tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-178373332024-03-23T11:14:12.654-07:00Marta's MusingsSeeking beauty and meaning in the ordinaryMarta Searshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03478536339590134716noreply@blogger.comBlogger44125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17837333.post-31398242286138415072007-01-07T00:32:00.000-08:002007-01-10T14:25:01.442-08:00A blessing for the New YearThis blessing was read as the closing prayer at the recent George Fox Evangelical Seminary graduation that we attended. We were there in honor and support of Andy's mom who graduated with a master or arts in Spiritual Formation. I think it makes a great New Year's prayer.<br /><em></em><br /><em>May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart.<br /><br />May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom, and peace.<br /><br />May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and turn their pain into joy.<br /><br />May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.<br /><br />Amen</em><br /><em></em><br /><em>- Fourfold Franciscan Blessing</em>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17837333.post-76236577407769374082006-12-22T23:00:00.000-08:002006-12-26T00:39:31.551-08:00The Word and LightI read an article last night that caused me to reread the words from John 1. Listen anew to these, perhaps familiar, words.<br /><em></em><br /><em>"In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. </em><em>The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.<br /><br /></em><em></em><em>There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all people might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.</em><br /><em></em><br /><em>He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.</em><br /><em></em><br /><em>The Word became human and made his home among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."</em> John 1:1-15<br /><br />Here are some thought provoking words about these verses from an English bishop named N. T. Wright.<br /><br /><blockquote><p>"We're always in danger of domesticating Christmas and think[ing] it's only about comfort and joy. In truth, it's also about incomprehension, rejection, darkness, denial, stopped ears, and judgment. Christmas is not about the living God coming to tell us everything's all right. John's Gospel isn't about Jesus speaking the truth and everyone saying "Of course! Why didn't we realize it before?" It is about God shining his clear, bright torch into the darkness of our world, our lives, our hearts, our imaginations—and the darkness not comprehending it. It's about God, God as a little child, speaking words of truth, and nobody knowing what he's talking about.<br /><br />You may be aware of that puzzlement, that incomprehension, that sense of a word being spoken which seems like it ought to mean something but which remains opaque to you. If that's the point you are at, the Good News is that along with this theme of incomprehension and rejection is a parallel theme of people hearing and receiving Jesus' words, believing them and discovering, as he says, that they are spirit and life (John 6:63). "As many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God's children, who were born not of human will or flesh, but of God" (John ?:?). "If you abide in my words, you will know the truth and the truth shall set you free" (John 8:?). "If anyone keeps my words, that person will never see death" (John 8:51). "You are already made clean by the word which I have spoken to you" (John 15:3).<br /><br />Don't imagine that the world divides naturally into those who can understand what Jesus is saying and those who can't. By ourselves, none of us can. Jesus was born into a world where everyone was deaf and blind to him. But some, in fear and trembling, have allowed his words to challenge, rescue, heal, and transform them. That is what's offered at Christmas, not a better-focused religion for those who already like that sort of thing, but a Word which is incomprehensible in our language but which, when we learn to hear, understand, and believe it, will transform our whole selves with its judgment and mercy."</p><p align="center">If you'd like to read the full article (it's a long one) you can read it <a href="http://www.ctlibrary.com/39837">here</a>.</p><p align="left"><span style="font-size:0;"></span></p><blockquote><blockquote><p align="left"><span style="font-size:0;"></span></p></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17837333.post-72018647705110406822006-12-21T23:18:00.000-08:002006-12-22T00:02:37.143-08:00Advent Audio ReflectionsI just discovered a great resource and want to pass it on. It is a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">webpage</span> of five audio Advent meditations. When the kids are in bed and you can be alone, turn on the Christmas tree lights, turn off the room lights, sit comfortably with your eyes closed, then click <a href="http://www.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/Advent/aud-refl.html">here</a>.<br /><br />My favorite one is "Have I missed Advent?" because it gives words to many of my feelings.<br /><br />It's not too late to "get" Christmas this year; to be present to the Baby.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17837333.post-1165040007701062852006-12-01T21:56:00.000-08:002006-12-01T22:13:27.930-08:00"A Magnificat Christmas"I don't think I've mentioned how much I love the <a href="http://www.relevantmagazine.com">Relevant website </a>and their magazine. I just read a great thought provoking review of the movie <em>The Nativity Story</em>.<br /><br />Check out this excerpt from Scot McKnight's review.<br /><br /><em>"I have a claim I ask you to consider. Here it is: I claim the first Christmas, the one experienced by Mary and Joseph, was a Magnificat Christmas. The Magnificat, Mary’s famous song that begins, “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior” (Luke 1:46-47, TNIV), expresses the yearning of the pious poor for God’s redemptive justice and for the day when the world will be put to rights. The themes of the Magnificat, which express what Mary thinks God is doing in her son, are ending injustice and establishing justice, bringing peace and ending poverty. Those are the themes of a Magnificat Christmas."</em><br /><br />Another voice calling us to see the clear themes of the first Christmas. How have we drifted so far from these themes in our celebration of Christmas? I'm reminded of something Rick Warren said when describing his aha moment: "How did I miss the one thousand verses about the poor?!" <br /><br />Read the entire review <a href="http://www.relevantmagazine.com/pc_article.php?id=7300">here</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17837333.post-1164959722480654852006-11-30T23:21:00.000-08:002006-12-03T13:43:51.600-08:00The Advent ExperimentSo the Advent experiment that Imago Dei and four other churches are engaging in is this: What if we took what we normally spend on Christmas gifts and instead give it away to those who need it most? What if we gave oursleves relationally to our loved ones, as Jesus gave himself relationally to us, rather than give each other material gifts that we don't even remember the following the year?<br /><br />You can already hear the "devil's advocates" (more on that term later) saying, "But the wise men gave gifts!" <br /><br />Yes. To JESUS! Not to each other. In his sermon Rick McKinley illustrates the re-imagined magi scene like this: <br />(First wise man) "Oh look at the baby." (Pause. Turn to Bill.) "Bill, here's some frankincense for you." <br />(Second wise man, aka Bill) "Oh thank you, my wife will love this. And here's some mirh for you."<br /><br />People make things.<br />Other people convince us we need them.<br />We buy them. <br />"That's how the empire works," says McKinley.<br /><br />McKinely goes on to say, "We can almost hear the economists responding to this crazy idea with, 'Well that won’t be very good for the empire.' <br /><br />And if we actually take our faith seriously and start redistributing our wealth instead of buying junk for each other, we might hear the economists say, 'We should probably get rid of the baby and keep Santa, that would be better for the empire.'”<br /><br />Giving and receiving IS part of the advent story. God is giving himself and we are receiving. We don’t serve a God who just gives us stuff. He's not like one of those busy, detached dads who doesn't have a relationship with his kids so he gives them a big check at Christmas to try to make up for it. <br /><br />This experiment isn't about <em>not giving gifts</em>. It's about trying to immitate Christ by giving ourselves as gifts to others. It's about learning how to do this. It's about trying to point to the Christmas story in the way that we give.<br /><br />The average American spends $300 – $1100 on Christmas presents each year. Imago Dei and the four other churches that are partnering together have figured out that if two-thirds of their congregations take on this experiment (based on the low end of the average mentioned above) they would collect 1 million dollars! 1 million dollars of our wealth to redistribute to those who need it most. (Click <a href="http://www.imagodeicommunity.com/article/advent-2006">here</a> to see where the $1 million will go.)<br /><br />And this is only 5 churches! What if every church participated in this experiment? What if we all decided that this just might be a gift that would bless and honor the Baby more than giving stuff to each other?<br /><br /><em>(Most of this post was taken from notes from Rick McKinley's <a href="http://www.imagodeicommunity.com/sermon/advent">Advent </a>sermon.)</em>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17837333.post-1164957287530297062006-11-30T22:45:00.000-08:002006-12-03T13:46:22.136-08:00More on the "Vision of Advent"I took notes on the sermon I mentioned in my previous post and wanted to share some of them. <br /><br />An underlying theme of the sermon is that a defining characteristic and call to Christ-followers (ie. "the Church") is to live <em>prophetically</em> in a culture, which sometimes means critiquing it. <br /><br />When Jesus entered the culture as a poor baby, it caused an upheaval in the society. So much so that the king had all the baby boys two-years-old and under murdered out of fear of this newborn king. <br /><br />As American followers of Christ we have somehow married our capitalist consumerism culture with Jesus in an attempt to smooth out the tension that exists between the story of Christmas and the values of our culture. But by doing this, we’re missing/changing the Christmas story. <br /><br />Paul sums up the story of the incarnation in 2 Corinthians 8:9 when he says, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor so that you through his poverty might become rich.”<br /><br />The Christmas story is a story of the redistribution of wealth – that Christ who had everything in heaven become impoverished and entered into a world of poverty so that we might enter the blessing and wealth of His life. <br /><br />Jesus didn't cling to his status or his wealth. He layed it down and gave it away so that the world could be blessed. Does our celebration of Christmas reflect this? Do we who are rich lay down our wealth and give it away so that others can be blessed? <br /><br />Check out these statistics: <br />The U.S. spends $7 billion on Halloween<br />The U.S. spends $450 billion on Christmas <br /><br />Then we read about the $20 billion that needs to be raised to solve Aids problems and the $100 billion that the UN is trying to come up with to solve the water crisis (lack of clean water is the cause of a huge amount of disease in developing countries) and we think, "How can we ever come up with the money to solve these problems?" <br /><br />Hmm...any ideas?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17837333.post-1164955453638803482006-11-30T22:37:00.000-08:002006-12-05T23:02:33.356-08:00"Vision of Advent"I recently listened to a sermon from a church in Portland called Imago Dei. (You may have heard of this church through Don Miller's books.) I am so challenged by this sermon and their vision of advent that I can't stop thinking about it or talking about it with people. I've copied and pasted the sermon summary from Imago Dei's website below. (I don't think they'll mind.) You can also listen to the sermon <a href="http://www.imagodeicommunity.com/sermon/advent">here</a>, which I highly recommend. I'll share some more thoughts on this vision in another post.<br /><br />"The gospel is not bound to any given culture. It is a-cultural. It can enter any specific culture and engage with different redemptive windows of that culture. This is our philosophy of ministry at Imago Dei in a nutshell. However, when the gospel enters a culture, in addition to redeeming aspects of it the gospel also critiques pieces of the culture that are opposed to the values of God’s Kingdom. This is what it means to live a prophetic life. We see this type of critique in the incarnation itself. Herod’s Kingdom (the culture in which Christ literally showed up) was one driven by the values of mass wealth, power of military force, greed, and personal gain. Christ enters this culture through poverty, weakness, dependency, and sacrifice. This is the biblical picture of advent. <br /><br />How does our current celebration of Christmas reflect this incarnation? That is, does our experience of the advent season match the biblical values of the gospel? What can our advent season look like this year if we intentionally choose to be a prophetic voice in our culture? The last thing we want to do is be obnoxious about it. But if we choose to reflect the Kingdom values in this season, we probably will be looked at funny. Are you willing to be looked at funny this season for the sake of the gospel? Here are three themes we see in the advent of Christ that we would like to pursue as a congregation: <br /><br />God became poor so that we could be rich.<br />What are the social implications of this for us? How can we choose not to waste what we have but give it away in ways that meet significant needs of those around us? Can our gift giving feed hunger instead of greed? <br /><br />God gave himself relationally.<br />First and foremost we desire to give gifts to each other this season that are relationally driven. We desire to learn what it means to give of ourselves and not just give stuff. We will be resourcing you with many ideas on how to approach this. <br /><br />When Jesus showed up, people worshipped him.<br />What would it look like if Jesus was actually the focus of Advent? Can we respond like the shepherds and Magi, who celebrated the first Advent by praising God and worshipping the Son? <br /><br />When we receive, we receive Jesus, not stuff.<br />If Jesus became poor that we may be rich, are we truly receiving the riches that he has given us? Are we receiving Him? How do we as a community ultimately embrace Jesus this Advent season and not be distracted by all the hype around us?"Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17837333.post-1162537035461175632006-11-02T21:47:00.000-08:002006-11-02T22:58:17.873-08:00"Women Of Vision"<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7888/1729/1600/world%20vision.0.gif"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7888/1729/200/world%20vision.gif" border="0" alt="" /></a>Andy and I just heard Renee Stearns, wife of World Vision President Richard Stearns, speak in Lake Grove. It was a "speaker event" for <a href="http://www.worldvision.org/womenofvision">Women of Vision</a>, a volunteer ministry of World Vision that is a "partnership of Christian women who are called to invest their time, intellect, compassion, creativity, and finances to meet the needs of impoverished and oppressed women and children throughout the world."<br /><br />As of now there are only 13 Women of Vision chapters in the world and one of them is in our backyard, the <a href="http://www.cwwov.org/">Columbia-Willamette Chapter</a>. I am excited about this group and wonder if anyone else might get excited too. Check out the links. If you only have time for one, go to the local chapter's website. I'm particularly interested in their <a href="http://www.cwwov.org/Advocacy/advocacy.html">Advocacy</a> page and the <a href="http://www.cwwov.org/Advocacy/ContactYourRep/contactyourrep.html">Contact Your Representatives page</a>. <br /><br />Seven Ways to Pray in 2007 (from an insert in World Vision Magazine, Winter 2006)<br /><br />When You<br />1 Take a shower - pray for clean water<br />2 Go to work - pray for child laborers<br />3 Eat lunch - pray for hungry and malnourished children<br />4 Watch the news - pray for education<br />5 Arrive home - pray for displaced children<br />6 Take a vitamin - pray for medical access<br />7 Go to bed - pray for orphans<br /><br />"And prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. ... The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results." - James 5:15-16<br /><br />One other great resource that I want to check out is a bible study they've put together called "The Heart of the Matter: Touching the Lives of Women in Poverty." <br /><br />I think I'll save their "Five Ways You Can Be an Advocate for Children" for another post. If anything in this post tugged at your heart, pray, and then let me know. Let's open ourselves to whatever God has for us.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17837333.post-1156828746120261322006-08-28T22:13:00.000-07:002006-08-28T22:19:06.120-07:00Meal Time PrayerI just wrote out this prayer and put it on our table. I found it in Sojourners magazine. My daughter has enjoyed trying to recite it at meal times. <br /><br />"Lord, to those who hunger, give bread.<br />And to those who have bread, give the hunger for justice."<br />- Latin American prayer<br /><br />I'm still trying to find time to blog again. I'm hoping that after MOPS gets up and running in the next couple of weeks, I'll have more free time to do so.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17837333.post-1153724370271446202006-07-23T23:53:00.000-07:002006-07-23T23:59:30.290-07:00A Beautiful MotherI haven't had time to post more stories and pictures from our Thailand trip, but go read <a href="http://compassionquest.com/2006/07/23/mourn-with-those-who-mourn/">this moving story</a> on Andy's blog.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17837333.post-1152656029320924322006-07-11T15:00:00.000-07:002006-07-26T23:31:19.386-07:00Mercy<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7888/1729/1600/Garrun4.4.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7888/1729/200/Garrun4.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>On one of the days of our trip our team visited a hill tribe village in Northern Thailand. We were quite close to the Burma border and this village was made up of Burmese refugees who have been living in Thailand for nearly 30 years. Like the vast majority of the hill tribes people in Thailand, these villagers do not have Thai citizenship which means they have little access to health care, quality education, or a means to move beyond their current level of poverty. <br /><br />Many people were sick in this village and Charles, the missionary who was with us and our spur-of-the-moment divinely appointed prayer coach, felt a strong sense that that we needed to pray for everyone who was sick. So we gathered around the people, put our hands on them and prayed. <br /><br />Of all the people in the village, one little boy captured our hearts the most. His name was Garrun, which we were told meant "mercy." He was about two years old, the age of my son, and his eyes were crossed. His father had abandoned him and his mother when she was 6 months pregnant with him. His face was so sweet and so serious.<br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7888/1729/1600/bubbles2.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7888/1729/200/bubbles2.png" border="0" alt="" /></a>A couple of the dads in our group spent time holding him and playing with him. We pulled out some bubbles and began blowing them to the kids. We held the wand in front of Garrun's mouth and he blew out a strong breath that puffed his cheeks out (the same way my son does). He blew bubbles over and over again, sometimes pinching the wand with his thumb and index finger. On three occasions when he blew a particularly large batch of bubbles, we cheered for him and he cracked the tiniest of smiles. I think one person caught his tiny smile on film. He was precious.<br /><br />Later that night when our team met to debrief the day and pray, God spoke to our friend Steve and he said, "You guys, it just hit me...our team verse (that we all memorized before leaving)... Micah 6:8, 'What does the Lord require of you? To do justly, to <em>love mercy</em>, and to walk humbly with your God.' We loved Mercy today."<br /><br />It was a total God-moment.<br /><br />A day or two later, God spoke to one of the teachers on our team whose own son had been born cross-eyed. She said God told her that she couldn't help everyone she met in Thailand, but she could help this little boy. So she and her family will be praying for and paying for a doctor to help this precious child. <br /><br />God could heal this child instantly, but instead he chose to use this teacher and her family to heal and bless Garrun. I'm guessing there's going to be healing and blessing for her family too. What a God!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17837333.post-1152344915457181592006-07-08T00:27:00.000-07:002006-07-26T23:30:48.580-07:00Back Home Safe and Ruined, I HopeWe returned safely from Thailand on July 4th. Adjusting to being back home has been hard. I haven't felt rested enough to write and in that small window of time when the kids are asleep and I'm also coherent, I've felt the need to pray and read scripture. It's amazing how much more challenging these two things are once you return home.<br /><br />I'm excited to share the stories from our trip and to let God bring some things into focus for me as I ponder all the people, places, thoughts, and feelings of the trip.<br /><br />Some of the themes of the trip that I plan to write about are:<br />clean hands and a pure heart<br />justice, mercy, humility<br />no worship without sacrifice<br />we're rich and we're poor<br />God blesses the last ones<br />revolution<br /><br />A coworker told Andy that when he asked a friend of his how his mission trip was, the friend answered, "It ruined me." I think that's a great word choice. I hope that I was ruined by this trip. I hope that any chance of me going on with life as usual is ruined; I pray that any chance of me living with one eye closed to the pain and suffering of this world is ruined.<br /><br />Much more to come.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17837333.post-1149234354984154862006-06-02T00:31:00.000-07:002006-06-03T00:42:56.416-07:00A Glimpse of JesusOn Memorial Day I had the blessing of meeting a man in whom Jesus is vividly visible. His name is Charles Harvey and he is an Irish missionary in Thailand who Andy met in January. We had the privilege of having him in town a few weeks before our team heads to his place in Thailand. He met and spoke with our Thailand team on Monday night and God's Spirit was palatable in his words, in his prayers, and in the way he interacted with us. <br /><br />He stayed overnight in our home so I was able to spend a little one on one time with him as well as some time with just he and Andy (no kids, ie. Uninterrupted conversation!). I am not exaggerating when I say this: I feel like I have been with Jesus. He was so gracious, so generous in the things he said and the way he said them, so affirming, encouraging, and life-giving. I am more in love with Jesus after being with him. I feel compelled to spend more time with my Lord because of this glimpse I got of Him through this self-proclaimed ordinary Irish man. <br /><br />I long to be like Charles - to be that intimate with Jesus, to bring that much glory to the Father, to have the constant Spirit-giving discernment and energy to minister to so many people. To say "yes" to something always requires that we say "no" to something else. So the question that naturally follows is: What am I willing to sacrifice, to say "no" to, in order to say "yes" to more of Jesus?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17837333.post-1148359473155313462006-05-22T21:32:00.000-07:002006-05-24T21:55:29.083-07:00A Perfect MomentThis afternoon my two-year-old son woke up early from his nap and walked down the stairs crying. I picked him up and carried him back to his bed. I decided to lay down beside him; he snuggled up to me, resting his face an inch away from mine. His long lashes lowered and he fell back to sleep. The gentle exhales from his nose blew against my cheek and lulled me into perfect contentment with their peaceful rhythm. I was awe struck by the beauty of my son. Everything was right with the world. I was fully present. <br /><br />Soon after, I was fully asleep.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17837333.post-1148243411566259012006-05-21T13:29:00.000-07:002006-05-21T22:45:15.680-07:00Belated Mother's Day Thoughts<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7888/1729/1600/nichole%20nordeman.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7888/1729/320/nichole%20nordeman.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>I heard (read) someone say in a mom's magazine that "motherhood is the highest calling." I can agree that it is <em>one</em> of the highest callings (as is fatherhood), but come on, let's not be completely narcissistic.<br /><br />This Mother's Day (or the week after) the thing I appreciate most about being a mom is captured in the song Nicole Nordeman wrote for her little boy.<br /><br /><em>The gate is wide<br />The road is paved in moderation<br />The crowd is kind and quick to pull you in<br />Welcome to the middle ground<br />You’re safe and sound and<br />Until now, it’s where I’ve been<br /><br />‘Cause it’s been fear that ties me down to everything<br />But it’s been love, your love, that cuts the strings<br />So long status quo<br />I think I just let go<br />You make me want to be brave<br />The way it always was<br />Is no longer good enough<br />You make me want to be brave</em><br /><br />The reality that I am the role model in my kids' lives with the most air time compels me to take my commitment to follow the way of Jesus more seriously. I am grateful for that. I am grateful to be a mother.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17837333.post-1147976250516695502006-05-18T10:50:00.000-07:002006-05-21T13:27:52.923-07:00Way To Go Kay!<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7888/1729/1600/kaywarren.0.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7888/1729/200/kaywarren.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>I just read another great interview, this time with Kay Warren (married to Rick Warren) who has recently found her passion, and <em>com</em>passion, to fight the global aids crisis. She confesses her former apathy and judgementalism, and challenges us to "lead the way in loving." <br /><br />Aside from the title, "Purpose-Driven Wife" (enough already!), it's a very good read. <a href="http://www.christianitytoday.com/tcw/2006/003/1.34.html">Here it is</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17837333.post-1147903187123180112006-05-17T14:55:00.000-07:002006-05-28T00:56:19.456-07:00A Prayer for the ChildrenThis prayer was read aloud by our church congregation two Sundays ago. The service focused on children around the world. Andy had the privilege of <a href="http://compassionquest.com/2006/05/07/god-loves-children-god-cares-for-the-oppressed/">speaking</a> about the children of Thailand and about God's passion to bring justice and rescue to the oppressed. I was out of town at a scrapbooking retreat, but was able to get a copy of this powerful prayer.<br /><br />A PRAYER FOR THE CHILDREN (best when spoken aloud)<br /><br />We pray for the children<br />who put chocolate fingers everywhere,<br />who like to be tickled,<br />who stomp in puddles and ruin their new pants,<br />who sneak Popsicles before supper,<br />who erase holes in math workbooks,<br />who can never find their shoes.<br /><br />And we pray for those<br />who stare at photographers from behind barbed wire,<br />who’ve never squeaked across the floor in new sneakers,<br />who never had crayons to count,<br />who are born in places we wouldn’t be caught dead,<br />who never go to the circus,<br />who live in an X-rated world.<br /><br />We pray for children<br />who bring us sticky kisses and fistfuls of dandelions,<br />who sleep with the dog and bury goldfish,<br />who give hugs in a hurry and forget their lunch money,<br />who cover themselves with Band-Aids and sing off-key,<br />who squeeze toothpaste all over the sink,<br />who slurp their soup.<br /><br />And we pray for those<br />who never get dessert,<br />who watch their parents watch them die,<br />who have no safe blanket to drag behind,<br />who can’t find any bread to steal,<br />who don’t have any rooms to clean up,<br />whose pictures aren’t on anybody’s dresser,<br />whose monsters are real.<br /><br />We pray for children<br />who spend all their allowance before Tuesday,<br />who throw tantrums in the grocery store and pick at their food,<br />who like ghost stories, who shove dirty clothes under the bed,<br />who never rinse out the tub,<br />who get visits from the tooth fairy,<br />who don't like to be kissed in front of the school,<br />who squirm in church and scream in the phone,<br />whose tears we sometimes laugh at and<br />whose smiles can make us cry.<br /><br />And we pray for those<br />whose nightmares come in the daytime,<br />who will eat anything,<br />who aren't spoiled by anybody,<br />who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep,<br />who live and move, but have no being.<br /><br />We pray for children who want to be carried,<br />and for those who must.<br />For those we never give up on,<br />and for those who never get a chance.<br />For those we smother with our love,<br />and for those who will grab the hand of anybody kind enough to<br />offer.<br /><br />~Ina J. Hughes, Mission Newsletter of Foundation for His Ministry, August, 2002Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17837333.post-1147326518556013332006-05-10T22:47:00.000-07:002006-05-11T13:04:03.370-07:00D.C. Was Amazing!<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7888/1729/1600/lincoln.0.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7888/1729/320/lincoln.0.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>Ahhhh, finally time to take a deep breath and write a post. The kids and I are in Phoenix right now with my parents. This is the third of four trips for me this month. May feels like a whirlwind – crazy, but fun. <br /><br />Our trip to D.C. was amazing. International Justice Mission’s (IJM) Global Prayer Gathering was awesome! We were so blessed and encouraged to be amongst people who pray with courage and boldness - people who know to whom it is they pray and therefore ask big. After hearing stories and first-hand testimonies of slaves being freed and perpetrators of all kinds of abuse being brought to justice, I experienced a whole new level of worship as we sang songs like “How Great Is Our God.” <br /><br />Saturday night we prayed by candlelight at the Lincoln Memorial (pictured on previous post), a symbol of freedom for those who were oppressed and enslaved in our own country. Monday, we spent a few hours in the Holocaust Memorial Museum. It was so moving, gut wrenching, and powerful, particularly coming off of the IJM prayer gathering and particularly because in D.C. that weekend there were demonstrations bringing attention to the holocaust that is taking place in Sudan right now. As I read the stories in the museum I was challenged to consider who I would have been if I had been there, and who I am as a player in this chapter of history – Am I a rescuer? Or am I a self-centered, apathetic person who avoids the truth (reality) of what is happening all around me?<br /><br />There is a poem in the museum that keeps ringing in my heart and mind.<br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7888/1729/1600/NiemollerQuoteMonmouthNJ200pxw.0.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7888/1729/400/NiemollerQuoteMonmouthNJ200pxw.0.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />The theme verse for IJM’s Global Prayer Gathering was Psalm 12:5:<br /><br /> “The LORD replies, I have seen violence done to the helpless, and I have heard the groans of the poor. Now I will rise up to rescue them, as they have longed for me to do.” <br /><br />IJM’s message is, “As the Lord our God rises up to rescue the oppressed, our God calls upon us to be His instruments.”<br /><br />God is rising up. Am I? Are you?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17837333.post-1146158659854899242006-04-27T10:08:00.000-07:002006-04-27T10:33:12.200-07:00We're off to Washington D.C.!<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7888/1729/1600/prayergathering.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7888/1729/400/prayergathering.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />We're heading off to Washington D.C. (without the kids) to attend the <a href="http://www.ijm.org/NETCOMMUNITY/Page.aspx?&pid=378&srcid=178">Global Prayer Gathering</a> of <a href="http://ijm.org">International Justice Mission</a>. It should be an amazing time of hearing what God is doing around the world to rescue vicitims of injustice. <br /><br />All of IJM's field offices will be at the gathering to report on their area and to ask for prayer. We will get to pray with many IJM staff and we will get to worship God among them to the tune of approximately 500 voices. I am humbled to get to be among these people who have joined God in his passionate pursuit of justice for the most vulnerable people around the world. <br /><br />We are flying standby and the flights are really full; some are completely full or overbooked. Would you please pray that we will get to D.C. by Friday, preferably by the afternoon. My friend Nicole said that she has no doubt we'll get there because God wants us there. She also said that if the flights were wide open it wouldn't take any faith. I think she's right. I can't see why God wouldn't want us to be there, so I'm trying to believe that he'll open the way. I'm just hoping he's not more interested in teaching me about patience, releasing control, and relinquishing expectations. <br /><br />While you're at it, would you pray that we could get home on Sunday or Monday? The flights are just as bad for the return leg. Thanks friends!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17837333.post-1145081710919258172006-04-14T23:11:00.000-07:002006-04-15T08:24:49.293-07:00Good Friday SongsWhat are your favorite Good Friday songs or songs about the cross? I want to create an itunes playlist and need some help.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17837333.post-1144998621928811942006-04-13T23:30:00.000-07:002006-04-14T16:27:19.676-07:00Happy Birthday To MeI turned 33 today. Birthdays are strange, aren't they? They can be one of your worst days when you view them as a day when you shouldn't have to do anything you don't want to do and when everyone around you should wait on you. It's kind of a small-scale experiment of what a completely self-centered, self-serving life would be like. Not pretty. <br /><br />I think the best birthday presents are rarely given on the actual birthday. The best birthday present my husband Andy gave me this year wasn't something he gave me today. It came in one sentence he said a couple of months ago, while we were lying in bed about to fall asleep: <em><em>"It's so easy to be faithful to you." </em></em><br /><br />Ahh...I could live on that for months, maybe years.<br /><br />My mom told me that she remembers someone telling her that on her birthday, every year, she sends flowers to her mother. Isn't that cool? Instead of going through the day feeling entitled to be waited on as the birthday-queen-for-a-day, she gives a gift to the woman who gave her the gift of life. Of course, I would just be a copycat if I started doing the same thing, especially since my mom is the one who told me about the idea. <br /><br />But I would like to thank my mom for choosing to give me life, because for her, it would have been much more convenient to have done the opposite. It's impossible to wrap my mind around the possibility that I never could have existed outside of the womb. Yeah...I just don't know how to even try to imagine it.<br /><br />It's not flowers, but perhaps another sentence will do: <em>Thanks Mom and Dad for choosing life, for choosing me. I love you.</em>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17837333.post-1144388946734634062006-04-06T21:52:00.000-07:002006-04-14T23:33:53.960-07:00Top Ten Reasons Why Men Should Not Be Ordained<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7888/1729/1600/woman%20pastor.1.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7888/1729/400/woman%20pastor.1.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>So at first I just emailed this list to several friends, thinking it was perhaps more controversial than I wanted to be on my blog. But I changed my mind. There are a few versions of this out there but I couldn't figure out who I was supposed to attribute it to. Google it yourself if you're that interested, Gosh! (That was rendered in my best Napoleon Dynamite voice.)<br /><br /><em>Top Ten Reasons Why Men Should Not Be Ordained<br /><br />10. A man's place is in the army.<br /><br />9. For men who have children, their duties might distract them from the responsibilities of being a parent.<br /><br />8. Their physical build indicates that men are more suited to tasks such as chopping down trees and wrestling mountain lions. It would be "unnatural" for them to do other forms of work.<br /><br />7. Man was created before woman. It is therefore obvious that man was a prototype. Thus, they represent an experiment, rather than the crowning achievement of creation.<br /><br />6. Men are too emotional to be priests or pastors. This is easily demonstrated by their conduct at football games and watching basketball tournaments.<br /><br />5. Some men are handsome; they will distract women worshipers.<br /><br />4. To be ordained pastor is to nurture the congregation. But this is not a traditional male role. Rather, throughout history, women have been considered to be not only more skilled than men at nurturing, but also more frequently attracted to it. This makes them the obvious choice for ordination.<br /><br />3. Men are overly prone to violence. No really manly man wants to settle disputes by any means other than by fighting about it. Thus, they would be poor role models, as well as being dangerously unstable in positions of leadership.<br /><br />2. Men can still be involved in church activities, even without being ordained. They can sweep paths, repair the church roof, and maybe even lead the singing on Father's Day. By confining themselves to such traditional male roles, they can still be vitally important in the life of the Church.<br /><br />1. In the New Testament account, the person who betrayed Jesus was a man. Thus, his lack of faith and ensuing punishment stands as a symbol of the subordinated position that all men should take.</em><br /><br />In case it isn't obvious, this is a parody. It is meant to show the absurdity of the reasons that have been given to try to keep women out of pastoral ministry. I hope it caused you to laugh (and think). <br /><br />If you've never heard of <a href="http://www.cbeinternational.org">Christians for Biblical Equality(CBE)</a>, check them out. And if there's anyone reading this who has been disillusioned by the church because of the way it views and treats women, I feel the need to say that they're not all like that. <br /><br />If you live in the Portland area, check out <a href="http://www.newbergfriendschurch.org">my church</a>. You will be valued and affirmed by both our female and male pastors. If you live elsewhere, CBE offers lists of churches by area, or leave a comment and I'll see what I can find out about female-friendly-churches (for lack of a better term) in your area.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17837333.post-1144311713355577622006-04-05T23:44:00.000-07:002006-04-06T21:47:28.423-07:00Give Your Lunch<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7888/1729/1600/loavesandfish.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7888/1729/320/loavesandfish.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>Life has been getting in the way of blogging lately, but here's the follow up to my last post. Let me just start by saying that I have a new hero. Gary Haugen, President of <a href="http://www.ijm.org">International Justice Mission (IJM)</a> is an incredible human being with great hope in our great God. It was an honor to meet him and to hear from his mouth what I believe was a message straight from God’s heart. Here are my “take aways” from the message he delivered entitled <em>The Unfamiliar Passions of God</em>:<br /><br /><blockquote>• Are Jesus and I passionate about the same things?<br />• God hates injustice with a fierce passion.<br />• God desires to bring justice and rescue to the oppressed.<br />• He has a plan to accomplish this.<br />• We are the plan.<br />• (There is no Plan B.)</blockquote> <br />Gary told the story from John 6 about the loaves and fishes. You know the story. <em>Jesus says to His disciples, “Feed them.” The disciples come back with, “We don’t have enough.” (They are presented with an overwhelming need and they have inadequate resources.)</em><br /><em>Disciples: “Back to you Jesus.”<br />Jesus: “What do you have?”<br />Disciples present the boy with 5 loaves and 2 fishes.<br />Andrew: “What are these among so many?”<br />Jesus: “Give it to me.”*</em><br /><br />Most of us believe that there is nothing we can possibly do to bring justice to the millions of victims of oppression around the world. And we are right. That would take a miracle, or many miracles. But that’s not what Jesus is asking us to do. He didn’t ask his disciples or the boy to work a miracle. Jesus took responsibility for the miracle. The disciples and the boy were responsible to simply offer what they had so that Jesus could do the miracle. <br /><br />Final takeaways:<br /><blockquote>• Offer what you have (Give Jesus your lunch)<br />• Jesus will do the miracle.</blockquote><br />God is blessing the efforts of International Justice Mission in miraculous ways. This, of course, should not come as a surprise! They are offering their lunches for one of God’s deepest passions. Realizing that God did not have a Plan B, they decided to show up for Plan A.<br /><br />What can you and I offer to Jesus so that he can fulfill his passion and plan to rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, and plead for the widow?<br /><br />*Quoted from the message transcript.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17837333.post-1143268477853482852006-03-24T22:14:00.000-08:002006-03-24T23:35:56.073-08:00President of International Justice Mission is Speaking in Portland This Sunday<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7888/1729/1600/haugen.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7888/1729/400/haugen.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Gary Haugen, President of <a href="http://www.ijm.org">International Justice Mission</a>, will be speaking at <a href="http://www.sunsetpres.org">Sunset Presbyterian Church</a> this Sunday, March 26th, at 9 am, 11 am, and 5 pm. Childcare is provided during all three services for infants through preschool. <br /><br />Andy and I are pumped about hearing him. We're loving reading his book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0830822240/sr=8-1/qid=1143267705/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-7971114-3264023?%5Fencoding=UTF8">Good News About Injustice</a>. We're going to the 5 pm service. Come! We'll save you a seat. We can all go out to a kid-friendly restaurant afterwards. :-)<br /><br />Here is an excerpt from <em>Good News About Injustice</em>:<br /><br /><blockquote>The battle against oppression stands or falls on the battlefield of hope. No one knows this better than the oppressors. They know that they never have enough power, lies or loyalty to withstand the onslaught of even a fraction of the power, truth and courage that humanity could at any minute amass against them. Therefore they rely on, utterly depend on, the inaction of despair. They know full well that their preeminence depends on most people in their community, their nation and their world doing nothing. This is the essence of Edmund Burke's conviction about human history: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." <br /><br />The oppressor knows that the primary reason we do nothing is because we have lost any hope of making a difference. It is not that we lack power, compassion, courage or knowledge. Rather, we lack a sense of hope that allows us to take what we have into the fray. By sheer inertia, therefore, we lend our own weight to the downward cycle of despair. Our lack of hope keeps us from the frontlines of engagement. And our absence only makes the oppressor look stronger, compounding our own despair and that of those who might otherwise be prepared to fight. <br /><br />But as faithful Christians through the ages have demonstrated, we don't have to be this way. We have access to a hope that changes everything. Great people of faith - William Wilberforce and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. - and lesser known giants like Dr. Bushnell and Rev. Murphy changed their communities, their nation and their world because they found the hope to seek justice.</blockquote><br /><br />Our friend <a href="http://simplywalking.blogspot.com">Steve</a> is being challenged by this book too. Check out his latest post - <a href="http://simplywalking.blogspot.com/2006/03/god-hates-injustice-do-we.html">God Hates Injustice: Do We? </a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17837333.post-1143012612142037252006-03-21T23:14:00.000-08:002012-02-20T10:19:40.589-08:00Is a Christian Worldview Enough?<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7888/1729/1600/world.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7888/1729/320/world.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; margin: 0 10px 10px 0;" /></a>For awhile now I've been finding myself cringing when I read or hear people talk about the importance of having a "Christian worldview." I didn't always have this reaction, but in the past year or so it seems that whenever I hear someone talk about Christian worldview I sense that their ultimate passion is to be right. There's also an unattractive and not-so-subtle "us" versus "them" mentality. <br />
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I heard someone say that most Christians today have made "right thinking" their highest goal. I find this very disturbing. It's not that I think truth isn't important. I just think something fundamental is missing from the attitudes, conversations, and actions of many Christians today. <br />
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I remember <a href="http://www.donaldmillerwords.com/">Donald Miller </a>saying in his book <em>Blue Like Jazz </em>that whenever two people are talking there are always two conversations going on - the one that's happening out loud and the one that is happening beneath the surface where we sense what the other person thinks and feels toward us. He says that if a person senses that the other person doesn't like them, they are highly unlikely to accept anything that person says. But if the person senses that the other person genuinely likes them, they are likely to be open to just about anything that comes out of that person's mouth. <br />
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Here's my attempt to summarize this concept: Unless your <em>world view</em> develops into a <em>world do</em> no one is going to listen to you. (OK, I admit the rhyming element is a little cheesy.) <br />
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I can see why Christians have become better known in this country for their love of their views than for their love of people. I once heard <a href="http://www.leonardsweet.com/">Leonard Sweet</a> say something along the lines of, "We hear a lot about worldview; but how's your worldlive?" (That's "live" as in "give," not "live" as in "jive".)<br />
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Truth and love - I think we're missing the kingdom if we have one without the other. In her book <em>Parenting the Heart of Your Child </em><a href="http://www.healthyfamiliesintl.org/">Diane Moore</a> says, <br />
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Pure truth cannot be separated from love. Truth without love is a "resounding gong or a clanging symbol" (1 Cor. 13:1), while love without truth is dysfunction.</blockquote>
What would happen if all of us worldviewers became worlddoers, worldlivers, or better yet, worldlovers?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3