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.