Spiritual Warfare: Today, Here, Now

Do you know what spiritual warfare is? I don’t have a succinct definition of it, but it has to do with “wrestling not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesian 6:12).   I can tell some pretty harrowing stories about demonic presences that we have seen in our life. Any church worker is fully aware of what this means, whether they are overseas or in their own country of origin, but sometimes it is just more evident in some places and times. This is one of those times. First, we want to joyfully announce that as a few hours ago we now have visas to return to Beijing next school year! However, it has been quite an ordeal. Between the process of getting new passports, paperwork /pictures/signatures for our new contract and visa applications, being fined for not reporting the new passport, walking miles three times to Beijing Public Security and US em...

Holes in Our Heart: Friends Left Behind

May 21, 2017 "I am sitting in our spare bedroom which is our "study". Rick is in the living room talking to a man who came to visit. We would meet him on the university bus on Saturday mornings. He always ecstatically seated himself so he could speak English with Rick. Tone of voice, social ineptitude, pressured speech all pointed definitely to Aspergers. We saw him one other time and he almost "stalked " us. Well our hearts kind of sank when he showed up on our doorstep tonight. However, (God is good) Rick and he spent an hour or more talking and Rick was able to explain Aspergers and his own struggles. The man immediately recognized that he also had these difficulties. Rick was able to start him on the road to getting some help. He and Rick are having supper Tuesday night. One never knows does one. God is good." The above appeared on our FB memories recently. It took place in Taian where we were stationed a year ago this time and  reminds us of t...

Philosophy or Relationship? : Friday Night Study of John

I have not written much lately about our Friday night group, but oh what a blessing it has become. One of the highlights of the week. We meet in a hotel office room just off campus. We cannot hold meetings like that in our apartment. A person who arranges things like this found the meeting room for us. We average 3 or 4 participants every week, most of whom are interested in just exploring something new and/or practicing their English. They are usually students or former students of ours. One gentleman who faithfully comes was totally shocked when he went to his very very rural hometown a few weeks ago and found believers there. He could not comprehend how any lived in such an out of the way place. How was it spread there? His statement that perhaps it was a philosophy that he should look into more, hurt my heart. I assured him that if all he wanted was a philosophy he might just as well stick to Confucianism. As a philosophical system it was pretty good and it has served we...

Mourning: God's Call (excerpt continued)

Did you want the next section from the chapter on "Mourning"? The next sections deal with shame, hollowness within. I am posting. Book excerpt: BLESSED Eight Steps to Emotional, Relational, Spiritual Wholeness: The Healing Power of the Beatitudes Chapter 2 Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted. Matthew 5:4 Shame Guilt is “I have done wrong”. Shame is “I AM wrong”. Guilt is “I have done dysfunctional acts”. Shame is “I am dysfunctional”; there is something wrong with me as a person. Now, there is actually good shame and not just bad shame. Good shame makes us realize we are not God; we are only human. There is only so much I can do. I must depend on something beyond my humanness to be complete, to be whole. Bad shame is feeling hopeless, worthless, an out-cast. There is something wrong and it’s not going to get any better. What I “am” cannot be remedied, cannot be cured. Shame is commonly shared in families. This is what is ca...

Mourning: God's Call

Book excerpt:   BLESSED   Eight Steps to Emotional, Relational, Spiritual Wholeness:  The Healing Power of the Beatitudes Chapter 2 Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted. Matthew 5:4 So “poor” is bad, but now we are to “mourn”. This sounds even more excruciatingly painful. Mourning involves the most devastating feelings of sadness, abandonment, irreparability. To the ancients it meant covering themselves with “dust and ashes”, ripping their clothes “asunder”, tearing out their hair. A complete collapse of the ability to function in the daily life.   And, yup, that’s it. It means facing, embracing, and dealing with the pain, shame, and hollowness within. It means looking at one’s frustration, resentment, and anger. At all times and within all circumstances it is our natural tendency to fall apart or to flee these feelings. These are the big, bad guys of our emotional repertoire. For most of our life we have been involved ...

Much Better!

Exponentially better this morning! How does my knee go from absolutely no weight bearing, to being able to move enough to put curry in the crockpot without a cane? We were able to get a wheelchair from the lobby of our housing for a deposit, but at this point, we will probably take it back. The doctor when she was texting me about my knee yesterday said, “Well, you know he is old, “ meaning my knee. I guess that might be the best explanation as to why it started to hurt. Why it got better I guess is God. However, we can still always use your prayers for any number of reasons.