I should have done this long ago, but as you can see, we no longer actively blog on this website, but we'll keep it up as long as it is a good resource for others.
Hello all, as some of you know, I was in Cameroon a few weeks ago celebrating with the Noni people in northwest Cameroon as they received the New Testament in their language for the first time in history. Here is a little video I tried to put together to highlight the event. There is so much to tell, to highlight, etc. but hopefully this will give a flavor for what occurred on Dec. 22, 2011 in northwest Cameroon.
O how the Lord used Ezra last night to convict me of 'empty prayers'.
Tuesday night we have growth group/community group/bible study at some friends house, so we are gone until about 9:00 (or 9:30 as was the case last night) and my mom graciously puts the kids to bed when she is there watching them.
This night Ezra was still awake, so when we got home I went downstairs (a little perturbed that he was still awake) to encourage him to stay in his bed and fall asleep. Of course I wanted to pray with him, so I did...quickly...out of routine to get it done and get him to sleep.
"Jesus, thank you for this great day, thank you for Ezra, I pray that you'd help him sleep and that he would have a great day tomorrow. Amen." (I prayed this very quickly...as it was 9:45 at night)
After I said Amen...Ezra chimed in very quickly. 'Dad, that was an empty prayer.'
Hmmm.
How was I going to respond? I sat their quietly thinking for a minute or so.
Dad: 'Ezra, why do you think that my prayer was an empty prayer?'
Ezra: 'Well, you just said it so quickly that it didn't seem like you meant it. It sounded empty, all you really wanted was for it to be over with.'
Dad: "Ezra, thank you for being sensitive to the Holy Spirit. You are right, that was empty, let's really pray and talk with God."
Ezra: 'Sounds good Dad'
Prayer to follow...or something close to it.
'Father, forgive me for empty, lifeless, routine, just doing it because I should type of prayer. Thank you for your Spirit working through Ezra in my life tonight. Thank you for allowing him to articulate in a sentence what I can so often be guilty of. Forgive me for not believing, not approaching you with thankfulness, with great expectation, with a wonder and awe of how great You are and how Gracious and Good you have been and continue to be in giving us Jesus, forgiveness of my sin and new life in Him. Empower us to live each of our days for your glory and your praise.'
Ezra's prayer: "Lord, help us be more like Stephen who lived for you and told others about you." (We had been talking about Stephen in Acts 7 at dinner and how he was filled with the Holy Spirit & martyred (killed) because of his great love for Jesus.
Cool to see how the Lord answered that prayer (being like Stephen who was filled with the Holy Spirit) before Ezra even prayed it...as seen in his convicting words to his daddy.
Lessons from 5 minutes of putting my son to bed.
-God works in & through 5 year old children to teach their daddies things they should be teaching their son.
- I am thankful that God allowed Ezra to articulate truth so well. I pray that this gift will continue to be fanned into flame in His life for God's glory.
- Don't EVER be guilty of empty prayer
- My children are watching and listening. Am I discipling them in 'empty prayers' or in pouring out my heart and soul to God?
A week from now, I will be flying from New York to Brussels on my way to Yaounde, Cameroon. We are confident that this trip is the will of God for me for these 11 days of my life.
If you'd like to hear more, read more about the trip, here is the link to a little website I made up about the trip, the team traveling, the missionaries who have been serving this people group for the past 20 years.
Last night I found out that God and God alone orchestrated a series of events that is allowing me the privilege and honor to be able to go to Cameroon in Mid-December to witness a New Testament dedication for the Nooni people of Cameroon.
Below is the majority of an email I sent to my family last night after I was notified that God was opening a wide open door for me to go...it is kind of long, but it is really exciting to share.
Well, to make a long story of God’s faithfulness a little
shorter, the Danforth’s chose
to come to Faith Bible Church and decided to be involved in the same growth group that we were
a part of.
A Little About the Danforth’s
The Danforth
family (Sam, Anna, Elaina, & Sawyer) are here in Spokane working at Moody Aviation for the next year (or
so) getting all the remaining technical/mechanical training necessary before
they head to Cameroon to serve with JAARS
(Mission Aviation part of Wycliffe Bible Translators) in support of Bible
translators reaching people groups in Cameroon. They are a wonderful couple,
have two kids around Ezra’s age, and we have been richly blessed by them in
many ways in the months they have been in Spokane.
Back around the first past of October (5 weeks ago), I asked
Sam and Anna to spend some time at our growth group sharing about Cameroon, the
people, their story, and the upcoming New Testament dedication that is this
coming December. This December, after 20 years of translation, the New
Testament dedication that Anna’s parents have given their lives to is
occurring.
After they shared about the upcoming dedication in December
2011, I silently, but very specifically prayed;
“Lord, I would LOVE to go
to Cameroon to witness this celebration of Your Scriptures being translated into the Nooni language. I know we don’t have the financial resources
for this right now, so you’d have to work that out among other things.”
The Lord really confirmed in my heart not to mention this to anyone but Him, even Heidi, wanting to be sure if it did work out it would be wrought of God (seeing that
I had told no one and given NO hints to anyone).
I didn’t question that the Lord could answer this prayer, I
just wondered if He really did want me to go on this trip to Africa in
mid-December.
After that prayer back in early October, I didn’t think too much
more about it…thinking it was too late for anything to potentially happen.
Last Night– November 8th 2011
We get home from our growth group at the Danforth’s house
and I get a text message from Sam: ‘Hey, a donor said your trip would be completely covered to go to the New Testament dedication in Cameroon!!! Would you consider going?’ (I only spoke to the King Jesus about this, no one else.)
My response after I recovered from the shock of reading the
text: “Yes’…but…you might
need to explain a little more about this!”
So, I called them at 10 pm and we talked about the specifics and Heidi and I learned that Sam and Anna have been
praying for two months about me going to the dedication and the Lord has provided! Praying a whole month
before I began praying, and God provided someone to make the trip financially possible. Awesome.
I got off the phone, Heidi and I talked and saw this clearly
as something the Lord wants me to do. I wept in thankfulness for the Lord’s goodness
in providing so lavishly on us.
What a picture of the wonder of the gift of the Gospel. Receiving what I do not deserve. I don't deserve the privilege, the honor, the joy of being a part of this celebration in Cameroon...nor do I deserve the immeasurable greatness of the love of God in Christ Jesus, who when I was a rebel, a murderer, adulterer, thief, hater of God, He lavished His profound mercy on me and declared me righteous, forgiven, child of the King of Kings!
So, I will be leaving on the 15th of December and
returning on the 26th. Yes, I’ll be gone on Christmas day…but we’ll
be able to have a great Christmas on the 26th when I return home.
Heidi and I talked and though I’ll be gone on Christmas Day,
this is just a wonderful occasion to see, take part in, and commemorate the
Word of the Living God into a language that hasn’t had it before! What a
gracious gift that the Lord is allowing me to be present at such a monumental
occasion.
Just thought I’d share a story of answered prayer!
Several months ago I saw the video below and it makes you so appreciate having the Scriptures in your language. I don't know if the celebration will be similar to the one below, but it is pretty awesome nevertheless.
This video is of the Kimyal Tribe in West Papau, Indonesia receiving the Word of God into their language.
Another book...are you kidding me? Why this book? Is this just a casual read that I am going to read in a few days and then put down to never pick up again? Never apply, never change as a result of?
There are several reasons I chose to buy this book at this time in our life. I will seek to be as honest as possible and I am writing this because it will help me focus my thoughts about why I am going to spend time reading this book and what I hope to gain as a result of reading this.
A few reasons why we are going to read this:
1. The ministry of hospitality is obviously a huge priority in the life of Jesus and throughout the Bible and we are seeing that this is an area we need to grow in.
2. Eating and Meals happen every day, several times a day. Often we (and others I think) share excuses about being to busy, too much going on, but we eat every day having people into our home is a growing priority for us.
3. In all honesty, it is very easy to have people from church over for time together and fellowship. That should be a priority, but it also should be a priority to have our neighbors over for meals together, people I work with on a daily basis, and some of the guys who are on the corner of the streets holding signs about their needs. Maybe, just maybe, the Lord would have us have one of those guys over for a meal
1. In what ways was mealtime and hospitality a means of the Gospel going forth through a community, nation, and world?
2. In what ways can we use mealtime to serve and reach out to those who are in need of the redeeming grace of Jesus Christ?
3. In what ways does our mealtimes need to change for the purpose of spreading the Gospel, making disciples, etc.
4. How can our home be a centerpiece for ministry and outreach?
5. In this upcoming Holiday season, how can we serve others around us who need Jesus, not just let the season be about our immediate family?
In complete transparency, I feel like our time, schedule and commitments right now are too 'churchy' and our lives need to be lived more like missionaries. In Spokane WA. Right Now. I think it is a tool and tactic of Satan to get us drunk on ourselves by not being outward/others focused.
In this post I define 'churchy' as follows: A life, a schedule, and relationships that are only built on things that center around the local church you 'attend'. (I really kind of hate the word 'attend' because that is so ANTI-BIBLICAL.) For example, Sundays are at church, Tuesdays are with people from the church, Wednesdays a parenting class 'at church'). Each of these things are helpful and great, but AM I MISSING SOMETHING. ARE WE missing something? Where is it in our schedule that that we are 'going and making disciples of all the nations'? So much time and energy is spent is 'getting trained', 'taking classes', 'getting encouragement' that we forget that Jesus trained 'on the job', 'in the classroom of life', not in a class setting.
All that to say, mealtime, hospitality, "for the purpose of reaching the lost" is not a priority in our home and we want it to be. Repenting, thanking Him for his forgiveness, and asking Him tp do a powerful work in our home is where we are at.
I also am praying that this little book would be a source of encouragement, conviction and that the Spirit of God would do a work of faith in our lives as we seek to honor the King of Kings in our meals and in our home.
