Tag Archives: great commision

Life or death what do you choose?

Leave a reply

The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. Proverbs 12.18

life or deathA few years ago I got into a random conversation with a stranger, which then ended up being a conversation of hope. I was able to speak hope into the life of this person in a moment of deep despair. 2 Years later I randomly saw this person again and this is what they said: “The words you spoke to me kept going around my mind and encouraged me and helped me to keep moving forward till today and they are still in my memory.” What we say really affects people.

Many times words are said way too easy without thinking of what consequences it would have. But then often words that should be said are not ever said. I think one of the challenges in today’s society is how we talk about others. What words are we using when we talk to and about people in our life? That counts for any person, church, place etc. we talk about or with. One thing that is really key, is for us as Christians to model how we talk with and about others. Are our words uplifting? Are they building the person up that we talk to? Or are they bringing the person down and giving them a wrong perspective of who they truly are?

Let us spend time this week to honestly evaluate our words and see where we need to improve. Let us live like Paul says in Ephesians 4.29: Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

Hey our friend

We hope you had a super wonderful week. Last week my brother visited us from Germany which was a huge blessing. It always so good to see family. We were able to go with him to a wedding in Seattle which was a lot of fun. Remember this week your family and reach out to them.

Walk through this week evaluating your words and if needed improve them so they bring life!

May God bless you

Markus and Jen

The danger of Comparison

Leave a reply

“Comparison is the thief of joy” Theodore Roosevelt

the danger of comparison“My youth group is smaller than the youth group in this other church. I’m worried people in my church start looking at me as a failure.” I heard this sentence or similar ones many times during my years of working with youth Pastors in YWAM. And often it was true, the other church really had a bigger youth group. But are numbers the indicator of success? Many times I noticed that those smaller groups were actually way more connected and often more in love with Jesus then the bigger ones. But again this is not always true either.

One of the big lies the enemy tells us that we have to compare ourselves to others to see our value and our place in life. But reality is when we do that we will always fall short. There will always be someone that is better than us in a specific area. But the reality is, God made each one of us unique, so comparing ourselves takes away the impression God wants to bring to this world through us. We try to become someone we are not. We idolize somebody else because we think they have it more together then us. But when we live the way God made us to be without comparing ourselves to others we actually live a life of more freedom. Not just that we model something to others, but we also give them the freedom to be who they are. I remember a long time ago I was spontaneously dancing with a friend who didn’t like to dance, and when I dance I don’t really care what people think and just have fun. When I did that she was able to do the same and since that moment she loves dancing without fear. Not just that I was totally myself in that moment, but through that I helped her to become totally herself.

I want to challenge and encourage us to take an honest look at our lives and see where we compare ourselves to others. After we know the area we need to ask God to show us how he made us to be and then start living in that.

Hey our friend

We hope you had a super wonderful week. With many different events the week flew by so fast. On the 12th we celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary which was really awesome!! Marriage is such a wonderful thing! Jen also helped this week to plan our YWAM summer Staff retreat which will be awesome. It is exciting to see what God is doing here in the city and how he brings hope to different people just through being in there life. Make sure to be a friend to your neighbors. You will be blessed!!

Don’t forget this week to not compare yourself.

May God bless you

Markus and Jen

Hope and patience

Leave a reply

But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. Romans 8.25

hopeWe live in a society where everything needs to be instant. We want things we order being delivered in the least amount of time, projects we work on need to be done quickly and companies need to be worth billions in a few years. But reality often looks very different. Many times it takes years of patience and not giving up reaching the goal. Often it is not the instant gratification, but it is the hope that keeps us moving forward.

It is the same in your community. You will not bring change if you are not willing to be patient and to stay. If you want to build true relationships and earn the right to share about your faith or anything else you need to be patient. Our community needs to see our faith in action and not just hear us talk about it. But again this requires patience and also hope. Are we hoping that our communities are changed and are we having patience to wait?

I want to challenge us to let God give us a vision for our communities that is greater than us and then to have hope for it to happen. And if you already have a vision stay on track with patience. Don’t give up hope even if things don’t look great. Keep moving forward. Let me remind you God didn’t part the red sea before Moses arrived, He did tell him what to do when he was there!

Hey our friend

We hope you had a fantastic week. What’s new in your life? Last week we shared with a small group about how to be more involved in their community. It was awesome to see how many people got encouraged and challenged through it. On Friday we had a Cinco the Mayo themed game night with neighbors and friends. It was as well a wonderful time. Its amazing to see what can happen when you create a space for community.

We want to encourage you this week to remember to live in patience with an hopeful expectation.

May God bless you

Markus and Jen

Build up your Courage Part 2

Leave a reply

Build up your courage Part 2Last week we talked about how you can build up your courage by reminding yourself about Gods faithfulness in your own life as well as in the lives of the Psalm writers. This week we will share a few more ways that helped us.

When you have a big vision for something it often takes time to achieve it. I remember many times were I was thinking how is this all going to work out. Yes I saw little things happening, but the little things were not totally at the point of making the whole vision happening. So I spent lots of time in Prayer and got encouraged from God to keep going. So Prayer really pushed my courage to a new level.

Another thing I learned to build up courage is to celebrate little achievements along the way. When  you set little milestones along the way that can be achieved and you start celebrating each one of them you will see how it will give you a boost in courage. As an example: Your big goal is to bring hope to your neighborhood. Start off with setting little goals to achieve the big one. Bring hope to one neighbor by encouraging them. After you have done that, celebrate that milestone with a little reward (Chocolate, a movie, ice cream etc.).

2 Steps:

  1. Spend time in Prayer this week and let God give you courage and perspective!
  2. Second split up the way to your big goal in little goals and each time you reach one of the smaller goals celebrate with something little!

Hey our friend

20160425_130754-COLLAGEWow what a week. The Cities conference was amazing!! We had about 34 cities from places like South Africa to India, Mexico and the US represented by about 100 conference attendees. We all felt encouraged to hear from all different places about what they do and share with them about what we do. Many people were inspired and encouraged about the aspect of building community. Again what a wonderful conference week!

Have a blessed week and remember to keep building up your courage!!

Markus and Jen

What matters in your life?

Leave a reply

what matters in your lifeRecently I started reading “love does” by Bob Goff which is a book that really shows how little things matter. I highly recommend to you to read it! One quote that stuck out to me was this one: “I used to be afraid of failing at something that really mattered to me, but now I am more afraid of succeeding at things that don’t matter.”

This is really something to think about. What do we want to say at the end of our life when we look back. Are we working towards what we are actually passionate about with everything we have even with the risk of not succeeding in it, or are we living a life that makes us succeed in things that don’t really matter? Living in San Francisco I meet people that have a passion for God and want to pursue Him, but then choose their job and career over that goal. Some end up succeeding in there career but in the process loose what they really wanted to do. In a world where everything is built on a mentality of always wanting more at whatever price and even at the cost of others it is important to stay true to what we are called to do.

Ask yourself those questions:

  1. Am I living my life towards succeeding in Gods calling for me?
  2. If not where do I have to make adjustments?
  3. How can I become even more effective in the things that matter?

Hey our friend

During this week we had a wonderful game night which brought many people from the community together. It’s a great way to meet new people and have a fun time together. Think about what you can do in your community.

Thank you for partnering with us and the work here in San Francisco. You are a true blessing to us. May God bless you richly.

Markus and Jen