Crushed

    This morning was unusual - I felt hard pressed, crushed, perplexed, persecuted, .... by lots of problems.  It felt like more than just the problems themselves - it felt spiritually oppressive.  So at lunch I decided to find a verse I was sure talked about being hard pressed but not crushed, persecuted but not abandoned.  Of course that is 2 Corinthians chapter 4.

    I also looked up the reference in My Utmost for His Highest to see what Oswald Chambers wrote about it.  I was looking for comfort and strength but part of me was also having a little pity party.

    May 14th's note has that reference and included this, "No matter how disagreeable a thing may be, say- 'Lord, I am delighted to obey Thee in this matter' and instantly the Son of God will press to the front and there will be manifested in my human life that which glorifies Jesus."......"You must keep yourself fit to let the life of the Son of God be manifested, and you cannot keep yourself fit if you give way to self-pity."

    This was what the Holy Sprit was already beginning to speak to me about.  I had been reminded of something Gail said recently. She was criticized by someone and felt very hurt.  Instead of holding a grudge, she said, "who am I am that I can't be humbled? Maybe God wants to teach me through this."  That was a powerful reminder to me for my problems at work.  Am I too proud to let God humble me?  What if he uses other people to do it?  Do I really rejoice in my lack of knowledge, wisdom, or strength so that I can fully rely on his all-sufficient grace?  Can I be a disciple who truly rejoices to be counted worthy of suffering for the Name?

    I prayed, "God, I am delighted to obey you.  If troubles lets me die more to myself - I thank you for using it, if criticism humbles me- I accept it, if feeling like I am drowning in work lets me rely on you to prioritize - I thank you for that,....".

    Every week I write a different verse, quote, or thought on the bulletin board in our administration building.  I hadn't done it yet this morning.  After lunch, I wrote what struck me about the first verse of that powerful chapter.

                2 Cor 4:1 "Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose hope."
"This ministry is not something that we are doing for God - it is something he is doing for us.  Through his grace he is letting us humans be involved in his plan of redemption for a lost world.  It is our priveledge to suffer with Christ.  Only when we come to that realization do we become thankful that he is using these troubles to rid us of ourselves to fully know His power -therefore we do not lose hope."

    I have to say the rest of the day came with the same problems that the day started with, but the entire afternoon had none of the feeling of dread, doom, and resentment that I began the day with.  God didn't solve the problems, he solved an attitude problem in his child.  God won't let these problems crush me or destroy me - not the real me, the one that belongs solely to Him.  The only thing he intends to help me crush is the self-centered old nature - but I have to chose that, He won't force me.

    I don't know what problems you are facing today.  I pray that they will make you more fully conscious of God's strength, wisdom, and grace.  If you are feeling crushed, chose instead to let it crush self-centeredness and find that what remains is Christ in you - indestructible, eternal.  I pray that you will see sometimes he allows the testing of our faith to develop our maturity, truly dying to self so that Christ may live through us and be seen by all - even ourselves.  Pray the same for us in PNG (it seems God often later needs to remind me of things he has already taught me!).  It is through God's mercy that you and I have a ministry in his kingdom work, and the struggles that go with it.  Praise the Lord!

In Christ
Scott for the Dooleys

Judges

I am behind on blogging.  I have sent out some e-mail's to our group that I have forgotten to post until now.  So here they are.  This one from early Sept.

            I have been reading Judges lately.  It is in many ways a sad tale of the same cycles of turning away from God that have marked much of human history. I see so much of the church in it (in any country).  It seems to be human nature - the people of God turning away to follow the ways of the world and the culture that surrounds them, forgetting his past miracles and mercies.  Eventually God allows his people to suffer the natural consequences of sin and withdraws his hand of protection (after all we have told him we don't want him around anymore anyway).  When we are oppressed, crushed, miserable, and find we have no strength to get out, we finally turn to God.

            I think what has struck me most in Judges is the power of one faithful person to shape a community or even a nation.  In summing up the theme of Judges it says, "Whenever the Lord raided up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived...." (2:18) Over and over throughout the book when God would raise up a judge, Israel would follow God and that judge until they died, "but when the judge died, the people returned to ways ever more corrupt....(19). 

            It is striking to me in these stories why the people who have turned from God would follow these judges.  Gideon (ch 6-9) was the least of his family, from the smallest tribe.  We know Gideon received the signs of the fleece and other signs to assure him of victory, but that was for him personally.  The only thing the people knew he had done was simply to break down his fathers idols (and that in secret at night).  Have you ever wondered why people rallied to him in the first place?  They didn't receive the confirmation of the fleece.  Why did people listen to him when he sent tens of thousands of soldiers home and then divided them again until he only had 300 men to fight an uncountable hoard? 

            Why didn't God give a sign to the whole nation?  Well I guess he did.  Once Gideon truly believed God had called him and was with him, he was willing to stake his life on it.  And that changed everything.  Sometimes God just needs one person with unwavering faith to inspire others.  Gideon's personal faith became the sign to the nation.  It was the same for many of the other judges - people followed them before any military victories.  Their faith inspired others to have faith. 

            So why is the church so anxious to fit with the world's philosophy, to bend our beliefs to match secular humanism, consumerism, grace without repentance, a "name it and claim it" Santa Claus of a god, or any other trend that pops up?  Why do we keep looking so much like the world around us?

            I am proud to have seen over and over in my life how one person can make a difference - in a group of friends, in a work place, in a community, and even in a nation.  I have seen so many times the effects of one life who affects many - and often they have not even know it.  We have seen a single person stop a tribal fight, a person who was wronged bring healing to families through forgiveness, a bad situation turn into a prayer meeting, one faithful person keep a whole group from doing wrong, the attitude of one person changing the attitude of the whole....  

            I am not suggesting we become fire brand preachers shoving truth down people's throats, but faithful people of God.  People who don't compromise our integrity in words or in action, people who love God and others, people who defend the defenseless, love the unlovable, touch the poor and the outcast, are peacemakers, and are unashamed of the gospel of Christ - even if they stand alone.  What is amazing is that when it looks like we are left alone how God uses it to call others to stand as well.  

            That is who I want to be.  That is who I pray you will be.  That as long as we are alive we are drawing people to God. 

Scott for the Dooley family.

Please keep praying for the hydro project, for elections, and for Gail's health.  In both the hydro project and the elections just a few Christians standing up in the community can make a world of difference. 

Crisis

   The hospital is facing a nursing shortage this year.  Early in the year we had to close one inpatient ward for a month or so.  We have continued adjusting and limping along all year.  Now we have had more staff resign (many of them new people who had come this year and probably just took a job until other applications they had sent out went through).  We came close to closing the medical ward again this month in order to cut our child and adult admissions in half  to keep our outpatient, surgery, and delivery services running.  We praise God that some of our tutors from the Nursing College and some from our Primary and Rural Health service nurses are filling in to keep the ward open.  We are actively advertising and trying to recruit people.  We appreciate your prayers.

    The crisis is largely due the government giving a 45% pay raise to nurses in government facilities and nothing to those in church-run facilities (the church health facilities get their pay from the government).  There has always been a discrepancy between the two systems but never anything like this.  Also many NGO's, and private health care are hiring even beyond what the government can pay.  There is a huge nursing shortage in PNG and the churches, who run half the health care in the country, have been left behind.  All the church run services in the country I have talked to are facing the same problems.  It is even worse for us because we are the biggest church run facility in the country with the most services offered, so losing so many staff has hit us very hard. 

    Yesterday we had a meeting with all the nursing staff to discuss these issues.  Many gave testimonies of their call to be here, how they experienced God's blessings here, and challenged others to stay.  After several of those one man reminded the group that they were basically preaching to the choir.  He said, "we are the ones that stayed".  He went on to point out many have stayed through other crisis of the past.   His statement of dedication got me thinking about the crisis we face.  I can't count how many times I have called it a crisis.  I said to the group, "Why do we keep calling this a crisis?"  Last year we trimmed the budget and gave a pay raise despite no more help from the government and everyone was happy about that.  If we were content last year that our pay was enough to take care of our families why is it not enough this year?  It isn't that we are making less - it is that we are comparing ourselves to others.  Now many think their pay isn't enough because they know someone makes more.  It is a natural human response but one we should be careful about spiritually.  The administration will keep knocking on doors of the authorities because this isn't fair but what about us as individuals?  I pointed out that the missionary doctors, the national administrators, and many of the nurses I know turned down high paying jobs jobs to  stay here or to come in the first place.  They knew what they were giving up - they gave it to God, so we never hear them complain now.   The crisis isn't that we are worse off than last year, it is that we have more people who compare themselves to others and lose their sense of call.  What we have is a crisis of contentment.

    It reminded me of one of our national leaders in a meeting recently saying he felt like a difficult thing in being in administration was always trying to change every little thing in response to complaints.  He asked, "Where is the contentment? - If we are a Christian group working together shouldn't there be a little room for contentment in our lives?"  That phrase was running through my head at the staff meeting - "a little room for contentment".  It is a good spiritual challenge to our lives as well.  Not that we shouldn't seek justice or fairness in our world but when trials come do we show a little contentment in our lives?  Do we really have a belief that God will work things out?  Do we compare our lives, our blessings, our pay, our work, our circumstances to others? 

    It seems to me that during this time of "crisis" the versus that keep coming to me are not ones about God rescuing us from danger, or looking to the hills for help.  No it is things like "Rejoice in the Lord, always", "Godliness with contentment is great gain." "The fellowship of sharing in His suffering." "Carry each others burdens". "Consider it pure joy, when you face trials." "Perseverance must finish its work." " A remnant chose by grace".... And so I realize maybe God is trying to teach me something about contentment as well.  No - I am not worried about my pay, but am I content in the work He has placed me in?  Am I content to serve Him in any difficult situation?  Is my call affected by what others do or do not do?  Do I show to others that God has given me a "Peace that transcends all understanding and guards my heart and my mind in Christ Jesus"?

    When people look at you during your trials do they see your life has a little extra space for contentment?

In Christ
Scott

Obey

It seems a bit strange to think about but I am finding that in administration signals can seems strangely mixed.  Even good news sometimes comes with an ominous shadow.  That is, things that you work to accomplish often come with a hidden price tag of creating more work, responsibility, or people to whom your good news doesn't seem good.  My bet is the onset of labor for a pregnant mom must come with a sense of both exhilaration and dread (it did for me and I was only watching!).  Today, I felt a little sheepish telling people good news, a major praise report actually, while simultaneously highlighting some words of caution.  Several other things our team has accomplished lately, that I am very happy about, also have produced more work to be done.  It seems like a lot of it has hit me simultaneously.  Maybe it is from my night of little sleep on call last night, but I felt timid today, hesitant.  That feeling made me re-evaluate my attitude.  Hesitancy is not a feeling I want to feel accustomed to.  

I remember that Bill McCoy, a spiritual mentor here on the field, used to have a quote up in his office (which is now my office) about "a long obedience in the same direction".  The quote is originally from Friedrich Nietszche and the discussion of a discipleship book with that name by Eugene Peterson.  Sometimes showing up for work is a simple act of obedience -many things in life are.  I have been thinking about obedience lately.  I think the essence of it is found in Christ, our example - Philipians 2:8 "And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!" and Hebrews 12:1a-2 "And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." 

If I can mix those two up and re-translate those for myself today it would be "think about Jesus, finding he was human like me, humbled himself and didn't hesitate to do what he knew needed done, even willfully submitting to opposition from evil people and a painful death because he knew God's redemption plan and glory were the only thing that mattered and would bring real joy.  Be like that."

Obedience is really a constant reminder of death - a constant resubmission to the self-sacrifice we chose when we made Jesus Lord of our lives.  I remember a fiery African-American preacher preaching on "living the death walk".  It is such a contrast to our society, which teaches us the importance of individuality, self-awareness, self-expression, and the pursuit of happiness.  Does this job/personal relationship/situation make you happy/fulfilled?  If not it must be wrong or must be changed. A TIME article a couple months ago highlighted the billions Americans are spending on trying to find spiritual self-fulfmillment in self-help books, ancient yoga, and new age philosophy.  More people than ever are trying to find fulfillment in pick and choose style spirituality, alternative life-styles, ancient religions, cults, etc... despite this "self-fulfillment" and "self realization" divorce rates are skyrocketing, children are abandoned, babies destroyed, the mid-life crisis is considered normative... all because this philosophy is just a manifestation of the self-centered carnal nature.  

The believer is free to realize that the world does not revolve around me and my small plans.  There is an mighty God to be served, one with infinite wisdom and foresight, and plans beyond our wildest imagination.  The question is not does this _______, make me happy?  The question is, is this God's desire for my life?  Am I bringing God glory?  Am I loving others in a way that releases God's love in my life?  Do I forgive as I have been forgiven?  Am I humbling myself as an obedient servant and becoming obedient to a life of self-sacrfice?  Ironically much of our spiritual and emotional pain in life is in resisting our own self-sacrifice.  When we obey we receive those fruits of the Spirit "love, joy, peace,...", we find healing in our relationships, we see God work in our attitude as much as in our circumstances,... all because only when we align our priorities to God's does the world make sense.  Only in relationship with our Creator are we fulfilled and joyful and we receive a peace that "transcends understanding". 

Has God called you to a hard task today?  Are you struggling to feel fulfilled in a relationship?  Don't hesitate - obey!  Plunge in with joyous abandon.  Don't be afraid to make the sacrifice of time and opening yourself to hurt and struggle.  Don't assume obstacles are "closed doors" - keep asking God for direction, strength, and perseverance.  It is the long obedience that sees the fruit of all God has planned and obedience can become real joy and not drudgery.

Allison is starting to learn Hebrews in Bible quizzing, I hope someday she can look at our lives and learn Hebrews 10:39 "But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved."

In Christ

Scott

New Website!

Thanks to the help of many people, and especially Chris Chaffin, our webmaster, the Nazarene Health Ministries has a new website.  This will be a great resource for people to see all of our health ministries in PNG.  There is Nazarene Hospital, Nazarene College of Nursing, Rural Health Services, and Community Based Health Care.

From this site you can get stories, prayer points, and find ways to join in the work here through prayer, volunteering, donated goods, and financial giving.  Let people in your churches know.

Here it is!

www.nazpng.org

Suffering

I have been thinking about being called to be like God and how we should experience things the way He does... gaining a more eternal perspective of temporary problems, loving the unlovable, showing peace amidst turmoil, love in a world of hate,.... In this I was thinking that God has trusted us to be His ambassadors on earth and that in doing so our sufferings are a participation in the divine suffering.

Kind of a strange thing isn't it?  Can an almighty God suffer?  (I believe the answer is "yes" but an interesting article involving Divine Impassibility can detail the history and theology better for you at:  www.theologicalstudies.org.uk/article_god_bauckham.html )

I believe in the same way what we see of God is as but a shadowy reflection, His suffering must be immeasurably more than ours.  The pain of Christ bearing not just the physical cross but the burden of sin, the pain of separation, .... not to mention God letting us destroy not only His creation but marring His image placed in us.... Of course he doesn't experience suffering as a "helpless victim" (but then maybe we ourselves play that role too much in our suffering).

Perhaps we are called to willingly accept suffering and turn it into something that redeems ourselves and others. Could we really consider it "pure joy" to "face trials of many kinds"?  God willingly chose to suffer the destruction of his creation by sin, as well as suffer the cross to redeem it, all for the sake of the ability to offer free choice and a people who would truly love Him. If we are to represent Him, we will be called to experience His heartbreak for a broken world.  We will be asked to "share in the sufferings of Christ."  Of course it only becomes redemptive if we can suffer well - that is if when we are tempted and tried - we rely more on God and what we produce is the fruit of the Spirit that tells others that God is at work.

Discussing this with pastor friends, Rev. Scott Marshall summed it up well:  "That means more suffering is to come and the suffering I've endured to date is part of my sanctification and is to be seen by me as being allowed to share in Jesus redemption. "

Have you ever seen God turn suffering into a way to strengthen or save you or others? Can God trust you with His suffering?

Body

I am going to go ahead and make a literary faux-pas by recommending a book I haven’t read (but plan to read).  I have heard it was good from others and then former PNG missionaries sent me this quote. 

“Sometimes I would like to ask God why He allows poverty, suffering, and injustice when He could do something about it.”

       “Well, why don’t you ask Him?”

“Because I’m afraid He would ask me the same question.”

    -The Hole in Our Gospel, by Richard Stearns, President, World Vision U.S.

It is really profound when you consider the implications.  God has chosen to work through us - His body, the church.  It appears God is not addressing the serious issues of the world only to the degree that we are not fulfilling His call.  God’s heart breaks for the suffering - He wants it to break through ours.  God’s hand’s yearn to reach out and touch, but he does it through ours.  We are His hands and feet.

God is doing something about poverty and injustice - we are what God is doing - changing our harden hearts into His heart of love.  He is teaching us to love a fallen, broken world.  He is teaching us the joy of sacrificing ourselves for others.

God is addressing poverty, suffering, and injustice.... that is if we answer the call to be about our Father’s business.  Every day is a chance to change the world we see in front of us.  You are Christ’s ambassador to the hurting world around you.

“Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of His body, the church.” -Colossians 1:24

Lord, I see the cross,
the place of suffering.
Where grace flows red and guilt erased
teaches me to join,
the pain of sacrifice.
My life, my plans, laid down for Yours,
the joy of sacrifice-
till my life spills love like Yours.

Praying for all the Jesus-followers helping in Joplin after the tornado. Thanks for being Christ to the hurting!
In Christ
Scott