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"In reading the book “Revelation in World Missions”, by K.P. Yohannan, I found a quote by economist Robert Heilbroner that helps Americans to understand the lifestyle of those living in “third world poverty”. It describes the luxuries a typical American family would have to give up if they lived among the one billion hungry people living in third world nations.

“We begin by invading the house of our imaginary American family to strip it of its furniture.  Everything goes: beds, chairs, tables, television sets and lamps.  We will leave the family with a few old blankets, a kitchen table, and a wooden chair.  Along with the bureaus go the clothes.  Each member of the family may keep in his ‘wardrobe’ his oldest suit or dress, a shirt or blouse.  We will permit a pair of shoes for the head of the family, but none for the wife and children.

We move to the kitchen.  The appliances have already been taken out, so we turn to the cupboards. The box of matches may stay, a small bag of flour, some sugar and salt.  A few moldy potatoes, already in the garbage can, must be rescued, for they will provide much of tonight’s meal.  We will leave a handful of onions, and a dish of dried beans.  All the rest we take away: the meat, the fresh vegetables, the canned goods, the crackers, and the candy.

Now we have stripped the house: the bathroom has been dismantled, the running water shut off, the electric wires taken out. Next we take away the house.  The family can move to the tool shed.  Communications must go next. No more newspapers, magazines, books -not that they are missed, since we must take away our family’s literacy as well.  Instead, in our shantytown we will allow one radio.

Now government services must go next.  No more postmen, no more firemen. There is a school, but it is three miles away and consists of two classrooms. There are, of course, no hospitals or doctors nearby.  The nearest clinic is ten miles away and is tended by a midwife.  It can be reached by bicycle, provided the family has a bicycle, which is unlikely. Finally, money.  We will allow our family a cash hoard of five dollars."

 Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? Jam 2:5  

Amen, Shylynne. Actually Mr. Yohannan was being quite generous in what he allowed to be left. Many families in these countries don't have even that much.

The point is well taken though. Would we still have faith in God if we were to lose our luxurious life that we enjoy here in America?

What a good book that is, Shylynne.  I've been reading it as well.  Actually, I went to hear Mr. Yohannan speak a few weeks ago up here near Guelph.  It was a wonderful sermon but oh, how it touched my heart.  

Revolution in World Missions is a wonderful eye opening book.

What does it mean to be ‘rich in faith’?
Considering the language that Jesus used is helpful here. He spoke about some people who had ‘great faith’. And then there were the times when He spoke about those with ‘little faith’.
To be rich in faith is to have great faith. And why is this a big deal? Why is this a good thing?
Those with a great faith accomplish great things for the
kingdom. Those with little faith accomplish little. And when you rememberour purpose for being here, you can see why it’s a big deal.

Consider young David as he confronts the giant Goliath. ‘This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand … that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.’
David was no soldier. He was just a boy who cared for sheep. And yet, he was bold enough to face this fierce warrior. Why? The honor of David’s God was at stake, and more. But why was maintaining the honor of the God of Israel
left to a shepherd? Why didn’t one of the soldiers of Israel confront the taunting giant? David was rich in faith. The rest weren’t.

Those with a great faith accomplish great things for the kingdom. Those with little faith accomplish little.
Now, how do the poor become rich in faith? How does God do this? As in almost everything else, God uses means. The reason that the poor are rich in faith is tied up with their poverty.

What does a person do when he is threatened? He finds appropriate protection. Listen to Proverbs. ‘A rich
man's wealth is his strong city, and like a high wall in his imagination.’ Proverbs 18:11
Where is the rich man’s protection? When confronted by some
threat, where does he seek protection? This Proverb tells us that he seeks it in his money. And this makes some sense. Money buys a lot of things. It buys time, resources and comfort. It can buy the things that seem to help in
a time when something is being threatened.

But what can the poor man do when he is threatened? What is his protection in the face of some threat? It isn’t his wealth. He doesn’t have any! But now consider the Proverb that comes right before the one I just read. ‘The name of the Lord is a strong tower;the righteous man runs into it and is safe.’ Proverbs 18:10
The option of depending on what money can buy is not available to the poor Christian. So,he is forced to look to other alternatives. He is forced to flee to Christ
for his protection. He casts himself on Jesus. And what happens? He finds that Jesus is faithful to His promise to care for His own. He finds that crying out to His God ‘works’. The threat was dealt with.

That isn’t the end of the story. There are still other threats that will confront this person. But what may have been a timid faith becomes a bit bolder, a bit more confident. New threats provide new opportunities for this person to depend
on Jesus. And that provides new opportunities for this poor man to find that Jesus is faithful. The threats that once seemed overwhelming are no longer. He has learned how to trust Jesus when some danger to health or welfare
looms. And the day comes when he finds himself confronted with some giant of a problem. But he is not timid. He is not fearful. What does he tell himself? ‘This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand … that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.’ God has taken another
impoverished nobody and used him and the wealth of his faith to advance the kingdom and, in this way bring glory to His own name. God has chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith. And so blessed, the poor accomplish great things for the kingdom.

Now, notice something. It is glorious to think that God chooses someone to be blessed in a great way, to be blessed with a great faith, to thus to be able to do great things for God. But consider how this great faith is developed. It is developed by being exposed to danger. It is developed by
being threatened and having nothing at hand for protection. It is developed by feeling defenseless. There is no ‘high wall’ of even a couple of dollars to buy a few resources to keep the threat at bay. This great faith is developed as the poor man realizes that there is nothing but Jesus. Nothing.
It is as all the props and supports are gone that faith grows best.

http://www.cnetwork.co.uk/leon210.htm

"I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"

It wasn’t that he was guilty of losing his faith - that’s not what the father meant when he used the word ‘unbelief’ - simply that there was a moment when the faith that he had was not strong enough to cope with the crisis that he faced.

Even men we would have thought of as being capable of anything that Jesus had asked them to do, could at times be faced with times in their life where their faith was seemingly not up to the task.

I would imagine of course they’re in good company, if we only stop to think about our own lives - at least speaking from my own experience.

Listen to this description of a person faced with a not dissimilar moment in their life, and perhaps try and guess who it might be. Returning to this country by boat after a time away in America on a mission to the native Indians, he found himself depressed, frightened by the storms through which the boat passed and prone to periods of despondency. He tried to share the gospel with others on board, but found that he just couldn’t find the words to say. He wondered if it was God’s will that he should remain silent or whether it was the work of the devil. As the storms got worse he found to his dismay that he was still afraid of dying. And though he could usually say with confidence ‘Verily, if the gospel be true, I am safe.’

In the storm he began to think ‘What if the gospel be not true?’ What if he’d surrendered all - friends, repute, country, life - for a mere dream?

‘I have a fair summer religion’ he wrote in bitter self-criticism, and convicted himself ‘of unbelief... of pride.... of levity and luxuriancy of spirit.’

I could go on, but we’d probably end up as depressed as John Wesley was in that difficult period of his life. ‘Oh!’ he groaned with despair, ‘I went to America to convert the Indians; but who shall convert me?’

Yes, this is John Wesley I’m talking about. It’s maybe not the picture of John Wesley that comes to mind when we think about the origins of our denomination. We would prefer to think of the powerful and charismatic preacher travelling the byways of this country on horseback and sharing an uncompromising gospel message to the crowds that flocked to hear him.

But is John Wesley’s experience any different to that of the disciples in our gospel reading? Yes, here was an educated and enthusiastic follower of Jesus, empowered for a mission and suffering a moment when faith somehow seemed weak. Fortunately for Wesley and for us, he was able to come to terms with the situation he found himself in, to rise above it with the help of others, and to continue his work for the Lord.

Let me also share with you a moment in the life of another great man, and this time I’ll tell you who it was - Martin Luther. He was born in Germany in 1483 and after gaining a brilliant degree in Law realised that his true vocation was within the cloisters of an Augustinian monastery. He was more than enthusiastic in the way he followed the monastic life, and in following all the ways taught to a monk to find God: the mystic way of prayer, the practical discipline of good works, the intellectual path of reason. But Martin Luther went through agonies of stress when he found that the more diligently he pursued the known methods of spiritual growth, the further God seemed away from him.

It was at this moment of spiritual weakness that the great and basic truth of Christianity was shown to him: that it wasn’t God that was far off and men and women had to do everything they possibly could to gain his favour, but more importantly and simply that it was man that had distanced himself from God, through sin and being self-centred, and that God had, through Jesus come all the way to find us. As Luther expressed it, ‘the doors of paradise were flung open to me, and I entered.’

What Luther did was to put the spotlight back onto Jesus, to set him in the centre rather than self. And where is Jesus if not at the centre of our faith?

Luther’s circumstances were different than those of John Wesley. He was finding his faith within a system which, to put it mildly had lost its way. And came to the inevitable conclusion that at the heart of Christianity is Christ. All the other parafinalia and ritual with which his life was surrounded was a distraction which had dragged him into despair. The faith that he undoubtedly had was seemingly unable to deal with the situation that he found himself in, and it was only when his anguished prayer was met with the love of Jesus that he was able to literally see the light.

In the bible there is hardly a word richer in meaning than the word ‘faith’. If you have faith in someone then you trust in that person’s character, and it’s exactly the same in the bible - faith rests in the character of God; he keeps his promises, and can be trusted.

The basis of New Testament faith is the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. If people ‘believe’ in Jesus then that belief is based on what Jesus has done for them. Which of course means that our faith is response - what comes first is God’s steadfast and enduring love for his creation.

Faith, then, is our response of trust to what God has done, and that response is one of commitment, trusting ourselves to him in the light of what he has revealed. A real faith will always result in a changed life.

The message I want to get across is a simple one. We all at times reach points in our lives where our faith just doesn’t seem up to the challenge. And what do we do when that happens - do we give up, persuade ourselves that God isn’t interested in little old me and sink into despair? Or are we like the father in our story, who humbly admitted that the faith he had was weak. Because where faith is weak, Jesus draws near and helps those who call out to him.

http://www.faithandworship.com/Sermons.html

 :)

Having Less... and Enjoying Him More
by Jim Clark

Are you discovering that a busy, cluttered life doesn’t bring lasting joy? Jesus says, ”Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” (Luke 12:15)

If Jesus spent a day with you, what would He say about your lifestyle? What would He say about mine? Would He tell us to slow down? To spend less time at the malls or office, and more time with Him? To savor more of life’s simple pleasures?

    This week would you join me in taking an inventory of our lives? Begin by getting alone with the Lord and His Word. Be honest with the Lord and ask Him to show you ways to avoid getting swept away by our materialistic, frantic culture. Then start removing things or activities that distract you from experiencing what you most need — a living relationship with the living God.

    I strongly believe that if we do seek first His kingdom, and not seek after more possessions or trivial pursuits, we’ll rediscover that abundant life Jesus offers to all who come to Him in simple faith.

Joh 10:10  The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

Amen, Shylynne!

A cluttered life is no fun.

I speak from experience.   ;D


      :-X