"Why Ethiopia?"

After hearing about our upcoming mission trip, some people have asked me, "Why Ethiopia?" This leads me to believe that I've not done enough to talk about why we're going. That's pretty obvious. My plan all along has been to spend quite a bit of time talking about it after we get back and I feel like I've got more to say, rooted in first-hand experience. I think this was part of the problem with our (short-lived) involvement in Kenya - I didn't have enough firsthand experience. So I've not wanted to moderate my talking about it. But I've realized people like to know why their pastor and another key leader (Rebecca Chadwick) are going to another continent for the better part of two weeks. And there is a story. So I guess it is time to tell at least part of it.

The story of "Why Ethiopia?" begins, I suppose, with "Why not Kenya?" The leadership of River Valley Springs Children's Project are wonderful people who are passionately devoted to Jesus and his Kingdom. The work they are doing is good and I think it makes Jesus happy. Yet, after roughly 18 months of involvement, several things became clear: 1) there was a gap in our expectations; 2) our level of involvement to see the kinds of things happen that were really on
our heart would require more time and energy and expertise than we really had; and 3) it became clear that we shared a different philosophy of ministry. This last point had especially to do with wanting to connect what we were doing in with the larger Vineyard work in Kenya and East Africa; we wanted this, but it became clear it wasn't going to be possible.

Anyway, so around the same time that we were wrestling with the decision to potentially leave the River Valley Springs partnership and consider another, the church sent Rebecca down to Florida to participate in an international African Vineyards Partnership Summit. It was inspiring and challenging. She met with leaders of several partnerships and heard lots of great testimonies of what God is doing in Africa through the faithfulness of everyday Christians and everyday churches just like ours.

Among the best interactions was the opportunity to meet a dynamic young African-American couple from suburban Los Angeles who've been going to Ethiopia for the previous several years. There had never been a Vineyard church there, but now there was a growing church and a local leader dedicated to planting churches in his culture. Since that time, a number of other small faith communities have sprung up, so that now it seems there are seven Vineyard groups throughout the country. Ethiopia has a legacy of deep Christian commitment and a history of famine and intense suffering. More recently, Ethiopia has become a front line in Islamic missions. A number of prominent Muslim leaders have declared that they want to make Ethiopia into a Muslim country, in a fashion similar to much of the rest of North Africa. And, like much of the rest of Africa, Ethiopia faces looming environmental and economic crises, besides the ever-present specter of AIDS and other diseases. In other words, it is a people and a land ripe for God's Kingdom.

Throughout most of 2007, I spent time in prayer and discernment over where God would lead us for our mission to the nations. Africa and the Muslim world have consistently stood out, because of their timeliness on the world scene, our church community's passion for these areas, and our own setting here in metro Detroit (with such large African-American and Muslim populations). And as I've prayed, Ethiopia keeps coming to the forefront over other possibilities. So that, in brief, is "why Ethiopia."

Now for the trip and we'll see what God will say and do.

And then, when we get back, we'll talk further about it as a church. This is, after all, a partnership of church communities, and so, as much as possible, we want to own this together.

"So is this your first time going to Africa ... ?"

This is a question I've been hearing a lot of lately from my well-traveled friends. I'm going to Ethiopia in a few weeks (I can't believe it is right around the corner!) and when I tell my friends, I often hear that question. It is usually associated with a knowing look. Its as if they're remembering their first time in Africa. Everyone whose been says that you come back changed, once you've been to Africa. Is it true? Why is it? They say it gets into you and you're different. Will it be that way for me? I suspect it will, but I'm slightly nervous that knowing about this change ahead of time will somehow jinx it. I know it is stupid, but it is something I think about. But I'm sure that I will be changed, and probably in ways I can't quite anticipate or expect. I'm looking forward to my trip. I know that the biggest fruit in a short term missions trip is in the missionary - and not the ones ministered to. What will God grow in me?

They grow so fast

I know it is cheesy, but it is sort of true. Kids do grow fast, don't they? I mean, you don't really notice it for a while, and then, all of sudden, there it is. For me that happened the other day. Eli has this favorite pastime we call "Climb the Mountain." I'm the mountain. I grab his hands with my outstretched arms and he then walks up me. It is fun. Well, only maybe six months ago, he could climb all the way up me and stand straight up on my shoulders and not touch his head on the ceiling of our kitchen. Now, just the other day, he couldn't even stand up straight on my shoulders and his head was banging the ceiling! My how they grow.

i surrender

i think i've blogged about this before, but one of the biggest challenges i face is each morning from about 7:30-8:45. that's the time of day that i most just want to sit down and check and reply to my personal emails and blog and sip my coffee and talk to meg or read a part of my book. my kids have other plans. this is the time of day that they love to climb up into my lap and eat their second breakfast, or fight over toys or whatever. generally anything that involves my attention. like telling me stories. it is wonderful and frustrating at the same time ... like all the best things in life i suppose. of course, the fact that this is one of the most difficult parts of my day must mean that i'm an american: i don't face the threat of bombs or disease or having to walk to work or anything. but still, for me, it is a bit of an emotional challenge. any one have any suggestions for how i can more faithfully surrender? i'm all ears.

What happened to all the snow?

Friends, my question is: where is the snow? isn't this winter? this picture was from around the week before Christmas, and now all the snow is gone ... [notice the snowball splotches on the tree - Eli's first experience of that]

Wrestlemania

One of the favorite after-dinner past-times at the Pool Party is wrestlemania. Eli and I love to wrestle on the green couch after dinner almost every day. And now Esther and Eden are starting to get in on the action too. We took some pictures of a particularly awesome wrestling match this past week, but I'm having trouble downloading them from the camera to computer, so this is the only one I've got to share. Eli's best move in that match was called the Kiss of Death, which involved him sitting on my face ... I'll leave the rest to your imagination.

anyone in need of ...

a desk? a friend of mine (in Ferndale) has a desk, with hutch, that she calls "left-handed" (not sure what that means), that she is getting rid of. first come, first serve. let me know.

Tell Me What You Know About Love and Justice

So Megan bought this new album by Sara Groves, called "Tell Me What You Know." It is very good. Mainly she wanted the song "When the saints." It is a very cool song. Solid lyrics and all that. We first heard the song on WMUZ, our local Christian radio station. Now, you may be wondering, "What were you doing listening to that station?" I know. We never did. But then this very cool woman in our church started dj-ing the morning show and she's not really your typical Christian radio station host and she's trying to turn things around and so now we listen sometimes. Anyway ...

"When the saints" is a good song. It is all about the longing to be faithful in life and be among the saints as they enter into the fulness of the kingdom. One of the threads is about the various saints who've gone before and looking to them in times of difficulty. There's this line that says, "I see the young girl huddled on the brothel floor; i see the man of passion come kicking down the door." Something in this line powerfully speaks to me. I identify with both the young woman, and the man. So often I feel like the young woman, huddled in sin, in shame, in grief, longing for my strong Rescuer to come and deliver me. He is filled with passion - for me, and not to abuse me, nor use me, but to save me. And the fruit of that is his willingness to go to any lengths to rescue me; he kicks down doors to get to me and set me free. And when I reflect on my connection with that young woman, a desire rises up in me to be that man of passion. I want to be one who is filled with passion to set people free. To be a man who goes to any length to deliver those held in sin and shame and circumstance.

I later discovered that the album is dedicated to the people of IJM (International Justice Mission - see post Saturday, Dec 15th) and those who around the world who have heroic tales born of injustices overcome.

All this reminds me that I am both one in need of rescue and one who is called to rescue, simultaneously. God is good.

Thinking about hell

For some reason this morning I got to thinking about "the lake of fire" described in Revelation. That got me thinking, for some other unknown reasons, about C.S. Lewis' book, The Great Divorce. You may have known, or not, that this book is generally considered one of the best books ever on the topics of heaven and hell. It is sort of a book of theology, written as a (rather fanciful) story. As I thought about that, and why it should be so, it suddenly seemed very appropriate. Most of the biblical language about hell, and heaven (for that matter), is couched in metaphor and story. So, for example, the primary word Jesus used to describe "hell" (and he did, as an aside, talk about it quite a bit), is taken from the large trash dump that sat just outside Jerusalem (always burning and smelled of sulfur, its location chosen because, before the Jews moved in, the previous residents sacrificed their children (by burning) in that particular valley, and so the land was considered unfit for habitation). So there we have it - the language of hell couched in metaphor and story. And thus it seems only fitting that it should be that the preeminent contemporary reflection on hell comes to us in the form of a story, by an author both theologically informed and very comfortable with his imagination.

Lessons from reading the Bible to my son

This morning Eli wasn't feeling too good. So we started reading from his bible. As an aside, he uses the "Read With Me Bible," which we've totally found to be the best.

Anyway, we were reading through the Jesus stories, from birth until the calling of the apostles. It was very meaningful and it seemed God highlighted several points:

1. The angels. You know, the standard reaction to angels throughout the Bible is that of fear. It isn't because the angels are mean or anything. I think the standard answer is that it has something to do with their holiness - sometimes (most times?) people are uncomfortable in the presence of holiness. Yet, this doesn't quite jive with the experience of Jesus. Jesus was totally holy and sinners were attracted to him, not afraid of him. So holiness may be part of it, but I think a more reasonable answer is that people were afraid of the angels because they were powerful. They are powerful, "alien" beings and when we encounter them we are right to be concerned. This, to me, is a small (but perhaps not insignificant) support for some of Greg Boyd's points about "gods" in his book (which I'm reading), God At War.


2. Jesus' baptism. John (the Baptizer)'s baptism was a baptism for the forgiveness of sins. Looking at those pictures, it just became very clear to me something that I've been thinking for awhile, namely that this was a national thing. Meaning, the people came to John to be baptized, were doing so because they were acknowledging the sins of the nation (and their own part in that) and showing their contrition and their desire for God to return and forgive his people and fully restore them from their exile. Everyone who longed for God's return to his people was willing to receive John's baptism, which is why so many did. It also explains why Jesus submitted to John's baptism. If John's baptism for the forgiveness of sins had been about a personal repentance from sin, then it wouldn't make sense for Jesus to be baptized - since he was sinless; and it seems out of character for him just to be baptized for appearances' sake. However, since John's baptism was about participating in the nation's repentance from its sins and seeking the return of God, it made total sense for Jesus to be baptized. Like everyone else, Jesus longed for God to restore his people. And that's why he said it was necessary for him to be baptized, "for righteousness' (or justice's) sake."

3. First miracle at Cana. John's gospel tells us Jesus performed his first miracle at a wedding feast in Cana. He famously turned the water into wine, such good wine that it overturned normal social conventions and filled everyone with great joy. I think it is fitting this was his first miracle. So many of his parables speak of wedding feasts, and Jesus was known to hang out a lot at parties. In making his first miracle be turning water into wine at a wedding feast, Jesus is communicating this same message: God is restoring his people, which is a cause of celebration and jubilee, and to this party (which is really a feast celebrating the wedding of God and his people) God is extending a welcome to all people.

The Retreat Was Good

My retreat was good. Not the best retreat I've ever taken, nor the worst. The length was a factor; I arrived Wednesday morning and left Thursday after the evening meal. I've taken this length of retreat before and it can be a challenge - longer than just a day-away or overnighter, but not long enough to be a long retreat. That makes it tough - I found myself kind of putzing around for part of Thursday because I knew I didn't have the time to go deeper, but was sort of "done" with what could be done in a day. Still, I am very thankful I got to go, and I was able to help Father Richard cut a bunch of wood for his fireplace.

The two most eventful things were this:
1. My car got totally stuck on the way there, trying to pull into their long driveway. We had only a few inches of snow in Ferndale, but they had almost 18 inches. The retreat house sits on a hill, off a dirt road, and so going up that hill I lost all my momentum (the dirt underneath all the snow was covered in ice) and I never would have been able to clear all the snow in the driveway anyway. I got stuck trying to pull in and I was totally blocking the road. It sort of turned into a big thing and took like two hours to sort out, after the snow removal truck finally showed up. So those were my first two hours.
2. The next couple of hours is when the best part of the retreat happened. For about a month now I've been praying my through 1 Kings 18:42-44 - Elijah on Mt. Carmel sending his servant back seven times to see if the promised rain is coming ... personally, I've felt like Elijah after about time 5 or 6. I've been asking the Lord, "Where's the rain? Why is it taking so long? What's gone wrong?" As I walked the trails I heard the Lord say, "Jim, that's the wrong question. The right question for you right now is 'Do you believe it will come?'" Relief washed over me because I do believe; help my unbelief. I'll keep looking until it comes.

Retreating

i'm off to St. Augustine's for an overnight retreat! i'm pretty excited. hopefully i'll be able to share some of what happens on the flipside.