The Divine Crash

Recently, I have been thinking about calling.  What makes a calling? Where does calling come from? How do I know it is valid? Can it change? What happens when I reach my calling?

And here is what I found, callings come from God and come from somewhere deep inside. Maybe that inside is God or maybe God is creating that feeling but either way there are two parts. One from outside and one from inside.

However, I have also found callings are fickle beings. They are not determined by a status or by other people. They are not a goal or an end point but more of a journey after the elusive end.  We can chase them but too often they move just out of our reach and we keep going after it and then when/if we finally get it we realize it wasn’t the end we were called to but the journey.

So then, what kind of journey do we follow? Do we follow on a path of our own creation? Which I think if we are doing that will take us down all sorts of paths and at worst will bring us to our own destruction or at best will lead us to mediocrity and boredom.

Or do we follow a different path? The kind of path that is narrow and difficult but was laid out for us before the creation of time? That kind of path is the one Jesus is calling us to and may not lead to riches and glory in this life but it sure isn’t boring and it definitely isn’t mediocre.

Ask your average church attender what their church is against and you will find a huge list of things.

Gambling, Drinking, Dancing, Homosexuality, Fun, Eating, Breathing, etc… the list goes on for hundreds of pages of things that they are against.

But if you ask an average church attender what is their church “for” what is the answer? If you have a well educated church attender you might get “The church is for Jesus.”

Really? That seems somewhat limited. Shouldn’t the church be for Grace, Second-Chances, Redemption, Holiness, and even salvation?

When the organization turns into being against things it can’t survive.  Instead, what if church was no longer about what we are against and became what we are for?

Yes, we are for Jesus, we are in the business of giving grace to those who eat in the sanctuary and we are even in the business of giving second chances to those who gamble for clothes.

For churches, there are some things it is good to be against. I would suggest the only thing we should be against is Sin in all forms. That is what we should hate.  However, just as much as we hate sin we should always be on the side of people. Love all people and do whatever it takes to bring people closer to God, even if that means we have to be “For” things we wouldn’t normally agree with.

Maybe, maybe not. Maybe hating people is better? I mean the last guy who loved everyone got hung on a cross, so maybe it is better to hate people different from us? To be against all actions we don’t like.

Over the summer I had the privilege of speaking at a youth camp.  While there I met the parents of a young woman who is a missionary in India.  While there she adopted a little boy named Kyle.  However, even though the adoption is legal the U.S. Government has been with-holding the visa required for Kyle to come to the United States.  After a few weeks of planning I worked out an interview with Becky.  My comments are in bold and her responses are after.  Please join me at in praying for Kyle and Becky and that they would make it home soon.

At the bottom of the conversation are links to her news stories and information about how you can help.

1. What brought you to India?

I have always loved to travel. God put the Himalayas on my heart a long time ago. I was drawn to Tibetans and Nepalis. I really wanted to do ministry in the mountains, among those people groups. An opportunity came up in 2004 for me to volunteer at a children’s home in the foothills of the Himalayas, in India. I went with two friends for 2 months and fell in love with the people. I knew God would take me back. I shared with my church, friends, and family about my vision to live in the foothills and minister to kids there and my church wanted to send me out as their missionary. (New Covenant Community Church, Somers Pt. NJ) So I moved to India in Dec. 2007 to represent New Covenant as their missionary.

2. What has kept you in India?

My original plan was to be in India indefinitely, but to go home 2 times a year to be refreshed, to meet with church and supporters, to catch up with everyone at home, etc. BUT Kyle was born in Jan 2008 and we haven’t been able to go home at all. And now that I have a child of my own, I really want to raise him in the States, close to family and friends, so my vision for ministry in India has changed. I’m looking forward to being stateside, but still doing short-term trips.

3. Why can’t you bring Kyle home yet?

Right now, every single legal requirement has been met for me to go home with Kyle. The adoption has been recognized on an international level. However, the US Embassy in Delhi and specifically USCIS, has not been very cooperative. We are STILL waiting for a visa for Kyle. That’s the last step. Since all the requirements have been met, we are baffled as to why the embassy/the USA is being so slow to issue the visa.
4. What do you still need to get to back to the U.S.?

We just need Kyle’s visa and we’ll be on the next plane!
5. How has your faith in God kept you going?

It was faith in God that even gave me the peace to take Kyle. He was about to be abandoned by his birth mother and I was asked to take him. I had immediate peace. God’s faithfulness has brought us so far. Kyle was 3 1/2 pounds when I got him (2 days old) and having an infant in the foothills is just soooo hard. Medical care is horrible, there’s no BabiesRUs, no heat, etc. It was really challenging, but God totally had His hand on us. Clinging to what I KNOW to be true in the Bible (even on days when I don’t FEEL that way) has gotten me through so much. Standing before the Indian Supreme Court is incredibly intimidating, but God was right there with me. I have learned to believe for things that I never thought were possible. And if I didn’t have God to turn to, to cry out to, I would have fallen apart a long time ago.
6. When you need a verse to strengthen you, when verse do you read?

One thing that has been incredibly hard is to be here on my own. I’m a single mom in this crazy, unstable, unsafe country. Psalm 4:8 has been my go to verse. Kyle and I pray it together every night. Also, Lamentations 3:22-24. I’m SOOO thankful for new mercies every day and I’m so thankful that God is truly our portion, all we need.

“I will lie down and fall asleep in peace because you alone, LORD , let me live in safety.” – Psalm 4:8 Common English Bible

“Certainly the faithful love of the LORD hasn’t ended; certainly God’s compassion isn’t through! They are renewed every morning. Great is your faithfulness. I think: The LORD is my portion! Therefore, I’ll wait for him.” – Lamentations 3:22-24

7. What can my blog readers do most to help you? 
8. Anything specific that we can pray for you?

I would really appreciate prayer! For our safety and health, for favor with the Embassy/USCIS, mainly for Kyle’s visa to be issued quickly, for provision, and also for us as we have a HUGE transition ahead of us.

9. If anyone has more questions how can they contact you? 

My email is bringbeckyandkylehome [at] gmail.com

For more information check out her hometown newspaper which has written several articles on her.

1 Corinthians 13:1-8

We are continuing to look at what else is good news about the gospel?  What does it mean today, tomorrow, and in the future. I took a lot of this from Rob Bell’s book “Love Wins.” and some of it is from Peter Rollins’ book “Insurrection.”

Feel free to leave a comment, take a listen to the audio at the bottom or on iTunes.

Prayer: Let your love never fail

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That first moment when something catches.  Where fire is born, where reaction happens and it sparks something bigger.  That is the Christmas story and that is what we strive for in Church. When we worship we say it was meaningful and we use words like “it spoke to me,” or “I felt close to God.” We are constantly chasing that spark.  But what if that spark wasn’t our goal? What if our Goal was the raging inferno that follows?

Jesus writes in Luke 12:49-53 that he didn’t come to spark something.  Instead Jesus came to burn the whole place to the ground.  Jesus is the spark but his purpose was to create an inferno.

In the Old Testament Elijah stood against the prophets of Baal not to create a spark but to burn the offering up.

This is the kind of passion christians are to strive for.  Too often we want the spark but what we need is a blazing inferno.

When people see a sudden spark they will jump but then go about their business.  Yet when they see an inferno it piques their curiosity and gets them thinking about what is the cause, purpose, and meaning of it.

To create a fire you need fuel, what fuels your fire?

Are you creating an inferno? Is your church just sparking or is it burning with the passion of a million suns? Why? Why not?

What one thing can you do today to create a spark that burns like a volcano?

Recently I found myself in a discussion with another pastor about the meaning of Christmas.  This pastor told me that it didn’t matter if the Christmas story was true.  That what mattered was the meaning behind the story.  He went on to say that the virgin birth didn’t matter because it is impossible to have happened and what was important was the reason why Matthew and Luke would write about it.

Now, I am all about questioning authority, questioning tradition, and debating on whether or not it is important.

But at some point we have to be willing to put our foot down, stake our claim, and say this actually happened.

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Good morning, this sermon continues the sermon series going through the Psalms that are mentioned in the Gospels.  Enjoy at the bottom or on iTunes.

Psalm 78:23-24 “God gave orders to the skies above, opened heaven’s doors, and rained manna on them so they could eat.  He gave them the very grain of heaven.”

John 6:26-35 “Our ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, just as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”

John 6:58 “This isn’t like the bread your ancestors ate and still died. Whoever eats this bread will live forever.”

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Today’s sermon continued along our series of preaching through the Psalms mentioned in the Gospels.  You can listen at the bottom of this post, or on iTunes.

Psalm 42:6,11 “My God, My whole being is depressed. That’s why I remember you from the land of Jordan and Hermon, from Mount Mizar. Why, I ask myself, are you so depressed? Why are you so upset inside? Hope in God! Because I will again give him thanks, my saving presence and my God.

Matthew 26:38 “Then he said to them, “I’m very sad. It’s as if I’m dying. Stay here and keep alert with me.”

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