Troubling Thoughts

The past couple of weeks have been eventful.  We now have another trip to Panama to renew our visas under our belts.  We have gone through the preparations, church services, and fun times of Christmas in a different culture, and we have been keeping up with our current responsibilities at the youth center.  But for this blog post I'm not going to tell tales of life in Costa Rica.  I'm not going to share stories of brand new experiences or strange circumstances.

     As a matter of fact I have been putting this post off.  (You may have noticed that it's been longer than normal between blogs.)  The reason for this is that lately when I read The Word of God I have been finding disturbing things.  Things that keep me awake at night.  Things that are difficult to write or talk about, but things that I feel like I am supposed to share here.

    So, I'm going to share some troubling thoughts, but I share them as one who is on this journey and not as one who has already arrived.  I share them as a true friend is supposed to share things with those he cares about.

“On judgement day many will say to me, ‘Lord!  Lord!  We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’  But I will reply, ‘I never knew you.  Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’  

Mt. 7:22 - 23

 I guess I always skimmed over this before and assumed that this described separating sheep from goats.  However, now that I give this some consideration I see more and more that this is a separating of sheep from those who THINK that they are sheep!  

      This is terrifying!  No unbeliever I know would claim to have cast out demons, or performed miracles, or prophesied in God’s name.  Does this imply that we may be sitting next to people in church that are not known by God?  Does this mean that we need to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling?  Are we to examine our relationship with God and encourage other Christians to do the same?

      Just when I thought this was one of the scariest things I had ever read, I came across a parable later in Matthew...  I want to type this all out for you as you may not have a Bible handy whey you read this and I want you to read what I read for yourself!  

“Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten bridesmaids who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.  Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.  The five who were foolish didn’t take enough olive oil for their lamps, but the other five were wise enough to take along extra oil.  When the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

At midnight they were all roused by the shout, ‘Look, the bridegroom is coming!  Come out and meet him!’

All the bridesmaids got up and prepared their lamps.  Then the five foolish ones asked the others, ‘Please give us some of your oil because our lamps are going out.’

But the others replied, ‘We don’t have enough for all of us.  Go to a shop and buy some for yourselves.’

But while they were gone to buy oil, the bridegroom came.  Then those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was locked.  Later, when the other five bridesmaids returned, they stood outside, calling, ‘Lord!  Lord!  Open the door for us!’

But he called back, ‘Believe me, I don’t know you!’”       Mt. 25:1 - 12

It seems like the same group of people, are again in this story, being turned away from a reward they thought they would receive.  These are people that did what they could to prepare for the marriage feast, they went out and waited with lamps burning, and when they saw they didn’t have enough oil they did what they could to keep their lights from going out.  But, the door was locked...  And they were told that they were not known by the bridegroom. 

They were too late!  They were left in the dark!  And this is where the story ends.   

So, what just happened?  Why didn’t Jesus tell a story where 9 out of 10 made it or even 80%?  In Mt. 7, Jesus uses the word many!  I don’t know about you but 50% really leaves a person with a sick feeling inside!

If these are all people that think that they are saved, what is the difference between the two groups?  What is the oil?  It seems to me that there is only one correct answer.  What is the one thing that a follower of Christ could not share with someone to help save their souls in their hour of need?  What is something that is an external source of power that we get to carry with us wherever we go?  What can be used by a follower of Christ to bring light to the darkness and to our path?  

I don't think the answer is a thing at all but a Who!  The Holy Spirit is the only possible solution!  He is the difference between those who do the right things in their own strength, but run out and burn out, and those who seem to have an extra power source.  He is the difference between the lives of those doing “good things” for God, and those being led to right things in and through the power of God.  He is the difference!

No amount of wearing yourself out for God will impress in the end.  He wants to know us!  Is it possible that the God of all creation really would not know (on an intellectual level) those who were turned away?  A friend pointed out that this word is the same one used in other places in the Bible to explain the intimate knowing between a husband and a wife.  HE WANTS TO KNOW US!  Do we allow Him to?  Do we place our relationship with Him in this type of a category?

There is nothing wrong with walking the isle and repeating a prayer after a salvation message, but I don’t see it mentioned in the Bible.  I do see that God calls us to repent and be baptized and receive the Holy Spirit.  I don’t know about you but I want to be drenched in The Holy Spirit!  Not because I fear hell (and I do) but because I want to live a life totally surrendered to His control and with His power!  I know it won’t be an easy road, but I choose The Comforter over any other comfort, and know that His ways are always better than the world’s.

This is a truth that I feel God has led me to in the past couple of weeks and I can’t shake the feeling that I am supposed to share it.  I hope that this post does not come across in any way other than a letter of encouragement from one friend to another.

In the midst of this busy season and New Year’s resolutions I’ve been challenged to take another look at my relationship with The Comforter.   I hope you will be too!  

        Please check out the column on the side for our family's prayer requests and please keep praying!  In addition to these, we are learning of some huge opportunities and praying that God will use us in these areas in His time. (We'll share more as we are able to.) 

    
        Happy New Year!
         The Ridderings

 P.S.  If you want to support our ministry, the easiest way to do it is via www.WorldOutreach.org/donations -  you can select Aaron and Faith Riddering from the list under the donate tab.  You can also set up automatic monthly gifts with your credit card if you choose the "Monthly" option.  Or, simply mail your check to:  World Outreach Ministries, PO Box B, Marietta, GA 30061 and designate for Aaron & Faith Riddering #239 

Mama said there'd be days like this!

      Doesn't it look like Bella is having "one of those days" in the picture at the top of this page?  Life is hard sometimes!  (Life is real hard when you are 2 and have to take family pictures without having taken a proper nap!)

 We've had a few rough days this last couple weeks.  Not rough in ways that would tempt us to question God or run screaming into the jungle, but life has been harder than usual lately.  A very dear friend lost a spouse and we grieve with that friend and wish we could be close by.  We spent Thanksgiving without family and won’t see them for Christmas either.  Our truck continues to provide us with opportunities to work on our patience as we realize that another repair is needed when we are hours from home.  Then there is the upcoming surgery of a family member, the unexpected bill, the strained relationship, the sick child that stays up all night, the problem at the lawyers office, the strange sore on my face that doesn’t seem to heal, and the mold that is starting to take over our luggage! 

I hope it doesn’t sound like I am complaining.  I know I have much to be thankful for.  I’m just saying that those days “your mama warned you about” do stack up on you sometimes.  

        Where would a person be if this life was all they had to live for?

“....And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it.”  

1 Peter 3:15b

    

     “And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.”   

1 Corintinans 15:19

The word “hope” in our day and age seems to have become pretty anemic.  People say things like, “I sure hope we aren’t having rice and beans again tonight!”, or “I hope that stain comes out of my favorite T-shirt!”.  It’s statements like these that minimize hope to something little more than wishing upon a star.  But, the way I read it, hope is supposed to be a driving force in our lives.  When we read the above verses our minds no longer jump to the greatness that was implied by the writers.  (At least mine doesn’t.  I guess I shouldn’t blame my problems on you...) 

I was re-reading my last blog when I noticed that I said that, “With joy I look forward to each leg of the journey and not just the destination!”  I stand by this and think that joy can be found in all hard circumstances if you view it from God’s eternal perspective.  However, if we focus solely on the journey and the “here and now”, we do so at the expense of not spending any time looking forward to our hope.  When was the last time that you and I spent a few minutes daydreaming about heaven and longing for our prize?   

I read a book called “The Slumber of Christianity” by Ted Dekker a while back.  In it he shared this interesting point:  Marathon runners look forward to, and enjoy, the little cup of water that they get from those little card table water stations that are set up along their route.  If you watch a marathon you’ll see the runners grabbing a cup and taking a quick drink or even pouring the water on themselves to cool down.  Those little cups of water are something to look forward to for a dry and thirsty runner. 

Now imagine for a minute that only a mile from the finish line the runners stopped running and started congregating around the table drinking water and swapping stories.  We move in closer only to find that they are talking about how amazing the water is and how nice the well placed table is.  Now imagine that they start setting up tents and talking about how they want to stay right there next to the table for the rest of their lives so that they can enjoy what has been provided...

This illustration is laughable, but isn’t that what we sometimes do?  We enjoy the good things that God has blessed us with here on this earth, and that is the way it is supposed to be.  But, the good things we enjoy here are only tastes or glimpses of what is to come.  The good things God provides are supposed to make us long for the day when our hope becomes sight, but sometimes we enjoy those little cups of water so much that we start camping out where we are.  We begin to look to those cups of water to bring us joy rather than to looking at our goal.  We sometimes forget about finishing the race that we started.  We know that when we finish the race we are promised eternal rewards that vastly outweigh anything that we experience here, but we tell ourselves that the water table isn’t too bad either, and we forget our prize!   

As followers of Christ we get to find joy in the “now” as God’s Kingdom invades earth in and through us, but we must not fail to look forward to the day when our hope becomes sight and we leave our earthly bodies.  

       Hope makes the bad days bearable!  It can turn a terrible circumstance into an opportunity.  The hope we have in Christ can help us find joy in our sufferings, (and the Bible says that persecution and suffering for his sake are part of the deal).  Our hope knocks the teeth out of death!   And when death looses it’s sting in our lives, no one and nothing can stop you or talk you out of following Christ wherever he leads.  (After all, what’s the worst case senario?  Death and heaven?!)

“Faith, hope, and love abide, but the greatest of these is love.”          1 Corinthians 13:13

Sure, hope comes after love in the list, but my point is that hope definitely makes the list! of the "big three"!  Love will always be.   Love will be what goes on in heaven for all of eternity and is the greatest command for our lives here on earth, but hope and faith help us in our daily lives to focus on heaven and what really matters!   So, as it turns out, hope is a very powerful tool in the life of a follower of Jesus!  Maybe we all need to spend more time with our hearts and minds on the future we are promised?  Maybe we need to dwell on heaven every day?  Maybe we need more thoughts of heaven during those days that more closely resemble hell? 

       Since writing the last blog we traveled to San Vito and had a great time visiting with our missionary friends Bart, Heather, and Eden.  Bart, Kaleb, and I got to work on the school project and spend some time "camping" out in the Indian village, and meanwhile the ladies/girls got to spend some quality time in the "big city". 
  

       Yesterday, we got to spend the day with the orphans from five different orphanages!  Usually we only get to spend time with the kids from one orphanage on any given day as we work through the rotation, but for the Christmas party they all come together and we spend most of a day having a "Gran Fiesta"!  We get to eat together, play together, have water fights, sing songs, give gifts, and pass out lots of hugs!  To say that this was a highlight for our family is a big understatement! 

Fun times at a Christmas party!

Around 65 of our friends without families.

        I continue to enjoy my times at Centro de Vita (the youth center).  I have been working with some of the leaders there and the kids to get a calendar put together with some mission activities as well as some fun things too.  We are trying to get some classes going as well in the new year to expand their horizons.

       Our Spanish classes are going pretty well!  Lately we have been doing three classes a week and spending 2-3 hours in each class.  Our teacher is a great Tica friend who is helping us so much!  I know there are times when we have "glazed over" looks on our faces, but it is encouraging when we hear a Spanish conversation and understand all that is being said!

       We would appreciate your continued prayer as we are facing some big decisions!  One request in particular is wisdom in what we should do with Faith's dad's upcoming heart surgery.  Please pray for him in this time, and also that we would have wisdom in deciding if and how Faith can make a trip to be with him.

       We love and miss you all, and pray that this Christmas season is one full of hope!

                                                                                                                   The Ridderings

P.S.  If you want to support our ministry, the easiest way to do it is via www.WorldOutreach.org/donations -  you can select Aaron and Faith Riddering from the list under the donate tab.  You can also set up automatic monthly gifts with your credit card if you choose the "Monthly" option.  Or, simply mail your check to:  World Outreach Ministries, PO Box B, Marietta, GA 30061 and designate for Aaron & Faith Riddering #239