T minus 15 hours. CR or bust.

I just saw the Inmans off to their week-long mission trip to New York City and have been left to man the house for the remaining 6 hours or so before I leave to spend the night at the Hogg's who will be taking me to the airport before my flight to Costa Rica.  But until then, I get the pleasure of doing the Inmans (my host family) a favor:  cleaning out the leftovers.  So I am anticipatively sitting and blogging and eating some left over Qdoba Mexican food (in the spirit of Latin American travels) made into a dish that would put up a good fight against even a fresh Qdoba meal (which if you couldn't tell, I am quite proud of).  And in the spirit of leaving the states, I finished some left over ice cream (that surely would have gone bad) that is slowly dribbling down the inside edge of my chilled glass as it floats in its best iceberg form on a sea of frothy (leftover so its really not so frothy) root beer.

And in trying to make my leftovers sound like a king's cuisine, I make light of a rather challenging and heart wrenching subject, that at the moment only twinges my soul.  I am eating a heaping plate of tortillas with grilled chicken, black beans and cheese melted all over it with a full glass of a root beer float. I am about to leave and go to one of the poorest countries in the world. Ouch.  Man I have it good. (or do I?)

Anyway, less philosophy, more facts:
I will be in San Felipe, just outside of San Jose, representing EDGE OUTREACH as a leader for my team from Middletown UMC, right near Louisville.  We will be installing two water purifiers that can provide clean, safe drinking water for thousands of people every day with very minimal input.  While teaching Costa Ricans how to use them, we will also teach basic health and hygiene.  EDGE has found that teaching a community how to simply wash their hands with soap can reduce child mortality rates by up to 50%. That is huge.  Let me put it this way, to be able to teach a child how to wash their hands, we could have saved their life.  This statistic of saving thousands of lives will become more and more real to me as we meet people, see faces, learn names, and build friendships.  Pure water and health and hygiene are the bridge we build to close the culture gap in order to share the gospel.  If you have supported EDGE OUTREACH by supporting me financially or in prayer, you are saving lives too.

More to come next week when I return.

"Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten; nor the hope of the poor be taken away."
Psalm 9:18

Burgers and Flies

Five Guys' receipt paper ran out in just the right place.  Enjoy those flies.

May 1, 2011 - A response. Requesting discussion.

The reason I request discussion is because I may not be correct in my thinking or my theology.  How can I be corrected if you see my fault and keep it to yourself.  Therefore, freely comment.

Further, this discussion is not on FB where it began becasue it simply would not let me post.

" By slaying this evil man, the world is one step closer to being safe... " - Comment on Andrew H.'s Facebook status.

Safe from what? sin? Without Christ's resurrection am I not just as guilty?

²³ ...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus... (Rom. 3:5-26)   

Perhaps safe from being killed at his merciless hand? 

³⁸ ...For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8) 

What fear can we have if we are purchased by Christ's blood? Are we afraid that he would have killed more un-believers:

"What about all the people that died without repentance at his hand? Or the many more who would have likely died without repentance at his hand?"  - Comment on Andrew H.'s Facebook status.

What about Osama Bin Ladin who died without repentance at OUR hand?

38“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ 39But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 

21“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22But I tell you that anyone who is [even] angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. ...anyone who [even] says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.  (Romans 5, emphasis and brackets added)

Andrew D said on Andrew H's status:

"I still have trouble seeing death as justice, though. ...the only deaths that could ever be considered just are our (humanity as a whole) own for sinning against God. However, Jesus came to take that death sentence for all of us (including Osama), so we are left with the question of whether there is such thing as a just death. In cases of capital punishment, has justice not been served when a family chooses to reach out and embrace the people that have harmed them instead of wanting them killed, or is justice found only through the death of the criminal?" - Comment on Andrew H.'s Facebook status.

And Adam M. followed up on a re-post of this comment:

"So in essence, the only just thing for us to do for each other is to forgive one another since God so readily forgave us? And that by deeming death as just we undercut the way God has chosen to redeem the world?" - Comment on Nathan R.'s Facebook status. 

 It's definitely a countercultural way to look at this event.  It's easy to get wrapped up in the excitement and forget to actually critically examine it. So where do we go from here?  If one is cynical towards those who rejoice, he does just as much wrong as rejoicing himself.

But I ask again,  were do we go from here?

מִנְחָה֙