Hard Truth

I came here fully expecting my heart to be broken for the situation in Cornesti- what I didn't expect was that it would break for the American church...

Riding through the countryside of Cornesti, pastor Vitalie blaring the song "Our God"  and both of us singing at the top of our lungs- yet another powerful worship moment... and this guy truly believes every word he's belting out. Sinai 30- their mission, 30 pastors in 30 villages in 30 years... they are trying to create a sustainable ministry with livestock and farm land- and reaching out to the people of this small moldovan village. Vitalie and his wife came here with nothing... completely trusting God- and it is immensely evident that he's at work. This morning I went to their church service, and as we sang "You wont relent" (in Romanian) I was nearly brought to a point of weeping. These people worship with so much passion. Later the women prayed for me... and I realised- no one taught them to worship this way- want to know what church should look like? Find and evangelical church plant in a village of Moldova and see what they are doing- its completely based off what they read in scripture and what the Holy Spirit teaches them. Legit. I kind of think God is going to use this small movement in the city of Cornesti to shake the nation- who knows, maybe even the world.

I was digging  into Matthew yesterday and contemplating just how challenging the words of Jesus really are to us... he even said "Blessed is the one who is not offended by me." (Matthew 11:6) Thing is- this means, the gospel IS offensive... or at least has the potential to seriously offend those who aren't ready to be changed. The words of Jesus should drive us to action, push us to change, challenge us to abandon our comfortable lifestyles... Are we doing the word or just hearing it? It kind of boggles my mind that when jesus called the first deciples (MT 4) they immediately left their nets and followed Him... think about it- they were fishers! Their nets were the source of income, their security... this is the picture of absolute trust. Later in Matthew 7 he says "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven" He talks about people prophesying in his name, performing miracles in His name and still never knowing Him... Say what?!? If this doesn't offend you- please read it again... Kind of poses the question, what is the will of the father in heaven? Is it enough to simply go to church, gather together for exciting worship nights, host bible studies in our houses... the list goes on... perhaps the life we're really called to ought to look a bit more radical. Perhaps, just maybe we are called to that "true religion" James spoke of... I'm starting to firmly believe that we will be held accountable for the orphans and destitute among us. Its like the man Jesus told to sell all he had and give to the poor then follow Him... Reality is, nothing we have belongs to us. Even if we possess some wonderful skill- its only because God equipped us with it. Being blessed is a responsibility. What will you do with it? And the more intercultural worship settings I encounter, the more I realize, we cant say- let the people of Moldova deal with Moldovan orphans, the people of Africa deal with their orphans... We're worshipping the same God- we are one body- if we see, we are responsible. Pastor Vitalie said to me yesterday "If everyone in the american church lived the bible the world would change" Ouch. "Whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me." (10:38-39) If we are not willing to deny ourselves and follow him- can we be worthy of him? This is just snip bits of a lot of hard truth... Challenge- honestly read through the words Jesus spoke- prepare to be broken, prepare to be frustrated, prepare to maybe even be offended... prepare to be changed.