Hey our friend

We hope you had a wonderful week. Ours was great here in San Francisco and we finally got back in the total swing of things. On Saturday we were invited to a book release party of a friend from the neighborhood. It was a great opporturnity to get connected with more people that live here.

It is also exciting to see all the people again and minister. Please pray for us and our students that the children, adults, and any person we get in contact with will see Jesus in us. Please pray that for all Christians around the world.

Why is Christian Community important?

“I love Jesus but I hate the church.” A phrase that I heard many times over the years from different people.

I think that this is a paradox. How can you hate something that Jesus called into life through Peter? I don’t think that would a good idea. But let’s look at the facts why a church/ Christian community is so important.

First of all a church is a place of discipleship. I wrote about this 2 weeks ago so click on this link to see more what it was about.

Another important point is that when you are in a Christian community you have people that truly care about you and also deeply know you. They hopefully see all sides of you. Sometimes it is hard for us to see what we are gifted in, but by being a part of a community others sometimes see clearer. When I think back, I saw many times how fellow YWAM’ers called out gifting’s they saw in me and after I knew them I was able to grow in them. Now God can use me in a different capacity than before. That is true for each one of us.

But it is also true for wrong things in our life. When you drive a car and you look in the side mirror, there is always a blind spot in which you can’t see. There are often things that we do because of wrong things we learned in the past (read last week’s blog on that topic). But in a community where we have a loving relationship with each other, people can call those things out in us and we are able to see them and work on them. They can also keep us accountable in the process to keep us moving forward.

The church is also a place of Refreshment. Spending time with other Christians and hearing how God is working in their life is a really life giving thing and it encourages us in our heart. It is also great to share about challenges we face in sharing our faith. Through that we can learn from each other.

So when you look at Church you see the need of it. I want to encourage you to read the book of acts, to see how church worked in that time. So get involved in your church community.

Have a blessed week

Markus and  Jen

Hey our friend

We hope you had a wonderful week. We got back to San Francisco last week. We had an amazing time in Pennsylvania and felt blessed with meeting many and get the opportunity to share with 3 churches. Last Sunday we shared with a church that supported us for years and after we shared for about 10 mins we had another worship time during which the Pastor asked us if we could have a question answer and also sharing time. We did and people in the church as well as the 2 of us got really encouraged by the way God showed up.

After we got back we both got sick which was a real bummer. Please keep our health in your prayers since it seems to be the area were we get mostly attacked in. Thank you for partnering with us in Prayer and financially in this ministry. You are a true blessing!

Each one is needed!

When we look at the world today we see many people that don’t know Jesus. But we also see many people that became Christians but have no one who disciples them and who they can learn from and then fall away from God. Many times we just put that role onto the Pastor of the church, but the truth is it can’t be the job of only the pastor to disciple people.

Jesus discipled his disciples and then send them to disciple others. And all of them went for it. They did it by preaching the gospel and helping people in whichever way they needed help (Mark 16.20).

It is important for each one of us to live our faith on a daily base and help others to grow in it too. That looks different for each one of us since each of us is gifted in a different way, but it all comes down to that people need to see Jesus in each one of us.

If we want to see this world reached for Jesus and we want to see change we have to all do it. Each of us has to do their part.

We can’t just consume church; we have to be the church.

We were never meant to just go to church Sunday after Sunday and then do our own thing for the rest of the week. Church is the place to be filled, but then that filling has to be given away during the week. I promise you that when you start doing that, you will grow in your faith and your relationship with God, and you will also see others around you grow.

Look at your life this week and think about people that are around you that you can disciple. It might be the alpha graduate that just became a Christian and has many questions or it might be the man who has been a Christian all his life but is stuck. Start making a difference.

Have a blessed week

Markus and Jen

Hey our friend

We hope your first weeks in this new year were wonderful. Join us this year in Prayer for Gods work in this world, like San Francisco or your town. You can bring change through praying!!

What wastes your time?

I heard it many times from different people that they don’t have time for God. But I believe that there is a solution to that. I think all of us experienced at one point or another how we come out of a moment realizing that we just spend hours on something we only wanted to spend minutes on. It is frustrating when that happens, since we add extra stress to all of our other projects which really needed that time. I think in today’s society it is very easy to waste time, like spending a while on the internet, watching TV, Facebook etc. And it is ok to do those things from time to time or for a purpose, but it is not Ok to do them always as time filler. As an example it’s ok to check Facebook email and the news, but you don’t have to do it 10 times a day.

Let’s assume you waste 1 hour per day for the rest of your life and you live to be 80 you wasted 5 years of your life.

Do you see how much time that opens up for you? Now imagine you use those five years to make a difference in this world and go into fulltime ministry. Or you can use half of that time to spend extra time with God and the other half to bring Jesus to the people around you. I promise, you will see a huge difference in your community as well as your own relationship with God.

I want to challenge you with this to think about the things that waste your time. Then come up with an action plan on how to eliminate them. Have someone in your life that asks the right questions, or do it with someone together so both fight their way through. Also set up dedicated times where you will use the certain things. Don’t just use them at random times. But the most important thing your mindset has to change. As an example don’t even think about to go on your choice of time waste by saying I will only go there for 5 minutes, because you know it won’t happen. So instead of going to the time waste, spend time in prayer to pray for neighbors or people around you.

I know this is a challenge, but it is possible and it can change. Just go for the change.

Have a blessed week

Markus and Jen

Hey our friend

We hope you had a wonderful start into the new year. We are still in Pennsylvania sharing with friends, churches, family about what God is doing in San Francisco. Pray for our time that God really encourages and challenges people through our sharing.

We also launched our new website oficially on January 1st., which you are on right now. Many thanks to our friend Shane Fryer for making this possible. You are the best!!

A small act of Kindness can bring hope and joy

A little while ago I was on my way to a meeting. While walking there I saw a older man who was carrying 2 heavy boxes. I asked him if I can help him with carrying one of them. He couldn’t believe that I would help him. He needed to go anyway to a place that was along my way to the meeting and some extra arm exercise doesn’t hurt anyone. The joy on his face was amazing. His face literally changed from looking sad to total joyIt is so interesting how a moment of caring can change the outlook of someones day. The great thing about this is that all of us can do it. We don’t have to start a huge ministry or speak at a church to bring the love of God to people. We can do little things for people when they don’t expect it. Mother Teresa said this:

“Not all of us can do great things. But all of us can do small things with love. “

I would say that little things done with love are by far greater then great things done without love. Lets bless people around us and show them who our King is!!

Have a blessed week

Markus and Jen

http://youtu.be/TmKKaf2F6uk