Thanksgiving...What, Lord, Should I Be Thankful For?

It is late on Thanksgiving evening, and friends and family have all gone home. We are here reflecting upon which direction my thanks would go tonight. Of course, I am grateful for a wonderful family, all of whom are following God. I am thankful for the friends in my life. The friends that are around me currently, as well as the innumerable friendships I have made over the years. I am grateful to God for the unwavering love for me and the relentless pursuit of my soul throughout my life.

There is the call of God to be thankful for, and I am. His Grace for every situation is my sustaining force. Thank You, God, for that. The Holy Spirit's guidance and anointing is necessary for life. Jesus, the Author and Finisher of my faith, keeps me on knees of gratitude.

With all of this, I still do not think I have touched upon the greatest things that God Life in my have produced. I have pondered, and then realized.

The greatest thing I have is the Grace to be the Light of the world. To effect the lives of the lost in a positive way, to draw them to Christ, and then to walk with them through the muck and the mire of learning to grow and Christ….these are the precious things. God is showing me that it is one thing to thank Him for all that He is doing for me, but that I should not make that my world. All things are for my sake, so that I can be all things to all men. This is the thing that I am made for. To be a gentle, caring, long suffering friend to people that know nothing of this.

I love my brothers and sisters in the Lord. You are all precious to me. But our relationship is sealed. Forever. May I never let my relationships with body members rise above my relationship to 'others'. What I mean is, I will cultivate my church family relationships, and my biological family relationships, to grow them, along with me, into poured out ones for the lost.

There is so much to say on this topic. It could be a series of messages. But, for me today, Lord give me the ability to be loyal to the lost!! Please God! Make my loyalty be to the Great Commission. Give me the Grace to bring my friends and family along in this. May I be reproved, oh God, when I am off centered in my relationship to the lost or the undiscipled. Help me to speak words in season to those around me, and thereby fulfilling my role as a friend in the Body.

Oh God, thank You for making my life, not for me, but for others.

Amen

Does My Faith Withstand the Trials of My Life?

by Matthew May

Many times we separate the details of our every day life from our belief system. It becomes so easy to find a solution on my own for the simple little needs of life, what should I eat right now, how can I finish this project at work, how can I learn this information before my exam, and so on. Then the giant storm comes that shakes my ability to solve my problem on my own. I am forced to turn to my belief system (my faith) for a solution outside of myself.

For some, perhaps there isn't much substance to my faith that really applies practically to my life. A "higher power" may sound nice, but it is lacking the only characteristic that I need to make it through my storm, a personal touch, a relationship, a comfort. I have chosen, however, to make my belief system more comfortable. I am free from responsibility to something or someone other than myself. I can easily say that God is not real, it makes life much more independent, fun, and comfortable. That is until my comfort is taken away by a massive storm, which requires something more than I can give. Suddenly, my belief system and it's ideals are far removed from me as I grasp desperately for something that really applies to my life and ALL of it's problems.

I believe this is what David the Psalmist was referring to in Psalm 139:23,24 - "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." David said to "try me," or prove me with some test. Immediately we think of being perfect before God, or not failing in the test, but I don't believe that this was David's point. The point is this, that when God tests us, the trial proves to us how much we need God. The storm reveals the "wicked way" that is in each one of us and how desperately we need God to lead us "in the way everlasting." Trials aren't a twisted display of works, but a time for revelation of our need for the grace and companionship of God. When God is at the center of my belief system, my relationship with Him grows in the measure that I reach out beyond myself to the one who practically meets my needs.

Matt has been part of the Verticalink family for several years. He and his wife, Emily, faithfully led the VL team at Johns Hopkins University, entering into countless conversations around the Truth of the Word of God.
The Mays now reside in Berlin, Germany, where they are doing missions work.

Drawn To Speech, Or Drawn To God?

We have our reactions and our responses when it comes to people of many words. We can find ourselves drawn to the person who has seemed to make verbal communication an art form. Flowery speech and immense knowledge can come across as something worthy of our undivided attention. If we were to consider all the talking that is discharged continually on this planet, we would surely cry out for quietness!

I have found that many christians receive the gift of talking. As I look in the scriptures, however, I cannot find this gift recorded. It seems, then, that the christian has many things to talk about, and so many potential hearers!

We do have great things to communicate, as believers. The Gospel is the key to life, after all. We must convey it to as many persons as we can! Have you noticed, though, that the Gospel is concise, and does not require many words to convey? In fact, the use of too many words can add confusion to the simplicity of God's unconditional love toward man.

You know, I think God gave us a message through creation. He gave us two ears, and one mouth. So it isn't that we should not speak, but it is that we ought to listen MORE than we speak! This represents the true gift in communication, which is found in listening to the leading of the Holy Spirit, and listening to the other person, and still having gentle guidance in the conversation.

The Gospel does not need to be sold. People do not need to be tricked into believing. Conversely, God, through the Holy Spirit, leads his people to salvation. This is done mysteriously, lovingly, and miraculously by the Creator.

If there are objections in a conversation, then we apply reasoning to expose the source of the objections, and the source of the Gospel. Godly reasoning comes from a prepared heart. This would be one that has a good knowledge of the scriptures and theology, combined with a compassion and desire for others to know their God. Even this reasoning does not manifest itself in wordiness. On the contrary, the opposing viewpoint is most often the wordy one.

James 1:19 calls us to be quick and ready to hear, and slow, even dull to speaking. The chapter finishes out by teaching us that hearing must lead do doing. Each one of us wants to receive everything we can from God, so that He can work out His Will for us through us. There is much to hear. Heaven is always speaking.

Stay quiet, and listen. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

Liberty That Silences Foolishness

Proverbs 26:11 says, rather graphically, that a person who returns to his bondage after receiving liberty is like a dog that returns to his own vomit. My reaction to either example is to drive the subject away from its object! Shoo! Get away from that!

Yet there is foolishness found in the heart of man. He has a propensity toward the very thing that separates him from God. (Pr. 19:3)

We have, as Christians, a new-found liberty! We did not earn it. It is a gift from our God, through our Savior. Like every gift that comes from Above, our liberty has purpose. Yes, it frees us from the bondage of sin and death (Ro. 8:2). But the continuing purpose inside the Plan of God is even greater! We have the ability to silence the ignorance we see each day. Ignorance that is proliferated by the forces of evil is this world system. The kosmos is made up of an organized system, a confederated host, as described in Ephesians 6:12. The mission of this army is to divide man from God. Their methods are varied, but they are very effective at stirring up foolishness in society.

How do we come against such a thing? See 1 Pe 2:15. With liberty! The liberty to move forward in righteousness. To stand fast in the liberty that has set us free. In so doing, we create a great contrast. Blurriness is cleared up. Gray areas are colored in distinguishing shades and lines. The Goodness of God is boldly manifested in the face of question.

And man is reconciled with his God.

Stand in liberty!

The Proclamation: Liberty To The Captives!

Isaiah 61 can be looked at as an inaugural address. It contains some of the most heart moving promises that man could ever hear. We find, in this short address, a concise outline of the Good News. Each verse, even each phrase, deserves the most careful attention from the eager reader. The unknown prophet, Who reveals Himself in verse 8, speaks directly to the heart of man in the face of the devil. His identity is confirmed in scripture in Luke 4:17-21, which records that remarkable day in history when Jesus entered the synagogue on the sabbath, and read the excerpt from Isaiah. We all would have loved to have been there that day!

Tonight I stand as a captive who has been set free! Each of us, in the unfolding of our lives, have been brought into bondage. One thing after another has bound us to the earth, as we have groveled for acceptance and affirmation in a world system that promises but never fulfills. But then Love came into our lives. The Love of God. And we were set free.

It is difficult to accept our freedom. The prince of this world preaches to us of our worthlessness and inability. Yet, his message is so very true, for without the Promise of God, we are truly useless. We can do nothing to facilitate our own release from bondage, and are left to suffer in the struggle to become free. This has been a long, hard battle. Now, Christ is welcomed into our lives, complete with the promise of new liberty and freedom from all that has plagued us. But, can it be true? We know the truth about ourselves, even if we do not muse upon it. But this new promise, can we trust it?

But then God says, 'Follow Me'. He doesn't instruct me on how to escape from the state I am in. He talks to me as if I am already free! Right from the start of my relationship with Him, He says, 'Come".

So I follow. And I keep following. And He lights the way for me. And if I fall, He picks me up. And the way is not grievous, but it is marvelous.

And I am liberated!

Receive Him and His Promise of Salvation, and experience a liberty you never thought possible! He is waiting.

Taking Ownership Of All That Is Yours

1 Corinthians 3:21-23 give us a surprising truth. We are told that all things are ours. So what does the term 'all things' refer to? Maybe it is that which men give us by way of ministry. Maybe it is the world and everything in our own sphere of experience therein. Perhaps it is life itself, with all the ups and downs associated with living on this planet. Could it even be death, with its uncertainty mixed with the assurance of faith? According to the scripture, all of these things are ours, and more. The things that are present and are happening today. It is also things to come. The future, as it unfolds itself in front of us. All ours.

So, we take ownership. We accept that which is given to us, both the good and bad, and claim it as our own. Then, like any good owner, we become good stewards of our possessions.

As we receive the Word of God, we honor and obey it as the Holy Spirit leads and empowers. Becoming accountable to the Word is the place of deliverance for the believer. New horizons are opened to us as we open ourselves in stewardship to the Word as it is presented to us.

The events that take place in our lives become the pieces of the puzzle that God is constructing in us. He takes each thing and uses it in building us up into lively stones in the Body of Christ. The 'all things' principle of Romans 8:28 goes to work, and, as we take ownership of each day in accountability, we will be witnesses of God's construction project on our behalf. Better to witness construction than destruction!

Heaven is always initiating. We are receiving from the Grace and Mercy of God every moment of the day. The Holy Spirit supplies the unction for us to live in this world, and through it all, the tough and the easy, we grow in the knowledge of the Holy One!

As we realize our wealth of ownership, we find that we also have acquired the power to share the answers of life with others. We discover that we are constrained by God's Love for people, and we initiate Him to each person we meet.

In this, we find our purpose.

Fanning The Flame For The Campus

The over-stimulation in this world can limit a person's focus, and could eventually cause the shut-down of objective thinking. Yet there is an organization in the chaos of this world system. As I sit here in a coffee shop in downtown San Juan, PR, there are dozens of things happening at once, just within the reach of my ears and eyes. If we are not determined, we will attempt to respond to as many of the stimuli around us that we can. Our attention will be drawn to an orchestra of events, and the reality of Truth will get minimized within the volume of input.

The first few verses of the third chapter of Nahum speak of the bloody city that is full of lies, and whose prey never escapes. The city, with noises of whips and wheels and machinery. The city with horsemen that lift shining swords and spears. A city that takes multitudes of lives, through its deceit, whoredom, and witchcraft (drug abuse). And we see that the Lord is against the city. That He will reveal it for what it is, and make a memorial, or gazingstock of it.

We must see as God sees. We must recognize the world system just as it is, a bloody city that takes many lives and leaves them without a saviour. The world is a bad place, in the deepest meaning of the word.

But the people are precious. The people are captives, as prey that cannot escape. But we have the release for them. We have the Saviour! We can put out our hand in rescue and know that it is the only hope they have.

We must not love the world (1 John 2:15). This means that we have no care for the world. No desires for what it has to offer. No involvement with it, other than one of Divine Purpose.

As VL members, we have a purpose on the campus. It is to love the people there, and to be a part of the ages-old rescue project called The Great Commission. We have a call to the ministry of reconciliation of man to God. It is an incredible call.

So we must keep the flames burning in our hearts for the campus. And we must beware the noise of the world, that will seek to quench the effectiveness of God's people.

Fan the flame this summer!

VLers, What Are We About?

There are 13.3 million college students in the US alone. In this country, there are 4600+ colleges. We know that the campus has a foundation spiritually that is not based on God. We know that there is a system involved, and that system has an agenda. We also know that pursuing an education is not a bad thing. We are grateful that there is the freedom to do so.

If the census is correct, there should be nearly 4 million evangelical Christians on our 4600 campus'. This statistic shows us two very important factors of our work at VL.

First, there are 4 million evangelical believers on the campus today. These precious saints are there, in most cases, because they feel that God has led them there. They are Christians who are, for the most part, in a hostile environment regarding their faith. We can help with that. We can provide support with fellowship, prayer, outreach, and worship. And we can supply a flow of doctrinal teaching that stands in the face of whatever philosophy they find themselves confronted with.

Second, if there are 4 million believers, then there are 9 million that need the Lord. The VL worker is involved in missions work. The campus is a mission field. In fact, if you remember, the word 'campus' means 'field' in the latin. With this in mind, we view our work as if we were missionaries on the field. We count the task before us in spreading the Gospel on campus as no less important at the University as it is in any country or region on earth. The College campus is an environment unto itself, and thus the people living there are a people group which needs to be reached with the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

In the coming several weeks, our blog entries will be instructional for the VL staff and workers. In this summer time, we should busy ourselves with our home churches, sharpening our focus on doctrine and evangelism. This is a preparatory time for us to ready ourselves for the fall. Take full use of this time. Come to Puerto Rico for on-hand training if you can. Otherwise, stay connected to us here through the website.

Our call is a great one! Let's join together in it.

Onward!

Salvation.pkg

Dig into your salvation, there is more there than you think! We have been given many items along with the salvation that became ours when we chose Jesus' gift. I say, dig in!

Paul said it too: Php 2:12* Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

If I may rephrase this verse...Paul says, 'You have always listened to my guidance, even in my absence. So now, even though I am not there, make note of this: Cultivate your salvation, using the inclusive things that God has given you, with a goal to bring yourself to completion in your experience, in Him. Do this knowing that it is all God, and none of yourselves, and humbly walk in Him and with the new possessions you find each day. Salvation is great...greater than you think! (The New VL Version)

I look at salvation as if it were a package. A package so big and so full that I could never get to everything in it. Each item is exciting and new. Surprise and joy come with each 'dive' into the package! We may find deliverance in an area that we thought we were doomed to fail in. We may find compassion for a person that we had once written off as the enemy. We will find grace for every turn in life.

Then there are talents. There are giftings. Areas that we find ourselves mysteriously proficient in for the Glory of God. Things that we could never accomplish before, now become lifestyle for us.

We find people in there too. Well, not the actual persons, but encounters with people. New brothers and sisters that come on the scene, each of them digging into their own package! Great fun and happiness!

We also find opportunities in the package. Places to minister. A new call to a new area of ministry. We find ourselves in situations that include people that need what God has taught us. And we find the Grace to share with them in the Love of God!

There is so much more, more than we can ask or think, in our package!

Imagine having such a package, but not opening it. Imagine choosing the status quo instead. After all, we know what is normal in life, with no risks and no adventure.

That would be silly, wouldn't it?

Don't be silly, then!

Dive in, and see what God has for you today!

New Diggs

We are setting up shop for the new home of Verticalink International in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. The Caribbean climate will lend itself to training and retreats year round, and the Universities on the island are populated with open and honest young adults in various pursuits of higher education.

In our first week here we have seen one young man come back to Christ after a long time of turning away, and, in the midst of our own settling in, have met many people that welcome the Gospel into their lives.

Watch for updates regarding Verticalink on campus in Puerto Rico, as well as opportunities to visit and share with us in the campus ministry experience!