Month: October 2008

Two years ago…

Mike Blythe shared his latest KMZ file of Jos, Nigeria yesterday.
Going back and looking at the sites make me start thinking about my trip to Nigeria.
I went back and looked at my blog posts and realized two years ago exactly I was nearing the end of my two week stay there.
Thought this was also interesting…

Nearly two years ago today (on a Monday afternoon — Oct. 9th) I was enjoying church with a group of people who didn’t speak my language and met in a warehouse with dirt floors and wooden benches.

Yesterday we did shopping in the morning and then went to a church at the Motorpark.
The Motorpark is basically a large field where people bring their cars and wait for riders to take trips across the country.
You can probably find a ride to any part of the country if you’re willing to wait for enough other riders to make it profitable for the car owner and driver.
The church at the Motorpark meets in a large building with wooden benches and dirt floors. Their numbers are few, but they’ve doubled in size since last year.
The church was large in size years ago before fighting broke out between the Muslims and Christians. The church dispersed after that but everyday a group of women would continue to meet in the afternoon and pray for God to work.
Now their numbers have at least tripled and they are excited and on fire for God.

My enemies are men like me

I read this great thought and quote this morning while reflecting on Brian’s message yesterday about forgiveness.

Someone has written that hatred is like drinking a cup of poison and waiting for the person you hate to die. It doesn’t harm the person you hate, or at least not in any way like the havoc it wreaks on you. In fact, hatred has the exact opposite effect of what you would hope for; a wise man in Cormac McCarthy’s novel Cities of the Plain explains that “Our enemies . . . seem always with us. The greater our hatred the more persistent the memory of them so that a truly terrible enemy becomes deathless. So that the man who has done you great injury or injustice makes himself a guest in your house forever. Perhaps only forgiveness can dislodge him.”

But God help us, forgiveness can be a really hard thing to do.

…not dealing with emotional and spiritual cancer like internalized rage is a disaster. It’s like ignoring physical cancer and hoping it will go away.

Perhaps my enemies are much more like us than we’d ever want to admit and as Brian mentioned yesterday, forgiving them is the only thing that can really set us free.

A prayer of benediction

Now, wherever we are, and in every place, and at every hour, throughout each time of each day, may all of us honestly and humbly believe, holding in our hearts to love, honor, adore, serve, praise, bless, glorify, exalt, magnify, and give thanks to the Most High and Eternal God, Trinity and Unity.

HT Paul Soupiset

The latest from Lanessa

My friend Lanessa has shared more on her situation including a thanks to all who have been praying for her and caring for her. Thought each and everyone of you who have been praying for her would like to know. Portions of her thoughts are below. You can read the complete update on her blog. (oh and yes – her boys are all named after the super heroes you see below :-))

I have been meaning to write this for a few days, going over what I would like to say every night as I go to sleep. This trial in my life the last month has shaken me spiritually too, not just physically. To wake up one day in a hospital room, nurses buzzing around you, IV’s in you and then to have a doctor you don’t know come in to tell you you had brain surgery was mind blowing, then to realize you can’t talk, can’t walk and your head has been shaved was even harder…

To those that couldn’t make my side, your prayers meant just as much. Thank you for believing that Christ could pull me out of the brain swelling and surgery alive. I have been learning to ask specifically to God what I am needing, and your prayers of hope and healing is exactly what I need….

Did you know we have had meals come every other night since this started?
Did you know I had girls I hardly know lend me a changing table and glider for the baby?
Did you know I now have formula and diapers till Clark is a year old?
Did you know women would come and play and do crafts with my children?
Did you know I had babysitters come anytime I needed, for long hours?
Did you know we never had to worry about $ for Jason’s gas and food?
Did you know I had churches all over the US praying for me?
Did you know I had a flower arrangement or gift sent to me every week?
Did you know I had a nurse make a CD of Christian singers she thought I would like?
Did you know I had my OB doc bring me a smoothie I wanted as a surprise?
Did you know my whole Sunday school came to pray over me?

Yes, they wrote an article in the paper about ME, but this trial has been about YOU, the person who cared enough to come, pray, and encourage. Thank you.

Jesus is a friend of mine

If you’ve missed it…

Here’s Sonseed’s video from the early 80’s — Jesus is a Friend of Mine ::

And here’s a cover of the song by the David Crowder Band ::

yesssss! i have a feeling this song may end up on a future podcast.
another HT to Tall Skinny Kiwi for the David Crowder version.

Editing for time

Wikipedia - Art Historian by quartermane

You know, I really hate editing — especially when it relates to someone else’s work.

Each week Thomas and I do our podcast and I always make a point to never shorten or cut the interviews we do with folks. After all, our goal is to share their story with folks and hopefully they’re something the listeners walk away from and talk about with their friends.

Along with the interviews, Thomas and I normally chat about the interviews/stories at the end of the show. I always enjoy the chats and wish time permitted us to really delve into these stories like we might do if we were sitting in a living room together. I think almost all of our podcasts could lead to a discussion that lasts over several hours.

However, due to the space-time-continuum, bandwidth and our listeners available time, I do my best to be sure our podcasts only last an hour in length. Which means that if we do a 30 min interview we have roughly 22-25 minutes to introduce the show and then to discuss the interview at the end (our musical clips take up 5-8 minutes usually). If we do a 45 min interview we end up with maybe 10 minutes to do all that.

Here in lies my frustration. I have trouble picking which part of the discussion might be more beneficial than others. If we really are “Free Range Christians” or “Open Source Christians” I hate the idea that I might be limiting the discussion when I go back and edit our discussions.

There are so many great points that Thomas brings up but I end up having to cut much of our discussion due to the “self-imposed time crunch.”

I also run into similar issues when leading a community group.

Everyone has a story to share. And I love hearing those stories. I love people sharing their stories (hence the podcast). Many people have examples in their life that relate to the discussion — but I also have to consider the time constraints other people in the group may have. That time constraint comes into greater play if its an early morning and people have to head to work — or a week night when folks have to head home so they can get to bed.

So what to do? I dunno. But I do hate editing — and thought you should know.