Help train Pastors in Mozambique

My friends, Zach and Lyndy Szmara (and their son Isaac) are missionaries. I met Zach when we were both Intercultural Studies students at Asbury Seminary. Zach started off as a fellow student I found both brilliant and experienced (having already served a short term as a missionary). He has now become a friend who I seldom get to see now that he and Lyndy are living in Marion and raising support full time. My hope is that I will see him even less as the Szmara's hope to be full time missionaries in Northern Mozambique beginning in April. I am telling you about them now, because I want you to consider joining their team and helping them raise the last bit of support they need.


The main reason Zach and Lyndy are going to Northern Mozambique is to train pastors. The church is exploding in Mozambique but there are not enough pastors to teach the new Christians. There is something like 70 churches in northern Mozambique with only 3 trained pastors between them. The people in Mozambique are hungry for God. It is harvest time. Please help Zach and Lyndy get there and begin training these new Christians who have heard a call of God in their life to be in ministry.


This is the link to their website, The Extension Chord. Please check it out and donate, even just $5 or $10. Every little bit helps. I know these people. I will vouch for them. They are going to do great things for the kingdom of God.

The Failed New Years Resolution of the Ladies of Kresge

I have this routine I go through the five working days of the week. I wake up at seven, shower, eat a bowl of cereal while I watch Sportscenter, get dressed and then walk to work. For the first six months of my life in Kresge, the showering part was fine. The water in Kresge borderlines on scalding if you turn it all the way hot. Over the summer there were times when I had it on the lowest setting it would go and it was still nearly unbearable. Once the school year started and there were 250 other people using hot water, the shower leveled out. So, long story short, I have always had hot water for the shower.

That is, until three weeks ago. From Jan 10-Jan 21 I did not have much hot water. Some days It would start hot but within 5 minutes would be cold. Some days it would stay mild the whole time, warm enough to shower but not so warm that I was not paranoid that any second I would be in freezing water. Some days it was just freezing. As I said, this went on for about two weeks. However, this week the water has been very hot the entire time. I have a theory as to why this is.

I think that some of the ladies of Kresge made a New Years resolution. They were going to be responsible adults and wake up early. They would not hit snooze until 7:55 then frantically dress and run to class. They would shower and eat breakfast before their 8 o'clock class. Because they did this, they used up the hot water that I usually use during my routine...for two weeks. As the days wore on, less and less of them made the attempt. The lure of sleep outweighed the desire to get up early. Slowly, one by one, they gave up. And now my routine is back to normal.

Thank you ladies of Kresge. Thank you for giving up. Thank you for hitting snooze. My mornings are so much better because you do.

2011 Reading List: Book 2

China: The Hidden Miracle by Ross Paterson and Elisabeth Farrell

China: The Hidden Miracle is a book delivered in two halves. In the first, we follow the story of Brother Ye, a Chinese Christian who is arrested and imprisoned for his faith. Using his story we learn about the horrible persecution that Chinese Christians face as well as the incredible miracles God is doing inside the country of China. The second part of the book explains the cultural/political/religious history of China from 1949 until 1993 (the year the book was written) and gives ways that the reader can support the Church in China.

The book was often encouraging and challenging. Regrettably, the writing was sub-par which took much of the punch out of the stories the author was trying to tell. Many times it felt like the bare minimum was being told.

The most important thing I got out of this book was a renewed desire to pray for the world-wide church. Prayer really is powerful and God really does respond to the prayers of his people.

In the end, if you are looking for a book about the church in China and the incredible things happening there, I would suggest Heavenly Man by Brother Yun. That book was simply one of the most influential, challenging, and uplifting books I have ever read.

Disposable income

I read an article recently that has haunted me. I read it the day it was posted and it has been lingering in my mind ever since. The below are the parts that have caused me the most trouble:

Do you think one day we will be held accountable for every dime we spent on sports, and every minute we spent watching sports? If you are not aware, there are some terrible things going on in the world—oppression, starvation, slavery—the sorts of things we as Christians are supposed to be standing up against. How many times have you heard that nearly half the world’s population lives on less than $2 a day? That’s $730 a year ($732 on Leap Year). Or to put it into perspective, about $500 less than I spent on season tickets this season.

Will I get a pass on this at Judgment Day? Will Jesus say, “You spent more money on football tickets than 3 billion of my children lived on in one year, but I understand, those games sure were exciting, well done, my good and faithful servant.”

Of course you can get as legalistic with this as you want. I spent just as much on the cable and Internet bill as I did on football tickets. Is it OK for a Christian to have cable when children are starving in Africa?...Perhaps it’s a question of comfort. If you have disposable income to spend on sporting events, maybe your life has become too comfortable.

Disposable income. I know some people will immediately scoff and say, "I don't have disposable income." Yes you do. Its the money you spend at McDonalds, the movies, the mall, paying for gas to drive anywhere other than your job, etc. We have it and more often than not we use it on ourselves.

Now, Abby and I have a way to keep our disposable income spending down. Its called a budget. Within that budget is "Aaron's Fun Money" column and "Abby's Fun Money" column. (For a full explanation see Fun Money). The only way I can feel comfortable with us even having fun money is if I know we are giving away at least the same amount of money or more to charity, and that does not include tithe. So the way we determine our fun money amount is: total amount set aside to give to charity this month divided by 2. Then Abby and I each get that amount (roughly). This keeps me sane.

Then Christmas came. I got quite a bit of cash for Christmas. I was excited thinking, "I get to buy myself lots of stuff!" Then I read that article and it reminded me that Christmas is not my birthday and I will be accountable one day for the things I spend my money on. What a sobering thought.

For me, as I ponder all of this, what I think it means for me is that I need to find a worthy organization to be the recipient of some of my Christmas cash. But is that the answer or just a way to assuage my guilt?

To read the full article that started this mess:
http://www.relevantmagazine.com/life/current-events/features/24074-does-god-care-about-football

2011 Reading List: Book 1

Transformers: Exodus


I know, my first book isn't super intellectual. It was purely a guilty pleasure read. I said I would put a book review up of each book I read in 2011, and review it I shall.

Transformers: Exodus gives us the history of Cybertron from before Autobots and Decipticons existed through the time they leave Cybertron and make their way toward Earth. I grew up watching the Transformers TV Show. I loved the 1986 animated movie (still do). The book caught my interest because it promised to show us how Optimus Prime and Megatron came to be the leaders they are. The book sets up a number of intriguing and exciting plot lines that ultimately fall flat due to execution. I will give only one example: Megatron begins as a rebel who is trying to overthrow the oppressive caste system of his planet. Optimus shares his ideals and they become friends, ultimate becoming co-leaders of the anti-caste movement. This is good stuff. Anyone who has ever seen any form of the transformers know Optimus and Megatron are mortal enemies. They hate each other. But, wait, what? They were once friends? This opens the opportunity for the author to really develop their friendship. To show them grow together, then slowly apart, with some event leading to a violent break between them. Instead we get 30-40 pages of weak build up with an unconvincing event leading to a lackluster "betrayal".

The author also failed to ever establish a consistent form of measurements or terms. In using words like "cycles" and "orbits" he tried to help the reader feel like they were truly reading a foreign history. Instead, the inconsistencies make reading a juvenile novel feel exceedingly difficult.

I was hoping that Transformers: Exodus would be the Silmarillion for the Transformer mythology. Not even close. Hey, Hasboro, let me take a crack at this thing. I promise to do the mythology and its characters more justice.