a heart for the nations

The Lord has been challenging me in the last few months, but specifically this past week, to have a heart for the nations. As I read scripture, I see God through His prophets call the nations to Himself. But God is not just calling nations to Himself. He calls His disciples to have a heart for the nations... to go to the ends of the earth with the gospel. He calls ALL His disciples, not just missionaries. I hear a lot of people say "I have a heart for the world". It is easy to say that. But do we? What does a heart for the nations look like? I have been prayerfully asking myself that question the last few days.

Today at church, a missionary family from the center of Mexico came and shared. They said that in their city of over 300,000 less than 5% of the people are disciples of Christ. The other 95 % are very religious, but don't know Jesus. They kept on saying how they had a need for leaders to disciple people so they can plant a church. It breaks my heart and it angers me to hear that Satan is using religion to blind hundreds of thousands of people to the light of the gospel. It makes me want to do something.

Last night, all of us guys were sitting in a coffee shop, and one of us posed the question, "what are your goals for the next 5 years?" I really hadn't thought to deeply about it. But as I examined my heart, I realized pretty quickly the direction I want to be moving in. And I believe I am moving in it. I think there are 2 kinds of Christians. Goers and Senders. (John Piper expounds on this) The goers go and the senders send. Being a missionary kid in China for 3 years, I know there is a Goer in my blood. I believe God used that experience to give me a passion for the nations, specifically the people groups that have never heard about Jesus. But for the next 5 years, I really believe my role is to be a sender. And I want to grow in that... a lot. I think daily prayer for the salvation of people groups, the ministry of church planters, and perseverance of church leaders is something I really want to start doing. I want to start cultivating a heart for the nations here in Ohio. Now, it is easy to have good intentions. It is hard to put the intentions into action.

So ask yourself. If you are a sender, what are you doing to send? Are you praying for friends overseas? Are you giving to missions? Are you learning about the needs of the persecuted church? Are you committed to a specific people group? These are questions I have been asking myself. And they are very convicting questions, because most of my answers have been, no. Psalm 2:8 says "Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession." Are we asking? Do we desire this?

Whenever I think about the global church, I get wicked fired up. I have a hunch I will be overseas one day, but now, at least until I am 26, I am here with Off The Wall Ministry.


I just pray that the American Church will have a heart for the nations, and remember our brothers and sisters that are being persecuted, slandered, and martyred for the faith that we (the American Church) are so often ashamed of. May we have the boldness of the believers who are being martyred in the streets of of North Korea. here. Let us take back our faith from the American Dream. Let us make our brothers and sisters all over the world proud by our testimony for Christ. But most of all, let us live worthy of the calling we have received, so when we enter glory, Jesus says "well done, my good and faithful servant". That is my prayer.


JN

reflections on a rainy day

The rains came last night. I awoke this morning at 5:30 with the realization that today is the last day I am a legal minor. I will be 21 at midnight. I have known this day would come and have been expecting it. But I didn't know it would come this quickly. My friend took me out for breakfast this morning, and as we were driving in the breaking dawn, a memory flickered in my spirit. I was 6 years old again and it was a fall day. The leaves were golden-red and many of them had been raked into piles against a big maple tree in my backyard. There hung a twenty five foot rope swing on that maple that my dad put up. I loved to climb it. I always climbed to the top and just hung there while my mom got nervous. But on that particular day, I remember just sitting on the knot at the bottom. I remember wishing I was 9, because 9 years old felt so old to me. I thought if I was nine, I would be one of the big kids. I remember this feeling of longing and anticipation for time to elapse on that particular fall day.

This fall day isn't much unlike that one, 15 years ago. I feel that sense of longing again. But it is different. Age is not what matters anymore. 21 is just a number. There is so much more I long for. I long to see what God will do in my life. I long to see who He brings into it and where He takes us. I long to see people I am pouring into fall more in love with Jesus. I long to love those people more like Christ loves us.. Ultimately, I long to love Him more than anyone and anything. I am not quite there yet, but I want to be.

I have been thinking a lot about that verse in Psalm 42 that says "As a deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you O God." I want to long for Him like that.


The leaves on the tree outside my bedroom window are just starting to change. Summer is gone. Autumn is alive and well. And its good. Seasons bring new things. And sometimes they bring old things to the surface. And that is why I have grown to appreciate all of them. The natural and spiritual.

So as the day draws to a close and my little minuscule life increases a year, I am thankful that God has kept me thus far. I am thankful that He has given me another year. And if am around a year from today, I will thank Him again.

Blessings

JN

Radical Passionate Obedience

For the last 5 or 6 years, these two words have been the torch that has burned in the hearts of the people of the Kingdom. Chris Tomlin and Louie Giglio come together in 1997 to found the Passion conference. And last year, David Platt writes the book that has called the Church of America to take back our faith from the American dream, and reclaim what we have fallen so far from.

There is this call in our nation today. But it is not a call you will find on the television or on the radio. Politicians can't hear it. Priests have become numb to it. For this is a call that does not resound in the megaphones of 21st century individualism. It is a call that goes deeper than what we see around us. It is a call that burns beneath our bones and into the depths of our hearts. And I feel this call. Oh how I feel it. And I know you feel it too, for if you did not, you would not be reading this. I feel it now as I am sitting a coffee shop studying. I feel it when I am in the shower. I feel it when I don't expect to feel it. It's like it just starts screaming. This is the call of the Spirit of God. If you are listening, it is a call that goes deeper than any call that you have ever heard before. He is calling us, Church. He is calling us to radical, passionate, obedience. He is calling us to bear the torch of Christ. He is calling us to lead our world, our nation, our cities, our towns, our friends and our families to radical, passionate obedience. He is calling us to take back our faith from the American Dream and reclaim it in the words of scripture.

Let us run this race. Let us carry the torch of Christ wherever we go. Let us live with radical, passionate, obedience to the Spirit of God and Word of God. And let us keep on running until He comes.


Lets go.


Joshua Nims

Steal our joy, steal our heart

After spending a few weeks back in Ohio, I have realized something about how Satan works. He aims to steal believers joy by stealing and blinding us to what our true heart is. I love discipleship. I love worship. I didn't do either of those things this summer. I was pretty miserable inside.

What I am learning is that when the people of the Kingdom do not live in their passions, we will become ineffective and unproductive. But we will also have our joy stolen from us.

Satan's goal is to make believers joyless, ineffective, and unproductive Christians. He can't take us from Christ, but he can take our hearts. I think Ephesians 6 really talks about how to defend against that. God is just really showing me right now that I must run with joy in my passions or I just won't make it. I will fall into sin. We all will.


What are your passionate about doing for the Kingdom of God? If you don't know, as Him to show you. And start doing them.

"You make known to me the path of life;in your presence there is fullness of joy at your right hand are pleasures forevermore." Psalm 15:11

A Season of Silence

Well, it has been a long time since i have been on here. And I know exactly why. I spent the summer in Massachusetts with my family. I worked as a lifeguard. I got tan. I slept in. I went to the beach. It would appear that it was a pretty relaxing summer. And it was, which was great. But I relaxed spiritually. I didn't take the initiative to grow closer to Christ that I told myself I would. And I didn't have the community I have been so accustomed to too challenge me in my walk with Christ. Those two things resulted in a very spiritually stagnant summer for me.

A few weeks ago I got back to Ohio. The first Sunday I went to church, a friend mentioned that I had been quiet for a while. I asked him what he meant and he said that he hadn't seen me post something on this blog for over three months. Again, I knew exactly why.

I haven't posted anything because I have had nothing to post. I didn't know how the Lord was working in my life this summer. At some points I questioned myself as to if He even was. Looking back now, I can see that in these seasons of life, when we feel like God is not there or we are somewhere else, things are actually happening. I learned much from this past summer. One big thing is that whenever I am not around community that challenges me, Jesus takes a back seat in my life.

But, I am back in New Philly now. It is good to smell the Ohio air. I missed the horse poop. I wonder if horse poop has anything to do with spiritual growth? Maybe it does? I don't know.

I will be blogging a lot this fall. I can tell that God is working. He always was. He always is. I just stopped looking and asking Him to for a few months.


I have a blog strictly about my theological musings. if that doesn't bore you to death you can go here

I also have more of a devotional blog that is about my daily walk with Jesus. for that you can go here


This one will take a new direction. This is going to be more of me sharing my heart and what I see God doing in me and around me.


that is all for now,

JN