Six Degrees Of ?

A few years ago there was this trivia type thing going around about the actor Kevin Bacon. Kevin Bacon made a comment that he had worked with everyone in Hollywood or someone who had worked with them. Some people then had the idea that you could link anyone in Hollywood to Kevin Bacon in six steps or less. This whole idea is actually based on something called six degrees of separation or the human web that has as its main idea that each person on earth is only separated from any other person on the earth by six steps or degrees.

Well, the whole point of my blog is not to write about Kevin Bacon, statistics, or who I might know or be connected to. This idea came to me recently as I have been preparing to teach a class on the end times. I have been studying and working on my notes for a few weeks now to get myself ready for the class. What I have noticed is that in the Bible study I lead, in some conversions I have with people, and when I am watching TV over and over again I make connections back to the subject of the end times! I realized that because I have been focusing on that subject so much that it has begun to have an influence on how I view things around me.

Each person has some thing or idea that a lot of what they do and talk about can be connected to. For example, some people may be overly focused on money and everything to them somehow relates to money. Some people who have been rejected by others in the past see rejection in many of the contacts they have with people. Still other people are sports fans of some team and everyone around them knows that in a conversation eventually this person's favorite team will come up.

The things we spend our time with will have an influence on us and these things can begin to have an influence everything we do or think. By that I do not mean whether or not you are a Christian or if you love your family or something like that. But what I am talking about is how some topic or thing can have such a place in you that you see it in everything around you. Because I have been studying about the end times I have a tendency to relate everything around me back to that subject. Right now I am sure that I could connect almost anything to the end times within six steps! My question is if you look at your life, what is it that everything around you connects to in six steps or less?

Culture Shock

Depending on what information you look at, the term culture shock was introduced in the 1940s or 1950s to describe the sense a person has when they enter into a different culture and environment than what they are used to. There is also a term "reverse culture shock" that is used to describe what can happen to someone who has lived for some time in a new place. Then when that person returns to their original culture and environment they once again must make an adjustment because they have gotten used to the new culture.

Culture shock is something that I believe every missionary deals with at one point or another to one degree or another. Personally I would say that culture shock has not been such a big issue for me but from other missionaries I know personally and that I know about it can be a big problem.

There are different symptoms of culture shock such as feeling sad and lonely, insecurity, irritability, and resentment, as well as idolizing the culture and environment you came from as opposed to where you live now. Reverse culture shock can be harder to deal with because people often have an unrealistic recollection of where they came from and once they return their image and reality clash dramatically. There are different stages of culture shock ranging from the initial excitement of being in a new place to the final adjustment of learning to live and thrive in the new environment.

Is there a "cure" for culture shock? While I am certain no one would consider me an expert on culture shock I have lived outside of my home country for over 10 years. I realize that no place is perfect and there will always be some things that I would rather see done differently; that goes for Germany and the USA. Many people spend their time thinking and talking about how great it is somewhere else and why their current location is not as good. That and always longing for some type of food or dwelling on how little they may be able to see some family and friends is, in my opinion, a recipe for disaster. Every place and every people group have their positives and their negatives. Culture shock may be something that has to be dealt with but I believe that being flexible and keeping the right attitude are keys to not allowing culture shock to become a personal crisis.

Golden Oldies

"Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe." Philippians 3:1 (NKJV)

When I was younger I used to listen to music on the radio and they had some songs that were called "Golden Oldies". What was meant by that was that these songs were not something that had just been written yesterday but they had been around for a while. The idea was that these "Golden Oldies" were so good that they stood the test of time and you could hear them over and over again and still enjoy them.

I like what Paul said in Philippians 3:1 about writing the same things to the Philippians. Paul was not always looking for some new doctrine to thrill people. Paul knew that the basics principles of the Gospel message were so good that they stood the test of time and you could hear them over and over again and still enjoy them. We should never get tired of the basic truth of the Gospel and the simple truth of God's Word.

This whole idea can be compared with what some pagans did in Athens. There is an interesting verse in Acts 17:21:
"For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing." Acts 17:21 (NKJV)

This is quite a contrast to what Paul said in Philippians. 3:1 Paul told the Christians in the city of Philippi that it was a safe thing for them to hear some "Golden Oldies" but the ungodly people in Athens were always looking for something new. What is really sad is that many Christians today are more like the people in Athens than the people in Philippi!

We live in an age of incredible access to information but we need to be careful that we don't look for some exciting new thing all the time and then neglect the simple, basic, foundational truths of the Word of God. It is not the latest fad that will help us to grow and develop spiritually it is those "Golden Oldies" that people like Paul wrote to us in the Bible. Stay with the Word of God and make sure when you do hear something that is new to you that it always agrees with the time tested truth of God's Word.

Eating Vegetables And Washing Windows

Today I have been at home doing a few different things, including cleaning my apartment. As I was cleaning my apartment I had the thought that it had been a while since I cleaned the windows so I figured today would be a good day to do that. Washing the windows is one of those things, like eating vegetables, that needs to be done but no one really gets too excited about doing it. Well, I got all the windows done and now they look great! It was not a lot of fun to do but the results are worth it.

In our Christian life there are some things we should do but they don't always seem to be fun. Reading and studying the Bible, walking in love, and volunteering to work somewhere at church are all examples of this; I am sure most of us can come up with a few more if we think about it a bit. But regardless of whether or not something is fun or exciting there are some things that are just right to do. I have met more than just a couple of people who were more interested in what was fun than what was right!

So, am I saying that we should never have any fun or even that being a Christian is a miserable thing? Definitely not! But we cannot live a successful and productive Christian life by avoiding what we don't get excited about. It seems like if someone wants to hold a conference on prosperity or the gifts of the Spirit there will not be enough seats for all those who attend. But, if you decide to have a conference on growing up spiritually or walking in love you will have plenty of empty seats. I believe in prosperity and the gifts of the Spirit but I also know that if someone is not spiritually mature and does not walk in love their life will be a mess.

Life can be fun and exciting but the process we go through to live at that place is not always the most fun or exciting. And just like eating vegetables and washing windows, doing what we need to do and what is right to do brings results that are always worth it!

Distractions

This is my first blog this month and only my fourth posting for the whole year! My plan has been to put up more than that but things have been busy for me this year, including my taking a trip to the USA for three weeks. I find that I have plenty of ideas for blog posts but I don't always get to them because there are other things I need to do that take priority over my blog.

One thing I have been considering lately is connected to this whole thing about my delay in posting more on my blog. As I live and work here in Germany (and when I am back in the USA) I notice how busy people are. Besides just having schedules that are filled with activities we now have cell phones and MP3 players so we can have something going on all the time. Before you get the wrong idea I have to say that I do have a cell phone (here in Germany they are called "Handys") and I also have an MP3 player, so I am not anti-technology.

Too often we end up getting away from the things that are really important because we get so involved with other things. I like how the Bible mentions in Hebrews 12:1 that we need to "lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and to run with endurance the race that is set before us". What I have always noticed in this verse is how it not only talks about sin being a hindrance to us but there are also other things that can become weights to us and slow us down in running the race that God has given us.

There are so many things in life that can distract us from what is really important so we need to constantly be on guard against them. The first step to being successful at that is to know what really is important and what the real priorities in your life are. This is something that each person must do for themselves but first and foremost we need to keep our relationship with God as our first priority. By keeping the important things in life as priorities we can prevent some of the distractions that are around us from weighing us down and preventing us from doing what we really need to do.

The Proper Point Of View

"But God in heaven merely laughs! He is amused by their puny plans." Psalm 2:4 (Living Bible)

"and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus," Ephesians 2:6 (NKJV)

This picture to the right is one I took last month as I was flying into Charlotte, North Carolina from Milwaukee, Wisconsin on my way back to Germany. I like the picture and I currently have it on my computer desktop, this picture also gave me an idea for a blog about the problems we face in life.

Everyone deals with problems and difficult issues from time to time. There is no escaping the fact that we all have challenges in life. Although we can not always control everything that comes our way we can control how we handle the situation and what we choose to do about the problem. When you are flying in an airplane and you look out the window everything looks so small. In reality the houses and other buildings you see are large enough for several people to fit into but from the point of view you have while flying over them they look very small.

If we look at our problems from our natural perspective or point of view they can look so big and overwhelming. I like the verse in Psalm 2:4 where it talks about God laughing at the evil plans men have because He knows they can't succeed. The other verse of Ephesians 2:6 talks about the position we are now in spiritually because of who we are in Christ. Christians are spiritually seated with Jesus in a position of authority because of His death, burial, and resurrection. So, if we look at things from our spiritual position of being seated with Christ it is easy to laugh at whatever problem shows up. If we look at the problem in the context of who we are naturally and what we can do we might want to cry!

No matter what we face in life we always need to see what the Bible has to say about the situation. If we only focus on the natural issue that we face, how we feel in the situation, and what others say we can become discouraged and feel like there is no solution. When we keep a heavenly perspective it is easier to see what we need to do about the problem. Everyone faces problems but it is the people who have the proper point of view who will live the life of victory that God wants us to have and that Jesus came to provide for us!

What Is In You?

It has been almost a month since my last blog. Some of that is due to the fact that I have been in the USA lately so I have been keeping busy with some other things. As I have been traveling around and doing things here in the states and then thinking about my blog it actually gave me an idea for a blog!

"So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also." Romans 1:15 (NKJV)

"A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." Luke 6:45 (NKJV)

These verses are something that I have had some thoughts about lately. When Paul talked about coming to see the people in the church at Rome he said he was ready to preach the Gospel to them. What I like is the way that the New King James Version starts this verse by saying, "So, as much as is in me"... Then putting what Jesus said in Luke 6:45 together with Romans 1:15 you get something that I believe is important for us to notice. What we have in us is going to come out of us and as much as we have put things into us we are ready to do whatever it is we need to do.

If we spend time reading, studying, and meditating on God's Word it will fill us so that it will come out of us when we speak to people and in the different situations we face in life. The problem that many people have is that they spend so much time filling themselves with everything except God's Word that when they face a problem or God wants to use them to help someone else there is no reserve of God's Word built up in them to do anyone, including themselves, any good.

Paul was successful in his ministry because he was filled with God's Word along with a spiritual understanding of that Word to the point that when he had the opportunity to speak with others God's Word is what came out. This is a pattern that we need to follow in our lives. Be sure that what is in you is based on God's Word so that when you have an opportunity to speak into the life of someone else what you have to say is worth hearing! And when you speak about yourself or the situations you face in life be sure everything you say is coming out of God's Word. Filling ourselves with God's Word and then speaking that Word out of our mouth is a key to success that we need to be sure we pay attention to.

Making A Real Change

January is the time of year when people are trying to put into practice all of the New Year's resolutions that they have made. My last blog had something to do with that and it is something I have been thinking about lately. Personally there are a couple of areas I am looking to improve in this year and I have to say that after a month things are going pretty good, but I know for something to be a real change it has to be more than just a temporary thing.

Most of the time when I travel here I use the train. The trains in Germany are really great and they made some changes of their own with the beginning of the New Year. Starting in January we got some new trains, the schedule changed slightly, the ticket machines changed, and even the ticket prices changed. The problem is that one of the main things that people want from the train, punctuality, that has not changed.


Recently the trains have been running late pretty often, like the day I took this picture, and this is where I got my idea about this blog. The German train system is really pretty nice but trains not running on schedule are not so nice. It is easy to change a ticket price or rearrange the schedule but if the train is not on time what does it matter? In our own lives, you can say you want to lose weight this year and get into better physical condition. You can buy books about the subject, you can plan your workout routine and select the proper food to eat - but you still have to actually do something or you will never lose weight! A Christian can talk about wanting to grow spiritually. They can buy a new Bible, make their new Bible reading plan, and tell all their friends at church what they want to do, but they still have to read the Bible!

Too often the changes we want to make end up as nothing more than a few preliminary preparations with good intentions that never really amount to anything. Making a real change means commitment and follow through in the area we are dealing with. Real change is possible in any area of life but we can't just expect it to happen based on our nice ideas. This year I am sure we can all use some improvements so let's make some real changes that will bring lasting results and make us better Christians and better people.

Out With The Old And In With The New

"Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead," - Philippians 3:13 (NKJV)

Here we are at the end of another calendar year; tomorrow will be the first day of 2009! This is the time of year when a lot of people make resolutions about what they would like to accomplish or change in the future. Often people look back on the previous year and see things they are not satisfied with and want to make some positive changes.

The verse from Philippians 3 is a very good verse to start the New Year with. No matter who you are I am sure that there were some things in 2008 that did not work out the way you would have liked them to. For me, 2008 was a very good year in many ways but there were some things from 2008 that I would rather not repeat in 2009!

First, we need to be like Paul and realize that we have not already arrived. Since we are all still human we will make mistakes and we are all still growing, developing, and changing. We should all do like Paul says here and forget about the past and look forward to some new things.

Second, we need to look at the coming year as a new page for us to write some great things on and not a worn out old piece of paper filled with crossed out lines and white out (remember that stuff?). We need to learn from our mistakes and failures but not live in the place of failure. Too many people make a mistake and then don't move past that place because they don't leave the past in the past. Forget about the shortcomings of 2008 and plan on success for 2009. Even if you had a lot of success last year you can't go very far forward when you are always looking backwards. So start off 2009 right, forget about the past and look toward the future; God has a great plan for you in the coming year!

Here Comes Santa

When I was young I remember being told how Santa Claus would come around to bring presents at Christmas time. Somewhere along the line the story was told that Santa would somehow magically come down the chimney to get the presents into the house. Since we did not have a fireplace with a chimney I was never too sure how that was supposed to happen, but since I always got some presents I did not really care how he got into our house.

Well, that whole idea takes a different turn in Germany. Since so many people live in apartments Santa has no chimneys to work with but he still has a job to do. Although apartments may not have chimneys many do have balconies and that is where someone got the idea for Santa's M.O. here in Germany, take a look at these pictures.

This is one of those things that made me do a double take when I first saw it, Santa climbing over the balcony like a burglar! It was a bit of a shock to me to see these guys hanging off of balconies all over, and while not everyone does it the "balcony Santa" does seem to have his place here in Germany. This is one of those things about living in another country; some things may be the same in principle but different in application.

If you are interested in some more German Christmas type things, last year I posted a blog about German Christmas Markets with some pictures that you can see by following this link - http://www.jimrogahn.org/2007/12/christmas-markets.html and if you would like some more information about what Christmas is like here in Germany you can go to this website - http://www.germanculture.com.ua/library/weekly/aa120298a.htm.

Being Thankful - Part 2

Yesterday I posted a blog about being thankful and focusing on positive things instead of the negative. Well, tonight I had a really good opportunity to do that! This weekend I am hosting Jon Perrin who is a friend of mine and a former co-worker here at RHEMA Germany. Jon and his family now live and minister in southern Germany and if you would like to know more about their ministry you can follow this link http://www.perrinministries.org/pmwp08/ and go to Perrin Ministries to take a look.

At about 10:00 PM Jon and I were doing some computer work when we heard some very loud music. When I say loud it is not an exaggeration but it was so loud things in my apartment were literally shaking! I soon discovered it was the neighbor next to me who was responsible and so I went out on to the balcony to try and get him to quiet down. He did come out to talk with me and he said he would be quiet after I told him it was too late to be so loud. Well, he went back into his apartment and started up again. By now all the other people in the building and even the people at the pizza restaurant across the street we all yelling at him to turn the music down.

Finally about 10:30 PM the apartment building superintendant had called the police, since my neighbor would not answer the door, and the police asked if they could come into my apartment to get to the noisy neighbor. I let them in and they climbed over my balcony to his to make him turn off his music. The police then told me to call them again if he starts with the loud music.

What does all this have to do with being thankful? What I have noticed is that when you see and embrace a Bible truth that very often something will come up to "test" you in that area. When this guy was playing his music so loud and ignoring my request to be quiet I was very tempted to start yelling some more and to maybe even throw something at his speaker, which was outside on the next balcony by the way. But, unhappy as I was with the situation I kept my cool and did not let it ruin my evening. The whole thing went on for over and hour with Jon and I laughing at how crazy the whole thing was. So the next time you face a difficult situation, especially about something you are just learning about do like it says in James 1:2-4 and count it as a joyful thing when you have a trial because you can be sure that your successful completion of the trial will only make you better!

Being Thankful

Today is Thanksgiving Day in the United States. I think it is great that one day has been designated as a day to be thankful for things. What I think would be even better is if everyone was more thankful during the entire year and maybe we just had one day to be ungrateful and to not give thanks for what we have! That is a joke by the way.

As I thought about this blog idea I actually started to wonder if "thankful" was a word or if my English language skills were really getting bad after 10 years in Germany. So, I looked at an online dictionary to see if it is really a word and it sure is! Not only is thankful an actual word but the definition fits with my idea for this blog. The dictionary says thankful means, conscious of benefit received. Today is a day when we should be conscious of the benefits we have received.

Just before posting this blog I got home from my Thursday night Bible study and I can look at this two ways. I can be thankful that I have a place to go on Thursday night where people want to learn more about the Bible or I can be grumpy that it is late and it takes me about an hour to get home. Being thankful is a matter of perspective and focusing on the blessings we do have and not on whatever may not be so great. Everyone faces challenges in life but spending all of our time thinking about them will not only lead us to be unthankful (if that is even a word) but we will have a negative outlook on life and be a person no one wants to be around.

We need to start counting our blessings, as they say, and see how blessed we really are. So often we have a lot of positive things going on but we look at the negative. For example, when I saw the advertisement for this apartment they said it has a view of the Rhine River, which is cool. What they didn't say is that my apartment also has a "view" of a major street on one side and a "view" of the railroad tracks on the other side! I like my apartment and when I look out the window I choose to be thankful I have a view of the Rhine River and I don't focus on the traffic or the train. To me that is what it means to be thankful, focus on the good and positive things and don't let the negative side of things be all that you see. Happy Thanksgiving and remember to be thankful for all that God has done for you!

That's What I'm Here For

It has been a while since I posted my last blog, almost a month in fact. Things have been busy here with school starting and all of the other activities of the ministry and everyday life. I also had some computer "issues" to deal with but I am glad to get back into the blogging world. It seems like I have a lot of ideas for blogs but usually the blog falls behind other things in my list of priorities so that means no blogs sometimes.

When I moved to Germany 10 years ago one of the main things I wanted to do was teach other people Bible truth. I not only see this as my calling in life but I have a great desire to help others learn about God's Word for themselves. Last week I taught the class "New Testament Literature" in our weekday Bible school, I also did my Bible study on Thursday, and I led a small group with some of our students as a part of the Bible school.

What happened was that during the week when I taught my class, on Thursday at the Bible study, and in the small group with students there were times when I could tell that people were seeing the truth for themselves. Two particular instances stand out to me where I was having some discussion time, once in the Bible study and then in the small group with students. Both of these times I was asked a question about what something in the Bible meant and I explained from the Bible what was being talked about and what it means for us. The great part was when you could see the light go on with these people as they recognized the truth for themselves. When this happened I remember thinking to myself, that's what I'm here for!

I would by no means say I know everything about the Bible and my goal is never to brag about how great I am. What I do want to say is that when I see God use me to help someone else get an understanding of what the Bible is all about it gives me a sense of satisfaction because I know that is why God brought me here. Being a "missionary" living in another country and even being in full time ministry is not always the easiest thing to do. But I must say that the rewards of helping someone to learn more about God and His Word are more than worth it all. I am in no way complaining about my situation in life but rather I am rejoicing that I was able to fulfill part of the plan of God for my life and to help someone along in God's plan for their life; that's what I'm here for!

10 Years In Germany!

Today is a special day for me as it marks the date that I moved to Germany 10 years ago to work with John and Michelle Grunewald and the ministry of RHEMA Germany. So much has happened during these past ten years that I could write several blogs about it all but I will only mention a few things.

My first trip to Germany was in 1995 but it was not until three years later in October 1998 that I actually moved. At first I lived near Heidelberg, Germany, which is a few hours south of here, and I relocated to the Bonn area a few months later. In 1998 there was no RHEMA Bible Training Center Germany; it was still in the planning and development stage. Being a part in this ministry from the very beginning has been a great experience.

These past ten years have been filled with growth and development. RHEMA Germany now operates a weekly Bible Training Center in Bonn and we oversee several weekend Bible Training Centers all over Germany and Europe. RHEMA Bible Church in Bonn has grown from a handful of people at its beginning in May 1999 to an average attendance, including children, of over 200 each week. The branch of the ministry we refer to as "RHEMA Europe" helps to oversee and assist the over 1000 RHEMA alumni who live in greater Europe.

The ministry team I am a part of at RHEMA Germany is outstanding and it is one of the reasons I have enjoyed being here so much. Most missionaries do not stay on the mission field for ten years and I credit some of my longevity to the awesome "fellow-laborers" I work with at this ministry. Being a missionary is not always the easiest thing to do but I have found the experience to be very fulfilling and rewarding. Not only am I following the calling that God has placed on my life but I have been able to be a part of working with and changing the lives of so many people through the church, Bible schools, and home groups. With ten years now behind me I look forward to the next ten and I expect them to be even better!

School Registration Day

Today was the first day of the 2008-09 school year at RHEMA Bible Training Center Germany! This is always a great day as we get to meet new students entering their first year of school and we welcome back those students who are returning for their second year. For all of us who teach and are involved with the school it is a day we look forward to each year. We know it is just the beginning of great things in the lives of our students.

Although we are a Bible school there are still some things we have to take care of like registering the students, collecting fees, distributing books, and giving some basic instructions and information about the school. This picture shows some of the students waiting in line to register. They will then pick up their student manual which includes the student handbook and some class material.

Some of these new students come to us through the referral and recommendation of our graduates. Some of them have heard about us but do not know us very well. We also realize that the students come from different backgrounds and are at different levels of spiritual development; but the principles of God's Word work the same for everyone. No matter who they are or what course these students may have taken to come to the school we know that as they are taught the Word of God it will be a life changing experience for them!