Location: J's apartment, the 19th of March 2011 at about 7:45pm.
Probably cold spaghetti will taste about as good as it sounds, but I will have to tell you later. You see, I left it on the stove waiting for J., expecting him to walk in the door at any minute. Then I just got a call from M., who is with him leading a day-trip for the American students, and a "shortcut" put them an hour behind schedule.
Have you ever waited for something that seemed to never come? Or someone?
Today has been a productive day in the "office," but I still did not get everything done I hoped to--for instance, I never even touched my personal emails, just the work-related ones. I am planning out a bit of my summer when I will be hosting some visitors, and juggling all of our schedules and contacting people we hope to meet with takes a lot of time. In addition, I am planning a surprise trip to France for a friend of mine. I am blessed to be alone in J.'s apartment today, with a full day of internet access. Yet after a while, my eyes start to dream of yesteryear when they did not stare for hours at a computer screen!
What makes it worse is that I have come down with a cold, only days after answering my father's question with the truth that I was healthy. Still a bit tired from last week's tour to Germany and back, I guess my immune system could not withstand an invasion. So I am glad that I declined the invitation to join my friends in Hunedoara today, because I probably would have been miserable there!
You may wonder why I would not join my girlfriend and a good American buddy on a mostly-free day-trip. The main reason was the amount of work I had to do. Now before you begin to pity me, let me tell you that I pushed my workload back to today so that I could be spontaneous yesterday. I was in my village cutting wood and working on my bike and preparing to do this summer planning work when I received a call from my beautiful girlfriend saying that her neighbor had invited us out-of-the-blue to go to Odorhei, which is a Hungarian-populated area of Romania about an hour away. At first I said "no," then realized that it was from God and called back with an affirmative answer. So yesterday we visited Odorhei (my first time), and believe it or not, I found shoes in my large size (the first time I have found them in Romania!). Back in Sighisoara in the evening, I had the privilege of joining M. at a special worship service of a group of Christians who have a heart for the nation of Israel. We sang several songs in Hebrew and had a message and a prayer time.
I had a headache yesterday, but only today did the cold hit. But I count my blessings. I was able to sleep last night (and will again tonight) here at J.'s apartment, and to spend a working day alone here. I did not get to go to V. for the Bible Hour this week, for the first time in a long while, but I got to have some high-quality conversations with some of you on Wednesday instead. I am battling a cold, but people in Libya and Japan and New Zealand and other places are fighting for their lives. After my full day of computer work and a runny nose, I was looking forward to seeing my girlfriend an hour ago, and to serving my buddy J. with a meal of spaghetti I made him. But the blessing is that I have a girlfriend who calls again when she is running late so I will not worry, and that I have food that can get cold, meaning I have something to eat and something to make heat.
Life is about perspective. Today I fielded a call from a local missionary struggling with some interpersonal relationships. We talked about the idea of a rich man who has a lot of valuable property, and how he stresses himself out with fences and alarms and guards and dogs, trying to keep his property from being stolen (and not realizing that his joy and peace has been stolen!). Compare that to the poor man next door who has no fences, alarms, guards, nor dogs, but who neither has anything for someone to steal. And he does have joy and peace.
How do you look at your life? If you are a Christian, can you surrender yourself so completely to Jesus that you have nothing left for someone to steal or hurt. If so, you will have abundant joy and peace! Do you have friends who are worth waiting for, or do you always eat your spaghetti as soon as it gets hot? What is important to you?
Speaking of friends and blessings, my friend J. has been a special blessing to me. I have a key to his apartment and a standing invitation to sleep here. I have clothes here, and even my violin while I wait to find someone to repair it. He leads our Bible study, he has often served me dinner, and has gone out of his way to help me in other ways. I know I cannot repay him, and I do not want to cheapen his friendship by trying. However, I do want to bless him, and I never feel like I succeed in blessing him very well. Cold spaghetti: case in point.
So here is my idea. Will you please stop right now and pray a blessing over J. He is a single young American who serves as a long-term missionary with a discipleship focus. Sometimes he needs encouragement, rest, joy, friendship, and love. May the Lord hear our prayers and lavish His love on J., blessing him far more than I could ever do. I really do mean right now. Did you stop and pray?
Thanks!
I bless you, too, in the Name of Jesus. Pofta buna! Enjoy your cold spaghetti!
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?