I have truly enjoyed only one recent trend on Facebook. Not the election moaning. Not the Chik-Fil-A debates. Not even the 30 days of thankfulness in November. (It was sad how many people started strong and then ran out of blessings before the month ended! After Thanksgiving Day itself, it seemed that most people got distracted by ... other stuff.)
But here's the trend I'm talking about: people confessing they have no idea what Les Miserables is about - neither the book nor the musical. And, of course, this conversation is prompted by the musical-turned-movie premiering on Christmas day.
Those ignorant of Les Mis seem to know that there is SOMETHING there and that many fans eagerly await the movie, but they are not sure exactly what the draw is.
Some point to the outstanding cast.
Others to the memorable music. (And even the ignorant recognize the lyrics of "I Dreamed a Dream" and then say, "Oh - I didn't know that's where that song came from!")
But all of that is built on the foundation of a truly great story.
And by "great" I don't mean just that it's well told, or gripping, or whatever.
It's the greatest fictional story of Christian redemption I have ever come across.
And what surprises me most about what the uninitiated don't know about Les Mis is the fact that it is a story of how God's forgiveness, rightly received, changes the course of one man's life.
How many people are going to walk into the movie theater in the coming weeks to "see what all the fuss is about" only to be hit with a tale of sin, forgiveness, redemption, law and grace?
I am a bit puzzled about how Les Mis has managed to avoid the "Christian" label. And why I don't hear a peep about any church promoting the movie - like churches have promoted "Christian" movies like "Fire Proof" or "Courageous" in the past.
Don't get me wrong. I am glad it doesn't carry that baggage. I'm just curious about how it has avoided it.
Anyway, I got out my DVD of the 25th Anniversary Celebration of the musical tonight. It features a full orchestra and all the stage actors, but only the musical portions of the stage production are performed. The actors are in costume, but they simply sing the lyrics into microphones lined up on stage.
I started watching it and the next thing I know The Drama Queen (age 10) is watching intently. Next, Ida (age 9) finished loading the dishwasher and he's standing and watching it too. Then, Dats (age 11) comes up from playing video games in the basement and he plops down on the couch and gets pulled in too! Since all the dialogue was left out, I had to fill them in on developments in the story as we went along.
By the standing ovation at the end of the DVD, all three were asking if they could see the movie when it comes out. And Dats and Drama Queen were wanting to know if I had a copy of the book.
I do - but I'm not sure they are ready for it. It's 1,400 pages! (One of the things that most impresses me about the musical is how it so accurately captures the spirit and sweep of such an epic story even within the limitations of a stage production's space and time frame.)
Since we're not able to go to Haiti in January, this is a nice distraction and the movie's premiere as something to really look forward to...
Therefore Having Gone
Monday, December 17, 2012
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Sadness Around the Table Tonight ...
... as we had to let the kids know that we won't be heading to Haiti this January. We had all gotten our hopes up, but it is simply not to be. Melissa and I are still processing it, and it leaves us feeling a bit deflated, but we know the Lord is the master of the calendar. "There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven." (Ecc 3:1) I had tried not to get my hopes up too high because I learned long ago that I am very bad at trying to predict God's timing! But still ... our hearts long to be in Haiti and that longing is hard to endure in Indiana.
It's all kind of ironic, too. When God first began calling our family to Haiti through Melissa's short term trip in June of 2010, she said No...No... No. For at least three months. Now He has to hold us back from rushing forward!
So, while not trying to predict God's timing, we still have to look forward to a future departure date. There's a slim possibility we could go and help finish out the school year in April and May if funding is in place by then, but more than likely we will not be moving to Haiti until August of 2013, in time to start the next school year.
In the meantime, we'd appreciate your prayers for patience and wisdom and for our funding. Please pray for the kids as well. Far from being afraid or hesitant to move to Haiti, they are looking forward to it. In fact, Caleb did some crying in bed tonight about not going in January.
The urgency we felt to get to work in Haiti this January still remains - now in the form of a deep frustration. And there's nothing we can do about it.
>DEEP SIGH<
We do appreciate your support through this (long) process so very, very much and the encouragement we have received along the way.
"He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end." - Ecc 3:11
It's all kind of ironic, too. When God first began calling our family to Haiti through Melissa's short term trip in June of 2010, she said No...No... No. For at least three months. Now He has to hold us back from rushing forward!
So, while not trying to predict God's timing, we still have to look forward to a future departure date. There's a slim possibility we could go and help finish out the school year in April and May if funding is in place by then, but more than likely we will not be moving to Haiti until August of 2013, in time to start the next school year.
In the meantime, we'd appreciate your prayers for patience and wisdom and for our funding. Please pray for the kids as well. Far from being afraid or hesitant to move to Haiti, they are looking forward to it. In fact, Caleb did some crying in bed tonight about not going in January.
The urgency we felt to get to work in Haiti this January still remains - now in the form of a deep frustration. And there's nothing we can do about it.
>DEEP SIGH<
We do appreciate your support through this (long) process so very, very much and the encouragement we have received along the way.
"He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end." - Ecc 3:11
A Life Lesson from My Dad
My dad owned and managed a True Value Hardware store and built a lifelong reputation for common sense, common decency and uncommon integrity. In his lifetime he interacted with thousands of customers and hired, trained and guided scores of teenagers and dozens of adults. Of course, my brothers and I also worked at the store while we were growing up, so I got to see firsthand what my dad was like as a boss.
Here is one truth (among many) that was impressed upon anyone who ever worked for my dad: he would never ask someone to do a task that he himself refused to do or one he felt was somehow "beneath" him as the boss. There was no such task. If he presented an employee with a boring, messy or uncomfortable task, that employee at least knew that dad knew firsthand exactly what it was like - having done it himself many, many times before.
Here's why I bring it up. Melissa and I have spent this past year asking friends, family members and even complete strangers to financially support us as missionaries to Haiti. We talk about the Great Commission and how it's a call on every Christian's life. We acknowledge that Scripture teaches that all we own comes from God and we are to be wise stewards. We point to 2 Corinthians 9:10 and similar verses which describe how God gives us bread to eat (for ourselves) AND seed to sow (for others). We affirm that God has a passion for the poor, the oppressed and the lost (all of which can be found in Haiti in abundance). We tell others it a privilege to be involved in building God's kingdom around the world through financial sacrifice.
So it would be strange, wouldn't it, if Melissa and I didn't practice what we preach? If we asked others to do something we ourselves neglected to do?
And yet it seems a lot of people believe that "some are called to go and some are called to send" and thus assume that we, in striving to go to the field, are therefore exempt from the call to send. But the fact of the matter is ALL believers are meant to be about building God's kingdom and doing God's will; we hold that all are called to go with the Gospel - whether that is overseas or an office or the grocery store or a classroom AND all are called to send.
Unless I get sidetracked, I will devote an upcoming post to the two missionaries we support financially on a monthly basis. They are advancing the kingdom in two very different ways - one serving at OMS headquarters and working with web development and the other heading to the Philippines to work against human trafficking - and they are both very dear to us. And we believe their work is very close to God's heart and we want to be a part of it.
I am sure my dad would have approved.
P.S. We also have a couple of missionaries who are giving to send us! Awesome.
Here is one truth (among many) that was impressed upon anyone who ever worked for my dad: he would never ask someone to do a task that he himself refused to do or one he felt was somehow "beneath" him as the boss. There was no such task. If he presented an employee with a boring, messy or uncomfortable task, that employee at least knew that dad knew firsthand exactly what it was like - having done it himself many, many times before.
Here's why I bring it up. Melissa and I have spent this past year asking friends, family members and even complete strangers to financially support us as missionaries to Haiti. We talk about the Great Commission and how it's a call on every Christian's life. We acknowledge that Scripture teaches that all we own comes from God and we are to be wise stewards. We point to 2 Corinthians 9:10 and similar verses which describe how God gives us bread to eat (for ourselves) AND seed to sow (for others). We affirm that God has a passion for the poor, the oppressed and the lost (all of which can be found in Haiti in abundance). We tell others it a privilege to be involved in building God's kingdom around the world through financial sacrifice.
So it would be strange, wouldn't it, if Melissa and I didn't practice what we preach? If we asked others to do something we ourselves neglected to do?
And yet it seems a lot of people believe that "some are called to go and some are called to send" and thus assume that we, in striving to go to the field, are therefore exempt from the call to send. But the fact of the matter is ALL believers are meant to be about building God's kingdom and doing God's will; we hold that all are called to go with the Gospel - whether that is overseas or an office or the grocery store or a classroom AND all are called to send.
Unless I get sidetracked, I will devote an upcoming post to the two missionaries we support financially on a monthly basis. They are advancing the kingdom in two very different ways - one serving at OMS headquarters and working with web development and the other heading to the Philippines to work against human trafficking - and they are both very dear to us. And we believe their work is very close to God's heart and we want to be a part of it.
I am sure my dad would have approved.
P.S. We also have a couple of missionaries who are giving to send us! Awesome.
Monday, December 3, 2012
Long Distance Education Frustrations
I guess Thanksgiving bumped my November newspaper article - and it landed in today's paper:
As I have mentioned in this space before, my wife and I are
currently raising funds to move our family to Haiti where we will teach at
Cowman School. In the meantime, I am teaching
high school Language Arts to several students there long distance over the
internet.
“Do you understand what plagiarism is?” I recently found
myself asking one of my students as I stared into the webcam perched on top of
my laptop.
“Yes, yes. I know
what plagiarism is,” he answered from his classroom in Haiti.
Then, just as our discussion was about to get more
interesting (and more personal), the image of my student’s face disappeared
from the laptop and our Skype connection was lost for the remainder of the day.
And once again I was reminded of the limits of technology.
Online classes have been growing in popularity in the U.S.
for several years now. They first gained
acceptance at the college level and are now making inroads into secondary
schools (can primary schools be far behind?).
When I taught at Hauser, we used online courses regularly to enable
students with failing grades to recover credits without having to make room in
their schedules to repeat a class.
The more familiar I get with online classes, the more I find
it is a love/hate relationship.
On the one hand, online courses provide amazing
flexibility. If tomorrow morning, one of
my students in Haiti wakes up in the mood for math, he can open his geometry
course. And he can spend fifteen minutes
there or three hours, with no bell to dictate a move to a different subject.
I have to love the flexibility online courses afford
students, parents and schools. Without
online curricula, in fact, there would be no Cowman High School in Haiti: the
student body is much too small to be able to afford a full high school staff.
But that flexibility inherent to online classes is a
double-edged sword. It becomes a test of
self-motivation, discipline and time management for the student. If I am
physically present to distribute a vocabulary quiz, for example, my students
are forced to prove their retention in that next fifteen minutes. If that same
quiz shows up in their Yahoo inbox, though, it can be effectively ignored for
hours, if not days.
On my end, this experience with long distance education has
reminded me that no matter how sophisticated our technology, there really is no
substitute for a flesh and blood teacher’s presence. And it’s not just to crack the whip and keep
students on task. Fostering creativity,
checking comprehension and discussing important ideas do not happen easily or
naturally via satellite.
Technology falls short. That Haitian classroom needs a
teacher on site. And that reality
continually motivates me to keep working to raise the finances necessary to
move my family there.
Sunday, December 2, 2012
The Cattle on a Thousand Hills
The other night, Melissa and I had the chance to meet with some folks from our church who had also gone to Haiti on a short term mission trip. Before that meeting, we hadn't really known each other beyond familiarity of names - and had certainly never sat down to chat over a cup of coffee before. It was a joy to get to know them and to see their heart for the hurting people of Haiti.
We were impressed to find out that one of this couple's responses after returning to the States from Haiti was to sell their house and move into a smaller home in order to simplify their lifestyle and free up funds for ministry. That sounds pretty radical! But upon reflection, it's obvious that it's not unprecedented ... in Scripture. Just check out Acts Chapter 4.
By "chance" the next day I picked up a book and found these challenging words from Steve Moore in Who is My Neighbor: Being a Good Samaritan in a Connected World:
"The Bible clearly teaches that we are stewards and managers of what God has entrusted to us. Though we struggle to apply this principle, most Christ followers would acknowledge all we have comes from God and belongs to God. But practically speaking we live as if stewardship applies to our money but not our property, as if cash that has been converted into stuff belongs to us.
"Imagine the following example. You spend a few hours online paying bills and balancing your checkbook and are pleasantly surprised to discover an unexpected cushion of $600 after your tithe and savings. (I know you may find that hard to picture, but as I said, imagine.) You have been eying a sale on flat-screen televisions for some time and know you can purchase one for $595. In a matter of hours you have converted cash into stuff and are enjoying a movie in full HD with popcorn in the comfort of your living room.
"The next morning while making coffee, you turn on the new big screen to watch the news before heading off to work, only to discover a 7.0 magnitude earthquake ravaged Haiti, leaving more than one hundred thousand people dead and two million homeless. An already stumbling economy has been brought to its knees. Before the day is over you have received emergency appeals from trusted relief and development organizations along with a dozen Facebook status updates from friends pointing you toward practical ways to help. And you know they are not exaggerating because you can see the destruction in real time, with full HD.
"For most of us, one idea that would never even enter our minds while sorting out how to respond to this tragedy is that God might actually want us to return the television in order to free up funds that could be used to help. We view money differently than property. Forget about recent purchases and just think about all the "stuff" in your house (never mind the garage). How could any of us really look into the face of poverty, whether caused by crisis, corruption, or logical consequences, and say I can't afford to do anything to help? God's ownership stake does not end the moment cash is traded for a sales receipt. In spite of the fact that our connected world, with online services such as Craigslist and eBay, has made it easier than ever to turn stuff back into cash, we tend to view money very differently than property, and it greatly limits our options.
"This is an unbiblical worldview when contrasted to how the early church viewed property. "There were no needy persons among them. From time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need" (Acts 4:34-35). The apostle John would later write, "If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth" (1 John 3:17-18). Perhaps we have too quickly and easily taken the exit ramps of rationalization and justification enabling us to pass by on the other side [as the Priest and Levite passed the injured man in Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan].
"We quote Psalm 50:10, affirming God owns "the cattle on a thousand hills" as a word of encouragement that He is not at a loss in providing for our needs. That is true. But in an agrarian society, cattle represented a business owner's inventory. We might paraphrase that verse for our time, saying, "God owns the inventory in a thousand warehouses." Why is that important? Because this verse says as much about God's ownership stake (100 percent) in my property as it does about His commitment to my prosperity. Every time our connected world offers us the opportunity to be Good Samaritans, we need to prayerfully process the decision about involvement based on total inventory, not just available money. This subtle but powerful change in worldview opens the door to a life of open-handed simplicity and generosity, empowering us to engage more deeply with the issue-based passion of poverty."
By the way - Steve Moore's book is short but packed with good and challenging stuff. I might have to pull some other quotes for future blog posts.
We were impressed to find out that one of this couple's responses after returning to the States from Haiti was to sell their house and move into a smaller home in order to simplify their lifestyle and free up funds for ministry. That sounds pretty radical! But upon reflection, it's obvious that it's not unprecedented ... in Scripture. Just check out Acts Chapter 4.
By "chance" the next day I picked up a book and found these challenging words from Steve Moore in Who is My Neighbor: Being a Good Samaritan in a Connected World:
"The Bible clearly teaches that we are stewards and managers of what God has entrusted to us. Though we struggle to apply this principle, most Christ followers would acknowledge all we have comes from God and belongs to God. But practically speaking we live as if stewardship applies to our money but not our property, as if cash that has been converted into stuff belongs to us.
"Imagine the following example. You spend a few hours online paying bills and balancing your checkbook and are pleasantly surprised to discover an unexpected cushion of $600 after your tithe and savings. (I know you may find that hard to picture, but as I said, imagine.) You have been eying a sale on flat-screen televisions for some time and know you can purchase one for $595. In a matter of hours you have converted cash into stuff and are enjoying a movie in full HD with popcorn in the comfort of your living room.
"The next morning while making coffee, you turn on the new big screen to watch the news before heading off to work, only to discover a 7.0 magnitude earthquake ravaged Haiti, leaving more than one hundred thousand people dead and two million homeless. An already stumbling economy has been brought to its knees. Before the day is over you have received emergency appeals from trusted relief and development organizations along with a dozen Facebook status updates from friends pointing you toward practical ways to help. And you know they are not exaggerating because you can see the destruction in real time, with full HD."For most of us, one idea that would never even enter our minds while sorting out how to respond to this tragedy is that God might actually want us to return the television in order to free up funds that could be used to help. We view money differently than property. Forget about recent purchases and just think about all the "stuff" in your house (never mind the garage). How could any of us really look into the face of poverty, whether caused by crisis, corruption, or logical consequences, and say I can't afford to do anything to help? God's ownership stake does not end the moment cash is traded for a sales receipt. In spite of the fact that our connected world, with online services such as Craigslist and eBay, has made it easier than ever to turn stuff back into cash, we tend to view money very differently than property, and it greatly limits our options.
"This is an unbiblical worldview when contrasted to how the early church viewed property. "There were no needy persons among them. From time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need" (Acts 4:34-35). The apostle John would later write, "If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth" (1 John 3:17-18). Perhaps we have too quickly and easily taken the exit ramps of rationalization and justification enabling us to pass by on the other side [as the Priest and Levite passed the injured man in Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan].
"We quote Psalm 50:10, affirming God owns "the cattle on a thousand hills" as a word of encouragement that He is not at a loss in providing for our needs. That is true. But in an agrarian society, cattle represented a business owner's inventory. We might paraphrase that verse for our time, saying, "God owns the inventory in a thousand warehouses." Why is that important? Because this verse says as much about God's ownership stake (100 percent) in my property as it does about His commitment to my prosperity. Every time our connected world offers us the opportunity to be Good Samaritans, we need to prayerfully process the decision about involvement based on total inventory, not just available money. This subtle but powerful change in worldview opens the door to a life of open-handed simplicity and generosity, empowering us to engage more deeply with the issue-based passion of poverty."
By the way - Steve Moore's book is short but packed with good and challenging stuff. I might have to pull some other quotes for future blog posts.
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Powerball Letdown
A lot of people were talking about the Powerball Lottery over the last few days. I heard that in the 24 hours before the drawing, 105,000 people an hour were buying new tickets. (And that sounds a little low to me!) In the hours after the drawing, a picture of a Powerball winner was circulating on Facebook with a note that he would give away one of his millions to a random person who "reposted" his picture. It was a hoax, but over 450,000 people reposted the picture, hoping at a second chance to get some of that Powerball cash.
My lottery tickets were duds, too. Now ... long ago, my Dad had impressed on me that the lottery was a "voluntary tax on people who can't do math". So I didn't buy any tickets - they came in the mail.
Just before the Powerball drawing, a letter arrived from an old friend of mine. Out came two lottery tickets and a note. He said he hadn't bought a lottery ticket in close to 20 years, but he bought two to send to me - for me and "the people of Haiti". Why? Just in case God decided to "multiply the gift".
The more I thought about it, the more it seemed to me a really beautiful gesture. Lottery winners often talk about what they will do with their winnings - and the list usually includes things like buying a house, quitting work, travel, helping friends, etc. Rarely do they talk too much about charity - and I've certainly never heard of anyone giving it ALL away.
So it was a cool idea and I have to admit that I did check the tickets against the winning numbers ... and felt a bit of a let down when they proved worthless.
And then the Lord reminded me of an incident from my youth pastoring days in Shelbyville.
I had gotten close to a broken family living in a trailer park on the edge of town. The mom was out of the picture and the dad struggled to keep the rest of the family together and find enough work to keep the bills paid. One day I stopped by and the father said he was just on his way out - to a big bingo game! He explained that he didn't have enough money to cover the rent, so he was praying God would allow him to win the jackpot. I told him that it seemed to me that some of his friends at church - including me! - would gladly give him some money to tide him over. But my friend insisted that God could easily rig the bingo game for him and thus provide for his need.
He didn't get the rent money that night. When I checked on him later and heard of his "bad luck", I gladly gave him the rent money he was short. He sheepishly ... and gratefully ... took it.
And I remember thinking after that little encounter that God very well could have worked a "miracle" and given this man the bingo money, but that would have left me - his brother in Christ - out of the picture completely. It was my JOY to be able to share with this man. I had the means and he had a real need and so it was an opportunity for me to SHOW him love.
And if you look at the multitude of Scriptures that deal with how we should relate to the poor - some of the strongest worded can be found in Isaiah 58, partially quoted below - then you realize that it's an obedience issue for the believer. And if God has the choice to provide for the needs of the poor through a gambling jackpot on one hand or while teaching a lesson in obedience, love and stewardship to believing brothers and sisters on the other, is it any surprise that 99.999999% of the time God does not answer our needs by helping us hit the jackpot?
Confession Time: A year ago when we first started the process of raising funds to get our family to Haiti, I entered the Publisher's Clearing House Sweepstakes through a link that popped up on some website. And I prayed. (And this was LONG after I had "learned" that God works more often through His people than through Bingo! I am a slooooooowwww learner.)
Since then, I have realized that a lump sum from Publisher's would have been a shortcut around a lot of great meetings, conversations, and learning experiences this past year. Besides, who on earth would have been invested in our ministry in Haiti and who would have been praying for us?
And yet having said all this... Guess what ...
I DID GET SOMETHING from Publisher's Clearing House!
Daily spam in my inbox.
Isaiah 58:
6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
My lottery tickets were duds, too. Now ... long ago, my Dad had impressed on me that the lottery was a "voluntary tax on people who can't do math". So I didn't buy any tickets - they came in the mail.
The more I thought about it, the more it seemed to me a really beautiful gesture. Lottery winners often talk about what they will do with their winnings - and the list usually includes things like buying a house, quitting work, travel, helping friends, etc. Rarely do they talk too much about charity - and I've certainly never heard of anyone giving it ALL away.
So it was a cool idea and I have to admit that I did check the tickets against the winning numbers ... and felt a bit of a let down when they proved worthless.
And then the Lord reminded me of an incident from my youth pastoring days in Shelbyville.
I had gotten close to a broken family living in a trailer park on the edge of town. The mom was out of the picture and the dad struggled to keep the rest of the family together and find enough work to keep the bills paid. One day I stopped by and the father said he was just on his way out - to a big bingo game! He explained that he didn't have enough money to cover the rent, so he was praying God would allow him to win the jackpot. I told him that it seemed to me that some of his friends at church - including me! - would gladly give him some money to tide him over. But my friend insisted that God could easily rig the bingo game for him and thus provide for his need.
He didn't get the rent money that night. When I checked on him later and heard of his "bad luck", I gladly gave him the rent money he was short. He sheepishly ... and gratefully ... took it.
And I remember thinking after that little encounter that God very well could have worked a "miracle" and given this man the bingo money, but that would have left me - his brother in Christ - out of the picture completely. It was my JOY to be able to share with this man. I had the means and he had a real need and so it was an opportunity for me to SHOW him love.
And if you look at the multitude of Scriptures that deal with how we should relate to the poor - some of the strongest worded can be found in Isaiah 58, partially quoted below - then you realize that it's an obedience issue for the believer. And if God has the choice to provide for the needs of the poor through a gambling jackpot on one hand or while teaching a lesson in obedience, love and stewardship to believing brothers and sisters on the other, is it any surprise that 99.999999% of the time God does not answer our needs by helping us hit the jackpot?
Confession Time: A year ago when we first started the process of raising funds to get our family to Haiti, I entered the Publisher's Clearing House Sweepstakes through a link that popped up on some website. And I prayed. (And this was LONG after I had "learned" that God works more often through His people than through Bingo! I am a slooooooowwww learner.)
Since then, I have realized that a lump sum from Publisher's would have been a shortcut around a lot of great meetings, conversations, and learning experiences this past year. Besides, who on earth would have been invested in our ministry in Haiti and who would have been praying for us?
And yet having said all this... Guess what ...
I DID GET SOMETHING from Publisher's Clearing House!
Daily spam in my inbox.
Isaiah 58:
6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The Lord will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The Lord will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
It's our privilege as believers to join God in His work around the planet. And one of His top priorities seems to be the poor. As a "pre-missionary", I am simply extending the invitation to other believers to put some of their (God's) money to work in what God is doing in Haiti. I have (slowly!) come to understand that being about the work of God is not an optional "add-on" to the Christian life, it IS the Christian life. If you'd consider joining in THIS work, partner with us at grossesinhaiti.com.
And I promise I won't spam you.
Friday, November 30, 2012
December Update
(This is the text of an email I am sending out to various supporters, friends and family members. If you don't see it in YOUR inbox, that might mean I don't have your email address - or I've got the wrong one! If you'd like to be on our mailing list, drop me a quick note at sgross@onemissionsociety.org.)
 |
| The Cowman School's kindergarten in Vaudreuil, Haiti is waiting for Mrs. Gross... |
Greetings! We certainly hope this email finds you well at the start of
the Christmas Season. Remember when you
were a kid and this “season” seemed to last FOREVER?
I am missing those days – especially this year when time
seems to be flying at an alarming speed. We have spent the
last two months writing letters, making phone calls and speaking to churches
and individuals about this call God has placed on our hearts to serve Him in
Haiti. Before Christmas arrives, we are making a big push to raise
new financial support in the hope that we might be able to move to Haiti in
January and get started with the work there.
We have reserved plane tickets for the family for January 10th
out of Fort Pierce, Florida, to Cap Haitien.
We can cancel those tickets right up until a few days before Christmas without
penalty, so by the end of December we need to know if we are going in January
or waiting until the start of the next school year in August. We are feeling amazingly at peace considering
we don’t know whether six weeks from now will find us wearing short sleeves or
parkas.
The biggest factor in whether we go … or stay put … is our
level of funding. We are so appreciative
of all who are supporting us with prayer and finances. You are precious to us and we thank God for
you! (2nd Corinthians 9:12+13!)
Especially encouraging to us is the reality that some have been giving
financially for a year now, building a solid foundation from which to launch us
to the field.
AND we are encouraged by many others who have verbally
pledged support. Unfortunately, until
those pledges reach OMS in writing, they do not advance the official funding
level. So in these next two weeks we are
doing what we can to make pledges official and to raise new pledges to a degree
that will allow One Mission Society to release us for departure to Haiti.
It’s a steep goal, but it’s not impossible. 50 more monthly
pledges of $50 each would put us in a place where we could get started in
January.* (For the math-challenged, I
should point out that this goal could also be met by 25 pledges of $100 or 100
pledges of $25 – or various combinations of all.) That’s why a friend helped us create a
website which makes pledging simple, fast and convenient: grossesinhaiti.com. I mention it here because I’d be very
grateful if you helped me get the word out in any way possible.
I will be sure to pass along the news once we know for
certain what January holds for us.
(If/when we get the green light, you will probably hear me whoop it up ... even if you live a couple of states over.) Thanks so much for your prayers and support!
In Christ,
Steve and Melissa Gross
P.S. My friend James is working at OMS headquarters and just finished an overhaul on the OMS website: onemissionsociety.org. And it is GOOD. Now I can link directly to our support page
there as well, at http://www.onemissionsociety.org/give/thegrosses.
* As of this writing, 3 down and 47 to go! Praise the Lord!
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Thanksgiving 2012
So many of my most recent posts have been VERY wordy, so it's a good time to pause and post some pictures from this past week. As you know, we are trying to see if we can move our family to the Haiti in January. (And it's a bit stressful, with December hitting by the end of this week, not knowing for sure whether we have a major life change coming after the first of the year.) But we feel very sure that if we don't make it to Haiti in January, we will most likely head there in August of 2013 in order to start the 2013/2014 school year.
Which means that this will likely be the last Thanksgiving we celebrate in Indiana for quite a while. That idea has definitely been in the forefront of my mind these last few days, and it tends to make me pause to "soak it in" a bit more frequently than past years.
So here are some pictures of some of the moments I soaked in over Thanksgiving.
Our Thanksgiving started with Melissa's annual kindergarten class program.
Which means that this will likely be the last Thanksgiving we celebrate in Indiana for quite a while. That idea has definitely been in the forefront of my mind these last few days, and it tends to make me pause to "soak it in" a bit more frequently than past years.
So here are some pictures of some of the moments I soaked in over Thanksgiving.
Our Thanksgiving started with Melissa's annual kindergarten class program.
They performed several songs in the "commons" at her school. All the kids were so cute in their little homemade pilgrim headware.
And then a line of kids recited a poem based on the letters in "THANKSGIVING".
Our own little Princess received the letter G. (I think the teacher rigged it!) "G is for Grandmas, the ones that we love!"
The Princess with the Grandmas she loves... Both Grandmas made it to the program, so The Princess was very excited. Even her brothers and sister were able to leave class in order to watch.
Dats, on the other hand, had a speech to perform where he was supposed to dress as a turkey. We made him do a dress rehearsal for the family. Colored duct tape put to good use.
Can you tell how thrilled The Drama Queen is about being taller than her mom? She passed Melissa just a few months ago and now she's clearly several inches beyond. Both beautiful ladies are barefoot in this picture.
This was one of my favorite moments from the past week. Dats (age 11) and Ida (age 9) snuck off on Thanksgiving Day between big meals to carve tree branches with sharp rocks. They sat together on the edge of the field behind Grandma's house for over an hour, chatting and scraping.
They will get along just fine in Haiti!
Saturday, November 24, 2012
More Vuja De - When Hell is a Laughing Matter
This is a post I don't really want to write - but in the interest of being as transparent as possible, I will.
I don't want to write it because it necessitates a confession, and it's bad enough that I said what I said in front of a table full of family members. Now I am about to repeat it online for all who care to read. And I am seriously embarrassed by what came out of my mouth and I am reminded of Jesus teaching the religious folks of his day that "it's what comes out of the mouth that makes us unclean."
But I risk sharing this because it was another "vuja de" moment for me. (Vuja De = seeing something familiar with new eyes, as if for the first time. The opposite of deja vu.)
Also, it (kind of) gives me a chance to apologize to those at the table. (Sorry!)
What I said followed a couple of stories regarding a pastor I used to know. They were meant to paint him in a very negative light - all while we sat around the Thanksgiving meal, for heaven's sake! Now, to be sure, this man was extremely ill-suited for the ministry. He was mean as a snake, rude and sneaky. But this was 20+ years ago and I am almost certain he has passed away, so it should all be water under the bridge, right?
Anyway, I told these stories about this man and then someone asked, "Where is he now?" And I blurted out, "I don't know ... burning in hell, I think."
This elicited nervous, shocked laughter from some around the table ...
... And a rebuke in my spirit. Instant regret! But I had no time to analyze it in the moment (or to apologize) as the conversation continued on in a different direction.
So here's why I call it "vuja de" - I have often told stories about this pastor over the last two decades and have often been asked "where is he now?' And my stock answer became: "I think he moved to a warmer climate." That was my "funny" way to state two propositions and a conclusion. Prop 1 - he was not really a believer. Prop 2 - he has probably passed into eternity. Conclusion - he is currently separated from God for eternity. For some reason, yesterday I was much more blunt, but in essence I was saying the same thing I had said for years.
The sting I felt in my spirit wasn't so much about me 'judging' his destiny (though that can obviously be shaky ground). After all, Jesus did say that there would be false teachers and you would know them by their fruit. I don't know that many church members around this country would argue that, in general, there are a lot of people in a lot of pulpits who have no business being there. And I'm not talking about the ones who are well-meaning but incompetent; I mean the ones who don't even seem to believe - or practice - an ounce of what they preach. And the Apostle Paul warns us that "teachers" within the church need to be extra careful because they will be judged more harshly in the End.
No, the sting of the rebuke was more along these lines: "Hell is a real place of real torment. It is NOT something you would ever wish on your worst enemy. And it is NOT something to be flippant about."
In a way, this experience of vuja de is an extension of the one I wrote of the other day - about doing the will of God. Because if Jesus leaves us with The Great Commission, urging us to "go" and to "make disciples", then we have to grapple with the reality of what happens if we DON'T go and if we DON'T make disciples.
Eternal destinies hang in the balance. And that is serious business.
So here's my new and improved answer just 24 hours later, in lieu of what God is (patiently) teaching me:
"I don't know where this man is. I believe he has passed away. I sincerely hope he had the opportunity to repent and truly trust in Christ before he slipped into eternity."
P.S. Whoops! It just occurred to me to Google his name ... and it appears he is still among the living. (He must have been much younger than he looked back when I knew him!) I believe God is telling me it is high time to let go of any remaining bitterness on my part and forgive the man, right? I feel like I have a reprieve. I'm praying for you, Rev! (And I really mean that.) I want for you what none of us deserve...
I don't want to write it because it necessitates a confession, and it's bad enough that I said what I said in front of a table full of family members. Now I am about to repeat it online for all who care to read. And I am seriously embarrassed by what came out of my mouth and I am reminded of Jesus teaching the religious folks of his day that "it's what comes out of the mouth that makes us unclean."
But I risk sharing this because it was another "vuja de" moment for me. (Vuja De = seeing something familiar with new eyes, as if for the first time. The opposite of deja vu.)
Also, it (kind of) gives me a chance to apologize to those at the table. (Sorry!)
What I said followed a couple of stories regarding a pastor I used to know. They were meant to paint him in a very negative light - all while we sat around the Thanksgiving meal, for heaven's sake! Now, to be sure, this man was extremely ill-suited for the ministry. He was mean as a snake, rude and sneaky. But this was 20+ years ago and I am almost certain he has passed away, so it should all be water under the bridge, right?
Anyway, I told these stories about this man and then someone asked, "Where is he now?" And I blurted out, "I don't know ... burning in hell, I think."
This elicited nervous, shocked laughter from some around the table ...
... And a rebuke in my spirit. Instant regret! But I had no time to analyze it in the moment (or to apologize) as the conversation continued on in a different direction.
So here's why I call it "vuja de" - I have often told stories about this pastor over the last two decades and have often been asked "where is he now?' And my stock answer became: "I think he moved to a warmer climate." That was my "funny" way to state two propositions and a conclusion. Prop 1 - he was not really a believer. Prop 2 - he has probably passed into eternity. Conclusion - he is currently separated from God for eternity. For some reason, yesterday I was much more blunt, but in essence I was saying the same thing I had said for years.
The sting I felt in my spirit wasn't so much about me 'judging' his destiny (though that can obviously be shaky ground). After all, Jesus did say that there would be false teachers and you would know them by their fruit. I don't know that many church members around this country would argue that, in general, there are a lot of people in a lot of pulpits who have no business being there. And I'm not talking about the ones who are well-meaning but incompetent; I mean the ones who don't even seem to believe - or practice - an ounce of what they preach. And the Apostle Paul warns us that "teachers" within the church need to be extra careful because they will be judged more harshly in the End.
No, the sting of the rebuke was more along these lines: "Hell is a real place of real torment. It is NOT something you would ever wish on your worst enemy. And it is NOT something to be flippant about."
In a way, this experience of vuja de is an extension of the one I wrote of the other day - about doing the will of God. Because if Jesus leaves us with The Great Commission, urging us to "go" and to "make disciples", then we have to grapple with the reality of what happens if we DON'T go and if we DON'T make disciples.
Eternal destinies hang in the balance. And that is serious business.
So here's my new and improved answer just 24 hours later, in lieu of what God is (patiently) teaching me:
"I don't know where this man is. I believe he has passed away. I sincerely hope he had the opportunity to repent and truly trust in Christ before he slipped into eternity."
P.S. Whoops! It just occurred to me to Google his name ... and it appears he is still among the living. (He must have been much younger than he looked back when I knew him!) I believe God is telling me it is high time to let go of any remaining bitterness on my part and forgive the man, right? I feel like I have a reprieve. I'm praying for you, Rev! (And I really mean that.) I want for you what none of us deserve...
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
50 for 50
There is a time for patience and a time for pushing ahead. Melissa and I are feeling an urgency to get our family to Haiti - even the kids are feeling it.
The teaching positions at Cowman School just outside of Cap Haitien, Haiti, today
stand wide open and unfilled - and have been all this semester. Currently at Cowman, the principal is doubling as
kindergarten teacher and has therefore necessarily limited class to three
days a week. Melissa is anxious to step in to the teacher role and allow the principal to get back to her administrative focus.
At the other end of the school, the junior and senior high
students that I will be working with are unsupervised much of the day. As they work on their online courses, they have no regular teacher available to crack the whip, answer questions, lead Bible class or teach English. Trying to teach from a distance this semester has been incredibly frustrating to me and it simply falls far short of the classroom ideal.
Meanwhile, over at Emmaus Biblical Seminary, demand for English classes and tutoring exceeds what current staff can offer. English skills give the students - Haiti's future pastors - access to oodles of resources that have never been (and never will be) translated into Creole. AND, those graduates who are proficient in English are finding opportunities to use their skills for income as freelance translators - in a country where few pastors receive any sort of compensation from the churches they serve.
Those are the opportunities we KNOW we have missed out on this semester and will continue to miss out during this second semester if we cannot get to Haiti in January. Nobody knows what other opportunities and divine appointments might be missed in 2013.
We are entirely dependent on individuals (mostly) and churches (some) who will partner with us through monthly support.
We've done the math ... and 50 more pledges of $50 a month each will put us in a place where we can get started. (Of course, 25 at $100 would work too!)
Will you pray about this ministry opportunity and the possibility of joining with us as one of those 50?
We have a website that makes it easy to start the process: grossesinhaiti.com. If you fill out the online form there, you will soon hear back from One Mission Society about the next steps in making our partnership a reality.
I am sure you are aware of how much the Haitian people have suffered, especially in recent years. There is hunger, ignorance, corruption and death at every turn. And so many who don't know Jesus. But God has laid Haiti on our hearts and we desire nothing so much as to be there - as the hands and feet of Jesus.
Monday, November 19, 2012
"Vuja De"
Everybody's heard of "deja vu" - that strange feeling of "I've done this before" that pops up every now and then at the oddest moments.
But I had never heard of "vuja de" until this weekend. Some creative soul coined the term to indicate that feeling which is the opposite of deja vu - while in the midst of very familiar territory, you see something brand new ... as if for the first time.
I have experienced sporadic deja vu in my lifetime - but lately, vuja de seems to be a pretty common occurrence!
It actually started two years ago on the flight back to Florida after my first week in Haiti. And it was with a basic concept that should matter greatly to every believer. It was one which I thought I had a pretty good grip on and one (I thought) I had devoted quite a bit of prayer to - at least since my college days. That concept was "God's will".
I had learned during my senior year in college how important it was to seek God's will for my life in prayer. Long story short: With three weeks to go before graduation from Wabash College my student teaching fell apart and my professor said she would not be recommending me for a teaching license! So with less than a month until I would be booted into "the real world", I had no hope of finding the job for which my four years at Wabash had "prepared" me.
I was more than slightly upset and slightly confused. I took a long walk one night, making slow circles around campus and I let God have it. I was angry. I whined and fussed at God about why He had allowed all this to happen. And I got a reply. A rebuke.
"I don't know why you're angry with me - you never once asked me if you were supposed to be a teacher."
It was true. The biggest decision of my life to that point and I had never once consulted God about it in prayer! (Incidentally, when I started to pray about my career path - which I did immediately - that is when He directed me toward youth ministry. And, praise God, He obviously didn't allow to go to waste those four years studying to become a teacher.)
So, like I said, I had learned the importance of prayer in determining God's will for my life. But then two years ago, the Lord started to show me how very limiting those three words had been in regard to my understanding of God's will: "for my life".
Whenever I read anything in Scripture about "God's will", in my mind I assumed it had to do with what job God would want me to take, what girl to marry, what house to buy, etc. All the various forks in the road where we need wisdom and discernment.
And this understanding of God's will is not foreign to Scripture: "Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.' Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that.'" (James 4:13-15)
So when I experienced vuja de on the plane ride two years ago, it was that my eyes suddenly viewed "God's will" in a much wider perspective.
All of a sudden the phrase "God's will" had much more to do with the Great Commission than with which house God wanted me to pick when we moved to a new town. My new eyes saw "God's will" as being synonymous with much grander and more critical enterprises ... like caring for the poor, setting the oppressed free, and preaching the Gospel.
"God's will" was no longer only about me trying to discern His steering in the particulars of my life decisions but rather me devoting my life towards those desires that drive Him.
Now when I read Scripture, it seems that most often, the phrase "God's will" is used like Paul's claim to the believers in Ephesus before his departure: "I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God." (Acts 20:27) Obviously, Paul had been preaching about God's great priorities for the human race, not a detailed roadmap for each listener's life.
This could be a rather academic distinction except for the fact that believers are meant to DO the will of God, and primarily in this second and broader sense! Jesus told His followers: "As long as it is day, we must do the work of Him who sent me." (John 9:4)
WE! You and me and Jesus - all single-mindedly pursuing God's priorities in this fallen and broken world for whatever brief time we have. And THAT is where this vuja de experience two years ago really GOT me. Because I had to admit that even though I went to church and small group regularly and I cracked my Bible open now and then (and felt guilty that it wasn't more often - or more... real), my life priorities were all about juggling schedules and keeping the house in repair and earning a pay check and, overall, being comfortable.
Much of these last two years has been about the Lord opening my eyes to all the many places in my life where I need to ditch my priorities whenever and wherever they compete with His. I trust I have much to learn yet, but it's been a great ride so far.
Lord, keep on bringing the vuja de!
P.S. Even the most familiar passages of Scripture always have the potential for striking us anew (which is one of the things that makes reading the Bible so fascinating). What do we mean exactly when we pray the way Jesus taught us: "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven"? Will God's kingdom come once everyone finds the "right" job and marries the "right" spouse and settles into the "right" house? Can we legitimately PRAY for God's will to be done while we DO little towards that end?
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." - Jesus in Matthew 7:21
But I had never heard of "vuja de" until this weekend. Some creative soul coined the term to indicate that feeling which is the opposite of deja vu - while in the midst of very familiar territory, you see something brand new ... as if for the first time.
I have experienced sporadic deja vu in my lifetime - but lately, vuja de seems to be a pretty common occurrence!
It actually started two years ago on the flight back to Florida after my first week in Haiti. And it was with a basic concept that should matter greatly to every believer. It was one which I thought I had a pretty good grip on and one (I thought) I had devoted quite a bit of prayer to - at least since my college days. That concept was "God's will".
I had learned during my senior year in college how important it was to seek God's will for my life in prayer. Long story short: With three weeks to go before graduation from Wabash College my student teaching fell apart and my professor said she would not be recommending me for a teaching license! So with less than a month until I would be booted into "the real world", I had no hope of finding the job for which my four years at Wabash had "prepared" me.
I was more than slightly upset and slightly confused. I took a long walk one night, making slow circles around campus and I let God have it. I was angry. I whined and fussed at God about why He had allowed all this to happen. And I got a reply. A rebuke.
"I don't know why you're angry with me - you never once asked me if you were supposed to be a teacher."
It was true. The biggest decision of my life to that point and I had never once consulted God about it in prayer! (Incidentally, when I started to pray about my career path - which I did immediately - that is when He directed me toward youth ministry. And, praise God, He obviously didn't allow to go to waste those four years studying to become a teacher.)
So, like I said, I had learned the importance of prayer in determining God's will for my life. But then two years ago, the Lord started to show me how very limiting those three words had been in regard to my understanding of God's will: "for my life".
Whenever I read anything in Scripture about "God's will", in my mind I assumed it had to do with what job God would want me to take, what girl to marry, what house to buy, etc. All the various forks in the road where we need wisdom and discernment.
And this understanding of God's will is not foreign to Scripture: "Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.' Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that.'" (James 4:13-15)
So when I experienced vuja de on the plane ride two years ago, it was that my eyes suddenly viewed "God's will" in a much wider perspective.
All of a sudden the phrase "God's will" had much more to do with the Great Commission than with which house God wanted me to pick when we moved to a new town. My new eyes saw "God's will" as being synonymous with much grander and more critical enterprises ... like caring for the poor, setting the oppressed free, and preaching the Gospel.
"God's will" was no longer only about me trying to discern His steering in the particulars of my life decisions but rather me devoting my life towards those desires that drive Him.
Now when I read Scripture, it seems that most often, the phrase "God's will" is used like Paul's claim to the believers in Ephesus before his departure: "I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God." (Acts 20:27) Obviously, Paul had been preaching about God's great priorities for the human race, not a detailed roadmap for each listener's life.
This could be a rather academic distinction except for the fact that believers are meant to DO the will of God, and primarily in this second and broader sense! Jesus told His followers: "As long as it is day, we must do the work of Him who sent me." (John 9:4)
WE! You and me and Jesus - all single-mindedly pursuing God's priorities in this fallen and broken world for whatever brief time we have. And THAT is where this vuja de experience two years ago really GOT me. Because I had to admit that even though I went to church and small group regularly and I cracked my Bible open now and then (and felt guilty that it wasn't more often - or more... real), my life priorities were all about juggling schedules and keeping the house in repair and earning a pay check and, overall, being comfortable.
Much of these last two years has been about the Lord opening my eyes to all the many places in my life where I need to ditch my priorities whenever and wherever they compete with His. I trust I have much to learn yet, but it's been a great ride so far.
Lord, keep on bringing the vuja de!
P.S. Even the most familiar passages of Scripture always have the potential for striking us anew (which is one of the things that makes reading the Bible so fascinating). What do we mean exactly when we pray the way Jesus taught us: "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven"? Will God's kingdom come once everyone finds the "right" job and marries the "right" spouse and settles into the "right" house? Can we legitimately PRAY for God's will to be done while we DO little towards that end?
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." - Jesus in Matthew 7:21
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Selfless Followers of a Self-Centered God or...
Self-centered followers of a selfless God?
I have been working on a sermon the last few days. I get the opportunity to preach tomorrow morning at Shiloh Community Church in Franklin, Indiana. The pastor gave me the option of preaching a favorite sermon - one that I've done before, but I really don't like to approach preaching that way (not that there's anything wrong with it). So it took me a long time to settle on a passage to preach.
Several leadings eventually caused me to land on 2 Corinthians 9:6-15. I tried to avoid this passage, because it sounds just like the sort of thing you would EXPECT a missionary to preach on - it's Paul urging the Corinthian church to ready the financial gift they had promised to share with the poor. And it has the familiar passage about "he who sows sparingly, reaps sparingly" and "he who sows bountifully, reaps bountifully".
One of the things I enjoy about preaching (and one of the reasons I don't tend to repeat sermons even in different locations) is that in studying and meditating on the preaching passage (if I do it right), I learn something new OR God crystallizes some right idea that has been floating aimlessly in my mind. (My WORST sermons are the ones where I have some aspect of spirituality "figured out" ahead of time and cherry-pick a Scripture passage to fit it and then knock the congregation over the head with it.)
So I am looking and looking at Paul's line about sowing and reaping and it smacks so much of the prosperity gospel that I can hardly stomach it and yet I am trying hard to see it as the respectable self-motivation that even the more conservative commentaries acknowledge and I'm still not comfortable with it.
Then it hits me. I am reading this with 21st century American Christian eyes. And I'm betting the Corinthian church was quite different from the American church. Paul was not writing to a group of Christians who had grown accustomed to keeping a tight grip on their own wealth and who expected a solid, tangible return on every investment. It's clear from the rest of the letter that Paul was addressing a group of sold out Christians whose first priority is God's will and not their own.
If we read Paul's words with Corinthian eyes, it changes things.
Elsewhere in the New Testament, when we see references to sowing seeds and harvesting fields, we know those are symbolic for spreading the gospel among people and seeing some come to faith in Christ. And Paul is asking the Corinthians in chapter 9 to give financially to spread the gospel and he assumes, since they are God-centered followers of Christ, that the bountiful harvest of souls will be a motivator for them!
This interpretation then makes sense of the next few verses. For instance, verse 8 says, "And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work." Notice, the promise is that the Corinthians (and we) will have "enough" and the reason that they (and we) will have enough is to enable "sharing" in "every good work".
Sounds like God's top priority isn't our comfort and financial well-being as believers but rather the spreading of His kingdom! Now THAT sounds right to my ears and heart.
Look at verse 10: "He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness." Like "sowing" and "harvesting", "bread" shows up elsewhere in the New Testament. In the Lord's prayer, bread represents the tangible provisions sufficient for our daily needs. God gives the seed and the bread. The bread is for eating; the seed is for sowing.
So in the midst of these lightbulbs going off, I arrived this morning at this passage in David Platt's book Radical Together:
"We are to be selfless followers of a self-centered God. But the problem is that we often reverse this in the church. We become self-centered followers of a selfless God. We organize our churches as if God exists to meet our needs, cater to our comforts, and appeal to our preferences. Discussions in the church more often revolve around what we want than what he wills. Almost unknowingly, the church becomes a means of self-entertainment and a monument to self-sufficiency. But something wonderful happens when we apply radical obedience to Christ in the regular practice of the church. All of a sudden, we find ourselves engulfed in a community that finds deep and abiding pleasure in denial of self and dependence on God."
That'll preach!
I have been working on a sermon the last few days. I get the opportunity to preach tomorrow morning at Shiloh Community Church in Franklin, Indiana. The pastor gave me the option of preaching a favorite sermon - one that I've done before, but I really don't like to approach preaching that way (not that there's anything wrong with it). So it took me a long time to settle on a passage to preach.
Several leadings eventually caused me to land on 2 Corinthians 9:6-15. I tried to avoid this passage, because it sounds just like the sort of thing you would EXPECT a missionary to preach on - it's Paul urging the Corinthian church to ready the financial gift they had promised to share with the poor. And it has the familiar passage about "he who sows sparingly, reaps sparingly" and "he who sows bountifully, reaps bountifully".
One of the things I enjoy about preaching (and one of the reasons I don't tend to repeat sermons even in different locations) is that in studying and meditating on the preaching passage (if I do it right), I learn something new OR God crystallizes some right idea that has been floating aimlessly in my mind. (My WORST sermons are the ones where I have some aspect of spirituality "figured out" ahead of time and cherry-pick a Scripture passage to fit it and then knock the congregation over the head with it.)
So I am looking and looking at Paul's line about sowing and reaping and it smacks so much of the prosperity gospel that I can hardly stomach it and yet I am trying hard to see it as the respectable self-motivation that even the more conservative commentaries acknowledge and I'm still not comfortable with it.
Then it hits me. I am reading this with 21st century American Christian eyes. And I'm betting the Corinthian church was quite different from the American church. Paul was not writing to a group of Christians who had grown accustomed to keeping a tight grip on their own wealth and who expected a solid, tangible return on every investment. It's clear from the rest of the letter that Paul was addressing a group of sold out Christians whose first priority is God's will and not their own.
If we read Paul's words with Corinthian eyes, it changes things.
Elsewhere in the New Testament, when we see references to sowing seeds and harvesting fields, we know those are symbolic for spreading the gospel among people and seeing some come to faith in Christ. And Paul is asking the Corinthians in chapter 9 to give financially to spread the gospel and he assumes, since they are God-centered followers of Christ, that the bountiful harvest of souls will be a motivator for them!
This interpretation then makes sense of the next few verses. For instance, verse 8 says, "And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work." Notice, the promise is that the Corinthians (and we) will have "enough" and the reason that they (and we) will have enough is to enable "sharing" in "every good work".
Sounds like God's top priority isn't our comfort and financial well-being as believers but rather the spreading of His kingdom! Now THAT sounds right to my ears and heart.
Look at verse 10: "He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness." Like "sowing" and "harvesting", "bread" shows up elsewhere in the New Testament. In the Lord's prayer, bread represents the tangible provisions sufficient for our daily needs. God gives the seed and the bread. The bread is for eating; the seed is for sowing.
So in the midst of these lightbulbs going off, I arrived this morning at this passage in David Platt's book Radical Together:
"We are to be selfless followers of a self-centered God. But the problem is that we often reverse this in the church. We become self-centered followers of a selfless God. We organize our churches as if God exists to meet our needs, cater to our comforts, and appeal to our preferences. Discussions in the church more often revolve around what we want than what he wills. Almost unknowingly, the church becomes a means of self-entertainment and a monument to self-sufficiency. But something wonderful happens when we apply radical obedience to Christ in the regular practice of the church. All of a sudden, we find ourselves engulfed in a community that finds deep and abiding pleasure in denial of self and dependence on God."
That'll preach!
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
"The Deeper the Hole, the More Dramatic the Rescue"
That's what I told Melissa a couple of months ago in response to our mutual concern that we wouldn't be able to raise the support necessary to get our family to Haiti in January. It was my (half-hearted) attempt to express faith that the Lord could still work a miracle and put us on the mission field after Christmas.
Now it's October 31st. I was in Walmart last night and the workers were already shoving aside the candy CORN to make room for the candy CANES. This time of year always goes by so fast (at least for all of us non-children!) and January is right around the corner.
And our support progress? We are hovering at 31% of what we need to move to the mission field.
Am I confident that Melissa and I, in the next two months, can raise twice what was raised in the previous ten months? NOPE.
Am I confident that "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible"? YES.
I do not type that word "yes" lightly or without fear. And I do not use Matthew 19:26 as a Scriptural feel-good cliche. God has been doing deep-down work on me over the past year or two - and especially over the past two months or so.
The fact of the matter is that even though in August I dropped my teaching job in order to devote full time to raising the necessary funds to put us on the mission field, precious little progress has been made on that front. I could offer as excuses three big things that consumed a lot of our time: my September trip to Haiti, Melissa's knee surgery and the preparation of our house for rental. BUT, those issues aside (and they were all ultimately very good and necessary things), the true reason I didn't make any significant progress on funding during that time is that I was wrestling with God.
Not long ago I posted about how we as Americans are adept at avoiding suffering. We are pretty successful at dodging any suffering that doesn't broadside us out of the blue - like natural disasters, illness or the loss of a job. Any "suffering" that is merely uncomfortable or unpleasant has no place in our daily lives - there shouldn't be any film left by the dishwasher on our glasses, we should be able to lose weight without hunger or exercise and we shouldn't have to wait in line at a grocery store for more than two minutes.
It's easy enough for me to point the finger at other Americans, but in these last few weeks, God has put his finger on one important area where I have been stubbornly unwilling to "suffer": an overconcern with what other people think of me. (Also known as "fear of others".)
It may not be immediately obvious to you what sort of havoc this mindset has played on our fundraising efforts, so I'll spell it out: fear of the phone, fear of making someone else uncomfortable by asking for financial support, and the pride of self-sufficiency all tend to stand firmly in the way of effectively raising up a team of people willing to dedicate their prayers and money to a Christ-glorifying ministry in Haiti.
I have struggled with this fear of what others think of me since childhood, and I'm sure God would have gladly given up and left it alone now that I am in my mid-40's IF ONLY it weren't so darned sinful!
Proverbs 29:25 - "The fear of man brings a snare, But he who trusts in the Lord will be exalted."
Jesus himself says, "I say to you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell." (Luke 12:4 and 5)
Halloween day seems a fitting time to reflect a bit on fear. And the one over-arching conclusion I have reached at the age of 44 is that the Bible speaks of ONLY ONE type of fear in a positive sense, and that is the "fear of God". In the face of ALL other fears, God's people are told again and again, "Fear not!" Much of what God has done in me these past two years has been to take Scripture that has been in my head and drive it into my heart - where it needs to take root and become reality in my life. I pray that it is so for Luke 12:4-5.
I've dug my hole deeper than it needed to be, and now I'm repenting, asking for forgiveness and humbly looking to my Rescuer. I have a new resolve that when the rope is thrown my way, I am going to make the effort to grab hold - even if it makes me uncomfortable.
Now it's October 31st. I was in Walmart last night and the workers were already shoving aside the candy CORN to make room for the candy CANES. This time of year always goes by so fast (at least for all of us non-children!) and January is right around the corner.
And our support progress? We are hovering at 31% of what we need to move to the mission field.
Am I confident that Melissa and I, in the next two months, can raise twice what was raised in the previous ten months? NOPE.
Am I confident that "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible"? YES.
I do not type that word "yes" lightly or without fear. And I do not use Matthew 19:26 as a Scriptural feel-good cliche. God has been doing deep-down work on me over the past year or two - and especially over the past two months or so.
The fact of the matter is that even though in August I dropped my teaching job in order to devote full time to raising the necessary funds to put us on the mission field, precious little progress has been made on that front. I could offer as excuses three big things that consumed a lot of our time: my September trip to Haiti, Melissa's knee surgery and the preparation of our house for rental. BUT, those issues aside (and they were all ultimately very good and necessary things), the true reason I didn't make any significant progress on funding during that time is that I was wrestling with God.
Not long ago I posted about how we as Americans are adept at avoiding suffering. We are pretty successful at dodging any suffering that doesn't broadside us out of the blue - like natural disasters, illness or the loss of a job. Any "suffering" that is merely uncomfortable or unpleasant has no place in our daily lives - there shouldn't be any film left by the dishwasher on our glasses, we should be able to lose weight without hunger or exercise and we shouldn't have to wait in line at a grocery store for more than two minutes.
It's easy enough for me to point the finger at other Americans, but in these last few weeks, God has put his finger on one important area where I have been stubbornly unwilling to "suffer": an overconcern with what other people think of me. (Also known as "fear of others".)
It may not be immediately obvious to you what sort of havoc this mindset has played on our fundraising efforts, so I'll spell it out: fear of the phone, fear of making someone else uncomfortable by asking for financial support, and the pride of self-sufficiency all tend to stand firmly in the way of effectively raising up a team of people willing to dedicate their prayers and money to a Christ-glorifying ministry in Haiti.
I have struggled with this fear of what others think of me since childhood, and I'm sure God would have gladly given up and left it alone now that I am in my mid-40's IF ONLY it weren't so darned sinful!
Proverbs 29:25 - "The fear of man brings a snare, But he who trusts in the Lord will be exalted."
Jesus himself says, "I say to you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell." (Luke 12:4 and 5)
Halloween day seems a fitting time to reflect a bit on fear. And the one over-arching conclusion I have reached at the age of 44 is that the Bible speaks of ONLY ONE type of fear in a positive sense, and that is the "fear of God". In the face of ALL other fears, God's people are told again and again, "Fear not!" Much of what God has done in me these past two years has been to take Scripture that has been in my head and drive it into my heart - where it needs to take root and become reality in my life. I pray that it is so for Luke 12:4-5.
I've dug my hole deeper than it needed to be, and now I'm repenting, asking for forgiveness and humbly looking to my Rescuer. I have a new resolve that when the rope is thrown my way, I am going to make the effort to grab hold - even if it makes me uncomfortable.
Monday, October 22, 2012
The Place of Christian Scholarship
I am reading Jen Hatmaker's book, Interrupted: An Adventure in Relearning the Essentials of Faith. I had never even heard of Hatmaker until three or four days ago when a trusted friend who is serving with her husband in Africa in medical missions mentioned on Facebook that she was reading Interrupted. Then she posted a link to Hatmaker's blog and the post there concerned a trip the author took recently to Haiti and her impressions of the experience.
I was hooked. (If you care to check it out for yourself, go to jenhatmaker.com)
I just came across a quote she included in Interrupted from Soren Kierkegaard - the sort of quote that makes you go "hmmmmm":
"Take any words in the New Testament and forget everything except pledging yourself to act accordingly. My God, you will say, if I do that my whole life will be ruined. How would I ever get on in the world?
"Herein lies the real place of Christian scholarship. Christian scholarship is the Church's prodigious invention to defend itself against the Bible, to ensure that we can continue to be good Christians without the Bible coming too close. Oh, priceless scholarship, what would we do without you? Dreadful it is to fall into the hands of the living God. Yes, it is even dreadful to be alone with the New Testament."
As one who is hoping to soon be teaching at a seminary, I am quick to notice that Kierkegaard does not say this evasion of the New Testament is the ONLY place of Christian scholarship, merely that it seems to be the main outcome. In Haiti - and elsewhere - there is a great need for training in theology and the right handling of Scripture...
BUT can we deny that at heart what Kierkegaard is saying here is too true? Christian scholarship CAN function in a Moses-type role for God's people. I mean the down-side of Moses' role - the one where the people gather at the foot of the mountain and say, "Moses, you go up and speak to God on our behalf. We'll stay here and wait for you to bring back news."
What would my life look like TODAY if I "pledged myself to act accordingly" to ANY ONE of the following:
Do not worry.
Do not judge.
Seek first God's kingdom and his righteousness.
Follow me and let the dead bury their own dead.
You cannot serve both God and money.
Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest field.
Go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice'.
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.
I find myself praying that God would "ruin" my life. Give me the will to obey, Lord.
I was hooked. (If you care to check it out for yourself, go to jenhatmaker.com)
I just came across a quote she included in Interrupted from Soren Kierkegaard - the sort of quote that makes you go "hmmmmm":
"Take any words in the New Testament and forget everything except pledging yourself to act accordingly. My God, you will say, if I do that my whole life will be ruined. How would I ever get on in the world?
"Herein lies the real place of Christian scholarship. Christian scholarship is the Church's prodigious invention to defend itself against the Bible, to ensure that we can continue to be good Christians without the Bible coming too close. Oh, priceless scholarship, what would we do without you? Dreadful it is to fall into the hands of the living God. Yes, it is even dreadful to be alone with the New Testament."
As one who is hoping to soon be teaching at a seminary, I am quick to notice that Kierkegaard does not say this evasion of the New Testament is the ONLY place of Christian scholarship, merely that it seems to be the main outcome. In Haiti - and elsewhere - there is a great need for training in theology and the right handling of Scripture...
BUT can we deny that at heart what Kierkegaard is saying here is too true? Christian scholarship CAN function in a Moses-type role for God's people. I mean the down-side of Moses' role - the one where the people gather at the foot of the mountain and say, "Moses, you go up and speak to God on our behalf. We'll stay here and wait for you to bring back news."
What would my life look like TODAY if I "pledged myself to act accordingly" to ANY ONE of the following:
Do not worry.
Do not judge.
Seek first God's kingdom and his righteousness.
Follow me and let the dead bury their own dead.
You cannot serve both God and money.
Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest field.
Go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice'.
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.
I find myself praying that God would "ruin" my life. Give me the will to obey, Lord.
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Suffering and Avoidance
"I'm not like other people ... I don't like pain. It hurts me."
- Daffy Duck
Saturday at 4:00 pm, Melissa was once again "under the knife" - for the second time in a week. Last week it was to remove a cyst from her left foot - and that procedure put her out of work for the week and hopping around on crutches. This time the procedure was a bit more intrusive - the surgeon put a scope in Melissa's right knee to find the source of the pain and swelling she's experienced now for years. Apparently the culprit was arthritis and its side effects and the doctor was able to smooth out her joint.
After an hour and a half in recovery, Melissa was ready to go home. It was not a pleasant trip. I've been fighting another sinus infection and Melissa couldn't get comfortable in the van. The sky dumped rain and didn't let up. We hit late Friday afternoon rush hour traffic and crawled around 465 ... in the rain.
With the rain and traffic and a fastfood stop and a prescription stop, a trip that normally takes around 60 minutes ended after 2 hours and 40 minutes.
When we arrived home, I drove through the yard to get Melissa as close as possible to the front door. The rain continued and the temperature had dropped about twenty degrees from the day before. By the time Melissa got settled on the couch, I was feeling pretty miserable.
But when your wife is sprawled on a couch - where she will stay for the next three days non-stop except for bathroom breaks - and she's begging for her pain medication because somebody scraped around on the inside of her knee, it makes you a little ashamed of wanting pity for being tired and cold and wet.
It reminded me of an experience I had one night during my September trip to Haiti and a lesson that God has been trying to teach me for several weeks now.
One afternoon about mid-way through my two weeks in Haiti last month, a small twinge in my lower back grew steadily into an annoying dull ache. When I crawled under the mosquito net and into bed, I soon discovered that no position – left side, right side, back, stomach, legs tucked, legs straight – eased the pain whatsoever. I methodically rotated on the bed, punctuating each move with a grunt or a groan or a deep sigh.
Exasperated, I finally sat up, kneeled on the bed and began to pray. It wasn’t a faith-filled, Spirit-led prayer. It was a whiny, self-pitying prayer. Poor, poor me: I was the guy with a backache ... lying with a full stomach on a comfortable mattress in a spacious house with tile floors and running water and a working refrigerator in a neighborhood filled with unemployed and hungry individuals sleeping on dirt floors in the utter darkness of flimsy shacks far from a source of drinking water.
I thank God for not smiting me during that prayer.
The Lord started to whisper something to me that night: a very important lesson.
He said, "You're a wimp." (That's just my simplified paraphrase.)
He wasn't trying to be rude - I took it as a rebuke from a loving Father.
Since that night, I've started to notice quite a few references to suffering in the Bible. For example, Jesus had a hard time convincing his disciples that he "must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation" (Luke 17:25 and elsewhere) and that it was all part of God's plan. Later, after the Lord had knocked Saul to the ground and blinded him, He sent Ananias to Saul to proclaim to him how He would "show him how much he must suffer for My name's sake" (Acts 9:16).
And it would be easy to convince ourselves that Paul's calling was unique, so surely this call to suffering was as well, but later we find Paul writing to his protege, Timothy, this command: "Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus" (2 Timothy 2:3).
Paul even tells the Roman church that they are "heirs of God and fellow heirs of Christ" IF "indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him" (Romans 8:17).
It looks like SUFFERING is meant to be a part of being a Christian. Even an INTEGRAL part of being a Christian.
I'm still learning about this, so I welcome any feedback you might give me in the comments section below, but it seems to me that in the American church, at least, there is not much said about the theology of suffering.
American CULTURE at large is definitely ANTI-suffering. Anti-discomfort. Pro-convenience. Anti-pain. Pro-pleasure. Americans definitely want the closest parking space. Definitely and quickly satisfy the smallest hunger pang with a snack. Definitely deserve to lose weight without either hunger or exercise.
And the American church is definitely "of" the culture and not just "in" it in this respect.
My high school English students often swap the spelling of "defiantly" for "definitely" in their writing. In this case, "defiant" might be the best word for the American church's approach to suffering and discomfort. The church - with our air conditioners, padded pews, and expensive "welcoming" buildings - has largely bought what American culture is selling.
There's a local church advertising on the Christian radio station that they will give a $5 gas card to any first time visitor who bothers to make the drive to their worship service. I understand the intent of this gimmick, but the message seems to be "it won't cost you a dime to worship with us".
I am not saying that as Christians we are obligated to go looking for suffering - but we dare not stop short of following Christ when we see that his path leads through suffering. Because it will. After all, we were warned up front that following Him meant laying down our lives and picking up our crosses.
I've got more to share about what God is teaching me on this front, but this post is long enough already and I have a "to do" list a mile long. I will continue later. In the meantime, I would LOVE to hear some feedback, either here or on Facebook. Thanks and God bless!
Found this picture on a friend's Facebook page. So does following Jesus lead to a more difficult life or a less difficult life? (Put your hand down, Joel Osteen ... we already know what you think...)
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