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The Works of God

Last July, our family of seven moved to Mexico to join Global Education Ministries as overseas missionaries at the Manantial School. We became immersed in a culture that was so foreign to us that it left us clawing for some form of familiarity and identity. Our response to this feeling was to get to “work”.

We sought to make things happen that were not yet ready to happen. We would overreach our mandate, attempt a shallow form of evangelism, or try to perfect some part of our jobs. The level of activity was extremely pressured and I felt manic…wanting to see everything happen NOW. Praise God He didn’t let us stay there long.

My wife suddenly got shingles on her face, and this sickness led to some of the hardest weeks of our lives. All of our work and striving came to a screeching halt for two full weeks, while my wife was bedridden. I mostly stayed home and cared for her and the children. It forced me to pray constantly and to begin calling upon God more fully.

I would equate this time in our lives to a car getting four simultaneous flat tires right as it hit the gas to plunge over a huge cliff. God, in His infinite wisdom, knew that this trial would save us before we could wreck everything. This situation, along with several other exceedingly difficult trials to follow, began new humbling in our hearts.

In the midst of the suffering and difficulty, God gave me a treasure of a verse to help me through, even as I thought I was doing “God’s work” as a missionary going 90 miles an hour to press “His” agenda. In the gospel of John, right after Jesus fed 5000 people with 5 loaves and 2 fish and then walked on water, Jesus explains that He is the bread of life. At this point, Jesus really has the ear of the disciples after what they have witnessed. The disciples, who are completely intrigued by this miracle man, ask Jesus this question, “What must we do to be doing the works of God?” And Jesus answered them, “this is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

This verse put me right in my place. I had been seeking to “do” the work of God, but I was not resting and believing. On the surface, I would have told you I believed more strongly than before, but I deceived myself and believed a lie. A dominant thought current running through many of us Christians is that the more we DO God’s work, the more loved we are….that somehow we can earn God’s love and favor.

99% of evangelical pastors, leaders, and missionaries would agree that we can’t earn God’s love…but it’s a different thing to think something than to live and rest in it.   Our human drift is towards capitalism, whereby we seek to achieve, succeed or win with relationships or the market for our purposes, comfort, or increase.

Do you strive to make things right? Do you work tirelessly to be the cause of the desired fruitfulness in your life? Do you try hard to escape the suffering you so fear? OR…Do you, at your core, rest in the finished work of Christ on the cross. Do you, at your core, know that your human efforts are spiritually fruitless? Do you, at your core, see suffering as the means by which you are cleansed, disciplined, and crafted into His image?

Do not work for the food, results, status, or material that perishes, but believe in Jesus who God sent to free you and give you all that you will ever need in Him. See what happens when you are transformed to let your work be to believe. Let your new sweat be envisioning what Godly result you want for your friends in His name. Let your new mission be to cry out to Him, in belief for your family’s deliverance.   Let your new craft be to ask and believe God for business effectiveness, gospel witness, and a prosperous rejoicing in His name. Let your new trade be to believe in God’s promises for your church by seeing Jesus lifted up and your members unified, sanctified, and witnessing to the power of the gospel.

When you find yourself looking to yourself for effectiveness, change this focus into examining yourself solely to see how you and your thoughts are hindering belief in what was accomplished at the cross and then agree to simply rest in that finished work. Do you believe it is finished? Rest and pray. He is faithful. “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Mark 11:24

704631_10207139802147916_4018787005924459280_oRob and his wife, Mauri, were married in 2004 and have been blessed with 5 children (2 biological and 3 adopted). Rob has a Master of Education degree in Counseling and Development from Winthrop University. He is a Licensed Professional Counselor, who also has many years experience teaching children of all ages. Rob is currently serving as the 7th grade Bible teacher and School Counselor at The Manantial School in Mexico. 

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Follow me

One gift of a Monday with no school, thank you Mexican Independence Day, I met with a friend for a run on the beach. With the sun on our backs and the sand sliding into our shoes, the miles and conversation passed quickly. We arrived to our destination, catching our breaths in a shady area. The ocean was filled with surfboards and tourists, and we watched as joyous and shaky riders conquered waves and face planted into others. Yet always willing to paddle back out and try again.

I’m sure many messages have been and could be written about the connections between surfers and following Jesus. The unknown of the waters, the determination and ability to take risks…but, I’m not going to talk about those topics. For off to our other side were 5 men. Five men that had nets, simple clothes, and no shoes. Fishermen.

I’ve never had much interest in fishing. After seeing a hook get stuck in the palm of my big brother’s hand, I stayed away from the sport. If I’m honest, maybe I just don’t have the patience. Regardless of the reason, I had never really watched the process. I was mesmerized as the men worked together, casting out the net, pulling it in, each with his own purpose (one seemed to simply keep the others laughing).

We watched them pull in a big load, the birds loudly protesting from above, and my friend turned to me and made an unforgettable observation, “Just imagine Jesus walking up to these men and saying Follow Me.” And I realized that I had never truly paid attention to that part of Scripture. I always took for granted that of course they would follow Jesus. Of course, they would understand what was to take place by leaving everything to follow Him. But they didn’t.

So, I thought about what that meant for them to leave their nets. In Matthew 4:19 it says that Jesus simply states, “Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” He doesn’t say, “Don’t worry, you will always have enough to eat” or “With me you will see amazing things of God.” Jesus only says, “Follow me.” He doesn’t entice us with beautiful views, delicious food, or amazing coworkers. He just wants us to follow Him.

I will never forget a quote which states, “When you delay obedience, doubt and excuses creep in.” For the next verse says, “At once they left their nets and followed Him.” They were the first ones. They didn’t have the gift of seeing others already following Jesus. They didn’t read books about missionaries or watch inspirational movies. They heard His call and simply obeyed. And I think in many ways if God did show us His plans…well, in our humanness, we would freak out a little bit. So, in His graciousness, He shows us one step at a time. One day at a time. One moment at a time.

IMG_6744Sarah Quigg is serving her second year at our school in Mexico as the 5th-grade teacher. We are so blessed to have her on our team, and our students are INCREDIBLY blessed by her God-given talent for teaching and loving them so well.

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Running To Your Arms

One of the most (actually THE MOST) exciting event that happened in my life during the year 2016 was…getting engaged!! November 10, 2016 was a day that will forever live in my mind. Moving to a different country where I can share my faith as I teach, work with people who are focused on heavenly things, and get married to an amazing man…wow, God truly knows His children.

This beautiful town of Puerto Escondido is a place known for its beaches. And as the hour grows later, many people can be found surfing or simply sitting in a location to watch the sunset. The brilliant oranges, pinks, reds, and yellows, contrasted with the clear blue of the ocean is a sight only to be fully treasured in person. And I have quickly learned that these sunsets are even more amazing with a person you love by your side.

One Monday afternoon I was on my way to a beach called La Punta for a spontaneous sunset date. As I was running there, I began to feel this excitement in my heart. I was running to my fiancé. I was running to someone who loves me in all my weaknesses. Someone who wanted to face hard times and beautiful moments together for the rest of our lives. And even though we have only been dating a year I felt as though it was the beginning of our relationship, due to the butterflies ever increasing in my stomach. Then a thought made me stop (not literally…I kept right on running).

Here I am running to a man who loves me so much (I know because he buys me tacos all the time), but his love can never come close to the love that God has for me. That mental image of a person running towards someone that they love, someone they invest time and energy to learn more about, someone that invokes butterflies to flood their stomach.

That is how I want to be with Jesus. I want to treasure my time spent focused on learning more about Him. I want to think about His love and feel butterflies. I want to desire His presence and keep Him in my thoughts. I want to run…run into His arms.

IMG_7198Sarah Quigg graduated from Liberty University in 2015 with a B.S. in Special Education. She loves running and growing closer to God while exploring His creation! This is her second year teaching 5th grade at the Manantial School in Mexico. 

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Humility

Humility

I am reading a book right now called Humility by Andrew Murray. I am being profoundly affected by it. As I read it, I am simultaneously encouraged and convicted. Inspired and indicted.

Let me quote a few lines from Mr. Murray:

“Let us…admit that there is nothing so natural to man, nothing so insidious and hidden from our sight, nothing so difficult and dangerous as pride. Let us feel that nothing but a very determined and preserving waiting on God and Christ will discover how lacking we are in the grace of humility, and how impotent to obtain what we seek. Let us study the character of Christ until our souls are filled with the love and admiration of His lowliness. And let us believe that, when we are broken down under a sense of our pride, and our impotence to cast it out, Jesus Christ Himself will come to impart this grace too, as a part of His wondrous life within us.”

Pride is “insidious.” It is absolutely the default nature of man to be self-exalting and self-focused. We are helpless to be rid of this impulse on our own. Then he says,

“We need to know well the Second Adam and His power to give within us a life of humility as REAL and abiding and OVERMASTERING as has been that of pride.”

This book is saturated with statements like this. One of the chief concepts that Murray seeks to promote in his book is that humility is one of the most distinguishing and important characteristics of our Savior, God the Son, Jesus. He maintains that humility is of an importance to us that cannot be overstated but yet it is very rarely actively sought out to be cultivated. I, as do many, energetically and enthusiastically agree with Murray.

Indicted

I have said that I feel indicted by Murray’s words in Humility. I am indicted on the grounds that I am personally guilty of what he describes as the chief problem of man: pride. My initial, unfiltered, hidden, and secret mental reaction to being overlooked or forgotten is one of annoyance and disappointment. I find fault when someone else’s idea gets carried out and not mine. Instead of being overjoyed at the success and fruitfulness in my friend’s life I want to know, “Why not me?”. My battle and struggle with pride is a daily one, no an hourly one. As I’m sure yours is as well. I read Murray’s words about pride and its offensive heinousness to our God and I know I am reading a description of my own deeds. He says things like this:

“Let (the reader) consider how all want of love, all indifference to the needs, the feelings, the weaknesses of others, all sharp and hasty utterances and judgments, so often excused under the plea of being outright and honest; all manifestations of temper and touchiness and irritation; all feelings of bitterness and estrangement, have their root in nothing but pride that ever seeks itself….”

Inspired

But by the grace of God, as often as I am indicted in my reading of this valuable book, I am inspired! Thank you Jesus! There is hope for me! There is hope for you! Murray talks about how humility is to be the chief thing that we seek as believers, for from it springs all other good behaviors, attitudes, ideas, thoughts, feelings, impulses, habits and words! Our main problem as people before our God is our pride. Our obstinate, tenacious and determined desire to acknowledge and exalt ourselves instead of God. I read Murray’s words like this:

“Our one need is to study and know and trust the life that has been revealed in Christ as the life that is now OURS and waits for our consent to gain POSSESSION and MASTERY of our whole being.”

Since I have been crucified with Jesus and HE now lives in me (Galatians 2:20) the life of Jesus is now MY life. That is true about me! That is true about me in SPITE of my failings! I want Jesus’ life to come out and be seen in MY actions and MY behaviors more and more! I want to be MASTERED by Jesus more and MORE! I want to be more like Him and less like ME!

When I feel the reflex to want to grab for attention, I fight that with faith in the Son of God and try to give it up and give attention to someone else. When I am tempted to drop the comment that I know is bound to impress others, in my head I ask the Holy Spirit to help me keep my mouth shut. When I want to speak up for my rights and not let someone get away with being so insensitive, rude, uncaring, irresponsible for whatever they might have done to me I, in faith, try to remember Him that “…when He was insulted did not retaliate, and when He suffered, he made no threats. Instead He entrusted Himself to the one who judges justly” (1 Peter 2:23). These are the type of sentiments and attitudes that are being stirred within me as I read words like:

“Humiliation is the only ladder to honor in God’s kingdom.”

“ Brethren, here is the path to the higher life. Down, lower down! This was what Jesus ever said to the disciples who were thinking of being great in the kingdom, and of sitting on His right and His left. Seek not, ask not for exaltation; that is God’s work.”

I am given great hope as I read this book. I highly recommend it to all. It gives me great peace and comfort to know that I am not the one who can work humility in myself. It is in my realization of the impossibility to do this that the lowliness is brought about. Jesus brings it about. My life in Him began because of His work. It will continue because of His work. And He will finish it.

Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 2:13 “for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose”

Philippians 2: 5-8 “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus, who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man he humbled himself and became obedient to death even death on a cross!”

IMG_1549Jason Faircloth currently teaches 3rd grade at the Manantial School in Puerto Escondido. He is also the director of our Primary School. Jason and his wife, Kate, and son, Abraham, have lived in Puerto Escondido for almost 4 years now serving with Global Education Ministries. 

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The Vineyard and the Young

I’m a teacher…. I love teaching young people. It’s amazingly difficult, frustrating, and rewarding all at the same time. As I’ve grown up in my faith and in my love for teaching, I’ve also come to believe the best way for a Christian (teacher or not) to spend their life is by pouring into children. Shocking statement…I know. But I believe it to be true!!

Sometimes seen as a stepping stool for greater ministry work, the reality is that working with children is the greater work. Jesus makes this abundantly clear in the way he teaches about children and what he teaches in parables. In one parable, the owner of the vineyard who calls workers throughout the day, highlights why we should be excited for the opportunity to work with those called in the first hour of the day (read as…those who become Christians at an early age).

Here are a couple reasons:

1- The best work of the day is done early in the morning. Those who were called by the owner of the vineyard in the first hour are able to work for the master the longest. They start earlier and have the chance to accomplish more. When the master is God, and the work is for the kingdom, while difficult and painful, the work is always to our benefit! The master doesn’t need us to work for Him… He lets us work because He knows it’s for our good. The things that we do for the master bring him glory and they also benefit us. So, in the simplest terms…the more opportunity to work for the master, the greater the blessing is for us. Those who come in at the 11th hour…the end of the day…still receive the same reward at the end, but they can never make up for all the missed opportunity to work for the master. They sit idle and are not blessed by their labor for the master.15036631_10211392631517272_651217627833953239_n

What an opportunity it is to be able to work with young people, who are still in the first hour of their lives. If our focus is glorifying God and advancing His kingdom, we should be actively pursuing those who have the greatest opportunity to commit themselves to the master’s work…. none better than those in the first hour of life!

2- Those who join the work in the first hour will have greater potential for more long lasting impact on the vineyard. Not only are they able to do more work for the master, but the quality of their work will, at the end of the day, be better. A worker who has been trained up from the beginning will become skilled and useful. Their habits, thoughts, and efforts will be tailored to maximum effectiveness for their master. But the laborer who joins at the end of the day, while still being able to contribute, will be limited and hindered.

Not only do they have less time to work and develop the necessary skills (maturity) to contribute in the same ways as a worker who came in the first hour, they will be hindered by all the extra time committed to tasks that aren’t from the master. All the idleness won’t be useful in equipping them or preparing them for the task. They will have to unlearn bad habits, laziness, and unproductive thoughts to commit themselves to the real work of the master. Of course, God is wonderful, and even the lazy worker who has come in the last hour will be rewarded and can be useful…in spite of missing the benefit of working for the whole day and the usefulness that comes with training and growing up in the task.

A real life practical example I’m living through is…. Learning Spanish! I can learn new languages…. I’m sure of it! But I’m hindered by two primary things that will never allow me to learn a new language as well as a child. Numero uno… my pride inhibits my ability to practice enough to learn quickly, and numero dos… years of training my mouth to move in certain ways will ensure that I’ll always have an accent. My son, as he learns Spanish, doesn’t have these same problems…at least in the same way I do. He practices freely because he hasn’t let his pride grow like mine, and his pronunciation is better because he’s only spoken his first language for a few years. I think the same principle is true with the effectiveness of the worker in the vineyard. How much better it is to come and be trained up in the work in the first hour, instead of the 11th hour!

It seems like it would be much better for the master to gather all the workers in the first hour, but who are we, as servants to question the plans and generosity of the master, who always knows what is best. Although not explicitly stated in the parable, research has shown that most laborers for the Lord, those who are chosen and called to the work, come in the first hour. In fact, an overwhelming majority comes in the first hour, while only a small percentage comes in the last hour.

No matter when we come, a few truths are important to remember. We come because first, the master came to us. Regardless of the hour, we stood idle, doing nothing. Our impulse to join in the work came from the call of our master.

Secondly, when we come, regardless of the hour, early or late, we are to come as those who come in the first hour. Come like children – “unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of God.”

I believe the best way to spend our lives is by pouring into children, but it’s also the most difficult for many people. Probably impossible to prove in any quantitative way, as I’m sure it is difficult to minister to unreached indigenous populations, and others entrenched in sin and damning religious traditions, etc. But many languish in the work with children and look for greener pastures – ministries that are more fulfilling.

It’s true that most Christians come to saving faith early in their lives, but as those leading children to faith we often don’t value it as much as leading an adult to faith. The angels may rejoice over one sinner that repents, but often times for us, if that sinner is a child, its viewed as a half victory. But if our grown neighbor came to faith then we’d be more inclined to let loose and celebrate with the angels in heaven. I’m guilty of it and I believe many more working with children are as well. Its wrong, and its prompted by sin.

There are a couple reasons why we fall into this sin:

1- We doubt the sincerity of their faith. We look at their youthfulness and their simplicity of thinking and think about all the things they don’t know, and then we judge them. With their lack of wisdom, intelligence, experiences, and lack of everything compared to us, can they possibly have the same saving faith that we have??? Of course they can!!

The master calls to work many in the first hour of the day. Additionally, scripture supports the reality that our intelligence and world wisdom doesn’t somehow increase the likelihood of finding true saving faith. If anything, it hinders it (1 Cor 1:19). We aren’t to look at young believers who have supernaturally been given saving faith, and judge them. We are to look at young believers, and simply be like them – humble, obedient, and believing. Who is more likely to profess a faith that isn’t true and genuine, a child or an adult? Scripture paints a clear picture that it’s the latter not the former. See the life of the Pharisees.

2 – The second reason we fall into this sin is because, often, we don’t get as much satisfaction out of a child coming to faith as we do an adult. We value a lost soul differently than God. The angels rejoice over the repentance of any sinner, regardless of the hour they’ve come to the vineyard, because they know that God values every soul with unlimited and eternal worth. It is no greater victory to win an adult to Christ than it is to win a child. As I mentioned before, while the souls are of immeasurable value, there is clearly no comparison in which can potentially contribute the most to the work of the kingdom.

What a blessing it is to be a teacher, to work with children, and to every day tell them about Jesus!!

– Casey Herring, founder of GEM

case and megCasey and Meg Herring met overseas in Brazil while serving as teachers. They fell in love, got married, and now have two precious sons, Oliver and Elijah, and a baby girl Adelyn Grace. Casey received a B.S. in Secondary Education from Western Oregon University and an M.S. in Global and International Education from Drexel University. He has 13 years of teaching and leadership experience. Casey is currently serving as the CEM Director in Mexico. 

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Ant Nests and Internal Changes

Matthew 23:25-26 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.”

We once owned a bag that stayed with us for many years. It was a laptop bag that was black with pink straps. The straps were made of leather, and it was well padded throughout to ensure the security of the technologies that it transported. It looked very cute and effeminate. It’s appearance said, “I am a bag that efficiently, yet elegantly conveys a laptop computer and its related accessories. I am rugged but I am also pretty and delicate.” However, for many years, we had ceased to use it for this purpose. As our life and job situations changed, we had no daily need for such a piece of luggage. So it was demoted to just being a storage unit, albeit an organized and neat one, in our house. It held our old unused laptop and a few other forgotten bheld ontonto items we weren’t sure if we would need one day.

The other day, my wife was cleaning our house and moved this bag. In doing this she realized that touching the strap incited a platoon of giant red ants to hurriedly scuttle up her arm. Racing the bag out onto our porch she managed to get it unzipped. There proceeded to flood out of this posh bag a torrent of scurrying, frenzied ants in thick hordes. The zipper had never closed all the way, as it was designed to not look too efficient, and it was through this orifice that the ants had gained entry and built an enormous and horrible nest. All items but the laptop were discarded and the bag was so completely filthy on the inside with all the dirt the ants had brought in along with pieces of their fallen comrades as well as whole cadavers of others that the bag itself was also sentenced to the garbage.

I believe this experience suits very well as an illustration for something I have been thinking about a lot lately. What got me started thinking about this was a song by Casting Crowns. In a song on their album Thrive, Mark Hall is singing about what being a Christian is emphatically not. He says, “…it’s not about saying magic prayers and new behavior. It’s all about your heart, He’ll meet you where you are….” Upon first hearing this statement, framed as it is in its setting of hopelessly enjoyable hooky riffs, I felt greatly stirred in my affections. I initially had a sense of encouragement, release, and hope. My emotions can be characterized in this way, “Jesus truly desires of me an inward, invisible change in my heart (or affections). I will never reach a point in which I behave rightly all the time in this life. But my right behavior is not the main point. The point of my salvation (among other things) is that I be transformed internally in such a way that it makes itself visible, or known by my behaviors externally.” Being a Christian is emphatically not about magic prayer and new behavior. I cannot improve on Mark Hall’s statement. And I certainly can’t improve on how he sang it either.

What does it matter if I discipline myself in all my mannerisms, habits, choices, preferences, language, attitudes, and physical appearance if on the inside I still indulge in vanity, self-focus, self-indulgence, self-love, self-esteem, giving myself strokes and pats for what a good guy I am, self-analysis, and calculating how what I say and do will make people esteem me more? In my understanding of Jesus’ treatment of the Pharisees in the Bible it appears that this is how they were. They were painstakingly, meticulously religious. They invented new laws to add to the already extensive and thorough Jewish law that already existed to keep themselves extra “holy”. In their day, they were regarded as the wisest and most respected of religious sages. But in the above scripture, Jesus says they are like a bowl that is clean on the outside but is still dirty on the inside.

As I put that Casting Crowns song on repeat and read the above scripture a few days ago, my initial flood of encouragement changed to a significant conviction and then to a sober enlightenment. I am religious. I am like the Pharisees. I desire to be thought of as patient clever, insightful, secure, strong, kind, and thoughtful. But the cat is out of the bag as soon as soon as the heat or the pressure is turned up on me. I get irritated, annoyed, cranky, and generally unpleasant to be around. But by the Grace of God, I haven’t dwelt on that for very long. Thank you, Jesus. The Holy Spirit, in His goodness, has done me a great favor. He has shone his sanctified flashlight on this malignant growth in my heart so I that I could see it for what it is and do something about it. Or rather, submit myself to the one who can do something about it.

I don’t need to be focused or fixated on my behaviors. I need to be focused on Jesus. I don’t need to be concerned with how I look to other people on the outside. I need to be more alert to monitoring what is going on in my secret thoughts that no one sees. I don’t need to be sweating how many chapters I am going to read in the Bible today or this week. I need to be desperate to meet with Jesus and to have true intimate communion and relationship with him. I don’t need to be preoccupied with how I am going to behave with a person in my life that is difficult for me to love. I need to be preoccupied with how my pride is what keeps me from loving that person and turning away from hateful secret thoughts about them. And the thing is, I don’t think I’m alone in this.

I feel pretty sure, from my experience in life and interactions with fellow humans, that a lot of other people deal with this. It’s called sin. Pride. Self-love. Self-absorption and self-exaltation. The cure is Jesus. More of Him. More intimacy with Him. The cure is a greater understanding of the fact that my greatest need is to imitate him more. His humility. His lowliness. His self-denial. His other-centeredness.

So would you join with me in this? Let’s examine the inside of our hearts and not be content with any ugly thing we find there. Talk to Jesus and confess and kill that sin. Let’s ask God to examine us on the inside and to show us any hateful way in us so that we will truly be clean on the outside. Don’t let your heart languish in a corner for years without looking inside it. You might find a huge ant nest.

IMG_1549Jason Faircloth currently teaches 3rd grade at the Manantial School in Puerto Escondido. Jason and his wife, Kate, and son, Abraham, have lived in Puerto Escondido for almost 4 years now serving with Global Education Ministries. 

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Good

All throughout school my English teachers have tried to broaden my vocabulary. “A lot is a piece of land, not a description of many things.” A dragon isn’t scary; it’s terrifying or frightening!” And the most common correction: “You will receive points off if I see the word GOOD on your paper.”

And so I journeyed through high school avoiding the word good like the plague. Excellent, magnificent, incredible, breathtaking. Those are words that add life to the blank page.

It all started back in elementary school (which is feeling farther away than ever these days). I was a typical, needing my sister’s approval, young girl and my Mom was taking us shopping for new birthday skirts. What seemed like hours later (I’ve never been a professional shopper), and thinking about the next chapter of my awaiting novel back at home, I finally pulled a skirt from the rack that just might be THE ONE. It had oranges, pinks, and reds all throughout a swirly pattern (if it sounds hideous…Well, it most certainly was). I was in love. I found the perfect complimentary shirt (imagine a tasty sherbert orange kind of color) and headed for the dressing room. It fit perfectly (due to the handy elastic band) and I boldly opened the door to show the world!

My sister took one look and said, “yeah, it looks good.”

Good? These colors looked amazing, stupendous, lovely. But good? I returned dejected. There is no way I could buy a skirt that was just…Good. (after some encouraging words only a Mom can give I ended up wearing that skirt for many years).

And so explains my aversion to the word good. Until I heard that song. That song that most of you have now running through your mind. That song that describes our amazing, merciful, trustworthy God as a GOOD GOOD FATHER.

That’s when I did something that many word lovers can relate to…I looked up the definition. Good: morally excellent, virtuous, righteous.

And then those lyrics made a little more sense. Actually, a lot more.  Because nothing else in this world can be described as good. Humans most definitely shouldn’t be, as we fail continuously every day. Animals, nature or even a colorful skirt can be used for evil.

Then we catch a glimpse of the work of our good, good father. We see Him turn an evil act into bringing glory to His name. We see Him redeeming and refining His people every single day.  And most importantly we see that in any situation: an unexpected death or sickness, a financial burden, or even just a hard day…Life can still be lived with joy because God is still GOOD.

Sarah Quigg graduated from Liberty University in 2015 with a B.S. in Special Education. She loves running and growing closer to God while exploring His creation! This is her second year teaching 5th grade at the Manantial School in Mexico. 

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A Life That Demands A Gospel Explanation

About two years ago, God used a simple question to revolutionize how I desired to live: “Do you live in such a way that demands a Gospel explanation?” – Jeff Vanderstelt.

This question led me to reflect on my life up until that point. Did my words or actions demand a Jesus explanation? In other words, when people looked at my life, did it look like the rest of the world, or did my life reflect the radical love and joy that is found in Jesus?

This is an excellent question for all of us to ponder: Does the way I live demand a Gospel explanation? When people look at our life, do they see a life that conformed to the world’s ways or a life transformed through faith and obedience to Jesus?

I often ask myself – “What is the primary motivation for my life? Am I motivated by happiness, comfort, safety, material possessions or am I compelled by the command of my Lord?”

Think about this: Jesus lived a life that demanded an explanation. He claimed to be God! That’s a statement that demands some kind of explanation. His life did not make sense to this world and neither should ours. His life, death, and resurrection demands an explanation. Either he was who he said he was, or it was all a lie.

So what does all of this mean for us? In order to know how to live, we must learn from Jesus.

Jesus, Our Perfect Example.

“who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Philippians 2:6-8.

If we endeavor to live our lives in such a way as to demand a gospel explanation, the first place to start is to look to Jesus. He sets the pace for us.

From the very beginning, he came to earth understanding that His mission was all about obedience to His father. He knew that he was going to be arrested, tortured, and persecuted (Matthew 26:56) to fulfill the scriptures. Because sin had entered the world, God sent His son so that we could live in the freedom of His grace. He came caring the burden of humanity’s sin to the cross so that all people have the ability to know the freedom found in Christ. He came with no purpose of His own; rather, He came to serve us that we could have life (Mark 10:45).

His entire life was lived to bring glory to his father and to provide freedom for all of humanity. Jesus, fully human and fully God, lived a perfect life not on His on will, but on the will of His Father (John 6:38) He is the perfect example for us. Not only did Jesus claim to have all authority (Matthew 28:18), his life revealed this to be true. His life and ministry was spent in submission to the Father ultimately so that all humanity could have life through his death and resurrection.

Just as Jesus did, we are called to reorient our lives around God our Father. We are to act and live in the same way as His example for us.

Servants of Jesus: A Gospel-Sent People
“Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” – John 20:21-22

Jesus did not only send his disciples. Jesus did not only send pastors, church leaders, deacons, the more spiritual people, or missionaries. Jesus sent every person regardless of race, color, gender, or economic status. Not only has He sent us, but He has sent us with the Holy Spirit to guide us into all of life. We are a people sent with the good news of the Gospel to proclaim Him all over the world.

Because Jesus is our perfect example of a servant, we serve in the same way. We don’t serve others to get recognition, but we serve to make much of Jesus in our lives. We don’t need the approval of man, because God has already approved us as his righteous children. Therefore, we serve as people who are free.
1 Peter 2:16 tells us, “Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.”

Our motivation comes from what we have received in Jesus. We can love unconditionally because we have been loved much. So how do we apply this to our lives?

Prayerful Application
How do we live such a way that demands a Gospel explanation? In other words, how can we live that would lead people to wonder what is different about our lives?
I want to give 3 practical ways that will lead us to live out our identity as dearly loved children who live in the joy and freedom of Christ.

1. Head: Remind yourself of the incredible gift of God’s grace that you have received every day. Preach it to yourself, and meditate on the truth of the Gospel early in the morning and before you go to sleep. Let it be in your mind all day.

2. Heart: Pray and ask God to let these truths you are meditating on sink into your heart. Jesus said to ask Him what we need in His name and He will give it. Give thanks to Jesus daily for the cross and the freedom we have in His grace. Think about your time before Christ and how He has radically changed your desires and have given you a hope that will never fail.

3. Hands: The scripture teaches that out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. As we begin to meditate the truths of the Gospel, the truths will sink into our heart and overflow into action. Peter and John said, “For we cannot stop speaking about all we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20), referring to the power of the Gospel to transform lives. They were so passionate about Jesus that they couldn’t stop talking about it.

It is impossible to live a life the demands a Gospel explanation without the Spirit at work in our lives. As we strive to live in obedience to Jesus, may we never stop meditating on the truth of the Gospel and praying for these truths to continually transform our hearts to action.

danielDaniel Mcdonald graduated from Liberty University with a B.S. in Communication (2011) and a Master’s of Divinity in Evangelism and Church Planting (2014). He is serving as the Director of Communication for GEM, while his wife, Kristen, serves as the 4th-grade teacher.  Above all, they desire to make disciples by making Jesus known in Puerto and around the world.

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Running Free

One of my biggest struggles has always been finding myself stuck in a routine. To a certain degree, life will always have a bit of a routine. I always teach Math first, Science is always filled with sweaty faces after recess, and Itzel never fails to bring me an apple on Tuesdays. And I love knowing these things. I love feeling confident in what will happen, in how (usually) my plans for the day are always carried through.

Then sometimes a feeling of restlessness takes over my heart. A yearning for new. For experiences and places that I have never known. This feeling could be simply a human desire, growing bored or unsatisfied so quickly with the gifts God has given us in the here and now.

Or maybe these new experiences and places are not so far from the here and now as I had thought.

This morning I awoke with the sun on a gift of a Friday with no school. I instantly felt that dread of a routine day. Knowing that I would start with a run, I laced up my shoes and set off. At the bottom of our hill, where I always turn right and head to the beach, I ran into a fellow teacher and his growing band of bike riders. He told me they were going on a road that seemed to have no end, a road that eventually ran parallel with the river, and was filled with great views. A few minutes of small talk later and I was headed back onto my routine for the day (because if I’m honest new things make me hesitate at first).

One minute late something stopped me. Whether it was the Holy Spirit, or the threatening chicken just ahead, I’m not so sure, but something made me turn around. Turn around and do something different…and a little bit outside of my comfort zone.

I was SO blessed.

14976260_10211416378269389_1723835645_oThose hard steps became a worship to the Creator of my body. The dreaded and just get this over with attitude changed into an experience I didn’t want to end. My thoughts turned into prayers, my heart became filled with love, and my morning became a glimpse of how Jesus desires to pursue His children (yes, endorphins could have played a part as well).

I laughed with a woman as I showed my white girl fear of two goats (I’m still sure they were ready to charge), I was completely in love as I ran on dirt roads with a mountain view, and my desire to pursue God was renewed.

So maybe today it could be a small decision to turn left on a run instead of right. Or to not avoid that small conversation with a neighbor. Or even just to pray for someone that is hard to love. All I know is that those small decisions…those can change our hearts…those can make us feel nervous and uncomfortable…those can bring amazing experiences…those can bring glory to God.

Sarah Quigg graduated from Liberty University in 2015 with a B.S. in Special Education. She loves running and growing closer to God while exploring His creation! We are so happy to have her on the team, teaching 5th grade. This is her second year at the Manantial School in Mexico.