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.

Last Spring, before returning from Norway, I got started on a book that I had intended to read for some time.  It had come along with me from the States, though I could have just as easily purchased a copy in the original language while abroad.  When he published Sophie’s World in 1994, Jostein Gaarder, a former philosophy teacher, was already an award-winning Norwegian author.  Since then, his book has been translated into over fifty languages, become a New York Times Bestseller, and achieved the top spot on bestseller lists throughout Europe.

The book is subtitled “A Novel About the History of Philosophy.”  Oddly enough, the story takes place in a small Norwegian town and centers around the philosophical escapades of a young teenager named Sophie, who begins to question the nature of her existence when she receives an anonymous letter posing two questions: “Who are you?” and “Where does the world come from?”  While it is difficult for Sophie to decide which is more mysterious – the unidentified sender or the questions themselves – she soon finds herself attempting to answer the age-old questions of the universe with the help of a new philosophy teacher.

Sophie and her teacher begin in the Garden of Eden and continue through the Norse myths until they meet the great philosophers of ancient Greece: Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.  Next comes the clash of Hellenism with the rapid rise and radical propositions of Christianity, followed by the Middle Ages, the Rennaissance, and the Baroque periods.  As they enter the Enlightenment, Romanticism, and the modern era, Sophie’s lessons become directly focused on thinkers of the day like Descartes, Spinoza, Locke, Hume, Berkeley, Kant, Hegel, Kierkrgaard, Marx, Darwin, Freud, Nietzsche, and Sartre.

While interacting with her philosophy teacher, Sophie also starts to receive a series of curious postcards addressed to a girl named Hilde, whose existence increasingly seems to mirror her own in some sort of parallel universe.  As Sophie applies her lessons in philosophy, she closes in on the true identity, not only of Hilde, but also herself and the world in which she lives.

Because I am a slow reader, what initially deterred me from reading the book was it’s sheer size: five hundred pages that lasted me through most of the Summer.  But because Gaarder takes the brilliant approach of telling his story through the mind of a young student, the broad progression of philosophical thought is presented in a way that makes it both entertaining and easy to follow.  Granted, I appreciate the novel’s setting more than the average reader and concede that a more academic survey of philosophy may harmlessly omit specific Scandinavian influences.  As this is the limit to Gaarder’s personal bias, however, he is to be applauded.  One notable exception is his assumption of evolutionary theory in the final chapters, but this is not enough to detract from the utility of his book as an accessible reference manual of philosophical history.  In fact, I have already revisited chapters of the book to recall a particular subject, and I look forward to rereading Sophie’s World in full.

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.”

Just because it was the right decision to stay in Moscow for the Winter doesn’t mean I’ll miss Norway any less.  If I had decided to return to work at the resort for a third season, this is about the time I would be shopping for a ticket, packing up and moving back into my old apartment at Kvitfjell.  Thanks to temperatures that have been consistently low enough for artificial snow production, the mountain opened its first slopes last weekend, and this week they received an early dose of fresh powder.  (Check out the photos of Scott and Marius.)  Today, Kvitfjell Hotel is opening their doors for the season, and they have just added to their website a commercial (click on “Video”) that I filmed for them last March and edited over the Summer.

In case that weren’t enough to make me heartsick, last night we invited three high school exchange students to dinner at the Big Haus: Leo from Holland, Yeliz from Turkey, and Adina from Kristiansand, Norway.  Adina and Yeliz had walked by the Haus a couple of weeks ago and spotted my flag, which made them curious enough to approach the front door and introduce themselves.  They returned last night, where over a bonfire I got to brush up on my Norwegian, and for the first time since moving to Moscow, Adina heard more of her own language than a stereotypical “Uff da!”

When I wrote about moving into the Big Haus a few weeks ago, Leslie Wilson promptly (and graciously) brought to my attention that I had omitted a key component of the lieutenancy program.  Since lieutenants are only required to pay for board (the room is free), it is expected that we take responsibility in maintaining the Haus and other various chores as needed.  So far, I have raked, mowed, and fertilized the property (which presents its size modestly).  Earlier this week, I compiled a live CD and video collection with which Leslie’s band, Groovehaus, will advertise itself at this weekend’s bridal fair.  Also this weekend is the Wilson’s first ever Fire and Reign marriage seminar, which I plan to record for them.

In addition, a pet project of mine – which is still in the research and planning phase – will be to broaden the scope of waste recycled by the Big Haus.  Needless to say, a full house of fourteen generates quite a bit trash, much of which falls under the categories of materials accepted at the Moscow Recycling center.  I was encouraged to learn that we already send them our cardboard and glass, and other good candidates will be items like milk jugs, soda cans, and light bulbs.  The hard part will be arranging a centralized collection station and then getting the rest of the residents to use it.  After that, it will be my distinct honor to sort and assemble the recyclables for weekly curb-side pick-up.

That said, it just so happens that November 15 is “America Recycles” Day, hence the flashy new image in the sidebar.  Clicking on it will take you to the official ARD website, where you can learn more about the basics of recycling and find out if there are any related events happening in your area.  For example (though not listed on the ARD website), Moscow Recycling will celebrate by offering an increased payout for aluminum cans.  It seems appropriate, therefore, to impose a deadline of November 15 for launching a Big Haus recycling program.  If I’m successful, I’ll get a bonus for the cans.  I’m even crossing my fingers for a cape.

Moscow did not escape the cold snap that recently swept across most of the country.  When my sister, Kristen, held her outdoor wedding ceremony and reception during the final weekend in September, she was blessed with the last of our Summer weather.  What followed was a typical Moscow mix of sun, rain, wind, and chilly temperatures.  This past week brought lows reaching into the single digits, breaking records that stretched all the way back to the 1940s.  Unlike other regions, we did not see any snow, but several consecutive days of freezing temperatures meant that many of our trees went straight from green to brown – not to mention thousands of dollars in lost agriculture, such as seed potatoes in southern Idaho, the University of Idaho’s corn maze in Lewiston (located in the Snake River valley, which can usually rely on warmer temperatures) and Washington State University’s organic pumpkin crop, resulting in the cancellation of their annual harvest party.  The weather went from Summer to Winter and now back to Fall, with today’s temperature maxing out at a balmy seventy-four degrees.  The trees in Moscow that did survive the freeze are still green or just beginning to turn colors, like this one down the street from the Big Haus.  Also taking advantage of the warmer weather is a city-wide hatch of some sort of gnat or wolly aphid, which nearly resembles snow in the sunlight and is difficult to walk through without catching a few in the facial orifices.  Click on the photo to see more.

When finding myself in casual discourse lately, I have had a tough time explaining to people “what I do.”  Whether I am meeting old friends who are curious what I am up to or being introduced to someone new, the question is a difficult one to dodge.  Over the Summer, I could fall back on answering about my job at SEL, even though I knew that was likely to be temporary employment.  Between the time it ended in August and my sister Kristen’s wedding a month later, I was busy with preparations for her event, which both sufficed as a satisfactory response and provided a distraction at which I could divert the conversation away from its original point of inquiry.  But the question has become increasingly problematic since then.

I have no argument with the question itself.  Just this week, I was reminded by my framed copy of Evan Wilson’s “The Word of a Gentleman” that “A gentleman is employed: He is advancing when not in company.”  At the moment, I do not have a paying job, which is often the expectation when a question like “What do you do?” is posed.  An equally appropriate question encountered when living in two neighboring college towns is what I am studying.  Allow me to clarify that I am neither enrolled at the university, nor putting my degree to good use.  To make things easy, I have begun condensing this set of circumstances using the word “bum.”

What I appreciate about the aforementioned “Code” (as it was previously named) is that the implied question does not assume a paycheck.  As much as there is to be said for steady income, to be “advancing” leaves plenty of room for the situation I find myself in, and which I have arrived at by choice.  Over the past year, I have given fair consideration to a variety of attractive options that has included more traveling, returning to school, and resuming a career.  In contemplating the alternatives – a fortunate position in itself – I have realized that simply finding something “to do” ignores the greater question of “Why?”

Granted, I will eventually need to rejoin the work force.  Money pays for food and rent, which sustain us so that we can work, get paid, eat, and sleep.  In between, we raise a family, hang out with friends, read our books, and worship on Sundays.  It is our lot.  I have just embarked on a study of Ecclesiastes, and I have no naïve intention of escaping the vanity of it all.  But whatever I do, I want to do it intentionally.  I spent five years at an office desk developing software because it was the logical step upon graduating from college with a computer science degree.  I entered college studying computers because it was a promising field with the reward of a hefty payoff, and that much proved to be true.

But as a single soon-to-be twenty-nine year old, a hefty payoff is not what I need or want.  I do look forward to raising a family, and to be honest, I thought I might already be there.  The desk job could have provided ample munition for pursuing that objective, and I like to imagine that I would have been happy.  However, instead of following the traditional progression to its end, I am currently faced with a unique opportunity to evaluate my life without pressing distractions.  Many are able to read the lay of the land in stride, select the fastest route, and arrive successfully at their goals.  I, on the other hand, am finding it necessary to pull out the map and compass before taking another step.  Only now am I confronting a few sentences I once wrote years ago:

“There is a principle in physics called the Heisenberg Uncertainty, explained by the fact that the more precisely the position of a moving object is known, the harder it is to determine its momentum or direction.  It is portrayed by a two and a half hour, three-actor play by Michael Frayn called Copenhagen, which not only addresses the brilliance and moral conflict behind the development of the atomic bomb, but also the way the world we live in reflects the subtle characteristics of what it means to be human.  We can spend a lot of time thinking about who we are and where we are in life.  But ponder the thought too long, and the more important perspective of which direction we are going and how quickly becomes difficult to see.  Without purpose or destination, the question of who we are is irrelevant.”

In retrospect, I would argue against myself in proposing that one must first possess identity before any meaningful progress becomes possible.  In other words, determining who we are is a vital precondition to a good life.  To do so involves a recipe that combines ultimate philosophy and human history with my own particular desires, interests, and abilities.  I have a vague notion of all of these, but never have I attempted to assimilate them into a coherent whole – something that could give me confidence, not only of who I am, but how best to use the short time I am given.

Which is why it came as a welcome surprise in early September to be offered a Lieutenancy at the Big Haus, a name which may sound familiar to readers of this blog.  In fact, it was two years ago that the Haus played host to my birthday/going-away party before I set off on that first adventure to Kvitfjell.  As I have mentioned before, the Big Haus is an open-door boarding house owned by Evan and Leslie Wilson, whom I have known for years through my initial high school friendship with their oldest son and later by attending numerous gatherings, celebrations, and banquets (Leslie is an amazing chef) in their beautiful home.  I have even had the special privilege of spending Christmas morning with their family, all dressed in our pajamas.

In recent years, they have begun to shift the orientation of their operations from housing college students to a broader form of ministry, formally known as the Big Haus Society.  Part of this ministry is something they call Lieutenancy, in which an interested individual such as myself is invited (or applies) to live at the Haus at little cost in order to conduct what can be succinctly described as an informal literature course, arranged by Evan, with the purpose of discovering how to attain a peaceful and orderly existence.  My friendship with the Wilsons, familiarity with their ministry, and present personal circumstances made their offer the most appealing of any I had yet entertained.

Before accepting, certain provisions had to be made – namely, getting my sister married off and gaining the blessing of my parents, whom I had been living with since returning from Europe in May.  Both feats were accomplished, and last weekend, I made the move into the Big Haus as a Lieutenant.  With the Wilson home already being one of my favorite Moscow hang-outs, the move could not have been more natural: I have come into the company of old and new friends with whom I look forward to passing the Winter months until the end of my Lieutenancy sometime next Spring.

“To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.” – Ecclesiastes 3:1.  The word “season” has long been one of my favorites.  I thought that I would return from Europe and get all of my questions answered over the course of the Summer.  To the contrary, my questions only multiplied.  What has become clear to me, however, is the nature of the season I am passing through.  I did not realize it immediately.  Indeed, with the benefit of hindsight, I may be closer to the end of this season than the beginning.  I now look forward to explaining my Big Haus Lieutenancy to those who ask me what I do, and I expect by Christmas I will have added to that some sort of part-time job in order to pay the bills.  Though I may have successfully escaped “bum” status, I sense that the challenging finale of this season lies ahead of me.  The Lieutenancy will offer the opportunity to spread out my map and compass and serve as the stepping stone that will propel me into action – the sort that will make it easier to answer the question of what I do.

A perspective on the North side of the Big Haus. Betcha' can't find my room!

I have uploaded pictures of my room to Flickr.  Additional photographs from around the Haus can be found on the website Evan and I put together some years ago.

Is it just me, or is October the month for birthdays?  Mine included.  And Mix’s – as in the Mix Drinks bar in Moscow’s Eastside Marketplace.  They are celebrating one year of business tomorrow, and everyone is invited.  The best part is that my sister’s cover band, Groovehaus, will be putting on a free, all-ages concert in the mall.  They like to call me their most loyal fan, and of course I love to watch Heather perform.  But I am just as entertained by the rest of the band, and I enjoy myself every time.  Groovehaus plays a variety of music and are always adding to their repertoire, so it is impossible to peg them to a single genre.  Some of their signature covers include “Those Shoes,” “Love Shack,” and a you-gotta-see-it-to-believe-it rendition of “Billie Jean.”  If it has been a while since you heard them, you might be surprised at how much their sound has developed.  Or, if you want to check them out for the first time – and I recommend you do – drop by the Eastside Marketplace tomorrow evening (Thursday) around seven o’ clock.  See you there!

Groovehaus at the 2009 Latah County Fair

A lot of people ask me what Norway is like.  I tell them it is beautiful.  It tell them it is secluded.  I tell them it is my favorite place on earth.  I tell them it is not Sweden.  With respect to the economic crisis, I tell them Norway has hardly felt it.  I also concede that it is expensive.  The cost of living is high, but so is the quality of life, as confirmed by this article passed along by my father.