Who is my neighbor?

Today's meditation in Garth Hewitt's "Pilgrims & Peacemakers: A Journey through Lent towards Jerusalem" was based on the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37). Hewitt writes (pp. 20-21):

It's sometimes hard for us to graps the impact of this story because we are so familiar with it. It's a story that breaks down the barriers of religion and race and, therefore, has an exteme poignancy in the current situation in the Holy Land. Recently Time magazine printed an article about Bassam Kafisha, a Palestinian from Hebron, who discovered two Jewish settlers bleeding in an adjacent field to where he was working. They were Jewish settlers from the nearby Kiryat Arba and they had been attacked by a Palestinian assailant. Bassam did not hesitate to help these men, but after forty-five minutes no ambulance had arrived, so he lifted them into his own car and, driving towards a hospital in Hebron, he flagged down an Israeli military vehicle. The parallel is strikingly similar, and when he was asked why he had done it, he pointed out, 'At such a time you forget about politics, and you see these men as heads of families, as sons, as relatives' (Lisa Beyer, 'Dispatches', from Time magazine, 23 January 1995). For a Jew this would be comparable to the story of the Good Samaritan because a Palestinian would be of another religion--Muslim or Christian--and of another race and they too are a despised people, just as the Samaritans were.

As I write, my wife and children are ice skating in downtown Paris with Fadma, a North African Christian. We're privileged and challenged in Paris to live a multicultural area with Jews, Black Africans, North Africans, eastern Europeans, mediterranean Europeans (Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, etc.), Asian, and even some French. Earlier today I passed two Jewish men dressed in suits and hats for Sabbath.

I saw the film "Gran Torino" at a matinee showing at a local cinema that often has films in VO (original language, in this case English) with French subtitles. Clint Eastwood, whose nearly 80, co-wrote, produced, and starred in this film. He plays Walt, a recently widowed, nominal Catholic of Polish descendance, an honored veteran from the Korean War in the 1950s, retired assembly line worker for Ford, and father of 2 sons who live in geographic proximity, but aren't really close. During his Korean War days, he experienced some horrible situations that continued to haunt him.

The film takes place in Detroit. I could relate to this, as I remember going to Detroit as a child to visit my grandparents, both of whom lived in neighborhoods that had experienced "white flight" to the suburbs. Detroit is a city that has experienced many social, racial, and economic changes these last 50 years. I lived there 1962-1968 as a young child.

Walt ends up having a Hmong family move next door to him. This family has a grandmother, a mother, and 2 teenagers. The Hmongs live in China, Laos, and Vietnam and fought alongside of the U.S. After the U.S. pulled out in the 1970s, many Hmong fled to the U.S. as refugees in order to not be killed by the communist forces. I understand that there are many Hmong in the Twin Cities of Minnesota.

As one who has lived outside my U.S. culture for 18 years now, I enjoyed seeing the cultural and intergenerational relationship develop between Walt and his 2 Hmong teenage neighbors Sue and her brother (name slips me temporarily). Walt unwittingly ends up being a good neighbor to both of them. While stubborn and verbally racist, he ends up being a father figure, protector, and mentor to both of them. He ends up being closer to them than he does his own sons and grandchildren. He even ends up sharing his Gran Torino with the boy.

In his older films, Clint Eastwood was the "Dirty Harry" figure who would blow away his enemies and the bad guys with his guns. You know, "Go ahead, make my day." In this film, his character sees the threats to his teenage protegés and understands that a different approach is necessary to save them.

Today we live in a global village where people from far away in the world might end up being our next door neighbors. Or we might end up just crossing them at the airport in passing. In any case, we are called to be good neighbors to whomever God brings across our paths, whether long-term or short-term. We are to offer them a cup of cold water in the name of Jesus. Sometimes this involves sacrifice. But this is where our Christian faith becomes real.

Temptations

Today was the third Lenten reading on the Luke 4:1-13 text of Jesus' being tempted by the Evil One in the desert. Jesus was in the wilderness and at the end of a 40 day fast. One commentator suggested that, while Jesus was famished at this time, He was also more spiritually in tune, so as better to handle these temptations.

Todays' meditation was about "the temptation to play Superman." The Evil One took Jesus to a high place in the temple at Jerusalem and tempted him to throw Himself down, so that His angels would catch Him.

In "Pilgrims & Peacemakers: A Journey through Lent towards Jerusalem," Garth Hewitt writes (pp. 18-19):

We long for a 'Superman' figure and if only Jesus would show that he is a 'Superman', then the crowds would welcome him...but it's not the way of God. He doesn't court publicity. Isn't it strange that Jesus came before satellite television and mass media? Just imagine, he could have done the jumping down from the temple in front of the whole world live on CNN and we would have to believe! But is not the way of God to manipulate us or to force us. Jesus came to a stable. He went and lived in a small town which was considered as somewhere insignificant at a time when there was none of the instant media access that we now have. But this, says something about the ways of God.

This temptation reminds us not to court human praise, not to flaunt charismatic personalities, not to wield spiritual power in order to manipulate, not to test the Lord by doing stupid things. Sometimes Christians seem almost to worship the irrational, as if that must somehow be more 'spiritual'. This, too, can be a temptation--it can be a lack of trust. Jesus knew it was not the route of his death to jump from the temple. It would have shown a lack of trust in God's way and, therefore, a lack of love for God. We, too, should not try to manipulate God.

Note the devil quotes the Jewish scriptures to Jesus and we, too, can manipulate the scriptures to distort them or to make them say whateer we want. Be wary of taking verses out of context or letting too much hinge on one verse. Check that verse against others to see the wider context of the Bible. Also be wary of the 'horoscope' approach to the Bible, where we take one verse out of context and say God has spoken to us through this verse. It is not that this could not happen, but that we need to test it and make sure we are not simply making the Bible say something we want to hear.

So, afte test Jesus, the devil departs 'until an opportune time.' This is a reminder that temptations are always with us, temptations to take the easy route, temptations to try and be the superhero and provide instant success, temptations to depart from the way of Jesus, temptations to the easy life or to the quiet life, which are idolatries because they put 'me' first instead of God. And what is offered by Jesus? A hard road, 'Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. But the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.'

Start of Lent

I realized this morning that Lent started yesterday. From my church background, I didn't grow up celebrating Lent. As I child, I remember Holy Week and special services on Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday, but not much before then.

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday and the previous day Mardi Gras, which is called "Carnival" in France. We went to IKEA yesterday and my kids got their faces painted as Alex the Lion (Madagascar 2), a princess, and a butterfly.

I now appreciate the liturgical year that many branches of Christianity have celebrated for 2 millenia now. Seasons like Advent and Lent allow us to remember and engage in the important events that these led to.

Lent consists of 40 days, even though there actually are 47 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter. This is because technically, the Sundays aren't part of Lent.

For my Lenten meditations this year, I'm reading Garth Hewitt's "Pilgrims & Peacemakers: A Journey through Lent towards Jerusalem" (Oxford: The Bible Reading Fellowship, 1995). Hewitt is a British singer/songwriter and has over 20 albums and through his songs seeks to tell stories about the forgotten and oppressed. He also was (and maybe still is) World Affairs Advisor for the Guildford Diocese and Director of the Amos Trust--a justice and peace organization. He is also on the staff of St. Saviour's Church in Guildford and is a Director of the Greenbelt Festival.

His book covers different parts of Israel, a country I got to visit in 1995. Recently I've begun reading David Pryce Jones' "Betrayal: France, the Arabs, and the Jews" (New York: Encounter Books, 2006). Certainly the number of reported AntiSemitic acts is on the rise in France. This book makes a point of how the French government during the last 200 years has encouraged Arabs and Muslims to maintain their own cultural identity, while granting citizenship to Jews on condition that they possess no distinct identity. Extending this requirement to foreign policy, the French ruling elite have consistently opposed Zionism and the state of Israel itself.

We have friends in Paris that are Jewish, as well as friends who are Arab or North African and Muslim. My wife and children are out right now with one Muslim mother and her 2 daughters who are friends, as well as a French mother and her 2 kids. We all get along, despite our religious differences.

Certainly the situation in Jerusalem and the Middle East is complicated. We are exhorted to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Arab Christians are stuck in the middle of this, as they are neither Muslim nor Jewish.

We have a sign in our living room that says "shalom" (the Hebrew word for "peace"). I feel we need to get another one right next to it that says "salaam" (the Arabic word for "peace").

I guess I have many more questions than answers about the complex situations in France and the Middle East right now. While I don't think that my current sphere of influence reaches these global leaders, I can, as a Christian, work in my own backyard for peace and fraternity with other Christians, Jews, and Muslims. This doesn't mean that I accept everything they think or believe is right. I don't think that all roads lead to God, as I believe that Jesus is the only way to justification with God. However, I need to properly respect and treat them as fellow humans created in the image of God, rather than having a pugnacious attitude. We need to be vigilant to Jesus' orders of being wise as serpents and harmless as doves.

I'm actually excited about this Lenten season. I'm not sure yet what I'll give up. Several people have given up Facebook, but that's something that my work really would suffer with if I gave it up. It's not about giving up something to earn God's favor. It rather is giving up something desirable in order to think about what Jesus gave up on His way to the cross.

The blessing of family

This morning my 5 year old daughter woke up early and came into the office where I was looking at e-mails. She. requested to see her baby photos, so we started going through digital photos of all 3 children as babies. It was fun to see all of them as babies and remark how quickly they are growing up.

Earlier this morning, I had some quiet time in which I was praying for my family. I am truly blessed to have a wife and 3 children in this world. It was fun to sit next to my daughter and just look at photos.

A couple weeks ago, my wife asked me if I had a bucket list. It took me awhile to think about this. I realized that I really don't have one. One reason is that I've already gotten to do some things that many dream off, like living in Paris, doing studies in the U.S. and France that I've wanted to, being married to a wonderful woman, being a father, getting to do a career for 20 years that I've wanted to do since I was 20, travelling to fun places in the U.S. and around the world, etc. While I've never been wealthy, I've never lacked for anything really or even gone without a meal due to financial reasons or had to sleep on the street.

With my mother's passing in 2007 and my daughter Jessica's passing this past November, I've been reminded that this world is not all there is. Part of the reason why some people go after accomplishing a bucket list is because they think that this world is all there is. When I get a chance to do dream things, like visiting the Philippines, I try to do so. But I'm not really torn up if I don't get to do something, as this world isn't all there is.

Getting to spend time with my wife and children is a daily blessing that I sometimes have taken for granted. I'm blessed for these gifts and sometimes feel sad for those who don't get to experience these blessings (if they want them). We know a number of quality singles who would love to be married and have children, but haven't had the opportunity yet. Or some couples who want children, but haven't been able to conceive or adopt.

God wants us to learn contentment in all circumstances. Part of contentment is thankfulness for whatever blessings and stuff that we might have. Even marriage and family is not a possession, in the sense that spouses, children, grandchildren, parents, and grandparents will eventually pass away in this world. But while we have them, we should enjoy and bless them in big and small ways.

Order in the house

During last week, part of my and my wife's time went toward trying to better arrange our apartment. I bought some storage shelf units from IKEA for the entry way, our living room, and our back hallway. I was able to decipher the diagrams (not always easy with IKEA products) and assemble them fairly easily. Our entry way already looks much better and feels much less cluttered. So does our living room. First impressions are important.

As we have lots of people over, having our place more orderly and functional is important to our ministry. It's not always easy to have our place arranged nicely in the course of 5 of us living under our roof, plus an occasional 6th person.

I spoke with a friend today who requested prayer for her church. She has some things that she feels she needs to say this Sunday to the leadership team. She mentioned that this is the first time that she's been in a small church in awhile and that there are some challenges with this.

All churches, no matter what there size, face challenges. Part of it is that the nature of being involved in Kingdom ministry is, at least in part, a spiritual battle. The Evil One seeks to have churches imbalanced and disorderly. I've observed that the desire for power often infiltrates churches and their leaders. Power is to be used to serve others and to do good, rather than for one's own ego or bank account.

I"ve discovered in recent days that my elder daughter (age 5 1/2) is better at math than her brother. She's also good at composing puzzles. She may be a good problem solver some day. He's good at imitating dialogs and physical things, like riding skateboards or bicycles. He has a good ear for music and accents, so he may have his mother's aptitude for languages.

It's interesting discover unique ways that God has already wired them, even though they are still young. Part of creating order in our home is to discover these aptitudes and channel them in directions where they can develop them, as well as work on weak areas that will probably be important for them to shore up as they get older.

VERTICALE - "Amour / Love"

Last night I attended the monthly VERTICALE prayer and worship evening at le Pavé d'Orsay.

Each VERTICALE is based around a theme. As February is the month of Valentine's Day, the love theme was appropriate. The leadership team of VERTICALE (one of the ministries of la fonderie) do a good job of having coherence between
-the theme
-the music
-the chair arrangement
-the lighting and decoration,
-the selection of Scriptures (and different ways of reading, sharing, & teaching them)
-the refreshments afterwards

The majority of those present were single, young (20-30ish), Christian (or at least sympathetic to the Christian faith), creative, artistic, and Parisien. I think my wife and children would have enjoyed it, but we had a busy day of arranging our apartment and they were tired. An 8:00 p.m. Saturday night service is a little late for our kids, but not necessarily bad if we had all day Sunday to rest and hang out with friends.

As I work with artists and have an artistic wife and kids, I liked how multisensory last night (and all VERTICALE meetings) are. Certainly there is lots of room for the Holy Spirit to use the music, reflection on Scripture, fellowship, and color to minister to different people in different ways. But there is lots of reflection upon how to coherently use each of these components in stimulating and engaging ways. The "liturgy" and decor changes each time, which is one reason why it engages creative people. I've been to other meetings in this same space where the room has felt austere and drab due to lack of decoration or color. If one wants to be artist friendly, then the same space and service order need to have the variety and multisensory engagement that VERTICALE has.

Last night the refreshments were drinks, as well as a chocolate fondue on fruit. I enjoyed watching the smiles of people as they were served the fondue and ate it. After the formal meeting ended, I got to speak with Alice and Sebastien, friends whom I haven't been able to really speak with since last summer. I met several of their friends as well. I didn't leave to go home until after 10:30 p.m.

Last Friday I was in a discussion with a pastor of a young church start up. It was interesting to learn more of its vision, although it still wasn't super clear to me after that discussion or going to its web page. This church has a vision to impact Paris, which is good.

However, after having lived and been part of 4 different churches in Paris during this time, I would have the following questions to raise for this church, as well as any others already existing or thinking of coming to Paris and trying to be artist friendly. I think for a church to relate to Parisiens, then it needs to be artist-friendly, as Paris and Parisiens are extremely creative and heart people.
-What community of Paris are you specifically targetting? A particular geographic location? A people group(s)? Certainly I believe that God does give specific guidance for specific churches for their specific ministries.
-Do you have people on your core team who live in that area or spend time with those types of people? For example, if you want to target artists, do you have creative and artistic people on your core team? Is your core team friendly or accepting or threatened by creative or artistic people?
-Are your worship gatherings friendly to your community or targetted people groups? Is the liturgy creative? It doesn't necessarily mean throwing out the whole thing. However, ways of reading Scripture can be varied.
-Is your decor and room arrangement coherent with your community and targetted people groups? Do they reflect the beauty and creativity of God? Do you have asthetically sensitive people helping create the mood of the meetings? Are all the senses engaged in a meeting?
-Does your preaching style vary? Does it include references and stories of artists and others in contemporary culture? Does it offer grace and hope?
-Does your church culture allow for people who are struggling?

My 2 older kids have come out, so I need to close now.

Passion Twenty Ten Live Launch

I'm listening to the live launch of the Passion Twenty Ten (2010) event scheduled in Atlanta next January 2-5. I also received an e-mail today from Aaron, one of the coordinators of last June's Passion event in Paris. He writes:

Last night was the launch of Passion City Church. Chris Tomlin, Matt & Beth Redman and Christy & Nathan Nockels have all moved to Atlanta to start the new church with Louie. It was an amazing night and it reminded me of all the meeting, planning and working we did last year for Passion Paris. Passion is putting a book out this year that has incredible photographs of the entire world tour journey so make sure to check that out (http://www.awakeningthebook.com/). You can get more information on the Passion City church website too (http://www.passioncitychurch.com/).

If I lived in Atlanta, I definitely would love to be part of this church. On its web site, it says:

For God.
For people.
For the city.
For the world.

Awesome! I like this vision statement. The church web site says:

For the past thirteen years the Passion Movement has sought to inspire university-aged people around the world to live for what matters most. Sensing God's leading, we are now planting a local church in Atlanta for people of all ages, a community of faith with Passion's DNA which we hope will make Jesus famous here, and as a result, in the cities of the world.

At the end of the day, no one really needs another event or great show. Yet we all need an encounter with our Creator that results in Him becoming greater in our thinking and our affections, while reshaping us into the people He has always dreamed that we could be.

It's interesting that they have sensed that it is now the time for them to plant a church. Even though there are other churches in Atlanta, they sense the need for another church, one with the DNA of the Passion Movement. Having been involved in a couple of church-plants already, I now think it's crazy to do a church-plant unless one is convinced that God is behind it.

We're considering becoming part of a very young church start up project in Paris. We've enjoyed being part of its worship services the last few weeks. Our kids enjoy the Sunday school and the other kids there. It feels a little like dating, in that we've enjoyed our times already, but now need to learn more about the overall direction and vision of this group.

While doing dishes tonight, I was thinking about a church-plant project in the U.S. that some of my friends have been part of. The group is doing well from a numbers and growth perspective. However, I'm not sure if that is a group that I would want to be part of, even though I have many friends there. At the same time, I believe that there is the need for wineskins of many different types, including many that I might not choose first to be part of.

Louie just said that in the world tour of 2008 cost 5.4 million dollars and this was all provided for, plus $400,000.

Getting back to some other news today, I dropped off Emily at the airport today and she should be on the plane to Sydney. Our family has been blessed by the presence of some short-terms like Em. It's strange to not have her popping her head in the living room today.

I went to IKEA afterwards to look for some tools to better organize our apartment. I was able to pick up some bookshelves. We already worked on our entryway today and it looks much better. We want more order and space in our place.

Valentine's Day

It's early morning of Valentine's Day and everyone else in our home is sleeping. My 5 year old woke me up an hour ago to put on the night time music in the kids' room. I've been awake since then, but may go back to bed for a little.

Last night my wife and I went out on Feb. 13 for a Valentine's Day date. Our Australian intern Em watched the kids while we tried out a new restaurant about 3 minutes by foot from our apartment. It was a small and stylish place with cool music and tasty food. We'll be back there again.

It was nice to have some time to talk about some future projects, as well as evaluate some of what has been happening in our lives. It's hard to get a couple of hours of uninterrupted talk time at this juncture in our lives.

In a strange fashion, I'm realizing how our Jessica's death has ended up being something that has strengthened our marriage. I understand that death's of children can either strengthen a marriage or lead to a quicker demise of a marriage that wasn't doing well. But it's very difficult for a relationship to not be changed for good or for bad by such a shocking event. In that way, our "mystery" child has already blessed her parents.

Several days ago we purchased plane tickets for a June 24 through August 27 U.S. Home Ministry Assignment. We're looking forward to the change of scenery, as well as getting to reconnect with many old friends and build relationships with some new ones. We'll be doing lots of driving.

Autopsy results

This afternoon my wife and I went to the maternity where all of our kids have been born. After Jessica died, we decided to have an autopsy done, so her body was sent off to another hospital. We received a letter from the head of the medical department of the maternity last week that said that they had finally received the autopsy results. Their policy is that it is necessary for parents to come in and go over the results with him.

My wife and I both felt a sense of peace in going in today. We were aware that there was the possibility that even after an autopsy, no obvious cause of death could be found. This was the case. Everything looked normal during all the exams, ultrasounds, labs, etc. So no one appears to be at fault about Jessica's death. It seems like it was just something that the Lord allowed.

Another encouraging point was that there is no medical reason why we couldn't or shouldn't have another child. He said that it would be best to wait at least 3 months from Jessica's death. This time period has already passed.

He said that if we were to get pregnant again, they would be extra precautious. It's interesting that our doctor and he seem to have it as a personal project to have another baby be born safely and soundly (if we were to get pregnant). This treatment would include a daily treatment of aspirin, to remove any little nodules that might be blocking food and blood from getting from mother to child in the womb. After 7 months, there would be a weekly visit and monitoring of the baby. At just after 8 months, they would probably induce labor. As they aren't sure what happened with Jessica, they don't want to see history repeat itself.

We trust that God has been working His purposes throughout all these circumstances. We aren't asking "why?", but are instead asking "why not?" concerning why we haven't gotten hit with more difficulties in our lives. We know of friends who have experienced multiple miscarriages. We know of others who would love to have a baby, but seem to have a sterility issue on the side of either the husband and/or wife.

Son's 7th birthday prayer time

7 years ago (Monday Feb. 4, 2002 at 6:30ish p.m.), my son arrived in the world after 9 months in the womb. I became a father. With ultrasounds, I knew that this boy was alive and well in my wife's womb. But the experience of a father and a mother during a pregnancy is completely different. My wife was very well of his existence, particularly as he grew inside her. As he kicked frequently, we gave him the name "Flipper." My wife's middle grew larger and she became more and more uncomfortable and tired. I did my part to try to get our apartment and lives ready for when our firstborn would arrive.

We checked into the hospital in the middle of the morning after my wife's water broke around 6:00 a.m. Labor was long. Our midwife Marie-Cecile was very patient and encouraging. We learned that she was a believer. Finally they had to give my wife an epidural. Eventually our son came out. I remember him looking slippery from the amniotic fluid around him. I'll never forget seeing him move around and getting to hold him for the first time. That was really when I felt like I was a father.

The last 7 years since then have been an adventure. I've seen him grow from a chubby Buddha baby to a lean and muscular boy who now likes to swim and literally climb the walls in our apartment. He's gone from feeding on his mother's milk to eating crepes, oranges, meatballs, and french fries today. He was very alert that first day. Today we were doing some French word games today and he was starting to understand how addition and subtraction work.

Today we asked a number of our friends to pray for him (and us) about certain challenges that he has been facing. We're grateful for how many seem to be praying, as we've already seen some positive results. For example, yesterday he was playing with a classmate whom he previously had some issues with. He spent all day at the school and ate lunch in the cafeteria. His teacher Karine seems dedicated to help him adjust to eating at school. He's calmer at night now and not bringing up Jessica's death each night. From being a smily baby, he now likes to laugh and make people laugh.

This morning my wife and I spent some time praying for him. During that time, I realized that God gives to parents the specific children that the parents need in order to grow in character. I had thought that God gave children the parents they need, but hadn't thought of it the other way around. I realized that, even though Jessica was part of our lives only during the 9 months in the womb, her brief live and death were part of God's training program for me as a father.

I see it as being important at this stage to help him work on his schoolwork, particularly in working on his French and mathematics. I also want to see him build his self-confidence and social skills through things like his weekly swim class and possible art class on Wed. afternoon. I think we've found a church whose Sunday club director sees hope and leadership potential in him.

While we were praying, my wife mentioned the verses in Philippians 2 that talk about "shining like stars in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation." We want all our kids to shine like stars.

We received some encouraging messages from some different praying friends.