Agendas

Church life has always fascinated me. I know it has it's nasty times and sadly, I've come to expect those. But the church also has those great times where we get the pleasure of seeing God transform lives. Even better are those times when we get to be a small part of it. I believe in the church but am not always proud of churches.

I can't say that I've been around a long time or have seen a lot in my life. In the time I have watched churches I've noticed a pattern that is not new, it's as old as the early church. It seems that churches fight. Isn't that amazing? Everyone knows churches, or more accurately, the folks who are "the church", often disagree, and often, it gets ugly. I wonder why we seem to get caught in these ruts when they've been happening since the church was established? Why can't we learn from our past mistakes? Why are we so doomed to repeat the mistakes of our predecessors?

The simple answer would be to blame it on our sin nature and say that we can't help it. I don't buy it. Yes, we are all sinful creatures and live by grace. That truth is inescapable. Since we are supposed to be living by grace, why aren't we, Christ's bride, doling it out? Why are we so content to accept grace, then keep it to ourselves? Isn't the point of the church to invite others to experience what we have?

If our call is to invite others into fellowship with Christ, I wonder why we continue to argue about such trivial matters? I would love to get involved in a church that's really wrestling with the tough stuff; you know, the kind of church that's thinking about how to invest in the lives of the lost in ways that touch them and are faithful to the Scriptures, all at the same time. Let's work through that. Let's figure out what James 1:27 really means.

Instead, I talk with friends that are pastors, or church goers and they are talking about the same thing I hear everywhere. Their churches are going through rough time because they can't agree on music, or they don't like the paint color or the preacher, or there isn't enough offered for so and so. As I listen, and we share together, I can't help but wonder if the pervading attitude of churches these days is that we are supposed to be a 7-11, get what we need and get out. And we all know what we want right? Isn't that what the church should provide, what I want? After all, the church is here to serve me right?

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that maybe those of us sitting in the pews, chairs, sofas or any other type of gathering furniture, have gotten caught up in our own personal agendas. I know I have. A day doesn't go by that I don't think to myself "I wish we could do this or that because I think it would be cool." The minute I start thinking that, I think I've lost the point. How do I know? I've used the word I. I've made it about me, again.

Maybe we church goers could spend some time thinking about how we could serve one another in love. Let's see how that works at the next congregational meeting or disagreement. Better yet, maybe we could start thinking about why we are so focused on the little things and missing out on investing in the lives of a world in need of hope. Maybe it's time to truly be the church.

Coming home...

Hong Kong has definitely beome our home. It's been a very challenging place to serve in ministry but it is the place we're called to and we don't plan on leaving anytime soon. God continues to teach us new things and increase our passion for the people we have the privilege of serving. We hung out with a group of our students last night and had such a great time. It was so fun to be with them in their element and have them invite us into their world. What a blessing!

On another note, I am also going to get to go back to the states for a few days. Melissa and Isabella are headed back to spend some time in Minnesota, Ohio and Pennsylvania for about a month. To try to help out, I am flying back to Minnesota with them for about 4 days and will then head back to HK. I'm excited to be on American soil again and very excited to see our church family. I hope to be able to be an encouragement and support to the people of Nowthen. It will be nice to be home for a little while. If you think about please pray for us as we travel back. I will be in MN from Feb 8-13. It will be a quick trip, and a very full one I'm sure. Please pray that Melissa and I will be able to serve and encourage our church families in ways that go beyond words.

Well, it's Chinese New Year tomorrow. Bring on the year of the Dog. I don't know totally what that means and am anxious to learn. I love learning about the culture here. It's an incredible place. Over the next few weeks I'm going to try to share a few more of my observations about life and ministry here. I haven't wanted to say much until we'd lived here at least 6 months because there is so much to learn and I know so little. That's what I love about being here, or being alive for that matter; we get to be learners. I love that about life.

Happy 8 month birthday Isabella

Isabella and a Mac, it doesn't get much better than that :)

Nothing helps bring me out of a funk like the love of a great family and I have one. Today is Isabella's 8 month birthday. I am so proud to be her daddy and Melissa's husband. This thing called family is pretty special.

May Isabella's life be reflective of her name's meaning: Devoted to God.

I love you little one.

Called

Perspective is a tricky thing. As I reflect on the weekend, the discouragement and frustrations of life seem much less significant than they did 3 days ago. Nothing radical has changed, just that little thing called perspective. The circumstances of life caught up with me over the past week and weighed me down. I allowed them to skew how I looked at the world. That's where perspective gets tricky. I allowed my circumstances to control me rather than resting in the arms of my King.

A few days have passed and the world looks a little diffrerent. I've been reminded of some key truths. The focus of the class I'm taking has been on calling this week and it's made me really think about what I'm doing. While I never doubted my calling, I certainly lost sight of it in the midst of the baggage of life. My vision became blurry and self centered. As our class worked through different aspects of calling I kept coming back that calling is simply obeying God. Nothing more. When called, I have a choice to obey all the way, or to turn my back in homage to guys like Jonah. But I think that obedience to one's calling goes beyond the first act of doing what God says.

Many people think that obeying the initial call is where the hard part lies and once we've crossed into obedience it'll get easier. I'm not one of those people. I believe that as we continue to work out our salvation, or calling, we are continually faced with the challenge to be faithful to our calling that we may have received long ago. Maybe back then obedience was easy, but once in the situation we've been called to, life can begin to get routine, lazy if you will.

That's where I've been recently. The initial call was obeyed, but I haven't been living up to my "calling". I'm here. I'm where God wants me. That's not enough. What I am doing with the opportunities and challenges He's given me now that I'm here? That's where I fulfill my calling. Much of my discouragement has come from my complacency to that calling. At times I'd been phoning it in.

Tonight, as all these thoughts were coming into focus we sang Great is Thy Faithfulness at prayer meeting. "Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not". During the time of prayer, all I could think about was that simple truth. If God doesn't change, why in the world am I so bent out of shape? Then it clicked. Locationally (not sure that's a word) I'm in the right spot. But living according to my calling, I have a ways to go. As that truth was revealed, my heart was lifted, my energies renewed. There are so many to serve here. That's my calling. I better get to it.

I lift up my eyes to the hills,
where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord,
the maker of heaven and earth.
Psalm 121:1-2

My calling is secure. My God doesn't change.
That's pretty sweet!

up and down

This is my third attempt at making sense of my week and feelings toward it.

The Good:
-------------------
Melissa is the most incredible mom and wife
Spent time with teenagers
New Office
Very encouraging Board Meeting
(r)evolve started well
Isabella waved and attempted to clap
Spent a little bit of extra time with the fam
Great children's ministry team meeting
Spent more time with our youth
Hung out at school (CAIS)
Have a hot wife
Amazed at God's sovereignty (even when I'm not sure I like how it works)
Don't need surgery
Began Grad school

The not so good:
-------------------
Melissa's sick
Dad Rose is fighting some nasty stuff, again
The Giants got shut out in the first round of the playoffs
Homesick
I don't speak Cantonese
Discouraged in ways I can't seem to put to words
Unsure of what's next or how to get there
Burdened for a city that's lost and they don't even know it
Dislocated kneecap (it hurts)
Burma trip may not happen
Can't seem to get out of the rut I'm in
Disconnected
I'm frail (not just my knee)
God feels distant (I've kept Him there)

I don't know what all this means. I guess you could say I'm conflicted. Tomorrow is a new day. Pressin' on.

notice

If you noticed, the blogs down the right are now visible and functional. No lie, I spent at least two hours messing with code, trying things to correct the issue to no avail. While at work today I get a call from Melissa letting me know that my blog was fixed. She told me that it was a little thing I had missed in one line of html. One little command was all it took, but I missed it. Over and over again.
I feel like I've been missing a lot lately. Maybe I've been trying so hard to see the elusive "big picture" that I haven't really taken to heart the commands of my Lord. There's a part of me that thinks I'm afraid to see some of what God is leading more toward because I think it might be hard. But as I look at my attitude and how I'm struggling, it's clear that I have to look at those little commands God has for me. Obedience is always better, so why do I fight it sometime?
Time to be more positive. I love the fact that Melissa and I see things from different perspectives. What took her no time at all was a mystery that I couldn't unlock. As I continue to say, I love being her husband, and I love serving with her, as a team.

Still figuring out this blog thing

If you happen to mouse over the "Blogs I'm Reading" section, you'll see two there but if you click in the black, you can go to the blog of Steve Argue or Jason Mitchell. I don't know why this is or how to fix it, but I am working to find a solution. Check out all the blogs listed, they're worth the read.

Fried Rice

Today was a monumental day for me. It's one of those days that will I will remember for years to come. After watching a soul stirring moving on the house church movement going on in areas around us, I decided to venture across the street to a little restaraunt I've eaten at with some students. The thing is, everything time I've eaten there, they've ordered for me. Tonight was different. The only person with me was every bit as white as me. Not exactly Cantonese experts Dan and I. That mattered not, I was determined to eat fried rice for dinner.
A point of clarification. Fried rice here is 100% more exciting and flavorful than anything I'd had in the states. It might just be one of my new Hong Kong favourites. It includes rice and egg, some beef, duck, shrimp, and ham, and even veggies. It's a total meal all in one bowl. How much better could food be?
I've said all that to say this. It was time for me to order by myself. I know roughly 10 words of Cantonese but putting them together with some deft sign language got me 2 orders of Fried Rice to go. To quote my friend Lem, I was stoked!
In all fairness, this isn't a really big deal for normal people. For me, this small little victory gave me hope. I love serving the English speaking community of Hong Kong but am anxious to be able to communicate with the Canto speakers as well. They have so much to teach and share, if only we could get past that tonal language thing.
The journey toward Cantonese survival will be a long one I'm sure. I'm also sure that it will be filled with many failures and awful mispronunciations, (I can call mom a horse in mandarin anytime I want!), so this little glimmer of hope really brightened my day and filled my tummy. It's been a good day.

a new look

thanks to my the amazing creativity of my wife i have a renovated blog. i think it's pretty sweet. on a deeper note, melissa's creativity is so inspiring to me. she sees and creates no matter what she does. i love being able to watch and learn from her. she is exceptional. and she's my wife (that's the best part!).

Mr Bus Driver

Relying on public transportation gives you a whole different perspective on life. Yesterday I wrote about finding ways to be still and slow down and God "blessed" me with the opportunity to spend over an hour and a half on buses throughout the day.

My first thought was that sitting in that much traffic was seriously hampering my productivity. But let's be honest, I doubt I was going to be that productive on my first full day back after a great holiday break. So, I sat back, popped in some U2 and just relaxed.

Whenever I can, I try to get the front seat of the top floor of the bus so that I can watch the world go by with a great view. On one of the routes I was on, I got that seat and lemme tell ya, it was an adventure. The guy driving today must have forgotten to take his ritalin becuase he was zipping in and out of traffic in ways that I didn't think were possible in a giant double decker bus. Though we were moving pretty well, it never felt out of control. I always felt like the driver knew exactly what was coming, where to turn, slow down, etc. It was pretty cool. It was also quite fitting that Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me came on in the middle of one of the more exciting turns.

Thanks Mr. Bus Driver for keeping life interesting.

Energy

Isabella is the busiest 7 month old I've ever seen. Granted, I haven't been around a whole lot, but this kid (my daughter nonetheless) never stops! She is definitely a Hong Kong baby. I wonder where all that energy comes from. Is baby food really that energizing? Maybe it's the rice oatmeal, or maybe that other stuff that she loves so much. Who knows?

Tonight we were in a taxi on the way home from doing some post Christmas shopping and Isabella was all over the place. She hadn't had a nap in 4 hours yet was grinning ear to ear and moving faster than any little kid should be able to move. Then I looked outside. Today was the first day back to normalcy for most employees after some time off for Christmas and the New Year and people weren't exactly takin' it easy. Every time I walk through a business or shopping area I'm amazed and perplexed by the seemingly universal perception that we are all in a hurry. Even my daughter has the bug. When she wants something, she goes full speed.

Okay, so there's nothing wrong with a 7 month old having some energy, in fact it's down right cute. I think there is a much bigger problem brewing all around us. Suicide rates are up, stress levels are through the roof and studies are coming out all the time of students struggling in school because they can't seem to focus and slow down. I have to question the point of this endless quest to do more. What makes us feel that we have to rush everything?

This is not an original thought to me, but it's one that continues to come up here the big city. It happens everywhere. I know the Psalms tell us to "Be still and know...", intimating that it's in the moments of stillness where we can draw nearest to God. I agree wholeheartedly with this truth but find a society around me making it more and more difficult to find stillness.

I could lament daily about this having moved from Minnesota to a place where grass is at a premium. Then I come home to my daughter and I watch her. Yeah, she's busy, always busy. Yep, she can't sit still for long. And yes, she keeps mommy on her toes. Past all that is a little girl that finds joy in the littlest things. If she sees something worth devoting her attention to, she stops, investigates, and focuses. All that energy is contained, focused and contained on that tissue or toy.

I may never find the place in Hong Kong that takes me back to the stillness of the Great Smoky Mountains. The question on my mind is, why do I need the mountains to find stillness? I wrote earlier that I am learning to find stillness in new ways. That's a daily struggle, but I think the key is in finding the courage to stop and just focus on my Lord.

Outside of an amazing change in culture, life will always be frantic here. I hope I've made peace with that. I also hope that I have the energy to be still. Isabella is a great teacher, isn't she?

Never stop exploring

I'm a huge fan of The North Face stuff, ever since I got my first Denali jacket, I've been a TNF disciple. I was reminded of why I am such a devotee this afternoon. Before we moved to HK, I bought Melissa her first pair of TNF pants. She's wearing them today and noticed the company tagline on the cuff of her left pant leg: Never Stop Exploring.
Think about that for a minute. Never stop exploring. For a Christ follower, that's a great statement. With all the changes in my life over in 2005, one thing became a little too stagnant, my walk with Christ. There were far too many days of "phoning it in" last year. I fell into what I warn so many of the teenagers I work with of, complacency. I relied heavily on my own strength and often left God out of the equation. It wasn't an intentional rebellion, it was more a subconscious neglect but it was neglect all the same.
Never Stop Exploring.
I think I forgot that last year. God's word is rife with wisdom and truth. There is so much to it that I have yet to understand and learn. I've been reading Rob Bell's book Velvet Elvis this month. Going through it has made me realize how often I don't go beyond the surface of God's word. I haven't been exploring it.
With the beginning of 2006 upon us, I find myself excited about exploring. I'm in a very new environment, a new situation at home, and a Bible that begs to be studied, not just read.
I'm excited to live with my eyes wide open this year. I'm excited to explore, to grow, and maybe even mature a little bit.

Never Stop Exploring.

I don't plan on it.