विचार - thought
“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” — 2 Corinthians 2:3-5
“Taking every thought captive” was the theme at Extreme Kansas Camp this past June. It was phenomenal to hear the Disciplemaking Interns share their testimony through the lens of this theme. Each one prepared a short and long testimony that filtered their testimony through the lens of “taking every thought captive.” I wish you could have seen and heard each one of these. God used the stories of the 15-25 year olds to impact their peers and those younger. We are excited to report the following decisions from the two weeks of camp:
6 salvation decisions
25 rededication decisions
28 live for Jesus as a lifestyle decisions
37 interns served this summer
5 countries represent (Japan, Mexico, Vanuatu, SE Asia, & USA)
Taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ is easier when we: regularly relationally pray and dialogue with God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, spend time in the Word meditating on it throughout the day, regularly worship in a variety of ways from song to God sighitngs, have family and friend(s) to share and pray with, have a Biblical Community, are involved in a Bible believing and living church.
At the top of this article you see the word thought in two languages. The first language is Hindi to remind us to pray for the persecuted church. Pray for favor, blessing, and protection for our dear brothers and sisters throughout the world who are joining us to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.
We are exited to see God confirm prayer and financial partners on this journey. Please keep praying for us in this regard. God blessed us with two more Prayer Partners and one more Financial Partner.
215 of 250 Prayer Partners
19 of 100 Financial Partners
Challenging Quotes From a Book I Recently Read
The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence
“We ought not to be weary of doing little things for the love of God, who regards not the greatness of the work, but the love with which it is performed.”
“Do not be discouraged by the resistance you will encounter from your human nature; you must go against your human inclinations. Often, in the beginning, you will think that you are wasting time, but you must go on, be determined and persevere in it until death, despite all the difficulties.”
“I regard myself as the most wretched of all men, stinking and covered with sores, and as one who has committed all sorts of crimes against his King. Overcome by remorse, I confess all my wickedness to Him, ask His pardon and abandon myself entirely to Him to do with as He will. But this King, filled with goodness and mercy, far from chastising me, lovingly embraces me, makes me eat at His table, serves me with His own hands, gives me the keys of His treasures and treats me as His favorite. He talks with me and is delighted with me in a thousand and one ways; He forgives me and relieves me of my principle bad habits without talking about them; I beg Him to make me according to His heart and always the more weak and despicable I see myself to be, the more beloved I am of God.”
“I cannot imagine how religious persons can live satisfied without the practice of the presence of GOD. For my part I keep myself retired with Him in the depth of centre of my soul as much as I can; and while I am so with Him I fear nothing; but the least turning from Him is insupportable.”
Please Pray
For our family to practice the presence of God everywhere, all the time…
For Kileab and Amanda - pray for Amanda to have a strong finish as she completes her Bachelors in Counseling in March 2018.
For our family as we continue to look for a home church.
For a strong finish to the summer and a great start back to school.
For Cheryl as she finalizes school plans for the kids. (five still at home)