June 20th, 2014 by Zac

From time to time, objects from space surprise us and enter our earth “bubble”, like the one last February, that landed in Chelyabinsk, Russia. The object was about 15 feet wide, weighted 13,000 metric tons and was traveling at almost 60 times the speed of sound. To say the least, IT MADE QUITE AN IMPACT!

I often feel, when I’m speaking here in Slovakia, that there is one topic that creates this kind of impact on the hearts of Slovaks. I recently experienced this kind of impact from two different angles, connected to two different lives.

The first impact was with Kristian, at one youth leader training session. I was teaching on the topic of how God views us when we sin. And that he does not turn away from us when we sin, but, in Christ, he is always facing us in love.

Afterwards, Kristian approached me. And with tears in his eyes, he asked, “Did I really understand it right, that all our sins are forgiven in Christ and that we can be sure that we have peace with God?” He continued, “Because, as a Catholic, for my whole life, every night as I try to sleep, I have been terrified that I would die in my sleep and be separated from God because of my sin. It has been torture”. On the authority of the Word of God, I could tell Kristian that he DID hear it right! And the effect could be seen all over his face.

The second impact came when I was explaining to my language teacher about one of our conference themes which emphasized “light” and “darkness”. God is light and when we get closer to him, we reflect that light. When I finished my explanation, she replied. “That is so amazing how all you said sounds so much like all the other religions that I have studied. “Light, dark, good, evil”.

I was speechless for a moment. Because I had never viewed it all that way. But in a way, she was right. It did all sound a bit the same. But then God reminded me of this. There is one part that sets the real gospel apart from all other religion. And that is PEACE. At the end of all the other religions, there is only more striving, working, meditation, focus, service to satisfy the divine. But in Christ, there is peace. Complete rest before a holy God.

When I said this to her, she replied, “Hmm, peace. That’s true. I guess peace is really makes a difference”.

In case you haven’t figured it out, the big impact is caused by GRACE. Grace entered our “earth bubble” just over 2000 years ago through Jesus. It broke through our atmosphere with characteristics unknown to our human way of thinking. It’s dramatic display stunned everyone who encountered it. And even today, especially here in Slovakia, grace is still so over the top, it is often discounted as “too good to be true”.

But what a celebration and pleasure to carry such a powerful message! My hope and passion is to see more frequent and more dramatic impacts here in the Slovak context!