ROW, ROW, ROW YOUR BOAT.
1 Corinthians 4:1 says 'people should think of us as ministers of the Anointed One, and stewards of the mysteries of God...'
In the Greek text, the word for 'minister' is huperetas - which means 'having the essential attitude to get the job done' or 'having what it takes to be successful in the task that has been assigned to you'.
Back in Paul's day the word 'huperetas' was used to describe low-class criminals. These criminals were so low, so detestable and so looked down on, they were outcasts with no hope of employment in regular society, so they were permanently assigned to the bottom galleys of huge shipping vessels, where they literally became the engines of those huge ships, for as long as they lived. They were sentenced to live out their lives in the darkness below the deck - endlessly rowing, rowing, rowing and rowing. Their entire existence was devoted to keeping that ship moving towards its ultimate destination. These 'humeretas' were officially called UNDER-ROWERS because they lived and rowed down in the bottom of the ship. Day after day their job was to heave those massive oars forward and backwards, pushing them through the water to make the ship move through the sea.
And THAT was the word The Holy Spirit told Paul to use to describe the attitude that is necessary to do what God has called us to do!!!
We are UNDER-ROWERS for life!!!!
We are 'humeretas' for JESUS, our captain!!! We are under the ship and He is at the helm!!! HE is who people see!!! We are in the belly of the ship doing His work, with His strength, for His glory!!! It'll never be easy, but it'll be worth every stroke of those oars!!! Unlike the humeretas back in Paul's day who were never valued or rewarded for their effort, we are highly valued by the Captain of the ship who has promised to reward our endurance with a crown of life. (James 1:12)
We are 'humeretas' for JESUS, our captain, and we are stewards of the mysteries of God...in other words we are dispensers of the 'story of all stories' that makes no earthly sense!! We are the ones who get to tell the awesome story of His unmatched sacrifice, amazing grace and unending mercy to everyone He brings us to!!!!!
Our Captain knew we couldn't row this MASSIVE boat on our own - He knew it would take a team of humeretas - so He gave us EACH OTHER!!!
Back in Paul's day, the under-rowers were chained to each other!! When an under-rower was tired, a fellow under-rower literally moved their weary arms in tandem with their arms, because the chains made them one!! Just as the Captain of those ships chained his under-rowers together to ensure they reached their destination - our Captain has chained us together - only He's not just at the helm of the boat, He's also a humeretas!! He is the HEAD under-rower - He is The under-rower where we all derive our strength from - He is The One who yells, 'HEAVE! HO!' - He has made us ONE with Him and ONE with each other so we can carry out The Father's purpose that been written for us to do since before there was time!!!! AH - there is nothing more breath-taking or more productive than the BODY OF CHRIST!!!!
Together, with Him at the helm and with Him at the oars, in His strength, and in His Name, and at His command, we are heaving those oars forwards and backwards, propelling that ship through the water towards its promised destination and oh, it's so going to be worth all the grunt and grit!!!! The revival, and the unprecedented harvest that will follow in that nation of HAITI - is going to cause us to cup our hand over our mouths and say like Job, "I am speechless..." It's going to bring us to our knees like it did Thomas, where the only suitable response will be, "My Lord and My God!!"
Because of your faithful rowing.....
* We are now down 64' and have 26' of water in our well digging efforts!!!!!! So we're almost there!!!!!!!!
* The MASSIVE YARD SALE for Haiti in Paris, raised almost $18,000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOW COOL IS THAT?!!!?!?!? The dream is to have 20 of these happen across Ontario and beyond by NEXT year!!!! We already have 5 towns that have said a BIG GIANT "YES!!!!" to this challenge - so if you're interested in hosting a MASSIVE YARD SALE for Haiti in YOUR town - please contact me so I can add you to our growing list!!!!!!
* AND...the 40' container here in Canada is ALMOST finished!!! The guys figure one good day of work will complete what can be done at this end!!!
YEAH JESUS!!!! AND PLEASE - DON'T STOP ROWING!!!!!!!
We have started the process of finding the best way to ship our container to Haiti. It's not just as easy as calling a shipping company - it's essential that we have people at the other end who will get our container through customs without it costing us MORE than an arm and a leg - so it's a very detailed, lots of hoops to jump through, very CRA like process - that is absolutely necessary - so PLEASE, PLEASE KEEP ROWING WITH US!!!!! That's the kind of thing that makes our arms (and brains) weary - but with JESUS as the Head-rower and YOU rowing with us - and with hearts OVERFLOWING with expectation of ALL that is to come - we will endure and do what needs to be done!!!!!!
We truly are in this ship TOGETHER......
So ROW, ROW, ROW, the boat - not gently, BUT FORCEFULLY - not down the stream - BUT THROUGH THE RAPIDS - and yup, let's do it MERRILY - let's do it with a SMILE for the SAKE of the DREAM that our GOD has for the nation of Haiti - and for the SAKE OF HIS NAME and ALL FOR HIS GLORY!!!!!!
