What is the Christian life about? Simple answer, to fall deeper in love with God and be His hands and feet to a world in need. Isn’t that what the word says? LOVE the Lord your God with all your heart, all your strength, and all your mind, and LOVE your neighbor as yourself. But this action is not so easy to put into practice. In order to live a lifestyle of love, we must necessarily walk in a river of forgiveness. Why? Think about it. People are difficult to live with. I mean honestly, if we are ever going to be the true hands and feet of Jesus, our lives need to represent Him in all that we do, and he not only loved us, but gave himself up in order to bring us forgiveness. Look at these scriptures- Colossians 3:13, Luke 6:37, Matthew 6:14-16, Mark 11:25. They all have one common topic, forgiveness. This subject is a core theme in Christianity. These verses state that to be forgiven, we must forgive. Now our unforgiveness does not jeopardize our salvation because we are saved by grace, but it can hinder, stunt, or even stop our growth in Christ. So if you want to remain complacent and stagnant, then continue to live a life of unforgiveness, but to progress in your walk with Christ, FORGIVE. You cannot go deeper with Christ with a root of unforgiveness in your life, because that root will spread like a cancer through your body.
Here are some of God’s examples of forgiveness. In Nehemiah 9:17 it says, “They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert them.” God had the right, the authority, and the power to desert and destroy this people, but look closely, it says he is a forgiving God. Another beautiful example of this forgiveness is found in Hosea. In the Old Testament there is a story of a man that God appointed as a prophet. He told Hosea, go and marry a prostitute, because through you, I want to demonstrate my forgiving love to my people. So Hosea married a woman named Gomar, and Gomar fled her husband time and again, selling her body to other men. Deserting her husband and shaming him to the point where she sold herself into slavery. Hosea went and bought her back. He brought her back into his bed, into intimacy, into love. You see, that is us. We are prostitutes who look for any and every other thing to put above God. A famous theologian said that our hearts are idol factories. But God forgives us. Look closely at the story of Hosea. Generally I find that when I am hurt once, I shut off to that person. I guard my heart so that I won’t feel pain again. However, Hosea did it differently. Like I said he brought his wife back into intimacy, into love, into relationship. We are called to go beyond the status-quo of turning our cheek and simply forgiving. We need to bring those people that have hurt us back into relationship with us.
Our responsibility is that. To forgive, offer grace, and bring people back into a loving relationship. We must follow God’s example that is demonstrated all throughout history. If we don’t have lives of forgiveness, Christ cannot flow through us. So live in this river of forgiveness, get caught in its flow, and let Christ work in and through you. This is how we are to live.
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Friday, June 22, 2007
Second Week in Mexico
Buenos Dias Todos!
I am just about to finish my second week here in Mexico and the Lord has moved mightily in teaching, in outreach, and in many different types of worship. This week, we had a wonderful teacher come onto the YWAM base named Bruce Stefanik. Having been a missionary for about 15 years and currently leading a church, Bruce had powerful teaching. He focused mainly on discipleship and the church. God really spoke to my heart! One of the topics Bruce touched on was the strength of a church and its people during one of life’s storms, conflict. Honestly I am one who moves away from conflict, a habit most of us are prone to, but Bruce stated that within the church, if conflict should arise, the body of Christ must necessarily work through it. This perseverance and endurance will cause growth and unity. If we are the body of Christ we must work as one, without division and discord because often our lives are the only gospel people read. The bible states that we are the aroma of Christ and that also, we are the body of Christ. Thus we are to emulate his actions, and that calls for unity. So many have abandoned the church due to discord and disagreements. I would encourage us to pursue healing rather than running away from uncomfortable situations. It was such an amazing week for teaching.
Another area where God is growing me tremendously is in language. I have really begun to pick up more vocabulary and understand the people better. Just recently our team got together for a prayer meeting, and because there were no leaders there, I translated everything. It wasn’t perfect translation, but I was so excited because everyone got the main ideas.
On the other hand, my body hasn’t been doing so well. After a 24 hour fast, I decided to eat a taco and my body rejected that completely, so I have been sick for a couple of days. My ear has gotten infected and swollen to the point that I look like bozo. Last night I made my first trip to the doctor’s office and got some anti-biotic medication for my ear. Please be praying- Satan is doing a number on my health.
I love you all very much. I hope all is well at home. God bless and keep you!
Grace and peace.
PRAYER REQUESTS:
1. Unity between my team mates
2. My Spanish would develop
3. My body would adjust to the food and my stomach pain would ease
4. The infection in my ear would go away
In Christ Alone,
Lauren Conrad
I am just about to finish my second week here in Mexico and the Lord has moved mightily in teaching, in outreach, and in many different types of worship. This week, we had a wonderful teacher come onto the YWAM base named Bruce Stefanik. Having been a missionary for about 15 years and currently leading a church, Bruce had powerful teaching. He focused mainly on discipleship and the church. God really spoke to my heart! One of the topics Bruce touched on was the strength of a church and its people during one of life’s storms, conflict. Honestly I am one who moves away from conflict, a habit most of us are prone to, but Bruce stated that within the church, if conflict should arise, the body of Christ must necessarily work through it. This perseverance and endurance will cause growth and unity. If we are the body of Christ we must work as one, without division and discord because often our lives are the only gospel people read. The bible states that we are the aroma of Christ and that also, we are the body of Christ. Thus we are to emulate his actions, and that calls for unity. So many have abandoned the church due to discord and disagreements. I would encourage us to pursue healing rather than running away from uncomfortable situations. It was such an amazing week for teaching.
Another area where God is growing me tremendously is in language. I have really begun to pick up more vocabulary and understand the people better. Just recently our team got together for a prayer meeting, and because there were no leaders there, I translated everything. It wasn’t perfect translation, but I was so excited because everyone got the main ideas.
On the other hand, my body hasn’t been doing so well. After a 24 hour fast, I decided to eat a taco and my body rejected that completely, so I have been sick for a couple of days. My ear has gotten infected and swollen to the point that I look like bozo. Last night I made my first trip to the doctor’s office and got some anti-biotic medication for my ear. Please be praying- Satan is doing a number on my health.
I love you all very much. I hope all is well at home. God bless and keep you!
Grace and peace.
PRAYER REQUESTS:
1. Unity between my team mates
2. My Spanish would develop
3. My body would adjust to the food and my stomach pain would ease
4. The infection in my ear would go away
In Christ Alone,
Lauren Conrad
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Hola from Mexico!
Hola from Mexico!
Here I am, sitting in the beautiful courtyard in Ensenada, Mexico, after classes and lunch. I arrived in Ensenada, Mexico, on Friday, June 9th, around 3pm (6pm our time). Then we waited for another student from Switzerland. Once we had everyone, we went to a small fiesta at one of the staffs house. We didn't get to the base until 12pm, or 3pm our time. That was a long , but wonderful day. While I thought that there would be 15 students, there are only 12, but that is a wonderful number. There are only three girls, one of which is married. Consequently, Erin, my new friend, and I are sharing a room meant for 10 people. This is going to be a wonderful DTS!!
Today we were learning about intercessory prayer which was amazing, and the Lord really spoke! This whole week has been a time for learning and growth. Just yesterday we found out our destination for outreach. We are moving from one place to another throughout those two months, but I am excited to see what God is going to do and what relationships He will grow. The plan for outreach is this:
1. First we will spend two weeks in Tecate, Mexico, working with the people in this area and starting to build a new YWAM base in Tecate.
Here I am, sitting in the beautiful courtyard in Ensenada, Mexico, after classes and lunch. I arrived in Ensenada, Mexico, on Friday, June 9th, around 3pm (6pm our time). Then we waited for another student from Switzerland. Once we had everyone, we went to a small fiesta at one of the staffs house. We didn't get to the base until 12pm, or 3pm our time. That was a long , but wonderful day. While I thought that there would be 15 students, there are only 12, but that is a wonderful number. There are only three girls, one of which is married. Consequently, Erin, my new friend, and I are sharing a room meant for 10 people. This is going to be a wonderful DTS!!
Today we were learning about intercessory prayer which was amazing, and the Lord really spoke! This whole week has been a time for learning and growth. Just yesterday we found out our destination for outreach. We are moving from one place to another throughout those two months, but I am excited to see what God is going to do and what relationships He will grow. The plan for outreach is this:
1. First we will spend two weeks in Tecate, Mexico, working with the people in this area and starting to build a new YWAM base in Tecate.
2. Afterwards, we will head to Colombia where we will work in a city called Cartehenas and a nearby island that suffers from extreme poverty. We will stay there for three weeks.
3. Finally, we will head out to the Panama City, Panama, and deep into the jungles. Our plan for this area is to reach out to many different Indian tribes in the jungles.
With this new plan for outreach, the price of the trip has increased about $1,000. I am confident that the Lord will raise the funds for all in the DTS. If you feel led to give, you can send monetary support to this address:
YWAM San Diego/Baja
Lauren Conrad (DTS)
100 West 35th street Suite C
National City, CA. 91950
Many of the students here need monetary support as well and I am hoping to be able to help them.
I feel that all these areas of mission work are going to be wonderful. Everything has been amazing and I wish you could all experience the beauty of the body of Christ working in this place. I will be sure to update this soon. I talked to my mom for the first time yesterday and she seemed to be pretty upset that I hadn't updated my blog yet, but as you can imagine, I don't have a lot of time to do it. I will do my best to keep you all updated. And please feel free to e-mail me or send me a message on my blog. My e-mail is: laurenconrad88@hotmail.com.
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