When Missionaries Go Dark

At the beginning of May our basement flooded. Fortunately, we caught it early and none of Marcus and Kelsie's stuff was damaged. We've had to pull up the carpet, cut out some drywall and move all the stuff to our garage.

Bailing water is a 24 hour a day job, for a week after the rain stops. Before we could have a landscaper divert the water from the house, it flooded again. The landscaper came. He did the work. It flooded again.

Finally we had an structural engineer come. Soon, he'll dig up the floor in the basement, around the outer walls and put in a drain. He promises we'll be good for at least 25 years.

As a result I haven't been able to do my job. We've had to cancel two trips to see our missionaries and I've missed days in the office.

It's all left me a bit overwhelmed. The flood attacked my house but also my insecurities. If you need to sit down with someone, have a cup of coffee and work through life's struggles, I'm your guy. If you need someone to hang drywall, paint, carpet a basement and re-tile a shower, I'm lost.

For some reason, one of those skill sets seems more manly than the other.

I don't feel like I'm doing my job. I don't know what to do with my house. I don't feel very spiritual. So I don't write the people who provide my paycheck.

Missionaries don't write prayer letters for many reasons. Sometimes it's because they're crazy busy. Sometimes it's because life has overwhelmed them. It's hard to say that to people who send you money.

Family and friends at the office and church have helped with the cost and the labor. We have felt so loved and cared for. We really are in a good place. Still I have felt too stuck to write supporters and let them know what's going on.

There's just something about chaos and insecurity that drives withdrawal. I think that's true for all of us. If it's you, maybe we can meet for coffee and work through life's struggles. 

No Political Solution

I heard this report on NPR the other day and something about it really troubled me. There is NO political solution that will solve a heart issue.

Let me say up front, we need Godly men and women in politics. I want wise people, with honesty and integrity to make good and just laws and lead our cities, states and nation. We need them there. They need to understand, though, no law they instate will ever change the heart of man.

In 1863 Lincoln's emancipation proclamation freed the slaves. Even then, 100 years later the civil rights movement was battling Jim Crow. Now 50 years later 9 people were killed due to how God created them.

None of  the laws created over the past 150 years changed the fact that Dylann Roof hated black people enough to kill them.

What we, in the evangelical community, need to understand is; if we woke up tomorrow and abortion was repealed, homosexual marriage nullified, prayer was back in school and the ten commandments were carved in granite at the front of every court house, the same number of people would be going to hell as today. Eternally speaking, nothing will have changed.

The Jews didn't recognize Christ as the messiah because they believed he would come to free them from the Romans. That task was too small minded. Christ came to free their hearts by restoring our relationship with God.

In our efforts to make American a "Christian" nation, I worry we're making the same small minded mistake.