Thoughts on grace...

I have been listening to Matt Chandler a lot lately (and so should you!).

He said something in one of his sermons that has stuck with me. He spoke about when his child began to walk that he wasn't upset after he fell after the first two or three steps. Instead, he was absolutely stoked at his child taking two steps. He then wondered if that is how God feels about us when we try to live in righteousness and love Him. Specifically, he mused after we sin (fall down) and ask for forgiveness, don't you think God is excited to pick us up and say... two more steps this time, go a little farther! 

His depiction of God as a loving father is so absolutely accurate. This doesn't mean God condones or doesn't "notice" our sin, Hebrews 12 makes it clear that God disciplines us as a loving Father. But, as a loving father he is also filled with grace and care... even more so than our earthly fathers!

God is so excited to see us come back to him, because what was once dead is now alive again. Today, I am consumed in thoughts of God's grace, not to condone sin, but to save me from it.

Luke 15:11-32... a beautiful picture of God's love and grace for you and me.

Beautifully soggy...

6 a.m. Woke up to the rain... promptly went back to sleep.
7 a.m. Woke back up and no more rain.... promptly got up and out the door by 8 a.m. for a soggy but rain gear free ride to work.

10 miles of wet roads and humidity it was a good ride.

Fenders are key...

The best way to experience God's creation is in all it's forms...

Marriage is worth it...

Marriage is one of the most sacred and beautiful covenants we were created to enter into. God designed it for us to enjoy it, and to experience Him deeper with the shared life and commitment to another person. I know I have more than enjoyed the three and a half blissful years with my wife Danielle.

Henri Nouwen suggests that marriage is less about our common passions and human love for each other, as it is solely about creating a dwelling place for God in this world.

Marriage is less about us and so much more about God... Truly Divine!

Here are three other men who know far more about marriage than I do...
Listen to them they are wise!

Piper, Carson, and Keller on Sustaining the Covenant of Marital Love from The Gospel Coalition on Vimeo.

The Discipline of Community

The spiritual discipline of community is a unique pursuit. Most spiritual disciplines tend to focus on you and God. While these disciplines can involve others and often as a group we celebrate the rewards of practicing the disciplines of prayer, meditation, fasting, and silence and solitude; the discipline of community requires the intentional involvement of others.

So often, we see Jesus in the gospels going off to pray and to spend time in silence and solitude with the Father. We also see Jesus pouring himself intentionally into the twelve disciples. Christ allowed His spiritual life to form a spiritual community. A community that was brought together around Him and the truth the He is God and our Savior.

Let us be intentional like Christ to form His desired type of community. It must begin with Him and end with Him; and along the way, He will form our community to change the world as it changes us. The spiritual discipline of community is truly all about loving Christ and loving each other, more and more intentionally.

Being Refined

The other day, I read an interview with Doug Franklin. He is a man that I had the fortunate opportunity to work for a few years ago. If you are interested in leadership development, particularly with teens, then you should read it.

I worked for Doug while I was LeaderTreks (He founded LeaderTreks). And, while there I found a new appreciation for evaluation. Not just comfortable, "you're doing a good job", give me a "pat on the back" to make me feel better without challenging me evaluation. I fell in love with evaluation that is honest, open, and challenges you to strive to be better. This type of evaluation is not comfortable. In fact, it pushes us out of our comfort in order to achieve excellence. Simply, it refines us.  

I will?

Right now, I am being refined. This is a good thing.

Radical Love

Jesus is serious about love.

Not just any type love either. He is serious about life changing, grace filled, your heart to his heart love. Do you remember that love that changed your life, which broke into your heart and consumed every part of you; even the parts you were ashamed of and thought could never be redeemed?  Do you remember how Jesus’ radical, no stings attached love changed all of that for you? His love is like nothing else we have ever experienced and He is passionate about showing us this love; over and over and over again. He cries out to us:

“ Come to me all you who are weary and burdened I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

-Matt. 11:28-30

Jesus’ love is radical. It powerfully changes our lives, our hearts, and where we could not find acceptance we are not only accepted but also cherished, and when we were consumed by worries, we find soul satisfying rest. As the ones changed by his radical love we should also be giving this same love out. Love is not love when it has strings attached.

Jesus is a radical lover.

Beauty is in the....

Beauty seems to be a fairly subjective thing. What one person finds beautiful another may find less than attractive or down right repulsive. We have all taken some type of art class, whether that be an art appreciation class in college or a general art class in high school and we have learned what is beautiful or what beauty is.

But beauty is something more than just the objective analysis of an object, image, or medium. Beauty by it's nature evokes emotion in us and it must be felt or experienced. Simply, beauty moves us. And there is no objective formula, equation, or analysis that can determine something that is so personal. However, we all know and understand what beauty is to us, personally. We all know what moves us.

These are some of the things I consider beautiful:

Ministry: At Home or Abroad

Diversity and sharing cultures.

Nature

Relationships

Bicycles and...

...riding a bicycle.

Chicago Deep Dish Pizza

The Art of Andy Goldsworthy: "Alderny Stones"

The Photography of Gnat.

Sport: Particularly Cycling

Impressionism: Claude Monet "Soleil Levant"

My wife, my life, my friends and family.

These are some of the things I find beautiful, you may not have found any beautiful, and that's okay. Simply, all of these things move me.While beauty is subjective in nature, there is one thing that is or should be beautiful to all people. That is Christ. We were created to be in love with Him and to find His love and care for us beautiful and moving. There is nothing in this life like experiencing His love, redemption, and salvation. Beauty must move us; and there is simply nothing more beautiful or moving than Christ.

The most beautiful thing ever: Jesus Christ

Digesting Haiti: Part 3

"Thoughts On Injustice"

As I have shared before, all of the children that we worked with in Haiti had been rescued from another orphanage where they had been victims of injustice. All of these children had been refused the basic necessities of life; essentially they were being tortured through starvation. It breaks my heart to think of the injustices that these children had to endure. They did not have the choice to be there or not. They did not have the strength to fight back. They did not have the resources to gather what they needed. It was because of an evil man who decided that money and personal comfort was more important than human life, so he intentionally neglected the needs of the children and used them to fuel his wealth. Honestly, it is disgusting.

I was reading yesterday in Isaiah 58. This is where God is telling Israel about what "True Fasting" is. God says,

 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood" 

God is clear we are to work to fight injustice. We are called to fight for the rights of the oppressed, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and provide the wanderer with shelter. This is the heart of the Gospel and the heart of our God. This should also be our heart. We should do everything we can to fight injustice. Not just what is convenient.Whenever I think about this topic and I think of the faces of injustice, I always begin to look at my life and see what I can live without so that I might be able to give more in order to fight injustice. 

Injustice happens all around us and abroad. What are we doing to fight it? What are we doing to live out the heart of God? What could you live with out in order to give more to fight injustice in your community or abroad? See when we feed the hungry, clothe the poor, help underprivileged teens and children through mentoring, go to foreign mission fields, donate money to aide organizations, and pray for those affected by injustice; we are fighting injustice. Try selling that boat, that extra car, those new skis, or live in a smaller house and give the money away. Also, go and fight injustice face to face. Look into the eyes of those who have been victims of injustice. Don't just give money; go. 

If you wonder, what could I possibly do or how could I change that situation? Well, it only took one man who cared and used his resources to free 259 children who were being starved to death. 

Just imagine what you could do if you put your mind to it.

Spending time with those in need,

human affection,

and painting nails can all fight injustice.

p.s. If you're not sure where to give, go here and click donate. They are an great organization and they are doing great work.

Digesting Haiti: Part 2

Today's post: "Our Accommodations and the Orphanage"

Before our 16+ hour travel day was over Dave decided to fall into a cravas in the road caused by the earthquake and then almost subsequently fall through an expansion joint on the bridge (we were all yelling at him to watch out but he was busy talking and didn't notice till I grabbed him) that was open a good foot. *Note, this was the bridge that was out and forced us to take to foot with all our gear and meet our second driver a half hour walk up the road.  

After Dave fell into the cravas in the road I asked him to stop and let me look at his foot ( I somehow got the job of team medic and make sure Dave doesn't hurt himself) since his sandal had been ripped off in his fall. Dave concluded he was bleeding and that if he just kept walking it would get better. After trying to reason with him I struck a deal that when we get to the compound he'll let me look at it, it I let him continue to walk now. Well, when we got to the compound Dave had nothing but a few scratches for me to clean. I looked at his foot several times astonished at the lack of damage done to it. He had described feeling blood coming from the side of his foot after falling into the cravas. After cleaning it all, I said, looks like you got lucky. He looked at me and said, I know my foot was bleeding, the Lord healed it. I could only agree after seeing the place that he fell into and the damage his sandal sustained.

When we woke we found this. A pleasant treat and immense beauty.

Joy and Chris and Danielle and I, found a couple good spots to pitch up our tents and we gladly retired for some much needed sleep. We weren't sure how close to the ocean we were, but our minds were soothed to sleep that night by the repetition of waves crashing onto a beach that seemed very close.

The area where Lex and Renee's (the missionaries who run Mission of Hope) guest house compound is strikingly beautiful. In fact all of Haiti is remarkably beautiful. Our accommodations had mango and coconut trees on the property, a beach front view of the ocean, and the stars were amazing at night (better than anything I have ever seen in the northern hemisphere). Haiti is an amazingly beautiful place that is juxtaposed with extreme poverty... words can't fully express the reality of this.  

The beach and fisherman's boats.

The chakoon. This is where we ate almost all our meals.

Chateau Bartholic: Truly lovely accommodations.

The river. This is where the Haitians would bathe, go to the bathroom, and get drinking water.

Our days began with breakfast around 7am under the chakoon (I think that is how it is spelled). Breakfast always consisted of fresh bread, coffee, fresh grapefruit juice, peanut butter, and bananas. Sometimes we had oatmeal, rice pudding, or some other variation. The meals were absolutely wonderful! Lunch was always a mystery, we never knew when it was coming or what it would be. But we were pleasantly surprised and sufficiently blessed by the MOH team. Dinner's might have been my favorite meal each day. We had the same thing each night. It was rice and beans with a beef and onion sauce to go over it. It was simply amazing. The first night we had it I was blown away by how good it was. I expected simple food and it was simple, not fancy, and not American (I loved that!). But it was simply amazing. Our missionaries were absolutely amazing hosts. I am very grateful for what they are doing in Haiti and how they work with shot term teams.

After breakfast each day in the morning and into the afternoon,  we would paint the newly constructed guest house. Lex and Renee had lost over 80% of their housing in the earth quake and began construction on a new guest house in March. Since then they finished the first floor and are almost completed with the second floor. All of the building in Haiti are made from poured concrete, that is hand mixed in most cases. We painted most of the first floor while we were there.  

Chris painting and I was making sure the bucket stayed closed.

Dave and I painting.

Joy working on the trim.

The front left corner of the new guest house. You can only see half of the front here.

  After we finished painting for the day we would eat some lunch and then load up in a vehicle to go to the orphanage. The first day we went to the orphanage Lex came up to us and said, he wanted to give us a tour of it. I thought, oh that will be nice we get introduced to some people and he show us the ropes a bit. Well, when we got to the orphanage, we jumped out of the truck and then Lex waved to us and said, have fun! Then he pulled away and left. So much for the grand tour I thought we were getting!

Pulling up to the orphanage.

We ended up being there for well over three hours that evening and it was one of the best times of the trip. I absolutely loved going to the orphanage each day. There were 32 orphans living there and I can't express how much fun it was to go and hang out, play with, and just show love to these children who just crave all the love and attention you can give. Lex rescued each of these kids from another orphanage where, they were essentially being starved to death. Yet, when you see them now (because of Lex's care), they are smiling, healthy, beautiful little kids.  It is the knowledge of what they have been through that makes me weep for them and burn in anger against injustice. Things like this should never happen to a human being. If all we ever do in our lives is fight injustice in the name of Christ I believe we would have the most fulfilling life one could ever ask for. 

Everyone liked the extra tall guy!

Getting mobbed... it was great!

Dave was a hit with everyone... when he wasn't injuring himself.

Soccer?....Nope, Football!!!!!!

Saying goodbye to this little girl broke Danielle's heart, if she could have brought her home she would have.  All our hearts were sad to leave the kids.

 

 

 

 Well, I'll leave you with all of that to digest. So much to share...

Digesting Haiti: Part 1

I know it has been a while since I have last posted. I spent the last couple of weeks finishing year end things for both of my jobs and digesting our recent trip to Haiti. I hope everyone had a chance to go and read through all the great stuff at Mission of Hope and Be Like Brit.  If not, you should. 

Well, I am going to be recapping our trip over the next several posts. I'm not sure how many there will be; we'll work on that as we go.

Day 1:

We left Pittsburgh International at 6 am for a connecting flight to Atlanta, then on to Fort Lauderdale, and finally arriving in Port au Prince around 5 pm (or so). The flights down were anticlimactic and I must say that traveling with our group was one of the easiest traveling experiences I have had. The only hitch in traveling was caused by me. While on our way to our terminal in Pittsburgh I got cut of and separated from the group on the escalator. It was a rather embarrassing event. I consider myself to be a well seasoned and swift traveler, but I got cut off by a Grandma while getting on to the down escalator. She swiftly separated me from the other four members of my group and planted herself and her wheeled luggage with no room to pass. My group looked back and laughed at me, as they had no one to impede their downward progress and ran to catch the next tram. I, not wanting to be mocked for the rest of the trip (because I let a Grandma cut me off) and needing to restore my honor; decided to pursue a short cut to the tram. With my fully loaded backpack on and carrying Dave's over stuffed duffel bag I hoped over the side of the escalator and rendezvoused with my group right before the tram doors closed. Honor restored and grandma adverted... in an albeit unconventional but highly effective manner.

In our travels to and from Haiti, I did notice that there was a significant difference between International and  Domestic travelers. On our domestic flights it seemed that everyone boarding the flights forgot how to find their seats, store their luggage, and use the seat belts. It was as if all 200 people on the plane never flew before and were learning how. However, when we boarded our International flight to Haiti, it was smooth sailing. Everyone knew where to go, how to store their luggage, and most importantly how to use their seat belts. I must admit I like flying internationally... it is way smoother (and we didn't all speak the same language; that might have been the key).

When we got in to Port au Prince things went smoother than anticipated (well we weren't really sure of what to anticipate). Our flight out of Fort Lauderdale got delayed a few minutes and by the time we got through customs we were almost an hour later than we should have been. Not a significant problem, except we had no way of getting in touch with our ride to let them know we would be late. So we were left hoping we still had a ride when we got there. And don't you know it, we did!

After customs we met our ride and loaded up into the truck. Danielle, Joy, and Dave climbed inside of the truck, while Chris and I rode in the back with four other Haitian guys and our luggage. It was an awesome trip riding in the back of the truck and something Chris and I looked forward to at every chance. Our destination was Gran Goave which is 60 km (37 miles) west of Port au Prince. This drive took us 4 hours in total (including a 30 minute hike).

A less than busy street in Gran Goave.

I must say that riding through Port au Prince that evening was one of the neatest times of the week. When we left the airport it was still light outside and we got to see bits of the city in the last minutes of daylight. Soon though, evening came and we got to see the city at night. Traveling in Haiti is not like anything in the US. While there are general rules to the road the most important one is "The biggest vehicle gets the right of way". This applies whether you are on the correct side of the road or not. There were a few times we crossed into on coming traffic to pass other slow moving vehicles. It seemed odd to me, but it was just a normal practice for our Hatian driver who executed it perfectly and delivered us safely to Gran Goave.

Danielle in the truck.

The roads in Haiti are a mix of pavement, dirt, and gravel. There were large sections that were still in disrepair from the damage done to then by the earthquake. Couple that with the unreal amount of traffic and the roads are a trip to say the least. Imagine a four lane road packed with vehicles, now insert motor cycles weaving in and out and going between cars, masses of people walking inches from the packed roads, and people selling food and various items in between the vehicles as they pass. The only way to explain it is "logical chaos". It seemed to have no order or rhythm when we first started traveling. But, as we went on, I could begin to see what looked like chaos was actually a series of planned and executed moves by each person. Everyone knew how it worked and flowed in rhythm. It was a very neat thing to see and something I grew fond of quite quickly.

Goats by the road side in Gran Goave.

Arriving and traveling through Port au Prince and Gran Goave was surprisingly comforting. I know it must sound odd. Leaving a country with clean running water, electricity for all, food any time of the day, and all the modern conveniences and trappings you could desire. For a country with burning trash in the streets, more unclean water than clean water, little to no infrastructure, and seemingly chaos everywhere, was comforting. Chris and I had been chatting on the way down and he expressed how excited he was to be going back to a third world country, how every third world country he had been in felt like home. I had never been to a third world country before this, and when we were in the truck and smelling the burning trash for the first time he leaned over to me and said, "I'm home." In that moment I got what he had been feeling and longing for, for a long time. Haiti didn't look like, smell like, or sound like the place I live. But, somehow it felt like home.     

A New Year in Haiti

This year I had the opportunity to celebrate the New Year while in Haiti. A group of five of us left on December 28th for Gran Goave, Haiti for seven days. Gran Goave is about 57 km west of Porte-au-Prince which by Google directions should only take about 58 minutes (it took us 4 hours which included a 30 minute hike). That trip began a wonderful week of ministry to the people of Gran Goave and a growing partnership with Mission of Hope and Be Like Brit.

While we were in Gran Goave, we worked in an orphanage and doing some painting. While at the orphanage we spent the majority of our time hanging out with the children. We would play soccer for hours and try to communicate through broken English and  limited Creole. This allowed us to say hello and goodbye,  ask each other's names and ages, and wish each other  a happy New Year. Even though communication was limited, love always seems to be spoken the same in all languages. As a team we went to love and care for the children in the orphanage and whomever God placed in our path; but as it is with these trips you yourself feel loved and cared for by the very people you are ministering to. This is the beautiful thing about ministry! As the week progressed I made friendships with the children and they ministered to me just as much as I hope I ministered to them.

The hardest thing about a trip like this is to try and capture all you felt and experienced in words. The phrase that keeps coming up in my mind is, "This trip was good." and that doesn't seem to touch just how good it was or just how good God is. I will continue to post more on our trip as I process through the memories (And I will post pics too!). So for now I want to thank each and every one of you who supported us with financial gifts and prayers; you made this trip possible and played a large role in it's success.

In the meantime as I process all the memories and pictures together you should check out Mission of Hope and Be Like Brit. Both of their stories are amazing and they are doing amazing work. And, if you have left over Christmas cash  hanging around or if you spent all your Christmas cash, return something and support them.