It's the little things...

It's funny.

Every time it feels like my life is coming just a little bit unhinged, I hear the same small voice.

It's God.

He says, "Just take it one thing at a time right now. Do the good, simple things you know to do. Let me handle the big picture for a while."

And I do. And he does.

And it's beautiful. :)

-Aaron

Romans 12: Words to live (and love) by

"Love must be SINCERE. Hate what is evil; CLING TO what is good. Be DEVOTED to one another in brotherly love. HONOR one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the LORD.

"BE JOYFUL in hope, PATIENT in affliction, FAITHFUL in prayer. SHARE with God's people who are in need. PRACTICE HOSPITALITY.

"BLESS those who curse you; bless, and DO NOT CURSE. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. LIVE IN HARMONY with one another. DO NOT BE PROUD, but be willing to associate with people of low position. DO NOT BE CONCEITED.

"Do not repay ANYONE evil for evil. Be careful to DO WHAT IS RIGHT in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, LIVE AT PEACE WITH EVERYONE.

"DO NOT TAKE REVENGE, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: 'It is mine to avenge, I will repay.' says the LORD.

"On the contrary: 'If you enemy is hungry, FEED him; if he is thirsty, GIVE HIM SOMETHING TO DRINK. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.'" -Romans 12:9-21 (NIV)

Amen!

The (true) meaning of (absolute) sacrifice

At our house church service in Krakow yesterday, Dr. Dennis Johnson lead a devotional discussion about the meaning of sacrifice, as evidenced by God’s response to Cain and Abel in Genesis 4 and Paul’s exhortation to the church at Rome church in Romans 12.

"...Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then the LORD said to Cain, 'Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.'"-Genesis 4:2b-7 (NIV)

Dennis’s thoughts: “Everything God wants from us –everything he asks of us- is in our best interests, not (just) his.”

My thoughts: “God is holy. If he’s not holy, he’s not God. If he is holy, he can’t abide compromise with sin or selfishness. That’s why it’s sometimes hard to think about God and his nature. He’s not an angry, punishing taskmaster; he’s just holy.”

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will...Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality."-Romans 12:1-2, 9-13

Dennis’s thoughts: “God knows that we won’t be satisfied with giving anything less than our best, because we are made in his image.”

My thoughts: “Love first; act second; speak last.”

Amen!

Rest Easy

One more mile 'til I lay rest.
I have put myself through this rigid test.
But the mile has never ended no distance has been gained.
I do not see greatness I wanted to obtain.
Where is my embrace from the race that I have run?
I have kept a steady pace but still I have not won.

Rest easy, have no fear.
I love you perfectly; perfect love drives out fear.
I'll take your burden; you take my grace.
Rest easy in my embrace.

I am such a sinner, I fear my evil ways.
I fear my imperfection, I fear my final days.
I just want to take control and snap this rusty chain,
drop my heavy burden it seems to be in vain.

Rest easy, have no fear.
I love you perfectly; perfect love drives out fear.
I'll take your burden; you take my grace.
Rest easy in my embrace.

I am not a bold man, even though I want to be.
I am just a dreamer with a timid history.
Scared of confrontations, I fume all through the night.
The world has its hold on me, and I just want to fly.
The sky, the sky is open wide.
But I can't fly 'til I step aside

Rest easy, have no fear.
I love you perfectly; perfect love drives out fear.
I'll take your burden; you take my grace.
Rest easy in my embrace.

Rest easy, rest easy...rest easy, in my embrace
Rest easy.

-Audio Adrenaline

(Pretty) Urgent Prayer Requests: July 2011

Hey friends! Couple of (pretty) urgent prayer requests like to share with you Re: our roles in the coffeehouse/house church ministry in Poland:

1.) COPENHAGEN! We are leading the fundraising efforts to take 12+ volunteers and staff members from our Poznań and Kraków locations to the 2011 Nordic Barista Cup coffee summit in Copenhagen, Denmark. Attending this conference is an AWESOME opportunity -one God used to work genuine educational and relational miracles in the lives of our staff members last year- but it's also a fairly expensive one. Please pray that God will provide the necessary funds in time...he always has before, and we're trusting him to do it again! :)

2.) ROASTING! It's possible that a church in States will be sponsoring the purchase of a small, commercial coffee roaster to serve all three Sweet Surrender shops in Poland (and possibly interested Nazarene churches in the States). Many things have to fall into place before that can happen, but among the most important concerns is Brittany's need to find a master coffee roaster in Kraków that is willing to grant her a crash-course apprenticeship this summer and fall. Please pray that God's will might be done in this situation, and in his time!

Thanks so much for you prayers and support...we could have never made it this far without you!

Aaron & Brit

The Love of God

"The Love of God is greater far

than any tongue or pen can ever tell.

It goes beyond the highest star,

and reaches to the lowest hell.

"The guilty pair, bowed down with care,

God gave his Son to win.

The erring child he reconciled,

and saved him from his sin.

"Could we with ink the ocean fill,

and were the skies of parchment made.

Were every stalk on earth a quill,

and every man a scribe by trade.

"To write the love of God above,

would drain the ocean dry.

Nor could the scroll contain the whole,

if stretched from sky to sky."

-Rabbi Mayer & Frederick H. Lehman

"Forgive us as we forgive..."

At last Saturday's Bible study/worship service in Poznań, Pastor Josh Stines continued our exploration of the Lord's Prayer (Ojciec Nasz) with an examination of the phrase, "forgive us...as we forgive." The passage reads like this:

“This, then, is how you should pray: 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’

For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." -Matthew 6:9-15 (NIV)

Josh (aka "Jam Master J") led an examination of these ideas in light of the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant that Jesus told in Matthew 18:

“Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’ But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened. Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

Taken together, these passages inspired several thoughts for me (Aaron):

1.) Josh pointed out that the first amount (10,000 talents) was the equivalent of 150,ooo years' wages(!) for Jesus' audience. In other words...this was a huge, insurmountable un-payable debt (not unlike ours to God). The second amount (100 denarii), however, constituted only about one day's wages. In other words...this was a petty, eminently forgivable debt (not unlike ours to each other).

2.) My Papa Els often says, "you can't out-give God." I think this passage also illustrates that it's impossible to out-forgive God, too! God forgives us of so MUCH...how can we fail to forgive each other of so LITTLE?

3.) When you think about it, this is kind of an intensely scary way to pray. If we're going to ask God to "forgive us as we forgive" others -and Jesus indicates that we are- well, we want to be really, REALLY good at forgiving others!

Amen.