Week 5

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Matthew 6:21

Week 4

But I say to you, Love your enemy and pray for those who persecute, so that you may be like your Father in heaven...
Matthew 5:44-45

Gut-churning

Our Bible story last night was Jesus being left at the temple when He was 12. My son had an astute comment/question...why did the people go from favoring, liking, and being astounded by Jesus to plotting His death.

One reason is that as a child and young man, Jesus did not challenge the people by asking them to accept Him as Lord, God's Son, and the Messiah. When He did ask them to accept Him as such they strongly resisted. And they surely were not going to follow Him! And people today still resist. They may accept the morals and virtues of Christianity as good and wholesome but they will not repent from their current lives and turn to Jesus.

It is staggering to think how little we (I) follow Jesus. We (I) can't get more than a few verses into the Sermon on the Mount before colossal failure faces us at every turn.  And yes, I know we are sinners and Jesus forgives sinners...but once forgiven I think I must move forward with more determination to not fail. I must ask Him, the Spirit, to reign in me and rule the day. And to keep on keeping on. And at the end of the day to stand in His strength and look back at the victories He amassed that day...and to keep on standing in Him.

I think Jesus is truly saddened by the amount of time I spend not thinking about Him. He is overjoyed every time I do turn to Him but these times dedicated to Him and Him alone are very rare and very short. So much gets in the way. I allow and oftentimes put stuff in the way. Satan doesn't need to devise too many ways to keep me from The Lord...I do it myself.

It has now been a week since the first gift distribution I did in Juarez. Our team talked about praying for the 12 week discipleship program. Tonight is the first night I thought of it. So I am signing off to spend some time in prayer for those precious kids in that desolate neighborhood in Juarez.  Night.

Amigo Fiel (final thoughts)

Glad to have served, thankful God paved the way to make it all happen, and consider it to have been a worthy experience.

Am still hesitant to classify what we did as "mission work". We had to have been a burden and hindrance to Carlos and his team. They could very easily carry on without us. I am thankful for the care and hospitality they showered on us. We were treated with such love and our comfort was a high priority.

Definitely felt my personal spiritual relationship with Jesus become more real and less an exercise in theology but more meaningful. My emotions (usually held firmly in check) were a bit more free in their movements and my thoughts were quite often residing in the spiritual plane. This was not necessarily because of any significantly sad or heartbreaking conditions I witnessed. It was, I believe, more a result of the atmosphere I continuously found myself in. We spent so much of every day praying, worshipping, studying, serving, witnessing for, praising, and loving God. Our very existence was to point others to Jesus...all day every day.  So many of the cares, concerns, and distractions of the American world were absent in Juarez and it was so easy to have our thoughts dwelling on Jesus.

Will I be running off to the Mission field? Definitely not...though I would not be too upset if God were to transplant me and my family. No, my mission is my family. I am appointed unto them to care for them physically and spiritually. So many people in Juarez have been abandoned by their fathers and husbands and Amigo Fiel steps into the gap to show them God the Father and His love. My primary mission is to provide this for my family. I must not fail them. But from here on I want to be more sensitive to sharing the Gospel and serving others in whatever ways, big or small, The Lord directs. There is so much need out there...need for Jesus.

I look forward to filing this all away for now, to moving forward, and to waiting on The Lord and His paths He has prepared for me.

I look forward to His coming soon and rescuing us and all the innocents who suffer so badly out in the world.

Amigo Fiel (part 4)

SATURDAY:
This day was a carbon copy of Friday...until after the second distribution. We were given a list of specific shoeboxes to gather and then we set off for a HIV clinic. They were having a party for the families of their patients with small children. We were the surprise guests! Justin, once again, got the chance to present the Gospel with Carlos interpreting. Then we got to hand deliver boxes to about 60 children and then stay and watch them open them. A few children stayed even longer to play with us...I got to teach one boy how a slinky works and almost taught a little girl how to juggle! We closed the party down, helped clean up, and stored away the last of the shoeboxes.

We returned to Base and had a restful dinner and extended time of worship, prayer, devotion, and fellowship with each other and some of the staff. We were given some insight into the lives of these uber-servants...their trials, failures, and utter love & dependence on Jesus. Their testimonies were powerful and sacred. It ended up being another late and joyous night.

SUNDAY:
We rose and headed over to Amigo Fiel for morning services. We helped prepare the facility and then split into groups. My group jumped into the elementary Sunday School. The highlight was little Yesenia holding my Bible hostage until Michele gave her a Spanish Bible!! Between services we bid farewell to the Alberquerque Team and I played soccer with some familiar faces from the drama team. Second service started with an incredible time of worship in Spanish...which just ended up being a really cool time of worship, despite the language barrier. My heart was singing and God understood. Justin taught with Carlos as interpreter for both services. His message was well-received...the Spirit was definitely present!

We had a late lunch and bid farewell to Carlos and Chuy as they headed back to their lives in the states. Isaac, another of Carlos' loyal cadre, escorted us to a local shopping center for a taste of upscale Juarez life. After an early dinner we headed out to the final evening of outreach at the tent. The worship team from Amigo Fiel was filling the neighborhood with praise and worship. Leonardo preached in Spanish and I continuously prayed for the salvation of every soul there. Many came forward that night to pray for Jesus' entrance into their hearts.

The night was concluded with the giving away of clothes, beans, donuts, and hot chocolate that had been brought by Amigo Fiel. For such a small church they sure were actively involved in every event of the weekend! A couple of us on the Team gave away our hats, gloves, and jackets to those who looked most in need. I emptied my bag of the last of the candy and hacky sacks. A young father came back into the tent and in broken English asked me why I thought America was so great. I asked him why. He said because of people like me...I was speechless and could only think to hug him as tightly as I could. As he walked away, a number of God-glorifying responses came to mind...but the moment had passed. But for that instant, as we grasped each other, I had a sense of the unity that awaits us in eternity.

We returned to Base, packed up the next morning, left behind what ever extra gear we had brought (sleeping-bags, towels, shirts, sweaters, jackets, etc), and uneventfully returned home.

Week 3

But you dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith, by praying in the Holy Spirit,  maintain yourselves in the love of God, while anticipating the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that brings eternal life.
Jude 20-21

Amigo Fiel (part 3)

FRIDAY:
We were up early in the morning for breakfast and devotions then off to the tent for final preparations. Some of the team started unloading and staging the shoeboxes while others finished blowing up balloons and beach balls. Kids started showing up and some provided crowd control and direction while some of us followed the kids inside and loved on them while we waited for everyone to arrive and the program to start. The boys and girls ranged in ages from infant to 14. We face painted them, played little games, made stuff out of the toy balloons, played catch with hacky sacks, juggled, did little tricks, and pretty much did anything goofy we could think of to just bring a smile to their faces. It was the funnest part of the whole trip and I looked forward to it each time.

The program would then start with a welcome aboard from Carlos and a prayer from Chuy. Music and beach ball madness was followed by a hilarious act by Nene the clown. The youth drama team from Amigo Fiel then took center stage with a cute musical-drama themed from the Lion King. The Gospel was presented and the children given a chance to accept Jesus as their Savior. They were then lined up for the distribution of the shoeboxes and Gospel tracts.

After the children left with their churches we got to clean up the tent, reorganize the chairs, and stage more shoeboxes. Amigo Fiel served us lunch with the drama team and then we were escorted around the neighborhood to hand out invitations to the evening outreaches.

Then we did it all over again and afterwards drove over to the actual Amigo Fiel church and got a tour. Played soccer with some of the kids there and then headed over to Base for dinner. Headed back to the tent for the evening outreach where Justin, our leader, gave an evangelistic message from John 15 (through interpreter Chuy) about the necessary importance of being connected to Jesus. Worship was headed up by the Italian missionary Leonardo and his daughter. A number of women came forward to accept Jesus!! What an awesome night. We headed home to Base late and fell to sleep exhausted yet again!

Amigo Fiel (part 2)

I am now home!

Everyone is sleeping and I am still digesting the weekend.

THURSDAY:
The 8 people on our team started carpooling at 4am from Chico to Sacramento...about a 2 hr drive in the fog. We were all a little sleepy since our  first, final, and only team meeting wasn't over until 10:00 the night before. It is amazing that God uses us miserable creatures for anything! I think He takes great pleasure in using the "are nots"! (1 Cor 1:27-29)

After flying to El Paso, we were picked up at the airport in the afternoon by Chuy, one of Carlos' right-hand men. We crossed the border and immediately turned down into a drainage flood bypass. This was apparently the fastest most direct route through Juarez! However, during our many travels over the next few days we were constantly being watched over by guardian angels. People drive in Juarez like they are in a Death Race Destruction Derby!! It seems that only aggressive drivers get anywhere! The roads are horrible, signs are often only suggestions, and there seems to be no rules hardly at all. Our drivers kept us injury free and I praise God for our safety.

We disembarked at the mission Base, met Carlos, met four people from a Calvary in Alberquerque, and then headed straight out to the tent. It was out on the edge of Juarez in a real beat up neighborhood. It looked like a war zone with houses in crumbling disarray and dirt roads littered with debris. It was hard to believe that families were living in some of the homes. The use of the tent was provided by an Italian missionary, Leonardo, who owned and travelled with it  doing outreach and evangelistic work. We got to hear him sing and play numerous instruments and preach! He was a one-man crusade!!

Our tasks that first cold evening were to set up chairs and build a simple barrier fence around the tent. We got to meet some of the members of Amigo Fiel who would be helping off and on over the weekend. Some kids from the neighborhoods were out doing recon and were told where to find the local pastors to get a bracelet. Then we headed back to Base for dinner, worship, devotion, and fellowship as one big Team. We went to bed exhausted from the long day.

THE TEAM:
They say that one of the biggest issues facing long-term missionaries is strife within their own ranks. Our Team wasn't together for very long but I did see the seeds of discord start to sprout. Thankfully we have also been shown the tools of peace and forgiveness.  And our times of worship and prayer together were magnificent. It was a pleasurable experience to be either serving in ministry or praying or worshipping or fellowshiping with Christians or studying the Word nearly all day every day.

Our leader was our church's high school pastor and his wife. Many on the team had never been to Mexico, many had never been on a mission, a few were new to Christianity, some were veteran short-term missionaries, and all seemed excited to be there. A couple people were hampered with illness. Most did not speak Spanish.  The youngest was 25, the oldest about 50. Some were able to do hard physical work. It was a very eclectic group and we all got along famously. Some were quiet, some were loud. Some led, some followed, some did their own thing. Everyone had a niche where they fit in and found something worthwhile to do at every event. Sometimes that meant getting up and giving an evangelistic message, sometimes it meant mopping the floors. There were 12 of us...we were the Americanos!

Amigo Fiel (part 1)

I am sitting in the El Paso, TX airport having just uneventfully crossed the border from Mexico. My time in Juarez, MX was, however, quite full of events. It will probably take a number of posts to fully recount my adventures; so I have taken the liberty of labeling this "part 1".

Let me first give you some background...

Amigo Fiel is the name of a very small church in Juarez. Translated it means "Faithful Friend". Jesus is this friend. And everything I observed and participated in down here revolved around Jesus and the salvation He and He alone brings.  This church and the various ministries associated with it is the product of the burning vision placed in a man's heart about twenty years...Pastor Carlos Garcia. He was born in Juarez, moved to the US, became involved in ministry at a Calvary Chapel in Alberquerque and then in Santa Fe. He has a family and a business and makes his home in New Mexico. But twenty years ago he responded to the brokenness of heart he was having for the people of his birthplace, Juarez.

These are broad brush strokes; but basically, Carlos started traveling regularly to Juarez. His purpose down there has evolved and today his ministry's mission is to equip the believers in Juarez to do God's work in preaching the Gospel and ministering to others. All social and humanitarian efforts come second to the delivery of the Gospel. And Carlos happily admits that he freely uses various forms of "bait" as he conducts his spiritual fishing trips!!

He has also constructed an extremely hospitable mission base where mission teams, like mine this week, can come and serve on a limited basis and then return to their home churches having had their spiritual, physical, and emotional horizons broadened.

Amigo Fiel is a hub of numerous evangelistic-oriented ministries. They have an after school program in place at the church. They regularly conduct concerts and outreach events for various groups. They have an outstanding drama team. Their congregants also try to arrange for the church to serve the community in whatever capacity they can dream up.

Carlos has also worked extensively with hundreds of churches and pastors to coordinate activities and aid. Many resources have been funneled through him from US churches. He has surrounded himself with devoted men and women who have (or have adopted) his vision and committed themselves to carrying it out.

My church became involved with Carlos through Franklin Graham's Operation Christmas Child (OCC). Carlos has taken the power of a simple gift and taken it to the next level. In the months leading up to Christmas, Carlos and his network of pastors begin planning and organizing. Using the shoeboxes as bait, they encourage the children in their churches to reach out and bring two of their classmates or friends to church to get info on how to receive a box. They also get all participants to commit to a 12-week discipleship program that will follow receiving the gift. Some schools have even gotten on board and send entire classes!

On the day of the distribution, the children are gathered by their local pastors, given an identification bracelet, and then escorted to the distribution site...this year it was a large tent (more on this later). Once inside the tent they are entertained with balloons, face painting, juggling, beach balls, clowns, and a drama skit that gently presents the Gospel. They are offered the chance to give their lives to Jesus and then lined up for the distribution where they receive an age and sex appropriate shoebox
and a Gospel handout. They then return home to begin their 12 week discipleship program under their local pastor.

Some pastors have congregations of 20-30 active members but close to a hundred children in the discipleship program. The intent is to next use the children as bait to draw their parents in; then to use the parents to reach the greater community.

The team I was a part of got to walk right into the most glorious part of all this and hand the gift box to the child. Carlos and his team humbly step back and allow us this incredible moment of joy.

In part 2 I will get you some of the details of what I got to do the last four days. Hasta la vista!

Week 2

O Lord, you examine me and know. You know when I sit down and when I get up, even from far away you understand my motives.
Psalm 139:1-2

Week 1

52 weeks, 52 verses.  Check out the button.

Week one.
"Dear friends let us love one another because love is from God and everyone who loves has been fathered by God and knows God. The person who does not love  does not know God because God is love."
1 John 4:7-8

Picking Pecans

I have had a quite a list of things to do around the house and yard.  I don't try to get it all done. I was alone with my infant son today listening to Sinatra and working on a bathroom project. In the middle of some very important and precise measurement taking he decided that he wanted to be the center of my world...and after only a few minutes hesitation I let him. It has gotten easier and easier over the years to set aside tools, books, computers, etc to just sit with one or more of my children.  Who knew it would take so long and be so hard for me to learn to just sit, clear my mind, and absorb whatever beautiful chaos comes forth from my children.  Maybe now I can do the same with Jesus.

There are some pecan trees on my neighbor's side of the property line that hang way out over my property and drop their golden produce on my grass. He graciously (probably unknowingly and uncaringly...but I have given him the benefit of the doubt!) has said nothing about it. Normally, we gather a few of the precious nuts but the majority are left  for the squirrels. However, every year more and more little pecan trees shoot up from my grass in the spring. I mow them down but they have become a slight nuisance. Every year I consider mounting an expedition to gather the nuts; but I invariably avoid the whole process of getting down on my hands and knees in the wet, mushy grass whilst scrounging for nuts, many of which still bear remnants of their outer husks. Thus, my dilemma.

I almost had a solution this year. I included nut gathering as one of my children's disciplines.  But school and inclement weather have conspired against me. The nuts are on the ground now and should be gathered quickly to avoid losing the meat to rot and mold. What to do?!

This is one of those problems that I did not take to The Lord because I know that I don't have a problem that couldn't be solved by a little put-out.  But He decided to intervene anyway. I found myself waiting for a delivery this afternoon. The vendor had called and said he was on the way...minutes away. While standing on the front lawn, surrounded by hundreds of pecans, I saw an empty 5 gallon bucket and decided to pick up a few nuts. 2 hours later the delivery arrived...I had 20lbs of nuts and a mostly clear lawn! My fingers are a bit raw right now but not bleeding.

I had a thought while kneeling in the grass today. Why did I struggle for so long against completing such a simple task? Then I considered other simple tasks I often leave undone...many of them spiritual. The damage done to my lawn is an annoyance and fairly minimal, but will require serious and extended work to undo. The damage to my soul and relationship with Jesus is, shall we say, much more vital.

My lawn still performs its ornamental task. It looks fine, especially from a distance. But it fails when it comes to practicality. One cannot run and jump or roll around on this lawn!  And while I may look allright to passersby, my fellowship with The Lord suffers from inactivity; and the results are the same: inactivity.

So...my prayer tonight is that I will stop leaving the pecans on the lawn...and stop leaving Jesus alone. I want to spend more thoughts considering Him, more time hearing/reading His Words, and more activities devoted to pursuing His will.  Amen.

Shoeboxes and Shipwrecks

Ciudad Juarez, Mexico is one of the fastest growing cities in the world. It was also recently (2009) named the most violent city outside a war zone and the murder capital of the world. Federal police and military arrived in the town by the thousands over the last few years and have improved things a little. But there is still a lot of violence, sadness, poverty, and need. A Marine buddy of mine calls it "a shoot your way in, stab your way out" kind of city...second only to Damascus!

My church started going down there in the midst of the chaos in 2009 to a church called Amigo Fiel to hand out Christmas Shoeboxes. I was immediately intrigued and wanted to go help. But I did not make the time or save the money to do so. I silently prayed each year that time and money would become available...and this year they did! Thank you Lord!

So, in a bit I head off to Juarez for a few days of making kids smile. Churches call it a "short-term mission trip". I am a little embarrassed and uncomfortable calling it a "mission trip" at all...playing with kids and handing out toys hardly compares to years of shipwrecks, beatings, snake-bites, starvation, exposure, and isolation that real missionaries face.  But, like long-term missionaries, I am handing this time over to God and the coordinators He has entrusted with this endeavor. I have made myself available to serve His good purposes...whatever they may be.

Please pray for me and the team I will be serving with. Make mention of our families who remain behind to keep the home fires burning.  And may God's will be done in our lives.  Amen.

She did it again!!

My wife has, once again, found a show on TV, watched it for a few years, and then (despite my sustained efforts) hooked and reeled me in.  I instinctively set up barriers to any shows she watches and tries to get me to watch with her.  Years of watching her be entertained by reality (FAKE) shows, melodramatics Lifetime movies, Hallmark yawners, etc have left me scarred.  But every once in a while her persistence pays off.  After many years she got me watching ER.(post-Clooney), sucked me into Lost midway through the first season, pulled me towards Grey's Anatomy after about season 4, twisted the knife with Friday Night Lights the year it ended, pummeled me with CSI about season 3, and really blindsided  me with NCIS (which I fought hard because the lead character was a Marine and TV always messes that up and she had been wildly unsuccessful with JAG!).

Well, she has struck again!!  For two years she has watched Downton Abbey. Tonight I was ambushed and watched my willpower melt away. Blimey, I'm knackered! Ta-ta mates.

Fantastical Faith

The event that followed Jesus' sermon on the mount (the Beatitudes) was divinely appointed to, I believe, provide the people with an example of how to carry out some of Jesus' radical commands given during that message. This event was the healing of the centurion's servant (Mark 8:5-13 and Luke 7:1-10) Here are some things I have observed.  If I have misinterpreted (or just plain missed) anything concerning this event, please let me know.

Jesus doesn't seem to have had any major interaction with Gentiles yet. He has just started His ministry in the region of Galilee and was hanging out in what would be His central headquarters, Capernuam. His twelve disciples have been selected and He has already had a few run-ins with the Jewish religious leaders. He has also started healing everything from fevers to leprosy.  And He has taught the people with an authority they have never seen before.

A Roman centurion, via the local Jewish elders, sends a request to Jesus that He heal his servant.  There are several weird and strange things going on here:
1--the centurion seems to care about his slave...not normal since slaves were commonly considered property not people.
2--the centurion cares for the Jews...the Romans had conquered the Jews...they were not normally friends.
3--the Jews care for the centurion!
4--the centurion had the respect of the Jewish elders...no easy task since the Jews themselves had very little dealings with anyone outside their race. This man was a direct representation of the empire that had conquered them and was holding them in submission.
5--the Jewish elders were helping the centurion...again, the man was a Gentile and as such he was normally to be avoided, despised, and even hated...and he was a military soldier and as such was a dealer of death and torture to all of Rome's enemies.  The Jews were enemies of Rome.  The Maccabean Revolt and the later destruction of Jerusalem, among other events, testify to this.
6--the elders seem to believe that Jesus could do the deed; otherwise they probably would have talked the centurion into another course of action.
7--the centurion believed that Jesus could heal...how he came to such faith is what I would like to know most!
8-- the centurion humbly respected Jesus, a person whom he had apparently never met...and of whom  he had such faith in and such understanding of.

So why all the funny business? Part of the answer, I am sure, is right there in the text. The Jew's devotion to the centurion can start to be easily explained by their avarice.  The centurion has faith in Jesus as the great  Authority (Creator, Lord, Master) of this world...he behaves like any Jesus-freak!

But the most important observations are of Jesus. I love watching Him in action.
--He readily agrees to help the centurion.
--He acquiesces to the centurion's humble desire to bother Him as little as possible.
--He recognizes the centurion's faith.

And what faith it is.  Talk to you soon.

Coca-Cola, Noah, and a Busy Day

I really like Coke in a glass bottle...a lot.

Russell Crowe will be playing Noah in an upcoming epic film about the Flood. Kinda curious to see how they handle it...especially the God parts. Anthony Hopkins plays Methusalah.

There is a national movement called "preppers".  Spent a large portion of the day with one of their members, an old friend and former-Marine.  Check out prepper.org.  Their views of where our nation is headed jive really close with where the Bible says its headed.  Perfect segway for a discussion of end times and then the Gospel. Seeds planted...please pray for my friend.

2 bible studies today...awesome! 1Peter and 1John.  Both these guys experienced Jesus in powerful ways. Yet they didn't truly seem to grasp His will for their lives until they received the Holy Spirit.  Hmmmmm.

Got to watch my son send over 300 rounds of 22-caliber liberty loving protection down range today. Those targets were holey.

Kid's Bible story tonight involved John the Baptist's call to repent. I have the habit of crying out "repent!" in a loud, prophet-like voice. Tonight was no exception...except I temporarily forgot the baby was in my lap. Oops...

Good night.  Come Lord Jesus, come quickly.

Splish Splash

There used to be a time when spiritual analogies annoyed me. The people I spent a lot of time around we're ALWAYS coming up with them.  (I have a memory of the Gospel being compared to cotton candy...I leave the rest to your imagination.)
Things have changed a little bit.  For one, I mostly hang out with my children at home and unbelievers at work...so I really don't ever hear spiritual analogies! And secondly, I have realized that many of those people who were forever spouting out metaphors and parallelisms were simply bringing forth from the abundance of their hearts. Their hearts and minds were centered on Jesus. They were not just residing in the physical world; they were spending time on the spiritual plane as well.
This is all by way of an introduction to an analogy I would like to share. You may leave the premises if you so desire. I understand.
My almost ten-month old son loves the water.  He was in the pool all summer and swimming is part of his DNA (his mother and I both swam competitively in high school). Well, this evening it was shower time with Daddy. I told him what we were going to do, took him into the bathroom, and started to get him ready for the shower. He was displeased. Once I actually got him in the running water he was happy...for a moment. Soon, though, he started wiggling around while he tried to exit my arms for destinations abroad. I held him firm, soaped him, rinsed him, and waited for the hot water and thick steam to work their powers. Eventually he relaxed into my arms and even started to doze for a minute before his mother whisked him off into a whirlwind of rough towel drying, slapping Desitin, speedy diapers, and zipping sleepcoats.
Now for the analogy (run now if you must).
I spoke to my son and told him everything we were going to do.  He did not understand.  God does the same thing to us.  He gives us His Word and we don't understand it.  This is mostly because we refuse to listen to it (that is, READ it). And then we are displeased when we perceive our lives going awry.  Of course, every once in a while, we see how good The Lord is.  But we then get antsy.  How much better would it be for us to relax into His arms from the very beginning?! And then to just stay there.