I will do what you want me to do... 10/14/2011
 I will do what you want me to do Today Tomorrow And every breath I take I will be who you want me to be Today Tomorrow And every breath I take I will live the way you want me to live Today Tomorrow And every breath I take...every breath I take This is your new blog post. Click here and start typing, or drag in elements from the top bar. Add Comment Back home again! 10/06/2011
I returned from eLand a few days ago and DEILboy immediately asked me when we were going to go fishing. I had gotten him a fishing pole some time ago but due to several scheduling conflicts we hadn't yet been able to go out and try them. So we went to a place not too far from our home and went fishing. We didn't catch anything, but we talked about how next time we would need to get some more weights for our line and maybe we could get our line far enough into the lake. On the way home he said to me, "Dad, thanks for today, it was great!" Gotta love those moments. My time in eLand was challenging--full of good fellowship, times of teaching and growing together, some disappointments, some joyous times, some pain and through it all--growth as the body of Christ. Remembering September 11 09/10/2011
 September 2011... I had resigned my teaching position the previous spring as my new wife and I were making plans to move to the Philippines. I had taken part-time positions at our Kuna branch as their worship director and also at a local Indian restaurant where I mostly made sure the lunch buffet was operating smoothly and enjoyed a free lunch on the days I worked. On September 11 I had the day off. It was morning and my wife of 8.5 months had already left for her job as 4th grade teacher at Shadowhills Elementary in Boise, Idaho. Sitting down to begin working on some assignments for a distance learning class I was taking through Fuller Theological Seminary -- Introduction to Islam -- I decided to turn on the TV. What I saw was a large building with billows of smoke spewing from it. I listened for awhile and the commentators mentioned that a plane had flown in to the building, but they seemed quite confused about the details. Just as I was about to turn the channel all of the sudden right there on live television a second passenger jet flew into the World Trade Center in New York City. I saw it. You saw it. It changed us. The Indian Sihk cook at the Indian Restaurant was beaten up on his way home because he wore a turban on his head. Our ignorance as a nation was on full display. But what disturbed me most was the attitude displayed by friends in the church--those who claimed to know the "amazing grace" of God and live according to the teachings of the Word of God and, more particularly, the teachings of Christ. Love your Neighbor... Pray for those who persecute you... Return evil with good... You get the picture. I was wanting to send out a September 11 email but then got way too busy to get it done. Then this morning--September 10th in Asia--I read this article and decided to sit down and send this message. I hope you'll read it and think about it as you remember September 11th on this 10th anniversary. Let me summarize briefly from the article the four ways that we can remember: 1. Historical remembrance--This is an important form of remembering that "places the event in context and refuses to easy labeling of one party or another as good or evil, or of thinking that this was an event that 'changed the world' when in actuality it only gave us Americans a reality check about the suffering going on throughout the world on a daily basis. 2. Cultural remembrance--This is where we who share cultural and national identity remember those who were victims. This can be appropriate as well when accomplished through humility and prayer and being mindful of the rhetoric coming from various places in society that might require us to contradict our identity in Christ and the attitude we are to have as his disciples. 3. Relational remembrance--This is the memory of specific people that we knew, families that suffered and the personal and emotional connection we had to the event. This is Job's friends sitting with him in silence as he mourns the loss of his children. 4. Delightful remembrance-- This is a "deliberate remembrance of the evil of the event...not a remembrance of delight--rather a perversely enjoyable remembrance of an evil done to us, remembered because it nurses our contempt for the perpetrators and simultaneously infuses us with a sense of mission, namely the perpetrator's destruction and our own triumph over them." This is the form of remembrance that makes us forget to pray for our enemies--for their welfare and spiritual condition and not about their eternal damnation. We easily forget that Christ spilled his blood for them, saying, "Father forgive them..." This form of remembering is sin. Regardless of what we've been told by our news media, by the multitudes of books that have been published, by well-meaning friends and by pastors from their pulpit (or on television for a select few of our Christian religious leaders), one things in certain--God loves our Muslim Neighbors! They are so much closer to us that you might ever know or imagine. Let's remember together. Let's cry together. Let's pray together--for our nation, that we would turn back to God and become Christlike disciples in our own nation and throughout the world; and for our Muslim Neighbors around the world, that they, too, would better understand and know the Messiah that is introduced to them in their own Book and seek to follow him. May the day come when we walk this road together. Do Everything In Love... Happy Holidays! 09/03/2011
"Did you enjoy your Eid?" is the question most people are asking around here. Basically it means, "We hope you had a happy holiday." We are back and mostly recovered from our cross-island journey to celebrate Eid al-Fitr with some of our Muslim friends. We had a great time of seeing people we hadn’t seen for a long time, sharing stories, eating lots of food (5 full meals in 5 hours time! Yikes!), watching our kids integrate seamlessly with the kids in the neighborhood (how cool is that?), lots of driving (15 hours of driving to get back home in holiday traffic...zzzzz...) and joining in the community activities to celebrate this most important holiday of the year (that means no sleep because the fireworks and celebration went on through the night). All in all not unlike many holidays in the States, minus the football. Well, they do have football but its the kind of football that requires the use of feet; unlike our version of football (otherwise called by such names as gridiron, American Football, or sissyball by our Australian rugby-loving friends...hey, don't come after me I just report the news). One friend, a young mother, we noticed was wearing her head covering for the first time since we’ve ever known her. I ask her why she was wearing it now and what did it mean to her? She answered that she was “finally ready” to wear it and that she decided to begin wearing it because she felt that her heart was now pure. Later I told her that I would be praying for her throughout this coming year that she would know the clean heart and forgiveness of sins that comes through faith in Isa al-Masi (Jesus, the Messiah). She thanked me for the prayer but then explained that she believed that her forgiveness had come to her through the Prophet Muhammad. Boldness check... Later I told that I had read much of her Scriptures and that I admired the wisdom of Prophet Muhammad when he said that Muslims ought to read the Gospel because it will answer their questions about the Messiah and that everyone who follows the Messiah will be considered worthy on the Final Day. “...I hope someday you’ll decide to follow Isa al-Masi,” I told her via sms after we had left her home. We hope you enjoyed this year Ramadan Emails (www.loveneighbor.weebly.net) and learned something along the way, were challenged to rethink some of your thoughts and encouraged to see that God is working among these Neighbors of ours--people that He loves dearly. If Jesus Goes With Me 07/11/2011
 It is not mine to question the judgments of the LORD; It is but mine to follow the leadings of His Word; But if to go or stay or whether here or there; I'll be with my Savior content anywhere. -- C. Austin Miles 1868-1946 Around the blog and back 06/21/2011
It's a great Tuesday morning. The birds are chirping, the kids are sleeping, and there's a refreshing coolness in their air. It's a good time just to share a few links and other bits of news. 1. The Deutero-what? series looks at the Book of Deuteronomy from a fresh angle. The most recent post in the series--Outsiders--examines chapter 10 of this fascinating book and concludes that from the very beginning it was God's plan for his people to be looking outwards towards those unlike themselves. [Read here] 2. Does God really expect us to give him EVERYTHING? 3. Read this book -- The Crescent Through the Eyes of the Cross by Nabeel Jabbour--you won't be disappointed. A Very Wet Wedding 06/18/2011
 The bride and groom enter the church together. One thing is certain—it was a day not likely to soon be forgotten. For the bride and groom, of course, it was the day of their wedding. But for anyone who was seated outside the church building during the ceremony this day was anything but typical.
In East Timor weddings are events for the community and the entire community throws themselves into the planning, organization and carrying-out of the occasion with great enthusiasm and energy. Unlike in my home country, where the bride-to-be is consumed with every detail of the affair, in East Timor most of the details are planned and taken care of by the family and the community or, in this case, the church. This is the nature of communal societies. It’s also the reality of not having significant financial resources. Choices, we must remember, spring primarily from excess. The wedding ceremony itself also reflects the community-oriented nature of the every day. event. The wedding is done as part of a regular Sunday worship service. During the course of the service the bride and groom will sit up front on a small couch or two decorated chairs while the rest of the family and church community sat behind them. The service begins as any normal Sunday service might—singing, praying, giving and a sermon. It is not until the end of the sermon that the wedding ceremony begins, much like we might have a baptism or baby dedication following the sermon. At this point the bride and groom stand before the pastor with their family and friends behind them and take their vows, exchange rings (if rings are being used, which they often are not) and kneel before both sets of parents to seek their blessing. If the bride is brave (read: not too shy) there might even be a kiss! At this point things usually move to another section of the building or outside where the cake (again, if there is a cake) will be cut and a variety of other traditions may or may not take place. Almost always, though, there is an ornately decorated couch where the couple will sit, eat, receive well-wishers and have their photos taken with guests. So, for days and weeks leading up to the event the church was a bee hive of activity. [click "Read More" to continue reading and see a photo of the kitchen where the feast was cooked] Stuff... 06/17/2011
Moving into a new home is never fun. But let's face it--it's our fault. We have too much junk. Yes, even those among us who have "given up everything" (or so people say) tend to collect too much stuff. But let's be honest again. This is also an American problem--we can't seem to live without our stuff. Our local students come to visit us for a week and bring nothing but a small backpack with a change of clothes, a towel, and necessary toiletries (like a toothbrush). We go somewhere for the weekend and we've got to pack an entire suitcase...for each member of our family! We have books purchased years ago that we've never read, clothes that haven't been removed from their hanger in years, and boxes of stuff that hasn't been looked at since the last time we moved. It's ridiculous. And I know you're probably not much different. So, although the house we moved into is bigger than our previous one, I'm renewing my commitment to REDUCE and DOWNSIZE. Come with me...let's find the freedom of having less stuff. We've already disconnected our TV. Ouch! Next project--get rid of half of my books. Ouch! What's your first step? Crazy times... 05/17/2011
 Well, let me do a quick rundown of our past three months...
1. Early February--submitted our passports, as usual, anticipating a quick and fairly painless renewal of our residency permits. 2. Mid February--Found out our renewal request was denied. 3. Late February -- We were promised that our permit would be given and that the paperwork would be completed before our current permit expired on the 28th of February. 4. Feb 28 -- we were given a 14 day extension on our permit and assured that everything would be done by March 13, at which time we could go out of country for a day, get our new permit, and return. 5. March 3 --DEILgirl celebrates her birthday at school with her friends...yeah! 6. Mach 13 -- Our paperwork is not complete and we are forced to leave the country. For 12 days in another country we are promised everyday that our paperwork is complete and will be sent the following day. It never comes. DEILmom celebrates her birthday. 7. March 25 -- We return home on a 30 day tourist visa with promised continuing to come that the paperwork is near completion. During this time we try to catch up on work missed and other responsibilities. The kids try and catch up from their 12 missed days of school. 8. April 5 -- The owner of our house begins asking us if we want to renew our contract, but given our residency status we cannot commit to anything. 9. April 10 -- Our friend, W, that we shared about during our last home assignment declines rapidly in her fight against cancer. 10. April 11 -- A friend who visits our house has a reaction to some kind of bug in our house. This a new thing. A day or two later we begin to notice the tiny little bugs--fleas--biting our toes. By the following day we have a full-fledged flea infestation, probably caused by a family of cats that gave birth in our ceiling several days earlier. 11. April 12 -- DEILdad's Uncle dies after more than two years battling cancer. 12. April 13 -- The father a good friend of our here died following a very short battle with cancer. 13. April 18 -- We receive word that one of our groups has been forced to close. This was not a governmental closure but the result of a community movement that determined to force the closure of as many groups as possible in their area. 14. April 19 -- Two rats fall down from the roof into the recess in our ceiling where a skylight sits. It's a 2 meter recess so it's impossible to reach down and pull the rats out. The only real choice is to wait until they die, remove the plastic from below and remove the rats. So, we have a few nights of watching our rat friends sleep and play...all from the comfort of our own bedroom! Yeah...gross. 15. April 23 -- one day before Easter we must leave the country again as our tourist visa is finished. 16. April 25 -- Finally some progress! We got the paperwork we needed and were able to submit our application for a new residency permit! A week later we had our new permits! But that's not the end... 17. May 2 -- We return home for two days and then drive 20 hours round-trip to submit our new permits to the local office. We are able to spend a day or two with our friends and colleagues on our Bible College campus and then return home so the kids can get back to school. Although we have our permits we must wait for the local office to give us our ID cards before we can considered truly "legal" residents. 18. During this time an international news event (the killing of Osama by the US Military) caused great danger for our Brothers and Sisters here, a country where it was not uncommon to see the face of this terrorist painted on the sides of buses or imprinted on t-shirts. We kept a very low profile for several days. 19. May 5 -- The owner of our house demands that we make a commitment to stay in the house for another year or move out. We tell her we want to stay but she tells us it will cost us an extra $1000 this year. On the day, right after talking with the owner, we found out that when the worker climbed up into our roof to get the rats he found extensive water damage, mold, and other problems. He said, "pity the people living in this house when this roof falls apart." So we decided to find a new house. 20. May 7-8 -- We get a call from our colleague that the local office is ready to take our photos and fingerprints so we drive 20 hours round trip again for a 20 minute meeting with the local official. Not only that we have some lovely photos taken...not really. 21. May 9-10 -- Still catching up, DEILdad teaches a "super-intensive" class to four university students at our home. Following the class he spends a full day sleeping. While he was teaching, DEILmom was frantically searching for a new home close to the kids school (if possible). 22. May 14 -- We signed a two year contract to rent a house not far from the one we are in now. It's a bit larger than we wanted and a bit more expensive, but was one of very few options that would not disrupt our kids education and other things. The economic crisis and decreased giving means that we have to pay for part of this contract from our personal ministry funds for the first time. But we praise God because of the faithful giving of many people during our last home assignment we had enough to cover this very unexpected expense. 23. Today, we continue to wait for our ID cards to be issued. Though we don't need to worry about having to leave the country again, we can't really do much of anything until we get these cards. 23. June 8 -- is the date we have to be out of our current house. Now, it would be easy to think that the past three months have been all trial. Yes, it's been difficult and stressful. But that's no surprise, Jesus promised us that "in this life there will be many troubles" and that those who follow him would "face many trials." We have no doubt that God is working and that these trials are nothing more than rocks trying to trip us up. Look at what God has been doing over the past three months...click through to keep reading... What if they had killed Saul? 05/03/2011
Recently I listened as JS told the story of his conversion. He had been a radical terrorist responsible for several bombings in his country, even a few that made international news. Then, through a series of miraculous events, along with the loving witness of a few faithful followers he began reading about the Messiah of the Bible and, eventually, he came to know and follow the Christ.
I listened to him share his story with amazement at the way God revealed himself to JS. Shaking his hand I was overcome with a deep realization of God’s amazing power to transform lives. Here was a modern Saul; a man bent on destroying anything carrying the name of Christ. Now, like Paul, he carries the name of Christ through to the people of his country with a vision to change his entire nation by pointing them toward the Messiah! I remembered the mission that Jesus Christ had given to Saul as he stood blind on the side of the road leading to Damascus--"I am sending you," said Jesus, "to open their eyes...and bring them from darkness into light." JS's eyes had been opened and now he was bringing those around him into the light! | CategoriesAll AuthorLoving God and Neighbor... Being mentored by the Teacher... Journeying with my wife... Teaching my children the ropes... ArchivesOctober 2011 |
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