Thailand 10/31
Oct 30th
Well let’s try this out from Chiang Mai, Thailand.
“Mae Song Ka” (hello) from Thailand. It took forever to get here but we finally made it. Who designed the seats in planes anyways? It’s 10am here & we’re waiting to get briefed from our team leader in a couple hours. I’ll know more then. For now, Les, Pat, Jerren, & I are doing great, excited, & can’t wait to see all that God has in store.
I Think This Is How It Works?
Oct 23rd
I’ve been thinking about how the process works when God is moving us to act on something. So here’s what I think:
The Process…
First, we gain info through our eyes or ears. I’ll call this Awareness. It’s when we exclaim, “I didn’t know”.
Second, we filter it through our mind. I’ll call this step Understanding. It’s when we exclaim, “This is wrong.”
Third, it touches our heart. This I’ll call Empathy. It’s when we exclaim, “Something must be done.”
Fourth, it finally finds fruition in our soul. This we’ll call, Action. It’s when we exclaim, “I must do something about it.”
An example: A year & a half ago I didn’t know where Myanmar was on a map! But as friends from Partners Ministry shared the atrocities that were happening in that country. I couldn’t get the stories out of my head. It grabbed my heart. Someone needed to do something about it. I need to do something about it. I did.
What Happens in the End?
Oct 21st
The world is crying out for the U.S. To get out of Iraq & Afghanistan; for World Peace; for Iran to stop developing Nuclear weapons; for Peace in the Middle East; for an Eco-friendly world; a greener Earth; to stop Global Warming; and are asking, “Can’t we all just get along?”
To sum it all up the world is asking for… “No wars, a greener earth, and world peace!” And we can guarantee this for them…if they’d except Christ! Because each of these will in fact be fulfilled during Jesus’ millennial reign!
Study Resources:
My Trip To Thailand
Oct 19th
Hey, I’ll be leaving for Thailand soon & appreciate your prayers. It’s a 2 week trip. I’m taking in a doctor, a nurse, & a biology major pre-med student from our church.
I was able to go to last year & so I’m really look forward to getting back & reconnecting with friends I met last year in Burma/ Myanmar. I won’t be able to give a lot of details but hope to update while in Thailand.
What is the Church?
Oct 18th
The Church is the central purpose of God in this present age. “The church is viewed as an assembly or gathering of the elect, those whom God calls out of the world, away from sin & into a state of grace.” R.C.Sproul
Study Resources:
What is Salvation?
Oct 18th
Is someone asks you, “What can I do to be saved?” Be honest with them & tell them “Absolutely nothing!” It is too late! – It was done 2000 years ago on the cross.
Study Resources:
Who is God?
Oct 18th
God is Incomprehensible yet Knowable. There’s no way our finite mind could ever understand fully who this God is…YET… by is grace He has made Himself Knowable to us. As Wayne Grudem said, “God is not an idea or proposition but instead a living & free person who is completely other, or holy.”
Study Resources:
Why Should I Trust the Bible is Accurate?
Oct 18th
Talk about “Foundation”…this is it…The Word of God itself! If this isn’t God’s words, God’s plan for us, God’s heart for His people, then the whole deck of cards comes tumbling down. An unknown writer said it best,
This Book is the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers. Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding; its histories are true, and its decisions are immutable.
Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, practice it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you. It is the traveler’s map, the pilgrim’s staff, the pilot’s compass, the soldier’s sword, and the Christian’s character. Here paradise is restored, heaven opened, and the gates of hell disclosed. Christ is its grand subject, our good its design, and the glory of God its end. It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. Read it slowly, frequently, prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure. Follow its precepts and it will lead you to Calvary, to the empty tomb, to a resurrected life in Christ; yes, to glory itself, for eternity. Source unknown
Study Resources:
Brushing Up On Basics – “Foundations Of Our Faith”
Oct 17th
This August I had the opportunity to teach 40 youth in Machaca, Belize on “The Foundations of the Faith”. My heart became a combustion chamber, being set on fire by their incredible questions and sponge like hearts for doctrine. I immediately thought, I need to take this back to our church.
What I thought needed to be tackled was: Why should I trust the bible is accurate? Who is God? What is Salvation? What is the church and what is her role? What happens in the end? And many more questions. Some think studying doctrine can be “stale dry bones”, so it is my goal to breathe life into these bones & make them live!
Wanna Take A Bite?
Oct 13th
Last week I went on a ride along with one of our cities finest. It was a K-9 unit, with officer Moll & his loving dog Renzo (loving? well he loves to bite). Moll asked me, “so are you going to take a bite tonight chaplain?” I said sure, & we were on our way. Well, we got talking, working, & busy with different stops, & well, we both forgot about the bite. Maybe next time.
Would you have put on the bite sleeve & takin a bite?
Is there anything lately where you we’re challenged to take a risk, but choose instead to play it safe?
I’m reading a book right now called “Just Courage” by Gary Haugen (check out On My Desk) & in one of its chapters it has a subtitle called “Death in a Cul-de-sac” it said, “In Suburban housing tracts Cul-de-sac’s were designed to address homeowner anxieties about dangers of automobile traffic that might be threatening to their children. Ironically several decades later, studies reveal that cul-de-sacs are the most dangerous residential configurations for children. Studies showed children aren’t injured by forward-moving traffic nearly as much as by cars backing up.”
Many Western Christians find themselves trapped in a dead-end street. We’ve sought safety from a dangerous dirty world & made ourselves cautious cul-de-sacs, all around our lives. But decades later the church is full of spiritual atrophy, mediocrity, & boredom that is lethal to the soul. I grew up on Trumball Street in Whittier, Ca. The street just north of us had a cul-de-sac,…but it also had a pathway leading out of it for bikes & pedestrians.
The Bible laid out a path out of our cul-de-sac lives thousands of years ago. It’s a route to rescue for us, & a path to life for millions who are suffering in our world.
Is.1:16b,17 says, “Cease to do evil, Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow.”
The sin of injustice, as we see it in the bible, is defined as “the abuse of power by taking from others the good things that God intended for them, namely, their life, liberty, dignity, or the fruit of their love or their labors.” It’s when a stronger person abuses his/her power by taking from a weaker person what God alone has given the weaker person God judges this as sin. When a more powerful person abuses their power by stealing those good things, they commit the sin of injustice.
Biblical stories of injustice:
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Cain stole Abel’s life through murder.
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The Egyptians stole the Hebrew’s liberty, dignity & well-being through forced slavery.
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King David stole Uriah’s wife & then Uriah’s life.
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Amnon stole Tamar’s dignity, well-being & personal wholeness by raping her.
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King Herod stole the lives of all the boys of Bethlehem 2 years & younger.
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The religious leaders in Jerusalem stole the lives of Stephen & other believers through the abuse of their civil-religious power.
In each of these stories, one that is weaker is being abused by one stronger, & are being deprived of the good gifts that God has given. This is why the bible says, “those who oppresses the poor insult their Maker.” Prov.14:31
KEY: Allow me to steal a few more of Gary’s thoughts. In each of these stories the weaker person isn’t suffering because of random unfairness, an uncontrollable act of nature, or a patch of bad luck. Rather, the weaker person is suffering because of the very intentional abuse & oppression of a stronger person. This is injustice!
The biblical response to injustice is to “seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.” Is.1:17
The poorest people in our world suffer from hunger, homelessness, illiteracy & sickness. Response: we bring food, shelter, education, & medicine. They suffer from bad luck, bad storm, bad harvest, bad bacteria, bad famine etc. And these are all massive needs worthy of our urgent attention!
But here is what is different! When the root of the problem is cause by Aggressive Violence! Bullies!
Violence is different, it’s intentional, it’s scary, it causes deep scars (of betrayal, humiliation, shame). Violence fights back! And for every dollar the Christian community spends on addressing injustice, it spends 100 dollars on traditional programs of poverty alleviation, compassion ministry, evangelism & discipleship. (I’m not saying we’re spending too much on the later, just not enough on the former)
Given the magnitude of the need & urgency of the biblical mandate to “seek justice & rescue the oppressed” there is no justification for the gaping disparity.
Prov.31:8,9 Open your mouth for the speechless, In the cause of all who are appointed to die. Open your mouth, judge righteously, And plead the cause of the poor and needy.
Are you ready to take a bite?