THE JOURNEY SO FAR


A Song for New Years



I think most of us have wanted to rewind our lives. I'm just glad that there's hope beyond where the song ends. That's what the Gospel is all about. A chance to start over.

Paul the apostle knew it.

I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 7:21-25 NLB)

May our lives be clear examples of what second chances are all about.

Happy new year.

Durand Robinson

Colorado's Winter Wonderland



Took these pictures this morning in front of our house in Denver. (Actually we live in the basement apartment.)

Warm greetings for a happy new year.

Durand

Joy

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I was thinking about the coming week's advent emphasis on joy. Joy is a perfect response to provision. I've been in need so often this year, and when God or other people stepped in, overwhelming me by meeting that need, joy was an almost involuntary reaction. Well, almost.

It has taken being willing to admit I'm not living in some category of humanity that can demand my needs be met. I'm just a man and an imperfect one at that. And I'm living in a world that's bent in such a way that even the innocent children are denied basic needs of life. Don't get me going on that. Another post, perhaps.

The point is that James was right. James 1:17 "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."

My kids are coming home for the holidays starting tomorrow. That's a gift. We had enough to pay our bills again this month. Another gift. God's provided me with great coworkers and projects that are bringing him honor. A privilege and a gift. And I'm closer to my heavenly Father than I was a year ago. I am overwhelmed with God's blessing. What a joy.

And like the angels with the shepherds, I'm realizing my fears have been a waste of time. The Saviour is here. The Messiah. The Peace with God I've always and will always need has been established. There's good news that means joy for every person.

It's not a perfect world. I'm not a perfect person. But there's much I can do to bring joy in the world around me.

God help me see the needs of others and then let you use me as a gift worthy of the giver.

Durand

A candle of hope for Europe

Matt, Esther and Amanda at pre-field orientation.

Yesterday Ruth and I got to teach two modules for our pre-field orientation with GEM. It was a great opportunity. I was really impressed with the quality of new missionaries God's sending our way.

Matt and Esther are headed for our region. Matt's a building project supervisor (or will be) for EuroTeam and a drummer as well. (That's an added bonus for me when trying to do outreach events locally!)

Also a blessing is the fact that Esther is Dutch. Together, their sensitivity to cultural issues while seeking to be an influence for Christ in our region will be invaluable.

Ruth spoke about the spiritual climate of Europe and about our need to minister in ways that make sense to Europeans. Part of that challenge is recognizing things in our lives we've considered as Christian that were in fact cultural rather than biblical.

As Ruth spoke about our American "optimisim" we've often confused as "hope" coming from Christ, she pointed out that unlike America, Europe has known devistating wars in their own towns, streets and families through occupying forces. We wonder why they don't just "get over" the two world wars and move on. But doing so is completely naive and insensitive. Scars are also a part of life and many Europeans live with the vivid memories of lost loved ones and attrocities American's can only try and imagine.

As she shared this, Esther, who with her American husband have spent the last several years in the US, immediately and involuntarily began to weep. She said, "I've been trying to explain, but nobody here seems to get it."

I believe our time was important not only for the new missionaries but for us as well. It's not easy to see things as others do, but that skill lies at the heart of any relationship if it's going to be a strong one. In our efforts to help Europeans reach Europe, our task must include being aware of their past, realistic about today, and hopeful about tomorrow.

Today is the second Sunday of advent, and for us we've decided to focus on the hope we have in Christ. Ps. 33:18 says "But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love."

Durand

PS. If you'd like to join me in my reflection guide on advent click here.

Training on Evangelism in Europe

Ruth and I were invited to spend time teaching about Evangelism in Post-Christian Europe yesterday. I went down to the GEM office, not really knowing who we'd be teaching. It was so encouraging to find these four young adults had all been overseas already and are just ready to jump across the ocean and get to work!

Our prayer for years has been to see God sending new missionaries that could help make a difference. May God send 50 like them in the next year! After the class, we all went for pizza at the home of one of the GEM office staff and then prayed for one another.

You can pray too. Two are headed to France, one to Latvia, and one to Germany. Pray for their dependence on God as the deadlines for support and all the logistics pile up. Tiffany, Sara, Brad and Holly. (You can pray for Ruth, too. She's the cute one in the middle of the picture.)

Long time no post

Catching up on a blog is a bit artificial. After all this was meant to be a view of the journey along the way. Still, November has been a very busy month for us. Here are the highlights.

Church missions conference in Huntsville, Alabama (one of the few churches where rocket scientists are used to build the church... ha! Actually a bunch of the members actually do work for NASA there in the Space Center.) The folks were warm and appreciative. Got to meet Ron Snyder from the church who is in charge of a Christian print house. It's always good to talk with others who are working in similar areas for the sake of the Gospel.

Then we spent time with family in Birmingham before heading back to Denver. The nieces and nephews are all following the Lord. That's a wonderful encouragement for all of us. My brother Greg continues to rekindle his passion for art and has really been busy. He's got some amazing portraits using a highly technical style of pencil drawing. Detail like you rarely see. So cool. He even did a portrait of my other brother from when he was little. Mom shutters as she can almost see the little spark in his eye come out of the drawing that usually meant he was up to something...

A week in Denver to catch up, get snow tires, etc and then off to Chicago (Wheaton actually) to see Laura. A special gift enabled us to see our girl during her first semester in school. It was great to reconnect, talk, laugh, meet friends and feel a part of her life there.

Since then, we've been in Denver. I had a great chance to meet with a guy we've gotten to know that goes to our Sunday AM church named Josh Wilson. He's amazingly talented. He heads up the media work for the church, directs the sound/AV team, plays drums at least twice a month for worship, sings, writes, and is in the middle of his schooling at the film school in Denver. He's working to establish an organized missions committee for the church and has been overseas many times on short term teams as well as having lived in Switzerland with his family for a year during his teens.

The reason I'm going on like that, is when we had lunch a couple of weeks ago, he was ready to make plans to work with CreativeWorks. Probably only a short term project this summer, but with a view to joining us in 2008 after school. That will be awesome. He's starting German next semester.

Which leads me to us. We've started studying German on our own. It's got to happen and the sooner the better. Granted it's only via computer at the moment, but we should see progress. As Jim Meyer often says, small steps make the distance.








(The Turkey takes it's effect!)

And of course, we're enjoying being able to see Anna and Matt at the drop of a hat. It's really good to have daughters for friends. Thanksgiving was great. Anna's in-laws (Bob and Janie Till), Anna and Matt, and Matt's brother Jonathan all joined us in our one bedroom apartment for Thanksgiving. Great fun to be with ones we love.


More to come.

Durand




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