more other stuff
Posted by jaked | Filed under monthly update
i have another blog that is primarily where i write about my other much less geeky life. www.jakedemaray.wordpress.com is the blog where i post things that are a little more focused with my work and ministry and it’s where i post my ministry prayer letters. here’s the latest post there.
i thought i’d share what’s been going on over the last couple weeks and what i’ve been thinking about. here’s my prayer letter from march… april one will soon be on it’s heels.
Due to the events that have taken place over the last week and a half and what God has really been putting on my heart, what I had written for this seemed a little out of place so I will be updating you on what took place on the spring break trips next time.
These last couple weeks, for me, have been surrounded by thoughts and conversations about life, death, and the will of God. In I Corinthians 14:33 Paul writes, “For God is not a God of confusion, but of peace.” But when it comes to the issue of life and death we have many, many questions. We are troubled, we are confused, we don’t understand and we cry out, “Why God?”
The reason that this has been so heavy on my heart and yet so hard to write about is a little over a week ago someone close to me was suddenly diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. It was a fight he could never win and at first there were so very many questions. The foremost was “God, what is your plan in this?” because it seemed to come out of nowhere.
He was admitted into the hospital where family and friends came to visit from all over. It was known that very little could be done for him and all that the doctors could really do was try to make him comfortable during his last days.
In that small hospital room the ones he loved the most crowed in to celebrate a life that few men dare to live. That room was home to laughing, crying, singing, and praising God for everything that He had blessed that family with.
At 5:19am April 10th, 2011 this man of God breathed his last and went home to be with his wife and his Savior, leaving behind kids and grandkids who would always remember him as a man who had lived a full life, as someone who lived a life worth living, someone who had purpose, who loved his family and his Lord.
It’s easy to be upset, it’s easy to be sad, it’s even easy to be mad at God for taking such a man of character from this world. The beauty in the situation is that this was a part of God’s plan. We don’t see it from our vantage point but this happened so that God could be made much of. That the most glory could not be given to this man for living a life that was worth living but that ALL the glory would go to God.
I hate the fact that we live in a broken world. I hate the fact that sin has corrupted our relationships, our view of the world, and almost every other part of our lives. But I’m so grateful that this life is going to be redeemed. That’s God’s plan all along. Romans 5:12 starts, “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” This is why we hurt, this is why loved ones die, because we broke what God had made perfect.
But I love what comes next in verses 18 and 19, “Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness (Jesus’ life and death on the cross) leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.” I love how the Gospel is there to show that this isn’t the permanent result of sin. That this brokenness will soon be replaced by justification and redemption, to be made available to all.
That’s why I continue in this ministry, that’s why I feel such an urgency to share this Gospel of redemption. It’s because God uses us, people who have experienced that justification and redemption, to show and share it with those who have yet to experience the grace of God.
monthly update #1
Posted by jaked | Filed under monthly update, mpd
here’s the first montly update for support partners that will hopefuly go out tomorrow. click on them to make them bigger/readable. questions, comments… let me know.
currently listening to:
straylight run – about time ep
