Peace rules.

Odd title, I realize.  It is something I am investigating.

Colossians 3:15 says, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.  And be thankful.”

O.k.

Now, I see from the passages surrounding this that Paul is talking about relationships, but surely this “ruling” peace goes deeper than that.

We are faced with lots of unanswered questions every day as we think and plan for our transition to Rwanda.  I could list them but I would definitely exceed my alloted ten minutes.  As we consider these details, both spiritual and physical for our move, though, we usually feel anything but peaceful.  In fact they tend to kind of pile up and become a sort of …

burden.

Oh, yeah, didn’t Jesus mention that?

Matthew 11:28-30 says, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

So, yeah, here we all are with our various burdens, challenges, struggles, etc… and Jesus is offering us peace and Paul is saying, “Let it rule.”  How do we do that?  How do we submit these worries to the rule of Christ’s peace?

10 minutes are up.  Reply if you like.

Shalom.

 

I’m sorry

Those are words that we don’t like to say.

In fact, I kind of despise them.

Two weeks ago I was cheated by my mechanic and charged almost $1500 for a repair that should have cost $700 or so.

I reacted. I didn’t think. I just exploded all over him.

The Eve language is wonderfully capable of exuding anger. You could almost say that with it’s high and low inflections along with the way it is pushed out from the diaphragm that it was made for expressing extreme emotions.

Well, with my mechanic standing there, I, ashamedly, utilized the strength of the Eve language.

I told him he would hear from me in a couple of weeks after I figured things out.

I changed a part back out that he had installed that I didn’t need.

I called around to find the legitimate price of the part he had put on.

Then I settled for an amount that I thought we could pay.

He then called me for a meeting.

Over the years, as I’ve been sharing, we have been learning to pray. So, I took the occasion seriously. I had softened over the interim and began to pray asking God to guide me in this process. What I heard was, “You need to say you are sorry for the way you acted.” I wanted to debate, never a good idea with God (remember Job?), but I didn’t. I thought about it. God was right. I had not fared well in the previous test.

We met together, the mechanic and I. His name is Mawuko which means God alone. I love that. After the traditional greetings, I started by saying I was sorry. His countenance totally changed. Peace settled in on us and his anger from being shamed by my reaction immediately dissipated. I gave him the unneeded part and then broached the subject of payment.

He asked me how much I could pay and I told him half of what he had asked.

I waited for the rejection. I was disappointed.

He agreed.

Mercy.

Truly, even in the Eve language, a gentle answer turns away wrath.

 

Scary Moment

Have you ever had one, a scary moment, where you realized, in an instant, that you had crossed a certain line, usually placed ambiguously, and there was no turning back, no ‘do-over’s.

These moments don’t have to be enshrouded with dark mysterious music, creaks, and screams. Often they come in the quiet moments of a conversation. Usually it is the surprise that gets you.

Isn’t that the way it is? “SURPRISE”!

I was just having a casual conversation over lunch with a missionary colleague from Burkina Faso the other day and the next thing I knew, while I was responding to a question, he took out a little note pad and started taking notes.

Terror gripped me.

Some of you may be laughing at this moment. You are enjoying the irony. You want to guffaw at the thought of me being quotable as you bask in the memories of the Marty of old. Yes, I find it truly ironic and very laughable as well.

Anyway, I trust Andy implicitly. It wasn’t a terror from potential entrapment, I have had those as well. It was, instead, the realization that he considered something I said worth remembering. That is a scary moment; when you become aware of the weight of your words.

Not everybody takes notes. A lot of people just listen and remember. Sometimes words not too well remembered can get us in grave danger. I think I prefer the note-takers because at least they are a visual reminder that you just might be quoted on that at a later date.

Experience creeps up on us. It has now been almost eleven years for us in Togo. We’ve been through and learned quite a bit, but still find ourselves lacking! To quote me is a risky move, although, just the thought that I might be quoted really brings me into check to consider my words before they escape me. In any consideration of me fulfilling the “mentor” / teacher role, though, I mentally reread James 3:1:

“Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.”

So, forgive my hesitation, the next time you ask me a question. I’m just considering my options for reply.

 

From retreat to reality

I love retreats and I loathe returning from retreats. Have you ever noticed that it is almost as if others sense that you’ve been recharged and they purposefully attempt to bring you back down off the mountain to …

reality.

I think maybe I have had it some wrong. I have looked at retreats from an incorrect angle. I usually had expectations of resting and returning with a profound increase in energy, physically ready to take on the world.

I am the father of four sons. I will probably be physically tired for a long time to come. If I base the good of getting away to a lonely place with God on how I feel physically, then as I am being hammered by the world on my return, I might be a little …

disappointed.

There has to be more to it than that. If I can change my perspective, though, and look a little more intuitively at the spiritual healing that comes from being refreshed on the mountain, then I will see …

strength for the coming days; faith that moves mountains; patience that can withstand the border crossing between Ghana and Togo; and love, his perfect love for me that drives out all fear.

That might just last a little longer than the troubles of the return and may even reshape…

reality.

So our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. II Corinthians 4:17-18.

Reality according to Jesus. The world looks a bit different.

Aren’t we a good looking bunch!

 

Just sat and sat and said, “Wow!”

I didn’t know for sure that I could, just sit and look, and listen. I could and I did.

And, I stood amazed, while sitting, of course.

The waves rolled in over the rocks so loudly that it could wake you up at night. The lightning lit up the sky on one night and on another there were so many stars, well, that it seemed I saw a few million new ones. It was incredible. It screamed, “GLORY!”

We are surrounded by God’s glory, but so often we don’t sit and take it in. It just bounces off of us and the moment is lost, because we aren’t looking for Him and his glory.

We are a bit busy for all that, reflecting and musing stuff.

I came across a phenomenal verse this week. I have seen it many times, but in the setting of Coconut Grove overlooking the Atlantic I tripped over it.

Christ in you, the hope of glory.

I just had to stop and say, “Excuse me?” “My actions, words, and very life could cry out, ‘glory’ just as dramatically as this diverse and impossibly beautiful setting on the coast of Africa.

Something to consider.

God is only hoping.

 

Just sitting …

Next week I’m going to the beach.  It is for a retreat with our other missionary friends in West Africa that we call WAMR.  Usually it is held at Coconut Grove in Elmina, Ghana and this year will be no exception.  It is a wonderful time of renewal, but I usually don’t come back very renewed.  It might be because the hotel also has a nine hole golf course and I usually spend my renewal time trying to get the little white orb to go in the little white cup.

I think this year I am going to spend more time … just sitting.

This is not like a new year’s resolution.  This is the me I’m becoming.  I am beginning to see the value of just sitting.  For when I just sit, I hear things, like the ocean, like the laughter of my children, like the songs of various birds, like the beautiful voice of my wife, and other amazing things.  I see things that normally escape my line of sight.

Before you all jump on me about saying that I can’t go to Coconut Grove without playing golf, I must say that you are absolutely right.  It would not be the correct thing to do.  It is tradition that I hit the ball, several times.  I am just vowing ahead of time to opt out of a few rounds and just sit while taking in the wonder of God.

Wish you could be there with us, just sitting,

praising Him for all He has done, and dreaming of all that He is going to do.

The Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with joy.  Psalm 126:3

 

Ten minutes?

O.K., I have a confession.  In my desire to write with wit and depth I regularly go for quite a bit longer than ten minutes.  Maybe I should change it to

thirty minute musings which take  two minutes to read

Or maybe what is true is that it would take others only ten minutes to muse conclusively what it takes me thirty minutes to arrive at.

Forgiven?

Thanks.  I feel much better now.

I’ll just keep the title if that is o.k.  It is kind of African of me anyway.  Why just the other day when Tucker and I headed up the mountain to take our jump we couldn’t find a taxi cab.  So we just began walking up the road.  I thought, well, it shouldn’t take too long.  Then, after five minutes I saw someone coming down and I asked this woman how long it would take to get to the top.  She, who was not wearing a watch, volunteered that 30 minutes would be sufficient for the journey.  Tucker and I began marching briskly and only about 30 percent of the way up and thirty minutes later did I realize the gross error that I had made.  Blessedly two motorcycle taxis showed up just after my confessing this miscalculation to Tucker and him forgiving me.  They hauled us to the top for a mere dollar each and we flew.

So, I guess in an African sort of way ten minutes can be anywhere from five to fifty.

There I go, self-justification at its best.

 

The dilemma of confession - part 3

Well, I guess this is the last installment on this subject, at least for a while.  My heart is pricked and I realize that the biggest thing that keeps me from sharing my brokenness is my pride.  My, what a shame, to miss out on so much love, victory, and power because I want others to think well of me.  Am I actually that deceived to think that they don’t know I make mistakes?

I guess the church could use some rawness.  Ideally a place where we invite Jesus to be among us to deal with real people and their real problems in real time.  A sort of celestial reality show without censorship.  What is that church like?

I love that about Togo and worship among the Watchi people.  It is raw, untamed, unrefined, and rather pure.  The praise time is rather chaotic, there is always the stray goat that wanders through and you can sing whatever song you like.  It is flexible and could go on for two or three hours, just the singing that is.  As for being open to confession, they studied the word with me and said, let’s start doing that.  That is a good idea.  We should share our burdens, and it began.

It seems so simple.  It is so simple.

I love the promise of I John 1:7, it is a healthy church:  “But, if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”

Truth, exposure, revelation, love, fellowship, healing, encouragement, and grace being born from a willingness to be vulnerable to my family of faith as I share my weaknesses and struggles and you share yours.  I hope you are part of that kind of family.  If you aren’t then maybe God will use you to get the ball rolling.

 

The dilemma of confession - Part 2

We don’t like even the thought of it, do we? Confession sounds so ancient, so archaic.

But, we hear David as he says he wasted away while keeping silent.

Are we all wasting away in our silence as we refuse to share with our family in Christ the struggles of our lives?

Jesus said that God wants us to worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). I took this growing up to be relating to “form” as in the right way to worship, but now I see that it is a matter of telling the truth. There is this thing about being in the light from John 3:18-21 that catches me, about how those who reject Jesus don’t want to come into the light because of potential exposure. Truth revealed. It sets us free according to John 8:32. So, then John restates his point a little more clearly in I John 1:5-10 and he really begins stepping on my toes. To be in the light in fellowship with each other and God we must confess, or should I just say tell the truth about our struggles, weaknesses, challenges, failings, in other words … sin. James even commands us to do it in chapter five of his letter.

So, who wants to get the ball rolling? Any volunteers?

Times up.

Blessings.

 

The dilemma of confession - part 1

Since returning to Togo, there has been a common thread consistent through all my prayers, studies, teachings, and conversations.  It is the desire for God’s presence here among the Watchi.  I am not sure as to the root of this desperation; maybe it is the reality of our last year among them; maybe it is because the presence of other forces is so evident; or perhaps it stems from a renewed zeal of mine to walk with Him.  I am not really sure.  All I know is that I want to see Him and know Him here, as I never have before.

I must ask myself at this point in my musings, why hasn’t His Presence been more evident?  What has kept Him?

As I look around at the Watchi, I see a people who are living poorly and fearfully.  Foolishly they are fearful of everything but God.  As you pass by the idols of each village and compound, it is apparent that the Watchi don’t fear God.  As Proverbs teaches, this fear is the beginning of wisdom and truly wisdom is what is needed among the Watchi.

My ten minutes is almost up.

I long for God to show up among the Watchi and in my house as well.  Reverence and devotion are born from the fear of God.  Love comes as well, deep love that explodes within us at the realization of his mercy and forgiveness for us.  Passion for Him consumes us as hope invades our heart, that we could live a different, bolder, and more significant life with Him … forever.

In the middle of it all is confession; a willingness to admit fault and verbalize failure as we ask to be pardoned.  It is humbling.  It is the opposite action of pride.  We resist it.  We hate it.  To confess is to admit our continual need for Him.  It is the realization that we, although having improved substantially, have still quite a distance to go.  Repentance follows and both of them happen in reaction to the fear of God.

Am I wise enough to fear Him?  Do I realize who I am praying to?  Can I possibly conceive how great He is and how much He loves me?  How can I possibly help the Watchi to grow in this?

out of time.