I recently attended a reunion dinner with the team members of a short-term mission trip I was apart of this past summer. We traveled to Malawi and you can read more about the reasons for our journey here. A couple of questions were raised at the table among the team that I have continued to noodle on. I thought I might raise the same questions here, give you my thoughts (I have many thoughts on both of these questions. I scaled my responses down quit a bit for the sanity of your eyes) and then ask for yours. So here we go:

A of all...How has life changed since returning from Malawi?

To be honest, my life has not really changed after returning from Malawi. Malawi marked only the 7th short-term trip I have been on so I have little experience and even less wisdom to draw on.  Although my life, as in regards to my daily routine, has not changed by my Malawi experiences, I have found myself thinking with a new perspective on the economic crisis here at home in the U.S.

I have a 2008 Christmas season peeve.

Let me start by asking a few questions:

What is the big deal about saying or not saying Merry Christmas? Why is there a battle to be fought over words? Who decides what is and is not appropriate to say? Why have some people self declared themselves as word police?

I worked a part time, seasonal retail job this year and found myself in the middle of a word tug-of-war that I never intended to be in. Out of habit, I often said “Merry Christmas” to customers as they left the store. I was amazed at the number of people who pushed back words at me in a nasty tone with their abrupt “Happy Holidays!” or “Seasons Greetings!”

My intent in saying “Merry Christmas” comes sincerely from a desire to be polite. I say Merry Christmas like I say ‘have a nice day.’ I have never intended to make a stand for something simply through words. If I really wanted to declare myself a believer in Christ and in the miracle of his birth, I wouldn’t do so behind the words “Merry Christmas.”

Since this past August, I have posted several news links and a couple video links regarding the horrific evil that has shown its face in Eastern Congo. If you are unfamiliar with the current events taking place there right now, let me catch you up to speed:

• 5.4 million since 1998 due to war-related violence, disease and hunger (International Rescue Committee)
• At least 40,000 survivors of sexual and gender-based violence in Congo (World Health Organization)
• About 344,000 Congolese refugees in other African countries (UNHCR)
• Almost 1.4 million people internally displaced (UNHCR) 
• Almost 850,000 displaced in North Kivu (UNHRC)

I saw this video awhile back and thought it was well done and encouraging. So check it out and let me know what you think. 

(Note: if you are the kind of person who can't listen to Christmas music until the day after Thanksgiving, then maybe wait to watch until Friday).

This Sunday I will be taking a stroll around Angel's Stadium, home of the Anaheim Angels, for the 2008 Orange County Buddy Walk. The Buddy Walk exists to bring support to the local community of those who have Down Syndrome.

Before the walk around the stadium begins, thousands hang out on the field with their friends and families and participate in a number of activities. There will be a baseball game happening in the diamond of kids of all ages with Downs swinging away and running from base to base. Others will be exercising their singing voices at the karaoke stage to a dancing audience. You might find some children getting their pressed on tattoo's or their faces painted with their favorite animal. 

I recently went to see a local showing of the documentary Call + Response. The film, created and produced by singer/song writer, Justin Dillon, cast a spot light on the worlds darkest 27 million secrets, exposing the world of the enslaved. 

Call + Response reveals the raw truths behind the current slave trade situation in action today. There are more slaves today than any other time in human history. In 2007, those behind the world of slavery made more than powerhouse organizations Google, Nike and Starbucks combined. 

I learned that not only are there 27 million enslaved today around the globe, a shocking 1 million of them are currently enslaved in the United States. Isn't this the land of the free? How could this have happened and what can I do about it? These are just a couple of the questions that come to mind after watching the film and after some of the research I have done post my viewing of it. Twenty-seven million slaves is a hard reality to face. Yet, what I've found is that there are several ways that I can take action to abolish slavery right now. 

In a country such as America, cultures seem to be continually evolving as quickly as New England weather changes in an afternoon. I thought it might be helpful to take a biblical approach to culture and to its implications into our lives. The words below are taken from a seminar on crossing-cultures well that I facilitated in 2005. 

Culture defined: It is learned, it is shared, it represents an integration of many smaller anchors of reality or paradigms, and it is constantly changing. 

We were created with culture. I think it's important to factor into our scripture reading, the culture of that time period. Afterall, the Bible was revealed to us in history. We should spend as much time studying the culture in the Bible as we do studying our own. The Bible and ourselves are situated in cultural context. For instance, Adam and Eve were placed in a particular culture they share. Simply said, culture is in God's plan.

21st Century Martyr's

“We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God”(Acts. 14:22b). Paul’s words here recorded by Luke in Acts still ring true today. In fact, more Christians were martyred in the 20^th Centurythan in all previous centuries combined. Just as early church fathers recorded the accounts of martyrdom during their time, there are those faithful to preserve the faith who are actively involved in recording the realities of those persecuted today.These include the books titled Jesus Freaks by recording artists DC Talk. I believe books like this are so important because they record stories of people from all demographics who continue to take up their cross and follow Jesus.

Some of those included in the 20^th Century list of martyrs are Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, Jim Elliot in 1956, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer in 1945. Books like Daughters of Hope by Kay Marshall Strom and Michele Rickett have been written in order to voice the lives of those currently facing tremendous persecution. Douglas C. Hsu gives testimony to missionaries currently serving in some of the most dangerous missionary zones in his book Voices in the Wilderness. In it, Hsu records only 100 stories of those who are right now serving and risking their physical, earthly lives in order to expand the gospel of Jesus Christ.

There are a lot of things in this world that scare me. Clowns, blue eye shadow, cats, mattress sales men and people who wear large amounts of leather, to name a few. There is one thing I'm not afraid of. Learning. I've been both blessed and cursed with an unquenchable thirst to learn more than I know now. I'm not talking about the learning of the mind and the gaining of information and knowledge. No, I'm talking about the learning that takes place in the heart. The kind of learning that shapes our motives. 

I'm in the process of learning a matter of the heart right now and I've got tell you, I'm incredibly challenged by this one.

I've recently realized something about myself. I realized that I am excellent at hoping for something when I can see a glimpse of it. It can be as small as Phoebe's world tattoo (my fellow Friends fans know what I'm talking about) but as long as I can see it or some evidence of it, I am full of hope. However, when the opposite happens, I am beginning to realize I have issues with hoping. 

The Reformation

The reformation period is rich in politics, economics, healthcare, social issues, matters of faith, literature, kingdoms and much more.  

The reformation marks a pivotal time in church history and serves as a turning point that has had tremendous effect on the universal church even until today. Many lives were put on the line in order to defend their faith. However, one particular individual stands out. In fact, he bore the name “Defender of the Faith.” I am referring to Thomas More.  

More was imprisoned for refusing to declare King Henry VIII as head of the church.  Although he was a good friend of the King and Chancellor of the kingdom, More could not go along with such a request. While in prison, More’s daughter paid visit trying to convince him to recant, in order to spare his life. She went onto list the names of many respectable people who had previously recanted and More responds to his fearful daughter by saying, “I never intend to pin my conscience to another man’s back.” Similar to Perpetua, More was forced to place Christ and truth before his own family. Christ bled in order that we might become part of his heavenly family and those martyred, bled in order to enter into that family.