I (Rob) recently read the book The Heavenly Man with some provocative statements about my own comfortable walk with Christ.

pp. 311-313

Sometimes Western visitors come to China and ask the house church leaders what seminary they attended. We reply, jokingly yet with underlying seriousness, that we have been trained in the Holy Spirit Personal Devotion Bible School (Prison) for many years.

Sometimes our Western friends don’t understand what we mean they then ask, “What materials do you use in this Bible school?” We reply, “Our only materials are the foot chains that bind us, and the leather whips that bruise us.”

In this prison seminary we have learned many valuable lessons about the Lord that we could never have learned from a book. We’ve come to know God in a deeper way. We know his goodness and h is loving faithfulness to us.

Christians who are in prison for the sake of the Lord are not the ones who are suffering. When people hear my testimony they often say, “You must have had a terrible time when you were in prison.” I respond, “What are you talking about? I was with Jesus and had overwhelming joy and peace in his intimate presence.”

The people who really suffer are those who never experience God’s presence. The way to have God’s presence is by walking through hardship and suffering—the way of the cross. You may not be beaten or imprisoned for your faith, but I am convinced each Christian will still have a cross to bear in his or her life.  In the West it may be ridicule, slander, or rejection. When you’re faced with such trials, the key is not to run from them or fight them, but to embrace them as friends. When you do this you’ll not fail to experience God’s presence and help.

When a child of God suffers you need to understand the Lord has allowed it. He has not forgotten you! The devil cannot snatch you away! Jesus made this beautiful promise to his children, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.” John 10:27-29.

The first time I went to prison I struggled, wondering why God had allowed it. Slowly I began to understand he had a deeper purpose for me than just working for him. He wanted to know me, and I to know him, deeply and intimately. He knew the best way to get my attention for a while was to give me rest behind bars.

Whenever I hear a house church Christian has been imprisoned for Christ in China I don’t advise people to pray for his or her release unless the Lord clearly reveals we should pray this way.

. . .

The world can do nothing to a Christian who has no fear of man.

About a year ago (as many know) my step-father underwent neurosurgery to remove a large tumor from the base of his brain (Read more here). Though a dramatic success, the surgery also damaged several of Gerry's facial nerves, effectively paralyzing half of his face, leaving him with the effects of many stroke victims. Half of his face droops, he is unable to close one eye-lid, and his speech is slurred (though getting better over time).

The hope was that these key nerves would grow back and Gerry would slowly regain the use of half of his face over time. Well, this did not happen. One year later nothing has changed. One can imagine the impact this has had on Gerry, a marriage and family therapist, who speaks face-to-face with people for a living.

The reconstructive surgery took place last Tuesday, April 22nd. Facial muscles and tissue were tightened and manipulated to create symmetry. More work also was done on his facial nerves. Gerry is doing very well. My mother is continually adding at his blog: http://gerryschaffner.blogspot.com/

I'd like to help! Being out of work for 6 months last year, and several more weeks as a result of this surgery, finances are a challenge for my family. We are doing everything we can to help during this difficult time. If you would like to help them financially as well, here is what you can do (God did amazing things through His people helping my family keep their house over those last six months without work):

First Baptist Church of Forest Grove (Gerry and Debbie's home church) has set up a special fund for Gerry and Debbie through the church. If someone would like to donate to this they can send a check, but they must do the following:

• Make the check out to First Baptist Church Forest Grove, but do not designate on the check who or what it is for. Instead...
• Send a note with the check that it is for the special fund for Gerry and Debbie. (Apparently, money sent to the church on behalf of someone cannot be designated as such on the check itself. Apparently this is some IRS tax code/law for churches. The individual needs to include a seperate note for its intended purpose.)
• Church Address:

First Baptist Church Forest Grove

2224 15th Avenue

Forest Grove, OR 97116

• The check can be sent to the attention of Gretchen Brown, their bookkeeper.

Here is a list of prayer request my mother posted at Gerry's blog:

• continued healing
• rapid nerve growth
• leaning on God's strength
• finances
• counseling clients after recovery

Thank you for your calls and prayers. You are so supportive. As I watched many families deal with crisis, I was so thankful for you, but mostly for our Lord, who is in control, and who gives us strength and peace.

PHOTO (below): Gerry at my brother and sister's track meet prior to the surgery:

PHOTO (below): Gerry in good spirits immediately after the surgery.

PHOTO (below): Gerry doing a little light reading the day after the surgery (Psychology journals and periodicals are what he considers light reading).

Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, (where Martine and I will be going for Dwell, an urban church planting conference, at the end of April with the entire church planting committee for Louis' church) speaks at the Google campus, walking through the basic premise of his new book named, surprisingly "The Reason for God." The first 35 minutes is his presentation with a Q&A over the last 25 minutes. He is intellectually honest in his presentation, not overstepping the philosophical warrant he has for the conclusions he makes, and very transparent about the limitations of the reasons he puts forth.

I would recommend the talk to any Christian, and would highly recommend the book.
 

Montreal finished #1 in the east. The playoffs are on. The madness has begun.

In Quebec, when Montreal has a good team, even round 1 of the NHL playoffs is crazier and more popular than the Superbowl in the U.S.

In 1998 I witnessed firsthand France's march to win the Paris World Cup. It is the the only other sporting experience I could compare to a good Montreal Canadiens team in the NHL playoffs.

All around Montreal (and St. Jerome) Montreal Canadiens flags appear on cars, in windows, on bumpers, and on game nights... beginning to appear on some faces. Montreal jerseys and shirts are bought or dusted off and displayed proudly. Nothing less would be expected from the birthplace of hockey and the winner of 24 Stanley Cups...

... and this is just the first round. 

Last night (Sunday) in a local living room, about 20 church members set up a projector and watched the game in mega-fashion.

Here are a some photos from hockey parties organized by people in our church:

Fun with the projector: 

Flags like this are popping up everywhere: 

I slept all day Friday.

I slept all day Saturday.

I drugged up, preached, then slept the rest of the day Sunday.

I went to a clinic, was diagnosed with stuff I don't totally understand, received a bunch of antibiotics, then slept the rest of the day Monday.

I'm still sleeping Tusday.

Sore throat. Headache. Earaches. Fever. Chills. Feeling weak and disoriented.  Lot's of time to reflect. I don't ever remember being sick this long... ever.

It's been quite a week... and it isn't over yet.

UPDATE: Wednesday, Daniel (a student) is leading "Le Lounge", a discussion centered on The Count of Monte Cristo.

Though I'm feeling a little better (but far from 100%), I've had myself replaced for all activities for the week (including preaching Sunday). Loads of reflection time.