Lyd and I are sitting at the airport in Denver after a weekend in CO hanging out with college friends and seeing one get married. This caps off a week and half of being in the midwest. A week with some friends and a week away from others makes me appreciate both so much.
My college roommate and I spent Sat through Thurs harvesting wheat on my family's farm in Kansas. We then were at his place in CO for a couple days. What a good guy and a good time. It's a blessing to be headed back to DC where we also have great friends. One of which just sent us an email with this encouraging scripture for our upcoming move to Kenya...
Isaiah 58:Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. "If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Food...everyone needs it. Jesus provided it.
One of our church's great pastors, Heather Zempel, used a good analogy that has me thinking. She started by saying "no one ever gave their life to Christ because they lost an argument, or because someone made them a sweet diagram on a napkin." Sharing our faith is not about a good argument, it is about being in love with God and desiring that others enjoy a similar relationship. She went on to say "if I want someone to fall in love with someone I love, say my niece for example, I am going to show you pictures of her. A picture of her looking adorable. I am not going to tell you about how cool she is and how you should like her. No, a picture will show you just how cute she is. That's what we should do for Jesus. Let's show people pictures of Jesus."
I want to figure out what are some of the images of Christ we can see repeated through Scripture. And then find which of these pictures has God equipped and gifted me to be able to act out so others will see Jesus' love.
The crisis of food prices skyrocketing has been on my desk and on my mind much of the day lately. In the U.S., around 13% of our income goes to food. That's crazy! So when the price of food increase we make choices - eat out less, eat different foods. Going without food isn't an option. The "bottom billion" who live on less that $1 dollar a day do not have choices when this happens. They spend around 80% of their income on food. The math says that if food prices double, this population who was probably already malnourished, is now going to be going hungry.
Okay, so people are hungry. They were in Jesus' time too. Jesus fed the multitudes with miracles. They may not have been starving because of global market effects, but Jesus made sure they were fed. What I also notice about these miracles is they are closely tied with when Jesus was feeding these people spiritually. He didn't preach and walk away. He may have just provided them with true teachings never heard before, but Jesus still thought it important to make sure they were fed. Two instances of Jesus' concerns for food - spiritual and actual.
A third example of Jesus taking care of this need is after he was crucified and ressurrected. Some of the disciples decided to go fishing. They were out all night and had no luck. Then a man walked up and said "Morning, you all catch any fish?" They responded "no luck." The man instructed the disciples to try their nets on the other side of the boat. They obliged and when they pulled the nets in they started to break because they were so filled with fish. The disciples then recognized this was Jesus.
My prayer is that after feeding those who are hungry, after investing spiritually into Kenyans, and after providing ways for them to feed themselves, that at that point they will recognize that this was because of Jesus. That is the picture of Jesus I think I am called to portray.
I want to figure out what are some of the images of Christ we can see repeated through Scripture. And then find which of these pictures has God equipped and gifted me to be able to act out so others will see Jesus' love.
The crisis of food prices skyrocketing has been on my desk and on my mind much of the day lately. In the U.S., around 13% of our income goes to food. That's crazy! So when the price of food increase we make choices - eat out less, eat different foods. Going without food isn't an option. The "bottom billion" who live on less that $1 dollar a day do not have choices when this happens. They spend around 80% of their income on food. The math says that if food prices double, this population who was probably already malnourished, is now going to be going hungry.
Okay, so people are hungry. They were in Jesus' time too. Jesus fed the multitudes with miracles. They may not have been starving because of global market effects, but Jesus made sure they were fed. What I also notice about these miracles is they are closely tied with when Jesus was feeding these people spiritually. He didn't preach and walk away. He may have just provided them with true teachings never heard before, but Jesus still thought it important to make sure they were fed. Two instances of Jesus' concerns for food - spiritual and actual.
A third example of Jesus taking care of this need is after he was crucified and ressurrected. Some of the disciples decided to go fishing. They were out all night and had no luck. Then a man walked up and said "Morning, you all catch any fish?" They responded "no luck." The man instructed the disciples to try their nets on the other side of the boat. They obliged and when they pulled the nets in they started to break because they were so filled with fish. The disciples then recognized this was Jesus.
My prayer is that after feeding those who are hungry, after investing spiritually into Kenyans, and after providing ways for them to feed themselves, that at that point they will recognize that this was because of Jesus. That is the picture of Jesus I think I am called to portray.
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