So, I've been reading Matthew... it's a hard read for churchy Christians. I see myself in the mirror that is the Bible (James 1:23-25). Jesus slams the Pharisees and Sadducees so many times and I see so much of them in the modern church. They "bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders" and "all their works they do to be seen by men" (Matthew 23:4-5).
This seems like so many churches today: demanding things of people that are silly. For instance, that we need to dress a certain way, even speak a certain way, or play a certain kind of music in church, etc.
Matthew 23 is basically Jesus calling the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes on their hypocrisy. How is it the church still acts like the Pharisees, but doesn't see that it does? Jesus Christ Himself condemns this attitude and action. We need to read our Bibles!
May 1, 2008
My Friends in South Africa
I like to kind of toot my own horn and tell people that I know people in South Africa. But it's even more than just the pride of it, it's that these are some of th emost incredible people in the world: Dave, Jill, Hannah, and Luke Boman. Dave and Jill are some of the most genuine, Godly Christians that I've ever known.
So, they committed to being in Africa for a year and their visa is up in September or so. But these guys do some serious ministry with AIDS patients and with kids and adults in the slums (locations). They open their house to children who barely have homes and they take the kids to the beach to actually have fun once in a while.
This isn't about being cool in the Christian world. A lot of these people are dying--most people would mark them as useless to spend energy on. These are the least of these (Matthew 25:40, 45). This is what true Christianity is all about.
So, they committed to being in Africa for a year and their visa is up in September or so. But these guys do some serious ministry with AIDS patients and with kids and adults in the slums (locations). They open their house to children who barely have homes and they take the kids to the beach to actually have fun once in a while.
This isn't about being cool in the Christian world. A lot of these people are dying--most people would mark them as useless to spend energy on. These are the least of these (Matthew 25:40, 45). This is what true Christianity is all about.
April 28, 2008
A Lesson About God... from Texas?
I had the privilege of seeing a Texas hail/lightning storm in March. I have to say, it was pretty freaky. I could barely see the road and some people around me were still driving 30-40 MPH. I guess the Texans are used to it, but it was somewhat scary.
The hailstones seemed like they were as big as golf balls (they weren't), but they sounded like it. I thought they might break through the windshield (they didn't).
The lightning, though: A-mazing. I always think of Psalm 8--when I think of Your wonders, Lord... what is man that You are mindful of him? Lightning is kind of like God, actually. It's scary because it's so powerful, but it's beautiful and awesome and exciting at the same time! You can't help but wonder at it.
The hailstones seemed like they were as big as golf balls (they weren't), but they sounded like it. I thought they might break through the windshield (they didn't).
The lightning, though: A-mazing. I always think of Psalm 8--when I think of Your wonders, Lord... what is man that You are mindful of him? Lightning is kind of like God, actually. It's scary because it's so powerful, but it's beautiful and awesome and exciting at the same time! You can't help but wonder at it.
Love v. Grumpiness
Have you ever driven for 20 hours straight with a bunch of people after having spent a week doing hard labor, and within that 20 hours you only slept for one or two? That's a trial.
This is a test of the amount of love you have for your brothers and sisters in Christ. I've always been able to sleep anywhere but on this last trip to Mississippi I didn't hardly sleep on the way there or the way back.
The littlest things annoy you. Especially through Texas. But this is human nature. We are called to love each other and God never included the statement "except when you don't feel like it."
This is my greatest challenge--I'm not really a loving kind of person most of the time. I always call myself the protege of Oscar the Grouch. But I need to shape up because this is the call of the church: to love God and to love others. I mean, God loves Oscar, too, but as a follower of the living and loving God, we seek to be more like Him, not like puppets (cool as they are).
This is a test of the amount of love you have for your brothers and sisters in Christ. I've always been able to sleep anywhere but on this last trip to Mississippi I didn't hardly sleep on the way there or the way back.
The littlest things annoy you. Especially through Texas. But this is human nature. We are called to love each other and God never included the statement "except when you don't feel like it."
This is my greatest challenge--I'm not really a loving kind of person most of the time. I always call myself the protege of Oscar the Grouch. But I need to shape up because this is the call of the church: to love God and to love others. I mean, God loves Oscar, too, but as a follower of the living and loving God, we seek to be more like Him, not like puppets (cool as they are).
A Memorial
A friend of mine died last week.
I had worked with her at Manfisher Ministries before I came to school in Pueblo. Manfisher was a place that worked with bums and drunks and poor people and not-too-poor people to help furnish their needs.
Lynn knew the worst of it: addiction to pain killers, divorce, single parenthood, poverty. But she loved God! She came through those circumstances and then came to Manfisher to spread the love of Christ to others who were in dire circumstances.
After having come through her own battles, she then had to face her 7-year-old son getting cancer. Which meant chemo in Seattle (a five-six hour drive from where she lived). Lynn was someone you knew God trusted because she went through all this crap.
But then one night last week she just died. I don't even know why. She has two little kids, including the one still fighting cancer, and also an older daughter. Sometimes you have to wonder why: this is the real world.
But I can have hope because there isn't a doubt in my mind that she was a believer. I'll get to see her again someday in a much brighter place than the world she lived in and the world that we live in. Death might not seem fair to us, but to Lynn right now, death is sweet.
I had worked with her at Manfisher Ministries before I came to school in Pueblo. Manfisher was a place that worked with bums and drunks and poor people and not-too-poor people to help furnish their needs.
Lynn knew the worst of it: addiction to pain killers, divorce, single parenthood, poverty. But she loved God! She came through those circumstances and then came to Manfisher to spread the love of Christ to others who were in dire circumstances.
After having come through her own battles, she then had to face her 7-year-old son getting cancer. Which meant chemo in Seattle (a five-six hour drive from where she lived). Lynn was someone you knew God trusted because she went through all this crap.
But then one night last week she just died. I don't even know why. She has two little kids, including the one still fighting cancer, and also an older daughter. Sometimes you have to wonder why: this is the real world.
But I can have hope because there isn't a doubt in my mind that she was a believer. I'll get to see her again someday in a much brighter place than the world she lived in and the world that we live in. Death might not seem fair to us, but to Lynn right now, death is sweet.
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