CQ

The last two weeks have been extremely busy and draining. I have not had the margin in my life to adequately refill what I have been required to give out. This weekend I am shell shocked after the week I just had. It does not seem to be ending. Yesterday was my daughters birthday party. I am speaking at Church tonight with Josh regarding Thailand. Marta and I are leaving for D.C. on Thursday night for the prayer gathering at IJM. I have a site 25 team meeting on Monday night, a Thailand Team meeting on Tuesday, and I am trying to schedule a meeting on Wednesday after school. That has been the consistent pattern since I got back from NYC.

Margin is required to function at a deep level. I need space alone to think, write, pray, and listen. I want to live my life with deep purpose and not dictated by deep pressure. I want to spend time doing what is important and not only dealing with the urgent. I want to be where my God is, not where I have wandered to because I have not looked up for weeks.

This morning I am sitting at my comfort place… Starbucks. If I can get a couple of hours alone to renew my perspective my battery is quickly charged. I find that when I take this kind of time my focus changes and I quickly remember that I am not operating on my own strength or for my own purposes.

Philipians 4:13 MSG

Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.

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A few weeks back I was in invited to a two-day training in Seattle sponsored by International Justice Mission. It was a test of my courage to respond to this opportunity because I knew I was going to be out of my league. As a result of the training I have committed to becoming a “Justice Advocate” representing IJM in our community.  (If you would like to learn more I would love to talk to you about IJM - They are freeing slaves around the world!)

At the training I was given all kinds of materials including the book Good News About Injustice. In the opening page of this book Gary Haugen states that if he were only able to give his children one gift it would be that they become men and women of courage.

He then goes on to quote C.S. Lewis saying:

Courage seems like an attribute we must have in order to effectively move out and express our faith in action. If I were to add courage to compassion the result would be an active expression of Christ’s love.

Like Gary, I have prayed for my children since they were born that they would have a heart of compassion. I am not so concerned about intelligence, athletic ability or good looks. Instead I have prayed that they would have a tenderness for other people. I think I will add to that prayer, courage. 

Undeveloped Thoughts: 

Compassion + Courage = Active expressions of Christ’s love

Westside Outside - I am wondering if this label could describe a movement within our school to respond outside of the world we are comfortable in. I am also challenged to move outside of a purely self-focused expression of faith. This is not a judgment of our current state as much as a challenge to examine where we are and where we feel called to be. I want to continue to explore this.

Gary Haugen is speaking at Sunset Presbyterian this Sunday at 9am, 11am and 5pm.

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Originally Written for the Westside Way on 12.05.05

I have recently been challenged to look at the word poverty through a new lens. Before the last few weeks I would not have categorized myself, or anyone I know, as being poor. This is because my definition was not deep enough. In our societal circles, poverty is easily hidden from sight. In fact I think I try to hide it from myself. Our environment actually encourages us to hide our poverty.

I have also recently read articles that challenge me to think about the underlying purpose of education. The purpose of education may be different depending
on the mission of any given learning institution, but one common underlying purpose of education is to eliminate poverty.

In three weeks, Steve and I will be in Thailand learning about some of the most heart wrenching problems that exist in our world. One of the roots of these problems is extreme poverty, which can lead to horrific sins committed against the most vulnerable and innocent. I anticipate that this type of physical and economic poverty will be easy to identify.

In our circles, another type of poverty also exists. This is the poverty of the heart. An example of this type of poverty became evident to me recently as I was reading a book by Gary Haugen that challenged me with this question: Why do we, as followers of Christ, not act when we have knowledge of the pain and poverty of others? (Matthew 25:40 “… I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”) Haugen’s response was that it is because of our own poverty of compassion, poverty of hope, and poverty of purpose. We do not have sufficient compassion to be passionate enough to act. We believe that the problems of this world are too big, so we never get started. We have not listened to God to get a sense of His direction, calling, and purpose for our life. It is this type of poverty of the heart that the typical American church member, Christian school student, teacher, and administrator can easily fall into.

So, if we are called to address issues of poverty (not just economic), how exactly do we do that? I sure wish there was an easy answer to that question. I have a hunch that those (me) who are living with a poverty of compassion, hope, and purpose could gain a clearer purpose, sense of hope, and more compassion for others by being exposed to and helping to address the poverty of others.

My perception is that this generation of students puts a high value on the relational aspects of learning. That is a core value to them. This makes modeling a key tool for teaching values, complex connections between principles, and what it means to be a servant leader and follower of Christ. Jesus modeled the way we all should live as he ate, traveled, worked, and interacted with his disciples. The disciples had the ultimate experiential learning environment and the results have changed our world.

My prayer is that we continue to grow in our ability to model Christ to others. If we claim to be a follower of Jesus yet our life does not attempt to reflect the life He lived, then we are damaging the cause of Christ. It will be exciting to look at our school and educational processes, honestly identify the poverty that exists, and in partnership with you, the Westside community, work toward eliminating it. The results could be amazing!

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Originally Written for the Westside Way on 11.14.05

In the past few months I have been challenged to honestly examine the ways that I am responding to Christ. Do my choices reflect Him working within me? Am I willing to listen to God’s calling and move when He says go? This year we have talked about being intentional about developing the hearts of our students through modeling principled decision making, partnering strategically with parents, and providing opportunities to practice what we are learning.

I am inspired by people who authentically seek to practice being like Jesus. It is so easy for me to rationalize my decisions to fit my relatively cozy life. It is easy to overlook the things that God loves, flirt with the things He hates, take on causes that don’t matter, and ignore the things that do.

Over the past year, our Spiritual Life Committee has conversed with each other, local pastors, and various missions organizations about ideas for creating an experience for our students that could challenge them to see the world more clearly through the heart of Jesus. One of the possible ideas we have discussed is providing an opportunity for our students to apply their faith and education in a practical way by serving others in an overseas mission/vision trip. This type of trip has the potential to provide perspective and cast a lifelong vision. It can provide them with a sense of compassion for others in whatever calling they find themselves looking to fulfill. Over the past year the idea of this Compassion Quest has not died or faded away, as so many ideas do. God seems to be leading us to continue to investigate the possibilities.

If we move forward with this idea we want to develop a long-term partnership with an overseas missions organization. One possible partnership, that seems to have progressed faster than others, began over the summer when I felt God’s nudging to notice more closely the horrific tragedy surrounding child slavery and the sex trade. With a new burden on my heart to learn more about these children, I eagerly followed up on a potential link with a businessman named Carl from Ohio. Carl has responded to God’s calling on him regarding this issue by starting a non-profit organization called Remember Nhu. (Nhu is the name of the child that first touched Carl’s heart and drew him to respond to this issue). One of the functions of his organization is to link lay people from the states to missions organizations in Thailand and Cambodia that are strategically working to eliminate the use of children in the sex trade.

In July, I had the opportunity to meet with Carl, and I told him I would be very interested in learning more about how a high school could link with his ministry. Carl began to describe a missionary in Thailand named Charles who was saving children before they were sold into slavery by their parents. It is common for parents to sell one of their children as a sacrificial lamb so that the rest of their children can survive. Charle’s innovative approach to this problem is to provide a home and a Christian education for these children through college so that they will have the skills to earn a professional wage. These children grow up in his care being educated and saved (this term has tremendous depth of meaning to them) to the Glory to God. They have the skills to support their families and end the cycle of slavery. Harvey’s vision is to start more homes like his that are run by Thai graduates of his school.

About a month ago I became aware of a vision trip to Thailand that Carl was planning in December. I felt a nudge to call him and learn more about the trip. When I called I described to him the vision that our Spiritual Life Committee has to link closely with a ministry overseas. It was at this point that I learned that Charles was visiting Ohio and listening in over the speaker phone. Charles expressed an excitement and enthusiastically felt the impact that a high school from the States could have on his ministry. Carl shared a desire for us to think about sending people on the vision trip at the end of December to learn more about what Harvey’s ministry and others are doing in Thailand.

This is one of those moments where I felt a powerful leading to respond. After checking that leading with the school board and receiving the blessing of our Spiritual Life Committee and my wife, I made a commitment to join Carl on his trip. Steve will be partnering with me. We will travel throughout Thailand visiting various ministries. We may have the opportunity to visit a location where the tsunami hit. It has been reported that there are still thousands of orphans as a result of this disaster that are at risk of becoming victims of the sex trade.

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Originally Written for the Westside Way on 8.20.05

A few weeks ago, Don and I were sitting in my office talking about the focus we were going to bring to the faculty and staff during orientation week. The discussion centered on issues of the heart and our desire to be intentional about living our lives coram deo, before the heart of God.

Before Bob Pierce founded World Vision, he had these words written in the fly-leaf of his Bible: “Let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God.” One of our desires this year is to help students move closer to the heart of God. Unfortunately there is no simple formula to change or strengthen the heart, yet this is at the core of our relationship with God.

During this discussion with Don, I began to think about Solomon and his honest request for wisdom. He could have asked for wealth, an easy life, happiness, or power, but he asked for wisdom. This request was not a manipulation to impress God but an honest desire, with a motive that was pure, seeking after a better understanding of God’s heart. I pray that in the coming year I will continue to grow tender for the things of God, that I will understand Christ more, and that I will honestly ask for His wisdom and be able to live out his love.

It is also our desire that our students get to the point where they, like Solomon, honestly desire God’s wisdom and a tender and compassionate heart. It is important to be excellent at teaching our students knowledge, but if God’s principles do not become a conviction and passion of the heart, all is lost. Our mission as a school is “to equip servant leaders for the next generation, by educating and developing the whole person for the Glory of God.” In the coming year, we are going to saturate our school with a focus on developing our hearts. This is not an easy task and will require us to work together as a family.

One of the ways we intend to accomplish this is through providing more resources for our parents. In partnership with PTF we will be providing various parent seminars, some around the topic of developing the hearts of students. We will also be using our Core Groups to strategically support this topic. Our faculty and staff will spend time developing tools to encourage heart growth in balance with the training of the mind. We are also looking at providing some kind of out of class ministry experience for students that would stretch them and allow them to better understand God’s heart.

I really believe that God is building up students from Westside to be the next generation of Christian leaders. I also believe that a battle exists for their hearts, and we must be strategic and intentional about providing opportunities for them to grow toward servant leadership.

In July Marta and I went to Bellingham for a friend’s wedding. Just before we left for the trip, we saw a documentary that powerfully communicated the tragic injustice of child trafficking and the sex trade that is currently at epidemic levels in our world. Our hearts ached for these children, and we began researching and talking to our friends about this horrible practice. In our conversations we discovered the name of a man who had a similar experience and has decided to take action by using his gifts and talents to bring about change for these children. Carl Ralston is a businessman with many gifts and talents, who felt a nudge to be used by God. In tandem with reading through The Purpose Driven Life he heard a missionary from Cambodia speak at a seminar regarding a specific instance of a twelve year old girl named Nhu who was sold into child slavery and exploited in the sex trade. Carl’s heart was touched and he took action. He is still a businessman, but he is using his gifts to run a non-profit organization he started called “Remember Nhu.” This organization focuses on prevention and intervention, identifying girls and boys most at risk for a future in the sex trade, and providing them with housing, education, and vocational training in a Christ-centered environment. It is this type of servant leader that we seek to develop at Westside. In the future, some of our students may be in vocational ministry, but I pray that all of our graduates’ hearts will be in line with God’s heart and that they will use their gifts to further His kingdom. God has a purpose for each of us and we need to be ready to ask him for the wisdom to live it out.

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