Causing Trouble all over the World

Yesterday, in church, we discussed a verse found in Acts 17:6. The second part of that verse is describing Paul and Silas when it says, "These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here!" I was really taken by that verse and it caused me to think alot. Luke was sharing what the opposition was saying about the ministry of these 2 men. It made me think because I wondered if those who appose Christ where I minister would say the same about me? Am I causing trouble all over the world? Or am I even making a wave in the world I live in?

The footnotes in my study Bible say this..."What a reputation these early Christians had! Our world needs to be turned upside down, to be transformed. The Good News doesn't merely improve programs and encourage good conduct; it dynamically transforms lives!" I'm going to pray that the world sees me as someone who is causing trouble. I don't want to just encourage people to "do good" or "act right." I want to share the radical Good News of Jesus Christ in such a way that others are compelled to want to follow Him.

My prayer is that this year you will see more of this in my writing and what I choose to do with my time.

George Muller

Have you ever heard of George Muller? He lived during the 1800's. I was recently made aware of who he was by a friend. I decided to look up some facts about his life. The following is some of the things I have learned that interested me.

He was born in 1805 to a wealthy family in Germany. The first 20 years of his life were spent in self-service and he cheated many people out of their money. But at the age of 20, God spoke to George and he turned his life over to Him. Soon after that, he decided to be a missionary. At the age of 24, he moved to London to live at an orphanage. He learned the value of meditating upon the scriptures and praying for God's provision. He was married and at the age of 30, he and his wife started an orphanage. Throughout all of this time he lived his life with this principle. He would pray for God to provide and trust that He would. A well known story illustrates how he lived...

      One morning the plates and cups and bowls on the table were        empty.  There was no food in the larder, and no money to buy        food.  The children were standing waiting for their morning        meal, when Muller said, "Children, you know we must be in        time for school."  Lifting his hand he said, "Dear Father,        we thank Thee for what Thou art going to give us to eat."        There was a knock on the door.  The baker stood there, and        said, "Mr. Muller, I couldn't sleep last night.  Somehow I        felt you didn't have bread for breakfast and the Lord wanted        me to send you some.  So I got up at 2 a.m. and baked some        fresh bread, and have brought it."  Muller thanked the man.         No sooner had this transpired when there was a second knock        at the door.  It was the milkman.  He announced that his        milk cart had broken down right in front of the Orphanage,        and he would like to give the children his cans of fresh        milk so he could empty his wagon and repair it.  No wonder,        years later, when Muller was to travel the world as an        evangelist, he would be heralded as "the man who gets things        from God!"

By the time he was 70 years old,his orphanage covered 13 acres and housed over 2,000 orphans. George lived to be 92 years old. He preached to over 3 million people in 42 countries. His most moving reunion with an orphan was on October 19, 1878 when a 71 year old widow met him...she had been his first orphan over 57 years previously. 10,023 other orphans were to follow her there and have Daddy Muller rear them. Muller read the Bible through over 200 times, half of these times on his knees. He said he knew of some 50,000 specific answers to prayer...requests to God alone! Over 3,000 of his orphans were won to Christ [through his ministry]. 

I would say his was a life well lived!

Preach the Word always. Use words only if you have to!

Last Saturday, the kids from Casa Hogar Douglas traveled to a small village to serve 80 kids. This town is very poor and the families do not have groups that come to serve them. This past December, the children's home had so many groups that wanted to come and bring the kids gifts. The kids in the children's home decided that they would like to share some of their blessing with others who have less. By working with a local pastor from a Christian church in this village, we were able to aquire a list of names and ages of 80 kids. The kids from the children's home prepared personal gifts for these children from their excess. We rented a bus and traveled the hour and a half to the village. The kids from the children's home were able to serve the community a hotdog lunch, provide a pinata and pass out the gifts. I'm not sure who was blessed more.....our kids from Casa Hogar Douglas or the kids from the village.

One last Christmas lesson

Over Christmas break, we had 3 brothers from the children's home stay with us. This year we worked real hard to make sure that everyone had a home to be in for Christmas. Those that didn't have a relative to be with, we had stay with one of our staff families. The 3 brothers that we had with us really have no one in their lives. The older 2 suffer from depression because of this.

On New Years Eve, we have a tradition of giving thanks for the blessings of this past year as well as praying in the New Year. This year we had these guys join us. As we were sharing our blessings from this past year, we asked the middle brother if he had anything to be thankful for. He said he was thankful that his dad came to visit one Sunday many months ago and brought a pizza to share with them. Their mom never comes to visit and their dad has come 5 times in 3 years to see them. I was reminded how much these kids cling to any hope of a family relationship. Adoption here in Mexico is very difficult. I would love for these three to be able to be adopted. I learned a lot from or experience this Christmas of sharing with these three.