An Australian news company has released footage they uncovered that was taken soon after the crash… Read the captions (or listen is you understand Russisn) and the implications may be as clear to. You as they are to me…
when buffeted by circumstance … thoughts from a year ago
One year ago I was in Europe on mission. In fact I had just returned to Budapest from Ukraine. That trip to Ukraine was marked by the unrest, war and plight of refugees. In Budapest I was surprised by a birthday cake the night I arrived as I met with friends in their home fellowship. It was great fun. That day Russian seperatists shot down MH17. The following day I was flying home and had a bunch of emails asking if I was ok. I responded yes and read the news of the atrocity. As I write today I think of the recent Russian veto in the UN Security Council. The vote was on calling the Srebrenica massacre a ‘genocide.’
War is a part of this fallen world. It is to be anticipated because of the ambition of fallen men who seek their own empire (we are all guilty of this in our own ways, big and small).
For those of us who are students of Jesus, we can take heart…
“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”2 Corinthians 4:16-18 ESV
Filed under disciple making
Life as Mountain Climbing
this was in the New York Times morning briefing I get via email…
Straddling the border between Switzerland and Italy is the stunning Matterhorn, which at 14,692 feet is one of the tallest peaks in the Alps.
Edward Whymper, a Briton, and his party were the first to reach the summit, 150 years ago today.
It should have been a joyous occasion. But descending after a ceremonial flag-planting, four of the seven men fell 4,000 feet to a glacier below when their hemp rope broke.
Mr. Whymper and two guides from the village of Zermatt, Switzerland, were at the other end of the rope and survived. Since then, more than 500 climbers have died, mostly on the descent.
The frayed rope of the Whymper expedition is on display in the Matterhorn Museum in Zermatt, which has become Switzerland’s most popular tourist destinations, with nearly two million visitors each year.
To commemorate the anniversary, a new $9 million base camp at 10,695 feet is unveiled today. And the mountain is closed to climbers for the first time ever.
Mr. Whymper never returned to the Matterhorn. In his 1871 book, he advised: “Do nothing in haste; look well to each step, and from the beginning think what may be the end.”
… I’m not going to spiritualized this cuz it’s about life (which is inherently spiritual)… Don’t need to… Read that quote again…
“Do nothing in haste; look well to each step, and from the beginning think what may be the end.”
Filed under seeking understanding
New grandson!
My new grandson Alexander Thomas Yi Luper was born today!
Big brother William and I are checking him out earlier today.
We are so blessed!
Filed under experience, photos along the way
balancing the mind and heart for renewal
In his book on prayer, Tim Keller argues well for what I would call a biblically informed theology while seeking (again my words) a deep experience with God.
I’ve said it before, this book is the most important book on prayer, and therefore growing spiritually, in a long time, maybe ever. It is worth your time.
Recently, a couple of us have gotten to chapter 11 in which he states:
“Owen promotes what could be called a radically biblical mysticism. It comes through meditation on Scripture, on theological truth, on the gospel—but it must break through to real experience of God.”
This is a great description, I think, of what Paul urged when he told to “renew our minds” in Romans 12.
Filed under disciple making
kingdom travelin' 