Currently Reading The Father Heart of God: Experiencing the Depths of His Love for You By Floyd McClung see related

Jesus at Caribou

I love Monday nights.  A group of us gather in Caribou Coffee every week and talk about the Bible.  Right now we're going slowly through the book of Mark, because we want to learn about Jesus.  We're an improbable assembly, that's for sure.  Homeless men chatting with the owner of a big beautiful house.  The intellectual conversing with the simple.  The manager with the unemployed.  New believers and older ones and plenty of agnostics.  Some like to swear, and several have to go outside for smoke breaks.  Some are trying to stay clean after falling into the lure of drugs.  One guy is an evangelist waiting to happen.  All are interested in finding out who Jesus really is.  We all want to know Him.  Some of us are learning that we know a lot less than we thought, or at least that what we do know isn't nearly as impressive as we supposed.  Others are finding out that they're not as far off as they imagined -- that Jesus really is near to them, and in some ways more like them than they'd have ever believed.  It's so cool.

I love it when we gather prayer requests at the end, and then take them to prayer.  Talking to Jesus and reaching out for his help and his presence.  Knowing that if he doesn't do something we're doomed.  I'm really coming to love these people.  I find myself trying to think how I can hang out with them at other times too.  I'm praying for them.  This week we were in Mark 3, and talked about Jesus appointing the twelve apostles, and then about Jesus and Beelzebub.  I love what it says in Mark 3:14:  "He appointed twelve... that they might be with him, and that he might send them out to preach..."  Jesus wanted to just hang with these men, and then to send them out to tell others about him.  To be part of his amazing work.  And he's making that same ridiculous offer to us.  Man.

I'm so hungry for my life to count for Jesus.  It's awesome that he's called me to be with him.  It's beyond amazing.  He likes me!  He wants to hang with me... not just in a prayer closet, but all the time -- at basketball games and at home and definitely at Caribou.  But he also wants to let me work with him in the thing that is closest to his heart -- saving the lost.  Making disciples.  Changing the freakin world.  Whoa.  I've been thinking like this:  If Jesus really is inviting me to be part of this, I want to give it my all.  I don't want to hold back, or to be weighted down by the need for comfort or by my own desires or by sin or by preferences or anything.  He is so incredible, and I want to go all the way for Him.  Thank you, Lord!

Currently Reading The Vision And The Vow: Re-Discovering Life and Grace By Pete Greig see related

Hannah Namuli

On the first of Dec, I got a phone call saying that my wife was in the hospital about to have our baby -- two months early.  I was in Africa.  Crud.  Since that day I have:

gotten my butt back to Michigan

found my wife still in the hospital, but not having delivered

spent a week living between the hospital with Jill and home with the kids

joyfully welcomed Jill home from the hospital -- expecting the baby to go full term now

rubbed Jill's head while she endured an emergency c-section a week or so later

welcomed Hannah Namuli in the world.  (isn't she gorgeous??)

spent nine days going back and forth to the hospital again before Hannah was sent home with us

had an electrical fire in our kitchen, which lead to the arrival of four screaming fire trucks and an uncountable horde of personality-deprived fire-fighters.  the previously violent fire extinguished itself just before their arrival.  we lived for four days without a stove.

experienced God’s provision with unexpected hot meals delivered to our door when our best prospects had been cold sandwiches.

hosted a Ugandan student friend in our home over Christmas break

took care of my wife through a kidney infection, which came during the c-section recovery.

shared cups of coffee with some of my favorite people

celebrated Christmas with another uncountable horde – this one fortunately with significantly more personality

experienced God’s grace and victory in all that the devil meant for bad...

and so on.

In Honor of a Man of God

My friend and brother Godfrey Kayita left this life last week.  If you want to read more about him, see paladin54.  All I'll say now is it hurts like -- I actually almost said it hurts like Hell, but then I realized it doesn't.  Thank God for that.  It doesn't because he's with Jesus, and we'll see him again.  But it hurts a lot.  I put a few pics on my photo blog, if you want to check them out.

On Jordan's stormy banks I stand and cast a wishful eye

to Canaan's far and happy land where my possessions lie

All o'er those wide extended plains shines one eternal day

there God, the Son, forever reigns and scatters night away

                                       ---  Samuel Stemmett

if ya don't do it you burn your freakin fingers!

(see last post)

Currently Reading Mere Christianity By C. S. Lewis see related

Life Lessons