Good stuff . . . on prayer

Here are a couple of resources I came across recently that have been an encouragement in my prayer life:

Tim Keller has a great article on how the gospel can impact our prayer life.

JD Greear gives a handful of thought provoking quotes on prayer and I'm linking again to his 3 daily prayers to center yourself on the gospel. These prayers have been a helpful way for me to defy myself and preach Christ to myself.

Sam Storms gives a meditation on Colossians 2:1-3 and a most fervent wrestle with the Lord.

Another Twins fan

Biblical faith

I'm reading through a book called Prayer and the Knowledge of God written by Graeme Goldsworthy. So from time to time I may post some of his thoughts that have been thought provoking and encouraging for me.

Biblical faith can be illustrated by considering the faith we need when about to drive a vehicle across a rickety-looking bridge. We would not ask, 'Have I got enough faith?' Rather the appropriate question is, 'Can this bridge take the load?' Once we can answer in the affirmative, the question about faith vanishes . . . When faith is lacking the antidote is not introspective self-examination but contemplation of the object of our faith: Jesus the Lord, our sufficient Savior.

Dwindling numbers and lessons in prayer

We're two weeks into the new semester at the learning center and we hit our first real big hiccup in terms of student attendance. Up until this semester, we haven't had to do a lot of promotion. The kids in the neighborhood seemed to be coming out of the woodwork without much effort on our part.

This semester has been different, though, with probably an all time low of 8 students on Monday. Granted, it's still the very beginning, but it caused enough of a stir that Wenny held a special meeting with the staff. We evaluated our teaching styles, our relationships with the families and the local schools, and our overall program.

As it turns out, some of the parents are concerned that our program does not help their children enough. They are afraid that their kids will not pass the national tests and advance to the next grade. At the same time, some of the local teachers, in an effort to increase their own personal income, have been offering after school tutoring. Thus the reason for at least some of the dwindling numbers.

While we have tried to help a little bit with what the parents want, our main program has been focused on creativity and building internal motivation for learning. Much of the educational system in Indonesia is built on rote memory, giving kids very little tools for critical and creative thinking. As we met this week, we brainstormed ways to use our foundational principles, and then tweak the program to help meet the families' felt needs more. The teachers also recommitted themselves to weaving their lives in with the families of the center.

We also spent a good amount of time in prayer, asking God for wisdom and resting all these issues in his hands. It's his school to do with as he pleases for his name's sake. (Last week and this week, our family Bible time has been focused on God's promises of guiding us and providing for us. So, as we talked about how these promises relate to everyday life, it was a good time to have our kids (Brienzi, Aidan, and Delaney that is) help pray for the learning center).

Answer: we had 22 in attendance on Thursday! Now, one day is not a pattern, but it certainly was a VERY visible way to show God answering prayer.

Re-thinking the blog

As this semester begins, I'm rethinking how to do this blog. On one hand, it doesn't take a huge amount of time to post. On the other hand, I'm finding my time to be very limited, especially with several projects on my desk for the learning center and language school, and preparations building for our US assignment coming up in June.

Like all of us, I need to focus on priorities, and while keeping our family and work progress updated through the blog is a priority, it can tend to take up more time than I would like.

(OK. Full disclosure here. Besides just posting, I get hooked into reading all kinds of good articles and things that are out in the blogosphere and the net. So that adds to the time. I do find that these things bring good learning and stretching, though, and I hope it does to you all as I pass along what I'm finding and learning. The question is, how much should I be doing this?).

So, there may be more gaps between posts as I try to figure out what will be manageable for me.

Good to the last . . .

Mmmm good! In 1996, on a short trip to Indonesia, I heard the story of an exotic coffee that was processed in Indonesia. The story was so strange, I couldn't be sure if it was true. Every now and then, I would trace down a bit more information, even seeing clips on YouTube about the coffee being sold for $10 a cup in the US. However, I never could find it here in Indonesia.

Until today! I had my first cup of Kopi Luwak, and mmm, boy was it good.

What is Kopi Luwak?

Kopi Luwak comes from a coffee bean that has been eaten by an animal known as luwak or civit cat. The coffee cherry is digested and then the bean is, well, um . . . well, it's pooped out. Of course, this is what makes the coffee so rare and so expensive.

You can go here to get the scoop from Animal Planet, which shows the luwak and it's golden poop.

"Preach the gospel to yourself"

About two years ago, I read that line in CJ Mahaney's book Living the Cross-Centered Life and I've pondered the specific ways to do this. Here's a good quote from Martin Lloyd-Jones in Spiritual Depression that expresses it well:

Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself? Take those thoughts that come to you the moment you wake up in the morning. You have not originated them, but they start talking to you, they bring back the problems of yesterday, etc.

Somebody is talking. Who is talking? Your self is talking to you. Now this man’s treatment was this; instead of allowing this self to talk to him, he starts talking to himself. "Why art thou cast down, O my soul?" he asks. His soul had been depressing him, crushing him. So he stands up and says: "Self, listen for a moment, I will speak to you . . ."

The main art in the matter of spiritual living is to know how to handle yourself. You have to take yourself in hand, you have to address yourself, preach to yourself, question yourself. You must say to your soul: "Why art thou cast down" -– what business have you to be disquieted?

You must turn on yourself, upbraid yourself, condemn yourself, exhort yourself, and say to yourself: "Hope thou in God" -– instead of muttering in this depressed, unhappy way. And then you must go on to remind yourself of God, Who God is, and what God is and what God has done, and what God has pledged Himself to do.

Then having done that, end on this great note: defy yourself, and defy other people, and defy the devil and the whole world, and say with this man: "I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance, who is also the health of my countenance and my God.”

HT: Jared Wilson

Good stuff

Jared Wilson has some good thoughts on battling doubt.

James Grant writes about 3 steps for starting family worship.

This site has an extensive and helpful list of resources for family worship time. HT: Challies

Here's an excellent perspective on adoption from a Russian orphanage and our spiritual adoption.

Today with Ethan

What started out as us trying to take pictures of Ethan with food all over his face turned into an Ethan photofest.

Coy Ethan.

Michael Jordan Ethan, going in for the slam.

Full of joy Ethan.

Lungs Ethan, cuz he's got 'em.

Happiest guy in the world Ethan.

A glimpse at some of my days this semester

It takes me about 20 minutes to get to the learning center from our house, which is really not bad. I love the drive. I go by one of the most beautiful streets in the world - a palm tree lined drive with all kinds of tropical flowers stretching down the middle of the road. Next, I pass the stadium, which usually has a local school practicing soccer or basketball in the outside lots. After that, I join the cars, buses, becaks, motorcycles, and pedestrians circling around the Malang fountain and city government offices, and then on past the train station. Nearing the learning center, I cross a high bridge that goes over the river with thousands of tiny brick, cement, or bamboo shacks lining the banks, and finally down soccer ball alley, where it seems like every ball and soccer shoe in Malang is being sold (and if you've ever had something stolen, this is the place to find it). It's a thrill to take this journey many days of the week, take in all the sights and sounds, praise God for the beauty that's all around, and pray for the people that I see along the way.

Each Monday and Tuesday morning this semester I'll be making this trip to conduct training for the staff. We're working through new English material in the mornings, and the each afternoon, they spend part of the class teaching the kids the same English lessons. I also get to "play" with the kids on Monday afternoons. Over the next few months, I'll be teaching them about cultures of the world (yesterday we did Canada), learning to love reading, and stories of truth.

Sunday afternoon walk

Occasionally on Sunday afternoons, we take a family walk around the neighborhood. The kids love getting a chance to ride their bikes.

All neighborhoods in Indonesia have gates to block off certain sections of the neighborhood to through-traffic. They are usually only closed on special holidays to protect the area. At all other times of the year, the community pays someone to sit in the guard shack or patrol the area.

However, we've had a rise in break-ins over the past couple of weeks, including our next door neighbors. Their house was robbed in the middle of the day, broad daylight, while they were not home (but we were and didn't hear a thing).

As a result, more and more gates in our area are being closed all the time. So the kids enjoyed playing a little "limbo," each getting under in their own way.

And, of course, people will always come running to see a real live white skinned baby doll, so Ethan gets lots of attention.

Learning center, mountain drive, and market

Just a few photos of the past days with D & J.

Even though classes at the learning center do not start until next week, the teachers are all working this week getting ready. So we went with D & J down to P-town. Ibu Wenny was able to show them the history of the learning center. Any time any one gets just a little time with Ibu Wenny, you cannot help but catch the vision for working with these kids.

Our city is surrounded by three mountains. Behind our neighborhood is Mt. Arjuno. Just a 10 minute drive places us right along the slope where rice paddies are now being planted.

A very typical scene. There were also ladies with similar loads on their heads with leaves hanging down over their faces. You couldn't even see their upper bodies they were so covered.

Delaney and I took D & J to the downtown market. We met up with Abu Bakar, who sells clothes in his little stall tucked away in the labyrinth of shops. He was a very friendly guy, which made conversation with him fun. He has lived in Saudi Arabia working for a Canadian company, and also lived a little in Holland.

Friends from MN

We're hosting friends from MN this week. They flew in last night for a few days before they head on to Malaysia and Thailand. So we're having fun showing them around town and giving them a live report of what's going on here. Today we went over to the Bhinneka Language School.

Catching up with an old friend

Last night I went down north (it all has to do with topography. We live in the mountains of East Java, so anytime we want to go to the big city of Surabaya, even though it is north, we're actually going down). I needed to pick up some friends at the airport, but it also gave me a chance to catch up with an old friend at his office.

This is Pak Yoshwa. We worked together for almost eight years in various capacities and he was my closest Indonesian colleague. In 2006, as I took on other responsibilities with the language school and P-town learning center, we weren't able to connect as much. Then, last year, the organization that Pak Yoshwa works for relocated to Surabaya. He and his family packed up and moved last July. It's been a difficult move for them, as they were really settled in Malang. The kids loved their schools and the church and friends they had at each. Now, though, they are finding it hard to make new friends and fit in at their school. Please pray for them as they continue this transition.

It was so good to meet up with Pak Yoshwa. I really miss him and hanging out with him.

Prayers to start the day

In my last post, I mentioned that I've been working on plans for this year. Every December, I look forward to evaluating how the past year has gone, and then dreaming about what objectives and goals to set for the coming year. This year, though, the plans have been difficult to work through. It's going to be a tough first six months, both in a lot of activity, and in preparation for time in the US. I keep getting a heavy feeling. Am I planning too much? Am I trying to do things for people's admiration rather than God's? Am I leaning on the knowledge of his will or my own understanding?

These three daily prayers from JD Greer have been really helpful in focusing my heart on the gospel. I need the gospel. Not just for salvation, but for everyday life. I need these prayers as I keep planning and implementing goals for this year.

"God, because I am in Christ I know there is nothing I can do today that would make you love me any more than you do right now, and there's nothing I have done that makes you love me any less."
"God, your presence and approval is all I need to have joy today."
"God, everything the Gospel tells me about your intentions for my life is TRUE."

Read his whole post.

Happy New Year!

Yesterday, before the fireworks sounded the close of another year, I was putting the finishing touches on my plans for the next year. I really needed to hear this from Gene Veith:

We have to admit that our own resolutions to improve our lives, however well-intentioned and sincerely meant, often have little effect. We cannot even keep our resolutions to lose weight or work out at the gym, much less eliminate our sins of lust and cruelty.

Surely Edwards would agree with Martin Luther, who, in his spiritual counseling, would urge tormented souls to stop looking at themselves. Instead, they should look outside themselves to Christ on the cross.

Salvation, both would insist, is extra nos (outside ourselves), founded on the unshakable grace of God and on the objective work of Christ. When we look inside ourselves we see our sin and our weakness, leading us only to despair. But when we look outside ourselves to the promises in God's Word, we can find joy, confidence, and assurance.

Read the whole thing

HT: Zach Nielsen

Shots of Ethan

This one's for Grandpa Terry. Joyfully desiring God.

A trip to the Safari

We were on our way to the water park about an hour north of us and it started pouring rain. So we decided to head to Taman Safari instead, which is a drive through zoo. Our experience in the past had been that the rain made the animals more active. It proved true this time too!

One thing the park did this time that we had never seen before was sell carrots at the front gate in order to feed the animals. The funny thing is that posted throughout the park are signs like this:

It reads, "DO NOT open your window!"

And just a few feet ahead of that same sign. Well, what do you expect when you SELL FOOD at the front gate to feed the animals.

So we joined in as well.