Living a 220 life

Benson’s Story

Benson is a 46 year old African from Kenya who passionately loves Jesus. The Lord brought Benson into my life in Iraq and has done so clearly to build a friendship and team that would advance the Word of God to the ends of the earth. Benson is married to the beautiful Monica and has five children; Roselyne Mutethya 19, Milica Naumi 15, Christine kathini 14, Angela Jane 12, and Joshua Mathano 6.

Benson served in the Kenyan Army for seven years during which time he joined the African Inland Church (AIC), a main protestant denomination in Kenya. Benson quickly became very active in his church and was asked to lead the youth church choir. Benson aggresively studied the Word of God under his pastor Geofry Mutua Muywoki and began teaching others. The congregation grew under the leadership of Geofry and Benson and soon found the need for more room. Benson and Monica prayed about the need and were led to give a piece of their land to the church, that they might have a house of worship.

After donating his land to the church, Benson was praying how he might serve the Lord in other ways. Nehemiah 1 was placed on his heart and he began crying out to the Lord that He might use him in a mighty way. The Lord answered this plea with a vision. Benson was called to reach the youth with the resources he already had. (Exodus 4:1-2)

Benson used an old black and white television, a video deck, and one box speaker to show videos to the youth. He showed video’s on the life of Jesus, Moses, Samson & Delilah, Esther, the Ten Commandments, and more. Many people, young and old, would travel great distances to come view the videos. Benson explains, “To my surprise, Jesus did wonders and I could see people surrender their lives to the Lord.” The word got around about Benson and the videos and he was soon invited to many churches and schools. The parents of the children requested Benson begin speaking on topics to include HIV/AIDS, drug abuse, peer groups, dangers of abortion, and more. He agreed and began studying these topics and teaching them at the same time. All the while the Lord continued blessing him with larger and larger crowds of people.

The requests to speak became more and more and Benson moved his TV and equipment into his wheelbarrow. Across the country-side Benson went and the Lord continued blessing him. Soon he upgraded to a bicycle to reach schools and churches even further away. He would strap the video deck to the handle bars, the car battery to the back of his bike, and the TV was carried on his back in a bed sheet. Benson was speaking every day to two schools a day. He would come home late in the evenings, risking his own life by riding through the African country side at night alone.

Benson and Monica grew produce in order to raise money to purchase more equipment. They invested every extra penny into the ministry, that they might win just one more for Jesus. Then, as Benson was shooting a video, a power surge spiked through all his equipment and left him with nothing. Benson began praying to the Lord that he might be blessed with equipment to begin the ministry again. Later, Benson volunteered to come to Iraq in order to support his family and try to save a little extra money in hopes of continuing the ministry God has called him to.

Benson and I are joined in prayer that God would raise up fellow believers who wish to support this wonderful ministry. What an investment in the Kingdom of God this is. Beth and I will be visiting Benson in Kenya and are praying the Lord has provided equipment prior to our arrival. Friends, won’t you pray about your role in Benson’s ministry to the beautiful people of Kenya. AMEN!

New experiences in Iraq

“I have become all things to all men that I might by all means save some.” (1Corinthians 9:22b)

Well my friends, the Iraqis have taught me another important lesson. Again, this lesson is a bit humerous but has a legitamate lesson. First, let me catch you up on my current job in Iraq . I’m an intelligence officer working inside an Iraqi Intelligence fusion office with the mission of taking American intelligence and matching it up with the Iraqi intelligence in order to provide the most accurate picture. OF course, Iraqi intelligence officers are not the most trusting people in the world, so building a relationship built on trust is vital. Therefore, my goal is to create a bundle of new best friends. This is the fun part.

Well, I’ve heard stories about the Iraqi culture being very intimate once initial formalities are past and friendship is established. I had NO idea how intimate that intimacy runs. You see, apparently I’m doing a pretty good job of building friendships and trust because my new counterparts see no problem hugging, giving kisses on the cheek, and holding hands as they walk. The first time I was walking along and one of my co-workers, an Iraqi man about 45 years old, reached over and held my hand I flinched and shook my hand like I had just been stung by a bee. He was just as startled as I was because holding hands is quite normal for him. So there we stood, two grown men facing each other with a million thoughts screaming through our heads. (well, I did any way) I stood there, appauled that this man thought I was gay, when it hit me. He doesn’t think I’m gay, he thinks I’m trust worthy. Then Paul’s words popped into my head, “I’ve become all things to all men”.

Though I was not witnessing to this man, I was loving him as Christ would love him in order to work together. The Lord calls us to step out of our comfort zones and meet people where they’re at. The Lord calls us to get up out of the pews and meet the lost in order to bring them closer to Him. Christians, we need fellowship but we don’t need holy fraternities. Let down your walls, risk being hurt, and step out into the unknown in order to win just one for Him. This isn’t easy, I know. But neither was holding that grown Iraqi man’s hand. However, once I got over the weird goosebumps and creepy feeling, my relationship with the Iraqis has blosomed into a much deeper trust than experienced before; a trust that would never be reached from inside the American comfort zone.

My friends, I challenge you to become all things to all men. Let down your guard, take a risk, and walk off into the sunset holding a middle aged Iraqi man’s hand in order to win but one for Him. AMEN!

Why people hate church

“For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.” (John 3:20)

Let me open with the disclaimer that every individual has a personal story and some people have been deeply hurt in the church. Some of my deepest wounds have come at the hands of well meaning (and sometimes not well meaning) Christians in the house of God. My friends, what I’m explaining here is a Biblical truth which transcends the hardships of life and relationships with other believers and addresses our interaction with the Lord. Many people in our world today hate church because….______________…fill in the blank with any excuse you’d like. These excuses effectively keep many people seperated from the Lord, but they all come back to one thing; sin.

John 3:20 tells us that people living in sin will ‘hate’ the light and anything that represents the light. The excuses are simply ways of covering this reality. As we grow closer to the Lord, we’ll desire to be in His presence more and more. My friends, the Lord has made it abundantly clear through scripture that the church, not the building but the people, is His body. This is why we’re called the ‘body of believers’.

Friends, those living in sin, who greatly dislike and desire to avoid the church at all costs, are the very people who need the church the most. Consider Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Those living in sin outside the fellowship of believers are incredibly heavy laden. They don’t know and can’t fathom how light the load is once accepting Christ. Friends, it’s our job to help them take the yoke of Christ.

People hate church because sin hates God. We must live our lives close to Him and allow His love to shine through us. (John 13:34-35) The love of the Lord is what will draw people past their hatred and into the body of believers. Our love for them must be greater than their pleasure in sin! Only when the love outweighs the pleasure will the sinner repent and enter the joy of the Lord. Let us begin loving our neighbors out of their hatred. AMEN!

Impacting your world for Christ 4

“Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:44-47)

I’ve heard it said that all people desire to be loved by someone. I can’t speak for all people but I can testify that it is, in fact, wonderful to be loved by others. I’ve also heard, all too often, that people just wish they had at least one good friend. Unfortunately, most haven’t found that good friend and spend a majority of their time secluded within their own house and family. Christian fellowship is desired by so many yet pursued by so few.

My friends, as we see in the early church (Acts 2:44-47), fellowship was an integral part of their Christian lives. The early believers didn’t consider fellowship to be a “hang out” time but rather a way of life. They understood that when they entered the body of believers they intertwined their lives with the lives of all other believers in Jesus. Consider this: verse 45 says they sold their possessions and divided them among all. Fellowship for these believers was more than casual friendship with other believers;no, fellowship was a deep, intimate, family.

If we wish to impact our world for Christ we must open our lives to other believers. We must love one another with a true and sincere love. (John 13:34-35) Step out of your comfort zone and begin spending time with other people. Open your heart and allow your ‘family’ to grow. When we begin to love one another we will be seen by non-believers and we will impact our world for Christ! AMEN!

Impacting your world for Christ 3

“Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them–walking, leaping, and praising God.” (Acts 3:6-8)

In the first 2 lessons from the “Impacting your world for Christ” series, I explained that the true power in a believers life comes from the Lord alone. I believe the first two lessons addressed this topic quite well so I will mearly mention it again here; the true power in a believers life comes from the Lord alone. However, Peter offers us a couple more hidden nuggets of gold through his interaction with this man outside the temple.

The first lesson we can learn from Peter is that he knew the power of the Lord and was willing to use it. He quickly and openly identified that he had nothing aside from the Lord. I don’t believe this was Peters confession of being broke. No, quite the contrary. I believe Peter was identifying the immense value of a relationship with the risen Jesus. Peter was telling the man that he was asking for mud pies when he could be asking for a beautiful life at the beach. Peter was saying that in light of Jesus’ love in his life he had nothing of value. Friends, if we are to completely rely on Jesus’ power in our lives in order to impact our world we must come to the deep inner belief that our relationship with Him is, in fact, the most valuable thing we have.

The second lesson we can take from Peter is that he knew God’s plan and his role in that plan. In verse 19 we read, “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord“. Peter understood that when the Lord moves and reveals His power we must bring people to Him in repentance. Our role is to help people understand their depravity and then to see the glory of Jesus in their lives. Peter knew this and practiced it.

The final lesson I’ll bring out here is that Peter constantly placed the glory where it belonged. This miracle was a great opportunity for Peter to build himself up and gain recognition as a prophet. Yet, Peter continually offers statements like verse 16, “And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.” Peter understands the power comes only through Jesus and ensures everyone else understands this as well.

Friends, if we wish to truely impact our world for Christ we must allow more of Jesus in it. We must believe in our inner being that Jesus alone has power to impact peoples lives for eternity. Once we believe this we will naturally rely upon Him. We must help others to understand our own inability to need for Him. Finally, we must constantly give Him the glory for the things He does. Don’t fall for the trap of plagerising His miracle. Don’t take credit for things you’ve not done. Remember, it’s not about you, it’s all about Him! AMEN!