Sunday, June 28, 2009

The Wheels Keep A-Turnin'


Location: Cluj-Napoca, Oradea, in a nice room hosted by the folks who are the heart behind the wheelchair distribution that will take place this week; it is about 5pm on Sunday afternoon, June 28.

We just finished, moments ago, unwrapping dozens of donated and refurbished wheelchairs sent from the United States to be distributed to the local community this week. They were wrapped in plastic like my school peanut-butter sandwiches used to be, and needed minor assembly. It took a couple of hours, even with a team of about 15 people working hard in the hot sun and scattered rain sprinkles. I regret that I did not adjust my plane ticket so I could be here for more of the week, but I am looking forward to the team in action tomorrow. These wheelchairs will literally mean new life for many persons and families!

These days in Cluj have been a blessing. Most importantly, I have had a good bit of time to spend just with my Lord. In addition, I have spent a lot of high-quality time with my friend, J., and several of her local friends that I met upon my arrival to Romania a month ago. Yesterday we had an unexpectedly free Sabbath day when J.'s friends from the States were unable to make their original flight that would have brought them to Cluj yesterday. So instead, J. and her Romanian friend, M., and I ran a few errands and then spontaneously put together a picnic and skipped town, heading to the forest at the edge of the city. We had a beautiful day of laughter, Frisbee, hiking and the like. In the evening, we met some other friends (new to me) and dropped downtown to have dinner and enjoy a lighted fountain.

This morning, we joined our host and his family at church (3 hours long on wooden benches and without air-conditioning for those of you who miss having church with substance!). It is a traditional, conservative Pentacostal church, but I certainly enjoyed it. I must say, I had some deja vu when the eyes of the church turned to the Americans who were supposed to stand up and maybe say something, but we managed to survive with nothing more than blushing and apologies afterward. (A similar thing had happened when I was obviously an American visitor at a church in Cuernavaca, Mexico a few years ago.) It is a blessing to be reminded of the grace the Lord offers us, often through His servants.

So the time in Cluj has been refreshing, even if I still have not been as disciplined as I ought about sleep. There was, though, one silly "speed bump" in my adventures here. I lost my knife--my Swiss Army knife.

I know, you are going to think that it is good that I have gotten rid of most of my possessions since I have broken or lost so many lately! It is a little ironic, because my parents, especially my father, taught us how important it is to take care of belongings so they stay nice for a long time. And I am careful with my belongings, and it frustrates me each time something breaks or gets lost. Thus, I hate that I lost my knife. It was a gift, and it is a good knife. So it is not with a little regret that keep looking in my pockets for that knife.

But you see, in a very important way, I am not sorry. I am not sorry because I brought it knowing I might lose it. I brought the camera knowing it could get broken. I brought the laptop knowing it could get lost or stolen. My point is, these things have served me well, and I would rather that they serve me well for a time instead of gathering dust in a drawer.

Is there anything in your life that is like that? Something that you are tempted to keep in a display case, away from the dangers of reality that might break it? Is your faith like that? Is it something you keep pretty by not using it? How about your love? Are you afraid to share it, to use it because of what could happen? Your money? Your skills? Your time?

I have made many mistakes, but I try to learn from them. And I can assure you that my faith and my love and my money and my skills and my time are not going to gather dust. I am going to use them to the fullest. Yes, they will get lost and broken and stolen sometimes. But why have them if I never use them?

There is a tiny story in the Bible about a man who left money with his servants who were supposed to invest it. One of them buriedthe money to make sure that nothing would happen to it, and he is the one who incurred his master's wrath.

I am on the brink of a Romanian cliff, looking into a French abyss. And now without a Swiss Army knife! But I will not hesitate--off I leap. I might get broken or lost, but you will never be able to say I did not dive in. With the Lord's help, I will boldly dive into whatever He has in store for me. Maybe it will be distributing wheelchairs, doing dishes, or accepting a surprise preaching invitation. Maybe it will hurt, scare me, scar me, or worse. But where the Lord is, there I will also be. I have watched too many people shelve their lives in a "safe" routine, a "display case" better called "Death." Instead, I choose to take the risk and live. I am investing myself in life. I want the Lord to use me to the fullest, to love me to the utmost, to take me to the farthest horizon in eternity!

Come with me! Use your knife! Bring your camera! Things will get broken and lost. You might get hurt. You will be scared sometimes, but oh! how it is worth it! Let the Lord live in you; take your life off the shelf and exchange it for His! You do not have to come to Romania, or France, or anywhere else! Just invest the life the Lord has given you; invest it in the people around you!

(It is now almost midnight; my typing was interrupted a few times, and we finally picked up our American teammates who were delayed in their travels.) Goodnight, dear friends! Get ready for the morrow; it promises to be lively!
Posted by at

A Rose From Home

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?