The Year of Jubilee

Tonight, my wife and I decided to create a fundraiser through www.youcaring.com.  I have to say that I have struggled with creating this fundraiser for months.  For years now, we have felt the Lord leading us toward international missions.  My best friend and his wife are currently in Spain training to reach the Basque people group and I have to say that my heart aches to join my brother in ministry in Spain.  My heart deeply desires the freedom to follow the Lord's lead on our life.

Proverbs 22:7 says, "The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender."  This verse pierces directly through my heart and I affirm it's truth with a resounding amen!  I have fully felt the weight of my slavery ever since completing school and beginning the process of paying back the loans my wife and I accumulated.  We have been paying on our loans now for about seven years and I am not sure that we have made much if any progress on them.  It feels as though they are a mountain that is slowly crushing me.  


I desire nothing more than for this mountain to be thrown into the sea.  I desire nothing more than to be free to serve the Lord completely.  I desire the ability to fully devote my life to reaching others for Christ.  The Lord has blessed my wife and I greatly by providing us with a great church and a young adult ministry.  I am so grateful for the opportunity to teach these young adults the Word each week.  I am so thankful for each opportunity I have to minister and proclaim the gospel of Jesus to others.  


Even with all these wonderful blessings, they pale in comparison to what my wife and I could do if we were able to devote our full energy to serving Christ.  We both have to work full-time jobs just to make ends meet and many times we come home exhausted.  My wife is a teacher and many times when she comes home, her job comes with her.  I can't tell you how many times my wife has worked through the night till morning grading homework, papers, and projects.  We are slaves to our bills and slaves to our lenders.  


James 4:2 says, "You do not have because you do not ask God."  Because of this verse, I decided to go ahead and setup the fundraiser.  I specifically decided to end the fundraiser on July 31st because it is the first day of school for my wife.  My hope is also that my wife will be able to stay home, if she chooses, with our soon to come boy.  It would be so wonderful for her to be able to choose this option if she wanted to and me be able to provide for all our other bills on my own.  I am not interested in raising the money to erase this debt on my own power.  If the Lord chooses to erase this debt, I want to be sure that I can not claim any part of the debt being erased.  It would take $60,000 to erase our school debt.  The idea of raising $60,000 tot in 2 months seems completely impossible but Jesus says in Luke 18:27 is, "What is impossible with man is possible with God."  


If I am to live completely sold out and devoted to God, I have to believe in the supernatural. I do not believe the Lord would call us to something and not provide us the way to follow His call.  I want every single step of my walk to be fully depending and expecting Him to supernaturally move in my life.  In encouraging the Philippians to trust the Lord to provide and be content he makes this comment in Philippians 4:19 saying, "And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus."


Creating this fundraiser is the first step to fully trusting the Lord to provide.  Even if no money is given to this fundraiser, I will fully and completely trust my Lord to provide.  I will still expect Him to provide the open door to answer His calling to international missions.  I will trust Him to open the door at the right time, his time.  Though my heart aches so much to be with my brother in Spain walking side by side with him reaching lost souls for Christ, I will faithful trust the Lord's direction in my life, no matter what.  I will continue to live for Him, speak for Him, sing for Him, and share His gospel with others.  


Are you completely trusting you life to Christ each day?  Psalm 3:4-5 brings me such peace saying, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.^{" There is no peace outside of Him.  There is no joy outside of walking in  Him daily.  Do you know Jesus Christ tonight?  Have you believed in Him?  Are you looking to Him to lead every facet of your life?  You are never too far gone.  There is no sin you could have committed that would be too great for Him to receive you, forgive you, and welcome you into a relationship with Him.  I pray that you will seek Him today.  If you ever need to talk, have questions, or just need prayer, know that I am always available and you can email me at greg.ivey@me.com.}


The link for our fundraiser is youcaring.  If you would take a moment to look at the fundraiser, pray for the Lord's guidance pertaining to it, and share it with fellow friends who might be interested, we would be grateful. Thank you for your consideration. 


Blessings,


Greg 

Mother's Day Challenge to Fathers

My glowing wife.

Men may you give your wives and mothers the best Mother's Day they have ever known this year.  There are two types of mothers in this world: the ones who hate or are indifferent to Mother's Day and the ones who look forward to it every year.  A mother's reaction to Mother's Day is directly related to the response of her family and especially her spouse.  As one who is about to become a father and is excited to celebrate Mother's Day with my wife, I have really being thinking about things I can do to celebrate and encourage her this Mother's Day and for Mother's Days to come.  I want my wife to know she is loved and appreciated starting with this Mother's Day and each consecutive Mother's Day for the rest of her life.

Mother's day southern tradition: a red rose for a live mother and a white rose for a mother passed on.

I thought back to the Mother's Days of my youth.  As I think back to those days, I consider some of the things that made Mother's Day special for my mom.  We always dressed our best on Mother's Day and we wore a red rose as a southern tribute to our mother.   In the south you do not forget mothers on Mother's Day in the church.  As a child, I remember dad taking care of breakfast, letting mom pick her favorite restaurant, and each of us getting her gifts of our love.  Though I can't say that we as children always did a great job honoring my mother on Mother's Day, I can confidently say that my dad did and worked hard to teach us to also.

Mother's day in Appomattox, VA

Looking back at the examples in my own life and through the examples of others in my life, I have learned the significance the husband plays in making a mother feel truly appreciated on Mother's Day.  It is not the mother's job to teach her children to appreciate her but in fact her husband's.  The father is the one who, through his example, teaches his children to appreciate their mother.  This is not something that is accomplished through just one day of the year but through an example that is given every single day of the year.

Mother's day in Williamsburg, VA

Our children are watching us men.  They see every kind or hard word we give to our wives; they see our acts of affection and when we ignore our wives; and they learn how to love or hate their mothers through us.  Proverbs 31:28, "Her children arise and call her blessed, her husband also, and he praises her."  This only happens if we fulfill the second part of this verse men.  Ephesians 5:25-30 says, "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.  In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.  For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church,  because we are members of his body."     

Glowing again

Men tonight I ask, have you being loving your wife and the mother of your children in a way that sanctifies her, presents her as holy and without blemish, and with a love that is equal to a love for yourself?  If not, I hope you will take time to examine the scripture, ask forgiveness of your wife and children for not loving your wife the way you should, and take the steps to become the husband and father the Bible calls you to be.  It is time we step up and live Courageously in loving our wives and families.  It is time we truly honor our wives on this Mother's Day.

No explanation needed.

For those of you who had father's who never taught you to truly love and respect your mother or had no father at all, I hope you will spend time reading Proverbs 31.  I hope you will not look at Proverbs 31 as a way to identify all the traits your mother may not have but as a way to understand how you are supposed to treat your mother with respect and love.  Ways to do this can be as easy as calling her,  taking her out to eat, or even as simply as just spending time with her.  I hope you will take genuine steps this Mother's day to show your mother you truly love her. 

Happy Mother's day!

Blessings,

Greg

My wife and I feel an intense calling on our lives for missions and full-time ministry.  We have created a fundraiser to help us overcome one hurtle to us being able to go to the mission field.  I pray that you will take a moment and check out this link.  I thank you for your consideration and ask that you seek the Lord's guidance in considering contributing to this fundraiser.  Thank you.

http://www.youcaring.com/fundraiser_details?fundraiser_id=3437&url=roadtofreedomforproclaimingchrist

The Miracle of Life

Tonight, my wife and I had the opportunity to see the movie October Baby.  It was an incredible movie about a young woman who finds out she is adopted and not only that but that the physical complications she has are due to a failed abortion her mother had causing her to be born premature 24 weeks into the pregnancy.  The movie takes you on her journey to discover who she is, who her mother is, and how to deal with the circumstances of her life.  The movie is very well made and moving.  I highly recommend it to everyone.  It is well worth the money and time.

I have to admit that this movie profoundly affected me especially considering the fact that my wife is almost 24 weeks pregnant.  The shear evilness that would allow someone to take a moving, living, growing baby's life and destroy it with the belief that it is only a "bundle of tissues,"  is beyond what I can comprehend.  How arrogant we have to be to believe it is okay to take what God created and destroy it.  If this happens after the womb, we consider it tragic and call it murder but not in the womb because most of the world does not accept a fetus as life.

Throughout the time that my wife has been pregnant, I have been amazed by the glorious life that is growing within her.  My heart leaps with joy as I watch an ultrasound and see our little boy turning, moving, and bending in the womb.  My wife now feels him daily and even many times a day.  She is beginning to feel him respond in different ways to different situations and she is only 23 weeks along.

There is a human being inside her stomach.  All of his parts are formed and working and moving as they are intended.  He is swallowing amniotic fluid to practice his breathing.  I personally have seen his primary organs at work through the ultrasound.  I have seen his heart fluttering, the blood flowing to his little extremities and brain.  I marvel each day at the miracle God is performing in the belly of my wife.

I love how this movie's intention is healing both for the child, the mother, and the nurse of the abortion clinic.  I love how this movie even supports adoption as a way to provide a seemingly unwanted life with loving parents who both want and are so happy to welcome this life into their family.  This movie is about redemption, forgiveness, and restoration.  There is a part where the main character is speaking to a priest and he comments about Paul's words on being able to forgive because of the forgiveness Jesus has given us.  He was speaking of Colossians 3:13 saying, "bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive."  


Abortion is, in my opinion, one of the most heinous acts humanity performs.  It perpetuates nothing but brokenness, selfishness, and a flagrant disrespect of God's creation.  I know that the right to choice and the right to life are still a hot topic in our country today but I hope that you will fight for life.  I in no way advocate the acts of violence many people have carried out in their hatred of abortion.  I believe that we should fight the atrocities of abortion through prayer, advocacy of truth, and petitions of our government.  It is our place to love people to change, healing, and understanding.  It is our place to lead people to healing, both those considering abortion and those who have had or performed an abortion, through the redeeming power of Jesus Christ.  


Please don't sit on the sideline another day on this issue.  Take the time to watch October Baby.  Take the time to check out their website and learn how you can get involved in the fight for life today.  


Blessings,


Greg 

My wife and I feel an intense calling on our lives for missions and full-time ministry.  We have created a fundraiser to help us overcome one hurtle to us being able to go to the mission field.  I pray that you will take a moment and check out this link.  I thank you for your consideration and ask that you seek the Lord's guidance in considering contributing to this fundraiser.  Thank you.

http://www.youcaring.com/fundraiser_details?fundraiser_id=3437&url=roadtofreedomforproclaimingchrist