hush...

Hardly do we stop. then stare...

not enough are we aware

To ponder the wonder, to notice the glory of this place

set in motion, time and space

The immense glory that surrounds

in this world where great grace abounds

hurry is blindness to the grace, to the beauty in your time

Ponder enough and ponder well

all life is, all creation spells…

A PLUG for the PAST

I have been listening to some old music lately. Namely Rich Mullins music. Rich was a deeply spiritual man with a true longing for God. He was one of those rare gems who lived a life of trying to grasp and immensity of God, trying to know Him, understand Him. But in the midst of that understanding he knew and embraced how God changed him as he grew in the Knowledge of the Holy.

Below I copied the opening lyrics to a song called "Home." Read through them a few times and truly reflect on the last three lines. Let God soeak to you about your PAST and how He was at work in it.

"I see the morning moving over the hills
I can see the shadows on the western side
And all those illusions that I had
They just vanish in Your light
Though the chill in the night still hangs in the air
I can feel the warmth of morning on my face
Though the storm had tossed me
'Til I thought I'd nearly lost my way

And now the night is fading and the storm is past
And everything that could be shaken was shaken
And all that remains is all I ever really had.
- Rich Mullins

Uganda Photos

After a long time of waiting your patience is rewarded. Here is 1st installment of photos from my travels so far. Enjoy.
These were all taken at Murchison Falls National Park in Northwestern Uganda

Some Real Heroes and Some Real Villains

I found this article on Yahoo and I wanted to try to use it to tell he world that there really is grace and love in this world. Even in the middle of criminal behavior by the "leader" of Myanmar there are true "LEADERS" doing what leaders do. Where is God in this? He is med students caring for the sick, and shop keepers taking their own porridge and sharing with others. There is love there is grace if we care to find it. Please read the article below and pray for these people and against the enemy of their souls that is at work to cause them great suffering.

YANGON, Myanmar - From shopkeepers handing out free rice porridge to medical students caring for the sick, ordinary people in Myanmar are stepping in to help cyclone victims as the military regime severely restricts international aid.

Taxi drivers, factory owners, college students, teachers and other Yangon residents — many of whom lost their own homes — are among those organizing grueling trips into the Irrawaddy delta, the hardest-hit region.

"They are true humanitarian heroes," said Bridget Gardner, International Red Cross representative in Myanmar, after touring an area where volunteers were giving first aid to the injured.

They are taking up collections at businesses and donating food, clothes and water. Some who are too poor to give money or supplies are offering their labor to help clear debris and rebuild villages leveled by the May 3 cyclone.

I called them up and took a job in Uganda

Hello everyone, to start off I have to say that God has been faithful and good to me and so life has been great for me, As you know I have been living at my sister’s place in Ohio and since I moved here I have been praying a lot and seeking God direction for me at this time. After sending out bunches of resume’s and talking to lots of people, churches and organizations I finally have a job. So, here are the quick highlights.

Over the past several years, my heart has been increasingly burden with meeting both the physical and spiritual needs of people around the world. As I sought out where God would have me to go, I was drawn to seeking a placement within a Christian Relief and Development organization. After a lengthy process of phone calls, applications, and interviews, in my heart I have settled on the Samaritan’s Purse organization headed by Franklin Graham. If you have not heard of them maybe you know them because of the Operation Christmas Child (Shoeboxes) program, they are the same organization. As I sought an employment opportunity the best option and fit for me at this time is to serve as an intern with Samaritan’s Purse as an International field worker. The hope on their part and on mine is that if I do a good job and if there is an open position at the end of the internship, I hopefully and likely will be offered a permanent full time position. There is no guarantee of a full time job after the internship, but I feel as though this is where God is leading me to go and I know that he will open the doors that need to be opened in the right place at the right time.

So the deal is that I will be heading off to Uganda to serve with S.P. for 5 months starting April 14^th. Mostly I will be learning from and helping the various Program Directors with the programs running in Uganda. Some of my official job description is yet be seen and from what I understand it is extremely flexible based on what needs are most pressing on that day. That is why I am being so vague about what I will be doing, truth is I have very little idea. At the bottom of the page is a list of what Samaritan’s Purse is currently doing in Uganda so assume that I will be helping with those things. I know this is going to be a big adjustment for me to a completely new culture, country and climate. I am looking forward to learning firsthand about Relief & Development work and seeing where God takes me from here.

I truly believe that Christians and the Christian church have a massive responsibility before God to do good to those in need, both physically and spiritually. I understand the Bible to instruct us to do good to all people and as we do good, peoples hearts are opened to the voice of the Holy Spirit calling them to salvation. One of the verse that has stood out to me in my devotions over the past few years is Proverbs 3:27 which says “Do not withhold good from those who deserve it when it’s in your power to help them. ²⁸ If you can help your neighbor now, don’t say, “Come back tomorrow, and then I’ll help you.” There are so many people in the world in great need, who better or more called to meet these needs than those who have experienced the life changing power of salvation. We are ambassadors of God calling the world to “be reconciled back God.” Reconciliation with God is the answer to the great problems facing our world today. If we are not reconciled to God through the salvation offered to us through Jesus Christ, there is no real hope of solving the issues that are tearing our world apart. There, now you have a little theology behind why I feel God calling me to this area of ministry and why I am so excited about the opportunity to get my feet wet in the International Relief and Development sector of Christian ministry. I feel like I have a lot to offer and a lot to learn, I am looking forward to the challenge.

That is the scoop on my life. I would appreciate your continued prayers for myself and for the people of Uganda as well. Please pray that all of those working to share the Gospel in this nation would have favor, success and safety. Also, please do stay in touch with me. I know I will be able to get email in Uganda, the only trick to this is that the power needs to be on to run the phone lines. This is going to be an adventure. Woo hoo. You may have more questions for me too, so feel free to respond and ask them and I will do my best to answer them.

I pray for God to bless you and all that he has given you to do for his kingdom.

Stay in touch,

Mark

Samaritan’s Purse – International Relief http://www.samaritanspurse.org/

Uganda

The source of the great Nile River, Uganda is also a source of hope for Africa for its unprecedented success against HIV/AIDS, accomplished through Christian principles and compassion. Samaritan’s Purse became involved in HIV/AIDS ministry in Uganda in 1994 and has launched a comprehensive program to strengthen the Christian response to the pandemic. Samaritan’s Purse also is involved in community development, livestock and children’s programs, and has provided food and other services for hundreds of thousands displaced by terrorism in the northern part of the country.

Ugandan Projects

Empower Trauma Rehabilitation

The horrific brutality of the prolonged guerrilla war waged by the Lord’s Resistance Army in Northern Uganda not only destroyed homes, churches, schools and livelihoods, it also left deep psychological and emotional scars. The Empower Trauma Rehabilitation Program, designed by psychologist Dr Robi Sonderegger, provides simple tools based on Biblical principals to help people find emotional strength and forgiveness and the lasting peace that is found only in Christ. The program is helping 1,300 people in the Lira area.

Chronological Bible Story Telling

Trained pastors and preachers travel to public places each week to tell the same stories Jesus told in order to give people an understanding of marriage and family relationships from a Biblical perspective. In 2008, the program is expanding beyond the limits of marriage and family, using story telling to depict God’s redemptive plan through Jesus Christ. The program encompasses 3,400 adults, youth, children, and church leaders in the Lira and Kamwenge areas.

Women’s Vocational Ministry

This program provides six months of skills training in tailoring, enough materials and equipment to launch a small tailoring business, and a wealth of spiritual training and mentoring to 80 vulnerable women.

Bible Distribution

Bibles in the local language (Lango) are expensive and scarce in the Lira District. We distributed 1,500 Lango Bibles in 2007, and plan to expand the program this year so that more people have access to the Word of God.

Total Number of Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts delivered to Uganda: 383,146

Uganda

Area: 236,040 sq km; slightly smaller than Oregon

Population: 27,269,482 (July 2005 est.)

Religions: Roman Catholic 33%, Protestant 33%, Muslim 16%, indigenous beliefs 18%

Language: English (official national language, taught in grade schools, used in courts of law and by most newspapers and some radio broadcasts), Ganda or Luganda (most widely used of the Niger-Congo languages, preferred for native language publications and may be t

Capital: Kampala

This info can also be found by clicking on the line below

http://www.samaritanspurse.org/Country_Index.asp?CountryID=211

Motivation

"When all is said and done, more is said than done." - Lou Holtz - Football Coaching Legend

I came across this quote today and it arrested my attention. The more I pondered the words the deeper the meanings became. I pray for and am working towards a life where what I say is not more than what I have done. The best would be if I can make my actions and words count for I have done in the efforts to carry the message of reconciliation to a hurting and lost world.

Steps of Life

I walk a road, bare and dusty
step by step I make my way
looking searching straining to see the finish

No end in sight alone I plod
routine is family and custom my friend

As I strain I become aware that on this road
there are those who have gone before
Without a word and out of sight they cheer me on having shared my plight
We are friends though yet unmet

Deep inside I know all the way I must go
I know no end only toil
But on this road I find who I am and all I need.

Christ in the City Bar

Here is a post that takes none of my own initiative, but the story is powerful. Take the time to read this and engrain the message in your heart.

Credit for the work below:
Written & Performed by Trans-Siberian Orchestra
CD: Christmas Eve & Other Stories
Song: Old City Bar

"Every light can be a star
Just depends on where you are
And the distance that you're looking
Past the places you have been

In an old city bar
That is never too far
From the places that gather
The dreams that have been

In the safety of night
With its old neon light
It beckons to strangers
And they always come in

And the snow it was falling
The neon was calling
The music was low
And the night
Christmas Eve

And here was the danger
That even with strangers
Inside of this night
It's easier to believe

Then the door opened wide
And a child came inside
That no one in the bar
Had seen there before

And he asked did we know
That outside in the snow
That someone was lost
Standing outside our door

Then the bartender gazed
Through the smoke and the haze

Through the window and ice
To a corner streetlight

Where standing alone
By a broken pay phone
Was a girl the child said
Could no longer get home

And the snow it was falling
The neon was calling
The bartender turned
And said , not that I care
But how would you know this?
The child said I've noticed
If one could be home
They'd be all ready there

Then the bartender came out from behind the bar
And in all of his life he was never that far
And he did something else that he thought no one saw
When he took all the cash from the register draw

Then he followed the child to the girl cross the street
And we watched from the bar as they started to speak
Then he called for a cab and he said J.F.K.
Put the girl in the cab and the cab drove away
And we saw in his hand
That the cash was all gone
From the light that she had
wished upon

If you want to arrange it
This world you can change it
If we could somehow make this
Christmas thing last

By helping a neighbor
Or even a stranger

And to know who needs help
You need only just ask

Then he looked for the child
But the child wasn't there
Just the wind and the snow
Waltzing dreams through the air

So he walked back inside
Somehow different I think
For the rest of the night
No one paid for a drink

And the cynics will say
That some neighborhood kid
Wandered in on some bums
In the world where they hid

But they weren't there
So they couldn't see
By an old neon star
On that, night, Christmas Eve

When the snow it was falling
The neon was calling
And in case you should wonder
In case you should care

Why we're on our own
Never went home
On that night of all nights
We were already there

Then all at once inside that night
He saw it all so clear
The answer that he sought so long
Had always been so near

It's every gift that someone gives
Expecting nothing back
It's every kindness that we do
Each simple little act"

Faith in different ways

Why is it so difficult to take a step of faith with regards to my career, but it is so easy to trust God with the eternal destiny of my soul?

So here is my initial response to that question. It seems to me that in life I am surrounded by "the now", and it is "the now" that takes precedence above everything else. So, "the now" of my career seems very daunting. The direction I choose could potentially enhance or degrade my life. One mistake could mess up so many of things.

Yet with regard to my soul it always appears to us as people that we have time, death is not a pressing issue. Therefore the eternal place of the soul can be put on hold until it becomes of immediate concern then i will really need to worry about my faith in God in that area.

The truth is I think it shows how small an issue we make our eternal destiny. Even as a Christian believer I can be very much lulled into a place where my soul is on the waiting list of priorities. My conclusion at this time is this: As I ponder how I trust God with the eternal place of my soul how much smaller a thing is it to trust him in take blind steps of faith towards a career that is honoring to him. The Lord directs the steps of the righteous and those that fear him. I need to keep my fear directed towards honoring God and not towards fearing a mistake

a blessing reminder

Deut. 12:7 “ Feast there in the Presence of God, your God. Celebrate everything that you and your families have accomplished under the blessing of God, your God.”

Too often we forget that all we have and all we have accomplished is b/c God has allowed us to do so. As a Christian I need to always be mindful that everything accomplished is done so under the blessing of God. Therefore I need to be always giving thanks and praise to God; forever sharing with everyone around me the message of the blessing of God.

Celebrating God's Unstoppable Plans

Tomb, thou shalt not hold Him longer;
Death is strong, but Life is stronger;
Stronger than the dark, is the light;
Stronger than the wrong, is the right;
Faith and Hope triumphant say,
Christ will rise on Easter Day.

Phillips Brooks

This joke came through my inbox and it made me think instead of laugh...

Two boys were arguing when the teacher entered the room. The teacher asked, "Why are you
arguing?"

One boy answered, "We found a ten-dollar bill and decided to give it to whoever tells the biggest lie."

"You should be ashamed of yourselves," said the teacher.
"When I was your age, I didn't even know what a lie was."

The boys gave the ten dollars to the teacher.


How often does an authority figure overstate the case and in the end miss the opportunity all together and lose credibility.

Disservice by the Church pt. 2

I am seeking to try to understand the entertainment phenomenon that is sweeping the North American church. What do rock climbing walls and coffee shops have to do with worship of God. How did first century churches manage to spread the gospel far and wide w/o these types of things? How does the underground church of China and North Africa continue to grown in believers?

I honestly believe a whole mess of churches have missed the point are allowing the members of our churches to tell how to run the church. I also think our affluence has led us to trust in our money and our fancy programs and brochures as opposed to times of discipling one another, worship together quietly, and seeking to hear God's voice.

Lord please forgive us, turn us back to you. Have mercy on us, but do not be so kind as to not firmly rebuke us for our sins

Disservice by the church

Lately there has been a nagging issue in my heart. What nags at me is the fact that is seems as though churches are becoming primarily judged on the basis of entertainment and felt need. Maybe I am wrong, but over and over I hear people talking about how churches are not doing this or that well enough. As I talk to these people and as I listen to the stories I think "Do these people really think that is the point of a church?"

So the next few posts will explore some reasons why I think this is happening and how the North American church needs to respond. I would love to hear what you think about my observations and feel free to point other people to this blog to leave their feedback as well.

My first observation about how this became a problem is this; the church of North America did this to itself. Okay so maybe that is a slight overstatement, but I am not sure it is too far off.

First I believe the church bought into the worldly idea that "size is success." In doing so they church became just like any other business aimed to bring people in. The church is now driven by its consumers. If they want coffee, they get coffee and coffee breaks. If they want entertainment the youth departments put in big screen tv's and hold video game tournaments with using the latest hit video game. (even though it involves graphic violence and murder) The church did this to itself. Even if your church is not involved in the latest fads of pop culture can you not honestly see places where the church is making huge accommodations to people who are complaining about some minor issue in the effort to keep as many people in the doors as possible. Weak leadership has led us here.

more later, but how am I doing so far.

Wisdom of Lincoln

Here is a gold mine of truth in what otherwise looks like a rock on the side of the road.

"God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb... in other words, that He renders the worst human conditions tolerable, while He permits the best, to be nothing better than tolerable."
- Abraham Lincoln

as quoted in With Malice Toward None - Stephen Oates

New Year, New Expressions

In the midst of this old darkness the past is slipping away

I await the dawn, and its new mercies each day

But in this night I find myself seeking,

following but one star in the sky,

A light for my way, a light shining for all the world

This Star keeps leading me on a Pilgrim’s Journey,

and as long I follow I am ok,

for when I stray a chill bruns through me,

the Voice of the Star speaks to me.

A voice of correction I have learned not to ignore

I’ve found the Star loves me even enough to teach me.

I don’t know what I will see on the way or what I will face with each coming day.

but the Star keeps on guiding and I have learned by abiding,

to just keep on plodding this straight narrow way.

I don’t know where the Star will lead you,

nor do you know where it will lead me

But this I know, I must keep following that Star

and I would welcome your company…

Wishing Christmas

This season I want to take a moment to say Merry Christmas to each person who reads this. May each of you come to see why this holiday is more than a holiday. May you see it as God at work, powerfully, in the world he created for us.

God be with each of you

Mark

Snapshots of a church

There are times when you are see something in life that really captures a moment. Today while at church I saw this...

There sitting about six rows from the front of the church was a middle aged woman bowed in prayer and there sitting next to her was a ninety year old widow who has been at this church for sixty years praying for her. Both of them were totally focused on the moment the younger woman removed her glasses mid prayer so to be able to wipe away the tears that were now streaming down. There was in that moment a complete look of peace on their faces.

That is my snapshot of the meaning of church. I doubt I will ever forget it. When was the last time you saw that at your place of worship. When was the last time you were one of the two people described

God be with us in this life

Church???

I want to share this with you and please tell me if you agree or disagree.

this comes from Eugene Peterson - you should read at least one of His books

American pastors are abandoning their posts, left and right, and at an alarming rate. They are not leaving their churches and getting other jobs. Congregations still pay their salaries. Their names remain on the church stationary and they continue to appear in pulpits on Sundays. But they are abandoning their posts, their calling. They have gone whoring after other gods. What they do with their time under the guise of pastoral ministry hasn’t the remotest connection with what the church’s pastors have done for most of twenty centuries.

A few of us are angry about it. We are angry because we have been deserted…. It is bitterly disappointing to enter a room full of people whom you have every reason to expect share the quest and commitments of pastoral work and find within ten minutes that they most definitely do not. They talk of images and statistics. They drop names. They discuss influence and status. Matters of God and the soul and Scripture are not grist for their mills.

The pastors of America have metamorphosed into a company of shopkeepers, and the shops they keep are churches. They are preoccupied with shopkeeper’s concerns–how to keep the customers happy, how to lure customers away from competitors down the street, how to package the goods so that the customers will lay out more money.

Some of them are very good shopkeepers. They attract a lot of customers, pull in great sums of money, develop splendid reputations. Yet it is still shopkeeping; religious shopkeeping, to be sure, but shopkeeping all the same. The marketing strategies of the fast-food franchise occupy the waking minds of these entrepreneurs; while asleep they dream of the kind of success that will get the attention of journalists.

The biblical fact is that there are no successful churches. There are, instead, communities of sinners, gathered before God week after week in towns and villages all over the world. The Holy Spirit gathers them and does his work in them. In these communities of sinners, one of the sinners is called pastor and given a designated responsibility in the community. The pastor’s responsibility is to keep the community attentive to God. It is this responsibility that is being abandoned in spades.”

God be with us All

let's see what happens when...

What if I just start writing. No Real agenda or point to make just a writing out my thoughts.

Hmmm....

Sometimes I wonder why the Bible says relatively little about things that we think are so important. Maybe we like so many pharisees and saducees are missing the point. Maybe not entirely missing the point but missing the point on certain issues. I wonder...

I love new ideas and new places to check out on the net so maybe now is a good time to intorduce to some great places I like to go and to invite you to check out a few great organizations.
No real order to these other than this is the order they came to mind.

International Justice Mission
- On a Mission to bring God's Justice to the World - give them $$$
(Not pocket change either the stuff you spend on yourself. Skip a meal out and send them a check)

while at iTunes check out the

CBC Radio Podcasts for the Program "IDEAS"
Emergent Village Podcasts

or listen to some sermons by John Piper. I really like a lot of his preaching.

So what else...

Places to do some reading of ideas worth hearing

The Other Journal
Broken Stained Glass
Pajama Library
the eBay atheist » Blog Archive » Willow Creek


Random thought:

Christianity needs to put its work clothes on. (heard in a Sunday Sermon)

Next time you hear a sermon about God wanting to bless your life ask yourself:
"If I lived in Sudan where the Muslim Gov't were trying to kill me or enslave me b/c I am Christian how would I interpret this sermon?"

God Bless you and be with you all