Justice is love in a social context

Dr. Tony Campolo spoke to us in the opening Keynote address. He is a professor of sociology at the Eastern University and a Baptist Pastor. He is best known for his work to serve the lost and the lonely in this world. At the age of 80 he has not lost any of his passion for seeing the church bring God's Kingdom to this world.

As we went through the process of getting to know each other (I counted 7 countries including the Maldives) represented and broke up into our work groups (we are building 5 homes) and then into small groups within each worksite group (we are about 170 strong) I was reminded how large and powerful the Church of Jesus Christ is when we bring a focus to our purpose to bring reconciliation of Christ to the lost and the lonely.

Campolo reminded us that in every Gospel Jesus introduced his purpose for coming to us which was and is "to bring the Kingdom of God." I recommend you read Isaiah 65 where God through the prophet describes what the Kingdom will be like when it comes. That chapter becomes a blueprint for all local congregations joined together as God's church universal to join in introducing God's Kingdom to our world in our time and with our generation.

Tomorow we begin training to build for the rest of the week.

Blessings

Registration Begins

The 50+ Volunteers are arriving today and I am allowed to assit with registration. They are from the United Kingdom & USA with one lone Aussie who is speaking. It is interesting meeting them - most have worked with Amor at one point or another and all are committed to the purpose of creating an environment for families to enjoy the life God has for them.

Thought I should share this pic taken at the lagoon near the children's play ground this morning. No unsuperfised children allowed!!

First meeting of the volunteers tonight to hear from Tony Campolo. Looking forward to getting this thing started.

The Transition

There is a process for transition in life and in Anthropology we call "right of passage." While this phrase is usually reserved for such things as young boys going through a process - a hazing if you will - at the end of which they move from the Mother's residence to the Father's - I have found it applies to almost every transition. Even one so short as traveling from one contry to another.

In this process you start as a person from the States, for instance, with all that you are as a person there, to an in-between that is sort of a 'nothing.' You are one of many 'travelers' who are not permanent to life but an in-between. During that brief time, if you allow it to form in your mind, you have the chance to transition to who you will become when you land. I find this process useful.

I have time to consider what I have left behind and why I am making this trip. I am free from the responsibilities behind and am called to focus on the responsibilities to come.

Soon I will be an 'expert' in culture and leadership - even though in my past life neither are as important as my responsibilities as husband and father - Pastor and mentor. Leaving those last behind will help me best direct those I will be asked to assist at the Global Gathering. 

That we - as humans created by God - can be so flexible is a mystery to me. I tend to be rather intense in my roles and the creativity God provides all of us is focused on the time and place in which I am. So for now that intensity will find a new focus - though for a short time - and may God continue to grant clarity in this alternate life as I become Sherman instead of Pastor Sherman.

The fun begins:

The more things change the more they stay the same.
Got a call from Frontier Airlines yesterday to say my flight from LAX to Denver was canceled due to "routine maintenance" (I booked this flight in June  - you would think they had figured out the routine part quicker than three days before departure). I will now have to lay over in Denver New Year's Eve.
Not satisfied to change that aspect they also changed the return flight leaving me with another night expense in Cancun but also another lay over in Denver with accompanying cost of yet another hotel room.
Frontier is now on my naughty list.

On the other hand I have great expectations for this trip and the time spent with these young people.

Looking for the bottle of Off I had left over from the last trip - economy size.

Everything is laid out on the bed and I am about ready to go.

Two Days to Take Off for Global Gathering

The new year is taking off at the same time as I am.
By Jan 1 I will be in Cancun preparing for the many volunteers coming to help with the 200+ young people who will join us Jan 3.
We have a great team being led by Scott & Gayla Congdon and all the Amor Staff along with the onsite couple Jordan & April Congdon.
I am looking forward to connecting with Gilberto Figuroa who has been so generous with his resources in making the dream of Cienega possible.
You can learn more about this dream at http://www.amor.org/Cienega.

Capturing Culture for Christ

Valentine's Day is one more holiday that exists because the early church approved the underlying meaning of local festivals but disapproved the way they were lived out. Christmas & Halloween are the most commonly referred to by critics of the church, but, Valentine's Day runs a close third.

While some believe that Valentine's Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine's death or burial--which probably occurred around A.D. 270--others claim that the Christian church may have decided to place St. Valentine's feast day in the middle of February in an effort to "Christianize" the pagan celebration of Lupercalia. Celebrated at the ides of February, or February 15, Lupercalia was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus.

Since the celebration was so much a part of the local culture the church chose to capture it for Christ. Whether the stories of a priest who was prepared to die for love (there are at least three) or not is irrelevant to the underlying truth that God created us for families. This need to be in a family extends in adulthood to a need to create a family  and in that way we raise people who know and love the God who gave them this sacred institution for their nurture and encouragement. 

That we, as fallen humans, have tarnished that institution does not negate its importance to society as a whole. As a missionary I often helped local populations see the underlying truth from God attached to their celebrations or rites. It gave me a window into their lives through which they could see the God of creation. 

This Valentine's Day may we take the time to look for the underlying truth that God is a God of community who gave us the closest of all relationships in the love shared by a man and a woman in marriage.

God wants us tick free

Author Timothy Keller in his book, “Walking with God through Suffering” wrote about the British shepherds dipping of their sheep. It reminded me of the first time I saw the Shona in Zimbabwe dipping their cattle – a monthly ritual.

The cattle were herded into a pen which was closed at one end but on the far end was a ramp that led to a 40 foot long, six feet deep, four foot wide pit filled with dip. The herds men would then force the mooing mass toward the narrow opening with each beast entering one at a time due to the narrowness of the opening. When the first cow got to the drop off into the dip it would stop and try to look back only to be pushed by the one behind into the foul smelling mixture. Cows don’t like to swim but they can so it would begin to make its way to the other side. That is when one of the herdsmen would take a long forked pole and force the cows head under. Now the cow was frightened – though in rare cases furious – and it would cry out and frantically try to leap out. At the time I thought that it was cruel, however, I learned that without the dip the cattle would be subject to ticks and many diseases.

As Keller writes, “As I watched the struggling sheep I thought, ‘If only there were some way to explain! But such knowledge is too wonderful for them—it is high, they cannot attain unto it’ (Ps 139:6). We too have a Good Shepherd who is committed to his sheep, though he often does things to us that frighten us and that we cannot, at the moment, understand.”