Justification

I read through the book of Job recently and as always, I find it to be a strikingly intriguing book. There’s a lot of debate about the characters and the whole storyline of it all. People typically sum it up as such, Job was a good guy, God allowed Satan to afflict him, Job argued with a few friends and then God showed up and talked about creating a bunch of random stuff.


There’s a guy in the story that is often overlooked and his name is Elihu. Elihu is a young guy that waits his turn to talk and really sets the stage for God to burst in and speak out of the whirlwind (how righteous is that imagery?). Elihu comes on the scene in Job 32 and I love his introduction:


 “So these three men (Job’s friends) stopped answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. But Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became very angry with Job for justifying himself rather than God. He was also angry with the three friends, because they had found no way to refute Job, yet condemned him. Now Elihu had waited before speaking to Job because they were older than he. But when he saw that the three men had nothing more to say, his anger was aroused.” (v. 1-5)


There’s a phrase in here that I find fascinating. Basically, this young guy comes in swinging. He’s angry with everyone that has just been going on and on about the situation. Its safe to say that everyone is angry with the friends, and with good reason. They are worthless comforters, as Job said. But what about Job? Why be angry with him? The Bible says at the start and the end that Job didn’t sin with his lips in this book of words and arguments (Job 1:22; 42:8). Yet this guy Elihu is mad him, really he’s mad for the same reason that moved God to put Job in his place - doesn’t this just send chills up your spine? “Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question you and you shall answer me.” (38:2).


He’s angry because Job justified himself rather than God.


That is a tough pill to swallow. Job didn’t do anything wrong. He was a righteous man, a prosperous man, a family man with integrity. All of a sudden everything hits the fan and he’s left high and dry. In his attempt to defend himself from his friends harsh words, Job points out how righteous he is, which is actually true. But in all of his discourses, he never justifies God, only himself. Its not until God shows up and Job is put in his place that he speaks what he should have from the get-go “I am unworthy - how can I reply to You?”(40:3).


I think that there’s something in here for us, certainly for me. God calls us to things, He calls us to be a certain person and to act a certain way. By His grace and Spirit, we actually do it sometimes. We are the people that He wants us to be. We’re like Job, we serve God, we love Him and fear Him. At some point, whether it be an attack from Satan, or a byproduct of sin and death in the world, we get hurt, something goes wrong. We ourselves didn’t do anything wrong, but now something’s amiss nonetheless.


Like Job, we often start sulking and point out how we didn’t do anything wrong. We didn’t do anything to bring this upon ourselves. We feel as though we need to defend ourselves from what others might think or say to us, like Job did in responding to his friends. We use all of our words to justify ourselves and we never stop to consider God.


You know what the funny thing is about God’s response to Job? He never tells him why He allowed all the hardship to happen. He never answers all those questions that Job and his friends posed. It seems like God comes in and talks about everything, BUT the question of why. He talks about stars, snow, mountain goats and ostriches, but doesn’t tell Job why all of this was allowed to happen to him.


What’s the point of God’s response? He’s God. That’s the point. We’re not God. That’s the first sub-point. What does it meant to justify God? It means to recognize Him as God. To agree with the Bible that He is higher, we can’t understand Him fully (Isaiah 55:8-9). We relinquish what control we think we have over our lives and tell God He is in control. We realize that He is for us and that He is working out things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). We recognize not only that He’s on our side, but that He’s bigger than the problem. Lastly, we relinquish any thought that God needs to answer to us, that He owes us an explanation or an apology. That’s justification.


You might be doing exactly what God wants you to be doing and something blows up in your face. Now you have this huge problem and you don’t know what to do. You might be apt to say, “but I’m a pastor!” or “I’m witnessing to people at work!” or, as I’m tempted to say, “but Lord I’m way over here in Tanzania, being a missionary and helping orphans!” Just stop. He’s God. He is justified in all He does and He knows exactly what He’s doing, for this we give praise.

Verse of the Week: Matthew 25:40

This week's verse is one that a lot of people, especially those younger social activist Christians, will memorize or at least be aware of. This is a verse that I've quoted plenty of times, but not in full and never with the Bible address. I think that its important to know where we can find the verse in the Bible. It adds credibility when one is witnessing and it helps us in our own devotion and study. This verse in particular, and the passage it comes from, ought to cause all Christians to be on their toes, because Jesus clearly cares about how we take care of the less fortunate neighbors around us.

"And the king will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to me." - Matthew 25:40

Verse of the Week: Psalm 82:3-4

This week's memory verse is a very straightforward verse that shows God's heart for the oppressed. I say it everywhere I speak that you can't get through the Bible, either Testament, and not see God's evident heart for justice. Obviously, I have committed my life to the kids at TOA, but this is a biblical mandate to all believers for us to love our downtrodden neighbors. So here's the verse...

"Defend the poor and fatherless;
Do justice to the afflicted and needy.
Deliver the poor and needy;
Free them from the hand of the wicked."

-Psalm 82:3-4

Government

*Note to reader: I’m doing a three part series on America and the gospel of Jesus. The first one on patriotism is here. You may or may not want to check that out before reading this one. Now back to our regularly scheduled blog…


One of the things that I love about studying Jesus in the Bible is that in all His interactions, He doesn’t seem to leave any stone unturned. All of His teachings and actions have huge impacts across all facets of society.  His economic stance is that there’s enough for everyone, like with the loaves and fishes. His thoughts on race are that it doesn’t matter if you’re Jewish or a hated Samaritan, or any other Gentile for that matter, He invites you into the Kingdom, like the woman at the well. As he teaches His family values in the sermon on the mount, He says that marriage is sacred and binding. And then there’s this other area of our society.


A bit more controversial I suppose is Christ’s view on government. I believe that Jesus and the Bible say a lot about government and politics. People tend to camp around different flags as to what they think a biblical view of government is. Some are apathetic, believing that Jesus wasn’t political at all. They think about the fact that He perpetually dodged the idea that the Messiah would come and set up an earthly government right away. Others belittle His interaction in American politics, relegating Him to little sayings like, “The Father is a Republican, Jesus is a Democrat and the Holy Spirit is Independent.” No matter what stance an individual takes, they are quite certain that God is on their political side.


As we try to become like Christ and model our lives after the principles that He teaches us in the Bible, we must maintain this solemn stance: God is holy. He’s entirely different and He doesn’t fit nicely into the little boxes that we’d like to put Him in. There are very clear mandates and principles throughout the Bible that we can bank on, but there are also areas that appear more gray that require a more discerning eye and a gracious understanding of His magnitude. When we try to say that God is on our side with our particular party, we should always remember this stance of humility.

Poetry Corner: Constance

Last night, Melissa and I found ourselves watching hip hop videos on YouTube and I showed her this one. I wanted to put it out here, because hip hop is close to my heart and is the reason I got into poetry in the first place. This song is intense and quite sad, but the heart behind it is so good. Mr J Medeiros shows what hip hop ought to be and that's an art form that expresses truth in a way that is bigger than the form itself. More of this meaningful music is what I would love to see and certainly what I dream for for hip hop. 

Radical

I had a nice long conversation on Sunday night with Melissa and I was sharing my heart as one might say. In the midst of exhaustion, a level of discouragement has been setting in from time to time as of late. I know the Lord has more for His people and yet I don’t know what to do in getting us all there. 


I’ve now been in California for over a month on this furlough. In so many ways, being here feels like one of the last places I want to be and yet I know that the Lord has me here for His own purposes. Five Sundays and six churches behind me, I’m left wanting. I have spoken at good churches full of people that I love and that God loves. Yet, there’s so much more that we could be doing, there’s so much more that we should be doing. 


I can’t tell if its wrong of me to say all this or if it would be wrong of me to not say it. Lord, help me. Shane Claiborne talks about a visit that he had to a church in Iraq. In seeing the vibrancy of the church and the amount of believers, he shares his amazement with the pastor. The pastor smirks and notes that America didn’t invent Christianity, we just domesticated it. 


Domestic gospel. We are to be the salt and light of the world, we are the bearers of the good news and our message comes across domicile. That’s wrong. It doesn’t even make sense and yet that appears to be what’s happening.   


Potential. That’s one thing that I kept repeating over and over to Melissa the other night. There is so much potential in the United States church. Do we really care about our witness or are we more interested in image management? There are some incredible ways that we could be living out our faith that would revolutionize not just our own lives but also the way that people see us. 

Bonhoeffer Quote

"We are not to simply bandage the wounds of victims beneath the wheels of injustice, but we are to drive a spoke into the wheel itself."

-Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Image via Wikipedia

Movement

I had a great opportunity to speak at The Garden on Sunday in Long Beach. It was a great time seeing my friends there and to find myself right back in the community that has been and is so special to me. I really didn’t know how to prepare for what I would say. Darren said that it would be an interview type format and we would be talking about worship and justice and how that plays itself out in my context at Treasures of Africa. As I sat there waiting to go up in the morning service, I was praying and just trying to focus on the Holy Spirit and what He wanted to speak through me. It was a delight to just be used in that way and it went quite well if I do say so myself. 


As I was speaking, something came out that I believe with my whole heart. I’ll have to paraphrase myself because I don’t want to go back and check the pod cast (which you can listen to on iTunes by going to The Garden Church Long Beach in the Religion/Spirituality - Christianity section). I said something to the effect that the Kingdom of God and the Church, as the people of the Kingdom, are beautiful. They are beautiful because it is just this huge movement of people that are fulfilling the unique callings that the Lord has put on their lives. There is nothing on this world like the Church.


The more I think about it, that’s exactly what the Church is supposed to be; a movement. I am one man and by the grace and providence of God, I’ve stepped into a calling. I do indeed find it to be exciting. Not because of all the cool stuff that I’m doing, but because of all the stuff that the Lord is doing just because I’m walking in what He told me to do. It is so encouraging when people affirm, encourage and support me. It makes me that much happier to actually be walking in this small role that the Lord has entrusted to me within His Kingdom. I’m just one man though and nothing would get done if I were acting in isolation.

This Child

Do you see this child? He's standing right here
Screaming his lungs out, but you've covered your ears
Injustice rules her life and everyday she's beat down
Thorns are forced upon her head and they call it a crown
His life is consumed by disease, blood, tears,
Loneliness, violence, sadness, fear
But she deserves so much more, every human does
And yet she walks this earth and no one shows her love
Now is that okay with you? Can you just let that go?
Or does something scream inside of you that justice must flow?
'Cause this is real life people, its sad but true
He's screaming out loud, the next action's on you


Oh praise You Lord Jesus, thank you Lord that You hear
That as she walks along, I know that You're near
And his burden is so heavy and its something he can't bear
And yet You reach out to him and let him know that You care
Oh, let us be like You Lord - Holy, Righteous and Just
And speak truth into lives as we give You our trust


And now my precious little children, put your hope in the Lord
Trust that He loves you and blesses with every word
Daughter, know that you're beautiful. Son, know that you're strong.
Bad times may come, but they won't last long
You're such a strong daughter and a beautiful son
Let us find our peace in Jesus, the Holy and Just One.

Brandon Michael

March 28th, 2008

Little Girl

Lord Jesus, there's so much pain in this world
As I look into the eyes of this starving little girl
Who doesn't have a father, a mother or a friend
Whose only four years old, but nearly reaching her end
And Lord Jesus when I see her, I can't help but see
The Man on the cross staring back at me
This is what it means to love the least of these
And I don't know who else will go, but Jesus please send me
Because that was me, I was that little girl
Naked, hungry and lost with only one prayer in this world
But as soon as I said it, You were quick to save
And it took the blood of perfection, but You freely gave
And I'm so moved by Your love and moved by Your grace
That I'll help every child in this world just to catch a glimpse of Your face
You're worthy of so much more, but all I have is one life
But I'll lay it down for You, this I vow tonight.
Amen.

Brandon Michael

January 13th, 2008

Sin

Last week as I was in the hospital room, sitting at Awadhi‘s bed, I had a thought that was resounding in my head. You hear so many statistics about the ways disease and death ravage third world countries, specifically sub-Saharan Africa. As I was there in that room at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center, those numbers grew faces again as I realize that there are children in this ward that aren’t going to come out. I heard the cries of a family mourning just outside of Awadhi’s room in the hallway; a woman crying out loud over some child’s death, possibly hers. And this thought was resounding in my head: “Why don’t we realize the impact of our sin?”

This world has a major problem. This world is in sin. The impact of that results in all the woes that you can think of in this world. You name the ailment and its source is in sin; disease, dissatisfaction, shame, poverty, loneliness, death. When Adam and Eve chose to disobey God, which is the definition of sin, the consequences were severe and every aspect of their lives were changed as shame, poverty and death entered the world.

Himalayas Post #2 - Truth

Written on September 3rd, 2010

So many people in this world are seeking after truth. Surely, there are many, like so many in the west, that have given up on the search, saying that such findings are unattainable. So many of them have gotten discouraged, because as soon as they believe they’ve found truth, someone else contradicts and says that it is wrong. At best, many people have resorted to living by “what’s true for you.” However, in light of very simple logic and the very nature of all that is, that can’t be true. If what you say opposes what I say, one of us must be wrong. Indeed, we could both be wrong, but we can’t both be right. I am aware that such logic falls on deaf ears in a post-modern world, but it is valid nonetheless. Many a philosopher and theologian, much wiser and more articulate than me, have wrestled with the big questions of how did we get here and what do we do now. Here’s a portion of my attempt…

You’ll have to forgive me, I have no intent of being politically correct or soft on what I’ve found to be true in this post. You can try to see my perspective and realize that if I didn’t believe it was true in its entirety, what would be the point of believing it in the first place? My position towards anybody referred to in this post is love. Sometimes love includes sharing of truth. My unbelieving friends, whom I love, may prefer another post on something like social justice, like I’ve done in the past. That is an important part of living out the Gospel and being a part of God’s Kingdom. But its not enough, we must also share eternal truths that we’ve found. I can become a father to an orphan, but if I never tell my son the truth of the Gospel, I’ve only blessed him a little in this life time and profit him nothing for eternity.

So let’s get at the truth… While so many others have given up on truth, I truly admire the search of the people in the nations that we’ve been in for the last couple weeks. To be sure, we’ve met with and been able to encourage my brothers and sisters in the church that Christ is building up here. However, these two countries are largely ruled by Hinduism and Buddhism.

Missionary

I was in my small group on Wednesday and as our discussion was wrapping up I said something (I don’t even remember what it was) and in it I referred to myself as a missionary. A friend of mine from the group, Victor, was sparked by my off hand reference and asked me to divulge further on why I referred to myself as such. He went on to say how it is his belief (which I agree with mostly) that being a missionary should be synonymous with being a Christian, so either every Christian should get the title or none should. A discussion ensued to say the least.

Why did I refer to myself as a missionary? The truth is that I typically don’t, and it is striking to think of myself as such. Growing up, the picture in my mind of a missionary was somebody going out into the middle of the Amazon, learning the language, sharing the Gospel and living there for at least twenty years straight. You know what a lot of my work detail involves? Construction paper. I use a lot of construction paper for the preschool. That isn’t what I had in mind growing up with a picture of being a missionary. I found myself explaining that its not because of my personal view of myself, but rather I’m playing off the typical American Christian mindset of what a missionary is. The way that my other friend from group, Phillip, was explaining it made sense to me and essentially there are three things that would lead me to call myself a “missionary.” 1. I live in a country that I am not native to. 2. I am here fulfilling some sort of mission that goes in line with The Great Commission (I’m in the discipleship business). 3. I am sent, supported and funded by the church I am native to, the American church. It would be accurate to say I am an Education Director which I typically follow up with, but if I were visiting the states and speaking to someone they could think Education Director at the YMCA around the corner. Whereas, those three points shape my life a lot more then the work detail itself.

Phillip’s wife Joy was talking about how when she goes back to Norway, she deliberately doesn’t say “missionary” because that will send the person’s walls up and they’ll put her in a box. That’s wise and I pray for the same discernment. I’ll try to be all things to all men on something like a title for myself (1 Corinthians 9:22). If you are an American Christian, I’m a missionary. If you don’t like that term, I’m an Education Director and Business Manager. If you’re not a believer, I’m a humanitarian worker. Above all those, I’m a father.

The following day I was emailing my South African friend Portia (here’s your shout out, sister) and she was responding to my previous post and my thoughts on short-term missions. She went on to talk about her belief that some Christians are called to hang with the kids on their own block and work the soup kitchens in their own neighborhood. I totally agree. Victor had asked me if I would consider all Christians to be missionaries and I replied conditionally. I said in calling, yes, all Christians are called to be missionaries. But in actuality, no, not all who call themselves Christian live like they’re on a mission.

The Lord’s ways are higher than mine and yours. I feel from time to time the things that I speak of sound like I am firmly on one side or another of an old Christian debate (all my Calvinists say ‘hey’ all my free-willers say ‘ho’). The following is such a comment, but I humbly say I don’t know how the big picture works exactly. I do believe that we as Christians miss out on things that the Lord had planned for us to do. I mentioned this idea towards the end of my blog last week also. John Piper’s book Don’t Waste Your Life was largely focused on this idea that we don’t waste our life, fitting title right? He shares a story of this man who has lived most of his life and comes to the Lord for the first time. While he is now saved, he repeatedly says “I’ve wasted it, I’ve wasted it.” He wasted so much of his life. Praise God his life wasn’t over right then, but that is a tough thing to look back on. All the worse I believe, if we were saved a long time ago, but kept the Holy Spirit bottled up and kept our salvation in our pocket instead of sharing it. Don’t hide it under a bushel now.

So okay then I’m a missionary missionary. I’m a missionary (because I’m a Christian) missionary (because I live a mission in a foreign country and am supported by the church) and what effect does that have on my life? Those three points I mentioned earlier have a profound impact on my life and what I am able to do and what I choose to do with my life. I inherently don’t see friends and family, because I live in a country that I’m not native to. I have to be ultra focused on my mission because its what the Lord has called me to and anything else here would be a waste. But its that third thing that came up again this week.

For those of you that saw one of my most commented on FB status updates, you know that I have tickets to a game for the World Cup. I have played soccer since I was five and love to watch it as well. I remember the last World Cup in Germany and was so stoked on it. One of my favorite mini games during soccer practice growing up was even called “World Cup.” There’s a contest Coca-Cola is doing down here that has all these Tanzanians checking their soda bottle caps to see if they won tickets to a game down there. Yeah, its kind of a big deal and I have tickets. Some volunteers that are here were planning on being down there in South Africa during the tournament, but can’t go so they gave the tickets to me and Lauren. Needless to say I was flipping out when Lauren first told me. Well if only it were that simple… Lauren has been contacting people, I’ve been contacting people and going online and the cheapest plane tickets out of Kilimanjaro are over $700 and the cheaper option is taking a bus up to Nairobi first (an 8 hour bus ride) and flying out of there for $634. Unless something happens, it doesn’t look like we’re going.

The truth is that I could spend $700 on a plane ticket, my finances would take a hit, but its feasible. The Lord has been gracious to me over the last couple months and I‘m not in the spot I was in back in February. Between my friend taking the load off of me with my credit card plus my parents giving me $400 for my birthday last month, $700 is feasible. I don’t see myself pulling the trigger on it though. It is against my personal nature of living minimally. I know that the Lord owns all things, plane tickets, money whatever. So if I’ve wanted something, I’ve prayed for it and He’s provided for me that way. I definitely live with less than the average 24 year old American but I’m satisfied and my most expensive things are not things that I’ve paid anything for, because He’s provided for me. Between that and the whole “missionary” thing I can’t do it. My supporters are wonderful, amazing people. They gave to Hidden With Christ towards my personal support and I can’t justify taking that money and spending $700+ on a three day trip to South Africa.

What point is there in me telling you all that? I wish I had some great moral of the story but the following will have to suffice. Because I live on a mission, I have to remain focused. Every action I perform has a repercussion and I want every action of mine to honor God. Last night a good Christian Tanzanian woman who runs another children’s home here, was encouraging me to go through with the decision and just spend the $700. She talked about how I’m a prince and since I’ve put God first and am fulfilling His mission here, its okay for me to spend some money on something I like. I am a prince and I do need to give myself grace sometimes to do things like that. I love my supporters and I know they love me, because they love me I’m sure they’ll email me or comment telling me its okay to go down there. I appreciate your love and your support. However that’s only one of three pieces in this (how Trinitarian am I being today?).

The second piece is this… I may be a prince and I may be able to afford it, but there are other things that $700 could go towards and advance the Kingdom. There are children that are going to starve tonight. Even TOA has some big financial needs right now. In light of the suffering around me, I couldn’t bring myself to be that rich white person that flies down to South Africa for a few days to catch a World Cup match. The third piece is a realization of faith in my Father, the King. He owns all the money, all the airlines, everything. I don’t need to spend anything. I can use that money for a need of another and He can still provide me a way to South Africa if that’s what He wants. So I’m not throwing away an opportunity of a life time, but I’m just going to completely leave it in His hands and ask for His will.

You are a missionary. I’m not being corny, I’m not being cliché. Whether you live in California, South Africa or wherever, you are called to fulfill a specific mission that the Lord has put before you. You are called to not waste your time and to not lose focus. You are called to the person standing in front of you and to advance His Kingdom in your sphere of influence. Don’t let this roll of your mind because you’ve heard it before in some fashion. If this rolls of your mind and you haven’t been living out the mission, you are going to continue in wasteful living. This probably doesn’t look like moving to a foreign country (although it could). It does, however, look like difficulty, looks like sacrifice, looks like fulfillment, looks like purpose. Be so bold as to fulfill the mission that He’s put before you. He will give you the grace for all such things, for this we give praise.

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The Rundown: Related to the things that I spoke of but also not, I’ve felt a bit of a heaviness this week. Earlier this week, I truly found myself to be bored one afternoon. Along with that is a lack of motivation that comes from time to time. Its hard out here guys and I feel like I’m not understanding much a lot of the time. Its been good to have some reflective prayer though and I trust that the Lord is at work with something. On worship on Thursday, I was just realizing that I need a rest of some sort. I’ve been at TOA everyday since language school ended in January. I get caught up in my work and want to do it well and this is the most significant work of my life so I want to be there always. Also, a weekend would be the best time to break, but that’s the only time that Awadhi’s home, so I’m still there doing one thing or another. Anyways, other than that, the NMC team is gone and the Vanguard team is here. I saw a friend from the team, but not the whole team yet. They’re coming to TOA tomorrow (Saturday) so that should be cool. Today was good. I picked Awadhi up from school and had a good conversation with his Headmistress and she was telling me how well he’s doing. I also told her that I’m interested in hiring a tutor so hopefully that bears some fruit. After that, all the little ones were on a walk, the lower elementary kids were doing homework and the older kids were at school still so Awadhi and I just went out and played by ourselves. We played soccer and I’m trying to get him ready to start playing in the big games with the older kids. I know he’s little, but he’s athletic like his dad. After that we shot hoop and he was knocking down granny shots from ten or twelve feet back so I showed him how to shoot normal and he started making those from close range. Then he did the ultimate copy-dad and shot it over the backboard and made it twice. It reminded me of playing horse with my dad growing up and was definitely a highlight of my week. Other than that, I got back to pick-up soccer now that teams are gone and nothing was going on today. It is a lot of fun to get out there and mix it up with all those Tanzanians. Wow, long rundown. Don’t worry, I’m done now.

Weight

I’ve been thinking a lot the last few days and in my mind I’m trying to fit all the pieces together.

This is how it all has come about. Tuesday during discipleship with Ryan, we talked about the ministry of Jesus and walking in the supernatural on a normal basis and why it doesn’t happen in our lives like it did in Jesus’ or other followers past and present. That night I watched a movie called “Finger of God” which was about the movement of God in supernatural ways in the present day church throughout the world, much of which was in severely impoverished countries. It had me thinking so in my devotion on Wednesday, I shared on that part of our walking in the Kingdom, but felt like an idiot, because its not really all that present in my life. Thursday night worship was amazing. It was prophetic, it was powerful, it stirred our faith and brought us to question why in the face of so much need, we personally don’t employ all the power given to us. On Friday, I visited the website of an organization called Discover the Journey. I was watching their awareness videos and I was floored by some of the stuff that they showed, specifically about the orphan problem in Iraq. I could feel the weight of the needs of this world. I’ve been carrying that weight to this point and after a long conversation over and after dinner with Lauren and some others, the fire in my belly has just been growing.

What are we doing? What are we doing? What am I doing?

I lack appropriate words for what is going on in my head. I’ve felt intense personal frustration since being here, but the last few days it has been this depressing frustration about the world’s plight and the American church’s paralysis in doing anything. I’m not trying to sound condemning, but again I only speak from my experience. Up until four months ago, I was an active American church member, so take this from someone who has been in similar shoes. We are not doing enough. I am not doing enough. You individually are not doing enough.

Can I speak candidly with you about all these things?

Statistics are fun, aren’t they? Here are a couple stats that I heard in the last week. I may mess them up, but I don’t need them in the first place to tell you there’s a need. Stat 1 (from Discover the Journey): There have become 1 million new orphans in Iraq since the American invasion, an unheard of precedent in the Middle East. Stat 2: It would take one third of people professing to be Christians to adopt every orphan in the world that is eligible for adoption. Aren’t those fun? I know we love to just throw those around, it shows that we care. You hear stats like these, and we could truly go on forever with some daunting figures, and one of three things happen. One, you hear it and it doesn’t hit you so you just forget. Two, you hear it and it debilitates you to actually do anything. Three, the rarest happening, you hear a stat and do something small or big about it.

Have we been reading our Bibles? New or Old Testament, take your choice. Do you see the righteous anger the Lord has towards those who oppress or apathetically allow suffering of orphans, widows and the disenfranchised? As Lauren said last night, do we realize that the Bible isn’t about us? The Lord gave it to us, as an incredible and completely necessary tool for sanctification. With the right interpretation, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, we are unveiled to who God is and what He wants to do through us for His glory. We don’t get to pick and choose which scriptures we want to emphasize in our lives. We emphasize the whole book. We love to talk about God’s love, Jesus gives us rest, He’ll give His children good things. What about the parts about enacting true justice and restoration for others? No, sorry that’s out of my comfort zone. What about modeling after the crazy guys that were godly enough to look crazy and be unpopular. John the Baptist, Jeremiah, Jesus, take your pick. Hmm… a little too radical for me.

Here’s a few popular words in young American churches: activism, causes, social justice. These are good things. These are insufficient things. You know what will change the world and enact true justice for the oppressed? The gospel. The whole unadulterated thing with all the words and the actions that come with it.

We are all called to live the gospel which includes true justice. Think about how that appears in your church and sphere of life. Anybody else think of Invisible Children? A good organization and I pray the Lord’s blessing over them. You aren’t daily walking in justice, because you do Invisible Children’s big event once a year and own a couple of their shirts. Its not enough. Think about what they’re doing. Invisible Children is an activist group that enacts righteousness on behalf of children that are forced into war. What is their relationship with you? You bought one of their sweet shirts. Are they a clothing company? No. They sold you a shirt, because they knew you wouldn’t just give money, unless you went through the god of materialism and you could wear your activism on your sleeve. And yes the shirt can lead to awareness, but awareness only does good if it is followed by action and intervention. Their big events are good and do things for raising awareness and fund raising for their just cause. But its also strategic in drawing people. They came to you, because they know you won’t go to them. Come on Brandon, they work in Uganda. Getting there would be impossible and too costly and not safe and yada yada yada. Bull. You serve a God of infinite power, grace and provision. Case closed.

Maybe you’re not called to Africa or Asia or wherever these terrible atrocities are taking place (and many do happen under the nose of Americans, in their own country). Maybe you’re called to the states, that’s wonderful, obey the Lord in that and go to Chipotle on my behalf. You are also called to enact true justice for your neighbors, both local and global. And I would ask you to be thorough in your thoughts. Don’t say that they aren’t really your neighbor because they live in another part of the world and you don‘t see them. We live in a world that is more connected than anytime in history. Be consistent. If you don’t think your Christian witness applies to the globe, besides ripping the Great Commission out of your Bible, you can throw out all those Japanese electronics and your German car. With that said, what does loving others look like when others include women forced into prostitution? When others include 12 year old boys forced to kill people? When others include millions of orphans living on the streets? Does love look like buying a T-Shirt and joining a Facebook cause? Or does love look like spending hours in intercession and days in fasting? How about traveling to these places to hug them and speak truth to them about the God who loves, heals and restores? Does it look like selling things you like to support ministries that enact the Lord’s justice for them? Let’s love justly.

I want to end with something that should be and probably will be an entire writing in itself. We must realize the impossible is possible and walk in that stream of love and justice. Through diligence in our relationship with the Lord, we can have an increased anointing to move in power by the Holy Spirit. We can proclaim justice to that battered soul and as we tell them about the Lord that restores and heals, we allow ourselves to be His agent of such restoration and healing. We give Him control, love that person and enact justice for them by supernaturally healing them mind, body, and soul. If it’s a child soldier that has become paralyzed, that means we hug him, tell him God loves him, and in Jesus’ name tell him to pick up his mat and walk, then we get to rejoice as we see the Lord do His work in the boy’s mind, body and soul. If we believe the Bible and if we believe God is involved in this world and our lives, none of this is a jump.

There is a tremendous need and I don’t claim to have the answers or the best strategies. But God does, and if you have the Holy Spirit, He can guide you to what you are supposed to do with all this. It is weighty stuff. Its sad, its terrible, its ugly. Its not for the faint of heart or for the weak stomach. But this is what living the gospel looks like.

Do justice. Be righteous. Love. Pray. Intercede. Act, then act again, then act again. Do something big that looks impossible and upsets some people, but is exactly what God wants you to do. Live the gospel.

Note: This is in no way written to condemn people, much less my supporters. If you support me and the work to Tanzanian orphans through Hidden With Christ Ministries, that is a work of obedience to the Lord and justice to the disenfranchised. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was outside of what we do, but my question is, what’s next? Its the same with those that support good organizations like Invisible Children. In all of it, there is too much need to say that what any of us is doing is enough. There’s always more, radically, drastically more.

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The Rundown: Well, I shared a bit of my week early in the blog so there’s all that. I preached on Sunday and it went really well. I was blessed to speak and it was more fun to preach without translation. Remember my blog “Church”? Well, with preaching last week and leading worship solo tomorrow, the Lord is doing that, so its exciting to be a part of His body at ICC. Pray for me as I lead worship. The kids are well and it was a fairly normal and blessed week. In step with what my blog was on and seeking the Lord for an increased anointing to walk in His Holy Spirit in all facets, I’ll be fasting Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Please pray that the Lord would increase His anointing on me and give me vision in this time of prayer and fasting. That’s all I got. PEACE!