Tell people there's a trap ahead of them before they get caught

This morning I read Lamentations 2. Verse 14 made me think a bit. It says, “The visions of your prophets were false and worthless; they did not expose your sin to ward off your captivity.” That is Jeremiah speaking about Jerusalem. For almost the whole book of Jeremiah, the prophets (that were no prophets at all) tell the people of Jerusalem and Judah that nothing Jeremiah says will happen, but rather, there will be peace. Obviously the Lord speaking through Jeremiah is right and Jerusalem indeed falls into the hands of her enemies. I wonder how these false prophets felt. They had literally led the people astray to believe that there was going to be peace. I wonder how the people who imprisoned, and even tried to kill Jeremiah felt about this whole thing when they saw that he was right.

Jeremiah was found faithful in delivering the message; he exposed the sins of his people and warned them about the coming day of judgment. Jeremiah wasn’t harsh about it, he deeply wanted his fellows to come back to the Lord, with great love and tears he compelled them. It makes me think about me. I’ve always felt “guilty” for not telling people about Jesus. I’m not talking about people I’ve talked for two minutes in a store or that type of relationships, but I think of people I went to school with and worked with. I believe it’d be a shame to me that when these people die, they are told that their friend Gabrielle knew the way to God but never told them. That’d be shameful. I cannot even imagine the frustration and the great bitterness they’d have toward me. Don’t misunderstand me, it’s not that I care so much that people would be mad at me as much as the fact that I didn’t obey Jesus and spoke to all about Him. I’ve felt that way and I still believe that it is my privilege and duty to tell people about Jesus, people who don’t know Him. I can recall times I’ve thought to myself “Here’s an open door to talk about Jesus” but left it open and walked away. I regret I did not speak with words about Jesus to many people I encountered in my short life of 21 years.

I hope I can be like Jeremiah and speak about Jesus, the free gift of salvation to all the unbelievers I know. Lots may say that actions speak louder than words. That’s true but when your actions speak the truth about Jesus, your mouth must direct people to Jesus. Otherwise your just a good person and people don’t know why. I know this expression is usually taken the other way around, you may say such and such good things, but what really tells the truth about you is the way you act, not what you say. But you see what I’m saying. For now there are probably no unbelievers in my life right now, I work with Christians, I live with a Christian older lady and almost the whole community here goes to church (there is 2 churches in a 300ish inhabitant village… But I know people back in Quebec or other places that aren’t Christians that I can write to, phone, email, and pray for. I want to obey Jesus and I don’t want to miss any opportunity to let unbelievers know about Jesus because if they never hear anything from me about Jesus and go to hell, then it will be a shame for me.

I encourage you to dress a list of all the people you hang out with, work with or go to school with or etc. and see how you can reach out to them and learn what they think and speak to them about Jesus. Not forcing anything on them, but with sincerity and love, show them the way to God, call them to repentance, be real, don’t be weak and seek their approval. They will curse you if they go to hell. I’m not saying that their salvation depends on you, but simply that if you tell them about Christ and they don’t believe, they’ll have nothing to say against you (like the people and Jeremiah) but if you don’t say a word, and then go to hell because nobody else in his/her life spoke to them, then they might feel a real strong hatred toward you. And you will be ashamed.

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Matthew 28:19-20

It would be neat if you and I would post in the comments box the names of people we know aren’t Christian, that way we can pray for these people. I’ll start myself, you guys can pray for these people and add your friends too. I know that nobody ever leave comments here anyways, but who knows.

BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES: 0$/as of April 30. Our 17$ was sent on April 28… I compel you to give up little comforts as Gibbons tells us www.randomnesssignedgibbons.blogspot.com so you can help the saints in the 30/40 window where they desperately need our help, your help in providing bibles and gospel tracks and bicycles and so on to help them carry the Gospel of Jesus where people never heard about Jesus. Giving to Gospel of Asia (www.gfa.org) or indirectly through joining the few readers of this blog and myself in giving a few bucks here and there every month, would be a tangible way to care for the lost, and allow Christian to tell people about Jesus in unreached areas of our world. Thanks for considering giving a buck or two. Let me know if you’d like to give by dropping a comment or emailing me gabeleroux@yahoo.ca

Dilemma

This might not interest you much, but I want to share a littlebit about faith/trust in God. I don’t think I ever wrote in here about this journey of faith that God has taken me on. I must say that I never really considered it a “journey” since two days or so.

After spending two years at bible school, and three years working, last fall I believed it was time for me to start university. I had put the idea aside too many times, wanting everything to be somewhat perfect, knowing where to study, where to live and have pretty much all the money I’d need. But I was tired of this attitude of mine and since I knew God was pushing me to go to university, I’d start in the fall of 2006. Not knowing where or how or anything. I simply told God I wanted to respond with faith to His calling. I guess because of ignorance and laziness I applied quickly to two universities at the end of January, beginning of February, when deadline was March 1st, which is not that bad.
Already at that time, I felt like this whole thing wouldn’t work out. And my attitude was more like “whatever”. Then I got refused to two programs in the other university and really I was sure I’d be refused to my other program.
In the meantime some of my friends invited me to move in with them this summer. It sounded just perfect for me, since I was not going to university; I needed somewhere to live, something to do. Then God struck me, telling me that I needed to live by faith and not lean on my own understanding, my own “second plan” if living by faith didn’t work. I was actually getting excited about moving in with my friends in the summer. But what I feared –but thought it’d be impossible to happen- happened. I got a letter from the university, asking me to come in for a test, meaning that I was not refused for the program I wanted more than all the others, and had a chance to maybe get in.

I say that this, maybe getting accepted in university, is something I feared. Because I thought that the idea of moving with friends was good and safe. It did not require much (or any) faith in God. My test is in August. My friends are moving at the same time, in a city about two hours away from the university. It means that I must choose between trying to get in the program, or say no and move with my friends. One shuts the door for the other.
I want to be safe. What if I try the tests and fail (which could happen easily)? I’ll find myself back in Quebec without knowing what to do and where to live.

But it seems to me that God has a sarcastic smile on His face, telling me, “Gabe you started it. You said you’d do it by faith when you first applied.” So He expects me to continue to trust Him. I laugh too. Not really enthusiastic about this idea of His to put me in such a “cross-road” or “dead-end” so I’d choose to live by sight, or by faith. Did I just write this last phrase? I am a witness against myself if I drop my trust in God to live in “safety”.

I thought my faith journey started in the fall 2005 and burned out in the beginning of 2006. Seems like God is still in the boat and I, on the shore. Why am I on shore? I didn’t think it’d work and forgot the wonders God literally works, not only in the Old Testament times, but in my own little life. It’s scary to think that I am getting back on this journey because it is so uncertain in my eyes. But at the same time, I feel that God has something in store for those who trust Him. I hate trusting God and I so love it. It is so scary but it is so blessed.

Please pray for me as I desire to do what God calls me to.

BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES: Money was sent yesterday, April 28. Please consider giving a buck or two this coming month, I’d encourage you to read Gibbons’ blog www.randomnesssignedgibbons.blogspot.com as she tells about her idea about how to save a littlebit of money. That’s encouraging. Thank you to all who gave.

Don't feel like writing, I'll quote.

Here’s a quote from Donald S. Whitney. It makes me think about my life and my lifestyle, it reminds me of many people I know and ultimately of pretty much everybody on earth. Or maybe in the West, I don’t know. It is a challenge to me, to live my life with my eyes wide open and not let myself slowly be moulded into what is considered “life” for most people, even Christians.

In our frustrating and futile efforts to keep up the demands of life maintenance, our souls have shrivelled. We have more tasks, activities, and deadlines to accomplish than ever; we have more to organize, store, and maintain than ever; and the result is that we’re becoming increasingly efficient at leading meaningless lives. What good is our multitasking, the accomplishment of more and more, and the acquisition of wealth, if we are not – by the means God has given us – becoming more like Jesus, the One we live for and the One who will evaluate our lives?

This Friday, I am sending the money to Gospel for Asia. We are at 17$ so far, if you wish to give, please let me know gabeleroux@yahoo.ca or think about giving for May. A buck or two can do much for our eastern brothers and sisters. Thanks to all who gave!

Think n Act

Those who know me wouldn’t say that I am lazy, but would obviously agree that I am the kind of person who likes to make up really lame excuses for almost anything, just because I don’t want to get out of my comfort zone. To me, that’s just laziness from my part. It’s interesting that I’ve been watching myself and realizing how this is true.

It’s not really that I find myself lazy at work, although I am at times, or lazy in keeping up with friendships, even if I am lazy sometimes, but I am lazy in carrying out the work, the thoughts, the commands of God. Some days I really wish I’d be dumb and would be able to think and talk only about people, work and the last movie I watched. That way I wouldn’t feel guilty for thinking and not living up to what I think I know. It’s one thing to know the basics of Christian life and do ok, be a good person and go to church and read the Bible and pray and help others… but it’s a different thing to struggle with these basic things of the faith and on top, desire to know more, to do more, to live a radical life of sacrifice for Jesus. I may look like I’m doing fine walking with Jesus, but really, what my actions are and what my heart thinks are often two totally different things. I don’t want to exaggerate here, but that’s what it is to my own perspective.

It’s neat that I can think and write down my thoughts here or in a note book or talk about them with people. But I am so concerned about the practical aspect of it all. Thinking good things is totally useless in my own opinion, if I do not do these good things, if I do not put them into practice. What’s the purpose of talking about how important it is to be selfless or loving or to seek humility daily, if I don’t do anything about it? It’s neat to think good stuff and I’m sure it’s good for us, but I feel that as long as I don’t keep thinking about them all the time and write them on my hand so I can remember living up to these things in my everyday life, then it’s useless.

I’ve felt like that many times as I left church. We had heard some good stuff and were challenged to put them into practice, but the next things I am talking about with my friends is what’s for lunch, or what I here people saying around me are stuff like how’s work or if they’re coming to the BBQ on Tuesday. I mean, these things aren’t bad in themselves, but it makes me feel like we hear God’s Word and we don’t keep thinking about it as we leave the church. I sometimes felt like talking about the sermon with the people I was with and continue to be challenged, but most of the time I thought it’d be a bit odd. Doesn’t it sound horrible?! Maybe if I’d continue to think and chat with people about what we just heard would help me put it into practice. It seems like when I turn my attention to something else right away, then I forget about the sermon, the teachings, the challenges.

I hope and pray I am learning to love God and love people in tangible ways, everyday, whatever it costs me. I pray that I am not just thinking out loud, but that I’m actually living as Jesus asks me to.

Please feel free to leave a comment or email me gabeleroux@yahoo.ca about it. Either to help me put in practice what I know or ask me to pray for you in that area.

BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES: 17$ / as of April 23, 2006.This month, all monies will be sent to Gospel for Asia so they can provide VBS Child Packets to children in Asia (see post of April 6). Please consider giving a buck or two and help these children and their families to know Jesus.

Baruch and Gabe are good friends.

After Baruch had written on a scroll the words Jeremiah was then dictating: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says to you, Baruch: You said, ‘Woe to me! The Lord has added sorrow to my pain; I am worn out with groaning and find no rest.’” The Lord said, “Say this to him: ‘This is what the Lord says: I will overthrow what I have built and uproot what I have planted, throughout the land. Should you then seek great things for yourself? Seek them not. For I will bring disaster on all people, declares the Lord, but wherever you go I will let you escape with your life.’” (Jeremiah 45 1b-5)

Harsh encouragement this morning I’ve had. Jeremiah 45 must be the shortest chapter in that book and I like it. What I quoted is basically the whole chapter. Baruch was probably overwhelmed by everything Jeremiah was prophesying about the exile and destruction and disasters that were about to happen to Jerusalem and Judah. As he was writing Jeremiah’s words, he was probably so down and desperate, without hope. God knew his heart. In the middle of writing stuff about the city and what was going to happen, all the sudden, the Lord does not speak about these things, but almost directly to Baruch. That’s kind of neat. But God doesn’t have much encouragement for him. Things have to happen that way. That’s it. Don’t even hope for anything good to come to you, all you will keep is your life Baruch.

I don’t know why but I always think that in times of trouble or hardship, God will come to me and grant me comfort, bring me back to the good old days, will provide a way for me to have victory or to be set free from my pain. So when I read that, I thought that God was going to encourage Baruch, to lift him up. It did not happen. Well, I don’t know, it depends how you see it.
God had to deal with the sins of His people, that’s why He could not tell Baruch things would be ok, that He would change His mind and do good to them. Ultimately, God brought peace again. But not right now.

Yes God loves me and wants me to find joy in Him. But at times, He must deal with me in ways that seem to be hard. And at times, seasons of life change and it’s simply tough for my heart, I am like Baruch and don’t want to see what I’m seeing. I want to be somewhere else. I want to be with other people. I want to take life as easy as before. I want to look ahead and have hope because what’s in front of me is exciting and great. But sometimes, God says no, not yet. You must go through this wasteland, I have nothing else for you than Myself. You’ll escape with your life. That’s it.
What an encouragement. It makes me sigh (I was being sarcastic about the encouragement). But since it’s God’s will, then it’s God’s will. Let us be courageous, let us remain faithful even when we don’t understand, when we’re sick of these unanswered prayers. Because deliverance and joy will find us. It will.


BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES: 12$ as of April 21, 2006

Little Things

Life in Christian community is so neat at times.
I happened to be around the office chatting with a “friend teacher” in the office area at Bethany, after 4:30pm (it closes at 4:30) and the secretary happened to pass by with carrot cake. And she handed us two pieces of carrot cake on paper plates with forks (!) wrapped in saran. How can it be? It just seemed so random to come in the office after the usual hours of work with pre-wrapped carrot cakes when she had no idea we were still around.
It’s just that being in a Christian “community” here at Bethany can lead to many little random sweet things like carrot cake. It’s not that I love carrot cake that much, it’s simply that I think it’s neat. Thanks Ruth!
Oh, another neat, simple observation, or goodness from God to me. I sold my guitar to a student and obviously, she left with it. I found myself “guitarless”. So I asked faculty and staff here if anybody had a guitar to lend me for the rest of my time here. And 4 people offered me their guitar. Isn’t that neat? God is gracious to me. Thanks Rick and cie!

I know thess observations are very simple, but these days, I think I need to notice the little sweet things that happen around me. It reminds me of God’s goodness to me and that even though life isn’t as easy and fun as last week when the students were still around, God is still around and He loves me, He cares for me.

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him” I Corinthians 2:9b

As I Scrub...

So, life has been busy here at Bethany. I pretty much spent the whole day scrubbing the dish pit. For months, tons of “sticky spilling” of milk, juice, cereals, farmer sausage, white sauce, jell-o, noodles, bread crumbs, lettuce and the like have been accumulated on the edges of the tables and the walls of the dish pit. No wonder why I did not feel hungry at the end of the day. After about 7 hours of diligent cleaning, the dish pit is now “sanitary”.
As I’ve been cleaning the kitchen these last couple of days, I often wondered why we made such a big deal of this spring cleaning. They do that every year and a mini one around Christmas too. I mean, it’s good to clean things, but really, to do it every year (thank God I won’t be around next year…) moving stuff around and being very meticulous is a long, hard job, it’s a pain. Why can’t we do it once every year? It’s not like the building will fall apart or the machines will break if there’s dust and some sticky stuff under the dish washer and on the edges of some tables. You know what I mean?
I’m sorry, I’m not a germ freak. I think it’s really neat to keep things clean, really. But, man isn’t it a bit much?
As I scrub walls and sigh that I need to change the brown water of my pale for the 10th time that morning, I realize that if we don’t keep cleaning all these machines and cupboards and corners of the freezer, the white sauce sticking under the counter won’t be sticky anymore if I wash it off in two years from now, it will be rock. The hard work of today will become extremely hard tomorrow if I don’t do it today. That’s what I’m learning. Well, it’s something I knew before but…

It makes me think about laziness again. Am I a lazy in my walk with Jesus? Do I put aside the things He wants me to do or not do? It’s easy to go through everyday and not really think about doing the right things, especially for those of you who just left Bethany. Sometimes I just want to take life easy and not to worry about trying to love people better (!), spend time with God, encourage a sister, be honest or be selfless or anything else I know I should be doing. I stay in my comfort zone (the sticky jello-ee edge of the “hole” on the dish counter). I am not challenged, I am just well, but my heart becomes hard to the Holy Spirit and blindly I sit as the wrong stuff and dust accumulates in my heart. I need to keep clean, to be alert. Even though it’s a pain to discipline myself to read the Bible and seek the joy of others and etc. it will help me not become so lazy and blind about my own sins and it will help me stay clean. Otherwise, it will be a harsh job when I realize, years later, that I was mistaken and I need to clean up my heart.
I want to remain faithful even though I’d like to sit for a while and enjoy life like most people do. I want to beat my body and make it my slave (1 Cor. 9:27) even though it doesn’t make sense to me why I should fight for discipline and seeking to obey Jesus and to love. You can pray for me about that. Feel free to leave a comment or email me gabeleroux@yahoo.ca about it so I can pray for you as well.

BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES: 12$/ as of April 19, 2006.

Selfless

Selfless. I’ve been thinking about that word a littlebit these days. “I don’t speak English” so often, I stumble at words and since pronunciation and understanding don’t come naturally like everybody around me right now, I sometimes need to take the time to think –really- hard at some words before I try to say them. Each letter seems to be important for me, but actually people don’t really pronounce them all, all the time, just like French I guess, but still it doesn’t make sense to me. Anyways. The word “selfless” is a fairly new word that was added to my vocabulary a few months ago. I think I heard someone saying “that was so selfless of you”. I understood right away was the person was saying (because English makes sense…) and I thought that it was a neat word that carried a profound meaning. Well maybe not that deep, but I found the concept of it all really neat, probably because it was new to me.
So, since “I don’t speak English” I think about words more than most English speakers do. Actually, maybe it’s just that I am a nerd. I remember walking home from school when I was 9ish, thinking about some words and expressions that we used that made so much sense, but when said slowly and intently, actually were cheesy ways of speaking. Anyways, I’ve been thinking a bit about the word “selfless” here’s my thoughts:
Selfless… self… less… selfless. Pretty simple, but I guess we don’t have such a word in French and I kind of wish we had one. So the reader may think that I am not writing about anything right now, I hope it’s been entertaining.
I believe that when someone is said “selfless”, it is one of the highest praise one can receive. I love being praised but I know praise should be given to God and I don’t even know how to respond anyways. But what I am saying is that, I wish I’d be seen by Jesus as selfless. Not that I don’t have a “self”, but that I give up my own self to let other people enjoy “life”. Stop being so “selfish” (hum, I wonder if “ish” means ish like 12ish or…) and self-centered and become selfless for the sake of Jesus and people.
Not putting my own desires first is always hard for me, but in waging war against my flesh (literally myself) I have found much joy, much joy. Here’s a little story:

It was the December dinner theatre at Bethany, in 2004. My job was to help serve the meat and cut it. I was doing it with a student and we decided that she’d cut it and when she’d get tired (the roast was sooooo hard to cut and required much strength) I’d take over, while she’d serve it. In all, we cut 2 big roasts. After cutting half a roast, my friend got tired and I took over. It was cutting without ceasing, ‘cause people kept coming non-stop. After finishing cutting the roast, I thought to myself, “Finally, I’ve done half of it, now it’s her turn” but… my friend did not seem to realize that it’d be a right thing to take over my job and I went on. I did not ask for her to switch jobs, as I started slicing the second roast, and as my hands were dying (almost literally) I realized that in fact, this student was probably really happy I was still slicing and that she had the easy job of placing the meat in the people’s plates. And I started to find much joy in the joy of that student (John Piper would obviously agree with me). Yes, I finally cut the last piece and when I opened my hand to drop the knife on the table, my fingers were not totally able to move and stretch as they should and looked like I was still holding a knife, it was painful, but my heart was glad, knowing that this girl had the joy of not “suffering this agony”.

That might be the only time I was selfless for a truly good reason. I want to surrender to Jesus my lack of faith, my pain, my frustrations and simply seek the joy of the people surrounding me instead of pursuing mine. I hope Jesus is making me into a more selfless Gabrielle, literally on a day-to-day basis. It’s a harsh attitude for the flesh, and the joy might not come all the time, but I can’t disobey my Savior on the basis that I don’t get the “reward” right away. That is called faith. Although, this calls for wisdom. Selflessness must be pursued in a “mentorish” relationship with Jesus and His Holy Spirit. No legalism is allowed, only genuine love. One must always be careful to remember that we are a part of the body of Christ, and not apart the body of Christ. We aren’t the doctor that will heal and encourage and hurt for everyone else (we can’t put everyone before us all the time) we must realize we are a part of Christ’s body and we have brothers and sisters with us to help us in our ups and downs, they too, are called to be selfless and if they are, then you’ll be cared for and put in front of many other people. May we all pursue selflessness. Isn’t it better than selfishness? Think about it:
Selfishness: You care about yourself and everyone care about themselves.
Selflessness: You care about everyone and everyone care about you.
Conclusion: selfishness provides you with 1 “carer”, selflessness gives you dozens of people caring for you.

My thoughts went too far for this entry.

Remember the Native Missionaries. As of April 17, 12$ has been gathered. It’ll be sent to Gospel for Asia on April 28. Please, consider giving a buck of two. Talk to me about it. gabeleroux@yahoo.ca

Thanks to all who prayed and hugged and emailed me for encouraging me in these hard little last days. May God bless you and do good to you.

It's a bit tough right now

Sorrow is heavy on my heart tonight. I haven’t taken the time to write on this blog for a while because I spent pretty much all my free time with my friends. This week was the last week of school, so I did not feel like writing or calling people or anything of the kind, I just wanted to appreciate the last moments with the people here. Today was commencement (graduation) at Bethany and now most students are gone. I find myself alone and I really feel empty. I feel like a stranger in this flat land. I guess my circle of friends here were my family, my life, but now they’re gone. It feels like I don’t know what I am doing here anymore since the people I love are far away. I hate having to say good bye to those dear to my heart, it is so hard. I went for a walk to cry out to Jesus and I’ve been realizing that I go to Him mostly when things are hard, harder than I expected them to be. I don’t seek Him as much when things go well. I’m learning that I cannot do anything against the seasons that come and go in my life. That I must embrace what is before me, it is useless to look behind me day after day. A neat season of good times is now over, and I am entering in a new season in my life. I see it as a season of drought, where I’ll experience solitude as my daily bread (even in crowds) but a time when I’ll draw closer to Jesus, because He’ll be the only one I can cry out to. I’m not sure why I’m writing this in my blog. To be sincere, to write about anything else would be a bit fake from me. I usually never write about how my heart’s doing, but today has been a tough day and I don’t feel like writing about anything else. I wonder what Jesus wants to teach me and how my next two and a half months here at Bethany will be like. I want to cling to yesterday, but I can’t. It’s just too hard for my heart to say good bye to people I know I probably won’t ever see again in this life.
Please pray for me. I may look strong and I often think I am. But really, I’ve got nothing to boast about. Again I realize how weak and frail I am. Pray, not that I’ll find joy again, I know I need to go through this drought, so pray that I’ll be sensitive to Jesus’ voice and learn to follow Him every day. Pray that I’ll find ways to serve Him and his people with contentment. Please, feel free to email me gabeleroux@yahoo.ca or drop a comment here to let me know about your prayer requests. I know that spending my time sighing about my own little difficulties is not healthy, if I can pray for other people’s hardships, it’ll free me somehow. I know.

Mountain of God
Third Day
I thought that I was all alone - Broken and afraid
But you were there with me - Yes, you were there with me
And I didn’t even know - That I had lost my way
But you were there with me - Yes you were there with me
‘Til you opened up my eyes - I never knew
That I couldn’t ever make it - Without you

Even though the journey’s long – And I know the road is hard
Well, the One who’s gone before me – He will help me carry on
And after all that I’ve been through - Now I realize the truth
That I must go through the valley – To stand upon the mountain of God

As I travel on the road - That you have led me down
You are here with me – Yes you are here with me
I have need for nothing more – Oh now that I have found
That you are here with me – Yes you are here with me
I confess from time to time - I lose my way
But you are always there - To bring me back again

Sometimes I think of where it is I’ve come from
And the things I’ve left behind - But of all I’ve had, what I possessed
Nothing can quite compare - With what’s in front of me


BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES: 5$/ as of April 15, 2006.
MONEY WILL BE SENT ON APRIL 28, 2006.

Repent and be Baptized

I remember thinking about this some years ago, reading different accounts of people getting saved and being baptized right away, (Acts 2:38; 8:34-38; 10:44-48 etc.) I was a bit lost when I asked myself the question “So why don’t we do that anymore today?” Why don’t we baptize people the same day they get saved? I think that there was a waiting period of about 5 years for me, in between the day I got saved and the day I was baptized. Simply because I didn’t really think about it and people did not push me to it. I think that usually, people get saved and then are taught by other Christians about discipleship and after that they’re ready to be baptized, that takes a few months. I’d say that usually, new believers are baptized within the first year of their conversion (or later). At least, that’s what I’ve seen around me. I think that the main reason why we don’t baptize new believers very soon after their conversion is that we want to see for ourselves if he/she is serious and will persevere in the faith. It’s a good thing… but why do we dare to evaluate one’s salvation? I’ve heard of pastors, after many years of ministry, realizing they weren’t saved and coming to Christ, I’ve known adults being baptized and after a couple of years, being baptized again because they confessed that the first time, they just did it to please people, I’ve known people getting baptized and after many years of obedience to God, leave the faith. We all have heard about such things, and please I do not mean to put down these people who got baptized more than once, I believe these people are examples of humility and true disciples of Christ.

So we usually want to teach the new believers before they are baptized just so they understand what they should believe and what the church believes and what it means to be a Christian or to follow Christ. We chat with them and help them understand anything they need to realize and we watch them as they grow and make sure they’re sticking to Jesus, and then, when the person is ready, and when it fits in the 2 dates of baptism Sundays in the yearly calendar of the church, then, ok you can be baptized. I am sorry if this sounds bad, but that’s the way some churches do it, I know it’s different in different churches. Anyways, why do we do it that way? Why do we need to see perseverance before baptism when in Paul’s days people repented and were baptized? Maybe I’m not thinking properly here or maybe someone could come with the answer that we don’t live in the same culture or else, but I wonder about somethings.

1. I think that many so-called “new believers” aren’t as serious as those in the early church’s times.

What I mean to say is that, nowadays, many people “accept Jesus” with little understanding of their desperate need of a Messiah, a Savior, of Jesus. I don’t think that people quite get it and so accept this good news of free heaven and start “churching” with other believers. When they aren’t satisfied with the church’s teachings or because they don’t want to surrender themselves to the lordship of Jesus, they simply leave.

The people in the Acts who came to Christ, came with a desperate heart, a real and passionate realization of their damnation and need for the Messiah, Jesus. As we read in Acts 2:37 “When the people heard this (that they had crucified the Messiah), they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’” These people realized that they had crucified the Messiah of God, they found themselves completely empty-handed, having killed the Messiah, I am sure they thought “Man, we killed God’s Savior for us, what can we do now? God is for sure utterly against us! Woe to us!” that’s why they asked the Believers what they should do. They understood they desperately needed Jesus, it was a death and life issue.

Usually, here in Canada that’s not how people come to Jesus.

2. I think that this problem of people not being very serious or not understanding their deep need for Jesus, today, is partially, because of us, Believers. The way we bring the Gospel to unbelievers is crucial. I tend to forget to tell people that they need to repent. They need to see that they are lost. That a curse is on them because they, yes, crucified the Son of God. There is different ways to bring the Gospel to people and sometimes, the Gospel is altered and people don’t realize their deep need and the cost of following Jesus.

Jesus was always blunt about it. “ ‘Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.’ ‘Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.’ ” (Mat. 8:19-20) “… go sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me” (Mat. 19:21) “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Mk 8:34).

Where is our talk about the cost of following Jesus and the damnation that is upon us as long as we remain without Jesus?

So if we’d be serious in the way we present the Gospel to unbelievers, even if it means we have to say that it’s going to be hard to follow Jesus, even if it means to wait for the people to come to point to really realize their need for Jesus, even if it means to have less people accepting Christ today, I am sure that those who will come with a sincere repentance and desperate need to be saved, realizing their sin, these people will be ready for baptism right away. That’s the way it was in Peter’s days, they were blunt about it, they were true. If we need to “test” the faith of new believers, it’s maybe because we have made ourselves judges over them and because people don’t come to Christ with a full understanding. I guess you could say that, that’s why we teach them before they get baptized. You might be right, be obviously what we see in the N.T. is that people truly understood and repented of their sins, believed Jesus and were baptized (all in the same part of the day!)

This entry is getting too long. I am sorry. I might further my thoughts later.

BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES: 5$/ as of April 9, 2006

VBS Child Packets

Last year more than 300,000 children were enrolled in Gospel for Asia’s VBS (Vacation Bible School) programs across India, Nepal and Sri Lanka, and more than 40,000 gave their hearts to Jesus.
This summer GFA’s missionaries and churches are planning for even more children in VBS. This is a native outreach – one that will result in thousands of children saved and their families impacted with the Good New of Jesus Christ.
Please pray for these upcoming VBS programs, that God would use them to touch the hearts of thousands of boys and girls across South Asia. I also want to ask you to consider providing a VBS packet for a child that includes a Bible verse wall plaque, a Bible story booklet, a New Testament and a cassette tape with a short message and songs.
Each packet costs only 1$! So you can express your love for these children by providing VBS packets that will help carry the Gospel to entire communities!

This month’s BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES’ moneys will be sent on April 28th, all the money that the readers of this blog will send me will be given to Gospel for Asia so they can provide VBS packets to these children. 1$ isn’t much!
VBS programs in South Asia have a great impact, not only on children, but on their parents who live enslaved to a false religion and in worshiping many gods. Kids go back home and sing the songs they learned, tell the stories about Jesus to their parents and etc. Usually, this is totally new for the parents, to hear about Jesus. So please, d not only think about giving, do give! Either by sending the money to Gospel for Asia (245 King St. E, Stoney Creek, ON, L8G 1L9) specifying that you’re giving for the VBS Child Packets, or send your buck or two to me (Box 196, Hepburn, SK, S0K 1Z0 - gabeleroux@yahoo.ca) and I’ll send them along with other people’s and mine on April 28.

There is 5$ in the BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES yet… so 5 VBS packets!

Year Round Lent

Lent is good, but it makes me think, I want lent to be all year round for me, not only a 40 day thing. I am not saying that I want to give up chocolate or going to the theatre or else for ever. But I would like lent to be a general principle in my life.
It’s a pretty strange, or maybe a shameful feeling for Christians to say to their unbeliever friends, “Oh, sorry, I don’t eat chips, it’s lent” but I feel almost ashamed sometimes to answer questions coming from fellow Christians asking me why I don’t eat a snack like them, or why I got up early that morning or etc. Because I know that they’d think that I’m a bit odd, or a bit too spiritual (I know I am odd, but my heart isn’t godly at all). I think it’s sad that I fear that Christians will look down on me, or won’t understand me because I am trying, sometimes, to be godly and act upon the knowledge I have and what God puts on my heart to do. It’s not that I care too much about what people think of me (although I do), but it’s sad that lots of Christians think it’s strange, it’s abnormal or legalistic to be wanting to follow in the footsteps of Christ in ways that are higher than praying before meals, going to church and being nice to people. That’s why I feel “ashamed” sometimes, I feel like I’m “doing” lent out of season and people don’t understand why.
I want lent to characterize the way I live, I want to be able to give up the usual comforts I grew up with, like peanut butter on my toasts and having many clothes so I can save money to help those who don’t even have half of what I possess. I want to give up my rights to be first and to get even, to shine forth Jesus’ attitude and open doors to speak about Him to unbelievers. I want to give up a littlebit of my sleep every night to pray for God’s people. I want to give up wasting my time watching movies or etc. in order to spend time with God or care for someone. I want to be able to “suffer” a little bit in little ways like that, everyday of my life. Isn’t it the way Jesus lived? Isn’t the way His followers are called to live? “Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Luke 6:31); Never be lacking any zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer” (Rom.12:11-12); He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work… that he may have something to share with those in need” (Eph. 4:28) “… be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints” (Eph. 6:18) “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing” (2 Sam. 24:24) and so on.
I hope I can be “doing” lent all year round, so I can “suffer” with Christ somehow, so I can know Jesus better, so I can do the right things instead of doing the fun things and stay comfortable, not understanding Jesus calls me for a deeper intimacy, a stronger love, a greater commitment, a higher ministry. It’s my hope, but really I am not living lent everyday, it’s more a roller coaster thing, but I hope I can grow and learn from the heart to follow Christ with my cross upon my shoulder.

Nota Bene: Please, do not believe I am against having fun or eating ice cream or don’t think I’m saying we have no rights of our own. This is what I think God calls me to live like, I will enjoy a movie with friends and etc. at times too, but I believe that we should read God’s Word and pray He’d open our eyes to understand what He wants for us. Let Jesus tell you how you are to follow Him, not Gabe. But obviously, since we read the same Bible, we’ll find the same principles. I hope you’ll seek to practice lent all year round!

Lent

Before coming to Saskatchewan I’m not sure if I had ever heard about this, lent. I probably did but I obviously don’t remember and so I did not really understood what it was. I don’t even know how we call that “season” in French… or I don’t remember maybe. I guess that the reader knows what lent is and why and etc. but I’ll write about it because it’s something fairly new to me.

On my second mission trip to Louisiana in 2003 our leader drove our white 15-passangers van for about 12 hours non-stop (apart for the few stops for gas and bathroom) so we would get to Lafayette very late that Monday night. After sleeping a few hours in a church and finding barbecues in the outside showers at 4am or something like that, we got ready and finally found a parking spot near Main street in Lafayette. Well, I don’t remember the name of the street, but it was the Main street. Hundreds of people had gathered, wearing long bead necklaces of all kinds, others were rolling their little shopping carts around, selling necklaces, masks, all sorts of stuff. The Main street was closed with fences, so nobody could drive or even walk there. People were sitting everywhere by the fences, there was lots of people. That was the beginning of “Mardi Gras” (Fat Tuesday) in Lafayette. We stayed for the first parade (the King’s Parade) then we left, knowing that the coming parades would not be appropriate for Christians, children and teens, or anybody that wants to keep his eyes pure. Anyways, we left in between the two parades.
The next day, I remember seeing lots of people, walking in the street, entering Mc Donald’s and etc. having a gray spot on their forehead. That is, a “ash spot” as I like to call it. That was, obviously, Ash Wednesday. People had indulged themselves in all kinds of sinful practices on Mardi Gras and the next day, went to the church (Catholic I believe) and got a ash spot on their forehead, they got “forgiven”.
And from that day on (or is it on Mardi Gras?) the season of lent had started, till Easter came.

Lent is a period of 40 days (or is it 48?) before Easter. Willing Christians choose to give up something during that period, like chocolate, carbs, or anything they like to do, in order to experience somehow, not only with their comprehension, but with their bodies, the sufferings Jesus went through for us when he was “captured” and crucified. If you want to see what lent is for some people, watch the film “Chocolat”, lent is pictured in a very legalistic way there. I don’t know what I think about lent though. I think it’s a good idea, but I realize that our giving up of, let’s say, chocolate for 40 days, will obviously not make us experience the sufferings Jesus went through. To me it sounds a bit… foolish to think that “I won’t eat chocolate in order to understand more how Jesus suffered for me”. I know that for some people, giving up certain things can be very hard though. I don’t want you to think that I am against lent. I think it’s a neat idea and that since I know when to start it now, I’ll probably give up something next lent (2007). But if it is done in a legalistic way (I do it because I was told to) or because of self-righteousness (I do it because people will think well of me) then lent doesn’t mean anything. We should give up something that will cost us something, like we like to say my sister and I at New Year’s “This year, I’ll give up eating whale”, “This year I’ll stop drinking”. We just say that for fun, but you get my point, if we give up chocolate simply ‘cause it’s an easy one, then we won’t “suffer” and the point of lent is to “suffer”.

I’ll say my point in the next entry…

BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES: 0$ / as of April 3, 2006

Kerosene Lantern

It’s late and I should probably go to bed but since I’m off tomorrow, I thought I should celebrate by staying up. But the thing is this: when I stay up too late, then my day off is ruined because I sleep in for too long. But I am in the mood to think and write, only because I’ve been listening to some slow, good music and been reading my friend’s concordance for a while tonight.

So I have no idea who stops by and reads the entries on this blog, apart from the few who leave comments or email me about what I write. But, I hope all of you noticed about the “Bank for Native Missionaries” I set up in February. I was really amazed to be able to send 29$ just today, to Gospel for Asia, so that they get a kerosene lantern for the native missionary in Asia who needs it most. I really did not think I’d send that much money right from the first month. God surprises me and I have been encouraged by those who sent me money to support God’s servants in Asia.

I’ve always thought that giving to missionaries or a mission, to people I don’t know, who lives in a far away country and etc. was not for me. But God made me realize that I am rich, living life as easy as possible, trying to be holy and sometimes grab the opportunity to speak about Jesus to those who don’t know Him, while natives of Asia gave up jobs and money, were rejected by their families, are going hungry, walk miles and miles to reach the next village to speak about Jesus… I feel like I’m doing nothing here in my little life, thinking and writing and working and reading and laughing and eating and “churching” and… while my brothers and sisters in other parts of the world are having a tough day, stomachs partially empty, feet soar from walking, still proclaiming Jesus as Savior to anybody they can find. This is not the condition of every single native missionary, some of them are living in better conditions, some are worse. I just feel poor, naked, blind and wretched (see Revelation 3:17ff) when I think about them and me. I sometimes even have a hard time praying for them, because I feel so unworthy. In my eyes, they are really obedient to God and full of love and I think they are amazing saints, but in reality they are simple people who believed Jesus and took His call upon their lives seriously. That’s as easy as it is. I think it’s just the way believers should be: crazy maniac for Jesus. Do not misunderstand me. Wouldn’t it be the normal thing to do to surrender all to Christ and obey Him in every detail of our lives since He provided salvation from eternal punishment for us?

I cannot go (and it’d probably be less than “impacting”) to these villages where the name Jesus has never been heard, I don’t speak the language, I don’t know the culture, I am white. But natives of the country, they know the culture, they speak the languages, they know how to reach these areas. I have many material blessings and God is asking me to partake in His work of redemption out there, where people never heard about Jesus. He wants me to pray and surrender everything to Him, so I can send a few bucks here and there to support His missionaries out there. It’s very easy to say “I have no money, I’ve got debts and etc.” what about the peanut butter you had on your toast this morning? What about the snack you had this afternoon, what about the 4th t-shirt you bought last month? What about the book or cd or… these are little things that we buy without even thinking. I don’t think it’s bad in itself, but I think God wants us to put a few of our comforts aside and save a few bucks here and there so we can help our brothers and sisters who don’t even have what we call “the basics” in our society. Why should we help them? Because they spread the Gospel and they need us to help them buy food and clothing, gospel tracts, kerosene lanterns, New Testaments, bicycles…

Why do we buy pretty much anything without praying about it, but when we’re asked to support missionary work, we become very spiritual and say we need to pray about it?
I challenge you to set aside a buck or too here and there during the month and send the money to Gospel for Asia www.gfa.org or any real Christian organization that seeks to reach those who never heard about Jesus, or to send it to me gabeleroux@yahoo.ca along with others who read this blog, so we can get “bigger” amount of money together. I send the money at the end of each month. Last time, we bought a kerosene lantern, what a blessing to be a part of God’s work in Asia! For now there is 0.00$ in the bank.
For more info, please leave a comment or email me gabeleroux@yahoo.ca I’d be more than excited to answer questions and hopefully help you be a blessing to God’s servants.