Friday, June 15, 2012

Called to Serve with Reckless Abandon

I really love, enjoy, and admire Dale and Lynn Lynam for their friendship, their life and their passion for Jesus Christ.  Last fall, it was a great privilege to spend the weekend with Dale and a few others at the 2011 Desiring God Conference, FINISH THE MISSION.   At one point during that conference Dale looked at me and with all seriousness and in the most sober, holy, intonation said, "I'm gone."    He had to repeat for me and then explain.  He was gone for the sake of the name of Jesus.  He intended to pursue the foreign field whatever and however he could.  It was a life moment one never forgets.

Pursuing this goal, Dale has been accepted by the Center For Pioneer Church Planting, the training school associated with "To Every Tribe."   And so now with Dale and Lynn and family we are waiting on the Lord for the support they need. 

It is my privilege to share below, the following letter, written by the Lynam's which gives glory to God, tells God's Gospel and the providential arm of God in delivering them from the Kingdom of Darkness to HIS Glorious light.

If after reading Dale's story below and sensing perhaps God leading you to join with Dale in making much of JESUS before those who have never heard feel free to contact him at the following email address:  ejnjh1308@yahoo.com


Please let me introduce you to my good friends, Dale and Lynn Lynam.  

Dear Friends and Family,
    Our family has some exciting and life changing news!  We will be moving to Los Fresnos, TX this August, as Dale has been accepted to go to school at The Center for Pioneer Church Planting (CPCP) with To Every Tribe ministries. In this letter we hope to tell you about this journey. Please read to see why we would even consider going on this journey.
   
    Bound in chains, slave to sin, in love with darkness and so afraid of the light. My days full of iniquities and I drown them out with the bottle, drugs, or through many other sinful ways. Who can rescue me from this life of sinful destruction? There is only one answer to the question, that answer is Jesus the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Jesus said I am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6).  

So, why Jesus? Why do we need forgiveness from sins? Let's take a quick journey back to the beginning. See, there is this great God, who created everything through His word. This God created the heavens, the earth, all the animals, and mankind. When God created everything he said it was very good. Then God gave dominion to Adam and Eve to tend the garden, to be over all the animals, creatures and everything that was created by God. God gave them a command to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, if they do they will be cursed and surely die. 

See, God is so good, He wants us to love him freely, and not by making us love Him. I think that is why He tested Adam and Eve. Meanwhile Adam and Eve were chillin', naming the animals, tending the garden,and living in the presence of God. So everything is good, right? Then came the serpent who was cunning and evil, he tempted Eve by twisting Gods words saying, "Did God really say?"  Eve ate and gave to her husband, Adam, who was with her. Their eyes being opened, they saw they were naked and tried clothing themselves and hiding from God. 

There is some things about God you should know, first is that He is holy and righteous, there is only perfectness in God and no sin. God hates sin and just can't overlook it, God is not like humans in character and His thoughts are unattainable.  Adam and Eve fell and Adam being  our representative brought the curse on all of mankind. Now we continue to live against God until this day. One day God is going to come back and judge the earth.  We also will be judged for our wickedness and damned to hell. Sounds pretty bad right? But God who is rich in grace and mercy, sent His only begotten Son Jesus , who came down from the heavens, took on human flesh, and lived a perfect sinless life. Jesus was hung on a cross. While on that cross God the Father crushed him for our sins and Jesus took those sins and absorbed the wrath of God due us by suffering for our sin, for His people, those the Father had given Him, from every tribe, tongue and nation. Jesus died on that cross and was buried, but He didn't stay dead. On the third day He defeated death and rose from the grave. He was seen by over 500 hundred eyewitnesses. So now Jesus is alive and is seated at the right hand of the Father!  He is there to make intercession for us. So by repenting and turning from our sins through faith in Jesus, we can be freed from the darkness and be in His marvelous light and have eternal life. 

There is much more that could be said, so God has given us the Bible. You don't have to take my word for it, you can read it for yourself. If you have any questions please contact us. As you can see we need forgiveness from sins and that only comes through Jesus the Savior of the world.  God who is so kind has allowed us the privilege to be a part of his plan to reach and save the lost by sharing the Gospel of Christ. He uses broken vessels to plant and water seeds. God has given us a command in the Bible to go and share this message. Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. There are many other verses in the Bible that tell us to share the gospel and to support those that go out to advance His kingdom. We are writing this today because the Lord of glory has laid it upon our hearts to go to people that are held in the darkness by Satan and need the gospel of Jesus to set them free. In this letter, we hope to communicate to you what our plans are, why we are going, and our need to partner with others to share in the advancement of the Gospel.

HOW DID WE GET HERE?
    How did all of this happen and what will happen?  The Lord transformed my life and my family's a little over 3 years ago. When He saved me, He took out my heart of stone and gave me a heart of flesh. Shortly after getting saved the Lord started putting a burden on my heart for the nations. He continued to use means to pour gas on the fire, such as having a missionary spend little over a year at our church, His commands in the Bible,and reading books. Then in September of 2011, I attended (along with some peeps of mine) the Desiring God National Conference Finish the Mission. It was pretty much over from there. I was pumped up and ready to go. While at that conference, there was a speaker there named David Sitton, who is the founder of To Every Tribe, and he had a little bit of a passion, or a lot of passion to see the Gospel spread . After the conference, man, I was on fire and didn't want to just come home and return to the normal life of working, being a husband, a dad,(which are all great things) and leave that fire to simmer. From there I started contacting different mission organizations. 

WHO IS "TO EVERY TRIBE?"
    We were invited to an open house for the To Every Tribes school program,  The Center for Pioneer Church Planting (CPCP). You can learn more about both by visiting the web sites http://toeverytribe.com/ and http://www.centerforpioneerchurchplanting.com. We enjoyed the open house and the people at the school. We came home, applied and were accepted to join the CPCP this fall starting in August. In early August we will be leaving our home and family in Sioux City, IA and moving to Los Fresnos, TX. What a sad and joyous day that will be.  I (Dale) will be in the 2 year training program at CPCP. Where I will spend time in the class learning theology, cross-cultural issues, team building, dental training, first aid and learning to share the biblical account in story telling in order to share with other cultures. Around 40% of the time will be training in the field with experienced church planters in Mexico also there will be a trip or two to Papua New Guinea.

HOW CAN YOU PARTNER WITH US?
    There are several ways that you could come alongside us in this journey. First and most importantly, our family will need prayer. We need prayer for the packing up and moving ourselves and 5 kids from our friends and family and the only area Lynn and the kids have ever known, but Jesus is worth it! We need Prayer for the emotional, physical, and spiritual battles of moving, attending school, short term trips and growing in our walk with the Lord. This is not something we can do without prayer. Also very important is the cost. The tuition for 2 years is $13,750 or $12,375 if paid in full prior to arrival . We will have monthly rent of $625 and anywhere from about $90-$130 for electric. Also we will have to pay for insurance, food and other standard living expenses for the 7 of us. Our prayer and desire is to do this in partnership with you and from our end we will send out newsletters, prayer requests as well as praying for you, and sharing in the joy of the advancement of the Gospel.  We would like to ask you to prayerfully consider being part of our support team in bringing the Gospel of peace to the lost. Please contact us to learn more about To Every Tribe and how you can support us monthly or give a one time gift. Also you can donate online monthly or one-time  at  http://www.toeverytribe.com/ select donate on top and from the drop down you can select Dale and Lynn Lynam. All donations are tax deductible and all gifts are a blessing to us no matter how big or small. Thank you for your prayers, time and resources.


                    By His grace, for His glory

            May the Love of Christ shine upon you, 
            Dale and Lynn Lynam 
            Our Email address:  ejnjh1308@yahoo.com

Saturday, June 9, 2012

The Most Terrifying Truth

While having breakfast with my brother in Christ, Dale, the Tuesday before last, he described a sermon he had listened preached by Paul Washer, missionary and founder of Heart Cry ministries.   Dale's words in quoting Paul Washer went deep, and returned frequently to my thoughts, in fact several fruitfull conversations came of them.   So thus encouraged I found the excerpt linked below, and transcribed the words.   As you read them, I might point out that it was the use of the word "good" instead of the expected "holy" that was most instrumental in impressing me with the truth described:

“Let me put it this way,…. just to cut straight to the chase, …let me tell you the most terrifying thing… that I can possibly tell you,… THE  most terrifying truth that I can speak to you…. Are you ready? …Here it is. … The most terrifying thing that I can tell you,… a man,… a woman,… a child, is this:  God …is good.  I said that a few years ago over in Europe when I was preaching at a secular university,… I said, IF you want to get down to it, the most terrifying news for man is this, God is good.  And someone kind of  laughed and said basically, ‘And what’s the problem with that?’ The problem with that.. is you’re not good.  Now… what does a good God do with someone like you.  ….That is the greatest theological and philosophical problem in all the Scripture.  God is good and that is terrifying.”  

Transcript taken from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeIIl44hi8Y

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Preaching the Gospel to Yourself Everyday


Bunyan gives an excellent example of "Preaching the Gospel to oursevles everyday" as he finds liberty and joy in the IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS of our Lord Jesus Christ.

"One day, as I was passing in the field, and that too with some dashes of my conscience, fearing lest yet all was not right, suddenly this sentence fell upon my soul, Thy righteousness is in heaven; and methought withal, I saw, with the eyes of my soul, Jesus Christ at God's right hand; there, I say, as my righteousness; so that wherever I was, or whatever I was adoing, God could not say of me, He wants my righteousness, for that was just before Him. I also saw, moreover, that it was not my good frame of heart that made my righteousness better, nor yet my bad frame that made my righteousness worse; for my righteousness was Jesus Christ Himself, the same yesterday, to-day and for ever. Now did my chains fall off my legs indeed, I was loosened from my afflictions and irons . . . now went I also home rejoicing, for the grace and love of God."

If you have never read I would suggest you find a copy of the book, "Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners" Bunyans own autobiograhpy from which this quote is taken.  I'm due for another reading myself, and it is one of the few books I think my own dear wife has read multiple times.  
Online vesion: click here 
Kindle Version: click here  free from Amazon