this post is probably going to get me into trouble...

...but you know what? I don't care. ;o)

"The kingdom of God is the rule of God. ...The kingdom doesn't set out to destroy human authority in this age (John 18:36). Instead, it destroys the powers and principalities in the spiritual realm through God's authority.

"The kingdom doesn't seek to change the political order of things through fleshly effort. It rather makes changes in the spiritual order that affect the lives of men and women at a deeper current. As citizens of the kingdom, our allegiance is not to the political parties of this earth, but to the politics of Jesus. For He alone is our Lord and our King.

"Therefore, the kingdom works quietly and secretly among men and women (Matt. 4:26-28). It's not a religious, political, or military power that cannot be resisted. It abhors violence, hatred, and injustice."

--Frank Viola
"From Eternity To Here"


Earthly citizenship means nothing. Possessing a passport from a certain country does, indeed, make a person part of that country's rich history. It might even make that person part of a lineage of sacrifice and courage. But in the grand scheme of God's eternity, earthly citizenship means nothing more than a set of certain conveniences (or inconveniences, as it were). And God does not favor one human kingdom over another, because every human kingdom is composed of the same thing: humans, every one of whom is of equal value to God.

Spiritual citizenship is the only citizenship that matters.

Allegiance means utmost loyalty and devotion. When I think of pledging allegiance to something, I picture a vassal kneeling before his liegelord, swearing fealty and giving his oath to sacrifice possessions, lifeblood, and very self for that liegelord. Pledging allegiance is an oath that binds the heart and the soul. It is neither given nor received lightly.

For this reason, I pledge my allegiance to Jesus Christ and to no one and nothing else. He is my only Lord, and I want no citizenship but the one he offers.

can we go back to handwriting letters and sending them through snailmail?

The following thoughts were inspired by this, which I discovered by way of my new friend Carlos, whom I met through my former-acquaintance-turned-friend Aaron.

And that there, my dearies, is what we call 'networking.' But that's not what I'm writing about in this blopgost. What I'm writing about is communication overload.

How much is too much? How many is too many? Every day, most of us receive at least one electronic message--be it email, text message, or something relating to Facebook--that requires some sort of written follow-up. Some sort of written response. And some of us take an inordinate amount of time to make that necessary (I'm not saying 'required') response.

Why? Why is it so hard to hit 'reply' and type something? Why do we take so long to answer? One message per day isn't a lot, right?

What about 365 messages per year?

Some of you--and here I'm talking to my fellow old folks--will recall the days before email. No, really, such days did exist. They're dim and foggy in my memory, but I swear they really happened. In those days, the riotous heydays of my youth, I received about...oh, let's take a guess on the high side...20 hand- or type-written letters per year that required a hand- or type-written reply. Add to that various greeting cards for holidays and birthday, etc etc, and that number goes up to maybe 50. Maybe. Per year.

So, flash forward (and no, I'm not making a TV reference) to today. If I get one response-required message per day, I'm no longer at 50 per year, I'm at 365.

But I don't get one response-required message per day.

I get an average of 5.

That's 1825 messages per year. And each one requires a response. If I spend only half an hour answering each one, I will spend 38 twenty-four-hour days (24! Count dem! 24 hours! Ah-ah-ah-ah-ahhhhhhh!) out of every year doing nothing but answer messages. That's more than one month per year.

In the inbox of the email account Ed and I use jointly, there are currently 7576 emails. Of these, 667 are unread. I have no idea how many are unanswered. Most times, I feel like closing that account completely and starting from scratch. Except I know that eventually, the new account will look exactly the same, and I'll end up exactly where I am now with all this, which is:

frustrated
overwhelmed
angry with myself
and disappointed in myself, because I know some of those unanswered messages came from people who are disappointed in me for not answering.

I also have this continual, grand plan to answer all the comments I've received on this blog. Haven't been able to get that done, either--and every time I think about it, I feel a painful twinge in the center of my brain.

That twinge is one part irritation and three parts guilt.

At what point is it too much?

I'm so tired of communications-inspired guilt that I'm just tired.

I know 100% for sugar-torting certain I'm not alone in this. How do *you* handle the odious monster guilt blob masquerading as your inbox?

future challenge to myself

What if...

What if we--as humans and as believers in a King ever so much greater than ourselves--what if we held as self-evident that (our) children have more to teach us about God than we could ever teach them?

What would happen if we approached children this way? And parenting? And life?

if there is a woman in your life, you need to read this

IF YOU ARE UNDERAGE, PLEASE TALK TO YOUR PARENTS BEFORE READING THIS.

Thanks to Paul for pointing this out. Read the full article here. Caveat emptor: It will probably turn your stomach.

A few significant quotes:

"In India, a 'bride burning' takes place approximately once every two hours, to punish a woman for an inadequate dowry or to eliminate her so a man can remarry — but these rarely constitute news. When a prominent dissident was arrested in China, we would write a front-page article; when 100,000 girls were kidnapped and trafficked into brothels, we didn’t even consider it news."

"The global statistics on the abuse of girls are numbing. It appears that more girls and women are now missing from the planet, precisely because they are female, than men were killed on the battlefield in all the wars of the 20th century. The number of victims of this routine 'gendercide' far exceeds the number of people who were slaughtered in all the genocides of the 20th century."

"Our interviews and perusal of the data available suggest that the poorest families in the world spend approximately 10 times as much (20 percent of their incomes on average) on a combination of alcohol, prostitution, candy, sugary drinks and lavish feasts as they do on educating their children (2 percent). If poor families spent only as much on educating their children as they do on beer and prostitutes, there would be a breakthrough in the prospects of poor countries. Girls, since they are the ones kept home from school now, would be the biggest beneficiaries."

"Yet another reason to educate and empower women is that greater female involvement in society and the economy appears to undermine extremism and terrorism. ...Indeed, some scholars say they believe the reason Muslim countries have been disproportionately afflicted by terrorism is not Islamic teachings about infidels or violence but rather the low levels of female education and participation in the labor force."

--Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn
"The Women's Crusade"
N.Y. Times
August 17, 2009

great song by nickelback

They've been radio-stalking me, so I decided to share one of their songs I like. ;o)

"If Today Was Your Last Day" by Nickelback

My best friend gave me the best advice
He said each day's a gift and not a given right
Leave no stone unturned, leave your fears behind
And try to take the path less traveled by
That first step you take is the longest stride

If today was your last day
And tomorrow was too late
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?
Would you live each moment like your last?
Leave old pictures in the past
Donate every dime you have?
If today was your last day

Against the grain should be a way of life
What's worth the prize is always worth the fight
Every second counts 'cause there's no second try
So live like you'll never live it twice
Don't take the free ride in your own life

If today was your last day
And tomorrow was too late
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?
Would you live each moment like your last?
Leave old pictures in the past
Donate every dime you have?
Would you call old friends you never see?
Reminisce old memories
Would you forgive your enemies?
Would you find that one you're dreamin' of?
Swear up and down to God above
That you finally fall in love
If today was your last day

If today was your last day
Would you make your mark by mending a broken heart?
You know it's never too late to shoot for the stars
Regardless of who you are
So do whatever it takes
'Cause you can't rewind a moment in this life
Let nothin' stand in your way
Cause the hands of time are never on your side

If today was your last day
And tomorrow was too late
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?

Would you live each moment like your last?
Leave old pictures in the past
Donate every dime you have?
Would you call old friends you never see?
Reminisce old memories
Would you forgive your enemies?
Would you find that one you're dreamin' of?
Swear up and down to God above
That you finally fall in love
If today was your last day

Getting Things Done, and other importantnesses

So, in the interest of bragging, I'd like to direct your attention here, so that you might ooh-aah over How Much I Have Gotten Done since the recent posting of my to-do list.

Yes, I am tooting my own horn, and I am liking it, thank you very much.

*toot*

*toot*

*grin*

I am a geek.

On a more serious note, there is something on that to-do list that I would like to report is now going better. Two somethings, actually. The first is that I have gone running twice a week for the last three weeks. It hasn't been easy--actually, it has been mostly frustrating and demoralizing as I see how much stamina I lost by not running for two months. Six running sessions, and I still can't go as far or as fast as what I was doing when I quit in November.

That's the first time I've called it what it was: quitting. I quit for two months. I hadn't been able to admit that to myself until now.

I soooooooooooooo badly want to get back to what I was doing before I quit. I had been so encouraged by the progress I'd made; it's not easy for a former heart patient to build up the kind of stamina that comes naturally to most people. And by quitting, I sabotaged myself. I tend to do that with a lot of things--too many to go into right now. But I often wonder if I subconsciously believe that I don't deserve for good to come my way, and so I sabotage myself so as to avoid the good I believe I don't deserve?

Possibly. But that is another story and shall be told another time. ;o)

Anyway, the point is that I WANT to work hard and build back up my to pre-November stamina...and then I want to go further. I am competing against no one but myself, which might make my challenge more difficult.

On the other hand, I ***looooooooooooove*** challenge. Bring it on!

The second "to-do" is that I've been listening to God a lot more lately. Things finally came to a head several weekends ago, when I found myself in so much pain--mental and emotional--that I simply had to drop everything and go to God. I'm sorry I let myself go so far that hitting rock-bottom like that was necessary. But hit the bottom I did, and from there, I had nowhere to go but up.

I don't want to go into details, because really, they're not important. What matters is that for about seventeen hours, I couldn't see or talk to anyone (except Ed, since (a) he lives with me and (b) he got to experience the full force of my emotional-fallen-apart-ness). I talked to God a lot, but I couldn't bring myself to go out and see anyone else. It feels a little weird to say, but my need to spend time with God was so great, I couldn't bring myself to attend a Sunday morning worship service. I was so desperate for God, I wanted no other humans with me, not even other Christians. I don't know if that makes any sense at all, but that's how it was.

By Sunday evening, I had regained enough peace to worship with the house church and immerse myself gladly in that fellowship. Since then, I feel as though I've started being a little more aware of God's presence in my life. My relationship with God still isn't anywhere near where it should be--but I think there is healing going on, like a medicine deep inside, working where nobody but God can see. This isn't the first time in my life that I've experienced this healing; one would think I would have remembered that there's a reason he is called the Great Physician.

Hey, remember the song we used to sing when we were kids?

"He's still workin' on me
to make me what I ought to be...
How loving and patient he must be..."

Why do we ever stop singing that song? It's a lot more relevant for adults than it is for children.

human war and spiritual warfare: let's be honest about this

I read an article online today to which I prefer not providing a link. My reason for such recalcitrant (there's that word again!) secrecy is that I'm not sure I agree with many of the sentiments expressed in the article--or, rather, if I agree with the sentiments, I am quite sure I don't agree with the tone in which they are delivered. Either way, I don't think I want to have a link to the article on my blog, as I don't want anyone to associate me or my worldview with the attitude that comes through in the article.

However, I will let you know that the article was posted at lewrockwell.com, was written by one Lawrence Vance, and was dated June 12, 2008. Search for it if you so desire.

All of that said, I want to quote one particular statement from the article, a statement I find most true and telling:

"We hear more from the pulpit today justifying military intervention in the Middle East than we do about the need for missionaries to go there."

Does that hurt?

Does it hurt all of us who desire to follow Jesus?

Does it hurt any of us?

Does it prick our conscience at all?

It should. Because it's the truth.

something to chew on

I found this quote that I'd scribbled down somewhere. I have no idea who said it, but it's an excellent thought.

The worst thing that could happen to you is that you go to your grave a respectable fraud who spent your entire life worrying that someone would find out, but you ignored the only one who saw it all.

God is faithful

Well, only a few minutes, and I am already posting something non-moving-related. But for good reason.

Ed and I just got a call that Jim Springer, our dear friend and Christian brother, died just a few minutes ago. We knew this was coming, but it's still a terrible blow. "A terrible blow"--what a terrific understatement. I don't have the right words to describe what's going through my mind and heart right now. But "a terrible blow" is the very least of it.

Jim has been Ed's mentor for 11 years and mine for about 4. In a way, Jim and his wife Elsa have been another set of parents for the two of us. We just saw him in July, when we took part in another of the Springers' ETM classes. God works in amazing ways, because to me, this was the most helpful, challenging, and valuable ETM class I've been in. I feel so privileged and encouraged to have benefited from Jim's teaching one last time.

Early September was the first hint that anything was wrong. Jim was diagnosed with cancer about three weeks ago.

I think maybe that is why this is such a huge shock. Nobody saw this coming. And yet, this is how reality is: None of us have a guarantee of tomorrow. Jim's situation was not unique; that could have been any one of our spouses; it could be any one of us. What a strong reminder this is that each of us needs to be prepared.

Jim was prepared. In her last email, Elsa said he was happy to be going home. He was excited about the next step he would take. Now he has taken it, and in my heart, sadness is accompanied by thanksgiving. For over a week now, since the German churches learned how serious Jim's condition was, we have all been praying that Jim would not suffer. God has answered our prayers in the grandest way possible, by sparing Jim the suffering and by taking him to a perfect place.

Death isn't the worst thing that can happen. We humans usually believe that, but it is a lie. The worst thing that can happen is for a human's life to end before that human has entered into a covenant relationship with God. Jim had that covenant relationship, and now he's home. Even in our grief, we certainly don't begrudge him that.

If you're the kind of person who prays, pray for Elsa. Pray for Jim's daughters, sons-in-law, and grandchildren. Pray for the family and friends who are still here. Pray for the German churches, who have been blessed through Jim for more than 30 years. Pray for us, because we miss him.

funny foibles and so forth

The following is part of a comment I left on Alisha's blog and considered worth immortalizing here:

I compulsively count stairs. In our stairwell, three of our staircases have nine stairs each, one staircase has ten stairs, and the one leading to the back door has five stairs. That's 42, which is the answer to life, the universe, and everything. I remain, therefore, convinced that counting stairs (and other things) is a worthwhile pastime.

And if I step on a crack in the sidewalk with my left foot, I have to step on a crack with my right foot, too. Otherwise, I feel unbalanced. I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable psychological explanation for this, but I haven't found it yet. ;o)

In other news, I'm working on finishing ETM homework this week, so I might not be able to continue regaling you with tall tales of traveling. Day Three, however, *is* written, so if I can get around to working with the pictures, I'll post that sometime this week.

Generall overall mood: melancholy and lethargic because I have too much to do and have passed the point at which the workload is a motivating challenge. Instead, it has become an overwhelming task of monumental proportions, leaving me feeling drained and nearly unable to concentrate on anything that I actually need to be doing.

Part of the reason I've taken on so much and am procrastinating about it is that the workload and the procrastination are providing an escape from having to think about what's coming ( --> moving).

However, don't feel sorry for me, Gentle Readers. I'll be fine eventually. :o)

procrastination gets a kick in the rear

Today, boys and girls, I'm pointing you in the direction of a place on the web that offers some helpful hints on how to stop procrastinating. If you've been putting off looking up the definition of 'procrastination,' then you've come to the right place: 'Procrastination' means 'putting something off.' 'Not doing something when you know you need to do it.' In other words, ' not gittin' 'er done.'

These people here have some great suggestions on how to turn not gittin' 'er done into 'gittin 'er done. No, I don't always care for their choice of words, but I can live with them. Besides their principles are excellent, and these are their ideas, not mine. I'm not into plagiarism simply to avoid resting my eyes on bad language. ;o)

All of that to say...go check out that link up there. Do an 8-minute dash on something. Git 'er done. I'm gonna go dash something now. :o)

destroyed for lack of knowledge

When my parents left the European shores for the Americas, they also left behind a copy of the magazine Gospel Advocate (GA). So I picked it up and read it. Just for the record, this was the first GA I've ever really perused, and I have discovered that I do not agree 100% with what the magazine presented in this particular issue (see issue # below). Or perhaps it's better to say that I don't agree 100% with the methods and the attitudes reflected in some of the authors' writings.

That said, however, I found the following to be accurate, illuminating, and disturbing. The trends which Renfroe (see below) presents in his article are realities of which the church today needs to take note. If we don't, we're in for some rather nasty surprises in the very near future.

"...I can't help wondering, in the midst of the current [technological] craze, if any room is left for God. Do the movers and shakers of the technological revolution have any place for a 2,000-year-old book? Indeed, does anyone even read anymore? In our quest to gain academic prowess through tech savvy, have we failed to instruct regarding the most important knowledge our children will ever need to acquire--the knowledge they need to save their souls (John 8:32; 1. Timothy 2:4)?"

"Parents naturally want their children to succeed, obtain advanced degrees, and secure high-paying jobs believed to ensure not only financial security but also the ever-elusive happiness that evades so many...

"During Old Testament days, parents were to teach their children about God and His marvelous works at every available opportunity (Deuteronomy 6:7; 11:19). Today, some parents are asleep at the proverbial wheel. We clamor for our kids to be in the best schools and taught by highly qualifed professionals. We expect them to play sports--the big three, at least--and would not think of their missing practice. (They might get a scholarship, you know.) But are we failing them where they need us most?

"If we could muster the same enthusiasm toward our children's spiritual education that we do for their secular activities, it would be far less likelly we would see a generation that, in many quarters, is 'destroyed for lack of knowledge' (Hosea 4:6 ASV)..."

--Brandon Renfroe
"21st Century Kids Are Wired"
Gospel Advocate, June 2007, Vol CXLIX, No. 6


Some of my thoughts as I read this:

Why is it so important to us that our children Get A Good Education?

Do we really believe that it's more important for our children to become Christians than it is for them to Get A Good Education?

Are we teaching our children to spend at least as much time studying the holy words of God as they spend studying textbooks written by humans?

We hear kids say, "When I grow up, I wanna be a teacher/rock star/fireman/astronaut/vet/police officer/etc."
We encourage them in these dreams. And rightfully so.
But how much encouragement do we give them in developing a dream that when they grow up, they "wanna be a faithful servant of God"?

I've never heard a kid say, "When I grow up, I wanna be what God wants me to be."
Why is that?

Are we studying the Bible with our kids and worshiping God with them at home? Every day?
Or are we leaving that part up to the "Sunday school teachers"?

When did Sunday morning Bible Class replace parental responsibility?

Renfroe says that we make sure our kids never miss sports practice.
Are we making sure they are present every time the church assembles to worship God?

Are we ourselves present every time our Christian family is together for worship?

Or are we ourselves skipping worship because this or that activity "is only this one time," which just "happens to be" during worship time?

Are we ourselves skipping worship in favor of attending secular activities?

Are we teaching our children to "go to church" because that means they're being good?

Or are we teaching them to be the church because being the church is the only scriptural concept? (After all, where in the Bible do you find the concept of "going to" church?)

Where are our own priorities? Yours and mine?

Is God truly the center of our lives?
The apex?
The only constant reality?

Or are we lying to ourselves?
And are we raising our children on a diet of these holy-seeming lies?

Are we teaching our kids, by our example, that God's word, the Bible, is not binding?


What do you think?

just for today

Father God, just for today
Help me walk Your narrow way.
Help me stand when I might fall.
Give me strength to hear your call.

Here I am just for today.
Live in me, have Your way,
For my desire when this race is run
Is only to hear You say, "Well done!"

May my steps be worship.
May my thoughts be praise.
May my words bring honor to your name.
May my steps be worship.
May my thoughts be praise.
May my words bring honor to your name

--by Marc Schelske

in the news...

As many of you already know (and if you don't, I'm about to tell you), Ed and I own a television that receives no signals. That's right. We receive no TV programs whatsoever. We use our TV for watching DVDs and for catching up on exactly four shows: Lost, 24, American Idol, and Amazing Race (Ed watches this one). Other than that, we watch no TV.

We have lived like this for more than five years.

I love it.

I could go into a long spiel about why I love not having television. My main reasons include not letting brain-rotting, manipulative commercials, veiled (or not-so-veiled) pornography, and other immoral influences into my livingroom. (I mean, really: If these sit-com and drama situations were playing out live in your house, would you *really* just sit there and not throw these people out? I didn't think so.)

Besides, without the TV on all the time, our apartment is often blessedly quiet. Nobody comes in, flops down on the couch, and flips on the TV. I can hear myself think. It's so wonderful.

However, these aspects of our hardly-any-TV life aren't what I want to rant about this evening. ;o) No, the target I'm aiming for is actually the news.

Obviously, since we don't have TV, I don't watch the news. We don't get the newspaper, either. My only source for news are the headlines on the Yahoo! homepage.

Sometimes I click on these headlines, but mostly I don't. Nothing surprises me anymore. Not because I'm jaded, but because this is a fallen, sinful world, and evil, disturbed people are going to do evil, disturbed things. I don't need to know any of the details, because when you boil them down to their essentials, they all come back to the same thing: sin. There's only one way to combat sin, and that's with the Word of God. No branch of government in the world is going to be able to cure the evil of sin. Ever. So no news media can tell me anything about it that God's Word can't already tell me.

Anyway.... A few minutes ago, I glanced at Yahoo!'s news section and just had to shake my head at the things the news media thinks I should care about. Here are a few of my favorites:

How much are the Yankees (baseball team) worth?
Why should I care? I can't conceive of any situation in which this information could possibly make a difference in my life.

Which video game console is winning?
People are dying, and souls are being lost every second. Does the competition between video game consoles matter?

What's life really like after winning the lottery?
I don't think I should even comment on this one.

Then there's this: Woodstock for Capitalists.
I don't know what that means, but the headline was emblazoned across a picture of a man with purple hair. Not that I have anything against purple-haired men per se....but "Woodstock" and "capitalism" don't have particularly positive or interesting connotations for me.

Calif. station sued for Imus reruns
So what? By now, I'm thinking that I should be blogging something about all of these headlines, and I have no desire to click the link and read about yet another case of a celebrity earning somebody else's disapproval.

Alec Baldwin explains himself on the Web
Yeah, the guy's a jerk for calling his 11-year-old daughter a "thoughtless pig." I won't disagree with anyone on that. But where are the articles about all the other billions of children in the world who are physically and mentally abused by their parents? The media spotlight falls on Baldwin because he's famous, while billions of children remain ignored because their parents don't happen to be celebrities. The media's hypocrisy is staggering.

And finally,
Schwarzenegger lets MTV 'pimp' his ride
I don't care how much a part of pop culture it is, to me the word 'pimp' will always be a vulgar word defining someone who makes deals for prostitutes. But that thought aside...why should I care *what* Arnold lets MTV do to his car? Good grief, people, it's a CAR, he's a MAN, and MTV is...well, I won't say it here. ;o)

I guess that for me, what it all boils down to is this: The news media and pop culture present these things as though they are significant. They're not. They are grass that grows for a day and then withers and is blown away. They are chaff that is flung to the wind and scatters. They sparkle in the morning sun but are dull and dead by evening.

"...[W]e look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient [pass away], but the things that are unseen are eternal."
--2. Corinthians 4:18

a hard truth

"We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God.

"We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken successes, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!"

--from Abraham Lincoln’s Proclamation of 1863

1. Corinthians 13 made practical

Bri posted something on her blog yesterday that I think is worth posting on mine, too. Here it is, followed by an expansion of the comments I left on Bri's blog:

1 CORINTHIANS 13 (For Missionaries):

If I speak the language like a native,
But have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
And If I have all the answers,
So as to convert millions, but have not love,
I gain nothing.
Love is patient with the home congregation
And kind to demanding converts;
Love is not jealous of fellow missionaries,
Boastful because it is American,
Nor rude to its hosts.
Love does not insist on its own mission methods,
And does not become frustrated nor embittered.
It does not rejoice in the failures of its fellow workers,
But truly rejoices at their successes.
Love will stand all criticism,
Give consideration to all advice,
Help all beggars,
And endure all visitors.
Love never ends;
As for methods, they will pass away;
As for language, it shall cease;
As for cultural understanding, it will pass away.
For our understanding is imperfect;
But where love abounds, such imperfections are overshadowed.
Before I went into the field, I knew all the answers;
When I became mature I pondered my presumptiveness.
For then I saw romantically and confidently,
But now realistically and humbly;
Then I thought I knew the heathen,
But now they have come to know me.
Cultural understanding,
Methods,
And Love abide, these three,
But the greatest of these is love!

(paraphrased by Dan and Joyce Hardin)
(Taken from Christian Woman, January 1974)

My thoughts:

Ouch. I've had a copy of this for several years, and I take it out and read it about once a year.....and I'm thinking it's been too long since the last time I read it.

One of the most difficult things for a missionary--or any leader in the church, for that matter--to do is keep focus, keep the right perspective. Frustrations do build up.....and as for me, sometimes I erroneously feel like I'm not allowed to voice them. After all, I'm supposed to be setting an example of longsuffering and faith, right?

Right. But part of longsuffering is being able to voice frustrations--and release tensions--with the right attitude. And my attitude is wrong so very often. I am critical, I am judgmental, and I am proud. (I don't care how you try to euphemize it.....being proud is a sin. And when I give in to it, I am hurting instead of helping people around me. But I'll write on that subject more extensively another time.)

I think this paraphrase of 1. Corinthians 13 applies not only to "missionaries". After all, what is a missionary? One who goes out to tell others about Jesus. Another word for such a person is evangelist.

Or Christian.

Because every Christian, by definition, is supposed to be an evangelist. Every Christian is supposed to be a missionary. Not necessarily in the context of going to a foreign country (or coming back to their own country) to evangelize. But every single one of us is supposed to be living, thinking, speaking, loving, breathing in such a way as to represent Christ on earth. If you are a Christian, you are an ambassador from God, sent to reach out to those who don't know him.

It's not the preachers' job. It's not the elders' job. It's not the missionaries' job. It's not the Bible class teachers' job.

It's your job.

I'm not writing this to inspire guilt in anyone. This isn't supposed to be a why-aren't-you-out-there-doing-your-job? kind of post. But the paraphrase above got me thinking, since it's subtitled "For Missionaries". We need to expand our definition of the word "missionary." The current definition seems to be "someone who goes to a foreign country and leads and teaches in a local church" or something like that. But I believe we need to re-think that.

Ephesians 6 describes Christians as soldiers in a spiritual war against evil. C.S. Lewis describes us as soldiers sent behind enemy lines to sabotage Satan's plans. If you're a Christian, God has put his armor on you, he has given you the weapons you need, and he considers you ready for battle. He has led you into battle, and you have followed. You are now behind enemy lines, and your job is to help free the captives.

You can do it with your words. You can do it with the decisions you make each day. You can do it with a smile, with encouraging words, with the time that you give to another. You can do it by being a shoulder to cry on. You don't have to leave your country, your city, or even your neighborhood. Maybe all you need to do is step out your front door (remember what Bilbo said!) and start a conversation with the guy next-door. Just brighten your corner of the world with the love that Jesus is giving you every moment of your life.

To be the soldier that God has made you, just open your eyes, look closely at the people you see......take those loving concepts from 1. Corinthians and start living them.

today is my real birthday

 
As part of my ongoing effort to grow in faith and to focus on God's will instead of the will of the culture in which I live, I would like to ruminate briefly upon the subject of birthdays: 

Why do Christians celebrate the day of their physical birth? Oh yes, I understand all the reasons: It's nice to have a special day on which we can tell each other, "I'm glad you're here, I'm glad you're my friend, and I want to express my appreciation for you." That's all fine, and I have no problem with that whatsoever. 

But that begs the question as to why we honor the person who was born, instead of showering appreciation upon the woman who gave birth to that person, or both the woman and the man without whom that birth wouldn't have been possible. 

But that, conversely, begs the question as to why we don't use that birthday to shower praise and honor solely upon the Creator without whom neither mother nor father nor birth would ever have been, since he is the only one who truly deserves praise for the existence of anything. Hmmmmm....... 

And, as Christians, why don't we celebrate the day of our spiritual birth with even more enthusiasm and excitement than we do our physical birthdays? 

So, in the spirit of these thoughts, I would like to share this with all of you: 

Today is my birthday! Sixteen years ago today, I was immersed into Christ for the forgiveness of my sins and to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. As of today, I have been alive in Christ for sixteen years. And that life is great.

thoughts about the church

 
These are some thoughts I posted as a comment on someone else's blog. They are also things that I've been thinking about for a long time. I might write more extensively on this subject at a later date, but for now, here are a few brief lines on my general thinking: 

We need to take the phrase "go to church" out of our vocabularies. "Church" isn't somewhere we "go." The phrase alone indicates a deeper mindset that "church" is a location, a building, an event, (an entertainment?), something we can attend. 

By Biblical definition, it's not possible to "go to church" or "attend church." Because church isn't somewhere we go....it is something we *are*. 

After all, think of our families: We *are* family. We don't "attend family." We don't "go to family." We *are* family. The statement indicates a certain mindset, and it's the same mindset we should have when thinking of the church. 

It isn't possible to open or close the doors of the church, because the church doesn't have any doors other than Jesus Christ. When our family assembles to worship God, we should want to worship God *with* them. Not "attend a service" so that we can say we were there. But anytime our spiritual family is assembles in order to praise God, we should feel a drive, a burning *need*, to praise God with them. 

I believe that if we try to change our mindset about "going to church" vs. *being* the church, it will go far toward resolving some of our inner conflicts about "life in the suburbs" (meaning our everyday, do-this-do-that-rush-to-activities habits) vs. true spiritual life. If we can learn to think of ourselves as *being* the church, perhaps this can help us refocus our priorities, so that the accumulation of status symbols and the living-out of the social life become less important. 

In closing, a thought about the kids and the soccer games and the medals and the ribbons (which kids receive even if they haven't earned them, because we want to boost their self-esteem): Why do we allow our children to get sucked into this you're-ok-I'm-okay culture? I'm all for academic achievement.....but why do we push it so hard? We want our kids to grow up and go to college and get goods jobs. From a young age, kids say, "I want to be a fireman, a police officer, a teacher, a vet when I grow up." 

But I've never heard a kid say, "When I grow up, I want to be a faithful Christian." I've never heard a parent say, "When my child grows up, I don't care if s/he goes to college, I don't care what job s/he has.....as long as my child has an active, healthy relationship with God." 

If we as parents want to keep our kids out of the everybody's-okay culture, we're going to have to change our own priorities first. 

"The world we have created is a product of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking." 
~ Albert Einstein