Awesome Quote

I got this in my e-mail today, I thought it was awesome. 

“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen. Not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”

-CS Lewis

English Service

This is the other reason yesterday was so interesting. We launched an English church service at our Bible College church. I was a little put off at first. Service was to start at 6:30. At 6:35 there were 8 people in the room. Amanda, the local pastor, his mother, 3 teenage boys, 1 lady who spoke no English, and me. I was hoping for more but as a first time effort I was telling myself, 6 is not bad. It’s a base to build upon. 

By the time 7 rolled around we were in the middle of song service and the crowd was building. By the time I got up to preach we had over 60 in attendance! I was so excited. 

We’ve decided to try to make this service a bit fun as many of the people who speak English in the community are either young people, or they were young people when the Corcorans had an English church in the area. So Amanda did the song service (which was unique because all the people speak English, but they haven’t heard a new English song in about 20 years, so Amanda had no idea what they may or may not know) and had a sword drill. The people had a few laughs and a good time. I started a series on temptation. It was a heavy topic but I tried to keep people interested by telling some stories and reminding them that while we all face temptation, we can have victory over it! 

Over all I was very pleased with the turn out and the support we got. I was told that the previous Friday night service (done in the local language) was averaging just 10 – 20 people so it seems the people are interested in making this successful. Pray for us, it’s a new endeavor and a new burden but we feel God will use this service for His glory.

First Time

Well, yesterday was an interesting day. I got to experience my first earthquake! It was a 5.8 on the Richter Scale, but it’s center was much further north then here. It was a bit weird. Nothing big. I was sitting at the computer and it was like a “last days” parable: everything that could be shaken was shaken. I didn’t feel the earth move or anything, but the dishes in the cupboards and the nicknacks on the shelves all rattled continuously for about 90 seconds. Then it was over. So now I get to say I’ve lived through an earthquake. See all the exciting things you get to do on the mission field?

Spiritual Insight From an Atheist

So, this morning I was sent a couple of videos. I already commented on the Dove video. The other video I was sent was a clip of a renowned atheist and illusionist. In this video clip from his show or blog, he commented about a man who “witnessed” to him after a show. He used the word proselytize. But he was honestly moved and appreciative of this man’s gesture. He said that he is still convinced that there is no God and no one could convince him otherwise. However, he added how much he respected the man and added this little tidbit. 

He said, if you believe there is a God, and you believe there is a heaven and hell. And if you really believe that some people are going to go to hell. Then how MEAN do you have to be, how much do you have to HATE someone, not to warn them about it?!

That blew me away! Most Christians don’t want to bother anyone or face the ridicule of a judgmental person so we don’t share our faith. This man, a non-believer said the ONLY reason you would not share your faith is not fear, it’s not worry. The ONLY reason we don’t share our faith is because we don’t love people enough to tell them! He said if a truck was barring down on you while you stood in the road, the only reason I wouldn’t warn you is because I don’t love you enough, I don’t care enough to save you. And he added, but this is much more serious that just a truck. 

Let that sink in for a moment. Whether you agree or not those words can change your view on reaching others with the Gospel. The world may not want to hear it, but what excuse will we have in eternity for not telling others?

Doesn’t Sound So Bad

Today’s newspaper had an article regarding a crime over the weekend. The writer indicated that the victim died from complications caused by a “serious bullet injury.” I thought that was funny. He didn’t want to say the guy was shot, that would mean someone had to do the shooting. Then my mind raced to think of other ways this man could have suffered a bullet injury without having been shot. Honestly, reading the paper and finding these stories is the most fun I have on a normal day.

Dove

 

The above video was sent to me this morning. It made me think, not so much about the point of the ad, but about the church. As an organization we have had a hard stand against TV and popular media. I’m not interested in debating that stance. My question is, why do people love Dove for saying, limit your pop culture intake to protect the minds and souls of your children, but when the church gives the same message people hate us. They say we are dated, irrelevant, etc, etc. Our message is the same, but it’s reception is vastly different. 

Is it because people trust Dove but not the church? Is it the way that Dove presents the message? Or is it the why the church presents the message? If it is presentation, what does that say about us that a large soap company shows people more love then we do?

I know this wasn’t the point of the ad, but it certainly has me thinking about the importance of presentation as well as substance. If people think we are preaching to them out of hate or a misguided sense of social norms, then we have failed. We need to present truth, of which modesty and holiness are a large part, but we must do it in a way that shows the value of living according to God’s principles. We must show holiness in the love of God.

Valentine’s Day

In the paper yesterday was a section of valentine’s messages that sweethearts in the city sent to their loved ones. Here are some classic and funny samples from our local paper: 

One man signed his message, “Husbandly Yours, …”

Another doted on how, “our life together is not a fairy…”

One love struck young main told his sweetie that “you are my Brain Breath”

A loving husband declared that “You are my best wife”, as if to say she was better then his others. 

Another man prayed that “our love will grow more sweet and spicy everyday”

A man who was obviously in the doghouse said “We fight like Osama Bin Ladan and Bush but I love you a lot”

Try to figure out this quote, ” MOST unfortunate husbands find less opportunities to tell their wives how special they are to my wife.” I have no idea what he meant to say but it sounds funny. 

Finally my favorite, be sure to save this one for your spouse’s V-Day Card for next year: 

“If we just hang in there, we will emerge as the CUSTODIANS OF PASSION!”

LOL, I guess that is one love that really needs to be swept under the rug!

A Love Hate Relationship

Yesterday was one of those days that exemplified everything that is great and everything that is terrible about serving as a “missionary” in this country. We left home at 10AM. As AIMers we don’t have our own car so we had to rent a vehicle for the day to travel out of the city. We drove for over 3 hours. We arrived and were swept off to lunch. The nice thing: it was a great restaurant and the food was great. The negative: the pastor hadn’t mentioned that we were meeting with the executive board of an NGO that was opening an operation in his community. The positive: this group was looking for Christian young people to give scholarships to. They wanted pastors in the area to nominate young people for free university, And, those accepted would also be offered interest free student loans to go to medical school after their graduation from university. It was a good program. The negative: I was the “chief guest” of the day and expected to give a speech about the virtues of this scholarship program. I was not aware I would be doing this and was not aware of the work of the organization before yesterday. It was one of those moments that you just wanted to stand up, walk to the car, drive away and never come back! 

So then we went to a church meeting. I was promised everything would start at 7, exactly! So, when we arrived at 8:30 there was no one in sight! The church was empty. We sat around until about 9:15 then went to the church. At 9:30 they gave out rose garlands to all the special people in the church. That took 30 minutes. Then they turned the service to me at about 10:10. I preached, had a time of prayer and sat down at 10:30. We then had closing remarks and prayer until after 11. Then the crowds came to be prayed for because most people don’t believe God can touch them if the white man didn’t touch them. Then we had to have pictures taken with everyone. Then we had to go eat. We were assured the food was ready and on the table. 40 minutes later we were being served because they had to have time to finish cooking the food that I was told was already on the table. Then we had to have more pictures taken, do a few more prayers…. anyway, it was well after midnight before we got out of there and after 130AM when we got home (thanks to our driver going mach 10, normally that drive takes over 2 hours). 

All those things just worked together to get on my nerves. But the people were sweet, they were kind, they genuinely seemed to care about me (although they had no idea of how us foreigners value our time). They were the type of people you love to minister to and work with. Just not at midnight! 

It would have been a perfect day for some of you to be a fly on the wall and see exactly the blessings and headaches of working in this country.

The 4 Seasons

I read a joke about Canadian winters yesterday. It said there are four seasons in Canada: Almost Winter, Winter, Still Winter, and Construction.
I guess here we have Almost Summer (Feb – March), Summer (April –August), Still Summer (September – October) and Spring (November – January). It gets cool in the winter months but I’m guessing saying it got down to 8-10 degrees centigrade this year won’t win me any sympathy. So really, this winter was much more like Canadian Spring. We aren’t complaining!

Wedding Bliss

We just got back from attending the wedding of our driver’s nephew. A few quick thoughts: 

We arrived 4 hours late for the wedding and we were the second group to arrive! 

The service was at a denominal church that I won’t mention. I was surprised. The leader got off the platform at one point and asked a lady to leave because her child was making too much noise. During a wedding! I thought that was about as low as you could get. 

Furthermore, the church took up an offering after the ceremony! I know for a fact that the families had to pay a large amount to first “prove themselves to be loyal members of the church” by giving a donation, then the paid for the service, then they took up an offering! No wonder the church building was so nice. 

The reception was nice, we got in and out in 30 minutes and that included a large meal!

Mandy caused a little stir by suggesting the newlyweds should kiss after the ceremony. The women laughed and said “that is for tonight, not now!”