Archive for the 'Director's Web Blog' Category

Daniel was a man who marked the passage of time.  As kings and even empires came and went, Daniel tracked the movement of the years.  According to the prophet Jeremiah, Jerusalem would experience seventy years of desolation.  Daniel waited and watched and when those seventy years neared an end, he prayed one of the most remarkable prayers recorded in Scripture (Daniel 9:1-19).  Perhaps he prayed at the start of the New Year-the seventieth year.

Entering the New Year of 2008, Village Missions is also marking the passage of time.  Our Mission began sixty years ago, just ten years short of the seventy years Daniel marked.  Stonecroft, our sister organization, is celebrating seventy years of ministry this year.  Daniel prayed as he approached the seventy years and I would like our Mission family to pray as we enter our sixtieth year.  We will emphasize intercessory prayer on behalf of this Mission and its family of missionaries, on behalf of our two nations, on behalf of the communities we serve, and on behalf of the people who live within them in need of the Savior.  The theme of both this year and especially our 2008 staff conferences will be “Advancing on Our Knees: Celebrating Sixty Years.”

We can learn much about advancing on our knees from Daniel.  As he prayed during that significant and opportune time, he understood completely the desperateness of the situation, a situation of Israel’s own making.  Daniel confesses, “We have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly, and rebelled, even turning aside from Thy commandments and ordinances” (Daniel 9:5).  They had not listened to the prophets.  “Open shame” belonged to all because of their sin and disobedience against God (Daniel 9:8).  Deserved calamity occurred because they refused to obey God (Daniel 9:14).  “We have sinned, we have been wicked” exclaims Daniel in his passionate prayer.  Daniel refuses to minimize the problem or gloss over Israel’s depravity-their behavior deserves the just punishment of God.

As we begin this year of prayer, we also need to be honest about the desperateness of our situation.  We live in two nations that appear to be on the brink or already over the brink of moral collapse.  Rural areas especially are experiencing social, moral, and economic upheaval.  I don’t need to catalog the list of evils here but perhaps we should mention them, as Daniel did, when we pray.  The church appears to be complacent, playing at church while countless souls around her walls hurl headlong toward hell.  We will have to be as honest as Daniel was in confessing the evils of our day.

We will also have to be as compassionate as Daniel was.  Daniel was not like the Pharisee in Luke 18:9-14, who thanked God that he was not as bad as other men were and actually was quite good!  Daniel had every right to distinguish himself from the crowd for Daniel did obey and he did not rebel.  He had maintained his righteousness even in an alien and depraved culture.  Yet, he in love and compassion took his place with the worst of Israel’s sinners.  Daniel always prayed “we” and “us,” never once highlighting his personal, holy walk.

As we pray in this coming year, will we have the same compassion and identification with people as Daniel?  As we confess our sins, will it be “we” and “us,” knowing that precious little separates us from the worst of sinners apart from the grace of Jesus Christ?  Will we name our complacency in the face of desperate spiritual need?  Will we mourn for those around us, for our neighbors and community members, who face hell if they do not hear and respond to the good news of Jesus Christ?

Finally, to pray like Daniel we will have to be as sure as Daniel in who God is and what He alone can do in the most desperate of situations.  Believers always seem to face this crucial test during dark times-will we give in to or accommodate the dark times or will we trust God to do what He alone can do?  We need to learn from the prayer of Daniel.  God is the “great and awesome God,” who keeps “His covenant and kindness” (Daniel 9:4).  God is a God of compassion and forgiveness (Daniel 9:9).  He will confirm His Word both to our harm if we deserve it and to our good if He chooses to bring mercy.  We must pay attention to His truth (Daniel 9:13).  We need to petition Him to shine His face on Village Missions, for only if He does so will this Mission advance.

Daniel closes his prayer with a desperate yet, at the same time, confident call upon the Lord to act.  “O Lord, hear!  O Lord, forgive!  O Lord, listen and take action!  For Thine own sake, O my God, do not delay, because Thy city and Thy people are called by Thy name” (Daniel 9:19).

In the sixtieth year of our Mission, may we pray, “O Lord, hear!  O Lord, forgive!  O Lord, listen and take action!  For Thine own sake, O my God, do not delay, because we are Your Son’s blood-bought servants and our nations and country places need to hear about Him!”

It is hard to believe that a week ago I was having prostate cancer surgery.  Time flies when you are having fun!  The surgery went well but I did have some problems with my catheter which involved an extra day in the hospital.  I came home Thursday.

Today, Dec. 10, I just got back from having my staples removed.  The pathology report indicated only a small area of cancer with the same Gleason score of 6 that I had at my biposy.  No cancer was observed in the outside area of the prostate.  My PSA level should begin dropping and remain very low if indeed the cancer has been completely removed.

I praise the Lord for these good results and am very grateful for so many who prayed.

I wrote this post on December 2, before my surgery on Dec. 3.  Didn’t post it until after the surgery. 

The words “Christmas” and “cancer” don’t seem to go together.  The word “Christmas” generates mental images of family gatherings, Christmas trees, quaint snow-covered villages and churches, Sunday School pageants, wreaths, and, of course, presents.  Cancer generates images of hospitals, doctors, bald heads, and perhaps even death.  Cancer should not even be mentioned in the same sentence as Christmas!

Yet for me, with my prostate cancer surgery tomorrow at the start of the Christmas season, my thoughts naturally connect the two.  And I wouldn’t have it any other way!

At Christmas, we should be thinking most of all about why Jesus came.  The reasons for His coming directly relate to cancer, to suffering, to all that is most difficult about our lives.  I could refer to many passages of Scripture but the passage that means the most to me now, one day before surgery, is Hebrews 2:14-18.

He came to help me and all who share in flesh and blood.  And what a help it was!  Through His death He rendered Satan ineffective, for He conquered death.  If I die from surgery or from cancer, I go to be with Him.  He came to become a merciful and faithful high priest.  He satisfied the wrath of God for my sins, so I will enter the hospital room basking in the undeserved favor and grace of God.  He came so that He would experience all the temptations involved with suffering so that He could provide the best of help to me.  What great reminders Christmas brings!

During this season we will hear of the depression that occurs during holiday seasons.  Although actually it is a myth that more suicides occur around Christmas, still many feel stress, loneliness, and despair during the holidays.  How I wish they could understand the relationship between Christmas and cancer.  How I wish they could have the joy that underlies all the Christmas celebrations-the joy I have as I anticipate surgery during the Christmas season.

I was serving as a Village Missionary in Colorado when the Colorado Rockies began as a baseball team.  What a great start!  Fans filled Coors Field every game.  Someone in our church had season tickets and every summer she would give us eight seats behind first base in the club section.  Our last summer in Red Feather Lakes I missed my once a summer game because a forest fire started above Red Feather and I had to, as a member of the fire department, go fight it. I’ve always been mad at that camper that laid a long log across his fire ring and then left it! By that time the Rockies were only a shell of what they had been at the start.

We moved in November and the Rockies continued their downhill slide.  I would check up on them occassionally but it always seemed like they were in the cellar. But now this year they are in the world series!

So, it was with interest that I read the article in the New York Times on Oct. 23 titled “Rockies Place Their Faith in God, and One Another.”  Although many on the team walk with Christ, the main emphasis has been the selection of a team based on character.  Could players with character actually help a team?  Absolutely!  I encourage you to read this article.