At Calvary

On July 31, 1995, I meekly prayed to God, surrendering my life to the Lordship of Jesus. I was 19 years old, and I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

Before then, I fell somewhere between the states of being agnostic and atheistic. (And I am Jewish, too, just to complicate things.) All things considered, I was an arrogant fool.

That is why the words of “At Calvary” mean so much to me now:

Years I spent in vanity and pride,
Caring not my Lord was crucified,
Knowing not it was for me He died
On Calvary.

Mercy there was great, and grace was free;
Pardon there was multiplied to me;
There my burdened soul found liberty,
At Calvary.

By God’s Word at last my sin I learned;
Then I trembled at the law I’d spurned,
Till my guilty soul imploring turned
To Calvary.

Now I’ve giv’n to Jesus everything,
Now I gladly own Him as my King,
Now my raptured soul can only sing
Of Calvary.

Oh, the love that drew salvation’s plan!
Oh, the grace that brought it down to man!
Oh, the mighty gulf that God did span
At Calvary!

That’s nineteen years I spent “caring not my Lord was crucified,” and now nineteen years that “I gladly own Him as my King.”

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”  2 Corinthians 5:17

Or, as I tweeted the other day:

I am thankful that God loves me & pursues me more than I love & pursue Him.

— Joey Espinosa (@EspinosaJoey) July 26, 2014

 

Related Links:

• Remembering My Salvation    
• From Forgiveness to Service
• Why I Chose to Be Baptized
• Realizing That I Am Proud

**image courtesy of mimwickett via rgbstock.com

Reason #30 Allendale Is Better Than Where You Live: Love and Acceptance

“Sometimes the thing you never know to ask turns out to be the biggest blessing of all.”  Rev. Deb Richardson-Moore, The Weight of Mercy

We are in Greenville now. But a big piece of our heart is still in Allendale, so we will go back. There are football games to attend, and kids to see.

And memories to re-live and keep fresh.

Our Start in Allendale

I started working for the Boys & Girls Club in Allendale County on January 17, 2011, and the club opened two weeks later. That’s 3.5 years ago. Living and working in Allendale since then was such an amazing experience. And surprising.

As we transitioned to Allendale in that season, we were told by some of our initial friends in the community that Allendale residents were wary of outsiders. And for good reasons. Over the decades, many folks have come to the county with big promises. Most departed with full pockets and/or satisfied souls, but left a wake of chaos and brokenness.

So we came in with more caution than expectancy, and more humility than authority. We came to serve and to learn. And hopefully (we reasoned), we would earn their trust over time.

Nothing has surprised us more than this reason that Allendale has been such a wonderful place to live:

“The community of Allendale welcomes you with love and acceptance.”

Not “Bigger and Better”

It was last day of working at the Boys and Girls Club, a program that I helped re-launch at the beginning of 2011. Just weeks earlier, I made a decision to leave that job, even without knowing what I would do next. (PS — God did come through for me with these four jobs.) But I did know that my wife and I were committed to the well-being of children in Allendale County.

On this final Club day of the semester, the children led a special Christmas-themed program, in which we invited parents and organization leaders. The children did a fantastic job, of course.

Near the end of the evening, one of the organization leaders spoke to the audience. She thanked me for my work that year, and wished me the best. But what she said next infuriated me, and it was only by the grace of the Holy Spirit that I did not react immediately.

She said, “Mr. Joey is moving on to bigger and better things.”

Liberty

Happy Independence Day!

We would do well to remember these words:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

And:

“It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.”  (Galatians 5:1)

“Having been liberated from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness. ”  (Romans 6:18)

Related Links:

• Independence Day
• Patriotism and the Church
• Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness (from Desiring God)

**image courtesy of archives.gov

Jeremiah’s Choice

I’ve always felt bad for the prophet Jeremiah. First, he had a terrible nickname. Many theologians call him “the weeping prophet.” Terrible for a grown man. It’s like saying, “Jeremiah the Crybaby.” Ugh.

Second, I get why he was so weepy and sad. He faithfully preached, but few listened — and definitely not the ones who had the power to change the course of the nation. He preached God’s message of judgment and repentance, but was ignored (at best) and persecuted (at worst).

God sent him to call the people back to Himself, and the ruling authorities sent him to a dungeon or a deep cistern. His faithfulness to God was met with ungratefulness from the people.

Unfortunately, his prophecies came true. Judah did not repent before God, nor surrender to Babylon. So God kept his promise to destroy Jerusalem and to send the people of Judah into exile (Chapter 39). Jeremiah’s ministry was to help the people return to the Lord and to His ways. And from my perspective, he was an utter failure.

That’s why I feel bad for him. If I was him, I would be frustrated and worn out. I’d probably weep, too.

Community and Mission Everywhere

I’ve still been thinking about my recent mission trip to Eleuthera, and the community and sense of mission I felt there. By our second day there, all two dozen men on our trip were in complete awe of Keith and Lori Doster, who moved – together with their two girls – to that island in January 2013. Everywhere we went on that 110-mile-long island, Keith knew and talked to people. In turn, the locals were just as excited to see him and talk to him.

Keith and Lori have obtained (and are still obtaining) this level of cultural engagement just by being in the community and showing love (such as by giving rides to people in their bus or van). We were challenged as we saw the depth and breadth of their friendships all over the island, which they built in just 15 months. We all left Eleuthera challenged and inspired to better engage our own “mission fields” back home – our families, our work, our neighborhoods, our cities, etc.

But as we engage our own communities, we must remember that God’s mission for us is more about our own obedience, instead of the results we see.

What’s So Great about the Great Commission?

Don’t give me credit for the following insight. The main idea I heard for the first time last month, in a preparatory meeting for the Eleuthera Mission Trip. It was insightful to me, and I wanted to share it with you.

How many of you can recite the “Great Commission”? Most of you, I’m sure, know it from Matthew 28:18-20:

¹⁸ And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

A few things to point out (things I’ve learned over the last 19 years or so):

The Most Important Thing in Missions (Sharing Our Story with CBC — Part 3)

Finally, I’m concluding this series. As I wrote over 2000 words in these 3 posts, I’m amazed that I was able to share all of this in 12 minutes at CBC – Savannah. I could be an auctioneer.

You can listen to the complete podcast of the sermon, including my talk, on the CBC Sermon page. Try this link or this one. My part starts with about 12 minutes left.

In the last two posts, I explained the Context for Hopelessness in Allendale and then how we can engage that hopelessness through true hospitality and incarnation. I will conclude this topic with a quick explanation of missions done well, then a few examples of “random” opportunities to teach, and then some additional inspiration for you.

Missions Done Well

For missions and being missional, the goal must never be the event or the project or the program. Those are good things, but life change doesn’t happen by a project or program all by itself.

The primary means of missions is engaging others in meaningful relationships, for the purpose of helping others worship God. Life change always happens best in the context of community.

When it comes to “missions” programs, most churches use the relationship as the means to get the project done. They connect with certain people, get the team there and back home, and then they are happy. But this is wrong, and often harmful in the long-run.

Hospitality Is Not What You Think It Is (Sharing Our Story with CBC — Part 2)

In this three-part series, I am letting you know what I shared with the congregation of Community Bible Church (in Savannah, GA) a couple of months ago. I was asked to share our story of living in Allendale, as a part of their teaching on James 1:26-27 (regarding looking after the vulnerable of our society).

Here is the second part of my talk.

Last time, I set the context of Allendale, with respects to its demographics. Then, I focused on the issue of how generational poverty involves a lack of hope. When our “neighbors” don’t have a hope that life can or will change for the better, what do we need to do?

We need to be the body of Christ, and share the good news of Jesus Christ.

Your Presence, Not Your Presents

A lasting hope does not come by writing a check, or donating your used clothes, or by telling people, “You need to work harder and get an education,” or even by teaching a Bible story and doing an altar call. Yes, those things may be needed, but you can’t start (or stop) there.

What is needed is for the body of Christ to come alongside and to show love. People need your presence more than they need your presents.

Missed Opportunities

Have you ever had a great idea for how to help someone, only to think of it too late to make a difference? I feel like this happens to me all the time, and the latest time was just a few weeks ago.

We were in the checkout line at Target (obviously, we were not in Allendale). I overheard the customer ahead of us talking with the cashier, and I deduced what was happening. She had brought all her items to the counter, but as the cashier scanned all the items, the woman realized that she had forgotten her wallet at home. She had no way to pay.

From what I could figure out, the cashier was going to scan and hold all the items, and the customer would go home, get her wallet, and return to pay for the items. I felt bad for her, knowing it would be a hassle. But I was glad that at least all her items would be at the checkout, so she wouldn’t have to do the shopping all over again.

As we were walking through the parking lot, the thought hit me, “Why didn’t I just offer to pay for her items?” It was only about $50 worth of stuff. I could have given her my address so she could mail a check later on. Or even if she didn’t, I could have just chalked it up as a way to serve someone.

However, this thought occurred to me too late. The lady was gone, probably on her way home, kicking herself and frustrated for making a simple mistake.

Likewise, I was also kicking myself and frustrated for not thinking how I could help her in the moment.