Day Nine - Final Day in Peru - Awesome!

Its bitter sweet to wake up knowing it will be your last day on a mission trip. For me its been three years since I have traveled abroad for a trip, so I will savor it. One year I traveled to Kenya, Peru, Ethiopia and Mexico; children bring so much joy but really help ground us at home. I miss Micah and Bailey dearly. Being at the orphanage brought a flood of emotions, I pray that a godly spirit of adoption will grow here and around the world.

After bringing our luggage downstairs, we walked to the Maranatha church in Cusco. Since it was a service in Quechua, the preaching had to be done in Spanish and therefore left me to do the preaching. The Quechua service was packed even though it starts at 8:30 AM and the cool thing is that the majority of attenders are young families though there is plenty of diversity. This is my sixth trip to Peru but the first time my sermon was translated in Quechua. The church was so responsive and passionate about worship. The team really enjoyed the worship and experience. See pic on left and click on video here. The pastor made and invitation and four young men came forward for prayer as they trusted in Christ that morning. It was amazing!

After the service we rushed to the airport to fly to Lima. We boarded the plane but there was a major problem, the plane was too heavy. They kept asking for volunteers to take the next flight and they could not get enough. The TACA flight attendant began picking on me . . .not sure why. She kept pleading with me to get off and they would give me a voucher for another flight plus put me on the next flight. I was open to it but told her about my previous commitment to preach at a church in Lima at 5 pm but she insisted. The plane could not leave and we were stuck. Finally they had a few more volunteers and the plane left an hour early. Not sure why she chose me . . . maybe my scary terrorist face is softening . . . nope. We arrived an hour later than expected.

The team shopped but I went to Emmanuel Church (click for website) in Lima. Its one of my favorite churches in Peru, I have preached there before and I was asked to preach at their 5 PM service. Our host David Quispirocca (see pick on left) is a pastor there. It was packed again, they have six services on Sunday and it is always full. I preached on John 4 and focused on how God chooses anyone he wants to serve. I called on them to get out of their comfort and launch forward to serve Him. As I asked for those that needed prayer for strength to serve to come forward for prayer, the stage was so crowded that we could not pray for them individually, I had to pray for the whole group and then send them back to their seats. David asked for those that trusted Christ to come forward after the stage was cleared and about six people came forward, they were prayed for and helped.
Another cool thing was that Anthony Diliberto (current LCMS missionary in Peru) was able to attend and sit with us. He will be working with Mark and Sandi Eisold in Lima.
(Pic on left: my friends: David, Mary, Jorge, Jonathan and Juana plus boys)
Our team and our Peruvian hosts ate our last dinner together. We exchanged toasts, thanks, gifts and great food. It was a great day, great mission and great trip!

After a six hour flight to Miami, damaged luggage - thanks American Airlines and a three hour flight to Dallas, we made it home on Monday afternoon. It was AWESOME to hug, hold, kiss and talk to Bailey and Micah. Micah kept grabbing my cheeks and kissing me. Thank you Lord that we are home safe and to our children - one of my constant prayers.

This is my last blog on Peru. We managed to be away from the kids for 10 days. My sister and all our family did an amazing job take care of our kids . . . huge thanks. I also thank those that financially supported the mission . . .last but not least I thank our team that was just amazing. To our future Peruvian Missionaries Mark and Sandi Eisold; Pastors: James and Martha Rockey - Florida, John and Cindy Dawson - Ohio, Kirk and Tina Miller - Colorado. I also thank POP Carrollton for collaborating with us in Lima - Go Rosaline and PLI for sending us on this mission - Thanks Steve and Rita!
I especially thank my dear wife and partner with whom I am more than privileged to serve on so many adventures around the world and at home!

GLORIA A DIOS!














Picture here is Cindy and John Dawson, Sandy Eisold and Tina Miller at over 13,000 feet range.

Day Eight Part Two - "We were terrorized by the Floods"

I remember the floods in Peru last January, we prayed and I asked others to pray for those in Cusco. We had already planned to go to Cusco so this was going to add to our list of opportunities to help.
We drove to the worst area outside of Cusco, house after house was turned into rubble. Most of the houses are made of adobe and straw, . . adobe tends to give to standing water.
The team spread out to minister to as many as possible.
Jen, Jorge (Pastor of Cusco Maranatha Church) and I approached two ladies sitting outside their plastic homes. I asked them what happened. The elderly lady spoke with such humility and sadness, she said, "The floods came in the middle of the night, we weren't warned or prepared. We all thought the waters would go down, instead they came up at night and we are lucky to be alive." She then began crying, it was more of a quiet weep. She said, "We were terrorized. We can't sleep well at night, keep dreaming about it happening again."
The have been living in these refugee plastic homes. Basically its four poles that are wrapped with heavy plastic. "USAID" is all over them (see pic below), it felt good to know that the US was involved in helping at some point. . . but it is now seven months and the people still live in these shelters that are not very good. Its freezing cold at night and burning in the day as plastic exaggerates temperatures to the extreme. You never hear about the Peru refugees anymore on the news. We are moved by current disasters but soon forget those left behind without any help.

We were moved to pray with them and give them bibles. Jen then grabbed two blankets that we brought from our home and wrapped them around the two ladies. They were moved to tears again and thanked us over and over again. They were so gracious, so grateful and so hurt. Jorge's church had already delivered over 1 ton of supplies and more was coming. When is the government going to allow them to rebuild? Who knows but they need help soon. O Lord, please provide a way for these people to find safe shelter.
It was awesome to do this with Jen and the other sick members of our team. Thank You Lord that they are feeling better.

Next Stop: Orphanage in Cusco
We have always visited orphanages in almost every country where we do missions. Its always a painful and joyful experience to see the children. This was no exception. We were moved by this kids, so loving and happy in this new family. Most of them were abandoned or abused and the government placed them here. This orphanage is run by American missionaries (See pic on lefso the conditions (by our standards) were much better than other ones we have seen. The children looked happy, cared for and secure. We were impressed with the work they are doing with these children. They are currently building a new orphanage in the jungle and will move there once complete. Of course funds are short so we hope to help somehow. The cool thing is that most of these kids go to the school run by David's sister Mary, the one we painted and taught parents. Both ministries collaborate together to help the orphans, its awesome.
We sand happy birthday to two orphans and I pulled out my old trick - Animal Balloons. At first it was just me but soon the Peruvians swarmed me to help make the giraffes and small dogs. I am really good at making those, any other animal I try to make looks more like your lower intestine than an animal. The kids loved them and so did the adults. Jen again was the last one to leave, she loves orphans and her heart is so moved by them. She makes friends quick and ends up hurting so much for them.

We left home exhausted but satisfied after a very long day in the mountains with the Quechua youth, the flood refugees and the orphans of Cusco.

Pic on left is Pastor Mark Eisold giving balloons to orphans. He and his wife Sandi are moving to Lima Peru in December as LCMS missionaries. They are dear friends and we were so excited to introduce them to Peru and our friends in Peru. Pleased pray for them and support their awesome work in Peru.

Tomorrow is our last day in Cusco as we fly to Lima and Miami! I love what we are doing but I really miss my kids. I can't wait to get home.

Day Eight - Andean Quechua and I ate Alpaca cooked in the ground!

Our sick members are improving but not good enough to make the long trek to altitude of 13,000 feet to reach the Quechua people in the Andean mountains. Altitude has affected everyone but we are acclimating slowly. Our first night in Cusco I kept waking up gasping for oxygen. The hotel has loaned us an oxygen tank that we have all shared to help us acclimate.
We drove three hours through the mountains to reach the Quechua Tanca Village. The scenery was breathtaking, God painted snow-capped mountains and beautiful valleys for us.
We arrived at the church in Tanca and went into the church. The youth of the area were having a retreat and they wanted to have us speak to the youth. Over 100 teenagers gathered all around us, they were so cute and small. At 6' 2" I feel like a giant here (won't mention my weight).
They sang us a few worship songs songs in Quechua, they sound so much like other native groups around the world. Click here for the video. For a moment I couldn't believe we were here.

I was told as I walked in that I was to speak to the youth on romance and dating relationships. Within five minutes I was on stage speaking, I'm used to that by now. I preached to them from Genesis and Isaiah about waiting for the right person and for the right time. I shared my personal testimony of how God found my wife for me and not the other way around. I invited those that needed special prayer to come forward, they rushed the stage. I was overwhelmed and asked my team to help me pray for each one. As they were praying, the Spirit began breaking them down, many were in tears in brokenness. It went on for quite a while as they repented and looked to God for help.
After the retreat we were invited to eat . . . we were in a hurry but we were told that the Quechua people take rejections like this very seriously. They had cooked Alpaca (Llama that looks like sheep with long necks) . . .in the ground with hot rocks. I couldn't believe it . . . they saw how curious I was so they uncovered one of the Alpaca's from the rocks. See Picture on the Left and Video here.
My PLI team did not want to take a risk and eat Alpaca cooked in these rocks since we were all struggling with our health but we did not want to offend them either. Our solution was not perfect but it include the leader (me) eating it and taking it to go in little baggies since we were in a hurry to leave. I had some concern about my stomach but then again, I ate Mopani worms in Botswana, Crocodile in Kenya and unmentionable meats in other countries. "I can do this". I took a bite and it was spicy and hard, not very tender. The Quechua leaders were satisfied and we left feeling really great about the ministry.
We drove back and met the sick members at the flood refugee camp. More on this tomorrow!

DAY SEVEN - I will give you my son!

(Picture on left: Seminary class I taught on missions)



After breakfast, our team worshiped and had a good devotional by Tina. It was on Psalm 1, about a tree planted by waters, how it will prosper. After the devotional, we sand the song from Newsboys called, "He Reigns". I sensed that we were to sing the song but I wasn't sure what the connection was with the devotional. The song is about every nation singing praises together to God and then I got a thought, "Revelation 22". I went there and the connection came . . . "And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. . . And they will reign for ever and ever." Missions is about being part of that healing to all nations, bringing joy, peace and love.

This morning, four of our members had to stay back. One of our desires on mission trips is to do what others can't do for good. We were asked to paint a room at the Christian School. It seemed like those that were able to work were tired, fighting sickness too and were not too energetic. As soon as we began painting, the team was energized. We finished a whole room in a very short time and it looks great.

During lunch we sat around and asked our hosts David Q's family to share how they trusted Christ. They all grew up in a Christian home and trusted Christ at a young age. But the interesting story is how their parents came to Christ. The pastor that had introduced them to the gospel. He asked them, what is the most important thing to you that you should offer God. The mom came back and said, I offer God my son that I am about to deliver. That son is David Q. David has been a missionary in China, USA, Switzerland and Peru. The rest of the children are all in ministry too. Jonathon is the President of the Maranatha Seminary, Elizabeth and Carlos work at Emanual Bible Church in Lima, George is the Vice-President of the denomination, Mary is the Administrator of the Christian School. We are amazed that they are now all having major impact on the country of Peru. One mom, one commitment, country changed.

That four of our members went to teach the parents of the Christian School. I got to go to the Seminary and teach a class on Missions. It was pretty incredible to hear about the Seminary. They are training 300 students for less than $15,000 per year. They charge students about $12 a month. They have eight institutes all over the country including two in the jungle and the others in the mountains. God is doing amazing things in this country through these friends.

I am going to come back to Peru for sure. I have been here six times but never felt this excitement for long-term strategic and sustainable ministry. I also love Cusco, great city.

Our team members are recovering but still not 100%. Keep praying for us!

Day Six - 40% of our team is down!

We all woke up tired and several of our team members woke up sick. The men were to go and train 100 pastors from 10-1 pm and the women were going to a christian school. Jen was so sick that she could not lead the team as expected. The ladies had a small look of panic on their faces. In faith they proceeded to plan as much as possible with very little information. They did fabulous.

The men had to teach 100 pastors, many of them from the jungles of Peru. Some can not speak Spanish and had to have some translation in Quecha language. The pastors belong to a network of churches that was started by Swiss missionaries in the 1950s. The Swiss left in 2000 and have left the church to the Peruvians. The church has doubled in 10 years, they now have 240 churches. The pastors were so gracious and gave us an excellent review. We spoke to them mainly about the pastor's family, how to value the marriage and their children. Many Peruvian pastors are burning out, struggling in their marriages and losing their churches. It was awesome to hear their responses and their repentance.

The rest of the day was spent taking care of the sick . . .on our team. Two more got sick and by the end of the day 4 our of ten were sick.

God is teaching us so much even through sickness. He has a purpose in our lives even when we don't like what he is doing. We want healing but we want Him more!

Day Five - "Its worth the climb - keep going"

At an altitude of about 8000 feet, Machu Picchu, now one of the 7 wonders of the world!
Jen and I are not big into ruins and past civilizations but this was just amazing.

We took the bus up from our hotel and enjoyed the breath-taking drive up to the ruins from our hotel. The rest of our group left at 5:30 AM to see the sun rise over the ruins. I was not so eager so we took our time and left after 9 am. Unfortunately for my eager buddies, the clouds were too heavy and we were not able to see the sun until after 1 pm.
(Click on the picture to see it larger, pics can never do it justice but I hope you get a taste of its beauty)
We were told to do the zig-zag climb, that would give us the highest elevation to see over the whole ruin . . . we were ruined! To climb steep steps for what seemed to be a mile was not an easy feat, we stopped several times to catch our breath and give our body some rest. Jen has bone spurs in her ankles and every step was painful. . . we discussed walking back but she said, "we have come this far, . ."An American walked by us and said, "Its worth the climb, keep going". It was just what we needed. As we were arriving to the top, a llama jumped in front of us, it was so cool.

"Its worth the climb, keep going". Those words seemed so simple and yet so powerful. Its true that what separates success from failure is perseverance. It's not my favorite word for sure when I'm struggling, because it usually means hard, enduring work . . .but I love it too when I finally succeed. Sometimes all we need is an encouraging word, "Keep going", "You can do it", "Don't quit", etc. . . Afterwards we will say, "It was worth it"! Maybe you have been thinking of quitting . . .don't stop, its worth the climb.


When we finally arrived at the top we were just blown away. There were llamas and tourist from all over the world everywhere. A tour guide took us through and gave us the history of MP and the Incas. It was a great experience . . . put it on your top 10 places to visit in the world.













DON'T GIVE UP! KEEP GOING - ITS WORTH THE CLIMB!



Today in Cusco the men head off to the pastor's conference and the women to a christian school to teach. We are excited to share and partner with other believers.

Several of our members are sick, including Jen, she will have to stay in the hotel this morning, pray that she gets better soon. Its also really cold here, for Peru. We had a heater on in our room last night, everyone is wearing coats. Though our health is not great, we still know that we were called here, that this is exactly where we were supposed to be. Its great to feel God's peace in the midst of chaos.

Keep praying for us! We miss you friends and family . . .we will be home soon!

Day 4 in Peru - Can you say Machu Picchu?

Tuesday was an amazing day of planes, trains and buses. We boarded our Taca flight from Lima and were surprised at how new and comfortable the plane was. We landed in Cusco, flying over mountains was exhilirating for our team. Everyone is still relatively healthy . . . I still have this chest cough but nothing too difficult.
We then took a 1 hour bus ride to the train station. It was really cool to stop and shop on the way, see the Quecha people, pet lamas and eat lama meat, really tender.
The train ride was 2 and a half hours to Aguas Calientes (hot springs) which is only 30 minutes from Machu Picchu. BREATHTAKING! Snow cap mountains, beautiful countryside, raging rivers.

Today we climb up to Machu Picchu . . well, the team is already there, Jen and I are taking it easy this morning, getting up at 4:30 AM to see the sunrise was a little too much. You have seen one ruin, you´ve seen them all . . .at least that is what my friend Jim E. would say.

Tonight we returned to Cusco and met with the leaders of 200 churches. On Thursday we will be teaching at their annual conference.

We ask for your prayers as some of our members are sick. Altitude here is 11, 000 feet.

We love you and hope you are well family and friends!

FROM the Mountains of Peru,

Can you say, CHOW, CHOW

Peru Day Three - What is true religion?

"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction . . . " James 1:27


I woke up early, rested and refreshed. Today we visit young but old friends at El Nino Emmanuel Orphanage in Huaycan. We have worked with these children since 2004 and wow, the place has changed. The children came out as always, hugging us and greeting us. It was awesome to see Daisy, our sponsored orphan.
The ladies took all the kids out to eat, shop for shoes, etc. . . the men took on a project of laying some new concrete outside the kitchen. I convinced Richard Ray (Prince of Peace Carrollton/Fox4News) to stay with us and work, he did and we had some great talks.

The pastors worked really hard, they were worked so hard to break up the concrete, then they leveled it off. The concrete guy came over and in a few hours we layed a slab of concrete outside the kitchen. It was awesome to watch it all come together so fast.

The orphanage has changed drastically. In just a few years it has been totally transformed. Prince of Peace has had alot to do with it including the new kitchen, dorms, etc. . . It was heart-warming to know that the orphans have a much safer and cleaner place to live. As always, I was asked to help pay for more than we could do, its hard to say no but we did what we could.

The wives had a great day with the kids. They "ate everything" on their plates and were so happy to eat out. The shoe shopping experience was great too. Jen got to take daisy to the doctor to purchase new reading glasses for her. She has had a hard time doing school work and we hope this will help. Daisy has grown so much, she is now 11 years old and looks great. She stuck to Jen, got Jen her food, her drink and would not leave her side. As always, tears were shed when we left.

When we first arrived at the orphanage in 2004, we offered the orphans an orange or a toy . . .they took the orange without hesitation. They were hungry. Today we see great progress in their lives and we thank God for the provision of so much for their lives. Thank God for the lama mamas of Prince of Peace that have a huge heart and vision for these children!

You want to please God? Look after those that don't have much, especially orphans and widows.

Peru Day Two - Who is in Control?

Maybe we are not in control like we think. Maybe even things that seem random are part of a plan. Today God convinced me that even events that seem trivial are orchestrated by him.
So last night we had the banquet with the pastors from Huaycan, it was a blessed night. Three of our pastors had chosen their choices of churches they wanted to preach at. There were only two options left, Kirk and I had to choose. Being the coordinator, I asked him to choose and I would take the left over . . But Kirk was gracious, he said, lets flip a coin. I called it and he won. This was purely by chance right?

I was stuck with the early church and I was exhuasted. How could I get up at 6:00 AM, leave by 7:00 AM in a time that I'm struggling with a chest cold, coughing alot and to top it off, I was the only one without a translator which means, I had to preach in Spanish.
When Jen and I went down for breakfast, we were surprised that David Q was there to meet with us, it was a great morning. We then arrived at the church I was preaching and the pastor recieved us during the praise and worship, we went to his office. While we were talking the praise and worship team sang, "Cosecha", one of my favorite spanish songs about the harvest and I thought . . ."Screw it, I'm supposed to be there, I love that song and it is exactly what I'm preaching". The worship was awesome, then they sang another favorites, "Todo Poderoso" . . .I began to melt and I sensed His presence in worship like I haven't in a long time. . . I love spanish worship, it speaks to my heart like nothing else.
Jen and I went up during the sermon time, she shared about our family, adoption and her cancer scare . . .the people were moved. I then preached on John 4, about the Harvest. It was perfect for the church. Afterward we were asked to pray for a young woman with cancer, she was weak and fragile but in faith we begged God for healing.

We were ushered out to a taxi to the next church where I was to preach. It was another amazing church, the worship was wonderful and led mostly by young people. The offering was led by middle schoolers but the quality was just the same. The pastor's daughter played the drums with so much skill, coolness and worshipful attitude - she is 11 years old.
(Picture on left is the pastor, his wife and children, the girl on the far left was the drummer)
They were so amazed that I preached on the Harvest as they are doing a major outreach next Sunday and this is the message that they needed . . . by chance? Not a chance. There are no accidents. We were so blessed.


In the afternoon we joined Prince of Peace Carrollton for outreach in the plaza of Huaycan. There were thousands of people there, it was packed with people and activities. The POP youth did their mimes in front of hundreds and afterwards we went out and shared the gospel with people. Beth Daugherty and I teamed up as we shared with a group of 15-20 people. Beth was sharing and I was translating for the first half and I did the second half all in spanish. The people were intently listening to our message, with full attention on our words about eternal life. When I asked who trusted Christ for the first time, over 15 hands were raised, most of them were men. (See pics on left of the group) We were awed at the response. We gave them bibles and instructions for their next steps. Many people were ministered to that night, many trusted Christ. One of the best things was the joining of forces between PLI pastors with POP missionaries . . . can Lutherans actually do this?

I am learning that though I think I'm making choices, many of them are already orchestrated. Instead of worrying, instead of thinking too much, I need to "relax and enjoy the ride". Even a person like me that doesn't worry too much still needs to give up the thought that I have some control - I don't . . . and neither do you! So enjoy the ride!

Prayer Needs:
1. Continued health for our team (get rid of my cough/cold)
2. On Monday we will minister in the orphanage, grace, strength and love to help them.
3. Continued unity of our team and working of God within our team.

Thanks friends for praying for us! We love you!

Great Day One in Lima

Our plane rides were long but good, we arrived in Lima right on time until we could not find one piece of luggage. It took forever to get out of the airport and to our hotel, our team was so wasted by 2:00 AM when we got in our rooms. Peru is a great country, it has so many unique things and the people are so cool. We missed it, we have not been in Peru since 2007. We quickly connected with old friends David and Carlos.

El Condado Hotel is really nice and we had our normal breakfast, tons of fruit here. We got to Huaycan and Will Kemp was teaching the pastors. He saw us and quickly rapped up so that we could begin. It was great seeing the Prince of Peace people that we totally love, especially are old Peru leaders like Rosaline, Richard and Catherine, Lori H and new ones too like Susan W.

We taught on Leadership and Self-Deception (Oscar), Marriage unity (James, see pic on left), the Spiritual Life (Kirk) and Outreach (Mark, pic on left bottom). The ladies did their own session. Peruvians in Huaycan were so open. Many broke down as they shared stories of their struggles. Our own team was quite moved by the ministry already, many tears were shed today by both the locals and our team.

One pastor told me that he came to Christ at the age of 50. He was an alcoholic, adulterer, idoltere and non-believer. His wife kept praying for him. One night he had three different dreams where God told him to find an evangelical church. . . he woke up, told his wife and his life was changed immediately. Soon people began to congregate in their home and he became a pastor. He is now 65 years old.

We got an opportunity to lay hands and pray for several people, it was amazing. Many shared deep hurts, problems and needs. Our team worked beautifully today. I am so proud to be their friends. I also thank God for PLI (Pastoral Leadership Institute) and the concept of mission trips to all pastors. I agree, all pastors should go on at least one foreign mission trip.

Long time, back to the blog

Its been since Easter that I have blogged. Don't get me wrong, I like to blog but I was burned out of blogging for straight 40 days.

Just got back from a great vacation in Galveston. It was awesome to be at the beach with my wife and kids.

I will be blogging again soon on our trip to Peru. Our team of 10 will be in Lima and Cusco. We are all pastors and our wives. In Lima, we will be training pastors and their families and working in an orphanage El Nino Emmanuel in a town called Hauycan. In Cusco we will train pastors as well as do outreach work.

More on this coming soon . . . .

Depart on June 30th
Return on August 9th

Day 40 Resurrection!

Day 40 of my 40 day spiritual journey.

Its Easter morning, beautiful day to celebrate the most important day of a Christian's life. Millions will go to church this morning around the world to remember Christ's resurrection.
Most of my Easters for the past 20 years have been on a church staff, where I have a million things to do that weekend and on Sunday. Most years I'm at church at 7 am or earlier, get through 3-4 services and then go to eat afterwards with the family. By the time I get home, I'm exhausted. Today, I celebrate Easter by going to church once only, don't have to preach and feel quite relaxed.

¹After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

²There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. ³His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. ⁴The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

⁵The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ⁶He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. ⁷Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you."

⁸So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. ⁹Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. ¹⁰Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."

He is not here! He is risen. Those words must have shocked Mary to the core. How can that be? Is it real? Its a dream come true that I dare not believe easily.

What dreams does God have for us that we dare not believe?



More on this later. For now, Happy Resurrection Sunday! He is risen!

Day 39 - Betrayal of A Kiss

Day 39 of my 40 Day Journey through LENT.
Its Friday, Good Friday. Schools are off, children are home, families are gathering preparations for the holiday weekend. In Dallas, its dark outside, windy and about to rain. What does this day mean to me? Its meant not eating meat at the school cafeteria, painting the Easter eggs, going to the “dark” service. Putting all that aside, this day is about the death of Jesus.
31Then Jesus told them, "This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written: " 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered, 32But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee." 33Peter replied, "Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will." 34"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times." 35But Peter declared, "Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you." And all the other disciples said the same.
The irony of the story. The conviction of loyalty, commitment and friendship is quickly lost when the test comes. All of them left Jesus but only one betrayed Him. Judas.
43When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. 44So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.
45Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46Rise, let us go! Here comes my betrayer!"
47While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people. 48Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: "The one I kiss is the man; arrest him." 49Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, "Greetings, Rabbi!" and kissed him.
50Jesus replied, "Friend, do what you came for."

I wish I could know what happened to him during the miracles and raising of Lazarus. Did he believe? What was he thinking? How could you see these kinds of miracles that only come from God and then turn around and betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver? How about me? How about you? I have seen countless miracles, experienced the hand of God so vividly, I can’t deny His work but I do deny him. Why?

Self-betrayal. Self betrayal is denying what I know to be true for a lie. We feel guilty and then we betray God. Guilt is so damaging and we find any way to justify ourselves. The guilt drives us to blame Him or just ignore him. This happens in all relationships but with God, its very damaging to us. The Arbinger Institute calls this, “putting people in a box”.
The disciples struggled through this after running away . . then came the guilt. We see Peter who was so brave and yet so scared. He said, “I never knew this man”. In just a few hours Peter had justified his running and now was in a state of betrayal.

Maybe the reason you and I ignore or deny God is not that we don’t love Him, but that we feel guilty. Maybe we haven’t done a good inventory and taken our sins to the cross. That is the answer. Stop justifying yourself and blaming God. We are sinners. We sin. You and I need forgiveness. Lord, Forgive me. Crucify my sin. Death to my flesh. Alive unto God.

Day 38 - "The Moment" you needed is here . . .

Day 38

Reading: Matthew 21

I’m changing from the poetic books to certain passages pertaining to this holy week.

I love the drama that happens as Jesus comes into Jerusalem. You know the disciples are nervous. I’m sure they are face daily surprises by Jesus as they enter the final phase.
¹²Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. ¹³"It is written," he said to them, " 'My house will be called a house of prayer,'^[e] but you are making it a 'den of robbers.'^[f]"

¹⁴The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. ¹⁵But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple area, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they were indignant.

¹⁶"Do you hear what these children are saying?" they asked him.
"Yes," replied Jesus, "have you never read,
" 'From the lips of children and infants
you have ordained praise'^[g]?"

¹⁷And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.

What a great day he had in Jerusalem, can you imagine his Twitter.

Went to Jerusalem, drove out the thieves from the temple, healed the sick, loved the children singing to me, got the leaders of Jerusalem po’d and went back to our hotel at Mary and Martha’s in Bethany.

That is how we read the bible sometimes and we miss the amazing color, smells, emotions and the “moment”.

The “moment” when he first launched forward toward the money changers and turned tables over, coins going everywhere. Do I ever get that “moment”, that righteous indignation?

The “moment” when the first sick guy came over and he was healed, his face, his voice, his smile, the tears. When was the last time you cried for what Jesus did for you? Do you miss that “moment”?

The “moment” the children began singing, “Hosanna”. Pure praise from little children to the God of the Universe in the flesh, right in front of you . . . its Jesus the Messiah. Their praise was precious, genuine, from the heart and totally deserved. What stops me from this kind of “moment” with God?

Lord, I want more “moments” like these. Create in my life a movement that always gravitates to you, to thank you, to praise you sincerely, to smile at you and to cry with you. One more “moment” Lord, one more “moment”.

Tonight, Miles Hildebrandt was born to Colleen and Ryan. I salute you Miles and I praise you Lord for this miracle.

By your birth Miles, you are praising Jesus saying, "Hosanna, Hosanna to the Highest!".

This is your moment!

Day 37 The Kingdom, Immigration and Health Care

Day 37
I’m close to the end of my 40 day journey. What did I learn? What difference has this made? More on that later.
Reading for the day: Ecclesiastes 4
Qoheleth is not a happy guy, he says that a dead man is happier than a person that is alive but even better not to be born. Why? The evil of this world is horrible. I am not sure what evil he saw but it included the oppressing of people.
1 Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun: I saw the tears of the oppressed— and they have no comforter; power was on the side of their oppressors— and they have no comforter.
I have seen a lot but maybe not as much as Q. I saw the people of Cuba, oppressed for decades without. They had lost a lot of dignity, pride and desire to improve. The communist had stripped them of their privacy, freedom of speech and religion. I was so angry that my friends could not even talk in privacy, had to always watch their back and didn’t have enough food to eat, it was blatant oppression.
I have seen the oppression of poverty, ignorance and disease in countries like Botswana, Kenya and central America. The dump in Guatemala was horrible, children eating out of it. Some villages in Africa that have over 50%
HIV, children orphaned by diseases and having to care for the younger ones, prisons in these same places - you won't believe it.
And yet we complain in America that we that 30 million will now get healthcare, that an oppressed family who is here illegally is getting educated and given a chance to life. We get so worked up about these political issues without regard to the care for the oppressed. We rather the rich get richer than the poor get a hand. We get self-righteous in our political stance and follow the media leaders’ views because “We are American”. Jesus is not American and Capitalism is not the biblical way. I have to seek hard to find a few Evangelicals that care more about the undocumented workers than they care about the “law”. The Kingdom of God is much more powerful, its one where compassion, justice and righteousness rule. Stop pushing a political party or view . . . push God’s Kingdom, His Kingdom will rid of all oppression, injustice and evil. Lord, may your Kingdom come quickly!


Another picture of futility is the ambitious person that is constantly trying to work hard at bettering him circumstance from his neighbor. Competition is meaningless. Its much better to have a friend and help each other out. Our culture's value of independence is extreme, we lose community and yet we get more stuff. We live our lives full of stuff and empty in meaning.

9 Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: “A cord of three strands is not quickly broken”

Lord, may I learn what it means to collaborate. May I stop all competition and seek to better my neighbor.

Day 36 You are God - I am not!

Day 36 There is a Time for Everything
Reading: Ecclesiastes 3
In the end of Chapter 2 Qoheleth says this,
24 A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, 25 for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? 26 To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God.
Life is about pleasing God. And though the Beatles seem to have stolen chapter 3, man does have purpose in fulfilling God’s plan.
1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
Life has cycles and without God, it would seem meaningless.
11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. 13 That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.
Here is the message from what seems to be a pessimistic book, God put eternity in our hearts but we live in temporal place. That creates tension. That gives us a sense that both should be at work. We try to make temporal things have eternal meaning . . . and they don’t . Our work, accomplilshment, stuff are all going to burn. The only things that lasts are humans. Humans have eternity in them, everything else doesn’t. Therefore, be happy with your work here but focus on God and people.
Lord, help remove the discontent from my heart. Whatever you bring to me, will enjoy. Whatever you place I find myself, I will praise you. You are God – I am not! My ambition and attempts to make life work without you always fail and are meaningless. I am your servant, teach me and speak to me now.

Day 35 LIfe Sucks, Serve God

Day 35 Been there, done that – it all sucks!

Reading: Ecclesiastes 2

Qoheleth, the writer continues his cynical view of life, he tried everything. Since he was a king, he could do whatever he wanted.

I thought in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good." But that also proved to be meaningless. ² "Laughter," I said, "is foolish. And what does pleasure accomplish?"
His first attempt was most basic human pursuit – pleasure. Can you imagine the power to do whatever you want? He then tried “laughter”, I guess he had all kinds of Jesters come and make him laugh, bet he wished he had Comedy Central.

³ I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.

He then tried the party life to find out what was there . . .and I found out the same – nothing.

Okay, this guy had the dream life, read this . . .

⁴ I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. ⁵ I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. ⁶ I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. ⁷ I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. ⁸ I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired men and women singers, and a harem ^[a] as well—the delights of the heart of man. ⁹ I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.

If Solomon wrote this, he was the wealthiest man alive and in history, we read in other texts that he had a harem of over 3,000 women.

I love what he wrote, “I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work,
and this was the reward for all my labor. ¹¹ Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.”

So we should learn from Solomon, he had it all. What more can we get that he didn’t have?
Why are we trying to get more pleasure? More stuff? More position? Its all meaningless. Stop trying, you are on a treadmill that won’t end.
Life is about people, God and eternity. Life is about meaningful relationships.

Why not stop, play with your kids, spend time with a family member, take time to “smell the roses”. Enjoy the gifts of God and your place in life, that is the key.

God, move me to be content, move me to know that meaning is about you and others . . .NOT about me!

Day 34 Would Solomon want an I Phone?

Day 34 of my Spiritual Journey through Lent

Would Solomon want an I Phone?

Reading of the day – Ecclesiastes 1

Ecclesiastes was written by Qoheleth Hebrew, (Ecclesiastic), or “preacher” to an assembly of wise men of Israel. Most believe it was Solomon who wrote it though Luther led the view that it was someone else.

The message of the book can seem depressing until you get to the end, so hold on. This is man’s view without a hold on eternity.

1:2 "Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher.
"Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless."

That is the first theme of the book. When you look at life like this it has such aimless cycles.

³ What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun?

⁴ Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.

Does your job really matter? Does your life? What is the purpose of all that you do anyways? Are you really making a difference?

⁸ All things are wearisome, more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing.

⁹ What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.

I love this last line, “nothing new under the sun.” Spoken like a true cynic, Solomon (or whoever) is at the end of his life, has seen it all.
Wait, he never saw an IPHONE? Does it really matter. Does an I phone really improve our lives that much? No. Its really cool though. My Android can scan any bar code and tell me where to get that item, for how much and I can actually order online right there. So amazing. But who cares? Does that speed, knowledge and efficiency really give me so much more time? Meaning? Remember that futurists in the 1950s were predicting that the new technologies would save us so much time that we would have tons of time in our lives. The washer, dishwasher, vacuum, microwave, etc . . .hmmm – nope.
One of the greatest and repeated errors of our modern culture is the belief that technology brings meaning to life. Like a new toy, it loses its excitement after a while, everything does.

This chapter is humbling to man.

¹¹ There is no remembrance of men of old, and even those who are yet to come
will not be remembered by those who follow.

Dang it! After all the work I have done? Yea, our life is but a vapor. We can try all we want to make a name for ourselves, to leave a mark in history, but its all meaningless.

What about wisdom? Look at what he says:

¹⁶ I thought to myself, "Look, I have grown and increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge." ¹⁷ Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.

¹⁸ For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.

Meaning in life is not about getting things. No car, relationship, job, vacation, trip etc . . .can bring you meaning alone. Meaning in life doesn’t come from man, the world or ourselves. Meaning in life only comes from eternity, what lasts. That is what brings true meaning, true satisfaction. We will discuss this in chapter 12 but I can’t leave you depressed, meaning comes from serving God and doing good.

Lord, bring me to a place of understanding of life. I don't want to chase after the wind, I wand your Spirit (wind) in me. Show me how I can have meaning and bring a smile to your face.