When Resonate Church was planted in Pullman, Washington just over two years ago, the diligent and prayerful planning of a few visionaries allowed them to hit the ground running toward the goal of establishing an effective, Christ-centered community. Through a “chance” meeting in Starbucks, my life was drastically affected through their calling. As often as I have been in Moscow since then, I have called that community my home.
Resonate’s slogan is that “exploring God is better in community.” It took me eighteen months and two journeys across the Atlantic to fully grasp the biblical truth in that simple statement. Once I did, I realized how sweet and necessary the fellowship of believers is, particularly with those who I had come to know through Resonate. For such a young church – both demographically and congregationally – Resonate is very good at the community they advertise. As the church grows, it continues to develop and perfect aspects of that community through activities like Village (small groups), Ethos (accountability groups) and ownership (Resonate’s take on membership). Having considered Resonate my home church since its inception, I plan to join dozens of my brothers and sisters next month in formally assuming that ownership.
One of the ministries that was launched simultaneously with Resonate was a subgroup of the church called Activate. From the beginning, we have striven to maintain a global perspective on the influence of the gospel. I remember a few of us sitting in the back room of Cafe Moro in the Fall of 2007 putting together a purpose statement for the group. Two years down the road, it is exciting – almost unbelievable – to see what God has enabled our group to accomplish. (I say “our” group, when in reality I was hiding in Norway during much of that time.) Among other things, nearly all of us have traveled abroad for the purpose of learning about and participating in God’s work around the world: Erika to India and Molly to Ethiopia this Summer, Kim is currently halfway through a three month trip to Kenya, and Megan will be leading another group of women to India this Winter. In fact, it was an email I received from Kim a few days ago that reminded me of our formative weeks together, and I trust she wouldn’t mind me sharing:
“I am so grateful for where God has taken my heart in the past two and a half years, particularly in regard to my passions for the world and serving the world. And I am blessed to be surrounded by like-minded people. I look back fondly, remembering those first couple of weeks we met for Activate at Cafe Moro. We didn’t have a clue what we were doing or where we were going, or even really what we wanted to happen. It is so sweet to me to see where God has taken that group of people in the time since then. You, Molly, Megan, and Erika will forever have such a sweet place in my heart because of those first few weeks. The trajectory of my life has literally changed as a result (and I think I say with confidence the same is true for Megan and Molly too). Crazy, huh?”
Crazy, indeed. When we haven’t been traveling the world, Molly – on top of organizing campus-wide awareness campaigns for things like fair trade and human trafficking – has taken the helm in leading a growing number of “Activators” in our weekly meeting in Pullman. Last year, Resonate leaped across the state border to plant a second congregation in Moscow. Seeing that God has equally blessed that effort, I was led to consider whether Activate should follow suit. I proposed the idea to Molly, and tomorrow a new group of us will be assembling in Moscow to share in growing the global vision.
Apparently, because it was my idea, I get to “lead” this meeting, which has brought me back to our original purpose statement and what we are called to accomplish as a small group of local believers. While “going out” is the ultimate embodiment of the Great Commission, we meet on a weekly basis because we believe there is work to be done right here in Pullman and Moscow. Much of that work consists of education and prayer, and as I prepare to lead others in doing so, I find myself wrestling with an obvious challenge. In educating ourselves, we are tempted to become overwhelmed and discouraged by the rampant poverty, violence, and persecution happening in many parts of the world. What, in heaven’s name, can we possibly hope to do about it? It was with this question in mind that I was reading through Ecclesiastes and came across the following two passages:
“Then I returned and considered all the oppression that is done under the sun: and look! The tears of the oppressed, but they have no comforter – on the side of their oppressors there is power, but they have no comforter. Therefore I praised the dead who were already dead, more than the living who are still alive. Yet, better than both is he who has never existed, who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.” Ec. 4:1-3
“If you see the oppression of the poor, and the violent perversion of justice and righteousness in a province, do not marvel at the matter; for high official watches over high official, and higher officials are over them. Moreover the profit of the land is for all; even the king is served from the field.” Ec. 5:8,9
Starting with the second passage, it is important for me to remember that God has established hierarchies of authority for a purpose. The wickedness of man does not invalidate that system, and I am told not to marvel at violence and injustice. The first passage is even more difficult to swallow, but what is being lamented is the lack of a comforter (both for the oppressed and the oppressor, depending on how you read it). Knowing that the Holy Spirit is our Comforter (Jn. 14), I am reminded again of the Great Commission, where Jesus says:
“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Mt. 28:18-20
For all the good that can come from international aid and peacekeeping missions, it is also important for me to remember that only Jesus saves. Like we see when Jesus feeds the five thousand, hungry people will want food before they want truth – daily bread before the Bread of Life. But until Christ is preached and believed, anything short of that will only serve to perpetuate the hopeless state of those in need. Education and prayer on global issues must therefore build on the presupposition that all authority really has been given to Jesus. My initial question then evolves from what we can do about the world’s problems to what Christ can do through us to spread good news to all the world, starting in Moscow, Idaho.
Filed under: Resonate
The past couple weeks at church, lead pastor Keith Wieser has been preaching through the middle chapters of Romans in a series titled “Bondservant: Free to Be a Slave.” Yesterday, with Keith out of town, creative arts pastor Drew Worsham stepped in to explain where that series title comes from. He began in the first verse of Romans, where Paul identifies himself as a “bondservant” of Jesus Christ. Then Drew took us to Deuteronomy 15:16 to understand the historical context of slavery in Israel. Every seventh year, masters were required to set their Hebrew servants free with a liberal supply of provisions. However, in the case when a servant wished to continue serving his or her master, the servant could agree to an ear piercing that would make him a servant for life, or a “bondservant.”
It is easy to understand how this falls into the context of Romans 6-8, which says that “having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness” (6:18). Drew compared the modern symbol of wedding rings with the earrings worn by Hebrew bondservants. Paul uses a similar analogy in chapter seven, explaining that just as a woman is free to remarry if her husband dies, so we have died to the law through the crucifixion of Christ that we might be married to Him in his resurrection.
Another passage Drew touched on was Philippians 2:7, in which Christ is described as having taken the form of a bondservant through His incarnation. To bind ourselves to Christ is to surrender our identity to His. To become bondservants is to literally become Christ-like, as even Jesus made Himself like a bondservant. In this decision, we surrender our choices and desires to Him forever. Our life is no longer our own but submitted to the lordship of Jesus Christ.
In John 6:68, when many were turning away from Jesus, He asked His disciples if they also wanted to leave. Drew highlighted Peter’s response as the answer of a true bondservant: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Apart from the adverse reaction to slavery in the American psyche, the idea of giving our lives over to an authority creates doubt and distrust. While the salvation offered by Christ may be appealing, His subsequent lordship is something our sinful flesh rebels against. 1 John 2:3 says that we know that we know Jesus if we keep His commandments. This is necessary for the one who would follow Jesus, but while the life of a Christ-follower is not easy, it is a joy. Translating Deuteronomy’s description of the bondservant into our relationship with Christ, “we will not leave Him because we love Him, His house, and we prosper with Him.”
Drew’s final illustration was the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15. In realizing his hopelessness, the son who squandered his inheritance returned to his father begging to be taken in as one of his hired servants. Instead, the father ran to meet his son, welcomed him in with much celebration, and put a ring on his son’s hand. This points back to where Paul has been contrasting our old slavery to sin with our new slavery to righteousness. He concludes by taking it a step further in Romans 8:15-17:
“For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs – heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.”
With less than one week until I am scheduled to arrive in Moscow, I am counting down the days. It will be an interesting journey home: I had anticipated being able to use this time in Kristiansand for planning my three days in Ireland, but due to various reasons – including a paycheck that is late in coming – I will be winging it once I arrive in Dublin. Besides, I have received such a warm welcome here that it is beginning to feel like home, and I have been connecting with new and old friends on a daily basis since I arrived. Picking up where I left off yesterday, here is a quick summary of my final week in Norway:
Sunday, May 3: Karl Sigve finally has a day off following a church conference, and we take a relaxed afternoon hike through the woods that border his neighborhood. We talk about life, family and the future and enjoy another incredible view over the city. At several points along the way, I am forced to pause just to take it in. It is beautiful here, and I am going to miss Norway. We make our way home in time for Karl Sigve to go prepare for the evening’s worship service, and I follow on foot a couple hours later. I have heard so much from him about his congregation, and now I finally have the opportunity to join them. I recognize several more faces from the camp last Summer, and I feel welcomed by the fact that many of them also recognize me. When we arrive home, Karl Sigve showcases his ability in the kitchen with a delectable lamb fillet dinner, and we pass the evening over another bottle of wine.
Monday, May 4: We are up early before Karl Sigve is back to the grind. He works for a small outfit that delivers and supports measurement and diagnostic tools for automobiles. You might remember that I had the chance to join him on the job a couple of years ago.
Karl Sigve on the job - November 15, 2007
Happy with the day's work
Karl Sigve invites me to join him and his colleagues for lunch. I make the fifteen minute walk to the office (the walk I made to church the day before, since they meet in the same office/shopping complex). I rendezvous with him and Henning at the store for their daily lunchtime ritual of grocery shopping, taste sampling, and chatting it up with baker Berit. We climb the stairs two stories to find Torbjørn, both boss and pastor, and the four of us make smalltalk over open face sandwiches, pastry and coffee. Before returning home to the apartment, I make another round in the grocery store and emerge with two rather heavy shopping bags and an unwieldy bouquet that was even more unmanageable thanks to the wind that hasn’t seemed to stop blowing since I got to Kristiansand. The flowers make it home in one piece, and after Karl Sigve gets home from work, we arrive fashionably late for Åshild’s early birthday BBQ, followed by Swedish jokes and coffee.
Tuesday, May 5: Apart from Karl Sigve’s circle, I think it is safe to say I know only one other person in Kristiansand, and I could not visit the city without meeting up with her. From my first day at Kvitfjell, Anette and I have had a special connection, and we spent many good times together during my first season on the mountain. Last year, however, she made the move to Kristiansand to study journalism, so I have missed having her around.
Tuesday, I take the bus into the center for the first time since Karl Sigve picked me up at the train station. Anette finds me shortly after, and we take a walk to the fish market, past some of her local hangouts, and eventually to Herlig Land for a bite to eat (which, coincidentally, is the last restaurant I dined at with Karl Sigve during my Christmas visit in 2007). We enjoy catching up over lunch, then go on an unsuccessful hunt for a music store, all but one of which have apparently moved to a large shopping center outside of town. With better luck, I would have hoped to snag a copy of Medea, the sophomore album from Oslo’s Jenny Hval and her project, Rockettothesky. I first learned of her when Janne posted this mystical video for the single “Grizzly Man”:
Mr. Boklund picks me up and gives Anette a lift on our way to a tasty lasagna dinner with his wife, Ruth Silje, their two children, Noah Emil and Matilda, as well as the Feed sisters and Maria’s son, Jonatan. Between remote control helicopters and wind-up race cars, we follow up mealtime with coffee and Norway’s best shot at American chocolate chip cookies before Solvor and I join Henning on the way to his brother and sister-in-law’s home for house group. We sing, share and pray together (over coffee, of course) before I hitch a ride back to the apartment with Siv and her sister, Lisbeth.
Wednesday, May 6: Of all the travel decisions I have had to make, the hardest has been whether I would be able to swing a trip to Feda. Karl Sigve’s schedule has not allowed for it. In fact, this morning he is off to Oslo for an overnight business trip. Today, I break the news to Bjørn and Marit, who have always treated me like a son, that I will not be joining them at Håland, where they are busy with work on the farm. Marit expresses that they will forgive me this time, as long as I promise to return. I need no convincing. There are several reasons why I decide to skip what is probably my favorite place in Norway: despite the fact that I am now on “vacation,” the past month has been chock full of work, packing, planning and traveling. As relaxing as life is in Feda, I need a chance to simply catch my breath, so I spend my first full day alone at the apartment, except for a welcome visit from Åshild, who drops by for an evening stroll.
Today, Thursday, May 7: Karl Sigve returns from Oslo tonight. I sleep in for only the second time, thanks to the construction crew that has been drilling, sawing and hammering out a foundation for a new garden on the other side of my bedroom wall. (All bets are on that the finished flower bed will be more aesthetically pleasing than it sounds.) As much as I enjoy updating this blog, even simple updates like this one take me hours to write, so that is what I have done today. Tonight I plan to join the rest of the house group for coffee (!) downtown, and any extra time left in the day will be used for getting ready to leave Kristiansand.
Tomorrow, Friday, May 8: Tina and Runar will be in town for a trip to the zoo with Ida Sofie and Tor Martin. They have invited me to come along (which will only be in keeping with the theme of the past week) before accompanying them on the drive back to Skien for the night.
Saturday, May 9: The bittersweet day of my departure. If all goes according to plan, Tina will drive me to the airport on Saturday in time to hop an afternoon flight to Dublin. I will need a lot of prayer and a little bit of luck for things to work out there. Of course, they always seem to. Besides, it’s Ireland!
While northern Europe usually keeps itself tucked away from the international spotlight, the past month has produced a few noteworthy news stories:
When Israel was cracking down in Gaza, Oslo and other Scandinavian cities were the scenes of violent demonstrations. Islam in Europe provides video with a press article and a compelling rescue story. Norway is largely sympathetic toward the Palestinian cause as the only active western supporter of Hamas, and most of the outnumbered pro-Israel demonstrators were elderly.
Protests of another kind have been occurring in Iceland for months, as the economy there lives up to the country’s name. Its citizens have lost confidence in their government, and their voices were finally heard this past week when Prime Minister Geir Haarde and his Cabinet resigned, making way for the world’s first (if only temporary) lesbian head of state.
Following up on actions taken after the Danish cartoon incident of 2005, a longstanding but largely ignored law against blasphemy is now finding renewed support in the Norwegian parliament in order to make “qualified attacks” on religion a punishable crime. Incidentally, while in Århus last summer, I got to see the headquarters of Jyllands-Posten, which first published the cartoons of the Prophet Mohamed and received subsequent bomb threats. The Norwegian sentiment behind the existing legislation against blasphemy was exemplified in 1979 when Monty Python’s Life of Brian was initially banned here.
In local news, we have been enduring another sunny cold spell with a remarkably powerful inversion. I thought I had left my icy windows behind in Wisconsin. To the contrary, I have been waking up all week to temperatures in the negative teens with ice behind my curtains. If I take the ski lift up the mountain, however, the thermometer approaches the freezing point before I even get to the top. After working Saturday and Sunday, I took my camera out on Monday for a perfect day on the slopes. I combined my footage with some that Eskil shot over the weekend to produce another video for the website.
