Estoy interesado en la plantación, administración, edificación, desarrollo,y expansión de una Iglesia que seria "el lugar donde las personas heridas, pobres,deprimidas,confundidas puedan encontrar amor, aceptación, ayuda,esperanza,perdón y animo.” (Isaias 61)
domingo, mayo 15, 2005
Esta fotografia fue tomada en la ciudad de Salvador, estado de Bahia , Brazil
3
comentarios:
Phil Friesen
dijo...
Dear Demos, Monday evening, July 18th, 2005
I’m sorry I missed your call at the office today. I was on another call when yours came in, and so I let the machine answer it. I tried to call you again this evening (011-514-978-8284), but I couldn’t get through. So I will email you some thoughts here, in the hope that perhaps the Lord will use them to encourage you as you trust Him in your present situation.
I want to share a little bit of my own personal situation, because I think it is somewhat similar to yours. A few months ago, Gene resigned as pastor of Crossway Church, and we now have a new pastor, John Butler. John has been the Sr. Pastor at the Sovereign Grace Church in Virginia Beach, Virginia, for the last seven or eight years. John is a very gifted pastor and leader, and we are going to be greatly blessed by his pastoral leadership. He has brought with him another young pastor, Aaron Anderson. We also will get a new Administrator to replace me in my position. At the end of August, I will complete my work at the church. Then I will return to remodeling work for my job.
I am not surprised (and not too disappointed) that I am being replaced as the Administrator. I do not have the gifts or strengths that are necessary for this position in a growing church like ours. I was aware of this when I took the position two years ago, and I have talked about this two or three different times with John Butler over the past year. But I have been disappointed that John did not consider me to stay on the church staff in another position (e.g. with more pastoral responsibilities).
But the Lord is at work in my heart, revealing some areas of pride (I have too high an opinion of myself and my own giftedness) and self-ambition (Why do I want so badly to be a pastor??? Am I seeking recognition, honor, from people?). And I am finding myself in a situation where my “dreams” and “desires” are “dying” once again. I love to preach and teach God’s Word; I love to minister to people; I love the local church and the opportunity to serve the local church in pastoral ministry. These have been my aspirations and goals for twenty years or more!!! But the Lord is clearly saying: “I want you to lay all this aside for right now because I have some work I want to do in your life. I want you to trust Me. I want you to delight yourself in Me . . . even if you never are involved in (fulltime) pastoral ministry again.”
As you can imagine, this is painful. In His love for me, God is disciplining me . . . and humbling me. He wants me to learn to find all my joy in Him and Him alone – not in ministry; not in a position; not in serving Him – but just in Him. But it is for my good and my ultimate joy. God is not out to make me miserable . . . but to make me truly happy in Him! So I want to learn to embrace this time; to receive God’s discipline and be “trained by it” so that it will produce in me “the peaceful fruit of righteousness” (Hebrews 12:11).
Demos, I do not know how the Lord is leading you or what His will is for you. But perhaps He is working in your life in a similar way to how He is working in my life. God has given you dreams and ambitions (from the time you were a young boy) to serve Him, to be involved in cross-cultural missions, to see the lives of others changed.
But oftentimes, before He can work through a man for maximum fruitfulness, He must first work in a man. David was anointed king as a teenager (perhaps at 15?); but did not take the throne until he was 30. And for many of those years he was running for his life from King Saul. Moses spent 40 years tending sheep . . . until God was finally ready to call him to the job He had for him at age 80. God gave Joseph dreams as a teenager (age 17; Genesis 37:2); but it was at least another twenty years (!) before those dreams became a reality (see Gen 41:46 and add the seven years of plenty plus another year or two of the famine). Joseph was in slavery . . . and then in jail. And I’m sure at times it seemed like his life was being wasted; that God had abandoned him. But through all those hardships and long years, God was building into Joseph the humility and character and faith that would be necessary for him when he was elevated to the position of 2nd in Egypt! And right in the midst of slavery – and even prison – four times the Scriptures explicitly say “the Lord was with Joseph,” and several more times it says that because of the Lord’s providential care Joseph “became a successful man” or “the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house” or “the Lord caused all that he did to prosper” (Genesis 39).
Demos, perhaps God is calling you and me to a season of quiet, unnoticed, unglamorous, often difficult service to others. But in the midst of it, He is humbling and equipping you and me – and preparing the circumstances around us – for a specific role that He has for us. I don’t want to turn against the Lord because my dreams are not being fulfilled, and I know you don’t either. It may be that God is preparing to fulfill our dreams in greater ways than we could ever have imagined!! But the pathway to get there is slow . . . and difficult. And if we trust Him and walk with Him, our joy will be greater than we could possibly imagine right now.
Lamentations 3:17-27, 31-33, 37-39 (NIV) say:
I have been deprived of peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is. So I say, “My splendor is gone and all that I had hoped from the Lord.”
I remember my affliction and wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”
The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who quietly seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young…
For men are not cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men…
Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come? Why should any living man complain when punished for his sins?
Let’s keep seeking Him, Demos, and trusting Him. His love and compassion toward you and me will never fail! His purposes for us cannot be thwarted, because He is the sovereign Lord of all the universe! He will make our lives fruitful for Him – in His way and in His time. And if we embrace it, our joy will know no bounds!
3 comentarios:
Dear Demos, Monday evening, July 18th, 2005
I’m sorry I missed your call at the office today. I was on another call when yours came in, and so I let the machine answer it. I tried to call you again this evening (011-514-978-8284), but I couldn’t get through. So I will email you some thoughts here, in the hope that perhaps the Lord will use them to encourage you as you trust Him in your present situation.
I want to share a little bit of my own personal situation, because I think it is somewhat similar to yours. A few months ago, Gene resigned as pastor of Crossway Church, and we now have a new pastor, John Butler. John has been the Sr. Pastor at the Sovereign Grace Church in Virginia Beach, Virginia, for the last seven or eight years. John is a very gifted pastor and leader, and we are going to be greatly blessed by his pastoral leadership. He has brought with him another young pastor, Aaron Anderson. We also will get a new Administrator to replace me in my position. At the end of August, I will complete my work at the church. Then I will return to remodeling work for my job.
I am not surprised (and not too disappointed) that I am being replaced as the Administrator. I do not have the gifts or strengths that are necessary for this position in a growing church like ours. I was aware of this when I took the position two years ago, and I have talked about this two or three different times with John Butler over the past year. But I have been disappointed that John did not consider me to stay on the church staff in another position (e.g. with more pastoral responsibilities).
But the Lord is at work in my heart, revealing some areas of pride (I have too high an opinion of myself and my own giftedness) and self-ambition (Why do I want so badly to be a pastor??? Am I seeking recognition, honor, from people?). And I am finding myself in a situation where my “dreams” and “desires” are “dying” once again. I love to preach and teach God’s Word; I love to minister to people; I love the local church and the opportunity to serve the local church in pastoral ministry. These have been my aspirations and goals for twenty years or more!!! But the Lord is clearly saying: “I want you to lay all this aside for right now because I have some work I want to do in your life. I want you to trust Me. I want you to delight yourself in Me . . . even if you never are involved in (fulltime) pastoral ministry again.”
As you can imagine, this is painful. In His love for me, God is disciplining me . . . and humbling me. He wants me to learn to find all my joy in Him and Him alone – not in ministry; not in a position; not in serving Him – but just in Him. But it is for my good and my ultimate joy. God is not out to make me miserable . . . but to make me truly happy in Him! So I want to learn to embrace this time; to receive God’s discipline and be “trained by it” so that it will produce in me “the peaceful fruit of righteousness” (Hebrews 12:11).
Demos, I do not know how the Lord is leading you or what His will is for you. But perhaps He is working in your life in a similar way to how He is working in my life. God has given you dreams and ambitions (from the time you were a young boy) to serve Him, to be involved in cross-cultural missions, to see the lives of others changed.
But oftentimes, before He can work through a man for maximum fruitfulness, He must first work in a man. David was anointed king as a teenager (perhaps at 15?); but did not take the throne until he was 30. And for many of those years he was running for his life from King Saul. Moses spent 40 years tending sheep . . . until God was finally ready to call him to the job He had for him at age 80. God gave Joseph dreams as a teenager (age 17; Genesis 37:2); but it was at least another twenty years (!) before those dreams became a reality (see Gen 41:46 and add the seven years of plenty plus another year or two of the famine). Joseph was in slavery . . . and then in jail. And I’m sure at times it seemed like his life was being wasted; that God had abandoned him. But through all those hardships and long years, God was building into Joseph the humility and character and faith that would be necessary for him when he was elevated to the position of 2nd in Egypt! And right in the midst of slavery – and even prison – four times the Scriptures explicitly say “the Lord was with Joseph,” and several more times it says that because of the Lord’s providential care Joseph “became a successful man” or “the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house” or “the Lord caused all that he did to prosper” (Genesis 39).
Demos, perhaps God is calling you and me to a season of quiet, unnoticed, unglamorous, often difficult service to others. But in the midst of it, He is humbling and equipping you and me – and preparing the circumstances around us – for a specific role that He has for us. I don’t want to turn against the Lord because my dreams are not being fulfilled, and I know you don’t either. It may be that God is preparing to fulfill our dreams in greater ways than we could ever have imagined!! But the pathway to get there is slow . . . and difficult. And if we trust Him and walk with Him, our joy will be greater than we could possibly imagine right now.
Lamentations 3:17-27, 31-33, 37-39 (NIV) say:
I have been deprived of peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is. So I say, “My splendor is gone and all that I had hoped from the Lord.”
I remember my affliction and wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”
The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who quietly seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young…
For men are not cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men…
Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come? Why should any living man complain when punished for his sins?
Let’s keep seeking Him, Demos, and trusting Him. His love and compassion toward you and me will never fail! His purposes for us cannot be thwarted, because He is the sovereign Lord of all the universe! He will make our lives fruitful for Him – in His way and in His time. And if we embrace it, our joy will know no bounds!
Fighting the fight of faith with you.
Your brother,
Phil Friesen
Your blog rocks!!!
This whole site is really awseome, I like it very much.
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