The Hope Center

“’I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.’” John 10:7-10

I remember when I was a young girl my parents decided to take my three siblings and me to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo carnival. Why they chose to bring 4 kids under the age of 10 to an outdoor carnival in some of the hottest months of the year is beyond me, but, like they always say, hindsight is 20/20.

Because we were all so young, my parents tried to be very conscious of where we were at all times. They even made a rule that we could never leave their side without permission. No questions asked.

Now, if you know me at all, you’ll know that I love theme parks and rollercoasters. Even as a four year old, nothing was going to stand in the way of me and a ride. Not even my parent’s rule.

Sure enough, I caught site of a funhouse. Now this one wasn’t like any other funhouse; there were mice dressed like ballerinas on top of it. I HAD to go in it. Disregarding my parent’s rule, I raced over to it.

You can guess how the story unfolded: My parents noticed their 4-year-old daughter was gone and immediately panicked. My mom located the nearest police officer, while my dad searched the crowds. I was oblivious to all of it.

In Isaiah 53:6 it says, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way.”

Like in Isaiah, I turned to my own way. I left the ones who love me and who desire to protect me for the allure of a ride.

How often do we do this in life? We see something that we think is better than what Christ has planned, and we choose it: the perfect image, money, power, success. These things are like mirages in a desert. From a distance they’re beautiful and enticing, but when you get up close, they turn out to be nothing, empty, nonexistent. And, like me at the carnival, sometimes we don’t even realize we’re lost until we’re found.

John 10 says, Christ is “the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.”

In any setting, my parent’s ultimate desire was to keep me safe. They created that rule so they could protect me, a vulnerable little girl, from any sort of danger. And just like my parents, Christ desires to protect us. We are vulnerable to the world around us and so often we get distracted by what “entices” or tempts us, separating us from our Savior and Protector.

Only through Him can we be saved; not by our own path, but only by His.

The first week in April, East-West Ministries International gathered 14 Americans—some of whom had never met or been on a mission trip—to travel to a Caribbean island recently opened to American travelers. Prior to leaving, each team member completed EvanTell’s online Act Personal Evangelism Training.

East-West has worked with local churches across this island of 11,000,000 people for several decades. I had heard stories about the beautiful hospitality of her citizens and their openness to the gospel. After my experience visiting with families in their homes over four ministry days, I recommend you pack your bags!

The harvest is plentiful. Don’t miss out on this adventure with God!

Our East-West team partnered with14 Christian interpreters, and together we traveled to the smallest province on the island. We worked in teams of three—one East-West team member, one interpreter, and one local church member—and made home visits that had been prearranged by the church member.

Collectively, we shared the gospel with 422 people and 343 people said “Sí, estoy dispuesto a confiar en Cristo para la vida eterna!”

Below are a few of my team’s stories that describe the people in the picture at the top.

Upper left: This picture is from our last day of ministry. The four kids were sitting in the floor between my interpreter and me as we shared the Good News using an EvangeCube. They were completely captivated!

Their heads turned back and forth between us throughout the entire story, and they all said, “Si,” to trusting Jesus! We then shared from Matthew 19:13-14 and Matthew 18:1-2 to prove how much Jesus loves and honors children. And, we taught them how to share the good news with their friends.

We handed over the EvangeCube to the children and turned to the adults in the room—the two women seated—and asked them, “are you ready to trust Jesus for eternal life, too?” They said “Si!” My interpreter then swiveled around to speak to a man listening through the window, and he also said, “si” to Christ! He had heard the full story and God had prepared him to believe.

Bottom left and upper right: Upon arrival we were mesmerized by the classic American cars. We also noticed other means of transport including horse drawn carts and carriages, bicycle taxis, buses, trains, ferries, horseback, converted dump truck taxis, and three wheeled auto rickshaws!

Bottom right: This picture is from our first day of ministry. The lady seated wore a pair of electric purple Chuck Taylor sneakers! Her daughter—standing to her right—trusted Christ that day. Not pictured are the interpreter and the local church member who cried for joy that her friend was now also a sister in Christ.

At the end of almost every visit, we would use the “3 circles” demonstration on a piece of paper to make sure our message was clear. In the first circle, we wrote “Obras,” meaning works. In circle two, “Obras y Cristo,” meaning works and Christ.  In the last circle, we wrote “Sólo Cristo,” meaning Christ alone.

After drawing the circles, we asked them what they would tell God if He asked them why they should be allowed to dwell with Him in heaven forever. If they answered anything but circle three, we asked them to read Ephesians 2:8-9—a verse used in our gospel presentation—to us. We kept asking and explaining that they are saved only by the work of Christ on the cross until they understood that the answer is “Sólo Cristo!”

Regardless of whether or not the people we shared with accepted Christ, we prayed for them and their families. We gave each of them the books of John and Romans in their heart language as well as Who is Jesus...Really?: A Dialogue on God, Man, and Grace by Josh McDowell.

Have you ever noticed that what we do affects our mindset?

Think: exercise leads to discipline. Or, for example, take the sacraments in the worship service. By definition, the sacraments (baptism and the Lord’s Supper) point beyond themselves as signs and seals. The cleansing water of the baptismal font points to the Spirit making our hearts clean. The Lord’s Supper points to Christ’s blood and broken body which sets us right with God. If we observe these practices without having our thinking renewed—we’re doing it wrong! As Christians, we can grow to appreciate these formative practices - those things which shape our understanding of who God is and our relationship with him.

Of course, the sacraments aren’t the only activities on the Lord’s Day which point beyond themselves. In fact, my favorite aspect of this formative worship service is the benediction. At the end of the service, when our pastor raises his hands to give the benediction, we typically outstretch our hands like we are about to receive a gift, juxtaposing the up-raised arms of the pastor who is giving the blessing. This physical posture has reiterated in my mind the spiritual posture we take in receiving the grace of God.

The March Madness NCAA tournament began on Thursday, and, like forty million other people, I filled out a bracket to pick which team I thought would be the champion.

Voted the greatest four days of sports in the history of all sports (by my husband, that is), March Madness draws viewers and interest due to the duration of the tournament, the high risk (and high reward), and the uncertainty of it all.

In the first round of the tournament, we have already seen many “upsets” (lower-seeded teams beating higher-seeded teams).

USC held the lead for the majority of their game, but, due to several missed free throws and accidentally hitting the ball out of bounds, Providence gained control in the last few seconds and made a layup to win by one.

Two more examples are the Baylor/Yale and Purdue/AR-Little Rock games.

Knowing all of this, it is easy to see that the likelihood of accurately guessing the tournament winner is extremely low. So low, in fact, that the actual odds of predicting the winner of every game are one in 9.2 quintillion.

In hopes to become that one, I decided to enter the competition by completing a bracket. Friends, coworkers, celebrities, and even the President of the United States did too. People of all ages, occupations, and genders spend hours, even days, analyzing teams and researching past statistics, carefully choosing which teams will advance to the next round.

This sounds all too familiar to me. In times of uncertainty, I analyze situations, rank my sin and even compare my “season” with the “seasons” of others around me in a desperate attempt to predict how my future will look. I all too often believe that a better “season” will result in a better outcome – immunity against hurt, abundant blessings, and a comfortable, easy life – and vice versa if I have a bad “season”.

In Proverbs 19:21, God tells us “many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.”

And in Isaiah 55:9, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways.”

Upsets happen, and the underdogs come out on top, but, when all is said and done, God has the ultimate control. His plan trumps our own, and regardless of the “season” we are in, it doesn’t predict our future.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink…But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness.” - Matthew 6:25 & 33

We fill out our tournament brackets thinking the more time we research and the more information we know, the better our outcomes will be. When in reality, we ultimately have no control. No matter how the teams are seeded, how they have played during the season, or what the statistics say, it is nearly impossible to predict the outcome.

And the same goes for life.

Many would say this is a frightening time.

Wars of horrific nature afflict our Christian brethren across the ocean—which, in an age of quick plane rides and nuclear bombs, seems an uncomfortably short distance.

In our own country, news of violence invades our homes through television, the radio, and social media—not once in a while, but every day.

And for the next eight months, we’ll be watching one of the most hotly contested and controversial presidential races of our day careen toward an unknown climax—a climax that will, in one way or another, drastically impact the future of this nation.

In times like these, it’s easy to lose hope. But that’s not what we’re called to do.

I’ve spent more time in hardware stores in the past two months than I have in my entire life. I’m looking for just the perfect knobs for a sofa table I am refinishing. It started out as this forgotten, dusty, old piece of furniture - dinged up and worn out, and I’m hoping to revive it again.

Actually, that’s not really the origin of this table. Behind the dust, old lacquer, and dings there was once a lustrous, mahogany table. One that someone bought because they wanted it - because it was beautiful. Sometime in between now and then, it got worn out. And yet, there is greater beauty in this third go-around for this beat-up piece of furniture.

With the rise of shows like “Fixer Upper,” - I’ll admit, I’ve binge-watched it all! - there’s a marked interest in making things beautiful again. (Now I know what shiplap is!) There’s something old and beautiful back there that just needs a little love to look wonderful again. 

In a quote that has been plastered onto endless scenic backgrounds and shared across virtually every social media network, the current President of Liberia hit on something incredibly true.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf wrote in her memoir in 2009, “The size of your dreams must always exceed your current capacity to achieve them. If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough.”

Like every other girl browsing inspirational Pinterest boards when I should have been studying for the next college exam, I’ve encountered that platitude multiple times in the last few years. That’s nice, I would always think, though it never quite resonated with me.