Grandma's witness

Our culture values youth and beauty over age and experience. But look at what this 92-year-old woman, who was definitely not too old to be of value, did:

Black irises

Edna has to bring her magnifying glass to every Bible study but she hasn't missed a meeting in over a year. During the weekly discussion, she holds her Bible closely to her face, the magnifier mashed against her nose, and follows along, her shoulders bowed over the book.

She doesn't say much during the studies so I was surprised when she asked if we could all sit for a moment while she brought something to show us. A couple of minutes later, she rolled her walker back into the room with a flower vase in hand.

"Have any of you ever seen a black iris?" she asked. We hadn't but we all crowded in close to see the flowers. "They just cut these down," she said excitedly, pointing to the back of the property where the gardener had been cleaning out some debris.

Edna had rescued the irises from the trash pile. But she has that kind of heart. Earlier this spring, she'd planted a few petunias into an empty flower pot in the courtyard. And she'd secured a spot for a geranium when another pot sat empty.

Edna is 92 years old and shuffles with the help of her walker. But she hauled pitchers of waters out to the courtyard daily to tend to the seeds she'd planted.

"I've had flowers my whole life," she explained to the group, grinning broadly.

Jesus reminded his disciples that the flowers don't work or worry, yet they are clothed in beauty. Edna was God's hand to the rare irises last week and I think that she, too, is clothed in God's beauty.

Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.

Luke 12:27

The greater hunger

Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat.

Mother Teresa

The Sichuan China earthquake

Please take a look at this Powerpoint display illustrating the devastation of the earthquake in Sichuan, China. This information came from a missionary serving Chinese studying in America. If you have further questions, please e-mail him at dave.mennen@uscm.org

You'll need to use the forward button to step through the slides.

Although some of the text is in Chinese, I think you'll be able to see the agony of such a horrible tragedy. Please keep these people in your prayers.

In Uganda

In a sign of the times, a group on a Compassion International trip to Uganda are blogging their trip for us. Take a look:

Judging Jenny

You may know Jenny’s story better than I do, but it’s familiar to all of us. Jenny was not only pretty but talented and drew lots of attention from admirers during junior high and high school. She never lacked for boyfriends, opportunities or invitations to parties.

You know where this is going. The parties became an obsession. First it was the drinking (“Everybody does it,” she reasoned. “Harmless.”) Then she sampled some pot. Eventually her family was devastated to hear she was hooked on meth, making bizarre upsetting decisions.

Their once-beautiful daughter was skeletal, eyes sunk deep in her face and a twitch wracking her hands. While they raged, she digging herself deeper into addictions and a bad batch of friends.

Once the "Jennys" were the backstreet junkies but now they are the cheerleader, the quarterback, the poet. Maybe they’re in the youth group or at our family reunion.

What to do? I’m not trained as a counselor and I don’t run a detox unit. But in crisis, I can stand up for troubled youth, supporting them in love and prayer and directing them to resources equipped to help them.

I remember well Paul’s words to the Romans, who were disgusted with the sensual lusting of others: “Those people are on a dark spiral downward. But if you think that leaves you on the high ground where you can point your finger at others, think again. Every time you criticize someone, you condemn yourself.” (Romans 2:1 The Message)

To a woman caught in the act of adultery, Jesus said, “Neither do I [condemn you]. Go now and leave your life of sin.” (John 8:11)

Rather than judging, we ought to be pointing the way to life and restoration.

You do probably know Jenny’s story well. Because her real name is Britney Spears.

Winter fire

"Any one thinking of the Holy Child as born in December would mean by it exactly what we mean by it; that Christ is not merely a summer sun of the prosperous but a winter fire for the unfortunate."
- G.K. Chesteron, The New Jerusalem

The Draw-Four syndrome

I first noticed it during a game Uno. You know Uno, right? That card game where you match colors or numbers. Its specialty is the “Draw Four” cards that, when played, load up an opponent’s hands with new cards. There’s a newer version now where a electronic device can spit out one-to-a-bunch of cards to the forlorn opponent.

It’s great fun with friends and family.

But one day many years ago, I sat down to play it with friends and found no great relish in slamming down the “Draw Four” card. It made me sort of… well, squeamish. I held it til the end of the game.

That was when I realized that something had happened inside of me, for I had never before hesitated to do what it took to win.

How has the Spirit changed you?

Once as a child, I had organized a little circus for our parents. The backstage area was my bedroom and so my siblings and I rushed in and out of the doorway to present our various acts to our audience. In doing so, my youngest brother and I met in the doorway. As we crashed through, I banged his head against the jamb. In my next rush past, I found him sitting on the floor in tears.

My response? The show must go on! I was disgusted with his weakness and tried to prod him to get his act going.

The Spirit had some work to do.

That’s why the Uno game so surprised me. A tenderness rose like a thin tendril of smoke from my heart, something new to me.

Last night, at a church Thanksgiving feast, God sat me down beside a developmentally-challenged woman who, at age 55, is hoping to find a job at McDonald’s while fighting her sister’s charge that she is retarded. “I am not!” she insists. She loves her son but hasn’t seen him in years. She can’t drive and hurt her hip recently, so walking is a challenge.

Last night, I listened. This from the self-willed girl who believed you won by grabbing life by the horns and bulldogging it to the ground, no matter who got slammed in the process.

This was the Spirit in me. I am amazed every day. I couldn’t manufacture this compassion and once didn’t see why I should want to. I am changed.

So, it’s your turn. How has the Spirit changed you? How are you amazed?

Pouring out living water

The day was probably hot and dry by midday. The woman was thirsty, coming to the well to fetch water.

We know some things about her: she was a foreigner, confused about her religious beliefs even as she clung to the tradition in them, feeling shame and the disapproval of her community. Why else would she have been drawing water at noon when all the women drew water in the morning? She came to avoid the disapproving tongues.

Jesus chose to enter her domain. Most people shunned this woman. While most Jews made a special point of avoiding Samaria – going out of their way to stay out of the hated land – Jesus went out of his way to talk to this woman.

He offered her water that never ran out – the answer to her problems. But while her mind probably flew to the condemnation of her village, Jesus talked about forgiveness and restoration.

Yesterday I raised the topic of Muslim prayer in our town. Should the school board allow Muslims to leave class for regular prayer? How should the Christians respond?

Jesus didn’t boycott the Samaritan religion or condemn it. He jumped right in with both feet, meeting this woman on her turf and talking about life in terms she understood. By the time he was done, this woman and her village had found the Messiah. Revival broke out in a Samaritan town that had been infiltrated by a Jewish rabbi.

I’m still putting the pieces together but I’m looking at Jesus’ life. How would he respond to Muslims praying in a school setting? How did he respond to a Samaritan woman with a skewed religion? He loved her, talked her language, and directed her to the truth.

I think there’s something in that I need to learn.

Whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

John 4:14

Friday Five: the Compassion of Jesus

Five instances of Jesus' tenderness to people:

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

Matt 9:36

Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.

Matt 20:34

Jesus wept.

Then the Jews said,

"See how he loved him!"

John 11:35-36

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.

2 Cor 8:9

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin.

Heb 4:15