By Ryan Shaw

Ryan is the international lead facilitator of Student Volunteer Movement 2 (SVM2) and currently lives among the unreached.

Hudson Taylor, the famous message bearer to China, once commented, “It is possible to sing ‘My all is on the altar’ and yet be unwilling to sacrifice a ring from ones’ finger, or a picture from one’s wall, or a child from ones’ family, for the salvation of the unreached.”

Dr. Samuel Zwemer, the famous message bearer to Muslims, emphatically declared, “When the door opens we ought to press in, sacrificing our lives if need be for God, as the Muslims did at Khartoum for their prophet…Of course it costs life. It is not an expedition of ease nor a picnic excursion to which we are called. It is going to cost many a life, and not lives only, but prayers and tears and blood.”

The Sacrificial Component of Being “Expendable”

As an “expendable” for Christ we are not merely speaking of the sacrifice of giving our lives, though this is a very real potential. I heard just last week of a group of ten message bearers serving in Afghanistan who were gunned down by the Taliban because they were “preaching Christianity.”

The potential of sacrificing our very lives in the work of global harvest is there and it is important that we be a people reconciled to this reality.

Yet, there are other forms of sacrifice we also are to be reconciled to before the Lord as His “expendables”: potential loss of certain comforts, conveniences, relationships we’ve relied on, our home cultures’ ways of doing things or that which provides us with identity and place in the world.

“Expendables” say no to the power of the self-life which so easily governs the lives of believers while surrendering to the will of God and to the leading of His still small voice. “Expendables” embrace hardship and adversity, seeking God’s perspective in these circumstances. “Expendables” hold the glory of God being shown through their lives as the highest possible priority for them.

The Lordship Component of Being “Expendable”

An “expendable” for Christ makes a decision of the heart which is usually a subsequent decision to initially taking Jesus as Savior. It refers to a Lordship committal.

A recognition that a believer no longer has any rights to themselves, to decide for their own future, to go where they please and to do what they choose, but that they now belong wholly to Jesus Himself and are at His disposal as a bond-slave and servant, bought by His matchless blood.

They say with a willing heart, “My life I give you, Lord, eagerly and sincerely.” They are motivated by the clarity of Jesus’ expressed will and purpose found throughout the gospels and New Testament to live a life of wholehearted surrender to Him as Lord, by His call to spiritual action born as a result of such a lifestyle of surrender, and by the urgency of the serious hour in which we live.

That hour suggests that now is the time which demands the highest levels of spiritual discipleship, yet much of the church is asleep to this fact.

The Commitments of the “Expendable” Lifestyle

Several key commitments surrounding an “expendable” lifestyle have been identified.

1. First, there is a commitment to living a life of submission and yielding to the person of the Holy Spirit. He is the only sustaining power to faithfully grow in the life of true discipleship. We have been called to the abiding lifestyle in Christ as detailed in John 15 and this is the only pathway to developing abandoned devotion. As a result we commit ourselves faithfully to a disciplined daily devotional life of intimate worship, intercessory prayer, Bible study and devotional reading (books that stimulate the spiritual life).
2. Second, there is a commitment to growing in personal character. As a result, we give ourselves to holy living, self-denial and self-discipline in order to be pleasing to the Father and become more and more like Christ Jesus our King.
3. Third, there is a commitment to winning the lost to faith in Christ. As a result we seek every opportunity to witness of the power of Christ to save and we seek to lead people to Christ as opportunities arise.
4. Fourth, there is a commitment which recognizes that such a lifestyle requires nothing less than absolute consecration to Christ. As a result we present our bodies as living sacrifices, utterly abandoned to Christ. In so doing, we will that God’s perfect will find complete expression in our lives. Through all of these commitments we offer ourselves in all humility to be “expendable” for Christ.

The ways of Jesus’ kingdom are amazing to me. As we look in the natural on this call to the “expendable” lifestyle we can be gripped with dread and a sense of not wanting anything to do with such a lifestyle. This is normal self-preservation.

Yet, as we grow in Christ the Holy Spirit presses these truths to our hearts in such a way as to make purposefully pursuing them very attractive. This is because such a life is the very life that Jesus Himself emulated. He did not find ultimate fulfillment in pursuing a certain form of worldly success while on earth. Instead He found inner satisfaction (happiness, peace, joy and more) only in doing the will of His Father.

Those who truly trust in the Lord for their lives are happy, satisfied and ultimately deeply content people. Their lives may appear hard and yet the Lord Himself helps them, sustains them, is interceding for them, upholds them because they have put His Kingdom purposes before their own and like Jesus have dedicated themselves to only doing the will of the Father.

God is looking today for those who are willing to risk all for the sake of walking by faith in Christ and being used as His hands and feet in a desperate and spiritually dark world. Will you commit yourself to be an “expendable” for Christ in today’s generation?

I encourage you to tell someone about this commitment you have made. Get accountability to go after this lifestyle and to encourage you when the going gets tough – as it will. If you’ve been impacted by this article, you are encouraged to forward it on to your ministries and friends. Let’s together seek to raise the standard of the calling of Jesus to give ourselves wholeheartedly to the global purpose of God.

By Ryan Shaw

Ryan is the international lead facilitator for Student Volunteer Movement 2 (SVM2) and currently lives among the unreached.

Henrietta Mears

In early 1947 an older single woman named Henrietta Mears and her assistant were on a trip visiting what was left of Europe just following World War II. Henrietta was the director of all Sunday School programs at Hollywood Presbyterian Church in California.

She had spiritually trained up thousands of young people over the twenty or so years of her ministry to that point. Hundreds of these had gone off to serve their country during the war, with multitudes losing their lives. What she saw in post-war Europe impacted her greatly as the Holy Spirit began unfolding a vision in her heart that would end up impacting the nations for Christ for generations.

Upon her return to California in the summer of 1947 she spoke at a summer conference and her theme was “a spiritual call to arms.” In the dark days of confusion, fear and destruction which marked the years following World War II, the Holy Spirit was orchestrating a divine call to young believers who would have ears to hear and respond accordingly.

Mears declared, “Jesus said that we must make disciples of all people. We are to take His gospel to the ends of the earth. We are to present the full doctrine of Christian truth. God is looking for men and women of total commitment.During the war, men of special courage were called upon for difficult assignments; often these volunteers did not return. They were called “expendables.” We too are called to be “expendables” for Christ.”

The spiritual seeds that Mears sowed during that particular conference have been felt globally over the last 60 years in a remarkable way. Both Bill Bright (founder of Campus Crusade for Christ) and Billy Graham (the world renowned evangelist) were present as young men in that conference.

Being An “Expendable”

They and many others met with Dr. Mears following this message and in fear and trembling offered themselves up to God for this most holy of callings – to be an “expendable” for Christ and His expanding Kingdom.

In our day there is possibly no message that needs to be more declared from the pulpits of the world than this one. When moral compromise, lukewarm love for Christ, biblical illiteracy, prayerlessness, self-absorption, idolatry, greed and pride mark multitudes of believers today, we need a massive rearranging of our priorities.

As we see from Mears’ circumstance and as church and mission history proves time and time again, a generation of believing young people who make it their single-minded aim to love God with all their hearts and surrender all on the altar to Him, will be used by His leading hand in mighty ways.

The Calling of the “Expendables”

God is calling us to be “expendables” for His glory’s sake and to bear this message everywhere we go. We need an emphasis today on the need for the body of Christ globally to be:

(1) consumed with abandoned devotion to Jesus Christ,

(2) to be growing consistently in its depth of spiritual life,

(3) to embrace Jesus’ upside down Kingdom ways and

(4) to recognize that every believer has been redeemed to participate in God’s purpose of global harvest (through Extravagant Giving, Extraordinary Praying, Surrendered Going and Impassioned Mobilizing).

An Example – Epaphroditus

We see this “expendable” spirit exemplified in Epaphroditus, one of Paul’s closest associates. We don’t know much of this servant of Christ other than in Philippians 2:25-30, yet the remarks of praise which Holy Scripture gives to him from the pen of Paul are worth considering.

He is called brother, fellow worker, fellow soldier, your (the Philippians) messenger, one who ministered to my (Paul) need. It is stated about him that he had a longing for you (Philippians) all and verse 30 provides the key insight into understanding the “expendable” spirit which was cultivated within him.

“Because for the work of Christ he came close to death, risking his life, to supply what was lacking in your service toward me.”

In doing so Epaphroditus was faithfully living out the words spoken of true believers by the apostle John (the beloved) in Revelation 12:11,

“And they overcame him (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony and they did not love their lives to the death.”

Jesus’ last command before He ascended to the Father’s right hand in Matthew 28:18-20, given to His whole body throughout church history beckons us today.

“All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

In order to take Jesus at His word in this matter we are to give ourselves to being a people possessing the spirit of Epaphroditus. This is at its core a spirit of sacrifice – or a willingness to be “expendable” for Christ.

For we know that to teach those today who are still out of access to the gospel of Christ will require a life of uttermost service which will not be comfortable or easy. Like those who volunteer for the most difficult assignments in times of war, God is beckoning His corporate body to give themselves in such a manner to the sacrificial work of pursuing global harvest.

By Bernard Messing

Bernard is the national lead facilitator for SVM2 in Cameroon.

The Christian life is sometimes characterized in the Bible as a race to be run. (Heb. 12:1)

1 Cor. 9:24, “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain it.”

1 Tim. 4:7, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.”

and a struggle or an athletic contest to be fought.

Heb. 10:32, “But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions.”

Other prominent terms used of the Christian’s life in the world are labor or toil or work.

1 Cor. 3:8, “Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.”

2 Cor. 11:27, “In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness

1 Thess. 2:9, “For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God.”

The most successful Christian people are the people who have endure the most testing and trials. God can only entrust you with serious responsibility after you have been tested to see how you will respond to those responsibilities.

Bruce Olson committed his life to Christ when he was about 16. He was abused and laughed at by his father. When he would go to prayer meetings, his father would lock him outside in the cold Minnesota winters(USA). He was called by his pastor who told him to stop his “holier than thou” attitude and quit being so fanatical about his faith.

After all he had been confirmed and that was enough. He was rejected by his friends. He went to the mission field as a 19 year old young man and the missionaries turned against him. They even refused to allow their sons to interact with him. He went to an Indian tribe and was put inside a building and shot with many arrows.

He stayed among this tribe for over a year. During the first four months, they laughed and mocked him. He wanted to find the Motilones, a very primitive and dangerous people and he eventually did find them. His first contact with them was a Motilone arrow stuck in his leg.

He was arrested by soldiers, suffered with all kinds of diseases including hepatitis, was shot by renegade outlaws and lost his fiancée in an vehicle accident. He went through the greatest kinds of physical and emotional suffering.

However, by the time he was 30, he had spoken before the United Nations and the Organization of American States and was personal friends with four South American presidents.

In addition, he led almost an entire tribe of Indians to the Lord and had led them in the most rapid and successful economic development of any primitive tribe in the history of the world.

Bruce Olson has been one of the most successful missionaries in history, but he paid one of the greatest prices for it in terms of suffering and loneliness.

This means we should expect sufferings and tough times in our commitment to serve the Lord as missionaries. If you are going to do anything successful for God, you are going to have to be thorough.

When everything is going our way, patience is easy to demonstrate. The true test of patience comes when our rights are violated—when another car cuts us off in traffic; when we are treated unfairly; when our co-worker derides our faith, again.

Some people think they have a right to get upset in the face of irritations and trials. Impatience seems like a holy anger. The Bible, however, praises patience as a fruit of the Spirit.

Galatians 5:22, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, and self control.”
1 Thessalonians 5:14, “Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men.”

Patience reveals our faith in God’s timing, omnipotence, and love.

We see in the Bible many examples of those whose patience characterized their walk with God. James points us to the prophets “as an example of patience in the face of suffering.” James 5:10 states,  “Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.” He also refers to Job, whose perseverance was rewarded by what the “Lord finally brought about.” (James 5:11)

Behold, we count them happy who endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

Abraham, too, waited patiently and “received what was promised.” (Hebrews 6:15) And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.

Jesus is our model in all things, and He demonstrated patient endurance. Hebrews 12:2 states, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

The perseverance of saints is in fact, a perseverance of faith. It is to stand resolute in one’s commitment to God who is faithful to His promises.

While God’s faithfulness is always guaranteed, he must by definition be true to himself. (Rom3:3-6)

Faith on our side is required in order that we not fail to stand.

Young generation! There is much to be learned from reading missionary biographies. Be inspired by their dedication unto death and their perseverance through every kind of trial and despite seeing little fruit for many years. Check out Mary Slessor, Hudson Taylor, Jim Elliot, William Carey, St. Patrick, the Judsons in Burma, Bruce Olson, and Brother Andrew.

By Bernard Messing

Bernard is the national lead facilitator for SVM2 in Cameroon.

James1:2-4 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worked patience.
But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

Obviously, no one can continue to run in the race, stand firm in the struggles of life, labor effectively, or handle the trials of life without endurance or perseverance, and patience.

Let’s define perseverance as “steady persistence in adhering to a course of action, a belief, or a purpose; steadfastness,” endurance as “the act, quality, or power of withstanding hardship or stress,” but in another second definition we define endurance as “the state or act of persevering.”

While they are synonyms and each word carries in it the idea of “continuance,” perseverance lays stress on a given course of action in the face of difficulty or opposition. Endurance perhaps more strongly adds the idea of continuing under resistance or the adversities of life, to carry on in spite of hardships.

Patience refers to the quality of enduring pain, hardship, provocation, or annoyance with calmness. Either perseverance, endurance or patience all are qualities of Christ-likeness.

In Hebrews 12:1 – “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,” the writer teaches us that we have a “great cloud of witnesses surrounding us.” These witnesses are cited in Hebrews 11. In our generation how can we describe the endurance, perseverance, and patience of the following:

• Noah
• Abraham
• Moses
• Joseph

Paul wrote in 2 timothy 2 :3, “endure hardship with us as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in the civilian affairs-he wants to please his commanding officer.” We all know what a soldier is.  What are the marks of a soldier that characterize the Christian worker? a missionary?

A soldier is tough. He endures hardship.

We sometimes hear from certain preachers that the Christian life or even( service )is easy and filled with blessings and with no problems. Here is Paul’s testimony in 2 Corinthians 6:4-10,
But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses,
In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watching, in fasting;
By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned,
By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,
By honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true;
As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed;
As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.

In the unreached world there are millions of people who have heard little or nothing of Jesus. Millions of people in the unreached world have never seen a church that speak their language. They have never seen a Bible. They have never believed in Jesus. Why?  Because no one has ever told them about Him.
That should make us cry,
And pray,
And take action!

The Lord is seeking for young people with a burning desire to preach the good news in places where no one has heard of Christ.

But only a mature person can understand the purpose of God in his life. When sin is still governing someone’s life, it is a clear evidence of immaturity. Only a mature man can do what Moses did. There are nine F’s, or fear factors,  every potential candidate for missions or potential message bearer must face as far as responding to his call:
1)Fear of family:
2)Fear of friends:
3)Fear of leaving our comfort zone and fellowship
4)Fear of forces of darkness
5)Fear of lack of finances
6)Fear of the future
7)Fear of famine
8)Fear of failure
9)Fear of missing fun fair

If we can analyze< Fear>”we may define it as
F=false
E=experiences
A=appearing
R=real

Faith is required today among our emerging generation in order to do great things for God!
Let’s define the word faith in one sentence: FOR ALL I TRUST HIM

1)F=for
2)A=all
3)I=I
4)T=trust
5)H=him

Why? Because culture is a way of thinking, feeling and behaving. That explains why any message bearer in our generation needs total faith in God, perseverance and endurance in understanding another culture. To understand the culture therefore, we must:

Learn the local language, observe the customs and actions, copy the new culture, study the new culture. Can a message bearer achieve this without perseverance?

By Hasmik Babayan

Hasmik serves on the SVM2 International Facilitation Team and currently lives among the unreached.

The Beauty of the Incarnation in Mission

Recently my mind has been busy with some thoughts over the following questions: Who are Christians today and how do they respond to God’s incarnation, how do they understand it? Is God’s incarnation relevant to their mission work?

Are they truly interested in resembling the person Christ, or they are still busy with their own stuff? Who is God for Christians? How do Christians understand the meaning of mission today, in this so fast moving century? Are they in or out of tune with the NEED? Do they really practice the principle of incarnation in mission or they are still working with out-of-date tools?

In Matt. 5:13 Jesus said to his listeners,

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.” (ESV)

Jesus’ words are very strong. Basically what He suggests is that those children of God who lose or have lost their saltiness are no longer good for anything except for the garbage. Those Christians who no longer have the tastiness of salt-seasoning, are for no use, they should be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. Quite a strong language! But this is Christ’s words and Christ’s suggestion.

In Matt. 5:48 we read, “But you must always act like your Father in heaven.” (CEV)

Jesus said that we always should act like the Father, which is the same as to be as perfect as the Father is. I have seen often believers finding excuses to justify their unbelief toward this verse. Some of believers are trying to twist the meaning of this verse saying that Jesus didn’t really mean perfect resemblance.

I usually call this an identity crisis-believers don’t know about their abilities, about the depth of their soul and power of their mind. If it wasn’t possible for a human being to perfectly resemble Father, Jesus wouldn’t suggest this. Instead he would suggest, “But you must sometimes (occasionally, now and then, from time to time) act like your Father in heaven.”

The crisis of identity among believers has made even worse the already existing crisis among the lost. Believers are quite lost in not knowing that perfect resemblance is perfectly possible. But perfect resemblance of the Father is not cheap, it is way too costly.

The way God perfectly entered into human reality, the same way humans can enter into God’s reality. The way God incarnated into human flesh, the same way humans can incarnate into God’s flesh, i.e., into Jesus’ way of life. The way God empted himself from his divinity in order to incarnate, the same way humans can empty themselves from their humanity in order to incarnate into their TRUE humanity.

So, what do we do? The greatest question is-how can the lost in the body of Christ minister to the lost in the world? Impossible! There is a huge hunger and famine (spiritual, emotional, psychological) in the world, there is a lot pain and suffering, lot dangers and discomfort, a lot abuse and hate in the world. Impossible! Lost believers cannot minister to the lost in the world.

People in the world are not weak, and not necessary all evil. There are many with strong characters seeking after the truth. The hunger of the lost people  in the world is so strong and real that they cannot buy a fake food. This simply will not satisfy their hanger!

The destruction and hate of lost people in the world is so real that they will not and cannot buy cheap theology, either take cheap grace, or listen to cheap talks about God, or eat the cheap food offered. They say No to out-of-date talks?

We read in Luke 14:26-30, “You cannot be my disciple, unless you love me more than you love your father and mother, your wife and children, and your brothers and sisters. You cannot come with me unless you love me more than you love your own life. You cannot be my disciple unless you carry your own cross and come with me. Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. What is the first thing you will do? Won’t you sit down and figure out how much it will cost and if you have enough money to pay for it? Otherwise, you will start building the tower, but not be able to finish. Then everyone who sees what is happening will laugh at you. They will say, “You started building, but could not finish the job.”

Finally, let us put an end to cheap talks, cheap grace, cheap mission, cheap faith, cheap god, and cheap love. Jesus made it clear that following His path is a costly business. And He also made it clear not to be a lukewarm.

We read in Rev. 3:16, “You’re not cold, you’re not hot—far better to be either cold or hot! You’re stale. You’re stagnant. You make me want to vomit.” (The Message)

So, if you cannot build and finish the house, as Jesus would say, don’t even start. Don’t make people laugh at you! There is no middle ground. If you are going to build, then count the cost and go all the way. Let Jesus set your heart ablaze, burning for Him!

By Hasmik Babayan

Hasmik serves on the SVM2 International Facilitation Team and currently lives among the unreached.

God loved so much the world, that He made the very impossible possible – the Consuming Fire that nobody was able to see and to touch made Himself touchable and visible. The one, who was invisible, unreachable, and unfathomable, has decided to come down and make himself visible, reachable and fathomable to those whose eyes and hands had never seen and touched the consuming beauty of God.

We read in 1 John 1:1-2,

“The Word that gives life was from the beginning, and this is the one our message is about. Our ears have heard, our own eyes have seen, and our hands touched this Word. The one who gives life appeared! We saw it happen, and we are witnesses to what we have seen. Now we are telling you about this eternal life that was with the Father and appeared to us.” (CEV)

God loved so much the world that He decided to come down in person. The Maker of Universe, the God of immense power and force had become a human being, had transformed Himself from eternity into time in order to transform humans from time into eternity. He had left the Trinitarian dance and came down to the earth in order to take humans back to that very dance of love and unity.

The Son of God came down with a message in his heart; He had a message to deliver to humanity.

The Son of God, the Splendor of Universe was born in a manger, in a place that nobody would choose and nobody is still choosing their children to be born. The Son of God was born in a place where horses, cows and other animals live and get their food. The Son of God chose the unwanted and disdained place.

The Son of God chose to leave the Trinitarian dance of love and unity and come down to the earth, to the cursed place, to the place of darkness and turmoil, to the place of war and hate, to the place of lies and deceit, to the place of confusing standards and manipulating rules, and to the place of religion that kills.

The religion that not only killed humans, but also killed God and, on the top of this, killed God in the name of God. To incarnate into human flesh and to live in the society created by humans was to incarnate into human pain and despair, into human suffering and darkness, and into human loneliness and struggle.

The Son of God came into the darkness to transform that darkness into light. In order to transform darkness into light He needed to be in the darkness, to live in a messed up society where humans lived. Without compromising His standards He made Himself extremely flexible for the sake of us. Having the perfection in Him He still agreed to be with the imperfect ones.

For the loving and perfect God, it was extremely painful to see and live in the mess created by humans. For the loving heart, that had the best to offer, was unfathomably pained to see the offer rejected or taken by wrong motivation.

This was the greatest suffering of the incarnation-equal to the one on the cross, or even more! For thirty three years, He lived in a society that was unbearable. Oftentimes we see in the Bible that Jesus gets tired, and goes to His solitude where He can communicate with His Father.

In order to bring light to people, He agreed to live in the darkness. In order to give life to people, He agreed to walk the path of death. In order to bring humans back to their true humanity, He agreed to empty Himself of His divinity. In order to provide humans their true identity, He agreed to the suffering of incarnation, including the suffering on the cross.

Two Options

Now only two options are left, only two choices are left. We agree to embrace the identity that God wants to give to us, or we create our own identity apart from God and without God.

The first one is very costly and a quite painful process. But the latter one is more costly-it leads to destruction and meaninglessness and emptiness, the ongoing and unproductive suffering without God. The first one is for those who want to pay the price to be with God and walk with God.

The second one is for those who want to pay the price to be without God. Both are costly but the outcome is different, the meaning is different.

In this century life is very fast. It makes rules for people and enslaves them. It gets people into the suicidal machine “I want more.” It is said that 21st century offers many options to humanity, but this is just an illusion.

Only two options, only two choices are left-we should choose between God and NO God! There is no neutral ground, this life is not for spiritual survival-either we thrive or we die. We read in Matthew 12:30, “This is war, and there is no neutral ground. If you’re not on my side, you’re the enemy; if you’re not helping, you’re making things worse.” (The Message)

Christ had a message in his heart to deliver to humans, and he did it…At all cost!

By Hasmik Babayan

Hasmik serves on the SVM2 International Facilitation Team and currently lives among the unreached.

The Calculated Risk

We read in John 1:1-5,

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (ESV)

The beauty of God’s imagination, the creativity of His mind, the passion of His soul, and the power of His word called into existence the human life, the masterpiece of creation.

In the image of God humans were created. They were created for a purpose – to belong to Him, to enjoy life with Him and to thrive in Him. They were created for God, and the meaning of their life and existence was in God.
The beauty of life consisted in knowing God and enjoying life in His presence.

The meaning of life was to become the fullness of what God intended when He created Adam. God beautifully and mysteriously made human beings so that the latter is able to KNOW his Maker and acknowledge the meaning of his existence. To live was to know God and to discover the mystery and potential of the human soul and body.

Adam, and in essence all of humanity, rebelled later. As Adam did this, he lost the beauty and mystery between God and himself. He exchanged light with darkness, love with hatred, life with death and harmony with a chaos. He alienated his soul from the source of his existence.

He pulled himself out from the light and chose to go into the darkness. Consequently Adam started using his power and potential to create hate and destruction, greed and war, pride and slavery, fear and religion, abhorrence and injustice, and the demolition of his own self.

As he estranged himself from God, he started twisting the original meaning of all beautiful things such as love, worship, friendship, sex, joy, happiness, and etc. In Isaiah 5:20 God says,

“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” (ESV)

So, the human mind used its creativity to twist things, to destroy the original meaning of purposefully created things. Human beings had become so creative in destroying, abusing, hurting, hating, and killing, that they didn’t have time to realize that they had used this creativity for their own annihilation and complete devastation.

The human mind had become so busy that its very desire to save life, will lead to losing it! Jesus said in Matthew 10:39, “If you try to save your life, you will lose it. But if you give it up for me, you will surely find it.”

In Genesis 1:26 we read,

“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” (ESV)

Thus, God had entrusted the creation to humans. Humans were given complete authority to rule over the created things. Basically God took a calculated risk in putting so much trust in humans. But this trust was necessary; otherwise the creation wouldn’t have had meaning.

Humans took over and started ruling over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the heavens, over the livestock, even over the very human beings, over the nature and over all the earth. While ruling they messed up a lot and caused a real chaos in nature, in their own soul, and in their societies.

Humans were trusted, but they abused the trust. They failed God, as well as nature (the abuse, misuse, and overuse of nature-trees, plants, animals and etc.). In other words humans made up their own world, the one that we live in now, the world of chaos and hate.

By Ryan Shaw

Ryan is the international lead facilitator of Student Volunteer Movement 2 (SVM2) and currently lives among the unreached.

What is the Purpose of Fasting?

What takes place when we fast? As we fast what is it that God wants us seeking His face for? What is the dynamic relationship between abstaining from food and spiritual purification? All of these and many more questions loom when we consider fasting.

The first and foremost  idea to grasp initially about fasting is that it is a great mystery. Though we have much Scripture to teach us, it still alludes our minds of how such a discipline works. This is okay. We are not meant to always fully grasp everything Scripturally before we begin to practice it by faith.

Reasons to Fast

Though there are undoubtedly more reasons a short list of reasons to fast include:

• for the development of personal holiness (Psalm 69:10; Ezekiel 16:49; Nehemiah 9:1-2),
• to be heard from God on high (Esther 4:16; Ezra 8:23; Isaiah 58:9; Jeremiah 29:13-14; Joel 2:12),
• to change God’s mind (Jonah 3:5,10; Jeremiah 18:7-8; 1 Kings 21: 27-29; Joel 2:12-14),
• to free the captives (Isaiah 58:6; Acts 10:38),
• to see people delivered from demonic oppression and possession (Luke 10:17; Isaiah 49:24,25; Mark 16:17),
• for increased revelation and spiritual understanding (Daniel 9: 2,3,21,22; Acts 2:17; 2 Cor. 11:27 – 12:2-4),
• to discipline the appetites of the body (1 Corinthians 9:27; Deuteronomy 32:15-16; Romans 13:14),
• to keep our physical bodies submitted to our spiritual lives (Exodus 16:3; Numbers 11:4-5; Psalm 78:29-31)
• and even for health and physical healing.

Yet, the very first desire in fasting is to be fixed upon God Himself. When we fast we want to always fast unto God and never first to get something from Him (Zechariah 7:5; Acts 13:2). We are in a love relationship with the God of the universe and want to worship and draw nearer to Him through the discipline of fasting.

If this is not in place, Scripture assures us that our fasting is in vain.

It has been noted by many that through the discipline of fasting Jesus is able to open our hearts and increase our spiritual capacities in a multitude of areas like no other discipline or aspect of God’s enabling can.

Several things take place in this process.

1. We receive a greater measure of spiritual revelation and clarity. When we fast we are emptying ourselves of all natural stimulants. This happens both physically yet also spiritually. In doing so the clutter and swirl of life that often keeps us from being able to grasp the heart of God and what He is saying to us is swept away. Our spirits are sensitized and tenderized to be able to clearly discern what the Holy Spirit is communicating to us. We gain greater insight into the Word and new concepts and applications often jump off the pages that we had never seen before.
2. Areas of sin and temptation that once held us captive ease their grip when we pray with fasting. I do not know how this happens, yet it clearly does. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life tend to weaken as we cooperate with fasting. When our desires fall in line with God’s there is great freedom within. Fasting enables us to break the power of the wrong desires and more speedily turn 180 degrees to embrace the correct ones.
3. Fasting releases joy. Though often difficult many view fasting as something to never participate in because it is such a horrible discipline. Yet, the testimony of those whom have adopted a fasted lifestyle tell us that it produces a supernatural joy as we draw near to the heart of God without the natural distractions which our stomachs often bring about.
4. There are times when we need specific spiritual direction regarding making decisions. Fasting seems to enable us to receive a greater measure of God’s emotions and ways helping us to not be moved by the ways of the worldly systems that are swirling about us. Even as true believers, we are constantly tempted to base our decision making on the values and principles of the world instead of on the values and principles of Jesus’ upside down kingdom. Fasting helps to align us more and more with His ways and His kingdom, helping us to make decisions that please Him in partnership with Him.

God is calling us today to be a people who contend for the greater measure of spiritual glory and power which He intends to bring forth on the earth. We know that God has set up His kingdom in divine relationship with His Bride, the Body of Jesus Christ.

His primary vehicle for bringing forth His Kingdom on the earth is through the lives of ordinary believers like you and me. We must take this calling and responsibility very seriously if we are to partner with Him to accomplish all He has ordained in our generation.

Much of this revolves around our spiritual disciplines including the discipline of prayer coupled with fasting. Wherever you are in the world you are invited to participate with SVM2uesdays and integrate into your weekly schedule a day committed to abstaining from food for a 24 hour period in order to draw nearer to the Lord and contend spiritually for the mighty development of the Student Mission Movement in this hour of mission history.

By Ryan Shaw

Ryan is the international lead facilitator of Student Volunteer Movement 2 (SVM2) and currently lives among the unreached.

Necessity of Greater Spiritual Power

It does not take a rocket scientist to deduce that as the church of Jesus Christ today we need greater spiritual power.

• with the truths of the Bible being questioned left and right and the essence of true Biblical Christianity being skewed in many churches and ministries;
• with so many obstacles abounding keeping God’s purposes from being accomplished in our lives, families, ministries, nations and unreached ethnic groups
• with unbelievers tired of hearing the same old platitudes of Christianity without true evidence in our lives;
• as lawlessness and the throwing off of authority even among believers increases;
• when addiction to sex, substances and involvement in the occult and witchcraft are consistently mounting;

it is clear we need more of God’s power by aligning with more of God’s ways and contending for all that He desires and intends for us to possess spiritually in our generation.

Because of the level of glory and power experienced throughout the Old Testament under the Old Covenant (specifically the nature of the Book of Exodus), Paul is telling us that we (as those now under the much greater New Covenant) need to expect and spiritually contend for more of God’s glory and power to be revealed today.

Moses’ face shone with the glory of God; a physical cloud and light led the Israelites; Water gushed out of a rock and much more. It is the Lord’s intended desire to show forth a level of glory and power today that far exceeds such things for the sake of bringing Himself greater glory in individual lives and among entire unreached people groups.

How do we go about such contending for an increased measure of New Covenant power and glory? Verse 18 provides the answer.

“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

The primary way we contend is by daily beholding the Lord Jesus Himself. We grow in fascination, devotion, surrender, worship, gratefulness, spiritual maturity and more by daily sitting at the feet of Jesus and meditating upon His supremacy, superiority, majesty, beauty, holiness, justice, wrath, kindness, mercy, meekness and many other awe-inspiring characteristics.

This beholding will bring us into God’s presence and the Spirit of the Lord is the One who begins revealing sin and releasing power. We must cooperate with what the Spirit is saying as we sit and behold because without the Spirit bringing the change in us from glory to glory we will remain the same.

Contending is not just praying but also cooperating with what we hear or sense the Lord saying to us. Our response will determine the level of our increase in glory and power.

What is Prayer and Fasting?

One way that we increase our capacity to behold the Lord intently in this manner is through the spiritual discipline of prayer and fasting. SVM2 has implemented a weekly day of prayer and fasting affectionately called “SVM2uesdays.”

Bible Schools, Campus Ministry Organizations, Local Churches and Mission Sending Agencies are invited to participate as the Lord leads. Its purpose is to set aside each Tuesday to seek the face of God with greater intentionality.

We do so through beholding the Lord in the above manner and through interceding for the Student Mission Movement that God is raising up in this hour internationally. We spend the day abstaining from food (if each person is healthy enough to do so) as we know there is great spiritual power released through the discipline of fasting.Simultaneously we give ourselves to a few hours of seeking the face of God with focus.

Why is Fasting such an Important Spiritual Factor?

Scripture has much to teach us about the value of this important spiritual discipline. It is clear from church and mission history that prayer with fasting accompanied the lives of most of the spiritual greats with whom we are familiar.

But possibly of more importance, are the countless lives we do not know of who prayed with fasting and did so in secret as Scripture exhorts us (Matthew 6:18). In the New Testament, fasting was seen as a spiritual tool for releasing power.

However, as the church continued through the centuries and spirituality declined with the onslaught of worldliness, spiritual power and the functioning of the gifts of the Spirit also declined.

Yet we know that God is determined to have a glorious bride who is perfect and without spot for His Son. In God’s process of bringing such transformation and renewal about within His people, there undoubtedly will be a return to the biblical practice of intense prayer accompanied with fasting.

By Ryan Shaw

Ryan is the international lead facilitator for Student Volunteer Movement 2 (SVM2) and currently lives among the unreached.

We are living in an extraordinary hour in the history of the church and the mission movement. The light of the love of Jesus is shining in many places in the earth. Many missiologists believe that we have all the tools necessary to see the literal fulfillment of the Great Commission in our lifetime.

Increasing Darkness

Yet we also know that darkness is simultaneously increasing. The enemy seems to have turned up the heat and the level of intensity related to spiritual warfare taking place globally has grown.

Spiritual attacks toward believers have amplified of late ranging across the spectrum in type from physical, accidents, injuries, kidnappings, other physical harm, to mental, depression, fear and anxiety, confusion and inability to function, to sexual, onslaught of pornography, adultery and more, and a host of other categories of spiritual oppression.

This is not an hour to be complacent and lethargic in our spiritual lives, thinking we will get serious about living wholeheartedly for God at some future time. Instead it is paramount that we wage spiritual war against the tendency to plateau and backslide in our lives with God.

This is true of every believer no matter if they are serving in a certain kind of ministry or not. We all face this temptation and too many are succumbing and becoming needless casualties of war.

As we continue to move steadily closer to the fulfillment of the Great Commission and the Second Coming of Jesus we can be assured from Scripture that the heat will continue to increase. If our hearts and lives are not consistently feeding on the Word of God and abiding in fellowship with Jesus, the enemy will not have a difficult time attacking the places of weakness where we are most vulnerable.

Instead it is critical that we discern the seriousness of the hour and the enemy’s tactics and go on the offensive by pressing into the heart of Jesus like never before. We allow Him to put His finger on all areas and give Him access to all of our lives.

We receive His abundant grace (divine enabling, empowering and overcoming) by faith made available through the power of His resurrection for every area He shows us. We go to war (do whatever it takes – are ruthless) against the areas of sin we may have been tolerating.

This alone is the type of lifestyle which will sustain the people of God and bring us forth into shining victory even in the midst of darkness and hardship.

The Glory and Power of the New Covenant

The Lord has promised us in Scripture that although darkness will abound, His glory and power will do so as well. 2 Corinthians 3:7-18 is a startling passage with tremendous implications for the generation that we are living in today.

Paul is writing to the Corinthian church and comparing the glory and power which the Israelites knew and experienced through the Old Covenant under Moses with the far exceeding glory and power of the New Covenant.

He calls the Old Covenant the ministry of death and the New Covenant the ministry of the Spirit.

Paul highlights the tremendous levels of the glory and power that Moses symbolized and states, “The children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of His countenance.” Yet, Paul goes on, “How will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious?”  Verse 9 then communicates, “For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory.”

What was Paul getting at? His point was that there is a great promise of an increased measure of glory and power which the Lord Himself has intended for the people of God under the New Covenant through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. This measure of glory and power will be greater than anything experienced under the Old Covenant.

Its purpose is to draw true followers of Jesus into greater dimensions of heightened relationship with the Lord of Glory and to activate us into deliberate participation with power toward the completion of the deep purposes He carries in His heart.