The other day, I was able to make pancakes for myself. I not only made pancakes – I made banana pancakes. You want to know what’s even better? I had them… with syrup!
This is primarily possible because, while I was in America, a couple of friends of mine took me to the grocery store and asked me a simple question, “What do you want?” Two of the main things on my list were syrup and baking powder.
“Baking powder!?” you say. “Yes,” I respond. “Neither of those can you buy in Ukraine, and both of them are essential for a proper pancake breakfast.” You see, if you don’t have a pancake mix (which is also an impossible find in Ukraine), you can’t make real pancakes without baking powder… and what’s the use of having pancakes without syrup? Little things like this can make a missionary’s day. I think little things like this could make anyone’s day. You don’t have to buy someone a new car to show them that you care about them and want to see them smile (although that would make me smile…). You can do it simply with a note, a text, or a small can of baking powder. Sometimes, that’s what makes all the difference.
Like cold water to a weary soul, So is good news from a distant land. (Proverbs 25:25 NASB)
Thanks from all of us missionaries to all that are sending care packages with little goodies, reminders of home, verses, and useful things we can’t obtain elsewhere! God bless you all!
What do I mean by that? Have you ever had an opportunity to bless someone or minister in some way that was completely unplanned? I love being able to do that. I love it when God is “spontaneous” (if that’s possible to call Him that…).
On Saturday, I had one of those opportunities. I was visiting a youth group in Sykhiv, one of the southern regions of L’viv, and the youth pastor asked me to teach that night, just sharing what was on my heart and what happened during my time in America.
I shared with them some of the challenges that I faced during that time, reading from Psalm 23 and Joshua 1. Katya translated for me (I’m still working on speaking Ukrainian in regular conversation… I have been able to teach with it before, but definitely not spurr-of-the-moment). I challenged them to be brave, to do what God is calling them to do, and to trust God with their lives. It was a good thing, I think.
I want to encourage you guys to be people that won’t be surprised if God gives you an opportunity to minister or bless someone in a strange time or in a strange way. What led to me being able to share at that youth group was the fact that the youth pastor didn’t have keys to unlock their rented storage room and get out the projector equipment for the film they were supposed to be watching that night.
God can use anything for good… He is amazing. I hope that you can get a glimpse of that tonight. Instead of freaking out because something doesn’t work, look for what He’s doing in the background, and, if you can’t see it, trust Him that He is.
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28 NASB)
I like it how needs can push us to our finest moments of creativity, ingenuity, genius, and discovery. For instance – how many inventions have been made simply because a farmer needed a better way to complete a process or a laborer needed a better way to complete a task? The cotton gin, the assembly line, interchangeable parts… such things are echoes of the Industrial Revolution. All of these things attempt to answer the same question, “How can we do something new or better with what we have?” I love to take the same question and apply it to dinner. This is a very important field of innovation to me, because I’m often challenged by the ingredients, or lack thereof, of what I’ll have in my cupboard. It’s not that I’m lacking in the means to provide for myself… I like to blame it more on the fact that I’m a bachelor that’s constantly on the move, and I’m not used to shopping and cooking for myself, yet. Because of this, I’ve had to improvise in my cooking a few times. Yesterday was one of those times.
This is a picture of my latest creation. I think I’ll call it Garlic Peppercorn Chicken. Even with the exotic name, it actually doesn’t taste that good… yet. 😀 I’m still working on the recipe. I let the chicken marinate for 24 hours in a bag with red onions, peppercorns, bits of garlic, mayonnaise, and some white wine vinegar. Fortunately, the chicken came out tasting pretty good… Unfortunately, the sauce that I tried to make from the marinade tasted pretty much awful. I left the peppercorns in (BIG MISTAKE), and one of them almost got stuck in my teeth. I had to spit them out while I was eating. I think next time I’ll just toss the marinade and use the chicken, because even the onions weren’t that good, even after I tried to sauté them. Like I said, the chicken was good, but that was the only good part. Notes for next time:
Toss the marinade after use (I know it sounds like a waste – but it served its purpose)
Make an Alfredo sauce to go with some thick italian noodles (like fetuccini noodles or something) and add it to the chicken
Eat it with a fresh salad and some strong, red grape juice
So… what have I learned from this? Life is like cooking – sometimes we can make mistakes, and there’s always something to clean up afterwards, but there are tasty times to enjoy. In the end, if you’ve made something bad, keep cooking. Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4 NASB)
This article may offend some… If it does, please feel free to comment; however, please read the whole thing before answering. Feel free to comment below… Please don’t try to start an argument with me or anyone else on this blog, though. I haven’t blocked anyone yet, and I hope I won’t have to.
I watched what I thought to be one of my favorite movies a few weeks ago. I say “I thought” because there were many things I didn’t realize about this film until this time around – the ideas subtly expressed and implied and the blatant sexual references that were, frankly, way too much for the type of movie that they seemed to be trying to create.
I’m sure most all of you will have seen the film A Walk to Rememberwith Mandy Moore and Shane West. It’s a tragic love story between a bad-crowd, troublemaking, young man (Landon Carter, played by Shane West) and a saintly preacher’s daughter (Jamie Sullivan, played by Mandy Moore). I’ve read the book and enjoyed it, but, coming to the end, I felt like there was something missing. After watching a piece or two of the movie with the director’s commentary, I know what was missing. Hearing director’s, Mandy’s, and Shane’s perspective on the objectionable parts, my mind was changed on the intent of this film.
The movie is supposed to be a story of redemption for Landon as he changes through his relationship to the preacher’s daughter. The movie can be mistaken as a somewhat Christian film as the soundtrack is taken from bands like Jars of Clay (one of my favorites) and Switchfoot (which also used to be one of my favorites). Songs like “I Dare You To Move” and “Only Yours”, which are two of the greatest of Switchfoot’s offerings, are used in the song. Also the by the redemptive storyline.
Yes, I love Christian music. Yes, the performances are awesome. Yes, the story is very sweet and moving. Yes, I believe that redemption of a lost soul can and should happen!… but! But, but, but! The whole film is without Jesus! The only reference I remember to Jesus in the film is when a friend asked the troubled young man if his preacher’s-daughter-girlfriend was “one of those ‘honk if you love Jesus!’ people.” He responded, “No, she’s not like that.” What? Not that she should be weird about it and one of those emotional, plastic Christians… but shouldn’t she love Jesus? She’s the only person, aside from the pastor, in the whole movie that believes in God.
In fact, by the end of the film, there’s not even any affirmation at all that Landon even believes in God – much less Jesus. Towards the end of the film, in his commentary, the director says that some Christians had given feedback on the movie about this lack of any real conversion. He said that wasn’t the point of the film – that the important thing was that Landon found his own spirituality, not necessarily God, Jesus, or anything like that. (Not his exact words…)
Also, the movie, in a way, makes light of the convictions that many Christians have about physical purity in relationships. Jamie and Landon spend a night together alone in a cemetery, without anything implied, but that’s certainly not how I would want any daughter of mine to behave, or son for that matter! They spend extensive time in compromising situations, usually kissing, etc.
The director, in his commentary, doesn’t really seem to care about that. During a scene where one of the characters is making a very suggestive joke, he, with a laugh, says, “The Christians hate this part!” Mandy Moore replies, “It’s just a joke…” He echoes her sentiments and they move on to the next scene.
My whole point – two things.
Firstly, don’t be deceived… movies, music, and other media that looks like it’s “good Christian material” isn’t necessarily. Folks like those that made this movie know that American Christianity is a large and lucrative market. This movie was made for that.
Secondly, Jesus is the only way to true redemption. Yes, if this were a true story, Landon Carter may have had an amazing transformation in his life, gone to medical school, learned compassion, etc., etc… HOWEVER – Jesus tells us in John 14:6 that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Do we believe Him or not? If all Landon found in his life was how to be a “pretty good person” and make a positive difference in his life, that doesn’t change the basic, root problem in his life. His sin is still not taken care of. He is still going to die as a sinner and go to hell. Now, I’m not so concerned about this person in particular, because he’s a fictional character. However, I know that there are billions of people in the world that hold this viewpoint – live a good life, try not to hurt anyone, make a difference, and, on the other side, you’ll be ok.
I’m just saying that there is a lost and dying world out there full of people that think that their “positive energy” or “good karma” is going to save them when they get to the end of their life… That’s not true! If that is true, then Jesus and the whole Bible is a lie. If Jesus is correct, then we need to tell them that they need Him!
I pray that I haven’t offended any of my friends by saying all of this. I just want us to be serious and honest with ourselves about life and about the future of the people around us…
Father, please help me to take seriously the fate of those around me.
Please help me to see people as You do – loving them and wanting them to know the Truth, wanting them to know You.
Well, I’m starting to get over jet lag. I’m not sure how long that will last (I hope not very long). Today, I stayed up until about 2:00 or 3:30 and got up at 9:30ish. That’s… almost normal. Haha. 🙂 I’m hoping that will be over by sometime mid next week.
While I was in America, you guys donated a bunch of Nerf guns to the youth group here in L’viv. I was SO excited for this – except for the idea of bringing over 20 Nerf guns through customs. Praise the Lord – I had NO troubles whatsoever! God definitely gave me favor with the customs agent that was there. She almost seemed like she was trying to let me through but just had to ask me a question or two to the “just the right answers”. Haha… I gave her a letter from a church here requesting that we could bring them in because they were for charity. We tried them out yesterday at our Friday night youth group. We only played with the CS (“clips system”) versions of them, because those take the most training not to break, and that’s the kind we have the most of. If any of you ever want to send over more guns/darts/etc. in care packages, that would be awesome! I would love to make playing with these a regular thing between our youth group and other youth groups – plus we can use them for evangelism events and all kinds of things!
We’re about to get a sound system!!! I’m SO excited for this! More opportunities for the worship team, outdoor concerts and outreaches, indoor concerts and outreaches, bands coming, worship nights with multiple churches… I can almost see folks coming up for altar calls receiving Jesus for the first time, other people with their hands up high, the lights down low, and the soft picking on the guitar, later on to explode with shouts of praise to God as the next song crescendos. It’s gonna be awesome!
Please be praying still for our location for the church. Right now, the plan that our landlord has us on is that we will move out on May 1st… or the rent doubles. We’re looking for a new place for the church right now. She’s offered to sell it to us, but we don’t have $300k just lying around in our back pockets! Haha. I don’t think it’s actually worth that much, but something close to that. Whatever God wants, please pray for that – I honestly don’t want to move the church, but He could have something much better in store for us.
I wanted to thank you all for your hospitality while I was in America. You have all blessed me so much. From Cleveland and St. Mary’s, to Indianapolis, Chicago and Appleton, to St. Paul’s, and all the way down to San Antonio – you have all been great. I wish I could bring all of these places together… That’s what I love about Heaven. Someday, we’ll all be together – those of us that have trusted in Christ. There will be no more tears, pain, sorrow, fear, worry, or jet lag. There will be no more, “Oh, I’ll see mom next Thanksgiving,” or “I’ll see dad next Christmas.” We’ll all be together – one big, happy, peaceful, wonderful family in Christ Jesus.
One of the interesting things I discovered on my journey back and forth is that, on almost every leg of the trip I could answer the question, “Where are you going?” with “I’m going home.” I love it. My family is everywhere. While I’m in Ukraine, where God has called me, I have my church family. Most of my closest friends are in Indiana, and I definitely count them as family. When I traveled from there to Minnesota to visit my dad there, I was going home. Then I went to San Antonio, where my mom lives – I was going home. Then I went back to Indiana and then to Ukraine… every time – I was just going home.
None of these are my real home, though. My home is Heaven, where my Lord waits for me. I just finished reading the end of The Last Battle by C. S. Lewis (check it out – it won the Carnegie Medal, which is one of the highest accolades in children’s literature… but don’t read it without reading the rest of the series first!). That book is basically an allegory for the end times here on Earth. It was an amazing reminder of just how wonderful Heaven is going to be. We’ll get to know brothers and sisters that we have never met from continents and places on the world we’ve never been to and times and epochs we’ve not lived in. We’ll get to know king David, the Apostle Paul, Moses… Moses’ mom! haha… We’ll get to spend the rest of our Eternity getting to know the Author and Finisher of our Faith. Basically – it’ll be the coolest thing… regardless of sliced bread or velcro shoes. It’ll be the coolest thing since the world was created.
I can’t wait.
I love how C. S. Lewis portrays Aslan as a lion. It’s such a great picture of Jesus. At once the most joyful creature and creating joy, and, at the next second, serious as meeting a lion in the woods. “He’s not a tame lion,” I can hear all of the creatures say. It’s the same with our Lord – He’s not tame. He’s not One to do what you tell Him to do, but He’ll often do what you ask. Altogether loving, faithful, just, merciful, and good… It’s really an adventure just know him.
