Drew Boswell

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Accountability and Missions

As I have experienced various cultures and have engaged them with a desire to share the gospel, I have come to realize that most things in life are not “black and white.” What should be easy is complicated and convoluted by sin and the fall of man. The pastors that we seek to partner with are not perfect and have flaws, and the churches we want to support are filled with sinful and corrupt people.  Even various personalities and the quirks of missionaries create communication and planning issues. It is a miracle that the gospel has spread to the vast places and tribal regions that it has so far.

Yet in spite of all of our flaws, sinful and corrupt natures, God still desires to use His people to spread the good news of Jesus Christ to the world. Our own sin becomes hidden from our sight and even the culture that we live in becomes blind to it. So it is through immersion in another culture that you can easily see their sin, flaws, and areas that need improvement. But they also see yours, and if you are blessed you will be able to identify it yourself and be able to change it through the power of the Holy Spirit.

We must enter into missions with this understanding that we are not perfect, the people we partner with are not perfect, and surly those that have not yet hard the gospel are not perfect. We encounter Christians around the globe that are on a journey just like we are, yet are flawed just as we are flawed. With the greater good balanced with the fall of man in mind, we seek to be wise in the use of our resources, and through prayer we seek the face of God and His direction as to what we should do and where.

Therefore, when we partner with a ministry in various parts of the world, and even in our own “village,” we must have accountability. This does not mean that we do not trust men and women of God, but that we mutually understand that both parties are redeemed yet sinful. We do them a loving service so that they are less likely to be tempted to misuse resources and even have to plan out how and when it will be spent. There must be an accounting of monies spent, and how it is to be used. With communication and accountability trust will be developed.

Also with accountability people are more likely to support the need. If a well is needed at an orphanage, monies can be given for that purpose, but along the way there should communication as to the need, expected cost, who will dig the well, and evidence of completed work. When this chain of events happens, there is a much higher likelihood that future projects can the planned (like a dormitory expansion, walls around the compound, etc.) However, if this does not happen then we are left with innocuous questions like, “was the well even dug?” “Was the money used for something else?” “is the ministry ok?”

But because there is no communication or “shady” decisions are discovered then our minds may even drift toward accusative questions like, “was the money used for the administrator’s personal gain?”  When missional relationships get to this point, they often do not last. If they do, it is with an attitude of desiring to help children, orphans, lepers, etc., at the expense of dealing with a potentially corrupt system and ministry is greatly restricted.  If we could get both parties to understand that because we ask for accountability (and that this does not mean that we question their integrity) it is for the purpose of being able to do greater ministry together. When we hold each other accountable, gently and lovingly correct each other, then various cultures can help the other grow in grace and the kingdom can be expanded.

Proverbs 27:17 “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.”

There may be a time when communication is so broken, schemes have simply gone too far, and trust and accountability has degraded to the point that relationships must be severed. When this happens, it is sad because the ones who suffer most are those who need Christ’s love most (and typically they are children).

 

 

Awakening and Genesis 3

Friday Morning at Cracker Barrel

I am sitting at a Cracker Barrel on an early Friday morning and can see various families heading out for Spring Break retreats and respites, Sherriff’s deputies huddled around a table laughing over various experiences in their line of duty, and ‘locals’ beginning their day. As the sun creeps over the ensemble of cars in the parking lot another day begins with its unknown opportunities, life changing surprises, and its mundane workday. It is this potential for change (in me and in the world), this unknown future that drives me to the Father and His holy book. It is not one of fear, but of an excitement that I don’t want to miss the potential opportunity.

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 Internal Struggles

With an upcoming mission trip to India and an awareness that there is a huge potential to be of great service to the Lord there, I am becoming ever more aware of my depravity and sinfulness. I am not sure if it is the Holy Spirit desiring to cleanse me and make me more useful to the Father or if it is Satan trying to keep me from even trying.

At the age of 37 I am keenly aware of my sin nature, how and where I tend to drift and am very alert to my weaknesses. That doesn’t mean that I always remain strong to fight against these weaknesses, but I know who I am as a person, a part of the fallen human race. I have the faint shadow of wisdom to know that my sin nature destroys and it vanishes as smoke when I display my lack of wisdom and depravity and listen to that still small voice and heed it’s foolish instructions.

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 A Walk Through the Garden

If we go back to the Garden at the beginning of time, we discover it was Satan’s desire to disrupt what God had established. Chaos was brought into perfect order, and disruption and death were cast upon peace and eternal life. Everything changed when Adam and Eve fell and sin entered the world.

1.  Satan desires to use our empty cravings and vain self-deceit to keep us off topic and focusing our lives on the wrong things. We are to love Christ completely and with our whole heart, yet many times we love ourselves and become gods in our own minds.

Genesis 3: “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”

What God said was that they could eat of any tree (freedom) except for one tree (limitations). Satan wanted Eve to think that God was keeping something from her, or taking her freedom away. Christ left heaven, took on the flesh of man, and died as our substitute. He then commands for us to follow His example, yet we often times could care less about people and their eternal destinies. When we focus on our own navels, we spend all our money on ourselves, we spend all our time in our own self-adventures, and we tend to stay comfortable in all things.

2. Satan desires to feed our wicked desires with constant temptations so that we increasingly lose potential to do great things for Christ. When we sin, and continue to sin, and have decades of sinful behavior our impact and ability to serve Christ becomes greatly diminished.

Genesis 3:4-5 “But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

It is this knowledge of sin that destroys us. We chase after it with all our hearts and lean constantly on our own understandings of the world around us.

I often times feel that I am in a fog or a deep sleep. My anesthetized soul drags through life as if coming out of a horrible surgery.  Awake and yet half-asleep. There are moments when it is as though I am coming back to being spiritually awake, only to slide back into a deep slumber of cold callousness.  Days drag on to weeks, weeks roll on to months, and months to years – this constant sleeping and moments of awakening. Always asking, “Lord, have I slept too long to be of any use to you and your kingdom?”

3.  Satan desires to make us doubt our Creator’s love for us.

Genesis 3:6 “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.”

In one conversation Satan was able to persuade Adam and Eve to rebel against their Creator. They were perfect, in a perfect world, and having a perfect relationship with God. Every time we take a bite of the forbidden fruit we doubt God’s love for us, and make ourselves gods in our own minds. We say to ourselves, “I know what is better for me, and what I should know, not God.”

I know my gentle Father’s response is always “Drew, let’s go – wake up, there is much to do.” He loves us enough to make us apart of His plan for the redemption of humanity and the created order.  Whether that is a “big role” or “small role” – it is hard to tell. It seems to be based on His sovereignty (putting people where He sees fit) and our willingness to turn from sin and being holy.

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The Great Adventure

On my trip to India I am taking my camera, every sermon I have ever written, and a heart that desires to be greatly used by the Father. My prayer is that I may be spiritually awake to see what is going on around me, and have the wisdom to hear His voice. Who knows what’s going to happen, who knows what we will be able to accomplish in His name.  This is the adventure, this potential to be of great use for the Lord.

A Path Toward Making A Difference

A Path Toward Making A Difference
Nehemiah 1
Let’s go through the first chapter of Nehemiah as a quick devotion together.  First go ahead and read the text.
1:1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the capital, 2 that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. 3 And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.” 4 As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. 5 And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned. 7 We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses. 8 Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, 9 but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’ 10 They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. 11 O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” Now I was cupbearer to the king. (ESV)
Nehemiah receives word from his brothers that Jerusalem was destroyed, and his response was brokenness over its condition. But this was not a new occurrence; it had sat this way for over a hundred years.  His brothers bring him the news (again this was not “current events.”) and they also seem to upset – so our first question is why are they upset about something that has been that way for a long time and doesn’t really affect Nehemiah?
His response to the news is brokenness over the condition of the land, his own sin, and the sin of the people as a whole. He goes on to quote Scripture (vv.8-9) that says , if they turn from their sin their land could be restored and they could return. So what’s keeping the land in it’s current condition and their own exile was how they viewed their own sin.
He begins with consistent prayer, and the prayer is one of confession (v. 7).  He recognizes that his sin (and the sin of the people) have caused them to be “scattered” v.8.  He prays specifically for the meeting with the king.
So what do we see here? Nehemiah (and his brothers) is aware of his own sin and then repents. Then his eyes are opened to the spiritual condition of things around him. He can then “see” the condition of how the people are living, and it then breaks his heart.  So what keeps us “blind?” – our sin. When we deal with the sin in our lives, we are then able to see the world in a different way.
What was the spiritual condition of Nehemiah’s brothers? They “see” the issue first, and they bring it to their brother’s attention. God then uses Nehemiah to lead an effort to rebuild the city (and it’s walls in 52 days!)
So let’s look at it graphically: (because I am a visual learner):
(1) Information Received (visit from family)
(2) Broken (made aware of his own and other’s sinful condition)
• Recognition of who God is (v. 5)
• Confession of sin – the condition of man (v.6)
• A trust/reliance upon God’s Word (v. 8)
(3) Praying in faith the truths from Scripture
(4) Development of a plan (over days of praying)
• Nehemiah’s plan begins by talking with the king about his condition and the condition of his people.
(5) The (first) meeting
• God works in the king’s heart to assist Nehemiah in the rebuilding project. It is always God’s heart to “rebuild” people’s lives and restore them to a proper relationship with Him. But we have to go through a process of dealing with our sin, and realizing that His ways are always best.
Big Idea from Chapter One: It is God in His grace that makes us aware of our sinful condition and the need for change. He promises us in His Word that if we change, he will put us back on a redemptive path (see Psalm 51, and Ezekiel 18). When we deal with sin our eyes will become open to things we have never “seen” or cared for before. When we pray and fast God will show us what to do. Then we step out in faith.
May God bless your journey with Him, step out and do something great today.

Isaiah 53 “The Burden Bearer”

Travel to any major city and you will find binoculars attached to major buildings overlooking the skyline. For a fee you can see the beauty of the landscape and take in the breathtaking scenery.  But you just about always have to adjust the focus in order to see anything clearly. The book of Isaiah shows us how to turn our lives so that it comes into focus with God’s plan.  He paid the price so that we can see it, but we have control over how in focus it is.   Join us as we discover the wonder of this prophetic book and how you can get your life back into focus.

Isaiah 5 [ 30:17 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
"Your greatest life messages and your most effective ministry will come out of your deepest hurts." Rick Warren

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