Be...Uh...Shiny Mustard Farmers?

I'd like to talk about a chunk (nearly 3/4!) of the 4th chapter in the book of Mark for a few moments, and bring it to application for each of us. One of the things I've meditated often on in the past 2 1/2 months that we've been here is actually where my role lies as a spreader of the gospel. I've really desired for God to teach me a lesson that would not just be valuable for me here on the mission field, but for my entire life as a disciple of Christ. As a result, I believe what I have to say not only applies for those of us who "do ministry" as a job, but rather everyone who has been clothed with Christ.

Read More » 08:01 PM | 0 Comments

Part of our Mission

I feel compelled to say something (whilst repeating the mantra "I will not rant...I will not rant") about what I have come to believe part of our mission here is in Guadalajara.

One of the different (though not entirely unique) problems we face here in Guadalajara is battling the "TAS" (Typical American Stereotype) when visiting new places in the country. Not surprisingly, a large majority of Mexican people have formed a view of Americans that is, at best, less than favorable. The problem generally subsists because in the bigger tourist cities, the only real encounter with Americans that the Mexican people have are those drunk-out-of-their-mind Spring Breakers that come to drink, party, trash the city, and leave.

If this is all I encountered of a people, I'd have a unfavorable stereotype as well.

Of course like the daily news - the good, decent, and (I'll go as far to say) normal happenings aren't the things making the front page. You don't often here about those Americans who have moved here to Mexico to make a difference alongside their Mexican brethren, the ones who have come down to retire and live quite lives as good neighbors and foreigners, or to go to school here and expand their worldviews through submerging themselves in an unfamiliar culture. No, none of that is newsworthy.

Your job and mine then, as Americans who desire to make a difference with our lives (in whatever capacity, as missionaries or not) is in seeking to reshape this mindset. Certainly our job is slightly more difficult because - while a wild group of Americans impacts people on a larger basis, we must individually urge people to consider looking at an entire nation of people. One by one.

This is OK by me, of course. I am beginning to take great delight in showing people another side. Having this thought with me serves as a reminder that what I do matters, and perhaps by the end of my time here, a few Mexican people will have come to know Americans - not as dictated by a silly stereotype - but for who they really are. 09:13 AM | 0 Comments | Tags: thoughts, americans, change

The Duality of What We Do

I was riding the bus early this morning and listening to This Man by Jeremy Camp. This song is one of those that I'd listened to casually and then hadn't really thought about, until this morning.

These lyrics have been haunting me, and I think I know why, now:

"Would you take the place of this man?
Would you take the nails from his hands?
Would you take the place of this man?
Would you take the nails from his hands?"

I'm certainly not always this meditative, but this morning the lyrics bothered me enough to bump me out of my routine.

Read More » 07:41 AM | 0 Comments | Tags: christianity, sacrifice, galatians, chapter 2, verse 20, personal