Why Here? Why Now? And What am I Doing?

I can remember my first mission trip.  It was here in the Philippines, and my first church to work with "Castillo Baptist Church."  I honestly had no idea what I was doing, but was told to stay here, preach here, and shake a hand here.  While I was working with this church they desired to do door to door evangelism, and they wanted me to do the evangelism.  So, we began to walk door to door doing sharing the gospel.  We came to our first house right there close to the church, and I sat down in front of this elderly woman and asked her if she had ever heard of Jesus.  She answered bluntly, "No!  Who is He?"  I shared the Gospel with and by the power of the Spirit she repented and believed.  I walked out of the house thinking to myself, "Ok, how has this woman never heard of Jesus when the church is right there?"  I didn't consider the thought anymore until I came to join back with my fellow missionaries that went on this trip with me.  One them walked up to me, tapped me on shoulder, and asked, "How many?"  I look at him perturbed, and then soon realized that he was referring to people who were evangelized.  I heard numbers like 3000 and 5000, and was thinking to myself, "What is our goal here?"  I soon realized we as American missionaries are not actually fulfilling the Great Commission, but were just there to get people to pray a prayer and go back home and say we went on a mission trip.  We had made a lot of decisions but left these pastors clueless on what to do after that.  It is not to these churches faults that their communities do not know Christ.  It is to the missionaries and church planters who left these pastors to themselves.  I then realized that we as American missionaries living in our Bible belt, nominal Christian culture were not making disciples, but just creating another American nominal Christian culture.  

I then asked, "What am I suppose to do?"  This is why I came to the Philippines again.  I came here to spend as much time with pastors as possible.  Some have asked, "Zach, isn't missions about reaching the lost, not pastors?"  Let me ask the question, who could reach more people; an American who is limited in the local language, that will only be there for a few weeks, OR pastors of local churches who know there people, community, and will there till they die?  So, yes my goal is to reach the lost, but to steward this time as best as I can. I am spending a majority of my time with pastors.  We had the first annual R93 Pastors Conference on December 21st where several churches were represented.  One pastor after the conference said to me, "It the first time I've wept in worship since I was a child.  And it wasn't emotions or music.  God showed me that His glory was more supreme over all things in my life, and I should lead my people to feel the same."  Wow.. I could have went home at this point.  These pastors came to me afterwards desiring to have this conference again.  So, R93 Pastors Conference 2014 is in the planning now.  

I did do some evangelistic work while here however.  Me and a team from the church hiked approx. 2 to 3 miles carrying food and equipment into a remote unreached village crossing two rivers in the dark.  This was an incredible experience, because I got be apart of these people's mission in reaching these people and soon to be church plant.  These church worker not only saw my desire to make disciples in my teaching, but in my sweat and effort.  This was humbling also to know that these workers are being stirred by the Spirit to make disciples.  

Tomorrow,  I am headed to another location.  This is an island that when I asked a missionary about he said, "God would have to drag me there before I go."  Then, I told him, "well I will go."  This is the first time I have revealed much about this island.  This island has estimated 5 to 6 Christians of approx.  300,000 people, whom are all terrified of revealing that they are Christians.  The island is prominently muslim.  I major reason is it's closeness to Indonesia, and because of that I am packing all of my things in one backpack and dressing as Filipino as possible.  Some have asked, "Do you ever feel in danger in your mission work?"  My sin wants to flesh out and answer, "I feel in danger driving on the interstate." But I want to answer that question Biblically.  First, I don't see Paul saying, "Well I think it's too dangerous."  NO, you see Paul saying, "And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God" (Acts 20:22-24).  Second, knowing that the savior of my soul hold the entire world in the palm of his hand is sufficient for me to go into the hardest people group and the toughest terrain.  We must have confidence that nothing may touch us outside the sovereign hand of our amazing God.  I sleep well at night because of the very fact that my life, my safety, and my hope is not dependent on me, but in a risen savior!! 

I am not doing to something great for the sake of Jesus.  Jesus is allowing me to be apart of something he has already accomplished.  God does not need me, nor does he need any missionary.  I am unworthy of all things that he allows me to partake in.  

Thanks to you that are praying!  

Blessing, 

Zach

 

Why Are You Still Alive?

If one were to ask a person in their local circle of relationship if they were saved I would assume many might answer, "yes."  Many people when discussing the Gospel with other people sadly just end the conversation there.  The next question should be "Ok, if you believe and trust in the Gospel, then why did God leave you on Earth and not take you to heaven right then?"  People are quick to answer "are you saved," however they are not quick to answer, "what is your purpose."  They are not quick to answer, however they do desire to know the answer. Think about it, EVERYBODY wants to their purpose in life.  So, why not ask it?  Do we even have the answer?  

What in the heck does Jesus leave us on Earth for?  We could say worship is the mere reason that God left us on Earth for, but we can worship in Heaven.  We could say it is fellowship  with other brothers and sister in Christ, however it seems we would have that in Heaven as well.  Please do not perceive that I think these things are bad or purposeful in our existence, but what I am concerned with right now is the main or central focus of Jesus leaving us Earth.  

So what it is?  It seems in the whole picture of the Bible that God redeems people not only for their glorification, but for the concentrated purposeful glorification of himself.  Which follows that God saves us to show off his glory and share his glory.  

^"3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." (Genesis 3:3) 

^"15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.^[a] 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁷ Sanctify them^[b] in the truth; your word is truth. ¹⁸ As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world." (John 17:15-18) 

^"18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in^[b] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-19) 

From these text we clearly see God purpose for your life.  God does not desire for you to get saved, sit in your church pew, attend Sunday school, pray, and then die and go to heaven.  Did Christ die for you individually, yes! However, he also died for the sake His own name spread so that many others may know him, and they also glorify Him.  We must get out of our man-centered worldview and realize everything that exist was created for the purpose of worshiping God (Psalm 148).  This is a good thing and not a bad.  One pastor/theologian said, "We will never be completely satisfied until we are satisfied in Christ."  John Piper famously sloganed, "God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in Him."  God being God centered is a very good thing for us.  

So what is the center or main purpose of God saving you?  From the story of the Bible as whole we have to say. "To share and show God's glory among all people."  or how Jesus said it, "make disciples among all nations."  Which entails you share the Gospel with somebody that will share the Gospel, that will share the Gospel, that will share the Gospel!

The question now is, what are we doing with the amazing glory that has been graciously revealed to you?  This is not a obligation but an opportunity.  Let us realize that God is bigger that a ticket into heaven, but is a God that lovingly and graciously allows us to be apart of the redemptive mission that He planned before the beginning of the world. 

Be blessed 

In Need of Help Brothers and SIsters

As many of you know, I have a passion for the Gospel being spread to all peoples in all nations, and that  I have been on a few trips overseas to intentionally see that happen.  This winter I will be at it again.  I will be spending the winter in the Philippines in east Asia.  I am leaving December 14th and returning on January 6th (Yes, I am missing Santa). I will be doing a few things while on this trip.  The first part of the trip I will spend it in Luzon (The upper Island).  There I will be speaking a the R93 Conference.  This conference is for pastors and church members to encourage them and equip them to focus on the reason God has them where they are.  We will focus on Biblical truth on the role of the pastor and the mission of the church.  Why did God put the Church on Earth?  The answer is, to go and make disciples among all nations.  Who am I to speak at this conference?  I honestly have no clue!!  But I hope and pray that Christ use me to display His provocative truth in scripture to build up these filipino people.  

The second part of the trip I will be in a different part of the Philippines.  Due that this post is one social media I do not feel comfortable revealing the exact location, however i will tell you that this location is is 0.0% Christian, and 97.0% Muslim.  I and few filipino pastors are going into this area with the purpose of planting a Church and spending time to disciple the filipino people to follow Christ and not just leave them hanging with no follow up.  We are not looking for decisions and numbers to take home and show off, but we are praying that God allow us to make disciples that will get become apart of a faith family of believers and eventually make disciples themselves.  

How can you help?  Many of you know that I work for FCA and with that I have raise 100% of my salary.  Therefore, it is very hard for me to raise funds for a mission trip (aka my barrel is dry).  So to my family and friends I am asking for help.  If you can give 10 dollars or 1,000 dollars I will be equally grateful.  I am not a person to beg or plead, but I earnestly care about the Gospel being taken to the ends of the Earth and to do that isn't free.  Therefore, I again ask for your help.  If God puts on your heart to assist me in this mission my information is below.  And if you are in a position where you cannot give, then I encourage you to pray.  Pray that God softens hearts to embrace the Cross of Jesus Christ.  I will blog about a specific prayer list for the trip very soon.  

My information: 

To: Zach

Address:  515 Morella Rd Kenton, Tn.  38233

Memo: Philippines Mission Trip

Contact: 

E-mail: zcochran@fca.org

Phone: 731-446-1693

Please call or e-mail with any questions!  

Thanks in Christ, 

A Problem in Christianity

Growing up my idea of being a Christian was believing in Jesus Christ for forgiveness of my sins and not doing bad things.  My idea of the Gospel was a ticket to heaven and a list of things I should not do, i.e., don't curse, don't have sex before marriage, don't drink, etc.  I held to this theology for quiet some time.  However, when I got to college and was mentored by some amazing people I started seeing the truth of the Gospel.  I began to actually read my Bible for myself; chapter by chapter, book by book.  I soon realized that the Bible stories I was taught in sunday school had a lot more depth to them.  The things I heard from pulpits growing up didn't necessarily line up the teachings I saw in the Bible.  So as my study of the Bible and theology grew in depth, my view of Christianity in our culture became more perplexed.

I see buildings filled every Sunday morning with people listening to a sunday school lesson, singing a few songs, hearing a sermon, and leave with their main concern being about what they will have for lunch.  Is this what Christianity really is?  Is God's plan for our life to attend a church, be nice to people, raise kids, and then retire to the beach where we can live out the rest of our days?  To read the Bible and come to that understanding is beyond my mind capacity.

Christ did not save us just to save us.  Christ saved us to make us like Himself (Romans 8:29).  Many of us take joy in being loved BY Christ, but very few of us actually want to be LIKE Christ.  Because being like Christ means giving up some things you might treasure and maybe even your own life.  We CANNOT separate "follower" of Christ or "disciple" of Christ from "believer" in Christ.  Put yourself in the disciples' shoes really quick.  You follow a man around for three years,  you do whatever he tells you, you see him do miraculous things, and then you see him die then rise from the grave.  Then, this man looks at you says, "Go make disciples."  What would you do?  You would most likely go into all of the Earth telling people about this man.

Christ brought you to Himself so that He might be known in all nations through you.  He sends Abraham out to be a blessing to all nations (Gen. 12).  He sends John the Baptist out to prepare for Christ (Luke 3).  He sends his disciples out into the uttermost parts to spread the name and renown of the grace of Christ (Acts 1).  And He sends us to do the same.  We exist to make Him famous.  Not to live a nominal Christian life, then die and pull out our saved card on judgement day.  If we truly understand how sinful we are, how holy God is, and what happened at the cross we have no choice to spread this good news. Every disciple is to make a disciple.  Let us grasp the reality of that.

What is Christ Swag?

I guess since my blog is called "Christ Swag" then i most likely need to define what that is.  For you fundamental traditional people out there it might sound heretical, however it is not.  Actually, it maybe just what you need.

We might need to define the term "Swag" for those who have presumption or are clueless.  Swag is the way one carries his or her self.  It is the posture of a person, physical and in this case spiritual.  So Christ Swag refers to the way a Christian carries himself.  The focus is on how a Christian carries his or herself in a fallen world.  A few other athletes from across the country and I have focused a lot of attention on the subject over the past year.  We have seen that the idea that people have in their mind about Christians is so dull and lame.  They assume to surrender their life to Christ means signing up for a boring life filled with several Bible studies and Sunday worship.  Obviously, this is not the case.

So Christ Swag is about letting people know that Christianity actually brings more joy to life than as to indulging in the world.  Another focus of Christ Swag is about showing that we are called to be in this world but not of it (John 17:15-16).  So the question is, how can one be "Christ like" without separating him or herself away from the evil of the world.  It is a great and troubling question.  We are told be separate from the world but also in this world.  It is quiet hard to make sense of it.

I spoke on this subject a few weeks ago at a FCA camp a long with a few of my dear friends.  As kids poured into the room I was amazed at the interest.  I realized that this is a real question in people's mind.    I had kids asking for shirts, info, etc.  After the camp I was confronted about putting all this on paper to distribute.  So right now I am working on that.  Pretty soon there will be copies of Christ Swag spread abroad.  I am the last person to be writing anything.  I barely passed English 112!!  However, if God can used my horrible self, then so be it.

There areas or topic that this material will cover are; Our Joy in Christ, Being in this World, but not of it, The Application of Christ Swag, and The Teamwork of Christ Swag.  May sound dumb and corny to some of you, so I reccomend you be the ones to read it! Hope to bring more info soon.

Grace and Peace,

I fell into the Blog Trap

First it was facebook, then twitter, now its blogging. It seems that blogging is the new upcoming thing, or maybe I am just severly behind? I have found that all these social medias can used as a source of a ministry. I often have things that I love talking about, but frankly my roomates get tired of hearing them. So I decided to create a blog spot. I named the blog "Christ Swag" for a specific reason. Having a background in athletics and tradition Christianity I have found that the terms "fun" and "Christian" do not go together. I desire one day to write a book such topic, but that is wishful thinking; I hope to encourage, exhort, edify, and sometimes make you laugh through this blog. I will talk about tough issues, but I will talk about comical things as well. I hope that you might follow and keep up with my blog and maybe even give feed back on things I present!

Grace and Peace,