Why I'm Not Thinking About Japan

The images on the television screen this morning look like something Steven Spielberg put together after drinking one too many cups of coffee. Massive rivers of water wiping out everything in their sight, following an 8.9 earthquake in Japan. Already hundreds are confirmed dead, and the numbers are sure to rise. It's happening half a world away, yet the world seems to get smaller as information travels faster. As they talking heads on the morning news programs interview people affected by the tragedy, they say in their most compassionate voices, "We're all thinking about you."

Will somebody explain to me what that means? "I'll be thinking about you?" I'm thinking about lunch today, too. I'm thinking about how good that ham and cheese sandwich will taste. I'm thinking about the work I have ahead of me this afternoon. I'm thinking about the dusting I need to do around the house. Yet in Japan, hundreds of people are dying, hundreds are missing, and you're thinking about them? Spare me.

Thoughts aren't going to save anybody. Thoughts aren't going to bring hope or healing. Thoughts, according to Webster's dictionary are "opinions" or "judgments." Do hurting people really need our opinions? What they need is action. They need our prayers. They need friends thousands of miles away who will take a moment to get on their knees and intercede. In the coming days and weeks ahead, they will need the support of prayer warriors who will do more than just "think" or "send good thoughts."

Japan will be all the talk around the office water cooler, in the coffee shops, barber shops, and bars across the United States today. Opinions will be formed and judgments will be made. Hours will be spent considering the news, posting the latest updates on Facebook, surfing YouTube at work for the latest videos, and shaking our heads while we're fixated on the horrific images.

Yet how much time will we devote to action? How much time are we willing to put into doing something useful for very real people who are suffering through a very real hurt?

Let's stop thinking and start praying.

5 Days That Changed My Life

This is not shameless self-promotion. On the contrary, today's post is about some friends of mine thousands of miles from home.

It has only been four months since I spent 5 days at Mission of Hope just outside of Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, but it seems like a lifetime. I miss the people terribly. It's still hard to comprehend how a few short days left such a mark on my life. That's my personality, I suppose. I promised my wife long before I left for the missions trip that I wouldn't allow Haiti, and especially the children "get to me." Well, I've shattered that promise to bits through no intentional fault of my own. I can't get rid of the images of hungry kids, grieving mothers, lines of desperate folks clamoring for a bag of rice, and hard-working people who only want an opportunity... a chance at normalcy. I still feel the sting of tears when I recall the beautiful sounds of children praising Jesus at Church of Hope in a language I didn't understand, yet it sang to my heart like no song I've heard before.

And so I long to go back. I long to dirty my hands and build a home. I long to hug a kid, and pray for them. I want to see how my friend Argon is doing in his new house. I want to know if Monica's baby lived. I want to share another laugh with the man whose prized possession was the machete he used to keep his tent village free of nasty weeds. But it's all in God's good timing.

For now, there is something I can do. There is something you can do. I've made a commitment to support Mission of Hope through sales of my book, "God Could You Turn Up the Volume?" I don't keep a penny... every cent of profit after paying off the publisher goes directly to Mission of Hope. We used the book for a three-month study in our Christian Education classes. It makes for a good small group study book. You won't find deep theological truths... but you will find hope and gain a better understanding of what it means to slow down, take a breath, and listen to God speak into your life. I believe you'll be a stronger Christian for having read the book. I believe in it, because I believe God gave me the opportunity to put down the words.

So click on the picture on your right. Get a copy. Get several. Not for me, but for my friends.

They need us.