I just finished watching the second installment in the "Dispatches from the Front" series.
And I'm sitting here, trying to wrap my mind around what I've just seen and heard and eloquently tell my blog all about it, but what I just really want to type is this: "God is Big."
Really BIG.
I walk by sight more than I walk by faith. I am infected with materialism and comfort. I often think America is the world-leader in all things Christian because I am content to think us chiefest among the nations in most other things. Baloney. The obedient, Gospel-centered lives showcased in this presentation put me to shame. My comfortable-in-the-box-don't-rock-the-boat flavor of Christianity is dismal and dark compared to the bright Gospel lights shining forth from believers in places like Albania and Kosovo.
God is AWESOME.
"Opening a window to Christ's Kingdom" is the stated purpose of these presentations. The goal according to Dr. Tim Keesee is to show how big God is and how powerful His Gospel is. God's Church is growing, His fame is spreading, and we should not miss it for the world! I think these guys are hitting the mark. (At least it's working on me.)
I bawled like a kid when I saw the camp for the kids in Kosovo. Most of the 50 children attending were orphans whose parents were killed in the war. Should I be doing something for them? What am I doing for them? Am I spinning my wheels by further spoiling an already-spoiled nation? These questions are not easily answered and to my discomfort, they're not easily dodged. I guess I should thank God for that.
Some of the more noteworthy gems include:
- "This place is haunted by silence...or perhaps I am haunted by my own." [Dr. Tim ponders after observing the graves of over 100 men in one village that were all slaughtered on the same day during the war in 1999.]
- "How to Plant Churches [from a church-planting missionary in Albania]
1. Pray
2. Meet people
3. Tell them about Jesus"
- "The Gospel is Viral" [regarding an Albanian woman who trusted Christ in college at age 20 and now about 10 years later over 40 of her family members have become Christians through her witness and testimony.]
- "Dirt never stopped Calvary love." [concerning outcast Gypsies in Montenegro]
- "His letter was packed with GRACE and GRIT." [in reference to an instructive from a missionary in Albania on what to tell American churches about mission work.]
Lord willing, I'm about to stop living vicariously through these DVDs and do something that looks a bit more like Jesus. Stay tuned.
And in the meantime, do yourself a giant favor and watch the second Dispatch. And your first time through...I suggest that you watch it alone.
