Dear Friends,
My mom, Sue Coventon, had a massive surgery the first week of December and wasn't expected to be recovered for 6 weeks. Instead, she was out of hospital in 2 days and tests show she's cancer free now. We are all thrilled.
BUT I stop myself from instantly writing, "God is good" as the epilogue to this news.
WHY?
In reflecting recently on my notes throughout this past year, my big take-away from 2009 is:
Culturally, or even humanly, we have a faulty spiritual default:
Blessings come because of God's favour, thinking "God must really love me" when things go our way.
But this is false.
The fact that mom's surgery was successful is not a sign of God's love for her. He wouldn't love her any less if they'd opened her up and found her body riddled with cancer. Over and over again in 2009, my notes from sermons and quiet times and talks and studies was: Don't base your confidence in God's love for you on your life's circumstances. These fleeting, temporal blessings are secondary blessings. Gifts from his hand, surely, but not to be focused on in any way as "signs" of his love.
The primary blessing is that Almighty God loves us and has made an amazing sacrifice to make a relationship possible. Period. He doesn't need to do anything else to prove it.
Ah. You already know this. I'm preaching to the choir. It's just that this is what I want to cultivate this new year - a sense of gratitude and awe at the basic truth that we can have a relationships with ALMIGHTY GOD. He didn't have to bother, and yet I'm the apple of his eye.
So are you.
Hope you're entering this second month of the new year with anticipation and hope! 2010. It's going to be the best year yet.
K!Mberly
home address:
Blk 356 Clementi Avenue 2 #05-277
Singapore 120356
What I'm Reading:
Jim - Bill Hybels, Axiom, 1 Corinthians
Kimberly - Hebrews,
Partner in our ministries by praying with us in February
1 & 11 & 18 Jim leads all-day monthly mentoring networks with Singaporean Christian leaders. Please pray for them to grow in their mentoring of others. Three other networks meet throughout the month without Jim's involvement.
3-6 Jim and staff member How Beng travel to Penang, Malaysia to lead a two-day spiritual leadership seminar for the Asia leadership team of an evangelistic ministry. Pray for good rapport and new insights and resolutions.
11 Jim leads a monthly businessmen's Bible study, this month looking at the themes and lessons of 1 Corinthians.
11 CRM Singapore holds a one-day seminar on coaching skills. Please pray for our Singaporean facilitator, Joel, to grow in his teaching skill and for the lessons and exercizes to equip Christian leaders for more effectively developing their followers.
14 Chinese New Year! A two-day holiday in Singapore, it is a time for visiting family and friends to eat and talk and deepen relationships.
19-20 Hundreds of Singaporean Christians are performing in a National Parade, and a new musical on the life of George Meuller. Kimberly's has had a small part behind the scenes in each of these. Pray that these events will bring great glory to God and proclaim truth, his salvation and the joy of walking by faith to our Nation!
21-28 One of our staff, Andy, chairs the Asia Sports Coalition, which holds their annual meeting this week with 150 leaders from 26 countries. Pray for them to be inspired and equipped and connected to use sports as a ministry tool in their countries.
23 Kimberly's Birthday. The three Creasman males thank God for the wonderful gift she is to us and everybody that knows her! She brings life and love and creativity wherever she goes. Pray for a joyful, fruitful year for her. (Awkward. Jim wrote that part!)
The Lord has turned my heart toward home this year, saying no to production related ministry requests and having a term off from teaching. My focus for this month: abiding in Christ, these three men I love, the women in my Thursday Bible study, and the people in our home group from church.
25 Jim launches a new mentoring network. He is asking God for 6 facilitators and 12 participants.
Thank you for your prayers in January. Update:
1-8 Chiang Mai, Thailand. We had one of our best family vacations ever, visiting two missionary family friends and doing lots of outdoor activities - hiking waterfalls, biking, walking a beautiful park, motorcycle day trip, riding elephants, bungie jumping, foot massages, shopping the night market, lots of good thai food, watching episodes of 24 together. It was a fun, memorable week!
12 Tyler turned 17! Thank God for this mature, bright boy. Pray for the Lord to guide him in college and career decisions and keep growing him deeper in knowing and loving God. Our family will travel to the US in June to visit college campuses to try to get Tyler excited about college in 2011.
14 & 28 Jim's mentoring networks, other times through the month were personal coaching appointments with participants.
18-21 Jim joined 450 others at the annual Singapore Pastors' Prayer Summit for the 8th time in 10 years here. This year, his staff and volunteers wore CRMS polo shirts and offered free coaching appointments to participants. It was a refreshing week, with good connections with leaders from many churches.
23 Jim spoke to a church men's fellowship on spiritual success.
Will you consider CRM in your giving
and partnering with us financially in our work here?
We pray that you'd have great joy
in these kind of investments!
(whether is it with us or with other good work around the world!)
Charitable Giving thru CRM
for the Creasmans' ministry based in Singapore:
Donation questions (in USA) 1 (800) 777-6658
"Creasman-acct 5651"
CRM- 1240 N. Lakeview, Suite 120, Anaheim, CA 92807-1831
"For he has rescued us from all that is really evil and called us to a life of holiness - not because of any of our achievements but for his own purpose."
2 Timothy 1:9
No comments:
Post a Comment