The Other Side of Teaching

On Wednesday I gave a brief glimpse of a minority of students that I have to deal with, men and women who are not sure why they are in Bible college and after a few days of classes are trying to figure out how to get by with the easiest courses. They check with their colleagues who advise them which professors to avoid. Some of the professors they need to avoid are also teaching the core courses, so eventually they will have to take their classes. 

But today I received a postcard from a former student that was one of the finest young men I ever met. 

Shawn Inchaustegui and his brother Anthony were born and raised in Mexico. Their father, Pecos, married their mother who hails from Wichita, Kansas. Pecos attended and graduated from MCC many years ago as a fellow student along with Dr. Rick Wright. Pecos is a big guy, jovial, and full of the love of the Lord for his people in Mexico. His wit and sense of humor and love for people he passed on to his boys. They were both special while they attended MCC. 

Both boys married MCC girls and now have families of their own. Both are involved in ministry. 

In class I often reminded the boys they needed to take their skills, their mastery of Spanish, and their knowledge of Mexican culture back to Mexico and evangelize there. So today I received this card from Shawn. He and his family have joined with New Mission Systems International, a premier organization in doing missionary work. That in itself is exciting. I am acquainted with some of the great leaders this organization has and they are among the best. So the training Shawn will receive will be the best. 

The card brought tears to my eyes. I had to say, "Thanks, Lord. It is worth it all." 

Shawn wrote: 

We pray that this card finds you both in wonderful shaped and delighting in our Papa's goodness. You always have been such a blessing in your belief and encouragement of God's call for my life. Dr. Paddock's ringing words: "Go back to your own people." The dream is coming true and we are getting close to our return to Mexico to being our work  as we live for God reaching out to the youth of Mexico.

Those are the words that stir the heart of a teacher and missionary. If I were to claim no other victory for 14 years at MCC, this one would be worth it all. 

Jesus or economics

I teach a course called Life and Teachings of Jesus. It is a core course in our curriculum so every student who plans to graduate has to take it. 

The other day I had a student come in to drop the course. His rationale was interesting: 

"I really don't need Jesus, but I can see micro-economics helping me out down the road." 

At least he was honest. He reflects the attitude of many. It is a matter of priorities. Micro-economics certainly tops ancient history. 

Another disappearing trillion

As the Bush administration came to an end, a bill for nearly 1 trillion was approved by the Democratically controlled Senate and House. As Obama comes to power he has convinced his fellow Democrats to spend another trillion dollars. We do not know where the first trillion went, except into the pockets of bankers and the politicians that they support. The issue of people losing homes over mortgages disappeared with the morning dew. 

Now we are going to give the same people another trillion dollars. Sounds good on paper, but the average person will never see a single Lincoln penny of the money. Instead it will wind up in the pockets of the bankers and politicians. 

Gran Torino

In spite of his age, Clint Eastwood has not lost his touch as a actor. The movie Gran Torino tells about a Korean veteran who finds himself in a neighborhood of Hmong people from Vietnam. For him all Asians are alike and he has a strong distaste for them. Events in the movie bring about a change of heart. 

This is a powerful movie regarding race relations and the problems of inter-ethnic warfare in American cities. It also uses very strong language. If you are uncomfortable with profanity then this movie is not for you. 

The conclusion is classic Clint Eastwood, but not what you would expect. To tell anymore would ruin the movie for you.  

Rick Warren’s The Purpose of Christmas

Jesus offers you The Peace of God

 

Rick Warren is famous in Christian circles for his books The Purpose Driven Life and The Purpose Driven Church. His notoriety has increased greatly because he was asked to offer the invocation at President Obama's inauguration, much to the delight of the gay community. Someone told me once that a book was worth reading if you found one gem in it. Following is the gem I found in Rick Warren's The Purpose of Christmas.

Rick Warren writes:

"Once you make peace with God, you'll begin to experience the peace of God in your heart and in your mind. The more you pray, the less you'll panic. The more you worship, the less you worry. You'll feel more patient and less pressured. The Bible promise, 'You, Lord, give true peace to those wo depend on you, because they trust you."

"What robs you of your peace? Most of the culprits fall into one of three categories: uncontrollable circumstances (like illnesses, deaths, and layoffs), unchangeable people (who refuse to cooperate with your plan to change them), and unexplainable problems (when life seems unfair). People respond to these peace robbers in one of three ways: They try harder to control everything, but they're guaranteed to fail at that. They simply give up with a fatalistic attitude, feeling controlled by their circumstances. Or they gain true peace of mind by responding to situations the way Jesus did and depending on his Spirit to empower them to do that.

"You've probably heard of the Serenity Prayer, which was made famous by Reinhold Niebuhr, but you may not have read the entire prayer. The first third of the prayer is often quoted and written on posters. But to experience the serenity mentioned in the first third of the prayer, you need to follow the steps laid out in the rest of the prayer:

God grant me the serenity to accept the things

I cannot change; courage to change the things

I can; and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time; enjoying one

Moment at a time; accepting hardships as the

Pathway to peace; taking, as He did, this

Sinful world as it is, not as I would have it;

Trusting that He will make all things right

If I surrender to His Will; that I may be reasonably

Happy in this life and supremely

Happy with Him forever in the next."

Alaska Cold result of Global Warming

I just finished reading an article from the Anchorage Daily News describing the power of the cold weather they are experiencing. It is some of the worst in Alaskan history. Anchorage rarely gets this cold.  In places around Anchorage it was down to 47 below and no hope for respite. 

Of course the global warming contingent will tell us that this is the result of global warming. I bet if the ice age were to come again, the global warming gang would claim it was the result of global warming. 

You can read the full story online at:

 

http://www.adn.com/anchorage/story/646174.html

A Woman Special to God

A Woman Special to God—Hagar

I have taught the story of Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar more times that I can count. Yet all of those times my focus was on Abraham and Sarah. Hagar received the status of a villain and certainly not that of a heroine. In a recent study of the book of Isaiah, in a commentary, I found a list of people in the Old Testament who experienced epiphanies. This was in connection with Isaiah 6 where Isaiah had his encounter with God. But something in the list surprised me. I came across the fact that Hagar experienced two epiphanies with God, something that very few people in the Bible can claim. So what does that say to us about Hagar? My contention is simple: Hagar was special to God. Her story is related in Genesis 16 and 21:9-21.

When we use the term special we usually mean special treatment. My dog is special to me, so he gets special privileges. He gets to sit in my chair either with me or when I am gone. I make sure that he is fed twice a day and take him on regular walks. My wife would tell you that Alexander is spoiled. He isn't spoiled, just special. Special people enjoy privileges, the good life, needs and wants being met, and are comfortable. So if Hagar was special to God, then why did she have such a rough time?

Chapter 11 of the book of Hebrews gives us a list of people who were special to God. Just a few of them are:

• Abel, who died at the hands of his brother Cain because Abel was special to God.
  
• Noah, suffered humiliation and ridicule for 100 years while he built the ark because God told him he was special.
  
• Abraham, who left the security of Ur to go to a place he didn't know, led by a God he couldn't see on the promise that "someday" he would be special.
  
• Sarah, given by her husband to kings to be in their harems, but never complained because she was special.
  
• Paul was told he was a special messenger for God who would learn what it means to suffer because he was special.
  
• Jesus was by far the most special person to God, and his special privilege was dying an excruciating death on the cross.
  

The list goes on. The point that Hebrews 11 makes is this: being special to God may cost you a great deal in this life.

Hagar's Story

We do not officially know how Hagar came into the picture, but since she was an Egyptian we can assume she was part of the deal Pharaoh made with Abraham in Egypt. Famine was in the land of Canaan when Abram (later changed to Abraham) arrived for the first time. As it would be in the days of Joseph, Egypt had grain for sale. Abram was afraid that the Egyptians would see his beautiful wife and kill Abram for her. So he told the story that Sarai was his sister. Actually it was a half-truth as she was his half-sister. They had the same father and different mothers. Sarai was taken into Pharaoh's harem. What is noteworthy is the fact that she was 65 years of age at the time.

Pharaoh's household came under a curse. Somehow Pharaoh discovered that Sarai was already married to Abram. God's protection of Abraham is apparent because Pharaoh could have easily put him to death and then taken Sarah. Instead Pharaoh chose to give Sarah back to her husband and also richly reward him. He gave him gifts which included male and female servants. It is quite likely that Hagar was one of them.

Regardless of where Abram and Sarai acquired Hagar the fact remains that she was a slave. As a person she had no rights and could never be free unless her master chose to free her. She could be called upon to do anything the master desired. The evidence of Hagar's lack of freedom is seen when Sarai decides that Abram can have a child by her. A woman of the same rank as Sarai could not be expected to do such a thing, but a slave was a slave and could be used as her owners saw fit.

Hagar accepted the role of surrogate mother for Sarai. The concept, still very much alive today, was that Hagar would have a child but the child would belong to Sarai. Such a practice was legal in Abraham's society. Once Hagar knew she was pregnant things became very tense between Hagar and Sarai. Sarai could not abuse the slave now at the risk of harming the unborn child. Hagar may have flaunted her expanding waistline. "You can't do this." Finally the antagonism between the two women became so intense Hagar chose to flee.

This was not a very rational decision on Hagar's part. It was an act of desperation. It would be better to be dead than to live in such circumstances. Hagar really had nowhere to go. No cities were nearby and it was a long ways between waterholes. In fact, Hagar had no idea where the waterholes or wells even were.

But God met her in the wilderness, the first of two meetings they would have. He told Hagar to go back to Sarai and Abram and submit herself to her mistress.

God's presence at this point said to Hagar, "You are special to me. And I have an assignment for you." The assignment was to bear the child of Abraham who would become famous in the world. Hagar heard the words, but did not have any idea of the significance of them. God promised Hagar the following: (Genesis 16:10-12)

10     Moreover, the angel of the Lord said to her, "I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count."

     11     The angel of the Lord said to her further,

"Behold, you are with child,

And you will bear a son;

And you shall call his name Ishmael,

Because the Lord has given heed to your affliction.

     12     "He will be a wild donkey of a man,

His hand will be against everyone,

And everyone's hand will be against him;

And he will live to the east of all his brothers."

Hagar then names the place Beer lahai roi, "the well of the God who sees." Afterwards she returned to the camp and there submitted to Sarai. 

Abraham is 86 years old when Ishmael is born. He loved Ishmael very much and wanted him to be the heir of promise. 

When Abraham reached 100 and Sarah 90, God chose to allow them to have a child. The child was named Isaac ("Laughter") because both Abraham and Sarah laughed when they heard they would have a child in their old age. When it came time to wean Isaac, Ishmael mocked him. This offended Sarah and she demanded that Hagar and her son be driven away.

Here we see the value of the individual. Abraham is told by God to listen to his wife. He gives Hagar a bag of water and some bread and sends them out into the wilderness. Did Abraham believe God would take care of Hagar? We don't know. But when Hagar was at the point of death along with Ishmael, now an 18 year old boy, God appeared to her again. He showed her water and she survived. 

God appeared to Hagar because she was special to him. God chose to care for her and to honor her in ways she would never understand. 

Lesson: God can use anyone he chooses. In Hagar's case he used a slave. Later God would use a slave named Joseph to save a nation.