Devotion to Duty

From the age of five, he knew he wanted to be an aviator. Because of this knowledge, he never wavered in his choice of activities. Everything he did he saw as preparation for that ultimate goal.
This condition is a totally foreign concept to me. I can remember thinking it was so cool to be a grocer like Don Salvador, or the grocer/postmaster, like Don Pascual, or maybe a pharmacist like whoever gave the empty bottles to the nurses-in-training who spent their days off at our home in Don Bosco, a suburb of Buenos Aires, and brought us kids the empty bottles to play with. Or maybe a bus driver like "Machi" Ravera, or a teacher like Srta. Dina, my sixth grade teacher, the first teacher I ever really liked.
I guess the idea of being a pastor/teacher grew in me, rather than being a strong conviction from the start. But having so much contact with missionaries in our home and pastors and evangelists in my grandfather's home (a fiercely independent Baptist pastor)just naturally planted the seed, and by the time I was ready for college, I knew I wanted to be in full time service somewhere, somehow.
Not so with "Sully" Sullenberger, pilot of USAir flight 1549. His life was totally engulfed in preparation, analysis, singleminded decisions which would eventually lead him to his fame as the pilot who had to ditch his plane in the Hudson river, but did not lose one soul in the process. I admire people like that, even though I cannot trace my path along the same lines.
In his book "Highest Duty", Mr. Sullenberger shows how he kept filing away mental notes which, in the long run, all worked together for the purpose of saving the whole passenger and crew list of flight 1549.
Though the whole book is fascinating, two questions that Sully's daughters asked, and his answer to them stand out in my mind. The first one: "What is integrity?" seems easily answered, and indeed it is, theoretically, but in practice, the answer is much harder to flesh out. Sully's answer "Doing the right thing even when it hurts" has been the best working definition I have ever heard. Not that it is a perfect definition, it's just the best 'working' one. Pat answers are good when theorizing, but when you are in the heat of the battle, the 'working' definitions are the ones you want to be in full force. Daniel and his friends were among the best examples of this. Hannaniah, Mishael and Azariah were about to be thrown into the "heat" of the oven, and they knew it would most likely mean the loss of their earthly life, but they replied that they knew God could save them from it, but if He didn't, they were still going to do the right thing and not bow down to Nebuchadnezzar's image. Daniel was an easy target, because everyone knew that he always did what was right in the matter of worship, so his jealous colleagues chose to get him in the area of his 'weakness'-- integrity. They knew he would not vary from his worship time.
The second question posed by one of Sully's daughters: "What is the best job in the world?" and you would think he would have answered that being a pilot was the very best job in the world. But his answer says quite a bit about his world view. "It's the job you would do even if you didn't have to." That answer hit home. I've often wondered what that job would be in my case. I know it would have something to do with words, and language, but I have never pinpointed it. I know it would also have much to do with the Scriptures, but have never found an area where I truly could excel. Yes, I enjoyed being a missionary, I even enjoy being a "milk-slinger" at WalMart. But the times I enjoyed the most were when I had a group of High School and University students with whom I got together and we discussed the Scriptures and their application in a very informal setting. The problem had to do with the sense that it was possibly too enjoyable, and therefore, that I was not doing my "duty". That was always an unnecessary dichotomy which existed in my missionary service. I always felt somewhat guilty doing that kind of ministry, because I was having too much fun at it. Formal services, on the other hand, satisfied my sense of duty, but did not always give me the enjoyment I should have had from service to our Lord Jesus.
Now that I am sitting here wishing I had someone or a group of persons with whom I could interact in this manner, I wonder whether it will ever happen again. One thing I'm learning,though. When it does, I plan to enjoy it thoroughly, and never question whether I'm doing my duty or not. I'll just do the right thing regardless of the cost, and I'll do it even if I don't "have" to do it.

Don't touch the Annointed One!

Reading the Bible for information is interesting. Reading it with a view to obeying can be downright scary!!
Consider the story of the life of David while he was being pursued by Saul to take his life. On two occasions, the first being when David caught Saul "lookin' like a fool with his pants on the floor" and could easily have killed him (I Sam. 24), since Saul had no idea that David was in the same cave, and the second when God anesthetized the whole army so that David could have killed Saul with no witnesses (I Sam. 26), David chose to refrain from doing so. Was it because he was afraid to kill? He had proven that was not the case when he confronted Goliath. Was it because he did not believe that he would one day become king over Israel? I don't believe so.
When the end came for Saul, and he and Jonathan and his siblings died in battle, did David rejoice? Once again, the answer is a resounding "NO".
As I read these passages, it became obvious to me that one fact stood out in all three of them--David's deeply held conviction that he had no right to even raise a finger against "the Lord's annointed".
David was confident that God would do what was right, and he was totally aware that God had annointed Saul for life, so he chose to sit tight and wait for God's hand to move, rather than try to help God along. The time would come when he would be avenged, and when Saul died, David's mourning was real.

I wonder, how do I measure up to the example of David. Oh, sure, I have not made the moral mistakes he made, but what about his example in the area of respect for authority, recognition of God's hand in government, and loyalty to God's appointed 'ministers'.
I've had to learn many lessons along this line, among them:

1. Those in government are God's "agents". God has put them in their place and it is His job to take them out in His own timing. (Rom. 13)
2. I need not fear them, for they are there to fulfill a part in God's plan.
3. There is a time and a place for me to be proactive. We have elections, and I must participate. We have information, and I must be aware of it and whether it is true or biased.
4. God's hand is in all things, and he will pull the plug when He is ready, not necessarily when I want him to do so.
5. Loyalty, an almost lost virtue today, requires that I get all the facts before I come to a conclusion about those in government. I must realize that I am not privy to all the details that those in government are aware of.
6. Those in government are human also, and as such they, too, make mistakes.
7. I must show my respect for authority in my prayer life, my comments on those who are obviously in the wrong, and by not writing them off on everything.
8. I have two weapons against an erring 'minister' (government official)--prayer (at all times) and the ballot box.

I pray that the Lord will help me to have the proper respect for government and thus be part of the "loyal opposition" or the "righteous backing" to those who are in authority.

Our Source of Strength

When David and his men returned to Ziklag after having been rejected for duty by king Achish because of conflicts of interest (I Sam. 29), he found that the Amalekites had raided his city, taken all the women and children and their possessions, and burned the city. Chapter 30 tells us of the return. David and his men sized up the situation, and at that point they "wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep (in modern terms, they cried their eyes out). The interesting outcome of this episode was the reaction of the two parties. All of them had lost everything, wives, families, goods, homes, livestock, etc. David's men, however, had a totally different reaction than David to this event. Though it is true that they all wept, David's men sought to fix blame. So they started discussing the idea of executing David by stoning him. What good would that have done them? None--it would only have worsened the scenario.
Each of these men was overcome by bitterness. On the other hand, David, who had just as much to lose as any one of his men, did not give in to the standard human reaction. He found strength in the Lord his God.

Yes, they had all wept, but when all was said and done, the final reaction was totally opposite.

In the case of David's men, a move was on foot to a) fix blame and b) kill the one who was "to blame". David did the thing which characterized him: He a) found his strength in the Lord, b) called upon the Lord for guidance (called for the priest and the ephod and consulted the Lord), and c) took action, thus recuperating all of the most valuable items (his family and that of his men, his possessions and those of his men).

As one person put it "God will not steer a parked car", and David was aware of the principle involved, and his general response was to act after requesting guidance. The Bible is not like other books which cover up the sin of their heroes. David did move away from his typical response on occasion, and he paid dearly for it, but as a typical response he did not a) become bitter and b) try to fix blame. On the contrary, he a) went to the source of his strength, b) asked for guidance, and c) acted upon that basis. This why God spoke of him as "a man after my own heart."

May the Lord help us each to be "men/women after His own heart"

The Illuminati, Voodoo, and Grace

Because his avuncular demeanor, well spoken speech, professional looks, and extreme visibility, and despite his charismatic theology , I have to say that I was surprised that Pat Robertson had the temerity to state something to the effect that 'Haiti suffered from a devastating earthquake because of its "pact with the devil" '. It is simplistic to make a statement like that, since we do not have access to the knowledge of the devil's plans, except to know that his greatest desire is to take God's place, rather than to take the place God meant for him to have as the most beautiful of all created beings.

My natural tendency is to get the bulk of my exercise 'jumping to conclusions', so it is easy for me to see how Mr. Robertson got to the point of saying such a thing. The idea was not totally foreign to my thinking. There is one difference, though. I'm not visible and charismatic, either in my personality or my theology. And there is one fact that should govern our thinking at all times--divine revelation as given in the Scriptures.

I've puzzled over this whole matter on many occasions, but the Haiti earthquakes and Robertson's statements have made me think about it much more in depth.

Many truths come into play at this juncture of history:
1) The devil does not have any power that God does not allow him to have. This is clearly illustrated in the book of Job, where Satan accuses Job of being a mercenary, of obeying and honoring God because God gives him all kinds of good things. It is at this moment that God tells Satan that he has permission to test Job's mettle. But there is one thing that God will not allow Satan to have, and that is the power to put Job to death.
2)Many governments and governors have been in league with the devil, even though they did not know it, and in the end they have been fulfilling God's plan. Witness the case of Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, Darius the Mede, and many other world leaders throughout the ages. Each had his own agenda, formulated by the devil (the hue and cry of conspiracy theorists in the 60's and 70's was that the Illuminati were controlling the world) but guided here on earth by seemingly independent, autocratic, leaders who were nothing more than unknowing puppets in the hands of the devil.. But the devil, who, as the Spanish saying goes 'knows more because he is old than because he is wise' (sabe mas por viejo que por sabio) is unwittingly fulfilling God's plan.
3) Those of us who believe in the imminent return of Christ cannot be surprised by the occurrence of earthquakes in many different places, for we believe that these are signs that His Second Coming is soon, and since that is so, we are to be taken out of this world about seven years before that fact.
4) Christians and pagans have suffered much through all of this. True, there have been cases of providential protection, such as the Lord's protection of men like Frank Garlock who was there at the time, and Elysee Josef and his church planting and encouragement team from the Haitian Grace Brethren churches in Florida who were there for the purpose of encouraging the believers there, but there were many other true believers in Christ who were not spared. Are we to think that for some reason or another God did not protect them, and that they were in league with the devil? Certainly not!!!
5) God does say that his curse rests on some unto the third and fourth generation (Ex. 20:5), but He also says that His blessing carries over much further for those who love Him (vs. 6).

It is to this last statement that I would like to append the lesson I can see in this whole situation. Since we cannot with any degree of certainty attribute this to a blessing or a curse from God, it seems much more correct to see it as just another avenue for witness. There are at least three ways in which this can be true.

a) The believers in Haiti can be used of the Lord to share the Gospel with those who do not know Jesus.
b) The almost immediate and unassuming way in which Christians have been dealing all along with catastrophes such as this through errands of mercy, feeding the hungry, and many other demonstrations of love, coupled with the clear presentation of the Gospel can be a powerful tool in the hands of God for His Glory.
c) Whether there is any truth to Robertsons statement or not (and I must put it that way because Haiti is basically a voodooistic and synchretistic catholic society) this can be an opportunity for true Christians to be about the task of laying siege to the gates of Hell and helping to break the chains of sin that are clearly visible in all societies, but which can only be broken by the transformation brought about by regeneration in the lives of individuals. A society cannot be transformed as a group. It is only as individuals are brought to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and become salt and light for those around them that societies are brought to a point of real change. And that is not needed only in Haiti. It is imperative that if we are to see change that makes a difference anywhere in this world--yes, even in our "Christian" USA--it should come as a result of individual regeneration. Any other change, however thorough it may be, will only be short-lived.

So what can we do about it?

Yes, we can fulfill our civic duties, but that is only superficial.

We can break the chains of societal sin by committing ourselves to obedience to the Lord Jesus, and by guiding our families into the path of obedience, so that they will be brought to the point of being salt and light in a world full of unwitting followers of the devil.

And we can quit worrying about possible pacts with the devil that our governments or the Iluminati may or may not have made. You see, we've already read the last chapter of the book, and we know He (the LORD JESUS) will be the victor!!!

On the relative importance of sight

As many of you know, for some time now my family has been doing the driving for me whenever we travel anywhere. Now, in a further development, my doctor has told me I ought not to be driving at all. As you might imagine, at almost 62 years of age, that is awfully young to be thus curtailed. And it also puts a damper on any activities I may want to undertake in the future, as I will have to depend on my family or Greyhound to be my transportation. In all fairness to my family, I must say that I do have the worst driving record of the bunch, so they have reason to want me to stop driving. But in a nation such as ours, driving is an extension of being, and one gets so used to it, that it no longer seems to be a privilege--we consider it a necessity. If I were in Argentina, where I was born, and served for twelve years as a missionary, I could get along quite well without driving, and might even choose to do so if that choice were afforded me. Not so in America. Only the rich can afford to be chauffered, and my family can't be at my beck and call to take me anywhere I might want to go.

The toughest part of this whole thing is that my eyesight is not the problem. Most of my driving problems have stemmed from my propensity to fall asleep at the drop of a pin. According to my doctor, this is due to the poor function of my liver, which does not clean up my blood well enough, and thus leaves me at times lethargic, and at other times functioning at a mediocre level. I guess where I feel it the most is in the area of my greatest interests. I thoroughly enjoy reading and playing/working with words. However, I find that unless I am totally rested (nine or more hours a night) and/or the subject is extremely fascinating, I cannot read more than one or two pages without falling asleep.

Now to the import of the title of this blog in our conversation:

Since I have very good eyesight (when wearing glasses), I am still able to perform well at work and reading is no great problem. Driving should not be, either. So why should I have to depend on everyone else for my transportation?

The answer has to do with a lesson in dependence. We Americans are a very independent lot, but we choose to be independent in the areas that we want to be independent. In other areas we are not afraid to recur to the government, our employers, our churches, etc. for help.

We seem to forget (or am I the only one?) that the Lord has invited us to "cast all (y) our anxiety upon him, because he cares for you. (I Peter 5:7) I have always been very independent in the area of mobility, so not being able to drive provokes a sense of cabin fever that needs to be conquered. The future seems so empty without the ability to travel. I was looking forward to being able to do some travelling once I graduated from the ranks of the workers and stepped into that realm known as retirement. So what is ahead? Here, again, is a lesson in dependence. I must learn to depend on my Lord, who wants the best for me. It may be that He is opening up a huge and effectual door of opportunity which I could not see at the speed at which I was moving (which by the world's standard was very slow, but was not in line with "be still and KNOW that I am God"). And I must definitely learn to "walk by faith, not by sight". And in that area there is a different sight that must be developed, and which many Christians never do get acquainted with. It is the sight which tells us that there is more to our life with the Lord than meets the eye. In a day in which Image is the operative word, we must learn to walk in the area of Substance. Not all of what God wants to do in our lives will make sense right now, but He is the one with the plan. We must be ready to move according to it.

May God teach us these lessons.

On NOT celebrating Thanksgiving

I just finished reading both of my daughters' blogs (I was way behind) and my SIL's famous Just a Southern Girl, and they all had something about thanksgiving. I was uplifted by each of them. I decided it would be good to share what our Sunday School teacher pointed out to us this last Sunday. As a math teacher, he introduced his subject by saying he was going to prove his point in the same way that many Theorems are proven--by showing that the opposite premise is false. Thus, if we celebrate Thanksgiving it is because we believe the true premise, and the false one is in error. He pointed out that most stores barely give a cursory mention to Thanksgiving, and even then, they miss the point altogether by calling it Turkey day!!!

He gave several reasons why people did not feel and act thankful in the gospel of Luke.

--The debtor who owed 50 denarii was not thankful because he was forgiven little.

--The rich farmer was not thankful because he had a huge crop and was self-sufficient.

--The nine lepers who were healed did not return to thank Jesus because they were too busy attending to the red tape involved and they did not want to seem like beggars. Only the outcast of the bunch came back and thanked Jesus

--Others do not thank because they feel entitled to whatever good comes their way, and it is demeaning to admit they have a need which only God can fill.



Each of these reasons for not being thankful were invalid, and as such, they prove the truth--that we ought (owe it, which is the background of the word that is translated ought) to be thankful.



I'd like to suggest that Thanksgiving Day is the most sacred of all our holidays. It is truly an historic Holy Day for the USA.



When we were missionaries, we did not celebrate Thanksgiving day as such, but on several occasions I made it a point to explain the meaning of the holiday to some of the folks whom we were closest to. For at least one of them, the lesson made an impression.



I'd like to suggest that Thanksgiving is a Holy Day for us in the USA for several reasons.



We give thanks to God, not to any specific person or people group. Revisionist U.S. History books say that Thanksgiving was an occasion in which our forefathers gave thanks to the Indians for having helped them to survive the harsh winter and make it through to the next harvest. Not so. It was a convocation of all the people who had survived until the first crop and a special invitation was given to the aboriginal people who had helped them out. Its specific purpose was to Give Thanks and Praise to GOD for having kept them through the tough first year on this land which required much more labor than their former land just to give a large enough crop. So the OBJECT of thanks is God, not man.



Our thanks are given in spite of the negative circumstances. Our forefathers did not have it easy. They had come from hard circumstances in which they were being persecuted for their faith into hard circumstances in which they suffered death and illness at the mercy of the climate. They were thankful because they could now worship God as they were convinced He wanted to be worshipped. So the REASON for thanksgiving is God's providence, not liberation from persecution.



Thanksgiving is a truly American Holiday. Because it was instituted at a crucial time in history, and by a specific group of people, all of whom were interested in religious freedom over and above all other possible gains (financial, land ownership, freedom of expression, freedom from feudal societal structure and others) it is, for me, today, an extremely sacred holiday, one which is, if not exclusively, at least eminently American.



What should we do about it? Thanksgiving should be a year long practice which is not just emphasized once a year, but is truly a daily attitude.



I like what some have done. Make a list of ten, or a dozen, or a baker's dozen reasons why you are thankful. Try to remember that every day, and add specific instances to your mental notes.



Always keep in mind the object of your thanksgiving. Make your life Christ-centered, not man-centered.



Keep in mind the reasons for your thanksgiving, both for personal attitude adjustments, and for a guideline for judging your decisions and actions concerning the world around you.

About change... is it good or bad?

Since leaving the mission field, it seems that life has been all about change. There have been many changes of address, which most already know. But there have been other changes. The Lord has been dealing with me about many changes that needed to be made and still need to be finished.

When we left Argentina, I had every intention of returning. My intention, however, never came to fruition for several reasons: As I look back at twenty years of life in these United States, I realize that the Lord has been modifying my character, my lifestyle, my philosophy of ministry and many other things.

The frustration at leaving what I had thought to be my life work was a huge burden. The first thing that the Lord had to show me was that in my missionary work in Argentina I had not taken Mary and my children into consideration as I should have. Sometimes not at all. My attitude was, in effect, that the Lord had called me to the mission field, and my family should go along with it. I've paid a dear price for that attitude, as the main source of my happiness had been the privilege of working with the people to whom I was ministering. In doing so, I was unbalanced in their favor, and my family suffered from it. Thankfully, God´s providence took over, and Mary´s faithful servant attitude shows through in our children´s life and attitudes, and for this I take no credit.

Shortly after we arrived back in the US in 1987, I was diagnosed as diabetic, and it has taken a toll on my health. Though that was not the reason we stayed back, it certainly was a tool God used to do some serious modifications in our whole family's lifestyle. It has taken a long time, but we are now stabilized in that area, though I still have several health issues to deal with. The change had to come, but oh, how I fought it! Employment has not been an easy road, either, as I started at an entry level at forty years of age, with the added disadvantage of no skill set except my language abilty, which has been very useful, but has made no difference in my ability to improve our standard of living.

One of the real reasons (though there were many official reasons) why we stayed back was because my philosophy of missions differed from that of many of the newer missionaries, and especially those who had not yet arrived on the field (they arrived two weeks after I left). They wanted to try an experiment in team church planting, and I had not been open to that idea. What´s more, I did not want to let them have the liberty to try it. Personal observation and more maturity has proven me wrong, but I had not yet acquired an understanding of the principle of teamwork. That came later as I was involved in eldership rule in my local church at the places where we have lived. The result? God took me out of the way so that others could have a chance to experiment and learn by trial and error. He has blessed, and for that I am grateful.



If you'll notice, this has been written in the first person singular. The reason for that is that I must take all the blame for the mistakes made. My family has suffered for it, I'm sure, though they have had a real impact on people around them whereever they have lived and worked, and for that I am extemely thankful.



In conclusion, I have to admit that it is not easy to write this, but it is hard to express any other way. What have I learned from all of this?

1) God is Sovereign, using our mistakes, sins and foibles for His glory, though that does not always bring us immediate happiness.

2) God can use us whereever we are, and home and the workplace are the first places to prove it.

3) Missionary work is not to be undertaken lightly, nor as an individual decision. It must involve the whole family unit.



My heart's desire is to dedicate the rest of my life to whatever comes in hand to do for Him.

If the Lord so allows, I would want to be involved in a number of short missionary trips for the purpose of helping missionaries in whatever they may need for me to do that is within my power to do. I have recently become aware of two couples who now live in Spain and who were in our church in Rosario. I want to visit and be a blessing to them. Another couple from the Argentine fellowship is in Italy, several are in Mexico, one couple in Chile, and one young lady whom I do not know, but who is a missionary under the Argentine church is serving in Africa. How wonderful it would be to be able to convey a blessing to each of them! As Paul was thinking of undertaking missionary journeys, he said that he longed to be able to impart some spiritual blessing to those whom, though he did not know, he loved and wanted to help. How much more wonderful and exciting to be able to be of blessing to those whom you know and love!



Change... oh how I dislike it... but is it good? Even when it does not give us immediate happiness, in the long run God uses it to shape us and conform us to the image of Christ, and that is good.