Three-Oh and Everything Is Serious

Something happens when you turn thirty. Suddenly making decisions seems weightier. You start planning the future, far into the future. You look back at the last ten years of your life and think to yourself, it’s time to quit playing games and time to make real choices.

Choices about who to marry, where to live, what car to drive, what kind of a house to buy and where to have a permanent job.

Yikes.

In other words when you hit thirty you realize you want real grown up commitments after all and decide on a path to follow – for the rest of your life.

The twenties are a time for exploring who you are, what you’re good at, what you want out of life and the world. When twenty-nine turns into thirty many of us are caught by surprise: we are tired of exploring and actually want to finalize some decisions.

It can be a crisis of sorts, but after the initial shock I have found it to be a relief. I don’t have to mainly experiment with my life anymore, I can find something and settle.

Why the Poor Can Afford Everything and the Rich Nothing?

On a recent visit to Romania I stayed with a Roma family. The Roma, also called Gypsies, are often poor, uneducated and definitely looked down upon. The village I visited wasn’t the worst of them, because this tribe is full of musicians. They play weddings and other celebrations for good money. The Christian culture in Romania (and much of Eastern Europe) is very traditional. Women wear skirts, head coverings and no makeup or jewelery to church. They clearly set apart the Christian life and the secular.

The Roma pastor I stayed with is an excellent musician, who used to earn thousands of euros for one gig. Since becoming a follower of Jesus he has decided not to play weddings and other festivities where drunkenness and other ungodly things occur. He decided he’d only play for God. Since then their family has not been financially secure. They have always had what they needed but not much more. He literally lives by faith.

Now this man had 15 people stay at his house, including me. He even gave up his bed and the only heated room in the house and slept with his wife in one of the cold back rooms. They served us food, cleaned the floors of our muddy steps and smiled and loved on us.

I am always amazed at how people who do not have much, give so generously. And many who have plenty don’t realize how much they have and act stingily. How crazy is it that we need to learn from the have-nots how to give?

Just Be My Church

I’ve been following and listening to Francis Chan for the past few years. I’ve been impressed with his rigorous pursuit of authencity. He does not want to be hypocritical or fake in his faith in any way. Now in Christianity Today he tells about his plans on leaving his church to plant “house churches” in LA County. He is sick of commercial church that spoon feeds Christians.

I couldn’t agree more. I think that is my number one frustration with the American Church. It has become about programs and fancy settings and true discipleship has suffered. How many times does a fellow church goer invite you over for dinner to his home? Can you count on a church goer to help you out when you need it? Unfortunately it is occasional more than a rule.

The same trend can be seen in Finland. Christians do their programs, but opening your house, your fridge and your heart to strangers is difficult. I know I want to change this culture and I know my generation desires community. Somehow we need to simplify and go back to the basics of loving thy neighbour.

Nobel Prize To “The Messiah”

Barack Obama has just won the Nobel peace prize. The text book idealism and flowery speeches trumped rewarding accomplishments. Obama has sprung from small playing fields to the savior of the world in just a couple of years.

Having held the President’s office for less than a year, the famously inspirational Obama, hasn’t accomplished anything. Obviously he hasn’t exactly had time to finish any of the extremely ambitious plans he has. Commentators say this is a peace prize given to encourage Obama in the direction he has taken.

Barack Obama is very un-American in his thinking and thus conservative Americans doubt his every intention. Instead he is very much a liberal after Europe’s heart. Europeans don’t understand the American idealism that leads to wars and Americans  find European socialism and big government incomprehensible. So it makes complete sense that the Norwegian Nobel committee would encourage a US president, who finally sees the world through the same lens as the Europeans.

The world has been looking to Barack Obama as the solution.  In a world void of hope, people see hope in him. He has already been given golden keys to do as he pleases, because the world trusts him. This Nobel prize has placed further expectations and pressures on Obama’s inexperienced shoulders. I find it incredible how one man is expected to right the world from all wrongs, starting from climate change to national health care and nuclear disarmament.

I hope he will be able to live up to it.

Chinese Reach Chinese in Finland

A group of Chinese believers traveled from Britain to Finland seeking for opportunities to share the Gospel with their countrymen. They visited Chinese restaurants, found Chinese students on campus and encouraged local Christians.

A young student from the earthquake-hit province of Sichuan had recently moved to Finland to study. Many groups came to Sichuan to assist the dispossessed. This young man had observed the Christians who came to help and was touched by their love.

Now in Finland a group of British Chinese came and explained the Gospel to him. He wanted to accept it into his life and after praying stood up, bowed and thanked the Christians repeatedly. He couldn’t believe his luck – he had now become a believer too.

In Europe where Christianity is in its death throes, we are puzzled by Chinese, Arab and African Christians who exude passion for Jesus. We need to see that the Christian faith isn’t a Western idea after all.

I Want To Be a Star When I Grow Up

Children used to dream about careers as doctors, firemen, teachers and perhaps engineers. Today kids want to become famous. Period.

India Knight writes in her Sunday Times column about how parents are cruel to encourage their kids’ (often) unrealistic stardom aspirations. Only a few are talented (or lucky) enough to become pop singers or football stars.

I have wondered how high should one aim? It sounds glamorous to land on top, but what will extreme fame, success and the pressures that will inevitably follow, do to you? Being the best of the best requires 100% of you, not leaving much for anything else. In the end is that the kind of a life you want to live?

The 1960’s generation trashed the idea of nuclear family and middle class lifestyle. Today it is viewed as the most mundane, and life-draining way of living. Everyone wants to be something spectacular; a superstar. But what if the “average” lifestyle actually made you happy?

Stardom doesn’t seem to fit most stars. Battles with addictions, failed relationships and merciless media coverage break the strongest.

I believe God calls us to become the best we can. But if everyone is king, what’s the point of having a king? That means most of us will still not be on top. Encouraging children’s dreams and aspirations is necessary, but being realistic is also important. If you dream of baseball stardom, but can’t hit the ball, it’s not a very realistic aspiration. Still even the best miss the ball and the stadium roars with disppointment. Maybe a complaint here or there as a teacher wouldn’t feel that bad.

Can a Palestinian Love Israel?

Meet Sam, who has grown up in a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon. He grew up hating Christians and Jews alike. His goal in life was to become an Imam and to kill Christians and Jews, until a fatal meeting on the street.

A man came up to him and offered a drink of water. Sam was surprised, it was the first time in his 19 years that someone had offered him, a Palestinian, water. He accepted and after some conversation the man told Sam that he reads the Quran. Sam had a beard and wore a white robe that showed everyone he was a serious Muslim. The stranger continued, “since I am reading your holy book, would you read mine?”

After some time Sam agreed and started to read the Bible. He read the Bible for a year and a half until he was convinced this was the truth. He decided to start following the way of Jesus, even though he had a price to pay. His brothers promised to kill him and so Sam had to move away and live in hiding.

Sam met with other believers and started to grow in his faith. He went to Cyprus to attend a Christian conference where he met a few Jesus-believing Jews from Israel. “You’re a Palestinian and you believe in Jesus!? We’re from Israel and we follow Jesus too!” They apologized for how their people had wronged Sam’s people and proceeded to wash Sam’s feet.

This event changed everything for Sam. His heart that had hated Israel and the Jews melted and was filled with love towards his neighbors. Today he tells his story with tears pouring down his cheeks and bursts into a Hebrew worship song.

Mideast peace? It is only possible through reconciliation in Jesus.

Dreams Aren’t For the Hopeless

I recently visited a Palestinian refugee camp. Faras took us through the narrow alleys that run between the concrete blocks – the temporary homes of thousands. Temporary means decades here.  19-year-old Faras cannot read. He was probably taken out of school very early on, so that he could start earning money for the family. He has a job now as a driver for Fatah, one of the Palestinian parties.

I asked him what his dreams were. He clicked his tongue and lifted his chin to express a firm negative. He didn’t have any dreams.

Surviving would be his main goal in life. Having a source of income, being in good terms with his family, trying to be a good Muslim, finding a decent girl and having a few laughs in between the wars, would be a good start. When your people are a political pawn to be bargained with, you can’t be certain of much else.

To be able to dream you need hope. If nothing seems to ever change,  what’s the point? The heartbreaking fact is that millions  wake up today with nothing to hope for, without dreams. Even this simple thing is the luxury of the rich.

If You’re Rich, Think Green

Making environmentally sustainable  decisions is the privilege of the rich. You might not think you are rich by any means, but by global standards you are one of the wealthiest people in the world if you own a computer or even have regular access to one.

I just returned from Lebanon, where it is normal to throw trash out the window of a car, drop empty cans on the street even if there is a trash bin in sight. Consequently the landscape is littered with trash. When people drive and stop for a while, it is not their first instinct to turn of their car to protect the earth. There drinking bottled water isn’t as much of a fad, as it is the only safe water to drink.

Us enlightened Westerners arrive with our high ideals about recycling, using renewable energy sources and buying fair trade bananas and we are shocked. All those lofty ideas are laughed at in countries like Lebanon, where survival is the question.

When chances are you are not alive tomorrow, because a bomb might fall on you, priorities change. When you live prepared for war to break out maybe not this year, but surely the next, you don’t plan ahead. You enjoy this moment, because this might be it. If they bomb your city to stone age, it doesn’t really matter if it is littered or not.

When you are rich, as we are in the industrialized nations, we have time to worry about the environment. As wealthy people we can turn environmentalism into a fashion, a competition. But we have to remember most of the world cannot afford to do that, until their poverty, illness, war and other issues are solved.

So, let’s do what we can to be green, but also keep the right perspective on what we ask from others.

Disposable Life

A famous British conductor and his wife end their lives together at a clinic in Switzerland. She had cancer and he was losing his eyesight and hearing. Their long life together came to an end as they slipped out of this world side by side. How beautiful, how romantic and how convenient.

The following week The Sunday Times proceeds with a poll to ask how many Brits approve of euthanasia, assisted suicide or whatever else you want to call it. 74% say they approve, with especially high approval rates among the 55-64-year-olds.

The public opinion has changed from clear opposition to euthanasia, through ambivalence to public advocacy of it. The Royal College of Nursing went from opposing it to a “neutral” stance. In other words, soon they will be assisting in suicides. A very scary thought.

Everyone fears pain and suffering. Everyone wants to control his life. Most hate the unknown. Us wealthy Westerners have also grown accustomed to convenience.  It is obvious why people would advodate assisted suicide. We don’t want to “suffer endlessly” – we’d rather control when we’ll quit the race.

With all of our technological advances, ridding our culture of God and just plain old pride we are making way for a scary future. When life’s sanctity is questioned with abortion and with assisted suicide, we are taking life into our own hands when it is meant to be in much greater hands.

By legalizing assisted suicide we are taking steps towards disposing of any inconvenient life. Plus putting pressure on people who are sick and suffering, to ask to be disposed of. The problem is, what might sound like a practical idea now, will come back to bite us. That is exactly how it works with anything we do against God’s design. His design is perfect and when we tweak it to “make it better”, it backfires.