XMA and the Advent Season

This, the first week of the Advent season, is a good time for us to stop and meditate on the purpose of our Extreme Missionary Advent-ures.   Why do we leave our families?  Why do we hike for hours through rugged terrain?  Why do we bounce around on pot-holed ‘roads’?  Why do we go for days without a shower and nights without a bed? Why do we spend long hours, sometimes days, in strange airports and on planes?  Why do we risk sharing the Gospel in restricted countries?

Advent, from the Latin adventus, means  arrival, approach or to come.  And, of course, during the Advent season we are commemorating the arrival of the Christ child which we know as a historical fact.  But we don’t just commemorate His first coming at Advent.  We are also joyously anticipating His promised second coming.  That’s the purpose of our advent-ure. 

Adventure comes from the Vulgate Latin adventura which is translated ‘what must happen’.  We as Believers know that Jesus’ second coming is a ‘must happen’ event.  We are confident in what Jesus has promised us and we believe that the whole world should know about His planned second coming.  As Joan Chittister put it in her book The Liturgical Year, “it is not simply a matter of waiting and rejoicing in what the Advent promises us.  It is about learning how to live while we wait.”  To me that is just another way of saying …to know Him and make Him known. 

So the Advent season is a time for us to meditate on and renew our commitment to living a life of adventure with a purpose …to know Him and make Him known.

The Last Word

Our XMA team was finishing up a week of prayer-riding and literature distribution in rural areas of a restricted access Southeast Asian country.  We had given out hundreds of Gospels, Jesus Film DVDs, AudiBibles (solar powered MP3 players with Bible stories in the local language) and prayed at homes, schools and Buddhist temples all along the way.  We thought we had emptied our packs of the contraband literature but as we entered the capital city on our final day of riding JP realized he still had one last AudiBible, one last Word.

While riding along JP prayed about what to do with this one last copy of the Word.  He felt the Spirit telling him to leave it at one of the bus stops beside the highway.  We passed a couple of the stops but the chaotic traffic on the busy six lane road didn’t allow us to safely stop.  As we drew closer to city center we began to get a little concerned about getting caught with the AudiBible but then saw an empty bus stop and we all quickly pulled in.  Just as JP laid the AudiBible on the bus stop bench a local man pulled in on his scooter and sat down beside him.  This local guy spoke a little broken English and started up a conversation.  JP was able to ask him a few questions about his beliefs and the man shared that he was not sure if Buddha answered him when he prayed.  JP gave the man our last Word telling him it contained stories that might help him find answers to his prayers.

Please join us in praying for this man and the hundreds of others in Southeast Asia who through your partnership with XMA now have God’s Word in the their language and who might right now be hearing the Spirit calling them.

Letting my Soul Catch Up

I read somewhere recently (I can't remember where right now but I think it was one of the Celtic saints) that if you travel too far too quickly your body outruns your soul and you will be disquieted until you let it catch up with you. I think that's what I've experienced.
A few days ago I literally flew around the world. Then we jumped on motorbikes and have driven hundreds of miles through the countryside. This morning I awoke with a need to slow down, a feeling that I needed to let my soul catch up with my body. So I am here on the banks of the Nam Lik river watching 3 local boys spearfish for dinner. Each time they spear one they hold it up proudly for me to see and I celebrate with them.
As the sun begins to drop behind the mountains I feel like my soul may be joining us for dinner tonight.

Photo of the Week-Temple in SE Asia

Dropping Love Bombs

As I sit on a Cathey Pacific flight from Hong Kong to Bangkok the in-flight graphic show us over the Gulf of Tonkin headed straight for Vietnam. My mind rolls back to all the conflicts in this part of the world during the last century. While my personal memory doesn't quite cover the whole century I do remember Walter Cronkite on the 6:00 news giving the daily body count during the Vietnam War (or the American War as they call it over here). By the grace of God I missed being an active part of that war by a few months.
This time we Americans are coming for a different reason. I pray we will be received better this time around and that our love will show through to everyone we meet. Perhaps rather than Napalm we can drop some love bombs?

Wandering Again

The monk is off on another wandering, wondering trip to Southeast Asia for a few days where I'll be seeking and sharing, looking and listening, praying and learning. I'm looking forward to lots of time for prayer and meditation as we travel some of the back roads and trails.

Lift Up a Cup

What can I offer the Lord for all he has done for me?  I will lift up a cup symbolizing his salvation; I will praise the Lord’s name for saving me.  Psalm 116: 12-13 NLT

I’m having my first cup of coffee this morning as I read Psalm 116.  Verses twelve and thirteen make me think, “Yes, I can raise my cup of strong, black coffee in praise to the Lord for my salvation.”  In many ways this café noir does symbolize the Lord’s salvation.  Just as this stout cup of java pulls me from the slumber of a good night’s rest the Lord’s salvation one day awoke me from the dormancy of my previous life into full awareness of the rich, abundant life that awaited me in Christ.  The dark elixir quickly courses through my body energizing me for the day’s activities just as the Spirit fills me with excitement and desire for his service.

Just last night I read how some of the latest studies show coffee is good for your heart.  It is high in soluble fiber and is also a good source of antioxidants.  Both of these help remove harmful byproducts such as cholesterol and cancer causing agents from our body.  If we allow it the Lord’s salvation will likewise cleanse our hearts of all the crud that has built up over the years.  It will open up our spiritual arteries so that we can hear the Spirit speaking to our heart and so that we’ll have the desire to follow what we hear.

And finally, just as I like my coffee pure, strong and black the Lord’s salvation is sufficient in itself.  No need for added ‘sugar and cream’ to complete it.  The work is done.  The job complete.  My part is to accept the Lord’s salvation as he offers it and enjoy the bold, full-bodied, abundant life.  Of course, there is much more to come in this life as a Christ follower.  That first cup of coffee will not nourish me for the full day.  It is only the beginning – a great start for what lies ahead.  Just as I need meals and snacks throughout the day to maintain my energy I must continually learn and grow in my walk with Jesus if I am to fully embrace the abundant life he offers.

So, yes Lord.  I lift my steaming cup of joe in praise to you for saving me and for filling me with a desire for your abundant life!

Photo of the Week- Antigua, Guatemala



Church ruins in Antigua Guatemala

On the Road to Emmaus

In Luke 24:13-35 we hear how two of Jesus’ disciples, even after spending years walking by Jesus’ side every day, did not recognize him as he came to walk beside them.  They were very busy discussing and arguing about him.  They even took time to explain to Jesus about himself.
In spite of all of this “Christian” activity, or possibly because of it, they didn’t really know Jesus.   They could rattle off all the facts of Jesus’ life but they didn’t recognize him as he walked with them.  Jesus himself said about them, “How unwise and slow you are to believe in your hearts…”.

Before we can truly serve others in Jesus’ name and make him known to others we must know him ourselves.  Just because we can recite the facts of his life doesn’t make us his follower.  Even though we argue and argue over the finer points of doctrine and theology doesn’t mean we know him.  These things seem to indicate that while we know a lot about Jesus we don’t really know him.

So, how do we come to know him rather than just know about him?

We come to know him by spending time alone with him, by listening as he interprets the Scriptures to us, by receiving the bread (his body) that was broken and given for us.  Through these things the Spirit will open our eyes to truly know Jesus.  Like the disciples in this story our hearts will be ablaze within us as Jesus walks the roads of life with us explaining the Scriptures as we go.

As we come to know Jesus more, in contrast to just knowing about him, we will want others to know him.  As we see in this story of the disciples on the Emmaus road, once their eyes were opened to really know Jesus they got up that same hour and went to make him known.  They did this, not by arguing the finer points of Christian doctrine but by simply telling what had happened in their lives and how Jesus was made known to them.  And that will lead us to a life of adventure with a purpose...to know him and make him known.