This week we drove two days to Santarem, stopping in to visit pastors and friends along the way.
Some of the mud holes were filled with muddy water. One time the water came right over the hood of the truck and up to our windshield. And on the hills, big trucks were stuck and were able to drive around them on the muddy hillside. Sometimes trucks get stuck across the road, and it takes many hours for a tractor to come and untangle the mess. Thankfully we were not stopped for too long, and we got to Santarem in time for the meetings.
The motorcycle and the truck drivers are the most amazing. They have the greatest challenges on these slippery roads with huge muddy stretches. It gets better if it doesn’t rain for a day.
This is a prized Brazil Nut tree. The wild version of these trees grows for 50 years before they give nuts. They are protected by law.
Jefferson and Simone made us an outstanding fish dinner with salad, açai, and good company…
I am continually amazed at the number of super-sincere, dedicated, committed Christians who are doing their best to follow Jesus. In every country where I travel, in Canada, Brazil, and the United States and also South Africa, Ethiopia, Angola, and Mozambique, sincere Christians are embedded in communities. I am honoured to know them and to be their friend.
It’s not just people, either, who try hard. One of our dogs always runs up to me when she sees me in the yard. She sits in front of me, wrinkles her forehead, and stares at me. She tries so hard to be obedient and please me that I feel sorry for her. It is impossibly hard for her to understand my world.
Thankfully God came to earth to help bridge the understanding gap between us humans and Himself. But still… what do we do when we are trying our best to obey God and do the right things, and it doesn’t seem to be enough? What happens when we sacrificially serve God, and we are misunderstood, people criticize us, friends leave our church, or our husband/wife/children act in ways that don’t make sense? It is a short distance between trying your hardest and developing a victim mentality. “I know I am doing my best, so the problem must be somewhere else.” Maybe there is a better way forward.
A Different Gear
If a leader gets stuck along the development path of those they are/were leading, it may be like a truck driver who doesn’t shift gears in a mountainous region. They keep trying their best with the gear they are comfortable with, but other trucks pass them, and people are honking and impatient… it’s dangerous.
In Genesis 2:24, the biblical author included a foundational principle of human relationships. There is a time we are like God to our children. We provide all they need to live. Our children become adults and develop their own relationships directly with God. Our family authority/responsibility/power relationship slowly shifts. Our power-over relationship shifts to a side-by-side peer relationship.
In my observation, this organic-relationship principle is true in families, teams, church plants, and movements. A different style of organizing is hierarchical, where submission is an important doctrine, and this appears to work well for some groups of people. But, when Christian leaders are trying their best, and their followers act in ways that seem bizarre, perhaps the followers are not actually rebellious but crying out to mature as people and as Christians.
Why Do We Hesitate To Shift Gears?
We Might Feel Responsible For our Followers
For sincere followers of Jesus, feeling responsible for followers is a big deal. The problem comes in when your followers do not agree that you are responsible, or at least not in the way you are trying to protect them. For example, have you ever tried to help someone who does not want your help? How did that work out for you? Have you ever tried to give counsel to someone who did not want your counsel?
We Might Feel Responsible to God
The most sincere Christians feel their responsibility to God. They are not afraid of sacrifice. They will make difficult decisions when necessary. The challenge is that when we overpower those around us for the greater good, who knows who is right? Jesus said the time was coming when people would think they were serving God while persecuting the disciples. People who want to follow God sincerely may work against God.
“For you will be expelled from the synagogues, and the time is coming when those who kill you will think they are doing a holy service for God” (NLT, John 16:2).
The Transition
When God has leaders who sincerely want to serve Him, God is capable and willing to orchestrate circumstances to get their attention. The question is the shifting target of when to press in, and when to change our ways. Jesus has some advice.
Jesus’ Solution
Lower the Hierarchies
Jesus thinks it’s not only ok for His disciples to lay down their burden of authority, but He is also willing to pick it up if we will only work to connect people to Him. People are most ready to turn to Jesus when they are hurting, but when leaders strive to protect their followers from mistakes and pain, sometimes they risk short-circuiting God’s work. Does that make sense?
But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. The greatest among you shall be your servant” (Matt. 23:8-11).
Servant Leadership
Jesus taught that God desires servant leaders.
But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matt. 20:25-28).
In God’s Kingdom, the leaders work to serve their followers. When we study the example of Jesus, we see He did not mean that leaders lose their self and lose their way, but rather that they continue resiliently on their journey to heaven while serving those around them.
Servant Leadership is characterized by leaders who put their followers above their bottom line. The hope is that if the leader selflessly serves their followers, the followers will respond with their best efforts.
Do you have experience with Servant Leaders in your family, church, school, or work? Do you think that servant leadership is possible in families, marriages, churches, and businesses?
If you have relationship challenges, what would happen if you let go of your “right” to authority over others or their authority over you? What if the Holy Spirit could teach you Servant Leadership, Holy Indifference, and Passionate Love for God and Neighbors, all at once?
Lara found a little bird this week, so they will raise it until it can fly away.
The remnants of FIFA 2022.
Every day at dusk, Venus and Jupiter appear brightly on the horizon.
I have a free app on my phone called Sky Guide. Wherever I point it, the app identifies the stars, planets, and constellations.
Douglas came over to practice speaking English with Deanna. English speakers are rare in Marabá.
Every day I get to look at a new bird on my Christmas calendar and wonder how God created it. Razor-billed penguins. Are they aware of how cool they look? Does each bird long to identify with its flock, or do they also want to be known as individuals within their group? “A new calendar bird every day. Chicken soup. Cheese toast. Pink salt. Life doesn’t get any better than this!”
I remember Mom saying at mealtimes, “Life doesn’t get any better than this.” We would often push back, “No, I think it will be better when I have a new bike, or when dad comes home from up North, or when I finish school, or … on and on.” Mom would look at us over the food and say, “No, This, right now, is as good as it gets. Watch and see.” The secret to the best life is the freedom to fully enjoy every present moment.
Sometimes things happen in our lives that are beyond our control. We are no longer in our comfortable place, and we think we are heading to a much better place, but we are not there yet either.
A Liminal Space is when you are no longer where you used to be, but neither have you arrived.
The Liminal Space is Not What You Expected
When the Israelites headed out for the Promised Land, they were no longer in Egypt, but nor had they arrived. They were in a liminal space. When things got harsh, fond memories of the safety of their slavery years bubbled to the surface. When they sent in 12 of their most adventurous to see the reality of the great dream God had given them, 83% (10 of the 12) of them shrank back in fear. The journey to God’s best place for you can be scary, and the path there can look and feel much different than you expected.
Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.
FOR YET IN A VERY LITTLE WHILE, HE WHO IS COMING WILL COME, AND WILL NOT DELAY. BUT MY RIGHTEOUS ONE SHALL LIVE BY FAITH; AND IF HE SHRINKS BACK, MY SOUL HAS NO PLEASURE IN HIM.But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul (Heb. 10:35-39).
Maybe God has given you a dream of a better future, and then everything gets a lot worse, but you still feel you are tracking with God. Every morning I review one month of my old journal entries in sequence. Yesterday I reviewed what I sensed God saying to me in July 2016. Today I reviewed June. Tomorrow I’ll review May. Etc. Since March 2013, I have been noting current-month observations and reviewing my historical journey notes. Here is my review from this morning.
June 24, 2016 – I feel stalled, like I am not moving forward. My personal vision feels vague like it’s on autopilot. I sensed a Word from God this morning. “My plans for you are Big. Big Plans. Lots of stuff will happen soon. In the meantime, enjoy this season. Life is richer if you enjoy the seasons. This is like a winter season or a fallow time, necessary for a fruitful life. It is a gift to you.”
I don’t know how many times, even in this year, 2023, and throughout the last ten years, I have heard these words from God. Frequently people who do not know one another or my specific situation come up to me and say, “God told me that you are on the verge of something huge.” I write these reminders down in my journal because they are like GPS markers. They keep me on track.
In one sense, the liminal-space journey is God’s destination for you at this time.
Secret Places to Meet God
The Garden of Eden was the perfect oasis where God enjoyed creation. Outside the garden were four rivers filled with “good gold” and other jewels, but the way back into God’s Perfect Garden was open . . . until people decided they wanted to become judges of good and evil. Then God blocked the access back into His Perfect Place with cherubim and flaming swords (Gen. 2:24). In Exodus, in the liminal place, God designed a way to meet with people. He instructed Moses to put reminders of the cherubim guards on the curtains to His presence (Ex. 25-26). Inside the Holy place were many symbols of the Garden of Eden, like almond blossoms, flowers, and branches (Ex. 25:31-40).
Moreover you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twisted linen and blue and purple and scarlet material; you shall make them with cherubim, the work of a skillful workman (Ex. 26:1).
The Holy of Holies was a cube.
The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits in length, twenty cubits in width, and twenty cubits in height, and he overlaid it with pure gold (1 Kings 6:20).
The Heavenly City is Also a Cube!
The city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal (Rev. 21:16).
The heavenly city is like a huge Holy of Holies, where God lives with people.
Jesus’ sacrifice opened the way back into God’s Garden. The curtain with the cherubim guardians was ripped open. Free access! We can re-enter the secret place where God rules if we come on His terms.
For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind . . . But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel (NASB, Heb. 12:18-24).
How to Thrive in the Liminal Space
And they overcame him because of (1) the blood of the Lamb and because of (2) the word of their testimony, and (3) they did not love their life even when faced with death (Rev. 12:11).
1. We Prioritize Quality Time With God in the Secret Place
We spend time with God in a spiritual garden, city, mountaintop, or secret place. We get filled with God’s presence, so we can embrace a chaos world in search of the “good gold” (Gen. 2).
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels (2 Cor. 4:7a).
2. We Share our Stories
We present ourselves to those around us as spiritual people by sharing our stories.
A friend from South Africa shared the above quote on Facebook. I smiled all week at the idea. The opposite is also true. Social media is a place where we can share our stories. I like Mailchimp, but there are many platforms.
Twelve years ago, I told a mentor, “I think I will start a weekly newsletter.” That week I wrote my first Mailchimp. The next week I wrote another one. Today I wrote my 638th Mailchimp. Meditating on and then recounting my experience with God’s activity became a source of strength and encouragement to me.
Lessons Learned:
It is scary to write our testimony and send it out because we do not know how it will be received. In our desire to encourage some, we position ourselves as targets to be judged.
It is exhilarating, like getting out of the bleachers and into the game.
Writing doesn’t replace telling our stories personally, but there is an element of thoughtfulness in the writing process that helps us understand what we believe.
Our testimonies help our friends, and they help us.
Seth Godin wrote a book called Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us (2008). The premise is that we are all part of a system of our people. We need each other. Your people are waiting for you to speak up and show them the way forward. How does Christianity work for you? What if we had no stories of the Israelite’s progress through liminal space to the Promised Land? How many millions of people have been helped by the honest recollection of God’s faithfulness through their transition from slaves to landowners?
When we retell our stories, they become part of our identity. We own the victories. If we do not tell our stories, we risk losing them as they fade away.
Do not complain to people. It might be a way to bind your anxiety, but God thinks complaining to people is a bad idea and will not improve your situation (Phil. 2:14-15). Transparently working on your issues with God or a trusted mentor is helpful. Once you are through your challenge, share your victory in a way that gives glory to God.
If you wonder whether or not you should tell a story that includes another person, do not share it. Let the doubt be a warning.
Moses wished everyone would prophecy (Num. 11:29). Paul wished everyone would speak in tongues privately and prophecy in church (1 Cor. 14:5). I wish everyone would share a God-honoring weekly story and photo with their tribe. One nice thing about social media is that we can take our tribe with us, even if we move to another country, church, or job. Rather than trading one tribe for another, we keep expanding our tribe.
3. We are as Completely Abandoned to the Journey as Peter Was When He Stepped Out of the Boat
We commit to complete abandonment to follow Jesus.
We learn to like manna and quail more than leeks and onions.
We listen to God and luxuriate in following Him, even when everything feels wrong and scary.
We lean into risks of faith, experiencing seasons of abundance instead of self-reliant poverty.
We do not quit because something is impossible. We often do not see how it can work out, but we keep our eyes on Jesus and courageously take the next step.
In 2019 our daughter Emma carved and woodburned this masterpiece into a large piece of wood and gave it to Deanna for her birthday.
“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”
—Theodore Roosevelt Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910
Until I was 14 years old, I was extremely sensitive to my parent’s feelings; both parents, but Mom was more prevalent. Until I was 14, my dad worked paving many of the highways in Northern BC. He would come home for Christmas, and Mom would take us kids North to live in hotels during our summer holidays. My brother, sister, and I were raised mainly by Mom during those years. When Mom was unhappy or displeased with something I did or didn’t do, I would get uncontrollably sad, often to the point of tears. At times this frustrated her. I remember Mom telling me as I stood by the piano in our living room, “Quit crying. Grownups don’t cry.” I do not remember the reason for my tears, but I remember hardening my heart. I never cried again until I was 24 years old. I spent the next 12 years trying to discover who I was as an adult. I became careless about the feelings of others to cope. In Eagle Plains, when I got filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues, I was surprised that I sometimes wept during my prayer times.
“Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh” (NASB, Ezek. 36:26).
I lived in Eagle Plains for three years. I was the only professing Christian of the twelve who lived in that remote location. We were 800 km (500 miles) from the nearest shopping center in Whitehorse and would generally go to town once a year. Inuvik, the next city to the North of us, was near the Beaufort Sea and has some small stores and churches, but their prices were astronomical. All this to say, I started to fuse to God in those solitary years and still remember them as among the best years of my life.
Lessons Learned
1. Fusion with other humans is healthy for infants, but healthy adults redirect their attachment to God.
Apostle Paul told the Corinthians that if they depended on other people to hear from God, they were like infants that needed to be spiritually nursed. Mature Christians learned to hear from God for themselves and, out of the abundance of hearing, to encourage one another.
Infants
“But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? For when one says, ‘I follow Paul,’ and another, ‘I follow Apollos,’ are you not being merely human?” (NIV, 1 Cor. 3:1-4).
Mature Christians
For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged” (1 Cor. 14:31).
2. Human Carelessness may transform into Holy Indifference.
“Indifference does not mean not caring. One can be indifferent and yet be deeply passionate. In fact, since God is love and God’s redemptive work takes place through love, we cannot be indifferent in the Ignatian sense unless we love and love deeply.” The idea is to be free of unhelpful attachments (web reference).
As hard as we try to serve God, we are not in control of much. As we learn to cast all our cares on Jesus, we become free to enjoy life. We do our best to be obedient and leave the results up to Him. Childishness, or reacting to others, may transform into childlikeness, where we develop a profound trust in God.
At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children…” (Matt. 11:25-30).
3. Obedience
Thinking about God as He reveals Himself through nature and His Word helps me abandon myself to obedience, even when I do not entirely understand. The closer I get to God, the more amazed I am at all creation! Creation is overwhelmingly complex!
Some people shy away from the word obedience because they believe it has negative connotations. For example, Jesus learned obedience through the things He suffered (Heb. 5:8). But Jesus thought obedience was the path forward (John 6:38). He encouraged His followers to wholehearted obedience. Jesus often compared the Kingdom of God to a vast farm. Let’s suppose God wants to train you to run a half-a-million-dollar combine in His grain field. But all your friends are doing other things, like working in the vegetable garden at the home ranch, building silos, or maybe not doing much at all. Maybe you are torn between hanging out with your friends or going to combine-training-school.
Will you trust God’s personally-tailored training program even if you do not understand all of His plans? Noah trusted God for 100 years as he built the ark, one board at a time.
“Thus Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did” (Gen. 6:22).
Obedience is sometimes complicated because what if we get it wrong? We might suffer for nothing. The Pharisees traveled far and wide to make converts, suffering in an unhelpful way for God (Matt. 23:15; John 16:2). How do we get it right? Paul counseled the Colossians to follow the peace in their heart and to recognize the fruit of the Spirit, which includes joy (Col. 3:15; Gal. 5:22-23).
“I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances” (Ezek. 36:27).
“By this, we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:2-3).
In summary, if our adult emotions are fused to another person, they are out of our control. The other will determine our good and bad days, leading to chronic stress. Fusing with God, on the other hand, increases our love for people and this planet, our joy, and our desire to abandon ourselves to obedience to Him.
Silmara, who is pregnant, and Lara and Kelly walk to the road in the evening to meet Mauricio after he worked a 12-hour day.
Who doesn’t long for a family who looks forward to seeing them again, even if they’ve only been gone a few hours?
I left two jars of sauerkraut in July. Six months later it is still good, and delicious. If you cut up cabbage and put it in a jar with salt and water, it will percolate for three days. After a month, it is ready to eat.
A papaya tree and fruit.
Deanna and I take one day off a week to enjoy God and to enjoy life. God’s plan is for people to create beauty and organize things for six days, and then to enjoy the order for one day because (1) that is what God did at creation, and if He is not too busy for a day off, neither are we (Ex. 20:8-11), and (2) because we are not slaves. God’s people can take days off (Deut. 5:12-15). Such an awesome God, and such an awesome life!
Here is a house we pass on our daily walk through our neighborhood.
A massive iguana enjoys the view from the peak of our roof. We have the netting there to discourage bats from flying into our house. This region is thick with bats.
The government kindly paved the road in front of our church and house.
Does it seem impressive that this ball can explode in slow motion to turn into an intricate flower? Year after year, century after century, these prickly plants keep producing these slow-motion explosions of beauty. The flowers last for about a day, so we must live in the moment to appreciate them. If we are worried about other stuff, we will likely miss the present beauty, and it helps no one.
