9 Ways Marriage Glorifies God among the Nations

Is it actually a legitmate idea that our marriages can help spread the glory of God around the world?  A Christ honoring marriage can only be brought about by those who truly love Christ.  It could be argued, in fact, that a Christ honoring marriage can only be brought about by Christ Himself.  With this thought in mind, and with the hope that my marriage is one that glorifies God among the nations, here are 9 ways marriage can glorify God among the nations.

  1. Husbands, loving your wife as Christ loves the church provides a beautiful picture of the gospel.
  2. Wives, loving your husband as the church loves Christ provides a beautiful picture of the church.
  3. When Christian marriages last they provide a beautiful picture of covenant relationships.
  4. When Christian marriages invest together they provide a beautiful picture of service.
  5. When Christian marriages celebrate together they provide a beautiful picture of joy.
  6. When Christian marriages weep together they provide a beautiful picture of mourning.
  7. When Christians marriages are fruitful and multiply they provide a beautiful picture of discipleship.
  8. When Christian marriages aren’t able to have children they provide a beautiful picture of contentment.
  9. When Christian marriages love their neighbors they provide a beautiful picture of hospitality.
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Hungry?

Let me tell you a few brief stories from some of my past experiences.

Uganda – In order for church leaders to be able to gather to receive training they walked over 2 hours to make sure they were on time.  They sat for 6 hours listening to preaching and then walked back 2 hours.  And then they did it again the next day.  Why?: Uganda Believers Hunger for the Word

Philippines – In order for church leaders to have training they drove for 4 to 6 hours on a motorcycle with four people on it through the jungle.  They slept in the ground and they sat on a small wooden bench for 8 hours a day for 3 days to study God’s Word.  They listened to 4 sermons in a row without a break because they didn’t want to accidentally miss anything.  Why?: Philippines Believers Hunger for the Word

China – In order for the church leaders to have training they had to come at night.  They couldn’t come all at once and they had to all leave at different times.  They had to be very quiet as we sat in the apartment.  And two weeks after I left the police raided the apartment and warned them all to never meet like that again.  Why?: Chinese Believers Hunger for the Word

Russia – In order for the church leaders to have training they traveled by car for hours to a campground, slept in tents, and sat on stumps from the forrest.  They sat for hours at a time studying and learning so that they could take it back to their churches.  Why?: Russian Believers Hunger for the Word

Keep these truths in mind and then ask yourself the question: Do I hunger for the Word?

5 ways to know God

Do you want to know God?  Here are 5 ways in which we, as believers can know God more intimately.

  1. Read the Bible.
  2. Study the Bible.
  3. Listen to the Bible being taught.
  4. Meditate on the Bible.
  5. Memorize the Bible.

I realize that this seems foundational and maybe too basic.  But, the truth is, it is foundational and it is basic and yet many of us fail to do it!

9 Quotes on prayer

 

  1. “Study universal holiness of life. Your whole usefulness depends on this, for your sermons last but an hour or two; your life preaches all the week. If Satan can only make a covetous minister a lover of praise, of pleasure, of good eating, he has ruined your ministry. Give yourself to prayer, and get your texts, your thoughts, your words from God. Luther spent his best three hours in prayer.” – ROBERT MURRAY MCCHEYNE
  2. What the Church needs to-day is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use — men of prayer, men mighty in prayer. The Holy Ghost does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men — men of prayer. – EM BOUNDS
  3. Prayer – secret, fervent, believing praying – lies at the root of all personal godliness. A competent knowledge of the language where a missionary lives, a mild and winning temper, a heart given up to God in closet religion – these, these are the attainments which, more than all knowledge, or all other gifts, will lift us to become the instruments of God in the great work of human redemption. – CASEY’S BROTHERHOOD, SERAMPORE
  4. You know the value of prayer: it is precious beyond all price. Never, never neglect it. – SIR THOMAS BUXTON
  5. Prayer is the first thing, the second thing, the third thing necessary to a minister. Pray, then, my dear brother; pray, pray, pray. – EDWARD PAYSON
  6. If the anointing which we bear come not from the Lord of hosts, we are deceivers, since only in prayer can we obtain it. Let us continue instant, constant, fervent in supplication. – CHARLES SPURGEON
  7. If some Christians that have been complaining of their ministers had said and acted less before men and had applied themselves with all their might to cry to God for their ministers – had, as it were, risen and stormed heaven with their humble, fervent, and incessant prayers for them – they would have been much more in the way of success. – JONATHAN EDWARDS
  8. Air is not more necessary to the lungs than prayer is to the preacher. It is absolutely necessary for the preacher to pray. It is an absolute necessity that the preacher be prayed for. – EM BOUNDS
  9. If I should neglect prayer but a single day, I should lose a great deal of the fire of faith. – MARTIN LUTHER

Ways to Increase Intimacy with God

Some of us, as believers, struggle with the idea of growing closer to God.  To be honest, from conversations I have with some believers, it’s that they just don’t know how to increase their intimacy with God.  While others simply don’t realize that they are missing something if they are not intimate with Him.  They called on Him for salvation, they try to obey His commands, but they don’t live their lives in deep relationship with Him.  The following steps can be taken to increase your intimacy with God.

  1. Confirm your salvation.  Evaluate your life and the fruit of it and make sure that you are actually a follower of Christ and not just going through the motions.
  2. Consider your church.  Make sure you are attending a Bible-believing, God-glorifying, Christ-exalting church. Now, make it a habit to stay plugged in and miss as seldom as possible.
  3. Cast your cares.  (1 Peter 5:7) Make prayer a vital part of your life.  Remember this is the way that Scripture dictates that we communicate with God.  Communication is key for any healthy relationship.
  4. Contemplate the Scripture.  Read it, study it, meditate on it, and memorize it.  Remember, the Bible is breathed out by God and is useful for believers (2 Timothy 3:16).
  5. Count your blessings.  As you evaluate your daily life realize how many gifts have been give to you by God and remember that every good gift is from Him (James 1:17).

A new journey- Fostering

What does fostering mean?

This past weekend our family began a new journey.  We officially entered into the world of fostering.  We have been certified as a foster family for 9 or 10 months now, we just received our first placement this weekend.

We received a call Friday evening and a short 4 hours later K-Man (that’s not his name but that’s what we will call him on here) arrived at our house.  The little guy, 2 years old, was tired and afraid as he arrived.  After about an hour of helping him settle down he went to sleep and Gloria and I quietly starred at each other as if to say, “here we go, let’s do this.”  The next 24 hours were incredibly hectic as we had to get him clothes, hygiene items, shoes, and even make a doctor visit.  Through it all our kids did a great job of loving on and caring for K-Man.  In fact, he did quite well himself.

Some of you might not be aware of the foster care system but let me tell you that there are essentially three ways in which fostering works.  One way is to foster only.  This means that there are foster parents that offer their home during the in between time.  The time while the state has custody of a child for any myriad of reasons.  During this fostering period, the foster only parents have no intentions of adopting but simply to be an aide during this difficult time in the child’s life.  There is a great need for more people to fill in this role.  On the other end of the spectrum there are those that are Adoption only.  This means that they are only wanting to have a child placed in their home that is eligible for adoption.  In many cases, the child might leave a “foster-only” house to go to an “adopt-only” house.  We, however, are on the foster to adopt list.  What this means is that we are willing to foster a child with a willingness to adopt them.  They may be in our home for just a short time and then be able to go back to stay with their family.  Or they may end up needing to be adopted and if so, we would take the steps necessary to bring this about.

We consider it a great privilege to help care for this little boy during this challenging time in his life.  We do not know very much about his background and we do not have to right now.  We simply know that we are responsible to love him and care for him as long as he is with us.  Gloria and I want to thank you already for your prayers for our family as we adjust to this new situation.  Please also pray for K-Man as he adjusts to us crazy Hunsbergers.  In addition, please pray for his parents who are certainly struggling in some manner during this time.  Pray that God would use this as an opportunity to display the love of Christ to K-Man and his parents.

Is there any hatred that is ok?

This past weekend has brought about some extremely significant actions that have brought about strong words.  Words like nazi, racism, supremacy, hate, rage, fear have all been mentioned.  There have been those who took a stand for something that they believe to be right and others who stood against what they believe to be wrong.

The reality is, there was disastrous consequences that came from the actions that followed such vile words.  These words aren’t just demeaning in nature, they are filled with a hatred that is not only wrong, it is heartbreaking.

I have watched a lot of news, read several articles, and seen multiple clips from sermons and others as they responded to these tragic events.   In one of those responses, a man, who is not a Christian, said that he felt he had a duty to stand up against hatred.  He is a famous actor who has a lot of followers – his point was that he would be wrong to not help others see the tragedy for what it is.  I thought to myself, if this non-Christian has a responsibility to stand and proclaim that racism, nazism, and white supremacy are wrong than I certainly have an even stronger responsibility to do the same.

I realize that to many of us, those words seem obvious.  But let me pose a different question…

“Is there any kind of hatred that is ok?”

The Bible, God’s Holy Word, gives us some clear direction in this.  The book of Amos tells us to “hate evil and love good…”(5:15).  As believers we are to be ones who hate the evil of this world.  We are to be ones that hate sin for what it is.

We must be careful to draw a line as it is our responsibility to still “love our enemies” as Jesus tells us in Matthew chapter 5.  But it is clear throughout the Old and New Testaments that the only hatred that we ought to have is toward sin.

We must make these sorts of proclamations from our pulpits and in our workplaces, and in our classrooms, and on the ball fields, and in our Sunday School classes, and our small groups, and in our neighborhoods.

In addition, if this is not clear already, God is not a racist!  He does not hold a preference toward a certain race, or people group, or ethnicity.  Instead, in the book of Revelation we read the following truth, “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude, that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!'” (8:9-10).

Not only will there be different races and ethnicities and languages and people groups in Heaven, we will all be gathered around the throne TOGETHER worshipping the one true God.  May we as a people of God stand together united against racism and the wickedness of man and proclaim the love of Christ toward all people of all nations.

Lottie Update

This week God has gently reminded me, once again, that He is in control and that He is God and I am not.  I completed reading the profound autobiography of Stephen Curtis Chapman this week.  In his book, Chapman writes very honestly about the pain and suffering that has taken place in his life.  He speaks of heartache that was brought about by sin in his and others lives.  But he also speaks candidly about the pain and suffering that took place because of unexplainable tragedy.

While reading this book I was brought to a great place of surrender, once again, as I was reminded that as Lottie was in the surgery room, essentially losing her ability to walk, God was not sitting idly by wishing he could do something different.  He was not timidly wanting for his turn to intervene and it never came.  Instead, God, the creator and sustainer of all life, was holding her hand and gently comforting her mind as she went through such trauma.  He, the King of kings and Lord of lords, was carefully loving Gloria and I as we sat in the waiting room.  God, the beginning and the end, was ushering us in to an entirely new way of feeling His presence.

I will say, honestly, that I would have rather not known this sort of pain.  More than that, I would rather my wife and my child not have this sort of pain.  But nonetheless, if we are going to feel this sort of loss, I am eternally grateful that we get to feel this sort of joy within the sorrow.  That, somehow, we get to feel the comfort during the sadness.

A few days ago, we took Lottie to Birmingham to have a yearly checkup at a specialty clinic in which she saw 4 different specialists in a few short hours.  During this visit, we were given the prognosis (that we expected) that the function Lottie has in her legs is likely to be as good as it gets.  When we heard this news, I was amazed at how well we all seemed to take it.  I guess we all already knew this to be the reality.  I am very thankful that God provided us grace in being able to handle this truth with strength and perseverance in mind.  Lottie will certainly continue to be the bravest girl I know and will undoubtedly demonstrate tenacity at its best as she conquers the wheelchair and any other scenarios life throws her way.

However, I began to feel a little sad.  You see, I know that there have been people all around the world (literally) praying for healing in Lottie’s legs.  I so wanted Lottie to be a demonstration of the faithfulness of God in hearing His people cry out for healing.  But, throughout this week, as I spent some time alone with God, and as I read the autobiography it was as though God was saying to me, “I am displaying my faithfulness as I hear my people cry out on your behalf.  I’m just not doing it the way you want, in the time you want.”  So, with that truth in mind, I am resting in His sovereign hand to perfectly control what is best for Lottie and Gloria and myself and my other kids.  I am more confident than I have ever been that God is using and will use Lottie and her story to be a constant and consistent display of the faithfulness of God.

Pray that God receives great glory as His faithfulness is shown.  Pray that Lottie sees the hand of God in her life.  Pray that Gloria and I cling to these truths as we march through new territory each day.  Pray for Abigail and Luke as they take care and protect each other during this time.  Praise God for His richest blessings, knowing that every good and perfect gift is from Him!

Patient Caution Part 2

In the Part 1 of this post I made it appear as though, as believers, we needed to pray to receive patience.  While, in fact, as believers, we already have been given patience through the Holy Spirit.  I mean, think about it, Galatians 5 tells us that the the fruit of the Spirit includes patience.  Acts 2, at Pentecost, we are shown that all believers receive the Holy Spirit and therefore receive all He has to offer.

I am so thankful for faithful friends who will help me see things like this in my writing, preaching, or even simply in conversation and will draw from the Word a point of correction.

With that being said, pray not that you would receive patience but instead that you will recall that you already have it and simply ask God to help you put into action what He has given you already.