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Today’s guest blogger is Jim Quigley.

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

 The lives of those who consider themselves followers of Jesus Christ are filled with both victory and defeat. With success and failure. With prosperity and hardships. With joy and suffering.   Paul describes what a servant of God may expect as a result of his obedience to Christ in 2 Corinthians 6:4-10. Some, however, are misguided and believe that the life of a Christian in this world is free of pain and full of comfort. But, Jesus never promised a life of comfort and easy-living for His disciples. Instead, He told them to take up their cross every day and follow Him (Luke 9:23).  Jesus also warns them that “in this world, you will have tribulation” (John 16:33, ESV).  
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Today’s guest blogger is Jim Quigley, who is leaving this Saturday for Peru for a mission trip.
 
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.(Ephesians 3:20-21)

I can hardly believe it, but in just a few short days, I will be on my flight to Peru and soon after that, on a boat going deep into the Amazon jungle.  Wow, it gives me a rush just thinking about it!  Truthfully, it hasn’t quite set in that I will be in another country as far away from civilization as one can be.  No cell phone towers.  No Wi-Fi.  No Google or Facebook.  Just God, nature, and His sheep, some of which have gone astray.  Oh yeah, and mosquitoes…lots of mosquitoes.  Even though it hasn’t fully hit me yet, I’m getting very excited about this trip.  I’m excited for the opportunity to be a blessing to others who have no means of paying me back.  I’m really looking forward to being disconnected from civilization, far from the buzz of Blackberries, constant emails, and the busyness of American culture.  But I am most excited to see what God is going to do through my group on this trip to bless this Amazonian tribe. 
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Today’s post comes courtesy of an email update by Steve Hoyt, a missionary with Engineering Ministries International in Uganda, who preached at NewLife in October 2009. Steve is also the cousin of John & Tammy Choleva. With our focus this year on “Blessed to be a blessing,” I found Steve’s letter particularly meaningful and challenging.

The sea of life has been quite turbulent for me lately.  So this week I have taken a few days off for some R&R.  Perhaps since this is not my culture my mind exaggerates how hard it really is, but I doubt it.  It’s harsh and for a while now I have needed a rest.

During this mini vacation on Lake Victoria I have tried hard to talk less at and listen more to God.  After all He already knows my long desperate list of needs before it ever reaches my lips.  He has always known them; He’s God.  The problem is not that God wants to know my will so therefore I need to tell it to Him,  rather the problem is that I halfheartedly want to know Gods will but all too often I do not allow him to tell it to me.  Why?  It is a scary proposition when your focus on the Lord is blurred by the world and when you think you know more about your needs than He does.
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This week’s guest blogger is Jim Quigley.  Jim has been a part of NewLife since last August, after moving up from New Jersey, and is an engineer who also works with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at Trinity College.

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”  (Matthew 5:11-12)

As I pondered Eric’s sermon this past Sunday on John 8:1-11, with the condensed message of laying down our stones and not judging others, I started to think about the proper reaction of those being judged.  How are we supposed to react to those who are judging and persecuting us, whether the accusations are true or false?  As with most questions of this type, if not all, the answer is found by looking to Jesus as our example. 
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This week’s guest blogger is Anthony Varesio.  Anthony will be contributing to the NewLife blog on occasion with his, as he puts it, “unfiltered and in-progress diary of the personal challenges and revelations that come with my pursuit of becoming a better person and living ‘The Way’.” 

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. (Romans 15:5-7)

I am so inundated with thoughts of spiritual and moral recovery that I have created a “traffic jam” in my mind.  I could literally write a rambling list of, or inventory of, self-realizations, focus items, or epiphanies to run an endless ink well dry.  But, one thing is weighing heavy on my mind; now stay with me, this could be a delicate situation:
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Today’s guest writer is Tammy Choleva.  Tammy’s testimony is a response to this past Sunday’s sermon on how the gospel transforms our approach to our community.

One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:  “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”  Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:35-40)

My family moved to our current home back in October of 2000. We purchased our home with great hopes and expectations that God wanted to use us to reach out to our new neighbors, even though we didn’t know a single one of them. We didn’t know how or when we would be used, but we knew we would be used.
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This week’s guest blogger is Anthony Varesio.  Anthony and his family have been a part of NewLife for a little less than a year, and Anthony was recently baptized.  Anthony will be contributing to the NewLife blog once a month with his, as he puts it, “unfiltered and in-progress diary of the personal challenges and revelations that come with my pursuit of becoming a better person and living ‘The Way’.” 

The Imperfekt Chronicles
By Anthony Varesio

Romans 12:9-10 (NLT) - “Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them.  Hate what is wrong.  Hold tightly to what is good.  Love each other with genuine affection and take delight in honoring each other.”

I have a “bad” case of “Christianitis”.   The fire under my tail has been lit and the dissection of my every habit, motive, intention, and action is now subject to the self-installed microscope.   It can be downright annoying.  It was so much easier just being self-centered and letting my often misguided and “four-year-old I-want it now-stomping-on-the-ground-holding-my-breath-til-I’m-red-in-the-face” emotions steer this train wreck!  Do you know how hard it is not to spit out some random and snide remark at someone for not saying “thank you” when you just held open the door for them at the coffee shop?  Or, how about not hitting the car horn when the car in front of you took at least three seconds to go at a newly turned green light?  Annoying, just annoying.
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Today’s guest blogger is Laura Motola.  As we focus on spiritual warfare with our memory verses for February, Laura will be sharing her reflections on spiritual warfare.

In 2 Kings 6:15-17, we read,

“When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. ‘Oh, my lord, what shall we do?’ the servant asked.  ‘Don’t be afraid,’ the prophet answered.  ‘Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’  And Elisha prayed, ’O LORD, open his eyes so he may see.’ Then the LORD opened the servant’s eyes and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”

If only our eyes could be opened and we could see the spiritual battle going on around us!  We are at war!  The enemy of our souls wants to destroy us.  He wants our Christian lives to be ineffective and unproductive.  He wants us to feel unworthy and unloved.  He wants us to hold on to bitterness and resentment, and to feel anxious and afraid.  “But thanks be to God!  He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor.15:37).  One of the ways we can have victory is to put on the armor of God.
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Today’s guest blogger is Jim Quigley.  Jim has been a part of NewLife since August, after moving up from New Jersey, and is an engineer who also works with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at Trinity College.  As we focus on spiritual warfare with our memory verses for February, Jim will share the second part of what he wrote, “Preparing for battle.”

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”  (Ephesians 6:10-17)

How often do you see a football player in a game without his pads and helmet on?  Or a marathon runner without sneakers on?  If you were a betting man, would you put your money on the team that didn’t use baseball gloves or the one that was fully equipped?  Sure, you could run a marathon without sneakers and you could play football without pads.  But the risk of injury greatly increases and you could very well be sidelined for the rest of your career.  A team has a better chance of being victorious and avoiding injury if they are using the proper gear.  While this may sound obvious, far too often we see Christians marching out to battle stark naked as it were, with nothing to protect them.  And far too often they get hurt badly.  But God has provided us with armor to wear for the spiritual battles that we face.  But again, we tend to dismiss its importance, neglect it all together, or think that we can just suit up when we need to.  But the spiritual battles we face are constant and the enemy is not going to wait for us to get our armor on.  We need to be ready every day to engage in spiritual warfare and that means we need to be geared up and game ready at all times. 
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