The Purpose of a Prophet

I used to think that prophets were this special breed of a
person who had this higher level of spirituality than anybody else. You may
have guessed already that in the Bible school we are already in the prophets.
This week we have started on the books of Amos and Jonah. Prophets are
important both to those who were in the days of the Old Testament and today as
well. I’ve learned that the role of the prophet though is to realign people on
the path that God has for them. I used to think that being a prophet was solely
predicting the future but it is so much more. I think that more importantly
than telling the future is the role that the prophet has in the moment to point
out wrong and call people to repentance and seek God so that they can live. When
the Kings of Israel or Judah were falling away from the Lord and the priests
were no longer teaching the people the ways of the Lord then that’s when the
prophets would step in and remind the people of their calling to be God’s
people. The prophets would call the people to repentance so that they would
come back to the Lord instead of going down the road to their destruction which
ended up happening anyway. I think the role is still the same today, to call
people back to the Lord. There is obviously more to it but I believe that this
is a major part of a prophet, to correct wrong, call people to repent and to
point people to seek the Lord. If this is the case then being a prophet isn’t
so impossible.

A Warrior Spirit

Over the past couple weeks something has been stirring inside me. The need for change.
After studying the life of David I was both convicted and inspired. After going through Samuel and learning of David we have looked at Psalms and studied Proverbs and Song of Solomon. Don't worry I won't go into detail with Song of Solomon.
After studying Samuel and learning what a great man of God David was, seeing his Psalms which he cried out to God and the wisdom of Solomon in Proverbs I was convicted.
Am I truly doing enough?
Am I honestly seeking God as much as I could?
Do I honestly love the Lord with all my heart?
The answer to these questions is no. I think that as humans we go through seasons, where one moment we can be on fire for God and the next we can be dragging our feet hoping for it all to end. It is so frustrating for me at times to look inward and see the ugly mess that I truly am. I've realized this week, once again, that I need more of God in my life. David had it figured out. Most of the time. He loved God and he placed his confidence in God. It was in God that David was able to live and do the great things that he did. David knew this and he knew who he was in God, he knew he was nothing without God and that for him to survive he needed to have God in his life. He made it his life to seek God and not only battle physical enemies but also spiritual ones that could have brought him away from God.
I need more of that in my life. More of that fighting spirit within me to protect my relationship with God and to fight for righteousness in my own life. I need to be a man after God's own heart and I need to fight to get their.

The life and times of David.

Saying I learned a lot last week is an understatement. Saying that David blew my mind last week would be closer to the truth.

Last week we studied Ruth and Samuel and let me tell you that David came alive in a whole new way. I always knew that he was a man after Gods own heart but to see him and Saul together and to study the differences! Man! I learned a lot about them and myself as well.

Saul was afraid, he did not want God's calling for his life and he proved it by hiding. But even though Saul was chosen and had all the outer signs of a leader, like the spirit of God, bravery, courage, warrior etc., even though he had these qualities he did not trust in God the way he should have. And that was his downfall. He tried to control the outcome using his own sources instead of trusting God and letting Him use His heavenly sources.

Now if you compare Saul with David you will see that David accepted his calling, he never hid from it. But just because he accepted it doesn't mean he got it right away. He waited for Gods timing to bring his calling about. David never tried to control the outcome of a situation or he never tried to force Gods plan into being. He simply waited for Gods timing and trusted that God would show him when it was time and what he should do.

How often do I try to put Gods plan into action, or what I think His plan is into action using my own strength when what I should really be doing is trusting, waiting and listening for God to reveal to me what He wants me to do? I've learned more of what it truly means to wait and trust on the Lord. My prayer is that the Lord will give me the strength to walk it out.

Thank goodness I am not God!

This past week we studied Joshua and Judges and while going through it I realized that if I were God I would have ended Israel's run long before their exile. God's grace and patience is amazing.

Joshua is such an amazing story, it really shows how great of a leader Joshua is. He is an example of Godly leadership. While going through the book you can see that he is a man of God because he is constantly pointing people towards God especially in the last section. He is also humble because he is willing to obey, admit that he is wrong and he is also willing to ask for forgiveness when he is in the wrong and even when he is not but someone else is. Joshua is an amazing read and I would highly suggest it to everyone. It really shows that God is faithful and gives what He promises.

And then their is Judges. To be honest Judges made me depressed. In just a generation the Israelites had strayed very far away from the Lord. Again and again they rebelled against God but to see God's reaction is absolutely amazing. The amount of love that He shows towards the Israelites is hard to imagine because if I were God I would have left the Israelites. Judges is a great book if you really want to see God's character. Again and again He comes to their rescue even when they rebel, and don't turn from their sin, He still loves them and rescues them. The amount of patience that Judges shows God has is unfathomable.

This coming week we will be doing Ruth and Samuel so I'm excited to see the redemption process move forward. Thank you for reading.

Nothing but Bible

As you may know by now I have started the Chronological School of Biblical Studies (CSBS). And let me tell you that it has been a ride so far!

It was difficult to adjust to being a student again but between the hard work and God's grace I've really enjoyed the books studied so far and believe that I've recieved some good revelation from them.

So far we've studied Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. We are currently studing Dueteronomy.

Now I could go into detail on what I learned from each book but I really don't think I could put it into words or type that much. So I'll just tell you some key points.

As you may know the first 5 books of the Bible are traditionally believed to have been written by Moses and the last 4 of them have to do with the exodus from Egypt and the journey to the Promised Land. One thing that stood out to me was the amount of effort and planning that God put into making Abraham and Israel into a nation. He gave them everything from descendants, freedom, sturcture, laws, and land. God had a plan for Israel and I firmly believe that He has a plan for everyone else as well. Which makes me wonder how much faith do I have in God providing what is needed to accomplish what I think His plan is for me. He provided everything, from one man, God created more than one nation. So I need to trust that God can accomplish His goals even without my help because He certainly didn't have Abraham's after he died!

Something else really struck me as we have been going through the exodus. The saying "it's about the journey and not the destination" really fits for the Israelites wandering through the wilderness. It was the journey that built the relationship with God which prepared them for the Promised Land. I often look at the promises that God has for me and focus on them when it's the journey that I need to look at and learn from in order to walk out the promises the God has for me.

This school is a journey for me and I need to have a balance of focusing on the present and learning from it while being encouraged by looking ahead at what God has promised.

A Christ Centered Life

Eternity.

Eternity is a very long time. How long is the average life span? 70-80 years? That sounds like a really long time but compare that with eternity. What is 80 years compared to eternity? If you were to stretch out eternity and 80 years side by side what would it look like? Would 80 years look like an inch? A pin head? Or could it even be seen? How can you measure eternity?

I've been thinking about this and how our culture works. We are often so focused on our needs and our wants in the moment, but what does that matter compared to eternity?

Hebrews 12:2 "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Jesus suffered tremendous pain but he did not let Himself get down or lose hope. He was looking at eternity and knew the joy that would come so He went through with the pain and agony here on earth knowing that the joy of eternity would be so much greater than the agony of the cross.

1 Peter 2:23 "When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead he entrusted himself to him who judges justly."

I'm reading a book called Renovation of the Heart by Dallas Willard and it says this about this passage. "To take Him as our master means that we trust His way is right and, as He Himself did, always look to the larger good under God. Like Him we keep on entrusting ourselves to the One who judges righteously."

The book The Little Flowers of St. Francis of Assisi shares this conversation between 2 friends about perfect joy. (I am also using Renovation of the Heart for this quote too. It's a good book:)

They are trudging through the snow from Perugia to the home of their group at St. Mary of the Angeles. For their brotherhood to give a great example of holiness and edification in all lands would not be perfect joy, Francis says. Nor would a great ministry of healing and raising the dead. Nor would possession of all languages and all science, nor all understanding of prophecy and Scripture, and insight into the secrets of every soul. Nor would even the conversion of all unbelievers to faith in Christ!

By this point brother Leo is amazed, and he begs Francis to teach him "wherein is perfect joy." The reply is that if, when they come to their quarter--dirty, wet, and exhausted from hunger--they are rejected, repeatedly rebuffed, and finally driven away by force, then "if we accept such injustice, such cruelty, and such contempt with patience, without being ruffled and without murmuring," and "if we bear all these injuries with patience and joy, thinking of the sufferings of our blessed Lord, which we would share out of love for Him, write, O Brother Leo, that here finally is perfect joy."

This is what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 10:37-39 "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."

I know that if I faced those situations that Francis had described, very rarely would I respond with joy. But that's it! To lose my life means to no longer place my own desires and needs above God's desires. And by doing that I then find my life in Jesus Christ, which is much better than anything that I could have hoped for on my own. I will face troubles but God works thing out for good and not for evil.

A Christ centered life is a life that places God's desires above our own, a life where we are willing to be tired, dirty and persecuted all for the sake of Jesus Christ. It's a life where we respond with joy when bad things happen and we do not lose hope because we are looking at eternity which we have in Jesus Christ. A Christ centered life is a life trusting in God's plan when it doesn't make sense to us and knowing that eternity with God will easily out shine this life here on earth. As a believer in Jesus this is meant for me and all other believers.

Will it be easy? No!

Dying to self requires pain. But the joy that comes afterward will last for eternity!

Take up the challenge and live a Christ centered life.

It's Jesus who provides perfect joy.

A Journey of Discovery

It seems like God is never finished teaching us new lessons and leading us down new paths. Well, just recently I felt like God gave me a new challenge. Would I be willing to face hardships and trials in life or will I simply take the easy way around hardships? The hard way would bring me into a closer relationship with Jesus, where as the easy way may just keep me where I am. Would there be a new substance or a depth to my relationship with Jesus if I took the easy way? Through the hard way a reliance, a desperation, and a need for the Jesus is produced, but will this be produced through the easy way? It may be produced, but not to the extent of the hard way.

In case you were wondering, I chose the hard way. I have been on a journey of discovery lately and what I'm discovering is that the only thing that really truly matters is Jesus. The only thing that is worthwhile is my relationship with Jesus. I've known this in my head for many years but now it has begun to trickle down into my heart. I may be able to do many things but if my focus is not centered on Jesus, what is the point? What greater reason to live is there than to have a relationship with Jesus? I can seek after a job, a career, a house, a family, power, money and many other things. These things can be good but what are they without Jesus? They will all pass away and they can all change. But the one thing that I believe is secure is Jesus, is our God, He who loves us and will never leave us, this is who I live my life for. Sometimes I complain and sometimes I cry because things are tough, but the greatest comfort is knowing that God is always there. Always. At times I've felt alone, but I now know that all I need to do is shift my focus from myself to Jesus.

This path I'm choosing, this hard way, can bring a deep relationship that will last for eternity! Eternity! What an idea! What is 60-90 years of life on earth compared to an eternity? It doesn't compare! I would much rather spend my time here on earth seeking after something worthwhile that will last an eternity, than for the things that will pass away. Whats better than a relationship with the God who is God of heaven and earth and time itself!

Hard Times Means Perseverance

Have you every had an experience or situation where it seems like the world is saying just give up, let it go, and almost everything inside you is screaming and groaning, this is so hard!? But then you remember that God spoke to you and that you felt confident that you heard Him correctly.

Well I am finding myself in a situation that I find hard and I know that I need to press into God more. I find it frustrating that whenever I face a difficult situation I have to remind myself that I need to press into God more because I had been letting myself slack off. But I think that is a blog for another day.

1 Peter 1:6-7 says "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed."

Verse 6 says now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief. That means their will soon be an end!

1 Peter also says in:

1:24-25 "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever."

So the rough times will end and if the good times, the times of glory are like flowers which wither and fall then the times of glory end as well. So what is left? What do we have left to stand on? What can we put our hope towards? Just what it says in 1 Peter, the word of the Lord stands forever.

So during this rough time I can press into God and look forward to the end. Just like the worship song with the line:

Yes, I can see a light that is coming

for the heart that holds on

So what do I need to do? Persevere. Perseverance means to be steadily persistent in a course of action, or purpose, or state in spite of difficulties, obstacles and discouragement. I like the word tenacity which is a synonym for perseverance. Tenacity meant adhesiveness like a glue, which is probably why it means, a dogged and determined holding on, today. I want to have perseverance in my walk with the Lord, I want to have tenacity as I go through life. Having a dogged and determined grip on the things that I have heard from God.

Whats the purpose of all this? Jesus and His Kingdom. Their is another worship song which has a line in it that gives me hope:

When we arrive at eternity's shore where death is just a memory and tears are no more

Hardships will come and go, Glory will come and go, but the only thing that will remain constant is our Lord and His love for us.

Just some thoughts:)

I'm not meant to be a people pleaser.

As I was thinking about what to write in this blog update I realized I could write about the plans for the 3 month Biblical Core Course, or the 9 month Chronological School of Biblical Studies, the everyday things that happen at the base, the new garden, I could write about many things! But you have already heard about most of these things at least once, and the fact that there is so much going on in my life I can find it overwhelming at times. However God has been using this busyness to teach me to be relaxed in Him, to trust in His planning and His strength. I find it incredible difficult at times to maintain so many different things at a high quality because everyday something else is being added to the list.

However God has been teaching me not to be so much of a task orientated guy and to not find my self worth in the jobs that I do and the quality that they get accomplished. I've had trouble realizing this and it's hurt to realize this lesson. I will probably be learning this lesson for a long time but I think it's one of the most important ones out there. I need to find my self worth in God and not people. I seem to be a people pleaser by nature so I have always been scared of letting someone down, hurting some one's feelings, making someone mad and so on. But I'm not perfect so it's impossible for me to please everyone. If I try I'll die! And I would rather not have that happen at this time. There is only one being that I need to please and that is God.

So in the midst of everything going on, all the teams, the schools and relationships God has been teaching me to not be swayed by those things, to not find my value in how well or how bad they go. He has been teaching me to be constantly looking to Him and to remember the value that He placed on me and everyone else. He valued me enough to have His Son die for me. How amazing that is and yet I can still find myself thinking that I need to find my value in pleasing people, and doing a good job. But that's not it at all.

So all that to say, God is good, and it's been a hard week for me. A good learning week but a hard one.

A Face Filled With Joy

This is the face of a man who has been given hope, love, safety, a future, security, dreams, and a house. When you are a builder with Homes of Hope you get to build a lot of houses so it can become a regular thing. Well the last house build that I was on really helped remind me what I came for. I got the opportunity to tell the father that the building team wanted to take him and his family grocery shopping. As I told him the look on his face made me stop and think. "This is why we do this." Not to put another notch on the hammer just to say that we have built one more house, not just to say we've been to Mexico but to help a family in need, to show the love of God to a family. I was reminded of what it means being God's hands and feet. It's a blessing and a privilege to be serving God. Building that house was worth it just to see the look on Antonio's face as he found out that he was receiving more love than he thought.

I wonder what our reaction would be if we realized how much loving we got from God on a daily basis? Just a little food for thought.

My Home Church Built a House!

I am amazingly blessed to have a church that is willing to support me and be God's hands and feet out in the world. My Dad and Mum led a team of 12 others to build a house here in Tijuana. Over 5 days they visited a Rehab center where th

ey painted a building, went to a local church and went for tacos and to the marketplace, built a house over 2 days and helped with a local children's program at a church and visited an orphanage as well.

It was an amazing outreach and I can totally see how God's hand was in the details. The team was blessed by God, having come from 4 different communities in Manitoba and from multiple different churches as well, the unity in the group was amazing. The team did amazing work. The house that they built is beautiful and the family that they built it for is sitting inside their newly built house with a clean cement floor, with a roof over their head that keeps them dry, and enough groceries to last about a week.

It was super encouraging to have my hom

e church here. It's great to work with my parents especially when building a house for a family in need. I'm surprised that I am not exhausted. With all the planning, working, driving, and preparing I seemed to be going all day for their entire stay. I can definitely say that God provided me with the strength to keep going. It was a privilege to build with my home church and I am excited to see what will happen next year. Hopefully more than one church building more than one house!

Missions

I've been learning a lot about missions over the past couple weeks. Our God is a missionary God. And our God desires us to reach our neighbor in the house next door and the country across the ocean. So considering this, I've been learning how to reach the nations in a more effective way. How does this happen? Well I've learned that it doesn't involve people conforming to a western way of doing things. The Gospel fits in every culture because it was made for everyone. The Gospel will not change, it has not changed. The message is the same, Jesus.

Jesus meets people where they are at, in the culture they are in. People do not need to become westernized to become Christian. This is part of my motivation for doing a Spanish school. I finally have enough time to take the annual language school in Tijuana. So pray for me as I will be immersed in Spanish 5 days a week for 8 hours a day!
Learning Spanish has been an ongoing thing for me over the past 2 years. I really hope that learning a second language will better equip me to share the Gospel to the nations. I've learned that being a Christian isn't about me, it isn't about being Canadian, it isn't about being a missionary. Being Christian is all about God's Kingdom. Everything else comes second, and I want to be part of those who bring more people into God's Kingdom.

New Season. Back to Basics.

God has taught me so much over the past year. But I think one of the biggest things that I've learned is the importance of sharing the Gospel. Sharing God's word is incredibly important for everyone who is a Christian. So even though I feel like I'm stepping into a new season of my life I am also stepping back to help out a ministry that I have helped in the past. I've been able to share Bible stories for the past 2 weeks at Circulo Andante (or Walking Circle in English). It is a program for kids that YWAM runs twice a week in a community called Antorcha. It's pretty fun when you get kids who are old enough to think that they are to cool for Bible stories. I kinda hope that I wasn't like that when I was a kid. This past week the kids got to hear the story of Gideon and they all got to be involved. 3 kids representing 300 got to chase 20-30 kids representing thousands. It was pretty fun as well as a little chaotic.

I've been challenged over the past year to not only just live out the Word of God but to share it with others. Which is part of the reason why I started sharing Bible stories with the kids at Circulo...also I love the ministry and the kids as well:)

I used to be a firm believer of the saying "preach the gospel, if necessary use words." But not so any more. I know that our actions are meant to be loving and are meant to glorify God but our words should be as well. If we are meant to obey what Jesus commanded us to do then we are to preach, and teach also. Preaching and teaching involve words. We can only go so far showing the love of God just by our actions, it must involve words to bring further understanding. I have realized this and have been challenged by it. I'm not always comfortable but I've asked the question, whats more important? My comfort or the Gospel? I would have to go with the Gospel!

Bright new future!

Dear: Church, Supporters, Friends, and Family.

So as you may have noticed my two year commitment to YWAM Tijuana will be ending in April this year. However God has been speaking to me over the past several months about what He wants me to do. It seems to me that God wants me to stay in Tijuana long term. I don’t know how long, long term is, but I’m at peace with being in Tijuana until God says leave.

So what will I be doing in Tijuana? Well I still wish to continue building. Building is close to my heart and I really wish to continue. It will most likely be on a smaller scale due to new responsibilities and commitments that have come up. As you probably heard I recently took leadership of a three month Bible course called the Biblical Core Course. This school focuses on teaching the Inductive Bible study method which is the study of the Bible in context.

I hope and what I believe God is calling me to do is to keep leading this school and teaching in it. My goal is to get the school on a better foundation with more contacts, resources, more staff who are given opportunities to teach and larger schools that happen more often than once a year.

Once the school gets better legs I hope to be able to take it to the community and be able to help the local churches out by teaching and running seminars.

This is what I feel God is leading me towards and what He wants me to do. Many of you have been a great encouragement to me with your support through prayers and finances. Would you be willing to continue that support longer term?

Please pray about it.

If you wish to be part of my update list please let me know in person or send an e-mail to brodieawilson@gmail.com.

Love you all and God Bless

Brodie Wilson