good news

good news! my boxers are fixed so i am now running at full capacity of underwear!!!

We sing a song called Unify Us and the chorus goes like this Unify us, purify us, so that we will change the world, so that we will change the world....

And the thing is...it's not just a song that we sing, but it's something that i really believe. gross how cliche is that. But i have witnessed in communities here in the Philippines, Brazil, Malawi, and in the United States the spreading of the love of Christ. The quote from Mother Theresa keeps coming up that says something like it doesn't matter how much you do, but how much love you put into what you do. I am thoroughly convinced that the body of Christ has within its capacity to rise up together and to change things. If people didn't htink that, we wouldn't have had the end of slavery or the Civil Rights movement. The church was huge in those things. but why can the church not rise up together and change things in the world. Wouldn't it be great if churches were known for how many fresh water wells they were able to provide in the world instead of how many new church furnishings they were able to buy in the last year. If you go back and look at the history of the church, the money that was offered and tithed was supposed to go to the poor and the ones in need. If you were to look at the majority of churches budgets you would see that most of the budget is spent on itself...maybe not to unsimilar to how our nation's budget is spent on mostly defense and not on aide and helping others.... what if the churches began to spend their money on the poor. Now...i'm not advocating that we should ONLY be helping those in need. I thing as long as their are poor than that is a definite role of the church. But to also advocate for changes in the systems to prevent that poverty. it's a two headed thing. But the fact of the matter is that the church as a whole is not doing what it can. We are comfortable where we are. But Jesus is not a person that offered us comfort. He offered us a radical way to approach things, putting others before us and taking care of our needs last.

so that's what I've been thinking lately. It's been good being in the Philippines. Besides thought provoking thoughts we also have had some fun conversations taht dont have much to do with anything. the one this morning was why do we take pills with water. the argument was either that it was just to help get the pills down or that it was to help dissolve the pills and ease the pain on ur stomahc. i took my pills this morning with coffee..that's what stemmed this debate...so when i'm done typing this i'm going to google it to find out. we are going to cook a meal for the pastors tonight so we are trying to come up with something new for them. so far we've come up with mashed potatoes. ok, next time i will post some pictures. i think that carly is posting pictures that show the python we got to eat. That probably wins for most exotic thign that we've eaten! but life is good! prayers for Sharon Johnsrud and her continual recover, and for safety and good health for the team, and for discernment for things to come!! ok peace

davepeet