Good Riddance!

"You cannot serve both God and mammon." Mammon: an Aramaic word meaning property.

This is the issue that has been at the forefront of my mind during the past few weeks as I have been systematically selling all of my belongings. The garage sales (both of them, because once wasn't enough) were a success. I sold my bedroom furniture, lamps, pots and pans, winter coat, dishes, decorations, etc, but I was surprised by how difficult the whole thing was. Seeing everything I own on display and priced for pennies on the dollar was surprisingly uncomfortable. Apparently, I had become quite attached to my possessions. I know that once I board my flight to Bolivia, I won't think twice about having rid myself of my things. After all, I believe that God has called me to live a life of radical simplicity. And so, these verses have been running through my mind recently:

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money (lit: "mammon")." Matthew 6:19-24
It's not a choice of whether we serve, but of what or whom we serve. I choose to not serve mammon, or any earthly thing for that matter. I really believe that the attachment I felt to my things came right from the devil himself. That attachment to stuff (and the desire for more stuff) is a successful trick the devil uses against us. Mammon (possessions, the pursuit of wealth, etc) becomes a distraction, and it keeps us from focusing our energy on what's important.

Without preaching anymore, I'll just say this: no more distractions and no more on the fence, trying to serve two masters. And so I say "good riddance" to all my stuff.

1/11/07

This is borrowed from The Democracy Center's Blog from Bolivia.

Cochabamba's Day of Bloody Conflict, Six Months On



Yesterday, Cochabamba marked six months since that bloody Thursday in January when a standoff of rival political positions turned into a violent melee between rival mobs, leaving two men dead (and later a third) and more than 100 other people injured. As with the conflicts, the city marked its sad anniversary divided.

At a church in the city's wealthiest neighborhood, Recoleta, a crowd gathered to mourn Cristian Urresti, the 17-year-old killed that day as he joined with backers of the local governor, Manfred Reyes Villa. A mile away, a group of about 100 people joined with the widow of the coca farmer slain that day, Juan Ticacolque, at La Plaza de las Banderas, where a simple monument was erected for those killed and wounded in January (the photo above).

Both sides continue to demand justice for the brutalities committed by the other. Loyalists to the slain youth from the city's affluent north still demand punishment for whoever wielded the machete with which he was killed. None make mention of the footage showing crowds of youth from the city's north breaking through police lines to initiate the beatings that turned the standoff into violence.


At the erection of the monument, a 14-year-old youth spoke; a boy who had four bullets pierce his leg that day.


The rich want to keep earning more and we work for them. Manfred Reyes Villa doesn't have a conscience about anything. Before he wanted to sell the water and then he wanted to kill us. The people who have power don’t have a conscience. Look how they kill people who are humble.


Here none make mention of the blockades and the burning of the state building that provoked the conflicts.


While Cochabamba appears relatively quiet and peaceful on the surface, the memories of January remain raw in many quarters and reconciliation and middle ground are hard to find.


Local politicians, who on both sides did a good deal to provoke the violence and nothing to stop it, seem still intent to fan the flames. Reyes Villa quickly denounced that no one had permission to erect the monument on public space – it sits on a small patch of lawn on an island in the middle of the street. Passing city youth yesterday pledged to tear down the Andean Cross. Neither seemed to voice similar objections to the monument erected six months ago to Urresti on a downtown street corner. That monument has never been the target of any objection or vandalism to my knowledge. Nor should it.


Podemos Senator Tito Hoz de Vila took the spirit of reconciliation a step farther, vowing to wage a battle in the Bolivian Congress to take down the new monument. As if the nation's Congress has nothing better to do than debate the artistic merits of a ten-foot tall plaster cross.


Stepping back, January 11th represents that place where Bolivia could go in this hard moment of political transformation, a place where the political process can no longer contain the conflicts and those spill onto the street and into bloodshed. Since January 11 the political conflicts at hand have gone back into the world of negotiation and public rhetoric and that is a good thing for the nation.


Honoring the right of both sides to mourn and remember the costs paid that day may also help remind all sides of the cost if they don't find a way to negotiate political change in Bolivia.


In a Bolivia where unity is hard to come by, politicians who seem intent to fan the flames of division over the trivial, regardless of party or side, clearly have something else at heart than the nation's interests. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that both sides have a right to mourn and to have a physical symbol of that mourning.


Now both sides do – until some of Cochabamba's protectors of democracy decide to tear it to pieces in the dark of night.

Bread Upon the Waters

Be not afraid to follow Me, neither draw back in doubt. For I will provide all that ye are lacking, and I will pave the way for you with My bounty.

Ye are not treading alone. Lo, there are many with thee on the same road. It is the road of faith and trust, and ye shall have sweet fellowship, for there are others who shall join thee in this walk.

Ye shall rejoice with exceeding joy, and thy joy shall be shared by angels. Lo, they walk beside thee and guard thy way.

Never limit Me. I will take thee through, though cliffs should rise before thee. There will always be a provision. and in My mercy I shall see that ye find it.

Be humble and be patient. I am nearer to thee than ye think, and will do more than ye expect. I work in every heart to bring conformity to My Word. Ye only need give it. I will do the subsequent work. For My Word is Living and Powerful. It shall not come to failure. It shall accomplish My purpose, though My purpose may be entirely hidden from thee.

So cast thay bread upon the waters, even though they be turbulent flood waters and it shall return unto thee. (Ec. 11.1)

the spitting llama

Brilliant!

And here's the website: The Spitting Llama

between then and now

I was bound and determined to raise massive amounts of support in an extremely short amount of time and get to Bolivia to finally do ministry by June.

Did you notice the "get to Bolivia to finally do ministry" part? It's not that I haven't been doing ministry at my church in Chicago where I've been the children's minister for 2.5 years. And it's not that Bolivia is the only place where I can do ministry. I just hadn't really thought about this transitional time between Chicago and Bolivia and how God might want to use me RIGHT NOW.

So, yeah, it's July 2 and I'm in Ohio. SO WHAT?! God apparently has His own departure date set for me and a few things He wants me to do between now and then.

I met someone about a month ago who is going through some seriously heavy demonic attacks. Very in-your-face, very supernatural demonic attacks. Most everyone else has tried to medicate this person or pass the problem on to a shrink. Nobody seems to want to confront the issue and deal with the demonic (the voices, the visits, the visions), which is the root of this person's problem. Anyway, I feel like our meeting was divinely arranged. I'm familiar with spiritual warfare, and I know that I need to play a role in getting this person where he/she needs to be to battle Satan's attacks. Right now, the person being attacked, myself, and another spiritually sensitive friend are praying for a body of believers to come along side us with a desire to see freedom and deliverance in [insert name here]'s life.

Also, I've had really beautiful times of prayer and discussion with several people that I've met with for support raising appointments. I make the mistake of being totally focused on Bolivia and the needs of the people in Cochabamba, and I forget that the people I meet with to share about Bolivia are hurting and needy in different ways. Well, God finally got through to me (I can be so thickheaded!) and I feel so blessed to be able to pray with people and encourage them. Ministering to people's hearts is way more important than spouting off a list of statistics about Bolivia.

I've also been learning things...so many things...about the Kingdom of God on earth. Now that I've finished all my missionary training I've been able to dig into some books that I've been wanting to read for a while. Topping that list is this:

I recommend this book to everyone I know. It's not that Shane Claiborne provides all the answers, but he sure asks the right questions.

Anyway, God is good, faithful, and sovereign, and despite all my shortcomings, I'm just trying to follow Him.