A Flemish Chili Pot Thought

Last year I was facing a dilemma.  I had a lucrative sales job, making good
money but something in my heart was stirring to ask the Lord how to move
forward.  My prayer was, "Lord, either change my attitude or give me a new
direction to follow with your guidance."  The more I prayed this prayer, the
more I had an inner voice within me nudging me to go and serve.  This voice
to serve got bigger and I started telling people my prayer and a good friend
of mine, Matt Newman, responded in saying: "Fleming, get your tail up here
to Arkansas and serve with our youth. They like weird people like you up
here."  So I did.

I decided to quit my sales job and set up the next six months to volunteer
with different ministries. My first stop was here in Arkansas, then Rwanda,
New Mexico, India, and Nepal to follow.  Let's just say that is was quite
the world tour of experiencing various forms of ministry in different
cultures.  I am writing you this chili pot thought today and am on my way to
serving in Nepal next year as a missionary.  How in the world did I go from
being a salesperson last year to now moving to Nepal to serve in missions?
I listened to the small voice inside nudging me "to go and serve."

My challenge for you today is to encourage you to slow down and take the
time to ask the Lord how you need to serve.  There are Outward Bound
opportunities to serve locally and God calls us to live missionally, locally
and abroad.  Please do not wait to only serve when you take your spring
break mission trips to Guatemala or Portland.  There are opportunities for
us to serve in our schools, neighborhood, and eek--even in our own families.

Lord, let us pray to you to open our hearts and minds to serve you.  Teach
us to listen to your instructions Lord God so our lives can humbly serve you
in Spirit and Power.

Rev. 3:20 "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears my
voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.

Blessings in Christ,
Ryan Fleming

Follow my adventures and read some more of my story on my blog:
www.ryanmartinfleming.wordpress.com

Reflections on Romans 1:20-21

²⁰For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. ²¹For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.                                                            Romans 1:20-21

I’ve been spending a lot of time in Romans 1 lately. In these particular verses, Paul is answering the objection, “But what about people who don’t know about God?” Paul’s answer? They do! He says that God makes Himself known, to a certain extent, through His creation. The phrase “what has been made” is a special one. It is the Greek word “poema,” from which we get the word “poem.” It is God’s creation, His workmanship, that tells the story of who He is. People can see from His creation that God is eternally powerful (how He relates to the world) and is divine in nature (how He is in Himself). Because they can see this from creation, and they do not honor or thank Him, people have no objection.

So what went wrong? Verse 21 says that even though they knew God, they chose not to honor Him, and their foolish heart was darkened. This is huge! Knowledge of God is more than a head issue; it is a heart issue. People do not know God because they have darkened hearts. They have darkened hearts because they rejected God. Therefore, they will not know God until their hearts are enlightened.

So what do we do? First, we thank God that He enlightened our hearts. We could not have done this on our own. Second, we constantly ask God to enlighten our hearts and our minds as we study His Word. We need the Spirit’s help to know God. Finally, if we desire for people to know Jesus, we acknowledge that they have a heart problem. We pray for God to enlighten their hearts as we preach the gospel.

For His glory and our joy,

NR

lessons from the early church

In Acts chapter 2 we find one the greatest descriptions of the early church given in the New Testament. Luke wrote, “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teachings and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:42). He later goes to say, “And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as everyone might have need” (Acts 2:44-45). As I have been praying and thinking about what it looks like to be the church, I’ve noticed a few characteristics of this early church.

1)     1) They were devoted to the Scriptures. They learned from the apostles’ teachings and let it shape their lives.

2)     2)  They were devoted to each other. Church was not a place to attend; it was a group of people among whom to belong.

3)     3) They were devoted to eating together. This is simple sign of sharing life and community.

4)     4) They were devoted to prayer. This recognized God as God as they sought His will and provision as well as His praise.

5)     5)  They sold their possessions to meet the needs of their own. The needs of the body were always met.

This is just a short list, but I wonder what would happen if we devoted ourselves to these things. Notice that the action in verse 42 begins with “continually.” This was not something they did at a gathering once a week; it was a way of life. What was the result of this? Verse 47 tells us that “the Lord added to their number daily.” The result of this kind of deep, Bible centered, people valuing community was that people were saved! So the question for us, church, is do we look like this?

For His glory and our joy,

NR

Ministering in Weakness

***NOTE: This comes from a series I've started on my blog (abidingtruths.blogspot.com) on Jesus's conversation with the woman at the well in John 4.


Continuing in our look at John 4, let's take a look at verse 6. It reads, "So Jesus, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour." Jesus was wiped from a day of traveling in the hot, Palestinian sun. It is around noon, the hottest part of the day, and Jesus does something remarkable for the GodMan: He takes a break. He stops to rest. This should be a message to us in and of itself. Jesus got tired and needed rest.

However, it should also be noted that Jesus was in this exhausted state when the woman came to Him. We don't see Jesus tell her to come back another time. He does not refer her to one of His disciples. He ministers to her. But, it's a simple kind of ministry. He sits and talks to her about her life. And this doesn't appear to drain Him. Why? I think Jesus explains in verse 34 when He says, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to accomplish His work."

How is it that Jesus was able to continue ministering in His weakness? I suggest that we can learn a few things. First, Jesus allowed ministry to feed Him. I think all too often we find ourselves dividing the ways we serve others and the ways we are served. I think we create too much distance between ourselves and the once we are ministering to, so that we can never be fed from the experience. Ministry should happen in authentic community that feeds us all well.

Second, Jesus understood that it was the Father's work, not His. I often feel the weight that a person's soul rests on my words or actions. Actually, everyone's souls are in God's hands. We are merely able to "participate in the gospel" (Philippians 1).

Ministry is not some job that we are tasked with that weighs us down and must be abandoned in our moments of weakness. It is also not only for "vocational ministers." It is a way of life for all believers in Biblical community that sustains us as we live in the will of the Father.

For His glory and our joy,

NR

Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the Ends of the Earth

Every year, spring break seems to be a mile marker for the year. It also gives a deeper perspective of the great work of our Creator. Sometimes, the NWA lifestyle seems to suck everyone into its world and what we experience of our worship of God seems to be wrapped up into the standard NWA lifestyle. The reason that Spring Break Missions is a key mile marker for myself is because it allows me to leave my everyday life as I know it and see another culture. The God that I love and serve here is also the same God over the hurting urban communities of Memphis, or free-minded people of Portland, and even over the povished people of La Limonada, Guatemala. Acts 1:8 says “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." This passage is a great reminder that we are to be a witness…a Christ follower…to our Jerusalem (NWA)…Judea (Memphis)…Samaria (Portland)…and to the ends of the earth (Guatemala). I so many times feel like a short term mission trip is needed to keep me reminded of the work that still needs to be done here in NWA. My question to myself since I have been back is, “Am I looking EVERYDAY at opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus to the people around me?” I wonder how many times throughout the day that I am faced with a person to reach out to, but because of my business, lack of confidence, or just laziness, I choose to pass on by. I am reminded by this passage in Acts that I am commanded to be a committed Christ follower in all ways so that His name would be known. Will you join in this truth?

Saved by His grace,
Jarrett

Listening, Running, Turning, Following and a Side of Fish Vomit

We have begun to move forward from our journey of draw near…and although it is our heart that each of you would continue to draw near to God, we then have to ask ourselves the question…As we are continuing to draw near to God, how would He have us live? How would He have us speak? What would He command of us? How would He send us forward?

I think a lot of these questions we are hoping to answer and pursue over this next three weeks as we look at the life of Jonah. Jonah is given a command from God that within a moment’s notice he turns and runs away from. God commands him to go to a hard group of people…a group that we would only know how to describe as the worst of sinners & really scary dudes. But within our own realm of influence, who we encounter day to day, even those in our surrounding neighborhoods and families, we all face “scary dudes.” Mostly I think it just stems from our own unwillingness to get comfortable and really love the way Christ calls us to love. We love by sharing; we love by PROCLAIMING AND DEMONSTRATING the gospel to those around us.

So as we think about this and we realize we are all called to “go”, the question remains will we obey or will we run? I think the answer to this question really can help us search our heart with how much we have truly allowed God’s grace to transform our hearts and give us a love for the lost and really “bad dudes”. In the book “The Radical Reformission” I am reading right now the author Mark Driscoll talks about this in relation to looking at Jonah’s life. He says…

And Jonah leaves us to ponder who we would be if God had stopped running after us and simply left us to ourselves. In what ways are we running from God’s call to bring the gospel to others? What will repentance look like for us? What could happen if God captured the hearts of people in our town because you pointed them to Him? What if the heart God’s people had for their cities was like Jesus’ heart for Jerusalem instead of Jonah’s heart for Nineveh? (pg. 107)

This pretty much cuts my heart open because I realize I don’t break for the lost in my town. I don’t seek to proclaim and demonstrate who Christ is to those around me when God calls me to everyday. Think for a minute about how much you run & draw near to Jesus…if it’s a lot, and I hope it is, now think about the people who don’t have that hope, peace, contentment, security and love because they don’t know the good news.

Now, as you move forward in continuing to abide in God, I pray that you would move forward in pursuing others in the name of Christ and sharing His love & grace with them. I pray that unlike Jonah you would say “yes” to the command of God as he calls you to move forward & live as His ambassador.

~Bold thoughts from a loud woman
ew

Subculture

What a great week my wife and I had on our anniversary in Portland. One interesting statement was said to me: “Portland is a land of subcultures. Anything you want to find here, whether it is pirates, kickball leagues, hippies, clowns, ANYTHING…that subculture exists”. It was actually pretty funny to witness and intriguing to process.

My walk away was this: a lot of times I think we live in this fib that we have to move away and change everything to live missionally. This can be true and false. TRUE: many of us need to change everything if we were to really live this way. FALSE: we need to move away to accomplish it.

We have subcultures here! We have neighbors, teammates, coworkers, friends, and (listen up) enemies that need to be loved with the purest love of Jesus. To be honest, high school can be a highlight time for this because students are already immersed with these subculture opportunities. Perhaps this is what Jesus meant when he pulled a child on his lap and said we need to learn from them.

Living missionally means living on the edge…changing how we do this life thing…and figuring out how to intersect the ordinary with the extraordinary, bringing the kingdom of heaven to the hearts, souls, and realities of needy people.
Amen?

~deep thoughts from a shallow guy~
mn

Saved to Join the Game

There is this theme that has been floating around here a lot lately. Newman came back from Rwanda and really starting challenging us to join in with what God is doing in saving the world. I’ve been continuing to chew on this idea, and it is rocking my world. You see, when Scripture talks about our participation it opens a deep well of theological significance. Embracing what God has called us to do teaches us a lot about who God is. Let me point out just a few passages…

First of all, there’s this little encounter that Jesus has with a Samaritan woman who is burned out, dried up and beaten down by her own sin and brokenness. The conversation that Jesus has with this woman is amazing, but there’s one part that has stuck with me. You see, Jesus starts telling the woman about the “living water” that He could offer (they were standing by a well, so the metaphor seems appropriate. There are actually a lot of other great reasons for choosing “living water,” but that’s another conversation). Jesus goes on to tell her that when anyone drinks this water it will become in him or her a “well springing up to eternal life” (John 4:14). Now, what’s the purpose of a well? It’s where people come to get water. So, when we receive from Christ, he transforms us into something He uses to give to others. From the very beginning, before this woman had believed, Jesus is saying, “If you believe in me, I’m going to use you to minister to others.”

Later, Jesus is sitting around having dinner with His disciples. It’s just before He goes to be crucified, and He knows it. So, He takes this time to pass on His final words to the disciples. He tells them, among other things, that there is something different about how they are to follow His commands. He explains that slaves obey their masters but don’t really know his plans or why they’re doing what they’re doing. He says that He doesn’t call the disciples slaves, but friends, because He’s let them in on His plans. You see, God has made known to us His plan to redeem the world and has invited us to join Him.

Finally, in a letter to the believers in Corinth, Paul wrote that God “reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation” (1 Cor. 5:18). You definitely need to read the whole thing, but the key is this. God saves and redeems us, and then He invites us to be a part of His plan to save and redeem others. How tragic is it that we so often view ministry as mere “church work!” As if it is some chain of obligation that we wear! The God of the universe has shown that in His grace He extends His hand to invite us into the most exciting story ever told! As Newman has described it, the game is set. The winner has already been determined. We have just been invited to join the team and be a part of it so we get a ring at the end. So, you wanna play?

For His glory and our joy,
nr

On Drawing Near

As we draw near to God, He will draw near to us. It’s the promise we are claiming during our 50-day journey. And as I have begun thinking, it is the promise in which He will make Himself known. As He makes Himself known to us however, it is His desire that it would overflow into the lives of others.

The overflow would speak of God’s desire for us to live with purpose and mission. I think sometimes in my life there is a disconnect. A disconnect that is described also in James 4:8 “purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
I often like to pretend that there is somehow a secular part of our days or weeks and then the part that is sacred with God. But God cannot be fit into our lives; He must be that which fills our life.

This would mean that how I treat people, all people; my spouse, my children, my family, closet friends, or a complete stranger would come from the same bond of love which is Christ. We must all understand that we are called to be a vessel that overflows with the love of God, Christ Himself. So the next time you are at a restaurant, at the movies, a coffee shop or grocery store, realize that the smallest encounter can be used for the greater purposes of God.

As we draw near, He will draw near to us, which means we have to also be willing and open to allowing Him to change our hearts, minds, attitudes and lives. As He does that, you will begin to see, taste and experience a purity of heart. A purity of heart will lead us towards a love for God and for others.
Now the question to ask ourselves, “is the love that is overflowing from your life as you draw near to God, double-minded?” Be willing to become single-minded for the purpose of God and the love of others.

~Bold thoughts from a loud woman
ew