The Weekly Wrap-Up: June 20-24, 2022

It is a beautiful day in the United States of America. Blue skies, singing birds, fewer babies being murdered... Indeed, a beautiful day. 

It's been another week of people around here. Both the Global and U.S. Boards met this week, and we also had the installation of the new president on Wednesday. I was a little more involved in things than I was last week, but we'll get to that.

In honor of Father's Day, I led team devotions on Genesis 22 Monday. You know, the one where God tells Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. It's an interesting passage. 

Sarah and I worked on a project we're rolling out next week. That makes it sound more impressive than it actually is, but I'm trying to be annoying and mysterious. 

I've been going through old production logs for our projects this week. Yes, we keep a log of everything we find in a booklet that we needed to change or might be an issue in other booklets. One of my team is working on new templates for us to use, fixing previous issues. It's interesting going through the logs and seeing what is common to languages and what isn't. Glyph languages tend to bring up certain issues that we don't see in Latin languages, for example. 

Anyway, when I wasn't doing that, I was working on my next prayer letter. I waited a little longer than I normally would because I knew big things were coming this month. So that should be in the mail in the next couple of weeks. 

I also had a big meeting this week with some friends from South Asia. It looks like we'll be starting two new language projects stemming from that meeting, which is super exciting! I'm not sure yet if I can tell you what those languages are as there could be some security issues. So let's just say our cousins will be heavily involved and leave it at that.

So, the big thing this week was the installation of Jeffry Max Edwards as the 11th President of One Mission Society. Jeff will be the third president I've served under. I don't know a lot about him other than  that he and his wife Laura served in Brazil for many years and returned to serve at HQ a few years ago. It's a critical junction in the history of OMS, I think. We're dealing with the same things everyone else is - high inflation, fewer donors, more restrictions on evangelism, social pressure, etc. I know everyone here will appreciate your prayers for the future of ministry here and elsewhere. 

I watched the service from on high as I helped with streaming and video.
(Also, don't the flags look great? I chose which ones were displayed and helped arrange them.)

Good friends.

The new president with his family.

I think this will be another recovery weekend for me. There have been lots of early mornings and late nights this week. Sleep sounds lovely. I hope you get everything you need out of this weekend, too.

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: June 13-17, 2022

What up, friends?

I feel like I say this a lot, but this has been an incredibly tiring week. 

People Month is upon us once again. This week is Missionary Council. That's the field leaders and regional hub people setting the course for the future ministry of OMS. I don't actually have anything to do with the meetings. But there are a bunch of people who aren't normally here who have a limited amount of time to talk to people and get stuff done. Plus they walk through the halls at random times. It's just a lot when you're used to a fairly quiet environment.

Next week will be more of the same, although it's Board meetings, not MC. They don't usually wander as much. I still have to dress up, though. 

I did manage to get two French volumes done this week, though. Those are always fun. Definitely more colorful than our regular black and white booklets.

I also got to sing in chapel this week. We learned a new song by Kari Jobe. Now I can't get it out of my head. 

And it's flag time again. Many moons ago, I foolishly agreed to head up the flag ceremony at one of our conferences. I have never seen so many people argue over which flags should be displayed on a stage. But next week is the installation of our new president, so flags were deemed an appropriate inclusion. So I helped figure out which flags we had, which flags we needed to order, and which flags might be politically problematic at the moment. I HAVE OPINIONS ABOUT THESE THINGS! Why put me in that position if you don't want my (very rational) opinions?

Anyway. They get what they get. I can justify all of my choices, and if they don't like the choice or the justification, they can change the stuff. No skin off my nose.

I'm going to be doing a lot of BTS stuff for a while. (Behind the scenes - not the band) We're taking the opportunity while we have a slight lull in production to update some of our processes. I've been trawling our production logs to see what common issues we've had so that they can be corrected for the future. This will hopefully save us time in the future. It should also give us cleaner files. 

I can't say it's the most exciting stuff. But it is necessary. And I don't mind having a little less excitement right now. 

Be kind to yourself.

Bye!

Where's Your Line?

I don't really talk about politics on here. That's not what this space is for, it's usually a direct route to arguments, and frankly, we're not really supposed to as missionaries. We're here to represent Christ, not a political party. Cool, I get it. Do I have opinions? Yeah. (Shocking.) But do I need to put them front and center? No. 

Social issues are a little bit different. Social behaviors are a reflection of a person's heart, their values. Theoretically, a Christian will have different values and behaviors than a non-Christian. I can't judge a non-Christian by Christian standards. They are behaving according to the old nature, and while I will do my best to introduce them to the One who moulds our values and behaviors, I can't actually force a lifestyle change (through law or otherwise) on them.

But I will absolutely hold those who profess to be Christians to a higher standard. 

I'll be disappointed in them, absolutely. We're human, and as much as Jesus has told us to strive for perfection, I'm aware of the difficulty in even approaching that, let alone achieving that. 

There is a big difference, though, between momentary lapses and willful disobedience. 

At this point, you're probably wondering what the heck I'm talking about. And by heck, I mean hell, because that's where this world is headed. 

So I came across this article. 

I am incensed. Livid. Apoplectic. I've had to walk away from this at least three times just to calm down. 

"An affirming hymnal is helping LGBTQ Christians keep the faith"

SERIOUSLY?!?!

I feel like I need to make my position on homosexuality clear. And I realize some of you aren't going to like it. I don't care. I feel like my position is biblical and that's really all I'm aiming for. 

Same-sex attraction is not a sin.

Acting on same-sex attraction is absolutely a sin.

Do not come at me with "Jesus never said anything about it." He absolutely did by affirming (yeah, I can use that word, too) marriage as a union between a man and a woman. It's a mirror of the relationship between Christ and the Church. The Groom (Christ) takes the Bride (the Church) for the purpose of a holy union that honors God. That's it. 

Is the Church a place for sinners? Yes! Jesus said, "It's not the healthy that need a doctor but the sick." But we don't go to church to keep on sinning. We go to get support and resources to STOP sinning. 

A few of the 'hymn' titles:

• A Hymn for Self-Acceptance
• God of Queer Transgressive Spaces
• Impartial, Compassionate God
• Quirky, Queer and Wonderful
• The Heart Will Choose the One It Loves

...

I had to walk away again.

• No. Just no. Self-acceptance is not the goal of a Christian life. The 'self' is not enough. We need salvation through Jesus Christ, which includes actively pursuing God's perfect plan for our lives, which is in line with biblical precepts.
• I don't even know where to start with the second one.
• God is not impartial. Did you know that? He is so incredibly partial that sin cannot exist in his presence! That's why we needed Jesus to act as our intermediary and cleanse us of our sin by dying on the cross!
• I've been called quirky. But there's nothing wonderful about being queer. Just no.
• The heart is deceitful above all things, and incurable - who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9)

Make no mistake, there is an agenda here. They want to browbeat you into not just tolerating sin but celebrating it. Make the sin the most important thing in your life. Let it be the thing that identifies you. 

Satan tried the direct approach. It failed. So he has wormed his way insidiously into our lives. In some ways, it wasn't even that hard. Just compromise on a few things here. Make a few exceptions there. It all comes down to the first Lie.

Did God really say those things? Did he mean them?

Yes. He did. And we're going to face a reckoning. If you're looking for that line you drew and realize it's a few hundred yards behind you, maybe it's time to re-evaluate a few things. What compromises have you made in the name of love?

And I'm not saying this will be easy. It effects family, friends, people we've known for years. But I would hate for judgment to come and realize that I helped 'love' someone into hell. 

The Weekly Wrap-Up: June 6-10, 2022

Well, now. It has certainly been more than a few minutes since we were last here. If you are friends with me on Facebook, then you've seen some of the photos from my time in Wyoming. We had a great time with family and some beautiful scenery. I don't recommend four full days of driving, but we did survive being in such close quarters, so no harm no foul. 

It's a little weird being back in the office. I always feel like I've missed a lot even though it also feels like nothing changes when I'm here. It's probably a similar feeling no matter where you  live or work. I can't say my trip was incredibly restful since we were on the go pretty much the whole time, and then I started cat sitting the day after I got back to town, so please forgive the expected brevity. 

Much of my week has been spent in catching up on emails and incoming projects while also getting ready for People Month. Yes, June is once again back to being the time of year when folks from around the world descend upon HQ for meetings and fellowship. And you know me. I can be too introverted for introverts, sometimes. But it will be nice to see some people I haven't seen for a while and have a little variety around the office for a bit. I just fully expect to hibernate for the following few weeks. 

We don't have a lot of projects in queue right now. Part of that is because we're so good at our jobs. We have published quite a bit in the last few months. But until we get some other languages started, we're kind of waiting on our translators and doing some template work. I'm sure we'll get some requests from those visiting as well, so I have no doubt that I'll be lamenting the mountain of work we have to do sometime in the near future. 

I think that about sums things up. As always, feel free to reach out if you ever have any questions about what I do at OMS or just about life in general. You are deeply appreciated.

Bye!