We take great comfort in the fact that one day God will make right all the wrongs in our world. No person who commits an atrocity will escape the justice of God. But what about our own atrocities against a holy God? Mercy! We answer. That is true, but how is it that God (or us, for that matter) can offer to forgiveness without compromising justice? In his first message in a series on forgiveness, Pastor Schulz preaches about the importance of the cross of Christ.

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Sunday-Monday: We got everything we brought to the work site. Customs was a non-issue but TSA passage became complicated situation. The palm nailers got a little use today. The 12v hammer drill and saw really performed well and did not have any problem with the battery life. The 18v drill and impact driver did the heavier work and I really needed a 3rd battery pack to avoid being down. We really could have used 2 more hammer drills because of the difficulty with the poor concrete. Day one we are ahead of schedule. - Tom Burkett

Monday: About 350-400 were in the service. Tom spoke on "integrity" at 4pm. Pastor preached a powerful message that was very well received by the Haitians.  One Haitian came up to Rodney and said that message was "tasty." - John Conrad

Tuesday: Don Smith spoke on Temptation - John Conrad

Wednesday: Today we finished the roof and even had a little time to spend with the kids. Prior to tonight's service, Dave Corneliussen spoke on "Be Strong and of Good Courage." Once again, the church was full.  Pastor Schulz spoke on "What Heaven Will Be Like".  He painted a graphic picture of the glory and majesty of the throne of God, and had the congregation shout out to heaven as we will when we're all assembled there together.  It was a great conclusion to the messages of the week. I didn't take any still photos of the service, but have video which we'll share after returning. Because we finished the roof project early, Thursday is a "tourist" day.  We will travel up to prayer mountain, visit a couple of rural churches under Rodney's care, and the orphanage. Breakfast is at 7, and we set out for the mountains immediately after.

Thursday: After a French Toast breakfast, we headed to the mountains to see some of the country. The group took a hike, sampled the cool water of a stream, and a couple of brave souls helped some Haitians break some rock. We also stopped by three churches under Rodney's care.  All are pastored by nationals. We visited the church at Pon Gaudin, a suburb of Gonaives just before lunch.  This church was started about 5 years ago and the building is 4 years old.

What does it mean to be "on mission" for Jesus Christ? Here's a great reminder for the start of the new year from David Doran on the text John 20:21–– "Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father has sent me, even so send I you."

The “sent” language which is used regarding Christ’s coming speaks of His commission by the Father. Christ came into this world on a mission to do His Father’s will and the work that He was sent to do (John 4:34). He was completely faithful to that task and we enjoy redemption because of it. The path that He would follow would move from cradle to cross before the crown.

The text quoted above establishes our mission as Christ’s servants in parallel to His mission for the Father. Sadly, many have misconstrued the point of this text (and its parallel in John 17:18) by shifting the focus away from commission to methodology. Basically, they re-write the text to say something like this, “In the way that I came into the world, so you go into the world.” The text, though, isn’t talking about how the Son of God came into the world (incarnation), but why He came into the world—the Father sent Him. So, the point for His disciples isn’t how they go into the world, but why they must go into the world—He has sent us.

The misinterpretation of this text is being used to change the shape of modern missions away from the proclamation of the gospel. Being “on mission for Christ” now includes things like “creation care” (aka environmental work), supply mosquito nets for those fighting malaria, opposing social and political ills, and just about anything that (in the words of one writer) brings “pieces of heaven to places of hell on earth.” In many places and many ways, the mission of the church is being redefined away from its biblical moorings. (You can find a more detailed study of this issue here.)

Christ commissioned His church to make disciples through the proclamation of His good news to the ends of the earth in the power of the Spirit. The Great Commission is the responsibility of every believer because it was a task given to the church. The Father sent the Son and the Son sent His disciples.

C.H. Spurgeon on Thanksgiving:

"Christian! here is all thou canst require. To make thee happy thou wantest something that shall satisfy thee; and is not this enough? If thou canst pour this promise into thy cup, wilt thou not say, with David, “My cup runneth over; I have more than heart can wish”? When this is fulfilled, “I am thy God”, art thou not possessor of all things? Desire is insatiable as death, but he who filleth all in all can fill it. The capacity of our wishes who can measure? But the immeasurable wealth of God can more than overflow it. I ask thee if thou art not complete when God is thine? Dost thou want anything but God? Is not his all-sufficiency enough to satisfy thee if all else should fail? But thou wantest more than quiet satisfaction; thou desirest rapturous delight. Come, soul, here is music fit for heaven in this thy portion, for God is the Maker of Heaven. Not all the music blown from sweet instruments, or drawn from living strings, can yield such melody as this sweet promise, “I will be their God.” Here is a deep sea of bliss, a shoreless ocean of delight; come, bathe thy spirit in it; swim an age, and thou shalt find no shore; dive throughout eternity, and thou shalt find no bottom. “I will be their God.” If this do not make thine eyes sparkle, and thy heart beat high with bliss, then assuredly thy soul is not in a healthy state. But thou wantest more than present delights—thou cravest something concerning which thou mayest exercise hope; and what more canst thou hope for than the fulfilment of this great promise, “I will be their God”? This is the masterpiece of all the promises; its enjoyment makes a heaven below, and will make a heaven above. Dwell in the light of thy Lord, and let thy soul be always ravished with his love. Get out the marrow and fatness which this portion yields thee. Live up to thy privileges, and rejoice with unspeakable joy."

In a sermon entitled "Total Forgiveness and the Confession of Sin," John MacArthur of Grace Community Church helps us work through the tension of being totally forgiven for all eternity and yet still confessors of present sins. 

On God's Forgiveness:

"...the forgiveness that God provides for us is so comprehensive that it removes from the believer all defilement, all shame, all guilt, all punishment forever and replaces it with righteousness, security and eternal reward. This is the gift of forgiveness. It is inviolable, it is irrevocable, nothing and no one can cause the forgiveness of God granted to the believer to be taken back, to be rescinded. No one can talk God out of it, or change His mind, or successfully bring up an accusation against that believer that would cause God to cancel that forgiveness."

On Confession of Sin and Seeking Forgiveness:

"...all our sins are forgiven and yet, in spite of this gracious, merciful generosity on God's part toward all of those who repent and embrace Jesus Christ we are still, according to 1 John 1, known as Christians because we continue to confess our sins. And that is what verse 9 is saying, if we are confessing our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness...that is not a command, that is a statement of fact. True believers are habitual confessors who therefore demonstrate that their sins are continually being forgiven. We are still known as penitent. We are still known as eager to repent, as confessors of sin."

On the Tension:

"...what did Jesus teach the disciples? He taught them to pray this way, 'Forgive us our sins...' Now we have a problem here. You see where I'm going? We have a dilemma. Why would I be saying, "God, forgive my sins," when I know He's already forgiven my sins? How am I going to reconcile this?"

On a Common Error and It's Danger:

"...some teachers increasingly popular...claim that since we are already forgiven we must never ask God to forgive our sins. To do so, they tell us, is an expression of unbelief...the only way to enjoy your liberty in Christ is to forget your sin, forget about it all together and just embrace God's forgiveness as a fully accomplished reality because of the work of Christ and never again pay any attention to your sin...To say that we can sin and completely ignore it and bear no guilt and no remorse and offer no confession and ask for no forgiveness will, believe me, bring down on such a person's head the discipline and the displeasure of God.The idea that a Christian should never pray a penitent prayer seeking forgiveness is unbiblical...it's heretical."

On John 13:7-11:

"He says you're clean. You appear before God as clean and righteous. You are free from the penalty of sin in your justification. But then there's the matter of your sanctification and you need to be continually washed from the presence of sin and the power of sin. You don't need to be justified again, you just need to be being sanctified. And it is in that fatherly sense, it is in that sanctifying sense that Jesus tells us...Say to the Father...Father, forgive us our sins."

In Conclusion:

"You're not doubting justification. You have been justified before God. You have been set free from the penalty of sin. But...though you are set free from the penalty of sin, you have not been delivered from the presence and power of sin and while you don't need to be justified again, you need to be continually washed. Sin needs to be confessed and forsaken as a regular pattern of life, not before a judge who will otherwise condemn us to hell, but before a Father who will otherwise chasten us. And that too is clear from 1 John 1:9. We go on confessing, and He goes on forgiving and cleansing....The fatherly concern for our holiness and our sanctification is related to the on-going confession and forgiveness. In Christ we have forever satisfied the judge. He will never be displeased. But God as Father is displeased when we behave sinfully..."

"So the forgiveness...back to 1 John 1...the forgiveness in 1 John 1:9 is parental forgiveness, relational forgiveness, it's restorational. It's like Psalm 32, Psalm 51, "Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation." It's the kind of discipline that deals with our sin and brings us to repentance, confession, forgiveness and restored joy. It is not the washing of regeneration, that's already done. It's not the forgiveness of justification, that's already done. It isn't the bath. We need one bath and many times need our feet washed."

Read or Listen to the Whole Sermon.

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1 Peter 3:15 says “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:”

Much of the focus when hearing or reading commentary on this verse emphasizes the responsibility of believers to be ready to offer a defense for their faith and beliefs; we call this Apologetics. But upon further examination, this verse implies that before any sort of answer can be given, an inquiry must be made; an inquiry specifically regarding the reason of our hope. The further implication is that we are noticeably demonstrating this hope outwardly.

The verses surrounding 1 Peter 3:15 deal with trials and tribulations in the life of a believer. The point is that the believer need not agonize, become angry, or act foolishly during these times of difficulty, but exhibit a peace and a hope made possible by the ressurection of Christ from the dead. (1 Peter 1:3-4.) The public demonstration of this internal hope is what possesses the power to inspire interest in those that observe causing them to inquire the reason we have hope in situations where they have none.

Let us then be reminded that hope is found is Christ alone; and as important as answers are, they are of little value unless we are asked.

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And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Romans 8:28-29

"Romans 8:28...is an oft quoted verse. But we often fail to note that the following verse helps us understand what the 'good' of verse 28 is. Verse 29 begins with the word for, indicating that it is a continuation and amplification of the thought of verse 28. The good that God works for in our lives is conformity to the likeness of His Son. It is not necessarily comfort or happiness but conformity to Christ in ever-increasing measure in this life and in its fullness in eternity."

-Jerry Bridges, quoted in Trusting God (Navpress, 2008), p. 126. 

Thank you, Lord; that's what we really want anyway!

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