Love God. Love His People.

Happy Christmas season here from Derby! Have you done your shopping? Me either. To those of you who clearly crazy and have already done your shopping, congratulations. Teach me your ways. I am just not a good shopper really. I want to just buy everything, however the missionary student budget doesn't exactly support that dream and therefore I have to make some pretty tough decisions. Did I mention today is Thanksgiving? Which also means it's Black Friday weekend. Goodness just so much going on. Thankfully the celebration of Black Friday is not nearly as evident in this country as it is in the United States. I actually was at a Walmart last year with my brother and father for Black Friday annnnnd oh my goodness. To describe the situation lightly would be to say that it was kind of like watching Planet of the Apes meet Jurassic Park meet Hunger Games meet that one scene in the mall in Mean Girls where everyone is acting like African animals. I didn't end up buying anything because it would have been Christmas by the time I got out of that line. People are quite fascinating to say the very least. Particularly here in Derby.

I had quite an interesting experience with a woman at an open mic night recently here in the city. After I performed, this woman asked me if I wanted a smoke and I politely declined her generous offer but said I would gladly stand outside with her. She-let's call her Iris-proceeded to ask me what people ask me so very often. "Why would you leave the United States and come to Derby?" I proceeded to tell her that I am here with YWAM, explaining what that is and what the mission behind the organization is, and her response was so very intriguing to me. The next bit of the conversation went a little like this. Oh, I forgot to mention, she is from Czechoslovakia. This country is one of the top five most atheist places in the world, as Clarence so kindly informed me when I told him this story.

Iris: "Oh you mean like the religion Christianity"
Me: "Yes." (Said with a smile)
Iris: "Oh... "(Said with a slight frown) "Well I am not a Christian. I don't know if we can be friends."
Me: "Why can't we be friends?"
Iris: "Well because I am an atheist."
Me: (Laughing lightly) That doesn't mean we can't be friends! Of course we can be friends."
Iris: "Really? I didn't know you could have non Christian friends."

So that is the gist of the most important part of the conversation. That last comment was so stirring to me. I don't think I have ever heard that in my life. I have heard, "Oh you're Christian get away from me," a couple of times, but never the other way around. I don't think this woman has never been openly loved by a Christian before. Isn't that what Jesus did? Jesus is the perfect depiction of the most loving and caring servant within a leadership position. If this is true, then why are we not loving people like Jesus loved His people? I honestly think this woman was slightly weirded out by how friendly and welcoming of her even though we didn't share the same faith in Christ. To me, that was quite shocking.

John Piper says it so eloquently:

"Don't wait for a feeling of love in order to share Christ with a stranger. You already love your heavenly Father, and you know that this stranger is created by Him, but separated from Him, so take those first steps in evangelism because you love God. It is not primarily out of compassion for humanity that we share our faith or pray for the lost; it is first of all love for God."

It is really so simple. Our job is not to force people into salvation, but rather love people as Father has loved us and in the process, show them the truth of the gospel accurately and boldly. I want to take that into what God has been showing me in His word from that experience. By the way, I just want to take a second and say, isn't it amazing that we can have the scriptures on our phones? Like seriously. That is so awesome. Thank you Father for the technologically savvy people you created so that this could be made a thing. I love my bible app. ANYWAY. Let's jump into what I have really been pressing into recently.

Where does out ability to love come from? Well, 1 John 4:19 says it about as black and white as it can possibly get. "We love because He first loved us." That is it. Right there. Because of our total depravity we cannot even love without God. We cannot even have faith without God according to Ephesians chapter 2:8, "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;" So if our ability to even have faith in God is given to us by God, then there is absolutely no way we can overcome our inadequacies to love without God loving us first. So that begs another question. Where do we see God's love the most evident? The answer is quite simple actually.

The evidence of God's righteous love, that has been gracefully and mercifully bestowed upon us, is not based on anything that you or I have ever done or will do, but rather rests solely in the cross and resurrection. See Romans 3:25. "whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;" Then the ever famous John 3:16. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." That is where our source of everything comes from. It is by the cross that we are saved from our inadequacies. It is by the resurrection that we are eternally saved from the forever consequences of our transgressions. God's sovereignty, coupled perfectly with the cross, is what makes His love perfectly righteous.

To me, that verse can stand alone as the quintessential standing piece for our faith. God's omnipotent mercy is truly revealed in the cross. God knows all of our failures, but because of our God given faith, consisting of mental, emotional, and volitional revelation, we are able to be saved. That just blows me away every single time I think about that.

So my question to myself and to everyone who knows this truth, why are we not living it out? Why do people like Iris have this idea that she can't be friends with Christians because she isn't one? That is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard. Iris is a creation of God. We are all creations of God. The Father. The perfect and loving Father. Yet because someone doesn't see the truth we shut them out. I am guilty of this myself, however, for me that is forever going to be changed. I want to live a life that reflects what Jesus did. When people look at me, I don't want them to see me. I want them to see a life that is reflecting Jesus.

Look at Luke 6:46. "Why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord' and do not do what I say?"
Look at John 14:15. "If you love Me you will obey my commandments."

That is such challenging truth. What is that one command Jesus gave us? "Love your neighbor as you love yourself." That doesn't say. "If you and your neighbor share the same theology then you should love them." No. Love your neighbor as you love yourself. Which you are created in the likeness of God and therefore you should love yourself a whole lot and by default love people a whole lot that it even weirds some people out. This is really what God is challenging me with and what I want to pass on to you all.

Be radical in your love for God. Be radical in your love for His people.

Below is my leader Jeanine, myself, and most importantly three young women that are degraded and denied by many people in society because they are a part of the Roma/Gypsy community. You want to know what we all have in common? We are all beautiful children of God that deserve to be loved by us.