Why Italy?

Ciao a tutti, 

I wanted to give you all this Reformation Day a glimpse into why Carli and I have a heart for the people of Italy. As many of you know today we celebrate Reformation day. It was this day that Martin Luther wrote to the Archbishop of Mainz protesting against the sales of indulgences. The letter that he sent the Archbishop later became known as The 95 Theses that changed the world. If you study the history of this day, you will find that Luther did not want to confront the church, but wanted to respond to doctrinal false church practices. 

Luther's response was intended for the work of Johann Tetzel, a dominican friar who was sent to Germany to raise money for the building of the present St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Johann was known for saying, "As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs."

Now, many of us who were born into Protestant churches here in North America sometimes don't realize the affect that the Reformation had on the church. We grew up experiencing some of the most precious doctrines that had been covered up for more than a millennium. This present day in Italy, many people are without the doctrines that we hold so dear. Their conception of grace, faith and sanctification are nothing like the Bible defines them. 

Please pray for the Italian people and their hearts. Pray that the Lord opens up a beam of light as it happened 500 years ago. There is a true need that the Italian hear the true Gospel of Chris according to the Scriptures alone. We invite those of you who support and pray for us to take a minute this Reformation day and pray for another Reformation Day, one that doesn't just hit the Germanic countries but, that goes to the bottom of Sicily. 

Here is a link to show you some of what God is doing. 

https://vimeo.com/124201843

We love you all!

Thoughts for October

Hello all,

This afternoon I was reading Psalm 145 that spoke to my heart and I thought I'd share some thoughts about it.

"The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and His mercy is over all that He has made...The eyes of all look to you and you give them their food in due season, you open your hand: you satisfy the desire of every living thing." (Psalm 145:8,9,15,16)

This chapter really convinced me of the gracious steadfastness of the Lord that He puts forth day to day on mankind. I do not deserve this crazy amount of grace despite my most doubtful days. We always try to preach the fact that God is gracious and merciful but when the realities of life hit us or we experience days which don't go our way, our hearts say differently. We might not overtly say that God's not there but our responses to those problems are usually full of doubt and lack of faith.

Charles Spurgeon wrote concerning this Psalm, " Even those who refuse his grace yet share in long suffering. When men do not repent, but, on the contrary, go from bad to worse, averse to let his wrath flame forth against them. Greatly patient and anxious that the sinner may live, he "lets the lifted thunder drop", and still bears. "Love suffereth long and is kind", and God is love. And of great mercy. This is his attitude towards the guilty. When men at last repent, find pardon awaiting them. Great is their sin, and great is God's mercy, need great help, and they have it though they deserve it not; for he is good to the greatly guilty." (The treasury of David)

Now, Spurgeon speaks to the patience God has on the lost and the unrepentant. Can we just imagine for a second the love that God has for us His children? The next time we have a bad day and our actions speak to our lack of faith in God's favor and graciousness on us, we should take a close look at this Psalm.

We love you all very much,

Justin and Carli

The glory of God in the midst of fund raising

Hi Everyone,

We have now been in Houston for 4 weeks. During this time, we have learned a lot, whether it be in our marriage, networking with others, fund raising and church ministry. We are starting to understand that our timing in life may not always be what God allows. We came to Houston with a fixed idea you could say, to raise funds for Impatto Budrio over the next 6 months. We can say that tentatively and we hope for that time frame, however we must not think that if we stay longer that something is wrong. The Lord will bring the increase to our needs and will see to it that everything is met.

 I was reading this morning from the book of Romans where Paul is closing his letter to the church in Rome. He writes in chapter 15, "For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience-by word or deed..." (Romans 15:18) Again, I'm astonished at how many times the apostle reiterated the reason why he could not boast in anything other than was Christ accomplished in and through him. I have found this incredibly encouraging as we invite brothers and sisters to participate in this vision and mission for Italy. No matter the time it takes to get back in Italy, I'm called to make much of how Christ is bringing about that good work until it's completion.

I wonder sometimes if this is part of the reason why God may not allow us to leave or come when we project times but that we allow His perfect work through His spirit to finish what we cannot. I'd encourage those of you who read our blog to think about that with what you have planned in your life. Are those plans changeable? Do you hold things with open arms? My prayer for Carli and I this week is that we rely on Jesus and venture to speak of nothing other than what He has done through and in our lives and put our trust in His timing.