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| Glimpses of Glory |
I sat in a small room full of people at a guesthouse in Thailand at 7am in the morning watching the NBA Championship game. At one point, a little guy about 8 years old stood up and asked;
"Who else is rooting for the Cavs?'
I raised my hand and we saw each other, but we were bummed to discover we were the only ones in the room. We exchanged the knowing, Cleveland somber nod---(a long-suffering hope.) When the game ended so suddenly, I could hardly believe it. I sat stunned for a moment before launching out of my chair and shouting: "YES!!! THEY DID IT!" I had to apologize to the room full of disappointed Warriors fans (though I confess, I wasn't that sorry).
Why does something as seemingly silly and unimportant as a basketball game bring people a very real sense of joy, brotherhood, and even glory?
I think I have sometimes 'over-spiritualized' my life to the point where I write off things like basketball as a 'worldly' distraction. But I think that is a mistake. There is a lot of very real, and yes, very spiritual things happening. Because real people, with real hearts, are experiencing very real emotions. I think I sometimes forget the old hymn:
'This is my Father's world..."
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| The orphan boys who recently joined Home of Light were ready to help at our Foundation community service day! |
It is not a Christian calling to withdraw from the world or to protect ourselves (or our children) from its tainting influence. You may not be 'of' this world, but you are called to it. To live, to love, to serve and to give. Jesus reminded us that we don't catch evil like a cold---from the outside in---but it comes from within, out of our own hearts.
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| A little preaching... |
Does God care that the Cavs won the NBA title? I will let wiser minds than mine answer that question. I do know that God does care about people and therefore, He cares about what people care about. And He is always trying to help us understand Him and what He desires for His children and His world. And He seems to use just about anything and everything to do that.
That doesn't mean that we should idolize sports in our lives. But I think if we can see in sports a mirror of our lives (a small, human drama) we can appreciate how we might learn something about ourselves and even about the One who makes and loves human beings.
In a world of mass shootings, racial injustice, and division, the city of Cleveland experienced a moment of powerful, unified celebration (however short lived).
Was it a spiritual revival? Not quite, but it reveals how something, even something small and seemingly insignificant, (like a basketball game) can give us glimpses of glory.
What would it be like if we experienced something so good, that celebration overwhelmed fears, divisions, hate, and prejudice to the point where people filled the streets to rejoice together?
From my experience, that is a good picture of how the gospel (aka, God's good news to the world) can transform an individual and a community: joy and celebration overriding everything else.
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| Celebrating new jobs and a new season of life for some of the Foundation's college students! (& special guests) |
Let me stretch the metaphor a little further. Lebron James may have been the hero of the finals, and he is undoubtedly a great player who did great things, but he did not win the finals. The team won the finals.
It is human to want and worship heroes. But the more we come to really know and appreciate ourselves and others, the fewer 'heroes' we find. What we do find are many remarkable, flawed human beings. No single one who can do it all, but when they do what they can, and do it well, and as part of a team, and not a lone hero, incredible things can be accomplished. That is how God changes the world.
I really like Shane Claiborne's term 'Ordinary Radical.' It is a great tragedy that the hero complex has also permeated the Christian community. We of all people ought to know that there are no heroes in God's family except Jesus. Just a whole lot of gifted, flawed, incredible, broken people experiencing glimpses of glory and joy overwhelming all else.
No super pastors or mega churches or best selling authors. No hero missionaries or worship superstars. Just ordinary, people doing radical things----forgiving their enemies, loving their neighbors, healing prejudice, winning those they disagree with through gentle kindness, rescuing the vulnerable, being fathers and mothers to children without families.
How often I think I want to be right, when all I really want is to be happy. So happy that I don't even care about being wrong. So happy that all that divides and angers us vanishes in the midst of celebration.
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| Our Foundation's community service day with good friends. |
After all, the Good News that Jesus brought was not that people aren't as bad as we thought, but that their God and Father is infinitely better than we dared hope or imagine.
Audrey is two weeks away from her due date (July 30th!) and we are just about bursting with excitement. The miracle of life is another one of those glimpses of glory---joy overshadowing all else. Thanks to all who have sent kind and cute baby gifts! We feel so well loved, thank you!
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| Our Cell Group is growing! We've partnered with the youth group of a local Thai church to create a night of Bible study, singing and hanging out! |
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| Mickey is the newest member of the Faithful Heart Family :) |
Our foundation directors are still State-side until the end of August, so we've been holding down the fort while they've been gone! We've settled into more of a routine at the office in our new roles as "boss" :) and are enjoying getting to know our Thai staff better.
Every morning Audrey and I take a walk in our neighborhood and all of our neighbors are eager to ask us about the baby and when Audrey is due. The whole neighborhood is excited with us--we can't wait to be taking our morning walks with a stroller and baby in tow!
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| Staff and Kids at our Cleaning Day Outreach |
Our lives are full (busy, haha!), but so joyful right now. Thank you for your prayers and encouragement. Please keep them up!
Love from Thailand,
Matt, Audrey, Baby Pound
