Living among thorns

In Matt 13 Jesus shares the parable of the sower. It's been a while since I read and meditated on this passage. Here's a link whole the passage: http://tinyurl.com/qzjzpj.

The part I am stuck on is in the explanation. Verse 22 "As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful."

I am realizing that the American church, for the most part, is living among thorns. We are consumed by the cares of this world, ranging from seemingly significant things like food and clothing to extremely insignificant things like fantasy football. I pray I can test my life and realize those things I have allowed to choke the word from my life.

Here is a video by John Piper. Test yourself. http://tinyurl.com/4z3nz3

He who has ears, let him hear.

A hiding place

So I have been reading Romans 4-8 recently. I even have Realplayer looping through the NLT audio of these chapters at different times during the day. It's amazing how little nuggets pop out each time I read or hear it.

Here's a snippet from chapter 4:

1 What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness. 4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: 7 Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,and whose sins are covered; 8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.

What an amazing connection from Abraham's faith to Ps 32 of David! Ps 32 was brought to my attention again a few weeks ago in lifegroup at my church. David is praising God for forgiving his inquity and not counting them against him. Verses 6 and 7 contain another great picture of God's protection:

6 Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found; surely in the rush of great waters,they shall not reach him. 7 You are a hiding place for me;you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah

Praise be to God who removes the guilt for my transgressions, who hides me in a place where the troubled waters can not reach me. Amen.

Oh yeah, by-the-way, (meditated on this while walking the dog and had to add more) God's forgiveness and protection isn't dependent on what I do, who I am in public or in private. It is who GOD is. David's relief from anguish came when he acknowledged his sin and confessed it to God. God's forgiveness is an ever present, ever flowing fountain. There is no off switch. Asking for God's forgiveness is like asking for air to breathe. It is always there.

Finding God in godless movies

One of the quotes I remember from Perspectives class last fall is "There are no godless people. You can find God in every culture. Sometimes you just have to look more closely." I enjoy seeing God in movies/TV shows even when it's are not intended.

One such movie is "Eagle Eye" starring Shia LaBeouf. It's another movie about a super-computer wanting to take control. It's a pretty good guy-movie with car chases, guns and things blowing up. The computer who "knows all" tries to control people and events to get the desired outcome. I won't go into a lot of detail and ruin the plot, in case you haven't seen it.

The computer's ability to know the timing of future events like train stops, red/green lights, armored car routes, camera locations, etc. reminded me of the God I worship. He has the ability to know how things will turn out as well and sets up divine appointments and divinely missed appointments everyday. Sometimes we see them as such and sometimes we don't. Amy Grant has a lyric that says "a reckless car ran out of gas before it ran my way" in her song Angels. Sometimes I "bump" into people and after talking with them think that had to have been a God thing.

In the movie the computer tries to control the people through fear of death to get them to move when she says move. Although my God is in control, I believe he does give us the ability to just ignore his prompting, sometimes by saying no to him and sometimes by saying yes to ourselves. He doesn't threaten to kill us, but we usually know when we miss an opportunity to heed his call and we know how sweet it can be to listen and obey his nudging.

Here is an example of God working behind the scenes... I saw this movie about a week ago and have been meditating on this line of thought ever since. Yesterday I get a letter in the mail from a friend with a photocopy of a devotion and a note saying he thought of me when he read it. Here's some of it:

What is my vision of God's purpose for me? Whatever it may be, His purpose is for me to depend on Him and on His power now. It is the process that is glorifying to God. God's training is for now, not later. His purpose is for this very minute, not for sometime in the future. We have nothing to do with what will follow our obedience, and we are wrong to concern ourselves with it. If we realize that moment-by-moment obedience is the goal, then each moment as it comes is precious.

God is always at work in our lives. Our part is to obey in order to bring glory to HIM.

Prayers to gods

While in Japan we visited several shrines and temples. A couple of our students mentioned how they really felt the presence of Satan. Others mentioned how sad they felt watching the people offer prayers to a non-existent god. Many were praying to the creation and not the creator. Some would enter and toss their coins through a metal grate into a metal box. Then they would clap two or three times. The clanging of the coins and clapping of the hands were an effort to get their god's attention. They would offer their prayers, bow deeply and leave.

Most of the temples were elaborate. Lots of finely carved wooden structures, many made without nails. The Shinto shrines were enveloped by nature, the creation. Some were constructed similar to the tabernacle with an outer court, an inner court and a "most holy place". Some even had priests that would pray on behalf of the worshippers.

At each there was a prayer wall. An area where prayers were written down or even purchased, and then displayed. The above pictures show one such display. Most of the prayers were not in English, but a few were. While reading them it struck me how similar their prayers were to mine. Many of my prayers are nothing more than a grocery list of needs and wants.

However, I have an all access pass to the creator of the universe. Adam communed with God, walked with Him daily in the cool of the day, but willfully sacrificed his spiritual life at the tree of knowledge. Jesus Christ willfully sacrificed his physical life at the tree of suffering and shame. Then he rose again, taking back his life from the grave, and restoring our communion with God.

Christ said, "I no longer call you servants... I have called you friends." Do we express our needs to our friends? I hope you have friends like that. However, do you have friends to which ALL you do is share your needs and wants? If so, I can say with great certainty they will not be your friends for long. No one likes high-maintenance relationships.

God is much more long-suffering than we are. However, I think our relationship with Him should be more than just an inconsistent (or even consistent) prayer life that revolves around a prayer list. Jesus calls us friends and longs for a 24/7 connection, kinda like those cool ear buds Jack Bauer types wear.

So let's try calling Jesus up for just a friendly chat. The kind where you really don't have anything specific to talk about, but it's just really neat to speak to someone who truly can finish all your sentences.

Back home, sort of

So we are back from Japan. Seems like forever since I posted anything. Japan was amazing, but like a whirlwind tour. People everywhere, counting 6 teenagers all day, things to do, places to see, then sleep (without waking at 4a was difficult). I'll blog more about the experiences.

Being back home is strange. Not sure if you can experience empty-nest symptoms after only three weeks, but the team was amazing. Take 6 teenagers from six different states (OK, KS, OH, MS, AL and GA), put them together on a team, take their phones and ipods away, give them a week of training, and then send them nearly 8000 miles away... what would your expectations be? They did a great job pulling together as a team. BENCHMARK Adventure Ministries (http://www.benchmark.org/) really helped by giving us several problem-solving activities to get us communicating and thinking as a team. We had no major blow-ups during our two weeks together in a city of 12 million people and a surrounding area of 35 million people.

Kudos to all 6: Rachel, Jay, Rebekah, Ben, Marissa, and Stef. I pray you guys have a great summer and God works in your lives in a mighty way. Remember the Baileys and the Bishops and the sacrifices they have made to be on the field 20-30+ years. Remember that your role in missions starts now. Always remember who you pledged to never forget.

Planes, Trams and Buses

We made it to Tokyo.  Yesterday was a long day.  We headed to the airport around 4:30a Nashville time.  

Check-in went relatively smoothly and security went quickly.  We boarded straight onto the plane and then sat on the runway for 15-20 mins while ALT decided when we could take off.  Atlanta airport is huge, but the Lord blessed us with arriving and departing gates right next the tram.  After getting some breakfast, we boarded the plane.  The pilot started backing the plane out and then stopped to inform us that due to volcano activity in the Aleutian islands, we were being rerouted.  That process took about an hour and a half and added about 3 hours to the flight time.

We landed in Tokyo around 15 hours later after traveling @ 8000 miles.  Tokyo airport was basically empty which was kind of weird.  Another huge answer to prayer:  all 14 bags arrived in Tokyo.  We met Ken Bailey, resident missionary, and caught a bus that would get us to their side of town in about 2 hours.

After a quick bite at McDonald's, we made it to the Bailey's and got in bed around 11:30p Tokyo time.  That would be 9:30a Wednesday morning in Nashville, about 25 hours from the time we left.

My back decided to act up last night after all the sitting on the plane.  It is pretty tight this morning and I may need to stay here at the house and let it rest before the afternoon activities.  A member of the church has taken off work to be our tour guide so I would really like to honor his time.

Thanks for your prayers.

How can I help?

E-Team training has gone very well.  Our 6 six students have bonded nicely.  We are a little concerned that we haven't had any flare-ups.  Sometimes it's better if it happens before leaving the country.  Our biggest concern, so far, is being serious when it's needed.  We have some jokesters and gigglers.  They are very excited about going.  The first day of training we take they cell phones and ipods.  Today we have returned them for an hour so they can call home.  It was great to hear their excitement about the trip and what they have learned so far.

Last night's service was great.  Sandy Atwood, a missionary's wife, shared her thoughts on servanthood, which starts with asking, "How can I help?"  

Here are a few thoughts:

20/40/60 rule

20 years old - everyone's thinking and talking about ME

40 years old - I don't care what everyone thinks about ME

60 years old - They weren't thinking about me at all

- Do little things as if they were big things.

- Real servants base their identity in Jesus

- Real servants serve for the approval of GOD, not man

- Real servants make themselves available

- Real servants think more about others

- Real servants do things that are beneath them

- Real servants keep the glory of God as their goal

Our flight leaves early in the morning.  We have to leave the college by 4:30am.  We travel to ATL, then 14 hours to Tokyo.

Thanks for all your prayers.