GR8 Thoughts and Musings

I watched this movie, out yesterday. I was especially interested as I have done some research into South Africa and Nelson Mandela in the course of my job for www.peopletopeople.com. We travel delegations regularly to South Africa (and around the world) promoting peace and fulfilling the dreams and life’s work of such great men as Dwight Eisenhower and Nelson Mandela.

While watching this movie, I was amazed again by the power of words, ideas and persuasion in changing the human heart & thus our world. I understand once again why one of the descriptions of God the Son is “The Word”. (As in, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and was God…All things came into being through Him.” John chapter 1)

I also happen to be reading the book “The Shack”, by William P. Young, in which his depiction of God the Holy Spirit explains emotions by stating that “Paradigm changes Perspective” and emotions are based on our perspective. If the paradigm (The context or truths by which one views the world) is true, the perspective is true and the emotions created are right. Emotions are like gasoline, neither right nor wrong. They are energy for good or evil. The emotions created by Mandela’s perspective in this movie created unity and changed the perspective of a nation.

Following is the poem, Invictus, that sustained & inspired Mandela and the South African rugby captain to greatness.

Out of the night that covers me, black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be for my unconquerable soul.

It matters not how strait the gate, how charged with punishments the scroll
I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.

Mr. Mandela was an amazing man who amazed and inspired a nation, and the world, by forgiving those who kept him imprisoned for almost three decades. Vengeance is common and expected. Forgiveness and grace are extraordinary and capture the hearts of men.

That is because they are attributes of God. He sets the world in its true paradigm. God is truth and love and light. He is. He loves and shines and enlightens every man. Only those who bow their heads to Him will find a paradigm that makes sense of the bludgeoning and the menace of the years. He is the captain of my soul.

Having made some progress in learning to be content in Christ, God is teaching me to Lead like Christ. I’ll share some of what He shows me here. Feel free to add your insight

The first thing I clearly realize is that my leadership starts at home. My first, and possibly only, call to leadership is to love my wife as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her and to be a leader at home and shepherd my girls.

As I didn’t share my struggle to be content in Christ here, I’ll let you know that the one thing I learned, that I can put my finger on, as God changed my heart, is that I have so much more then I deserve. I saw a true picture of where I’d be without Him and am forever grateful and content in the grace He has given given me to be alive! I am headed to heaven and not burning in hell where I deserve to be

Jesus had to overcome sin (The possibility of, not the reality of, for Him) in His own life before He was ready to lead. Unlike the ‘fake it ‘till you make it’ mentality of positive thinking, Jesus’ leadership is real. It is what the Post Modern world craves. He leads where He’s been. He leads because He’s done it. He has the answers.
To be a true leader like Jesus I must come victoriously through the trial of suffering and temptation. Jesus is a true high priest/leader/mediator like no other because He’s been there (Hebrews 4:14-16). That’s how He understands what we’re going through. His blood and His victory paved the way for our bold access to the throne of power.
There is something to be said for knowing the truth and applying it to situations you haven’t experienced, but a leader like Jesus has the scars of battle on his body and the ribbon of victory on his chest. He knows where to turn for the power and has defeated the evil one. He has been sobered to the deception of this world (I John 2:15-17) by the battlefield. The feel of the Armor of God is familiar to his shoulders and he has notches in his sword of the Spirit. It’s been bloodied through use, not just sharpened by study. Jesus prepared for leadership by facing the enemy and winning. As I do this, I am preparing to lead like Jesus. The sword of the Lord and of (Insert your name here…) Gregory!

Psalm 16

Amen! “I said to the LORD, ‘You are my Lord; I have no good besides You!’ “

This is true as You created me…I do wonder how much of my good is personality (Hardwired), how much is to get people to like me, or something else I want (Selfish) and how much is due to the work of the Spirit.

“The sorrows of those who have bartered for another god will be multiplied”

Other ‘gods’ require bartering… i.e. You give something & they promise to give something… The problems with that are that there is only one God who has anything real to give and He gives to us freely out of grace because He knows we have nothing to trade…
And all the other ‘gods’ (All the prince of this world) give are empty promises, shadows and imitations that do not satisfy. He offers salt water to quench our thirst. It increases our desire, but does nothing to satisfy. He does a good job of painting a picture of the way things could be, but only deals in fantasy and dreams. He does not help with or give solutions to reality. This is especially powerful and hard to resist when the dreams are ‘good’ and the tastes he gives are potent and seem fulfilling…but they do nothing to satisfy our deepest needs. The deceiver is very good at showing us what we lack and what should be, but has nothing to make it so. This is what he did with Eve…‘God is holding out on you, things should be this way & they’re not’. Wow, it is especially tough when what he points out has a strong element of truth to it, as he did when he tempted Jesus. This is the way your family should be, this is the way true love is, this is the way good people act, this is what a good job is like, this is the American way… The only way to know truth is through His revealed word.
The truth is there is no good besides God and I need to know Him better to know truth and reality and satisfaction…it sure doesn’t make sense though. But then what did Jesus promise? He said, ‘He who wishes to find his life must lose it’ I have to lose everything and expect satisfaction from nothing else but Him…by faith, because of His amazing, compelling, unrelenting love and grace. He is the ultimate initiator and the consummate giver. Thank you God and help me to give up all for You.

I have been listening to a number of Mark Driscoll’s sermons over the last year or so and have grown to respect him as a Bible teacher and a Christian husband and father. I have connected with a number of active members of the Mars Hills church via Twitter and am glad to know these Christian brothers.
The Peasant Princess is Driscoll’s current series on the Song of Solomon. I am also impressed with his wife’s candid responses to questions from many of the women in the congregation. I see real Christianity that works in their lives. That is what the world needs and what God does in hearts fully committed to Him.

Below is his answer to one of the questions sent in and my response:

Question #4: How far can unmarried people go sexually?

This set of posts comes from Pastor Mark Driscoll and his wife Grace. The sermon series The Peasant Princess brought up dozens of questions that they felt they should respond to. The result is this blog series: Christian Sex: Frank Answers to Honest Questions.

Answer: The repeated refrain of the Song of Songs is to not awaken love before its time. Therefore, the issue is not where is the line, but when is the time. The Bible knows nothing of sexual contact of any sort or kind before marriage, as sexual pleasure is reserved for the right person, at the right time, in the right way-which is all in the context of heterosexual covenantal marriage. The NIV translation of Ephesians 5:3 says, But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.

In 1 Corinthians 7:1 Paul tells single men that they should not touch any woman in any sexual manner. Also, in 1 Timothy 5:1-2, men are encouraged to treat young women as sisters. Thus, since brothers and sisters can and do talk, serve together, enjoy one another’s company, etc., there are acceptable non-sexual ways for single Christians to build their relationship in pursuit of marriage. Lastly, in asking how far one can go, there is sin in the heart because the motive is to get as close to sin as possible rather than getting as close to Jesus as possible. The issue is not where is the line, but rather where is your heart and when is the time. That time is marriage.

My Response:
(3 November 2008) You have submitted this response, thanks:

I understand and agree with this answer. As the father of four daughters, I subscribe to the:
Head first (Think about and study what you are looking for in a Christian husband or wife and which guys/girls exhibit those qualities. Get to know the Lord and lots of different people so you can discern these qualities).
Heart next (When you find someone who seems to have those qualities, let your family help you explore a relationship that helps you get to know that person better (when you’re 25 of course
save the Hands for marriage.

The world at it’s best teaches heart, hands then maybe head, or if you’re in college: hands and maybe heart & head later.

I would love to hear you and Grace give a more complete answer about the effects of the physical relationship and the heart. Including specifics about being alone together, holding hands and kissing. I think some single young people will be left wondering…”OK, so what should we do physically…” Is anything that I wouldn’t do with my sister wrong? That isn’t, the point, as you said: Where is your heart?

Inspiration

What is the rare element from which all good flows?
Some say all is formed from atoms and molecules
Held together by the breath of God
But when He lets go, good remains
What forms these elements into beauty, music and art?
What moves men and causes them to sing at the results?

Inspiration moves the heart and rainbows of color burst forth
When love connects us
God-breathed inspiration moves

Why color? Why beauty, music and art?
Inspiration is created when we see His real world
Music, beauty, art and color are from that world of love
Full of colors we have never seen and songs we can only imagine here
Breathed into our life by God

When loves breath warms hearts, they bloom
Create, wake up and build something beautiful
Love reminds us creation is worth the effort

One day, we will see reality and be one as He intended

The inspiration for good is love
Show it to others to build beauty
The heart and essence of God

We started our day at the D Day / 9/11 Memorial.


By the way this was presented and maintained, we could tell how much the French people appreciated the sacrifices that were made for freedom.




There were also many artifacts sent from New York to help people realize the sacrifices still being made to maintain freedom around the world.



There will always be evil people ready to kill and enslave others. I thank God that our nation is still willing to defend the inalienable rights given by our creator: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.


I wish that more of us realized, as our forefathers did, that ‘In God We Trust’ is the only place we will find that happiness.
What we see here is the overwhelming weight of sacrifice given to preserve our freedom. We leaders and the delegates were forever changed by seeing this first hand.



As we saw pictures of those smiling soldiers jump from their landing craft into hell and stood in the bunker that cost thousands of lives to wrest from the hands of tyranny and unchecked pride, even the least mature hearts melted into silent awe.


This is real. Row upon row of Marble crosses is row upon row of young heroes who gave their lives so that we can live in freedom.


This freedom has been passed on to us at great cost and we continue to pass the benefit to future generations. Our commitment to work for peace through understanding, not war, was strengthened. We began to understand what President Eisenhower knew when he started the People to People program.


This generation of delegates saw and touched the price that was paid for their privilege and opportunity.
After standing side by side with them on the beaches and among the fallen under marble crosses, I am convinced that they are beginning to understand the torch that is being passed.


I am confident they will rise to the challenge as the generation who buried their heroes here has done.

Four of our distinguished Delegates laid a wreath at the foot of the D Day memorial statue representing the spirit of those who gave their lives for freedom on these beaches. We were proud to sing our national anthem together here.

One of the most touching things I witnessed was a group of young men helping Weston Hawkins find the cross marking the final resting place of Roberta Hawkins… As we walked back, they were discussing war and their reactions to what they had witnessed today. They agreed that war was an awful thing for man to be involved in. They also knew that if they were called to defend freedom, as those who lay at their feet, they would answer that call. I’m not sure if they noticed the tears that welled up in my eye at the pride I felt to be among such brave young men.

In order to make sure conflicts like this never happen again, we are learning how to get along and how to respect other cultures. In the time we spent together on this program, we have learned to respect one another, be flexible in demanding situations, follow the rules and expressed our freedom and creativity.


We have made life-long friendships and expressed the joy of freedom as those who paid the price would have wanted.

We woke up from a ‘refreshing’ sleep in the tents of Warwik and even got to shower.



I dropped my daughter’s camera on the way to breakfast, right after I found two peacock feathers, so there aren’t as many pictures of our activities today. While we were on the Ferry, Kacy was nice enough to let me download her pictures and borrow her camera for the rest of my time with the delegation.
We had a great Medieval breakfast in the castle and hopped on our chariot to Stonehenge armed with brown bag lunches prepared by the Warwick staff.


People to People delegations are the only groups allowed this kind of access to the Warwick ground since the Lord left the castle.
Stonehenge was smaller than I expected. As we learned the history and how old it is, we were duly impressed. Quite a mysterious place…






We then headed to the England coast and our six hour Ferry ride to Normandie. As I said, this was an impressive ship. Like everywhere we went, we were met by a host who outlined the facilities and lead us to our exclusive state room. We settled in, charged our electronic devices and explored the ferry. We had an excellent lunch beginning our introduction to French food. Some of the delegates took in a movie, most explored the ship.


Some of the leaders took advantage of the time to recharge in another way…

I include a picture for Josh

I put many of the pictures in this gallery. I took about 2-300 pictures a day, but mostly included pictures with people in them in the gallery. If anyone wants pictures of the art or the architecture , which was amazing, email me. I’ll eventually put the art and architecture pictures in a gallery connected with this one.
We arrived in Normandie without incident and settled into our hotel after a day of travel & exploration. We are ready to consider the events of World War II tomorrow.

As I start writing today, I’m of course a bit behind due to our full schedule. Our leaders are great and I don’t think anyone who hasn’t been on one of our programs fully realizes what giving people they are. We are in Normandie, but I am writing about recent history in England.
I put many of the pictures in this gallery. I took about 2-300 pictures a day, but mostly included pictures with people in them in the gallery. If anyone wants pictures of the art or the architecture , which was amazing, email me. I’ll eventually put the art and architecture pictures in a gallery connected with this one.
The 1st news is bad…I dropped my camera on a stone and broke it (What’s worse is it wasn’t mine, it is my daughter Noel’s…So I’ll be purchasing a new camera when I get back). The pictures from here on out will be from my phone and Delegate contributions. I did have a bit of time to download a few pictures during the ferry ride to France (Though the 6 hours went by very quickly!) The ferry was very nice. It had a number of restaurants, shops and 2 Cinemas.

Our guide on the Ferry told us the French were proud to say that they, not the Brits owned it.
That’s why the food was so good One of the amazing things that I’m not sure the delegates fully appreciate is that everywhere we go there is a guide or special connoisseur to take care of us or explain things. This is something most travelers outside of a People to People program do not get.
So, today we left the Jurys Inn and headed on our coach to Oxford. What a beautiful place!

One of the Delegates, Kayc (Forgive me if I misspelled your name) took about a gig worth of shots of the beautiful architecture there. I obviously can’t share those pictures here, but I will place all of the extra pictures HERE (Click on the name of the picture to see it, then right click & Save As (if you use Internet Explorer) to download any pictures you want to your computer)(I do have the original larger versions of the pictures if anyone wants them, I’ll tell you where they are). I will post all the pictures I receive from Delegates in this folder: http://www.naker.us/images/Travel/2008PeopleToPeopleEurope/ We will also be leaving the Delegation after Tuesday August 5th, so I will not be blogging as they continued program on to Belgium. When they return, I’ll be happy to put pictures here as they are sent to me.
So, Back to Oxford…What a Place! I would love to study here!

Where we are standing is above the Boleian Library, the largest library in the world. A copy of every book published is sent here.


Maybe someday one of our delegates will represent us here at Oxford. To be sure their world has changes forever by being here.

I think this is the school we could all use a bit more study in


Here are some flowers for my wife Jodie I Love You!

When all is said and done, for us parents and leaders, this is what it’s all about

We had lunch and got a chance to spend a rare 15 minutes shopping in an Eclectic open air market at Oxford. I was drawn to the Type Setting / Ship navigation booth. They had some amazing old brass compasses, Telescopes, etc. We then loaded up and headed to our adventure at Warwick Castle (Pronounced Waar ICK heavy on the ICK for some of our delegates as we camped there. It was a great bonding experienced designed to help us appreciate our hotel rooms

There were Knights & Lords and we all learned to sword fight, stand strong on the Bill line and what it took to be a true archer. Maybe some day we’ll be a tough as these guys & KayC








Jared Showed us what a true archer looked like, to the rousing cheers of his fellow peasants

Even the leaders got into the action…Is that allowed in the handbook


castle was a magnificent structure and provided a bird’s-eye view for us all…




Getting down was another story…

Sir Richard was an able teacher



Though some had to be persuaded…

We’ll all remember the frequent count off’s to ensure everyone was present & accounted for…and a rousing 46 near the end

The accommodations were the best medieval time had to offer

There was even an alarm clock…

Too bad no one knew how to set it so that it didn’t go off in the middle of the night and at sunrise!
Well they were pretty and cute when they’re little…

So ends day four with us snug in our tents dodging raindrops and keeping warm in our sleeping bags…Lords and ladies of Warwick People to People style.

Today started bright and early as always with our cheery Delegation Manager Alex Harlock

I put many of the pictures in this gallery. I took about 2-300 pictures a day, but mostly included pictures with people in them in the gallery. If anyone wants pictures of the art or the architecture , which was amazing, email me. I’ll eventually put the art and architecture pictures in a gallery connected with this one.
We then prepared for what a number of students said has been the highlight of the program for them so far, meeting a former Member of Parliament.

We went to one of the most distinguished buildings in London for this briefing…

Patrick Nicholls addressed us for one of the shortest hours so far. He deftly tied history to the present UK political system. He also helped our delegates realize how proud they should be to live in a country which exists to guard the inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. He asked them to think of America as the ‘Shining Beacon of Liberty” for the world. With Delegates like ours training to take the reins of America, that beacon will shine brightly for many years to come!

We continued to walk through history in downtown London as Alex brought it alive and helped the Delegates understand the significance for them.


We walked along the river …

to St. James Park where we enjoyed lunch on the green grass and had a bit of ice cream.


Next we went back in time to World War II and imagined life amidst the raining bombs of the blitz.
We descended into the secret war room of Prime Minister Winston Churchill and his war cabinet where they help the People of England ‘Never Give Up!’ and not only repel the Nazi invasion of their island, but win the last big war on terror.


The delegates got their first bit of free time enjoying the street performers and shopping in Covent Garden. We enjoyed dinner of Steak Pie at a typical English pub. We then trekked across the Thames to the British Air London Eye to take in the beautiful evening views of London and each other.










Off to meet with leaders and a bit of time to catch up.
Another day full of expanding our perspective on life.
Checking out and heading to Oxford & Warwick tomorrow.