God gives us just what we need. He did it again today. It was not a spectacular day for worship at Maranatha. It was one of those days when nothing really clicked very well. We kind of went through the motions. I preached the best I could but it seemed like no one was “into it”. Any church leader who is honest will admit that this happens more than we would like. So I wrapped up three services of preaching trying to focus on a positive take-away.

Then God did some pretty awesome things through His people AFTER church. Some 40 plus volunteers from Maranatha invaded Cabana Colony, a community near our church, with the goal in mind of serving those in need. Armed with lawn mowers, weed eaters and garbage bags, we fanned out over the neighborhood. 25 homes in the community were cleaned up, lawns mowed, trash cleaned…it was amazing! I can’t count the number of neighbors who came out to ask what was going on. A few got their gear and joined us. It was a blast!

Way more ministry happened outside of the building than inside today – just the way Jesus likes it!
People of all ages and entire families came out to serve. The volunteers made it happen – thanks so much guys! A special shout out to Alan and Sharon Seldow and Norm McDonald for their advance scouting and connections in the neighborhood!

The love of God was made obvious to some observers. Our DNA is showing. We are becoming more missional in our worship expressions and in life. I couldn’t be more pleased. I hope the same is true of God.

tomorrow's message

Tomorrow, I am bringing a message called Double Shot: Lessons from Elisha. I hope, if you are in the area, you will come by to worship with us. If you are out of town, feel free to join us online to hear the message - sorry, it won't be posted until Monday. Details about our two locations and service times can be found by clicking here.

Grace, everyone!

a 3 hour missions trip

As yesterday’s post indicated, I spoke last night at Salem Community Church, a Haitian/American faith family. Letha and I enjoyed a truly amazing experience.

I learned some things:

People who are familiar with suffering are passionate about worship: I was put to shame in regard to passionate worship. These people are serious about being in God’s presence and seeking for His help. When it came time for prayer, they were operating on a different level. I couldn’t help think that my need wasn’t as desperate as theirs. This is not a cultural consideration; they don’t pray with fervor because they are Haitian. They pray this way because they need God so badly. The things they have seen and experienced take them to a different place. I know little of that kind of desperation.

The Haitian/American community responds when you care. I felt a genuine connection with them when I told them that I am going to Port-au-Prince in August to serve earthquake victims. They trusted me and I found favor with them. The rest of the evening was impacted because of my announcement. They knew I cared.

Language barriers can be crossed. Several of the members do not speak English and I did not preach with an interpreter. When I read a scripture, it was projected on the screen in Creole. Still, many of the people greeted me personally in their language. There seemed to be no gap. They allowed us to feel at home among them.

I can preach for an hour, loudly, when necessary. I usually am good for about 35 minutes of preaching at Maranatha. I preach three services every Sunday, so many times, I am preserving my voice and I don't get too animated. Last night, I was free to yell and sweat a little bit and I preached for a solid hour. It felt kind of nice – no one watched their watch, and no one seemed annoyed that I spoke so long. Don’t worry, Maranatha folks, I know better than to try this at home. I will reserve it for guest speaking appearances. :)

I am better prepared for my missions trip(s). I am leading a trip with a team of eleven to Guatemala on Monday. In August, I am leading 8 pastors to Haiti. My worship experience last night was part of the getting ready process.

Special thanks to Pastor Serge Jerome and the Salem Community Church people for their warm hospitality and graciousness. I am better because of my time with them.

tonight

I have the privilege of speaking at a local church this evening. Salem Community Church and their Pastor, Serge Jerome has invited me to be a guest speaker in their series of special services celebrating the completion of their new building. This faith family is comprised primarily of Haitian Americans. I am honored to be able to celebrate with them. Anyone in the Lake Worth area that would be interested in attending is welcomed to do so. The address is 3200 Roberts Lane, Lake Worth, FL, 33461. The service begins at 7:30.

Congratulations to Pastor Jerome and his congregation!

helpless to help

One of the consistently frustrating aspects of local church ministry is the inability we possess to help people who cry out for help but do not embrace the ministry of the church. Especially troubling are the people who call or email us asking for help but, they are not involved in the life of the church. I’m not speaking of people who do not know better. There are numerous people who have been around for years but never commit. It is nearly a daily occurrence for me or Letha to get a call… someone is in trouble, hurting, discouraged, afraid, confused; and we try to pray them through the issue they are facing. A vast majority of the time, these callers do not attend worship events regularly, if at all. Many times, the very issues that are troubling them have been addressed in a recent worship services, but they were not present to hear God’s Word and respond. It is painful to want to help but not be able to help.

A selfish part of me gets aggravated because these people expect my individual time when they don’t care enough to join the family. It is a one-sided relationship, in that, the church must be there for them but they are not there for the church. Then the practical side of me kicks in and I realize that if I spend all of my individual time with those who do not attend our services, I will have no time left for those who are part of the regular events. We are fully aware that we are called to reach out to the hurting and the marginalized. Believe me; our church is full of people like this.

It requires much patience in order to continue to offer help that is rejected. Then I am reminded how long it takes me to “get it” sometimes. God is patient with me.

At the end of the frustration is the realization that we are grace-based and will continue to try to help people; whoever needs it. There does come a time when we have to shoot straight with people and not coddle them – we refuse to use our resources to cater to people who remain uncommitted to Christ and His church. Sometimes, the best way to help them is to tell them to grow up and do the right thing. But we will never withhold help from desperate people.

tough

My dad is 85. He has had a bad heart for 31 years, including 2 triple bypass surgeries. He was supposed to die in 1979 from heart failure. He worked for decades in a filthy machine shop, running dangerous machines. For all those years, he breathed the exhaust that spewed out, got drenched in oil and beat his hands to a pulp. He got up at 5:00 every day and worked in miserable conditions. I remember him coming home and he smelled like burned oil. He worked while sick and in every kind of weather. Because of his years of hard manual labor on outdated machines, he had the strongest grip of any man I had ever met.

I describe him as tough. He was tough because his family needed him to be. We have a lot to learn from his generation.

I don’t know how much longer my dad will be around. At 85, every day is a gift. But he is so tough, my brothers and I joke about how, one day, he will bury all of us.

So here is a happy Father’s Day wish for him.

I love you, Dad.

a challenge from Francis Chan

welcome!

This week marks the beginning of the pastoral ministry of the Richard Whitter family at Maranatha Church. Rich joins us in the role of Missional Pastor. As such, he will lead our efforts to make the love of God obvious in our community and around the world. He will not be doing our missional work, he will be teaching US how to do our missional work.

Rich, Janet and Grace come to us from LifeChurch in Bloomington, Minnesota. Rich has been my nephew all of his life and most of mine.

Let’s welcome them to the Maranatha family!

we need some answers...

This is day 58 of the BP oil fiasco. An environmental crisis of epic proportions.

At this point, I beginning to wonder if there is anything that can be done by the people who hear from God. It may sound like lunacy but maybe someone who has the special gift of the Spirit like prophecy or word of knowledge (ref: I Corinthians 12) can offer some insight.

As crazy as it sounds, God can do anything. One of the more interesting Old Testament stories I know is found in II Kings 6:1-7 (NLT)
1 One day the group of prophets came to Elisha and told him, “As you can see, this place where we meet with you is too small. 2 Let’s go down to the Jordan River, where there are plenty of logs. There we can build a new place for us to meet.”
“All right,” he told them, “go ahead.”
3 “Please come with us,” someone suggested.
“I will,” he said. 4 So he went with them.
When they arrived at the Jordan, they began cutting down trees. 5 But as one of them was cutting a tree, his ax head fell into the river. “Oh, sir!” he cried. “It was a borrowed ax!”
6 “Where did it fall?” the man of God asked. When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it into the water at that spot. Then the ax head floated to the surface. 7 “Grab it,” Elisha said. And the man reached out and grabbed it.

So I say, if God can make an ax head float, He can give some kind of solution to this current crisis.

What do you think?

a poignant moment

Letha and I were in a large worship gathering last night. At the conclusion of the teaching of Scripture, the speaker mentioned that he would like to pray with those who had children who were not living for Christ. He asked for a show of hands and asked that these individuals come forward for prayer.

I was stunned to see how many pastors came forward for prayer. These people are leading local churches in faith development, but their children are without a relationship with Jesus. It was a sobering and heartbreaking moment.

A few points I took from this experience:
I am very thankful that our adult daughter loves God and lives for Him.
We can lead thousands but if those closest to us do not follow, we fail.
We need to pray for spiritual leaders in our communities, the task is not easy.
Just beneath our personal relationship with God, our relationship with our family is top priority.
God has no grandchildren.

Intense.

refreshing

I am in Tampa this week and it is blazing hot here. I thought this would be a nice time to take a look back at a few pictures from our recent trip to the Inca Trail in Peru. I hope you enjoy.

the thing about unopposed leaders

Paul makes an interesting statement in 1 Corinthians 16:9 “a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me.” (NIV) It seems that the fact that some were opposing him was evidence that opportunity was present. Interesting perspective, don’t you think?

I am in a season of little opposition right now. The team is with me, our leaders seem connected, even those who generally like to resist are quiet. And I am a little nervous about it.

Here’s the thing about unopposed leaders:

When everything is going your way. When everyone is on board. When your ideas are all good ones. When there is no pushback, no naysayers, no one shooting holes in your ideas.
Life is good.
Or is it?

When you are a leader and have no opposers…

Either:
1. You are really good and everyone believes in you and supports you.
Or
2. You are a mean ogre and everyone who opposes you is afraid to tell you (or anyone else) for fear of repercussions.
Or
3. You are not available to hear or are oblivious to feedback or have your head in the sand.
Or
4. No one cares enough to let you know.
Or
5. You are doing nothing of consequence, nothing important enough for anyone to oppose.
Or
6. The dam is about to break and bad news of opposition is just around the corner.

Personally, I am really hoping for option #1.

Leaders need some resistance from time to time. Our ideas do not need to go unchallenged.

Do I like it when I am opposed? No, I hate it. But is it valuable and necessary and it does inspires growth. I am not asking for someone to come against me. But when it happens, and it is only a matter of time, I will do my best to embrace the benefits.

am i addicted?

As part of our current teaching series at Maranatha Church, we developed a list that you may find helpful. It addresses the topic of addictions and recovery.

Be honest with yourself and with God.

How do I know if my habit is a harmful addiction?
Here are 10 questions you can ask to help you determine if your habit is a destructive addition:

Does it impair my judgment?
Does it numb my pain?
Does it enable me to cope?
Does it hurt other people?
Am I overly defensive/sensitive about it?
Do I tell myself and others that I can quit any time I want?
Does it create a false sense of well being or courage?
Does is cover or hide an inadequacy in me?
Do I regret it after the fact?
Is it a replacement for God in my life – in other words – am I asking this habit to do for me what God wants to do for me?

Answer “yes” to one or more of these and you may have an addiction that needs to be addressed.

Get help now.

Inca Trail takeaways finale

This is the last of our three part report on our recent trip to Peru. Dad (Rick) and daughter (Jessica) had an amazing experience!

by Jessica Whitter Hanson and Rick Whitter

Don't let the jerks ruin your trip. We were part of a group of 16 people who hiked the Inca Trail. As is always the case when you get in a group, there was one person who rose to the top as the group creep. One woman made it apparent from the beginning that the trip was all about her. She was late the first time we picked her up on the bus, and several times thereafter. She talked incessantly. She dominated every conversation. She was loud, she was crude and she was inconsiderate. But she did not spoil our trip. We made a decision pretty much immediately that we would, to the best of our ability, ignore her. A few times, this was a difficult task, but we managed.

It is not possible to eliminate all the jerks from your life. There will always be someone who dominates and does their best to make your life miserable. Don’t let them do it. Don’t give them that much control. If possible, ignore them, if not tolerate them. But don’t lose the purpose of your journey. By the time we were finished with our trip, we were feeling sorry for this lady – she had some real issues. But when we think back to the amazing things we experienced on this trip, this woman doesn’t even make the list.

You can overcome phobias if you focus. I (Rick) am afraid of heights. Getting on a roof is a major accomplishment for me. The thought of hiking up a mountain may seem insane for someone who is acrophobic. But I made a determination to not let my limitation prevent my enjoyment of this trip. Along the trail, I had zero issues with height. We were climbing stairs, crossing over old wooden bridges over rivers, squeezing by narrow ledges high above steep drop-offs. Jessica was quite impressed that I jumped up on a couple of ledges for photo ops. The only issue I had was at Machu Picchu, while we were taking a tour of the city. I got a little edgy when we were standing on a ledge and had to relocate for a bit. I got over it.

You don’t have to be controlled by your fears. Don’t be held in the bondage of preconceived ideas. Get over your phobias and get on with life.

Effective leaders sometimes need to present a filtered view of the vision. Let’s be clear: we are not saying that leaders should lie to those who follow them, nor should they sugarcoat reality. But sometimes, presenting followers with all the information about a challenging situation can intimidate them or weaken their resolve to complete the task at hand. Example: during our hike, our main guide, Henry, was famous for presenting a much nicer picture of the trail than what we actually encountered. At the beginning of the day, he would tell us about “a few hours of rolling hills” that “weren’t too difficult.” After a few hours of hiking those rolling hills, we realized that they were difficult, but that by presenting us with a rosier view of the day, Henry has kept us all from despairing. If we had known exactly how difficult those rolling hills were going to be, many of us would have become discouraged, or maybe even have decided to give up before the challenge even began. Don’t lie to those you lead, but presenting the cold, hard truth isn’t always beneficial.

You can go potty pretty much wherever you have to. Without getting graphic, the restroom facilities along the Inca Trail are less than civilized. They were nasty. At the beginning of the trip, this bothered both of us quite a bit. But as we got into the spirit of the journey, we adjusted. Before long, we just did what had to be done.

The life-lesson are obvious. Sometimes things aren’t pleasant but they have to be done. Our advice, take a deep breath (maybe literally) and get it over with. It’s not that bad. Plus these experiences really make you appreciate the comforts of home.

If you want to see Machu Picchu in person, there are 2 options: 1 – you can take a few-hour, air-conditioned bus ride. 2 – you can hike for 3 and a half days, sleep in a tent, use very questionable bathroom facilities, and have your feet go numb from so much walking. Both options lead you to the same Machu Picchu, but are about as different as night and day. For a lot a people, this is a no-brainer. Why bother with all the hiking, camping and sweating if you can reach the end goal (the ruins) without all the work (the Inca Trail)?

When we arrived at Machu Picchu, we laughed about the obvious differences between us and the people who arrived by bus. They were clean…we weren’t so clean. They smelled nice…we didn’t smell so great. They looked fresh and rested…we were exhausted to the bone. Yet, we had seen things the people who took the bus will never, ever see. We interacted with the Peruvians and their culture in a way the bus travelers didn’t. We saw half a dozen other ruins, waterfalls, bridges and animals that gave us a greater appreciation for the country. We passed through the Inca Sun Gate at dawn, getting a first view of Machu Picchu from high above the city. Best of all, we connected with each other and with God, as we experienced His creation, and many challenges and difficulties, along the trail.

We hope you enjoyed our observations about our trip. Hopefully, we will be posting some great pictures over the next couple of days.

All in all, the Inca Trail trek was a once-in-a-lifetime trip for both of us!

Inca Trail takeaways 2

This is a continuation of our application of lessons learned while hiking the Inca Trail in Peru.

By Jessica Whitter Hanson and Rick Whitter

Trekking poles are essential. Trekking poles are like ski poles. They assist with balance, they keep you stable and they supply support while going up and down the hills which takes pressure off of your joints. Prior to the hike, we debated even bothering with trekking poles. Thankfully, a couple of more experienced hikers advised us to make the investment. What an absolute lifesaver! We used the poles 90% of the time we were on the trail.

What I got out of this: Some things we think were optional, aren't. If we don't take them along, we won't finish the trek of life. You'd better know what those things are and take them along.

The porters make it happen. We signed on with a trekking guide company for our trip. You can't even hike the Inca Trail without a licensed guide, for obvious reasons. The men who were responsible for carrying our cooking equipment, food and extra gear were amazing. They sometimes literally ran the trail ahead of us to set up camp prior to our arrival. They were quietm, unassuming guys but they made the trip so much better.

I was reminded of a few things from these hard working men: it's not the glamour people, not those who demand or require a lot of attention. It's not those who work for the applause of the people. The ones who make it happen are those who throw the load on their back and do the job. When no one is looking, when nobody is clapping, they go about the business of making the world work. They don’t complain, they just do it. Here's to the "porters" of the world. God bless you!

Travel light. Get rid of some crap. My pack weighed somewhere around 35 pounds, more or less depending on how much water I was carrying. Our whole family are over packers. I like to be ready "just in case". Because of this tendency, our packs got very heavy, especially during descents. The pounding on our knees and hips was substantial on day two, when we ascended and descended Dead Woman's Pass (at 13,800 ft), I wanted to throw my whole pack off the cliff. It's not so bad to wear the same clothes for four days or to leave the toiletries at home. Did I really need those chemical cold packs in case of a swollen ankle? Apparently not, I brought them back unused.

Think minimalist in life. We don't need so many things. For a lighter load and a smoother journey, drop some dead weight.

We are better ascenders than descenders. On the first day of the trek, one of our guides asked us if we prefer going up the mountains or going down them. We thought this was a funny, ridiculous question – we were working so hard to climb up these hills and who in their right mind would prefer ascending instead of descending? On day two, we changed our tune. We spent the first half of the day climbing Dead Woman’s pass to an altitude of 13,800 feet and we thought it would be the hardest hours of the trek. We spent the second half of the day going down the other side of the pass, and found it to actually be more difficult than climbing up the mountain! Going up was hard on our lungs and hearts, but going downhill was hard on our bodies, putting constant pressure on our joints and feet.

Lesson learned: You think that after you’ve reached the summit, you’re home free. But sometimes, the downhill is harder than the uphill. Just because you’ve reached the summit doesn’t mean you can afford to kick back and relax. Be prepared for the challenges of descending.

Come on back in a few days for one more installment of “takeaways”. By the way, I have a ton of pictures from the trip posted on my facebook profile.

Inca Trail takeaways (pt. 1)

While Jess and I were hiking the Inca Trail this week, we developed a list of observations. Some are new revelations, some are simply confirmations of things we already knew but that were brought home to us in new ways.

Below are some of our "takeaways" from the journey.

Peru: 5/28-5/31, 2010

Part 1:

You can go farther than you think. The trail pretty much pushed us to the point of exhaustion several times each day. We never once thought about quitting (not that this was an option) but we got REALLY tired. Calves, thighs, shoulders and feet take a beating. Air is very thin the higher you go and breathing with less oxygen complicates everything. Add in the extreme physical exertion and you burn a ton of calories. By the way, foods rich in protein are essential - we ate a ton! One advantage of climbing this time of year is cool weather. Camping at night in a 6 by 6 tent when it is cold is another thing altogether. Heavy sleeping bags and warm hats while we sleeping helped. During the day, it was hot in the sun while we were at lower altitudes which caused us to lose a lot of fluids. This is why we had to carry so much water, it was recommended that we drink 2 liters every day. Keeping ourselves hydrated, strong and healthy made the trip manageable.

If the trials of your journey make you want to quit, concentrate on some basic aspects of continuation - you can go farther than you think, despite the obstacles.

It's easier when you go with someone. It's better to share the experience than going it alone. We were part of a group of 16 hikers. While I didn't spend much time interacting with the others, Jessica and I were pretty much inseparable. We encouraged one other, laughed with each other and complained about aches to each other. I would never want to have an experience like this without someone I love with me. It made the trip so much more memorable - something we will never forget.

Don't do life alone. We need each other.

Slow, steady with breaks is better than full speed. Our guide, Henry told us about an annual race of the Inca Trail that used to take place years ago. Professional runners from around the world, as well as local porters would gather to see who could finish the course first. The record is 3 hours and 37 minutes! This is a 26 mile, unbelievably challenging course that took us three and one half days to hike! Of course we stopped at various ruins sites but the thought of running the Trail is astounding. For us, it was not about speed. It was slow going, pacing ourselves. If we had gone fast, we would never have made it.

Life is not a sprint, it is a marathon. Pace yourself. Otherwise, you will burn out and quit. Although our trek was not a race (everyone was encouraged to go at their own pace), Jess and I were the first trekkers to complete the journey, we arrived at Machu Picchu with our guide before the other hikers. Not bad considering I was the oldest hiker by about ten years. No, it was not a race, but it feels good to win!


Take care of your feet, change shoes. We both got blisters on our feet but we had good first aid treatment with us in our packs and made the necessary adjustments. We changed shoes which meant the extra weight in our packs of extra boots/shoes. It was well worth it. Sometimes, it's about the socks. One day, Jess wore regular athletic socks rather than good wool-blend hiking socks. That's the day she got a blister. She was able to change and her feet improved.

The lesson is, there are just some things you can't scrimp on. You will pay in the long run. Make sure you invest in quality essentials.

You have to take time to look back. Obviously, when you are climbing uneven, slippery steps, you have to focus on what is just ahead of you. But every few minutes one of us would stop and say, "whoa, check out that view", as we looked back. Where we had been was awesome, but we could have missed it had we only looked ahead. Take time in your efforts to recall what got you where you are.

Even though we don't plan to backtrack, it is inspiring to see the beauty over your shoulder. Take a look from time to time.


Come back soon for part 2 of Inca Trail Takeaways.