Thursday, April 29, 2010
SHEBOYGAN
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
BACKHOE
While we were in Appleton at the annual Minister's District Council meetings, I received a call from my next door neighbor, who is a police officer. We live on a relatively country road and he informed that both of our mailboxes had been taken out by a car and the driver had her windshield smashed and ended up in my yard up the street.
COUNCIL
Monday, April 26, 2010
REALITY
Sunday, April 25, 2010
TOLERANCE
TOLERANCE.
Society is undergoing what may be the fastest, most ominous cultural change we’ve ever seen. It is happening so fast, the implications are mind-boggling. Even MORE frightening ... most Christ-followers seem to be unaware. We may very well wake up one day in a culture that is not only unreceptive, but openly hostile to the church and the Gospel.
The apostle Paul speaks about a form of Christian tolerance in I Corinthians 13 when he writes: ‘Love endures all things.’
Romans gives us the same principle of tolerance when it says: ‘Accept one another, just as Christ accepted you ... ’ (Romans 13:7)
This is the kind of tolerance most of us understand and embrace as compatible with Scripture because our understanding of tolerance has meant ‘respecting the rights of others, even those with whom you disagree and who are different from you.’
And I’ll buy that. But today, there is a new style of tolerance. It might sound like the traditional kind, but it isn't. The new style of tolerance is based on an un-Biblical belief that ‘truth is relative to the community in which a person participates.’ And since there are many communities, there are necessarily many different truths.
So ... if truth is created, not by God, but by communities and humans, and if all humans are 'created equal,' then the next logical step is that all truth is equal. All opinions are equal.’ This is the new style of tolerance - that not only does everyone have an equal right to his beliefs, all BELIEFS are equal. All VALUES are equal. All LIFESTYLES are equal. All TRUTH CLAIMS are equal.
But they’re not, are they? Do the values of the KU KLUX KLAN deserve equal respect with all other beliefs? What about the values of ORGANIZED CRIME ... or the values of OSAMA BIN LADEN? Do we equally respect the cultural custom of placing Thai and Filipino children as workers in the sex industry?
The Bible makes it clear that all values, beliefs, lifestyles and truth claims are not equal. It teaches that the God of the BIBLE is the ONE TRUE GOD -- that if something is not right in GOD’S sight, then it is WRONG.
Now ... follow this: In a society that regards all beliefs, all values, all lifestyles, all truth claims as equally valid, there can only be one universal virtue: TOLERANCE. And if TOLERANCE is the cardinal virtue, then there can only be ONE EVIL: INTOLERANCE.
Given all that, let's pray that we keep the love of Christ central to everything we do, so we can combat this new form of tolerance that threatens to assault everything we as believers hold dear. True, genuine, Christian love for everyone around us is our only hope.
And be blessed.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
MEN'S FRAT
Friday, April 23, 2010
POWERLESSNESS
Thursday, April 22, 2010
EARTH DAY
It is very interesting to me that the Biblical story of mankind begins in a garden and ends in a garden. As the Bible opens, Genesis chronicles God’s magnificent creations - sky, land, stars, moon, sun, aminals, trees, plants - and yes, man and woman. We find a beautiful garden where the fall of humanity eventually occurs and sin is introduced into the world. The garden is defiled. But as we read ahead to the end of the last book of the Bible, Revelation - we see God bringing things back to a restored garden.
There was ‘a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal ... and on either side of the river was the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” (Revelation 22:1, 2)
Shouldn’t this make us sit up and take note that there is something important about God’s love for nature ... something there that tells us God values the relationship between His people and the rest of creation? One of God’s first commands to mankind was to ‘tend His garden.’
The word ’environmentalism’ has gotten a bad wrap, so we should define it before going forward. Environmental stewardship is simply the idea that we should care for, manage and nurture what we’ve been given by God. He has gifted us His creation to USE, not to ABUSE. He has given it to us as a way to provide for our needs. There must be a balance between the USE and the PROTECTION of God’s creation.
The most famous environmentalist ever is right in the Bible. Almost everyone, even if you don’t read the BIBLE much, is somewhat familiar with the story of a man named Noah. With the people of the world turning their backs on God, God’s grace won out over His anger and He chose to preserve the life of this planet thru Noah and his family. Picking a man He could trust, God asked Noah to build a boat that would house at least two of every kind of animal.
With Noah, we find the foreshadowing of God’s great story of redemption, the one that is still at work in our lives. And what comes thru loud and clear in this great story is God’s heart: HE LOVES TO RECYCLE.
SHOULD I PROVE IT TO YOU? Instead of throwing US away every time our lives deserve the trash heap, what does God do? He meets us along the path we have chosen for ourselves and points us home. He purifies us - restores us - He breaks us down and re-shapes us into something new and useable ... revealing that recycling and redemption are at the core of His nature.
We’ve all asked ourselves: “If my house was burning, what would I be sure to save?” God's creation needed cleansing, and what was God going to save? He saved PEOPLE. And ... He saved His creations. And now, He calls US to participate in that.
God could just have thrown up His hands and started fresh with a new earth and new people. But what happens when God's power collides with His grace? A RAINBOW. But the rainbow covenant wasn’t just between God and humanity -- it was also between God and creation.
Genesis 9:13, 16 - “I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth ... whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."
Here we realize how precious God considers all life and how much He treasures creation. And as God's people, WE treasure what HE treasures.
At the very least, go pick up some trash off the ground today.
And be blessed.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
WOUNDS
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
REPRODUCING
Sunday, April 18, 2010
INERRANT
Friday, April 16, 2010
GRUBS
Most people know that except for the occasional Ho-Ho and Oreo, I try to eat right. So it was with some trepidation that when we were with our friend and missionaries - Dave, Barb and Hannah Kniesz this week in Thailand - that as we passed by a local Thai market featuring various delicacies, I couldn't resist trying some grubs and crickets (actual ones pictured here - those aren't french fries).
It's not smoke and mirrors; that's really me up top eating a cricket. I had several. Think 'buttered popcorn.'
The other unexpected and interesting feature of the Thailand trip was that we had the opportunity to ride elephants bareback. We're not talking around an oval track, circus-style; we're talking out in the rough open tundra - with no cushy seats. Just your rump on the elephant's back holding on for dear life. So it was an extreme surprise that as we passed thru a river, the elephants (at the owner's command, evidently) decided to take a little swim in the Ping River with us on their backs. Pretty tough to hang on when a 2,000 pound elephant decides to lay down in a dirty river. We didn't hang on. We got doused. I mean all the way under.
PRAYER WALK
We have done a couple of prayer walks while we've been here in Thailand with friend and missionary, David Kniesz.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
SONGKRAN
Imagine tens of thousands of people throwing buckets of water on strangers passing by as a way of celebrating. This, in part, is Songkran, commemorating the Thai New Year. We just happened to be here in Chaing Mai at this time, which also just happens to be the 'wettest' city in Thailand for the New Year celebrations which began April 13th and runs thru April 15th.
There were thousands and thousands of people on the streets for the Songkran Festival New Year, dousing one another with buckets of water -- throwing it on cyclists as they rode by -- on pedestrians -- on children and old people -- pickups like ours lined the streets filled with 4 to 18 people in the back, all with buckets and squirt guns, shooting everybody in sight. Some purchased huge blocks of ice to put in their water containers so the water that was thrown on you was as icy as you can ima
gine.
Wish you were here.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
LONG NECKS
We have spent the past couple of days with our friend - and missionary to Thailand - David Kniesz.
Next we visited the Long Neck and Big-Eared people. I asked David if these were derogatory terms and he said they were not. These adorn themselves by putting rings around their necks and ornaments in their ear lobes that stretch them over time. They seemed lovely and gentle people to me and they spoke English as well as anyone we have so far met in these kinds of areas. There was a school there that had fallen into great disrepair and that could be re-built for only $300. Because we are teaching them school curriculum, we are also allowed to teach Bible to the children. We are planning on giving them the money to re-build the school there before we leave Thailand.
SOI COWBOY 2
The other day on Soi Cowboy (see the last blog) in Bangkok was probably both the greatest - and saddest - day of the trip for me.
Working with the MST PROJECT (www.mstproject.com), we met two more men ...
The first - Jake - was from Australia. A young, in shape, nice-looking guy -- hanging out on this infamous street full of bars and girls ready to provide services for interested men. We talked for 30 minutes on the street. Meaningful conversation. We thought the conversation was over, but Jake wanted to hang around some while longer - talking about why he was here on this street ... exploring the edges of faith. He took our information and we got his number. It was a great connection. Pray for him.
The other - Don - was from Pennsylvania. Don was the ‘sad’ part. Such inner conflict and torment. Such insecurity. So adrift. Not really sure of what he felt or thought. Contradicting himself so many times in the hour long conversation we had with him. And in the end, accepting our information and agreeing to be open a future meeting. So maybe it wasn't the saddest moment after all. Pray for him.
My heart went out to these men, both of whom seem like such powerful prospects for the Kingdom.
Please pray for the salvation of men who walk the streets of Bangkok and Pattaya searching for love and acceptance. As people Jesus loves and died for, they are no less deserving recipients of His grace than anyone else. We know Jesus is their one and only answer.
I have said it loud and I have said it often ... spirituality is extremely messy. So is grace ... and love ... and mercy ... and compassion. We're asking God to increase these exponentially in the lives of KFA-ers as we move into the future. It is only thru these Christ-like characteristics that we will see His greatest work done.
And be blessed.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
SOI COWBOY
Saturday, April 10, 2010
WALKING STREET
"My name is Fernando and I am from Italy. I have come to Walking Street in Pattaya tonight for sex. Maybe more than once tonight. I am an agnostic, and while I do not believe prostitution is necessarily a good thing, it helps Thai families receive money into their homes by the girls offering themselves each night. I would like to find love, but so far, I haven't. I'd probably do anything if I could just find someone who would love me ... "
"My name is James and I am originally from New Zealand. I have a home here in Thailand. It's just a good time down here. You can get whatever you want -- beer, good conversation, sex, new friends, you name it. I don't see why it's a problem for anyone to be here since everyone is having such a great time. People who view what happens here as a problem have a problem."
"My name is Kyle and I am from California. My first time to Walking Street was two years ago. Now on my trips here I come every night. As often as I can. Actually, I don't even know why I come. I guess it does something for me. You know I used to teach Sunday School in my church when I was younger. But that's been years ago. I don't think anybody is getting hurt by what happens here on Walking Street. But I don't know ... maybe I shouldn't come here ... I'm not really sure why I do ... I'm going to have to think about it some more."
The above are real-life conversations from our Thailand missions trip to work with MST project (www.mstproject.com). The names have been changed to protect the men.
And be blessed.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
MST - PATTAYA
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
SEOUL
Sunday, April 4, 2010
RESURRECTION
If you're a follower of Christ, TODAY is the greatest day of the year. Because today we celebrate the most important event in all human history.
Here's why. Christianity is not built on the teachings of an individual. That’s news for some of you. ‘I thought it WAS built on someone’s teachings.’ But it isn't. It's built on one factual event in history ... the resurrection of Jesus. In fact, if you were to pull this one event out of Christianity, there would be nothing left – it would completely deflate. We may as well sell our church buildings and go to the lake next weekend. The whole thing rises and falls, not on a teaching – not on a view of heaven or hell or eternal life – but on something that happened on one single day in history – the big event.
After Jesus' resurrection and ascencion, every time His disciples stood before people, they weren’t saying, “Jesus was a good man,’ or ‘Jesus taught us to pray,’ or ‘Jesus said some really great things about forgiveness." The driving force of their faith and communication was the EVENT, the EVENT, the EVENT ... Jesus rose from the dead.
So why do we celebrate with such confidence that today is the best day of all - that it is the most important event in the history of the universe? Because this is the event that made it possible for us to say, ‘I can be loved and accepted and cared for and forgiven ... and I can actually love others and accept others and care for others and forgive others ... because I'm following a resurrected Savior.'
He has changed my life. I’m not the same person I was before ... and I’ll never be the same again. And it isn't that Christ followers think they're better than anyone else, we just think we're better OFF than we used to be because we've met Jesus ... and we LIKE what He's done inside us.
And so we celebrate this day. Celebrate Jesus. He is risen.
And be blessed.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
RESURRECTION EVE
Friday, April 2, 2010
FEED
Thursday, April 1, 2010
BLOGGER
I was trying to figure out what kind of blogger I am. Now that I have written over 500 entries, I figured I had developed some relative style - by now. There are several KINDS of bloggers. For instance ...
1 The Aggregator
Re-posts interesting tid-bits from all over the internet.
2 The Talk Show Host
Brings up provocative topics to fuel comments.
3 The Professional
Writes insightful posts about his particular occupation.
4 The Hobbyist
Tries to blog seriously, but can't help but post family pics and sports scores.
5 The Editorialist
Writes long diatribes fueled by current events.
6 The Human RSS Feeder
Tries to blog but ends up mostly citing other blogs.
7 The Preacher
Preaches short sermons in each blog post because the world is his parish.
8 The Jokester
Treats the blog like a humor column and links excessively to YouTube as if nobody's heard of it.
9 The Social Media Expert
Blogs about blogging to help others blog about blogging.
10 The Storyteller
Uses chuckle-in-the-belly anecdotes to share insights about life.
I think I'm a conglomeration of #2, #3, #5, #7 and #10 -- with a little splash of #8. Whattaya think?
And be blessed.