A Vision for the Middle East or A Funny Thing Happened After My Bike Riding This AM

No pain, no gain, right? Well, I'm loving bike riding three early mornings a week. So how can something so fun be of any help? Anyway, after a 10 mile ride, I get a bowl of cereal, move to the back patio and do some daily Bible reading. I'm in Isaiah right now.

This morning I found a passage that grabbed my heart and imagination - Isaiah 19:23-25.

"In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. That Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. The LORD Almighty will bless them, saying, 'Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handwork, and Israel my inheritance.'"

There are some many amazing aspects to this vision. Some Christians view Israel as God's only interest in the region but the enslaving nation (Egypt) and the marauding nation (Asyyria) are on God's heart too. E and A were and still are the arch nemesis of Israel but 'in that day' the whole region will be loving God and loved by God. So the first aspect is that God's interests are pretty broad and not limited to a few.

The second thrilling aspect to this vision is the interaction and transaction between all three nations / peoples. There will be a highway without toll booths or passport controls or immigration barricades. There will be a free-flow of people between the countries. (Reminds me a little of Acts 8 when the Ethiopian official was returning home from Jerusalem and the Holy Spirit gave him a repentant heart and forgiveness in Christ.) It is interesting to me that Assyrians do not become Israelis on Egyptians, etc. They seem to maintain their national identities but they are worshiping God. Following God does not mean that people must become someone or something different than what the culture that they have developed.

The final observation for this post is how deeply God accepts the three nations. Egypt = my people; Assyria = my handiwork; Israel = my inheritance. Has the ring of Revelation 21:3. God will dwell among them, they will be his people and he will be their God.

I don't think my thoughts are Zionist or Palestinian but someting far greater than nationalistic or sectarian. Somehow, God will reveal himself in the whole region and people will respond in unity to the Creator. What will it take? What is my part?

Note the January Galveston Team

Hey team,
I received a card from Galveston last week for you -

"I wish to thank the members of the church that helped me clean my home after Hurricane Ike. May God bless all of you.
- Tina C. (she gave her address in the card. If you wish to write to her, let me know and I'll send the address to you.)

Surprising Provider

The following story is reported (12/08) from Rift Valley Academy, a boarding school in Kijabe, Kenya. Our friends, John and Melissa Eager who are medical servants in Tanzania have strong connections to RVA. Also, EFCH Mission Council member, Nancy Wehr and her husband Dave, taught at RVA in the early 1990’s. The story reminds me that our generosity meets unknown needs and results in thanks to God.

Nancy Peiffer, an RVA worker, reports, “One Saturday, I took a group of high school girls to an orphanage. We took some maize and beans and the girls spent the morning playing with the 15 girls ages 5-16.” She said she enjoyed talking to Ruth who runs the orphanage and the girls just loved the RVA students. When they returned to Kijabe, and throughout the week, Nancy said, “I just wasn’t able to get those 15 girls, or Ruth, out of my mind.” Even though life at RVA was very busy she decided she must go back to the orphanage again. She said, “So finally, last Friday some time opened up for me and I called Ruth and arranged to go and visit. I cleaned out Ben and Katie’s (Nancy’s children) closet of outgrown clothes, [plus] we also had some solar flashlights that were given to us that I wanted to take along.”

“I arrived and gave her the clothes and showed her the 20 flashlights.” Wide-eyed Ruth said, “When I told my husband you were coming, he said, ‘Maybe she will bring us a flashlight.’” But when Nancy and Ruth were busy loading batteries into the 20 flashlights, Ruth started smiling and gave the reason for the strange request. “On Monday the Kenya Power and Light Company came and cut off our electricity because we could not pay the bill. We have been using a few candles at night and we didn’t know what to do. You are such a blessing to us.”

Quickly Nancy replied, “But the real blessing is that about six months ago, before you ever had trouble paying the electric bill, God put it on the heart of a man in America to send us these flashlights so that now, when you need them, they are here. Our God knows what we need before we ever know we will have the need. That is what is so wonderful about this.”

If you typically do not slow down to mediate on God’s word, just be quiet and listen to Him, start now and see what God might say to you. Perhaps you will be the next surprising provider.

God's Money Plan

“Economic Brokenness”

In a recent edition of Willow Creek Association's Defining Moments monthly audio journal Bill Hybel's lists a few solid biblical points of God's Money Plan.

* Earn money enthusiastically and honestly.
* Live well within means - build margins into your finances.
* Avoid debt like the plague.
* Save and invest all you can - plan for the future.
* Give generously to the poor.
* Honor God with the first 10% of all you earn to advance God's purpose and causes.
* Hang on to God's hand - trust God, not your portfolio.

Simple and plain but solid. As many of us review our spending, earning and investing habits, these are good basics to lean upon.

Good leader doing badly?

I just finished reading 2 Samuel a few moments ago. Near the end of David's life, David ordered a census that resulted in 70K people dying of pestilence At the beginning, the author says that God was angry with Israel and told David to count the warriors. God wasn't angry with David; he was angry with Israel. So David instructs Joab to count. Although Joab argues against it, 'David's words prevailed.' David was insistent in following the command of the Lord to take the census. Then David has a guilt attack. Why? I don't understand. Then God plans punishment for the counting. Seems to me that God is hard on David but David chooses the pestilence option relying on God's mercy. God does ratchet back his punishment but only after 70K people die.

So, in the end, God punishes Israel as planned. He uses David, the king, as the catalyst for the punishment. David, the leader looks bad from human perspective but God's purposes are accomplished.

This doesn't fit neatly with my view that a godly, obedient leader brings about good, pleasant and positive advances for a team, group, church, or nation. It appears to me that an obedient leader may be used for painful, even destructive things for a people. I don't see this written by leadership seers and advisors. Lord, I don't understand.

If my reading of 2 Samuel 24 is somewhat correct, then the challenge for the leader is to perceive God's purposes even when asked to do something that seems bad for the group. I would think that there is a fine line between the damage from a leader's sloth and incompetence and the punishment that God may bring to a group using an obedient leader.

Any further reflections you can add to help me ponder this?

Walking By Faith - Not By GPS

Our team returned to Hershey by 8 PM on Saturday in spite of a GPS giving faulty directions from the Philadelphia airport to the PA turnpike. (That's a little story you'll have to ask Tom Moore about!) Travel on AirTran from Houston to Philadelphia was on time and efficient. (AirTran will charge for checked baggage but they are very generous with packets of pretzels.)

We are all reflecting on our week of service and we have a debriefing meeting scheduled for Monday January 26 at 7 PM where we'll talk about lessons learned and commitments made.

I am a closure person and I was not alone in feeling a sense of dissatisfaction in not seeing projects brought to completion. We did physical tasks in homes that we were not able to finish. We had conversions with people that did not end in clear choices. Each of us must be content to let another team follow us and finish the home we drywalled but couldn't finish and paint. Each of us must trust that words we expressed to a homeowner or a neighbor are part of the Holy Spirit's process of illuminating that will result in growth toward Christ next week, month or year(s). The bottom line is that we obeyed in the present and we trust that God will use that to make changes in the future.

We heard a snippet of that near the end of the week. A neighbor who had been resistant to help and spiritual conversation relented. She asked for help. Then she confided that although she considered herself a Christ-follower, she had not prayed or really interacted with God meaningfully. One morning this past week, she asked God for help and that she just couldn't do everything on her own. It was that very day that two of the long-term staff spoke to her and helped in Jesus name. She couldn't understand why people would help and she was surprised at why these guys helped. They simply replied that is what God does. He answers prayer.

This story was months in the making. Our obedience, your obedience is an act of faith. We trust God to take our Holy Spirit motivated actions and put them to use for his purposes.

Thank you for checking in on this blog and thank you for praying for our team.

Galveston - Day Six

I'm going to be bumped off this computer shortly because the gang is in the middle of a Speed Scrabble tournament and they need to check the online dictionary.

We were on two teams again today. One group of four primed a whole house of fresh drywall. The rest of us did finish work on drywall, primed two rooms and hung several doors.

Two of our team members had a long, intense conversation with two other volunteers about the truth of the Bible, God's expectations for salvation, the reality of heaven and hell. Bob Lejcar said that he believes that discussion was the reason he was brought to Galveston.

We are all somewhat eager to return to PA although the news of frigid temps is a little depressing.

Thank you for praying for us.

Galveston - Day Five

Good evening all! Pastor Dan asked me to blog this evening of our day's 'adventures' and since this is my first blogging experience, expect anything! I won't mention my name, but I might be known as the ice cream seeker. We did get our 'fix' last evening.
As for today, my particular project team headed off to a site where a dear woman named Tina is seeking help cleaning out her home. Part of the Manhatten College group joined Charmaine, Kyle, Sarah, and I. We were a bit overwhelmed by the amount of contents in her home, but eager to help her box up and remove her 'memories'. She also asked if we could help do some demo, and we were able to accomodate her there also, turning the day into a very full day's labor. Tearing down ceilings and walls, and tearing up wood floors can be exhausting, but the group's commitment to helping Tina was evident with the group's efforts. Tina was very pleased with our dedication in being the hands and feet of Jesus.
The rest of our group returned to the home site where we have been working all week. Drywalling and door framing was the theme there, and all of us are feeling the wear and tear on our physical bodies. Fortunately, our hearts are led by spiritual strength that comes only from our Lord Jesus. We have a day left, and continue to ask all of you to still continue to lift us all up in prayer for God's purposes. YOU, who are our supporters in prayer and elsewise, are every bit an equal part of this team and we love you all as our friends and family for standing by us in God's adventure for us. Thank you!
In Christ, a local Ben & Jerry's supporter (a.k.a. Robert Oswald)