His Voice Global Blog

February brings us an extra day, so we decided to have some fun with it. One of the ways we continue to do the work we do is by having partners. Our partners are our monthly givers. We appreciate the consistency in our monthly donors because we can count on their giving to make sure work gets done!

Our hope is to get 29 new monthly donors by the 29th of this month.

Giving seems so simple, but it goes such a long way in making disciples.

If you think this is something you can’t afford, consider  giving as little as $10.00 a month or as much as you can afford!

At the end of each week we are going to do a drawing of all of our new donors. The winner will get a fun bundle that we are putting together from our friends and supporters. These bundles will include things like Project 7 coffee.

Shirts from Vive.

CD’s from Lecrae and Tedashii.

Books from Rodney Reeves and Jen Hatmaker

…and more.

For those of you who are already monthly supporters, we want to honor you too! On the 29th, we will be doing another drawing and one of you will receive a fun bundle!

So, How can you become a monthly supporter?

It is this easy!

1. Click HERE.

2. Fill out the form. In the “donation Preferences” sectionMake sure to choose, “I would like to make this a recurring donation deducted Monthly”

3. Submit.

4. You are finished and entered to win a bundle!

If you want to go a step further,  tweet or facebook, “I just became a partner with @Hisvoiceglobal – you should check them out!”

Your advocacy is a true blessing to this ministry.

The First Drawing will be next Wednesday, February 8th, at noon.

Jen Hatmaker’s new book, Seven, is a must read. Why else would I give it six out of five stars?!

I have literally never laughed so hard while reading a book, all the while feeling a hope filled conviction that things need to change.

“I considered omitting understuff from my wardrobe, but unleashing my free-swinging lady self onto this innocent world is probably a felony. No one deserves that kind of visual assault.” Seriously?! Who thinks like that! Hilarious.

Yet, my main focus will be to give some sound bites that are probing and a bit more serious.

Jen went on a seven month experiment. Each month was dedicated to fasting in some sort of way from a particular area. Here are the months and a thought about each focus.

Month One: Food

During a sermon she heard this month, the following questions were asked, which I also believe are incredibly heart probing thoughts.

1. What in my life, if taken away, would alter my value or identity?

2. What causes an unhealthy change of attitude, personality, or focus when “it” becomes threatened?

3. What is the thing outside of God that you put everything else on hold for?

Month Two: Clothes

I spend more just on clothes in one year than the average Ethiopian family earns in almost five.

His humility appeals to the unloveliness in us all. We are drawn in by His simplicity, then transformed by His magnificence.

Month Three: Possessions

These pretty clothes gave me confidence when I was terrified and uncertain…Clothes used to define me when my genuine identity was fuzzy. When I didn’t know who I was here for, I dressed like someone who did. I dolled up the container, but I’m learning that I am really just a jar of clay.

Month Four: Media

It’s okay to admit your worst struggles. To actual people. You don’t have to be awesome. You can be ordinary.

Self-hatred is not appropriate when God reveals a new angle. That is not the way of Christ, who abolished condemnation under the banner of grace.

Month Five: Waste

Appreciating creation means learning what it is capable of producing.

What does it mean to be a godly consumer? What if God’s creation is more than just a commodity?

Month Six: Spending

What if wealth and indulgence are creating polished people rotting from the inside out, without even knowing it?

What if we are camels, on this side of the needle, dangerously content with our fake gospel and avoiding the actual Christian life described in Scripture?

Month Seven: Stress

If we all lived radiantly, we simply couldn’t be hidden any longer. This is not about individual wattage; our power is communal, or it is meaningless.

This chapter has some of the most practical advice on prayer that I have ever read!

Conclusion

I hope that when you have read through each month that you may have asked the question, “What does this have to do with the month being discussed?” Part of how profound this book is written comes from its holistic nature. Honestly, the other part is that I want you to buy the book and find the connections for your self. Six out of five for Seven.

Love Truth
Vernon

As you may know, we are now serving in North Korea. We are so excited about the opportunity!

We have the ability to make a huge difference in the lives of thousands of precious orphans in North Korea. Our current coal is to raise $100,000.00 to help alleviate the food crisis situation. We are helping multiple orphanages by supplying food so these incredible children can be well fed.

Here is a link to a photo journal article from the New York Times that documents some of the issues that are being faced currently. Click here for the article. The images are powerful and we encourage you to check it out.

The estimated cost to feed a child per month is only $10.00.

If you are a high school student or a college student, we are asking that you consider being a monthly donor for just$10.00 a month!

If you have an income and a family and are looking for ways to be a part of Kingdom work, we are asking that you consider becoming a monthly donor and giving between$20.00 and $30.00 (or more).

The help that will be generated through monthly  donations is consistent support that we can count on, which will go directly to the needs of orphans.

 

Watch as we keep track to raise funds to meet our goal! You can watch the gauge by checking in on our homepage!

Please consider partnering with us in this endeavor. This is a great opportunity to show compassionto some brilliant children in need. The smallest amount goes a long way in helping to get a warm meal to these kids.

In Tim Keller’s lastest book, The Meaning of Marriage, he says the following:

To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God. It is what we need more than anything. It liberates us from pretense, humbles us out of our self-righteousness, and fortifies us for any difficulty life can throw at us. (Keller, pg. 95)

I was telling a friend a few days ago that I always thought my greatest fear was to be forgotten. I had found myself doing things that would help to make sure I would not be forgotten, yet I would become incredibly stressed when someone would forget a task or forget to call me back or degrade what I did.

When you bank all your stock on “being known” (some would rightly identify it as seeking fame) so that you will not be forgotten, your mind can travel to incredibly dark places. Ever been there?

Keller identifies something that is a bit different though. He says, “To be known and not loved is our greatest fear.” Did you get that? It’s not that the greatest fear is to be forgotten, but actually to not be loved WHILE being known. Yet, he goes on to identify that God knows us fully and loves us.

He knows us better than we even know ourselves (both the good and the bad). He not only knows, but loves us. Our greatest fear has been conquered. All of the things we identify ourselves with as “fears” HAVE BEEN obliterated. Perfect has cast out fear. It is a matter of walking in this.

Love Truth
Vernon

One of my friends from high school had an incredibly difficult situation two days ago. Her sister’s apartment was robbed!

Here is the terrible thing about it all. The robbers not only stole almost all of their stuff, but also stole ALL of the kids Christmas presents! The kicker was they even stole the kids clothes, shoes, AND DIAPERS! Seriously?! Diapers?!

So, we are trying to get people to help support this family by donating money so the kids can get new Christmas presents.

Here is the breakdown…

My friends sister also has a roommate who has two children. Therefore, there are two single moms and 4 children. The two boys are age 5 & 6. The girls are age 7 & 18 months.

We have a great partner, North Church, who is taking the lead on helping to buy gifts etc. for these two families.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE consider donating even $10. It is tax deductible. If you are willing, please write a check to

North Church
1620 Florissant Park
Florissant, MO. 63031

Also, if you can shoot me an email (vernon@Hisvoiceglobal.com) to let me know how much you donated, that would be great.

In this entire process they also had their rent money for January stolen out the apartment. So, we want to help raise money towards this in the next 24-48 hours.

Please help us get the word out!

Together, let’s help to encourage these two hurting families.

Love Truth
Vernon

We’ve become accustomed to the shadows. Our acquaintance has been to our detriment. He wants us to know Reality.

After reading the Allegory of The Cave by Plato again, I have noticed our fascination with the shadows. So many are in the cave and have convinced themselves to be satisfied, yet we are called to walk in and among True Reality.

Jon Foreman says, “The shadow proves the sunshine.” It’s a brilliant quote.

Now we need to learn the information of the shadows. They are passing, yet they prove the existence of True Reality. The shadows can seem to be dark at times, yet we can have confidence they are leading us past themselves. Our chains have been broken and we no longer need to stay in the cave, yet many seem to prefer the comfort of the familiar over a meeting with the Fully Right. It can take a bit of time for our eyes to adjust, yet it’s worth it to see more fully.

True Reality has called us out of our false fascinations and given us eyes to see. Why be content with the shadows as an end in themselves, when the entire point is to call us into Greater Reality?

Love Truth

Vernon

Hey Friends, I thought you would love to see some of the updates on the projects we have working on.

First of all, If you haven’t seen Titus’ drawing video from Orphan Sunday, watch this.
Orphan Sunday Video

His Goal was $20.00. This is what he ended up raising!

Way to go Titus!  And thank you, friends, for your support! He was so excited to learn that he raised almost 40 times his goal!

As far as our Christmas Project goes, we are well on our way! Our goal is to provide 410 new sets of clothes, that is 2 for each orphan in South Sudan. We have  reached 46.5% of our goal. That is 191 sets of clothes!  The donated cost of one complete set of clothes is $20!

The first round of clothes have been given to the kids and here is a photo of them sporting their new outfits!

There is still plenty of time to give to our Christmas Project!

Just click Here to Donate NOW!

Don’t forget to type “Christmas Project” in the “Designation box”. Also, don’t forget your address so we can send you an ornament for every $20.oo you donate!

Thanks again for all your support!

Sarah

There is a freedom in fantasy that needs to be recovered.

Many times when people speak of “fantasizing” it is in way of some type of perversion, yet I think the doorway of fantasy, if properly informed, could help to drown us in the abundance of the Kingdom.

The power of believing in that which is beyond our current experience of reality needs to be rekindled.

So, I wonder how much the usage of fantasy literature would help to fight the onslaught of the ways in which the enemy attacks. Letting our mind breathe in the space of magical thoughts (read “mysteriously enchanting”), dimensions we would have never thought could really exist, and having conversations with beings that we normally would not, could be a way in opening our thoughts to resting in the depth of 1 Cor. 13:12. “For now we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, even as I am fully known.”

So many times we find ourselves trying to control. What if more freedom occurs when we let go of this perceived control, only to realize we are still being held. Tightly. Lovingly.

What if the battles in our mind and actions are best informed by not only fantasizing about victory, but also the enjoyment of the victory. What if fantasy literature could help to inspire our divine imagination to press into His creative brilliance. What if fantasizing was redeemed away from adverse lusting into the fields of Life exhilarating pleasure.

Love Truth
Vernon

“The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.” (Steve Jobs)

I just finished reading the biography of Steve Jobs this past week. It was utterly fascinating.

Here are some thoughts I believe can help to encourage and challenge.

SIMPLICITY

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication…It takes a lot of hard work to make something simple, to truly understand the underlying challenges and come up with elegant solutions.”

“We make progress by eliminating things, by removing the superfluous.”

“Deciding what to not to do is as important as deciding what to do.”

THE POWER OF MUSIC

When Yo Yo Ma came to play for Steve in his living room, Ma picked Bach. Jobs responded with tears in his eyes, “You playing is the best argument I’ve ever heard for the existence of God, because I don’t really believe a human alone can do this.”

DEATH

At the Stanford commencement speech in June 2005 he said,

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”

“I like to think that something survives after you die. It’s strange to think that you accumulate all this experience, and maybe a little wisdom, and it just goes away. So I really want to believe that something survives…”

PORN

Here is an email exchange Jobs had with a customer on why Apple didn’t want pornography to be on the iPhone.

“We believe we have a moral responsibility to keep porn off the iPhone.”

Ryan Tate: “If Dylan was 20 today, how would he feel about your company? Would he think the iPad had the faintest thing to do with ‘revolution’? Revolutions are about freedom.”

Jobs responds a couple hours later, “Yep, freedom from programs that steal your private data. Freedom from programs that trash your battery. Freedom from porn. Yep, freedom.”

Tate: “I don’t want ‘freedom from porn.’ Porn is just fine! And I think my wife would agree.”

Jobs: “You might care more about porn when you have kids. It’s not about freedom, it’s about Apple trying to do the right thing for its users.”

Love Truth
Vernon

Here is to the faceless mass.

The pursuit of a movement. The pursuit of “wanting to do something significant.” The pursuit of meaning something to others.

All of it can seem so good. Yet, none of this has a personalized face. It is all made up of incredibly personal stories though. Some victories. Some defeats. Some scars. Some still open wounds.

Let me allow you in on a secret.

It can be deadly.

I have done all of them.

I am writing this post not even mainly for me. I am writing to speak up for many people (not every person is like this) who walk in what seems to be success, yet are a shell of humanity. The plagues of depression and uncertainty claw at them. Many of them will even admit it from a stage. After all, a stage is pretty safe. The “masses” still have a way of keeping a distance, while vocalizing how “real” the person is on stage.

For the last 5-6 weeks I went through a deep time of depression. So, if you talked to me or saw me face to face, I would guess you did not even know. This is not a point of bragging. My point is that I can still function at a very high level (even give you a smile), while going through these times. My point is the only way you might know is if you asked. My point is that I am asking you to not assume. My point is that I am not blaming you for anything, but just pointing out that what you see is not always what is truly there.

It was one of the most intense spells I have ever experienced. The difference this time was that I had a small group of folks walk through it with me. You see, I would normally wait until the period was over and then I would tell someone. This time, I said, was enough. I had Amber, several guys on the board at His Voice, Josh Causey, Spencer and Sarah Norman, Megan Kelly, and Adam Zapp know about it. In fact, while we were in Baton Rouge, that group of friends took time out and prayed over me. It was water to my soul.

I know that some people struggle with depression more than others do, so I am not just trying to be a downer. I want you to know that the more I have people really dig in my life, the more it is a balm to help heal the fractures that loud voices of desperation leave behind. I am not an anomaly. Many exist.

I travel a bunch so ongoing face to face community can be even more tough, so here are some suggestions for you that I have learned in trying to invest in others, while still not necessarily always being able to be face to face.

1. Text. Text. Text. When you are praying for a person, text them the verse or whatever you have been praying over them. Don’t expect a reply (after all, that would really show you are texting the person for your self). Let them know you care. Yet, don’t just do this when people are having a difficult time. Make it a habit. Good times. Bad times. Failures. Victories.

2. Write a hand written letter or note. There is something about getting a hand written note that is fairly intimate. It shows a depth of care.

3. Get creative. Quit staying silent on encouragement.

I want to encourage you to look at people who are leading you, AND people who are not, and then engage them with encouragement.

It helps to personalize. It helps to keep people from hiding behind a stage or a book or their silence. It helps speak the truth of Life into others. It helps to put a face to each individual that makes up the masses.

Love Truth
Vernon