Tag: books

Press on

But God says our love matters more than sacrifices

Hosea 6:1-3, 6 Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces; now he will heal us. In just a short time he will restore us, so that we may live in his presence. Oh, that we might know the Lord! Let us press on to know him. … [The Lord says] I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings.

Over the last week and a half, as we marked eleven years since Karis left us, I have re-read Karis: All I See Is Grace. I couldn’t remember which parts of her life—of the three thousand pages of my first draft—had made the editing cut and into the book. I hadn’t remembered how often she referenced this passage from Hosea.

To understand this, it’s necessary to know that Karis had a high view of God’s sovereignty. She believed that NOTHING happened without the permission of God. He, all-powerful and all-knowing, could end or cause anything at any time. Often, she believed, he did not act when he could have because he so honors human free will. He wants us to choose him of our own volition. He wants us to obey him because we love him, not from force or manipulation. He gives us more latitude in our choices than perhaps we are wise enough to handle. Yet we learn from our mistakes. Painful as their consequences may be, God doesn’t usually step in to shield us from the results of what we have chosen. But this doesn’t mean he doesn’t see, or know, or care what we are going through.

A harder concept for me is Karis’s belief that her birth defect, with all its mosaic of positive and negative impacts on her life, was chosen for her by God. That his purposes for her required the suffering she endured. That had she not spent so much time in clinics and hospitals, she would not have met the people with whom she was meant to share God’s love.

I tend to think that Karis was born without functional intestinal nerves not because God so willed, but because we live in a fallen, imperfect world in which this kind of thing can happen. The question for me is whether we allow God to act within our circumstances to accomplish his desire to love others through us.

Either way, it’s clear God longs for us to know him. To personally know his heart of love toward us. To put ourselves intentionally in the way of knowing him better, in every way we can “pressing on” to know him and to love him, not whatever image of him we have inherited or invented. This, for Karis, was her lifelong quest.

Sovereign by Chris Tomlin

The Difference of a Box of Books, by David and Cherie Bulger, OCI, Colorado Springs

But God finds ways to overcome obstacles

John 20:30, 21:25 The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. … If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written.

Our mission organization is called One Challenge International, often OC for short. Our mission colleagues David and Cherie just sent the following story in their monthly newsletter. I’m posting it with their permission. Jesus’s disciples are still witnessing miracles!

2459213053
In our OC office in Johannesburg, a library and bookshop are maintained for leaders to borrow and purchase materials for their growth and development. Recently, we learned of a story related to those books, one we believe you’d appreciate – and thank God for as well. Our OC office in South Africa received the following email:
“Dear Leadership at OC-Africa, “My Muslim name is “Mohammed” [name changed], I was born and raised in a Muslim family in northern Mozambique. I was raised in a religion that hates Jews, Christians, and all white people. I was trained by the Isis in Somalia to fight for Allah in Jihad. I have been studying Islam since I was a little boy. In Islam the doctrine of slavery and terrorism is regarded as the most rewarding service for Allah. Killing Jews, Christians and all white people in the name of Allah is the only assurance a Muslim can have to enter Paradise.

“For 20 years I was in Somalia & Sudan for training in Jihad. I was trained to use all kinds of guns, grenades, swords, knives, etc.   “…God rescued me before I committed any acts of terrorism and murder. In the year 2005 after my training in Sudan & Somalia by Elshabab we visited the nation of Kenya…we were living in the coastal town called Mombasa where there is a growing population of Muslims. We met some missionaries at the beach in Mombasa and I was given a box full of Christian books. [The] box and these books had a red sticker of OC AFRICA.

“These books have transformed my life and God uses the books to give me purpose and direction for my life.   I have now officially changed my name to “Joshua” [name changed again].

“I have lived as a refugee in many African countries because I was running away from radical Islamic terrorists who were hunting my life so that they could kill me. I came to South Africa 13 years ago as a refugee, but life was difficult…I lived from one shelter to another. Sometimes I slept in the streets when I did not have any money to pay for the shelter. I started buying second-hand books and I began to feed my spirit with the word of God…I have learned to trust in God. Your books have taught me Experiencing GOD.

“…God gave me a vision to reach 532 million Muslims in Africa and to equip the Church globally to reach Muslims. …By the grace of God, we have already planted churches in the rural areas in Zimbabwe and Mozambique.”
“Only God knows how that box of books wound up, from Johannesburg, in the hands of “Joshua” in Kenya. All we know is that the Lord has used them to change this man’s life and to birth a ministry. Join us in thanking God for “Joshua,” for books, and for OC Africa’s library and shop!“ 

(Debbie) What acts of Jesus have YOU witnessed, in your life or someone else’s? I invite you to write it down in one page and send it to me (debrakornfield@gmail.com) to share the encouragement! Your story deserves to find its place in the record of God’s wonders.