Risk Is Right

Don't Waste Your Life. It is the book by John Piper that I'm currently reading. I have gained so much from what I've read so far...and I have yet to finish it. (If you haven't read it, read it!)

Chapter five of Don't Waste Your Life is titled "Risk Is Right - Better to Lose Your Life Than to Waste It." Around the time I was reading chapter 5, I saw this video:



God doesn't call us to safety or comfort. The life God calls us to live means taking chances for His glory...taking risks. We might stumble, we might fall, but that's part of what it means to trust God.

John Piper defines risk as "an action that exposes you to the possibility of loss or injury." Everyday we take risks because we are finite creatures, we do not know the future. But would you be willing to deliberately take a risk to achieve something great for the cause of Christ?

After reading books like Crazy Love by Francis Chan, and (part of) DWYL, I've come to see that safety is a myth, a mirage as Piper puts it.

"The tragic hypocrisy is that the enchantment of security lets us take risks everyday for ourselves but paralyzes us from taking risks for others on the Calvary road of love. We are deluded and think that it may jeopardize a security that in fact does not even exist...[I]t is right to risk for the cause of Christ, and not to is to waste your life." (Don't Waste Your Life, 81. Emphasis mine.)

The video by Francis Chan reminds me of the parable in Matthew 25, when a lord gave his servants different amounts of money. You know the story: The ones who received the words, "Well done, good and faithful servant," were the ones who took the chances of investing the money. The one who the lord rejected was the one who played it safe, who took no chances.

You won't get human applause when you live the life God calls to (you'll probably get called crazy and even foolish); but you will get applause from the King of kings. Think of Stephen, the martyr, who before he died, saw heaven open up and the Jesus standing at the right hand of God (Acts 7:56). Stephen risked - sacrificed - his life so willingly, that the Son of God actually stood to welcome him into eternity.

So I would encourage you, live not the safest life possible, but a life that's passionate about following Christ, no matter the cost.

Meet Cameron and Riley

Allow me to introduce two of my new friends!

As many of you know, my digital camera broke a while back when I was on a trip. I was hoping to get a new one in time for my missions trip to BABR, but realized it wouldn't arrive in time for me to take it. So, being the ingenious person that I am (haha), I bought a new camera and had it shipped to BABR! It arrived about the middle of the week, but I was still able to take some great pics! And now for the good part....

Blogging friends, meet Cameron, my camera. Get it? Cameron. Camera. Well, I thought it was cute!

(It's slightly difficult to take a picture of your camera with your camera. Thank goodness for mirrors!)

But there's someone else very important that I want you to meet! She's cute and cuddly and her name is Riley.

Riley is a Shih Tzu, very loving, and so friendly! We love her so much! (She fits perfectly in build-a-bear clothes! =D)

I have some special posts coming up, so stay tuned! I hope you all are having a great summer! I'd love to hear how God has used your summer so far; just leave a comment!

Blessings,
Chloe

I'm Back from BABR!

When I looked up into the vastness of the night sky and saw it covered with stars of endless number, how could I but think of eternity in heaven with the God who created it all? Although it is nice to be back to my " home-sweet-home," I enjoyed my week working at Broken Arrow Bible Ranch so much! Living outside the city limits is an awesome experience - I can just look around me and know that nothing is impossible with my God!

Throughout the week I was dwelling on part of Isaiah 40:

26Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power not one is missing. 27Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, "My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right is disregarded by my God"? 28Have you not known? Have you not heard?The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. 29He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. 30Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; 31but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

God changed me in so many ways during my stay at BABR - but not in ways that I expected. I guess I was expecting God to do some marvelous work in my life, to radically change me. Rather, He reminded me of the "small" things that I had forgotten, but they were very important. And He did change me! Just not in the way I expected. I've found that God's ways are so much better! Aren't you glad that God doesn't always give us what we expect? Aren't you glad that our expectations cannot even compare to God's wonderful plan? I am.

Praise God for a week I will always remember! A week where I saw God's family grow just a bit larger; a week where I received new brothers and sisters in Christ; a week where I had the opportunity to serve Christ alongside fellow believers.

Thank you to everyone who was praying for me and the team! To God be the glory!

My youth group (I'm the one on the far left).

One of our projects was to scrape and repaint this water tank. Some of the guys built the shed behind it.

The perfect verse for dry New Mexico! My friend Michaela did most of the artwork. Isn't it amazing?

I wasn't a counselor, but I was assigned to a group!

Farewell - for a while....

Hey everyone! Tomorrow morning (Saturday) I'm off with my church youth group to Broken Arrow Bible Ranch, a camp in New Mexico that reaches many Native American tribes in that area. While we're there, we will lead the chapel times, help with cleaning and any repairs the camp needs, and also counsel the kids. I'll be working at BABR from June 7-11, but I won't be back until the 13th (my youth group is taking a tiny side trip to go white water rafting).

I would love your prayers for the week!!!! Please pray that the children's hearts will be ready to receive the gospel and that many will come to know Him.

Lord willing, I will be back soon! See ya!

~Chloe

The Cure

A terrible disease has been sweeping the nation - and the world. It's affluenza. And like I said in my previous post, it's a disease that God hates, and it strikes the most u8nexpecting victims. What exactly is affluenza? It is derived from the words influenza and affluence. You're probably familiar with influenza, but possibly not affluence, which means "an abundance of material wealth and possessions." Affluence itself is not a disease in itself; but when it becomes dissatisfaction and a constant desire for more, that's when it becomes sin. It doesn't just end with a want for more possessions, however; affluenza is the whole sense of entitlement to comfort, luxury and convenience.

Why is this? Why can't "enough" be "enough?" Maybe it's because our perspective is distorted. If we actually set our minds on things above, not on earthly things, our personal comfort will have little value to us. Ouch! That is convicting for me! In a world that feeds us lies and tells us that we need more, it's hard to live a life focused on storing up treasures in heaven! That's why we need the cure. You guessed it! Jesus Christ.

The Bible says that we are dead when we are living for our own pleasure. Jesus wants to be our sole satisfaction. As John Piper said in his book, Don't Waste Your Life, "[God] is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him" (36). I will ask you a question that always convicts me: Am I satisfied in Jesus? If He asked me to give up everything I have, could I do it? glorified

"Jesus Christ reveals Himself to those who follow in His steps. He draws near to those who build their entire lives around His pattern. If we feel far away from Him, it is very likely that we aren't truly building our entire existence around Him; that we are living far more for self than for the glory of His name....The moment that we actually deny our self, pick up our cross, and follow Jesus Christ...is the moment we are surrounded with the power and presence of His Spirit - not just every once and a while, but every moment of every day" (Leslie Ludy from Set-Apart Femininity, 68-69).

For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things. (Psalm 107:9.)



When Jesus is our All-in-All, we don't need anything else. Is He your All-in-All? Is He more than enough?

No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. (Matthew 6:24.)

Teenage Disease is Spreading Fast

All over the world, people are being diagnosed with a terrible disease. Although anyone is susceptible to this disease, teens seem to be the most contagious. This disease has spread worldwide, but the most cases have been reported in the wealthier countries of the world, such as the United Sates, Australia, Europe, and many more. Experts are now calling this disease affluenza. You may not have heard of it before. However, the chances are that you already have it!!! Not sure? Watch this video and see if you can identify with any of the symptoms.



Affluenza - a feeling of dissatisfaction, anxiety, etc, caused by the dogged and ongoing pursuit of more.

Have you been infected?

Wow. I don't know about you, but I am definitely guilty of breeding "affluenza" in my own life. How can any of us ever think that we've got it tough, that life isn't fair? After seeing a video like that, my little, every-day complaints appear as the awful sins that they really are.

If you have not read Francis Chan's Crazy Love, then I highly recommend that you do! These facts about our wealth are taken from his book:

If one hundred people represented the world's population, fifty-three of those would live on less than $2 a day. Do you realize that if you make $4,000 a month, you automatically make more than the average person on this planet?

I can't tell you how often I've thought that I actually need something. Need something. Not only that, but so often I find myself discontent with the possessions I have. I hate to think of what God feels about this sin. Don't you think He just wants to spit us out of His mouth??? I cannot imagine the kind of disgust He has towards my ungratefulness.

We need to wake up and see that we are blessed. Abundantly blessed! Why do you think God has put you where you are with what you have? Do you think maybe it could be because He wants us to use our blessings to provide for the needs of others, for those who have nothing? We are supposed to love those people just as much as we love ourselves (Matt. 22:39).

I want to see God's blessings in a new way. I want to stop complaining. I want to be known as a giver, not a taker.

I want to do something.

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On a side note, I want to mention a few ways that you can do something:

Check out  Jumps 4 Joy where the goal this year is to raise enough money to build  two wells in 3rd world countries.
Or check out  Teens 4 orphans where the goal is to raise funds to build an orphanage in Myanmar.
You also have to see Do: Living Water, a project that is working to raise $25,000 dollars for clean wells in the Congo.

Each of these organizations were started by teens!!!

Exercise Curse

"Carrying the Cross Around the World"

"The cross is a reminder of God's love for all people. It is at the foot of the cross where the best of God meets the worst of mankind." -- Keith Wheeler

Keith Wheeler felt God's call in 1985 to carry a 12-foot wooden cross through the streets in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Good Friday. Sounds crazy? Keith Wheeler thought so too. But these words kept burning in his heart:

"Anyone can carry a cross--think about Simon of Cyrene; he carried Jesus' cross. Anyone can die on a cross--think about the two thieves on either side of Jesus. Only One, however, could die for the sins of the world ... and that was because of love. I want you to take the cross and identify that message of love along the roadsides of this world."

Since carrying the cross in Tulsa that Good Friday, Wheeler carried the cross to Oklahoma City and then to Arkansas, then eventually overseas. He has now walked with the cross for 25 years, nearly 20,000 miles, and through more than 185 countries on all seven continents.

Keith has carried the cross through Rwanda, Bosnia, Chechnya, Nicaragua, El Salvador, all throughout the Middle East - Iraq, Iran, even Antarctica!!! Though most counties welcome him, he has been arrested many times and jailed (none for crimes). He has also been held at gunpoint, beaten and left for dead, accused of being a spy for the CIA, run over and stabbed.

Keith obeys God no matter the cost, and God has continually provided for and protected him. In Kieth's own words, "When God called me to the mission of taking the cross to the nations of the world I felt His instruction was to "seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness …" (Matthew 6:33). I felt that He said that if I pursued His Kingdom, His righteousness, and His purposes that He would meet all the necessary needs. I have been amazed at God's grace and mercy as He has provided for and watched over me as I have gone with the cross, and the message of God's love into the world. I can truly say Jesus has done it all!!"

Mark 8:34: "If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."






This video is about 20 minutes, but please watch it. This is one of the most inspirational videos I have ever seen. You have to see it! Keith shows what it really means to follow Christ.




For more information about Keith Wheeler, visit his website at http://www.kw.org/index.htm, or see these articles:


http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20100403_18_A1_KeithW827779&archive=yes


http://www.newson6.com/global/story.asp?s=12249438