Um, I went out walking, and looked again at the amazing feat of parking that the average Pragian (um, citizen of Prague?) performs everyday. I was slightly chagrined to find out that I may have been slightly misleading, though not on purpose. After looking again at the cars parked "five inches away from each other," I found that they are actually about two feet apart. Oh well, it sounded amazing at the time. However, remember that truck that was parked between two buttresses of a wall? Yeah, that truck was still really, really close to the stone parts. It looked pretty much impossible.
Peace out.
In His Time,
Monday, February 28, 2005
Joeletter 7.2
So much has happened since the last Joeletter! I haven't picked any weird yogurts since I wrote last, for which I'm grateful. I've been able to continue playing floor-ball and basketball with the guys. Today I went with Philip, one of the guys, to play pool and ping-pong for a couple of hours. It was nice to be with him, and he helped me improve both my cue-ball shooting, and my paddle skills.
This past week we got to go to Munich, Germany for a week. That ambiguous 'we' refers to Ben, myself, Jeff Valodine, Steve Cone, and Mark Fischel. We rode on a train for six hours, and were greeted by Sandy Graham. Also part of the Impact-Munich team are Brandy Laurance and Bethany Schmich. We took over their apartment for the time we were there, and they graciously stayed with a friend.
It was nice to be able to visit a different city. Their subway system, though, took a little getting used to. Here in Praha, there are only three Metro lines. If you go to one station, only one line runs through it. In Munich, however, just like New York, many different lines can run through one station. Thus you have to watch carefully to make sure when a subway train pulls into the station that it's the right one for you.
Something fun about the subway, though, that kind of made up for the subway differences, was the escalators. You may remember that here in Praha, the escalators can be six and a half stories tall. Well, in Munich they aren't as tall, but they stop when nobody is using them. When you want to use it, you just walk up and step on the motion activating pad. The great part is that there is one of these pads at each end of the escalator. So you can go up or down on the same escalator! It's really fun to walk up to an escalator, and make it move in the direction you want to go. I wanted to bring one home, but it wouldn't fit in my backpack. Oh well . . .
While we were in Germany we had a chance to visit Dachau, the first WWII concentration camp. It wasn't ever used for mass extermination, but it had the facilities too. But even without that specific evil, Dachau was still a somber experience. I kept thinking about the fact that not too long ago, right where I was standing/walking/breathing, prisoners had stood/walked/breathed. It was surreal. It was also sobering to see what a world without God naturally, logical ends up looking like.
I didn't realize how large such camps were. I'm sure that Dachau was by no means the largest camp. But the prisoners camp was enormous, with room for a massive amount of people. And the camp itself extended way beyond just the prison camp. Much larger by far was the part of the camp that supported the prison officers and wardens.
All in all, I am very glad that we got the chance to go see Dachau. As horrific as it was, it was good to be there physically, and see it with my own eyes.
One morning we got a chance to spend some time with two Mormon guys. For several months they have been regularly meeting with Sandy and Robert, and we were invited to join in. I really appreciated the time, though I said not one word. I came into the meeting pretty sure that this was a learning time for me, just as much a time where we hoped to plant more seeds within these two young men. Several significant, major differences between our two belief systems were explained, which was very helpful to me. Also, listening to everyone else talk was a great chance to think more about my own faith, and what that looked like.
In addition to seeing part of the city, we spent as much time as possible with the Impact-Munich team. We were blessed with three times of corporate worship, singing interspersed with prayer. God used the skills He has given us, Ben playing guitar, and me playing makeshift drums. It was a wonderful time of family, though none of us are biologically related to each other.
Bethany, one of the Impact girls, shares my (or should I say I share her) penchant for reading. We discussed several books both of us had read, as well as exchanged the names of authors we recommended. Due to the lack of space coming over, I didn't bring many books with me. Bethany kindly loaned me some, which I am devouring. They will be coming down to visit us at the end of March, at which point I will be able to give them back. In the mean time, it's great on the Metro.
Yes, I'm feeling quite comfortable on the Metro, and somewhat on the tram lines, to read and listen to music while traveling from place to place. It's a good feeling, and one that I know I'm going to miss quite a lot when I go home. It's so nice to be able to go anywhere, with a minimal amount of trouble.
Well, that's quite a bit of what all has happened. I know I'm forgetting some things, but those are the highlights. Thanks for your prayers.
In His Time,
This past week we got to go to Munich, Germany for a week. That ambiguous 'we' refers to Ben, myself, Jeff Valodine, Steve Cone, and Mark Fischel. We rode on a train for six hours, and were greeted by Sandy Graham. Also part of the Impact-Munich team are Brandy Laurance and Bethany Schmich. We took over their apartment for the time we were there, and they graciously stayed with a friend.
It was nice to be able to visit a different city. Their subway system, though, took a little getting used to. Here in Praha, there are only three Metro lines. If you go to one station, only one line runs through it. In Munich, however, just like New York, many different lines can run through one station. Thus you have to watch carefully to make sure when a subway train pulls into the station that it's the right one for you.
Something fun about the subway, though, that kind of made up for the subway differences, was the escalators. You may remember that here in Praha, the escalators can be six and a half stories tall. Well, in Munich they aren't as tall, but they stop when nobody is using them. When you want to use it, you just walk up and step on the motion activating pad. The great part is that there is one of these pads at each end of the escalator. So you can go up or down on the same escalator! It's really fun to walk up to an escalator, and make it move in the direction you want to go. I wanted to bring one home, but it wouldn't fit in my backpack. Oh well . . .
While we were in Germany we had a chance to visit Dachau, the first WWII concentration camp. It wasn't ever used for mass extermination, but it had the facilities too. But even without that specific evil, Dachau was still a somber experience. I kept thinking about the fact that not too long ago, right where I was standing/walking/breathing, prisoners had stood/walked/breathed. It was surreal. It was also sobering to see what a world without God naturally, logical ends up looking like.
I didn't realize how large such camps were. I'm sure that Dachau was by no means the largest camp. But the prisoners camp was enormous, with room for a massive amount of people. And the camp itself extended way beyond just the prison camp. Much larger by far was the part of the camp that supported the prison officers and wardens.
All in all, I am very glad that we got the chance to go see Dachau. As horrific as it was, it was good to be there physically, and see it with my own eyes.
One morning we got a chance to spend some time with two Mormon guys. For several months they have been regularly meeting with Sandy and Robert, and we were invited to join in. I really appreciated the time, though I said not one word. I came into the meeting pretty sure that this was a learning time for me, just as much a time where we hoped to plant more seeds within these two young men. Several significant, major differences between our two belief systems were explained, which was very helpful to me. Also, listening to everyone else talk was a great chance to think more about my own faith, and what that looked like.
In addition to seeing part of the city, we spent as much time as possible with the Impact-Munich team. We were blessed with three times of corporate worship, singing interspersed with prayer. God used the skills He has given us, Ben playing guitar, and me playing makeshift drums. It was a wonderful time of family, though none of us are biologically related to each other.
Bethany, one of the Impact girls, shares my (or should I say I share her) penchant for reading. We discussed several books both of us had read, as well as exchanged the names of authors we recommended. Due to the lack of space coming over, I didn't bring many books with me. Bethany kindly loaned me some, which I am devouring. They will be coming down to visit us at the end of March, at which point I will be able to give them back. In the mean time, it's great on the Metro.
Yes, I'm feeling quite comfortable on the Metro, and somewhat on the tram lines, to read and listen to music while traveling from place to place. It's a good feeling, and one that I know I'm going to miss quite a lot when I go home. It's so nice to be able to go anywhere, with a minimal amount of trouble.
Well, that's quite a bit of what all has happened. I know I'm forgetting some things, but those are the highlights. Thanks for your prayers.
In His Time,
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
So, four weeks in . . .
Right, so I know I've been here four weeks now. How do I know this so conclusively, you ask? I know because the beginning of this week was the fourth time I changed my pants. That's right, I've been going about a week in each set of jeans that I brought. I'm getting at least two days out of each shirt, frequently three or four.
I would appreciate a few more simple recipes, with simple things that I can get at the store. I still enjoy my staples of bread/sausage/cheese, spaghetti, and boiled carrots. But I suspect that I should get a little more variety in my diet.
Oh, one more thing. I'm currently in Munich, Germany. Yeah, it's kinda surreal to me too. I mean, Germany is a place I read about in history books, a place over in Europe. I've never been there. Quite a weird feeling, let me tell you. But I love it.
We rode the train six hours to get here from Prague, and got here last Saturday afternoon at 3:15. We're here until Thursday. We are getting to visit the Impact team here in Munich, and see some of the city. It's been wonderful so far, and looks as though it will continue to be. I am continuing to learn what it is to pursue God in new ways. Thank you for your continued prayers.
In His Time,
I would appreciate a few more simple recipes, with simple things that I can get at the store. I still enjoy my staples of bread/sausage/cheese, spaghetti, and boiled carrots. But I suspect that I should get a little more variety in my diet.
Oh, one more thing. I'm currently in Munich, Germany. Yeah, it's kinda surreal to me too. I mean, Germany is a place I read about in history books, a place over in Europe. I've never been there. Quite a weird feeling, let me tell you. But I love it.
We rode the train six hours to get here from Prague, and got here last Saturday afternoon at 3:15. We're here until Thursday. We are getting to visit the Impact team here in Munich, and see some of the city. It's been wonderful so far, and looks as though it will continue to be. I am continuing to learn what it is to pursue God in new ways. Thank you for your continued prayers.
In His Time,
Monday, February 14, 2005
So much to say, and I've forgotten it all!
This is so aggravating. I have been thinking of quite a few things that I want to share with you all via my blog. But as soon as I get on the internet, I forget them all!
Ok, I'll try to remember.
Another thing that's fairly weird here in Prague is the fact that cars regularly drive down the sidewalk. It's slightly unnerving to find cars where you are expecting to blithely walk home. It helps that the cars are, on the average, quite a bit smaller than cars back home. It's easy to spot vehicles that aren't originally from here, or that weren't designed for this city. Those cars stick out like a sore thumb because they're huge. They are taller and longer than all the other cars.
But one advantage of learning to drive here in Prague is that you learn to parallel park like the angels must. There is rarely more than four inches between the bumpers of parallel parked cars here. I saw one truck that was parked between two concrete buttresses, with about two inches between each bumper and the concrete. No joke, it was for straight up real. Amazing.
Matt and Bethany Harris joined me yesterday (Sunday) evening playing sports with some guys and gals from the church we go to. Usually we play floorball (floor hockey, really) most of the time, and finish with a game of basketball. (Have I mentioned how awful most Czechs are at basketball?) Well, since the guy who has the key to the closet was gone, we just played basketball. The first game we had all the native English speakers together, against all the native Czech speakers. That put the four of us (Matt, Bethany, myself and Lee, a friend of ours here) against the seven of them. We beat them 50 to 44. The second game we tried to switch out teams, appointing both Matt and Bethany as captains. But the way the picking turned out, we just lost Matt and gained Philip and Jana. So we stomped them again, this time 50 to 34 or 36. I really like playing basketball here, because I'm definitely improving and playing well. It's great!
I picked up a pair of slippers at one of the stores here. I like them a lot, because they help me keep my feet warm. When you are in anyone's house, you always take your shoes off. This includes in your own house. And that's fine, except for the part where I get cold feet and thus get cold all over. So I got these slippers. They squish down well, and I can put them in my backpack and take them wherever.
Last Thursday I went to help Jay, another friend here, unpack a crate he had shipped over to himself from the States. Matt Harris also went. We finished up with lunch, and had to wait a little until the crate arrived at the storage unit where he was sending it. So we walked through a couple malls and a grocery store.
The time arrived for us to go to the storage unit. Jay proceeded to lead us towards . . . . the highway? He explained that as of yet he did not know of any other way to get to the storage place from where we were at. I felt a little weird waltzing across an off-ramp and walking alongside the interstate. The only comforting fact was that there was a clearly worn dirt path going right where we were headed.
We walked underneath an overpass, and I had a startling revelation. This was the first time I had ever walked under an overpass, not riding in a vehicle. The whole way across I wondered to myself what it must be like to live under a bridge or overpass. We came out on the other side and continued to follow the path for a couple meters. Then it reared up and over the small hill that led up to the overpass; you know what I mean. It was a slightly drizzly day, and there was some snow and ice left on the ground. This hill was at least a 45 degree angle, if not more. The drizzle, ice, and angle combined to form a ridiculous ascent. I was reduced to climbing with my hands and feet, trying not to slip into the mud and down on top of Matt.
We finally reached the top, and walked through more mud to the storage center. There, the crate arrived a few minutes after we did. We unloaded it onto three dollies (no, not the baby kind, the moving-large-equipment kind). I took one, and wheeled it into the elevator. I asked Matt what floor Jay's storage unit was on, and he said, "Floor 3." So I pushed the button, and up we went. Matt had also told me, "You have to go down one ramp, and then go to the red door." At the third floor I pushed the cart/dolly thing out of the elevator, down the ramp, and to the red door. It was closed and locked. So I waited. While I waited I watched two guys trying to fix a car on that floor.
Oh, small detail. I should mention that the storage units were in the same building as a parking garage. That's why it had the ramp thing. That should also help explain the presence of a broken car (along with several working ones) on-the-third-floor-and-down-a-ramp. So, I waited. Patiently. I took some time to pray, examined my fingernails, tried the doors again to make sure they were locked, and waited.
Finally Matt called to me, "Joel."
I said, "Yo!"
He said again, "Joel."
I said, "The doors are locked."
He said, "Where are you?"
"I'm right in front of the red doors, but they're locked."
"What floor are you on?"
'The third one, and down the ramp"
"Oh, hold on a sec . . ."
I had forgotten a crucial detail in dealing with Czech elevators. The ground floor is always Zero. The next floor up is One, and so on. Floors below the ground are -1, -2, and so on in that direction. So when I go home and push the button for the fourth floor, I am actually five stories high. But according to Czech logic I am on the fourth floor.
Thus, Jay's storage unit was on the third floor, according to American terms. It was the third level above the ground. But according to the Czech elevator, it was the second floor. So Matt came up and helped me move my cart down two more ramps to get to the correct floor.
But remember that this is in a parking garage? Yeah, as we were going down the first ramp, a car whirled around the corner and tried to come up that same ramp. I was fairly sure that it would hit it's brakes. But it took a few more seconds for the car to stop than I would have liked! That car got uncomfortably close. I must admit to emitting a little, "Urp!"
Matt and I finished rolling down that ramp, and got out of the way of the car. The driver gunned his engine and shot up the ramp, clearly angry. We continued down, and finished putting the stuff into the storage unit. All in all, it was an eventful day.
In His Time,
Ok, I'll try to remember.
Another thing that's fairly weird here in Prague is the fact that cars regularly drive down the sidewalk. It's slightly unnerving to find cars where you are expecting to blithely walk home. It helps that the cars are, on the average, quite a bit smaller than cars back home. It's easy to spot vehicles that aren't originally from here, or that weren't designed for this city. Those cars stick out like a sore thumb because they're huge. They are taller and longer than all the other cars.
But one advantage of learning to drive here in Prague is that you learn to parallel park like the angels must. There is rarely more than four inches between the bumpers of parallel parked cars here. I saw one truck that was parked between two concrete buttresses, with about two inches between each bumper and the concrete. No joke, it was for straight up real. Amazing.
Matt and Bethany Harris joined me yesterday (Sunday) evening playing sports with some guys and gals from the church we go to. Usually we play floorball (floor hockey, really) most of the time, and finish with a game of basketball. (Have I mentioned how awful most Czechs are at basketball?) Well, since the guy who has the key to the closet was gone, we just played basketball. The first game we had all the native English speakers together, against all the native Czech speakers. That put the four of us (Matt, Bethany, myself and Lee, a friend of ours here) against the seven of them. We beat them 50 to 44. The second game we tried to switch out teams, appointing both Matt and Bethany as captains. But the way the picking turned out, we just lost Matt and gained Philip and Jana. So we stomped them again, this time 50 to 34 or 36. I really like playing basketball here, because I'm definitely improving and playing well. It's great!
I picked up a pair of slippers at one of the stores here. I like them a lot, because they help me keep my feet warm. When you are in anyone's house, you always take your shoes off. This includes in your own house. And that's fine, except for the part where I get cold feet and thus get cold all over. So I got these slippers. They squish down well, and I can put them in my backpack and take them wherever.
Last Thursday I went to help Jay, another friend here, unpack a crate he had shipped over to himself from the States. Matt Harris also went. We finished up with lunch, and had to wait a little until the crate arrived at the storage unit where he was sending it. So we walked through a couple malls and a grocery store.
The time arrived for us to go to the storage unit. Jay proceeded to lead us towards . . . . the highway? He explained that as of yet he did not know of any other way to get to the storage place from where we were at. I felt a little weird waltzing across an off-ramp and walking alongside the interstate. The only comforting fact was that there was a clearly worn dirt path going right where we were headed.
We walked underneath an overpass, and I had a startling revelation. This was the first time I had ever walked under an overpass, not riding in a vehicle. The whole way across I wondered to myself what it must be like to live under a bridge or overpass. We came out on the other side and continued to follow the path for a couple meters. Then it reared up and over the small hill that led up to the overpass; you know what I mean. It was a slightly drizzly day, and there was some snow and ice left on the ground. This hill was at least a 45 degree angle, if not more. The drizzle, ice, and angle combined to form a ridiculous ascent. I was reduced to climbing with my hands and feet, trying not to slip into the mud and down on top of Matt.
We finally reached the top, and walked through more mud to the storage center. There, the crate arrived a few minutes after we did. We unloaded it onto three dollies (no, not the baby kind, the moving-large-equipment kind). I took one, and wheeled it into the elevator. I asked Matt what floor Jay's storage unit was on, and he said, "Floor 3." So I pushed the button, and up we went. Matt had also told me, "You have to go down one ramp, and then go to the red door." At the third floor I pushed the cart/dolly thing out of the elevator, down the ramp, and to the red door. It was closed and locked. So I waited. While I waited I watched two guys trying to fix a car on that floor.
Oh, small detail. I should mention that the storage units were in the same building as a parking garage. That's why it had the ramp thing. That should also help explain the presence of a broken car (along with several working ones) on-the-third-floor-and-down-a-ramp. So, I waited. Patiently. I took some time to pray, examined my fingernails, tried the doors again to make sure they were locked, and waited.
Finally Matt called to me, "Joel."
I said, "Yo!"
He said again, "Joel."
I said, "The doors are locked."
He said, "Where are you?"
"I'm right in front of the red doors, but they're locked."
"What floor are you on?"
'The third one, and down the ramp"
"Oh, hold on a sec . . ."
I had forgotten a crucial detail in dealing with Czech elevators. The ground floor is always Zero. The next floor up is One, and so on. Floors below the ground are -1, -2, and so on in that direction. So when I go home and push the button for the fourth floor, I am actually five stories high. But according to Czech logic I am on the fourth floor.
Thus, Jay's storage unit was on the third floor, according to American terms. It was the third level above the ground. But according to the Czech elevator, it was the second floor. So Matt came up and helped me move my cart down two more ramps to get to the correct floor.
But remember that this is in a parking garage? Yeah, as we were going down the first ramp, a car whirled around the corner and tried to come up that same ramp. I was fairly sure that it would hit it's brakes. But it took a few more seconds for the car to stop than I would have liked! That car got uncomfortably close. I must admit to emitting a little, "Urp!"
Matt and I finished rolling down that ramp, and got out of the way of the car. The driver gunned his engine and shot up the ramp, clearly angry. We continued down, and finished putting the stuff into the storage unit. All in all, it was an eventful day.
In His Time,
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
Culture Differences
It's not really culture shock for me, at least not yet. But I've definitely noticed some culture differences here in Praha.
None of the doors have automatic closing apparatus. Like, no springs and friction bars to close the door behind you. You have to manually close each and every door, or it stays open! That's especially frustrating when you enter a small store or restaurant. They always speak sternly in Czech, telling you to close the door that you left swinging open behind you. Aaugh!
The Czech Republic doesn't believe in Peanut Butter. Well, that's not entirely true. They just don't believe that it should come in large, cheap quantities. A very, very small jar costs about $1.50, maybe $2.00. It's just not feasible to purchase much. In fact, it's cheaper to buy honey that it is to buy PB. Which, that works out okay as far as honey is concerned. I like it a lot. But simply because I can't have peanut butter, as much as I want, whenever I want, I am missing.
Windows. I'm not sure if I've written about this before, but it's another difference. Every house and business I've seen, in every window, has a double set of glass windows. There is the inner set, and the outer set. My guess is that this is to trap heat, and keep the rooms warmer. And it would also tend to discourage thieves. But it's different.
I know I've talked about this before, but there is an absurd number of locks on the door of our flat. We have a grand total of five separately keyed locks to our door, plus a chain. Two of these locks cannot even be accessed from the inside, but only locked from the outside. And two, not one but two peepholes. And all this is in addition to the outside door, the single door that all the flats use to get outside. It also has a lock. When I go home I feel sorta like I'm living in Fort Knox.
I'm starting to get used to the fact that I simply cannot understand most of the people around me. I get on the metro or a tram, and simply realize again that the vast majority of the quiet conversations going on around me are unintelligible. I walk into a grocery store and the fitness center and experience the same thing. Going through the czechout counter is always an experience. Hopefully I will just be able to see how much my purchases cost and give them the money. But a lot of the time they have a question about something, and I have to regretfully respond, "Nevim Cheski," - "I don't know Czech."
Oh, and speaking of money. I'm getting better at calculating how much a thing is worth. Each crown is currently worth between four and five cents. 100 crowns equals about four dollars. It's not too bad. But, it's definitely a difference.
Czechs don't boil carrots. They prefer to eat them raw. Which, by itself, is fine. In fact, raw carrots retain more nutrition. But when you have prepared a batch of boiled carrots for your dinner guests. . .
They also don't break their spaghetti before boiling it. Apparently they are more in favor of having long strands of spaghetti that take forever to wind, chew, and swallow. Again, dinner guests. . .
I don't want to sound like I'm complaining. I love Prague, and I am so glad this is where I was placed for the second semester. But I thought you might enjoy hearing about how different it is here. I certainly have.
In His Time,
None of the doors have automatic closing apparatus. Like, no springs and friction bars to close the door behind you. You have to manually close each and every door, or it stays open! That's especially frustrating when you enter a small store or restaurant. They always speak sternly in Czech, telling you to close the door that you left swinging open behind you. Aaugh!
The Czech Republic doesn't believe in Peanut Butter. Well, that's not entirely true. They just don't believe that it should come in large, cheap quantities. A very, very small jar costs about $1.50, maybe $2.00. It's just not feasible to purchase much. In fact, it's cheaper to buy honey that it is to buy PB. Which, that works out okay as far as honey is concerned. I like it a lot. But simply because I can't have peanut butter, as much as I want, whenever I want, I am missing.
Windows. I'm not sure if I've written about this before, but it's another difference. Every house and business I've seen, in every window, has a double set of glass windows. There is the inner set, and the outer set. My guess is that this is to trap heat, and keep the rooms warmer. And it would also tend to discourage thieves. But it's different.
I know I've talked about this before, but there is an absurd number of locks on the door of our flat. We have a grand total of five separately keyed locks to our door, plus a chain. Two of these locks cannot even be accessed from the inside, but only locked from the outside. And two, not one but two peepholes. And all this is in addition to the outside door, the single door that all the flats use to get outside. It also has a lock. When I go home I feel sorta like I'm living in Fort Knox.
I'm starting to get used to the fact that I simply cannot understand most of the people around me. I get on the metro or a tram, and simply realize again that the vast majority of the quiet conversations going on around me are unintelligible. I walk into a grocery store and the fitness center and experience the same thing. Going through the czechout counter is always an experience. Hopefully I will just be able to see how much my purchases cost and give them the money. But a lot of the time they have a question about something, and I have to regretfully respond, "Nevim Cheski," - "I don't know Czech."
Oh, and speaking of money. I'm getting better at calculating how much a thing is worth. Each crown is currently worth between four and five cents. 100 crowns equals about four dollars. It's not too bad. But, it's definitely a difference.
Czechs don't boil carrots. They prefer to eat them raw. Which, by itself, is fine. In fact, raw carrots retain more nutrition. But when you have prepared a batch of boiled carrots for your dinner guests. . .
They also don't break their spaghetti before boiling it. Apparently they are more in favor of having long strands of spaghetti that take forever to wind, chew, and swallow. Again, dinner guests. . .
I don't want to sound like I'm complaining. I love Prague, and I am so glad this is where I was placed for the second semester. But I thought you might enjoy hearing about how different it is here. I certainly have.
In His Time,
Some more thoughts on Evangelism & Discipling
So, I've been thinking more about my thoughts on evangelism and discipleship. I don't think I'm necessarily wrong, but I think that there is more to be said. (Well, of course, since I'm finite).
I was listening to Acts and Romans on my iPod, which is a wonderful thing to do while riding on the Metro and the trams. And I realized that Paul was evangelizing in a way that didn't fit into the little box that I wrote last time. Therefore, my box must not be complete, or completely right.
Paul didn't stick just to the discipling method of ministry. He was called by God (Acts 13:2-3) to go and do God's work. Reading further in Acts, this looks like preaching in the synagogues and lecture halls. First to the Jews, then to the Gentiles. Paul took this new information, the Gospel, and shared it with people who had never heard it before. Based on the situation, this was the exact method that needed to be followed. Simple moving to a city and waiting for God to raise up disciples would not have been nearly as effective.
So, as God has currently shown me (always subject to further insights from His Word), we are called to situation based ministry/evangelism. We must at all times be ready, through study and the personal pursuit of intimacy with God, both to serve as a mentor and to evangelize/preach. I must be seeking God in such a way that in responding to Him I will both be simply discipling those whom He raises up, and also ready to speak when He gives me a platform, a voice. This idea is the two sides of Spiritual Authority. Whether this authority is extending to one or two people, or a large number of people, I am still just responding to God.
In His Time,
I was listening to Acts and Romans on my iPod, which is a wonderful thing to do while riding on the Metro and the trams. And I realized that Paul was evangelizing in a way that didn't fit into the little box that I wrote last time. Therefore, my box must not be complete, or completely right.
Paul didn't stick just to the discipling method of ministry. He was called by God (Acts 13:2-3) to go and do God's work. Reading further in Acts, this looks like preaching in the synagogues and lecture halls. First to the Jews, then to the Gentiles. Paul took this new information, the Gospel, and shared it with people who had never heard it before. Based on the situation, this was the exact method that needed to be followed. Simple moving to a city and waiting for God to raise up disciples would not have been nearly as effective.
So, as God has currently shown me (always subject to further insights from His Word), we are called to situation based ministry/evangelism. We must at all times be ready, through study and the personal pursuit of intimacy with God, both to serve as a mentor and to evangelize/preach. I must be seeking God in such a way that in responding to Him I will both be simply discipling those whom He raises up, and also ready to speak when He gives me a platform, a voice. This idea is the two sides of Spiritual Authority. Whether this authority is extending to one or two people, or a large number of people, I am still just responding to God.
In His Time,
Monday, February 07, 2005
Discipleship
So I was thinking about Jesus' command to "Go and make disciples." Jeff and I got to talk this evening, and I was really filled with astonishment. Look at this verse again.
Matt. 28:18-20
"Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Look at the progression in the passage. The reason for this command is Jesus' authority.
"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me."
All authority is His. That is why we do whatever He says next.
"Therefore, go and make disciples," (emphasis mine)
We are not commanded to evangelize in this passage! We are supposed to make disciples! There's a big difference. In fact, it's the difference between God and evangelism as a priority, a number one priority, and God as the Only Thing in life.
If we see our task here on earth as evangelism, that's what we will focus on. Reaching other people and getting them into the Kingdom becomes our goal. This is a tremendous burden, and engenders a lot of guilt.
On the other hand, if your goal is seeking God as the Only Thing, the One Thing in your life, you have a totally different purpose. All you want to do is seek God in every activity, comparing each thought, action, and emotion to what we know God says about this. Now, this also takes work. You must know what God says, and that also takes devotion. But there is no burden on you to save people.
In fact, you can't save people. Let me say that again. You can't save people. And you say, "Yeah, yeah, of course I can't save people, I'm not God." But when we are trying to evangelize, it is so easy to slip into the mindset where I am doing the work, I want them to be saved, I must reach them so they are not condemned for their sin.
Do we dare think that we want people to be saved more than God does? Does our heart encompass more pain than His? What have we really ever done for the world. What can we really ever do? The world is a mighty big place, and we are mighty small. (You can quote me on that, though I think the original thought came from Ecclesiastes).
So what are we to do? Jesus tells us to go! But He doesn't tell us to go and evangelize. He tells us that all authority is His. Not ours, but His. Thus, we seek Him. We seek Him, and His true Word, as the only thing. The One Thing. And in seeking Him, we will go and make disciples. We will not win large numbers of people. This life is not about winning. And I mean that both ways. This life is not about winning any game. And this life is not about winning people. It's about responding to God, pursuing God, seeking intimacy with God. And as a result of that, God will bring people into our lives who He will make our disciples. If nothing else, that knowledge scares me into seeking Christ as the only thing. I don't want to be caught napping when He wants to work in someone's life, and use my pursuit of Him to do that working.
Father be praised.
In His Time,
Matt. 28:18-20
"Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Look at the progression in the passage. The reason for this command is Jesus' authority.
"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me."
All authority is His. That is why we do whatever He says next.
"Therefore, go and make disciples," (emphasis mine)
We are not commanded to evangelize in this passage! We are supposed to make disciples! There's a big difference. In fact, it's the difference between God and evangelism as a priority, a number one priority, and God as the Only Thing in life.
If we see our task here on earth as evangelism, that's what we will focus on. Reaching other people and getting them into the Kingdom becomes our goal. This is a tremendous burden, and engenders a lot of guilt.
On the other hand, if your goal is seeking God as the Only Thing, the One Thing in your life, you have a totally different purpose. All you want to do is seek God in every activity, comparing each thought, action, and emotion to what we know God says about this. Now, this also takes work. You must know what God says, and that also takes devotion. But there is no burden on you to save people.
In fact, you can't save people. Let me say that again. You can't save people. And you say, "Yeah, yeah, of course I can't save people, I'm not God." But when we are trying to evangelize, it is so easy to slip into the mindset where I am doing the work, I want them to be saved, I must reach them so they are not condemned for their sin.
Do we dare think that we want people to be saved more than God does? Does our heart encompass more pain than His? What have we really ever done for the world. What can we really ever do? The world is a mighty big place, and we are mighty small. (You can quote me on that, though I think the original thought came from Ecclesiastes).
So what are we to do? Jesus tells us to go! But He doesn't tell us to go and evangelize. He tells us that all authority is His. Not ours, but His. Thus, we seek Him. We seek Him, and His true Word, as the only thing. The One Thing. And in seeking Him, we will go and make disciples. We will not win large numbers of people. This life is not about winning. And I mean that both ways. This life is not about winning any game. And this life is not about winning people. It's about responding to God, pursuing God, seeking intimacy with God. And as a result of that, God will bring people into our lives who He will make our disciples. If nothing else, that knowledge scares me into seeking Christ as the only thing. I don't want to be caught napping when He wants to work in someone's life, and use my pursuit of Him to do that working.
Father be praised.
In His Time,
Joeletter 7.1
The Joeletter
Wow, Joeletter 7.1! It's amazing that I've been in Deeper for seven months now. God has been so good to me, and gently taught me so much. Like I've said, this is exactly where God wanted me to be this year.
Yesterday, Sunday evening, I was again able to play floor-ball with the guys. I'm just slightly better than I was last week, but not enough to make a whole lot of difference. But it's fun, and the best part of being able to play with these guys is not the winning. It's about being able to respond to God, seeking intimacy with Him, while being around other people. That's a big theme that God is teaching me with right now. It's about taking each thought, whether my own thoughts or others thoughts, and seeing what God has to say about it. Pursuing Him is that simple, walking each thought and action back to Him. It means a little bit of thinking. But it's so freeing. We are freed to simply do whatever it takes to be intimate with God. Making Him the one thing, the only thing that I act upon.
Oatmeal-making is going much better, thanks for your help. I made a simply wonderful bowl last week, with a dollop of honey to spice it up. I'm also enjoying making spaghetti for breakfast. I have to eat it plain, though, because the spaghetti sauce is very sweet over here, and doesn't taste right. I just found some flavoring that I put in this morning's spaghetti, kind of like chicken bullion. I liked that a lot.
I am trying to like tea. Tea and coffee are a fairly big part of this culture, enough so that they sell pitchers that plug into the wall and heat water to boiling in less than a minute. And it makes sense, because it's very cold here. It helps to have something hot/warm to drink. I just want my drink to actually taste like something! I'm too the point that I can stand tea. It smells really good, but the taste always lets me down. I like hot cups of water, though. I just skip the tea step, and go straight for the hot water. It works out pretty well.
So yogurt is a big thing here also. There is a huge selection at every grocery store. And it's none of this fat-free stuff. Here, they make yogurt with real cream! It tastes great, though it takes a little bit of getting used to the texture at first. But in my yogurt purchasing experiences here, I have learned a little caution. You should always look very carefully at the pictures on the little cups of yogurt. If I could read Czech it probably wouldn't be so bad. But, not reading, I must rely on the pictures. And I've purchased some pretty crazy yogurt by not looking.
The first weird one was from Yoplait. I saw cherries on the outside of the cup, and thought, "Oh, I like cherries. I'll get this one." It was also fairly cheap, and I'm always looking for cheap things. I got it out to eat as part of breakfast, and decided not to stir it up. I just left the cherry stuff on the bottom to eat last. As I got down to the color/flavoring, I noticed that in addition to red there seemed to be some brown. I just assumed that the red was so concentrated that it looked brown. Then I started tasting something that really didn't taste like cherry, though there was some of that in there too. I had to think a minute, and looked again at the outside of the cup. Upon this second inspection, I discovered a second crucial picture behind the picture of the cherries. It was a chocolate and cherry yogurt cup! I finished it, but vowed to always look very carefully at the pictures to see what I was actually getting.
All was fine for a few days, mainly because I didn't have a chance to purchase any more yogurt. Oh, and it's not spelled yogurt here. It's jogurty, or jogobella. I'm staying away from the jogobella for a while, though. That's what I bought yesterday. It was the cheapest yogurt on the shelf. One was strawberry flavored, and the other grape flavored. I had never had grape yogurt, so I thought that would be fun to try.
I opened up the cup, and stirred it up. I saw little....things in the yogurt, but that was fine. Almost all flavored yogurts have stuff in them; it makes them better. I took a bite, and found two things out. One, grape flavored yogurt is pretty good. It had little bits of actual grapes in the yogurt, slightly squishy. The other thing I found, though, wasn't quite as exciting. Once again I took a second, closer look at the outside of the cup. Surrounding the grapes on the outside was a picture of wheat stalks. I had just assumed that it as decoration, as usual. In reality, there were small wheat berries in the yogurt! It was hilarious. I would swallow the spoonful of yogurt, and then chew on these moist kernels of wheat. But as fun as it was, it's something you only want to do sparingly. Like I said, I'm going to be avoiding Jogobella for a while, and looking even more carefully at what the pictures have in them.
It's really funny to think about all of you right now. I'm six hours ahead of Eastern time. So when I'm eating lunch, you all are getting up. At supper, it's only lunch time for you. And I'm going to bed about your supper time. It's so funny to think about.
Thank you for your continued prayers that I will be able to see God's perspective in each thought, action, and plan. I am learning so much. And besides that, I'm having a blast!
In His Time,
Thursday, February 03, 2005
What to drink, What to drink?
So the stuff you drink over here is a little different than I'm used to at home. Yes, they have milk and juice, and Coke. But there's more. They sell Mattoni, which is carbonated water with a variety of flavors. I've had pear and peach, and seen many more. It's very different than anything I've seen in the States, especially since it comes in tall, 1.5 liter bottles.
They also sell milk in boxes. These boxes are stacked out in the middle of the aisle, and you can leave them on your shelf at home as long as they are unopened. In fact, these boxes of milk will keep for years if they aren't tampered with. This is because it's like canning milk. They pasturize it, and then seal the box closed. It ships much better, and is much easier to store. Now, once the box has been opened you do have to refrigerate it. But until then you don't have to at all. It's quite different.
I'm starting to get used to using the Crown (Kc) as a currency. I still convert the numbers in my head to have an idea how much something costs. But I'm getting faster at that too. Right now there are 23 Kc to the American Dollar. So to figure out how much a pair of 1180 Kc shoes costs, I just multiply the hundred's digits by four. So a pair of shoes costing 1180 Kc means they cost a little less than $48. (I rounded the 80 Kc up to get 1200 Kc, then multiplied by four). It's a little more difficult when going from American Dollars to Crowns, but since there are about four dollars to every 100 Kc, I just have to divide by four and multiply by 100.
In His Time,
They also sell milk in boxes. These boxes are stacked out in the middle of the aisle, and you can leave them on your shelf at home as long as they are unopened. In fact, these boxes of milk will keep for years if they aren't tampered with. This is because it's like canning milk. They pasturize it, and then seal the box closed. It ships much better, and is much easier to store. Now, once the box has been opened you do have to refrigerate it. But until then you don't have to at all. It's quite different.
I'm starting to get used to using the Crown (Kc) as a currency. I still convert the numbers in my head to have an idea how much something costs. But I'm getting faster at that too. Right now there are 23 Kc to the American Dollar. So to figure out how much a pair of 1180 Kc shoes costs, I just multiply the hundred's digits by four. So a pair of shoes costing 1180 Kc means they cost a little less than $48. (I rounded the 80 Kc up to get 1200 Kc, then multiplied by four). It's a little more difficult when going from American Dollars to Crowns, but since there are about four dollars to every 100 Kc, I just have to divide by four and multiply by 100.
In His Time,
Teaching English
God has opened a door for Impact-Prague in the teaching English area. A certain principle at an elementary age school has been looking for ways to help the kids at her school do a better job at learning English. This is because even though many many people are seeking to learning English, there aren't very many good teachers. What they need is native speakers.
So this principle has started a program that takes kids on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and places them in a classroom where the teachers are native English speakers. This program is led by Elaine Mudrik, one of the Impact-Prague team members. In the classroom the kids are learning basic English skills, like finding nose/ears/eyes, colors, greetings, and shapes.
I was able to go to the class with Elaine this morning, and help with the kids. They were a lot of fun to work with, though like most kids that age several of them were a little rowdy. I hope to start helping Sunny, another English teacher, on Wednesdays as she teaches conversational skills to 7th and 8th graders. It will be quite different, but I hope to have a chance to share God while we are talking. At the very least I am seeking to be intimate with God while with these kids.
In His Time,
So this principle has started a program that takes kids on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and places them in a classroom where the teachers are native English speakers. This program is led by Elaine Mudrik, one of the Impact-Prague team members. In the classroom the kids are learning basic English skills, like finding nose/ears/eyes, colors, greetings, and shapes.
I was able to go to the class with Elaine this morning, and help with the kids. They were a lot of fun to work with, though like most kids that age several of them were a little rowdy. I hope to start helping Sunny, another English teacher, on Wednesdays as she teaches conversational skills to 7th and 8th graders. It will be quite different, but I hope to have a chance to share God while we are talking. At the very least I am seeking to be intimate with God while with these kids.
In His Time,
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