CCBCE is now accredited!

It is awesome to see how God has blessed the ministry here at the Bible College in Hungary. Not only does He continue to bless the work here through His Spirit and Word, but now the school has received international accreditation through the EU. Check out the story at the College website. www.ccbce.com/degree

The Minister as Shepherd

I finished reading an amazing book recently. It is called The Minister as Shepherd by Charles Jefferson. I highly recommend it to anyone who is in ministry. The Lord had been placing on my heart what it means to be a shepherd and how He is the Good Shepherd. Of all the descriptions He chose to use to illustrate His relationship to us He chose the Shepherd and the sheep.

During this summer I have prayed for a shepherd's heart. I have enjoyed just spending time with the A Visions For Life (AVFL) students. The Lord has shown me the importance of a minister to know the state of his flock. 1 Peter 5:2-4, "Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; 3 nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; 4 and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away." Through my time being with and ministering to the AVFL students I have seen the Lord as our Good shepherd and I have seen the fruit of being aware of the state of the flock. I have only scratched the surface of the meaning to be a shepherd of the Lord's people. I continue to pray for a shepherd's heart that is willing to feed, protect, lead, correct, and water the Lord's sheep as He does all those for me.

Here are some characteristics of a shepherd:

A good shepherd knows his sheep. John 10:14 I am the good shepherd, and know my
sheep, and am known of mine.

A good shepherd does not drive his sheep but leads them. Psalm 77:20 Thou leddest thypeople like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron. Psalm 78:52 But made his own
people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock. Psalms 80:1
Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest
between the cherubims, shine forth.

A good shepherd will seek out a good pasture for the sheep. 1 Chronicles 4:39-41 And
they went to the entrance of Gedor, even unto the east side of the valley, to seek pasture
for their flocks. And they found fat pasture and good, and the land was wide, and quiet,
and peaceable; for they of Ham had dwelt there of old. And these written by name came
in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and smote their tents, and the habitations that
were found there, and destroyed them utterly unto this day, and dwelt in their rooms:
because there was pasture there for their flocks. Psalm 23:2 He maketh me to lie down
in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

A good shepherd will count the sheep when they return from pasture so that none are lost or missing. Jeremiah 33:13 In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the vale, and in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks pass again under the hands of him that telleth them, saith the LORD.

A good shepherd will watch over the flock by night. Luke 2:8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

A good shepherd will show tenderness to the ewes in lamb, and to the young. Genesis 33:13-14 And he said unto him, My lord knoweth that the children are tender, and the
flocks and herds with young are with me: and if men should overdrive them one day, all
the flock will die. Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant: and I will lead on
softly, according as the cattle that goeth before me and the children be able to endure,
until I come unto my lord unto Seir.

A good shepherd will defend the flock when it is attacked by wild beasts. 1 Samuel
17:34-36 And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a
lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: And I went out after him, and smote
him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his
beard, and smote him, and slew him. Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and
this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of
the living God. Amos 3:12 Thus saith the LORD; As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth
of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear; so shall the children of Israel be taken out that
dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus in a couch.

A good shepherd will search out any sheep lost or straying. Ezekiel 34:12 As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. Luke 15:4-5 What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

A good shepherd will attend to the sheep when one they are sick. Ezekiel 34:16 I will
seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up
that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat
and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.

Spiritual Warfare

We read in Ephesians 6:10-20 about the armor of God. When I think about this section of Scripture I automatically think about the movie Galdiator and think of a warrior. I guess its just a guy thing. We are referred to as soldiers of Christ. This is not your typical soldier though. In this section of Scripture we see the repeated command to stand. While we have the armor of the Lord there is no need to fight because the battle has already been won. The enemy will do all he can to get us in the flesh. When we are in the flesh we are weak and easily defeated. This can happen even in Christian service. While we are serving there can be no reliance and dependence on the Holy Spirit. This is where we begin to let down the guard and fight without the armor. When this occurs the darts of the enemy find there way to our hearts and minds. James 4:7 says, "Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." The putting on of the armor and being a soldier of the Lord simply requires submission. It is here we find victory. We are in a battle, but we can only win if we allow the One who has already won, fight it for us.

The Beauty of Good-byes

The ministry I serve in is full of good-byes. I was asking the Lord why He brings people together just to separate them a few months later. A silly question that is only asked when one is missing people they said goodbye to. However, the Lord used Scripture to shed some light on goodbyes that I would have never thought of. Psalm 111:4 says, "He has made His wonderful works to be remembered; The LORD is gracious and full of compassion." He showed me that when we say goodbye to people we love it brings His grea work between us to remembrance. He is glorified because He was the one that built the relationship. He then brings compassion to us after the goodbye. We think of goodbyes as this horrible event. God sees them as a testimony of His unifying love between His people.

I enjoyed my furlough in the States. It was a great time with familyand friends. I came back and hit the ground running. The day I gotback we were preparing for a women's conference of 250 women fromaround Hungary. The CCA semester has been back for about three weeks.The students, by their own admission, are making a strong effort towork on their attitudes. It has been a real blessing to see Godworking in their hearts in this area.

10 - DayOutreach
The 10-day outreaches will be from April 16th - April 26th. I wouldreally like to go on an outreach this semester. The outreaches havenot been announced yet but I am really hoping to go on one. I will find out Friday where the outreaches will be and how much they will be. Please prayfor wisdom and financial support that I will be able to go.

A Vision For Life
http://cts.vresp.com/c/?CalvaryChristianAcad/09dc5ca406/TEST/cb53cf04bc/option=com_content&view=article&id=35&Itemid=47
I am really exicted for the summer program I will be a part of. We are starting to put things together for it and it will be a lot of fun. You can read about it below and can go to the website by clicking on the title link above. A Vision For Life is a discipleship program of solid Bible teaching, worship, Christian service, and many outreach opportunities. A Vision For Life is for anyone that desires to hear from Jesus about His direction and purpose for their life.The purpose for starting A Vision For Life was to see young people draw closer to Jesus. Since 2003, that is exactly what the Lord has done and what we pray that He will continue to do. Lives have been changed and people have launched out into life and ministry.

Prayer Requests
1. Financial Support
2. Men's Bible study - I am starting Monday with the guys study. We will be going through 1 John. It will be a time of Bible study and prayer.

I have not written in a while as it has been pratty busy. I send out my monthly newsletter, but I seem to neglect my blog. I will try to keep up with it.

Things are continuing to go very well. We are having a school wide fast today. We have enjoyed worshipping the Lord and seeking Him during our meal times. Pray the Lord does a great work in the students and staff today as we seek Him.

Since my time in Baja two weeks ago I have really had a desire to learn the Hungarian language. The Lord really envouraged me through the story of the feeding of the 5,000. I know if I put forth the effort to learn the language then He will multiply those efforts. The biggest difference is I now have a personal interest to learn the language. I have established friendships with Hungarians and want to be able to communicate with them in their language as well as English. I have felt at times I am limiting God with my lack of Hungarian. I want to be able to be used by God without allowing language to be a barrier.

I will be sending out my newsletter in the next few days. Please let me know if you would like to receive it.

Is That Your Armor

I have been looking at the life of David a lot lately while reading 1 & 2 Samuel. While reading the story of David and Goliath in 1 Samuel 17 I saw something there that I had never seen before even though I know the story very well. David was getting ready to go to battle with Goliath and in verses 38-39 we read Saul giving David his armor. “So Saul clothed David with his armor, and he put a bronze helmet on his head; he also clothed him with a coat of mail. 39 David fastened his sword to his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. And David said to Saul, “I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them.” So David took them off (1 Samuel 17:38-39).” This makes perfect sense because what does one usually wear to battle? Armor. What does armor do? It protects. The logical choice would be to accept the armor and wear it into battle. When I read this I realized however that the logical answer or choice is not always the correct one. The armor was doing the opposite of protection; it was prohibiting David from moving. Notice that the verse does not say it didn’t fit. It fit and looked like a great idea, but when David tried to use it for what it was designed to do, he couldn’t use it because it wasn’t his to use. The armor was human provision and protection. I began to see how this is what it looks like when we try to fulfill God’s promises and service on our own. This is also what happens when we try to do something that we are not called to do. It may be right for some, and also a very godly thing to do, but it may not be the thin g that God wants us to do. David had to realize that it was God who would deliver him from Goliath and not the armor. Saul was looking at the physical hence the reason he was not acting against Goliath. He was hiding because of the physical size of Goliath. He was focused on the problem and not on the Lord.
When walking with the Lord we must be clear of our calling and allow God to fulfill it through us. We do not need anything outside of what the Lord provides. Where God calls He also provides. If we know our calling stay focused on the Lord and not on the service of the calling. If we do not we need to serve the Lord with all of our mind, heart, and soul until the Lord shows us what that calling is.