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| In this season, I tend to always have lots of extra time and this year I’ve spent that time studying and reading God’s word starting from the very beginning. After reading through Exodus and Leviticus I can’t even begin to express in words the level of gratitude and sincere thanks that I have for the gift of God’s Son who willingly gave up of his own life on a cross to make Atonement for my sins so that I, in my sinful nature would be able to stand before God the Father and be in relationship with Him!
When you read through those books in the Old Testament, you see a very different picture of Atonement, God chose to come and dwell among His people – but God being perfect and Holy can not even be around sin. For this to happen, God put in place a system of numerous rules and regulations for exactly how people were to make Atonement for their sins, down to the exact actions of the appointed priest on how to prepare the sacrifice - what to do with the parts of the animal, what to do with the blood, and how the burnt offering was to be handled. All these rules and regulations were so that you could be Atoned for so that people could meet and be with God and that God could live among them. The Hebrew word for Atonement –  (kaphar) – literally meaning: to cover; expiate or condone, to placate or cancel; appease, make (an atonement, cleanse, disannul, forgive, be merciful, pacify, pardon, purge (away), put off, (make) reconcile(-liation).
Now God, being so Holy didn’t even allow for error in this system, Leviticus 10 writes about Aaron the High Priest and his two sons also priests:
“Now Nadab and Abihu, the Sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. And fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. Then Moses said to Aaron, “It is what the Lord spoke, saying, ‘By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy, And before all the people I will be honored.’”
Wow, talk about such a little mistake, two priests preparing an offering before the Lord did it in a way different than that of what God had instructed on how to prepare an offering, and they were consumed by fire for it in the presence of the Lord! It brings me to a whole new level of thanksgiving for God’s one and only Son who came and made Atonement for us so that we would be able to stand before God the father and be in relationship with Him! Just a thought to think about this Christmas Season...
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|  | Currently Watching
End of the Spear
By Louie Leonardo, Chad Allen, Jack Guzman, Christina Souza (II), Chase Ellison, Sean McGowan, Cara Stoner, Sara Kathryn Bakker, Matt Lutz, Stephen Caudill, Beth Bailey, Chemo Mepaquito, Jose Liberto Caizamo, Patrick Zeller, Magdalena Condoba, Traci Dinwiddie, Atilano Flaco, Wynn Everett, Sylvia Jefferies, Marcial Caizamo
see related |
Tonight, I watched End of the Spear for the first time - it was a very moving movie that really spoke to me in my own calling to missions. However, what spoke to me more than a movie performed from a script that was put together by movie makers that heard the story, was an actual interview with Steve Saint, the son of the father who was killed and later went back to minister to them and live among them - even with the very man who killed his father. Notice the difference in this interview with the natives and how they were before the missionaries came, and how they changed:
Saint: When we met with the Waodani, I asked them, "These people want to make a video of our mutual story, of our history. How do you see that?" And the people, especially Mincaye, said, "No, we say we don't see it well."
[After some discussion], I said, "You know how you used to live, with all the hating and killing. The foreigners live that way too." And the Waodani looked at me like, "Oh come on, we know the foreigners don't live that way." So I told them what happened at Columbine, because this was just after that. They couldn't imagine that foreigners would get angry and kill each other for no reason. They were appalled.
Mincaye said, "That's how we used to live, killing people for no good reason." And then he said, "I say yes. You tell them to tell how we used live, but then you tell them to tell the story of how we live now, so that maybe seeing how we have learned to live well, maybe they too will learn to live well.
The change happened in the Waodani's culture because Christians like Nate Saint heard the call of God to reach people never before reached, and he stopped at nothing. He gave up his life for the sake of the gospel, to show a people love that they had never seen before! Did he regret it, no!
More good things to read from that interview with Steve...
At the end of the movie, Mincayani's character begs you to spear him to avenge your father's death. Did that really happen with Mincaye?
Saint: No. But I didn't mind that scene so much as the fact that the movie then ended without telling you what happens next. When I first saw it, I was stunned at the end, thinking people are going to leave the theater, and they won't understand that I really love Mincaye and Mincaye really loves me. It was like they told the whole joke and left out the punchline.
But then when the end credits started to roll, and they started showing scenes of Mincaye and me today, I felt this almost explosive relief from the audience, because everyone was wondering the same thing: Did Steve and Mincaye ever become friends, or did they become enemies? What happens? So, I was satisfied. You do find out that Mincaye and Steve do, in fact, become more than just reconciled.
What's that reconciliation look like today?
Saint: You should have seen Mincaye last night, watching a video in our living room. Our sons James and Shaun and their wives and kids were here. All the kids were on the couch with Mincaye, who had one of the littlest ones on his lap. The rest of them were just hanging all over him, watching the video. And Mincaye was having more fun just being pummeled by the kids than he was watching the video. I thought, You know, there is no way that they can show in this movie how much we really have become family.
If you want to read more of the interview with Steve Saint, you can find it here: http://www.christianitytoday.com/movies/interviews/stevesaint.html
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| I've been really struggling a lot recently about going on a Youth in Mission trip next summer, and I'm just so uncomfortable about it right now. Rather ironic, but today as I was checking out the website for the first time, I bumped into a team going to Saipan that wasn't on our info card that they gave us at the meeting last week. I remembered them mentioning two other areas that were only listed on the website, and I didn't give it much thought at the time. But now that I look at the details for Saipan, it covers nearly exactly the gifts that I would be able to give of best for Youth in Mission. So what's ironic about all of this? The fact that during the exact same time I was researching Saipan and starting to feel moved, I get an email which reads:
Greetings from Youth In Mission!
As the middle of the semester hits and you find yourself in the midst of numerous papers and exams, we would like to encourage you! You can make it!
While we, the Youth In Mission staff, were on campus we did a pre-reference for all those who had attended our information sessions and filled out a contact card. The reason you are receiving this e-mail is because your school highly recommended you. We want to encourage you in that. You are making a difference on your campus and your campus community is very proud of you!
Along that same note, we would be thrilled if you filled out an application for Youth In Mission. While you may not have thought about what your summer plans are, we would like to encourage you to at least think about Youth In Mission as an opportunity.
You can check out our website at www.youthinmission.org and apply online. Please let us know if you have any questions. We would be delighted to talk with you!
Joel Tooley Jill Fothergill
Youth Missions Coordinator Youth In Mission Assistant
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| MY LORD GOD,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
And you will never leave me to face my perils alone.
- Thomas Merton, “Thoughts in Solitude”
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| Welp .. that's one full 7 page paper that i just cranked out in the last couple of hours - I really should use my time better next time and not wait so long to start 
Now I leave you with a quote from the book I just wrote the paper on:
"You are a story surrounded by stories in
progress, and at any moment, your story could intersect with the story of
someone else, and as a result, both of your stories will take a novel turn. In the process, both of you will find yourselves part of God's unfolding story too, becuase God's story intersects with ours at every turn, in every breath, pulsing in every heartbeat."
-Brian McLaren "More Ready Than You Realize"
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