Oftentimes God breaks us to the extent that we have nowhere to turn but to Him.

Who hears but the one who is listening?

Who listens but the one desperate for good news?

Who finds but the one who seeks?

Who seeks but the one desperate for fulfillment?

God is not more appealing to the destitute and downtrodden. They just happen to be more open and receptive to the goodness of God. The thirsty long for even a small sip of water; the hungry for a bite of bread. If the difficult moments of life cause us to turn back to God, then was it worth it? No one longs for pain, but if pain is what is required to push us toward a greater good, then perhaps we begin to understand why we should count trials as joyous.

Conversely, the man living the “good life,” never truly knowing thirst or hunger, may never see his need for God and therefore go about his merry, ignorant way. For though he does not recognize his need, his need is great indeed. There is a thirst, a hunger that resides deeper than the pit of our stomachs. The hunger is within our souls. Two things can be said about this hunger. First of all, it is universal. Everyone knows this hunger as evidenced that everyone attempts to satisfy it. We attempt with work, education, family, adventure, notoriety, striving for the “good life.” These all fail in that they are temporary but this does lead to the second point: nothing of this world can satisfy the hunger of the soul. Thus the conclusion reached by the author of Ecclesiastes. If the soul is eternal, and I believe it is, then why suspect that temporal solutions would suffice? This is the way of the ignorant. C.S. Lewis writes, “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”

How do we fulfill the soul’s hunger? God gives grace to the humble, regardless of their social status. And that’s just what we are in desperate need of…grace. What do the destitute need? The downtrodden? Grace. The need of those who have it all together? Grace. The ones that pretend to have it all together? Grace. We all need grace. To receive it, we must humble ourselves recognizing our need and plead the only One who can satisfy to do so. Have you heard the good news? Are you listening? Are you desperate for the goodness of God? The psalmist said, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” Just a taste. Just a taste. Like a fingertip of frosting from the mixing bowl.

God. Is. Good.

And then there come those days when all the best theology in the world has to put on street clothes and walk through hell on earth. The heart tests the mind and the will. A heavy heart, an iron will, a preoccupied mind…What will win out? Days like these are when friends become so precious. Those that lift you in prayer, send a word of encouragement, or simply make time for you. I’ve heard these friends described as “Jesus with skin on.” Over the last 12 years of marriage, I’ve come to realize that there is no greater friend on earth than my wife.

An excellent wife, who can find?
For her worth is far above jewels.
The heart of her husband trusts in her,
And he will have no lack of gain.

Truer words have never been shared. With each passing season of life and marriage, I have come to love and appreciate my wife all the more. No, she doesn’t complete me. Christ does that. There are plenty of folks who never marry or who have been widowed. Does this make them any less Christian? Certainly not. But for folks like me, the Lord knew that I would require someone else to push me, challenge me, and love me more into the man that God desires. Thank God for my wife!

Sometimes life is smooth sailing. Sometimes there are rough waters. And sometimes I just need a kick in the pants, the rug snatched from beneath me to cause me to look up and look around. When this happens, and I stop to count my blessings, I remember God, I consider my friends, my family, my wife… I come to the startling realization, I am living the good life.

This title is a rough interpretation of Moses’ words at the end of Exodus 5. Moses, the man who’d been called by God from the midst of the burning bush and performed miracles with his shepherd’s staff, is now challenging God to uphold His word. As bold as this appears, and it is quite bold, I’ve been there. I’ve prayed for something and never saw it come to light. I’ve often wondered why God would allow such pain, suffering, and injustice.

First of all, I’m reminded that if God is to eliminate all evil, He’ll have to do something with me. I deserve hell. Furthermore, in a sense, He did do this once before, with Noah and the flood. It didn’t work. As soon as the water recedes, humans go on sinning. Evil shows up and pain ensues. Tonight, with my middle and high school students, we looked at this passage from Exodus 5 and took a stab at some tough questions. Is it as simple as, “That’s just God’s will?” “These things happen for a reason?” “It serves some mysterious purpose?”

Maybe. But I like to think that God is working to make the world right, to usher in shalom. I don’t believe that God wishes anyone to perish. I don’t believe God intends for anyone to hurt. The world didn’t start that way. The first humans were sinless and given charge to care for, to rule and reign over, the earth. But they messed up. So, God used another human, a “Second Adam,” to rule and reign. Jesus is the King and His Kingdom endures forever. It’s just not quite the time for its fulfillment. But one day, one glorious day, there will be no more crying, no more pain, no more death. That’s a promise I’m compelled to believe. I said that the world didn’t start with pain and hurt. It was perfect. It sounds like the world will eventually be a lot like it was when it started.

God used a perfect man to bring about His kingdom and the fascinating thing is that He now, through the power of the Holy Spirit, is using people like you and me, to set things right, to rule and reign, to usher in shalom. Go. Make disciples. Proclaim the Good News and long for the day when, not only will He wipe every tear from our eyes, there just won’t be anything to cry about.

p.s. What I didn’t share with my students tonight, is that today is the anniversary of the death of a great man, a true friend. It’s been 7 years and I still miss him, but I look forward to our reunion.

“Whoever thinks he has the ways of God conveniently tabulated, analyzed, and correlated with convenient, glib answers to ease every question from aching hearts has not been very far in this maze of mystery we call life and death…He (God) has no stereotyped way of doing what he does. He delivered Peter from prison but… left John the Baptist in the dungeon to die…At this writing I never knew less how to explain the ways of providence but I never had more confidence in my God…I accept whatever He does, however He does it.” – exert from Vance Havner’s diary concerning the death of his wife.

So much has been said about love. Poets pen emotions into words. Musicians charm the masses with their instruments. Vocalist croon sentiments causing folks to go weak in the knees…all attempting to define, or capture the essence of, love. But perhaps love isn’t expressed so much in word as in deed.

This advent season we have peered at the horizon with hope; we’ve rested in peace, with a stillness in our hearts; and we have danced and laughed with exuberant joy. Today, we recognize it was love that began it all. What would compel a God to send His only begotten Son into this sinful, cruel, broken world? In a word, love. But it didn’t begin at Christmas. God’s love has been there all along. The blood-red thread of redemption runs from the Garden and the sacrificial lambs of the Old Covenant right through to Emmanuel, the Lamb of God, hanging on a cross.

Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friend.
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us.

But not only us. You see, the love that caused Christmas, loves the whole world. Today, as we light the Candle of Love, may we be so captivated and motivated by the love of Christ that we don’t stop proclaiming “good news of great joy” until the whole world knows the Love of God.

It was an ordinary night…the shepherds caring for their flocks, probably grumbling, as old men do, about the government and the census being taken by Augustus.

Yet it was a night like no other…suddenly, an angel, beaming with the glory of God shared with them, “Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy.”

In essence they were saying, “Don’t be afraid, rather be joyful”

Joy, it is an especially peculiar thing. Unlike happiness, joy is not manufactured. Man can strive toward happiness, and if he plays his cards just right, may very well attain it…a happy home, a happy marriage, a happy life.

But joy, birthed in spontaneity and expressed at the crossroads of laughter and freedom, is more mysterious because it can happen anywhere, anytime, even under the most unpromising circumstances, even in the midst of suffering, with tear-stained cheeks. Joy can be a baby boy sleeping in an animal food trough or a sinless Savior nailed to a tree.

As we light the candle of joy, may we, in the midst of our ordinary days, or the extraordinary days, may we never lose sight of the joy, the freedom, that comes through Jesus. And may we be ever mindful of sharing the true joy of Christmas with everyone we meet.

And in despair I bowed my head:
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

Peace on earth, good will to men…Is this a reality? Lately it seems that our world is anything but peaceful. “Wars and rumors of wars,” is a more common theme. Seemingly daily we are inundated with stories of terrorism and violence.

But let us remember Jesus’s words to his disciples, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.” How then, do we reconcile a hostile world with the peace that Jesus offers? We must understand that peace is not the absence of conflict, but is the presence of Christ. It is an inner stillness of the heart; A confidence that no matter our circumstances, everything is going to be alright.

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men.”

Today, as we light the candle of peace, we do so knowing that peace has not yet come to every heart. May we pray, may we give, may we go until every tongue, tribe, and nation knows the peace that comes only with the presence of Jesus Christ.

At this time of advent, as we anticipate things to come, we would do well to first look back. Let’s journey to the first century. After all, the nation of Israel would often recount its history.

• They would tell of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
• They would celebrate how the Lord used Moses to lead their ancestors out of captivity.
• They’d recount the triumphs of Joshua and exploits of David.
• They marveled at God’s power on Mount Carmel.

These and so many more.

Every generation had its hero. Every generation had a story of God’s deliverance. But not this generation, nor the one before, nor the one before that. It had been a long, long time, nearly 400 years, since there’d been a “word from the Lord.” But just when the world seems it’s darkest, that’s when the Lord breaks through. A divine message, from a divine being, delivered to Zechariah, “There will be joy and delight for you. [Your son] will turn many to the Lord their God, to make ready for the Lord a prepared people.” And there it is, hope, a belief that tomorrow is a better day.

Those of us who have Jesus, well, we have hope, for He has secured our tomorrow. However, at this time, as we light the candle of hope, we must recognize there are still billions without hope. No knowledge of Jesus. No promise of a better tomorrow. May we do all we can to carry the message of Jesus to a lost and dying world, to spread true and lasting hope.

I know I haven’t updated in a couple days but they’ve seen long days. Fruitful days but long days. Also, I wasn’t sure how to put into words all that I’ve witnessed the last couple days…but I’ll try. (Warning, long post)

Thursday and Friday, we spent all afternoon in a local park. The guys played basketball for the most part and the girls used henna to make temporary tattoos for anyone who ventured up. (More on henna in a moment)

Sam, Connor, and Nathan took a couple basketballs to the park and hopped it up a bit with some of the locals. After about 30 minutes, we called time so everyone could catch a breather and grab some water. Then, with help from a translator, I talked about what it meant to be on a team and that in the Bible, there’s a team called the church. I told the group that there was only one way to make that team – I then presented the gospel. One guy, Roberto, had lots of questions. Please pray for him. He says that he follows Jesus but doesn’t like the label “Christian.” I’m sure he’s not a believer but he’s close. I will be emailing him over the next few weeks. Connor sat and talked with Roberto for maybe an hour about his faith. It was awesome to see.

Then we played some more ball. After about another 30 minutes, we stopped, and Nathan shared the gospel with 5 guys. 3 of them left shortly into our conversation but…2 of them didn’t! Ricardo and Vladimir, both from Venezuela, heard what Nathan had to say, prayed, repented, and trusted Jesus with their life! How awesome is that?

This kind of thing was happening for almost 5 hours each afternoon. It was awesome! We didn’t always play ball. Sometimes we just walked the park and struck up conversations with people. In all, us 5 guys, Mark, Sam, Connor, Nathan, and I, shared the gospel with over 40 people and saw 3 people give their life to Jesus!

The girls set up blankets in the park beneath a tree and drew temporary tattoos on the hands of anyone who would come. You really have to see it to understand, but the artwork walks through the story of scripture. As the tattoo is applied, the recipient hears the story of the Bible from Creation to Christ. Then, they leave with a semi-permanent reminder of the gospel. It’s pretty cool. Through this “henna station” more than 50 people heard the gospel. The girls can tell you more about numbers and special stories from their experience. I know of at least 2 people who trusted Jesus as their Lord and Savior because of the work, Heather, Eden, and Sara did with henna. Many more left encouraged and prayed for.

There is one more interesting conversation that took place on Thursday. They were literally running through the park distributing flyers. When I saw that it said something of Islam, I immediately chased them down to ask them some questions. We talked for maybe 45-60 minutes. I had a great time telling the the truth of Jesus Christ but in the end, they simply could not comprehend the love of God…A love that would send His own Son to die a cursed death on a cross. Love so amazing so divine demands my life, my soul, my all.

It’s been a great, awe-inspiring couple of days. God is good. He is faithful. Never, never underestimate what young men and women can do to advance the kingdom of God. I am truly blessed to be called their youth pastor. It is times like this that make everything else so worth it. I am already pumped about our next trip, but cannot wait to get home and see where these student go from here.

Tomorrow, we get to enjoy being tourists for a day. We’ll visit the equator and a couple other places. We’ll eat some guinea pig then we’ll fly back on the red eye to Atlanta. Please pray that all the people who heard the gospel will have fruitful follow-up from the local pastors. We gathered information on almost every person we with whom we spoke.

This is my last update of the Quito Experiment. So long and until next time, seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.

Wednesday was a long day. Personally, it didn’t help that I had to break open the Imodium first thing yesterday morning. I started feeling a little better, but then…the bus ride. Anyway, VBS started at 2:00, and miraculously, right at 2:00, I felt much better. That lasted all the way to 4:00, when VBS was over. It was as if the Lord gave me strength just for those two hours. I spent the next hour and half curled up on the altar at the church while my team went out visiting families with the pastor.

I am grateful for the team I have. I already knew that Mark and Heather had extensive experience on the mission field, but I am made more aware of that and appreciate all they have done this week. The students have done a fantastic job as well. They have shared the gospel and loved on the children during VBS. Today, we head to a local park all afternoon to share the gospel through sports ministry, creative ministries, and henna tattoos. I’m excited about today. My prayer is that all five of our students take the opportunity to have gospel conversations with the people they meet.

Back to last night…Nathan and I were both feeling puny, so we got a taxi ride back to the dorm. After a night’s rest and some water, Gatorade, and breakfast, we’re both feeling much better. We missed the worship service at church, but I can give you a few details.

Mark shared a sermon from Daniel 3. Nebuchadnezzar tried to steal the identity of the three young Hebrew men. (In fact, can you name them by their Hebrew names or do you only know them as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego?) The church was packed…standing room only. After the message, the team got to enjoy an Ecuadorian delicacy, cuy, or guinea pig.

Please continue to pray today as we go to the park. Pray that our conversations will be fruitful and that God will be glorified.

Quito Experiment, Day 4 = God is faithful, may we be as well

Today we saw almost a 100% increase in the number of children at VBS. We went from 41 on Monday to 78 on Tuesday! Who knows what Wednesday will bring? The team did another great job today. The youth are really starting to make connections with the children from Quito.

Sara did a great job with a tough lesson: sin, commandments, and sacrifices. The older children must have been paying attention well because they not only answered the questions but asked great questions as well.

Eden reinforced the lesson by teaching the children how to do a craft that displays the Ten Commandments. The older children made “tablets” out of construction paper. The youngest children (ages 2-4), traced their hands and counted to ten.

Nathan and Connor played some games with the children and got to know some of them much better. Sam was the group leader for the 2-4 year olds today. They have all done a great job again at leading ministry. I think they are seeing that it’s not always so easy to be the leader or teacher but they seemed really excited to show the love of Jesus to these children.

After VBS we visited another home with an ill child. Karen, 20 years old, suffers from a disease that attacks her organs. She is now in bed because the arthritis in her legs make it too painful to walk. It was quite an adventure to get to her home.  We climbed down the face of a mountain. It was very steep and the terrain made it tricky to navigate. However, our guys were very helpful with assisting some of the others in our group make it down to the home.

It took so long to reach this home that we did not make it to our second visit. Again, the students did an amazing job of ministry today. I am proud of how they are taking this opportunity to serve others and serve Jesus.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) is a big day as we cover the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Please pray as we seek to share explicit gospel conversations.

Tonight, we enjoyed some ice cream, the students and I went to Tropi Burger, and I came from behind to win Phase 10. (I’m sorry, was that out loud?)

Quito Experiment, Day 3: a tough, exhausting day, but worth every ounce of energy

This was our first day on site. Before we set out for VBS however, we all gathered for a time of worship. There are 30 folks here from 3 different churches in the US. The churches are divided into 3 different ministry teams. One team stays here at the school working with children through sports ministry. Another group goes out to a brand new church plant to assist the church with VBS. Our group also assists with VBS at the same church where we worshipped on Sunday.

We Northside 8 are joined with 4 others from a church in Santa Fe. We were prepared for 60 children but ended up having 41. The pastor told me that none of the children from the church were actually at VBS today. Most of who we shared the gospel with were children from unchurched families. He was very encouraged by this and we should expect even more children tomorrow.

Connor did a great job teaching the lesson, the story of Creation, to the children. They know that humans are created in the image of God and that makes humans the highpoint of all creation. Not only that, God wants to be in relationship with us. We are truly cared for and loved by God.

Eden also shared with the children about being made in the image of God and how that makes them the most valuable thing in all of the world.

Sara led the students through a craft reinforcing the lesson that Connor and Eden shared with the children. They considered what it meant to be made in the image of God and that He has placed His thumbprint on mankind.

Nathan and Sam led the children in recreation. The location is less than ideal, a small, concrete courtyard with no equipment to speak of. There are two pieces of lumber with rebar welded into the shape of basketball goals. But, you couldn’t convince the children that they were lacking. Everyone had a great time.

After VBS, we visited two families. The first family was a grandmother who was taking care of her bed-ridden daughter, who is 36 years old. She has a brain tumor and is basically at home in a coma or coma-like state most of the time. We gave her a small gift and Eden and Connor prayed with the family before we left. As we were leaving, Pastor Edison presented the children in the home with shoeboxes from Operation Christmas Child. That was a very special moment.

The second home we visit was with David, and young 20-something who had been diagnosed with a brain tumor. He underwent treatment and the most recent scan had shown no tumor. However, one year ago he had a biopsy, after which we woke up paralyzed. He gave us a “thumbs-up” to indicate he was happy to see us. Again we shared a word with his mother and then Connor and Donovan prayed for the family.

We concluded our night with some of the guys playing basketball and the rest of us playing Phase 10. God is good. It has been a joy to watch my students engage with other people and lead in ministry. I am so proud of this group of students and can’t wait to see what God has in store for the rest of the week.

Quito Experiment, Day 2 – it’s starting to come together, but keep praying