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• PVR Rewind

  We bought a PVR a couple years ago. We can watch the programs we want, when we want and interrupt them at will, not when the ads dictate. "Wait, what did he say?" No problem! We’ll just rewind.

  I’d like to rewind my story for you. I decided in my early twenties that my life verse would be Philippians 3:10, which says, "I want to know Christ – yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death." (NIV) I wanted to know Christ. Sure there was the part about "the fellowship of His sufferings" (KJV). I had heard Richard Wurmbrand’s testimony first-hand detailing persecution.  It was a reality I wanted to sweep into the corner of my mind along with all uncomfortable truths that rattled my paradigm.

• Singleness

  Ah… singleness. That state of freedom that allows myself and my fellow unmarrieds to enjoy all the happiness and bliss of nieces and nephews, and then graciously hand them back to their parents when things get "stinky."

  We can also enjoy tea parties with two-year-old nieces, consisting of empty cups somehow filled with "orange tea" that tastes like "watermelon," and then conveniently "have to get ready for work tomorrow" when the bedtime tears start.

• The Right Attitude

  Photo: Pixabay

  I have three siblings, and we all get along really well. Growing up, people would often ask us, “Don’t you guys ever fight?” We were the picture perfect display of healthy, well-rounded, soft-tempered children that all parents dream of having. So many hugs, so little discipline.

  Yeah, right. While it’s true that my siblings and I got along very well, we did get into arguments as all children do.

  “She took my teddy!” 

  “She called me a bad name!”

  “He melted all my crayons on my bedside lamp’s light bulb!”

• Who's That Guy on the Beach?

  Guilt. I am convinced that one of the most powerful weapons the enemy uses against us is guilt. How many of us conform to feelings of "I should" or "I shouldn't," or perhaps "I'm not good enough"?

  Question:  Is this why we serve the persecuted - out of guilt?  Do we minister or pray, only because we "should"?

  Look at the gem nestled in the account of John 21:

  The disciples, including a guilt-ridden Peter, had gone back to their old jobs, because their hopes and dreams of who Jesus was and would be, seemed crushed by His crucifixion. They had slipped back into living their routine, pre-Christ lives.

• Sideways in the Garage

  

  Years ago, my fiancé and I were on our way to a pressing engagement one snowy afternoon.  However, when we attempted to get into his Acadian, we discovered he had locked the keys inside the vehicle.

  As he began to work at the window with a coat hanger, I got it into my head that we could use my parents' car, nicely parked in the double stall garage. There was one small obstacle.  My financé's car was parked directly behind my parents' Honda accord.

  Any normal person would likely have tried to back the car out and around his vehicle.  That didn't even occur to me.  I began manoeuvring a 3-point turn that had more points than a passionate preacher.

  When my financé looked up from his attempts to break in to his own car, my vehicle was sideways in the garage! 

  It would take a doctorate in English studies to adequately describe the look on his face.

  Had I asked him how to set the Honda free, he would have stated a much more appropriate plan of action.  Sometimes we need another perspective to see our way through difficult situations. The stories of the persecuted Church bring a point of view we in the West may never have considered. 

  During VOM’s October 2015 West Coast receptions, Joseph Hovsepian will be sharing how the Lord freed his "vehicle" out of the walls of unforgiveness.  His journey may be just the perspective you need to hear to keep you from ending up sideways in the garage.

• Love is Blind-ish

  In a past post I mentioned my two good friends Darlene and Elizabeth. They’re crazy into health food, always trying some new thing. I, apparently, am their "Crash-Test-Dummy."

  Darlene will get me focused on some funny story, while Liz is zipping around the kitchen throwing out random comments, questions, and facts while preparing food. Have you ever noticed the skinniest people are always feeding everyone else?

  Then, just when my sensors are overloaded, one or the other will say, "Try this Vanessa!" That’s the moment I obediently open my mouth, as they shove some heinous tasting morsel, which is apparently good for me, into my only child, trusting trap.

  Once it was Oil of Oregano concentrate. Another time it was Grapefruit Seed Extract. Have you ever tasted grapefruit peel? Imagine that bitterness multiplied by 100, except it’s an oil. No amount of water will wash the taste off your tongue! Believe me. I tried.

  At my son’s wedding, Liz held a tea cup to my nose, which looked to have simple water in it, and said, "Smell this."

  So I took a deep whiff...

  ...The BURN singed the nose hairs from my nostrils, scorched my throat and everything attached to it. I felt fire in my ears and brain.

  It turned out to be "Oil of Peppermint." She was checking to see if it was diffused enough for her to drink it. Clearly, it wasn’t!

  Otto von Bismarck said, "Love is blind; friendship tries not to notice." As Christians we are called to love our enemies as though they are friends. Burning nostrils are one thing; beatings, and life-threatening injustices are another. The only way we can walk in true forgiveness is by the power of the Holy Spirit. He will empower us, but we need to be willing to ask for that power to forgive. The movie Closureis a wonderful example of walking that out. Please join us October 23 and 24 and be encouraged in your walk.

  By Vanessa Brobbel

• Discipleship Making Model

  Photo: Window International Network

  I love to play volleyball. A few years ago I joined a ladies volleyball league. Women from all walks of life came together every Wednesday for a couple of hours of sweat and fun. I was put on a team of veritable strangers, and the game was on.

  Unbeknownst to me, one of my team members was watching me very closely. She began teasing me, in a good natured way, about the fact that I didn’t swear when I muffed a shot, or landed on my tush. I hadn’t set about trying to impress anyone, other than with my awesome game play – not. I was just living my life accountable to Jesus, and obeying him.

  About three quarters of the way into the season she asked, “What is it about you? There’s something different about you.” Suddenly, I had an open door to share the Gospel.

  This is the Discipleship Making Principle that our partners Global Catalytic Ministries are using to make disciples among the restricted and underground church of Iran, Kurdistan, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan. The glue to this concept is relational accountability. Accountability such as my becoming more conscious of guarding my mouth on the volleyball court, because it was affecting my witness before others.

  New Christians in these countries are taking their changed lives in Christ back into their families and already established affinity groups. A passion for the Spirit moves them in prayer and studying the Word, which they are committed to obey no matter the cost. As a result, the Gospel is spread when radical behaviour changes spark interest, and hearts begin to open.

  Our speaker will be sharing powerful testimonies of changed lives through this discipleship model as he speaks in Fredericton and Charlottetown in September. These testimonies aren’t normally shared in public, so don’t miss this opportunity!

  By Vanessa Brobbel

• The Problem of Suffering

  Photo: Full of Eyes - How Long? View full sized image

  While working for VOMC, I hear a lot of horrible stories, man's inhumanity toward man. The thing that gets my goat though is when people blame God for the suffering and atrocities playing out on the nightly news. The sheer audacity of our fallen nature accusing the perfect Creator for giving us the freedom to choose evil begs the question: Does suffering make sense?

  "A God who did not abolish suffering -- worse, a God who abolished sin precisely by suffering -- is a scandal to the modern mind," states Peter Kreeft.

  Many stumble over this issue, asking how a good God could create evil. Some even confuse Joseph's comment, "What you meant for evil, God used for good," as a mantra for this concept that evil is needed to mature us as Christians. If that were true - if God designed evil for any reason - it would mean that He is evil, and has evil in Him, whereby our salvation is nonsense. The Perfect Lamb would be rendered imperfect. In addition, if God created us with an internal evil, then he was lying when he declared in Genesis 1 that we were good, and that His creation as a whole was "very good."

  What then? If evil is not a part of God, or inside Him, then it must be outside Him. Enter "free will."

  God created us in His image, meaning "intelligent with freedom." We have the freedom to choose to obey Him, or turn away from Him. As Chuck Colson writes: "...to turn away from God, the source of all goodness, is to create evil. Evil does not have an independent existence, nor was it created by God. Evil is created by sin."

  As we hear the stories of persecuted Christians around the world, the temptation to ask God "why?" is palpable. "Save them, Lord!" is the cry on our lips. His response to us is not, "I'm doing this to them for their own good"; but rather, "I have saved them by defeating the very sin that has had us both in death's grip." Our Saviour is well-acquainted with the pain inflicted by sin's hand.

  By Vanessa Brobbel

• The Shepherd's Voice

  
  Photo: Full of Eyes - The Shepherd

  Years ago, I read a story about a pastor from Russia in a book by Nik Ripken that was titled, The Insanity of God. The clincher of the account has never left me, and I find myself pondering the implication again lately.

  This pastor was not only imprisoned for his work, but his family was moved to a shack in Siberia. Without a husband to provide and care for the family, their food supply quickly became desperate. As the mother fed the last of their food to her children, one quiet voice whispered, "Mama, what will we do?"

  Looking into the frightened face, lean hollows having replaced the once chubby cheeks of childhood, the mother tenderly replied, "The Lord will provide. Let's pray now."

  In a town miles away, in the middle of the night, a church deacon was stirred from his sleep by the Lord. The words clearly impressed in his head were, "Go pack your horse and wagon, and take all the extra food that has been collected by the church."

  Recognizing the Shepherd's voice, but clearly troubled by the thought of leaving his warm bed, the man argued: "But, Lord, it's the middle of the night!  I could get lost in the dark! And there are wolves along the way that could attack my horse.... Plus, it's the dead of winter! I may never make it back!"

  The firm reply sounded, "I told you to go. I didn't tell you to worry about coming back."

  Reading this, I wonder, "What has it cost me to be God's answer to someone's prayer?"

  By Vanessa Brobbel

  ************
  ^{Insanity of God by Nik Ripkin - Chapter 20 - pp 166-167}

• Keep Your Eyes on the Prize

  My kids were happily playing "catch" in our backyard, beneath the spreading limbs of a grand maple tree. Birds were singing. Butterflies fluttered like priceless works of art among the flowers. This was the stuff of a mother's dream. In my mind's eye, chubby angels were strumming harps and floating around on fluffy clouds of cartoon nonsense. The perfect moment. Much too perfect for my eldest son Caleb....

  Harmony and Jesse each had a baseball, and were playing a game where they would count 1, 2, 3, then throw their balls simultaneously to each other. Caleb was perched in the tree, thinking maniacally to himself, "How can I make these two be my entertainment?" He waited. One, two, three, launch...and then he called out to them, "Hey, guys!"

  Suddenly, both Harmony and Jesse looked up. The balls, already having been released, continued on their given trajectory, until...POW! It's no wonder Harmony was afraid of playing catch well into her teens.

  A profound lesson learned the hard way: Do not take your eyes off the ball - even for a second - especially in what appears to be a peaceful moment of perfection. The enemy prowls around seeking to devour, using all manner of distractions. (Did I just compare my son to the devil? Oops! Sorry Caleb.) It's imperative for us to keep focussed.

  Deuteronomy 8 warns not to lose sight of God in the midst of prosperity where nothing is lacking. Verse 11 says, "That is the time to be careful!  Beware that in your plenty you don't forget the Lord your God and begin to disobey him."

  Disobedience leads us away from God - the Prize.

  The main speaker of VOMC's upcoming events is a living testament to daily obedience. This obedience is leading others to Christ just as Deuteronomy 8:1 promises. Come to our East Coast reception and be encouraged to live likewise. Pray that we all will continue to keep our eyes on the prize no matter what voices whisper to us from the trees

  By Vanessa Brobbel