Monday, May 12, 2008

Politics as usual


I know you´re all ready for the Nov. election to come, but you just think you have it bad. Here in the Dominican Republic not only is the TV saturated with political ads, so are the radio and the streets--everywhere you look there are billboards, signs on posts, signs on walls and fences, even signs on drain pipes (they´ve been there so long they´ve been painted over several times now--at least 2 years that I know). Each political party has their own color, or set of colors, harking back to the days when many were illiterate, just mark the color of your party and that brings up a whole array of other political propaganda--banners, T-shirts, hats, even buildings painted the purple of the governing party.



Of course no political campaign in the Caribbean would be complete without the political caravan. The candidate gathers together as many cars, trucks, and other vehicles as they can (here they even pay them so much a head to be in their parade) at various points and over the course of 3-4 hours drives around collecting them all, so they end up with a caravan stretching several miles long, which can tie up traffic for hours. In the Virgin Islands they drive from one end of island to another, here they drive from one side of the capital to the other. Of course there must be music in the caravan--this truck is one of many and some suggest that liquor is also involved at every stop.



Dominicanos were glad when the president was elected with 53 % of the vote--that meant there would be no runoff, which would have meant another 45 days of this nonsense. Yes, the morados won.



I am fascinated where people will turn looking for a purpose in life, or just some excitement. The president of a country has an effect on the lives of the citizens, but the most far reaching consequences can only affect us while we live on this earth. People will turn out in droves to watch their candidate pass by but don't "have time" to study God's Word.

Do we have our priorities out of whack, or what?

Tol

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Depending on the circumstances

I was just in St. Lucia with one of the largest churches in the lesser Antilles—counting the children of members, they number 200, with 165-170 most Sunday mornings. When Brother Solomon began this work some years ago he made the decision to work primarily in areas in and around Castries, the capital. His goal was to have one strong church, rather than 4 or 5 small churches that were barely hanging on and it has turned out well. Besides the brethren with their personal vehicles who pick others up for services, they hire a taxi bus ($375 a month) to bring the rest.

This week I’m in the Dominican Republic, a country of almost 9 million people. The capital, Santo Domingo, is home to over 4 million, so you can imagine what the traffic is like. As brethren move farther away from downtown, to be able to afford housing, it can take them an hour or more to get to services downtown. The obvious result is that big downtown churches are losing members to what were once smaller churches on the outskirts and new churches are being started often. In the area where I’m staying there are at least 20 brethren, who presently attend 3 or 4 different churches. They now have a Bible study on Mon. night and are discussing whether to begin a church in this area. This is the norm here, where transportation is always an issue—not only the money, but even more the time.

Some people would be very upset, because if there’s only one way to do things right, one of these two methods is wrong. But these two different methods both work in their respective cultures, because the circumstances are different. As Christians we need the flexibility to do whatever is scriptural first, and then whatever works best in a particular situation. What works in St. Lucia may not work nearly as well in Santo Domingo, and vice versa.

Is it any different with people? Jesus condemned the Pharisees harshly yet was gentle with the woman taken in adultery. Why? He knew one was a hypocrite and the other was weak. Did the woman not know that adultery was a sin? Didn’t she realize that she could be killed if caught?

Today it’s tempting to let brethren who are weak “have it”. “They should know better than that. I KNOW they’ve heard that before.” Maybe they should know it, maybe their body was present when it was preached, but their mind was out golfing, or fishing, or working. If they didn’t get it in a group setting, why not try to teach them one on one? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been told, “they know that” only to talk to “them” and realize, no “they” don’t know that.

When dealing with those who are weak we need to look beyond the symptoms and get at the heart of the matter—their faith is weak. Since faith comes by hearing what they need is study, not necessarily lectures. On the other hand those who are strong, but rebellious need another kind of treatment—they need to be reproved so they will change.

We all have methods and ways we’re comfortable working with others. But those methods may not work with everyone. We have to adapt ourselves to them, not force them to adapt to us—“I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.”

Tol Burk

Friday, May 09, 2008

Santo Domingo--The way we were




Every time I return to Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic I’m reminded of the “good old days” as some are wont to say. Every morning the water truck comes through the neighborhood—it has about a 2,000 gal. tank of purified water and will sell it by the gallon. A little later come a couple of different vegetable trucks—local potatoes, carrots, cabbages, tomatoes, some kind of peppers and of course plantains—the saying goes, “In Santo Domingo they’re never short on plantains.” On the main roads you’ll see horse drawn wagons with produce, mangos, cherries, bananas, etc. Many go to the supermarket for their major grocery shopping but every block or two there’s a little grocery shop that stocks the basics— rice, beans, coffee, salt, milk, etc. Some of them still sell on credit, although most of them now require a deposit. And yes, there are still vegetable markets as well as some meat markets like that in the picture.

I don’t remember those “good old days” but I remember well some of the other joys of island living—the power is off at least a few minutes every day and last night we ate supper by candle light—no romance intended. We ran out of water today before the water truck came, but it was only for a few hours. The “joys” of bathing out a bucket, flushing the toilet with a bucket take me back to St. Croix. Here you know your neighbors—they come to visit, or you go there.

Yet it’s not all “old” most people have cell phones, at least one TV, there are internet shops everywhere, and many have their own car. In a strange mix of old and the new yesterday I saw a horse pulling a wagon and noticed the “blinders” it had were Styrofoam food boxes. And of course they were on the highway with the rest of us—there are not too many bridges across the River Ozama.

While many things are different the brethren are the same. I was received as a family member, even by those I’ve never met. To those I know I’m more like a long last family member. Everyone wants to feed you, or at least give you juice or coffee. They want to know about “the family” and the church where I preach. Some brethren are very serious about the Gospel, while others are just there. Some sing well and some not so well. There are good brethren and there are some not so good.

The Gospel works just as well in Santo Domingo as it does anywhere else—it fits in every culture and every time.

Tol Burk

Sunday, May 04, 2008

A matter of perspective

On your right are some of the most famous landmarks in St. Lucia--The Pitons. These two mountain peaks run straight down to the ocean and are quite impressive--I've seen them from the north side of St. Vincent 20 or more miles away (I thought I would see them on my trip to St. Lucia, but it didn't happen. I was promised that next time we would make sure.) From this photo can you guess the distance between the two pitons?

In reality they're something like 10 miles apart, with a large bay in between them--if you were to take a land route from one to the other it would be well over 20 miles. But from this perspective they don't look that far apart.

The fairly obvious application is that often times our perspective causes us to misjudge things--other people's motives, actions, etc. Even more damaging spiritually is our tendency to overvalue the things of this world and under value heaven. We must be in the Word so we keep our perspective clear.

Tol Burk

Sweet but short

I was in St. Lucia a couple of weeks ago and the mangos were just ripening--there's nothing like a good, tree ripened, native mango. It's a taste like no other--sweet, kind of creamy, the only thing near its taste is kenep, which doesn't help most of you, since you don't know it either.

I noticed on one of the trees the remains of a mango--it has a huge seed and that was about all that was left, but it was still hanging there. The birds had gotten to this one before the people and it had been picked clean. I've seen hornets do the same thing, although it takes them a couple of days.

Now what's the point, you ask. There is nothing sweeter than a mango, but it doesn't last long--someone will eat, whether man or beast. It's "life" is only a few days once it matures. In the same way James compares our life to a vapor--here today, gone tomorrow.

Are you ready to meet God today?

Tol