I have to start with this verse that popped up in my quiet time yesterday morning: "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And is what we are!" - 1 John 3:1a... What really "got me" about this verse wasn't necessarily the words, but the punctuation (yes, the punctuation is also inspired)... Exclamation points! John is being emphatic about the greatness of the love God has for us... think about Tom Cruise's stupid "jump on the couch" antics about Katie Holmes minus the publicity stunt and in the vein of true agape love... not Hollywood lust. That's pretty cool.
On the support raising front... I'm currently at $450 of my $2000 (the target went up because of the price of the plane tickets) goal. Thank you, thank you to everyone who has contributed to-date!
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About the title: Yesterday, I was returning to my car from LA Fitness drenched in sweat (which is a good thing when working out) and saw a sheet of paper on the side of my car. When I picked up to read it... the title read "Am I Going to heaven?" (I think that's how it's capitalized) in a very old font. I looked around and the before mentioned tract was on most everyone's ride too. It starts out by talking about the King James Bible and goes through the plan of salvation (I suppose... I didn't read in detail) with a ton of verses.
Now, I'm not doubting that anything on this card is not true... in fact I scanned it and it looks theologically legit... the rub I have is that the thing was placed on my car by someone who has no clue who I am (and in fact could have saved themselves a tract if they saw my GlobalX workbook in the backseat). Somehow, the whole idea of passing out tracts to strangers says something like this... "I want to share Jesus (or I need to share Jesus) with you but I don't want to invest in a relationship with you, so here's the truth and read it for yourself. Have a nice life and if you accept the truth then we can hang." That may be unrealistically harsh (a reverse euphemism in a way)... and I hope that there's no truth to that but that's can be how it can be construed.
I doubt that hurting people that may already have a negative perception of Christians are really impressed with this approach, or are even helped by it. Our greatest need is for love and relationship... and while that can ultimately only be fulfilled by a relationship with Christ characterized by grace, most people will only enter into that relationship when they see it played out in the real world. In one of our Estonia meetings, Timo (who is an intern at NPCC and a member of Risttee Church) mentioned that what got him was seeing Peep and his wife sitting side by side and truly loving each other. That's one of the things that really got him thinking that there's got to be something to this Jesus thing.
The one thing that I have seen that illustrates this "truth without relationship" thing the best is a scene from the Casting Crowns video of "Does anybody see her?"... After "the girl" comes to here senses after another bad night trying to fulfill the hunger in her soul in the wrong places, she comes to her senses and decides to check out what's going on at church (because these people seem happy and she's obviously miserable on the inside)... only to meet rejection in the form of a scornful look from a mother with a child (she just came from the bar and she's dressed "as she is" and didn't have time to "clean up") and having the singles group clique pass by her without anyone even saying hi to her.... she gets up to the door of the church but doesn't go in after feeling so much rejection. The next scene shows her waitressing at the coffee bar and the same Christian group is sitting down having a good time ("the girl" is obviously hurting now). They leave the restaurant and give her a super-cheap tip (a buck... "Mr Washington") and a "Steps to Peace with God" (I think) tract and leaves. And, like I think most people who don't have a relationship with Jesus would do in this situation, she throws the tract in the trash and then breaks down... because she feels disrespected and unloved (fortunately, the video doesn't end there... someone eventually DOES speak love to her).
(btw - anyone wanting to see the video itself... it's on http://www.castingcrowns.tv/ - the "Does Anybody Hear Her?" music video. Good stuff/convicting. Now, I don't necessarily want to knock on all tract usage because it does have it's place... they're simple reads and all... and God can use anything to bring people into relationship with Him (even things done with wrong motives... He's a big God), my thoughts are that many Christians tend to lean on these impersonal methods to witness and in the end are we really fulfilling the Great Commission as Christ intended?)
What I'm personally wresting with is this... Am I investing in relationships with folks that need to know Jesus -or- am I simply going through the motions to "do good” in the name of service? Is the love that Christ lavished on me and my love for the other person my motivation or is it something else? My prayer for this trip, and for my life here in Atlanta, is that God gives me the kind of love for people that allows me to "Walk as Jesus did" – to invest in relationships with people that need to know the love that He has for them (and me). I think that's what Jesus would want.
Chris <><
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
A few updates
I hope that you are all having a great week. A few updates from our team meeting on Sunday:
1. Our team will be hosting our own blog that each of us will periodically update. We have also included some links to Estonia and Risstte Church on this site. The URL is : http://estoniasept07.blogspot.com/
2. No news yet on what our flight iteneraries are going to be, but Rich did inform us that the costs of the airfare will (probably expectedly) be higher than we orignially believed. Once I find out what our support raising target will be based on the flight prices, I will let you know.
1. Our team will be hosting our own blog that each of us will periodically update. We have also included some links to Estonia and Risstte Church on this site. The URL is : http://estoniasept07.blogspot.com/
2. No news yet on what our flight iteneraries are going to be, but Rich did inform us that the costs of the airfare will (probably expectedly) be higher than we orignially believed. Once I find out what our support raising target will be based on the flight prices, I will let you know.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
And the race is on...
Do you ever get the feeling, when God wants to do something great in your world, that overwhelmed feeling of "distractions?" That has been my feeling this week... especially as my one huge goal is to mail out the majority of letters for support to my team. The encouragement I've gotten as I've asked for addresses has been great, though. Most of the distractions are coming from work... where I'm juggling 4 projects which are all, except for one, in a way full-time jobs. I was also out in Pleasanton, CA for one of these this week... traveling on "red eye flights" each way and working 12-13 hour days and still not feeling "caught up." Things should clear up after Tuesday as I've got a big presentation with a customer that morning (which will take one of those projects off my plate).
Being a little sleep deprived from traveling home from a work trip in the Bay Area (California), I went out to a cookout party that a bunch of my friends from Buckhead Church were at. I had a chance to talk to Jim Wier a little about Estonia (he was there last month for a small group ministry focused trip with Stuart Brown and a few other folks I know) and really got excited. I'm not so sure if I'm as thrilled about the "only 4 hours of dark" that he referred to. Apparently, since Estonia is so far north (close to Finland), the days there are very long (in the summer/we'll probably have 6 hour nights "according to Jim" in September when we'll be there)... he was telling me to get an eye mask because for his trip it was 4:30AM and as bright as a 2PM in Atlanta day... you can imagine that will do something to your biorhythms.
Last Wednesday (the Fourth), I ran in the Peachtree Road Race for the second time and was very satisfied with my time considering that the PRR is not a serious race and that I wasn't at all in shape for a 10K. I had a great time. However, I learned a valuable lesson about the importance of having quality athletic gear on your feet when running a race like this. I bought my (now former) pair of Addias running shoes at the Dawsonville outlet mall... and as it turns out there is a flaw in one of the shoes that causes it to rub really badly on my left foot. It didn't bother me during my gym workouts or even run/walking at Powers Ferry, but it did impact me for the Peachtree. My left foot was bruised for a good five days after the race and I was literally limping around. Needless to say, it's the last time I'm wearing those shoes for working out -or- buying athletic gear at an outlet store. Now for those of you reading this that don't like "spiritual sports analogies" - I can't help you because the Apostle Paul used them so they're Biblical... it's good to know that the man that wrote almost 1/2 of the New Testament was into sports :-). In the "race" that we're running to serve God in Estonia... it's also important that we prepare well and prepare diligently. Paul put it this way: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” – 1 Corinthians 9:24-27. This Sunday marks our third team meeting, and as we prepare, my hope and prayer (and I’m asking this for you too :-)) is that we are focused on the mission, developing our cohesiveness and fellowship as a team, and wary of the distractions and hindrances that may be put before us as we run our race toward Estonia.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” – Hebrews 12:1
Speaking of competing... below are some pictures of my Croatia soccer team's attempt at competing outside of our league (you know Americans aren't so great at soccer as opposed to Europeans)
Being a little sleep deprived from traveling home from a work trip in the Bay Area (California), I went out to a cookout party that a bunch of my friends from Buckhead Church were at. I had a chance to talk to Jim Wier a little about Estonia (he was there last month for a small group ministry focused trip with Stuart Brown and a few other folks I know) and really got excited. I'm not so sure if I'm as thrilled about the "only 4 hours of dark" that he referred to. Apparently, since Estonia is so far north (close to Finland), the days there are very long (in the summer/we'll probably have 6 hour nights "according to Jim" in September when we'll be there)... he was telling me to get an eye mask because for his trip it was 4:30AM and as bright as a 2PM in Atlanta day... you can imagine that will do something to your biorhythms.
Last Wednesday (the Fourth), I ran in the Peachtree Road Race for the second time and was very satisfied with my time considering that the PRR is not a serious race and that I wasn't at all in shape for a 10K. I had a great time. However, I learned a valuable lesson about the importance of having quality athletic gear on your feet when running a race like this. I bought my (now former) pair of Addias running shoes at the Dawsonville outlet mall... and as it turns out there is a flaw in one of the shoes that causes it to rub really badly on my left foot. It didn't bother me during my gym workouts or even run/walking at Powers Ferry, but it did impact me for the Peachtree. My left foot was bruised for a good five days after the race and I was literally limping around. Needless to say, it's the last time I'm wearing those shoes for working out -or- buying athletic gear at an outlet store. Now for those of you reading this that don't like "spiritual sports analogies" - I can't help you because the Apostle Paul used them so they're Biblical... it's good to know that the man that wrote almost 1/2 of the New Testament was into sports :-). In the "race" that we're running to serve God in Estonia... it's also important that we prepare well and prepare diligently. Paul put it this way: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” – 1 Corinthians 9:24-27. This Sunday marks our third team meeting, and as we prepare, my hope and prayer (and I’m asking this for you too :-)) is that we are focused on the mission, developing our cohesiveness and fellowship as a team, and wary of the distractions and hindrances that may be put before us as we run our race toward Estonia.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” – Hebrews 12:1
Speaking of competing... below are some pictures of my Croatia soccer team's attempt at competing outside of our league (you know Americans aren't so great at soccer as opposed to Europeans)
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Where to send support...
Oh, wait... I told you that I was wanting letters of encouragement and financial support, and didn't tell you where to send them! Nice.
Of course, letters of encouragement can be sent via e-mail and blog comments. However, I am a big fan of handwritten letters. Call me old fashioned. There's just something about them.
Financial support... well, you have to snail mail that stuff. Here's where you can send checks out :-)
Chris Willis
6304 Park Avenue NE
Atlanta, GA 30342
cheers!
Chris <><
Of course, letters of encouragement can be sent via e-mail and blog comments. However, I am a big fan of handwritten letters. Call me old fashioned. There's just something about them.
Financial support... well, you have to snail mail that stuff. Here's where you can send checks out :-)
Chris Willis
6304 Park Avenue NE
Atlanta, GA 30342
cheers!
Chris <><
Starting Off
This has been a very busy Sunday... starting off with Upstreet Summer Craze at 9AM (and can you believe it? I was the only 4th grade volunteer this morning. AHHHHH), worship at Buckhead Church at 11 - and then returning home with bagged lunch courtesy of Chipotle in hand to prepare for this evening's Estonia Mission Trip meeting.
On my checklist for what I wanted to accomplish today was to draft my support letter, as I am well aware of my need to get a team in place to support me for the trip, and start up my personal blog so that I can inform those that I invite about what we are up to in regards to trip planning, prayer requests, news from the field, etc. It's exciting.
Since this is my first blog post... a few things about Estonia. I'll make sure to post some new facts about the country with every blog posting:
“Where is Estonia?” The country borders Russia from the west and is one of the former “Baltic Republics” that split from the Soviet Union during the mid-1990’s (along with its southern neighbors: Latvia and Lithuania). Estonia has a population of about 1.4 million people and is considered one of the least churched areas in Europe (less than 1% are practicing Christians), which may be a byproduct of the rule of the Soviet regime.
Since this is a "first post" - I'll let you know what type of support I'm looking for. First and foremost, I need prayer support as any ministry effort is God-sized and God works through the prayers of His people. Cool, huh? It's like the KSBJ motto: "God Listens" - He pays attention to our requests and acts according to the dreams and hopes that He shares with us to share with Him. It also says that God cares about what is on our heart.
Second, I defintely need encouragement from you... so please feel free to send comments/notes to the blog or to my e-mail (chriswillis96@yahoo.com). This is especially important because spiritual attack is part of the game... for instance I was BURIED in a project in Dallas for two solid months before going to Croatia last fall and was working crazy hours up until the 11th hour to get a project out. The enemy is not happy when we are pursuing God's will and will look for opportunities for distractions... one of the coolest features of the Church is that we have the ability to be "Jesus with skin on" to others in the Church and encourage them when we are facing these types of issues... and give us perspective on life and what God is doing.
Third... is financial support. I have been asked to raise $1,800 for my portion of the trip, which covers traveling expenses going-to and when we are in Tartu (the city in Estonia where the University we will be outreaching to is located). If you wish to support me, please send the checks to me and write them out to "NorthPoint Ministries" with "Estonia Mission Trip" in the memo line. Do not put my name on there... it's not good for your tax purposes, and I want your filing of your support to the IRS to be smooth and painless :-).
More to come. I'm looking forward to the journey!!!!
Chris <><
On my checklist for what I wanted to accomplish today was to draft my support letter, as I am well aware of my need to get a team in place to support me for the trip, and start up my personal blog so that I can inform those that I invite about what we are up to in regards to trip planning, prayer requests, news from the field, etc. It's exciting.
Since this is my first blog post... a few things about Estonia. I'll make sure to post some new facts about the country with every blog posting:
“Where is Estonia?” The country borders Russia from the west and is one of the former “Baltic Republics” that split from the Soviet Union during the mid-1990’s (along with its southern neighbors: Latvia and Lithuania). Estonia has a population of about 1.4 million people and is considered one of the least churched areas in Europe (less than 1% are practicing Christians), which may be a byproduct of the rule of the Soviet regime.
Since this is a "first post" - I'll let you know what type of support I'm looking for. First and foremost, I need prayer support as any ministry effort is God-sized and God works through the prayers of His people. Cool, huh? It's like the KSBJ motto: "God Listens" - He pays attention to our requests and acts according to the dreams and hopes that He shares with us to share with Him. It also says that God cares about what is on our heart.
Second, I defintely need encouragement from you... so please feel free to send comments/notes to the blog or to my e-mail (chriswillis96@yahoo.com). This is especially important because spiritual attack is part of the game... for instance I was BURIED in a project in Dallas for two solid months before going to Croatia last fall and was working crazy hours up until the 11th hour to get a project out. The enemy is not happy when we are pursuing God's will and will look for opportunities for distractions... one of the coolest features of the Church is that we have the ability to be "Jesus with skin on" to others in the Church and encourage them when we are facing these types of issues... and give us perspective on life and what God is doing.
Third... is financial support. I have been asked to raise $1,800 for my portion of the trip, which covers traveling expenses going-to and when we are in Tartu (the city in Estonia where the University we will be outreaching to is located). If you wish to support me, please send the checks to me and write them out to "NorthPoint Ministries" with "Estonia Mission Trip" in the memo line. Do not put my name on there... it's not good for your tax purposes, and I want your filing of your support to the IRS to be smooth and painless :-).
More to come. I'm looking forward to the journey!!!!
Chris <><
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