Itsara

I believe there is an idea that God has written into the source code of humanity. It is repeated in our books and movies and even in history itself. It is embodied in the Resurrection; it is the idea that a great good requires death to bring it about. This idea is repeated, in different forms, throughout humanity – when Gandalf becomes the White Wizard, when Neo becomes The One, when the phoenix rises from the ashes, when Israel journeys from slavery to the promised land. The idea of new life coming through death is as old as God.

Jesus said that whoever believes in Him would live, even though they died. He said that whoever lost their life for His sake would save it. He said that whoever would follow Him must take up their cross – the instrument of their own death. He said, “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”

So when I say that saying goodbye today to everybody we know and love feels like dying, I don’t mean that it feels like the end of our lives, I mean that it feels like something we must go through so that the abundant life Jesus promised can happen.

God’s cool. This is just a reminder to me that He planned this whole move way before we did.

Here’s an excerpt of an e-mail to us from someone on the Im Jai House staff. Keep in mind that the only thing they knew about us at the time of this e-mail was that we wanted to volunteer at their orphanage.

We need staff, you want to learn. I think this might be a great opportunity. Can you teach computer skills? How about ESL? Have accounting skills? What about bible studies for children and for adults? Dance? Praise worship leadership? Cook?

Well, if you know anything about us, you’re probably as shocked as I was. Let’s take each question one at a time:

Can you teach computer skills?
Hmm…Adam has a B.S. in computer science and worked in the industry ever since. Sean has also taken college computer classes and has lots of skills as well. So… yes.

How about ESL?
Let’s see…Cindy’s been teaching in elementary schools for 5 years, all of us are fluent in English, so…yes.

Have accounting skills?
Well, fine – we don’t, but we’re willing to learn!

What about Bible studies for children and for adults?
Cindy’s been teaching Sunday school for kids for 5 years, Adam’s led Bible studies in college, Sean just loves reading the Bible, and all of us have been attending Bible studies for years. I think…yes.

Dance?
Uh…that’s one of Cindy’s biggest passions!

Praise worship leadership?
Yes! Yes! Yes! All 3 of us love it! (Not to mention Adam was our church’s worship pastor for 2 years)

Cook?
As roommates that had to cook enough food for Adam, Cindy, Sean, & Emmet (four people that can eat like crazy), I think we’re all capable of cooking for dozens of kids.

Yep, God knew we’d be working at Im Jai House long before we did. It’s no surprise that He blessed us with the experiences and skills that we have. This is just more confirmation that He loves us and has good plans for us. Praise Him!!!

There have always been certain passages in the Bible that I felt strange about. What I was taught did not seem to fit with what I read in the Bible. For example, I used to read James say “Faith without deeds is dead” with a twinge of guilt, or I’d read Paul talk about tongues, prophecies, and miracles and get the feeling that he was talking to somebody else, or I’d read Paul’s seemingly harsh words to women and wonder why, then, Jesus was so kind and empowering to them. It hasn’t been until the last few years that I’ve been able to read certain passages clearly – as if they were written to me and were meant to be followed instead of assented to intellectually or rationalized.

Humanity has a long history of interpreting our own desires into what we read in the Bible, and it continues today. Of course, it requires some complicated exegesis, and we have to carefully explain it to the common churchgoer who cannot be expected to understand the Bible properly for themselves, but in the end we have a Bible and a God that we can be comfortable with. Mark Roberts has this to say about our “exegetical cleverness” (you can read the whole sermon here):

For many of us, this is how we view God: as an all-powerful, majestic Sovereign, but one from whom we are protected by our fences of theology and limited expectations. Sure, God once did amazing things, unpredictable things, even scary things with his people. But that was long ago in Bible times. Now we have the Bible itself, a document we can control with our exegetical cleverness, so the omnipotent Lord, the God of Pentecost, can remain safely within his pen of our biblical interpretations. We can study this God. We can admire this God. We can even feel a certain kind of awe for this God. But, thank God, we don’t have to deal with the unpredictable might of a God who actually does supernatural things in our lives.

To my relief I’ve discovered that, with wisdom and humility, the Bible can more often than not be read in a straightforward manner, but it is by no means safe to do so. I have to accept that the Bible doesn’t always say what I want it to say. I want the Bible to say that I can live my comfortable life. I want it to say that I can keep all the stuff I collect. I want it to say that I can have my GameCube and play Mario Kart everyday. I want it to say that I don’t have to worry about the poor, or the sick, or really anyone but myself and the people close to me. I want it to say that being liked is important and that I’m a better person because people like me. I want it to say that God will bless my life materially if I follow most of His rules. I want it to say that I don’t have to leave my country, my friends, my family, and everything I’ve known to live in a place where no one is like me and I am the outsider.

I want to find in the Bible some assurance that my life is fine the way it is and that I don’t need to do anything differently. But when I try to read the Bible clearly, with humility, and without trying to interpret my desires into it, I don’t see those things. What I do see is that I’m asked to drop everything, leave everybody I know, ignore what others think of me, give all I have, love everybody without condition or expectation, and go do the things that Jesus did – miracles and all.

I said I’d talk about this, though looking back at what little notes I have, I’ve realized that my thoughts were less organized on this topic than I thought. I’ll try to hit a couple main points, and I’ll probably talk about this again later. I suppose, if nothing else, this might help me to organize my thoughts a little more for the future.

I talked a little about fear a couple of months ago, and I still think that the Litany Against Fear is helpful to remember – even if it is a fictional litany created for a sci-fi series. I’ll repeat it here because… well, because it should be repeated:

I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.

I have learned that fear determines the results of too many of our decisions, when in fact it should not be taken into account at all. If I don’t make sense for the rest of this post, then remember this: when making a decision, do not take fear into account. For example, if you are making a list of the pros and cons of some decision, after you are done cross out every pro or con that starts with (or might as well start with) “I am afraid…”. (more…)

Our camera has finally died (lesson learned: if you’re going to pick a fight with a mountain, with only a snowboard for defense, don’t bring your camera in your front pocket), and we need a new one. In fact, you need us to have a camera so we can keep showing you pictures from Thailand, right?

So for all you digital camera aficionados out there, we’d like some advice. Our priorities are physical size (as small as possible) and price (as cheap as possible), with secondary priorities being battery life (as long as possible, or rechargeable) and a decent zoom (3x should be fine). It also needs to support SmartMedia cards (since we already have a rather large one).

Stuff like Megapixels and movie mode are not that important – not worth paying extra money for anyway (our current camera has had 2.1 Megapixels, and it was more than we needed). Any advice you have, or websites you can point us to, will be very helpful.

I’ll get back to the requests in a bit, but I was reading The Cost of Discipleship, a book of which I’ve talked about before, and I came across this bit of text that struck me. I want to share it with you.

We shall be judged according to our works – this is why we are exhorted to do good works. The Bible assuredly knows nothing of those qualms about good works, by which we only try to excuse ourselves and justify our evil works. The Bible never draws the antithesis between faith and good works so sharply as to maintain that good works undermine faith. No, it is evil works rather than good works which hinder and destroy faith. Grace and active obedience are complementary. There is no faith without good works, and no good works apart from faith.*

* The difference between St Paul and St James is as follows. St James is endeavouring to prevent faith from boasting of its own humility and St Paul to prevent works from boasting of their own humility. St James is not concerned to deny justification by faith alone; rather he is urging the believer not to rest content on the laurels of faith, but to get on with the work of obedience. This is his way of leading him to genuine humility. Both apostles want Christians to have a genuine and complete dependence on grace, rather than on their own achievements.

So it’s not that James and Paul are contradicting each other – one saying that works are necessary and the other saying they aren’t. They are actually addressing different sides of the same issue; that issue being the constant human endeavor to be able to say, “I did what you said, God. Now will you let me in?”

Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

…

Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

The king’s voice was muffled by the giant doors in front of me, but I could still hear it booming. “Send in the next one,” I heard him say. The guards pushed the doors open smoothly, and I had to shield my eyes from the brightness of the room beyond. An attendant gestured impatiently that I should enter.

The king’s court stretched away on all sides. There must have been thousands of people present, all crowded around leaving only a narrow path empty between the throne and me. The crowds of nobles seemed like a vast sea of heads, bobbing up and aside, trying to see the newcomer – the one most recently summoned to receive the king’s judgment. I felt like Moses walking through the Red Sea, wondering if at any moment the spell would break and the waters come crashing down on me.

I had heard stories of others who came before me, though they often seemed to conflict with each other. For example, I had heard of those who claimed to have done good deeds in the king’s name, but he had said, “I don’t know you. Away with him!” Yet I had also heard of those who had claimed friendship with the king, but were told, “I was naked, starving, and dying, yet you did nothing for me. Away with him as well!” It can’t all be true, I thought, There must be a right answer. (more…)

Though this post is not exactly about whether or not church membership is necessary for salvation, I’ll address it briefly so you know where I stand. I believe that a follower of Jesus should serve and love some community simply because we were designed to be in community with each other, and the Bible frequently speaks to the Church as a community rather than as individuals. So fellowship with believers is required for salvation only in the same sense that “faith without works is dead” – which is to say that one who has been saved will naturally do it out of love for Jesus, but doing it does not ensure salvation. However, I do not believe that formal, card-carrying church membership is required for salvation, though apparently some people do. By itself, formal church membership doesn’t bother me, but tying it to salvation does. Anyway this post is more about how I think this issue is indicative of a larger “over-formalizing” of our religion that we tend to do. (more…)