Stamp Out Hunger

35,000,000 Americans are at risk of hunger.

Get involved on May 12th!

www.HelpStampOutHunger.com

On May 12 th , Campbell Soup Company and The United States Postal Service are partnering once again to sponsor Stamp Out Hunger™, the “ nation's largest single-day food drive.” Your participation in this cause is instrumental in its success

How can you help?

• Place bags filled with nonperishable food items next to your mailbox.*
• Your letter carrier will pick them up and deliver them to local food banks!**

It's that easy to make a big difference. For more information, visit www.HelpStampOutHunger.com .

*Donate items like canned meats and fish, canned soup,juice, pasta, vegetables, cereal and rice. Please do not include items that have expired or those in glass containers.
**If you live in an urban area check with your letter carrier or bring food to your local post office and they'll deliver it to local food banks.

Night

My parents and sister just returned from a vacation in Germany. They visited Dachau, one of the many concentration camps during the Holocaust. My sister picked up a copy of Night and read it on the plane ride back. It was a book that I had wanted to read (Tim Stafford mentions it in his book, Surprised by Jesus, which I recently read), and since I went to Christian school, I had never read many of the classics which are standard in public school.
So I picked it up yesterday and tore through it. Elie Wiesel won the Nobel Peace Prize for this book & it is well deserving. This is a tragic story of this young Jewish boy and his struggle for survival after his town was raided and all the Jews were evacuated to Auschwitz, and later to Buchenwald. It is a heart-breaking story and one filled with lost hope and pleas to God.
I visited Dachau when I was 13 on a mission trip I took with Royal Servants. Even cleaned up it was terrible. Bodies piled upon bodies, conditions you would not wish on any animal.
I have absolutely no idea of how I would react in a situation like that, or how I would respond after the fact. Mr. Wiesel lost hope in the situation and gained hatred after the fact. These are both very natural, almost expected reactions. One would be more astonished at the absence of these reactions.
Which is why Jesus is such a compelling person. The duration may not have been as long as the Holocaust, but Jesus prayed for those who mistreated him and unimaginably forgave them. Forgiveness is a lost spiritual discipline in our day and age. Jesus spoke about forgiving others because we have been forgiven much (Matthew 18.21-35). It would be near impossible to forgive someone, if you haven't yet realized what you have been forgiven of.
Another thing that struck me we the quick dissipation of hope. Again, I have not been remotely in this sort of situation, and cannot say how I would react (I would hope more like Paul and Silas in prison, than Mr. Wiesel, but probably somewhere in between). Last night, I lead my small group through 1 Timothy. We are discussing finances, but I was struck by Paul's words, "As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy". We can put our hope fully in Jesus. He has & he always will prove himself trustworthy. I encouraged them, as I will you, to look back on your life & count the instances in which Jesus has been faithful and one worthy of your hope.

The Red Sea Rules

A couple of years ago, I was in a very dark, bad place, (mentally, emotionally and spiritually). My family has always been "book recommenders" and my mom gave me a copy of The Red Sea Rules. It took me a while to read it (not because it is long - its only 112 pages - but because I thought it would be trite & worthless).
I finally picked in up one afternoon & read through it. I was not changed, nor did my outlook get decidedly brighter, but it started me on the path out. The book does not make light of suffering nor does it dismiss it. It offers 10 strategies for dealing with the struggles & offers hope.
Robert Morgan writes about the Israelites struggles in crossing the Red Sea as they began their Exodus to the Promised Land. This is a quick read & the rules struck me to be very Psalm-like in the progression of crying out to God for help to eventually praising God at the end (even with no resolution). This book is a good one to give away to friends or family who are hurting or fighting despair.

Evil

Evil. Just what every small group wants to discuss around coffee, right? It may not be an easy subject to tackle, but is one that many people have an opinion about & one which can garner much discussion. This four session investigative study on evil is one that comes to a resolution which is biblical, and very doable - at least for those willing.

The sessions travel from a general overview of what evil actually is, to both Old Testament and New Testament perspectives on evil, to finally what can we do to counteract evil.

This is no light-hearted look at injustice. Dr. Wright delves into the Israeli-Arab conflicts, AIDS and genocide to name a few. One of the problems we have is more often than not, we look at evil as somewhere else, someone other. In this paradigm, we demonize people and can easily write them off. But, as the Bible teaches, we are all short of the glory of God. We are all capable of unspeakable evil, and equally capable of being harmed by unspeakable evil.

This is a study that would do equally well for committed believers as well as those who are seeking and have questions in this area. There is a group discussion guide which comes along with the study as well. The DVD is 50 minutes long and flows seamlessly enough to be watched in one sitting. This is a very good resource to help answer questions in this difficult area.

Of related interest would be N.T. Wright's Evil and the Justice of God.

When God Lets You Down

With refreshing and courageous candor, Pastor Alex Gee doesn’t offer the easy answers as he searches for hope. With everything within him, he asks and attempts to answer, “Why do we still experience pain when we are "good" and follow God?”

The author openly shares his story of the loss of two daughters - and the near loss of a third - at birth. His writing is transparent, authentic, and life-giving (like few other texts I've ever read). He hurts deeply and most people who read his story will want to reach out and help ease his pain. Yet the author encourages the reader to walk through this journey of the hard questions asked by a grieving father. He freely admits he doesn’t "have all the answers," which is refreshing.

It is a Godly man’s approach to life’s grit. His disappointment when he doesn’t receive the answers he wants to his prayers is evident as he pushes God away at first. You will never read such emotional prose — yet there’s never a hint of whining or self-righteous entitlement in his words. Audacious and unjustified hope are the overwhelming themes woven into When God Lets You Down.

One of the most convicting quotes for me was “Some of us believe that Jesus lived and died just to endorse the spiritualization of the American Dream.” I’m still trying to process it. The last chapter is a letter of apology and release to his two girls, Victoria and Alexis. You will be moved to tears of both joy and sadness. I recommend it highly and will give it as a gift to others who are hurting and questioning God!