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Chuck Sackett

don’t have church at home…

Friday, September 30th, 2011

…at least not in Kazakhstan.  And don’t try to be a church without receiving official recognition from the official department of religion in the Kazak governmental system.  5 Baptist churches were raided last month. Huge fines (10 months salary) were exacted on any who were arrested.  Some for meeting in homes, some for having a religious festival, some for meeting in public buildings.

‘Mereke Myrzabekova of Zhezkazgan’s Internal Policy Department told Forum 18 they would not have been raided had they been watching football or drinking vodka together “because that’s not religion”.’ Just think how many Americans would have to be arrested if “watching football” was illegal!!

You can enjoy sports and you can drink…but you can’t worship. At least, not without permission.  While I realize that our freedom is sometimes our greatest nemesis…it is also an incredible blessing.  We are free to stay home…that’s true.  We are free to believe we don’t need God…no one can stop us.  We are free to be irreligious or non-religious…it’s our right.  But we are also free to gather and worship and read our Bibles. We are free to talk about Jesus.  We are free to invited friends to worship with us.

Thank God for our freedom…pray we don’t abuse it.  Pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters around the world…pray they are faithful

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the squeaky wheel…

Tuesday, September 27th, 2011

I guess if you whine loud enough and in the right place you finally get things done.  Not the best method, but I’ll accept it this week.

I have to admit, I felt better after my public complaint about Comcast. And even better when I heard many, many responses from the audience and in the foyer.  Then, last night, I discovered that the “boss” of the tech crew was in church.  Oops!  Last night I had a scheduled appointment and Dave the tech guy was doing a great job. Then we hit a snag.  He called his boss and I learned that it was Mike.  Oh boy…

Before the night was over I had 3 tech guys in my house and problems solved.  Hope I learned something from all that. It would be a shame for me to waste God’s efforts at teaching me patience…

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surely there’s no connection

Friday, September 16th, 2011

I’m preaching on the 4th fruit of the Spirit next week–patience.  Tuesday Gail found a leak in a pipe in the basement.  Yesterday I spent the entire day trying to repair it.  This morning I finally got a different leak fixed (created in the process of fixing the other) only to discover we have no pressure in our hot water faucet in the kitchen.  You don’t suppose there’s a connection?

I did not pray for patience.  I did not ask God to provide me with illustrations for the sermon.  I really just wanted to fix the first simple leak.  But, rest assured–the story will show up on September 25th.

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community at its best…

Thursday, September 1st, 2011

I observed an amazing display of community today…from an unexpected source.  I had the privilege of doing Scottie Harre’s funeral this afternoon. The expected small crowd grew to nearly standing room only, many of whom were from Transitions (the physically and mentally challenged community). They grieved as you might expect.

But what I didn’t expect were the displays of affection and warmth at the casket.  As they quietly passed by at the end there were pats on the hands, kisses blown, good-bye’s mouthed silently, and smiles of appreciation. It was amazing to see this very special group sharing in their community of affection. Amazing…simply amazing.

There was also the expected display of community.  When I arrived at the hospital emergency room, there was family and soon close friends.  And at the funeral home…such a display of concern from among friends at the visitation..and again at the funeral.  Then, for a late afternoon meal, the love and attention of friends fixing a meal and serving.  What a tribute to what it means to live in community.

What a blessing to be part of such a sharing, loving, kind community of folks.  And both communities are communities because of what they share in common. What a tragedy that some folks live without that. They are missing so much.

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Resources

Friday, August 26th, 2011

http://library.nu/.

Check out this link.  It provides access to some great books in pdf form.  You’ll love the resource.

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Creation Care Resources

Friday, August 26th, 2011

I’m making a list of resources for those interested in pursuing the idea of “Creation Care” further. I have not read these and can not vouch for any of them. If you have a critique of them, please post it for the benefit of the rest of us. If you have other suggestions, please post those–with as much explanation of their perspective as would be helpful.

Wright, Christopher, “Mission and God’s Earth” in The Mission of God (I’ve read this and it’s outstanding)
Wright, Christopher, Old Testament Ethics for the People of God
Elsdon, Ron, Green House Theology: Biblical Perspectives on Caring for Creation
Nash, James, Loving Nature: Ecological Integrity and Christian Responsibility
Bridger, Francis, “Ecology and Eschatology: A Neglected Dimension,” Tyndale Bulletin 41
Schaefer, Francis, Pollution and the Death of Man: The Christian View of Ecology
Guinness, Os, The Dust of Death
Brown, Edward R., Our Father’s World (Mobilizing the Church to Care for Creation)

http://post-apocalyptictheology.blogspot.com/search/label/Schaeffer
http://www.surfinthespirit.com/environment/stewards-of-earths-resources.html

Dreher, Rod, Crunchy Cons
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5256754

http://www.foodincmovie.com/about-the-issues.php

www.arocha.com
www.earth911.com

These are resources I’ve had suggested to me or I have looked at briefly. I look forward to your responses with more suggestions for us to think about when it comes to creation care.

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i wonder why?

Wednesday, August 17th, 2011

I confessed a troublesome truth to my class yesterday.  I’m choosing to reveal it to you, too. Maybe you can help me with it. I’ve been trying to analyze it to see if I can figure out why it’s true.  So far, no solutions.

When I’m here (Eastern/Central Europe) I have this deep yearning to know whether or not every person I see is a Christian.  It’s like I want to stop every person on the street and ask them about their faith. I know they can’t understand me…or me them…but for some reason, I just feel I have to know.  Is it because they’ve endured so much? Is it because the west has intruded so blatantly? Can it be simply that they can’t answer me?

Okay, so that’s half the issue.  The problem is, I don’t feel that way at home. Oh, I want to know to…but I don’t have that constant state of near anxiety. I’m driven to find out. It’s a question that sometimes haunts me but often is simply silent. And I wonder why. Is it because I could understand them?  Is it because I could talk to them?  Is it because faith is so common?  Do I just take it for granted by life is pretty normal when I’m home and total in upheaval when I’m here.

I want to want to be driven to know. I want to feel compelled to ask everyone, somehow, if they know Jesus. Maybe that’s why God allows me to be here…to remind me of that deep longing.

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unavoidable outcome…

Sunday, August 7th, 2011

Sitting in Pension Luna in Brno. It’s early. I’m reading Christopher Wright’s The Mission of God. This statement stood out to me: “The church’s mission flows from the identity of God and his Christ. When you know who God is, when you know who Jesus is, witnessing mission is the unavoidable outcome.”

Luke captures this thought in Acts 1:8 when you cites God’s promise, “You will be my witnesses…”, a clear reflection of Jesus’ statement to the disciples from Luke 24:48, “You are witnesses of these things.” But, even more interesting to me, is that Luke captures the vocabulary of Isaiah 43:10-12. There, Isaiah speaks for God as God says, “You are my witnesses…you are my witnesses that I am God.”

To know God is to be His witness. It’s the unavoidable outcome…

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amazing…

Thursday, July 28th, 2011

Amazing seems to be my word of choice this week.  What an amazing bunch of kids. They have been incredibly cooperative, doing everything we’ve asked.  They’ve responded well to challenging activities and challenging messages. They’ve reflected some amazing lessons at the end of the day as they’ve talked about their experiences.

Amazing experiences which have produced losts of amazing examples of students getting it.  We’ve rafted, biked, swam, hiked, climbed, zipped, rode horses, done team building, group initiatives, and games. We’ve worshiped and listened and talked. And they have all been amazing experiences.

Our worship has been amazing.  Good leadership, great participation…and of course, an amazing God to worship.  It’s been great to watch Him at work. Somtimes I’m more amazed than I know how to tell about. Honestly, it’s hard to contain my emotions when I see these kids, hands raised or heads bowed, jumping or smiling, singing or contemplating, invested in worshiping their God.  Honestly, utterly, amazing.

And God, well…you already know that.  He’s amazing.  He’s working. He’s reaching into lives. He’s touching hearts. He’s healing hurts.  He’s pursuing (keep praying, because some don’t like the pursuit). There’s more to come…I have no doubt.

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I meant what I thought I said…

Thursday, July 21st, 2011

I grabbed lunch at Subway today (Gail had work to do at home and I didn’t want to interrupt her). They have an amusing sign on their door, “We do not except checks.” It’s an understandable mistake, but amusing just the same.  I think what they mean is, “Don’t try to write a check for your lunch.” But what they said was, “We will take a check as payment because we don’t except them as a form of payment.”

It happens, doesn’t it.  We think we’ve said one thing and instead we’ve said the opposite. We think we’re saying “I love you” when in reality we’re saying, “I love me.” We think we’re communicating and instead…well, it’s either not getting through or not making sense.  It happens. And sometimes it’s amusing. Unfortunately, sometimes it’s not.

We want to say, “God loves and accepts all people.” We end up saying, “God loves people like me.” We want to say, “Any sin can be forgiven.” Instead, we communicate, “Except the sin for which you are guilty.” We would like to communicate, “All people are welcome at our church.” We end up with, “If you look and sound and smell and dress like us, we’ll welcome you.”

I wish people just knew what I meant…and were not limited to what I actually said.

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