Blessed are You WHEN They Persecute You…

I’ve always known there was a price to pay to preach the Gospel. I was raised by parents who literally left all to “come and follow Me”. My mom owned her own business and my dad was a clinical chemist with a team of chemists under him. They owned a home and were basically on their way to living out their small American dream. When God broke in, saved their souls and called them to the ministry, the two “typical Americans” sold their home, either sold or gave away everything that wouldn’t fit in a fifth wheel trailer, and set off to go to a foreign nation and preach the Gospel of salvation. I have no regrets. In the midst of adversity I have experienced God’s faithfulness – He is true to His Word!
Over the past year I have experienced a new kind of “price” and I (and my family) have chosen to pay it knowing that God is faithful to perform His Word as we walk in obedience, faith, and patience. He says “If you are willing AND obedient you will eat the good of the land” (Isaiah 1:19)
Generally speaking I tend to keep my own pain, challenges, and opportunities private unless sharing them can encourage a fellow struggling believer. Analyze and make your judgments if you’d like, but I will continue to follow the Holy Spirit and be true to Him, His Word, and how He leads my heart.
I’m going to share in this blog my own (and my family’s) price because I believe that everyone has a price to pay and that price is rarely met solely with the currency of prayer. Prayer is vital and you’ll get no where without it, but there is more to walking in your call than just praying and studying the Word. The true Gospel of the Kingdom is a personally inconvenient Truth. Peter left his fishing business to follow the Master. James and John (the son’s of Zebedee) left their father to run the business without them. Basically they forfeited their entire inheritance. I’m sure dad was more than displeased. For Jesus to even come into the world, Mary and Joseph had to suffer quite a blow to their personal reputations. I’m sure Joseph’s business suffered because of his choice to marry Mary. Mary was forever branded by the religious crowd and Joseph had to reconcile with the fact that his wedded dream was greatly altered by the plans of God. Saul was headed for the prestigious position of high priest when his high and lofty aspirations were flipped upside down by His encounter with Jesus. Instead of a position of honor and the best seats in church and at parties he would spend his life serving others, in prison, and being thrown out of town.
As the time approached for my recent trip to Panama all these things came to mind. Why? Because my family and i have had to pay a very dear price, a painful price, and a humbling price. No sooner than did we set our feet upon the path of God (Dave with the Catylist ministry and me is missions work) that all Hell broke loose. Ben became exceedingly aggressive, violent, and unpredictable. The melt downs intensified and accelerated to the point that containment and self defense were the only options. I hope to have video for the record because when his deliverance is complete no one will believe the change! Dave and I have born the brunt with bruises and teeth marks as proof, but Joy and Isaac have also had their share of hits, kicks, pinches, and bites.
A friend who has witnessed some of this behavior said “Myca, I don’t know how you do it!” Well, friends, here’s the honest to God truth: sometimes I don’t do “it”. Sometimes “it” does me. Proverbs 24:16 says “For a righteous man may fall seven times And rise again, But the wicked shall fall by calamity.” Another translation says the Lord will lift him up. Thank God that through Jesus I am righteous. Through Jesus Ben is righteous, and no act of wrath, anxiety, or selfishness can mar, taint, or undo what Jesus purchased on the cross!
Jesus paid the price for sin, and now we are asked to be inconvenienced for the Gospel’s sake. It would have been more convenient for me to have stayed home instead of walking in the plan of God for my life. No one would have blamed me for it or thought less of me. After all, it’s hard raising a child with autism. Well, folks, it was “hard” for Jesus to go to the cross. It was “hard” for Him who knew no sin to become sin for us. Paul told Timothy “Endure hardness like a good soldier” (2 Tim. 2:3). To quote the song “life is hard, but God is good”.
So, let my “price to pay” encourage you: if I can do it, so can you! Around 160 people received salvation and at least five times that heard the Gospel. A three year old girl received arches in her feet and God was glorified in many other healings. I’d say that was worth a couple weeks of “paying the price”, of fighting the fight, and living the life He has for us regardless of the inconvenience. Imagine what God could do if you will endure some hardness. Paul said “I glory in tribulation, because when I am weak He is strong.” (2 Cor. 12:10; Ro. 5:3) So, don’t cry for me. The greater the test the greater the testimony! Mark my words, the giant of autism will fall, and great will be the fall thereof. Rest assured my family will be right there in the middle of it preaching the Gospel and giving God all the glory.

You Have Come to the Kingdom for Such a Time as This

I wonder what would happen if churches all over the United States (and many of the are) would let go of their obsession for evangelizing (and keeping) the rich and comfortable middle class and begin to focus on the poor as Jesus did? Not to exclude the business owners, doctors, and corporate executives (of such were the 12 disciples), but to bring the gospel of salvation to those who are actually aware of their need for it.
I became intensely aware of this predicament while giving an alter call at a homeless shelter in Panama. I wasn’t even the one scheduled to preach (we had an evangelist for that!), but the Holy Spirit prompted me to share my testimony of some of the many times God has spared my own life from serious harm or certain death. As I shared I heard my own voice declare “the mercy of God spared me, for your sakes, that at this time you might hear the Gospel of salvation! Even as many of you were just spared today or last night from certain death so that you might the opportunity to hear, and receive the Word of Life that is able to both save you and all those who will hear your testimony as you have heard mine.”
Wow! I had never actually, consciously thought of god’s mercy in that way. Many responded to the call that night – no I didn’t actually count, I was too busy rejoicing in the salvation occurring right in front of my very eyes. The people living in the shelter and surrounding areas are painfully aware that each breath may be their last. they know that right next door lay a potential thief, rapist, or murderer. Although I was operating in the gifts of the Spirit at the time, no special divine insight would have been needed to come to the same conclusion. God just made it so real to me in order to cause me to step up (altering that night’s plans) and speak the truth in love.
This event turned my thoughts to the precarious condition of middle and upper class america. Even though a potential thief, rapist, murderer, or terrorist could just as easily end a life early, most financially secure Americans appear to be unaware of the fragility of life and the unpredictable advent of certain death. Even in low crime areas any number of internal or external events could end in catastrophe. Rich or poor, things like heart attacks, strokes, aneurysms, and car accidents do not discriminate based on the individual’s sense of personal security. It truly is the mercy and grace of God that preserves life.I wonder what it will take for God’s people to realize the purpose for their preservation? We were saved, delivered from death, that we might lead others into the same salvation and deliverance. My friends, there really is no other reason to even want to be alive. You have been preserved to be a life preserver.
If you do not know where you will go when you do die, and you will die, friend. I invite you right now. Now is all you know for sure that you have. Make Jesus you Lord so that He can preserve your life as He has preserved mine. Stop trying to save yourself from drowning – you’re only keeping the life guard at bay. Let go of the reigns of your life (you can’t control it anyway) and turn them over to the only one who sees all, knows all, and loves you more than anyone else ever could. Pray this simple prayer:
Dear God,
I believe you sent Jesus to save my life. I believe He died for my sins and rose again. I receive you gift of Grace, forgiveness, and mercy. Be my Lord and savior. In Jesus’ Name I pray!
AMEN
If you prayed just now, congratulations! Welcome to the family of God. I would love to know that a can now call you my brother or sister. Would you please respond to this blog or message me? No matter where you are in the world there are others who have made this same commitment to let God run things in their life. I’d like to pray for you and if possible help you find some of those people.
God Bless you always!

Personal Flexibility – all your bases are belong to Him!

Personal Flexibility – all your bases are belong to Him!
“Blessed are the flexible for they shall not be broken.” – author unknown

From the picture in Isaiah 40:31 of binding together by twisting, we learn that in order to “wait on the Lord” and gain the desired end result of exchanging our strength for His, there is going to be some changing on our behalf. I like to call it adaptations…my friends, we are in the process of a transformation 2 Corinthians 5:17 says that “if any man be in Christ he is a new creation, old things are passed away, and behold all things have become new”.

Something is lost in the translation of this verse: first, the phrase “have become” is in a verb tense that does not exist in English. Basically it states that all things started becoming new and will continue to become new into the infinite future. The second word that is easily misunderstood is “passed away”, it literally means “came to pass” or “passed by”. Many believers try to make this verse say that after you are born again the past is as if it never existed. That is not what this verse says. Here is a better modern view of this verse: “if any person be in Christ He is a new, unique, never before seen creation. Old things happened, but watch and see! Everything is in the process of transforming into the image of a true, unique, never been seen before creature!”

This verse can bit a bit confusing. If I am (present tense) a new creation, why are “all things” still in the process of becoming “new”? This is a key to understanding God’s communications with man. God is not only a God of faith: calling those things that be not as though they were (Heb. 11:3) and He declares the end from the beginning (Isa. 46:10).

So, what kinds of things are changing during our “waiting upon the Lord”? Verse 18 tells us that “all things” (the stuff that’s in the process of becoming new) “are of God who hath reconciled us to Himself by Christ Jesus”. First we must realize that He is the source of exchange. First and foremost He exchanged His only son, Jesus, for our eternal salvation. Second, He is in the process of exchanging our weakness for His strength. We cannot exchange our weakness for someone else’s strength or shore up our weakness through “self help” programs. He wants us new! No refurbished or remanufactured parts. No midnight junkyard visits. Just as Jesus paid the full penalty for sin and there is nothing we can do but except it, He has the parts we need and we cannot earn or deserve them.

The verse continues to say “and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation”. When I’ve read this verse before I always thought in terms of reconciling others to God by introducing them to Jesus. That is, after all, our natural inclination: to focus outside of our selves and onto others…it’s called blame. Although we are called to bring others to Christ, a new dimension of this verse has become apparent to me: a “first things first” dimension. The Greek word for reconcile katallassō means to exchange. We have the ministry (diakonia – attendance, aid, or service) or job of exchanging “all (old) things” of ours for “all (new) things” of His. This exchange requires that we let go of the “old things” He is replacing and embrace the “new things”, the fresh, never-been-seen-before things He wants to make part of us. This process is life-long: being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; Phil 1:6 (NKJV)

Things I have noticed the Lord changing in me are character, level of compassion, outlook on life, the way I see myself and others, and the list goes on. In short: Christ likeness. Romans 8:29 puts it this way: “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

With the things of God there is always a purpose outside of the individual. We are, after all, a body. Not just “a body” but “The Body” of Christ. In my next blog I’ll be exploring the “they” part of Isaiah 40:31. There is a dimension of waiting which can only be done in the corporate setting with result which can only come from God’s people waiting together upon Him…
Following are some verses for further study:
Heb 12:1-3
John 17:11 “be one as we are one”
Heb 12:1-3
Gal 5:5 – to wait or expect eagerly
Phil. 3:20 – to wait or expect eagerly
1 Cor. 1:7 – to wait or expect eagerly
2 Thess. 3:5 – to sit constantly beside
1 Cor. 11:33 – wait for one another
Romans 12:5…

Waiting on the Lord

Waiting

But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40:31 (KJV)

No one likes to wait. Waiting generally engenders feelings of impatience and lack of productivity. Many feel that waiting is just “sitting around and doing nothing”. It seems like such a waste of time. What good can come of waiting? Isn’t it a form of procrastination? Most believers I’ve encountered are looking for strength from the Lord. In Isaiah 40:31 the word for “renew” actually means to exchange. This is a highly motivational offer! Yes, Lord, I would like to exchange my strength for Your’s! Certainly any believer given this offer would not hesitate to make such an exchange. But if simply sitting around in inactivity were the secret to this great exchange there would be a lot of very powerful children in the world! Not to mention monks and bon-bon eating couch potatoes.

Now, I’ve done my fair share of “sitting around” and never came out feeling stronger or performing better. I also have done a lot of studying and praying and although I’m definitely better for it, I’m still not “feeling the power”. I feel encouraged, and am able to face my struggles with more patience and grace, I come out knowing more and often get some great teaching/preaching materials, but that word strength is the same word used in the Greek Septuagent for “dunamis” or dynamite, explosive, miracle working power. So there must be something more to “this waiting thing” than simple inactivity, or focused times of prayer and Bible Study.

The Hebrew word for wait in Isaiah 40:31 is qavah and it means to bind together by twisting. The picture it shows is that of creating a rope with many smaller, weaker strands. A single thread or strand cannot bear much weight, however when it is twisted together with other strands the strength which it yields is akin to “other worldly”. Even so, once the twisting process is complete the individual strand is unrecognizable – it loses it’s individuality and takes on the identity of a “rope”. Another picture I’ve run across to illustrate the word qavah is the bending and twisting together of rods so that they can bear up under a larger weight. Personally I prefer the threads-to-rope illustration because I’d imagine that thread is easier to twist than rods! However, sometimes I think we are more like rods than threads, and often I think the components of our lives mirror more the flexibility of a rod than a thread. A thread needs no preparation as it is flexible and yields readily to weaving. Rods must be soaked and much pressure needs to be applied to bend and twist multiple rods together…food for thought: how flexible are you in the weaver’s hands? So, what is involved in waiting upon the Lord? Well, as stated before both your personal flexibility and the flexibility of your life style probably have a lot to do with it. In my next blog we’ll look at personal flexibility…

Our Story

One of the first things couples ask each other is “How did you meet?” I love telling our story because it is not only a testimony of how God cares for every portion of your life but it is also laced with comedy (how-be-it mostly at my expense)! Dave & I first met at a church Harvest party in 1993. I had just moved from Costa Rica to the U.S. for the purpose of finishing high school and going to college. The church we met at was kicking off a week long conference and my parents were speaking so I drove the 50 miles to be with them (or so I thought!). Dave was bored and had nothing better to do so he decided to hang out with the “kids” at church.
When Dave saw me he felt God urging him to talk to me, I was new and needed friends (which was true). He struggled with it but we did talk and by the end of the conference I had given him my phone number (something I never did, and aside from God can’t figure out why I did it).
Well, we talked off and on for the next year, but I was not interested in a relationship. I had this plan that I would go to college and marry when I was 25 and start having kids when I was 27 or so.  We hung out from time to time and our churches had joint youth functions on a regular basis.
About a year later God started dealing with me about moving to Traverse City (where Dave lived), so I spoke with my pastor and began to make plans and look for a place to live and a job. Both the place to live and the job fell in my lap, so I moved and immediately got plugged in to that same church where Dave & I met. I was very involved in the church working in music ministry, greeting, children’s ministry and evangelism…everywhere I went Dave seemed to be there too…it was like our paths were just getting closer and closer together. I thought he was stalking me! By this time he knew I was the one…I on the other hand was “polite but not pleasant”. During this season, Dave learned a lot about unconditional love and saw the good, the bad, and sometimes the ugly of me.   I also got to know Dave without the blinders of infatuation.  When my parents would come up to visit they were always asking, no insisting, that Dave come along. Turns out that from the first moment my dad saw Dave he knew he was looking at his future son-in-love. In fact,
just about everyone in the small church had us pegged as a perfect couple – but this was not part of my plan!
I even told God: “Lord, You and me have a good thing going here…let’s just skip this marriage thing all together?” He had other plans. Better plans for me. God knows exactly what we need and what will bless us the most even when we cannot recognize it!
Well, the summer of 96 rolled around and my best friend became “temporarily unavailable” – she had family in town. So I was feeling lonely one evening and (as was my custom) started to talk to God about it. Would you believe He said “Call Dave.” Well, after quite a bit of arguing I decided to trust that I really was hearing my heavenly Father and I called Dave. We hung out pretty much all summer, and slowly I found myself falling in love…love came softly, sneaky, and unsuspected so that one evening after watching a movie I proposed and he accepted.

Dave and I have enjoyed a “baggage free” marriage because we both made a commitment to the Lord that we would not give our hearts away until we found the one He intended for us to marry.  We had lots of friends and enjoyed the company of both men and women, without physical entanglements and flirty infatuations.  We were serious about our purposes in Him and wanted to be able to give our entire heart and body to the person we married…not just a piece of our hearts loaded down with broken memories.

We make it our aim to encourage both young and “old” singles to trust God with the second most life changing, impacting, and important decision of your life: marriage.  The Heavenly Father knows exactly what you need.  He formed you in your mother’s womb and wove your inward parts together.  There is no need for fear, He will only do you good all your days!

If you haven’t been this way in the past…that’s OK.  Start now!  I dated in high school a little (nothing ever really seemed to last – thank God!), but when I was 18 I made this commitment and stuck with it all the way to our wedding…boy am I glad I did.  And I’m grateful that Dave did the same.  Prov 3 commands us to “trust in the Lord with ALL your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  Acknowledge Him in all your ways and He will direct your path…”  God has a plan for your life.  His plans are good (Jer. 29:11), and they include your heart, all your heart…if you have trusted Him with your eternity, don’t you think He’s trustworthy with your relational future?  I do.

Faceless Raisins

I felt it necessary to first of all introduce even the concept of a faceless raisin, and then give a brief introduction of myself so as to avoid a few misunderstandings which may arise from my blogs.
I chose the name “Faceless Raisin” because I, like many of God’s people have been exposed to the elements and “dried in the sun”. A parched a weary body of Christ (bunch of grapes), originally meant to be beautiful, find themselves in an ugly place, despised by the world they so desperately want to reach…more on that later. Faceless, because until now the Lord has held us in anonymity, and also because the time has come for Him to receive the glory and not us…may my “face” never become so big that it blocks out the rays of His love!
As for me, there are many ways in which I could describe myself: inward qualities, outward realities, present circumstances, and future hopes…aren’t we all a tapestry of complexity? I marvel at God’s ability to weave together even one life…but millions…even billions of trillions over time…amazing!
For those of you who believe we are a product of our experiences I was raised in 3 different Central American countries by missionary parents. I am bilingual and bi-cultural which produces a whole host of interesting personal and interpersonal opportunities. I am well acquainted with both para-church and church life: the good, the bad, and the ugly. I’ve worked in feeding programs, Bible schools, and miracle crusades. As far as the “Christian world” goes: I’ve been around.
Like Abraham, I’m still looking for that city “whose builder and maker is God”. I’ve had my fill of man-made, man-driven organizations and although I am neither judging nor mad at “church”, I’m not satisfied or fulfilled by it either. Part of me knows that I won’t be completely satisfied this side of heaven because (let’s face it) what I’m really longing for is God’s complete, physical reign on this earth…hmm Which leads me to divulging one of my inward “qualities”: I’m a hopeful realist. I say hopeful because in spite of all the failures and fop as committed by myself and others I still have hope that some day we may just get it right. Not perfect, just right!
In my blogs I will mostly be writing as I try to sort out and reconcile what I know in my heart to be true and right with both what I see acted out both in and around me as well as what the Word of God has to say about it all.
Although I believe that the way (or path) of God is simple so that even a fool could not err there by, I do not believe it is easy, and I certainly do not go for pat answers to the “hard questions”. Whether or not you believe in God, your journey here involves Him and our interactions with Him define us in ways we may not know until we reach “that city” or rather “it comes down to us”.
So, now, for the natural side. I used to think: “why bother? Natural stuff has no bearing on eternal things.” Boy was I wrong! You see, whether we like it or not we are 1/3 body 1/3 soul and 1/3 spirit…we are complicated beings created after God’s image and likeness…Man still looks on the outward appearance, and God still uses nature as a form of “first contact”, a touching point if you will. The journey to the soul and is through the outward senses, and it’s not a bad thing. This is one reason why we need people in our lives we can trust and connect with. So, here is a brief outline of my “outward” or natural life(I’ve tried to list my “facts” in as close to chronological order as possible. We are after all greatly shaped by time…but I digress): I am a wife – happily married to a husband who is absolutely amazing (I will tell our story in a separate blog)! I am a mother – together, my husband and I have three children (oldest girl, middle and youngest boys). I will talk about our opportunities and joys of child rearing in a separate blog also. I am a college student and a part time play ground aide/school librarian at a local Spanish Immersion elementary school (some of my more amusing musings will be about work). I am a minister, I guess I’ve always been a minister, but I’ll leave that topic for another day.
I’m learning to be impacting while remaining “nameless and faceless” in a godless world. I am a worshiper, intercessor, Bible student, and aspiring friend of God. I have enjoyed seasons of great happiness and felt the despair of great sorrow. I am His Faceless Raisin.

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