Lessons from a lost dog: The state of the lost

Some people may not like the term “Lost” when referring to non-Christians.

It seems so archaic and offensive.

It is implying there is something wrong with them, that they need to be found.

But this is how Jesus referred to them, because it is indeed their state. There is something wrong, they need to be found.

See, my puppy didn’t realize she was lost either.

She thought she had found freedom!

She had escaped from those who put her captive on the plane.

But the reality was, she was in a foreign city in a foreign place and she had no resource for food or love or comfort.

She had ran away looking for protection, not realizing those she was running away from- were trying to help her, protect her and reunite her with the ones she loved.

If she had gone with them, she would find what she needed and what she wanted.

If she would come to her senses and realized she needed help, she could have found it.

The non-believing world is like that. They don’t realize they are lost. They think they are safe. They think they found freedom. And they run away from those trying to help them.

They need to be found. They need to be helped. Even if they are rejecting it right now and opposed to it now.

We may not see it either. We may think they look free. They seem happy. But it is not the happiness they truly long for.

My dog was happy to be out of that plane. Happy to be free. But her happiness was not complete, but she was really looking for us.

We need to help people find Jesus. Even if they are running away from us, and running away from Him at the moment.

We may need to help them realize they are lost and need a Savior.

But when they do find Christ, they will find true freedom

It is not just non-Christians who are lost sometimes. We all get lost from time to time. We lose sight of what is important. Or we get lost in our own little world. We get lost in our ambitions, lost in our pride, lost in our pleasures, lost in our self.

In the parable of the prodigal son, there are 2 sons. The father goes out to find both. To run out to his younger son, one who smelled of pig, one who rejcted him- certainly would be scandalous. But to leave his own party to search out the older son would have been scandalous as well.

Both were lost.

One was lost in his pursuit of pleasure and wealth.

The other was lost in his self-righteousness and his effort

Neither was enjoying the father.

Both needed to be found.

How are you lost?

In what way is your heart lost?

Are you looking for pleasure outside of God?

Are you looking to yourself or your performance for your sense of worth

Have you lost focus on Christ?

We all need Jesus. We all need a Savior

Christ goes to the extreme length in giving up His life, so lost may be found. He found His joy in the Father. He found joy in the work on the Cross that would allow many to be saved and God glorified

Lessons from a Lost dog: Seeking the Lost v Finding the Lost

After a night of waiting and a lot of pleading, Soo was finally able to convince them to let me go out in a little van around the lot to call out for the dog.

They assured me people were looking for the dog, so we didn’t need to go. But we wanted to find our dog and felt we were best equipped to find her.

We went thru security and we got into this van, I opened the windows and screamed out for puppy as we went around the perimiter of the airport.

It was hard to tell if she would be able to hear me, and hard to look from a distance and while traveling.

One thing I noticed however was the lack of people looking for the dog. It didn’t look as if anyone was looking for the dog. There were a number of people outside, but none looking around for a dog.

When we finished the search, I mentioned this to them.

“How many people are looking for the dog.”

“Oh, so many people.”

“It doesn’t look like there is anyone looking for the dog.”

“No, everyone is looking for the dog.”

“There are people looking around for her, calling her name?”

“Oh no, but everyone knows there is a small black dog lost.”

What use does this do?

I got angry and animated.

And I tried to express that knowing a dog is lost does nothing to help find the lost dog.

Of course if someone sees a dog on an airport runway they will notify someone.

The thing is, if she was that easy to spot, we would have had already.

She must be hiding.

And if she is hiding, she won’t be found simply by accident. Someone needs to go look for her.

Perhaps you will eventually stumble upon her or she will come out- but we could find her much more quickly if someone was looking.

In fact, she might be right next to you, but if you’re not looking for her, you can’t find her.

It reminded me of the lost around us.

We may expect them to come to Church.

We may expect them to make the first move.

If they want to find God, they can.

We put up posters around campus, a billboard in front of our church, and we expect people to come.

No.

They need to be searched out.

Jesus didn’t come simply to find lost. He came to SEEK and to SAVE the lost.

We need to seek them. We need to go out of our way to find them and bring them into the fold.

The Shepherd leaves the 99 to find the one to bring it back in the flock.

The woman searches diligently to find the lost coin.

We need to do likewise.

If we would do so for 1 sheep, for 1 coin, for a missing dog that we could easily replace. If we would take time looking for a remote control, throwing all the couch cusions everywhere. IF we would get down on all-four to find a contact or a missing road from settlers of catan – can’t we put forth some effort to seek out the lost?

How do we do this?

It is more than a flier or an invitation.

At the very least it is a conversation- but even that is just the bare minimum.

We need to go where they are, we need to enter into their world. We need to first be involved in their activities.

We need to be able to talk about things they enjoy.

We need to think thru ways we can serve them… maybe buying something for them or making them a meal or inviting them over for a meal or party or something.

We need to show love.

We need to take the initiative.

It’s not just about finding the lost, but going out to seek and save the lost.

How can you go and seek out for the lost?

Are you willing to leave your comfortable spot and search for the lost?

Are you willing to put some effort into finding the lost?

Are you willing to leave your own little world in order to enter into the world of people around you?

[puppy post #1] [puppy post #2]

Lessons from a Lost dog: Missions

Continuing a series on Lessons i learned from a Lost dog [Puppy post #1]

So we arrived at the airport with our dog in tow. We were pretty worried about her and so quickly went to the baggage claim and asked about our dog.

We came to the desk and they were like “uh… oh, it’s your dog… well she got out of her cage and when we opened the door she ran out”

 

I offered to go out and call her, but they brushed me aside and told us not to worry and assured us they would get her back quickly.

After 15 minutes or so, one person came back and wrapped a yellow vest around me and walked me over to the door.

They told me to wait a moment and a few minutes later they walked me back to where we came from – and then told me again I could not go out to look for the dog.

They reasoned with us.

It is too dangerous out there. There are many vehicles and machines and it is too dangerous.

Plus it is too dark out right now. Which makes it more dangerous. It is too dark to look for her and find her. It is too dark for other people or vehicles to see you.

It is too difficult. We won’t find her. And the place is too big, she could be anywhere.

In other word they said the task was

1.     Too Dangerous

2.     Too Dark

3.     Too Difficult

4.     Too Daunting

Isn’t this what is said about finding the lost in missions. Aren’t these the same excuses?

It’s too dangerous to go overseas. What if your children get sick? What if you face persecution? What if you go to jail?

It’s too Dark.

The people there are so entrenched in their religion. They are so caught up in their ways

It’s Too Difficult

You have to learn the language- and the culture. You have to fight years of oppression and custom. It will be difficult to explain. You have to give up so much – food, friends, fun, conveniences, comforts… too difficult

It’s too Daunting.

There’s just so many people, what difference can we actually make?

When they told me I couldn’t go out to look for my puppy, I didn’t care about their reasons.

I didn’t care at all. Not one bit.

The only thing that mattered was finding my puppty

I didn’t care how dark it was, I was up for the challenge and energy it would require.

I didn’t care how daunting it looked, I would take however long it needed.

I didn’t care how difficult it would be, I just wanted my puppy

And danger? Well, I wanted to be careful but I was willing to risk potential problems for the joy of finding our puppy.

And if I would go that extent for a puppy, how much more can we for the lost souls around us.

God’s love for the lost is so much greater than my love for my puppy- as hard as that may seem.

And the thing is…

Too Dark? No problem, Jesus is the Light of the world.

Too Dangerous?  Jesus is with us always  (and God is a strongtower we can run to and be safe, he will take care of us)

Too Difficult? Jesus has given us His Holy Spirit to empower us

Too Daunting? Jesus overcame even death. Nothing is impossible with God.

Lessons from a Lost dog: God's heart for the lost

It was about a year ago this time that Soo & i were heading back to America to have our baby. Soo was entering her 7th month of pregnancy. We would be back in the states for about 8 months.
So, we planned to take our dog as well. It took a lot of money and a lot of time figuring out which flights we could take her on as well as what documents we needed to get her overseas. But we worked it all out.

That is, until we actually started flying.
Our initial flight was delayed 2 hours and so we arrived at our connecting city a little late. We came an extra day early because there was some more paperwork that needed to be done for the dog. We had a plan.

So we arrived at the airport with our dog in tow. We were pretty worried about her and so quickly went to the baggage claim and asked about our dog.

We came to the desk and they were like “uh… oh, it’s your dog… well she got out of her cage and when we opened the door she ran out”

My first thought: “This only happens to me” And I imagined the episode of Seinfled when Kramer is running next to the plane.

I offered to go out and call her, but they brushed me aside and told us not to worry and assured us they would get her back quickly.

I was laughing at first, but soon the laughter turned to worry, before it eventually turned to tears.

This ordeal was an extremely hard thing, but God used it in our lives. We believe He is sovereign in all things, and even with the things we see & learned, i am sure there is so much more.

i will post a number of things God taught me thru this lost dog. The first thing is God's heart for the lost.

i cry out that i would have such deep concern for the souls of men, those who are lost- as my heart was distressed for this lost puppy.

When i posted on facebook about our lost puppy- i don't think i ever got as many comments before. People were concerned for us. And we even more so than them.
We cried, our hearts ached. We begged, we pleaded, we prayed earnestly. We spent time and energy. Our hearts were spent.

i immediately realized (before all of that), that this is how God wants me to feel about the lost. And it is how i want to feel about the lost.

God's heart breaks for the lost. He loves the lost. He wants to help them and rescue them. He cares about them and wants to save them, reconcile them. Each person means so much to Him

Yet i can be so complacent. And i can care more about my dog than i do about the eternal destiny of people around me. My head knows the need, but my heart does not ache.

God convicted me right away, within a few minutes, but he was not done with me yet..

the thing about having kids

Halle is 9 months old today. We're slowing reading some books on parenting... learning on the job i guess... we i'm not that great at it - but God is stretching us teaching us a lot!

Anyway, the question is asked why have kids?

Here is what i say

1.     Children are a blessing from the Lord (like arrows in a quiver)

2.     Raising Children in a godly way is an opportunity to build the kingdom of God & influence the world

3.     Being a parent will stretch my faith and cause me to depend on God more

4.     We’re commanded to be fruitful & multiply

5.     I want to love & enjoy my kids

6.   A family

7.     It will be fun to have kids

8.     A Legacy

i know a number of people who wait to have kids... and have heard some people say this society is so awful, they don't want to bring kids into it. And a lot who think a one-child policy is a good idea.

Baloney.

Kids are a good thing. They will stretch you. Your life will no longer be your own... your life will not be the same... and that will be frustrating. 

But... kids are a blessing from God... and we shouldn't try to manage our life so much to make it easy or convenient

Having kids is out of our control - as much as we may not try to control it. God is the giver of life. Each child is a gift, is grace. 

So many of my friends have struggled to have kids... so don't take your kids for granted.

There are a lot of bad reasons to have kids... and we won't be perfect parents... but i hope we will raise our kids to the glory of God and help them to love God and enjoy the Gospel.