Looking Backward, Looking Forward

Someone told me that the month of January was named after the two-faced Roman god, Janus. Sure enough, they were right. As we will soon be in the month of January and beginning a new year, I began to reflect upon what has been and what will be. I’m thankful that my past, present and future are in the hands of God and that there is meaning and purpose in everything, even if I don’t see it. So, if you do some thinking back and looking forward at this time of year, keep in mind that God’s wisdom has higher plans than we can see, that His power can redeem any tragedy, that His love can comfort our pains, that His Spirit can transform us that His peace passes understanding and that He will ultimately be glorified in it all. May we look back and forward with eyes of faith, believing in His holiness and goodness, finding our peace and satisfaction in Him. Wishing you all a Happy New Year of trusting Jesus.
Rom. 11:33-6
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid? For him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

Updates and Petitions

Thanks for praying for Paul Billings. His surgery went well last week. You can continue to pray for Paul and Mel as they were suppose to meet with the religious affairs dept. in Bishkek today (Dec 17th) regarding the church plant there. Pray that the church can be registered and that they will have continued permission to preach.
Also, please pray for Jake Knotts, that God would heal his kidney. You can read more about that on his blog if you like. There is a link on this blog.
Also, here's a fun tidbit: I was talking with Yulia (see earlier post) yesterday and she asked if God ever slept. It is amazing and sometimes startling to get insights into how she thinks about God . Certainly it was a joy and a privilege to share with her that God never sleeps and is always watching over her. Ps 121:4 "He will not allow your foot to be moved, He who keeps you will not slumber." Good news for weary souls!

Lift Them Up

Please pray for Paul and Melanie Billings. They are missionaries in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan and are currently in Hungary where Paul is awaiting surgery to repair damage done by kidney stones earlier this year. His surgery is scheduled for Tuesday the 11th. They have 2 boys and are expecting another child in the new year. Here is a poem dedicated to them:
Reaching to the sun
bending to the wind
the wind does blow
and I bend
I am bending
bare - blown - trusting.
oaks of righteousness have small beginnings
dry deserts have their season of rain
the water falls and goes deep
and the sun never fails to bring life
(see Ps. 84 esp. verse 12 and Isaiah 61:3)

Meet Yulia

This is my little friend, Yulia, who studies at the boarding school in Podusovka (a neighborhood in Chernigov). I met her in the Priluki orphanage when she was 4. When she aged out of that orphanage, she was sent to school here in Chernigov. I was delighted to see her when she began 1st grade here. Now she is in 4th grade and is 10 years old. We see each other every week when our church has a Sunday school time at her school. Every so often, I have her over for lunch and then take her to church with me in the afternoon. She’s a smart, serious girl who knows how to stand her ground and has a happy giggle.
Some other kids from her school have been coming to church lately too. It’s been eye-opening to relate to these kids out of their institutional environment. They are unaccustomed to what for us is everyday social interaction. Practically all their life activities revolve around their school where they eat, study, sleep, play and train for sports or dance. When they do go off the school grounds, it’s most likely for a field trip or competition with their whole class or team. Going to someone’s house for lunch is foreign.
Communicating with these kids can be a challenge. They often deflect compliments about their nice bracelet or hair ribbon because if the other kids around them hear that something might be valuable, they will take it from them. They aren’t used to people making small talk with them either. They normally relate to their classmates or their teachers. They aren’t sure how to answer when you ask what they did today. Didn’t they do what the other 100-some kids did? Why would you ask me that?
It’s my prayer that our church would reach out to the Podusovka kids more. Pray that God would help us to love and care for them, to invite them into our homes and to teach them about Jesus. Pray that the kids would desire to know God and have confidence in God. Pray that God would take away their insecurities as they grow in the security of Jesus’ love.

No Glory Without Sacrifice

Congratulations, you are all my surrogate roommates for this moment. For those of you who live with spouses, friends or some other being, you have someone to share your random thoughts with. I tend to be a bundle of random thoughts and bringing them up in conversation can sometimes be awkward. It’s less awkward to post them to you all as you click through cyber worlds in search of something or nothing depending upon the day. So here’s the random spouting of the hour. There is no glory without sacrifice. This is true in the spiritual realm as well as the secular. Musicians, athletes, actors and executives may pursue a different kind of glory and their sacrifices may look different, but the principle is the same. The question is, are we living for the true Glory (of Christ)? If so, then the sacrifices of life are worth it. Some verses come to mind. Philippians 2:8-9 “…He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name.” 2 Corinthians 5:15 “and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.”
Whatever your sacrifice today, may it ultimately be rooted in your love for and worship of Jesus. He is worthy and He is glorious.

The orange and the potato: dysfunction within self-made paradigms

Late night musing are often not worth sharing. This may be one of them, but since I’m new at this blog thing, I’ll take a risk and post. There is this husband and wife who have, it seems, a difficult arrangement. The husband lives most of his time in a different city than his wife and often travels abroad for business. It’s almost as if this couple looks at marriage like it is, let’s say for the sake of illustration, a potato, when in fact, marriage is, let’s say, an orange. So they cook and fry their “potato” and wonder why things don’t come out they way they expect. If only they knew that they were dealing with an orange and not a potato. People often define things the way they want and then operate within that paradigm, suffering in relationships and not realizing their mistake. Haven’t we all suffered the dysfunctional effects of our self-made paradigms at one time or another? God save us, and He can. That familiar verse Ps.119:105 puts us on track in stating, “Your Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” May God’s Word enlighten and free us.

A Cherigov park near my apartment

Why Poetry in Motion?

Well, I finally decided to join the blog world. The title "poetry in motion" came to mind one day. Maybe the Motown tune was in my head or something. I was thinking that the life of a believer should be like poetry in motion. God makes us a new creation in Him and it is nothing less than miraculous. Poetry is prose reinvented just as a believer is a human transformed. We are constantly sojourning in the path of Life in Jesus and so we are in motion. Today, as if in confirmation of all my mulling, I read a great quote by Spurgeon that says, "the believer's graces: are not every one of them in constant motion?" We are made alive in Christ and His work of grace is lived out in us. And so, to the believers out there- you are in Christ a sort of poetry in motion. May He fill you with His joy today.

Here's a little poem to kick off the site:

golden leaves are fallen, fallen on the ground
Autumn's expectations began green and lush, high and lofty
slowly and with splendor, they carpet the earth
surrendering to change with beauty and delicacy

thin empty branches are left reaching heavenward
pointing to the fulfillment of all expectation

Desire of the Nations, Desire of my heart
All promises in You are Yes and Amen
golden Fall reminds me.
glory to You.