Weekend Education

When I was younger, my mom used to say, "You learn something new every day." I've come to realize in my life that you CAN learn something new every day if you're looking to expand your horizons. One can even learn random and silly things, such as the ten things I learned this weekend:

1. A book on CD passes driving time like nothing else.
   
2. The Sleep Inn in Bridgeport, WV gives out free NIV New Testaments. I hope that people take them and read them.
   
3. Gas in West Virginia has a high state tax; it's better to fill up the tank when you get back in MD.
4. Clarksburg, WV is full of one-way streets. You will stop traffic if you drive the wrong way, even on a Sunday morning.
   
5. There is a large Starbucks in Bridgeport, WV.
6. Bluefield State College (Bluefield, WV) has been listed as one of the nations best colleges for five years running.
7. A car does not need to ride five feet behind you to indicate that you are going too slow. I'll move as soon as I can get over to the other lane. BACK OFF!
8. Driving for four hours without a pit stop makes my back hurt.
9. I need all day Monday to get over the exhaustion of driving 700 miles and preaching twice.
10. I thought that driving from Hagerstown to Morgantown was rough in a snowstorm. Heavy fog and thunderstorms aren't much better driving conditions.

I met some great people this weekend at two great churches in Clarksburg and Elkins, WV. I really enjoyed seeing the churches and experiencing their unique personalities. It was my first time at each church, so I was glad to make an initial connection with each.

Galatians (part 6) and terrorism

As my Arabic class progresses, we are building our vocabularies. Arabic is very similar to Hebrew, in that many nouns are derived from root verbs. For example of derivation, the verb “walk” makes nouns like: a walker, a walk-a-thon, a cakewalk, etc. In English, you can take an average verb and derive at most 7 nouns from it. In Arabic, you can make 13! So quite often, we have a new word that is closely related to another word we’ve already learned or at least heard somewhere on the news. We learned other day that the word for “grammar” means “the rules” but in it’s singular form, “rule base” the word is Al-Qaida. We learned that the Taliban takes its name from the noun for “students.” From these simple everyday words like grammar and students, terrorist groups have adopted a name and created a reputation.

Galatians 4:17-18 talks about terrorism. Okay, maybe not terrorism, but the zeal that initiates it. “Those people are zealous to win you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate you from us, so that you may be zealous for them. It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good, and to be so always and not just when I am with you.” (4:17-18)

Terrorism is absolutely evil, but it begins with people who are passionate about seeing political change. That passion unravels into an unbridled fervor, to the point that murder and mayhem seem like an easy price to pay for a political agenda. It’s a corrupted zeal.

The entire epistle of Galatians serves as a warning against a corrupted gospel. Teachers in the Galatian church were forcing Jewish laws and traditions onto new believers who were set free from that law by the redemptive work of Christ. Freedom from the restraints of Jewish law is a major theme throughout the six chapters, and in chapter 4, Paul speaks of the motivation of those Jewish leaders, saying that the keys to zeal are this: the purpose and the persistence. Is the purpose worthy? Are you willing to live by this zeal all the time and not just when it serves your own interests?

“Zeal” is used only 21 times in the whole Bible; zealous is used 14 times. Paul describes himself as zealous in his fervor for Judaism before he came to Christ, using his religious zeal as a reason for persecuting the early Church--not so much different than a terrorist! It makes the perfect example for the verses that Paul states here. Zeal is not a bad emotion; it’s the focus of one’s zeal that presents the problem. Zeal is no excuse for sin.

Beam me up, Scotty!

Over lunch with the pastor of Rappahannock Christian Center, where I spoke on Sunday morning, we had a laugh about the technology of the original Star Trek. It seemed so futuristic with their handheld devices and their computer programs on the spaceship. He commented that most of the technology that seemed so futuristic and cool on that show now actually exists. We all have personal computers; most people have simple cell phones, if not Blackberries and Palm Pilots, that we use to pull up all sorts of information or send messages instantly, even around the world.

My comment was that I'm still waiting for teleportation. The day that I can "beam" myself to other locations, rather than driving for hours or sitting in crowded airports and airplanes, is the technological advance that I long for!

I had a busy weekend, driving from home to Ocean City for the Women in Ministry retreat there on Friday afternoon. I wasn't able to stay for the whole retreat, so I drove back home on Saturday for a few hours of my brother's birthday party before I drove down to Tappahannock, VA. It ended up being nearly 500 miles. Thankfully, not every service is so far away, but I'll be hitting the road pretty heavily in the next few months. Nearly every weekend, I'll be driving for hours, and I can't help but wish for a little more Star Wars technology!

A bigger slice

April is birthday month in the Rainey family. Starting with the 5th of April, we celebrate Dad's, Sarah's, Ben's, and Sydney's birthdays before the month ends. We have parties about once a week. That means a lot of cake! And inevitably when the cake comes out, someone starts slicing while people gives requests for "just a little slice." As you pass out the cake plates, people pass on slices that are too large or too small, until like Goldilocks they get the slice that looks just right for their appetite.

Lately, I've been feeling like my life is being sliced out, like a cake or pie. I have responsibilities that take a certain amount of my time, energy, or focus. Obviously, my job requires my weekends; traveling and preaching is a major slice of my pie. During the week, I make phone calls, send out letters and cards, and do other office work which takes up a smaller slice of my pie. My Arabic class takes up more of the pie than I realized it would when I chose to take the class. I enjoy the class, and I've certainly learned a lot, but it's more pie than I really wanted to give out.

My family is the other largest piece of pie. My three nieces are here nearly every day, and I love spending time with them. I know that there will come a time when I won't be here to take them down to pet the horses, or push them on the swing. I want to make the most of the time I have now.

There are other smaller pieces of the pie. Personal devotions, keeping up with good friends, and the normal parts of life like grocery shopping and bill paying all take a wedge of time and energy. I've been trying to get back to the gym, too, although many days, it feels like the pie has already been given out and there's none left to divide up any further.

I've been trying to figure out how to make this pie go further for a few weeks now, and while I haven't figured it all out yet, I'm glad to enjoy the flavor of each and every slice.

Spring

Jeremiah 1:11, "I see the branch of an almond tree."

Signs of spring surround us in these warm, pleasant days of April. I enjoy seeing all the budding trees, the grass growing again, and the banks of daffodils planted along the highways. My mother and I had a few minutes of conversation today on our favorite season of the year. We came to the conclusion that neither of us like winter that much, so spring is such a relief from the cold weather and barren landscape.

One of my favorite signs of spring in the West Bank was always the budding of the almond trees, which are indigenous to the Middle East, still growing wild in parts of Jordan and Syria. In the Holy Land today, they are grown domestically, of course. Long before spring really arrives in the Middle East, the almond trees begin to bud (around February); they are, I believe, the first trees to bud in that area.

In March and April, green (or raw) almonds are available everywhere as one of the favorite Palestinian snacks. I've tried to include a picture here--if it goes through--of an unripe almond. Palestinians buy them from roadside stands, reminding me of produce stands on the Eastern Shore or peanut stands in Southern Virginia. With a large bowl of salt to dip them in, they take a green almond, bite right through the velvety outside fuzz, and dip the leftover half in the salt, before finishing off the almond.

I ate my share of green almonds, although I didn't have quite the same passion for them that my friends did. I mostly enjoyed the idea that it was a very welcome taste of spring!

Another Check Mark on the List

I have "to-do" lists. In fact, I sort of live by them. I find that I'm much more productive if I write down the things that pop into my head--call Pastor so-and-so, book the hotel room for District Council--and then make a nice long list.

I try to fit so many things into a day and those things sometimes take more time than I realize, like Arabic class that only takes an hour in the classroom but two hours a day of studying to keep up. I find myself spending more and more time with my nieces, because I'm already realizing how much I'll miss them when I leave. I imagine the poor kids will be confused as to where I've gone off to, as well. Now that spring is here, I'm trying to be more active, so gym time gets added to the list. As the date of departure looms over me, I get more stressed about business issues; I'm always adding "call so-and-so with question about visa" and similar directives to the ever-lengthening list. And then, there are the silly things like, "laundry" and "deposit checks at bank" that don't' seem like high priority until suddenly I realize I need clean clothes and money in my checking account TODAY!

I spent most of the afternoon today trying to attack as much of my list as possible, so that there will be room for tomorrow's needs and the day after's, and so it goes . . .

Not Just Races and Slots

Yesterday I went to Charles Town, WV (known for horse races and slot machines, if you believe the commercials) for a service at Calvary AG, which is technically in Ranson, WV, but it's only a mile from the racetrack.

The church there was very welcoming. I met a retired pastor, now 90 years old, who is still active in church ministry and counts many other pastors, missionaries, and lay leaders in his extended generations. He was as sharp as a tack, and I really appreciated hearing his, "Amen!" while I preached.

I met some other folks who have been attending that church since the day in 1958 when the original pastor arrived and said that God had called him to build a church on that corner of the street. That kind of commitment and longevity is amazing in this day and age! I met the new pastor and his family, only there for about a year and still assimilating into the cultural environment of the MD/VA/WV panhandle.

The pastor challenged the congregation during worship, using Gen. 28:16, "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it." He mentioned that so often God is at work in a service, in the hearts of some people during our corporate worship, but an individual's heart can be untouched. He compared it to sitting at a table laden with food, but not eating anything. Because we aren't prepared to receive from God (perhaps because of hardness in our hearts or just simple busyness and thoughts that wander), we assume that God isn't moving in that service. We don't realize that God is "in this place" whether we're aware of it or not. He challenged us to move into the place where God is working, even if it means moving physically to a place where we're not as distracted. If it is a mental move that we must make, then do that by all means, but make sure we are ready to receive from the Lord, because "surely the Lord is in this place."

I sensed a tremendous breakthrough in the worship after he shared that, and I was really impressed with his thought on that verse.

The Weekend

Update on my sister Sarah:

She's home now, after having an endoscopy yesterday; the doctors removed a gallstone that was blocking the pancreas, causing the inflammation. Her stomach is a little sore, but otherwise, she's feeling much better than she was earlier in the week. Olivia was happy to sleep in her own crib last night, and Grammy and PawPaw were relieved to have their own sleep schedule back to normal.

This has been a rather crazy week, but I'm glad that Sarah is recovering, and that things are settling down around here.

This Week is Flying By

My sister Sarah continues to convalesce from her attack of pancreantitis (BWMC room 461), and each day she feels progressively better. She is scheduled for an endoscopy tomorrow, but may get squeezed in to a canceled spot this afternoon.

Olivia has a little angel during this week at Grammy and PawPaw's house. We took her to the park for a hour the other day after her visit to the hospital. She loves all animals and the ducks at Lake Waterford are very used to children. She had a great time!

Writer's Block

I feel badly that I haven't really been updating this blog well lately. I'm no busier than usual, perhaps even less, since last week was spring break at the community college (no Arabic class). I thought I would enjoy the week off, but it seemed to fly by, leaving me wondering this past weekend where on earth all that time had gone.

I went to Middle River AG in Essex on Sunday morning. It was an impromptu decision; I didn't have another church scheduled, so I picked a church that I hadn't had much contact with over the past few years. I have some family friends that attend there, and the people of the church are solid gold. I really enjoyed the service; what impressed me most was that every person there introduced themselves to me and chatted me up for a minute or two. That's what I call a friendly church!

This week has started out a bit more hectic than usual because my sister is in the hospital with another flare-up of pancreantitis. We've had Olivia here since early yesterday morning; she's such a delightful child that it's a pleasure to spend time with her, but like any one-year old, she'll wear you out! We all hope that Sarah has a quick recovery, and I appreciate your prayers for her.

I found out yesterday that when I return to the field, it will be under a new supervisor. Our current Area Directors (whose name I will not mention here because of security issues) are retiring. I had the pleasure of serving under their leadership when I was in the Middle East years ago, and I really respected their leadership and vision for that area of the world. I'm glad for them, because I know their retirement plans are to spend more time with their grandchildren. I don't really know the new Area Director couple, but I'm sure that coming years will give me plenty of opportunity!