First, The Story Behind the Name

My Mom, who hosts several very professional and very fun blogs, had been telling me that I should start a blog. “What would I say?” I always said. I don’t know how long she told me, “You can talk about anything; you can share all sorts of stuff. And it will be so easy; I will help you!” Finally, in August, we got together and while I tried to come up with a name, she searched to see if it was available. I tried several names, but I don’t remember what they all were. I didn’t have one particular subject that I knew I would talk about, so it was a little tough. All I knew is that it would be where I talked about things close to my heart, shared missions stories and information that I had found through long and hard searches, Bible studies, funny videos, or interesting happenings in life. I thought about names like, “This Earthen Vessel,” or “One Candle,” or “Scraps,” but finally I said, “Hey, what about As In a Mirror?” Mom looked it up and found it was available. “Cool!”

Okay, now if only I could come up with a username.

I tried a couple totally spontaneous goofy names, but either they wouldn’t fit or they were taken. The only simple one I could think of to describe myself was “Pilgrim.” But, of course, it was taken.

So I was thinking hard over the next couple of days to come up with some sort of name that would make sense, and that would stick. What username would fit with “As in a Mirror?…….”

Then I had an absolutely crazy idea: Alice! No, not THAT Alice; the OTHER Alice. It made sense and it stuck. (BTW, I know nothing about THAT Alice; only that she was the main character in a book called, “Through the Looking Glass.” That’s all I know, for real! So I authored the name I am now known by on the internet by. Sheer. Ignorance. But it stuck!)

The Story of the First Year in Posts

So I posted my first post, introducing myself and my new blog. As In a Mirror.com officially started on September 2, 2009. That day I also did my first post in participation with the Word for Wednesday meme, hosted by akaGaGa.com. I would say that my continuing (though sporatic!) participation in this meme has been the most significant part of this blog. How much we benefit from being able to study the Word of God, and how wonderful it is to share with other believers and learn with and from each other! If all I ever did on this blog was Word for Wednesdays, I think it would be worth it! Sharing the Word of God helps us to learn better, I think.

What I immediately set out to do on this blog was share information I have found only through long and hard research and study. It’s information that is not usually easily attainable. Most of it has to do with missions, and by far it has to do with the story of Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, and Operation Auca– the story made popular by the book Through the Gates of Splendor, the documentary Beyond the Gates of Splendor, and the movie End of the Spear. The story changed my life forever; I have found out things about this story that are not well-known, that make it even more wonderful. Thus it really blesses me to know that so many people have ended up at my blog while searching for information on that story. I even decided to create a dedicated “Operation Auca” category, as you can see on my sidebar. One of the most incredible things I found out I shared in a post called Choirs of Angels. That post has become my third most popular post. I tell you, I would have started a blog just to share that story!

I also shared photos of the tribe discovered in Brazil in 2008 here. That got it’s share of popularity, and I feel glad about that. I just feel unrest in my spirit about one thing: who will reach them first? Somebody with God’s Word? Some humanist anthropologist? Those greedy crooked companies who want their land and resources? Lord, help us.

Over the course of this year, my most popular post has been my review of Hillsong’s Faith+Hope+Love Album. Actually, that surprised me! It wasn’t a post I worked incredibly hard on, or was even the most excited about. However, I wrote it to hopefully get attention to Hillsong Live’s music, knowing that a review of their most recent album (at the time; it was the 2009 release) would be most relevant. I thought, “Well, somebody’s got to write a positive review for the sake of some genuine seeker out there!” Most reviews I have read on Hillsong albums are actually pretty negative. I didn’t understand how it could be, but the main complaint is that worship music is just too “boring.” No, I’m not kidding. And yes, I did write a long rant. I left it in the “Drafts” bin because it is such a controversial subject, I guess, and because of other things going on in my life I didn’t want to attract the other kinda people who do internet searches… looking for someone to accuse.

I love inspirational books, not so much teaching books; I learn a lot better if I see a principle in action in a situation or in somebody’s life. Thus, I read a TON of biographies and similar books. Some of my favorite authors have been Elisabeth Elliot, Corrie ten Boom, and Geoff and Janet Benge. I love Ray Comfort’s writing so much, but I actually have not gotten any of his books; how I would love to! Anyhow, I tried to post a book review every month for a few months, but afterward lost almost all time to read any books, let alone write reviews! Hopefully I will be able to continue later on. We’ll have to wait and see! My most popular review has been of Brother Yun’s The Heavenly Man. This makes me so happy, because Brother Yun has been attacked pretty fiercely, and I am afraid not many have really heard of the mighty work the Holy Spirit is doing in Brother Yun’s homeland of China.

Early on, I joined a weekly meme hosted by my bloggy friend Miss Szymanski, who hosts In Defense of the Christian Faith. We share Inspiring Stories of God at work! Actually, I did my best to be faithful in this meme, but, unfortunately, as with every other meme so far, my participation has dwindled for the time being, because life away from the computer for me has been totally consuming and draining. I do wish it weren’t so; reading stories and sharing stories is so beneficial, but I lack the time to put them together. However, Miss Szymanski, I haven’t given up entirely! Lord willing, I’ll be back!

In December, my brother The Brick Buster created the Story Challenge, inviting anyone who so desires to write a story on his or her blog, in weekly updates if need be. When he mentioned it, I was reminded of an idea for a story I had a while back. The theme had resulted from a burden God placed on my heart regarding taking the gospel to those who have not yet been told. There are a lot of people groups in isolated wilderness who categorize here. There are also a lot of people within the Western world and even the Christian church who categorize here. I wanted to present the real struggles a missionary faces, as well as to challenge young people, especially young men, to be who God’s called them to be no matter the odds or the cares of life. This generation is the one that has not known true leadership or true fatherhood. They have not known who God is. I also wanted to show that our mission field may not be the deep and dark jungles of Africa, but all the people right in front of us. I also wanted to get the word out about indigenous missionaries and the incredible potential they have beyond the reaches of the “white man.” I wanted to show in a story that God wants young people to seek Him; He wants to use us for something greater than ourselves. I wanted to produce a story that young people could pick up and not only understand, but identify with; for them to see the struggles going on inside other young people while they observe the works of God around them, as well as the fearful and heartrending things. People seem to cry out for reality; I want to show them the reality of the gospel at work, that they can be a part of it. I knew this would work if I presented multiple characters with multiple personalities, so I minimized to four, while “zooming in” on one. I actually wasn’t sure that I’d post this story; but when my brother showed his support and then my other friends did as well, I started asking God about it again. After a little while, I believed that it was indeed time to let this thing out of my heart, though I was not sure how often or how quickly I would be able to work on it. So far, I have posted a whopping 5 updates on my story so far. It really is an intense project, and I honestly don’t know what kind of time the Lord wills that I put into it. Many, many little things have led me to believe that this really is from Him; the main thing is that the story itself is the result of several burdens the Lord has laid on my heart. They are godly burdens, and I think this story, though fiction, is one that needs to be told, because it collects the truth of so many different real-life situations. However, my own life has kind of come to a halt for a little while, but I do believe that these other things I have temporarily let go of will come into play again. So, that is the “story” of another hugely significant thing that has happened to me because of this blog. Thanks, brother!

I’ve always liked to keep things categorized and simple; you can probably tell from my blog template. All the categories I’ve posted under are listed on the sidebar at the top.
Of course, there’s got to be an “Uncategorized” category; the stuff I didn’t know where to put. It’s not boring, though! You can find some fun and nifty stuff in there!
All the categories describe the various stuff I post about here; my original purpose has always been to present and discuss very deep things, the immaterial stuff that matters so much. I like to think outside of the box, to evaluate and weigh “the vast and lasting scale of things.” Out of all that goes on in life, what’s going to last forever? What do we do with the little time we have? The image in the mirror will become clearer.

I also post things of interest to me personally. I love music! I have found some really great stuff by following Jay’s blog. Actually, I think I link to him a LOT. I also love photography! I do so love art and the beauty of God’s creation. I love perspective and effect; I don’t just like to listen to music or observe art and photography, I like to MAKE music happen and I like to MAKE artwork and to TAKE a camera to show you not just what I see, but the way I want you to see it! That’s another thing; I recently joined my friend Renee‘s meme Something Beautiful. She has a very similar passion for beauty, and this meme allows us to share the simple, beautiful things that God puts in our lives. Out of four weeks so far (wow!) I have only missed one! That’s purty dern good for me! And believe it or not, I’ve got a real quirky side. As evidenced in the way I spelled that word in my Categories sidebar. I’m creative!

I also love MISSIONS! No better news than the Good News, and news about how it is reaching people who have never heard it before, from the jungles to the United States. Two blogs that I follow are by missionaries in Borneo, more specifically, Kalimantan, Dave and Joy Forney. Dave’s a missionary pilot and Joy is his incredible missionary wife who raises and homeschools their five kids! They are people who obviously love what they do, and the stories and the pictures they share are totally amazing; you can see on the internet what real missionaries are doing! If they or the churches in Indonesia need prayer, they will tell you and you can find out the day they do! I also closely follow the work of Living Waters, Ray Comfort‘s ministry. What I have found is that they are incredibly generous people who love the Lord; they literally let nothing stand in their way when it comes to preaching the gospel and reaching lost people, whoever they may be. They’ve got guys who every weekend will preach at street corners, at traffic lights, in town squares, at schools, at courthouses, or to individuals (all within the boundaries of the law). They sell materials to help you do the same– and they sell them below production cost! They work very hard to strategically get the gospel into the hands of people in the U.S. and elsewhere who have never heard. They work just as hard to help Christians to share their faith without fear. They do most of this through the Ambassador’s Academy and the School of Biblical Evangelism. And that’s just it; they don’t preach the “Try Jesus” gospel; they preach the Biblical gospel, and they are prepared to give answers to genuine seekers about support for the Christian faith. Check them out!

Basic Summary of the First Year

One year it has been, and I’ve never joined a blogroll, never wrote a sponsored post, never counted any more followers than could fit on my hand, and yet I’ve had people from all over the world come to my blog searching for things that probably could not be easily found. Out of my few faithful followers, whose thoughtful and heartfelt comments have blessed me so much, six of them I know personally! That actually amuses me quite a bit. It’s pretty much what could have been expected; I’ve never been a social bug or a geek. But thank God for geeks, otherwise I would not know how to run this blog! BTW, my Mom’s The Older Geek! Check her out!

At any rate, I think of all the people who came here who had searched for “Nate Saint angels,” “Brother Yun,” “Operation Auca Life Magazine,” “Martyred missionaries south america 1956,” “Jim Elliot foreigners singing in the trees,” “the heavenly man,” “grain of wheat quotes,” and I pray that though I heard nothing from these people, that they were touched and blessed.

One the amusing note, some searches that have led people to my blog make me laugh. My favorites:
michael tait’s mom
stature of joel houston
images on living waters dollar bill tracts

Don’t know how those first two people got here!

I have received two awards; my first being the Superior Scribbler Award from my Mom at New York Renovator. I got a real kick out of this award! It was my FIRST AWARD!! And I love the name. Then Renee awarded me the Sunshine Award! To let me know that I am sun-shiney! And then my brother, the Brick Buster, gave it to me again, and then another young Adventures in Odysey blogger gave it to me again! I was so flattered that Marvin liked my blog actually. He’s 13 years old and he likes my blog! How cool! And one of the reasons he likes it is because we both like Hillsong United! Cool again!

Blogging is nice; it’s not a huge part of my life, and I don’t expect it to be, but it’s a great place to share deep things, quirky things, interesting things; it’s a great vent. Uh, I mean, I don’t really want this to be a place where I put off my steam, but it’s been a great place to get the deep things out of my heart that I have difficulty getting out through my mouth.

The Highlight of the Year

I mentioned above that I haven’t found myself with many followers, but a lot of visitors. Some leave a comment, but most don’t. However, I was not long ago blessed by what has been probably the most exciting happening on this blog to me. A man stopped by and left a comment on one of my Word for Wednesdays. His name is Robert Lloyd Russell. Here’s what he said:

WOW!! I stumbled upon your blog accidentally (actually providentially) and found it heartwarming, factual, and inspiring! This article hits the mark and is close to my passions (I wrote a book – “THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH: Understanding God’s Will for You”).
Then I started looking at the rest of your site and found all the information about the 5 missionaries! I lived with Jim Elliot when I was a small boy. Recently, I released a book containing transcribed messages of his. These were wire recordings (a forerunner of magnetic tape). The first two of the messages are directly about the Christian life and were addressed to to 7th and 8th graders (“JIM ELLIOT: A Christian Martyr Speaks to You”).
May God richly bless your blogging, all of your ministry, and your life and service for Him.
In Him,
Robert Lloyd Russell
ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT???!!!! How cool is that! I was so honored! I do feel so humbled when an older person commends me, and especially when they say, “Wow!” And he left me with such an awesome benediction. Mr. Russell is an author who also runs a very inspirational weekly blog of topics in the Word of God. His presentation is very simple and systematic and I have loved it! To top it off, I feel that I practically “met” over the internet… somebody who knew Jim Elliot!!!!! To me, that is REALLY incredible. Only God knows how much Jim Elliot’s witness has meant to me; he is a real Father in the Faith to me. I feel it is like a dream come true. Maybe this seems a little over-enthusiastic, but I am really stoked, because this man has blessed me beyond what I think anyone else could know. To think, fifty years after he died! He had no idea! Thank you so much, Mr. Russell, for your kind words! An AUTHOR (that’s a guy who writes books!) who is a CHRISTIAN who has been around for a while who KNEW JIM ELLIOT visited and liked my blog!!!!!! How happy am I!

So by the grace of God, here be I! And He has given me so much. I thank Him for all He’s given me and my family; I would also like to thank Him for blessing this blog, such a small thing, really. Thank You, God, for blessing everyone who came by here. Thank You for bringing me thus far, thank You that this time has helped me to see that image in the mirror a little clearer. Thank You for helping me through everything else in my life, and I ask that You would be my guide through this next year, on the blog and elsewhere. I have been so encouraged by Your precious children through this blog; keep them, Lord. Your will be done for this next year!

Y’all, thank you for celebrating with me; thank you for coming through with me this year; thank you so much for your thoughtful comments! Have a great next year!

It’s Been One Year! is a post from: As In a Mirror

This post, designed to celebrate, is a summary of the past year’s Word for Wednesdays. Get ready; it’s a SUMMARY. Thanks to my faithful few followers, and all those people who have happened across my blog. I hope and pray that you have been blessed.

What would drive a man up a hill?
Could it be unexplainable emotion? Undeterred devotion to a cause?
But what would drive a man up this hill?
Fear of his pursuers? Thrill of adventure for what lies beyond?
But what would drive this Man up this hill, namely Calvary, down the way of suffering, with a burden of sorrows?
What would drive Him with a crown of thorns and a crowd of scorners?
Yet He opened not His mouth.
What would drive Him?
Could it be love? Even humble submission to the will of His Father?
Such a Man who was blameless in the eyes of God! It is true!
Because of our iniquities, He was climbing that hill.
As He was lifted up, He was made intercession for us, the guilty ones.
It is true that He died for our sins
But let us also remember that for us He suffered Hell!
He truly led captivity captive, and over death gained victory!
He’s alive now! Truly His Father raised Him up.
Now salvation comes through this, the Son of Man, the Son of God.
He reigns and He prepares a place for us, the redeemed!
What would drive this man up these hills by the dozens?
Why does he risk his life to tell a story of a Lamb, the Son of God, slain for sinners,
Of a Lamb who conquered death and gave eternal live to those who trust in Him,
To tell of living in peace with God, our Creator and Father.
Why? Ask him; he will tell you,
“For the One who died for me I will live.”

I remember when I first realized what Jesus did for me; it was when I wrote this down in my notebook. Then when I let Him change me, I could say with every ounce of my being, “My chains are gone!” See, I intellectually understood the gospel days before I asked God to forgive me and teach me to forgive. Here is the wonder of that gospel:

Jesus, the altogether Holy One, did and spoke only as His Father directed, and doing so gained Him nothing but a few faithful followers, who so often doubted. He had nowhere to lay His head, zeal for His Father’s house consumed Him, and although He brought the message of truth, peace, and life, the people just wanted the “stuff.” Others were afraid to admit they were His followers. HE still followed His Father. He had one great purpose: to do His Father’s will, to be a ransom for sin, to redeem people to God. He knew perfectly well what sufferings He had to endure; that all would abandon Him, that He would die and enter Hell for the people– for me, for everyone I see, for the tribes hidden on the earth, for the royalties of Europe. “He opened not His mouth.” He did not stand up for Himself! He went as a lamb to the slaughter; but He chose, He knew. He endured the abandonment, the mockery, the humiliation, the pain, the scourging, the thorns, the hill, the cross, even Hell. He cried out, “My God, why have you forsaken Me?” Think of it: God’s only Son, in whom He was well-pleased!What a wonder, how when no man would seek the face of the blessed Lord from whom all good things flow, He came softly, quietly to earth to find us! What a wonder it is that the Lord God Almighty condescended from His heavenly throne to be in the form of a man, lowly, with no place to lay His head. When I understand this, there is no way I can, with a clear conscience, speak as if heaven is owed me by God; it is clear that I deserve hell.

Yet He loved me; He did not love His throne in heaven too much to humble Himself to become a man, despised and rejected, just to make it possible for me to live forever! Can it be? The Holy Son of God–died, crucified–for me, a sinner? “When I think that God, His Son not sparing, Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in.” (from the hymn, How Great Thou Art) When I think that those nails that pierced His hands were meant for me; that the heartbreak through which the angel of God kept Him alive, belonged to me; that the mocking and beating, the lower parts of the earth– I was the one who deserved it. How could the Son of God die for me? Why? It doesn’t make sense. What could He have gained? Could it be love? If so, all I ever thought was love is shattered. I think sometimes we define love by our own standards instead of those of God, whose very nature is love. Love is not exalting another above what he really is, but making a way for him to face the truth and make it right.

And in our case, we could not make it right, so Jesus came, yet still we looked down on Him, disregarded Him. Nonetheless, His love ENDURES!!! On the cross, He cried out, “It is finished.” He had completed His purpose on earth. That was LOVE, though the people He was loving rejected it. Lord, teach me this love; me who so treasures honor, loyalty, devotion, purpose, strength. Teach me this love, this sacrifice! This love, that appears morbid, but leads to resurrection, redemption, hope, life! And teach me to say, “I love You, Jesus!” Make me a lamb, oh, make me a servant, a flame! A soldier at Your right hand. “Everything I once held dear– I count it all as loss!” Lord, I want to give 100% of me to You, for Your glory, that Your name may be highly exalted among the nations. Because of Your Son, I now can call on You as “Father!”

How great a salvation, that we might be called the children of God! That we, who were once separated from God by our sins, may be brought near by the blood of Christ, though God did not owe us a thing! Yet He made a way for us to live forever! To think– He who went to Hell for us was perfectly blameless before the Creator! We all have sinned– we have run after our own way, deliberately chasing after those things that God hates! Yet God ransomed us, made a way for us to be forgiven, though we did nothing to deserve it! Let’s remember that the very reason we are breathing, and the very reason we live in freedom: it’s all HIM! HE is our all-sufficiency; HE is our salvation; HE is our righteousness; HE is our provider; HE is the giver of all good things; HE is the Victor! HE is our ALL in ALL. He is everything that is good. He is LOVE. He is the WAY. He is the TRUTH. He is the LIFE.

The life of Christ has drastically affected the history of mankind; we even date history around His lifetime, with His name! Indeed, since the Lord Jesus Christ came near to us people on earth, everything has changed. And I know that since He has come near to me, everything has changed! He has had a larger impact on history than all of us combined could ever hope to. History is His story. But it’s not just around “Easter-time” we remember this marvel of history, that God became a man, and did what man is incapable of– LOVE! The story doesn’t end with His death, nor with His resurrection; it continues to Pentecost, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and continues to this day; people are still amazed at His grace; people are still telling His story, and people are still being saved. Some people are still waiting for this news. And Jesus will come back again! If we are truly free, people are going to see. When they inquire about the hope within us, we must be prepared with an answer! Love so amazing; let’s not just sing another song, cry again over the suffering Savior, but live in this precious freedom. He has turned our mourning into dancing (even those of us who can’t dance well at all!) let’s tell them about it! Let’s tell them how good our God is!

We who have been born of God, we abide in Him by keeping His commandments; we love Him because He first loved us! We are His, now. Let us follow in the steps of Jesus, returning in a small portion that Love which was so freely poured out for us! I am reminded of a beautiful song that just couldn’t say it better. Remember “Jesus is the reason for the season?” More so, He’s the reason we continually offer up the sacrifice of praise. Hallelujah! The Promised One, the Redeemer, God With Us, has come! By the way, that word “extol” means to promote, to lift or raise, hold, mount or heave up! “I will HEAVE You up, O Lord, for You have heaved me up!” I can say that and laugh, because I know exactly what it means! As the Scripture says, the saints “lift up holy hands” (1 Timothy 2) They are holy, sanctified, purified, consecrated, both for and because of JESUS!!

Some of us have experienced His love, pouring so freely over our hearts, washing us and making us new, and what sorrow we felt when we realized how long we had ignored Him! But thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! He came to make us clean, to sanctify us and rescue us from the grasp of the accuser. That word “sanctify” means to purify, to consecrate for a specific purpose. Is it not that we should be with Him where He is? If that is our goal, and we want to bring as many others along with us, let not our passions and strivings be merely temporal. Let us take a moment and leave the hecticity, the constant motion of the world, and be still before Him, in quiet peace and joy, remembering the price we were bought with. What a wonder His love; what freedom is bondage to His way! What a great love God has toward us, his children. We, who once were not the people of God, but are now His people! (1 Peter 2:10)

What great a salvation we have! Christianity is not a sub-culture like Islam or Judaism or any of the other religions. It is not on the outside; no, the essence is not the man and his works, but Christ consuming him from the inside out. How free, how different everything is now that Jesus saved me! What amazing grace, that I might be called the friend of God– I am totally undeserving of this gift. But what precious blood of the perfect Lamb of God was poured forth for me! How can we, with this understanding, live for ourselves? How can we fast to do our own thing? How can we live our comfortable lives for our pleasure? If we are truly thankful for this precious gift, we will show mercy to the oppressed, extend our soul to the hungry, help those in need.

You see, to be saved costs us nothing, in that we did not earn it, but to be a disciple costs us everything, in that we must carry our cross and follow Him. God demonstrated His love while we did not deserve it, and calls us to do the same, but we must trust that it is Him who does the saving! Just as we trust in Him for salvation, we trust in Him for our mission: to bring others to salvation. Jesus gave us two commands: Love one another, and go and preach My gospel. Care for the widow and the orphan, remember those in chains as if bound with them, be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks, look after the least of these My brethren. In all of this, TRUST IN ME. For I am with You always, even to the end of the age.

Don’t we want to tell the world about this great love bestowed upon us by the Father? Don’t we often thank the Lord for this great salvation, undeserved by us? Don’t we often sing of it? We tell each other about it, we might even try to show love toward one another. But to the world? We feel a slight shudder go down our backs when we think about what that might take, don’t we? It would mean getting out of the boat and stepping onto those waves. Father, so often we are afraid. Why do we doubt? Do we trust You? Is our love set upon You? Are we prepared to be a river, to go over rocks, down hills, to make waves? To always be moving forward, not resting until our purpose is complete, to make an ocean? That’s a lot of water! (It is so often that we grow weary as we flow through the rocky places and curves and bends, when we feel like resting. But it is in these places we need to push the hardest.) Father, what if the world builds a dam? How are we going to get through? It is here that we need to remember that we are not the source of that life, that love that reaches down and saves men; the Lord is. But the river must flow, and carry the water to its destination!

Hear people talking about the need for revival? Hear them talking of the need for unity? Let us take care that that unity is in Christ, for only then will His Spirit come in like a rushing wind. Only then will we see revival, for the power is not of us, but of Him. Let us seek Him first, above all, that He might work mighty works in us. HE equips us for the work of ministry. When we are unified in the love of Christ, nothing can stand against us; we are more than conquerors.

Father, teach us to love, that we may be a river! As we thank You for this glorious gift of love by which we are accepted unto You, we also thank You for giving us the strength and power to shine Your love to the world, to press on when we feel the most like quitting. Jesus, we remember that the excellence of the power is of You, not of us. We pray that the world would see You, that those who have never been told shall hear. Lord, give us beautiful feet!

What an awesome God we serve! Some complain that God is an angry tyrant telling us how to think and how to live, but let me tell you now: His commandments are not burdensome; science proves that God’s principles are life to our flesh if we set our minds on them! He gives us the undeserved favor of eternal life, and a good life here in this temporary body! How worthy of our praise and thanksgiving is the Lord!

I have posted a lot on the subject of the five martyrs in Ecuador, and apparently it has had a colossal effect on my readers. It had a colossal effect on me, too. Why would they go? Even more pressing, why did they die? WHY?

Why did Jesus go to the cross? Why did He come down to earth in the first place?

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” (Philippians 2:5-8)