Not our words...but some choice cuts from the Word to chew on regarding the biblical basis for mercy... The reason we are here...to love mercy and walk humbly with our God...
Let us know your thoughts on this!
Love, Richard and Jocelyn


The Heart of All Mercy - Tim Armstrong

"Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy." Matt 5:7

The whole undercurrent of christianity is mercy. It is so wide and vast that we sometimes miss it. We get so used to hearing and seeing it that we forget it. We forget this is so central to the concept of christianity. It penetrates almost every situation in every single book of the bible. A few examples would be:

Micah 6:8 - "to love mercy"; 7:18 "delight to show mercy"

Mercy often accompanies a description of God. It describes the type of God we follow. "Father of all mercy!" 2 Cor 1:3

What does it mean to be merciful? If you do not have a solid grasp on the biblical writer's meaning behind mercy, you could miss a huge concept. Mercy is compassion with action. Mercy is not just an attitude. Mercy is something that flows to you and through you. It is active and alive. Throughout scripture, the supreme example of mercy is always God the Father - what He is doing for us.

"As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,... But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus." Eph 2:1-7

We see that we were dead in our trespasses and sin; that we deserve punishment; that God did not only have an attitude of mercy, but He had an action of mercy. He expressed His mercy towards us through grace. Mercy comes before grace. It is like the umbrella over grace. It is a major theological concept. And if you miss the idea that is more than an attitude or feeling and you miss the fact that it is an action, you miss the sense of your calling.

So what is the difference between grace and mercy?

Grace is unmerited favor. You do not have to do something to earn God's approval. But mercy is the understanding that we deserve punishment, but we receive kindness. He gave us kindness even though we deserved something else. After we received his kindness, the door was open to receive unmerited favor - grace.

"he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy." Titus 3:5

In Romans 9, we are called us the object of God's mercy, the vessels, containers. Think of yourselves as tupperware containers filled with God's mercy. Imagine God's mercy constantly pouring into your life at any given time. As a follower, we are always receiving His mercy flowing into our lives. But it is not only to flow to you but through you.

And the greatest example of this is in Luke and the story of the Good Samaritan. Three men - a priest, levite and a samaritan were traveling on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. Each of them encounters a crime scene and each man reacted differently representing different attitudes. The attitudes of avoidance, analytical and active. And each of us go through life with one of these attitudes.

Avoidance - "A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side." Luke 10:31

He glanced and then passed by. He got a sideview. This is the lifestyle of distance.

Analytical - "So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side." Luke 10:32

He took a long, careful look and then passed by. This is what the State Highway Patrol calls a gawker when it comes to the scene of an accident. We slowly drive by but see someone else there, so we move on. We are familiar with the need but choose not to get involved. We present an attitude of detachment.

Active - "But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him." Luke 10:33

He feels pity, so he gets involved. The good samaritan illustrates compassion with action. This is why this story is such a great example of mercy. There are four symbols of mercy he illustrates.

#1 Eyes - See the need in people's lives. Some of you see it immediately because it is your spiritual gift. You have the ability to see this. While the rest of us have to work on it. We have to cultivate the ability to see into people's lives. We see this in nursing. And the difference between a good nurse and a great nurse is that a great nurse anticipates pain from patients.

#2 Heart - Feel the pain people experience. Not only do we need to see the need, we must feel their emotions. It is called sympathy. We do not have to experience what others have but open ourselves up to their pain. As in Luke 10:33, it started with his eyes and went to his heart. That is sympathy. Sympathy meets two of your basic needs:

- The need to be understood

- The need to have your feelings validated.

Why does God allow us to experience certain things, problems, trials in your life?

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." 2 Cor 1:3-4

Mercy has to flow to us so it can flow through us. Every element of life is a preparation for ministry. So ask yourself - is there a limitation to my mercy? If there is, it happens at this juncture. And if there is a limit, this is the stopping point.

#3 Hands - Take action to bring people healing. In Verse 34, "he went to him", it literally means he stooped down. He got on a personal level with him. You must incorporate their feelings into your feelings. And then he bandaged the wounds. Where did the bandages come from? This good samaritan was so committed to healing he did whatever it took. You do whatever it takes to bring someone to healing.

"Never walk away from someone who deserves help; your hand is God's hand for that person. Never tell your neighbors to wait until tomorrow if you can help them now." Prov 3:27-28 GN & Mess

The biblical understanding of your neighbor is anyone you come in contact with. We need to be a channel to all.

The Good Samaritan teaches us two profound lessons:

You must be willing to be interrupted. Mercy does not happen on our schedule. It happens on their schedule. Do you remember how the story begins? "A priest happened to be going". It sounds like it was sheer chance - sheer fate. But nothing happens by chance. God brings people into our lives through the most bizarre circumstances. Are you ready for it? Are you ready to be interrupted for it?

You must be willing to take risk. The good samaritan took a risk. It was at that second when it went from the eyes to the heart and the decision to get involved. Did he wonder if this was a trap? Are the robbers still near? What if I cannot help him? There was fear involved and he took the risk. Fear is the one thing that stifles mercy. The bible tells us "Perfect love casts out all fear".

#4 Pocket - Spend whatever it costs to help people recover. There is always a cost to mercy. Mercy inevitably causes you to sacrifice time, money, energy, reputation - something.

"He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'" Luke 10:34-35

He did whatever he could and spent whatever it cost just to save this stranger. And what did he gain from this? Nothing! As people of mercy, many times we will receive nothing back.

"and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail." Isaiah 58:10-11

Do you feel parched? All dried up? If so, then somewhere along the road, you have allowed mercy to flow to you and stopped it. The whole premise of this story is that you and I are the ones at the side of the road, stripped and beaten and reaching for mercy. And God is the Good Samaritan and mercy came running through Jesus Christ to you. We are the recipients of God's mercy which allows us to be the givers to those who need us.

We have all come here with a need. Remember that God is like a river of mercy flowing into your life. He is waiting to connect with your heart and you can hear Him speak if you will just listen. He is the God of all mercy. He does not want it to stop with you. He wants it to flow through you. Become rivers of mercy for others.

12 Steps to the Third World

I came across this in my reading...any thoughts? It's a pretty hard hitting article, but the truth is lived out before my eyes each time I visit families in Welfareville. Love to hear your comments... Jocelyn

written by Duane Elgin

While there is much to be admired and preserved in the cultures of the people of the Third World, current economic, political and social conditions prevent millions of people from expressing their cultures. Instead, they practice survival.

It generally is very difficult for North Americans- surrounded by the detritus of decades of industrial production - to comprehend the realities of daily life for the billion-plus people who constitute "the poorest of the poor." For these people, the question "What Is Enough?" has a very different meaning.

This little exercise - adapted from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization's magazine Freedom from Hunger, and based on excerpts from The Great Ascent by Robert L. Heilbroner (New York Harper & Row, 1963) - may help to get you in touch with the reality of life in the shadows cast by our relative wealth.

First, take out the furniture: leave a few old blankets, a kitchen table, maybe a wooden chair. You've never had a bed, remember?

Second, throw out your clothes. Each person in the family may keep the oldest suit or dress, a shirt or blouse. The head of the family has the only pair of shoes.
Third, all kitchen appliances have vanished. Keep a box of matches, a small bag of flour, some sugar and salt, a handful of onions, a dish of dried beans. Rescue those moldy potatoes from the garbage can: those are tonight's meal.

Fourth, dismantle the bathroom, shut off the running water, take out the wiring and the lights and everything that runs by electricity.

Fifth, take away the house and move the family into the toolshed.

Sixth, by now all the other houses in the neighborhood have disappeared; instead there are shanties - for the fortunate ones.

Seventh, cancel all the newspapers and magazines. Throw out the books. You won't miss them - you are now illiterate. One radio is now left for the whole shantytown.

Eighth, no more postman, fireman, government services. The two- classroom school is 3 miles away, but only 2 of your 7 children attend anyway, and they walk.

Ninth, no hospital, no doctor. The nearest clinic is now 10 miles away with a midwife in charge. You get there by bus or bicycle, if you're lucky enough to have one.

Tenth, throw out your bankbooks, stock certificates, pension plans, insurance policies. You now have a cash hoard of $5.

Eleventh, get out and start cultivating your three acres. Try hard to raise $300 in cash crops because your landlord wants one-third and your moneylender 10 percent.

Twelfth, find some way for your children to bring in a little extra money so you have something to eat most days. But it won't be enough to keep bodies healthy - so lop off 25 to 30 years of life.

http://www.context.org/ICLIB/permiss.htm All contents copyright(c)1990, 1997 by Context Institute

Where do babies come from?

Danieke and Marijke have been wondering this lately, especially since I've been at the birth center so much. Fortunately we have not had to explain much beyond "Babies come from God!" ("and mommies too"- Marijke's quip)
We have had a lot of babies lately. I just came off a 24 hour marathon of 3 babies born on our team. So far I have attended 47 births and caught 21 babies.

In the 24 hours and 3 babies born healthy, we also had a mom from my Tuesday team come in who had delivered a stillborn infant at 20 weeks gestation. We had seen her on Tuesday and were unable to auscultate a heartbeat. So we sent her for an ultrasound at the hospital. Once there, she discovered that the baby had died inside her (intrauterine fetal demise).
What a devastating discovery. She had already experienced this once before with a baby born at 6 months gestation. Because she had no money, the hospital sent her home (unbeknownst to us), where she delivered a very small baby. Her husband brought her into our clinic because they were concerned about her bleeding and we needed to rule out a retained placenta (one of the causes of hemorrhage postpartum). The husband went back home to retrieve the baby so we could make sure. So difficult for everyone.
My teammate, Leah, washed the baby so our patient could see, hold and say goodbye to her baby. We lined a small cardboard box with a new receiving blanket and laid the very small baby inside. His feet were the size of my pinkie fingernail, but perfectly formed. It was heartbreaking.

We welcomed three babies in 24 hours and laid them in their mothers arms, and said goodbye to one as Jesus welcomed him into his arms.

Please pray for this family who has lost a much desired baby and has lost hope of every carrying another to term. Pray for the midwives here who are a part of their lives, that we will care for them as Jesus would and point them to Him for hope. We appreciate all of you who pray for us and the work here. Bless you.