In 1948, The United Nations Said This...

At the infancy of the United Nations, the group came together and made a declaration of what it saw as universal human rights. Now whether you or I agree or track with the current UN leadership, I thought that the original thoughts/intent of the UN bore sharing. Basically, the six rights were…

1. Life is better than death

2. Health is better than sickness

3. Liberty is better than slavery

4. Prosperity is better than poverty

5. Education is better than ignorance

6. Justice is better than injustice

Not bad. In fact, I could get behind an organization that would live by/promote these very issues. Too bad that time changes things, people and values change and cultures drift.

What if we took those six items above and applied them to say an evangelical Christian "spiritual" declaration of human rights? We of course would acknowledge that the greatest right (as well as privilege) is to know our Creator God through His infinite mercy/wisdom in His One and Only Son, Jesus. Along with this we would declare…

1. Life is better than death…and He came that we might live life and live it more abundantly.

2. Health is better than sickness…for we are to fear the Lord, turn away from evil so that healing will find our bodies and strength given to our bones.

3. Liberty is better than slavery…and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.

4. Prosperity is better than poverty…He has set before us a choice of life and prosperity over death and disaster.

5. Education is better than ignorance…but the Counselor, the Holy Sprit will teach you all things.

6. Justice is better than injustice…and what is it the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness and walk humbly with your God.

Maybe I have to rethink my opinion of the UN. Or maybe I have to think of the UN in a Kingdom perspective. 

Your thoughts?

What to make of wealth...

I took this past year to read several books on development (e.g. wealth and poverty of nations) and mainly those from an economic model background. I re-read Adam Smith's 1776 classic, "An Iquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of the Nations." I also re-read David Lande's excellent book, "The Wealth and Poverty of Nations". I then read a book recommended to me written by Barry Asmus and Wayne Grudem, "The Poverty of Nations."

In this last one, I ran across a chart cited from Lawrence Harrison (a purporter of socio-cultural causes for development/lack of development). It showed the standard measure of wealth (Gross Domestic Product or GDP) per major faith and religious backgrounds. The chart showed the following:

Religious Background to Culture of Nations Per Capita GDP (Annual)

1. Protestant - $29,784
2. Jewish - $19,320
3. Roman Catholic - $9,358
4. Orthodox - $7,045
5. Confucian - $6,691
6. Buddhist -  $4,813
7. Islamic - $3,142
8. Hindu - $2,390

What does this mean? Some would use this to show the wisdom and practicality of living life according to God's mandates thus resulting in His blessings. Others might be tempted to use this as an illustration that the prosperity gospel works. I think Harris (the original compiler of the info) would point to the social-cultural values (e.g. hard work, honesty, fairness, etc.) underlying Christian/Biblical teachings and their resulting effects on a particular group.

I think that we should look at it from a different angle. I propose that we don't look at it and try to dissect it to the point of prescribing a formula to wealth or blessings. While I do believe deeply that God's plan for life as revealed in His scriptures does carry subsequent blessings, I think the main point here is not how we got there (or tell other how to get to financial welfare) but what do we do with what God has blessed us with.

If God has blessed me (and He has a million times over) because I have committed my life to Him and His principles for life, the main question is, "what am I going to do with that blessing?"

Abraham in Genesis 12 was told that he was to be blessed by God and then that blessing, through him, would become a blessing to all the nations.

God' way and plan for life is by far the best. God's blessings on His children are amazing. But if that blessing stops with us, we miss the point.

Your thoughts?

A New Year...And Remembering...

Regina and I took down the Christmas decorations yesterday, New Years Day. It always seems to be a lot more fun to put them up rather than take them down. Especially the Christmas tree with the seemingly thousands of ornaments. However, what started out as a necessary chore became a rather fun time and walk down memory lane.

Our tree, most likely probably like yours as well, is filled with ornaments that have a history and a story. As we took each off, we began telling remembering where each of the ornaments had come from and its story. Some had very little significance. Others are a part of our family lore.

There is the one that Regina got for me when we had just started dating. It is a little tarnished but still in good shape and stamped with the date of the first year that we knew each other.

There were the ones that we had of the children when they were smaller. They were pictures of when they were smaller. It seemed like they should still be those very ages.

There were those who had been sent to us by friends through the years. We lived overseas for more than twenty years and each year, it seems that someone or some church group would send us a special ornament. It was nice to see those and remember where we were and who sent them.

Then there was the Christmas nail. It is one we hang near the trunk of the tree and is a family tradition. It is a simple 10 inch nail that reminds us of the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for us and the true meaning of Christmas. 

As we start the New Year 2014, we have a lot to look forward to. But we also have a lot to remember and be thankful for. I am thankful for God's blessings through Jesus Christ in my life, family and ministry. I am also thankful for the wonderful partners and friends who help to make our work through BGR possible. 

I look forward to this new year - the challenges and the blessings - and the memories of what God will accomplish through our work.

Blessings,

Jeff Palmer

Elisabeth's Story...

Her name is Elisabeth. They call her Ma’am Elisabeth. She is the principal at the only school on the island of Gibitgnil. She has the respect of the whole community and her students in that she had brought the small school in Gibitngil from a grade one through six school to one that goes all the way through the 12^th grade. This is very important to the 2,500 residents of the islands. This means that their children can stay at home until fourth year high school and not have to go off the island everyday to go to school once they reach the seventh grade.

Ma’am Elisabeth and her school had a huge setback when typhoon Yolanda swept through their island. Not only did they lose many of their homes and small government offices, several of the structures at the local school were destroyed or damaged. She was worried how she would convince anyone to come help her school since they were so small and isolated.

A member of the BGR Rapid Assistance Team, Dwain Carter, came to her island and was moved by what he saw. He agreed to try and help rally resources to their aid. Dwain is not only a Pastor in Missouri but also the State Disaster Relief Coordinator as well.

This past week, I saw Dwain helping to fulfill his promise to Ma’am Elisabeth. He had some back with a disaster relief team from Missouri and supplies provided by Southern Baptists. They were working under hard conditions to help restore the school and still smiled as they worked.

Ma’am Elisabeth had taken a week off to work on her own house but when she saw Pastor Dwain coming back, she decided to help with the school reconstruction. She is very appreciative of Dwain, his group and the help provided by Southern Baptists to assist in the rebuilding of their school and keeping their children on their island until they are ready for college.

Everyone is sacrificing a lot to help the Philippines recovery effort. But it is worth it for the glory of God.

A Parade of Volunteers Helping to Rebuild in the Philippines...

One is a farmer. One is a former State Representative. Others include a retired mailman, a State Agriculturist, a writer and a pastor. They even have one who is a “jack of all trades.” This is the team of State Disaster relief volunteers who have come from Missouri to help with the rebuilding of a school on the island of Gibitngil, Philippines.

They labor under the hot tropical sun. They work in a place with no electricity and scarce water resources. They are having to use hand tools and confess they are much more used to power tools. But in the midst of the challenges and the frustrations, they are all smiles especially when it comes to relating to the local people.

They are “heroes” of sorts; at least to the local people there. They came to the small island a few days ago and brought with them materials to help rebuild the local school that was partially destroyed by the recent typhoon.

As they arrived by a small boat, they began to unload the materials such as wood and tin roofing and looked up the steep incline to the school almost a mile away. It was going to be a long walk hauling those materials. They were anticipating taking most of the day to haul the materials but something happened. The villagers and mostly the school children themselves began to take the materials and carry them to the building site. The disaster relief volutneers picked up loads as well and began joining in the “parade”.  What seemed to be a daunting task turned into a parade of foreigners and locals working together to bring the needed construction supplies to the local school.

One of the volunteers described the scene as a festive occasion. The local people were happy to see the help come and they were happy to join in the efforts to rebuild their beloved school.

Thank you Southern Baptists for providing funds for the rebuilding of Gibitnil school. And thank you Southern Baptists for coming and help to rebuild.

So Much to be Thankful For...

I have so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving...

I am going to have a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner this Thursday complete with turkey, cranberries and pumpkin pie while almost 1 billion people in the world, that's one out of every seven, live day to day in chronic hunger.

I am going to spend this Thanksgiving holiday in a warm, comfortable home with all the best of modern conveniences when over 2.4 billion people live in poverty which is defined as making less than $2.50 per day. Moreover, 1.2 billion live in absolute poverty meaning they live on less than $1.25 per day.

I am going to take my family and make a relatively short trip to my sister's house to celebrate together with parents, children, brothers and sisters a day set aside to give thanks while 40 million people have fled their homes due to famine, war, or other man made/natural disasters. Nine million of those have fled their homes in Syria seeking shelter wherever they may find it and in many cases losing all contact with whatever family they might have.

Whenever I want a drink of water this weekend, I will simply open a tap in my home and get a glassful not worrying whether it is safe to drink or not while still over 1 billion people in the world lack the simple privilege of clean drinking water.

And I will worship this weekend in a church of my choice (and there are a lot to choose from in middle Tennessee) with no fear of reprisal or persecution while over 90% of the world is lost and almost 6,000 people groups still have little or no access to the gospel.

Thank You, Lord. I am truly blessed. May I never take Your blessings for granted. And, may I be so thankful that I purpose to be a blessing to others.

"For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat;
I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink;
I was a stranger and you took Me in;
I was naked and you clothed Me;
I was sick and you took care of Me;
I was in prison and you visited Me."
(Jesus in John 25:35-3)

Selah!

When Jesus Walked Past a Need...

Remember the story from Acts 3 about the healing of a lame man by Peter and John? It is about a man, lame from birth, who was carried every day to the temple gate called Beautiful in Jerusalem so that he could beg from those going up to pray. When Peter and John passed by, he asked for help. And Peter along with John looked at him and said, 'I don't have silver or gold, but what I have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!' And with that, they took him by the right hand and raised him up and at once, his ankles and feet became strong. He jumped up, stood and started to walk. He entered the temple complex walking, leaping and praising God!

It's a great story, right? But have you ever thought about the fact that if this man sat at the temple gate for every day for all those years, he must have seen Jesus pass once or twice? So the question is why didn't he ask help from Jesus. Or even more disturbing (from my feeble human standpoint) is why didn't Jesus stop and meet the needs of this individual? Surely He has passed him by. Surely He had seen him. And surely, Jesus knew the man's need.

There are several possibilities...

* Maybe Jesus never came near this man. I think this highly unlikely so let's move on to the next theory.

* There seems to be a "seeking" requirement in many of the healings in the New Testament. In other words, those healed are ones seeking Jesus, the power of the Spirit. While not exactly true in every case, generally, most people were seeking answers/healing from God when they were restored to health. So maybe when the lame man saw Jesus the times He passed by, at that time, there was no desire to seek healing and no "readiness" on the part of the lame man.

* It may have been that the lame man didn't really know who Jesus was and what He had to offer. This one is hard to imagine considering how Jesus' fame had spread through the land at the time.

* Maybe it wasn't God's timing for the healing to take place until John and Peter went up to pray. I've shared before that we as humans live bound in "kronos" time whereas God (the maker of "kronos" time) has His own "kairos" timetable. It could be, like the blind man healed in John chapter 9, that the healing took place at God's proper time so that, 'God's works might be displayed in him.'

To be honest, I am not sure why Jesus would have walked by this particular man in need and not stop to help Him. I would assume that there also were many others who were not healed as well though many sought Him. Moreover, just as there were multitudes who still did not believe in Him while He was on earth, there were also throngs who are not healed. Why?

It is a difficult question.

One thing I do know is that when Jesus healed, compassion was always a component of that healing. He was moved for the hurting, the helpless and the homeless. He had a mission for proclaiming in word and in deed that the Kingdom of God had come. He came to seek and to save that which was lost and He came to give abundant life.

In short, I don't know why Jesus may have walked by this particular person in need or even others during His time on earth and not stop. I do know that He and the Father knows best and nothing escaped or will ever escape His notice and that His thoughts and ways are so much higher than mine that I have to trust Him even when I don't understand.

Maybe it is a good lesson for me as I go about helping in international disaster response and community development. Maybe I can alleviate myself of the burden that I have to meet every need I see. Maybe.

"Lord, give me the ability to see and meet needs of those in my path today. Give me also the peace to accept the things I can't do and can't change."

Selah