(Location: In D.'s house, sitting next to him while he takes his French test. It is Women's Day here in Romania, the 8th of March, about 9:00am.)
(Would you believe that in the evening, after I wrote this, when hitch-hiking to my men's group, I caught a ride on a horse cart? How great is that!?)
After I posted my previous blog post, a lot happened quickly. First of all, I discovered that I cannot post any more photos because I used up all of the memory space for photos. When I have time, I will figure out how to resolve the problem; sorry I cannot post pictures right now.
Sunday's sermon was powerful! A visiting American pastor told a story about loosing his five-year-old daughter in a foreign crowd for an hour, and then the three years of trauma that followed. He preached about the difference of demanding that Jesus come into our mess and fix it (i.e. Come heal my daughter!) versus Jesus inviting us to come out of the mess and come to Him (after all, He has already borne the weight of all the mess and sins and has conquered!). He gave the examples of Zacchaeus, Peter, and Lazarus, who were called to come out of the tree, the boat, and the grave to come to Jesus. In the end, during prayer, the little girl recalled that Jesus had been in the scary situation like a "cloud by day," and that she had been so busy looking for her parents that she had not come to Him. That begin the healing change that restored her to being a joyful little girl. I can attest to the power of God's Word and Spirit that reached into our lives as we worshipped on Sunday. I was so glad I had gone to church with M. that day!
After church, I ran into a former collegue on the street, and she had something for me--my blue fleece sweater that I was certain I had left on a train a couple of months ago! I had left it where I was working at the time, and someone found it and recognized it! Not only that, but I also received back a special pen I lost! I was so excited, I wanted to call my friends and have a party like the people in the Bible that celebrated finding their lost coin and lost sheep!
It has really been a great week so far, and now I am trying to ready for a day in V., and then a trip to Germany. However, my heart was broken yesterday.
I took the garbage out to the dumpster for a friend, only to find to little girls digging through the dumpster. It is always hard to know how to best love beggars on the street, how to help them in a way that really helps them and respects them. It is often tempting to just brush them off. However, I cannot tell you how many times I see the same beggars on the street digging through dumpsters for anything they can find. It shows their desparation, and it shows that they are not just living easy off of someone else's dime.
When I found these two little girls, one ran and gave me a hug and asked when I would be in her village again. I was in her village doing children's programs during the fall of the past two years. It talked to her for a bit, and then said goodbye with a broken heart, only to found out that I had been seen by a woman I know.
The woman chided me, "Why didn't you send those girls away!?" It broke my heart (again) that she could not see through their grime and poor manners to the desparate life that caused them to shamelessly dig through trash looking for scraps of food.
The woman is someone I care about, as are the little girls. But it is all too common here for people to hate and despise Gypsies, simply because they have been taught to hate for years, even for generations. Their compassion is not free to reach out, because they have believed satan's lies that "people like that" are at fault for the life they are living, so it is okay to hate them. Hardening your heart to someone else's problems is always easier than remembering how it feels to be hated.
Maybe where you live, you do not run into Gypsy beggars very often, but I am pretty sure you run into people groups that have been hated for little or no reason. The devil plays the same game all over the world. How do I know? I have been there all over the world. And I have recently been reminded through films. One was about William Wilburforce fighting the slave trade in the British Empire, and one was about Steve Biko fighting aparteid in South Africa.
Who do you hate?
Who hates you?
How does it feel?
Who does Jesus hate?
I bless you in the love of Jesus.
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?