Our friends let us use their cabin for three days between Christmas and New Years. The power and water was disconnected. You had to walk around outside to get internet, and it was cold out there. It felt like camping.
The girls brought a book that was written in 1910. They read this in front of the fire in the evenings.
Roasting meat in the fireplace for supper.
Bella sketches while holding a candle.
Compassion goes beyond empathy.
Empathy is when we feel another’s pain. Once we learn to be good listeners and observers, others will sense this and start sharing. But we have to be careful. This can also lead to burnout.
Compassion is when we feel people’s pain or see their needs and we do something about it. This takes more work than empathy AND it is more sustainable. The joy we get from helping others protects us from burnout. We are created to act with compassion.
We use the authority Jesus gives us as part of our normal life. We pray blessings on people, often without them being aware of it. We send evil spirits packing. We ask for God’s will to be done in another’s life.
1. Spend time with Jesus in the early morning.
2. Bless people in the day.
a. Whether we physically help people,
b. or we talk with them,
c. or we bless them silently,
d. we take the opportunities that feel right.
3. Encourage other people to shine their lights in dark places.
a. Jesus gave us all authority but people are timid.
b. Often they need someone to give them permission.
c. Encourage others. Give them permission to bless people.
d. Then listen to their stories.
4. This is the path of abundant life.
Your experience?
Try praying this part of The Lord’s Prayer over yourself and others. Then keep your eyes open in a cheerful expectation. Watch for tone.
Keep me safe from myself.
Keep me safe from the devil.
I submit to Your authority over me.
Keep (___________) safe from themself.
Keep (___________) safe from the devil.
May (________) see things clearly.
May (________) sense Your presence.
May Your Kingdom come here and now.
“Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil. You’re in charge!” (MSG Matthew 7:13).
God’s big idea is that we all affect the people in our immediate vicinity.
Jesus modeled this.
Jesus commissioned His disciples to do this.
Jesus is still commissioning His disciples to do this.
This is not about having prepared scripts, or perfect answers.
This is not about being safe or in your comfort zone.
This is about being on an adventure with God, and being yourself.
| How do You Impact Others? Notice how people around you impact the room. Some are invisible. Some are trying to be the most visible. Some people have the gift of discerning what is wrong with almost everything. With still others, things seem to work better when they are around. The tone of a group changes whenever anyone enters or leaves. So what changes when you walk in the room? God’s plan is for His people to be room-changers. Jesus was Motivated by Compassion. Jesus often saw and felt people’s pain. People’s pain caused Jesus to act. The Bible calls this dynamic compassion. By the time Jesus came ashore, a massive crowd was waiting. At the sight of them, his heart was filled with compassion, because they seemed like wandering sheep who had no shepherd. So he taught them many things. (TPV Mark 6:34). 36 When he saw the vast crowds of people, Jesus’ heart was deeply moved with compassion, because they seemed weary and helpless, like wandering sheep without a shepherd. 37 He turned to his disciples and said, “The harvest is huge and ripe! But there are not enough harvesters to bring it all in. 38 As you go, plead with the Owner of the Harvest to thrust out many more reapers to harvest his grain!” (TPV Matthew 9:36-38). God’s plan is for His people to bring change. This is why He created the compassion dynamic. |
| 1. Start Disciple Making Movements In the 1990s, in Altamira, we set out to start by planting 1,000 churches in the Amazon. Our intention is to get to heaven with as many people as possible, plus relevant churches are the best long-term way to help the poor and transform communities. We are now around 20 churches and 80 church plants. In 2015 we learned about Disciple Making Movements (DMMs). We hope this year it will take off. We plan to invest our resources in training leaders by spending quality time together and by using the discovery process. 2. Develop a Missions Partnership Program with Brazilian Pastors Deanna and I accepted an invitation to coordinate a Mission Partnership Program for Brazilian churches. We will develop a structure where teams of churches in Brazil can work together to help with missions in other countries. Countries / Regions that have requested the Brazilian’s help: a) Angola b) Mozambique c) Portugal d) North Africa 3. Prisoner Resocialization This weighs heavily on my heart, but it depends on resources. People, time, and money. This is a wide open door for the gospel. Prisoners are the lepers of our era. Almost no one wants to help them. On the good side they are often courageous and often do not have attachment issues. They may be more ready to do what it takes and go where God sends them than many of us . . . once God gets hold of them and starts His transformation process. And God has a soft spot in His heart for the disadvantaged, marginalized, and outcasts. Strategy We are under-funded, unqualified by worldly standards, and we don’t have enough time. We need a movement of many more leaders led by the Lord Jesus. Most of our current work is led by a few Brazilian leaders who work to motivate, encourage, and equip the rest. We would like to find 975 more undeveloped leaders, show them how to fan to flame their spiritual gifts, and give them permission to go for it. I am committing this year to more prayer, and I ask for your prayers. If the Lord speaks to you, I ask you to join us with financial support, and in other ways too. What is God saying to you? If your heart beats faster when you read this, or if you start thinking about this at random moments, please pay attention. It’s high risk, but if we don’t do what we can now, when will we do it? What are your ideas as you read this? |
The angels are bursting with the good news!
Bursting!
This is truly good news!
“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests” (Luke 2:14).
But who gets the peace? On whom is God’s favor resting?
Jesus was asked how He got authority to grant God’s favor to people.
Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does” (John 5:19).
When we pray the Lord’s prayer, we ask God for His will to be done on earth just like it is done in heaven. We are asking for bits of heaven on earth. We are asking for tomorrow’s bread today.
One key to effective Kingdom work is “seeing what the Father is doing.” I used to often think, “If I only did what I see the Father doing, I wouldn’t do much.” In retrospect, maybe I should have done less. While we are very grateful for everything that went right, much of my work did not bear the fruit I was looking for. In the gospels we see Jesus frustrated or bewildered at the dullness of people. He thought they were capable of tuning in to what the Father is saying and doing. I am learning to spend more time in prayer in order to see more into the Spirit realm.
Wimber saw God’s mercy falling to earth like great drops of honey.
John Wimber, the founder of the Vineyard movement, once had a vision of God’s mercy. While driving his car he saw an unusual cloud in the sky. He stopped to have a better look, and as he did so he realized it wasn’t a cloud but a honeycomb that was dripping with honey. Below it he saw people. Some were excited about the honey that rained down and they ran about collecting it and sharing it with each other. Others were irritated by the honey that dropped on them and they tried to get away from it. When John asked God what it was, God said “That’s my mercy, for some people it’s a blessing and for some people it’s not … look at it, there’s plenty for everyone.”
Let Your Mercy Fall From Heaven.
Celtic Christians described God’s kingdom breaking into this present age as thin places because they understood that sometimes the distance between heaven and earth is closer than others. Maybe you have experienced this at a conference or a silent retreat. We carry God’s presence with us, and God is moving all around us. Our task is to see how God is moving. With whom? Can we be helpful?
God’s Kingdom is breaking in to this present age all around us. Our challenge is that we mostly are blind to what is going on. We need to learn to see and to hear. We live in 2D when 3D is available, at least sometimes. God’s plan is for a movement of Christians who are spiritually alert, awake, tuned in. The task of Christian leaders is to help their people tune in to God’s channel so they can go into the world and recognize the spiritually thin places, the places where God is close to reaching people.
We Christians are salt and light. We bring flavor, color, and vision where these are lacking. Our salt and light are more visible in worldly settings than in church, much like a flashlight is more visible in a cave than in a sunlit field.
Practice seeing/hearing God’s presence. First spend daily time with God to recharge your battery. Then let God radiate out of you wherever you are. Look for the thin places. This might be someone who talks happy but its not resonating with you. Many people are hiding pain or fear. Maybe you can be a helpful presence. This may or may not involve words. Practice letting God soak up some of their pain just with your presence. This is called empathy. Maybe you can quietly bless them, or even do something helpful. This is called compassion. Words are helpful sometimes, especially if we have equity with people. Being a healing presence will start building equity. So will hidden or visible acts of kindness.
Three generations of pastors all attending the same church.
Pastor Dave and Fran planted City Life Church in 1961, the year I (Rick Bergen) was born.
Pastor Dave and Fran retired about 20 years ago and passed the leadership of City Life Church over to Pastor Lorne and Linda. Pastor Lorne and Linda passed the baton on to Pastor Justin and Heidi. The two retired pastoral couples still attend City Life Church. Do you know of any other church like this? It’s very cool.
In 1986 Pastor Dave got invited to be the guest speaker at a camp meeting 2,000 miles North, in a small Yukon town called Haines Junction. He invited his usher Harold Hansen to come along.
I was plowing snow for the winter in a mountain camp by the Alaska border. I drove 65 miles over icy roads to attend the Easter Camp Meeting. I usually slept in the front of my 1/2 ton pickup truck when I travelled in those years, and this camp meeting was several days long. At one of these meetings Harold told me about Christ For the Nations Bible School in Texas.
Later that same year, 1986, I quit my road maintenance job with the government to study in Texas for two years.
In 1991 I married Harold and Joan’s daughter, Deanna.
In 1993 Pastor Dave and the team at City Life Church sent Deanna and I to be full-time missionaries in Brazil. Luke Huber, who invited us to Brazil, died in a tragic accident nine months after we arrived. This led to us starting the Vineyard in Brazil and the Xingu Mission.
“It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to” (J.R.R. Tolkien).
Pastor’s Lorne and Pastor Justin (and many, many other pastors) have led teams to come and encourage us in the Amazon, and through the transitions and decades they remain a supportive and committed church family.
I am always grateful that Pastor Dave and Harold Hansen followed God’s leading to that camp meeting way up in the Yukon, back in 1986. We get where we are because other people obeyed God even when they have no idea about the outcomes of their obedience.
God is so awesome!
“Are you having fun?” I have discovered that the “fun factor” may be the best indicator of whether a person is living a Theopraxic [to give all you have, every day, to living fully for God] life. It reveals whether a person is empowered by the Holy Spirit rather than his or her own efforts. The fun factor shows whether a person is trusting the Lord and has confidence in how things will turn out, or even an interested curiosity or humorous inquisitiveness about how the Lord will use some particularly difficult circumstances for His glory and our good in eternity. Fun, in this sense, is an evidence of living the abundant life that Jesus came to give us” (Sergeant, C., 2019, Chap. 6, Suffering is our Pathway, Para. 36).
Sergeant, C., (2019) The Only One. William Carey Library.
Does this Chilliwack sunset make you want to know God better?
Mount Cheam, in Chilliwack.
My cousin married our Grade 9 math teacher’s daughter. That girl, Jean, took the photos for this book that we gave Dad and Mom for Christmas.
Sunrise from our window in Abbotsford.
The Bergen Family Christmas party. What an awesome family!
Relaxing by painting together on Christmas evening.
