Gavin Johnson spoke at the Sarpy campus last Sunday. Based on John 1 Gavin pointed out how God is a Missionary God. He also pointed out that the Christmas Story is actually a missionary story and that Jesus came from Heaven in what can be considered the greatest missionary journey!

Gavin also pointed us to www.thetravelingteam.org to find out more information about missions and the current state of world religion, needs and unreached people.

It was in that website that I came across interesting statistics about the history of martyrdom. Each total includes the cumulative martyrs to date since AD33

AD33 to 500 – 2.1 million
AD501 to 950 – 2.8 million
AD951 to 1350 – 11.8 million
AD1351 to 1500 – 17.3 million
AD1501 o 1750 – 21.9 million
AD1751 to 1815 – 22 million
AD1816 to 1914 – 24 million
AD1915 to 1950 – 56 million
AD1951-2000 – 69 million

From AD 33 to 1914 24 million Christians died for their faith
Since AD1915 an additional 45 million Christians died for their faith in Christ. That means more Christians were martyered in the 1900′s than all the prvious centures combined.

This means that today over 400 Christians will die for their faith in Christ.

Wow.

God, stop me if I complain about ministry pressures and schedules. Give me joy to serve and a heart willing to die for You.

I’m working on a Christmas message for the 20th. Been doing some reading and studying about the birth of Christ and came across this quote from Malcolm Muggeridge:

“As man alone, Jesus could not have saved us; as God alone He would not.
Incarnate, He could and did.”

May Christmas and the incarnation, or as we humans say “birth” of Jesus Christ be real and fill you with joy.

….an unwelcome guest? Think about the last time you were at a store, health club or restaurant and there was no background music playing. In those situations, I couldn’t put my finger on what was wrong, but it just felt weird.

….a welcomed friend? Think about a time when you had had a very busy, noisy day. Then think of how nice it was to have silence. That silence could help you breathe and relax. That silence could also help you think through what next steps needed to be taken.

….from God. Psalm 46.10 “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” I can’t help but see a correlation between being still [silence] AND knowing God along with the opportunity to see God exalted. Could it be that if you aren’t silent, you won’t know and see God exalted?

Just a thought.

Earlier this week I blogged on an Newsweek article about silence. The article explains that C.S. Lewis mentions in his book, “The Screwtape Letters,” that he envisions hell as a very, very noisy place and that the Devil dests music and silence.

In the Middle Ages, Christian scholars believed that Satan did not want human beings to be alone with God, or with each other, fully alert and listening.

I was intrigued with that statement. I decided to not listen to the radio or music while in the car. I also committed to not listening to my iPod Nano while working out or watching TV while on an elliptical or arc trainer.

Three days into it….so far so good. Weird, but good.

With that little bit of silence or escape from noise I’ve discovered I am thinking more, thinking more of other people, singing or humming songs from Sunday and planning more. In my commute, I’m also hearing a variety of noises I never heard before. I’ve heard the sounds of other cars, the rattles and creaks of my ’97 Honda Accord, how the road makes different sounds depending on the lane or type of road.

How about you? Do you have moments of silence to flow over you during the day? Time to just sit and think or observe life, without noise washing over you?

At least, that is what C.S. Lewis states in his book, The Screwtape Letters. Mr. Lewis describes Satan as one who detests music and silence and whose goal is to make thewhole universe a noise.

Julia Baird in her Newsweek article “The Devil Loves Cell Phones” adresses an issue we all struggle with. Silence. Whether it is music playing in the car, iPod, or via Muzak or the tendency to have the TV as white noise – we are daily emmersed in noise.

This past week I have been hunting. Which entails sitting still in the woods for hours on end. It has been during those times that I have had time to think, evaluate, pray and reflect on life. I have seen nature flow before me, I have seen shadows move and stars shift in their heavenly positions. It was for the most part – a worshipful experience.

Time at first crawled by minute by minute. However, after several days of hunting and sitting, time started going by fast and I eventually was surprised that an hour had passed by without once looking at the time.

After hunting and reading this article, I have decided that for the next few weeks I am going to keep the car radio off and look for opportunities to say no to filling my life with noise. I’ll keep you updated on my progress in grabbing nuggets of silence.

Its been a busy week with a two day district denominational meeting and working on a message for Sunday and a wedding Sunday afternoon. However, I do have some random thoughts from this week…..

1. I’m preaching this Sunday on how David in II Samuel 16 handled criticism. Because of my reading and studying, I am wondering if our society is increasingly becoming a critical society or if there is more freedom and opportunities to express our opinion. You can email me at: stevew@cccomaha.org or go to my Facebook page to wade in with your opinion.

2. I stood in front of a couple bathroom sinks this week waiting for the water to turn on automatically.

3. I have stood in front of a couple paper towel dispensers waiting for a towel to appear.

4. I love having the opportunity to preach – its just the time and effort for me [I'm not saying I'm slow, but I'm not that brilliant either] to hear what God wants me to say and put it in a logical, understandable way.

5. I love doing weddings. I get to officiate on Offutt AFB for a couple with one who is in mid-60′s and the other is in early-70′s. What a privilege and celebration!

The same day that my oldest daughter was married I read in the October 24th Omaha World Hearld some interesting “information.”

Now, you may be wondering how could I read the paper on the day Bethany was to get married? Easy. I’m the FOB [Father of the Bride] whose job is to put on a tux, show up for pictures and walk down the aisle with, if I might say, the lovely bride. I’m there for moral support and to stay out of the way. I did both and had time to read the paper that morning.

I digress.

On the opinion page there was an article about “wackiest places to visit” in this wonderful nation. I was relieved to know that Nebraska’s own Carhenge near Alliance was second place.

First place was the Toilet Seat Museum in Texas, honorable mention Pez Memorabilia display in California, and the tension between who has the biggest ball of twine. Darwin, Minnesota has a 12 feet in diameter and 17,400 pound ball, yet in Cawker City, Kansas there is a ball of twin weighing 17,980 pounds and 40 feet in circumference. I sense a conflict.

I tell you of the wacky tourist spots and twine ball wars article because I realized in an amazing way what is truly newsworthy. Love and family.

We had a wonderful weekend with family and friends seeing Bethany and Jared marry. A couple that obviously love God and each other very much. Where two families are now in-laws to each other and where the parents are happily married to their “original” spouse.

As I stood up at the reception to thank people for attending, I was overwhelmed with gratitude and was humbled to think that people from around the nation came to celebrate this wedding.

I wish there was more attention to weddings and marriages than toilet seats and twine.

I realized that my “recent” [if you call two weeks ago as recent] three posts have been fairly introspective about life, death and confessing sin.

Tuesday I read a quote that made me smile. Then I read it outloud to others as soon as possible, interrupting the existing conversation if necessary.

I guess those are my two criteria for a good quote.
1. Makes me laugh/smile
2. I have to tell others.

Enough of my opinion.

This quote is from the business section of Newsweek in discussion about technology and computer security.

“Passwords are like underwear: you don’t let people see it, you should change it very often, and you shouldn’t share it with strangers.” October 19, 2009 Newsweek-Business section

I came across an interesting article yesterday at www.time.com entitled, “How Moses Shaped America.” Bruce Feiler wrote a well balanced perspective on how through American history Moses has been an inspiration and example to many of our leaders.

Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and John Adams proposed that the seal for the United States be of Moses leading the Israelites through the Red Sea as the water overwhelms the pharaoh. Abraham Lincoln found reason to highlight the accomplishments of Moses as he spoke at Gettysburg. Barack Obama declared his candidacy for President while referring to Moses leading people out of bondage into freedom.

I like that thinking, but came across a paragraph in the article that gave me pause.

“With the rise of secularism and the declining influence of the Bible in the 20th century, Moses might have melted away as a role model. But something curious happened. He was so identified as a hero of the American Dream that he superseded Scripture and entered the realm of popular culture, from novels to television. Superman was modeled partly on Moses. The comic-book hero’s creators, two bookish Jews from Cleveland named Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, drew their character’s back story from the superhero of the Torah. Just as baby Moses is floated down the Nile in a basket to escape annihilation, baby Superman is launched into space in a rocket ship to avoid extinction. Just as Moses is raised in an alien world before being summoned to liberate Israel, Superman is raised in an alien environment before being called to assist humanity.”

Maybe you view Moses as Charleston Heston in Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments.
Personally, I see a average man who with all his foibles, faults and problems – was used by God all the while “he was more humble than any man who was on the face of the earth.” [Numbers 12.3]