THE MATCH IS CONSUMED

THE MATCH IS CONSUMED

To start a fire, the match is consumed.

In the box they are but sluggards in bed.

Only the dud survives, yet with a burnt head.

Surely, Jesus was consumed, when he bled?!

“… the disciple is not above the master…” is what He said!

“Hey, mister!  Can you give me a light?’

Ignore him; walk on; this is not my fight.

If he would only half-try, then maybe I just might?

But compassion whispers, within, “… oh, his plight!”

Faith, hope, and love; to the blind give sight!

Open my eyes, O Lord, that I may see,

What and where it is You’d have me be!

Open the door, and in my heart place the key.

From my fears and doubt, Lord, set me free.

Let me give my all in sacrifice to thee!

So, I will be the match; but, who’ll be the tinder?

Unto God, the first and finest, who will render?

For lack of wood the fire they will hinder.

Surrender!  Let no one say, “you are the offender!”

Ashes and coals, each will rise as a glowing ember!

DEATH IS COMING

DEATH IS COMING

                Jeff and Josh decided that they would visit their triplet brother, since he had to work on their birthday.  They rode down the long road to his bridge operator house, and went in to drink coffee with John, and enjoy some time together.  They laughed as they retold and relived, in their minds, childhood exploits.  The three brothers had been little fire-brands.  They still loved to laugh and lived life fully.

                Through his window, Jeff saw smoke blowing, with embers sparkling in the wind, from across the bridge that crossed the river chasm in the distance.  They ran outside to see hundreds of people scrambling on to the RR tracks from everywhere, running toward them, trying desperately to escape the forest fire blazing behind them.  Some were already at the bridge, screaming to John to let down the bridge. 

                Jeff and Josh watched as John repeatedly pushed the button that let down the bridge.  But, the switch was not working.  Josh, an electrician quickly located the cause of the malfunction – rats had chewed apart the power cord, outside, leading to the bridge trestle motor.  With a ladder, Josh could almost pull together the two separated cable ends.

                Then, Jeff’s face got ashen and asked if they could hear in the distance the whistle of a long, black train, barreling toward the RR bridge control light.  They looked at each other, and whispered, in unison, “death is coming.”  John knew that if he let down the bridge, the red light up the track would go off.  Josh knew he did not have time to splice the cable.  Jeff took off running up the track, hoping to stop the train before it got past the point of no-return.  He yelled wildly and waved his hands.

                Josh looked sternly at John, through the window of the control room, and mouthed the words, “you have to do it” as he barehanded grabbed the two cable ends, completing the circuit.  John, with tears filling his eyes, pushed the button to lower the bridge.  Josh lit up the sky! 

                The bridge creaked downward, and the people, with bewildered looks, ran across to safety.  Some collapsed, in exhaustion, with their little ones in their arms.  With smoke filled lungs, many of the people ran up the tracks to warn the train they heard approaching in the distance.  Many jumped to safety.  Others just laughed and raised their drinks in a toast to the joke, as the train sped on around the curve.

                But, it was no joke.  And, many began to ask who lit the fire?  Others wanted to know why John put down the bridge and let the train barrel ahead!  But, John just stared at the top of the ladder.

WRATH SATISFIED

WRATH  SATISFIED

                “I am so angry that I just need to hit somebody!  Can you believe them?!  I want to knock the Hell out of them!”

                “Look at that fool slapping himself around!  What is he doing?  He has already bloodied his own nose!  Now he is taking out a knife?!  What’s he going to do next?”

                “Agh, I need to just cut off their murderous, thieving hands!  I will cut out their black hearts!  Their foul-mouthed tongues I will rip out …”

                “What is that fool doing?!  He is cutting out his own eyes and tossing them in the gutter!  Ow-w-w!  He is carving off his own head!?  What is he mumbling?”

                “Father, (gurgling on his own blood) forgive them for they are ignorant of their guilt…”  “it is done; it is finished…”

                I stood there and understood, finally, that there are not two different Gods  -- an angry, wrath-filled, vengeful God of Sinai – and a loving, merciful, forgiving God of Golgotha  -- they are One!  In Gethsemane I see them both, “in Christ alone…”

 

In Christ Alone

In Christ alone my hope is found;

He is my light, my strength, my song;

This cornerstone, this solid ground,

Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.

What heights of love, what depths of peace,

When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!

My comforter, my all in all—

Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone, Who took on flesh,

Fullness of God in helpless babe!

This gift of love and righteousness,

Scorned by the ones He came to save.

Till on that cross as Jesus died,

The wrath of God was satisfied;

For ev'ry sin on Him was laid—

Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay,

Light of the world by darkness slain;

Then bursting forth in glorious day,

Up from the grave He rose again!

And as He stands in victory,

Sin's curse has lost its grip on me;

For I am His and He is mine—

Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death—

This is the pow'r of Christ in me;

From life's first cry to final breath,

Jesus commands my destiny.

No pow'r of hell, no scheme of man,

Can ever pluck me from His hand;

Till He returns or calls me home—

Here in the pow'r of Christ I'll stand.

"In Christ Alone"

Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend

Copyright © 2001 Kingsway Thankyou Music

http://www.gettymusic.com/hymns-inchristalone.aspx

another H - or, "visit with Ratnaraju Rapaka and John Tucker 130729"

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another H

or, "thoughts on visit with Ratnaraju Rapaka and John Tucker 130729"

When I got home from work on Monday, 07/29/13, John and Raj called me from town about five minutes out from my house.  I talked them in and began a three day visit with two fine men of God!  We talked late into the night, got up early and drove to a funeral together, talking all the while, and returned to relax.  Then we shared coffee early the third morning before I rushed off to work.  The following are my recollections of that visit, written down so as not to be lost, and also for further thought and consideration!

1.        “transformational” vs. “academic”  This may be starting in the middle, but, it was one of the highlights.  I eagerly questioned Raj about his work with “preaching students” and what I remembered about my time in ministry training.  I rued the lack of mentored time about prayer and personal character development.  “ahh, transformational…” Raj reflected back to me summarizing the point.  Both are needed, but the former of the two, heart matters, is too often neglected, to the detriment of the minister and his ministry.

2.       Preacher/school administrator/ministry instructor/overseer of 17 churches … I began to feel that I was sitting in the presence of the apostle Paul!  Raj is a focused, faithful, fearless, …  follower of Jesus!  I am sure that he has his armor chinks; but, they are not obvious.  I feel privileged to have hosted him and John for a couple of days, and to be considered some sort of partner in their ministry.

3.       From a profession, civil engineer, to a preacher!  Twenty years before, on a Saturday, Raj and Victoria were attending a wedding in Kaza, some 80 kms away from their home.  Not being able to travel home in time for church, they decided to have church alone in a Hindu village.  The neighbors listened with interest and asked them to return asap and tell them more about this Jesus!  They returned a few times, and then decided to sell out for Jesus.  Raj left his profession and they started a church in Kaza.  Twenty years later there are 17 churches scattered in different villages and towns, a preacher training school, and a private K-12 school started to provide a quality education for his sons and the neighbors.

4.       Months before, from John Tucker, I had heard the story of “Victoria” selling her jewelry to finance a church building for the church in her village.  Not until I looked through pictures in my living room with Raj, did I realize that this sacrificial servant of Jesus that I had heard about and admired, was his wife!  I looked up at John when Raj mentioned his wife’s name, and he nodded understandingly that she was that Victoria.

5.       Tuesday evening, after a long day, John suggested we do something “fun” and we decided to play a card game they play in Michigan.  After a few hands, I casually asked Raj, “do y’all play card to relax in the evening in India?”  “No,” Raj retorted, neither hatefully, nor demeaningly.  “well, what …?” I asked.  “we have cottage Bible studies,” he quietly replied.  My admiration grew, but I felt a little shallow personally.

6.       About that time, maybe attempting to divert the tension, I commented on Melanie’s card and the card with which Raj topped it – queen of diamonds and king of diamonds.  “a rantaraju and a rantarani…”  Raj cocked his head and looked at me in amazement questioning, “do you know what you just said?”  You see, his name, means “diamond king” and diamond-queen would be “rantarani”!!  It was a cute quip/pun that utilized at least some knowledge of Telegu, Raj’s native language.

7.       Whatever points I may have scored with that quip, I quickly lost when I won a hand and let out a war cry, much like we do at work when playing dominos at lunch.  We trash-talk and chest-thump like football players.  Raj just looked at me like he was watching a Capital One commercial! (like he was assessing a cave-man!)  I do have to wonder how I would be received in India, when visiting, if I acted like my [ab]normal self?! (“ugly American”?)

8.       Sometime during the visit we discussed the helpers, the preachers, that work with/for Raj.  With some 17 churches, there are several men filling pulpits and pastoring groups.  I asked if they were “bi-vocational” or full-timers.  Raj replied that they were full-timers and I then asked about pay, trying to understand how this machine was financed.  “major industry?” “farming.” “pay for field hand?” “4 dollars” “per hour?!” “no, per day.” “live on that?!” “wife can make $3.” “so, they can subsist on $7?” “have to.” “so, how much do your preachers get paid?” “$100” “per week?” “no, per month.”  (I quickly did the math in my head and that comes out to about what farm hands make) [just a footnote:  since the visit, I overheard of a co-worker who is trying to substitute a $2100 birthday check for the new Mercedes that his daughter expects for her 21^st birthday]

9.       My personal thoughts later turned to questions about the pay scale.  Preachers in USA are mostly not over-paid either!  But, how could local support be developed to finance these ministries, when families are bringing in $7/day on average??  I remember once reading of the ten-family-rule in synagogues being the rule of thumb of the minimum needed to support a rabbi (ten tithes).  And, I thought on “rice Christians” that disappear as soon as the foreign church aid for rice disappears.  Sacrifice and commitment and dedication are lessons that need to be learned, by Indian Christians and also American Christians!

10.   Related to this preacher pay is a story that John told me about some shortage of funds for several months.  John had raised the question of looking for a new job if he did not get paid for several months?!  The unpaid local ministers quietly replied, “… must spread the word of God…”  (is this convicting to anybody else?!)

11.   “flexible” was the word.  A funeral (another long story:  Melanie’s best friend’s dad had died) got jammed into our schedule, and John said we could visit and talk in the car just as easily as in my living room.  I quipped about the USMC motto, “improvise, adapt, overcome”.  (I am thinking about the need to be flexible with my personal life plans to move with God, wherever He leads?!)

12.   John drove four hours to the funeral and we talked of Indian culture, geography, history… etc.  We stopped for gasoline, and I insisted on paying.  We stopped for lunch at Melanie’s favorite German restaurant, “Ol’ Heidelburg” and I insisted on picking up the check.  As I paid the tab and tip, I winced thinking “half-month salary for an Indian preacher” and wondered if Raj thought the same?!

13.   During our drive we discussed many things Indian.  Melanie asked, “snakes?” Raj simply said, “cobras?!”  We discussed comparative US/India land mass and population and guessed at half the land mass and 4x the population – 1.2 billion souls!  I asked,  “Christian population percentage?” and Raj replied, “3%, officially; 10% likely really” (Christians in India lose certain government benefits by declaring Xn on government databases, including free college education tuition)

14.   Money is an issue.  It takes money to live.  In his most recent newsletter, Raj mentioned the need for three church buildings, at $7500 each!  They are 17x30 ft. (510 s.f.) and that computes to how much per square foot?! Less than $15/s.f.  And how much does an American house cost per square foot?!  Anywhere from $100 to $400!!!  (I told Melanie that $7500 is the price of one of our toys, the price of a four-wheeler.  I will think on this before I buy that “Polaris Ranger” I have been eyeing.)

15.   In one of Raj’s pictures there was an outdoor, night-time, open-air evangelistic-crusade scene.  (John and Raj bantered back and forth, often; and, it was difficult to distinguish jokes from seriousness)  John quipped that there were too many lights and we needed to cut back on expenses using fewer lights.  Raj casually replied, “…must see to read Bible…”  Honestly, the scene included dollar-store plastic chairs, poles with crude fluorescent lights, and feed sacks for the children to sit on.  Not exactly Schuller’s  “Crystal Cathedral”?!!

16.   Raj gave Melanie an unbelievably exquisite hand-crocheted table cloth as a hostess gift.  Melanie stood to thank Raj and gave him a hug.  John giggled at Raj’s discomfort, commenting, “… men do not hug women in India”  Raj added, “… not even their own wife, in public…”  Melanie smiled, adding, “I bet they would not like this either…” as she kissed me goodbye, on the mouth, as she departed for an appointment!  Raj just nervously laughed.

17.   There were many “firsts” in our visit.  Raj had his first serving of grits.  Raj had never had German food before.  I had never seen anybody drink hot water before their morning coffee?!  (I did not ask)  I wondered on the male/female interaction differences in our two cultures.  I learned that they drink buffalo milk in India.  (I think Raj said so!)  I jokingly suggested ways to deal with marauding packs of destructive monkeys that tore off their church roof tiles.  I mused, this work must go on!!!

18.   It is so easy to be distracted.  One of my web signatures at a forum I frequent includes this – “Humility and honesty; Hungry and homesick; Holiness and honor”   To this, after watching John and Raj, I think I will have to add, “Hard-core and halt-less”.  At one point, I asked Raj, "... what is your goal ..."  with very little hesitation, he seriously replied, "for India to be a Christian nation."

19.   Sometime in the visit, I commented that I am in the 4^th-quarter.  In American football we have a custom of claiming the 4^th-quarter with a lifted hand showing four fingers pointing to the sky!  John, with his musical bent, quoting John Fogerty’s “Centerfield” (different game?!), quipped, “put me back in the game…” 

            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04KQydlJ-qc  

Oh, put me in, Coach - I'm ready to play today;
Put me in, Coach - I'm ready to play today;
Look at me, I can be Centerfield.

20.   Friday, I asked HR if I could have unpaid leave-of-absence in January.  Praying.