To live is _________. A speaker this morning challenged us with this question. To live is Basketball?? To live is wealth? To live is paying off my mortgage? To live is safety? To live is justice? What would you fill into the blank? TO live is _________.
We know the Bible says to live is Christ and to die is gain. Now we can not say the second part without the first. If to live is athletics then dying is not gain because we are taken from that which we live for. If to live is Christ then to die is gain. What a thought! Who/What am I living for?
Another interesting thing he said was that he distinguished between "Call" and "the Lord's leading". God calls us to present ourselves as living sacrifices Holy and acceptable to Him for this is our spiritual act of worship. That is the call that He gives us. After we have wholly given ourselves to him then we are led by Him to where He can use us. But the call on our lives is to sacrific our own desires and give in to what He wants.
To live is Christ and to die is gain. Serve Christ by serving others. Love the Lord and your neighbour. Powerful statements that we can choose this day to do.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Saturday, March 07, 2009
Hillcrest Basketball
Hillcrest Basketball is now mid-season and we are out of the King Town Tournament. The girls were 3-2 and the boys were 2-2. In our pool the teams were very evenly matched and we had 3 of our games within 4 points. One team we beat by 3, then lost one by 4, and lost one by 3. Heart breakers but great games and it was fun to see the team respond in the crunch. Unfortunately we did not get the wins but we played extremely hard and in the end it came down to inexperience and making bad mistakes. Turn overs, turn overs, turn overs.
Janna and I are also playing in this same tournament with Indonesian teams and both of our Indonesian teams are moving into the playoffs. The girls into the semi-finals and the boys into the quarter finals. Should be interesting. It is fun to once again play on teams with refs and the crowd and the whole bit. It has been awhile.
In all of this basketball it has been hard to find time for family and so we need prayer during this time. Satan just seems to use any thing that he can to get in between couples. As Janna and I prayed last night together we just prayed that all the marriages (in our families especially) would just remain focused on God and his love. May God fill us this Sunday and may He richly bless all of you as you serve Him.
Janna and I are also playing in this same tournament with Indonesian teams and both of our Indonesian teams are moving into the playoffs. The girls into the semi-finals and the boys into the quarter finals. Should be interesting. It is fun to once again play on teams with refs and the crowd and the whole bit. It has been awhile.
In all of this basketball it has been hard to find time for family and so we need prayer during this time. Satan just seems to use any thing that he can to get in between couples. As Janna and I prayed last night together we just prayed that all the marriages (in our families especially) would just remain focused on God and his love. May God fill us this Sunday and may He richly bless all of you as you serve Him.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Tournament
We are in full swing of Basketball season now as we are entered into a tournament. Our HIS team has played one game so far and won 46-43 a great game. Today we play again. Now I am also playing on an Indonesian team and we have also played one game and lost. The team that I play for has quite the individual mindset of if I get the ball I must shoot. I will try to talk to them about it before our next game. Janna is also playing on an Indonesian team and their team won.
We are having lots of fun with Mom and Dad Epp although really we have not done anything out of the ordinary with them. Seems like life is just too busy with Basketball and everything else that we are trying to do here.
God continues to be good to us as we seek Him in our lives. We feel so blessed to be in the families that we are in and are excited about the direction that each one of them are heading. Thank you all once again for being part of our lives and continuing to bless us so that we in turn can be a blessing to others. May God be with you all and speak clearly to you today. Seek Him.
We are having lots of fun with Mom and Dad Epp although really we have not done anything out of the ordinary with them. Seems like life is just too busy with Basketball and everything else that we are trying to do here.
God continues to be good to us as we seek Him in our lives. We feel so blessed to be in the families that we are in and are excited about the direction that each one of them are heading. Thank you all once again for being part of our lives and continuing to bless us so that we in turn can be a blessing to others. May God be with you all and speak clearly to you today. Seek Him.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Basketball is in full swing...
Basketball is currently in full swing which means that I am busy, busy, busy. This year I have a team at HIS which is eager to learn and improving by leaps and bounds each practice. I am thoroughly enjoying this season thus far and am looking forward to how we can continue to improve throughout this season. I am also continuing to be involved in basketball at our church. Now I have not been practicing with them lately due to my ankle. My ankle has been bothering me for the past 2 months and I am still not quite sure exactly what has happened. My Dad and I went for a motorbike ride while he was here and I had a little accident in which the bike hit my right leg. Now I did not really think that anything that serious happened. But now I am wondering if I twisted my ankle. Then also the doctor here thought that I had gout and so I started on the medication and the major pain went away. Now it just feels as though my ankle is twisted. Well that is my story and I am sticking to it. Combination of things.
Today in church our pastor spoke on something that I have been thinking about for a while now. For a while I was getting confused in all the little details of the Christian life. I tried to ask myself what is the basis of what I am trying to accomplish in this life. I shared with my parents while they were here that I am trying to break it down to Love the Lord, and Love your neighbor. Today our pastor spoke on this exact topic. He read the passage out of Matt 22 where Jesus broke all the commandments down to those two things. This is not that easy to love your neighbor, often my mind goes to love those who are easy to love. But this is not true. Love everyone! When Jesus shared this with his disciples he meant everyone. The next question is how do I love them. Here in Papua I am realizing that I need to care for people and their needs. One of our OE speakers spoke on the fact that if you are helping the least of these you are helping HIM. I am also realizing that relationship is key to Love. To love someone means to spend time, energy, and effort in order to show them that you care for them. This does not mean ohhhh wait but NBA is on TV, I can not spend time with you now. Die to self, stretch yourself, and love others. Amazing a short statement for Jesus to make and so hard for me to follow. Love the Lord, Love others.
The second passage that he spoke on today was out of Matt 28. Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them. Our pastor is big on the fact that God speaks to us each time we are in church and if you do not do something about it within 48 hours then you will forget. The Lord is calling us to DO something about what he is saying. Love is an action word, then in Matt 28 he says GO find a student, share with them, help them out. GO, DO something about it. This does not mean that you necessarily travel and make disciples this means where you are, GO. The pastor challenged us to find someone to befriend and share what God is teaching you. That sounds possible to me. Here we go this week is it, within 48 hours if we have not done anything about it we will forget. GO DO. Lets turn this world upsidedown for Christ. What an awesome idea!
This week a bball tournament starts in a town about half an hour from here. I am playing on one team and coaching another team. Pray that through this opportunity that I have I can practice this idea of meeting someone new to share with. Darren wanting to follow Christ with all my heart from Papua OUT!
Today in church our pastor spoke on something that I have been thinking about for a while now. For a while I was getting confused in all the little details of the Christian life. I tried to ask myself what is the basis of what I am trying to accomplish in this life. I shared with my parents while they were here that I am trying to break it down to Love the Lord, and Love your neighbor. Today our pastor spoke on this exact topic. He read the passage out of Matt 22 where Jesus broke all the commandments down to those two things. This is not that easy to love your neighbor, often my mind goes to love those who are easy to love. But this is not true. Love everyone! When Jesus shared this with his disciples he meant everyone. The next question is how do I love them. Here in Papua I am realizing that I need to care for people and their needs. One of our OE speakers spoke on the fact that if you are helping the least of these you are helping HIM. I am also realizing that relationship is key to Love. To love someone means to spend time, energy, and effort in order to show them that you care for them. This does not mean ohhhh wait but NBA is on TV, I can not spend time with you now. Die to self, stretch yourself, and love others. Amazing a short statement for Jesus to make and so hard for me to follow. Love the Lord, Love others.
The second passage that he spoke on today was out of Matt 28. Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them. Our pastor is big on the fact that God speaks to us each time we are in church and if you do not do something about it within 48 hours then you will forget. The Lord is calling us to DO something about what he is saying. Love is an action word, then in Matt 28 he says GO find a student, share with them, help them out. GO, DO something about it. This does not mean that you necessarily travel and make disciples this means where you are, GO. The pastor challenged us to find someone to befriend and share what God is teaching you. That sounds possible to me. Here we go this week is it, within 48 hours if we have not done anything about it we will forget. GO DO. Lets turn this world upsidedown for Christ. What an awesome idea!
This week a bball tournament starts in a town about half an hour from here. I am playing on one team and coaching another team. Pray that through this opportunity that I have I can practice this idea of meeting someone new to share with. Darren wanting to follow Christ with all my heart from Papua OUT!
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