Archive for January, 2009

International Justice Missions, Invisible Children, Falling Whistles, these are but a few NGO’s seeking to make a difference in our fallen world.  Abducted children forced into militaries, women raped without consequence, starving families beneath corrupt governments; but a small glimpse into the problems existing in our world.  Today’s flow of communication brings starving children into our living rooms, testimonies of heinous crimes fill the headlines, missionaries discuss outrageous crimes of humanity they see daily.  How am I, a child of God, to ingest an outlandish amount of horrific information?

If I focused on ever thought, all the problems existing today, my body would cease to function.  Yet feeling sadness in my soul when I see the dying children in Africa does not seem an adequate response.  What action does the Lord desire from me?

Tonight I met a man who sold everything he owned to move to San Diego in an attempt to start a non-profit organization.  Falling Whistles, www.fallingwhistles.com, eagerly desires to help stop the militias in the Democratic Republic of Congo from using five and six year olds as human shields.  Deep inside, I believe everyone would love to drop everything to travel throughout the country for such a cause.  However, each person God designed differently.  For a year I traveled throughout the world and the US yet the more I traveled the more I longed for a home.  I cannot do what David is doing for Fallen Whistles, for in a sense he lies at one extreme I could not manage.

The other side, in my opinion, rests a simple prayer.  I say a small prayer under my breath, often without thought but stemming from guilt, for the organization or situation.  Before I express any thoughts on this extreme, the issue of calling should be discussed.  God calls each person to different places, events, people, etc.  As a finite human, diligently studying at seminary and working part time may consume all of my time without shutting down.  I may be able to accomplish more each day, but in crossing my limit overtime, I will hurt myself in the end.

With that said, some people may be called to say a simple prayer for an organization or person, hopfully not vacantly but with earnestly.  Yet the entire topic of social justice seems to fit in the middle.  Saying a simply prayer seems inadequate yet sacrificing all I own goes beyond my limits God gave me.  How does the Lord desire his followers to handle social sin, widely known as social justice?

The first response from many people would be to pray for the Lord’s leading in their loves.  Often a cop-out answer, I believe much truth can be found in this answer.  Through seeking the Lord’s direction in our own lives we will find the only way to tackle any situation.  Reading his word and talking with fellow believers lays a start, but conversing with the Lord for oneself is where his words may be spoken to us in prayer.  In it’s basic form, simply asking the question “How should I respond to social justice issues?” is the beginning.  Fervently seeking the Lord on any issues opens the door for the Lord to move in one’s life.  Often I fall before this step, knowing if I ask a question the Lord will respond.  What I do pray, however, is for the Lord to encourage me, through prayer or through others to ask the difficult questions.  My prayer is that you will seek such answers to whatever struggles are in you life, with an open mind and spirit.  For it is in vulnerability the Lord’s hand begins to work on such broken hearts as ours.

Hmm.  The Lord has made my life quite an adventure recently.  A handful of people know what I doing, or where I am, but for those of you I haven’t talked to in a week or so, much has changed.

The Lord called me to CIU quite abruptly towards the end of the summer.  My stint in Honduras ended a month short while within a week of returning to the states I packed my car to migrate south, eagerly seeking the Lord’s desire for me.  Instantly amazing people from all walks of life and with many different callings surrounded me.  After a few weeks of church hopping, the Lord brought me to an amazing church of Riverbend where he ushered me into the college ministry.

At this point I started working at the Zwemer Center, met many of the grad students and began hanging out with some undergrads by playing pool.  I loved it.  The Lord brought me to an institution that eagerly desires to transforms your heart for ministry, a place my heart was in great need.  Classes started off slow but nothing unexpected for the first semester.  Meanwhile, I spend much of my time hanging out with friends. What the Lord made for me was good.

Towards the end of the semester, the Lord began working on my heart in a new way.  Before, He helped me to understand the importance of ministering with you heart just as much, if not more, than your mind.  I specifically came to CIU to transform my heart for my own sake but also to become a better minister for Christ.  However, after the grueling process of learning to love in a new way, the Lord began to shift my focus. The Lord firmly shifted my focus back to my calling, teaching His word.

Columbia wonderfully prepares people to minister as pastors and is world renown for it’s missionary training.  This training focuses on transforming the heart, practical application, and teaching solid theology.  The calling the Lord gave me goes beyond a solid theology; he called me to teach theology at a deeper level to believers and future ministers.  No matter how much I wanted to push myself to go above and beyond in classes, I couldn’t.

Something was lacking in my heart, something I didn’t understand at first.  My heart was being developed in ways I never thought it would, I was ministering at my church and many other places, I was doing great in my classes; what was missing?  A friend of mine started praying for me and with me about the situation.  After a few weeks I felt the Lord calling me to take the semester off, either work on Columbia or back in Ohio, mainly wherever a job was available.  I know CIU is a great school; but it would not prepare me for the specific ministry I feel called.

The Friday before my class started, my friend asked me a question, “Why not transfer this semester?”  Deep down inside, I longed to transfer to another school.  I hated the thought of taking about eight months off school.  I responded, “Well, let’s pray about it.”  During out time of prayer, I don’t think I have ever heard the Lord’s voice as clear as that day.  I thought, “If you desire this to happen Lord, you need to make about twenty things fall into place!”  God’s response, “I’ll open and close the doors for you.”  By the end of the day, the Lord worked an insurmountable amount of things together.  The next few days, he continued to confirm the calling in ways I never felt before.

In the past, when I seek the Lord’s will on an issue, I tend to feel 80/20 or 70/30 in one direction.  This time, every experience, time of prayer, reading in the Word, conversations with friends, everything, pointed to one side.

Many of you know the rest.  In five days, I settled everything I could down in Columbia, said goodbye to everyone I saw, and packed my car for Denver Seminary in Littleton, CO.  When I left Ohio to move to Columbia, a sadness existed in leaving my friends and family behind.  This time, it was different.  I couldn’t help but smile.  I knew I had many great relationships in Columbia where we helped one another out; simply stated, they were good.  A smile came upon my face driving away knowing the Lord worked through them in my life and he used me in their lives.  For me, nothing can compare to that.  Yes, I have a few regrets such as missing pool and volleyball, tennis and community dinners, but no regrets in my soul.

For those of you I met down in Columbia, I thank you for the amazing friendships we have.  I especially thank you for allowing God to work through you to soften this heart and see God in new ways.  I simply prayer the Lord touched you through me and he did through you.  Now I embark on a new adventure.  What lies before me, only the Lord can state.  Regardless of the fear and anxiety in me, my soul rests in a peace that transcends all understanding knowing this is where the Lord called me to be. Blessings.

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Please feel free to leave your thoughts, comments, complaints, etc.  I would love to hear my friends’ thoughts.

Last year I finally bought my first Mac, a glorious day. Since then, I’ve fallen in love with it. Ease of use, iPhoto, iMovie, iMail, iCalendar, the operations system, and everything else. If you don’t own a Mac, you are missing one of the simple pleasure of life. As with everything material in this world, after a year of use it had acquired some battle wounds. Being a good consumer, I decided to send it in for repair one week before the warranty expires.

Mac’s have one minor defect. The casing chips where one’s hands rest, nothing major, just cosmetic. It’s a known flaw they will repair free of charge without question, what a company! Of course I found another way to abuse my computer, this time my screen. The glass on the screen became cut, yet cut, by the keys. When I carry my laptop in my backpack, books weigh against the case and squeeze the computer together, forcing the keys to rub against the screen. My only response, my bad.

I made the hour and a half drive to the nearest Mac store to receive the repairs. Mac is so cool, when they take a computer in for repair, they check everything for defect and will replace anything without question if in the slightest need, again, they’re sweet. They suggest having you hard drive backed up in case it’s replaced; I didn’t so I drove back home to do so.

I did what was needed and sent my baby away, a sad goodbye. They paid for overnight shipping and the next day I received an email they received my mac and currently working on repairs. The repairs stopped and I found the scratched screen was attributed to my negligence, I expected that. $775 to repair the screen, didn’t expect that one. They did not want to partially fix the computer for liability reasons, therefore the case cracks were not going to be covered. Really…

I asked to speak to a manager. Calls were heavy and it would be about 10 minutes, so they asked if they could call me back. Such nice guys. Kenneth called me shortly with pictures of my computer. Without me asking any questions, he said the repair center said they were marks on my screen from pressure. He couldn’t see the damage they were talking about from the pressure and immediately said. “I can’t send you these pictures saying you did something wrong, because I can’t see it. I’m authorizing a full repair to the screen, case and anything else we find wrong.”

My responce,”I was a mac guy for life, but you just made it without question.” In this economy, what company answers you phone call without putting you on hold, shippes your computer overnight on their tab, looks at you computer the day it arrives, has a quote within two hours of it arriving, and then a manager looks at you computer himself saying you could have done something wrong (which I did) but we are covering the $800 repair anyways because it’s not obviously your fault.

What can I say, I love Mac!