Some of the wise will stumble, so that they may be refined, purified and made spotless until the time of the end, for it will still come at the appointed time (Daniel 11.35)
I have been so blessed in this journey into Russia. The students in the seminary were gracious and friendly people, open to God. As one friend has put it, the Russian culture is inherently spiritual, rather than sensual. This means that, in the churches, there is a depth among the people. A quiet reserve with a genuine and generous heart beneath. This is what I have experienced in this country among lovely people.
It has been a joy and a delight to visit with the pastor and his family in Voronezh. To hear the story and see the evidence of lives formed in the midst of persecution – the pastor was born in a village in Kazakhstan, while his father was in prison for his faith. Again, so humbling to hear of how, when his father was again taken off to prison for 5 years in 1962 for being a Christian and therefore an enemy of the State, how he and his mother prayed until his father was released after 3 years. To sense the excitement when the first Russian Bibles for the church arrived from American Baptists in 1982. And the singing and harmonies, in home and in church, so beautiful.
It has been a joy and a delight to visit with the pastor and his family in Voronezh. To hear the story and see the evidence of lives formed in the midst of persecution – the pastor was born in a village in Kazakhstan, while his father was in prison for his faith. Again, so humbling to hear of how, when his father was again taken off to prison for 5 years in 1962 for being a Christian and therefore an enemy of the State, how he and his mother prayed until his father was released after 3 years. To sense the excitement when the first Russian Bibles for the church arrived from American Baptists in 1982. And the singing and harmonies, in home and in church, so beautiful.
Impressions are strange things. The nicest of elderly ladies, two in succession, just asked me for directions in Russian as I sat in the airport at this cafe. So polite. And many people here are so nice! Impressions are strange things. I also just bought the most expensive mineral water I’ve ever had: Moscow is a pricey place. But this is also the nicest and most modern airport I’ve ever been in. The security and passport controls so friendly and helpful. And Moscow is the nicest big city I’ve known. I found the environment safe and comfortable. And that has been true of all my time in Russia.
Dangerous things, impressions. The devil finds opportunities through false impressions. Misrepresentations, fear and hate bred and festered in an atmosphere of deceit. Far better to get first hand experience, and find out how things really are.
This is why one reason why the Word became flesh. He came to show people what God is REALLY like. And this is our job too. Why need to enter into holiness. To live our lives out of union with Jesus Christ, enabled by the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Then people will start to see something of God as He really is. Start to understand something of the Kingdom of God and the Gospel as it really is.
Dangerous things, impressions. The devil finds opportunities through false impressions. Misrepresentations, fear and hate bred and festered in an atmosphere of deceit. Far better to get first hand experience, and find out how things really are.
This is why one reason why the Word became flesh. He came to show people what God is REALLY like. And this is our job too. Why need to enter into holiness. To live our lives out of union with Jesus Christ, enabled by the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Then people will start to see something of God as He really is. Start to understand something of the Kingdom of God and the Gospel as it really is.
