Location: My bedroom in Oradea, Romania (27 May, early morning)
I have the distinct privilege of coming to you just as I finish my daily prayer time with the LORD. In other words, I continue my prayer time by writing you.
In fact, I have many distinct privileges. It is a privilege to be loved and prayed for by you. It is a privilege to receive so many notes from you via email; thank you for your patience as I try to respond. It is a privilege to have had the opportunity to meet people like you all over the world, and to see what the LORD is doing around the planet. It is a privilege to be loved by the God of the universe, to be able to come before Him in prayer, knowing that I have been adopted into even His family. It is a privilege to know that dispite my lack of qualifications, God wants to live in me and use me for His glory--and that He not only wants to, but does!
Prayer is the reason I write you today. Last night, we had a rather charismatic prayer meeting in the home where I am staying, and we crammed nearly twenty people into a space that is smaller than my old apartment, for those of you who visited me there. I was pleased when we took a lot of time to pray specifically for different churches of different denominations in Oradea. Join us in praying for the Church around the world! What a privilege it has been for me to continue to lift up the Church in Indianapolis from my station in Europe!
But I have more prayer requests. At the top of this page, you noticed a picture of me with a young man in a red shirt. S. is a twenty-year-old Romanian security guard who wants to make it big as a rapper and live in the "United," as he was calling the U.S. He used to want to be a pastor. I met him downtown yesterday, and he was helping me with my Romanian. Then he introduced me to several of his friends, and we played basketball in the park! I told them I was from the state where basketball was invented, so I had a lot riding on my performance!
I asked S. if I could post his picture so you could pray for him. His father cannot walk (since the age of 8), his mother has cancer, his older sister is recovering from pneumonia, and his younger brother is unemployed. Even with his job, he is struggling to make it. His story is not much different than many of the rest of the Romanians, except for one thing--he has hope! I do not think he knows the hope he has in Christ, but I am hoping he will join us at a youth event this Saturday where he might be able to learn more about that Hope. Thank you for your prayers!
I also posted a picture (scroll down to the bottom of the picture column) of the kids with disabilities with whom I worked Monday; I'm planning to go see them today, too. They actually gather in the bottom level of the building in which I live (how's that for convenient!), and so this picture was from our apartment window. Please lift them in prayer. Many Romanians do not have hope; those with disabilities have even a tougher life stacked against them in a country with elevators that are like rickety phonebooths, curbs and buildings without wheelchair access, and so on.
In addition to that, last night during the prayer group, we learned that a young lady just entered a psychiatric hospital in Cluj, suffering from depression. Thanks to God's work in my life with our Pressed but not Crushed group over the past year-and-a-half, I was able to share many practical tips with her friend. Please pray for this young lady.
Thank you for your prayers. I am thankful for them. Some of you have prayed for my headaches. I have only had to take medicine for them twice so far, with a couple of false alarms that you must have been praying away. Though I normally do not suffer from allergies, I have been annoyed by a runny nose since I arrived in Romania. That might be more than you wanted to know, but I tell you because your prayers are powerful, and the Lord has been blessing me through them. He has and will meet all my needs. Thank you!
Please do not let your prayers stop there. We had CNN on the television yesterday. Please pray for the tense global situation regarding, particularly, North Korea. Please pray regarding the battle over homosexual rights, as was emphasized in California yesterday. Please pray for the new Supreme Court Justice, Sonja Sotomayor, for that Court is one of the highest powers in the United States. Please pray for President Obama as he strives to lead wisely in these and other matters, including that of Guantameno Bay. Please pray for your Church congregation, and for others in your area and in your country. Please pray for the persecuted Church, who have given their lives that others might know Christ and live. Please pray for the people affected by the "economic crisis"--it is widely discussed in Europe as it is in the United States. Please pray for your leaders and encourage them, as well as those who serve you, be they janitors, missionaries, or both. Most importantly, pray for those you would like to hate--your enemies, those who annoy you, those who disgust you, those with whom you would like to have nothing to do.
If you have not traditionally been a praying person, I hope you will understand that there is not power in prayer. Prayer is important because there is power in the God to whom we pray. Incidentally, the Bible says that the gospel is the very power of God. Whatever your own father was like, He reveals Himself to us as our perfect Father, who loves and cares for us perfectly, who listens to even our unspoken prayers, and who answers us even before we finish praying. In fact, prayer is less words and more a posture of complete surrender before our sovereign God, the One who laid the foundations of the earth and yet cares to suffer patiently and lovingly with us in a world that we corrupted by our choices.
That is the gospel (another word for "good news"): that the God of the Universe loved us so much that He humbled Himself, clothing Himself with the flesh of a man, and came to us, knowing we could never make it to Him. Jesus, God-in-the-flesh-of-a-man, not only suffered with us, but for us, taking upon Himself all the sins and sicknesses of the world, and then letting Himself be murdered as the wrath of a just God was satisfied. Then He was raised to life, having condemned the sins and sickness to eternal death, and He raised us to new life with Him. Even more amazing, He was not content to live merely with us, but then came as the Holy Spirit, that He might live in us! Thus we have the distinct privilege and responsibility to be His body, known as the Church. This "Church" is not an institution that is cursed for its crusades or the Inquistition, nor is it buildings that stand hollow or house hypocrites. The Church are those people who have been redeemed by this Jesus and who allow His Spirit to live in them, not for their own good, but for the glory of God and the good of those who do not yet know Him. This Church has the responsibility and the authority to heal, to set free, to love, and to serve the suffering world in the name of Jesus the Christ!
Today I will probably spend several hours mostly failing to effectively communicate with Romanian children in wheelchairs. Yet somewhere in the midst of that (and in the midst of me!) is the hand, and heart, of God at work! Where is the hand, and heart, of God at work in your life today? Do not forget that you have the distinct privilege of being loved by an awesome Father!
This blog is your opportunity to travel with me wherever I am in the world, during both the mundane and exciting moments of life that I humbly recognize as holy. As I bare my life to you, may your reading take you beyond my words to the Word, beyond my life to the Life, beyond the chaos to the Truth, and beyond teachings to the Teacher--the Rabboni. I promise it will be an adventure, and by the end, may you, too, truly know the Way!
A Rose From Home
My Story (As prepared for my church congregation this spring--2009)
I have a story to tell you. I am the main character, but the story is not about me. I have traveled several parts of the world, but my adventure has been closer to home. I am twenty-six years old. My story begins like many of yours…
I grew up going to church. I had been born into a family who labeled themselves “Christian,” in a country that labels itself “Christian.” Every Sunday found me attending a worship service and Sunday school in a mainline denomination church. I served as an acolyte, attended Vacation Bible School, helped my dad count and record the offering money, sang in the youth choir, was a leader in the youth group, and occasionally served as liturgist. Baptized as an infant, I was confirmed at the age of twelve, thus becoming an “official” member of the church. Then, hurt by the church, my family left to find another.
Have you ever been hurt by the Church?
After months of searching, we settled into a very large independent church. Things were different there, and I was quickly welcomed and at home among new friends that truly had a passion for Jesus. The Word of God was taught boldly from the pulpit, and I was introduced to a missions-aware lifestyle. So it was with regret that I said goodbye only a couple of years later to move with my family to another church. I purposely remained aloof, not wanting to make new friendships before I left for college a year later. Besides, I was loosing my faith—or so I thought—and I didn’t want anyone to know. I was asking scary questions like “Is there really a God?” and, if so, “Is He the Christian God?” and “Would I be Christian if I had been born in another part of the world?”
Have you ever asked yourself unsettling questions about what you believe?
So I headed into college under a cloud of confusion that only worsened for the next two years. Though I didn’t know what I believed anymore, I continued to go to church every Sunday, and to help lead worship in chapel. Most importantly, even during this questioning, I continued my morning habit of daily study of the Bible. I had begun at age twelve, reading at first a chapter per day, then ten minutes each morning, then an half-hour, and so on. So, only by the grace of the very God I doubted, I remained anchored in His Word and in His community, though I felt like a fake most of the time. Since then I have learned that “fake” is the worst insult the world can give us; that is why the label of “hypocrite” is so offensive.
Have you ever felt like a fake?
Six weeks with missionaries in South Africa followed by a year in France began to teach me what life with God is all about. I began rebuilding my faith, this time it belonged to me, in contrast to me borrowing the faith of my parents, church, or anyone else. In my parent’s basement in 2003, on either Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve, I invited Jesus to live in me; perhaps I had done so before, but I didn’t recall—but since 2003, I have never forgotten that moment. Unfortunately, nothing changed. I continued to do my best to act like a Christian, as I had done for so long.
Have you ever found yourself “doing your best” to be a good person, or to act like a Christian?
Though I did not realize it at the time, I was quenching the Spirit, even though I had welcomed Him into my life. During the next few years, the LORD continued to nurture me, and slowly things began to change. Several tough months in Idaho birthed my prayer-life. I spent three years being humbled in a job that was my informal seminary training. In 2007, a short stint in Mexico helped me to see things as they were, and not long afterward, I was baptized by immersion. No baptism of any kind can save a lost soul—only Jesus can do that. However, this baptism was an important covenant between me and God, symbolizing not only my death and resurrection with Jesus and my public profession of faith, but it also my life change, the beginning of my bearing fruit. “For each tree is known by its own fruit…”according to Luke 6:44. During the past year and a half, the LORD has provided me with an informal pastoral internship in my church, teaching me every aspect of discipleship. Simultaneously, I have been studying unceasing prayer and worship. I am now very different than I was five years ago.
In the Book of Acts (which tells the story of the earliest years of the Church) every time a person decided to follow Christ, two things took place—though not always in the same order. Each person experienced a life change, which I call the “baptism of repentance,” as well as the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, which I call the “baptism of the Spirit.” Looking back, I realize that the Holy Spirit was living in me in 2003, but it wasn’t until I surrendered everything to God, as represented by my immersion, that I allowed the Spirit to have His way in me and transform my life. “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now life in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. (Galatians 2:20)”
Have you invited Jesus to live in you? Have you allowed the Spirit to transform your life?
I tell you this story for two reasons. First, I tell this story in order to boast in the LORD! May God our Father get all praise and glory forever! Second, I tell this story because it is relevant to you. Likely you have heard that I am leaving the country: I have let my light shine before you; please let your light shine within the Church, too! This congregation is in revival, and as each of you allows the Spirit to revive you, the entire Church will be revived and utterly transformed, to the glory of the Most High God. And for His glory is the reason He created us; the reason He sent His only Son to reveal Himself to us; the reason He became Sin for us and died for us on the cross—while we were still sinners; and the reason that He conquered death and offered us eternal life with Him.
It will cost you a lot—in fact, it will cost you everything, your very life. But if you have never surrendered your life to Christ Jesus, if you have never invited Him to send His Spirit into you and to transform your life, then do it right now. Just let go of everything to which you are desperately clinging; stop trying to do it yourself! This is the very reason you are still breathing in this physical life—God has been delaying His judgment of this sinful world because He is waiting for you—2 Peter 3:9 says He wants none to perish!
If you have already invited the Spirit into your life, then live like it! Bear fruit! Anyone and everyone who meets you or knows you or sees you or hears you should know immediately and clearly that Jesus the Christ lives in you and loves them! That is how stark the contrast should be between your life and the world around you!
Have you immersed yourself in God’s Word and in prayer in the last twenty-four hours?
If you call yourself a follower of Christ, then there is no excuse for not communing with Him daily! Anchor yourself in the Word! God has revealed Himself to us through His Son, Jesus Christ, and the Bible is a complete and accurate record of that revelation. And prayer is humbly letting Him love us. Let Him love you! God doesn’t need us, but He wants us! God doesn’t need us to live for Him—He wants to live in and through us! Let us love and fellowship with one another, even when you disagree! Pray for each other—the names in the church directory are a great place to start! Church, we are not only the Body of Christ, but we are the Bride of Christ. We have allowed ourselves to get bedraggled and stained—now let us stand to the glory of God! Let’s let Him purify us, restore us, and love us!
My dear Brothers and Sisters, if you have ever once been blessed by God our Father at work in me, then I urge you, please, take seriously His desire to love and work in you, beyond anything you can ask or imagine! I have told you the beginning of my story—may it end in glory to the Father, in the Name of Jesus, by way of His Spirit.
Now, what is your story?