I like light

Or maybe the title should read, "I [heart] light" (haha). Wonder how that would look on a t-shirt. It could be marketed to several different population segments: Christians, photographers, lighthouse operators, lighting engineers...umm...people who are afraid of the dark. Wow, the more I talk about this the better the idea sounds!

I think I've blogged before about being a fan of light. Each morning I somehow derive joy from watching the sun coming up and light up the building across the street. I know it might sound strange. I'm not sure what my deal is...there's just some inherent beauty in it for me.

It's so difficult to capture what the eye sees on film (or digitally) but I snapped a quick shot this morning of the building across the street. This is completely unedited (except for changing to a web-friendly resolution). It's not one of those stunning subjects that wins awards but the light...at least to me...is beautiful.

Here I am again opening the door to endless spiritual metaphors. I guess there's something in us, as followers of Christ, that craves light...maybe even the visible kind.

Just a ladder...

I'm really just posting to share this image. I like it. It's the ladder to our roof in the back of our place. Looking at it I think of all kinds of spiritual metaphors...but I'll leave it to you today to figure out which one applies to whatever you are going through. Maybe you're already at the top of the ladder, taking in the incredible view from above. Maybe you're somewhere in the middle...tiring from the steep angle and a bit concerned that your grip will give out shortly. Or maybe you're still at the bottom trying to grab on to that first rung.

Or maybe it's just the ladder in the back of our place, period.

Opening Day - Little League

We here at team Shattuck want only the quickest updates for our friends, family, supporters, and strangers out there who have somehow managed to find us online! So, we're bringing it to you live (ok...not quite live, but close) from Poznan, Poland straight to your computer screen. Vicki got some great pics today for you.

Today was the big day for many of our kids...the start of our new baseball season. We didn't know what to expect, especially since this is the beginning of a week-long holiday here. Will people come? Will they have already left on vacation?

Can you imagine that we had about 25 kids there today? With parents we were looking at around 45 people!! The coaches met this past week to talk about some goals for the season, one of which would be to build the size of the group to the point where we might be able to have 3 separate teams: girls softball, t-ball for the young ones, and baseball for the older boys. I'm absolutely thrilled to tell you that today all three of those groups were formed!!

Something that we've been thinking about for awhile has been leadership. Bottom line, we have to have more help in order for this thing to continue developing...or even for it to survive. Well, again, I'm thrilled to tell you that in a matter of a week or so we've added three new coaches to our group. One of Jack's daughters (Ros) volunteered to work with the girls, a missionary friend (Kirk) is going to be coaching boys, and a mother of one of our younger players told us today that she'd like to coach softball with Ros!!

Things went great today. It was obvious that everyone was having a blast and enjoying themselves. That is so important for these kids to be able to have such outlets to get together and just have fun. They don't have so many such opportunities like kids in the states. So, it's awesome to be able to provide this opportunity for them...in a safe, clean, Christian environment.

One thing we have kept in the forefront of our minds is that this is a ministry for us...not just playing ball. So, today we took a concrete step toward solidifying that in a more tangible way. During our team time at the beginning of the practice we spent some time talking about normal first training day things. But we also started what will become a permanent part of our practices...a time when we speak with the kids about "things of God". "Why the strange way to say it?", you ask.

We really do need to be careful here not to push the spiritual side of things too hard. We really don't want for parents to start pulling away, thinking that we're big bad evangelicals who have come to entice their kids in with baseball, only to turn around and begin brainwashing them (trust me, this is not a stretch). So, we're going to basically transition from teaching strong moral lesson associated with the game (which in and of themselves are "things of God") to the point when we will just begin basing those talks from a Scripture verse or passage. I think this is a good strategy and we're glad to have started it from the git-go.

So, I just wanted to let you know that things went incredibly well today. Thanks to those of you who have really been a part of this. One more thing...if you are someone who helped with the donation of uniforms, I can tell you that you put some huge smiles on many faces today. Watching them grab and try on various pieces of uniforms was a blast!! Thanks so much for your support in this!!

It's incredible to see God at work...and to be allowed to be a part of that. I believe there are some great things in store for us this season. I just sit back and am in awe as I look at the pictures and see all the new faces (including our lawyer and his family!! Shown left). Wish you could have been here with us!!

Mornings

Mornings are pretty special for Vicki and me. I guess that's probably been truer since the kids arrived on the scene, since those first couple of hours are generally our "quality time" together for the day. At about 8am the house wakes up and life begins.

I guess we should be thankful, however most of the time that's not quite the feeling we have, for our little black annoying dog. He's like the most annoying, persistent alarm clock one could ever own. Anywhere from 5:30-5:50 (no, too rarely after 6 to count) he wakes up and begins to let us know that he's ready to get out and eat. The whining and digging eventually are too much to bear and we get up, head downstairs, feed the dogs, take them out, and return. That's when things get good.

There's something about the morning and a cup of coffee. Maybe you feel the same way. Vicki and I grab our favorite mugs, fix up our cup of fresh joe (mostly thanks to my mom for sending over great coffee for us to enjoy), and grab our Bibles. It's quiet. No traffic going by outside. It's so nice. We've had some of the best conversations during those times. I'm calmed just thinking about it.

This morning I was reading again in Colossians...this time parts of Chapter 2. Most I read from the New Living Translation. I did that this morning and then wanted to see how things sounded in The Message. Check out verse 6-7:

You received Christ Jesus, the Master; now live him. You're deeply rooted in him. You're well constructed upon him. You know your way around the faith. Now do what you've been taught. School's out; quit studying the subject and start living it! And let your living spill over into thanksgiving.

Isn't it easy to feel like we're not ready for something? Not ready to share Christ with someone...not ready to lead a Bible study group...not ready to commit to something...not ready to disciple someone...not ready to experience rejection when sharing the Gospel. It's so easy to think that the time will come when one day we're ready...we've been completely equipped...nothing will surprise us or take us off guard.

I think Christ wants us to know that we're ready. Obviously, that doesn't mean we're prepared for everything. But it's not like you or I are being asked to become the President. Most of the time we're not being faced with possibilities that we are unprepared for. It's just that oftentimes we lack the boldness and self-confidence (not in who we are but in who HE is in us) to step out and live it.

The way that text is written in The Message is pretty clear, isn't it? We know so much about The One whom we follow. We know what he'd do (thanks to the WWJD? craze)...we know his words...we know his character. But enough with the pursuit of knowledge already. It's time to live him.

I love mornings.

Super spiritual post

I've been working on learning a new language over the past year. The photo illustrates that point. A headline written for this photo in the language of fotog would read,"willing subject, shot with snooted strobe."

There are certain words or phrases in any language that are just fun to say. One of my favorites in Polish is the phrase "ciesze sie ze cie widze" (in English, I'm glad to see you). All of the "sh" sounds are just fun to rattle off (or try to rattle off). In fotog I really like the word "snoot". I need to find some more excuses to use that word. Thanks for obliging me with this one! And thanks to Piotrek for being a helpful assistant!!

Play ball!!

Little League baseball is days away from firing back up here in Poznan and there is excitement in the air! We've called our first practice for this Saturday...at 10:00am if you'd like to try to make it.

We had a coaches meeting yesterday and we're thrilled about a new addition to our 2-man coaching staff. A good friend, and fellow missionary, is going to be jumping in and giving Jack and I a hand as we venture to try some new things out this year.

This year we are going to work toward establishing separate teams based on age and, possibly, gender. Last year was a hodge-podge team of all age groups, as well as with both boys and girls. Since pretty much everyone was starting from the same point (spare those with an American connection) the one-team-fits-all approach worked fabulously. But since we'd like to continue building on last year's progress it feels appropriate to multiply (you know we never say "split" when working in churches or ministries...bad word).

I know many of you get excited thinking of this ministry and a very large number of you have been personally involved by sending things over to us. We're well stocked to begin the season and even have a number of uniforms (at least uniform pieces) to hand out Saturday which will undoubtedly put big smiles on many kids' faces! We thank you all so much for what you've done to help us.

You can be praying with us that the ministry side of our efforts will also continue to develop this year. We have some more Polish Christian parents who are interested in getting involved which is absolutely crucial to this becoming a ministry and not just a game. Here are some prayer motives you might consider:

• Polish Christian parents' involvement...(1) in order to help us with coaching needs and, more importantly (2) that they would be inviting and reaching out to their lost friends' families
• Our ability to juggle the balance between sport and ministry. It's easy for us coaches to go and...well, coach. It takes much more intentionality to ensure that we're taking the time we need to connect on a personal, spiritual level with the folks that come.
• Our spiritual direction with the kids. We're considering ways we can be building into the kiddos during our practice. I think it would be a great approach to employ something like the Bible studies breaks from Upwards Basketball (I think they call them fast breaks or something like that).
• As always please pray that hearts...those of the kids AND their parents...will be opened to the love of Christ...to the Truth that we hope to be sharing.

I'll share more on all of this as things progress. Wish you all could come spend opening day with us at the ballpark...err, at the park!

Living headless

Do you remember that character in Pirates of the Caribbean 2 that loses his head when they're on the island racing after each other for the chest? He was one of the bizarre'o pirates, so losing his head really seemed more of a bother than a tragedy. His body staggered around, in a complete stupor, trying to locate the head which was all the while giving directions to aid in their reunion.

That's sort of a gross (although in the movie it does add some comic relief) picture that came to mind this morning after reading in Colossians this morning. I'm sure that calls for some explanation, huh??!!

In the Message part of verse 18 is rendered, "And when it comes to the church, he organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body." Now do you get the image from POTC2?

I wonder how often I sit my head aside to go through the day "headless". When I lose sight of God's truths...when I try to go it alone...that's really what I'm doing. I am going against the transformed, recreated mind (head) that I've been given.

Thinking about all of this, my mind went to the trainer at the gym that we've been speaking with. His thoughts have been moving more and more in the direction of Christ. It's incredible to see this journey occurring, and more to be even a small part of it (God was working in him before we came along). We were talking the other day about everything and I mentioned how I don't think we're able to come close to understanding life without Christ. That really makes a lot of sense considering the passage I quoted above. After all, how would it be possible to understand anything without our heads?!

We can be...I can be...much like the bizarre'o pirate in the movie. It's so easy to lose our heads...it's so easy to lose sight of the most important, central piece of our existence. When we do this...again, when I do this...I find that we do little more than stumble around, trying to figure out which way's up, where we're going, and how to get there....things are unclear and it's difficult to find our way. But when we are living in sync with Christ...when we keep him in that vital place in our lives...things change. Clarity...meaning...purpose...these things and others abound.

Life

I'm thankful today for all of you...for the love you show our family through your words of support and encouragement. It's a tremendous blessing to have such a family!

We really have quite a lot to be thankful for. I was speaking to a trainer yesterday at the gym about life in Christ...how it's difficult to imagine how people can go through life without Him! In fact, it's not really life at all since true life is only found in Christ. Unfortunately, sometimes it's easy to overlook how I've been raised from the dead by Jesus himself...life has been breathed into me and I now truly live. I wish I could have that perspective all the time. Such a perspective, daily in life, would lead to such an awesome attitude of thankfulness and gratitude, no matter the circumstances.

Thank you all for your prayers and support. And thank you, Father, for giving us life...for those wonderful, intimate moments with you when nothing else seems to matter, as well as for the difficult, tedious times when life just plain hurts because of the growth you are initiating in us.

Punched in the gut

That's how I feel right now. Like all of the air has been knocked out of me. And man, I'm so sick of that happening!

If you hadn't guessed it I'm talking about this train wreck of a legal system that can be completely thrown off track by one one's bogus rants. I spoke to our lawyer just a few minutes ago. After speaking with the judge last week it has been decided to appeal to the ministry (the government) for advice. The lawyer mentioned that he believes the judge is scared to make this decision since it would not be done in the standard way...even though it would be completely within his right to do so.

What does this mean? Honestly we don't know. To us it seems that the small window of possibility of this thing going bad has now gotten bigger, although there's no way to speculate further. The judge has asked the lawyer for help in writing the letter to the ministry (another thing I just can't fathom). They will hopefully get the letter out this week and then wait for some time for the reply. This could be one week it could be a month.

We've learned by now not to guess what the possible outcomes of anything will be because we're always wrong. We continually overlook the most ridiculous possibility...the one that generally occurs. That said, these are the possibilities we can see: (1) ministry gives green light to judge and the decision is made; (2) ministry gives red light, siding with the evil coming out of Warsaw and the whole thing goes south...the kids are removed; (3) ministry gives a yellow light and asks for more information...this could mean trying again to go through a different Warsaw agency (judge already tried it unsuccessfully), working from scratch through a different agency in the states (LOTS of time, LOTS of money), or who knows what else.

We are trying to keep it together here. Honestly we're not doing a great job of it. The continual stress of this thing is unbearable and we just need some rest. Lord, we just need some rest...please give it to us.

Please pray for us all. We thank each of you for doing that so much.

Any guesses?

A big smack on the back to anyone who can correctly identify this photo. I will admit that the diffuse glow is added in during processing. Click on the image for a larger version.

The Survey - Day 1

I like honesty. If you've been reading this blog for any amount of time you've probably already noticed. So, I'll give you the honest rundown from today's survey outing.

This morning I made sure all of my "materials" were together...folder to carry surveys? Check. Tracts bundled neatly into groups of 10s? Check. Working pen? Check. The anticipation and anxiety were both mounting as the afternoon approached. I found myself praying frequently about everything...asking God to give me the boldness I needed to go out.

2 o'clock came. Vicki had to leave to go somewhere with Paulina and Piotrek arrived home from school, willing to make sure things were fine here so his dad could hit the streets. I told him I'd be back in an hour and he quizzed me on what I was going to be doing. He literally followed me around as I gathered my stuff up, put my coat and ball cap on, and walked toward the door. You've got to understand that this is a super un-Polish thing to do...walking up to strangers, especially to ask questions that deal with such matters.

So, I head out and up the street for the Akademia and...to just be straight up with y'all...fear began welling up in me. With every person I passed the intimidation grew. Everyone seemed on their way somewhere...no one would make eye contact with me (another Polish norm)...I was freezing from the wind. I kept walking around the campus thinking surely I'd gain the confidence and where-with-all to hand out my first tract or locate my first person to interview.

Again the truth...I spent about 20 minutes walking around that campus and left it after handing out only one tract. I felt terrible about that but moved on.

After leaving the campus I headed down a few streets, through the park close to our house, over to a different area close by where a lot of people were waiting for public transit, and then made a huge circle to come back home. In that time, about 40 minutes, I handed out an additional 4 tracts.

5 tracts, 0 conversations. That's a nasty feeling. For goodness sake, I'm a missionary. Shouldn't this be easier??!!

I did learn some lessons from that hour...

1. Go with someone. It was WAY too easy to chicken out by myself. Maybe this is one of the reasons Jesus sent people out in twos.
2. Don't go to the campus. I began thinking that maybe campus administration wouldn't be too big on people coming on-campus to hand things out and do surveys on their students.
3. This is much more difficult than in the states because of the language factor. Knowing that every encounter would need to be in Polish was extremely intimidating.
4. Cold air and strong winds are brutal!
5. I'm no spiritual superhero. Actually I already knew this but figured it needs to be said. I'm just a guy who has fears...and unfortunately sometimes I give into those fears and don't accomplish the goal I sat out to complete.
6. God still loves me and can even use those 5 tracts to work in those peoples' lives. I'm thankful how we're reassured in His Word that God works through us all the more in our times of weakness.

If you prayed with me today I appreciate that. I actually think it was a victory for me to get out there in the first place...so, while I wish I would have done better, I'm really not too down on myself about today. The plan is to continue this weekly so you can definitely continue to pray for us. Maybe you'll be reminded to do so the next time you see people at the mall or in some parking lot somewhere doing a survey. If that happens please pray for our boldness and for the people of Poznan to open their hearts to Jesus Christ.

Follow-up to pers. relationship post

I got an email from a good friend (I have a personal relationship with him...LOL) about my post. It seems that blogger thought his comment was too long. I really don't get why some people have problems posting comments from time to time. Maybe it's because my blog is hosted with our website and not on blogger.com's servers. Sorry about that for those of you who have tried unsuccessfully to post something.

Anyway, his comment is good and I'd like to share it:

good thoughts. The way i feel better about using "personal relationship" with new or prospective believers--is by saying "you are now to/you are establishing a personal relationship with God."
That helps me.
With the phrase "disciple of Jesus Christ." Obviously, a great phrase. Only problem for me, we aren't disciples of much. Although a biblical word, i feel that word does not translate well into modernity. Rarely, if ever, do i use disciple to describe anything outside of Christianity. So, i suggest brain storming another word that infers the same thing. You're smart, i put you in charge of it.

I like the thought of "now establishing a pr with God" along with the recognition that something else should naturally follow. My beef, though, is not this type of usage because if truly explained in this way it does show the biblical reality. But when the expectation for growth is not given...when that expectation is not expected...then that is a problem.

We all know how often it happens and it's painful to talk about. Possibly one of the greatest contributors is that in most churches the professional ministers bear the burden for discipling every person that walks into the church...hands down an impossible task. So what occurs is that new believers (and "old" as well) are discipled as much as they can be in a corporate setting. And being that this is extremely difficult to do...that is, to be discipled or to disciple in a large group setting...many believers fail to mature.

It can't go without saying that I acknowledge that my views here are most definitely, at least in part, influenced by my own personal experiences. I made some sort of decision to accept Christ when I was very young (another issue I'd love to discuss...don't think I'm bold enough to blog it though). I grew up in church...we went seemingly constantly. I was involved in the youth group...went on mission trips...went to camp, etc. In college I was part of Campus Crusade and/or Baptist Student Union...was even the Illinois BSU president one year. Went to seminary...worked in a few churches...served on mission in Chile and now in Poland. I've done a lot and have been "in the church" a long time. But I will just say that I have never experienced a biblical form of personal discipleship (wow is that a can of worms).

Let me develop that thought. Obviously there is precedent for group teaching in the Bible. It's called the NT church. Believers met together daily, studied Scripture, prayed. The apostles taught, both in person and through writings. But the model that Christ gave for discipleship went so much further...so much deeper. And while I don't know that we're called to round up a group of people and have them follow us around for 3 years, I do think that there is an ENORMOUS need to be personally, profoundly investing our lives into others on an individual level. It's way to easy for people to slip through the cracks. I did just that for many years.

Why does this speak to the topic of which phrase or word(s) we use when talking to people about salvation? Because it's the very heart of the conversation. For me (and I gladly write those two words) to use the word disciple with an non-believer can be powerful. It is indeed an unfamiliar word. But this carries with it the power of curiosity and mystery. While true that we are not disciples of hardly anything today, people are curious what would be so important to follow with our lives, to try to emulate.

Beyond the power of curiosity, I find that that word alone carries with it all of the context that I would need to add to the phrase "personal relationship". It carries with it the presupposition that there is more after the initial encounter. It also demands whole-hearted commitment...after all you in no way can call yourself a disciple if you are not consistently, continuously following. It's not a one-time thing.

Better close here as my posts have been growing in size lately. I don't want to lose any of you due to my droning! And I'm sure there are some holes here and there in my thoughts...this is of course a blog and not a book so I guess I'm entitled to a little leeway. This has been great for me. I said I'd like to talk about this and here we are...all of this today stems from comments from a friend in Estonia and another in Texas. So, I guess this is somewhat of a discussion...although I guess based on word count alone my voice is sort of drowning y'all out! Sorry!! :-)

Pray with us -- surveys

For a few months we've been putting together a plan to give us more opportunities to share the Gospel around town. Everything is now in place and we're planning on getting out this week to begin some widespread seed sowing. We thought it would be a neat idea to share our plan with you, along with pictures from the place we'll be going to first so that you can be praying for us, and more importantly for the people with whom we will have contact.

First up on our list of locations is pretty much next door to us...the "Academy of Agriculture" (Akademia Rolnicza in Polish). Literally less than a block from us, the Academy is one of Poznan's many universities where there are countless students studying on any given day. It won't be difficult to find people to speak with, for sure!

One of the features of the small campus is a statue of "The Sower". While they were thinking more of sowing seeds for crops, we are praying that the seeds of the Gospel will find fertile soil in the hearts of the students there. It's a beautiful image for me to think about sowing Gospel seeds in the shadow of the campus' Sower. Pray with us that the Holy Spirit will give us sensitivity as we share.

While public transportation is vital in Poznan, there are bus stops and tram stops surrounding the campus. These will be hot zones where we'll be able to find larger groups of people. We want to be realistic about setting goals for the number of people we can speak with because we know we can never speak to everyone. But as you see the faces of some of the students waiting for the bus or tram you can be praying even for those specific people...or for others like them that need to know what it means to follow Christ...what it means to really live!

When we approach people we will be "armed" with a couple tools. First, we'll ask if they have a few minutes to answer some questions on a spiritual survey that we have. The survey includes basic questions concerning their general spiritual "condition" (sounds trite but really isn't). As we move through the survey there are natural points where we can jump into a conversation about becoming a Christ follower. We've got some great tracts which were developed by a colleague from Warsaw that we would love to go through with the people we talk to...but it is ultimately their decision. No matter if they say they'd like to hear what's in the tract or not we will give it to them...along with a very small info sheet about our church, when we meet, etc.

Here's the thing, y'all. Just to be utterly honest with you, this kind of thing scares me. I'm what I call a "learned extrovert"...meaning I can be that when needed, but otherwise I'm more introverted. So, to think about approaching strangers is pretty frightening for me. I also am much more prone to believe that evangelism through relationships is much more effective than such widespread strategies (or door-to-door). But...

People need to hear the Gospel. We won't see new churches, or even small groups, without sharing the Gospel with individuals. We're accustomed to sharing through relationships...but pretty inexperienced when it comes to the widespread thing. So, we invite you to pray with us...that we would be bold and not fear...and that the hearts of those we come in contact with will be open to the Truth.

Personal Relationship with God

This is another one of those topics that would be far better served in a group setting. But since that can't be worked out too easily (y'all are invited over for our small group meeting tonight if you can find any cheap flights) I'm just going to have to write about it and send it out into the infinite beyond.

Vicki and I had a great conversation this morning about the phrase "a personal relationship with God". I told her that I'd be thinking a lot recently about the true meaning behind our words "becoming a Christian" and how, more and more, I am finding myself wanting to throw out our use of the idea of having a "personal relationship with God" in order to be saved.

Now before the tongue lashing begins let me just throw out a point of information...and I invite you to check this out for yourself. The phrase "personal relationship" does not appear anywhere in any English Bible. It is a phrase that was no doubt developed somewhere in church history to convey the greater meaning found between Jesus and the disciples...a relationship that we are hopefully striving daily to maintain. But this phrase that has become one of the backbones of Evangelical life was never uttered from the apostles, disciples, nor Jesus himself.

Hear me correctly...I am not casting stones. I'm not interested in calling anyone (or anything for that matter) out. No, I'm not crying "heresy". My problem stems from our understanding and subsequent application of this phrase. When we tell people that in order to be saved they need to have a "personal relationship" with God, (1) do we really understand what we are saying and (2) does our understanding of that phrase truly line up with what is taught and modeled in the New Testament?

Like so many other things, the more we use *something* the quicker that thing begins to be taken for granted. For example, hymns (I know...another sore subject for some). We all know them. But I have to admit that when I start really thinking about many of the words I'm singing when I sing hymns in church, I find myself a little confused. In those times I feel confident that most around me are equally perplexed but we all just keep singing. I'm extremely sorry I can't give an example (that would be the right thing to do) but surely you know what I'm talking about.

I believe the same thing is true with our use of this phrase "personal relationship". It's been around, rampant in evangelistic materials, since I was a kid. Everyone know the phrase. I'm guessing that a very large number of Evangelicals would use it if asked to describe when they were saved. And I'm speculating further that this familiar usage has in a sense deadened us to the shallow meaning of the phrase.

"Personal relationship". You know you can have a personal relationship with a pen pal. You can have a personal relationship with a serial killer. I know I'm stretching here, but it's completely true. To go further...what does the term "relationship" mean to our society today where the most sacred of human relationship, that between husband and wife, is so rarely respected? Deceit is commonplace and often expected and then excused. Friends plot against friends. Children divorce parents. I mean seriously...we're not doing too well as a society in the area of relationships. Could it be that our times are demanding a change in our theological vocabulary...especially the phrases and terms we use to express God and His character to the world?

On to the second question. I, personally, am curious why the term disciple is so often left out of our church vocab. You might hear it brought up if your church has some sort of discipleship ministry. But, speaking from my past experience and that of several of my friends/colleagues, discipleship isn't happening in our churches any longer. It seems that we have raised up generations of Christians who have taken us up on our cry to enter into a "personal relationship" with God -- they've met Him -- and that's it. But they're missing a crucial element.

Reread the Gospels and check out what Jesus is always telling the people who ask Him about Life. He tells them to follow him. This is a daily (I'd like to scream that to both myself and the world -- D A I L Y) commitment to follow Christ...that He would be THE CENTER of our lives. He's not just to be someone we know...another relationship. He is to be Our Life!

I believe that much of this has come to my mind when thinking about our kids. I don't want them to simply have met Jesus one day...maybe at some camp back when they were kids. I want them to be disciples of Jesus Christ. I want them to walk with him. I want them to see his tears. I want them to watch him as he touches peoples' lives...as he picks them up off of their shaky, weak legs and places them on solid ground where they can stand, jump, and run with the joy he has placed in their hearts. I want them to experience him every single day of their lives so strongly with all of the senses God has given them that at the end of each day they lay down to go to sleep, completely drained after sitting on the edge of their seats all day watching God at work!

Many people are calling for this same kind of correction (or reformation) in the church today. It might sound like a matter of semantics but I see it as an issue of our hearts. I am a disciple of Jesus the Christ. My salvation...as will be the case with my kids...comes from my following him...my commitment to him...not because one day many years ago I met him.

Age of the Amateur Professional

Reading an interesting blog post the other day over at Gary Fong's site, I learned that there's a new book coming out that speaks to the heart of my topic today (I tried looking for the title but I can't seem to find it). We are living in a new age...one in which everyone is trying to find a way to make money doing everything. All of the amateurs out there are trying to go pro..making a new category - the Amateur Professional.

It's like this...let's look at the world of photography. Have you gone on vacation or even just taken a walk through a beautiful park lately? It seems that everywhere we go there are people with new, snazzy cameras snappin' away at whatever they see. People are shooting nature shots, landscapes, architecture, sporting events, abstracts of who knows what, sunsets, sunrises, solar eclipses...well, you get the picture. And because of the technology found in everything from their little Point-and-shooters to the big-time dSLRs their pictures are turning out rather good. What now?

Well, today's amateur professional has learned that through the power of the world wide web they can sell their images online. There are online companies providing royalty-free "e-kiosks" where you can upload your stuff and entice prospective buyers to pony up a few bucks. Others might be trying their hand at wedding photography or trying to get aunt Rita's family to come over to their makeshift portrait studio for a session. These folks have caught the ripe scent of the American dollar and they're going after it, buddy!

The problem is that the lines between the amateur and the professional are becoming hazier and hazier. The market (and certainly not just photography) is becoming saturated with a sea of suppliers which of course begins to lower demand for the service. Something else that seems to, at least arguably, occur is that the overall quality of the service in general degrades. A market which previously was made up of mostly highly qualified, trained individuals loses ground when it experiences an influx of less qualified, less trained wanna be's. See what I mean?

Like I said...this is definitely not just in the world of photography. Think about it. Everyone is a writer as well...you can't even begin to count the number of blogs (yeah, me too) in existence these days. I subscribe to around 15 myself). It seems like about 50% of Americans have published a book. Have you been to Barnes and Noble lately (I haven't)?? You can even see this phenomenon in the church as seminaries are producing more and more ready-made preacher boys...prepared to be inserted into the nearest empty pulpit.

I'm not quite sure what my point to all of this is...it's just very interesting to me. Honestly, I find myself falling prey to all of this stuff as well. I love photography, so what do I do? Instead of allowing myself to just enjoy the photos I take, I begin daydreaming of how to make a buck off of my hobby. I love to write and teach. So, invariably I end up thinking about what it would be like to write a book one day (what could I possibly write about that hasn't already been covered??).

I think that in this age, as so many amateurs are trying to pass as pros, I am becoming more and more appreciative of the true artists. Be it the musicians that are doing more than just looking the "right way"...or the photogs like Cole Thompson whose heart can be seen in his art...or the author who pours his soul out on the page because if he didn't he would be unable to go on...these are the people that are beginning to stand out even more to me these days.

The lesson in this for me is to stop thinking so much about what affect I might be able to have on the world...be that through some brilliant, earth shattering book or through some beautiful picture someone might get to hang on their wall. Maybe God will use me in that way somewhere down the road...maybe. But until that time I need to focus on now...today...how the passions and joys He's given me can be used to touch the people around me as well as to continue drawing me closer to Christ.

In short...there are already more professional everythings in the world but there's only one Michael Benjamin Shattuck. To be working to become the next Ansel Adams (or even Cole Thompson) or Brian McLaren would be shortchanging what God is trying to do with me. Make sense? Good.

House Church

Thinking that we might still be even the slightest bit contagious, we decided to stay home from church yesterday morning. Actually...and don't tell anyone...that's when I took my walk with the little guy to the park and snapped the picture in the next post down. Walking back from the park I began thinking about how we, by not being at church that day, had robbed not only ourselves, but our kiddos as well, from all of the things we do Sunday mornings to develop our walk with Christ. So, I came home and announced we would be having house church last night. The kids were actually excited (Vicki was still in a NyQuil stupor at that time.)

Let me just pause here and address a possible idea that might be floating in your mind. That idea might go something like this: "man those missionaries are something else! They stay home from church but then they do church with their family!!" We are not "something else". Most of the time we feel like we're drowning in this vast sea of parenting and cross-cultural existence. It's difficult beyond belief to balance all of the different aspects of life...learning to raise and discipline three kids in three vary different phases of development while all the time trying to have some kind of great "Kingdom focus" on the world around us AND the world inside our home. It's a killer. We have had so much respect for parents before this last year and a half!!

Honestly we have had a tough time in the past trying to figure out the best way to build into spiritual development of the kids. We have done things like reading Bible stories, we pray together (of course most of this is around meal time or when there are "larger things" that we would like to address together), we've read some stories from a book we have about "Heroes of faith", and certainly we spend a lot of time unpacking different behaviors and experiences the kids go through in order to give them a Christ-centered perspective and worldview. I'm saying all of this because last night felt great and really seemed to bring a lot of these components together in a format that we will definitely do again frequently.

This is how it looked...our "order or worship"

• We opened in prayer. This was actually done by both Maciek and Piotrek. They took turns praying for our time in "church". It was really neat because Piotek too it a step further and prayed for our ability to praise God as well as praying for Him to help aunt Jackie as she's having some tests done right now (I was proud of his perspective).
• Calling on my repertoire of children's camp music we sang some fun songs to get us all moving. You know, fun stuff like "joy joy joy joy down in my heart", etc. And then we actually stopped to talk about what the songs meant and how we can live out even the fun songs that we sing because of the difference Jesus has made in our lives.
• Vicki asked Paulina and Piotrek each to read a different story out of our "Heroes of the faith" book (in Polish so they would be sure to connect 100%) and then we talked about how these heroes lived out their faith when faced with tough times. It was cool to see some light bulbs going on in their heads when we talked about application of these truths in their own lives...at school, at home with family, out on the soccer field, or wherever.
• We read a story that Maciek picked from his children's Bible (he loved to be able to be involved that way). It was the story of the tower of Babel...which led to a few minutes of discussion about God.
• A couple more songs of praise.
• Closing prayer. Interestingly enough I thought that they would be ready to finish up but Paulina asked if we could all go around and pray at the end...which of course we did!

That's it. Everything probably lasted around 20 minutes or so but gave us some awesome opportunities for deeper discussion with the kiddos about the truths of God's Word and our lives in Christ. Vicki and I were really excited that things went the way they did and how the kids really enjoyed it. Again, keep it to yourselves, but everyone seemed to think it would be a good idea to just go to church here at home (except for me of course..hehe).

There's definitely encouragement in this for all of us. If you're out there, like us, trying to figure out what to do with your kids to spend time with them in the Word, working to help them understand what it means to live for Christ, than you might give this kind of thing a shot. It definitely doesn't take any kind of formal training...mostly it just requires a willing heart and some time. Who doesn't have that?!

Looking back over this there was something I forgot...and this is a serious offense as a Southern Baptist. Next time I've got to remember to take the offering!

Standing room only...at mass

I've been getting increasingly better over the weekend and so I took a walk with Maciek to the park. Next to our park is a rather large Catholic church where mass was going strong, blaring over the loudspeakers outside. As we got closer I caught a glimpse of the crowd and honestly was astounded at the number of people listening in front of the church. We certainly NEVER get crowds like this at our evangelical churches...even those in the states.

Ramblings of a sick man

Yeah, still sick. I hardly ever catch the flu...but it sure seems it has caught me. I was chatting with a friend on skype today and told him I'm so sick of tv but can't hardly find the energy to do anything else. And I'm dyin' for some Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup!!!

I have a lot of random thoughts going through my head today. Here are the highlights:

Adoption Stuff
Our lawyer has decided on a new strategy..."tire the judge out so he'll make the decision". Seriously. He has a barrage of legalese ready to fire at the judge (or hopefully already fired) that is meant to motivate him to make the final decision. Bogdan believes that the judge should see that it is entirely within his legal authority to make the decision...and then if anyone (the evil Warsaw lady or someone else from the government) decides to challenge the ruling we'll turn our exhausting sights on them. Hey, it's a plan...that's more than we had a week ago. So, I'm psyched.

Jesus
That's a pretty vague category of thought isn't it? I'm telling you that I am utterly fascinated with him. [I guess that's good given my position...both professionally as a missionary and in life as a follower of Christ.] I've started reading in Mark and I tell you that the more I read the more I long to have been there. I want to see his eyes and hear his voice when he healed people. You know when the woman with the bleeding problem touched his clothes (maybe his Jewish prayer shawl) and she was healed. Can you imagine the look on his face when he turned and began searching the crowd out for who it was...and then his eyes met hers. She was still trembling from the bewilderment that she'd been healed. It melts my heart to think about the sheer love in the look that he surely had when he saw her.

If you promise not to tell anyone, I'll tell you something about myself. I'm a pessimist who likes to dress up as a "realist"...at least that's my human nature. But when it comes to our lives as Christ's bride, the people who have been forever transformed because of his dying commitment to us, I have such huge dreams. I dream of myself...of us...being able to achieve "that look". I guess the dream is of becoming just like Jesus. I know realistically that it's just not going to happen. Sin is a reality. But that certainly doesn't mean I can't become more like him.

Maybe I want to experience him up-close, personal, in the flesh because I think then I'd do a better job of being like him. I'd be better able to talk like him, dress like him, look at people like him. But then I realize that it's really not about those things, per se. It's about having his heart. And I'm so thankful that I can have that without having lived 2,000 years ago. It's something that's happening even now as I write this sentence...as my longing for his character to replace my own increase. I love Jesus.

My Family
To put it short, I miss them. It's been working toward 3.5 years since I've seen most of my family. And one of them...an aunt to whom I have always been very close...is having some tests done right now that I really wish I could be there for (of course there is actually much further away than the states). During tough, tense times I miss family even more. So, while many of you so often pray for us please pray for her today as I'm sure she misses family right now as well and needs the support of her Greater Family during these next few days.

That's the short of it all today...the ramblings of a sick man. Sounds like the title of an interesting book.

Have a wonderful, very blessed weekend!

Cole Thompson on YouTube

Don't know if you recall but I wrote back awhile about a photographer whose work had really captivated me...Cole Thompson. I wanted to give you a link to a slideshow he put up on YouTube so you could check it out. It's entitled "Light Emanating From Darkness". Isn't that a beautiful title? It has such deep spiritual meaning to it (definitely worthy of its own post).

I've had several occasions to email back and forth with Cole and he seems like a really great guy. I guess it's one of those random connections you make with people from time to time. And honestly it just makes me buy even more of his work...as well as to recommend him to you guys.

Jump over to his website if you haven't before and check out his stuff. I picked up "Jesus Loves Me" for my mom and am waiting to get back in the states before deciding on that one or "Angel Gabriel" for myself.

Answered Prayer? Oh yeah!

It's hard to know where to begin. So, let me back up a few days to last Tuesday. Knowing that our lawyer, Bogdan, was going to be speaking with the judge presiding over our case, I gave him a call to find out what he had learned. The conversation was extremely dry and factual, although he did convey that the judge continues to have a positive attitude about the outcome. I was trying to get some more subjective, emotional - if you will, information from him about his personal feelings of how things are going as I was met with this response, "I've told you what I needed to tell you." This, as you can imagine, was the end of our conversation.

This conversation left Vicki and I extremely discouraged, feeling more than ever like our advocate was hardly on our side let alone taking a personal, vested interest in our case. We shared all of this with friends at AGM and took time to pray with them about the case, generally, and specifically that God would change Bogdan's heart. Without waiting on God to answer that prayer I contacted two other lawyers in town and set up meetings with them to discuss how they would take over the case and "bring it home" for us.

[Enter Friday]

Driving home from AGM on Friday I realized we had never heard back from Bogdan regarding another phone call that was supposed to have taken place between him and the judge. And while more often than not we are unable to reach him over the telephone, I decided to give it a shot and call. Surprisingly, he (not his secretary) answered. Expecting the normal dry run around I stammered out a few questions about the call and was greeted with warmth and an apologetic tone due to the judge taking a seemingly early Easter holiday, making it impossible for Bogdan to reach him. "What's that I'm hearing?" I thought. "Warmth? Apologetic? Is this guy ok?"

As I continued listening ever more intently to my advocate as he explained his plan for the following week...that he was going to do some more research into Polish adoption law and have a good conversation the next week...he began telling me about how he was going to have some of our friends over to his house the following Monday (yesterday). "What?" I thought. And before I knew it he invited us and the kids over as well.

As to not turn this post into my next (definitely not my first) novel, I'll jump to yesterday. It was surreal. This guy that I was prepared to fire...this guy that has never shown warmth, compassion, humanity toward us with respect to our case...was running around squirting everyone he could get to with a Rambo-sized water gun (it's a Polish post-Easter holiday thang...you wouldn't understand). He, along with his dear wife and four kids, hosted 14 of us at his home. He fed us. He paid for all of our entrance into a small botanical gardens kind of thing. He organized a little scavenger hunt'ish outing for all of us. He told Vicki and me that we would need to find a time to come back over again!!

Who is this man? The only way I have to answer this question is to say that something has changed. I will go further to thank God publicly for this change. Some might say, "oh it's just that your perspective has changed" or other such things to rationalize this out. But that's just not enough. You don't know what peace this gives us to know that our advocate has now taken a personal interest in our family. There's no going back from that. God provided an incredible open door for us...and we are so thankful to Him and to those of you who have prayed with us for something to change.

This week holds another important conversation between Bogdan and the judge in store. That will likely take place tomorrow (Wed) or Thursday. They are both looking for legal precedent to finalize our adoption without the opinion of any of the 3 international adoption agencies in Warsaw. Would you pray with us that they will find the precedent...or the loophole that will finally bring closure to this marathon?

Talk about endurance

Two posts ago I blogged about endurance. But folks, I've got to tell you that as of today I have a completely different mental picture of what endurance can look like.

Read this article that was posted on SI.com.

Now, think about your spiritual life. What if we approached every day like this guy? What if we woke up and jumped in the water, no matter how beat down we are, and continued our fight toward the finish line? Seriously, can you even begin to imagine that?

We're talking serious dedication to our Cause. Of course at the same time we're talking serious danger and possible attack from all manner of predator (including the dreaded toothpick fish...that's enough to keep me out of the Amazon River!!). We have all...certainly me included...spent way too much time thinking that things are neat, pretty, rosy when we follow God. Suffering is a reality as a Christ follower. Fighting (or swimming) toward the finish line will bring suffering...fatigue...heart ache...hardship. But oh the feeling when we finally finish well!!

I don't feel good today but I've found myself all excited thinking about this kind of commitment to Christ. It's not going to be easy but let's jump in the water together!!

Sick on Easter

It's 10:45am. The others just loaded up in the family truckster and headed down the road to church. And I, the pater familias, am sitting in front of my iMac writing to you. Sad.

We had a good time at AGM this year. Of course that's a very quick way of summing up a week of meetings, fellowship, food galore (that is, fried food galore), loads of swimming, kids' classes, VBS musical performances, crazy Lottie Moon auctions, and much more. With all of that we were all exhausted at the end of each day.

As a nice parting gift AGM left Vicki and me some nice sinus issues with the added bonus of two very sleepless nights. She has hit the road to recovery. I, on the other hand, feel like my face is about to explode. Nice, huh?

AGM was spiritually refreshing, offering us some well-needed perspective and even conviction from the Holy Spirit. I'll just share one thing that comes quickly to mind. We spent some time talking about having a long-term perspective or vision that sometimes can cause us to focus so much on what is coming down the road that we forget about living well today (sound familiar?). This is a trap many missionaries fall into as we seek the "holy grail"...a church planting movement (CPM) among our people. We research, network, strategize, etc as we work toward the CPM and then get frustrated that it's not happening yet. But when we step back from our office desks we realize that it's been a month since we've shared the Gospel with someone! And it's no secret that a CPM ain't gonna start without people hearing and responding to the Gospel!!

That might speak to you as well. When Jesus told his Jewish listeners to carry the Roman soldiers' packs two miles instead of one, he wasn't giving them any excuse to do the first mile poorly. To mention that even sounds absurd. But I do that sometimes (or maybe often)...maybe you do as well. So, I'm grateful for the perspective and am hoping to put it into practice.

This is a truly great day! Easter Sunday. Jesus arose! What an incredible truth that impacts ALL of creation! I wholeheartedly pray that you are basking in the joy that radiates from our Savior. Life can be hard...it can be so difficult that you think you are going to collapse under the strain of it all. But none of it can overshadow the power of our Risen Redeemer! Imagine the power that was poured out when Christ emerged victorious from the grave...that very same power is alive in His followers today!

More later...