Answering the Call

Many people are asking me the question. They may ask it in different ways or even ask it as a statement. It is: How do you feel about your children and grandchildren moving to China? They are asking about Kevin and Dayna Avery’s call to be missionaries in Shenyang, China, to establish a school for children with disabilities. Their flight leaves March 11 from Houston.

A number of thoughts and emotions flood my mind. Intellectually I have long held that, apart from ignoring God, the pull of family and friends is the single biggest obstacle to answering the missionary call. There are many negative voices that compete to hinder missions. I am a minister. Our daughter and her husband have both grown up with parents who traveled overseas on many occasions to share God’s love. It is hard for a preacher to be against anyone stepping out on faith to help “the least of these,” even if they are family going to the other side of the world (ask Jesus).

Emotionally I am already anticipating the chasm of separation—mostly not being able to hug and play with the little ones very often. But the technology has moved forward in the ten years since Dayna and Kevin served as English teachers in Changchun, China. Now we will be able to see and talk to each other in real time over the internet. I do think about health and safety issues for them, but I do that anyway. I believe that the safest place in all the world is in the very center of God’s will (ask Jonah).

Also, I feel a sense of admiration for their dedication, courage and resolve to be obedient to their calling. They have concerns—they need to sell their house, dispose of their stuff, raise their monthly support and (re)learn Chinese. But they know God provides, and His timing is best (ask Paul).

Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Answer the call. And let’s experience the love and power of God together.

While Looking in My Files

I opened a file drawer in my office today. There was a time when I did that every day. I was looking for files on Sunday School. But then I saw some old newspapers folded low in the very front of the drawer. The first one I pulled out was a copy of the National Enquirer, January 4, 2000. It was the “Predictions for the New Millennium” issue. I used it in a sermon once. I did not remember: “Katie Couric’s blind date with a millionaire Saudi prince will lead to her quitting the Today show to marry him and move to Saudi Arabia.” Then I discovered an entire Wall Street Journal. Its front-page story said, “No Apocalypse Now: Y1K Anxiety Ends, but World Doesn’t.” I discovered that the January 11, 1999 edition’s front page was dated January 1, 1000! That’s why I kept it.

Next I found three copies of the God at Work newspaper published by the International Slavic Christian College of Tulsa; two copies of a news story about Tulsa historian Beryl Ford; a copy of the Baptist Messenger from September 1998 where I wrote the word “Keep” on the front. Who knows why. After that was the front page of the Tulsa World, December 26, 1999, with our daughter and future son-in-law’s picture and article about their coming midnight wedding on New Year’s Eve. I know why I kept that one.

Then there were various clippings: Dave Barry proclaiming that he was NOT jealous of the woman who wrote the Harry Potter books; an article on the death of TV’s “Lone Ranger;” pilgrims retracing the footsteps of Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem; and an article about a new computer gadget called CueCat. Later I remembered to find the Sunday School files.

Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Find Sunday School. And let’s experience the love and power of God together.

On a Cold Winter’s Day

I am expecting to be snowbound one of these days before Easter. I do live in Oklahoma where last year’s blizzard came in February. I have been preparing for the coming snow. I checked all around the outside of the house. I brought in the hoses, covered the outside faucets and hung the snow shovel in the garage. Our church is being winterized as well. In addition, I have made a list of the books to read when the winds and snow begin to blow outside. I have a couple of recommendations, if you need something to warm your heart on a cold winter’s day.

Snowbound Feb 2011

One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are, by Ann Voskamp. This book recounts the author’s personal challenge to discover 1,000 blessings in her life as a believer, the wife of a Christian farmer/rancher in the upper mid-west, as she struggles with the mundane, the gritty, and the heartaches of her life. As she tells some of the stories behind her blessings, she encouraged and inspired me to really notice the everyday gifts from God. She discovered in chronicling her blessings that “in this expressing of the gratitude for the life we have, we discover the life we’ve always wanted.”

7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess, by Jen Hatmaker, is a book I am somewhat afraid to read, but plan to on a cold snowy day soon. Jen is a pastor’s wife and popular speaker. She and her husband Brandon had three children when she wrote this book. They have since adopted two children from Ethiopia. Jen Hatmaker was a classmate and sorority sister with our daughters at Oklahoma Baptist University. This book tells of the “family experiment” to take seven months spending each month fighting back against one of “seven modern-day diseases:” Food, Clothes, Spending, Media, Possessions, Waste and Stress. The call to Christ-like simplicity and generosity led the Hatmaker family to a deep spiritual awakening.

Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Warm your heart. And let’s experience the love and power of God together.

Shakespeare and Company

When I walk into a bookstore, I become a treasure hunter. I am looking for just the right book to treasure, at least for the moment. Sometimes the treasure is the bookstore itself. Discovering a used bookstore is, for me, like finding a new shoe store for some ladies I know. I try to poke around in bookstores wherever I may be traveling. My favorite kind of bookstore looks like my desk, with stacks of things piled here and there. Finding things on my desk is also a treasure hunt.

Dorothy and I spent a wonderful few days one April wandering the streets of Paris. After visiting Notre Dame Cathedral we crossed the street and sat down for a cup of coffee at one of those outdoor cafes we had always seen in the movies. As we started walking back toward our hotel, I spotted one of the most famous bookstores in the entire world, Shakespeare and Company.

This was like landing on Treasure Island—stacks of new and used books fill shelves, nooks and crannies everywhere. It is three stories tall. An old cat kept an annoyed eye on the place. People with legal pads, laptops and even portable typewriters were writing their inspired thoughts and future bestsellers. It was part commune, with cots and little rooms for people to sleep in—some staying for weeks. Many famous and not-so-famous writers got their start researching and writing at this bookstore. And the elderly owner, George Whitman, directed all of the apparent chaos of a typical day in his store. Mr. Whitman died last month at the age of 98. In the midst of his books, George Whitman hung a sign that paraphrased Hebrews 13:2—“Do not be inhospitable to strangers, lest they be angels.”

Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Look for treasures and angels. And let’s experience the love and power of God together.

Blue Christmas

Let there be peace everywhere. When Bing Crosby popularized the song “I’ll be Home for Christmas” he was echoing the longing of thousands of soldiers fighting through the harsh winters of World War II. Some did make it home for Christmas, but for most, it was only in their dreams. Christmas is partly about being home with family and dear friends. The separation of miles and circumstances, heartbreak and the loss of a loved one can soon turn a time of celebration into a sad and difficult time for many.

Let there be peace everywhere. When Elvis Presley popularized the song “Blue Christmas” he was echoing the pain of unrequited love—the break-up of two former lovers. The loss of a love brings an inner ache that seems to grow deeper during the holiday season. The empty chair at the family dinner table. The first Christmas sharing the children with another family. The loneliness of a solitary soul. “Blue Christmas” is the name given to a Christian worship service, usually held the night of the winter solstice, for those who have lost loved ones during the year. It is designed to bring peace and comfort.

Let there be peace everywhere. The war in Iraq ended last week and hundreds of our troops are heading for home as fast as possible. “I’ll be Going Home for Christmas” (see the You Tube video) echoes the joy of Christmas, and reminds us of the hardships many endure every day to find peace in our world.

Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Let there be peace. And let’s experience the love and power of God together.

Stealing Christmas

Someone stole Christmas. It was a prominent display, about 12 feet long, of a typical holiday “Merry Christmas” sign set up on a green space down the street from our house. It was nice. It had spotlights and other decorations. It appeared after Thanksgiving and disappeared this past weekend. There was nothing religious about it at all. Someone took “Merry Christmas” in the night, and probably sold it the next day. They made money off of it. Our neighbors were robbed, disappointed and mad. Apparently many people want to make a lot of money off of Christmas.

“Keep Christ in Christmas” was a slogan from my youth. “Jesus is the reason for the season” came along 30 years ago. These were fairly positive reminders to believers. Now we are apparently involved in a “War on Christmas.” Somehow “Happy Holidays” became anti-Christmas. (Just a side note: holidays is the English contraction of holy days.) It would seem the believers in the Prince of Peace should not bicker, or make war, with unbelievers over a Christian holy day. The point is to proclaim the Good News of God’s sacrificial love for all people, not to berate the hapless person who may wish us a happy holiday experience.

Jesus never had a Christmas tree. His tree was a cross. Jesus never wrapped a Christmas present. His gift was the Word made flesh. Jesus never sang a Christmas carol or wished anyone a merry Christmas. His salutation was “follow me.” Jesus never signed a Christmas card. His love was written in red—while we were yet enemies.

Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Happy holydays. And let’s experience the love and power of God together.

Losing Jesus

For most Decembers a nativity display, or crèche as it is sometimes called, is set up on the Lord’s Supper Table, under a Christmas tree or out in the church foyer. It is a beautiful ceramic with each piece all gleaming white. It was made by Gertrude Harmon and given to the church for the Christmas season of 1973. It is stored, to this day, in its original box with all of the pieces individually wrapped and nestled in a shredded newspaper from the time. All of the individual parts have survived well, until last year.

Last year, as we carefully unwrapped the camels, sheep, donkey and cow; the shepherds, wise men and angels; Mary, Joseph, the stable and the manger—the baby Jesus had disappeared. We searched in all of the old shredded news and foam wrappings multiple times. A search party looked in the various nooks and crannies of the stored Christmas stuff. Jesus was missing. Had he been lost in the aftermath of Christmas? Was he someone’s souvenir or had he been thrown out with the trash?

We pressed ahead with an empty manger, but some of us knew Christmas Day was coming, and someone just might notice. The grandmother of one of our members had made a similar set, so they lent us their mangered Jesus for the Christmas Eve service. After Christmas we were given a duplicate manger, but this one has a molded baby already in the hay. It was carefully wrapped and put away. When we set up the scene this year, we unwrapped the old empty manger but the new manger with Jesus was missing again. He was found a few days later in a “safe place” where no one remembered putting him.

Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Don’t lose Jesus in Christmas. And let’s experience the love and power of God together.

Love Gives the Best

My model and mentor for being a pastor was Dr. James G. Harris, Senior Minister of University Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas. During our days at seminary, Dr. Harris taught a field education class to those of us seeking to fulfill our call as pastors. I was a member of his church, taught a fifth-grade boys Sunday school class and sang in the choir. Dr. Harris counseled us as Dorothy and I prepared to marry. Together Dorothy and I taught the junior high Training Union class on Sunday evenings and helped in the young adult department. Dr. Harris led my ordination council and sent us forth to Tulsa in 1973. In January of 1974, Dorothy and I returned to Fort Worth for a few days, where Dr. Harris, provided wise counsel as my responsibilities here at the church began to change.

One of the things Dr. Harris believed has always stayed with me. He would repeat this occasionally as the ushers prepared to receive the Sunday morning offering, and it is very appropriate during this Christmas season. He would say, “Anyone can give without loving, but no one can love without giving.” Hearing reports this week of the Black Friday crush of the crowds fighting, pepper spraying and using stun guns on fellow shoppers reminded me once again of how far off the mark we have wandered concerning Christmas and giving.

As messed up, off-the-mark and downright mean as we have gotten, Christmas continues to remind us that no one can love without giving—not even God. “God so loved the world,” the familiar verse says, “that He gave His only Son that we might have eternal life.” Dr. Harris gave his all to God and University Baptist Church. Dr. Harris died on a beautiful early Sunday morning in January, 1975, as he jogged around the high school track, preparing his mind, body and soul to preach of God’s love gift that day. His memorial service became a true spiritual and church-wide homecoming as hundreds of us returned to say thank you to God for giving us the gift of James Gordon Harris.

Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Give out of your love. And let’s experience the love and power of God together.

Serve Pray Love

Our grandson, Hudson, is preparing to become a missionary to China, like his name sake, Hudson Taylor. At 2 our Hudson is only vaguely aware that his family has put their house on the market in preparation for the move to Shenyang. He and his sister Molly (4) are fascinated by all the excitement of walls being painted and furniture being consolidated in anticipation that one day soon they will sell their home and move to China.

The missionary Hudson Taylor was born in England in 1832 and founded the China Inland Mission which expanded the Christian evangelization of the Chinese people. Overcoming language, health and cultural barriers, Hudson Taylor had established more than 20 mission outposts in China at the time of his death in 1905. He was a contemporary with Lottie Moon, the beloved Baptist missionary from America.

Dayna and Kevin Avery served in Changchun, China from 2001 to 2003 teaching English to college students as faculty members at the university. This time they are volunteering with the mission organization Serving Humanity in Crisis. Kevin and Dayna will be focusing on the medically and socially marginalized and neglected in a city of six million people located 425 miles northeast of Beijing. Being volunteers they will be seeking support from missions-minded friends and families. You can follow their story at their blog, www.servepraylove.blogspot.com where the fuller story of their calling, Kevin’s healing release to serve and minister, and the family’s preparations for the anticipated springtime move is told.

As we enter the Christmas season let us remember that all of the Christian missionaries serving around our world are family members too. They, too, are sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles of everyday people. They live out their calling by serving others, praying and loving all in the name of Jesus.

Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Live your call. And let’s experience the love and power of God together.

Black Friday starts on Thursday

Black Friday starts on Thursday this year. The signal bell will ring Thanksgiving evening, two hours earlier than last year for some of the national chain stores. Some people are protesting this, especially the already hard-pressed employees. But let’s be realistic about this – would you rather “shop ’til you drop” starting at 10 p.m. or 4 a.m.? Next year, of course, starting time will be 8 Thanksgiving night.

According to the Universal Book of Common Knowledge (Wikipedia), the title “Black Friday” first shows up as a term used by the police to describe the traffic and shopping nightmares created on the sale day after Thanksgiving. In the 1980s the term, which had been associated with things like Friday the 13th and stock market crashes, was massaged to infer that it was the day retail businesses moved from red-ink losses to black-ink profits for the year. In 2005 shop.org first advertised “Cyber Monday” as the day to go online and order over-stocked/out-of-stock items from the internet. I have a suspicion, though, that some of the frantic Black Friday buying is not for gift-giving at all.

I would like to make a suggestion. Instead of rushing out to buy the latest, cheapest gadgets/toys/clothes ever made in the history of the world, why not buy some local goods/services/products to bless others? If the holiday season is the time when most businesses begin to show a profit, then local shops need our business even more. Other gift suggestions might include three months of lawn care, four oil changes and car washes, a manicure or pedicure, gift certificates to local restaurants, a computer tune-up, you understand. This is a season for giving to others.

Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Give local. And let’s experience the love and power of God together.