... left over stickers

A few days ago I arrived home from a relief trip to the Middle East. We had been told in the middle of the trip- "If you feel tired, that's good. In a short trip like this, you want to feel at the end that you gave everything you could, spent it all"

I had brought some stickers for the kids we would see. I gave them out slowly..paced them.  I had a good handful left but kept forgetting to give them out and told myself each day, "tomorrow I will give these away."  Well, I forgot and as we packed up to go home, I felt regret looking down at the leftovers…useless to me now. They were meant to be given away. 

In the end, they are just stickers. But it's a good lesson on life and eternity.  The things I have been given are meant to be poured out and spent for his glory. At the end, how many people have an abundance of leftovers because they didn't run the race to win. They were not all in and all out.

At the end of my life, I don't want any regrets about leftover stickers…

reflections and thanks for fellowship in Philippians.

Thanks Lord for a great meeting with Holly and for her example of someone who loves you and transparently repents of sin so easily. We had a good meeting today discussing philippians chapter 3 and I was really challenged of all the "things of the flesh" that I put confidence in. Thanks for giving us time to name and repent of these- Things that have no substance. It is knowing You and being lost and found in you that is the source of joy and true substance worth rejoicing in.

Thanks for a great meeting also with Sarah. Thank you for her hunger to obey and know you and her excitement to grow. Thank you for her joy. please teach me and help me to know how to best love and serve her as we study your Word together. I have been challenged from Philippians chapter 1 of Paul's wonderful example of a shepherd - and his focus on prayer in the beginning. It is so fitting as Prayer is often the first "labor or love" we can serve others with. Paul says he is a bondservant of Christ, as he serves Christ through serving others. - through first praying for them. Teach me to labor in prayer for others.

And purify my passions as well. I see in Chapter 1- Paul's 2 passions- to BE WITH Christ and to pour himself out for the sake of Christ and the gospel. teach me this truth- to live is Christ, to die is gain.  and let all the other things be considered loss compared to the greatness of knowing Christ and being found in him.

death takes us home.

Today my previous pastor died. I gave him a hug just last Sunday on my visit home. 

I thought I'd post my last letter to him here. RIP Pat and see you on the other side. I know that right now you are probably not resting, more likely dancing, singing and joyfully laughing in the presence of our King. 

--------------------------

Dear Pat

I wanted to write and let you know some of the ways God used you to impact me.

Thanks for reaching out to me when I was new to Bethel and believing in me enough to ask me to join the youth staff. Those years really changed my life.  I remember how you would pray for us when you exercised and how you would come eat lunch with us once a week at the JC. I’m truly thankful for your strong servant leadership during all those years.  Even now, my favorite patients are teenagers, especially the messy broken ones. Thanks for your example of loving and teaching the youth group students and also how you invested so much into the youth staff as well.  I’m also thankful for all the ridiculously fun memories as well, ie fear factor eating fish eyes.

I always appreciate that you continually preach the gospel and have stayed true to it even when I come back home to visit. I’m just really encouraged by that. It really is what we all need to hear the most.  Even though I’ve been away for more than 8 years now, thanks for the continual support and encouragement. Thanks for challenging me in evangelism many years ago, and writing the letter of recc for me to do the medical evangelism summer training program. Here is something cool- the program I work for lets me formally teach the residents methods in sharing the gospel, and then go with them to the hospital and do “spiritual rounds” where we visit patients, ask them spiritual histories and have opportunities to share the gospel with patients who really are hungry to hear it. God is amazing!.

I’m truly thankful for the example of you and Michelle in how you raised your kids too. I appreciate and respect how transparent you were about how you had struggled early on but had grown in the process and how you had told your kids you didn’t want then to be any different at church than they were at home. I always thought to myself, “If I get married and have kids, Pat and Michelle are the two people I’d want to get advice from”.  I’m so proud of your kids, and how they love Jesus. I know God is going to use them to change this world and build His kingdom.

Today I was reading Philippians and it reminds me so much of you, so I’ll just end with it.

Philippians 1

1 Paul and Timothy, bond-servants of Christ Jesus,

To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, 5 in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. 7 ….  12 Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, 13 so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else, 14 and that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear. 15 Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even from envy and strife, but some also from good will; 16 the latter do it out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel; 17 the former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment. 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice.

Yes, and I will rejoice, 19 for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, 20 according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain…

Chapter 3… v7 But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, 9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; 11 in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

You are surely in His Grip. He is truly a mighty Savior.

With much love,

Jennifer Jung. 

More stones from the Jordan for my rock pile…

Been awake since 2am. but what should I do after laying awake for several hours but get up and do something productive. And writing down Praises for answered prayer… is productive… more than that, it is stacking the rock monument higher so you can see it better later… for those times later when you are tired, confused at the waves of life and the darkness seems so near and encompassing.

In the words of John Piper interpreting scripture:

Prayer changes things. It makes things happen that otherwise would not happen if we had not prayed! 

1. Yesterday it was pouring rain like a madhouse. I had an alarm on my phone go off that said "flash flood warning until 5:30pm" We were set to move Gina at 5pm, and many of us had been praying since the night before that the rain would stop for the move. I'm not sure any of us believed it would happen. But God- YOU STOPPED THE RAIN at 4:45pm! - it didn't rain a drop here then entire 3 hours we were moving. Thanks for reminding us that you hear us!

2. the First day in Nepal, it was scorching hot. We took a quite terribly sweaty 4 hour bus ride to the base of a mountain we were going to climb.  I asked God to bring the cloud cover for the 3 hour hike up the steep mountain. "God, you know what a wimp I am and I don't know if I can do it in this heat." God, thank You for bringing there perfect cloud cover with just a faint sprinkling at first. Yes, it poured at the end, but we were so hot from hiking with packs that no one even put their ponchos on. Thank You!  Who is this that even the wind and the rains obey him? The Lord God, Almighty, glorious in his splendor!

3. It stormed all night- the winds pushed over the other girls tent. It soaked through several of the other tents and they woke up in water. I was thinking, "Lord, did we just drive 4 hours and hike 3 more to have it storm so hard that we can't even do clinic? No one will come in this weather, please stop the storm"  And YOU DID! The next day the skies were radiantly bright blue without any clouds at all. What you did with them I have no idea. 

4. Matt asked me to lead morning devotions for the team on Wednesday and to share the gospel as well for those outside listening. I had been praying before this trip for an opportunities to share the gospel- though my expectations were low considering how the Iraq trip went.  When we started that morning, there was a larger than normal Nepali crowd from the village gathering around us-. After the main devotion on the Love of God, as I began to share the gospel, Hari stood up to translate in his loud voice. There were many listening attentively and at the end, Hari, a local Nepali church planter, said to me "I believe this is the first time this village and most of these people have ever heard the gospel." Thank You Lord for the amazing privilege of this!

5. We prayed for our translators and opportunities to love them and be Christ to them. Each day, they heard our testimonies. One day I was sitting with 3 of the Buddhist  girls and I shared with them that I had grown up trying to be perfect, but inside I was like this broken building that we were looking at. All 3 of them said to me "We feel like this too! Your story is our story!" Sunita said to me, "Someday I think I will be Christian, though Im not ready yet." She wants to marry a Christian man because she saw such a difference in the men on our trip compared to other men she knows. Thank You Lord for this opportunity to love and share you with these precious women. 

6. After the 7.2 earthquake, the roads were blocked in multiple places by the landslides. It looked like this: We were told by multiple sources they would not be cleared anytime soon and likely we would either need to be helicoptered out or hike 12 miles with our packs OVER the landslides- which were still occurring even at that time. We prayed and prayed, planned likely not to get out that day at all… then were told that unexpectantly that CHINESE relief workers had come and cleared the roads! God literally clears our greatest roadblocks in weird and marvelous ways.! Thank You Lord. 

There are many more but I am tired again now. You kept each of us safe in the earthquake, even as we hiked back and ran through valleys where rocks were still falling from above. and driving through roads where at any time a large boulder could fall on our bus and knock us off the cliff. It was not our time to go! 

Praise the Lord, let all my inmost being praise His Holy name. 

What will our God do with our ruins, impossibilities, and most broken places?

Memorial Day.

Today we remember the cost of freedom and those who have served our country through the military.

I remember looking out at a cemetery in Iraq and one of the locals quietly stated to me, "This is the End." It seems that way, but it's not true, for believers or unbelievers. None of the bodies here represent souls that are quiet in the ground. Some are eternally rejoicing in the presence of God's glory. Others are lamenting in eternal torture feeling the weight of the wrath of God over sin. It is a terrible thought and one that I cannot grasp well nor am I sure that I want to.

But all in all, it is true, that this IS the end, of this life.

Grace notes...

These are notes from a Sermon last week on the Gospel and Gal 2:20-by pastor Jeremy. I want to let them sink deeper into my heart so I am putting them here.  Lord,  teach this to my innermost being.

Is Grace a doctrine you believe or a deep well of water you drink freely from?

The enemy of the Gospel is not the law, it is "another gospel" . It is often when we base out justification on our progress and performance of our sanctification.
We are highly performance driven as a culture. We carry our performance mentality into our relationship with God…we forget that it is Unmerited Favor. The Gospel of Grace needs to be beaten into our brains repeatedly.

What is your contribution to your salvation?  It's your sin!
When I try to add to the gospel, I am trying to rebuild what was torn down. It is foolish to think I can smuggle in obedience into Christ's finished work.

And it seems too good to be true. Christ's righteousness imputed to us and all my sin imputed to Him. I have been crucified with Christ. God does not grade on a curve- He grades on perfection and the only way to make the grade is to be crucified with Christ.

What does the law do? It always puts our focus on the law keeper. we break it or keep it. but Faith-- puts the focus on Christ. The law is good! It makes the good news Good. It's not about a balance of the law and grace. There is no balance. We live by faith. We are at the same time both Just and sinful. --> and only faith embraces this.

On my worst day I cannot forfeit God's love.

Some may say, if you preach like this, we will become too lax about sin. But it's not true. When someone you love opens wide their arms to us, it is the natural response to run in and embrace that one back. It is His kindness that leads up to repentance and the Grace of God that leads us to godliness.

Part of cultivating a life of joy in part is intentionally living in thanksgiving. So here's a short exercise of thanksgiving for the sake of Joy and acknowledging the One who gives ALL good things.

1. Thank you for breakfast this morning, for always providing what I need.
2. Thanks for the vitamix and all the delicious and healthy things that I can make with it now.
3. Thanks for this fresh Apple juice.
4. Thank you for the enjoyment of cooking
5. Thank you for my selfless godly roommate
6. Thank you for this morning to rest
7. Thank you for Spring time!
8. Thank you for trees, especially the flowering ones
9. Thank you that although I am a terrible sinner, Your grace is far greater than my sin
10. Thank You for my church. the best church I have ever been part of.
11. Thank you for small  youtube sermonettes that you use to lift up my soul
12. Thank You for Your Spirit, that lives in me even though I am still learning what that means and and the potential of it.
13. Thank You for being a gentle teacher to me- that You will teach me
14. And that You give wisdom to those who ask and lack it- because I lack it
15. Thank You for financial freedom, although I'm still learning how to steward this right.
16. Thank you for work and the strength to press forward in difficult seasons of life
17. Thank You that when I have no strength, You are abundantly sufficient in my weakness
18. Thank You for meeting me, loving me, and saving me in my weakness
19. Thank You that You will make me like yourself one day- when I get home You.
20. Thank You that You are a great healer- able to heal any pain or hurt. ANY.
21. Thank You again, for Your grace. that is greater than my greatest sin on my worst day. Your Grace that shines down with favor and pleasure in your children. Grace that was purchased by the death and finished work of Your perfect Son. Grace, unmerited and free.

picture lessons on right perspectives

There are 2 picture lessons that have been on my mind a lot this week.

One is the picture of beautiful tree, with one of its branches broken off and laying next to it… dried out and dead.  The branch might be laying right next to the tree, but it doesn't matter. John 15 says  that He is vine and we are the branches and to remain in Him. Apart from him we can do nothing. When I don't abide with him, I am like that branch, broken off, dried up and unfruitful.


The second picture I have been thinking about is the rope analogy by Francis Chan. He has a rope, and says to imagine it is so long it wraps around the world. He has 3 inches of it painted red, which represents our time on earth, and the rest of the rope if our existence in eternity. He says, most of us live for the tiny red part, - making this life comfortable, successful, and safe, storing up our treasures here. He says people look at his life and say, "that's stupid what you are doing" but he says, "No! what you are doing is stupid! I am living for eternity"



 So my questions to myself are: Am I living for and investing in eternity or for the fleeting comforts of this life? and Am I abiding in a way that bears much fruit, walking closely with my precious Savior who is a the source of life…





When I was in college I remember my friend praying, "Lord, teach us not so many many things, but that we know a few things very very well."

I pray this for myself, to learn these lessons full well and live a life that reflected it in the end.

with flowers in His hand.

Acres of Hope
by Shane and Shane

He will allure her, He will pursuer her and call her out
To the wilderness with flowers in His hand
She is responding beat up and hurting deserving death
But offerings of life are found instead

She will sing, she will sing oh, to You
She will sing as in the days of youth
As You lead her away to valleys low
To acres of hope, acres of hope

Here in the valley walk close beside me don't look back
For love is growing vineyards up ahead You have called me master
And though You're in the dark here call me friend
And call me lover and marry me for good

She will sing, she will sing, oh, to You
She will sing as in the days of youth
As You lead her away to valleys low
To acres of hope, acres of hope

How the story ends is love and tenderness in Him
Not safe, but worth it, so worth it. So in the valley's up ahead
Or the ones, we live we'll sing together, we'll sing together

We will sing, we will sing oh, to You
We will sing as in the days of youth
As You lead us away to valleys low
To acres of hope, acres of hope

I have always loved this song and is one I often sing on walks alone. Just last week we had tornados, and now Spring is here with blue skies. God is so kind to me that He had me live in a home whose previous owner loved flowers as much as I do, and planted them everywhere. Thank you Lord for bringing me flowers!

money money money!

Being tax season, I’ve had more thoughts about money than usual. Question like, Where should I spend or invest this? How much should I commit to giving away to missions or ministry?  Should I set aside and create a savings  budget to later provide for my aging parents?  If I change to part-time work, how will that change all these things? Most importantly, what honors God and is the best stewardship of what He has put in my care. I re-read Tim Keller’s chapter in Counterfeit Gods: Money Changes Everything. I was deeply affected by his comment of how easily money becomes an idol- as it meets every deep idol of our heart- comfort, approval, power, or control.  Here are some fitting excerpts for this tax-money season.

Each deep idol- power, approval, comfort, or control—generates a different set of fears and a different set of hopes. “Surface idols are things such as money, our spouse, or children, through which our deep idols seek fulfillment... Some people want money as a way to control their world and life. Such people usually don’t spend much money and live modestly. They keep it all safely saved and invested, so they can feel completely secure in the world. Others want money for access to social circles and to make themselves beautiful and attractive. These people do spend money on themselves in lavish ways. ..In every way however, money idolatry enslaves and distorts lives…Deep idols have to be dealt with at the heart level. 

Jesus warms people far more often about greed than about sex, yet almost no on thinks they are guilty of it. Therefore we should all begin with a working hypothesis that “this could easily be a problem for me.”

Money can become a spiritual addiction, and like all addictions it hides its true proportions from its victims. 

So Lord, turn my eyes back to You as my source of comfort and security. Help me to see this money as belonging to You and give me wisdom and surrender to use it in ways that honor you.  Protect my heart from the deceitfulness of wealth and all it’s booby-traps along the way.

make space.

"Bring me the sacrifice of your precious time. This creates sacred space around you-- space permeated with My presence and My peace"

from Jesus Calling by Sarah Young.

The flowers were all growing in the wrong places and happily filled my yard and lawn. Sad to see the rest all go with the mowing but thankful to be able to put this sunshine in a jar on my table today. 

Firsts

Even if you want to forget, you often can't.... first time getting into a car accident. first autopsy. First time falling in love. first kiss and first heartbreak. first move away from home. first time delivering a slippery newborn baby. …even the first time eating passion fruit.

the other night, I delivered my first stillborn child into the world. He was only 20 wks old… the length of a large yam really, and if you didn't look carefully you would have thought he was a blood clot. When we lay him on his mothers belly in a clean towel, she stopped crying. she just caressed him. the room was silent. there were no words. 

jen and her most difficult patient of the day

She is afraid
She trembles when he yells at her
He towers over her
6 feet tall and unrelenting in his words
meant only for cutting.
She believes the accusations
For a moment only

And then she sees him
As through a looking glass
He carries years of pain
he has a wife and child
who suffer because he suffers
from an illness without cure.
He coughs up blood in the morning
Spiting out his anger
But in his heart
he is afraid.

Here are some small quotes that I want to remember from today.

Following Jesus is like a dice game. You put everything on one number and roll your dice.  That number is Jesus. If you are right, you've won it all. If it is wrong, you've lost everything.  If someone looked at your life, would you be all in?  --Bruce Randall

We are terrible friends to Jesus, but he is a wonderful friend to sinners. 
He suffered at the hands of his friends for his friends, because of His love. 

Are you glad the Bible records that Peter denied Jesus? I am. it gives me hope. This Peter, who Jesus said to "feed my sheep" to "follow me" and "upon this rock I will build my church". This Peter was a messy man, and we are messy as well. --pastor Jeremy


Also, regarding the love of God:

We each have our unmet needs. and we carry them around all day long like an empty cup. In one way or another we hold out that cup to the people in our lives and say, "Can someone please fill this?  Even a tablespoon would help!"

…

How do we "abide" in the love of God"?  We dwell no further from His side than the place we are most keenly aware of His great affection. Was it not the disciple who reclined against Christ Jesus who saw himself as the "beloved disciple?"? Place your year against the Savior so that when troubled times come, you may not know what will befall you, but you can hear the steady pulse of the boundless love of Him who holds you. -- Beth Moore


“The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet." - Frederick Buechner

the disturbing truth.

A window into this week.

She looks so put together, volunteers with the PTA, attends a multiple Bible studies every week.  She told me she found her husband in bed with another woman. She refused to sleep with him for about a year and then he raped her. They are in the middle of divorce now.

He is a self made millionaire. Then he fell from a hot tub and 8 back surgeries later, he is still in chronic pain. daily takes pain and anxiety medication doses that would kill many people. He says he has been taken care of by the best doctors in the country but no one can help him.

He has terrible uncontrolled diabetes and can't afford his insulin. He works night shift from 9pm to 8am, then another day shift from 1-7pm. He sleeps 3 hours a day. He is struggling to support his family and his newly adopted grandchild.

She is newly married but in a marriage with "open relationships" with other people. She is a doctor. She says she is happy but can't stop crying when I pray for her.

He came to every prenatal appointment as I cared for his pregnant wife and delivered their second child. I care for his entire family and he always seemed so rational. Then I get a letter from a psychiatric hospital. He tried to kill his wife and children.  When interviewed he says, "I think about it often and there are many ways I could do it."




Oh Lord, you are the Savior, and I am not. You love these people.  You bring life out of ashes.  Teach me what to do with the disturbing truths these people carry to me. Teach me to roll them into your strong hands. It is too much for me. You are the Savior and I am not. 

When no one is looking, He still loves me.

I'm always convicted from the quote "Character is who you are when no one is looking" . If you could read my thoughts daily you would know how corrupt and deceitful my heart is and no one would be my friend anymore.  I am amazed that the only One who knows the depths and darkness of my heart, (much more than I do),  loves me . loves. me. loves this one.  I was eating dinner with a medical student yesterday and asked her, "What is the hardest part of the Gospel for you to believe?" She replied instantly, "That God loves me."

Oh, the glory of belonging to One who knows all your secrets and failures and LOVES you!..jealously, relentlessly, extravagantly. My friend told me that the Love of God is like an Ocean and we walk timidly along the shoreline, barely letting the waves run over our feet.  What would it take to learn to dive in completely?

Crystal, the messy girl.

I went for a long walk today. It's been a long time… the snow and the cold had lingered.  there seemed to be some days of breakthrough sunshine, a hint of spring, and then another snowfall covered it over again.  But today… there were purple and yellow flowers pushing through the dead grass! As I walked and stretched my hands over my head, I felt like God was saying, "Come away with Me… just be with me here.  I will give you more than what you are looking for in the promise of men.. stop being like the Israelites asking for a king when I am right HERE."

I remembered Crystal, from many years ago when I used to work in youth ministry. She was a messy girl, her father was a pot head, she ran away once and every thursday her hair was a different color, if she even showed up.   But every time there was an altar call, she came down.  I must have seen her walk the aisle 5 times.  It was tempting to think, "how long will it last this time before she runs away from everything again?"

I remember my friend telling me, "Jennifer, we don't know Crystal's heart, but every time she comes down that aisle, it's a good thing."

I see myself in Crystal. I keep falling down, and am ashamed to lift my face up at times. I run away and hide myself. But He relentlessly finds me in the cleft of the rocks.

Repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord… 

to be free...

Tonight, I was standing at his bedside. He was my age, with long black hair, his heart racing and body shaking. His father was an alcoholic, and he has been drinking 1 liter of vodka daily since he was 15 years old. He was withdrawing and we were giving him medications to help him do it safely because he said He wants to be free. I told him, "You're going to feel terrible for a couple of days. After your stay here you will be free from the risk of seizures and withdraw, but you will not be free from the cravings of the alcohol. We admitted you because you said you want to be quit for good. We could have sent you back home to treat yourself with more alcohol, but we have hope for you and want to help you with the first steps of freedom."

The drinking has ruined his life, estranged him from his children and his wife. He hates it and needs it at the same time.  He says he knows Jesus and the gospel,  but he has tried before to quit and failed over and over again.  He feels powerless to stop. 

I shared with him the story of the paralytic man dropped through the roof in front of Jesus.
The first thing Jesus said to him:  "Man, your sins are forgiven." 

what is harder, to forgive sins and or to say "Get up and walk?"

Jesus has the power to do both. 

I have hope for this alcoholic man although the road to recovery will not be easy and he cannot do this it alone. But God is the master of healing all things hopeless. He can make crippled legs walk again…for this man and for me as well.

Just look up...

turn my eyes Lord, turn my eyes...

real things...

Crisis Relief International (CRI) message:

•> > We lost the city of Queragosh. It fell to ISIS and they are beheading children systematically. This is the city we have been smuggling food to. ISIS has pushed back Kurdish Forces, and is within 10 minutes of where our CRI team is working. Thousands more fled into the city of Erbil last night. The UN evacuated its staff in Erbil. Our team is unmoved and will stay. Prayer cover needed!!!

That was written in August. Forward 7 months and here they are...

the first day of clinic. almost every other patient I saw cried. They had good reason. 

I have shed more shallow tears of late. Remembering these things helps me reign in the pity party . There are more real things worth pouring our lives and tears over… 

Impress these people on my heart...

Before I left for Iraq, I asked God to impress the people there upon my heart.  He did and has given me a new drive to pray much harder. Here is an excerpt from my summary letter …

Almost every person we cared for had fled their homes for fear of death. The time was split between caring for Muslim refugees (most of whom fled the war in Syria from the Northeast) and ethnic Christian refugees who had fled ISIS from the South. The last 2 days we held clinics in the cement skeleton of half-finished malls, where between 700-1,000 people now lived. One man stated to me, “this place is like a prison to me, but I have nowhere else to go.” As I saw patients each day, I would ask how their family was doing and what gave them hope to keep going. Here are some exact quotes that people said to me. “We have lost everything,” “God has abandoned us,”  “It all happened so fast, we had to leave my grandmother behind” “My son was killed as we fled” “All my savings in the bank is gone, I left with only the clothes on my back.” Some had young children who had been kidnapped, and many others had family that had been killed. 

It has certainly been the most sobering and eye opening trip I have ever taken.  But God is at work there in ways I can't write here… and I hope to go back again someday…

Redeeming the Movies

My friend told me he tries to find a redeeming value in every movie- some deeper life message or a "God message". I don't watch many movies these days but I recently flew overseas and had a nearly 50 hours of traveling time-… so I admit I watched… umm 6 movies on the plane. Here's to hyper-spiritualizing some of them.

GODZILLA- great movie! monsters fighting monsters while mankind is attacked and is powerless to stop them or protect themselves.  Message- We all have monsters in our life. they are far too powerful for us to defeat on our own. all my greatest weapons and fleshly A-bombs are like throwing pebbles at a dinosaur. Only something else - supernatural and out of this world - can kill it. stop trying to kill your own monsters people. you can't do it on your own. 

BIG HERO 6- great movie! message- even good people can be corrupted easily. Also - some things you thought were dead (like the daughter) might not really be dead in the end. 

so you who stand take heed that you do not fall. and for those who are down- take courage- He speaks to dead bones and can make them live again!

INCEPTION- another great movie! (I've really been missing out). Don't live in dreamland, Live in reality. stop living in dream-land Jennifer. stop holding onto the past. it's only breaking your heart all over again. ::sigh::  choose truth. 

IRON MAN 3. love the unlovely.  Sometimes I look at godly, highly influential and passionate people and think -  where would they be if it weren't for that sunday school teacher or faithful mother or friend who spoke grace to them at some point.  Were it not for the saving Grace of God in their life, how different their life would have been.  All that passion and zeal for God and righteousness would have just as easily been for evil and vanity. also, hurting people hurt people. love the unlovely, see those who no body sees. 

TEENAGE MUTANT NIJNA TURTLES - the Devil parades like an angel of light. watch out. he's so tricky and just wants to kill, steal and destroy you. pursue truth in your inmost being. 

on a side note, now you know my taste in movies. 

Christ, the hope of glory and our all in all.

recently God has encouraged me in Colossians , regarding all that He is and does for us. 1:12 He qualifies us, 1:13 He rescues us, and He  transfers us to His kingdom, 1:14 He redeems us. then 1:15, we are created for Him, held together by Him, reconciled to Him, v22 , and then we receive the marvelous mystery (v27) - Christ in us, the hope of glory!

What marvelous hope He is for a broken world and for me!