T. David Beck: The Simple Way of Jesus

Bill Manassero has posted a story you have to read. Check it out here . Haiti is in chaos because of suspected election fraud. There is rioting and looting in the streets. Child Hope's orphanage is in temporary lock-down for safety's sake. Cholera is still in full swing. There is rubble everywhere from the January earthquake. Darkness is blanketing the land. (To the right is a photo taken by Rod and Brittany Meadth, friends of mine and long-time volunteers at Child Hope. Their blog is  here .) Now zoom in, Google Earth style, from Port-au-Prince to one of the area's many tent cities. A teenage girl is being held against her will as a slave by a group of men. More smothering darkness. Into this despair and darkness, the light breaks through. God liberates and saves. It's as if he is saying, "I'm still here. I'm still working to free the oppressed. Rioting does not tie my hands." As I read Bill's story, I think not only of the greatness of Go...

I am reminded this morning of what a precious gift a church is. It's a collection of people's hearts and souls. We all carry baggage and sometimes spend our energy trying to make the church become what we want it to be, and that can make community difficult. But in the midst of that messiness, there is a precious element that can be marveled at but not dissected or controlled. To us, the human heart is a mystery. To God, the human heart is a beloved treasure. As a living collection of mysterious treasures, the church is a truly remarkable phenomenon. What is more, being a pastor or any kind of leader in a spiritual setting, or even just a member of a church, is something to tremble at. 

This morning I preached on the conversion of Saul in Acts 9. It is one of the great human cataclysms of all time -- a man who Luke basically portrays as Church Enemy #1 realizing in a flash (literally) that this "Lord" who manifested himself in overwhelming glory was none other than Jesus. There has never been a bigger "Oh crud" moment in the history of humankind. There has never been a more instantaneous turnaround. In the blink of an eye (literally), the most vehement foe of the cause of Christ becomes the most tireless worker for the cause of Christ. I like the way William Barclay sums up Saul's fateful encounter with Jesus. It is worth quoting a paragraph from Barclay's commentary on Acts: There is all of Christianity in what the Risen Christ said to Paul, ‘Go into the city, and you will be told what to do.’ Up to this moment Paul had been doing what he liked, what he thought best, what his will dictated. From this time forward he would be told what ...

When someone says, "Listening is an act of love," my ears perk up. I have long believed listening is one of the most under-appreciated aspects of a loving relationship. Listening is usually overlooked in favor of doing something for the other person. But think about it. When we feel we are not being listened to, we lose all motivation to be around someone. When we are upset or even when we are just sharing our day with someone, we feel valued when they listen. When we listen to someone, we are investing our energy in them. We are humbling ourselves before them. When we really listen -- when we allow their words, perspective, and feelings to affect us -- then we have formed the basis for acting with true compassion toward that person. Listening is indeed an act of love. Today I found out that the day after Thanksgiving is the National Day of Listening. The holiday was founded in 2008 by StoryCorps, an organization promoting listening and the sharing of stories. "Listeni...

I have heard the story of Squanto and the earliest Thanksgiving, but I have never appreciated the miraculous nature of Squanto's role in the lives of the pilgrims. I was surfing around on Justin Taylor's blog Between Two Worlds and ran across a post about Thanksgiving . Taylor posts a CNN interview with Eric Metaxas, who wrote a children's book, Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving , in 1999. Metaxas looks at the Squanto story through the eyes of faith, and his account is powerful. Here is the point that grabbed my attention the most. Metaxas observes how after his village was wiped out by smallpox, Squanto was emotionally broken and was living in the woods by himself. In the settlement, the pilgrims were struggling for survival, half of them having died over the course of a brutal winter. They too were completely broken. Squanto appears out of the woods and helps them survive. Metaxas observes that in this story, God takes broken people and weaves them together, cre...

This is a special message -- actually a special request for prayer. As most of you know, I am involved with Child Hope International , a ministry in Port-au-Prince, Haiti that combines an orphanage, feeding program, medical clinic, and school. Lately we have received requests from Haiti for prayer for two main needs. On top of the ongoing aftermath of the January 12 earthquake, Haiti is suffering with two other afflictions: 1. There is a cholera epidemic sweeping through Haiti. So far none of the children of Child Hope's orphanage have contracted cholera, but Markenson, a graduate of the program and employee at the orphanage, lost a younger brother just a couple of weeks ago. Some 4700 have gotten the disease, 337 of which have died. Cholera is caused by contaminants in water. Please pray for the people of Haiti regarding their water supply. 2. On top of the cholera epidemic, tropical storm Tomas is headed toward Haiti. Thankfully, the storm has been downgraded from a hurricane. ...

Tomorrow is election day, and my friend Tim Morey has written an excellent article on approaching politics with understanding and decorum. The post is called "Towards a Loving, Respectful, Bi-Partisan Christianity." Check it out here .