He remembers that we are dust.

Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

The LORD works righteousness
and justice for all who are oppressed.
He made known his ways to Moses,
his acts to the people of Israel.
The LORD is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
He will not always chide,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.
For he knows our frame;
he remembers that we are dust.
_from Psalm 103

Our God remembers our human frailty far better than even we do. He knows our spiritually impoverished condition and has compassion, though he himself has never lacked a thing, has never had sins to be blotted out.

Likewise I believe that he remembers that we are "dust." More than mere spirits, we have physical needs. He pities us in this as well, though he himself does not require food nor sleep nor shelter. He works justice for the oppressed. He did not leave Israel in Egypt with the promise of an eternal Promised Land, but led them out of physical oppression into a place of earthly abundance and prosperity (contingent on several factors and choices, of course, just as he does now, but he led them to it all the same).

Though Old Testament shadows are fulfilled more perfectly, and the reality of the eternal is now more clearly seen, yet God still cares about our life on this earth. He removes our transgressions and heals our diseases. Forget not all his benefits.

Honduras and endurance.

I'm back from Honduras, and really have little excuse not to post. Yet for some reason rambling and raving about all I saw and learned sounds silly. I'd rather give a series of vignettes of what God did, I believe, instead of a day-by-day travelogue. I suppose when it comes to summaries I'm no Tim Challies.

"I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

"For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing."

_i Timothy 4.1-8

This is the Scripture passage from the Sunday sermon on New Year's Eve preached at the Orphanage Emmanuel church. I must say that it's a bit of irony that it was the best expository sermon I've heard in months and I had to go to Honduras for it (it was preached in Spanish, no less). Forget the circumstances, though; the Holy Spirit convicted me and took hold of me.

One of the speaker's questions was, have you fought the good fight in 2006? Can you say you have kept the faith? And though I don't usually put much stock in the significance of the calendar year as a way of categorizing my life, I realized that from January to December of 2006, I had been on a spiritual decline, and at that moment it seemed clear that the problem was that I simply was not putting up a fight. I had let sin win too often too easily, I had forgotten about the crown of righteousness that could be mine, I had stopped loving his appearing. All of a sudden this realization hit me, and the shame was terrible. How could I have forgotten something so precious, so fundamental? It's not like I didn't know all these things before. But the Holy Spirit is like that. Sneaky.

And henceforth he also, in his wonderful grace, encouraged me immensely. It was like being woken up from a bad dream, if I may use such a trite simile. After the service I read II Timothy 4 again for myself, and I was captivated by Paul's tone in this letter. Here was the faithful apostle, whom most of us think of as a Missionary Superhero, clearly in a vulnerable moment. His tone is serious, firm, yet almost quiet. And what does he charge to Timothy? "Preach the word. Fulfill your ministry. Love his appearing." So simple! So important!

And this was all part of a grander theme throughout my time in Honduras in which God showed me about endurance. I lack endurance in just about anything I do. But in Honduras, I saw missionaries who lived among the poorest of the poor, not just for a few months but who will probably be there for years; missionaries who have been working for three years and have a handful of converts and are excited for more; missionaries who 17 years ago exchanged life in Southern California for 1000 acres in rural Honduras so that now, 409 children might have a home and love and, sometimes, a Lord and Savior. You think parenting is a thankless job; try being the parent of scores of children who may or may not want anything to do with the God you serve.

God also showed me children who memorized much and loved little of the God of the Bible; children who wake up every day with the reality that they have no parents, and though they are well cared for they in many ways are raised by their many peers; children who indeed hope in Christ and want something better in this life and the next, but who must face the truth that life outside the orphanage is hell on earth for many, and rare is the young Christian who can resist trading holiness for a bit of temporary security. But be it naivete or childlike faith, or maybe both, they still love his appearing, and I will keep praying for them to fight the good fight.

So that's a bit of Honduras. It will like come up again someday soon and then - then! - there may be photos, as well.