Archives March 2011

I was so tired and weak last night as I was writing my Flight Down segment that I forgot a very big providence that occurred on the plane as well. Not long into our conversation with Jose, he handed us back a magazine with an article about orphans and said, “I just read this today and it sounds so much like what you guys are doing it is uncanny, you have to read it.” So we all read it and were amazed. It was about a fellow in London in 1843 that started a Safe House to take in street kids and disciple them for Christ. He started with one and then another and another and eventually 60,000 children came through his houses and many became doctors and lawyers and politicians, etc. So many things about the article were exactly what we have talked and dreamed about. It was a blow by blow description of what we want to do in Bogota. When we all finished the article and finished our oohing and aahing, I turned the magazine to the cover to see what it was and it was a Decision Magazine from the Billy Graham Association dated October 1995! Think about it! God put us right behind a missionary from Canada headed to Colombia who happened to be reading an old magazine from 1995 which happened to have an article about Safe Houses and he happened to overhear us talking about our ministry and started up a conversation and then handed the article back to us… Wow. Ok, now about today.

Oh fellow soldiers! Today was a vision expanding, dream building, major mission accomplishing day! Praise the Lord. Our team on this trip is, Bill and Sandy Byrd, Dave and Gail Beach, Luis Escobar and me. It has been a delight and honor to be here with these sweet saints. They are big thinkers and a huge encouragement to me. Our first order of business today was a meeting with our in country team. We had a wonderful 6 hour meeting where we finalized plans for our Texas Vacation Program this summer, and plans to open our first Safe House in Bogota. Some of our time was pure vision casting. Thinking and talking way outside the box and into the “miracle gap” as Matthew Barnett calls it. We talked about multiple safe houses, we talked about the prostitutes that stand on the street corners in south Bogota trying to sell their babies and strategies that we might employ some day to impact them. We talked wildly about our BIG God and what could be done in this city of 8,000,000 people for the Kingdom of our Savior. We talked about discipleship, and job training, and education, and staff, and young people coming down as interns, and 6 and 12 months missionaries coming down to minister. It was RADICAL and biblical and super enjoyable. We were able to get clarity on many details and that was very exciting as well. Our team was so like minded and harmonious and we just felt the Holy Spirit guiding the conversation and pushing us forward. Thank you Lord for sweet confirmation at every turn. After the meeting we drove to the headquarters of ICBF, (translated it means the Department of Colombian Family Welfare) and had a meeting with the representative that the Colombian government has assigned to assist us in establishing our first Safe House. He was a wonderful man and we talked about many subjects relating to helping Colombian children. The most encouraging thing though was as I was explaining about how God had drawn us to Colombia, his face brightened and he said, “You are Christians?” and we said, “yes” and he said, “wonderful, welcome to Colombia, we are excited about working with you because you will bring the example and the values that our children need.” He was very excited and animated and it just warmed our hearts that of all the people that could have been chosen to be our government representative, God has chosen this man who was excited about working with Christians. Thank you God. We left that meeting and went looking at properties for a potential Safe House. It was very exciting. One house we looked at was suggested by our in country representatives mother. I have met this mother and she is a radical believer. Well, this mother gets this feeling that she should go check out this one neighborhood in Bogota and so she drives through it and sees this house with a For Sale sign on it and calls her daughter and says, “I have found your Safe House.” 🙂 We don’t know anything about the property yet but it is exciting that people are out there looking for us. As we are driving through the neighborhoods Bill Byrd says, “Do they have any abandoned hospitals for sale?” (You would have to read the new book “The Cause Within You” by Matthew Barnett to get the full impact of the radical nature of that question) We all laughed at Bill as the goosebumps popped out on my arms… “I AM the Lord, is there anything to hard for me?”

We finished up the evening with more dream building talk and rejoiced that our little team had operated today so harmoniously, and with such shared faith and urgency, and that we had enjoyed the very real presence of God all day. To Him be the glory.

I usually don’t start my blog of each trip until the first full day but the plane ride down was so eventful and providential that I had to say something. Bill had arranged for all of us to sit together on the plane and so we were enjoying dream building and vision casting for the future of Orphan Hope, sharing things we were reading, and generally discussing what God was doing through us and around us. Suddenly the man in front of Dave, Gail, and I turned around and introduced himself as Jose. He was born in Mexico but went to Christ For The Nations college in Canada and stayed. He was on his way to Bogota with a team called New Beginnings International Christian Society that does camps for up to 500 kids all over Colombia. We had a wonderful visit with the whole team and exchanged contact information and ideas about how we might work together in the future to bring Christ to the children of Bogota. It was very exciting to meet with people who are, like us, just people whom God has touched with a radical passion and vision and have just launched out in faith and seen God partner with them in miraculous ways. It was refreshing and confirming for both ministries to hear how similar our stories were. Ed, the leader of the group said something that all of us here at Orphan Hope have felt and said and it made us look at each other when he said it. Ed said, “I believe that God is drawing people and ideas and resources to Colombia because it is going to be His headquarters for reaching the rest of Latin America.” Wow! We have all felt that very definitely and very strongly. I believe with all of my heart and I have felt the Spirit impressing upon me very strongly that we are only looking through the keyhole right now of what God wants to do for us and through us in Colombia and all of Latin America. I have also felt that we cannot ask anything too big from God for this ministry because His passion, vision, and urgency for this ministry is way ahead of ours. Like a patient Father, He is allowing us to see a little at a time until we catch up to Him in full faith and vision. It is mind blowing exciting and we all agreed on the plane tonight that we are very grateful and humbled to be on His team. Praise God!

Some more fellow soldiers that I would like to tell you about today are Clay and Ashley Vaughn, missionaries to Haiti. Ashley and her family, the Boriacks, are dear friends of ours and I had the privilege of pastoring them for awhile. They are a delightful representation of a godly family. Tom and Tammy, Ashley’s parents, have encouraged and supported our family and our ministry in Colombia greatly. The Boriacks also supported and helped us bless our friends the Villalobos at Monte De Gracia with the initial funds to build their school for orphans years ago. When Ashley was a young teenager I remember her passion for missions and her passion for books. I had heard stories about Ashley meeting Clay at Frontier Camp in Crockett, Texas and how he proposed to her in the back of a truck under a tarp in the pouring rain with 20 other missionaries huddled around them but I didn’t get to meet him until their wedding and I was very impressed with this young man and very happy for Ashley and her family. Clay and Ashley and the Boriacks supported our Share the Hope dinner in December for the safe house in Bogota and I got to see a little more of Clay’s heart. He and Ashley have several things going on that I believe God will greatly expand in the years to come and I am blessed and honored to call them friends and fellow soldiers. See what all they are doing at these sites and please consider supporting them:

Another P from the ministry of Jesus that intrigues and convicts me and brings tears to my eyes is Personal touch. If we are to be His hands in our world we must imitate this.

Matt. 8:3 Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him,

Matt. 8:15 He touched her hand,

Matt. 9:25 He entered and took her by the hand, and the girl got up.

Matt. 9:29 Then He touched their eyes,

Matt. 14:31 Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him,

Matt. 17:7 And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, “Get up, and do not be afraid.”

Matt. 19:13 Then some children were brought to Him so that He might lay His hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them.

Matt. 19:15 After laying His hands on them, He departed from there.

Matt. 20:34 Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes;

Mark 1:41 Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him,

Mark 7:33 Jesus took him aside from the crowd, by himself, and put His fingers into his ears, and after spitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva;

Mark 8:22 And they *came to Bethsaida. And they *brought a blind man to Jesus and *implored Him to touch him.

Mark 10:13 And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them.

Luke 5:13 And He stretched out His hand and touched him,

Luke 7:14 And He came up and touched the coffin; and the bearers came to a halt. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise!”

Luke 13:13 And He laid His hands on her; and immediately she was made erect again and began glorifying God.

Luke 18:15 And they were bringing even their babies to Him so that He would touch them, but when the disciples saw it, they began rebuking them.

Luke 22:51 But Jesus answered and said, “Stop! No more of this.” And He touched his ear and healed him.

Jesus not only touches people with compassion and tenderness, He allows others to touch Him with the same healing result.

Matt. 9:20 And a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years, came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak; 21 for she was saying to herself, “If I only touch His garment, I will get well.”

Matt. 14:36 and they implored Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were cured.

Mark 3:10 for He had healed many, with the result that all those who had afflictions pressed around Him in order to touch Him.

Mark 6:56 Wherever He entered villages, or cities, or countryside, they were laying the sick in the market places, and imploring Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were being cured.

Luke 6:19 And all the people were trying to touch Him, for power was coming from Him and healing them all.

Luke 7:39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a sinner.”

Luke 24:39 “See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”

Touch is a wonderful part of love and compassion. Mother Teresa exemplified this. Paul E. Miller in his book Love Walked Among Us has this to say of her,

“The image of her holding a destitute and dying person — not repelled by the squalor of feces, vomit, sputum, and blood — elicited love and admiration from the whole world. Mother Teresa said, ‘We train ourselves to be extremely kind and gentle in touch of hand, tone of voice, and in our smile, so as to make the mercy of God very real.’ She consciously imitated Jesus’ touch.”

If we are to do what Jesus would do, we are going to have to get used to touching people and being touched by them. Paul Miller goes on to say,

“When Jesus touched people, he gently intruded into their lives. Whatever He touched became clean and whole. He touched the blind, the deaf, and the lame when He healed them. He moved toward people that others pulled away from. He couldn’t seem to keep His hands off lepers.”

I have always thought that a pastor should have a shepherd’s gentleness of touch and be quick with a hearty hug or arm around the shoulder. Churches that I have pastored have been known for their love and familial relationships. We have also been marked by robust hugging. Imagine how elated I was to run across this quote from one of my heroes, pastor John Piper. It sums up beautifully what I feel about the pastoral hug.

“I think there are many people in the world who probably haven’t been hugged for ten years. I had a woman in her fifties say to me one time—she had been a widow for probably about ten years—and she said to me, ‘I haven’t been hugged for a long time.’ And it was just so revelatory for me for a moment that there are people who actually go through life—and they are good people! They’re not eager to jump into bed as a prostitute or to fool around on the weekend. They know they’re going to be pure—but they’re not ever touched. Nobody ever touches them.

And so I thought, “Boy. God, make me a good hugger. Make me a good, clean, pure, trusted, pastoral hugger.”

I just love that. I can’t count the times in my ministry that someone, man or woman, has wet the front of my shirt with their tears because I was available with a hug. There is an anointing of the Holy Spirit and when it is upon you, your touch can be healing. Sometimes physically but many more times spiritually and emotionally.

We must keep ourselves pure. We must keep our hands, hearts, and minds pure so that when Jesus wants to hug someone He can use us to do it for Him. Paul Miller reminds us,

“Of course, some people touch inappropriately. When talking about the danger of sexual lust, Jesus exaggerates for the sake of emphasis, ‘If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off’ (Matthew 5:30). Our hands are meant to gently touch with love. How can you even think of using your hands to touch people as objects?”

If we are to do what Jesus would do, we must reach out our hands and touch people in love.

In my work among the orphans of Colombia, one of the things that I never cease to be amazed by is their hunger and thirst for adult affection. Without a mommy and daddy to meet this deepest of human needs, they become famished for love and attention. Often our team members will have five or six children hanging on them, holding their hands, asking for a kiss on the cheek, and touching their face. Yes, we tell them about Jesus over and over again but it is an unspeakable blessing to be able to imitate Him and hold them and touch them and bless them. The first time I was there I came away with a whole new appreciation for the sweet God-Man of Mark 10:13-16

Mark 10:13 And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them. 14 But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” 16 And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.

Lord, help us to “see”, “feel”, “do”, and “touch” and “be touched” like Jesus!

In part 3 of our look at a P from Jesus’ ministry, Passion, we see that Jesus’ seeing and feeling led to action. He didn’t just see and feel compassion and then do nothing about what He saw and felt. Jesus saw, felt, and then acted. If you look at every one of the scriptures that we have cited in the last two posts about how Jesus saw and then how He felt, you will find that the next phrase tells you what He DID about it. There is a very concise statement in the book of Acts that gives us, I think, great insight into the life of Jesus and consequently into how our lives should be.

Acts 10:38 “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

These phrases “doing good” and “good works” are general descriptions of the work that we are to be about as Christians. The scriptures use these frequently. Let’s look at some of the passages.

Psa. 34:14 Depart from evil and do good;

Psa. 37:3 Trust in the LORD and do good;

Psa. 37:27 Depart from evil and do good,

Psa. 119:68 You are good and do good; Teach me…

Psa. 125:4 Do good, O LORD, to those who are good

Eccl. 3:12 I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime;

Isaiah gives us a little idea of exactly what this phrase “do good” means:

Is. 1:17 Learn to do good;

Seek justice,

Reprove the ruthless,

Defend the orphan,

Plead for the widow.

Jesus rebukes the Pharisees because they were more interested in their rules than they were in seeing a man healed on the Sabbath,

Matt. 12:12 “How much more valuable then is a man than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

Paul encourages us to “do good” and to keep “doing good.”

Rom. 2:7 to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life;

Rom. 2:10 but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Gal. 6:9 Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. 10 So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.

2Th. 3:13 But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary of doing good.

1Tim. 6:18 Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share,

Heb. 13:16 And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

Eph. 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

Col. 1:10 so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;

2Th. 2:17 comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.

1Tim. 2:10 but rather by means of good works, as is proper for women making a claim to godliness.

1Tim. 5:10 having a reputation for good works; and if she has brought up children, if she has shown hospitality to strangers, if she has washed the saints’ feet, if she has assisted those in distress, and if she has devoted herself to every good work.

2Tim. 2:21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.

2Tim. 3:17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

And finally John sums it up for us,

3 John 11 Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.

The evidence of the genuineness of our conversion is not merely our subscription to a set of beliefs or our having responsively quoted a certain “sinner’s prayer” on a certain date in history. No! The evidence of the genuineness of our conversion lies in our actions. At the great white throne judgement all men will be judged by their works.

Rev. 20:11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.

What is it that Jesus says to the righteous and the unrighteous in Matthew 25?

Matt. 25:31 “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32 “All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.

Matt. 25:34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 ‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38 ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’

Matt. 25:41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; 43 I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ 44 “Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ 45 “Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

If we are truly Christians and the Spirit of Jesus Christ dwells in us, then our lives will be characterized by “doing” “good works.”

John 5:19 Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. 20 “For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel.

John 14:12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.

Lord, help us to “see”, “feel”, and “act” like Jesus!

The Shoults are friends we met at a church we helped plant in Magnolia, Texas years ago. They are now missionaries in Mexico. They were in Houston today on their way back to Mexico and I was blessed to get to spend an hour with them.

First, I would like to share an email that I received from Phillip Shoults last year explaining what God was doing for and through them and then I will tell about our conversation today.

Last March I received this email from Phillip.

Brother Matt,

It was good to see you on Facebook. I am not much on social networking but have enjoyed finding and catching up with old friends and believers we have known from our many travels. I will provide you with a brief note of encouragement and say a small thank you for the impact you and your wife have had on Ashley and me over the years. It all started when we were first exploring home schooling and we enrolled Forest & Madeline in the program (PACES) Ted and Johnnie Seago started to help parents, just like us, navigate the early stages of this journey. We learned to endure the challenges and focus on the long term goals and intentions of instilling character first, values then academics. We learned to stand on our own Biblically-based convictions in the face of family scrutiny over our choices to home school and build a stronger family with our central focus on Christ our Savior and Redeemer and living an abundant life in Him. We will enjoy the first fruit of our labor with Forest graduating this May! Praise God.

Coming into to the community of believers at “Grace” in 2003 had a tremendous impact on me. I needed more role models and examples of how I could do a better job supporting our vision for strengthening the family and serving God….. I found it in the wonderful families and Godly men of grace. It was tough leaving TX for Nashville in 2005 and I saw God provide for the move, although I believe that many of my motives were not entirely honorable to Him (namely pursuing money and position/promotion). Ashley and I never forgot the impact of the “model” we experienced at Grace and when we first moved to the Nashville area, we prayed and prayed over finding a community of believers similar to the ones of Grace. Within about 6 months, we were fellowshipping with about 18-20 other believers, meeting from house to house and I was thankful for the experiences we had found back in Conroe.

God really started to work on my heart and in 2007 as I felt him challenge me with a stinging question “….. what is the most important thing in your life? And if it is not me, would you give it up?” It took me 6 months to verbally give him my answer, but I did. I knew that I had made money and my job a higher priority than my spiritual growth, my wife, my kids, etc, etc so I told God he could have everything and told Ashley that we should “get ready for change.” I left LP in October of 2008. That move did not make much sense to a number of people, considering that the economy was tanking and times were getting tough. I kept thinking in my mind, “… what does it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his soul, or his children’s soul, or his family… or anything of eternal value for that matter.” God has been so good as I started a small consulting practice, working out of my home, eliminating a 65 mile round trip commute and about 40K of travel miles each year. Wow, breakfast with the family each morning, Bible Study and devotions each morning at 5:00 a.m, time to invest in my wife and children through family devotions and one-on-one discipleship with my kids have all been a real blessing. God has provided and blessed in so many ways and I thank Him daily for it.

Ashley and I are now earnestly praying over an opportunity we are pursuing/considering to move to Mexico and join our dear friends, David and Maria Skinner in helping expand the Gospel of Jesus Christ through from their hub in Oaxtepec, Morelos MX. The last “link” here in TN is to sell our home and make a short transition back to TX, prep then move. We are praying for clarity and confirmation around this decision.

I wanted to say thank you for your obedience to the calling God has placed on your life, to demonstrate to other men (and families) how to embrace the Christian Life and enjoy the fulfillment of serving our Lord and Savior and not ourselves (or man) in everything we do. You, Ted, Dan, Voddie and so many other men were a great example to me of how to accept and joyfully fulfill the calling God has placed on every man who has surrendered His Life to Christ and accepted the responsibility of being the Priest, Prophet, Provider, & Protector of his home. I just wanted to return thanks to you, I already thank my heavenly Father each day! Your wife gave Ashley a book years ago, Created to be His Help Meet and she has been so grateful for that experience. She has done that study in our home for other ladies at least once, bought a case of books and given them as gifts to every sister-in-law, friend and young lady about to be married. Some seed fell on fertile ground, other seed perished. I have been a direct beneficiary of her being impacted by that book and more importantly the Truth in God’s word. Please pass on to your wife that encouragement and testimony from Ashley.

Thanks brother Matt, In Christ…. his humble servant.

Now, speed forward to today. Phillip and Ashley and their children have been in Mexico for 6 months loving and serving the indigenous migrant sugar cane harvesters and their families. They are also preparing a place for short term mission trips to come down. It was exciting to hear about the many creative ways that they are teaching the gospel to these uneducated peoples. The whole family is involved and it thrilled my soul to see how excited the young people of this family are about what God has called their family to. I hope that in the near future we can go down and help them in some way.

For more information on their ministry go to http://www.globalforce-mx.com/Page/Home/1

I recently shared about our fellow soldier, Hannah, who is serving in Uganda. I would also like to share about another fellow soldier, Miriam, who has a wonderful ministry to orphans in Matamoros, Mexico. I was privileged to meet Miriam and her family several years ago and they have been a blessing to me ever since. We have helped them with a few projects and I hope very much that in the future we can help them more. We are so blessed to be able to know and share with such wonderful saints of God. Their ministry is called Monte De Gracia (Mountain Of Grace). Here is an update that I received from Miriam today. Enjoy.