That Hurts!

As I was out doing some chores the other day, one of our roosters came charging around the corner of the house with another rooster in hot pursuit. It was King Henry being chased by Big Red, and as they ran past the other chickens and ducks scattered to give them room. Henry outlasted Big Red’s enthusiasm for the chase, and both roosters soon went their separate ways. But Henry made a point to fade into the background as Big Red staked his claim to the yard in front of the chicken barn.

A couple months back it would have been a different story altogether. King Henry was king of the barn yard, and he took on all comers to prove the point. Many a time he had shown Big Red and the other chickens who was boss. He would even take on the ducks and guineas at times… and was not shy to try to defend the barn yard from even those of us humans who ventured there to check for eggs!

Then came the day that two strange dogs sauntered into our yard, looking for a snack. The guineas screeched their warning calls! The ducks and chickens headed for cover! King Henry fought a fierce yet unwinnable battle to delay and head off the strays. He was almost finished by the time we realized what was happening, and we were just able to scare off the dogs while Henry collapsed under a bush in our front yard.

Henry survived, but it took a couple of weeks for his wounds to heal. He did recover physically, but not socially… he lost his leadership status and Big Red took over as alpha rooster. We kept Henry in isolation for an extended time because whenever we let him run free, the guineas, and even worse the other chickens, would attack him. They showed no appreciation for the sacrifice he had made as their leader defending them from the strays.

We can excuse poultry for being insensitive to wounded leaders… they are only bird brained, after all! But, it has been said that Christians are a group who shoot their own wounded. Sadly it also happens that pastors, missionaries, and ministry leaders who give their all for their team are sometimes treated much the same insensitive way.

I remember when I was first moving into a leadership role in missions, I read the statement that one should not become a leader or play American football if one doesn’t expect to get hurt. Leaders can expect to be hurt… it is all part of the package deal after all. But there should be some limits in place, and some safety net to support those who are willing to take on the risk involved. (By the way, I see that some football players are now suing the NFL because the league supposedly concealed how bad the danger was of getting hurt while playing football! Hmmm….)

Wouldn’t it be great if we could all be there to encourage, strengthen and support our Christian leaders when they need it most… after they take one for the team? They may not do things the way we would… they may not even do things as well as we would… but our Father has chosen them to play a very critical role in building His church. We can be there for them, rather than against them.

But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can stretch out his hand against the LORD’S anointed and be without guilt?” (1 Samuel 26:9)

Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king. (1 Peter 2:17)

The Coromandel Express!

Riding the rails in India...

(Written July 1, 2011) 

"Chennai wants the moon, Chennai wants the moon, high ho the cheerio, Chennai wants the moon.

The moon wants the sky, the moon wants the sky, high ho the cheerio, the moon wants the sky.

The sky wants the stars, the sky wants the stars...."

 The voices of two little girls singing softly in the berth opposite us went on and on. ...the rhythm of the wheels on the track giving a strange yet steady beat as a counterpoint to their young voices. Our train sped through the moonlit night across the eastern plains of India. Outside the countryside slept. Inside... "good night," "night-night," "sleep well," "as-salaam alaikum!" ...the girls finally settled down to sleep, allowing the rest of us in the compartment to do likewise. It had been a long day, and even though the upper berth required me to carefully organize myself so as to fit, it was still a peaceful night's sleep on the whole. 

We shared our compartment with a young Indian family who were traveling back home to Kolkata after visiting family in Chennai.  The girls sat in their upper berth the next morning, playing some electronic games. The father spent a good bit of his time surfing the internet on his notebook computer, connecting via a mobile modem. Mother sat staring out the window, lost in her thoughts as she listened to music on her I-pod. Occasionally one of their phones would ring and the resulting conversation would ensue in a mixture of languages - English being the most predominate.

As the landscape outside the windows changed from rural to urban we passed an outdoor "laundromat," where clothes were being washed by hand and hung out to dry on long swooping lines. The mother took her earphones off and pointed out this "dhobi ghat" to her young daughters, explaining: "this is like the place that our girls take our clothes to have them washed."

Computers; I-pods; cell phones; ...and house-help that has the laundry done by hand! As we slowly came to a stop alongside one of the fifteen long, slender, platforms stretching out from the century old Howrah station in Kolkata, we were once again struck by the amazing juxtapositioning of old and new, modern and ancient, rich and poor that is India today. We said our goodbyes to the train and our fellow passengers, made our way through the quiet Sunday morning streets of Kolkata to our hotel, and early the next morning left India behind after a fantastic ten days of total immersion into this great country.

The Road More Traveled...

Why did the cat cross it?

(Written 15 June 2011)

It was another one of those death defying, unbelievably chaotic, pell-mell, twisting, turning, horn blaring, constant gear shifting, kind of evening drives. In the face of near impossible odds we were still alive and getting ever closer to the train station in Visak, where we had to catch the 10:10 pm train to Calcutta. We had left the Asha Kiran Hospital at a little after 5 pm... just one hour after our workshop there had come to a fabulous close. Supposedly it was a 4½ hour drive down the mountain to the coast and the train station, so if all went well we would get there just in time. So far, due to some apparent magic performed by our driver, everything was still going well. As we sat in the front seat of the jeep, we watched in wonder as he somehow drove through one object after another! There just was not enough room for us to slip between that cow and that trishaw. No way could we get past that truck before the oncoming one swallowed us up. Even for veteran travelers like us, it just seemed that the odds were too much for us to keep forging ahead.

Then it happened. With a low mutter, the driver pulled halfway off the narrow road - turning off the engine and lights. Was the jeep overheating? Had we hit someone or something? We hadn't felt anything.... He sat there silently until one of our team asked him what had happened. Apparently a white cat had crossed the road, and that was a very bad thing. The driver would not continue our journey until he had waited several minutes and several other vehicles had passed by in front of us. Then it was back to the twisting, turning, horn honking, gear shifting, chaotic dash to the finish line.

We arrived at the station a few minutes before ten, and by the time we were fully settled in our allocated seats, the train was pulling out of the station. Once again we marveled at the expertise of the driver and praised our Father who is in control of every aspect of our lives - cats or no cats!

"Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that."(James 4:13-15)

The Guinea That Needed Coaching

Musings on a rainy day!

(Written May 20, 2011)

Several weeks ago one of our guinea hens established a nest among the dried-out cattails along the edge of our pond. It seemed like a really good place for a nest - well hidden and in a fairly secure location. There was however a danger that she overlooked when she chose this isolated and secret spot, and if we could have had a coaching discussion with her, she might have understood this danger, and we could have maybe worked out a solution together. Sadly, one cannot coach a guinea hen.

We've had three inches of rain in the past 24 hours and our pond has risen by at least a foot. The eggs that were nestled deep in the clump of cattails are well and truly under water, and the guinea hen that sat on them so faithfully for the past several weeks is now standing near by, bedraggled, soaked and looking somewhat forlorn. Sadly, one cannot coach a guinea hen.

We can coach people though, and we love coaching; we always wish we could do more of it. Coaching allows us to invest time one-on-one with people who themselves want to invest time in moving forward with their lives, ministry, marriage, career, or whatever.  When we first started studying the art and science of life-coaching six or seven years ago, it was already a well established concept among business and corporate leaders, although not so well known among Christian circles. Now, one sees Christian life-coaching offered & happening in many arenas, especially in the areas of missions and ministry & church leadership - often among the emerging leadership of the younger generations. It is really exciting to be involved in this type of interaction that is so solidly founded on the Word of God and is so Biblically based. For us it is immensely rewarding to see how practical God's wisdom is  in our daily lives, and in the lives of those we coach.  We hope and pray that we can continue to develop our coaching skills and as a result our coaching practice so that it will enhance and enable our continuing ministry.

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Body Building

Do More!

(Written May 1, 2011)

Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Ephesians 1:1-3)

Recently I have been pondering the reality and the ideal of what "church" is... and what it is supposed to be for those of us who follow Christ. We have been very privileged these past years to be part of several really extraordinary communities of believers, and as a result we have a much better - and much more upbeat - concept of what church can be, and should be.

William Arthur Ward is attributed with having made the following statement, and while I do not know much about him - or the context in which this statement was originally made - when I came across it again while going through my study material, it struck me as being ever so appropriate for us as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, and our involvement as part of His church here on earth.

"Do more than belong: participate. Do more than care: help. Do more than believe: practice. Do more than be fair: be kind. Do more than forgive: forget. Do more than dream: work."  (William Arthur Ward)

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No Friend Left Behind

(written April 1, 2011)

  "Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left." Matt 24:40,41

The last night I was in Thailand was a short one. I had an eight hour layover in Bangkok, and my host had organized a room for me at a hotel close to the airport. I got in quite late, and then needed to check out in time to catch the 5 am shuttle back to the airport. As I was checking out, another American guy came to the front desk and asked if anyone had seen his friend that he was traveling with. Apparently there was a small group of them traveling together, and one of them was nowhere to be found. His room was empty; his bag unpacked on the bed. The last they had seen of him was when they came in late the night before. The folks at the front desk had not noticed him coming or going... time was slipping by... the group needed to be on the 5 am shuttle in order to catch their flight... there were others of us who had to get back to the airport to catch our flights, and the shuttle could not be delayed. The man at the front desk asked the travelers what they were going to do. One man said: "Well, I will have to stay and miss my flight... I can't just leave my friend here. Who knows what has happened to him."

Just as we were loading up on the shuttle bus the lost friend showed up, and the group of travelers quickly joined us on our way to the airport. It was interesting to note that they were on my flight to Tokyo, and I saw them waiting to board the on-going flight from Tokyo to Seattle. To have to reorganize a long and complicated flight like that would have been no small matter... and probably would not have been cheap. But the guy never hesitated when faced with the need to stay back and find his friend. For him it was a no-brainer.

Makes me think about my own willingness to do whatever I need to do for my friends - whatever the cost. I guess... I hope... that I would cancel a flight home from Thailand if need be to help a lost friend. But, how much sacrifice would I be willing to make in another situation? Perhaps one less clear cut or dramatic? What if a friend needs a listening ear when I have other plans for the evening? What if a friend needs a little help around the place to do some spring cleaning when I have more than enough to keep myself busy for all my remaining springs on earth? What if a friend doesn't understand that God loves them so much that He gave His only begotten Son, and that whoever believes in Him will have everlasting life?

For now, it may be easy to justify or rationalize not making too many sacrifices for others. How will we view our choices when we look back from a wiser place?

Letting Go

(Written March 1, 2011)

"I am the good shepherd..." John 10:11a 

Plans were in place - Airline tickets purchased. Hotel reservations confirmed. Host notified of flight details. Needs Assessment complete. Agenda almost finalized. Two weeks before departure. Then the fall. Not a big fall - just a step or two. But enough to fracture my right distal femur into several pieces.

I recall so clearly as I was being prepped for surgery asking God how this fit into the plans for my upcoming trip to Indonesia. Preparations for this trip had begun over a year ago - and the purpose of this trip was certainly in line with my God-given passion for equipping and training the next generation of ministry leaders to do what God has prepared for them to do.

I wrestled with the decision to cancel my trip, wondering if it might be possible to make the journey with quite limited mobility. I wrestled with God, not so much as to "why" this happened, but what He had in store for me during what was to become an extended period of recovery.

"Be still and know that I am God." (Ps 46:10); "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD..." (Jer 29:11) Ah, okay. I think I'm getting it. "The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul..." (Psalm 23 ASV)

Peace and rest. Refreshment and restoration. Forced? Perhaps. But could it be that this experience has been our Good Shepherd at work? It is not always easy to get sheep to lie down. Is it possible that this period of rest could have been a gracious gift from our Good Shepherd?

Letting go of my planned trip was hard. But perhaps I'm learning more about being content when our Good Shepherd says, "It's time to rest and enjoy some green pasture and still waters."

When was the last time you gave God the opportunity to refresh your soul?

Life Changing Choices

Why did the rabbit cross the road?

 (Written February 1, 2011)

 "For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you." (1 Thess 4:7&8)

As I drove along a quiet country road not far from here, with some horses grazing on one side, and a herd of cows ruminating on the other, a rabbit ran across the road in front of me. The next day he again hopped across the road just in front of my vehicle. In fact over the next few days I began to expect the sudden movement as the rabbit dashed across the road as I approached. Then one day, there was no rabbit. Oh... whoops... there was a rabbit. Lying lifeless on the shoulder... road kill!

Why did the rabbit cross the road? Just another of those unanswered questions of life that surround us every day. As I continued past the horses, bunched together in the corner of their pasture, I made up a scenario to fit the puzzle. Young Mr. Rabbit had been bored. Oh, at first it had been fun hopping around the pasture where he had been born, exploring and learning new things. But that got old after a while. He tried to make life more interesting by laying still and jumping up when a horse walked close by, but even the thrill of jumping out of the way of the horse's dancing hooves got tiresome. There had to be more to life... and so he started racing across the road in front of approaching vehicles. Talk about an adrenaline rush! But to keep up the excitement, he chose to see how close he could let each car and truck come before he raced across in front of it. Each time was more exciting than the previous one, but at the same time he felt the need for more and more of the rush he got from the daring escapade. He decided he would actually wait and try to run under the truck as it went by... and that choice was very exciting, and very final... road kill!

As followers of Christ we have been given an awesome gift. We are saved by grace! Nothing we have done matters. Our best actions or our worst ones are immaterial. The Bible clearly tells us that our salvation is a free gift of grace. That our Lord Jesus Christ has done everything that is needed for us to be saved. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved."  How awesome is that!

Yet we live in a world filled with sinful enticements. It seems like it should be impossible, but unfortunately there can be times when we as believers get "bored" with our walk with the Lord. This happens because of choices we make which take us away from close fellowship with our Savior, and then more choices which are made to "just try something for the fun of it." Even though we have been given the ultimate gift of eternal life, we can chose to seek the "excitement" of this world. For a while these choices may seem harmless... no one knows... no one else is affected... no one is hurt.... But sadly once a wrong choice is made, the sinful spiral can be very hard to stop. The result can be life changing... loss of testimony... loss of ministry... loss of family and friends... loss of life as it has been... road kill!

Something worth thinking about before every choice that we make just for the fun of it! 

Life Changing Choices - Part 2

Why did another rabbit cross the road?

(written February 18, 2011)

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9

I hadn't planned on doing a follow-on to last letter's article, but I find that I have no choice. One day last week, as I approached the point in the road where I used to notice my friend the rabbit dash across the road (and at almost the exact spot where I had seen a dead rabbit on the side of the road) my eye was caught by a flash of gray and white, as once again a rabbit shot across the road in front of me. Almost immediately a very distinct thought formed in my mind which leads to us thinking a bit more about our bunny today.

Even before this rabbit disappeared into the weeds along the side of the road, the word "restoration" formed in my head. No matter how badly we blow it, as Christ's followers we know that He is willing and able to graciously restore us in our relationship with Him. We may have made terrible, awful, absolutely no good choices that destroyed our testimony, sacrificed our relationships, and left our ministry lying as road-kill on the side of life's pathway.... but our Lord is ready, willing and able to restore us to Himself when we confess our sinful ways. There are of course consequences here in this world for making these bad choices, but God's grace guarantees that we can be cleansed of our unrighteousness and restored to Him, fully forgiven... no matter how long we stray or how far we fall.

So unlike our first bunny rabbit, we don't have to remain as road-kill when the consequences of our sinful life catch up to us. The Lord's faithful forgiveness is there to restore us to Himself. No matter how awesome this thought is, we can be even more inspired to realize that His Holy Spirit and His Word are available to us to help us stay in fellowship with Him, and to avoid making the sinful, selfish choices in the first place!

Inconvenient Steps

Accepting Everything in Life as a Gift from God

(Written January 14, 2011)

"The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, And He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; For the LORD upholds him with His hand." (Psalm 37:23 & 24)

How many times have we focused on this wonderful passage as we make decisions and seek to follow God's will for us on a consistent basis? Usually we are not thinking about literal steps, but this past week we have been faced with the fact that the mishap that Gwen had on our stairs when she broke her leg has to be looked at within this context as well. Can we accept that her step...slip...twist...break was ordered by the Lord? What does that mean, anyway? I like the way that Young's Literal Translation puts it: "From Jehovah the steps of a man, They have been prepared..." Or how about the commentary that Charles Spurgeon has on the verse: "No reckless fate, no fickle chance rules us; our every step is the subject of divine decree."

We had a very close friend in Sri Lanka who used to have all kind of great ideas for holidays, social events, or just good ol' fun times. At some point in the conversation he would invariably use the phrase "I'll organize for this to happen." And he never let us down! When our friend organized our fun times... they were always of the highest quality! Many of our great memories from those years came about because of his "organizing."

We often struggle with dilemmas, trying to decide if God caused something or allowed it. Are we trying to understand the supernatural using only our natural wisdom when we ask those questions? What if we simply admit that God organizes everything: "Good" things as well as "Bad" things. For me, knowing that the All-Knowing, All-Powerful, Perfectly Loving, Heavenly Father has organized my steps (literal as well as figurative) is really all that should matter. He is absolutely faithful, and trustworthy. Since He is in complete control of time and space, when He organizes something it will always be the best thing for us.  And no matter how good our friend in Sri Lanka was at organizing things, our Heavenly Father is far, far, far better!