BondServant
News
October 2002
A Newsletter by the Anton
Osoinach Family...
Hopes
for Others
Arad, România
osoinach@xnet.ro
I
wrote
this as an email to a few friends last year right after September
11th.
I hope that all who read it will be challenged to a deeper service
for the King.
Benjamin
Kamikazes
for the Lord
This
recent tragedy was only able to be accomplished by one thing...the
pilots. What besides hate inspired these men to kill Americans? Do
you think they just didn't like America? No, there was a much
deeper reason...their faith. They had been taught from youth that
all those who were not Moslem were hell-bound heretics and that
killing a heretic was a great step towards heaven for
themselves. The love of “god” and their faith inspired these
men to lose their own lives to kill others.
Now
I would like to say that one of the biggest parts of this tragedy
is something that had nothing to do with the Moslems or the Middle
East. It has to do with the “bride of heaven.” This tragedy
comes in the form of a question: Who do you know right
now who would be willing to go
to a foreign land where he knows
that he will be killed
to tell them about the Gospel? How many do you know? How many of
us say that one day we’ll be “clothed in white with crowns on
our heads?” For what? Oh, I didn’t kill anybody. I didn’t
blaspheme the Holy Spirit. Bravo. Now, what have
you done?
When
we get to heaven God will not just ask us what we didn’t do, but
what we did do. Were you separate from the world? Were you
striving to be holy? The "bride of heaven" has fallen
asleep in the light and soon it will be too late. How many of us
(including me) would be willing to walk right into a country,
right into a place where sure death is waiting to tell others the
good news of the Gospel? Very few. "A faith not worth dying
for is not worth living for."
Where
has the flame of the apostles gone? Where is the love for souls?
What keeps us from going to unreached,
unloved, forgotten countries of the world and preaching the Gospel
to the nations even in the face of sure death?
Where
is our first love? He hasn’t left us. We have left Him. Have we
decided that our way is better? Or that His promise to be with us
wherever we go gives us the right to do as we please because we
believe He is with us? It’s not true.
There
is, I guess you could say, a mountain that stands between the
church and revival: a mountain of fear, hate and stubbornness. A
mountain of hate where there should be love. A mountain of sorrow
where there should be joy. A mountain of fear and confusion where
there should be peace. A mountain of impatience where there should
be patience. A mountain of free living where there should be
self-control. A mountain of self-love (“do good to
yourself…you deserve it!”) where there should be goodness and
a denial of what we want and a desire for what He wants. A
mountain of selfishness where there should be caring. A mountain
of unkindness and harsh words where there should be kindness and
peace.
We
are lacking the fruits of the Spirit. Some people like to talk
about the gifts of the Spirit.
They are a blessing from God. If we say we are full of the
gifts yet are full of the world, then something is missing. Jesus
said we would be known by our fruits, not by our gifts. The gifts
of the Spirit are good, but the fruits of the Spirit are
excellent. If I have the gift of tongues, prophecy or
healing and have not the fruits of faith, hope, and love it
profits nothing.
So
now a challenge. Are we willing to be
"kamikazes for the Lord?" To
be a kamikaze for the Lord doesn’t mean
that
you have to go to a
foreign land and die for the Gospel. You can be a living sacrifice
every day! (Romans 12:1,2)
You can die to yourself every
day. What in the world does that mean? It means do what’s
best for others, not what’s best for you. Serve others. Do
what’s right even if it hurts. Please,
God even if it makes you unpopular. Because in doing these things
you will find real life…one that’s a lot deeper and more
valuable than this life could imagine.
So,
are we ready to be “kamikazes for the Lord” every day at home,
at work, at school or in some foreign and dangerous field? That's
what the apostles and martyrs were and that’s what I’m
striving to be.
Praise Report
Anne’s
mom Jean has had her surgery and is recovering speedily.
Anne’s
Uncle Herby is undergoing some chemotherapy in preparation for
surgery and his lymph nodes appear cancer free.
Contact
Information
Please
go to Contact Info Page... Thank
You!
