It's become one of the few traditions I hold to, a Christmas Eve post quoting Dalton Trumbo's version of the Christmas Story from Johnny Got His Gun. I want to add a quick quote here I believe I posted a short time ago from Joe Boyd's blog on his qualms with Christmas, which I share, and how he is working through his issues:

I see everything wrong with Christmas. Trust me.

It seems to me that the polar opposite of cynicism could be sentimentality. Stanley Hauerwas, a theologian hero of mine, says that sentimentality, not atheism, is the greatest enemy of the church. He equates sentimentality with practical atheism, saying that when we no longer truly believe the gospel we substitute the reality of the Jesus event with meetings, songs and patterns that create "warm feelings" to replace honest conviction.

Living in a world without sentimentality or cynicism seems unrealistic, and frankly undesirable to me. However, allowing our cynicism or sentiment to control us seems like a plan for disaster. I committed tonight to be less cynical this Christmas and challenged the sentimental people to pull back enough to have fresh eyes to see beyond nostalgia toward the remarkable claim that a baby entered human history on a secret mission to destroy evil with the power of good.

That was written on November 29, and in the past four weeks or so it's been my goal to look at Christmas with fresh eyes, through the eyes of my children, without losing focus of "to us a child is born." I've succeeded at times, failed more often, and don't know if it's been worth it. Nevertheless, I tried, and will continue to try, to live between two worlds, one with eternity in my sights, the other with sin and disease and tears and pain being overcome by my hope in Christ.

Now, to quite possibly my favorite (and probably the most realistic) rendering of the Christmas story, take it over Dalton:

She (his mother) had a marker in the Bible and she opened it now to the place that was marked and began to read again. She read the story of the Christ-child of the baby Jesus and how he was born in a manger...All the people were going to Bethlehem because it was tax time and they had to appear at the court house and register and pay up...Joseph had to do a lot of chores before he could start out and Mary his wife was pregnant and couldn't help him so they were late...As soon as they got into town Joseph began making the rounds of cheap rooming houses. He wasn't much of a success at making money and they only had enough to pay taxes and one night's rent...Then Joseph began to talk very seriously to the hotel manager. See here he said I've come a long way and I've got my wife with me and she's going to have a baby. Look at her out there on the donkey, you see she's just a kid and she's scared...(Hotel manager talking)It'll be an awful mess if she has a baby on the premises, people who can't afford them shouldn't have babies anyway but what are you going to do about it...I don't mind telling you I hope very much she doesn't have the baby here tonight because it'll upset my guests if she screams and they're all very high class people including three Roman congressmen...Oh I almost forgot, don't light any fires out there in the barn because in my insurance it says they're forbidden...Back in the manger Joseph lighted a lantern and fixed up a nice bed on the hay and Mary lay down on the bed and had her baby...

A few weeks ago a small group of us met and decided that we wanted to begin meeting with our families in community in the very near future. Today, Lisa and I hosted our second gathering. We loved it! Not only was the food AWESOME, but we found time for a little discussion. Our topic centered around the implications of living within a New Covenant paradigm (a model of the Marriage, Mosaic, and New Covenants were presented along with Hebrews 7:12 and 2 Corinthians 3:7-11), here is a short summary of our thoughts:

1) New Covenant thinking does not focus on the sin...we all sin, everyone sins, Paul told us how much he sinned in Romans 7. Obedience is important, but in the New Covenant we rely on grace and remember that our focus is following Jesus.

2) New Covenant thinking sees no one as better than another. All are one and all are equal in Christ.

3) New Covenant thinking places our entire identity in Christ. There is no identity crisis in New Covenant thinking. This is much easier in theory than practice, but though we doubt and though we have our moments where we question, we know by faith that our hope lies in Christ.

4) New Covenant thinking is servant leadership by nature, but "let's just focus on being servants and let the leading take care of itself" (thanks Dan).

5) New Covenant thinking recognizes that all are ministers. Old Covenant thinking centers around the temple and is very ritualistic, very hierarchical. In the New Covenant, we minister because we want to, and ministry flows form the voice of God working on our hearts.

We will meet again in two weeks, I'm already looking forward to that time.

I was just reading a blog on the election, a very thorough look at the issues. But his last paragraph was outstanding!

...but I have to make one theological note. The only true ruler we have is Jesus, who is our very real and present King. He appoints our earthly governors, and all that happens comes about because of His will. Because my hope is in Jesus, not in the “politics of hope,” I know justice will prevail in our cities, towns, neighborhoods, and in the lives of the unborn. In the end, King Jesus and His Church will triumph, so this election is relatively unimportant.

Good paragraph in the latest edition of In Hope:

For those of us attached equally to country, community, church, and Christ, faith loses its power. Only as we return to the Father, willing to release all that we have and hold to Him alone, can we experience the true freedom of faith.

I've been pushing Joe Boyd here for a long time, I wish I lived in Cincy and could attend the services at the church where he teaches. Anyway, here are some excerpts of his latest sermon, which he posted on his blog:

Ivan Illich was once asked, ‘What is the most revolutionary way to change society: Is it violent revolution or is it gradual reform?’ He gave a careful answer: ‘Neither. If you want to change society, then you must tell an alternative story.’

In a world where every thought of every person was only evil all the time, Noah told an alternative story and built a wooden freighter in his back yard in the middle of a drought. His story saved the world.

In a world where people worshiped rocks shaped like frogs and painted logs sticking out of the ground, Abraham told an alternative story of a personal God who speaks directly to people and births a new nation out of a geriatric barren woman’s womb.

In a world where his family rejected him, his boss’s wife framed him as a rapist and his friends forgot all about him, Joseph told an alternative story to the face of the most powerful man in the ancient world when he told the Pharaoh to trust the Living God, Yahweh, the only one powerful enough to truly bail out nations on the edge of economic collapse.

In a world where he and all of his countrymen were the slaves of a tyrant and a bounty was on his own head as a murderer, Moses told an alternative story to the face of his oppressor when he said, “You can’t have this nation anymore. We are God’s people and he’s been pretty clear this time. I just got back from a magic burning bush. This is what the Lord says, “You let my people go. They have a better story to tell than the one you are telling.”

In a world where the greatest leader of their nation had died and millions of families wandered as political refugees in the desert for four decades, Joshua told an alternative story as he slid his general’s sword into his scabbard and said, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. Our story is already written, Our story is God’s story and it is not a story that ends in defeat, but in victory.”

In a world where the good people of the world were being beaten and pillaged and raped by an evil nation, God sent a messenger to tell Gideon, a frightened weakling of a man, an alternative story. The angel said, “On your own you are nobody, Gideon, but with God you are a mighty warrior. Get up and trust God to bail his people out of this mess.”

In a world where two superpowers lined up opposite each other for war and the destiny of two real historical nations hanged in the balance, a shepherd teenager carrying a basket of bread for the soldiers was the only one brave enough to tell an alternative story. David said, “ I’m just a boy with a rock and he’s a giant with a spear, but I got a Living God and he worships a bronze plated goat. My story wins.”

In a world where everyone he knew was killed or taken captive to a foreign land – a world where he himself was a slave for his entire life, Daniel told an alternative story when he approached king after king, decade after decade and said, “There is only one Living God and He’s not your god, He’s mine. And He’s got a message for you – your story is temporary but his is eternal.” They put his friends in a fiery furnace and threw him to the lions, but in the alternative story fire’s not all that hot and hungry lion’s make wonderful house pets.

And then it happened.

The Alternative Story became flesh and he lived among us. The Alternative Story was with God in the beginning. The Alternative Story was God. He came to the people of the alternative story, but his people did not recognize their Author. They rejected the Alternative Story for a different story – one that seemed more reasonable and possible and palatable and safe. And when it came time to give the Alternative story a name, the peasant teenage girl who birthed him named him Jesus whish literally means “God Saves Us” or “God Rescues Us” or “God Bails Us Out.”

For three years God Bails Us Out taught us that the alternative story was breaking into humanity in a fresh, real and dangerously significant way. He came to let us know that on the day he left us, the very last chapter of humanity’s alternative story would begin. And we believed him. He asked us to trust him – to trust God. And we trusted him. He warned us that we can’t always trust the religious leaders or the politicians or the economists or the powerful militants, but we can always trust him.

Then he died. But not before giving death itself an alternative story. In our new story, death begets life, not the other way around. So though he died, he lives. And we have the same promise.

And the story continued.

Peter told an alternative story to the masses in Jerusalem and 3,000 believed in one day. They abandoned their old story for the new alternative Jesus story.

Paul told an alternative story to those farthest from God and they started little churches in most every town in the ancient world. Little churches that would spread like a good cancer all through the Roman Empire.

100 years later, Polycarp, the elderly pastor of the church in Smyrna, told an alternative story to those who burned him at the stake for his faith when he boldly said his last words – “86 years I have served him, how can I now deny my savior who bought me?”

Chills?

This, from the latest edition of In Hope by Dr. David Timms, really convicted me:

We marvel at military technology that targets and kills by remote control, rather than grieve the loss of life. We approve government spending to produce sophisticated weaponry that can obliterate villages and cities. We justify aggression as a necessary evil to protect ourselves, our families, and our possessions.

All the while, the gospel of peace withers.

In reading this, I couldn't help but think of Michael Douglas's character in The American President, when he says, after ordering the bombing of a Libyan Intelligence building:

Leon, somewhere in Libya right now, a janitor's working the night shift at Libyan Intelligence headquarters. He's going about doing his job... because he has no idea, in about an hour he's going to die in a massive explosion. He's just going about his job, because he has no idea that about an hour ago I gave an order to have him killed. You've just seen me do the least presidential thing I do.

This convicts me not for political reasons but because the loss of life does not phase me. It convicts me because I am like Douglas' colleagues who thought nothing of the innocent lives sure to be lost in the attack. It convicts me because I am the person who reads the headlines every day who Timms writes, "accept(s) it as inevitable in our fallen world, and return to our (my) relatively safe cocoons." Suffering and death do not bother me, they should, I hope they do more in the future.

I may have mentioned I'm reading Paul Theroux's Ghost Train to the Eastern Star. He convicts me with some discussion of late on his travels through India:

When an Indian says, as one said to me, "There are two hundred and fifty million middle-class Indian, which is very nice, but four hundred million are living below the poverty line," how do you respond? Two hundred years ago, the French aphorist Chamfort described Paris as "a cityof amusements, pleasures, etc., in which four-fifths of the inhabitants die of want." You could say the same of any city in India. (197)

"The high standard of life we enjoy in England depends on keeping a tight hold on the Empire," Orwell wrote. "In order that England may live in comfort, a hundred million Indians must live on the edge of starvation." (197)

Finally, after witnessing Americans drawn to tears in response to Indian poverty, he writes:

I have never seen any community in India look so hopeless or, in its way, so hermetic in its poverty, so blatant in its look of menace, so sad and unwelcoming, as East St. Louis, Illinois, the decaying town that lies across the Mississippi from flourishing St. Louis, Missouri. Yet I can imagine that many people from St. Louis proper would weep at the sight of Indian poverty. They dare not cross their own river to see the complacent decrepitude and misery on the other bank. (199)
Convicting.

The latest edition of In Hope arrived in my inbox earlier this week, and I just now got the chance to read it. Dr. Timms, the author, discusses the Scripture from Genesis 2 where it is written, "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh."

He writes how unnatural this is for me, as "The Hebrew word (dabaq) is used elsewhere in the Old Testament when Ruth clung to her mother-in-law amidst their mutual grief (Ruth 1:14). It also appears in multiple texts that exhort Israel to "cling to the Lord your God" (for example, Deut 10:20; 11:22; and Josh 22:5)."

He continues, "This is the stuff of infatuation and devotion -- rarified air for many males once a marriage sets in. We cleave to our jobs, our sports, our toys, or our TVs. We cleave to power, fame, and success. But cleave to our wives?"

Then he delivers the knock-out blow to me and my fellow men: "Perhaps this highlights one of the reasons why many marriages fail completely or fail to produce the kind of intimacy that pre-marital counselors glow about. We don't cleave. We can't cleave. We fear it and resist it because, at best, it suggests weakness on our part. But the apostle Paul packs the toughest punch.He called it a mystery (Ephesians 5:31-32). And then connects this 'marriage text' to Jesus and the Church. Those who do not cleave to their wives quite probably do not cleave to Christ, either."

Take a moment and read the entire text, linked above, it'll be worth every second.

Just finished watching V for Vendetta again, I watched it for the first time about a year ago, then it was on again about a week ago. Love the film.

One quote I just love:

Creedy: Die! Die! Why won't you die?... Why won't you die?
V: Beneath this mask there is more than flesh. Beneath this mask there is an idea, Mr. Creedy, and ideas are bulletproof.

World, beneath our facade, there is an idea...an idea that a man named Jesus Christ, the Son of God, became flesh and departed eternity to enter our world...He brought the message of the Kingdom of God, took our sins upon Himself on the cross, and rose on the third day...that is what we give our lives for.

Speaking of giving our lives for something, I was humbled as V talked about the Three Waters incident and the virus that killed the chilren and such. For some reason, as I pondered the reality of that happening in our times, it reminded me of an excerpt from the Apocrypha, 2 Maccabees and the zeal of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, a story well-known by some, and reprinted by I unashamedly:

...It happened also that seven (Jewish) brothers and their mother were arrested and were being compelled by the king, under torture with whips and cords, to partake of unlawful swine's flesh. One of them, acting as the spokesman, said, "What do you intend to ask and learn from us? For we are ready to die rather than transgress the laws of our fathers." The king fell into a rage, and gave orders that pans and caldrons be heated. These were heated immediately, and he commanded that the tongue of their spokesman be cut out and that they scalp him and cut off his hands and feet, while the rest of the brothers and the mother looked on. When he was utterly helpless, the king ordered them to take him to the fire, still breathing, and to fry him in a pan. The smoke from the pan spread widely, but the brothers and their mother encouraged one another to die nobly, saying, "The Lord God is watching over us and in truth has compassion on us, as Moses declared...:

When the first brother had died in this manner, they brought the second to be made sport of. After tearing off the skin and hair of his head, they asked him, "Will you eat the pork rather than have your body tortured limb by limb?"

Answering in the language of his forefathers, he said, "Never!" So he too in turn suffered the same tortures as the first.

At the point of death he said: "You accursed fiend, you are depriving us of this present life, but the King of the world will raise us up to live again forever. It is for his laws that we are dying."

After him the third suffered their cruel sport. He put out his tongue at once when told to do so, and bravely held out his hands,
as he spoke these noble words: "It was from Heaven that I received these; for the sake of his laws I disdain them; from him I hope to receive them again."

After he had died, they tortured and maltreated the fourth brother in the same way.

When he was near death, he said, "It is my choice to die at the hands of men with the God-given hope of being restored to life by him; but for you, there will be no resurrection to life."

They next brought forward the fifth brother and maltreated him...
After him they brought the sixth brother. When he was about to die, he said: "Have no vain illusions. We suffer these things on our own account, because we have sinned against our God; that is why such astonishing things have happened to us...

Most admirable and worthy of everlasting remembrance was the mother, who saw her seven sons perish in a single day, yet bore it courageously because of her hope in the Lord.

Filled with a noble spirit that stirred her womanly heart with manly courage, she exhorted each of them in the language of their forefathers with these words:

"I do not know how you came into existence in my womb; it was not I who gave you the breath of life, nor was it I who set in order the elements of which each of you is composed.

Therefore, since it is the Creator of the universe who shapes each man's beginning, as he brings about the origin of everything, he, in his mercy, will give you back both breath and life, because you now disregard yourselves for the sake of his law."

Antiochus, suspecting insult in her words, thought he was being ridiculed. As the youngest brother was still alive, the king appealed to him, not with mere words, but with promises on oath, to make him rich and happy if he would abandon his ancestral customs: he would make him his Friend and entrust him with high office.

When the youth paid no attention to him at all, the king appealed to the mother, urging her to advise her boy to save his life.

After he had urged her for a long time, she went through the motions of persuading her son.

In derision of the cruel tyrant, she leaned over close to her son and said in their native language: "Son, have pity on me, who carried you in my womb for nine months, nursed you for three years, brought you up, educated and supported you to your present age.

I beg you, child, to look at the heavens and the earth and see all that is in them; then you will know that God did not make them out of existing things; and in the same way the human race came into existence.

Do not be afraid of this executioner, but be worthy of your brothers and accept death, so that in the time of mercy I may receive you again with them."

She had scarcely finished speaking when the youth said: "What are you waiting for? I will not obey the king's command. I obey the command of the law given to our forefathers through Moses.

But you, who have contrived every kind of affliction for the Hebrews, will not escape the hands of God...

...At that, the king became enraged and treated him even worse than the others, since he bitterly resented the boy's contempt.

Thus he too died undefiled, putting all his trust in the Lord.

The mother was last to die, after her sons.

Father, when my times comes, and that time of my family, whether it be in sleep, in sickness, or in torture, may I stand firm for Your Truth, for You, for Your Kingdom. May my family do the same. May we not compromise our convictions or belief in your eternal Kingdom, knowing that though we die in the body, we live in the Spirit, and look forward to eternal life with you.

Maiya and I have been working our way through Lewis's Narnia Chronicles, though unfortunately not in order. We started with Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe, proceeded to Prince Caspian, then went back to the Magician's Nephew and just finished The Horse and His Boy. Lewis is an absolute genious. I've found many quotes and narratives I've loved through the first four books and I wish I could write them all down, but this latest from The Horse and His Boy is one of my favorite:

He turned and saw, pacing beside him, taller than the horse, a Lion. The horse did not seem to be afraid of it or else could not see it. It was from the Lion that the light came. No one ever saw anything more terrible or beautiful.

Luckily Shasta had lived all his life too far south in Calormen to have heard the tales that were whispered in Tashbaan about a dreadful Narnian demon that appeared in the form of a lion. And of course he knew none of the true stories about Aslan, the great Lion, the son of the Emperor-over-the-sea, the King above all High Kings in Narnia. But after one glance at the Lion's face he slipped out of the saddle and fell at its feet. He couldn't say anything but then he didn't want to say anything, and he knew he needn't say anything.

For some reason I subscribe to TIME magazine. It comes every Friday, I take about five minutes when I get home from work to page through it, see there is nothing in it, and toss it. This week's issue was different, I was enjoying it, good articles on the election, financial collapse and government bail-out, lifeline for GM, even a Q & A from Alec Baldwin, etc., til I got close to the end. Then I came across this headline:

The Good Book Goes Green

Did I read that right? And the picture? Yep, there is a new color-coded Bible that is being marketed to environmentalists, which "calls attention to more than 1000 verses related to nature by printing them in a pleasant shade of forest green..."

At my core, I obviously have no issue with printing a Bible of recycled or enviro-friendly paper, covers, etc. I recycle, try to conserve gas and electricity, try to use eco-friendly materials, etc. I'll probably even put solar panels on my house and buy a hybrid for my next car. But these two points raise my blood pressure to dangerous levels, just ask my wife:

1. This new version's message, states an introductoin by Evangelical eco-activist J. Matthew Sleeth, is that "creation care" - the Christian catchphrase for nature conservancy- "is at the very core of our Christian walk."

Hmmm...nature conservancy...core of our Christian walk...at least they provide a counter-point by Southern Baptist leader Richard Land, "...but when they asked Jesus what was most important, he said 'Love your God, and love your neighbor as yourself...'" There is much more we could add to the list before nature conservancy even gets a mention.

2) Then they discuss something that I've encountered much in the recent past when I ask what biblical support we have for the case being made for the religious green movement. I'm continually referenced to Genesis 1:26-28:

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

As you can see, the NIV translates this "dominion" as "rule," but the King James translates it as "dominion." In any case, according to Strong's, the original Hebrew here is radah and can be translated into English as subjugate, to crumble off, rule, dominion, take, prevaileth, reign, or ruler. Furthermore, the English word stewardship is oikonomia and "primarily signifies the management of a household or of household affairs." It is used in various places throughout the Bible, including when Paul "applies it to the responsibility entrusted to him of preaching the gospel" in 1 Cor. 9:17 and in Eph. 1:10 and 3:2 where "it is used of the arrangement or administration by God, by which in 'the fullness of the times' (or seasons) God will sum up all things in the heavens and on earth in Christ. A final meaning from Strong's that provides the closest link to what the "Evangelical eco-activists" want it to mean is that "a steward oversees another's goods and dispenses them in accordance with the Master's desires," though I still see that as a stretch.

I could go much further and also dissect the Greek translations of the English "steward," (which simply means overseer or manager)but I'll save you the agony. My point here is what it has always been. I do believe we are to take care of God's creation, but I do believe there are limits to what humans can do. Not all natural disasters are man-made, the earth has warmed and cooled before carbon emissions, "the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth" and "this world in its present form is passing away." We are not sole proprietors of the earth, God is sovereign, Man is fallen and the earth is under the same curse, we can't just stop using carbon and turn things around, it's deeper than that.

You know that I believe STRONGLY in an apolcalyptical interpretation of Scripture as a whole, and I think there's no arguing the theme that runs through the Bible, and two tenets of apocalyptic thinking, that this age is passing away and a dominant mood of strain and tension, with pessimism concerning the present. That clearly is applicable here, if, and only if, one is concerned with a serious biblical interpretation using the rules of exegesis, number one being that the text means what the original author meant it to mean.

I love Paul Theroux. If you've followed this blog for a while you may remember my review of and quotes from his book Dark Star Safari. I've tried to get into a few others he's written but while I've enjoyed the writing, the locations haven't interested me all that much. Another of his works I've wanted to read was published in 1975 and is called The Great Railway Bazaar, telling of his travels via train through various Asian countries. Fortunately for me, he just wrote an updated version of an updated trek, again through Asia, retracing the steps of his great voyage years ago, and I picked it up.

I love Theroux's little quips, whether he is making fun of someone or something or his various encounters. In my short experience with this book, he makes one of my favorite in describing other travel writers and their work:

Most writing about travel takes the form of jumping to conclusions, and so most travel books are superflous, the thinnest, most transparent monologuing. Little better than a license to bore, travel writing is the lowest form of literary self-indulgence: dishonest complaining, creative mendacity, pointless heroics, and chronic posturing, most of it distorted with Munchausen syndrome.

I have to be honest, my first thought upon reading this was that it reminded me of some of the mission letters I receive weekly as well as a few I've written in the past (sorry friends). Dishonest complaining...pointless heroics...chronic posturing...yep, that was me, and yep, that's many of the letters I get.

What's interesting is that is the mission culture we've developed. We can't tell people that things are getting better, then why should they continue to sponsor you or your work? If we tell people that things are cool now and great work is being done, they may not see the need to support the work. We need to make it an adventure for them, to think of the people as uncivilized, ancient natives in need of converting, in need of saving, with children dying everywhere of tropical diseases, that is what we Americans are in the business of. It's a fine balance, we need to show them that work is being done, but not so much that they are not needed. Thus, we get what we deserve, dishonest complaining...pointless heroics...chronic posturing.

Thinking about getting back into the blogging thing on a more regular basis...don't hold me too anything, but I have some thoughts swirling in my head and want to get them out.

One thought I wanted to start with and share deals with some seemingly divergent thinking that I wanted to bring together. Let me share a few points that are in no way earth-shattering ideas:

1) We've heard much over the past few years (especially since Pres. Bush brought back the idea of "compassionate convervatives" and the Democrats sought to "get religious") about social justice int he church, questions about what we are doing for our
fellow brethren. Church en masse are tripping over themselves to respond to the AIDS crisis in Africa or the next natural disaster (both good things, I may add).

2) As a result of that, much of the pr that is sent out into the media (at least the good stuff, see below for other pr) has focused on "what we are doing for the poor and marginalized and others." Again, this is not a bad thing.

3) Other than what we are doing socially, the other pr that gets thrown to the wolves exists around what we are against rather than what we are for. I'm reading David Kinnaman's "UnChristian" as I write (a book that I feel I won't like, by the way, but feel I should read) and he writes, "Most people I meet assume that Christian means very conservative, entrenched in their thinking, antigay, antichoice, angry, violent, illogical, empire builders; they want to convert everyone, and they generally cannot live peacefully with anyone who doesn't believe what they believe."

He goes on to say that the top three perceptions of modern-day Christians are, you guessed it, antihomosexual, judgmental, and hypocritical. Nothing new there.

Here is my point, as we've often heard it said, we've taken the focus in Christianity off of Christ and put it on the Christians. From the political definitions of faith to how we have portrayed ourselves in the world to what others think of us, we've allowed our faith to be judged not by our leader but by His followers, we've made our faith about what we do rather than who we are and who Jesus is. None of these moves I would consider wise.

As I read this book and reflect on the world and it's opinions and thoughts about Christians, I'm saddened by the fact that none of the perceptions, whether right or wrong, have anything to do with Jesus. I heard yesterday (though have yet to confirm) that Rick Warren's Purpose-Driven book - one of them anyway - is the second highest selling book behind the Bible. Warren's an all-right guy and he isn't evil (that's about all I can say for him, I hope I put it nice enough) but he is a perfect example of what I am referring to. Ask people about Rick Warren and they may say meag-pastor, mega-church, AIDS activist, political debate moderator, etc., but very few people will equate him with follower of Christ. Read his work or listen to his speeches and you may hear a few Scriptures and such, but little talk of the person of Christ and how Christians follow Him. I'm not saying he is not a believer, but when people think of him, few equte him as a follower of Christ.

My hope and my goal is that when people think of me (and Christians in general), they don't think of whether I drink alcohol, whether I'm pro- or anti-gay, whether I belong to the NRA, or whether I'm conservative or liberal. When people think of me, I want them to think of me as a follower of Christ, nothing more, nothing less.

I've been thinking of these two quotes from Thomas Kelly's A Testament of Devotion for the past couple of weeks and trying to find the quotes. I finally located them and am placing them here for future reference to save me some time in the future.

And much religious work is carried on in just this same way. With shrewd and canny foresight religious people study the past, examine all the factors in the situation which they can foresee, and then decide what is wisest to undertake, or what is most congruous with the Christian life described in the Gospels. Then they breathe a prayer to God to reinforce their wills and keep them strong in executing their resolve.(69)

The Cosmic Patience becomes, in part, our patience, for after all God is at work in the world. It is not we alone who are at work in the world, frantically finishing a work to be offered to God. (100)

I don't know if you'll be able to read this upon clicking here, but this is, in my estimation and confirmed by a flight attendant after a long conversation a few weeks ago, of why the airline business is so crazy and losing money. I can fly from Appleton to LAX for around $325, but to fly a friend from Minneapolis to Appleton costs me more than $500. This is crazy!

I finished McCullough's The Great Bridge last night. Solid book, good, but not great. I'm happy that I read it, though, since we are heading to NY in a little over a week and this will be one of the sites I am looking forward to seeing and how I have a little more history to guide me.

Toward the end MuCullough sought to show the significance of the bridge at the time, in comparison to other architectural wonders of the world. He quotes the Chief Engineer, John Roebling:

To build his pyramid Cheops packed some pounds of rice into the stomachs of innumerable Egyptians and Israelites. We today would pack some pounds of coal inside steam boilers to do the same thing, and this mightbe cited as an instance of superiority of modern civilization over ancient brute force. But when referred to the sun, our true standard of reference, the comparison is naught, because to produce these few pounds of coal required a thousand times more solar energy than to produce a few pounds of rice. We are simply taking advantage of an accidental circumstance.

It took Cheops twenty years to build his pyramid, but if he had a lot of Trustees, contractors, and newspaper reporters to worry him, he might not have finished it by that time. The advantages of modern engineering are in many ways over balanced by the disadvantages of modern civilization. (523)

Also:

Babylon had her hanging garden, Egypt her pyramid, Athens her Acropolis, Rome her Athenaeum; so Brooklyn has her Bridge.

Finally:

The beautiful and stately structure fulfills the fondest hope...the impression upon the visitor is one of astonishment that grows with every visit. No one who has been upon it can ever forget it...Not one shall see it and not feel prouder to be a man.

Again, I am REALLY looking forward to seeing this bridge and walking over it into NYC.

I've been wanting to do this for a few weeks now...here is a list of my most inspiring and encouraging quotes in the Bible:

...In the beginning God

...Are not...the rivers of Damascus better than the rivers of Israel?

...To proclaim the year of the Lord's favor

...Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham

...The Kingdom of Heaven is near

...You have heard that it was said...

...If I only touch his cloak

...Lazarus, come out!

...Whom shall I fear?

...If God is with us

...Greater is He

...From every nation, tribe, people, and language

...I am making everyting new!

That's all for now, possibly more to come in the future. Feel free to add some of your own in the comments and I'll post them.

A couple of things have been on my mind this week:

The first is quote from the movie Glory that I watched over the weekend. Loved the movie, can't believe it's almost twenty years old and I've never seen it. Anyway, there is a quote near the end when the black troops are marching through the south on the way to fight and the women and children - now freed black women and children - along the road are just marvelling at what is happening. They can't believe free blacks could take up arms and fights for them, it's just too much to be true. But as they stand in awe Morgan Freeman walks by and says:

That's right, Hines. Ain't no dream. We runaway slaves but we come back fightin' men. Go tell your folks how kingdom come in the year of jubilee!

Kingdom come in the year of jubilee! WOW! What Kingdom language. Two of my favorite passages figure into this quote, the beginning of Jesus' ministry in Matthew 4:17, "From that time on Jesus began to preach, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near,'" and Luke's similar account of the genesis of Jesus' time of ministry when Jesus unrolls the scroll in the synogague in 4:17-21 reads from Isaiah 61:1,2, sits down, and says, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."

I don't know enough to expound on the year of Jubilee (though I've begun John Howard Yoder's The Politics of Jesus which deals with this subject, but have not gotten far enough in it to be able to comment), especially as it relates to us today or in Kingdom terms, but I understand the powerful language of what Freeman is referring to here with the slaves being freed every seventh year and then the year of Jubilee being the 50th year or year following the seven cycles of Sabbatical years and the profound meaning it has for us today as Jesus has released us from eternal slavery and freed us to take part in His Kingdom. How great for the African-Americans at the time, how great for us in all eternity.

The other thing on my mind comes from the movie Welcome to Sarajevo, which I've commented on below. There was a scene that continues to haunt me, and I'm looking for a solution. The premise of the movie is that there is this reporter who gets attached to a group of orphans and promises one of them that he would get her out of the country, and through the course of the movie this becomes a reality and a small group - maybe 20 or so - are on a bus being taken to Italy until the war is over. On the way, though the group has all the proper papers and a UN escort, Bosnian troops pull them over and take out a group of children on the bus - maybe 6-8 - who appear to have Muslim names - no Muslim children would be allowed to escape - they were surely to be killed.

Here is my issue, there was a UN escort taking this bus across the border, and they did nothing to prevent this kidnapping from happening. I understand the politics of the issue, but from my perspective, though I am usually a pacifist, why not threaten the troops with your weapon, fire a few warning shots, and ultimately do all in your power from letting this happen (even opening fire on the soldiers), do all in your power to save these 6-8 lives who were going to be tortured, probably sexually abused, and surely killed? Here, in my opinion, is why the UN is a useless organization. It's own charter contradicts itself, stating in the preamble that it's mission is to both to "save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small..." and to "ensure, by the acceptance of principles and the institution of methods, that armed force shall not be used, save in the common interest..." This begs the question, which is more important, the dignity and worth of all human beings - in this case the 6-8 children who were to be slaughtered - or that force may not be used. The UN has chosen the latter, and that is reason #476 that I have no faith in the UN and it sickens me to imagine and then see and hear and read the massive atrocities that are being committed around the world while we sit back and watch in the name of diplomacy and peaceful efforts.

Last week Maiya went to VBS at a local church and received a CD of their songs at the end of the week. One of the songs has captured me of late, Come to Jesus by Chris Rice. Check out these lyrics and try not to draw tears:

Weak and wounded sinner
Lost and left to die
O, raise your head, for love is passing by
Come to Jesus
Come to Jesus
Come to Jesus and live!

Now your burden's lifted
And carried far away
And precious blood has washed away the stain, so
Sing to Jesus
Sing to Jesus
Sing to Jesus and live!

And like a newborn baby
Don't be afraid to crawl
And remember when you walk
Sometimes we fall...so
Fall on Jesus
Fall on Jesus
Fall on Jesus and live!

Sometimes the way is lonely
And steep and filled with pain
So if your sky is dark and pours the rain, then
Cry to Jesus
Cry to Jesus
Cry to Jesus and live!

O, and when the love spills over
And music fills the night
And when you can't contain your joy inside, then
Dance for Jesus
Dance for Jesus
Dance for Jesus and live!

And with your final heartbeat
Kiss the world goodbye
Then go in peace, and laugh on Glory's side, and
Fly to Jesus
Fly to Jesus
Fly to Jesus and live!

Why, I continue to ask myself, do I torture myself with these movies? Tonight's was Welcome to Sarajevo, a 1997 film about the Bosnian war, mostly about the children and one man's heart and work to help them, ultimately getting one girl with him to England and others into Italy. Why, I continue to ask, do I live in such comfort and take it for granted while so many others live in fear, minute by minute, of their lives and the lives of their loved ones. I know this is cliche, but it haunts me, contantly. And I fuel that fire by continuing to watch the movies and read the books, but I desire nothing else.

A quote struck me...A UN official was asked why they aren't doing more for the war and more for the children and he responded by say that they were doing all they can, but at the time there were 13 places around the world that were worse off. Woody Harrelson's character responded by asking what those 13 countries were and if Sarajevo was moving up or down the list. Good Stuff!

It seems they found another suspected Serbian war crime fugitive living out in the open with a changed identity and look.

This reminded me of Samantha Power's A Problem From Hell: America and the Age of Genocide, where Power writes on the policy of nonconfrontation in Bosnia and refusal of the Clinton administration to make arrests of these criminals. It wasn't until the organization Arrest Now! published "the suspects' home and work addresses, as well as the places they liked to drink coffee, take walks, or work out." (493)

The late Senator Jesse Helms compounded the situation by sending a letter to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright (after the State Department offered a $5 million award for info leading to the arrest of leading Serb culprits) saying, "I have the information that you are looking for:"

Mr. Milosevic and Mr. Mladic both are residing in Belgrade. Mr. Milosevic recently laid a wreath at the Grace of the Unknown Soldier on Mount Avala (to mark the first anniversary of the NATA bombing of Serbia). His address is: Presidential Palace, 15 Uzicka Street, Dedinje district, Belgrade.

Mr. Mladic is apparently unaware that he should be in hiding - he took a leisurely afternoon stroll down Knez MIhailova Street on Friday, March 24, waving at Belgraders as he walked along, and was spotted just this weekend at the Belgrade stadium taking in a soccer match.

Mr. Karadiz (who they just found according to the link above) remains in the Pale area of Bosnia - living in the midst of thousands of NATA peacekeepers - where he has been seen regularly in public in recent months.

Reward payment should be made to Rev. Franklin Graham's Samaritan's Purse, a well-known and highly respected charitable organization in North Carolina.

Kindest regards.
Sincerely,
Jesse Helms (493)

Just began reading David McCullough's Great Bridge about the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, good first 50 pages! I'm struck by two things already:

1) New York was already considered overcrowded before 1870 (though, as the book admits, no one had really dreamt of building upwards yet) and crime was an issue: "The Times, for example, described the bridge as a sort of grand long-needed pressure valve that would do much to alleviate New York's two most serious problems, crime and overcrowding." (25)

2) I don't know if McCullough means to show the gravity of the oppositon to the bridge, but I am amazed at the outcry to its building from various angles:

"The editors of Scientific American said a tunnel would serve the purpose as well and cost less...Warehouse owners along the rivers and others in the shipping business were calling it an obstruction to navigation and a public nuissance...Even in Brooklyn the Union said another bridge and a tunnel besides would probably be built by the time everyone finished wrangling over the details..." (28)

And yet, as I preview maps for our upcoming trip to New York, I see the Brooklyn Bridge still standing and I look forward to travelling over it.

It seems that as much as things change, things stay the same.

This is a really good article from Freakanomics on the state of financial literacy in the US.

A couple of things that stood out:

Which brings us to Question No. 3: How important is widespread financial literacy to the health of a modern society?
Well, I would say very. So would Lusardi. When you have a society with a modern and fairly complex financial system, it’s probably not a good sign that more than half of the citizenry can’t handle even the basics: how a credit card actually works (I know some teenagers, e.g., who really think it’s “free money”); the beauty of compound interest and the ugliness of paying the minimum balance on a credit card; how to save and invest even when you don’t think you can; how to learn the amount of insurance you need, etc. Lusardi wonders whether people shouldn’t be required to get a license in order to take out a mortgage. That certainly would have dampened the subprime mess a bit, yes?

Yes, it would have and yes, some sort of financial literacy license would be a great idea!

A lot of behavioral economics, including the good ideas in Nudge, is about cleverly correcting harmful human tendencies — but many of these tendencies need correction only because so many people are so undereducated in such matters.
I am all in favor of a well-rounded education, but seriously: what good is it if high-school students learn about Flaubert, biology, and trigonometry if they don’t learn how to take care of their money? One bright side to the increasingly dark economic news these days is that more and more people will learn (albeit the hard way) Rule No. 1: Do not buy what you cannot afford.

Nudge is a great book, though I'm only about half done, there are a good deal of principles and ideas I've picked up from it for use both personally and professionally. Also, my experience in the high schools is opposite from the opinion of this article, I've found Economics classes on the downturn while simply Personal Finance and such on the increase.

Read down to the end where she states the five things she would do if President, even for a day. Interesting.

Unfortunately, this is all too common around Africa. As I mentioned in a recent post while in Kenya, I was amazed at the pure joy and adulation and cheering when my team brought in an envelop of Ksh1000 (just over $15) for each lady at a center for women with HIV who are recovering and receiving job skills and work. I was sort of ashamed when I was told this amount would be sufficient for them, and humbled when I saw their reaction. The good thing is that they will use it to feed them and their children, keeping them healthy for a few more weeks anyway. The problem, though, is that this is only a temporary solution and will only last until the organization we went with brings in more food or another group of Americans come in. That isn't a good solution to the problem.

I continue to read how much of an issue food is becoming in the developing world and saw it with my own eyes this year, with no mention of methods of solving the problem. I reflected on this last night when I went to the grocery store for my weekly stock-up session. Yes, food is costing me more as well, much more in some cases, but it means for me that I simply have a little less disposable income to go out to eat or to go and have a $4 cup of coffee, for the women and children in Kenya or Burkina Faso, it means going without, sometimes for a day, sometimes more, and sometimes it means selling yourself so you children can eat. I pray for these women and children and I pray for the situation, that the Lord may move His people to care and pray and love and give and develop methods and solutions so that this may not continue on the course I fear it is headed.

This is exactly what I meant in the post below:

US Africa aid is increasingly military

This week's Economist published an article called "They came, they jawed, they failed to conquer" on the G8 summit last week in Japan. One paragraph stoodout to me:

On Africa, higher food prices seemed to make a mockery of G8 pledges made three years ago to raise annual aid levels by $25 billion until 2010, even before NGOs warned that the commitment was already slipping.

My mindset on aid to Africa is slowly but surely changing. I am beginning to see the absolute uselessness of it and how it actually may be keeping the people down in poverty. Not to say that some aid isn't needed, but it has to be with the mindset that it is a temporary help to pull the people up and make them self-sufficient. A while back (2002) WorldNetDaily published an article on "What Africa Needs: Sustainable Truth" and was a response at the time to street protestors in Davos and Seattle over the World Economic Forum that same year (you may have to check my facts on this, but I believe this was the reason for the protests). Anyway, two points stand out in the well-written (and almost prophetic, seeing it was written more than six years ago and many of the same issues have continued and even grown more serious) article:

Africa needs to face the fact that its famines are man-made, from Ethiopia (because of Soviet intervention), Zimbabwe (because of Mugabe's anti-white farm cleansing) and Malawi (because the World Bank said to sell off all the grain reserves). Perhaps GE foods can be blamed on the current famine in Malawi, but the issue goes far deeper than that.

Second, the world throws away enough food to feed billions. Argentina, if farmed properly could most likely feed the entire world's population. Koreans are very keen gardeners, so why is South Korea flooded with food while North Koreans only 50 miles north of Seoul eat bugs and the roots of trees? It's Stalinism, stupid - from Laos to Cuba to the Ukraine, Marxists create food shortages through their misguided, collectivist policies and lack of support for agriculture while spending money on arms.

Books like Giles Bolton's Africa Doesn't Matter are beginning to sway me away from some of my previous paradigms of small, localized aid programs (though I still believe those are the best methods to get the aid directly to the people) to more macro-economic aid to governments that prove they have integrity and are not siphoning millions into foreign accounts or bloated with tribal interests. (I'll also add that Bolton's book pointed out how stifling foreign aid can be on a government, with all the strings attached to the money given. Again, many times it actually accentuates the poverty.) I'm not there yet as I don't see enough integrity in all but a few of the governments (especially Kenya, where I have the most experience), but I can see myself being swayed in that direction.

In any case to summarize, Africa does need aid, but pretty soon Africa needs to step up to the plate and show that it is ready to jump into the global economy and become less reliant on foreign aid. And the West needs to realize that if it truly wants to help Africa, it must rid itself of self-interest and protectionism and truly help African in a way that will truly help Africa, not the US or Europe or especially China. Because right now, billions, almost hundreds of billions, are being sent over each year and nothing is happening save for another generation of people becoming poorer and most disease-ridden while dying at tragic rates.

Ten months before Sang died, the world cross-country championships took place in the coastal city of Mombasa, clear on the other side of Kenya. Brother Colm O'Connell wanted to give his students at St. Patrick's School in Iten a rare opportunity to see elite athletes in action. But the road to Mombasa is dangerous. Bandits patrol the long stretches of desolate terrain, which means breakdowns are potentially fatal. Corrupt police and bogus roadblocks also threaten motorists. So who could Brother Colm trust to safely shepherd a bus of innocent children to their destination?


My problem here is that I just drove this road last month and though my image of it is skewed since I am white and the police leave us along and I was in a fairly reliable vehicle during the day, I think the author drastically over-exaggerated the danger, which is not uncommon since he probably figures less than one tenth of one percent of people reading the article will have travelled that road, why not embellish a little? Good article, by the way.

Check out this article from the Freakanomics blog, very interesting stuff on climate change, and very similar to Lomborg's book Cool It which I reviewed here.

I understand legal bills (and the massive costs of running a dogfighting operation), but my sources show that Michael Vick made over $60 million in his short career, just on football, excluding endorsements. Let's conservatively say he made another $30 million in endorsements, though I'd guess it would be maybe double that. So he made AT LEAST $90 million in the past 8-9 years, and now, according to this article, he is filing for bankruptcy. I can understand how Tyson blew through over $300 million after hearing his expense list, I find it a little harder to believe how Vick went through that.

Why in the world is this news, especially news on the front page of Msn?

I played probably the best and toughest golf course in my life today as I was invited to play the River Course of Blackwolf Run. The gentleman who invited me has played some of the best courses on every continent except Australia (and I'm assuming Antarctica) including basically any course you can think of in the US (except Augusta) and said it is not only his favorite course but also the toughest course he has played. I found it just as challenging and liken it to a Troon course I played in Scottsdale years ago, though Troon was a links course. The penalty for misplaying is severe, if you do not hit the exact shot you need to off the tee you are in ABSOLUTE trouble. The fairways are nice and a little wider than I expected (at least on most holes) but the greens are crazy fast and the pins were in terrible locations today - perched, it seemed, always on the top of a "hill" where anything long was going 15 feet past and anything short may well come back down to you...it happened to me a few times. Four putts were not uncommon for me, nor for some in my group, though more for me. We played some sort of skins-type game and our opponent had a five footer to win a hole and wrap up the front nine. My partner said that he very well could three-putt from there, and he did.

The most frustrating thing is that there were so many times that I felt that I struck the ball well and hit a great shot, only to find a bunker just off the fairway or even hit the fairway and see if roll into a bunker. And if you made a mistake, it could be three or four shots until you get back in the game, which is why I sprinkled in a few snowmen in my score.

Overall, though for this being my first time playing this year and having only played twice last year, I was very happy, I scored a 51 on the back (felt I would be mid 40's at worst on an area course)- mainly due to my poor putting - but the front was a little slowers...it took a few holes to figure out I couldn't hit my driver, might as well put that in the bag and bring out the 3-wood or iron. It gave me the itch to go back, and I hope to have the chance again someday in the future.

If you think this sounds crazy or far-fetched, you haven't read Shame, Under the Banner of Heaven, or Infidel. If you haven't, I strongly suggest you do.

I was in Cincy for a couple of days this week at the North American Christian Convention to help run a booth and work a little for Tumaini. In Wednesday morning's main session, the featured speaker was a gentleman named Jon Weece from Southland Christian Church in Lexington, Kentucky. There was not a dry eye in the building as he told stories and talked to us about focusing more on the "who" (person of) Jesus rather than getting bogged down in the "what" or the external issues that cause us to lose sight of Him instead of "fixing our eyes on Jesus" as we are told by the author of Hebrews.

Two things really stood out to me in his speech. First, in 2005 he cancelled their Christmas services, instead calling his congregation to out into the community to be Jesus and be Christmas rather than come to a building and put on a show. I thought it was a great idea and he told powerful stories of the life- and eternity-changing results of that day (people going to restaurants and leaving thousand-dollar tips, little kids saving money and working extra to personally deliver gifts to not just people they didn't know, but their own classmates...I said, there was not a dry eye in the building) and the baptisms into Christ that happened shortly after. I thought it was a great idea, I guess I was in the minority. A quick google search of his name shows you how many people disagreed with him, he said he received 20,000 emails blasting him for that decision. And the ironic thing, according to him, was that he was not even at the elders meeting when the decision was made, but he hasn't missed one since :)

On the topic of the power of story is the second thing I'll never forget, he talked about getting to the essence of things and keeping them simple when simple is called for. He told the story of Hemingway who wrote what he felt may have been his best work when he wrote the short story in "flast fiction": For sale, baby shoes, never worn. I will never, ever, ever forget that story...the power of words, the power of story.

Back in action, finally caught up on sleep, some housework, etc., wanted to get back into posting a little. I really liked the following e-article I get weekly, I post it in full:

A Dangerous Good
We can all do a little good for a little while -- at least long enough to make a few friends and establish ourselves as "decent people." Indeed, a little charity, a little service, and a little friendliness can carry us a long way. But not in God's sight.

Our ability to impress each other with a winsome smile, a kind word, a great effort, or a sacrificial act can distract us from vigilant attention to God. Indeed, as Oswald Chambers suggests, such "natural virtues antagonize surrender to God."

The heart of the gospel is not niceness or decency but death.

The good news is not only that Christ died for our sins and rose again, but that as we continually die to Christ we too shall know the power of resurrection life. Many of us accept Christ's death but resist our own, for perhaps two reasons.

First, we misunderstand the gospel. We reduce it to a series of steps that we took to be born again. However, the gospel is not a key to the door of heaven but a way of life with Christ.

Second, we may find ourselves afraid to die daily to Christ because we lack confidence in the resurrection power of the Father. Jesus' instruction to the rich young ruler to sell everything and give it to the poor seemed dreadfully risky and outrageous to the young man. What if that simply made him destitute, too? Thus, his doubt in the Father's power to bring life out of death and fullness out of emptiness produced a basic disobedience. A decent young guy ... out of step with God.

It's much easier to impress people than surrender to God. The superficial world of smiles, handshakes, and small acts of service seems safe. But to reduce our lives to decency is to live a dangerous good. What matters most to you this week? Decency or death?

The greatest gift we can offer each other (friends, colleagues, family, and spouses) emerges from our utter submission to Christ.

May God grant us the courage for crucifixion and deeper confidence in His power to create beauty from ashes and life from our deaths.

In HOPE --

David

Landed well into Amsterdam, only a few hours sleep, but I seem to be doing fine.

I tried to write last night at the airport a few final thoughts but didn't get a chance, here is a condensed version that I may expand on in the next few days:

1) I made it pretty clear how homesick I got again this time and that unless Lisa returns with me next year, I may take a year off. I really feel that my time "running tour groups" may be over, and that if I return it will be with more specific work (teaching, a new project, etc.). That still stands, however...

2) The burden within me for the girls and women in Mathare who are sexually exploited and abused continues to be there. For the past couple of years this theme has been on my heart and I never knew where it would go, but I prayed that one day God would show me. This may be it. I can see raising funds, putting a center together, hiring some counselors, and supporting those who have been abused. That is very vague and much research is needed, but I can see the foundation beginning to sprout.

3) With that, I cannot explain the joy in spending time with dear brothers and sister in Kenya, and the latter part of this trip was no exception. I tried my hardest to change my ticket to fly home earlier, but in the end am glad I didn't as I would have missed out on so much the past few days. It begin on Monday with meeting a gentleman named Curtis Reed, an African-American brother in the Lord from Chicago who had a great incarnational ministry in a part of Nairobi called Eastlands. What a blessing to meet and spend time with this gentleman, he is truly doing Kingdom work!

In addition, Dan and I had the opportunity to spend three hours with Dotun Modupe yesterday at a coffee shop and my spine tingles and the little hair on my head stands up at the stories he tells and the work he is doing. This was my third trip working with Dotun, and each time I get more of a heart for what he is doing, what the Lord has done in his life, and the future of his ministry.

4) So as I return home, it is definitely with an anxious heart to see my family, but it is also one of anticipation and longing for prayer as to what the future may hold. Will Lisa return with me next year? Will I be doing more specific work with Tumaini? Will I begin the counseling center? Only the Lord knows, and I am trusting He will lead me and give me the heart for what happens next.

Walking home from dinner tonight, in the dark (which I've never done before), I was severely accosted by a large group of women with babies and young children who saw the skin color and wanted some. Severely phased by this, I reached into my pocket for some change and gave 25 shillings to a lady, which made her friend chase and yell at me all the more. So then I pulled out the first bill I could find in my pocket, a 500ksh note, and gave it to her, which just encouraged the others. Finally I had to appease the last two and have them split 200 shillings. In all it was only $10 but that is usually not who I like to give to. I just hope they were legitimately in need and that money went to feed a starving child or mother.

A couple of more reflections on the past couple of days:

First, the past couple of days have really given me a vision for what may be my future here. I wrote a few days ago about the amount of young girls sexually abused here, upwards of 60% in Mathare, with really no support or ministries for them. We saw at Tumaini the enormous need for counseling, and it seems to be apparent here as well. Those who know me know that I have a major heart in this area, I am praying about where the Lord takes that.

To make things more interesting we had lunch today with a friend of Dan's, Curtis, an African-American man from Chicago who lives here and ministers. I shared my heart with him and a short time later his fiance joined us. It turns out that she is studying at US International University, psychology and counseling. I shared my heart with her and inquired whether than area interested her, she responded that she doesn't know as she may not be able to objectively minister to the girls. Though this went right over my heart, Curtis shared with us later that she had been abused as a child by a relative, thus her inability to be objective. I expressed my sorrow, but he said no worry, pray that she would be able to enter that field as she would be perfect for a position with what she's gone through. My prayers are there.

We stayed by a gentleman the past two nights who hosted Dan when he stayed here two years ago. He and his son live in South C and he is retired from a big-time job with Coca-Cola, great people. We fellowshipped at Dan's church on Sunday, boring service but meeting Dan's friends was great. It was my first experience with true middle-class Kenyans, professionals, college students, etc. I have not been as happy in all of my five trips here, no asking for money, no projects in need of money, just good old-fashioned fellowship by young people who love the Lord!

Finally, we went out to dinner as a Brazilian Steakhouse last night, similar to the Carnivore without the exotic meats and price tag, but the meat was prepared much better. We spent the greater part of two hours with Philip and Charles, listening to African history, their take on regional politics, our experiences here and in US, etc. What a great time, again, one of the better in all of my time here.

But then reality hit us again today as we ventured back into town, only to be accosted again by kids, adults, etc. A security guard helped me get my things into the elevator and to my room in the hotel and as soon as the doors closed said to me, "You should invite me to the US with you," when I responded that he would need a visa, he said I could take care of it...seeing that I met him barely 15 seconds ago I think I'll pass.

Out for now...29 hours until I depart, around 63 until I land in Appleton.

Well, a transition time has come in our trip. The three ladies with us are gone, it is just Dan and I, and the time is winding down. A few thoughts:

First, we both had an hour massage yesterday, not exactly deep-tissue but solid nonetheless, other than the lady making fun of me (to me and Dan separately) that I was losing my hair, she said either I'm rich or old. I'm afraid both are coming too true.

We then went to Mathare and Kibera to again visit HEART's WEEP (Women's Empowerment and Education Program) centers which take in HIV+ single mothers, give them the necessary drugs, get them healthy, and teach them a tailoring skill and guarantee them a certain income through the program. It's very solid. Beyond that, the driver for HEART, William, bought the plot next to one of the centers and is using the first floor for the women to work and the second for them to live free of rent. He said we American's have been such an influence and encouragement on him and his family and the women that this was their way of giving back. Mind you, this is a gentleman was lives in Kibera, who does not have a rainy day fund, but thought it important to do his part. WOW!

We then went back to HEART, had dinner, and Dan and I went to a club called Casablanca. I've seen nothing in the US that rivals this place, it was crazy, and we were a little out of our league. Nevertheless we enjoyed a few drinks on the couches and made it back to the lodge before midnight.

Today we spend the morning with my friends Dotun and Ami and their ministry to refugees, specifically today Somalis. A great time. There was also a gentleman there affiliated with ITeams, the son of the founder, Craig Dyer. We had a good talk, it was a great time. The highlight was the intensive prayer time we had for peace in Somali (Dotun led us through 2 Kings 7 first, asking if we really believe that God can bring peace to that country), the children of Somali, and the believers from Somalia, that they can remain strong and one day go back to bring the Gospel to their country. It was powerful!

We are also now relying on public transportation, not my favorite but I can handle it, for a few days anyway. Only 79 more hours until I leave, you think I'm getting homesick?

Forgot to mention two things in my last post:

1) In the past few days, I've been referred to as a pastor, bishop, CEO, university lecturer, and one other that I can't remember, but never as a high school teacher. They like to embelish just a little here.

2) I read another book since my first post on books, one I found in Mombasa called "Shame," about a young girl from England whose parents moved there from India before she was born on the issue of forced marriages and the abuse of young girls and women. It reminded me a lot of "Infidel" and really burdened me again for the young girls out there forced into these situations. She now runs a counseling center in England for such women and tells the story of one lady who came to her, telling her that from the age of 8 she was raped by her brother and uncle, she told her mother but her mother beat her for bringing shame onto the family. Her brother found out that her mother knew and didn't do anything so he continued, only more frequently. Can you believe this? Imagine being in this situation!

I also was talking to Dan about a recent post about my grandfather, who looks like he may make it until I get home. I was telling him of the legacy my grandfather is leaving behind and how I don't see that from my life. Dan countered by having me imagine the treatment Lisa and the girls will receive if they ever come to Kenya. They will be treated like queens and princesses. He said it's all about where you make your investment. I think he's right and it's humbled me.

This may be the longest I've been away from an Internet connection since its existence, and it's killing me!

I'll be brief with a few updates:

We just returned from Masii visiting with children and the staff for a few days. A few highlights:

1) It was a true blessing to be able to see my daughter, Mwende, she has grown and it doing very well, I love that girl like she were my own.

2) We went to another school where they had the best basketball facilities I've seen in rural Kenya. I talked to the coach, told him I also coached, and asked if the five of us (two guys, three girls) would take on his team. He agreed, we played, they scored the first four points and I was scared! We came back to take the lead and it was tied at the end, we prevailed by four points. One of the girls was really good, I wanted to recuit her but she is already a senior. One thing I'd like to do in the future is come here to do two or three day camps at some of the high schools, I think they would like that.

3) One cannot explain the roads, it's that bad.

4) We went into the nearby city, Machakos, to watch one of the Tumaini boys run in a track meet. He ran a few events, he ran the 400 meter, and won. He performed this morning in Nairobi at a competition to quality for some meet in Poland. He took third and I have not been told yet if that allowed him to quality. This guy is fast, he ran the 400 meter in 47 seconds, I'm still checking to see how that would stand in our state track meet.

5) The best times I found here are when we take the last evening and fellowship with dinner and prayer and words with the Kenyan staff. What a great group of people who give their lives tirelessly to the children, love them and cherish them and bring them up in a loving environment. I am humbled by their care and love, I couldn't be happier with this group of people.

We then returned early this morning to Nairobi to join HEART and visit the Community Transformers and Weep projects in Mathare. For those of you not familiar, Mathare is a slum of around 700,000, much worse than what I've seen of Kibera, and is where much of the strife occurred in post-election violence earlier this year. A few thoughts:

1) I like to look for solutions for the poverty, I cannot think of one right now to help this place.

2) It is thought that over 60% of the girls are abused sexually in this area. I was asked to pray at the end and prayed especially for the girls, that God intervenes and protects them. With two young dauthers I just can't fathom this and am angered by it!

We are now at HEART waiting to go eat at Carnivore, I will have more thoughts later.

Couple more thoughts, glad to see a few of you are tuning in, I appreciate the comments:

1) What's happening to my Lakers?

2) Read three books so far on flight and downtime, two I strongly consider: "Standard Operating Procedure," a new look at Abu Graib by Philip Gourevitch; and "Africa Doesn't Matter," a critical look at African aid and the ways the West works to ensure Africa remains dependent, this one made me rethink some long-standing paradigms I've held onto, rethink but not change yet, need to process more.

3) I had to fly from Mombasa to Nairobi this morning for a meeting with a possible granting organization and flew right over Kilimanjaro, what a beauty and special sight! Unfortunately, it seems to be losing snow and they are hoping with it being winter here that some will come back. A great sight nonetheless.

4) We built in two days in Mombasa this year at the beach, beautiful area, and now the work begins. I'm just off to lunc with some of our Tumaini girls who are studying in Nairobi, then off to Masii for four days with the ministry, back to Nairobi to work with HEART in Mathare and Kibera, then a couple of days (hopefully) with Dotun and International Teams with Somali Refugees, then a couple of more days with other ministries we've not yet shored up. Now is when the fun begins!

Keep us in your prayers for safety and the Lord drawing us closer to Him!

A few thoughts on my first few days here in Kenya and my trip over:

1) Amsterdam is flat, flat like I've never seen before. I thought central WI and Nebraska were flat, this takes it to another level completely. It now makes sense why rising water level can affect this country more than any other.

2) I hate always asking for exit rows on flights, but I always do, and am often successful. I had the best seat ever on the way over, I was able to lounge back, stretch out, and sleep for six of the eight hour flight. Of course, that meant I would get no sleep the next two nights, but it was worth it.

3) Our driver let me drive for 2.5 hours yesterday, on the highway and into Mombasa. The highway was fine, the group didn't like my driving in Mombasa, I would explain the traffic but there is no comparison that anyone would recognize, not even if you've been to Mexico.

4) I'm in what Morrie Schwarz would call a tension of opposites right now. On one hand, I feel this may be my last trip for a while. The travel, cost, and time away from family is just wearing on me too much of late. I can see taking a couple of years off.

On the other hand, I feel that I am just beginning my work. The problem is that I feel I need more to do here, more concrete projects, than just bringing teams over and visiting the people. It's a true tension of opposites and one I really need to commit more time to prayer for.

That's it for now, we are one more day in Mombasa, tomorrow I fly back to Nairobi for a meeting, then off to Masii for a few more days.

A final thought on the flight. The drive from Masii was almost 8 hours yesterday, but on very good roads. I have to fly to Nairobi for my meeting and then drive to Masii, only two hours but on terrible roads. The roads are so bad that I seriously don't know whether the 8 hours on good roads or two hours on bad road is better or worse. Yes, it's that bad. (The only good news is that they are that bad because they are being fixed...hopefully next year...if I come back.

Missler says it well here in his discussion on Islam and Christianity:

Islam is making its way in the West, but it would have far less success without dead Christianity. Dead Christianity is a vaccine that inoculates people against the real thing. True Christianity is full of life and health through the Spirit of God. Dead Christianity has few answers, and looks no different than any other religion on earth. Christ-centered Christianity is full of holy power that frees people and heals lives. The Christians of Iran have found what too many Western churches have lost - Jesus Christ. If we get him back in our churches, in our homes and our lives, we'll be leading the Muslims to him, rather than the other way around.

This would be hilarious if it wasn't for the four kids they left behind and the seriousness of the issue. How can people live like this or do this to other people? Frequent Abandonment?

...sued to dissolve the union (see excerpt on Page 6) in Charleston, S.C., family court. Jennifer cited Bill's "adultery, addiction to marijuana and alcohol, abusive behavior, physical abuse, sexual addictions and frequent abandonment." She has asked the court to determine whether the pre-nup is valid. The couple has four children.

Chuck Tooman is a guy I met a few years ago when we were doing the house church. I still receive periodic emails from him. I found the latest one very encouraging and moving and though I wish I could link the entire text, I'll post just a few paragraphs:

A recent radio broadcast claimed pornography to be the new battle ground, and expressed alarm over the possibility that this war will be even more intense than the abortion issue because of the intensity with which lust has saturated our society. Urgent voices pleaded for creative, dedicated minds to respond now.

My heart¡¦s immediate and painful response was, ¡§No! No! No! That¡¦s the wrong focus! Jesus says, ¡¥If I be lifted up I will draw all men to me.¡¦ Jesus is the focus, not pornography! We have pornography because we have quit lifting up Jesus!!¡¨

I shake my head and wonder. When are we going to get it?! When are we going to learn?! Satan has to be dancing to his heart¡¦s delight because the more we battle issues¡Xno matter what they are¡Xthe less we focus on Jesus. We thoughtlessly rush into what we can do instead of trusting God for what He can do.

When we battle pornography, abortion, gambling, war, the environment, immigration or any other issue here on earth Satan has a heyday because we are battling on his turf and he¡¦ll welcome those approaches any day. Why? Because he¡¦ll use up and destroy resources that could be used for spreading the gospel, and he¡¦ll gleefully use up and destroy people because people are what make up the Kingdom.

We must fight the battles in the heavenly realm, and we do that by lifting up Jesus Christ. As we lift up Jesus Christ and pray for people to be more Christ-like, a strange thing happens: they become more Christ-like. As we lift people up for healing through Christ, another strange thing happens: they become healed. Prayer lifting up Christ has changed the tides of battles, the outcomes of wars and the directions of nations, and that should not surprise us because scripture tells us that the king¡¦s heart (and everything else) is in the hand of the Lord.

AHHHHHHH! I wish I could post more, this is great stuff. And timely...I had a conversation with a colleague today about the environment and how he was twisting Scripture to pass his viewpoints on. I am all for turning off the lights, conserving gas, etc., but whether I do this or don't has absolutely zero bearing on my relationship with Christ. If I feel He has called me to this, I need to obey. If I feel He has called me to AIDS orphans in Kenya, I need to obey. If I feel He has called me to rich businessmen in Palm Springs in December, I need to obey, and no one can question or qualify that.

I thought Donald Miller said this well in Searching for God Knows What when he discussed how we always try to measure ourselves against our neighbor..."I'm more green than her"..."I read from the King James Version"..."I go to such and such a church"...we might be better off just lining everyone in the world up next to each other from the most spiritual to the least, then at least we'd know where we stood. I love the sarcasm!

My colleague also went on to tell me that a local Presbyterian Church invited him to make a presentation on the environment or being green or something. I didn't get any deeper as I had to leave, but if this is in the sermon or during the service, I would not be happy, that and half of what we preach on Sundays has no business in the gatherings. If it's on a Tuesday night or something or before or after service for those who wish to attend, no issues.

Furthermore, and finally, I am still not convinced that this is a biblical issue. Jesus never addressed it not did Paul, all I can get from my colleague is that "we should be good stewards of God's Creation" which he tells me is in Genesis 1, when I reply that Genesis 1 actually reads:

God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."
Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so.

So then I am told that "...well, wouldn't you think that "rule" means to rule wisely..." which I reply that I would think that but I wouldn't KNOW until I looked up the Hebrew text and found out for myself what "rule" means...instead of reading my own preconceived notions into the text I could engage in proper biblical exegesis and look it up and see what it really means, but then that might not suit my needs...I'd rather plead ignorance.

In addition, my basic understanding of this is that the world is also under a curse due to the Sin of Man and as we humans do, so also the earth is awaiting a time of redemption, whether we go green and save it or not:

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. - Romans 8:22-23

I could go on, and I might talk about his use of a verse in Micah in a future post, but I'm out of steam right now.

I left my grandfather's house this afternoon, saying goodbye to him for possibly the last time. He is full of cancer and was just diagnosed with pneumonia this week. He looked pretty good and was able to get up and around, but the long-term prognosis is not good. He may have a few weeks in him, but I leave next week for over two weeks, so he'd have to hang on for almost a month for me to see him again.

I'm not good with good-byes, so I encouraged him to stay strong, that I'd see him in a few weeks, etc., but I'm just not sure.

What really struck me as I was taking Maiya on a ride through his land was the legacy he's leaving. I'm not too big on legacies and not too worried what mine will be (other than I hope it'll be that I followed Jesus with all my heart), but with his it is how well-respected he is. I was leaving the yard with Maiya on the four-wheeler and when we got on the road a farmer passed us. I had no idea who he was and he had no idea who I was, but I was leaving Tom Nate's yard so he waved to me, there was respect with that. He worked two jobs his whole life (millwright and farmer), kept up 120 acres of land, milked cows twice a day, kept the place clean and had time in the evenings to come to our sporting events. My Kenyan friend Japheth came to visit and I took him out to see Grandpa, his first reaction was, "this is a strong old man," Grandpa was 73 at the time, but Japheth just knew. Kendyl is always talking about "Tom" and loves the dog. For a man with just an 8th grade education, he's done better than I may ever dream of. I'm proud to be one of his descendents and pray he hangs on until I get home and maybe even until Kendyl's birthday party on July 6.

Response to JP Video Blog

What a poser!!! Over 7 minutes of video, and not ONE BIBLE VERSE. Excellent sermon dude, lets be all laid back, open collar, leaning on his wrist, what a leader man!! I'm so jealous, i wish he were my pastor. I do however agree partially, mainly to the point about being called to Palm Springs, or Myrtle Beach, or Panama City during Spring Break. I really do think this is a joke, taking a summer long outreach in some of the most beautiful places in the world. I guess the inner cities don't have enough people to outreach too, and I'm sure people on the beach are way more receptive. PNate out!

More SG, I look at his articles just for one-liners like this:

The Lakers fans? They treated it like any other game, mainly because they could -- again, the Lakers have the best team. Because of the early start time, the fans didn't even fill the arena until midway through the second quarter. They ran a "Kiss Cam" during one timeout and had a fan attempt a half-court shot during another. You wouldn't have even known it was the playoffs except for the competitiveness of the game (way up there) and a spectacular "Hollywood Nights" montage of celebs that featured Tobey Maguire, Cameron Diaz, Flea and others, ending as always with a semi-disoriented Jack Nicholson standing up and applauding like a homeless person.

I received the video below a few days ago with this pretext:

"I would ask why does it matter if someone leaves your church and starts another one in the same city, the same part of town even?

Is he trying to harm the pastor and the church he came from? Is he being obedient to God's leading? Was he frustrated about the church he was in? Trying to minister to a group of people not reached by his former church (nor any other churches)?

When is it appropriate, and inappropriate, for someone to leave a church to start another church? And, when is it appropriate to call such a person a church 'pirate', and when is it harsh to do so?"

Before watching the video, I responded with the following:

1) I would be that at least half (and I am being very conservative) of US church growth post-1980 has been from people leaving one church and going to another. I’m not saying it’s right or wrong, just making a guess.

2) Research shows that churches of less than 100 are faster growing and their people go deeper in their relationship with the Lord, the more churches the better.

3) I don’t believe the culture or context of the New Testament speaks to this topic. I often hear that in the NT there were city-churches, not like we have now. I can’t disagree as I wasn’t there, but you also had a plethora of house-churches with their own issues on this matter, i.e. “What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas[a]"; still another, "I follow Christ.”

4) I am inexperienced in this matter, but I have never encountered one situation where a person started and church and then “robbed” another church of their people. I have seen people leave one church or another for various reasons, good and bad, but not be “stolen.”

5) Jesus was the ultimate sheep stealer, and that was one issue that got Him crucified.

Then I watched the link:



Then I responded with the following:

Who does this guy think he is?

Why is he talking on this topic?

He sure wants to play the part, nice little suit, no tie, sitting down, etc.

He really turned me off and I didn’t agree with what he had to say at all. The corporate world would be in jail? It happens every day in the corporate world.

I added that I thought he was arrogant and everything I've seen about him or his church has been about him. I don't like the guy.

The Sports Guy is being extra tough on Ray Allen:

And Allen has been so atrocious that the home crowd gets extra excited every time he shoots a jumper, to the point that it's a little embarrassing. As reader Sals in Toronto described it, "Is Ray Allen THAT bad now? Watching the Boston crowd rally behind him after a 12-footer is like watching the Jason McElwain story all over again." Ouch. But it's true.

I have a book and a half to finish and then on to one of the books I've been looking forward to reading for some time, Why We're Not Emergent: By Two Guys Who Should Be. A review was done here, and I like the following quote:

“Some of us long for teaching that has authority, ethics rooted in dogma, and something unique in this world of banal diversity,” DeYoung writes. “We long for Jesus—not a shapeless, formless good-hearted ethical teacher Jesus, but the Jesus of the New Testament, the Jesus of the church, the Jesus of faith, the Jesus of two millennia of Christian witness with all of its unchanging and edgy doctrinal propositions.”

Forgive me, I am totally geeked up about this!