Why I'm Not a Good Samaritan

I think we often misunderstand the parable of the Good Samaritan as a teaching intended to turn us into more compassionate people when really, that's not the main intention of the parable at all, as great of an intention as that may be.

...While the parable of the Good Samaritan definitely inspires us to notice hurting people's needs irregardless of their race or religion or condition, and to attend to them in love, costing us what it may; I think we miss the crucial point of what Jesus is teaching us if the only thing we glean from this story is that we need to become better people who love others more...

Of course loving people more is a great objective (and I know that I really need to do that better), but I believe that there is something deeper here than what is initially understood.

Every teaching of Jesus always has an objective, and every objective is always directed to someone specific. In this case, Jesus was sharing this parable to an expert of the law who was trying to justify himself (Luke 10:25-29); and I believe that this is the best clue that we have in understanding what Jesus is ultimately getting at in this specific story.

The two questions Jesus addresses in this story are as follows: "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" and, "Who is my neighbor?".

...According to the characters in this parable, the answer to the second question is clear. It's everyone - including, but not limited to, my enemy (just like the Jews were to the Samaritans, and the Samaritans were to the Jews)... But how should I love my enemy? Well, surprisingly, the way the good Samaritan loved the man that fell into the hands of the robbers is how - by going way above and beyond any normal call of duty, and risking all my life and resources in giving others all the time and help they need at my own expense.

The beauty of Jesus' teaching in this parable is that when we consider the good Samaritan, his example is exactly what we need so we can know how to love others, and we're inspired to start doing so, even though we know that if we're honest with ourselves, we have to admit that we really don't come close to that standard. Maybe we want to, but we don't really want to have to...

In my mind I love the idea of being the hero in this story, I love the idea of being the good Samaritan.

But when I'm in a hurry walking down the sidewalk in Cucuta to get to an appointment at the mall and I see a single mother with her baby begging for money on the edge of the sidewalk; I honestly don't want to have to stop and talk to her and take her and her child to a hotel for them to stay at and then buy them food and share the gospel with the mother before I tell her I'll pick her up the next day to take her to a Bible study. I don't want to pray for her and think of a business option she can work at to sustain herself, and then be the one to subsidize the operation. I don't want to show up late to the appointment at the mall where I was supposed to talk to another fellow who has all kinds of needs both personally and for his family back in Venezuela as well, in every way you can possibly imagine.

Eating dinner last night with three Venezuelan Women who live off the mercy of others on the  Cucuta streets Kailey, Irismar, and Fabiola; along with Keily's daughter Cristal and Irismar's son Fabian

Sure, in my mind I want to be the type of guy that would stop and do all that, but then again in real life when I'm walking down the street and I see the desperate mother with her child, looking at me with sadness, I wish I hadn't seen her. But I did though. And so I just act like I didn't, and keep walking to the mall, where I'll try to follow through with my other commitment, and then maybe I can help out the mother on the street on another occasion... All of this of course, out of neglect to a desperate woman with her child who aren't even my enemies... just beautiful Venezuelans created in the image of God who need my help.

Eating with Venezuelan immigrant musician friends Isaac, Alexander, and Jose at the mall

If I'm honest with myself, I'm usually like the priest or the Levite; even though I know I should be like the Samaritan.   

But the ultimate question still remains: "What must I do to inherit eternal life?"

Well, the logical answer to that question is to simply fulfill every single aspect of the law, down to the smallest detail of it, and to do so in the same way this Samaritan exemplified so beautifully for the man who had been robbed... a Samaritan who was part of a sect that implies he had terrible theology compared to the Jewish priest and the Levite, who both should have been the first ones to respond to God's overarching command to love their neighbor, as they both knew they should have, even without thinking twice about it.

But each of them did think twice about it, and a third and fourth time as well probably, just like I would have, until they convinced themselves that they shouldn't help the poor man who was dying there, as much as they knew that helping him was exactly what they should have done.

...When I'm walking down the street here in Cucuta, I know full well what loving my neighbor as myself looks like, but most of the time I love myself more than my neighbor, and in the few cases that I love my neighbor as much as I love myself - that usually only lasts like a good ten minuets at most, and then I'm back to loving myself again, without my neighbor included, and would rather just ignore my next neighbor altogether who might pop up somewhere down the road again, in the form of someone else. Perhaps maybe I should even move somewhere more high class, where I don't have to see anyone in need, so that then I wouldn't even have to think about helping others to begin with...

Other neighbors in Cucuta, in the form of someone else

See, the answer to the question "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" is initially understood only when we consider the law, and once we consider the law, our condition before it is only that of total hopelessness and despair.

And that's exactly where we need to arrive if we're ever going to realize the need we have for grace.

We need to come to a point where we see how totally incapable we are of achieving salvation on our own, if we're ever going to then come to a place where we can receive the salvation we so desperately need from our terrible condition of sin. This realization comes when we understand who we are in light of a different character in this parable...

Though I wish I were the Samaritan, I usually act like the priest or Levite, and so consequently, who I'm most comparable to in this story is the man who fell among the robbers.

When I consider my life and understand that I don't always act like a good Samaritan by loving every single neighbor at every single moment in every single situation in my life; then there's nothing else that I can do other than recognize my own desperate need for a Savior to come and rescue me for every single sinful act of neglect towards every single neighbor that I could have loved but didn't.

If I don't realize I'm a hypocrite, then I am a hypocrite. If I don't realize that Jesus is essentially my  good Samaritan that came to rescue me in the moment of my deepest need, then I'll only think about other people's needs and feel sorry for them and try to make myself feel good about who I am by helping them without realizing that I am the one who needs help, and there is only one who is good enough to help me and that is God (Luke 18:19). And that I both need him and need to point others to him, more than I need anything else.

The reason why Jesus told this parable to the expert of the law was to challenge him in his self-justification. It was to make him realize that he needed a Savior, the very one who was standing in front of him... The expert of the law didn't so much need a story to remind him of how to be kind to people, though the parable of the good Samaritan does so to a T. What both the expert of the law and everyone one of us needs to be reminded of is that there is only one in all of history who has loved us like that "perfect Samaritan", and though we should imitate him in his love, we actually aren't even close to loving like he loves... The expert of the law needed a story to remind him of how far he was from being that "Samaritan" in his own strength, just like we need this story to remind us of how far we are from perfection as well, and thus in faith cry out to Jesus for his all-sufficient grace, as if we see a good Samaritan approaching us there in the distance... a "good Samaritan" as it were, who is ultimately a personification of the good Jewish man Christ Jesus.

Church Planting Among Venezuelan Immigrants

Hi - 

There are a few teachings of Jesus that have really floored me recently. One of those is in Luke 14 where Jesus refers to the invitation of eternal life as that of an invitation to a great banquet... Jesus, who would compare himself to the master in this story, becomes angry when he hears of people's excuses in not coming to the feast and tells his servants to go quickly into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame. The servants obey, and yet there is still more room and so Jesus says, "go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in."  

For the past few months I've been trying to start a church in Colombia's border city with Venezuela (known as Cúcuta), and sometimes I feel like one of those servants in the parable going out into the streets inviting anyone I can. Just like in the parable, there are a lot of unlikely guests who have shown up; such as  immigrants and transvestites, who generally don't fit into the typical Christian "status quo."

On a few occasions we've shared meals together, but the main thing I want to do is share the gospel. I want to share it in such a way that my friends can clearly understand it and sincerely accept it. 

Some have, and many have gone on to other cities or countries in hopes of finding better opportunities while they sing some of the gospel songs that I've taught them along the way. Please pray that my friends would cling to Jesus and grow up in him throughout every stage of their journey.

This last week I connected with a group of immigrant street musicians and we've been singing together on the streets to the people in cars who give my friends a few coins in return. 

It's kind of fun to be honest, though sad at the same time, and I think that showing my friends that I care about them and that I identify with them is what makes the gospel that much more powerful. 

Last night I played some basketball with a few guys I met casually at a mall and at the basketball court, and I have high hopes that at least 4 of them will be a part of our Bible study tonight.

If you want to see a documentary of how this ministry started, please click HERE.

-Sam  

Missionary Profile: https://www.cmml.us/node/817    

Interesting Investments

Hi -

Do you want to know what's one of the worst things you could possibly invest in right now? ...That would probably be the Venezuelan Bolivar, or worse yet, the Petro, which is Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro's most recent concoction of some sort of oil-backed cryptocurrency that is an even poorer purchasing option than Bitcoin (whether or not Bitcoin will hold its own remains a mystery) ...But in other news, the American housing market is up, the US dollar is going down, and trade with China is tense.

But seriously man, the Venezuelan economy has gotten way out of wack. A couple weeks ago I visited the Colombian border town of Cucuta, and I traded $1 US dollar for tens of thousands of Venezuelan Bolivares and even that, within a few months, will likely depreciate even more. 

Warren Buffet suggests buying in when the market price is low, and even though I don't intend on buying a house or any kind of cryptocurrency at this time, I do think that investing eternally into Venezuelan people is a good deal. Amidst their poverty, I sense they are really open to the gospel, just like the opposite may be true for those who have great wealth (Mark 10:25).

But there's another type of investment that's sure to generate fantastic rewards, and it can be in giving a disciple something as simple as a cold cup of water (Matt. 10:41-42). In fact, when I was in Cucuta the woman in the picture on the right gave me just that, and even though I personally didn't tell her about it - hopefully she already has, or one day will - drink of the true water that springs to eternal life (John 4:14).

...Because of the donation given to me from a veteran missionary last month - during holy week there was a group of 12 people led by Fabio (a disaster relief specialist that I commissioned from our church) that went to Cucuta to share the gospel with and help out the poor and displaced, many of whom are Venezuelan immigrants.

Team led by Fabio in Cucuta 

Also, as a result of another donation, every Sunday we feed approximately 30 Venezuelan friends at our church, and help specific families or individuals as the Lord lays them on our hearts.

I've had a few people ask me how they can contribute as well, and while one courageous brother brought 11 students and parents to help here in Bogota last week, another option is by making a direct deposit or sending a check via Christian Missions in Many Lands. If you're interested in doing so, click HERE to learn more.

American team led by Mark along with Venezuelan immigrants in Bogota

Sincerely,

Sam Killins

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9).

Missionary Profile: https://www.cmml.us/node/817

The Influence of Nate Bramsen

At the beginning of 2018, I got to hang out a lot with Nate Bramsen who is an incredible preacher, missionary, world traveler, athlete, friend, social media powerhouse, and follower of Jesus... I mean I’m talking like heavy doses of his presence haha. For starters, I got to ease into his ministry at a conference in Tennessee and hear him speak passionately on the glory of the cross, and the Christian’s charge to stand firm in the faith. Then, I met up with him more personally towards the end of the conference to go over the game plan for the next couple of weeks as he was going to fly to Colombia along with his friend Madison to work with some friends and I to challenge and strengthen a whole bunch of churches and people in Colombia, especially our church and me included.

He and Madison touched down in Bogota and from there on out it was pure adrenaline man. I mean like conference after conference; exploring waterfalls after climbing mountains; cruising around in motorbikes after doing so in taxis; meetings after (or during) meals; hair cuts (what little there was to cut) after running around to find free wifi; and yeah – I mean just all sorts of fun and intense moments of watching and helping him pour into others whether they be church leaders, young followers of Jesus, recovering addicts, people devastated by an avalanche, or anyone else who happened to show up at one or more of the 20 speaking engagements he had in the lapse of 10 days… I mean this guy took the definition of a missions trip to a whole other level.

…So it was kind of awkward because there would be moments where a meeting would end and he would be talking or praying with someone and I needed to tell him something or have him go somewhere but in my mind it was just like, “man – if I interrupt him now, that might seriously affect this other guy or girl’s future ‘cause the conversation they’re having right now seems really intense.”

But I would interrupt him anyway, and he would be like, “it better be for something important because I was just having a really meaningful conversation back there.”

…But besides just setting up the meetings and going everywhere with him, I was also his number one interpreter. Of the 20 messages he gave, I interpreted for 18 of them, and I think that more than anyone else, I was the main guy benefitting from his exposition of the Word. Why? Well, because besides just hearing everything he said and processing it and then translating it in my mind, I was also saying it out loud again for everyone to hear. And let me tell you, every message was super powerful, and meaningful, and challenging, and inspirational and yeah – I don’t know, just right on.

Yet in addition to the awesome time that we got to hang out in Colombia - 5 days after leaving, Nate got married, and I had the privilege of being one of his 33 groomsmen.

So, there’s this passage in John chapter 3 where a few of John the Baptist’s disciples are frustrated because even though John the Baptist at one point was baptizing tons of people (he had even baptized Jesus), all of a sudden everyone was going over to Jesus to get baptized by his disciples instead (v. 26)... and you can almost pick up on the inferiority complex they were having when they complain to John and are like, “So why does Jesus get all the attention now?” and “What’s the big deal with this guy anyway?"

Well John the Baptist’s response is awesome, and what he says is that he was sent before Jesus to prepare the way for him (John the Baptist’s message was that of repentance), but now that Jesus’ ministry was in full force – he felt the same way I felt when I was a groomsman at Nate’s wedding… I was happy for him! And I just wanted to stand beside him in showing everyone my approval and support for what was taking place as he was getting married to Priyanka… I didn’t want to take the spotlight away from this beautiful couple, and I certainly didn’t want to be envious or lame or depressing either. John the Baptist needed to decrease so that Jesus could increase, and in my own experience, that’s what I felt like I had to do when Nathan Bramsen came to Colombia.

Essentially, I had prepared the way for Nate. I set up his itinerary, and when Nate came I didn’t want to have him sit down while I preached or something like that, I wanted him to preach as much as possible because he does it way better than I do, and I wanted all my friends in Colombia to benefit as much as possible from his awesome ministry. I mean heck – I even wanted to benefit as much as possible from his ministry, because when the knowledge and glory of God and the spiritual lives of those who hear the Word are at stake – we need those who can most effectively bring about that work, sharing it. My role was like that of a mid-fielder getting the soccer ball to the striker so that he or she can score the goal... Or like the baseball player who’s in the line-up to hit a single so that the power slugger can hit a grand slam and bring everyone home.

Do you get the point? The purpose of any ministry is to give God the most glory, just like in sports the purpose of playing is to win. What’s going to work best? How are we going to accomplish the goal? How is God going to receive the most glory? …Those are the questions we should be asking ourselves, not “how many people are following me? how awesome do I look as I stand on stage? How am I going to get more glory for myself?” …And I say that, and it sounds obvious, but in real life it can be a struggle… I’m sure that there’s more than one of us who has, at some point, compared him or herself to Nate and been like, “Why don’t I get invited to speak at huge conferences and have people eagerly follow me wherever I go?” “Why can’t I travel to dozens of countries each year and get to soak in the beauty that each exotic place has to offer?” “Why am I not an elite diamond member that flies first class with Delta and posts sick pictures of air plane wings in the sunset that get thousands of likes?” …You laugh, but it’s true.

Well, because Nate does it better than we do. His messages penetrate deeper, his gospel is clearer, his passion is more contagious, and he also walks around in his sermons and keeps everyone awake a lot more effectively than we do.

Is that bad?... No, it’s awesome! In fact, it’s what should give us all joy, just like it gave John the Baptist joy to think about Jesus, and it gave me joy to think that Nate was getting married (v. 29). It gives me joy to think about Nate’s ministry because he’s reaching more people for Jesus and inspiring more youth to follow him, and that’s the point. He’s giving more glory to God and that’s spectacular. Nate, and now his lovely wife Priyanka along with him, are out there to win for the Kingdom of God, and that should make us super excited because we’re a part of the same team.

It’s kind of like when you see Nate with his shirt off and you’re like “jeez lue weez man haha, I didn’t even think those types of muscles existed” haha. Well, the truth is that they do, and Nate has them and they’re not fake, and now that you’ve seen them you have one of two choices to make (okay so this illustration is starting to get really weird all of a sudden haha, but just bear with me for a sec). The two options you have are either to keep your shirt on, or you can start working out more often, like he does, and eventually get an 8 pack yourself (ok, so in the picture I probably should have kept my shirt on).

And it’s the same in ministry – you can see the widespread effect of what Nate is accomplishing through the power of the Holy Spirit, and you can get behind him in praying and helping him and Priyanka make it further, or you can sit back and try to think of ways in which they aren’t perfect. You can also either be intimidated by Nate’s influence and “keep your shirt on,” or you can get a communication degree or start praying and studying the Bible more like he does and start daring yourself to step out in faith beyond what you already have. 

Nathan Bramsen is one of the most influential disciples of Jesus in our generation, and just like Paul said to the church in Corinth, “follow my example as I follow the example of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1), so also in many ways we should follow Nate’s example as he follows the example of Christ. Maybe not in all ways, but in a lot of ways I think we should (Nate has plenty of idiosyncrasies that are neither here nor there).

But it’s that drive to win that’s so powerful…

I remember a few years back we were playing doubles against two random old men in tennis, and there was a match where I was serving, and we were up 40 - love. Well, I missed my first serve and I was getting ready for my second, and I asked Nate if I could try to serve it hard again and he was like, “no, I think you should play it safe and we should just win this thing.” Well, we did win that game, but at the end of it all we lost the set because the old guys were just plain cheating. I was kind of like, “whatever, it’s just a game,” but Nate was really frustrated.

What I learned right then was that Nathan is programmed to win, and just messing around in tennis or life or whatever is not an option because there’s a lot at stake… And you know? He’s right. Why in the world should we be messing around or letting old cheaters get in the way of us when Jesus has given us a clear assignment and there are so many people out there who desperately need us to share the gospel that we’ve been entrusted with?

Every single time that I’ve been with Nate, it didn’t matter if he was preaching to 20 people or if he was preaching to 700 – he always did it with everything he had in him.

And that’s the kind of guy I want to be passing the ball to in real life.   

    

What a Mass Murderer and I Have in Common

A week has past since the horrific manslaughter of more than 50 people who were shot and killed ruthlessly from a hotel room 32 stories above a country music festival by an unpredictable and introverted accountant named Stephen Paddock.

No one could have guessed that this white, rich, gamble-loving, 64 year-old, male had it in him... Apparently he wasn't medically insane, and apparently he had no links to extreme terrorist groups or far out religious causes.

A CNN article actually stated that after investigating more than 1,000 different leads, still - authorities have not been able to pin down any clear motive for why Stephen Paddock would do such a thing.

It's disconcerting to put it lightly - because to think that someone would just arbitrarily decide to buy a bunch of weapons and randomly start shooting at thousands of innocent people, for no particular reason whatsoever - is more like terrifying and horrific and just plain bizarre.

Everyone wants to know why? but the answer remains shrouded in mystery.

...What impresses me is the thought that maybe Stephen Paddock didn't even need a reason. Maybe it was just an evil and sick heart lashing out against thousands of helpless people with gunfire because of a terrible disease called sin.

Sin? Yeah, and even though it would be more convenient to talk about what happened a week ago because of some other sophisticated cause - ultimately it's only sin: terrible and rotten sin that can lead a person to do such a thing.

Sin is a terrible evil, and what's so uncomfortable in talking about it is that deep inside we all have to realize that we've been plagued by it as well. It's a ruthless epidemic that has infected the whole human race (Romans 3:23), and if that same stuff that led a madman to commit such heinous crimes also dwells in us - then we can only imagine what we are also liable of doing.

...There's a really shocking song by indie artist Sufjan Stephens in his Illinois album that talks about the life of another psychopath named John Wayne Gacy Jr.

John Wayne Gacey Jr. was an American serial killer and rapist who targeted young male victims, and was convicted of raping and killing at least 33 teen-aged boys or young men before he was detained and later executed on May 10, 1994... In many of the cases involved, Gacey Jr. would bury his strangled victims in the crawl space of his own home.

And so in the midst of describing Gacey's horrific deeds in Sufjan's chilling song - Sufjan concludes the tune by saying, "In my best behavior, I am really just like him. Look beneath the floor boards for the secrets I have hid."

...I think that that confession is such an inconvenient and totally troubling truth for all of us. Sure, we are rightly appalled by Stephen Paddock's murder rampage in Las Vegas last week, as well as John Gacey's inhumane acts towards innocent boys a couple decades ago - but in our own behavior are we really all that different?

Of course we are! we say... from a human perspective we aren't half as sinful as those other guys! but actually from God's perspective every single one of us is just as guilty of sin as any other mass murderer and thus, we are completely deserving of the same condemnation as that of them. In Romans 3 Paul accurately declares that "no one is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one" (v. 10-12). And then verse 19 says, "Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world may be held accountable to God."

When you think of guys like Stephen Paddock or John Gacey Jr., and feel hatred as well as tremendous indignation for what they have done and want them to rot in hell - just keep in mind that before God we are completely silenced, and have no argument with which to contend because we are just as guilty of breaking God's perfect law as they are.

I am just as guilty of it.

I too have killed someone innocent.

I have killed the Son of God as a result of my sin.

...Before the cross of Calvary, I Sam Killins as well as Stephen Paddock and John Gacey Jr. stand on level ground.

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Articles Referenced:
CNN article
John Gacey Wikipedia

Taking a Knee For the Gospel

I've never taken a knee during a national anthem, but I will say that I have taken a knee for the gospel a few times.

Sanctimonious much? Maybe, but the apostle Paul did too - and when I read about his passion for Christ's Church, I truly want to be like him as well, in my humble willingness to pray for God's children everywhere to be rooted and grounded in love - and to comprehend, along with saints of every race and gender and social status - the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge.

I'll take a knee for that, because I honestly believe that at the root of every racist thought or slur or action, and at the root of every hateful retaliation of those who receive these types of despicable offenses - is a tragic misunderstanding of the love of God which knows no bounds (Ephesians 3:14-19).

Essentially, what Paul is arguing for in the whole letter to the Ephesians is God's reconciliation of himself through Christ towards all of humanity, and consequently - the unity that should exist between people from all nations towards God and towards one another in the church... Paul was willing to fight for these truths big time, to the extent that he aggressively had to confront Christians who weren't willing to accept the equality that we have in Christ (Galatians 2:11); and to the extent that for people to even come to know Christ to begin with - he was willing to be tortured, imprisoned, and eventually even die (2 Corinthians 11:23-29).         

A picture I took with Colombian soldiers after sharing the gospel with them

Paul understood loud and clear that at the root of every sinful act of mankind towards God or one another was a faulty understanding of the love of God expressed through the all-sufficient sacrifice of his Son, Jesus Christ. Therefore, he was willing to bow his knees in prayer so that the believers in Ephesus, along with saints everywhere (which includes us), would be rooted and grounded in love instead of hatred - and that we would know it, even though it's impossible to know, but we actually know it nonetheless - because we know Christ who is the ultimate personification of love (1 John 4:9).

Paul lost everything because of this type of love (Phil. 3:7-8); and even though many people think that the worst thing a human can do is desecrate his own flag - actually, it's far worse to desecrate a human being of any race or nationality through hatred or discrimination, because at the very essence of any human's existence, is the distinguishing feature that we are all created in the image of God... Better said, any act that is done in hatred against any human is actually an act that is done in hatred against God himself (who is the Creator of that human), and that is totally unacceptable.  

Do you see how the gospel breaks down all the barriers between Greek or Jew, slave or free, male or female? (Galatians 3:28). Well it does - because Christ died to break down those barriers that separated us from both God and from other human beings. And if it's for freedom that Christ has set us free, then there's no way that we can submit to a yoke of slavery again (Galatians 5:1). 

In fact, in Romans 6:1-14 Paul talks about the slavery we once had towards sin, but just as how a slave ceases to be a slave once he or she dies - so also we cease to be slaves of sin once we die with Christ (v.6-8)... We're no longer slaves to sin, rather now we're slaves to righteousness! (v.18); and if being slaves of sin only results in death, than being slaves of God can only result in sanctification and eternal life (v.20-23).

Amen!    

And so if we think about another story that has to do with bending the knee - in the book of Daniel it was precisely by not bending the knee towards the golden image of Babylon that Shadrach, Meshac, and Abednego were thrown into a fiery furnace. They were in Babylon as slaves, but their slavery couldn't restrain their devotion towards God, and so in their spirits they were actually free from the petty rulings of Nebuchadnezzar. They were devoted entirely to the only true God of the universe, and so they trusted in him that could save them - and even if God wasn't going to deliver them from the fire, they still weren't going to bow down in worship to any false god (Daniel 3).      

I believe that all of us in one way or another are going to bend our knee towards something or someone... In some cases bending a knee may be a powerful sign of protest, in other cases it may be a pitiful display of weakness. In all cases referring to Jesus however, bending the knee for him is an awesome symbol of obedience to his Lordship.

Philippians 2:9-11 says that one day every knee in heaven and on earth and under the earth will bow before Jesus, and every tongue will confess that he is Lord... Some will do so out of obligation, but it is my persuasion to do so now out of my own volition, and in humble recognition of Christ's authority and power and lordship over everything that I am.

         

Bending the knee besides my niece and nephews, as well as by Jason

How to Give Away a T-shirt

Ok man - so I've seldom been so excited about such an awesome ministry opportunity... I'm really pumped up about it! and I've got a strong feeling right now that we're on to something good here.

It's something that's evolved from our homeless ministry, but to be honest, I was kind of starting to doubt our homeless ministry to begin with (which we've been involved with for more than 2 years now), just because I wasn't seeing loads of people coming to Christ or being added to His church.

...Every once in a while we would see someone decide to leave the streets and ask us to take him or her to a rehab center (like Duvan in the middle of the picture on the right, for instance) which is great - but it's just that I wanted God to do so much more...

I mean yeah, sure - I was really glad that my friends and I were being intentional in meeting together every Friday to go and share the gospel in a holistic and incarnational way (and that in and of itself is commendable) - but I honestly just wasn't seeing tons of results... I was discouraged, and I even went so far as to stop going out to the Center every Friday just so I could save my energy and focus instead on preaching the next day at a rehabilitation center a couple hours outside of Bogota, where at least I had the benefit of preaching to people who weren't high on drugs. 

Sharing from the Word at the Milk and Honey Foundation (2 hours outside of Bogota)

...But then one of my friends who kept going to the Center told me that one night he got to talk to and pray with about 10 Venezuelans who happened to swing by our street ministry the night before... We had talked to and shared the gospel to a few Venezuelans on a couple other occasions, but he told me that this time it was different - that they were really attentive, and that he honestly thought some of them might even make it out to our church gathering that coming Sunday. 

The first time we spoke with various Venezuelans

I believed him. And then I gave him some money so he could go pick them up, and bring his friends over to our meeting the very next day.   

...Sure enough about 10 Venezuelans showed up at 4:30 for our evening service that Sunday, and afterwards a few of us got together and prayed for them, that God would help them find jobs, and that He would be their refuge in this time of uncertainty and doubt... and that God would guide them - as they had immigrated to Colombia in hopes of finding a better future, but were stuck here in a really tough situation with barely no resources, and very few friendly people willing to help them out.  

...Well bright and early the next day my friend Hugo and I (Hugo is the main guy who befriended them originally) - we showed up at their low income residency to sing a couple of songs and share a devotional with them as an encouragement for the day that lied ahead... It was so cool how when we got there they were excited to see us, and then when we started singing - a few people even started tearing up a little as the gospel-centered lyrics just penetrated straight into their hearts.

...I thought about it and felt convicted about my lack of faith in what we were doing in the Center, but at the same time I was so thankful for friends like Hugo who persevered even when I started to doubt, and consequently became the key connection in that precise moment, to catalyze something big - right when God wanted to use us most.

Well, I went back again on Wednesday morning, and then Hugo went back again on Friday morning, and then I picked up our Venezuelan friends again on Sunday afternoon for a special gathering with lunch included, where I spoke from Matthew 22 about the parable of the wedding feast...

The main similarity between this parable and what we were experiencing in real life is that, despite the fact that we had invited a lot of people to our gatherings previously - many of them would just make up lame excuses or assure us that they would go, but then never actually show up (v. 1-5)... Clearly this parable has a lot to do with Israel and how they were the first to both be invited to and also reject the invitation that the prophets gave them to be a part of Jesus' Kingdom - but I also think that it can be applied to us, in challenging that same attitude of indifference that anyone may have now a days when they think they have more important things to do than accept the indispensable invitation to believe in Christ and enjoy the fantastic relationship that God offers us with himself through his Son.
          

...It's the most precious gift in the whole world! And it's completely ridiculous that so many people reject it...

  

Ok, but so what's the right thing to do whenever that happens? Well, the right thing to do is to just go out into the streets and invite absolutely anyone you can find! (including Venezuelans), so that Heaven will be full of appreciative guests! 

...Seriously man - sometimes it's like we get so caught up in being so selective about who we share the gospel with, that we end up wasting a lot of our efforts by practically begging indifferent people who don't even give a care about Jesus, instead of proclaiming and sharing him generously to those who are desperately dying to know him.

...It's crazy. But anyway - back to the parable - and there's something really key about this and it's that surprisingly, of the guests that make it to the banquet - of those who enter, there are both good and bad people (v.10)... this shows that when it comes to salvation, moral performance has nothing to do with anything, and what is truly at stake has everything to do with what comes next... that as we'll see in a second - it's all about our clothing.

Our clothing?

Yeah - and having had a little head start on what was to ensue later on that day - as I was getting dressed that morning I decided to wear my St. Louis Cardinals T-shirt (because I knew that Venezuelans are big baseball fans), and also because I wanted to use that T-shirt as an important illustration in my message... 

Can I tell you why? ...because what happens next in this parable is really shocking. 

...It so happens that in this startling story there's this random guy that manages to sneak into the alleged wedding banquet without wearing the right clothes, and successively the King notices him and calls him out about it, yet the miserable creature is found speechless... Having no defense, he is then tied up and thrown into hell and the story ends right there. Just like that - abruptly.

Wow.

Now, why in the world are clothes in this parable such a big deal? Well the reason I find, comes from Genesis where Adam and Eve are likewise found ashamed - but in this case it's because of their nakedness, and they unsuccessfully try to cover it up, by putting on loincloths that they sew together from fig leaves (Genesis 3:7)... 

But fig leaves will never suffice! and so after explaining their punishments, God is then the first to kill a few innocent animals, and from their skins - create garments for Adam and Eve with which he clothes them (v.21)...   

Those skins, and those animals who had to die for those garments to be produced, imperfectly but so powerfully point to Jesus Christ and the sacrifice that he underwent to save us! ...It's the substitution of our shame as it were, or the outlandish exchange of his innocence for our guilt. And it's the clothing, interestingly enough, of his righteousness that is replaced for our iniquity... You see, it's only by Jesus' death that we are saved! and we're saved, in a sense, only by putting him on! (as it says in Galatians 3:27 or Romans 13:14 for instance).  

...Ok, but to really get my point across, what I did next was to tell my Venezuelan friends about a hypothetical situation where one of them was imprisoned for a terribly atrocious crime he'd committed (and at this point I arbitrarily picked someone at the table who's name happened to be Jose), and so Jose see, he was lying in his prison cell completely terrified about his own execution that was going to happen... mmm, let's just say the following day... and then, mmm, now, supposing Jose and I were twins (and at this point everybody laughed because clearly Jose and I don't look anything alike)... but supposing Jose and I are twins nonetheless haha - let's say I sneak into his cell and take off my civilian shirt (which I actually did, mind you - I took off my really cool bright red St. Louis Cardinals T-shirt and gave it to him, just like that); and then say he takes off his prisoner shirt and we exchange roles and no one is the wiser... Well, what happens is that the free man takes the place of the criminal, and the criminal inversely, takes the place of the free man.

And boom! just like that, Jose goes free, and along with his freedom he also has an awesome T-Shirt to prove it... By the grace of God salvation has come! And by the grace of God I somehow managed to share the gospel in that instance to more than 10 people in such a way that they joyfully understood it, and eagerly wanted to accept it. 

So praise the Lord for that. 

So yeah - I mean anyway - this week I went and visited my Venezuelan friends again on Monday morning, and the idea is to keep meeting on Wednesdays and Fridays as well; so that we can keep digging into Scripture together, and discover more of these types of beautiful truths which are able to save and refresh our souls, as we get to know both God and each other better, and slowly (or quickly! hopefully) start to become our own new church...

...And so the point of all of this is to be relevant, you know? because when you really think about it, that's what the gospel at it's most basic definition is, right? ...That God became relevant to mankind by taking off his garments of glory, and making himself nothing by wearing our flesh and coming into this world to relate to us, and to serve us, and to die on a cross to rescue us so that anyone who puts his trust in him might be saved (Phil 2:6-8) Hallelujah!... Jesus did all this because he loved us, and he gave himself for us, not because we deserved it, but because God considered us that valuable! ...so that all of us who believe in his Son should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16). 

...So that said - if by being relevant God decided to save anyone who would believe in his Son - shouldn't we likewise want to be relevant as well, to anyone we can, so that by preaching Christ in various contexts and to various people we might save a few through any and every means possible? (1 Corinthians 9:19-23). 

Yeah - you better believe we should want to.

So please God, help us be better evangelists.

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This blog post is dedicated to Hugo Muñoz who is an awesome evangelist that has encouraged me tremendously, and has been an excellent partner in starting this new ministry for our Venezuelan friends currently living here in Bogota, Colombia. 

Galatians 6:9 says, And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.