A New Season

Dear Friends,

As I step out in faith, I am excited to see God’s provision in allowing me to be part of His work in Kenya, Africa from June 25th to July 6th. Please pray for peace to continue in Kenya , our safety as the 15-person team travels to Africa, and for our days in the field.  I see this summer trip to Africa as another step in God’s unfolding plan leading me to full-time ministry.

Shortly after I return from Kenya, I will be representing Christian Educators International Association of Houston, of which I am co-director with Don Clark. I have not been to a national meeting since I was awarded 2008 CEIA National Teacher Award, so I am very excited to see the members of this awesome organization. I plan on bringing my flags and at least one dance garment two dance. In the above picture, I am holding two of the flags that I will be taking and leaving in Kenya in our church plant.

Please pray for God's direction, wisdom, and leading as this CEIA makes shifts in policy and the decisions for the future. Please pray that Don and I, together with all the other leaders, will be in unity and minister in power and the anointing of the Holy Ghost. May we have spiritual ears to listen to God's directions and hearts to obey.

Later this summer, I will be a part of Bibles to Nicaragua from July 24- July 29th as part of  the YWAM Nicaragua project to get Bibles into the hands of all the Nicaraguans. Right now, YWAM-Nicaragua and two other ministries have given Bibles to every home in the city of Diriamba. They are working in a small town called Jinotepe, but they still need around 2,000 Bibles to finish. To complete the saturation of the region, they will require another 35,000 Bibles. Ministry goals include home visitation, personal evangelism, and Bible distribution.  In addition, we will give tracts to the Bible recipients so that they can learn how to read and understand God's Word.  We are presently a team of 5 people. Currently, we have collected three thousand dollars, and we can purchase 750 Bibles.

I am believing God for this academic year (Fall 2011- Spring 2012) to be my last teaching in the public school. I have always viewed the public school as a field ripe unto harvest, and I have encouraged others to seed, water, and till in its furrows. I have had a heart for reconciliation between Jews, Arabs, and Africans for 20 years, and I believe it is the season for me to move out into this ministry. Please stand with me as I prepare to leave for the international mission field full-time.  Please pray that God will raise up supporters of the ministry to which He is calling me. Please pray for my endurance and hope. This step has been a long-time in coming- more than 12 years.

Also, I have been praying since my teens for someone to minister with me on the field. I would appreciate you bringing all of these concerns before. God said that He released a new mantle of authority on my life last November; well, a new level of spiritual warfare has been unleashed against me, but, I boldly declare ,"For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I  have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die." Philippians 2:20

See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness  and streams in the wasteland.

Isaiah 43:19
 

In Him,

MJ

Marvin Sapp's "Never Would Have Made It"

Suffering : A Profound Grace

Peter manages to call suffering a grace and asks us to stand firm: " My purpose in writings is to encourage you and assure you that what you are experiencing  is only part of God's grace for you. Stand firm in that grace" (I Peter 5:12).Some may think that suffering for good  is impossible, yet, nothing is expendable in God's economy. But, God wants to make suffering transformative. Can I trust God? Yes, I can  trust God not to waste one tear, one agonizing cry, one sleepless hour, one mind-numbing and soul-searing cry, to make of those wretched things a profound grace.

Because He experienced suffering, He left me an example of how to suffer and end victoriously, not broken, defeated, or bitter. The three Hebrew servants obeyed God and were thrown into the fire. In the fire even Shadrach, Meshcah , and Abednego, came out without even the smell of fire.  Wow! There's a reward of integrity and obedience. But don't be dismayed; their crucible of pain will buy them a front-row seat to personal deliverance by Jesus himself in His Pre-incarnate form. Daniel too obeyed and blessed the King who sent him to the lion's den. Then, God shut the lion's mouth (Daniel 6:28).


"Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, "Weren't there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?"
"They replied, "Certainly, O king."
"He said, "Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods."
"Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, "Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!" "So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them."
The king had to announce that "No other god can save in this way" (Daniel 3:22-29).

Our goal should be that somehow, we leave the fire whole with Peace. Peace is wholeness spirit, soul, and body. Peace is a person: Sar Shalom. Y'Shua will be in the furnace with you. Truthfully, "And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you" (I Peter 5:10). Those around you will declare with awe like Nebuchadnezzar that Your God is the one true God.

A Fellow Sufferer,
MJ

Friend

How did I not know the meaning of Ruth's name? It is so obvious. Her name means 'friend.' Dah! I only learned her name two weeks when I sat across from a "Ruth." She truly was a friend to all whom she met. Was I too distracted by all the diva drama of Naomi? You know that don't call me Naomi or pleasant drama; call me bitter or Marah. All of that drama kind of detracts from Ruth because of her pain. I bless God for friends; during a recent heated time of spiritual warfare and personal attack on my very being, some very special friends stood (you know who you are) and my sister stood with me back to back as I fought Satan.

Jesus is the friend who sticks closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:21). So what does a friend look like? A friend must be faithful. I love this statement that says a friend is who who sticks around when he would rather be somewhere else. Ruth certainly fits that description. I am sure she would rather  have been anywhere than where she was at the time sharing Naomi's pain. Ruth literally resurrects Naomi's faith. She helps her shift from hopelessness, which is so much like a tomb or grave, to the resurrection of hope in Adonai. Adonai is truly God; He is Jehovah-Jireh- the Lord our Provider.

I am in such position right now; I am being asked to stay in place that I would rather not be. I have not been told how long I have to stay. Ruth had no promises from Naomi, but only obligations. How can I be a friend? I must be transparent and vulnerable to do so. Most of us think of others as spiritual Pez dispenser. We come to people to get what we want. We do not relationship. We want service, but not mutual responsibility. Most Christians have no sense of loyalty. They have no sense of loyalty to the church, to God, and others. If the preacher does not do what the congregation wants, they are ready to cut him out.

A friend does not look at another as merely a resource. If we are just using people, that does not honor God. Jesus was in relationship with Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. Therefore, Mary and Martha  had expectations that Jesus would raise Lazarus from the dead (John 11:1--12:11). Jesus resurrects Mary's and Martha's faith by resolutely declaring, "I am the Resurrection and the Life" (John 11:25). Jesus met their inquiries with true emotion; he wept; he was vulnerable and transparent. He met their needs, but addressed their emotional distress with His power.


Let me ask myself: I am a true friend like Ruth or am I more like Naomi encouraging others to go back to their gods, instead of pressing my friends to find God's face

Your Transparent Friend,
MJ

Shepherd Me

Even now,
You cover me
You reign over me
You cover me

Your rod and staff,

They comfort me
You make me lie
down in green pastures

With your hook,
you gently pull me away
from the precipice
back into the safety of the fold

Your rod, heavy
beats back the prey
carried in your chest
close to your heart

The Healing Power of Wounds

I am sure that you know that wounds have a way of embittering. The pain of rejection can send a message to your soul: you are not good enough.  You have meditated, fast, read, and you are still empty. Where is God in all this pain, especially pain that you have no control over. But, did you know that wounds also have the possibility of healing, too?

There is a sweet girl in my class, Havah. She has a cleft-lip  that has been improved by surgery, but the damage is still noticeable. To me, the child is lovely, but outside of my room, who knows what other voices say to her precious ears. God reminded that when He sees me, He sees lovely, not ___________. But when I leave our secret place (Psalm 91), I need to take the mirror and picture that God has of me, although that is sometimes hard to do. It makes me frightened for little Havah and sad for the child parts of you and me.

After our daily excursion into the world, we often return home smeared with dirt and excrement.  We certainly don't feel pretty or special. We feel soiled. Satan uses those feelings of inadequacies and ugliness to turn is away from Our Father. When we look in the distorted mirrors of the world's carnival or the devil's haunted house, we feel grotesque and strange. We don't resemble the perfect creation that God says He sings over (Zephaniah 3:17). We ask, "Why did you lie to me?"  It's not so much a lie as love for God sees you as an exquisite work of his hands. When I see Havah, I see her petite frame, energy, joy, and I love that crooked smile just as God must have loved Jacob's limp. We may be people who limp into heaven, but Abba's face well be the first face we will see beaming at us at the end of the race. We will hear Him say, "Welcome home, Beloved. You done good." God, of course, is Southern. I don't care how you get there, just get there. You will surely have a testimony.

No matter where you have been wounded, keep running toward the prize: Jesus. Remember, that His mirror and His words are the only ones of the truth. Only your Creator can know your true value: "We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God's throne" (Hebrews 12:2).

Just keeping going,
MJ
P.S. After Jacob's battle and wounding, he got a name-change which signaled a greater nature transformation. He was no longer the schemer and trickster; he became Israel, a holy patriarch whose name means God perseveres or contends. Let God contend for you because one touch from Him in the right place will leave you forever changed even if it leaves a wound.