Okay, a bit more of where I'm coming from.

1.) The unity of a husband and wife stems from and points to the unity within the Trinity. “The son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the son also does.” It makes sense, then, that the unity between a husband and wife is not merely physical, but most importantly spiritual, practical, and ideological. The family should be unified in vision and purpose as the Father and Son are unified in vision and purpose.

2.) The family is the cornerstone of society. Before the church was the family. The strength of the church and society has always grown in relation to the sovereignty of the family. Jesus said, ‘a house divided against itself cannot stand.’” The inverse of that concept is that a house unified will stand mighty.

3.) Marriage is the model of Christ’s relationship with the church and the love that God has for us. God wants to transform society through the family.

Obviously, each family will have a unique vision, but I believe in a few basic principles that will position the family to impact society like a meteorite.

:: The vision should stem from God’s vision. Isaiah 61 – not just salvation but to comfort those who mourn, glory in exchange for ashes and shame, so forth.

:: The vision should be big enough to encompass the entire family. Each member might not to do the same stuff, but they will all partake. In this way, the family roots grow stronger because they’re in this together. In the meantime, the family is able to model and assist a new lifestyle for the destitute and abused; and be a comfort for the brokenhearted.

:: Hospitality. The family, not the local organization, is positioned to meet the needs of the destitute, abused, drunk, hungry, and sick. Hospitality models a better way of living. It grows the church stronger.


Now here's a critical point: "careers" are the extension of the family vision. In other words, time will be spent living out the family vision, encompassing the children, and in hospitality in the specific areas unique to that family. This is the reason careers may change but a calling does not.

Now, I do not really care how a family makes their income as long as it is not trading in the family vision and the family hospitality. (Even jobs at a corporation can provide temporary internship, ect.) Many jobs can still take place with the community around.

Well, then. I keep finding an inability to live what I preach, and so I am spending this summer watching those who do.

A few things I learned this week:

1.) Time is the most precious commodity of all.
2.) Rise early, go to bed early.
3.) Breakfast is important.
4.) Be stewarts of what God has given. Don't waste your food.
5.) We can do lots with weeds and dirt.
6.) Girls are ready for marriage at 16 when they are raised here.

Here's some details about my summer:

1.)Yes, I'm LEAVING for the summer Sunday, actually. I am staying with a family near Chiang Mai. Basically they work with the Hmong tribal group in the mountains and maintain a tea and pig farm. This helps the Hmong people relate to them. I met this family from JM (who I know from HSA). But since the world is so small, the missionary happens to be from Lindale, Texas.

2.) Why, Thailand? I have wanted to visit Asia for a while, and the burden has gotten increasingly heavier the last several months....probably the job burnout helped speed this up. In Thailand less than .2% of the people are Christian. Missions has failed there because the people do not relate to the missionaries. So instead of going through an organization, I wanted to go independent and see missions done in process. What better opportunity than to visit a self-supported missionary?

3.) Specifically, I want to be apart of social reform and help the most broken of all...not just physically but spiritually and emotionally (for once a heart is broken, it can take years to repair). I can really relate to believing lies and relate to pain.

4.) I sort of put off missions because my idea involves a family ministry (transforming an entire region dominated with sexual and slave abuse, whether in Asia, Africa, or America, probably will not happen without people getting into the homes, rather than an organization). But then as I started denouncing a self-centered life of self-gratification, I had to start pursuing my vision anyway. Surprisingly, as I said before, I started to meet people with my vision. Quite literally I could head oversees with not just my own family (which I don't have yet - don't start rumors. lol) but with other families as well. PRAISE GOD! (BTW, I am not sold on living oversees my entire life or this year or the next, but I do want to be apart of social reform. This could even take place in the states!)

5.) Now instead of fears of not finding a guy, I am facing my fears of marriage in general. I was so foolish in college that I doubt my ability to live and model godliness. ugh! God help me.

6.) You all asked. No, I really don't miss school. I got a letter from TWU this week offering me money to come back to their masters program. I'm grinning, scratching my head, laughing, what have you. I got more reading and writing done the last two semester than ever. I have friends with clear visions. I see work being communicated and done better without schooling...so why would I go? I love philosophy, but philosophy with vision and purpose make my world all the more pure.

Love you all! Send me e-mails this summer: lexicalvoice@yahoo.com.

I am a Giant Library

I must confess, I almost gave up on my pen this week. I thought, "By George, I'll just get misunderstood."

However, when we die, we're all like a giant library burning to the ground. If I do not pass on information now, it will all be loss.

My friends, our lives are valuable. If we ever want to make a significant difference, we must communicate.

Church Body

You know, here in America we have trouble helping the burdens of our own people, let alone the lost and hurting in the community.

I seemed to have forgotten that. Then, this week I visited an old roommate, and she mentioned that terrible disease they have at the Baptist church near my old university.

Terrible disease, I’m not kidding. They hire college folks to teach their preschool Sunday school classes - they hire everything.

So guess what? They treat the teachers as employees, not as sisters and brothers who have a relationship with God. My old roommate had stories almost as pathetic as the place where I worked.

Before I move forward, I should make something clear: The church is not an organization, it is a community. Period. In an organization, they are largely concerned with survival. (Forgive my library friends, but they got the crazy idea of installing games on the computers to attract students.) In the church they are concerned about love. **

I do not know the deal with this church, I can't speak for all this, but I am sad when a place mimics an organization instead of a community.

Until we can learn to love each other, love and teach our own, we cannot go out and love the world. I am reminded of Paul. He had this great evangelism going, he noticed Timothy disappeared, and he panicked. He had that intense of a love for his own.

Most of us belong to communities, and we teach our own Sunday school, what have you. But I do not believe the church in America today really grasps community. After growing up in a homeschool community, I know community. When my grandfather was sick, all of the homeschoolers, not our church, were at our door. When my sister moved to Michigan, she got e-mails and phone calls from the homeschoolers there. When I was a kid, we traded eggs, milk, lessons, everything.

I joke that I'm one person away from knowing every homeschooler in the country. lol

I'm still chewing on this. But I think if we could become a community to each other and to America, we could see some change.

Opinions?

** BTW, I do believe in church discipline. But we discipline because we love.

Food Budgets

I have always been fascinated with food budgets. Besides three semesters of college, I have never lived away from home. So at this point, we say I'm fascinated. One day I hope to implement all the ideas.

[Though my college roommates and I totally estimated our groceries before we went shopping and just brought that cash amount with us.]

I enjoyed reading this post today. The family with six boys and three girls here in town - the folks I helped with writing - apparently also feed their family for $3.00 a kid per day. So apparently this is done.

Or so they say. I suppose we'll never know unless we try!

How do we minister most effectively?

Well then.

How do we minister to people most effectively?

That’s a good question, no doubt. After all, we all are called to the mission field of Isaiah 61 and Matthew 28. We all want to maximize our time (as Jesus said, the more you ask, the more you will be given). So how can we best reach to the brokenhearted?

Are you ready to think? I do not have all the answers. However, we cannot – and will never – live differently if we don’t think differently.

We start by asking if there is another way. We can agree that our current methods are not the most effective way to reach people. If you have poured your heart and soul into an institution or organization, whether Christian or not, you know what I mean. I have witnessed lots of great stuff coming from Christian organizations, but I’m not naive: they do not get a 100+ on effectiveness. Maybe 85 if we’re nice. (I’m not nice, but I know most of my dear readers are, so we’ll give them an 85.) Not 100.

(I’ll explain more later on why they are not so effective. For now we’ll just have to agree that statistics show that we’re losing our youth. )

So is there another way to reach people?

My friends, take heart, the Bible has already outlined this for us.

First of all, Jesus did ministry by walking and talking with his disciples, calling them out of their sin and into a relationship with Himself.

No organization. No management. No secretary. He led by example and influence.

One more thing. He made the disciples partakers in his vision. A verse that jumped at me this morning.

No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.

In other words, our private life should be our ministry. (No, not public life - trash that.) Jesus made the disciples part of Him. That's what works.

God made our private life (aka. our family) to be the cornerstone of society. I have seen troubled kids go to youth group week after week and gain nothing. But I have seen youth go under the wing of an adult and family and thrive.

I have taught English in the institution, and I have seen first hand the low socio-economical students have no motivation or respect and the grades go no where. But I have seen students go under my wing outside the classroom and suddenly thrive.

So my suggestion (I said I don't have all the answers, didn't I?): ministry should begin in the home. (aka. the hurting should come into the home.) Going here, going there and forming organizations and schools will have little results.

More later.