What a trip

Arrived yesterday, Sunday 27th at about 1:15pm. RT met me along with one of his co-workers. He is married in his late 20s and no children. They presented me with two floral garlands--similar but superior to the Hawaiian lei. He took me to the hotel where I'm staying. The lady receptionist called a co-workeron the phone. Apparently she was asking the employee to prepare a room for a guest. She listened a moment. Then I heard her respond (in Hindi), "No this was a foreigner." Actually, I wasn't sure what else she said, but I picked up on the Hindi version of the word "foreigner." Anyway a couple young men came and escorted RT, the coworker and me up to my room. Actually, it is laid out such that in the US it would be called a suite. Plenty of space plus a balcony where I can step out to view the very busy street below. As I saidin my other blog, I have some pics but I planned poorly for today and am not able to upload them in present context.

I think most people expected me to be so worn out from the long travel that I would not be able to function last night. But I had slept about 3-4 hours between London and Delhi. And all I asked RT for was time to wash up and then nap for a couple hours. So he agreed to come back for me at 6:00. I showered and set my alarm for 5:30, fell fast asleep and woke up about 10 minutes before my alarm.

He showed up and we rode an autorikshaw through the busy streets to a house on the edge of town. They sat me briefly in the entry room. Then they brought me around the corner of the room where I saw 14 children arranged from smallest to tallest. It turns out that 2 of the children are actually children of staff people. The other 12 are orphans--either their parents have died, or one or both of their parents have abandoned them.

Then we went upstairs where I was showered with I think 6 more of the floral wreaths/necklaces. Plus people sprinkled flower petals on my head. Everyone--literally everyone in the group, young and adult--came by to bow to me. They said "Praise the Lord" (Jai mashi). I repeated the phrase, while touching each one's head. This was taken as a blessing.

Then the children sang and danced. Meanwhile, the students I came to teach had snuck in behind me. RT directed my attention to that direction and I discovered them all standing stone silent, smiling, bowing and saying "Jai mashi." Then it was the students' turn to contribute. First they sang some songs and danced (Hindi style). And they capped it off with a hilarious skit that they use in their evangelizing trips to unreached towns.

At one point as a couple little girls danced, RT and I started talking about being rejected by one's parents. His story is similar to bw's, which is similar to some of these children (except that bw's mother remained faithful). It was an emotional moment and I felt moved (inspired?) to share with the group about bw's experience (briefly) and how God had so changed her life that she was able to win back her father's love and acceptance before he died. Then I contrasted human rejection with God's unconditional love.

Well, much much more to share. I expect to have capacity share some of my pics tomorrow. So I'll hope to see you back then!

ttfn

Sleepless nights

The closer I get to departure, the more my emotions come to the fore. When bw and I have gone to bed this week, we keep saying something like, "How can I go 2 1/2 weeks without holding you in my arms at night?" This is the first time I have gone on a trip knowing in advance that I will actually miss the one I love. Already I anticipate (and bw does too, though she mostly holds it inside so as not to distract or discourage me) the loneliness of traveling without her.

Meanwhile, I sleep just a few hours (4 hours last night) and then I awaken and cannot sleep again. So I've been awake now since 3:00a.m. And I finally gave up the fight and arose at 3:40. But the time is not wasted. I have spent good time in Bible study and prayer. And most of these early mornings have also afforded extended time of reading and studying for the worship course I will conduct next week.

That's all for now.

Condo pics

Bw opening the front door to our new condo!

The back door, leading to the open courtyard was already open because a couple workers were finishing last minute details.

Inside to the right is the kitchen with all brand new appliances--Frigidaire. We'll see how long it takes before we get the dishwasher wet. :) Built-in everything, including built-in microwave over the oven.

Approaching the main living area. The hose goes upstairs where the worker was finishing a utility closet.

Looking to the left from where bw stood in preceding pic. Not all the 3-br units have this large a living space. So we were eager and glad to get this one.

"Mom's" br. Since she is our most frequent visitor and has helped us so much, we have dubbed our extra br as "mom's" br. But you're welcome there too--as long as she is not visiting!

"Computer" room, with hookups in the closet for washer and dryer, etc., along with shelves, where the mysterious, invisible worker was at at this time.

"Comfort Room" upstairs. Also a half-bath downstairs.

Locking up as we leave! But the back door is still wide open because the worker is still inside.

For all the teachers

I got to thinking about all the teachers in my life. In addition to the teachers in my family (6+ current or retired), I recently made a number of new teacher friends by subbing at our local HS. So thinking about them, I decided to create a new blog just for the duration of my trip to India.

The teachers in my life are involved in a variety of age groups. So I don't know if the material I will post there will be appropriate for your age group or not. But just in case, be assured that I am writing that other blog with public classrooms in mind.

If you want to use the material there, just follow the link and then add the other blog to your "favorites." Then enjoy and share.

P.S.: Feel free, in fact feel encouraged, to share these blogs with other people. And feel encouraged to share the other blog with teachers in particular!

Thanks!

Worship quotes

As you know, over the past few (several?) weeks, I've been plowing through a bunch of literature on worship. I would appreciate your feedback on these quotes and/or ideas:

James F. White (A Brief History of Christian Worship) references Romans 15:5-6 and concludes,"True worship occurs only in the context of harmony with God and with his disciples." What do you think?

Robert E. Webber (Worship Old and New, revised edition, p. 14) says "During worship God communicates to the worshipers his salvation and healing, to which the people respond with faith, praise, prayer, thanksgiving, and a life of service in the world." What do you think?

Webber also describes worship as an encounter in which we Remember God's saving deeds; Rehearse the covenant; and Live in total obedience to his will. What do you think?

Then Webber (pp. 20-21) cites Exodus 24:1-8, describes this as having the most basic structural elements for a meeting between God and his people. Then he gives this 5 point outline, delineating the basic elements: 1. Meeting convened by God; 2. Full participation by gatherers (as opposed to a performance); 3. Characterized by the proclamation of the Word of the Lord; 4. Commitment to hear and obey, i.e., continuous renewal of commitment; and 5. Climaxed by a dramatic symbol of ratification, sealing the argument, and involving blood. Then he ties this to 1 Peter 2:9,10. What do you think?

Oh yeah: And how in the world do we tie that all in to the benefit of virtually brand new believers on the other side of the world? What do you think?

ttfn

Signed for Condo!

We met with the lady from the Title company this afternoon and signed all the papers for our mortgage. We should have taken pics of the condo before today. But........












Anyway, after the signing 'party' we went to the condo to get some pics. But it was locked and of course we don't get the keys until it is recorded and closed, which will probably be on Wednesday.

So we took these pics through the windows. That explains why you can see some "ghost" images. In fact, in this last one, thanks to the reflection from the window, you can see the open courtyard or common area in the middle of the complex.

Well, if/when you're in the area, be sure to let us know and plan on spending a night or two in our extra room.

Sleepless nights

There's so much going on in our lives right now, that it's nearly impossible to write about it. The result involves some sleepless nights--for both of us. Saturday evening, bw made the mistake of drinking coffee late in the evening. Around 12:30a.m., I awoke to realize she was not in bed. I had to point out to her (given her bday on Wed past) that we 'older' people have to watch out about the effects of caffein in the evening.

But most nights, I have been the one struggling to sleep--or more accurately struggling to stay asleep. So many things going on, between the condo purchase and the India trip. As soon as I start to rouse from sleep even the slightest, I start thinking immediately of all the things I/we need to do. Today, in addition to all the regular things, I have a trip to one bank as soon as it opens and another trip to another bank immediately after that. Then we have our signing this afternoon, for the condo. And it suddenly occurred to me this morning when I awoke: We don't even know what kind(s) of locks they have on the doors. And the door on the back side of the condo, facing the courtyard, is a glass door. So I have to ensure that both doors have deadbolt locks. And as a condo owner, do I have the right to change the kind of locks on our doors if we do not feel safe with the locks they provide? And... And... And...

Do you get the picture?

At the same time, if I'm not thinking of more details regarding the condo, then I'm thinking about more details for the India trip: Put this idea in the course plan; remember to take that; get that other thing out and put it in the bag to carry-on; try this approach for the seminars in the 2nd week; etc., etc., etc.,....

Well, this time next week, the condo will be ours. And I will be in India already having taught one day of the worship module (thank you Sara and Joseph for your input). And hopefully I will be able to catch up on some of my sleep. And this time next year, I/we will just chuckle over our sleepless nights.

No, this is not worry: These are things that I truly am responsible for. So I need to remember to do them. It's just that in the middle of the night, it is so very difficult to write down on a reminder pad a note telling me what I need to remember to remember!

thanks for reading.

ttfn

Persecutor turned Believer

I came across this article in Christianity Today. It reads in part:

Miracle in Ethiopia

A former persecutor's conversion reveals God's hand in the midst of tragedy.
By Jerry Dykstra

God has a way of turning the deepest pain into victory. Today, because Ethiopian Christians faithfully ministered to a convicted murderer in jail, God brought salvation to Mohammed Ahmed, who was convicted of killing an evangelist named Tulu on Feb. 2, 2005. (Some pseudonyms are used in this story to protect the believers.)

Read the rest of the article here.

We hear and read these kinds of accounts regularly as the persecuted show the love of Christ and the persecutors see the love of Christ. I am no longer surprised when I read about a persecutor being won to Christ by the love of the persecuted.

Would you please read the article? Then tell me what you think please?

Thank you.

Practicing Prayer?

I'm going to try again to get some feedback in preparation for India: Bottom line--how do you teach prayer? How do you teach private prayer? And more to the point for this course, how do you teach a person to lead prayer in a public worship service?

If this were a context that has a tradition of writing prayers in advance of a worship event, that might simplify the teaching process. But in this case, I strongly suspect that their tradition calls for "extemporaneous" prayer. While I agree with the concept of extemporaneous prayer, I still advocate some planning. I firmly believe--I am convinced-- that God honors such planning. I believe God can and does help us as we plan. And he helps and honors planning even for "extemporaneous" events.

So how does one teach, in a hands-on way, another person how to plan for prayer and still pray extemporaneously?

Please help?
ttfn

Philippine explosion

I awakened bw earlier than usual this morning. Actually, she usually wakes up on her own. But the alarm is set for 6:15, just in case. But this morning I read an article that concerned me. It gives some of the early reports about an explosion at a shopping mall in Metro Manila. Specifically, the Glorietta Mall is in Makati City. And I thought bw's cousin and wife live there. So I awakened her about 1/2 hour early, just in case she wanted to call to make sure they are okay. But she said, no, they live in another city a little further away. So she was not bothered enough to jump out of bed. But we did pray for Metro Manila, for President Gloria Arroyo, and for the country (something we often do). And we prayed for our family living there too.

Would you join us in praying for this beautiful, wonderful country of The Philippines?

thank you.

The Dalai Lama and Nancy Pelosi

First off, I am glad to see the Dalai Lama honored in Washington yesterday. I don't know that he has contributed to the U.S. such that he deserves a medal of honor. But simply the fact of both the president and the speaker of the house appearing on stage (together!) and with him speaks volumes. Among other things, it communicates to the world--and to Communist China in particular--that we support efforts of freedom around the world. And it demonstrates that at least sometimes we can show that support for freedom without starting another war.

At the same time, I almost swallowed my teeth when I listened to Nancy Pelosi's comments. Fortunately, I was sitting down. Unfortunately, I was eating dinner. Fortunately, in my shock I did not lose any of the dinner. Unfortunately, I suffered a bit of a coughing spell trying to absorb the absurdity of Pelosi's statement.

"What did she say that caused such a reaction?" you ask.

I'm glad you asked that: After praising what a wonderful man he is, etc., blah, blah, she added at the end (of the portion I heard) that "he is a champion of religious freedom."

How can I express my reaction?

BALONEY!!!!!!!! HOGWASH!!!!!!!

He champions religious freedom for his Tibetan Buddhism. But take just a glimpse of Tibet's attitude toward any other religious practice in their country. Not an option. Oh, if you are of another religion and you come there to visit, you are welcome to spend your money there. But as a former governor of my state said, "Come to visit; but then go home." Don't even think of living in Tibet and practicing another religion.

Sooooooooo, wonderful man? I have no reason to doubt that. "His holiness"? I don't call anyone by that title except .... well, I don't call anyone that. (I call God "Holy, Holy, Holy.") Incarnation of god? Not as I understand the words.

And "champion of religious freedom"? Not in this lifetime at least.

What do you think?

Cuban prisoner

Today's morning devo from "Men of Integrity" includes an account that begins like this:

Cuban pastor Humberto Alexander's eyes sparkle like he's just been let in on a wonderful secret. But he spent two decades in a Castro prison for the politically incorrect. There he led clandestine worship services. His joyful faith proved contagious, and many fellow inmates committed their lives to the Christ. He baptized 200 right under the noses of the guards!

[Read the rest of the account here.]

I have read similar accounts in the past that also came out of Cuban prisons. I just don't know how these believers do it--how they keep winning others to Christ even knowing that to do so means more persecution. Richard Wurmbrand tells about his experience. He said that the prison guards were only happy when they could beat the prisoners. And the Christian prisoners were happiest when they could witness for Christ. But if the Christians witnessed for Christ, they were certain to be beaten. So the Christians witnessed in prison, knowing they would be beaten. As a result, as Pastor Wurmbrand describes it, the Christians were happy because they witnessed for Christ and the guards were happy because they got to beat the prisoners. So everyone was happy!

How do they have that kind of attitude? I believe it is only (and this is not a cliche)... It is only the grace of God that enables a believer in those circumstances to love, pray for, and witness to their guards, all the while enduring unbelievable suffering, and all the while showing the joy of the Lord Jesus Christ.

God help me please. And God help us all to show this spirit.

Happy Birthday

Today is bw's birthday! She has expressed some negative feelings about reaching this bday. But I think she is more beautiful now than 6 years ago. That was the day I sent her a dozen roses (not red). She sent me a pic of her gazing at awe at the roses. She told me later 2 things: 1. That was the first time anyone had given her flowers; and 2. That was the day she knew she was in love with me.

(This pic was taken last March on our visit to Vancouver, BC. It is in Stanley Park.)

If you have bw's email, I encourage you to write her today and tell her happy bday. If you don't have her email, you can post congrats here in the "comments" area and I will see to it that she sees them.

ttfn

Zimbabwe, Africa

My passion for missions has always been tied in with a heart for Africa. I still recall crying for the starving babies and children of Biafra in the early 60s. Even as a young teen, I felt moved to tears--both repelled and captivated by the scenes of starvation, disease and flies. I watched events unfold in what was The Belgian Congo when it became Zaire and then more recently The Congo. I follow the events in Sudan, Eritrea and Ethiopia. And most recently, I am watching and praying over the tragedy in Zimbabwe.

I invite you to read this article from Christianity Today. And I ask you to pray for God to bring justice and shalom to this country.

Thank you.

Getting close to India

Things are starting to heat up in my prep for India. Thank you to those who sent money to help with the cost. Thank you even more to those who could not afford to send money but committed to pray daily for this ministry. If you have not yet checked out what Reaching Indians Ministry International (RIMI) is about, you can click here to see their web site. Tour the site to see the orphanages they operate alongside the training centers.

I finally got an email back from Raju (shown at right) who will be my translator in J____. Please join us in praying for Raju and his ministry. We have been praying especially that the Holy Spirit will knit Raju's spirit and my spirit into a team. We pray that he and I will understand each other's spirit even more than the words that we speak.

This pic of Raju was scanned from a snailmail newsletter I got from RIMI. But the newsletter got mangled in transit. Anyway this gives you an image of the man to pray for (in addition to me and everybody else). In addition to the damage done to the original, I was advised today to black out part of the face and remove references to the actual city where he and I will work. Does that tell you anything about the need for prayer?







I'm scheduled to leave Portland on Friday, October 26, and fly into Mombai (formerly Bombay) then on to J______. The module (6 hours a day for 5 days) I will teach in J______ is called "Principles of Worship." I think I've already blogged about this. But perhaps there has been a great groundswell of readership for my blog. Anyway........




Then the next week Raju and I travel by train (36 hours) to Nagpur in central India. Where I will teach (1 1/2 hours each day) on Prevailing against the Gates of Hell. Also during this week, I hope to interview some of the orphans in the mercy home there. Maybe I can also interview some 1200 of the pastors/leaders who will gather for their annual leadership conference.

A little more politics?

Having touched on politics a little bit. I'll make bold to try a little more here. Some things are scary; other things are unfathomable. Some are both.

ttfn

Yesterday I received an email from VOM. Actually, it came from their Prisoner Alert department. It told about a Christian prisoner in North Korea who is scheduled for execution.
Would you please go to this web site, and follow the links to where you can write to this brother in the Lord?

Thank you,
ttfn

Video link

Haven't figured out yet how to show the beginning of the video so that all you have to do is click on the video itself. So I'll have to give you this link using the method I know. Check out this video for a chuckle or two. Especially you who are mothers and any who ever had a mother. I enjoyed it and I think you will too.

That might be all for today. I've got to get the materials ready for India.

ttfn

Armenia and President Bush

Is President Bush intentionally trying to estrange every supporter he ever had? Sometimes it seems that way. Granted that the Democrats do nothing to cooperate either. But this latest is pure-and-simple stubborn as a mule.

I thought "W" was committed to doing what is right (in his view) regardless of its popularity. I thought he looked at issues in terms of right versus wrong--regardless of the opinions of other people.

Now he has the opportunity to do so, and apparently he has deliberately chosen to do the opposite.

I'm talking about the Armenian genocide. In the first part of the 20th century, Muslims in Turkey slaughtered Armenians. The estimate I heard tonight was 1.5 million Armenians were slaughtered. Turkey has always denied that anything happened. But I know Armenians whose relatives died in that genocide while others fled the country.

Now a bill is working its way through congress recognizing this atrocity as genocide and calling on the U.S. to call it such. But "W"--the president who wants to do what is right regardless of others' opinions--is urging Republicans to vote "No" on the bill. He and those around him are concerned that it might damage relations with Turkey.

Well, if we "do what is right regardless of others' opinions" then how about if we give validity to the claims of the Armenians--regardless of the opinions of the Turks?

What do you think?

Thoughts on Praise

Just a quick note this morning before I (we) head off to school.

I keep meaning to follow-up on my initial comments about praise: As I understand the Bible's terms that are translated "praise," it seems to me that at least one of the connecting themes involves the hands: Movement of the hands, hand gestures, and/or doing something with the hands.

Would you be kind enough (I know you are every bit as busy as I if not more so), to look this up in your resources and see if I'm reading this correctly?

Thank you.

gottarun

Body Worlds

Okay, it's not that you HAVE TO go see this. But I strongly encourage you: If any of the "Body Worlds" exhibits come to your area, or within maybe 300 miles of your area (that may be an exaggeration)... Go see it!

I finally got to go to OMSI in Portland to see Body Worlds 3. Turns out it was the next-to-last day of the exhibit. The public response had been so great that starting midnight Friday morning, they kept the exhibit open 24-hours-a-day!

Well, they won't let you take any pics in the exhibit (can you think of a synonym for "exhibit" so I don't have to keep using it?).

So, I picked these up from the internet. But time is running short. So I'll come back to this later today (I hope).

One of the pleasant surprises came when I saw one of the figures (their term is "plastinates") kneeling at a cross. In the commentary, we learned that one of the leading forces in opening up the art/science of human anatomy was the Roman Catholic church. I felt surprised because my mortuary instructor was so anti-church etc., that the only version we heard was the harassment against DaVinci for the dissections he performed and how he had to do them at night and in secret. But this exhibitor said the church officially sanctioned human dissections and one pope (unnamed to us) centuries ago even donated his body for dissection. In fact 2 or 3 times the organizer of the display--von Hagens his name--expressed gratitude to the RC church for encouraging the study of the human body. He even went so far as to say that the Christian faith is the only context in which this kind of study has been allowed, much less encouraged.

Well, back to my encouraging you to take it in: It's not really as "gruesome" as I expected. There is NO blood. And any "guts" have been cleaned up and prepared for public viewing. So, once again: If the exhibit comes any where near where you are, I strongly encourage you to take it in--if you have any interest in how this marvelous creation works.

ttfn

check out the comments please

Dear "vast" readership, you may enjoy reading the comments contributed by "rev213" in some of the recent posts. I encourage you to check out what he said and respond, react, clarify, question and/or add to what is there.

Thank you!

OH NO! The original post regarding worship has moved to "older posts." So you'll need to click on that to see the new comments and interact with them.

Conference Reflections

In September, bw and I went to a conference focused on the persecuted church. It was sponsored by Voice of the Martyrs. I intended to give some feedback at the time, but for some reason got distracted. So I will do so now.

The Friday night gathering was geared for teens. We didn't realize this until we were already there. The beginning music was way beyond what bw and I appreciate for worship. But I worked hard at allowing the possibility that the teens were truly worshiping. Sometimes that can be difficult to think that. It seems in some respects that they are just getting excited because the music is lively and loud. But I work hard at not passing judgment and I try to leave that between the participants and God. The very first song seemed to be a curious one to start with. If you think about the fact that our guest speakers all came from countries where the governments are justifiably paranoid about the possibility of a revolution, then you might join me in wondering about the words of the first song. It kept repeating the phrases: "This is a revolution" and "uprising in our souls." Now in a Western-Christian-Evangelical context, we understand what that is talking about. But could you imagine transfering that to the setting of a developing nation? No way. Not in China or Pakistan (the homes of our guest speakers) and not even in bw's homeland. Revolution and uprising are not spoken about openly.

At any rate, eventually the music calmed down and we were all able to worship the greatness of God. Admittedly, part of that came about because we started singing some choruses that bw and I know and could participate in.

Then they introduced a young lady evangelist from China, Sarah by name. She told the teens about some of her experiences when she was arrested for teaching, preaching and testifying about Jesus. One of the things I recall is that they stamped on her feet and fingers. I got the impression she held some details back because she was talking with a group of young people. But even the little bit she revealed made us all flinch. But look at her beautiful smile.

Here is another pic of Sarah talking with her translator and the local contact at the church where the conference was held. Both of these pics were taken on Sat. She was scheduled to speak again at the end of the day. But bw and I decided to head back home so we could worship with our home congregation where we had been absent for more than 2 months because of VOM speaking events.



On Saturday, the gathering began with a worship time that was more geared to us old people. Randy and his band led in this time. DeDe (his wife) had told us that Randy was an experienced keyboardist. Still I was very impressed--not only by his skill but more by his spirit and the easy way he transitioned from one song to another. This allowed us simply to concentrate on the Lord and on the worshipful messages of the songs he led.

The other guest speaker was from Pakistan (still is I suppose). But we were asked not to photograph him because he has an ongoing threat against his life from Muslim extremists in his home country. So I will show a group of Pakistani singers from the area. They came and sang a couple praise songs in their language. Then the guest spoke.

One of the things from his talk that really caught in my memory was this: You have perhaps noticed that whenever a Muslim says the name of Mohammed they add the phrase "Peace be upon him." The speaker contrasted this with the words of Jesus: "My peace I give to you." What a beautiful contrast!

The last speaker was in a sense a guest speaker and in another sense "one of us." He is the son of the founders of VOM. His name is Michael (Mihai) Wurmbrand. Mihai was left alone as a child when the Communists in Romania arrested both his parents. For 3 years he lived off the kindness of other believers who also faced their own risks and persecution from the government simply for helping this child.

One of my regrets is that in the 2 times I have heard Michael speak personally, I have never heard him talk about what it was like for him to go through those 3 years not knowing what had happened, was happening or would happen to his parents. In spite of that, his faith remained strong and even grew stronger. I wish that at some time he would open up a bit about his own journey. I think it would be very instructive and inspirational.