This afternoon I had the privelege of eating one of the best burgers of my life. Adam and I were in Hollywood beach after a meeting ad got to feast on one of these 13 ounce burgers at Le Tub. It came with a view of this. It was one of those I’m not in Illinois anymore moments.
This photo might be the best representation of the average age of Fort Lauderdale.
It seems that the simplest of questions tend to be the hardest to answer. My roommate invited me to guest blog about what Christmas means to me, and over the last several weeks I’ve been stewing over how to respond. I’ve started answering this question 20 different ways in my head, but my answer always ends the same.
Initially, all my family traditions come to mind; decorating the family Christmas tree with homemade ornaments from years past, anxiously waiting at the top of the stairs for my brothers to wake up so I can fly down the stair steps to open my presents and my mother making eggs and blueberry muffins for breakfast. Then piling into the car and driving for three and one-half hours to spend the rest of the day with my extended family. However, these family traditions are not the reason I celebrate Christmas.
Although I’m not sure where this got lost on me, but this year I recently came to understand what the term advent means. Advent simply means “coming” or “arrival.” Much like my anxious anticipation of Christmas morning, advent is the season to celebrate the arrival of Jesus Christ.
The Old Testament serves as a series of unmistakable signposts pointing towards Christ’s arrival on earth. Abraham, the father of Israel, is promised that all nations on earth will be blessed through him. He was only able to see and welcome this promise from a distance, as he knew it wouldn’t come true in his lifetime (Hebrews 11:13).
Isaiah 53 foretells the life that Christ will live; painting a picture of the man we were all waiting for. Israel was a nation in waiting. Advent is a season of celebrating the thing we’ve most looked forward to…the coming of God in flesh (John 1:1) to redeem us from our slavery to sin. Jesus was the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham to bless all nations through him.
Another great way to view this is as explained by a great friend of mine:
“The Old Testament is like a deep breath, slowly drawn in from Abraham through the Prophets, held for four hundred years of silence, and then bursting forth in angelic song (“We bring you good tidings of great joy which will be for all the peoples!”) and a voice in the wilderness (“The kingdom of heaven is at hand!”). We celebrate because we waited once and God answered with his Son. Now we’re waiting for that Son again.”
So, people who lived a long time ago anxiously waited for this baby to arrive. What difference does that make to me? Galatians 4:4-5 explains that: “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.” God sent his one and only Son to live a perfect life, die on the cross to absolve us from our sins, and purchase a place for us in heaven. Christ died on the cross in order to bring us back into relationship with the God of the Bible. All we have to do is accept this gift by faith; trusting wholeheartedly in what Christ did on the cross, repenting (make a 180 degree turn) of our trespasses against him, and committing ourselves to following him.
If I were to summarize what Christmas means to me, it would be about the awaited arrival, and celebration of the Savior of the world. God becoming flesh and dwelling among us, reconciling us back into a right relationship with himself. It also now serves as a reminder that His children are also a nation in waiting.
Over the last several weeks I’ve been exploring the idea of what Christmas means to me. I’ve even written a guest blog for my roommate on this topic; soon enough I’ll post it on here as well. To whet your appetite, I’ll leave you with this great reminder from Charlie Brown Christmas.
These past several weeks hurried by. It started with an Xee launch in Allendale, MI and then a motorcycle ride to Lake Junaluska, NC for our biannual EE Summit. I’ve since spent the week with friends in Franklin, NC riding the Highlands road as well as the infamous Dragon’s Tail at Deals Gap (here’s a borrowed video to give you a taste of what it looks like.) I’ll write more about my adventure once I get home. Photos soon to follow.
This is an email I received recently. On the surface it seems unrelated to our ministry, however; if you remember 2 people from our El Salvadorian host church were being sent to that clinic. Please be in prayer for David.
An urgent prayer item from David in Guatemala:
(Summary translation) On June 25 at the startup of two simultaneous EE clinics in Guatemala City —a Kids’ EE teacher training clinic and an EE Youth clinic— armed bandits entered the “Open Bible” host church, ordered everyone to lay on the floor and turn over their cell phones or be shot dead. The thieves also took the laptop computer belonging to Paola Gomez (the Kids’ EE organizer/teacher/facilitator), as well as the ministry’s video projector.
Most of the people present for the training were teenagers, and the atmosphere was very tense. However, we know that we have the joy of “stealing” away souls from the Devil who has come to rob. He who is with us in more powerful and will give us the victory in the next three days of the clinics.
We invite you to join with us in this great battle, confident of the Lord’s control and power, knowing that he is very present with us, and that all will turn out for the good.
In the all-powerful Christ who is Lord over all of heaven and earth,
David
This morning I was reading through Romans 12. A familiar passage to me, mainly for verses 1 and 2; however, this morning the second half of verse 10 leapt off the page. In the ESV it says “outdo one another in showing honor.” The NIV says to “honor one another above yourselves.” Phil 2:3 seems to add clarity in “do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.”
What would it look like if we outdid each other in showing honor? How can I apply that truth to my life today?
This afternoon I was pouring over websites, emails, and short term mission guides about re-entry when I stumbled upon this article in Momentum Magazine. It’s an article entitled “Learning From Failure” by Justin Long. I’ve included it here for your reading pleasure.
Today Steve Addison wrote about our planning for failure. I remember many years back giving a talk–which was not well received at all, I have to admit–about “planning for failure.” Many of the Americans in the audience felt that I did not have enough faith and power, but it was probably my own failure–to communicate–that caused them to miss the point. We have to experiment, to be willing to fail, if we are to succeed. In other words, it is small failures that keep big failures from happening.
This is (one of) the secret(s) of Toyota’s rise to become the most profitable car company in the world, and one of the largest producers of cars: that they are willing to experiment, willing to fail–because they learn from their mistakes. It is no good experimenting if you are unwilling to learn. “Insanity,” as Einstein so famously said (and has been so often quoted by unreached peoples strategists), “is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”
Two stunning examples to consider:
If you want to learn from this, the best thing to do is to Google for “continuous improvement” and “lean manufacturing”–and then think about how to apply this to missions.
See also: Scott Berkun’s post on people who want to be creative without change. (Scott is an ex-Microsoft employee who focuses on innovation and project management. He has a great book titled, “How to make things happen”).
I was recently introduced to this brief lesson in astronomy. It really puts Psalm 8:3-4 in perspective.
Psalm 8:3-4 says:
3 When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?
Ever had that day? The one where everything seems to go wrong? The day started off well. I accomplished the tasks I needed to do at home and was headed to the gym. After making some in transit calls for work, I was able to get in a good work out. Afterwards, I got in my car and tried to start it. Nothing, not a sound. “Miles,” my car, didn’t cough, sputter, or produce any kind of a spark (don’t worry, I tried jumping it before I called the tow truck). Dissappointed with Miles I went to call a tow truck. Mind you, I just had talked up how reliable Miles was to a friend. Dilemma two started when I realized that I couldn’t find my phone. How do you call a tow truck when you’ve just lost your cell phone? Better still was when the towing company asked me for a number to reach me.
I will say that the people of Lifetime Fitness were a great help. I greatly appreciated them going out of their way to help me. Once the tow truck was on it’s way I went out to my car to wait for them. 40 minutes, and an old school sermon I started praying. Much like Samuel, I let God know that I was listening, immediately after that I turned the key and Miles fired right up. Just like old times.
The amazing part about all this was the peace I felt when it all took a dive. My only response to people was “what are you going to do?” There didn’t seem to be a reason to get upset. The people helping me seemed more upset by the circumstances than I did. What a great comfort to have a God who provides peace in the midst of rough day.
