"Just Do Something"

When you think of discerning God’s will, what initially comes to your mind? Probably if you are like me, that is growing up in the Christian culture you will think of things like “ open or closed doors” , a peace or mind, fleece, known or unknown, or difficult or easy. Well I would have to be honest and say that four years ago I was really struggling in the area of knowing or discerning God’s will for my life. At that time God used some of my Bible classes at New Tribes to open my mind to some new ways of looking at God’s will. The reality is that at the time I was really struggling thinking about a future career and marriage. ( of course the two big ones) Well it has been a journey and one that has gone up and down. The best part of it is looking back over the last few years I can rejoice to see how God has been growing me in my understanding and application of His Word and Will. To quote a good friend and mentor of mine “ I wish I could write a book but I am not smart enough…. I enjoy reading books written by guys who are way smarter than me but who agree with my theology of God.” I mention this because over this last year I have been thinking a lot about Christians and their decisions in dating, courting, marriage, career, singleness…. Naturally I find myself here, for I am in my late twenties and single. With all of this thinking and reading on the topic I have found the important need to develop a theology of relationships. ( for lake of better terminology, the pursuit of marriage) What does the Bible have to say about this?
Well these thoughts above come to me right now for I just finished reading the book by Deyoung. It is so refreshing to read a book on the topic of decision making and to find it stick so closely to the fundamental truth of scripture. It is also nice to read an author who agrees with me  . ( see above) The truth is that DeYoung did a great job of taking common practices and beliefs and putting them up against the filter of scripture. He then responds with a biblical centric view of decision making and the will of God. He lays out what he calls in the book the “way of wisdom.” This is to say that God has given us already everything that we need to make wise decisions, God’s word, prayer, and fellow believers. This book of course deals with decision making in general but I would like to look at it in relation to marriage. “ There is nothing wrong with being single. It can be a gift from the Lord and a gift to the church. But when there is an overabundance of Christian singles who want to be married, this is a problem. And it’s a problem I put squarely at the feet of the young men whose immaturity , passivity, and indecision are pushing their hormones to the limits of self-control, delaying the growing process and forcing countless numbers of young women to spend lots of time and money pursuing a career ( which is not necessarily wrong) when they would rather be getting married and having children. Men, if you want to be married, find a godly gal, treat her right, talk to her parents, pop the question, tie the knot, and start making babies.” P. 108
This is where I stand on this, I believe that far to many Christian men( myself included)are sinning in the area of not being responsible in their pursuit of marriage. I believe that God has created us to be married and so if you are single man, other than for the sake of ministry, I believe to not be pursuing marriage is to sin. That seems harsh I am sure and it is convicting to me, but when I look at it we have made life so much more complicated. We as men pursue our careers, hobbies, and our entertainment more than we pursue being married. I think that pride, unbelief, selfishness, and lazyness are of a few of the fundamental factors in this problem. We need men who are going to stand up and go against the flow of our culture including that of our Christian subculture. Men who will instead of asking the question of is this the right woman for me, will ask the question am I the godly man I should be. Men we need to step up and be the spiritually leaders, that means in relationships too. I believe that if we were to understand what God’s will for our lives is then it would help in all areas of decision making. Quite focusing on all of the temporal decisions and instead focus on seeking the kingdom of God. For the will of God is your sanctification. ( I Thess. 4:3) If we are truly focusing on this then all of the rest of the decisions in life will naturally fall into place. So men will you join me in taking the head knowledge and putting it into action.” Let us be active in the present, grateful for the past, and hopeful for the future.” P.120
“ Be holy like Jesus, by the power of the Spirit, for the glory of God” p. 62
Thoughts and quotes come from

“ Just Do Something” by Kevin DeYoung – This was an excellent book and I highly recommend it.

Mexico Report Service

For all of you who faithfully followed and prayed for the team, I invite you out to South Church next Sunday night at 6pm to hear about the trip. We will be sharing in the evening service with music, pictures, and personal testimonies as to how God was at work both through the team in the the lives of the team members.

Thank you so much for your prayerful support during the week. There is no doubt in my mind, the trip was great and successful and that was because of your prayers. Continue to pray for the team members as they process through this past week. Many are working through how and where God would have them to serve Him.

Don't forget for those interested in the trip the plan at this point is to go again in 2010.

Save the date November 20 - 27, 2010

Mexico Team Returns to Michigan

Well we had an uneventful journey home. Some caught up on sleep, others colored their coloring books while still others had conversations.
Overall another incredible year, God was so good in faithfully providing and working in and through the team.

If you would like to hear more of the specifics then come next Sunday evening when the team will be sharing about the trip.

Thanks for keeping us in your prayers and I hope that you will be touched by the experiences of the team this year.

Praise God for his faithfulness.

- Erik Hultquist

Almost home

Well, we're sitting in the airport, almost ready to return to Michigan. Everyone on the team is excited to go home, but we're all tired too. The trip was amazing! We all learned so much and never want to forget our experiences. Being back in the States, we can see the stark contrast between materialistic America and relationship-oriented Mexico. One of the hardest things about leaving is just seeing how much we have that we take for granted while the people in Mexico have so little but seem so content and grateful. I seriously hope that we can learn to be content with what we have, and that we will be intentional with our lives. God really worked this week and showed His power. I will never forget what He taught me.
God bless!

-Courtney Myers

Jesus, Thank You

Jesus, Thank You

The mystery of the cross I cannot comprehend,
The agonies of Calvary.
You, the Perfect Holy One, crushed your Son,
Drank the bitter cup reserved for me.

Your blood has washed away my sin,
Jesus, thank You.
The Father's wrath completely satisfied,
Jesus, thank You.
Once Your enemy, now seated at Your table,
Jesus, thank You.

By Your perfect sacrifice I've been brought near,
Your enemy made your friend.
Pouring out the riches of Your glorious grace,
Your mercy and Your kindness know no end.

Lover of my soul, I want to live for you

Your blood has washed away my sin,
Jesus, thank You.
The Father's wrath completely satisfied,
Jesus, thank You.
Once Your enemy, now seated at Your table,
Jesus, thank You.

This has been one of the many great songs that we have had the opportunity to sign and to ponder afresh. Oh the love that was shown us, oh the joy that is ours.

How shall we respond?

Loving the Least of These

Today we had the opportunity to tangibly love on God's children. A group of about 20 of us went to an orphanage in Tijuana that provides a home to both boys and girls under age 12. Though our Spanglish abilities vary, we were all able to communicate love to these children. We came with a hot dog lunch and toys for them which they were so excited about; but they gave us so much more back with their smiles and joy. Some wanted to play and spent the afternoon on our shoulders, playing futbol (soccer), or coloring with us. Others just wanted to be held. Cliff Beckett spent most of the day just holding and loving on a young boy named Alex who has downs syndrome. It was clear that one of the reasons God brought Cliff on this trip was to wrap his arms around Alex for the afternoon. The highlight of my experience was holding the little babies at the orphanage. One little boy was on my lap during lunch time and I fed him a hot dog bun and cookie bite by bite. He fussed like little ones do when I wiped his hands and face when he was done. I also held onto little Analu and covered her with kisses while we were there. She's the tiniest little thing, with the longest eyelashes you've ever seen. It broke my heart to leave there knowing tomorrow there may be no one to wipe their face or provide the kisses. My prayer is that God would provide families to love all these little babies. But more than that, my prayer is that these babies would learn of God's unconditional love for them as their heavenly Father.

It definitely made me thankful for all the ways God has blessed me with family, but I'm most thankful to be called a child of His.

Happy Thanksgiving!
~Diane Durow

Tues Build Day

Pepto-Bismol pink isn’t not what you would think of a typical house color, but it’s pretty common in Mexico. This is my first time coming on this trip and it’s so amazing to me how much of a difference we can make in someone’s life just by sacrificing five or six hours to build them a house and spend time with them. Today we worked at a site by the bottom of a mountain, building a house for a woman named Kenya and her family. There was an adorable little boy there whose name was Nathaniel. I loved seeing how much joy we brought him just by talking to him and giving him attention. Not only has the building been rewarding for the families, but it really brings us together as a group. I have made so many new friends and I’ve had so much fun. I am so excited to see what God is going to do during the rest of the trip and when we go back home.
- Angela Krause