"When you were dead in you transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him having forgiven us ALL our transgressions, having taken the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross."  Colossians 2:14 NASB

It’s evening now, and we’ve just finished our Good Friday service here at the school.  We spent some time worshipping God in song, I shared briefly, and we watched The Passion of the Christ.  All relatively usual for Good Friday, but what really struck me tonight was the fact that we need to be living in light of the cross.  Too often people go to church just to hear the same thing that they usually hear, get their spiritual high, and then they go on with their life the way that they want to, and I am certainly no exception, I used to be an ETC. Christian myself (Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas).  I got my spiritual high/duties out of the way and I was ready to live how I wanted to live the rest of the time, doing what I wanted to do and not giving it another thought.  But tonight as we sang songs like "The Old Rugged Cross", "Sweetly Broken", and "What A Savior", I was struck by how the words we sing in worship are not just about the fact of the cross (which is the focal point to be sure) but also about living our lives in light of that fact…and i desperately want to do that with my life.  And as I think about the work that is going on in Kenya with Pastor David and the children there, I know that God is granting me opportunities to do just that.  When I support the work of a fellow missionary, God is giving me the opportunity to do just that.  When I serve others without expectation of repayment, God is giving me the opportunity to do just that.  The opportunities are everywhere, everyday, if we would only see them.

As i shared tonight, I read a short story written based upon the afore-mentioned verse.  And as I put myself in the story, it made me think about how I would live in light of the sacrifice given at the end of it.  I pray that as you read it, you will be challenged similarly.  It goes like this:

"I stared, dumbfounded at the paper I held in my hand.  I couldn’t believe it.  Half of the things that were on there I didn’t even remember doing.  What was on the paper?  All my sins.  And I mean ALL of them.  The ones that I knew as I committed them that I was sinning against God, and the ones that I didn’t really even think about when it happened.  They were all added up, and at the bottom of the paper, I saw what was due, I saw what needed to be paid, and it wasn’t just an arm and a leg.  No, it was all of me.  It was my life.  Because of my sins, I owed a lot.  And I couldn’t pay it.  There was no way I could pay my debt to God.  I sat down on the ground, buried my face in my hands and began to weep, crying to myself because of what I had done and what was required of me now, which I couldn’t do.

Through my tears, I saw a sandaled foot come into view.  I looked up and I saw Him.  He didn’t say anything, but I knew who He was.  His eyes pierced me to the core, and I knew that He was looking into my heart.  I wanted to apologize for everything.  I wanted to beg for forgiveness.  I wanted to grovel at His feet.  But I was unable.  I just looked back at Him, tears streaming down my face and clutching the paper in my hand.  My certificate of debt.  He smiled a sad sort of half smile and held out His hand.  I knew He wanted my paper, but I held it tighter, refusing to give it up.  He continued to stand there for a long time, hand outstreched, eyes looking deep into my soul.  I knew what He was offering, He wanted to pay my debt, but I couldn’t let Him do it. The cost was simply too high and I couldn’t let Him pay it for me, I was an unworthy sinner.  And yet, there was something in His eyes, something in His smile, something in His countanence that said, "I want to pay it for you."  Slowly, I reached up to hand Him my debt.  He gently grasped it and took it out of my hand.

Turning around, He placed my certificate of debt on the cross behind Him.  Picking up a hammer and three nails, He put one in the top corner of my debt and began to hammer it in.  He grimaced as though in pain as He pounded in the first nail, then I saw the blood running down His arm from the wound in His hand.  Finishing with the first, He placed the second nail in the other corner of my debt and began to hammer it in.  A new wound appeared in His other hand as He did this, and yet, He did not cry out, but continued.  Finally, He put the last nail in the bottom of the paper and pounded it in.  I looked down and saw the blood now running down His feet.  Being finished, He dropped the hammer and held out His hands so that I could see the wounds which marred His body.  I continued to cry, though not for myself as I had before, but for Him, because I realized that what He had done.  He paid the debt that I owed to God, with His life, His very own blood.  I fell onto my knees and began to worship Him, thanking Him profusely without words.  Again, He reached out His hand, with no sign of blood, but with fresh scars, this time, reaching out to me, asking me to join HIm.  Taking His hand, I stood up, and looking again into my eyes, He said softly, "It is finished."  And I knew it was.  My debt had been paid with His life.  The least I could do in return was give Him mine.  And so I did."  ~ACG

As you celebrate this Easter, I challenge you to live in light of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection.  Give Him your life in return for Him giving His.  Happy Easter.

 First of all, it’s been a little while since I’ve written anything, for two reasons: one, I spent our spring break in Denver, Colorado with Imago Dei our outreach team working with homeless and low-income ministries and projects around the city (that was two weeks ago); and two, I spent a lot of time last week working on a short video for our upcoming youth retreat which was somewhat time consuming but altogether worth it.  That video will be available on YouTube after this weekend so you can check it out if you want, it’s about going through the motions of Christianity, something that I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about lately and have been challenged to leave behind.  So, God willing, I will have a couple new posts here in the near future with regards to going through the motions and some of the thoughts that i had while working in Denver a couple weeks ago, I’m still trying to take time to process through all that we did and all that we experienced.  But for now, I wanted to give you a heads up about what is going on with Pastor David and our brothers and sisters in Kenya.

The hardest part about the work that I’m doing is the fact that I’m here in Montana and the work is going on thousands of miles away in Kenya, and I can’t always see what is going on, but I know that God is doing work and I simply trust and follow His leading.  However, thanks tot he modern miracle (or curse) of technology, I can email quickly and get an update about the progress of the work.  The last time that I emailed Pastor David he let me know that the work on the children’s home is progressing rather rapidly.  The windows and doors have been put in and they are in the process of doing all the finishing which includes plastering the walls inside and out, and putting in the concrete floor.  After those things are complete, we’ll be able to furnish the building with bunk beds, tables, chairs and the like.  The teachers are doing well, we have three of them, two standard one (first grade) and one nursery school teacher.  Along with the teachers, we also have a man who is our security person, keeping watch at night and such.  God has truly blessed this work abundantly.  Pastor David has been using the food money that we collect here in the states sparingly in order to pay the teachers’ and security’s monthly salary ($100 for the first grade teachers, $50 for the nursery teacher and security).  So we have been praying that God continues to provide their salary, but not at the expense of the children’s nutrition.  Additionally, it is important that we begin to pay off the debt of our farming land which at the moment stands at $8000.  But I know that God is doing this work, it is not by my efforts or the efforts of Pastor David in any way.

So, things are going well back home in Kenya.  Here in the states I am gearing up for the summer, it will be my first summer as the camp director so I’m getting into my feet wet soon.  I love working here at the school, but I also long to be able to be in Kenya as well.  However, I know that God is at work here just as much as He is at work there, in fact He’s been laying a passage of Scripture on my heart that I’ve been dwelling on for the past week or so, it’s 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 it says, "For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf."  The questions that I’ve been asking myself lately are "What does it mean to let the love of Christ control you?" and "Am I living for myself or for Him who died and rose again for me?"  I feel that it is important for me to wrestle with these questions because their answers have a great impact on the work that I am doing, both here in Montana and in Kenya.  As I continue to meditate on the implications of this verse, I pray that you will also and that you will let God’s Word richly dwell within you so that it might change your hearts and challenge you to grow as it has me.  Be blessed.

P.S.  As soon as I get some picture sent to me from Kenya, I’ll post some of the orphanage progress.

 Recently, I feel that God has been asking me this question, "Do you believe it?"  Do I believe the words of Scripture in such a way that they truly influence my life and the way that I live?  And the question has been posed to me through several different avenues, such as Bible study, Imago Dei (the discipleship and outreach team that I help lead), reading biographies about men and women of the faith (YWAM Publishers has an amazing set of thirty-four of them that are super easy to read, I highly recommend them to you), and through various blogs that I’ve looked into and perused.  And everywhere I look, I am asked that question, "Do you believe it?"  In fact, I listened to a sermon by David Platt on a talk that he gave during the Campus Crusade for Christ conference in Atlanta, GA this past New Year’s, and not even twenty seconds into the talk, he asked that very question, "Do you believe the words of this book (Scripture)?"  And I have to ask myself, if I truly, deep down really did, how would that change the way I am ordering my life right now?

According to recent statistics, there are 147 million plus orphans in the world today.  There are a little over 6 billion people in the world, and approximately 4 billion of them profess Christ as Lord and Savior.  If that truly is the case, that there are 4 billion Christians, why are there 147 million children without anyone to care for them?  God’s Word clearly states in James 1:27 "Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of God our father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being unstained by the world." NASB  There are many instances in God’s Word that state His heart for fatherless children.  In the book of Deuteronomy alone, a book that indicates how His chosen people, the Jews, are to live, He references orphans eleven times.  The Bible also tells us in Hebrews 13:8 that Jesus Christ (God) is the same yesterday, today, and forever, therefore we can rightly assume that His heart does not change either.  God’s heart is for His people to stand up for the rights of and care for those who are the weakest and most down trodden.  If I believe God’s Word is true, then how is this command changing the way that I pursue the work of CTM?  Am I willing to put everything I have into it, in order to fulfill my King’s desires?

But It goes beyond just what we do, because Christianity is not something that we do, it’s a way of life, it’s who we are.  The word "Christian" itself literally means "Christ follower", but if we turn Christianity into a series of disconnected events in our lives, we are only Christ followers sometimes.  What does God say about those who only want to follow Him sometimes?  "I know your works: that you are neither cold nor hot.  Would that you either cold or hot!  So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, i will spit you out of my mouth." Revelation 3:15-16 ESV.  And I know that is is not new information, for those who attend church regularly and do Bible studies, you’ve heard this before, but I’m asking, do you believe it?  Read that verse again, and think about how your life would look different if you truly did believe it with your heart.  God is telling us that He wants us to either be on fire for Him one hundred percent or to reject Him completely, none of this fence-riding, "i’ll follow you sometimes, in some areas of my life" mindset.  And if I believe that, am I living it out?  Is my life one of whole-hearted passionate devotion to my God, or a lukewarm, lackluster belief in something that I think is probably true?

And that brings me to the real crux of the matter because this is what I’ve been wrestling with the most: what stops us from truly abandoning everything for God’s work (which takes several forms, I know that you lead a life of devotion here in the States as well as anywhere else because I’ve seen it)?  What keeps us from giving everything to Him?  And I think that there are two very serious reasons.  One, we wonder, deep down, if perhaps this life on this earth really is all that we get.  That maybe Christianity is not entirely true, and if that’s the case, we want to hold onto something so that we don’t lose out completely when we die.  And secondly, there is the fear that maybe God won’t provide, that we will jump out for Him to catch us and He will let us fall (which He absolutely won’t, His Word promises us that, but for the sake of argument, what if He did?) and we fall flat on our face.  Now please understand that I am asking these questions of myself, these are the questions that I’ve been wrestling with on my own for the past month or so.  But the crux of the matter is in the most memorized of all verses, John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life." NIV  If that is true, and you truly believe it with your heart, then you are saved the Bible says, and that proof of your salvation will begin to grow in your life.  But I want to ask you how much that sacrifice is worth.  Is it enough that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins, granting you a place in His eternal kingdom giving glory to Him with all the saints and angels forever, that you would give everything back to Him even if you never received another blessing from Him?  Is His sacrifice for your sins of great enough value that if it was all you got out of giving Him everything, you would still do it?  Do I place that kind of value on it?

As I’ve wrestled with that thought, and prayed over it, I can honestly say "Yes, it is."  Christ’s sacrifice is valuable enough to me that if it was all I got, I would still give Him everything I am.  But I have His great and precious promises that it isn’t all that I get, now that I am one of His children, He will never fail to provide for me and care for me, and that is something worth trusting in.  My prayer is that you begin to look at Scripture with a fresh perspective, asking yourself these questions, "Do I believe it?  If I do, how is that belief shaping and changing my life?"  and "How much do I value Christ’s sacrifice on the cross?"  because I guarantee that if you ask questions like this every time you read the Bible and pray over the answers, God will radically transform your heart and mind.

~Eli

Here’s for those who haven’t been able to receive my newsletter.  The PDF file is too big to email so I figured I would post it here.

Eli

CTM Newsletter-Eli

"The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it." Matthew 13:44-46

I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about this verse and what it means, what it looks like practically.  And I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s like a grubby homeless man.  Let me show you how I arrive at that conclusion.  There is a merchant who is and has been seeking fine pearls, assuming he’s been doing this for a while, he probably has a decent collection of nice pearls, costly gemstones, other things of value.  He is a merchant after all.  But one day, he finds a pearl that is more valuable than anything else he owns and in his desire to obtain that pearl, he sells EVERYTHING.  He sells his collection of other pearls and precious items, his merchant stand, his house, his camel, everything just so that he can have this pearl.  But once he does this, he has this pearl and nothing else which makes him homeless.  To me, that conjures up the image of a grubby homeless man sleeping behind a dumpster and when asked "Why are you homeless?" he holds our his hand and responds with a twinkle in his eye, "Because I gave everything in order to have this pearl.  It is more precious to me than anything else in this world."  A grubby homeless man who gave everything in order to have a pearl.

Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven is like that, something so valuable that a person would give everything in order to obtain it.  Which to me begs the question, do we have that mindset?  Are we willing to give everything in order to obtain this pearl of great value?  Or rather are we like a man who finds a pearl of great value, gives as little as possible to obtain it, then takes it around hoping that it will get him more to add to his collection?  All too often I fall into that second category, and I see the Christians around me doing the same.  Not wanting to give everything for the sake of knowing Christ, but rather claiming Christ in the hopes that it will get them to heaven, get them material wealth and prosperity, health, etc.  And I can’t help but know that that breaks Gods heart and is a slap in the face of the crucified Christ.  And that just kills me to know that I do that…what about you?

I’ve been reading lately about a young woman named Katie Davis who understands that preciousness of knowing Christ and has willingly sacrificed a great deal in order to care for "the least of these" in Uganda (you can read her blog by clicking on "The passionate pursuit of God continues…").  Her story challenges and encourages me immensely.  I’m challenged because her example causes me to examine where my heart is in the work I am doing in Kenya.  Am I just doing it just to do it?  Or am I doing it because it was a command of Christ and by trusting Him for the work I am being drawn closer to Him?  I am encouraged because as i think about my generation, I have to ask myself how many girls like Katie I know.  Or even how many guys who have a similar mindset.  And to be entirely honest, the lists are very short…  We have a great cloud of witnesses in those who have gone before, like Peter, Paul, the other disciples, Hudson Taylor, George Meuller, Brother Andrew,  Jim Elliot, and so many more.  But who in my generation is going to say, "I count ALL things as loss for the sake of knowing Christ!" (Philippians 3:7-11)?  Who?!

I’ve thought a lot about a verse in the song "Hosanna" by Hillsong United that says, "I see a generation/ rising up to take their place/ with selfless faith/ with selfless faith/ I see a near revival/ stirring as we pray and seek/ we’re on our knees/ we’re on our knees" and I want to know that it’s not just a cry of longing from the songwriter, but that it’s a tangible reality.  And I know that it has to start with someone, somewhere.  God, make me a vessel that you can use!  One that you can use to pout out on others your grace and love.  Break my heart for what breaks yours, and then use me to do something about those things.  I can’t live with mediocrity and complacency any longer, ignite an unquenchable fire in my heart and soul for these children and for the people around them.  Use me, use CTM in any way you choose.  Not my will, but yours.

~Eli

To listen to "Hosanna" click here Hosanna-Hillsong United.

 Before I even say anything about my trip to Kenya this year, I have to glorify God for the work that He has done.  Prior to leaving God visibly answered my prayers by providing my visa for entry into the country on a week before I left on the specific day that I prayed for, which was cool.  Additionally, two weeks before I left, I had been blessed with a total amount of $7500 that had been given for the orphanage which was half of my total goal for the children’s home.  One week before I left, I found a check on my desk from several anonymous donors that amounted to another $7500!  Which brought my total to $15,000 the target goal needed for building the orphanage!!  Praise God!  So my goal was reached, but it didn’t feel like it was the end of something, more like the beginning of something big…

Then I left for Kenya, and was thoroughly blessed by my time there.  I spent the first few days in awe of the changes that God had brought about in the previous eleven months.  We had the start of the children’s home, we had six sheep that we didn’t haven’t the year before, a small two-room nursery school, chickens, and our cows (Montana and Gift) were healthy and growing.  It was great.  I was introduced to our fundi (carpenter or expert) Joseph Omuse (another Christian brother), and we went to work continuing the building.  Additionally,  during my time there, I had multiple opportunities to preach in churches and for a couple of youth retreats.  Unfortunately, we had a little trouble transferring the funds over for building and our work was halted for a short while, but we found some other projects to do, like building desks for our school house and building a chicken coop and proper sheep corral with some other money that had been transferred over.  So I praise God for the work that I was able to help accomplish.

So, what’s next for this work and CTM in general?  Well, in Africa, my goal this year is to purchase an adjacent piece of land in order to farm and grow maize and beans and vegetables and so that we have a place to graze our cattle.  The target goal for that is $10,000 which is a bit on the steep side I will admit, but it gives us a platform to be able start ministry in that community.  Additionally, in the future, we would like to be able to expand our school to be able to teach all the children grades K-8, and then set them up with a sponsor who can help pay the school fees for secondary school (high school).  Stateside, though our goals are to establish Certain Truth Ministry as a legitimate non-profit organization to be able to give tax-deductible receipts for the donations that I receive and for financial accountability.  I am currently working on the paperwork part of that, and getting the official language down and then submitting it all.  However, there is a cost involved with starting an organization like this and I am looking a need of about $1000.  But I know that if this is something that God wants to work out, we will do the work of it and make it happen.

Please partner with me in prayer as I continue this adventure and consider the possibility of financial support of this ministry either for a project or on a monthly basis.  Thank you and may God bless you!

Here is the video presentation that I put together upon returning to the states.  A fuller report will follow soon.

The pictures that go along with this post show what God has already begun to do in Kenya. The money that I was able to send in September has already yielded fruit in the partial construction of the orphanage building. And very shortly, I will be joining the effort in person, helping to build and encouraging Pastor David in the ministry that he is called to.

My previous plans have changed regarding when I am going to leave for Kenya and who is going to go with me. After presenting the trip to my church this year, it was made abundantly clear that right now is not the right time to take others with me, not because it’s not necessarily what God wants, but because we are not set up for it yet on the Kenyan side. However, I am still planning on going over and will be leaving at the end of this month, November 29th. I will be gone for the whole month of December arriving back in the states on December 30th.

My goals for this trip are fairly simple and I am still open to whatever God has in store for me this year, but what I would like to see happen while I am there is:

-being a physical part of the building process.

-preaching.

-collecting information regarding the cost of furnishing the building when it is completed, the total running cost of food, clothing, and school supplies for the children, and what needs to be in place logistically to be able to bring others over to be a physical part of the work that CTM is doing.

-I am also hoping to become more adept at speaking Swahili so that I can translate when I have the opportunity to take others over with me.

-encouraging the brothers and sisters that I met and developed relationships with last year.

-whatever other works God has prepared in advance for me to do…(Ephesians 2:10)

When I return, God willing, I will have more pictures to share, which I will do here and on Facebook, and hopefully I will have a short video presentation of the work that God is doing in that area. Continue to keep me in your prayers for strength and provision. On that note, one last thing, I’ve kept track of all the funds that God has brought in for the building project and to date, He has provided $7280 USD for the building. That’s almost half of the total cost of the project!! The estimated total cost for materials and labor was $15,000 USD and God has already provided half of that! I am so thankful and awestruck by what He is doing in Kenya. Praise be to Him!!

It’s getting later in the year and I am beginning to plan my trip to Kenya for this winter.

I’m looking forward to hearing from Pastor David about how the building is going, last he told me, he had been running around trying to find building materials. I look forward to hearing from him soon.

What I’m really excited about for this year is the opportunity to take a few people with me. God willing, my plan is to take two to three young men from my church in Montana over to Kenya to participate in the building process.

I’m sure that we will have the opportunity to share the gospel as well and interact with the people in the area where Pastor David lives. I think that it will be a great opportunity for these young men to see another part of the world, to experience some of the culture, and to put their faith to the test to challenge it and see it grow. This is also going to be a wonderful growing experience for me as well, this being the first mission trip that I’ve led. I have been on many trips and traveled pretty extensively by myself, but I haven’t taken others with me before, so this will be a good challenge.

As I am preparing for this trip, I simply ask for your continued prayers and tell other people about this venture so that they may be praying for it as well.

On the financial end of things, we are also trusting God to provide the finances for our travel. Airline tickets for each person will cost between 2000 and 2500 dollars, along with a little extra money to cover transportation costs while we are in country, the total cost will be roughly 3000 dollars per person.

I would simply ask that as you pray for this trip, you would also pray about the possibility of providing part of that cost, everything helps. Just continue to keep us in your prayers as we head out. May God bless you in what you do. ~Eli

"Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!" 2 Corinthians 9:15

It’s been a while since I’ve put anything up on here, but I wanted to share what God is doing with the orphanage project right now. I am continuing to raise support to fund the building of a new orphanage for Pastor David and the children. To date, I’ve raised about a third of what I need to do all the building. At the beginning of the month (September) I sent a large chunk of that to the pastor so that he could begin the building process. I praise God that He is providing the money for the building, it’s cool to see the process. Additionally, I am planning to return in December to assist with the building and to travel around and share the gospel with people as I am given the opportunity. I’m hoping to take a small team with me from my home church in Augusta, Montana, so I request prayers regarding that, especially for the logistics of it. However I am looking forward to the challenge that God is presenting me with. As the time to leave draws nearer, I will surely be posting more about what is going on. Thanks for all the support, especially the prayers! ~Eli