Sacrifice and the Christian Life

As many of you know, part of AMG International's worldwide ministry includes a publishing company. Each month, AMG publishes a magazine called Pulpit Helps. www.pulpithelps.com
In this month's issue, I found the following article entitled "Sacrifice and the Christian Life". I enjoyed reading it and thought I would share it with you all on our blog. I hope it speaks to you as it did to me:

Sacrifice and the Christian Life
By Justin Lonas 5/9/08


The Christian life has always included struggles against sin. Even Paul confessed to this (Romans 7:15). We understand that our sin natures are not completely cast aside until we die or the Lord returns, and, as such, that we are still capable of disobedience. This fact does not absolve us of the responsibility to do God’s will, however, and certainly doesn’t preclude God from delivering us from our sins.

In 1 Peter 4:1-2, Peter puts an interesting spin on our fight against the sin nature: “Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.”

From this, it is clear that contemporary notions of the “victorious Christian life” miss the point entirely. Our task is not to “beat” the sin in our lives, but rather to focus on our calling and allow the Lord to handle our sanctification. Peter’s point appears to be that when we take on the sufferings of Christ (contextually, persecution for the faith), we cease from sin precisely because suffering sharpens our focus—the things of the world fade quickly under such circumstances.

The larger themes of Peter’s letter (indeed, of the New Testament) are that suffering comes to Christians for the greater glory of God, and that it usually takes two forms—to wake us from our selfish desires and bring us to God’s will (as C.S. Lewis said, “Pain is God’s megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”) or as proof that we are indeed following the Lord (1 Peter 4:12-19). Peter’s goal in telling of the unavoidability of suffering is to motivate us to living sacrificially for Christ.
The concept of a sacrificial life that was so central to the teaching of Christ and the apostles is severely lacking in the Western church today. We are not called to be blessed, to live victoriously, or to focus on inward spirituality. Rather we are called to take up the cross (Luke 9:23, Matthew 16:24), to offer ourselves as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1-2), and to allow Christ to determine our actions (Philippians 2:5). Simply put, if our Lord and Savior would give His own life for us, why would we not give our all for Him? As Bonhoeffer put it, “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.”

What is meant by sacrifice? In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word zebach (literally “slaughter”) is translated as “sacrifice”. This is clearly rooted in the Jewish system of animal sacrifice for atonement, and speaks of finality (something sacrificed cannot be reclaimed). This same word is also used figuratively, as in Psalm 51:16-17 “For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.” It is clear, then, that God’s desire is for a life laid down with no reservations and devoted completely to Him.

In the New Testament, the Greek word for sacrifice is thusia, which has connotations of complete incineration (also, obviously implying finality). This word is used by Christ when he speaks of His own sacrifice, and throughout the epistles to mean that which we offer freely to God. Such sacrifices can take many forms. They can be physical gifts to the ministry (Philippians 4:18), expressions of gratitude through worship (giving up the idea that we provide for ourselves, as in Hebrews 13:15), the work we do in the Spirit (1 Peter 2:5), or the forsaking of the way of the world to be like Christ (Ephesians 5:2).

Therefore, through the Bible, we see sacrifice commanded by God as a reminder of guilt and a foreshadowing of His ultimate sacrifice at the cross. By the time of Christ, sacrifice was nothing more than a hollow ceremony—what God really wanted (and, for that matter, always had desired) was submission and loyalty. After Christ, sacrifice takes on the connotation of laying down one’s life to follow Him.

Spiritual disciplines such as fasting, giving, serving, etc. are all tied to the central idea of sacrifice. They bring some level of discomfort to our physical lives, and remove our focus from our own desires so as to strengthen and regenerate our spiritual lives. God’s strength is perfected in our weakness, this will always be the case whether we acknowledge and pursue weakness or He brings us to our knees through suffering. To follow Christ has always meant sacrifice—the disciples left their nets (and their livelihoods), forsaking all to be with Him. Jesus demanded of the rich young ruler to sever his soul from his possessions.

Many believers throughout history have understood and embraced this truth, but the idea that the Christian life is not about us or our comfort is largely lost on today’s Church. We have to stop and examine the myriad ways in which the culture around us has permeated and corrupted our understanding of the faith. The process is so subtle and so complete that we may not even be aware of it just as the fish does not think itself wet. The way out of our humanistic, materialistic, hedonistic mire is through the sacrifice and suffering that Christ calls us to.

That, the scriptures repeatedly tell us, is how God purifies us and prepares us to do His will.




Todos Podemos Mejorar

We can all improve!

For the past year, this has been our training theme here at AMG. We have shared in the past a little about our training program for our employees. This year as part of that training our Niñeras (preschool teachers and helpers) have the opportunity to participate in a training program to receive certification for their jobs. This certification program will be attended by 30 of our Niñeras this year here in Guatemala City. For the program they attend classes 20 hours each month for six months. Two weeks ago, 15 of our Niñeras completed the training and graduated. Not only will this better equip them for their work, but also helps them to build their credentials for the future.
During the graduation, one of the dignitaries who spoke said this about AMG:
"I want to thank AMG International for the work they are doing with the children here in Guatemala, not only here in the city but all around the country. You are changing Guatemalan generations and I want to encourage the organization to continue in their work. Thank you AMG!"
Congratulation ladies!

Recent Storms

Dear Friends,

Here in Guatemala, rainy season has arrived with a much stronger presence than usual. First, it was kicked off a few weeks ago by tropical despression "Alma" which blanketed several countries in Central America with several days of heavy rains. It didn't take long before the ground was saturated and we began to experience the first "deslaves", or mudslides, of the season. Once rainy season begins here in Guatemala (usually end of May, beginning of June) it rains nearly every afternoon. This past week, we had several days of downpours in the afternoons and there were a few days of high winds as well. This resulted in a tragedy here at the Guatemala City dump as well as some destruction at our AMG central office. Please take the time to look at the following link from the news so you will understand what takes place at Central America's largest dump here in the city. The link is: http://www.javno.com/en/world/clanak.php?id=158162

There is also a video at this link to give you a look at what transpired. Several people who make their living picking trash that they can resell lost their lives when the rains caused a landslide at the dump. The picture below shows you how these people do this. Note the man in the center of the photo amidst all the trash.

During the same day, the rain and wind caused a tree to fall at our central office. We have a parking area where we keep several of our mission vehicles and where a few of our employees who are fortunate to own cars also park during the day. When the tree fell, two of our employee's cars were crushed, as was our carport. The photos below show some of the destruction.

This is the carport that was destroyed when the tree fell:



The next two photos are of Ruth's car, she is our office administrator.





And this is Alfredo's car. He is one of our maintenance workers.



Please pray for Ruth and Alfredo. Both of their cars are destroyed. We are working with our insurance companies and theirs, but it does not look like much will be paid out for these losses.
Storms are part of our lives and affect us in so many different ways. They certainly remind us of the power of God. How important it is for us to trust the Lord to help us through the storms. He is always faithful.
We would appreciate you praying for these things.
Much love in Christ,

The Hastings









Melody's Graduation








Melody's High School Graduation

May 24, 2008





Hello Everyone,

Often times we share things about the ministry on our blog - blessings, challenges, prayer requests, etc. Today we'd like to share about a personal blessing. Last Saturday our daughter Melody graduated from the Christian Academy of Guatemala. Since we moved here in 2004, Mel attended CAG for her 4 years of high school. CAG is a private Christian school with about 250 students that caters mostly to MK's but also has a population of Guatemalan students as well as students from other countries who's families live here. In Mel's graduating class of 22 there were students from 9 different countries. What a blessing it has been for our kids to attend a school like CAG that has a Christian perspective and such an international representation. CAG is an ACSI school (Asssociation of Christian Schools International) and classes are mostly taught in English but all of the students learn Spanish and of course students from different countries also speak their own languages. So it's not uncommon when "hanging around" at CAG to hear kids talking in Spanish, English, Korean and other languages.

Melody's graduation class: We did it!!!
















Mel with her friend Gaby, class Valedictorian. Melody, Adam and Jesse.






















As many of you know, Melody has a love for music. She had the privilege of singing during the graduation ceremony. She chose to sing a Nicole Nordeman song called "Every Season".

You may be wondering what the next year will bring for Melody. After much discussion and prayer about her future, Mel has decided to attend a music academy here in Guatemala - Instituto CanZion. CanZion was founded in 1994 and is a Christian music institute that offers a 2 year program in music studies. Melody is going to see how the first year goes and then decide from there. She will be studying in Spanish which will definitely be a challenge for her. She and Robin and 2 friends are starting language school again tomorrow and will study full time for the month of June to help Melody prepare for studying in Spanish. Her classes at CanZion begin on July 14th. We'd sure appreciate your prayers for a smooth transition and for her Spanish.

Each year all of the seniors are given 2 pages in the yearbook to display pictures and to write a "will". I'd like to close with the last few lines of Melody's will, written to her Lord and Savior:

"My Sweet Jesus; You are my life, my strength, and my song; I truly would be nothing without You and the amazing love You've shown me. Everything I do and say is for You...and I pray that You are pleased with what I've given You, even though I know it will never be enough. I love You...unto You be all the glory".