tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60160899359814928612024-03-19T06:43:57.987-04:00bradklaver...reflections on life, mission & spiritualityBrad Klaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881925822746114789noreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016089935981492861.post-75322927021545343112009-02-23T20:10:00.003-05:002009-02-23T20:15:41.568-05:00new blog!<div style="text-align: justify;">it has been a while since i have blogged last and much of the reason is because ever since returning from south africa i have found myself in a significant transition phase. God has no less been teaching me things and he is surely taking me through new experiences...<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">one of which is the fact that michelle and i are now engaged. with this engagement comes a new blog. we have created a new blog to keep (people who read this...and friends) up to date on what is going on regarding wedding planning...our life together...and what we are learning. if you wish to view the new blog, feel free to go to:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">michelle2brad.blogspot.com.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">enjoy!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">i will continue to write on here when i feel that i have something to share...hopefully i will be sharing something very soon. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">by the way...i posted our engagement story and some pictures on the new blog...just for you jen.</div>Brad Klaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881925822746114789noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016089935981492861.post-29002419836345173502008-12-31T11:28:00.002-05:002008-12-31T11:40:29.496-05:00bound by love | simba:samuel:john<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZZfiNcd2_KEuIPdIWK7BLAksAL2I3oO_eTxqa60MPDd5gRjd2BGnHeqzrgDN7G31AaND-0ZA0HUmsh3I3V4qjceSaYkYcjBJKh3TCclIposAFKLlouNZ0P-DULCEI7Tlogd-6MfgzzIkB/s1600-h/IMG_8685.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZZfiNcd2_KEuIPdIWK7BLAksAL2I3oO_eTxqa60MPDd5gRjd2BGnHeqzrgDN7G31AaND-0ZA0HUmsh3I3V4qjceSaYkYcjBJKh3TCclIposAFKLlouNZ0P-DULCEI7Tlogd-6MfgzzIkB/s200/IMG_8685.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285992572126061122" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">love must be sincere. hate what is evil; cling to what is good. be devoted to one another in brotherly love. honor one another above yourselves. never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. share with God's people who are in need. practice hospitality.</span><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">romans 12:9-13</span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">these brothers are not south african. they are zimbabweans, forced to move away from their homes, away from their families, their wives, their children....to collect the crumbs from under the south african table. their own country devastated by greed and corruption, they must work here in order to provide even a little for their families. and yet...these men are not held back by the potential of discouragement or injustice.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">and they have every opportunity to be discouraged.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">but they refuse to be trampled...to be overcome. they have something greater that has overcome that which fights against them. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">they understand the power of the Gospel.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">they understand the strength that lies in community...in sharing brotherly love.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">these brothers are mighty men of God...zealous for his kingdom and unwilling to compromise who they are in Jesus in order to gain worldly wealth or power. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">to be pitied is not their desire. instead, growing in spiritual fervor, they pray night and day for the reconciliation they have discovered in their own lives to be realized in their country. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">and so, in spite of their own affliction, these brothers pursue the Light of the Kingdom of God. meeting together daily...encouraging one another and others, and holding on to the hope they posess, expecting that this kingdom will reach their own country. because they understand...they know...what has been promised.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">they know that the kingdom of God is space made for reconciliation.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">and so they live with expectancy...believing that one day they will be reunited with their families and reconciliation will come to zimbabwe.</span></div>Brad Klaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881925822746114789noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016089935981492861.post-15050430797086580272008-12-20T07:02:00.004-05:002008-12-20T07:14:51.984-05:00beauty for ashes | portia<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyWUpXnagsRq-kMGkeeAXgkzvhEKdLXD7Jx0Pl0sYuMwv5-JfS6d7Xisev6Uncc_ESCZ4LcdfeRWeZtQ3PMcKQuXNYmLC0zTP4HzjD9HQO6UZyc0Bkgiti6PIz-xdGmI7zUAoeBdUhw6jH/s1600-h/IMG_8629_2.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyWUpXnagsRq-kMGkeeAXgkzvhEKdLXD7Jx0Pl0sYuMwv5-JfS6d7Xisev6Uncc_ESCZ4LcdfeRWeZtQ3PMcKQuXNYmLC0zTP4HzjD9HQO6UZyc0Bkgiti6PIz-xdGmI7zUAoeBdUhw6jH/s200/IMG_8629_2.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281842588760804082" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance for our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">isaiah 61:1-3</span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">to anyone who first meets her...she is an orphan...an alien...a widow...and outcast. but spend time with her and all of those things disappear and are replaced with something new. on earth...portia is an orphan who came from zimbabwe to seek a better life. she raises her son, michael, by herself. but portia has learned something...this is not who she is.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">she has been transformed...made new.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">portia has begun to understand the abundant life she has in Jesus. and she has begun to see that he chooses for his work...the most unlikely of people. he values the ones who are seen as useless and unimportant...the ones who are voiceless. and he love the forgotten outcast. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">he loves portia.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">jesus chose portia to be a part of His kingdom. He chose her to be his daughter. she is no longer an orphan but instead has a Father who is loving and will never leave her. and he gives good gifts. he has given portia the gifts of freedom and comfort. she has been adorned with royal robes and has been anointed with gladness.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">he has crowned her with beauty.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">and he has set her on the path to proclaim His goodness. to the one who was once voiceless...he has given a voice...a voice to proclaim His favor in her life and his love for all. portia has found freedom in jesus and in turn...he has chosen her to help bring that freedom to others...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">...and to multiply His kingdom at the same time.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> </span></div>Brad Klaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881925822746114789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016089935981492861.post-42445192966354556652008-12-19T10:12:00.003-05:002008-12-19T10:23:41.471-05:00lost are found | stella<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8xIwgxiiRYFcHWAu-pmsrJDwECh-_-6lM6Nn3y597sShAkm4xvpJHvlbqYYRiIwJnVeYtHAuN_5INqYWMkw1g3s-pzbAs5hPTeU5Dx3C2a5ZDswTOa4REbBmsdteoObNCQAm_bcFdtsIW/s1600-h/IMG_8518.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8xIwgxiiRYFcHWAu-pmsrJDwECh-_-6lM6Nn3y597sShAkm4xvpJHvlbqYYRiIwJnVeYtHAuN_5INqYWMkw1g3s-pzbAs5hPTeU5Dx3C2a5ZDswTOa4REbBmsdteoObNCQAm_bcFdtsIW/s200/IMG_8518.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281520041236331506" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><div style="text-align: justify;">if a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? won't he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? and when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. when he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, 'rejoice with me because i have found my lost sheep.'<br /></div></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">luke 15:4,5&6</span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">looking into the eyes of this young zimbabwean woman, one would never know what she has had to endure. but in the winter of 2008, stella was lost and afraid...an alien in a country about which she knew very little.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">stella...forced to flee her country because of the political and social unrest wreaking havoc on her people...arrived in south africa...</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">homeless.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">foodless.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">friendless.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">added to this was the weight she was carrying concerning the baby in her womb. unsure of what other options she had...stella contemplated suicide.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">stella was lost.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">but the arms of the good shepherd found her. she was found at her most desperate and lifeless place. in her desperation...stella was met with...</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">grace.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">truth.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">love.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">and as a result...she found a Savior. and the response in both heaven and on earth was a celebration of great rejoicing. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">stella now beams with excitement...because she has been found...she has been rescued by the love of Jesus. it is a love that thrives on giving second...third...and fourth chances...</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">even to seventy times seven.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">when the shepherd finds his sheep...he doesn't simply lead it back to the others...but he carries it...and rejoices all the way. jesus is still carrying stella. he will continue to carry stella...and rejoice in the new life she has been given.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">for though she was once lost...stella is now found.</span></div>Brad Klaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881925822746114789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016089935981492861.post-91743151286237057422008-12-19T09:56:00.007-05:002008-12-19T10:25:00.738-05:00man of peace | joseph<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN5nEb8cIeMi0UCGZQoxsekAlRtBmj42Q3SsNujvEt8cHMCij4-57bYGAGAzgiGierBNIkl8GOKpeurK5nhc93mTdB_6PJTzPJ7SpfqUIfG3W45fBTFy2rdrB0U5Y5pDsFyUXXZu3wbCSr/s1600-h/IMG_0470.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN5nEb8cIeMi0UCGZQoxsekAlRtBmj42Q3SsNujvEt8cHMCij4-57bYGAGAzgiGierBNIkl8GOKpeurK5nhc93mTdB_6PJTzPJ7SpfqUIfG3W45fBTFy2rdrB0U5Y5pDsFyUXXZu3wbCSr/s200/IMG_0470.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281517002534183154" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">when you enter a house, first say, 'peace to this house.' if a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you. when you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you. heal the sick who are there and tell them, 'the Kingdom of God is near you.'</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">luke 10:5,6&8</span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">when the peace of God comes to one who is ready to accept it...to have it rest upon them...the result of that peace will change one's life forever. joseph is a man who has experienced this peace...and he has been changed forever because of it.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">left practically crippled by a near-deadly accident, the pain joseph carried reached far deeper than the bodily pain he was forced to endure ever day. disappointed and hurt by people, he resigned himself to being an angry, pained man...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">...left to die lonely and afraid of what was next.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">but then the kingdom of God broke into Joseph's life in the most dramatic of ways. peace was offered to joseph and it remained on him. he accepted it...and believed...even for a faint moment...that being healed was possible. that faint flicker of hope was enough room for the kingdom of God to break into his life...and as a result...joseph was healed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">his spine was healed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">his neck was healed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">his head was healed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">his heart was healed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">at the age of 62...joseph is a new creation who's identity is now in Christ. he no longer lives by the ways of the kingdom of this world, but he is a joy-filled prince dwelling in the safety of the kingdom of God. that is what happens when the kingdom comes to people...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">it comes with the life-giving peace of Jesus that is accompanied with overwhelming joy. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">when peace came to joseph, he did not run from it...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">he accepted it.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and for this man of peace...it has transformed him completely. </div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> </span></div>Brad Klaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881925822746114789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016089935981492861.post-20119858067116175082008-12-18T16:51:00.006-05:002008-12-19T09:55:29.167-05:00pure spotless bride | vovo<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic7XXGcRbiUMHlK_lZ7va9B6BvldZQTbrPsL2S7e9uzaPslOjhjGElUpCD9HLqwCwW8nkXoYEi4j8_4Mc5T4v2y5Ja0fDimhjEz6ct-LSX5iwXqgLNCLkPmui4OPM2vzocMilZ_91naamE/s1600-h/IMG_7777.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic7XXGcRbiUMHlK_lZ7va9B6BvldZQTbrPsL2S7e9uzaPslOjhjGElUpCD9HLqwCwW8nkXoYEi4j8_4Mc5T4v2y5Ja0fDimhjEz6ct-LSX5iwXqgLNCLkPmui4OPM2vzocMilZ_91naamE/s200/IMG_7777.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281254839205658770" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">the Lord will hold you in his hands for all to see- a splendid crown in the hand of God. never again will you be called 'the forsaken city' or 'the deserted land.' your name will be 'the city of god's delight' and 'the bride of God.' for the Lord delights in you and will claim you as his bride.</span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">isaiah 62:3&4<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; ">the wetland area of masiphumelele is a forgotten place. it is a place where the poorest of the poor in this township are forced to live, to fend for themselves. this is a place of sadness, of desolation, filled with people who are seemingly left on their own.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">vovo lives in the wetlands.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">vovo's life was once thought to be forgotten, desolate...wasted. the virus that lives in her body reminded her of the way she had been abused, taken advantage of and then quickly abandoned.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">alone. forsaken. damaged. hidden.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">but this is no longer the case. vovo is a story of hope. for the Bridegroom himself has extended his hand to her. and she has grasped firmly to the One who has never turned away from her but has loved for for exactly who she is. she has been claimed by the one who has taken all of her blemishes and washed all of her stains. she is the delight of the Lord, the bride of God. she has been made new.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">it is true, the kingdom of God has come to vovo. she has been married to the ruler of that kingdom. her sadness has turned to praise. she is beautiful in the sight of her husband, Jesus. she now rejoices because of how he has changed her...how he has given her a new name...</div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">beloved. pure. spotless. bride.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">|photo by chelsea gentry|</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> </span></div>Brad Klaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881925822746114789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016089935981492861.post-81694465046191390812008-12-18T09:56:00.005-05:002008-12-18T16:51:02.417-05:00kingdom | stories<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjoGpGNxfiwncL1YRGCEO5rIyP-s6TyMRh4gbRcY0311KyMIEouqdaRIFYWhqExpXKOh1IGBvN4HE_mUIBhqQkSkyCTx77zvrI4wi08nPrBc5TGPTsiSG_VpjVNQ_wXCPzRzcuihnVFCBr/s1600-h/IMG_0779.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjoGpGNxfiwncL1YRGCEO5rIyP-s6TyMRh4gbRcY0311KyMIEouqdaRIFYWhqExpXKOh1IGBvN4HE_mUIBhqQkSkyCTx77zvrI4wi08nPrBc5TGPTsiSG_VpjVNQ_wXCPzRzcuihnVFCBr/s200/IMG_0779.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281250136587639570" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">as the sun sets on our time here in cape town, i a reminded of many stories. in fact, i think the telling of stories has played a significant part in our time here.<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">i have become increasingly aware of the place stories have in the kingdom of God. they are important to the King...and he shows us this through his own God story. he...in fact...has written and continues to write an incredible story of<br /></div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">love</div><div style="text-align: justify;">forgiveness</div><div style="text-align: justify;">redemption</div><div style="text-align: justify;">hope</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and those who accept his invitation are suddenly swept into the telling of this gripping tale. and as lost sheep are found and prodigals return home...not only do they become part of the larger God-story...</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">but they also bring with them a smaller...but still very important story of their own.</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">i came to africa with my story...my own personal story of </div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">love</div><div style="text-align: justify;">forgiveness</div><div style="text-align: justify;">redemption</div><div style="text-align: justify;">hope</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and through my time here...i have told that story. and others have told their stories to me.</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">some are very sad stories...ones that have very little hope...they are missing something. other stories are very different from mine and yet...at the heart...they have the same plot change...the same very important plot change. and what comes from telling this kind of story is powerful. </div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">jesus is in these stories...his presence is written all through the words. </div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">as we have been meeting people...making disciples...planting simple house churches...</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">we have encouraged those who have been changed...to tell their stories...not to hold back. </div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">and what has come from this is an array of responses. </div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">but one thing is for certain...when we tell our stories of</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">love</div><div style="text-align: justify;">forgiveness</div><div style="text-align: justify;">redemption</div><div style="text-align: justify;">hope</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">one response is guaranteed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Christ is glorified...he is worshipped. </div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and that is enough.</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">becuase he is the ultimate story-teller and and so he will ultimately do the rest. </div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and so i will continue to tell my story...even after leaving this beautiful country...and i will tell the stories of those i have met. i will stand for them...i will speak for them where they cannot speak. i will tell of their stories of</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">love</div><div style="text-align: justify;">forgiveness</div><div style="text-align: justify;">redemption</div><div style="text-align: justify;">hope</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and i will tell of how they have changed. i will tell of Jesus in their lives. i will tell of his kingdom breaking forth.</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and He will do the rest.</div></div>Brad Klaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881925822746114789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016089935981492861.post-12016173329350424802008-12-16T10:27:00.004-05:002008-12-16T10:48:38.945-05:00today | joseph<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHmhF5NCZgq6X5l509e68ksyWq392zSLX3iBtx4jaiFv0lFTJLQ33HaIPAqIOw83emqMKHJ9oktDEP7P9LVIwsSh889r1T_Ra6mqihDMbMNZNfeVbiB53AO60fEppwvbxknIuy_XxCf8CC/s1600-h/IMG_0474.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHmhF5NCZgq6X5l509e68ksyWq392zSLX3iBtx4jaiFv0lFTJLQ33HaIPAqIOw83emqMKHJ9oktDEP7P9LVIwsSh889r1T_Ra6mqihDMbMNZNfeVbiB53AO60fEppwvbxknIuy_XxCf8CC/s200/IMG_0474.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5280415093148463890" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">today...i met with him for one of the last times [for now].<br /></div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">today...it was just he and i...one on one.<br /></div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">today...we shared with joy about what we see in each other.</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">today...we laughed at how people can't believe it when they see the pictures of his baptism.</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">today...he rejoiced because peace has come to him...has come to his house.</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">today...he thanked Jesus for touching his body...for touching he heart.</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">today...you couldn't wipe the smile off of his face.</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">today...he told me how he wants others to know Jesus like he knows him.</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">today...he said he was sad to see me go.</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">today...he knows it is the right and obedient thing.</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">today...he told me how he wants to ride the train so he can tell the person next to him about what jesus has done in him...because that is what changes people.</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">today...i smiled when i heard this...knowing that we hadn't talked about my last post and he surely hadn't read it [he has no computer].</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">today...i am convinced that His love that rescued the earth lives in him.</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">today...i am overcome with thankfulness...because...</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">today...he knows.</div></div>Brad Klaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881925822746114789noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016089935981492861.post-66170759024922607762008-12-14T05:33:00.005-05:002008-12-14T12:26:10.508-05:00kingdom | movement<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMBe-a2_FIi4Kkvp2H5GMkme8MDqUvevoJJQE71ksv4wI5oslNQZvx18h318R7cJdbVFDceG2zpUnm-P1jyWurDpHSbF8e1SdlHOy2Vk1xS4o1u9YmPMiU0kOQFvIZfRSp1CO4IyyDxwiz/s1600-h/IMG_8028.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMBe-a2_FIi4Kkvp2H5GMkme8MDqUvevoJJQE71ksv4wI5oslNQZvx18h318R7cJdbVFDceG2zpUnm-P1jyWurDpHSbF8e1SdlHOy2Vk1xS4o1u9YmPMiU0kOQFvIZfRSp1CO4IyyDxwiz/s200/IMG_8028.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5279695619671053298" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">yesterday i rode the train and went to a market. and while engaging in both of these activities, i was thoroughly engrossed in the sounds...the interactions...the people...the culture that was so evident in both of these things...<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">so different and yet so similar. and by the end of the day, it was clear that i had been seeing word pictures...flashes of truth...challenge...in both of them. and as has been a familiar trend these days...i was once again reminded of the power of the kingdom of God.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">but first...the train. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">boarding at fish hoek station onto a crowded train car...i was struck first by our invasion into the all african hue of people. we were, in fact, the only white people in this car...four of probably only a handful on the whole train. most white people don't ride the train...they don't have to...and many are afraid to anyhow. once again...i was reminded of the divide between privilege and necessity...the wide chasm resultant of the still-lingering dust of apartheid. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">i sat next to a man dressed in fancy clothes...a buttoned shirt and trousers. he was holding his small daughter...one in a twined pair. he smiled at me as he sat next to me...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">the other one's there...</span>he pointed to a woman holding his other daugher, the other half of the twined pair...<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">their twins</span>...he said, smiling again.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">they are beautiful little ones...and i tell him so.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">the train is community. the train is people...all moving in one direction...if only for a short time. the train is opportunity...realized...and seized by many. as passengers exit...rubbing shoulders with those who will take their place...sit where they just had been...<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">...opportunity.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">a blind man with a battery-powered keyboard steps onto the train...led by a man in a white shirt...hand on his shoulder. he acts as the eyes. as the shepherd. as the business manager. he directs the blind man to the back of the car...and they wait for the train to lurch forward again. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">we are a captive audience...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and so the blind man begins to play the keys...and sings.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">then sings my soul...my savior god to thee...how great thou art</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">a curious thing begins to happen...the fancy man begins to sing along...quietly at first...then progressively louder. the woman with the hat on sitting across from me does the same.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">as his friend sings...the man in white, donation cup in hand, leads the other forward...shoes shuffling under them...until they reach the front of the car and the train reaches the next station. the man stops singing...and as the doors open...they quickly disappear from the car...running to the next car to do the same.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">the train squeals and begins to move forward again...new faces replacing once-familiar ones.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">we move forward in silence again.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">at the next stop...in the midst of the furious transition of passengers...something similar...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">a man with a black shirt with colorful embroidery helps another blind passenger onto our car...she is a woman...and her hands are empty...except for a small, white, tin cup. her instrument is her voice...and she begins to sing as the train begins to move.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">the blood of jesus...the blood of jesus...the blood of jesus...it will never lose its power.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">as she sings, the sound of coins splashing the bottom of that tin cup begins to resonate in the train car...almost on beat with her song. one...two...and then another...and another. woman place their coin in her cup...children...ask their fathers for a coin in order to contribute to the woman's song.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">she shuffles her feet and changes her tune...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">the name of jesus...the name of jesus...the name of jesus...it will never lose it's power.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and the clanging encourages the song until we reach the next station...and then just like the first man...the woman abruptly ends her song...the doors open...and she disappears. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">it is quiet again...and we continue our journey. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">a child refuses to sit still by his mother and so the man down the row looks after him...gently tickling him...gaining great joy from the electric laughter that emerges from the boys belly. two woman laugh as they realize they have missed their stop...the old man with one good eye sits quietly across from me...waiting patiently for his stop...lips pursed into a frown...the young man at the front of the car with the kanye west-white sunglasses listens to music on his phone...letting the one he boarded with listen in.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and so this shifting and ever-changing community continues on...all of us moving in the same direction...with the same motion...if not for a stop or two...until we arrive at our stop and we exit into a quiet station and the train moves on...and the community continues on without us.</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">the four us walked from the station to the market...a clear contrast from our experience on the train...still clearly community...but it takes a very different form...and has a different face...</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">a white face.</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">the market...a wonderful...rich...display of organic produce, food and drink, and art smelled of flavorful enjoyment and full stomachs and it rang of care-free laughter, folksy musicianship and joy. </div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">we sat down under a tent with table made of old doors and seats constructed of yellow produce crates and worn planks...strangers intermingling as they enjoyed good food, cold cider, and warm company. i sat next to a boisterous white-haired and wrinkled english woman...her cheeks sunk in and a cigarette clenched between her frail lips. she was here on holiday and she was having a blast. </div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">we talked about everything american...obama...the economic crisis...american philanthropy...</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and then she asked me why i was here...and for so long...for i must be living the free-spirited life of sight-seeing, cheap living and drinking and youthful irresponsibility. </div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">so your here until your money runs out, huh?</span> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">no</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">no? so why then?</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">we work here in one of the townships. we like to tell people how much Jesus loves them...and we have been able to plant some churches as well as a result of people realizing this love.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">you plant churches? i didn't know churches grew.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and then the subject was dropped and we moved on to the AIDS crisis, aparteid and the overall condition of the country she was visiting. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">we eventually said goodbye and moved on...she, seemingly unaffected by the conversation we had just had. but it isn't important whether she was convinced by the church-planting movement i've just told her about...or that she wasn't moved to tears by her sinfulness that came streaming out in a series of confessions all in an instance that culminated in a powerful transformation of heart and life causing her to be an evangelist for the rest of her life.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">yes, life change is important...and i would have rejoiced had the conversation moved to that point...certainly i would...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">but i think for just a second...for just a little while during her lunch at the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">old biscuit mill market</span>...this brash brit experienced just a bit of what the kingdom of God is about...and in that instance...was met by the name of Jesus...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">which is powerful in and of itself. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">which leads me to all of the thoughts that have been circulating through my mind over the past couple weeks and which were once again revealed through my experiences in these two very different experiences yesterday...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">that these two communities...no matter how different they are from one another...and believe me...they are very different...will always be the same in the simple concept of community. And so because of that...they both stand as birthing places for the kingdom of God. Jesus understood this when he brought the kingdom...understood it because community is part of him...part of the essence of Christ...and so it is part of the kingdom. and so without even realizing it...these people have already started to incorporate themselves into one of the main aspects of the kingdom. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and while the woman at the lunch table was not quite aware of its presence...she in fact was participating in the kingdom by conversing with me over a meal...communion...if you will...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and in her unawareness that the church is grown...planted...nurtured...she may not understand that now...but she might...someday...i pray she will...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and then she will know.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and she has heard the name of jesus spoken to her...and she has heard that he loves her...just like he loves the people in masiphumelele where we work...and loves the people on the train...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">which leads me back to the train...and the woman singing with beauty that the blood of jesus will never lose its power...and in the same way...that the name of jesus will never lose its power. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">which led me to wonder...does she know this? does she really know what profound truth she was proclaiming as she shuffled through the train car...tin cup extended to her audience?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and if she did know the power that is in that name...and in that blood...whould she sing it differently? would there be passion in her voice? or if she really believed it...would she be afraid to share it...to speak it out with unction in fear that it would no longer be simply business as usual meant to put food on her table...but it would mean that she would really have to make a choice about how she was going to live?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and as i heard her sing about the powerful blood of Jesus and the strong name of Jesus...and thought about how it has changed me...how he has changed me...and how i have seen him...quite visibly actually...change so many now...how should i respond? how do others on the train listening to this song...knowing the change in their hearts...respond?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">is my life different? is there passion in my lives? and since i believe it...am i afraid to share it...to speak it out with unction in fear that my life would no longer be simply business as usual meant to put me in good standing with "the man upstairs"? or has it meant that i have had to make a choice about how i am meant to live...how i am meant to speak the name of jesus...how i am meant to understand and live in the kingdom of God? </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and so i thought...if i were not the only one on this train thinking these thoughts...and if i were not the only one who wanted to really wanted to show the power of Jesus' name...and if there were others like me who had been ushered into the kingdom of God through the blood of Jesus that will never lose its power...and we realized how it had drastically changed our lives...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">what would that train car have looked like? what would it have sounded like? and what would have happened as a result of the community taking place as we all went in the same direction for a short time? </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">i think it would have looked a lot like the kingdom. perhaps very small...and faint...but i think it would be there...and it would be moving. and it would be going along with people as they got off at their stop...and it would be infecting wherever they went from there...spreading itself beyond what me could imagine. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">which is why i told the funny little british woman about me...that i align myself with jesus. he is why i am here in cape town...that is why i told her.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">because she will go back to england...having had a simple encounter and seeming meaningless interaction with Jesus...and just might change because of it. and with that change...will carry with her a story...and an authority...wherever she goes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and they have trains in england...lots of them...and taxis and buses and airplanes...all with people doing simple community...traveling in the same direction...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">if only for a short time.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">but for some...it might make a lasting difference. </div><div> </div><div> </div>Brad Klaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881925822746114789noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016089935981492861.post-9901180046989923182008-12-02T13:49:00.006-05:002008-12-18T17:12:05.707-05:00kingdom | reconciliation<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIJLdw6L4dyU2dB4vhiVoAJ2U38xMxBAKBWtS2oOyaGBqiqS1ozKlzwOdVyAZxX6gob7z50OoCJmBYhiutm_gtRL5os_iOOuSlY7mzHOvLJUhO9jHB53RKOx9B0t0GJHsscoCMkphcfGvd/s1600-h/IMG_8673.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIJLdw6L4dyU2dB4vhiVoAJ2U38xMxBAKBWtS2oOyaGBqiqS1ozKlzwOdVyAZxX6gob7z50OoCJmBYhiutm_gtRL5os_iOOuSlY7mzHOvLJUhO9jHB53RKOx9B0t0GJHsscoCMkphcfGvd/s200/IMG_8673.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5275289054174944242" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not country men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation."</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">2 Corinthians 5:17-19</span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">i have been wrestling with this whole thing called reconciliation. i have been really trying to think upon the nature reconciliation in and of itself.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">i have been searching for reconciliation in and through the people, things, and actions around me...reconciliation in its purest form.<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and so then i begin to ask...what is reconciliation...in its purest form?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">in its simplest sense, reconciliation is simply the restoration of relationship.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">but I still want to know what it looks like in its purest form.<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and i have struggled and struggled to find it...to see it in the things i have been desperately praying for...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">searching to see it take place in the lives of those who have been torn from their homelands...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">searching to see it take place in the lives of those who once watched as their homes were bulldozed to the ground...just beacause they were not white...houses bulldozed to make room for "white" homes that never ended up begin built...because a "colored" once lived on that land...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">searching to see it take place in the lives of those who have been handed one violent blow after another by the virus that now rules their once young and vibrant body...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and the list goes on...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and not just here in South Africa. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">there is a world that is starving for reconciliation with something...someone...somewhere...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and they don't even have any idea what it is. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">some people can't reconcile the choices they have made with the consequences they are left to endure because they have been made out of sinful waywardness. others can't seem to reconcile the color of their own skin with that of their neighbors. still others can't seem to reconcile the war waging inside them...the battle of voices barraging them</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">your not good enough</div><div style="text-align: justify;">you have no value</div><div style="text-align: justify;">just give up</div><div style="text-align: justify;">you have no voice</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">these are real things...real people...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and they are hungry</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">no</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">STARVING...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">for reconciliation. and they don't know where to get it from. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and once again...and i'm not surprised in the least by this...and it always comes back to this...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">that the purest form of reconciliation is</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">the kingdom of God itself. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">plainly.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">but absolutely magnificently.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">reconciliation...in its purest form...the same reconciliation Jesus brought to earth...comes when truth is revealed. when truth is brought to light...movement happens...change occurs. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">but the enemy of truth is fear. fear is often what keeps reconciliation from happening. it is fear that keeps the one tormented by his hidden sin from confessing and being set free. it was fear that blinded the eyes of so many "whites" who persecuted the innocent...split families in two...destroyed homes...and changes nations. It is fear that causes her to hide inside the empty shell of a body...and forces her to accept the voices raging inside of her. it is fear of judgement...of stigma...that keeps the ill one from stepping forward to "be well." </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">fear hates reconciliation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">but truth conquers fear.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and reconciling truth opens us and sets us free.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and reconciliation will not be neat...it will not be simple. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">the kingdom of God is founded on truth...surrounding the love of a Savior who reconciled his people to himself through his death and resurrection...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">the kingdom of God is...simply put...space made for reconciliation...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and those who have accepted the invitation into this kingdom are given the chance to actively participate in it...to participate in the work of it...to participate in the reconciliation process. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">in fact...i believe it is true...that we are always working for or against each other. none of us is a neutral life. we are either bringing someone a step closer or a step further away from the Kingdom. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">reconciliation brings us a step closer.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">reconciliation broadens one's kingdom perspective. all in one moment of true and honest reconciliation...one mends the broken relationship with man and with God. and i think that when seen through the lens of the Kingdom...it is worship...true and honest worship. (matthew 5).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">because when reconciliation is found in its truest and purest form...it is found in love. it is found in the memory of truth with compassion. it is found in the violent rage of a loves so deep...so perfect...that it not only frightens fear...but casts it out...completely. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">the kingdom of God is love. and if i desire to see reconciliation happen in the messes of this life...i must love...unconditionally...in relationship with others.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and that means understanding the love of God...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and understanding God himself.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">because i think that understanding the nature of who God is ultimately informs our mission of love. if we can grasp something of this partnership with God, then it will inform the way that we understand mission...our relationships with others...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and in this way...the very nature of God is reconciled...because he is relational in himself.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">so i ask this question...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">what does my action tell people about the God i believe in...and the reconciliation his kingdom brings?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">i think that when i sit in the margins...when i pay attention to the ones who are forgotten...when i simply sit an listen to the ones who are not given a voice...when i love the unloved...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">it screams of who our God is...a God who says...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">i am for you.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">i love you.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and i want to reconcile you to myself...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">because you are that important.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">reconciliation will not come through organization. it will not come because of millions of dollars dumped into the continent of Africa. it will not come from a $7oo billion economic bailout. it will not come from just sitting around a talking about how great it would be.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">but it will come through the movement of the Spirit bringing the kingdom of God to a shack in Masiphumelele...and through a threshold in Grand Rapids, Michigan...and to a college dorm room in the middle of the night...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and it will come through you and i sharing our own stories of reconciliation...always pointing to the one who...in love...reconciles lost and hurting people to himself...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">just because he loves us.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">i want to be someone who converses in reconciliation. who will not simply make a declaration and then let others do the work...but i will accept the invitation to go out in shalom to a people who need reconciling...because we are created to God in a shalome-like way.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">so with that i say...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">accept the invitation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">smile.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">carry on.</div>Brad Klaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881925822746114789noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016089935981492861.post-71069501457887135932008-11-10T10:00:00.005-05:002008-11-10T10:21:23.358-05:00A Prayer for Our Communities<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZocDMBphs7Y2eHE-OQS1zXRUMhjZ03NOc7gCpMkmHhN9g9IgRZF6DTwj17C9KH5h4dnU5Hhap-1PPHBpOiWEHFhyphenhyphenC-8_7xjWX_3jogOPmSG5ldVUm_l5osCifRn46EWTRHx6t3UKUPhFu/s1600-h/IMG_8627.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZocDMBphs7Y2eHE-OQS1zXRUMhjZ03NOc7gCpMkmHhN9g9IgRZF6DTwj17C9KH5h4dnU5Hhap-1PPHBpOiWEHFhyphenhyphenC-8_7xjWX_3jogOPmSG5ldVUm_l5osCifRn46EWTRHx6t3UKUPhFu/s320/IMG_8627.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5267048834285142818" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">Because I love Zion, I will not keep still.</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Because my heart yearns for Jerusalem, I cannot remain silent.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">I will not stop praying for her</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Until her righteousness shines like the dawn,</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">And her salvation blazes like a burning torch.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">The nations will see your righteousness.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">World leaders will be blinded by your glory.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">And you will be given a new name by the Lord's own mouth.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">The Lord will hold you in his hand for all to see-</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">a splended crown in the hand of God.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Never again will you be called "The Forsaken City" or</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">"The Desolate Land."</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Your new name will be "The City of God's Delight" and</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">"The Bride of God," for the Lord delights in you</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">And will claim you as his bride.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Your children will commit themselves to you, O Jerusalem.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Just as a young man commits himself to his bride.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Then God will rejoice over you</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">As a bridegroom rejoiced over his bride.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">O Jerusalem, I have posted watchmen on your walls;</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">They will pray day and night, continually.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Take no rest, all you who pray to the Lord.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Give the Lord no rest until he completes his work,</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">until he makes Jerusalem the pride of the earth.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">The Lord has sworn to Jerusalem by his own strength;</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">"I will never again hand you over to your enemies.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Never again will foreign warriors come </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">And take away your grain and new wine.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">You raised the grain, and you will eat it,</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Praising the Lord.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">With the courtyards of the Temple,</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">You yourselves will drink the wine you have pressed."</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Go out through the gates!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Prepare the highway for my people to return!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Smooth out the road; pull out the boulders;</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">raise a flag for all the nations to see.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">The Lord has sent this message to every land:</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">"Tell the people of Israel,</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">'Look, your Savior is coming.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">See, he brings his reward with him as he comes.'"</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">They will be called "The Holy People" and</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">"The People Redeemed by the Lord."</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">And Jerusalem will be known as "The Desirable Place" and </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">"The City No Longer Forsaken."</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Isaiah 62</span></div>Brad Klaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881925822746114789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016089935981492861.post-68902757181404811012008-10-22T08:11:00.009-04:002008-11-10T10:00:31.935-05:00man of peace<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi6F1PjP8sO5D1YcFHLjNDFex2NV1MbYUKeLo1lnQC6YHmbcXUwmOyS5LBWGR0AtvAFsco2u8dRNtZNEe5jhy4JBnizNJVY16LNxTX0QuSk2Ax3Nu5hCndmr_bwMhxSI8BX1lhLYlc-xur/s1600-h/IMG_8654.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi6F1PjP8sO5D1YcFHLjNDFex2NV1MbYUKeLo1lnQC6YHmbcXUwmOyS5LBWGR0AtvAFsco2u8dRNtZNEe5jhy4JBnizNJVY16LNxTX0QuSk2Ax3Nu5hCndmr_bwMhxSI8BX1lhLYlc-xur/s200/IMG_8654.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5267031185785640114" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">"when you enter a house, first say, 'peace to this house.' if a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you. stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you...</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">"when you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you. heal the sick who are there and tell them, 'the kingdom of God is near you.'"</span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Luke 10:5-9</span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">i previously wrote about how my new friend, walter, strikes me as being a man of peace. in fact, i would dare say that what transpired when i first visited him at his home is exactly what Jesus tells his disciples would happen when they were sent out to look for men [and women] of peace. not only were they proclaiming the nearness of the kingdom of God but they were also imparting the peace of the Holy Spirit upon the homes of those who were ready to receive it. Jesus tells his disciples to search for men of peace...and to spend energy on these.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">so it is with ministry here. it has become clear that the words of Jesus in this instance [and as always] were particularly filled with wisdom...wisdom that can be easily applied to life in masiphumeleleh. simply walking the streets of this bustling township...let alone engaging in conversation with those you meet...can be overwhelming. and if one aimlessly walks without direction...moving toward any and every person that is seen...it will be truly exhausting as well. and i have surely experienced this fleeting search for a listening ear.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and so i have taken to heeding the words of Jesus to his disciples...to go out...being led by the Spirit...to men [and women] of peace. but i also wondered what this would really look like. what is a man of peace? and how would i know that this man truly is just that...and not a peaceful ticking time bomb waiting to explode if anything goes wrong...which i have witnessed before...just ask the sbr folks (how's that for a shout out...what, what!).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">sorry.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">but as i have been learning more about following the Holy Spirit to the man of peace and in turn seeing the kingdom of God unfold in his life and his home, God has brought one particular man into the picture to show me the potential Jesus was speaking about when he shared this task with his disciples. and the result has been complete joy and awe-inspired amazement.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">the man i am speaking of is joseph.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">when we met joseph, jonathan, willie and i were prayer walking. that particular day, we prayed that God would set before our path...a man of peace. at some point, a man who had clearly been drinking stopped us to say hello and ask us for some money. we did not give him money but instead engaged in conversation with him. where are you from? are you working? do you have kids? and then...where do you live in site 5? turns out, he lives in the back of the wetlands...unvisited...and forgotten.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and so we asked him to show us where he lived so we could visit him again some time. reluctantly he showed us where he lived but refused to invite us in because he hadn't had time to clean. we did not push...but instead asked him what we could pray about for him. he told us that ever since an accident he had had where he was hit by a car while riding his bike...he has had severe back pain, headaches and was left permanently bent at the waist because of the pain. [we came to find out later that his accident was so severe that he was left in a coma...thought to be dead...and placed in a casket and brought to the morgue. He woke up in the morgue after nearly a month in a coma.]</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and so we prayed for him...we prayed for peace to come to his home...we prayed that the Kingdom of God would draw near to this new friend...and we prayed for his healing...a hand placed on his head...a hand on his spine...and a hand placed on his heart.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and we prayed in faith...that God would heal every part of joseph...and that he indeed would accept the peace that we were bringing. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">joseph told us to come back again...and so we did.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and when we visited just a couple days later...something was noticeably different. it was not just joseph either...it was his household...it was his family...it was all different.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">it was clear that joseph had something he wished to tell us. when we asked him what had happened he proceeded to tell us the following:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">joseph could stand up straight</div><div style="text-align: justify;">he could move his head as it was meant to move...with ease</div><div style="text-align: justify;">his back was no longer in pain</div><div style="text-align: justify;">he no longer had headaches</div><div style="text-align: justify;">he stopped drinking </div><div style="text-align: justify;">he stopped smoking weed</div><div style="text-align: justify;">his mind was clear</div><div style="text-align: justify;">he wasn't yelling at his wife and kids</div><div style="text-align: justify;">he would think before speaking when he was frustrated</div><div style="text-align: justify;">he was not worried</div><div style="text-align: justify;">he was sleeping at night</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">joseph had been healed</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and he wanted to know how it happened.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Jesus did it.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and so we have been meeting with joseph and his family and anyone else joseph can get to come...twice a week...in a small...simple...house church. and walter is helping to ease the language barrier for joseph's wife. and walter has invited his neighbor. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and we have been talking about the Kingdom of God and how it has come to each of us in dynamic and real ways. and joseph can't stop smiling. he said the other day...after he was sharing with us about how he has finally found a family...that he has a problem. he said:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"you see...i have a problem...i cry when i am happy."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and the tears of joy have hardly stopped for this 62 year old man of peace.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">you see...i think that is what happens when the Kingdom of God comes upon a person with the life-giving peace of Jesus...we can't seem to escape the joy that accompanies it. when peace came to joseph's house...he did not run from it...but he accepted it...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and in turn...it has changed his life.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">while talking about john the baptist on wednesday of this week...joseph said with a grin on his face...i have been changed by jesus...so when are you gonna baptize me?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and so we had walter explain when...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">because this sunday...we will be baptizing two men of peace...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">walter and joseph.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and i pray that the peace that resides in both of their hearts through Jesus would pass from them to others as they begin to trust that the Lord would lead them...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">...lead them to other men and women of peace.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div>Brad Klaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881925822746114789noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016089935981492861.post-91535970336276336552008-10-16T16:46:00.004-04:002008-10-16T17:38:53.181-04:00the [anywhere] kingdom of God<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBGHxruxWNoKPgRGX1LfdKq4-85wAMubKRfzvUsXKAAZS9kXsL4sL-dytrrzM5mEdok-Rf0dVY_d0VMGfh9AuuOJrJyEdAj86_WjFIk5HjC_cXgtlYtEMMePFJB9hMmHuG6O01IS_ritMP/s1600-h/IMG_8052.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBGHxruxWNoKPgRGX1LfdKq4-85wAMubKRfzvUsXKAAZS9kXsL4sL-dytrrzM5mEdok-Rf0dVY_d0VMGfh9AuuOJrJyEdAj86_WjFIk5HjC_cXgtlYtEMMePFJB9hMmHuG6O01IS_ritMP/s200/IMG_8052.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257869001160346002" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">i said it before and i will say it again...my heart is for the men living here...to raise them up into leaders for this community...leaders for the kingdom. and God has provided men to do this with...zimbabwean men.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and while i am so thankful for this and these men have been taking incredible strides to learning this idea of simple church, this idea of community, and living lives that clearly emulate that the kingdom of God is indeed now. but...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">i have been fairly discouraged that there have not been any...and i mean any interactions with south african men. it seemed as if there was a general disinterest in even carrying on a friendly conversation by any of these men...they just simply shut down...put up a wall...bam...end of conversation...goodbye.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and so i began praying that God would bring forth south african men who were men of peace (Luke 10:5-7 - will write on this later) and who were at least a little bit interested in even talking with me. you see...it's great that our zim friends are so excited about loving the lost and bringing the gospel to the nations...but its just that...they will be leaving when things in zimbabwe are sorted out. they will leave to go back to their homes...bringing with them the message of the gospel which they have learned...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and this is a good thing...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">but that will leave masi with very few who know the same as these men...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and so i have been praying...a lot.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and God has answered my prayer...through a broken petrol gauge in Michelle and my yellow beetle we loving call "the colonel." that's right, we never really know how much petrol we have left...life's an adventure here in every way...but i digress.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">so one day, i was driving past the petrol station and at that moment...ran out of gas. so i walked to the station and a tall south african with kindness in his eyes and voice immediately asked me where my car was...which to this i sheepishly pointed down the road. so without a second thought, he helped me push the colonel back to the station. he filled the tank and told me to be careful.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">the next time i came to fill up at that station, he came to the car...just to talk. i found out that his name was walter and he lived in masi...and he had seen me walking around there and wondered what i was doing there...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">this is when it gets good...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">i told him that i was there to talk about jesus...to invite others to talk about him with me and to learn what it means to follow him. assuming that the conversation would stop there...i asked him a question. but before i could get it out completely, he asked if i would come to his home and talk. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">the following thursday, jonathan and i went to his home...which is in a part of masi i had never been in...to chat with him. while i was talking with walter, jonathan began talking with walter's neighbor...called tsepan. without knowing it...we both asked these south african men if they wanted to join us to talk and learn about jesus...and they both answered immediately...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">YES!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">so we have been meeting with them regularly now...with an elderly man named joseph and his family. we have been talking about jesus...listening to the stories of these men and women...and encouraging one another. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and just yesterday...walter shared with us about how before we met him...he refused to go to church. his fiance tried and tried to get him to come but he always said he was not ready...he didn't trust the people in church. but he shared with us yesterday how his heart has changed...how the Spirit is changing his heart...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">he said:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">since i met you guys...i am excited to read...to pray...to learn about God. i don't have to wait until sunday to talk about God when i want to do it on sunday. lately i can't seem to get enough of it. i used to wake up and just wonder what i was going to to all day. now i know what i can do. and i know you will come by and we can talk more...and if you don't...i can still go and visit joseph and talk with him. we need to find more people to tell. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and guess what...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">he went back to Joseph's house today and talked about Jesus with him and helped around the house...without us.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and his fiance really can't believe her eyes. and she smiles all the time now because of how walter now can't seem to get enough of his jesus.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and we will continue to meet together and pray for more south african men to join us. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">south african men of peace...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">...like walter</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">who was caught when the kingdom of God broke forth at the petrol station of all places...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">pretty cool, huh?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div>Brad Klaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881925822746114789noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016089935981492861.post-14054237677678345272008-10-07T18:00:00.005-04:002008-10-07T19:03:13.287-04:00seek justice [forgiveness]<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD9ILTxsSmfI7LE14mOTBe0cgvt5cr8QD_IKJ9s9nj1OrFn-vWk-ur_sLVnXlrkvmkYH0mTjqp5bnHlGQshGwS1zarpWIOY3LdxrGnb_YyF82thF8VUZzzx0eL6jK9z9Cze6SbAvUg24CN/s1600-h/IMG_7857.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD9ILTxsSmfI7LE14mOTBe0cgvt5cr8QD_IKJ9s9nj1OrFn-vWk-ur_sLVnXlrkvmkYH0mTjqp5bnHlGQshGwS1zarpWIOY3LdxrGnb_YyF82thF8VUZzzx0eL6jK9z9Cze6SbAvUg24CN/s200/IMG_7857.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5254550025508698978" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><div style="text-align: justify;">"learn to do right! seek justice, encourage the oppresses. defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow."<br /></div></span><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">isaiah 1:17</span></div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">what does it mean to seek justice? </div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">i have been asking myself that question a lot lately...mostly because within the last two weeks or so...i have seen so many acts of injustice than i really can count. </div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">masiphumeleleh is a place filled with those who are oppressed...fatherless...widowed. it is a place plagued with injustice. just recently one of the men who i have become friends with...d...a zimbabwean man confided in jeremiah and i that he had not been paid for the work that he had done completing a brick wall for a man in nearby fishhoek. he was to be paid 1400 rand...the equivalent to $170...for a week's worth of work. the man who contracted dennis to do the work also lives in fishhoek and promised to pay d his money upon completing the job...which he did. </div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">but he was not being paid.</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">so in living in obedience to this passage...d, jeremiah and i went to this man in masi and for nearly two and a half hours...we sought justice for d. we reasoned with the man...he was shown to be lying...and yet...refused to pay d his money...which was rightly his...even after d suggested the man only pay him 800...then 600...then 400.</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and the whole time the man refused...until d finally told the man that he would forgive him of his debt to him...that it was over...that d was finished seeking his payment...</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and so he walked away...which is a big deal for d...</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">you see d is here in cape town away from his wife and infant daughter who are still in zimbabwe. he is here trying to beat the injustice that is overwhelming his home country right now...injustice that is resulting in thousands fleeing the country, going hungry...and even being killed. and so he is here trying to ear a simple man's wages here (minimum wage is less than $2 here) so that he can continue to care for his starving family. </div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and yet...trying to escape one act of injustice has brought him face to face with yet another act of injustice here in south africa.</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and i could tell story upon story like this...which is sad and sickening...and just plain wrong.</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">so i have been puzzled by what it really means to seek justice. it is easy to give examples of how to encourage...how to defend and plead one's case...but how does one seek justice when it seems that the grip of injustice does not seem to even allow room for breakthrough. is seeking justice simply shine light upon the lies of the man who refused to pay d and thus show his lack of integrity for others to see...or is it to declare d's honor through the way he speaks with his debtor?</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">or would it be the full payment of what is owed to d...to actually have the cash in hand?</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">i'm not sure i can fully answer that question...</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">but i can deduce something from this one example among many...and it comes in the truth of what follows this passage of scripture...in the passage that immediately follows...</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">"'come now, let us reason together,' says the LORD. 'though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.'" (isaiah 1:18)</span></div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">you see...part of seeking justice...part of encouraging and defending and pleading is first recognizing that we are all recipients of these things first before we are able to actually follow suit...</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">for in our own acts of injustice through our sinfulness...Jesus is the one who sought justice...the one who took our acts of injustice upon himself...he was the one pleading for us...or our lives...he covered our sinfulness...taking the scarlet red of sin and making it white as snow. it is only through christ that we are even able to follow suit...seeking justice...encouraging...defending...and pleading.</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and i know d knows this...which is why he was able to walk away...saying i am done...it is finshed...i have forgiven you your debt...</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">because he too has been forgiven his debt...</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">d has experienced forgiveness and through that forgiveness he was also able to seek justice...and jeremiah and i alongside of him...and show the face of Jesus in the midst of it...and i believe that that is the first step. we must not lose heart and as a result lose the face of Christ...for justice would be lost in the process.</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But Christ was made famous in that two and a half hour conversation...made famous by a man who knows the debt that was paid for him...the injustice that was wiped clean from his slate...the forgiveness he has received...and was able to forgive as well.</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and so i think that is so much of what it is all about...</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">it's not about seeking justice for our own sake...or even for the sake of justice...and it certainly isn't about letting one's self be steam-rolled...</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">but it <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">is</span> about making Jesus look good...making him famous amongst those who are not only experiencing the injustice but also amongst those who are bringing the injustice.</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">so while i know that i still don't completely understand what it means...i will heed to the commands given to us in the best way that i can...</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">that Christ himself might bring true justice to the hearts of those who need it...</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and be made famous as his kingdom grows.</div><div> </div><div> </div></div>Brad Klaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881925822746114789noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016089935981492861.post-9476343634568928502008-10-03T18:15:00.005-04:002008-10-03T19:20:25.364-04:00fishing?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_nT0e5yCkIY_ax5E8ZR4wssRRk-Q_faaiOAehduERcRDmDoLLB02zARWEqVv3_pHD57cMHe3cnO4-bVDUvuDys5JBGsmT_DVUagK5oUUWvPxcJcPQkP5y6ZmsWrWMXl3YSv3F6UoadFoi/s1600-h/P1013054.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_nT0e5yCkIY_ax5E8ZR4wssRRk-Q_faaiOAehduERcRDmDoLLB02zARWEqVv3_pHD57cMHe3cnO4-bVDUvuDys5JBGsmT_DVUagK5oUUWvPxcJcPQkP5y6ZmsWrWMXl3YSv3F6UoadFoi/s200/P1013054.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253070461436244706" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">i never really liked fishing...<br /></div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">...until now.</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">i've been getting to know this zimbabwean man named simba. he and i are pretty similar...kindred spirits you might say. and i love spending time with him...talking about jesus. </div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">he loves jesus.</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">we have been meeting together almost daily...doing life together the best way we can considering the limitations we must accept at this present time...and studying the bible...discussing life...praying for miracles...and drinking zimbabwean tea...eating rice...and laughing...</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">a lot.</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">simba and i are learning together about what it means to make disciples. and we have begun to enjoy the way Jesus called his disciples to be fishers of men. this always seemed to be such an elementary way of looking at discipleship...and yet...it...just...makes...sense.</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">after discussing how we too have been called to be fishers of men...we have decided to take our fishing more seriously. </div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">so now when simba and i see each other...he will often lean over to me and in the most nonchalant way ask me...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"did you go fishing today?"</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and i will smile and know exactly what he means. or other times i will...between sips of tea...ask simba with a smile on my face...</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"did you go fishing today?"</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and he will smile and know exactly what i mean.</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and we will share with one another how God has created opportunities to go fishing every single day...to pray for healing...to encourage the poor and the fatherless...to seek justice amongst the oppressed...and most importantly...</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">to draw all of these to Jesus...to show them his wonderful love...to point to Him completely. </div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">not only have i been challenged by simba's question...and he by mine...but i know that we are both encouraging one another to become better fisherman...growing in the desire to please Jesus. </div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and so a lazy summer afternoon activity that i once counted as dull and a waste of time has now become the pace of my life...something that i have come to love...</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">...and a growing reminder to me and so many others that the kingdom of God is infact...here.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>Brad Klaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881925822746114789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016089935981492861.post-17313378532537668192008-10-02T04:07:00.005-04:002008-10-02T05:03:21.445-04:00walls [peace]<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLy-5EK7zLH8yC-b4cB0cU9qoz-TlifkgS6pT3ub5j-z-pan7Tce_MaYBrVSm1UGONQxih0JH02d5fYXjQFP_TOu0uufqsHntO-Ju0xRMbBY2q1-GwZk-YeK-h_0h4reepws-iNyOsmNkP/s1600-h/IMG_8104.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLy-5EK7zLH8yC-b4cB0cU9qoz-TlifkgS6pT3ub5j-z-pan7Tce_MaYBrVSm1UGONQxih0JH02d5fYXjQFP_TOu0uufqsHntO-Ju0xRMbBY2q1-GwZk-YeK-h_0h4reepws-iNyOsmNkP/s200/IMG_8104.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5252477485990356450" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">"no longer will violence be heard in your land, nor ruin or destruction within your borders, but you will call your walls Salvation and your gates Praise. The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory.</span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Isaiah 60:18-19</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">there are a lot of walls here in cape town...a lot. i'm not sure why but i haven't really paid much attention to them until the last couple weeks. perhaps it is because these walls have begun to manifest themselves in both the physical sense and the spiritual sense. <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">crime is prevalent here. i have experienced this first hand. but beyond that, the chains of crime have taken hold and have tightened its grip on the city of cape town and the whole of south africa. there is an evil stronghold that is present here and comes in the form of crime. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">this stronghold has caused the building of walls.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">everywhere.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">walls surround the homes of the rich. neighborhoods are riddled with walls and fences and security guards. and these walls have created walls in the hearts of the people. people have built up walls in their hearts toward other people. trust is a commodity and it has been clear that it takes a lot of work for trust to be build and friendships to stick. the word "neighbor" really does not exist in the subdivisions where the well-to-do reside. people do not open up to one another...they do not share...they do not go out after dark...they do not spend time outside their gated and walled-in kingdoms. they are perfectly sufficient with their separate and individual lives. people have given in to the reality of crime here and thus are always looking over their shoulders...and do not feel safe...until they are secure behind the high walls of their palaces. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">to many...trust does not exist. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and yet, in the townships...where crime plays a significant role in the daily lives of people...where women wonder if it is safe to walk around at night...where zimbabwean men considered aliens in this country do not stray from their yards because they do not belong...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">this word "neighbor" is beginning to take hold...slowly...but it is there.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">one man named Elias told me the other day that ever since a group of men began to meet together in his home (a former bar none the less) on saturday nights (the highest crime night of the week) a presence of peace has begun to settle in and amongst his home and the homes surrounding his.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"my neighbors are settling down," he says</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"my landlord has told me he admires what we are doing and tells me that something is different here," he tells me.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"people are beginning to wonder about this peace," he rejoices.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and do you know what? it's true.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">there is a presence of peace in this small section of masi predominantly populated with zimbabwean outsiders. there is something different here. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">there is peace here. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and do you know why that is?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">because "God is not a God of disorder but of peace." (1 cor 14:33)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">his presence brings peace...and rest...and it breaks down walls and replaces the walls of brokenness and sin with fortified walls of salvation and blessing...walls that are from him...and gates that welcome and bring wholeness. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">peace is overcoming disorder on luntu street. and these men, these brothers in Christ are committed to seeing this peace grow. they will write love on the walls that still exist in masi...and they will be posted on these walls, crying out for God to spread his peace throughout this place...to replace the disorder and chaos that crime has caused...to break down the walls of deception and mistrust and will replace it with a presence of peace...and of joy...and of trust. (isaiah 62)</div><div> </div><div><br /></div><div>these disciples from zimbabwe are becoming neighbors...neighbors to one another...to those living on their street...to masi. </div><div> </div><div><br /></div><div>there is hope here...and the walls are coming down...</div><div><br /></div><div>and He is rebuilding them with his grace and salvation and hope...</div><div><br /></div><div>...and i think it is beautiful</div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div>Brad Klaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881925822746114789noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016089935981492861.post-80874335808702410902008-09-04T15:18:00.004-04:002008-09-12T18:41:12.060-04:00good hope<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyIyZDBl0s0Ry16_yjPYk6JV5X3xw34Wc0Lap0C05eDX26fyA6mqHI29wBETUfge3rJTy0UZ3IT_4WcIFpDhYxsFOtYd6Vy49IIss97SXHCOg0LT_8BNE9OhmpJ8uHx3glMWcuU_f3oJKr/s1600-h/IMG_7907.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyIyZDBl0s0Ry16_yjPYk6JV5X3xw34Wc0Lap0C05eDX26fyA6mqHI29wBETUfge3rJTy0UZ3IT_4WcIFpDhYxsFOtYd6Vy49IIss97SXHCOg0LT_8BNE9OhmpJ8uHx3glMWcuU_f3oJKr/s200/IMG_7907.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5245268140042207666" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">i am dreaming and praying about starting a house church in a grocery store. no really...i am. and one of the founding members of this house church will be a </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">muslim</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> from </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">ethiopia</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> who is discouraged with his life in south </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">africa</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> and ready to move to </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">america</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">...</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">minnesota</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> of all places...at the drop of a hat...if only i would pay for his visa...and his passport...oh and his plane ticket.<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">this man is </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">ali</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">and he is becoming very special to me and i think me to him as well...he has recently taken to calling me brother [he always asks where my other brother is </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">danmike</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> (not his real name)]. and in a way...i think we are becoming like that...although there is much to learn about each other. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">ali</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> owns the small grocery shop...called a </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">spaza</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> in south </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">africa</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">...and he has [i think] appropriately called it the "good hope shop." he is a </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">muslim</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> who, on the first of </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">september</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">, began observing </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">ramadan</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">, an </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">islamic</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> month dedicated to fasting and prayer. every day for the whole month, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">muslims</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> fast from morning to evening. they begin at 5am and end at </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">incremental</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> times beginning at 6:30pm...then 6:31pm...then 6:32pm...etc. during this fasting period, they do not eat or drink anything...not even water. but in the evening, when the light of the sun has disappeared, they are free to eat whatever they wish. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">so today during my visit with </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">ali</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">, we talked about </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">ramadan</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">. i asked him bluntly why he does it, what is means to him, what he thinks about eating only at night, and what he thinks it does for him spiritually. in his broken </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">english</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">...i believe he honestly answered my inquiries. i learned a lot about what </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">muslims</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> believe and why they practice this month of </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">ramadan</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">. and in a way...i felt slightly </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">optimistic about this dream for a house church to be planted here...because in the midst of this new friend's answers about his beliefs...there is something in his answers...something in the way he talks about his beliefs...that says... </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">"i'm not really sure if i believe it."</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">...and at the same time there is something in the way he asks me about this man Jesus...that hunger in his eyes when I tell him about Him...that says...</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">"tell me more."</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">and this gives me hope...and i believe...that some day this good hope shop will really and truly be a good hope shop...a shop that doesn't only sell...but also gives away...and i will pray to that end. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">ali is beginning to open up with me...and that encourages me. today i told him about my experience getting mugged this weekend and his face became grim. i told him it was okay...that i was okay...but he remained sullen. he told me about how just weeks ago, his shop was burglarized...men broke through his door...robbed him of his money and sook significan amounts of food and goods from the shelves. as he was telling me this he began to cry and he shared about how he has felt unsafe since the xenophobic outbreaks happened in masi...he told me of his discouragement with the problems of crime and violence against the innocent in masi...he shared with me of his saddness of living and working in a shack that would be suitable only for livestock and sheep back in ethiopia.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">and he cried.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">and all i could think to do was to listen...because in reality...i know nothing about the troubles and difficulties ali is facing. and i know very little about being victimized like he has been...over and over again. and i know nothing about the fear that races through you when your life is placed in jeopardy...first by the violence and hunger that rages in your own country...and then by the threat that comes from being an outsider seeking peace in another country.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">i know nothing about any of these things</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">but God knows everything about them...and about him...and that comes as such a relief to me. this truth reminds me that He will guide my tongue...as long as i am listening...and he will do the life-changing...if the soil is good. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">i think ali is good soil...he just might not know it yet.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">i pray he will</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div>Brad Klaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881925822746114789noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016089935981492861.post-2533582396388010972008-08-31T12:56:00.009-04:002008-08-31T16:51:58.712-04:00inheritance [prayer]<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxrXQLw2gTt0jq2vHp5muX7_1zxwpcm8sFqFzpeHUk64AbfKVuZsvIQWDqcNeSSspjue_mpC36l_Mu47niR0abu6U_HqGd6olJXS7f3Rfi7iLin8KzOU87_2hz3eu7vnORlKZuPDEV7PBO/s1600-h/IMG_7777.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxrXQLw2gTt0jq2vHp5muX7_1zxwpcm8sFqFzpeHUk64AbfKVuZsvIQWDqcNeSSspjue_mpC36l_Mu47niR0abu6U_HqGd6olJXS7f3Rfi7iLin8KzOU87_2hz3eu7vnORlKZuPDEV7PBO/s200/IMG_7777.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5240742401838058258" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">"ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession." </span></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">psalm 2:8</span></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">we are beginning a rhythm of prayer here in the all nations community...and it is very exciting...and necessary.<br /></div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">God has laid it upon several of our hearts to begin a rhythm of prayer that not only brings a community together in prayer and worship to the God of the universe...but also does not hide...in fact it exposes our weaknesses...our questions...our vulnerabilities and tosses them at the feet of Jesus...</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">because frankly, after the week that it has been, i can't seem to see any other way of processing what i have seen, what i have experienced here, what is happening all around me than to cry out to God...and say...here...you deal with it.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">and so we will begin a rhythm of prayer...first by praying together in community every Monday from 7-8pm...praying and listening to God and following Him as he grows this vision of prayer and builds this rhythm.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">and we will pray for the people of masi and oceanview...and red hill...and bo kaap...and for other nations</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">we must pray for the nations...</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">i have been met with confusion, broken-heartedness and sometimes anger this week on behalf of and at other times because of the people in masi. there is such injustice, such carelessness, such...desperation here that i have never seen before and it is catching up with me a bit. i have seen people living in a virtual swamp in their own homes...and i have seen men so drunk they are unable to keep themselves upright...and i have seen the desperation for something solid...something stable and reliable in some men where they are tricked into thinking that robbery and violence is the only way to get it...</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">...and it is all very difficult to see and experience every day...</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">but what are my choices...i can close my eyes and ignore the painful reality of what i know the situation to be...or...i can open my eyes and be overcome by despair or anger or a loss of faith...</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">but i don't really like either of these options...</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">instead...i want to learn how to pray for the world...for the people of masi...for the men who are so wounded and broken and desperate to be [ ] that they can't figure out what it means to be a man. i want to learn how to pray prayers that mirror that same desperation in the presence of jesus...</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">i want to see people healed in masi...</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms';">the book of revelation promises that there is a tree growing in heaven along the banks of the river of God that sprouts leaves that are "for the healing of the nations."</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">this is a beautiful image</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">and so i will take this prayer for the healing of these nations [masi itself represents south africa, somalia, ethiopia, zimbabwe, malawi, sudan] and will add to it the prayer for these nations as my inheritance. after all, what could possibly be better than see these people reconciled to their maker...becoming men and women of peace who can in fact experience these leaves of healing.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">And being completely transparent...right now...i don't know how the leaves of heaven will heal the people of masipumaleleh, but i do know that their simple presence means God is fully aware of the borken state of masi...and the world. He is after all...</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">El Roi...the God who sees.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">and so i will call upon El Roi, and we who begin this rhythm of prayer together will call upon El Roi and i invite you to call upon El Roi in order to remind him of his name...</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">i will ask him to be true to his nature...to his promises...to his heart for his creation. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">and i will admit...and accept...that God's wisdom and his vision very rarely look like what i think they should look like and so i relinquish my need to understand how or why he acts and what he does and does not allow to happen on this earth...and simply believe...</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">and i will work to tune my heart and my vision to his...understanding that ultimately that is the source of everything right and just and true.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">so i will ask the God who sees all things to give me masi as my inheritance...</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">...and i choose to trust that he will.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">**photo by chelsea gentry**</span></span></div>Brad Klaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881925822746114789noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016089935981492861.post-59654364692841816182008-08-18T16:34:00.004-04:002008-08-18T16:44:35.982-04:00fringes<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9Y-I2EtyE1ql0OUJPKJN14pG-Q-DqlVEsbKooeNUBn_PuK-e_Vp1NyxnBMrdNRwe2FtATwBEoRhBrl9rJpluez1uZlHdpeyljZGkBLCxLNpxi4mkYK9cTK9ngWQGrYDCU-SUbgSp-9zxV/s1600-h/DSCN0344.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9Y-I2EtyE1ql0OUJPKJN14pG-Q-DqlVEsbKooeNUBn_PuK-e_Vp1NyxnBMrdNRwe2FtATwBEoRhBrl9rJpluez1uZlHdpeyljZGkBLCxLNpxi4mkYK9cTK9ngWQGrYDCU-SUbgSp-9zxV/s200/DSCN0344.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5235960673501035954" /></a><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';">what does it look like to live on the fringes… to be the ones who are cast aside and who must fight to survive every day?</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';">in masipumaleleh…a packed township of roughly 35,000 people just outside of kommetjie, south africa, people know what it means to live on the fringes.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';">over the past week i have been getting to know this place that will be my ministry setting for the next four and a half months…and to be completely honest, this seems like the most daunting of settings i have ever been placed in.</span><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';">mixed with hurt, pain, abandonment and sickness are poverty, irresponsibility and violence.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';">it is a community that struggles with being on the fringes on a daily basis.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';">when i think of the word “fringe” i think of an unraveling…a loosening.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';">i picture a rug with the ends that are frayed and worn and often easily pulled out…removed and discarded.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';">this is how i am beginning to see masi.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';">and the result has been an emotional tension like nothing i have felt before.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';">i have not seen this level of poverty…ever.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';">and besides my grappling with the nature of human kind in all of this…or where i could possibly fit in the lives of the men for whom my heart aches…i wonder at just how this loving and merciful God we so humbly serve will make his name great and his Son famous in such a dark and wild place as the streets of masipumaleleh.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';">and yet…even in a week…my God who is faithful to answer prayers has shown himself faithful to me.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';">in fact…he has show me that he has begun this good work even before my stepping foot onto the beautifully rusty dirt of this continent.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';">yes…he is showing me that his name is already great…and i must simply speak it out.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';">and so on wednesday, danmike and I went with Stephen to sit in with a bunch of ganja smoking rastafarians (think bob marley)…seven of us in all…and sat in a small shack with the top part of the door still open as it rained on the tin roof…while men would periodically come by to pick up their daily dose</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';">of marijuana. don’t you think this would be a perfect place to plant a church…i think so. and so we talk about this man jesus who walked the earth faultless and died for us because he and his Father love us so much.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';">and then there is ali, a muslim from ethiopia who has come from one struggling country to another to open what he has (as our non-christian friends would call it) ironically called the “good hope” shop…a small grocery where people come in and out to buy their daily nourishment or a couple cigarette here or there…and where older men sit and chat with one another. don’t you think this would be a perfect place to talk about jesus and plant a church…i think so.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';">and so jeremiah and i go and visit ali and mohommad and mothusi and say hello and ask them how business is and talk about ali’s dreams to visit the great tourism trap of minneapolis…and we talk about this man jesus who is the only one who can give “good hope” in all things and circumstances.</span><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';">and if that wasn’t enough for the first week…God says, I’m really going to show you how great I AM and how famous i want my Son to be in this place…on sunday…after he jokingly asked where my tie was, jeremiah and i drove through masi…past all of those dressed in their Sunday best as they walked to their beautiful brick and barred church buildings on mainstreet…to the wetlands…the dirtiest…smelliest...seemingly most God-forsaken area of the whole township…</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';">the fringes…</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';">and we gathered our friends from zimbabwe…henri…who just finished a joint and a beer as we arrived and who is mourning the loss of his three year old son who died four weeks ago in zim and can’t go and be the husband and father his family needs right now because he is trying to provide for them the best he can…washington…a young, educated man who had prospects for work in zim until he had to flee and now can’t find any job nor the motivation to look any longer…mohammodi…another young man who worries about where his next meal will come from and if he will survive to see another day…and several others.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';">nine of us in all…</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';">we gathered in the fringes of masipumaleleh…in a dark shack with no windows…one light bulb…and a plastic-lined floor…and we decided that it was a perfect place to plant a church…and so that is what we did on sunday…we gathered together…encouraged each other…loved each other…worshipped…sang…and talked about this man named jesus who lived on the fringes and loved those living on the fringes and welcomed those living on the fringes into his kingdom.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';">and we agreed to continue meeting together in love as it states in hebrews…and we will continue to learn together more about this man named jesus who is making his name famous in the fringes of south africa and around the world.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';">his heart is for the fringes…i want mine to be like his…</span></p> <!--EndFragment-->Brad Klaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881925822746114789noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016089935981492861.post-2328211574700622032008-08-09T16:38:00.004-04:002008-08-18T16:43:40.164-04:00going : reuniting<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjet5E9uRiHi3ESgaFmObpku2pyG7bsD9Pwgo9cLIWXu1Zn_wGbyynyb6LiA8oENx23SkJN2qOoUOjgLW_bxTwcWJS3BMYpeheTA8soP1hokGQQlx6-hw4dP9C1pfBrMrfzvsjCPfBtt-2E/s1600-h/P1012575.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjet5E9uRiHi3ESgaFmObpku2pyG7bsD9Pwgo9cLIWXu1Zn_wGbyynyb6LiA8oENx23SkJN2qOoUOjgLW_bxTwcWJS3BMYpeheTA8soP1hokGQQlx6-hw4dP9C1pfBrMrfzvsjCPfBtt-2E/s200/P1012575.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5235958113772779762" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">so i'm finally here...in south africa...after a very long journey that included one very long pit-stop in London where i was able to see the kensington palace, the buckingham palace, the parliment building (better known as BIG BEN), westminster cathedral (beautiful might i add) and many other great sites. overall, i found myself getting lost on this day...living a live an annonymity...and as odd as it sounds, it sort of felt good. but one day was enough for me. in fact, that day and a half alone really allowed me to think of the people i was leaving behind in grand rapids and the people that i am returning to in south africa. in a way, in London, my alone-ness was being sandwiched by two communities that have become very dear to me.<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">first of all, there is my grand rapids community which includes family, friends and ministry partners. what an incredible two year season this has been...learning and growing and being challenged together. and in leaving my family in the airport and (transparent moment here) bursting into tears on the flight to chicago as i read letters from loving loving and supportive parents and siblings and encouraging words from others that will remain in grand rapids...i realized that they were tears of joy that i was crying. yes there is a certain sadness that comes from leaving what is familiar, what is loved and what is growing. but even more, when i can stand back at see how the community that has been surrounding me the last two years is one that truly understands the call of the wild goose and so they send with joy and not reservation, knowing full well that what is about to take place has been ordained way before our time. certainly i will miss this community of family and friends...and that is okay...and confirming that what has taken place in this last season has been rich and full and fruitfull...and it is exactly what what required to prepare me for this introduction to this new community.<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">of course, thursday was not the first time i stepped into this community...having grown friendships a year ago here in south africa. however, it is indeed the time that i will be stepping into this community and engaging with them in the ways that i engaged with those that i have left for a time. as i sat in london, there was anticipation for reunions with best of friends who were sent out themselves earlier this year and have since shared with me exciting moments that i look forward to experience. and there is the excitement of seeing those that are dear to me though i have known them but for a short time. none the less, when people work together in community to see the kingdom of god built up and lived out...there is pure excitement and joy in reuniting together. <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and so now i am here and the reunions have been sweet and the work has been placed before me and there is an exciting sense of equipping that has taken place over the past year that was missing last time i visisted this beautiful yet tormented land. and God himself is here. just as he is in grand rapids. and i praise him for that because it means that it is right that i am here. and so i think fondly of those missed in grand rapids knowing that you are in my heart and that i am in yours and that what has been know is not a vanishing vapor but a strong bond that will continue over these next couple of months. <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and when i think of you i will pray for you, for his richest blessings in your life and for his overwhelming presence to be upon you and in you and through you. and i will pray that you will be a vessel of the kingdom of our great and powerful God. <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">and i as that as you think of me, that you will also do the same. <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">i look forward to sharing with you the stories, both remarkable and mundane that are taking place here in this beautiful land. it is truly a privilege to serve in this place and to meet those who i will meet. <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">please share with me what God is up to in your life. in the spirit of connecting these communities that make up but one body of jesus freaks and followers of the king, i invite you to see what God is doing...here...and where you are. <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">we are blessed ones. <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">bk<br /></div>Brad Klaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881925822746114789noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016089935981492861.post-82890140294166315902008-06-04T20:10:00.006-04:002008-06-04T22:24:39.760-04:00living jesus<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFcutY1LJ-l5Eivz9ssSI5I8QrhzRu2vKxmcOrg6lj6afoQA_qBoFoYQk5KbvRKUHRQJePYEWr9iqiTW0E05orUEVD67Ju5aKIwTVJA0yBgn_qecflme_EscCc9KLaX1L6AO0STcDaPsKg/s1600-h/86135222_9efcc95cd6_o.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFcutY1LJ-l5Eivz9ssSI5I8QrhzRu2vKxmcOrg6lj6afoQA_qBoFoYQk5KbvRKUHRQJePYEWr9iqiTW0E05orUEVD67Ju5aKIwTVJA0yBgn_qecflme_EscCc9KLaX1L6AO0STcDaPsKg/s200/86135222_9efcc95cd6_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5208216287161628418" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms';">i'm not going to apologize for my lack of activity in this space for the last three months. in fact, i'm not going to say any more about it but this...in that absence...there has been no lack of real activity or thought...it is simply that what i have been learning...what has been shaping me, challenging me, encouraging me, devastating me and pressing me is so close to my heart and involves those that are so close to my heart that it hasn't even really felt right writing about them...and so i have been silent. but the holy spirit has not been silent. in fact the spirit has been very active.</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">that's it.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">so i walked over to this house the other day with a friend of mine and sat down on the front steps with him. he didn't want me there. he told me he didn't. he told me to leave...but i didn't. there were others there who didn't want me there either. but they didn't ask me to leave. and i found myself watching these men and women filling themselves with their drug of choice. three drinking beer...a couple, vodka...and a couple over in the corner of the porch smoking crack...seemingly oblivious of my presence...none of them caring...all of them controlled by deep pain of their addiction. and i found myself thinking...is this what it was like jesus? is this what it was like when you sat with those who were seen as the worst of sinners...the outcasts? it this how you felt...what i am feeling now...a sickness in my gut that screams in sadness? and i realized...not in the least bit. it might have been similar to that...but i don't think it was how jesus felt. here i m sitting there on the porch...praying for my friend...praying for the others...and all i have to do is love them. talk with them. speak truth to them. be jesus to them...except...not completely. because as jesus sat with the sinners and the tax collectors, what must have been running through his mind was that...although some got it...some realized their deep need for him...there had to have been others who...oblivious of jesus...continued in their ways...</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">and all the while...jesus thought about how he would die for them...oblivious or not...he would die for them. and so all the while, he was truly loving them.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">and so i sat on the porch of this house and realized...this is what it is about. it is about leaving the security of the yard where so many come through in a day and setting aside the familiarity of the environment where so much has taken place in the last several months and going where jesus went...to the houses where no one else was willing to go. it is being willing to sit with people who are oblivious of your presence...over and over again...and being jesus to them. instead it isn't dying for them but dying to self. my wants for them...my desires for meaningful conversation...my hunger for true breakthrough in at least one of those lives...all of these must die. and i must be jesus. and i...above and over all else...must desire jesus. jesus must sit on those porch steps and pray for those people. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">it is what paul means when he speaks about "attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of christ" in his letter to the ephesians. it is what john means when he insists that we ought to be like-minded with jesus in love. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">and it is what jesus meant when he called the twelve, saying..."come follow me."</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">because that's just it...to follow jesus means to be jesus...to a hurting, darkened, lost and dying world...and to those who have already seen the light and know him.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">and so when i wrote back in march that i wanted to live a wild life that is moved by the holy spirit...there was truth in that...but my heart has changed over the last couple months. it isn't that i want to live some wild life that is misunderstood or seemingly wreckless...although i'm sure it will be seen that way by some...</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">but i want to live jesus. dangerously and passionately. even amongst those who are oblivious. and i want to be his bride. i want to be intimately married to him as he calls us to be.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">so i will listen for hours if it means giving a voice to a man who has had his voice stolen from him by the world.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">and i will study the scriptures with a drunk man who may not remember the time spent the next day...simply because jesus can breakthrough even the most intense drunken stupor.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">and i will talk with the dear woman who lives next door about her tomatoes because she is just as beautiful now and matters just as much in the eyes of jesus as she did when she was young.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">and i will sit on those porch steps again and again...laughing and joking around with these friends who do not know quite yet...and will...all the while...be praying that jesus will show up in those moments of laughter and camaraderie.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">and i will fail at times. and i will fall short at other times...and on my face at other times.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">and that is okay...as long as continue to learn from my weaknesses and replacing them with his strengths. because at the end of the day...what brings the fullness of joy is to know and experience and live out the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">and that fullness is undoubtedly beautiful in every way.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div>Brad Klaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881925822746114789noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016089935981492861.post-17056303068402859172008-03-10T15:39:00.006-04:002008-03-10T16:03:19.335-04:00green<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5_Go5ptGwmyPVYv1-P2RroQbQWg9QXuqDcVG6-jCEfRTYCsFzRWGxDIraTm6YM7J_yNCatSlUbP5bJtwEHdTdznmKSjvs3qUPpc2tmvVfcUHCDP7jQhmGOmOxMtjJTwMBDstDFQoTGeJb/s1600-h/330842717_0b963e81cd_b.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5_Go5ptGwmyPVYv1-P2RroQbQWg9QXuqDcVG6-jCEfRTYCsFzRWGxDIraTm6YM7J_yNCatSlUbP5bJtwEHdTdznmKSjvs3qUPpc2tmvVfcUHCDP7jQhmGOmOxMtjJTwMBDstDFQoTGeJb/s200/330842717_0b963e81cd_b.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5176205443017855410" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><div style="text-align: justify;">...reminds me of new life</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">the bright, warm sun on my face emerging from the dead of winter</div></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms';">reminds me of new life</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">melting snow revealing the naked grass</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">reminds me of new life</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">joy in the presence of trouble</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">reminds me of new life</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">sitting quietly in prayer - laid bare before my Jesus</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">reminds me of new life</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">men, scarred by past, lingering woundedness, learning a love for scripture</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">reminds me of new life</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">second and third and fourth chances</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">reminds me of new life</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">transformation</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">reminds me of new life</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">fierce, righteous, and seemingly reckless living</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">reminds me of new life</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">rest...sabbath</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">reminds me of new life</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">jesus</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">reminds me of new life</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">...is new life</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">today i am resting...resting in this new life...resting in the assurance of His transformation...resting in the fullness of his presence...resting from the good work...</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">...just...</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">...resting.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div></div>Brad Klaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881925822746114789noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016089935981492861.post-15957705949999942202008-03-07T14:54:00.005-05:002008-03-07T17:03:34.555-05:00wild<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrGfRAhQ80Wn_vwNUS7WnQcgdkZ1fbkGRCSfowYeSiwavwZhNT7CK-NA9qzz62y1kpYB6BAlG72xi-mQxQ943hPXNScf6P7dK27joT0mp4yYwIqLbvt0HiJR41VcU2bNQPMvUWtQB-kCdZ/s1600-h/281618309_3e3f19d051_o.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrGfRAhQ80Wn_vwNUS7WnQcgdkZ1fbkGRCSfowYeSiwavwZhNT7CK-NA9qzz62y1kpYB6BAlG72xi-mQxQ943hPXNScf6P7dK27joT0mp4yYwIqLbvt0HiJR41VcU2bNQPMvUWtQB-kCdZ/s200/281618309_3e3f19d051_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5175123141324034466" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><div style="text-align: justify;">i was first introduced to the concept of the wild call of the holy spirit just over a year ago when i first stepped this community. it was hard to get used to. jen sometimes writes about the celtics symbol of a goose that represents the wild honking of the holy spirit. it isn't what we are used to. a dove...now that's more like it. or is it. there is a real recklessness to geese. they aren't elegant creatures. you certainly don't see people letting geese loose at weddings. they are loud and rogue. and i am beginning to like that picture of the holy spirit.<br /></div></span><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">and i have come to that place in life where i want to be the same. i realize that at times, the holy spirit is characterized as a dove. but i think...and reading through the scriptures...when the holy spirit makes himself known it is in more of a rogue, noisy state than in a quiet nonchalant. when the holy spirit first appeared, it caused a ruckus causing the disciples to speak out boldly, proclaiming with recklessness the gospel. it was that same spirit that caused them to be sent out...with boldness mind you...not in the same sense when they were hiding out in the upper room...to jerusalem...judea...sameria...and to the ends of this world. and it was this same spirit that moved these disciples...these mighty men of God to set aside everything that was comfortable...everything that was socially expected and acceptable...to lay aside the approval of men and join in the wild honking of the holy spirit.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">i guess that is kinda how i feel even more today. you know when there are certain times in your day that act as pivotal points in your day. those times when you can either decide to move forward and continue striving toward what you know is right...what you know is obedient...and what you are called to do even if it is misunderstood and some don't agree with it. or do you revert to what is easy to understand...to the old way of doing things...just to please man...and risk following the call.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">i don't know...i guess i'm convinced that i can't revert back to my old self. i can't revert back to the dove. while there are still times for the dove...i am convinced that the kingdom of God is build upon the wild and aggressive honking of the goose. look at the apostles...they were wild and aggressive...and they were filled my the holy spirit in incredible ways. even more...look at jesus.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">after a day like today and an interaction like i had i know that it is real. i choose to be wild...i am moved to be wild...i am called to be wild...and i must obey.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">will you? </span></div></div>Brad Klaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881925822746114789noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016089935981492861.post-26967888009826301852008-03-04T18:49:00.003-05:002008-03-04T19:40:07.908-05:00safe<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Evew-Z25kWiKbnWEgEN7EeasKuizBtqfa66HD1TNjSaB4PAugaBfjrWhRJmNDhGnC0WGZVs_LEU8gKlA3-FFoHctWd554ChQRFBybt4a0mTDmuQqqsJbmeR0VfID_NEto4tS-_-oqtiF/s1600-h/450720647_1409e0bf28_b.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Evew-Z25kWiKbnWEgEN7EeasKuizBtqfa66HD1TNjSaB4PAugaBfjrWhRJmNDhGnC0WGZVs_LEU8gKlA3-FFoHctWd554ChQRFBybt4a0mTDmuQqqsJbmeR0VfID_NEto4tS-_-oqtiF/s200/450720647_1409e0bf28_b.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5174050075745787986" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms';">i wrote a letter today. i wrote a letter to marv's parole officer, pleading for grace. asking that she allow herself to have her eyes open to see the transformation that has occurred in marv's life over the past several weeks. at first, when i sat down to write this letter, i felt a lot of pressure upon my shoulders. would what i said in this letter make a difference? i had to be sure that i was using the perfect words so that she would know exactly what was happening and she would be persuaded by my words. i don't think i felt like his fate was upon my shoulders but yet i was allowing myself to go there and entertain the thought. and in a way...i was adopting a messiah complex right then and there in front of my computer.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">and so i stopped and realized...it has already been decided. marv's future is not in my hands but in the hands of one who is so much larger than this seemingly difficult situation. and that gave me peace. and for the first time i took my own advice that i had given to marv. the Lord has this. and has it securely.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">marv has realized this. he has decided that to live in obedience and in faith is much more important that residing in the safety of his fear. i think maybe we are all faced with this at times. we reside in the safety of our fear. what i mean by this is that our fear keeps us from moving forward...from truly seeing God in our most desperate situations...and so we are kept from having desperate situations and thus kept from needing God.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Marv has decided against that now. he has decided that even in this most desperate situation where he is faced with his past and yet living in the light of his new, secure future...faith goes before fear. and so i say...in this life of mine...i am learning from my new brother. he is teaching me that in his desperation to be consumed by Jesus Christ...he is able to stare fear in the face and continue being obedient. i look up to him.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">in fact, marv and i were talking yesterday and he said he was no longer praying that God would keep him from prison (although that is what we all wish would happen...and i think he would too) but instead he is praying that he would be placed exactly where God wants him to be a light. WOAH. he said...there are fellas in there that need to know what it is that Jesus did for me...what he did for them...so it is sorta selfish of me if i refuse to share it with them.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">i finished listening to him and then went in my room and wept. is it true that this type of transformation can be so outrageous that it brings a man who spent several years in the darkness of a cell to a place where he is able to embrace it if it is how he is meant to share the same gospel of transformation? yes...yes it is. it is an outrageous transformation.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">pondering this...i wrote...knowing that Marv is safe in the arms of the Father no matter where he is. lately marv and i have been talking a lot about Paul and about how he was faced with prison and yet knew that in his obedience...it was exactly where he was supposed to be. and even in those times...some of the most brilliant fruit burst forth.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">and so my letter is really nothing more than a testimony to God's grace and provision for one that he loves. i don't think it really is me being an advocate. Christ is marv's advocate now...and so marv is safe. he is held...watched over... and that is much more than any of us could ever be or do for him.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">be praying with us for marv...that he would continue to find himself safe in the hands of the father...covered in the shadow of his wing. there...he will always be safe...there he will always be free...no matter where he is. </span></div>Brad Klaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881925822746114789noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016089935981492861.post-32617898633088877032008-02-19T00:26:00.002-05:002008-03-04T19:40:23.819-05:00washed<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDMMeKN1pvUAaWRuVAWoBxitbctEb1dnQkI0tcln02hEMWJM2kc9sc4h0ThHj3vOxUFafUsyvDTMHnB89IKP_9RMRiWk5AqJ27FAYMyf47cs71MIL-M5T1Pz4SvLVeQf4ej47v6VLaGrB4/s1600-h/86210001.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDMMeKN1pvUAaWRuVAWoBxitbctEb1dnQkI0tcln02hEMWJM2kc9sc4h0ThHj3vOxUFafUsyvDTMHnB89IKP_9RMRiWk5AqJ27FAYMyf47cs71MIL-M5T1Pz4SvLVeQf4ej47v6VLaGrB4/s200/86210001.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5166246837325549682" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms';">it is late...and i can't sleep...and so i sit and write. it has been a long time since i have written. a very long time. i have been reminded of that. i had a post written at one time...and it was accidentally deleted. i thought it was beautiful. it was eloquent. it was not meant to be read. so i write now. this post that i wasn't sure i was really willing to write. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms';">so...where do i begin? since my last post, so much has happened (read the stockbridge boiler room blog). overwhelming at times. there have been moments of mayhem, a virtual cyclone of dramatic events and yet there are times that God has given peaceful and restful times as well. this peace and rest has been exactly what each of us has needed, interns, recovering addicts, and visitors. in a way, we have experienced a washing of God's Spirit. and in my mind...and as it is playing out...it all makes sense.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">during the week of 24-7 prayer in December, God gave our community a word. it was the word from Isaiah 61: "the spirit of the Lord is upon me..." immediately I get this picture of the Holy Spirit coming upon this community, washing us, soaking our heads, dripping down over our foreheads and eyebrows, the refreshing feeling as it runs over our mouths, and falls upon our shoulders and runs down to our feet. we are covered in it. He has brought the pleasing refreshment and has allowed our response to be full, and rich, and beautiful. and this wild call of the Spirit is here and is on the move. and we can't help but notice. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">it is impossible to ignore. and so i won't.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">instead i will rejoice in giving praise to our powerful God. the Spirit washes with refreshing, living waters. he has washed away the stronghold of addiction in the lives of several. he has washed over weary hearts needing refreshing and the Spirit poured out upon his people has brought people face to face with his loving compassion.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">at times i have found this outpouring of the Holy Spirit incredibly overwhelming...overwhelming in the sense that the only appropriate response is to fall on my face in utter worship, understanding the need that i have for the presence of the Spirit, the filling of the Spirit, the discernment of the Spirit, and the comfort of the Spirit.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">over the past three weeks, the Spirit has been revealing himself to four particular men who have become very near and dear to many of us in the boiler room community. we have stood in awe of Christ's love and the Spirit's movement in their lives as the scales that have molded to their eyes have fallen off and their eyes have begun to see the beauty of Christ's redemption. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">indeed the Spirit of the Lord is upon us. the Lord has anointed all who have found him to preach the good news to the poor, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim the message of freedom for those in captivity and to release those living in darkness and show them light. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">he is restoring sight to the blind and the view for them is astonishing. the view for us is astonishing. it is a place of God's favor. a place of beauty rather than ashes. this is the work of the washing of the spirit. the work where the overflow to God's favor brings the fullness of joy in any circumstance is where i want to be. it is where he is leading us as a people chasing hard after him.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">the Spirit of the Lord is upon me...praise be to the King of Kings...for he has done, is doing, and will continue to do marvelous things. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">isn't it great.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">sounds nice right. and it is. it is nice. but this is the part i have been struggling with. what is my response to all of this. for several weeks now it has been silence. not sure how to proceed. not sure how best to apply this pouring out. this washing. and so in a way, i have not accepted the fullness of God's Spirit. i have been pouring out the offering onto others. onto the men who have moved in here. those in the neighborhood who need help. i have taken the best parts of this washing and given it to others. and so i have had the peculiar dryness that for a while now i have not understood. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">and then...</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">"Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume...'why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denari and given to the poor?'...Jesus said, 'Leave her alone...the poor you always have with you, and whenever you want you can do good for them. but you do not always have me.'" </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">my best perfume...my best that i have has been given to those other than Jesus. yes he has poured out his Spirit in order that we may proclaim his fullness to the poor and needed, my first response ought to be a pouring out of my best...my perfume that could be spent on the poor...onto Him...Jesus. it is a fragrant offering. Mary's offering was a fragrant offering preparing Jesus for his death. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">what is my offering. in response to the pouring out of His Spirit upon me...His best...do i offer my best to him first as a fragrant offering given back to Him...or do i present the remains which, lately, has been next to nothing.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms';">my heart longs to be mary...with recklessness pouring out my very best first onto Jesus' feet...and then with what remains given to those around me.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms';">the Spirit of the Lord is upon me... </span><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></div>Brad Klaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881925822746114789noreply@blogger.com1