Horizon.org

I guess the verse that first came to mind when I heard about the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit the tiny of island of Samoa was in Matthew 5:45 “for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”

For many years now I have had the privilege of being on the radio twice a day across the entire island of Samoa and have discovered it to be filled with some of the kindest most God fearing people on the planet. This week, their peaceful paradise was pummeled.

So what will come out of this? Well, that’s where we can help. We can pray believing that God does use all things for good. I know for many (especially in the midst of it) that sounds like a broken cliché on the turntable of life. But if God said it, then it’s true. And we need to take Him at His word. Secondly, we need to exercise our faith. Right now in Samoa the rescue efforts are still underway. Water is being distributed to the survivors, and bodies of those who didn’t are being buried. Churches are inundated with funeral requests, financial aid, grief counseling and every possible provision of basic necessities.

Recently when our own city was under the threat of devastating fires that destroyed hundreds of homes I remember reading through some old journals of Jonathan Edwards. In them he said there are three aspects of Christian Hope.

1) Good eternal things are never taken away;

2) Bad things always turn out for good;

3) The best is yet to come.

Join me in praying for the powerful outpouring of God’s love on the island of Samoa and the assurance of their hope in God’s love.

Bonnie and I have just returned from Maui where we hosted the Horizon Marriage Retreat. Actually we all agreed that we weren’t on a “Retreat” at all. No one interested in going backwards, sideways or reverse where our marriages are concerned, we dedicated the time to going forward in faith in celebrating a true Re-Union spiritually, emotionally and physically. Let me just say, you don’t have to go to Maui to do that either! Wherever you happen to be, bring a little Maui to you marriage! This I cannot recommend enough! Find a special spot to go for a long walk, wake up early and watch the sunrise, order some Chinese/Polynesian take out and treat yourself to room service and a romantic movie. Whatever it takes … Take care of your marriage! It’s the most important relationship God has entrusted to you! It’s the one which provides us the greatest earthly reminder of our heavenly relationship in Christ. That’s why marriage is under attack like never before. Please make sure yours is properly attended to. I know going to Maui may sound to some a bit over the top, given the state of our economy. I would agree it is. However, there is no better investment you could even make than ensuring that your marriage remains as strong as possible. The greatest witness on this earth you could ever do for the Lord is to uphold your vows and remain in a loving marital relationship with your spouse. No matter where you are, where you live, or what is before you right now, make you marriage a matter of the utmost priority. I’d suggest setting some money aside each week and start planning to join us in Maui next year. I promise you’ll love it. In the meantime, let me suggest a few of my favorite marriage (re-union) books. Aloha!

Sheet Music by Dr. Kevin Leman

The Purity Principle by Randy Alcorn

Renewing Marital Intimacy by David Powlison

For Better by Pastor Bob Botsford (yours truly)

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

Uhh Confession Time, yea those would be my heel marks in the sand … I’m getting dragged into the expanding universe of blogging (blog-a-verse) kicking and screaming. But what’s to lose huh? It’s definitely a sign of the times and where the culture is currently camped out. So here we go. In the mannerism of the Apostle Paul who became all things to all men so that some might be saved, I’ve officially become Blog Botsford. How I’m doing so far? Anyway I guess for someone who speaks for a living this should be too painful. The neat thing about it is the opportunity for deeper dialogue on various topics we are studying in church, or things that happen to need a Christian perspective and world view that unfold on the daily news. What would not be productive is for Blogging to take the place of real genuine face to face conversation and fellowship. I think that has been my reluctance in pursuing it thus far. Healthy Christ-like agape based fellowship would flow from the notion of asking, “How are you doing?” Yet the growing facination with the blogging, facebook, twitter and so on seems to often be centered in the reverse; (likely best described in the diagram below)

So how do we respond to the growing popularity of texting and tweeting and blogging as a chief form of modern cultural communication? Certainly the answer isn’t to ignore it. We cannot become ostrich Christians who bury their heads in the sand. Rather, we rise to the opportunity. We accept the challenge and we jump in with the faith of not simply participating with the culture, but transforming it by the power and grace of the gospel.

We have a rule around our family kitchen table and have declared it as a “gadget free zone”. So I hope you aren’t reading this at your kitchen table. Apart from that, there is much value we can glean in the encouragement that blogging can provide. I tend to learn a lot from blogs, sometimes I learn way more than I ever had interest in knowing. So I will try to follow my own rules. No run-on blogs; No substitutions for true relationships; No limits to how the Lord might so desire for the next world revival to be launched in the blog-a-verse. Let’s pray for that!