The Prodigal Life

When Jesus was born that night, the angels appeared to shepherds watching their sheep on the hills outside Bethlehem. Today, we sit in church on Christmas and talk about mangers and shepherds and angels singing lullabies. It's a nice, peaceful image. We show pictures of Mary and Joseph gazing wide-eyed at their newborn wonder. I walk past nativity scenes and all the figurines are smiling and everything looks so peaceful. But that night, when Mary gave birth to Jesus, I don't think the angels sang lullabies. I think they shouted battle cries. Have you ever stopped to think about it? Jesus didn't come and move into our neighborhood as God in human form just to prove He could. He came to love, to bring life. He came to declare war on sin, death, disease, and all the evil in the world. The angel's proclamation was good news of great joy--a lullaby to the shepherds and to us. It was a war cry of the deadliest form to the Devil and all the sin and brokenness in the world. I...

It's been some time since the earthquake in Japan--just enough time for us to begin forgetting about the tragedy. I've moved on with my life. It's easy when the media outlets no longer keep us conveniently plugged in and up to date. The other day NPR/BBC jarred me out of my ill-informed state by a story about the Fukushima Power Plant restoration process. During the earthquake and ensuing tsunami, the nuclear power plant went into partial meltdown, releasing deadly levels of radiation. Now, as the clean-up process continues, someone must go into the radiation zone and begin the process of stopping the radiation leak. A group of over 200 retired Japanese, all over the age of 60, are volunteering to tackle the nuclear crisis. They call themselves the Skilled Veterans Corps and they are mostly retired engineers and other skilled laborers. The founder of the Corps, Yasuteru Yamada, said he was watching television when he decided it was time for his generation to stand up. The...

It's funny what memories we become attached to when we return from foreign cultures. One of the fondest memories of my time in Haiti was bathing. Every morning Helyn and I awoke around 7 am and stumbled down the path for a splash/bath in the ravine. In the cool of the morning the water, running from the mountains a few miles away was cold and refreshing. The ravine in which we often bathed. Life is very communal in Haiti and bathing is just another group activity. Women bathe and wash clothes together, chatting and socializing. Children splash and wash in groups, enjoying the simple pleasures and adventures of childhood. I quickly took to bathing multiple times each day--usually a full "bath" in the morning, a splash of cool water in the heat of the afternoon, and another full "bath" in the evening to wash off the sweat and dirt of the day before crawling into bed. When it was too late to walk to the ravine, I took bucket baths behind a curtain next to...

We live in a unique age. This generation is uniquely concerned about social justice and righting wrongs. We also live in a world of media and information where we can educate ourselves about injustices all over the world from the comfort of our lounge chairs. At the click of a button I can view horrible images of starving men, women, and children in the horn of Africa, stricken by a famine and fighting for survival. This afternoon I flipped on CNN and watched Bono and K'naan (a Sudanese refugee) talk about the famine and what should be done. As I consumed my daily dose of media I glanced at my calendar. The first thing that I saw was "Slip-N-Slide Outreach," an event on campus involving a 50 foot slip-n-slide and general water-based mayhem designed to invite college students into our InterVarsity community. My initial response was repulsion--I arranged an event that will "waste" gallons of water while millions are starving and thirsty. Suddenly Slip-n-slides d...

What if "Do Justice" meant something more than what we've made it out to be? I grew up in a Christian family where the value of Micah 6:8, "Do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God." infiltrated everything we did. But this summer I've been wrestling with what justice really is. Is it just caring about the less fortunate? Is it giving to foundations and organizations whose missions focus on bringing that justice to others around the world? Is it buying fair trade coffee? What is justice? I'm sure it includes all these things. But I'm also sure it has to be more than the socially cool care and concern we've made it out to be! During my time in Haiti the issue of "justice" was brought into focus in a strange way for me. There is no running water, at least where we were in the country. Therefore, each day water had to be carried from the well about 1/3 mile down the road. We used this water for cooking, cleaning, and bathing (...

I recently returned from an 8 day trip to Haiti, the poorest country in our hemisphere. It was an incredible experience for which I am very thankful.... because it redefined Haiti for me.  I traveled with 5 other InterVarsity staff. We went with a charge--to scout out the land, experience the culture, get to know the people, and see if there might be opportunities to plant a new Global Urban Trek . InterVarsity's Treks offer students and staff opportunities to live alongside the urban poor in the world's slums for 6 weeks. Why? We want to wrestle with issues of social justice and learn what it really means to love radically and carry each other's burdens. I believe the poor have something to teach us, but we must set aside lifestyle barriers, stereotypes, and preconceived notions if we want to learn from them. Many of the lessons they have to teach about life and about God are difficult to learn from the distance and comfort of a hotel room--so we want to move in with them...