World AIDS Day - Saturday, December 1

“This year, the global theme of World AIDS Day is leadership within the slogan ‘Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise.’ World AIDS Day is a day when people from around the world come together within a single effort to raise awareness about HIV and to express global solidarity with people living with HIV. But World AIDS Day is not just about raising awareness. It also provides a global opportunity to urge governments and leaders for all promises on AIDS to be kept as well as an opportunity to demonstrate commitment and action on AIDS.”

As I read the headlines of Worlds AIDS Day I am quickly reminded of my experiences in South Africa these recent years. God first brought the reality of the crisis in Africa to my attention back in 2000 when we visited a cemetery of hundreds of fresh graves for adults and children who had died from the disease. This was the beginning of God’s stirring and burdening my heart for the people of South Africa and the AIDS crisis there. Today I went back and read a blog post from my time in South Africa in 2006. It gave powerful and lasting faces to the AIDS crisis. If you want to read the post click here: http://wheresdavebayne.blogspot.com/2006/03/masibambisane.html

I also have posted some HIV/AIDS web sites on the left side bar of this blog that provide more awareness and education.

making space for advent

Advent begins this Sunday, December 2. For the past few years both Advent and Lent have become meaningful seasons in my yearly rhythm of life. Observing the church calendar was not part of my church tradition, so a lot of this is new to me. I enjoy taking time out to listen to Scripture and reflect on the four main themes of Advent: Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. Last year I even purchased an Advent wreath.

I have been unable to find one universal order for the four themes of Advent. The theme of hope usually starts off the season on the first week and joy is typically the theme of the pink candle on the third Sunday (Rose Rejoicing Sunday). However, love and peace seem to be used interchangeably on the second and fourth Sundays.

I hope to regularly blog on the themes of Advent this Christmas. I would love to hear any resources or traditions that are a part of your own season of Advent. The following summary of Advent is taken from an online article, The Season of Advent: Anticipation and Hope by Dennis Bratcher. The entire article can be found on the web site: www.crivoice.org/cyadvent.html.

“The word Advent means "coming" or "arrival." The focus of the entire season is the celebration of the birth of Jesus the Christ in his First Advent, and the anticipation of the return of Christ the King in his Second Advent. Thus, Advent is far more than simply marking a 2,000 year old event in history. It is celebrating a truth about God, the revelation of God in Christ whereby all of creation might be reconciled to God. That is a process in which we now participate, and the consummation of which we anticipate. Scripture reading for Advent will reflect this emphasis on the Second Advent, including themes of accountability for faithfulness at His coming, judgment on sin, and the hope of eternal life.

In this double focus on past and future, Advent also symbolizes the spiritual journey of individuals and a congregation, as they affirm that Christ has come, that He is present in the world today, and that He will come again in power. That acknowledgment provides a basis for Kingdom ethics, for holy living arising from a profound sense that we live "between the times" and are called to be faithful stewards of what is entrusted to us as God’s people. So, as the church celebrates God’s inbreaking into history in the Incarnation, and anticipates a future consummation to that history for which "all creation is groaning awaiting its redemption," it also confesses its own responsibility as a people commissioned to "love the Lord your God with all your heart" and to "love your neighbor as yourself."

This web site also includes daily scripture readings from the Book of Common Prayer. The readings include Old Testament passages from the Psalms and prophets, a passage from one of the Gospels, and a passage from a New Testament epistle. (Daily Scripture Readings for Advent: http://www.crivoice.org/daily.html)

As we enter into this Christmas season of Advent, I pray it is marked by a spirit of expectation, of anticipation, of preparation, of longing, and of HOPE in Jesus and His Kingdom!

two years of blogging....

Two years ago I entered this new world of blogging. Two years, ten countries, and 203 blog posts later…..the road continues ever on and on! In many ways, my blog parallels and represents this two year journey of sabbatical, discernment, and preparation. Thanks for sharing in the journey and all that comes with it!

The Lord of the Rings begins with Bilbo Baggins leaving home for an unknown destination. Two years ago, I began blog post #1 sharing how I felt like Bilbo not knowing what was ahead, but eager for the road ahead.

The road goes ever on and on, down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the road has gone, and I must follow it if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet, until it joins the larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say?
~ Bilbo Baggins in the Fellowship of the Ring

It didn’t take long for God to bring to my attention Isaiah 52:12, “But you will not leave in haste or go in flight; for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.” Here God promised to go before the Israelites and be their rear guard as they followed Him. How true these promises of God's faithfulness held true in my journey on the road! These promises also bring comfort to me as I prepare to leave for Argentina very soon.

I can testify that God truly has gone before me and "marked the road for the coming day."

And the road continues ever on and on….

step back and take a long view

The below prayer was recited at my Word Made Flesh commissioning service earlier this month. The words of the prayer have been attributed to Archbishop Oscar Romero, who served the people of El Salvador and was assassinated in 1980 while he was saying mass in San Salvador. Regardless of who wrote the prayer, I think the words are a beautiful reminder of our role in the Kingdom of God!

The Prayer of Oscar Romero*
It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.

The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is even beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction
of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying
that the kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted, knowing
that they hold future promise.

We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation
in realizing that.
This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results, but that is the difference
between the master builder and the worker.

We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own. Amen.

* The mystery is that the words of the prayer are attributed to Oscar Romero, but they were never spoken by him. They were, in fact, spoken by John Cardinal Dearden in November of 1979. They come from a homily he gave at a Mass for deceased priests. But what is even more important to know is that they were words drafted for Cardinal Dearden by Ken Untener. (National Catholic Reporter, March 28, 2004)

gestures of gratitude this thanksgiving

Thanksgiving week is a time to recognize and express our love and gratitude to God and those we love! This time of year I usually pull out the book Space for God by Don Postema. There are a couple chapters on gratitude that are appropriate for the Thanksgiving season, as well as the entire year! I have shared these quotes before, but I think they are worth repeating...

“God is the giver. We are the thanks-givers…As gestures of gratitude unite us on a human level, they also unite us with the divine Giver. God offers gracious gifts, covenantal blessings, summarized in ‘You Belong.’ In response we say, ‘Thanks! I am grateful!’ We embrace God’s acceptance of us and in turn are embraced…Our social gestures of thanks, like a handshake or a letter, correspond to our religious gestures, like sacrifice, worship, obedience. Religious gestures are our way of saying to God, ‘Thank you for all the good things that come from you, the Source of all life.’”

“Gratitude as recognition, receptivity, and response is a basic attitude and action of the Christian life. We not only recognize and are aware of God’s gifts to us, but we also continually find ways of saying thanks to God in worship, prayer, and ‘whatever we say or do.’ Our aim is to live our whole life as a sacred gesture of thanksgiving, a deep bow of gratitude, solidifying our relationship with God.”

Some great Scriptures on gratitude and thanksgiving include: Psalm 75:1; Psalm 95:1-7; Psalm 100; Psalm 136; Colossians 2:6-7; Colossians 3:12, 16-17; Colossians 4:2; 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18; Philippians 4:6-7.

commissioning & prayer requests

I have already been back from Omaha almost a week. It was a fun week of special times and memories with family and dear friends. Word Made Flesh officially welcomed me to share life and ministry in Argentina for three years! The weekend included a meaningful commissioning service for several of us joining the WMF family. It was extra special to have my parents, sister, and Christian & Sonya Gray attend the service.

I have now posted my first prayer letters on the Word Made Flesh web site. You can check them out at: http://wordmadeflesh.com/support/pray-prayerletters.php?staff=124. If you want to be added to my snail mailing list, just let me know.

Here are some prayer requests I included in my December prayer letter:
· First and foremost, please pray that in all things I remain rooted in abiding relationship and intimacy with Jesus!
· Please pray for my remaining financial support needs and God’s best timing for my departure to Buenos Aires.
· Please pray for all the preparations before I leave. I have books to read, paperwork to complete, logistics to handle, and stuff to pack, while soaking in sweet times with family and friends before I leave.
· Please pray for me as I settle into life and ministry in Argentina. I will be living with an Argentine roommate or host family during my first few months there. I will then look for a place of my own in the La Boca neighborhood where WMF staff, Walter and Adriana Forcatto, already live.
· Please pray that I will adjust and learn Argentine culture and Spanish quickly.
· Please pray for leadership wisdom and guidance, as I help direct and facilitate the WMF community in Argentina through a process of spiritual formation and covenant to one another.
· Please pray for our new community in Argentina. Jeremiah and Jennifer Dean, along with children Jordan and Selah will arrive around the same time as me. We will join the Forcatto family who has already been there three years.
· Please pray for opportunities for relationships with the youth on the streets and people in the neighborhoods. Pray that I may radiate and represent Jesus in the way I love and live. Pray that I will evangelize and proclaim His Kingdom as hope to those in desperate need of Him.

At my commissioning with Donja (my sister), parents, and Christian & Sonya Gray.

Commissioning prayer time.

The WMF Board & Staff attending the weekend.

One final picture with the WMF Board. I will miss serving alongside these friends twice a year in Omaha.