This last Sunday, I helped Lighthouse with their annual turkey toss. What started with us literally standing out in the cold and "tossing" turkeys to those that drove by, has turned into a big outreach. Now the church gives out turkey dinners in partnership with First MB. It is a great outreach and a real highlight for the church to do this annually.
I am reading this daily devotional that has short readings from the church fathers called "Drinking from the Hidden Fountain." It is so good. I personally don't have anything to add on the election but as I have seen comment after comment for the past months, I thought that this devotional was such a great perspective. A huge challenge to me.
Christians in the World Are What the Soul Is in the Body
Christians are not distinguishable from other people either by nationality or by language or by the clothes they wear. Either way of life has nothing peculiar about it. They conform to local customs, but they show how extraordinary and paradoxical the laws of their spiritual state are.
They live each in his own country, but as a foreigner. They fulfill all their civic duties, but as foreigners. Every foreign country is to them the home country and every home country is to them a foreign country. They live in the flesh but not according to the flesh. They spend their lives on earth but they are citizens of heaven.
They love everyone and everyone persecutes them. Misunderstood, they are condemned and put to death, but in such a way that they attain life.
They are poor and make many others rich. They are deprived of everything and have a superabundance of everything. Despised, they find in this contempt their glory. While they do nothing but good, they are punished as offenders. When they are punished, they taste the joy of those who are born to life.
To sum up, what the soul is in the body, Christians are in the world.
This is one of my all-time favorite memories as a sports fan. It was winter of the 1996-1997 basketball season. At that time, I was a junior in college and Tabor was at the start of a special season. Tabor was coming off a season where they went to Nationals, and now with a experienced senior class, they were ready for this season. The year before they had played a game at Washburn in Topeka and a school in another division. They weren't ready for that game. But now in this year, Washburn was returning to Hillsboro to play this Tabor team. Home games at Tabor were an experience. The gym is filled with the smells, sounds, and atmosphere of small gym that reminds you of the movie Hoosiers. The pep band is loud and plays spirited music as they players warm up. The old Mennonite Greys that love following sports are busy talking and eating their pop-corn. Then there is the student section that is right on the floor, excited, ready to yell at their team, yell at the refs and opposing players.
This is the setting as Washburn comes to town ranked #2 in NCAA division 2. I don't remember much from that game other than Tabor was in it and were able to pull out the victory. That was amazing in itself, but what I remember from that game was this. Washburn was coached by Bob Chipman, a fiery and great coach, who now has 600 career wins. When it was clear Tabor was going to win, the student section first started out with the "overrated" chant. Then at some point Coach Chipman received a technical and walked back to the locker room. He wasn't ejected but decided to wait out the rest of the game in the locker room in protest. As he walked, the student section yelled, "left, right, left right, left right," to match his every step. It was classic. (One side note, I may or may not have been leading this chants) As he was headed to the locker room in full rage and living up to the moment, he rips off his sport jacket and throws it on the court and leaves. It was so Bobby Knight like. A classic moment. Tabor won the game and we got the coached mad. The memory still makes me smile although I rarely think about it. Washburn hasn't returned to Tabor for a game and probably won't ever.
So on Monday night, Ethan and I went to the KU - Washburn game. Washburn is still coached by Bob Chipman and they are still highly ranked but now playing at KU. On the drive, I thought of this memory and texted Bruce and Travis Jost (the twinners) who were seniors on that team and say, "Hey I think I should go up to Coach Chipman and say, here is your jacket from 17 years ago from the Mennonite Dungeon" (what I often referred to Tabor's gym as). They both loved it and shared that laugh and memory.
As Ethan and go to our seats, high up at Allen Fieldhouse, we found ourselves sitting by a couple of older Jayhawk fans who have been coming to games for years. One was celebrating his 75th birthday. They loved it that Ethan was attending his first game. Throughout the first half we shared different KU stories and gave each other high fives. It made the whole experience great for Ethan. In the middle of the 2nd half, I shared my memory of the Washburn coach from that night at Tabor. Right as I finished saying and the refs gave him a T and he threw his jacked, the guy sitting by Ethan looked at me and said, "I was reffing that game." I said "no way, Are you serious". then he said that one of the other refs was down there reffing in the game we were watching. so we shared our memories from that night. He remembered the Jost twins and reffing many games at Tabor, but he especially remembered that night.
Seriously, what are the odds of that happening. 17 years later that I am at some random KU game sitting amongst 16,000 people and I just happen to share that story and the guy next to me was reffing the game. Who knows what that happened but it makes for a great story and a reminder of a fun time in my life when I was a little more passionate about sports that I am now. (at least a little).
I e-mailed this blog to Bruce and Trav before posting and here was Bruce's memories from that game.
I
love the Menno dungeon tag. CRAZY that you were sitting next to the guy that
reffed that game. Excellent story. Hall of Fame fans…Matt Penner first time
ballot. The best folks, the best.
Random
memories for me:
They
had Scot Pollard’s brother on the Washburn team. All 7 ft of him. As he walked
into the lobby of our gym he said “Is this the middle school gym?”
They
had Dan Bouie who at one point tried to make it at USC. That guy was athletic
as can be, a beast but needed some focus to be great.
Larry
Farmer a Highland Park product just thunder dunked one at the student section
basket. I was across the lane and almost challenged him but my leg was hurting
so bad from the oncoming stress fracture I couldn’t muster the power to get up
there. That could have been a big time poster as he was lanky and could leap
but man did I want to compete with him on that one just could not get there.
As
we line up for a free throw an announcement comes over the PA system about
there being the SAB activity of roller skating. John Sweet, talented guard from
Highland Park who was known to have a little swagger looks around the lane and
says to us Tabor prudes “You all going roller skatin’ tonight”. Hilarious.
Apparently that was not the kind of activity happening on Washburn’s campus.
Here’s to small town Christian education. And you know that skate party was
packed out!
I have experienced the Lord and being with the people of God in a
lot of different places, countries, and cultures. A small church in some
obscure town in Tunisia, the villages of Guatemala, a small group on a farm in
remote Indonesia, with the homeless in Los Angeles, in the mountains of Peru,
and now this past weekend with monks at a monastery in the
Ozarks in Eastern Oklahoma.
I went with a group of 5 guys; I only know one of
them well. All of us have an interest in the ancient church
and learning the rhythms of those who have
walked with the Lord for many years. My friend
Brandon heard of Clearcreek Monastery and that is where we made our pilgrimage.
The monks are Benedictine and follow the Benedictine rule that
was formed in the 500's A.D. You can
read about that rule here. They pray through the whole Psalter each week.
They start with prayer at 5:15 each morning and
have 8 or so daily offices which include a low mass which is done silently and
the high mass. Besides the times of prayer, they also spend each day
studying and working. Their schedule is set for them every day and they
do this day after day, year after year. It is a commitment for their lifetime,
although they can leave.
All of the prayers are done in Latin and they
also use Gregorian Chants. It is very beautiful. They do welcome guests and we were
able to sit in the back and participate in the prayers. There were books that
had Latin and English so we could see what they were saying.
Often, we would do a prayer time, have a
short break and then join them for the next prayer time. We also got to eat
our meals with them which were done in silence. That took us awhile to get the
hang of, as Brandon and I were talking a little too much in the first breakfast
and one of the monks had to remind us that it needed to be silent. Their meals
are very simple and they eat a lot of hardy bread. They grow their own
vegetables and try to be as self-sufficient as they can. Breakfast was in total
silence and the monks stand while they eat. But during lunch and dinner,
they do some prayers and then have a reading from the Scriptures, or church
history, or another book. At times it was hard for us to keep a straight
face as the readings seemed funny done in a Gregorian chant.
For me, the best thing was the silence and a lack of
distractions. No internet, no sports, no pressures from ministry, just time to
focus on the Lord. I had to work hard at keeping my mind focused, but
every time my mind wandered, I would focus my thoughts back on God.
During the prayer times, you are either standing up or sitting down, or
bowing down so there is enough engagement to keep you
focused.
As evangelicals we can learn from the rigors of these monks.
Our American spirituality is so individualistic and self-centered. It is
all about our own quiet time. We seldom do something
similar to another believer unless we are going through some book that our
church selects. But the monks pray the same prayers and read
the same Scriptures daily. There is nothing individualistic
about it. It was refreshing to witness it and experience it for a weekend.
The value is on the shared experience rather that what I personally get out of
it.
As I continually grow in my walk with Christ, I am drawn to the
ancient streams, to the daily rhythms done by Christians for
centuries. I have such a long way to go, so rather
than reading the latest book or the latest spiritual
nugget that is being offered, I am choosing to learn from the saints
who have lived centuries ago and followed Jesus in a deep way.
Today Christians all over the world celebrate All Saints Day for those that follow the Western Calendar. This day took on even deeper meaning for me after the passing of my brother 4 years ago. It is a special day to reflect on all of those who have gone before us. Loved ones that we remember, but then Saints who were the true heroes of our faith.
Last week, I learned about St. Demetrios and was moved by his story. Tonight as a family, I read this story and we talked about his life. It moves me to have boldness and courage to stand up for Christ no matter what my circumstances may be or whatever opposition we face.
Saintly Lives: St. Demetrios of Thessaloniki
(Commemorated on October 26th)
There is a reason the life of St. Demetrios is such a well-known, and
often-recounted story—his life was one of great faith, courage, and
loyalty, even in the most dire circumstances. He was born in
Thessaloniki in 270 A.D., and though he was from a wealthy, privileged
family, he possessed a profound sense of humility, even from his youth.
As a young man, he entered the Roman Army, where he quickly rose in the
ranks and became a successful officer. However, he was, in his own
heart and mind, a soldier of God first, and a soldier of Caesar second.
He spent much of his time within the ranks preaching the Gospel of our
Lord, telling his brothers the good news of the Resurrection, of all
that Jesus Christ did for us. Eventually, though, his fame won him the
attention of the Emperor Maximian. When St. Demetrios was called before
the emperor to recant his faith, he did not fold or give in. Even
though it would have been very easy to deny his faith and get himself
out of a very, very dangerous situation, he remained, brave and faithful
to His Lord. He told the pagan emperor, “Only in Christ do I believe.”
Now more furious than ever, Maximian had St. Demetrios thrown into
prison. He was brutally tortured, but still would not crack, still
remained faithful. A younger disciple of his, Nestoras, also exhibited
much faith and loyalty, coming to visit his teacher and mentor often in
prison—again, even though by doing so, Nestoras was engulfing himself in
a dangerous situation. On one visit, Nestoras expressed a desire to
fight in the name of the Christian faith at an upcoming gladiatorial
battle, and he asked for the blessing of St. Demetrios.
Nestoras received the blessing of St. Demetrios and was instructed to
fight not for personal glory, but for the glory of God alone. This
would surely protect and keep him. Amazingly, Nestoras—who was small of
stature, not muscular, and not a skilled fighter—handily defeated the
best of the pagan gladiators, a giant known as Leo or Laios. During the
battle, Demetrios cried out and prayed for victory in the name of
Christ and for the glory of God. And Nestoras found victory because of
his own great faith and Christian bravely—and because of the great
prayers and supplications of his friend and spiritual advisor, St.
Demetrios.
The emperor, insane with anger over this embarrassment, ordered Nestoras
beheaded, and on October 26th, 306, St. Demetrios was brutally executed
with a spear.
The disciples of St. Demetrios buried him at the spot of his martyrdom,
in commemoration of his faith and courage in the worst of circumstances;
later, the Church proclaimed him “Mirovlitis,” the “Myrrh Gusher,”
because the of the fragrant scent that constantly emanated from his
tomb. And this beloved saint is still, to this day, inspiring the lives
of Orthodox Christians across the globe with his personal saga of
courage, faith, and Christian friendship—all in the face of certain
death. May his very real and inspired story be eternal in our hearts
and minds, now and always. Amen.
That is how our trip to Peru was described, and it certainly lived up to its hype! It is so hard to describe everything we experienced and felt.
It certainly was hard and intense. We did an immense amount of traveling. I figured we traveled over 80 hours via airplane, taxi, bus, and train. The first days we traveled multiple hours to and finally reached a small town near Machu Picchu. We spent a day exploring and hiking around the beautiful ruins. Ethan had studied Machu Picchu in first grade, so this was one of his dream places to visit! Ethan absolutely loved his time exploring the ruins.
From Machu Picchu we traveled back to Lima and then took an 8 hour bus ride to Hauraz where we met up with Ade, a Quechuan pastor who was our guide on the trek, and Dan Hintz, a missionary in Peru for 25 years. Dan and his wife, Diane, have translated the Bible into a dialect of Quechua.
The following day, we took a 10 hour bus ride to get to our first village. Along the way, we drove over a pass that was at 16,500 feet! The view was stunning of the different peaks around us that towered around 22,000 feet!
For the next 5 days we trekked to a different village each day. At the village, we were greeted by a lot of curiosity. When we arrived, we set up camp while the kids of the village watched us. Ethan and his buddy, Keane, were great with the kids as they would immediately go out and play soccer with them. Our job was to interact with the kids as best as we could. Then the Quechuan pastors and leaders with us would go and invite the adults to an evening program.
Each program started with a viewing of the Gospel of Luke movie which lasted about an hour. Following that, we would sing some songs for them in English and then a few others performed music in Quechua. At the conclusion, a leader from the village would come up and usually give his welcome to us, and then he would call a member from each family to come up and receive a Bible from us. This was the first time that they were receiving a Bible in their own language, so they were filled with joy in receiving it. It was a very humbling experience to be able to pray for them and bless them as we gave them a Bible. This was the first time in their life they would be able to read about the saving power and love of our Lord!
We then slept in our tents each night in an open field and woke to a loud call by our guides "Wake up, Gringos!" We then had a program at the schools in each village. Again we sang songs and passed out bibles. It was a joy to watch the kids giggle at the strange sounds of English and our music.
The trekking each day was hard but we were always just amazed at the beauty around us. Our first day hiking was the longest at 9 hours! It also happened to be Ethan's birthday. Along the way what we saw seemed like we had stepped back in time 150 years. Not all of the villages had electricity. All of the farming was done by hand or with animals. There was such simplicity in the living.
It felt a little like being a part of the apostle Paul's missionary teams. We were trekking through the mountains proclaiming the gospel to people that had never heard it before. Often we would stop by a small house on the trek and give candy to the kids and pass out a Bible to the family.
(Ethan and our friend Eric giving a Bible to a family along the way.)
One of my favorite moments was at our fourth village. We came to this village that had a wide open pasture with many different animals surrounding us. I was tired from the trek and was ready to spend some time reading and reflecting. I was sitting at my tent with another guy from our team when these four sweet girls came and just stared at us. They were watching our every move, so I thought, we better do something with them! They didn't know any Spanish so I asked Dan to help explain the game "Duck, Duck, Goose". We ended up using the Quechua words "Oosha, Oosha, Cabra", which meant "Sheep, Sheep, Goat". The kids immediately loved the game, and they always picked the big gringos to run around the circle! The game lasted maybe an hour and our group went from those four girls to 25 kids. I then played "Follow the Leader" with them for a while. Then I juggled tennis balls for them, but they loved it more when I dropped the balls and they could catch or chase after them! The joy on their faces and laughter touched my heart.
Once we were done with the games, we had the kids sit in circles and color in coloring books we had for them. The kids were so eager to show me their pictures that they had drawn. Then we handed out Bibles.
Ethan and I had some incredible times together. The trek wasn't easy for him but it was good to see him learn to depend on the Lord for strength. When he was tired, he would quote the verse "I can do all things through Christ, who gives me strength." He would say that over and over and he would keep hiking.
It is amazing to already be back for a few days. I know that the trip really happened, but part of it seems like it was a dream. I am sure I will be processing and thinking about the two weeks we spent there for a long time.
On August 5th, Ethan and I are flying to Peru for two weeks! We are going with a small group from Hope Community Church. Hope is a supporting church of World Impact and we have attended there off and on this year. We have gotten to know the worship leader, Eric Hauck, and his family. Angie has enjoyed playing with his worship team as well. Their oldest son and Ethan have became good friends. In spring, Eric invited Ethan and I to go on this trip with him and his son.
The first few days of the trip we will be visiting Machu Picchu. I didn't actually know what Machu Picchu was initially, but Ethan had studied about it in school and immediately was pumped to be able to see these ruins. Just to get there will be an intense amount of traveling. We literally will experience "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" to get there!
After those initial days, we will take a 7 hour bus ride overnight to Huaraz, where we will meet up with the missionaries we are partnering with for this trek. This trip is a ministry of Wycliffe Bible Translators.
The plan is to trek 5 days in the mountains with our guides. We will have about a 4-6 hour hike each day to a different village. All of this at about 12,000 feet and potentially up to 15,000! We will carry backpacks, but thankfully we will have mules to carry a lot of our heavy gear. We will then set up camp to sleep in tents each night.
At each village we will visit with many kids and adults in the village. The idea is that us Americans are the draw to the Quechua people! We will play soccer with the kids and at night the missionaries will show the Jesus film. We then will pass out a Bible to each person.
It will be an amazing experience for Ethan and I together. He will be turning 10 on the trip, and I am praying that this will be a big moment in his life. It will be a grueling trip for us emotionally, physically, and spiritually. We have been training all summer, but there is nothing we can do to prepare for the altitude.
Please pray for us as we finalize packing this week. We've been able to borrow most of our equipment from others. The challenge is fitting all of our gear and gifts for the villages in our duffel bags and backpacks.
On Friday, I am heading out to California for the weekend to attend World Impact's urban men's conference where Dr. Don Davis is speaking. I will be traveling with him to help with different logistics, shoot video, and get different testimonies from men attending the conference.
I am very honored for the opportunity to attend and serve. Below, you can see the logo for the conference and an email that Bob Engel sent out for prayer. Bob, a long-time WI missionary and now serves in L.A. is running the conference at The Oaks Camp which is a World Impact camp near Lake Hughes, CA. Please join us in prayer for this weekend.
There
are two kingdoms in conflict. One of these rulers is God Sovereign
Almighty, the Lord of the Heavenly Armies, who’s Kingdom will rule
overall. The other is the Prince of the power of this world, the god of
this age. His purpose is to rule and to reign and his priority is to keep
in bondage the souls of men by keeping their minds blinded to the Gospel Good
News of redemption in Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Though Jesus has defeated
this prince the battle continues to rage around the world including our urban
centers where Satan seems to have a lock down on men. But God is ever on
the move in this War of the Worlds. His Kingdom continues to
expand and advance in the hearts of men and releasing these men, who were once
bound by this prince of evil, to take their cities back for God.
Please
join us in praying for a mighty move of His Spirit during our upcoming weekend,
June 8th -10th, at THE OAKS:
Last year we had 243 men attend. This
year we are bursting at the seams with 416 men representing 26 different
urban churches and ministries. Pray that every soul who hasn’t submitted
to the Lordship of Jesus will submit and that every man who is a believer but
needing a word of encouragement would hear that word and run with it. We
are believing that there are men the Spirit is calling to pastor new churches
that they will establish for His glory.
Pray for Dr. Don Davis who will
be preaching the Word. May it go forth in His power and might.
THE OAKS staff and leadership
always take great care of us. Pray for blessing and strength upon
them…especially the kitchen crew. There will be some massive eaters there
this weekend. We may need to pray that the food be multiplied like the
fish and loaves.
The enemy always flee’s when the
Church of the Living God worships. Pray for our worship team, CONVERGE.
Pray that Don Lee will hear from the Spirit of the Lord clearly as he
leads the men in triumph through praise.
We have 108 men who speak only
Spanish. We will be together and the Lord has blessed us with a dear
brother to translate the quick words of Dr. Davis. That is quite the
task, but Oscar Martinez is our servant. Pray for his voice and
strength.
Pray for safety in travel and in
all the activities at THE OAKS. I can just imagine what paintball is
going to be like with all that testosterone moving throughout the camp.
The
Kingdom of God continues to expand and advance. The Spirit of the Lord is
moving and His Banquet table will be filled with 100’s of thousands from our
inner city’s. Thanks for joining us in His work through your
prayers.
![[St. Demetrios]](http://www.hmog.org/images/st_demetrios.jpg)
