Archive April 2009
What About Swine Flu?
Swine Flu is the crisis of the moment, and with good reason. Just in the past 24 hours I have received updates from several friends in Mexico where over 150 are dead in this epidemic. New infections are popping up in spots all over the world, threatening to turn this into a pandemic (global as opposed to the more localized epidemic).
There have always been epidemics, of course, and several are recorded in the Bible. In the Exodus, we have some examples among the plagues God brought upon the Egyptians. King David’s sin in numbering the people brought an epidemic upon Israel. Epidemics also form part of The Revelation’s predictions for the future. So, it stands to reason that we just might be able to learn how to respond to this most current of contemporary challenges. Here are some thoughts:
- There is nothing on this earth that escapes God’s notice or ocurrs without his knowledge and permission. He is Sovereign. His providence is at work completing his will even when we have no clue as to how it all fits together.
- If the above point is true, then we cannot allow ourselves to be controlled by either fear (2Timothy 1:7) or worry (Philippians 4:6-7).
- Technology is wonderful! I love being able to instantly check the weather or my favorite team’s scores. While technology is good for the flow and access of information, I must not allow media to mold and manipulate my emotions and reactions (mass hysteria).
- While refusing to be controlled by emotions and public reaction, we can act responsibly to protect ourselves and others. As we have been hearing, we can learn to wash our hands thoroughly and regularly, cover our mouths when we cough, stay at home when we are sick, seek immediate medical attention and all of the other good instruction that is being freely disseminated.
- Think about doctors and nurses who are daily exposed to all sorts of germs and disease. What do they do? Exactly what they are telling us. They wash hands regularly and all the rest. At the first sign of illness, they don’t wait around but rather take action to get proper treatment.
- People like me who travel a lot have to learn to do the same as doctors and nurses. I am frequently exposed to germs in the close quarters of airplanes, hotels and shaking literally hundreds of hands of people from all walks of life. I often have to eat strange food and wonder whether it has been properly prepared. To refuse would be culturally offensive in most cases, but I can be wise about portions, and politely refuse certain items while accepting others that have a better chance of being clean.
- As followers of Jesus we have an additional resource – prayer. Paul tells Timothy that we do not have to refuse any type of food as opposed to the Old Testament law that prohibited certain foods. He points out that all is sanctified by the word of God and prayer (1Timothy 4:1-5). Yet, this is not some pious, out-of-touch spirituality. In the very next chapter (5:23), Paul’s pragmatic side tells Timothy to take a little wine for his frequent stomach problems.
We should not be ruled by fear or worry. Instead, we can take advantages of such crises to minister to others who have no hope. We can allow situations such as those created by the Swine Flu to drive us to seek God. In so doing, trial can be converted into blessing.
Report from Atlanta
Currently I am killing time taking advantage of time in the Houston airport hoping that the outbreak of storms here and in Kansas City won’t delay my flight home. I flew to Atlanta yesterday to share at a fund raiser dinner hosted by Epic Internationl. Epic is the mission facilitation organization with whom we are partnering to reach out to the K people.
I was happy to be picked up at the airport by Dean Calision of Grace Church in Overland Park, our principal partner in the alliance of churches we are forming for this purpose. Dean is a great guy and I had not expected him to be at the banquet, but he was already in the city on business with Avant Ministries for which he works as director of development.
At the dinner last night I shared six characteristics of Epic that attracted me to them. It wasn’t because Epic Founder Roscoe Brewer is a dear friend and mentor of 40 years, and it wasn’t because I heard some powerfully emotional stories about what Epic is doing. Here are my six reasons:
- Epic is committed to extraordinary prayer as the primary fuel of their vision and ministry. After years of talking, preaching and teaching about prayer, I am finally beginning to learn to pray. That got my attention.
- Epic is missiologically sound. I had not been in contact with Roscoe for a number of years, but when we reconnected I was thrilled to hear what he had been learning about missions. This is a group that truly has a solid understanding of what they are about.
- Epic is strategic. Their objective is to target the least reached and unengaged peoples of the world believing that the Great Commission can realistically be fulfilled in our lifetimes.
- Epic is tightly focused on making biblical disciples and seeing God bring them together in biblical churches, even though those churches may not necessarily follow our Western models. They are not afraid to do good works because it is the right thing to do, but they never stray from their focus on planting churches in places where the church does not currrently exist.
- Epic is kingdom-minded. They don’t work with any one particular group and they don’t care who gets the credit.
- Epic is cost-effective. We heard some amazing reports last night about what God is doing in some of the places you would least expect. For security reasons I can’t share this information with you, but I am astounded at what is being accomplished by a very small staff in a very small office that is having an impact at glocal level. This is a great kindgom investment!
Home Again!
Cheryl and I got home last night after our European vacation. We had a great time and enjoyed sharing some of our adventures with you.
I had an appointment for a phone call this morning from a friend who is now president of a mission board and served for many years as a missionary in Europe. Knowing that we had just returned last night from Europe, his words of greeting were, “So, you were up very early this morning weren’t you?”
I laughed. “Yeah, I know the drill.”

Me After Some Transatlantic Flights
We both travel enough to know that flying west across the Atlantic usually results in most people wanting to get up very early the following couple of days until the body clock adjusts. If you are a frequent traveler you also know that flying west across the Atlantic is usually about an hour longer flight than from west to east due to prevailing head winds.
If you, like me, are a committed coach traveler, you know that riding in the back of the bus with all the other common J0e’s and Jane’s requires learning some tricks of the trade to make travel as bearable as possible. There are also some pet peeves that can make a long trip much, much longer. As we were traveling yesterday, I was thinking about some of those pet peeves and offer the following in the spirit of fun and sarcasm. You, like the folks who bring on board their own food and smell up the whole plane with sea food from Pappadeaux’s or cheeseburgers from McDonald’s. Maybe you care to join in with your own observations. Here are mine from yesterday.
- Screaming babies. Yesterday, a baby screamed (not cried, he screamed) all the way from Berlin to Newark – about 9 hours. Maybe that was what sent the lady over the edge who experienced a medical emergency on board.
- People who laugh out loud while they are watching a movie. A guy sat behind Cheryl and watched comedies all the way across the ocean. He could have just smiled and chuckled. He laughed out loud – loudly – with this annoying, maniacal laugh while some of us were trying to get catch some zzz’s. I honestly think he was more annoying than the screaming baby. Just about the time I was falling asleep, there was that goofy laugh piercing through the rest of the symphony of high-flying noises.
- People who think a touch screen is a poke screen. Yes, the same laughing dude who sat behind Cheryl took breaks from his comedy shows to play games on the touch screen located on the back of Cheryl’s headrest – only he didn’t touch the screen, he poked and pounded it sending jolts into the back of Cheryl’s head. Yes, he also laughed when the cute little animation figures indicated he was winning.
- People with small bladders who sit in the window seat. A young Russian woman sat in the window seat in the row ahead of me. An elderly woman sat on the aisle. The Russian’s husband was in the middle. On a nine hour flight she got up to go to the bathroom no less than a dozen times. The poor elderly lady never had a chance to even think about resting, let alone sleeping.
- People who don’t realize that the back of a seat is connected to the front part of the same seat. I’m talking about those folks who sit behind you and constantly kick the back of you seat, drill their knees through the seat into your back, or do other painful and obnoxious things to keep you constantly on edge. For example, some people slam down the tray table and then pretend that it is a piano keyboard and dance their fingers all up and down the tray to the rhythm of whatever music they are listening to. Yes, it was Laughing Man, the touch screen poker, who is also an aspiring concert pianist, the same guy who sat behind Cheryl. He is the winner of the coveted “Jerk of the Flight” award.
OK. I feel much better. Venting is good for the soul. Maybe you care to share some pet peeves of your own.
So, what am I doing tomorrow? Getting up at 05hrs00 to fly to Atlanta, speak at a banquet, attend a board meeting and fly back home tomorrow night. I must be nuts!
Day Eight in Berlin
For our last day in Berlin we decided to buy day passes for the public transportation system and make up our own tour. By the end of the day we had ridden on buses, trains, trams (only in the eastern sector), the S-Bahn (above ground light rail) and the U-Bahn (underground). And, yes, we walked a bit, too. There is an S-Bahn route that circles the city and so we rode it all the way around. That was fun and gave us a good perspective of Berlin.
We got off to walk around in a cozy little neighborhood in the northeast part of the city and discovered all sorts of neat little details about Berlin. For example, we learned to observe little brass plates that are inset into the sidewalk in certain places. These are inscribed with the names and personal data of Jews who were former residents of that particular place and died in concentration camps -a very sober and oft-present reminder.
Are we in Havana? That’s what we thought for a moment. We had heard of a little Cuban restaurant in the former East Berlin that dates back to the days of tight relationships between East Germany and Cuba. We got an address and started walking. After a while we spotted our destination and checked out the menu. In Europe, by law all restaurants have a menu posted with prices on the outside so you can decide whether or not you want to go in. If I ever become President of the United States that is a law I will try to enact during my first 100 days.
Seeing the Cuban delicacies listed we decided to give it a try. There were plenty of tables left on the sidewalk, and it was a beautiful day. A young woman came to take our order and I was struggling to put together our order in my halting and very limited German. It’s hard to be too creative when you are working with a vocabulary of about 25 words or so. As I was beginning to order, I had slipped in a side word in Spanish to Cheryl when I caught the look of surprise on the face of the waitress. So, I asked if she spoke Spanish. She said of course she did. This was a Cuban restaurant and she was Cuban. We both felt great relief. She was filling in for a friend and I don’t think her German was much more than mine. She was struggling herself, wondering whether to approach us in English, German, or something else. So, with the language barrier wiped away, we had a great time! By the way, the food was fabulous. Really!
So, dear reader, I trust you have enjoyed following our adventures these past few days. Early in the morning we head to the airport to begin our journey home.



Reporte y Pensamientos desde México, D.F.
En esta ocasión, quisierea compartir algunos pensamientos de un amigo mío que vive en el mero corazón de México. Recibí esto entre varias comunicaciones que recibí ayer de amigos en México y pienso que vale compartir lo siguiente con el permisio del pastor Ramiro Martínez.