Conflict Management in Staff and Internship Settings

CONFLICT MANAGEMENT IN STAFF AND INTERNSHIP SETTINGS

By Donald W. Welch

Pastoral Ministries Coordinator

Church of the Nazarene

    Trying to avoid conflict many times propels us further into unresolved pain rather than the pleasure we yearn for through open, communicative, interpersonal relationships. Each of us could tell of a painful confrontation or subtle conflict, resulting in the loss of a friendship or that significant other, or even the change of leadership position. The word conflict conjures up different mental images in relation to individual experience. G. Douglass Lewis, in Resolving Church Conflicts: A Case Approach for Local Congregations (New York: Harper and Row, 1981), says, "Conflict is two or more objects aggressively trying to occupy the same space at the same time." Many times, having survived a conflict, we have to learn how to pick up the pieces and live with the painful aftermath of heated conflict that we would just as soon forget.

    To teach conflict management in an internship setting without understanding one's strength and weaknesses as a conflict manager is as futile as trying to teach someone how to perform brain surgery without ever having attended medical school. It is an impossibility. Therefore, it is good to explore one's personal biases, weaknesses, or lack of skill when trying to teach conflict management in the internship setting, and to investigate the process for handling and implementing appropriate conflict techniques.

    Robert D. Dale, in Pastoral Leadership, says: "Broadly viewed, there are two types of congregational conflict: conflict over facts and conflicts involving feelings. Most disagreements blend both facts and feelings" (p. 159).

    Having now served as a college administrator, associate pastor at one of our college churches, and senior pastor, I have come to realize that in the various facets of ministry, conflict is as natural to the church as breathing and eating are for physical beings. I'm not saying that all conflict is healthy, but neither am I saying that all conflict should be labeled "bad." In any event, learning to deal with conflict in a productive manner can enable us to be more effective ministers.

    This became more apparent to me the day I tried to purchase my first new automobile. I found the ideal car that, I thought, would meet all my needs as a minister: conservative in style (not too flashy), economical (very easy on my car allowance), it was large enough to transport five grown people and, in addition, the Consumer Guide qualified it as "dependable."

    Driving my old '71 Toyota to the dealership with high hopes of purchasing my first new automobile was a momentous occasion. (My old car had been operating without a reverse gear for over a year.) With a smile and high expectation, I looked forward to the ensuing dialogue between the salesman and myself. I would soon be on my way in my brand-new car, with a reverse gear that worked. Up to that point the salesman and I were really hitting it off, and I sensed that we shared a real appreciation for each other. Having done research into the particulars of this car, I had a fairly good ideas as to what I could afford and what I was willing to pay for it. And then the big C happened. The price the salesman quoted over the telephone was not the same as he was quoting on paper. I gently questioned him. After a pause, and almost as smoothly as a pastor summing up his Sunday morning message with a powerful concluding illustration, he drove home his all-inclusive point. It was then I noticed his demeanor changing almost as quickly as Pinocchio's facial transformation when he told a lie. (If Geppetto had been close by at that point, I would have asked him if this salesman was telling the truth or not.)

    The salesman's jargon from this point on was unfamiliar and, I thought, could have dissipated the most idealistic car enthusiast. His speech ran with pietistic overtones that made me think of certain times I wished to forget, when I had preached. Was my preaching being lived out in my daily experience? At that moment I began to notice my posture changing from relaxed and casual to stiffened and defensive.

    As I questioned my own communicative abilities, I tried to reassure myself that I had taken significant communication courses in college and seminary, and I was no dummy. I had always been able to communicate fairly well with people. Perhaps I had misunderstood this salesman's original commitment over the telephone. Not wanting to judge that salesman (why, with all of the pictures of his children, his wife, and their pets there on his desk, I could clearly see that he was a good family man), I tried to regain my composure. I wanted desperately to give him the benefit of the doubt, but the more I tried, the more I found myself bristling. Surely this isn't happening, I thought to myself, though I had heard my friends relate similar experiences. I still believed I could overcome this conflict. Or maybe, even yet, I might see this salesman's nose growing, giving away the secret that, yes, he was lying to me all along.

    But I was already judging this man and doubted his honesty and integrity. I had been honest with him, and he was using my open, up-front approach against me (at least I thought so). He had attacked me where I was vulnerable, and there had been a deception from the beginning, as far as I could ascertain.

    The conversation disintegrated into a nonnegotiable battle. He said that his boss wouldn't come down any further on the price, which was nowhere near the price quoted over the telephone that initially drew me to that particular dealership. From his point of view we were only in conflict over price; from my perspective we were in emotional conflict over his lack of principle. I ended up leaving the dealership frustrated, angry, and determined not to be caught in such a dilemma again. Unfortunately, I have since found that such situations are all too common in life—two or more people seeing things from totally different viewpoints with (for whatever the reason) a lack of ability to effectively manage the conflict.

    Too often we view conflict as something that leaves two parties caught in an impasse where the nonnegotiable stance (whether fact or emotion) takes its toll on the prevailing parties. Instead of learning to use the conflict for reaching a deeper understanding and personal maturity, we tend to bristle, become frustrated, and look for a way to avoid working through it. New wisdom and understanding are then lost within the parameters of conflict. It goes without saying that many times it is more profitable to avoid conflict than to become enmeshed in issues that are destructive in nature.

    Jesus was involved in conflict. In Matt. 21:12-16 we see that He even initiated conflict. John 8:3-11 tells us that Jesus resolved conflict involving the woman found in adultery. At other times we see that He avoided conflict, as in Luke 4:28-30.

    It would be optimistic and idealistic to say that conflict always serves as a stepping-stone to greater understanding. More often than not the converse is true. Too often we fantasize that our experiences have really made us into the persons we have become, only to realize that our experiences haven't changed us. We may be lacking the inertia or energy to transfer our head knowledge into our moment-by-moment life experiences. Rather than internalize these learnings, making certain adjustments, and adapting these learnings into our style for relating to other(s) in conflict situations, we naturally bristle, hold tight to our personal convictions, whether or not they are valid. Our conflict approach then leaves us mythed, alone, and less than effective.

    This may not be your situation. You may have learned and developed your strategy for healthy conflict management early on, and you may feel gifted in the area of managing conflict. If so, you are probably seeking new insights. The following tools may be helpful in teaching conflict management in an internship setting.

    It is important to gain a self-awareness. Often in the ministry we are trained to be aware of and to understand what makes other people tick without really discovering who we are in relationship to conflict situations. Whether or not we create conflict, ministers find themselves thrust into a myriad of conflict situations that raise the prevailing question: "What do I do with this?"

    Norman Shawchuck, in How to Manage Conflict in the Church, says, "Each of us has a set of working assumptions about God which influences our thinking and doing. The theology you hold about conflict (your assumptions regarding how God thinks and acts in the midst of conflict) influences the way you will think and act when confronted by a conflict situation." If we view ourselves as weak, vulnerable, broken vessels before an ever-loving God, we will tend to view those with whom we work as vessels of the same standing and will approach conflict with sensitivity and understanding. Such an attitude will enable us to enter into the conflict situation with an understanding that no one wins or loses.

    When we sense that we are being taken advantage of or our personal territory is being threatened, we are caught in a win-or-lose conflict. Let's face it, no one likes to lose or be made to look bad in front of family or peers. If this occurs, we naturally look for someone to blame. It's like the little boy who was having trouble staying out of the strawberry patch. His mother, trying to help him, said: "When you feel tempted to get into the strawberry patch, just tell Satan, 'Satan, get thee behind me.'" "But then he pushes me into the strawberry patch," responded the little boy. It's too easy to resist taking responsibility for our faults. A natural tendency is to cast blame rather than to analyze and to face our contribution (positive or negative) to the conflict.

    Norman Wakefield, in Solving Problems Before They Become Conflicts, says that the way in which we face problems and conflicts involves several styles of relating. "Learned behavior" develops from our experiences in childhood. We learn how to solve or avoid problems by watching others handle problems, especially our parents. Our personal approach centers around "goals and relationships." Whatever style we adopt, we are trying to keep our goals and our relationships with people in balance with our feelings and desires. Most of us do not relate in the same style in every situation. We may have several backup styles that Shawchuck elaborates on in his material. He believes that as our experience level grows and expands, we tend to develop different backup styles. We discover different ways to handle problems that may seem similar in nature to conflicts of the past.

    This leads me to believe that we are all in the process of discovering who we are. I would imagine that the disciples faced a different level of self-awareness after witnessing the resurrection of Jesus than they had prior to the Crucifixion. They thought they were prepared for what lay ahead, but no one really knows how he will react to a given situation until it happens. We know of only one person who really knew himself well enough to respond appropriately in every situation, and that was Jesus Christ. It may safely be said that the apostles were carnal, impotent, unfilled, and struggling for self-identity before Pentecost. They were conflict-prone before their anointing in the power of the Holy Spirit; but it is equally true that they were conflict-prone following Pentecost.

    For instance, the great debate between Paul and Barnabas over young John Mark illustrates that even sanctified Christians can get caught up in conflict. Paul and Barnabas eventually ended up going their separate ways because a compromise could not be reached. Acts 15:36-40 tells us that conflicts will happen even among Spirit-led people. Acts 15:41 and 16:5 tell us a lot about God, His tolerance of our differences, and His willingness to bless our ministries even when we are in conflict. I think this story of Paul and Barnabas falls under the category of the promise given in 2 Cor. 12:9, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness" (NKJV). David W. Johnson, in Human Relations and Your Career (Prentice-Hall, 1978), 247, says: "It is not the presence of conflict that causes chaos and disaster, but the harmful and ineffective way it is managed. It is the lack of skills in managing conflict that leads to problems. When conflicts are skillfully managed, they are of value." Learning what leads up to conflict and how to handle it is of utmost importance.

    Shawchuck says that conflict always involves (1) action, (2) threat, and (3) reaction. The action is the behavior of one party; threat threatens to take, damage, or destroy a "territory" that is claimed by another party; the threatened party reacts in ways intended to protect his claim on the "territory."

    I think that one of the more helpful things we can teach our interns is that conflict is very much a part of ministry. Recently, while meeting with an intern and his mentor, I heard the mentor say: "I never thought Christian people could act this way." To come to an understanding that people will disagree and that it may even lead to conflict will help enable the intern to be a more effective pastor and leader. It is important to learn to manage the conflict, not whether or not we have to face conflict. Conflict is inevitable in the ministry.

    Even perfect love, endowed by the Holy Spirit, will not protect us from conflict. There is a difference between managing conflict and perpetuating it for selfish reasons. Neither Paul nor Barnabas intended to become involved in a conflict that eventually led to the severing of their relationship; but neither did they try to resolve the conflict the best way. Where do we read that they prayed together about young John Mark, seeking God's intention for his involvement in the missionary journey? Prayer is essential to managing conflict.

    How do we help the young intern to address conflict when that conflict centers on and threatens to usurp the pastor's leadership? When our leadership is threatened, or another person's territory is threatened, the human personality naturally wants to protect that which he worked so hard for or for some reason he holds so dear. The natural tendency is to react emotionally rather than begin to approach the problem logically, dealing only with issues rather than personalities. Shawchuck asserts, "Conflict, however, is not sinful of itself. Sinfulness in conflict results from the way we behave in the conflict, not from disagreement or tensions between us." Paul encourages us to "be angry, and do not sin" (Eph. 4:26, NKJV).

    Wherever you have people interacting, there is possibility for conflict. Although conflict may indicate carnality sticking its head out, it does not necessarily mean there is a spiritual problem. It could mean that the conflict is being mismanaged. Many times we are too quick to assess conflict as a spiritual lapse on somebody's part, rather than carefully analyzing the dynamics.

    Relationships are dynamic and are always changing; in flux from day to day. Conflict is dynamic, too, and normally takes a cycle of (1) Tension development, where someone is sensing a loss of freedom in the relationship. (2) Role dilemma, where confusions develop as to why the tension developed, and so on. This is the crucial stage where the parties need to sit down and discuss the problems that have arisen. Unfortunately, this is also the stage where people are embarrassed to discuss the issues because they seem too trivial. (3) Injustice collecting, where people are convinced that things can only get worse, so they begin an emotional separating process in preparation for an inevitable "battle." They begin collecting injustices and hurts that will be used as "artillery" later. (4) Confrontation is usually the next stage. Shawchuck says that "in unmanaged conflict persons confront each other. In well-managed conflict they confront the issues which caused the tension in the first place." In the church we are more susceptible to conflict because of our investment in and personal relationship with others. It's similar to the intensity of family negotiations involving private space, control, and meaningful identity acceptance, which most of us have faced at one time or another. This usually takes place when the parties are either at the point of renegotiating their relationship, or they move to sever the relationship. (5) Adjustments are the changes people make to end the confrontation.

    Shawchuck suggests three steps to conflict management: The first step is to generate valid information about the conflict situation, and to share that information with all the involved parties. The second step "is to allow the conflict parties to make free and informed choices regarding their behavior, based upon the information. This involves joint problem-solving and decision-making. Joint decision-making involves two levels: a) Identify areas where there is sufficient agreement between the parties to enable them to collaborate in reaching resolutions and decisions. b) Identify the areas where there is no agreement or room for collaboration, so each party may reach his own decisions. These decisions are then shared with the other party, and collaborative decisions are made as to how the two parties will live and work together in spite of differences." At this point it should be possible to motivate personal commitment to the agreements reached.

    Paul and Barnabas disagreed and neglected to mix prayer and understanding with their disagreement, which eventually led to their going separate ways. They began posturing a win/lose situation, when beginning the initial stages of generating valid and useful information about the conflict. Paul said that John Mark had some good qualities but that he had given up on their last missionary journey. "Yes, he is a good man, but within certain boundaries."

    Paul said, "We don't want someone who is going to flake out on us during one of our very important missionary trips." Barnabas agreed but continued to say that he believed in young John Mark and was sure that John Mark had learned from his mistakes.

    We see Paul and Barnabas sharing their conflicting views, but I don't believe they entered into stage two, allowing the flow of free and informed choice, coupled with joint problem solving and decision making. They neglected to identify the areas of sufficient agreement that would enable them to collaborate on resolutions. Yes, John Mark made a mistake, but who hasn't? They both knew there were no guarantees that anyone would make it through an entire missionary journey. I think this illustrates the problem that many good-intentioned Christians have when caught in a conflict. They find themselves so absorbed in the emotion of the moment that they are unable to pray genuinely for resolution. At this point most of us tend to do what the Scriptures indicate that Paul and Barnabas did. We confront one another rather than the issues that caused the tension in the first place.

    In some instances it would be good for the mentor to suggest an impartial outside, possibly someone outside the local church who could bring a logical and unbiased approach, to act as mediator.

Contentment, etc.

As I was reading Philippians 4 this morning, I was reminded again of how badly verse 13 is twisted by so many people. In verse 12, Paul clearly states that he has discovered the secret of contentment in every situation. In verse 13, he gives the secret: "I can do all things through him who gives me strength." Yet, time and again, I hear that verse used to promise strength for all kinds of things that have nothing to do with contentment and everything to do with ambition, etc. I guess that's why you need to remember that "Context is King."

After lunch today, I finished "There Is No I in Church" by Keith Drury. It wasn't entirely ground-breaking, but he brought up some good ideas and I'd really like to study it with our small group sometime.

I tried to install QuickVerse on my new laptop tonight only to find that the book manager doesn't work right on Windows Vista. I called tech support and they said I would have to upgrade to QuickVerse 2007. I was thinking about it anyway, and they gave me a 25% discount, so I went ahead. I had a little birthday money burning a hole in my pocket anyhow.

Essential links

Do you like "Breakout"-style video games? I like playing Vortex on our iPod, but I am horrible at manipulating the click wheel. Bad idea, Mr. Jobs! But now, you can play something like Vortex in reverse online. It's not horribly addictive, so try Plastic Balls 1.5 out.

Do you like to play with GI Joe dolls? Sure you have all the gear for their exciting military missions but what does Joe wear for a day of golf, cross-country skiing or butterfly collecting? Try the collection of hand-knitted sweaters and toques at The Sarah Foster Sweater Collection.

Do you like to key cars that are parked across two spots? Take a kinder, gentler approach with bumper stickers from I Park Like an Idiot. This company pretends that the sticker is for your own car, but they sell them in bulk, so go figure.

Do you like to use "Google's image search to generate a large gridded montage of images based on keywords" that you enter? Okay, probably not yet, but that's only because you haven't tried it at Montage-a-Google.

Do you like to watch the world's smallest DJ cut some mad grooves on a tiny Victrola? Okay, nobody really likes to do that, but if you absolutely have to, you can check it out atLejo dj.

Do you think that duct tape is what holds this world together? If so, you might want to also use it to protect your cash. Buy a duct tape wallet at Uncommon Goods.

Post 100: Updated World Map

Ways to Maintain a Healthy Level of Insanity

At Lunch Time, Sit In Your Parked Car With Sunglasses on and point a Hair Dryer At Passing Cars. See If They Slow Down.

Page Yourself Over The Intercom. Don't Disguise Your Voice.

Every Time Someone Asks You To Do Something, Ask If They Want Fries with that.

Put Your Garbage Can On Your Desk And Label It "In."

Put Decaf In The Coffee Maker For 3 Weeks. Once Everyone has Gotten Over Their Caffeine Addictions, Switch to Espresso.

In The Memo Field Of All Your Checks, Write "For Smuggling Diamonds"

Finish All Your sentences with "In Accordance With The Prophecy."

Don t use any punctuation

As Often As Possible, Skip Rather Than Walk.

With a serious face, order a Diet Water whenever you go out to eat.

Specify That Your Drive-through Order Is "To Go."

Sing Along At The Opera

Go To A Poetry Recital And Ask Why The Poems Don't Rhyme

Put Mosquito Netting Around Your Work Area And Play tropical Sounds All Day.

Five Days In Advance , Tell Your Friends You Can't Attend Their Party Because You're Not In The Mood.

Have Your Co-workers Address You By Your Wrestling Name, Rock Bottom.

When The Money Comes Out The ATM, Scream "I Won!, I Won!"

When Leaving The Zoo, Start Running Towards The Parking lot, Yelling "Run For Your Lives, They're Loose!!"

Do the Hokey-Pokey once a Week, just in case that’s really what it’s all about.

Tell Your Children Over Dinner. "Due To The Economy, We Are Going To Have To Let One Of You Go."

Lenity: No One Wants to See That

Kudos to Wendie for pointing me to this important reminder of how we should behave in case of a terrorist attack. I almost fell out of my chair laughing!

Baptism Cannonball!

Here are some funny lines from recent late-night TV.
LENO: Presidential candidate Tom Vilsack… not a lot of name recognition. I don’t want to say that Tom is unknown, but his secret service codename is Tom Vilsack. Be honest. Before you came here today, how many had heard the name Vilsack? How many thought it was a pickle?
LENO: Al-Qaida released another video tape from their No. 2 man. This one had a shocking revelation: "The great Satan will soon taste unspeakable suffering from our hands. Oh, and by the way, I am the father of Anna Nicole’s baby.” Not to make light of this poor woman’s death. Now Anna Nicole Smith’s bodyguard is the fifth person to claim he might be the father. With five people claiming to be the father, I don’t think he was a very good bodyguard.
FERGUSON: I was reading about this self help book, "The Secret,” written by an Australian reality producer. Who knows more about spiritual principles than an Australian reality TV producer? One fan of the book said it stopped her panic attacks and doubled her acupuncture business. I’m thinking, "Who’s going to go see a panicky acupuncturist?”

Gladys Hardy on The Ellen DeGeneres Show

U2

This video has some very cool editing. Check it out!

Can't remember the name of that song?

Here is an interesting site. It allows you to hum or sing a few bars of a song, and then tries to identify the song for you. I tried a couple and didn't have perfect results, but it's a cool idea. They are also building a database of amateur renditions of songs, so if you have a strong voice, head on over.

dentist

Tiff and I both went to the dentist today for a cleaning. The entire visit for both of us took only 45 minutes and cost a total of $12. I'm going to miss some things when I return to the US.

Ever since we've lived here, there's been an old mango stump beside the house. Since we had the house treated for termites, they've had to look elsewhere for their food. They found some of it in that old stump. Last year, some of the students hacked and hacked away at the stump but could never cut all the way through. Earlier today, I went and kicked it over. It was completely eaten up in the core. Termites were teeming all over it. I dumped a little termite poison on the existing stump and on the large section that broke off. I wasn't sure if it was flammable, but I tried to light it anyhow. It burned gloriously. In fact, now, some 9 or 10 hours later, it's still burning gloriously. Presumably by morning, the fire will have gone out . . . or possibly have burned down our house.

A lot of people have been asking what our plan is after this term of service. The answer is . . . we still don't know. To make things worse, the whole Asia area is in transition right now. As of March, we will have a new area director Dr. Romy Caringal.

Why Filipinos?

This article by Ed Lapiz gives a little introduction into the culture of the Filipino and might help you understand why we enjoy living with them so much.

Online theology

Want to take a full theology course for free and hear it in words you can understand? Dr. Wayne Grudem has put the lessons for his Christian Essentials course online. It might be worth a listen.

New Prolife Strategy

Prolife advocates have begun to adopt a new strategy whereby they focus more on the supposed effects of an abortion on the mother rather than on the moral implications of killing the fetus. Frances Beckwith explains why this is shaky ground for prolifers and fails to really address the problem of abortion.

Happiness

Do you want to be a happier person? You might need to change the way you're thinking. Betsy Hart explains.

Nothing to say.

I don't really have anything important to say. I just haven't blogged on here for a while. I have been posting more recently at www.xanga.com/sumpteretc. Of course, I didn't really have anything important to say there, either.

We are going to Baguio tomorrow. We need to file an annual report with immigration. I think (hope) that just means paying a few bucks and walking out.

stolen bike

Just before prayer meeting tonight, Glenbert asked if he could talk to me. He said, "You know how I borrowed your bike a little bit ago? Well, I took it to the market, and somebody stole it." Glen is quite a joker, so I wasn't exactly sure if he was being serious, but this time, he was. Apparently, he parked it near the stand of one of our church members, but when he came back, it was gone. Nobody had seen anything. He reported the theft to the police, but I imagine that means almost nothing. Glen has offered to replace it but 1) I'm not sure he can afford to, and 2) we're only going to be here a few more months anyhow.

Tiff and I were talking the other day about emotional attachments, and I mentioned that I didn't think I was too heavily invested in anything. Maybe the bicycle is a small test of that. Honestly, I don't really care that much that my bike is gone. Probably students borrowing it have put more kilometers on it than I have. If I accept any payment from Glen, it won't be because I need it, but because he needs a lesson in responsibility.

This is not a lesson needed only by Glen. It seems like the students often fail to show care for a borrowed item. We bought a computer for the library, and in just a few weeks, the hard drive was corrupted and had to be reformatted. The students didn't care for it as they would if it were their own.

And the problem goes to the macro-level, too. This is one of the things that's wrong with paternalistic missions. If the sending nation is forever subsidizing pastors, building schools and hospitals, the receiving nation never learns to take responsibility. The building didn't cost us anything; why should we take care of it? And that probably goes on the governmental level as well. It's looked on as meddling (or imperialism) if the US government gets too hands-on in another country. But if the US only sends money and doesn't make sure that money is being used to set up systems of responsibility, it's almost sure to be foolishly spent.

Closed bakeries

I don't know what's going on with the bakeries here. For the third day in a row, I've had to walk past two bakeries with their windows shuttered before I could find a place open to sell me pan de sal. I'm going at about 5:30, but they're usually open well before that. In fact, they're often sold out by 6:00. Oh well, I pray while I walk, so I guess I've benefited by having a little longer walk than usual.

This morning, I was reading the passage in Luke where Jesus is comparing the leafing of the fig tree to the signs of His coming. I don't have a very well-defined eschatology, but I usually think of the coming of Christ as a scary thing. The Old Testament prophecies usually talk about the Day of the Lord as a day of doom and gloom. But there's almost always a glimmer of hope as the prophet recognizes that God has a plan to redeem and refine a remnant. I noticed today in the Luke passage a similar gleam of hope. Jesus said, "When you see all these things happening, lift up your heads because your redemption draws near." Sure, the earth will be shaken, and the moon will turn blood-red, and lots of awful things will be happening; but the point is that redemption is on its way. Then he uses the leaves appearing on the fig tree to demonstrate the nearness of the kingdom. Nobody sees leaves appearing on a tree and says, "Oh no, I guess it's all over for this tree." Of course not. They get excited because new growth is coming. So, when things look a little gloomy in this old dying world of us, we just need to learn to see them as leaves on the fig tree and remember that God's kingdom is going forward and it is near.

We had our first apologetics class of the new year today. We're starting to dig into discussing the trustworthiness of the New Testament. This has been my first time to study the dating and authorship of the New Testament books as well as the history of canonization in any kind of depth. It hasn't been too earth-shattering, but it has been interesting to note that there is some pretty good evidence for very early dates of the Gospels and even earlier for Paul's writings.

I couldn't be more embarrassed

Your Inner European is French!

Smart and sophisticated.You have the best of everything - at least, *you* think so.

Who's Your Inner European?

New Year's Day

Today was the birthday celebration of Filemon Agapito, our adoptive father while here in the Philippines. He turned 73 today, and he has plans to celebrate 27 more times. So far, so good. A little over a year ago, we spent a week living with the Agapito family out in their rural barangay. Tatang (father) is a mango farmer, who has served as barangay captain (sort of a village mayor) as well as serving on the General Board of Administration for the Wesleyan Church of the Philippines.

The celebration was pretty typical. We began with a mini-church service, then had well wishes for the birthday celebrant from members of his family. He gave his testimony and then we dove into a hearty spread of native dishes.

New Year's Eve

Well, 2006 is almost gone. I can tell by the nearly constant fireworks I'm hearing. And frankly, I'm not too sorry to see it go. The year had some good moments, but it seemed to hold a lot more questions than answers. I am looking forward to a clean slate in 2007 and am hoping and praying that I can make better use of it than I did this year.

I only transported three people to church this morning. When the students are off-campus, nobody is visiting their contacts out in the barangays. So some of the casual attendees slack off on their attendance. Of course, a lot of people are traveling for the holidays, too. I had just picked up my last rider in the barangay and was headed back out onto the main road when one of the ladies hollered at me to stop. Mr. Ambrocio, an older gentleman, had gotten in the back of the vehicle. Neither of the fold-down seats were folded down, but he didn't change that. He was just squatting in the back of the car, and apparently having some trouble doing so. I don't know if he didn't know how to fold the seats down or if he didn't think he should change something on my car. At any rate, I talked him into moving to the vacant front passenger seat.

We didn't have our English Sunday school class last week, so we had our Christmas lesson today. Mrs. Clark taught on the story of the Magi and the flight to Egypt. Pastor Bong preached on John 10:10 in the morning worship service, and we celebrated communion together. The elements today were cookies and Coke. Grape juice is pretty expensive and not readily available, so substitutes are often used. We also ran out of communion cups, so I only had a cookie.

After a nap, I got up and tried to do some thinking about budgeting for the new year. Even though I think we live pretty frugally, expenses don't seem to fall far short of income. I know when we move back to the US this spring, we're in for a reality check. A lot of our expenses are covered here that we're going to have to shell out for when we get back. Hopefully, we're able to still keep body and soul together and still have enough to give to others. I'm not losing any sleep over it.

Well, the fireworks are getting louder. In just a few minutes, we're having our new year's fellowship here on campus. It's not technically a watch-night service, just a little devotional time, some snack-eating and playing games. I personally would rather go to bed and get my new year started right (with a full night's sleep) but I realize that this is probably an important event to some, and I'm sure I will have fun.

A few choice tidbits from Epictetus

If you are told that such an one speaks ill of you, make no defence against what was said, but answer, He surely knew not my other faults, else he would not have mentioned these only!

In company avoid frequent and undue talk about your own actions and dangers. However pleasant it may be to you to enlarge upon the risks you have run, others may not find such pleasure in listening to your adventures...To border on coarse talk is also dangerous. On such occasions, if a convenient opportunity offer, rebuke the speaker. If not, at least by relapsing into silence, colouring, and looking annoyed, show that you are displeased with the subject.

When Xanthippe was chiding Socrates for making scanty preparation for entertaining his friends, he answered:—“If they are friends of ours, they will not care for that; if they are not, we shall care nothing for them!”

2007 Statistical Report

Thanks to Wendie for pointing out this article about the Census Bureau's 2007 Statistical Abstract of the United States.

Some of the statistics I found most interesting:

Americans spent more of their lives than ever — about eight-and-a-half hours a day — watching television, using computers, listening to the radio, going to the movies or reading. Adolescents and adults now spend, on average, more than 64 days a year watching television. 13 million created a blog.

Americans are getting fatter, but now drink more bottled water per person than beer.

More Americans were born in 2004 than in any years except 1960 and 1990. Meanwhile, the national divorce rate, 3.7 divorces per 1,000 people, was the lowest since 1970.

And, of course, one thing Americans produce more of is solid waste — 4.4 pounds per day, up from 3.7 pounds in 1980. What a delightful job it must be to work for the Census Bureau!

2007

OK Go

I know most of you have probably seen OK Go's treadmill video but if you somehow missed it, check it out. It's just amazing that they can shoot a whole video this complex in a single take. If you like that kind of thing, you might check out their footwork in this other video of theirs. We've come a long ways since Jamiroquai.

Atheism

Every religion has a different conception of God. There are some shared characteristics between the various faiths; for example, most religions claim that people need salvation. But when we begin to compare religions, we see that the differences are often far greater than the similarities. Each religion presents a fundamentally different way of attaining salvation. These basic differences are the things that make religions distinct; it is impossible to reconcile them. Logically, contradictory statements cannot all be true; either one picture of God is true, or all of them are false.

Some would say that each religion has a little bit of the truth, and that if you would combine all of the “little bits,” you would see the true God. Sometimes the story of the blind men and the elephant is used to illustrate this idea. Here’s a version of the story that I found on a Jain website.

Once upon a time, there lived six blind men in a village. One day the villagers told them, "Hey, there is an elephant in the village today."

They had no idea what an elephant was. They decided, "Even though we would not be able to see it, let us go and feel it anyway." All of them went where the elephant was. Every one of them touched the elephant.

"Hey, the elephant is a pillar," said the first man who touched his leg.

"Oh, no! It is like a rope," said the second man who touched the tail.

"Oh, no! It is like a thick branch of a tree," said the third man who touched the
trunk of the elephant.

"It is like a big hand fan" said the fourth man who touched the ear of the elephant.

"It is like a huge wall," said the fifth man who touched the belly of the elephant.

"It is like a solid pipe," said the sixth man who touched the tusk of the elephant.

They began to argue about the elephant and every one of them insisted that he was right. It looked like they were getting agitated. A wise man was passing by and he saw this. He stopped and asked them, "What is the matter?" They said, "We cannot agree to what the elephant is like." Each one of them told what he thought the elephant was like. The wise man calmly explained to them, "All of you are right. The reason every one of you is telling it differently is because each one of you touched the different part of the elephant. So, actually the elephant has all those features what you all said."

"Oh!" everyone said. There was no more fight. They felt happy that they were all right.

The moral of the story is that there may be some truth to what someone says. Sometimes we can see that truth and sometimes not because they may have different perspective which we may not agree to. So, rather than arguing like the blind men, we should say, "Maybe you have your reasons." This way we don’t get in arguments.

There is a problem with this story as an illustration, though. If God is the elephant and we are the blind men, who is the wise man that passes by to tell us about the big picture? There is no person who is standing far enough away from the situation to see the big picture. So this story which tries to show that nobody has a correct picture of God actually illustrates the opposite. To say that somebody has a complete and correct view of God—that they see the whole elephant—is exactly what this story says can’t happen. So, we have the question: What is God like? Which God exists?

In our past discussions, we have looked at some good reasons to believe that a God exists. We have also come up with a partial list of some of the characteristics or attributes that this God must have. From the cosmological and design arguments, we learned that God is necessary, powerful, transcendent, non-contingent, intelligent and personal. The moral argument told us that God has a moral will and purpose and that he is engaged in the world; that is, he cares about how people live. We can add one other item to our checklist; God is unique—there is nothing and no one else similar to him. If God meets all of the other characteristics we have listed, there could not be anything that exists except what he has created. No other god could exist.

So, we can make a checklist that will help us eliminate some false ideas of God. If you remember the story of Cinderella, you remember how the prince went around his kingdom with a glass slipper to find the girl he fell in love with at the ball. We can use our “glass slipper” to check out some ideas of God to see if it fits on them. Religions that deny these attributes must have a false view of God or, at least, needs to explain how their god can really exist. So let’s take our checklist and look for the real God.

The first worldview we will examine is atheism. The word ‘atheism’ comes from the negative ‘a’ which means ‘no’ and ‘theos’ which means ‘god.’ So, atheism in the simplest terms means ‘no god.’ Basically, atheism is the lack of belief in a god and/or the belief that there is no god. By contrast, theism is the belief that there is a God and that He is knowable. I need to mention that most atheists do not consider themselves anti-theists. Most consider themselves as non-theists.

Many atheists claim that atheism is not a belief system while others say it is. Since there is no official atheist organization, nailing down which definition of atheism to use can be difficult. Here are some definitions offered by atheists.
• "An atheist is someone who believes and/or knows there is no god."
• "An atheist lacks belief in a god."
• "An atheist exercises no faith in the concept of god at all."
• "An atheist is someone who is free from religious oppression and bigotry."
• "An atheist is someone who is a free-thinker, free from religion and its ideas."

Whichever definition you go by, atheism denies God.

There are two main categories of atheists: strong and weak, with variations in between. A strong atheist actively believes and states that no God exists. They expressly denounce the Christian God along with any other god. Strong atheists are usually more aggressive in their conversations with theists and try to shoot holes in theistic beliefs. They like to use logic and anti-biblical evidences to denounce God's existence.

Atheist philosopher Bertrand Russell would probably fall into this camp; he wrote:

Religion is based, I think, primarily and mainly upon fear. It is partly the terror of the unknown and partly, as I have said, the wish to feel that you have a kind of elder brother who will stand by you in all your troubles and disputes. Fear is the basis of the whole thing—fear of the mysterious, fear of defeat, fear of death. . . . Science can teach us, and I think our own hearts can teach us, no longer to look around for imaginary supports, no longer to invent allies in the sky, but rather to look to our own efforts here below to make this world a fit place to live in, instead of the sort of place that the churches in all these centuries have made it.

Weak atheists simply exercise no faith in God. The weak atheist might be better explained as a person who lacks belief in God the way a person might lack belief that there is a green lizard in a rocking chair on the moon; it isn't an issue. He doesn't believe or not believe it.

We look at the world through certain presuppositions. The atheist has a set of presuppositions, too. Here are some basic principles that atheists, as a whole, tend to adopt. Not all atheists would agree with all of these ideas; the only absolute common one they hold to is that they do not believe in a God or gods.

1. There is no God or devil.
2. There is no supernatural realm.
3. Miracles cannot occur.
4. There is no such thing as sin as a violation of God's will.
5. Generally, the universe is materialistic and measurable.
6. Man is material.
7. Generally, evolution is considered a scientific fact.
8. Ethics and morals are relative

Obviously, no version of this worldview matches up with any item on our checklist. Atheism rejects everything we discovered in the cosmological, design and moral arguments. But it does not provide adequate explanations for how the universe began, why there is such evidence of design in the universe, or why there is objective morality. Atheists have to rely on ideas like actual infinites in the real world, biological evolution and relativism; but, as we have seen, all of these ideas are seriously flawed.

Atheism isn’t actually a religion, but there is a religion that basically is atheistic. Buddhism doesn’t really rely on the existence of a God. God isn’t necessary in Buddhist philosophy; and, if God does exist, it doesn’t affect anything about Buddhist thought or practice. It is a godless religion.

While the arguments for the existence of God are strong ones, there are many people who have rejected them—even people whom the world considers important and intelligent. Sigmund Freud, Charles Darwin, Friedrich Nietzsche, Karl Marx, Francis Crick (one of the discoverers of DNA) and Thomas Edison were all atheists. Isaac Asimov is a respected author, but he doesn’t seem to appreciate any of the arguments for God’s existence. He wrote:

The notion of an eternal universe introduces a great many difficulties, some of them apparently (at least in the present state of our scientific knowledge) insuperable, but scientists are not disturbed by difficulties—those all make up the game. If all the difficulties were gone and all the questions answered, the game of science would be over.

In other words, he is saying that the atheistic worldview doesn’t make sense, but that science would rather keep looking for ways to make it make sense, instead of just accepting the existence of God.

Actually, true atheism is a self-refuting philosophy. There are no "proofs" that God does not exist in atheist circles, especially since you can't prove a negative regarding God's existence. Of course, I’m not saying that atheists haven’t tried to offer some proofs that God does not exist, but their “proofs” are always too limited. After all, how do you prove there is no God in the universe? How do you prove that in all places and all times, there is no God? You can't. If there were a proof of God’s non-existence, then atheists would be continually using it. But we don’t hear of any such commonly held proof supporting atheism or denying God’s existence. The atheist position is very difficult, if not impossible, to prove since it is an attempt to prove a negative. Therefore, since there are no proofs for atheism’s truth and there are no proofs that there is no God, the atheist must hold his position by faith.

There is only one way that atheism is intellectually defensible and that is in the realm of simple possibility. In other words, it may be possible that there is no God; but stating that something is possible doesn't mean that it is a reality or that it is wise to adopt the position. If I said it is possible that there is an ice cream factory on Jupiter, does that make it intellectually defensible or a position worth adopting merely because it is merely a possibility? So, simply claiming a possibility based on nothing more than it being a possible option, no matter how remote, is not sufficient grounds for atheists to claim viability in their atheism. They must come up with more than "It is possible," or "There is no evidence for God," otherwise, there really must be an ice cream factory on Jupiter and the atheist should start defending the position that Jupiter ice cream exists.

Some atheists understand this problem with their worldview, so they don’t claim that God doesn’t exist. At best, atheists can only say that there are no convincing evidences for God so far presented. They cannot say there are no evidences for God because the atheist cannot know all evidences that possibly exist in the world. At best, the atheist can only say that the evidence so far presented has been insufficient. This logically means that there could be evidences presented in the future that will be sufficient. The atheist has to admit that there may indeed be a proof that has so far been undiscovered and that the existence of God is possible. This would make the atheist more of an agnostic. In fact, this view is sometimes known as “strong agnosticism.”

Atheism fails all ten items on our checklist, so we can reject it as a possible way of understanding God. It doesn’t even have a foot to try our glass slipper on. So let’s move on to a related worldview—agnosticism.

Filipino English

One thing that always amazes me is the Filipino use of the thesaurus. That's the only way I can envision them coming up with sentences filled with the grandest English vocabulary. Witness this proclamation from the judge in the just-completed Subic Bay Marine rape case: The rapist will go to prison for 40 years, in order "to protect women against the unbridled bestiality of persons who cannot control their libidinous proclivity." Well, who wouldn't want to restrict libidinous proclivity?

Harvest Day San Jose

We were out of bed at 4:30 this morning and getting ready for our trip to Barangay San Jose, Sudipen, La Union for Harvest Day. Our school doesn't receive enough in the way of finances to tackle necessary building projects, so we have a number of "Harvest Days" to try to raise funds for these needs. This year we are raising money to replace the ladies' dorm which is much too small and has nearly been destroyed by termites. We schedule a certain Sunday for each of our supporting districts and then all of the faculty and a number of the students spread out over that district to conduct promotional services in each of the local churches. Today was the Harvest Day for the Northwestern Luzon District.

We packed six students into our car with us and dropped them off at various churches along the way to our destination. We had never traveled this route exactly, but with a map and my GPS receiver, we made it through okay. We took a "shortcut" at one point that included some unpaved roads. We weren't too sure about that one, but it got us to where we needed to go well enough that I used the same route on the way home.

Changing money

We were about out of pesos in our personal cash today, so I made a trip to Urdaneta this morning. The first money-changer I went to cashed $300, but she wouldn't accept the other two $100 bills. She said something about not having those serial numbers yet. I went to another money changer, and she took my money and told me to have a seat. After she finished with another customer, she called me back to the counter and told me she didn't have any cash and that I should go back to the other money-changer. I tried a money-changer in the mall, and she also told me she had no cash.

Look who's back...back again

Okay, I know it's been forever since I posted, but honestly, life's been a little too crazy lately. We had to make an emergency trip to the United States for three weeks due to a death in my wife's family. We've been back in the Philippines for almost a week now. I think we're finally over our jetlag and we're almost all healthy again.

So, it's time to get back to work. I really tried to knuckle down today. We left the week of finals, so there were lots of requirements that had been handed in and finals that hadn't been graded. We had the students submit things to the academic dean while we were gone, so I headed over to his house to collect the submissions. It was pouring down rain (as it did all day today; we're in the midst of a typhoon), so I carried an umbrella and picked my way carefully across campus. Along the way, I stopped at a couple of other faculty houses to drop off some chocolates we had brought back from the US. Most of the other faculty were just getting their day started; they had gone out of town to hold promotional services over the weekend and had returned late last night. The academic dean gave me the papers I needed. I asked if there was a schedule for this semster's classes (which starts next Monday). He said he was working on it.

Back at home, I sat down and began working on grading missions papers. There were only 12 students in that class, but it seemed like I wasn't able to get very far. They each wrote a paper on a world religion and on an Asian country. I got most of the world religion papers read, but I haven't even started on the country reports. I got interrupted several times because we are trying to start Elijah on "school" this week. We found some interesting curriculum at letteroftheweek.com. I had read most of the material, but Tiffany was the one teaching, so she had to ask me for direction a few times. I think it was a bit of a rough start, but we'll keep trying and hopefully he'll begin to find it a part of his routine. We're also working on potty-training him, but we're very much in the beginning stages of that.

Anyhow, back to grading papers. Finally, I switched to grading philosophy papers. There were 20 students in that class, and they also had 2 papers each. One was supposed to be a personal life philosophy. That was a hard one to grade, primarily because none of the students seemed to understand what I was asking for. I wanted them to give their personal answers to the big questions of life, like "What is real?", "What is true?", "Is there meaning to existence?", etc. Instead, what I got was a hodgepodge of testimonies, pity sayings, description of their ideal spouses, etc. Then there was one girl had a typewritten paper of about 3400 words, which was a little hard to grade alongside another which was about 80 words scrawled on a piece of typing paper.

The other paper was even worse.

Elijah trying to learn to crawl

Elijah eating carrots

My Pirate Name

My pirate name is:

Mad Roger Flint

Every pirate is a little bit crazy. You, though, are more than just a little bit. Like the rock flint, you're hard and sharp. But, also like flint, you're easily chipped, and sparky. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network

The Church Fellowship

Here's the sermon I preached in chapel this morning. It's based on an outline by Steven Olford. I welcome your comments.

This month, we are talking about another one of the reasons that we’re here on earth. We are formed for God’s family. In other words, we are not meant to live life on our own; we are meant to live in fellowship with other Christians. And this is one of those areas where I think Filipinos have a naturally far greater understanding than Americans.
Here in the Philippines and, really throughout Asia, there is an emphasis on doing things as a group, in living in cooperation with other people. In the United States, the hero is always the person who goes against everyone else, bravely fighting against all odds for some noble cause. American literature and American movies are full of people like the Lone Ranger and others, who stand alone against the forces of evil.
Courageous independence makes for exciting stories, but it’s not a good pattern for a Christian life. In fact, I would say that it’s almost impossible to live a healthy Christian life in isolation. I know that there are rare occasions where someone is the only Christian in their village or someone is in prison for their faith and can’t meet with other Christians, and I believe that in those cases, God gives them a special grace to live alone. But, if we have the opportunity to meet with other brothers and sisters in Christ and to live and work in fellowship with them, and we refuse to do that, it will almost certainly lead us to spiritual coldness, uselessness and backsliding. I think that’s what the writer to the Hebrews had in mind when he wrote, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Heb. 10:24-25). It is so important that we be in fellowship with other Christians; we were formed for God’s family!
To help us understand this principle of fellowship, I want to look at two passages that show us how it was practiced in the early church. I don’t suppose there’s ever been a more successful and Spirit-filled church than the first century church in the days just after Pentecost, and we can learn a lot from studying the way that church functioned. Let’s get our Bibles out and turn to Acts 2, and read Luke’s description of this early church. Acts 2, starting with verse 41: 41Those who accepted his [Peter’s] message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. 42They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
In a few minutes, we’ll look at another passage of Scripture where Paul gives some instructions on fellowship, but let’s stop and notice some things about the fellowship that this early church was practicing.
The first thing I want to notice is the membership of the fellowship of the church. Verse 42 says, “They devoted themselves to the…fellowship.” The Bible tells us that membership in the fellowship of the church is both exclusive and inclusive.
First, the church’s membership is exclusive in its constitution. When I say that the church’s membership is exclusive, I mean that not everyone is a member of the church; some people are excluded. Everyone on earth is God’s creation, but not all people are God’s children. Verse 41 says, “Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.” The only people who can really have fellowship in the church are those who have accepted Jesus Christ. Our relationship with other Christians is based, first of all, upon our relationship with Christ himself. Only true Christians can enjoy Christian fellowship. We can have unsaved friends, but we can never really have true fellowship with someone who doesn’t know our Savior.
In the early church, we see that all of the members of the church—of their fellowship—had some things in common. First, they all had experienced conviction of sin. Look back at verse 37: “When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’” Their membership in the church also required a conversion of life. That means that the members had given up their sins, had placed their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and had received the gift of the Holy Spirit. Verse 38 says: “Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’” And all the members had a third thing in common. They had all made a public confession of faith. In verse 41, we read: “Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.” So, the church’s membership was exclusive; only those who had been convicted of their sin, been converted to Christ and made a confession of faith were included.
But there is another sense in which we could say that the church’s membership is inclusive in its composition. Look at verse 39 to see who is included in the offer of fellowship. “The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” Do you remember who Peter was preaching to on the Day of Pentecost? Verse 5 tells us that there were Jewish listeners gathered in Jerusalem “from every nation under heaven.” So when Peter says “you and your children,” he is already being very inclusive. But just to make sure that everyone understands who God is including in his plan of salvation, Peter adds that the promise of the Holy Spirit is also to “all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
Even though the membership and fellowship of the church is only open to those who have accepted Christ, there is no limitation or distinction of class or color. When Jesus died on Calvary he died for all of us, whether we’re white or brown, rich or poor, high society or homeless. In John 6:37, Jesus says, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” He doesn’t turn anyone away from his church, no matter what they look like or where they came from. Romans 2:11 says, “For God does not show favoritism.” All people are the same in his eyes. That’s why we can look forward to that day in heaven when we will see what the apostle John saw. In Revelation 5:9, John witnesses the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders falling down before the Lamb that was slain, and he writes, “And they sang a new song: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.’” And in chapter 7, John says, “After this I looked and there was before me a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.” Yes, the fellowship of the church has an exclusive membership in that only Christians can be a part, but I praise God that it’s inclusive enough to include you and me and anyone else who is willing to accept Christ’s offer of grace.
The second thing I want us to look at is the maintenance of the fellowship of the church. How was the early church able to maintain a good spirit and life of fellowship? Again, verse 42 tells us that “they devoted themselves . . . to the fellowship.” As we study the New Testament and the regular habits of the local churches, we discover two important elements that maintained the life and health and growth of the Christian community.
The first element was the fellowship of meeting. You can’t really call yourself a member of a community or a fellowship, if you never get together with the other members of that fellowship. When Paul writes to the Corinthian church, he refers to the occasions “when you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus” (1 Corinthians 5:4). When we look closely at the expression “assembled,” we discover that the main reason for their meeting wasn’t to preach evangelistic messages or to be a public witness to the world. They were gathering together primarily for fellowship in Christ.
Paul describes one of these Christian meetings in 1 Corinthians 14. Let’s see how services were conducted in those early days of the church. 1 Corinthians 14, beginning in verse 26 and continuing through the end of the chapter:
26What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church. 27If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. 28If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God. 29Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. 30And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. 31For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. 32The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. 33For God is not a God of disorder but of peace. As in all the congregations of the saints, 34women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. 35If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church. 36Did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people it has reached? 37If anybody thinks he is a prophet or spiritually gifted, let him acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord’s command. 38If he ignores this, he himself will be ignored. 39Therefore, my brothers, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. 40But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.
In this chapter, Paul is describing what services were like in the first years of the church, at least in the church at Corinth. One person would lead a hymn or a song of praise. Another would come with a word of instruction, some exposition of truth. Yet another would share a revelation, a declaration of some inner and secret experience of Christ. Some person who was going through great suffering would give a testimony of how God had blessed them, and others who were feeling sad would be uplifted. A working man, in his rough, honest speech, would tell of a victory in his life, helping other Christians to see how they could deal with the struggles in their lives. The quiet ministry of some gifted brother or sister would stimulate growth in the things of God.
There seem to have been two principles that were to guide the gatherings of the believers. They are found in verses 26 and 40. First, “all of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.” In other words, every part of the meeting should be conducted in a spirit of helpfulness. As Christians sang or testified or spoke, they should be thinking about how their ministry would benefit the other Christians there. Second, “Everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.” In other words, there should be a spirit of harmony; because, as verse 33 reminds us, “God is not a God of disorder but of peace.”
When John Wesley was living and the Methodist church was seeing great growth and revival, the center of the church’s life were fellowship meetings known as “class meetings.” A leader in another denomination once commented that if he could convince his church to start class meetings, he would do it immediately and he would require every member of their church to attend them.
So, meeting together is the first thing we have to do to maintain the health of our Christian community. The second element is the fellowship of serving.
In 2 Corinthians 8:4, Paul talks about “the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints.” Another version calls it the “fellowship of ministering to the saints.” If you were to take a Greek lexicon and trace the word “fellowship” and the other English words that are used to translate that idea, you would find that all of the ministries carried out in the church are ministries of sharing. The Bible does talk about the use of individual spiritual gifts, but it never talks about using those gifts to benefit oneself or using them outside of the context of the fellowship of believers. All gifts and all ministries are designed to work together. Nobody has all of the gifts, so that we all have to depend upon each other and so that no one will be selfish with the gifts that they’ve been given. This is why the Bible uses the human body as a picture of the church. No one member can afford to lose any other members; they are all needed and they all share in the function of the whole body.
We would have no trouble growing our churches, and we would have no trouble maintaining them, if we would develop this spirit of sharing in our meeting together and serving together.
Stephen Olford tells about listening to an African elder, who was preaching about the need for Christian fellowship. As he spoke, he used an illustration that his fellow tribesmen would easily understand. He said, “You know as well as I do that the secret of warmth, light and happiness in our grass huts is to keep the fire in the center of the mud floor burning brightly. This can only be done by keeping the burning logs close to each other. Let one of them roll away from the others and its flame dies out, and it begins to smoke, smell and become useless. That is just like Christian fellowship. As long as we keep close together we are warm, full of light and happiness, but when anyone slips away, we know it at once; there is coldness and uselessness.” It is so important for us to maintain our fellowship, by faithfully meeting together and serving each other.
In our remaining time this morning, I want us to look at some of the manifestations of the fellowship of the church. Verses 42 and 43 say, “They devoted themselves to . . . fellowship . . . and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.” As we look at these verses in the last part of Acts 42, we see several signs or manifestations of what true Christian fellowship should look like. It’s amazing to see the unity and the joy and the effectiveness of this early church! Some commentaries would say that the experience was just a temporary arrangement, made possible by the large number of new Christians in Jerusalem. That may be true, but I think we would have to admit that every part of their love for each other and their pattern of doing life together was created and controlled by the Holy Spirit. And since we still live in the age of the Holy Spirit, and he is still at work in our world, surely we ought to be seeing the same manifestations of fellowship in our churches today. In fact, if we would read this passage alongside Matthew 5 through 7, I think we would see that the fellowship enjoyed by the early church was an outworking of the Sermon on the Mount, which certainly would still apply to us today.
Let’s quickly notice seven distinctive manifestations of fellowship in this early church.
First, there was a distinctive ministry. Verse 43 says, “Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.” There was an unusual kind of ministry taking place in their gatherings. People weren’t just coming to church to sit in their chairs and listen to a sermon. There was a reverence, a sense of awe. When the believers came together for fellowship, they understood that they were meeting with God. And there was good reason for that reverence; the Christians were witnessing the supernatural power of God at work in their services. Miracles were taking place.
It’s sad to say this, but most of us don’t really believe that God can or will show up like that in our service. We say, “Oh, that’s fine for the charismatics and Pentecostals; that’s fine for Jesus Miracle Crusade.” But we don’t really expect God to work supernatural wonders and signs in our local congregations. Brothers and sisters, I think it’s time for us to start expecting God to show up in our services. If there’s nothing going on in our churches that’s unexplainable—if there’s nothing in our churches that can’t be done by human power—then I’m not sure we’re really having church! There should be something miraculous, something supernatural, something Spirit-filled and Spirit-inspired in our fellowship. Every one of us should be able to testify to the miracles we’ve seen in our congregations. I’m not talking about some person who had a cold and started feeling better ten years ago, but something that can’t be explained by anything other than the power of God.
Another sign of the fellowship in the early church was that they experienced a distinctive unity. In verse 44, we read, “All the believers were together and had everything in common.” It’s not natural for people to get along with each other; it’s not easy for people to share everything they have. But that’s what the early church did. And the world around them stood back and said, “See how they love one another!”
In the first verse of Psalm 133, David sings, “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity.” The phrase “when brothers live together in unity” is similar to a phrase used in Deuteronomy 25:5 to refer to an extended family living together. This goes beyond smooth interpersonal relations; we ought to live with our brothers and sisters in Christ as though they were our actual biological brothers and sisters living with us. It’s a kind of unity where we never claim any property as our own, but where our attitude is always, “If you need it, it’s yours.”
A third demonstration of the early church’s fellowship was their distinctive charity. In verse 45, we read: “Selling their possessions and goods, [all the believers] gave to anyone as he had need.” As long as the Christians kept their spirit of fellowship, there was no one among them who could be called needy.
A fourth expression of their fellowship was a distinctive dependability. In verse 46, Luke tells us that “every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes.” They were faithful to love each other, and they were faithful to gather for fellowship. They didn’t have to be begged to come to church; they didn’t have to be threatened before they would show love for each other.
I mentioned this earlier, but it is important for us to be faithful in gathering together with other believers in the local church. Hebrews 10:23-25 says: “23Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” If the believers met daily in those early years, and we are supposed to be encouraging each other all the more as we get closer to Christ’s return, how can we expect to have a good fellowship when we only see each other for an hour or two on Sunday morning? And it’s important that, not only are we meeting together, but that we are showing hospitality, opening our hearts and our homes to each other. In Romans 12:13, Paul says, “Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.” Don’t just be willing to accommodate someone when they ask you, but go out of your way to invite them into your home and, more importantly, into your life.
A fifth manifestation of their fellowship was a distinctive radiancy. There was a light of joy that shone out through them. In verse 46, it says “they . . . ate together with glad . . . hearts.” The word “glad” is an important word. It’s the word that the angel used when he announced the birth of John the Baptist to Zacharias in Luke 1:14. It means a natural, uncontainable joy that can’t be made up and can’t be held back. It’s the same quality of joy that we see when the church experiences revival.
C.H. Spurgeon once said, “A genuine revival without joy in the Lord is as impossible as spring without flowers, or day-dawn without light.”
Sixth, the early church fellowship had a distinctive purity. Verse 46 not only says that they ate together with glad hearts but also that they ate together with sincere hearts. The Greek word that is translated “sincere” is an interesting word; it doesn’t appear anywhere else in the New Testament. It was originally used to describe the smoothness of soil that doesn’t have any stones in it. Later, it began to mean an evenness or simplicity of character. These early Christians had the spiritual quality of transparency and openness. There were no hidden stones in the soil of their heart. They wanted God’s best for them, and they wanted to give their best for God. They didn’t hold anything back; there were no secret areas of their lives, no areas where God wasn’t free to move, and no areas where their brothers and sisters weren’t allowed to confront them.
We don’t have time to really explore the basis and the beauty of the purified life, but let’s just take a moment to read 1 John 1:5-10: “5This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 8If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.” You see in verse 7 that purity and fellowship go hand in hand. When we are walking in the light, we have fellowship with each other and we are purified from all unrighteousness.
Finally, we see that this early fellowship of believers had a distinctive liberty. In verse 47, it says that they were “praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.” There was nothing holding them back; they had thrown off their limitations and their inhibitions. And spiritually hungry people saw this freedom in Christ—they saw this fellowship in Christ—and it was so attractive that they were drawn to the church and to Jesus. That doesn’t mean that the church compromised in any way. What Luke is saying is that the fellowship of the believers was so convincing and so captivating that people couldn’t help but admire it. And, as a result, “the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”
Liberty in Jesus will attract the unbeliever. People don’t come to church and to Jesus because they need more rules in their lives. They come because they see other Christians who are experiencing a freedom in their lives, a freedom from sin but also a freedom in Christ to worship God without holding anything back.
My prayer today is that there will be an army of churches that will rise up guarded by the Holy Spirit in their membership, guided by the Holy Spirit in their maintenance, and governed by the Holy Spirit in their manifestations. I pray that, through these churches—through these believers living in fellowship—the world will see that Jesus lives, and that daily we will see added to our churches those who are being saved. We were formed for God’s family; we were made for fellowship.

Midterms

I didn't do much today besides write a couple of midterm examinations. I'm a little worried that the students aren't going to do too well. I tried to make the exams a little easier than usual, but things are conspiring against their success. A former president of the college has come to teach a module on major and minor prophets for the third-year students. Consequently, those students are spending 5 hours a day in that class as well as a couple hours of work each day. That doesn't leave much time for study. I wish there were some way around this, but there doesn't seem to be. There won't be any classes next week, because the Luzon Regional Ministerial Conference is being held here on campus. All of the students have to go home to make room for the dozens of pastors who will be coming in. Then, the following week, the third year students will continue their module.

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Elijah and laundry

Dr. Turner was sick yesterday, so I ended up teaching three class periods. Consequently, I was able to finish up my Malachi class this morning. I have the devotional time tomorrow, and I probably will preach in Dandi or somewhere on Sunday, but other than that, my responsibilities are almost over.
I covered the 4th chapter of Malachi today. It’s mostly a warning about the coming “day of the LORD” with its judgment on the wicked and the satisfaction and joy of the righteous. It was a little bit smoother sailing than yesterday. There are several verses in chapter 3 that are difficult to translate, and therefore difficult to understand and apply. The biggest difficulty in chapter 4 is deciding whether or not John the Baptist fulfilled the prophecy of Elijah’s return in verses 5 and 6. John’s dad prophesies that he will minister in the spirit and power of Elijah, and Jesus says that John the Baptist was Elijah, if you can accept it. But John the Baptist explicitly said that he wasn’t Elijah. The answer is possibly found in Matthew 17, where Jesus says, “Elijah comes” after John the Baptist died. So, it seems that John was the fulfillment of Malachi 3:1 but not Malachi 4:5-6. Elijah may be one of the two witnesses who stand in the streets and preach for 3 ½ years during the Tribulation (if you can accept it). Aren’t you glad you read that paragraph? Time well spent.
Anyhow, there was a power outage shortly after class, so that put a damper on my plans to do laundry. I had some battery left on my computer, so I went online to check e-mail and chatted for a few moments with a high school buddy, Rick, and my erstwhile Yahoo! Spades partner, Weezy. Rick just got back from a missions trip to Yakama Indian Reservation, so we chatted about that a little, until I ran out of battery.
When the power came back on, I did enough laundry to get me through the rest of the trip. Doing laundry is a blog of its own, but the short version is: You fill 2 or 3 buckets of water from a faucet in the shower. You dump them in the washing machine and add some soap. Then you put the clothes in and start the timer. The timer ticks but the machine doesn’t agitate. You decide the load’s too heavy, so you take some clothes out. You continue taking out more and more clothes. Soon all the clothes are out, but it’s still not agitating. You worry that you burned out the motor. You go ask Mrs. Turner if there’s some trick to making the washer agitate. She suggests flipping the switch on the outlet. You go back to the bathroom and flick the switch. The washer begins agitating. You put the clothes back in. You take the jeans back out, because they’re too heavy. After a few minutes, you take some other clothes out and put the jeans back in. After a few more minutes, you take all the clothes out and drain the water into the shower. You rinse out the washer tub and add 2 or 3 more buckets of water. You put the clothes back in, sans jeans, natch, and rinse for a while. Etc., etc. You get the picture.

Jehoshaphat

I led devotions again today. This time, I focused on the story of Jehoshaphat from 2 Chronicles 20. If you don’t remember the story, I would encourage you to read it for yourself, but I’ll give you the synopsis with a few things I gleaned from it. Jehoshaphat was about to face a big problem. The Moabites and Ammonites were getting ready to attack Judah. Then, Jehoshaphat gets a message that the Edomites have decided this would be a good time to launch their attack as well. So, Judah is facing three armies, any one of which would stand a decent chance of destroying them. I drew from this story three keys for facing our enemies.

The first thing Jehoshaphat did was called all of the people in Judah together for a time of prayer and fasting. Jehoshaphat gathered the people in the temple courtyard and prayed, “Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you. . . . We have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.” The first step in facing our enemy is to acknowledge our weakness and God’s strength; we do that through fasting and prayer. When I was an associate pastor at El Dorado Springs, I really saw this put into action. When Pastor Joe first came to the church, he preached on prayer every service for weeks in a row. At first, the people thought they had made a mistake in calling such a “one-track” pastor, but eventually they got the message and began to pray. Many prayer ministries started—pastor’s prayer partners, Week of Waiting, 24 hours of prayer and fasting, 40 days of prayer and fasting. One of the most powerful ministries was Gideon’s Army. This was a group of about 50 people who met every Sunday night following the evening service. They would choose one unsaved person in the community and corporately agree to pray for that person during that week. They specifically prayed that God would bring conviction to that person’s heart. Many times, that person would be in the service the following Sunday, white-knuckling the pew in front of them. We saw many people come to Christ as a result of the prayers of Gideon’s Army.

The next thing that happened in Jehoshaphat’s story was that a prophet named Jahaziel stood up. He gave some words of encouragement that God had heard their prayer. And then he gives some strategic advice. He tells Jehoshaphat that the battle is not his; it’s God’s. Jehoshaphat won’t even have to fight. “Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you.” That sounds like pretty good advice in theory—just stand still and let God fight your battle for you. But it’s a lot harder to put into practice when the enemy is (or three enemies are) marching toward you. Many of us have a hard time with standing still. We have our own ideas about how our enemies should be handled, and they rarely include inaction. But that’s what Jehoshaphat had to be willing to do. So, that’s the second step—patience and faithfulness.

Finally, the morning comes, and it’s time for Jehoshaphat to go and face the battle. He chooses an unusual strategy. He puts the choir in the front lines of his army. Not swords, not lances, not cavalry, not archers—singers. They march to the battleground, singing and praising God. Apparently they got a late start, because they missed the entire battle. While Judah was still on their way, the armies of Moab and Ammon allied against the army of Edom and destroyed it. Then, a dispute broke out between their two armies and they completely annihilated each other. So when Jehoshaphat and the army/choir of Judah arrived, there was nothing left to do except pick up the spoils of war. Pretty cool, huh?

So, in case you weren’t paying attention, the three steps were:
1. Prayer and fasting
2. Patience and faithfulness
3. Praise and worship (anybody have a synonym for worship that starts with F?)
If we could really learn to put those three things into practice, we might find that God fights a lot of our battles for us and we could enjoy more of the blessings he wants to give us.

We made it a little farther in Malachi today. I only have three more days to teach, so I need to accelerate it a bit. Today, we finished up discussing his second oracle, which is about honoring God, and started into his third oracle, which is about being faithful (or, at least, not being unfaithful). In Malachi 2, he gives us a good picture of what a minister should be, probably drawn from the life of Phinehas. You may not be a vocational minister, but you might find these good qualities to develop in your own life:
1. He revered God. He always showed God proper respect and honor.
2. He stood in awe of God’s name.
3. True instruction was in his mouth.
4. Nothing false was found on his lips.
5. He walked with God in peace and uprightness.
6. He turned many from sin.

Vapi church

Yesterday presented a new challenge. Pastor Linus Justin arranged for me to come to his church and preach in the morning service. I had brought a few sermons along for just that eventuality, so I wasn’t too stressed (although I wasn’t really sure what the best approach for this particular congregation was). I had to preach through an interpreter, but I’m getting lots of practice teaching with translation in our Bible class. This was a little different, though, because Linus’s native tongue is Gujarati, but he was translating from English into Hindi. Can you imagine trying to translate from your 3rd language into your 2nd language? Of course not. You’re American; you only speak one language.
Preaching wasn’t the challenge, though. The congregation sings songs in both Hindi and English, but Linus wanted them to learn some new English songs. So he asked me to teach them. Some of you have had the distinct, um, privilege of hearing me sing; some of you perhaps remain yet unscarred. At any rate, I plunged ahead and taught them “Holy, Holy” and “Great Is Thy Faithfulness.” A capella, no less. As part of my welcome, I was again presented with flowers—this time, a heavy garland to wear around my neck.
The church meets in an apartment building. Most of the residents are Hindu, but they have not given the church any problems. The church has over 50 members. Most of them are migrants to Vapi from other parts of India; that’s why the service is held in English and Hindi. Vapi is a major industrial center, drawing workers from around the country to its factories. Often, church members have to work on Sundays, so we had about 35 in attendance. Honestly, that’s about all the chairs there were. Some latecomers sat on a carpet in the front of the church, until they were invited to take the last available chairs.
Most of the congregation came forward and shook my hand after the service. After many had departed, Linus introduced me to several of the non-Christian visitors to the service. One was a Hindu family that he is meeting with each Friday. Linus brought each member of the family to me and told me a prayer request for them. I would then lay my hand on that person’s shoulder and pray over them. One was beginning a job as a teacher; one was beginning college. Another was suffering from physical problems; another looking for a job. Finally, he introduced another lady to me who still has not converted but is reading the Bible every day. She asked me to pray that she would understand what God is trying to tell her through the Scriptures. It was so incredible to have that one-on-one contact with these people and to pray over them.
We stopped for soft drinks on the way home and chatted some more and then came back to Pardi for lunch. We had a bit of a nap, and then I had a good chat with the Turners about our future ministry endeavors. Tiffany and I will still have a lot of conversation and prayer about this before it’s all over, but I felt like this talk really did help narrow my focus a little bit.
For the evening meal, we went to the house of Seema’s family. Seema is Linus’ wife. The food was excellent, and topped off with some ice cream. We spent some time looking at the wedding photos of Seema’s brother Anand and his bride Joyana (who was there also). It looks like there are a lot of similarities with American weddings, but a few differences.
This morning, I led the devotional time. I talked about the confrontation between Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel. I have used this a few different places, so I may have blogged about it before. If so, just hear it again. Here’s the short version. 1. Elijah preaches a sermon. It’s a great sermon, but the peoples’ response is silence. 2. Elijah proposes a program. He suggests a contest between Yahweh and Baal; the peoples’ response is: “Yeah, that’s a good idea.” 3. Elijah prays and God shows up. God sends fire that consumes the sacrifice, the wood, the rocks, the dirt, the water. The peoples’ response? They fall on their faces and say, “Yahweh is God! Yahweh is God!” Moral of the story: You can preach great sermons, you can have wonderful programs, but if you’re going to really see people respond, you’re going to have to pray for God to show His power.

Vapi visit

This morning, we went to visit the Wesleyan English Medium School in Vapi. We have over 700 students attending, from nursery to 10th standard (whatever that means). We had a quick look inside their computer lab and then were ushered onto a dais, where we looked out at the entire student body gathered before us. The students had charge of a special welcome program for us. They gave little speeches of welcome, sang a welcome song, sang a prayer song, personally welcomed each of us and gave us each a bouquet of flowers. Then, each of us had to make brief remarks to the students. Finally, we were released from being public spectacles and allowed to continue touring the school building.

Malachi's First Oracle: Respond to God's Love

I woke up this morning at about 5:30. The Turners were up shortly thereafter, and we had breakfast together. At 8:30, we met with the students for a devotional time. Dr. Turner is doing a series of devotionals on life lessons from the story of Noah. He will give devotionals for the rest of this week. I’m not sure but I may be in charge of giving devotionals all next week.

I teach the first class period from 9:00 to 9:45. Yesterday, I gave the students a bit of an introduction to the book of Malachi. Today, we began to tackle the actual content. It’s a little challenging to teach with a translator, but Linus does an excellent job. We only covered the first 5 verses of the book today, but because the book only has about 45 verses, we should be right on track. I’m not sure I can actually fill 10 days of class with the content I have right now, but we’ll see. I have about 32 pages of notes, but I’ve gone through 7 of them in 2 days. The students seemed to be tracking along, and some even responded when I asked for questions at the end.

The first five verses of Malachi are about God’s great love for his people. Israel had enjoyed many, many blessings from God. He had chosen, by his own power and grace, to bless Jacob’s descendants more than he blessed Esau’s descendants. To Israel, he had given the Law, the temple, the priests, the judges, the prophets, etc. Both Israel and Edom had become wicked, and God punished them by sending them into captivity in Babylon. But, because of God’s great love, he brought Israel out of captivity and restored them to their homeland. One hundred years passed. Israel was under Persian domination, the crops were less than satisfactory and God had not yet ushered in his Messianic kingdom. In the face of these negative circumstances, Israel began to complain that God didn’t love them. They overlooked 1000 years of God’s loving provision and blessing to complain about the few things they didn’t have in the present. They forgot about the covenant God had made with Abraham and Isaac. They forgot how God chose them before Jacob was even born. They forgot how God delivered them from slavery in Egypt. They forgot how God had protected them in the wilderness. They forgot how God had given them the land of Canaan. They forgot how God had sent judges to deliver them from the messes they got themselves into. They forgot how God had brought them out of captivity, while he left Edom under Babylonian bondage. They forgot how God had allowed them to rebuild their temple, while the Edomites were again attacked by the Nabatean Arabs and forced out of their land. Their current circumstances blinded them to the overarching love God had shown them.

Malachi does a great job of pointing out the ingratitude typical of the human experience. God gave Adam and Eve thousands of trees in the Garden, but they fixated on the one tree they weren’t allowed to have. Are you there? Do you focus on one negative in your life, forgetting a long history of God’s gracious acts toward you? I know I really struggle with cynicism and a complaining spirit. I’m praying that God will help me to remember how he has worked in my life, so that I will never ask accusingly, like Israel did, “How have you loved us?”

Well, enough preaching for one blog. After class, I got online and posted my blog from last night and read a few e-mails. I tried to talk to Tiffany, but she was probably putting Elijah down for his nap. I went back to the apartment and continued class preparation. I think I’m more or less prepared for the rest of the time I will spend here. We talked a little about my plans for the end of this trip. I don’t fly out until the evening of the 24th, but I may try to go to Mumbai on the 23rd and spend the night in a hotel. That would give me a chance to run out and get the geocache on Elephant Island, do some souvenir shopping, and still get to the airport in plenty of time. Hopefully, I could leave my luggage there for a while, so that I don’t have to lug it all over the city.
I’m still keeping my ear to the ground about the situation in Mumbai, though. If things heat up any more, I will scrap the whole thing, go directly to the airport on Monday evening and get out of the country with the least bother possible.

I’m really hoping I get a chance to do one day of sightseeing. I really am seeing a very tiny slice of India. This village is about 50,000 people, but we don’t really leave the campus. We may do a little grocery shopping or something tomorrow; I’m not sure.

India

I’m in India! On Monday afternoon, I flew from Manila to Bangkok on Thai Airways. In the Bangkok airport, I met Dr. and Mrs. Paul Turner, the Asia area directors for Global Partners. We flew on from Bangkok to Mumbai, arriving around 10:30 p.m. India time. After a long wait at the baggage carousel and a stop at the currency exchange to buy some rupees, we were greeted by Dr. Samuel Justin and his son Linus. For many years, Dr. Justin was the regional superintendent for the West India conference of the Wesleyan Church; his son Joel now holds that office. We got into their vehicle and immediately headed for the village of Pardi in Gujarat State. It was raining (this is monsoon season), so it took a little more than three hours for us to reach our destination. The time here is 2 ½ hours earlier than in Manila, so we had basically been up all night, although I did doze off and on along the way. When we arrived in Pardi, the Justins showed us to our apartment. It’s a two-bedroom apartment in a building consisting of a chapel, classrooms, etc. The accommodations are a little primitive by Western standards but very satisfactory for our needs. I put up my mosquito net, climbed into bed and fell asleep immediately.

Tuesday was, more or less, a day of rest and preparation. After we were all up and around and had a very late breakfast, we headed to Vapi, a nearby industrial center. We went to a grocery store and picked up some supplies—breakfast items, snacks, etc. While there, we were privileged to meet Linus’ wife Seema, who is the headmistress of the Wesleyan English Medium School, as well as one of their computer teachers. The school has just added the tenth standard and has about 700 students. I was given a very attractive school magazine with lots of color photos, student artwork, poems, etc. We also stopped at a local pharmacy, where Mrs. Turner ordered some medicine, available here at nearly ¼ of U.S. prices. We spent most of the rest of the day in rest and preparation for classes. We are taking our lunch and supper with the Justins. I can’t easily describe the food, except to say that it is very agreeable. We usually have rice of some variety, although it is different from what we eat in the Philippines. There is always chapatti—bread made by grinding grain into flour and adding water to make dough, which is then kneaded, rolled, and baked flat. There is also some kind of similar bread that is fried in oil. The main protein dish is usually some kind of meat or lentil stew, flavored with curry and/or other spices.

62%

Tiff's been complaining about the fact that our back yard turns into a swamp every time she does a load of laundry, and I wasn't too thrilled about it myself. Today, I decided it was time to fix it. The current situation was a 2 1/2 inch elbow coming out of the wall with a pipe going down to the ground and an elbow shooting the water out into the yard. I told Jasson, our helper, that he could start digging a ditch, because we would lay new pipe to take the water out to the treeline. I went to work in the library until the battery on my laptop ran out. I came back and got Jasson and we went to VJ Cruz hardware store. They said they didn't have any 2.5" PVC, only 3". So we jumped back in the car and went to Northern hardware store. I told them I needed 2.5" PVC. The guy asked me blue or black. I was, like, I don't care; it's going to be underground. Apparently, though, the color corresponds to the quality. All they had in 2.5" was blue which was going to be more than $1 per foot and I needed about 40 feet. There wasn't much option though, so I told them I'd take it. "I need 3 couplings," I said. A little research revealed that they didn't have any. The proprietor's wife said I should use 3" for drainage anyhow. Again, I didn't have much choice, so I went for the 3" pipe. Fortunately, it was available in black--much cheaper. And they had the elbow that I needed. Eventually, we were back at campus with everything we needed. The only tricky part was trying to wedge the 3" pipe under the elbow barely protruding out of the wall. It just wasn't budging. I thought the elbow was metal (why I would think this, I have no idea). I tried prying it out a little with a crowbar. Of course, it was PVC and it shattered. So now, I just had a 2.5" hole in the wall. I got the boys' monitor there to help. He decided we could melt the end of a 2.5" pipe, stick it in the hole and attach an elbow to drain into the 3" pipe. So, we were running back and forth to the kitchen, melting pipe over the stove and going back outside to try to cram it in the hole. I think it's going to work. We'll see on Tiff's first big laundry day.