I sympathize with Garfield

...Mondays are always rough

Never trust your emotions on Monday
Never follow through with the impulses you have on a Monday
Never think too hard about what happened over the weekend on a Monday
Never do your finances on a Monday

Mondays are for rest and recovery
The pastor's saturday, 2 days late but welcome nonetheless
Mondays are for honey-do lists and morning cartoons with the one-remaining pre-schooler
Mondays are for t-shirts and dog-walking
Mondays are good days for drinking coffee on the porch and finding out what kind of a mess Lisbeth Salander has gotten herself into
Mondays are for TiVo'd episodes of MadMen and Boardwalk Empire

Real life can wait til tomorrow


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just to get you in the mood for "monsters..."

tough sluggin'

one of my favorite lines ever written came during the afterward of George RR Martin's A Storm of Swords: this one was a bitch.

ever since reading those words, i've been tempted to steal them and use them in reference to pretty much every teaching atlas we've ever done.

apparently, i run the scriptural equivalent of a kennel - every single one is a you-know-what.

but none, i think, more so than this current project Monsters, which is too bad because i've been itching to write this one for a long time. thing is, between just getting back from sabbatical and writing Shadowing God, and having to travel to houston, dallas, seattle, bellingham, and vancouver i was forced to write the bulk of Monsters in hotel rooms on my ipad.

thankfully, i've got a great editor in Caleb Seeling, and he's been helping me refine and retool my thoughts so as to approximate something like cohesive prose.

but now i'm coming to the end of the writing - should wrap all that up tonight - and then i'll be laying this sucker out in a big and beautiful A4 hardcover with plenty of illustrations (think Dr. Suess, for adults).

and it'll be worth it.

i love monsters, just as I'm loving Monsters now that it's taken shape and am confident you will too.

boom.

This week was bat-nuts

I am on a plane, my fourth this week, attempting to write a teaching atlas on my ipad.

I used to love my ipad, love it less now.

I miss my family, especially after sabbatical, and i miss my church. Its a good place, westwinds, and i have a wonderful home.

God has been showing me some tremendous and difficult truths this week, though, so i am grateful for the time away. Its just likehim to take us on a trip we don't want in order to speak something into us we wouldnt otherwise hear.

He's tricksy like that.

Two more days, three more flights, and then home to the two little monsters that matter and the beautiful woman who still turns a pastorly beast into a prince.


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free copy of "shadowing god" for anyone who wants to do a review

if you're interested in reviewing "shadowing god" on amazon.com, I'll send you a free copy of the book. just email me at david.mcdonald@westwinds.org

thanks!

a couple days with len sweet

thursday and friday Jvo and I were in manhattan with len sweet (author, futurist, and friend). len has had a significant impact on my life, and been my unofficial patron ever since i finished up at george fox university 4 years ago. he has fed me insights and intellectual tidbits, included me in his proposals and future plans, and - most astonishingly - always returned my phone calls.

we were meeting len to follow up on his visit to the winds this past spring. we wanted to hear him feedback on our unique strengths (as well as our weaknesses), and give him permission to speak critically about the church, our leadership style, our emphasis, and our spirit.

it was an incredible two days. len was fantastically affirming and - as always - very generous (both in his praise and through giving thoughtful gifts to Jvo and I).

of the many impressions he left me with, it was his generosity that impacted me the most. after a great morning, during which he treated us to a variety of life's finer things, i said to John: everytime i'm with len i'm reminded of how generous God is. it makes me want to do for others like len has done for us. i want to help others think through critical issues. i want to encourage others not to give up or change from the course they know to be "theirs." i want to give gifts that foster the imagination. i want to be like len being like Christ.

and i do.

thanks, len, for your investment in us and in the winds.

thanks, westwinds, for the freedom and permission to learn from one of the greats.

D

Time for another live stream solution

This past Sunday I noticed that our livestreaming app (ustream.tv), which we use to broadcast The Que (our weekend worship experience) over the internet has been selling ad space over top of our broadcast.

Not banner ads, mind you - full screen ads that completely obscure our video feed and give no opportunity for the viewer to close the ad.

At all.

You have to watch the ad, full screen, if you want to watch westwinds live.

Which wouldn't be so bad, except that the ads run about every 3-4 minutes (I saw the same ad 4 times this Sunday before I got up to teach).

And, it wouldn't be soooo bad if the ads weren't (a) a budweiser beer commercial, complete with girls in bikinis and mardi gras beads drinking, dancing, sweating, and touching; and (b) some ad for a sports coupe featuring a "well-endowed" woman with bleached blond hair who is being vigorously shaken by her driver (do I need to point out what kind of video footage is produced when a camera is aimed at such a woman's chest?) as he quickly jerks the car side to side, causing her to bounce jubilantly.

So bad.

So, this week, we're looking for a new video service. Any suggestions?


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A tricky time turning off...

I've been back from sabbatical for about 3weeks so far, and I'm noticing a significang difference in my work: I can't stop.

Normally, I do a really good job of turning off my "work brain" when I walk in the front door of our home. I turn off my cell phone, ignore my twitter and facebook feeds, and only check my voicemails and emails at 7pm and 9pm just in case there are any emergencies. This way, I prioritize my family and ensure that I rest and am right with God for the next day.

But, since coming back from sabbatical, none of my normal "unplugging" rituals are working very well. I can't stop thinking about all there is to do at the winds - I'm concerned about our metrics, about our staff, about our plans for the future, about being faithful to God, etc.

Hopefully i'll snap out of it soon. I like the unplugged version of myself better.


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Wisdom from Callie Roos

I met Callie in South Africa a few years ago. he was my guide on a safari into the veldt (african bush) and i learned a lot from him about how not to get eaten (Callie is a master survivalist). i have referred to him, from time to time, in some of my sermon illustrations at westwinds and there is a section of the forthcoming "shadowing god" book devoted to adapting his tracking principles to spiritual formation.

i asked Callie to describe his principles for me so i could include his teaching directly in the atlas, but he caught the flu and was unable to get the stuff to me in time. it's great stuff, though, so i thought i'd post it here:



I guess as part of the introduction one wants to ‘play’ with the tension between a complete system (mechanistically) and the intuitive gut as the tracker will always operate within this tension. This is what trackers do: they bring two worlds into one – on the one hand the micro world of detail analytical logic steps but then also the integration of all senses related to listening, awareness, interpretation, reading the signs, picking up the vibe / energy and trust your instinct into one. I guess as humans we should also be good at this. We embrace uncertainty as much as we embrace certainty in our faith. We are more spiritual than anything else and this awareness is also true of the tracker trying to find his rhythm in the journey of following a trail.

5 OnTrack Principles

1. Stand Square on the track

This principle reminds me of die intelligence of possibility. It challenges me to ask if it was at all possible for us to ‘be on track’ with life’s journey. It challenges my past programming and asks the question but what if I was loaded up the wrong software up to now. In other words things related to my self-concept, my understanding of this planet and God’s will for us, my role in allowing God to express him through me etc. This principle helps me to think of myself as special (Col 1-3) – a new identity – a kingdom player that goes way beyond what the church is busy with most of the time. It is about relevance and it is all possible (Rom 12:1-2)

2. Look up!

This principle is the momentum one. We need momentum. The slogan of my business ‘advance to significance’ is embedded in here. It is here that I would also try and introduce the importance of purpose and where to look for it. For me it is to be found in the ‘other’ whatever this would mean to anyone. I would also argue that our purpose is not to glorify God but that God will only be glorified if I acknowledge the uniqueness of my own journey and understand that I have a unique design of that person that I was meant to be and when this happens God will be glorified.

3. Don’t let your eyes wander

It is all about energy. You have so much of it? In the wilds people die because they are not thinking. However, two things will take up all your energy in the wilds: guilt (how did I get into this mess, loose the ‘spoor / track’) and fear. It is about focus then – how to stay on track with your vision and not get derailed as this will happen with most people most of the time.

4. Follow the obvious route

What does it mean to allow the spirit to guide you with the ‘how’ of life? Well I guess that life will teach you all these wonderful lessons – so when will we start learning. Again it is the intuitive gut and trust. A daring culture where we challenge our own comfort zone. Guess we were created for this.

5. Stop & reflect

Life’s no 1 lesson. We don’t do this. We are always too busy. Too much pressure. Too much noise in the system. Just not brave enough to call time. We need to lead the rest of the world when it comes to calmness and our ability to reflect on reality. I guess this is what this principle is all about. Point is that we can come back with new strategies for life and we ought to be good at this (the entrepreneurial spirit). We lead the rest – but do we?



Hope this helps to get you going on some of it.




Thanks, Callie - you're a dude. Check out Shadowing God through westwinds.org or Amazon.com, available September 12/2010.

...the dude can ride!!!

Shadowing God cover/proof

getting old is lame

i miss myself at 20

just the physical bits really, not the smart(er)-ass bits.

i miss not having to worry about hair - either losing it up top or greenhousing it somewhere else

i miss not having to worry about what i eat

i miss not having to think about how much exercise i'm getting

i miss not having to wonder if my human heart really is capable of popping because of things like french fries

i miss not having to wonder if too much coffee can cause stones, or too many sour patch kids can cause cavities, or if pipe smoke is more or less harmful than breathing in the fumes from a 747.

i miss being able to eat dougnuts at 2am, wake up at 6am to lift weights and run, before drinking coffee to 20 hours straight so i can see carmel

now i eat a dougnut at 2am on January 4th and still regret it monday, august 30th ay 7pm because i think it'll probably be the one that gives me cancer...or is it glaucoma...or is it a big bum...or is it all 3, i can never keep it straight.

ronald rolheiser speaks intelligently about mourning the death of our youth and sexual attractiveness. tomorrow i'm going to hinkleys to grieve myself with a jelly roll.

Stuff: a new editor, a new jeep, a new mortgage

My friend - and usual editor - Caleb is on vacation with his family right now, so his friend Mike Morrell (zoecarnate.wordpress.com) is filling in and editing "shadowing god" for westwinds. Working with a new editor is always a bit nerve-wracking - will they retain the voice and tone i want, while correcting the mistakes i've made, etc - but the most nerve-wracking part of any westwinds' project is the deadline.

We make lots of great stuff quickly, and if you miss a deadline, chances are we've already moved onto the next project.

We put out.

Anyway, Mike seems like a decent guy and I'm sure he'll do all that's required to get this book to the printer, and into the lobby, on time.

**

At the end of my sabbatical i sold my land rover and bout a 2007 jeep wrangler. I loved the land rover - the "disco" to my kids and "eileen" to everyone else - but all used cars are ticking bombs and we were nervous this one was about to go off.

I love the new jeep - wihch my kids have dubbed "the bullet"

I am looking for a hardtop for it, so please keep your eyes peeled. The 2007 and newer wranglers have a special hard top, the "freedom top"' and i'm trying to find one for $1000 or less (for thqt price, it will need to be used).


**

This week marked the closing of our new mortgage. We got a better rate, lower monthly payment, and fewer years in exchange for a horrible experience, arrogant customer service, and generally dehumanizing treatment.

I hate 53rd bank, and almost didn't sign the mortgage just to spite them, but in the end it was just easier to save the money and resent the bank.

The thing i miss most about canada is the banks. I've often joked that america is the "land of the fee" and the "home of the bank" and i felt that acutely this week.

Still,, i shouldn't complain, i will save some money; but it always feels like you're trading away a part of yourself when you do business with people who treat you like an integer.

how's the writing coming?

bit rough, thanks for asking.

this is the first time i've written an atlas with absolutely no notes. none. i have one folded piece of paper with about 10 words on it that has served as my coaster for both pipe and cup, but no notes.

which means i'm mining memory and meme for every conceivable brilliance.

if, in the end, it's anything other than fantastically awesome, i want you to lie to me :)

Perfume Commercial

Tonight, Tonight

Animata: jazz club

Animata Jazz Pub from gabor papp on Vimeo.

Animata: reverse shadow theatre

Insanely Twisted Shadow Puppets

Jerm

a few years ago i signed a book contract with a christian publisher for a project called "jerm."

it was my attempt to try and make sense of christian spirituality for the layperson - to try and take the wisdom of the ancients (spanish mystics, desert fathers, etc) and colloquialize them into the language of 21st century southern michigan.

i just felt (and still feel) that most of the writing on spiritual formation is written by a certain kind of personality for a certain kind of personality, and if you're going to get much out of it you're probably going to have to hate sports and begin listening to folk music.

but the interior life is so important - the teachings of john chrysostom, athanasius, john of the cross, theresa of avila need to be understood and incorporated by normal folk.

but normal folks are never going to be able to read that stuff.

so i wrote jerm

my first draft was just shy of 300 pages.

during a long and frustrating process, i lost the contract with the publisher and jerm was never published.

fast forward 3 years and i am now writing the september teaching atlas for the good folks at the winds. i'm (re)writing jerm, now called "shadowing god."

after revisions and cuttings and clippings and rewritings...i'm left with 34 pages of the original manuscript.

to be fair, at least 2/3 of the jerm manuscript i discarded simply because i didn't like the direction in which the publisher had nudged me; so, probably i've only pared down the manuscript from 100 pages or so into 34.

but still...

anyway, suffice to say this book has been long in the making. my ambitions for the project remain the same: i want people to know how to live the life for which god intended them.

not following steps or using 7 easy keys,
but walking with the spirit
paying attention to nuance
listening
and looking for signs of god's activity in the world.

and then following suite
and shadowing god

Couldn't sleep a wink

Today is my first time back teaching after my sabbatical, and i was up all night thinking about it. I've been preaching and teaching in prettyt much every conceivable environment for 15 years, so you'd think i wouldn't get nervous anymore, but i still do.

Every time.

Especially after an extended absence.

Still, it's times like these that i'm reminded that the preacher is less important than the Word. That's a pretty good reminder, i suppose, regardless of your vocation.

D

Is there a better way to talk about the interior life?

I'm getting ready to lock myself in my office and write the long-in-the-making "shadowing god" book. It's kind of my whole take on what it means to be spiritual, how to live in the spirit, and how to be guided and governed by christ in real life.

But writing this book raises a common concern for me; namely, how can we talk about being led by the spirit in every moment without sounding like either john wimber (who seems only to appeal to hippies), henry nouwen (who seems only to appeal to monks and nuns), or joyve meyer (who seems only to appeal to charismatic women over 40)?

I should qualify...i personally love the writings of all 3 of the aforementioned, but i'm probably not representative of most young fathers.

So, how can we talk about being led by the spirit in ways that make sense to the financier? The football coach? The graphic designer? The math professor?

The great spiritual writers of the last several hundred years have all seemed to come from the same basic personality and social predisposition. None of them resemble the jocular monk from "chasing francis." its impossible to find a clever wink, a knowing smile, or a mischievious chortle. And yet, from my own experience and the myriad of colorful folks i've been privleged to meet, i know you can be governed by the spirit and still laugh til your blue in the face, sing poorly (yet boisterously) in the face of dispair, and enjoy good meals with new friends while learning more and more and more of the goodness of God.

So where is all of that in the compendium of christian spirituality?

And how can i bring it in a simple little book i'm writing for my church?

Time will tell, and - hopefully - so will "shadowing god"

Back in the Saddle

After 10 fantastic weeks with my family on sabbatical i have just returned to work at the winds. I love it here.

A few words about the sabbatical...first, it was an excellent time of rest and recovery. I read no theology, did no studying, and the only work i did was on my house. I slept in every day, stayed up late with carmel every night, allowed my kids to stay up late while we all read "the hobbit" or watched nickelodeon's "avatar: the last airbende" and took as many naps as possible.

God was pleased.

This was also the perfect family time. Everything we did (with the exception of a week in vegas) we did with our kids. It was cool to live life as if i were 6 years old again. Everything was wonderful. I love toys.

And now i'm back at work - and i'm very happy about it. During our time away Carmel and i were both filled with an incredible thankfulness. We have a fantastic life, a great family, and there is nowhere else i would rather serve Jesus than at Westwinds in Jackson.

God is good, all the time.

More later...maybe :)

India - final blog entry

Why is it that plane rides home feel so much longer than plane rides en route to mission and adventure?

I can't wait to be home. Carmel is picking me up at DTW and we'll have he whole day together before picking up the kids around 3...assuming i can remain conscious.

My last day-and-a-half in India was fun - Taj Mahal, sightseeing in Delhi, shopping - but a little too long. There were no earlier flights for me to have caught, so they were necessarily long, but (with the exception of the Taj) i would have felt just fine about skipping it all and heading stateside a little sooner.

Still, it was a very pleasant way to end the trip.

I've caught some stomach bug, though. Perhaps it was inevitable. Daniel would tell me it's a devil tummy spirit, but i think it's just all the stuff i ate and drank while waaaaay out in the villages doing ministry. It's worth it. Besides, the immunization lady gave me a great stomach-illness-kit that already seems to be taking good effect.

Such a good trip...i think i can see how to plan it so we could take a team, now that i've been. I think i've got a few good ideas about how we might reduce costs so more people could afford to go.

One idea i've been tossing around would involve a little mission, a little justice, and a little adventure. Since most of the Indian guys have no transportation of their own i've been thinking about how we might help in that regard. We can't buy cars and vans for them - it would be far too much money - but we could buy motorcycles. Brand new, a decent motorcycle costs about $2000 USD. I figure we could raise about $10K, take a small team over and buy bikes. We could use the bikes to get around while in India - going from village to village, preaching and training and praying...very "Apostle Paul"...and then gift the bikes to Suresh and his gang on our way out. The roads are a little dodgy, and we'd undoubtedly keep long days, but the vision of riding into some god-forsaken village on iron horseback to bring the gospel is a pretty compelling picture.


Plus, if we brought someone who could film and edit in the fly, we could easily document our mission reality-TV style and then create a YouTube channel and a show for iTunes.

On another note, i'm thinking and praying a lot about evangelism. Our staff at the winds have been going back and forth about the topic, about our twin dissatisfactions with (1)our lack of intentionality concerning evangelism, and (2)our frustration with any existing modalities of evangelism. Simply put, we want and need to evangelize more faithfully, but we all recognize that the methods of evangelism we once relied upon are no longer effective. The world has changed, and we just haven't caught up yet.

While with Suresh, especially, i was enraptured with the front-line nature of his ministry. It was like the best of my charismatic upbringing and my days working with Athletes in Action and Campus Crusade all rolled into one.

Here, that crusade-style juju is no longer effective, but i would love to find some other way to do those apostolic kinds of things.

There has to be a better way...

I feel very close to God, attuned, and take great confidence home with me. It was such a wonderful experience, but all good things must come to an end.

And this officially ends my time as an Apostle to India.

the stuff i preached

During the 2 days with Suresh i preached 7 times. I didn't know i was going to preach 7 times, but 7 different times he gave me a nod about 10minutes in advance and i would pray and start thumbing through my Bible and ask the Spirit to reveal what i should share. That probably sounds more mystical than it really is, but the truth is that i have notes from every sermon series from the last year written into my Bible plus all of my devotional reflections, scholarly notes, and little tidbits and ruminations i've picked up here and there.

My Bible is a very valuable asset.

Anyway, i would pray and toss a few ideas around, and then i'd notice that there was always some idea i'd come back to and that's how i knew the Spirit was drawing me back to that particular concept or scripture.

The cool part was realizing just how powerful certain topics are in a polyreligious context. India is predominantly Hindu, which means that in that religion alone there are 3 million deities and a strongly formed cosmogeny and afterlife (both of which, obviously, compete with our Christian story of how the world was made and what happens to us when we die). Furthermore, there are Hindu temples on every street and people go into those temples at all hours to make sacrifices to idols.

So, when i started preaching about how we're made in the image of God, and how that word image really means "idol," and how God detests stone idols because they devalue our humanity, etc...it hit a wholly different nerve than when we talk that way at home. People understood that the stone idols aren't just fake or demonic or whatever, but that the only true idols are people - placed on this earth to remind creation of God's authority and presence.

Preaching that message there was like controlling the power grid for an entire city, because every lightbulb over every head first got turned on and then began glowing brighter and brighter.

One of the other cool moments was teaching about Simon the Sorcerer (who tried to buy the Holy Spirit from Phillip and Peter). Again, since witchcraft is so prevalent in India, the confrontation between the power of Christ and the powers of darkness was far more relevant and meaningful than back in the States.

Likewise, telling the story of Ezekiel and the Dry Bones was super-cool because the impoverished villagers could totally relate to the feeling of being "cut off," and could totally cling to the hope that there is life to the dead and dying through the power of the Spirit.

I also enjoyed teaching about Jonah and connecting his prophetic task to the mission of Jesus. There were always kids in these meetings, so it felt great just to tell these timeless tales and watch the kids make faces and react to the fantastical bits of the stories.

My favorite message, though, had to be about Isaiah 65 and the promise of the New Earth. I like that topic anyway, but standing in a mud hut, surrounded by trash, reeking of filth and excrement and death and animals and old milk and spoiled food made the promise of something new so much sweeter.

And, as always, it got me thinking about Jackson.

Do you know that, since our final destination is here on this earth remade and infused with God's holy presence, it only stands to reason that the actual town of Jackson, Michigan will be part of heaven?

Think about that for a minute. Based on Is 65+66, Ez 40-48, Ro 8, 1 Cor 15, and Rev 21+22, we know that God will remake this world and put us into it in new bodies to once again be His stewards and shepherds of creation.

But there's nothing to say how long the (re)creation of the world will take. And, since we've got eternity, why have we always assumed this would happen in an instant? There's no scriptural support for an instantaneous re-creation...just a hunch we've all kind of had. Furthermore, both scripturally and practically, we have to acknowledge that God tends to take His time, that He values the process and the formation that comes from doing the hard work of being faithful and obedient.

Put all this together, and i can't help but think that - given eternity and a new physicality and a restored mission to tend the garden - our early task in heaven will be to perfect Jackson.

Don't call the crazy police just yet, i'm simply chasing a logical train of thought down to it's furthest conclusion.

In heaven - the place where God is in charge and things are the way He wants them to be - we will have new bodies - capable of moving at the speed of thought, immune to disease or fatigue - and will be restored to our original operating system as God's tselem - His shadows, designed to look after the world - and we will be placed in a new earth - which is not to say that this one will be destroyed, only that God's presence will be here fully and that presence will heal this world of its present corruption - and we will worship him night and day - which, it's important to remember, means we will work with Him and cooperate with Him (in Hebrew "work" and "worship" are the same word).

All of which leads me to suspect that we might spend eternity fixing up Jackson.

We'd be making New Jackson, akin to New Jerusalem.

We would be unimpeded by all of the things that hurt Jackson now - economy, bureaucracy, corruption, despair - but would have access to limitless resources as heirs of the Kingdom and would undoubtedly continue to learn, invent, and fulfill our mandate as co-creators with God.

How long would it take to clean up the pond at Cascades? To fix up Francis street? To restore our historical landmarks? To re-pave 94? To get rid of every pollution-causing industry and vehicle? To return the landscape back to its original design an meld our city with the natural beauty surrounding it in such a way God would be glorified and His creation cultivated?

More importantly, how long would it take before we fixed every single problem we've spent the last couple of thousand years creating? Ten thousand years to heal the world of our neglect and abuse? Twenty thousand?

And then what?

Then we would still have eternity left to create, to tend, to cultivate, to celebrate, to laugh, to love, to hear and know the stories of everyone who ever lived and weave those stories into creation for the glory of God.

That's quite a pipe dream, i know, but it gives me great hope for the present time because every good activity in which we are involved now is like an appetizer to the eternal entree.

What we will do then we can do now, and has great meaning as a result.

I've said it before: this is what Jesus meant when he said "thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

The bad news is this: when you die, you're gonna wake up in Jackson

The good news is this: it won't be like it is now, and you'll get to help make it the way it always should have been.

That's good news for people living in the wayside villages in India, too. God wants things to be different just as badly as they do - as we do - and He will empower us to make things right in the end.

In fact, He has already begun to do just that.

India (episode 5-ish)

The day after the crazy tent meetings, i woke up with a wicked ache all over my body. I thought i'd finally caught something, you know, and started popping pills and begging God to spare me any more weird travel illnesses.

But then i went to Suresh's place and got started talking to Daniel (Suresh's older brother, an apostle and a leader in their ministry). Daniel told me some spooky stuff. He said that everytime he and his friends pray for Seikh people, demonic spirits begin to afflict them in their body.

He went on to describe the exact symptoms i was feeling...which was spooky...and the told me the only way to get rid of the symptoms was to live with them for a long time or to pray until they went away.

I didn't think too much about it (i was trying to discern how superstitious he was, and how overly-rationale i was), but as the day wore on my symptoms grew worse. It was like i began to suffer from every pain i had prayed for God to heal the previous evening. I started thinking that this must be where the myth of the sin-eaters came from (people taking the sin and sickness from another person and absorbing it into themselves).

Several hours later, i ran into Daniel again. He asked me how i was feeling and i told him i was alright. He looked sideways at me and told me that he could see i was bothered. He told me he had been praying for me ever since i left him, about four or five hours prior. He asked if he could pray for me, and i accepted.

Then he began to give me the torture prayer. He smacked me and slapped me and pulled me and pinched me. It was hilarious (and super painful), but i tried not to react because i didn't want to encourage him (i was afraid that if i said "ouch" he would think it was a demon or something...he's a little prone to spotting devils).


Anyway, he worked me over for about 15 minutes and by the end i was totally relieved that the prayer time was over.

But it worked.

I felt much better instantly, and completely better within the hour.

That night we did more ministry in the villages, prayed against dark spirits, called upon God for healing, and i felt electrified. Even after a very short sleep and a very early plane trip i feel fantastic.

This whole trip was been a massive collection of evidence for the power of prayer. The people at home are praying, my family is praying, the Christians here are praying (they told me they have prayed very hard, and fasted for a long time, so i would be protected while India...i think they were terrified that if something bad happened to me there would be *consequences).

One of the funny little details from last night concerns what one of the guys called (in very broken english) a "sexy devil spirit."

Now, the reality of an incubus or succubus is nothing to laugh at...last night there was some strange hoodoo...but i couldn't stop myself from laughing at the terminology.

That, and their mispronounciation of "witchcraft." you see, they have a hard time saying "ft," so it come out as "witch crap."

My dad used to describe it in just those terms when i was younger. God's sense of humor persists, eh?


Anyway, i had an incredible set of experiences in Aurangubad, and am now off to the Taj Mahal before heading home. I simply CANNOT wait to see Carmel and the kids.

The Apostles of India

I mentioned before that there were 12 guys who went everywhere with me while i was with Suresh in Aurangubad. Even though i'm not enough like Jesus to warrant it, i still couldn't help identifying with him while hanging around with these guys.

Some of these guys were marvelous (like Peter, James, and John) whereas some of these guys were useless, or barely saved, or not Christ-followers at all. I had to pay for them for everything, which was sometimes frustrating, and so i often laughed at myself knowing that that was exactly how Jesus must have felt with his disciples at times.

Also, most of their names were impossible to pronounce (even for them, i think, given that i'm not sure i even heard intelligible noises from 2 or 3 of them), so i took to giving them nicknames so i could tell them apart. They liked that, and we all had a good time working for the Lord (even, again, if they didn't know Him).

Suresh is great, a young leader with big vision and a hard work ethic.

Daniel is Suresh's older brother...and he's a little bit of the good crazy. People respect him very much, and he prays for hours and hours every day. I like him a lot.

Raoul is Suresh's younger brother. He is very quiet, helps very little, and wants to become a children's pastor. I am glad he has Suresh and Daniel to show him the ropes, because Raoul is raw and needs a lot of work in ministry.

Cabbie was our Hindu-Catholic taxi driver. He was a lot of fun. When things first began, he was very aloof but he was slowly drawn into the mix and became very excited about all that God as doing around and in and among us. He had a conversion of sorts while i was there, and covered up all the idols in his taxi as a way of showing he was leaving his old life behind. Don't ask me why he kept them...everyone else seemed to regard this as a marvelous first step in the faith and i'm sure i was losing some things in translation anyway.

Grouchy was the other cab driver. He hates Americans, but still found time to eagerly listen to all my teachings before going off to the local temples and making sacrifices to the Hindu deities.

Rashil was the emcee and song leader everywhere we went. He was the big smile. I got the sense that he was the catalyst that made a lot of things happen around there, but (even though he was much older) deferred to Suresh in all ministerial matters.

Drums was a young man who reminded me a lot of myself at 20. He was a great drummer, with a big heart for God, and was just getting ready to start seminary. We became good pals.

Orange never said a word. I don't even know why he came with us.

Moustache was a Seikh who came with us as a means of hearing about Christ. He had never been interested before, but Suresh promised him he would be transformed by the experience. When i left, moustache was very emotional...i think he will change teams soon if we pray hard.

Ramesh was the old salty dog of the group, a lawyer who only practiced when Christians were on trial and needed a good defense. Ramesh is one of the top lawyers (serving on some kind of high court council), but spends most of his time traveling into the villages and preaching the gospel.

Uncle was the other older man who came with us, but he stuck to the background and never said much...not sure if he really cared for me being there...who knows.

Sunil was the faithful and diligent worker. Whatever we needed, he took care of it with a spectacular smile and a beautiful spirit. He was good people.

Anyway, those are the 12 dudes with whom i prayed, preached, traveled, ate, laughed, slept, fought devils, opposed cultists, angered idolaters and adulterers, and generally irritated the dark powers of the invisible world.

May God bless them for showing up and sticking it out.

India (a short video overview of my trip)

India diary, May 16

This was a crazy day.

First: the persecutions. No, i wasn't persecuted but everyone else i met today has been. Everyone here has suffered physically for their faith. I am not exaggerating. Daniel was stoned by his father. Suresh's sister-in-law married a muslim, and when she later converted to Christianity he broke both of her wrists (she now requires two hands to lift a tea cup). Sunil's family cast him out of their city when he converted, and he cannot return upon pain of death.


Honestly, the rest of the stories blend in together...there are that many, mostly at the hands of Hindu families but with plenty Muslim blame to go around.

It's crazy.

How do we not hear more about this in the West?

Interestingly, many of the Christians here love George W Bush because he refused to trade with India unless the Prime Minister could guarantee that the government was (1) not involved in persecuting Christians and (2) was a actively attempting to protect persecuted Christians.

Since the government had been in full support (if not celebration) of much prior persecution, this was a huge catalyst for positive change.

Christians here use the term "persecution" every day. It's weird to hear them talk about it. "oh, i was persecuted badly last year, but God is good and i survived to give Him praise."

Etc.

They talk about persecution like i talk about exercise: it will inevitably occur, and it's not pretty, but it is worth it.

I feel like a child in comparison to these humble adults.

Say it together with Wayne and Garth: we're not worthy



Second: the tent meetings. We had good, ole fashioned revival meetings in village tents today. It was 110 degrees and we worked and preached and prayed from 9am until 8pm. I was the first caucasion anyone had ever seen in those villages, which made it a treat for them to hear the gospel. Our hosts are smart - they knew i'd draw a circus crowd, but they also knew that even a wrongly-motivated attendee can still be affected by the Spirit.

And they were.

Healings.
Exorcisms.
Deliverance(s).
People slain in the Spirit.
Testimonies.
And conversions...lots and lots of people who decided to leave Islam and Hinduism and follow Jesus.

After the last meeting i was literally mobbed. There were 3 dozen people clutching some part of me. I prayed for people in groups (because there were too many to do individually) for over an hour.

Then they followed me to the car.

They tried to break open the windows to get prayer.

Suresh kept sneaking people in through the trunk 2-by-2 so i could lay hands on those who wanted to go into ministry.

Meanwhile, our Hindu cab driver began working his way through his address book on his cel phone and asking me to pray for his friends.

So...the car is being rocked by people outside of it, trying to open the doors and windows and get prayer; and Suresh is sneaking people into the back seat so i can lay hands on them; and all the while i'm on speaker phone praying for a widow to be delivered from demons and receive healing from God.

That's different than a typical Sunday back home.


Anyway-a great day...superbly memorable. And two more villages are on the books for tomorrow. There are over 1,000 villages in this area. Suresh visits several every day, "pastoring" 200 of them with his mixed bag of ministerial has-beens and wanna-bes. He's a good man, and they are doing good work.

It was nice to be one of the super-friends for a day.

P.S. I can't get over how much pray support i feel. Nevermind that i've bee safe, traveled well, haven't gotten sick, or haven't seen any spiders...i feel super in tune with God and totally free to follow every little prompt by the Spirit. Things are coming to me while preaching and praying and training that i haven't rehearsed or prepared or previously thought through. It's been surreal.

A big thanks to everyone spending time on their knees. Prayer works. I feel the power of prayer like a cloud of possibility and protection around me. It is good.

India Day ??? (May 15)

Dad used to talk about Donovan Ing, pastor of one of the largest churches in Hong Kong. Dad met Donovan while in the UK, when Donovan was a student at an IPHC bible college and Dad was a guest lecturer. The college was small, of no repute, and Dad felt like the whole thing was likely of little kingdom value.

Until Donovan started his church and grew it to over 5,000 in just a few short years. He credits his success to Dad's week-long class on church leadership. Now, Donovan supports Dad's mandarin-speaking congregation in Canada.

I guess you never really know what kind of impact your work overseas will have.

Yesterday i spent all day with a small of group of pastors, evangelists, and missionaries teaching them about apologetics, scripture, and the way of Jesus. Afterwards, when it was already late at night and the power to the city had been lost for the third time, i went with pastor Lal and visited every single member in his church at their homes and prayed for them.

What a day.

I kept thinking "i've got to get some rest...i'm exhausted." And then we'd go to the next house, pray for the next family, and i'd think "that was worth it...these people are worth it...this is worthwhile."

I feel like i've been a good encouragement to these people. I've given a bunch of money away and a bunch of gifts away, to the missionaries and pastors...but they tell me the teaching and training i gave them was far more valuable.

I'm not sure i believe them, but it is cute to hear them refer to themselves as Peter, James, and John to my Jesus.

Lord, forgive me :)

Pastor Lal is doing a good work here. He supports 5 missionaries out of his own paycheck and has good inroads to local universities and businesses. He is well liked and well connected. Our money is well invested with him.

I'm not yet sure about whether or not we could bring a team here, though. Mostly because of the cost. He would make good use of us, and it would be a good experience for our people, but i'm not yet convinced it would be a better experience that we might have in SA or Haiti, etc.

Today i fly to Aurangubad and meet Suresh. Pastor Lal says Suresh is hardcore, and will take me waaaaay out into the middle of nowhere to minister to the villagers and country folk.

Please, God, let there be no spiders.

Anyway, i began my trip in the Radisson Hotel in Delhi, one of the nicest spots i've ever stayed in, and then went to Guwahati and am staying in a total dump. It feels like, now knowing where Suresh will take me, this trip is a slippery slope away from civilization. I think it's good for me to be so uncomfortable. I've not been this out of my comfort zone since i was 14 and in the Phillipines. India is the filthiest place you could possibly imagine, and maybe this is the best landscape for me to more wholly rely on God.

OK - now pastor andrew (the former terrorist, now rehabilitated and ordained) is knocking on my door to film a sermon for sunday. How funny! We're in the worst place on earth, but they still have video cameras and LCD projectors in church. I'll record the message today, andrew will edit it and add Hindi subtitles, and they'll show it on sunday.

I guess that's only slightly weirder than watching LA Ink in a mud hut last night while drinking Chai Tea by candlelight.

India Diary: day 2 (though, it might be day four)

I see now why people have warned me against going to India. It's a fascinating place, but the poverty is immense. Usually, even in the South African townships or the Haitian villages, there's one place where you can buy bottled water or eat packaged food. Not here. Every bottle of water has been used and resealed with a cheap glue. They get the bottles out of the trash in the bigger cities and then reuse them in the out-of-the-way places. You can't get packaged food either.

Everything just sits in some little store front until someone eventually buys it.

For all that, though, i'm feeling good and have eaten well. The Christians here are very hospitable and want to ensure i have a first rate experience. But for them i would probably be hugging a toilet bowl most of the day.

Thangklal is a good man. He's the pastor here in Guhawarti. He stated the church about three years ago and they now have about a hundred people. He and his family live meagerly. They have three rooms in their house, with cement roof + floors + walls, and its FULL of giant bugs. Last night i gave his children some gifts from the States, and as i pulled them out of my bag a giant roach came flying with them. The roach landed on the daughter, who them began to play with it while her parents ooeh. Later, some geckos ate the roach and we sat and watched.


Pastor's wife made us Chai Tea on her stove. I felt very sad watching her do that. It was a coleman stove, with only 2 pots hanging above it. There were not enough cups for here to have some tea, so only pastor and I and his brother drank. I was given the large cup as a gesture of respect.

Last night i spoke at a bible study for their church. It was about 20 college students and 10 PhD professors. Everyone was involved in mechanical/chemical/civil/biochemical engineering. It felt so strange to remind myself to speak slowly and simply (because of the language barrier) to a room full of such brilliant people.

Today i'm going to teach a half day seminar on church growth and discipleship. The indian people are so polite its hard to tell if they really benefit from my teaching or if they are just concerned about my feelings. I'll never know.

No cell service or wireless internet here. I'm cut off from the world. No coffee either. I've been drinking black tea to avoid the caffeine headaches.

Pastor Lal has been paying for everything out of his pocket, to show me honor. That is also very humbling. He deserves the honors. He is the one overcoming poverty, persecution, and a massive religious-culture war. I pray God richly bless him and his family. I will go home meekly because of his patronage.

God is good. I feel Him strongly with the Indian Christians. I want my kids to experience this stuff sooner rather than later. Christianity simply must be de-westernized in order for the promise of the kingdom to make sense.

Love Jesus more...that is what i think and feel today

india day one

After a long trip from detroit to chicago,then to new delhi i arrived at midnight in an urban cross between new york and a toilet. The smell hits you like a dirty dish rag when you get off the plane and the 115 degree heat doesn't disappear with the sunshine.

Still, it feels cool to be halfway around the world.

I'm not sure what to expect on this trip. I'm here, primarily, just to meet our missionaries and see what they're doing. I want to know if i could bring a team from the winds to India - like we did in South Africa - but the first step is seeing for myself what's happening on the ground level.

I love travel, especially new places, so i'm excited to be doing this.

I have this back-of-my-mind suspicion that God wants to show me something on this trip. So, even while watching The Wire and reading fiction, i keep ring to open myself up the the Spirit and invite Him to speak.

So far, i feel a strong sense of His pleasure, a strong sense of gratitude for this experience, and a strong (and even overwhelming) sense of being covered in prayer by the folks back home.Which is cool...i'm not sure i've ever actually felt prayed for before (even though i always knew there were people praying). This time, i can feel it.

I miss C and the kids, but its bearable thus far. We had great family time before i left, and that always helps.