The weblog of the Bunnells, missionaries serving in Romania on behalf of
Monday, June 11, 2007
Just Point to the Sign
“Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace…. “No rotten talk should come from your mouth, but only what is good for the building up of someone in need, in order to give grace to those who hear. And don't grieve God's Holy Spirit, who sealed you for the day of redemption.All bitterness, anger and wrath, insult and slander must be removed from you, along with all wickedness. And be kind and compassionate (tenderhearted) to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.” --from Ephesians 4
When I was growing up in America, I remember frequently hearing people in church praying something like this: "God, thank You for blessing us with a nation to live in where we have the freedom to worship openly." Sergey is a pastor friend of mine who grew up not being able to say prayers like that in the same time period. He is from the Ukraine, which was part of the old Soviet Union. For Sergey's young life, and even when he was grown and starting a family, practicing his faith was illegal. One night in a men's Bible study group while I was living in Pennsylvania, Sergey told us that while they were under communist tyranny, when they gathered together to fellowship, pray, worship, and study the word, the threat of the authorities' busting in to take them to prison was always very real.In order to gather together, they had to be able to trust one another, because the very safety of their families was at stake. Having come through that experience, Sergey was very sensitive to the need of the body of Christ to work together in sacrificial love for one another, and to remain unified. He shared with us a story he had personally known about from the book "Jesus Freaks," which tells of many modern-day martyrs. It was the story of a man who had been tortured in an effort to force him to tell the names of the congregation of believers so that they could all be imprisoned. But the man and his pastor, who was forced to watch the soldiers gouge his eyes out with a knife, stood strong and did not betray their brothers and sisters in Christ, even though they were having to pay the ultimate price. With his last words, he spoke praising the Lord Jesus, and they killed him. Sergey related this story to some of the men from our church that was disputing a lot of things at that time, and said we are in a time of peace and freedom, "when it's easy to be a Christian." Then he asked us, "If people in the church at a time like this are gossiping about one another and doing things behind each other's backs to hurt each other, what will it be like if the church comes under persecution?" When the body of Christ is operating as it should, there should be such love and unity that people defend one another, and always put others' needs ahead of their own, to the glory of God. There will be no self-centeredness. No tearing each other down with words. No competing with one another for position or prestige in the church. No envy, strife, or bitterness. And the members of the body will even be able to trust each other with their lives. Today, Sergey's comments are lingering in my thoughts again. Could today's free-country churches even withstand persecution? Do we love each other enough that we would be willing to truly sacrifice for each other if called upon to do so? Or are we so self-focused that we would turn on one another to protect ourselves? Sergey's point is a very good one, and ever since hearing it, I’ve tried to take Ephesians 4 more seriously than before. Maybe we need to put that entire chapter on a sign, and post it on the walls of our churches. Then, whenever human nature starts to supersede the leading of the Holy Spirit in our conversations at church, we can just point to the sign.
"He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all,how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?" --Romans 8:32
A certain Hebrew Passover hymn repeats throughout a line that can be translated in English to mean, "It would have been enough." It begins by saying, "Lord, if all You had done was to take care of us in Egypt, it would have been enough." Then it moves on to, "Lord, if all You had done was to set us free from the bondage of Egypt, it would have been enough." Then, "Lord, if all You had done was to part the sea for us to escape Pharaoh's army, it would have been enough." It is, for good reason, a very long song, recounting the seemingly endless list of incidents throughout the centuries, where, time after time, God gave a great blessing to His people. Each time the blessing was unearned. Each time it was brought on by nothing but asking in faith. And each time, if God never blessed them again, He would still have done enough to prove Himself a faithful, good, loving, compassionate, powerful God who stands ready to move on His people's behalf. We who have been redeemed by Christ's great sacrifice on the cross can all the more say, "That would have been enough." No matter what happens to us in this life, salvation alone would be enough for Him to prove His infinite love for us. But our Father in heaven is not content to stop at delivering us from sin and death and hell, any more than He was content to deliver Israel from the clutches of Egypt and leave it at that. He longs to do so much more for His beloved. And the blessings to come are all the more easy for Him to provide, because He already paid the ultimate price--the price of watching His innocent Son die in our place. He also promises to give freely and richly all things to supply our needs and to shower us with blessings. Were we ever to take the hymn seriously, and actually try to count our many blessings, naming them one by one, we would find it a most daunting task. Impossible it would be to recount everything God has ever done for us. His mercies are new every morning. Constantly meeting our needs financially, materially, physically, and emotionally, He stands ready to protect, deliver, heal, and give most generously in every imaginable way. He answers prayers for our families. He provides wisdom for every situation and strength for every endeavor. He answers prayers about our jobs. He answers prayers said for friends, coworkers, classmates and others in need. He answers prayers for forgiveness, renewal, and revival. And the list could go on. And on. And on. The throne of grace is a fountain of blessing for the Lord's beloved that never runs dry. Our God takes sheer delight in our humbling ourselves, acknowledging our need, and asking of Him with simple faith that His answer is on the way, "while we are yet speaking." My brothers and sisters, whatever needs are weighing on your heart today, trust Him to give what is good, what is perfect, and what is best. Lay your needs at His feet in faith, and just watch in awe and wonder all that He will do. Further reflect on this topic by reading Psalm 103.
Please join us in prayer for God to reveal His perfect will on the “keys” to the city of Buzau and how and by what means He wants to reach this city.Pray for fresh vision and direction, as well as the grace to do as He wishes, moving our own plots and plans aside to follow His lead and give Him glory for all He does.
Pray for us to grow greater in love for the people in Buzau, who need Christ.
Pictured at left with me above is Dan Magureanu from Bucharest, who is not only a gifted evangelist, but a minister training other Romanian Christians to do evangelism with the program known in the US as Evangelism Explosion. And perhaps what I like most about him is that he not only does evangelism and trains others to do it, but provides them opportunities to put into practice what they have learned for the spreading of the gospel and the establishment of churches in unreached areas. This month for the first time he brought a team to work with us one Saturday in the parks of Buzau, sharing the gospel. The team, pictured with us below, saw two women make professions of faith in Christ on a day when several families and individuals were given their first-ever opportunity to share the gospel. It was a joyous time, and we look forward to working with Dan and his people again, with plans to make this outreach a monthly event, Lord-willing.
“They were devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching….
“and to fellowship….
“to the breaking of bread….
“and to prayer.”
These are some of the sights seen this week at the annual Calvary Chapel Romania ministry conference.We thank all those who prayed with us for this year’s conference, since it was a blessed time and the Lord gave unity and close fellowship to those who attended, and touched their hearts with His love in new ways so that they will be equipped for serving Him across Romania this year.
At this writing on Saturday evening, it looks like the people of Romania have voted by a better than 3-to-1 margin today to overrule the parliament's impeachment of President Traian Basescu a month ago. The constitutional court had found the president innocent of any crime or unconstitutional abuse of power, and the populace apparently agreed with them instead of with Basescu's political opponents who suspended him from office last month with vague accusations of wrongdoing.
"For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor. . ." 1 Thessalonians 4:3-4
There may be no human relationship whose integrity is more vigorously attacked by our enemy the devil and by our rebellious sin nature than the relationship of the marriage bed. Our fleshly desires and the influences around us make constant war against God's call to purity. When we live outside the boundaries God has created for our protection and provision, and for His glory, it hurts us and our loved ones in tragic ways and opens the door for blasphemy from unbelievers. But when we allow Him to sanctify us, we become pure vessels, set apart to carry the good news of His salvation to the world. 1 Thessalonians 4 teaches us that when we belong to Christ, we don't have to be at the mercy of our sinful desires; we have the Holy Spirit within us to teach us how to control our own bodies in holiness and honor, and thus meet God's standards for sexual morality. Those unchangeable standards are found in the Bible and are easy to understand: Marriage is for one man and one woman for life. We are not to have sex with anyone to whom we are not married. We are not to refuse to meet our spouse's physical needs. We are not to lust after others in our hearts, but to keep our thoughts focused on that which is pure and allow ourselves to desire no one but our spouse. Brothers and sisters, if your life does not match God's design for sexuality, today is the day to ask for and receive Christ's forgiveness and allow Him to cleanse you from unrighteousness. If you are deviating from His standards in any way, the living word of God and the Holy Spirit of God plead with you now: Do not remain as you are; be sanctified and set free to serve Him. God has all of the power, all of the wisdom, and all of the strength necessary to bring about even radical changes in your lifestyle and thought life. Surrender to Him and let Him do His work today. Your sanctification is His will. Let His will for your life be done.
Tomorrow, the Romanian people will vote in an election on whether to agree with the parliament's dismissal of President Traian Basescu a month ago or overturn it at return him to office. Please pray for the right thing to happen for circumstances leading to God being glorified and His church being established in this country.
Yesterday it showed that people were praying as our team from Bucharest was here to do evangelism, in that people were much more open to talking about God and the Bible than the average people of Buzau are. We saw major spiritual warfare leading up to the day, but God was, as should be expected, victorious.
Many people heard the gospel explained to them for the first time in their lives, and two of them--both women--made professions of faith in Christ as Savior. We hope to welcome the ministry team to work with us one Saturday per month in ongoing partnership.
DaveBunnell Romania The Missionary's Day weblog-- Authored by Dave Bunnell. Dave and his family are missionaries for Calvary Chapel Garland (Texas) . View their Romanian ministry website here. This blog features exciting stories about what God is doing on the mission field, as well as reflections on the Bible and thoughts about walking with Christ.
You may use the email link by clicking on my name in the paragraph above to contact me about anything on this site, or any questions you have on matters of faith.
Sing to the Lord, praise His Name; proclaim His salvation day after day. Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous deeds among all peoples. For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens... Say among the nations, "The Lord reigns." --from Psalm 96
