His Voice Global Blog

I have been thinking about this phrase from Jesus lately, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”

Here are some of the differences.

1. Mercy is the receiving of an undeserved gift. Sacrifice comes from the disposition of being the Author of the gift.

2. Mercy lives out of gratitude. Sacrifice tries to earn a response of gratitude from another.

3. Mercy lives in grace. Sacrifice is rooted in legalism.

Do you have any other differences that you see between mercy and sacrifice?

Love Truth
Vernon

I am reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s, Life Together. Here is a great quote on the need for thanksgiving in Christian community.

If we do not give thanks daily for the Christian fellowship in which we have been placed, even where there is not great experience, no discoverable riches, but much weakness, small faith and difficulty; if on the contrary, we only keep complaining to God that everything is so paltry and petty, so far from what we expected, then we hinder God from letting our fellowship grow according to the measure and riches which are there for us all in Jesus Christ.

How much time do you spend complaining about what you or your church does not have?

What are you thankful for in your community of believers?

Love Truth
Vernon

Feeling like sin is not only “crouching at your door (Gen. 4:7), but also all up in your bidness today? That has been me. If you are anything like me you can sometimes feel the attacks of the enemy all the way up your spine. This doesn’t seem to be a medal of honor to wear, but more of a confession.

As I have been sitting here and typing in this coffeehouse, one of my questions has been, “Why in the heck?”

Why does the hatred of sin seem to sometimes breed a pummeling feeling of suffocation? It seems like it controls my every thought so many times. Maybe I am not hating sin in the right way.

Why does the intensity of the war have to run so deep in my blood stream? This is not a “confession of a pious person,” but more of a “why in the heck?” statement.

Also, it seems so odd that I am typing away in this public place and pretty much not one person has a clue! How is it that I walk through the sea of humanity in life so oblivious, yet this same disposition haunts many others?

In fact, they may be like me. They can even disguise it with a smile!

Here is part of the reality of the situation. When the Bible refers to war, it is no joke! Eph. 6 is the way it is.

Here may be an encouragement, if you find your self in the same predicament today.

1. Imagine that you are on a battlefield with carnage everywhere. The General comes to you and says, “Well done! The battle is intense, yet we win. The pain is real, yet it is worth it.”

The battle is bigger than you, yet it includes you. There is purpose both personally and corporately.

2. Start asking God to show you how to use thanksgiving as a weapon against the condemning voices of uselessness. Therefore, all I am saying to take time and appreciate what He has given you. Many times the “smallest” blessings are the things that slip under our nose and thus we make a “god out of the big”. The problem is that it is all big. Ultimately, I am saying to take time and breathe in life. Become more aware. Don’t be fake about the thanksgiving, yet understand that you may have to start by confessing you are not thankful. Don’t let this stop you. Don’t be fake. Don’t wallow.

Have you ever had one of those days?

Love Truth
Vernon

One of my greatest challenges in college after I came to know the Lord was figuring out where God was in what I was learning.  As an economics major this proved to be difficult initially. However, after awhile, I realized that many of the theories that we studied were meant to assume how people would respond, with their money, to various changes.  We also spent a lot of time considering tastes, preferences and values of individuals and society as a whole.  This realization allowed make a connection… the fall of humanity influences our tastes, preferences and values as well as the way we view money and how we use it.

The other day while reading through 2 Chronicles I found an example of  “sunk costs” .  Sunk costs are essentially money already spent that cannot be recovered.  The thought is that sunk costs should not effect future decisions.  A common example of sunk costs is the purchasing of a movie ticket.  After sitting through 30 minutes of the movie you decide that you don’t like it and begin to debate whether or not to walk out.  According to the principle of sunk costs you should not take into consideration the price that you paid for the ticket but rather whether or not your time would be better spent doing something else for the duration of the movie.  This concept is difficult for me at times because it can feel as though I am being a bad steward if I don’t “get my moneys worth”.

The example of sunk costs that I found is in 2 Chronicles 25:5-13.  Amaziah, the king of Judah at the time, is assembling the amy  to fight against the men of Seir and in addition to his own men he hires 100,00 men from Israel to fight with him for 100 talents of silver.  He is then told by a man of God not to take these men into battle with him because the Lord is not with Israel.  Amaziah’s response to the man of God is “what about the 100 talents of silver?” to which the man of God responds “The LORD is able to give you much more than this.”  Amaziah proceeds to dismiss the men of Israel and the Lord grants him victory in the battle.

Although we are all charged with being good stewards of the money given to us I believe that what is most important is recognizing that stewardship of money itself is not the ultimate measure of success or failure, obedience to God is.  It was encouraging to me that even while making a mistake in where he, Amaziah, invested his money he was afforded the opportunity to “make it right” so to speak by recognizing his error and subsequently making correct choices.  Also encouraging was the reminder that God is not subject to money… he created it.  He is able to accomplish his purposes through whatever means he deems necessary.

What do you think?  How did you/are you finding God in your subjects of study or work.

Justin

So, I have safely arrived in the fine city of Kolkata. I must say I am weary from the sixteen hour train ride, but oh how sweet the Lord is in those moments of discomfort and unfamiliarity. It is in those moments, as the train lights go off, the drunk below me is nodding off to sleep in a cloud of smoke and stench, and the Sikhs beside me who have just finished arguing with me for an hour about why Jesus is the same as all other Gods, that I can feel creeping around me darkness, hopelessness, homesickness, and a deep and troubling sensation of aloneness. I fear it the way I feel that the cockroaches I saw earlier are now making their way under my covers. But how lovely is the comfort of the Lord. It is the blanket covering me in the dark chill. It is a shawl about my shoulders, safe guarding me from feebly giving over to even the notion of despair. It is as Samuel Rutherford writes: “Go where ye will, your soul shall not sleep but in Christ’s bosom.” May I find my every comfort there.
I smiled to myself on the train as I remembered that it is indeed true. There in Christ is every comfort. I also smiled and was filled at encouragement that our Comfort saw fit to answer my prayer to give me the opportunity to share about His glories and mysteries on the train with the Sikhs. They were wonderful to talk and debate with in fact. Very handsome and jolly, extending, without knowing it the Lord’s traveling mercies to me by being friendly and paying for my dinner! I pray fervently that they might find Christ, the only Way, Truth, and Light. I leave you with another Rutherford quote: “My dear brother, I will think it comfort if ye speak my name to our Well-Beloved wherever ye are. I am mindful of you.”
Remember also the Sikhs (the Singh family) and I will update you soon on the wonderful meeting I had today.

With Affection,

Chilli

I have officially received my “Happy Journey!” salutation from my friends here in Vizag, and I am off, train ticket in hand, traveling to Kolkata. If you will, join with me in praying for all of His traveling mercies and for spiritual eyes to see who He has made ready to receive the Gospel. Daily meetings are scheduled and my heart is anxious for the work. I thank you for your prayers, and I will update the blog as I am able.

Eager to Hear His Voice,

Chilli

p.s. No pun intended at the end there.

Does God weep?

We had a great small group last night. Part of the discussion was about the will of God. One couple talked about how some people would tell them, “I know it’s tough, but this is the will of God,” when they had a miscarriage. Needless to say, they didn’t take that as one of the more timely things people could say.

I brought up that I thought if people did not have room in their view of God that He weeps, then their view is to small of Him.

It seems that He probably wept harder than this couple did over the death of their child. God is not distant in the midst of pain and suffering. He wants to relieve it (Mt. 11:28). After all, is this not the very meaning of compassion?

It’s not that God is ever out of control, but to think that God is waiting to kill someone in our family “just so we can have a trial and therefore realize that He is God and we need Him,” is a pretty twisted view.

I gave the human example of the following:

It would be like me throwing my child down the stairs and then expecting him to crawl back up the stairs, hold on my ankle, and then beg for me to protect and provide for him.

Although many may not say it in the example I used above, some still have this type of view of God. Somehow, He hurts us so that we know He is good. In fact, for some, this becomes the totality of their Christian life and therefore they make a “god out of suffering” (i.e. if you are not suffering you are either doing something wrong or you are getting ready to have “the hammer dropped on you”) Seriously!?!?

I am not saying that suffering doesn’t exist for the godly. It does. It will. Check out Romans 5 and 8. My point is that if you have such a cold view of God during trials, you will eventually have a cold view towards others in the midst of their suffering.

Do you believe God cries? Do you believe that when someone dies, He mourns deeper than you ever will? Do you believe that God feels our tragedies in life deeper than we ever could?

Does your view of God include that He weeps?

Love Truth
Vernon

Here is a great resource to pray for Muslims. Click here.

Ramadan is August 11-September 9. The 30-Days Prayer Network is a very valuable resource to aid in praying for Muslims.

I hope that we will be people who pray intensely for Muslims. Many times people try to concentrate on everything except prayer. I am not saying this is you, but just an “observation of the masses.”

Richard Halverson said the following, “Intercession is truly universal work for the Christian. No place is closed to intercessory prayer. No continent – no nation – no organization – no city – no office. There is no power on earth that can keep intercession out.”

Andrew Murray said this about the power and importance of prayer, “The man who mobilizes the Christian church to pray will make the greatest contribution to world evangelization in history.”

I pray we would pray for Muslims on a continual basis. I pray we would simply ask God to give us His heart for them. I pray we would faithfully call on Him who saves, to reconcile those who do not know Him. I pray that we will answer the call to go and live out the Gospel of Jesus to our Muslim friends.

Love Truth
Vernon

Greetings, friends. Moe Lunn here.  I’d like to first apologize for my absence here at the His Voice blog. I’d like to secondly congratulate the sparkly new His Voice Global for their expansion into the globe!  Very exciting. I’m honored to be a part of it in some small way.

Now on to the news.  Last week, Sudanese President al-Bashir’s ICC indictment was increased to include charges of genocide.  This paired with the upcoming referendum has led to a lot of op-ed chatter out there on the world wide web.  One of my favorite resources for interesting op-eds on the issue is the good ol’ New York times. Last week, I read this op-ed by Dave Eggers and John Prendergrast.  They suggest that war is imminent in Sudan if the Obama Administration doesn’t step in and make a move in the same way that President Bush did against the civil war in 2005.  However, the article that Justin previously posted sheds a different light on the referendum issue, which I found very helpful (thanks, Justin!).

On one hand, there is the opinion that Sudan can’t do it alone–they require help from the Western World to have a peaceful transition. On the other, as long as North & South work together to communicate about the referendum, everyone should be happy.  So which one is it?

I have to play the pessimist on this one.  We watched Sudan’s previous elections fail miserably, even with International assistance, which leads me to believe that no level of cooperation between North & South will ever be enough because of their history and their strong positions.  If the US were to put on the pressures mentioned in the op-ed above (or even more, if China would help out!), certainly it would help things to move along.  What’s more, putting pressure on Sudan to arrest al-Bashir and cease to host a President indicted for genocide could lead to hugely positive changes in the country.

And yet, our op-ed authors suggest a suspension of the ICC charges as an  incentive for peace.  I believe that this would change little considering that whether there are charges or not, Bashir won’t acknowledge them.  The US needs to pressure Sudan to get Bashir out of there before the South will ever be completely willing to cooperate with the North.

So that’s my little op-ed. What do you think? International intervention is a tricky and tense issue, but at the same time we are not meant to just  sit back and watch the people of a beautiful country lose their lives to politics.

Finally, this from the Sudan Tribune’s homepage:

How do you rate U.S. role in Sudan under Obama?

Above Expectations		20.8%
Below Expectations		57.3%
Meets Expectations		21.8%
1845 votes

I was just reading about The Fall in Genesis 3.

One thing that struck me was the lie of smallness.

Satan focused on Eve and talked to her about how great the Tree of Good and Evil was.

Her response was a dual thought process. First, she listened to Satan and then built up the smallness (i.e. eat from the tree or not) as a huge payoff. Do you see what happened? She allowed him to get her to focus on one single tree when all she needed to do was lift up her eyes and look all around to see the abundant provision of the Lord. Instead, she decided to drown out the True Reality of the situation and all of His abundance. She got a razor focus of one small part (the tree) and then blew the importance of it up to huge proportions.

This is the power of sin. The fruit of eating of smallness has earth-shaking consequences.

One thing gets spoken in our ear over and over. We then see that we can’t go on living without it (at least that is our perception). Then we blow this thing up to astronomical proportions and then eat of its fruit. The whole time, God is saying…

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
(2 Corinthians 12:9-10 ESV)

What have you allowed to be blown up in your mind that is not of Him?

What small thing (anything that is not of God) have you made so large that it trumps your view and enjoyment of God?

Love Truth
Vernon