June 2015 - Jacqueline G Wallace.com

June 26, 2015

Faith small enough, but not too small

“Our praying needs to be pressed and pursued with an energy that never tires, a persistency which will not be denied, and a courage that never fails.” E.M. Bounds[1]

I’ve often said, “Perspective is Everything.” I am convinced that it is enormously important to see the world from the right perspective: God’s perspective.

But in prayer, Persistence is equally weighty. Jesus said so. He told a parable to his disciples so they could get a better grasp of its importance.

`“Jesus told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not to turn coward (faint, lose heart, and give up). He said, ‘In a certain city there was a judge who neither reverenced and feared God nor respected or considered man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Protect and defend and give me justice against my adversary.’

And for a time he would not; but later he said to himself, ‘Though I have neither reverence or fear for God nor respect or consideration for man, Yet because this widow continues to bother me, I will defend and protect and avenge her, lest she give me intolerable annoyance and wear me out by her continual coming or at the last she come and rail on me or assault me or strangle me.’

Then the Lord said, ‘Listen to what the unjust judge says! And will not [our just] God defend and protect and avenge His elect (His chosen ones), who cry to Him day and night? Will He defer them and delay help on their behalf? I tell you, He will defend and protect and avenge them speedily.

However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find [persistence in] faith on the earth?’” Luke 18:1-8 (AMP)[2]

I’ve always thought of Jesus’s last question, “However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find [persistence in] faith on the earth?” as him thinking out loud, mumbling to himself, not really addressing anyone else. He had previously expressed exasperation at the disciples’ lack of faith, in the incident of the demon possessed boy from whom the disciples could not cast out the demon.

“Jesus … said, ‘You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you?’” (Matthew 17:17, NASB).[3]

When the disciples privately asked Jesus, after He cast out that demon, why they couldn’t drive it out He told them their faith was too little. Again the issue of faith.

Then He blows my mind by saying that a tiny amount of faith, the size of a small seed, can move mountains.

So I ask myself, what size is my faith? Is it as tiny as a small seed? Is my faith small enough to move mountains? Or is it even smaller?

If my faith is as small as a tiny seed, when is the last time I moved a mountain?

Or cast out a demon?

I know there are mountains that need moving. Mountains of spiritual obstacles opposed to the power and presence of God. And I know there are demon possessed people that need deliverance. We call their problems by other names too often. They need to be set free from chains that bind them to destructive ways of life.

What size faith do I have? What size faith do you have?

Do we have eyes to see the spiritual realities, to see things as Jesus sees them, to gain God’s perspective?

Do we want to see?

Do we want to exercise our puny faith so it grows big muscles so we can bind the strong man and plunder his house (Mark 3:27)? Jesus has defeated that satanic enemy of mankind. We only need believe big enough in our strong Savior. And nothing will be impossible to us (Matt. 17:20).

I want to believe big in our big God. How about you?

Our enemies are beginning to look big to us and ourselves to seem like grasshoppers in their eyes. Let’s remember God is with us, not them (Numbers 13:25ff)!

God help us not to fail but persist in faith and faith-filled prayer, so that Jesus will not say of us if we fail, it was “because of your little faith … For if you had faith even as small as a tiny mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move!’ and it would go far away. Nothing would be impossible” (Matthew 17:20, TLB).

Let’s pursue that mustard seed faith so that what appears to be impossible to us, when we see through Jesus’s eyes, we find is not impossible, because impossible doesn’t exist in God’s economy.

Bakersfield She Is Safe Advocacy Group is doing just that. With a handful of women, we have:

committed to raising awareness of the need of women and girls in north India to be set free from the horrors of sex trafficking and brothel life, where girls are used up and become old before their time and baby girls born to them are used in the sex trade,

committed to calling more Christian women in Bakersfield to join us,

committed to raising $15,000 dollars over the next year to help fund Transformation Groups in north India to train women in skills to give themselves and their families better lives, breaking free of the iron grip of brothel life. And woven into every fiber of what the TG’s do is the life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ which truly sets them free.

What are you doing? Share your faith ventures by leaving a comment in the comment box.

Consider joining us, the Bakersfield Advocacy Group, in advocating for those who have no voice. Or form an Advocacy Group in your town. Go to She Is Safe (www.shissafe.org) to learn more.

Whatever you do, “Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to death; don’t stand back and let them die. Don’t try to disclaim responsibility by saying you didn’t know about it. For God, who knows all hearts, knows yours, and he knows you knew! And he will reward everyone according to his deeds” (Proverbs 24:11-12, TLB).[4]

Adapted and re-posted from the Abide Women’s Prayer Group blog, a ministry of the Women of The Bridge Bible Church, Bakersfield, CA. Written by Jacque Wallace.

[1] http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/942850.E_M_Bounds

[2] Amplified Bible (AMP)

[3] New American Standard Bible (NASB)

[4] Living Bible (TLB)

The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. Taken from https://www.biblegateway.com .

June 19, 2015

Always on the GO

Recently I posed the question: How do these terms differ and how are they similar: Disciple and Missionary?

I contend that practically, these two terms are not mutually exclusive but integrated from their core outward. We become disciples of Jesus and since the God we serve is a missional God, we are to cultivate the same heart, the heart to GO into all the world and make disciples, as Jesus said. He didn’t just say it, He commanded His disciples to do that. We must, therefore, live missional lives. We should always be “on mission” as Jesus’ followers.

Just to be clear, a missionary is a disciple formally commissioned, sent by others, to go to those who need to learn the truth about God and the gospel of Jesus Christ.

When I was a child at Bible camp, I went down front at the invitation to put my faith in Jesus (although it was when I was a few years older that I pinpoint my true conversion). I have never forgotten what the bus driver, a Methodist minister, said to me: “Someone told you about Jesus. Now you tell someone else about Jesus.” I was seven years old.

At a Vacation Bible School one summer we sang:

Untold millions are still untold

Untold millions are still outside the fold

Who will tell them of Jesus’ love

And the heavenly mansions awaiting above?

Jesus died on Calvary to save each one from sin

Now he calls to you and to me

To go and bring them in

For many untold millions are still untold

Untold millions are outside the fold

Who will tell them of Jesus’ love

And the heavenly mansions awaiting above?

The words of that song, and the tune, have stayed with me all these years.[1] (Did you sing it as a child? Do you also remember the words and tune?) Today we should sing billions rather than millions, billions of people for whom Jesus died who have no access to the Word of God and the gospel, right now, today.

So the command of Jesus is for us today. There are still thousands of ethnic groups (people groups) unreached with the gospel of Jesus Christ. In India alone, of 2,256 people groups in that country, 2,033 of those are least-reached or unreached with the good news of Jesus. Add to this the least-reached people groups in other countries, and of the 7.3 billion people in the world today, 2.9 Billion of them have NO, or limited, ACCESS to the gospel of Jesus Christ.[2]

I can’t count that high. I can’t get my mind around 2,900,000,000. But we are talking about more than numbers: these numbers represent real, flesh and blood people; boys, girls, men, women; people like you and me who have never heard that Jesus loves them and therefore they cannot yet enjoy His grace and peace through Jesus Christ.

Why should you and I have this wonderful life in Christ when others haven’t even heard of Him? I’ve asked myself this question more than once. Is it because we are more special to God, more loved by Him? Though we’d never say that, don’t we actually tell ourselves we are special, so very loved by God? Some even say we are princesses (for you gals) of the King, right?

Though God does love us, enough to send Jesus to make a way of salvation for us through His death and resurrection, He has convicted me about focusing on myself rather than focusing on God’s love for “the world,” on His kingdom and righteousness.

I am not more loved by God than those who have never heard the good news of Jesus. I need to be living my life so as to introduce them to the Jesus that someone introduced me to. You know, one beggar telling another beggar where to get food, rather than hoarding it for myself.

When less than 1 penny of every dollar given by Christians to all causes, goes to pioneer church planting among unreached peoples, something is very wrong.[3] You and I can change that statistic. Yes, we can.

God help us to change that statistic.

Jesus told us to go and we must go. We can do so in many ways: leaving our homes to go to the untold, pray for and financially support others who do go, care for/become involved with missions and missionaries in a variety of ways, making God’s kingdom and His purposes our priority in life.

Some of us were doing that last Thursday. We held a prayer walk in SE Bakersfield, one of our needy, near neighborhoods. We prayed for local churches and ministries to children and families going on there: we prayed that God would capture hearts and lives as His love is put on display by volunteers and as the Word of God goes forth in summer outreaches and VBS programs. [4]

Many of us on that prayer walk are also members of the Bakersfield She Is Safe Advocacy Group and we prayed for the ministries of She Is Safe, especially those in India.[5] As members of the Bakersfield SIS Advocacy Group, while living right here in Bakersfield, we can make a difference in the lives of women and girls in slavery and poverty, our unreached neighbors on the other side of the world.

During this prayer walk we physically walked the sidewalks of SE Bakersfield and spiritually walked the brothels of India, pleading for physical and spiritual changes in both places. God heard. And we can be assured that when He hears, He acts.

What are you doing currently, or what will you do starting today, to bring the gospel of Jesus to your near and far neighbors? Leave a comment to let me hear from you. We need to encourage one another in our obedience to Christ.[6]

[1] I found the whole song here: http://www.hymnlyrics.org/newlyrics_u/untold_millions.php

[2] Learn more at www.joshuaproject.net

[3] www.joshuaproject.net

[4] www.plazaiglesia.com

[5] www.shisisafe.org

[6] For more information about the Bakersfield SIS Advocacy Group, or starting one in your town, leave a comment for me.

June 12, 2015

Both Here and There at once

“Jesus came forward and addressed His beloved disciples.

‘I am here speaking with all the authority of God, who has commanded Me to give you this commission: Go out and make disciples in all the nations. Ceremonially wash them through baptism in the name of the triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then disciple them. Form them in the practices and postures that I have taught you, and show them how to follow the commands I have laid down for you. And I will be with you, day after day, to the end of the age’” (Matthew 28:18-20 The Voice).

How do these terms differ and how are they similar: Disciple and Missionary?

Practically speaking (not missiologically speaking, rather, super simplified), the only real difference between the two terms lies in relation to where one resides: in one’s familiar culture or in an unfamiliar culture. Geography and culture are external issues, that is, they affect the disciple or missionary from outside him or herself.

A disciple is one who has trusted in Jesus Christ as his savior and Lord and begun his life journey of learning from and obeying Jesus. A missionary is a disciple who has been commissioned by a larger body of disciples to go to another group of people, usually in another culture, who need to hear the gospel of Jesus and see it lived out in the disciple’s life.

The similarity in the terms, of utmost importance to both, is the internal reality from which both disciples and missionaries live their lives: The biblical worldview of the Kingdom (rule) of God and allegiance to Him. This encompasses obedience to Jesus’ commands to his followers, including his last command, to “Go (be going) into all the world and make disciples of all nations (ethnic groups) ….”

A well-known Christian denomination coined the term “On Mission” to inform, illustrate and shape the biblical lifestyle they desired for their adherents as followers of Jesus Christ. This is a good word-picture to help us understand that disciples of Jesus are to be “on mission” 24/7, living a life of loving obedience to Jesus Christ, part of which is going into all the world bearing the Good News of Jesus in word and deed.

Some disciples will literally go far away from home to foreign cultures, or across the country or across town into somewhat different cultures. As I indicated, we call these disciples, missionaries.

But each one of us, to be a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ, will be “going into all the world” in heart and deed by a multitude of means: by prayer, by giving financially (and structuring our lifestyles to make that giving-going a priority), and by other works of support to get the gospel to those who have not heard it, those both near and far.[1]

I’ll talk more about “those who have not heard it” in my next blog post.

Share your thoughts on this topic. Are you a disciple of Jesus and are you actively going into the world, and by what means? Leave your comment below. Let’s encourage each other.

[1] Examples of “other works of support” would be supporting a mission or missionary by finances and prayer. Another example is joining a group such as a She Is Safe Advocacy Group (www.sheissafe.org), taking part in events to raise awareness and funding for ministry to women and girls in areas of the world where the Gospel of Jesus Christ is little or not known. A close-to-home, hands-on opportunity is to volunteer with groups in the inner city or with at-risk children in your town (see previous post).

June 2, 2015

Can anything good come out of the ‘hood?

Rough towns and neighborhoods have an unsavory reputation and people say, “Can anything good come from there?”

That’s what they say about Southeast Bakersfield. “Don’t go into that neighborhood. It’s not safe.” And they may be right that it is not always safe. We do need to be wise and cautious in areas known for gangs and crime. But staying away and doing nothing never did any good.

The truth is, most neighborhoods are made up of ordinary people just trying to mind their own business and live their lives, in difficult circumstances. They don’t want violence and danger in their backyards or streets. They want safety and welfare for their children and grandchildren, the same as you and I want these things for ours. They worry about their children being influenced by or forced into joining a gang or getting caught up in crime.

“Why do people join gangs? Young people most likely to join a gang are impoverished with no economic future. They usually come from broken homes and experienced domestic violence at an early age. Often they have family members or friends in a gang. Typically they failed school and have no positive adult role models.”

So states an article in the Denison Forum.[1] This perfectly describes many kids in Southeast Bakersfield, and in thousands of communities across the country.

The article goes on to say, “What can Christians do?”

The first thing, they say, is educate ourselves about the gang problem in our own community. Never assume there is none and that our own children are immune to its influences.

A second idea is to become a school mentor, especially for at-risk kids. They desperately need positive role models. We have seen the positive impact mentoring a child can have. Many of these children do not have a dad in the home, and few have any positive male role models. Christian men can fill the gap by committing to mentor a child or young man. Christian women can fill the same gap for girls who need to see an alternative to the way of life they see around them every day.

Another option is to put on a conference for at-risk youth, inviting speakers to educate the at-risk children in the community about the dangers of gangs and getting involved with them.

A fourth suggestion for Christians is to “sponsor programs that minister to youth, including recreation, job skills, counseling and educational programs.”[2]

Mustard Seeds and Mountains[3] has first-hand experience in this area. We did this in one of the poorest counties in West Virginia through our youth work and the Empowerment Center, an after-school learning center that worked with at-risk children one-on-one and in groups. As a non-profit, faith-based organization, Mustard Seeds relied on God’s people to partner with us to accomplish our goals of serving this needy population of children, offering them positive opportunities for a better life, both educationally and spiritually.

This kind of intervention requires moving into, or at least visiting, the at-risk neighborhood. That is exactly what Mustard Seeds did in McDowell County, West Virginia. That is what Plaza Iglesia Cristiana[4], a bi-lingual church plant, and Positive Change and Development Center (PCDC) is doing in Southeast Bakersfield. They moved into the neighborhood to reach the neighborhood.

Plaza Church reaches out to families and teaches the Word of God week after week. During the school year PCDC, through their “Hope for the Future” learning center, offers after-school tutoring in reading and math, help with homework, and a Bible lesson, building academic strength and spiritual depth in at-risk children. In the summertime they host a month long recreation, crafts and Bible program free to all the children of Southeast Bakersfield.

All of these programs depend heavily on financial and prayer supporters, and the faithful volunteers who come to work with the children week after week, lovingly guiding them academically, being the positive, godly role models they desperately need.

That is why Mustard Seeds and Mountains (Mustard Seeds West) partnered with Plaza Iglesia/PCDC, joining hands with them to give families and the children in the ‘hood the opportunity for a better life, educationally and spiritually.

There was a fifth suggestion in the Denison Forum article, for Christian intervention in gang threatened neighborhoods in our communities: prayer.

You may not be able to volunteer in an at-risk neighborhood or church. But perhaps you can give financially and encourage others to go. Regardless of what else we can do, we can and should pray. Seriously pray. Pray big. Pray in faith. Big faith, for the big God we serve.

On June 11 at 8 am a group of women (men invited) will be meeting to scatter throughout southeast Bakersfield to pray for their neighbors who live there. For the residents of Southeast are our “neighbors,” according to Jesus, regardless of where we live. Will you join us in prayer?

We need God’s people to link arms with us by praying, donating finances, and spending themselves by volunteering to reach these at-risk children so that fewer of them will be sucked into gang life. By God’s grace, and only by God’s grace, can these kids become part of the solution to gang violence and crime, rather than be the problem. We are praying for and working toward the salvation of every one of them.

Nazareth had a bad reputation. When told that the Deliverer lived there, Nathanael said, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”[5] He just didn’t know Jesus.

“Can anything good come from Southeast Bakersfield (or the worst neighborhoods in your town)?” Undoubtedly. If we believe Jesus is there in his distressing disguise, and we go to serve him.

Pray about getting involved in an at-risk neighborhood near you, to serve Jesus—in his distressing disguise.

Leave a comment or send me your questions. I’d love to hear what you are doing in your town, or answer your questions about how to start to do something (for something is better than no-thing).

[1] Denison Forum on Truth and Culture, www.denisonforum.org, Today’s Cultural Commentary, May 19, 2015. Used with permission. Link to Supporting Data: http://advancementprojectca.org/sites/default/files/imce/AP%20Call%20To%20Action_LA%20Quest%20to%20Achieve%20Community%20Safety%20FINAL%202013.pdf

[2] Ibid.

[3] www.mustardseeds.org

[4] www.plazaiglesia.com

[5] John 1:46 Living Bible (TLB)