Many of you have heard about Rob Bell’s recent news of his departure as pastor of Mars Hill. Check out his Sunday morning message regarding his new venture and calling.
My twin brother, Mark Wolter:
There are several Christian men working on the pipe connection for the cooling system of the Fukushima nuclear plant. These are workers that have volunteered to essentially sacrifice their lives for the good of their country and the world. I find it interesting that so many are Christians despite there being about 1 Christian man in every 400 people in Japan. Please pray for these men. (Read the rest …)
Free download here. And please pray for my brother and family as he gets ready to leave to the Sendei area for some relief work in the coming weeks.
The confident hope of the Christian faith is that God has done, is doing, and will do something about the problem of evil and suffering. He defeats evil at the cross, releases “aid workers” at the resurrection, and promises total peace at his return.
Please continue to pray for the people of Japan. I posted a couple videos and John Piper’s prayer below. In the first video, my twin brother, Mark, appears at about 9:20 sharing about how he’s been affected by the earthquake. The second video shows more of the unbelievable devastation.
Father in heaven, you are the absolute Sovereign over the shaking of the earth, the rising of the sea, and the raging of the waves. We tremble at your power and bow before your unsearchable judgments and inscrutable ways. We cover our faces and kiss your omnipotent hand. We fall helpless to the floor in prayer and feel how fragile the very ground is beneath our knees.
O God, we humble ourselves under your holy majesty and repent. In a moment—in the twinkling of an eye—we too could be swept away. We are not more deserving of firm ground than our fellowmen in Japan. We too are flesh. We have bodies and homes and cars and family and precious places. We know that if we were treated according to our sins, who could stand? All of it would be gone in a moment. So in this dark hour we turn against our sins, not against you.
And we cry for mercy for Japan. Mercy, Father. Not for what they or we deserve. But mercy.
Have you not encouraged us in this? Have we not heard a hundred times in your Word the riches of your kindness, forbearance, and patience? Do you not a thousand times withhold your judgments, leading your rebellious world toward repentance? Yes, Lord. For your ways are not our ways, and your thoughts are not our thoughts.
Grant, O God, that the wicked will forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Grant us, your sinful creatures, to return to you, that you may have compassion. For surely you will abundantly pardon. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord Jesus, your beloved Son, will be saved.
May every heart-breaking loss—millions upon millions of losses—be healed by the wounded hands of the risen Christ. You are not unacquainted with your creatures’ pain. You did not spare your own Son, but gave him up for us all.
In Jesus you tasted loss. In Jesus you shared the overwhelming flood of our sorrows and suffering. In Jesus you are a sympathetic Priest in the midst of our pain.
Deal tenderly now, Father, with this fragile people. Woo them. Win them. Save them.
And may the floods they so much dread make blessings break upon their head.
O let them not judge you with feeble sense, but trust you for your grace. And so behind this providence, soon find a smiling face.
In Jesus’ merciful name, Amen.
Here’s the link to the video of my interview with WAVE 3 about my brother and family in Japan.
UPDATE: Here’s FOX 41′s video
By now all of you know about the devastating earthquake in Japan. Many of you also know that my twin brother is a missionary there in Kyoto. He and his family are doing fine as they live about 450 miles from the epicenter. They did feel the tremors, but their big concern now is praying for and helping the people of Japan. Go to his blog and read more about what he had to say.
I was interviewed today by WHAS. Here’s the brief article. There may be a couple more interviews coming. Pray for the right words to speak that would honor God in this time.
Did you see Al Michael’s interview with Brett Favre last night? I think it revealed a few things about why he came back another year.
1) Favre hesitated in making a decision to come back because he fears failure and he fears man. He said that he did not want to let people down either by playing or not playing another year.
2) Favre misses the camaraderie of being part of a team … he said there’s nothing like it!
3) Favre knows he will make a lot of money. No brainer.
Whatever the reason … I’m glad he’s playing another year for my favorite team — the Vikes!
My wife and I will be spending an evening with Spurgeon tonight at New Life Church in Louisville. Obviously this is not your typical date night, but we look forward to it! If you’re in the area, and able to go, it’s free and looks to be both entertaining and encouraging. See you there!
Can giving children praise be doing more harm than good? Here’s a clip with Po Bronson, co-author of Nurture Shock, speaking about the myth of praise. You can read my reflections on what became the first chapter of his book here.
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