JOURNEY OUTSIDE THE CAMP

Into the Deep

When I was browsing in the Campus Crusade Media bookstore, I came across a book entitled, Into the Deep by Robert Rogers. It was a testimony of how Robert, his wife Melissa, and their four children were driving home from a wedding when they were caught in a flash flood. Robert was swept away in the flood but he survived. His family, however, did not.

The tragedy had taken away his family but could not take away his faith. I was compelled to read it. I raced through the first third of the book in one night as it was the account of what happened that terrible night. On 31 August, 2003, Robert was driving his family through Emporia, Kansas in heavy rain when he was caught in a jam on the I-35 heading south. Before too long, a huge wall of water burst from the nearby Jacob Creek and washed his minivan away.

My heart crumbled along with his as he grieved for his family. The hours after he was rescued were the worst for him as his life came to a complete halt while he waited for news about his family. He struggled to understand why God would let this happen to him. When the rescue workers eventually reported back that none of his family were alive, Robert took it hard and he found it almost impossible to believe that his God would let such a thing happen. I say almost because the remarkable thing about him was that his faith was strong. He told God that he would believe and trust in him on a minute-by-minute basis because that's all the strength he could muster. And God reached down to him and supplied him the strength, peace and faith he needed.

Goals of parenting

When my wife and I spoke at the recent Spiritual Habits of a Child's Heart symposium, we asked the question to the participants of our workshop: What are your parenting goals?

The question appears to be straightforward but the tricky part is that most parents have not stopped to think through this question. When we are at work and have a project to do, we like to start with the vision and goals. But with parenting, we have a kind of hope-for-the-best attitude which frankly, is a little alarming.

To help the participants think about the goals of parenting, we gave them four questions to work through.

1. What do you want for your children's lives?
2. What do you want them to be like when they grow up?
3. What do you deem as a successful life for your children?
4. How do you want your children to relate to God?

Welcome to the Revolution

In seeking out good books for use in Sunday School, I came across this one called Welcome to the Revolution by Brian Tome. It was a very easy read, with its conversational tone and quirky humour. The author, Brian Tome is the pastor of Crossroads Community Church and the blurb says he was tired of looking for a book that he could give to new believers so he wrote one.

I could finish the book in about three days (I'm a slow reader) and the author gives a very down-to-earth, jargon-free introductory journey on what it means to be a Christ follower. I especially like his analogy of a three-legged stool, with the one leg each representing prayer, Bible reading and community. These are the supports for the main goal which is the seat, and that represents missions.

While the discussions were introductory in nature, I did think the book can go a long way in helping a new believer make a good start on his journey with Christ. I learnt a few things myself when I got to chapter 6. There, the author asked the reader to examine his or her relationships closely to see which ones were helpful and which were draining. That made me sit back and think through my own relationships too to see not only if I was receiving nurture from others but also if I was nurturing to others or just sucking some people dry.

I've already passed one copy to a new believer and he's alsmost done reading it. I'll ask what he thinks of it. I've another new believer who wants to read my copy too. Looks like I'll need to get a few more to pass around. I think it's possible to use the book as a base for small group and Sunday School lessons and discussions.

Why do we pray when God is all-knowing?

I was asked this question recently: Why do we pray when God is all-knowing? This is an important question. It's a question that has troubled even some theologians. A similar question is, if God always does his will, why on earth do we bother praying then?

One of the most helpful set of verses to answer these two related questions is actually the Lord's prayer. Matthew 6:9-13 says:

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.

There are many things we can learn about God from this prayer that Jesus taught but I want to highlight three points.