Rejoice and Leap for Joy

I have just started reading What Jesus Demands From the World by John Piper. I have been greatly encouraged and supremely convicted by this book. Those two feelings are so often joined together when reading the Bible or really great books about the Bible and its Author. The book is divided into 50 short chapters, each corresponding with a demand, and you are encouraged to read the chapters as you like. I have just finished demand #10: “Rejoice and Leap for Joy”. I am so convicted that my life lacks the serious pursuit of my joy in God and that I try so hard to find it in other things. I am so tempted to constantly fill my mind with things and activities that I don’t take time to pursue true happiness in God. But at the same time, I am so thankful that there is so much Godly joy awaiting me. My prayer is that I will become a much Godlier, joy-pursuing person so that I will be a more loving husband and missionary. I need to be filled with so much joy in God that I no longer need to worry about meeting my emotional needs in earthly things and I can turn in love to meeting the needs of others. That is my call as a husband and missionary. Please pray with me and Julie that we both learn to rejoice and leap for joy as Jesus demands from us. Don’t we have a wonderful Lord whose demands of us are to be happy in Him?

Recent Travels

Over the Christmas holidays, Julie and I had the wonderful opportunity of being with family. This is often not the case with missionaries, but we were very blessed to see God working out detail after detail to allow us to go. For financial reasons, we decided to fly into Atlanta, Georgia and then rent a car at the airport and drive to Mississippi the first day of travel. The afternoon flights were delayed from the beginning due to weather which made a long day even longer. The drive from Atlanta to Clinton, MS is between six and seven hours and we were just getting started at around 7:30pm local time. It certainly didn’t help that I managed to miss the I-20 exit from the airport which added almost another hour to our drive. The first day was long with all of the traveling, but it was certainly enjoyable and we love watching God meet our needs as we go. We arrived in Clinton at around 5am local time (6am Atlanta time) and were greeted by Julie’s parents who so graciously got up when we arrived. It was so great to see them, even at that hour, which made the long day very worth it.

We spent a week with Julie’s family which included several birthday parties and a few (somewhat overwhelming, at times) Christmas celebrations. It was an extremely busy week with supporters to visit at Julie’s church in Hattiesburg, appointments to keep, friends and family to see, and last minute Christmas shopping to do. As busy as we were, we were so happy to be there with people that we love but don’t see often.

Two days before New Years, we left Clinton to make the drive back to Atlanta where we were met by Peter and Kristen Carroll, with whom we ate dinner at The Cheesecake Factory (amazing food!), and then rode with them to Augusta, GA. We stayed with my family for about a week and celebrated New Years with them. It was a wonderful, somewhat more relaxing time with family and friends. We were so blessed to be able to spend so much time with loved ones.

The day that we were to return, we woke up early to leave my parent’s house by 6am to make our morning flight out of Atlanta. As we were loading the car with our baggage, I decided to check my things to make sure I had everything I needed. I checked the pocket in my backpack for my passport and my heart sank when it wasn’t in there. We pulled the bags back out and began a frantic search. This was not the time to be looking for a passport! I was sweating from the stress and running around even though it was quite cold, and praying that we find it. We searched everywhere we could think of in the house but to no avail. Julie and my sister both searched my backpack pockets to double and triple check. We needed to go ahead and leave so I grabbed my birth certificate (this no longer works for travel, by the way) from my Dad’s office and we headed out to Atlanta. We ran into few problems at the airport and were very happy to be back in Merida when we arrived. I was still frustrated with myself for losing my passport again (this is the third or fourth time for me) and couldn’t figure out for the life of me where it could have been. I searched all of our baggage several times, including the backpack again. We asked our families to search the houses but they reported back that they had found nothing. Julie and I were a bit worried about the expense of buying yet another passport (about $100 US) but knew that it needed to be done since we had a trip planned to Belize in about a month (more on that in the next blog). I prayed about it a lot and asked God to either let me find the passport (which seemed quite hopeless at the time) or to allow us to have the money to buy another one, and to teach me how to keep track of things! Two days before I needed to go to the American consulate to order a new passport was a Sunday morning. I had time that morning to sit and read and pray for a while. I went to my trusty backpack to find a pen and thought I should take a moment to look one last time and then I would finally admit defeat in my search. I checked the same pockets that had been checked many times by several people and decided to pull out the user’s manual for my laptop to reach under it. There was nothing there. In the same moment, something wasn’t quite right about the manual so I opened it to find it…my passport!!! I was so thankful to God for showing me His greatness, even in little things. He is so good to us.

“This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life.”
~Psalm 119:50

A Wonderful Change of Plans

This past Sunday (3 days ago) I sat down here at my computer to post a new blog. It was going to be titled “…If only in our dreams” and it was about how Julie and I were really wanting to be able to return to the States for the holidays to be with our families and friends. We had been planning the trip for several weeks and we had been so excited about seeing so many loved ones and all of the things we were going to be able to do in the States. Our plan was to fly into Jackson, Mississippi on 22 December and then rent a car to visit Julie’s family in Clinton. We would stay there through Christmas and then a few days later drive to Augusta, GA to visit my family for New Years. We would then drive back to Clinton to spend the last few days again with Julie’s family before flying back to Merida on 7 January. We would be back just in time for classes to begin again.
It was a wonderful plan. We were so excited about it, we just needed to wait until plane ticket prices went down a little bit. We kept checking the websites and they consistently stayed about the same and then skyrocketed to over $700 a piece as December approached. We had received some extra support for the month of November which made me think that maybe we were supposed to use it to go home for the holidays. Julie countered with the argument that we need to be responsible and just because we have a little money doesn’t mean that we need to spend it every month. I knew that she was right, but we both really wanted to see our families and friends. I prayed about it and then told Julie this past Sunday that my suggestion was that if we could manage to both go to the States and spend less than $500, we would go. If not, we would stay. My family offered to help us with some money as our Christmas present, which was very sweet of them, but it didn’t get us anywhere close to the $500 limit. We were quickly resigned to the idea that we were going to spend our first Christmas together in Mexico away from our families, but we knew that God would meet us in our loneliness for them and we would be happy here. God keeps His glorious promises and we are to bank on them!

So as I sat down to type up the blog about our situation. I thought the title was going to be somewhat clever and the rest of it a little sad, but hopeful. I got about 4 lines into it when a thought occurred to me…What if we flew into Atlanta, rather than Jackson, and then rented a car to get to Clinton? We could then return the car on our drive to Augusta and just fly out of Atlanta on 7 January! I quickly checked ticket prices to Atlanta and they were an inexpensive (relatively speaking, of course) $450. I got super excited and ran and told Julie about the prospect. She told me to go for it so I called my family and the Christmas money they were offering allowed us to be right at $500 for our traveling expenses! It was amazing. The emotional turnaround was wonderful.

I kept waiting for another problem to come up but things went smoothly. When I tried to buy the plane tickets online, there were only two left at that price and I got them. Thankfully, they are together. Our flight is direct to Atlanta from Merida which saves a lot of time and stress of changing planes. We are thrilled to be able to go home for the holidays!

We are so thankful to our Father for this wonderful gift. I love the way that He puts us in a position to simply trust Him when there is nothing that we can do to change things. I also love the way that He sometimes makes it so obvious that He is at work to bring about our joy, even in little things. I know that we would have found our joy in Him no matter where we were and we would have honored Him by doing so. But still He granted us our desire for the Christmas holidays and we can rejoice in Him even more.

Thank you, Lord, for your precious promises. We love you.

Greatly Encouraged by a Wonderful God

Last year I regularly met with two of my students, Juan and Carlos. We began meeting together as a punishment for Carlos, but it quickly turned into a time of great discussions and friendship. This year they are seniors and I consider both of them natural leaders with a great deal of potential to do great things for Christ. They are the cool guys. I have prayed for them regularly for almost a year. This school year, although Carlos is finishing his high school education at another school, they have asked me if we can continue to meet together. I am very thankful and honored by their request and I have been praying that God will use it greatly in their lives. Juan has continued at Blas Pascal this year and several weeks ago he and told the principal of the school that he has committed his life to Christ. Shortly after, he came and told me and my heart rejoiced. I am so encouraged by God’s power to change people’s hearts. It is wonderful to see Him at work. It is also wonderful to see the school and other ministries being used by God and to see the fruits. So often God uses us in so many more ways than we will ever know this side of Heaven, but He gives us just enough of a view of His glory and work to keep us encouraged. He is amazing and I have grown to love Him even more.

Please continue to pray with us for the various ministries here. Julie and I want to be used by God in ways completely disproportionate to our talents or abilities. Only God can do that and we are joyfully encouraged by His work here in Merida. Also, please pray specifically for Carlos. He is the one in the picture with me. I am hoping that God will use Juan, or any of the thousands of ways that He has, to bring him to saving faith in Christ. All for His glory and our joy!

Insights as a Married Man

I was recently looking through some old notes that I wrote years ago. I am sure that I was writing after hearing some sermons or reading from books, so the thoughts that I had I am sure are not original or even expressed in any original way. Nonetheless, they are thoughts that I think are profound and I have wanted to write them out for quite a while, even if they are nothing new. My next few posts will probably come from them.

Also, as a newly married man, I have discovered more and more sin in my life. I am far more selfish and lazy than I had ever imagined. I have a beautiful, loving and forgiving wife, but I am still astonished at my level of sin. My only hope is in understanding the nature of sin and the nature of God.

Sin is essentially running to the arms and beds of other lovers. They call out to us and beg us to come to them, promising greater happiness. But they do not truly satisfy. “You fill me with joy in your presence; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Joy? Pleasures? Yes! “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

That is how to fight sin! Sin makes promises but God makes better ones. God knows that we all desire happiness and deep joy more than anything else. He made us that way. He intends for us to find that happiness and joy in Him, not the things that the world offers which are poor substitutes. Only God will ever truly satisfy us and He does so when we trust Him to keep His glorious promises to be our Bread of Life and Fountain of Living Water. That trust is the essence of faith.

I need to remind myself of these glorious truths every day, every hour. I am so prone to settle for far less than what my heart truly wants. I am tired of settling for tin foil when gold is offered to me in God.

“May the God of peace fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

~The Apostle Paul, Romans 15:13

Married!!!

Well, I am married! I got married just over 2 weeks ago and I am so excited. As you can see, I have a couple pictures here taken by my sister-in-law, Melissa. Thanks, Melissa! We are still waiting for the official shots from the photographer. There are several more that Melissa took that I would like to add now, but I am having trouble getting them to work. When I figure this out, I will post some more.

The several weeks leading up to the marriage ceremony were very hectic and stressful, but there was joy in all of it knowing that I was going to end up with the love of my life, Julie Moore. I have learned so many things over the last 2 months and I am so thankful to God for giving me such a wonderful gift as my wife. Here are some things I have learned…

There are certain issues that arise when you have an engagement of less than six weeks, but I still highly recommend it. If you are into big weddings (we’re not), you probably shouldn’t try the short engagement. There are so many details that have to be addressed that the shorter the engagement, the smaller the wedding probably will be. We said from the beginning that we were going to keep everything very simple, but as more people get involved, the harder it is to do that. Still the wedding was relatively simple and, by all accounts, truly beautiful.

Many people are involved in the wedding. I had no idea. There were showers, some of which I had never heard, that probably involved more than a hundred people, all told. There was the florist and her staff, the photographer, the videographer, the pastor, the session of the church (approving decisions), the organist (my father in this case), the pianist, the three singers, all the groomsman and bridesmaids (and their families), the wedding coordinator, the parents and family of the groom, the parents and family of the bride, the tux people, the invitation people, the program people, and so on. I am sure that I can’t remember a lot of them. I had thought that Julie and I would plan our wedding one lovely afternoon. I was so mistaken.


I also didn’t realize that many wedding decisions are made by the parents of the bride. In a very real sense, the wedding is a reflection on them, so they get to call many of the shots. They have every right to make sure that the wedding doesn’t reflect poorly on them and this is fair since they are paying for it. I just had never realized it before.

People give LOTS of really nice (and often expensive) gifts to the bride and groom. I am overwhelmed and I am told that if our engagement had been longer, we would have gotten lots more. Unbelievable.

Registering is a blast. Going around shooting anything you want with the laser gun thing is really cool. The best part is knowing that you actually might get some of it as gifts!

I had never known very much about fine china, everyday wear, holiday wear, or sterling silver before. I didn’t even know a lot of it existed, but there I was helping to pick out designs for some of it and even chose our everyday silverware. The knife that doesn’t lay flat but stands on its edge is so cool.

I am also learning that marriage is so much fun. I am having a great time being in my house with my wife. Simply being together is such a joy. It is hard work for somebody like me who has been a bachelor for so long and who is used to leaving things all over the house, but we are learning every day how to relate to each other and love unconditionally. We know this is a learning process that we will be involved in for the rest of our lives.

I think that the most important thing I am learning from all of this is to trust God more deeply. I know that marriage is a huge adventure with great times and hard times in store. I remember hearing John Piper talking about marriage. He said, “How do you enter into a marriage relationship without being paralyzed with fear? You don’t know what is in store for you. You don’t really know who you are marrying! You don’t know what that person will be like 10 years from now.” That does not sound very encouraging. But the key to marriage is the same as the key to all of life: trusting God to take care of you day after day. His grace is sufficient and His mercies are new every morning. This is the essence of our faith and the thing that will sustain our love no matter comes our way.

Please pray that we will be able to apply our faith in the wonderful promises of God on a daily basis.

Thoughts on the World Cup

I loved watching the World Cup. I watched as many games as I could and I even kept up a little scorecard all the way through the tournament. I grew up playing soccer and after living in Mexico during two World Cups, I have felt more of the excitement and importance that the rest of the world places on this month-long tournament. We, in the United States, have four or five other sports that we think of as more important, but soccer is the world’s sport and virtually every other country in the world esteems their great national soccer players as something just shy of gods.

I noticed something this World Cup that made me think of my spiritual life. In one of the games (I don’t remember which one), the ball went out of bounds and when the player threw it in to a teammate, the referee called him for an illegal throw-in. I immediately thought that was funny since throwing the ball in is such a basic, fundamental thing that little kids learn to do it in their first few soccer lessons. The ball was given to the other team and when their player went to throw it in, he also got called for an illegal throw-in. I laughed about it as the ball was given again to the first player who had committed the violation. He threw the ball in again, and was called again for an illegal throw-in. I couldn’t believe it. The ball went back to the other team and finally somebody got it right.

Here we have the world’s greatest players of the world’s greatest sport, and they can’t even manage to do something so basic three times in a row. I realize that they don’t really practice throwing the ball in anymore since it is something that they learned as kids and have been doing for so long, even if not exactly according to the rules anymore. But fundamentals are the key to success in any endeavor. I imagine that for kids it would be much more fun to try to learn the newest ball-handling tricks that they see their soccer heroes doing instead of spending hours alone juggling the ball.

I think that I am so often the same way in my Christianity. My tendency is to want new ideas and strategies from the latest books to motivate me to pursue my joy in Christ more and more. There is nothing wrong with many of the great books that motivate us and guide us in our walks. But I forget how to do the basics like prayer, meditation and personal study of Scripture. I lose sight of what it is that will really satisfy me most deeply-God Himself. This tendency is very frustrating to me. I want to find my soul deeply satisfied in my personal times of prayer, meditation and Bible study. I want to truly believe God’s promises to be my true, sovereign Joy, as Augustine said.

Please pray for Julie and me as we are entering into marriage. We want to find our deepest satisfaction in God alone so that we will be filled with the fruits of righteousness in our relationship. We want to be able to love each other from an overflow of joy in God rather than trying to meet our needs in each other. It will be easy to forget the basics of deep spiritual growth in the daily routines of living our lives out together, but we are committing to personal time apart to be alone with God daily. Please pray for us! I don’t want to forget how to throw the ball in.

Summer Plans

I had plans for this summer. They changed a bit in the two weeks leading up to my return to the States. I originally had planned to spend the two months I had free raising support and visiting my friends, the McKinneys, out in Utah for a little R and R. After quite a few long-distance conversations (by the way, Yahoo has a really great internet phone system that lets you call from your computer to any phone in the U.S or Mexico-U.S. for a penny a minute--not too shabby) with Julie, who had broken up with me just before leaving to return to Mississippi a month and a half ago, we decided that my plans should change. We had thought that the two months apart would be good for us, particularly so I could try to work out some personal issues and then maybe see if we could work out dating again some day. Well, God clearly had other plans for us. Before long, we both felt that God was calling us to marriage and that we should try to make it happen sooner, rather than later. We discussed waiting until next summer, but after a great deal of praying and asking for advice, we decided that we should go for it this summer. So I changed my plans and made my first visit to Mississippi where I asked her father's permission (granted) and then asked Julie's permission to marry her (also granted--whoo hoo!). That happened this past Monday. So we are officially engaged now and are scheduled to marry 12 August in Hattiesburg, MS. Yes, this August! We know that this is a very short time, but we both strongly feel that this is what God wants for us, and we want to be right in the center of His will, even if it means changing plans drastically. Please be praying for us as we are frantically trying to make plans to pull this thing together. There is still an awful lot to do, but we know that He is faithful to meet our needs and satisfy us deeply. I also need to try to raise as much support as possible during the few weeks that I have here. Again, I know that He is faithful. Thanks for your prayers as Julie and I join together on this great adventure of missionary life in Mexico. May God be greatly honored by your prayers.

The picture is of us at Peter Carroll's rehearsal dinner back in March.

Success

About a month ago, I went on a retreat to a beautiful beach in the Gulf of Mexico with other young adults. During one of our discussion times, Byron proposed a question about what success looks like. He asked us to name people that were successful and we came up with names such as Michael Jordan, Donald Trump, Bill Gates, and quite a few Mexican names as well (most of whom I had never heard). These people certainly epitomize success in their own way. Or do they? As we discussed what success is from a worldly perspective and then a biblical perspective, we came to the conclusion that these people show no signs of being truly successful whatsoever. Each one may be at the top of his field, but eternally speaking, their accomplishments mean nothing. As Christians, these are not the names that should come to mind when we are trying to look for successful role models. But what does it mean to be successful according to the Bible?

I think that the most successful people are the ones that are in the center of God’s will for their lives. These people are glorifying God in their lives and are finding it to be very satisfying to their souls. They are happy and joyful people because they are worshipping and serving a happy and joyful God. That is why I don’t think all that much of the folks that we named in our discussion. They may have plenty of money and a lot of stuff, but are they truly happy?

Instead of looking at Michael Jordan, Bill Gates and the others, I turn to the Apostle Paul, Jesus and the many others that the Bible encourages us to be like. Paul had been at the top of his field as a high-ranking Jewish leader and a citizen of the Roman Empire. This was an extremely rare and highly valuable combination (he may very well have been the only one). Paul had a lot of influence over a lot of people. It is no wonder that he was so zealous in persecuting the followers of this Jesus guy who was undermining his authority as a Jewish ruler. But Paul encountered the living Christ and his entire life was radically changed. He became one of the most important people in the spreading of the Gospel, particularly to non-Jews, and after many years of suffering in the footsteps of that same Christ he had once hated, he looked at all that wealth, position, popularity and influence that he had once had and called it a pile of crap. Jesus was so much more satisfying to him (even while stuck writing letters in a Roman prison cell) than anything he could have accumulated in this world. Paul was very un-American (would he even recognize the American church today as Christian?), but he was ultimately one of the most successful people in the history of the world by being willing to give up things that didn’t matter to have what would most deeply satisfy his soul.

Jesus is, of course, the ultimate example. He spent the last three years of his life ministering to people, meeting their needs, healing them from all kinds of diseases, freeing them from the bondage of sin and a repressive religious system, gathering enormous crowds of people who hung on his every word, and yet (unlike most of today’s Christian leaders) he accumulated virtually nothing. He had no home and no possessions to speak of. He trusted his Father to meet every need every step of the way, and he ended up on the cross because of it. Yet, he knew there was joy set before him (Hebrews 12) because he was exactly in the center of God’s will.

It is amazing to have a faith that points to a bloody mass of human flesh hanging on a cross and says, “Look at this man. Isn’t he beautiful? Be like him because that is what true success looks like.”

Would you trade your life right now to live like Michael Jordan?

God in Holbox

For the week of 17-21 April, I was invited to play music with my church group (Confraternidad) at a youth camp on an island called Holbox. I had never heard of it, but the island is near Cancun and is absolutely beautiful. I didn’t have any idea what I was getting into when I agreed to go, but I figured that a week playing praise and worship music on an island had to be a good thing. It wasn’t until a day or two before leaving that I realized that the plan was for us to leave Merida at midnight to arrive at the port city by 6am. They asked me if I could borrow the big green van from Byron, which only Americans are allowed to drive…meaning me. I understood that it was to take 4 hours to get there, but we needed the extra time to get all of our stuff on the 6am ferry to cross to the island. I knew it would be a very long night, but I also knew I had to trust God on this one since He is sovereign and good, and there was no easy way out. He showed up in so many ways to provide for us and satisfy us.

We ended up leaving at about 1:30am which is culturally acceptable, but still a bit disconcerting when you know you are the only forced to stay up all night. Nevertheless, the eleven of us left in high spirits and it wasn’t long before almost all of them were asleep. I was so thankful for Roberto who, as my navigator, promised to stay up all night with me to help keep me awake.

The trip was going quite swimmingly until about 4:30am when we crossed some border and were forced to stop by some border patrol guys. They wanted to know our reason for driving so late and if this group of Mexicans was my family. I told him what we were doing and he asked to see my license and the permit for the van. I showed him the paperwork that I had on the van and he pointed out that the van’s permit was expired. Whoops. I didn’t know if I should try to argue with him that the law has changed and that the van is legal as long as Byron is, so I let Roberto take over. After about 20 minutes of private discussions, Roberto returned saying that the officer wanted 500 pesos (about $50) to let us go. If not, we would have had to unload everything from the van and it would have had to stay there. We decided to pay and just be done with it.

We got back on the road and the others got back to sleep and we kept plugging along. By about 6am I was so tired and hungry that I couldn’t see straight. I told Roberto that I was seeing more than one road and he advised that I just drive down the middle one. He also kept telling me that he thought we were very close, but that went on for at least an hour. We finally arrived at around 6:30 to the port city and decided to wait until the 8:30 ferry to cross. We waited around and then loaded all of our stuff (11 people’s baggage for a week trip plus all of our music equipment, including my drum set) on the ferry and made the crossing. I was trying to keep my spirits up, but once we got on the island, I felt a deep sense of God’s beauty and was happy to be there. We took golf cart taxis to the church and set up all of our music equipment and then practiced for about an hour. It was very refreshing to be worshipping God in such a beautiful place.

When we finished practicing after noon, I was very tired and hungry, with a serious headache coming on. I decided that I needed to eat to be able to sleep so I headed out by foot in search of food. I had no idea where to go, but there had to be restaurants. The first one I came to was a little tent with about 10 folks sitting around laughing, but I decided to walk on in search of a more established looking place. Just as I was passing by, I heard a lady’s voice call out, “Noah!” I was shocked! I didn’t know anybody here. I looked over and didn’t recognize anybody, but she kept calling me and asking me to come over. After a few awkward minutes of trying to figure out whom this lady was (I am still not totally sure, but apparently I met her at a recent birthday party in Merida), she asked me what I was doing. I told her I was playing for a camp and presently in search of food and she invited me to eat with them since they all run the restaurant. They served me three very large empanadas with chicken and cheese, which were absolutely wonderful, and a huge cup of my favorite drink, horchata, and then wouldn’t accept any money for the trouble. God is so good. When I was feeling pretty low, He provided these sweet people to meet my needs and provide some great conversation as well.

The whole week was full of pleasant surprises including great times of corporate worship, sweet personal time with God, great lessons from speakers, new relationships formed with kids and other leaders, and I even got to see 4 dolphins swimming right next to the ferry on one of my unscheduled crosses. They were so beautiful and graceful.

The whole experience was such a great reminder to me to continue to trust God to provide all of my needs, far more than I even know to ask. This is the faith that pleases God, glorifies His matchless ability to meet all of our needs, satisfies us and keeps us from becoming complaining, doubting, weak people. I needed such a great week of reminders.

Reflections on a Psalm

I was out driving one day recently and the first Psalm came to my mind. I am not sure why, but sometimes God just plants something in your mind and says, “Think about this.” Since I was on the road, I had time to spare and things came to my mind that I had never realized before. These were some of my thoughts that day…

Psalms 1:1+2

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.”

While I don’t exactly remember a specific sermon on this passage, I remember hearing many sermons about verses such as these. Often, the basic message of the sermon went as follows:

--“The first thing we need to notice is that the person God blesses does not associate himself with the wicked. He does not allow others to think that he is one of them.”

So the basic point is to keep your self from spending too much time with sinners.

Yeah, okay.

--“The second thing we need to notice is the law. What is the law? What was the law and what does it mean to us today?”

So the pastor goes on for 20 minutes or so teaching the different aspects of the Old Testament law, the Pentateuch (most likely focusing on the 10 commandments) and what all that would have meant to the various writers of the Psalms, and what it means to us today.

Sounds interesting and certainly is applicable.

--“The last point is that the righteous man meditates on the law day and night.”

The pastor goes on for the next 20 minutes or so explaining what it means to meditate on the law and that we should do it so often that we would call it day and night. I can almost hear him saying,

“Meditate means to study, memorize and reflect on. So you should be studying, memorizing and reflecting on the Word of God. When? Day and night. Night and day! You should study the law virtually all the time because that is what the Bible teaches that a righteous person does. So to be as righteous as you should be, make sure you are spending enough time everyday meditating on the Word of God.”

There is a lot of truth in this, but notice how subtly this form of exegesis turns into teaching duty as the motivation for the Christian life. Of course, the type of pastor I have in mind here would openly say that he is Reformed and that we are saved by faith alone in Christ alone and that nothing we do merits anything for us in terms of our salvation. It is all a gift of grace. But then he turns around and teaches doing one’s duty as Christian motivation, which is right there on the border line of works-based righteousness. I recall a former pastor regularly teaching, “Do what’s right for right’s sake, because it’s the right thing to do.” We are so often simply concerned with teaching salvation by faith alone, which is certainly foundational, that we miss the Bible’s teaching on sanctification by faith. Even our sanctification (becoming progressively more holy after our conversion) is not based on doing our duty, but faith! (II Thessalonians 2:13, for example)

I hope that you have seen what the pastor left out. It seems to me that most of the pastors I have heard have left this out of the Bible. Why is the righteous man avoiding the appearance of the evil of spending too much time with unbelievers? Why is he meditating on the law day and night? Is it from a strong sense of duty? Is he doing right for right’s sake, because it’s the right thing to do? I don’t think so.

What the pastor seems to skip right over is that the righteous man’s delight (delight!) is in the law of the Lord. That is why he avoids the appearance of evil. He has found something far more delightful and satisfying than worldly people and things. That is why the word “but” is there. It is a contrast which shows why he does one thing instead of another. Blessed is the man who doesn’t do these things, but delights in the law of God.

Why does he meditate on it day and night? It’s clearly not from a sense of duty or obligation. It is because it is his delight! He comes to the law with the anticipation of being satisfied by it and finds it to be deeply so. He spends day and night meditating on it and soaking it in because he would rather do that than other things that are calling for his attention.

How could we have missed this? Is it because this is an unusual verse of the Bible in that it promotes delighting in God as a motivation for obedience? A quick survey of the Psalms answers that:

“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (16:11)

“Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!” (32:11)

“Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous! Praise befits the upright.” (33:1)

“How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the drink from the river of your delights.” (36:7+8)

“Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” (37:4)

“Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.” (51:12)

“Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.” (90:14)

“For He satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul He fills with good things.” (107:9)

“In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.” (119:14-16)

There are plenty more, but I don’t think I need to go on to show that this concept is Biblical. Pervasively Biblical. If you are wondering if this is just an Old Testament thing, it's not. There are many New Testamant verses that speak of joy and delight in God as Christian motivation. Try the entire book of Philippians for a starting point.

I am so thankful that my pursuit of God and personal holiness is laden with promises of joy and satisfaction in Him, and not an issue of simply doing my duty. I can’t do what’s right for right’s sake for very long. I don’t have the discipline. Delighting in God is commanded of me and I am happy to obey.

When Promises Become Very Precious (continued)

This is a continuation of my previous blog telling of my time in Mexico and the challenges that come with it…

After meeting with my kids, Carlos and Juan, at the mall for something of a discipleship group, we met up with Julie and Cynthia and walked around with them to do some browsing before heading home. I asked them if they needed rides home and they accepted. I didn’t actually take them home as I had planned, but dropped them off on the street somewhere near their houses (I suppose) when they jumped out of the back of Willy and said thank you, as is the custom in Mexico.

Julie and I went on to her house for a few minutes and then decided to go back out to Costco to get a membership there. Costco is very similar to Sam’s Club, but better, at least where we are in Mexico. On our way to Costco on a busy street at night, Willy began having issues. He started getting a bit jerky and then completely shut down. I pulled off to the side of the road (there is no actual side of the road, it was more like halfway in the right lane and halfway in a small parking lot) and tried to get him started up again. I told Julie that I thought we were out of gas, so when Willy started I knew we had very limited time to get to a gas station. As we started going, Willy stalled for a moment and then violently jerked forward causing me to seriously wonder about things, but then he stabilized enough to drive for a while. We bypassed Costco in search of a gas station and I was praying along the way that we would simply get there. We, very thankfully, got to the gas station without much trouble. It was there that I realized that without my wallet I, once again, couldn’t pay for the gas. I kindly asked Julie if she would pay for some gas and she graciously agreed. I love how God provides so many ways for His people. After getting gas, Willy seemed to be fine for about a minute and then he went dead on the side of some back road. I tried to get him started again, but he wasn’t about to move. A very nice Mexican guy saw us and stopped to assist us, helped me push Willy to try to jump start him, and even took the battery out of his truck and put it in Willy to make sure it wasn’t the battery. It wasn’t. God brings people along to help us completely unexpectedly. Even though he didn't fix the truck for us, it was a very good thing to know that we couldn't jump start Willy and the problem wasn't that battery. That was very useful later.

We eventually had to call Byron to come pick us up and take us home. Byron is very generous with his time and is a great partner in ministry. We never made it to Costco. The next day I rode around with Bryce and Noreen to find a tow service and we finally found one and got Willy towed to my mechanic friend downtown. Since I had no money, Bryce and Noreen had to pay the tow guy. I am very thankful to have friends like these working in the ministry with me.

My mechanic, Luis, spent a day looking for the problem and decided it was the fuel pump. A fuel pump for a 1990 Ford Ranger is not all that easy to come by in the Yucatan, but thankfully Luis was able to find one somewhere and have it sent. I got Willy back a day or two later and he made it through the weekend without any issues. The following week, I got up to go to school one morning and when I went out to Willy, he wouldn’t start. It was the exact same problem. I was thankful to still be able to catch a ride with Byron, but was getting a little frustrated with Willy. I was also feeling the onset of a cold that was coming fast and hard. After school, I called to have Willy towed again (the third time in a few days, mind you) back to Luis to see what he could do about the troublesome fuel pump. Again, I had to borrow money to pay for the tow.

After a day of getting sicker and sicker, I got a call from Luis saying that he had rigged the wiring to the fuel pump and it should work fine from then on. I was so thankful to be able to go get Willy back. I love watching problems in life keep coming up and wondering how God is going to work them out. A song comes to mind…

“Keep ‘em comin’ these lines on the road
Keep me responsible be it a light or a heavy load
Keep me guessing with these blessings in disguise
I’ll walk with grace my feet and faith my eyes.”

~Derek Webb

His promises to always take care of me are precious to me, especially when things seem to be going wrong. It is a tremendous feeling to know that He is sovereign and is working things out for our good. We can delight in Him and trust in Him, rather than in our own understanding of things. We are not called to figure things out in this world, but to trust Him and His goodness, and He will direct our paths.

More in another blog to come…

When Promises Become Very Precious--Part 1

The last couple of weeks have certainly been trying. I have been trying to deal with many things all at once and sometimes I have felt a bit overwhelmed. But through it all, it is a beautiful thing to be able to see God’s hand in my life and rest in the fact that He is good and that He loves me.

Of course, I know that many lives are much tougher than mine and people are presently experiencing things far worse than I have the last 2 weeks. That is not the point. God tests us all in different ways and we learn to trust Him far more deeply because of it.

A couple Sundays ago I was out to eat for dinner with some friends of Julie who were visiting from the States. We enjoyed a great meal at one of my favorite restaurants, Los Trompos, and then the next morning Julie and I took them to the airport at 5am. That morning I made a quick search for my wallet but didn’t see it, but didn’t worry too much about it. Thinking that it must be Willy, my truck, or at Julie’s house, I went about my day. I looked for it that afternoon and even went back to Los Trompos in hopes that somebody might have spotted it and, out of the kindness of their heart, turned it in to the management who was storing it in a secure vault in the back room. I sometimes forget that I am in Mexico and things don’t work that way here. Well, the wallet never showed up. I looked all over, but still haven’t found it two weeks later. There wasn’t a lot of money in it, but my driver’s license and ATM debit card (my only way to withdraw money here) were, among other things that I use often. I have lost my wallet before, but never in a foreign country.

A couple days later, I was driving to Julie’s house to take her home after school and to eat some lunch before meeting with some kids from school at the mall. We have just begun something of a discipleship meeting with some of them and it is going great so far. As we arrived at Julie's house, we noticed that there was somebody parked in one of the two reserved spots in front of the house. This is an ongoing problem here, so I was going to tell the guy to move it, but as I saw him sitting in his car with his little girls, I didn’t have the heart. So I asked him if he was going to be there long and he assured me that he wasn’t, so I just parked down the street a bit and then went in to eat some lunch. Just as we were about to leave to meet with the kids, my phone rang and a friend was telling me that I needed to go out front because my truck was being towed. What! Why is Willy being towed? Well, I had parked on a yellow line, apparently, and the guy already had Willy up on his back wheels. I tried to argue with the guy that I am a stupid gringo and didn’t know much of the local rules, but he couldn’t do anything about it. He had to tow it back to the office. I continued to argue to no avail, and he finally offered us a ride in his big truck to the yard where they take towed vehicles. We were going to be very late meeting the kids at the mall.

On the way to the office, I was a bit nervous because Willy may not be entirely legal at this point, which means that they might take him from me. I had Isaiah 41:10 running through my head as I was trying to think of how to say what I might need to say in Spanish and how I was going to have to be the stupid gringo again. As we arrived, I looked over to the truck driver to thank him and I heard a thud on the ground to my right. I looked over and Julie had fallen right out of the truck when she opened the door to get out. It must have hurt since it is a very tall truck and the ground is nothing but rocks and dirt. I helped her up and she dusted herself off on the way to talk to the lady who was waiting for us. She asked for all of the information on Willy which I had to walk to the other end of the lot to get. By the time I returned with the paperwork, I was already pouring sweat from the heat and from being nervous. I gave the lady all of stuff and she asked where the legal permit was and my license. Of course, I didn’t have my license because my wallet was gone and I didn’t have a legal permit because the one I had was expired. After a good bit of discussion and several phone calls, she finally told us to go make some copies. That is always an integral part of doing any kind of business here in Mexico. For some reason, you have to go make copies of something somewhere else. So we made the copies and then she sent us across the street to go pay. Once again, not having my wallet meant I had no money and no way to get any. Thankfully, Julie offered to pay and it was around $40. At this point, we returned with a paid receipt, but I still didn’t know if they were going to let me take Willy. Nervously I gave the lady the receipt and she gave me all my papers and told me to go get my truck. I was so thankful! Thank you, Lord! We walked the length of the lot where an officer was waiting for us. His job in life is to use black ink paper and white tape to pull VIN numbers off of the vehicles that come in and out of the lot. Unfortunately, this is very difficult on American-made vehicles and so it took him another 20 minutes to finally get it done while we stood there talking and sweating.

We were very late meeting the kids at the mall, but the time with them was truly amazing. God is using us to challenge them and show them the love of Christ. I am so thankful for the time with them every week. Please be praying for us as we meet them every Tuesday afternoon. Julie meets with a girl named Cynthia and I meet with two great (but very lost) guys named Carlos and Juan. It is such a blessing to be able to tell them about frustrations in life such as a lost wallet and almost lost truck, but not be complaining about it. We have a hope and joy that does not depend on our circumstances, but is rooted in the promises of God to always take care of us. The frustrations, in fact, were only just beginning at this point (more in my next blogs), but the promises that Jesus bought for us on the cross are very precious to me and a source of great joy and satisfaction.

I am so thankful for Luke 12 where Jesus tells his disciples to not be anxious about anything. That passage contains everything we need to know to trust God most fully and be satisfied in all that He promises to be for us.

More in another blog another time…

Back In Merida

It has been too long since I have come to this blog site. I am long overdue in giving an update on my life. I returned to Merida 31 December and started teaching classes again 2 January. My time here has been really great and the transition back has been mostly painless. God really gave me great rest and time with friends over the Christmas holidays, but I am glad to be back.

For the month of January we had Luke Ponder staying with us at our house. Luke is a youth pastor at First Presbyterian church in Huntsville, Alabama who was here to study Spanish in a month-long crash course. Normally I live with Byron and our good friend, Yimi, who also works at the school. Adding Luke to the mix made for some great times. Life here is getting back to some sense of a routine with classes and other responsibilities. I am very happy to be here.

Presently I am looking into the idea of beginning to take seminary classes through the internet from Covenant Seminary in St. Louis. The idea would be to take the first year here and then see about moving to St. Louis to complete my training. I need a lot of prayer in these life-changing decisions. My faith in God's future grace in my life is sometimes strong, but I need to learn to increase my trust in His goodness, no matter where that may take me. I have no idea if I have the discipline to be a teacher and a seminary student at the same time, but if this is God's will for my life, I will trust that He will provide all that I need to get it done.

I went to a doctor a few days ago to get tested for diabetes. Diabetes runs in my family and I have several of the common symptoms, but I am happy to say that the blood test came back negative.

In my personal Bible study, I have been studying the book of Luke. Luke is my second favorite biblical writer (next to Paul) because of his medical and Greek training. I love his diversity and knowledge of such a wide range of things. He was almost certainly an artist as well. After reading and studying the story of Zacchaeus (ch. 19) I find myself wishing that I had never learned that silly kid's song about him being a wee little man and all that. It is hard for me to separate the silliness of the song with the beauty of Luke's historical account of how Jesus changed this man's entire life just by His presence. Zacchaeus was a man despised by his own people, the Jews, because of his betrayal of them by taking his job as a tax collector for the (evil) Roman government that treated them as second (or third) class citizens. In fact, they weren't considered citizens at all.

Jewish tax collectors were widely hated for overcharging their own people for personal gain, and for supporting the evil empire of Rome. As a chief tax collector at the major crossroads of the city of Jericho, he would have been very wealthy and well-known and, therefore, even more hated by those he was robbing. We don't know what made Zacchaeus want to seek out a spot to see Jesus, but Jesus' popularity would have preceded his entrance into the city and Zacchaeus wanted to see this man that was famous for healing people and loving the unlovable. I imagine that Zacchaeus was not a particularly happy man and was willing to try just about anything to find a deeper meaning for his life than being as wealthy as a Jewish man could be. Jesus knew something about being despised by his own people, although his reasons were quite different than Zacchaeus'. Jesus was seeking out Zacchaeus more than he was seeking Jesus. I love that Jesus stops the parade to look up into a tree and call a little man down out of it, and then invites Himself to his house. I also love Zaccheus' reaction to Jesus' call. He hurries down and, in his joy, receives Jesus. That is the reaction to a call from Jesus...joy. Neither one of them cared what others were going to think. I love that about Jesus. He broke all kinds of cultural barriers. I once heard a song called "Jesus Was A Rebel" by some secular group that I can't recall the name (Squirrel Nut Zippers, maybe?). The more I study His life, the more I agree. The way he loved in such radical ways without concern for the opinions of man makes Him irresistible. It ultimately took Him to the cross. Zacchaeus encountered the living God as He was passing by and it changed his life.

You may note that after Zachaeus met up with Jesus, he immediately remembered his Old Testament and what was required of him by the Mosaic law. I doubt that he had spent much time considering the law as an adult who lied to and robbed from his own people. But after Jesus came, he announced his plan of restitution which went far beyond what the ancient law would have required. He probably would have only been required to pay back what could have been proven stolen plus one-fifth of the amount. After committing to give half (half!) of his possessions to the poor, he promised to pay back four times what he had stolen from his people. According to the law, the fourfold restitution was only for deliberate, violent acts of destruction, which was not applicable to Zachaeus' crimes. Zacchaeus was not merely interested in changing his life. He wasn't, like many of us, casually concerned with being a better person and going to church on Sundays. He encountered a love and joy that changed everything and he would never be the same. That is what Jesus does. He does not offer a mere moral upgrade, He is in the business of making new creatures.

Christmas Morning

I have some time this Christmas morning. My brother unintentionally woke me up 2 hours earlier than I had planned and all attempts of going back to sleep have failed. God doesn't want me to sleep right now. My brother is presently back to sleeping now, so there is peace in the house for the moment.

As I was lying in my bed, I started thinking about Christmas and what it means to me, and what it should mean to me. I often wonder what happened to the excitement that I had as a kid when I saw all of the stuff that told me Christmas was on the way. I used to see the beautiful wreaths with the big red ribbons hanging from the lights around the sanctuary of our church and feel some deep, joyful anticipation. Now when I see the wreaths, I wonder where they buy them and how much they cost the church. The same is true of the enormous beautiful Christmas tree in the corner of the sanctuary that is a long-standing church tradition. As a kid, I certainly didn't understand Christmas for what it really means, but I still found reasons to be excited over presents that I was sure to get. Now that I have a much deeper understanding of the true gift of Christmas, I should have a deeper joy and excitement over the whole business. I wonder where that went. I am praying for a greater joy and satisfaction in God this Christmas so that I can really sense the love, joy and peace that come from embracing the greatest gift that we will ever know...the baby Jesus.

As I have reflected on some recent conversations I have had with friends, I felt God reminding me of something very profound. Yesterday I was talking on the phone with Julie, my friend and partner in ministry, and we were discussing how we are already wishing we were back in Mexico. But when we were in Mexico, we had been so excited about being able to come home and see our families and friends, and being able to enjoy the many great aspects of our American culture. It's not that we are unhappy here, in fact we are having a great time, but there is a longing to be back directly involved in the ministry of the gospel and in the Mexican culture. And when we were in Mexico, there were so many things we missed about being in the States, that we were excited about coming home.

I suppose this is the way it will always be for us as missionaries. We are happy where we are, but we still wish to come home. And when we are home we wish to be back on the field. This is not a bad thing at all. In fact, my Mexican friend Valerie emailed me from France shortly before going home and wrote, " I'm excited to come home, but happy to be here. It's a perfect state of being don't you think?" I do.

I think that we as Christians are always supposed to be in that mindset. We are not home. It is not that I am unhappy here, in fact the older I get and the more I understand that I am to find my truest joy and satisfaction in Christ, the happier I seem to be. That is how I most glorify Him. But at the same time, I know that heaven is my home and I am not there. The more I find my joy in Him, the more my heart longs for heaven where I will be able to truly enjoy Him forever without barriers. This longing for and enjoyment of God allows me to trust Him more and more which enables me to love others more deeply. This is what I want to be able to do when I return to Mexico in a week.

C.S. Lewis wrote, "If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world" and "Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither." This is very true. I long to be more heavenly-minded, for His fuller glory and my deeper joy.

This is God's message to me this peaceful Christmas morning. His gift, the baby Jesus, is the reason I can bank on His promises to satisfy me more deeply than anything this world has to offer. I pray that I will feel and understand the excitement and joy of Christmas because of this.
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

~The Apostle Paul, Romans 15:13

Holidays in the States

While this is a blog about my life in Merida, Mexico, I am presently in the States for Christmas vacation as I am creating this blog, so the first entry or two will be of my time here. This is my first blog experience and, therefore, I am unsure of what sorts of things people generally include.

I have been in Merida for over two years. I lived there for almost a year beginning in September of 2001 and then returned to the States to study Spanish and finish my degree. I returned to Merida in October of 2004 and have lived there since.

I originally moved to Merida from North Carolina where I was working as the manager of the direct sales division of a large cable company. I chose to leave my job to become a missionary working with my friends Bryce and Noreen King, as well as Tim Jewett. I have never regretted the decision to pursue my joy and happiness in the only Ultimate Satisfaction that exists. God has been tremendously faithful in meeting my needs and satisfying my soul.

I am presently an English teacher at a junior and senior high school called Centro Educativo Blas Pascal. I teach Mexican students that are in their first year of learning the language which means we are working on the basics. I greatly enjoy the friendships that I have made with the students and faculty and I really like the class time. Education in Mexico is very different than in the States, which means I have to adjust a great deal to have any sort of success. Students are not accustomed to quietly listening to a teacher or to taking notes and studying them. In addition to these obstacles, I generally have to try to teach in Spanish, although my Spanish is not so great. Nevertheless, I have seen kids learning English and, more importantly, showing greater interest in spiritual things.

In addition to teaching English, I also play drums and percussion as part of my ministry. I play at a church called Confraternidad on Sunday mornings and another called Shalom in the evenings. This is a very satisfying part of my ministry.

I am planning to start a Bible Study in English for people who want to practice their English while studying Scripture. I am looking forward to seeing how God will work through this time.