Yesterday I had the hilarious privilege of being the one in the water who lowered Sebastian in baptism.
Sebastian is 15. His story magnifies God’s grace – to and through individuals as well as to and through a “mutt” of a church like EFC.
Sebastian is from here (Quito). He goes to a school named after Charles Darwin…and that is where my giggling begins.
One of Sebastian’s teachers this year is Natalia. She, her husband and their daughter are from near Odessa in the Ukraine. What they’re doing in Quito will have to be another chapter in the book I will probably never write. Through an extra-sweet gift of God’s grace, they found their way to EFC and have been as involved in and out of this church as any family I can think of!
Natalia says she uses pretty much any opportunity she can in the classroom (at "Charles Darwin") to talk about The Living God. Along the way, God used that to catch Sebastian’s attention. He was even more intrigued to hear that Natalia attended an English-speaking church – because as it is for many his age, “English” is seen as a key piece to the future. Like many, he is reluctant to speak English – but by God’s grace, he seems to “get it.”
Apparently, at least he gets enough.
Two months ago, while kicking around some of the things he had been hearing and singing (with Natalia and a few “Christian friends [he] used to think were kinda weird”), Sebastian surrendered to Jesus, “The Way to The Living God.”
I hadn’t heard about it until a couple of Sundays ago. I also hadn’t heard that for several Sundays he had brought a change of clothes in his backpack, hoping/waiting for water in the “baptismal pool” so he could take the “next step” that his friends and his heart kept telling him about.
So, after having a blast getting to know a bit of his story and making sure “the pool” got filled on Saturday, this transplanted Canadian prairie guy lowered an Ecuadorian teen under the water…with smiling Ukranian faces in the front row, flanked by (as close as I could tell by a quick visual scan) a growing core of Ecuadorians, Nigerians, Haitians, Germans, Colombians, Mexicans, Canadians, Brits, Belgians, Filipinos, folks from at least two dozen of the United States – and even two Shamans from the Amazon jungle!
Sometimes you just gotta laugh with joy!!!
Monday, August 2, 2010
Thursday, July 8, 2010
July Generic Update
The first line of the book “The Post-American World” hit me hard for a variety of reasons. Although I appreciate Fareed Zakaria as a CNN reporter, I was expecting his book to be the latest in a string of “doom and gloom” accounts about the United States (and, subsequently, Canada: the main stakeholder in the “north” part of North America). That is why his first line caught my attention: “This is a book not about the decline of America but the rise of everyone else.”
The “rise of the rest” strikes me as particularly intriguing as I sit in the food court of a shopping mall that rivals anything I’ve seen anywhere. I am well aware of realities of a “developing nation” that lurk not far from view (i.e. as with everyone across the country, this mall recently had to learn to navigate daily electrical rationing that became “the norm” for well over two months). Regardless, the existence of several malls like this one stands as a market-driven testimony to how much the Ecuadorian capital has changed since Beth and I arrived here (individually) two decades ago.
I glance at the traffic circle three stories below and note that the majority of the vehicles streaming past (bumper-to-bumper, even on a Saturday afternoon) are newer than our 18 year-old Landcruiser (once again, I flash back just two decades to when owning a vehicle of any age was the exception rather than the rule!). My gaze returns to what is causing a notable “buzz” around me and I see dozens of HD TV screens throughout the food court, wired to DIRECTV and bringing World Cup soccer live from South Africa!
My eyes return to the table in front of me. There is an insulated cup filled with the daily brew from an “Ecua-version” of Starbucks. There is a “Kindle” (a mind-numbing gadget/gift from a fellow bookaholic) that absorbed Zakaria’s book from thin air in 30 seconds at the click of three buttons! I click a button on another soon-to-be-obsolete symbol of technology (my rapidly-aging laptop). It is barely “new enough” to connect to a little thing the size of a pack of gum (a mobile internet modem) that allows me to check Zakaria’s credentials more closely before continuing to click away on this update. The last gadget on the table is an “antiquated” cell phone that at least still offers instant connection with Kasey and four others who are off doing whatever it is junior high girls do in a mall. It all combines to make me smile at the thought of “the rise of the rest” in a “post-American world.”
I have been noticing a similar, although not-so-subtle, shift in and from the two places that demand the lion’s share of the time, energy and resources of the Kinzels in Keeto: English Fellowship Church (EFC) and the Alliance Academy International (AAI). Some research I requested a little over six years ago showed that 85% of the people who were attending EFC or had visited in the previous three years were from the “missionary community.” Around the same time the AAI was “home” to students from over 35 mission agencies and the vast majority of the missionaries had North American roots. You would have to experience it to fully appreciate the transformation in just a few tear-soaked years (from a steady stream of “goodbyes”) – so suffice to say, North American missionaries are part of a shrinking minority. A number of factors have converged to stir a similar trend in business and diplomatic circles. One picture of that is the salaried and supported staff team that God has allowed to be built at EFC. Out of nine people, I am the only full-blown “North American!” Our newest addition (an Associate Pastor, focusing on High School) was born and raised here, left at age 18 and returned at age 30. All the rest on “the team” are Latinos!
In spite of the “Post-American” trend, the number of people who turn to EFC and those we connect with over the course of any given week continues to increase – and reflect more international diversity than we ever could have dreamed. Heightened and intentional strides in ESL (English as a Second Language) connections have played a key role in that -- allowing bridges into Korean, Russian, South African, German, Nigerian and Haitian communities. Meanwhile, Ecuadorians make up the “majority” of people who turn here during the week (the number is often higher than at an average “Ecuadorian” church!). I feel as though I should mention one practical challenge that creates. We recently did a mid-year revision of our budget (it had easily been the most challenging budget we had ever wrestled through in the first place!). Even though the number of people we are able to reach and our expenses have risen exponentially, the income that we projected for the year is almost identical to what it was when I transitioned from broadcasting to the church ten years ago. Still, somehow God has allowed us to remain “in the black” – while allowing us to build enough reserves to create a buffer if we need to consider “deficit spending” at any point this year and even next!
Our increasing international tone reminds me of one of the amazing gifts delivered by God over the past several months. One Friday evening I received a call from an Ecuadorian lady who joins us every few Sundays to “freshen her English” (she is actively involved with her husband at a nearby Spanish-speaking church). He is an immigration lawyer and recently helped about thirty Pakistanis enter Ecuador. About a dozen of them are Muslims who speak English and were looking for a “place of worship” and asked if they would “be welcome” at EFC(!). They joined us Sunday morning – and experienced the story of Martin Luther, his culture-quaking encounter with true Grace and his subsequent “deconstruction of an ancient religion.” They have not returned since – but there is no question about what they heard!
One of the key pieces in the ESL bridge is the full, written, translated (parallel English/Spanish) copy of my message that is made available each Sunday (our secretary Jenny is an exceptionally gifted translator – especially working with “my” English!). We keep printing more – yet we still seem to keep running out. Many people comment that they take the text home so they can continue to pour over it during the week. It really blows us away when people (even visiting Pastors!) ask if they can use the text for Bible studies, sermons or to give to a friend or relative who is reluctant to visit any church. Plus, we constantly have visitors popping in and out and many ask to be added to a growing list of people around the world who receive the written translated text via email! It has become a reproductive tool beyond “anything we could have asked or imagined” (Ephesians 3:20)!
That reminds me of a Haitian connection I mentioned earlier. By God’s grace, we’ve become a key source of encouragement and support for “Pastor Adam” and a growing church of Haitian refugees (who repeatedly show that you don’t always have to follow best-selling North American books on “church growth strategy!”). Once, while Jenny (our regular translator) was on vacation for two weeks, Roberto (our church operations guru and extraordinarily gifted bicultural Ecuadorian) took on the translation. The next weekend he was invited to “visit” the Haitian church – only to arrive and learn that they were counting on him to bring the message (something he had never done before!)! Roberto turned to the two passages he had translated from Luke and God brought much of it back to his mind so he could bring it to them. That meant this Ecuadorian-born young man spoke in English while Haitian Pastor Adam translated into a mixture of French and Creole. To me, that is a hilarious picture of “the rise of the rest” in what seems to be becoming an increasingly “Post-American” community – with potential beyond comprehension to more fully become an “international, intercultural, interdenominational church” made up of people who are increasingly able and eager to genuinely live missional lives!
Seeking deeper surrender in the midst of it,
Len (for Beth, Jenny and Kasey) Kinzel
The “rise of the rest” strikes me as particularly intriguing as I sit in the food court of a shopping mall that rivals anything I’ve seen anywhere. I am well aware of realities of a “developing nation” that lurk not far from view (i.e. as with everyone across the country, this mall recently had to learn to navigate daily electrical rationing that became “the norm” for well over two months). Regardless, the existence of several malls like this one stands as a market-driven testimony to how much the Ecuadorian capital has changed since Beth and I arrived here (individually) two decades ago.
I glance at the traffic circle three stories below and note that the majority of the vehicles streaming past (bumper-to-bumper, even on a Saturday afternoon) are newer than our 18 year-old Landcruiser (once again, I flash back just two decades to when owning a vehicle of any age was the exception rather than the rule!). My gaze returns to what is causing a notable “buzz” around me and I see dozens of HD TV screens throughout the food court, wired to DIRECTV and bringing World Cup soccer live from South Africa!
My eyes return to the table in front of me. There is an insulated cup filled with the daily brew from an “Ecua-version” of Starbucks. There is a “Kindle” (a mind-numbing gadget/gift from a fellow bookaholic) that absorbed Zakaria’s book from thin air in 30 seconds at the click of three buttons! I click a button on another soon-to-be-obsolete symbol of technology (my rapidly-aging laptop). It is barely “new enough” to connect to a little thing the size of a pack of gum (a mobile internet modem) that allows me to check Zakaria’s credentials more closely before continuing to click away on this update. The last gadget on the table is an “antiquated” cell phone that at least still offers instant connection with Kasey and four others who are off doing whatever it is junior high girls do in a mall. It all combines to make me smile at the thought of “the rise of the rest” in a “post-American world.”
I have been noticing a similar, although not-so-subtle, shift in and from the two places that demand the lion’s share of the time, energy and resources of the Kinzels in Keeto: English Fellowship Church (EFC) and the Alliance Academy International (AAI). Some research I requested a little over six years ago showed that 85% of the people who were attending EFC or had visited in the previous three years were from the “missionary community.” Around the same time the AAI was “home” to students from over 35 mission agencies and the vast majority of the missionaries had North American roots. You would have to experience it to fully appreciate the transformation in just a few tear-soaked years (from a steady stream of “goodbyes”) – so suffice to say, North American missionaries are part of a shrinking minority. A number of factors have converged to stir a similar trend in business and diplomatic circles. One picture of that is the salaried and supported staff team that God has allowed to be built at EFC. Out of nine people, I am the only full-blown “North American!” Our newest addition (an Associate Pastor, focusing on High School) was born and raised here, left at age 18 and returned at age 30. All the rest on “the team” are Latinos!
In spite of the “Post-American” trend, the number of people who turn to EFC and those we connect with over the course of any given week continues to increase – and reflect more international diversity than we ever could have dreamed. Heightened and intentional strides in ESL (English as a Second Language) connections have played a key role in that -- allowing bridges into Korean, Russian, South African, German, Nigerian and Haitian communities. Meanwhile, Ecuadorians make up the “majority” of people who turn here during the week (the number is often higher than at an average “Ecuadorian” church!). I feel as though I should mention one practical challenge that creates. We recently did a mid-year revision of our budget (it had easily been the most challenging budget we had ever wrestled through in the first place!). Even though the number of people we are able to reach and our expenses have risen exponentially, the income that we projected for the year is almost identical to what it was when I transitioned from broadcasting to the church ten years ago. Still, somehow God has allowed us to remain “in the black” – while allowing us to build enough reserves to create a buffer if we need to consider “deficit spending” at any point this year and even next!
Our increasing international tone reminds me of one of the amazing gifts delivered by God over the past several months. One Friday evening I received a call from an Ecuadorian lady who joins us every few Sundays to “freshen her English” (she is actively involved with her husband at a nearby Spanish-speaking church). He is an immigration lawyer and recently helped about thirty Pakistanis enter Ecuador. About a dozen of them are Muslims who speak English and were looking for a “place of worship” and asked if they would “be welcome” at EFC(!). They joined us Sunday morning – and experienced the story of Martin Luther, his culture-quaking encounter with true Grace and his subsequent “deconstruction of an ancient religion.” They have not returned since – but there is no question about what they heard!
One of the key pieces in the ESL bridge is the full, written, translated (parallel English/Spanish) copy of my message that is made available each Sunday (our secretary Jenny is an exceptionally gifted translator – especially working with “my” English!). We keep printing more – yet we still seem to keep running out. Many people comment that they take the text home so they can continue to pour over it during the week. It really blows us away when people (even visiting Pastors!) ask if they can use the text for Bible studies, sermons or to give to a friend or relative who is reluctant to visit any church. Plus, we constantly have visitors popping in and out and many ask to be added to a growing list of people around the world who receive the written translated text via email! It has become a reproductive tool beyond “anything we could have asked or imagined” (Ephesians 3:20)!
That reminds me of a Haitian connection I mentioned earlier. By God’s grace, we’ve become a key source of encouragement and support for “Pastor Adam” and a growing church of Haitian refugees (who repeatedly show that you don’t always have to follow best-selling North American books on “church growth strategy!”). Once, while Jenny (our regular translator) was on vacation for two weeks, Roberto (our church operations guru and extraordinarily gifted bicultural Ecuadorian) took on the translation. The next weekend he was invited to “visit” the Haitian church – only to arrive and learn that they were counting on him to bring the message (something he had never done before!)! Roberto turned to the two passages he had translated from Luke and God brought much of it back to his mind so he could bring it to them. That meant this Ecuadorian-born young man spoke in English while Haitian Pastor Adam translated into a mixture of French and Creole. To me, that is a hilarious picture of “the rise of the rest” in what seems to be becoming an increasingly “Post-American” community – with potential beyond comprehension to more fully become an “international, intercultural, interdenominational church” made up of people who are increasingly able and eager to genuinely live missional lives!
Seeking deeper surrender in the midst of it,
Len (for Beth, Jenny and Kasey) Kinzel
Monday, May 3, 2010
lonnnnnnggggggg post
Hiya!
It has been over a month. Lots of excuses; no really valid reasons -- beyond the normal and hilarious flow of life. Actually, one thing in particular has been "the focus" of my/our(Elders') attention. It turned into a whole Sunday service...and some folks have been asking about the content of it. I figured I may as well just "cut and paste" the whole thing here. Folks have complete freedom to ignore it completely or read bits and bites along the way. This is the original "script" -- which explains the little "cues" along the way for Powerpoint files and videos. I know it will be a little "clunky" in this format...but, again, the info is there for those who want it and those who don't can simply ignore it!
EFC – Sunday, May 2, 2010 – What is the church?
-----“Amazing Grace” –7-year-old
Why are you here?
#2*****
I don’t mean that in a philosophical or “existential” way…as in, what is the meaning of life; how do you fit into it; or what is your cosmic purpose for existing?
I mean why are you here; right here, right now? English Fellowship Church; Quito, Ecuador; May 2, 2010.
Of all the places you could be in a beautiful country like Ecuador, why are you here…the morning of the second day of what is a weekly 2-day break in much of the western world?
If your answer is anything like, “Well, I (or for some of you, “we”) always go to church…” I have a couple of follow-up questions:
Why?
And what do you mean by this thing called “church?” that you “go to?”
Today we’re going to explore what many people (consciously or subconsciously) mean when they say they “go to church.”
I believe when many (if not most) people talk about “going to church” they intentionally or unintentionally mean coming to a time like this.
I am getting a little ahead of myself, but let me just say that while I believe “this” is a crucial part of church, it should not be seen as the “sum total” of church.
I am concerned that for many people, “this” and what happens here is synonymous with “church” – that is,
#4*****
“this” is “church.” Period!
Some of this may seem really basic to some of you, but by God’s grace there are people here who are new to this whole “church thing.” So we’re all at least starting at the same place, let me just say that when we use the word “church” we should be referring to one of two fundamental things. There is what is called “the universal church” and there is “the local church.”
#6*****
The universal church is made up of all people throughout human history who have genuinely surrendered to Jesus Christ as the only way back to the one, True God.
EFC is one of countless examples of a “local church;” a visible image of the immeasurable universal church—and both are part of God’s careful design.
My favorite picture of the universal and local churches coming together is in the unique vision the Apostle John was given as part of an exclusive look that God gave him into heaven. He wrote:
#7*****
“I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language…” (Rev 7:9, NIV)
That first “service” with the whole “universal church” is going to be beyond anything we could even fantasize, and it will bring together an indescribable number and mixture of people from “local churches.”
We hear the word “diversity” a lot these days…but we cannot comprehend how diverse that “multitude” will be; people from every moment of human history from “every tribe, nation, people and language.”
That indescribable multitude of beautifully different people will have one common focus. John wrote:
#9*****
These stood before the throne and before the Lamb (and that simple word “the” will be seen and understood in a way it cannot be until then; not “a” or “one of a number of possibilities” – but the throne and the Lamb)
…In loud voice they cried (…it sounds a little strange in English to say “in loud voice” – but John was trying to describe how all those diverse voices came together, literally as one)
…in loud voice they cried (…I believe a huge part of the cry will be because they will be having their first perfect look at the one thing they all have in common)
…in loud voice they cried (…try to imagine all the emotions that will be behind that cry!)
[Our] salvation is due to our God, Who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb [to Them we owe our deliverance]! (Rev 7:9, Amplified Bible)
Later we are going to celebrate that last statement, through what has come to be called “The Lord’s Supper,” “Communion” or even “Holy Communion.” It is open to anyone who, by God’s grace, can genuinely join with others and say,
#10*****
[Our] salvation is due to our God, Who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb [to Them we owe our deliverance]! (Rev 7:9, Amplified Bible)
By God’s design, we can celebrate Communion here in this local church and join with others from all through history from within the universal church.
My passion for the local church is greater than ever. At the same time, God has taken my heart for the universal church to places it has never been. Passion and vision for both grow side-by-side.
That is why it saddens me to see and hear about many people who have turned their backs on the local church.
There is a growing movement of people who say they don’t “need” a local church. They often have a list of things they are quick to point out that they believe are wrong in a local church that they came in contact with.
A similar trend says if four people get together on a Friday night for a couple of beers and talk about their faith for a couple of hours, that is “church.”
Many people turn their backs on the local church over disappointment, disagreement or dissatisfaction related to just one part of one particular local church.
Some overemphasize their part in the universal church and overlook what is found throughout the New Testament that underlines the crucial role of the local church.
Some churches have lost touch with the reality that they are part of something beyond their own walls and something that will live long after their doors have closed. They are dangerously focused only on “their” church. An unhealthy view of the local church comes at the expense of their vision for their place in the universal church.
And there are people who have turned “their local church” or even “their Pastor” into something close to an idol.
Much of the New Testament is written to people who were part of the universal church and who had begun to learn and live out what that means, through a local church.
#12*****
Just one example is the letter Paul wrote to: “God’s holy people in the city of Colosse, who are faithful brothers and sisters in Christ.” (Col 1:2)
Keep the thought of the universal and local church in mind, along with your place in both, as we go through a section in Colossians that has come to be labeled in many Bibles as “Living the New Life.”
#13*****
1 Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand.
#14*****
2 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.
#15*****
3 For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.
#16*****
4 And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.
#17*****
5 So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.
#18*****
6 Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming. 7 You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world.
#19*****
8 But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language.
#20*****
9 Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds.
#21*****
10 Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.
#22*****
11 In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.
#23*****
12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
#24*****
13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.
#25*****
14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.
#26*****
15 And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.
#27*****
16 Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.
#28*****
17 And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.
So, “What is the church?” For many people, what happens in this setting at this time is synonymous with “church;” that is, “this” is “church.” Period!
Some have consciously or subconsciously reduced “church” even further, describing or labeling a local church based on its music.
If you ever want to do something that should make you very sad (although I can guarantee it makes God much sadder), do an internet search on the phrase “worship wars” (that may be one of the most contradictory phrases anyone ever came up with: worship wars).
I have two cartoons to show, one after another, that put of a smile on what really is a serious reality:
#30*****
#31*****
The more I learn about Satan, the less surprised I am by how something that is designed to be such a core part of life in “the church” is actually divisive and damaging.
The debates and even the division over worship are normally specifically about music, which can make it even more bizarre if you really study what Paul was encouraging when he wrote:
#33*****
“Let the message about Christ,
in all its richness,
fill your lives.
Teach
and counsel
each other
with all the wisdom he gives.
Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs
to God
with thankful hearts.” (Col 3:16)
-----Ginny Owens “Be Thou My Vision”
A couple of weeks ago I heard a guy talking about a grandma who wanted her teenage grandchildren to start “going to church”…so she found what many people her age would consider a “pretty wild” local church. She explored it with her eyes, heart and mind open and found that it taught and pointed to Jesus as the way to the God…and now every Sunday she picks up her grandkids, stuffs cotton in her ears and heads to that local church.
That is a great story…but I also looked for a story about a couple of teenagers who wanted their grandma to start “going to church,” so they found one that taught and pointed to Jesus as the way to the God – and it had an organ and a choir (like the kind she grew up with)…so every Sunday these teenagers leave their iPods on their dressers, pick up their grandma and head to that local church with her.
I may be crazy, but I still believe that the two kinds of scenarios that I just described could be brought together in one local church…as people gather to worship together! In my mind, that could be a powerful picture of the ways Paul taught about being “a body.”
Speaking of that, on Tuesday I was flipping through this hymn book and ended up at #677. It is based on John 13:35:
#35*****
“By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (NKJV)
For some reason, I started to do a little research into song #677 – and what I found made me smile in light of this whole discussion on church music.
Peter Scholtes wrote and recorded #677 in the late 60’s. It actually became one of the main songs of what was known as “the Jesus movement” -- which was kind of the Christian sub-culture of the whole hippie movement.
The song came off an album by members of Peter Scholtes’ local church. Some of it was done with kind of a mixture of Gregorian chants and 60’s folk music, with guitars, flutes, conga drums, maracas and bongos.
#37*****
Some of you who have sung #677 from the so-called “protestant hymnal” for years might be interested (or surprised) to know that Peter Scholtes was a parish priest at St. Brendan's Church on the south side of Chicago. One of the things he did when he was about 50 was lead a youth choir at that Catholic church and he had been trying to find a song for a series of ecumenical, interracial events. He couldn't find anything and actually wrote “They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love” in one day!
-----Jars of Clay – “They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love.”
We’re going to look at something that has been repeated in “church” over the centuries as much as anything I can think of. I hope we can say it out loud, together.
Some of you won’t need to look at the words; some of you may need to look back at them every once in a while; some of you may have never seen them before.
Either way, let’s go through these ancient words together.
By the way, on Sunday mornings we’re continuing to move away from telling you when to stand or sit – or influence any body position you might want to take. However, if you grew up with this in your background, sitting while you read it may seem a little strange so why doesn’t everyone go ahead and stand for it:
#39*****
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
the Maker of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:
#40*****
Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried;
#41*****
He descended into hell.
The third day He arose again from the dead;
He ascended into heaven,
and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
#42*****
I believe in the Holy Ghost;
the holy catholic church; (don’t panic; that is small “c” catholic, meaning “everlasting” or “universal”)
the communion of saints;
the forgiveness of sins;
the resurrection of the body;
and the life everlasting.
Amen.
If you don’t know what that was, it is “The Apostles’ Creed.” It goes back to about fifty years after the last book of the New Testament was written – so it is almost 1900 years old! There is no way of knowing how many people in how many languages have made the declaration that we just did.
-----Holy, Holy, Holy – Hillsong United
I spent as much time as I dared on the Internet, trying to find how many “churches” there are, all around the world – and how many people enter those churches each week. I found one guy who estimated at least two-billion people “go to church” each week – in one form or another.
If you asked all of them “what is the church?” what kinds of things do you think you would hear?
Mark Driscoll and Gary Breshears wrote one of the more intriguing books that I’ve seen on the subject.
#44*****
In preparing for “Vintage Church” Driscoll asked various pastors of some of America’s largest churches if they have a working definition of “the church.”
Driscoll says not one of them did; he said “they confessed they were giving their lives to building something for which they did not even have a clear definition.”
Yet if you go to one of the biggest book-selling companies around (amazon.com) and do a search for books with “church” in the title you’ll find thousands of them; things like: Liquid Church, Engaged Church, Total Church, Simple Church, Deep Church, Sticky Church, House Church, Church 3.0 - Upgrades for the Future Church, Essential Church, Prevailing Church, Your Church, Stop Dating the Church, The Viral Church, Organic Church, Doing Church and even The Church of Facebook.
One thing most of them have in common is that they share stories and experiences from what have been labeled “successful” churches and churches that have “failed.” In his book on church, Driscoll says that is strange, because none of them really define what a church is…and he wonders how you can call a church “successful” or a “failure” (or even “good” or “bad”) without understanding what it is supposed to be in the first place.
In different ways and at different levels of intensity, for the past year the five Elders of this church have been exploring the question, “What is the church?” We’ve done it specifically with this local church in mind.
The Elders decided we need to give a bit of an update on at least part of what we’ve come up with – and what it might mean for people who turn to this church.
Technically, doing something like this with all of you here fulfills one of the legal requirements that we have to operate as a “local church” under the rules of the Ecuadorian government.
#46*****
This may sound strange, but I kind of see EFC like a blob of clay that we started working on in a new way about 10 years ago.
Along the way some parts have been pulled off,
some parts have been shaped and molded,
and there are places where fresh clay has been added.
The more I think about the image of the clay, the more it makes sense to me. I believe we need to keep most of the clay moist and soft; we need to keep working on it.
#48*****
As with any project like it, people will always have ideas, suggestions and opinions about what it is like…and will express that with varying levels of passion. As frustrating as that can be sometimes, I believe it is a crucial part of this thing called “the church.”
There are parts of it that need to be carefully and permanently preserved…and this is a good place to look at the ten points that form the foundation of EFC:
#50*****
We believe:
the Bible is the inspired Word of God and is our authoritative and sufficient guide for daily living.
in the one living and true God, who exists eternally in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
in God the Father, Creator of heaven and earth, who sent His Son, Jesus Christ to the earth.
Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man; He died on the cross for our sins and came back to life and was taken to heaven where he is now with God.
the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity, that He convicts us of sin, permanently indwells us, and empowers us to live God’s ways
humanity was created by God in His image, but we have separated ourselves from God.
#51*****
eternal salvation is a gift of God's grace and we are declared right before Him when we receive this gift of eternal life by trusting Jesus Christ as the only One who can rescue us from sin.
the church is the body of Christ and God has called the community of faith to gather together in local church families.
in the visible and personal return of Jesus Christ to earth when He will judge the living and the dead and will establish His eternal Kingdom.
in unity in diversity. We seek to be united in the essentials of our faith while embracing diversity in the non-essentials. We respect cultural, language, social, political and economic differences and value the significance of each person. We want to openly love all people while upholding our biblical values.
The question “what is the church?” has been around for a long time. Even in Bible times the Greek word that is trans¬lated “church” had different meanings and was used different ways…across the whole culture as well as within the letters and books that became The New Testament (where the word is found over 100 times).
If you know or have studied Spanish you will likely recognize the Greek word: ekklēsia.
#53*****
In classical Greek, it meant “an assembly of citizens summoned by the crier.” In New Testament times the word was almost exclusively used to represent a group of people brought together for a particular cause or purpose…whether it had to do with “God” (or religion) or not.
Notice that phrase: a group of people brought together for a particular cause or purpose.
That might be getting us moving in the right direction.
#54*****
people…together for a particular purpose.
So what is that purpose? As we explore the question “what is the church?” we need to consider why God strategically included “church” in His design for human history.
If God did not specifically have something in mind with and through local churches, why doesn’t the Bible just go from the book of John right to Revelation? Why all this teaching and all these letters addressed specifically to local pockets of followers of Jesus?
I took some liberty with a scene that writer Philip Yancey described, and adapted it to try to answer “why?”
Picture a made-for-TV documentary. The title is: Images of God Through the Ages. Of course they don’t have live footage of most of it, so they had to dramatize it…like a Hollywood movie set.
The opening scene is from 1400 B.C. It starts with an aerial shot of the Sinai mountains. It looks uninhabited. The shot scans around and then closes in on a group of people acting as ancient Hebrews. A narrator explains how they eat, what they wear and how they live.
Then the camera closes in on a Jewish boy, about twelve years old.
The narrator asks him to tell about God; to describe what God is like.
The boy’s eyes open wide. “You mean…you mean…” but he can’t bring himself to say the word.
The narrator prompts him, “Yahweh. The God your people worship.”
“Hmmm,” the boy grunts softly. “What’s He like? Hmmm. See that mountain over there?”
(The camera moves to a steaming, smoldering, smoking volcano…and shows a close-up of bubbling magma.)
The boy says, “That’s where God lives. Don’t go near it or you will die! He’s…well, He’s…I guess most of all he is scary.”
The next scene is from the first century A.D. The shot opens, panning across a broad, flat Palestinian horizon…and scanning a beach.
A small group of Jews is huddled together. The camera tightens in on a clump of bystanders. Then it gets even closer…focusing in on one woman. She is sitting on a rock. The narrator asks the same question he posed to the 12-year-old boy in the previous scene. “What is God like?”
“God?” she says, “I thought I knew but now I am not so sure. I started following this teacher around. He claims he is the Messiah…the one my people have been waiting for. Most of my friends laugh at him. I was there the day he fed thousands of people. I had fish and some bread myself. Who else could have done that, except God? I saw him heal a blind man, too. God must be like that man named Jesus, over there.”
The final scene in the documentary is from the 21st century. The film footage is no longer staged…dramatized. It is live. It looks like it could be from the evening news. Clips of your neighborhood are shown. Images of a neighborhood in Tehran. An orphanage in Darfur. Washington, DC. The U.S./Mexico border. And again the voice of the narrator is heard. “And what is God like now?”
#56*****
What is God like…now?
How do people see Him…and where do they see Him?
The Apostle Paul began to answer that as he stood in front of some of the most powerful “religious” men of his day. Paul said,
#57*****
“God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.” (Acts 17:24, NKJV)
Later Paul wrote:
#58*****
“The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you.” (Rom 8:11, NLT).
He also wrote: …you are God’s temple and God’s Spirit dwells in you…(1 Cor. 3:16, ESV)
The original language sheds more light on those two verses. The key phrase in each is: lives or dwells in you.
The “you” in each case can either mean you “singular” or you “plural.” In much of the New Testament, even when the writers seemed to be referring to individuals, they often had “community” in mind. Another version of a verse we just looked at captures it more literally:
#60*****
“...all of you together are the temple of God and the Spirit of God lives in you…” (1 Cor 3:16, NLT)
The roots of that go back thousands of years. One of the guys from the Wednesday Night Fight Club found it in the book of Leviticus. God said to and through Moses:
#61*****
“I will set My dwelling in and among you…I will walk in and with and among you and will be your God, and you shall be My people.” (Lev 26:11-12, Amplified) It is easy to miss that promise in a book so full of strange laws, sacrifices…and blood!
By God’s grace, all the pages about law, sacrifice and blood got summarized and lived out by Jesus Christ! That is what Paul was trying to get across to the people who had begun to make up the first “local churches.”
#62*****
Paul said: “The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.” (Rom 8:11, NLT)
Go to the final scene in that imaginary documentary…and the question “what is God like now/where is He?”
Why did God include “church” in His design for human history?
#63*****
God is in and among those who make up “the church.”
He is in and among those who His grace has brought into the universal church.
And He lives in, among and through those who are seeking to embrace and share that grace through their connection with a local church.
God dwells in and among those who make up “the church” as His primary way to make Himself seen and known.
Jesus told His first twelve followers,
#65*****
“I will build my church….” (Mt 16:18, NLT) A study of the nuances of the original language underlines the confidence and the certainty behind His words: I will build…
What has Jesus used…what is Jesus using…what will He continue to use to build?
From the very beginning…He has used people. Ordinary people…and by “ordinary” I mean “messed up.”
As I’ve said many times, God has to use messed-up people because they’re the only kind of people around!
#66*****
Amazing grace…that saved a wretch like me; Amazing grace…that uses a saved wretch like me!
The first time Jesus made His promise about building the church, He was looking right at Peter…and you don’t have to study Peter for very long to see that he was a living model of what it means to mess up – but oh, how he loved Jesus…and oh, how Jesus loved him!!!
I would say a pretty good indicator of whether you are genuinely a part of the universal church is that you want to learn more about Jesus; your love for Jesus is growing; you want to be more like Him…and you realize you cannot do any of that without Him.
And I would say that is a good thought to lead us to worship through our offering.
-----“Jesus Loves Me” – Gaither Vocal Band
God is in and among those who make up “the church.”
God is in and among all those who His grace has brought into the universal church.
#68*****
The Elders of this church believe God also lives in, among and through those who are seeking to embrace and share that grace through their connection with a local church.
We continue to talk, pray, discuss, debate, study and think: what is the church?
We’ve also been exploring and reviewing what this church, and many others churches have done to allow people some concrete way of connecting to and with a local church.
I should mention that you can be part of a local church, even a very active part, and not be a genuine part of the universal church!
I believe you can be genuinely a part of the “universal church” without being part of a “local church” – but I believe you would have to have a pretty good reason to not be an active, positive, constructive part of a local church -- and I don’t believe there are many good reasons to not be! The catch is, understanding and agreeing what “being a part of it” means.
We want to introduce you to what we’ve come up with for EFC!
We’re going to quickly go through the first part of it today…and there are copies of the whole sheet at the back. We hope this first part explains where we’re coming from with it.
#70*****
It would be a way of saying, “I want to actively, intentionally and lovingly engage in working on this particular local ‘lump of clay” – and I want God, through the people who make it up, to actively, intentionally and lovingly engage in working on me. I want to walk with others as we continue to define and live out what this church is.”
#71*****
EFC Member Covenant
This is for those who want to walk more closely with others from EFC and in healthy relationships with Christ-ians in general. It is not a call to perfection but to pursue and live out joy found in the forgiveness and grace of the God.
WHAT IS A COVENANT MEMBER?
Member: is not used in the sense of “joining a club” but in recognizing oneself as a part of a “living body.”
Covenant: is a commitment we make with God and with other people.
WHAT IS A COVENANT? (must read)
#72*****
A covenant is a mutual agreement between two parties. It infers accountability and an ongoing commitment. The Hebrew word for covenant (berit) is a relational term used to illustrate the commitment of God to His people and the expectations God has for them.
#73*****
The Old Covenant is most simply expressed through the 10 commandments. Nothing but complete obedience to them would earn God’s favor. God showed grace and unmatched love by sending Jesus. Jesus is the only one who completely fulfilled the requirements of the Old Covenant. In Jesus a New Covenant (agreement between God and man) was made through which we are welcome in God’s presence now and forever. This new Covenant is a Covenant made in Jesus’ blood. Through the redeeming sacrifice of Jesus, by His death and resurrection, we are set free to serve God and live by the indwelling of His Holy Spirit. A new obedience comes from the new Covenant; one that flows out of redemption, gratitude and love.
#74*****
It is this New Covenant that we want this covenant to be anchored to. This is not designed to add to the completed work of Jesus but rather to be used as a reminder of and encouragement for His continuing growth and prominence in our lives. Obedience does not earn salvation, but salvation bears fruit in obedience.
#75*****
Five statements form the foundation:
1) I WILL walk with God daily through personal study, reflection and prayer.
2) I WILL walk with others in ongoing pursuit of growth, depth and knowledge of the God.
3) I WILL “take it to the street” and serve others in Jesus’ name.
4) I WILL seek to build discipleship into every aspect of my life.
5) I WILL pursue unity in core matters of “doctrine” and relationally with others.
Again, there are copies of the whole sheet at the back.
Take it home, look at it, read it, pray about it, set it aside for a few days; then read it and pray over it again; consider your own heart and if it lines up with what you have sensed at the heart of this local church.
We wanted to introduce it this morning and we’ll look at it from a few different angles over the coming weeks.
I can’t think of a better way to wrap this service up than to celebrate communion together.
The tables with the two symbols for Communion are only at the front this time…so you can watch and listen to a couple of things, if and as you come to the bread and the cup. Remember, they are only symbols; coming to them symbolizes your desire to come to Jesus.
You’re welcome to come at any time while the last two songs play.
I want to read one of the more well-used portions of the Bible at Communion time…from one of the more modern versions of it. These are Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 11:23-28, from The Message.
#77*****
Let me go over with you again exactly what goes on in the Lord's Supper and why it is so centrally important. I received my instructions from the Master himself and passed them on to you. Jesus, on the night of his betrayal, took bread. Having given thanks, he broke it and said,
“This is my body, broken for you. Do this to remember me.””
After supper, he did the same thing with the cup:
“This cup is my blood, my new covenant with you. Each time you drink this cup, remember me.”
#78*****
What you must solemnly realize is that every time you eat this bread and every time you drink this cup, you reenact in your words and actions the death of the Master. You will be drawn back to this meal again and again until the Master returns. You must never let familiarity breed contempt.
Anyone who eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Master irreverently is like part of the crowd that jeered and spit on him at his death. Is that the kind of "remembrance" you want to be part of? Examine your motives, test your heart, come to this meal in holy awe.
-----“Communion” – Third Day
-----“Creed” – Rich Mullins
It has been over a month. Lots of excuses; no really valid reasons -- beyond the normal and hilarious flow of life. Actually, one thing in particular has been "the focus" of my/our(Elders') attention. It turned into a whole Sunday service...and some folks have been asking about the content of it. I figured I may as well just "cut and paste" the whole thing here. Folks have complete freedom to ignore it completely or read bits and bites along the way. This is the original "script" -- which explains the little "cues" along the way for Powerpoint files and videos. I know it will be a little "clunky" in this format...but, again, the info is there for those who want it and those who don't can simply ignore it!
EFC – Sunday, May 2, 2010 – What is the church?
-----“Amazing Grace” –7-year-old
Why are you here?
#2*****
I don’t mean that in a philosophical or “existential” way…as in, what is the meaning of life; how do you fit into it; or what is your cosmic purpose for existing?
I mean why are you here; right here, right now? English Fellowship Church; Quito, Ecuador; May 2, 2010.
Of all the places you could be in a beautiful country like Ecuador, why are you here…the morning of the second day of what is a weekly 2-day break in much of the western world?
If your answer is anything like, “Well, I (or for some of you, “we”) always go to church…” I have a couple of follow-up questions:
Why?
And what do you mean by this thing called “church?” that you “go to?”
Today we’re going to explore what many people (consciously or subconsciously) mean when they say they “go to church.”
I believe when many (if not most) people talk about “going to church” they intentionally or unintentionally mean coming to a time like this.
I am getting a little ahead of myself, but let me just say that while I believe “this” is a crucial part of church, it should not be seen as the “sum total” of church.
I am concerned that for many people, “this” and what happens here is synonymous with “church” – that is,
#4*****
“this” is “church.” Period!
Some of this may seem really basic to some of you, but by God’s grace there are people here who are new to this whole “church thing.” So we’re all at least starting at the same place, let me just say that when we use the word “church” we should be referring to one of two fundamental things. There is what is called “the universal church” and there is “the local church.”
#6*****
The universal church is made up of all people throughout human history who have genuinely surrendered to Jesus Christ as the only way back to the one, True God.
EFC is one of countless examples of a “local church;” a visible image of the immeasurable universal church—and both are part of God’s careful design.
My favorite picture of the universal and local churches coming together is in the unique vision the Apostle John was given as part of an exclusive look that God gave him into heaven. He wrote:
#7*****
“I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language…” (Rev 7:9, NIV)
That first “service” with the whole “universal church” is going to be beyond anything we could even fantasize, and it will bring together an indescribable number and mixture of people from “local churches.”
We hear the word “diversity” a lot these days…but we cannot comprehend how diverse that “multitude” will be; people from every moment of human history from “every tribe, nation, people and language.”
That indescribable multitude of beautifully different people will have one common focus. John wrote:
#9*****
These stood before the throne and before the Lamb (and that simple word “the” will be seen and understood in a way it cannot be until then; not “a” or “one of a number of possibilities” – but the throne and the Lamb)
…In loud voice they cried (…it sounds a little strange in English to say “in loud voice” – but John was trying to describe how all those diverse voices came together, literally as one)
…in loud voice they cried (…I believe a huge part of the cry will be because they will be having their first perfect look at the one thing they all have in common)
…in loud voice they cried (…try to imagine all the emotions that will be behind that cry!)
[Our] salvation is due to our God, Who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb [to Them we owe our deliverance]! (Rev 7:9, Amplified Bible)
Later we are going to celebrate that last statement, through what has come to be called “The Lord’s Supper,” “Communion” or even “Holy Communion.” It is open to anyone who, by God’s grace, can genuinely join with others and say,
#10*****
[Our] salvation is due to our God, Who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb [to Them we owe our deliverance]! (Rev 7:9, Amplified Bible)
By God’s design, we can celebrate Communion here in this local church and join with others from all through history from within the universal church.
My passion for the local church is greater than ever. At the same time, God has taken my heart for the universal church to places it has never been. Passion and vision for both grow side-by-side.
That is why it saddens me to see and hear about many people who have turned their backs on the local church.
There is a growing movement of people who say they don’t “need” a local church. They often have a list of things they are quick to point out that they believe are wrong in a local church that they came in contact with.
A similar trend says if four people get together on a Friday night for a couple of beers and talk about their faith for a couple of hours, that is “church.”
Many people turn their backs on the local church over disappointment, disagreement or dissatisfaction related to just one part of one particular local church.
Some overemphasize their part in the universal church and overlook what is found throughout the New Testament that underlines the crucial role of the local church.
Some churches have lost touch with the reality that they are part of something beyond their own walls and something that will live long after their doors have closed. They are dangerously focused only on “their” church. An unhealthy view of the local church comes at the expense of their vision for their place in the universal church.
And there are people who have turned “their local church” or even “their Pastor” into something close to an idol.
Much of the New Testament is written to people who were part of the universal church and who had begun to learn and live out what that means, through a local church.
#12*****
Just one example is the letter Paul wrote to: “God’s holy people in the city of Colosse, who are faithful brothers and sisters in Christ.” (Col 1:2)
Keep the thought of the universal and local church in mind, along with your place in both, as we go through a section in Colossians that has come to be labeled in many Bibles as “Living the New Life.”
#13*****
1 Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand.
#14*****
2 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.
#15*****
3 For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.
#16*****
4 And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.
#17*****
5 So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.
#18*****
6 Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming. 7 You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world.
#19*****
8 But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language.
#20*****
9 Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds.
#21*****
10 Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.
#22*****
11 In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.
#23*****
12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
#24*****
13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.
#25*****
14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.
#26*****
15 And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.
#27*****
16 Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.
#28*****
17 And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.
So, “What is the church?” For many people, what happens in this setting at this time is synonymous with “church;” that is, “this” is “church.” Period!
Some have consciously or subconsciously reduced “church” even further, describing or labeling a local church based on its music.
If you ever want to do something that should make you very sad (although I can guarantee it makes God much sadder), do an internet search on the phrase “worship wars” (that may be one of the most contradictory phrases anyone ever came up with: worship wars).
I have two cartoons to show, one after another, that put of a smile on what really is a serious reality:
#30*****
#31*****
The more I learn about Satan, the less surprised I am by how something that is designed to be such a core part of life in “the church” is actually divisive and damaging.
The debates and even the division over worship are normally specifically about music, which can make it even more bizarre if you really study what Paul was encouraging when he wrote:
#33*****
“Let the message about Christ,
in all its richness,
fill your lives.
Teach
and counsel
each other
with all the wisdom he gives.
Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs
to God
with thankful hearts.” (Col 3:16)
-----Ginny Owens “Be Thou My Vision”
A couple of weeks ago I heard a guy talking about a grandma who wanted her teenage grandchildren to start “going to church”…so she found what many people her age would consider a “pretty wild” local church. She explored it with her eyes, heart and mind open and found that it taught and pointed to Jesus as the way to the God…and now every Sunday she picks up her grandkids, stuffs cotton in her ears and heads to that local church.
That is a great story…but I also looked for a story about a couple of teenagers who wanted their grandma to start “going to church,” so they found one that taught and pointed to Jesus as the way to the God – and it had an organ and a choir (like the kind she grew up with)…so every Sunday these teenagers leave their iPods on their dressers, pick up their grandma and head to that local church with her.
I may be crazy, but I still believe that the two kinds of scenarios that I just described could be brought together in one local church…as people gather to worship together! In my mind, that could be a powerful picture of the ways Paul taught about being “a body.”
Speaking of that, on Tuesday I was flipping through this hymn book and ended up at #677. It is based on John 13:35:
#35*****
“By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (NKJV)
For some reason, I started to do a little research into song #677 – and what I found made me smile in light of this whole discussion on church music.
Peter Scholtes wrote and recorded #677 in the late 60’s. It actually became one of the main songs of what was known as “the Jesus movement” -- which was kind of the Christian sub-culture of the whole hippie movement.
The song came off an album by members of Peter Scholtes’ local church. Some of it was done with kind of a mixture of Gregorian chants and 60’s folk music, with guitars, flutes, conga drums, maracas and bongos.
#37*****
Some of you who have sung #677 from the so-called “protestant hymnal” for years might be interested (or surprised) to know that Peter Scholtes was a parish priest at St. Brendan's Church on the south side of Chicago. One of the things he did when he was about 50 was lead a youth choir at that Catholic church and he had been trying to find a song for a series of ecumenical, interracial events. He couldn't find anything and actually wrote “They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love” in one day!
-----Jars of Clay – “They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love.”
We’re going to look at something that has been repeated in “church” over the centuries as much as anything I can think of. I hope we can say it out loud, together.
Some of you won’t need to look at the words; some of you may need to look back at them every once in a while; some of you may have never seen them before.
Either way, let’s go through these ancient words together.
By the way, on Sunday mornings we’re continuing to move away from telling you when to stand or sit – or influence any body position you might want to take. However, if you grew up with this in your background, sitting while you read it may seem a little strange so why doesn’t everyone go ahead and stand for it:
#39*****
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
the Maker of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:
#40*****
Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried;
#41*****
He descended into hell.
The third day He arose again from the dead;
He ascended into heaven,
and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
#42*****
I believe in the Holy Ghost;
the holy catholic church; (don’t panic; that is small “c” catholic, meaning “everlasting” or “universal”)
the communion of saints;
the forgiveness of sins;
the resurrection of the body;
and the life everlasting.
Amen.
If you don’t know what that was, it is “The Apostles’ Creed.” It goes back to about fifty years after the last book of the New Testament was written – so it is almost 1900 years old! There is no way of knowing how many people in how many languages have made the declaration that we just did.
-----Holy, Holy, Holy – Hillsong United
I spent as much time as I dared on the Internet, trying to find how many “churches” there are, all around the world – and how many people enter those churches each week. I found one guy who estimated at least two-billion people “go to church” each week – in one form or another.
If you asked all of them “what is the church?” what kinds of things do you think you would hear?
Mark Driscoll and Gary Breshears wrote one of the more intriguing books that I’ve seen on the subject.
#44*****
In preparing for “Vintage Church” Driscoll asked various pastors of some of America’s largest churches if they have a working definition of “the church.”
Driscoll says not one of them did; he said “they confessed they were giving their lives to building something for which they did not even have a clear definition.”
Yet if you go to one of the biggest book-selling companies around (amazon.com) and do a search for books with “church” in the title you’ll find thousands of them; things like: Liquid Church, Engaged Church, Total Church, Simple Church, Deep Church, Sticky Church, House Church, Church 3.0 - Upgrades for the Future Church, Essential Church, Prevailing Church, Your Church, Stop Dating the Church, The Viral Church, Organic Church, Doing Church and even The Church of Facebook.
One thing most of them have in common is that they share stories and experiences from what have been labeled “successful” churches and churches that have “failed.” In his book on church, Driscoll says that is strange, because none of them really define what a church is…and he wonders how you can call a church “successful” or a “failure” (or even “good” or “bad”) without understanding what it is supposed to be in the first place.
In different ways and at different levels of intensity, for the past year the five Elders of this church have been exploring the question, “What is the church?” We’ve done it specifically with this local church in mind.
The Elders decided we need to give a bit of an update on at least part of what we’ve come up with – and what it might mean for people who turn to this church.
Technically, doing something like this with all of you here fulfills one of the legal requirements that we have to operate as a “local church” under the rules of the Ecuadorian government.
#46*****
This may sound strange, but I kind of see EFC like a blob of clay that we started working on in a new way about 10 years ago.
Along the way some parts have been pulled off,
some parts have been shaped and molded,
and there are places where fresh clay has been added.
The more I think about the image of the clay, the more it makes sense to me. I believe we need to keep most of the clay moist and soft; we need to keep working on it.
#48*****
As with any project like it, people will always have ideas, suggestions and opinions about what it is like…and will express that with varying levels of passion. As frustrating as that can be sometimes, I believe it is a crucial part of this thing called “the church.”
There are parts of it that need to be carefully and permanently preserved…and this is a good place to look at the ten points that form the foundation of EFC:
#50*****
We believe:
the Bible is the inspired Word of God and is our authoritative and sufficient guide for daily living.
in the one living and true God, who exists eternally in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
in God the Father, Creator of heaven and earth, who sent His Son, Jesus Christ to the earth.
Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man; He died on the cross for our sins and came back to life and was taken to heaven where he is now with God.
the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity, that He convicts us of sin, permanently indwells us, and empowers us to live God’s ways
humanity was created by God in His image, but we have separated ourselves from God.
#51*****
eternal salvation is a gift of God's grace and we are declared right before Him when we receive this gift of eternal life by trusting Jesus Christ as the only One who can rescue us from sin.
the church is the body of Christ and God has called the community of faith to gather together in local church families.
in the visible and personal return of Jesus Christ to earth when He will judge the living and the dead and will establish His eternal Kingdom.
in unity in diversity. We seek to be united in the essentials of our faith while embracing diversity in the non-essentials. We respect cultural, language, social, political and economic differences and value the significance of each person. We want to openly love all people while upholding our biblical values.
The question “what is the church?” has been around for a long time. Even in Bible times the Greek word that is trans¬lated “church” had different meanings and was used different ways…across the whole culture as well as within the letters and books that became The New Testament (where the word is found over 100 times).
If you know or have studied Spanish you will likely recognize the Greek word: ekklēsia.
#53*****
In classical Greek, it meant “an assembly of citizens summoned by the crier.” In New Testament times the word was almost exclusively used to represent a group of people brought together for a particular cause or purpose…whether it had to do with “God” (or religion) or not.
Notice that phrase: a group of people brought together for a particular cause or purpose.
That might be getting us moving in the right direction.
#54*****
people…together for a particular purpose.
So what is that purpose? As we explore the question “what is the church?” we need to consider why God strategically included “church” in His design for human history.
If God did not specifically have something in mind with and through local churches, why doesn’t the Bible just go from the book of John right to Revelation? Why all this teaching and all these letters addressed specifically to local pockets of followers of Jesus?
I took some liberty with a scene that writer Philip Yancey described, and adapted it to try to answer “why?”
Picture a made-for-TV documentary. The title is: Images of God Through the Ages. Of course they don’t have live footage of most of it, so they had to dramatize it…like a Hollywood movie set.
The opening scene is from 1400 B.C. It starts with an aerial shot of the Sinai mountains. It looks uninhabited. The shot scans around and then closes in on a group of people acting as ancient Hebrews. A narrator explains how they eat, what they wear and how they live.
Then the camera closes in on a Jewish boy, about twelve years old.
The narrator asks him to tell about God; to describe what God is like.
The boy’s eyes open wide. “You mean…you mean…” but he can’t bring himself to say the word.
The narrator prompts him, “Yahweh. The God your people worship.”
“Hmmm,” the boy grunts softly. “What’s He like? Hmmm. See that mountain over there?”
(The camera moves to a steaming, smoldering, smoking volcano…and shows a close-up of bubbling magma.)
The boy says, “That’s where God lives. Don’t go near it or you will die! He’s…well, He’s…I guess most of all he is scary.”
The next scene is from the first century A.D. The shot opens, panning across a broad, flat Palestinian horizon…and scanning a beach.
A small group of Jews is huddled together. The camera tightens in on a clump of bystanders. Then it gets even closer…focusing in on one woman. She is sitting on a rock. The narrator asks the same question he posed to the 12-year-old boy in the previous scene. “What is God like?”
“God?” she says, “I thought I knew but now I am not so sure. I started following this teacher around. He claims he is the Messiah…the one my people have been waiting for. Most of my friends laugh at him. I was there the day he fed thousands of people. I had fish and some bread myself. Who else could have done that, except God? I saw him heal a blind man, too. God must be like that man named Jesus, over there.”
The final scene in the documentary is from the 21st century. The film footage is no longer staged…dramatized. It is live. It looks like it could be from the evening news. Clips of your neighborhood are shown. Images of a neighborhood in Tehran. An orphanage in Darfur. Washington, DC. The U.S./Mexico border. And again the voice of the narrator is heard. “And what is God like now?”
#56*****
What is God like…now?
How do people see Him…and where do they see Him?
The Apostle Paul began to answer that as he stood in front of some of the most powerful “religious” men of his day. Paul said,
#57*****
“God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.” (Acts 17:24, NKJV)
Later Paul wrote:
#58*****
“The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you.” (Rom 8:11, NLT).
He also wrote: …you are God’s temple and God’s Spirit dwells in you…(1 Cor. 3:16, ESV)
The original language sheds more light on those two verses. The key phrase in each is: lives or dwells in you.
The “you” in each case can either mean you “singular” or you “plural.” In much of the New Testament, even when the writers seemed to be referring to individuals, they often had “community” in mind. Another version of a verse we just looked at captures it more literally:
#60*****
“...all of you together are the temple of God and the Spirit of God lives in you…” (1 Cor 3:16, NLT)
The roots of that go back thousands of years. One of the guys from the Wednesday Night Fight Club found it in the book of Leviticus. God said to and through Moses:
#61*****
“I will set My dwelling in and among you…I will walk in and with and among you and will be your God, and you shall be My people.” (Lev 26:11-12, Amplified) It is easy to miss that promise in a book so full of strange laws, sacrifices…and blood!
By God’s grace, all the pages about law, sacrifice and blood got summarized and lived out by Jesus Christ! That is what Paul was trying to get across to the people who had begun to make up the first “local churches.”
#62*****
Paul said: “The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.” (Rom 8:11, NLT)
Go to the final scene in that imaginary documentary…and the question “what is God like now/where is He?”
Why did God include “church” in His design for human history?
#63*****
God is in and among those who make up “the church.”
He is in and among those who His grace has brought into the universal church.
And He lives in, among and through those who are seeking to embrace and share that grace through their connection with a local church.
God dwells in and among those who make up “the church” as His primary way to make Himself seen and known.
Jesus told His first twelve followers,
#65*****
“I will build my church….” (Mt 16:18, NLT) A study of the nuances of the original language underlines the confidence and the certainty behind His words: I will build…
What has Jesus used…what is Jesus using…what will He continue to use to build?
From the very beginning…He has used people. Ordinary people…and by “ordinary” I mean “messed up.”
As I’ve said many times, God has to use messed-up people because they’re the only kind of people around!
#66*****
Amazing grace…that saved a wretch like me; Amazing grace…that uses a saved wretch like me!
The first time Jesus made His promise about building the church, He was looking right at Peter…and you don’t have to study Peter for very long to see that he was a living model of what it means to mess up – but oh, how he loved Jesus…and oh, how Jesus loved him!!!
I would say a pretty good indicator of whether you are genuinely a part of the universal church is that you want to learn more about Jesus; your love for Jesus is growing; you want to be more like Him…and you realize you cannot do any of that without Him.
And I would say that is a good thought to lead us to worship through our offering.
-----“Jesus Loves Me” – Gaither Vocal Band
God is in and among those who make up “the church.”
God is in and among all those who His grace has brought into the universal church.
#68*****
The Elders of this church believe God also lives in, among and through those who are seeking to embrace and share that grace through their connection with a local church.
We continue to talk, pray, discuss, debate, study and think: what is the church?
We’ve also been exploring and reviewing what this church, and many others churches have done to allow people some concrete way of connecting to and with a local church.
I should mention that you can be part of a local church, even a very active part, and not be a genuine part of the universal church!
I believe you can be genuinely a part of the “universal church” without being part of a “local church” – but I believe you would have to have a pretty good reason to not be an active, positive, constructive part of a local church -- and I don’t believe there are many good reasons to not be! The catch is, understanding and agreeing what “being a part of it” means.
We want to introduce you to what we’ve come up with for EFC!
We’re going to quickly go through the first part of it today…and there are copies of the whole sheet at the back. We hope this first part explains where we’re coming from with it.
#70*****
It would be a way of saying, “I want to actively, intentionally and lovingly engage in working on this particular local ‘lump of clay” – and I want God, through the people who make it up, to actively, intentionally and lovingly engage in working on me. I want to walk with others as we continue to define and live out what this church is.”
#71*****
EFC Member Covenant
This is for those who want to walk more closely with others from EFC and in healthy relationships with Christ-ians in general. It is not a call to perfection but to pursue and live out joy found in the forgiveness and grace of the God.
WHAT IS A COVENANT MEMBER?
Member: is not used in the sense of “joining a club” but in recognizing oneself as a part of a “living body.”
Covenant: is a commitment we make with God and with other people.
WHAT IS A COVENANT? (must read)
#72*****
A covenant is a mutual agreement between two parties. It infers accountability and an ongoing commitment. The Hebrew word for covenant (berit) is a relational term used to illustrate the commitment of God to His people and the expectations God has for them.
#73*****
The Old Covenant is most simply expressed through the 10 commandments. Nothing but complete obedience to them would earn God’s favor. God showed grace and unmatched love by sending Jesus. Jesus is the only one who completely fulfilled the requirements of the Old Covenant. In Jesus a New Covenant (agreement between God and man) was made through which we are welcome in God’s presence now and forever. This new Covenant is a Covenant made in Jesus’ blood. Through the redeeming sacrifice of Jesus, by His death and resurrection, we are set free to serve God and live by the indwelling of His Holy Spirit. A new obedience comes from the new Covenant; one that flows out of redemption, gratitude and love.
#74*****
It is this New Covenant that we want this covenant to be anchored to. This is not designed to add to the completed work of Jesus but rather to be used as a reminder of and encouragement for His continuing growth and prominence in our lives. Obedience does not earn salvation, but salvation bears fruit in obedience.
#75*****
Five statements form the foundation:
1) I WILL walk with God daily through personal study, reflection and prayer.
2) I WILL walk with others in ongoing pursuit of growth, depth and knowledge of the God.
3) I WILL “take it to the street” and serve others in Jesus’ name.
4) I WILL seek to build discipleship into every aspect of my life.
5) I WILL pursue unity in core matters of “doctrine” and relationally with others.
Again, there are copies of the whole sheet at the back.
Take it home, look at it, read it, pray about it, set it aside for a few days; then read it and pray over it again; consider your own heart and if it lines up with what you have sensed at the heart of this local church.
We wanted to introduce it this morning and we’ll look at it from a few different angles over the coming weeks.
I can’t think of a better way to wrap this service up than to celebrate communion together.
The tables with the two symbols for Communion are only at the front this time…so you can watch and listen to a couple of things, if and as you come to the bread and the cup. Remember, they are only symbols; coming to them symbolizes your desire to come to Jesus.
You’re welcome to come at any time while the last two songs play.
I want to read one of the more well-used portions of the Bible at Communion time…from one of the more modern versions of it. These are Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 11:23-28, from The Message.
#77*****
Let me go over with you again exactly what goes on in the Lord's Supper and why it is so centrally important. I received my instructions from the Master himself and passed them on to you. Jesus, on the night of his betrayal, took bread. Having given thanks, he broke it and said,
“This is my body, broken for you. Do this to remember me.””
After supper, he did the same thing with the cup:
“This cup is my blood, my new covenant with you. Each time you drink this cup, remember me.”
#78*****
What you must solemnly realize is that every time you eat this bread and every time you drink this cup, you reenact in your words and actions the death of the Master. You will be drawn back to this meal again and again until the Master returns. You must never let familiarity breed contempt.
Anyone who eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Master irreverently is like part of the crowd that jeered and spit on him at his death. Is that the kind of "remembrance" you want to be part of? Examine your motives, test your heart, come to this meal in holy awe.
-----“Communion” – Third Day
-----“Creed” – Rich Mullins
Friday, April 9, 2010
wrestling with the Living God
Okay, so I am continuing what will be a long process of trying to put some kind of order to the chaotic jumble of thoughts, insights, inner rebukes and questions that were stirred over the course of ten days in Cap Haitien, Haiti (I realize many have been simmering for years; some just bubbled to the surface there). I scribbled some of them down on everything from scraps of wrinkled paper to my latest journal; some of them are simply echoing somewhere in the recesses of that warped place that I call “my mind” – and I have already learned that there is no telling what triggers them, making them mentally audible.
I am sipping coffee while wrestling with what I suspect will now always be varying volumes and intensity of the question, “Do I really need this (“this” being the brew that Don puts together here)?” That is just one of a gazillion “conscience aftershocks” that comes after being confronted by mile after mile of people with absolutely nothing! I suspect I will respond to that question differently from day to day; but today, my heart seems content to thank God for the flavor and the atmosphere at Café Galletti – and see it as today’s setting for processing the thought that bubbled to the surface as I sat on the bus this morning (noting that after seeing the streets of Cap Haitien, the traffic that I remember grumbling about here seems unusually orderly!).
Anyway, to the thought. It burst out of a Bible verse that I was exposed to early and often in my journey in “the church.” In the Bible version that I first heard it in, Paul’s words read: “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23, New International Version). Even in my spiritual infancy, I remember thinking that statement seemed almost too obvious. I didn’t know much about God but I knew plenty about me and to be told that He is more “glorious” than I am seemed to grotesquely overstate the obvious.
I now realize that it didn’t take long for me to subconsciously mentally file that verse away as one (of many!) that I didn’t really and fully know what to do with…but rather than poking at it, sort of set it aside as a statement that on the one hand was an “obvious cornerstone” of what “we believe” yet on the other hand seemed to be saying more than what I was hearing.
I have begun to realize that the phrase “all…fall short” caused me to subconsciously squirm as much as anything. I can now identify thoughts under the surface that cruelly interpreted the verse: “Ohhhh, you can and even should keep trying…but you’ll never really make it. In fact, try harder; you’ll keep seeing how futile it is and how hopeless you are. You will always fall short.” I remember one writer who described that sense of futility as “being trapped in the room of good intentions.”
Of course all have sinned; still do and as long as we have a pulse, always will. I glance across the table and see both my personal journal and today’s newspaper and I am well aware that both are full of a wide assortment of reminders of that.
But both my mental and scribbled notes remind me of a tiny glimmer of new light that touched part of that verse. One teacher/writer that I stumbled onto explained that the phrase “fall short” meant more like “lacks” or “doesn’t get…at least not fully.”
That helped a tiny bit: I certainly don’t fully get “the glory of God.”
More words from that teacher/writer (in case you’re wondering, it was Major Ian Thomas) and some of my own thoughts combined to brighten that new light a little more: “Of course I don’t fully “get” God! In order for Him to be the God that I truly need, He must be far beyond anything I can comprehend; flawless, perfect, glorious…even holy. I will always come up short of what a God like that would have to demand of people who look for and need Him.” But there must be more going on in order for that to not lead me deeper into futility and despair. That is when it hit me: “I also don’t fully “get” what He offers; what He extends, what He provides. Because of His glory, He has to provide that; it is an inseparable aspect of true glory. ”
Yes, the demand/expectation/standard is there…but so is the provision to “meet” it; and beyond that, when I fail to meet it, it corrects (glorifies?) even my “best intentions.”
I “fall short” in my understanding of that; as long as I have a pulse, I will never “get it” completely – and/or I am constantly prone to forget it! I will continue to fall short in seeing what is really demanded of me…yet I will simultaneously continue to come up short in seeing what is right here for me!
That is still in the (lifelong?) process of being clarified in and for me. Fighting to find words for it is part of my wiring. I don’t know if they’ll click with anyone else; wrestling with them helps me – so thanks for an outlet for what I might call “revelatory self-indulgence.”
I am sipping coffee while wrestling with what I suspect will now always be varying volumes and intensity of the question, “Do I really need this (“this” being the brew that Don puts together here)?” That is just one of a gazillion “conscience aftershocks” that comes after being confronted by mile after mile of people with absolutely nothing! I suspect I will respond to that question differently from day to day; but today, my heart seems content to thank God for the flavor and the atmosphere at Café Galletti – and see it as today’s setting for processing the thought that bubbled to the surface as I sat on the bus this morning (noting that after seeing the streets of Cap Haitien, the traffic that I remember grumbling about here seems unusually orderly!).
Anyway, to the thought. It burst out of a Bible verse that I was exposed to early and often in my journey in “the church.” In the Bible version that I first heard it in, Paul’s words read: “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23, New International Version). Even in my spiritual infancy, I remember thinking that statement seemed almost too obvious. I didn’t know much about God but I knew plenty about me and to be told that He is more “glorious” than I am seemed to grotesquely overstate the obvious.
I now realize that it didn’t take long for me to subconsciously mentally file that verse away as one (of many!) that I didn’t really and fully know what to do with…but rather than poking at it, sort of set it aside as a statement that on the one hand was an “obvious cornerstone” of what “we believe” yet on the other hand seemed to be saying more than what I was hearing.
I have begun to realize that the phrase “all…fall short” caused me to subconsciously squirm as much as anything. I can now identify thoughts under the surface that cruelly interpreted the verse: “Ohhhh, you can and even should keep trying…but you’ll never really make it. In fact, try harder; you’ll keep seeing how futile it is and how hopeless you are. You will always fall short.” I remember one writer who described that sense of futility as “being trapped in the room of good intentions.”
Of course all have sinned; still do and as long as we have a pulse, always will. I glance across the table and see both my personal journal and today’s newspaper and I am well aware that both are full of a wide assortment of reminders of that.
But both my mental and scribbled notes remind me of a tiny glimmer of new light that touched part of that verse. One teacher/writer that I stumbled onto explained that the phrase “fall short” meant more like “lacks” or “doesn’t get…at least not fully.”
That helped a tiny bit: I certainly don’t fully get “the glory of God.”
More words from that teacher/writer (in case you’re wondering, it was Major Ian Thomas) and some of my own thoughts combined to brighten that new light a little more: “Of course I don’t fully “get” God! In order for Him to be the God that I truly need, He must be far beyond anything I can comprehend; flawless, perfect, glorious…even holy. I will always come up short of what a God like that would have to demand of people who look for and need Him.” But there must be more going on in order for that to not lead me deeper into futility and despair. That is when it hit me: “I also don’t fully “get” what He offers; what He extends, what He provides. Because of His glory, He has to provide that; it is an inseparable aspect of true glory. ”
Yes, the demand/expectation/standard is there…but so is the provision to “meet” it; and beyond that, when I fail to meet it, it corrects (glorifies?) even my “best intentions.”
I “fall short” in my understanding of that; as long as I have a pulse, I will never “get it” completely – and/or I am constantly prone to forget it! I will continue to fall short in seeing what is really demanded of me…yet I will simultaneously continue to come up short in seeing what is right here for me!
That is still in the (lifelong?) process of being clarified in and for me. Fighting to find words for it is part of my wiring. I don’t know if they’ll click with anyone else; wrestling with them helps me – so thanks for an outlet for what I might call “revelatory self-indulgence.”
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
...more and deeper post-Haiti ponderings
I’ve been really (REALLY) humbled by how many people have asked me to post more here. Writing is very therapeutic and clarifying for me – although I realize that is often not the case for everyone who reads it. Actually, it is probably better than me babbling on about things with you in person. This way if you don’t want to hear, you can just click away, rather than trying to smile and nod politely as I ramble on!
By the way, many have asked about pictures. Well, once I got past the extremely strange feeling of being an “awkward viewer” of their “ultimate reality show” I actually did click a few pics. The problem is I took a really old digital camera -- just in case it got damaged or “disappeared.” Now I am having a brutal time finding the unique cord needed to connect it to my computer. There was an HCJB team on the ground around the same time I was, although they were much more in the direct quake zone. One of their team members posted some great pics that capture much of “reality” there: check:
picasaweb.google.com/hschirma/HaitiHCJBGlobalHands?feat=directlink
Anyway, before heading there, the “old reporter” in me began to kick in and I started to study the history of Haiti. I went back to before Christopher Columbus arrived in 1492. I tried to learn as much as I could about what has shaped that nation. Even though I still have tons to learn (and will keep digging) much of what I have found breaks my heart!
I have mentioned how God has been growing a friendship between Pastor Adam Rodevert and me -- and between the people that come to English Fellowship Church and Redemption Baptist Church here in Quito (that is “his” church, made up mostly of Haitian refugees).
Even before the earthquake, that friendship began to make me care more about Haiti than I ever would have dreamed. Seeing, reading and hearing about the earthquake stirred me in a way nothing ever has…and learning just a little about the history hit my mind and heart very hard.
I am both amazed and saddened by how little I knew about Haiti. I am even more saddened by how little most of the world really knows about it and its people.
As friends and family began to hear about the plans for me to go, some began to congratulate me, some began to warn me, and many began to encourage me about going to teach in what most called “such a spiritually dark place.” The author of one of the history books said it makes him very sad when people come to that conclusion without ever visiting or bothering to learn anything about Haiti. Honestly, I saw far more “signs of light” than I have seen for years across North America.
After reading part of that one history book I wrote to a friend, “You don’t have to go anywhere to find darkness. We are all still living between Eden and Heaven so there is darkness everywhere. Even those of us who have been given the grace to turn to God and genuinely seek to come closer to Him must continue to recognize and deal with the darkness…darkness around us and darkness in us.
The darkness and the power of Satan behind it work frantically to get us to turn from God. That is the only thing they try to do…and we all have different and personal things they use to try to get us to turn us away from God.
That is why I do not believe that at its core, there is any difference between the force behind voodoo, and, say, the force behind the greed and arrogance of a multi-millionaire watching the news from Haiti and thinking “Those foolish Haitians got themselves into this mess, let them get themselves out of it.”
There is also no difference between that and the force that continued to whisper thoughts to me about why I should be afraid to be there…or the persistent force that kept trying to get me to worry more about what “they” thought of me than I cared about carefully teaching the Truth.
I had been asked to focus on what the God told Zechariah to tell people the Jews 2,500 years ago – and His words echo all through history: 'Return to me…and I will return to you.' (Zech 1:3, NIV) The need to turn (or return) to God is not just a need in northern Haiti; the need is just as real in North America. There are things in “my culture” that fight to make “my people” turn (or stay away) from God as much as anything in “their culture” fights to make them turn (or stay away)!
As I got to actually know some Haitians, I was very sad to find myself confronting different forms of the same bizarre myth that gets perpetuated in ridiculous ways: where I am from somehow makes me “closer to” or “more blessed by” God than they are!
Actually, the Bible makes it clear that the wealthiest nations often find it the easiest to turn (and/or stay) away from God! God told Zechariah something that should make many nations shake as much as the earthquake that hit Haiti. God said, “I am very angry with the nations that feel secure.” (Zech 1:15, NIV)
The sense of security God referred to had to do with their economies and political stability and it had to do with the way they felt that they were extra special and extra close to God.
The word that was used for “angry” came from a word that meant “to boil.” It went on to describe someone whose face got bright red from deep, intense emotions.
Another version of the Bible has God telling Zechariah: “I am exceedingly angry with those who take my grace for granted." Go back over that line again. How much more intensely must God feel that, 2,500 years later?
God used an angel to tell Zechariah those things. At the start of Zechariah 1:14, he wrote, “The angel said to me, ‘Shout this message for all to hear!’” (Zech 1:14)
That was way before they had sound systems…so when the angel said, “Shout this…!” he would have meant it literally. Knowing how urgently and seriously Zechariah took what God was telling him, I can picture it echoing all across the land.
Zechariah wrote, “The angel said to me, ‘Shout this message for all to hear!’” (Zech 1:14) Note that little yet huge word: ALL! Wherever we are from, small town or big city, northern Haiti or North America, we all have different and very personal things that work to turn us (or keep us) away from God…but we all have the same way back!
Jesus said, “I (highlight, underline, put that first word in a really big font!) I have come to seek and save the lost.” (Luke 19:10)
He was saying, "I have come to find those who have turned away. I may tap them gently on the shoulder or I may have to grab them and shake them to get their attention – but because of my love for them, I will offer to take them back to God, the Father."
By the way, many have asked about pictures. Well, once I got past the extremely strange feeling of being an “awkward viewer” of their “ultimate reality show” I actually did click a few pics. The problem is I took a really old digital camera -- just in case it got damaged or “disappeared.” Now I am having a brutal time finding the unique cord needed to connect it to my computer. There was an HCJB team on the ground around the same time I was, although they were much more in the direct quake zone. One of their team members posted some great pics that capture much of “reality” there: check:
picasaweb.google.com/hschirma/HaitiHCJBGlobalHands?feat=directlink
Anyway, before heading there, the “old reporter” in me began to kick in and I started to study the history of Haiti. I went back to before Christopher Columbus arrived in 1492. I tried to learn as much as I could about what has shaped that nation. Even though I still have tons to learn (and will keep digging) much of what I have found breaks my heart!
I have mentioned how God has been growing a friendship between Pastor Adam Rodevert and me -- and between the people that come to English Fellowship Church and Redemption Baptist Church here in Quito (that is “his” church, made up mostly of Haitian refugees).
Even before the earthquake, that friendship began to make me care more about Haiti than I ever would have dreamed. Seeing, reading and hearing about the earthquake stirred me in a way nothing ever has…and learning just a little about the history hit my mind and heart very hard.
I am both amazed and saddened by how little I knew about Haiti. I am even more saddened by how little most of the world really knows about it and its people.
As friends and family began to hear about the plans for me to go, some began to congratulate me, some began to warn me, and many began to encourage me about going to teach in what most called “such a spiritually dark place.” The author of one of the history books said it makes him very sad when people come to that conclusion without ever visiting or bothering to learn anything about Haiti. Honestly, I saw far more “signs of light” than I have seen for years across North America.
After reading part of that one history book I wrote to a friend, “You don’t have to go anywhere to find darkness. We are all still living between Eden and Heaven so there is darkness everywhere. Even those of us who have been given the grace to turn to God and genuinely seek to come closer to Him must continue to recognize and deal with the darkness…darkness around us and darkness in us.
The darkness and the power of Satan behind it work frantically to get us to turn from God. That is the only thing they try to do…and we all have different and personal things they use to try to get us to turn us away from God.
That is why I do not believe that at its core, there is any difference between the force behind voodoo, and, say, the force behind the greed and arrogance of a multi-millionaire watching the news from Haiti and thinking “Those foolish Haitians got themselves into this mess, let them get themselves out of it.”
There is also no difference between that and the force that continued to whisper thoughts to me about why I should be afraid to be there…or the persistent force that kept trying to get me to worry more about what “they” thought of me than I cared about carefully teaching the Truth.
I had been asked to focus on what the God told Zechariah to tell people the Jews 2,500 years ago – and His words echo all through history: 'Return to me…and I will return to you.' (Zech 1:3, NIV) The need to turn (or return) to God is not just a need in northern Haiti; the need is just as real in North America. There are things in “my culture” that fight to make “my people” turn (or stay away) from God as much as anything in “their culture” fights to make them turn (or stay away)!
As I got to actually know some Haitians, I was very sad to find myself confronting different forms of the same bizarre myth that gets perpetuated in ridiculous ways: where I am from somehow makes me “closer to” or “more blessed by” God than they are!
Actually, the Bible makes it clear that the wealthiest nations often find it the easiest to turn (and/or stay) away from God! God told Zechariah something that should make many nations shake as much as the earthquake that hit Haiti. God said, “I am very angry with the nations that feel secure.” (Zech 1:15, NIV)
The sense of security God referred to had to do with their economies and political stability and it had to do with the way they felt that they were extra special and extra close to God.
The word that was used for “angry” came from a word that meant “to boil.” It went on to describe someone whose face got bright red from deep, intense emotions.
Another version of the Bible has God telling Zechariah: “I am exceedingly angry with those who take my grace for granted." Go back over that line again. How much more intensely must God feel that, 2,500 years later?
God used an angel to tell Zechariah those things. At the start of Zechariah 1:14, he wrote, “The angel said to me, ‘Shout this message for all to hear!’” (Zech 1:14)
That was way before they had sound systems…so when the angel said, “Shout this…!” he would have meant it literally. Knowing how urgently and seriously Zechariah took what God was telling him, I can picture it echoing all across the land.
Zechariah wrote, “The angel said to me, ‘Shout this message for all to hear!’” (Zech 1:14) Note that little yet huge word: ALL! Wherever we are from, small town or big city, northern Haiti or North America, we all have different and very personal things that work to turn us (or keep us) away from God…but we all have the same way back!
Jesus said, “I (highlight, underline, put that first word in a really big font!) I have come to seek and save the lost.” (Luke 19:10)
He was saying, "I have come to find those who have turned away. I may tap them gently on the shoulder or I may have to grab them and shake them to get their attention – but because of my love for them, I will offer to take them back to God, the Father."
Sunday, April 4, 2010
...for those who asked (and even for those who didn't)
Hiya! It was suggested that I post the text of the message that I had the enormous privilege of bringing today (Easter Sunday) at the biggest church in Cap Haitien (I'm still kickin' myself for not bringing my camera cable for the computer...but, honestly, I never dream I would have this kind of tech access!). Anyway, here goes:
Resurrection Sunday – Cap Haitien
Today is my “spiritual birthday.” Resurrection Sunday, 22 years ago, God brought me to a place where I confessed how desperately I needed Jesus Christ as my Saviour.
Being here, with you, to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is far beyond anything I could dream!
I don’t know about churches here…but in many churches where I come from, two statements are repeated many times on this morning.
The leader says: “The Lord is risen!”
Then everyone responds: “He is risen indeed!”
I am sad to say that in most churches where I come from, we really only say that one day a year!
I am sad to say that where I come from, most people do not live as though they believe that is true.
Even though my life is built around teaching the Truth of Jesus Christ, I am often tempted to forget that Jesus is alive.
When Jesus’ first followers got to the tomb where He had been buried, an angel said, “You are looking where Jesus was!”
Do not worry about where He was; learn to live with Him where He is!
We do not need Jesus where He was.
We need Jesus where He is…where He is alive!
I have had the privilege of seeing that Jesus is very alive in Haiti!
-----
Just hours before Jesus was killed, His disciples had surrounded Him for some of His most passionate teaching – and for them, the most disturbing.
We look at the story knowing what is going to happen. They did not have any idea what was coming, no matter how many times Jesus told them He was leaving.
He even told them that He was going to be killed.
There were many things the Disciples could not understand about Jesus until after the resurrection.
They did not understand what Jesus meant when He said:
“I will pray to the Father and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” (Jn 14:15-18, NKJV)
Jesus spoke those words to His closest followers…but they did not understand.
After His resurrection, they learned what He had meant…and gave their lives telling anyone and everyone about it.
-----
The Apostle John did not write his book until decades after Jesus promised that He would not leave them; all John knew as it was happening was that Jesus was talking about leaving.
I cannot imagine what John and the other Disciples felt as they tried to imagine their lives without Jesus.
The thought must have torn their hearts apart.
Yet Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled…” (Jn 14:1, 27, NKJV)
I wonder what the Disciples thought and felt when Jesus said, “I am leaving. Actually, someone is going to kill me. But don’t let your heart be troubled.”
Don’t let your heart be troubled? Was Jesus kidding? Was He being cruel?
This week, I have seen what Jesus was saying in a way I never had before…and I have learned it through the lives and stories of many people in this country!
I have seen many people who hold very tightly to Jesus’ promise: I will not leave you…
Jesus said, “I will not leave you as orphans.”
The word “orphan” was as heart-breaking in Jesus’ day as it is today, here, all across this country.
Jesus said, “I will not leave you like that!”
People where I am from often think we have so much to teach you. I think we have much more to learn from you!
Jesus Christ is alive and the faith that many of you have in that is what allows you to live in a world that can be as troubled as ours!
Jesus knows that we are living between Eden and Heaven.
He knows things will come along that will shake our world and break our hearts.
For 33 years, Jesus was a human.
He knows how much it can hurt to be human; He saw and felt things that broke His heart.
Once He cried out to God, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.” (Mat 26:38).
A few hours later as He hung on the cross, Jesus cried, “God, how could you have left me like this, all alone?”
When Jesus said, “Don’t let your heart be troubled,” He was not saying, “Don’t ever be bothered or hurt.” He was saying, “Don’t try to face those things alone.”
There will be things that will bother and hurt you!
Jesus was saying, “When those things come along, turn to Me! I will be with you in them and that is how you will make it through them…even if I have to carry you every step here on earth until I bring you into Heaven!”
That is what Jesus meant when He promised: “God will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever…you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” (Jn 14:15-18, NKJV)
The resurrection of Jesus made that possible!
As one who did not grow up in the church, I have always had a lot of questions and I have never been afraid to ask them.
I understand why churches where I am from celebrate Christmas and Easter…but even at Easter, I have always wondered why more churches don’t get more excited about the Resurrection.
I do not understand how silent many churches are about what happened on “The Day of Pentecost.”
They don’t seem to be very interested in “The Ascension” – when Jesus was raised into Heaven and the Holy Spirit started a whole new ministry in followers of Jesus.
I wonder why we don’t celebrate what happened the moment the human part of Jesus experienced physical death: “At that moment the curtain in the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.” (Mt 27:51, NLT)
The curtain in the Temple covered the entrance to what God had taught the Jews to honor as the “Holy of Holies” – the one place on earth where God’s full Presence could be found.
One person, the High Priest, had the opportunity to enter into that presence…just one day out of every year.
I could spend hours describing everything the priest had to do to get ready for that moment.
It was awesome and terrifying.
Once a year, one man had a direct encounter with the Living God.
When Jesus died “the curtain in the Temple was torn in two...” (Mt. 27:51)
The barrier to the Living God was removed, once and for all.
That is how the writer of the book of Hebrews was able to make this invitation for any authentic follower of Jesus:
“Let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God.
There we will receive his mercy and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.” (Heb. 4:16, NLT)
We don’t have to look very far to find the Living God, because Jesus said He would “abide with you forever…you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.” (Jn 14:16-18, NKJV)
Not an orphan. Not alone. No longer helpless or hopeless. Able to face life because the Living God is right here; not just with us but in us!
“The Lord is risen!”
“He is risen indeed!”
I want to leave you with two prayers that the Apostle Paul left for us.
It does not matter how old or young you are or where you are in your journey with God.
If you would like that prayer for yourself, I invite you to stand as a gesture of your willingness to receive the prayer.
For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
(Eph 1:15-21, NIV)
Then Paul picked up his prayer for you in chapter 3:
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen (Eph. 3: 16-20, NIV)
Resurrection Sunday – Cap Haitien
Today is my “spiritual birthday.” Resurrection Sunday, 22 years ago, God brought me to a place where I confessed how desperately I needed Jesus Christ as my Saviour.
Being here, with you, to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is far beyond anything I could dream!
I don’t know about churches here…but in many churches where I come from, two statements are repeated many times on this morning.
The leader says: “The Lord is risen!”
Then everyone responds: “He is risen indeed!”
I am sad to say that in most churches where I come from, we really only say that one day a year!
I am sad to say that where I come from, most people do not live as though they believe that is true.
Even though my life is built around teaching the Truth of Jesus Christ, I am often tempted to forget that Jesus is alive.
When Jesus’ first followers got to the tomb where He had been buried, an angel said, “You are looking where Jesus was!”
Do not worry about where He was; learn to live with Him where He is!
We do not need Jesus where He was.
We need Jesus where He is…where He is alive!
I have had the privilege of seeing that Jesus is very alive in Haiti!
-----
Just hours before Jesus was killed, His disciples had surrounded Him for some of His most passionate teaching – and for them, the most disturbing.
We look at the story knowing what is going to happen. They did not have any idea what was coming, no matter how many times Jesus told them He was leaving.
He even told them that He was going to be killed.
There were many things the Disciples could not understand about Jesus until after the resurrection.
They did not understand what Jesus meant when He said:
“I will pray to the Father and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” (Jn 14:15-18, NKJV)
Jesus spoke those words to His closest followers…but they did not understand.
After His resurrection, they learned what He had meant…and gave their lives telling anyone and everyone about it.
-----
The Apostle John did not write his book until decades after Jesus promised that He would not leave them; all John knew as it was happening was that Jesus was talking about leaving.
I cannot imagine what John and the other Disciples felt as they tried to imagine their lives without Jesus.
The thought must have torn their hearts apart.
Yet Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled…” (Jn 14:1, 27, NKJV)
I wonder what the Disciples thought and felt when Jesus said, “I am leaving. Actually, someone is going to kill me. But don’t let your heart be troubled.”
Don’t let your heart be troubled? Was Jesus kidding? Was He being cruel?
This week, I have seen what Jesus was saying in a way I never had before…and I have learned it through the lives and stories of many people in this country!
I have seen many people who hold very tightly to Jesus’ promise: I will not leave you…
Jesus said, “I will not leave you as orphans.”
The word “orphan” was as heart-breaking in Jesus’ day as it is today, here, all across this country.
Jesus said, “I will not leave you like that!”
People where I am from often think we have so much to teach you. I think we have much more to learn from you!
Jesus Christ is alive and the faith that many of you have in that is what allows you to live in a world that can be as troubled as ours!
Jesus knows that we are living between Eden and Heaven.
He knows things will come along that will shake our world and break our hearts.
For 33 years, Jesus was a human.
He knows how much it can hurt to be human; He saw and felt things that broke His heart.
Once He cried out to God, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.” (Mat 26:38).
A few hours later as He hung on the cross, Jesus cried, “God, how could you have left me like this, all alone?”
When Jesus said, “Don’t let your heart be troubled,” He was not saying, “Don’t ever be bothered or hurt.” He was saying, “Don’t try to face those things alone.”
There will be things that will bother and hurt you!
Jesus was saying, “When those things come along, turn to Me! I will be with you in them and that is how you will make it through them…even if I have to carry you every step here on earth until I bring you into Heaven!”
That is what Jesus meant when He promised: “God will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever…you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” (Jn 14:15-18, NKJV)
The resurrection of Jesus made that possible!
As one who did not grow up in the church, I have always had a lot of questions and I have never been afraid to ask them.
I understand why churches where I am from celebrate Christmas and Easter…but even at Easter, I have always wondered why more churches don’t get more excited about the Resurrection.
I do not understand how silent many churches are about what happened on “The Day of Pentecost.”
They don’t seem to be very interested in “The Ascension” – when Jesus was raised into Heaven and the Holy Spirit started a whole new ministry in followers of Jesus.
I wonder why we don’t celebrate what happened the moment the human part of Jesus experienced physical death: “At that moment the curtain in the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.” (Mt 27:51, NLT)
The curtain in the Temple covered the entrance to what God had taught the Jews to honor as the “Holy of Holies” – the one place on earth where God’s full Presence could be found.
One person, the High Priest, had the opportunity to enter into that presence…just one day out of every year.
I could spend hours describing everything the priest had to do to get ready for that moment.
It was awesome and terrifying.
Once a year, one man had a direct encounter with the Living God.
When Jesus died “the curtain in the Temple was torn in two...” (Mt. 27:51)
The barrier to the Living God was removed, once and for all.
That is how the writer of the book of Hebrews was able to make this invitation for any authentic follower of Jesus:
“Let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God.
There we will receive his mercy and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.” (Heb. 4:16, NLT)
We don’t have to look very far to find the Living God, because Jesus said He would “abide with you forever…you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.” (Jn 14:16-18, NKJV)
Not an orphan. Not alone. No longer helpless or hopeless. Able to face life because the Living God is right here; not just with us but in us!
“The Lord is risen!”
“He is risen indeed!”
I want to leave you with two prayers that the Apostle Paul left for us.
It does not matter how old or young you are or where you are in your journey with God.
If you would like that prayer for yourself, I invite you to stand as a gesture of your willingness to receive the prayer.
For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
(Eph 1:15-21, NIV)
Then Paul picked up his prayer for you in chapter 3:
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen (Eph. 3: 16-20, NIV)
Saturday, April 3, 2010
...possibly more than you wanna know this time!
Urgent, intense “abdominal irregularities” in the middle of the night! I know, I know – as my kids would say, “TMI” – but hang on, there is a link back to God (even on that kind of an opening!).
Anyone who has been in places like this is likely thinking, “I’m surprised it took almost a week for that!” Too true, really. Anyway, it “lingered” ‘til morning and then lurked in the background on the brutally bumpy two-hour ride out to the edge of the little town where the leader training was. At a crucial moment our driver continued to amaze me and was able to whisk me to a “desperately necessary” spot, just in time. Again, if you’ve lived this sorta thing, you’re nodding along with me. If you haven’t, you’re likely thinkin’ I’ve kinda lost it!
My main concern was how I was gonna get through a 3-hour presentation – on the edge of nowhere! D-uhhhhhh; just before it was to start I kinda whimpered a weak, “Father, help!”
The inner answer back was extremely unexpected and seemingly unrelated: “Ditch yer notes, dude; there is something else to tell these folks.” Uncharacteristically, I did just that (my “AG” friends are likely grinnin’; my friends who have no clue what those letters stand for are scratching their heads!)! At risk of really taking the imagery of this story to a dangerous extreme, the thoughts and words flowed like I never could have imagined – while “nothing else” flowed for the whole three hours (again, some of you will get that; some of you will likely give up on this post. either way, I doubt it will make it to any of our mission’s official publications!)
The bottom (no pun intended) line is, it turned into an extraordinary day with about 40 Haitian church leaders. They warmed up quickly and fully, the translator was fabulous, the Truth flowed freely back and forth between us and I found myself learning and caring about them with an intensity that still leaves me shaking my head. I am gonna have a ton of stuff to ponder, rethink and bawl over when this is all done!
Now I am back in my “li’l miracle tech corner” of the place where I’m staying and the wireless strength is showing “very good!” Plus, the meal that was waiting for me (fried bananas, rice and some kind of meat that I’m still afraid to ask for details on) was big enough to share with a couple of the workers that seem particularly entertained by me (I stopped worrying about what they’re saying about me in Creole days ago!).
Lincoln Brewster’s version of “Lord I’m Amazed By You…” is echoing in my head so loud its drowning out the Calypso beat from next door!
Oh, one other random bit that I don’t think I have mentioned: there isn’t a single traffic light in this whole city (some people have told me 500,000 people live here!). If you’ve never been somewhere like this you would never believe how many motorcycles, trucks, cars, wagons, donkeys and people you can squeeze side-by-side in both directions on a very narrow street!
Shalom.
Anyone who has been in places like this is likely thinking, “I’m surprised it took almost a week for that!” Too true, really. Anyway, it “lingered” ‘til morning and then lurked in the background on the brutally bumpy two-hour ride out to the edge of the little town where the leader training was. At a crucial moment our driver continued to amaze me and was able to whisk me to a “desperately necessary” spot, just in time. Again, if you’ve lived this sorta thing, you’re nodding along with me. If you haven’t, you’re likely thinkin’ I’ve kinda lost it!
My main concern was how I was gonna get through a 3-hour presentation – on the edge of nowhere! D-uhhhhhh; just before it was to start I kinda whimpered a weak, “Father, help!”
The inner answer back was extremely unexpected and seemingly unrelated: “Ditch yer notes, dude; there is something else to tell these folks.” Uncharacteristically, I did just that (my “AG” friends are likely grinnin’; my friends who have no clue what those letters stand for are scratching their heads!)! At risk of really taking the imagery of this story to a dangerous extreme, the thoughts and words flowed like I never could have imagined – while “nothing else” flowed for the whole three hours (again, some of you will get that; some of you will likely give up on this post. either way, I doubt it will make it to any of our mission’s official publications!)
The bottom (no pun intended) line is, it turned into an extraordinary day with about 40 Haitian church leaders. They warmed up quickly and fully, the translator was fabulous, the Truth flowed freely back and forth between us and I found myself learning and caring about them with an intensity that still leaves me shaking my head. I am gonna have a ton of stuff to ponder, rethink and bawl over when this is all done!
Now I am back in my “li’l miracle tech corner” of the place where I’m staying and the wireless strength is showing “very good!” Plus, the meal that was waiting for me (fried bananas, rice and some kind of meat that I’m still afraid to ask for details on) was big enough to share with a couple of the workers that seem particularly entertained by me (I stopped worrying about what they’re saying about me in Creole days ago!).
Lincoln Brewster’s version of “Lord I’m Amazed By You…” is echoing in my head so loud its drowning out the Calypso beat from next door!
Oh, one other random bit that I don’t think I have mentioned: there isn’t a single traffic light in this whole city (some people have told me 500,000 people live here!). If you’ve never been somewhere like this you would never believe how many motorcycles, trucks, cars, wagons, donkeys and people you can squeeze side-by-side in both directions on a very narrow street!
Shalom.
Friday, April 2, 2010
April 2 in "the Cap"
Hilarious! I figured out how I am able to get sporadic wireless internet (a coupla days ago I mentioned that I stumbled onto a "live" corner where I'm staying but couldn't figure out how it was possible!). Turns out, the "hotel" office below has a simple "iinksys" router (like the first one we got and I used to fight with back in Quito)...and that is the system I was somehow able to fix yesterday. Lo and behold: fixing their problem got me back up online in my li'l corner -- and they're perfectly cool with me using it from up here!
It is just one more thing to add to the growing list of things that have happened that can only be explained One way! Wanna hear another one? I mentioned earlier in the day on a Facebook post that I had a few unexpected quiet hours this morning -- to ponder, reflect and even weep. Then my thoughts turned to the final three nights of the "campaign," final preparation for tomorrow's "leader training" -- and the hilariously unexpected invitation to bring the message at Cap Haitien's largest church...on Resurrection Sunday!!!
So, there I was, studying/praying for Sunday and I started thinking I might need to head out to grab something to drink (there is a surprisingly well stocked but horrifically expensive li'l shop right by here; I'm guessing that is thanks to the UN compound around the corner). A knock on the door; in walks Pastor Adam with a mix of sodas and juices -- 4 cans, 2 bottles. A typical crushing bear-hug and, "Ahhhhh, my friend...we just thought you might be thirsty."
"Lord, you know how much I appreciate it...but 6 drinks? What about the tens of thousands around me with nothing?"
Hmmmmmm...'scuse me; I think I gotta go take a walk. I have a few "things" I need to hand out.
It is just one more thing to add to the growing list of things that have happened that can only be explained One way! Wanna hear another one? I mentioned earlier in the day on a Facebook post that I had a few unexpected quiet hours this morning -- to ponder, reflect and even weep. Then my thoughts turned to the final three nights of the "campaign," final preparation for tomorrow's "leader training" -- and the hilariously unexpected invitation to bring the message at Cap Haitien's largest church...on Resurrection Sunday!!!
So, there I was, studying/praying for Sunday and I started thinking I might need to head out to grab something to drink (there is a surprisingly well stocked but horrifically expensive li'l shop right by here; I'm guessing that is thanks to the UN compound around the corner). A knock on the door; in walks Pastor Adam with a mix of sodas and juices -- 4 cans, 2 bottles. A typical crushing bear-hug and, "Ahhhhh, my friend...we just thought you might be thirsty."
"Lord, you know how much I appreciate it...but 6 drinks? What about the tens of thousands around me with nothing?"
Hmmmmmm...'scuse me; I think I gotta go take a walk. I have a few "things" I need to hand out.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
checking in from "the Cap"
Salud!
Internet options have been rare over the past couple of days; so sorry for losing contact! Actually, this morning I was kind of crawling around behind the little desk in the “office” where I am staying into this chaos of wires to help them reestablish their internet connection here. I guess all those months of fighting with the problems we had in Quito have been redeemed – and the people are unusually appreciative about “how much (I) know about computers.” Hilarious, huh???!!!
Shoot; where do I begin? I wish you could have seen the translator last night. He does so much more than just translate the words. He “amplifies” the emotion and excitement to an acceptable “Caribbean” level. The dude is crazy and he gets flat-out drenched from head to toe. Every once in a while he pauses to whisper in my ear in broken English, “ohhhhhh, dis is a gooooood message.” It is kinda like a little nudge from God for me, saying, “Keep going; deliver the message; let me use him to make it fit their culture and hearts.”
Attendance at the crusades has been much lower than the leaders had hoped – but people just don’t seem to get down about anything here! They believe it simply comes down to the fact that people do not have any money at all to even think about getting to something “extra” like this. The poverty is beyond all western comprehension. Even Pastor Adam says things are much worse than when he left. Port au Prince (the capitol) was the only tiny glimmer of industry and/or employment and with it still upside-down the whole country is reeling. Plus, the neighborhood the crusade is in is pretty “dark” in all ways. Apparently many people are not happy with a church “hurting”” their neighborhood. The whole area is pretty much without electricity so when we drive out at night, the candles on tables in front of the homes give it all kind of an extra ominous feel. Plus, the rains have returned – which is a huge relief on one hand – but tends to keep even more people away in the evening. Still, when it comes to the “crusade,” the people that come seem so full of life and faith and the direction of the crusade seems to be turning more to encouraging them and building them up than welcoming people who do not have any clue about God.
On the other hand, this morning I was invited to a “prayer meeting” at the biggest church in Cap Haitien. Talk about being yanked out of my comfort zone!!! There were several thousand people there – and for about an hour it looked like a mixture of a Caribbean aerobics class and mosh pit (prayer meeting, huh?). Then it turned into what I can only imagine happened in the first days of the New Testament. There were shrieks and screams and people would hit the dirt and flip and flop and tremble and quake and then go perfectly still; some for 20 minutes or so. They kept an open area up front for people like that and the job of some of the “ushers” was to carry collapsed people into the open area for prayer and care. Just like EFC, right?
Then this visiting Mexican evangelist got up to speak with a translator and it turned into an even bigger time of “healing and deliverance.” I have never, ever seen anything like it live. All kinds of things were going on inside of me – but then I remembered the portion Jeff taught from the Sunday before I left…the one where John and others went and whined to Jesus about “others” doing things “in His name.” Jesus simply told them to leave those others alone to do their work. So, I chose to simply watch in amazement, pray and learn. The whole thing had been going on for about three hours at that point. Then came another “surprise”: the 35-40 minutes they wanted from me (be ready, in season and out of season, huh?). The lead Pastor translated – and I could not believe how words simply came to me and flowed. After, the Pastor asked if I would come back and bring a message on Resurrection Sunday. I was scheduled in another church that day but Pastor Adam said this church would really “love to have (me) open the word with them again.” How the heck do you say “no, sorry” to that?! Simply another picture of the insanity of all of this! Now the li’l white dude from the Canadian prairies will be bringing the message on Resurrection Sunday in a very Caribbean/black/Charismatic church. How can you not laugh?
Oh, yesterday we went out of Cap Haitien to see a church and school that Pastor Adam started about six years ago. After being hammered by the conditions of the city for the first three days I was not at all prepared for what was waiting “out there.” I can only describe it as the Christmas party at the Zambiza dump – for miles on end! Still, the kids stunned me. Everywhere, they come to me; most timid at first but once the first one takes a bold step they all get into it. Even when we just pull over to the side of the road the kids crowd around. It hit me yesterday on the way home that I was the only white dude I had seen since I got here. On the one hand, that is kind of exhilarating. On the other hand, I definitely see why Jesus’ model was normally to send people out in at least 2’s!!! I try not to think too much about what I would do if I needed anything of significance along the way. I don’t know if I mentioned it but they put me up in a room (simple but quite nice, I must admit) in a building a couple of miles away from Pastor Adam’s home (you would have to see his home to appreciate why there wouldn’t have been room for me there) – so I am pretty much by myself from the time we get finished the crusades each night around 10:00 until Adam comes to get me the next morning.
By God’s grace I did just meet this dude from New York with a small NGO. He is actually trying to do something with sanitation here. Talk about an Everest-sized task! I hope to connect with him more when I get home – and help him try to raise some cash. He has an astounding dream!!! I just realized yesterday that there is absolutely no trash system here. Things are literally thrown everywhere; once a pile gets big enough (wherever it is), it becomes a “local dump.’ It is staggering! On top of that, the “sewer system” is a series of channels that run along the homes and the streets…leading basically anywhere and nowhere. So, a bunch of them kinda converge in random places. As close as I can tell, there are about 500,000 people in this city – so I cannot describe the cumulative effect of it all (words, pictures and even videos don’t capture what goes on in your other senses!)!
The language is soooooooo frustrating! It is normally a complete mix of Creole and French so I barely get anything at all! Still, I have met a few people who speak some English or Spanish so I have not been completely in isolation.
Oh, speaking of the trip out of town yesterday -- instead of the bus, a guy that one of the Pastors knows offered to drive us (for a fee); and his car has air conditioning! The little “gifts” from God along the way continue to humble me to the core. I have quite a list of them already!
I cannot even begin to talk about the kids. They are simply indescribable; precious; gorgeous. I have taken a few pictures but as I said earlier, it really feels inappropriate to be looking at their lives like a “spectator.”
Anyway, that is more than enough for now. One bizarre thing that has been happening is that I seem to collapse into a coma-like state for an hour or two in the afternoon – in spite of (or maybe because of) the heat. I don’t feel physically tired but it is like all my senses are so overloaded my whole “being” shuts down. It is dangerously close to that now – so I hope this makes some sense!!! Once I hit the “post” button it will be too late and I will only be able to look at it tomorrow and shake my head at how it came across.
On the Potter’s wheel (Jeremiah 18),
Len
Internet options have been rare over the past couple of days; so sorry for losing contact! Actually, this morning I was kind of crawling around behind the little desk in the “office” where I am staying into this chaos of wires to help them reestablish their internet connection here. I guess all those months of fighting with the problems we had in Quito have been redeemed – and the people are unusually appreciative about “how much (I) know about computers.” Hilarious, huh???!!!
Shoot; where do I begin? I wish you could have seen the translator last night. He does so much more than just translate the words. He “amplifies” the emotion and excitement to an acceptable “Caribbean” level. The dude is crazy and he gets flat-out drenched from head to toe. Every once in a while he pauses to whisper in my ear in broken English, “ohhhhhh, dis is a gooooood message.” It is kinda like a little nudge from God for me, saying, “Keep going; deliver the message; let me use him to make it fit their culture and hearts.”
Attendance at the crusades has been much lower than the leaders had hoped – but people just don’t seem to get down about anything here! They believe it simply comes down to the fact that people do not have any money at all to even think about getting to something “extra” like this. The poverty is beyond all western comprehension. Even Pastor Adam says things are much worse than when he left. Port au Prince (the capitol) was the only tiny glimmer of industry and/or employment and with it still upside-down the whole country is reeling. Plus, the neighborhood the crusade is in is pretty “dark” in all ways. Apparently many people are not happy with a church “hurting”” their neighborhood. The whole area is pretty much without electricity so when we drive out at night, the candles on tables in front of the homes give it all kind of an extra ominous feel. Plus, the rains have returned – which is a huge relief on one hand – but tends to keep even more people away in the evening. Still, when it comes to the “crusade,” the people that come seem so full of life and faith and the direction of the crusade seems to be turning more to encouraging them and building them up than welcoming people who do not have any clue about God.
On the other hand, this morning I was invited to a “prayer meeting” at the biggest church in Cap Haitien. Talk about being yanked out of my comfort zone!!! There were several thousand people there – and for about an hour it looked like a mixture of a Caribbean aerobics class and mosh pit (prayer meeting, huh?). Then it turned into what I can only imagine happened in the first days of the New Testament. There were shrieks and screams and people would hit the dirt and flip and flop and tremble and quake and then go perfectly still; some for 20 minutes or so. They kept an open area up front for people like that and the job of some of the “ushers” was to carry collapsed people into the open area for prayer and care. Just like EFC, right?
Then this visiting Mexican evangelist got up to speak with a translator and it turned into an even bigger time of “healing and deliverance.” I have never, ever seen anything like it live. All kinds of things were going on inside of me – but then I remembered the portion Jeff taught from the Sunday before I left…the one where John and others went and whined to Jesus about “others” doing things “in His name.” Jesus simply told them to leave those others alone to do their work. So, I chose to simply watch in amazement, pray and learn. The whole thing had been going on for about three hours at that point. Then came another “surprise”: the 35-40 minutes they wanted from me (be ready, in season and out of season, huh?). The lead Pastor translated – and I could not believe how words simply came to me and flowed. After, the Pastor asked if I would come back and bring a message on Resurrection Sunday. I was scheduled in another church that day but Pastor Adam said this church would really “love to have (me) open the word with them again.” How the heck do you say “no, sorry” to that?! Simply another picture of the insanity of all of this! Now the li’l white dude from the Canadian prairies will be bringing the message on Resurrection Sunday in a very Caribbean/black/Charismatic church. How can you not laugh?
Oh, yesterday we went out of Cap Haitien to see a church and school that Pastor Adam started about six years ago. After being hammered by the conditions of the city for the first three days I was not at all prepared for what was waiting “out there.” I can only describe it as the Christmas party at the Zambiza dump – for miles on end! Still, the kids stunned me. Everywhere, they come to me; most timid at first but once the first one takes a bold step they all get into it. Even when we just pull over to the side of the road the kids crowd around. It hit me yesterday on the way home that I was the only white dude I had seen since I got here. On the one hand, that is kind of exhilarating. On the other hand, I definitely see why Jesus’ model was normally to send people out in at least 2’s!!! I try not to think too much about what I would do if I needed anything of significance along the way. I don’t know if I mentioned it but they put me up in a room (simple but quite nice, I must admit) in a building a couple of miles away from Pastor Adam’s home (you would have to see his home to appreciate why there wouldn’t have been room for me there) – so I am pretty much by myself from the time we get finished the crusades each night around 10:00 until Adam comes to get me the next morning.
By God’s grace I did just meet this dude from New York with a small NGO. He is actually trying to do something with sanitation here. Talk about an Everest-sized task! I hope to connect with him more when I get home – and help him try to raise some cash. He has an astounding dream!!! I just realized yesterday that there is absolutely no trash system here. Things are literally thrown everywhere; once a pile gets big enough (wherever it is), it becomes a “local dump.’ It is staggering! On top of that, the “sewer system” is a series of channels that run along the homes and the streets…leading basically anywhere and nowhere. So, a bunch of them kinda converge in random places. As close as I can tell, there are about 500,000 people in this city – so I cannot describe the cumulative effect of it all (words, pictures and even videos don’t capture what goes on in your other senses!)!
The language is soooooooo frustrating! It is normally a complete mix of Creole and French so I barely get anything at all! Still, I have met a few people who speak some English or Spanish so I have not been completely in isolation.
Oh, speaking of the trip out of town yesterday -- instead of the bus, a guy that one of the Pastors knows offered to drive us (for a fee); and his car has air conditioning! The little “gifts” from God along the way continue to humble me to the core. I have quite a list of them already!
I cannot even begin to talk about the kids. They are simply indescribable; precious; gorgeous. I have taken a few pictures but as I said earlier, it really feels inappropriate to be looking at their lives like a “spectator.”
Anyway, that is more than enough for now. One bizarre thing that has been happening is that I seem to collapse into a coma-like state for an hour or two in the afternoon – in spite of (or maybe because of) the heat. I don’t feel physically tired but it is like all my senses are so overloaded my whole “being” shuts down. It is dangerously close to that now – so I hope this makes some sense!!! Once I hit the “post” button it will be too late and I will only be able to look at it tomorrow and shake my head at how it came across.
On the Potter’s wheel (Jeremiah 18),
Len
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
heading out again...
...I honestly don't know how I can get a wireless connection from this little corner of this building. It is just one in a long string of things that continue to blow me away!
There was a smaller crowd last night. pastors say it is to be expected for the first few days as people realize it isn't "just" a party or some foreigner here with handouts. They seem very pleased with how things are going, though. I have been asked to teach in two more places.
Last night's "translator" did much more than just put the words in their language. The dude brought it to true Caribbean life!!! I thought I was sweating; the dude was drenched!!! He said he loved sharing that kind of a message...although "his part" was normally twice as long as what I was saying!!!
At the end, when they asked people if anyone would like to come to the front with questions or for prayer, one guy came all the way up on the platform, past the musicians and all the instruments and right to the Pastors who were still seated at the back. Just one more thing to add to the "I've never seen before" list!
Oh, yesterday morning at breakfast I was kinda kicking myself for not having brought vitamins (not a lot of fruit and veggies here, obviously). When my breakfast showed up, guess what was staring at me from my plate? Papaya pieces! A little dry and wrinkly, but tasty as all get-out!
Gotta go; we're hopping a bus to head "out of town" to the school that Pastor Adam started and the church that grew up from it.
Sensory and spiritual overload continues!!!
Lots of love...
There was a smaller crowd last night. pastors say it is to be expected for the first few days as people realize it isn't "just" a party or some foreigner here with handouts. They seem very pleased with how things are going, though. I have been asked to teach in two more places.
Last night's "translator" did much more than just put the words in their language. The dude brought it to true Caribbean life!!! I thought I was sweating; the dude was drenched!!! He said he loved sharing that kind of a message...although "his part" was normally twice as long as what I was saying!!!
At the end, when they asked people if anyone would like to come to the front with questions or for prayer, one guy came all the way up on the platform, past the musicians and all the instruments and right to the Pastors who were still seated at the back. Just one more thing to add to the "I've never seen before" list!
Oh, yesterday morning at breakfast I was kinda kicking myself for not having brought vitamins (not a lot of fruit and veggies here, obviously). When my breakfast showed up, guess what was staring at me from my plate? Papaya pieces! A little dry and wrinkly, but tasty as all get-out!
Gotta go; we're hopping a bus to head "out of town" to the school that Pastor Adam started and the church that grew up from it.
Sensory and spiritual overload continues!!!
Lots of love...
Monday, March 29, 2010
quickie from "The Cap"" (Haitien)
...just long enough to do a couple of "cut and pastes" from my Facebook:
just came through some of the wildest “rush hour traffic” I have ever seen; please don’t tell my Mom or Beth that I did it on the back of a little motorcycle with two other grown men! This has been another day of complete sensory and spiritual overload!!!
...and don't ask me how, but I stumbled onto a tiny corner of the place I'm staying in where I can often pick up an unsecured wi-fi signal -- in Cap Haitien!!! I mean, when ya think about it, communicating by wi-fi is miraculous enough from anywhere. This is wayyyyyyyyy over the top -- especially in contrast to the neighborhood we experienced this afternoon. Honestly, if anyone ever hears me whine about "not having" something ever again, you have my ongoing permission to whack me firmly in the side of the head!
just came through some of the wildest “rush hour traffic” I have ever seen; please don’t tell my Mom or Beth that I did it on the back of a little motorcycle with two other grown men! This has been another day of complete sensory and spiritual overload!!!
...and don't ask me how, but I stumbled onto a tiny corner of the place I'm staying in where I can often pick up an unsecured wi-fi signal -- in Cap Haitien!!! I mean, when ya think about it, communicating by wi-fi is miraculous enough from anywhere. This is wayyyyyyyyy over the top -- especially in contrast to the neighborhood we experienced this afternoon. Honestly, if anyone ever hears me whine about "not having" something ever again, you have my ongoing permission to whack me firmly in the side of the head!
Stunned in Cap Haitien
As usual, I only have a brief moment. That is actually good because there is no way I would be able to even try to describe what it is like here; it would likely only frustrate me if I had five hours to write because I know I could not find the right words. People keep telling me I need to take pictures but something in my heart won't allow me to even pull out my camera most of the time. It bugs me a little to have to wrote so quickly because I am usually kinda OCD about spelling and grammar. That is gonna have to be put to the side, so bear with me and any excessive amount of mistakes.
It is hotter than I ever would have imagined. Sitting in the shade, with a breeze, typing this and I am dripping in sweat. Still, how dare I complain? Even considering the miracle that allows me to click this and send it out humbles me to the core.
The people here are beyond sweet but beyond anything I ever would have imagined as "poor." I honestly see why so many would go to great lengths to get to Quito -- and why they find it "luxurious" in so many ways.
I spoke in this incredible church yesterday morning (surprise!!!). There had to be more than a thousand people -- all trying to hide in the little shade there was.
The "crusade" opening was beyond description. The little, white Canadian dude was blown away by the full-blown, Caribbean/black approach to worship. So much more than I could have ever dreamed (I know I keep saying that!). I am guessing there were about a thousand people -- and about fifty remained behind to "talk more" afterward, which left me out of the loop 'cuz my Creole is only slightly worse than the puny amount of high school french that I remember!
The kindness of the people is staggering; they treat me like a true king -- and that humbles me to the core. (I am not sure about some of the things I am eating and drinking -- but they sure taste incredible!)
God is stirring up so many things in my heart; it will take weeks to sort out all my notes and thoughts.
I am afraid I need to run; Pastor Adam is here to show me more of the city. I will try to use the camera some...but so much of it just doesn't seem like the kind of thing that should have an audience or spectators, if you know what I mean.
On the one hand, I can't wait for this to be over to get back to Quito and try to tell people about it. On the other hand, a week more does not seem long enough.
Oh, one thought: if I ever comment or complain about the drivers in Quito again, slap me! This place is beyond comprehension!!!
Write me back if you can; I do get sporadic little contacts with the internet. It isn't as common as in Quito but it is available. Cell phones, on the other hand, are everywhere!!!
In God's Palm!
Len
It is hotter than I ever would have imagined. Sitting in the shade, with a breeze, typing this and I am dripping in sweat. Still, how dare I complain? Even considering the miracle that allows me to click this and send it out humbles me to the core.
The people here are beyond sweet but beyond anything I ever would have imagined as "poor." I honestly see why so many would go to great lengths to get to Quito -- and why they find it "luxurious" in so many ways.
I spoke in this incredible church yesterday morning (surprise!!!). There had to be more than a thousand people -- all trying to hide in the little shade there was.
The "crusade" opening was beyond description. The little, white Canadian dude was blown away by the full-blown, Caribbean/black approach to worship. So much more than I could have ever dreamed (I know I keep saying that!). I am guessing there were about a thousand people -- and about fifty remained behind to "talk more" afterward, which left me out of the loop 'cuz my Creole is only slightly worse than the puny amount of high school french that I remember!
The kindness of the people is staggering; they treat me like a true king -- and that humbles me to the core. (I am not sure about some of the things I am eating and drinking -- but they sure taste incredible!)
God is stirring up so many things in my heart; it will take weeks to sort out all my notes and thoughts.
I am afraid I need to run; Pastor Adam is here to show me more of the city. I will try to use the camera some...but so much of it just doesn't seem like the kind of thing that should have an audience or spectators, if you know what I mean.
On the one hand, I can't wait for this to be over to get back to Quito and try to tell people about it. On the other hand, a week more does not seem long enough.
Oh, one thought: if I ever comment or complain about the drivers in Quito again, slap me! This place is beyond comprehension!!!
Write me back if you can; I do get sporadic little contacts with the internet. It isn't as common as in Quito but it is available. Cell phones, on the other hand, are everywhere!!!
In God's Palm!
Len
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Learning while teaching in a Haitian church
Stunned. Humbled. Broken. Restored.
80 Haitians of all ages in a room that couldn't have been any more than 20 by 30 feet. One moment weeping, the next moment praying. One moment whispering (some shouting) "Hallelujah," the next moment wailing. I came, quite unsure how God could possibly use me as some kind of an instrument to minister to them. I left feeling much more "ministered to" -- by them and by God.
For those who have asked, what follows are the words I brought in English. By God's grace, the words Pastor Adam found to turn them into French and/or Creole seemed to penetrate hearts:
I was humbled and overwhelmed when Pastor Adam invited me to share with you this morning.
I thought and prayed for a long time before I had any peace about what I could possibly say to you.
I asked many friends for advice.
As I explained our church’s friendship with Pastor Adam and many of you, many of my friends said it made the things they were reading and seeing from Haiti impact them even more deeply.
Many, from all around the world, asked me to make sure to tell you that they care deeply about your country and your people and they are praying for you and will do whatever they can to try to help.
All of them said they cannot imagine what it is like for you to see, read and hear news from your home.
I agree with them completely. As much as I have grieved this week, I cannot imagine what is going on inside many of you.
That is one of the main reasons it was so hard to find any words to bring to you.
Finally, I turned to the Psalms in the Bible.
One of my favorite lines in the Bible was written by the Great King David while he was hiding, terrified, in a cave. He wrote, “I pour out my complaints before God, and tell him all my troubles.” (Psalm 142:2)
I pray that you would find the freedom to do that very same thing!
The Psalms often help me see that there is nothing better to do with my hardest questions than take them to God, even if I cry or yell them at Him!
I counted almost 100 times where the writers of the Psalms wrote about crying
or asked God how long pain would last
and asked God, “Why?!”
I remember the first time I really found freedom to do that.
We had received the news that a very special friend back in Canada had died of cancer at age 32.
That left her husband alone with a 6-year-old son and a 3-year-old daughter.
I know two deaths can seem very small compared to what you are hearing from your home.
But for me, it was the first time I can remember honestly and angrily asking God, “Why?!”
By His grace, He began to answer that question for me.
A big part of the answer came in an unexpected place; the first book of the Bible; Genesis.
Chapter 3 has the story of the first man (Adam) and the first woman (Eve) and the first rule that was broken by human beings; the first sin.
Immediately, they tried hiding from God – which is impossible to do!
God went straight to Adam and asked: "Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?" (Genesis 3:11)
After trying to hide from God, Adam tried to hide the truth from God;
He blamed Eve for what happened.
Adam went even further and blamed God for making Eve in the first place.
Then God said, “Cursed is the ground because of you…it will produce thorns and thistles for you…” (Gen 3:17-18)
The first four words in that statement have helped me as much as anything whenever I asked God, “Why?”
Cursed is the ground.
Cursed.
I don’t know what the word that is used in French or Creole there means to people today.
Back then it meant: desolate, stripped or completely changed from its original state or condition.
“Cursed is the ground.”
God was not casting a curse upon the earth…at least not in the way “curses” are often understood today.
He made a statement that said the ground had been changed from its original condition...and it was written in a way that said it would remain that way!
God said: Cursed is the ground because of you…
It meant: because of the sin that you committed.
The first sin on earth was committed by Adam and sin has continued to reproduce ever since.
Cursed is the ground. That literally meant “the whole earth.”
The whole earth was proclaimed cursed.
It remains that way today…the earth (Creation) is completely changed from its original state or condition.
God said, “Cursed is the ground…it will produce thorns and thistles!
“Thorns and thistles” were a word picture to explain that things will continue to come along to show that the earth has been changed from its original condition.
Today, “thorns and thistles” keep growing up.
When God came to earth in the form of a human being named Jesus, He said, “Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.
Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines.
These are the beginning of birth pains.” (Mark 13:7-8)
So we can add the word picture of “birth pains” on earth to the “thorns and thistles.”
Sometimes, in real life, that shows itself as the quiet, virtually unnoticed death of a young mother;
sometimes it shows itself as an earthquake that billions of people hear about around the world.
If you follow any of the “thorns and thistles” down to their roots, you will eventually find sin.
Even the cancer that took the life of our friend.
Please don’t hear me saying that it was because she had a sin problem.
The cancer came because the ground is cursed.
That has led to chemicals on our food,
and stuff you can see and even taste floating in our air,
and electronic devices that radiate things that even the top scientists and doctors in the world don’t understand,
and a dangerously fast pace of life that tries to keep up with terribly unbiblical standards.
Those are the sort of things that cause cancer.
Earthquakes are caused by cracks in the earth that weren’t there when God first formed it in His hands.
If you trace any of the thorns and thistles down to their roots, you will eventually find sin…and the ultimate end result always leads to death.
I realize there are many differences between us.
One thing we have in common is that we are between Eden and Heaven.
This world and everybody in it is dying.
No matter what the most brilliant men and women of the world are able to do and find in science and medicine, at best they are only able to postpone the inevitable.
Even if we remove anything “religious” from one statement in the Bible, there is no way to get around the truth of what it says: “Everyone has to die…” (Heb 9:27, Message)
Sometimes that happens when a disease begins to eat away at a healthy body;
sometimes it happens when the earth shakes and convulses;
sometimes death comes from what we call “natural causes” or “old age.”
One way or another, death does come.
Along the way, God has designed us to love…so sadness, grief and suffering walk close beside sickness and death.
But that is not the end of the story.
We’re shown that in the last book of the Bible.
It is something God showed a man named John…as he awaited his death in exile on an island.
God allowed John to see what will happen when this earth reaches the end of its time.
John was shown pictures of what Heaven is like and then tried to put it into words:
I saw Heaven and earth new-created. Gone the first Heaven, gone the first earth, gone the sea.
I saw Holy Jerusalem, new-created, descending resplendent out of Heaven, as ready for God as a bride for her husband.
I heard a voice thunder from the Throne: “Look! Look! God has moved into the neighborhood, making his home with men and women!
They’re his people, he’s their God.
He’ll wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death is gone for good—tears gone, crying gone, pain gone—all the first order of things gone.”
The Enthroned continued, “Look! I’m making everything new.” (Rev 21:1-5, Message)
Around the same time, John wrote to and about the people who will be in Heaven and how they will get there.
1 John 2
12 I am writing to you who are God’s children because your sins have been forgiven through Jesus.
13 I am writing to you who are mature in the faith because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning.
I am writing to you who are young in the faith because you have won your battle with the evil one.
14 I have written to you who are God’s children because you know the Father.
I have written to you who are mature in the faith because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning.
I have written to you who are young in the faith because you are strong.
God’s word lives in your hearts, and you have won your battle with the evil one…
28 And now, dear children, remain in fellowship with Christ so that when he returns, you will be full of courage and not shrink back from him in shame…
1 John 3
1 See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!
I read something in a book by a man named John Eldredge that made me really angry at first.
I couldn’t believe that someone who claimed to be a Christian could write such a thing.
The more I thought about it, I began to realize he is right.
He explained that when you consider all the realities of all the birth pains, thorns and thistles on earth, for those who believe what John wrote about Jesus and God, the most merciful gift God has ever given, is death.
I told you that statement really bothered me at first: the most merciful gift God has ever given to the believer in Jesus Christ is death.
I think that is what another follower of Jesus meant almost two thousand years ago.
A man named Peter was writing to other people who believed in Jesus…but were going through some very difficult times.
Peter wrote: For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable…(1 Peter 1:23)
Perishable seed. That’s this physical body of mine. As long as I continue my journey on earth (on the “cursed ground”) I will scrape up against all kinds of thorns and thistles and will experience (or at least see the kinds of “birth pains” Jesus spoke of).
Peter said human bodies are born “perishable” – but by God’s grace, there is a way to exchange this body for one that will be even more amazing than what Adam and Eve had in Eden!
Paul wrote to followers of Jesus in Rome almost 2,000 years ago:
All creation anticipates the day when it will join God's children in glorious freedom from death and decay.
For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.
And even we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering.
We, too, wait anxiously for that day when God will give us our full rights as his children, including the new bodies he has promised us. (Romans 8:21-23)
Did you see five words in the middle of that? Released from pain and suffering.
That is both good news and bad news. The good news is, a day is coming when we will be released from pain and suffering.
The bad news is, it speaks of something in the future.
So where does it leave us here, today, face-to-face with such a horrific reminder that we are between Eden and Heaven?
I believe it leaves people doing one of two things:
reaching out to the only source of true hope
or trying to find that hope somewhere else.
Whether we realize it or not, we all put our hope in something;
a president or some other political leader,
a relief or aid agency,
a country,
a wooden or cloth doll or the demon that it represents,
even a Pastor.
Pastor Adam asked me to bring some words of hope this morning.
I can bring words but I don’t have any control over what you do with them.
All I can tell you this morning is, I am convinced my hope needs to be in the only One who can live out the promise, "Surely, I will be with you always." (Mt 28:20)
Jesus of Nazareth said that.
He was able to make – and keep that promise because His physical death released the Holy Spirit in a totally new way.
A way to carry us as we walk along this “cursed ground.”
That is what Jesus meant when He said:
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, who will never leave you.
He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth.
The world at large cannot receive him, because it isn't looking for him and doesn't recognize him.
But you do, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.
No, I will not abandon you…(John 14:16-18)
Jesus speaks those words as One who has experienced the deepest pains of human life.
As I thought about many of the scenes that I saw from Haiti this week, one of the most powerful things Jesus ever said came to mind.
Actually, I should say it was something JESUS moaned, through blood, sweat and tears…as He wrestled with God and the growing awareness of His own coming physical death.
He said, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.” (Mk. 14:34).
Jesus knows. And He is here. He always will be.
He promises to stay with us on this cursed ground
and to welcome us into Heaven when time here is done!
80 Haitians of all ages in a room that couldn't have been any more than 20 by 30 feet. One moment weeping, the next moment praying. One moment whispering (some shouting) "Hallelujah," the next moment wailing. I came, quite unsure how God could possibly use me as some kind of an instrument to minister to them. I left feeling much more "ministered to" -- by them and by God.
For those who have asked, what follows are the words I brought in English. By God's grace, the words Pastor Adam found to turn them into French and/or Creole seemed to penetrate hearts:
I was humbled and overwhelmed when Pastor Adam invited me to share with you this morning.
I thought and prayed for a long time before I had any peace about what I could possibly say to you.
I asked many friends for advice.
As I explained our church’s friendship with Pastor Adam and many of you, many of my friends said it made the things they were reading and seeing from Haiti impact them even more deeply.
Many, from all around the world, asked me to make sure to tell you that they care deeply about your country and your people and they are praying for you and will do whatever they can to try to help.
All of them said they cannot imagine what it is like for you to see, read and hear news from your home.
I agree with them completely. As much as I have grieved this week, I cannot imagine what is going on inside many of you.
That is one of the main reasons it was so hard to find any words to bring to you.
Finally, I turned to the Psalms in the Bible.
One of my favorite lines in the Bible was written by the Great King David while he was hiding, terrified, in a cave. He wrote, “I pour out my complaints before God, and tell him all my troubles.” (Psalm 142:2)
I pray that you would find the freedom to do that very same thing!
The Psalms often help me see that there is nothing better to do with my hardest questions than take them to God, even if I cry or yell them at Him!
I counted almost 100 times where the writers of the Psalms wrote about crying
or asked God how long pain would last
and asked God, “Why?!”
I remember the first time I really found freedom to do that.
We had received the news that a very special friend back in Canada had died of cancer at age 32.
That left her husband alone with a 6-year-old son and a 3-year-old daughter.
I know two deaths can seem very small compared to what you are hearing from your home.
But for me, it was the first time I can remember honestly and angrily asking God, “Why?!”
By His grace, He began to answer that question for me.
A big part of the answer came in an unexpected place; the first book of the Bible; Genesis.
Chapter 3 has the story of the first man (Adam) and the first woman (Eve) and the first rule that was broken by human beings; the first sin.
Immediately, they tried hiding from God – which is impossible to do!
God went straight to Adam and asked: "Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?" (Genesis 3:11)
After trying to hide from God, Adam tried to hide the truth from God;
He blamed Eve for what happened.
Adam went even further and blamed God for making Eve in the first place.
Then God said, “Cursed is the ground because of you…it will produce thorns and thistles for you…” (Gen 3:17-18)
The first four words in that statement have helped me as much as anything whenever I asked God, “Why?”
Cursed is the ground.
Cursed.
I don’t know what the word that is used in French or Creole there means to people today.
Back then it meant: desolate, stripped or completely changed from its original state or condition.
“Cursed is the ground.”
God was not casting a curse upon the earth…at least not in the way “curses” are often understood today.
He made a statement that said the ground had been changed from its original condition...and it was written in a way that said it would remain that way!
God said: Cursed is the ground because of you…
It meant: because of the sin that you committed.
The first sin on earth was committed by Adam and sin has continued to reproduce ever since.
Cursed is the ground. That literally meant “the whole earth.”
The whole earth was proclaimed cursed.
It remains that way today…the earth (Creation) is completely changed from its original state or condition.
God said, “Cursed is the ground…it will produce thorns and thistles!
“Thorns and thistles” were a word picture to explain that things will continue to come along to show that the earth has been changed from its original condition.
Today, “thorns and thistles” keep growing up.
When God came to earth in the form of a human being named Jesus, He said, “Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.
Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines.
These are the beginning of birth pains.” (Mark 13:7-8)
So we can add the word picture of “birth pains” on earth to the “thorns and thistles.”
Sometimes, in real life, that shows itself as the quiet, virtually unnoticed death of a young mother;
sometimes it shows itself as an earthquake that billions of people hear about around the world.
If you follow any of the “thorns and thistles” down to their roots, you will eventually find sin.
Even the cancer that took the life of our friend.
Please don’t hear me saying that it was because she had a sin problem.
The cancer came because the ground is cursed.
That has led to chemicals on our food,
and stuff you can see and even taste floating in our air,
and electronic devices that radiate things that even the top scientists and doctors in the world don’t understand,
and a dangerously fast pace of life that tries to keep up with terribly unbiblical standards.
Those are the sort of things that cause cancer.
Earthquakes are caused by cracks in the earth that weren’t there when God first formed it in His hands.
If you trace any of the thorns and thistles down to their roots, you will eventually find sin…and the ultimate end result always leads to death.
I realize there are many differences between us.
One thing we have in common is that we are between Eden and Heaven.
This world and everybody in it is dying.
No matter what the most brilliant men and women of the world are able to do and find in science and medicine, at best they are only able to postpone the inevitable.
Even if we remove anything “religious” from one statement in the Bible, there is no way to get around the truth of what it says: “Everyone has to die…” (Heb 9:27, Message)
Sometimes that happens when a disease begins to eat away at a healthy body;
sometimes it happens when the earth shakes and convulses;
sometimes death comes from what we call “natural causes” or “old age.”
One way or another, death does come.
Along the way, God has designed us to love…so sadness, grief and suffering walk close beside sickness and death.
But that is not the end of the story.
We’re shown that in the last book of the Bible.
It is something God showed a man named John…as he awaited his death in exile on an island.
God allowed John to see what will happen when this earth reaches the end of its time.
John was shown pictures of what Heaven is like and then tried to put it into words:
I saw Heaven and earth new-created. Gone the first Heaven, gone the first earth, gone the sea.
I saw Holy Jerusalem, new-created, descending resplendent out of Heaven, as ready for God as a bride for her husband.
I heard a voice thunder from the Throne: “Look! Look! God has moved into the neighborhood, making his home with men and women!
They’re his people, he’s their God.
He’ll wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death is gone for good—tears gone, crying gone, pain gone—all the first order of things gone.”
The Enthroned continued, “Look! I’m making everything new.” (Rev 21:1-5, Message)
Around the same time, John wrote to and about the people who will be in Heaven and how they will get there.
1 John 2
12 I am writing to you who are God’s children because your sins have been forgiven through Jesus.
13 I am writing to you who are mature in the faith because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning.
I am writing to you who are young in the faith because you have won your battle with the evil one.
14 I have written to you who are God’s children because you know the Father.
I have written to you who are mature in the faith because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning.
I have written to you who are young in the faith because you are strong.
God’s word lives in your hearts, and you have won your battle with the evil one…
28 And now, dear children, remain in fellowship with Christ so that when he returns, you will be full of courage and not shrink back from him in shame…
1 John 3
1 See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!
I read something in a book by a man named John Eldredge that made me really angry at first.
I couldn’t believe that someone who claimed to be a Christian could write such a thing.
The more I thought about it, I began to realize he is right.
He explained that when you consider all the realities of all the birth pains, thorns and thistles on earth, for those who believe what John wrote about Jesus and God, the most merciful gift God has ever given, is death.
I told you that statement really bothered me at first: the most merciful gift God has ever given to the believer in Jesus Christ is death.
I think that is what another follower of Jesus meant almost two thousand years ago.
A man named Peter was writing to other people who believed in Jesus…but were going through some very difficult times.
Peter wrote: For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable…(1 Peter 1:23)
Perishable seed. That’s this physical body of mine. As long as I continue my journey on earth (on the “cursed ground”) I will scrape up against all kinds of thorns and thistles and will experience (or at least see the kinds of “birth pains” Jesus spoke of).
Peter said human bodies are born “perishable” – but by God’s grace, there is a way to exchange this body for one that will be even more amazing than what Adam and Eve had in Eden!
Paul wrote to followers of Jesus in Rome almost 2,000 years ago:
All creation anticipates the day when it will join God's children in glorious freedom from death and decay.
For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.
And even we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering.
We, too, wait anxiously for that day when God will give us our full rights as his children, including the new bodies he has promised us. (Romans 8:21-23)
Did you see five words in the middle of that? Released from pain and suffering.
That is both good news and bad news. The good news is, a day is coming when we will be released from pain and suffering.
The bad news is, it speaks of something in the future.
So where does it leave us here, today, face-to-face with such a horrific reminder that we are between Eden and Heaven?
I believe it leaves people doing one of two things:
reaching out to the only source of true hope
or trying to find that hope somewhere else.
Whether we realize it or not, we all put our hope in something;
a president or some other political leader,
a relief or aid agency,
a country,
a wooden or cloth doll or the demon that it represents,
even a Pastor.
Pastor Adam asked me to bring some words of hope this morning.
I can bring words but I don’t have any control over what you do with them.
All I can tell you this morning is, I am convinced my hope needs to be in the only One who can live out the promise, "Surely, I will be with you always." (Mt 28:20)
Jesus of Nazareth said that.
He was able to make – and keep that promise because His physical death released the Holy Spirit in a totally new way.
A way to carry us as we walk along this “cursed ground.”
That is what Jesus meant when He said:
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, who will never leave you.
He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth.
The world at large cannot receive him, because it isn't looking for him and doesn't recognize him.
But you do, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.
No, I will not abandon you…(John 14:16-18)
Jesus speaks those words as One who has experienced the deepest pains of human life.
As I thought about many of the scenes that I saw from Haiti this week, one of the most powerful things Jesus ever said came to mind.
Actually, I should say it was something JESUS moaned, through blood, sweat and tears…as He wrestled with God and the growing awareness of His own coming physical death.
He said, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.” (Mk. 14:34).
Jesus knows. And He is here. He always will be.
He promises to stay with us on this cursed ground
and to welcome us into Heaven when time here is done!
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