(I didn't write this. I'm just sharing some food for thought this morning from desiringGod)
Imagine walking up a mountain alone. But it’s no ordinary mountain. The ground beneath you is shaking, and the entire mountain is covered in smoke. At its peak is a thick cloud with lightning and thunder. God descends onto the mountain in fire, and each time you speak to him, he responds in thunder. This is what Moses experienced in Exodus 19.
Now compare that experience to your last time in prayer.
Distracted, obligatory, ordinary — I doubt any such words came across Moses’s mind as he ascended the mountain. But some three thousand years later, we rarely marvel that God permits imperfect humans into his presence.
How did the shocking become so ordinary to us? Is it even possible for our experiences with God to be that fascinating?
A mentor of mine lives in India. Last year, he called me on the phone crying, distraught over the state of the church in America. “It seems like the people in America would be content to take a selfie with Moses. Don’t they know they can go up the mountain themselves? Why don’t they want to go up the mountain?!?”
When was the last time you enjoyed meaningful time alone with God? Time so good that you didn’t want to leave. It was just you, reading God’s words, in his holy presence.
I was fifteen years old when my youth pastor taught me how to pray and read the Bible alone. Now, more than thirty years later, I still can’t find a better way to start my days. I can’t imagine what my life would be like if I didn’t refocus daily by going up the mountain.
It is alone with him that I empty myself of pride, lies, and stress.
- Pride: standing before a Person clothed in unapproachable light has a way of humbling you (1 Timothy 6:16).
- Lies: speaking to an All-Knowing Judge tends to induce honesty (Hebrews 4:13).
- Stress: kneeling before the God who causes men to fail or succeed replaces our anxiety with peace (Psalm 127:1).
We often spend a lot of time and effort gathering believers together. We’ve become experts at gathering Christians around great bands, speakers, and events. Where we have failed is in teaching believers how to be alone with God. When is the last time you heard someone rave about their time alone with Jesus in his word? Gathering believers who don’t spend time alone with God can be a dangerous thing.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes in Life Together:
Whoever cannot be alone should be aware of community. Such people will only do harm to themselves and to the community. Alone you stood before God when God called you. Alone you had to obey God’s voice. Alone you had to take up your cross, struggle, and pray, and alone you will die and give an account to God. You cannot avoid yourself, for it is precisely God who has called you out. If you do not want to be alone, you are rejecting Christ’s call to you, and you can have no part in the community of those who are called.
The word community is thrown around quite a bit in Christian circles today. But our gatherings can be toxic if we do not spend time alone with God. I’ve been in many groups where people share their insights. The problem is not only that our insights are not as profound as we think they are, but that we’re so eager to share thoughts originating in our own minds, when we have a God who says,
My thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8–9)
I want to know the thoughts of God. I want to gather with people who have been reading God’s words, people who have prayed and interacted with him. I want to fellowship with those who fellowship with God. I couldn’t care less if you have a doctorate in theology or sixty years of life experience. I would rather talk with a fifteen-year-old who has been in the presence of God.
Can You Love Sermons Too Much?
There is so much discussion around books, sermons, and conferences. I’m not against those. After all, I’ve given a significant portion of my life to preaching sermons and writing books and going to conferences. But sometimes I wonder if it’s time to shift our focus.
We have to look at the facts. American Christians consume more sermons and books than any other group in the history of the world, but consider the state of the church. Has the increase in resources led to greater holiness? Greater intimacy with Jesus?
You could argue that the state of our churches would be even worse without the resources. Maybe that’s the case. Or could it be that these resources (and even this article) has the potential of distracting people from the Source itself? Maybe all of these books and sermons about Jesus have actually kept people from directly interacting with him. It may sound blasphemous to suggest our prayer lives may be weakened by all of the consumption of Christian material. Nonetheless, I want to throw it out there.
We live in a time when most people have a difficult time concentrating on anything. We are constantly looking for the quick fix and for faster solutions. So the thought of sitting quietly to meditate on Scripture and praying deeply in silence can be eagerly replaced by listening to a sermon while driving to work. While it’s definitely better than nothing (considering all of the other messages we are bombarded with daily), the point of this article is to say that there is no substitute for being alone with God.
We must learn to be still again.
Something Has to Go
It was simple for Paul. He loved being with Jesus. “To live is Christ, and to die is gain” (
Philippians 1:21).
Knowing Christ deeply consumed him (
Philippians 3:8). There is no substitute for being alone with God. If you don’t have time, you need to quit something to make room. Skip a meal. Cancel a meeting. End some regular commitment.
There is literally nothing more important you could do today.
God literally determines whether or not you take another breath. “He himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything” (
Acts 17:25). Could anything be more important than meeting with the One who decides if you live through this day? Could anything be better? How can we not make time to be with the Maker of time?
What plans do you have today that you think so important that you would race past the Creator to get to them?
Unfortunately, her pressures didn't respond to IV meds and she earned herself a c-section but both mother and baby did well. Heather (one of the nurses) is a NICU nurse so baby kept her hopping for a day or two as he is tiny.
I have several good friends and fellow missionaries who have huge hearts and have adopted in this country. Last week they all went before the judge....
The bad news: The Grahams are in the same situation and also saw the judge last week and did not receive a positive ruling. These guys have been through the ringer with this stuff and have done everything correctly and are still hitting a wall every step of the way. They are understandably frustrated. They have also have not been back to the States in several years and are in need of a well deserved break. Their blog is here.
Way the heck back in May I stress fractured my foot. Either caused or exacerbated by plantar fasciitis. It has been persistently bothering me since then. I cut way back on running but I didn't actually change my activity level other than that. All floors here are cement and between the clinic, walking a lot and just life here it just was not getting better. Until a few weeks ago. I have finally turned the corner on the pain. (Possibly because I spent practically a solid eight days doing NOTHING because of malaria). I've been to a doctor in Kampala twice who has been very helpful but this last follow up appointment, which I had lots of hope for because I feel so much better, was discouraging. The doctor says she didn't see enough healing on the x-ray to make her happy. She said absolutely no running and I have to continue to be off it as much as possible. I've worked with a physiotherapist who was very helpful and also painfully blunt ("Lose 10 kg and most of your foot problems will go away".) They talked together briefly after this last appointment and even tossed around the idea of surgery. I'm nowhere near ready to discuss that yet and want to just ask for more prayer. I thank God that it feels so much better and I trust that He will heal it the rest of the way.
I've seen through this that I really miss running. It keeps my head screwed on straight. It keeps me from getting depressed and helps me stay much more content with life and even keel with the people I interact with. (And there is lots of science and testimony out there that I'm not the only one. I recommend it for anyone.) I'm really ready to be running again!
Benjamin and Christina are back in Uganda which means my niece and nephew are too!! They wrote a great blog post about why they left Uganda quickly the second week of July. Their blog is here. 
In the roundabout in the second picture I was hit by a blue car (lots of blue paint still on my truck) who was trying to squeeze into a third lane. Earlier in the morning I'd been hit hard while turning by someone who was passing on the inside at 120km per hour. He knew he was at fault so didn't really stop. Parts from my truck were picked up out of the road and we continued on. 
Now, I'm back in Soroti, already planning my next trip up to Jinja!
The Ugandan kids are currently out of school again, second term holiday. They head back to their final term next week so we have been school shopping and prepping for their yearly finals. I know I don't write about these kids that I (which means you through me!) sponsor much so it seems about time for an update on all of them. This is Emmanuel. He is currently a first year, secondary school student (Like a high school freshman). He is doing very well, especially in maths and every time we are together he asks me to let him drive. I caved once and that was enough. 
This is Ken. He is very stubborn and wouldn't let me take a picture so I had to do it while he wasn't paying attention. He is also a first year, secondary school student (like a high school freshman). His grades aren't bad but he has some major anger issues. (I've set broken bones twice with him after hitting things.) More on that in a second. 
This is Joyce. She is in her final year of primary school so she will be taking PLE (Primary Leaving Exams) next month. These will determine if she can go to secondary school, which she would really like to do. She reads well but struggles in other subjects. 
This is Janet. Of the whole bunch she struggles the most. She should be in secondary school by now but she has never mastered reading. I'm sure she has significant learning disabilities and I've tried a couple of times to help her read but I'm not a teacher by any stretch of the imagination. Please pray for us as I have no idea what to do with her. 
This is Karen and two of her children. She received a rabbit loan a while back to help support and feed her family. We sat with her and talked for a bit. She seemed discouraged and didn't want to talk much. On our way out we asked if she had any prayer needs. She ask that we would pray that she would become saved. I paused as I realized we needed to talk about what it meant to be saved (you don't need to ask someone else to pray that you will be!) I talked with her for several minutes and realized that she has been told that because she drinks alcohol she can’t be saved. We talked more about being born again and prayed together. After that she was willing to share that she used to have 5 children but one died recently to “bewitching”. She believes someone cursed her child and they died because of it. It has to be a terrible thing to live with. I wish she didn't live three days travel from me as she really needs someone to visit and encourage her. 
Please pray that the Body of Christ, the Church near her, will rise up and meet her spiritual needs. We can also pray that God meets her physical needs as it was obvious the family has some serious struggles. Their rabbits aren't doing as well as they could be because Karen fears thieves will steal them (which is a legitimate fear in this area) and so she isn't taking great care of them because why bother if someone will just take the result of her work? Please pray the desire to escape from problems into alcohol will be replaced by a saving hope in God!
Lastly is Innocent’s wife, Allen. Innocent had received rabbits in the loan program but Allen told us her husband has left her and she
has been without him for several months. She had several rabbits and all of them were stolen. She has seven children and her house is very damaged. When she was moved out of the slums several years ago they received this house but termites have gotten into the wall and it is crumbling. Please pray that she would know God as her provider.
Thank you Rachel, that even thought I'm stubborn and not easy to care for you persisted. You're a great friend and I'll happily return the favor if you need it. Oh, appreciation also to Daniel who was willing to poke me five times to get lines in. Thanks, I think. And also mixing meds and running to the pharmacy repeatedly. Thank you.
Have started the several day journey back to Soroti.... am more than sick of being on these Ugandan roads but had a good time in western Uganda.
A few days back I mentioned when I was at the clinic it was obvious the prenatal women were losing weight when they should easily be gaining. It isn't just the vulnerable who are hungry in the community but they are just the easiest need to recognize. My little village church felt they had to do something and with Gods help they did a huge food distribution. One of the missionary families I serve with wrote about it and the link to their blog is below. I love my church in Obulle and love the amazing things God is doing through their servant's hearts.
Oh, and someone stole my dog. He is pretty unique and doesn't look like any other dog in this city and all the people who live around me know him. They won't tell me who has him. This is a picture of him sitting on my cat. He actually spent a lot of time sitting on the cat.
