Taking the Gospel to the Ends of the Earth

As happens every year at this time, the group which spent a week at Pine Ridge, SD will be sharing their experiences with the church.  This sharing time, though, is not about sharing photos, though pictures are nice and put faces to people we hear about.  It's not about sharing stories, though it is nice to hear from personal experiences.  What our time in Pine Ridge is all about is about God's work in the midst of hopelessness and His call for us to enter with these people into that same hopelessness.

I have heard many people make comments about the Native Americans and their issues.  They say things like, "They should just learn to adapt to the American culture" or "They are just a bunch of drunks who need to get over it and stop it" or "What they need is . . ."  The Lakota people of Pine Ridge don't need a "thing."  They need a person.  And his name is Jesus Christ.  Only Christ can change their hopelessness into joy and celebration.

When the group shares every year it is out of a hope that someone will heed the call to go next year.  Going on a mission trip once can be helpful to the growth of a disciple of Christ.  But to go to the same place year after year creates relationships that allow the disciple of Christ to share the love of Christ with people they know and see every year.  There are children who know us by name because we have seen them every year for the past five, ten, or fifteen years.

Is God calling you?  Don't hesitate to follow His call.  It will never be something to regret.  Come this Sunday to hear about God's work in the midst of the Lakota people and in the lives of those who heeded His call to go.

Pine Ridge: Final Day

Today will be our last day of Vacation Bible School with the children in Pine Ridge, SD.  On the first day most of the team was up by this time of the morning (6:30am) and ready to go.  Today, there is very little movement.  We are all tired and some of us are sore from work projects, but we are all ready for one last day (at least for this year).

This is our final day this year to speak the Truth of the Gospel Message into the lives of these kids.  After today, we can only assume that they will not hear the gospel as clearly again until our return.  So, our prayers go out to them.  May the Seed grow and flourish on good soil, changing the hearts and souls of the Lakota people, so that Jesus Christ, who is their only true Hope, will become great among them.

There is much history and animosity in this place.  And frankly, I cannot blame them.  We would feel the same way if our own history followed the path of their people over the last 150 years.  But as great as this wall of history is against the Gospel, our God is greater.  Pray that this wall is broken, the Truth is spread, and people are changed.

God is good!  God is strong!  God is our only hope!  God is our Savior!

For His glory and honor, forever and ever.  Amen.

(Can't wait until next year.)

Pine Ridge: Day Four

Yes, we are organized.  Yes, we have plans today.  Yes, we are all wearing the same t-shirt so that everyone in the world knows that we belong to the same group.  But, yes, we are tired.  Yes, we may be getting on each other's nerves a bit.  Yes, we may be feeling the weakest of all days.

This is normal.  Why?  Because today is the day where the gospel message is spoken the most clearly during Vacation Bible School in Pine Ridge, SD.  The gospel has been spoken every day, but today will be the day we call the kids to make a decision.  Who will they trust?  Will they trust the world and their own efforts to "make things right" or will they trust the only True Savior, Jesus Christ?

There is much spiritual warfare going on right now around us.  Satan is feeling the pressure and is not liking what he sees.  He's fighting us in every way possible.  And that's just the way we like it.  The enemy doesn't just have a foothold here.  He has thrown a whole block-party and is making plans to expand.  But we are here to say, "No more!"

Some may tell us that a week in one place does nothing.  It's not long enough to make any significant spiritual headway.  But I would disagree.  Would it be better to live here 24/7 in order to reach the Lakota people for Christ?  Absolutely!  As of right now we are called to be here for a week in order to once again speak the gospel Truth and to encourage the very small Church (1%-2% of the total population of Pine Ridge confesses to be believers in Christ).  But even in this short amount of time God can do a great work beyond anything we could do on our own.

Pray for us today as we fight an offensive against the enemy.  Pray that we would be united for His cause and that our focus would be directed to speak the Truth to spiritually dead and hardened hearts. Pray that God's kingdom would expand and that His name would go far and wide throughout this place.

Oh, and I am praying for you.  Because you are called to come here next year to fight with us.  Or perhaps you are called to move here and proclaim His Truth, Jesus Christ 24/7.  Do not resist His call to reach others for Christ.  And if that call leads you here, praise His name!

For His glory alone!

Pine Ridge: Day Three

Today is our third day of having Vacation Bible School in Pine Ridge, SD.  The focus today will be on trusting Christ, the pure and greatest Lamb, who sacrificed himself to defeat our sin.  Pray that today the children will hear, catch, and trust the Lamb.

If you have never been to Pine Ridge Indian Reservation I would highly recommend it.  It would be an experience you would never forget.  And it gets into your blood once you've come.  Yesterday we woke up to a man, Douglas, who wanted to have a cup of coffee.  It was obvious that he had been drinking already at 6:00am.  As I write this, he is sitting at the table talking with one of our team members about the past hardships of their people.  Wil, our team member, is African American, and to hear him try to explain how me, a white man, did not kill his people and did not distort the story of the Gospel.  The hopelessness that we find here and the very open wounds that still exist from the past are dramatic.  The church of the past has done a disservice for the work of Christ in the future.  It's a good lesson to learn for us today.

So, don't judge this man because of the still open wounds of his people.  Do not tell his to "get over it."  We all have some wounds that just won't heal.  It just that some are larger and deeper than others.  Now imagine trying to heal those wounds without the power of the Holy Spirit.  He blames me for the hardships of his people.  And in a sense he may be right.  But I hold nothing against him.  I'm just praying for Douglas' salvation and the salvation of his people.  Imagine what God will to through this great people do if He would give them over to the Great Lamb?  Pray for the revival of the hearts of these people.

Pine Ridge: Day Two

Today will be our second day of Vacation Bible School in Pine Ridge, SD.  Our focus yesterday was on how God created the universe and that it was perfect in every way, just like God.  Today we will focus on the sin of Adam and Eve when they disobeyed God and how that disobedience brought death into the world.  Not just a physical death, but also spiritual.  We are all in this boat of death before God grabs our heart and saves our souls.

Praise His name today!  For He is good!

Pine Ridge - Day One

Today is the first day of VBS at Pine Ridge, SD.  We have made plans and everything is ready for the day, but as usual it will rarely go as planned.  Schedules will be ruined and plans will be thwarted, but  our first and foremost desire is that the gospel message is clearly spoken and understood by all who are here this morning.  Our God is good and if anyone can get someone to understand His saving grace and mercy it would be Him.

Pray for all of us as a team that we would unified in speaking the truth and loving the kids more than we love ourselves.  Pray that we would see the barriers and walls that have been built up for generations be broken and fall.  Pray that Pine Ridge would experience a revival and fire that only the Spirit can bring.

For His Glory Alone!

Final Day: Why Am I Here?

I missed yesterday's post.  This is not because God suddenly decided not to speak to me through anything yesterday, but because after almost a week of living out of a suitcase and being in a constant state of "what's next" it begins to wear on a person.  So, yesterday's post was left undone.  But today is a different day.

We leave tonight to head back home.  Our time here this year is over and it's gone much faster than expected.  We have three hours of VBS this morning, chores and cleanup after lunch, and then we drive to Hot Springs, SD for some R&R before heading home.  We should be in around midnight (Mountain Time).   Because of this I thought I would add one final entry about Pine Ridge and my experiences here from this year.

Yesterday I met up with an old friend, Jay Moon, from Sioux Falls Seminary (SFS).  Jay was my professor of missions and outreach.  Each year he brings a group of students from SFS to immerse them into the Native American culture.  It is a learning experience so that they might better understand how to bring Christ into that culture without destroying that culture.  The idea of the white man destroying a culture for the "sake of Christ" is no more evident than in the Native American culture.  Back in the day the white man and the church began to systematically drive the Indian out of them.  It didn't work.  All it did was create thicker walls that are extremely difficult for the church today to get past.  Jay is trying to teach the students he brings out here about these walls and how to best get beyond them to embrace the culture that was created by God, but misdirected away from him by sin (i.e. - sun dances, pow-wows, sweat lodges, etc.).

On the other hand, we come down here to preach the Gospel on our own.  There is very little native involvement, though at one time there was significant work done together.  We do not immerse ourselves into the culture and though we strive not to bring the "white man's religion" with us we make very little effort to understand the walls that have been built up.
What Jay and his team are doing and what we are doing are good, but inadequate.  Jay's team doesn't bring the salvation message with them.  They are there to learn.  We bring the Gospel message, but are not purposely learning about the culture.  Yes, Christ is sufficient, but that is no excuse to not embrace and learn about a culture.  Yes, it is good to learn about a culture, but that is no excuse not to purposely bring the Gospel message in all you do.

So, this brings up a very simple, but deeply intimate question.  Why am I here?  This is a question that not only I need to answer on this trip, but in every situation I find myself.  Why am I here at Pine Ridge?  Why am I the pastor at a church?  Why do I work where I do?  In other words, why has God placed me in the situation or place that I currently find myself?  We may think we know, but do we truly get all that Christ has purposed for our lives in the here and now.  Am I missing a huge chunk that He is desiring for me to get?  Am I only seeing half the message?

So, why are you where you are?  What is God's purpose for you here?  Are you glorifying God by preaching His Gospel to the people around you with your words and actions?  Are you getting into the lives of the people around you, their history and experiences, so that you can better understand how to serve, love, and preach the Gospel to them? 

Our lives are greater than the here and now.  God has an eternal purpose for us here.  Are we living for that eternal purpose?

Day 3: Where is Your Idol?

Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 6:21

The verse above is commonly quoted by many Christians that I know, but do we truly read this verse to ourselves?  A treasure is extremely valuable and many of us would jump at the chance to buy a treasure chest full of jewels that are sold at the right price.  The parables of the hidden treasure and pearl are perfect examples of this concept.  In both parables the men sell all of their possessions to buy a precious and priceless item.  Jesus uses these parables to explain the worth of the kingdom of Heaven.  Or even more specifically he is explaining the worth of himself.  Jesus is the kingdom of Heaven and his worth is greater than everything we own.

Hopefully we would all agree to the concept of Jesus' worth.  But do we agree more through our words or our actions.  Now, I'm not one to say that we should sell all of our possessions, but what is Christ was asking us to do sell our most prized possession.  If we agree that Jesus Christ is priceless then we should eagerly be willing to give that one item up that always seems to get in the way of living our lives as if Christ is priceless.  I'm talking about idols.  Everyone can have an idol.  It doesn't have to be something expensive.  It can be a relationship or a material possession.  It can be vanity or pride.  What is the one thing that if Christ asked me to give it up for his sake that it would cause the most pain?

Throw your idol into the fire.  Yes, it will be painful, but in the end isn't the cause of Christ and his call on our lives worth it all?

You don't feel that you have an idol?  Just let me say this: As children of God we are called to obey our Father in every area of our life.  We are to live our lives with God's mission in mind at all times.  What's God's mission?  His mission is to glorify himself in all things.  What is that one thing in your life that is not glorifying God?  Are you willing to get rid of that one thing?  Where is your idol?  What do you need to do to give every area of your life over to him?  Now, those are some deep questions that will dramatically change your life.  And maybe even change the lives of people are you who do not know the worth of Christ.  That's living on mission for God.

Day 2: Who Is God?

                              In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
                                                       Genesis 1:1

Today was the first day of Vacation Bible School here at Pine Ridge.  VBS here is much different that any that may happen at our home church.  Most of the children who attend our home church VBS at least have a basic knowledge of the Bible and Jesus.  If you ask them to turn to Matthew 10:5 they can probably find their way to the passage eventually with very little help.  But here on the Rez biblical knowledge is hard to come by.

Jerry and I taught the teenagers today and as far as biblical knowledge and foundation it was very minimal.  So, we started from the beginning: what the Bible is, how to find a passage in the Bible, why we read the Bible, etc.  Our lesson this morning was focused on creation and the Creator.  And the best place to start on this topic is in the beginning.

Genesis 1:1 is very clear.  "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."  In the beginning God was.  He was not born and he will never die.  He was here before time began and he will be here when time is ended.  And everything that is in this world was created by God.

It is very easy for me to go to church each Sunday morning, spend time daily reading scripture and praying to God, and focus my energy on the ministry of God at FBC.  But how many times have I been in awe before God where I cannot say a word because of his awesomeness.  When I pray to God do I remember that this God I'm speaking to has been around forever?  He's been around before forever even began.  This is the Creator of the universe that because of Christ I can have a personal, intimate relationship with him.  And this God who created all things can take time out of his day to care about and for me.  This small human on a small planet in a giant universe and he cares about me.  How awesome is that?

When we explained the concept of God's foreverness (my term) to these teenagers their eyes told the story of what was happening in their minds.  It was inconceivable to them that this would be true.  But it is true.  And I know this God and he knows me.  Why?  I will never truly understand.  Other than the fact that I am his and he has saved me.  I am his child because of his Son.

My hope is that not a day goes by that his awesomeness and my relationship with him do not bring me to my knees in praise and worship of his great name.  He is God and I am his.  Thanks be to God.

Day 1: Who Needs to Hear?

When you're on the Rez you're on a different time and mindset.  This was no more apparent than the 11:00 worship service this morning.  Nothing ever really starts on time here, but when 11:30 hit I began to feel that this time something was different.  At 11:35 I was pulled aside by a team leader and was told that the pastor was caught up with an issue and wouldn't be able to lead the service.  Would I be willing to step in?  Of course, because I am a pastor, it made perfect sense to approach me.  And I agreed to help out.

Now, if a situation like this arose at home (even just starting the service forty-five minutes late let alone the pastor not showing up) many people in the service would either leave or complain.  But not on the Rez.  Everyone was sitting quietly and enjoying each other's company while they waited for the service to begin.

When the service finally did start we sang three songs off of youtube.com and I shared the story of Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus.  To close the service we opened the floor to share how God changed us on our road to Damascus.  We shared for over twenty-five minutes and the number of roads God met us on was amazing.  From abuse and divorce to the death of a loved one and recovery from addiction, God is a mighty God who saves us from this world and our sin.  And no matter the road God meets us on we who believe are all children of Christ.  Heirs together in his promise of salvation and redemption.

When was the last time you shared your being saved on your road to Damascus?  Have you ever shared that story?  There are many around us who God may be calling us to tell His story in our lives.  Are you willing to answer that call right now?

Want to read about Paul's conversion?  Read Acts 9 for yourself and see what Christ did to this man who would become the tip of the spear of missions work for Christ and the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world.