Opening the Box (Proceed with Caution)

In a time where abortions are an everyday norm and aborted fetuses are picked through and sold for parts, this blog called, Opening the Box (Proceed with Caution) from a dear friend in Colorado is a refreshingly beautiful picture of the sanctity of life, the simple faith of the redeemed, and the loving grace of a God who is sovereign and good.

Read the beautiful words of a heart exposed, which reveals the faithfulness and glory of God in the sufferings and joys of this life.  I pray that you will read this blog and that it will warm, encourage, and remind your heart of steadfast truth.  If this blog blesses you, share it with others who may have experienced loss, need to be reminded of the beauty of life, even in the womb, or need assurances that God is indeed good and working throughout our sufferings and our greatest joys.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”  Jeremiah 1:5

Restorer of my Soul

I have to admit that I have been avoiding this blog for a while.  I honestly can't tell you why other than I have felt like I have been in a rut for a while.  I am still doing ministry, attending church, and leading chapel every once in a while at work but I have really been running on autopilot lately.  I have felt disconnected and disjointed.

Today was my week to lead chapel at work and I had really been wrestling with doing it.  To be honest, I really didn't want to do it.  I had not picked up my guitar in months and I had no idea what to do.  This morning I was really dragging half because of bad sleep and half because I did not want to face my responsibility.

As I sat in the shower, I mulled over what to do at chapel.  I finally came up with the idea of doing one of the videos from the book Beautiful Outlaw.  I decided to do the video on Trueness.  I decided to take my guitar and a few worships songs with my computer on the way out just to leave the option of doing worship available.  Then, probably for the first time since working at Selah, I decided to take the morning to prepare the chapel service.  I reread the chapter I was doing the video on, I watched the video, prepared questions, and put together a worship set that I even practiced before the service.

All of these things served to align my heart back on my Lord.  After finishing my preparations, I spent sometime in prayer.  It took me time to bring my heart back to where it needed to be fully focused on Jesus.  Once I reached this point, I had to take time to still my heart.  I sat on the porch when I went back up to the house.  The Lord fully calmed my heart through a gentle loving cat.  When the time came to for chapel to start, I was exactly where I needed to be.

Today showed me two things.  First, when you allow your heart to distance from the Lord, the road back takes time.  I had to take time to be prepared for the chapel.  I did not wake up on fire and ready.  It takes a lot longer to restart a fire from a cooling ember than to maintain the fire.  Second, that our Lord is gracious and good.  As soon as I brought my heart back to where it needed to be, He blessed me.  Truly He blessed me even more than I ever imagined He would today.  I could truly see Him moving and felt Him working both through the worship and the lesson in a way I had not seen up to this point in chapel.

I walked into doing this chapel with hesitation and the desire to take a break for a while after it to walking out of chapel filling recharged, reminded, and convicted of who I am and how ministry is part of who I am in Christ.  The Lord reignited my heart today because I open my heart and surrendered again to Him today.  Jesus said in each of the synoptic gospels deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him.  I submit that this must be done daily because each day we choose whether to follow Jesus or ourselves.

If you have felt distant from Jesus lately, I hope you will take this moment right now to reconnect with Him.  Jesus is good and loving and has been waiting for you to receive Him again.  I hope you will choose Jesus today.  Let Him convict you of your sins, restore you back to right paths, and recharge you in your walk.

Blessings,

Greg iVey

Greater Love Has No One Than This

There are times that it is easier to blame the tragedies of this world on anything and everything than to realize that we are all sinners.  In some ways, I feel shame for blaming media for the shootings in Aurora.  There are so many times that I teeter back and forth on whether certain media is okay to participate in or whether we should run very far from it.  I guess the argument could be made quite succinctly for why indeed we should not participate in many of the forms of media around us.  Many Christian movements in the past have made the argument that we should essentially hide from the world and keep our hearts from encountering any sin.  Ultimately, I believe this is more a cowardly position than biblical position.  

In the Bible, Paul says in Romans 12:2, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."  It is very easy to speak that verse and come up with all types of things that it means including isolating ourselves from the sin of the world but I don't think we are doing the Bible as a whole justice by taking that stance.  Paul also said in 1 Corinthians 9:22, "I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some."  When you combine these verses, we begin to see that Paul did not mean for us to isolate ourselves from the world and yet he was adamant that we not conform to it.  

Now let's build on Paul's words with the examples of Jesus.  Jesus loved being around sinners so much that the Pharisees accused him of being one.  His response to them in Matthew 9:12-13 was this saying, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”  Jesus also actively went to Zaccheaus and told him to come down so He could go to Zaccheaus' house.  Jesus did not condemn the adulterous women but rather told her to go and sin no more.  Jesus spoke to the samaritan woman at the well.  Jesus told the parable of the good samaritan, which spoke of religious leaders passing by an injured man due to not wanting to be made unclean and yet a samaritan man, who was considered an outcast in Jewish culture, had enough love and compassion to tend to the man and pay for his hotel stay and cost to be healed.  

Jesus and Paul were not afraid of getting down and dirty in the pursuit of reaching people for the kingdom.  I, all to often, try to avoid being uncomfortable by being around sin.  I do not enjoy spending time with someone who does not listen to the Christian music I listen to or watch the clean shows I watch or speak the clean language I speak or live the clean life I try to live.  Am I greater than the Son of God??  I am not.  In writing my last post, I realized that avoiding everything that could be conceived of as sinful and unwholesome was more for my own comfort than my concern for the souls around me.  

Though I know not all would agree, I believe the new testament makes it clear that reaching people for Christ involves stepping out of our comfort zone and into others sin filled lives to be able to show them Jesus' salvation.  I do not believe that Jesus or Paul sinned as they ministered to people but they were willing to walk beside them in the sinner's world to speak truth to them.  Ultimately, I believe this is what Paul was talking about in Romans 12:2.  It is not necessary to conform to the sinner's world to reach the sinner but it is necessary to walk with the sinner, maintaining the pure walk of Christ, to have the opportunity to speak truth to a sinner.  

Yesterday, I chose to watch the last installment of Batman: The Dark Knight Rises.  At the end of the movie my friend and I spoke about the souls around us.  We spoke about how easy it is to condemn their actions and judge them.  It is much more difficult to see them with the love Jesus has for them.  It is much more difficult to acknowledge that each person around me is a soul worth reaching even if I have to participate in uncomfortable things to be able to share the truth with them.  Everything in the life, as a Christian, should be centered on Christ and sharing the truth of His salvation with as many people as possible.  

As the stories of the victims of the Aurora shootings continues to unfold, we are beginning to see glimpses of Jesus' love in people who may not have know Jesus.  There were many acts of love lived that night by people giving their lives to protect those near them.  There are glimpses of God in each one of us Christian and non-Christian alike.  Are we willing to risk our lives that someone else may come to a saving knowledge of Jesus?  Would we have given our life to save another in that theater?  Would you have given your life for a non-Christian in that theater so they would have another day to know Jesus' love and mercy?  Jesus said, "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends."  Do you love the people around you enough to walk beside them and tell them the gospel even if it means being uncomfortable or the possibility of death.  I hope so.

Blessings,

Greg Ivey

Do We Still Seek What is Pure?

**As a note, I wrote this blog last night as a reaction to the Aurora movie theater killings.  This blog is what I believe to be a real and disturbing look into our present world culture and a majority of Christian culture also.  I apologize in advance for anyone I offend.  I decided to post this blog because I feel it is necessary for us to deal with things that are unsavory and against culture to help us develop a more authentic walk in Christ.  Please understand that I am not against watching movies or tv show, listening to music, or playing video games but believe that we have to be careful what media we participate in.  Also I in no way condone the actions of the Aurora killing or anyone who would act in those ways.**

In some ways, I am confounded by our nation's reaction to the Aurora shooting this morning.  Everyone seems so shocked by the ghastly set of events that happened last night.  No one can imagine why in the world someone would want to do such a horrible soulless thing.  "Movies are supposed to be all about fantasy."  "Why in the world would someone actually shoot people during a movie scene where people are being shot?"  "Do you think more or less people will now go because of the shooting?"  These are some of the comments I heard today.

I don't understand why we are surprised by the turn of events at the premiere of Batman: Dark Night Rises.  I don't understand why the world is horrified by these events. Isn't this what our culture wants?  Don't movies, tv shows, and news networks rake in large amounts of money from these very scenarios?  Some may argue that just because we like media about situations like this doesn't mean we want it to happen in real life.  I hope you will take a moment and look at the movies and tv shows that are coming out and have come out recently.  Do you see a trend?  Have you not noticed that the gorier the horror the more money and cult following?  Have you not noticed the more shocking and impressive the action movie is the more money and favorable reviews it receives?  Have you not scene tv shows, especially crime dramas, turn more sadistic and "realistic" to raise ratings?

I hope that many of you reading this blog tonight have been sickened by the current media selections and content way before today.  I hope most of you would concede that what we feed our heart and brain with does affect us.  "Garbage in.  Garbage out."  is not a new phrase.  It is not some new realization that we are just now stumbling on.  We have known this for millennia.

Let's take a walk down history lane of entertainment gone awry.  The roman coliseum, which we are all very familiar with from the movie Gladiator.  Public corporal punishment and tortures of the middle ages.  The witch trials.  The spanish bull fights.  Cage Fighting.  Public hangings in our not to distant history.  The western duals.  Many of the events I just mentioned are looked on with contemptibility and horror and yet we call them entertainment if shown in a movie or tv show.

I don't know about you but I can't stand people who claim to be one thing and yet live lives completely contradictory to what they claim.  Isn't that what we are doing though?  How can we, who with bated breath wait for the next ever darkening installment of a movie series such as the new Batman and Hunger Games, be anything but untouched by events like the such of this morning.  We crave this violence on the movie screen.  We crave to be entertained by death, darkness, depravity, anti-heroes, profanity, sex, shock, and horror.  How can we expect that everyone who watches these things will not be effected by them?  How can we be shocked by someone doing exactly what they see on the tv and movie screen?  We can't.

One of the people who was in the theater in Aurora last night said, "I don't ever want to see anything like that again."  Do you think this incident will stop him from seeing the final installment of the Batman trilogy?  Maybe for a while but probably not.

We are immersed in a culture of depravity and half truths.  We are inundated with media convincing us that evil is not completely evil.  We have been brainwashed to believe that being exposed to artificial murder and sociopaths does not perpetuate murder and sociopathic behaviors.  Brothers and sisters in Christ, it is time to wake up to the reality that what we put into our heart will color what we think, how we live, and how we act.


We must guard our hearts.  I am not just speaking to movies and tv shows but also music that is not soul affirming, news programs that constantly show dead people just to prove they are dead, games, and so much more.  We must move past the naivety that we are unaffected by these things.  We must begin to stand up for things that are right and true.  Philippians 4:8 say, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."
If we used this verse as a standard for all the things we want to listen to, watch, or participate in, I suspect we would spend a lot less time in the world and a lot more time in the Word.

Wake up beloved!  We have to stand up for Christ.  We have to live boldly and passionately for Jesus and that can not look like the world.  Jesus is completely counter culture.  In fact if you find yourself fitting in a little to snugly to culture, I hope you would step back and reevaluate your walk with Christ.  We are to live differently.  We are to live in a bold quest for complete truth.  We are to live a life sold out and completely focused on Christ.  If your really honest, could you say that this describes you?

I hope you will take the time to examine your heart, especially what you have been putting into it.  I hope you will pray for the many peoples lives who were instantly changed by last night's events, including the gunman and his family.  I hope you will pray for a revival of hearts and minds in this world.  I pray we would send a message to hollywood, the tv networks, music artists, gaming companies, and internet media that we will no longer stand for the media that is damaging and destroying our nation.  I pray that our lives would reflect Jesus' love, grace, forgiveness, and compassion.  I pray that we, Jesus' beloved, will stand tall and strong in Him and will begin to live an authentic reflection of Philippians 4:8.

The Loving Kindness of Jesus

This whole day has been a wonderful day.  I was incredibly moved by the service this morning, especially the song service.  The Lord moved in a powerful way inside my heart through the words of each on of the songs sung.  Words like: "Lord I want to be like Jesus in my heart" "Draw me nearer to thee Lord" "Lord make me willing to thank thee for the tears and the heart aches that caused me to pray."  Each song spoke deeper and deeper into my heart challenging me to walk more passionately for Christ and yet wooing my deep love and desire for Jesus.  I could've rested in those songs all day long.

Then our pastor spoke on Moses during the sermon today.  He spoke about Moses parents and the choice they made to save him and put him in the basket in the Nile.  He spoke about God's provisions for Moses and how God saved Moses by having him raised in the very court that sought him dead.  He showed a clip from the movie The Prince of Egypt depicting the mother's tearful prayer to God to protect her baby as she put him in the river Nile.  He spoke about killing baby's in the times of the old testament and killing babies through abortions today.  Each piece of the sermon pierced me deeply as I put myself in the place of the parents of Moses, as I considered the shear cruelty of abortion and infantcide, and thought about the powerful provision and saving power of God.

Tonight our other pastor spoke on Ruth and the hebrew word hesed.  In our language hesed speaks to loving kindness.  This is a loyal faithful love that goes beyond what is expected.  Hesed is perfectly displayed through what Jesus did for us on the cross.  He provided something for us we could never attain on our own.  He loved us beyond what we deserved.  He chose to die and take on all our sins and rose again conquering death so that we who believe, look to, trust in Him will have everlasting life with Him in Heaven.  I strongly recommend you take the time to understand the word hesed and it's use in the Bible, specifically starting in Ruth and the love shown by Boaz.  Through better understanding hesed, you will have a better understand of God.

Finally tonight, my wife and I decided to sit down and watch a movie to close out the night.  We decided to watch the movie Letters to Juliet.  The movie was about finding true love even if it was fifty years ago.  The idea that true love last forever and is always worth pursuing at all cost.  I have to say that I absolutely agree with the idea of true love but I believe there has only been one true love and it was demonstrated in Jesus Christ.  Though love is truly a wonderful thing and there is great peace and joy found through marriages, friendships, and family, Jesus is the only love we will find in our life that will fully and completely satisfy us.  Jesus' love is eternal and will last even past death.  Jesus' love will be the only love we experience in life that will absolutely never fail us 1 Corinthians 13:8.

Do you love Jesus?  Do you desire to be like Jesus to be nearer to Him?  Are you willing to be thankful for tears and heartache?  Jesus loves us so much.  I am so excited to know and be known by such a wonderful loving Savior.  If you do not know Him tonight, I pray that you will seek Him.  Please contact me because I would love to share and tell you about Him.  Please don't go another moment without fully accepting Him into your heart and living a passionate life of drawing nearer to Him.

Christian, don't go another moment without sharing this wonderful Savior with those around you.  I pray for boldness for you dear brother and sister.  I pray that the love you feel inside for Jesus would do nothing but overflow to those around you.  That you would have no choice but to share Him with those you love, with those you know, and even with those you don't know.  Beloved, I pray you would never be silent or keep this precious life giving truth from anyone due to fear or embarrassment.  Trust the Lord to give you the words you need.  Trust the Lord to give you the courage you seek.

Blessings,

Greg

We have created a fundraiser through youcaring.com to help us overcome the first obstacle in our way, which is our student loans.  I hope you will check out our fundraiser at Road to Freedom for Proclaiming Christ.  If you can help us, great!  If you know someone else you believe would be willing to help us, please share the link with them.  If all you can do is pray with us as we trust God, wonderful!  Thank you so much for your support through this blog and your prayers.  To learn more about our calling check out my blog Road to Freedom for Proclaiming Christ in Spain

O Captain! My Captain!

This life is full of dichotomies.  Life and death. Light and darkness.  Good and evil.  Love and hate. Faith and doubt.  God has been moving in my life in more powerful ways than I have ever known could be true yet at the same time my wife is struggling with doubts commonly faced this past month.  I am humbled by both.  I am humbled by the shear amazingness of God.  I am also humbled at the lack of Christian leadership I have lived in my own home.  The Lord has taught me more about His power, His sovereignty and the necessity of me leading for Him in my home this past month than at any other point in my life.

This month has brought times of great joy, great struggles, great dependence, great wonder, and great submission.  The Lord has exploded my heart with His love and power.  He has given me the ability to explain His love in ways I never knew I could.  He has given me the boldness to share His gospel in ways I never have.  And He has put me in points of counsel I could have never imagined being available to me.

My heart has gained a deep peace in my Lord.  He has so profoundly shown me how He is constantly moving around me that my heart can do nothing but cry out in joy at His grace and love.  I have desired to know Him like this all my life and yet I have been the greatest obstacle to realizing this in my life.  Through everything He has been teaching me, surrender has been the most profound lesson.  He will not move in or through me until I fully surrender to Him.  He has also shown me that I must move first and through my steps of obedience He will move ahead of me.

Many of you have read my wife's blog in the past few days.  From the conversations I have had with others, I have found that it is likely that most of you can relate to the testimony she gave.  No matter how high we have been on the mountain top, we will always experience trials, temptations, struggles, and valleys.  The difference from a shallow relationship with God and a walk birthed from true heart understanding of God is that you can still have true peace and assurance no matter how deep the valley you walk through is when God has touched you at the depths of your soul.  Psalm 23 resounds as complete truth and becomes the anthem of your trust in the great Shepherd when you truly know Him.

I have been so blessed to see the Lord use me to teach and minister to my wife.  I am so thankful for the strength and certainty God has given me during her time of doubts.  God is so gracious to provide strength when He knows another will be weak.  I am so grateful that she is beginning to fight against her doubts and is now coming to a place of submission and peace under Jesus.  My wife and I have so much to learn and the Lord has so much more to teach us.  During our process of considering a calling to the mission field, I hope each of you will pray for us to know the full calling of Jesus on our lives.

I hope that you will come to know a soul changing relationship with God.  I pray that He will move in your life in ways you never truly imagined or even asked Him to.  I pray you come to a place of such surrender to the Lord that your every step is fully relying and trusting in Him.  I pray that your walk will no longer be about what you have been taught or strived to reach but rather a genuine deep, passionate, love relationship with Jesus the bridegroom of our souls.

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.

You Caring

Stop Believing the Lie

I recommended this blog post, by my wife, to everyone and yet I just discovered that most of you who viewed my blog chose not to read her blog.  I believe that this blog my wife wrote needs to be read by every believer in Jesus Christ.  If you did not chose to check out this blog last time, I hope you will choose to read it tonight.  Blessings

This whole blog may be long and a little messy - I just have so much rolling in my head right now.  So much has happened.  I have to share it.  I can't just pray, I can't just journal.  It begs to be shared.

For over two years now I have felt a disconnect in my faith.  I have wondered about what Christ has really done for me that I should share him with others, what are the real differences among those in the trinity, what does a Christ-centered life really look like, do people really come to Jesus anymore, do I know him and does he know me, am I really saved at all and from what, and two years ago I had the scariest of all these questions pounding me in the face - God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit - does He really even exist or have I been believing a lie...

I have been seeking - oh, Lord, have I been seeking - but where have I sought the answers?

I've turned to people.

Now, don't get me wrong, I fully believe that God can and does speak through His children - otherwise how would anyone believe unless everyone had access to the Bible and the Holy Spirit at every waking moment.  How can we believe unless someone tells us?  That's in the Word.

But people are NOT a substitute for the Word.

I asked so many people so many different times - so much so that they probably got so tired of me.  I could see it in their faces sometimes - to the point where I stopped asking the questions with some people and just wallowed in my lostness.  And that's what it was.  Lostness.  Now, again, don't get me wrong.  I KNOW that I am a child of God.  It has taken the past two years to make me certain of that again, but even in my lostness, I at least faintly knew that I still loosely believed.  My faith was likely as small and frantic as an electron circling the nucleus of an atom of a mustard seed (if there even is such a thing - I am an English teacher, after all), but it was there. 

Still, I was lost.  I was lost in a world without certainty.  I was lost in a world where I felt so alone and like there was no one to turn to.  My parents and in-laws are all ministers - what would they say to my loss of faith?  My sister had helped me in the past, but was I willing to open this up to her?  My brother, I knew, had his own struggles and I didn't want to be a hindrance to him. 

Thank God for my husband.  Although he has at many points been one of those who rolled his eyes at yet another moment of my questioning - he has always allowed God to speak through him, even if it took him a while to get to that point in the conversations.  He has been to me, his wife, exactly what a Godly husband should be.  But more on that later.

Still, I maintain my previous statement, people are NOT a substitute for the Word of God.

I've turned to books. 

Books written by Godly people who have had their own struggles.  In this past year or two, those have been Becoming a Woman of Faith by Cynthia Heald, A Sure Path by Susan S. Scott, Reckless Faith by Beth Guckenberger, and One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp.  Each, in their own way, about faith, which is what I knew I was lacking.  I have grown in faith by reading these books and they have helped me to see new things about God and my realtionship with Him

But, again, books are NOT substitutes for the Word of God.

I have also turned to music.

KLOVE, Air1, and any other Christian radio stations that grace the dial in my car as well as that in my iTunes and flowing from my church.  Especially when songs are about God, I can see Him and I can feel closer to Him.

But, again, music is NOT to be a substitute for the Word of God.

Somehow I always knew that the Bible was where I should turn and God was who I needed to seek, but I had begun to believe the lie that if I went there, all I would get would be condemnation.  All I would get would be a sentence.

See this?  Yeah, you're definitely lost.  Man, you are so lost.  Oh, and check out this sin I bet you didn't even know you had - you're a wreck.  And check out this other stuff in your head and your heart and your life.  You're such a terrible person, you can never fix all the things that are wrong with you!

And I was right - in part.

This afternoon I was talking with my husband about the idea of us beginning to take steps to become missionaries - something that has been growing in his heart as a desire and calling for the past 5 years and something that used to be very present in my heart as a calling and a passion, telling others about Christ.

But not anymore. 

Even before the past two years, I was still wandering in a place where I wondered if God really spoke to me still, if He really had a plan for me, if I could know what that was, if I was even worthy of it anymore. 

There's me again, believing the lie. 

Still, after such a long time of lostness - I had forgotten too many things to see the need for sharing Christ with others.  I knew this was a good thing, something Christians should do, but not only did I feel stale in this calling, I also felt stale in my relationship with Christ.  The more my husband spoke passionately about sharing Christ with others and the more he shared with me how genuine his belief in Christ and how ardent his faith, the more I felt my heart crying out I wish someone would share this Jesus with me - I want to meet this Jesus.  Like the retired pastor in Frank Perretti's novel The Visitation, I felt in my heart "I was saved, sanctified, born again, and Spirit-filled, but Jesus and I were strangers."

Again I asked the hard questions. 

Again, God spoke to me through my husband.  The following are answers my heart believes.  These are not just answers fed me by a loving husband, but answers whispered into my heart by a loving God through my husband, my books, my music, my experiences, and my seeking in scripture.  You see, God can use all these.  And He does.  But the Word is His living story.

*What's with the trinity?  Yes, God is the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, but all are God. 

The Father knew there was no way for us to be with Him, so he sent the Son.  The Son lived among us to show us who the Father truly was and to give us the opportunity to be like him, then died so that we could be fully made right with God if we accepted his sacrifice.  The Holy Spirit was sent to us, the believers, in order to help us understand and remember the Son's teaching and lead us to the Father, call us to be made right and follow the Son to the longest-lasting and most pure relationship we'll ever have.

*Why is Jesus so important?  He's the cure! 

I can read about my diagnosis all day in the Bible.  True, I am a wreck.  True, I do have sin that I don't even know is there.  True, there is absolutely nothing I can do to fix myself, no matter how long I try or how many methods I use to self-improve.  But if I read the Bible simply for it's diagnosis and not for the fact that Jesus came to fix me, to give me hope, to be my cure!  He is the one who will come and take his faithful home to be with him.

*Why is the Bible such a big deal?  The Bible isn't just another book, but THE book!

True, it does show us what is wrong in the eyes of God and it does show us why we'll never be able to come to God on our own merits.  But it's also the living story of God's love and promises shown through a multitude of generations and a man who died and lives and has the power and authority to give me freedom from anything and everything that can keep me from being the woman I was made to be... without understanding this, I have truly missed it.  Oh, Lord, have I missed it.

*What does a Christ-centered life really look like?  Just look at the lives of those who don't just profess to believe what the Bible says, but also LIVE it out!

My friends who are in Spain sharing the truth of the gospel, they are living it.  My friends and their large family living in the Horn of Africa and sharing what Jesus has done in their lives with the lost they meet, they are living it.  My loved ones leaving for India to build relationships with people they have never met in a country they have never more than visited in order to help people break free of the chains of a life lived by rules and traditions instead of the freedom of Jesus's sacrifice and love for us, they are living it.  And my dear, dear husband who shares with the broken women at his workplace through song and service and the small pod of young people in our young adults bible study group through the Word and the "random" people he comes into contact with that start asking the questions without realizing it...

and his lonely, questioning, frightened wife who feels safe asking him the hard questions and trusting that he knows the way to lead her back to the One who will always have the answers. 

*So do people really come to Jesus anymore?  Yes, oh, Lord, yes, they do.  How do I know?

Because I do. 

I do.

*Do I really know him and does he really know me?  Yes, He does.  And though I feel that I have before and I only now do in part, I am learning to know Him more and will seek to do so for the rest of my life. 

How?  By seeking him in the Bible - in the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) where the men He ministered with share their experiences with Him - and share his words.  By seeking Him in prayer - asking Him my tough questions and believing Him for the truth to blot out all the lies.  By being obedient to do what he asks of me even when it's scary and I don't feel like I am the right one to be doing so.  He knows me.  He loves me.  That's why He died, that's why He lives, that's why He calls me to join Him, that's why He allows me to face the hard questions and wrestle through them for the blessing on the other side. 

I won't let go, Lord, I won't let go!

So now the answer to my oldest and scariest question...

*Have I been believing a lie?

Well, I must tell you that the answer is yes. 

Yes I have.

I have believed that God was not there and even if He was, He wouldn't speak to me and that was a lie.

I have believed that Jesus did and is doing nothing worthy of me sharing him with others - a tragic lie.

I have believed that I was lost in the midst of all my questioning and that He had left me - a blatant lie.

I have believed that I could magically draw closer to Him by talking to other people, listening to music, and reading odd books instead of seeking him in scripture and asking him for guidance - a candle-snuffing lie.

I have believed that the Bible was just another book and had no more power than to show me what I was doing wrong and give me more and more reasons why I am an unsalvageable wreck - a tormenting lie.

I have believed that God doesn't speak anymore, that Jesus doesn't save anymore, that the Holy Spirit doesn't move anymore -

lies, all wretched lies.

Our conversation ended with me praying to Jesus, my long-lost savior and my friend, my hope, my cure - confessing my spiritual Alzheimer's and forgetfulness, asking Jesus to remind me that I don't need to live a lie anymore - I don't need to live looking at my diagnosis, but blind to the freedom of His cure - that it's true that I am absolutely wretched and there is absolutely nothing I can do to fix myself, but THAT is why I so desperately need Him.  I asked Him to remind me who He was, bring me back from wandering so far off the road that I forgot the road entirely.  I asked Him to show me more and more who He was in scripture and in prayer and give me a passion and a boldness and an undeniable calling to follow Him.  I begged Him to let me not forget this.

I cried.

My husband had said before, during our conversation, that he could not figure out why he still felt such a growing calling to go and share Christ with the people of another country if it was not God's will - that he had been trying to be faithful in every circumstance that God gave him in the here and now, but knew more and more that if he - if we - didn't GO, it was disobedience.  I understood now.

I looked into his tear-swollen eyes, knowing they reflected my own, and said, "honey, maybe you just needed to share Him with me first."

He smiled, the tears welling again, and answered, "maybe I did...

maybe I did"

I'm sorry for the length and mess of this post.  I knew I needed to share it - not just for you, but for me.  We English/Writing teachers have a bit of a saying - If it isn't documented, it never happened.  I could not risk forgetting again.  Please hold me accountable to today.  Please help me to not forget. 

And please learn from my lostness, my wandering, my hard questioning.

The next time Satan tempts you to believe a lie, wrestle it out with God.  Ask Jesus the hard questions, beg for answers.  LOOK to Him.  Bend your eyes, your heart, your will, upward and pray.  Ask Him.  If you have believed in your heart that Jesus came for you, that there is no way that you can do anything to fix yourself or have a chance at saving yourself from the pits in life and the pit of Hell in death other than to trust in His sacrifice and surrender your life to Him, allowing Him to give you freedom - then continue to trust Him even when things don't make sense.  And believe me, there will come lonely, gut-wrenching times when things don't make sense.  Only Jesus can show you the way through all of the pain to all of the answers and even if it hurts to get there, it is SO worth it!

Press on to SEEK the Truth and STOP believing the lie!!

Simply Incredible

I cannot believe that our little boy is going to be here so soon!  Last night our young adult group helped to empty out the baby room so we can paint it this weekend.  I am hoping that this room remodel turns out to be a one weekend job and not a full month job like our bedroom.  Especially considering Sammie would probably be here before then, lol.

Last night, I laid my arm over my wife's belly as she slept.  This has become sort of a ritual for me.  It is my moment to connect with my son at the end of the day.  I always hold my arm on her belly long enough to feel him move.  When I did this last night, he pushed his leg out at me.  I was actually able to grasp his little leg through my wife's belly.  It was so amazing.

I still cannot wrap my head around the miracle that is going on inside her belly.  Our little boy is preparing for life.  He is wriggling around in the womb building up strength.  He is waiting for the Lord's green light to enter this world.  The Lord is finishing up the last pieces of development so he will be able to face the harsh challenges of this world.

Right now he is safe.  He is protected inside my wife's body.  He is fully depending on her to survive.  He is relying on her strength.  He does not have to feel hot or cold because his environment is perfectly suited for him.  He does not have to worry about sustenance because my wife is sharing hers with him.

For you formed my inward parts;
    you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
¹⁴ I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
    my soul knows it very well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
    intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
    the days that were formed for me,
    when as yet there was none of them.
Psalm 139:13-16


As a soon to be new parent, I cannot imagine a passage that brings me more peace.  All my joy completely rests in my Lord and savior who is forming every sinew of my little boy.  I would not want my boy to be in any other hands.  As I wait for the day I will meet him, my longing and anticipation at that day grows.  I can feel a deep love building inside of me for someone I have never met.  The grace of God abounds!


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

Psalm 1

   

Psalm 1  

Blessed is the man
    who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
    nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
 but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and on his law he meditates day and night.

 He is like a tree
    planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
    and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
 The wicked are not so,
    but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
    nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked will perish.

This morning I spent time in Psalm 1.  As I read the passage, I asked myself if I live as a tree planted by streams of water?  Do I live in joy each day trusting the Lord no matter what I face?  Do I consistently live for Christ each day even when I face challenges, trials, and struggles?  Sometimes I feel like the chaff that the wind drives away.  I am so thankful for the grace of Jesus.  He always hears me when I cry out to Him in my moments of struggle.  He, through the Spirit, always provides me everything I need.  

The Lord also spoke to my heart for the part where sinners will not be able to stand in the congregation of the righteous.  Do I live in a way that challenges the sinners and lost around me?  Do I spend time with people who will challenge me when I sin?  We are not to live in a way that judges and condemns everyone around us and yet the righteousness of our lives through Christ should convict the hearts of those around us who do not know Jesus or have strayed far from Him.  

How do you live your life?  Are you the man or woman who walks in righteousness or wickedness?  As you go through your day this week, please keep the truth of this Psalm in your heart.  When you feel challenged by your day, put your trust and faith in the Lord and trust Him to sustain you no matter what you face.    

Jesus,

I pray that I would live my life meditating in the scripture.  May my life be as a tree planted by streams of water.  May I stand firm no matter what trials or struggles come.  May I be faithful.  May I be so bold in Christ that He may convict the hearts of the lost and sinning through me.  Amen

Blessings,

Greg   

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 

How to Save a Life

The many commercials that race across our TV screens, computer monitors, and smartphones each night try to convince us that our greatest joy is found in their product, service, or location.  Many times we believe them.  We desire to have what the commercials offer.  We cannot find peace until we have figured out a way to have what the commercial offers even if our actions involve going into debt to satisfy our desires.  Though I cannot say I am immune to the commercials and advertisements that assault me each day, I can say that I know there is only one place you can find true and complete joy.  That is in Jesus.

I was not particularly looking forward to going to work today.  This was mostly because I knew I would be hauling in hay from the field and that is not a fun task.  The Lord had already poured down immense grace for today by providing a much cooler day than last year, a smaller amount of bales than last year, and workers in whom I enjoyed working with.  The day went by considerably faster than I thought it would and we had the opportunity to eat lunch at the Pizza Hut buffet in the process, always a good thing.  I even was surprised at how well my body handled the work and how much less I hurt than last year when we were done.

All of these things converged to greatly improve my day but the icing of the day came after baling the hay was done.  After the baling was done, we needed to do a bit of cleaning on the barn.  One of my helpers needed to leave early and my other helper decided to stay to help me finish the task.  The second helper really made the task go by quicker and I also enjoyed our conversation while working.

The worker and I began an interesting conversation about relationships and marriage while finishing the task at hand.  As the conversation continued on, I noticed my helper steering it into deeper waters.  I could tell that something was weighing on his heart.  As I shared the wisdom I have gleaned during my eight years of marriage, I could tell he was searching for something deeper.  I felt the Holy Spirit tugging on my heart to steer the conversation towards Him.  I must admit that I was hesitant at first but each time I spoke about the Lord my helper listened intently.

The conversation quickly transitioned from relationships to Jesus.  I could see that Jesus was really weighing on his heart.  I tried to speak to my helper the words the Holy Spirit laid on my heart.  I was amazed that with each truth I gave him, my helper seemed to drink it in.  He seemed starved to know this truth and didn't want to follow this truth unless it was authentically and with his whole heart.

As our conversation came to a close, I gave him some advice on where to start, in the Bible, as he sought to know who Jesus is.  I gave him my phone number and my email and I stood there amazed as I watched this young man leave with joy on his face and even a bit of peace.  I could tell his heart had been stirred and that Jesus was who he had been searching for.  Contrary to what any commercial or advertisement tries to tell you, there is only one person that can bring pure joy to your heart.  He is Jesus Christ.

My heart has been flying high with joy and praise ever since our conversation this afternoon.  I have been in awe of this wonderful set of circumstance my Lord weaved together that I may have the opportunity to share Him to another.  It was such a privilege and a joy to do so.

There truly is no greater joy than to live and share Jesus daily.  The devil tries to make us forget this through instilling fear, doubt, and apathy in us but I hope you will trust in Jesus' truth and live boldly for Him instead.  I hope you will jump at any opportunity you have to share Jesus.  I hope you will trust the Holy Spirit to work in their heart and your mouth.  I leave you with this verse today.  I hope you can say that you live as this verse describes.


I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20

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