Two sides to Paradise

The second week brought me into the book hold to work for two days and then I had a day off and went conch diving and ate fresh conch salad in the Ixuma islands with some of the hosts for our line up team. After that I returned and joined Charis (Ireland), Christine (the UK), Gary (Trinidad and Tobago), Esther (USA) and Marlene (South Africa) at an AIDS camp where we ministered by helping God clean walls, bodies and spiritual hearts and lives. There are definitely two sides to the Bahamas - I guess there always is two sides.

Logos II in the Bahamas

As the historic Logos II sailed into the Prince George port in Nassau, Bahamas where 3-7 cruise ships arrive daily, George and I and our friends watched as the ship was piloted in, but only after we rented a boat and met it out on the high seas (maybe high to medium high). Once on board I was able to paruse the massive book display with over 5000 different titles. George and I went right to work teaching the children, speaking in devotions and eyeing up their book hold. What a monstrous operation. Alongside all of this are many other duties inlcuding the galley, cleaning personnel, program personnel, teachers, deckies, secretaries and numerous other posts.

What's next?

It was only 7 months ago that I stood with other team members, being commissioned along with the 250+ other new recruits who are now scattered around the globe. On March the 11th, I will have been on the field with OM for 7 months. I have until August and then I will move on to the next phase that God is leading me towards. My first desire is to continue with OM and George Verwer for one more year and serve in 5 different fields throughout the OM world, two of which need to be India and one of our ministry ships. The other option is to return to school which I plan on doing eventually. Other than those two, I'm not sure what else is out there, but am praying and am open to whatever, whenever. I also need to serve on a field trip this summer. There is a couple of opportunities. One is a travelling evangelism team in North Africa. Another possible trip is to go to Lebanon to minster in evangelism with Gary Witherall and George's former gopher, Michael Kaspar. There are more but these two stand out. If anyone has any advice or insight, please pass it on. I continue to talk to Jesus about all of this

To See God's Face

I have been thinking for a long time about themes that run through the Scriptures and one that is coming up in Scripture as well as the financial and globalization books I'm reading (Re_Imagine, The World is Flat and Rich Dad/Poor Dad) is that personal responsibility is what gives freedom to creativity and freedom to lead by example. It is the embracing of pain as part of life, it is seeing people through God's eyes, seeing opportunities for money that don't depend on someone else except for myself, it is taking ownership of my gifts and faults and mistakes and victories all with humility. This is the kind of person that stands out and is given greater and greater responsibility by Jesus. The other side is that we depend on our boss for a raise and if he doesn't give us one, then we blame our arrested development in finance on him, we expect somebody else to teach our children the Scriptures and then when they don't receive the training they need to face the world we can blame our youth pastor, when pains comes we look for a reason or excuse or somebody to blame instead of just realizing that it is part of life and then move forward. So much in lack of maturity in leadership is the expectation that somebody else has to do it for me, explain it for me, teach it to me, give it to me, and when they don't we have the convenience of blame - that all started in Eden and continues today. I believe the truest and boldest leaders are the ones who take personal responsibility seriously and then use that posture to serve others. The wandering Israelites wanted someone to stand between them and God, because they didn't like to be that close to God, to have Him have that much personal contact with them. First they made a golden calf, then they told Moses to go by himself before God, then they blamed Moses for bringing them out into the desert continually and then they blamed him when they got to the Promised Land for bringing them to a death trap. The two spies took on personal responsibility and explained that "they" could do what God had called them to. Moses boldly asked to see God and not be hidden from Him. So in conclusion it seems that those who look to be most responsible personally with what God has given them and not depend too heavily on a leader, a politician, a wife/husband/boyfriend/girlfriend, a pastor, a parent, or anyone on whom they can formulate blame towards will end up being the bravest, boldest, kindest, most integrable and trustworthy servant leaders we have. How do we learn to be okay with owning our circumstances? How do we become whole-heartedly responsible for our every decision, both good and bad? How did He?

3-D Homosexuality

I am more convinced that people (Christians included) really like black and white approaches. It takes away the whole aspect of trust. I am listening to popular preachers and hear how good they are and what they are preaching and teaching and I know that it is what is needed but I want to be taught complexity and how to handle difficult situations that require more of me and a heck of a lot more complexity. I know that certain people can preach from the Text in a way that nourishes the soul, but does it cause the soul to mature so that it can hunger more mature foods. I had a professor at Moody who taught, not to satisfy, but to make you hungry for more - like a salt lick. The issue of homosexuality is a complex issue, and those who don’t see it that way are innocent in a way of thier ignorance because they haven’t seen the other side yet. Many people won’t leave the black and white world because they don’t know another exists. I was just thinking about that and it dawned on me that in the past I could sense that there was something more (when I was also existing in black and white-still need it sometimes) but I couldn’t see it, much like those puzzles that were really popular that you would look at in a certain way and then a 3-D picture would eventually pop out. What broke me through to see what was there and not just accept simple answers to escape complexity was the hunger to love more deeply. I knew that if I broke through, my love for those I was around would grow and yet I didn’t know how to get there, but I knew that they weren’t being loved as they could be by me and this is what kept thrusting me into the question until finally I encountered Jesus as a grace-giver. My eyes were opened like never before and I was able to see how to love those whom I had ministered to but had never sensed I could love them past a certain point. I think that the hunger for true love is what draws people into the reality of the complexities that surround these issues with homosexuality, but one cannot give what one has not first received - I will pray for others to trully receive love from God - full love - true love. If as pastoral leaders we love the Bride of Christ well, will she in turn love well. Will she finally embrace the hurting, dying and rejected. We need qualified leaders who can trully love - and the first training they require is to be loved and accept it fully - not easy. What do you think?

British Museum

This week I am hosting some good friends, Tim and Mandi Taylor and their new born son, Levi. They are fellow Moody grads and a special couple. We will be visiting the London sites together and will have a special tour of the British Museum which is filled with amazing pieces. We will see the Rosetta Stone as well as many artifacts linked with the historical truthfulness of the Scriptures. The museum is recognizing the Scriptures with more and more veracity because of what they are turning up and what is being pieced together with all of their artifacts. Apparently they own the largest collection of foreign artifacts in the world, many of them stolen I guess. But there they are waiting to be studied and to prove the historicity of the Bible. It's free so if you get a chance to come to London, don't miss it. (This is not the Rosetta Stone)