What kind of thoughts does the word “sin” invoke in your mind? Is it spoken about in your home? How about in your church? It’s my guess that you probably don’t stand around the water cooler at work and talk about the latest sin in your life like you would talk about your favorite movie. I even heard recently that the discussion of sin is a dying breed – and not just among non-believers.
Now this post isn’t going to be about bashing others as I have to take a close look at my own heart (you may remember the adage, “Take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye – see Matthew 7 or Luke 6).
What I am finding to be truly interesting (if you find reading through what seems to be endless genealogies to get to the meat) is the comparison that can be made from reading the Old Testament books of the Bible that talk about Israel’s kings and life as we know it today. The book of Chronicles (as you may have guessed by the name), chronicles the lives of the kings of Israel from the time of King David to the Babylonian captivity (about 1000 BC to 586 BC). During this time, the Israelites were locked in a vicious cycle of following the LORD God, being blessed by Him, forgetting Him and turning away, being overrun by the enemies for their sinful behavior, crying out to God for deliverance, and being delivered by God only to start the cycle once more. Unfortunately, the primary cause of this cycle was Israel’s leadership – her kings.
But, What does this have to do with us? you may ask. Just as Israel followed her leadership when it came to sin and repentance, we (or more specifically, I) have the same tendency. When our leaders are following after the LORD, we mostly do the same. And, when they are not, well, you know what happens.
So, all of this boils down to a book that I am reading by Jerry Bridges, called “Respectable Sins.” (If you would like a book that is full of “meat and potatoes” for your trip in February, Mr. Blacksheep, this would be it.) Bridges says in the preface to the book, “The motivation for this book stems from a growing conviction that those of us whom I call conservative evangelicals may have become so preoccupied with some of the major sins of society around us that we have lost sight of the need to deal with our own more “refined” or subtle sins.” And though I have never had to deal with the sin of adultery or murder in my life, Jesus himself said that anyone who is angry with his brother is subject to judgment (Matt. 5:22). So, even though I do not have to deal with the “biggies,” I still have to confront the anxiety that I sometimes experience, the frustration that life isn’t moving forward fast enough, the pride that wells up inside me for whatever reason, or the occasional lack of self control. In his book, Bridges, confronts each one of these “respectable sins” and more. However, he doesn’t leave us hanging with the hopelessness that we may feel by being bombarded by the truth, but gives practical insight into dealing with these sins.
So, if you side with the Pharisee in Luke 18 that prayed how thankful he was that he was not a robber, evildoer, an adulterer, or even, heaven forbid, the dreaded tax collector, than you need to get your life right with God. I know that I have and will continue to do so as the need arises (often on a daily basis).
May the LORD bless you on your journey of discovery.
As the war on AIDs/HIV heats up in Papua, there is a new development in the plan to try to curb the spread of the disease. Later this month, the province of Papua will propose that all persons who are infected with AIDs/HIV and show “active sexual behavior” would be implanted with a microchip that would track their movements. While there is similar technology available for the safe return of pets, there seems to be a push to get this technology to be used on humans. This type of development raises several interesting questions. The most important question is will this really solve the AIDS crisis that is developing in Papua? The second question, though it may seem ludicrous to some, is whether this is a veiled attempt through the use of AIDS/HIV patients in Papua to implement the “mark of the beast” in the rest of the world?
If you would like to read the article for yourself, it can be found at http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE4AN3U620081124. Let us know what you think.
Louise, Sherry, Luba, Wenhong and Phyllis (missing Sam)
Farewell to my prayer warriors! Many thanks for your fellowship, tears, encouragement and most of all your faithful prayers…. I will cherish my Minnesota Sisters-in-Christ.
A great praise! We are now at 52% for our needed monthly support…Yeah God! Many thanks to our ministry parnters. You guys are great! Without your support this would not have happened. I think the other 48% will go faster. Often I tell my labor patients that to get 1 to 5 cm dilated takes forever, but once you hit 5 cm, things usually goes faster. Hope this analogy to true for support raising. With God we will lack nothing..
Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. Fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing. Psalm34:8-9
The questions of who, what, when, where, why, and how, are frequently asked at a crime scene. Though they are not often asked when someone decides to answer the call of God to cross-cultural ministry, I was recently reflecting on these questions. What brought them up was after the sermon at church last week, Pastor Piper requested that anyone that may feel led to long-term (2 or more years) cross-cultural service should come forward and stand before the platform at the front of the sanctuary. He also asked that anyone who is already preparing for long-term service or is currently a missionary should come forward. While standing at the front of the sanctuary with the others, I realized that they may not know the answers to these questions yet. We, on the other hand, were given a great blessing in that we know the answers to most of these questions. The one question that still remains a mystery to us is “When?” And even though I often become anxious to leave as soon as possible, I know that God is in control and that it is all in His timing. May He grant us patience in waiting for His timing.
Soon we will be returning back to the Milwaukee area to be by family and continue support raising. Lately I have been reflecting about the many things I have enjoyed about living in the Twin Cities, MN. One issue that stuck out is how I have been blessed with diversity in our church and at work. Once a month I meet with the women of our bible study group and I have learned so much about the Asian culture and their struggles of living in America. Just recently a new family joined our group and they are from Russia!
Work at the hospital has exposed me to the Somalian culture, Hmong, Hispanics and others. I am very thankful that God has allowed us to live here in the Twin Cities for the last 2.5 years. It has been great exposure to other cultures. Soon we will be standing before Jesus Christ on the throne worshiping Him. There will people from every tribe, language and nation before Jesus and praising Him (Revelation 7:9).
About three weeks my brother-in-law (Tony and Colleen) and his family experienced a frightening house fire. Thanks be to God, no one was hurt. A neat story in this tragedy is that two years ago, Colleen had a friend who was considering an abortion. Colleen talked her out of it, and the friend decided against it and delivered a beautiful little girl with the support of Colleen. On the day of the fire, Colleen was on the first floor of the house taking care of the little girl when the fire broke out. If the little girl was not there, Colleen would have been upstairs taking a morning nap and would have been trapped due to the fire raging on the stairway. Colleen once saved the little girl for encouraging her mother not to have an abortion, and since the little girl was there keeping Colleen on the first floor, she “saved” Colleen. Twice saved! Is God sovereign? Yes!
I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, O Sovereign Lord; I will proclaim your righteousness, yours alone. Psalm 71:16
Well, Daniel’s birthday has come and gone. With life moving forward at breakneck speed, it’s a wonder we remember to celebrate birthdays anymore. Thankfully, we still do take the time to slow down and “smell the roses.” As we prepare for moving overseas, the only constant seems to the celebration of special days in our lives. This isn’t a Hallmark thing either, just to sell more birthday, Christmas, or Valentine cards. In the Old Testament, God continually put before the Israelites that they are to remember various occassions. Just because we are “modern,” are we to do any less?
Along with the transition from being 7 years old to being 8, Daniel will go through almost as many transitions as we will. He has already moved from the only home he knew in Waukesha to St. Paul, and now we are getting ready to move back to Southeastern Wisconsin. Then, sometime in the spring, we hope to be moving overseas, not living in any one place for more than a year and a half. Though this can seem like a lot for a young person, we actually heard someone say recently that they were disappointed that their parents did not take them overseas when they had the opportunity when then were young. We’ll keep you posted as to how it actually works out in the end.
Today, I had two interesting conversations about how churches need to step up in its role of the HIV/AIDS crises. Right now, one of the most serious health crises in Papua is HIV/AIDS. The infection rate is gaining up to the situation found in Africa. It is predicted by 2025, 80% of the health care cost will be related to HIV/AIDS. Church is a great infrastructure to educate, encourage Biblical family structure, provide holistic care and many more roles…. The church is to reveal Jesus Christ as the great healer of our broken bodies and souls (Psalm 103:3), forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases. HIV/AIDS does not discriminate.
Will I have a role encouraging the Papuan churches to step up in AID/HIVS crises? Only if I can do it to reveal God’s glory. Many prayers will be needed.
Who would have imagined that “Blackbeard” turned one in the Hubert household? In this photograph from 2007, he fit into the palm of Noah’s hand. He ate meal worms the size of a pencil eraser (Blackbeard did, not Noah) and loved crickets – stalking them with an air of self-confidence, knowing that at any moment, they would be his dinner. And now, a year later, Noah has to hold him with two hands. The friendship between Noah and Blackbeard continues to grow, as he wants to take him with us to Indonesia.
Today, Noah turned 11. Since Mom was working, Dad did his fatherly duty and stayed home to help out with homeschooling and trying the give Noah a good birthday day. It started out with 
pancakes and bacon for breakfast. At lunch, we went to McDonald’s and capped it off with an afternoon game of Seafarer’s of Catan. (Though we did not let him because of his birthday, Noah won, nonetheless! Way to go Noah.)
We’re saving the best part of Noah’s birthday for Friday. He wants to go to the Mall of America and spend some of the birthday money that he received. Since listening to music has become one of his favorite pastimes, he may end up purchasing an iPod shuffle. To celebrate in grand style, dinner will be at the Rainforest Cafe. We can’t wait to see the fish in all of the various fish tanks.
