"A love unlike any other. A God unlike any other." (N.T. Wright in Lent for Everyone, Good Friday) These words closed out my Lenten devotional today, and I was struck by how true they are. On this day, when we remember the crucifixion... it's easy to jump to the end of the story. We know how it turns out - the amazing things that happen on Sunday. But can you imagine the confusion and sorrow of those who lived it? They didn't know what Jesus was doing on that cross. They expected a completely different God. We also often want to make Jesus fit our understanding. I read an article today that resonated with me. It's called "I'm Christian, unless you're gay." I don't want to get into the issue of homosexuality here, and that wasn't the author's point either. His point was that we tend to be "Christian" towards those who are like us, but when people are different or don't fit into our understanding of what it mean...
I heard this song yesterday when I was out driving and it stuck with me, especially this section: Everybody's scared to death When they decide to take that step Out on the water But it'll be alright The part that really stuck out to me was the first line: "Everybody's scared to death." Often it seems when we're afraid we think we're the only one. We look at other people and they seem so brave to us for the things they are willing to try. And so we don't want to admit to our fear because for some reason our society has labeled fear as a weakness. I remember when I was in middle school the "No Fear" shirts that everyone had to have - including me. I had one that said "Second place is the first loser." Our society values not being afraid, so when we feel scared we keep it bottled inside. But the reality is that with our fear bottled inside - it often has more power. And everyone is afraid. I once read somethin...
This evening I have been working on the video for the Costa Rica mission trip, and as such have been thinking about the children we met at La Carpio. There was one moment on this trip that really broke my heart. We were at La Carpio and I was serving juice. Each kid received one glass of juice, and after we finished pouring the last glass, a little boy came up and asked for more. I asked the woman if I could give him more, and she said no because there was not enough for everyone to have more. All he wanted was more juice. Something we all take for granted. Another kid wanted more food. And the same answer. There was only enough for one bowl per kid. This was probably the only meal these kids would have all day. 70-80 children who get one bowl of food a day. The Wednesday after we got back from Costa Rica, I was at Be 5:6 (SUMC's 5th and 6th grade ministry). There was plenty of food and drink for everyone to have as much a...
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