Loving Much

Hey guys! Things are going great down here at Caravan.  Our summer has started down here, with week long groups ever week.  We built houses every day this week with a group from Washington called Snohomish.  Monday we poured a 12x16 floor which was a lot of fun.  I've been pouring cement down here for the past year and I love working with cement.  Last weekend we went to the beach in Rosarito for the day.  We blew out a tire on the way there which was interesting.  The tire iron we had was crap and so we had to flag down some Mexicans to help us out, their tire iron wasn't really any better, so I had to call our tire guy to drive out to us the 45 minutes to change our tire, but we made it to the beach alright.  It was a great day of bonding with one another.  During orientation 2 weeks ago we built one of our 12x12 houses next door and for 2 weeks at a time staff stay in there to experience what a Mexican experiences.  So the past 2 weeks Clayton, Caleb, Spencer, and I have been staying in there and tonight's our last night, it's been a good two weeks.  Today, I went and worked with Spectrum at their bath house.  Spectrum is a ministry here in Tijuana run by Pastor Von and my boss Eddie's son Aaron.  They work in neighborhoods with kids and every Thursday and every other Saturday and set up tents to bathe boys and delice girls.  They give out food, new clothes, wash feet, play, and love on the kids.  It's been a blast working with them and their staff and being poured into by them.  This next week we have 2 groups in, one from Minnesota and one from Canada and we're building 4 houses a day.

So onto what I'm learning.  As a guys staff, the 7 of us have been doing a bible study through Luke.  In the spring I started a bible study with Michael and Clayton through Colossians and bible study has been really fruitful.  We went through Luke 7 and the story that impacted me was the story of the sinful woman. 

 "One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table.   And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.”
 “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.   When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?”  Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.”  Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.   You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet.  You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”  Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?”  And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

What really hit me was the fact that this woman was weeping over her sin, because she was so distraught over it and realized the depravity of it and how much she needed Jesus.  But what hit me the most is what Jesus said about this woman.  That she loved much.  She loved because she was forgiven not the other way around.  And so I asked myself, Do I love much?  Do I love God much?  Do I love others much? Am I overwhelmed by forgiveness?  These questions are ones I'm still wrestling through but this woman loved much.  What does that even mean to love much, or what does it even look like?  One way I know I can work on this is by praying different.  Because I think that the way we prayer shows a lot about our love and appreciation for God.  I want to be pouring myself into prayer and loving my God much by talking to him and doing what he tells me to do.  To me overwhelmed by his forgiveness and grace and to tell others about The Forgiver and The Gracious and only God.  Do you love much?

Follow Jesus

    So before I get into what I'm learning and stuff, I'll just give you a brief overview of what's been going on down here lately.  So we finally have all our staff in for the summer, there's 12 of us in all, 7 guys and 5 girls.  This past week we had staff orientation.  We did team building exercises, life stories, spiritual gift inventories and personality tests.  It was a great week to learn more about one another and to learn about each other's past and how God has redeemed them.  We ended this morning by eating a traditional mexican meal called menudo, which is hominey and beef stomach lining in a red sauce.  I've had it before and it's definitely edible, though not something I'd choose to eat.  Anyway now we're gearing up for the summer, where we have week long groups every week.  We have a group from Wisconsin and a group from Southern California in for all next week.  It's going to be a busy summer!  Also, this past week we built one our houses(12x12) in the lot next door where different staff will be staying in there for 2 weeks at a time this summer.  I move in tomorrow morning with Clayton, Caleb, and Spencer, hopefully we don't burn the place down.  Anyway, so that's kinda the deal for this next week, but it's mexico flexico so there'll probably be an adventure thrown in there somewhere.
    As a staff we have been going through a video series called Basic by Francis Chan.  It serves to take Christ-followers, old and new, and teach them the basics of a walk with God.  This particular video that we watched most recently was called Follow Jesus.  I feel like God has used Chan to continually lift my eyes to him and to show me areas in my life that I need to work on, areas where I thought I understood from being raised in the Church.  His main question was, "What does it mean to follow Jesus?"  If we think it's anything other then dropping everything an following him, we've deceived ourselves.  In Luke 5, Jesus is calling his first disciples.  He tells these fishermen to cast their nets in a different spot and they catch this amazing amount of fish.  Then  Jesus replies in verse 10b "Then Jesus said to Simon, 'Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men.'"  Jesus tells them, you're not going to catch merely fish now, you're going to catch men, you're going to make disciples and turn men to the Light.  He's telling them, you can be so much more then mere fishermen, you can be fishers of men, but you need to leave everything and follow me.  You know what they did?  "So they pulled their boats up on shore, left EVERYTHING and follow him."  They left everything.  They counted it all, as Paul says, "lost for the sake for Christ Jesus my Lord."  That's what it means to follow Jesus, to leave everything behind and go.  John 8:31 says "If you hold to my teaching, you are truly my disciples."  See the first thing Jesus said to his followers was to follow him and he would make them fishers of men.  The last thing he said was to "go and make disciples of all men."  In between he instructs on how to disciple others.  His parables, his teachings, are how he discipled the twelve.  If we hold to Jesus' teachings, we are his disciples, his followers.  Again the narrow and wide roads came up again in this video.  I've been thinking a lot about them lately.  When you're at the narrow and wide roads, when you have a decision to make, either right or wrong, Jesus is standing there next to you whispering "I know it looks hard, that decision, that habit to stop, that think to say no to, but I'm so worth it."  Do you deem Christ, who died on the cross for your sins, worthy enough to drop everything and follow?

Matthew 7:13-14
           "Enter through the narrow gate.  For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.  But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

Well guys, this blog has taken me forever to start, but here it goes.  I name it "On The Narrow Way" because my hope is that this blog reflects what I'm learning as I walk with God on the narrow path and informs you of what I'm learning and how you can be praying for me.  For those of you who don't know me or what I'm doing, I'm currently working at a missions mobilization ministry/house building ministry in Tijuana, Mexico.  I've been down here since last June and am leaving at the end of July.  Shortly after that I will be heading to New Tribes Bible Institute in Jackson, Michigan.  My hope for this blog is that you will be able to follow me as I walk along the narrow way and continue on my road to the missions field.  My heart is to bring the gospel to Northeast Africa, an area where there is an absence of the living water, the bread of the life, the Gospel.  I desire to see God glorified in my body as I see his name proclaimed among the nations.  I have a heart for Muslims specifically, because they are just so lost and have bought into a system that enslaves them to this idea of a God who is cruel, brash, and unable to be satisfied.  They live in this cycle of sin, where they strive after God's affection, where they strive to purify themselves.  They do not know that they have been brought near to God through the blood of Christ.  And so they strive.  This is what I want for my life.  To serve the Lord by taking the Gospel to a hungry people that have no knowledge of the redemption they have by grace.  And so this blog for you to be able to follow me, assist me, encourage me.  Whether that means by prayer, financial support, or by offering encouraging words, I hope this blog gives you insight into my life and how the Lord is moving in it.  Thank you for your support. 
                          "Grace and peace to you from God our Father and Lord Jesus Christ Amen.

Prayer Requests:
1.  Leadership this summer.  That I would lead the staff here with humility, gentleness, patience, basically all the fruits of the Spirit.
2.  Intimacy with the Lord.  That my time with the Lord would be absolutely precious.
3.  The next step.  Finances for New Tribes and just direction and guidance as I head there in 2 months.  That I would follow the Lord's leading and trust in him.