GPS or Map.

As i have covered a fair portion of the eastern seaboard and out to Ohio in the last few months i have become somewhat dependant on my GPS. It tells me where to turn, when to turn and how to go in any particular direction. It has been strange really, as someone who enjoys reading and following maps, to only know what lies a short distance ahead.

I remember being a kid in the back seat, continually asking "are we there yet", i remember constantly thinking of the destination, being transfixed by the memory of the last time we were at the Jellystone Campground or the first time we went to Disney Magic Kingdom and replaying the commercials in my mind. Even going to Africa i was always thinking ahead to where and who we would be working with (even now). The 'between' was almost insignificant, all that mattered was the destination and getting there any way we could...But it appears that this has all changed.

I have sensed within me a change in that now the 'here to there' is just as important as the destination itself. It is almost as if the destination has lost it's importance. The journey must be as entertaining, as economical and as easy as possible. Almost to the point where the goal has lost its value.

Maybe we in this age of GPS, high speed Internet, instant news and online shopping have forgotten where we are actually going (what we are living for). Where is it all leading us to? I have to say, Cami and i did some 'cost assessment' of going back to Mozambique and honestly, it was hard. We know what the journey entails, we know where this road leads and it is sometimes uncomfortable if not very unpleasant. But, and here is what makes it all worth while, the destination, the goal is empowering a life, healing a broken spirit and seeing people return to wholeness. If you are asking what i am talking about i am speaking of having a right relationship with God, of knowing him and living a life you were designed for, created for. To be at peace with God. That goal, leading people to know and love God, living a life to glorify him, must always be in front of me--in front of us as believers. If we are overwhelmed and consumed by the journey, if cannot see five steps ahead, if we are not conscious of our goal or destination, what good is enjoying the ride?

So the GPS method isn't necessarily bad, to watch each step, to look only a few paces ahead is a good thing, but you have to have to the end in mind. We have got to know where we are going, clearly before us or the journey may just kill us.

Are we really ready to travel the byroads, dark alleys and dangerous curves to accomplish something bigger than ourselves? Are we ready to see the destination and know deep down the sacrifice of our pride, our selfish will and let go of thinking we know better than God himself (read his book...he spells so much out)that we can live a proactive, thoughtful, introspective and compassionate life for God.

I don't know about you, but i am willing to try.

Learning still.

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will depart.[a]
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;
may the name of the LORD be praised.” Job 1:21

Blessed be the name of the Lord,
when i am found with headaches and viruses that willn't quit.

Blessed be His name when i am running a half marathon,

Blessed be His name when i am looking at support shortages with no (worldly) hope of reaching.

Blessed be His name when the generosity of others surprises us.

Blessed be His name remembering my Tabitha dying in my arms.

Blessed be the name of the Lord when i am tired and discouraged.

Blessed be His name as i prepare to return home to be confronted again by suffering and confusion.

Blessed be His name as i walk yet another day with the creator of the universe.


1 Praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD, you his servants;
praise the name of the LORD.
2 Let the name of the LORD be praised,
both now and forevermore.
3 From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets,
the name of the LORD is to be praised.

4 The LORD is exalted over all the nations,
his glory above the heavens.
5 Who is like the LORD our God,
the One who sits enthroned on high,
6 who stoops down to look
on the heavens and the earth? Psalm 113

Funny what a change of perspective can do. Turn your eyes on the author and perfecter of your faith. See Him for who he is and worship Him.

Blessed be His name. This is our God. This is our help and assurance.
Blessed be His name.

I have been mulling on this section of the disciples journey with Jesus for a while and have gotten to preach on it twice. So, maybe as we remember Jesus suffering adn dieing for us this week....and then rising from the dead (!) take some time and think about who he is to you.

30 Miles north...

Do you remember playing follow the leader? Wasn’t it the popular kid (yes there was popular kids in kindergarten) and the extent you thought he or she was cool or trusted the person you would follow them anywhere. But there was no shortcut or avoidance of the hard stuff, the monkey bars, the swamp….you had to go through it or you were out, cut off, blackballed on the playground.

I was thinking about this as i read the account in Mathew 15 and 16 of Jesus with his disciples only a few weeks before his passionate entry to Jerusalem.
If you read Mathew 15 we find Jesus and his crew on the shore of Galilee. For three days the people brought him their wounded and their sick. Eventually they were hungry and Jesus could take it no more and he turned to his guys and said, "feed them." They hemmed and hawed a little but eventually gave Jesus what they had and he fed everybody! Jesus, most likely being pretty tired decided it was a good time to leave and they left to Magadan only to be confronted by Pharisees and Sadducees who demanded sign (everybody wants a sign!). He turns to them and says, “Nearly three years have gone by and still you cannot see who I am”. I think it is safe to say Jesus was fed up. So he tells them "the only sign you're going to get is the sign of Jonah"...What was the sign of Jonah? 3 days/3nights and rise again and we all know saddly, they didn't understand it in the end either.

So, at this point Jesus is fed up and decides to head back across where is confronted by his own disciples lack of understanding. They couldn't get their mind of of lunch and Jesus had to sit them down and spell it out for them. Funny how often Jesus spoke of spiritual mattes and people simply missed it. In John 3 Nicodemus wonders how he can be born again--literally. In John 4 the woman at the well wants a bucket of the living water stuff and in John 6 the crowds don't want to be cannibals so almost everyone takes off. Jesus tries repeatedly to get us off the physical and into the spiritual. How often do we miss it to?

What struck me was that at this point Jesus decides to take his boys for a walk. Thirty miles north, out of the way. They head away from Jerusalem to a place called Ceaseria Phillipi (CP). Now we find Jesus is retreating to be with his disciples
to an ancient pagan area. Now, there was this valley/canyon where the Greeks believed was the ‘gateway to Hades’. There was a spring in the bottom and they built a temple there. Pagans came from all over to worship and make sacrifices. And it is here is where Jesus puts the question to his disciples.

“Who do the people say the Son of Man is?” (v. 13)

So how do they respond? Well they start giving the 3rd person answers. "Some say it was John", "others say it was Elijah," and still others say it was Jeremiah". Each answer was good, not the right answer, but not bad. John, prepared the way for Christ, calling for repentance and holiness, Elijah was a man of prayer and Jeremiah was a suffering man of God. Each was a good answer coming from a Jew of the time but each was missing the completeness and entirety of Jesus is. After all they had seen, all they had witnessed firsthand Jesus brought them to the point of declaration.

You can see them walking along talking about the conversations that were happening around them. Maybe people came up next to them and joined in...but what Jesus wanted to know was "what about you, who do you say I am?” The third-person is wimpy way out isn’t it? Up until now Jesus let them get away with it. But he knew they had to OWN the answer.

And our dear, favorite foot-in-mouth disciple, Peter answers not flippantly but strongly….”You are the Christ”, (the Messiah, Anointed One, the son of the living God). And Christ turns to Peter and you can almost feel the excitement in Jesus' words, "you are right, you didn't understand this from any human understanding!"
He didn’t ‘get it’ because he was with Jesus 3 years, or went to seminary or because he had a great mentor or a BIG Bible…or even that he studied and memorized the words of Jesus, but because the Father revealed it to him. (It is all about grace isn't it?! Even our poor understanding is a gift!).

On this declaration of who he is Jesus says the church will prevail. Build on this "rock" petria (bedrock) on Christ the Son of the living God. Nothing will replace it, stand against it or overcome it. Not "petros" (rock-Peter) but the declaration of who Christ is.“And the gates of Hades will not prevail against it” (16 v.18) Interesting point here that a gate is defensive, the church should be offensive--aggressively bringing light into darkness. Attacking the forces of evil...and prevailing (hmmm).


So we would imagine at this point the disciples were pretty pumped and ready to go…but what does Jesus say? “SHHHHH, don't tell anyone” v. 20.

WHAT!? It makes sense knowing now that Jesus would go on to take up all our sin and bear it on a tree, die in our stead and rise victorious over death. It wasn't time yet. He hadn't done all he set out to do.

So what did happen? “And from that time on Jesus went on to explain…that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things and be killed and on the third day raise again” (v. 21) Jesus would go on explaining it to them for at least 100 miles of walking. There were no iPods, radios, DVDs in the car…cars, they didn’t even travel by camel!
Now remember who Peter was, obviously Peter didn’t like to hear such things… it says he pulled Jesus aside and rebuked him. A loving, affectionate rebuke, really, and Jesus answers him equally sweetly? Not really. Jesus turns to one of his closest friends and says, “Get behind me Satan” (v. 23). Simon, had spoken from a worldly perspective, he had revealed the mind of the enemy. But in the same moment i can see Jesus then putting his arm around Peter’s shoulder, everyone is quiet, (maybe they heard the words of Jesus and they were stunned), but Jesus gazes at the rest of the followers and seizes the moment and turning to the rest of the disciples and says, “If anyone would come after me he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me”.(V.24).

Deny yourself, ice cream? Luxury? No, deny yourself…your desires and rights.

"If you say i am the Christ, voluntarily, completely follow me, where-ever i lead you."


This was the call, the appeal, the offer. To renounce everything we are, ever were or are to be and be completely utterly his. To submit to his words and teaching. To renounce our previous ways isn’t enough. This was total surrender and the Jewish nature in these guys understood it. They had just heard the rah-rah speech given to Peter and were pretty pumped. Jesus here calls for a little more seriousness here.
It as if Jesus was saying, "This kingdom of love and grace and freedom you have found in me will grow but you must decide who I am, voluntarily come, deny yourself and submit to my words faithfully….until the end".

Jesus had taken them 30 miles north of where they were spiritually to confront them with a decision. To decide who he really was to them. He took them there, somewhere special, to tell them something pivotal, important and empowering.

Follow the leader. If we believe WHO Jesus is we will DO what he asks of us and go where He leads us. So this Easter, stop and ask yourself,

Who do you say He is?

Happy St. Patrick's day y'all out there.

"Hence I cannot be silent, and indeed I ought not to be, about the many blessings and the great grace which the Lord has deigned to bestow upon me." St. Patrick

Green jello, green beer...green eggs and ham?....

I think we have a lot more to be thankful for.

Thank God.

Wow. Trip down memory lane. Cami and i have decided it was time to either digitize or dump a lot of old files, articles, sermons and stuff we have had in storage for years! So as we purge we remember all we have gone through, all God has done for us and in us. It has been emotional t times and baffling at other times. I will be putting some stuff here on the blog just to share. Here are a few quotes and lyrics that have traveled with me.

To be young.
"Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life. Youth means the predominance of courage over timidity, of adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of sixty more than in a boy of twenty. Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals.
Years may wrinkle the skin but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, doubt, self-distrust, fear and despair--these bow the heart and turn the spirit back to dust. Whether sixty or sixteen, there is in every human beings heart the love of wonder, the sweet amazement at the stars and the star-like things, the undaunted challenge of events, the unfailing child-like appetite for the what-next, and the joy of the game of living. In the central place of every heart there is a recording chamber. So long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer and courage, so long are you young. When your heart is covered with the snows of pessimism and the ice of cynicism, then, and then only, are you grown old. And then, indeed as the ballad says, you just fade away.You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt; as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear; as young as your hope, as old as your despair." Douglas McArthur


This is the way love is..
"When i gave up--you help up.
When i ran out--you filled up.
When i kept running--you kept up.
When i let you down--you lifted me up.

When i couldn't find the words--you understood.
When i couldn't find the time--you were in no hurry.
When i couldn't make ends meet--you tied them together.
When i cheated-----you kept to the rules.

When i was keeping it in-- you were giving it out.
When i was losing out--you let me come back.
When i was holding back--you were holding on.
When i was losing my cool--you were keeping your love warm.

I kept it all to myself like a miser holds on to his last dime.
I closed myself up like a desperate man upon the lifeline.
I was blind, dried, wrapped up in my pride.
This is the way it is when you are on the wrong side.

This is the way love is--it's a one-sided, double-minded mirror with no reflection."

The 77's

Use your powers for good not evil!

This is a report or better yet reflections on a book I just finished. It has challenged me to think deeply about what we do there in Africa. Happily I can report I was edified and in many ways confirmed that what we teach and the style and philosophy of Theological Education by Extension is addressing the core of the problem, not simply treating the symptoms of our brokenness.


The book, "When Helping Hurt: How to Alleviate Poverty without Hurting the Poor and Yourself” by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert begins by stating the book is a work of cumulative effort and years of trying to make the best impact for Christ while trying to help the most hurting and needy in this country as well as the 2/3s or majority world (as they call it) while damaging the least. I appreciate this because it was not the latest-greatest idea that made this book resonate with me but rather the thoughtful, at times painful, admission that so often, we in the west get relief, development and rehabilitation so terribly wrong.

It begins by laying a premise that the earth and all that are in it are broken. Our relationship with God, each other, creation and even our understanding of who we are created to be and for is damaged due to the fall as stated in Genesis. This four dimensional problem or brokenness is/will be resolved through only one means; that is Christ and his redemptive work on the cross and activity in our lives. The book builds on Col. 1:15-20 that ‘all things will be reconciled to Christ’ and although this sounds good I would have to study the text more fully support his wide sweeping use of ‘all things’ and what it entails to be reconciled.

(Funny so often I find myself going back to Richard Niebuhr’s great book ‘Christ and Culture’ in which he delineates how one views Christ’s effect on culture and vice-versa.
The five major definitions being as stated below.
Christ against Culture. For the exclusive Christian.
Christ of Culture. For the cultural Christian,
Christ above Culture. For the synthesist,
Christ and Culture in Paradox. For the dualist
Christ Transforming Culture. For the conversionist,
Because, how we view Christ’s effectiveness and influence shapes how we view not only scripture but the world as well and what effect one has on the other)

So…Corbett/Fikkert believe the saving, reconciling work of Christ is all inclusive and therefore the church should be addressing each facet of human existence in which it finds itself in order to renew and ‘right’ the relationships. I agree with them but would clarify that much of the reconciling will only be done upon Christ returning to earth to judge and renew.

A statement I do appreciate very much is that they state much of the pain and suffering is due to a failure to apply a Biblical worldview to life and practice. This failure results, as we know too well, in broken relationships, broken systems of government and a twisted society as a whole. It does not take a genius to figure this stuff out, but it is nice the authors took the time to put it succinctly into writing.

So how does this all apply to poverty and human suffering? Easy, if, as they state, ‘poverty is a feeling of helplessness and powerlessness (the inability to choose)’ (paraphrased) then reestablishing people to be the image-bearers of God, gifted and of valuable, each persons’ outlook and attitude is bound to change. Yet if we continue to simply treat the symptoms of brokenness nothing will ever change.

Not only this, but we ‘the powerful’ (western, i.e. wealthy in time, cash, choice and power) create in ourselves a ‘god-complex’ in which we feel we are solving others’ problems and in fact at times exacerbate the feeling of powerlessness in others as we neither train, teach or imbue others with the truth of their own value and abilities.

There is an entire chapter dedicated to avoiding paternalism. It is assumed once we understand how we commit paternalism we will be equipped to avoid it.
We can do more harm than good when we do for people what they can do for themselves. Often paternalism is found in the form of resources but also in spirituality, knowledge, labor and managerial organization.

The book states that often short-term missions as well as much of relief and development work is done on an incorrect premise. That is, often we believe what the people need is relief when in fact what they need is rehabilitation or development (both longer term and more relational than relief). The three are often confused and in an effort to get more bang for our buck or a power emotional experience we don’t take the time and think things through carefully enough.

For definition:
Relief is urgent and temporary, what people cannot do for themselves (stop the bleeding).
Rehabilitation is working to restore to the pre-crisis level with the individuals
Development is moving the people to complete reconciliation in all relationships

Relief then by definition is doing for others what they are unable to do for themselves, similar to handling a trauma situation. If you think about it, by the time we westerners react and do charitable things often the situation is well beyond trauma and moved into rehab. An equation he uses to help is that effective relief should be seldom, immediate and temporary.

Rehabilitation, being the next step after the bleeding is stopped is the pursuit to reestablish the group to pre-crisis state. He lists some best-practices for good rehab which all involve being relational and connected to the group one seeks to minister to and help.
1.Ensure participation in the assessment, design, implementation and evaluation of the program
2.Conduct an initial assessment plan and strategize with the fact (resources present) in mind.
3.Respond when the needs are unmet locally.
4.Target assistance based on vulnerability and need.
5.Aid workers must possess appropriate qualifications, attitudes and experience for the job.

Development therefore being the most inclusive and far-reaching endeavor should require the most amount of time and strategy to best grow and train (disciple) people into being all that God intended. This development then takes on the auspices of not only humanitarian but Biblical teaching and training!

The last few chapters of the book focus on how to access and develop a strategy for finding out not only the needs of the community but the resources and strengths that lie therein. This is a positive approach and empowers individuals and communities to take ownership and pride in the decisions they make and fruit seen as a product of the work.

An interesting continuum is given near the end of the book. It is a continuum of participation. Think about your own giving, your churches ministry or a local charity you know of and then try to see where they fit.

Coercion (outsider predetermined) doing to
Compliance (outsider incentive motive) doing for
Consultation (outsider options given) doing for
Cooperation (partial shared responsibility) doing with
Co-learning (insider directed) doing with
Community Initiative (inside ownership) responding to

It is easy to see how when an idea or ‘betterment’ is given from the outside the local community the community does not have the inclination or empowerment to claim it for their own and therefor the program or idea often fails to survive long term.

In the end, if all our efforts should be directed at reconciling in a fourfold manner, then the key would have to be relationship and near the end of his discourse Steve writes,

“Participation is not just the means to an end but rather a legitimate end in itself”

My conclusion, I agree and would encourage anyone who is in ministry or gives in support of a ministry to read this book. If our relationship with God and others is healed we will have peace with God, not guilt and we will do good to our neighbor. If I know who I am in Christ, what abilities and gifts he has given me I will continually change for the good and use my ‘powers’ for the good of all those around me not simply for selfish reasons or glorification but to be part of the reconciling process….or relationship. And lastly if I see the world as a gift, as an environment in which I was designed to thrive and be a blessing, willn’t I treat it better and fight for its protection, as well as see how to be the best steward of what little piece is mine?
Reconcile. Fix what is broken and be part of the healing.
Use your powers for good people.

"Why be missionary?

It has been a strange and wonderful furlough (time away from field-but not away from work). We have been surprised and refreshed during our visits and encouraged by the care and love expressed to us in so many ways.

Also I have been surprised by a recurring theme we hear from those who have listened to our stories and maybe know more about the hardships we have gone through our first term there in Mozambique. The question repeatedly comes up; ‘Why? Why go through all that?’ Or stated in another way, ‘I could never do that, you guys are amazing.’ To put few things to rest, I will start with the second statement. We are not amazing. Obedient, maybe, most of the time, but far from amazing. The ‘why’ I will answer below, but first I need to set the stage in case you are unfamiliar with our place of ministry or hardships we have faced.

To name a few hardship;
-Mozambique. 14 Million people, extreme poverty and constant challenge to life in almost every aspect. I love it. It's people, it's dirt, roads that are mostly horrendous, water that is tan out of the tap, electricity that runs...most of the time and because of the history and culture, an amazing amount of baggage in intercultural miscommunication and confusion.
-Cultural differences. Being a relational, warm culture the Nampula (the town we live) locals would rather lie to you and remain friends than tell you truth, so sorting things out and finding the truth can be a painful and frustrating endeavor. And due to the hardships the locals face, seeking multiple deities and religions is a form of proactive insurance.
-Sense of time. Nothing is ever done on time, or at least our notion of on time. Most projects or repairs take 2x or 3x as long as expected. Getting car parts or house repair items can take days of searching the city’s stores or weeks waiting shipment from South Africa or further afield.
-Illnesses, strange viruses, dysentery and malaria are common. As a family we have had malaria 6x between us. Thankfully we are able to get medicine and now we know the signs of malaria at first glance and can get it treated quickly. Other medical issues have been Cami’s torn ACL (flight to South Africa...surgery…), a very scary and difficult miscarriage and Cami’s horrible back pain which have all challenged us all.
-Ministry struggles. All those doing ministry face these no matter where one is. In Moz. we do the leg work, gather and train a core of committed people only to see some fail or fall by the wayside, to jealousy, infighting, demonic oppression, curses and fear. With hearts broken we work with those God has directed into our path and do our best. This doesn’t mean however that we do not feel sorrow and frustration.
-Family-sickness. It isn’t home we miss as the country we live in becomes our home, but we do miss our families and good friends terribly. Being so far away and not being able to hug or hold a loved one during crisis is sorrowing to the point of despair. I have lost all my grandparents while on the field and was unable to attend any of their funerals. Sending condolences and a few words to be spoken just doesn’t not compensate for sorrowing with those you love. And missing being with, let alone knowing, your brothers and their families is a sacrifice.
-Finances.I cannot explain how the first years we fretted and wondered where the money would come from to do this work. Watching giving drop by 1/3 during the 'world economic crisis' was truly frightening but God was faithful and we repeatedly saw Him provide through His people so now we trust Him even more. (Think of the least amount of money you can live on and then take away your guaranteed pay check. That is faith based missions.) However, it does become an incredible blessing as we learn to trust God, not our own qualities or ability to ‘earn a living’ or to ‘convince’ others to give. It is actually freeing.

Sounds rough? Actually not nearly as bad as some of our friends experience out in the bush or in more hostile areas (nor earlier missionaries or martyrs for Christ), but the fact remains, being missionary is not for everyone and I don’t want anyone to come overseas with grandiose, romantic ideas about ‘doing ministry’. Romantic ideas often get shattered quickly when you see your child seriously ill or you are lonely to the point of tears for days on end. Or when the locals you thought you were doing such a great job of befriending robbed your house while you were away for the weekend. Or the few you were pouring your life into fall into syncretism and wield their new found Bible knowledge as a powerful weapon over those they should be sheparding with love and mercy. People, missionaries, die out there. They are harassed and persecuted. They are incredibly lonely at times and fall into doubt and worry.

So why bother? Why go? Why be a fulltime missionary?

1. Because something is broken. Romans 8:18-25 speaks clearly of our situation and how creation, saved and lost, await for redemption, liberation. “In hope, the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.” To become children of God once again, relationship whole, complete and healed. This is all our calling to be not just peacemakers but the agents of adoption. Our problems and pain can be simplified into four dimensional broken relationships: with God, with others and with creation itself as well as who we are created to be. This brokenness is and will be reconciled through Christ!

2. And this task, this ambassadorship, this adoption agent-ship, isn’t some blind duty or guilt-inspired endeavor but because Christ’s love compels us we risk, forsake and suffer. There is nothing that can happen that can be more important, more wonderful, more meaningful that sharing the fact that God loves you. Nothing. Nothing compares to peace with God—freedom from fear and living a life of incredible value.

13 If we are “out of our mind,” as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin[b] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Cor. 5:13-15, 18-21)

3. We go to bring Him glory...to please Him who loves us so. But listen carefully, I often live my life as if I have to please and make God happy when in fact I am freed already, by accepting Christ for who is and what he did for me (i.e. he has taken my sin, died and risen again—conquering that sin and all its effects) I no longer have to do anything. But the beauty is, because I am freed and forgiven (reconciled) I can live a life of meaning, I can appeal to others, imploring them also to be reconciled to this God who loves us so. This is a progressive learning process for me. This freedom and then in turn reaction and living in the freedom grows and develops over time, withstanding our shortcomings, overcoming our hurts and passing through our hardships God continues to work in us, freeing us to be His children He loves so much.

4. Lastly there is the ‘calling’. Many will speak of a mystical calling or drive to ‘be a missionary’ or fulltime Christian worker. Possibly I look at this way too simplistically but I see the calling as a compilation of your gifts, abilities and listening to what God would have you do. For me it happened one summer day in 1987 in the middle of a dusty soccer field in Monterey, Mexico where I had run (with YWAM) to 1.get away from Connecticut., 2. Find a girlfriend and 3. Travel. What I got was the profound realization that God loved me no matter how insecure, stupid or unintelligible I was. He loved me. Me. I crumble to the dust and sobbed, tears of such joy and release. I didn’t have to please anyone because it was right, I didn’t even have to go to church or read my Bible out of blind faith or devotion. I could do those things and so much more because He loves me. It changed me, forever.

And honestly, there is nothing on this earth i would rather be doing. All the hardships, all the struggle is...nothing to being where and who God wants you to be.

These are the short answers to why I serve and love my Jesus. Why I am a missionary. If you want to chat, commit below and i will write you back. If you are contemplating being a missionary, around home or overseas and need someone to talk to, let me know.

...For the love of God...

Resonate

Have you ever stretched out in the dark on the floor and listened to music? Loud. The kind of session which obviously had to be had without mom or wife around. You could hear every instrument, every note was crystal clear and passed through your whole body on its way of finding escape from the room. Every beat shook the room and you swear you can feel the rhythm in your very bones.

I haven't listened to music like that in a long time. The best i get now is it blaring so you can hear it across the house from my iPod earphones----what, you say it can't be good for me? In so many ways i think you are right but in a more essential way i am convinced that is way we need to listen to music. 100%. All of it. Loud and blistering. So that when we are done listening we remember what we have heard, so it echoes in our mind and blood for hours afterwords.

After preparing to preach for last Sunday and then give away what i discovered to my fellow followers while as a guest-preacher, i think this 'play it loud' mentality that works spiritually as well. After meditating, studying and contemplating Jesus' words in Mathew 16 not only the words have stuck, but the feel and power of them as well. I can't get them out of my head. They have found a place in my heart and i will remember the feelings and problems Peter had. I will remember that Jesus took them on a walk 30 miles out of their way so he could confront them and share with them important things away from the crowds. I will remember Jesus' question, "Yes, but who do you say i am?". I will remember chapter 16 for long time.

Friends, i am a normal guy, i hear something, no matter how brilliant it may be and in 48-72 hours it's gone, moved on to be replaced by something else. Something more 'current' or fresh. But shouldn't the words of Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the Living God, stick with us, be with-in us? Shouldn't they resonate through who we are?

So why don't they? Why do the important things, the very words of Jesus fall into dust so rapidly? Why do we 'move on' so quickly and unashamedly forget, pressing on to the newest thing that passes our particular brainwave? Nurture vs. nature, environment....BS. Really, who are you kidding? Do you remember Deuteronmomy 6 where Moses tells the people?

4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.[a] 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

He says essentially "Do whatever it takes to NOT forget these words and it will be good for you". Are we so much better at remembering? I am not. I need to proactively, purposefully teach my children, take time and BE with God because when it all boils down it is our choice to listen or watch whatever we like, to play truly stupid phone games (or computer games--my particular problem), to watch the latest installment of 'Survivorman' or 'desperate somebody-or-other' and we fill our time with useless clutter in hope we will be distracted from our guilt and longing for just one more moment, one more hour, one more day. This is the incessant pushing and pulling in our lives wether we are in the USA or Africa. Satan, your arch-enemy, will do anything he can form you spending time with your creator and your Savior. He will distract, confuse and offer endless entertainment, amusement and possibilities just so you will not hear the music for one more day.

I am back friends. You may not like me as i hound (myself)and confront my own failings because just one of you out there may have the same problems.

But do me this. Put down your tv remote (yes, turn it off), no computer farmville or age of empires and spend some time with the God who loves you. Be quiet. Recenter. Read His words, listen, worship, go for a quiet walk. Don’t let another day go by missing the opportunity, the honor and blessing of being in communion with your God. Don't be fooled, this moment is passing, this life is going by quickly and there is nothing as rewarding as living right with your God.

May you take the time to hear Him in your bones, may you walk away knowing the music of your Creator and may every note find lodging in your soul and let His music resonate through you.