a jug of wine, a loaf of bread...

"I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst." John 6: 35


"I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever..." John 6:51

My grandpa loved bread. White bread. He ate bread at breakfast, lunch and dinner. I shared a LOT of meals with my grandpa and I never once saw him not eat a slice or two of bread with his meal. Sometimes he ate it as an accompaniment to his meal and sometimes he used it as a tool to keep food on his plate or sop up gravy. Occasionally he used home made jelly or jam and always butter. The weird thing is I hardly ever eat bread, especially white bread. A loaf a year would probably do me. I do like all kinds of bread especially home made bread. I am amazed sometimes at how many different kinds of bread there seem to be at the grocery store. We even have an entire store in our town, PANERA BREAD, dedicated to bread. In many cultures of the world, bread plays an important role in both dietary intake and social customs. We have the term " let's break bread" which means to eat together. However, if your bread is sliced and in a plastic bag you're not technically breaking bread.
What does this have to do with Jesus and 'living bread' you might be asking. Plenty. Jesus often spoke very figuratively to the people in terms that were familiar and understandable. And for many eating and drinking was a very understandable concept. The symbol of the bread being Christs body is a powerful one as bread was a central feature in the diets of both rich and poor in those times. Jesus said I am the bread and offered to anyone who will eat the benefit of everlasting life. By taking this bread and eating we partake, by our faith, the benefits of what Jesus did for us on the cross. So, maybe my grandpa was on to something. Perhaps, he knew this little symbolic secret which I missed for so many years. It is clear to me that we need more 'living' bread in our diets and less literal bread. How will we do that ? How will we take this deficiency in our diets and correct the ill effects of a lifetime of starvation ???...

HIV/AIDS in Africa: now you see 'em, now you don't

There is something about good magic that really intrigues us. The eye is fooled so easily that most people, with a little training, can do it. I think that, sometimes, our existence depends on our ability to be fooled. On many current issues, if we knew the reality, we would not be able to live the comfortable and charmed lives many lead. Or maybe we would. This has been brought to my attention as I continue to share with many of my friends and acquaintances the plight of those suffering from HIV/AIDS in Africa and how the lack of clean water impacts this disease. Many people seem to have a " well...that's them, you know...over there." outlook. So, it is like a good magician that keeps you focused on the right hand while the "magic" is going on with the left hand. We are so easily distractable and the desire to be entertained in all areas of our life has crept into our sense of compassion and what is morally right. I keep searching for a way to convey the need of these people for love, understanding, care and concern. I keep looking for a way to shake them out of their complacency into action, no matter how small. In the bible in Proverbs 1:32, it says "...the complacency of fools will destroy them ". I am just so amazed at peoples indifference and reluctance to help. For a while I thought the problem was just too big and that it overwhelmed people. But there are so many organizations and opportunities, like the RIDE:WELL bike tour, that everyone can participate even on a small local level. Yet, still people are just not interested even when they personally know someone doing something amazing like riding a bike across the US to raise funds and awareness of this cause. The great thing is that ultimately I know that God is my provider and I have been called to this issue to educate others and then God takes over from there. This is what He calls all those who follow Jesus to do and that is to be witnesses and speak of the healing power of loving and caring for others. This is where the real "magic" comes in. When lives are transformed by how we love.

he ain't heavy...he's my brother

If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit ? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
James 2:15-17

To the tragedy of the 17 million people who have lost their lives to AIDS in Africa, add the 12 million orphaned children left behind. Traumatized by the death of parents, stigmatized through association with the disease and often thrown into desperate poverty by the loss of bread- winners, this growing army of orphans -- defined as children who have lost one or both parents -- is straining the traditional extended family and overwhelming national health and education systems in the most severely affected countries. The problem is particularly severe in Zambia, where, according to the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the number of orphans topped 1.2 million in 2000 -- 1 in every 4 Zambian children. Of these an estimated 930,000 have lost at least one parent to AIDS. Housing, feeding, educating and nurturing these children is both a moral imperative and essential to Africa's development prospects, Mr. Stephen Lewis, UN special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, told Africa Recovery. "There has to be an Herculean effort made for these kids so we don't lose them." Otherwise, he cautioned, "you reap the whirlwind.... You have a society where kids haven't been to school and therefore can't fulfill even basic jobs ... a society where a large proportion can have anti-social instincts because their lives will have been so hard. You have a generation of children who will be more vulnerable to exploitation and to disease because they won't have the same sense of self-worth."
The needs of AIDS orphans are as immediate as their next meal and as extended as access to education, guidance and care until the end of their adolescent years. Speaking to leaders of industrialized countries at the July 2001 Group of Eight meeting in Genoa, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan appealed for the resources "to care for all whose lives have been devastated by AIDS, particularly the orphans." The number of AIDS orphans exceeded 13 million globally, he noted, "and their numbers are growing."

And it has grown. That was in 2001 and this is seven years later. Right now, just in sub-Saharan Africa alone, there are over 11.4 MILLION orphaned children ! And, by 2010, that number is expected to climb to 15.7 MILLION. Just in one country, Kenya, there are almost 2 MILLION children living without the love, guidance and protection of a parent. How anyone can sit idly by and watch this unfold is just beyond me. I am fundraising for the Ride:Well Bike Tour and Blood:Water Missions 1000 Wells project and will be riding a bicycle across the US this summer to raise awareness about this disaster. My faith says that God will provide all that is needed. Much is needed, but my faith is as big as the need. What will you do ? How will you help ? One way you can help is to give. If you can't be a goer, be a sender. We need your support for this bike ride. There are many ways to give. Be creative. There are millions waiting on you...

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27 NIV

I think God makes it abundantly clear that we are under a mandate to stand in the gap for these widows and orphans of the AIDS pandemic no matter where they live in the world. We can no longer assume that someone else will or can do what is our duty as a follower of Christ. I am so deeply touched by the scope and severity of this crisis that I cannot be quiet and sit idly by and do nothing. I am moved into action by a distressed cry I can plainly hear reverberating across the entire world. And this cry gets louder and louder as more and more children are orphaned on a daily basis. Where will it stop ? How can it stop ? The immensity of the problem can appear to be so overwhelming that we are stunned into inaction believing it is just too big. Is it too big for God ? We must allow God to work through us to do what we can and must do on an individual level. This is a situation where the sum of the parts will achieve Gods intended purpose. We must not allow indifference and apathy to paralyze us and blind us to the great need for individual action. If there is ever a time in your life when you are really needed to step up and allow God to manifest His desire for those affected by this global disaster, it is now. God is calling you to be the one. God is asking you to abandon all your preconceived notions about this disease and reach out in love and give like there's no tomorrow. Because, for millions of these children there will be no tomorrow...

..."drop your nets and follow me"

And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." They immediately left their nets and followed Him.
Matthew 4:18-20 KJV
I have read this passage many times and recently received a revelation entirely different from what I previously thought. You see, God has this way of showing you in a subtle way hidden truths each time you read the Bible. This is the great and amazing thing about when you read the Bible hungry for God to reveal these truths to you. He will ! So, here it is, Jesus wasn't just talking about fishing nets here. What was shown to me is Jesus was speaking here in a figurative sense as He often did. He was telling Peter and Andrew, and us, to drop their "safety" nets not their fishing nets. What is a safety net ? It is that thing that catches us when we fall. For some this is a spouse, friend etc. and for others it is their 401k or that elusive social security check waiting at the end of our working years. Everyone has some type of safety net that they rely on in one manner or another. Jesus knew this when He called Peter and Andrew to come and follow Him. Not only were they dropping their literal fishing nets but they were dropping all that they had relied on before Jesus came walking by. What is your safety net ? What are you relying on for your "catching" you ? Where is the source of your strength and protection ? Isn't it just an incredible thing, to think about, that no matter the nature of your stumble or fall, Jesus is ALWAYS there waiting to catch you. When you truly release your grip on that net you so stubbornly cling to and follow Him you will know a sense of freedom and boldness that will allow you to be blessed in unimaginable ways.

My wife said "Honey, you need to lighten up a little on your blog". I thought for a minute...well, OK but how do you lighten these subjects ? I'm still working on that one and I'll let you know when I come up with something. I feel impassioned and have a stirring in my soul over the things that most people seem to blindly accept as "them, not me". The fact is I am my brothers keeper no matter where in the world they may live. We live in such a self centered, self created false reality that we cannot grasp the immensity of the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa. It's not personal to us. It's sad, just not personal. We feel small and insignificant in the face of the cruelty of this disease. "Where is God ?" many people ask. I can tell you He is in the same place He always has been and will be. No one is spared. It's killing without respect to anyone or anything. It is truly an equal opportunity destroyer. It is destroying families and entire generations. But, more importantly, it is destroying the hope of future generations who are now children and at risk of never seeing their teen years. Sub-Saharan Africa remains the most affected region in the global AIDS epidemic. More than two thirds (68%) of all people HIV-positive live in this region where more than three quarters (76%) of all AIDS deaths in 2007 occurred. It is estimated that 1.7 million [1.4 million–2.4 million] people were newly infected with HIV in 2007, bringing to 22.5 million [20.9 million–24.3 million] the total number of people living with the virus. Unlike other regions, the majority of people living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa (61%) are women. The scale and trends of the epidemics in the region vary considerably, with southern Africa most seriously affected. This subregion accounts for 35% of all people living with HIV and almost one third (32%) of all new HIV infections and AIDS deaths globally in 2007. National adult HIV prevalence exceeded 15% in eight countries in 2005 (Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe). While there is evidence of a significant decline in the national HIV prevalence in Zimbabwe, the epidemics in most of the rest of the subregion have either reached or are approaching a plateau. Only in Mozambique latest HIV data (in2005) have shown an increase in prevalence over the previous surveillance period. Globally, 2.3 million children are living with HIV. In 2005, around 380,000 children died of AIDS and 540,000 children got newly infected. Over 15 million children have lost one or both parents to AIDS. Right now in Kenya, about 1.8 million children have been orphaned, left bewildered and on their own as a result of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. There were 11.4 million orphans in sub-Saharan Africa (2007) - 9% of whom have lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS, 3.7 million orphans in South Africa (2006) - 49% of whom have lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS, the number of AIDS orphans by 2010 is expected to be 15.7 in sub-Saharan Africa. Every day over 6,800 people become infected and over 5,700 people die.Young people, under the age of 25, account for half of all new HIV infections worldwide - this is 6,000 every day. Ok, am I boring you with all these numbers ?? Please understand, these are NOT numbers and statistics. They are our children and our brothers and sisters. Is this acceptable to you ???

When I get tired...

I'm sure there are days that will be coming on this epic bike ride when I am really tired and hot and feel defeated. When that day comes I'll remember the night I watched this movie. I'll remember why I am riding. I'll remember who I'm riding for and then suddenly that weariness will pale in comparison to what a child faces every day in sub-saharan Africa. You simply must see this film ! You'll laugh and you'll cry and hopefully you will be moved enough to believe there is something you can do. Do not underestimate the significance of the smallest thing you will do for someone. In Africa even the smallest things are big to someone living without hope. Trust God to speak to you and show you your purpose in the world. Get out of your box. Get off of the couch. God was very clear in Leviticus 19:18" You shall not take vengence, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself...". And Jesus, in Matthew 22:39 says, "...You shall love your neighbor as yourself ". Irrespective of any dogma or rhetoric either political or religious, we are under a clear mandate to help and we are reminded in James 1:27 "...to visit orphans and widows in their trouble...". Could there be anything more troubling than a disease that is ravaging a entire generation and those to come ?? Sub-Saharan Africa remains the most affected region in the global AIDS epidemic. More than two thirds (68%) of all people HIV-positive live in this region where more than three quarters (76%) of all AIDS deaths in 2007 occurred. It is estimated that 1.7 million [1.4 million–2.4 million] people were newly infected with HIV in 2007, bringing to 22.5 million [20.9 million–24.3 million] the total number of people living with the virus. Unlike other regions, the majority of people living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa (61%) are women. Please believe in the power of the ordinary, please understand you can make a difference. God is waiting.