Day 65, Budapest

As the clock counts down and the days are peeled from the calendar, I look back at my time here, and the time I have left, and feel unprepared for the outreach we are about to set out on. The more I learn and see, the more I realize how much I dont really know, and how much I really haven't seen. This week we were taught by a man named Ronnie Stevens, the pastor of a local church here in Budapest. The importance of the Word was shone in a new light to me.

We cannot appreciate the cross until we understand our need for the cross. We have grown up in a world of limited attention, we cannot be effective missionaries (Christians) unless we soak ourselves in the Word. In the physical world...the world around us, we have directions in 2D (basically). We can go 360 degrees, left, right, straight, back,....and yet we get even confused with this and lose ourselves (physically). How many of us have gotten lost before? All of us. Especially Ryan Shelton. Hehe, sorry bud, couldn't resist. In the spiritual realm of things, it is 3D. Its like a sphere, and our directions are infinite. How can we know which direction to go? The Word...its a map. We talked about interpreting the Bible, how to really see what God is saying. We looked at both ends of the spectrum. People who interpret the scripture too loosely, and then the legalists. Legalists are people who make up rules in the Bible, people who get more pleasure out of talking about what they have given up for God more than what God has given up for them.

We looked at the way that the god of this world twists scripture, adds and takes away from it, and tries to get us to question the character of God. In Genesis 3, the serpent tries to sow doubt into Eve. He says, "Did God really say, 'you cannot eat from ANY tree in the garden?" God didnt say ANY tree, he said a specific tree. The serpent tries to make God look unreasonable, Eve also adds by saying "and not touch it". God didnt say not to touch it.
The serpent inflicts doubt, and tries to inflict unreasonableness into the character of God. In Genesis 3:4, the serpent makes it look like God is insecure, and that God doesnt want them to be like Him. Not only is that a lie, but its the opposite of the truth!! Another thing to look at, is Adam and Eve didnt eat the fruit because they were hungry. Forbidding that fruit didnt deny a need or even a desired want....they ate the fruit because they believed a lie about God. How many times do we swallow the fruit because we believe a lie about God?

What is fruit anyway? This fleshy thing thats comes from a green thing usually, and more than often tastes good, except tomatoes. But really, what is it? How can we "bare fruit". What does that even mean? We usually cut off unexpected growths from our bodies, so it must be a spiritual thing. Fruit is excess life. In its essence....it is life that a tree cannot consume, so it produces a vessel to store that life. So if we are the tree, somehow there has to be life flowing through us to produce this "excess life". There are two ways to allow living water to pass through you. How do we do this? Like a pipe? That gets water from A to B pretty quickly, but the pipe is unaffected by the water...or if it is, its in a bad way. What about a tree? As living water passes through the tree, the tree is affected, it changes the tree, and it bares fruit and flowers. Thats how I want to be a vessel for living water....is it a choice? Is it possible to be like a pipe? Will God use us to transport living water like a pipe if we choose to not transport it like a tree? I dont know. Any insight?.....

I heard about two types of flight ratings for pilots. Visual Flight Rating (VFR) and Instrument Flight Rating (IFR). VFR tests how a pilot flies when they can visually see where they are, and where they are going, when there is no cloud cover, no moonless nights.....and IFR tests how pilots fly when they cannot see.....when they are disoriented....but use their instruments to guide them and keep them safe. We have our instrument, the Word of God, and our relationship, discernment, and Godly conscience....but how many times do we not use these instruments and trust our senses and the words of the enemy when we cannot see.....Eve trusted her senses and the words of the serpent over the instruction of God...

I wish I could share all of the things I have learned this week that have totally blown my mind about reading the Word, and recognizing the truth in it...but it would take forever, and time is something I cant spare in excess. Maybe I will take some time when I return to you, to speak to you about these things. The Bible is like a beautiful woman...you never look at an amazingly gorgeous woman and then say, "Oh, I've already looked at her." No, you want to look more, you haven't seen all you want, just like the Bible, you have to keep looking...sorry for the example. It made sense though. I wish I could sit here all day and share these things with you, I'm waiting to explode all these things that have changed my life with you guys, so you too may experience the same thing, the same change.

I love you guys, and I DID have an amazing Thanksgiving, thanks for asking, for all of you who sent me e-mails. Its great to hear from you all.