Partnership: A Battle Plan

They've got us surrounded. We hear the sound of the armies advancing. They're getting into position. 20,000 Syrian foot soldiers stand at the ready. The people of Ammon are at the gate. And here we find David's men. In the midst of this dangerous situation.

"When Joab saw that the battle line was drawn against them before and behind, he chose some of Israel's best and put them in battle array against the Syrians. And the rest of the people he put under the command of Abishai his brother, that he might set them in battle array against the people of Ammon. Then he said, 'If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me; but if the people of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will come and help you. Be of good courage, and let us be strong for our people and for the cities of our God. And may the Lord do what is good in His sight." -2 Samuel 10:9-12

You and I are engaged in war whether we live like it or not. These are challenging days. And what is so exciting is that if we are in God's business of ushering in the kingdom- we cannot fail. God will always forward His purposes, whether His people cooperate or not. What I love about this story in the Old Testament is its beautiful illustration of the partnership between the church and missions. You are on a mission. We are on a mission. If your battle is too hard for you- e-mail us. We will pray. We will help you. And if the battle us too hard for us- we will let you know so that you can pray. And you can help us. We are not at odds- we're a team. We are excited that we can partner together for the sake of the gospel.

One new way we hope to be a resource for our NJ churches and champions: A Missions Workshop- how to get your church excited about missions. We will have some food, some worship, a session on how to make a missions plan for your church, and a "round table" session discussing what churches need from missionaries and what missionaries need from churches. This workshop is open to missions committee chairs or members, pastors, youth pastors, or anyone who wants to get their church pumped about missions!

Mark your calendars for October 23 9am-12noon at Sicklerville United Methodist Church. More information is coming your way, but we wanted you to know that our partnership is not one-sided. We are here to serve you. And this workshop is just one way we hope to do that!

Sabbath Rest

"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work... For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it." -Exodus 20:8-10

"The exodus command, with its call to imitation, plays on a hidden irony: we mimic God in order to remember that we are not God." -Mark Buchanan, The Rest of God. I am not God. The world will not fall apart if I take a break. Hallelujah! He knows my weakness and has made provision for weekly rest!

After teaching a session on how to observe the Sabbath last weekend, I was so blessed by His sweet gift of Sabbath this weekend. During this year of Homeland Ministry before we head to Uganda, Sabbath on Sunday doesn't always happen. So it was a rare treat!

#1990. a little sleep in time
#1991. no responsibility in this morning's service
#1992. young lives surrendered to God
#1993. the hope and energy of youth
#1994. youth sunday
#1995. that You never let us go!

#1996. family naptime#1997. stormy weather

#1998. a glorious display of Your power
#1999. playing a card game with my boys

#2000. time alone with You

#2001. a reminder to inquire of You before making a plan
#2002. Tea from Africa from Jo Coppedge

#2003. family movie night#2004. a warm cozy nest of pillows

#2005. the buttery smell of popcorn
#2006. little hands digging in
#2007. silly Curious George
#2008. wrapped up in love
#2009. a heart-warming movie with my man
#2010. prayers together
#2011. ending our day with You

Is 20 Minutes Enough?

"A young man in Bible school offered to help David Wilkerson years ago when he was ministering on the streets of New York City. Wilkerson asked him how much time he spent in prayer. The young student estimated about 20 minutes a day. Wilkerson told him, "Go back, young man. Go back for a month and pray two hours a day, every day for 30 days. When you've done that, come back. Come back and I might consider turning you loose on the streets where there is murder, rape, violence and danger... If I sent you out now on 20 minutes a day, I'd be sending a soldier into battle without any weapons, and you would get killed." -Floyd McClung (read the rest of the article here)

This story woke me up. At the Delanco Women's Retreat I was sharing with Joanna Coppedge, that I don't believe we're in the fire right now... but that we are on the cusp of it... and God is preparing us to endure and walk through the fire with Him. But we are not praying enough. I told Josh the other day- "We will never get to Uganda if we don't pray together more. And I certainly don't want to get to Uganda if we aren't praying together more." It would be a scary proposition to be on the frontlines of spiritual warfare without being sufficiently armed.

But as a young mom, and as a human, I don't have two solid hours to spend in prayer. Which is where my dear friend, Michelle, comes in. I shared this quote with her last night, and she countered with an encouraging thought about Charles Spurgeon: Spurgeon was said never to have prayed more than five minutes at a time, but he never went more than five minutes without praying.

Certainly there must be time set aside to kneel in prayer- but there must also be an undercurrent of prayer supporting all my daily life.

Where are you in your prayer journey? Are you fully armed for the battle that is raging??

Uganda Declaration

Join us in declaring the vision God has given and holding Him to His promises. We need you to fight with us!

DECLARATION FOR WORLD GOSPEL MISSION UGANDA

Based on Psalm 37 (NLT)

We decree that we will seek Jesus first so that through His holy love, lives, churches, and communities are transformed. We will put our hope in the Lord and travel steadily along His path. He will honor us by giving us the land, and we will see the wicked destroyed. In the Name of Jesus we rebuke satan as a thief and liar. In the Name of Jesus we reclaim the territory (lives, churches, communities, land, buildings, vehicles, finances, families, and marriages) that rightfully belong to God. We will no longer allow satan to steal, kill and destroy. We will no longer allow satan to steal our faith or our inheritance.

We decree the release of resources to reclaim the territory; finances (the $1,108,375 in the approved budget for 2010-2011 as well as missionary ministry funds), land, houses, urban center, and vehicles.

We decree the release of at least 42 missionaries in the next 10 years to cover the expansion of Uganda, Sudan, DRC, Burundi, Rwanda, and Tanzania.

We refuse to allow any spirit of division and complaining to affect the mission God has given us. No weapon formed against us shall prosper. By the blood of Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of our faith, and by His Holy Name, we make this decree.