The mountain overlooking the orphanage

The Bishop & me on the hill overlooking much of Arusha, including the orphanage. He'd like to put a radio antenna and a prayer tower here one day. As we walked the hilltop, we saw an older woman walking thru the cornfield partway up the hill. Turns out she was the one who sold the hilltop to the Bishop.

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Red Hair @ the Orphanage

This week kicked off with a bang. I preached yesterday with a translator...first time for me. Thankfully John Matthew was a phenomenal translator. :) and the worship music is like nothing else. Who knows, I might even be able to learn how to dance!

On Monday Sandra finally got to go to the orphanage. The kids there are fascinated with long hair, and love to play with it. Sandra's red hair is even more of a novelty! (see picture) She came home with quite a bit fewer strands, but had fun nonetheless. The whole team from Seneca Creek is a delight to serve with. They continue to "Ignite HOPE" here in Tanzania. :)

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Mountain top experience

Today was the first day we got to serve at the clinic, the orphanage, & the carpentry. Wow! Stories of God showing up, guiding, providing, and more. And the eye-opening, soul- shaking experiences of seeing the poverty leave us in tears. We are so dependent on God here. We're learning to pray, to flex, and to serve. We're releasing our "rights" on a regular basis. And this entire team is nothing short of a joy to serve with. Thank God for each of them!!

Tonight during dinner the skies finally cleared, and we got to see Mt Meru. Everyone put down their forks & ran to the roof to see. (see photo) And just then the music from the adjacent church was playing, "shout to the Lord!" Truly a worshipful, mountain-top moment. :)

We're still hoping to see Kilimanjaro before we leave...just need clear skies in the other direction.

- Mark Tindle

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Mirror, mirror, on the wall

Today I was reading Jesus' scathing comments to the Pharisees in Matthew 23.  He blasts them for not practicing what they preach.  He scolds them for doing religious things so others would notice.  He accuses them of being the blind leading the blind.  He labels them snakes.  But then he pulls out the "H" word.  Hypocrites.  Not once, not twice, not three times, but SIX TIMES he calls them hypocrites.  (They sound like folks to avoid at all costs, don't they?) 

I often find the Pharisees easy to dislike.  I like to imagine how much different I am, you know, with my knowledge of God's grace through Jesus Christ.  Silly Pharisees...all worried about things that don't matter. 

Then later this morning I opened an email from www.throwmountains.com  (which, by the way, is a totally worthwhile site).  And one line in the email hit me between the eyes.  It was a "Mirror, mirror on the wall" moment.  It said...

Hypocrisy happens when I care more about what people think of me than what God thinks of me.

Ever look in the mirror and wish you hadn't? Yeah.  That's what happened.  Silly Pharisees.  Silly pastor.  Mirror, mirror that I see, wonder what God thinks of me. 

What do you see in your mirror?

Crazy summer reading program

School's out and summer's here! And with summer comes all kinds of opportunities to go places and do things. So as you make your summer plans, I'd encourage you to adopt a "summer reading program" which is unlike any you've tried before. There are no paperback books or bestsellers. In fact, there's no reading required on your part! Here's how it works.

Your life is a story...it's the story of what God is doing in your life. And your "story" is being read by those around you. So during your summer travels, remember that WHEREVER you are, SOMEONE is engaged in a summer reading plan, and YOU'RE the story that they're reading! What does that story look like? Is it an interesting display of the Author's masterful work?

And if you're wondering whether it's important, or worthwhile to make Sunday worship gathering a part of your weekend, remember this: People walk through the door each Sunday morning looking for good "reading material." They're looking to see if God is writing a story they can believe in. A story they can relate to. A story that will inspire or encourage them. A story of hope. So by simply showing up and letting God direct your conversations on Sunday morning, you could be part of someone else's life-changing "summer reading program." Never underestimate the power of a story.

What's your story? Let someone else read it this week.

Resources from May 2

So this morning we had a great discussion (thank you Dave Dillon). And as usual, I took too much time, and had to chop things out as I went along. I hurriedly mentioned a couple resources as place to begin the journey of learn what we can about faith and our political views. Here are the books I mentioned:

God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It, Jim Wallis
Red Letter Christians: A Citizens Guide to Faith and Politics, Tony Campolo
The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power Is Destroying the Church, Gregory Boyd

If you're not much of a reader, here are a couple video links worth exploring:

The Myth of a Christian Nation (Part 1 of an interview with Gregory Boyd and Charlie Rose)
God and Politics 2008 (this is the longer version from which Sunday's clip was taken).

Feel free to add your thoughts, comments, questions, and suggestions below.

Lessons from "Losers"

I recently watched an episode of the popular TV series, “Biggest Loser." And I’m beginning to understand why it’s so popular. Here’s what jumped out at me as I watched:

• These people are honest about their struggles.
• Their lives are actually changing.
• They depend on their team to help them.
• They take seriously the impact they have on the rest of the team.
• They don’t want anyone to have to “lose,” (a.k.a. leave the show) even those whom they don’t like
• They’re all experiencing hope.

We’re attracted to these things. What’s more, this is a GREAT picture of what the church could be. Think about it:

• Honesty about struggles
• Genuine life change
• Depending on one another
• Accountability to the team
• Desiring to see everyone “win” even through conflict
• Experiencing HOPE.

How many of these are present in your church? Or your life? Personally, I’m about 4 out of 6. I’d love it if you could share your thoughts, ideas and experiences in this area. Just click on the "comments" section below this note.