We've come to declare...

The glory of the Lord.

That is why I am here in Amsterdam - To declare the glory of the Lord. However, I am finding it harder than I expected, both within myself and within the circumstances I find myself in.

Here's an excerpt from my journal last night to help you understand what I mean: "Here in Amsterdam, the lostness is so close, so prevalent, so cloying and so overwhelming that I fear I am mentally and emotionally shutting down. Rather than fully grasping what the lostness of this city means, I am turning my attention too often to petty things – usually issues with people. It allows me to keep trucking without completely shutting down, as I feel like I want to do. So as I was pondering it tonight, I thought to myself, “Why should the lostness of these people bother me?” My answer is twofold: Because God is not being glorified as he ought to be, and because the people don’t know the unsearchable riches of Christ and their lives are not being lived abundantly.

So then, how do I go about fixing my heart? Obviously, only the Lord can fix it, break it, and make it so passionate about him that it motivates me to share with people more than I am doing. In allowing him to do that though, I think I need to think on two things: Who God is – His glory, love, salvation and qualities; and what he has done for me. Out of a heart motivated by love for God, and a mind motivated by the thoughts of what God has done for me can I even begin to address the problems of faith in this culture."

So, that's where I'm at. I want my heart to be broken for these people - to care desperately about their spiritual needs and spiritual welfare. Rather than be scared by the darkness around me, I want to have compassion on the people who walk in darkness and declare the glory of the Lord to them. This afternoon, as I visit a mosque and watch the call to prayer and the ritualistic prayers, it will be MY prayer that we, as believers, will have humble hearts, bold tongues, compassionate natures, and eyes to see God's glory. Please join me in that prayer today.

Updated photo link

Hey everyone - I'm sitting in class, hearing from a local church planter about what to expect when going out into the Muslim communities. It's a whole different ballgame than last week. I'm curious/excited/nervous about this week, but that's not a whole lot different than my emotions last week. I'm still just praying God will give me His eyes to see all the people as He does, and to have my heart break for the lostness around me.

Anyways, this is just a quick post to give an updated link for the Facebook photos. Sorry the last one no longer works - I think since I changed the name of the album it made the link defunct. Anyways, enjoy!

Facebook album: Amsterdam:Holland

A Dutch Weekend

So much for rest! This weekend has been good, but short, and I still have quite a bit going on, not including the dire need for sleep and a book to read!

Yesterday I spent the day with teammates BJ and Jen, and we met up with a couple Jen had met in Thailand. Arthur and Sharon spent time with Jen, Adrian and other members of the team to Thailand in July, and they have kept up with them. Adrian and Jen both wanted me to meet them, and I am so glad I did! They are a wonderful couple – Very friendly, open to talking, funny, and just enjoyable. We spent most of the day just walking around the city, shopping a bit, and getting to know them. They even took us for a typical Dutch meal! I ate minced meat roulade with red cabbage and boiled potatoes. It was pretty tasty. I also learned during that meal that the Netherlands and Holland are all the same land. I had been told that Holland was a region of the Netherland, but not so, apparently. The same landmass has always gone by the two names simulatenously. Interesting, no?

This morning I didn’t make it to the church service I was supposed to go to (bus situation mix-up), so I will go in a few hours to the 4 o’clock service. Instead I went to the Ryjks Museum, where I saw works by Rembrandt and Vermeer. Really amazing stuff in person. It’s not my typical style I enjoy, but I couldn’t help myself when I really saw the difference in quality! Then, I walked through the park, thinking and praying and watching the dogs. All of them stayed willingly with their owners, without leashes!! Ben definitely needs to step up his game! ;)

Anyways, I’m off to find some lunch and then go to church at 4 (10 am Eastern time). Afterwards, I am working with BJ on some stuff for the office. Everyone have a blessed Sunday. Also, if you’re reading this and you have had access to the true Gospel message your whole life, praise God right now. SO many people here can’t say that – They have never heard the Gospel message before, because the churches here either don’t preach and teach it, or because they don’t know a single believer. Ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers out into the field.

Stretching hurts.

Hi bloggies – Thanks for checking in! There’s a lot to share about how things are going here, but let’s just say I am being stretched!

It has been hard for me to force myself out of my comfort zone to talk to people. I don’t mean the average, “How ya doing? Where you from?” kind of conversations, but instead those conversations that I try to turn from the surface to deeper, spiritual issues. Some of them have been easier to “turn” than others: Franz, for example.

Franz is a man I met with one of the guys in the group yesterday. He owns a wine cellar in the area known as de Jordain. Upon asking him his philosophy on what makes a good wine, Franz made it really easy to transition into a conversation about spiritual matters. We covered all kinds of topics: Expectation vs. trust, the “lack of a need for hope,” man’s fears, solutions to fears, and more. Eddie presented the Gospel clearly to him, but he has been reading and studying and hardening his heart since childhood, when he first began to formulate this concept of “Life unfolds and what matters is how my reactions make me happy or not.” He was very adamant in the conversation, refuting so many things I believe and know to be true, and I just praised the Lord that I knew the truth and that it is more than a logical progression of thoughts. He admitted he thought we didn’t think for ourselves and challenged us to “think rationally,” yet complimented us and said he thoroughly enjoyed “the intriguing conversation and the intellectual copulation.” His words – not mine.

God’s hand in the whole thing was so evident though – from the store we went into (2 good little Southern Baptist going into a wine shop, ha!) to Eddie asking the initial question (not something I would have asked) to Franz’s response, which so easily lent itself to starting a deep conversation. It was clearly the Lord. I had prayed that afternoon that it be clear to me that any conversation I had that afternoon would obviously be guided by the Lord.

I am also being stretched within myself, re-learning to what it means to die to self. I am having trouble with my attitude in relation to some of the people I’m here with, so God is stretching me and forcing me to bite my tongue, swallow my pride, and love on people. I just need to do that a WHOLE LOT more!

As I get to the end of my first week here, please just ask that God would continue to open doors for conversations about him, that he would restore our weary minds and bodies, that he would create and mend relationships and that above all, our actions would be glorifying to him.

Thanks, friends! I appreciate your prayer support!

Quick glimpse.

Last night was New Year's Eve, which means I rang in the new year 6 hours ahead of most of you. It also means I am EXHAUSTED in class this morning, and not really mentally here.

Therefore, instead of words, here are some pictures to show you how the trip is going. They're the same ones on Facebook, but here's a link for those of you not on FB.

Enjoy!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2025431&l=b6cf3&id=18110003