Monday, June 23, 2008

Crossing the Equator

I've been in Bolivia a few days now and it´s been an adjustment. It has been cloudy ever since I got here, with temperatures in the 50's. Since I forgot to pack a jacket I had to go shopping for one right away and I've had it on most of the time I've been awake since then. I'm not accustomed to being cold in 2nd world countries--quite the opposite. A southern system blew in Sat. AM which here is cold, not hot.

I have spent 3-4 hours at least every day with the 1 or 2 brethren there are, studying as their knowledge is very basic. There were 11 of us for worship Sunday, including the 2 kids. They need lots of prayers, as they begin meeting again after 4 years or so. There are a couple of young ladies who are contemplating baptism. Please remember the church in Santa Cruz, Bolivia in your prayers.

Tol

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Who's in charge????

I'm in the Miami airport. I should have arrived in Bolivia about 8 hours ago, but many flights to/from Miami were cancelled yesterday, so instead of arriving here last night I arrived at 5:30 this morning. Miami had really bad weather yesterday, so at least 3 flights to San Juan were cancelled. From the reaction of my fellow passengers, I got the impression some were thinking, "Who's in charge here, anyway?" As Christians we know who's really in charge, and it's not mankind. God is the one who not only created us, but the one who keeps it all going.

When we really come to understand that God is in charge, it makes it so much easier for us. We have all heard that "our job is to sow the seed. God will give the increase." yet if we're not careful, when someone rejects God's Word we take it as a personal rejection. When we fully accept that God is in charge, we understand that it's not me they're rejecting, but Him.

We can also give our best and let it go at that. It is said that during the darkest days of Martin Luther's break with the Roman Catholic church that he became very depressed. It got so bad that one morning his wife dressed all in black and went about the house obviously mourning. When Luther finally inquired who she was mourning, she said it was God. "What do you mean, you're mourning for God?" She replied that since he was so depressed because his efforts to reform the church didn't seem to be having much success, she assumed that God MUST be dead, since the success or failure of truth depended solely on Luther's efforts (or so he seemed to think).

This dramatic gesture had the desired effect--Luther remembered that God was still in charge and he let God defend His Word. Brethren, we need to remember the same thing. By the way my flight to Bolivia is now delayed 40 minutes, but I won't worry about that--God is in charge of that, not me.

Tol

Sunday, June 01, 2008

Telling the "truth"????

CNN exclusive exit polls of voter in Puerto Rico were broadcast today and since I live in Puerto Rico I was curious to see what they would say. They did get right that Hillary would win the primary, which she did handily. From there on out it was very interesting.



According to those polled, 40 % attend church once a week and another 47 % attend regularly. If you add these numbers up, that means that 87 % of all those surveyed here attend church at least once a month and half of that number attend every week. We live on a typical street in a typical neighborhood in Puerto Rico, in Bayamon, a city of 224,000 that is part of the San Juan metro area. Our street is small--only 35-40 houses, but out of those 35 houses we are the only ones who attend church regularly, much less once a week. From my dealings with others in the urbanization (neighborhood to you) I don't think the numbers would be much different on other streets. So according to my unscientific, but real observations, I would say that only 13 % attend church even regularly, which is the opposite of the polls.

Why, you ask would people lie about something like this? At the risk of being annoying, let me say that "It's a Caribbean thing; you wouldn't understand". Very few people in the Eastern Caribbean will refuse a Bible study--they may not "have time" or "I'm a bit busy right now" but you just don't reject God or "church". The poll question was quite impolite in the first place, so do you really expect most people to acknowledge something that is culturally inexcusable. I don't remember the exact setting last week, but I was in a group of people discussing "church" and "christianity" when a lady remarked to me, "We're all Christians, aren't we?" Only in the sense that "we all" acknowledge there is a God. Years ago I asked a woman in Mexico if she was a Christian. Her reply is still with me, "What do you think? That we're animals? Of course we're Christians." She wasn't, but her definition of Christian was all those who acknowledge there is a God, no matter how they live.

We laugh about people "lieing" like that, but haven't you lied to yourself about your actions? I say to yourself because God knows what the real reason for our actions are. We can justify our actions, dress them up pretty, or even flat out lie about them, but the God of heaven is not deceived. He will judge us fairly, knowing the truth.

Tol