That is an attitude adjustment! It’s funny how when I’m out “raising support” (or I should say “Ministry Partner Development”) how God shows up and blesses me in different ways. I hope to take some time in the near future to write more about this, but I wanted to share a poem with you that I heard recently when I was sharing at a young adults’ group, that God used to give me a bit of an attitude adjustment. Here’s the poem…

HIMSELF
by A. B. Simpson
Once it was the blessing, Now it is the Lord;
Once it was the feeling, Now it is His Word.
Once His gifts I wanted, Now the Giver own;
Once I sought for healing, Now Himself alone.

Once ’twas painful trying, Now ’tis perfect trust;
Once a half salvation, Now the uttermost.
Once ’twas ceaseless holding, Now He holds me fast;
Once ’twas constant drifting, Now my anchor’s cast.

Once ’twas busy planning, Now ’tis trustful prayer;
Once ’twas anxious caring, Now He has the care.
Once ’twas what I wanted, Now what Jesus says;
Once ’twas constant asking, Now ’tis ceaseless praise.

Once it was my working, His it hence shall be;
Once I tried to use Him, Now He uses me.
Once the power I wanted, Now the Mighty One;
Once for self I labored, Now for Him alone.

Once I hoped in Jesus, Now I know He’s mine;
Once my lamps were dying, Now they brightly shine.
Once for death I waited, Now His coming hail;
And my hopes are anchored, Safe within the vail.

I bolded the section that God used specifically in my heart to give this, previously mentioned, attitude adjustment. Those past actions – busy planning, caring, wanted, constant asking – that Simpson spoke of were, and maybe are still, things that I’m dealing with while I’m back in the States, trusting God to provide for me, so that I, and my ministry partners, can continue to make a difference in Prague, Czech, Europe and Beyond! Since I heard this poem, I’ve returned to it several times and I have been reminded of Jesus’ love for me and work in my life.

How about you? Did God use this to give you an attitude adjustment?

Thanks for stopping by! As always, BE A REVOLUTION!

Music is one of the things that God continually uses in my life to encourage me and pick me up. Over the last week I have been listening to Crowder Band’s new album Give Us Rest nonstop, especially the song “Let Me Feel You Shine.” Here’s how the song opens:

This place is trying to break my belief
But my faith is bigger than all I can see
What I need is redemption
What I need is for You for to put me back on my feet
(read full lyrics here)

As I’ve been back in the States sharing about what God is doing in Prague, the needs to OUR (your ministry and my ministry) in Prague (you can help meet those needs, click HERE!) and the challenges of living and doing ministry there, these first few words of this song are a HUGE encouragement for me. Honestly I just hit “back” and listen to the beginning of this song over and over again! Why? Because Prague and Czech does break missionaries. If you have met with me since I’ve been back you have heard that I referred to Prague and Czech as “Missionary Graveyard,” where the average missionary making a 5 year commitment makes it on average about 18 months. It’s the sad reality of a tough language, tough soil, unreal expectations and more…

Somehow, by God’s grace, I’ve defied the statistics and I’m on year number 5, but that doesn’t mean Prague, Czech and individuals there haven’t thrown their best at me to break me. That is why I love the words – “This place is trying to break my belief, But my faith is bigger than all I can see!” It’s true. It’s true. My faith, given to me by the redemption of Jesus of me, is bigger than the hurt, the betrayal, the lies, the discouragement, the lack of faithfulness, the cowardliness and the like! IT’S BIGGER! God can put you and I back our feet!

So where are you today? How do you need to cling to this truth? Do you need to start by submitting to Jesus for the first time or maybe for the thousandth time? He’s there. The faith He gives free of charge, is bigger than your situation, “your place,” “this place!” Turn to Him right now!

Here’s the song with lyrics:

Here’s also a behind the scene look at the song:

“He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.” (1 Thes. 5:24 ESV)

Recently I was asked to share what God has been teaching me as of late and I quickly replied with three words – GOD IS FAITHFUL.

There is nothing earth-shattering about this, is there? No. It’s a truth about God that I have seen and known for years, but in the midst of my life over the last couple of years I have forgotten this truth that is, indeed, earth-shattering! See in the midst of betrayal, slander, lies, disappointments, selfishness, people not holding their comments and the like (These are a few of the things that I have struggled through in the past couple years.), we forget that God is faithful. I’m not sure why, but I forget this and some how, some way, God always brings me back. Brings me back to the realization that He is faithful and all he requires of me, is that I am faithful back and He will take care of the rest!
(more…)

So here is what is still ahead of me! Will I see you? Can you help me connect with more people who love the Czech Republic and want to see hearts and lives changed there!?!? Thank you in advance for all your help!

Update Schedule as of Thursday, January 12, 2012:

• January 12 – 16 – Southern WI/Northern IL
• Friday evening, January 13 – OPEN Support Dessert in the Lake Geneva, WI area. (please pray the snow doesn’t hinder this in any way!) Click HERE for the Facebook invite.
• Sunday, January 15 – The Church of DeKalb – DeKalb, IL – 10:00am – S. 1st Street
• January 17 – 23 – Dallas/Ft. Worth – I have a couple of rock stars setting things up down in DFW, but if you could help I’d love that!
• January 23 – 24 – Southern WI/Northern IL
• January 25 – 27 – TWIN CITIES, MN – as of today (January 12th) I have nothing concrete set up, but if you would like to help, please email me ASAP!
• January 27 – 29 – Southern WI/Northern IL
• Sunday, January 29 – Faith Baptist Church – Delavan, WI – 10:30am – 1500 Creek RD – ALL ARE WELCOME!

Right now my biggest need is to get in front of more people and share with them what God is doing in Prague, Czech and Europe. Anything you can do to connect me with more potential partners is, and would be, HUGE! Here are openings I still have that I can do around Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin:

• Saturday, January 15
• Monday, January 16
• Tuesday, January 17
• Monday, January 23 (i fly into Milwaukee at 4pm though, so might be tough, but we can make something work!)
• Friday, January 27
• Saturday, January 28 (but I’m going to a workshop in the Milwaukee area till around 4 pm)

Please feel free to call, email me, Facebook me, Tweet me or what ever form of modern communication you prefer! THANK YOU AND AS ALWAYS BE A REVOLUTION!

Hello from a random coffee shop in Northern Illinois! I must apologize for not posting sooner about my schedule, while I’m back in the States, when my granddad passed away it threw me off and I’m trying hard to get back into the flow of things. Please check, back as I hope this will fill up in the days ahead. Please if you can help by hosting a Support Dessert/Dinner of some kind, that would be a HUGE blessing. Things haven’t been coming together as I had hoped.

Schedule

• January 7 – 11 – Fox Valley area – Wisconsin
• Sunday, January 8 – RiverValley Church – Oshkosh, WI – 9:00 & 10:45am – 1331 High Avenue – ALL ARE WELCOME!
• Sunday, January 8 – OPEN HOUSE at the Michael and Cindy Smiths – 3:30-5:30pm – if you are interested please email me and I will pass the address on to you.
• Sunday evening, January 8 – Sharing at Winneconne Christian Fellowship – 6:00 pm – 102 South 3rd Street – ALL ARE WELCOME!
• January 11 – 12 – TWIN CITIES, MN – as of today (January 5th) I have nothing concrete set up, but if you would like to help, please email me ASAP!
• January 14 – 16 – Southern WI/Northern IL
• Friday evening, January 13 – private Support Dessert in the Lake Geneva, WI area.
• Sunday, January 15 – The Church of DeKalb – DeKalb, IL – 10:00am – S. 1st Street
• January 17 – 26 – Dallas/Ft. Worth – I have a couple of rock stars setting things up down in DFW, but if you could help I’d love that!
• January 27 – 29 – Southern WI/Northern IL
• Sunday, January 29 – Faith Baptist Church – Delavan, WI – 10:30am – 1500 Creek RD – ALL ARE WELCOME!

I hope to add much more and even a few “Come and See Me” times, but I wanted to get this up today… PLEASE, PLEASE let me know if you can help in anyway, I’m trusting God to provide and also to bring in new ministry partners to join you and I in reaching Prague, the Czech Republic, Europe and Beyond!

What can I grandfather impart to his grandson?

I’ve been asking these questions, and more, since my mom called me last week, with the news that my grandfather (or G-Pa as I like to say, it’s his gangsta name.) passed away, peacefully, in his sleep – “What did my grandfather, Robert Shisler, impart to me? What in my life can I see is a direct result of my Grandfather’s presence in my life?”

We all process death and grieving differently, but I have been fighting to find these things, as well as fighting to cling to the great memories of my G-Pa that I have, rather than feel sorry for myself and my family. I think this is what my G-Pa would have wanted from me, if I would have asked him, how he would want me to grieve and remember him. My G-Pa was a man of few words, but his actions, life and how he lived spoke volumes to me throughout my 31 years of knowing him.

I thought it would be great to remember him here on my blog and I hope that this will, in some way, be a challenge for me and you to consider these values and characteristics in our lives!

So here we go… A few things that my G-Pa, Robert Shisler, imparted to his oldest grandchild…
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As we are getting ready to celebrate the Holidays, you might be looking for a way to support something or someone during the holidays or you are looking to give another tax-deductible gift before the end of the year! I have the perfect opportunity for you – OUR WORK IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC!

I thought I would post a quick entry with a couple of links about how you can support the work and what God is doing in the Czech Republic, as I’m constantly trusting God to show up and provide for what He has called me to do in Prague, Czech and Europe, to reach a city, country and a continent that are overwhelmingly post-Christian and aching for the Good News of a Savior who came to be the remedy for our fallen, broken human condition.

I’m trusting God to provide for me for 2012, for a couple of concrete things:

• Coaches Trip to the States in February – the purpose of the trip is to help these young men become better coaches but also to expose them to a God who loves them.
• Players Trip to the States next summer – the purpose of the trip is very similar to the Coaches Trip, but the difference is that it will help them grow as better players, while still exposing them to this remedy.
• Visa expenses – before leaving Prague I had to take care of several larger expenses related to living in Prague and continuing OUR ministry there.

Those are just a few of the concrete plans/needs for 2012. Please consider helping with an end of the year gift, by clicking HERE to give online or click HERE to read about other ways to support OUR ministry in Czech. Here’s a video from my friend, Dan, about the influence we are having in Prague. Thank you for all you do! MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Since my grandfather passed last week, I’ve been considering legacy and what it means to have a lasting legacy. It’s been rather introspective and I think that it has been healthy for me. Asking yourself questions like, “What do I want my legacy to be?” or “If I were to leave this world today, what would be legacy be, how would people remember me?”, can produce change and resolve in your life. I had begun thinking about this as I sat on the 10 hour flight from Munich to Chicago on Wednesday, but yesterday waking up to the news of Václav Havel passing was another wave hitting me. (Havel was the first president of Czechoslovakia and then Czech Republic after the fall of communism, as well as a notable dissident that helped lead to the collapse of communism in then Czechoslovakia. Here’s a wiki page on him.)

I never met Havel, although I wish I could have met him, but his legacy and life impacted this kid from Lake Geneva, WI that lives, and calls home, Havel’s homeland. Sadly, some over look the impact Havel had and some question it. Or better, some question the man himself. I’m not claiming the Havel was a saint, he was a broken man like you and I, but there have been a few Czechs throughout history (another couple are Jan Hus and Jan Amos Komenský, or John Amos Comenius, to just name a couple.) that I admire and I pray that there would be more Czechs like them. Czechs that exhibit and embody the same values and qualities that made these Czechs heroes!

My director, wrote on Facebook last night, “Where are the Havels of this generation?” I would love to see “Havels” of this generation, “Havels” that aren’t concerned about themselves, but their countrymen and strive for higher virtues than “what’s best for me.” To my Czech friends, and non-Czech friends too, I would challenge you all to honor the legacy of Havel, by striving for, living out and embodying the ideas, values and virtues that made Havel the culture changer that he was! That is honoring his legacy! Yes, mourn and remember him, but remember him and honor him, by being the change that the Czech Republic so badly needs! By the way, my prayer is that the same passion that was seen last night on Wenceslas Square and throughout Prague, and the country, would be put into practice and lived out with passion! Here’s a moving video of last night’s celebrations of Havel, his life and his passing.

I have watched that video several times. As I watch it I pray for the country, I call home now, that something deep will happen. I pray that God would use the passing of this influential man to change the Czech Republic and ultimately draw more people to Himself. Please pray with me to this extent!

Here’s a couple of notable quotes from the man who helped change the course of history in the Czech Republic:

“Love and truth must triumph over hate and lies.”

“The tragedy of modern man is not that he knows less and less about the meaning of his own life, but that it bothers him less and less.”

“Man is in fact nailed down — like Christ on the Cross — to a grid of paradoxes . . . he balances between the torment of not knowing his mission and the joy of carrying it out, between nothingness and meaningfulness. And like Christ, he is in fact victorious by virtue of his defeats.”

“The only lost cause is one we give up on before we enter the struggle.”

“You do not become a “dissident” just because you decide one day to take up this most unusual career. You are thrown into it by your personal sense of responsibility, combined with a complex set of external circumstances. You are cast out of the existing structures and placed in a position of conflict with them. It begins as an attempt to do your work well, and ends with being branded an enemy of society.”

That’s just scratching the surface of the quotes you can find, click here to find more.

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been listening nonstop to a song from Folk Angel’s new Christmas album. The name of the song is God With Us, but honestly it’s not a song but a poem about God being with us. As I listened to the track nonstop in Prague over the last two weeks, what stood out to be the most was the longing of the Israelites for the Messiah.

I pondered… “How would they have felt?” As I thought and prayed through this, I realized to a lesser degree I can understand how they felt as I long for an “Advent” (ad·vent/?ad?vent/ The arrival of a notable person, thing, or event.) of sorts in the Czech Republic. I labor and labor. I pray and pray. I love and love. I speak and speak. I listen and listen. Yet I haven’t seen the “Advent” that I yearn for to the hearts of the Czech people. So this song/poem ministered to me in this way for the last two weeks…

Then Tuesday at 5 pm my vonage line (American line via the net) rang and my crying mother was on the other end of the line. Honestly over the past couple months I’ve had a nervous feeling, every time that phone has rang, and it was for this reason. I learned quickly that my grandfather, Bob Shisler, passed away in his sleep Tuesday morning. He has slowed down over the last couple of years and had issues that most elderly people have, but this was unexpected to all of us. Since Tuesday the words of this poem/song have hit me in a much different way!

I’m hurting. My family is hurting. It’s been hard to see my mother morning and even harder hearing my grandmother’s grieving voice, but this amazing truth – God with us – has moved me. Jesus hasn’t left me alone in this. He’s in the midst of it all. He’s here. So as we are in the midst of “Advent Season” this year, this simple, but overwhelming truth, will take on a whole new meaning for me and my family. Please listen to this song, meditate on it and realize that God is with us! He is with us!

I just saw this today and I thought I would share it with you. I’m thankful for the organization I work for and our global impact. Thank you all for all your support to make a difference for the Kingdom!