Today is the day!

AIL Mexico Coordinator Becca Freitag with Ely, Mariné [in pink] and Cesar "Today is the day! I'm so happy, my friends are coming." Those are the words of Mariné [pronounced maar ee nay], a friend of mine from Mexico who is like a daughter to me. She wrote those words on her Facebook page the day I was bringing a team of short term missionaries to serve at the church she and her husband Martin pastor. I have known Mariné and her family for almost 20 years. Literally since I began a life of missions work in Mexico. I have watched her grow up, marry, and become a wonderful young mother. Her daughter, Berenice, calls me Abuelo Dr. House. Go figure. Anyways, I was there this week hosting a team of short term missionaries from Los Angeles. They are part of the Asian American Christian Fellowship. This particular group has partnered with Martin and Mariné in ministry for about 6 years. Now what I like about this group is this. Their focus isn't on projects, like a lot of missions work in Mexico. Nor is it on telling people how sinful they are and how they are in danger of going to hell. Their focus is on building and maintaining relationships. Relationships that lead to community. Because those relationships, and that community, can be life changing. It is that life changing community that Luke talks about in Acts. A community where people share their lives, meals, and hopes for the future. It is a community that is built over time and is connected through a series of intertwined relationships. It is the type of community that leads Mariné to say "Today is the day! I'm so happy, my friends are coming." As I think about Christian mission work in general, and Mexico in particular, I am challenged. Challenged to be faithful to my calling to preach Christ and His message of the cross, and yet also to live the words of St Francis of Assissi who once said: "In all things preach Christ, and when necessary, use words."

Yo Ho Yo Ho A Pirates Life for Me

Yesterday MGM Mirage finalized the sale of Treasure Island Hotel and Casino. It is hoped this sale will help MGM avoid bankruptcy and give them the needed cash to finish their City Center project. This on the heels of the impending bankruptcy of Palace Station Hotels and Casinos. This on the heels of the news of impending bankruptcy at Herbst Gaming. This on the heels of severe financial problems at Sand's Casinos and Harrah's. The list goes on and on. I'll be in Mexico this week. Serving a group of people who could live pretty comfortably for a couple of years on the weekly take of an average dollar slot machine. Sometimes living in Las Vegas is just a struggle for my mind, my heart, and my soul. See you soon.

It'll Count if it Goes

If you know me, you know I really admire Tony Campolo. the first time I heard him speak, many years ago, his words caught me and have helped shape me into the person I am today. His son Bart is a similar kind of guy. He is one who believes if people just lived out their faith, this world would be a lot better off. Bart could command a pretty good salary at a lot of big churches in this country. Instead he chooses to invest his into loving the poor. With that type of lifestyle comes some success, but usually a lot more failures. In his post today at God's Politics, Bart talks about how few times that miracle shot at the end of a game actually goes in. "When I suggest that some people can’t be helped no matter how much you love them, friends of mine say I am limiting God’s power. But when those friends suggest that God can do whatever He wants, whenever He wants to, in the life of whoever He chooses, I wonder if they think God is a monster … or if they are only watching God’s highlights reels, where all His ‘miracle shots’ are collected and replayed over and over again. You know, cancer patients healed, junkies redeemed, families reunited, hurricanes averted, crippled planes landed safely." Read the whole article and let me know what you think.

The Abyss

Henri Nouwen in his book the "Inner Voice of Love" teaches that we have to remain close to our abyss if we want to heal. For him, we will only find healing in our lives if we take the plunge and confront our hurts and fears from closeup, rather than afar. I've been thinking a lot about that this past week. Today I came across a friends blog, Curtis Cafe, and he was talking about the "Fear of Jesus." He essentially asks what keeps us from Jesus. For the person of faith, I think the answer lies in what Nouwen has to say. If Nouwen is calling us to confront our fears to find healing in life, how can we then apply that to our faith lives? For me, this is a tough question. No one in the world knows what I look like inside except me. I am all alone in my knowledge of how ugly my thoughts can be. No one else knows the terrible things I have done in my life. No one knows the shame I sometimes can feel without warning. Not my closest friends. Not my wife. No one. Except Jesus. I think there are a lot of people, myself included, who sometimes miss out on what God has for us in life. Not because we are afraid He'll learn about our struggles and imperfections. But because He already knows and we'd prefer to keep those things just to ourselves rather than face the abyss. Some days it is just easier.

GW, The War on Terror, and the Constitution

Oops, our bad. That’s what the Bush Administration said in January regarding several aspects of the “war on terror.” In a series of recently released memos, the Bush Justice Department is now saying that the logic they relied on to prosecute their “war on terror” around the globe and on US soil was flawed. Really? I wonder how they came to that conclusion. Just a few days before leaving office and after forcefully defending those views for almost seven years. It was the policy of the Bush Administration from right after the attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center that the President, and he alone, with no congressional oversight, could make decisions to set aside protections and civil rights granted the people of the United States by the Constitution. And how did President Bush arrive at this conclusion? By claiming that the “war on terror” knew no geographical boundaries and had no uniformed or regular combatants. And by using Nixonion logic that if the President orders, or does it, it is not illegal or a violation of the Constitution. Just in case you miss the logic here, let me explain it. If this so called “war on terror” involves no boundaries, as the Bush Administration claimed, then every spec of land on this planet is the battlefield, including your next door neighbors yard. And if there are no regular or uniformed armies that are perpetrating this “war on terror,” everyone, including your spouse or best friend could be a suspect. It was this legal understanding, called faulty even by conservative legal scholars, that allowed President Bush to claim he alone, again, with no input or oversight from Congress could take your right to free speech, take away the rights and independence of a free press, and deny you your rights against unreasonable search and seizure. All of these rights are guaranteed us in the Constitution in the first and fourth amendments. Unless apparently, we are at war and George W. Bush is your president. Lest you think I am leading you on a wild goose chase, you can read the actual memos outlining their legal strategy here. But perhaps what is even more infuriating than a wholesale elimination of our rights under cover of a dubious claim of national security and the “war on terror,” is the administration's total lack of belief in the very principles those memos enumerated. You see, after living with those principles through two terms, taking away the rights of US citizens, wrongfully torturing people, and then destroying the evidence of these actions, the Bush Administration issued a new set of memos. Just days before leaving office and the inauguration of Barack Obama. And what did these newly released memos say? Oops! Our bad. We made a mistake. So sorry. Incredible. Posting in Agreement - James Wolfer Posting in Opposition - Pasadena Closet Conservative

The Inner Voice of Love

I thought today was a good day for a couple of God items. I am currently reading "La Voz Interior del Amor" by Henri Nouwen. Nouwen was a Catholic priest who taught at Harvard, Yale, and Notre Dame before he felt God calling him to serve with developmentally disabled people at the L'Arche community in Toronto. I am reading this book in Spanish. Not because I can understand it all, but because I can't. And so just like when I started reading philosophy, I read it with a dictionary at my side. It is slow, tedious, and oh so frustrating at times, but with practice, I know I'll get better. I first became acquainted with Nouwen's writings after my wife gave me a book of his devotions. Nouwen has an uncanny ability to challenge my thinking, theology, and where I stand with Jesus. It is where I need to be. I also came across this posting on Jim Wallis' blog entitled God's Politics. It is an interesting take on the women in ministry issue. Here is the classic text. “A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety” (1 Tim. 2:11-12, TNIV). Go to the blog to see the exegesis that Mimi Haddad has. You may not agree, but at least you'll be pushed to think. Enjoy.

Dancing Scouts

My brother is one of those big muckity mucks in the Boy Scouts of America, currently serving in Missouri. Normally I never post twice in a single day but today he sent me a video link that I just found funny and thought I would share with you. So, as we say in Mexico, today you are receiving una doble bendición! Thanks Mike.

An Interesting Question

Here is a great question posed by columnist E.J. Dionne today in his posting "Redistributionist, and That's Just Fine." Do you believe that a fairer distribution of capitalism’s bounty is essential to repairing a sick economy? Now before all you worriers about socialism get worked up, Dionne points out that the proposed increases in government spending under President Obama will represent less than 2% of our economy. If you are the commenting type, answer the question first, and then flail away.