A Powerful Illustration

I found this post on a blog I follow called Take Your Vitamin Z and loved it so much that I had to post it on my own blog.  What a powerful illustration of what Christ has done for us!

From John Ortberg’s God Is Closer Than You Think:

Father Damien was a priest who became famous for his willingness to serve lepers. He moved to Kalawao – a village on the island of Molokai, in Hawaii, that had been quarantined to serve as a leper colony. For 16 years, he lived in their midst. He learned to speak their language. He bandaged their wounds, embraced the bodies no one else would touch, preached to hearts that would otherwise have been left alone. He organized schools, bands, and choirs. He built homes so that the lepers could have shelter. He built 2,000 coffins by hand so that, when they died, they could be buried with dignity. Slowly, it was said, Kalawao became a place to live rather than a place to die, for Father Damien offered hope.

Father Damien was not careful about keeping his distance. He did nothing to separate himself from his people. He dipped his fingers in the poi bowl along with the patients. He shared his pipe. He did not always wash his hands after bandaging open sores. He got close. For this, the people loved him.

Then one day he stood up and began his sermon with two words: “We lepers….”

Now he wasn’t just helping them. Now he was one of them. From this day forward, he wasn’t just on their island; he was in their skin. First he had chosen to live as they lived; now he would die as they died. Now they were in it together.

One day God came to Earth and began his message: “We lepers….” Now he wasn’t just helping us. Now he was one of us. Now he was in our skin. Now we were in it together.

Berlin

I am a little behind on my blog and slideshows as I have been out of town recently in Minnesota visiting my family.  So here I am taking a day to try and catch up on what I've been doing in the last few weeks.  In early November Matt and I took our first trip to the capital city of Berlin.  As I've said before  I really like visiting the country of Germany as it is a beautiful place with good food, friendly people, reasonable prices, and fascinating history.  During this trip we took a guided walking tour through Berlin, hitting all the major historical sites.  It was fascinating to see the remnants of the wall and hear about what it was like when it came down from our German guide who was there at the time.  I also really enjoyed seeing the Brandenberg Gate, the Reichstag, and hearing all the history having to do with the Nazis, Hitler, the Soviets, the Americans, the East and West division, how the wall came down, and the reunification after the wall came down.  My favorite site to visit in Berlin was Checkpoint Charlie which was the most famous crossing point between East Germany and West Germany during the Cold War.  I especially liked hearing the story about the standoff between the American and Soviet tanks.  You will see all these sites plus a whole lot of yummy German food on the slideshow.  Enjoy!

My Sisters

Here is a picture of me and my beloved sisters from my recent trip to Minnesota.

Collision

I just returned from Minnesota where I spent two weeks visiting my family. While there I picked up the dvd documentary "Collision" which I have been anxious to see. The documentary includes public debates, discussions, and interviews with Christian preacher and author Douglas Wilson and anti-theist author Christopher Hitchens. "Is Christianity Good for the World?" is the theme with the topics of truth, beauty, and goodness framing it. The documentary is very well done and quite interesting to watch, particularly the closing remarks made by Hitchens. I could go on and on about it but I will refrain so as not to spoil it for you. Here is a clip to whet your appetite!

COLLISION - 13 min VIMEO Exclusive Sneak Peek from Collision Movie on Vimeo.

Piper on Filling Up the Afflictions of Christ

But the most amazing thing about Colossians 1:24 is how Paul fills up Christ's afflictions. He says that it is his own sufferings that fill up Christ's afflictions. "I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake,and in my flash I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions." That means then, that Paul exhibits the sufferings of Christ by suffering himself by those he is trying to win. In his sufferings they see Christ's sufferings.

Here is the astounding upshot: God intends for the afflictions of Christ to be presented to the world through the afflictions of his people. God really means for the body of Christ, the church, to experience some of the suffering he experienced so that when we proclaim the cross as the way to life, people will see the marks of the cross in us and feel the love of the cross from us. Our calling is to make the afflictions of Christ real for people by the afflictions we experience in bringing them the message of salvation.

This is why Paul spoke of his scars as the "marks of Jesus." In his wounds people could see Christ's wounds. "I bear on my body the marks of Jesus" (Galatians 6:17). The point of bearing the marks of Jesus is that Jesus might be seen and that his love might work powerfully in those who see.

- taken from the book "Filling Up on the Afflictions of Christ" by John Piper, a book about the cost of bringing the gospel to the nations in the lives of William Tyndale, Adoniram Judson, and John Paton.

Sweet Hoedown!

Greetings from Minnesota! I am here visiting my family who live just outside of the Twin Cities. Last night my sister Jamie (who is possibly the only person in the world who loves music even more than me) took me to see the Zac Brown Band at the Northrop Auditorium on the University of Minnesota campus. I don't listen to a whole lot of country music but I do like the Zac Brown Band. I knew the concert would be good but it was even better than I expected. Zac Brown and the guys are extremely talented musicians and very good entertainers. My favorite part of the show was when the band broke in to "The Devil Went Down to Georgia." Man, they tore it up! Here is a clip of them playing it on the CMA Awards recently. Even my hubbie- who hates country music- would have enjoyed seeing this band perform! Thanks for taking me Jamie!