When I was in high school we all took this test to see what we should become after graduation. It was a long questionnaire about what you liked and didnt like to help you choose your career path. After I finished my test I wondered what Hawaii's public school system thought I should be. Well??
A baggage handler.
Now that may be a great job for some but all I could think of was that commercial with the gorilla throwing the suitcases around. What, was I just a gorilla? Is that the highest level I could ever reach?
Today after church I realized I had become exactly that. I am a baggage handler. Person after person shared their hurts and frustrations. life tends to beat us up. time weighs heavy on our souls. Sins past and present leave a indelible mark on us. We are scarred. We have baggage.
I don't think of myself as a particularly great pastor. I care for people and I love to teach the word, but sometimes I feel like I have enough of my own issues to deal with. Nevertheless God called me to do this. But I have found that bearing others' burdens is not so hard. Listening and praying and encouraging is like taking someone's baggage. And how we need to let it go. Jesus invited the weary and heavy burdened to come to Him. God has a heart for people who have baggage. And even though Jesus is the greatest burden bearer of all we can all handle someone elses bags now and then. Bear one anothers burdens and thus fulfill the law of Christ.
Tuesday, November 08, 2011
Monday, August 29, 2011
Bad Religion
Sitting at the airport in Amsterdam I had thoughts flowing through my mind about the reputation of this city. Amsterdam is well known for its liberal leanings especially its hashish bars and window prostitutes. And even though the airport is quite pleasant I still pondered the American spiral in the same direction. Sitting at a table across from me was a young guy and girl. He sat with his head splayed out on the table asleep. He wore a torn up denim jacket and a curly unkept mohawk dyed purple blue and yellow. The girl's face was buried in her cellphone, her oily hear strung down covering her features. It seemed like she was his Nancy and he her Sid. "Where could these two kids be headed?" I wondered, "and what could their punk, counter culture life be like here in Europe?"
Just then their dad walked up. A successful looking man with wire rimmed glasses and a trimmed beard, sort of your poly-sci/sociology professor look. I was wrong. These weren't punk rock Euro travelers but a couple of American kids traveling with their mom and dad (mom showed up too). As they got up to head to their gate I could see that dad had a loving relationship with his kids, chatting and bantering as they left.
I wondered if they were Jewish too. Why? Aside from their appearance and liberality with their kids they reminded me of my in-laws, very generous with their kids loving their freedom of expression even if it was generally rebellious. Well that, and the fact that as the kid got up to walk away with his dad I could see his denim jacket more clearly. Under a cross with a circle and slash through it (the universal symbol of prohibition) were the words, "Bad Religion." Of course the kid was celebrating the band Bad Religion but it occurred to me that a jacket essentially saying "No Christianity" would more likely be accepted in a non believers home, like a Jewish home. Who knows. I could be wrong. After all, I was wrong about the kids being punkers from Amsterdam.
Still the boldness of that statement emblazoned with embroidery on denim stuck in my mind. Who would reject the cross? Don't people know about the cross of Jesus and what He did there for humankind? No they don't. "One day that boy may love the cross. He may come to Jesus and embrace the cross" I thought to myself. And it was then that I realized that this kid was basically saying aloud what all people silently believe. They might not put it on their shirts, but the whole world hates the idea of the cross. It is repulsive. To die to yourself or to celebrate the sacrifice of Jesus is anathema. From the most prim and proper businessman to the beautiful model to the housewife or the punk kid who rejects Christ. They might as well broadcast a cross with a slash through it because human nature rejects the cross. You could put it up in lights at Times Square to show the true heart of mankind. That kid was not an anomaly but a herald of the human condition. He is honest about what others secretly feel; "No Christ, no Cross, no Christianity."
Jesus said that if we want to follow Him we would have to take up the cross. The flesh says, "No" but its only when we die with Christ that we truly begin to live. Anything less than the cross is bad religion.
Just then their dad walked up. A successful looking man with wire rimmed glasses and a trimmed beard, sort of your poly-sci/sociology professor look. I was wrong. These weren't punk rock Euro travelers but a couple of American kids traveling with their mom and dad (mom showed up too). As they got up to head to their gate I could see that dad had a loving relationship with his kids, chatting and bantering as they left.
I wondered if they were Jewish too. Why? Aside from their appearance and liberality with their kids they reminded me of my in-laws, very generous with their kids loving their freedom of expression even if it was generally rebellious. Well that, and the fact that as the kid got up to walk away with his dad I could see his denim jacket more clearly. Under a cross with a circle and slash through it (the universal symbol of prohibition) were the words, "Bad Religion." Of course the kid was celebrating the band Bad Religion but it occurred to me that a jacket essentially saying "No Christianity" would more likely be accepted in a non believers home, like a Jewish home. Who knows. I could be wrong. After all, I was wrong about the kids being punkers from Amsterdam.
Still the boldness of that statement emblazoned with embroidery on denim stuck in my mind. Who would reject the cross? Don't people know about the cross of Jesus and what He did there for humankind? No they don't. "One day that boy may love the cross. He may come to Jesus and embrace the cross" I thought to myself. And it was then that I realized that this kid was basically saying aloud what all people silently believe. They might not put it on their shirts, but the whole world hates the idea of the cross. It is repulsive. To die to yourself or to celebrate the sacrifice of Jesus is anathema. From the most prim and proper businessman to the beautiful model to the housewife or the punk kid who rejects Christ. They might as well broadcast a cross with a slash through it because human nature rejects the cross. You could put it up in lights at Times Square to show the true heart of mankind. That kid was not an anomaly but a herald of the human condition. He is honest about what others secretly feel; "No Christ, no Cross, no Christianity."
Jesus said that if we want to follow Him we would have to take up the cross. The flesh says, "No" but its only when we die with Christ that we truly begin to live. Anything less than the cross is bad religion.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Sudan Update 8/22--Who will set the captives free?
Yesterday was a long and great day. We started with prayer at around 6am. We have been doing that for an hour or so since we got here and it has been a sweet time. I was asked to speak for their Sunday morning service and I was glad to do so. After all, I came a great distance and I want to give and serve as much as I can. Teaching the Bible is the main area that I came to minister in. Hopefully when I am all done here I will have taught over a dozen times. Church was fun. The choir sang and danced for about a half hour. I wish we had that kind of energy in our American churches. I did my best to encourage the people out of Hebrews 4:16 -Let us come boldly to the Throne of Grace.
Later in the day me and Ed Gaunt took a walk through Nimule. Ed is a big guy, 6'5" and well over 300lbs. Needless to say, these Sudanese are fascinated by white men. They stare and whisper as you walk by. Now they are friendly and as you wave to them they wave back, but they can be scary looking at first. The children will run out of their tukuls (huts) yelling "kawaja kawaja" hoping to shake hands with you. After church they would line up just to touch you and then run away only to circle around and get in line again for another handshake. They can't understand the hair on your arms. It is so weird to them. They have smooth hairless skin.
Ed and I walked a few miles for exercise and sightseeing. When we got up to the jail we turned around and headed back. Ed says he has put men in that jail and taken them out. In all the years (over 10) they have never fixed the jail. As we stood there looking at this stone windowless dungeon we could smell the urine from across the street. Then a hand reached out of the slits near the roof and from inside a man yelled, "Eh Muzungu, eh muzungu." That is the Ugandan word for "white man." Here in Africa I am either Kawaja or Muzungu. Someone in prison was calling out for help. There was nothing we could do but I thought of how appropriate that was as a metaphor. We stand in the world looking at the dungeon of sin, smelling the stench of guilt and wrecked lives. Then a hand reaches out and we hear a call for help. Will you hear that call and preach the gospel to set the captives free?
When we got back to the FRM base we set about to paint the church. The whole place is buzzing with activity for tomorrow's graduation. After the youth and choir finished washing the walls and concrete floors we repainted. It is fun painting with Africans eager to help but with very little skill with a paintbrush. Imagine growing up never painting, sketching, drawing or doing anything that we are used to. It would be hard for them to vacuum or set up an email account. They all have cell phones now which is interesting.
What they can do is amazing, especially the women. I don't think I have ever seen women as strong as these. They will pump water up from a well 200 feet deep and put a 6 gallon jerry can on their head and one in each hand and walk a half mile like that. Many have been hired by the ministry here to feed the chaplains and care for the property. I see the young men hauling water early in the morning so that we can shower and flush the toilets. The women boil water and prepare tea before it is light at around 5am and then they are serving dinner late into the evening. FRM is very generous with them and they are able to provide for their families but they are so hard working it is amazing. On the other hand so many of the men are absolutely worthless. In the village areas men will just get drunk and play dominoes all day. It is sad and shows the need for the growth of the church and training of men like the chaplains here.
Before dinner I sat down with Peter Agoth, a chaplain who is 28 years old. He joined the army when he was 14. Many of these men went in the service to fight for their country at a tender age. The youngest they allow is 12. I asked the man on the other side when he joined. Also at 14. Peter comes from a family of nine children, three girls and six boys. He is now one of the three left alive. He has two brothers and the rest died as children by the age of 11 from disease. He is from the Dinka tribe. The Dinka are a very noble looking people. Both the men and women are very tall and lithe. The women look like queens. Maybe that is why a Dinka bride is the most expensive. Other women cost between 3-5 cows to marry, but the Dinka are 100 cows. It is their custom as a cattle raising tribe, but it makes it difficult for a young man like Peter to marry. He just can't afford it especially now that his sisters are dead. He could have used the dowry paid for them but now it seems he will never marry a Dinka woman. That is ok for Peter. He is willing to marry from any of the 66 tribes in Southern Sudan. He even offered some cattle for one of my daughters. They say if I was Dinka here with four daughters I would be a rich man. Don't worry I didn't accept the offer. Many Dinka practice scarring on their foreheads around to the back. Even some women do this as a rite of passage.
We are excited about the graduation that will happen today and know the men will be so proud to celebrate their hard work over this past year.
I have so many great pictures but the internet we use at the UN camp down the road is so slow. You'll have to wait until I come home for the full visual experience.
--Jesus Lives,
Bud
Later in the day me and Ed Gaunt took a walk through Nimule. Ed is a big guy, 6'5" and well over 300lbs. Needless to say, these Sudanese are fascinated by white men. They stare and whisper as you walk by. Now they are friendly and as you wave to them they wave back, but they can be scary looking at first. The children will run out of their tukuls (huts) yelling "kawaja kawaja" hoping to shake hands with you. After church they would line up just to touch you and then run away only to circle around and get in line again for another handshake. They can't understand the hair on your arms. It is so weird to them. They have smooth hairless skin.
Ed and I walked a few miles for exercise and sightseeing. When we got up to the jail we turned around and headed back. Ed says he has put men in that jail and taken them out. In all the years (over 10) they have never fixed the jail. As we stood there looking at this stone windowless dungeon we could smell the urine from across the street. Then a hand reached out of the slits near the roof and from inside a man yelled, "Eh Muzungu, eh muzungu." That is the Ugandan word for "white man." Here in Africa I am either Kawaja or Muzungu. Someone in prison was calling out for help. There was nothing we could do but I thought of how appropriate that was as a metaphor. We stand in the world looking at the dungeon of sin, smelling the stench of guilt and wrecked lives. Then a hand reaches out and we hear a call for help. Will you hear that call and preach the gospel to set the captives free?
When we got back to the FRM base we set about to paint the church. The whole place is buzzing with activity for tomorrow's graduation. After the youth and choir finished washing the walls and concrete floors we repainted. It is fun painting with Africans eager to help but with very little skill with a paintbrush. Imagine growing up never painting, sketching, drawing or doing anything that we are used to. It would be hard for them to vacuum or set up an email account. They all have cell phones now which is interesting.
What they can do is amazing, especially the women. I don't think I have ever seen women as strong as these. They will pump water up from a well 200 feet deep and put a 6 gallon jerry can on their head and one in each hand and walk a half mile like that. Many have been hired by the ministry here to feed the chaplains and care for the property. I see the young men hauling water early in the morning so that we can shower and flush the toilets. The women boil water and prepare tea before it is light at around 5am and then they are serving dinner late into the evening. FRM is very generous with them and they are able to provide for their families but they are so hard working it is amazing. On the other hand so many of the men are absolutely worthless. In the village areas men will just get drunk and play dominoes all day. It is sad and shows the need for the growth of the church and training of men like the chaplains here.
Before dinner I sat down with Peter Agoth, a chaplain who is 28 years old. He joined the army when he was 14. Many of these men went in the service to fight for their country at a tender age. The youngest they allow is 12. I asked the man on the other side when he joined. Also at 14. Peter comes from a family of nine children, three girls and six boys. He is now one of the three left alive. He has two brothers and the rest died as children by the age of 11 from disease. He is from the Dinka tribe. The Dinka are a very noble looking people. Both the men and women are very tall and lithe. The women look like queens. Maybe that is why a Dinka bride is the most expensive. Other women cost between 3-5 cows to marry, but the Dinka are 100 cows. It is their custom as a cattle raising tribe, but it makes it difficult for a young man like Peter to marry. He just can't afford it especially now that his sisters are dead. He could have used the dowry paid for them but now it seems he will never marry a Dinka woman. That is ok for Peter. He is willing to marry from any of the 66 tribes in Southern Sudan. He even offered some cattle for one of my daughters. They say if I was Dinka here with four daughters I would be a rich man. Don't worry I didn't accept the offer. Many Dinka practice scarring on their foreheads around to the back. Even some women do this as a rite of passage.
We are excited about the graduation that will happen today and know the men will be so proud to celebrate their hard work over this past year.
I have so many great pictures but the internet we use at the UN camp down the road is so slow. You'll have to wait until I come home for the full visual experience.
--Jesus Lives,
Bud
Friday, August 19, 2011
Sudan 8/19 blog-They Preach Without Fear
Friday August 19:
Yesterday I got up and ran the PT with the chaplains at around 6am. It was fun with their whistling, hollering and singing as we ran down the gravel road through Nimule. It was a cool and misty morning, almost like a fog had settled down on us. I think the men really appreciate when we westerners take interest in them. I got to meet and learn alot about a few of the men. Later that day I was asked to fill in and do the teaching for the Genesis class. That was in the afternoon and I will be doing the same thing today. We have postponed the refresher course for another day until the rest of the guys make it in from the field. Now we are going to cover Ezra and Nehemiah for the guys. It is a perfect section as it deals with rebuilding the spiritual and physical walls of the nation. Sudan is rebuilding their nation after 30 years of war and persecution from the Muslim north. Almost all of these men have seen horrible conflict. Many have been shot, stabbed and blown up but survive to tell about it. One man, Lino, has been shot three times (once in each arm and once in the head). He showed me the scar on the top of his head. He was also tied up and stabbed repeatedly but escaped from his captors. Another man was carrying a pick nap sac yesterday. We had been joking around so I said, "I like your purse." He nodded and walked on and my friend Ed leaned over and said, "Bro, he has killed like fifty men." These guys are the toughest and bravest people I have ever met. When we had just arrived Wes told me that he was on the phone with one of their chaplains (Hochnoch-arabic for Enoch) in the Nuba mountains where the North had attacked a village. Hochnoch lost his wife and 11 other family members. He was having a hard time with it but was resolute to carry on and both defend his country and preach the gospel to his soldiers. The main goal of these chaplains is to get into the war zone and lead their men to Christ before they die. They will crawl up to soldier who are mortally wounded and tell them the gospel and lead them to Jesus before they die right there on the dirt. If you ask one of them what they fear the most they will tell you. They are afraid they won't reach people for Christ befoe they die. They are truly a different brand of believer than most pampered American Christians. They worship the Lord as if they could die tomorrow...because they could. They sing without shame. They love without reservation. They preach without fear. One man I met, Abdul Achman, was a Muslim before he turned to Jesus. They say that he will go anywhere, to any battlezone and he will share the gospel anywhere to anyone. Even though much of their fighting is against Muslim aggressors they want to convert Muslims. They have Muslims in their own Southern Sudan army. Thay want to win these men to Jesus too.
Now I am sitting under my mosquito net waiting to teach another class of Genesis. I am missing my wife and my kids, looking forward to getting home and pouring my life into them. Being away from my family highlights how precious time is.
Yesterday I got up and ran the PT with the chaplains at around 6am. It was fun with their whistling, hollering and singing as we ran down the gravel road through Nimule. It was a cool and misty morning, almost like a fog had settled down on us. I think the men really appreciate when we westerners take interest in them. I got to meet and learn alot about a few of the men. Later that day I was asked to fill in and do the teaching for the Genesis class. That was in the afternoon and I will be doing the same thing today. We have postponed the refresher course for another day until the rest of the guys make it in from the field. Now we are going to cover Ezra and Nehemiah for the guys. It is a perfect section as it deals with rebuilding the spiritual and physical walls of the nation. Sudan is rebuilding their nation after 30 years of war and persecution from the Muslim north. Almost all of these men have seen horrible conflict. Many have been shot, stabbed and blown up but survive to tell about it. One man, Lino, has been shot three times (once in each arm and once in the head). He showed me the scar on the top of his head. He was also tied up and stabbed repeatedly but escaped from his captors. Another man was carrying a pick nap sac yesterday. We had been joking around so I said, "I like your purse." He nodded and walked on and my friend Ed leaned over and said, "Bro, he has killed like fifty men." These guys are the toughest and bravest people I have ever met. When we had just arrived Wes told me that he was on the phone with one of their chaplains (Hochnoch-arabic for Enoch) in the Nuba mountains where the North had attacked a village. Hochnoch lost his wife and 11 other family members. He was having a hard time with it but was resolute to carry on and both defend his country and preach the gospel to his soldiers. The main goal of these chaplains is to get into the war zone and lead their men to Christ before they die. They will crawl up to soldier who are mortally wounded and tell them the gospel and lead them to Jesus before they die right there on the dirt. If you ask one of them what they fear the most they will tell you. They are afraid they won't reach people for Christ befoe they die. They are truly a different brand of believer than most pampered American Christians. They worship the Lord as if they could die tomorrow...because they could. They sing without shame. They love without reservation. They preach without fear. One man I met, Abdul Achman, was a Muslim before he turned to Jesus. They say that he will go anywhere, to any battlezone and he will share the gospel anywhere to anyone. Even though much of their fighting is against Muslim aggressors they want to convert Muslims. They have Muslims in their own Southern Sudan army. Thay want to win these men to Jesus too.
Now I am sitting under my mosquito net waiting to teach another class of Genesis. I am missing my wife and my kids, looking forward to getting home and pouring my life into them. Being away from my family highlights how precious time is.
He became poor for your sake so that you might become rich
Wednesday afternoon August 17:
That was truly one of the most uncomfortable experiences I have ever had. Today I arrived at the Chaplains training base in Nimule, Southern Sudan. It's really cool here, built from the ground up over the years by Far Reaching. In the afternoon I decided to take a stroll trough town. Nimule is literally a border town. Two thirds of it is part of S Sudan and the other third is Uganda. It is the first stop on the way to Juba which is a booming town now that they have independence. I hear that there are 800 trucks passing through here every day with goods for Sudan. That makes Nimule a boom town, but also a little like the wild west. My walk took me out of the compound about a mile up the road. Every person I saw was gazing at me like I was from another planet. I might as well have been as they kept uttering "kawaja, kawaja" "white man white man." On the main road it was pretty awkward but then I ventured into the local marketplace. It was basically a bunch of huts with people selling candy and batteries out of their front porch area. The kids would yell and point and the adults would stare. Many of the men were drunk playing dominos. They were either curious or amazed but the feeling I got was that they we about to jump me at any minute. As I made my way through their huts I got the feeling I was right in the middle of their living room. Women did their laundry, naked kids with snot noses started following me. I passed the area where, between huts, they poo-ed. Then I came to a dead end. I had to turn back and take the whole route again to get back to where I came from. A young woman started asking me questions, "where are you from, what is your name?" as if to beckon me back to the dark doorway of her hut. This was not my world and there was no way I could blend in. I was out of place and felt in danger. It was then that I wondered what it was like for Jesus to come and walk among people. Not that I compared in any way to Him, but the strangeness and dirtiness all around me was awkward and strange. the Bible says, "He became poor for your sake so that you might become rich." what was it like for God who was in perfect glory to come down and step into our village? To be threatened and hit on and stared at? what was it like for God to be reduced to absolute obscurity of a Jewish village? To be a peasant? To be insignificant, but so rich in power and character so as to stand out? In light of my strange walk in Nimule I think the incarnation is the greatest miracle and act of humility there ever was. I'm thankful the Lord took a walk and embraced the uncomfortably and culture shock of this world.
That was truly one of the most uncomfortable experiences I have ever had. Today I arrived at the Chaplains training base in Nimule, Southern Sudan. It's really cool here, built from the ground up over the years by Far Reaching. In the afternoon I decided to take a stroll trough town. Nimule is literally a border town. Two thirds of it is part of S Sudan and the other third is Uganda. It is the first stop on the way to Juba which is a booming town now that they have independence. I hear that there are 800 trucks passing through here every day with goods for Sudan. That makes Nimule a boom town, but also a little like the wild west. My walk took me out of the compound about a mile up the road. Every person I saw was gazing at me like I was from another planet. I might as well have been as they kept uttering "kawaja, kawaja" "white man white man." On the main road it was pretty awkward but then I ventured into the local marketplace. It was basically a bunch of huts with people selling candy and batteries out of their front porch area. The kids would yell and point and the adults would stare. Many of the men were drunk playing dominos. They were either curious or amazed but the feeling I got was that they we about to jump me at any minute. As I made my way through their huts I got the feeling I was right in the middle of their living room. Women did their laundry, naked kids with snot noses started following me. I passed the area where, between huts, they poo-ed. Then I came to a dead end. I had to turn back and take the whole route again to get back to where I came from. A young woman started asking me questions, "where are you from, what is your name?" as if to beckon me back to the dark doorway of her hut. This was not my world and there was no way I could blend in. I was out of place and felt in danger. It was then that I wondered what it was like for Jesus to come and walk among people. Not that I compared in any way to Him, but the strangeness and dirtiness all around me was awkward and strange. the Bible says, "He became poor for your sake so that you might become rich." what was it like for God who was in perfect glory to come down and step into our village? To be threatened and hit on and stared at? what was it like for God to be reduced to absolute obscurity of a Jewish village? To be a peasant? To be insignificant, but so rich in power and character so as to stand out? In light of my strange walk in Nimule I think the incarnation is the greatest miracle and act of humility there ever was. I'm thankful the Lord took a walk and embraced the uncomfortably and culture shock of this world.
Nimule, South Sudan 8/17
Wednesday morning August 17:
It is wednesday night here at the Chaplains training base in Nimule. I got here yesterday but will have to wait till Friday to start my teaching. Once a year they have a refresher course where the men come in from the field for a sort of conference. This year they are coming together at graduation where the new class finishes their one year and are sent out to forward areas to encourage the soldiers. Amazingly the Western news has not mentioned anything about the brutal fighting happening in the North. The Muslim north has been attacking town along the new found border. Many men have been killed along with families and children. One area is evacuating 60,000 people. It is an incredible time for Sudan but it is coming at a cost.
I am a little anxious to begin teaching the men but we are awaiting them to all arrive. So far 60 have come for the refresher course and more are expected. With the graduating class of 60 there should be lots of men here on the base. It is incredible what they have done here. "Camp Hodge" sits on three acres and it is already looking to be too small for what the ministry needs. Aside from the daily activity of the chaplains, the Calvary Chapel services are filled to capacity on Sundays. I watched as the women's ministry hooted, hollered and danced their worship today. All the water is pumped from wells and electricity comes from a deisel generator at night. A few dogs roam the property along with a bunny and lots of lizards. It is walled with razor wire for security. You would hardly imagine how much security is needed in this wild part of the world. Just today I went to a river where a man was killed by the LRA a few years ago. Some boys were swimming naked in the muddy water a few feet from where he was cut down. Far Reaching put up fences to protect the chaplains' families nearby. Murder is more common than you'd think. Life is cheap in Africa. today it rained. Huge drops of rain thundered down. No thunderstorm is like an African thunderstorm.
It is wednesday night here at the Chaplains training base in Nimule. I got here yesterday but will have to wait till Friday to start my teaching. Once a year they have a refresher course where the men come in from the field for a sort of conference. This year they are coming together at graduation where the new class finishes their one year and are sent out to forward areas to encourage the soldiers. Amazingly the Western news has not mentioned anything about the brutal fighting happening in the North. The Muslim north has been attacking town along the new found border. Many men have been killed along with families and children. One area is evacuating 60,000 people. It is an incredible time for Sudan but it is coming at a cost.
I am a little anxious to begin teaching the men but we are awaiting them to all arrive. So far 60 have come for the refresher course and more are expected. With the graduating class of 60 there should be lots of men here on the base. It is incredible what they have done here. "Camp Hodge" sits on three acres and it is already looking to be too small for what the ministry needs. Aside from the daily activity of the chaplains, the Calvary Chapel services are filled to capacity on Sundays. I watched as the women's ministry hooted, hollered and danced their worship today. All the water is pumped from wells and electricity comes from a deisel generator at night. A few dogs roam the property along with a bunny and lots of lizards. It is walled with razor wire for security. You would hardly imagine how much security is needed in this wild part of the world. Just today I went to a river where a man was killed by the LRA a few years ago. Some boys were swimming naked in the muddy water a few feet from where he was cut down. Far Reaching put up fences to protect the chaplains' families nearby. Murder is more common than you'd think. Life is cheap in Africa. today it rained. Huge drops of rain thundered down. No thunderstorm is like an African thunderstorm.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Peter
Peter (45) joined the SPLA when he was 17 years old. He wears distinct scarring on his forehead, lines that mark his tribal origin. But one scar on his left temple isn't self inflicted. Peter tells me how in 1992
while in combat he was hit in the face with an RPG. The rocket came from his left side hitting him square on the cheek/temple bone knocking him to the ground. He got up but fell right back to the ground again. Rising the second time he wondered if his head had been blown off. He felt all over to see of any parts were missing. His head was intact except for the blood. Not only did God spare his life, He saved his sight. He was only 25 at the time but already an officer in his platoon, Peter didn't tell his men what happened hoping to keep their morale high for the battle. The Muslims pressed through Juba forcing them out of the city. It was only by God's grace the SPLA survived those days to defend Southern Sudan later.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Mission to Sudan: arriving in Uganda
I am here at the Far Reaching Ministries guest house in Kampala, Uganda. After an incredibly long journey it was nice to get a shower and sleep in a bed last night. I have to say that I love the technology that enabled me to talk with my wife via Skype while at the same time watching the UFC prelims on my ipad last night. Wow, the world has gotten smaller with tech. Anyway, my journey is not over. It has really only begun. Tomorrow we will take a small plane up to Nimule where FRM's chaplain training school is.
For those of you who don't know, FRM has been training chaplains for the Sudanese army for many years, first during their civil war when the Muslim north would raid, burn and kidnap millions of Christians in the south. from about 1980-2000 2 million people were killed and 4 million displaced by persecution and an attempt to take their oil rich land. Following a 10 year cease fire South Sudan voted for independence and as of July 2011 is an independent nation. Far Reaching Ministries has been here for all of it and has faithfully brought pastors over to teach these men the Word of God. It is my second trip and an honor to be with men and women who have endured such hardship for Christ.
Tomorrow I head up to their base in Nimule but today I get to kick back here in Uganda. I forgot how hard that flight is...6hrs to Seattle (7hr layover), 9.5hrs to Amsterdam (2hr layover), 9.5hrs to Entebbe (with a stop in Kigale) followed by an hour drive through Kampala. Look at me, writing it all out for sympathy. I left Friday night and arrived Sunday night. I just pray that the Lord will make it all worth while and bless the time I am here.
The weather is nice here. It is the cool season with moisture (boy could I use it after those flights dried up my sinuses). I hope the antibiotics I am taking kick in and knock this sickness out. I don't want to be weak and have to teach at half steam. Funny thing happened on the way over. I decided to just carry my bag instead of check it on the plane. After I passed through security I realized I had a couple of knives. They didn't even get them. Way to go TSA! Problem was that I had to go through another security in Amsterdam where they were discovered and taken. I almost got arrested too because one was close to being an illegal model in the Netherlands. That would have been an adventure huh? My new ministry to Dutch criminals in the Amsterdam prison system.
But now that I made it, I will be teaching a class of graduating chaplains up there in Sudan. I guess there will be about 60 of them. These are exciting times for Southern Sudan. Things are like a boom town in Juba (their capitol just near Nimule). It is called the capitol city but they still take the census by plane, counting the number of huts and estimating the population. I understand that they are buying up everything they can. SInce they have lots of money from the oil and no resources they pay top dollar for goods. In fact Kampala is out of sugar, the third most produced product in country, because Sudan has bought it all. Also they shut the power off in Kampala, city wide, every other day because Sudan is buying it at higher rates. They just can't keep up. Construction, business, politics, industry...it's all growing over there. I can only imagine how excited they are after all these years to finally be building their country instead of defending it or hiding for their lives.
I makes my teaching subject that much more appropriate. I have been asked to teach on the subject of Nehemiah. Nehemiah is about leadership in times of rebuilding. As God's people came back to rebuild Jerusalem the Lord raised up this man to build the walls of the city. What a great theme for those men; leadership to rebuild. Anyway I am praying how the Lord would lead me in that teaching and appreciate your prayers too.
Aloha from Uganda,
Bud
For those of you who don't know, FRM has been training chaplains for the Sudanese army for many years, first during their civil war when the Muslim north would raid, burn and kidnap millions of Christians in the south. from about 1980-2000 2 million people were killed and 4 million displaced by persecution and an attempt to take their oil rich land. Following a 10 year cease fire South Sudan voted for independence and as of July 2011 is an independent nation. Far Reaching Ministries has been here for all of it and has faithfully brought pastors over to teach these men the Word of God. It is my second trip and an honor to be with men and women who have endured such hardship for Christ.
Tomorrow I head up to their base in Nimule but today I get to kick back here in Uganda. I forgot how hard that flight is...6hrs to Seattle (7hr layover), 9.5hrs to Amsterdam (2hr layover), 9.5hrs to Entebbe (with a stop in Kigale) followed by an hour drive through Kampala. Look at me, writing it all out for sympathy. I left Friday night and arrived Sunday night. I just pray that the Lord will make it all worth while and bless the time I am here.
The weather is nice here. It is the cool season with moisture (boy could I use it after those flights dried up my sinuses). I hope the antibiotics I am taking kick in and knock this sickness out. I don't want to be weak and have to teach at half steam. Funny thing happened on the way over. I decided to just carry my bag instead of check it on the plane. After I passed through security I realized I had a couple of knives. They didn't even get them. Way to go TSA! Problem was that I had to go through another security in Amsterdam where they were discovered and taken. I almost got arrested too because one was close to being an illegal model in the Netherlands. That would have been an adventure huh? My new ministry to Dutch criminals in the Amsterdam prison system.
But now that I made it, I will be teaching a class of graduating chaplains up there in Sudan. I guess there will be about 60 of them. These are exciting times for Southern Sudan. Things are like a boom town in Juba (their capitol just near Nimule). It is called the capitol city but they still take the census by plane, counting the number of huts and estimating the population. I understand that they are buying up everything they can. SInce they have lots of money from the oil and no resources they pay top dollar for goods. In fact Kampala is out of sugar, the third most produced product in country, because Sudan has bought it all. Also they shut the power off in Kampala, city wide, every other day because Sudan is buying it at higher rates. They just can't keep up. Construction, business, politics, industry...it's all growing over there. I can only imagine how excited they are after all these years to finally be building their country instead of defending it or hiding for their lives.
I makes my teaching subject that much more appropriate. I have been asked to teach on the subject of Nehemiah. Nehemiah is about leadership in times of rebuilding. As God's people came back to rebuild Jerusalem the Lord raised up this man to build the walls of the city. What a great theme for those men; leadership to rebuild. Anyway I am praying how the Lord would lead me in that teaching and appreciate your prayers too.
Aloha from Uganda,
Bud
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
John 11:35 - "Jesus Wept"
This is the shortest verse in the Bible but it sure speaks volumes. I have often wondered about this verse. The setting is the funeral of Lazarus. He had been dead and buried four days, but was Jesus crying because His friend Lazarus was gone? No, in a moment Jesus would raise Lazar from the dead. I believe Jesus wept as He saw the devastation that sin had caused in the world. The Bible says the wages of sin is death and here death had touched one more man -Lazarus. Look at the pain it caused for those around. Listen to the cries of those in agony? Jesus weeps with them even though the resurrection was right around the corner.
You know, Jesus cares when we hurt. He hurts with us. The resurrection is around the corner but He still sees the pain that sin and death cause. This is why He hates sin so much. It is not because sin is toxic to Him or like His kryptonite that He can't let it pollute Him. God hates sin because of the havoc it wreaks on the human life. He weeps seeing the pain sin causes.
I have seen that recently in my work as a pastor. I spent the last week and a half counseling a couple who has marital problems. Over the hours of hearing both sides I became overwhelmed with the mountain of sin they have committed toward God and each other. Jesus weeps in my heart. I see the caustic pollutant that sin really is and I hate it. I see the joy and purity of holiness and I love it. I cling to it. I want more of it in my own life.
The problem with people are that they are grossly wicked. People would rather lie and manipulate that repent and take responsibility. When you mediate between two people, often times they will both try to manipulate you. This means they will lie to you and exaggerate the other's faults to gain sympathy. They will subtly praise you and generously thank you for how "humble" and "spiritual" you are. For me, I have been a pastor for many years and I was in politics for years as well, I recognize spin. I know a lie right away. Interestingly I am not hurt by the lies. I am puzzled and curious as to why people continue to cling to their sin when it is destroying their lives.
Sin that brings death. Sin that comes with pain and broken relationships. Sin that eats a person's heart and gnaws on their soul till they are living dead, numb from the pain, indifferent and desperate. Do they know that Jesus wept? Do they know that He is calling them, like Lazarus, to step out of the tomb? DO they know Jesus is calling them to life?
You know, Jesus cares when we hurt. He hurts with us. The resurrection is around the corner but He still sees the pain that sin and death cause. This is why He hates sin so much. It is not because sin is toxic to Him or like His kryptonite that He can't let it pollute Him. God hates sin because of the havoc it wreaks on the human life. He weeps seeing the pain sin causes.
I have seen that recently in my work as a pastor. I spent the last week and a half counseling a couple who has marital problems. Over the hours of hearing both sides I became overwhelmed with the mountain of sin they have committed toward God and each other. Jesus weeps in my heart. I see the caustic pollutant that sin really is and I hate it. I see the joy and purity of holiness and I love it. I cling to it. I want more of it in my own life.
The problem with people are that they are grossly wicked. People would rather lie and manipulate that repent and take responsibility. When you mediate between two people, often times they will both try to manipulate you. This means they will lie to you and exaggerate the other's faults to gain sympathy. They will subtly praise you and generously thank you for how "humble" and "spiritual" you are. For me, I have been a pastor for many years and I was in politics for years as well, I recognize spin. I know a lie right away. Interestingly I am not hurt by the lies. I am puzzled and curious as to why people continue to cling to their sin when it is destroying their lives.
Sin that brings death. Sin that comes with pain and broken relationships. Sin that eats a person's heart and gnaws on their soul till they are living dead, numb from the pain, indifferent and desperate. Do they know that Jesus wept? Do they know that He is calling them, like Lazarus, to step out of the tomb? DO they know Jesus is calling them to life?
Monday, February 28, 2011
21 day fast
This is my journal from a fast I finished one month ago. It was the longest I had gone but probably not as long as i will go in the future. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would highly recommend it for anyone. I hope this can help anyone who is considering a fast.
After a week:
I wanted to blog about fasting since I am in the middle of one and have found it to be a blessing so far. I have begun to plan it in Hungary in December. The new year was coming, I needed to choose a direction for the church, i felt clogged physically and spiritually. I think it was just taking too much stuff into my system. Physically that meant eating and spiritually that meant, entertainment, news and games on the computer. Whatever it was I was stagnate. I wanted to set aside a time where i could shut off the fleshly part of my life and give myself a control+alt+delete, a restart.
The first week back in Hawaii was designed to lighten my need for caffeine and start to cut the carbs. I cut out caffeine too so you know it's a true purge... I have found it helpful to wean off of carbs for a few days before stopping all food intake. Sugars and white processed flour makes you hunger like nothing else but once you get that out of your blood you seem to have power and control over e doughnut cravings.
For me, I cheat a little by splurging on the protein in that week. I go Atkins for about five days, the whole deal, bacon, cheese, eggs, cream and sugar free jello. I figure, why not it's tough enough with carb cravings, I might as well enjoy the bacon.
Then fast days come. To make it easier I like to drink fiber in the morning. You want to keep your bowels moving over the course of the fast. There are all kinds of toxins built up that will be released and dislodged fro the insides and you want to move that out. I drink sugar free orange flavored metamucil or some other brand fiber sometimes mixed in with psyllium husks. I do it to start the day, first thing in the morning. I am immediately full for the next few hours and don't have hardly any cravings. But I should say I follow the fiber with a treat.
I know treats aren't usually part of fasting but I figure, whatever makes it easier so long as I am doing it. Here's what I do; I drink a cup of grain coffee. Grain coffee is a coffee substitute made from an assortment of nuts and grains like, almonds acorns figs dates carob and chicory. When I first went off caffeine i read about it as a healthier substitute than decaf coffee. My wife and I found Teechino brand to be outstanding. I must say thought that getting caffeine out can be painful and difficult. There are the headaches and cloudiness, a malaise that you have to press through to come into the bliss of clear caffeine free thinking. I had some black tea in those first few days (along with advil) to ease my journey.
The immediate results are great. I have to say I love fasting. It is so good for me. I like the me that I am when I'm starving the flesh. I think more clearly. I feel more spiritually lucid and able to pray with ease. When I worship or meditate its not hard to stay in that place of stillness. I notice when I speak with others i am less uptight and more gregarious. I smile more. I laugh more.
I asked my mom to trim my hair since it was starting to mullet in the back. She was set on using her trimming clippers as opposed to the scissors and the result was disastrous. It was butchered and my hair looked terrible. My dad thought it'd be funny to hum the "Deliverance" song because i looked like a hillbilly. She'd even lost control of the clippers and gouged out a big strip. Instead of being upset I laughed till my stomach hurt. We all did and I think they were as surprised as I was that I wasn't upset. I went ahead and shaved my whole head.
In the early phase i find that my mind is a little blank at times. I can't remember bigger words when I hope to impress friends and I locked my keys in my car. Im not sure if that's just the first week or what. That's where I am, almost done with a week without food and 12 pounds lighter. That's the other benefit of starving, you lose weight. And though it is not my primary motivation it is a nice extra. My energy levels are moderate. My mind is clear (though sometimes absent) and there is a trickling of new joy flowing into my life. I am looking forward to the coming weeks.
Week 2
I am in the middle of week two and have noticed some interesting things. My sense of smell has dramatically increased. I cannot remember smelling so clearly. And it's not just that food is so interesting now, though when my wife cooks I can taste the flavor through my nose, it is heightened. I could smell the vitamins on the table the other day. It's really neat. In fact my whole nasal area seems much clearer.
One problem with fasting is that you want to tell everybody about your fast, how you feel, what day your on, how much weight you've lost, how clear you feel, and other things. As a Christian Jesus taught us to not make a big deal of your fast. "When you fast, don't be a hypocrite and put on a sad face so that people will notice you. Those people have their reward. When you fast clean up, wash your face, put deodorant on so it doesn't look like you're fasting and your Father in heaven will see you and reward you." I haven't told many people about my fast but it's hard to avoid it when everyone around you wants to eat with you. Plus, much of he reason I'd like to talk about it is not because I am spiritual for fasting but because there are physiological things that are fascinating about it.
Another thing I have noticed is that things don't bother me as much as they used to. Things aren't emotionally heavy. I tend to be introverted and passionate about things and I've always wanted to be able to let things go and lighten up in areas. Well this is a nice taste of that. I am way less anxious about things and feel a general sense of well being and peace. Surely some of these things are purely physical. I don't think this is God's specific touch upon me for fasting, rather a result of detaching from food and cleansing the system. Then again this is how the Lord works, the blessing is embedded with the action. I shouldn't think of God giving prizes out for spiritual sacrifice but that he gives fasting almost as a reward in itself. At the same time Jesus says, "the Father will reward you openly." I am looking forward to that reward.
I have lost about 16-18 pounds in the last nine days. I noticed I big drop initially, 3 a day and, then it tapered off to 2 and now it may be closer to 1 a day. I hope it can stay at two a day, that way I can be down to 200 lbs by February 1. That would be 42 pounds in 21 days. It'd be nice to lose the garbage hanging on my frame. But who knows, I am aiming at 21 days with a hope that I will go beyond that. They say the real deep detox starts to happen after 21 days. Stuff that you've been putting in your body from birth starts to get burned and flushed. I am wondering if I can experience some healing from my numerous ailments, psoriasis, the shingles virus, tonsil stones, chronic headaches, etc.
I also pray that a deep spiritual cleansing occurs, that I can be rid of striving, chronic selfishness, deep seated pride, toxic envy, primitive lusts, a wandering mind, lovelessness. I can see God's grace already working in so many areas. It is like He has defanged me and taken my venom. I am less harsh with my family, less jaded with others, more genuine in my heart and more generous in my preaching. It's just a little bit less of the flesh and its so nice.
I dreamed last night that I was eating pizza. I awoke so disappointed that I'd eaten and then realized it was only a dream. Since when is eating pizza a nightmare? Wow, things have flipped. I am realizing that there is an emotion attachment to eating. How we feel is how we eat and how we eat is how we feel. My friend cleaned up his diet over the last few months and really took control of his physical and mental well being through diet and exercise losing a bunch of weight and restoring his outlook on life. He tells me how just the other day he had two slices of pizza and exactly two hours later a heavy depression settled on him. It took a couple days to come out of the funk. We don't always eat because we are truly hungry. We eat because were depressed or get depressed because we eat. The foods we enjoy aren't helping us as much as we'd like because they are so processed and filled with preservatives. White sugar and white flour are almost toxic at the levels many people eat them. They might be a treat but shouldn't be staples.
It sounds weird to hear me saying this but we'd do well to get in tune with our own bodies. Many people eat for craving instead of pleasure. God gave us food to enjoy not to scarf down like wolves. Lucky for wolves that they can't make donuts and pizza. Then they'd be scarfing down processed food and all die off in a few years. Instead of consuming we should be tasting. We should be smelling and savoring. I pray that this fast changed and slows my approach to food, that I'd have self control to eat less and enjoy more, to experience food in it's raw God created state. I have never heard a sermon on gluttony but i wonder if I am one. Is gluttony only for the morbidly obese? Is it just for over eating or is it wrongly eating. An unhealthy approach food? Can a regular sized person be a glutton? I don't know. Maybe. Some of these questions are just the ramblings of a fasting man. You can take them with a grain of salt....or pure distilled water, which is what I'm drinking.
Day 11
Here we are at day 11 and just after i had written about all the peaceful bliss that starving provided, I find that there is still an emotional well inside. The last two days have been interesting. Some minor conflicts with some people up the street got my blood going yesterday. With a raised heartbeat and temperature I rehearsed what to say repeatedly...after our issue was solved. That is not the clear minded dispassionate approach I hoped accompanied fasting. Then our service last night was ill attended which, try as I might to not be bothered, bothered me deeply. It was only the worship team and staff. All these feelings of inadequacy and failure come rushing on me. All of a sudden i am the same old introverted, frustrated, prone to strive and want to quit kind of guy. Actually its not that bad but still the remnant of those feelings are there.
I notice a coaster ride with my emotions now. I am not so happy fasting as I was before. I am impatient with the slow results in my spiritual, emotional and physical life. I am halfway through but already I am hoping for the end. I believe I will, but don't know how I'll go till 21 days. I am a little bored of it and i miss eating. I am knot hungry per se but long for the joy of food, flavors and contentment. This is the emotional attachment to eating and I guess I am just wrestling with those emotions. God help me get through this...and all the other stuff in life that hurts my heart
Day 15
Im sitting in the living room while my family eats spaghetti at the table. I can't remember smelling something so incredible. The desire to eat is so strong and yet it's not a craving in the stomach but the enjoyment of taste. I am looking forward to Monday as the end of this fast.
I feel that i have emphasized e physical aspect of this fast over the spiritual. I have lost about 26 pounds so far but it was not my initial motivation. The problem is that the physical changes are so obvious and tangible. People notice when you lose that much weight so quickly. I have not hidden it from my friends from church either. However in this last week I want to refocus and redirect my hear to the Lord. I need power in the ministry and our church needs deliverance from the malaise of comfort and ease. I am knot sure we understand true hunger, physically of spiritually. I pray God pour out His Spirit of prayer, worship and ministry upon us like never before. I pray the prayer meetings are filled and outreach to the community begins happening.
I have not been free from emotional difficulty in this time. I realize how emotionally we are connected to food. It can be a crutch if we've had a bad day. I had one of those this past week and, without stuffing myself with something savory or sweet I was alone and raw with my feelings. If forces one to face reality a little more honestly. I tell you though, that day a hamburger would have helped.
I thought i would go to 21 days and maybe beyond, depending on how i felt. I can say now that i am tired of this and want it to be over. I have heartburn, my stomach hurts, I am weak and nearly black out when i stand too quickly. I am not a joyful person, but also too tired to be abrasive. I am somewhat sullen. I look forward to night so I can just go to sleep. I am humbled by my own sinfulness.
This is fasting, an afflicting of the soul, a humbling of ones self before God. It is a recognition of our own weakness and frailty before God.
I can't say it's all bad. I did just wake from a nap. I am a little grumpy.
Here I am one month from the fast. I finished and I am so glad I did it. Looking back i often long for the things I experienced while hungry. There was an ease with going to bed and getting up in the morning. I could sing comfortably in a higher pitch because of the clearness of my nasal passages. I could smell so well. I could wait on the Lord without anxiousness and felt great joy. All these things are still with me to a lesser degree but the fast was quite a joy. I recommend it.
After a week:
I wanted to blog about fasting since I am in the middle of one and have found it to be a blessing so far. I have begun to plan it in Hungary in December. The new year was coming, I needed to choose a direction for the church, i felt clogged physically and spiritually. I think it was just taking too much stuff into my system. Physically that meant eating and spiritually that meant, entertainment, news and games on the computer. Whatever it was I was stagnate. I wanted to set aside a time where i could shut off the fleshly part of my life and give myself a control+alt+delete, a restart.
The first week back in Hawaii was designed to lighten my need for caffeine and start to cut the carbs. I cut out caffeine too so you know it's a true purge... I have found it helpful to wean off of carbs for a few days before stopping all food intake. Sugars and white processed flour makes you hunger like nothing else but once you get that out of your blood you seem to have power and control over e doughnut cravings.
For me, I cheat a little by splurging on the protein in that week. I go Atkins for about five days, the whole deal, bacon, cheese, eggs, cream and sugar free jello. I figure, why not it's tough enough with carb cravings, I might as well enjoy the bacon.
Then fast days come. To make it easier I like to drink fiber in the morning. You want to keep your bowels moving over the course of the fast. There are all kinds of toxins built up that will be released and dislodged fro the insides and you want to move that out. I drink sugar free orange flavored metamucil or some other brand fiber sometimes mixed in with psyllium husks. I do it to start the day, first thing in the morning. I am immediately full for the next few hours and don't have hardly any cravings. But I should say I follow the fiber with a treat.
I know treats aren't usually part of fasting but I figure, whatever makes it easier so long as I am doing it. Here's what I do; I drink a cup of grain coffee. Grain coffee is a coffee substitute made from an assortment of nuts and grains like, almonds acorns figs dates carob and chicory. When I first went off caffeine i read about it as a healthier substitute than decaf coffee. My wife and I found Teechino brand to be outstanding. I must say thought that getting caffeine out can be painful and difficult. There are the headaches and cloudiness, a malaise that you have to press through to come into the bliss of clear caffeine free thinking. I had some black tea in those first few days (along with advil) to ease my journey.
The immediate results are great. I have to say I love fasting. It is so good for me. I like the me that I am when I'm starving the flesh. I think more clearly. I feel more spiritually lucid and able to pray with ease. When I worship or meditate its not hard to stay in that place of stillness. I notice when I speak with others i am less uptight and more gregarious. I smile more. I laugh more.
I asked my mom to trim my hair since it was starting to mullet in the back. She was set on using her trimming clippers as opposed to the scissors and the result was disastrous. It was butchered and my hair looked terrible. My dad thought it'd be funny to hum the "Deliverance" song because i looked like a hillbilly. She'd even lost control of the clippers and gouged out a big strip. Instead of being upset I laughed till my stomach hurt. We all did and I think they were as surprised as I was that I wasn't upset. I went ahead and shaved my whole head.
In the early phase i find that my mind is a little blank at times. I can't remember bigger words when I hope to impress friends and I locked my keys in my car. Im not sure if that's just the first week or what. That's where I am, almost done with a week without food and 12 pounds lighter. That's the other benefit of starving, you lose weight. And though it is not my primary motivation it is a nice extra. My energy levels are moderate. My mind is clear (though sometimes absent) and there is a trickling of new joy flowing into my life. I am looking forward to the coming weeks.
Week 2
I am in the middle of week two and have noticed some interesting things. My sense of smell has dramatically increased. I cannot remember smelling so clearly. And it's not just that food is so interesting now, though when my wife cooks I can taste the flavor through my nose, it is heightened. I could smell the vitamins on the table the other day. It's really neat. In fact my whole nasal area seems much clearer.
One problem with fasting is that you want to tell everybody about your fast, how you feel, what day your on, how much weight you've lost, how clear you feel, and other things. As a Christian Jesus taught us to not make a big deal of your fast. "When you fast, don't be a hypocrite and put on a sad face so that people will notice you. Those people have their reward. When you fast clean up, wash your face, put deodorant on so it doesn't look like you're fasting and your Father in heaven will see you and reward you." I haven't told many people about my fast but it's hard to avoid it when everyone around you wants to eat with you. Plus, much of he reason I'd like to talk about it is not because I am spiritual for fasting but because there are physiological things that are fascinating about it.
Another thing I have noticed is that things don't bother me as much as they used to. Things aren't emotionally heavy. I tend to be introverted and passionate about things and I've always wanted to be able to let things go and lighten up in areas. Well this is a nice taste of that. I am way less anxious about things and feel a general sense of well being and peace. Surely some of these things are purely physical. I don't think this is God's specific touch upon me for fasting, rather a result of detaching from food and cleansing the system. Then again this is how the Lord works, the blessing is embedded with the action. I shouldn't think of God giving prizes out for spiritual sacrifice but that he gives fasting almost as a reward in itself. At the same time Jesus says, "the Father will reward you openly." I am looking forward to that reward.
I have lost about 16-18 pounds in the last nine days. I noticed I big drop initially, 3 a day and, then it tapered off to 2 and now it may be closer to 1 a day. I hope it can stay at two a day, that way I can be down to 200 lbs by February 1. That would be 42 pounds in 21 days. It'd be nice to lose the garbage hanging on my frame. But who knows, I am aiming at 21 days with a hope that I will go beyond that. They say the real deep detox starts to happen after 21 days. Stuff that you've been putting in your body from birth starts to get burned and flushed. I am wondering if I can experience some healing from my numerous ailments, psoriasis, the shingles virus, tonsil stones, chronic headaches, etc.
I also pray that a deep spiritual cleansing occurs, that I can be rid of striving, chronic selfishness, deep seated pride, toxic envy, primitive lusts, a wandering mind, lovelessness. I can see God's grace already working in so many areas. It is like He has defanged me and taken my venom. I am less harsh with my family, less jaded with others, more genuine in my heart and more generous in my preaching. It's just a little bit less of the flesh and its so nice.
I dreamed last night that I was eating pizza. I awoke so disappointed that I'd eaten and then realized it was only a dream. Since when is eating pizza a nightmare? Wow, things have flipped. I am realizing that there is an emotion attachment to eating. How we feel is how we eat and how we eat is how we feel. My friend cleaned up his diet over the last few months and really took control of his physical and mental well being through diet and exercise losing a bunch of weight and restoring his outlook on life. He tells me how just the other day he had two slices of pizza and exactly two hours later a heavy depression settled on him. It took a couple days to come out of the funk. We don't always eat because we are truly hungry. We eat because were depressed or get depressed because we eat. The foods we enjoy aren't helping us as much as we'd like because they are so processed and filled with preservatives. White sugar and white flour are almost toxic at the levels many people eat them. They might be a treat but shouldn't be staples.
It sounds weird to hear me saying this but we'd do well to get in tune with our own bodies. Many people eat for craving instead of pleasure. God gave us food to enjoy not to scarf down like wolves. Lucky for wolves that they can't make donuts and pizza. Then they'd be scarfing down processed food and all die off in a few years. Instead of consuming we should be tasting. We should be smelling and savoring. I pray that this fast changed and slows my approach to food, that I'd have self control to eat less and enjoy more, to experience food in it's raw God created state. I have never heard a sermon on gluttony but i wonder if I am one. Is gluttony only for the morbidly obese? Is it just for over eating or is it wrongly eating. An unhealthy approach food? Can a regular sized person be a glutton? I don't know. Maybe. Some of these questions are just the ramblings of a fasting man. You can take them with a grain of salt....or pure distilled water, which is what I'm drinking.
Day 11
Here we are at day 11 and just after i had written about all the peaceful bliss that starving provided, I find that there is still an emotional well inside. The last two days have been interesting. Some minor conflicts with some people up the street got my blood going yesterday. With a raised heartbeat and temperature I rehearsed what to say repeatedly...after our issue was solved. That is not the clear minded dispassionate approach I hoped accompanied fasting. Then our service last night was ill attended which, try as I might to not be bothered, bothered me deeply. It was only the worship team and staff. All these feelings of inadequacy and failure come rushing on me. All of a sudden i am the same old introverted, frustrated, prone to strive and want to quit kind of guy. Actually its not that bad but still the remnant of those feelings are there.
I notice a coaster ride with my emotions now. I am not so happy fasting as I was before. I am impatient with the slow results in my spiritual, emotional and physical life. I am halfway through but already I am hoping for the end. I believe I will, but don't know how I'll go till 21 days. I am a little bored of it and i miss eating. I am knot hungry per se but long for the joy of food, flavors and contentment. This is the emotional attachment to eating and I guess I am just wrestling with those emotions. God help me get through this...and all the other stuff in life that hurts my heart
Day 15
Im sitting in the living room while my family eats spaghetti at the table. I can't remember smelling something so incredible. The desire to eat is so strong and yet it's not a craving in the stomach but the enjoyment of taste. I am looking forward to Monday as the end of this fast.
I feel that i have emphasized e physical aspect of this fast over the spiritual. I have lost about 26 pounds so far but it was not my initial motivation. The problem is that the physical changes are so obvious and tangible. People notice when you lose that much weight so quickly. I have not hidden it from my friends from church either. However in this last week I want to refocus and redirect my hear to the Lord. I need power in the ministry and our church needs deliverance from the malaise of comfort and ease. I am knot sure we understand true hunger, physically of spiritually. I pray God pour out His Spirit of prayer, worship and ministry upon us like never before. I pray the prayer meetings are filled and outreach to the community begins happening.
I have not been free from emotional difficulty in this time. I realize how emotionally we are connected to food. It can be a crutch if we've had a bad day. I had one of those this past week and, without stuffing myself with something savory or sweet I was alone and raw with my feelings. If forces one to face reality a little more honestly. I tell you though, that day a hamburger would have helped.
I thought i would go to 21 days and maybe beyond, depending on how i felt. I can say now that i am tired of this and want it to be over. I have heartburn, my stomach hurts, I am weak and nearly black out when i stand too quickly. I am not a joyful person, but also too tired to be abrasive. I am somewhat sullen. I look forward to night so I can just go to sleep. I am humbled by my own sinfulness.
This is fasting, an afflicting of the soul, a humbling of ones self before God. It is a recognition of our own weakness and frailty before God.
I can't say it's all bad. I did just wake from a nap. I am a little grumpy.
Here I am one month from the fast. I finished and I am so glad I did it. Looking back i often long for the things I experienced while hungry. There was an ease with going to bed and getting up in the morning. I could sing comfortably in a higher pitch because of the clearness of my nasal passages. I could smell so well. I could wait on the Lord without anxiousness and felt great joy. All these things are still with me to a lesser degree but the fast was quite a joy. I recommend it.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Home
I really need to blog. I hardly mentioned that we got home safely and are back into the swing of things. It has been two weeks home since returning from Hungary. It was a long trip. A family of seven for four months in a small European village? Why did you go? What did you learn?
Last year the idea and prayer about going arose after I grew frustrated asking young people in our church to go to the Bible College in Europe and see the mission field. Nobody was interested or even motivated to look beyond their own backyard to the adventure of stepping out in faith like that. Then I asked myself "Why not me? I'm so excited for other people to go, why don't I go myself?" And I did after much prayer and waiting on the Lord.
I also wanted to let my kids experience a new culture and different people and languages of the world. One of the highlights was taking my daughter, Chooch, to the Ukraine for a 10 day mission trip with some others from the school. She did so great and took the sting away from missing the family. Another highlight was our trip to Poland when Keren's dad came to visit. Navigating through the snowy mountains is something I will never forget. Good times.
Another reason for our going was to take a sabbatical. Now in our Calvary Chapel circles we don't have a formal sabbatical. Maybe we should. It provides a pastor with the chance to retool and refocus, to see things from a different perspective. My trip wasn't a pure sabbatical though. I taught twice, sometimes four times a week. We did two short mission trips and ministered locally in Budapest. It wasn't like I was doing nothing, but it was different. Also it gave our church the chance to function without me which they did quite well. I left the teaching in the able hands of my good friend and faithful minister Bryant Stevens, who did a great job and has received nothing but praise from the folks back home. Nonetheless it can be a test to see if the folks still come and even step up to serve. They did and I couldn't be more pleased.
Yet another reason for our trip was a nagging question in my heart as to where I ought to serve. I have always felt a call to the mission field. It was there that I knew I was to serve the Lord and there that I have had such great times of effectiveness and learning. I wanted to ask the Lord if He would have us stay in this country or that. We asked Him in prayer where we might go and plant a church, to move the family, and leave our home for the mission field. There is so much need and such open doors. We prayed about Hungary, staying there, but didn't have God's peace or approval. We asked Him about an opportunity in Czech, home to the most beautiful city in Europe, where a Calvary had lost a pastor. He said "no." After I led a group of young Polish tourists to the Lord one night in Budapest and going through on our drive home from Ukraine, I got jazzed about that possibility. I took the family up for a week in Krakow, also an incredibly beautiful city. We prayed and waited for the Lord's peace and prompting. No. Nothing. I felt a little defeated, like a kid whose dad tells him "no." I had asked and the Lord said "no." We were resigned and truly excited to come home with no plans to leave and no calling elsewhere. We are still wondering if Israel is in the future though. But that is for another trip, another year, and another blog.
I learned some things over there about ministry and myself. One thing is that ministry is ministry wherever you go. There are people with hurts and needs all over the world. They speak different languages and have different cultures but people are essentially the same. They all need forgiveness and renewal. They all need Jesus.
I also learned that I am not necessary for God's kingdom. He doesn't need me. Churches and Bible Schools here or there will be fine without me. I don't make them happen and I don't keep them going. It is a little humbling and a truth I have always known but was glad to be reminded of. The Lord will do His work with or without me. I don't have to carry it or stress over it. He is in control and is building His kingdom.
I also learned that I like being a pastor. Being a teacher is great, but those students are required to come to class and do their work. In a church they come because they are truly fed. There is a difference and although subtle, I realize that I like to sow into people's lives as a pastor more than just a lecturer. I also like the opportunity for vision in the church. As the pastor I can guide and direct what we'll do and where we'll go as a fellowship. It might seem selfish but I like that control. And really it isn't about control but functioning in the gifting God gave me. I am a visionary and being a pastor just fits for me.
I also learned that we have it so great in Hawaii. It is truly one of the best places on Earth. Three weeks before we came home we noticed our whole family was growing homesick. We started listing the things we missed about home. We'd sit around the dinner table as it snowed outside and talk about it. Things like: Costco, Korean BBQ, Panda Express, two bathrooms, Stand up Surfing, my Mom and Dad, Teddy's Bigger Burger, JiuJitsu, WiFi, carpeting, American toilets, driving, jacuzzi, the SUN and many more things. Now that we're home we just revel in all of it giving glory to God for a great trip and one family adventure of many more to come. Its good to be home.
You can see all our Hungary update videos at my YouTube channel, TheBudStonebraker.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Meet the Missionaries
It was almost 20 years ago that I met Phil in Moscow. We were just teenagers. He had come from California and I from Hawaii, but we ended up together in a Moscow flat with few other missionaries in 1991. At that time Russia was in in huge transition. Communism had fallen and their whole world was turning upside down. When I first got to Moscow you'd get 30 Rubles for a dollar. Five months later it was 1100 rubles for the same dollar. The Mafia ran everything, including the black market. Initially it was Snickers and Pepsi but later got into seedier thing. Crime was exploding. Muggings and robberies were common. Burglaries were so frequent that there was a market for bolting steel doors. I'd never seen a corpse on the street till I was in Moscow. It was like the wild west and Phil and I were both just kids with a passion for the Lord and a taste for adventure. In other words we were missionaries. My life would take me back to Hawaii and Phil to California, but Phil would marry and shortly return to the mission field; this time to Hungary.
Phil met and married his lovely wife Joy before they moved to Hungary close to 15 years ago. They adopted a beautiful Hungarian girl (Niki) and had three more children (Karina, Judah and Hannah).
Phil leads worship and is a gifted evangelist so He and Joy were initially church planters. Later he served as an assistant Pastor. Eventually they took on the excellent work of the Bible College here in Vajta. In 2007 Phil stepped in to Pastor the Calvary in Budapest when Pastor Greg Opean asked him to. The church, Golgota Chapel Budapest, continues to grow and play a vital role in the city. They minister to well over 1000 people a week and, I was just told by their media guy that, their services are downloaded over 8000 times per week. He's one of the few pastors I know who has to have two midweek services just to fit the folks in who are coming to hear the Word. The church also has a much needed and well used ministry to the homeless in Budapest. It is a truly active church. Phil also oversees the Calvary Chapel church plants throughout this part of Europe and even into Africa. God has really blessed the Metzgers in all they do.
Paul told Timothy (1 Tim 4:12-13), "Let no man despise your youth, but be an example in word, conduct, love, spirit, faith and purity, encouraging the believers with teaching." Phil and I may not be the "youths" we once were all those years ago in Moscow, but he sure has taken these words of Paul to heart. He is an example for others who want to serve the Lord.
Please pray for the Metzgers and the ministries they oversee. Consider supporting them in your giving. Also check out the different programs they offer at the Bible College. Pray about a semester or a summer here on the mission field. It will change your life.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Missions
There is a passage in the Old Testament that I think of when considering missions. It is from 1 Samuel 30. Some Amalekites had raided and captured David's whole village, burned it with fire and took everyone's family captive. David and his men pursued them, but after 100 miles in four days and some men became so exhausted that they couldnt go on. They set up camp and stayed while David and the rest went on to catch the Amalekites and conquer them. David recaptured all the families and all the stuff but when they returned to the camp where the others were waiting some of David's "worthless" guys said, "They did not go with us to battle so we're not giving them any of the spoil. Just give them their families and let them leave" (30:22). This was harsh and would have caused a division in David's ranks. David responded to these guys, "No way. We are all brothers and God gave us this victory. Those who fought will share in the rewards with those who guarded the supplies" (30:23-24). This principle became a rule in Israel, that those who go and those who stay share alike.
I believe this sheds some light on the principles of missions. Like David's men, there are some who go and some who stay. Some can't go out on the mission field. They have to set up camp and guard the supplies. Their job is to protect the resources of those going into battle. Others are sent out and supported. It is much easier for some people to pick up their life, hop on a plane and serve in an unreached area. This used to be me. I loved going out and the adventure of faith. It was easy too. Now that I am a little older, things have changed. I have a family and responsibilities to a church body back in Hawaii. This trip we have taken to Hungary has been great but not without a huge effort. A family of 7 just isn't as mobile as a single guy or girl. Nevertheless we came. The only way we were able to was that there was a group of people who stayed by the supplies back home. We have been supported by faithful people back home. According to our story in 1 Sam 30, those folks back home will share in all the rewards in heaven for the souls who have been touched or saved in our ministering here. By the way, thank you for your continued faithfulness in giving. Only heaven will display all the rewards you have wrought by your generosity.
Let me encourage you to be faithful if you are a "stay by the stuff" person. Just as David's men's hearts surely went with him, though physically they couldn't, you should go in your heart too even if physically you can't be out there. Protect the home base, support your local church, continue praying and giving to those who have gone out.
For those who have gone out, be sure that you don't despise those back home. Don't judge them for not being able to go. Don't dismiss their faithfulness to watch over the supplies. Share the rewards of your exploits for the Lord. If you have gone out with the Greater David and won souls, then rejoice with those who couldn't go.
What are you? Are you sent or a sender? If sent, than engage the battle on the mission field. Preach and pray like souls depend on it. They do. You are engaged in a serious fight for captive souls and God has promised victory. Are you a sender? Then stay faithful by the stuff. Keep your heart in the fight and continue to be the supplier that God has made you. You will be richly rewarded. "As his part is who goes down to battle, so shall his part be who stays by the supplies, they shall share alike."
I believe this sheds some light on the principles of missions. Like David's men, there are some who go and some who stay. Some can't go out on the mission field. They have to set up camp and guard the supplies. Their job is to protect the resources of those going into battle. Others are sent out and supported. It is much easier for some people to pick up their life, hop on a plane and serve in an unreached area. This used to be me. I loved going out and the adventure of faith. It was easy too. Now that I am a little older, things have changed. I have a family and responsibilities to a church body back in Hawaii. This trip we have taken to Hungary has been great but not without a huge effort. A family of 7 just isn't as mobile as a single guy or girl. Nevertheless we came. The only way we were able to was that there was a group of people who stayed by the supplies back home. We have been supported by faithful people back home. According to our story in 1 Sam 30, those folks back home will share in all the rewards in heaven for the souls who have been touched or saved in our ministering here. By the way, thank you for your continued faithfulness in giving. Only heaven will display all the rewards you have wrought by your generosity.
Let me encourage you to be faithful if you are a "stay by the stuff" person. Just as David's men's hearts surely went with him, though physically they couldn't, you should go in your heart too even if physically you can't be out there. Protect the home base, support your local church, continue praying and giving to those who have gone out.
For those who have gone out, be sure that you don't despise those back home. Don't judge them for not being able to go. Don't dismiss their faithfulness to watch over the supplies. Share the rewards of your exploits for the Lord. If you have gone out with the Greater David and won souls, then rejoice with those who couldn't go.
What are you? Are you sent or a sender? If sent, than engage the battle on the mission field. Preach and pray like souls depend on it. They do. You are engaged in a serious fight for captive souls and God has promised victory. Are you a sender? Then stay faithful by the stuff. Keep your heart in the fight and continue to be the supplier that God has made you. You will be richly rewarded. "As his part is who goes down to battle, so shall his part be who stays by the supplies, they shall share alike."
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
Meet the Missionaries
Missionaries are some pretty awesome folks. I knew this before our trip out to Hungary but being here has given me a chance to meet some great families. One of them is the Langes, Paul, Jeanette, Sierra, Sean and Jake Bear.Paul and Jeanette Lange have been here in Europe for nearly 20 years. Along with Phil Metzger, who pastors Calvary Chapel Budapest, Paul helps oversee a lot of the practical stuff on the ground. And these are some grounds too. The campus and castle are huge and the property has a large staff just to run things smoothly. Paul does a good job with it. I think of Paul as a quintessential Calvary leader. He has an easy way about him and a relaxed management style. He lets the Lord run the show. For example, one day I wouldn't make my class so I let him know and asked if that was alright. Paul just said something like, "You do whatever you need to so long as your students know the book of Hebrews at the end of the semester." The Bible says where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom. I think Paul facilitates that well. In addition Paul is a rock solid bible teacher and communicator.
Paul's wife Jeanette is an awesome woman. She and Keren love to hang out whenever they can. Actually it was Jeanette that took Keren for the ultrasound to find out we were having a boy (the state of the art equipment was masked by communist era service so they waited all day at the hospital...thanks Jeanette). Jeanette is actually Swedish, but you wouldn't know it. She doesn't have an accent at all. She seems to have a knack with languages as she is conversant in Hungarian (a cruel and harsh language to learn indeed). With Paul originally form Michigan and Jeanette from Sweden, these guys can handle the cold. Jeanette is also in high demand as a speaker for women's fellowships all over Hungary. She is a great encourager and really ministers to the ladies.
We always appreciate their kids Sierra (16) and Sean (12) who are awesome, smart and respectful. But the one kid we see most is Jake Bear. Jake and my boy are the best of friends. They are always together riding bikes, throwing sticks, digging holes, running around or causing some havoc around here. Missing Jake is going to be one of the hardest parts about leaving for Little Bud.
Over the past year Paul and Jeanette have had some extremely difficult health issues. One of Paul's lungs collapsed a while back and the treatment and recovery has been tough. Jeanette had knee surgery with major complications and is scheduled to do the other one pretty soon. Pray for them. It has been a tough year for these guys but they continue to shine as great examples to the staff and students here.
I love missionaries, but this is the great dilemma about meeting them; you miss them when you're gone. Keren and I will be leaving soon part of heart will left back here in Hungary. There'll be a hollow spot in our hearts but...well take the Langes home with us in there.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
The Road
In the past few weeks we have been on the road driving around Europe. First we had to get out of the European union in order to renew our visas. Our three months in Hungary were up so we drove down to Serbia for the day, got our passports stamped and ate some burek. It was pretty uneventful overall but a good experience for us. It is a stressful thing to take five kids into a different city where you. Don't speak the language. I found myself 'shushing' them constantly, not wanting to stand out as Americans too much. Maybe it was my days in Russia where i developed an intense cautiousness when around swarthy unshaven men that smell like vodka. Anyway, I don't think it was too much fun for the kids.
More recently we took a trip up to Poland to visit Krakow. What an amazing city this is. What is cool is that I can bluff my way by in Polish, saying just enough to get into a conversation that I can't handle. My father in law had come to visit so we made the drive out of teensy Vajta up through Slovakia and the Tatra mountains. It is a solid 8 hour drive, even when you don't get lost. We didn't get lost but we did lose our bearings a little. Keren and I are still sorting that out since she was the navigator. Wow, driving through the mountains at night can be a little scary if you aren't sure where you're going. Anyway we made it and got settled in to our cool apartment in a perfect spot in the old city.
We visited this old historic salt mine called Wieleczka. This thing was awesome. It goes a thousand feet down and was the number one industry in Poland for many years. Salt was as precious as gold at one time because there was no other way to preserve food. The miners would be paid in salt (salt is where we get our word salary). We spent hours deep beneath the surface of the earth. Miners are very religious and had carved over 40 different chapels in the over 300 KM of tunnels down there. They also carved gnomes out of the salt to scare off the monsters that lurk in the dark. I felt like we were going to run into a cave troll or something. I had a sword and Legolas close by so it was cool. I uploaded some pics to facebook if you want to see.
My friends Kurt and Kendall Kula came down from Radom where they are missionaries. They and their four great kids spent the day with us. We had a blast walking around the town and reminiscing on old times. Kurt and I first came out here 20 years ago. He stayed and has been serving the Lord faithfully in a couple of different cities. They aren't sure where the Lord is leading them now but it may be a new chapter in their ministry. Anyway we had a good time in the city square and at a candy shop where you watch them make the candy. Later Kurt and my father in law got into a discussion on the Bible. It was friendly and passionate and alot of fun. I got involved too and tried to make some good points from the Old Testament. I usually don't broach the subject anymore so it was good Kurt did. In the end, I think he was challenged to take another look at the Word of God. I absolutely love him and couldn't have ever asked for a greater father in law. Pray for Yehuda.
Today Yehuda took the big girls to visit Auschwitz. I told Chooch and Ebi that it was a day of homeschooling and their Saba (grandpa) was the teacher. I hope it is a good experience for them overall. You know how those things can be. Keren and I took the little three to do a little shopping. It had snowed a little the other day but today was clear and cold. We walked a few miles and got some good things to take back for our friends. There is a forecast of a foot of snow tomorrow and with our drive over the mountains i am a little concerned. Thanks for your prayers.
With this cold weather we are missing Hawaii all he more. Also we have gotten warm. Messages from friends there saying we are missed. Makes us appreciate the things and people we have back home. I was thinking about that the other day....what do i miss most about Hawaii? Well i miss my dad a lot. I miss our stand up surf sessions and talking shop about the ministry. I also miss playing ping pong with the guys at church. I miss rolling jujitsu with that crew of guys. I miss Costco (is that shallow?). I miss not having to share a bathroom with my kids. I miss my own soft California king bed. I miss wearing slippers. I miss the ocean. I miss the sun. I miss South Shore Christian Fellowship.
Anyway, I know what'll happen when i get home. I will start to miss al the great people i have met here in Europe. It happens every time and is one of the sweet hazards of ministry. I feel like I leave a piece of my heart wherever I go. By God's grace that missing piece grows back just in time to leave it in a new place.
More recently we took a trip up to Poland to visit Krakow. What an amazing city this is. What is cool is that I can bluff my way by in Polish, saying just enough to get into a conversation that I can't handle. My father in law had come to visit so we made the drive out of teensy Vajta up through Slovakia and the Tatra mountains. It is a solid 8 hour drive, even when you don't get lost. We didn't get lost but we did lose our bearings a little. Keren and I are still sorting that out since she was the navigator. Wow, driving through the mountains at night can be a little scary if you aren't sure where you're going. Anyway we made it and got settled in to our cool apartment in a perfect spot in the old city.
We visited this old historic salt mine called Wieleczka. This thing was awesome. It goes a thousand feet down and was the number one industry in Poland for many years. Salt was as precious as gold at one time because there was no other way to preserve food. The miners would be paid in salt (salt is where we get our word salary). We spent hours deep beneath the surface of the earth. Miners are very religious and had carved over 40 different chapels in the over 300 KM of tunnels down there. They also carved gnomes out of the salt to scare off the monsters that lurk in the dark. I felt like we were going to run into a cave troll or something. I had a sword and Legolas close by so it was cool. I uploaded some pics to facebook if you want to see.
My friends Kurt and Kendall Kula came down from Radom where they are missionaries. They and their four great kids spent the day with us. We had a blast walking around the town and reminiscing on old times. Kurt and I first came out here 20 years ago. He stayed and has been serving the Lord faithfully in a couple of different cities. They aren't sure where the Lord is leading them now but it may be a new chapter in their ministry. Anyway we had a good time in the city square and at a candy shop where you watch them make the candy. Later Kurt and my father in law got into a discussion on the Bible. It was friendly and passionate and alot of fun. I got involved too and tried to make some good points from the Old Testament. I usually don't broach the subject anymore so it was good Kurt did. In the end, I think he was challenged to take another look at the Word of God. I absolutely love him and couldn't have ever asked for a greater father in law. Pray for Yehuda.
Today Yehuda took the big girls to visit Auschwitz. I told Chooch and Ebi that it was a day of homeschooling and their Saba (grandpa) was the teacher. I hope it is a good experience for them overall. You know how those things can be. Keren and I took the little three to do a little shopping. It had snowed a little the other day but today was clear and cold. We walked a few miles and got some good things to take back for our friends. There is a forecast of a foot of snow tomorrow and with our drive over the mountains i am a little concerned. Thanks for your prayers.
With this cold weather we are missing Hawaii all he more. Also we have gotten warm. Messages from friends there saying we are missed. Makes us appreciate the things and people we have back home. I was thinking about that the other day....what do i miss most about Hawaii? Well i miss my dad a lot. I miss our stand up surf sessions and talking shop about the ministry. I also miss playing ping pong with the guys at church. I miss rolling jujitsu with that crew of guys. I miss Costco (is that shallow?). I miss not having to share a bathroom with my kids. I miss my own soft California king bed. I miss wearing slippers. I miss the ocean. I miss the sun. I miss South Shore Christian Fellowship.
Anyway, I know what'll happen when i get home. I will start to miss al the great people i have met here in Europe. It happens every time and is one of the sweet hazards of ministry. I feel like I leave a piece of my heart wherever I go. By God's grace that missing piece grows back just in time to leave it in a new place.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Lost! -Danny Lehmann
Danny Lehmann recently sent me this. It is an excellent read and a worthy subject.
LOST
"For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."
Luke 19:10
He was truly lost. Johnny Stockton, a 24-year-old physically fit former YWAM staff member, on a break between assignments, decided to take a prayer retreat/expedition along the Kona Coast of Hawaii's Big Island. His plan was to paddle his rented kayak one half mile offshore along the coast and paddle northward for 30 miles where he was intending to make his way inland, sleep under the stars and come back home the next day. The prevailing winds and ocean current did not cooperate and Johnny found himself frantically paddling against the forces of nature to try to get to land. He paddled for hours and collapsed in exhaustion.
Upon awakening he saw the summit of Mauna Kea far off in the distance, made one frantic last call for help on his cell phone which showed no bars. Miraculously his call got through breaking up severely. Johnny waited - for four more days. Severely sunburned and dehydrated, he gave up hope. He wrote a final letter to his family telling them how much he loved them and waited to die. Miraculously, in his final pass a pilot spotted the yellow kayak. His survival story was told worldwide.
Historically one of the strongest motivating factors for world missions has been the fact that Christians believed people without Christ were in the strongest sense of the word, "lost". Hudson Taylor once said , "There is a great Niagra of souls passing into the dark in China... a million a month are dying without God... I never would have gone to China if I didn't believe the Chinese were lost". In a gripping vision of a waterfall of blind people falling headlong off a cliff to their destruction, Amy Carmichael, a missionary to India, described the fate of the lost in her essay "Thy Brother's Blood"*. William Booth is reported to have wished all his Salvation Army officers could hang over Hell for 24 hours prior to their commissioning. He thought this would stir them to greater service to the poor and the lost.
A few months ago on my home island one of the most popular American TV series in history wrapped up filming. For 6 years the writers of "LOST" skillfully took viewers through the lives of people who were stranded on a Pacific island after Oceanic 815 broke up in mid-air and crashed. Millions waited expectantly for the last episode. In the feel-good finale they all ended up in the afterlife happily enjoying one another's company. Prominently displayed on a stained-glass window in the church which represented heaven were the symbols of all the world's major religions signifying what the writers intended to communicate- that no one is really lost after all!
Recently about 3 miles from where this episode was filmed I was told by an angry young man to "go to Hell". Five minutes before he consigned me to perdition, he informed me that he didn't believe such a place existed and then proceeded to damn me by the God that he didn't believe in. This random street witnessing encounter set me to thinking about Hell. I re-examined it's impact on my life. Does it's terrible reality grip my soul in any tangible way. Did I believe that not only the Hitlers and Bin Ladens of our world but many others will end up there? Does the stark reality hit me that according to Jesus unless a person repents they will perish (Lk.3:5)?
A recent book on world missions contrasts old school/new school viewpoints on the Great Commission. One chapter was entitled "From Saving Souls From Hell To The Glory of God". It was pointed out that many missionaries today are discovering that the highest motivation for world missions should be to glorify God and to honor Him, and much less about rescuing the perishing. Fair enough, but shouldn't a primary impetus that sends us and keeps us on the mission field also be the fact that people are lost? Wouldn't this reinforce a burning passion to reach out with the good news?
Theologians disagree about the nature of Hell, whether it's eternal or destructive, flaming hot or cold and dark, physical [fire] or spiritual [death]. Whatever it's nature, it is certain that it's residents are separated from the life of God forever. Paul declared (the verse after warning of God's judgment) that , "Knowing the terror of the Lord we persuade men."(2 Cor 5:11 KJV). Jesus spoke much about Hell (33 times) while other biblical writers used words like death, fire, perishing, destruction, outer darkness, black darkness etc. The Bible refers to hell 167 times. It is there and we must deal with it or dismiss it.
Why Hell Isn't Cool
1) Hell isn't cool because it isn't "cool." Cool people don't like to talk about Hell. It's a drag and unpleasent in polite adult conversation. Not only is it not cool, but it's not popular, hip or sexy in a postmodern world where Truth itself is up for grabs--especially Truth that tells you that you are lost (think U2 lead singer Bono's headband-"Jesus, Mohammed, Jew- it's all true"). Now that's "cool!" One sure fire way to freeze up an otherwise friendly dialogue is to suggest people might want to consider where they are planning to spend eternity.
2) Hell isn't cool because it's, well , "hot." Hell brings the metaphor of a "hot topic" of conversation to a whole new level! Dante's "Inferno," Jonathan Edwards' "Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God" and modern books by folks who say God allowed them to pay Hell a visit offend modern sensibilities. A lake of fire, even when seen metaphorically is tough for 21st Century people to swallow, even giving many Christians the creeps when discussing it.
3) Hell isn't cool because we don't take it seriously. John Lennon's "Imagine" ("...no Hell below us, above us only sky..."), rock bands like AC/DC (Highway to Hell, Hells Bells, Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be) and Black Sabbath (Heaven and Hell) numbed a previous generation to Hell's reality while more recently TV shows like The Simpsons and South Park regularly made light of Hell and kept millions laughing in the process.
4) Hell isn't cool because we have a warped understanding of God. We often emphasize His benevolence and barely mention or even apologize for His wrath, using phrases like "The Father Heart of God", His "unconditional love" or an allegorized, out-of-context slant on the Song of Solomon that pictures God as a romantic lover, lonely for our companionship. These pictures of God are fine in their context but we must not forget the allegiance and obedience due to the Creator and just Judge of the Universe who demands our surrender, is to be feared and (albeit from a reluctant, broken heart) will execute judgment on those who refuse His gracious offer of eternal life.
To The Rescue
The man responsible for more people hearing about Jesus than anyone in history, Dr. Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade For Christ, shortly before his death wrote: "In today's culture with a growing indifference to the afterlife, I have come to realize the need for a greater discussion on hell...To be silent on the eternal destination of souls is to be like a sentry failing to warn his fellow soldiers of an impending attack" ( "Heaven or Hell- Your Ultimate Choice" - pg.32,28).
Recently millions worldwide celebrated with the families of the 33 trapped Chilean miners who were rescued after 69 days underground. They would have been forever "lost" if not for the heroic efforts of hundreds of people at great expense ($19 Million). No one bemoaned the cost of the rescue. Why?-- The value of human life. How much more should we with fervent zeal and burning love come to the eternal rescue of those who are lost. It's not that life is so short, but that you're dead for so long!
" What will it profit a man if he were to gain the whole world and lose his own soul"
(Matthew 16:26)
LOST
"For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."
Luke 19:10
He was truly lost. Johnny Stockton, a 24-year-old physically fit former YWAM staff member, on a break between assignments, decided to take a prayer retreat/expedition along the Kona Coast of Hawaii's Big Island. His plan was to paddle his rented kayak one half mile offshore along the coast and paddle northward for 30 miles where he was intending to make his way inland, sleep under the stars and come back home the next day. The prevailing winds and ocean current did not cooperate and Johnny found himself frantically paddling against the forces of nature to try to get to land. He paddled for hours and collapsed in exhaustion.
Upon awakening he saw the summit of Mauna Kea far off in the distance, made one frantic last call for help on his cell phone which showed no bars. Miraculously his call got through breaking up severely. Johnny waited - for four more days. Severely sunburned and dehydrated, he gave up hope. He wrote a final letter to his family telling them how much he loved them and waited to die. Miraculously, in his final pass a pilot spotted the yellow kayak. His survival story was told worldwide.
Historically one of the strongest motivating factors for world missions has been the fact that Christians believed people without Christ were in the strongest sense of the word, "lost". Hudson Taylor once said , "There is a great Niagra of souls passing into the dark in China... a million a month are dying without God... I never would have gone to China if I didn't believe the Chinese were lost". In a gripping vision of a waterfall of blind people falling headlong off a cliff to their destruction, Amy Carmichael, a missionary to India, described the fate of the lost in her essay "Thy Brother's Blood"*. William Booth is reported to have wished all his Salvation Army officers could hang over Hell for 24 hours prior to their commissioning. He thought this would stir them to greater service to the poor and the lost.
A few months ago on my home island one of the most popular American TV series in history wrapped up filming. For 6 years the writers of "LOST" skillfully took viewers through the lives of people who were stranded on a Pacific island after Oceanic 815 broke up in mid-air and crashed. Millions waited expectantly for the last episode. In the feel-good finale they all ended up in the afterlife happily enjoying one another's company. Prominently displayed on a stained-glass window in the church which represented heaven were the symbols of all the world's major religions signifying what the writers intended to communicate- that no one is really lost after all!
Recently about 3 miles from where this episode was filmed I was told by an angry young man to "go to Hell". Five minutes before he consigned me to perdition, he informed me that he didn't believe such a place existed and then proceeded to damn me by the God that he didn't believe in. This random street witnessing encounter set me to thinking about Hell. I re-examined it's impact on my life. Does it's terrible reality grip my soul in any tangible way. Did I believe that not only the Hitlers and Bin Ladens of our world but many others will end up there? Does the stark reality hit me that according to Jesus unless a person repents they will perish (Lk.3:5)?
A recent book on world missions contrasts old school/new school viewpoints on the Great Commission. One chapter was entitled "From Saving Souls From Hell To The Glory of God". It was pointed out that many missionaries today are discovering that the highest motivation for world missions should be to glorify God and to honor Him, and much less about rescuing the perishing. Fair enough, but shouldn't a primary impetus that sends us and keeps us on the mission field also be the fact that people are lost? Wouldn't this reinforce a burning passion to reach out with the good news?
Theologians disagree about the nature of Hell, whether it's eternal or destructive, flaming hot or cold and dark, physical [fire] or spiritual [death]. Whatever it's nature, it is certain that it's residents are separated from the life of God forever. Paul declared (the verse after warning of God's judgment) that , "Knowing the terror of the Lord we persuade men."(2 Cor 5:11 KJV). Jesus spoke much about Hell (33 times) while other biblical writers used words like death, fire, perishing, destruction, outer darkness, black darkness etc. The Bible refers to hell 167 times. It is there and we must deal with it or dismiss it.
Why Hell Isn't Cool
1) Hell isn't cool because it isn't "cool." Cool people don't like to talk about Hell. It's a drag and unpleasent in polite adult conversation. Not only is it not cool, but it's not popular, hip or sexy in a postmodern world where Truth itself is up for grabs--especially Truth that tells you that you are lost (think U2 lead singer Bono's headband-"Jesus, Mohammed, Jew- it's all true"). Now that's "cool!" One sure fire way to freeze up an otherwise friendly dialogue is to suggest people might want to consider where they are planning to spend eternity.
2) Hell isn't cool because it's, well , "hot." Hell brings the metaphor of a "hot topic" of conversation to a whole new level! Dante's "Inferno," Jonathan Edwards' "Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God" and modern books by folks who say God allowed them to pay Hell a visit offend modern sensibilities. A lake of fire, even when seen metaphorically is tough for 21st Century people to swallow, even giving many Christians the creeps when discussing it.
3) Hell isn't cool because we don't take it seriously. John Lennon's "Imagine" ("...no Hell below us, above us only sky..."), rock bands like AC/DC (Highway to Hell, Hells Bells, Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be) and Black Sabbath (Heaven and Hell) numbed a previous generation to Hell's reality while more recently TV shows like The Simpsons and South Park regularly made light of Hell and kept millions laughing in the process.
4) Hell isn't cool because we have a warped understanding of God. We often emphasize His benevolence and barely mention or even apologize for His wrath, using phrases like "The Father Heart of God", His "unconditional love" or an allegorized, out-of-context slant on the Song of Solomon that pictures God as a romantic lover, lonely for our companionship. These pictures of God are fine in their context but we must not forget the allegiance and obedience due to the Creator and just Judge of the Universe who demands our surrender, is to be feared and (albeit from a reluctant, broken heart) will execute judgment on those who refuse His gracious offer of eternal life.
To The Rescue
The man responsible for more people hearing about Jesus than anyone in history, Dr. Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade For Christ, shortly before his death wrote: "In today's culture with a growing indifference to the afterlife, I have come to realize the need for a greater discussion on hell...To be silent on the eternal destination of souls is to be like a sentry failing to warn his fellow soldiers of an impending attack" ( "Heaven or Hell- Your Ultimate Choice" - pg.32,28).
Recently millions worldwide celebrated with the families of the 33 trapped Chilean miners who were rescued after 69 days underground. They would have been forever "lost" if not for the heroic efforts of hundreds of people at great expense ($19 Million). No one bemoaned the cost of the rescue. Why?-- The value of human life. How much more should we with fervent zeal and burning love come to the eternal rescue of those who are lost. It's not that life is so short, but that you're dead for so long!
" What will it profit a man if he were to gain the whole world and lose his own soul"
(Matthew 16:26)
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Ukraine update
This is a couple days dated since I couldn't find wifi.
Today is Friday, our last full day in Ukraine. We will be leaving tomorrow from what seems to be turning into a very fruitful trip to Lutsk. We were able to get contacts in the University where we taught English over the past three days. Native speakers are a treasure for English professors so they had worked us hard over these days. We have taught for close to three hours a day to numerous different classes. This has enabled us to build relationships with the students who have met with us outside of the school, moony of them opening their hearts to the Lord. They have also become our helpers by passing out fliers for a city wide game that we'll be putting on this afternoon called Quest. It is like a huge scavenger hunt where the kids go through the city in groups doing tasks and solving puzzles. At the end we gather for prizes and a party. A young girl from YWAM has been helping set this up and we hope there will be lots of kids tonight.
Yesterday we did some outreach in the park where I got to preach to a group that had gathered. I haven't preached publicly very often but now i wonder why not. I was not uneasy or nervous but felt God's grace help me present the gospel clearly. I brought the people to a decision for Jesus and many raised their hands and prayed the sinners prayer. It is exciting but I know that they need consistent follow up and ministry so we keep pointing people to the church which will begin on Saturday. The service is from 2-4 in the afternoon and we are hoping for a grood turnout.
We are starting to feel the wear of the work. We are rejoicing in what the Lord is doing but at the same time were getting timed. A couple of the people a feeling sick so please pray for energy and rest.
Today is Friday, our last full day in Ukraine. We will be leaving tomorrow from what seems to be turning into a very fruitful trip to Lutsk. We were able to get contacts in the University where we taught English over the past three days. Native speakers are a treasure for English professors so they had worked us hard over these days. We have taught for close to three hours a day to numerous different classes. This has enabled us to build relationships with the students who have met with us outside of the school, moony of them opening their hearts to the Lord. They have also become our helpers by passing out fliers for a city wide game that we'll be putting on this afternoon called Quest. It is like a huge scavenger hunt where the kids go through the city in groups doing tasks and solving puzzles. At the end we gather for prizes and a party. A young girl from YWAM has been helping set this up and we hope there will be lots of kids tonight.
Yesterday we did some outreach in the park where I got to preach to a group that had gathered. I haven't preached publicly very often but now i wonder why not. I was not uneasy or nervous but felt God's grace help me present the gospel clearly. I brought the people to a decision for Jesus and many raised their hands and prayed the sinners prayer. It is exciting but I know that they need consistent follow up and ministry so we keep pointing people to the church which will begin on Saturday. The service is from 2-4 in the afternoon and we are hoping for a grood turnout.
We are starting to feel the wear of the work. We are rejoicing in what the Lord is doing but at the same time were getting timed. A couple of the people a feeling sick so please pray for energy and rest.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Ukraine Update
Thank you for your prayers. Today was our busiest day so far. After a good two days in Ternobil with the church we journeyed north to Lutsk where George Markie has been aiming his prayers. They hope to see a work started here soon, running services on Saturday nights and heading back for Sundays in ternobil. Tuesday was a little slow. It was cold and rainy so a bit tough to do any ministry. We were hoping for opportunities in the university with some English classes and some sun so we could play with the kids outdoors in the park. Praise the Lord our prayers were answered today. We had two very enthusiastic classes with the English students and huge favor with the teachers. Svetlana was especially eager to have us everyday and Irina was happy to have us teach in her class. All together there were about forty girls. No boys in the classes, strange huh? We invited them to show us the city later and meet us for tea in the evening.
George, Jon, and I went to see about a place they could rent for a possible first meeting on Saturday. The place will work perfectly well and we have it reserved for Saturday. Calvary Chapel Lutsk will have it's first meeting this Saturday!! George got to work on invitations right away and we went to the park to meet with the kids for a while. The team had lots of fun playing in the (cold) park. Balloons soccer and dodgeball. They are all expecting us back tomorrow.
In the evening we met with about 10-12 of the college girls for tea cookies and games at a local candy type store. They all had a good grasp on English so when Lisa gave her testimony they were really touched. She shared the gospel so well and prayed for them. Jon played an awesome song he had written in Ukrainian and after we shared the gospel and asked if they wanted to pray to receive Jesus THE ALL INVITED THE LORD INTO THEIR LIVES!!! We were so stoked.
We are scheduled to be in class first thing in the morning tomorrow. We will probably have a similar schedule for the day. Please pray that God confirms His word and show himself to these young people tonight, even as they sleep, and tomorrow. I felt like the Lord impressed on my heart that they really need to know how much He loves them. They don't really know Gods love in what they see in churches here. It is all religion. They are literally afraid of their churches and religious leaders. Please pray their hearts would be opened to understand His love for them.
OK, I will keep you updated. Thank you so much for your prayers and spiritual partnership in our venture. Great things are ahead for this city and we are excited to see God's plan unfold here.
Bud and the team
You can see pictures at my facebook page.
George, Jon, and I went to see about a place they could rent for a possible first meeting on Saturday. The place will work perfectly well and we have it reserved for Saturday. Calvary Chapel Lutsk will have it's first meeting this Saturday!! George got to work on invitations right away and we went to the park to meet with the kids for a while. The team had lots of fun playing in the (cold) park. Balloons soccer and dodgeball. They are all expecting us back tomorrow.
In the evening we met with about 10-12 of the college girls for tea cookies and games at a local candy type store. They all had a good grasp on English so when Lisa gave her testimony they were really touched. She shared the gospel so well and prayed for them. Jon played an awesome song he had written in Ukrainian and after we shared the gospel and asked if they wanted to pray to receive Jesus THE ALL INVITED THE LORD INTO THEIR LIVES!!! We were so stoked.
We are scheduled to be in class first thing in the morning tomorrow. We will probably have a similar schedule for the day. Please pray that God confirms His word and show himself to these young people tonight, even as they sleep, and tomorrow. I felt like the Lord impressed on my heart that they really need to know how much He loves them. They don't really know Gods love in what they see in churches here. It is all religion. They are literally afraid of their churches and religious leaders. Please pray their hearts would be opened to understand His love for them.
OK, I will keep you updated. Thank you so much for your prayers and spiritual partnership in our venture. Great things are ahead for this city and we are excited to see God's plan unfold here.
Bud and the team
You can see pictures at my facebook page.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Walking and Praising
Acts 3:9 and all the people saw him walking and praising God.
Such a short simply verse, and it speaks so much to me. After being healed and touched by Jesus this man jumps up and starts celebrating. For over forty years he has been like this, lame, carried around, begging. In a flash he is healed. The whole crowd can only watch him rejoice and dance around.
This should be the story of our lives. We were poor lame beggars but Jesus lifted us up and set us on our feet. Our greatest witness to people is that they can see us walking a new walk and praising God. That is the summary of our lives, a new walk and praise. Our witness is a simple celebration of what Jesus did in us.
There is not much attraction to a life that is not walking or praising God. It's no witness when a believer isn't walking a walk that is worth watching. If your life was a tv show, would it be worth watching? Would you watch it yourself? It would be sad if a person lived a life so boring they'd change channels if they could. The life of faith is an adventure even in what others might think is mundane. Nobody thought walking was as fun as that man that day in the temple. He absolutely loved the boring, mundane act of walking and that caught people's eye.
Are you excited about what God has done in your life? Are you excited about "walking"? Man, this is a new life that He has given us. Rejoice. Jump. Dance. Live. It is so exciting that after forty years God had a plan for this man's life. In middle age it was all just getting started. I know as I collect years (I have quite a few now) there is a tendency to grow tired with them, less excited, more beat down and worn out. Look around. Most people don't have a joy about life. They aren't excited about what God has done or is doing in them today. But we do. I am excited about what Jesus is doing in me.
This man also praised the Lord in such a way that others noticed. I have seen people who truly worship God with passion and others who aren't too interested in praise. There is a radical difference. Nobody wants to watch a bland worshipless life. Well, maybe that is not true considering the crap people watch on television. People might look at garbage but this is true, there is nothing as attractive as a life that is truly praising God. The most beautiful people I know have hearts that are in love with Jesus...and they express it to Him. I think something is released in us when we release praise to God. Like endorphins are released after exercise...what's good for us is the running, but the little extra reward is that blissful feeling of release, endorphins. So the exercise of worship is so good and healthy, but the extra blessing is the peaceful joy that it brings into our lives. People that really worship God glow. They really glow. Maybe someone should do a study on that. You can measure the brightness of a countenance that has relished the presence of God. They radiate. Praise is a attractive.
Lord I pray our lives would be irresistible to viewers. That our walking and praising would be a great witness of your power in us. You have touched us. You have raised us up. You have set us on our feet again. You are worthy of our new walk, of our jumping and twirling for joy. Give us again the joy and zest for this new life you've blessed us with. Let our mouths be filled with praise. Let your radiance be reflected on our faces as we truly give you glory. May our praise be a beacon of hope to lost souls, drudging in darkness without hope. You are so awesome Lord and we want the world to know it.
Such a short simply verse, and it speaks so much to me. After being healed and touched by Jesus this man jumps up and starts celebrating. For over forty years he has been like this, lame, carried around, begging. In a flash he is healed. The whole crowd can only watch him rejoice and dance around.
This should be the story of our lives. We were poor lame beggars but Jesus lifted us up and set us on our feet. Our greatest witness to people is that they can see us walking a new walk and praising God. That is the summary of our lives, a new walk and praise. Our witness is a simple celebration of what Jesus did in us.
There is not much attraction to a life that is not walking or praising God. It's no witness when a believer isn't walking a walk that is worth watching. If your life was a tv show, would it be worth watching? Would you watch it yourself? It would be sad if a person lived a life so boring they'd change channels if they could. The life of faith is an adventure even in what others might think is mundane. Nobody thought walking was as fun as that man that day in the temple. He absolutely loved the boring, mundane act of walking and that caught people's eye.
Are you excited about what God has done in your life? Are you excited about "walking"? Man, this is a new life that He has given us. Rejoice. Jump. Dance. Live. It is so exciting that after forty years God had a plan for this man's life. In middle age it was all just getting started. I know as I collect years (I have quite a few now) there is a tendency to grow tired with them, less excited, more beat down and worn out. Look around. Most people don't have a joy about life. They aren't excited about what God has done or is doing in them today. But we do. I am excited about what Jesus is doing in me.
This man also praised the Lord in such a way that others noticed. I have seen people who truly worship God with passion and others who aren't too interested in praise. There is a radical difference. Nobody wants to watch a bland worshipless life. Well, maybe that is not true considering the crap people watch on television. People might look at garbage but this is true, there is nothing as attractive as a life that is truly praising God. The most beautiful people I know have hearts that are in love with Jesus...and they express it to Him. I think something is released in us when we release praise to God. Like endorphins are released after exercise...what's good for us is the running, but the little extra reward is that blissful feeling of release, endorphins. So the exercise of worship is so good and healthy, but the extra blessing is the peaceful joy that it brings into our lives. People that really worship God glow. They really glow. Maybe someone should do a study on that. You can measure the brightness of a countenance that has relished the presence of God. They radiate. Praise is a attractive.
Lord I pray our lives would be irresistible to viewers. That our walking and praising would be a great witness of your power in us. You have touched us. You have raised us up. You have set us on our feet again. You are worthy of our new walk, of our jumping and twirling for joy. Give us again the joy and zest for this new life you've blessed us with. Let our mouths be filled with praise. Let your radiance be reflected on our faces as we truly give you glory. May our praise be a beacon of hope to lost souls, drudging in darkness without hope. You are so awesome Lord and we want the world to know it.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Ukraine
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A couple of days ago a group of seven of us drove out here to Ukraine for a weeklong mission trip. We helped serve at the Calvary in Ternobil which is pastored by George Markie. The Markie family has an incredible history here in Ukraine having come here twenty years ago. Pam and George brought their eight kids (16-6mos) out here in the early nineties. Now the kids are all grown amid serving in the ministry. George Sr. went home to the Lord about four years ago but his legacy lives on in his wife and awesome kids. Pam is now our neighbor in Vajta and I often think to myself how much she emulates the person of Jesus. I guess if you have a neighbor, you'd prefer Jesus over anyone else.
Anyway George jr and Jon Markie work side by side here in Ternobil and have been praying to plant a work up in Lutsk. Yesterday I had the privilege to preach at Calvary Chapel Ternobil, a neat church with all the elements you'd hope to find in a growing ministry. The people were enthusiastic and involved and spent time in fellowship and prayer after service.
Today we head up to Lutsk, probably a few hours drive (nothing compared to the 14 to get here from Vajta). I really don't know what we are going to do. Plans change quickly on these missions. Things you'd hoped would work out don't and other things arise. Originally we were slated to speak to college English students in their classes but it turns out school is out this week. We will find other things to do. We have a bunch of balloons so maybe we can draw some kids and share with their parents. I noticed that they are a bit skeptical here about free things. A man yesterday refused a balloon for his son. Maybe he thought I was selling it. I left it with him and walked away hoping he'd see the church invitation I left along with it. I felt weird to be refused when giving a gift. I wondered how the heart of the Lord feels when the world refuses His gift of salvation and the offering of Jesus.
I hope you will pray for us. We need open doors and opportunities to share the Gospel. Above all we need the power end presence of the Lord to fill us and enable us. Yesterday i was struck by Jesus' words to the disciples when He spoke to them in Acts 1 saying "wait till you receive power then you'll be My witnesses." Why didn't He just send them out? "Hey guys go tell people about me....now!!" because we can't be effective witnesses without the power of the Holy Spirit. Now that the Holy Spirit has come we don't have to wait FOR His power but we do have to wait ON Him. We are totally dependent on God to move on this trip otherwise we won't see true fruit. So please pray for us, even now, pray that the Lord pours out grace on our team and saves the people of Lutsk. Pray for the Markies and others serving her in Ukraine that they might see the power of God moving mightily on these precious people.
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