It's a happy grimace on my face, I promise!
Good news, I have all the money I need for the first deadline! Now I need an additional $1,500 before March 10th and then I'm free and clear for quite awhile! God is always so faithful to provide, it's pretty great. Many thanks to everybody who listened and gave as God directed, He's an incredible orchestrator!
This week our topic in class was the cost of discipleship. Our speaker had some amazing authority in that area, he was falsely accused and imprisoned in Iran for 9 weeks! He overcame two death sentences (one for being a missionary and the other for being a spy), and was freed the same way he was thrown into prison, without much explanation.
Aside from sharing a couple incredible stories, Dan imparted some great wisdom, mainly in one-liners mixed into his stories. These are some of my favorites:
- The Christian life is experiencing Jesus over and over again.
- God is more committed to fulfilling His will in our lives than we are to find it.
- God is in love with who I am right now. Not who I will be or could be, but who I am now.
- Readiness doesn't define our obedience.
Those last two are my absolute favorites. I don't need to change who I am for God to love me to the best of His ability. God doesn't love ''more'' or ''less'', He's an equal opportunity lover!
Back in December I wrote about God qualifying the called, and I think that last point fits right in with this. It was a great reminder this week, that I don't need to do anything except step forward and be willing to go where God wants me to. If I always needed to feel ''ready'' to do something big, where would I be? Probably sitting on the couch, or maybe even still in bed. Dan mentioned how when people hear his story of imprisonment they often say that they could never do that, that they aren't capable of going to prison for the Gospel. I can tell you that Dan didn't wake up one morning and think he was capable of doing it either, but God gave him the ability to persevere.
A short documentary and re-enactment was made recently about Dan's time in prison. I'm not able to watch these clips (because of my internet speed) but I wanted to pass them along with you guys. (Someone let me know if they don't work please!) All 3 parts are less than 15 minutes total I believe.
I love the third point! It can be applied to so many areas of our lives and is really an example of an area where we are supposed to follow God's example. Thanks for sharing, Kenny!
ReplyDeleteWow...this whole story was absolutely amazing. I just love these kinds of stories. I really liked how he kept praising God, despite his circumstances. Pretty powerful....
ReplyDeleteKenny, the clips work very well and are very moving. Makes me think I really don't have much to complain about.
ReplyDeleteThanks for writing this. I feel like it's important to remember that being ready for something sometimes is about how you're feeling... but a lot of the time is more about acting and pushing through and praying and communicating with God and others. I'm glad things are working out and you're getting a chance to see God's grace and providence through friendship. -kati
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