Worshipping in German

We had a great morning at our new church today! After arriving to the service late last week and having to leave early (not a good combination...), we made sure to get to church early today so we would have time to meet some new people and chat. We survived quite a few German conversations and met the pastor for the first time. We saw some familiar faces after the service and connected with people we knew. It felt comforting to be there and see ourselves progressing in terms of feeling "at home" in this new community.

One of the highlights for me was getting to sing some new songs in German - familiar melodies that we sing in English but with new words! Singing a song I'm already familiar with in this new language really helps me to understand the meaning and connect with the message I am singing. One of those songs today was "You are the Lord, the Famous One" by Chris Tomlin. Just to give you a taste of what the song sounds like in German, and to show you our church, I took a quick video. Enjoy!

Lily's Story

A while ago, we were up in Detroit Lakes sharing with a church. We had a really great time up there and we were really blessed by the wonderful community.  While we were there, we met a woman named Lily*.


When we arrived at the church and got into the sanctuary before the service began, I took a second to look around.  In a room full of people chatting and greeting each other, I saw one head bowed and hands folded.  An older woman was deep in prayer before the service began.  I noticed her against the contrast of chatting but didn't think much of it until after the service.


We had a fellowship meal afterward, and Lily stopped us in line and asked if we would stop by her table to talk with her. When we had a second, we broke away and went to visit her table.


She told us about her many friends and family that were in religious traditions focused on works and not salvation by grace through faith.  As we talked with her, you could see her heart breaking for those that knew who God was, but had never had a true relationship with Him.  The more she talked, the more we could see how emotional of a subject this was for her.  She told us how glad she was for our ministry and promised to pray for us.


We are very passionate about reaching lost people in western Europe, but I was truly challenged by the fervency of this woman.  We need to continually ask God to break our hearts and show us the world through His eyes. Our prayer is that we can have a heart like Lily's for the lost people around us.


How is God breaking your heart for the people around you? 


Do you need him to break your heart again?




*Lily isn't her real name
Photo credit is here user TACLUDA on rgbstock.com

BWCA Canoe Trip

Last Sunday Bethany and I set out on a great adventure.  We traveled to one of the great wilderness areas of the US for 4 days of canoeing, camping, and adventuring.  The weather was perfect and so were our times together.  It was wonderful to see God's creation.  Over and over that place confirmed Psalm 19:1-2


¹ The heavens declare the glory of God,
   and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
²Day to day pours out speech,
   and night to night reveals knowledge.


I hope that the photo slideshow does just a bit of justice to the glory of God in creation we experienced.


How have you seen God's glory in creation recently?

Voices from Across the Globe

I was pleased to come across a series on Ed Stetzer's blog interviewing an MBB leader.  Listening to these global voices will become more and more important as the "church of the south" takes on greater theological and numerical prominence in Christianity. Here are links to number 1 and number 2

It was a comment in the third post that really grabbed my attention. Here is the quote from the post (bold is Ed Stetzer's question and non-bold is the response):

Bob Roberts is a friend of mine and he recently challenged me: "If American Christians loved Muslims like Paul loved the Jews it would change the world." What do you think? It would. So much of it is hospitality toward strangers. America tends to be a very unfriendly environment for the stranger. But a huge Old Testament concept is how we relate to the stranger. If simple hospitality issues were addressed, taking the initiative is important. In my country, you ask somebody how to get somewhere and they're probably going to walk with you there, not just give you some directions. So I think that if the Christian community began taking initiative to practice hospitality toward the Muslim immigrants in their area, that would just go a long way. If we will do it, they will reciprocate. And in that context you will find it very easy then to get into gospel conversations.

What a call towards true Christ-likeness! Imagine if the American church reached out with true christian hospitality to the cultural strangers in our community?  What if we invited them in for meals, built relationships with their community leaders, or even just had a cup of tea in the name of Christ?

So what is the hardest part about all this? Compared to many other cultures, we Americans aren't really all that hospitable. We are very protective of our space.  I am sure we can all think of examples that contradict this, but our individualism bleeds in to our concept of "personal space" (which isn't even a concept in some cultures). This is an incredibly counter-cultural encouragement!

How have you seen strangers welcomed into your church community?

Photo credit: kevinrosseel from morguefile.com

Beginning to Mourn

There is something very powerful for me about worshiping and singing in a large crowd of believers. Hearing a cacophony of loud voices all praising God together transports me to imagining what heaven will someday be like, when we are all be praising God together, thousands upon thousands!

This past Sunday, I began to mourn the loss of these experiences. Evangelical churches in Austria are small, typically 25 - 50 people. When we live there, it will be rare that we will have the opportunity to worship in a large crowd in our "heart language" of English like we get to do every week now at Parkview. As we were singing a song this Sunday that was especially powerful for me, I was moved to tears thinking about how much I will miss that worship experience.

There are many exciting things about moving to Austria and the work we will be doing. But there will also be many sacrifices. This is one that I will miss very deeply.


'Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they were saying:
   “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!”

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:
   “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!”'

- Revelation 5:11 - 13