followers."

http://www.juststopandthink.com/movieextras_movielg.php I found this to be an interesting video.