Daring to be Restless

“The region, though largely peaceful, is still recovering from the war of 1999 which saw over 10,000 civilians killed, a million ethnic Albanians fled as refugees to surrounding countries, and extensive damage to property throughout the region …” [1] Devastation, destruction and loss, scars and atrocities that have not been forgotten … even if the people in this small country largely have been.   Kosovo, being such a relatively “new” politically recognized country, seems on the backburners of everyone’s minds.   When we speak of missions, most people think of Africa.   When we think of gross poverty, most people think of Africa.   When we think of ethnic cleansing and genocide, we think of Africa and the problems in Darfur.   But we have forgotten; we have overlooked. How could we?   http://www.paulmoran.org/assignments/kossovo/index.html Kosovo is a small nation, slightly larger than the state of Delaware; a new nation, only declaring its independence officially in 2008; a

Several months ago, nearly a year to be honest, I bought a workbook entitled "Discipleship Evangelism," a book meant to shepherd people through the discipleship process.   Lately, under conviction of the Holy Spirit, I’ve been praying about whether or not I’ve ever truly “discipled” someone, or if I’ve simply spent my Christian life attempting to win “converts,” and I’ve been continually reminded of this book.   So, with that heavy on my heart, I’ve decided to work through the book myself, to ground myself in the truths I want to be able to teach others, and to share with you what I’m studying here in my blog.   So here we are: Lesson 1: Eternal Life. The first lesson is focused on John 17:3, which says, “Eternal life is to know you, the only true God, and to know Jesus Christ, the one you sent.”   And in this lesson, Andrew Wommack writes, “Many people think that everlasting life is living forever.   Well, every person lives forever.   It’s a misconception to think tha

“You might think that calling the Holy Spirit the ‘forgotten God’ is a bit extreme … I don’t think so … Without Him, people operate in their own strength and accomplish human-size results.   The world is not moved by love or actions that are of human creation.   And the church is not empowered to live differently from any other gathering of people without the Holy Spirit.   But when believers live in the power of the Spirit, the evidence in their lives is supernatural.   The church cannot help but be different, and the world cannot help but notice .” ~ Francis Chan, Forgotten God , p. 15, 16-17 This week, my husband and I began a Bible Study entitled Forgotten God , and though I admit, I have only read the introduction and part of the first chapter, I am intrigued.   As you read above, Chan writes that he believes the lack of life-changing-ness in the church today is because we have forgotten in whose Spirit it is supposed to be done, whose Spirit is supposed to inhabit every actio

“I have confidence in your strength; you are my refuge , O God … I will praise you, my defender.   My refuge is God, the God who loves me …” – Psalm 59:9, 17, Good News Bible The Psalms are filled with verses about God our refuge: -           Psalm 9:9 says that the Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a place of safety in times of trouble. -           In Psalm 31:3, the Psalmist reminds God that He is our refuge and defense and asks for guidance. -           Psalm 59:16 is filled with the songs of celebration of the strength and constant love of our Refuge God. -           Psalm 62:8 encourages us to tell all our problems to God, to trust Him at all times, for He is our refuge.   And there are so many more references along this line.   But have you ever stopped to wonder what that means?   About what the title “refuge” has to teach us about our relationship with God?   I have to admit, when I was younger, this terminology was lost on me.   It seemed so … churchy.   “God is our r