Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Take Time for What Is Important This Season

When God speaks, often it is easy to miss what He is saying. We get busy and lose confidence in our ability to recognize it is Him speaking. Fortunately, He cares for us and is faithful to repeat Himself in many ways because He wants us to know Him and His voice. God is faithful to nurture what He has planted in out hearts until it begins to produce fruit, and even beyond. The last two months have been one of those places for me and I want to share what He has been speaking. I pray that in the middle of the busyness of Christmas, He speaks to you and gives you His rest and peace.

The thing that He has been speaking to me quite clearly lately is my complete lack of ability to accomplish anything for the Kingdom apart from Him and that I can only move with Him when I allow myself to know His rest and peace. It is easy to look at all of the needs that surround us and feel pressed to do something. I have spent much of my Christian life that way. See a need and react. Sometimes it has produced okay results and other times it has fallen far short of expectations. Either way, I often came away feeling burned out, tired, frustrated or discouraged. Often I felt like nobody cared if they did not jump up to support my idea. God has been showing me that this is not a good place to minister from.

Over the last two months, I have had little responsibility and been able to spend a lot of time reading. That is good because I have 8 books that are required for the Iris/Kaleo School of Ministry I will be going to next month. Normally when I look at a pile of books that I have to read and want to finish them in a short time, it feels stressful of I feel guilty for reading when there is so much else to do. For the last month, I have been at perfect peace while I just sit and read for an hour, two or even more. Through it all, I have realized that this rest is the starting place for all ministry. It is the place where God can most clearly show us what He is doing and we can hear His invitation to join Him. A lot of us tend to jump in to meet a need before we hear the invitation. That becomes counterproductive to ministry and harmful to our personal lives and relationships. It is easy to become consumed with making a thing happen and completely missing the way that God wants to work in a situation.

In my time of reading, it really struck home that Jesus only did what He saw the Father doing. He did nothing on His own. He was far more wise than I yet He did not initiate anything on His own. He waited and moved only as He saw the Father moving. Jn 5:19+20 and Jn 8:28. If Jesus needed to hear and see the Father before He moved, how much more is that true for me. I hear people say to just obey the Bible and you will be fine but Jesus is the living Word and He only moved in step with the Father. People will often say, "But I don't hear God". If we do not hear Him, how do we think that we can do anything for Him? Jesus called the disciples friends because He showed them all that He was doing and I believe that is still His heart today. He wants to show us His activity and invite us into it. He does not want us running off after everything that seems like a good idea but He wants us waiting on Him.

In Heb 4, we are told to strive to enter the rest of God and that we fall into disobedience when we do not enter it. You ask how we can strive to enter God's rest. That seems like an oxymoron; striving to rest. For most people, staying busy is a prerequisite. They cannot imaging life without some productive activity. That is partly how we are made but since the fall, it has unfortunately also become the seat of our identity. If we are not working and accomplishing things, we have no sense of worth. To determine to just be quiet, rest and let God speak seems unnatural. We give it 15 or 20 minutes, feel like we have done our duty and then jump into work. It is difficult to determine to sit and wait until we know the move God is making and then step with Him. That really is a challenge for most of us. It is one that I faced in October when, for the first time in years, I was healthy and had no responsibility. I just had the opportunity to read, seek God, put worship music on and just soak. It was an incredible, refreshing two months for me.

I can hear many already saying, that sounds amazing. I wish I could do that but I have kids. The ministry would collapse if I took time away. People would suffer if I am not there. For every reason that I can give why you should find time to rest in Jesus with no other agenda, people can find 10 reasons why it is not possible. The truth is that you probably cannot spend 2 months just seeking God. You might need a weekend, an extra hour in the morning or evening while everyone is sleeping or a day just to be with Jesus. I know this though: You need intimacy with Jesus if you are going to do anything of value for the kingdom of God. Your time spent separating yourself with only Jesus will make you more peaceful and more fruitful. It is the key to living a fulfilled Christian life. I am praying that you will find a way do be able to get quite with God and hear His call for today.

As I have said before, I am looking for ministry partners. I am less concerned about finances than I have been at any time in the past. One of the benefits of spending this time listening for God's voice is that I have a new confidence in His ability to meet my every need and a security that His love for me motivates Him to do that. I am looking for partners because I believe God is getting ready to do some amazing things and I want you to be able to join in. I am looking for 30 people to support at $25 a month and 2 or more Churches at $100 a month. I am also looking for these people to commit to praying for what God is doing and to also join in by coming, seeing and working in the future. Please pray about this.

If you would like to support, you can send checks to;
Life Church Morris
P.O. Box 679
Morris, IL 60450
Write: Mission San Lucas on the memo line 

If you are going to begin supporting, I ask that you would also drop me a quick note and let me know at thegeokr@yahoo. com. I am beginning to plan a budget for next year and would like an idea of what that will look like. Thank you all for your faithful prayers and support for the last 5 years.


Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Time to Train

As many of you know, I will be going to Kaleo School of Missions in Reynosa, Tamaulipas Mexico in January. It is a three month school that has the first 10 weeks in a classroom and local outreach in the Reynosa area. After that there is an 18 day outreach. My outreach will be to Juarez, a border city opposite El Paso Texas. This School is part of Iris Global Ministries. I cannot say that the school was all my idea and I may have even been a little reluctant at first to apply. It means that I will not be in Guatemala for 4 months or even more with Christmas in the States. I love San Lucas and where I am living. It justs seems like I am getting settled into the new place and it is time to leave. As I have been going through the process, I have realized that the best thing I can do is get myself strengthened in the Lord and trained for the next stage of life and ministry and this school is the best place to start.

For the last month, I have been doing the prep work to go to the school. What that means is I have spent a lot of time reading. There are 7 books that are required for the school and many others that are recommended reading. I have read 6 of the 7 and will be starting on the recommended books soon. They ask that the required books be read before you come so that you can enjoy the free time and group activities in the afternoon. That seemed like a good plan to me so I have been reading. My eyes are sore but I have been having great insights into God's heart for us.

In the books, I have been reading about God's provision, His desire to love through us and His supernatural protection in the most dire of circumstances. These have all been good reading and they have helped me focus on purpose in ministry and in life, as well as know the confidence we can have in any circumstance. These have been areas of struggle for me. I have often found it easier to just join in someone else's work than to launch into where God is leading. I have worried about finances and safety as well as my leadership abilities. In the books, along with my quiet times and Scripture reading, I have felt the confidence of God more and more each day.

I am coming to realize the truth of a message that I heard many years ago. "There is always time to do it right". No matter how urgent the need or how big the problem, there is always time to deal with it God's way. He has the perfect plan and He knows what we need to do to walk with Him in the midst of the situation. Sometimes we need training. That is where I am at right now. Other times we need to sit quietly and let God speak. Other times He leads us into action. But always we need to know where God is at and how He would have us to move, even if it is just one step for now. We should never be willing to run ahead of God just to try and help and we should not lag behind Him and miss out on what He wants to do through us. I am learning to move at God's pace.

These last two months have been good for me in many ways and I am excited to see where the next 4 months will lead. I am expecting to be challenged and changed while I am in Mexico but most of all, I am counting on coming out with fresh vision and a Godly empowerment for the work that He is preparing for me in the future. I am beginning to get a more clear idea of what that will be but it is too soon to share it. I have been talking to Patricia about it some and also a little to Tono and I know that it will involve kids and helping them to find identity in Jesus rather than all of the identities that the world tries to hang on them and as I think about it I get excited. I wish that I could say more but it is too soon.

As I prepare to leave for the States and then Mexico, God has been showing me His faithfulness. He has provided for the next 4 months and I can go to Mexico without worrying about haw to continue paying for my rent and other expenses in Guatemala while I am gone. I know that He also has a plan to provide for the future. I am looking for 30 people at $25 a month and 2 Churches at $100 a month to become partners with me in the ministry here in Guatemala. As of now, I am only looking for these partnerships to cover my personal expenses. I will be looking for ministry partnerships also in the future but that will be sent through and organization and directed by a board and not me. If you believe in what God is going to do and would like to join in, you can send support to

Life Church Morris
P.O. Box 679
508 W Illinois Ave,
Morris, IL 60450
In the memo line write Mission San Lucas

I want to thank all of you that have supported me this year and made it possible for me to do all that I have been doing and I look forward to sharing with you in the near future what will be happening going forward. I will be in the States for about a month so if you would like to talk to me or would like me to talk to a Church or small group, get in touch with me at thegeokr@yahoo.com .