A little Mozart with your pizza?

Amazon is offering 99 Mozart Masterpieces for $2.99. That's a pile of masterpieces for $2.99! I'm not one to sneeze at such a deal, and I like a little Mozart now and then, especially while I'm working. So I bought it. But I really didn't think about what 99 Mozart songs would look like, size-wise. It's still downloading and the folder is over 900 MB. But I'll have all the Mozart I could ever want! How cultured am I?


Steve and I are watching Strange Brew, a Canadian Bacon-like, let's-diss-Canada comedy on NetFlix. It's pretty funny. I like me a cheesy 80's comedy, especially with lots of "eh's" and beer jokes. And we had Papa John's pizza. A nice Friday night at home. Deeper, more insightful post to happen another day.

"Auntie Jesus will take care of me."

One of WGM's ministries in Kenya is the Africa Gospel Church Baby Center, a home for orphaned or abandoned babies and toddlers. It's actually one of the few orphanage-like places in Kenya that accept HIV-positive babies. Staci Keter is serving there, and she and her husband, Wycliff, are in the process of adopting two twin boys, Gifton and Solomon. The whole family is in the US right now, and Staci and the boys stopped by our office yesterday.

They're three years old now, and like all three-year-olds, they got their little paws into anything that was shiny or looked like it would be fun to throw. They only speak Swahili, but Staci said they can understand English; they just chose not to use it. While we watched them rearrange our carpet squares into a more pleasing pattern (Staci said they were making them into a train track) and play with a couple blow-up toys (What? We're a creative department. We also have play-doh in our meeting room.), Staci talked about how they handled the plane ride over from Kenya, and she said, "Solomon was afraid at first. But then he turned to me and said, "Mommy, I know I shouldn't be afraid, because Auntie Jesus will take care of me."

After we stopped laughing, I started thinking about what he said. It really makes sense, considering that except for Wycliff, all of his caregivers have been women. Also, an "auntie" is someone you trust, someone who loves you, someone who takes care of you. Which is what Jesus does.

And then Staci cracked up and said that during the trip, when he would hear any other children cry, he would say, "That one is afraid." Staci would ask, "What would you want to tell them?" Solomon would reply, "I would tell them that it's okay, because Auntie Jesus will take care of them."

Here's a picture of Staci with a bunch of the babies in Kenya, baskin' in some sunshine.

Living with a geek is contagious

You have been warned. Living with a geek is seriously contagious. Now, I am more than thrilled that I get to and I wouldn’t have it any other way, because I love him to pieces. But the fact remains, because I live with a geek, I must suffer/enjoy the consequences.

My geek is awesome. I love the fact that he can fix any computer issue known to mankind, and that he thinks creatively about solving problems. (We recently set up a web-based system for assigning chores and household projects) I love it that he’s extremely capable of fixing the TV, managing our phones and network system. And he can fix cars, too! He’s pretty amazing. Plus, you know, there's the whole love thing, but that's another post.

Over time, I have found myself actually starting to understand him when he comes home at night to talk about his day. I’ve become mildly amused at tech jokes. I have (although he might disagree) actually become half-way competent in fixing issues with my laptop. And I read xkcd web comics. According to the creator, they are comics about “math, language, sarcasm and romance.” Basically, that means I find them funny about 30% of the time, and usually the funniest ones to me are the inappropriate ones. But for some reason, regardless of the 60% that don't earn a guffaw, I keep going back, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday! (that's when they put new comics up)

And this one, I found hilarious, because it’s something that my geek would do, if he slipped just a hair farther into geekiness.

This is a true story, too! The dude really did this! And the funny thing is, my geek told me that one of his geek friends (he has a lot of them) did this once – almost to the letter. They really are very funny people.

Want to adopt a terrorist for prayer?

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of God in heaven.” Matthew 5:43-45

Do you have a hard time praying for people you don’t like? What about individuals who are actively trying to destroy innocent people – like militant Islamic terrorists?

Let’s face it: it’s easy to pray for people you like and who think the same way you do. It’s hard to pray for people you don’t understand. But in reality, nothing we are told to do as Christians is easy. Admit that you are a sinner and are utterly depraved? Believe in a God who is somehow one yet somehow three at the same time? Treating others as we would want to be treated? It can only be done if we die to our own desires and prejudices and allow Christ to live in us.

As Jesus was teaching the message of praying for one’s enemies, Judea was under control of the Romans. Jesus was not talking about the guy who you just can’t see eye to eye with. He was talking about Roman soldiers who got their kicks out of inflicting pain and suffering on others. For a Jew to be told to pray for these men, it would have been incredibly hard to take.

For an American who watched the Twin Towers fall and knows soldiers serving in Iraq or Afghanistan, is being told to love Islamic terrorists any different?

We know we’re supposed to pray for our enemies, but if you’re like me, it’s hard to pray for someone when all you know is just a name. So I was so happy to discover atfp.org – Adopt-a-Terrorist for Prayer!

This is just so cool. These guys have NO idea what they’re in for! For each person, this organization has basic bio info (you can often find more info on Wikipedia), their status (at large, captured, etc), and in most cases, a photo. ATFP also has specific suggestions for how to pray for these guys, which is really helpful if you have little or no experience with Islam.

Want to adopt your own terrorist for prayer? Just go to the website, and browse through the database until you find one you connect with. I know that sounds ridiculous, but I do believe that God leads us to particular people to pray for. My dude is a scholar and preacher from Saudi Arabia. (If you’re unfamiliar with Islamic names, they can be a mouthful. So maybe start by memorizing his name!)

This is such a great way for the church to respond to the need for these men and women to know Jesus. We can’t go there ourselves, so we place them in his arms, and keep praying. It’s mind-boggling, to think of what we could do if the church started specifically praying for these guys.

World Go Manual: Beginning

WGM produced a really interesting missions resource last year called the World Go! Manual. (Hereafter called WG manual. Names for things shouldn’t include punctuation marks. Like Panic! At the Disco. I was elated when that band got rid of the silly exclamation point.)

At ANY rate, the WG manual is sort of a Bible study for missions. The idea is that there are nine qualities of a missions-active Christian (pray, witness, serve, love, give, partner, endure, teach, and plant) and the WG manual helps you develop those qualities. Each chapter has three or four action items you can choose from to exercise your prayer, serving, giving, etc muscles.

The WGM administration has asked all the staff here in Marion to go through the book, which makes total sense. How can we recommend a resource that we ourselves haven’t touched? We’re meeting together as departments to discuss the chapters, but the administration didn’t want to require us to do an action item, because of the significant time commitment. Which also makes sense, because taking 15 minutes to read a few pages is one thing, spending an hour or two – or more – completing an action item is another.

But yesterday, as my department met for the first time to discus the first chapter, Pray, our discussion seemed a little hollow. The chapters are very short, because most of the meat is in the action times, so there just wasn’t a lot to comment on. It was actually kind of awkward. So I suggested that from now on, before we meet, we also complete an action item. That way, the manual has a bigger impact on us, and we have more to talk about. So, stay tuned for more about this WG adventure.

First impressions of the WG Manual: Chapters are short, but the action items are intense – definitely meant to stretch you spiritually. There’s an incredibly cheesy fiction story that carries through the whole book. I’m willing to let it slide, because I'm sure it will float someone's boat. Just not maybe mine.