Was born 1968, his mother died giving birth to him. His father remarried, and then his step mother died in a car accident when Francis was 9. Then his father died of cancer when he was 12 years old. The only close relatives he had were his aunt and uncle. But when he was in high school, his aunt and uncle got in a fight, and his uncle shot his wife then killed himself. [taken from The Balance Beam Speech]

By God’s grace and mercy, Francis came to know the Lord in high school. Chan was active in Christian youth groups which helped develop his faith in Christianity and his interest in ministry. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Masters College and a Master of Divinity degree from Masters Seminary.

Now Francis Chan is the founding pastor and teaching pastor of Cornerstone Community Church in Simi Valley, CA since 1994. He is the author of the best-selling book, Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God. He has inspired many people with his ‘crazy love’ message. His passion and clarity in sharing the gospel has inspired many to seek the Kingdom of God wholeheartedly, with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.

You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart,

with all your soul, and with all your mind

-Jesus (Matthew 22:37)

God has given each one of us a unique temperament and personality; these God given temperaments and personalities each have tremendous gifts and abilities. Each is unique and designed and planned by God expressly for the purpose here on earth as a member of the family of God. Some of us are introverted calm and quiet while others are oppositely extroverted enthusiastic talkers. This extreme variance of temperaments can often be seen between siblings, parents and children and even twins. As you have gone about your life, working with your siblings, parents, or even your own children you have probably noticed these differences can sometimes cause conflict. While taking two different approaches to the same task or an activity, one may ask “why should I do it his or her way, when my way is just as legitimate and possibly even better.” These two approaches based on different thought processes have just conflicted, neither person’s method is necessarily wrong. These conflicts, though small at first can be detrimental to a healthy relationship.

This is where deference comes into play. Deference, what is it? Deference is yielding to the opinions, wishes or judgment of another person. Deference means controlling my privileges and preferences in order not to offend those God has called me to serve. Deference is a very deliberate act, and comes from the heart. I think my mom was secretly trying to teach me and one of my sisters deference when I was about 12 or 13 years old. My mom assigned one of my sisters and I a job to do together for a whole year. We had to do dishes together. This normally would not have been a big deal except I am a perfectionist, and my sister isn’t so much, she’s more like, let’s get this job done as fast as we can. In case you’re wondering speed and perfection don’t really mix to well. You can imagine some of those few long weeks as we disputed over what methods for washing dishes was best. Deference from the beginning sure would have helped but it was eventually learned.

By not showing deference you are in fact disrespecting another individual. Deference can be shown in many ways, but it will always put others before yourself. This goes against our human nature and unless we are Spirit filled we will struggle to show deference. Paul instructed the Corinthians to show deference to other believers who could not eat meat that had previously been offered to idols. (1 Cor 8 )  This meat may have been cheaper, or more convenient to buy. And while Paul made it clear technically there may not have been anything wrong with eating this meat. He warned in 1 Cor 8:9 “But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to them that are weak.” And then in verse 12 adds “But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ.” This verse here emphasizes how vital it really is to show deference, especially when it comes to not offending the conscience of another believer even calling it sin to not show deference to our brothers and sisters. Deference shows our willingness to live out Romans 12:18 “If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.”

It is humbling ourselves to the will of God and esteeming others higher than ourselves and laying down our lives to demonstrate the New Life that dwells within us.

Command 34: Be a Servant | Day 238

I scanned an area on the south side of Chicago until I saw what I was looking for—a group of about 25 teenagers near the river! It was a high-crime area, so when I approached them, they all stared at me and wondered what I wanted. I told them I wanted to draw a scenic chalk picture for them that would explain answers to life’s three big questions: Where did I come from? Why am I here? and Where am I going? They all expressed interest in this.

As I drew the picture and interacted with the group, I tried hard to learn and remember their names. At first, when I asked for a person’s name, I was usually told a fictitious one and the group laughed. However, I paid close attention when someone called another person by his real name and began using it as well. Soon the entire group wanted to tell me not only their first names, but also their nicknames, which were a real challenge to remember! When I returned the following week, many of them surprised me by asking, “What is my name?” If I correctly remembered a name, I would receive a big smile, but when I was incorrect, there was disappointment.

There are four simple but effective key ways I’ve found to show another person that you are genuinely interested in his life and to earn opportunities to serve him.

1. Show a person’s importance by learning and using his name. This is one of the keys I learned while working with teenagers. A person’s own name is one of the most important words to him in any language.
2. Ask precise questions. Questions should show interest without being “nosey.” We can encourage people to talk about things they are interested in, such as asking a businessman: “How did you get started in your present work?”
3. Listen with your heart, not just your mind. When we receive responses to our questions, we should ponder them and find in them the basis for asking additional questions. The religious teachers in the Temple marveled at the wisdom of 12-year-old Jesus because of the questions that He asked and His answers. (See Luke 2:46–47.)
4. Discern needs and attitudes. When God allows us to discern the root problems a person is struggling with, we should then be prepared to provide precise answers to help him. There are four major areas of need that most people will experience at some point in their lives: marriage conflicts, teenage rebellion, financial pressures, and health problems. If we are able to share practical, lasting solutions in these four areas, we will have an ever-widening ministry.

In our journals this week, let’s write down the names of the people whom God wants us to serve and then list the ways in which we are serving or will begin to serve them. As we choose to follow Christ’s example by placing the needs of others ahead of our own needs, we will fulfill the purposes God has for our lives and achieve true greatness!

Through Christ our Lord,

Bill Gothard

“… Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant”

(Matthew 20:26–27).

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Patience is something I’ve had to continually ask God for help with. When irritations towards other people, things, and circumstances arise; patience is sometimes not an immediate response. One of the things I have also learned in this area is that usually when I¹m frustrated with someone, and impatient with that person, it generally comes back to that I¹m lacking patience with myself.

I have a very close relationship with my older sister, but as relationships between sisters usually go, we are very different. She is the type of person who can immediately jump into the middle of anything and flourish. I on the other hand, like to take a slower approach to things.

Processing everything, and taking it step by step before I can reach the same level of enjoyment or ability that she has right at the beginning.

Before we realized our differences, there was no end of frustrations between us. It would usually end with me feeling frustrated with myself, and thinking that I would never be able to do the things she was able to do so easily. When I came to the understanding of how God had made me different from her in this area and was able to accept it; I was then able to build on that, by learning how to have patience with myself and others.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering (patience),

kindness, goodness, faithfulness…”Galatians 5:22

The Creative Power of God’s Word

When ever I study the character quality of creativity I always think of God’s creative power.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” it does not say he made or built the heavens and the earth but instead “God created the heavens and the earth”. The difference between creating and building is pretty obvious. Building something engages only the hands while creating involves the heart and the soul…Now, imagine Gods creative power in just mere words.

As He called upon light, history began. Existence became measurable. And a mighty hand went to work. Canyons were carves. Oceans were dug. Mountains erupted out of flat lands. He must have had a blast. Painting the stripes on the zebra. Hanging the stars in the sky. Putting the gold in the sunset. What creativity! Stretching the neck of the giraffe, putting the flutter in the mockingbirds wings, planting the giggle in the hyena. And then as a finale to a brilliant performance, he created man. With his typical creative flair, he began with a useless mound of dirt and ended up with an invaluable species called a human. How original were his thoughts! A human who had the unique honor to bear the stamp “in His image”. At this point one would be tempted to jump and clap.

“BRAVO!” “UNMATCHABLE!”

But the applause would be premature. If you thought He was imaginary with the sea and stars, wait until you read what creative ideas He had to get His creation to listen to Him:

A ninety year old woman gets pregnant.

Another woman turns to salt.

A flood blankets the earth.

A bush burns ( but doesn’t burn up!)

The Red Sea splits in two.

The walls of Jericho fall.

The sky rains fire.

A donkey talks.

God, still the compassionate creator, woos His creation. Man, the creation, alternately reaches out in repentance and runs in rebellion. It is within this simple scrip that God’s creativity flourishes to this day. There is no other perfect example for creativity besides our God. He has set the standard for creative thinking, planning and speaking.

Through and through, He is the creator. A tireless dreamer and designer.

The father of modern missions, William Carey was born at Northamptonshire, England in 1761, and became a cobbler at the age of 14. Neither hands nor brains were idle. On his cobbler’s bench was a book. Before he was 20 years of age, to his store of Greek were added French, Dutch, Latin, and Hebrew. "With little teaching, he became learned; poor himself, he made millions rich; by birth obscure, he rose to unsought eminence; and seeking only to follow the Lord’s leading, himself led on the Lord’s host." Two years later, at the age of 22, he joined the Baptist church, and began preaching immediately, mostly on the theme of missions. He helped organize the English Baptist Missionary Society and was one of its first missionaries to India. His services there were remarkable for their range and depth.        

In April, 1789, Carey was called to the pastorate of Harvey Lane Church at Leicester. Here he was  brought into association with men of culture, and books were freely placed at his disposal. The course of events was now rapidly moving toward the formation of the missionary society. At the annual meeting of the association held at Nottingham, Carey was one of the preachers. He chose for his text Isa. 54:2-3, which was paraphrased as follows: "Expect great things from God," "Attempt great things for God." The impression made by the discourse was so decided that the following resolution was passed: "That against the next meeting at Kettering, a plan should be prepared for the purpose of forming a society for propagating the gospel among the heathen.

William and his family sailed June 13, landing at Calcutta November 10, 1793.The Moravian method of self-support in missions was known to Carey, and he wished to practice it. "At Bandel, on the Hugli, at Calcutta itself, and amid the tiger swamps of the Sunderbund tracts to the east of Calcutta, he made three attempts to preach and toil with his hands at the same time." In addition to soul-winning, Carey founded the Serampore College, and, with the aid of other linguists, he translated the Bible into 44 languages and dialects. In 1817 was begun the missionary training institute, which afterwards grew to a college, and was placed upon the same basis as other colleges of Europe. Through his efforts, the Bible was made available to 300,000,000 people before the American Civil War. He was also instrumental in developing grammars and dictionaries in Bengali, Sanskrit, and other native tongues.

For forty-one years William Carey was spared to labor for the good of India. He outlived nearly all who were associated with him in his prolonged residence, unbroken by any return to England. He died June 9, 1834.

“And (Jesus) said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’ So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”(Mathew 19:5-6)

The commandment “Honor Marriage” is a radical life changing commandment. Many people may think that “honor marriage” begins in the altar by saying the phrase “I do” when, indeed, it begins since our youth, with a preparation, many years before even before knowing our future wife (husband).

I’m a football player, I know that if I get into a football game without having prepared myself fiscally and mentally, I will end up injured and without enjoying the game. In order for this not to happen, first I have to let someone who knows football more than I, prepare me several months before, and also go to the gym, so I can get stronger (even if it hurts) to be ready for the hits of the game and not get injured. Also, I must learn the playbook so whenever I come out to the field I know what to do.

When we apply this commandment, God does these same things for us. God, knowing everything, prepares us and gives us the ability and the power to have a godly marriage and therefore, to have further godly seed. Even if it sometimes hurts us to be trained by Him, (let’s keep in mind that He just wants what’s best for us) He is making us ready for the “hits” of the marriage life. God, during the training, shows us how to conquer several giants in our lives that will damage our marriage if we don’t conquer them now. Such as: anger, lust, greed, bitterness, envy, fear, and guilt. He also gives us the weapons to conquer them. I would like to touch on just two of them.

· Vow of Singleness: helps us not be trying to figure out who’s the person God will give us as wife (husband) and thinking about the other sex in the sensual manner. Instead, this enables us to give God all our youth and strength until He shows us the correct person. Keeping us from fighting against temptations that would become very attractive and difficult to control, enabling us to give God all of ourselves to serve Him with our best; knowing that the rewards He gives are even greater.

· Principle of Authority: in this case, we refer to it as living under the authority of our parents (living under the same roof). When Jesus stated “a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife” (See Mathew 19:5) He said “shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife.” He didn’t put it this way: “shall leave father and mother and go to college”, neither did He say: “…shall go live by his (her) own”, He put the things CRYSTAL CLEAR, “AND SHALL BE UNITED TO HIS WIFE (her husband)”.

Why did He say it so? What happens when we don’t live under the authority of our parents?

1. We are not under God’s protection through our parents.

2. We loose the opportunity to receive their wise counsel.

3. We don’t receive the training that God gives us to be ready for marriage, (because this is normally transmitted through our parents).

4. We don’t receive God’s blessings through our parents, which is fundamental for our lives.

5. We won’t know who the person God designed to be our wife (husband) is. Because God uses our parents to counsel us and confirm who that person is.

So, if we don’t live under the authority of our parents, we are not living the abundant life God wants us to live.

This commandment of Honor Marriage was designed by Jesus so perfectly, that if we follow it the way He indicates, it will prepare us to have a powerful godly life.

Punctuality is, on the surface, rather uncomplicated: not easy perhaps, but simple enough.

“Be where you’re supposed to be, when you’re supposed to be there.”

What is so hard to grasp about that? Nothing. All of us know it merely an art of thinking ahead and planning, giving your self time to prepare your food, getting enough rest, having your clothes cleaned and pressed. So that when we tell some one that we will be there we are there, appropriately dressed, fed and in our right mind.

Although we place great importance on punctuality is it perhaps only practice,

Practice in keeping the real appointments of our lives. Let us, for a moment, note the obvious: life is so much more than we see at the first glance.

Life is a mosaic being carefully fitted together by an All Knowing God…a tapestry that He is weaving every day, one thread at a time. We are the threads, the precious stones….

As our great Lord is weaving the masterpiece are we attentive to Him? Have we taken the time to think ahead, to be prepared to meet with Him, to rid ourselves of distractions so that we have the time to be groomed, to be prepared stones, perfectly cut and polished, the threads, vivid, delicate and strong?

We are appalled at the thought of “standing someone up” but why? It shows a major lack of character.

It is proof that something or someone, is or was, more important than the person that we gave our word to.

How many times does this need to happen before it is safe to say that you do not love that person?

In the same way how many times do we need to put God off, failing to meet with Him at appointed

time: “I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.” (Prov.8:17)

in the appointed place: “…before the testimony, where I will meet with you.” (Num.17:4),

before it is safe to say that you don’t love God all that much.

“Some wish to live within the sound of Church or Chapel bell;
I want to run a Rescue Shop within a yard of hell."

That saying was characteristic of C. T. Studd. In 1878, a visiting preacher asked the young man, a well-known cricket player, if he was a Christian. When Studd knelt and thanked God for salvation, peace and joy flooded his soul. Unfortunately, he did not share his faith with others. As a consequence, he became spiritually cold. For six years he lived a life which he described as "backslidden." The love of the world crept in.

In 1883, Studd went to hear Dwight L. Moody speak. His soul was stirred afresh. Immediately, he began to tell others about Christ. Studd would later say that he had tasted all the pleasures of the world, but none gave him so much pleasure as bringing his first soul to trust in Jesus.

Two years later, C. T. Studd sailed for China to join Hudson Taylor as a missionary. He dressed like a Chinese, ate Chinese food, and learned the Chinese language. While in China, he turned twenty-five. Under his father’s will, that is when he would inherit a large sum of money. Reading the Bible and praying, he felt convinced he should give his fortune away to show the world that he relied not on money but on a living Lord. The Lord, he was sure, would bless him a hundred-fold in non-monetary ways and provide him sufficient money to live on. "If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him," he argued.

On this day, January 13, 1887, before he even knew the amount he was to inherit, he wrote several large checks for George Muller’s orphan work and for missions. It turned out there was still some money left. Studd gave it away. He gave the final £3,400 to the woman he was about to marry as a wedding gift. But Priscilla Livingstone Stewart was as sure of God as her husband. She determined to "start clear" at her wedding and gave that sum away, too.

Naturally, they ran short of money often after that. Yet they found God faithfully supplied them. "Funds are low again, hallelujah! That means God trusts us and is willing to leave His reputation in our hands," said C. T. Studd on one such occasion.

The Studds served in China and India and toured in behalf of the Student Volunteer Movement. Leaving his invalid wife in England, C. T. sailed to Africa to open mission work in Sudan, the largest unreached area in the world. In spite of heart attacks, he worked there to the end of his life. Priscilla was able to rejoin him for only one year before she died. Studd became an autocrat who would brook no opposition.

C. T. Studd’s answer to critics who said he went overboard in his zeal was simple:

"How could I spend the best years of my life in living for the honors of this world, when thousands of souls are perishing every day?"

There is no argument that there are many kinds of false prophets in our day. Because they love to disguise themselves, they are sometimes difficult to discern. But one thing is sure,

“Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.” (Matthew 7:16-17)

Have you ever thought about the type of fruit that results from watching movies? As we observe the fruit in our lives, whether good or evil, we might be surprised at how much we are actually influenced by them.

Why would I, as a kid, pretend my bike was a horse, the shed a jail, my hand a pistol, and the backyard a vast expanse of prairie? Was it not the desire to be like the heroes in those wild-west or frontiersmen films?

Did not my younger siblings and I climb all over the house and pretend to accomplish dangerous fetes in an attempt to reenact the accomplishments of mountain-climbers? This kind of fruit is not morally wrong; but it gives you an idea of how much a movie can impact actions.

But then there is the story that my dad tells of when he was a kid, jumping from a 12 foot building because he wanted to be like Superman. The fruit? Hilarious now, but distressing then, the result was a seriously sprained ankle.

I asked a young teenager one time what it was that motivated him to do so much exercise in hopes of being a weightlifter. More or less, the answer was because he wanted to be like so-and-so in this-and-that film who did such-and-such amazing things. Movies have the potential of changing an entire future.

As for myself, I won’t even attempt to count the number of times I’ve quoted some catchy phrase from a movie during a conversation for the sake of being funny. And how many times do I hum a tune or theme engrained in my head from a movie I’ve seen many times before–or even once!

What more needs to be said? Can I go as far as to say that movies have an impact on behavior like no other median of entertainment history has encountered? What movies are impacting us? What are we doing right now because of something we have watched in the past? I’m not saying movies are false prophets; a movie is no more a false prophet than a person is. The point in question is the message being proclaimed. What

fruit is growing, what actions carried out, what words being spoken, what tunes being hummed that have originated from the fact that we have simply seen a movie?

A friend of mine, who was telling me how he had recently decreased the amount of movies he watched, used the following criteria for discerning what movies to keep and which ones to toss out:

What commandments are being broken without consequence?

What violation of a commandment is being condoned?

Does it in any way deride the Trinity?

A few more criterions that have been helpful for me are:

What statements are being made in jest that would otherwise be inappropriate?

What personal convictions are not being upheld?

What standard of music is being condoned?

Is the message worth the time and emotion of watching the movie?

May we be encouraged to discern the false prophets of our day by considering the fruit that is evident in our thoughts, words, and actions!