friends!post: meet P.S.

P.S. (she doesn't like her real name) is one of my best friends here. I've been hanging out with her since my fourth day in-country, not just because she knows English better than I do. Erin and I talk to her as much as we can about the more important things in life, and lift her up every day. Last week, we gave her a present, a book, with a list of things inside she might want to check out. She's already checked out some of them, and one day last week we (Erin, me, her, another friend) had a pretty lengthy discussion about the standards within that book, and how they can't be reached with our own means. She'd heard it before, but I know I had to hear that fact about one thousand times before it sunk in.

this is my life.

One of the fun things about fasting month, is my Muslim friends are always really excited about eating dinner, breaking their day-long fast. So, last week Erin and I decided to meet up with some friends at the mall to break the fast (at the time, we had hopes to share with them, but they diverted a bunch of our lead-in questions so it didn't happen). They said to meet at six, but being on rubber-time, they didn't arrive until much later. Let's say that after about twenty minutes of waiting, Erin and I were really hungry, so we decided to get a bread snack at one of the stores on the other side of the mall. We got it, and ashamed, stood behind a poll to eat it, at a place where they couldn't see us. It was delicious.

After that, we went to meet with them, ate dinner, then walked around the mall for a while. Suddenly, we were in front of that same bread store, and the conversation went like this:
I: Hey, who wants bread?
E, C, and K: No, thanks.
I: Ok!
But, in true local style, she bought bread for all of us. So, Erin and I, already very full, sat down inside the store to eat the bread that we had already eaten only an hour and fifteen minutes before that. I was on my second nibble when I noticed the staff were gawking at us--"us" being the white girls--and one of them, laughing.

Yes, I was laughed at by a tiny Asian man. Unfortunately, that's nothing new. But, to make things worse, that was just the beginning of our embarassing night.

After that, we escorted our friends to the side parking lot, to their motorcycle. On our way back, we had to cross two exit-ways from the car parking lot, which consist of a little lane, post, and gate for each (you know, the same gates you see at toll ways). So, Erin and I wait for the first car to go, he goes, we start to walk to the middle/safe zone when suddenly the gate comes heavy down Erin's shoulder. The parking guy, at this point, had seen the whole disasterous thing before it happened, and had tried to stop it, but who's to stop the stupid white girls from getting themselves chopped in two by the gate?

At that point, Erin turned to me and announced, "Oh Cass, we gotta go, I'm so embarassed. Hurry."

But, we had to wait for the second car at the second post. Thankfully, it goes, and just as we start walking, the gate comes down heavy on my shoulder.

As you can tell, we're not the brightest bulbs in the box, and I don't yet know all the lessons I'm supposed to have learned from our encounter, but...this is what happens on an all-too-regular basis.

carrying your cross to the darker places

This morning I was writing out notes to some of you back in the States and had my iTunes set to play through my Andrew Peterson CDs. I had gone through Behold the Lamb of God and was halfway through Carried Along when I heard the lyric, "Cause I've carried my cross to the dens of the wicked/And I blended in just fine." The song was from "Come, Lord Jesus," one of my favorite songs from that record, but for some reason I had always missed the point of that line or something. (It takes my mind longer than others' to enter facts--especially along the lines of spiritual truths. For example, the other day I read 1 Cor. 8 for probably the millionth time, and I feel like I understood it for the first.)

One of the most paradoxical things about the Christian life, is that if we're to follow our Savior's steps, we're to live among the sinners, since they're the ones who need a physician. Yet, even though we live among them, we are not to resemble them. After years of thinking about counter-culture vs. building bridges and common ground (the latter of which I discovered just a year and a half ago was a lie), I've realized that once more, following Jesus boils down to knowing Him, loving Him, and then resembling Him. And it's daily, or one could easily carry his cross somewhere only to turn into the exact thing he is trying to reach.

One of the things God warns the Jews throughout the Old Testament is conforming to other cultures. The Israelites were supposed to be set apart as the nation of God, but they failed repeatedly in all phases of Jewish history. Quickly, what was foreign to your character becomes familiar, even a part of you.

A year ago I didn't eat rice two times a day, I didn't wipe my mouth with toilet paper, the thought of drinking hot juice sickened me, I didn't see at least three cockroaches a day, I didn't share a bedroom with lizards, and I didn't hear the adhan five times a day. It's amazing how quickly I could adapt physically, but even scarier how easily I could adapt spiritually if I would allow my flesh the pleasure.

Come, Lord Jesus by Andrew Peterson
Tonight in the line of the merchandise store
While they were packing up my bags
I saw the pictures of the prophets of the picket signs
Screaming, "God hates fags"

And it feels like the church isn't anything more
Then the second coming of the Pharisees
Scrubbing each other 'til their tombs are white
They chisel epitaphs of piety

Oh, there's a burning down inside of me
'Cause the battle seems so lost
And it's raging on so silently
We forget it's being fought

So, Amen
Come, Lord Jesus
Amen
Oh, Amen
Come Lord Jesus
Amen

It's taken me years in the race just to get this far
Still there is no end in sight,
There's no end in sight
'Cause I've carried my cross into dens of the wicked
And you know I blended in just fine

Well, I'm weak and I'm weary of breaking His heart
With they cycle of my sin, of my sin
Still He turns His face to me and I kiss it
Just to betray Him once again

Well, I've got oceans down inside of me
I can feel the billows roll
With the mercy that comes thundering
O'er the waters of my soul

So, Amen
Come, Lord Jesus
Amen
Oh, Amen
Come, Lord Jesus
Amen

Tonight in the light of the gathering rain
I could hear creation groan
And a sigh rose up from the streets of the city
To the foot of Heaven's throne

Oh, and the people hear the sound of a sweet refrain
An absolution in the fray, in the fry
It tells of the death of the one for the lives of the many
More than any picket sign could say

So, Amen
Come, Lord Jesus
Amen
Oh, Amen
Come, Lord Jesus
Amen

...listen to Andrew's new CD -- my connection is too slow, unfortunately
...preorder Andrew's new CD

The Bible and the Qur'an

Chances are, if everything you have learned about Islam has come from television, then you might not know much. But, even if you are aware of the basic tenants of the faith, maybe you don't know too much about the Qur'an. Something neat about the book is that when Muhammad wrote the book he included several stories that are based on stories from the Bible.

There are some stories that appear a little different in the Qur'an--most, in fact--but the comparisons are enough for some of my Muslim friends to want to explore the Biblical accounts as well (which the Qur'an teaches has been corrupted and isn't reliable). Anyway, what are those stories and teachings, you ask?

Well, a wonderful (liberal) organization put out a search engine that will search both the Bible and the Qur'an based on keyword. There is also a list of the common ideas/stories. Highly recommended to read, even if you're just curious but lazy too.

I also found a good resource for Ramadan, in case you're wondering...
"An Idiot's Guide to Ramadhan"

you'd think it were madlibs...

...but actually it's just a summary of a local tourist attraction:

THE NEWBORN BABY PLACENTA FLOATING
The tradition rite of the newborn baby floating is an activity to make the rite habit, to treat and to free the placenta of the newborn baby from a spell. One of this placenta from a spell float the placenta that make a rite to sweep away the placenta of the newborn baby into the sea, it means the placenta become one in the water, in the future the baby can be hoped to have a wide perspective and getting a freedom so he could be up against and adjust to the environment. The series of this placenta floating activity was been first by the newborn baby, after the baby was born and was taken bath by the doctor, the baby's father washes out the placenta and after that it got in to the pot together with the symbolic things like salt, telon flower, note book, pen, Al-Qur'an of verces, needle, yarn and white cloth. After takes care the newborn baby, the baby's father recite call to prayer over the him/her and the placenta will be float into the sea. The activities procession of this placenta floating is beeing first by cucuking laku ( a kind of ceremonial dancing) and it is followed by the baby's father while bringing the placenta of the newborn baby and he is flanked by grand father and grand mother, together with the procession go to the sea and followed by a song of Mocopat Dandhang Gulo from the mothers After the activity of the floating is finished, they come back to shore, followed by the same song, then tumpeng, jenang sengkolo and other food have been prepared to eat together after having prayer. In the evening there is still an activity to show the happines for thye newborn baby with hadrah & rodath atraction, Surabaya lenggang dance and humoric stage.

the first day of Ramadan

Well, it's that time of year again.

Today was the first day of the ninth month of the lunar calendar, a month Muslims set apart to become holy, primarily through fasting from sun-up to sun-down. They won't eat anything. They won't even drink water. The most conservative won't swallow their own spit.

As we entered this Islamic holy month, I began to seek God about what how he wanted me to spend this time. I spent time researching fasting in the Bible, fasting from the perspective of Muslims, and even read a couple of Islamic sites which drew conclusions about fasting from the Bible (although they did make sure to note how the book had been tampered with, and could not be fully believed). It's interesting how the Enemy is really good about thwarting the truth just slightly like that.

Another example of Satan's tactics here is a story I heard from a friend yesterday. Said friend had been doing her practicum in the village for a couple of weeks, and was catching me up on the highlights of her time there. She mentioned one girl had become possessed while there. The following conversation ensued:
C: What happened? Did they see a witch doctor? (the normal practice here, the mixture of Islam with folk beliefs)
H: No, I have a friend who is real good in the Al Qur'an, and that took care of it.
C: And that worked?
H: Yeah, she was fine after that.

So, they learn that there is healing of demon possession can be found through reciting the Holy Qur'an. Smart one, Satan.

This month the majority of my friends here will participate in an empty faith so they can have forgiveness. They'll have to follow rigid rules in order to attain God's favor, and God's favor might not last that long after it is attained. But, if they don't follow the fast, then there will literally be more hell to pay in the afterlife (their amount of time in hell will depend on their actions here on earth).

I've been catching up on my Bible stories on fasting so I can retell them if conversation rises (as it surely will). One of the sweetest passages I read the other day was in Joel, and I pray this for my friends here.

Joel 2:12-13, "'Yet even now' declares the LORD, 'Return to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, weeping and mourning; and rend your heart and not your garments. Now return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness and relenting of evil.'"

the reason for God

Like I said the other day, I picked up Timothy Keller's The Reason for God at the airport in Singapore. A couple days later, I've finished about 160 pages (with quite a few left to go).

Being one of those that always thinks about things that really have little importance, I've always enjoyed philosophy, even deconstruction in which I can state I'm sitting on an Oreo eating a toilet. Maybe because of my fondness for the abstract, I've always tried to reason myself out of Christianity, mostly when I read the Bible or books defending the faith. Of course I've never come close to not-believing, I just like spotting the logical fallacies which run rampant in Christian writing and talk in Christian circles.

With that said, I've approached Keller's book with the mind of a skeptic, wondering if its arguments would hold up. The result? So far, I have found a couple of problems in its reasoning, but overall it's one of the least fallacious books on the topic that I have ever read--maybe because Keller is a pastor instead of an apologist.

And, with that out of the way, I'll continue to plug the book. If you want your mind stimulated, read it. If you want to be encouraged in your faith, and learn a lot of new things along the way, read it. If you want to prove him wrong, read it.

The Reason for God by Timothy Keller

Oh yeah, and I just downloaded and will start to read Plantinga's "Two Dozen (or so) Theistic Arguments," so I recommend that too, if you're willing to read Plantinga-jargon.