I didn’t take pictures.  It just seemed wrong.  On Christmas Day — not only did I preach to 1500 villagers, counting men, women and children — but you (Calvary) helped to feed them.  From dollars that you gave we we were able to give a meal and the rice for two more meals to everyone who attended.  (In fact that was probably the main reason they came, since my preaching is not really a huge draw in Myanmar!)

They received a box of cooked rice with 2-3 small pieces of meat — the meat was a luxury — and a small piece of bread.  They also received a bag — maybe a pound — of rice for future meals.

I watched them stand in line waiting for their free food.  (Those were the pictures I didn’t take.)

Actually I watched them push and shove and knock elderly people and small children to the ground as they were waiting for free food.

At first it disappointed me, then I remembered that they were hungry and I realized that they were afraid that the food would run out.

At first it disappointed me, then I remembered our Walmart Black Friday story.  One thousand plus people standing in line to get a good deal on a high definition flat screen tv, stampeding through the doors, trampeling and killing a temporary employee.

We push and shove and stampede for a $200 discount on a hd tv.  They push and shove and stamped for food.  I’m still disappointed…that those people are so hungry and so worried that the food will run out.  But I am so thankful that Calvary gave and continues to give.  I didn’t take pictures, it just seemed wrong, but the picture is stark in my mind.  I pray that the day will come when Americans won’t stampede for tv’s and Burmese won’t have to stampede for food.

So there we were Christmas Day, walking up at the Seasons Hotel in Yangon — 10,000 miles from home.  We got a “Merry Christmas” greeting from two elderly ladies in the breakfast room — the only non-Burmese we would see on Christmas Day — Australians visiting another orphanage.  By the way if you google the hotel — don’t trust the description or the pictures, false advertising at it’s best!

Driving to Agape Orphanage, it hit me that Calvary’s last Christmas Eve service was just beginning. I love Christmas Eve at Calvary, it is always one of the highpoints of my Christmas season.  It’s one of the best parts of being home for Christmas!

But God had other plans for us this Christmas – Myanmar plans.

We drove through the gate at Agape and all the children were lined up to greet us, yelling like we were some kind of celebrities — or long lost family members returning after a long absence.

In Myanmar, while it is not against the law to have a church, it is against the law to proselytize. But at Christmas, a bit more freedom is given. So the orphanages use Christmas as a time to reach out to the neighboring villages. In December the orphanages we support hosted Christmas celebrations for close to 10,000 people – at each one the Good News was shared.

Former Muslim

I had the privilege of sharing at the Christmas Day gathering at Agape orphanage – over 1200 Buddhist Read more…

I’m sitting here late at night listening to Bebo Norman’s song, I Will Lift My Eyes. Have you heard it?  The heart of the song is found in the words, “I will lift my eyes to the maker of the mountains I can’t climb.  I will lift my eyes to the calmer of the oceans raging wild.  I will lift my eyes to the healer of the hurt I hold inside.  I will lift my eyes to You.”

Estes Park

The song brings to mind a psalm.  Psalm 121:  I will lift my eyes to the hills.  Where does my help come from?  My help comes from the Lord, maker of heaven and earth. Now I think it is natural for us to read that psalm and hear it through the ears of someone who is caught in a moment of awe while looking at the creative glory of God seen in the mountains.  Like times when I have been in the Rocky Mountains in Estes park.  I look up at these mountains and I just want to shout out, God you do good work! I look to the mountains and the mountains remind me of God.

It’s natural to think this is what was happening for the psalmist.  But it wasn’t.  In fact it was exactly the opposite.  In the days when this psalm was written, people who looked to gods other than God for thier support would go up into the hills to build their altars.  In fact they called their sacred areas, “High Places.”  So the psalmist is looking up at these high places that people go to rather than going to God and he exclaims… I will lift my eyes to the hills and ask myself where does my help come from?  My help does not come from the high places, my help comes from the God who created the high places.

So here’s my question…what high places are we looking to rather than God?  I will lift my eyes up to Malls at Christmas.  Where does my joy come from?  Not from stuff, my joy comes from the Lord.  I will lift my eyes up to the stock market.  Where does my security come from?  Not from my savings, my security comes from the Lord.  I will lift my eyes up to the government.  Where does my peace come from?  Not from politics, my peace comes from the Lord.

Where are you lifting your eyes?  Where does your help come from?

Sorry I couldn’t resist.  So Joe the Plumber just received his allotment of fame.  I guess instead of soccer moms, we now have Joe Plumbers.   I hear he’s not telling whose name he’s going to check on the ballot.  But I was just thinking, since both of our presidential candidates directly addressed Joe last night, what if we just ask Joe to choose?  We could cut out all the ads and use each candidate’s campaign war-chests to bail something out.  If it works well, then four years from now we can pick another everyman to choose for us.  Perhaps next time it could be Sue the Teacher, or John the Garbage-Pick-Up guy, or perhaps even Paul the Pastor — or maybe not.  :)  Instead of debates that everyone has to watch, each candidate could just have dinner with the randomly chosen, everyvoter.

I know they already played this all out in a movie.  But I’m just thinking it might have merits.  I mean where better to discuss this year’s political fervor than over a broken toilet?  So how about it?  Let Joe pick?

Well before you decide, let me make sure you have the full story.  His first name ain’t Joe, it’s Samuel.  He is a plumber, but he doesn’t have a license.  He owes $1200 in back taxes…AND….notice the sweatshirt?  He’s a buckeye.  Oh well, looks like we’ll have to have the election after all!  :)

Here is the only thing I’ve written in this post that matters — No matter who becomes our president…I’m glad that Jesus is still King.

You’ve probably heard the story of the pastor who was candidating for the job at a local congregation, one of those congregations that reject any and every potential change with the words, “we’ve never done it that way before.” This man give his most impassioned words, trying to convince the search team and the congregation that his was the best guy for the job…   He finished his talk with one last promise, “And I promise,” he said, “if you choose me as your pastor, I promise to lead this church well into the 19th century.” He sat down and the church clerk said, “Pastor I think you mean the 20th century.” He looked at her and said, “Let’s take it one century at a time!”

Over the course of almost 25 years of being a pastor, I have had my share of disappointments, frustrations and conversations (never about Calvary!) about how the church is always a decade or two behind the rest of the world.  The business world perfects the science of marketing and a couple of decades later, the church, starts to buy in to the strategy.  New technology comes out and a decade or two later, it starts showing up in the church.  Music, art, leadership and organizational principles…a decade or two behind.  And I would often hear someone saying, “Why does it seem like the church is always behind the times?  Why does it seem like the world sets the pace and we are just the proverbial tail in the dog?”

During the course of the events of the last few weeks and months — economic, global, kinds of events — I realized that this really isn’t true.  It is really the church that sets the pace for the world.  In everything that matters, at the heart of life, it is the church, it is the people of God that shape the times of the culture in which we live.

This is a Biblical concept which plays out throughout the pages of history.  What we see time after time is that God chooses to bless the land, the region, even the nation, in which His people live…if they walk with Him.  And we also see that in those times when God’s people choose to walk away from Him, that God withholds His blessing from the whole region.  In fact, when people walk with God, it is their calling to be a blessing to all the nations of the world.  And in Chronicles, the author challenges the people with this promise, If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and turn from their wicked ways, and seek my face and pray, then I will heal their land.

In other words, as the church goes, so goes the nation.

If you have listened to me over the course of the last year or two, you know that I have been convicted that the chief sin of the American church is greed.  As the church goes, so goes the world.  Right?  How many times have we heard in the last few weeks? This is a problem of greed.

If I’m right, and the world follows the church…what is the solution?  The solution is not republican or democrat.  The solution is not a bail-out or another tax rebate of monopoly money.  The answer to greed is gratitude and generosity.  Gratitude cancels the power of our sense of self-entitlement and generosity breaks the power of greed.  I think the best bail-out plan for our economy in a financial fall is the generosity of the church which could lead again to the blessing of God.

Gratitude and Generosity — two words that might not be heard often at a political rally, or in the hallowed halls of the Treasury — but two words that might lead us back to the presence of God.  Maybe that’s better.

…is paved with good intentions.  Wait — wrong quote.  In fact out here the adjective “Heavenly” is most often associated with Hana.  Now the road to Hana, that’s an interesting journey.

It’s water-full.  There are so many waterfalls that after an hour, you go from — Wow would you look at that, that is amazing, cool, God really does good work!  — to — yep there’s another one.

It has that beautiful Eden-feel.  You go from rain forest to bamboo forest, from cliff-side views of the ocean hundreds of feet up to green mountain clad valleys, and all along the way you find the most colorful flowers, bright reds, yellows and orange.  Amazing.  It’s eye-candy for the soul.

It is secluded.  A handful of houses and two little villages from the airport to Hana.  In fact we were talking to a clerk in Lahaina (we drove there to see a Maui sunset) and when we told him that we were staying in Hana… He said, No way, no one every stays in Hana.  I’ve lived in Maui all my life and I’ve only been there once. (When we told him we were driving back that night, he said, Whoa not even the locals drive to Hana at night. Which made Lynn a little nervous!)

But getting to Hana is not your easy, jump on 80 journey.  In State College we like to say that we are 3 hours from everywhere, but in Hana it’s really true.  Lynn and I got Hana Survivor t-shirts.  Lynn’s says “617 curves, 56 bridges (one lane), 52 miles, 3 hours — Hana Survivor”  Mine says, “Our Winding Road Motto, There will be absolutely NO:  WHINING, CRYING, EATING, SLEEPING, READING, RESTROOM STOPS, COMPLAINING, MOANING, HORSING AROUND, BLACKMAILING, SICKNESS OR TURNING BACK!”

So here are a few Hana-road life-lessons.

1) When you are hundreds of feet up a cliff on a narrow road overlooking the ocean, the driver doesn’t get to say, Wow look at that… In life, sometimes the journey is more beautiful if we let someone else drive.

2) On the Hana-road driving faster won’t get you there faster…it won’t get you there at all…  In life, sometimes the prize goes to those who know how to slow down.

3) The road to Hana is beautiful, but a week in Hana on Hamoa beach is better by a factor of 10… In life, every truly good journey has a good destination.  The journey of life is good when we know that our destination is God…but God is better than the journey by more than a factor of 10.

4) If you eat pizza before you start, by the 617th curve it won’t taste so good anymore…  no spiritual lesson there…just personal experience, if you ever go to Hana, don’t eat too much before the journey!  :)

One of the take-aways from the Leadership Practicum was Wayne Cordiero’s idea of a “Leader’s Dashboard.”  Let me call it a Life Dashboard because I think it has application for all of us — leaders and followers.  Here is the idea in a nutshell.

– 85% of what you do in your life, anyone can do.

– 10% of what you do in your life, someone — with training — could do.

– 5% of what you do in your life… ONLY YOU CAN DO.

It’s what we do with that last 5% that will determine how the rest of our life takes shape.  So the question is what is your 5%?  So the 5% is what you keep on your dashboard.  The 5% are the gauges that show you how you are doing under the hood.  Your 5% could include things like…

• Develop spiritual intimacy with God.
• Discover and follow your calling.
• Invest in key relationships like spouse, family, close friends.
• Stay physically healthy and mentally creative.
• Keep the Sabbath a part of your life.

Maybe your dashboard is similar…but different.  What would be on your dashboard?  What things can only you do…that if you do them, it shapes your day and your life along the lines of Jesus?

One of the hallmarks of New Hope Church is DCAT — Doing Church as Team. New Hope has one of the lowest ratios of staff to attenders of any church it’s size in the nation.  In other words, they are low on staff and high on volunteers.  One reason is that teamwork is part of the dna of their church.  So it stands to reason that our leadership practicum would have it’s share of teamwork exercises…like a sand volleyball tournament — our team finished fourth (out of four teams) and Hawaiian style canoeing (our team finished second of six).  Let me share a few of the lessons that were driven home.

1) Everybody on the team has a part to play and each part is different.  If I don’t do my part, or if I try to do my part and your part.  The team loses.

2) A team working together is of greater value than a team full of stars working on their own.

3) In canoeing, people in seats 3,4,5,6 must submit to the leadership of the people in seats 1,2.  It has nothing to do with who has the better stroke, who is stronger, or has more endurance.  Its simply a matter of followership.  Good teams have good followers.

4) Even though you don’t need a team full of stars, one person who can’t do their job will significantly affect the success of the team.

5) Encouragement works better than complaining.

I was reminded today…of my ongoing struggle with wanting to be the best.  I remember the first time it was a struggle.  See in high school, it was easy to convince myself that I was the best in a number of areas.  (I’m not saying I was the best, it was just easy to convince myself that I was the best.)  I was in the top 3 in my class (28 in my graduating class); All-State football (nine-man); traveled the upper midwest with a singing group; all-state band; etc.  You know to be honest, it wasn’t so much that I thot I was the best, it was just that I wanted to be the best.

Then I went to college.  In the first quarter of my freshman year, it became painfully obvious that in practically any area mentioned above…I could easily find someone who was better than me.  And by the end of that year, I realized that even if I could become the best at Bethel College, changes were good that somewhere in the world there was someone who was better than me in every area.

This led to some God-wrestling, — a few years worth to be honest — God I think you gave me this desire to excell, but what if I can’t be the best at anything?  God I want to be the best at something, can’t you give me something? So I decided I would become the best Christian.  I would be the perfect Christian.  If you know me, you know how well that worked out!

So the wrestling continued.  At some point — I can’t tell you when, it happened over time — I sensed God saying, You can’t even be the best Christian.  But that’s okay, I don’t need you to be the best, you need me to give you my best.  Someone else will make more money.  Someone else will be a better football player, a better theologian, a better leader, a better man, but you can have as much of me as you want.  You may not be the best, but you can have the best.  Will that be enough for you?

I wish I could say that my answer to that question is always, has always been, and always will be… YES!  But sometimes when life goes on auto-pilot, I default to wanting to be the best.  But I was reminded today that more than anything what I need and want is God’s best, God’s blessing, God’s hand upon me and upon us.  It’s like Moses said in the book of Exodus… God without your presence, we are just like everyone else on the face of the earth.

As I come back from sabbatical my prayer for me, for my family, for all of us at Calvary is that we would be known far more as a people that God has blessed with his presence — than we are known as the best of anything.

Home is the place…

…where you hang out with the people who love you the most.
…where you like almost everything in the fridge.
…where your bed fits.
…where you know the numbers of your favorite tv stations.
…where you touch base — face to face — with your kids.
…where you get a hug from your wife — not just a phone call.
…where you aren’t always thinking about what time it is half way around the world.
…where your favorite chair resides.
…where your church is close by.
…where you don’t have to use skype to talk to your family.
…But most of all home is not so much a place as it is a people!

I don’t know if you would call it a top 10 list, but it’s just a few of the reasons why I’m glad to be home. I had a great trip/experience/conference in Estonia. I learned from the Estonian pastors and I hope they gained something from me. BUT. It’s always good to get home, right?

I’m gonna make a guest appearance in a couple of the services at Calvary this week…they figure if I’m not preaching at least I can do some announcements. :) It’ll be good to be in worship.