madrid - majestic, enchanting...temporary

So, I'm strolling around Madrid after turning my visa application into the Russian Consulate. I stop in Starbucks for a tall Caramel Machiato and continue along the road to the Royal Palace. This is my first real experience of a famous European city. I approach the palace. It's large iron gates, courtyard the size of a football field, well trimmed gardens, and the gigantic building itself are crazy impressive. The word that came to mind was majestic. I actually picture myself driving home from a hard days work and walking through those front doors as if it was all mine. The thought made me laugh. As I rounded the other side, amazed that this was all one building a sobering and yet in a way comforting thought came to me. "This is all temporary. It will one day all be destroyed!" That was sobering. And then, "But, if heaven is made by God's hands, certainly it's majesty must far exceed what lies before me." To God that palace must seem like a card house, a log cabin of match sticks. I was reminded that I am living for what is REAL, for what is enduringly real. What we have now is real, but temporarily real. So temporary that one day it will seem like a vague dream, a fading memory. But, the glory of heaven will never fade. In fact, as we delve deeper into the nature of God, I would bet that heaven, our life there, will be ever increasingly majestic!

Whitney Houston and my vacuum cleaner

So, I was doing some housework at home and yeah, listening to some Whitney Houston when the crazies thing happened (I don't do it often alright. But you gotta admit, she's got the voice). The vacuum cleaner was a-hummin' and Whitney Houston was a-yodeling when suddenly, it was clear as day, even the tone deaf would have caught it...Whitney Houston and my vacuum cleaner were belting the very same note! I couldn't believe it. And the vacuum cleaner didn't sound bad at all. Good ol' life.

Wow! I am adding a post to my blog. Here is an incredible thought I have been chewing on that is radically changing my faith and life...
Martin Luther speaks about how works have no merit before God if they are not done as an expression of our faith. Works done as an expression of our faith is love in action (Gal.5:6). So, what really matters to God is not the size of the work, but the quality of the faith that the work is built upon, that gave motive to the work.
What lies behind my works? What lies behind yours?

is it dark in here or is it just me?

So, check this out...
In Acts 21 Paul is suddenly seized by the Jews in Jerusalem. The whole city is soon stirred up against him. They swarm in from every direction and begin beating him. They want Paul dead!
In one sense this moment seems like a triumph of evil. The predator had at last overtaken its prey. It is over for Paul.
But, this is not the case. Even if Paul had died at this moment, it still couldn't be considered a tale of evil triumphing over good.
Paul walked in the light, just as Jesus walked in the light. His ways were directed by the LORD and his life was in full possession of his God. The enemy had no authority to take Paul's life.
But, Paul knew his life was expendable for the glory of his LORD. This day of attack, the day his enemy pounced on him was nonetheless a day, a moment in the light of God's will.
The situation very much seems out of control from a human perspective, but in reality it was fully in God's control. I am confident that Paul was very much aware that His Father was LORD over the moment. He knew that the enemy had not gained victory over him. In the midst of the beatings and chaos in his heart he was shouting victory!
You and I can take great confidence from this passage. As we walk in the light (obedience and submission to God) we are guaranteed that darkness will never overwhelm us. There will never be a moment when we are left alone in the dark. Each moment will be in the light of God's will, under His control and supervision. We can be confident that our enemy will never gain victory over us.
I sometimes have days when I feel like I am walking in the dark. God seems distance, I feel ungodly and it seems the enemy is winning. Today was one of those days. But, moments that may seem "dark" from my perspective, in reality aren't always dark. I am still in the light of God's will, in the security of His hands, but He is simply leading me through a difficulty in order that His glory may be wrought in me.
Are you "in the dark" today? Think again. Maybe you aren't, but rather it just seems like it from your immediate perspective. Look a little higher, a little deeper and you will see that you are in the light and in His hands!

tea with Valentina

Tonight I had one of those "this is what life is all about" experiences. After the Tuesday night prayer meeting at my home church here in Yekat, I escorted home one of our dear "babushkas." Valentina Vasiliyevna (which is how I am obliged to refer to her because of here age) is 70 years old and lives just behind me in different apartment building. Today she had her cane with her because her leg was hurting - but without the cane you would never guess she was 70 years old.
We walked the stairs to apartment #133 on the third floor where she lives (elevators are only find in buildings with more than 5 stories). As I predicted, she invited me in for tea. How could I say no? She showed me the remodelling that was under way in her little one room apartment (not 1 bedroom, 1 room) - the new sewage pipes, freshly painted bathroom, recently wallpapered hallway. Then we sat down at the table in her 9x6 kitchen. I noticed how simply she lived. And yet how content she was. It was appealing - the simplicity of her life.
Valentina has no relatives in our city of 2,000,000 people. She became a widow in her 20's and never remarried. Her two daughters moved far away to the western edge of Russia. Valentina lives alone. Tonight I had tea with a 70-year-old babushka, almost 5o years widowed, with no living relatives withing driving distance, who lives alone in a tiny one room apartment, with very little to call her own. And I had a wonderful time...
She laid the table with cookes, chocolates, candies, and bread with a cheese, garlic, mayonaisse spread. For about an hour we talked - mostly of our Lord. She shared how God recently gave her the opportunity to tell about His love to an 80-year-old lady who she found crying in the pharmacy. In very few words but direct words she invited the woman to commit her life into the hands of Christ. I think her words were something like, "Do you know about Jesus? Yes? Well, don't you want to give your life fully to Him and repent. You have a lot of sins." And Valentina led the woman in a prayer to God to receive forgiveness and new life from His hands.
Valentina doesn't have much, but yet she is so content, happy, hopeful, and vigorous. She loves God with all her heart. She expressed to me how she regrets that it wasn't until she was about 60 that she fully dedicated her life to Him.
Yeah, what Valentina has is indeed what life is all about - contentment. She has Christ, she has it all!

It's a bloggy blog world

I have decided to join the world of blogging. (I know the picture is a little cheesy. I will work on a less formal one. Get off my back.) I thought about creating a blog in the past, however, the thought of all that computer work kept me at bay. I loathe being behind a computer, but I do it because I enjoy some of the benefits...like being able to download music from itunes while in Russia and staying in touch with folks at home. So what gave me a big enough nudge to cross the line and become a blogger? Experiences. This week I had a couple of interesting experiences (I will share later). They were thought provoking, in some ways irritating; the kind that make you think about the roots of life. I found myself desiring to share those experiences with others. At times that is hard to do here. One, it it is still difficult to discuss deep topics in the Russian language. And, two, here I don't have nearly the pool of Christian friends to pull from for invigorating discussion that I do in the States. So, I have decided to try a blog on for while. This will be my space to vent some thoughts, share stuff I'm learning and maybe some funny things that just aren't as funny to people on this side of the world. Of course I will try to post pictures and keep you up to date on current events, but I don't make any promises. As I said, I don't enjoy being behind a computer. Anyways, without further ado (That was close. I almost typed "adieu" rather than "ado." I had to google that one.), here is my blog. Welcome...