The First Blog...

Welcome to everyone who is reading this blog. Thank you for taking the time to read about some of my adventures and thoughts. I figured I would change my updates to a blog from the traditional e-mail that I have sent out in the past because this is much easier for me, and I believe for y´all as well. You can tell other people about this blog if they are interested, and there is no need for me to moderate who can see it; as this blog is available to everyone. Also, you can simply e-mail any blog entry that you want to whomever you wish as well. I will still try to send out an e-mail to my list of people whenever I update this blog so y´all can know whenever I add new stuff. Another great thing about this blog is that I have added links to the left of my fellow slaves of Christ; most of these are on the team I am on currently, and, if you are curious, you can peruse their blogs as well to get to know some of the wonderful, awesome people I am working with.
So onto an update! I am currently hanging out here in Cusco, Peru trying to acquire my visa to get into Bolivia to work with the Quechua in the Andes mountains. It has been a very trying time so far because I am simply sitting here, waiting for some important documents to arrive in the mail so I can get that visa. Cusco has been an awesome experience so far; it is a great city that is home to some of the most interesting history of South America. This means that there are ton of gringos (white people) who visit this city every week; I don´t think I have ever seen this many gringos in one place since I´ve been in South America! Next week I think I will visit MachuPicchu and some of the other ruins around the city simply to pass time waiting, and because people fly from all over the world to see some of the amazing sights that are just a few hours from me, so why not?
We -Graham and me- have been here since Monday (Graham left last night for Sucre, he already has his visa), mostly sitting around (or napping) and eating in between those important times. But these last few days have given me a lot of time to think about some stuff, which was helped by a book I read, Jesus with Dirty Feet. So, if you´ll indulge me, I will share some of those thoughts with y´all. I would advise you, if I can can, to keep an open mind while reading these; some are singular thoughts, others follow a train. There are two main ideas: being a Follower of Christ, and church (and in reality, they go hand in hand). So I hope you enjoy reading these as much as I enjoyed thinking them!
When we become a Follower of Christ, we have a new purpose that is completely transformed from when we were simply lost in the world: Jesus redefined greatness with a rag and a basin of water by humbly washing His disciples´ dirty feet. To serve others is to live.
The Follower of Christ obeys the King and, in the process, becomes more like the King. It is a lifetime of demanding, humbling, beautiful, risky ventures that are worth every ounce of sweat. Jesus´ commands are our life-blood; it should be impossible to follow anything else that is of this world. Jesus´ enduring, central message to His followers is ¨Be like me. Live like I did. Follow in my footsteps.¨
Calling a church a building is like calling a Follower of Christ a two-by-four. The plural of ¨Follower of Christ¨ is ¨church.¨ It´s nothing but a fancy way for Followers of Christ to say ¨we¨ or ¨us.¨ But church isn´t a chance happening; Jesus never meant for His disciples to be alone. The first thing Jesus did to start His ministry was to call His disciples together. Jesus went everywhere together with His disciples; and when He did send them out, it was at least in pairs.
The stuff of the Kingdom of God: seeing brokenness and repenting, talking with Yahweh, being named Valuable and Beloved, loving and serving others as Jesus did, and obeying the King should all be done with others.
All Followers of Christ mess up (it´s inevitable), and so all Followers must pick up the rag and water basin to serve and give and lead. Jesus called us His sheep, and Himself the Good Shepherd. All the sheep themselves must do some shepherding- strongly leading, humbly serving, and always following after Jesus; it is a necessary part of being a Follower of Christ.
There are no churches. There is only church. One church. Sure, there are a number of buildings that shelter Followers of Christ from the elements, and there are a number of names posted on those buildings... but there is only one church, one family. Every single Follower of Christ counts all the other Followers of Christ as brothers and sisters. Amen.