the first of all creation (and the answer isn’t light)

Riddle:  What was the first thing God created?

work report: dec 2011 / jan 2012

I’m writing this morning from a rental home in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.  We’re waiting for Harper Mae (due January 26) to be born.  We’ve been back in Tanzania (from our furlough in the U.S.) for about two months, and it’s been an incredibly busy time.  I’m not sure how to sum it all up in short, but I’ll give it a shot: 

God d—it! doing stuff in vain

---

in vain:  producing no result; ineffectual; useless

---

It’s long troubled me that we’ve understood “taking the Lord’s name in vain” as giving God a last name that rhymes with gamut.*  Not that I’m in favor of using God’s name as an obscenity (or of frequently asking him to damn things**).  It’s just that there’s so much more to the third commandment than a forbiddance to use the big GD — or his little brother, gosh.

scolded by a small woman

Yesterday I was scolded… and by a small woman.

the purpose of spiritual gifts?

Yesterday was our last Sunday in the United States for a couple of years.  We were blessed to worship with Stones River Church in Murfreesboro (our sending congregation).  The preacher mentioned Ephesians 4 kind of in passing, and I thought I’d take some time to read it this morning.

Reading then turned into a 3-column study.  And that’s what I’m sharing with you guys today.  Here is Ephesians 4:7,11-13 in my own words:

reflecting the glory of God

My task as a missionary is simple: to be a reflection of God’s glory in a culture which is not my own.*  And I’m thankful my responsibilities are small and narrow, because I bring so very little to the table.  To point others to the infinite worth of God is a job description I can appreciate and, hopefully, accomplish.