Jesus with skin on – Sunday, December 4

Hi everyone!  It seems like a year since we were all together in our small group.  With DNOW and thanksgiving behind us, it appears that Christmas vacation from school and Christmas itself is coming up quickly. (I am sending this to the email address of parents that I have so they can support you and us in this project.)

The group decided that December 4^th, this coming Sunday, would be a good day to help Prison Fellowship’s Angel Tree program provide some Christmas presents for the children of moms and dads who are incarcerated. We have been given 3 families to help.  2 families have 3 children and one has only one child.

Here are the children:

Child             Birthday  Age      Gender    Suggested Gift

Family 1

Ashley           1/1/1995   16         F             Purses/Wallets

Alliegh           3/19/2003 8          F             Sleeping Bags

Justine           4/27/1999 12         F             Sleeping Bags

Family 2

Trenton          10/6/1997 14         M            Sports Equipment

Family 3

Alicia             4/25/1997 14         F             Jewelry

Sebastian      9/14/1999 11         M            Board Games/Card Games

Kaiden           5/30/2006 5          M            Cars/trucks/riding toys

Here is the plan for Sunday:

• 10:30       Large group worship in the Rock
• 11:10       My wife (Janice) and I will take 2 cars to go to Walmart or Target to shop for presents with a “Price is Right” contest between 2 groups.
  If each student can bring what money they can (no more than $10, but any amount down to $0 is ok) and Janice and I will add enough, if needed to get the presents
• 12:15       We will go to eat – my treat
• 1:30        We will return to our hose to wrap the presents
• 2:30        We will go deliver the presents to 2 of the homes
• 3:30        We should have everyone back home
• 7:30        My wife and a student or 2, if possible. will deliver to the 3^rd and final family who live in Lavon.  We will come pick up the students, if there are any, at their home and take them back there afterwards
• 9:00        Back home

If you have questions, call or email.

Reflections on a difficult trip

Reflections on a difficult trip

I have promised several people more details on my tough time in Brussels the last week of September. However it would be short-sighted not to also comment on discoveries and lessons learned. So I will. Finally, it seems apropos to share some thoughts about a significant spiritual/faith issue: Is God really enough?

The theft and the aftermath

I had booked a hotel on the Internet so as to a) be close to my meeting the next morning (the picture of the hotel on the Internet looked fine) and b) not spend a lot of money on a “branded” hotel and also not to have to take a taxi since I could walk it. In line with b) above ($$) I took the train from the airport (flew in from Berlin) to one of the main train stations in the City, then a long walk to the Metro (subway) station. Pulling 2 bags. Wearing jacket (unneeded, as Brussels was plenty warm). Hot and sweaty, I carried the bags down a flight of stairs to the subway platform. Now hotter and sweatier.

On the platform a nice man began wiping something brown (you can guess what it was) off the back of my shirt and pants. I turned around to push him away and when I turned back, my computer bag was gone. I turned back and the “nice man” behind me was gone. Later I would find that my wallet was also absent. No need for a detailed list of everything in the computer bag, but that was where I always put all of my most important items. But not this time. For unknown reasons I had put my passport in my pant front pocket. Still had that.

I tried to find a policeman, but no luck. I did not know for sure what stop was nearest my hotel. That was in the bag. I studied the metro wall chart and found a stop whose name seemed right. I had a lot of useful info on my phone, but the battery was dead. When I exited the Metro pulling my one bag, my hotel was not to be seen. Checked a couple of shops. No one knew it. I noticed the street was not so clean and the shops a bit “seedy.” I found a bar with a nice lady owner and 1 customer. She helped me identify the hotel and how to walk there. Later she would find a charger for my cell phone.

As I walked to the hotel, it was clear that this was an area with lots of prostitutes. The hotel appeared clean, but Spartan. As I begin unpacking, I realized my wallet was gone! I raced to the hotel desk (actually a desk, like you see at OfficeMax). No wallet. No phone. No computer. No critical papers. I walked back to the metro with offer after offer from a gauntlet of a dozen or more women: lost souls – victims themselves, with painted smiles on painted faces. Every one of them was someone’s little girl. Broke my heart. When I found the original bar (the owners young friend spoke some English!) the owner went next door and found a charger I could use to get my phone back on. I called Janice to ask her to communicate with people in McKinney to pray for me. I also sent a quick email from my phone to the group to which I communicate while traveling, asking them pray.

I really did not yet have a plan and had not really identified my options (see below: “Is God really enough?”).

Another customer of the bar had shown up and flagged down the police. One English speaker, one not. I told my story as best I knew it. They offered to take me to the police station. I had no better plan, so it sounded good. Upon arrival, I was told to “sit over there”. I was able to sit, but not able to really think very clearly. I knew my situation was pretty dismal (again, see below). An older records clerk walked my way and then sort of shouted, “they are bringing your bag!” Clearly she did not understand. I did not bring my remaining bag with me: it was in my hotel room. When I tried to help her understand, she helped me understand: it was my lost bag!

“Is there anything in it?” I posed, still reeling and trying my best to evaluate the extent of loss. ”It’s coming. Then you can see for yourself.” Short and clear response. I sat back down, having been ordered to do so by a flick of her head.

In they walked in (Mohamed and Gregory I would later learn) pulling my bag. Not too much damage that I could see. But they pulled it like a feather and I immediately guessed pretty well all had been taken. Like a mother reunited with a lost child begins by examining all body part to assure herself the child – and all of the child’s pieces and parts – were returned, I started my examination: computer . . . there, my daily medications . . . there, my sleep machine (I have sleep apnea) . . . there, papers, notes and material . . . all there. Was this possible? Mohamed said he had never seen a laptop ever recovered. Bags – usually empty or nearly so – but not laptop computers. He even had a security picture of the young woman who found the bag one stop down from the theft walking to turn it in (see below).

The rest of the story has some interesting and miraculous details. But for me, the miracle were these two “ordinary” cops, who spent the next hour or more taking me to the US Embassy, my original hotel to fetch my bags since I had no credit card to pay for the room (they even went to my room to help me pack and to “explain“ to the clerk I needed to change to a hotel proposed by the Embassy), then drive across Brussels with lights flashing and several flavors of sirens being used. It was like a French movie with subtitles. I was in the back seat, unsure if they had forgotten that I was not a “bad guy” or perhaps they were just wanting to get rid of me as quickly as possible.

With my new best friends, the police, beside me again, the Crowne Plaza gave me a 60% discount and took my promise to pay the next day when some money would be wired to me (thanks, Rodney!). We said good night and I went to my room to get all the credit cards turned off via Skype phone calls.

The room phone rang. It was Mohamed and Gregory back with a signed and sealed police report to use for insurance or anything else. I asked them for their names and contact info. Impulsively, I hugged them Suddenly, we were all a bit uncomfortable.

There is more, actually a lot more, that happened as a result of the events that began on the Metro platform. But that is another story for another time. But now, what did I learn?

Lessons learned

1. Only time will validate that lessons have truly been learned from our life experiences

2. We need others far more than we might think: the lady who owned the bar and got me a phone charger, her young friend who spoke some English, her patron who flagged down the police, the young lady who found the bag and gave it to police, all the police personnel, especially Mohamed and Gregory, the front desk staff at the Crowne Plaza, Rodney Cavett, the President of IC who wired me some funds, 4 pastors in Brussels who paid for my cab, took me to get my wired funds, fed me lunch, and returned me to my hotel to check out, then finally to the train station for my train to the airport. I needed every one of them. Like an orchestra, each had a note to play in the symphony of my distress, and each played their part well. Their music was beautiful!

The young woman returning my bag (from a surveillance camera)

3. It makes a huge difference to know that people all over the world believe in the power and value of prayer and also pray for the specific needs of others.

4. Prostitutes are someone’s daughter, someone’s sister, someone’s mother. My heart was broken as I looked at them and saw them as Jesus might have: women, people, that He loves as dearly as my own daughter and granddaughters, and that He gave himself as a ransom for them. Justice is not a ministry; it is people.

5. Problems tend to cause other problems. Breaking the cycle is essential! . . . . but difficult

6. Rethink assumptions: I was sure that my small bag would always be with me, but my large bag was at risk since I was checking it for my flights. As it turned out, the opposite was true.

7. Keep the cell phone fully charged

8. Others may need my help; watch for them

9. Even well-seasoned travelers stumble; sometimes it is their fault, sometimes at the hand of others

10. Know what is essential and what only appears to be essential. My passport, my identity, proved to be more important than anything else because it was the foundation for everything else I needed.

Is God really enough??

The most significant and lingering question for me, “Is God really enough?”, remains embedded in my mind and heart. For years, it has been easy to say, easy to sing and easy to profess to others that for me, certainly, God is enough. But when the life entered the crucible and my only resource was my identity (aka passport) and God, my easy professions were put to the test. I had nothing and I note that while this was a temporary condition for me, it is a constant circumstance for many in the world. His peace was my companion. I believe He led me to others who volunteered to be Jesus with skin on for me.

Is God really enough? He is. He is enough for the grand Capitol Cities of Europe; He is enough for the marginalized street people of every kind; He is enough for me. The haunting new question for me: “Am I enough for God?”

Beautiful Stockholm

Pix around Stockholm, around Tracie’s house, and the family:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Video of the girls:

Have you spotted a blue parakeet?

A friend asked me to post the books Janice and I are reading.  I am happy to do so.  This is a book that is transformational in “how we read the Bible.”  Janice wrote the review . . . .

The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible

By Scot McKnight

c. 2008 by Zondervan

Sometimes a strange visitor like a neighbor’s pet blue parakeet, an individual who speaks and acts in an unfamiliar way, or a different idea will insert itself into our lives quite unexpectedly.  We may wish it would go away, facilitate its departure, or even ignore it, but we dare not try to cage it.  North Park University professor Scot McKnight likens certain biblical passages to the blue parakeet he found in his backyard.  How the sparrows in McKnight’s yard responded to the blue parakeet mimics how we often read and respond to the confusing and controversial verses we find in the Bible.

 “How are we to live out the Bible today?” That is the big question all Christians must ultimately answer, says Scot McKnight.  “Every one of us adapts the Bible to our culture.  We adopt and adapt, pick and choose.”  McKnight runs through a dozen or so specific biblical examples where serious and sincere believers have adopted and adapted differently—Sabbath, tithing, foot washing, charismatic gifts, surrendering possessions, capital punishment, war, and women in ministry, to name a few.

McKnight deals with the how and why of what we choose from the Bible to apply to today.  He does so in such an entertaining, humble, and reasoned way that even the most stubborn “the-Bible-says-it-I-believe-it-that-settles-it” Christian can understand that even he or she selectively practices “what the Bible says.”   McKnight examines the many methods people use to read the Bible–as a law book, book of promises, inkblots to personally interpret, or a puzzle to solve.   “Until we learn to read the Bible as Story, we will not know how to get anything out of the Bible for daily living,” McKnight concludes. 

God gave us the Bible in order to transform us, and He wants us to move the biblical principles into our relationships, character, and action.  That process is called discernment.  McKnight says that as we read the Bible and locate each item in its place in the Story, “we discern—through the Holy Spirit and in the context of our community of faith—a pattern of how to live the old way in a new day.  Biblical principles are trans-cultural, but specific expressions are not.”

Paul himself is an example of how the people of the Bible read the Bible that they had—with discernment.  Paul read the Bible as the gospel story, and that principle shaped everything he said and did.  Paul’s ways (all things to all people) seem messy, contradictory, and chameleon-like to those who read the Bible seeking to retrieve biblical practices for application today.  But, to those who understand that Paul submitted his every act and idea to the principle of what would further the gospel the most, Paul’s methods seem Spirit-led, congruous, and pertinent.

In his concise (230 pages) and well-organized book, McKnight uses metaphors, personal examples, stories from his students, and historical data to illustrate his points.  One case study he uses throughout the book and in a special section in the last one hundred pages of The Blue Parakeet is “Women in Church Ministries.”  McKnight looks at critical biblical passages that deal with this controversial topic following his advice on how to read the Bible.

Jesus was a “blue parakeet” to the people of his day, and the Bible itself is filled with “blue parakeet” verses.  What happens when we encounter these passages in the Bible will determine how we read the Bible, and more importantly, how we live it.

 Book review by Janice Byrd (March 2009)

Rating:  *****

Blessed are the Meek

When I read the Beatitudes in Matthew as an American, as a child, and maybe even as a young adult, that verse “Blessed are the meek” always seemed to be a glorification being a sissy.  That’s right.  I have said it:  sissy.  Perhaps others had shared these thoughts too, giving rise to the sad and sappy looking Jesus from the paintings of the middle ages.

Several years ago, I heard from a preacher (sorry, I don’t remember his name to blame or give credit to) that the word used for “meek” was related to the word used for a bridle that would be put on a horse.  This raises another memory.

My favorite childhood Saturday morning TV serial was a show called “Fury”.  It was about this wild stallion (conveniently named Fury, of course) that everyone feared.  But a little orphan boy who had been shipped off to a nearby ranch was able not only make friends with fury, but was able to put a bridle with a bit on the black stallion. The little boy weighed a hundred pounds soaking wet, while Fury was more like 1,200 or 1,500 pounds. The stallion willingly submitted to bridle.  In fact he almost seemed to welcome it.  All that power, willingly subdued by a bridle.

My dad was like that.  Clifford Byrd was bridled:  kind to all, careful in his choice of works, easy to love, gracious to all.

He willingly was bridled by many:  God (and His Holy Spirit), his dear friend Jesus, my mom (now there was one wild pony!), his boys, his extended family.  Well, in fact he was kind to everyone he ever met.  And I mean everyone.

His strength was on reserve.  It showed in multiple ways.  My favorite two were told to me by my mom, after dad slipped ahead to Heaven.

Shortly after they were married, he did something my mom didn’t like.  According to her, “she flew into him like a mad wet hen.”  She said he don’t not interrupt her at all.  When her stack was fully blown, he said simply, “Well, I hope that made you feel better.  But it did not make feel better at all.”  Mom said she felt an inch tall.  His strength (and compassion) for her obviated the need for a fiery response.  The bridle and the bit harnessed his response.

When their first baby, named Billy, was stillborn at 9 months.  My dad went out near the landlord’s peach tree by himself and buried his baby boy.  The strength he displayed in “fulfilling his duties” render me almost speechless.

In 1912, on July 30^th, my dad and his twin brother, clyde, were born.  Clyde died of appendicitus at 5 years.  Dad would have been 97 this year.  He died 20 years ago this past January.  Has it been that long? 

For more than 20 years I have been trying learn to wear that bridle he wore so easily (was it easy, or did he just make it seem so?).  Clearly it is too big for me.  But still, I keep trying to grow into it.  Yet this one thing I know . . . .

Blessed are the meek.

So, Dad, it seems you ran on ahead.  Way before I was ready for you to leave the world in our hands.  Well, it won’t be long.  I will see you soon.  I love the bridle.

Love to you (and mom),

Jerry

Redemption at the Oscars!

By now pretty much everyone know the results of the OSCAR® awards from the U.S. Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Science: Slumdog Millionaire received the OSCAR® for best movie as well as being nominated for 9 more, winning 8 of 10 of its nominations.

But, why? Why does this film resonate so incredibly powerful to a sub-culture of those who voted for this film, time and again?  This is especially significant considering that those who are engaged in the film industry are often thought to be far from God?

I think I know. Or at least would like to posit my theory (while trying desperately not to spoil the movie for those who have not seen it).

At this point I may need to issue a warning: the film is rated R. Not for explicit sex or even horrific violence. The official word is “some violence, disturbing images and language”. If heart-breaking = disturbing, and that merits an R, then so be it. My wife seldom goes to R rated movies, but relented on this one.

I believe this film resonates because it is God’s magnificent story. It is a story for which our culture hungers and thirsts. Even Hollywood. Even the rich and famous. Grace and redemption slakes the spiritual thirst born into every mouth, hidden in every heart.

Slumdog Millionaire is a story of redemption, of God’s unending pursuit of His Love. That would be me. And you. And all his creation. Pursuing us like Francis Thompson’s Hound of Heaven, regardless the scars of separation and sin that we bear.

He endures it all. All the suffering, humiliation, torture and shame is down payment for the redemption of his Love. Then it ends. In heaven. Or is that just the beginning of another story, one of God’s really big stories?

A Call to Embrace Fundamental Change

I have heard it.  I have said it myself.  “The methods may change, but the message must never change.”  I have even taught it.  It is in a presentation that I have used all around Europe.

I apologize.  I haven’t really thought or believed that sentiment in quite some time.  Probably should have ’fessed up sooner. Let me tell you “why”; then I will share what I am thinking now.  Pastor Brian McLaren took a tour around the USA that was called the “Everything Must Change Tour”.  He is right.

Think about it.  What if our message, our ideas, our thoughts, our thought framework, our beliefs don’t ever change?  It means we have not grown in any of these areas!  Like the little boys sitting on the porch crying over the discovery that everywhere has been discovered, and there are no more new frontiers.  We sort of pity their naiveté, their childishness.

When we have said “the message must never change” we inadvertently confuse the message, the messenger and the Source of it all.  I go with God being the same “yesterday, today and forever.”  Of course this seems to fly in the face of scriptures that say God “repented”, “changed His mind”, etc.  Those who say they understand all there is to understand about the Bible might have some difficulty explaining how God changes his mind when they do not.  But that is for another time.

The message changes because the messenger changes.  And messengers are imperfect.  Very imperfect.

Growth, both personal and corporate, demands a willingness to change, even fundamentally.  As I reflect on my own spiritual growth over the last several years, I see several areas of fundamental change.

1.      The nature of the church – I have fundamentally changed my thoughts of “church”.  Long ago I shifted from thinking of church as a place, but more recently I have shifted from it being a gathering and now think of church as being a people unleashed and engaged in a work of spiritual and relational transformation of other people, of society and of culture.  The Kingdom is the universal church and the Kingdom encompasses people, society and culture, which includes all of creation.  The local church is a geographic expression of that, but which has the world on its heart.  The church is called less to worship than to be agents of transformation and change, just as Jesus demonstrated.

 

Next writing:  Fundamental change in 2. Evangelism

 

The “Whole Story”

Some have asked about the wisdom of passing on the “whole story” about the difficulties some have experienced on an outreach project in Ireland.  For sure, I am not too wise, so I could be, and many times in the past have been, wrong.  Let me provide a bit of context that may be helpful.

 

One team on the Ireland project was in a church planting situation.  Although IC (International Commission) is a church-to-church ministry, upon occasion, various circumstances have led us to work without a host church.  Such was the case for the team in Dungloe.  The other teams in Ireland had a host church.  They too are experincing few traditional “commitments to Christ.”  Yet the tone of their emails and conversations were significantly more upbeat.

 

I think the reason for this is that theLord provides refreshing fellowship with the saints and the guest teams’ role is a dual one: reaching out to those who are far from God and at the same time providing love and refreshing fellowship to the sometimes-weary saints who labor in the hosting church.  It helps the host remember that they are not alone, but a whole host of fellow believers in other cultures are lifting them in prayer and love.

 

 

The takeaway from this insight is a call to action:  pray for our weary brothers and sisters in churches where the ministry is hard and also pray for many dear folks to live and serve alone, buildling the body of Christ with few (or none) to share “family” fellowship.

 

 

Let me share one more thing.  Albert Einstein is credited for having said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome.”  I wonder if it is time for us to step back and look at our methods and approaches to reach out to those who are far from God in the light of a minimal response?  This would be true not only of Ireland, but also any other place where the results are not as expected or wanted, including the rest of Europe and in much of the U.S.  If what is being done is not effective, then by all means, let’s look to other strategies.

 

This is why we see more and more people and more and more churches in Europe (and in America and in other parts of the world) moving to a “high touch” approach that emphasizes relationship and conversation over encounter and invitation.

 

Perhaps it is time to take up the serious business of re-inventing the communities of God-followers called the church.