Thinking about this Thanksgiving holiday got me reflecting about gratitude and sharing a table with friends. I thought it could be interesting to consider how Jesus shared a table — which he did often. Multiplied out over a the span of a year, that’s almost 1,100 meals!
In the book of Luke alone, there are 10 stories of Jesus dining with various people. Let’s revisit these stories and ask how the tables of the first century after Christ’s birth could relate to ours today in 2018.
Those moments when the church expects or assumes a shared cultural connection are simultaneously the most unifying and divisive moments we have experienced in the church, because in these moments new/unorthodox folks can go from feeling included to feeling like spectators. It can be easy to forget that some cultural hurdles are impossible (or inappropriate) for some people to overcome and, without ill-intention, we may foster an environment where folks are continually confronted with the reality they can never fully enter our community.
This is a problem, because Christian communities must accommodate and integrate outsiders.
Why is it that we don't always recognize so many Biblical heroes start as underdogs? God used ordinary people to show His extraordinary goodness. When Jesus was on earth, he surrounded himself with underdogs -- misfits, outcasts, and societal losers.
Feel like the odds are against you? You’re in good company.
Christmas, named after the “Mass of Christ,” has become an abomination to its name. I can’t imagine a time of year that inversely reflects the values of Christ more strongly. In what world does it make sense to take Jesus, a radical revolutionary set on guerrilla global transformation, and associate him with consumerism, the fulfillment of personal wants, needs, and ritualistic religion?
Yet this is where we stand.
I'm going to let you in on a secret: I'm a Christian missionary and I loathe the term "evangelism."
My friend Hal used to say people like me don't like evangelism because we "have seen evangelism done wrong time and time again." Those words have proven to be pivotal for me. If it's possible for evangelism to be "done wrong," what does it mean to be "done right?"
One week ago today, Alisha and I, along with our 15-month-old son Asher, were walking from our school in Barcelona's Gothic Quarters to check out a nearby neighborhood's festival.
Our route: Las Ramblas.
Twenty minutes after we had turned off the infamously touristy road, a rental van was intentionally driven down the pedestrian area, killing over a dozen people and injuring several others. We were 750 meters (~1/2 mile) away.
I remember the first time I went down a huge waterslide. The kind that seems to drop at a 90-degree angle for a half dozen stories. The scary part wasn't the drop itself -- it was the moment while you're sitting at the top waiting for the OK to go and then, suddenly you decide to let go.
Tomorrow morning we leave for Barcelona and, when people ask us how we're feeling, that's the best way I can describe it. We're on the brink of a new, adventures chapter in our lives and, while we're incredibly excited, we'd be remiss to say our hearts aren't in our throats right now. Our bags are packed and tomorrow morning we get on the airplane and "let go."
As we prepare to leave for a week of training with Mennonite Mission Network (MMN), we wanted to post about how things have been shaping up these past few months. We intentionally paused after our last blog post. In regards to our movement towards Spain, our need for financial partners is one of the biggest obstacles we've had to tackle during this season in the United States.
That said, we've certainly done more than sit on our hands since then...
We need your monthly financial support. Consider making a commitment this holiday season.
Let this be your act of resistance to the holiday madness. If you're truly thankful, make a donation on Black Friday or Cyber Monday rather than indulge in run-amok capitalism. If you cringe at the shallowness of secularized Christmas, give a gift that can make a profound difference.
When Alisha and I first began talking about serving abroad several years ago, we never would have thought we'd end up serving in Europe. After all, mission workers are supposed to go to the poor, third-world countries of this world, right?
