Tag Archives: Hero

What you do MATTERS!

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 “I believe that God made me for a purpose. But he also made me fast. When I run I feel his pleasure.” Eric Liddle

what you do mattersLast week we wrote about the movie Chariots of fire and I want to elaborate a little bit more on that. Again it was 2 runners that both ran in the Olympics. Eric was born to parents who were missionaries, but he felt God gave him this gift of running. So he decided to run for Gods Glory. He decided that the area in which he was really good at he would be able to bring the Gospel in a new way by living it right there. He used that gift that God gave him in a nontraditional ministry setting. But reality is we should never separate sacred and secular.

A job as a missionary or a Pastor is not more sacred then working in business or in any other job. When we separate the two we make one job more valuable than the other and with that one person becomes the one to look up to and the other the one to look down on. But reality is that each job done for the Glory of God is valuable. Do you think Paul was less valuable as a man of God when he made tents then when he preached? He was as valuable because he was doing things for the Kingdom of God. He was providing places for people to be save from the weather. And I am sure he was able to share with many tent makers about his faith while making the tent. He would have not been able to share with them if he would have not made tents and use the gift God gave Him in this area.

And that is also a reality for any job. God has given you gifts, use them. He gave it to you to bring His Kingdom into this world (on earth as it is in Heaven). It does not matter where you work but it matters why you do it. A Sports man, a movie maker, a CEO, a Cleaner, an Artist, a worker at Mc Donalds and so on, who is using his gifting to bring Glory to God has the same importance as the Pastor who preaches to his church or a missionary who reaches a tribe in Brazil. The importance is to live our faith in whatever place God placed us.

I want to encourage you today that what you do for the Kingdom in your workplace is as important and valuable as the work people do in more traditional ministry jobs.

Ask Him this week to show you how important it is what you do!
Ask Him to show you how to use the gifting’s he gave you in an even more powerful way in your workplace!

Hey our friend

We hope you had an amazing week!! We wrapped up everything last week before we head out to Europe surprising my Dad for his 70th birthday. Please pray for all the things in north beach while we are gone. Pray for Bethany who will be running everything while we are gone. Also pray for a good start for Josia a relative of mine who will help out for the rest of the summer! Thank you for all your prayers!!

Remember that you are significant and what you do makes a difference in this world!!

Have a great week!
Markus and Jen

Why do you do what you do?

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why do you doRecently Jen and I watched the movie Chariots of Fire. It is a true story about 2 runners that both won in the Olympics in 1924. But the reason why they ran was totally different. One ran for proving to himself that he is worthy. The other ran to bring Glory to God and win for His name. It was inspiring to see how it played out for both. One was totally joyful in what he does and the other was totally just focused on the success.

This is a good picture for all of us. Are we getting our value out of what we do or do we do it to bring Glory to God? It was amazing to see the amount of people this Christian runner impacted just by the fact that he did what he was really good in and also by living the principles he believed in. But he did all of it because he loved god. Whatever you do in life make sure your focus is right. We can do good things for the wrong reasons. Its important for all of us to ask ourselves the question why we do what we do. It doesn’t matter if you are working at a company, are a Pastor or any other job the question is important for each one of us! When we do it out of a love for God our attitude is different and it will show people more of the love of the father. So ask yourself the question Why do i do what i do???

Hey our friend

We had a wonderful Staff Retreat last week. It was a great time to spend time with the bigger YWAM Family of the Bay area. We felt encouraged by the things God is doing in all the different places and got refreshed by different Stories and Testimonies. We want to encourage you to connect with a few friends weekly to share about the good things that happened in your life and the things God is doing. It will really encourage you!

Pray this week for the upcoming election season. Pray for Gods peace and that relationships won’t be destroyed by different opinions.

Don’t forget to ask yourself why you do what you do!

Have a great week!
Markus and Jen

Robin Williams and Hope, and Heroes of challenge Part 5

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Hey our friend

What a great week. It started of with receiving a package from good friends in Germany. It had lots of German goods inside like Swabia Flaedle soup, chocolate and gravy powder for a wonderful sauce! It made me (Markus) so happy.

IMG_8131Doing ministry this week was also amazing. One common theme that I notice with each person is hope. Many people walk through there life without hope.  It got me thinking of how important hope is in our lives. When you read Hebrews 11.1 you notice something interesting, faith is actually a substance of hope, meaning without hope it’s hard/ impossible to have faith. What people need in our days is hope. Many times we don’t even know what’s going on in peoples lives. Look at the sad death of Robin Williams last week. Everyone knew him as the great actor and comedian and everyone knew his funny side. But a few knew about how he dealt with depression and addictions. I believe his biggest problem so was not having hope. Let’s not just look at the surface of a person but look at how they are really doing.

So when we reach out to others let us make sure that they leave with more hope then what they had when they came.

Also watch this new Video about the ministry of YWAM San Francisco in the Tenderloin which was just released!!

Heroes of challenge Part 5

Today I want to wrap up our series heroes of challenge. There are many more heroes of challenge, i could actually write for the rest of my life and would not run out of them, but all good things have come to an end someday.

To end with a blast let’s look at the ultimate hero of challenge, Jesus.  His life started off with a challenge. His parents had to run from the leader of the time since he saw a thread in Jesus as a king and ordered to kill all babies. The interesting thing is that the same happened to Moses as well. He was called to lead the people into the Promised Land but didn’t make it himself, but Jesus made it and through him all of us can make it to heaven.

Jesus got challenged by Pharisees with different tricks and ways to bring him down (one example Matthew 22.15-22 the story of taxes). But Jesus came out as a winner in each one of them. Another time Jesus get challenged by Satan with lies (Matthew 4.1-11).  But how did Jesus respond? He responded with the word of God which took Satans power. So if we are under attack from the enemy, lets listen to the holy spirit and let him guide us on how to go through the attack and come out as a winner! Another time Jesus spoke the truth to people and for that they wanted to stone Him (John 8.56-59 and John 10:27-36). This happened twice, but it didn’t change his perspective and approach. He stayed true to His calling. That is also a challenge for each one of us. Are we standing for the truth even with the risk of being attacked or killed (look at situation in Iraq and how Christians get killed for standing for what they believe)?

But then Jesus stood in front of his ultimate challenge to die on the cross. Before that happened he met with his father in the Garden, really having a hard time (Luke 22.39-46). One thing that really stuck out to me was the fact that he asked his disciples to stand with him in prayer. After he prayed, His father sends an angel to comfort him.

God didn’t take away the challenge, but he stood with him through it.

Looking at Jesus and his life I picked 4 things as a challenge for us.

  1. The place you came from or the way you grew up doesn’t disqualify you for doing great things for God.
  2. Never compromise the truth but stay true to it. The same is true for your calling.
  3. Make sure you have people around you that can stand with you in times of challenge and also make sure to keep your eyes on God.
  4. Never give up in challenges. When you walk through them and stay strong, you open the door for others to have the same victory. Look at runners, after the first one broke an impossible time record, many others followed him and did the same. When you stand strong in challenges your ceiling becomes the floor for the people that follow you!

We all will face challenges in our life, but always remember that a father who loves you is standing with you in each one of them. Choose to look at Him and ask Him for help!

God bless you

Markus and Jen