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- Written by: Don Goulding
The Hungarian countryside was like those repeating backgrounds in cartoons. In a hamlet of tile roofed houses, we negotiated a horse plodding before a cart heaped with manure. Regaining the open road, we passed a farmer and his smock clad wife pitchforking compost around verdant crops. Then the scenes repeated with humorous predictability.
The key to Hungary’s agricultural triumph is organic fertilizer. While other countries spew chemicals, Hungarians have mastered the art of repurposing animal waste. I say it’s an art because spread too thinly the plants starve, whereas an application that’s too thick burns crops under the potency.
Raising up a harvest of salvation is much the same. In Hungary, and in other places, I’ve witnessed the impact of using monetary resources to support the gospel. If insufficient funds are given, God’s message starves. If money is indiscriminately heaped on, the gospel burns under materialism.
Not too thin, not too thick, simply means that in addition to sending finances, I also work alongside the locals. I am undeservedly privileged to spend time in their world. What a blessing to know the true artists of gospel fertilizer whom I can support with prayer, finances, and encouragement.
Prayer: Lord of the harvest, it is an honor to pray and pay for workers.
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- Written by: Don Goulding
So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way from home his father saw him, and his heart went out to him; he ran and hugged his son and kissed him. (Luke 15:20)
“Eroni, don’t go so high or you’ll fall,” I said to my four-year-old pal. He was swinging dangerously high in our hammock on the porch in the Fijian rainforest.
A few minutes later Eroni hit the deck. There was a silence while he gathered air to bellow his pain.
Eroni didn’t need to hear, “I told you so.” The hard knock from his fall was reminder enough of his error. I scooped the lad up and he sniffled against my shoulder. It was his way of saying, “Forgive me.”
What the prodigal son, young Eroni, and I all have in common is that when we sin, God rushes to forgive. Even before we grasp the depth of our folly, divine pardon is applied.
Maturity in Christ means I will come to recognize my sinfulness, but the path to that knowledge starts with forgiveness. The result of grace is that when my full confession and repentance finally come, as they must, they’re genuinely from the heart.
God’s restoration frees me from hiding my guilt out of fear of judgement. Instead, I can admit my sin and resist it. There is a deep spiritual principle at work here. Forgiveness yields increased holiness where condemnation so often fails.
Prayer: Father, thank you for your swift and complete forgiveness.
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- Written by: Don Goulding
Jesus replied, “You say that I am a king. For this reason I was born, and for this reason I came into the world - to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” (John 18:37)
I woke and heard large molars crunching food on the other side of the nylon tent. I was nervous about our first camping trip in Africa, and sounds grew ominous in the black of night. Everything was on the menu for something else.
By morning light, the spore (nice word for poo), confirmed our nocturnal visitor was only a vegetarian eland. I was relieved that nothing had been hungry enough to eat sour, old white guy.
Among humans there are differences in our appetite for truth. Some only want truth when it brings personal gain. Others crave truth no matter the cost to temporal self. We range from animalistic snackers to Spirit hungry gorgers.
In the Gospels, Jesus speaks shocking truths that I often water down with my interpretations. I take “lose your life,” and “turn the other cheek,” and make them into irrelevant metaphors. Read as literal commands, they’re too potent for my delicate palate.
Jesus is the embodiment of truth. He not only speaks absolute truth, but he also carries my falsehood to his cross. Thus, he encourages my desire for more unvarnished reality. I want to feast in the Bible, and swallow its truth into who I am.
Prayer: King Jesus, make me a truth eater.