Into the Flip Side

hey all,

I apologize that it has been awhile since my last post. I wanted to give a quick update on something. A website is in the works that will soon replace this blog. the same theme will be the focus of the new website. it should be up and running soon, and is being graciously built by me very talented brother-in-law (and close friend) Jer.

In the mean time, please continue to stay current by reading the news updates.

also, please feel free to contact me with any suggestions from the new website. I am very excited about it.

here is an update on the food rations in Myanmar. these people will be affected for a very long time

this is a Darfur refuge camp Ambulance. The amazing thing about pictures is that they convey so much better than words can the real nature of the situation. It can be hard to truly imagine what it would be like to be forced into these refuge camps. thank you again to Mia Farrow for her photos and her heart for these suffering people.

I will be posting pictures that have been taken by Mia Farrow from here visits to the Sudan. I want to give her full credit for the pictures and thank her for her willingness to openly share them in the hopes that they will be a tool of awareness. Please visit her website to see the full galleries. her website is miafarrow.org.

The Coffee Addict over at Pajamas Media has a good round up of Mugabe and the unfair election that was. Mugabe: The Anti-Mandela

this is very good news Fast donor response keeps WFP Humanitarian air service flying in Sudan

turn out low for the Zim elections pray that God will intervene for the people who are starving

I am currently reading John Piper's book "Don't waste your life" (which by the way, you can read for free online at Desiringod.org along with many other of Piper's books). In the book he is talking about the true definition of love and he suggests that we ask our selves "would you feel more loved by God if he made much of you, or if he liberated you from the bondage of self-regard, at great cost to himself, so that you enjoy making much of him forever?" great question.

Isn't this what it is all about? I have a desire to be liked. That is not simply to say that I want people to appreciate me through their words. That means I want to look a certain way, I want to be perceived in a certain light. I want to be thought of a certain way. I want people to see my family a certain way. Some of that is not bad, as long as it is in relation to God. But I am talking about the bad stuff here.

What if I let go of all of that (you know, that stuff that Christ died for)? What if I didn't care what people thought about when they saw my clothes were not name brand, or that I did not live in a house but in an apartment, or that my family shopped at the cheapest grocery store and bought the non-name brand foods.

What if I truly felt most loved from knowing I had been "liberated from the bondage of self-regard"

once that has been done, I would be so free to truly care about the things of this world that matter.

I am sitting here and I can not remember all that I got for Christmas last year except one gift. I got a pass to the zoo for the year. I take my oldest daughter pretty much every week and it is the greatest thing ever.

I found this website that was talking about making a list of the items you bought that you thought you really wanted and would really use that did not measure up to your anticipation, in fact it suggests keeping an on going list.

You know, I could probably put 97% of the things I have ever gotten on that list. That should tell me a lot about advertising, about how I lie to myself, and sadly where my heart is in a lot of areas.

What if I could return for cash all of the items that I had bought or were given to me that I thought I was really going to need and I could give that money to people who were starving today?

what if I could have the foresight to do that now?

I have not posted today for which I apologize. Please continue to review the articles and feel free to draw my attention to any article you find note worthy.

more posting tomorrow

"Vehicles are getting hijacked at the rate of almost one a day" Pray for the hearts of these hijackers. Pray that Christ would intervene and allow food to get to the starving in Darfur. This is unacceptable, and we need to get all of the people in there that have been promised along with protection.

Security Council condemns violent campaign aganst political opposition in Zimbabwe just always keep in mind that while this continues aid is still being denied to the thousands of men, women, and children who rely on it for survival.

Chris Morthey reports from Myanmar. "She was one of the first international aid workers permitted into the Irrawaddy Delta, following the government's announcement that it would allow foreign emergency teams access to all cyclone-affected areas"

who does this? UN calls for urgent action as ration cuts continue in Darfur . seriuosly? who attacks people delivering food to starving people? what mentality do you have to have to get to this? Who talks you into this?

I just don't get it.

The situation in Zimbabwe has gotten worse over the weekend.

On Sunday: the oppostion leader pulled out of the race against Mugabe This is heart breaking. Although I understand Tsvangirai's reasoning for dropping out. I just can't imagine what this will do to the people who are currently faced with such oppression. Mugabe has already cut off aid, and per the article "85 people have died and tens of thousands have been displaced from their homes, most of them opposition supporters."

This morning Foxnews.com also has the following article: Police raid Zimbabwe Opposition Headquarters, taking away 60 . There is a common thread in what Mugabe is doing, dishonesty. He is lying and then his police are using the lies to violently overthrow their opposition.

Here us a good article by Bridget Johnson at Pajamasmedia.com: Help the Zimbabwe Opposition Now! couldn't have said it better myself. Men, women, and children are starving because Mugabe refuses to give up power.

a thought:

as a believer in Christ, when I read articles of events like this that are taking place around the world as we speak, it focuses me. It brings my attention back to reality. I find myself less concerned about the minor aspects of comfort, that appear so important in western civilization, to the crucial truth of life. We are living in a time in history that desperately needs Christians to stand together. to care for the hurting, to sacrifice, to devout our lives to meeting needs and declaring the kingdom of God.

When I was a youngster and full of zeal everything seemed so meaningless. It seemed like something bigger was out there. I think others can relate to that. The thing is, I thought I would outgrow that or that I had outgrown that. I am finding though, that it is becoming a stronger calling, a pressure.

I am not unrealistic, I understand the need for us to work, to be dedicated to things, to be obedient in the small stuff. The Christian life is all encompassing. I guess my concern is, should it stop there? Should we stop at working a full time job, taking care of the fam, going to church, giving money, or should that just be the beginning? What if we started looking at that as just the starting line? What if we start really being radical in our faith? I don't mean in a cult like way... I mean truly pushing the bounds of faith. Trusting God to take care of us, as we sacrificially give all we have for the needs of others.

James McDonald says something to the affect of: "I should be living my life in such faith in God that if He does not exists I will fall flat on my face" I think I messed that saying up, but the point is, I need to be out there in my faith, I need to give up some comforts physically and emotionally so that I am truly relying on God. Not because of how great I would be, but because of how great God is, and because God's creation needs us.

This is meant to convict myself by the way. I am not writing to you from a jungle or something. I do not live in a hut somewhere. I just feel God stirring.

To borrower from Ecclesiastes; all is futile.

the only thing that matters at the end of the day is Christ. The onlything we can rely on is Christ.