Go Light Your World

We need to know who we are. I am Crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who lives, but Christ who lives in me (Gal. 2:20a). He is seated in the Heavenly places (Eph. 1:3). I am there too, seated with Him in the Heavenly places (Eph. 2:6).

We are the Body of the King of Kings (1 Cor. 12:27). We are the Bride of the Lord of Lords (Rev. 19:7). We are beloved (Deut. 33:12). We are the beloved (1 Jn. 3:16). We are the beloved children of the Father of Creation (1 Jn. 3:1). We are no longer orphans (Jn. 14:18). We are adopted (Eph. 1:5). We have an inheritance (Eph. 1:14). We are chosen (2 Thes. 2:13) and set apart (2 Cor. 6:17): a royal priesthood (1 Pet. 2:9), a holy people (Heb. 12:10). We are deep wellsprings of living water (Jn. 7:38). We are the temple of the Living God (1 Cor. 3:16). God’s will for us is to be loved (1 Jn. 4:10), to walk in His light (1 Jn. 1:7), and to pour out His life into the world (1 Jn. 2:17), dead in it’s transgressions and sin (Eph. 2:1), making disciples of entire nations (Matt. 28:17). We are revolutionary. We have what the world needs (2 Cor. 2:14). We are called to be firebrands.

But we are a people who lack vision. Why? God has enough wisdom to give liberally (Ja. 1:5), and He delights in giving good gifts to His children (Lk. 11:13), but are we even looking? Do we ever ask? God doesn’t expect us to walk blindly. He doesn’t want us to try to live off of some dull, shallow revelation of His Word that someone explained to us once. He wants us to find our own flame. It was for the Joy that was set before Him that Christ endured the cross (Heb. 12:2). It was the Glory before His eyes that sustained Stephen through his stoning (Acts 7:55-56). It was the ability to boast in Christ that kept Paul despite the thorn in His flesh (2 Cor. 12:9). Ask God for vision. Ask for purpose. I dare you.Let’s stop building our faith around what we’ve never seen. Let’s believe God for greater things than seem possible. This morning, my pastor posed a challenging idea that I’ve thought about all day. In Acts, Scripture says that Peter was so walking in the Anointing of the Holy Spirit that his shadow was healing people (Acts 5:15). Imagine his vision for the church of the future. He probably said something along the lines of “WOW! Even my shadow is healing people. Our old tissues are delivering people from demonic strongholds (Acts 19:12). This is crazy. I can’t even imagine when we’ll begin to see the greater things that Jesus promised us (Jn. 14:12). What I’d give to see what the Church looked like in 2000 years. God’s glory really will fill the Earth like water the seas (Hab. 2:14).” What would Pete think if He saw the American church? What would he think about a legalistic religious order that hates the sinners that Jesus came to save and tries to control the government with quasi-moralistic ideologies? What would he say about a Church that has rewrapped and shelved the Gift that Jesus personally promised him? I bet he’d be surprised to find the Church (of which He is the Rock) has changed into one that looks a lot more like the religious group that crucified his best friend than the freedom that Jesus modeled and promised. I imagine He would be grieved to see the Holy Spirit forgotten and explained away. Let us put away unbelief. Let us stand in the Faith of Christ.

I think it’s time that the Church began to walk out Christ in Me, the Hope of Glory (Col. 1:27). We carry abundant life (Rom. 5:17). We have the fulness of Joy (Col. 2:10). We live under a grace covenant (Eph. 2:8). Why have we not saved our whole city? The gospel initially spread so fast. What changed? It doesn’t make sense. We need to ask our Father for Faith. We need a better understanding of the Greatness of Jesus and a keener sense of the smallness of satan (1 Jn. 4:4). You see, sin is no match for my Jesus’ love. Darkness flees at the glance of His eye. Atheism crumbles before His matchless affection. Disease and brokenness are redeemed at the touch of His finger. Hearts are healed by His laugh. Nothing has changed except us. And technology. It should only be easier now that the entire world is only one day away. So let’s believe God for the fulfillment of the great commission in our generation. Let’s pray, intercede, and fast for the plans of Jesus for this age. We wouldn’t believe the things He has planned for our days, even if we were told. (Hab. 1:5)

So... Go and light your world. Go make disciples. Go.

Praise the Lord, for He is Good!

I have been so captivated by the love of the Father God! I can't quit dancing in His presence.
See you soon, morning! :)

Think on this: God of the Angel Armies, by Jonathan and Melissa Helser

It seems like all I can see, are enemies surrounding me
It seems like all I can feel, are lies you're not real
I lift my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from?
My help comes from the one
Who made the earth and heavens

I believe You're more real, than what my eyes can see
I believe these hills are full, of a mighty angel army

God of the Angel Armies, you're mighty to save
God of the Angel Armies, you're worthy of our praise
God of the Angel Armies, you fight for us
God of the Angel Armies, you come down....
when praises go up

Finally I'm starting to see, things are not as they seem
Nothing can come between, your mighty love for me
No ear has heard, No eye has ever seen
What you have planned for those
you set your love upon

I believe you're greater than, I could ever dream
I believe you're coming again, with a mighty angel army.....

Praises go up and You come down
and you walk through the walls

You come down at the sound, of my praise

You come.. You come..
wave after wave

I gotta worship, this is what I was made for... I gotta shout!

This is what I was made to do, is worship you Lord

all those angels, I wanna waste my life with the angels
Pourin' out praise...

I don't care what the world might say,
I believe.
that you're more real.. than what my eyes.. they can see..

I am a Temple

Deep inside me there's this burning that just won't let me go
You are my fire, You are my righteousness, You are my rock and roll
I wish I could fit you down inside my chest, God
I wish that I could swallow you whole
I'd wrap you up in a blanket of my skin and you could call my body home

I really like John Mark McMillan's ability to express my heart in its rawest desires. This song has been speaking to me a lot recently. I'm also learning a lot from Jesus Culture, Misty Edwards, and Kari Jobe.

I'm not good at this.

I'm bored in Islam class.


I should look like this.


I'm good at twitter. It works well with my distractible attention span.
Blogging is different. I wish I could do it better.

I feel like I'm moving away from technology though...
I quit watching TV. (WHOA!) I tried to watch a movie the other day and I couldn't get through it. What's going on?
I don't know, but I'm spending my time on things like relationships, studying, and getting adequate levels of rest.
I love coffee now, but only black. Weird. I hated it period before, but now I crave it in its most pretentious, purist-esque form.
Classes are going well. They're all really interesting, but I am so disillusioned with the path that America chooses for graduates...It makes me want to just drop out and flee the American Dream.

I finally finished The Irresistible Revolution. It was really good. I'm in a book mood. Nothing sounds better right now than sitting in Cuppa Joe for 6 hours with something like The Raggamuffin Gospel or The Cost of Discipleship, which are the next on my list.

All this new free time (since I'm not wasting several hours each day filling my mind with empty entertainment that whispers and sometimes screams messages that oppose the gospel), have lead to a thirst for knowledge and growth. We're studying the Holy Spirit in my sophomore study, and the book of Judges in my senior study.

God keeps revealing Himself to me, bringing forth the New Man in me, helping me to seek my identity in Him, and showing me how He loves.

PS: I just finished the first month of my Senior year in college. Weird. I'm simultaneously scared, excited, ready to leave, and ready to put down roots and stay forever. Lord, lead me to Your heart and Your place for me.

Haha. Just found this pic on the compy.

I want to Be A part of B.A.! Buenos Aires! Big Apple!

My time here has been great. I've grown a lot in my understanding of who God is, based on seeing the diversity in which He created us in His image. I've met a lot of really great people who are studying at one of the best universities on the continent. This weekend, I went on a service trip that really stretched my willingness to obey God. I've been sick, tired, excited, joyful, loved, loving, happy, and ready. Ready to see what God does with me when I get back. He's stretched me in prayer, and I've surrendered more of my heart into His care.

I'm not sure what I should write here. My journal is much more full. It has been hard to find internet I can use long enough to update. I'm sure you will see more of my post-trip reflection than you've experienced so far, but I still have 1 more week before debriefing, and I'm planning to make the most of it.
So Imma sleep now.
Watching World Cup?
VAMOS VAMOS ARGENTINAAAAAA!!!!!!!!

10 days in and I'm feeling good.

Yep. I've been here for 10 days now. Buenos Aires is incredible. I'm so happy to get to come and share Christ's love. I've seen so much nationalistic pride, so much sincere religion, so much passion for bettering the world around one's self, and so much brokenness since I've been here. It breaks my heart to see people so misdirected.

God has been reminding me that we were created to be worshipers and we do that all the time. So much of our worship is misdirected. I've seen people worshiping soccer, fashion, success, fame, English, education, national identity, ideology, etc. I want to share my faith and my own story, but it has been difficult so far. They know that they need more, but they don't know where to look. However, because people have had a bad experience with the church, they don't want to look to Christ.

While here, I'm working on the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) Agronomy campus. So far on campus, my group has been working on a service project the name of which translates to"Improving the Quality of Your Life". We've been cleaning up the campus to show the students and faculty know that we are there to serve and not to be served. Several students have been coming up and helping. It's great. God is really showing His favor in big ways through people that don't know Him yet. :)

Monday I'm grabbing coffee with my new friend Tómas in the afternoon. Then Tuesday night I'll be merienda-ing with my friend Zac. I'm excited. Pray for that those times. God is good. I love His guidance. We need his hand and voice to lead us during these weeks.

See you soon. Love you all.
Comment if you read this, because I feel alone sometimes.
Dios te Bendiga,
Calebsito

Vida en Buenos Aires!

I'm in Buenos Aires!
Weird.

Today was my first day on campus. About 8 of us are working on the Agronomy campus of UBA (the highly esteemed public university system here in BS. AS.).
I'm really excited to see what ministry is like. Today we just ate at the cafeteria, met some students in the reigning political system there, prayed, and talked about the programs we'll be doing.

Oh, and I tried Mate. It's famous, and I'll make you all drink it. :P
Don't worry. It's safe too.


Okay. I'll try to explain things better in the days to come when I have time, but I wanted to update you real quick, so this'll do for now. :)

Peace and blessings (and besos),
Caleb