Comic Book Superheroes

Have you seen Batman Begins, or Superman Returns, maybe the four X-Men movies, or what about the new ones coming this year like the Green Lantern, or Captain America? Seems like we are a bit obsessed, yes? Well just the other night me and Lia watched Batman Begins and how from the darkness he became a symbol of courage and justice in Gotham. Do you remember any movie lines? The only one I remember from the Micheal Keaton Batman is "Where does he get such wonderful toys?". What about the new one, "It's not who I am that defines me, but what I do." Just a little different. Now don't get me wrong, I like the Keaton Batman, and I like the new Batman, but there is a marked difference in our superheros today. In Superman Returns there is a point when Superman is talking with Lois Lane about her paper where she said that no one needs a saviour anymore, and he turns to the city and says "I can hear them all, and they are crying for a saviour." That quote may not be exact for any of you who are superman fans. It has been awhile since I saw the movie, but you get the idea.

What is the point you ask? It is this. When many of these comic hero wonders were created it was during a time in our history when things were uncertain, people wanted to have someone that could fly in and rescue them, save them from all problems. In the Christopher Reeve Superman we saw him battle Lex Luthor and even turn the whole world around just to save Lois from Death, but in the new one we saw how nothing, not even a convenience store robbery was to small for him to take the time to save. Superman suddenly cared for the everyday joe on the street.

Now we in America must be truly losing our creative streak as instead of thinking up our own new heroes we just resurrect the old ones from the comic books sitting in old boxes in our closet and give them a new flair. But I ask the question, what is our depression today, why are we so desperately searching for a saviour? Because we want to be saved. A weak saviour will not do so we look to one who can fly, one who is not ashamed to wear his underwear on the outside of his spandex. We look to one who can hear us and come to our aid faster than a speeding bullet. We want a hero that can take our sins on himself because he is the only one able to do so, he is the only one able to bear them.

Is the time ripe for our Saviour to be known in His creation again? It would appear so. Will we let the opportunity slip by? I hope not. Will we let our own insecurities keep us from bringing the ultimate saviour to this dying world? It is not about us but about Him, and if Superman can hear them all crying for a saviour, then the true saviour of the world can hear them. It is time to show them not Superman in red and blue spandex, or Batman in his special black armor suit, but Christ in His glory, the empty cross and tomb.

The world is ready and even begging for a saviour, lets show them one.

Remembering...the pain

It has been sixteen months since we left Yei. For sixteen months we have been living here trying our best to fit in to life in the states. A roof over our heads not made of grass, hot and cold RUNNING water, Wal-Mart, ah yes, Wal-Mart everything you need and don't need under one roof. Mangos don't taste quite like they do fresh off the mango tree as compared to straight off the grocery store shelf. Oh to be asleep at night during the end of mango season and be awakened to the sound of falling rotten mangos splatting on someone's head. Or watching the ammunition dump being blown sky high because some careless soldier caught it on fire while trying to harvest honey. All night long those bombs, explosives, grenades, and small arms were popping only about a mile or two away. Life was...is different, and there is no going back.

I know I've made this comment to some before, and I will make it again here, "How can you pick up the threads of an old life, when so much has happened.."? This was Frodo's mussing at the end of Lord of the Rings. Ultimately he wasn't able to pick up that old life and that is why he left for the undying lands to bear away his burden. But what of us who have no undying lands in this life, just the slow drudgery of day to day until that one day when we either cross the river or see His return in the clouds? How do we move on? Can time, the ticking of the hands, really heal all wounds in this life? For all of eternity we will have every tear wiped away by our loving Father. There would be no such need unless the time of this world is not enough to heal all wounds, maybe that is what Frodo learned.

How do I describe the thoughts floating around in my heart? How do I communicate such pain and joy? recently I was talking with a good friend whom i have not had much interaction with in a long time. Upon reading this this friend will know who she is and I am grateful for her asking about Yei. Not many have done so and yet I don't think I would have known how to respond if they had. The beauty and wonder of the work that me and my wife have done and the pain and sorrow that we have endured is not an easy thing to convey.

It is very hard to make understandable the inner ramblings of the heart. they do not come out in nice ordered sentences and paragraphs. My heart was very wounded while serving in Africa. While all are to blame for some actions Satan is the real cause behind all evil. I made many mistakes... many. It has been hard to grasp the forgiveness extended to me by my Father, harder still to extend it to those who hurt me. Have you ever seen the movie Braveheart and looked into the eyes of William Wallace when he discovers Robert the Bruce's betrayal? I know that feeling. It was hard to leave Sudan, almost like I was retreating. But God told me it was time for the sake of my own life, and that of my family. Sudan almost claimed my life physically, spiritually, emotionally, and in the end it would have also been the life of my family. God saved our lives in a very real sense. Was I bitter...yes. Am I bitter...not anymore. Those people were and still are my family. I pray blessing on them and I wish the best for them. But it was not just the arguments, insults, mistrust, accusations, or insults that lead to such pain, I lost something very close, closer to me than I knew it to be at the time.

Some of you have heard of Isaiah, some of you have not. He was a little boy that was introduced very briefly into our lives. He was an HIV positive baby, and he had an older sister named Rose. At the time we(me and Lia) felt that as we stayed in Sudan we would adopt these two kids once we had a house and take care of them. While they were with us another girl visiting the base at the time was taking care of Isaiah and loving him like a son. But she was not to stay and what would happen to him after that. We figured we would take him. It was not to be. While on leave in Uganda all of us as a family were sick our whole week there and that is when we heard God tell us it was time to go. What?! But looking back it was. What of Isaiah? It was time for him to go too. Shortly after our decision we got the news of his passing to be with his Creator. Forever healed of a mistake that was not even of his own doing. And while his sister is now left alone she is in a home where she is loved and free from the burden of a child that was not hers to bear. She took it patiently and may God bless her for the lost years of love spent watching her brother. and from what i have hear He is. But that does not ease the pain of losing one whom I regard as my son.

How do you pick up the threads of an old life? Simple, you don't even try, for it is impossible. My life is forever changed and I can either run from the pain, or learn from it. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. I have made my choice....

The Prodigal Son (Backpacker) Project

This is kind of like a refresher for some but maybe a bit new for others as there may be some new folks reading our blog. I wanted to tell you all again a little bit about where we stand right now along with a bit of our purpose for this ministry.


The Prodigal Son Project is a new vision that God has given us. The basic idea is this, to reach young travelers in Europe and ultimately the world with the gospel of Christ there by sending out more traveling missionaries to spread that same gospel to the ends of the earth fulfilling the Great Commission.


Our plan on doing this is to invite these young weary travelers into our home, which will be in Scotland, and having them stay with us. While in our home they will hear the gospel as well as seen it lived out in a day to day basis. They will have a warm and inviting home atmosphere where they can feel free to stay as long as they want and discuss about God, Jesus, life, or anything else they may want to talk about. Backpackers are generally quite open to discussions on religion and we will use this to bring in the gospel. Those that accept Christ will be welcome to stay with us for discipleship and rest to build on their new foundation if they choose. If they wish to move on they will be given whatever tools we can provide, such as a bible, to keep them in the right path as they continue their travels. Hopefully and with God's blessing they will spread their new found faith as they travel and in this way continue to spread the gospel to other areas. This is the goal of the Prodigal Son Project.

Now where are we in seeing this goal? Well right now we are in the USA preparing ourselves to move to Scotland to work with/under YWAM there. YWAM, or Youth With A Mission, is a non-denominational missionary organization. We will be with the YWAM base there for about six months and then move on from there to a small town in the north called Oban. Right now we are facing some challenges. The first is support, we need to have around 4-5,000 a month in regular support raised to pay for the cost of living in Scotland as well as to pay for our plane tickets and visas. We actually need this support before we can even begin processing our visas. and two we will eventually need our own home. As you can guess the cost of houses in the UK are not cheap.

Our prayer and plea is this, that you would pray and ask the Lord to guide you in some way to help us. If it be prayer only we would not be disappointed. A soldier can have everything he needs to attack the enemy, but with out the land ahead prepared through offshore bombardment he can not win. Only with a pre-emptive strike can he succeed. Without prayer we can do nothing. If the Lord should lead you to give we would be greatly pleased as again a soldier can have all the pre-attack he can, but without ammunition for his gun or food for his stomach, he will not survive. We too need the finances to help with everyday expenses. However if the Lord leads you to give just a one time gift that will be thankfully accepted as well. A very necessary part of our ministry is that we own our home in the UK but being expensive we need to raise the money for purchasing a house. All such one time gifts would go towards that house.

I am putting on here information on where to send support if the Lord should lead you in such a way. The address is ACI Int. P.O. Box 1131 Clifton, CO 81520 Checks can be made out to ACI International. With the check enclose a letter stating that it is "preferenced for BIE", do not put our name anywhere on the check.

Again, thank you for taking the time to read this and we thank you for your prayers. For a sideshow and more info on our mission please see our earlier post in the blog archives on the right side of the page and click on "2010" and then on "May". Thank you so much.

Salvation Cometh...

Merry Christmas! What a joyful time of year. Cookies, presents, trees shedding needles on the floor, a jolly prowler breaking in to leave presents(Squidward in Spongebob's first Christmas), oh yeah, and a new born baby born to die. Wait a minute, that doesn't quite fit in with the rest of the list does it? But isn't this the very reason we celebrate Christmas?

Why did Jesus come as a baby, grow as a boy, become a man, suffer three different types of temptations, go to the cross, get buried, and then raise to life to ascend to heaven? What was really the point of it all? For this very purpose, to save us from death, an intruder into God's perfect creation, and bring us back into the presence of God from whose presence we so foolishly hid in our sins, as if we really could hide from God.

But why would Jesus be able to save us? How is it that He even has the authority or ability? Upon Adam's rebellion against God sin entered the world, and death by sin. All of creation was subjected unwillingly to the corruption of death and decay, also known as the law of entropy, or the second law of thermodynamics. All things eventually wind down. Jesus is the creator of all things. In Him all things breath, move and have there being and by Him were all things made and nothing exists apart from Him. All creation declares the glory of God. So why would He come down and live as one of us? Well, answer this, can anyone of us give the excuse that Jesus doesn't know what it was like to have this happen, or live through this..fill in the blank? Jesus knew what it was like to be born, to leave the warmth of the womb. He knew what it was like to flee from possible death as a child, to loose everything. He knew what it meant to grow up under a foreign oppressive government, having his rights trampled on. He knew what it meant to undergo temptation from the enemy. He literally has "been there, done that, and bought the t-shirt." We have no excuse.

But more importantly, He is the Creator of Life, and it is only He who can restore life to our still born bodies in this shadowland. We all are born dead, dead in sins that will lead to death. If He is not the Creator then His death has no meaning. Any one of us can give our lives for another, maybe even more than one if we're lucky, but those we save can still die later, and those born later can not be saved by our sacrifice. And if death was always a norm in this world then why would He die to save us from what He had instigated from the very beginning? To say that death ever reigned from the beginning, or in some distant forgotten past is to insult the very reason our saviour came to save us.

The Birth of Christ was a once in a world history event. Foretold from the beginning of the world, looked for and hoped for by many and then when came was missed by many. Never will it happen again. We must believe with the eyes of our hearts. For as Paul said, it is with the heart that man believes, and with the mouth is saved. He had the right, He had the authority, and He had the ability. He made it knowable so we would be without excuse. "Mary did you know that...this sleeping child your holding, is the Great I Am!" I think she knew. To be in the hands of God is where there is life, love, and hope. Truly it is a Merry Christmas to be in the hands of our Saviour.

Just how old is our Earth?

No one is without bias. Everything we do is based on our worldview, our presuppositions, or what we chose to believe. All studies of origins begin with our presuppositions. Either we believe in a God who created it all or we believe everything happened by random chance processes.

There are two Laws that we need to take a look at here. They are called the Laws of Thermodynamics. The first law states that there is no new matter/energy being formed today. The second law states that as energy is used it becomes irretrievable, or the law of entropy, all things are winding down. Now if no new matter is being made then matter is not eternal, and since all matter is winding down then it had a beginning. What and how was its beginning and how long ago did it begin? If it is not eternal then what started it? The big bang needs something, even if it is hydrogen; it needs something to start with, but how if matter is not eternal?

In November’s issue of the Journey we saw Larry Larason’s article on the age of the earth and he mentioned Ussher’s chronology which says our earth was created in the year 4004. So we have an earth around 6000 years old. Already you are probably thinking that is not possible because how could evolution happen in such a short time. Already you show a bias thought because you assume evolution to be true and therefore needs time to act. But what if evolution is not true and God created everything in its own kind such as dog kinds and cat kinds? Small change in the way of adaptation can happen in a very short time, even within a few generations. There was no reason given as to why to reject Ussher’s age just that it didn’t seem to make sense with all the “evidence” of antiquity around us. But what evidence is there for great antiquity other than the assumption that it is evidence of great antiquity? What if that so called evidence has just as logical an alternative?

Geology is the study of rocks, and there are three types of rocks, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. Igneous (Latin ignis, fire) is volcanic rock. Sedimentary rock is made of wind or water sediment. Metamorphic (Greek meta, change, morphe, form) which is rock transformed through heat and pressure.

A brief overview of the dating of rocks is this, only igneous rocks make for good radiometric dating as they are new formed rocks from lava and thus are least likely to be contaminated by older rocks. Sedimentary rocks are not good for dating with radiometric dating as they are laid down sediment from flood waters usually and are a mix of old and new rocks. And metamorphic rocks are also a mix of old and new rocks that have only been shaped or changed by heat and pressure, so not good for radiometric dating. In radiometric dating scientists are looking for various elements like potassium and then seeing how much of it has decayed into its “daughter” element argon. Then taking the decay rate and calculating that by the amount of potassium there is to the amount of argon there is and you can come up with your age. Here is the problem. You have to assume how much potassium there was to begin with. Then you have to assume there was no argon to start with. You need to assume that the rock you are dating has not been contaminated by human intervention, or that more potassium or argon has not seeped in from outside. And lastly you need to assume that the decay rate was not increased or decreased due to outside forces, forces such as solar flares and or environmental conditions like floods or earthquakes. Basically you need to start with a lot of assumptions, any one of which could be off.

All this is to say that evolution is not a proven fact of science. It is more accurately a belief, a belief that says we survived on our own, without any God. If evolution is true then life is nothing but survival. We don’t mean anything. Death is good and normal. If God ordained evolution is true then life is still not worth much as God just sat back and watched as millions of creatures died for supremacy. “Religion, in our day, has accommodated itself to the doctrine of evolution… when animals were torturing each other with ferocious horns and agonizing stings, Omnipotence was quietly waiting for the ultimate emergence of man, with his still more widely diffused cruelty. Why the Creator should have preferred to reach His goal by a process, instead of going straight to it, these modern theologians do not tell us.” This quote is from Bertrand Russell, an atheist scientist/philosopher in Religion and Science Oxford University Press 1961 page 73.

Why would God use evolution when He could have done it from the beginning? Because He didn’t, He started with everything in six days as it says in Genesis and Man in a fully created state, perfect and without evil. Free will to choose to love or not love God was also given man. Man chose to not love God. All our problems today are from man’s sin, not God. This time of year we celebrate Christmas. Why? To celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Why would Jesus need to be born into this world as a man and then die for us to save us from death if death was a normal event? If we believe in evolution then there was no point, and if we try to make the theory of evolution compatible with the bible’s beginnings then we void the whole reason for the Creator’s death. But if Genesis is absolute truth from God, if man started in a perfect state and then fell from that state in sin with no way out, then there is no other reason for Christ’s death than salvation from sin and freedom from death. We only need to choose Him.

What you believe determines what you think, what you think dictates what you do, and what you do dominates your life. Our worldview plays a role in everything.

Pilgrims

Have you ever noticed how quickly time flies by. It happens in a blink as the song goes by Revive. Our oldest has turned four over two months ago now and our second has just turned two. Today our third boy has reached his ninth month on this world. You hate to see them grow while at the same time you can't wait for it so they understand when you say "no, the bathroom is not a place to play", or "don't stick your finger in the socket or it will shock you." Time is funny. It is the one thing we can't control, the one thing we don't want to lose, the one thing we spend our whole lives fighting until we are old and saggy and realize what was truly important, the very life we had just lived.

Do you ever get that feeling that you are not where you should be? We have been dreaming of this backpacking ministry for the last four to five years of our lives. Everyday we thought about the possibility but our life and work at the time was where we were focused. Now we are trying to raise 500,000 dollars to move to Scotland, buy a house, and invite young weary travelers into our home and show them the Creator of all things. It is exciting and scary at the same time. Our hearts are in a strange place. I look at the pictures and staff info for YWAM Paisley in Scotland where we will be based for a short time and I feel a strange attraction to them, like I know greater things are in store for my family. And yet I look through old photo albums at our life together in Yei and I see a family that however flawed they may have been was my family. My heart is still there. There is pain, some pain not dealt with, some pain forgiven, released, healed, but through it all the voice of truth shows me how special I am in my Lord's eyes.

Isn't it a strange thing how the only wizard of note was Gandalf. Of the five wizards he was the only one to carry out his God given task of standing against the dark lord, and he was called the Grey Pilgrim. A pilgrim knows that his real home is else where so he is busy with the journey for he knows rest comes at the end. Are we pilgrims? Are we standing against the evil in this world today? Or have we set up house and roots? "We all want love, we all want honor, nobody wants to pay the asking price." FFH, Undone. What is the asking price? Any soldier will tell you, any missionary, any martyr.

Road Trip

Here are some pictures from our recent road trip to Pennsylvania via Oklahoma, Ohio, and then back again. Hope you enjoy them.