Vox Lucens

One of the joys of having both my work and personal e-mail accounts plastered all over the Internet is that I get lots of spam.  Spambots just love people like me, I’m afraid - more interested in letting people get in touch with me than in protecting my contact data.

But that gives me the chance to kind of watch the spam trends.  Recently, there was a deluge of Russian spam - kind of pointless, as I don’t read Russian.  There was also a spate of spam in which the subject line was “Re: [random number here].”  Also rather pointless, as there was absolutely nothing that would even remotely encourage me to read (even assuming I did want to re-finance my mortgage or purchase medications through an unsolicited bulk message).

But the best spam trend of all is occurring right now.  The spammers are sending me tons of e-mail with fake news headlines.  Some of them have been startling–

Beijing Olympics Cancelled

UK Prime Minister Forced to Quit

Man Killed by Flying Cocktail Glass

Others, more entertainingly, have been random bordering on hilarious–

Paris Hilton Considered for Mother Teresa Role

Obama Converts to Judaism!

Playing Poker Prevents Alzheimer’s Disease

Many of the latter have caused me to snort rather violently before compulsively hitting the “delete” key.  But I really sat up and noticed when I was perusing the CNN headlines on my iGoogle home page, and dismissed one of them as being spammishly amusing.  It took me a good 10 seconds, and a number of re-reads, to realize this was actually supposed to be a news headline.

“Bush Peace Dream Iffy for ‘08, Olmert Says”

What?!?!?!  We’re not going to have peace in the Middle East in the next four months?  After centuries of conflict, I’m shocked that our leaders can’t solve the world’s problems in the upcoming weeks.  Thank goodness CNN is there to report to us on their shortcomings!

I think I’m going back to reading my spam now.

I’m really bad at receiving gifts. Maybe that sounds weird, but those of you that know me are probably nodding, wondering why I’m stating that like some big unknown; sometimes, I’m afraid, it’s painfully obvious.

But I’ve been learning.  Learning because it’s also becoming painfully obvious that I’m inadequate on my own in so many ways, and learning because God has put a number of incredibly generous people in my life.

It’s strange, in a way, to be in a position like this - a position of receiving.  Receiving requires trust, which I’m not good at, trust that there are no strings attached, trust in the genuine love of the giver.

It’s the position that the rest of the Body of Christ is in; the Body of Christ that I want to serve.  They have nothing, these persecuted men, women, and children, and I want to give to them.  But I’ll admit I hadn’t thought about what that must be like for them.  It is hard, first to be in the position of needing, and second in knowing where to turn.  So many give with ulterior motives, and I don’t want to be one of those.  Perhaps that’s why it is such a joy to work with those I serve, and to personally gain their trust.

That’s what those that are giving to me have done.  I have a feeling none of them - and there have been many recently - would want their names listed here.  But if any of them are reading this, let me just say “thank you.”  I don’t know how to say it better than that, but thank you for more than just your gifts.  Thanks that I can trust you, and that I’ve seen the Body of Christ at work in you - an example of what I want to do with my service to that Body.

Yesterday I went through all of the trip’s pictures, and was again mind-boggled by thinking back on Petra. So I have a bunch more shots that I just can’t resist sharing…

[As always, click the pic for a fullsize version.]

Natural Beauty

Petra was not just about the incredible ancient facades - it was also set in one of the most ruggedly gorgeous locations in the world (which is one reason it was such a valuable city location - only one way in and out was easy to defend!).

Treasury Detail Shots

A Sense of Scale

Scale can be hard to see in pictures, but the sheer massiveness of Petra’s monuments was the most breathtaking thing about it. Hopefully this series of shots will help communicate that.

This is me by one of the small facades.

Here are the porticoes under the tallest facade (which I mentioned in my previous post).

The porticoes in context.

The upper portion of the facade.

The whole thing.

The large facade, on the right, in the context of the entire cliff and temple complex.

I must admit, one of my least favorite parts about missions trips is trying to summarize them for others. There is so much emotion, so much passion, so many stories in each one that words just don’t cut it.

So when I take the time to really try to get some of the passion out in words, it may bear repeating…

From today’s Weekly Reminder:

***
Anyone who has done an international trip knows what I’m talking about when I say that flying for dozens of hours at a stretch can be brutally painful. And yet, in looking back on a missions trip, it never ceases to amaze me that all of those hours can be made worth it by just a single moment of ministry.

We had many of those moments over the last week and a half in Jordan. Now, back in the States, I have time to look back on them and marvel. There were the moments spent in fellowship with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, the moments watching our doctors at work and seeing the joy and relief in the eyes of those they served, and the moments of watching God-ordained doors open.

But the moment that keeps sticking out to me was one that was completely unexpected. The Iraqi church service was coming to an end, but just before dismissal, the pastor said that there was a man in the church that was sick, and had asked for prayers from the elders. As the elders gathered at the front, the pastor motioned to me and the Remember doctors to join them in laying hands and praying. Our team had considered James 5:14-15 in our team prayer times, and the chance to follow this command was a joy:

Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the Church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

We joined them, and as we bowed our heads to join in Scriptural supplication, the pastor turned and asked me to lead in the prayer. I don’t know that I have ever felt more inadequate, surrounded by men and women who are forced to live brutally real faith on a daily basis, but pray I did, and when my English prayer was done an elder prayed in Arabic. As we agreed together in intercession – agreeing in spirit while our ears could not understand the words – it was impossible to miss the presence of the Spirit of God.

I prayed without knowing what condition I was praying for, and found out only afterwards that the young man had a couple of psychological disorders – afflictions that require a miracle to heal. Good thing that we serve the Great Physician, the God of miracles!

If that time around the altar in a small Iraqi church would have been the only “moment” on this trip, it would have been worth all of the hours of travel, excruciating though they were. And really, what a picture of prayer that is! Prayer is not easy; it is long hours of sometimes excruciating pain – but oh, how worth it. Even if just one request out of a hundred is miraculously answered, how worth it those hours would be

And we don’t serve a God who answers one prayer out of a hundred. Our God answers ever single one.

I wish you could have been with us, prayer warrior, on this trip, around that young man, in the presence of the Spirit. But even if you cannot see the answers to your prayers, know that they are so very real.

Ever since knowing that we would be heading for a full trip to Jordan, I hoped that we could take the trek to Petra, one of the new wonders of the world - and rightfully so. Anyone who has seen Indiana Jones knows of this ancient city, and let me tell you, seeing it in person was far more amazing than I had even guessed.

Petra has been a city since around 300 B.C., if you can imagine that, and remained prominent for hundreds of years. The Nabateans founded the city, conquering it from the Edomites, and it survived, and indeed thrived, through the Greek, Roman, Christian, and Islamic periods. It is filled with Nabatean, Greek, Roman, and Byzantine influences, combining incredible history with unique and fascinating beauty on an incredible scale.

If you’re interested in a full history, check out this site from Brown University, which is actively involved in excavating the ruins. But enough words - let’s try pictures. I only wish they could do the ruins justice.

The most famous facade in Petra, known as the Treasury.

Anyone else singing the theme song?

The team in front of the “poor people’s tombs” that catacombed the cliff walls just past the Treasury.

The tallest facade at Petra.

The view from inside the tallest facade.

History was everywhere.

For instance, this facade dating back almost seven decades before Christ.

I could show so many more pictures - these have been weeded out from the 400 or so that I took during this day alone. But you should just go yourself, sometime, and be blown away as I was…

It looks like my full Petra post is going to have to wait until I get back to the states.

Until then you get this…