Compelled by the love of Christ...

Teach me not to duck...

2011-08-26T18:14:00.044-05:00

The entries of the past two days have been a report on an event connected with a movement that might be a historical moment for the Presbyterian church. I have not hidden who I am and have tried to be transparent in reflecting on the events of each day for those who were unable to be present - the only place my speech is constrained is the pulpit, where I am bound to preach the Word of God to particular people in a particular place as the Spirit inspires, and as the Spirit translates to the hearer. The rest is the observation and opinion of a fellow believer struggling to be faithful.

Pastors have responsibilities for the congregations entrusted to them by God. We are supposed to keep an eye out for where the Spirit is at work and inform God's people. We are charged with encouraging our congregations to pray and discern God's will for these people in this place. We are expected to lead, instruct, direct, challenge and admonish, but not to push or drive. We are not to intentionally - or negligently - mislead them, neglect them or abandon them. We are not to be afraid and we are to help our congregations to conquer their fear.

I came to this Gathering because I take this responsibility so seriously that I didn't want anyone else to interpret it for me, to cherry-pick what was reported or to filter it through the lens of their own context, which is not the context of the congregation I shepherd.

The people with whom I shared table discussions were across-the-board in their congregational contexts and needs, but everyone was primarily interested in whether or not God was creating some new thing or if God and their community would be best served by the way and in the place where they were presently serving.

I had good, frank and open conversations with other moderators and executive presbyters, pastors, elders and leaders from congregations large and small, urban and rural on both sides of the issues involved. We were addressed by a seminary president and respected scholars and pastors. There were people present from 800 congregations in all 50 states.

There are many good things about who we are. Reform theology is unique and life-changing. But we cannot continue to pretend that everything is well with the PCUSA - the GA Moderator and Stated Clerk were both present and engaged in the conversation and agreed that the PCUSA needs to be "reconstructed." I am unwilling to "guess" at what God's will might be - I have to pray, investigate, learn and discern - but I have not taken a stand with anyone but Jesus.

Nevertheless, the previous post is the charge of every congregation - we shouldn't be afraid of honest self-assessment and taking risks to become better people than we presently are. Every congregation - Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, Nazarene, Baptist, Reformed and non-denominational should ask themselves: What would our ministry look like if we were listening to neighbors? Should we consider planting a daughter church? In a post-denominational world, does our congregation's name communicate; to 21st century people who we are when people who have no clue what a "Presbyterian" is, except perhaps that it is for "rich" and educated people? None of those questions requires a denominational change - but they do require an open mind and a willingness to change for the sake of others.

One of the last prayers of the Gathering went like this: Lord, help me today to see the world through your eyes. May my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God, and may my heart dance with the things that make His heart dance. And when the Holy Spirit puts something in front of me, teach me not to duck.

Lead On O King Eternal

2011-08-25T22:26:00.000-05:00

Winding down after a long day - going through my notes, it won't be possible to post all of the details of the information that we were given regarding the nuts-and-bolts of the "four tiers" of the Fellowship options (Stay and be missional in place; presbyteries-within-presbyteries; ecclesial "orders"; and a "New Reformed Body" - NRB - that is yet to be named). Those things will be on the Fellowship website, and I will be debriefing with Session and probably preaching some of it this Sunday. I do, though, want to write about the spirit of those present.

Worship has been extraordinary - of course, it's always great to worship God in a "packed house" - but this has been a very sweet time. The praise & worship band from Christ Church in Edina, MN has been leading worship with some great contemporary renditions of traditional hymns - a near-perfect example of "Reformed Contemporary Worship."

There is a special emphasis on communicating in ways that exhibit humility - it is important not to be angry or demonizing. Neither fear nor anger is a trademark of the gospel. Many of the people on both sides of the issues have been friends and colleagues in ministry for years.

The analogy of Abram and Lot was used as a way of using separation as an honorable way of keeping a family together (Gen. 13:8-9) - "If you go to the left, I will go to the right; if you go to the right, I will go to the left" so there will be no strife between us.

Discussion of the decline in the mainline denominations revealed two things about the PCUSA:

1) Neither the Northern church nor the Southern church nor the reunited church has grown since 1969.

2) Two questions that used to have to be answered in narrative form every year by a Presbyterian congregation were: "How have you seen the Spirit at work in your congregation during the past year?" and "How has your church extended itself beyond its bounds? (New church developments, outpost Sunday Schools, mission, etc.)? The last year those questions were asked was 1925. The beginning of decline can be traced to 1925.

More interesting things and memorable comments:

The PCUSA has 11,000 congregations and 4,000 churches without pastors.

"The only promiscuity Calvin ever endorsed was the promiscuity of the gospel!"
Mission statement of one congregation: "Love Jesus. Love people. Prove it."

Sign on the door of a church: "Come in and live!"

With regard to our ethnic brothers and sisters:

10A has resulted in strong push-back from our Korean and Hispanic congregations. The Koreans have the track record of growth, giving and mission that puts the rest of us to shame and are completely unwilling to tolerate a disregard of Scriptural authority. "We are being asked to choose between the Word of God and the denomination" and "For whom do our churches exist?"

The Hispanic congregations are mostly appalled by what they view as a "clear departure from orthodoxy" and because of the way grace has been cheapened - their community suffers mightily from the effects of sin and their church relies on the transformative qualities of the gospel message ("The people in my neighborhood don't need to hear that their sin doesn't matter"). The Presbyterian Church in Mexico has officially disaffiliated with us as a mission partner until we repent, and the Brazilians probably won't be far behind.

"We must move from merely having 'mission projects' to having a 'missionary imagination' and a 'missionary lifestyle.'"

Another encouragement: The organizers of this event have been in dialogue with Louisville for six months now and those talks have been cordial, with both parties expressing a desire to maintain an ongoing relationship in the midst of their differences.

This fall - October-ish - there will be regional gatherings to talk about Essential Tenets of the Faith ("what is your 'line in the sand'"; what 'strong core' can we establish so we don't have to be 'constantly policing the borders'?)

In January 2012 there will be a "Constitutional Convention" in Orlando to formally establish the NRB (whatever it will be named).

Can we see ourselves as part of this new thing God is doing? Can we see ourselves planting a new worshiping community as one of the 250-planned Fellowship new church developments? Could we imagine listening to our neighbors in our neighborhood to see what value our congregation could bring to their lives? Would we submit to the transformation of our congregation by the Spirit? Would we let God give us a new name? (Isaiah 62:2b: "You shall be called by a new name which the mouth of the Lord will name.")

Thinking of my airborne friends...

2011-08-25T06:42:00.000-05:00

In my meditation this morning, I was thinking of the my traveling seatmates that I mentioned yesterday...the "understanding" that they exhibited about the things of faith - things to which they were adamantly committed and even "evangelistic" - were things that they had created for themselves, a sort of "paste-up" God and view of how the world operates. They had drawn from atheism (there is no God), philosophy (God is an uncaring gamesman), ancient paganism (we are at the mercy of a capricious God), humanism (what you call God is really your "inner self"), Hinduism (karma - what goes around comes around, and reincarnation) and simple arrogance (the Bible is a completely human construction, a collection of made-up myths).

When I first realized I was called to pastor, I prayed that God would give me a pastor's heart. What a painful prayer that has turned out to be - it's like having a new set of eyes that sees people more as God sees them (and us). It brings dimension to the teachings of Scripture about the condition of humanity and human rebellion; how blinding and enslaving sin is; how selfish and self-centered the unregenerate human is; how desperate they are to want to believe they are in control; how angry they are at injustice, even as their arguments promote that they only want justice for others (but mercy for themselves). But even as offensive as the unregenerate human can be in their expressions of their desires, their condition is heart-rending and pathetic, compelling those of us who love God to reach out - to keep trying.

For me, that's why these meetings in Minneapolis are necessary and why the "10A issues" are sourced in false teaching and the authority of Scripture. For the church to come to people like my seatmates bereft and empty-handed of a gospel that frees and transforms is the worst kind of hypocrisy.

Going to Minneapolis

2011-08-24T23:28:00.000-05:00

It's 10 pm and I thought I should post a bit about my experiences in Minneapolis with the Fellowship Gathering of Presbyterians...

There are nearly 2,000 Presbyterian pastors and elders present, including 68 executive presbyters and 30 GA staffers from Louisville.

My day started with a flight from Dallas to Minneapolis via St. Louis. God set to work right away: I was seated in the middle between a woman about my age, an agnostic who was into karma and New Age and a man about 35-ish who was (I thought) sleeping. The woman asked why I was going to MN and I told her and then the questions about spirituality started. The man woke up and started asking questions, too - he was a physicist who was an atheist. The conversation was complicated, but in the end, I learned these things that they believed:

The concept of sin is offensive to them because they are "good" people. They believe they do not act on their bad impulses. They don't hate anyone. They are in control of their lives and are managing well. The Bible is made up and meaningless, as is the concept of God. From what they know of God, they think we're pieces being moved around on a game board. Their source is themselves and their faith is in their own abilities. Personal testimony made little impression on them because they viewed it as the Christian "mis-labeling" as God's intervention what was really coincidence or just finally getting one's act together.

They like the idea of karma because it is "fair" to make people "pay" for their mistakes - but disliked the Bible's concept of people having to "pay" for their own sins (not fair), or Jesus "paying" for their own sins (unnecessary, because they don't sin) - and failed to see the incongruity. The discussion was circular, illogical, shallow and sad. I was surprised how vigorous their opposition to the gospel was and how strong their self-confidence was. I believe we were all seated there for God's reasons - they, who would likely never be in church, got to question a believer for 2 hours; and I got an opportunity to experience interaction with people truly opposed to the things of God. We all get the opportunity pray that the Holy Spirit will continue to strive with these people and to increase our love for them.

This evening in Minneapolis was a precious reunion with dear friends I hadn't seen since seminary as well as some pleasant surprises to see others I hadn't known would be here.

Some congregations have sent their whole Session at great expense. There is a great sense of expectation and hopefulness that this event could spark renewal and reform in the church.

There was an hour and a half of very special worship - Worship focused on the Great Ends of the Church: The Proclamation of the Gospel for the Salvation of Humankind (Col. 1:15-23); The Shelter, Nurture and Spiritual Fellowship of the Children of God (Eph. 3:14-19); The Maintenance of Divine Worship (Romans 11:33-12:2); the Preservation of the Truth (Matt. 7:24-29); the Promotion of Social Righteousness (James 2:14-24); and the Exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the World (Rev. 21:1-7).

There were some very gifted musicians who played cello, guitar and keyboard, and who led us in singing some of the great hymns of the church as well as others like "In Christ Alone" - that brought everyone to their feet. Praising God with 2,000 pastors and elders was an extraordinary experience.

No one knows what the result of this gathering will be - Some have come to find out how to be "faithful in place"; others to explore "Presbyteries Within Presbyteries"; still others to discuss the possibility of a "New Reformed Body." Tomorrow afternoon we will hear from Cindy Bolbach, the GA Moderator; tomorrow evening, our worship will be led by Dr. Richard Mouw, President of Fuller Theological Seminary. On Friday, my friend Rev. James Kim will be part of a panel asking, "What is your vision of the Church Jesus wants us to be?"

Please pray for our time together, that we will be humble and restrained in our conversations; that the Holy Spirit would enlighten our understanding of what the way forward should be; for the pastors and elders from congregations struggling to be faithful; that the church would be spared from division.

Christian Virtue is a Team Sport - What is it about Sex?

2011-07-12T11:25:00.000-05:00

Tom Wright laments that when groups of Christians are faced with outside opposition, our tendency is to turn on one another with factional fighting. In wondering about why moral discussions in the church center on "a few favored issues, especially sex:.." he offers that this discussion might be "a 'displacement activity' when we can't cope with the question of how, why and when a whole family of Christians should (but can't) come together in mutual love and support. That doesn't mean that sexual ethics are unimportant. On the contrary, they are symptomatic of the health or unhealth of the wider community."

"Personal morality is enormously important, but over-concentration on it can function as a displacement activity when we don't want to address the larger, equally important issues."

What these "larger, equally important issues" involve are: when the "rule" against embezzlement is broken, the "larger issue" is that trust is destroyed. When the "rule" against adultery is broken, the "larger issue" is that the entire faith community "suffers a kind of moral electric shock" that undermines the moral fabric of their world.

So (me here) the ongoing struggle within our denomination over sexual ethics - including both the insertion and deletion of the "fidelity and chastity" standard for church officers - is a distraction (a displacement activity) from the larger issues of our lack of unity on a myriad of other matters. (Insert your list here).

Christian Virtue is a Team Sport - Rumble Strips

2011-07-12T10:54:00.005-05:00

Tom Wright again:

There is an old saying: Give someone a fish and you feed them for a day; teach someone to fish and you feed them for life. Paul's normal practice is the latter:...Give people a command for a particular situation and you help them to live appropriately for a day; teach them to think Christianly about behavior, and they will be able to navigate by themselves into areas where you hadn't given any specific instructions....(199)

Paul gives initial guidelines that only look like the "old rules" to keep people on track while they are learning new habits of the heart. The illustration that sold me on this interpretation is "rumble strips": When roads are built, they are built for long distances, with the intent that people should drive in full control of their cars..."ideally, nobody will ever stray from their side of the road into the path of traffic coming in the other direction." But because of distractions, loss of concentration and mechanical failures, "the wise highway builders construct a central barrier, so that any car drifting toward oncoming traffic will be stopped in its tracks...likewise they build a 'rumble strip' at the outer edge of the highway, short of the ditch."

"Those responsible for building roads are not saying, 'There you are, there's a nice crash barrier [for you to bounce off of...they're saying], 'You're supposed to drive down the road without touching the barriers. But if something goes wrong you may need to know the barrier is there."

The barriers are still there - they are real and necessary for the unity of the church, for the integrity of the disciple and for moving toward life in the realized Kingdom of God. But it's better to concentrate on our driving skills than on the quality of our bumpers.

Christian Virtue is a Team Sport

2011-07-12T10:21:00.004-05:00

Sometimes I think I don't have an original idea (does anybody?) because I "process" so much of what I'm reading in this blog. But few people have the luxury of reading as much as pastors do.

I've returned to an interrupted reading of N.T. Wright's After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters. The best thing about this book (so far) is his rehabilitation of Paul from our black-and-white understanding of him:

"A large number of Christians have assumed that the foundation of Paul's thinking goes like this: He spent the first part of his life trying to keep the rules of his religion, and then discovered not only that he couldn't but that the rules weren't the point. God didn't want rule-keeping, he wanted 'spontenaeity.' God had forgiven him all his rule breaking, in and through Jesus Christ, and was now giving him his Spirit, who would produce the "fruit without all that horrible moral striving." (191)

The correction he offers is that Paul believed that when the church's focus on the meeting of personal moral standards results in "huge fights" within the church (in Galatia), it is a "sign that something has gone wrong" within the community of faith because "Christian virtue is a team sport."

When Paul lists the behaviors he associates with "the flesh" in the vice list in Galatians 5.19-21:

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God

he is giving examples of "what happens when humankind turns in on itself and away from God...the roads which do not lead in the direction [of the coming kingdom]...the ways people on earth keep the life of heaven at bay...and so declare by their behavior that they want to keep earth just the way it is, in its present corrupt and decaying form."

He goes on to point out that the fruit of the Spirit does not grow automatically, as though we sit back and wait for the fruit to arrive: "If self-control was automatic, why would self-control be needed?" (196) You have to choose to live in the Spirit.

Truth and Legalism

2011-06-16T16:00:00.002-05:00

    Reading Eric Metaxas' biography, Bonhoeffer, is making me late for a lot of meetings and appointments lately. I can't walk past it without reading a few pages, because it contains so many nuggets from Bonhoeffer's diaries and notes that shed light on his theology, as well as the development of his thoughts that led to his resistance during WWII.

   Have gotten to the "tipping point" section, where excerpts from his unfinished work, Ethics examine the relationship between Truth (a Big Topic in mainline denominations these days) and Legalism (Big Topic No.2 )

  In Tegel prison, Bonhoeffer wrote an essay titled, "What Does it Mean to Tell the Truth." He wrote that God's standard of truth involves more than merely "not lying," and requires a deeper level of obedience.

   Never telling a lie is "easy religious legalism." The illustration he used is if a teacher asks a child in front of the class if her father is a drunkard, (and he is) and the child answers, "No," then our first impression is that the child has told a lie.

   Bonhoeffer believed that the "flip side of the easy religious legalism of never telling a lie" was the cynical notion that there is no such thing as truth, only "facts." But if our relationship with God orders everything else around it, then we can't separate our actions from our relationship to God. So: If this child standing before her teacher is responding from the seat of her understanding of both her relationship to God and to her father, then for her to answer factually in public that he is a drunkard, is to dishonor her father in truth, damaging her relationship with God and with her father, which would be a greater sin before God..

   He wrote this about the "truth legalist": "He dons the halo of fanatical devotee of truth who can make no allowance for human weaknesses, but in fact he is destroying the living truth between men. He wounds shame, desecrates mystery, breaks confidence, betrays the community in which he lives and laughs arrogantly at the devastation he has wrought and at the human weakness which 'cannot bear the truth.'"
Nothing like a German theologian to turn my brain into a pretzel. This is much deeper than simple situational ethics - this is Sermon on the Mount Stuff. Better to think about such things now, before Jesus asks us what we think about it.

Us versus Grace

2011-06-15T08:58:00.000-05:00

     In a room full of traffic offenders, almost everyone is indignant that they have been caught speeding when others (who were, apparently, faster and therefore "more wrong") got away without being stopped, and so the offenders who were slow enough to get caught should not be found guilty. Awesome logic, that.

     The second attempt to deflect attention away from one's own bad actions is to blame something inanimate that forced your unlawful action: "The speed limit is too low on that road," (as though every driver is empowered to be his or her own legislature); or "It was raining/there was a lot of construction/I was in a strange neighborhood/it was dark and I couldn't stop/avoid the collision/see the stop sign," (as though there was no driver responsibility to avoid obstacles or adjust their driving according to road conditions).

     When I was a judge in my previous life, I used to try to explain that in America, self-government meant that we were expected to use self-restraint and respect the rights of others; and that people shouldn't complain about the government making "too many laws" because it is their own behavior that caused the proliferation of laws: folks couldn't manage to drive in a single lane, in the same direction, at a safe speed.   (Someone once told me that "if you throw the book at somebody you don't get to lecture them; if you're reducing the fine, you can say whatever you want...")!

     The following profundity is why I love studying the Bible in small groups...while not an exact quote, the gist of the comment was:

"When people can't restrain themselves and respect others, we create rules. When there are lots of rules, people break them. It becomes a lot of trouble to deal with the rulebreakers, so we just declare everyone right."

That's our way. This is God's way:

This is the way to live a God-centered life. Exceeding these limits will result in chaos, sickness and death. I know you will not only break through these limits, you will bend them and blur them and blame others. I love you and will forgive you for this, but you are still wrong in both your understanding and your actions, and I want you to let me steer you back to the best course, a better way.

So when Grace is available, why do we still insist on being right?

Compromised Christian

2011-06-13T11:20:00.001-05:00

When John Calvin used the term "total depravity," he wasn't trying to say that human beings were totally, completely evil through and through.

What he was getting at is that whatever we do, good or bad, is "tinged" (a little bit colored, a little bit spoiled) by sin. This is my personal test: Did you ever do anything selfless and good? Are you proud of it? Well, there ya go. I like to think of it as being a "blue man" - we look like respectable people, we want to do the right thing, and sometimes we can do good things, but there's always that little bit of blue that won't scrub off, and leaves a smudgy fingerprint on everything we touch.

Pentecost has me thinking about how Jesus is Lord over the whole world and all of life whether you've asked Him to be or not. It can't be any other way. Christ is either Lord of all of life or none of it. "Brothers and sisters, what shall we do?" (Acts 2:37b) "...What kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives." (2 Peter 3:11b)

In nearly every crisis situation there is some spiritual aspect, where the person or persons involved have tried to do something they thought was a good thing (like getting married, raising children, starting a new job, lending money to a friend or family member, and on and on), without considering what God's will might be for their lives, or what Scripture says about it. The protests usually begin, "But I thought..." or "Why would God..." God gets blamed for plenty of things God didn't do...

Week after week, people go back to whatever it was they were trying to do on their own, thinking that spending family time at a sports event is as helpful - or better - than being in church together; children are dropped off at Sunday School while parents go out to breakfast, leaving the church to attempt to accomplish in one hour a week what God tasked parents to do on a daily basis; couples go off to spend a weekend at a swanky hotel hoping that it will save a marriage the same way that praying together and having the support of a church family can; singles rush to nightspots looking for "Mr. or Mrs. Right" on Friday and Saturday nights instead of waiting on God's choice.

Of course, we thank God for grace. Of course, we will all continue to make mistakes. Of course, nobody's perfect. Of course, the blood of Jesus gives us "white fingerprints" instead of blue ones.

"What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to sin and death?" Romans 7:24

But how much more likely are we to grow in grace if we quit working so hard to make our own lives turn out the way we've planned, and instead make room for God to work on our behalf while we worship and pray together? Why not call a "time out" and back off yourself, your kids, your spouse and your employees for awhile? What would happen if we got your eyes off of ourselves and back onto Jesus?

On the Ratification of 10A - It's Still About Jesus

2011-05-14T14:00:00.000-05:00

If you want to put the recent ratification of Amendment 10A by the PCUSA into perspective, pull out your copy of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's The Cost of Discipleship. Chapter 31 "The Saints" is a near-perfect study on the holiness of God and the calling of the saints to "walk worthy of their calling and of the gospel in every sphere of life," (Eph. 4:1, Phil. 127; Col. 1:10; I Thess. 2:12 by living daily in the remembrance that we are washed, sanctified and justified" (I Cor. 6:11.)

He writes of Christian chastity and self-control of our "wild physical passions" which are "daily done to death" in communion with the body of Christ. There is also a long footnote about the congregational exercise of discipline as a "ministry of charity" - but a severe penalty awaits the teacher of a false doctrine that corrupts the life of the Church at its source. In other words, the teaching of a false doctrine is morally worse than the commission of the sin the doctrine promotes. Pray hard before you preach.

The wonderful Presbyterian poet Ann Weems has a poem entitled, "It's Still About Jesus," that suits our present crisis:

“No matter how we dilute the word of God, it’s about Jesus. No matter how we cover the dangerous Truth of the gospel, it’s about Jesus. No matter how we pretty up the story, it’s about Jesus. No matter how many times we go to our national assemblies and vote, it’s still about Jesus. No matter how many times we distract ourselves with meetings and church work…it’s still about Jesus, the Lamb of God…the Light of the World…the Bread of Life…the Prince of Peace…the One chosen to bring good news to the poor…the One sent to proclaim liberty to the captives and to set free the oppressed. Jesus is my shepherd…I shall not want."

Are You Showing People Your Wounds?

2011-05-06T08:00:00.000-05:00

Listen to how St. Paul described the life of a Christian’s witness to the Resurrection: “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For while we live we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake…”[1]

Paul is saying that our hopefulness in the midst of our suffering – our ability to see these events through the lens of Resurrection and to praise God and rejoice while we experience injuries and diseases, divorce, business reversals and stock market crashes, violence and wars, droughts, wildfires and tornadoes – that our demonstrations of hope and joy in suffering show the world that when Christ-followers endure trials we are bearing the death of Jesus in our own suffering, and when we express joy in the midst of sorrow, we are showing the world the life of Christ, and the truth of the Resurrection.

Just as the living Christ stood before Thomas and showed him his wounds, so we can stand helpless in the rubble where our homes once stood, in our disease-ridden bodies, with our aged, bent backs; and we can stand over the corpses of our loved ones who were snatched from our arms by the winds of chaos and evil and show all of that to the world as our wounds – our proof of death - and at the same time offer the proof that in spite of all that the world could do to us, we can say with the psalmist, “I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the LORD has done!”

Maybe what needs to happen is that they need to die and rise from their own wounds – or maybe they need to see ours. So many Christians keep our wounds hidden from each other and from the world. If the words of Paul to the Corinthians are true, then the reason the world doesn’t believe in Jesus and his Resurrection is because we don’t show them our wounds.

[1] 2 Corinthians 4:8-11

Christianity is the Context

2011-04-25T15:55:00.000-05:00

“Christianity is not offered up as one truth among many, or as one version of a single truth common to all. Real Christianity…is both the truth that makes sense of all other truths, and the truth that offers itself as the framework within which those other truths will find their meaning.”

(N. T. Wright)

The truth of Christianity is the context – it is the single category – for thinking about and understanding everything that happens in the world, not the other way around.

We don’t measure Christianity by the things that happen around us: we don’t understand God through the lens of 9-11, or earthquakes and tsunamis, or wars or the deaths of the people that we love. We measure those things - and think about and understand those things - through the lens of Christianity, through the lens of resurrection, through the lens of a God who loves us, and who came to us and entered into and endured our human condition with all of its limitations and temptations; a God who set himself up to die in order that we might live eternally.

The Whole World Loves Soccer!

2011-04-06T23:18:00.001-05:00

The whole world loves soccer and the whole world (almost) lives in Guymon!

May 28 - June 4 we will welcome our friends from Igreja Presbiteriana Missional do Buritis from Belo Horizonte, Brazil! Ten visitors will stay in our homes, eat and socialize, lead worship and Sunday School and help us with a Free Brazilian Soccer Skills Clinic for the community!

For two years we have been cultivating a relationship with our brothers and sisters at IPMB - I've traveled to Belo twice and my earlier posts about last summer's American baseball clinic are posted here. Now FPC Guymon will have the opportunity to host our friends and work alongside them in mission.

Our hope is that the various nationalities represented in Guymon (Mexican, Guatemalan, Vietnamese, Burmese (Karen), Sudanese, Nigerian, Zimbabwean, Somalian and Samoan to name a few) will have an opportunity to come together and mix while playing soccer and watching their children play soccer. We are blessed to have the Guymon Public Schools as a co-sponsor as well as the use of their fields, fieldhouse and equipment.

Our children will begin praying for their un-churched friends in the weeks to come and we have already begun making plans for host homes, common meals, and Guymon-friendly activities.

The soccer clinic will be free to ages 5-18. The clinic will be offered in the mornings, followed by group lunches and activities, working at Loaves and Fishes and family dinners, a picnic and a trip to Hunny's.

Plan to help - or come to play - and have an extraordinary experience in the Panhandle!

The Gospel According to the Adjustment Bureau

2011-03-22T17:17:00.000-05:00

Yes, it's true...I haven't done anything at all since August...haven't read a book or seen a movie...just the suspended animation that is pastoral ministry LOL! Not sure if I have the temperament for regular blogging - but yet, here I am...the suspense probably keeps you up nights, right?

Chris and I saw Adjustment Bureau last night...the reviews have been mixed (and it's PG-13 rating might be too low...I wouldn't take the youth group and that's too bad; maybe there will be a PG rental version). Whatever its other shortcomings might be, it's good theological practice to measure its plot line against Christian orthodoxy.

But if I wanted to make a movie based on Romans 8:28, (We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose...) this would be a good start. The tension between the sovereign will of God and the free will of humans - and the ongoing redemption of creation - is like a string that is plucked in every scene.

The "Chairman" ("you know him by many names...you have seen him many times") has a "plan for your life" (Jeremiah 29:11) written in a "book" (Psalm 139:16) - the trouble is, humans deviate from the Plan and need "adjusting": what amounts to being "transformed by the renewing of [their] mind[s]...that [they] may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will" (Romans 12:12) of the (apparently benevolent) "Chairman."

Especially entertaining is the writer's explanation of how much free will humans really have (Matt Damon asks this question directly, so you won't miss it.) The "Gospel According to the Adjustment Bureau" is that the "Chairman" is active in the affairs of humans. It's a good way to stretch your theological muscles...

The Electric Christian

2010-08-02T12:34:00.005-05:00

My thinking about ethics, good works and social responsibility has led me to read The Presence of the Kingdom by Jacques Ellul (1912-1994). Ellul was a committed Christian (a theologian, pastor and author) who was deeply influenced by Marx; but who found both contemporary Christianity as expressed by the church and Marxism to be insufficient guides for living as a Christian in a "suicidal world." He writes from the perspective of one who lived through the Nazi scourge as part of the French resistance, and from his observations of post-war reconstruction (he'd thought that the devastation of war would allow for the construction of a new civilization and was stunned by how quickly the pre-war status quo was resumed).

I may be late to this party (it was first published in 1948), but it is a breathtaking study of the tension of the Christian's position in the world, which is to be "salt, light and sheep" (especially since everyone in the world is more interested in being a "wolf").

He wrote that what Jesus Christ calls "hypocrisy" is to give up an attempt to live out one's religion in the world. To be "salt, light and sheep" are not mere metaphors (the kind of abstraction that he felt rendered the church impotent in the world), but rather a stark reality: Christians are to meet the concrete, discrete situations of daily life in the world as "light" ~ giving meaning and direction to history (all history is God's history); "salt" ~ to be visible signs of the new covenant in that our life and words should manifest the covenant so the world can see what that means; and to be "sheep in the midst of wolves" ~ another kind of sign of the reality of God's action ~ we cannot be a purifying sacrifice, but we have a share in the same kind of sacrificial living witness.

The church fails to do this when (1) we attempt to "moralize" the actions of the world by trying to create institutions that are not "too shocking for the Christian conscience," and thus live continuously "on the bridge" between the world and the Kingdom of God; and (2) when we try to decrease our sin by increasing our virtues (the idea that we can "improve" the world).

We become caught between two necessities: it is impossible for us to make the world less sinful; and it is impossible for us to accept it as it is. An oversimplification of Ellul's thoughts about how to live in this tension, is that through the Holy Spirit God uses material means by using human beings as instruments:

"...it is this human instrument that our churches lack; that is why, when the gospel is preached its message no longer reaches the world. The channel through which the gospel should reach the world - and does not - ought to be the 'layman' living the tension...as the point of contact between the ideologies of the world in which he lives and theology - between economic realities and the forgiveness of Jesus Christ for those realities..."

Just as the Cross placed Jesus at the "point of contact" between the economic realities of the world and the forgiveness of Christ for that reality, every Christian is called to be a "point of contact" by taking up positions that place him- or herself between two forces, two"currents": the will of the world and the will of God.

Inception

2010-07-29T22:38:00.003-05:00

I've been home for exactly a week now ~ with everything that's happened these last few days, I'm only now getting an opportunity to reflect on the mission in Brazil...

Tonight I went to see Inception, the new Leonardo DiCaprio movie about a thief who extracts secrets from within minds by entering into their defenseless subconscious minds in their dream state. As the plot develops, DiCaprio takes a job where he tries to implant an idea (called "inception") in order to get a person to act in a particular way as though the action was his own idea.

Thinking about the baseball clinic, as well as this movie, led me to compare the work of the Holy Spirit ~ through us, God's people ~ in the lives of others. We have this persistent sense that profession of faith, our salvation and our standing before God is something we do ourselves and something that we have to take care of. The truth, though, is that God "plants the seed" (inception) of faith, yet we act on it as though it was our own idea.

In Inception the "seeds" of the ideas implanted into the dreams of other people grow and influence the dreamer until that person's perception of reality is actually changed in his or her awakened state. Again, this is our evangelistic hope: that the seeds of faith planted by the Holy Spirit grow and influence the new believer until that person's reality is transformed in ways that affect his or her life and the lives of others.

That's how something as mundane as a baseball clinic can be spiritual and evangelistic - our prayer is that through a week's worth of daily contact with Believers, the seeds of faith have been implanted in children and adults who had been living their lives in dreams of their own construction ~ and that in time those dreamers will awaken to a new reality, "transformed by the renewing of their minds." Romans 12:2

Almost home!

2010-07-22T09:28:00.004-05:00

If you go, you have to come back...

Spent Wednesday morning re-writing my column for the church newsletter while others shopped for souvenirs (it's okay, I already had all of mine...) and then Ana and Marco arranged for 3 cabs to haul us and our luggage to the Rio airport for the first leg of our flight home.

The Deadly Card Game With the Painful Penalty for losing started on the floor of the Rio airport and continued at Sao Paolo...I'm not much of a card player, so I could only cringe as others stepped up to bare their forearms and take their punishments...this may take some demonstration when I get home ;)

We lucked out on the overnight Sao Paolo-DFW flight - it wasn't full, so several of us had more than one seat to ourselves - a little more wiggle room, and much better for snoozing attempts. Still, I managed to fall asleep in an unusual position, so I'm working out the kinks...

After clearing customs (Monotone: "You forgot to write your passport number on this form, ma'am. Welcome to America, ma'am. Have a good day. STAMP. Next." So much for a warm and welcoming WELCOME HOME TO AMERICA!!) we said our goodbyes with promises to do this again together. After a little while I got a call from Pastor Kye (who was waiting for his flight to Montreat where he is scheduled to lead the music in worship for the youth weeks coming up), with an invitation to the Admiral's Club! It really IS nice to be able to sit with free WiFi, refreshments and nice surroundings while you wait for your flight. Let's hear it for friends in high places~

Only one more hour and I finish up on American Eagle to Amarillo for a reunion with Chris (next time, he's going!) and our drive home (that is, after I make a claim for the new suitcase American Airlines owes me...) and my first PB&J in two weeks!

This has truly been one of the best mission trips I've ever been on: best country, best food, best project, best hosts, best team - still sad for those of you who didn't come this time - ever hopeful that we'll be able to share it together in July, 2012...start putting a little money away between now and then, write it in your schedule and instead of saying you can't make it because of "this and that" make "this and that" move over for Belo! I promise you won't regret it!

Christ the Redeemer

2010-07-20T15:48:00.005-05:00

This morning we headed up to see the Christ the Redeemer statue that can be seen from anywhere in Rio.

The statue was constructed between 1922 and 1931 and is 130 feet tall. It has been named as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World. Most recently you have probably seen it toppling over in the sci-fi movie "2012."

We took a cab about 3/4 of the way up, followed by a short walk, and then several flights of stairs (232 steps). There are enough landings to catch your breath and take some spectacular photos of Rio.

There are lots of visitors and it's pretty crowded at the top. Lots of people lie down on the tile patio at the base of the statue and take photos straight up. A little weirder are the people who pose with their arms outstretched like the statue...or you can hold your hand out flat and get a photo that looks like the statue is sitting on your palm...(hey, I'm just sayin')!

We heard some American accents at the top ("Wish I had a Dr. Pepper...") so we said hello and discovered that the people were a group of about 100 Baptists from Texarkana who were on respite on the way home from doing missionary work with one of the Baptist churches in Belo!!

After lunch at Subway (we're running out of money...Rio is costing a little more than we expected, mostly for food and transportation) we went to the beach to sit in the sun and wade or swim. It's winter in Brazil, so the Atlantic is cool - but not cold - and the sun is still hot when you're out in it (the air temperature is around 75 degrees, though). We rented a couple of umbrellas (in case my dermatologist is reading this...) and sat in the shade, did a little wading, talked to a fisherman and looked at the things vendors were selling...the sand is very clean - no seaweed or litter anywhere - we "crashed" the Copacabana Beach (in front of the exclusive hotels), and we're sure we saw "somebody who looked like Madonna" and maybe even "somebody who looked like Beyonce." Lots of bikinis on beautiful and ordinary women...not as many Speedos as we expected (thankfully!) ~ this is school vacation time in Brazil and there were lots of families doing the typical beach holiday.

Our current favorite beach food is churros - a fried tube of dough (like a crispy donut) that is filled either with either caramel or chocolate creme. You buy them from street vendors for about $1.25. Somehow I don't think this is what the girls in the bikinis are eating!

I'm still a Belo fan, but it's nice to have an opportunity to actually see a place I've only heard about.

Heading home tomorrow afternoon - Rio to Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo to DFW (where we go through customs), and then about a 5 hour layover for me in Dallas before heading to Amarillo (I messed up my return flight - used the wrong Brazil itinerary before it was changed - so it will cost to switch to an earlier flight...oh well!)

See you soon! Can't wait!

Life is full of choices: Sleep or coffee; learning the Samba or mowing the grass; Rio or Cleveland?

2010-07-19T17:47:00.004-05:00

This morning the team was up early at Robson’s for a breakfast of a variety of breads and jams, cheeses, ham, juices and good Brazilian coffee. I find that the ratio of sleep-to-coffee is 1:1 (as in, 4 hours of sleep at night requires 4 cups of Brazilian java to get moving in the a.m.)

Several members of the church came over to say some final goodbyes and others to help drive us to the airport. On the way to the airport I rode with Robson and we brainstormed about what kinds of projects the Brazilians from IPMB and the Americans from Binnerri might partner with FPC to accomplish in Guymon. We are thinking of possibly having a week-long series of daily projects: A workday at the Oaks and Loaves and Fishes, working on the community garden or other things we haven’t thought of yet, followed by praise and worship each evening for a week led by their musicians. This is something that we will consider in more detail at home and then plan in detail during the coming year.

At the airport we were met with the typical looooooooong line of folks waiting to check in. Robson ran interference with the gate agent and our group was allowed to check in ahead of time, so we didn’t miss our plane. The flight to Rio was only an hour, and we arrived in the late morning in time for lunch.

We stopped in Rio on the way home partly because the plane fare to DFW is less expensive from Rio than from Belo, and partly because most mission ventures end with a respite of local fun if it can be arranged. Our hotel is the “Copacabana” in Rio – it’s in a safer neighborhood so we can come and go with less worry. Our guides are our friends from Belo, Robson’s niece, Ana Carolina and her friend, Vivian, an English teacher. They were already in Rio for a professional conference, so it was convenient for them to stay a few days longer to show us around.

One of the things we drove by on the way to the hotel was the Samba school – it had a campus as large and spread out as some American community colleges! Yes, I mean a dance school where people come from all over the world to learn just one dance: The Samba. Ana said that the school was so busy that she was able to substitute as a teacher almost every evening that she’s been in Rio for her conference. Yes, friends, there are people out there making money having fun!

This afternoon we visited “Sugar Loaf”: Two islands in the bay that are apparently submerged mountains. One island is a shorter mountain than the other, so there is an interim stop on the way up where you can take some great photos of the city, eat and shop a little and the taller mountain is the destination, with parks and trails.

A famous gondola-phobic, I made it successfully to the first stop, then opted to stay there while the rest of the group took the longer, higher route to the top. It was really rough sitting on a bench in the sun, enjoying the breeze with my feet up, overlooking the city of Rio, eating a scoop of chocolate ice cream with mangoes on it. Darn it all, why does it have to be Rio and not Cleveland?…J

Casey, Mike and Sooman are heading back to Dallas on the overnight flight this evening; after taking them to the airport, we’ll go out to eat and try to hit the sack before midnight ~ some of us for the first time during the whole trip. Tomorrow we plan to rest and visit the beach (it’s winter here, so it’s actually a bit chilly ~ with the ocean breeze, you have to find a sunny spot to keep warm). If we’re able to arrange transportation and find the money we’ll also try to go see the giant Christ the Redeemer statue on the mountainside overlooking Rio.

Even in Rio, the group has a pretty well-developed sense of homesickness: the thing is, we’re missing two homes: our Texas/Oklahoma homes and our Belo homes…

Ciao for now, Belo friends!

2010-07-18T23:00:00.000-05:00

We can’t believe how the week has flown by!

IPMB’s Sunday services are scheduled around Sunday School for adults and children at 10:00 a.m. and worship at 7:00 p.m. Rev. Kye, Rev. Andrew and I taught the three adult classes and other members of the team taught the children and teens.

I actually find it easier to teach with an interpreter than I do without an interpreter – how weird is that? When I speak by myself I feel the need to fill the empty spaces with more words, and am thinking while I’m talking. With an interpreter, I can speak in short sentences and while they are being interpreted I have the luxury of thinking of my next sentence without talking at the same time! The team reported that in all three classes the adults were very engaged, responding to questions and participating in the discussion. The people of IPMB love the Bible, and some were moved to tears as they took their turn reading.

The regular adult classes at IPMB are 1) Reform Doctrines; 2) Formation of the Canon and how to study the Bible; 3) Church History. The church is blessed to have three pastors – one with a degree in Church History. The expectation is that one works through the three classes, and then takes the knowledge acquired and uses it to study topics and books of the Bible in their weekly small groups that meet in the evenings in peoples’ homes. I think this is a great way of systematically developing a group of spiritually competent learners.

The pastors met with the Session while we waited for lunch to be served. We were introduced to all of their (six) session members, and the moderator of the Deacons, and we were given an opportunity to discuss the possibility of future partnership with the three congregations. One important point was that all of us felt that doing mission in partnership with an indigenous congregation was far superior to trying to send missionaries out to learn a culture, followed by a team to “deliver” a service. Money is spent more sensibly, projects are more relevant and the relationships formed are deeper.

The church prepared a great potluck lunch for us and then we went to our host homes to pack for our departure on Monday. We then spent the night with Pastor Robson and Juliane Gomes at their home so we could be picked up in a van for the airport.

Evening worship was a special time. The praise band from Binnerri led the praise songs in English and Portuguese, and then Pastor Kye preached a wonderfully powerful sermon on Hebrews 12:1-3. Once again, I was privileged to administer the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.

After worship, the church presented us with gifts that they had made. One of their members is an accomplished artist, and she designed special photo frames with our names and photographs of us engaged in mission tasks from the week. They are very sweet mementoes.

The mission team had purchased gifts with a Texas/Oklahoma flavor for our hosts: a bottle of BBQ sauce, a box of pecan pralines, a Southern Living BBQ cookbook and a regulation football!After exchanging gifts, the American team lined up near the door to say goodbye to the congregation with hugs and tears all around. SO many people said, “Next year in America!”

Back to Robson’s and Juliane’s home for a late meal of pizza and then the team de-briefed on the mission experience outside under the stars. After we had a chance to share our impressions, Rev. Kye performed a gracious and powerful service of foot-washing.

Did we change the world? Not that you could see with your eyes. Did we change anyone’s life?Absolutely ~ especially our own.

Play ball!

2010-07-17T22:23:00.003-05:00

This morning was the Big Game between the Lions and the Tigers - an excellent time was had by all! Couldn't tell you who won, but it was recognizable baseball and as far as I could see they kids played by the rules. Hard to believe that 4 days ago most of them had never held a bat, but that's the truth!

After the game, the kids gathered 'round for a pep talk from Coach Sooman. He praised them for their faithfulness in showing up, their persistence and hard work, and their general good behavior - he told them he was proud of them, and they cheered. One of the parents (not from the church) made a lovely speech about how much they appreciated the program and how it was a wonderful thing to do for their children. This was exactly the point of the trip: "WHY would Americans travel all the way to Brazil just to teach our kids baseball?" This comment from the parent gave Sooman the opportunity he needed to explain to the children that the point of this week had not been baseball - it had been RELATIONSHIP - we had become friends, and that God had sent us to do that. They were invited to church tomorrow and given souvenirs with the name of the school and church on it; and everyone received a baseball cap and a certificate of completion with the names of the churches on it.

There were almost twice as many unchurched kids there as church kids, because the church children had invited their friends. One of the Jr. High girls told me that her best friend's parents were Spiritists, and they were present to watch their daughter play ball today. Another man came because he saw the banner on the side of the field fence - he is a real non-conformist nature guy - dreadlocks, sandals, plenty of tattoos. He said he'd just moved to Brazil and had been looking for someone to play baseball with! Whoda thought? He came every day - turns out he's a great player who played ball in Sao Paulo with the Japanese community there (baseball is very big in Japan), and today he came back with his little boy. There was also a very nice Korean gentleman with his 10-year old son who came because his son saw the banner. The little boy came in without his dad at first, and told the registrar at the gate, "My name is Pedro and my dad will come and sign me in soon. You'll know him because he has eyes like mine," and then he made an exaggerated Asian-eyed face. He was certainly surprised to find that his dad had eyes like the 12 coaches! His father said that Belo had no culture of sports for children and he was thrilled that we'd come. He went on for quite awhile about how "one must be smart to play baseball" because one has to think ahead and think quickly. This turned out to be another unchurched family; they left their email address for more information about the future of this program.

So there we have it - a successful mission! We collected names and addresses for about 100 children and their families; the children had interaction with "real" Americans; they learned a new sport well enough to play with some skill; they have made a first contact with the church and they have learned that our motivation for coming was because the Love of God Compelled Us. I'm sure we planted seeds that others will water and harvest.

WEIRDEST BRAZIL FACT: It was my job to create the Excel spreadsheet with the kids names and info on it and take attendance. When it came time to use the list to create the certificates for the kids, we'd begun to suspect that we had some duplicates. The thing was, that every day the kids would come they had a different name. The first day, on their registration sheet, their name might be Eduardo Henrique Castro de la Cruz, so we entered Cruz as his last name. Day two, he gave his name as Eduardo Henrique Castro, so he would get entered under Castro. Day three, he's in a hurry and just gives his name as Eduardo Henrique - now he's under "H."

But it was only MY problem. I thought I should file under their last names. If I had done it the Brazilian way everything would have been filed under their FIRST name. Yep. Everything in Brazil is filed under first names. The phone book is alphabetized by first name - really. Medical records are filed under first names. EVERYTHING is first name ~ first. Wow. Do you realize how many "Maria Luizas" and "Maria Beatriz-s" there are in Brazil? "Hi, I'm Maria Luisa and I'm here to have my operation." "Oh, are you Maria Luisa Silva?" "No, I'm Maria Luisa Silva de Souza." It's incredible that they can make that work, but they do, and they aren't changing.

Turns out that May-July is "country party" season in Brazil. There are lots of parties where people dress like country bumpkins, eat simple down-home foods and dance to local music. So the church put on a country party for us this evening, and BOY was it fun! Everyone had to dress like a bumpkin - mismatched, patched clothing; but the girls could wear country dresses if they wanted to. If anyone arrived without dressing up, they were met by young women who dragged them off to have freckles and beards painted on with makeup, teeth blacked out (ew!), kerchiefs tied around their necks and patches basted on their clothing, and also received a palm leaf hat. No one escaped!

The food was corn on the cob, cornbread, soups, and homemade candies for dessert. The children had games to play with prizes. After dinner, they began to play Brazilian dance music (sort of like salsa) and then people formed a big circle and began to dance around the room. There was a "caller" who called out simple movements (like a square dance) to change partners, ("fly like a bird"), cover your head ("it's raining!") - everyone joined in, including little children. They made circles-within-circles, and then made "bridges" with their hands and the line of dancers went "under the bridge" for the length of the room (under 30 or 40 bridges made by couples). GREAT fun! Then they taught the Americans how to Samba (I just watched, but it's a lot like country swing ~ only better music). Not having any "native dances" to teach the Brazilians the Americans opted to teach them a hip hop line dance that very simple and a lot of fun (and apparently it was a hoot to see "la pastora" boogeying down ~ who am I to spoil their fun?)! The Brazilians really liked the line dance, so we had to do it a couple of times - everyone was very worn out.

I LIKE this party! I think we should do one at home in Oklahoma - ("Okie-Fest"?) - for a fall celebration when it cools off...start practicing your "moves!"

Tomorrow is Sunday school in the morning at 10 - then everyone goes to lunch, then rest, then back to church to worship at 5 (interesting pattern, eh?) All 3 pastors will be teaching adult Sunday School; then Pastor Kye will preach, Pastor Andrew will lead the music part of the worship, and I will do communion. Let's be sure all our churches pray for the other two churches as we worship tomorrow.

Have a wonderful Lord's Day!

Tudo bom! (It's so good!)

2010-07-16T22:07:00.004-05:00

Day 4 - Today has been a day of contrasts: We began the morning at a Belo Horizonte orphanage, spent mid-afternoon at baseball camp and ate dinner with 100 people at Baby Beef.

We visited one of ten orphanages operated by Acao Social Obreiros Mirins. The orphanage is located in one of the many favelas (slums) throughout the larger city of Belo Horizonte. It is hard to describe the level of poverty in the favelas - one Brazillian said, "It's like another universe."

The orphanage is as clean as you could make a building with chipping plaster, cracked tile floors, leaks, bathroom doors falling off, no dishwasher, a small washing machine for clothes, and a dusty lot with no vegetation except for a few wild weeds. But it is tidy, and there has been an obvious effort to make the sleeping areas welcoming. The common rooms, though, used for TV, play, cooking and eating are very shabby and poorly furnished.

This orphanage houses 16 children between the ages of 5 and 16 - a fraction of the orphans in this city. Most have been abandoned by their parents. The government's plan is that they can stay at the orphanage for 2 years while other family members are encouraged to take them in. If there are no suitable family members to be found, the children can stay until they are 16. They are eligible for adoption, but like in most countries, adoptive parents want babies, and the older children rarely find homes. Teenagers who "age out" are put together in favela houses or apartments and trained in carpentry or other manual skills, but jobs are hard to come by for such young people with no experience.

As we toured the building, the children were eager to show us their bedrooms, and hungry for attention and play. We had some candy to give them and some footballs and we were able to stay and play for awhile. In spite of their hard lives, these children still have compassionate hearts: Some of the young fathers who were with us were moved to tears by what we saw. A young woman who is a kindergarten teacher was also overcome. Once I was asked to pray for the orphans and their caregivers, I didn't last long myself. It is almost impossible not to be moved by these children. When I finished praying - and we were all sniffling - a little girl of about 6 had gone and gotten me a washcloth to use to dry my tears. Amazing.

There is real kingdom value in helping this orphanage. Rev. Robson, Rev. Kye and I talked about the possibility that our three churches could enter into a partnership to support the orphanage and renovate the building. They would be able to use several crews of construction missionaries over the next few years to put things right, repair and paint. They also need furniture. I think they need a new kitchen - they are cooking 64 meals a day on a small 4 burner stove and washing with only a shallow double sink. They also need a more cheerful and safe play area (an outdoor porch) and good toys and sports equipment.

The worst thing we could do is allow this experience to become only a memory of a trip to Brazil. Please pray for the orphanage staff: Fernanda (an aide with management responsibilities); Jarlene and Paulo (teachers); Marlene (the cook); Maira Luisa (general coordinator) and Ana Lucia (the director).

On a very different note, we ate this evening at Baby Beef, a Brazillian BBQ restaurant. About 100 of the church members and mission team ate together - the Brazillians seem very good at feeding large crowds (see Death by Pizza below!) At BB the waiters bring the meat to your table on a skewer and cut off the pieces that suit you; they continue to bring a succession of meats as long as you want to eat. And yes, gluttony is still a sin!

Tomorrow is the BIG BALL GAME between the "Tigers" and the "Lions", our under-13 teams. There will also be a game for the older teenagers. It is unbelievable that 4 days ago these kids had never held a bat, and now they understand the basic rules and can throw, hit and field well enough to have a recognizable game! One of the IPMB pastors has created a certificate of completion for the children, stating that they have completed the "First Clinica de Baseball" that bears the logos of our three churches. I'm guessing it might even be the first "Clinica de Baseball" in the whole nation of Brazil...very cool!

So - no bed before midnight, but before 1:30 is doing pretty well for me these days. Be sure to thank God for all you and your children have, and before you buy something else you "can't live without" give a thought - and a few dollars - to help the poor wherever you can find them - you won't have to look far. 'nite.

You Were In God's Dreams

2010-07-15T21:22:00.007-05:00

In theory, we got to sleep in this morning; but in fact, most of us got to bed so late last night it was a wash...but we had fun getting this tired!

Our devotionals continue to be a very special time of worship and preparation for the day. Today I spoke about Ephesians 2:10: "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." At the end of the devotion, Bruno, a 21-year-old member, and his friend, Flavia, played and sang an original song he'd written a few months before on exactly this verse. My favorite words from this song are that before we were created by God "we were in your dreams." It is a beautiful piece ~ truly inspired ~ and a great complement to this morning's meditation.

I asked for stories of encouragement, and Andrea told us about a little girl who was complaining bitterly about the heat. She took the child aside and told her to sit down to cool off; when she looked back she noticed that the child was sitting in the shade. There are no trees: this is a downtown sports complex with artificial turf. Andrea looked up and in the otherwise cloudless sky there was a single cloud directly over the little girl. Sure - there were other kids there that day who were hot - but it gave Andrea the opportunity to tell the child to look up and see how much God cared about her.

Today was full, but almost routine: lunch with a church family, then off to the ball field for three hours of baseball clinic. Everyone is reporting that the children they talk to are telling them how glad they are that we are doing this and how much fun they're having. For us baseball is fun, but ordinary. Here, it is novel ~ what kid doesn't like hitting stuff with a stick?

At lunch I had a long discussion with Marcello, a man who has a hospital project in the Amazon, as well as a relationship with a Presbyterian school in the Amazon. He shared how for the past 10 years he has taken groups to his hospital compound to construct buildings, administer health screenings and teach the children. He says that with good sense it is a safe trip and that in 10 years of bringing in groups, he has had no problems. I hope to look into these projects to see if there is a role for FPC to play.

Another man, Joachim, is the full-time administrator of a non-profit organization with several outreaches to street children and families suffering from the effects of having a member with AIDS. He, too, has opportunities for short "courses" of mission with the street children, and will provide us with information about how we might help.

My host family, Fabrizio and Andrea Souza and their children Thiago (14) and Natalia (13) are a delight. Fabrizio is an engineer and Andrea is a linguist who is completing her dissertation for her doctorate. Fabrizio is also the Sunday School superintendent and Andrea sings in the praise band. They have a housekeeper named Maria who (Andrea tells me) is in awe that they have "a pastora" visiting in their home. She loves this family and prays for them - Andrea says that Maria considers it a privilege to take care for my needs. She is a master of Christian hospitality!

Tomorrow we are scheduled to visit an orphanage ~ I've never been to an orphanage, although I have helped at crisis pregnancy centers and worked with troubled children. I'm sure it will be an emotional morning.

So, it's late and my own dreams are calling...miss you

Day 3 - Belo Ball, Worship in 2 languages and Death by Pizza

2010-07-14T23:46:00.007-05:00

The days have been full and now that we've been here a few days we're feeling the effects of not enough sleep, too much sun and a too-full schedule...so tomorrow we sleep in!

We have been meeting daily at 9 for devotional time at the church - I wasn't all that happy with them when I wrote them, but the Spirit has been at work making them meaningful ;) On the second day one of our Brazillian pastors shared that he was working at the ball field when a car passed by on the street; the driver stopped and leaned out the window and asked why we were doing this baseball clinic. Without missing a beat the pastor replied, "Because the love of Christ compels us." No doubt it was not the answer the driver expected - he drove on without comment - but I'll bet he told the story of the unusual answer to someone later that day (wouldn't you?) It was a small encounter, but it left us all feeling as though God was indeed watching.

Today we shopped at the central market - local products of all kinds, full of smells and strange sights (like tobacco sold in long ropes), parakeets, cheeses, coffees, household items, musical instruments - it's quite a place.

At this afternoon's clinic we could see the relationships forming - the kids picking out their favorite instructors, the instructors giving the kids nicknames - ("Miss Sassy" for one of the little ones...) They are teaching them the proper posture to throw by telling them to "knock on the door" beside them (throwing arm up and back)...using a kickball to teach them to run the bases and tag runners...frisbees for hand-eye coordination. The kids are REALLY liking this new activity. It is especially fun to watch kids that play ball mostly with their feet (soccer), try to learn a game that requires using their hands. Right now it doesn't look much like baseball - perhaps we'll call it "Belo Ball"!

After a short time of rest, we met at the church for a soup supper with church members, and then Pastor Andrew, Pastor Kye and Diana joined the Igreja Presbiteriana Missional music team to lead us in worship. They are all great musicians, and we sang each verse alternately in English and Portuguese, which turned out to be a beautiful blend. There were several testimonies: One young Korean woman telling of her experience of being sent overseas from Dallas to care for her mother, who had cancer, and coming to depend on God during that time; a policeman from Brazil spoke of being shot 7 times, spending 3 months in the hospital recovering in both body and spirit and meeting his wife (his nurse!) during his hospitalization - he considered it all a gift from God; a young man who went to his first Bible study in order to date a young woman, and who learned the Prayer of Jabez, a lesson that motivated him to dedicate his life to Christ; and a young Brazillian man, a deacon in the church, who testified about his participation in their mission trip to Haiti and how it transformed his life. He encouraged everyone present to take such a trip, in order to give God the opportunity to work such a transformation in their lives. It was a near-perfect worship experience.

After worship, the young people were still hungry, so about 70 of us went to a local all-you-can eat pizza restaurant! This was definitely NOT CiCi's - they brought different types of pizzas to the table - 4-cheese pizzas, chicken, sun dried tomatoes, argula and pepperoni, banana (GOOD), chocolate - we had them all. They also drink a lot of exotic fruit juices here (did you know the cashew had juice? The nuts we eat are the stems of the fruit - the juice is in the fruit - yum!) Then the Brazillian teens started playing a hand-action game, and pretty soon everybody was in on the act...not to be outdone, the Koreans showed us a "thumb game" with a painful penalty for the loser, so everyone switched to that - fortunately the restuarant was not crowded, because we were the loud crowd! Some of the kids who had been at the camp came to pizza with the friends who invited them - it was a wonderful witness of the kind of fun, fellowship and excitement we can have in the body of believers.

The day finished after midnight and here I am, juiced up on pizza and unable to sleep...we prayed for you all again this morning...more to come, grace and peace to you all

So what does she know about baseball?

2010-07-12T12:06:00.010-05:00

So, you ask: "Where is she?" Good question. I didn't have the proper adapter for my computer and the battery died...then we were too busy to get it charged, but now I am up and running. In spite of a long day, I am posting late at night because at 4 pm I had some of that great Brazilian coffee that I like so much - I could probably write this at 3 a.m. just fine!

Ah, traveling - it never changes...arrived at DFW gate 12 and was sent by the gate agent to meet my connection at gate 40...but the plane was at gate 18...suitcase arrived in pieces (I knew it was too good a price...) BUT it is wonderful to see the friends I made here last year :) We (and 17 bags of sports equipment) were met at the airport, carried to Pastor Robson's home, and we've rested, showered and eaten an enormous meal with a fabulous dessert. I do not overstate. "Enormous" and "fabulous" are the right words!

As usual there are plenty of English-speakers, or people who are learning English, and it has been easy to communicate. Our hosts really appreciate it when we try to speak a few phrases in Portuguese - they are kind to correct us and applaud us when we get it right...it's very encouraging to learn language this way (I still can't complete a sentence longer than "thank you for the meal")...we make learning language such a chore when being friends can make it so easy - so I guess the trick is to make friends first and then you will care enough about what your friend has to say that you will try harder to understand!

Binnerri Church from Dallas has sent 12 young people - mostly young professionals who have taken time from work and families to make this trip. I don't know everyone's job, but there is a high school chemistry teacher, a kindergarten teacher, a software designer, a writer, an SMU student who is on their golf team, a med student, 2 staff pastors. Several of them have young children. No one considers it a problem to take off time from work, use vacation time or leave their children with one parent or friends to make this trip - it is a privilege to be able to come. Not only have they come, but before coming they studied about mission, studied Portuguese and even about how to properly teach sports to young children. They are a wonderfully dedicated group of young Christians.

I have written each day's morning devotional - we meet at the church before beginning work to sing, read the Bible, discuss the devotional (in two languages!) and then lift up special prayer concerns. It is a wonderful way to start the day - the world would be a different place if we practiced this more than a week at a time!

Today we went to the school for an assembly. The children sang the national anthem for us, and gave us a thank-you card signed by the students. A 7th grader prayed aloud for the group, thanking God for our presence. Then the youth pastor from Binnerri spoke to them about not letting love for things and people crowd love for God out of their hearts. Afterwards, we all sat in a circle on the floor and each child was allowed to ask one question of the visitors: "What do you eat in America?" "How do you spend your days?" "Tell us about the children in your church." All of the questions posed showed a mature interest in who we were as people and friends.

One of the Binnerri missionaries (the med student) was taken to the hospital by a church member who is a surgeon married to an anesthesiologist. They practice together and he was allowed to go into the operating room with them and watch the operation! It was a great thrill for him.

This afternoon was the first day of the camp - we had around 70 children on the first day! The sports equipment purchased by FPC is great - they were very careful with our money, and got many items (such as bats) used, along with some new things. There are hats, gloves, bases, bats, Ts (as in T-ball), Frisbees, kickballs, whistles, and even a ref shirt ;) The children range in age from 6 to 16. Today and tomorrow they are learning skills: how to throw, how to field, how to hold the bat, how to follow the ball. Friday they will learn the rules of the game and Saturday we will form teams and play a real game.

The children from the church and school are great evangelists and have been very intentional about inviting their unchurched friends - one young girl from the church who was ill today even left her sickbed to go to the camp because her friend said she wouldn't come unless she was there.

So what does she know about baseball? Um, nothing? But I make a mean spreadsheet, so I made a roster on the computer so the church can take attendance, form the teams and follow up with the campers afterwards. Just one of those ways that God shows me what I can do while all those baseball players are doing their thing.

So that's 3 days in 1 post - hopefully the others will be shorter, timelier and a little less like being hosed with information. Thanks for sending me - and we prayed for you all this morning.

“As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

2010-07-10T14:00:00.001-05:00

God is known by God’s work in the world, and especially by the works of Jesus as recorded in the gospels. Over and over again the gospels (especially the Gospel of John) report Jesus’ witness that he was sent into the world by God the Father; that the words that he spoke were not his own words, but the words of his Father; and that the work he did was in obedience to the commands of his Father. In John 17:20-22 Jesus prays for all “those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”

We who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God – who are children of God the Father and brothers, sisters and co-heirs with Christ - are also being sent into the world with the gospel message. Like Jesus, we too will be known by our works, and our purpose in going is so the world may believe that God the Father sent Jesus and that Jesus sends us.

The Holy Spirit is at work in diverse places, among them Guymon, Oklahoma, Dallas, Texas, Haiti, Brazil, and Zimbabwe – all places that have improbably touched our congregations in the last year. Paul tells us in Ephesians that we are “created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” We don’t have to invent ways or find places to carry the gospel – God has already prepared these tasks for us and we need only to respond in faith when we are called.

Wherever we go, we reinforce our “family ties” to the existing church and work to expand the Kingdom of God through new relationships. We carry the gospel in various kinds of “buckets”: construction projects, feeding projects, health ministries, Bible studies and sports camps.

We will not be able to change the world with a few mission projects in our lifetime. But the mission will change us – and the landscape of Heaven - forever.

2010-07-09T01:34:00.000-05:00

Paul speaks of being “out of his mind” for the sake of God. All of us who are on this trip know a little about being “out of our minds” for the sake of God! Last year and this year the pastors of three churches traveled between Brazil and the United States to get better acquainted and plan this mission. Then our churches raised around $25,000 US buy some baseballs, bats, gloves and a few Frisbees…pretty crazy! Then 14 people took vacation from work, purchased visas and sat in airports and airplanes for more than 12 hours so we could come to Belo and play baseball with a bunch of strangers because we think that baseball is one of the ways we can get people to listen to the message that, “The Kingdom of God is near you.” Luke 10:8. There is nothing about that which makes sense! We must be out of our minds with Paul!

So this week be prepared for the question, “Why are you doing this? Why would you spend so much money and come so far and spend so much time teaching children how to play a ball game?” The answer you should give is, “Because Christ’s love compels us.”

It is our identity in Christ – and our focus on Christ – that keeps us from just being a civic club doing volunteer work. We are a chosen, called-out and privileged people who are doing what the church does through the power of God and not our own strength.

In Christless Christianity, Michael Horton writes that the Kingdom of God is not something we do, it’s something we are receiving, not something we are building. The risen Christ did not say, “I’m leaving now, but you will take my place and extend my work by following my example.” What he said was “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. [So you] go…and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you, and behold I am with you always, to the end of the age!” Matt. 28:18-20

So let’s go out and be crazy for God.

Why would she go and do that?

2010-07-08T13:33:00.000-05:00

I am about to embark on my second trip to visit our friends at Igreja Presbiteriana Missional in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. I will be traveling with Rev. Kye Chung and Rev. Andrew Yi of Binnerri Presbyterian Church in Richardson, Texas, and their group of 12. Our plan is to join with the congregation of Rev. Robson Gomes in putting on a "real American" sports camp for the children of Belo Horizonte, teaching them baseball and making friends.

This is my first attempt at a blog, but it seems like the best way to stay in touch with my own congregation in Guymon, Oklahoma while their pastor wanders around the world.

I went on my first mission trip with Grace Presbytery's Youth Committee (Hi, Rick and Wes!) in 2002 and have since traveled in mission to Texas, Mississippi, Kentucky, New Mexico, South Dakota, Russia and Brazil. I have traveled (not in mission) to Syria, Jordan and Israel.

If you have not yet experienced domestic or foreign mission, I hope this blog will communicate a little bit about how it feels to recognize the same Holy Spirit residing in others who resides in your own heart in a place where you recognize no one and nothing else...how you can enter the home of a stranger and feel in your own spirit that you are entering the home of another Christian...how you can feel safe among people you've never met...how only in a place you've never been can you know how it feels to truly let God direct your steps.