Tetelestai

"28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), "I thirst." 29 A Jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, "It is finished," and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit." John 19:28-30.*

In this account of Jesus' death on the cross, John uses the Greek word "tetelestai" which is translated in verse 30 as "It is finished." Jesus had fulfilled all of the Old Testament Scriptures pointing toward the Messiah (Hebrew) or Christ (Greek). Jesus became the covering for our sins (1 John 2:2). We, who are imperfect and unable to have a relationship with a holy God on our own, can be reconciled to God through Christ's death on the cross for our sins. I keep trying to think of what verses I should put down here but want to use nearly the entire New Testament. In fact, this action is what the ENTIRE Bible is about. The book of Romans is a pretty amazing place to read about what Christ did for us. But as I said, it's all good. A few that stand out off the top of my head are John 3:16, Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, Romans 10:9-10, Ephesians 2:8-9. Of course there are many, many others.

I have absolutely no desire to get into a theological discussion or debate with regard to this post. I simply want to take this opportunity in this season of thanksgiving to thank God publicly for the work of Jesus Christ on the cross and that I am saved as a result of my faith in the gracious act of Christ's death and resurrection. Sin has lost it's grip on me as I am now in Christ Jesus.

"1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death." Romans 8:1-2

There has been more than one individual who has been guilty of proof-texting this and any of the verses mentioned. Proof-texting occurs when a verse is read out of its intended context. To fully understand and appreciate this and all the other verses, you must really read them in the proper context in which they were written. As I said, its really good stuff.

Anyway, so that's today's thanks: I'm thankful for my salvation through Christ's death and resurrection. It's a good thing too, because I know how impossible it would be if I had to rely on my own self-righteousness.

Questions? If you have any questions about what I wrote today or would like more information about what it means "to be saved" please feel free to email me at mikeandpolly@gmail.com.

In Christ,

Mike

* All Scriptures given using the The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. 

Until the Last Leaf Falls

Polly and I each consider fall to be our favorite season. In fact, that's a major reason why we opted to get married in the fall (October 6, 2007) and why we opted to stay in a cabin in the Green Mountains in Vermont for our honeymoon.

I was born and raised in Massachusetts. In fact, aside from my four years of Bible college in Missouri, I have lived in Massachusetts my whole life. And lets face it, New England is known for it's falls. Polly didn't grow up in New England, but she did grow up in the Northeast (just north of Philly). Falls may not have been quite as spectacular for her in Philly as they have been in Massachusetts, but it was still her favorite season. Once she moved to New England, she was hooked. Here are some of the aspects of a New England fall that make fall my favorite season:

1. Falls in New England are gorgeous! If you've never been leaf peeping (the official term for searching out and viewing beautiful fall scenery created by the various colors of the leaves) in New England then you're missing out on one of God's most beautiful masterpieces within His creation. When I see the beauty of the fall landscape, it stirs up within me the desire to worship its Creator! They are that stunningly beautiful. From bright, vibrant reds, yellows and oranges to rustic oranges, reds and burgundies the color palate is phenomenal. Have you noticed the amount of descriptive words I have used in this one simple paragraph? They still do not do the beauty of fall justice.

Polly and me on our honeymoon in Vermont (October 2007)

Gorgeous!

2. Falls in New England bring with them wonderfully comfortable temperatures and incredibly breathe-able crisp, fresh air. Fall does not bring with it the heat or humidity of summer, yet its also not so cold that you need to bundle up. A simple pair of jeans, t-shirt and hoodie is completely sufficient for fall temperatures. Also, I am more likely to be able to drive around in my car without the use of the a/c or the heater.

3. Falls in New England play host to many of my favorite activities. Besides leaf peeping, fall is also the season for apple picking, pumpkin picking, playing in piles of leaves (this was obviously something I enjoyed much more in my childhood, but now I'm filled with anticipation for Genevieve to experience the fun of jumping into piles of leaves), running (my favorite season for running even though my lungs burn a little bit extra), football, playoff baseball (don't get me started about this year), the start of hockey season (again, don't get me started about this year), etc.

It takes teamwork to get the high apples

Got it!

4. Falls in New England are home to fairs. I know I could have included this in the previous point about activities, but going to fairs is such a favorite activity that I decided it deserved its own point. I don't care for playing carnival style games (or more to the point, spending the money to play them as I actually do enjoy them; I also like watching others play them). I don't usually go on too many carnival rides anymore. I just like to walk around, look at exhibits, watch performances and eat "fair food." My favorite "fair food" is Thanksgiving sandwiches. Mmmmm. Polly and I have been to quite a number of fairs since we've been married, but our favorite is the Topsfield Fair, which has been around since 1818. I believe it's still considered the oldest agricultural fair in the United States, but that is up for debate. Polly and I have been to the Topsfield Fair together right around every anniversary. It's become one of "our things."

Topsfield Fair 2011 - Genevieve's first fair

Topsfield Fair 2009 - fair foods

5. Falls in America play host to my favorite family holiday. Don't get me wrong, Resurrection Day (Easter) and Christmas are among my favorite holidays as they celebrate to incredibly significant events in the history of mankind (Jesus birth and resurrection, respectively). It's just that while each of those holidays also involves times spent with family, I just think of Thanksgiving as the ultimate family holiday. It really is a day just for getting together with family and eating delicious food. That's the other thing about Thanksgiving...the food spread is the best of all the holidays. As are the leftovers! I look forward to making a turkey, stuffing, gravy and cranberry sauce sandwich every day or two after Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving 2009 - Polly's with the first Thanksgiving turkey she ever cooked

6. Falls in New England have amazing food associated with them. Fresh apples picked from trees transform into apple crisp, apple pie, apple sauce, apple cider, cider donuts or caramel/candy apples. Pumpkins go from the pumpkin patch and into pumpkin bread, pumpkin pies and numerous other pumpkin goodies. For Polly this also means Pumpkin Spice Lattes at Starbucks.

I'm pretty sure I could go on and on for hours about my affinity for fall, but I think I've made my point. Fall is the best season and New England is the best place to experience this wonderful season. Polly and I enjoy fall every year, so what makes this year any different? Well, our missionary adventure does. It changes everything.

If everything goes according to what we're hoping for and we raise our budget by the spring or summer of 2013, we won't be enjoying another New England fall until possibly 2016. And that's not even a guarantee. Genevieve won't get to experience and fall in love with the fall as we have. We won't get to enjoy the things that we love the most about the fall. But God is also blessing us with pretty cool alternatives. Let's take a look and see what I mean:

1. We will not get to experience the beautiful colors of the New England fall. But from what we hear, see and read, there will be plenty of beautiful things to experience in Costa Rica. Costa Rica is home to beautiful, colorful wildlife (especially birds), volcanoes, waterfalls, gorgeous beaches and other beauty that will no doubt leave us breathless and in awe of the Creator, stirring up within us the desire to worship His creation.

I can't wait to take my own photos like this...

...and this

2. I won't get to enjoy that same satisfaction of cool, crisp air following a hot summer, but we've heard good things about the climate in Costa Rica. It will be humid and will rain for eight straight months (though not necessarily all day and not raining at all the other four months) but the temperature usually stays pretty agreeable and it won't get freezing. I think we will be just fine dealing with the climate change.

3. We will miss the fall activities. There is simply no way to replace some of the specific activities, but we will have new activities keeping us busy. We will be picking other amazingly fresh fruits, do a bit of nature walking/hiking, swimming at the beach (we do that here in New England, but it's cold) and I'm sure numerous other things. It's nice to do things we already love, but it's also fun to do things we've never done before.

4. We won't be able to go to fairs, but I'm sure we'll enjoy some fun festivals and other celebrations in Costa Rica. Again, they'll be new to us. But as I said, that's not necessarily a bad thing.

5. Thanksgiving will simply be different. There are many ex-Patriots living in Costa Rica and other missionaries from the United States as well. There's no doubt that we will celebrate Thanksgiving. The food will be different and we won't be with our family, but we'll still have a lot to be thankful for! We will have to remember to pack some Thanksgiving decorations to help bridge this perceived gap.

6. Food. I love fall foods. We will miss fall food. But, we're also going to be enjoying new foods that we're not currently accustomed to. And from what I know about Latin American food, it will be good! Also, those fresh tropical fruits I mentioned earlier, we will definitely be enjoying those and I'm sure we'll learn some delicious treats to make with them.

So, there it is. We've been hit by the reality that we'll be missing fall while we're in Costa Rica. But, let's put this in perspective...as Polly's friend Mel once said to her dad when they were at CINCEL (the language school) in San Jose, Costa Rica, we'll be in "stinkin' Costa Rica!" That's something to be excited about.

But for now, while we're here in New England, we'll just keep enjoying the fall. And this year, potentially our last one for a while, we'll be sure to enjoy it...until the last leaf falls.

In Christ,

Mike

Context Changes Perspective

This past January, I taught a Sunday school series at our church. The series was titled "Unlocking God's Word" and dealt with how to more effectively read the Bible and apply it to our lives. One of the points I taught (I was expounding on some material I had gleaned from a book written by Rick Warren) was with regard to how we will never fully exhaust the study and application of any scripture in the Bible. One of the reasons I gave for this was because our context changes our perspective. For example, in one class, I had everyone break down Genesis 37 (the beginning of the story of Joseph). I was amazed at how many different perspectives people had regarding Joseph. One person viewed Joseph as sort of arrogant and annoying (she was the middle child in her family). Another viewed Joseph with sympathy (she was the youngest child in her family). Still another, viewed him as simply immature (she was the mother of a 16-year-old boy). Even though we were each reading the same story about the same person, our different contexts affected what we read and thus what we took from this biblical account. This is not to say that the text changed or that it had different meanings; we just all related to it differently. This is because our context changes our perspective.

Polly and I have been reminded of this reality numerous times since we began the application process to become Missionary Associates to Costa Rica. Once such verse that I remember standing out to me in a whole new light was Genesis 12:1. This verse reads, "Now the LORD said to Abram, 'Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you." (ESV) This chapter continues with the promise that God makes to Abraham about making him a great nation and blessing him. My whole life to this point, I had always read Genesis 12:1 with the thought in mind of where God was calling Abraham to: "the land that I will show you." Having the benefit of hindsight, I already knew that this was the Promise Land which would later become the nation of Israel. Whenever I read Genesis 12:1, I was filled with encouragement and joy knowing that God fulfilled His promise to Abraham. It wasn't until Polly and I started dealing with the realities and emotions of this transition that I read Genesis 12:1 with the thought in mind of where God was calling Abraham from: "your country and your kindred and your father's house..." The truth is, leaving our families is the most difficult thing that Polly and I have had to work through in this transition. Becoming missionaries has changed our context, which has changed our perspective.

Genesis 12:1 is merely one example of many passages from the Bible that have gripped us in different ways than they ever had before. Let me briefly share one more with you. I have read Proverbs many times. I have been reading the Proverb that corresponds with the day of the month (there are 31 Proverbs, so this works well) each month since the beginning of 2011. I am amazed by how often something jumps out at me, even after having read it so many times before. Polly and I have been praying for God to give us a verse or passage that we could really use as an anchor as we become missionaries. On Sunday (March 25th) I was reading Proverbs 25. When I got to verse 25, I was instantly gripped. In the ESV it reads, "Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country." So simple, yet so powerful. I had read that verse at least 14 times since the beginning of 2011, yet this was the first time I was really captivated by it. Polly and I want to bring "water" to "thirsty" souls. You see, my context had changed, and with it, so had my perspective.

The Bible is rich and we will never exhaust its richness. We must be careful not to read the Bible with presuppositions or feel like we have nothing new to gain from a scripture. The Bible is God's living word. It does not change; but we do. And as we change, so does our understanding of the things that we read. As our context changes, our perspective changes. May we have greater fervor and excitement as we read God's Word!

I mentioned above about how the most difficult thing that Polly and I have had to work through in this transition is with regard to leaving our families. We are far from the first couple to face this difficulty and we certainly won't be the last. Tomorrow, I will share what we have learned in this journey that has helped us work through this reality and has taught us more about relationships in general (as I believe it has even helped me to become a better husband and father).

Mike