Happy Birthday!

Consider Venture Capital That Brings a Smile

At charity: water, we know that building a water project is the easy part. Keeping clean water flowing over time, however, is a complex business that requires money, training and innovative thinking. It's something we've always been committed to. In some cases, up to 30% of the cost of a charity: water project goes into training and educating the community about how to take care of the well after we're gone. At first, our

field partners start with ownership. We believe if the community feels a strong sense of ownership, they'll see their well as a critical asset to everyone and take good care of it collectively. Another important piece is the formation of a Water Committee. A 6-8 person team is selected from the village (often it's at least half women) and trained to make minor repairs. Often, our partners will leave spare parts for the village in case the well breaks -- because sooner or later, something always breaks. If the Water Committee is in place and active, that will keep water flowing most of the time. But sometimes a problem arises that's too big for even the best Water Committee members to tackle, and if solutions are not in place, communities could wait months for repairs while they go back to drinking dirty water. Last year in India, we tried an entirely new approach: investing in entrepreneurs from the ground up, helping them grow their small businesses to repair broken wells. This video demonstrates a story of one mechanic who's taken full advantage of our help. See the complete and original blog post on charity:water's website:  http://www.charitywater.org/mailings/2012_india_mechanics/

A Thousand Years...and MORE!

"I have died everyday waiting for you

Darling don't be afraid I have loved you

For a thousand years

I'll love you for a thousand more

And all along I believed I would find you

Time has brought your heart to me

I have loved you for a thousand years

I'll love you for a thousand more"

Can you close your eyes and imagine Jesus singing that chorus to you? 

The Audacious Prayer




This past weekend, I attended a conference and so many fantastic things were shared by numerous people.  This was then capped off by a personal concert by Aaron Shust.

Just the week before, I was talking to a friend about what it really means to live for God.  I am familiar with phrases like "dying to self" and "giving it all to You".  However, the weight of such statements has just recently hit me square in the chest that is has knocked the wind out of me.  How so? Well, here is a story for illustration.

Ian and Larissa have shared an amazing story that points to God's glory through their blog.

To summarize for you, I am going to steal from the Overlapped Weblog.

"When people vow to love and cherish 'in sickness and in health', everyone hopes for 'sickness' to mean the usual yearly cold. When we hear of marriages that survive and continue after an accident or disability, it’s incredible and heart breaking at once.

"But Ian and Larissa began their marriage on those grounds. They’d been dating for 10 months in college and Ian was ring shopping when he was in a nearly fatal car crash. He had extensive brain damage. I’ve been reading their simple blog Pray for Ian for years, and he’s come so far. He can actually communicate with Larissa now, through words and not just blinking.

"But there are so, so many things he can’t yet do – like walk on his own – and maybe won’t ever be able to do.

"And they married anyway, years after the accident (which was in 2006 – they got married in 2010 or 2011, I think). They knew, fully, what they were getting into. And they’ve loved each other, praised God, grieved the disability, and been beautifully grateful – all through God’s grace. And they look forward to heaven more than anyone I know."

As a spectator to this story, I am just trying to pick up the pieces.  

I see love.  

I see pain.  

I see commitment.

I see beauty.

And I see WORSHIP!

Yes, I see that such a story brings about God's glory.  Ian could have decided to go ring shopping on a different day and the outcome would have been very different and much more traditional.  However, despite all these circumstances, God wins.  In fact, this is such a unique story that I am simply in awe of Him.  God has to be pretty amazing for Ian and Larissa to live a challenging story and yet praise Him all the way through it.  It is clear how their faith, in addition to the faiths of those around them and including their readers, have deepened...but at such a cost.  Is this what it means to "die to self" and to "give it all"?

In getting back to this conference and Aaron Shust, I have seen these words sung out in his latest album "This Is What We Believe".  At the conference, Aaron commented that this was his "In Awe of  God's Greatness" album.  There are numerous songs that contain language/lyrics that communicate the greatness of God and the subsequent impact on our lives.

It is clear that "giving it all" to Him does not shield us from the hurts of this world.  Aaron's own son, Michael, at the age of about 1 year old, had to undergo open-heart surgery just this past week.  His heart, which is supposed to be equipped with four aortic valves, somehow only had one.  Therefore, the blood was mixing together and therefore causing some complications.

As parents of this child and followers of the perfect Creator, how would you expect to respond to this?  I would expect with many questions and with many doubts as to "how perfect can He really be if my child comes into the world broken?"

However, their faith remains.  Incredible! How? It hardly makes sense.  The faith of Aaron and his wife, Sarah, go beyond  explanation.  However, one thing is for sure: their faith is beautiful and Aaron so poetically shares that in his latest album.

Anyway, Michael's surgery was last week and due to the timing of the surgery in relation to the conference, Aaron was not sure he was going to be able to leave the hospital and make it for the concert.  The result was that Michael's surgery fell into an eighth percentile, meaning that the doctor's estimate were about 1 in 12 for the surgery to be successful.  The results exceeded all expectations as the 4-hour surgery only took 2 hours and Michael was recently discharged home, much sooner than expected and at an alarming recovery rate.  

With this great news, Aaron now felt comfortable leaving his family and coming to the conference.  From my perspective, sitting in the audience, I was in complete amazement as I watched Aaron pour his soul into the Lord through song and worship, inviting us into each phrase, each chorus, each lyric. He commented that he just felt like he was in his living room playing on his piano and guitar, and we just happened to be there with him.  He rattled off some of his compositions, and then moved into traditional praise songs, and then swapped between the two for the next hour. You could sense the power that was in the room at this time and you could truly see how faith is so beautiful and how the Holy Spirit has truly touched Aaron's life.

So pop back out to my conversation just the week before this conference.  I was discussing the audacious prayer with a friend, and realizing what it truly meant to "die to self" and to "give it all".  This means loving God so much that we are ready to take on whatever circumstance to bring Him the greatest praise and to have the opportunity on earth to get a premature glimpse of the eternity to come.  This can come at great reward, and as illustrated in the above stories, can also come at great cost.  It is such a bold an audacious prayer to say, "God, you can do whatever you want with my life" when it means that there may be such a cost on your life.  However, such sacrifices will seem so small compared to the greater glory that will be experienced.  

In the end, it is an honor to be a part of the faith.  And I audaciously say, "God, have it your way, at whatever cost and at whatever reward so that Your glory can me maximized and so that I may know You as much as possible until the time that we meet face to face in eternity."

Fishing for Abundance


In the beginning of Luke 5, Jesus finds some young boys about to embark on a fishing journey.  Jesus got in one of the boats and talked with them and learned more about them and began teaching them.

Note to self: find an activity where I can build effective relationships

It is apparent that the fishermen had been spending a lot of time with Jesus on this particular night as they were "toiling all night and catching nothing" (5).

Note to self: fishing without catching anything is boring, but the people in the boat make the trip interesting

Finally, after spending all this time together, Jesus commands these young boys to bring in the nets.  After a night without catching anything, the nets are overflowing and additional help from other boats are required to bring in the catch.  This story is found to be a mini-parable as Jesus later says that the gentlemen in the boat will be fishers of men...and according to the story, with Jesus they will be ABUNDANT fishers of men.  However, it is not until Jesus steps into the boat, and after many hours of relationship, do the nets bring forth their abundance.

Note to self: my net will remain empty as long as go fishing for men by myself.  I must ask for His blessing and know who is the true Captain of the boat...and it is likely that we will simply be hanging out getting to know each other inside the boat for a while.

Happy Mother's Day

"Each of us gets to be the pastor of our family every day. Lousy pay; great benefits." -Bob Goff

I am thankful for the mothers that have included me in their ministry.  They are a great blessing to me and I can only hope to return or forward on the ministry to others.

Here is to showing mothers the best form of payment, LOVE.  Find a mother and wish her a very special Mother's Day.  Be part of the benefits package :)

Consider Venture Capital That Brings a Smile

"At charity: water, we know that building a water project is the easy part. Keeping clean water flowing over time, however, is a complex business that requires money, training and innovative thinking. It's something we've always been committed to.

In some cases, up to 30% of the cost of a charity: water project goes into training and educating the community about how to take care of the well after we're gone. At first, our

field partners start with ownership. We believe if the community feels a strong sense of ownership, they'll see their well as a critical asset to everyone and take good care of it collectively. Another important piece is the formation of a Water Committee. A 6-8 person team is selected from the village (often it's at least half women) and trained to make minor repairs. Often, our partners will leave spare parts for the village in case the well breaks -- because sooner or later, something always breaks. If the Water Committee is in place and active, that will keep water flowing most of the time. But sometimes a problem arises that's too big for even the best Water Committee members to tackle, and if solutions are not in place, communities could wait months for repairs while they go back to drinking dirty water.

Last year in India, we tried an entirely new approach: investing in entrepreneurs from the ground up, helping them grow their small businesses to repair broken wells. This video demonstrates a story of one mechanic who's taken full advantage of our help."

See the complete and original blog post on charity:water's website:  http://www.charitywater.org/mailings/2012_india_mechanics/ 

Freedom...is coming





Freedom.

It is a word that I immediately associate with 1863 in this country.  This was the year that Abraham Lincoln signed a piece of legislation that eventually freed the slaves once the Confederacy joined back with the Union at  the conclusion of the Civil War.

Freedom is a gift.  Freedom appears in the Bible to tell us that it is one of God's creations as it appears in Galatians 5.

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." (v. 1)

"You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself." If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other." (v. 13-15)

We have been freed to love and to serve, tending to the needs of those around us.  However, it can be difficult to serve if we ourselves are in bondage and we become crippled.  I often think of addictions in this respect, a slave to sins.  There are easy ones to point out: drugs, alcohol, and sex.  However, some individuals like to throw these around as if they are the only addictions in existence.  There are also addictions to food, entertainment, work....

The first step is to be freed, and to realize that as the world may judge you for these addictions, Jesus will not.  He instills the principles of faith, hope, and love that restores us to God's original intention for our lives.

Finally, once we are freed, we get the incredible opportunity to have a front row seat in LIBERATION!  Yes, we get to see others break their bonds of addiction.  Or more literally, we may even get to be involved in setting people free from the bondage of other people.

IJM is an organization based in the US that empowers individuals around the world to stand up for the rule of law that bans slavery.  Slavery often happens in areas where disorganization breeds opportunity, where there is no threat of prosecution upon committing these crimes.  IJM empowers police systems as well as court systems to arrest and subsequently prosecute slave drivers and brothel owners.  While this does bring justice to the oppressed, it also acts as a deterrent for future slavery.  IJM is out to "rescue thousands, but protect millions".

What does freedom mean to you? How do you respond to your freedom?

I Get Hurt When I Love



Loving Jesus: EASY!

We love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19)

Loving others: difficult.

"'A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.  By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.'" (John 13:34-35).

When most talk about loving others, they reference that it is difficult due to the numerous people that do not love in return, that inflict hurt and damage.  But I want to talk about another reason why it is difficult...

My heart is broken.

Jesus took my heart and swept me away.  In this way, my heart was reformed after numerous hurts from the past.

But then, in the words of Hillsong, my heart broke for what broke His.  A love for others means that I see the acute needs of others, and my heart cries as if I thought it be my very brother or sister that was the victim.

I see a homeless man picking food from a trash can and then running away when I approach him.

I see numerous others starving in other countries, suffering from malnutrition and disease and seeing that a small donation only goes so far in helping 1 billion people.

I see many enslaved into forced labor or prostitution.  I can only watch from afar as I remain helpless knowing what I can do.

I see numerous business people who are so satisfied with their lives that they "don't need God".  Therefore they miss out on the party, and no words of mine can sway their opinion.

My heart is broken as I see all the injustice, ambivalence, and sin go on around me.

But as my heart was formed in Jesus and then broken for the world, it only leans back into Jesus to be mended.

See, I am a sheep in the flock and I need to be shepherded.  I am not Superman.  Jesus is, and He did, does, and will triumph over all.    I am not meant to save the world.  Jesus was and He did and He will.  Why should I take away His glory?  I am provided by His great hope through faith by loving (1 Corinthians 13:13).

But it still hurts.

Who Are You?



Take inventory of all the people in your life.  Is there anyone that fits the description that Carrie Underwood sings about in this song "Who Are You?"

I find that in my life I am surrounded by many people who are a great influence on my life.  However, no one intimately knows ALL aspects of my life.  It is a great comfort to have someone who does, someone who can console, someone who can advise, someone who can even discipline.

The truth is no person will know your life completely.  Even husbands and wives spend at least 15-20 years apart from each other.  Friends come and go, some stay for long periods of time.  However, most do not live with you.  Even family members are only around you for parts of your life.

This is where I rely on the Jesus that is in many people.  The small piece of Jesus that is in each of your hearts has an influence on me collectively.  And to top it all off, Jesus himself fills in the spaces that no person knows about.  Often these are darker depths of me or maybe simply the parts of me that are tough to understand.  It is quite encouraging to know that Jesus/God knows all and sees through every aspect of my life.  I don't have to hide, or explain, or even justify/prove/defend.

"Take me as I am...I've got nothing left to lose...I was made for You." -Building 429

Today, Carrie Underwood is debuting her 4th album, "Blown Away". This song is Track #14 on that album.