Reflections at the Summit: A Place of Missed Opportunity

 

Reflections at the Summit

Week Four

A Summit of Missed Opportunity

Focus Text: Deuteronomy 34

Bible Reading: 2nd Timothy 1-4, Titus 1-3

      One of my fondest memories of growing up was playing little league.  I loved playing, but I wasn't particularly good at it.  I played for the giants. There used to be two fields in my little home town; a front field where the really talented kids played and a back field where the uncoordinated kids played.  I don't think I need to tell you which one I played on.  But once a year the back field teams were invited to come to the front field to play a night game under the big lights!  I vividly remember it being the last inning, bases were loaded, we were down by one run to the Astros, there were two outs, and I was up to bat.  You can't make this stuff up.  The butterflies in my stomach were sick to their stomachs.  I felt like Mighty Casey coming up to bat.  I held on tightly to my bat, waited for the first pitch and swung....foul ball.  The pitcher wound up and threw a second pitch that was also fouled off.  My heart raced as the pitcher released the third ball and I swung with all my heart.  My heart was in the swing, but nothing else was...I struck out....we lost the game.....I didn't just miss the ball but an opportunity.

      Our mountain summit today takes us to a place of missed opportunity.  Mount Pisgah, also known as Mount Nebo is famous because of the events that take place in Deuteronomy 34.  Here we find Moses, God's faithful servant for the past forty years standing at the pinnacle of Pisgah, glancing into the Promised Land.  Moses gets to see the land but he is forbidden by entering.  This is the place where Moses would die.  But what did Moses do that was so terrible to prevent him from entering the land of milk and honey?  In Deuteronomy 32 we find God telling Moses that he broke faith with him.  How did Moses break faith?  He broke faith with God at Meribah.  The people of Israel were thirsty and God directed Moses to speak to a rock and then the rock would spill forth water.  This was the opposite of how God opened the rock at Rephidim.  There God told Moses to strike the rock.  Moses came before the people in Numbers 18 and directly disobeyed God by striking the rock, not speaking to it.  Moses' single act of disobedience and desire to take the glory from God prevented him from entering the promised land. Tragically each of us have suffered through missed opportunities.  We missed the chance to witness with someone, to bless someone, to encourage someone, to serve the Lord, or develop spiritually.  But unlike Moses many of us are granted this very day another opportunity, another chance to pursue the Lord.  The Mount of Missed Opportunities is not a place for us to dwell in permanence, but only for a short period of time.  We merely set up tents of repentance at this summit, not homes of stone.  You might have missed an opportunity, but let that serve as a lesson so we do not make it a habit.  Make the most of every opportunity gifted to you.

Reflections on the Road:

Always be intentional with the opportunities that God gives you.  This week ask God to give you clear evidence of 'divine' opportunities and that you would make the most of them.

Churches in Missions: May Update

 

Churches In Missions  P.O. Box 1559 Sanford, NC 27331

“Mobilizing the Church Through Short-term Missions”

Our faithful friends,

      Lately our minds have been focused on God’s overwhelming goodness.  A.W Tozer wrote “The goodness of God is infinitely more wonderful than we will ever be able to comprehend.”  Our family understood the theology of God’s goodness, but we have ‘experienced’ God’s goodness in a new way since surrendering to missions.  We wanted to invite you to celebrate God’s goodness with us.  We have had two new churches join our team and multiple new supporters.  Because of this influx of new friends we can finally share with you that we have reached our 75% support level!  That means that we are now full-time missionaries with Churches in Missions.  We can draw salary, coordinate trips, and see our ministry expanded for God’s glory.  We aren’t at 100% yet but we have hit a major milestone!

 

      Another huge moment of celebration was our first trip to Jackson Kentucky to deliver relief supplies and to examine the damage from the flooding.  Pastor Jeff from Hagerstown Bible Church traveled down with Matt to deliver the supplies to the Happy Church.  The flooding occurred in early March.  The water of the local river rose from 2 ½ feet to over 40 feet, making it the second worst flood in Eastern Kentucky.  The flood totaled over 2000 homes and damaged countless more.  Many of the people are displaced and in need of basic necessities and spiritual encouragement.  The flood exasperated an already difficult situation for the people in Jackson.  The nearly $5000 worth of supplies along with thousands of dollars in donations will go a long way to rebuilding the area, reopening major ministry buildings for outreach, and for future Bible Schools!  We are collecting items for another trip which is planned for June.  A huge THANK YOU to each church and person that donated!!

 

      Our family was blessed with the opportunity to share the Word with our friends at Genesis Fellowship in Marion PA.  This congregation was such an encouragement to us!  Matt is also finishing up his two evangelism classes.  These two classes gave him the chance to share with over sixty students a week on the ‘how’s’ of evangelism.  God has also opened up more ministry doors for the future.  Matt is scheduled to present the mission on a podcast out of Berkeley County West Virginia.  New churches have reached out in regards to us teaming up with them to fill their pulpits and assist while they are going through pastoral transition.

 

      Before closing we wanted to give a few personal family updates.  Titus has started playing T-ball in Martinsburg.  He enjoys spending time getting his baseball pants dirty.  Matt has become one of the coaches.  He enjoys spending time loving and coaching the boys.  This has provided an opportunity to build redemptive relationships with the parents.  A few weeks back we were able to take a vacation to Pidgeon Forge Tennessee and Mount Airy North Carolina.  This trip was such a blessing.  It provided us with rest, relaxation, and lots of memories filled with laughter.

      We can’t thank you enough for being a part of our team.  We are humbled and grateful for each of your gifts and prayers.  I am in constant awe of the people that God has sown into the tapestry of our life.  We are excited to see what God’s going to do in the future!

 

Gifts sent to:  P.O. Box 51519 Durham, NC 27717

Or give online via www.churchesinmissions.org      Designate for Matt & Tiffanie Robinson

Trip to Pigeon Forge

                                                               Supplies to Jackson Kentucky

Laying new dry wall

Replacing damaged wood from the flood

The Happy Church (Clayhole Kentucky)

Titus and daddy

Vacation

Reflections at the Summit: A Summit of Holiness

 Reflections at the Summit

Week Three

A Summit of Holiness

Focus Text: Exodus 20

Bible Reading: 2nd Thessalonians 3-1st Timothy 6

      Our third mountain summit takes us to the base of one of Scripture's most famous mountain's, Sinai.  The Israelites had been traveling through the wilderness for around three months and had already lived through some miraculous events.  But their movement ceased as they came to the base of Sinai , they became stationary.  They would remain stationary at the base of this mountain for months.  But why?  Why stop here?  What was God's ultimate purpose?  The purpose begins to be revealed in Exodus 19:18-25.  God invites the people of Israel to gather at the base of the mountain  and He would set His presence upon it. It is during this time that God calls His servant Moses up to receive the Ten Commandments.  I think it's worth noting that these are not suggestions, but commandments.  I think it's also world noting that these basic ten commandments have never changed.  God has never taken them back or said they were dated.  These ten commandments showcase God's holiness, His perfection.  The concept of Holiness means to be without stain or blemish and the Bible makes it clear that there is only one who is perfectly righteous, and that is God.  The Bible overwhelmingly provides us with evidence of God's perfection, that He is without error, mistake, or sin.  This is clearly seen in Isaiah chapter six when the angels give us triune "holy, holy, holy" to God.  I think it's unique that this is the only attribute of God that is mentioned in triunity.  We never read in the Scriptures that God is love, love, love, nor do we see the Word saying God is mercy, mercy, mercy.  We know He's those things but for whatever reason the holiness of God is what is emphasized.

      I'm not an old fashioned legalistic preacher, but I believe that holiness is still pertinent today.  One pastor once said I would rather preach on God's love then God's holiness.  That statement is an oxymoron.  You can't have God's love without His holiness, nor His holiness without His love.  To sacrifice one is the sacrifice the other.  Instead of gaining one attribute of God you end up without either!  I think the reason why God's holiness seems hard to preach is that it seems to make God unapproachable.  He's no longer this 'buddy deity' that will turn a blind eye to your sin.  God's holiness might be beyond our full understanding BUT it doesn't make God unapproachable.  The holiness of God keeps us in awe of Him who in resides in unending light.  The holiness of God helps us to understand His greatness.  God's holiness is not a barrier that keeps us from Him.  God in His holiness invited Moses to come to the mountain summit, God in His holiness invited Isaiah to say "here am I, send me", God in His holiness sent His Son to become the way of salvation for us.  No, God's holiness is not a wall to separate, but a door of invitation.

Reflections on the Road:
1st Peter 1:6 tells us that we are supposed to be holy because God is holy.  If we agree theologically that God is holy but do not allow His holiness to penetrate our life then we have not truly grasped God's holiness.  Pursue holiness, scratch that, pursue He who is perfectly holy.

Reflections at the Summit: A Summit of Tried Faith

 

 (Mount Moriah/The Temple Mount)

Reflections at the Summit

Week Two

A Summit of Tried Faith

Focus Text: Genesis 22

Bible Reading: 1st Thessalonians 1-2nd Thessalonians 2

      In 1799, Conrad Reed discovered a seventeen-pound rock while fishing in Little Meadow Creek. Not knowing what it was made of, his family used it as a doorstop for three years. In 1802, his father, John Reed, took it to a jeweler who identified it as a lump of gold worth about $3,600. That lump of gold, which was used as a doorstop for three years in North Carolina, is one of the biggest gold nuggets ever found east of the Rockies.  No one knew the value of the rock until it was tested.

      Our second Mountain Summit focuses on the same concept, tried faith.  Genesis 22 takes us to Mount Moriah and our main character, Abraham.  Much had happened in Abraham's life by the time he journeyed to Moriah.  Many years earlier God called Abraham and his family to leave Ur of the Chaldees.  The purpose for their departure was to become a covenant people.  God promised Abraham that he would be the father of a nation, which seemed impossible since both he and his wife were both elderly and unable to have children.  Abraham and Sarah waited for 25 years until their precious son Isaac was born.  Abraham was 100 years old.  Most people are planning nursing homes, not nurseries at that age.  Imagine the excitement that would have flowed through Abraham, the pride that would have coursed through his veins.  The promise had come!  But all of that was challenged when God told Abraham to take his only son Isaac and offer him as a sacrifice on Mount Moriah.  How would Abraham respond?  In faith.  Along the way Isaac questioned the purpose and asked where the sacrifice was, Abraham's response was the God would supply a lamb.  Abraham tied up Isaac, prepared an altar, and raised the blade but God stilled Abraham's hand.  The goal of this account in the Bible was never the death of Isaac, but to 'try' Abraham's faith.  The book of Hebrews makes it clear that Abraham was so confident in God's promise that He believed even if he did kill Isaac that God would raise him from the dead!  Talk about a deep faith!

      I'm doubting that God is trying your faith in the same fashion, but in truth our faith will be tried from time to time.  The goal of the fiery trial which comes upon us is not failure, but growth and spiritual development.  Our faith will never mature or become strong unless trials beset us from time to time.   The trial isn't meant to harm, but to help.  Not to destroy, but to develop.  The Bible tells us in 1st Peter 4:12 that we should never be surprised when a trial comes against us.  We can expect them.  If we can expect them then we need to be prepared for them.  We prepare for the trials that lay in front us by walking with the Lord.  Praying, reading our Bibles, staying connected with God's people, by serving the Lord.  If you are not already enduring a trial then know one is on the way.  In the midst of it ask God "what is the purpose of this trial" and "what are you trying to teach me?"  Trials of faith are created with purpose, with a goal in mind.  Allow the trial to refine you and define you.

Reflections on the Road:
Maybe you are currently going through a trialsome time; if so take time this week and talk with God.  Focus not so much on asking God to take the trial away but to show you clarity on why the trial is there.  If you are not currently embattled with a trial then get prepared by anchoring your life into Christ.