Although creative and full of metaphors and imagery, this film is a clear picture of the gospel: The entire story of Jesus and Easter in just 189 words – 4min, 8sec.
Have a great Good Friday. Christ is alive and He loves you so much! I’m struck again and again with the enormity of His gift – a payment, a redemption of my broken life, a victory over that which I was never able to (nor ever would be able to) defeat in my own strength.
You may not be aware of these various outreach ministries which are part of Cru. As you know, for a long time Cru has expanded to reach out to segments far beyond the college campus.
These are some of the easiest and best “volunteer-ready” ministry strategies we have.
Why not jump in and utilize one of these ready-made, ready-for-you outreaches? It could be a great way for you to touch someone’s life for Christ. Let us know how we can help you put these into action!
1) Go on a Short Term Missions Trip to an Unreached People Group
StoryRunners is an exciting new Bible Storying and Church Planting effort in partnership with Cru, Wycliffe and others. If you like hearing and telling stories, you’ll love the extremely simple training approach of StoryRunners. Learn more: http://www.storyrunners.com/serve
2) Host an Art of Marriage outreach for couples in your neighborhood
If you can press “play” on your DVD player, then you can host one of these events at home. The Art of Marriage Event consists of six video sessions typically held on a Friday night and Saturday. These videos combine dramatic stories, real-life testimonies, expert interviews, humorous vignettes and other teaching methods to lay out God’s design for marriage. Guests attending the event are each provided a manual with projects to help them apply the principles taught in each session. Over 175,000 people have attended one of over 3000 events hosted by people like you since 2011! See details here: http://www.familylife.com/events/featured-events/the-art-of-marriage
3) Help Cru distribute Care Boxes in the Inner City
Cru has an inner city compassion presence in many large cities in the U.S. Each of them have a great need for volunteers – particularly during holiday seasons when extra care boxes are typically distributed. See this Video to learn more – http://vimeo.com/51773231
4) Cru Military Ministry – help reach out to military families
You can help send Rapid Deployment Kits (including Bible and Bible Study materials) to active duty personnel. If military families are in your area, you can help offer Bridges to Healing or simply pray regularly for families by name. See details: http://www.militaryministry.org/
5) Help pack GAiN Hygeine Kits for hunger/disaster relief
GAiN (Global Aid Network) is Cru’s Humanitarian Ministry. After the earthquake in Haiti, GAiN packed, shipped and distributed over 1 Million meals. See our post from Jan 2010 about it here. They also offer medical missions trips. Learn more here: http://gainusa.org/getinvolved
We haven’t posted an update on Toby in quite a while. Here are a few things to note first off:
~ Toby’s overall health is extremely good
~ He leads a normal life – including playing soccer this fall (see photo below)
~ All Type 1 Diabetics like Toby must receive insulin by injection multiple times daily
~ Type 1 Diabetes is different from Type 2. Most cases of Diabetes are Type 2 – only about 10% are Type 1.
Heart lessons from going through this with Toby:
Disease and God’s Goodness
Painful, ugly and sometimes terminal diseases happen. They just do. They happen to adults and to cute little kids too. It’s been that way since Adam left the Garden. But this reality does not negate God’s total Goodness and the fact that He is always in control. I sometimes struggle to see how the reality of disease meshes well with His goodness and control, so this is a life long lesson. A hard lesson. Yet we see Christ as our kinsman in suffering and as a Tree of Life in the corrupted garden much clearer through walking this path with Toby.
Toby breaks to the middle on the soccer field
Jesus chose to drink a cup of suffering given to him by his Father. He certainly knows our sorrows of disease and He swallowed our ultimate sorrow (spiritual death) so that we could drink Living Water.
Prolonged effects over many days and months from overly low or high blood sugar can be toxic for your body. For diabetics, blood sugar levels can vary widely for reasons beyond our control or understanding. Even when Toby is “following the rules” of good diet, insulin and blood sugar management, his glucose levels can inexplicably be sky high or extremely low. Good management definitely helps, but it is no guarantee of preventing the extreme highs and lows of blood glucose.
Sometimes Toby's injection is in arms & legs, sometimes in the stomach!
This is the part that is most frustrating to me personally. A + B should equal C! Our culture (even Biblical principles) teaches us that following good rules, planning wisely, avoiding overeating and leading a modest lifestyle generally yields benefits. There is always an asterisk attached to this equation because good health and general rewards of well being are never guaranteed, but we certainly expect good results. We expect our hard work and investments to count!
But the good results we forecast and desire in life are not always equivalent to the ultimate good that the Lord is building into our lives for eternity. I gain more contentment, fulfillment and rewards from simply abandoning everything to Him instead of trying to manage my own limited success formula. Simply knowing Christ yields infinitely more. This must be a sliver of what Paul was talking about when he said “I want to know Christ and the fellowship of His sufferings.” And similar to Jesus’ admonition: “Come enter my rest. …Abide in me. …Put down your nets and follow me.”
Gospel Lesson for Diabetics
The gospel turns my above mentioned formula upside down: People who are the most needy and undeserving receive ultimate, pure Goodness. Jesus gets what we deserve and we get what the King deserves. The gospel frees us from the formula! Receiving and knowing Jesus Christ heals and fills our core need. Nothing we do or don’t do can surpass his amazing gift.
So when glucose readings are above 250 for no apparent reason, we don’t lose hope. It is frustrating or discouraging but we don’t lose hope. We focus past our management formula and delight in our source of all good – Jesus Christ.
Blood Glucose Meter - Toby uses it many times daily
How do you see God differently during or after an illness?
Call me nuts but I (David) am running a marathon this Sunday. Barely a couple days after my Thanksgiving dinner settles, I’m going to hit the roads and byways of Titusville, FL for the Space Coast Marathon.
Lord willing, I will finish all 26 miles and 385 yards …but who’s counting!? If things go extremely well, I might even finish in about 4hrs (give or take a couple minutes). It’s just my general goal to shoot for.
This is my very first marathon, and perhaps will just be a bucket list thing and I’ll never do it again. And it’s no sure bet I’ll even finish. As legend has it, the very first marathon runner – Pheidippides, a Greek messenger – finished his course but did not fare well immediately afterwards. (See his story here). I’ve been a casual runner for many years and have done a few half marathons, but this will be a big step up for me.
“Daddy, why do you want to run a marathon if you know you’re never gonna win?” This was the encouragement Toby offered me recently. …Well, he does have a point. But it’s all about the journey, right? Hmmm, sort of. Scotland’s Eric Liddell (remember him from Chariots of Fire) said when he ran, he felt God’s pleasure. For me, I normally feel fatigue and pain after 10 miles or so. But it definitely reminds me that every breath I breathe and every step I take I take in Him (Acts 17:28).
Want to share your encouragement (or trash talk) for my race? Take my quick poll below or just leave a comment on this post – give me something to think about as I plod along on the marathon.
