Counting The Cost

Random thoughts on walking with Jesus in this turvy-topsy world

Life and Hope

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life.

He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;

and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.

Do you believe this?"

 

"Yes, Lord," she told him, "I believe that you are the Christ,^[a]

the Son of God, who was to come into the world."

John 11:25-27

 

 

 

"[Jesus said] 'I am the resurrection and the life ... Do you

believe this?' This is a canyon question which makes sense only

during an all-night vigil or in the stillness of smoke-filled

waiting rooms. A question that makes sense when all of our

props, crutches, and costumes are taken away. For then we must

face ourselves as we really are: rudderless humans tailspinning

toward disaster. And we are forced to see him for what he claims

to be: our only hope."

 

-- Max Lucado

posted by: Jrobbins at 14:32 | link | comments |
to live is christ

Faith in the Darkness

“For the enemy has persecuted my soul;
         He has crushed my life to the ground;
         He has made me dwell in darkness,
         Like those who have long been dead.

 

 Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me;
         My heart within me is distressed.
         
 I remember the days of old;
         I meditate on all Your works;
         I muse on the work of Your hands.
 I spread out my hands to You;
         My soul longs for You like a thirsty land.  

Selah.”

 

Psalm 143:3-6

 

 

Excerpt from the 8-29-07

Breakpoint Commentary

 

by Chuck Colson

Prison Fellowship Ministry

 

 

A Suffering Servant
The Letters of Mother Teresa

 

Commentary by Chuck Colson

 

 

For the first time in more than 30 years, Mother Teresa graces the cover of Time magazine. But unlike the 1975 cover that hailed her as a living saint, this week's cover titillatingly trumpets, "The Secret Life of Mother Teresa." The subtitle declares, "Newly published letters reveal a beloved icon's 50-year crisis of faith." NBC led the TV pack with serious questions about her faith.

 

Those letters, written by Mother Teresa over more than 60 years, form a new book called Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light. So what do these letters really reveal? Newsflash: One of the great saints of the twentieth century had doubts. At times, she even doubted the existence of God. Imagine that!

 

 

Now, to put this in perspective, imagine that for 60 years you waded knee-deep in the gutters of Calcutta to tend to the outcast and the dying. In the midst of unspeakable squalor and human suffering, might you at times not doubt God?

Here's more news: Mother Teresa struggled with depression. When you wrestle with the devil surrounded by human misery, you might have good cause to be depressed! I know from the years I have spent ministering in prisons. There are many times that you question, "Where's God?" To be depressed in such situations simply makes you human. To carry on through the depression reveals the hand of God.

 

 

Not surprisingly, Mother Teresa's letters are red meat for the media. And atheists like Christopher Hitchens could not resist ridiculing her dark night of the soul. "She was no more exempt from the realization that religion is a human fabrication than any other person," Hitchens told Time. "Her attempted cure was more and more professions of faith [which] could only have deepened the pit that she had dug for herself." Hitchens even compared her to the old communists who realized their lives were meaningless after the Soviet Union collapsed. What rubbish!

 

 

And meaningless is the last word you would think of to describe Mother Teresa. To help the poorest of the poor die with dignity was the greatest example of faith, particularly while you are suffering yourself, with doubts and with pain and with depression.

 

 

She continued to do the toughest job anyone could possibly do. And she did it to her dying day. Why? As she wrote to her spiritual advisor, she submitted to God. "I accept," she wrote, "not in my feelings—but with my will, the Will of God—I accept His will." I came to that realization in my own dark night of the soul a couple of years ago when two of my three kids had cancer.

 

 

The very essence of faith, you see, is believing even in the absence of evidence. And it is the only way we can know Christ. We can conclude rationally that God exists, that His Word is true, and that He has revealed Himself. But without that leap of faith, we will never know God personally or accept His will in Christ.

 

 

So what do the letters of Mother Teresa reveal? For one, they reveal the true cost of discipleship. To follow Christ is to embrace suffering and the Cross. And, at times, to say with Jesus, "My God, my God, why did you abandon me?"

Certainly Mother Teresa took on the suffering of the world just as her Lord had done. And she demonstrated a kind of faith that few ever experience. But hers is a faith that will be a lasting witness to the world—when Christopher Hitchens and the media critics are long forgotten.

 

 

 

 

Get links to further information on today's topic

posted by: Jrobbins at 14:14 | link | comments |
chuck colson, god and suffering

Not ordinary at all!

 

“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels,

that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.”

— 2 Corinthians 4:7

 

 

Devotional by Pastor Greg Laurie

Harvest Ministries

 

 

“Acts 4:13 tells us that when these religious leaders "saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus." These simple fishermen appeared to be better-equipped than the professionals were. How did this happen? The disciples had been with Jesus. They were boldly sharing their faith. They knew the Scriptures. They were men who prayed.

This should give hope and encouragement to those who think of themselves as ordinary people. Maybe God has not called you to be a pastor, a missionary, or some professional ministry position. But God can use you too. It is clear that He is looking for ordinary men and women to bring the gospel message to others.

God can use you where you are. The opportunities are there. There is a mission field where you work. There is a mission field where you go to school. There is a mission field in your neighborhood. You are God's representative, and He is calling you to go into this world and speak up for Him. God is not looking so much for ability as He is looking for availability. So make yourself available to Him.”

 

 

 

 

Click HERE to read more

from Pastor Greg

posted by: Jrobbins at 15:18 | link | comments |

Being "good" for the right reasons

Excerpt from Carolyn Mahaney and Nicole Whitacre’s

article “The Joy of the Disciplined Woman”:

 

“…[B]iblical truths must govern all of our time management and organizational practices. For example: I do not earn God's approval by getting up at 5:00 AM every morning to pursue the spiritual disciplines (a practice); I'm accepted by God only because of Christ's finished work on my behalf (a biblical truth). I can only organize my closet (a practice) in a manner that honors God by looking to Him for guidance and strength (a biblical truth).

 

See, practices alone, though a means of grace, do not transform us. My life is not ultimately changed by becoming more disciplined or getting more organized. Rather, I am changed as I grasp the truth of justification, depend on the Lord throughout the day, and do whatever I do for His glory. Hence, anytime we seek to implement a new practice, we must always revisit these biblical truths; otherwise, our practices will become new forms of legalism….”

 

Click HERE to read the rest

of this great article

or

visit the Girl Talk blog (also great)

by clicking HERE

posted by: Jrobbins at 14:32 | link | comments |
beautiful women

A Suffering Savior

"The God on whom we rely knows what suffering is all about, not merely in the way that God knows everything, but by experience. In the darkest night of the soul Christians have something to hold onto that Job never knew. We know Christ crucified. Christians have learned that when there seems to be no other evidence of God's love, they cannot escape the cross. "He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?"(Rom. 8:32) … When we suffer, there will sometimes be mystery. Will there also be faith? Yes, if our attention is focused more on the cross, and on the God of the cross, than on the suffering itself. "

-D.A. Carson
Online Article

posted by: Jrobbins at 15:26 | link | comments |

Moments with the Book

One of the things I have been blessed to do during my time at college is participate in a tract ministry.   As I go about my normal routine, I carry a bunch of Gospel tracts in my purse and look for opportunities (waiting rooms, magazine racks/bookshelves, restaurant tables, etc.) to leave a tract for someone else to pick up.  One of the things that helped me turn my life around and realize how lost I was without the Lord was someone handing me a Gospel tract, so I feel like this ministry is a small way to help others in the same way someone once helped me. 

As a perpetually poor college student, I never would have been able to afford to work in this ministry if not for another ministry called Moments with the Book.    This organization offers free email devotionals, books, CDs, poems, Scripture cards, a daily Bible reading, and other neat things but the things I have benefited from the most are their Gospel tracts.   Most places charge more than I can pay for tracts, and before I found MWTB I could only afford a few tracts here and there.   I hated being afraid to leave a tract somewhere because I was running low and couldn't afford to buy more.  Then, God brought MWTB into my life!

Moments with the Book has amazing Gospel tracts - a wide variety for every situation, a clear and convicting Gospel message, and eye-catching covers.   Not only that, but they sell their tracts for about 2-3 cents a piece.   Even a college student can afford that!   Plus, their shipping is very reasonable and they ship out lightning fast.   The last time I ordered from them, I received my tracts the day after I placed my order.   I have been SO blessed by the ministry of MWTB, and I wanted to take some time to share how God has used them not only in my life but also in my college to spread the Word about the Lord Jesus. 

-Joy

posted by: Jrobbins at 15:06 | link | comments |
moments with the book

Miracles and proofs

“I believe in miracles, and I accept as fact every one recorded in the Bible. I believe that our entire Christian experience is a miracle. It simply cannot be explained by natural means. And God's power is seen in other miraculous ways today, but must He always prove Himself by stepping outside His created order? If God doesn't primarily guide us through His Word (which never changes) and take into account the fixed order of the universe, how can we ever have any stability? How can we make any plans if God doesn't reveal His ways and then stay consistent with them?

God is not capricious in His dealings with man. He has clearly established His ways and He is faithful to them.

I think it is better to prove ourselves to God rather than demand He prove Himself to us. We are the ones being tested, not God. "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15).”

-Neil Anderson, Freedom in Christ Ministries

posted by: Jrobbins at 16:11 | link | comments |
a reason to trust

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