The Art of Christian Suffering

Here's the real secret, I don't want any of my supporting churches to know. I'm sort of failing at the suffering missionary thing. To suffer, you really have to work at it, because life in the vine can really be fun! There's a few things here that make that really difficult:

Tortillas: Nuff said. My neighbor grinds fresh corn daily, and deftly whacks them into the slightly smoky, pungent circles. I pick them up warm. I don't even buy them from the factory tortillerias. I get the pure, fresh stuff. Daily bread? Fugettabout it!

Chocolate: I actually get the toasted cacoa beans scooped into the grinder and watch it come out as a paste. Mexicans make all sorts of delights with this, but I discovered what it does to a US brownie recipe! Yeeehaw!

Unlimited Power: When the power goes out, I don't worry about the clock. Roosty will always be there. Thanks, Roosty.

Time travel: Yes, time travel does exist. Einstein knew that already. In Mexico, you can frequently jump ahead to the end of your day just in traffic alone.  I learned in Mexico that between political protests, flooded roads, or just plain bad traffic, I can slow down time- IN MY MIND! Just put on some Toby Mac in the car and be with Jesus a little while. By the time I get to wherever I'm going, I've already spent a year in the courts of the Lord. (I am the vine, you are the branches. If you remain in me, and I in you, you will bear much fruit. Outside of me you can do nothing.) I wasn't going to accomplish anything without Jesus anyway. So maybe, he just needed me to slow down with Him a little while.

Teleportation: Elijah was transported by the Holy Spirit from one town to another. I discovered this amazing gift here, never before revealed to me in California...walking. One day, driving to the store, I realized how silly it was. I parked my car, and walked across the street to the store in record time! God teleported me using my own tennis shoes! It took 30 seconds for me to walk out my front door to the neighborhood tienda. I bought a few essentials and was teleported back by the powers of my feet! My children also have this gift. They now can teleport themselves to the neighbors tienda to pick up milk for mom.

Don't feel bad that you're not a missionary. You too, can have the gifts of unlimited power, time travel, and teleportation. I can't promise you the tortillas and chocolate. You have to sign up for those.

To God be the Glory

This last Sunday, our pastor preached on Ananias and Sapphira. They dropped dead for lying to God.
(Acts 4:32-35; 5:1-11)

As we say in California, "That's harsh." Why so violent a punishment? Where was the crime? They lied by pretending they were offering it all. The lying, I think, is intertwined with the hunger for glory. I think the real problem is they were trying to steal a piece of the glory. Reminds me of another biblical couple that were decieved when they were told they could "be like God." Maybe Ananias and Sapphira wanted people to whisper their name in praise of their generosity, even though it's direct opposition to the Holy Spirit's purpose for unity in the Church. It's no innocent mistake, it's the devisive, snake-like, sinister lie that would doom the Church if left untreated. They suffered a swift and serious consequence that left an IMPRINT on the future church from it's very beginnings. Makes you think twice about trying to sneak honor that belongs to God. It's the original sin all over again. Here's another illustration from Acts 12:

Herod came dressed in his royal robes. He sat down on his throne and made a speech. 22The people shouted, "You speak more like a god than a man!" 23At once an angel from the Lord struck him down because he took the honor that belonged to God. Later, Herod was eaten by worms and died.

Wow. God must mean business about this. He wants ALL the glory. It just gave me some food for thought for the week, and the desire to take personal inventory of my motives. Have I reached out my hand to squirrel away for a rainy day what belongs to God? or, Have I taken a moment of pleasure by recieving any praise that belongs to God? Am I relying on my own skills or talents to accomplish the work of the Holy Spirit? It was a good reflection for me this week.

Faith Giggles

I was attending North Central University and it was my senior year. Also, I was poor. I had bus money to get to my inner city school where I was student teaching and that was about it. I had worked until 1am preparing lessons, but had no money or transportation to go out and get materials. As it was, I left my apartment at 5am to get the bus. (Some of you have much better "poor" stories than this, so I'll stop there.)

I walked out of my apartment into the quiet city of Minneapolis. It was still dark, and I was so tired. Thankfully the freezing cold woke me up a bit. Amazed at the utter silence and peace of the snow-covered city, I began to chat with God. I told God that I needed glass bottles for my science lesson at school that morning!!, and that I really couldn't do my lesson or be evaluated without them!!, and that my future career was hanging in the balance, and God if you really wanted to, you could have those glass bottles waiting for me at the bus stop!! Then I heard a laugh. Not aloud, but I got this mental picture of God laughing. WHAT? Again I prayed, "God...if you REALLY want to...they could be there waiting for me." Then I chuckled at the absurdity. Why would God honor such a random petition? Then we laughed together, and God said to me, "Say it out-loud, so that when it happens, you'll know it was me." So I spoke out into the quiet city, "GOD! If YOU really want to do it, you can have those glass bottles waiting for me at the bus stop!" There. I said it. Out loud. Now I was a crazy street person just like all the rest, talking out loud to the invisible.

I saw the bus aproaching the stop and began to make a run for it, sluggishly in the snow. The bus pulled up and stopped just as I ran up. I saw a brown bag beside the trash-can at the bus stop, and in a single fluid movement, I scooped up the bag and stepped onto the bus. I sat down breathlessly and looked at my mystery bag. How disgusting. I picked up a bag by a city trash can! But there was God smiling again. I opened my bag, and there were 5 empty glass bottles. No caps. No paper lables. Not your traditional miracle, but I like it. I read a devotional from Dan Betzer's Facebook today about faith, and it reminded me of this incident. Faith is the SUBSTANCE of things hoped for. (Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.) Those bottles, were real, and God's REAL answer to a very specific request. Those bottles didn't last, but here's what did: a lovely moment smiling with my God, creater of the universe and provider of my every need. Something changed in me after that, and I haven't prayed the same way since.

From teaching in snowy Minneapolis to being a missionary in mild Oaxaca, God continues to stretch and challenge my faith. That's why sometimes I still get the giggles when praying for healing, or for an open womb, or for whatever we cry out to God for. I can see God, as I told a friend recently, "tickled pink," to grant you the desires of your heart! By the way, this is shockingly, socially inappropriate. Good thing Jesus doesn't care about that. I love the song we sing here in Mexico, for the redemption of this giant nation, "Si tuvieras fe como un grano de mostaza..."  Matthew 17:20...for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.

My prayer career started out by praying for glass bottles; that was real and fun. In the last few years, I've started praying for couples to have babies; that got MORE real and WAY more fun! (What's more tangible than a baby?) Now I'm praying (with many others), for revival for the nation of Mexico, for a Holy Spirit outpouring, and for the poor to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. It's an impossible request. Look at the dark and disturbing reports. How dare I even speak it?! Yet, I still can't help remembering those glass bottles, and the smiling God who gave them to me...

May 5, 2011

My first blog was in January and I had illusions of posting every week with deep thoughts. Lost among all these deep thoughts, I forgot my password. I tried various configurations of every password I could think of- to no avail. I was rejected as I appealed to regain access to my blog. (They probably couldn't see my lower lip sticking out.) Today, as I prepared to surrender my blog name and create a new blog, I think I had one of those magical moments that Olympians experience after years of discipline and training- my fingers magically flowed and my mind shifted to automatic to type in the correct password. A very loose analogy, I know, but that's as close as I get to Olympian comparisons. So as not to overwhelm myself, I'll just post the verse that spoke to me out of my devotion today. Proverbs 14:30 "A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones." 

I really don't want rotten bones. And I really DO want life in my body. It spoke to me. (I confess, sometimes I DO miss those US shopping opportunities!) Today, I'm laying it all down and chosing to be satisfied with Jesus, and have a heart at peace. Rotten bones sounds- well, rotten.

The Curse Reversed

This last December we decided we needed a family dog. We anxiously anticipated our new member of the family and began to prepare. We got the dog house, puppy chow, dog dish, collar, leash, and even a book by the famous Dog Whisper. We turned our thoughts toward potty training and I surveyed our backyard, which is more the size of a field. Long past rainy season, it has dried out into a thorny patch of briers. I hated to think of puppy running around out there catching thorns in his paws and fur. I strapped on my gardening gloves. My shadow (Olivia), and I began to sing Christmas carols as we pulled the offending weeds. Whether consciously or not, I began to sing “Joy to the World,” and came to the verse
No more let sin and sorrow reign
Nor thorns infest the ground
Yes! I came into agreement with the song and prayer. Lord!, Get rid of these thorns and give me some grass for our puppy! By faith, I spoke God’s Word over my little territory. While I didn’t expect to wake up the next morning with our backyard looking like the garden of Eden, I did pray a sincere prayer. I enjoy watching the Kingdom of Heaven show up, (on earth as it is in heaven)! When the Kingdom of Heaven shows up, (Jesus), the curse becomes null and void. Jesus wore a crown of thorns on the cross, a symbol of the curse incurred in the garden of Eden. Yet the Good News is, for those who believe on Jesus, we can live under the blessing.  (Galations 3:13,14.) I like how Isaiah 55 puts it, talking about the redemptive affect of the Word of God on the earth.
Isaiah 55:13 (New International Version, ©2010)
13 Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper,
   and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
This will be for the LORD’s renown,
   for an everlasting sign,
   that will endure forever.”

Olivia and I realized the futility of our weed pulling not soon after, compared to the size of the yard. I threw down a blue tarp in one corner in an effort to kill off at least a corner of the weeds. It lay there over two weeks and I forgot about it, before the vet called and told us we could come pick up our puppy. On December 23rd, we drove as a family to get our beautiful little dog, Buddy the German Shepherd. He is a joyful addition to our family life here. I went out to the yard with him and lifted up the blue tarp. I was overjoyed to find a huge lush square of actual grass, an oasis in my barren yard! Perhaps the tarp had kept the dew from evaporating. Whatever the reason, God had answered my prayer of blessing over the land. I hope you will speak out a word of blessing over whatever territory God has given you. We can bring the promise and the blessings, to those who are harried and harassed by the curse. Blessings to you this New Year 2011.