After the birdfeeder post, I began to wonder what we could learn from the birds and the great variety of species. I realized I needed to know how many birds man has classified (I'll bet there are some species we have never even seen). So from www.birding.com here are the stats:
"There are over 10,000 species of birds in the world. About 925 have been seen in
the U.S. and Canada. About 1,000 have been seen in Europe. By far the largest
concentration of bird species are found in South America. Over 3,200 species
have been seen there. In Colombia, Bolivia and Peru the species count for each
country tops 1,700. Here are some very general figures for the species count
for each continent:
3,200 South America
2,900 Asia
2,300 Africa
2,000 North America
(from Panama north + Caribbean)
1,700 Australia + surrounding
islands
1,000 Europe
65 Antarctica"
Wow! Mindboggling, isn't it? I am no orinthologist, but really, 65 species in Antarctica? I wonder if I have seen 65 species in my life (excluding zoos I guess). Last week I proposed that it was all about God's creativity, but I wonder if He didn't mean for us to learn from the birds, beyond Matthew 6.
God desires worship from every tongue and tribe and nation, that's the Great Commission and numerous other texts, right? What does that really look like in heaven or when the new heavens and new earth arrive? Are we all singing English from the hymnal in our pew? Ok, there is the house sparrow lending its song, but what about those other 10,000 birds?
If we compare people groups (tongues, tribes, nations) to the bird species...Wow, can you imagine all 10,000 birds singing at the same time? Overall, I'll bet it is a pretty wonderful sound. Sure there are a couple of birds whose songs I don't like as much, but I am humble enough to know that when our church sings, the overall sound is pleasant even if I am off key or on the wrong stanza!
The Joshua Project seeks to document and quantify people groups and our progress toward fulfilling the Great Commission. They list nearly 10,000 (9,978 in 2008) people groups in the world (these are ethno-linguistic and ethnocultural groups regardless of political boundaries). Striking similarity to the birds, eh? Of these people groups it is recorded that around 40% have are among the least evangelized and unreached peoples. That makes some 2.7 billion individuals!
God desires to have every people worshipping Him and singing, and uses so many ways to reach these people. We put out bird feeders to attract birds to hear their songs, God sacrificed His Son to enable us to draw near. How do birds know there is a full birdfeeder? Probably their birdy friends tell them, even across species! How will these other 4,253 people groups know? We must go and make disciples!
Looking forward to praising God with you now and always!
Kim
29 May 2012
21 May 2012
Bird feeders
Ah, the perfect cartoon sunrise with chirping birds and happy music in the background. Songbirds in the spring are such a wonder to behold. Robins, doves, chickadees, bluebirds all sing along happily and then a jay or mockingbird swoops through with his cacophanous call. Stillness prevails for a few moments, then the sweet melody resumes.
Do you have a birdfeeder still?
In our small group study, Emily Smith remarked that she continues to fill the bird feeder even now in this season of plenty just so she can see the birds and hear them outside her window. As she spoke of this small extravagance, I was reminded of how much more our Heavenly Father lavishes on us. I don't mean a prosperity gospel, but gosh we sure are a blessed people! Why does He do it, even when we don't deserve all these blessings? He desires to hear us sing! Just like Emily with the birds, He desires us to draw near to Him and sing for joy (Psalm 100).
Look outside, all you people in the northern hemisphere. See all that glorious spring variety? God is a a god of creativity and beauty, creating an intricate world just to enjoy. While these things are functional, I surely wouldn't call this extravagance a strictly utilitarian system. Evolutionists may say there is redudency in pants and animals to ensure survival and a continual food source, but I counter that if it is strictly utilitarian, why is there so much variety? Why would there be so much extra, unexpressed DNA that evolved and remained? My answer? God is a great artist. He put in lots of extra details so that over time, the fulness of His creation would be expressed. It is rather like a sculpture that developed a beautiful patina as it ages--it isn't exactly how the artist made it at first, but he knew that it would change and mature into an enduring work of art. I mean, can you imagine a gleaming and shiny Thinker? Rodin understood how the bronze would change after casting and make the exquisite form into a subtler, individual piece. The 20+ castings of this all look a little different depending on their atmosphere. Wow, just think, a sculpture out of a single alloy can change and look vastly different from the same mold and same materials in just over 100 years. What then can we expect from God's creation with so many complex materials--look around! We can see the vast imagination of God and know that we are made in His image. We look at the art of the Masters or on our own refrigerators and see remarkable creative expression and know it is only a foretaste of what God has in store!
Why are there 20 different species of birds at Emily's feeder? It is a beautiful sound to hear so many different songs intertwined. More in a few days about this!
Do you have a birdfeeder still?
In our small group study, Emily Smith remarked that she continues to fill the bird feeder even now in this season of plenty just so she can see the birds and hear them outside her window. As she spoke of this small extravagance, I was reminded of how much more our Heavenly Father lavishes on us. I don't mean a prosperity gospel, but gosh we sure are a blessed people! Why does He do it, even when we don't deserve all these blessings? He desires to hear us sing! Just like Emily with the birds, He desires us to draw near to Him and sing for joy (Psalm 100).
Look outside, all you people in the northern hemisphere. See all that glorious spring variety? God is a a god of creativity and beauty, creating an intricate world just to enjoy. While these things are functional, I surely wouldn't call this extravagance a strictly utilitarian system. Evolutionists may say there is redudency in pants and animals to ensure survival and a continual food source, but I counter that if it is strictly utilitarian, why is there so much variety? Why would there be so much extra, unexpressed DNA that evolved and remained? My answer? God is a great artist. He put in lots of extra details so that over time, the fulness of His creation would be expressed. It is rather like a sculpture that developed a beautiful patina as it ages--it isn't exactly how the artist made it at first, but he knew that it would change and mature into an enduring work of art. I mean, can you imagine a gleaming and shiny Thinker? Rodin understood how the bronze would change after casting and make the exquisite form into a subtler, individual piece. The 20+ castings of this all look a little different depending on their atmosphere. Wow, just think, a sculpture out of a single alloy can change and look vastly different from the same mold and same materials in just over 100 years. What then can we expect from God's creation with so many complex materials--look around! We can see the vast imagination of God and know that we are made in His image. We look at the art of the Masters or on our own refrigerators and see remarkable creative expression and know it is only a foretaste of what God has in store!
Why are there 20 different species of birds at Emily's feeder? It is a beautiful sound to hear so many different songs intertwined. More in a few days about this!
18 March 2012
Priesting the Gospel
Well, I promised some insight from Perspectives, but it is hard to distill down such an amazing first 2 weeks to a blog short enough to read! What strikes me this morning is one short line to "priest the gospel" not just "preach the gospel."
What's the difference? You've known some great preachers, right? Highly polished sermons, great theatrics and stories, perfect TV face? Were you impressed? Did you really feel Christ's love from them?
Now remember a really great priest or pastor. I really like the term pastor since I understand about sheep and shepherding. It takes really getting in the muck with your flock to be a good shepherd. Good pastors are the ones who cry with you when you talk about losses, work shoulder to shoulder with you on things and listen when you need to vent. Through this building of true relationship, not merely preaching at us does one really understand the difference.
God calls all of us to "priest" the gospel. From our abundance of joy in God's glory we should overflow with the desire to share this with others. This means our sharing or evangelism doesn't come from a sense of duty, but from a love of God. When we share our faith and joy of salvation with someone, especially if we don't know them well, it springs out of our love for God as much or more than our love of the person.
Whew, much more to come, but there is a lot of reading and writing and thinking in Perspectives, though I highly recommend it! It has already caused a bit of paradigm shift in our thinking about missions. www.perspectives.org.
What's the difference? You've known some great preachers, right? Highly polished sermons, great theatrics and stories, perfect TV face? Were you impressed? Did you really feel Christ's love from them?
Now remember a really great priest or pastor. I really like the term pastor since I understand about sheep and shepherding. It takes really getting in the muck with your flock to be a good shepherd. Good pastors are the ones who cry with you when you talk about losses, work shoulder to shoulder with you on things and listen when you need to vent. Through this building of true relationship, not merely preaching at us does one really understand the difference.
God calls all of us to "priest" the gospel. From our abundance of joy in God's glory we should overflow with the desire to share this with others. This means our sharing or evangelism doesn't come from a sense of duty, but from a love of God. When we share our faith and joy of salvation with someone, especially if we don't know them well, it springs out of our love for God as much or more than our love of the person.
Whew, much more to come, but there is a lot of reading and writing and thinking in Perspectives, though I highly recommend it! It has already caused a bit of paradigm shift in our thinking about missions. www.perspectives.org.
02 March 2012
Perspective
Wow, nearly a month already! Where does the time go? Somehow we have gotten terribly caught up in the busyness of life and haven't communicated in a while. After 2 Real Life Real Impact student weekends, 10 days in Nicaragua, and a CVM Board meeting in CA I feel like I am on spiritual overload! God is so good, but it took me a while to recover.
We are now officially in our third month of deputation and I think the Lord is teaching us patience.... It seems like it will take forever to have our monthly budget coming in or pledged.
God is blessing us through many of you and your gifts though! We are glad you are enabling us to be the conduits through which your ministry to God's people can be carried out. Keep praying for the people of Bolivia and us as well as about your role in this ministry.
We are beginning the Perspectives on the World Christian Movement course this week--wow! This is a bigger undertaking than I realized, but I have been blown away in the first chapter already. Look for some insights from this course in the upcoming weeks.
We are now officially in our third month of deputation and I think the Lord is teaching us patience.... It seems like it will take forever to have our monthly budget coming in or pledged.
God is blessing us through many of you and your gifts though! We are glad you are enabling us to be the conduits through which your ministry to God's people can be carried out. Keep praying for the people of Bolivia and us as well as about your role in this ministry.
We are beginning the Perspectives on the World Christian Movement course this week--wow! This is a bigger undertaking than I realized, but I have been blown away in the first chapter already. Look for some insights from this course in the upcoming weeks.
06 February 2012
Our God is AMAZING!
This morning is our last full day in Nicaragua. It is a day of rest and regrouping. I am sitting and watching the Pacific break on the rocks, waiting for the few surfers to paddle out and tackle the waves. It is a tough life...
We have had a great week of training though. We, along with 10 other CVM fieldworkers or candidates have been working 8am to often 7 or 8 pm daily on a training called "Training of Trainers." This is an exciting, practical method of adult education based on Participatory Learning. The gist of this is involving trainees (on our staff, in communities, or anywhere) to engage in dialogue through skits, picture codes, etc to discover their own needs and have ownership of the material they learn. A simile for this is like how David and I joke that our marriage is happy because we always let the other person think it was their idea! It isn't so devious as that, though. It is an amazing method of teaching and learning rather than our traditional school method of banking--dumping knowledge into a brain and expecting regurgitation of answers.
Anyway, it has been an intense week of learning and application, we even had to develop our own training programs to present to our classmates. The bonding between our coworkers was amazing. I am constantly reminded of what an excellent example of the family of Christ that we have in Christian Veterinary Mission.
We have now been at the beach for a day or so with the other fieldworkers from Latin America and have loved picking their brains about crosscultural living and the odd things we should plan to bring with us! More about that in the future...
Thanks for supporting us with your prayers! We are flying home on Tuesday and then Caleb is going to Indiana to visit family, David is back to school, and I am headed to California for the CVM board meeting. Pray for our crazy travel and sanity!
We have had a great week of training though. We, along with 10 other CVM fieldworkers or candidates have been working 8am to often 7 or 8 pm daily on a training called "Training of Trainers." This is an exciting, practical method of adult education based on Participatory Learning. The gist of this is involving trainees (on our staff, in communities, or anywhere) to engage in dialogue through skits, picture codes, etc to discover their own needs and have ownership of the material they learn. A simile for this is like how David and I joke that our marriage is happy because we always let the other person think it was their idea! It isn't so devious as that, though. It is an amazing method of teaching and learning rather than our traditional school method of banking--dumping knowledge into a brain and expecting regurgitation of answers.
Anyway, it has been an intense week of learning and application, we even had to develop our own training programs to present to our classmates. The bonding between our coworkers was amazing. I am constantly reminded of what an excellent example of the family of Christ that we have in Christian Veterinary Mission.
We have now been at the beach for a day or so with the other fieldworkers from Latin America and have loved picking their brains about crosscultural living and the odd things we should plan to bring with us! More about that in the future...
26 January 2012
Leaving Saturday
It has been a fun, busy week for us! Last weekend we spent an awesome time in Athens for the CVM Real Life Real Impact student meeting. It was great to see our DVM friends and meet new vet students who love the Lord. We shared about RAIN and had a wonderful outpouring of love and prayer from the folks in our session.
Tonight I get to share with the Bell County 4H about equine parasites, then finish packing for Nicaragua. We leave at 3:30AM Saturday to head to Nicaragua for a week and a half of training in participatory learning for community development and fellowship with other CVM fieldworkers. Pray for our travels and our deeper understanding of this form of ministry.
Tonight I get to share with the Bell County 4H about equine parasites, then finish packing for Nicaragua. We leave at 3:30AM Saturday to head to Nicaragua for a week and a half of training in participatory learning for community development and fellowship with other CVM fieldworkers. Pray for our travels and our deeper understanding of this form of ministry.
13 January 2012
White as snow
As I look at the thin layer of snow this morning, I will continue on the theme of cleansing, of sanctification. Cue the "Washed in the Blood" chorus (are your garments spotless, are they white as snow), so it can be stuck in your head too!
The sacrifice of Jesus justifies us, that is, makes us accepatble to the Lord (remember your elementary Christian education-"just as if I'd"). Our sanctification however is another matter altogether. That is our process of working toward holiness. This is where the snow comes in. Today we have a very thin layer, but all the grass is poking through, there are windswept patches on the driveway that are bare; all in all it is pretty ugly. But if it continues to snow it will blanket everything to there are no rough edges, no poky things and it will be beautiful. In the same manner, as we learn to let go of the things of this world and strive toward God's will, we become clothed in righteousness and just as smooth and pure as the snow-covered landscape looks. Here is where my analogy may break down (or not). God changes us and truly makes us holy and righteous, whereas the snow just covers us up, when it melts, the unmown grass and weedy pastures are staring. Maybe it is true of us too though. Without God, we are still human, so if we drift away our weeds become exposed too.
Enjoy the snow and think of how we are working toward holiness, not covering up our inadequacies ourselves, but allowing God to blanket us in His purity.
The sacrifice of Jesus justifies us, that is, makes us accepatble to the Lord (remember your elementary Christian education-"just as if I'd"). Our sanctification however is another matter altogether. That is our process of working toward holiness. This is where the snow comes in. Today we have a very thin layer, but all the grass is poking through, there are windswept patches on the driveway that are bare; all in all it is pretty ugly. But if it continues to snow it will blanket everything to there are no rough edges, no poky things and it will be beautiful. In the same manner, as we learn to let go of the things of this world and strive toward God's will, we become clothed in righteousness and just as smooth and pure as the snow-covered landscape looks. Here is where my analogy may break down (or not). God changes us and truly makes us holy and righteous, whereas the snow just covers us up, when it melts, the unmown grass and weedy pastures are staring. Maybe it is true of us too though. Without God, we are still human, so if we drift away our weeds become exposed too.
Enjoy the snow and think of how we are working toward holiness, not covering up our inadequacies ourselves, but allowing God to blanket us in His purity.
04 January 2012
My cup overflows Psalm 23:5 (or runneth over, if you like KJV)
This is what I shrieked this morning as I tried to do laundry in the dark. Pouring clear laundry detergent is not that successful in a predawn haze. Why didn't I turn on the light? Well, honestly I got lazy--I had flipped the breaker to rewire the ceiling fan and never gotten around to it and didn't want to run down to the basement to turn the breaker back on.
Why am I bothering to tell you this? I was struck by the symbolism of this tiny accident. The Lord's cup overflows with salvation, with cleansing, with goodness. My clothes may be extra sudsy today and maybe cleaner, but the Lord's cup of blessing through the blood of Jesus makes us pure and spotless, able to enter into the Lord's presence. It is an amazing thing to be clean enough for God! Read some Levitical laws about cleanliness (Chapter 13 is a good one). Wow! Maybe my grandma was right that "cleanliness is next to Godliness," but praise God for Jesus! If we had to present ourselves to the priest for every scab we had, or every spot of mold on a piece of leather to determine if we were able to worship.
So, wash your clothes and wear them to worship our great God. Take refuge in His glorious sanctification and freedom.
This is what I shrieked this morning as I tried to do laundry in the dark. Pouring clear laundry detergent is not that successful in a predawn haze. Why didn't I turn on the light? Well, honestly I got lazy--I had flipped the breaker to rewire the ceiling fan and never gotten around to it and didn't want to run down to the basement to turn the breaker back on.
Why am I bothering to tell you this? I was struck by the symbolism of this tiny accident. The Lord's cup overflows with salvation, with cleansing, with goodness. My clothes may be extra sudsy today and maybe cleaner, but the Lord's cup of blessing through the blood of Jesus makes us pure and spotless, able to enter into the Lord's presence. It is an amazing thing to be clean enough for God! Read some Levitical laws about cleanliness (Chapter 13 is a good one). Wow! Maybe my grandma was right that "cleanliness is next to Godliness," but praise God for Jesus! If we had to present ourselves to the priest for every scab we had, or every spot of mold on a piece of leather to determine if we were able to worship.
So, wash your clothes and wear them to worship our great God. Take refuge in His glorious sanctification and freedom.
28 December 2011
The Contagion of Christ
One of our friends shared with me an incredible Christmas gift! Since then I have passed it along to my sister in law, David, and who knows how many others! What was this great gift? A cold, of course.
As I see people infected, I wonder how infective is our Christianity? Is our joy as profuse as our germs?
Is hand sanitizer the equivalent of indifference or the devil stopping our enthusiastic spread?
During this time of cold and flu season we are acutely aware of our actions. We wash our hands until they are chapped, use gallons of hand sanitizer and cover our coughs. Are we this conscientious about our faith? I challenge you (and me) to spread the joy of the Lord with abandon. We should be like the leper in Mark 1:45 who "went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news"! Let our joy and peace be as evident as our red, runny noses and our proclamations of His sovereignty as fervent as our coughing!
Oh, and if you find yourself with physical sickness, remember that Jesus gave his disciples "authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every sickness" Matthew 10:1 You will get better eventually, in the meantime let your sickness remind you of how to spread the gospel!
As I see people infected, I wonder how infective is our Christianity? Is our joy as profuse as our germs?
Is hand sanitizer the equivalent of indifference or the devil stopping our enthusiastic spread?
Oh, and if you find yourself with physical sickness, remember that Jesus gave his disciples "authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every sickness" Matthew 10:1 You will get better eventually, in the meantime let your sickness remind you of how to spread the gospel!
14 December 2011
Advent!
'Tis the season of Advent! For you Latin nerds: ad=to; vent=come. So, the season "to come." A season of preparation. You all think I am talking about Christmas? Well, yes, that and our preparations for all our future amazement. You may hear this again soon, but it is such a perfect analogy.
How are you preparing to celebrate the Lord's great gift to us? I'd love to hear some of your traditions of advent. Caleb and I are working on some Latin prayers and reading different prophesies and accounts of Jesus' birth in school. We've not had the myth of the bearded guy in many years since Caleb's Papa Carney is a ringer, so it is easy for us to focus on the deeper meaning of Christmas.
Our Bible study tonight focused on Joy. We shared storied of all the stereotypical events that bring us joy, but realized how we overlook the joy in everyday life. Remembering that joy is not always the same as happiness, I challenge you to seek to remember joy can be found in every circumstance.
How is our advent? We just submitted our first prayer letter to be sent out the first week or two of January. We've been gathering and validating addresses and other contact info so someone actually gets these letters!
David is nearly finished with this semester, so that is quite a relief. Hopefully he will be finished this Spring--pray with us that some of his life experience credits will be applied ASAP so he can drop some of his classes for the spring!
Our house is getting a bit empty as we sell and pack away our things, but no-one has looked at it lately. We listed 2 weeks ago with Heartland Realty, so hopefully we'll have some interest soon.
I hope you all have a joyous celebration of the birth of Christ, our Immanuel!
How are you preparing to celebrate the Lord's great gift to us? I'd love to hear some of your traditions of advent. Caleb and I are working on some Latin prayers and reading different prophesies and accounts of Jesus' birth in school. We've not had the myth of the bearded guy in many years since Caleb's Papa Carney is a ringer, so it is easy for us to focus on the deeper meaning of Christmas.
 |
| Caleb and Papa Carney 3 years ago! |
How is our advent? We just submitted our first prayer letter to be sent out the first week or two of January. We've been gathering and validating addresses and other contact info so someone actually gets these letters!
David is nearly finished with this semester, so that is quite a relief. Hopefully he will be finished this Spring--pray with us that some of his life experience credits will be applied ASAP so he can drop some of his classes for the spring!
Our house is getting a bit empty as we sell and pack away our things, but no-one has looked at it lately. We listed 2 weeks ago with Heartland Realty, so hopefully we'll have some interest soon.
I hope you all have a joyous celebration of the birth of Christ, our Immanuel!
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