The Good News is Preached to the Poor

If you'd like, kick back, grab a cup of coffee or hot chocolate, and read the English version of a sermon I recently preached to our hospital staff:


Luke 7:14-22: “Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, ‘Young man, I say to you, get up!’ The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. They were all filled with awe and praised God. ‘A great prophet has appeared among us,’ they said. ‘God has come to help his people.’ This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country. John’s disciples told him about all these things. Calling two of them, he sent them to the Lord to ask, ‘Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?’ When the men came to Jesus, they said, ‘John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?’ At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses, and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind. So he replied to the messengers, ‘Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.”

Many times in our lives we get our own ideas. They seem like good ideas at first, but many of them weren’t God’s ideas, and therefore weren’t the best. For instance, when I was young I had an idea that I was going to become a professional baseball player. I thought I would use my fame as a great player to share about God. As it turned out, I didn’t have nearly enough strength, speed, or coordination to be a professional. Now that I’m a missionary doctor here in Shell, I can see that being a pro ball player wasn’t the best idea. My four-year-old son, Caleb, gets good ideas at times. For instance, he gets the idea that he is Buzz Lightyear. That was a good idea for awhile until he found out how cool Batman was. I think the plans of the roads here in Shell seemed like good ideas at first, but it seems like every few months they have to be torn up for an improvement. Maybe those designs weren’t good ideas after all.

It’s not a big problem to have the wrong ideas about some issues, such as what will I eat for dinner tonight. However, some ideas need to be correct. Who is Jesus the Messiah? What is his purpose? These are the most important questions that we will ever ask ourselves, and this passage of scripture helps us to answer those questions.

God’s people, the Israelites, had their own ideas about what the Messiah would be like when he came. They had waited for hundreds of years for the coming of the Messiah, and most thought that he would come and kick out those who were oppressing them. The Israelites had a long history of being ruled by oppressive people, whether by the Egyptians, the Philistines, the Romans, or others. Hundreds of years earlier, God had raised up Moses to bring them out of slavery and into the promised land. Wouldn’t the coming Messiah do the same? Wouldn’t he be a military leader stronger than any other king? Before Jesus’ time, there weren’t many who understood that the prophecies in the Old Testament were talking about a Messiah who would restore their hearts.

John the Baptist was one of the few people who understood God’s idea of what the Messiah would be. He understood Christ’s purpose. John’s message was, “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” Because he understood God’s idea of the Messiah, he spent his time in the wilderness preaching and baptizing, preparing people’s hearts to receive Jesus. In Luke chapter seven, just after bringing a young man back to life from the dead, Jesus is approached by a couple of John the Baptist’s disciples. At that time John the Baptist was in prison, and he wanted to be sure that Jesus was the true Messiah. “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?” “Eres tu el que ha de venir, o debemos esperar a otro?” Jesus’ answer is profound. “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.” Vayan y cuentenle a Juan lo que han visto y oido: Los ciegos ven, los cojos andan, los que tienen lepra son sanados, los sordos oyen, los muertos resucitan y a los pobres se les anuncian las buenas nuevas.”

By his answer to John’s disciples, Jesus was confirming his identity as the true Messiah. We know that He was claiming to be the Messiah because he was quoting words from the prophet Isaiah that were written approximately 700 years before. In predicting the coming of the Messiah, Isaiah says in chapter 29 verse 18, “In that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see.” In chapter 35 verse 5-6 he says, “Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy.” Jesus was powerful. His miracles fulfilled these prophecies. It was very important that Jesus was able to do these miracles, because the miracles were evidence that He was the Messiah and God’s son.

Bringing the dead back to life? Now that’s MY idea of a Messiah! In the past, as I thought about MY idea of who the Messiah is, I often made the mistake of focusing on Jesus’ power. He’s strong enough to do anything! But to really understand who the Messiah is, I should be sure to read Jesus entire answer, not just the first part that talked about the miracles. Jesus concluded his statement by saying, “The good news is preached to the poor.” ”A los pobres se les anuncian las buenas nuevas.” Again, Jesus is quoting the prophet Isaiah from chapter 61 verse 1: “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.”

Ok let’s review everyone’s ideas about who the Messiah is:
Israel: The messiah will be powerful and will kick out the oppressive Romans.
Dan: The messiah is powerful and can perform great miracles. He can do anything!
Isaiah/JTB/God: The messiah will perform great miracles and preach the good news to the poor.

Remember, it is extremely important that our ideas about Jesus, the Messiah, are correct. Why? Because, as Christians, we are followers of Christ. We need to know in whom we believe. Is Jesus your savior? I hope so. Not only that, as Christians our purpose during our time on earth should reflect His purpose.

What is my purpose on earth? What is my purpose today in Shell? If I read only the first part of this passage, I will be focused only on Jesus’ great miracles. As a follower of Christ, I may get the idea that my mission on this earth consists only of trying to do great things. For example, I may think, “I need to heal every person I lay hands on. I need to plant a new church at least every month and preach to thousands of people at a time.” Perhaps Jesus does want us to do these great things. I’m not saying that He doesn’t. If the Holy Spirit is leading you to preach to thousands or heal someone, you should be obedient and do it! If He wants you to plant a church, do it!

However, if you are like me, you are a follower of Christ but you are not performing great miracles on an everyday basis, and sometimes this leads to discouragement. Don’t get discouraged! We just need to read the whole passage and remember who Jesus the Messiah is. Yes he did great miracles, but preaching the good news to the poor was also an important part, perhaps the MOST IMPORTANT PART, of His mission. As followers of Jesus, we should have the same mission. We should share the good news with the poor.

So, if my idea of the Messiah is the same as God’s idea of the Messiah, if I am truly a Christian, I will have a very strong desire to share the good news with the poor. You know, God has a special place in His heart for the poor and needy. James 1:27 says, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” In Matthew 5:3, Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

As Christians, we need to look for the poor: those with little money, those with few friends, those who are destitute and depressed, and those are spiritually poor, that is, those who are slaves to sin. The poor are all around us, aren’t they?! We need to share the good news with the poor, the news that Jesus humbled himself and came to our dirty earth as a little baby. He grew up strong, without sin. He lived a life that was perfectly obedient. He performed great miracles. Because He was perfect, and because he is God’s son, He did something that nobody else could do: He paid the full price for our sin by dying on the cross. And He conquered death once and for all by His resurrection from the dead.

I would challenge you to look for a poor person today. If you know Christ Jesus, the Messiah, you have GREAT news to share with the poor. Sharing the good news with the poor was part of Christ’s purpose, and it should be our purpose as well.

We are Thankful

It's hard to be away from family during the holidays, but we're doing our best to give thanks for all the blessings God has given us this past year: the love of family and friends, new ministries here in Ecuador, health and safety in a foreign place, plus so many more.  And all the blessings we have to look forward to: a new baby soon to come, Christmas with my parents here, and God's daily love that we know will sustain us.  I can also see the blessings we receive in just a single day as I watched my children play one day this past week...

 Caleb discovered a suit that we had been given (thank you to the Velasquez family :) before we came, but he hadn't worn yet.  He excitedly put it on and ran over to our next door neighbor, Lilly, and asked her to marry him.  I had to take a few pictures of their wedding.  We are blessed to have a little boy with so much imagination and good friends living next door to share special moments with.

Jael has quite the collection of stuffed animals she needs to go to sleep every night:  Nena, her dolly; Anna, her kitty; a stuffed jaguar that Caleb gave her; a puppy dog; a giraffe that plays music; and her blanket.  It can be quite a time putting her to bed if she discovers one is missing, but we're blessed to have a daughter with such a sweet spirit.  She blesses us with her little voice evey morning when she arrives in our room and says, "I love you!"  (even though it may be a tad early for us).

Though we may be far from many loved ones in the states, we're blessed to have our own family here to share the holidays with and to make new traditions.  The kids made their own Pilgrim and Indian hats to wear to our Thanksgiving potluck this year.  

Thank you for your prayers for our family as we serve in Ecuador; we are blessed because of you!

Heaven Testimony

During the month of November, I (Dan) have had/will have the opportunity to share a sermon with the hospital staff on each Monday in the chapel service. This is a new experience for me. Usually when I'm in front of a group I'm discussing a medical topic or sharing pictures and stories from a mission trip. So far it's been a good time of stretching and challenging me to get into the Word. Speaking in Spanish is an added challenge. If you're interested, I'll post an English version of some of the sermons here on the blog. The first is pasted below.

Heaven Testimony

Today I want to share a story about a period of major growth in my life. It was a time when I first began to think about and look forward to Heaven. During my last couple of years of college I reached a point where everything in my life seemed to be going in my favor. You might say that everything I touched at that time turned to gold. I had been a committed Christian for many years and I felt a calling to serve God on the mission field. I had always done well in academics, and I was getting ready to graduate from college with honors, ready to go to medical school. I was athletic and a pretty good baseball player. I was entering the final baseball season as a captain of the team. I had muscles and yes, I even had hair. I had lots of friends who had been close friends for years. My family was loving and supportive. I was in love with Kristina Roth, who was an amazing beautiful girl who would later become my wife.

During the college years we had chapel and worship three-four times each week. One of my favorite worship songs during that time was “I’m Desperate for You.” The song talks about how God is the air we breathe. He’s the bread that we need every day. As I reflected on my life, I wondered, “Am I really desperate for God? Do I really need Him like the air that I breathe?” Things were going so well in my life that is was difficult for me to know the answers to those questions. So, I began to pray, “Lord, make me desperate for you. Help me to see how much I need you.”

The Lord began to answer that prayer within a few months. The first thing that happened was that I did not perform well in my final year of baseball. Something that I had worked so hard for was now in the past, and there would be no more chances to make up for that failure. Soon after that, I began to develop tension headaches as a result of the scoliosis that I have in my back, and I could see that my health wasn’t what it used to be. Even my hair began to fall out. I still had my relationship with God, with my family, and with my girlfriend Kristina, but I began to fear, “What if I lose those things too?”

In the midst of what I would later refer to as “my hard times” I left on a trip that I had planned to Central Africa. There I spent time in the operating room with a missionary surgeon. It was a great experience in medicine and missions. During that time God was digging really deep into my soul, bringing me to grips with some major issues. Daily I saw people just like me, some older, some younger, who had come to the hospital for help. Some of them got better. But many of them died of illnesses like AIDS, malaria, tetanus, and cancer. Not only was there illness, but I was also in the middle of a situation of political unrest. I knew that there were armed soldiers who could be lurking in the shadows. I felt surrounded by death and despair as I realized how short and fragile life really is. Alone in my apartment in the rural mountains of Africa, I was overcome with fear.

Finally, I had reached the point where I was desperate for God. He had answered the prayer that I had prayed a few months earlier in college. Psalm 103 says, “As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.” I understood that at some point I could lose my family, friends, and my very life. What would be left then? God had blessed me so much during my life up to that point. Blessings on earth are wonderful. They are special gifts from God. But I realized that I had been enjoying the blessings so much that I needed to re-focus on the One who had given the blessings. Because I was overcome with the fear of losing these blessings, I began to cling to God, who is the only one who will last forever. Yes, I was finally desperate for God.

I began to pay attention to my African brothers and sisters. Less than ten years before my trip there, there had been a massive genocide in that country, as the two main tribes sought to exterminate one another. As a result, there probably was not a single person who had not lost at least one family member or friend to a killing. Several had also lost their homes or their titles. Nevertheless, all the church services that I attended were completely full. The Africans loved to sing and dance for hours. Were they singing about how good life is here on earth? No. After going through such hardships, they were clinging to the hope that they would one day be in heaven with Jesus. Almost every song they sang was about being with Jesus forever in heaven. Jesus was all they had, and they were filled with joy knowing that they had Him. They had lost almost everything, but they knew that they would never lose Jesus.

Have you ever dared to think about your deepest fears? Do you ever worry about losing your life? Do you worry that your father, mother, husband, wife, or child will lose their life? Will you lose your house and your security? Will every blessing on this earth be stripped away at some point? There’s no doubt that God loves to bless us with wonderful things here on earth. I have a wonderful family and friends that I love, and many of you do as well. But the Bible clearly tells us that our focus should not be on the good things that we have in this life. In Luke 14:26 Jesus says, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.” What does Jesus mean by this extremely powerful statement? It means that our love for Him is so strong that every other love pales in comparison. Even though we’re blessed here on earth, we should be longing for the day when we arrive to Heaven and we’ll get to spend forever with Him who we love so much.

How can I be so excited for Heaven if I don’t really know what it’s like? The most popular images of Heaven that I have seen today include lots of clouds and a giant pearly gate. After you have a conversation with St. Peter, you get to go into heaven where you will inherit your wings and halo. You will spend all your days playing music on your harp. Fortunately that’s not a completely true image of Heaven. Talk about boring!

So what is Heaven like? Pastor and author John Piper talks about how each of us has a deep longing for things that are great and beautiful. I’ve been to visit “El Pailón del Diablo” at least four times. The power displayed by the waterfall takes my breath away. I have a picture of Ken Griffey Jr. in my office. He’s one of the greatest baseball players of all time, and I’m proud of the fact that I’ve watched him play in real life. Who here wouldn’t love to sit in the locker room of Spain’s national team after winning the World Cup? That would be a chance to witness greatness. We all love to view original art and listen to beautifully-composed music. Why do we love to surround ourselves with all these great and beautiful things? We’re trying to fill the hole in our soul that longs for greatness. That hole will be ultimately filled when we see Jesus in Heaven. He is the maker of all the great things on earth, and He is more awesome than all of it.

Psalm 18:7-15 gives a description of God’s greatness: “The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because he was angry. Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it. He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet. He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind. He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him—the dark rain clouds of the sky. Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning. The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded. He shot his arrows and scattered the enemies, great bolts of lightning and routed them. The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of breath from your nostrils.” Now that’s a picture of a great God. When He shows his power like that, I want to be there to witness it.

Heaven is also communion with a loving God without the limitations of our sinful bodies. 1 Corinthians 13 gives us a description of perfect love. Verse 12 says, “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.” Because of our human imperfections, we don’t have the capacity to receive God’s love to the fullest. But when we get to Heaven, we’ll finally understand how much He truly loves us. We’ll understand why He gave up His son to die on a cross, for us. We’ll understand that He’s truly forgiven our sins, and that when He looks at us, He sees a perfect child, a perfect creation, an heir of His Kingdom. God wants us to receive His perfect love, and when we get to Heaven, we’ll be able to do just that.

When I traveled to Africa ten years ago, I was faced with my deepest fears. I became desperate for God as I realized how fragile my life on earth was. Then I began to understand what Heaven is like, and I wasn’t afraid anymore. I want to challenge you to examine your life. Are you blessed? Are you afraid of losing the earthly blessings that God has given you? If so, ask God to give you a glimpse of Heaven. Ask Him to help you to think about eternity, not just about this life that will be gone in an instant. Then, as you look forward to perfect communion with God, with His greatness, with his love, you’ll be able to say like Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:55, “Dónde está, O muerte, tu victoria? Dónde está, O muerte, tu aguijón?” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” and you will live today without fear.

Jael's 2nd Birthday

Jael celebrated her second birthday on October 30th. We decided to have a Strawberry Shortcake theme since she had received a doll from one of her grandmas and this was an easy character for Mommy to draw and make decorations of strawberries. The kids wanted a piñata so we made a pumpkin one a few weeks earlier and then used it for the party. Jael, Caleb, and her close friends Lilly and Violet Kappen had a great time together and she received a special treat when the town let off fireworks in honor of her birthday…well, not really for that reason (we have no idea why they let them off) but it made a great ending to her fiesta.

Wacking her homemade pinata.

Jael was ready for her cake.

An Ecuadorian Census

We received an email today notifying us about the Ecuadorian census that will take place Nov. 28.   Here is what it said:
Just wanted to let you know about the ecuadorian censo that is planned for sunday 28th november(which I think is thanksgiving weekend)... you will be required to stay in your house the whole day ...(7am-5pm) no popping to the shops, no church, no travelling etc. If you are out of town, you have to remain in the place you are staying the whole day. During the day someone will come to fill in a questionaire.  If you are a doctor/pilot on call you must fill out a form before leaving for your job that day.
Apparently the country is sending out 400,000+ workers to try and complete the house to house census in one day.  Knowing Ecuadorian standards of time, however, I can see them showing up at our doorstep to have us complete the questionnaire at two in the morning :)   Dan and I are questioning how they're going to go about getting all the info they want from those living in the jungle. 

I don't think I'll be complaining about the form we have to fill out for the US census anymore, and I guess it isn't nearly as bad as a pregnant Mary and Joseph had it when they had to travel to Bethlehem to complete their census (though we wouldn't mind going to our hometown for a visit:)

Longing for Home and Heaven

With the holidays drawing near, a busy workload for Dan, and being in the midst of fall (which is my favorite season, but doesn’t really exist here in the Ecuadorian jungle) we find ourselves a bit more homesick. One would think after more than a year of living away from family, friends, and “home” we would be more settled in, but we find ourselves often in waves of feeling very settled and then homesick and longing for the more familiar. Of course we miss people we love in the states, but sometimes we find ourselves longing for things we never gave much thought to before they weren’t available. I suppose it’s a little like taking good health for granted until the day you get sick and realize how wonderful it is to be feeling well. We’ve missed World Series games; and cool, crisp autumn mornings; open fields of wheat; orange pumpkins (and all the pumpkin flavored treats: coffee, ice cream, pie). Yesterday one of the teachers at the missionary school who happens to be from Idaho pulled up her screen saver on a projector to get ready to do the morning worship at the school. Her screen saver is a picture her brother sent her a few weeks ago of downtown Boise, Idaho with fall-laden leaves changing color in the foreground and snowcapped mountains in the background. I couldn’t believe how much a longed to be sitting where the picture was taken right then and there.

I don’t think most Americans long for heaven very much. We can get pretty comfortable living life in the states and enjoying what we have here and now. I don’t think there is anything wrong with taking pleasure in the blessings God has given us. Living here, however, has helped me understand a little bit more what it means to long for a “homeland”. Even though none of us have ever been there, I’m beginning to think heaven will be a more familiar place than any other we’ve ever been to or can imagine. All the wonderful factors that make ‘home’ a marvelous place will be compounded and we’ll be more at ease than ever before. So today, as Thanksgiving draws near and you enjoy the blessings God has given you, think about heaven as well, and a future ‘home’ that will be more wonderful than any you could ever go back to.

Creepy Crawlies

Since it's Halloween in the states we thought we'd add a few pics of more creatures we've discovered around here.  They don't celebrate Halloween in Ecuador, though they do have Day of the Dead on November 2nd, but this is more like Memorial Day in the states than Halloween with its ghosts and skeletons.

The first pic is of caterpillars that inundated one specific flower I have growing in front of the house.  One morning we woke up to find hundreds of the little  crawling around on the plant.  Our local friend said these guys would turn into butterflies, but if I allowed them to stay, my plant would definitely die.  Caleb had a great time collecting as many as he could in his bug box.  He wanted to keep them for butterflies, but I wasn't paying much attention when he went to give them water and unfortunately they're "drink" turned into their death when he drowned them all.  (My plant still died, too.)

Like dog, like owner...Dan was in the jungle on his last clinic visit and took off his shoes for several minutes when he used the communities make shift shower.  Unfortunately in that short time he contracted a small larva in his foot.  Thankfully it wasn't a bott fly like our dog had and this critter was easy to get out with a needle and a little bit of squeezing.  Oh the joys of living in the jungle.

On a different note, Dan will be leading chapels at the hospital throught the month of November.  Please pray that he can speak the words that are needed and have time to prepare for each service.