A Long Obedience In The Same Direction

Last week 2 young women from a partner congregation to our church in Pakistan were abducted by members of the Taliban.  Their abductors tortured and raped the girls, and sent videos of these events to our national pastor, demanding ransom be paid within 5 days or they would be killed.  The video included clips of them being commanded to recant their recent conversion to Christianity and to recite Muslim prayers.  They refused, and were tortured in unspeakable ways. Today I received word that the young women had been released in exchange for the ransom money, and they were now reunited with their parents. Over the past few days hundreds of people have been praying for their release and for the safety of our national pastor as he helped secure their release.  And now that word is spreading, people are thanking God for helping the girls be released and "miraculously" working on their behalf. But I am having a hard time celebrating. I didn't see the vide...

The young couple stands at the front of a church. She dressed in white, he in a penguin suit. As they gaze at each other the world opens up in front of them. They think of all the possibilities and joys of the years to come. The travel, the escapades, the children they will raise, the fun things they will do, the joy of simply living life together. They have no idea. Life will get harder. Who can tell them that they may find themselves someday deciding whether to honor their commitment to buy groceries for those future children or to fulfill their obligation to the bank? Who can tell them that the bundles of joy they imagine in their ideal future life will repeatedly suck joy, energy, and life from them, and replace it with simply more demands? How can you explain to them that the ideals they now hold will be tested, beaten, shaken down, until only that which is truly true remains, and it may bear little resemblance to what now drives them forward? Yes life will get har...

Yes I'm back. Haven't posted anything for months. But for our anniversary a few weeks ago Ann gave me the book "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years" by Donald Miller. A few years back I read "Blue Like Jazz" by the same author and it really helped me when I was floundering spiritually and emotionally. This book has meant a lot to me as I've read it. In fact I just finished it and really would like to read it through again and write down my thoughts on here as I go. Basically the book chronicles what happens to Miller as he is approached by people who would like to make a movie of his memoir ("Blue Like Jazz"). The subtitle is "What I learned while editing my life." The book challenges readers to evaluate the story they are living in light of how it might be made into a movie. Would it be a compelling story? Would it be going somewhere (would it have a point?) Would people care about the main character? Would they root for hi...

Eternal Father of my soul, let my first thought today be of You, let my first impulse be to worship You, let my first speech be Your name, let my first action be to kneel before You in prayer. For Your perfect wisdom and perfect goodness: For the love with which You love mankind: For the love with which You love me: For the great and mysterious opportunity of my life: For the indwelling of your Spirit in my heart: For the sevenfold gifts of your Spirit: I praise and worship You, O Lord. Yet let me not, when this morning prayer is said, think my worship ended and spend the day in forgetfulness of You. Rather from these moments of quietness let light go forth, and joy, and power, that will remain with me through all the hours of the day; John Baillie (1886-1960)

Someday I hope to meet Philip Yancey. Not just shake his hand and get his autograph in one of his books, but to sit down and get to know him, for we are kindred spirits. He puts into words so many of the things that I think about and wonder about. I've started reading his book, Reaching for the Invisible God (2000), and I've been enjoying it just as I've enjoyed so many of his other titles ( What's So Amazing About Grace, The Jesus I Never Knew , and Disappointment With God being my 3 favorites). The book is an attempt to explain what it really means to have a "relationship" with an invisible being. As an evangelical Christian I have heard the phrase "personal relationship with God" so many times, and used it so many times myself, that it can be easy to stop thinking about what exactly it means. Yancey starts out by talking about how for his entire life he has struggled to "just believe", and that his experiences with Christians have made...

I was really interested to hear the response of Ted's adult child ren to the revelations about their father. It was a bit uncomfortable to even listen to them describe how they felt hearing about their father's sexual struggles. But the big thing that his daughter said was that she felt...relief. Relief?? Yes, relief. She shared how growing up as the daughter of this iconic person who always seemed to be so perfect in every way was a real burden to her. Thus, hearing that her father had fallen from that pedestal brought her a feeling of relief from feeling like she had to live up to that standard of perfection. In some strange way, learning that her father had made some incredible mistakes actually helped her to feel like she could actually have a real relationship with him. And all the time, Ted Haggard had lived his life feeling like if he ever shared his struggles honestly with people he would not have been accepted. So he put a big false persona around who he really w...

How should the church that Ted Haggard pastored for 20 years have handled the shocking revelations about their pastor? It is really difficult to imagine the personal pain that those men must have been feeling as they sorted through the myriad issues. But I think they got it wrong. On the Oprah show it was explained that as part of Haggard's severance package he had to agree to move out of the state of Colorado and to never preach again. Although I think I can understand why they may have put those stipulations in the agreement, again, I think they got it wrong. To force him to leave his entire support network seems cruel. He may have decided he wanted to leave the area just to try and make a new start, but to require it of him? I know they were working through a process of helping him see counselors and helping his family get their counseling needs met, but how was he to be held up by his friends if he needed to be a state away? More importantly, I think they really blew it when th...