Miracle in Chile

Its amazing what those 33 men live through, darkness for 17 days. I cant imagine the feeling of hopelessness that must have took place when they fully realize they were indeed in the depths of the earth/darkness. But as the rescue procedure took place I was thinking could you imagine this taking place in the United States. There would be no wait for the reality tv media to get a hold of it. I can see it now a big brother show live from the cave and you get to call in and vote for what order they come out. And speaking of which I heard the 33 have already agree to split all profits gain from the media attention. Hopefully the same would be if this took place in the USA but I do have my doubts. But I dont have any doubt those 33 men deserve some blessings to say the least. Who knows by this time next year maybe they will all be on first name basis to us. If not all of them Im sure most men have had a life changing experience in if nothing else putting important thing in their life as first and foremost of highest priority. Sad things is it usually takes a life changing event for us to do such, personally I stumble and struggle to do the "live every moment"...hope and pray to find such one day and to live it...Soon.

In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him ps 95:4.

Communion Gum

Weird topic but I would say that many church goers have come face to face with the challenge of what to do with "communion gum" You never gave thought to it being "communion Sunday" at your church. Perhaps the act of chewing made you oblivious to the stack of trays on the communion table. But now out of nowhere you hear the pastor begin the service of presenting communion and you are now all but consumed with trying to rid of your gum. Sure the easy way out is to place it in a piece of paper to throw away later but that paper could end up being a grocery list, contact numbers/emails perhaps even last weeks notes. Or do you play it "cool" and try to keep it in your mouth place under your tongue just right as you partake of the bread and juice/wine. Personally this ordeal has caught me off guard and a few times I have tried to just hold it in my hands using the tips of my fingers unfortunately there is a certain brand of gum (Orbit?) that sticks to you like Gorilla glue. And by the time communion is over I have gum stuck to the bottom of the cup and fingers and cannot get it off. Its strung out like a nice bite of hot cheese being pulled from a piece of pizza. Now I'm asking for paper or tissue and like magic I have all 3 stuck together. So now I'm wondering what is this gum actually made of? Who is looking at me. And theres no way I can place this trinity of cup, gum and paper aside so no one will notice. I brought this topic up to some friends, family members and even my pastor and they immediately knew what I was talking about in "communion gum" Makes me wonder if the pastor is ever distracted seeing the congregation use their deepest imagination to rid of gum a split second from entering a very sacred moment.
Thats just it we are distracting ourselves from what is at hand, literally right before us, in and around us, the presence of God and the celebration of remembering that His love is beyond reasoning, explanation but that He would die for you and me. Its even grace that He would tell us to remind one another of what took place, this act of love that has no match throughout history. Some may read this and think I am making light of communion. The truth is I am pointing out the reality that we do make light of communion in various ways. Where has our heart and mind been during the week Monday through Saturday? How about that very Sunday morning. Did we have to get in some sport scores? How was our conversation to our love ones at home and on our way to church. John Acuff gives a message called "Booty God Booty" Where we are consumed with self/world then Sunday we have God back in our life only to return to "booty" by Monday if not in the church parking lot as soon as we exit the church doors.
Making light of communion is certainly no new thing In Corinthians 11 we see communion turned into a party (okay now the gum thing dont seem too bad) "And then I find that you bring your divisions to worship—you come together, and instead of eating the Lord's Supper, you bring in a lot of food from the outside and make pigs of yourselves. Some are left out, and go home hungry. Others have to be carried out, too drunk to walk. I can't believe it! Don't you have your own homes to eat and drink in? Why would you stoop to desecrating God's church? Why would you actually shame God's poor? I never would have believed you would stoop to this. And I'm not going to stand by and say nothing." And you know WHY they had to be told to STOP being glutton pigs and getting hammered at the "communion table" Because believers, the church was actually doing such, thats right they would enter in to partake of sacred communion and leave bloated with food and intoxicated with grape juice (for the extremely conservative we will make believe it was a special Welch’s juice). Most of us have read that and thought man how lost, messed up were they back in the early church. And when we know deep down this is in each one of us. Many of us have done far worst but at the same time we share with one another that our "deepest" sins are we dont read as much as we should and perhaps too much TV. When in reality sinfulness goes deep and wide in our hearts and minds. As one person put it if we were truthful some of our thoughts would have Jesus drinking gin from a cat dish. There is a saying (that has been credited to Augustine but seems no one is certain) The church is a whore but she is my mother No matter who said it or in what context I understand such that we as a body tend to sell out for most trivial things. The church has committed tragedies in the name of Christ. We have come to His table as a ragamuffin and been a made pure, holy, saint overflowing with His grace and mercy only to leave stumbling back into the world consume with self. Im not sure how we "pull this one off" and quickly forget what God has done and is doing for us and what He has for us as we take our very last breathe. Communion indeed is more of a invitation then a refusal/denial. Jesus wants us to come to the table but how tiresome is it for all involve, spiritual draining for only that one moment to be your connection with God for the week, the month. I believe theres a call for us to always see the table before us. In the best of times and in the wilderness where there only seems to be darkness and storms. Jesus remains awaiting for us to come and at that table we are His children, sons and daughter. There is no caste system in Jesus eyes and at this table we are practicing and preparing for the grand banquet where once and for all at His table the lame can walk, the deaf can hear, the blind can see, the poor are rich, and the weak are strong. The lost are found. No shame. No condemnation. More than enough reason to be in awe. Jesus says “Come and Remember Me”
　
Let me go over with you again exactly what goes on in the Lord's Supper and why it is so centrally important. I received my instructions from the Master himself and passed them on to you. The Master, Jesus, on the night of his betrayal, took bread. Having given thanks, he broke it and said, This is my body, broken for you. Do this to remember me.After supper, he did the same thing with the cup: This cup is my blood, my new covenant with you. Each time you drink this cup, remember me.What you must solemnly realize is that every time you eat this bread and every time you drink this cup, you reenact in your words and actions the death of the Master. You will be drawn back to this meal again and again until the Master returns. You must never let familiarity breed contempt.
27-28Anyone who eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Master irreverently is like part of the crowd that jeered and spit on him at his death. Is that the kind of "remembrance" you want to be part of? Examine your motives, test your heart, come to this meal in holy awe.

Three Days Later

32They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. 33"We are going up to Jerusalem," he said, "and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, 34who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise."

A few days ago I was reading this and the "Three Days later" got my attention. As in being a disciple and following Jesus you have witnessed Him do great things. Miracles after miracles and perhaps most of all Loving those who hated him. And the hate was obvious but now He takes the 12 aside and lays it all out before them. In a nutshell Jesus lets it be known once and for all that he will be betrayed (by the chief priests and teachers of the law, so yea they see themselves doing a "God thing" aka doing God a favor), Condemn to death, mocked, spit on, flogged (beaten till his back is turn inside out) and finally they will kill him. So I'm wondering after saying all that he concludes with Three days later...Would I be taking it all in and truly believing Him. Or would I be glad I packed a lunch (wouldn't have to ask for another miracle before I went my own way) and be on my way. Of course I would love to say I would have followed Him even unto the cross. Well at least be there at the scene and well, ah its no use if I didn't run then I know I would have ran just like the disciples did when they finally arrested Jesus. They were told again and again it would take place and these great followers assure themselves they were ready. Couple of them even asked about seating arrangements in Heaven soon after Jesus states what will happen to Him. They sort of had the attitude hey if you can do it so can we..And Jesus say yea in a way you are correct You will indeed taste such things as well.
So anyway we know what took place "3 days later". As Tony Campolo says in a message :"Its Friday but Sundays a coming!" I know all about the "Fridays" in our life But do I live as if Sunday is a coming? Do I live before or after the "3 days later"? Thomas has been branded with the nickname "doubting Thomas" But its this very same man who said "Let us also go, that we may die with him" Jesus was going to raise Lazarus from the dead but all Thomas and others heard was that they were going to place where Jesus wasn't well liked to say the least. And while Jesus is talking about a "sick" Lazarus, Thomas only comment is Lets go die with Him. Its been said when Jesus said follow me it was a invitation to the cross. There we die to our self, sins, past and everything that is not of Him. And in that rests our hope and trust in that no matter what we will come to see Him face to face three days later. Because for now its Friday...but Sundays a coming!..

What Makes Sense?....

Nothing. From the extreme ends of tragedy to the ultimate gifts that comes out of someones love, grace and mercy. None of it makes sense. We learn early on that life isnt fair (to say the least) but that doesnt soften the blow that breaks our heart, brings us to our knees, as tears magnify the pain and we find seclusion and numbness to be our friend and enemy at the same time. When one is mad as hell or doenst care if they dont see a tomorrow. There are no words. Many say on this side of Heaven we dont understand but do you really believe on the other side this would Ever make sense to the heart and mind that is suffocating from their loss. And for those of us who proclaim to be Believers lets STOP coming up with "answers" or even a "message" using someone elses tragedy and for the love of God dont offer 3 simple steps, the "i know how you feel" or other countless cliche sayings to "speak" into someones life, enough already. How about admitting many things dont make sense to us. How about a offering of silence with your words and scream with your action in just being there for a world that is hurting.

Welcome Back..Life goes On...

The welcoming back was for me because lets face it after a 4 month hiatus. Im not too sure who is checking out this blog. I use to like to keep a journal but now I like the concept of blogging and actually getting others to give their thoughts. And honestly I thought a few of the blogs that had no comments would actually get some interaction. Anyway as for an update...we didnt go to Kenya this summer (we did go in summer of 2008 & 09) we do plan to return in 2011. Our son Noah just turned 8 months old. Yeah that will consume some of your time instead of blogging. He definitely has brought laughter and comfort in our life. I know he has shown us some things that gave reason to blog(share) with others. I have several things running through my mind during this hiatus with a variety of subjects like "cheesy churchboards", "slavery", Jesus, "communion gum" Kenya, etc...hey I said there was a variety. Meanwhile our host in Kenya was in last fall and plans to return to the area in October. He has been given 2 acres and plans to have a hospital built for those that live in the bush area in Kenya. Doctors from the states have already agree to give their help. So thats what is going on...if you stumble upon this blog just let me know you are around and perhaps along the way we can stumble together. Forever learning that life goes on...

take two Jesus Pills and call me in the morning

This peice is from Mike Yaconelli..at first written for youth leaders but as you will see its a must read, "a must live" for todays church. "The Jesus pills do not work".....


Jesus said to his disciples, "Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. It would be better for him to be thrown into the seas with a millstone tied around his neck than him to cause one of these little ones to sin. So watch yourselves" (Luke 17:1-3)

Sinning is part of adolescence. Sinning is the natural consequence of young people rebelling and finding their way. That's why youth workers talk a lot about sin. We're good at warning young people about dangers of sin. We talk a lot about aborting, alcohol, drugs, sex, pornography-and we should. And even more than warning kids away from sin, Jesus' admonition to his disciples makes it clear that we're not to cause any of them to sin.
What if our ministries cause little ones to sin? What if our programs cause the little ones to sin?
Think that's ridiculous? I wonder.
See if the following tendencies feel familiar...

Oversimplification.
When we tell young people that Jesus is the answer to all our problems, when we paint the world as black and white, when we make following Jesus an either/or proposition, when we suggest that young people "just pray, then everything will be all right," when we promise that Jesus always makes us happy and always gives us what we want, we cause little ones to sin.
We know life is much more complicated than "take two Jesus Pills and call me in the morning"
If we're honest, we know not everyone who follows Jesus is happy, fulfilled, or has it all together. Surely we understand that prayer is much more complex than simply requesting and receiving. Even asking "What Would Jesus Do" isn't all that simple-because often we don't know what Jesus would do!
When we promise that life with Jesus is simple, we set up our youth for failure. when we run off in affairs, what do our youth do then? When their senior pastors are caught abusing little children, what are our youth supposed to think then? How do we communicate the harsh, complicated, difficult, wonderful reality that Jesus really is worth following-even when life is blurry, confusing and difficult?
Manipulation
If I witness one more Jesus cheer, If I hear one more "let's have a hand/round of applause/praise offering for Jesus," If I have to endure more pep rally for Jesus, I'm returning my youth ministry I.D. Card Because as much as we criticize and complaining about our media-ravaged society, as much as rant about the evils of MTV and Pop culture, we've imitated them by rushing to create the worlds biggest youth events.
At these events we parade around and glorify all things "beautiful"-the dazzling musicians, the laser shows, the foxes and studs for Jesus. At these events we mesmerize young people with how "cool" Jesus is. These pep rallies give teens the illusion that God is cool, that God is winning, that God is the majority-and that their ministries and youth leaders are cool, too. But what these events don't dare say is that even cool, dazzling, "beautiful" youth workers (adults) are screwed up,broken and constantly in need of Gods grace.
So rather than cheering our young people into the kingdom, maybe we should point them to the the broken, inconsistent, uncool followers of Jesus found in the Bible. Maybe we need to stop pressuring our young people to cheer long enough to prepare them for a world in which the real heroes are powerless, tiny and considered insignificant.
The radical, ugly truth? Jesus was killed by the very people who threw him a pep rally a week before.
Self-Deception
What characterizes followers of Christ is that we tell the truth. I'm not talking about doctrinal truth-I'm talking truth truth:Where we talk about our strengths and weaknesses;where we talk about victories and defeats;where we talk about our successes and failures;where we talk about our answers and doubts;where we talk about our joys and depressions;where we talk about or courage and fear.
We talk about all of life. We're not afraid that teens will see life as a struggle every day-and that it will always be so. Most of all, we point them away from us and toward Jesus. We decrease while Jesus increases.
Whats so disturbing about youth ministry today, however is how little truth telling there is.
I've been in youth ministry for 40 years and I wish I could have some of those years to live over again. Oh God, forgive me for causing your little ones to sin. Oh, God, help me to learn from my mistakes. Oh, God, in spite of me, cause all of your little ones to run into your arms.
Oh, God help us all.

**Mike Yaconelli (July 24, 1942 — October 30, 2003) was a writer, theologian, church leader and satirist. Co-Founder of Youth Specialties,[1] a training organization for Christian youth leaders, and The Wittenburg Door (sometimes just The Door), a satirical magazine,[2] Yaconelli was also the pastor of a small church in Yreka, CA - "the slowest growing church in America" as he called it. He and wife Karla used to share their time between Yreka and the Youth Specialties offices in El Cajon, CA.As well as his contributions to the Wittenburg Door, Yaconelli also wrote a number of books for youth leaders, and was a well-received Christian conference speaker. He was a regular at the Greenbelt festival in the UK.[1] On his last visit to Greenbelt, he said:

If I were to have a heart attack right at this moment, I hope I would have just enough air in my lungs and just enough strength in me to utter one last sentence as I fell to the floor: "What a ride!" My life has been up and down, careening left then right, full of mistakes and bad decisions, and if I died right now, even though I would love to live longer, I could say from the depths of my soul, "What a ride!"

Mike was killed in an automobile accident in 2003.

Beautiful, Scandalous Night...

Happy Beautiful Scandalous Easter
This Easter think about what it means that Jesus arose from the dead. Without such news the cross would mean little, well actually nothing. We are in desperate need of a risen Savior. Think about how everything first fell apart in the Garden with Adam & Eve. And the very first time the risen Savior is seen He is mistaken for a gardener, that is beautiful irony. In just the first few chapters of Genesis mankind had exited shamefully from the Garden and man has spent the remaining chapters of the Book and life to get back to the Garden. A paradise, a peace, a hope, a Love that is unconditional and because of this thing we called Easter also known as a "Beautiful, Scandalous Night"..

At the wonderful, tragic, mysterious tree On that beautiful, scandalous night you and me Were atoned by His blood and forever washed white On that beautiful, scandalous night

Dont let this go by us so easily this year. Take a quiet time with a sunset and let your heart and mind go those moments on the cross. The movie Passion doesnt (and cannot) touch the emotional & spiritual pain that took place in Christ solely for you and me Beyond the Easter Bunny, candies, nice dinners, church service there is more so much more..In closing Steven James sums it up just right..

The bunny has upstaged the rabbi and stolen the show. The search for plastic eggs has replaced the search for a missing body. Easter has evolved into just another nice,harmless,spineless. little holiday with the climax being a bunch of snot-nosed kids fighting over a piece of chocolate, when its supposed to be about a wrestling match between life & death, a cosmic struggle between good and evil. Easter has lots of lilies and spring hats and piles of fake, green, curly plastic grass stuff, but none of that has anything to do with the raw reality of a bloody cross and the final hope of the empty tomb. The truth is most people just aren't moved by the Easter story anymore. Its like we've walked in at the end of the movie and we just don't get what all the fuss is about. "Is something wrong?" The people who are crying shake their heads. "Then why are you crying?"..the empty tomb doesn't make sense without the cross, the cross doesn't make sense without the manger in Bethlehem and the manger doesn't make sense without the Garden of Eden. Its All one story. And only when you finally untangle it, see its scope, and enter it for yourself do you realize that the story has finally entered and at last untangled you."- Steven James (Story)
Easter such a Beautiful, Scandalous Night...
"Go on up to the mountain of mercy *To the crimson perpetual tide *Kneel down on the shore Be thirsty no more* Go under and be purified*Go on up to the mountain of mercy *To the crimson perpetual tide *Kneel down on the shore* Be thirsty no more Go under and be purified"