Endurance

At different points during my time in Amsterdam, I was struck by the fact that this city was older than America. (It helps when they put the year a building was made along its front).

Americans live in a really young nation, and the only things here that seem to have any age are the lands themselves. I've been thinking about my ancestors and how they would build a home to last for a few seasons before moving on, and how much of Europe seems to have been building for permanence. Part of the argument I suppose for the lasting nature of these buildings is the fact that resources were available to build for permanence.

And yet, in Modern America, we have similar resources, but I just don't feel like there is much that is being built to endure through the centuries. In my lifetime, I've watched whole communities and whole forests bull-dozed and destroyed.

I've watched people uproot themselves on a regular basis by living in a college town.

It just doesn't seem like we think much about endurance. We don't build things to last it seems. Very few of us consider leaving a legacy.

And yet, there's something in us that loves the idea of something very old being left intact. We love the idea of something that is built to last. And we love the idea of a legacy, but very few of us give any consideration to actually leaving one.

My old chief was different in that regard. I've been thinking about him a lot lately. Although it feels like my tribal community is fractured and splintered and largely disconnected, he instilled in us a legacy. Many of us still follow our old traditions, and we pour those traditions into others. Many of us tell stories of our chief, his faith, and his love for people. Many of us strive to follow in his footsteps. And when others see us doing that, they are seeing his legacy.

Our buildings, our homes, and many of our family heirlooms may not endure. But there are things that can and will endure, and they are the things that truly have lasting value, yet many will not recognize them at first sight.

As you walk through your day today, think about what areas of your life you want to endure. What is it that you want seven generations into the future to remember and reflect upon? What is it you want them to see and imitate? What will be your contribution that endures after you leave this life?

Just a little something I've been thinking about from my time across the water.

Me and William Easterly

During the course of my short life, I've had the unique privilege of meeting some very interesting and innovative people, and one of these people is Dr. William Easterly here's a quick bio on him that WVU did as a press release. On Tuesday March 24th, he came to West Virginia University as part of the University's Festival of Ideas. From what I hear, his lecture was the most well received of the festival, and it was filled with people who were thinkers.

Among them was my buddy Jake Harriman. Jake and another friend, John Hancox, started a non-profit called Nuru International. If you haven't heard of it, you probably haven't talked to me much in the last couple of years. I'm a big fan!

Anyway, as part of Dr. Easterly's visit, folks from Nuru's campus chapter, some of the folks from our grassroots movement staff (and Jake and myself) were able to grab lunch with Dr. Easterly too.

It was incredible. Jake and I actually picked him up at the hotel to take him to lunch. One of the foremost economists in the world traveled in the passenger seat of my civic hybrid. (I guess I'm a bit of an amateur economist myself.) So as we drove to the Mountainlair for lunch, we talked about Dr. Easterly's Morgantown roots, his need for a WV hat (he was wearing a yankees hat when we met him), and how much his writings and thinking had influenced Nuru as we entered the fight to help rural communities generate bottom-up sustainable solutions to lift themselves out of extreme poverty.

During the lunch, I sat in awe as Jake and Dr. Easterly exchanged ideas and talked about real solutions for real people in this world. I was humbled to sit in the presence of these two great thinkers who originated from our great state. I'm even more humbled that I could potentially call these guys my friends.

Jake lived in my dorm my freshman year of college, but our friendship has really started to blossom as we have begun working together to end extreme poverty, together, one community at a time. And I didn't know Dr. Easterly until Tuesday, but we have a common interest in the history of this land. My family is Shawnee, but his family traces back to Michael Cresap, an early frontiersman. Back then, our families were on opposite sides of the fight, but now, we have joined forces to inspire the citizens of the developed world to confront the crisis of extreme poverty and to begin to encourage the ending of extreme poverty from the bottom-up."

I know this blog is long, but there is so much I want to say. So many aspects of Tuesday March 24th that I want to remember. I want to remember watching Dr. Easterly sign my book, and I want to remember being identified by name from a crowd of three hundred.

I want to remember hearing him say that what the poor do not need are empty promises, paternalism, top-down solutions from planners, and the like. I want to remember him saying that what all people need is to be treated as equals, to be given opportunities, and to be empowered to make changes for themselves.

I want to remember how Nuru is doing that very thing. I want to remember how good ideas can catch on, and how people whose ancestors may have been enemies can unite to fight a common enemy.

I want to remember the day that I saw Nuru's founder meet one of the most influential thinkers in the world on the subject of extreme poverty.

I want to remember eating lunch and listening to ideas being shared from the second floor of the Mountainlair at West Virginia University.

I want to remember, because I believe I just participated in a historic moment. I was there for all of this.

I was also there for the first time William Easterly wore the gold and blue during this auspicious rendez-vous in the mountains. (and we captured that moment with a camera too!)

I'm humbled by the great minds I've met during this short life, and I'm grateful for days like Tuesday.

It's good to take time and reflect. There are beautiful moments every day, and often we are so busy, we miss em.

The Journey

Well, it's been nearly a week, and this evening is about the first time I've had any length of time to blog. It's about 11.15PM here, and our time has been really jam-packed. We've been at for about 14 hours/day since we got here. But tonight offered a little bit of down time for us after about 10.30PM. The days have been long, but they have been good. I'm looking forward to sharing some specific stories in some future posts (maybe more tomorrow?), but for now here are a few images of take-off for us.

The photo above was taken as we were leaving Pittsburgh International Airport. It's the first time I've ever looked out at the terminal as we were taking off (probably because I'm usually in an aisle seat).



This picture represents one part of our team. Our entire team was seated in the same row, but half of us were separated by an aisle. This was Kathryn's second trip to the Netherlands and Jamie's first trip out of the country. It's cool to see how they are both stepping out of their comfort zones, and serving people. Kathryn was so moved by the people of Amsterdam when she first traveled on a mission team in 2003, she wanted to return again. Jamie has been hoping to go on a STM to amsterdam since 2006, and that hope finally became realized this Spring.



Above are the two guys who were across the aisle--Curtis and Ricky. This was a series of firsts for Curtis. It was his first flight, his first time out of the country, and his first mission trip. Ricky, similarly to Jamie, has been hoping to make a mission trip to Amsterdam since 2006. Although he has traveled over much of the world, this marks the first time he has taken a trip dedicated to missions.

I'm really excited for this team, and the work God has been doing in their lives so far. They have also had a huge impact on many people here in the Netherlands. It's so cool to see what happens when people step out of their comfort zones for Christ.

So what about you? How are you going to step out of your comfort zone for Christ? Of course you may not need to come to Amsterdam to do that (although there are some HUGE needs here, but maybe God needs you to do SOMETHING to shake up the routine of your life, and open an opportunity for you to be a blessing to others. I pray you will take some time to talk with God about it, and to listen to what He has to say.

Amsterdam Bound

This is gonna be a quick one. Today, five people from my church are leaving the country to serve a sister church in Amsterdam. While Amsterdam is a beautiful city, filled with a rich history and culture, there is a deep spiritual need.

I hope to blog regularly about our mission. In the meantime, it's time to get going. Flight leaves pretty soon.

Blessings to all.

Broken Escalator

Last week I attended the Ecclesia Network National Gathering in Washington DC. The conference was both a reunion with some old friends who have been working in ministry for many years, and an opportunity to learn from some truly brilliant theologians and practitioners from different parts of the world.

During one of the large group lectures, one of the teachers showed the video above. He was using it to illustrate the simple truth that sometimes when we are stuck and frustrated and feeling helpless, the answer is right before us. The video is a commercial for a company called Becel, and personally I think it's hilarious.

I mean, doesn't everybody know that an escalator just becomes stairs when it breaks? Often times, we can be immobilized when things don't work the way we expect during our daily routine, but maybe when things stop working, or aren't producing the desired goal, we should learn to adapt.

During the conference, the example was given of the church and it's goal of helping people grow to be like Christ, but I believe the truth applies to any context. If you have a goal for your life or for your business or your career, and you aren't producing the desired results there are a couple of questions to ask when you hit a roadblock. One is simple--is the goal I'm aiming toward the right goal? (a set-back could be a good way of making sure we are still aiming for the real winning goal.)

The second question is this--How can I adapt my methods to continue working toward the same goal? If the escalator breaks, how do I reach my destination?

Hope you enjoy the laughs, and at the same time, take some time to ask yourself today--when the escalator breaks down are you stuck or are you adapting and using stairs?

Whatever You've Done to the Least of These . . .

After Ash Wednesday, I picked up a free devotional book called "The Little Black Book." I want to share with you the scripture and meditation that were in that book. First, the scripture.

Jesus Said, "For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me." ( for the full quote, Matthew 25.31-46).

And then the devotional shared the following.

This passage isn't a parable. At the beginning of the passage, Jesus uses the image of a shepherd, but the rest is a straightforward statement telling us how we will be judged.

The most astounding truth here is that, whatever we do toward the poor, it's not as if we were doing it to the Lord. We are doing it to Him. Jesus is present in the down-and-out, and what we do to them, we are doing to Him.

Through his Incarnation, Jesus has identified Himself with all human beings. But He has a special concern for the poor, the weak, the lowly, those who get left out . . .

. . .So what do I do--put more money in the poor box? Well there's something that has to come first--something more basic. It's not simply a question of being nice to people who get left out. Rather, it's seeing the Lord in them.

How do I do that? Talk to the Lord about it.

I've been wanting to post that (and a number of other things) for the past few days, but hadn't been able to until this morning.

Sometimes I think we can get so caught up in ourselves, that we end up interacting with others in a way that robs their humanity. It's not just the outcasts, it's everyone. Today, I pray you can begin a habit. I pray that as you run into others today at the store, at work, at school, on the street, and wherever you may be, may you see the people with whom you come into contact as people made in the image of God and people Jesus loves deeply.

Jesus Wants to Save Christians

Well, Rob Bell has a new book in print. It’s called Jesus Wants to Save Christians and in what has become a standard for Rob Bell, this book is another compelling argument for thinking deeply about the life of faith.

The book does a great job of tying together themes of exodus, justice, liberation, salvation, and mission in a continuous thread from the old testament to the new testament to today.

Bell challenges western Christians with an interesting comparison between the call of Israel in the old testament, and the call of Christians in the new. So often we are encouraged to invest in our own security rather than investing in changing the lives of others.

I know that many times in my life I can easily find myself concerned about my own personal future and I can get consumed by anxiety and worry. Bell warns that we do not live for ourselves—we live for others, and the moment we stop worrying and begin to trust in the abundant provision of God is the moment when we become most free to be used by Him

I had intended to read the book twice because there were so many quotable nuggets on the pages and I wanted to share them with you. But, time has not been my friend in performing a second read. So you will just have to take my word that it’s a very thought provoking book, and one that will probably unsettle and disturb you. By the way there is also awebsite with a more supplements to the book—pretty wild!

May we all find ourselves challenged and stretched to live more aware of the reality of the Kingdom of God and the call of our great King, Jesus.

Here’s to good books and good conversations, and all things that spur us on to love and good deeds.

Lenten Journey 2009

Today is Ash Wednesday and marks the beginning of the lenten season. For the past few years, I've made it a point to attend an Ash Wednesday service (one year I also led one!) and take time to reflect and recieve ashes. It's pretty wild the reaction many people have to a person having ashes on their head.

So why do I do it? Well, it has to do with the roots of the tradition. The idea of Ash Wednesday is to be intentional for at least one season of the year about taking careful examination of your life. It's kind of like this. If you are a Christian, in theory you spend time daily examining your life for blind spots and seeking to draw closer to Christ. In reality, we get distracted, and although many people have a daily devotional life, we rarely take time to examine our lives closely to see where we might be able to follow Christ more closely, and stop following the world.

So I like lent for that reason. Lent gives me a 50 day period between Ash Wednesday and Easter to examine my life and to focus on denying areas of sin, to be intentional about changing heart and mind, and to identify with the suffering and denial of Jesus while He was in the wilderness.

Some people give up habits and others add devotional habits, but always, the purpose and goal of these fasts and habits is to draw us closer to Jesus. If sweets or TV draw you away from Jesus, maybe taking a break from these habits for 50 days would be a good idea.

It usually takes about a month to build or break a habit, so the lenten season can be about breaking bad habits or building good habits.

By the way, the word lent or lenten refers to the lengthening of days that happens in the Spring. So the lenten season is the season of lengthening days.

So you are probably wondering what I'm giving up. Right now, I think I'm going to stop buying beverages. I may drink a variety of beverages during lent, but I think I'm going to stop buying. Then I think I'm going to take the money I save by not buying drinks and I'm going to donate it to Nuru International for some of their water projects. Did you know that 1 out of 6 people in the world don't have access to clean drinking water.

Also, my roommates and I have talked about trying to eat more meals at home and together. We have a cupboard full of canned food and lots of meat frozen, and enough rice and corn meal to sustain us for months. Maybe we will take some of the money we save and donate it as well.

Lastly, I have a couple of devotionals I picked up and haven't quite made it through yet. So my lenten commitment has to do with both denying myself some good things to draw closer to Christ, and adding some habits that will allow me to intentionally spend more time in His presence.

So what about you? Have you made a lenten commitment yet? I'd love to hear more about it. Will you leave it as a comment on here. (Then the other readers of this blog can be praying for you--and I can too!)

Looking Back On The Week

Well, can I just take a moment to express my gratitude. Over the course of the last weeks, we coordinated and hosted six events at night and four outreach/promotional events during the day. That's a lot of time, effort, and energy from many people.

I have to say that the events were successful. This week, we get the privilege of following up on all of the contacts that were made during the week, and helping folks make next steps.

We started our week of events with a rally to get folks excited about what was coming up. We ended Saturday night with a celebration of all God had done during the week and prayers for more to happen as a result of the events and opportunities the campus was exposed to.

I'm so proud of the leaders that stepped up from multiple organizations. I'm thankful for the speakers who traveled long distances to share messages about the brokenness of our world, and what normal people like you and I can do to bring healing to that brokenness, and hope where there is despair. I'm thankful for the businesses, organizations, and individuals who stepped up to support what we were trying to do on campus. Most of all, I'm thankful to the Grand-choreographer, the Creator of the Universe who held everything together and accomplished His greater purposes through our meager offering of loaves and fishes.

Another World Is Possible catalyzed many to action, and awoke others from the lethargy of apathy to a desire to bring healing. It's my hope that this shaking off of apathy would be contagious. Perhaps you, as you are sitting and reading this blog, will consider some way you can serve or volunteer or make some small contribution to being a sign of God's Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.

Have a great day!

Sex And Chocolate

If you choose to watch the video above, I have to warn you that it's content is EXTREMELY disturbing. And sadly, the story depicted in this video is not uncommon in the world today. I don't want to discourage you from watching the video, but I do want to warn you that it is not pleasant. I've never left this disclaimer on my blog before, but if you are under eighteen, you may want to ask your parent or guardian to watch the video first and then get their permission. At I'm trusting on your honor to do so. The content isn't crass or distasteful, but it is highly disturbing. The video is about 20 minutes long, and was nominated for an academy award. It was produced by Florida State University.

Friday night, this video was shown at sozo café in Morgantown as part of our series of events Another World Is Possible. It left people speechless, and caught up in trying to process what they had just seen. The speaker who showed the video told the group that he wished he could say that the story being told was uncommon to re-assure folks that this was not the norm, but unfortunately this story is all too common. The event was called "Sex and Chocolate" because both of these industries have strong ties to human trafficking and slavery.

Friday night was one of our most packed nights for an event. We had a speaker by the name of Charles Lee come and share with folks about the issues of slavery and human trafficking. The numbers are staggering. Over 27 million PEOPLE are ENSLAVED in the world today. This is more than at any other point in human history. 600,000-800,000 people are trafficked across international borders each year. Most of these are women and children who are forced into the sex industry. The numbers are staggering. And there is a very real possibility that there are slaves being held against their will EVEN IN YOUR TOWN! Charles Lee Created a website called One Voice To End Slavery. You should check it out and learn how you can spot potentially trafficked or enslaved individuals in the businesses around your town.

Of course the root cause of this issue is the darkness of the human heart. And the root solution is for individuals to be reconciled to God. But there are also some ways of making strides to reduce the frequency of slavery and trafficking. It starts by being aware of the issue. Once your eyes have been opened, there's really no turning back. Then you have to take action. You have to do something.

Here are some ways to fight it.

Learn how to protect yourself and others by educating yourself and others on the issue.
Contribute to organizations that are fighting slavery, trafficking, and extreme poverty.
Did you know that many children are sold by their parents because they don't have enough money to feed the rest of their family?
Research the products you buy. Charles shared that many well-knownchocolate companies are buying cocoa that was harvested by slaves. Maybe you could write letters to those companies to change their practices. Buy fairly traded products when you can.
Jump into the foray, and use your talents to enter the frontlines with a qualified non-profit who is doing excellent work.

Here are a few groups that might be of interest to you--I've blogged about them before, and I'll probably blog about them again.

International Justice Mission--they work to bring perpetrators to justice
One Voice To End Slavery--awareness group training folks to take action.
Nuru International--wholistic sustainable solutions to extreme poverty

Whatever you do, don't merely do nothing. Take action. Take a stand. Change the world.

Technology, Creativity, and Information

Friday afternoon, I attended a talk by a guy named Charles Lee at sozo. Charles comes from the South Bay area of Los Angeles (Torrance) where he not only pastors a church, but he is heavily involved in social justice and in teaching creativity.

He and many others (including our friends at Google) realize that we are in a rapidly changing world. Information is traveling faster than it ever has in history. People in our world today have more information at their fingertips than at any point in history. As you can see from the video above, our world is moving very quickly.

It's kind of funny. You can feel the movement at times. Like I notice that there never seems to be enough time to do all that you want to do anymore--there's so much going on with every decision we make. As I reflect a bit more on my time in the desert this was one of the aspects of that time that is coming into focus for me.

Literally the morning I left, my email inbox was bombarded with requests and information. I had someone call me 10 minutes before I departed into the desert who needed information shared with him immediately. There was really no 'down-time' in the days leading up to the desert. And when I came back, everything felt like a whirlwind rush. I jumped in a car, drove for an hour and fifteen minutes, ate dinner, packed my bags, checked-in for my flight, and went to bed. The next morning, I got up, went to the airport with my dad, hopped on a plane, rushed to make a connecting flight, and arrived in Pittsburgh. From pittsburgh, me, dad, and Jamie ate dinner and drove to morgantown. Upon arrival, I talked for a bit with folks, caught up, went to sleep, and then spent the entirety of the next day answering emails, voicemails, and txts that came to me during the desert time, and then began preparing for a week of another world is possible. Our world is definitely fast paced. And when you come back from the desert, you also realize how heavily distracted our world can be from the things that are most important.

In the middle of that difficulty, we have a huge challenge. As Charles Lee shared on Friday, and as the Senior Vice President of Google shared in this blog which you should take the time to read, we are in a place where great good can come from attempting to stay ahead of the technology curve. We need to plan for a future in which we don't know what the technologies will be. As Charles pointed out, we need to creatively come up with ways for people to connect, share, and improve ideas. We have tons of information at our fingertips, but many of us have lost our knack at creativity.

You might remember my posts about the environment last Spring and the ideas I shared from Matthew Sleeth's book and lecture in Morgantown, but one thing I may not have shared was his insight that a lack of creativity is connected to our connectedness to the created world. It might be worth while to slow down a bit and create some space to let ideas run wild in our minds.

We have tons of information and amazing technology at our fingertips. We have amazing potential (unlike any other point in history) to make sweeping changes that will either be hugely detrimental or hugely helpful for future generations of people made in the image of God.

In my mind, in light of all of this the question before us is challenging yet simple. What will we do with all that we have been given to bless others and care for those in the world around us? To whom much is given, much is expected. Take some time today to think about long term solutions and real change that YOU might be part of bringing about.

The Big Necessity

Among the books I’ve read recently is this little gem that was recommended by my old friend from parkersburg, Jaime Sayre. Jaime is an Environmental Engineering doctoral candidate and a brilliant friend.

The book, is a book by Rose George called The Big Necessity: The Unmentionable World of Human Waste and Why It Matters. The book takes the reader around the world to look at water and sanitation issues and the great needs in this realm of human health.

I found myself completely shocked by what I read. She said that the issue of clean drinking water is largely a sanitation issue. Not only is it a sanitation issue, but it’s more specifically an issue of feces. It’s an issue that folks don’t like to talk about but after reading this book, I realize how very important and how little discussed the subject is.

In America, we flush and everything goes away. But where? Have you ever really thought about it? What would life be like without indoor plumbing? What would life be like with out the water and sanitation luxuries we enjoy. (By the way, the sewer systems even in our part of the world are fairly outdated in many areas.)

What about the 2.6 billion people in our world who don’t have access to “adequate” sanitation and clean drinking water? How could this need be solved?

The author recommends micro scale changes and improvements that can expand to macro scale long term change.

When I think about the need, and the solution many are suggesting, I get even more excited about the work Nuru is doing.

If you get a chance, check out the book. It’s not a book about faith, it’s a book about a subject that we spend very little time talking about. It’s a book that exposes in a very unabashed way the very dire situation in much of our world with regard to sanitation, and even demonstrates how little we know about our own sewage problems. After reading this book, I am much more conscientious about what goes down any drain. It doesn’t just disappear, and somebody has to deal with it.

In the meantime, maybe we can all just start to live a little differently, and a little more aware that we may just be part of the solution and we may have something to offer others in aid in some way.

Another World Is Possible

Last year, we started a series of events through the college ministry of my church and in conjunction with many other campus ministries at WVU that we called "Another World Is Possible." The idea behind the weeklong event was this. There are many problems that face our world, and it's just not right that these problems exist. We believe that people are called to do something about the hurt, the evil, and the injustice in the world, but part of the problem is that folks just don't know about the issue, or they just don't know where to start doing something.

Everybody knows that our world is broken. Everybody knows that things need to change. We often find ourselves asking what we can do to help it or if it even matters. But not many people get to the root question of why it is broken.

Our world is broken because of sin. Our world is broken because of the evil that runs through the hearts of humanity. At the thought of that some might scoff at the incredulity of it. Others might be encouraged to despair because of the way sin pervades our world. But Christ came that we might have life. Christ came that we might be signs of a different world.

Sometimes when I see the state of the world, I'm tempted to despair when I see the immensity of the problems. But other times I get hopeful. I get hopeful because I think that if the church of the West could be woken from it's slumber, many of these problems would find some answer.

You see, sin is the root issue. Sometimes sin is a sin of commission, and other times it is a matter of O-mission. I think we have the resources to solve many problems caused by sin. We have the Spirit of the living God inside us. And yet, we walk around defeated and despairing.

Tonight will be our first speaker for the week of events. Bryan Monzon of the group eleho will be speaking to folks tonight at sozo about the genocide that is happening in Burma right now. The government of burma is killing its own people. It is an ugly time and some of the stories that I have heard already would make you shudder when you hear them.

The human heart has such potential for both evil and for good. And while our world is broken . . . Another World Is Possible. Maybe I'll see you out for an event. And if I don't, maybe you will look to live beyond yourself to make a difference in this world of His wherever you are.

Some Thoughts From Joshua Tree

Well, as you could tell from the fact I blogged on Friday, I emerged from the desert. I'm back in West Virginia after experiencing five days of solitude to focus on prayer, fasting, and listening for God in the middle of the Mojave Desert in Joshua Tree National Park.

There are quite a few stories I feel like I could tell about my experience but the one that lies in the forefront has a beginning before I entered solitude. My buddy John Hancox recommended a sermon by a guy named Paris Reidhead. It's an interesting name for a person, and a very compelling sermon called "Ten Shekels and a Shirt". You can download, listen to, or read the sermon from this site.

During the sermon a story was told about two Moravian missionaries who sold themselves into slavery to be able to share the gospel with slaves on a remote island in the caribbean. After they had sold themselves to the athiest slave-owner, they were shipped to the island. As they left family and friends, they yelled from the deck of the ship, "May the Lamb who was slain receive the reward of His suffering!" Or as I had paraphrased it during my time in the desert, "May the Lamb who was slain receive the glory He is due!"

While I wandered in solitude, I prayed two prayers to help me stay centered on Christ. That statement was one of them. The other one was simply this. "Lord Jesus Christ be merciful to me, a sinner." Now some would say that neither of these are necessary prayers because God by nature is merciful, and He will receive glory. But sometimes prayer is less necessary for God and more necessary for us to be changed. God moves through prayer, and He changes our circumstances at times. At other times, He changes us.

Over my days He changed me. You see, I got sick early in the afternoon on February 6th, and didn't stop vomiting until around 1PM on February 11. Before you start feeling bad for me, understand that God used that illness to teach me great things about Him and His mercy, and about me and my own darkness.

You see, there was a point at which I was a little frustrated by my sickness. I was frustrated because I didn't go to the desert to be sick--I went to the desert to connect with God. I went to the desert to grow spiritually, and to be better equipped to help others grow closer to Jesus. I had a certain idea of what that would look like. I think God had a different idea.

During my time of sickness, I realized how merciful God was toward me. He knows how dark my heart is (He also knows about your's too!), and in spite of that, because I am His creation, He was willing to do whatever it took for me to be reconciled to Him. I deserve so much worse than a few days of sickness. We all do, when we consider ourselves in contrast to the Holiness of God Almighty.

So as I lay there receiving mercy, I found myself crying out silently from my mind, "May the Lamb who was slain receive the glory He is due!"

I know we all have difficulties come our way, that leave us wondering "where is God in the middle of this?" But I am also confident of this as well, these present difficulties pale in comparison to the surpassing mercy that God shows us moment by moment.

May you experience freshly the mercy of the Lamb who was slain, and enjoy God for the immensity of His worth!

Mixed Tears

This morning I awoke with an email from Doug Scott, the Communications Director of Nuru. He's been living in Kuria, Kenya for the last five months, and is responsible for all of the wonderful videos Nuru has produced in the last few months.

Doug had let me know that Episode 4 "Portraits of Kuria" just launched. I was moved to tears while watching the video, and have had a hard time stopping.

They are mixed tears. They are tears that start in deep tragedy. Tears that start in a world that doesn't have to be this way. Tears that flood when you realize how much difference there is in the way we live here, and the way others live in our world.

Like I said though, they are mixed tears. At the same time I was saddened and shocked by the reality I saw, I also had tears of joy. Tears that swelled into puddles as I realized this is NOT the way it has to be. Tears that covered my face and blurred my vision as I saw people empowered and given opportunity. Tears that flood when you realize that there is so much we have in common as humanity.

We want to feed our families. We want to make a difference with our lives. We want those we love to be cared for and healthy. We want to ensure that future generations have opportunities that we do not have, without the hardships that we do have.

Nuru is making a difference.visit the website It's not just in some high quality programs and innovative training.

LIVES are being changed.

I encourage you to today visit the website, and see more of the change that is being brought about.

Maybe your eyes will stream with mixed tears.

And maybe as you see more clearly, YOU can open the eyes of others to both the need, and the opportunity we've been given to make a LASTING difference in this world.

Life is short. For many, it is also harder than we can imagine--it doesn't have to be this way though.

PS My friend Kendall Combes from the Charlie Hall Band produced the soundtrack for this episode.

Reflecting

Reflecting, originally uploaded by chanchanchepon.

That’s my friend Brent Jackson in the photo above. In church this past Sunday, he just sang an original song he wrote. The name of the song is “Reflecting” and it is simply beautiful.

The song is about how we get the privilege of reflecting God’s glory back to Him. In the middle of being selfish and sinful, in our brokenness, we still become mirrors that reflect the glory of God simply because we are made in His image.

But then, there’s another way we reflect his glory. We reflect His glory when we serve others. We reflect His glory when we look for opportunities to do good and right things. It’s not that we are incredibly good people, or great servants, but because we are made in the image of God, and we are attracted to when we see God at work in other people, God get’s glory by what we do.

Think about it. We all know that God is the hope of the world. And He has chosen his church to be ambassadors of that hope. When we stop our busy schedules and spend time caring for others, we reflect a little bit of the great grace and beauty of Jesus Christ.

Over the next few days I am not going to be blogging. In fact, I’m not going to be near a computer.

Last year, I traveled into the desert to pray, to fast, to spend time in silence and solitude, and to spend time reflecting in a different way. My prayer is that this time in the desert would be a life transforming and clarifying time. I am longing for clarity and focus so that I might better glorify God and reflect His glory as I strive to live this life in service to Him.

If you want to pray for me I would appreciate it. Chances are, I’ll probably be praying for you while I’m in the desert. In the meantime, may you and I both spend more time reflecting His glory to a world that needs the light of Christ.

Superbowl XLIII

Superbowl XLIII, originally uploaded by chanchanchepon.

Well, another Superbowl has passed, and now the Pittsburgh Steelers have one a record six superbowls. And what a game it was! It was exciting right to the end, and had a few things gone differently it could have been a different outcome.

But isn't that the way with everything. You never know how things "play out" until they "play out". We would love to know the future with certainty, but it's never ours to know. And as much as we would 'love to know' it, there's a certain measure of faith that grows as we make decisions and as our life unfolds.

I remember 8 years ago when I was working as an analytical chemist with a promising future at Mylan, I had no idea what I could expect from a career in ministry. I had no idea if I could afford the career change. There are always risks to life, ya know?

Even if I hadn't changed careers, there is no way I could predict what my life would have been at Mylan either. And yet, at times we find ourselves wondering.

What if Harrison hadn't intercepted a pass and run it for a touchdown? What if the penalties hadn't flown so high late in the game? What if Santonio didn't make his stellar last second catch?

We never get to find out the alternate endings in any story. We just keep walking by faith and we see things unfold in the present.

Maybe that's why God's name is "I AM". Maybe He knows about our tendency to worry about the past or the future,and He wants to keep us rooted in the present. Maybe He knows that tomorrow has enough worries of it's own.

Whatever you are doing today, may you walk in faith that the God of all creation is walking with you. In the present. Moment. by moment.

New Blog From Old Friends

In the photo above are two of my great friends, Steve and Liz Powell. I just found out from Steve that he and his wife started ablog, and I thought I would invite you to join in reading about their life and the life of their young son William. I really like the name of that boy!

Here's a little background about Steve and Liz. They have been my friends for a long time, and they both have served as President of our campus student organization here at WVU, h2o/wvu bible studies. They are also retired gunslingers. That's right, Steve and Liz were both all-american rifle competitors while students at WVU.

Steve and Liz, as you can tell from the photo above, are a fun loving couple. I have been encouraged by their friendship over the years, and I am thankful for the way they have cared for me. I had the privilege of being part of their wedding just a few years ago.

I hope you enjoy this brief introduction to these stellar folks.

Aside from being my friends, and their many accolades (they've both represented the United States in international rifle competitions), they are simply wonderful people. They are humble, and passionate about living for Jesus.

In fact, they probably don't see their accolades as any big deal. It's because they know that the biggest deal of any of our lives is our growing relationship of trust with the Lord of all creation.

No matter what our walk of life or our career exploits, we all are brought to a common place before the cross of the Savior. No matter where you are right now, it is my prayer that you might spend some time contemplating that cross. In light of that cross, pursue excellence in all you do, and strive to be filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ.

Faith and Vocation

Me and Coach Stu, originally uploaded by chanchanchepon.

Yesterday after watching a tough loss to Pitt at the coliseum, Jamie and I had a pretty cool experience. She spotted WVU football coach Bill Stewart in the middle of the student section, and we decided to make our way over just to congratulate him on a great season and to thank him for the example of faith that he has set for his players, and for many in the state.

First, I'd like to take a moment and just give you an opportunity to think about this. He's the head coach of the football team. As a result of his position, he would never need to stand in the student section at a WVU game. He could probably sit in a private box or court side, but he chose to be with students.

Coach Stewart has the best record for a first year coach in the history of WVU. He has a 2-0 bowl record, and although some might disagree, he is leading WVU's football team quite well.

You see, from what I can tell, and what I've heard, he really cares about the players. They aren't there just to play football, although he drives them pretty hard in practice. They are at WVU to learn how to be men. He has been a great example in disciplining his players and helping them to grow during their time in Morgantown.

He is an example of what many people of faith forget. We don't leave our faith when we enter our job. We don't leave our faith when we participate in sports. We don't leave our faith when we spend time with friends or family. Our faith is meant to saturate every aspect of our lives. This is why we call it the "life" of faith, and not the "one hour on sunday morning" of faith.

Think about it today. Regardless of your vocation, you are called to represent Jesus Christ to the world if you are a Christian. It's no wonder people have a distorted image of the Christian faith because so few take this call seriously.

What would your place of employment look like if you took it as an opportunity to reflect Christ in that place? What would your job look like? What would your attitude be like as people approached you for help, or yelled at you because their life wasn't going well.

Take a few moments right now if you have put your faith in Christ, and ask this question, "In what way may God want me to change the way I go about life/work so I can better represent Jesus to the people around me?"

If you get an answer, try to make the change. Invite Christ into your work, and the rest of your life. Your life, your work, and your relationships will take on radical new meaning in light of this sacred privilege.

PS When I thanked coached stewart for the testimony to Christ that his life was for many, he told me he didn't plan to change that. I think it would be cool to take time periodically and pray for public figures like coach stew and send them some encouragement.

PPS Coach stew has a sweet first name!

A few thoughts relating to the Inauguration

So I received a link to this video yesterday--it's currently appearing on Black Entertainment Television in limited viewing areas. In my thoughts, regardless where you might stand on abortion, there's a lot to think about here. Of course, I'd like to think that there is typically a lot to think about on this blog.

Yesterday, most of America watched history in the making as we elected the first African-American President. His inauguration was probably the most attended event in the history with estimates at over 2 million people in attendance. I couldn't help but watch it myself yesterday. One of my friends actually received an invitation to the inauguration. As we watched on television one of my friends commented that it was pretty wild watching someone take an oath and become the most powerful person in the world.
But with great power comes great responsibility.

For me I was impressed with Dr. Rick Warren's prayer for our new president. I have included the video with the transcription below.

Almighty God, our Father:

Everything we see, and everything we can’t see, exists because of you alone.

It all comes from you, it all belongs to you, it all exists for your glory.

History is your story.

The Scripture tells us, "Hear, O Israel, the LORD is our God, the LORD is one." And you are the compassionate and merciful one. And you are loving to everyone you have made.

Now today we rejoice not only in America’s peaceful transfer of power for the 44th time, we celebrate a hinge point of history with the inauguration of our first African American president of the United States.

We are so grateful to live in this land, a land of unequaled possibility, where a son of an African immigrant can rise to the highest level of our leadership. And we know today that Dr. King and a great cloud of witnesses are shouting in heaven.

Give to our new president, Barack Obama,

the wisdom to lead us with humility,
the courage to lead us with integrity,

the compassion to lead us with generosity.

Bless and protect him, his family, Vice President Biden, the Cabinet, and every one of our freely elected leaders.
Help us, O God, to remember that we are Americans--united not by race or religion or blood, but to our commitment to freedom and justice for all.

When we focus on ourselves, when we fight each other, when we forget you--forgive us.

When we presume that our greatness and our prosperity is ours alone--forgive us.

When we fail to treat our fellow human beings and all the earth with the respect that they deserve--forgive us.

And as we face these difficult days ahead, may we have a new birth of clarity in our aims, responsibility in our actions, humility in our approaches, and civility in our attitudes—even when we differ.

Help us to share, to serve, and to seek the common good of all.

May all people of good will today join together to work for a more just, a more healthy, and a more prosperous nation and a peaceful planet.

And may we never forget that one day, all nations--and all people--will stand accountable before you.

We now commit our new president and his wife, Michelle, and his daughters, Malia and Sasha, into your loving care.

I humbly ask this in the name of the one who changed my life—Yeshua, 'Isa, Jesus [Spanish pronunciation], Jesus—who taught us to pray:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,

for Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.

Amen.

May these few words videos and prayers spur your thoughts toward living as better citizens of the Kingdom of God and in so doing, spur you on toward being a better citizen in the place where you live.