Blessed Christmas

To my dear friends out there, a Blessed Christmas to you all! May the Lord give you joy and a deeper understanding of the reason for the season! Blessings too, for a New Year - may you grow deeper in the knowledge of God's abundant love!

I'm off again for another trip (using Changi's free service to write this) - following my dad for a ministry trip up to the great land up north; back after the new year. Fancy spending Christmas and New Year up there.

To wrap up the last entry for this year, I can only testify to God's faithfulness and continued leading. I may not know the details, but at each step, I know I can obey and trust.

Prov 20:24
A man's steps are directed by the Lord. How then, can anyone understand his own way?

Walk on. Take a walk on the water!

shalom,
JM

God Causes All Things to Grow

I have to say it has been quite a last six months. And its now Christmas time...

Its a fabulous time here in Nongkhai again! First, I'm totally grateful for the weather - its brilliant! A cool 12 degrees right now. What a contrast from the hot, mind-numbing mugginess previously. Then, there are the friends... lovely folk who will do amazing stuff for the gospel and for friends. For good humor and patience, hope and love. Humility and servanthood. Mattiu and Tahlan who will grow up loving the Lord more and serving Him wholeheartedly; challenging normal mindsets and my lack of faith. Background stories (ask me about the Laos incident). Believers who wait and pray and bide their time for a regime change.

Just as the ancients watched for the long expected messiah, so we whisper the sacred syllables - utterance made possible for each man because of the price he had to pay. O come O come Emmanuel! Come, and release us from our chains. Come again Lord, God Almighty, riding on a cloud, shining as the sun! Arise Sun of righteousness, with healing in your wings! Delight of the nations, Lily of the valley, the bright morning star. Son of david, bud of Jesse, Beloved! Come, Lord Jesus come!

God causes all things to grow,
walks with us, so that we know .
He is right here beside us
even when we've missed our bus.

You spring up on us unawares,
through each season we sow,
only to reap the fruits of Your scars
and drink from the River we go

Here I stand, simply,
wholely thine,
in awe of your grace,
time after time.
So hold me close;
warm me in your embrace

You surprise me around the corner
and in the middle of the night
giving me songs for the fight,
strenght to do what's right;
when I no longer bother

Sit, quake, wait, grate
balk at the path before me,
a walk on the water
in the dark of night.
Weep, wail, sulk and grouch
toss and scatter, sit and gather
wake to the sound of thunder
and listless waiting for the Whisper.

Come, long-awaited One, Come!

Gratitude Attitude

Its december already. Its that time of the year again - mad rush, pple back, sorta year end crush. AND yes, it is december again. Another year gone, a new one coming.

This year started for me, with a different tang. I remember telling a good friend, right on new year's morning (thats 2am) as we were walking back, that somehow it felt like this year's gonna be different - that I felt pretty uncertain, vulnerable. Naked was the word. Things just smelt different. Back then, it was music school, or work. Simple, but uncertain. O how the road has taken a twist, and the wicket gate has come and gone, dead-ends, no-through roads and cul-de-sacs. Though the righteous man stumbles, lo, he does not fall; and yes, I am the Righteousness of Christ inputed in me, not of my own merit or ability. Things smart, but we're moving on. Wholeness's begun.

The difference between healing and wholeness is thanksgiving, to the one True Priest who cleanses us.

Yes, there is so much to be thankful for. Small simplicities, and big, massive Thanksgivings. Friends about unexpected corners, news from far-away lands. Friends and strangers who've extended favor, grace, advice and peace. Joy in the journey. Rest and respite in the heat of day. Streams of living water to and drink from and green pastures to rest by. Oil to anoint my head and my cup runs over. Though a feast may be prepared in the midst of enemies, I hold my head, because You are with me, comforting me with Your rod and staff. Your love and mercy pursue me, chase me through the drifting days of my existence, and eventually overcome me, such that I will dwell in Your house, with final perfect rest for eternity.

For kids who grow up loving Jesus, who keep the Affekt. For walks in the rain, for icecream and gelato. Buses that run on time, and trains that come. For friends that sit and mourn, weather and gather. For news from Eretz Yisrael, Mongol Uuvs, Respublika Kazakstan, and the land of the free. Down-under, Isaan and Lao DPR. For the music of ancient caravans and spiced chai. Roasted coffee and tiramisu. And who could forget acquired tastes of Som-Tam and Uni. And of course, the oasis that is Joma.

For teachers, especially those that care more than just the subject they teach. Thankful for weirdness that sets in when you're no longer their student and they insist you call em by first name... Here's to Eddy and Constance and Winston. Thankful for education ministries that decide to write off a unpayable bond because another ministry decides not to have me work. For the postal service so we all get our letters and postcards that arrive well after I return.

For the cold weather so I miss the heat, and the HOT weather so I miss the cold, and for rainy seasons that just drive me silly. For hail, snow and sleet, I'm thankful I don't too often meet. Thank You for dombra, daf, shopar, shell, khaen, pi-saw, morin huur, feadog, quena, pi, limbe, amur khuur, khobuz, guitarra, pianoforte, flute a-béc and bodhran. For good producers and brilliant musicians. Pastorly pastors and shepherdly shepherds. Godly musicians and God-fearing artists. Masterful craftsmen who craft for His glory. Love, joy, peace, health, rest and hope!

Have I really tumbled out the door, out onto the road which leads ever on?

The Havens Grey
words by Ben Shive
There is no road to bear me from my sorrow
No healing that is deeper than this hurt
My heart is gone away across the water
To the bright, undying shores beyond the world

When I sail from havens grey
Caught up on the wind and blown away
I will close my eyes on the Shadowlands
and bid goodbye to all my friends
The parting is the price, it is the price that I must pay
To sail beyond the arms of the havens grey

And even though you know your heart is breaking
For a little longer still you must be whole
To love the life that's given for the taking
And to give the love the living's given for
And let it lead you to those shores

When you sail from havens grey
Caught up on the wind and blown away
Close your eyes on the Shadowlands
And bid goodbye to all your friends
And sail from havens grey
Caught up on the wind and blown away
You'll bid goodbye to all your friends
And close your eyes on the shadowlands
I know you will open them again in the endless day
Of a love that dawns beyond the havens grey

So follow the road through the rain
Down from the door where it began
Out of the rain, into the sun
follow it on and on and on

Keep to the road through the rain
Is there a there and back again?
Out of the rain, into the sun
follow it on and on and on
follow it on and on and on
follow it on and on and on and on

The parting is the price, it is the price that I must pay
to harbor far beyond the havens grey