Lee's Lines

Taking a rest from the Gospels

For the last 8 months or more I have been reading through the four Gospels in personal worship time. During those months I think I have been through Matthew and Mark 3 times and Luke and John 2 times each.

But a comment made by a teammate recently about one of Paul's letters made me realize my current engagement with other sections of Scripture is lacking. So I've taken a break from the Gospels for now and have been reading through 1 Timothy for the last several days. These are great verses from chapter 1 . . .

"15This is a true saying, and everyone should believe it: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--and I was the worst of them all. 16But that is why God had mercy on me, so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life. 17Glory and honor to God forever and ever. He is the eternal King, the unseen one who never dies; he alone is God. Amen."

Isn’t it interesting that the older Paul got, the more aware he was of sin in his life? But even more fascinating is his description of how others came to know Christ because of God’s mercy and forgiveness in his own life. I never thought that my struggle with sin and God's wonderful forgiveness might be attractive to others, but it makes sense!

Thanks Lord. I'm grateful for Your love. I worship You just like Paul did in these verses . . . You are the Eternal King.

Plans change . . .

The past six weeks did not bring the travel to Romania and Ukraine that I had anticipated. In order to use ministry resources most wisely, my teammates and I decided others would have more value to offer/gain on these visits than I. So I was landlocked in Budapest to prepare for our upcoming Alliance board meetings in the U.S. in May.

Turns out that our teammates and consulting colleague Tom Clegg did just as well without me! Tom was a super help to the Romanian and Ukrainian church planting leaders that we are attempting to resource this year. When Tom consults with church leaders he always asks them a surprising but critical question . . . “Who cares for you?” He believes (and I agree) that people can’t multiply if no one is caring for their hearts!

Here’s a picture of Tom in discussions with Romanians Gavi Moldovan, Ioan and Ioana . . .

He was such a help to them, they’ve already invited him back. Here’s what Gavi wrote to Tom in an email . . .

“It was a blessed experience to be with you . . . for two days in Oradea (Romania). I want to thank God for the way Jay planned this meeting to be a help for us as a team, involved in saturation vision here in Romania. I really needed such a time to be challenged of my own values and vision. Thank you brother Tom for the time spent together.”

And here’s a photo of our teammates with Valeriy Alimov and his wife in Kiev, Ukraine (see my March 18 entry). Valeriy is the leader of a church planting initiative in Ukraine that hopes to plan at least 30 reproducing churches each year.

Pictured are Scott Friderich, Tom Sponsler, Valeriy and wife (whose name I don't know), Jay Weaver and David Toth.

Thanks for reading my blog! Please check out our Prayer Wish List at right. Oh, and if you’d like to read Tom Clegg's great book Lost in America, check out that link on the right as well.