today's devotion

"If we are going to be ready for Jesus Christ, we have to stop being religious. In other words, we must stop using religion as if it were some kind of a lofty lifestyle-we must be spiritually real." -Oswald Chambers

Going through withdrawal of one of the best summers spent :)

I can't focus on my studies so I'm reading Scripture instead

James 1:27

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

So, I've been thinking about this a bit lately but if God, through his messenger James, is calling us to love the orphans, does that mean we should be looking to adopt children more than we are now?
I have a feeling that there a many, many children out there that are without parents, a decent home or shelter, and so forth, who need loving. I'm wondering about this one.

I Know Poverty

I know poverty because poverty was there before I was born and it has become part of life like the blood through my veins. Poverty is not going empty for a single day and getting something to eat the next day. Poverty is going empty with no hope for the future. Poverty is getting nobody to feel your pain and poverty is when your dreams go in vain because nobody is there to help you. Poverty is watching your mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters die in pain and in sorrow just because they couldn't get something to eat. Poverty is hearing your grandmothers and grandfathers cry out to death to come take them because they are tired of this world. Poverty is watching your own children and grandchildren die in your arms but there is nothing you can do. Poverty is watching your children and grandchildren share tears in their deepest sleep. Poverty is suffering from HIV/AIDS and dying a shameful death but nobody seems to care". " Poverty is when you hide your face and wish nobody could see you just because you feel less than a human being. Poverty is when you dream of bread and fish you never see in the day light. Poverty is when people accuse you and prosecute you for no fault of yours but who is there to say some for you? Poverty is when the hopes of your fathers and grandfathers just vanish within a blink of an eye. I know poverty and I know poverty just like I know my father's name. Poverty never sleeps. Poverty works all day and night. Poverty never takes a holiday"
(One Poor African)

That's a not a prostitute.

"Walking with Mark one night, I noticed a lady at the corner ahead. She was scantily clad. I turned to him and said in a voice the lady would not hear, "Is she a prostitute?" He paused; I remember thinking, Why the pause? It's obvious. Then he said firmly, "No! That's not a prostitute. That's a person... in prostitution."

-Duane Elmer, Cross-Cultural Servanthood

Kingdom Talk

Note: I don't want this blog to be purely an outlet for discontent. If I say these things and do nothing about them, what good does that do?

Prayer is an integral part of making change and being part of any greater emerging movement. During our prayer meeting tonight with InterVarsity at Millersville U one of my friends relayed a story from her church service this morning. After the pastor's sermon, an elderly woman stood up and said (and I'm paraphrasing), "My children, your prayers well-received. I love you." Clearly, that was the Holy Spirit speaking through her. Wow, how awesome is that? How awesome it is to know that the God of Heaven hears all that is said and even receives it fully. Not only that, he speaks through simple people like us!

This is an awesome notion as I think about the persecuted churches around the globe in places like Asia, or the Middle East. I mean, that's modern-day Scripture right there: brothers and sisters suffering in the name of Christ in places where their governments do not allow open expression of their beliefs. To think that our prayers for these people, and their own prayers are being heard by God is comfort in itself. To look upon the suffering involved with being a Christian is a sobering thought. Obviously, the walk is not easy and it isn't always going to be butterflies, cookies, and daisies. Even Paul and Peter call for suffering in taking up the cross. However, we are also reminded to rejoice in these sufferings for we will be rewarded in full -“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:10). Kingdom talk. Pretty neat stuff.

This also gets me thinking, how have I suffered for Christ? Am I really suffering? It's so easy to get comfortable and to avoid pain because that's how we are functioned. Then again, who needs a Comforter if you're already comfortable? I know it sounds like I'm throwing a lot of rhetorical questions out there but sometimes it's necessary to questions ourselves. What are our motives? What are we living for -ourselves or for God?

Moving on from that train of thought, I'm about to begin reading The Sound of Worlds Colliding edited by Kristin Jack . It's a book containing "stories of radical discipleship" from Servants to Asia's Urban Poor, an international network of Christian communities living and working in the slums of Asia and the West, participating with the poor to bring hope and justice through Jesus Christ. I heard about this group through my friend Mike, who has briefly worked with them through Global Urban Trek, and I've become interested in them ever since.

As you turn to the first few pages within the book, it opens with a quote from Shane Claiborne's The Irresistible Revolution (which I've also read and highly recommend). Shane is the founder of The Simple Way. I'll end this post with his verbatim:

"We can admire and worship Jesus without doing what he did. We can applaud what he preached and stood for without caring about the same things. We can adore his cross without taking up ours. I had come to see that the great tragedy of the church is not that rich Christians do not care about the poor but that rich Christians do not know the poor. When the worlds of poverty and wealth collide, the resulting powerful fusion can change the world. But that collision rarely happens... I long for the Calcutta slums to meet the Chicago suburbs, for lepers to meet landowners and for each to see God's image in the other. It's no wonder that the footsteps of Jesus lead from the tax collectors to the lepers... (for) when the rich meet the poor, we will see poverty come to an end."

A letter from Japan

Let's continue to pray for our brothers and sisters in Japan. I can only imagine what must be going through the minds and hearts of the people right now.
Below is a letter from a friend of a friend, Sakiko Sato who attended F&M. Having this sort of connection only makes the disaster even more real. Please read the letter and continue to pray for our friends.
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hello everyone.

first, I want to thank you all for thinking of us. ありがとう！

I am writing the recent situation that I actually see and hear at this point.

I live in Sendai which is located in the central area in the prefecture called Miyagi. Miyagi is the most damaged area because of this serious earthquake in Japan. but, of course, all the area especially in north-east Japan are deadly damaged today.

it is really difficult to get food to eat.

people are standing in line in front of supermarkets and convinience stores to buy food and water, but stores no longer have things to sell.

we can somehow get food at evacuation areas such as schools, but they only supply 2 rice balls per day or so. we can also get water to drink there, but have to stand in long line.

we also need gasoline.

most of the gasoline stations has stopped bacause of the earthquake, but there are some we can get gas.

but countless of people are coming and it takes more than 8 hrs to get a little amout of gas.

we need to ride a car to go out to get food and water, to visit familes and friends to know their safe, and (it is really hard to say) to go to mortuaries to check our friends' and families' dead bodies.

but at least it's fortinate if they could identify friends' and families' dead bodies.

there are still 20 thousand of bodies on the shores and under the broken houses that resque parties haven't reached yet.

most of the cities in north-east Japan are peaceful in general.

however, because of this chaos, it has been getting worse.

some people are quarreling on the street.

I heard that some women were raped in downtown.

hungry people break into closed stores to get food and water.

water,electricity and gas has all stopped in most of the area except downtow area.

shinkansen has stopped.

trains have stopped. (some stations are now under the water.)

buses are running only in certain areas.

airplains have stopped in my prefecture. (sendai airport are now under the water.)

people are all stressed out.

fortunately, it has been warm and sunny the past few days.

however, today it is going to be snowy and extremely freezing in north-east Japan.

a lot of people are staying at evacuation areas without heaters.

they no longer have home to go back.

these are only limited information I know.

the situation may be (and will be) much worse.

we are all trying hard to survive this crisis.

we all need YOUR help.

Thanks,

Saki from Japan

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There is so much need for prayer right now. Let's do everything we can to help.