Archive for February, 2011

God’s Sure Path

Friday, February 25th, 2011

Your path led through the sea, your way through the mighty waters, though your footprints were not seen.

Psalm 77:19

“Do I love him enough to marry him?”

“Which job should I take?”

“What do I do about my kids drifting away from the church?”

“How do I make sure I have enough money for retirement?”

So many questions plague us in life. Unfortunately, we don’t have a road map that can provide clear directions that guarantee us how to get from point A to point B. We don’t have any way of looking into the future to see what the consequences of our choices will be. Fear of losing what we have can keep us from making any decision.

Alexei Brynza faced such choices. From choosing a wife to choosing obedience to God over the dictates of the government, he had to find his path step by step, knowing the outcome might be unpleasant. In fact, when he married, his wife asked God for three years together. She fully expected her husband to be imprisoned or killed for his work in the church. But she was willing to follow the guidance God had given her, knowing that in the end, He would lead her to a good place.

This is great promise that we have, that if any of us seek wisdom, God will generously give it to us. Sometimes we can see the path we should take extending before us. Other times the path seems to lead us straight into water, where no footprints of those who have gone before show. In either case, we know that Jesus walks with us; we simply need to follow in obedience.

For some of us, we see the reward for our obedience immediately, sometimes we wait months or years to see the benefits, or may not fully receive the blessing this side of heaven. In any case, we can rest in the peace that God will honor us when we seek His will, and that He will be a sure guide.

Alexei’s wife was willing to follow God, to support her husband in ministry, even if it meant losing him. Instead, she was given 47 more years of marriage than she asked for.

Lord, help me to be obedient to your will, even if it looks like I may lose something I want, knowing that in the end, you will give me more than I asked or imagined.

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Visible Fruit of Missionary Activity

Monday, February 21st, 2011

“Why would anyone be involved with missions?” I thought. “It’s really a useless activity, going to tribal people who don’t want to change their religion.” Sure, I knew we were commanded to go and make disciples everywhere. But my opinions about missions were sadly tainted by attitudes I’d picked up from the popular culture.

Mercifully, God changed my mind and my heart and drew me into missionary service. Had He not done that, this video would have challenged my old way of thinking. Watch as the Kimyal people of Papua, Indonesia joyfully receive a translation of the New Testament in their own language. These are clearly not people forced into conversion, or people who accepted Christianity for material gain.

(Many thanks to Stacy Harp of Active Christian Media for the link.)

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The Difference One Person Can Make

Friday, February 18th, 2011

And I searched for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the gap.

Ezekiel 22:30a

In the middle of the dreary Brezhnev years when Soviet society itself was stagnating, Vladimir Antonovich arrived to organize a youth orchestra in Lena’s church. His enthusiasm was contagious, and soon they had a woodwind/brass orchestra, a string orchestra of Ukrainian folk instruments, and a choir. All of this, of course, was strongly discouraged by the government. Youth meetings were forbidden, and the authorities knew that these musical groups were used as a cover for religious activities.

Lena and her older brothers were in the string orchestra: Yakov played bass mandolin, Viktor, tenor mandolin, and Lena, soprano mandolin. They assumed Vladimir’s enthusiasm because he poured himself out for them.

The youth orchestra performed on holidays, at weddings, funerals, and baptisms, and traveled all over Ukraine. In a way, the shared adventures made up for the taunting and teasing they endured at school, and helped them to stay strong in their faith. Even though the trips were forbidden by the Soviet government, the pastor didn’t want to stop them. For him, being summoned for interrogation or having to pay fines were minor irritants, a small price to pay in exchange for watching a generation of new believers grow and mature.

It all ended when Vladimir had to leave the church and move to another city; the government was putting too much pressure on him and the church. But was it all in vain?

In later years the fruit of Vladimir’s work became obvious. The children who were the same age as Viktor and Lena and had the benefit of several years in the youth orchestra, remained faithful and stayed in the church. Those who were older or younger tended to leave the church because of pressure at school. Such was the influence that one person was able to have, and it was enough to counteract all the pressure the government could muster.

When I am discouraged, thinking what I do has no impact, I remember Vladimir, and how he was willing to stand in the gap, faithfully serving despite the risks. If I serve where God has put me, I know my work will not be in vain.

Lord, help me to serve you faithfully and to trust you to bring the harvest.

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Cat and Dog Theology

Tuesday, February 15th, 2011

Last week I had houseguests: one of my nieces and her little dog. The contrast between the dog and my cat could not have been more dramatic.

The dog raced around the kitchen, tail frantically wagging. He jumped up on me, radiating excitement as he begged for my attention.

The cat silently slinked through the room, leaped onto my desk and laid down on my work.

The dog extended his friendliness to the cat, trying to get close to her, running after her whenever he caught a glimpse of her.

The cat spurned all advances and fled whenever the dog even looked at her. She wouldn’t even eat in his presence.

I’d never had the opportunity to observe the differences between cats and dogs so closely before. It brought to mind a book I’d read years ago: Cat and Dog Theology.

From the back cover:

“A dog says, “You pet me, you feed me, you shelter me, you love me, you must be God.”

A cat says, “You pet me, you feed me, you shelter me, you love me, I must be God.””

The authors use the contrast between cats and dogs to point out our own attitudes about God and how they impact our relationship with him. It may be time for me to revisit this book and consider, as the authors so succinctly put it, if I am thinking more like a cat (“you exist to serve me”) or a dog (“I exist to serve you”).

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Choosing the Love of God

Saturday, February 12th, 2011

Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.

Psalm 63:4

Alexei Brynza often said that the first thing he was going to do when he got to heaven was kneel before Jesus and thank Him for all the KGB agents and communist bureaucrats who made his life so difficult. Without them, he never would have had such a close relationship with God.

He illustrated his point with a story about Michelangelo, the famous artist and sculptor. Once when Michelangelo was asked what he was making he answered, “It’s an angel.”

His questioner replied, “I don’t see the form of an angel.”

Michelangelo said, “I see the angel in the marble, and will carve until I set him free.”

In the same way, Alexei explained, God, using his hammer and chisel, takes away what is unnecessary in the life of the believer. Sometimes it causes pain. There are no random people or events in the life of the believer; all of them are God’s tools that He uses to make us more like Christ.

By letting God have His way in our lives, we can truly be set free and know the great love He has for us. Meanwhile, the communist government, using its hammer and sickle, was trying to take all freedom out of the lives of believers, wanting to retain all power for themselves. For standing up to this, Alexei suffered for his faith, because of his love for God.

Many times I wonder just how much I am willing to suffer for Christ. The truth is while I say I love God above all else, I don’t always live like I truly believe that. Often I am more zealous in seeking approval from others than to please God; I am more concerned with protecting my life than giving it back to Him.

Alexei made his choice to follow God, whatever the consequences. For him, this could have meant losing his life here on earth. As a result of his obedience, he had a deep and unswerving knowledge of the never-ending love of Christ, and the victory over circumstances that He brings to the life of the believer.

I need to make the same choice: to follow God, even if it means losing approval and gaining criticism and scorn. Then I will experience the love of God that is better than any life I can construct apart from Him.

Lord, help me to seek your approval and know your everlasting love in a deeper way.

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Eerie Echoes of the Past

Monday, February 7th, 2011

This weekend was the 100th anniversary of Reagan’s birth. With that event came a lot of talk about Reagan, his presidency, and his legacy. In thinking of the 1980s, I couldn’t help but remember how imposing communism worldwide was still a goal of the Soviet Union’s Communist Party.

In reading a book published in 1982, I found the following summary of communist efforts:

“The avowed purpose of communism is to impose its definition of Utopia upon the whole world. This is called “setting the masses free.” … [T]hey try to trigger economic depression and then pit class against class in the resulting chaos. Communists teach young people to blame society or their parents instead of themselves for the restrictions they experience. Freed of responsibility for the consequences of their own behavior, people begin to condemn the social structures around them.”

It’s all eerily similar to much I’m observing going on in our country today. Regardless of whoever is responsible for our current situation, prior generations of communists would be proud.

Quote from Paulson, Hank, Beyond the Wall: The People Communism Can’t Conquer, Regal Books, 1982, p. 76-7.

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Inheriting the Blessing

Friday, February 4th, 2011

Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.

I Peter 3:9

Living in the Soviet Union, Alexei Brynza paid a high price for his faith. His immediate supervisor at the factory treated him well, but those higher up continually tried to “re-educate” him.

Once some photos were taken of the best workers, and Alexei was among them. The factory boss hung all the photos of the other workers up in a large display, but not Alexei’s. “It would be inappropriate to publicly honor a believer,” they told him. “Take your picture home and hang it up there if you want to.”

Over and over Alexei was nominated for awards by his coworkers, only to be disqualified by the political officer of the factory. Once, another worker came to Alexei’s defense, protesting the injustice. “You know he is the best worker,” he told the political officer.

“We can’t possibly honor a Baptist,” was the reply. “How can we give a red medal, red for the color of the blood shed in the revolution, to someone opposed to Communist beliefs?”

In spite these and other insults, Alexei did his job faithfully for the fifteen years he worked in that factory. The bosses never understood that Alexei was not there to gain their approval. Rather, his goal was to please God.

This is what I know I should do when I am insulted by another person. Instead, what I usually want to do is make the other person hurt the way they have hurt me. God’s command to repay insults with blessings seems unfair and too hard.

But I can be encouraged by Alexei’s example of obedience in far worse circumstances than I have encountered. More than anything, he wanted his coworkers to see Jesus in him, that they might come to faith. Any sign that they recognized any value in following God’s laws would be a blessing to him, since he would know that his labor was not in vain.

Years later, the boss talked to Alexei about his long service in the factory, and the many attempts to re-educate him to accept Communist teaching. “It would have been better if you had re-educated all the others, Brynza, to make them as honest as you are.”

Lord, help me to obey you, even in repaying good for evil, that I may inherit your blessing.

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Waiting for the Storm

Tuesday, February 1st, 2011

When the sky looks like milk, my Russian friends would tell me, the weather’s going to stay ugly.

Yesterday that’s what I saw: milky-white sky. Freezing rain came and went in waves, as a prelude to this morning’s sleet. Now the sky looks like dirty milk, carrying the snow that it will soon dump on us. As I write ice pellets bounce off the windows sounding just like milk poured on cereal. Snap, crackle and pop.

I bought extra food, got gas in the car. Then I looked around the house and found two flashlights with dead batteries, 6 candles and 3 matches. So I’m not too prepared if the power goes out. Visions of living on apples curled up under a blanket with the cat fill my mind.

At least I can see beyond this storm, knowing that by noon tomorrow the snow will stop and we can all stop digging out.

God will ride this one out with us, and He knows what lies ahead.

So here’s to all my friends in the Midwest, getting ready for the monster storm. I pray today that your preparations be more thorough than mine, and that they may not be truly necessary!

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