Rollin with my Homie Steve in India, the rides…

One of the many highlights of the trips we often take to India is the transportation we often get to embark upon.  Somehow it is never just a plane, or a car, there is always something different just for us Americans.   I love our Indian friends, they always try to honor us to the highest degree they can, and sometimes it ends up in some unusual forms of transportation. 

When we arrived at our hostel, there was a procession of Banjara folks armed with flower petals and leis, ready to pummel and shower us with color as we passed by on something that looked a lot like this ox cart.  It was a first, and a trip.  This wasn’t THE one we got to ride, somehow my camera was in my pocket while we were  trying to avoid making the bulls angry, and praying all the other people didn’t spook them (they nearly did).

This is one of my favorites.  Though we haven’t quite experienced this fun (15 people crammed into a three wheeled taxi), we have had the pleasure of riding in one to market.  A lot more roomy than what these guys were experiencing I’m sure, so it was good times.

Then of course, there’s always the bicycle.  Steve’s preferred method of travel sometimes, but also the main transportation of the many pastors we have come to know and love.

There are also the mighty SUVs (compared to all other vehicles) that we usually hire, but didn’t have to hire this time, thanks to the Lord.  He mightily provides for our every need.  Here we have our friends’ most recent purchase with the prayers and support of all who love them.  Of course the traffic in India is enough to scare anyone to death, and I can only say about it is you have to experience to know what I’m talking about.  First, you are on the wrong side of the road (the left) and second, everyone honks, and third, everyone passes!  Traffic lights and cops are a suggestion apparently, and there was a woman with dimensia there that did a better job of directing a 20 lane intersection than the traffic police were doing. 

On the first leg of our flight home, we were blessed with an “upgrade” when we arrived at the airport at 4 AM in the morning.  First class for the next 9 hours.  Let me tell ya, if you’ve never experienced first class, it’s GREAT, everyone should experience it at least once.  Upgrade was an understatement!  Full reclining seats, so much leg room you could get up and dance if you got the mind to, and enough waiting staff to see to your every whim.  Steve and I were exhausted, but neither one wanted to sleep just because of the experience of the mythological first class seating.  I won’t lie, it felt good to be one of the “jerks” people snarl at as they walk by on their way to coach or economy plus.  No pictures of that seat unfortunately, but it was a blessing as it was a tiring journey.  God is good ALL the time!

Hanuman, the monkey idol…

During our most recent trip to India.  We encountered one of the strangest idols yet.  It’s name is Hanuman, he is said to protect those who worship him from evil.  If myths were real, this guy would be on the “hero” side, rather than “villains.”  He is said to be conceived by a cursed water nymph  named Anjana (I’m thinking something like “Tinkerbell”) who was turned into a monkey form herself.  While worshipping one day, Anjana was blessed with a piece of cake which fell from the sky which came from a crow that was blown away by Vayu, the wind god.  Vayu went away and Shiva came along and told Anjana to eat the piece of cake, and from this she conceived a child from the wind god.

The child grew to have a voracious appetite and at one time threatend the earth by nearly eating the sun.  The sun god would have none of it according to legend and the sun was saved.  There’s a bigger story than that, but I digress.  He is also accredited with helping Rama defeat the demon king, Ravana, through his adjustable size and monkey/bear army.  Ravana was defeated after setting Hanuman’s tail on fire and Hanuman decided to grow to giant proportions, setting the entire city on fire.  To this day, Hanuman is depicted with a black tipped tail for his trouble.  Hindus see him as a loyal kind God who defends against evil.

I see him as a big rock with neither thoughts nor feelings for the sacrifices or poor families that pay him homage.  Here’s some pictures from my point of view that we encountered on our last adventure, and interesting article I found about our president.  Who’d have thunk it! 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7468662.stm

Giant Hanuman IdolSacrifices for idols

The sacrifices that people leave here for Hanuman, the rock that looks like a monkey, can be anything from clothing for baby dolls, food like rice, coins and money, and other sentimental type things.

In Claremore…

Okay….so I’m finally getting over whatever it was that I had.  It’s kind of weird…I get over angry butt syndrome; and then it comes back and hits me like an overinflated can of flaky biscuits (happened once, hurts SO bad).

Anyway, it’s good to be home.  I think I’m finally over the jet lag, I was beginning to think I had typhoid or some other foreign thing until a couple of days ago.  Mission report at church went good.  It was good to have mom and stepdad there.  My brother is getting baptized on Friday the 12th and my newest niece is getting dedicated on the 14th.  Life is good there.

From 80 degrees a couple of weeks ago in Hyderabad, India, to below freezing now here in Claremore, Oklahoma I stay warm with my bride and family.  I sure missed them.  I think I’m just now waking up to that fact.  It’s weird how it takes a couple of weeks to wake up from the stupor traveling abroad puts you in.  I think I’ll post some pics from the trip later.

In India…

It’s good to be home after a week in India.  For those of you reading for any details of how the trip went; I will unfortunately have to convey those details personally as not to put in jeopardy those goals that have been worked for so long now.

This and future posts regarding my trip will merely be my own personal reflections and spiritual nuggets that have been dug from the Word of God and men and women who have given their hearts and lives to Jesus Christ.  I will say those we work with and have come to know and love are doing well and are just as faithful as they have ever been.

There were of course the strange and curious things of India that struck me as odd that are just foibles of a different society that I may write about as well.

It did my heart good to be away from work for a week, I needed a break from it; not to mention other distractions such as television, radio, face book, movies, eating out and all of the other things I find myself doing rather than focusing on the Lord.  During this time I was able to focus on the words of Christ from Matthew 5, 6 and 7; otherwise known as “The Sermon on the Mount.”  I was able to watch my good friend and pastor deal with people as he often does with grace and humility, and deal with himself as he was often sick, he is doing better I believe, but he and I share the same stomach issues.  I was also able to fellowship with he and other brothers and sisters in Christ who have an affectionate love for each other in the Lord; I pray that soon, I learn these qualities of love in all places I am, because I know Christ is there also.

As for my health, well, I have managed to come back sick once more, although not as bad as in previous times.  I’m still having some stomach issues, but it is to be expected after eating things like chicken curry, bryahni, rice and boiled eggs all week long.  I’m tired, but I left myself a couple of days before going back to work so I should be well rested before returning.  For those who prayed, thank you for all your intercession, it was needed and we are now indeed at home safe and sound.

God Restoring our Vision

Freedom Sunday is over. Eastern Hills Baptist Church’s building is paid off as God’s people worked together to remove the remaining debt. Some gave sacrificially, some gave up their indulgences, and some just gave faithfully every Sunday. It’s a time of celebration, but also a time to reset our sites on our Lord’s perspectives. Ultimately we realize this is not so much new programs, new buildings, new parking lots, or updating old facilities, but setting our sites on those things that are not as tangibly evident.  Those things that can’t be measured on a spreadsheet somewhere but matter just the same if not more.  Tonight during our fellowship we discussed Christ “likeness”, love and light.

I am part of  Jesus’ Church, so I realize if any change or refocusing is going to be made, it is going to start with me.  Not that I will be responsible for any transformations, only the Lord can be responsible for that.  I’m just trying to acknowledge that I’m not going to sit on the sidelines while others do what God reveals to us.  I wish to see where the Father is working and join him. 

Likeness

Certainly the Father’s will is to conform us to the likeness of His Son, Jesus Christ.  (Romans 8:29)  We often hear that we should be “Christ-like” in Christian circles; but how exactly was Christ?  Too many times we get this idea of a really nice guy who walked around Galilee in robes and sandals.  He healed everyone he touched, hugged all the kids he could get his hands on and taught in whatever synagog he came across.  Well I personally don’t know if I’m capable of healing anyone, I don’t hug other people’s kids (unless I really know them) and I sure don’t teach everywhere I go.  Plus a robe isn’t the most fashionable thing in the world to wear these days.  So now what?  No wonder I’m so stinkin’ frustrated in my walk with Christ!  We could have  possibly set up a false image of Jesus in our imaginations and accepted it as fact.  Often times Jesus called religious leaders hypocrites, tombs full of dead men’s bones, and cups clean on the outside but filthy on the inside (I picture a really scummy coffee cup, blech!).  This certainly goes against the Mr. Rogers image we have of Him and will certainly do away with any guilt the first time we fall short of our own thoughts of Him, true or not.  We must search the scripture to see who He truly was and what He truly did.  There was time He invested in people and taught those people to invest in other people and help them in their walk with God.  We should conform to this true image that we have available to us through the gospel.

Love

Love must often be pursued.  It takes work to love people, especially those around you.  I love the Banjara people.  I can tell many stories of Sush, Damodar, Nageesh, Samir and others from India who we work annually with, but I honestly have to work to remember my next door neighbor’s name.  I have trouble recalling it now.  We could invite them to dinner one night, just to serve them, but I personally have never made the effort.  That’s the point, how much effort is being made to reach out to strangers so that they might not be strangers to Jesus.  How can one reach a world for Christ when not one person is reached by me?  Love…not my strong suit…no excuses, it must be pursued, effort must be made.

Light

Darkness is ALWAYS vanquished by light.  Light is never diminished by darkness as long as a source is giving off light.  We do not turn on dark.  We turn on the lights and where there is light there is no darkness.  For a world that is in spiritual darkness we as the Church must be a Light to them.  We must help them see to walk with Jesus, to not stumble and to reflect Jesus to them, just as a moon reflects the sun’s light to a world in darkness.  As a church we must be consumed with this purpose, as a fire consumes it’s fuel.  

I’m hoping as a church we will see God’s vision as it is revealed.  We will continue to pray that God will reveal specifics to us as we strive to do His will and put these three things into real people’s lives.

Waking Up

Recently my wife and I have been talking about losing weight.  We both would like to look better, but I personally feel like I lack any real discipline to look the way I would actually like to.  I know that doesn’t sound very positive, and hey I said we’ve been TALKING about it, not that we were committed to anything just yet.  Meditating upon these thoughts and attitudes though, I wonder, when would I ever look or feel my best if not now?  Why not start?  A person only lives once, and it’s not like I’m going to feel like doing this kind of thing when I’m any older.

I think for the past 8 to 9 months my brain has been on auto pilot.  I haven’t thought much about anything besides work, and when I’m home I just veg out.  I am happy to say though, that God is graceful and patient.  He has always been there, nudging me through hard times (and in my mind it seems that’s all there has been in the past year).  There’s been different thoughts forming in my mind though, thoughts once again of India, and missions, discipleship  and writing again!  LIFE!

A good cowboy friend once told me that anything good worth doing is never easy.  Jesus said that difficult and narrow is the path that leads to life.  I think I’m learning all over again that complacency, being comfortable is not the best thing.  Sometimes, we even have to determine in our hearts to sacrifice that we might have a little more of who we should be in the Lord.  I think I’m actually starting to wake up, and right now, life looks pretty good. 

Karen and I just might get creative with this weight thing…ultimately though, there will be discipline, spiritually and physically.

We’ve been learning a lot about the Holy Spirit in Sunday School class lately.  I believe for one of the first times in my life, that I’m sensing His hand here, working well in my family. 

Thank you Lord for your love and patience…

Did God Give Jonah Another Chance?

Wow, the last time I wrote I was feeling uncertain, feeling like Jonah, just wanting to obey…and I left it at that.

The job situation has worked out.  Despite my uncomfortableness, I’m going to work everyday and dealing daily with situations that only in the world of logistics would bring me.  God has never left my side, even though it sometimes felt lonely and so overwhelming, I am still here, thanking God that He is a merciful Lord and Father.

At the end of the book of Jonah, we see him so angry, “It IS right for me to be angry, even to death!”  He screamed to God.  I can’t imagine Jonah believed himself to be in the right when he answers the Almighty so rashly and foolishly, but he did it just the same.  Why in the world did God not zap Jonah into oblivion?  After all Jonah had been through, it appears he still does not understand God’s mercy.  God would have been just to destroy Jonah on the spot, but he doesn’t.

I’m so glad God doesn’t decide to do away with us whenever we have our little tantrums because we do not understand His plan.  I found myself several times over the past 6 months absolutely defying the Lord because I was so stressed out in my new position.  I found myself screaming in the dark, crying, having fits behind closed doors, sometimes thinking I was going out of my mind and wanting nothing more than just to get out.  A couple of times my wife believed I was on the verge of having  a nervous breakdown.  I did realize I needed to go to the doctor and get some help.   Besides that, I was acting crazy in the face of the Lord who had called me to a different ministry in life.  Now, I’m so glad he has different plans for me and my family.  I still get stressed from time to time, but God is there, He always was and is. 

I’d like to think that maybe Jonah was pretty stressed out the day he answered God so angrily, maybe, at the time, he really did want to die.  I think that maybe God understood this, and though He would’ve been just to destroy Jonah then and there, he was merciful to him and allowed him to continue in His work.  How do I know this?  Well, who else would’ve written the book of Jonah?

Me and Ole’ Jonah, Like Two Peas in a Pod

When Pastor Steve told me he would be preaching on Jonah after he wrapped up the book of Romans a couple of months ago, I had the feeling this book from God’s Word would be applying to me.  Turns out I was right.

We’re awfully hard on Jonah aren’t we.  Even non-Christians can tell us about “the man who ran” or “Jonah and the Whale” and put a negative connotation to him.  We look at Jonah and equate him with out right defiance towards God, and remember that God “punished” him for his defiance.  It’s enough to make any sinner quake in his boots if he or she would give the history of God’s Word more credit than a mere children’s story.

I feel for Jonah, and realize much of my situations relates to his.  Recently opportunities have come up that have blind sighted me.  I have a successful job, one where I am trusted, not micro-managed, make a decent wage, and I’m doing what I love.  Such was the case with Jonah, he had a successful ministry, when he spoke, people listened, and he was doing just fine in his career as a prophet until one day God blind sighted him as well. 

God told Jonah to head to Ninevah and cry out against it, to leave his comfort zone and cry out against a city that was wicked and needed to repent in order to escape the judgement of God, but they had to be warned of their sins, and Jonah was the man for the job.  The thing was, Jonah HAD to do what he didn’t want to do in order to do the job.  It cost him some pride, some discomfort (can’t imagine how comfortable being slowly digested by a fish just big enough to swallow you would be) diving into the unknown and his own understanding.

Now I have been faced with a situation in which I am VERY uncomfortable, I am afraid, panic overwhelms me on nearly a daily basis in this new situation that I believe God has called me too.  I believe I am obeying God’s will, but I do not understand why.  It makes me sick that I am so apprehensive on a daily basis, but as I learned today, it is not necessary that I understand the situation, just that I obey what I believe God’s will is.

Jonah did the same, once he was vomited by the fish, he went after his job with all he could.  Deep in his heart, he didn’t understand why God cared so much for these people, but Jonah obeyed, with very little of his own wisdom factoring into his decisions.

I hope I get it right, not making a terribly rash decision in a heat of panic, but I’m obeying…and for now, I pray that is all that’s required of me, not my understanding, and certainly not my emotion.  God help me love what He has given me to do.  Right now I’m just so uncertain….

Marked in Jail in Claremore, OK

            Mark, Chad, Zach, Johnny, RJ, Pat, Phillip, and I all have an understanding of God that we may not have had until this past Monday.  As I sat with these seven men from all walks of life who ended up in the same place by no other fault but their own, I began to share the things the Lord has brought to my heart.  Through the zealousness of a guy who changes oil in a local car dealership here in Claremore, OK, I am reminded that I am a marked man.  I shared with these men how they too are marked men.  They are not in this predicament through anything that I have done, just as I am not by anything that they have done.

            The Bible tells us that God knows the very number of hairs on our heads (Luke 12:7).  Normally this is a comforting verse to read, a verse that brings reassurance that God will take care of everything; that we are more important than the birds that God does not forget, but given the context I was sharing with these guys, it brought a shudder to my spine.  As we read that scripture, which, preceding just a couple of verses before, Jesus tells us to “fear Him, who, after He has killed, has power to cast into Hell,” it drove home the point…God is paying attention.  Scripture teaches that not one sparrow falls to the ground that the LORD does not know about, and He knows the hairs on my head.  It was at this moment I felt “marked.”

            If God is paying attention enough to know the hairs on my head, than surely He must remember that small piece of candy I stole from a convenience store when I was just a boy, which from that moment on, labeled me a thief (whether I was caught or not).  If He knows the hairs of my head, then He knows also the countless lustful thoughts I’ve had towards a countless of number of women (dressed appropriately or not) I just passed by in the mall or on the street.  Jesus said if a man just looks at a woman with lust in his heart he is guilty of adultery already.  If He pays enough attention that He knows the exact number of hairs on my head right now than surely He’s paid enough attention to the number of lies I have told to people I don’t even remember lying to, whether I remember or not, found out or not, one lie makes a person a liar, and I’m sure I’ve told many more than one.  A lying, thieving, adulterer…sins I have committed in my life and am labeled for eternity.

            I Corinthians 6:8-10 says this, “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortionists will inherit the kingdom of God.”  According to this verse, I cannot go to Heaven.  The Bible teaches God’s wrath is upon me…I am an unrighteous man who will meet a righteous God, who will meet justice, a marked man.  It is appointed once for a man to die, and after this, the judgment.  And I did it; I chose all of my sins, all by myself.  It was my free will that knows right from wrong that chose wrong. God would be absolutely right to give me Hell eternally as the deeds I chose marred my soul eternally. I am at His mercy.  

            But thank God there is mercy!  Praise His name that God would rather have a disposition of love than one of righteous judgment!  He alone provided a way for salvation.  Once I realize I’m a marked man and turn from the sins that made me that way and I believe in His Son – Jesus Christ, I am saved from judgment.  I am free from the penalty of sin, for Jesus, who knew no sin, endured the penalty and punishment and death for me upon an instrument of torture, the cross, and God sees that sacrifice as enough.  My fine is paid.  Praise God that Jesus meant what He said when He said, “It is finished.”  Praise God Jesus Christ is alive right now so I do not have to endure death and damnation that I deserve.  I am marked, but Jesus’ blood from His death covers my mark.  It covers that impurity which God cannot righteously look upon and I can be with Him.

            All of us this past Monday night, sitting in a little room in jail learned we were marked men, by our own special individual designs.  Some may have Jesus blood covering their marks, others sat, realizing they were enemies of God, realizing the truth of the Word and were forced to make a decision, repent and throw themselves at Jesus’ mercy, or wait a little while longer, remaining God’s enemy, with his wrath on their individual, hair-numbered heads.  Tonight I pray they have made the right decisions. 

 

Pray for these guys in the jail in Claremore OK.  They need it, they are everyday folks just like us who got caught doing wrong and they need salvation just like the rest of us.  Pray the justice they are receiving now will be an example to them of how swift justice will come upon them when they pass into eternity and they’ll have the brokenness to repent before it’s too late.

Discipleship Takes Two…Especially When It’s Painful

Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. He was well spoken of by the brothers at Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him…. (Acts 16:1-3; ESV)  This small excerpt in the book of Acts is easily looked over, but I believe it shows significant truth in the relationship between Paul, Timothy and the bond they had with God and through God. 

Timothy was already a disciple before Paul met him in Lystra.  He believed in the writings of the Prophets which were taught to him by his mother and grandmother, he believed the Word of God, and in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Paul found that this young disciple had a good reputation among men and wished to take him under his wing.  To teach and help Timothy grow as a believer in Jesus meant time spent with the young man, therefore he wished to take him and teach him to help spread the gospel.

Before Paul takes Timothy anywhere, Paul took and circumcised him “because of the Jews who were in those places.”  Apparantly there was an issue with Timothy accompanying Paul if he was not circumcised as they were.  His mother was a Jew, but his father was a greek and I would imagine that he didn’t see much need for the Jewish tradition.  Truthfully, Paul probably didn’t see much need for it either, and as far as we know he had this done BECAUSE of the Jews that were in that place, not for any other reason.  I’m not writing to dispute the validity of circumcision, Jewish tradition, or even the reason for why Paul did it, the point is, Paul thought it needed to be done and TIMOTHY ACTUALLY DID IT!

When I think of Timothy, I would imagine that he was at least 16 years of age, give or take a couple of years.  Question:  How many teenagers do you know of that would get circumcised because of what other folks about them thought?  How many grown men for that matter?  Paul obviously had some influence with this guy.  The Lord had even more influence, as the whole reason for this operation was so that Timothy could go with Paul.  

If Paul had never come to Lystra, would the thought ever had come to the young disciple to go to these lengths in order that the gospel be spread?  I believe not.  The Bible speaks of the relationship between these two men as a father to a son, Paul loved Timothy-Timothy loved Paul.  Timothy submitted to the authority of Paul willingly and did as he asked, just as Paul submitted to the authority of God.  In fact, I would even go as far as to say that, early in his Christian life, Paul was how Timothy knew what God wanted him to do, God gave marching orders to Paul, Paul gave marching orders to Timothy. 

I’m learning lately, that to have a “Paul” in your life is so important.  It takes guess work out of what God wants.  A mature Christian actively following the Lord can be such a tool for the Lord and go great lengths in discipling a young Christian who is also trying to serve the Lord but doesn’t quite know how to go about it.  It also means that sometimes, it’s painful.  It means that sometimes that mature Christian leader must “push” and encourage the younger to do things he never would think to do otherwise.  Such has been my life lately, public speaking, praying, teaching classes in church, going to foreign countries, and convicting those who would otherwise contradict the gospel we so lovingly believe in.  More times than not, I originally balked at the propositions my “Paul” would give, but those times were met with encouragement, a gentle nudge letting me know that what I lacked, God had enough and more than enough to get through.  Because of these times that he walked through my faithlessness with me, I’m not the man I was when I first believed in my Savior and Lord Jesus.  My faith has been stretched and I have been molded, and I appreciate the man who has committed himself to taking the time to involve me in God’s ministry, and be my friend.  Thank you.  It’s not always easy, and sometimes it’s even painful, but I thank God for the men that He puts in our lives to lead through our Lord Jesus, they are rare.

For those of you who wish to serve God with all your heart and have no idea what I’m speaking of, pray that the Lord would put someone in your own life to lead you as Paul did Timothy; so one day you, yourself, can lead faithful men as well.  It’s so much easier to go through those tough times when you’d rather just quit when the pain of “circumcision” comes.  That person God puts in your life will encourage you and keep you and lift you up when needed, and you may find that you NEED it more often than not.