My Name is Lazarus

John 12:1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.

It used to be that money mattered, schedules ruled, friendships languished, and days were taken for granted – as though life would never end. It used to be that my emotions followed my fortune, or my labors, or my family condition. I used to lay awake at night, my mind racing, my muscles knotted. I worried for my sisters. I worried for my friends. I worried over my future. I wrestled with my past. I planned and plotted and pushed and prodded to scrape a life out of a small town existence. I was both hunted and hunter, predator and prey – until my heart stopped beating in my mid-life race. How I was, and who I was, seem as ghostly apparitions to me now. I can never be the man I was, nor would I ever long for the life I left in the grave. Everything that ever weighed upon my mind; every slight that ever caused me pain; every moment spent in worry, I now regard as wasted time. It took a tomb to change my way of thinking. It took death to wake me up to life. I live each day free from all the things that used to dominate my life. There are just two things I would have you know; two things that really matter today. My name is Lazarus and I’m alive.

Cold Harbor

The tiny island of Grand Manan, just off the coast of New Brunswick retains a primitive, isolated feeling. Modern communications aside, a cold forbidding sea stands as a barrier crossed only by stout watercraft. The islanders eke out a living with a thin blend of tourism and natural resource. It’s a hard place . . . a place you might want to visit, but only for a day or two in the best part of the summer. Seventy-five years ago my grandparents moved to the island to plant a church. They lost an infant daughter along the way. We call it sudden infant death syndrome. They called it heartbreak. Recently, I stood on the dock overlooking that cold harbor, trying to imagine the incredible hardship my grandparents endured. Almost all evidence of their faithful labor is gone. A few lives were touched, and that at a tragic personal cost. The baby who died that winter is all but forgotten to the family – a footnote of suffering in a pioneer’s diary. Life moved on to happier times and places, but I can’t forget that a man and wife were willing to go to a place so desolate, to small, so unpromising, for the sake of God’s call. Their footprints have been largely erased by the sands of time, but before God, nothing is lost or forgotten. Success and glory so quickly fade, but nothing is lost or forgotten in heaven.

PRESSURE!!!

When Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation”, the greek word for tribulation was “thlipsis” meaning “to crush, press, squeeze, compress.” In no uncertain terms Jesus affirmed that life is pressure.

One need not look far in the cosmos to see that almost everything functions by pressure. My annual check-up centers on “pressures”. The weather centers on “pressure.” Culture functions on shifting “pressures”. I can’t walk, or ride, of eat, without applying “pressure.”

Every age has it’s relative “pressures” – not one is immune. When someone has carried pressure every day for a lifetime and is suddenly released through retirement, the end is measured by a loss of purpose, or even the loss of life itself.

Life is pressure, and we’re not well equipped to handle it. Thanks be to God that we have a ready Relief… an attentive Manager… an overcoming Helper who has overcome the whole World.

I can deal with the “pressure” because I have learned to “cast” my cares on Him. He doesn’t resent it – it is a sign of my faith in Him. He responds to my faith by letting some air out of the balloon that seems so ready to pop!

Pressure? Everybody’s got it. It doesn’t have to kill you, or crush you, or break you. There isn’t anything out there, high, or low, or no pressure that can harm you when your life is hidden in Him.

Out of Africa

After 22 hours of travel and six time zones, I’m home from Africa with mixed emotions. Our “One Hope” team is doing magnifcent work with students and teachers at the leadership academy at Shikhura Lodge. The day before I left (Wednesday) we had a significant breakthrough – a “God” moment that will be forever etched in my mind. Not wanting to “steal the thunder” of these wonderful servants of God returning next week, I’ll wait until our team report to share it. Suffice it to say, I have not seen anything like it in twenty short term missions experiences. It was similar to Acts 10:44. Hope you can be with us for the team report at Calvary, October 25.

Monday Wrap-Up South Africa

Our Calvary One Hope Team kicked off the Leadership Academy on Sunday evening with 24 students and 11 teachers chosen from across the region.

The students are given excellent small group instruction, team building skill development, and lots of love on the campus of one of South Africa’s premier game lodges.

The Shikharu and One Hope staffs are making this an incredible experience for these future leaders and for our team members also.

Jacques van Bommel, the director of Shikharu, has an incredible vision to impact the emerging generation.

Thanks to everyone who gave, and to prayer partners who stand with us daily. We can feel the power of your intercession.

While walking up a hill this afternoon, I came upon a disinterested giraffe… he was soon joined by two others… just when you think you’ve seen it all….

Until tomorrow, God rich blessings to you,
Pastor

Sunday Worship in South Africa

Greetings from South Africa.  A few weeks ago when Jacques van Bommel was a guest in our pulpit, I felt a prompting from the Lord to accompany our South African team for a part of the One Hope outreach here.  I kept my involvement quiet and surprised the team at the airport.

Yesterday we were given an incredible opportunity to see African wildlife in the bush. Tom came very close to making friends with a wild Elephant…wish you could have been with us.

This morning I preached in Nelspruit in a tin walled church.

The people were warm and loving and the Lord’s presence was so real.  What a privilege to experience worship in yet another culture. We had no problems with the air conditioning… actually, there was no air conditioning, and when the time for preaching rolled around, the tin walls and roof had the room nicely heated to about 95 degrees.  Bear in mind we are still in the springtime here.

You can be very proud of your team.  Pastor Tom has worked closely with Jacques to set the stage for a very exciting week.  Please pray for us as we pour ourselves into a very select group of students and teachers.

Your missions giving at Calvary has covered 2/3 of the cost of this pilot outreach.

I’m sitting in an office watching our team have lunched under a thatched roof – enjoying one another and blessing the One Hope team.   I pray that you’ll have an anointed service under the leadership of our Youth Team.

Looking forward to seeing you before weeks end.

Pastor

PS  I love you, Cheri

Shikwaru Game Lodge – South Africa

I joined Pastor Tom’s One Hope team at the last minute and just arrived with Tom, Kenda, 2 Kathys, Marge, another David, Richard, Donna, Barb, Rick, and Katie. Tired out after more than 28 hours of travel, but overwhelmed at what God has done through dedicated workers here. Tomorrow we undergo orientation for our part in a leadership academy for some of the brightest young minds in South Africa. Pray for us – we’ll update on a daily basis. For now – Sleep!

Real?

Television executives wire a lavish house with cameras, stock it with food and drink, and then fill that house with young single people who are given a few months of party life that cameras record in sordid detail. They have the gall to call it the “Real World.” That Americans find such drivel entertaining speaks volumes to the decay of our moral fabric. These “real life” shows have proliferated until our cable systems are polluted with self absorbed and pampered adolescents (and adults) prattling on about their sadly mundane lives. I’ve about had a belly full of “reality” TV! Real stupid! Real immoral! Real dull! Real idiots! Real corrupting! Real superficial! Too much information! Too much immaturity! Too much dirt! Too much melodrama! Too much self-infatuation! Get off the couch! Get a life of your own! Get your mind out of the gutter! Give your TV a rest! Give your family your best! Give your heart a good scrubbing! Give your time to something that matters. Stop watching – start living! Stop wasting – start investing! Stop lounging – start learning! Stop clicking – start walking! Stop dreaming – start doing! How sad that we find entertainment value in sleazy plots and barnyard morals.

The Devil had a Yard Sale

The devil held a garage sale. Demons came from the deepest pits to bid on the tools of hell. At one table anger was selling cheap – so common, so plain, and so effective. Greed brought a big price and pride drove bids to unheard of levels. Multiple copies of the jealousy tool were hot items. Lust, as always, was bargain basement. The shrewdest demon in hell took Satan aside and said, “Tell me, your lowness, what is your best tool?” Satan nodded to a steel box in the corner, “it’s over there, but it’s not for sale.” The demon tried every crafty dodge in hell to get Satan to sell, but “the redhead” wouldn’t budge. About that time a fight broke out at the table selling violence. Satan ran over to inflame the situation. Before long, everyone was focused on two hissing demons. Satan led in a chorus of taunts and curses – all in all, this was turning into a great demonic party! The shrewd demon wandered over to the box that held Satan’s prime weapon. Carefully, he slipped the latches and raised to top… not a very impressive tool; small really, but the demon did not doubt it’s potency. He turned the cold little instrument over to read the label, and then he understood. The label simply read: discouragement.

TWO? REALLY? WOW!

Enjoying good health and effective ministry in these challenging times is exhilarating. Loving life at 50 is a bonus. Enjoying friends and laughter almost every day is a blessing. Having two of our three daughters happily married and serving the Lord is fantastic and gratifying. Having our third daughter home following the completion of her undergrad and preparing for her Masters in literary theory on the local level, well… it’s just wonderful and we’re proud. Driving a truck that’s paid for – liberating! Finding new truths in the oldest stories in the Bible – awesome! Watching Lance Armstrong take 3rd at the Tour de France – what fun! Taco Tuesday with the family – yum. Sharing taco Tuesday with our friends Charlie and Sissy – what could be better? Learning two weeks ago that our eldest daughter is going to make us grandparents – magnificent! Learning last night that she’s carrying twins – speechless! Can’t wait to see what’s waiting for me tomorrow!