I just finished a book the other night and I wanted to share it. The book is called Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace...One School at a Time.
Greg Mortenson was an avid rock climber, who ventured across the world to face some of the most daunting peaks. After failing to climb K2, in Pakistan, Greg came down from the mountain, lost, and he ventured into a small village called Korphe. After interacting with the people, seeing the poverty and lack of education, he vowed to build a school there.
Well, this began his journey to build schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. He began to build from the nineties, and has continued to build them through today. He was in Pakistan during 9/11 and he has interacted with all sorts of Muslim villagers and clergy. After 9/11, he advised the government on the territory, teaching them about the people, the religion and the country. His schools have focused on poor villages and girls, often who are not educated in this society.
This book offers a unique perspective on the Muslim people and their religion. Greg chose to be in relationship with the people, learning about them and becoming one of them as much as he could. He covered many levels of their life, from the religion they live out to the social dynamics of their society. His determination is inspiring and exciting to read about...he accomplished so much with so little resources.
I also found this book eye opening because it has shed light on many of the dark issues surrounding terrorism in our world today. It gives a fresh perspective on how terrorism is cultivated in these countries and it brings humanity to a people who are often just labeled.
For anyone looking for just an inspiring read, I would recommend it, but I would also encourage anybody who is looking for a deeper perspective on issues of Islam and the Pakistan culture to take a look at it as well.
If you would like to know more, you can check out the website www.threecupsoftea.com.
Grace and Peace,
Micah
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Upside-Down Kingdom, Jan 25th
The sermon this morning at Middlefield FUMC was focused around Mark 12:41-44, "The Widow's Offering". Pastor Ed marked his sermon with the title "Belt Tightening". I thought he was preaching on weight loss for our church, but I was disappointed yet again :)
Our world has changed quickly over the past few years and us in Northeast Ohio can see the down turn very easily. Ed noted how our unemployment rate was the highest in 25 years and how the Lordstown plant is down to 1 shift for its auto workers. Our world looks very different today, and for many of us, it begs the question... "how is God speaking to this moment?"
Simply reflecting on our economic situation can seem daunting, yet when we reflect on a scripture like Mark 12:41-44, we are moved to a even deeper place.
The widow, she gives everything she has...everything!
Wow.
Everything.
Lets just sit with that for a second.
(pause)
All of her money.
What would it look like to give everything to God today?
What impact would that have on our churches, our charities, our social agencies if we gave everything to God?
I am not saying that we should be giving our entire paychecks into the offering plate on Sunday morning. I am not saying that you are less of a Christian if you don't (I don't). What I am saying, however, and maybe this is what God is saying, is that we should think about it.
Just thinking about it stretches us. Merely perusing the idea empowers this scripture and challenges us to go deeper. Maybe some of us really need to think about money and how we spend it?
Surrender is such a key topic within the Christian life. We grow into this perspective as we grow as Christians, and as we think about our finances, it is apparent that what we spend money on reflects what we value and what we are surrendering to.
So, as we give our offering, we are saying that we value what God is up to. We are not surrendering to all of the wants and desires that we want, and we are saying that we value what God is doing. We are aligning our hearts with the vision that God has for the world...that vision of justice and hope and peace.
This is kingdom living.
It is upside-down, turned around and backwards for us to give in our economic situation today, but it reflects the values that we have for the world.
We begin to live deeper into the story that God has for our world when we give, because in doing so, our hearts and our minds begin to resemble the vision that God has for all of us.
So, what do you value? What are you surrendering to?
I took a moment to look at my bank statement and I learned a lot. What is God teaching you about your finances?
I am sure glad that we didn't talk about weight loss this morning because I sure was challenged to think deeper about an issue that is very alive within our world today :)
Grace and Peace,
Micah
Our world has changed quickly over the past few years and us in Northeast Ohio can see the down turn very easily. Ed noted how our unemployment rate was the highest in 25 years and how the Lordstown plant is down to 1 shift for its auto workers. Our world looks very different today, and for many of us, it begs the question... "how is God speaking to this moment?"
Simply reflecting on our economic situation can seem daunting, yet when we reflect on a scripture like Mark 12:41-44, we are moved to a even deeper place.
The widow, she gives everything she has...everything!
Wow.
Everything.
Lets just sit with that for a second.
(pause)
All of her money.
What would it look like to give everything to God today?
What impact would that have on our churches, our charities, our social agencies if we gave everything to God?
I am not saying that we should be giving our entire paychecks into the offering plate on Sunday morning. I am not saying that you are less of a Christian if you don't (I don't). What I am saying, however, and maybe this is what God is saying, is that we should think about it.
Just thinking about it stretches us. Merely perusing the idea empowers this scripture and challenges us to go deeper. Maybe some of us really need to think about money and how we spend it?
Surrender is such a key topic within the Christian life. We grow into this perspective as we grow as Christians, and as we think about our finances, it is apparent that what we spend money on reflects what we value and what we are surrendering to.
So, as we give our offering, we are saying that we value what God is up to. We are not surrendering to all of the wants and desires that we want, and we are saying that we value what God is doing. We are aligning our hearts with the vision that God has for the world...that vision of justice and hope and peace.
This is kingdom living.
It is upside-down, turned around and backwards for us to give in our economic situation today, but it reflects the values that we have for the world.
We begin to live deeper into the story that God has for our world when we give, because in doing so, our hearts and our minds begin to resemble the vision that God has for all of us.
So, what do you value? What are you surrendering to?
I took a moment to look at my bank statement and I learned a lot. What is God teaching you about your finances?
I am sure glad that we didn't talk about weight loss this morning because I sure was challenged to think deeper about an issue that is very alive within our world today :)
Grace and Peace,
Micah
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Little Drummer Boy...a rendition
I was recently perusing churchrelevance.com and I came across a video of a Christmas service with a very interesting rendition of "The Little Drummer Boy". During our Christmas Eve Services at Middlefield, we sang this song, but it was just a little different than this take on the song.
I wonder if we could do something like this next year at our church? :) Enjoy
http://vimeo.com/2604470?pg=embed&sec=2604470
I wonder if we could do something like this next year at our church? :) Enjoy
http://vimeo.com/2604470?pg=embed&sec=2604470
Monday, January 19, 2009
Upside-Down Kingdom, Jan 18th
This is my first reflection on our Sunday Morning sermons at Middlefield. (if you don't attend our services, you might be lost in this post, but feel free to continue reading :))
We are in the middle of a series talking about the Kingdom of God. This week, we focused around Matthew 20:1-16, the story of wages for those working. I encourage you to look at this scripture again, to see it with new eyes. Scripture has a way of working on us with time, and when we read it again in a different setting, we may see some very new things that God is speaking to us.
Well, on Sunday, Pastor Ed talked about the fairness of God. God, in love, is not fair. God loves people without restraint, and God does not conform to the rules of our world today.
I was taken by this thought while watching football on Sunday afternoon. It's the playoffs, and the winners of these games go to the Super Bowl, so tension and excitement are everywhere! While watching the Steelers beat the Ravens (Go Steelers!), I was taken in the midst of all of the rules of football. The refs were vital in this game, with controversy over many of their calls.
Back and forth, flags were thrown, indicating rule breaking. The refs were striving to make the game fair. Nevertheless, it was not fair. Players got away with rule breaking...all the time. As much as the ref's try, they could not make perfect fairness occur.
The fairness in a football game is hard to reconcile, just like the fairness in life is as well. We strive so hard to make things fair. Our systems our surrounded by this ideal. Still, life is not perfectly fair. And then, we hear something in scripture about the kingdom, and how a different justice system is envisioned.
Kingdom living is about living into a higher standard, one that is spoken in this scripture. We are told in verse 16, that "the last will be first, and the first will be last" Something deeper is going on here. God is speaking to us about His vision of justice and fairness to the world, and that as we strive to indicate justice and righteousness, that He will bring us something different. Our perspective of who is right, or who has earned something does not automatically relate. The wages of our work are not always equal. Yet still, God brings justice that is beyond our understanding of rules and fairness, one where mercy trumps all.
I see two central questions to this idea of fairness. The first is, can we trust God enough see with different eyes into this vision of justice? And secondly, how can we begin, or continue, to live into this vision of unrelenting mercy in our lives?
Pastor Ed's story about Amanda, and the mercy that was given to him, spoke volumes to me. Working 2 days in 2 weeks and getting a full paycheck showed me a glimpse of what this Kingdom life is all about. What a story to reflect and remind us of how we can practically participate in the story of God in the world today.
Grace and Peace!
Micah
We are in the middle of a series talking about the Kingdom of God. This week, we focused around Matthew 20:1-16, the story of wages for those working. I encourage you to look at this scripture again, to see it with new eyes. Scripture has a way of working on us with time, and when we read it again in a different setting, we may see some very new things that God is speaking to us.
Well, on Sunday, Pastor Ed talked about the fairness of God. God, in love, is not fair. God loves people without restraint, and God does not conform to the rules of our world today.
I was taken by this thought while watching football on Sunday afternoon. It's the playoffs, and the winners of these games go to the Super Bowl, so tension and excitement are everywhere! While watching the Steelers beat the Ravens (Go Steelers!), I was taken in the midst of all of the rules of football. The refs were vital in this game, with controversy over many of their calls.
Back and forth, flags were thrown, indicating rule breaking. The refs were striving to make the game fair. Nevertheless, it was not fair. Players got away with rule breaking...all the time. As much as the ref's try, they could not make perfect fairness occur.
The fairness in a football game is hard to reconcile, just like the fairness in life is as well. We strive so hard to make things fair. Our systems our surrounded by this ideal. Still, life is not perfectly fair. And then, we hear something in scripture about the kingdom, and how a different justice system is envisioned.
Kingdom living is about living into a higher standard, one that is spoken in this scripture. We are told in verse 16, that "the last will be first, and the first will be last" Something deeper is going on here. God is speaking to us about His vision of justice and fairness to the world, and that as we strive to indicate justice and righteousness, that He will bring us something different. Our perspective of who is right, or who has earned something does not automatically relate. The wages of our work are not always equal. Yet still, God brings justice that is beyond our understanding of rules and fairness, one where mercy trumps all.
I see two central questions to this idea of fairness. The first is, can we trust God enough see with different eyes into this vision of justice? And secondly, how can we begin, or continue, to live into this vision of unrelenting mercy in our lives?
Pastor Ed's story about Amanda, and the mercy that was given to him, spoke volumes to me. Working 2 days in 2 weeks and getting a full paycheck showed me a glimpse of what this Kingdom life is all about. What a story to reflect and remind us of how we can practically participate in the story of God in the world today.
Grace and Peace!
Micah
Friday, January 16, 2009
TV shows influencing our life
Yesterday, a plane went down in NY. It was all over the news, and the pilot was able to land the plane in the Hudson. All the passengers survived and the pilot really was a hero. They are still checking into what brought the plane down, but they believe that it was birds. Wow, birds. It is truly an amazing story.
The flight number of the plane was 1549.
Now, if you have ever watched the TV show Lost, you would know it is a show about how a group of people live together on an island after their plane goes down. I don't watch the show, but I know that much. I also know that one of the characters, Hurley, won the lottery right before his plane went down and throughout the show, the lottery numbers that he used were considered "evil"...used in various circumstances in the show.
So, after the miraculous landing of flight 1549, the pick 4 lottery in Connecticut sold out of the number 1549.
Wow. It is hard for me to connect with beliefs like this...that if a plane goes down, but is saved miraculously, that the numbers of the plane would be somehow lucky. But that is not what really gets to me. What really strikes me about this story, is that it shows me how highly influenced we are by the culture around us. A simple TV show like Lost has embedded itself into the system of how we view the world.
I have watched this show maybe two or three times, mostly while just flipping through channels, and I knew enough to connect with this story. It is amazing to me how we are so highly influenced by our culture and what we view, or experience, embeds itself into how we think, move and act.
My question is...how aware are we of this influence and how careful are we to filter what we view?
Undoubtedly, we are over loaded with messages daily, but how much of that influence is connected with Jesus? How often are we influenced, daily, by the message of this first century Rabbi?
Grace and Peace!
Micah
The flight number of the plane was 1549.
Now, if you have ever watched the TV show Lost, you would know it is a show about how a group of people live together on an island after their plane goes down. I don't watch the show, but I know that much. I also know that one of the characters, Hurley, won the lottery right before his plane went down and throughout the show, the lottery numbers that he used were considered "evil"...used in various circumstances in the show.
So, after the miraculous landing of flight 1549, the pick 4 lottery in Connecticut sold out of the number 1549.
Wow. It is hard for me to connect with beliefs like this...that if a plane goes down, but is saved miraculously, that the numbers of the plane would be somehow lucky. But that is not what really gets to me. What really strikes me about this story, is that it shows me how highly influenced we are by the culture around us. A simple TV show like Lost has embedded itself into the system of how we view the world.
I have watched this show maybe two or three times, mostly while just flipping through channels, and I knew enough to connect with this story. It is amazing to me how we are so highly influenced by our culture and what we view, or experience, embeds itself into how we think, move and act.
My question is...how aware are we of this influence and how careful are we to filter what we view?
Undoubtedly, we are over loaded with messages daily, but how much of that influence is connected with Jesus? How often are we influenced, daily, by the message of this first century Rabbi?
Grace and Peace!
Micah
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Beginnings
So, this is my blog. It is just a simple place for me to reflect and share perspectives on what is happening at the church I serve, Middlefield Methodist, and the larger perspectives of living life today as a Christian.
I begin by saying that I don't have everything figured out, and that I am on a journey, hopefully with you, to learn more of how it is to follow this first century rabbi, Jesus. My perspectives do not reflect anybody but me. I will strive to reflect on our sermons each week and other happenings in our church and I hope that you have a place to go a little deeper with your faith.
This is my first attempt at blogging, so I will be learning how this looks and works within our community.
I am pretty open to comments from you, so feel free to express what you think.
May Grace and Peace surround you!!
Micah
I begin by saying that I don't have everything figured out, and that I am on a journey, hopefully with you, to learn more of how it is to follow this first century rabbi, Jesus. My perspectives do not reflect anybody but me. I will strive to reflect on our sermons each week and other happenings in our church and I hope that you have a place to go a little deeper with your faith.
This is my first attempt at blogging, so I will be learning how this looks and works within our community.
I am pretty open to comments from you, so feel free to express what you think.
May Grace and Peace surround you!!
Micah
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