Hectic

Hey guys, I wanted to check in quick and say that everything has been great, but it´s taking much longer to get set up than I hoped.  I heard it said that if you´re able to get one thing done in a day in Spain, that you´ve done well.  I´m experiencing that now.

I´m working on purshasing internet, bus passes, local cell phone, etc.  Once I have the internet in my place I´ll be much more connected and will be able to make and receive calls etc.  That might still take a while though. 

I roughed it through the jet lag that first day.  The best way to get over jet lag is to force yourself onto their schedule, so after a 36 hour stint, I was able to get a good night´s rest and now I feel totally acclimated to their schedule.

I´ve re-met some of the people that I met in January.  It´s nice to see the few believers again.  Soon I´ll be going to the university bible study that Dominic has set up over the last year.  They have worship, bible study, and prayer, much like back in the states.

Well, I have two minutes, so I better head out. 

Frustrating bank issue of today:

I called TCF to tell them I´d be in Spain, and to ask them not to shut me down.  Well, they did anyway, so now I´ve got to go deal with that.  Hopefully it can be solved easily.

Adios

Jordan

Update from Chicago

Hey guys, I did a quick video update while in Chicago. I left myself a lot of time in case there was a long wait at the Spanish consulate or a delay in my flight, but neither happened! So, I had about 6 hours to walk around Chicago, and did I ever!

I basically covered all of downtown from the southern-most part of the downtown loop up to the river, down the “Magnificent Mile,” and to Millennium park.  I took a quick video from Millennium park where I also started my adventure.  I thought I’d share it with you guys.

C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

I recently read The Weight of Glory, by C.S. Lewis, one of my favorite authors.  It was a short sermon he preached in 1942. I was very intrigued by the opening sentences:

“If you asked twenty good men to-day what they thought the highest of
the virtues, nineteen of them would reply, Unselfishness. But if you asked almost any of the great Christians of old he would have replied, Love.”

I believe if you asked 20 good men today what they thought to be the highest of virtues, 19 of them would respond, “What do you mean?” 67 years later, we’re so much further from that modernist view that Lewis tried to curb back toward love.  Now, the word virtue is a foreign word to us.  The word is odd enough that a postmodern hearer would need clarification in order to provide an answer.  And, upon answering it, their mental faculties would be strained, because the question has most likely never been considered before in their entire existence.

This sermon is centered around the theme that we do not belong to this earth, for we were created for another realm.  “We remain conscious of a desire which no natural happiness will satisfy.” It’s reminiscent of Paul’s “Our citizenship is in heaven.” (Phil 3:20) Lewis talks of how we were not created to be fully satisfied here on earth, yet the innate desire that we can hardly comprehend, and often shut up as “Nostalgia, Romanticism, and Adolescence,” lives on in us. The capital letters are no mistake. Lewis often personified qualities that distracted from God as living idols. Inanimate though they may be, they become an active worker against us to blind us from reality. Thus, an animate being.

In this sermon he also addresses the argument brought up by some, that just because a man is hungry does not prove that he will find bread. (Just because we desire a heaven-like place doesn’t mean it exists.)

I’ll post the link to the pdf article at the bottom. Also, I wanted to post one of his most famous quotes. It comes from this message.

“Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

www.doxaweb.com/assets/doxa.pdf

Quick update

It looks like just about everything that needs to come in for the final step in the visa process has.  I’m still waiting on one little form, but once that’s in, I’ll fly to the consulate in Chicago to finish up! Lord willing, I’ll be able to get there early next week!

Good news! Praise God.

In Christ

-Jordan

Excuse #3 for Not Going on the Mission Field

Hey guys, I just read this today and really enjoyed it.  I sometimes harbor a concern for my future children based on some of the points in this excuse.  It wouldn’t hold me back, but it could be a spiritual thorn in my side.  I found this to be very encouraging.

This is taken from http://www.abigmission.com/hindrances-to-missions-3.html

Hindrances to missions (3)

The excuse goes like this, “I cannot go to the mission field because I have children! What will happen to my children? What about their education, their health and safety? What about their social life and emotional life?”

It is true that missionary children may not have all the advantages of other young persons. They probably will not be part of a large over zealous school; they may not ever play organized sports, or sit all night in a gaming cafe. But at the same time they may not have all the disadvantages of some young persons. They may never be exposed to MTV or feel the pull of materialism or tempted by teen peer pressure.

In fact when asked most missionaries would admit that the culture the missionary child is exposed to is still far better than the culture at home. And in a recent study it was reported that missionary children did far better spiritually, emotionally, socially and vocationally than did non missionary children.

But the bottom line is not the advantages or disadvantages of being a child on the mission field. But the bottom line is the will of God. The best and safest place for your children to be is in the centre of God’s will. If God has called you to missions then the ideal environment for your children is to be with you on the mission field.

If God has called you to the mission field do not make the excuse, “What about my children?” We can trust God with our children!

If You Believed Moses, You Would Believe Me

I was really blessed this morning to listen to this sermon by John Piper.  I follow his ministry’s blog, Desiring God, but I don’t often make the time to listen to his teachings.  In this he talks a lot about the entirety of scripture, and not just about specific prophecies, but scripture as a whole pointing to the glory of God the father, and the son.

I’ll post the link below.  That will take you to some text excerpts and the blog page itself.  If you’re interested and have the time, you can stream the video, audio, or download it.  There are options to do so at the top of the blog entry.

Here’s an excerpt that really resonated with me.  It is a transcription of what he spoke, so it might not seem as natural in writing.

“Don’t stiff arm the Jewish scriptures.  They are gold!  God is being revealed and when God is being revealed, Jesus our savior and Lord and friend is being revealed. I believe one of the reasons why there is such thin Christian discipleship of Jesus today is because we have ripped the vision of him in the Old Testament out of the Bible.  We think the Old Testament is just too tough
And we need some fiber today in our love for Christ!  The whole Old Testament vibrates with a kind of depth and strength and weight and solidity without which you cannot know how to follow Jesus.”

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByDate/2009/4261/