Location: My usual armchair in my guest room overlooking Oradea, Romania (way too late at night on 30 May).
Before you leave this page, check out the latest picture on the bottom of the column at right. That is my new friend and roommate, H., in front of a poster of a superhero outside a mall in Oradea. But before I tell you about that heroic endeavor, let me tell you about "walking on thin rice" earlier today.
The last couple of days have been fine, though laundry has been a man-versus-machine fight that I hope to finally have resolved by Monday. Aside from that, I had a nice time helping out with the kids yesterday--in fact, I got a call from J. in the morning asking me if I could get there immediately because of an emergancy that delayed the normal staff. So I got to "man the fort" by myself for a little while. We then had a nice day at work, followed by a low key evening that involved some solid conversation with roommates J. and V. and a light dinner at a local American-style cafe with a live band.
Today had a mellow start followed by lunch with the girls again, after which I got to wash the dishes once more. The Romanian word for peace is "pace" (pah-chay), so it has been delightful that the ladies are letting me enjoy "kitchen pace" after feeding me a nice meal. These hours of dishes and singing with God have been very refreshing; besides that, they are a perfect arrangement--the girls enjoy cooking and I enjoy washing the dishes! J. is a full-time physical therapist missionary; I thought maybe I should become a full-time dish-onary... But when V. caught me trying to pick grains of rice out of the bottom of my socks, she told me that in Malaysia it is very bad to step on rice since it is such an important staple--I knew then that I was walking on thin rice!
Some of you are a bit overwhelmed by the length of my posts, and others of you are requesting such detail. I have no idea who all even reads this, but I pray that when you choose to, you find the Word you need to know that day. Whoever you are, thanks for joining me on this journey. It will not all be pleasant, but it will stretch us and we certainly will grow if we persevere till the end! So before I sign off and go to bed, I need to tell you about tonight and the picture below.
My friend H. has a heart for the young people of Oradea, many of whom have little hope. So he has taken it upon himself to try to organize some activities (poetry, sports, etc.) that will bring such youth together to be mentored and encouraged into seeing the hope that is before them. He was so excited when he told me about it earlier in the week that I readily agreed to join him tonight, without having any idea what was planned.
So this afternoon found me making a tram trek to a foreign part of Oradea to meet up with him at McDonalds. From there he took me to meet some young men he has been mentoring, and it turned out to be just the four of us--he had apparently hoped for more. Rather than staring at one another around a table, we decided to go to the nearby mall and buy an American football.
We were teasing H. about knowing everyone--he stopped every 50 yards to say hi, and he even knew the girl walking down the fashion runway!--which is why we took his picture with the hero poster. But the truth is, his excitement was contagious, and we hopped a tram back toward town with a football and a lot of anticipation. We reached a park and began to discuss the rules of football while explaining the throwing technique. For the second time, ironically, Mr. Jeremy-the-I-don't-follow-pro-sports-or-really-know-the-rules-American found himself teaching a handful of Europeans how to play football. Fortunately, we were able to draft two more (albeit non-anglophones), so we had enough to play 3-on-3 football in two languages, according to the rules to a greater or lesser degree. We finished that by a bite to eat at a local kabob stand, sitting as an audience for one of the guys who wanted to share his rhymes, and taking a short walk and exchanging digits before separating.
H. and I walked home, still stunned. Our plans had been completely ignored, and God had done things His way. We mused about how often the Church tries to do things its way, with all of its carefully planned programs, and how the truth is that only God can draw a person to Himself. Our job is merely to love the people He loves, letting Him reveal Himself to them. More than anything, He simply wants us to let Him love us, but as humans, we are so often too proud to receive that love! We want to do things for ourselves, our way, as we have planned! Gifts from God sound too good to be true--we want to earn them. We try to live for God, rather than letting Him live out His way in us.
H. and I agreed that the real hero tonight was not the comic superman, nor H. with his passion for young people searching for hope, nor even me with my game-for-anything attitude--it is God. May He get all the glory. The moment we turn our focus to anything other than Jesus, Himself, is the moment that we need to stop what we are doing and hand the reins back over to Him. Unless we let Him have His way in us, we do everything in vain.
Friend, I encourage you to sit down and write out your brainstorms and plans and dreams for tomorrow, for next week, and for the rest of your life. Then I encourage you to give them to the Lord, and ask Him to have His way. He wants what is best for us, He knows what is best for us, and He has the power to bring it about. What better course of action could we take? Stop trying to be the hero and let the One who is a proven Savior be the Lord of your life. I did it, and nothing has been the same since!
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?