This morning I went on cnn.com to check out what's going on in the world, and I came across this: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2010/06/29/my-take-why-christians-are-jerks-online/?hpt=C2. At first I was angry - how dare this guy start a blog to tare Christians down. Until I realized that wasn't his goal at all. Jonathan Acuff writes a blog called "Stuff Christians Like", and although I have only read 1 and a half of his blogs, his bold stand and the fact that CNN is letting him preach the Gospel on their site makes me sit up and take notice.
I might not have a lot of time these days, but I plan to follow this guy's blog from time to time.
Also on CNN today I read that in Italy a lady is making a fuss about a crucifix that is up in her son's classroom. The European courts awarded her 5,000 + euros. And although, from what I can gather, they aren't making Italy take down all the crucifix in their schools, this does open a door for other people to sue on the same grounds.
An appeal goes forward today. Read what Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re had to say about it:
"When I think that we are talking about a symbol, the crucifix, an image that cannot but be the emblem of a universally shared humanity, I not only feel disappointed but also sadness and grief," he said.
"The crucifix is the sign of a God that loves man to the point of giving up his life for him. It is a God that teaches us to learn to love, to pay attention to each man ... and to respect the others, even those who belong to a different culture or religion.
"How could someone not share such a symbol?" (read the article at http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2010/06/29/italy-fights-for-crucifixes-in-classrooms/?hpt=C1)
This lady that caused a ruckus about a crucifix in her kid's classroom actually opened the door for the Gospel to, again, be preached online and around the world. But I just keep thinking about the sadness of her Christ-less life, and the sad reality of her children growing up in a secular environment.
And I pray that she would be led to the Cross she once persecuted.
After all, think of the Apostle Paul.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Salvation in a Faulty Elevator
While in Guatemala Gerri and I got in an elevator, thinking to ourselves what an uneventful day it was. We got to the level we were looking for, and there were people waiting to get on the elevator who said that the place we were going was closed. At least I think that's what they said (my Spanish is still coming along). So all those people (maybe 7 or so) decided to join us in the elevator, and on we went... in total there were about 16 or 17 of us. The elevator's capacity was 12, maybe 13.
We began our ascent... and stopped. The elevator jolted a couple of times and then stopped. It jolted a few more times. And then stopped. Gerri and I looked at each other wide eyed, and then looked around at the other "sardines" in the elevator with us, and began wondering how long we would be spending with them. To say there was "standing room only" is an understatement - but quite common throughout Guatemala. After all, in Guatemala, there is always room for one more!
Gerri and I agreed in prayer together, quietly, but I just had this sense in my spirit that I needed to pray so everybody could hear me. So I asked, "are you all Christians in here" (although my first guess is that they were going out partying, by their attire). Two guys replied that they were, although quite hesitantly. I was thankful to find that they spoke English. So I told them that I was going to pray. There was a girl in the other corner having a panic attack, and a couple guys in another corner trying to find the alarm or phone. To no avail.
So I prayed loudly, thanked God for protecting us, for helping us get out, and so on. Everyone had obviously been listening, despite the language barrier. I mean, come on, when someone's praying, you know it. Language doesnt' matter. A girl in the corner seemed to quiet down a bit, but she was still very distraught. I told my newly appointed translator (lol) to tell her that, "the girl in the corner said to say that every thing's going to be alright. God is here."
Some guys found the alarm, so off it went, then a couple of them decided to jump. I was thinking, "Are you serious?" The jolts were intense, it made the chains sound loose. The last thing we needed was people jumping.
Two guys pried the doors open. We were completely between floors, all we could see was the elevator shaft.
We were trapped.
My "translator" looked at Gerri and I and said, "My family are Christians, but I am not anymore. But something is happening in my heart." I couldn't believe my ears. Were we actually getting an opportunity to minister to this guy while being stuck in an elevator? He didn't care one bit that we were stuck, that we could get hurt, that we were sardined together in a very small space, this guy was having an encounter with God. So right there, inches from each other - well inches from each other's faces - we talked about it.
More jolts.
Gerri started praying for God's Angles. I joined her. Together we prayed that Angels would come beneath the elevator and take us to the floor. Thirty seconds later we were stepping into the parking lot.
But God wasn't done yet.
I turned to ask my "translator" for directions, since I didn't expect to be arriving to this particular floor. He gave us directions and then started asking more questions, so we kept talking.
Another guy from the elevator walked up and said, "hey, thanks for the prayer... when we were in there I realized I was living in sin, and if something happened..."
I said to them, "Where would you have gone if the elevator had plummeted and we'd all died?"
One replied, "I don't know."
I told them, "I know I would have been with Jesus. But at anytime any of us could be hit by a car, we just have to walk into that parking lot." I looked at them for a minute and then asked, "do you want to make it right with God right now?"
They both said yes with NO hesitation.
So Gerri and I grabbed there hands, we all closed our eyes and I led them in a prayer, Gerri said it with them. Once we were done I told them to get a Bible, and to get into the Word. We started making our way out of the parking lot, me talking to one guy, Gerri to the other.
Before we walked away I told them, "God has things for you to do. You need to do them. Don't go back to your old ways."
"I'm going home," one relied to me. Meaning, he was changing his plans, and not going partying.
I couldn't help but wonder how long their families must have prayed for them.
I will never forget those two guys. God knew right were they were at, He knew their number, their address, their exact location, and He knew that they would be reunited with Him through a faulty elevator and two crazy Canadians.
PS - I'm not sure how long we were in that elevator. Maybe only 10 minutes.
We began our ascent... and stopped. The elevator jolted a couple of times and then stopped. It jolted a few more times. And then stopped. Gerri and I looked at each other wide eyed, and then looked around at the other "sardines" in the elevator with us, and began wondering how long we would be spending with them. To say there was "standing room only" is an understatement - but quite common throughout Guatemala. After all, in Guatemala, there is always room for one more!
Gerri and I agreed in prayer together, quietly, but I just had this sense in my spirit that I needed to pray so everybody could hear me. So I asked, "are you all Christians in here" (although my first guess is that they were going out partying, by their attire). Two guys replied that they were, although quite hesitantly. I was thankful to find that they spoke English. So I told them that I was going to pray. There was a girl in the other corner having a panic attack, and a couple guys in another corner trying to find the alarm or phone. To no avail.
So I prayed loudly, thanked God for protecting us, for helping us get out, and so on. Everyone had obviously been listening, despite the language barrier. I mean, come on, when someone's praying, you know it. Language doesnt' matter. A girl in the corner seemed to quiet down a bit, but she was still very distraught. I told my newly appointed translator (lol) to tell her that, "the girl in the corner said to say that every thing's going to be alright. God is here."
Some guys found the alarm, so off it went, then a couple of them decided to jump. I was thinking, "Are you serious?" The jolts were intense, it made the chains sound loose. The last thing we needed was people jumping.
Two guys pried the doors open. We were completely between floors, all we could see was the elevator shaft.
We were trapped.
My "translator" looked at Gerri and I and said, "My family are Christians, but I am not anymore. But something is happening in my heart." I couldn't believe my ears. Were we actually getting an opportunity to minister to this guy while being stuck in an elevator? He didn't care one bit that we were stuck, that we could get hurt, that we were sardined together in a very small space, this guy was having an encounter with God. So right there, inches from each other - well inches from each other's faces - we talked about it.
More jolts.
Gerri started praying for God's Angles. I joined her. Together we prayed that Angels would come beneath the elevator and take us to the floor. Thirty seconds later we were stepping into the parking lot.
But God wasn't done yet.
I turned to ask my "translator" for directions, since I didn't expect to be arriving to this particular floor. He gave us directions and then started asking more questions, so we kept talking.
Another guy from the elevator walked up and said, "hey, thanks for the prayer... when we were in there I realized I was living in sin, and if something happened..."
I said to them, "Where would you have gone if the elevator had plummeted and we'd all died?"
One replied, "I don't know."
I told them, "I know I would have been with Jesus. But at anytime any of us could be hit by a car, we just have to walk into that parking lot." I looked at them for a minute and then asked, "do you want to make it right with God right now?"
They both said yes with NO hesitation.
So Gerri and I grabbed there hands, we all closed our eyes and I led them in a prayer, Gerri said it with them. Once we were done I told them to get a Bible, and to get into the Word. We started making our way out of the parking lot, me talking to one guy, Gerri to the other.
Before we walked away I told them, "God has things for you to do. You need to do them. Don't go back to your old ways."
"I'm going home," one relied to me. Meaning, he was changing his plans, and not going partying.
I couldn't help but wonder how long their families must have prayed for them.
I will never forget those two guys. God knew right were they were at, He knew their number, their address, their exact location, and He knew that they would be reunited with Him through a faulty elevator and two crazy Canadians.
PS - I'm not sure how long we were in that elevator. Maybe only 10 minutes.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Forgot Bilingual Dictionary
Today I somehow misplaced my Spanish - English Dictionary. Which made for some fun moments. First the contractor trying to communicate with me that we couldn't use the water... and the only word I could understand was "agua". So after about 2 minutes I finally got it.
Then, our driver showed up and I pointed to the gas light on the car and said, "Necissito!" And he said something that sounded like "jugo" which means "juice". But now I'm not so sure that's what he said, if how hard he laughed is any indication. So we stopped at a gas station. And they did not have any "juice". We went to 2 more place, and still no "juice". So I asked "no tiene jugo para carro todas en Villa Nueva?" (They don't have any car juice in Villa Nueva?" (lol) he laughed so hard and said no. So I said, "y en la ciudad?" (and in the city?) and he said no, still laughing. He was laughing so hard he had to pull over. I wish I'd known the word for gas was gasolina. That should have been a no brainer.
By this point, Gerri was laughing so hard, I had to ask Byron to find us a bathroom. So this was cause for even more laughter. Oh! I forgot with the gas, we had prayed and a second later (the 4th gas station) finally had gas. So Byron said, "Orar de Dios" (Pray to God) and we found a bathroom. God cares even about the little things... although to Gerri it was a huge answer to prayer. :)
In Better Hands
I'm just about to head to bed, but I wanted to share a song that I found on youtube tonight: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yKlQ6zoqDE&feature=related
I was reminded tonight how Jesus is in intercession for us. Isn't that an awesome and powerful thing?! When we don't even know that we need it, He is standing in intercession for us. There's no safer place, no better place, to be than in the center of His will, in the palm of His hands. It reminds me of one of my favorite Psalms, chapter 31. "My times are in His hands" - and there's no more capable hands than His.
I'll attempt to do some more updates in the next couple days - thanks for everybody's prayers and encouraging emails! The next week is going to fly by... this time next week we'll be gearing up for the conference in Kingston, and I can't wait to see all God has in store for it! You won't want to miss the "Addicted to the Flame" conference - for more information go to www.tdwc.ca.
I was reminded tonight how Jesus is in intercession for us. Isn't that an awesome and powerful thing?! When we don't even know that we need it, He is standing in intercession for us. There's no safer place, no better place, to be than in the center of His will, in the palm of His hands. It reminds me of one of my favorite Psalms, chapter 31. "My times are in His hands" - and there's no more capable hands than His.
I'll attempt to do some more updates in the next couple days - thanks for everybody's prayers and encouraging emails! The next week is going to fly by... this time next week we'll be gearing up for the conference in Kingston, and I can't wait to see all God has in store for it! You won't want to miss the "Addicted to the Flame" conference - for more information go to www.tdwc.ca.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Back at Casa, Drinking Pineapple Juice
It's been a few days since my last post, I actually ran out of time on my portable modem... and being that it was in Spanish and somehow wasn't using any of the words I know (lol) I had to wait to get come help getting my money put on it.
I'm back at Casa de Alabbanza now, after an intense two weeks in Antigua learning Spanish. It was a lot of fun, a lot memory work, a lot of walking (I miss that already!) and I'm actually able to communicate pretty decently with the guards here now. Surprise surprise! That's exciting, knowing I didn't just waste 2 weeks of my life.
Anyway, Gerri Shortt arrives tonight, so I'm going to spend the afternoon getting the place looking spiffy. I'm going to also spray more raid all over the places so maybe there won't be any cockroaches when she gets here. I had one crawling on my foot last night as I was trying to sleep. Shh, don't tell her... eek. Don't worry, to future people coming to Casa we are going to deal with the situation. I have yet to meet a child - even a Guatemalan child - that actually enjoys cockroaches around while they sleep. I'm thinking it's time to irrigate the place, so no worries. :)
Right now it's pouring rain in Villa Nueva, and I'm surprised that every time it rains there still is ash coming off the roof from the volcano eruption a few weeks ago.
So that's the update on this end! More exciting adventures to come in the next 2 weeks!
PS - I've got a hankering for my mom's gingersnaps. I hear she sent some with Gerri. 4 more hours... mmm
I'm back at Casa de Alabbanza now, after an intense two weeks in Antigua learning Spanish. It was a lot of fun, a lot memory work, a lot of walking (I miss that already!) and I'm actually able to communicate pretty decently with the guards here now. Surprise surprise! That's exciting, knowing I didn't just waste 2 weeks of my life.
Anyway, Gerri Shortt arrives tonight, so I'm going to spend the afternoon getting the place looking spiffy. I'm going to also spray more raid all over the places so maybe there won't be any cockroaches when she gets here. I had one crawling on my foot last night as I was trying to sleep. Shh, don't tell her... eek. Don't worry, to future people coming to Casa we are going to deal with the situation. I have yet to meet a child - even a Guatemalan child - that actually enjoys cockroaches around while they sleep. I'm thinking it's time to irrigate the place, so no worries. :)
Right now it's pouring rain in Villa Nueva, and I'm surprised that every time it rains there still is ash coming off the roof from the volcano eruption a few weeks ago.
So that's the update on this end! More exciting adventures to come in the next 2 weeks!
PS - I've got a hankering for my mom's gingersnaps. I hear she sent some with Gerri. 4 more hours... mmm
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