God Loves Justice

“For God so loved the world . . .”

OUR GUEST AUTHOR: ROGER BAIN

You are likely able to finish this verse if you have been a Christian for any period of time.  John 3:16 may be considered the cornerstone verse of the Christian faith.  Without John 3:16 it would indeed be difficult to synthesize the gospel into its simplest terms.  Thankfully, John 3:16 tells us that God loves and is passionate about the world.  For this reason, Christians for centuries have endeavored to tell the world that God loves humanity.  So much so that He would give His only son Jesus as a payment for those who believe.

There are two ways in which John 3:16 shines a phenomenal light on humanity’s predicament.  The first way that John 3:16 shines a light on humanity’s predicament is in how it describes our well-being before God’s intervention.  We were slaves in need of God’s payment to release us from the power of sin and death.  Freedom in Christ came to us with a price.  The second is that God in His holy greatness and majesty loves the world.  God loves every culture and creed, every broken spirit, every lost soul.  God loves every human life.  This alone graciously displays the amazing grace of God.

Subsequently, for thousands of years Christians have been working to make it known that God loves humanity.  If people are suffering because they haven’t heard the gospel, we tell them.  If people are suffering because they are hungry, we feed them.  If people are suffering because they have no home, we house them.  But there is another category of people whom God passionately loves that the church must awaken to – it is those who are suffering under the hands of violent oppressors. 

At International Justice Mission (IJM), it is our conviction that the same God who loves humanity desperately cares for those nearly 30 million people who are victims of child sexual exploitation, sex trafficking and bonded labor among other forms of violent oppression.  We believe that God would like nothing more than to break the chains of their bondage and rescue them both spiritually and physically.  Some may ask, “What’s the hold up? Why hasn’t God simply struck down the bad guys with lightening and rescued the people He loves?”  I would simply remind you that God’s day of justice will come.  He will ultimately be the judge of every human who has ever lived.  At that time God will be the judge perfectly.

However, until then, should we assume that God forgotten to plan for the here and now?  Is there no plan from heaven to rescue those who are oppressed for the sheer purpose that they may be free to know freedom and have the knowledge that God is good?  At IJM, we believe that you and I are the plan.  Our hope is to awaken the church to show up on behalf of the oppressed.   We firmly believe that the church is right now being tapped on the shoulder to step into the darkness and bring rescue to those that are in this darkness of violent oppression. 

That’s where you come in!  As a participant at the Spark conference this year, come and learn how it is that you can be a part of the movement to end slavery.   A movement being catalyzed by the international community, lawyers, social workers, professionals, and people of good will to see the chains broken and the prisoners go free.  The God of the universe is requesting that you partner with Him to do your part to help rescue thousands, protect millions, and prove that justice for those living under violent oppression is possible.

What To Expect For Spark 2015

AUTHOR: RICHARD GOODPASTURE

I can't believe that Christmas is around the corner, and that Spark 2015 is almost here.

The other day, the message at church was a Christmas message. It laid out how the stars speak of God's plan and His will for His children, us. There was one part that showed how the stars talk and speak His message in a real way. It sounds cheesy, but all I could say was WOW! How He orchestrates His will, our lives, our story. 

This year at Spark we are praying for the experience of God's WOW. Like last year how His spirit was so evident with all on their knees raising voices to Him. Like the story that He wove through all of the messages delivered and how He expressed the theme of "Jump" in the content of each...WOW. It was like everyone got together and planned their talks before they gave them. Bob Goff telling of how he jumped into the prosecution of witch doctors, how David Nelson jumped to Haiti to love it's children and how, during Veronica Tutaj's message, the entire auditorium fell to its knees as they experienced God's presence. I am so excited to see how He does it this year...how He uses this years theme, Awaken. Finally, we can't forget how God loves laughter. So, I know you're as excited as I am to see what Mo & Sloop have for us to laugh at. Let me give you a hint..,'First World Focus'.

So, I hope to spend the weekend with you in Roanoke, VA at the 2015 Spark Conference : Awaken (Christian Conference).

As the sun rises, from the east coast to the west coast, let us Awaken to see what God wants to say and do March 27 & 28.

The Power of One

AUTHOR: MIKE MASSEY

Lately, I have been reflecting and asking the question: "Does what we "DO" in this life really matter?" or even more relevantly to me, "Does what I "DO" really make a difference or matter?" 

Our early bird discount is about to end!

This may be a depressing thought...we are born, we live and we die...and most of what we do in between birth and death is forgotten moments after the last shovel of dirt is put on our casket. If we are really exceptional like a Billy Graham then maybe we will have a building named after us or be written about in text books, but, by and large, most of us will become forgotten relics or footnotes in history.  

So, I ask again, does what we "DO" in this life really matter? The question can be overwhelming and daunting if one were to dwell on it for too long, but I believe each of us secretly or openly asks ourselves this question at different stages in our lives. 

The reason we each ask this question, is because all of us long to have purpose and meaning. Innately, we all have a deep yearning to be a part of a big story that really matters and makes a lasting impact.

The movie and book, "The Power of One", follows the story of Peekay, a young english white boy raised in South Africa during World War II and the racial oppressions of apartheid. Even at the early age of seven, living a life of wealth and privilege, Peekay finds himself confronted with asking the question, "What can I do? Will anything I do really matter?" It is in relationship with his boxing coach that he sees a need where he can help. He began to fight for the right to teach a handful of black men and women the ability to read and write. One day he was trying to reason with an adult in order to be allowed to do so.

Peekay said to the adult, "how will they ever be included if they can't ever read or write English." The adult responded,  "I quite agree with you, Peekay, but at the end of the day, it's only about a dozen people you're talking about teaching. How much difference will that really make?" To which Peekay said, "a waterfall begins from only one drop of water, sir. Look what comes from that."  

Stop and grasp this truth: You are a drop of water that can begin a waterfall!!  

Your and my life matters! What we "DO" makes a difference! We are vital to God's Kingdom! God may not need what we offer, but He sure does WANT what we offer! Whether we are a drop of water that begins a waterfall or a Spark that ignites a blazing fire, you and I are uniquely gifted, called and placed by the God of the Universe to make a lasting and eternal impact on this Earth! 

Waking Up To The World

“When a poor person dies of hunger, it has not happened because God did not take care of him or her. It has happened because neither you nor I wanted to give that person what he or she needed. In the poor we meet Jesus in His most distressing disguises.”  - Mother Teresa

Author: Noel Yeatts

I was reminded of the power of that thought, “Jesus in disguise” when I saw a recent story in the news. It was about an Episcopal church in Davidson, North Carolina, that became home to a very controversial statue. The statue is of a shrouded, obviously homeless man lying on a park bench by the church.

The face and the hands are obscured, but when you come closer, you’ll see the nail-pierced feet of the man lying on the bench . . . and you realize that it’s Jesus.

Needless to say, the statue caused quite a stir in the community—which is known for being very wealthy. Some claimed that it was undignified to portray the Son of God as a hobo, saying that it demeans the church and the neighborhood. One man even said it was “creepy.”

From a distance, some church members thought the statue was a human and reported the “homeless man” to the police, complaining of the nuisance and asking for him to be removed.

That’s right. Somebody called the cops on Jesus.

But I love the words of the minister of the church who said, “We believe that that's the kind of life Jesus had. He was, in essence, a homeless person. This is a relatively affluent church, to be honest, and we need to be reminded ourselves that our faith expresses itself in active concern for the marginalized of society."

The truth is, just like this church community, we have all been lulled into a deep sleep. . .  and we need to wake up.

It has been said that if you save one life, you can save the world. When I was just a teenager, I met a little 5-year-old boy on the streets of Brazil—a street child. His father had abandoned him, and his mother could not afford to care for him. He slept on a bench and had no clothes or shoes. He was dirty and hungry.

Meeting this young boy changed my life. It taught me an important lesson: I may not be able to save all the hurting children in the world, but that is not what God was asking me to do . . . I could make a difference for one. Years later, I have never forgotten.

Now that he is all grown up, I have often wondered what his life would have been like had we not met—where would he be, would he have survived? But what I have wondered more is what my life would have been like had we not met that day . . . maybe I was the lucky one. (You can read more about his story in my book Awake: Doing a World of Good One Person at a Time).

It is true that the needs of our world today can be overwhelming. And the easy thing to do is live with our heads in the sand. We turn the channel, look the other way, and fill our lives with so many distractions that we never really have to face reality. And when we do face these issues, even for a moment, all we seem to do is feel guilty. But that does not change reality, and it does not make the problems go away. And if all we do is feel guilty, then we have really missed the point.

John Stott puts it this way:

The horror of the situation is that our affluent culture has drugged us; we no longer feel the pain of other people’s deprivations. Yet the first step toward the recovery of our Christian integrity is to be aware that our culture blinds, deafens and dopes us. Then we shall begin to cry to God to open our eyes, unstop our ears and stab our dull consciences awake, until we hear, and feel what through his Word he has been saying to us all the time. Then we shall take action.

The pain, poverty, sickness and hunger that I have witnessed around the world can almost be too much to bear at times. I have talked to women abandoned by husbands who left them infected with HIV. I have hugged children who have lost parents due to war or disease leaving them all alone. I have cried over young girls who have been raped and had their innocence stolen. And I have held babies in my arms on the brink of death from malnutrition.

But what I have also seen is incredible hope. I have seen lives rescued, restored, and redeemed.

You see, I believe that if we will live our lives awake to the needs of the world—if we will embrace the injustices that we see—that is when we can begin to restore hope. Because, it’s no longer about handouts and charity. It’s not about feeling guilty for our blessings.

It’s about justice and compassion. It’s about rescue, restoration, and redemption.

It’s about hope . . . hope that changes everything.

To learn more or to order your copy of Awake, visit noelyeatts.com

The Foremost And Most Repeated Word

Author: Bob Sorge

Recently, while doing a simple Bible search, I discovered something in the life of Jesus that brought me to a full stop. It stunned me, and I’m still trying to process it. Here’s the background to it:

There is very little from the life of Jesus that is recorded in all four Gospels. The reason for that is because John wrote his Gospel around 30 years after the others, and knowing what Matthew, Mark, and Luke had recorded, John wasn’t trying to be repetitive. He was writing to be complementary. For that reason, there is very little in John that is present in the other three Gospels.

Here’s what the Gospels have in common: All of them record four stories and three predictions. The four stories they all mention are the baptism of Christ, the feeding of the five thousand, the triumphal entry, and the passion of Christ (crucifixion/resurrection). All four Gospels record three predictions: Jesus predicted His betrayal, Peter’s denial, and His passion.

But there is no teaching of Christ contained in all four Gospels.

With one exception.

Only one verse of teaching is to be found in all four Gospels. As I continue, see if you can guess it.

Let me introduce the verse by asking a question. If you were directing the biblical writings, and wanted to emphasis one teaching of Jesus’ by placing it in all four Gospels, which teaching would you choose?

Clearly, if there’s only one teaching of Jesus’ to be found in all four Gospels, then it must be of paramount importance to Him.

Furthermore, this teaching is present in six places in the Gospels. Matthew records it twice, Mark once, Luke twice, and John once. When you study the context of these six mentions, you realize they are pointing to four distinct events:

• On His third tour of Galilee (Mat. 10:39)
• After his visit to Caesarea Philippi (Mat. 16:25; Mark 8:35; Luke 9:24)
• On his final journey to Jerusalem (Luke 17:33)
• During his final week in Jerusalem (John 12:25)

So there are two unique characteristics about the teaching of Jesus to which we are pointing:

1. It is the only teaching of Christ mentioned in all four Gospels.
2. It is the only teaching of Christ that we know He gave on four different occasions.

Now, beyond any doubt, Jesus would have repeated His primary teachings throughout the 3.5 years of His ministry on earth. But in terms of the record we have in our hands, there is only one teaching of Jesus’ that we’re told He gave on four different occasions. It must have been His most common teaching.  

Do I have your curiosity up? Want to know what the teaching was?

Find your life, you’ll lose it; lose your life, you’ll find it. John’s wording is slightly different, but it’s the same teaching: Love your life, you’ll lose; hate your life, you’ll keep it. (The references are listed above.)

Hear it! Lose your life. Hate your life. This was the foremost and most-repeated word of our Master.

It reminds me of a word I heard once from a godly leader: “To the degree that we give our lives away for the cause of Jesus Christ, is the degree to which we will experience true and full life.”

When this teaching gets on your screen, you’ll start to see relevant applications everywhere. Little wonder that the context in which Jesus delivered this teaching was different in each of the four events listed above. It’s a message that relates to most every area of life.

If this was the most common teaching of Jesus, it leaves me with this question: To what degree is this word likewise upon my tongue?

Once Burned, Twice Shy

Author: Bryan "Mo" Morrell

1990, 4th of July, small town Virginia.  I was a small but (obviously) ruggedly handsome lad on the prowl for the same thing every other boy was hoping to find that night…and I was in luck. We had a grand night planned, and we possessed a box full of illegal gigantic cool stuff that my crazy uncle had NOT purchased in the United States (if you know what I mean - contraband - my friends).

I was ready to start pulling out some of the big guns when my mom, sweet...sweet mom...in all of her motherly wisdom, pulls out a box of sparklers and hands them to us with a gleam in her eye that said, “Yeah, I know this is totally what you were waiting for.” I however, didn’t have time for this nonsense, I had bigger fish to fry…and fry I would. I took the three puny sparklers I was given, lit them all on fire at the same time, and began swinging my arm like a crazy air guitarist making gigantic circles in an attempt to make them burn faster. I needed to fast-forward with “kiddy time” and get down to brass tacks.

Well, on about the 5th or 6th rotation, I heard a boom in the distance and saw the sky light up. The annual celebration of the US of A had kicked off once again. When I turned to look, my arm swung in hard behind me and my “triple stack sparkler bundle of death”, at this point burning at around 900 degrees kelvin, came around and caught the back of my right knee - burning me worse than my 4th grade girlfriend (of 3 days) did when she told me she just wanted to be friends. I crumbled, fell to the ground in pain, and I cried like a two year old toddler who’s big brother had just hit him in the back of the knee with 3 flaming sparklers! Luckily my aunt was a nurse, she treated me, and we were able to save the leg.

I tell you that story because I think we can all agree, a small Spark can cause enormous things to happen! A single spark can light a warm cozy fire, or set a whole forest ablaze. This spring, I believe the Christian conference known through out the land as “Spark," held in Roanoke, VA, is going to be one of those events that could totally transform the trajectory of peoples' lives. Even yours. Christ followers will gather, engage in amazing worship, and be encouraged and spurred on by some of the world's best communicators (like Bob Goff!). Plus, I’ll be there doing all sorts of dumb stuff so you’re not going to want to miss that! Look, don’t be a fool and get burned in the knee…be there!

The Real Deal: An Outsider's Inside View

Mike Childress

I attended the Spark Conference last year.

To be honest, I really didn't know what to expect when I purchased my ticket.

And though I didn't know what to expect, when I walked through the doors, I was outfitted with my full-on consumer, Christian-Conférencier attitude. I was hoping to be entertained, hear some inspiring speakers, and perhaps touch the hem of Bob Goff's tunic. He wasn't wearing a tunic, but this is just hyperbole anyway. I wish you'd just read this and stop tearing apart my writing.

Sorry to get so mad. It is not you, it's me. Anyway, I was immediately struck by the depth and focus of the Spark Conference. As Spark kicked off, my self-focus rapidly re-aligned on my Savior and Creator. The worship wasn't canned...it was free and heartfelt. The speakers dove deeply into the unchanging-truth of the Bible and challenged us to take our role as Christ followers seriously. There was no Christian jargon. It was just, well, practical. The ministry partners at Spark were spearheading powerful ministry all around the world. I was also struck, once again, by the level of attractiveness of the leadership team here at Spark. I really just can't stress that part enough.

This year, I have had the great privilege to help, behind the scenes, with the conference. I have been allowed an inside view of how the conference is planned and executed. I am inspired. You should see the faith, prayer, and faithful-hard-work that goes into this conference. They'd be super braggy if they said that, but I can say it for them.

We live in a world where so much of what we see and believe is an illusion. I mean, how many of us thought fast-food hamburgers were made of actual, untainted meat? Too many of us. We were naive, and we ate that pink slime like it was the real deal. Once you see "behind the scenes," it is often easy to be saddened by what you see. Not so with Spark. Spark is the real deal, and I am inspired.

Dozing Off

Beth Guckenberger: Speaker at Spark 2015!

Romans 13:10-11

"You can't go wrong when you love others. When you add up everything in the law code, the sum total is love. But make sure that you don't get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God" (The Message).

I was in Haiti last week, visiting one of Back2Back’s ministry sites. While I was there, I knew I was balancing many agendas (to encourage the staff, to engage the team I traveled with, to solicit some needed funds for a project, etc). I honestly almost forgot the real reason I was there was to love kids.

That can happen to me, I can be so busy talking about Jesus, I forget to talk to Jesus. I can be so busy doing all kinds of good works, I "doze off" and become oblivious to what God is doing around me and most certainly, in me.

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Kimberly, my wake up call.

Kimberly was my wake up call on this particular afternoon. She was not interested in our activities, she wasn’t impressed with our snacks and didn’t want to play the games. I could have reacted to her rejection, and pulled away before anyone noticed, however I have been learning lately leadership means not always taking the lead, sometimes it means coming from behind. That afternoon I hung back and hung out. I decided to go all out on a love offensive with her. I used affection, words of affirmation, service. I brought her water, stroked her arm, sang to her. I gave her small gifts of crafts I did beside her and after hours of quality time, she broke. It was a small lopsided smile at first, then a giggle at my bad French singing, then a hand that slowly slid into mine. Before our afternoon was up, we were hanging on each other and laughing and love won. I won. I ended up enjoying my afternoon with Kimberly more than I did the whole rest of my time on the island.

Spark 2015: Awake Theme

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Author: Richard Goodpasture

We spend the majority of our lives looking for meaning, purpose, who we are, what we have been created for…as we are looking the light fades, clarity goes, distraction creeps in and we can find ourselves sleepwalking through life.

This may sound deep but it is reality…and when I say we I am talking about myself.

The reality is that we or I am asleep. I don’t want to be asleep. I want to be awake. I want clarity. I want light…we want light. With light comes recognition, realization, understanding and the ability to AWAKE from sleep.

Last year, our first year, we were blessed by the gift that Spark brought us. It moved. It was something that stirred emotions. In some ways it happened spontaneously, or at least it felt like it…we know that nothing is an accident. But it sparked - no pun intended, well maybe a little - experiences that left a mark. That is exactly what we pray for. That Spark leaves a mark on everyone that comes. Everyone.

So, this year I am extremely excited to see, hear, even feel the marks that are left on all of us. We are blessed in having an incredible lineup of Speakers : Hugh Halter, Bob Sorge, John Richmond, David & Patrick Nelson, Beth Guckenberger, Veronica Tutaj, Pat Goodman, Noel Brewer Yeatts, Roger Bain and Mike Massey. Start imagining the sweet moments that will arise as each speaker, Christ Follower, allows Christ to have His way with their time and bless all of us with a divine touch. The coolest part is that He has laid the plan. He has created the lineup for this year. We get to sit back and be in His presence. How cool is that? At a Christian Conference in Roanoke, VA, on the east coast, you can sit and not have to work for His presence. Sit and wait - better yet - bask in His presence. We are and will be blessed.

Getting back to the distractions that I was mentioning before…if we are asleep, what do we want? We want to be AWAKE. We want to be awakened from the sleep that distracts us from the life that has been laid before us and that has been beautifully and wonderfully made. Wow, can you imagine what is going to take place? If you can’t start to imagine what is going to happen, how HE will show himself, how HE will Wake us up!

Join us this year, March 27th and 28th 2015, and experience the theme at Spark – AWAKE!

- Richard

The Spark 2015 Vision

"To the degree that we give our lives away for the cause of Jesus Christ, is the degree to which we will experience true and full life."

"Spark is NOT a destination, it is a LAUNCHING PAD!"

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Author: Mike Massey

What is Spark? Why would anyone want to come to a christian conference called Spark? Why would any Christ follower or believer of Jesus want to journey to small town Roanoke, Virginia, for something started by a no name lawyer from no-wheresville?

These are all great questions that deserve an answer. So, let's begin with the birth of the vision that is now Spark...

In my lifetime, I have had the opportunity to go on some thirty mission trips around the world to India, Africa, China, Albania, Mexico Yemen and Iran (just to name a few).

Over the years, one might say I have become a short-term missions trip "pro".

On one of my trips in 2008 to the D.R. Congo, a friend of mine, who has become a brother to me, came on his very first mission trip. As we laid hands on him to pray for God's favor, blessing and anointing during the trip, I expressly prayed that he would embrace every experience and that he would really “see”, “feel” and “hear” everything the Lord placed in front of him. I prayed that my brother would release all control and be abandoned to how the Lord wanted to move in his life.

It is so true in my life, and I wonder if in yours, that the heartfelt prayers I genuinely pray for others often become meant and intended for me.

On one particularly hot day, we decided to visit a feeding center that fed a limited number of orphans. Truly, and I am not being cynical when I say this, visiting an orphanage is often the kind of thing we Americans “do” on mission trips to feel like we are “doing” something worthwhile.

This was my second trip as I had visited this same site in 2002. On this visit, I came face to face with the same poverty I had witnessed before; I smelled the unforgotten stench of oppression that I had breathed before; and I encountered the same hunger that had confronted me in the past. The experience was not new to me.

Remember, I was an “expert” at missions.

The scene felt so familiar. Comfortable really. I felt almost mechanical as I moved amongst the children. I had become a "technician" of sorts.

In the midst of the familiarity, I was struck by something peculiar. I saw something for which I was not prepared.

I suddenly began seeing this familiar scene through the eyes of my brother. A brother whose heart I have come to know well. A heart full of compassion, mercy and love.

What I began to “see” through his eyes took me off guard.

I saw with eyes that were shocked, disgusted, dismayed and almost helpless. I saw through eyes full of anger at the injustice. Most of all, through these newfound eyes of mine, I could suddenly see the scene with renewed compassion.

A thought occurred to me as I began to "see" through this fresh set of eyes; eyes that were looking at the scene for the very first time.

I was “seeing” this starvation, this injustice, this oppression, through the eyes of Jesus.

No, my brother is not Jesus, but as we stood in a run down orphanage in The Congo, he could really "see" as Jesus sees. 

This thought occurred to me in that moment: it matters not the number of times Jesus watches injustice, encounters starvation, or witnesses oppression...It is always as if it confronts Him for the very first time...and it makes Him very angry!

It fills His nostrils with disgust and His heart with dismay!

Most of all, the hurts, longings and wounds of the broken hearted always move Him toward compassion....and He invites us to do the same! He invites us to be His hands and feet to a hurting world.

Thus, Spark was born. From that experience birthed this vision: "To the degree that we give our lives away for the cause of Jesus Christ, is the degree to which we will experience true and full life."

From that moment until now, my wife and I, and the team at Spark, have embarked on a journey to do our part to engage and unleash fellow Christ followers into their God-given gifts, talents and callings, in order to experience full life the way God intended. Spark is NOT a destination, it is a LAUNCHING PAD!

I hope that answers the question of why your presence is vital and needed on the east coast this March 27-28, at Spark 2015 in Roanoke, Virginia!

- Mike