Second Collapse of the Mayan Culture...

   The Mayan Culture, at one time, was complex with its economy, government, etc. It's collapse before the Colonial  Period was said to be caused by many things...natural disasters, disease, peasant revolt, etc. There's been a lot of talk lately about the "end of the world" because the Mayan calendar ends this year. My calendar ends every year, but the world doesn't end. A  friend pointed out, even if it does end, if you're ready (you're sure of eternity) why worry?
   So even though historians can't agree on what caused the first collapse of the Mayan Culture, I'm pretty sure the second collapse can be traced to a girl from Oklahoma on her first mission trip to Belize who didn't know a thing about their culture. Guess I should explain.
   On my first mission trip to Belize I was in charge of games for the afternoons we spent in the villages doing Everyday Sunday School. I was okay with that; I had lots of experience.  I planned games and the kids, although shy at first, really got into the games and had a great time. We played girls against the boys and the competitions were lively. I thought things were going well.
   The second day our mission director pulled me aside and said the Village Chairman (like our mayor) had said he'd never seen the children so competitive.  I asked what he meant.  According to the Village Chairman, the children were not usually so competitive...especially the girls.  The girls never competed with the boys.  I was horrified! In just two days I felt like I had totally destroyed the culture. I was assured that all was not lost and the Chairman thought it was okay for a little competition.
   I made it a point to do research and find out more about the culture before my next trip to Belize. I've come to realize that know the culture of a people and respecting that culture goes a long way to effectively sharing the gospel.
   A few days ago I heard a Casting Crowns song called "While You Were Sleeping." It talks about how Bethlehem was sleeping during Christ's birth and Jerusalem was sleeping during His resurrection. It goes on to talk about America and Christ's return.  The song is what got me thinking about that first mission trip and how the American culture is eroding day by day. Yes, we have international "clout" and remain the land of the free and the home of the brave, but, especially this time of year, I'm more aware of commercialism, selfishness and the need to have more, have bigger, have better.
   What happened to putting others first? What happened to servant leadership? What happened to the difference between needs and wants? How did dollars become an expression of love?
   There are still those who do selfless acts...random acts of kindness, angel trees, helping neighbors, etc.  Recently in our community a child asked those attending his birthday party to bring gifts to donate for Toys for Tots. He invited the whole town and donated over 500 toys.
   All is not lost. Prayer Warriors are still on their knees for friends, family, our nation and our world. God's kingdom is still being tended to today. I pray I don't forget Whose I am and just because our culture says something is permissible doesn't mean it's okay. I don't want to be caught sleeping.

Want to Make Your Head Explode?

...Just try thinking about eternity for a while.  From time to time the subject has come up in Bible study and we've always agreed: Wow...it's hard for us to wrap our minds around the concept of eternity. The last few days eternity and God's reality (what's going on in the spiritual realm, not the world as we know it) has come up. Thinking that means it needs to be in a post.
   You know I really like imagery. (It's the English teacher in me!) In a devotion from Jesus Calling by Sarah Young when talking about Jesus being my best friend, it said:

The friendship I offer you is practical and down-to-earth, yet it is saturated with heavenly Glory.  Living in My Presence means living in two realms simultaneously:  the visible world and unseen, eternal reality.  I have equipped you to stay conscious of Me while walking along dusty, earthbound paths.

   At one time I understood eternity as something that was in the future; it was the time at the end of my earthly stay. In the past several years, as I've been more intentional about Bible study and my TAG (Time Alone with God), I've come to understand....now you might want to hold the top of your head to keep it from popping off...that eternity is also happening now. Wow, this is confusing when you think of it. 
   I guess the biggest breakthrough in my understanding of eternity was when my precious friend G stepped from this life into eternity. I was not happy with God and I told Him about it and how I thought He should have handled things.  After some yelling, crying, pouting, and generally being mad at God, He helped me understand what her stepping into eternity meant.  G has not ceased to exist.  She is in eternity with Him in Heaven and I won't get to hang out with her until I step into eternity.  I now see eternity as a place with my destination as Heaven, not a time in the future. Right now I'm "walking along dusty, earthbound paths."
   The "living in two realms simultaneously" thing is really mind blowing when you think about it. Sometimes we look at life...job, money, house, car, things and more things, people, places...and we let it overwhelm us trying to manage everything. Until we slow down and realize "our reality" isn't "God's reality." In His reality the things unseen, the things of eternal importance are what count.  It's hard to explain sometimes, but here's the way I see it.  There are some ways I can affect eternity...anytime I do what God wants me to do, like share His Word, be compassionate, be giving, etc. There are some things I look at and think, "Will this effect my standing in eternity (Will this determine if I get into Heaven?)" Cancer was one of these things.  Since the answer to that question is "no," I don't think it's that big of a deal on this "dusty path."  I know God's taking care of it because His character never changes.
   I attended a small group last night. I'm really hoping that my treatment schedule will allow me to hang out with these incredible people this semester.  We're studying how to study the Bible. Yes, I've been studying the Bible for a while, but I can always learn something else about how to study. As one of the members commented ...the Bible is a living book and we can get something different every time we read it.  We took a verse and worked through some questions.  One of the questions was picking out the verbs and identifying their tenses. I have to confess, the English teacher in me liked that! The verbs were all present tense, but then some had "is" before a past tense. Discussion led us to the fact that the verse (Psalm 93:1) addressed God's soverienty forever...past, present, and future.  One of the members who teaches Bible class at a Christian school shared that her class had been discussing how scripture was canonized and one of the criteria was that it had to speak to all generations. Wow...there's that eternity thing again!
   Icing on the cake: Today's Bible verse from my favorite radio station was Hebrews 13:8 (NLT)-"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever."
    So you do need to think about eternity, but not until your head explodes.  Better to think on  what the bottom line really is...to know Jesus and make Him known.