Snow Hill News Blog

Psalms for the Week

Consider reading, reflecting and commenting on Psalm 23 and Psalm 89.

The Kingdom of Downward Mobility

We found this quote from some online reading,

“…The society in which we live suggests in countless ways that the way to go is up. Making it to the top, entering the limelight, breaking the record - that's what draws attention, gets us on the front page of the newspaper, and offers us the rewards of money and fame.  The way of Jesus is radically different. It is the way not of upward mobility but of downward mobility. It is going to the bottom, staying behind the sets, and choosing the last place! Why is the way of Jesus worth choosing? Because it is the way to the Kingdom, the way Jesus took, and the way that brings everlasting life.” Henri Nouwen

(HT:ProdiganKiwi(s))

Psalm for the Week

Sometimes we learn from reading. More often we learn from watching then doing. Watch children learn to tie shoes. They carefully watch the movements of the parents' hands. Over and again they watch. Then once they capture the actions they reproduce them.

Surely you can think of what you have learned by watching the hands of others.

This week, read Psalm 123. Pay particular attention to these words,

Behold, as the eyes of the servants look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the LORD our God,
til he has mercy upon us.

Long Walks - Psalm 130

Walking is good for the heart. Keeping the heart rate up is the key to a good walk. Sometimes we add weights. Other times we walk uphill or downhill to push our bodies harder. At least once annually Jewish families would make the trek to Jerusalem. A series of songs were written for the long journey. Eugene Peterson titled his little book on these songs, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. One of the texts for this week is Psalm 130 - one of these "songs of ascent." Take the time to read Psalm 130 each day the rest of this week. Leave your thoughts in the comments.

Tracking the Massons

We received an email from Jonathan that he and Kari had been sent their login information to take the Perspectives Course on World Missions! Their books are on their way. As a reminder of the dream God has given them read their recent post. (You may follow their journey by watching the sidebar for their updates.) Here is a clip.

The reason we made this appointment was to get a head start on the formalities for moving to Senegal and starting a clinic. After our experience moving to France, we knew that there would be a LOT of paperwork for visas, residency permits, taxes, renting a house, setting up utilities, opening bank accounts, plus starting a business in cooperation with the Minister of Health.

Here's what we found out: all of that can be done once we arrive. Because we will be bringing humanitarian aid and developing jobs, the government will make it as easy as possible for us to move and get established in Senegal.

Exciting news!

Why We Can't Take Others for Granted

 There are a number of reasons why we should not take others for granted. One obvious reason comes from our own disdain for the feelings this creates in us when we are passed over. Last year we adopted Jonathan and Kari Masson as missionaries. Our relationship is as non-conventional as is their particular path to missions.

You see we have a difficult time breaking out of our mental images that calcify and dictate our responses. So, imagine a young couple mixing vocational goals and an eagerness to live missionally in another country. By missional, we mean to live as missionary in whatever context, vocation and living arrangement a person chooses. It is like Caleb Crider has encouraged us to think, "we are all missionaries." Yet, outside our family structures, and maybe a few friends, we cannot see our way to think of them as "missionaries" in the same way we find it difficult to self-identify this way where we live.

Solitude of the Heart

It is not good to be alone. It is good to be alone. Solitude of the heart, describes the late Henri Nouwen, is necessary lest we view others as pawns for our own benefit. He wrote,

Without the solitude of the heart, the intimacy of friendship, marriage and community life cannot be creative. Without the solitude of heart, our relationships with others easily become needy and greedy, sticky and clinging, dependent and sentimental, exploitative and parasitic, because without the solitude of heart we cannot experience the others as different from ourselves but only as people who can be used for our own, often hidden needs. (Reaching Out, Nouwen, quoted from A Guide to Prayer)

What are your thoughts?

You Are A Missionary

One of our adopted missionaries, Caleb Crider, wrote the following,

If you are a Prius-driving, Lego-modding Starbucks barista, you’re uniquely qualified to be the missionary to that tribe. If you’re a Mac-using, soccer-mompreneur PTA member, your job is to incarnate the gospel among your people. It’s not enough for you to just try to fit in. You were saved to live out a Christ-transformed life in the midst of your social circles. You are where you are for a purpose.

There is no “home” and “foreign.” You are a missionary.

Read the entire article here.

What Is the Gospel?

We hosted Caleb and Lindsay Crider for our "Church As Missionary Conference." You may remember they are part of the team that comprises The Upstream Collective. Pastor Todd's support of their work resulted in the request he write for their website at The Upstream Collective Blog. This week Pastor Todd wrote an article offering an answer to the question, "What is the Gospel?" The context for the question centers around the matter of "cultural translation." Offering the Good News of Jesus in contexts outside of what we know in the United States, even the "southern United States," often takes a different expression in the hovels of South Africa or on Broadway. You may read the article here.

More on Forgiveness

I met Father Richard Rohr, a Franciscan, a few years ago. He has been offering some thoughts on forgiveness. Here is something that hit the Inbox this morning,

Vengeance seems so logical, but it doesn’t really work: It doesn’t advance human history or us. The wonder of the resurrection stories in the Gospels is that Jesus has no punitive attitude toward the authorities or his cowardly followers; and the followers themselves never call for any kind of holy war against those who killed their leader. Something new has clearly transpired in history. This is not the common and expected story line. All Jesus does is breathe forgiveness (John 20:22).