Tip of the Week-- December 4, 2014

It is the first week of Advent.  We've lit the first candle on the wreath.  That lone flicker of light on a somber, darkened backdrop speaks of our experience of HOPE in a world that seems darkened with despair.  At times that small flicker seems completely inadequate and insignificant.  And when we look at the state of the world today, it does often seem silly to insist on something like Christian hope, as if our songs, our gatherings, and our looking back to a man born 2000 years ago are sufficient in the face of the likes of Ebola, ISIS, racial tension and inequality.

Hope, however, is one of the most wily of virtues.  Just when you think you've come to understand it, it will defy your expectations.  Countless are those throughout history who thought they could squash it, only to be outright embarrassed by its tenacity and resilience.  For it is not the quantity of darkness in which hope is found, nor even the intensity by which it burns that ultimately determine its success or failure, though we, by default, always judge it that way. 

The success of hope is rather determined by its object and the response the hope elicits.  We so often put our hope in silly things and respond in even more ridiculous ways and when failure results, we consider hope to be a weak, silly thing.  This, though, is a failure of direction and response, not of the virtue itself.

I have, on occasion decided to hope in my stomach's adaptation to life here, which has led me to order food at a roadside stand, in the heat of the day, telling the lady with greasy, unwashed hands to add a little mayo to the sandwich.  As she spoons a dollop from the open jar, exposed as it is to heat and flies, I hope all the more fervently that things will be just fine.  I've paid dearly for such moves and could call my hope silly, but really it was the object of my hope that was weak (my stomach) and my response that was foolish (ordering that extra mayo).  

However, when we gather around the flame of hope that the PROMISED ONE was born 2000 years ago, that He made a beachhead for the KINGDOM of HEAVEN on earth, and that He is COMING AGAIN to bring about full restoration, we can rest assured that the object of that hope is sure.  Whatever the intensity of the darkness, this hope cannot be snuffed out.  It is no small, weak thing.

All good hope produces a reaction worthy of its object.  What will our response be? 

Tip of the week: This advent season, make sure your hope is in something sure and not something silly like holiday spirit, jingle bells, and Santa Clause.  Once you've anchored hope to something sure, let it produce a response worthy of that sure foundation.  

Prayer Requests:

1.  Pray for our Christmas outreaches of various sorts--to prisoners, to friends, and to army recruits.

2.  Pray for 2 young men, Bakary and Yacouba, who are reflecting on the truth claim of the Gospel.

3.  Pray for continued protection from Ebola.

4.  Many of our teammates are on the move for various reasons.  Some are moving to another field, or going to the States permanently, others are traveling to the States for a year long furlough or just for a Christmas time visit.  Pray for all their travels.

Thank you for your prayers!