CRC has been blessed by our guests in amazing ways this month. One women's group donated a commercial grill to us that is a third bigger in size than the one we have and is practically brand new! Another women's group took up an offering for the staff and presented to us all a tip of almost $500. Wow!!
     Also, in the last month we were privileged beyond words to spend time with some international personal retreat guests who are laying down their lives for the gospel. An Egyptian couple that provides discipleship-based Christian counseling with Good Samaritan Ministries in Egypt spent several days with us and even cooked an Egyptian dinner for our staff and the MMAP volunteers. Another couple ministers to the persecuted church in India. We are honored to have had them both here and are moved by their commitment and love of God in the midst of danger and oppression. These brothers and sisters are rising to God's call on their lives.

Pictured left are our guests from Egypt and, on the right, the couple who serves the persecuted church in India.

     These examples of Christian generosity encourage us to walk in a manner worthy of our calling as it talks about in Ephesians 4. We are all spiritually rich, and have been given so much through God's word, forgiveness, and justification...making us His children and co-heirs of the promise. We have the joy and the duty to share this good news with others. I pray that we will be faithful stewards.
     Tonight I was talking to our sons, Peter and Jonathan, about our lives not being our own. I also shared about what our lives would look like if we really took seriously what the Bible says about hell and eternal life...as well as the many other black and white words contained in there. We tend to make things soft and watered down for our children, shielding them from the high cost of being a Christian and the consequences of not truly loving others.
     Love is so much more than what we make it out to be. Love wants what is best for the other, whatever the price. Proverbs says, 'faithful are the wounds of a friend'. Like a doctor who is willing to inflict pain in order to accomplish a greater good, so our God, the Great Physician, is not willing that any should die. Yes, God allows suffering, but not as a man who dispenses it for his own personal power and morose pleasure, to satisfy some insecurity within themselves, but as One who will bring about life and reconciliation.
     Tonight, I also played a board game with Jonathan, of which I lost miserably. It was fun, but I challenged him to another match in the near future, as I just can't let him beat me so easily. It's true that I am competitive, but where it shows up in me even more is in my walk with the Lord. I want to run this race that is set before me in such a way that I win. In 1 Corinthians 9 Paul talks about being a slave to all, that he might win more for Christ. I want to be that person. I'm certainly not there yet, in fact I feel as though I have lost my focus the last couple of years, where life has presented less trials than any time in my past, but by God's grace I have gotten back on the track.

Scene from 'Chariots of Fire'