Back in March, I was invited by the youth pastor at Bridges Christian Fellowship (our home church in Riverside) to speak to the youth on a Tuesday night.  He asked if I could talk about what motivates us in ministry in Malawi, what I was learning about God, and what is has been like being home on furlough.  These were some things I'd been thinking about but his questions were very timely, because they forced me to get some thoughts down on paper.  It was very fruitful for the time home in general as well as the Tuesday night study.  Two groups of students took a look at two passages, Romans 5:1-11 and Ephesians 2:1-10.  Both sections of Scripture focus on the disparity between the punishment we deserve as sinners and the gracious offer of life that stands at the core of the Gospel.  The beauty of this Truth is unmatched, and the hope for the night was to help the students to dwell on this just a bit.  So the answer to the question of what motivates us to head back to Malawi: the Gospel.  Becca and I have been recipients of this wonderful gift of God, and it has changed our live.  It's worth living out and sharing at any personal cost.  We feel like God has led us to do that in Malawi.

So a few weeks later I was preaching at First Baptist Church in Kansas.  I've preached before, but never in three consecutive services!  I have much more respect for the pastors who preach multiple services each Sunday morning.  It's a big task. 

They asked me to speak on the topic of Living out your Faith.  My fear was making it something focused on our role and less on how great it is to serve a God who loves us.  So I tried to highlight some great Gospel realities and explain how this motivates our efforts to live out the Christian faith.

We are sinners who deserve punishment- This is the starting point, and the Scriptures are clear in its identification of humans as naturally sinful.  Beyond this natural bent, we actually choose to rebel against the God who created us and gives us life every day.  God is so holy and good that this rebellion separates us from Him; now and for eternity. 

God intervenes- Even when we were enemies of God, He chose to step in on our behalf.  Christ died a horrible death, as payment for a punishment that we deserve.  What motivated this act?  His love, expressed through Jesus.  Mercy is not free, it was bought at a price.  It was made possible by the death of Christ.

Our adoption as sons and daughers- The incredible thing is that we are not just extended mercy that saves us from punishment.  Scripture tells us that we are graciously offered a place in the family.  JI Packer writes that adoption is our highest blessing as Christians, even moreso than justification.  He argues that justification is best understood in courtroom lingo, while adoption is a family image.  The intimacy and privilege of a family relationship is more than we could imagine.

Joining the Family Business- As we enter into the family privileges, we also take on the family responsibilities.  The rules are simple, Love God and Love Others.  This love is modeled for us by Christ, and is centered around the truth of sacrificial service.  Our new job as Christians, is to consistently lay ourselves down to honor and obey God while loving and serving others. 

What this looks like is unique for each person.  But the motivation should never be lacking.  When we looking at the incredible gift we have been given in the gospel of Jesus Christ, we can't help but respond with a life lived in gratitude, overflowing with grace and intentionally seeking ways to serve.   

Have you been feeling weary, or just less energetic in your service of God and others?  We definitely did when we got home from Malawi last summer.  We were toast.  But thankfully, God has been renewing our energy this year and this gospel message that we need to hear every day has been at the core.  Let it energize you as well.  Let it fill you with gratitude.  And then, live it out.

So you might have heard us reference a trip to Kansas back in April.  We were there to visit First Baptist Church of Independence, down in Southeast Kansas.  Becca's cousin Kevin is the youth pastor there, and back in November contacted us about their church taking a special offering at Christmas for Bright Vision. We were very grateful, even moreso because we hadn't asked for this, nor had we met anyone at the church besides Kevin and his family.  We exchanged some emails over the next few days and then waited to hear back from Kevin. 

Well, December 26th, Kevin calls Becca and lets us know that the church had given $13,000.  We were floored.  Let me put this in perspective.  First, FBCI is not a big church, it is in one of the most depressed counties in Kansas, and they have never met us.  Second, this is about 5/8 of our annual budget for Bright Vision in a year.  So needless to say, this is a big deal. 

So we needed to get out to Kansas to meet the church and say Thank You in person.  We flew out on Thursday and spent Friday and Saturday hanging out with Kevin and Brenda and their four kids, who Yami loves!  We went to the zoo, hung out with the youth at their house Friday night, went to the big city park and ate awesome hot dogs, had dinner with the senior pastor and his family.  Sunday morning I had the privilege of sharing about Malawi and preaching a message on "Living out your faith", at three services.  Later that day there was an Awana soap-box derby and youth meeting at Kevin and Brenda's house.  We headed out Monday morning after a Kansanian diner breakfast (yeah I had a deep-fried and salted waffle, on accident). 

So getting to hang out with Kevin and Brenda was really great.  They really encouraged us with stories from the last few years of really difficult times at their church that have been resolving in the past year, and seeing God work some hard things out.  By the end of the weekend we were laughing about pee and poop stories so we must have been pretty comfortable.  We were also inspired by Kevin and and Brenda, in their heart for serving the youth at First Baptist.  They have the kids over at their house twice a week, besides the weekly youth group at church.  Opening your house to youth who like to eat, wrestle, and be loud isn't always easy.  But they do it, often.  They are very invested in the church and the youth, and we're grateful for their friendship.

So it looks like First Baptist is interested in sending a team out to Malawi to visit us and Bright Vision some time next year.  Looking forward to seeing them again, that side.

In 2007-2008 Becca and I spent the year in the USA.  We came home, got married, and were getting ready to head back to Malawi.  We got back and were given the opportunity to serve the youth and families of Bridges Christian Fellowship.  It was an unexpected job, and an unexpected blessing.  We couldn't have asked for a better time at home that year, getting plugged into our church and enjoying time with our friends and family.

So we've been home this past 11 months, on furlough, and we head back to Malawi in six weeks.  In many ways it has been a year much like the one four years ago.  Precious time spent with so many friends and family.  And many, many unexpected blessings. 

In coming back this year we were planning on fundraising, spending a lot of time with people, traveling a bit, and doing some school.  One of the things we didn't expect was me helping coach soccer at San Ramon Valley High School, home of the Wolves.  If you were at our wedding, you probably remember Don Busboom, who officiated the ceremony.  Well he just happens to be a teacher and coach along with serving on the pastoral staff at San Ramon Presbyterian Church.  So when we got back to Danville, Don asked if I'd help him out with the varisty boys soccer team at San Ramon.  So SRV has been very successful over the past 19 years, winning section title and making it to multiple finals.  Informal lifting started in September, and tryouts in November.  I couldn't wait to get to practice every day and go to our games at night.  I learned so much from Coach Don and Coach Wondo (yeah, Chris Wondolowski's dad from the Quakes in MLS).  The guys are great, and we had a lot of fun together.  I enjoyed the opportunity to train and encourage during practice, and get to know the guys each as uniquely gifted players and people.  Secondary on the list of awesomeness was the fact that we played great and made it all the way to the finals.  In that game we lost to the four-time defending champs in a game that we easily should have won.  Even with a loss in our last game, it was a special year and a special group of guys.  Like doing youth ministry in 2007-2008, coaching soccer was something unexpected that ended up being one of the highlights of our year at home. 
Yami loved going to our games, and his favorite cheer was "Go Wolves."  He got his first pair of cleats from one of the players on the team, Carter.  I'm looking forward to getting to follow the progress of the team next year, and staying in touch with the guys heading off to college.