Bono's Challenge

Michael Patton over at Parchment & Pen has an interesting article on U2's frontman, Bono, and his charge against American Evangelicalism. The article analyze's the lyrics of "Crumbs from Your Table" off their album, "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb."

Here's the concluding thoughts: "Whether you agree or not with Bono’s assessment of America and the Evangelical church is a matter that is worthy of much discussion. At the very least, it should give us pause. This song provides a vivid understanding of how many in the emerging church and the postmodern world are frustrated with what they believe to be hypocrisy and neglect of important matters such as mercy, in favor of their “signs and wonders.” Bono’s enduring questions present themselves with much clarity: Is America a nation that can stand before God and say that they have done their part in coming to the aid of those in need? Is the church going to talk about “signs and wonders” or are they going to create a “wonder” from resources they already have, even if it is just the “crumbs from the table.”

McDonald's Comes to Trujillo

Our kids are excited about this.

"After ten years in the Peruvian market and with a $750 thousand investment, the US fast food chain McDonald’s inaugurated today its first restaurant outside of Lima (Peru's capital) located at Mall Aventura Plaza in the city of Trujillo (La Libertad)."

I guess what is interesting about this (other than our kids being excited about it) is what it says about Trujillo turning an economic corner. With two malls opening in the last six months, the arrival of Papa John's, KFC, & Pizza Hut, Trujillo is starting to have a bit of an economic boom. As many of you know, Trujillo is a city of around a million people--the third largest in Peru.

Says the general manager, “We have chosen Trujillo to open our fist restaurant outside of Lima because it is a city that has registered an impressive economic development thanks to the efforts made by its people and authorities”.

This restaurant "would create 80 new jobs and would offer the most complete McDonald’s restaurant with a playground (a children area with the familiar crawl-tube design with ball pits and slides), two dessert centers, a McCafé and two special rooms for birthday parties."

At any rate, FYI. I guess I'm a little excited too. I never thought I would be at a place in my life where I thought McD's hamburger's were real hamburger's--and would actually crave one, but in comparison to what passes for hamburgers around here, we're all lovin' it.

ER & The Atonement...Wow!!!

Kingdom People posted this powerful clip from the television program, ER. The scene is a man dying of cancer speaking to a well-intentioned, feel- good- let's- ask- questions chaplain. Exasperated, the man exclaims at one point, "I need answers! I want a real chaplain who believes in a real God and a real hell....I want someone to look me in the eye and tell me how to find forgiveness because I'm running out of time."

These quasi intellectual games of relativism are all fun and games until we are on our deathbed facing what comes next. How do we face it?

"Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners..." (1 Tim. 1:15)."

This is what makes Christianity unique. Instead of turning us inward to look for answers in our personal black holes, Christianity points us away from ourselves and to the Lord Jesus. He in a class all by himself. He alone can give comfort and courage in the face of death because death no longer has the last word.

To all other to all other "answers," there is only one thing to say: "Get out! Get out!!! GET OUT!!!

US dollar drops to 10 year low in Peru

"With its tenth consecutive decline in value on Monday, the US dollar dropped in appreciation against Peru's sol to 2.908 by the end of the trading day.

"It was reported that this is the lowest the US currency has been valued since July 1998, when the dollar was worth 2.909 soles."

livinginperu.com

Waiting on God

A favorite author of mine (and now blogger), David Tripp, has some winsome things to say about waiting on God...

Double Bows

"This side of eternity you and I are called to wait. We're called to recognize that the most important, most essential, most beautiful, and most lasting things in our life are things over which we have no control. No, these things are the gracious gifts of a loving Father. He never is foolish in the way he dispenses his gifts. He never plays favorites. He never mocks our neediness. He never plays bait and switch. He never teases or toys with us. His timing is always right and the gifts that he gives are always appropriate to the moment. He is kind, faithful, loving, merciful, and good....Somewhere in your life you are being called to wait. In your waiting, you are being given an opportunity to deepen and strengthen your faith. "

Read the full entry here.

Peru Mission Bulletin -- Twin Lakes

Here is a copy of our latest Peru Mission Bulletin.

New RUF Semester in Full Swing

We've had four meetings of the new semester in RUF, and things are off to a good start. We are having around 30+ students attending, Geraldo has taught on the New Year and New Mission that Jesus came to launch in fulfilling the old promise of God (Luke 4:18-21). Last week I had the privilege of teaching our RUF group on the call of Abraham and the old promise that God set in motion to bless this world through Abraham and his descendents (Genesis 12). [Here's a few pics my wife took of the evening....]

Having taught in our seminary in Spanish (or more accurately, Spanglish!), this was my first opportunity to teach RUF in Spanish, that is, my first time to teach without a translator. I think I had everyone's attention, but I'm not convinced that they weren't straining trying to figure out what this gringo was trying to say. After, several folks said that they could understand about 90%, so I guess that's not a bad start. I still have far to go, but we're making progress!

Please be in prayer for our group. We are having around 30 students attending, and this year is in many ways a transition year with some of our previous leaders no longer in the university.

Tuesday, I'm launching a small group on sexual purity--a much needed study here as in the States. Wednesday evening, we're launching a new discipleship group that will ground folks in the basics of Christianity. This study is broken into 3 stages and students can progress through it and complete it in about 8 months. And of course, please continue to pray for our Spanglish!

A Simple Prayer of Trust in the Darkness

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think I am following your will
does not mean that I am actually doing so.

But I believe that the desire to please you
does in fact please you.
And I hope I have the desire in all I am doing.
I hope from that desire,
and I know that if I do this
you will lead me by the right road
though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore I will trust you always,
though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear for you are ever with me,
and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

- Thomas Merton

[HT: Kingdom People]

RUF Starts Back Up

Friday night we started back up with RUF on our regular Friday Night meetings. We had around 35 students out plus a handful of our SALI staff. Please pray for us as we launch small group studies in the weeks to come. Here are some photos of the first night. Enjoy!

How Well Are You Counseling You?

Paul Tripp has been very infuential in my life and ministry over the years. He has written a book called "Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands" that I think everyone should read and digest.

He also has a blog which you ought to subscribe to with your Google Reader.

He drops nuggets of wisdom like this one all the time....

No one is more influential in your life than you are because no one talks to you more than you do. You're in an unending conversation with yourself. You're talking to yourself all the time, interpreting, organizing, and analyzing what's going on inside you and around you....

What do you regularly tell yourself about yourself, God, and your circumstances? Do your words to you encourage faith, hope, and courage? Or do they stimulate doubt, discouragement, and fear? Do you remind yourself that God is near, or do you reason within yourself, given your circumstances, that he must be distant? Do you encourage yourself to run to God even when you don't understand what he's doing? Or do you give yourself permission to back away from him when you are confused by the seeming distance between what he's promised and what you're experiencing? Are you your own best defense lawyer, laying out arguments for your innocence in places where you're actually guilty? When others talk to you, is your internal conversation so loud that it's hard to concentrate on what they're saying?

Here's the question. How wholesome, faith-driven, and Christ-centered is the conversation that you have with you every day? Do you remind yourself of your need? Do you point you, once again, to the beauty and practicality of his grace? Do you tell yourself to run toward God in those moments when you feel like running from him?
Would you be comfortable with someone playing a public recording of the private conversation you have with you every day?

Read the entire post here.

Assimilating Scripture

Eugene Peterson has a very helpful book, seductively entitled, "Eat This Book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading. You can check it out on Google Books & Amazon. Vintage Peterson, it is chock full of great quotes, like this...

Christians feed on Scripture. Holy Scripture nurtures the holy community as food nurtures the human body. Christians don't simply learn or study or use Scripture; we assimilate it, take it into our lives in such a way that it gets metabolized into acts of love, cups of cold water, missions into all the world, healing and evangelism and justice in Jesus' name, hands raised in adoration of the Father, feet washed in company with the Son [p. 18]

Do you have a plan to read and assimilate Scripture for the coming year? Whatever plan you have, whether focusing in on a few books and seeking to master them, or reading through the whole, commit yourself to seeking to know the glory of God in the face of Christ and assimilating this book. Check out these plans here and here and here.

Need some extra motivation? My son, Jason (8 years old), read through the NT in 2007 using the 5x5x5 reading plan. This is his advice:

"Make sure that you keep on schedule, and if they are any verses you like you should memorize them."

Last Meeting of 2007

RUF/ SSA finished off the year by celebrating a Christmas dinner together. We ate chicken & rice & panatones, and we capped off the evening with a fun game nominating students for noticeable virtues. A fun time was had by all, and it was a great way to end the year. We took over 170 pics, but here is a little slide show of about 50 of them.



Special thanks to Gerardo & his wife, Isabel, and the leadership team of RUF for making this an enjoyable year.

SALI Graduates

Our San Agustin Language Institute just graduated its first class of five students. These folks have been studying for years to get to this point, and we are very proud of them.

Ana Haro Chalón
Carol Ponte Roncal
Cory Luz Marina Vásquez Valles
Juan Eduardo Quiroz Aldave
Miguel Placencia Velarde

Thanks to all the staff who have poured into this branch of our mission over the years.

This Can't Be What It's All Cracked Up To Be

From the Founder's Ministry Blog:

"Tom Brady, the 3-time Super Bowl champion quarterback of the New England Patriots was featured the week in a 60 Minutes interview with Steve Kroft on CBS. Brady is already a sports legend in one of the citadels of professional sports in America, Boston. His current team is 15-0 and is poised to finish the season undefeated, something that hasn't been done in the NFL in 35 years. He has won the Super Bowl MVP twice and been named to the Pro Bowl 4 times. He also was recently named the Associated Press' "Male Athlete of the Year."

"He has dated actresses and supermodels and makes millions of dollars a year. He has been called America's most eligible bachelor. By most popular standards, he has it all. That is why I was struck by hearing him make the following statement during the interview:

"Why do I have three Super Bowl rings and still think there's something greater out there for me? I mean, maybe a lot of people would say, 'Hey man, this is what is.' I reached my goal, my dream, my life. Me, I think, 'God, it's got to be more than this.' I mean this isn't, this can't be what it's all cracked up to be."

"When Kroft asked him, "What's the answer?" Brady responded, "I wish I knew. I wish I knew. I love playing football and I love being quarterback for this team. But at the same time, I think there are a lot of other parts about me that I'm trying to find."

Read the article.

Peru Mission Christmas Newsletter

Here is our Peru Mission Christmas Newsletter in jpg.

To click on the links, check out the newsletter here.