Location: Munich Airport on 30 June at 2:15pm local time, waiting for my flight to Paris.
The morning passed quickly as I packed up Alfred (my backpack) and prepared to leave Romania. I will blog more about that it a little while.
For now, I sit with my new friend, E, and we are both working on our laptops. E. and I sat next to each other on the plane from Cluj, and I learned that he is headed back to his native Luxembourg. The Lord blessed me by sending him, because our conversation made the trip more pleasant, especially after some hard goodbyes. And believe it or not, we both had to go to the same gate here in Munich, so we just stuck together.
It is neat to watch the Lord at work. Here He is working on Lufthansa planes and in their waiting areas; back in Cluj He is working in a center where people are receiving refurbished wheelchairs. Ahead of me, He is working in France. In the States, He is at work in the lives of many people I know, even in some of my friends who have been facing difficult times, hard decisions, or transitions.
Before too long, I will be boarding a plane to Paris and then a train to Nancy, France. Surely more blessings and more adventures await! He has been so good to me--I can't help but tell you!
That is why it was hard for me to leave Romania. The Lord blessed me abundantly in that place and through the people there. As I was in prayer one morning, He told me that one of the primary reasons He had brought me was to bless me. That was not easy for me to accept, because undeserved gifts and graces are not things I receive easily or naturally. Is there not a part of us that feels like we should earn the good things that happen in life?
So this morning, I cried. Maybe men are not supposed to cry, but I am not ashamed to tell you that I do. In fact, I frequently cry in prayer. What else can you do when you are humbled before a holy and almighty God? During my prayer this morning, I was crying more because of the holy work I was privileged to witness in Romania than because I was sad to leave. I was in awe of what the Lord is doing, and I just wanted Him to continue to do more and more in people who where so hungry for His goodness!
But I have to admit, as I prayed, I realized that I was sad, too. I would be lying to say that none of those tears resulted from sadness. In fact, I cried again as I walked away from the center where the distribution was continuing without me. I walked away having said goodbye to people who jokingly wanted to tie me up so I could not leave, to people who hated to see me go. I said goodbye to new friends and co-labourers in the Lord's work. I said goodbye to work that was rewarding and meaningful, that was blessing many people. I said goodbye to my good friend, J., who had been such a great hostess during the last month, and who had become a very close and special friend. So I walked away with my Romanian host who was to drive me to the airport--a gentle man filled with the Holy Spirit. As we walked side-by-side in silence, I tried to look manly as the tears rolled down my cheeks. I did not want to leave Romania.
My mother emailed me after a recent post to ask if I really was scared sometimes, or if I just wrote that to make other folks feel better. Maybe you do not know me, depending who you are, but I am an ordinary man like everyone else. I hurt sometimes. I am afraid sometimes. I am sad sometimes. At times, I become angry, or indignant, or amused, or bored. I think these feelings are important. These feelings prompt us to relate and communicate with one another, to relate and communicate with God. Feelings are often unreliable, and I do not recommend making decisions based on feelings, but I think they are very important. Do not ignore them! Our feelings help us to stay in touch with the world around us, to the needs of the world around us--even to our own needs.
So here I am, in Germany. Soon, I will be in France. I must say that I am excited to see what the Lord has in store, even despite my reservations. There is a lot of unknown in the coming weeks and months! I am also excited to continue in prayer for the Lord's work in Romania, and in Indianapolis, and in you. There is a lot I know, too, and I know that our Father is glorifying His name in every part of this world, and that He is doing so in a way that expresses His delight and love for you and me.
I bless you in the Name of the God who knows what it is like to feel like a man, a man awed by the glory of the Holy One, even a man saddened by the departure from persons he loves, even a man who cries.
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?