Somali Blessing
22 Aug 2011 Leave a Comment
in prayer Tags: Africa, Ezekiel 34, famine, Hope, prayer, Somalia
Last Wednesday a group of friends of mine joined in the stream of intercessory prayer with the Somali people. We were a bit goofy that evening, but it didn’t detract, rather, it was important in being creative and open enough to listen to His heart.
Somalia and her people are going through a new crisis, on top of the persisting old one. The country is on the east horn of Africa. It is a nation of poets and so very beautiful. The number of Christian believers are about .05%.
Since 1991, they have not had a stable government. For many, many years, an extremist group has enforced authority over the people and the land and fought against those they considered enemies. Horrible fighting that have left many dead. Two years ago, they ran off the humanitarian groups, which had been overwhelmed by those suffering because of the fighting. Somalia was considered the most failed state in the world last year. And then, a few months ago, a severe famine hit Somalia and parts of the neighboring countries. 100,000 displace have added to the already 350,000. Some aid organizations have been allowed in.
It is humbling to pray.
Jesus reminded me of Isaiah 42, that He will not be discouraged until justice is established on the earth and I was reminded that His intention id the same for Somalia. So I prayed for justice in every horror, every loss, everything that is not right in Somalia. My friend Steph Seitz felt promoted to pray according the Ezekiel 37 and then, as she passed it, on Ezekiel 34. She had been focused on God’s word against poor “sheperding” and His promise of the true shepherd to card for them.
Later, though, she read and pointed us to the whole chapter and we all rejoiced at the promise:
“23 I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. 24 I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the LORD have spoken.
25 “‘I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of savage beasts so that they may live in the wilderness and sleep in the forests in safety. 26 I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing. 27 The trees will yield their fruit and the ground will yield its crops; the people will be secure in their land. They will know that I am the LORD, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslaved them. 28 They will no longer be plundered by the nations, nor will wild animals devour them. They will live in safety, and no one will make them afraid. 29 I will provide for them a land renowned for its crops, and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land or bear the scorn of the nations. 30 Then they will know that I, the LORD their God, am with them and that they, the Israelites, are my people, declares the Sovereign LORD. 31 You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign LORD.’”
Hallelujah!!!
Take that in and rejoice!
Another thought: during prayer, our friend Peter got an image of himself on a pirate ship, like Robinson Caruso. Somalia is known for their pirates. In praying for His redemptive, reconciliatory justice, i felt like He was calling people to respond to His call to come on board in His breathtaking work of His justice in Somalia, with a courage and adventuresome spirit to take in the pain of our fellow human being there and open our hearts, willing for them to be broken and then shaped by His heart, and be open to the ridiculous hope and outrageously good plans He is speaking into reality through our prayers and our work.
We ask for what cannot be done without out Him. His work of redemption and reconciliation is beyond anything we can ask or imagine.
Opportunity In The Hard Questions
29 Jul 2011 Leave a Comment
So, in the previous post, I wrote how the good news is good news not only for survivors of human trafficking, but the traffickers, and really, all of us.
The question is, “Okay, Jesus’ heart is for all people involved and He is seeking redemption, reconciliation, and transformation in the lives of those who contribute to the oppression, but what do we actually DO as a church seeking justice, seeking to proclaim the good news?”
There has been much work to seek answers to what do we do to end human trafficking and help victims, and I appreciate the wealth wisdom and knowledge gained thus far on which many of us are building a ministry.
It is important to draw from this knowledge and wisdom in the midst of seeking God’s heart in the hard questions
The question I’ve asked needs to be one of the questions pursued in the big picture of ending human trafficking. We also must be impartial in seeking justice and in the ministry of reconciliation.
That being said, there is great opportunity in the question. There is great opportunity to see Christ’s grace
Scandalous Grace, Justice, and the Gospel
28 Jul 2011 2 Comments
in human rights, Human Trafficking Tags: central valley, Fresno, gospel, Human Trafficking, johns, justice, pimps, prostitution, sex trafficking, slavery
Okay, I admit that what I’m going to share is a hard word. I expect us to wrestle with this. To be, possibly, offended. So I ask you to read prayerfully and seek our loving Father in this message. For this is also a door of freedom for us (and others) and joy in the goodness of God and His magnifienct way of dealing with brokenness in the world.
There is a strong tendency within those who have a heart for justice, including those wanting God’s justice. An understandable one. We have seen and heard stories of people brutally abused, oppressed, exploited, shamed, dehumanized. Our heart breaks for those who are so mistreated. We want them to be free. We want them to be healed. We want them to be all they were made to be. Then we look at those who oppressed them- sellers and buyers and all those who took advantage of the victims- and our tendency is for them to pay for their actions. We see them as disgusting, evil, inhuman, not deserving of any good. They are the enemies. They are the ones who need to be rid from society, from the earth. They are a problem to be eliminated.
It seems reasonable, considering what they have done. What they have done is absolutely sickening, deplorable, unspeakable.
Yet, we, as believers, are called to treat and work in the lives of the offenders that is not based on what they deserve, but on the goodness of God and His desire to reconcile them to Himself.
We are partners with Christ in bringing good news. Not a “get out of jail card.” Good news that Christ had made a way for reconciliation with God and with others and for healing of all brokenness, including the deep crevices of spiritual brokenness. Our ministry of reconciliation includes the offenders.
They need to be freed. They need to be healed.. They need to be all they were made to be.
The justice at the heart of Jesus sacrifice, of God’;s heart,m is to make things right in all place, in each life. And in His mercy, that is reconciliation
I do not suggest that they be free of facing legal consequences or that they may not have other consequences to deal with. They are also responsible for their actions, and being under the authority of the law of the land, they must face the consequence of breaking those laws.
But the thoughts in our hearts towards them, and thus the actions that spring forth, must be desiring the same freedom for them that we undeservedly enjoy in Christ.
But we cry out- someone must pay for this!
Jesus did pay for the vilest offenses by His sacrifice. He took on the wrath of God, satisfying God’s need for a proper response to the horrific wrong doing, retributive justice for each and every person’s sins. His sacrifice is sufficient to pay for all of it. His sacrifice, in God’s perfect justice, has now made a way for all of us to be made right, not by our goodness, but by His righteousness. His justice comes in overcoming evil with His goodness. In His mercy triumphing over judgment, and lives once corrupted by sin and evil now redeemed and glorious in His righteousness.
We have be empowered to partner with Christ in bringing people into the justice not yet completed: Rendering to each what is due in light of His mercy and sacrifice, to made things right by His truth and righteousness, to restore dignity, and bring tings in line with kingdom rule.
Paul said that our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual powers, authority, and the prince of evil. Our work of bringing the Kingdom is justice against the true enemy as much as it is justice in the lives of those impacted.
Silent to be a voice to the voiceless
25 Apr 2011 Leave a Comment
Going silent for 25 hours. Why? To join with those seeking an end of the 25 years conflict of the LRA rebel group in Central and Eastern Africa in bringing awareness and in prayer. To partner with those who expect to see God’s goodness overcome every evil connected with this. In the last 4 years, I’ve heard many awesome testimonies of victory in the midst of this conflict. I expect more. (see invisiblechildren.com)
A little more about this….
25 years ago, a rebel group called the Lord’s Resistance Party formed against the Uganda government inresponse to the poor and negligentb treatment of the people of Northern Uganda. However, without sufficient support by their people, they turned to abducting children among their own people during brutal attacks on their villages, and forced the children to do brutal acts of violence as well, often on their own loved ones, as soldiers. Girls were forced to be wives to higher ranking soldiers.
The LRA left a now recovering No. Uganda several years ago, but has continued to attack in So. Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Central African Republic.
Invisible Children is a non-profit started after the founders discovered this conflict themselves in 2003 and have seeking to bring awareness and solutions to the problems, first with a documentary and then through various campaigns. Today’s compaign, 25, was launched to bring awareness and support of the most recent efforts to end the conflict and help the people being affected by the war, called the Protection Plan. (http://www2.invisiblechildren.com/protectionplan) Among these efforts is a communication system to help villages wanr one another of LRA activity. Others projects include support of search and rescue teams, promotion of the arrest of the LRA leader, educating th ecommunties and promoting safe surrender of child soldiers, and rehabilitation and resettlement of the child soldiers with their families.
I first became aware of the situation in 2006 at a screening of the documentary. I’ve been praying regularly with group of friends since then and in 2009 had the opportunity to visit the people in Northern Uganda. I saw the impact of the LRA and the government’s actions on the community. However, the most overwhelming aspect of the the trip was seeing how the people were helping each other rebuild their lives, especially the Ugandan believers, and seeing how God was redeeming and healing and overcoming eveil with His incredible goodness and love.
In the last years, I have seen and heard the answer to prayers and voices in mind-blowing ways. Soldier who have escaped with children, who have encountered Jesus and have transformed lives and are powerful forces in their communities. We have seen LRA leave Nol Uganda. I know there is more incredible things “exceedingly, abundantly more than we can ask or imagine, to come, including the end of the LRA conflict.
Pursuing Grace
13 Mar 2011 Leave a Comment
I finally realized what I need to do more than anything else, and that is to receive God’s grace as fully as I can. To do so, I’ve been taking time to consider what I understand about His grace, what I’m really believing, and let my heart and understanding be shaped by the truth of His grace.
It’s been phenomenal, so far.
I want to be a unhindered grace receiver and a radical grace giver.
“The great Christian revolutions come not by the discovery of soemthing that was not known before. They happen when somebody takes radically something that was always there,” said H. Richard Niebuhr.
What if I took radically God’s grace? What if the whole church took radically His grace and we lavished it on ourselves, each other, and on the world, as He has lavished it on us, through His beloved?
Eph. 1:2-15:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us.
In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation–having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.
Why?
08 Jul 2010 Leave a Comment
Hearts like Faberge eggs
In the hands of children
broken
You told us to share
Part Of the Glory
01 May 2010 Leave a Comment
I wrote this while writing the previous post, but I realized it was a somewhat separate post. Just a reflection.
The day before this, my friend Matt shared this statement about friendships among believers: “Our friendships with one another are designed to display God’s glory.”
When friendship with other believers hit a rough patch, I’ve struggled with how to handle it, and whether or not to give up. I’ve had at least one friend completely disappear on me because of a bad conversation, so I know that could just happen.
What came to mind as I was chewing on my friend’s statement is the working out of our friendships is significant beyond us and our good. Our effort of seeking reconciliation, seeking understanding, consideration of the other, confrontation, communication, and risking in love for the other reflect His heart and display His glory. The Gospel is about redemption and reconciliation.
That it is messy doesn’t necessarily diminish that reality that it is opportunity for glory. Not that we are careless with one another (should we sin that grace may increase? By no means!), but in our loving through the difficulty, we display the victory of His love.
They Will Be Comforted
01 May 2010 Leave a Comment
These are my journaled thoughts in reflection to the passage. I’m open to response.
Reflection 2: Matthew 5:4
Blessed are those who mourn, they shall be comforted.
I think I’ve always appreciated this passage.
Here’s a strange admission (especially as someone who has served as a chaplain): when people have prayed for God to comfort someone in a hard time, I’ve often thought that it is good, but I thought we should ask for something more. Bring joy! Bring breakthrough! Bring healing! Why stop at comfort? I think that’s how I thought, anyhow. For me it was a good first step.
Question to self: what does God’s comfort look like?
God’s comfort is not weak, merely placating without expectation. His comfort is powerful. He can comfort with words of love and promise that blow our minds and bring complete healing.
Mourning becomes an opportunity to experience the Father love His child, as a loving, trusting father who comes to his hurting, grieving child, taking his child into his arms and reassuring the child of his love, his presence, and his goodness. In His comfort, He speaks truth of present reality and things to come.
I’ve heard this is part of the salvation process. Mourning is the response to their spiritual poverty as well as their remorse. In that, there is the promise of the Father coming to that person.
As with the other passages, I see it at being more broad. I think in the process of life as adopted children, in going from glory to glory, we experience loss. Things that cannot or will not remain. The disciples experienced the loss of the relationship they had with Jesus before His ascension: He promised to be with them, but ceased to be present before them in the body.
In our loss, we have God to comfort us and in the midst of this, we have His promises and the reality that, in whatever loss, we have the kingdom of heaven.
It stuck out to me the promise that those who mourn WILL be comforted. Seems absolute.
I wondered if I could reject His comfort, but this says to me that I can’t =) If I were to refuse to be comforted, which I think would be bad idea, I would experience in the coming of Christ and our marriage with Him as His Bride.
Theirs Is The Kingdom Of God
01 May 2010 Leave a Comment
in Life
One of the most life giving moments (and there were many) of the past week was sitting in a small group, listening to Rolland Baker share his heart and testimony, which included that of his wife Heidi’s and his grandparents.
In starting their life together, Rolland said that they recognized, “If we don’t believe the Sermon on the Mount, completely, what is the point of what we are doing?’
And from there, they went off to live a life of faith, in the Father’s love.
I decided that I needed to go back to the Sermon on the Mount, slowly take it in and understand it, discover where I have not totally accepted Jesus’ truths, and let His truth transform my mind, my heart, and how I live out my life. I hope to live fully by His words.
So I’m going statement by statement and meditating with the Father, seeking friends, and otherwise exploring each truth, considering the ramifications of each truth, and reflecting on what transformation in my thinking and living gets to occur, by His grace =)
I welcome other’s thoughts.
29 April 2010: Reflection on Matthew 5:3 (part 1)
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.
My friend, and a spiritual father, Ted explained “poor in spirit” as the recognition of our need for God, our poverty without Him.
I have heard that the beatitudes describe the salvation process and growth in the Lord. This is the first step, according to this thought, that one recognizes their need for them.
The promise that comes with it is so mind-blowingly powerful that I don’t know how we can read the whole beatitudes casually and not be stopped by this truth: ours is the kingdom of Heaven!
Hello!
The significance of this passage to me is that, as one who has been redeemed, I carry in my new life the awareness of my abject poverty without Him. But my reality right now and forevermore is that the kingdom of heaven is mine. With that, the King is mine.
I no longer live in poverty. I lack in nothing.
Other passages that come to mind: Ephesians 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with EVERY spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms.” (emphasis mine)
And we have been seated with Christ in the heavenly places!, Eph. 2:6
“He has equipped us with everything pertaining to life and godliness.” 2 Peter 1:3
For those who had been saved, and have become heirs of the kingdom with Christ, we longer experience spiritual poverty.
We no longer have relational poverty, for the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit are ours, for all eternity. This was the riches that the Trinity enjoyed eternally before He created anything out of Himself. Ha! And if it’s good enough for Trinity, it’s more than good enough for us =)
Within it, we enjoy the riches of His grace (Eph. 1:7, 2:7… just read all of Ephesians) His power (Eph 1:19), joy (Psalm 16), rest (Hebrews 3)…
We have the fruit of the Spirit, which I’ve finally realized is not something we work towards to produce ourselves. It’s the Spirit’s fruit in our lives. If we have been adopted, we have the Spirit (Eph. 1:13)
And as He has delighted to bring us, as adopted children, into His holy, pleasure-filled, mind-blowing Divine relationship, He designed for His children to enjoy His love in relationship with one another. If we don’t experience this kind of spiritual family, it’s not because it is not ours to have, it is still our birthright and His plan.
We have been adopted (Eph. 1:3-6). We have a family, a household, a Father, brothers and sisters.
As the Father in the prodigal son story told the second brother, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.” (Sounds like Jesus’ acknowledgement with His Father in John 17:10)
There is no need, or room, for an orphan, poverty mindset of any kind. An orphan spirit, as I have heard, fears abandonment and rejection, fears that they may nothing in the future, as it is uncertain, has little security.
We have the security as adopted children by a faithful and all-loving Father and betrothed by Christ, who may discipline us, but will never reject, emotionally, physically, or spiritually abandon us (Romans 8:38-39)
The greatest asset of the Kingdom of heaven is love, which drives out all fear (1 John 4:18, read all around it. Read the whole book)
Strange (Poem)
17 Apr 2010 Leave a Comment
Strange, this landscape,
Changes like the seasons,
The imaginings in my heart
Lived out in other’s lives
And I, confused, torn, bleeding, healing,
Constantly called to go back
To where I came
Before this, beyond this?
March 23, 2010
