Month: October 2016 (Page 2 of 2)

It’s always shocking how quickly the seasons change in Ukraine.  We’re entering our 9th year here, you’d think the shock would wear off!  To start the season we all had the flu last week, and now sporting rough voices and runny noses.

By the mercy of God we were able to pile in 15 students and a few friends into our van and truck and head to Kiev for a night of bowling.  For 90% of the students, it was the first time the had ever bowled.

Each month we try to take the Club 180 students somewhere, or do something out of the ordinary.  One of the colleges randomly closed and sent students home, so we weren’t sure who was going to come.  We ended up taking 6-7 of the guitar/drum students that come several times per week with some our Wednesday night regulars.  It was a great time to relax and connect as Dima our Studio Enginner and his wife came, as well as Max (posing with his fingers) who’s our new Barista and youth helper.

Max also really loves video and I’ve commissioned him to produce some youth profile videos – short 3-4 minute clips in a biography style, introducing the young people that we are investing in and telling a bit of their story.  Coming soon!

I’m now racing to try and launch our new Lighthouse Ukraine website, possibly this weekend.  It’s been hard to find reliable internet lately and the time to try and write, upload photos and videos… but it’s going to be cool to finally have a ministry site that houses our various activities.

Please pray for us this week as we have some important meetings with ministry partners and continuing to look to the Lord for guidance for 2017 focus.

Bruce & Deb

“In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace.”  Col 1:6

If you are person of faith in Christ, you are living in a revolution.  The powers of this present age hold nations in darkness.  Human governments, whether forced upon the people or elected by them have and gone into the annuls of history.   They cease.  They have an end.  Even the greatest powers wither like the grass (Isa 40:7).

If you are a person of faith, your Kingdom is not of earth.  It’s an eternal, everlasting reign.  Our allegiance is to Jesus Christ, and to remain unchallenged by the flowering or withering kingdoms of this earth.

The Gospel, the message of the Kingdom, is love.  Love from a supremely gracious, but fiercely righteous King.  He transfers us into His Kingdom (Col 1:13) and as adopted ransomed children, commissions us back out to bring His Kingdom to earth.  This commission, is not optional.  It’s been happening since the day Christ first uttered it to His disciples (Matt 28), and it’s been marching through history since.

“The Gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world..” – the whole world!  The Gospel is emerging in it’s power in the most random places, every day, and has been for 2000yrs.  It’s not confined to western cultures, or inhibited to the intellectuals.  It’s conquering the poor and rich alike, the religious and unbelieving.   It’s powerful enough to change every human heart that believes upon Jesus Christ as the Messiah, the suffering Son of God.

I agree with CS Lewis.  We live not in redeemed culture, but in enemy occupied territory.

“Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us to take part in a great campaign of sabotage.”

America was once a beacon of Gospel light.  It influenced nations towards Kingdom values of integrity, freedom and respect.   I grieve over the church’s revealed and I believe growing irrelevance in its present form.

While it strives to influence elections, it is  compromising it’s moral and spiritual influence not only on itself, but the nations that once looked to her for the eternal light of the Kingdom. 

Organized religion as a whole has lost it’s mission.  It’s a very sad day when salt loses it’s saltiness, but it’s not one without hope.

Salt’s power is in its preservation qualities.  The great news is that the salt was never America, or has ever been a physical nation.  The salt is the gospel and it’s effect on the human heart – it preserves the influence of the Kingdom of God on a people.  The gospel is the hope for every generation – no matter what country you live in, or who becomes president.

This is not to discount the importance of voting, and the incredible influence of democracy in history.  Deborah and I are truly in shock over this latest presidential race like many of our friends.  However we are equally distraught over many of our Christian friends blatant disregard for morality, ethics and the the Kingdom culture that Christ died to produce in the human heart.  In attempting to secure future “christian’ decisions, you’re sacrificing your witness to those we are privileged to reach, at home and abroad.  It’s a blind, short-sighted nationalistic view – turn off your TVs, be humbled by the reflected moral image of your mission field and get back to loving those around you in Jesus name.

Pledge allegiance to the King, and get back to His work.  No matter who becomes President, the answer to the hopelessness is a salty, powerful, preserving Gospel

Bruce

We just returned from Northern Ukraine (outside Chernigiv).  Our friends from Minsk drove 6hrs (plus 3.5hrs at border) one way to meet us for a morning of prayer and discussion.   We only had to drive 3.5hrs.  It was great to see them without needing to get visas and go all the way to Minsk.

We have a lot to think about.  Many ideas, and desires that center around increasing worship around the city, in particular for under 30’s.  The spiritual and political landscape is not easy in Belarus.  Many systems of control, which have caused several gridlocks for public expression and a lot of insecurity/control issues within local churches.

It will not be an easy task.  We will need the Lord’s wisdom and blessing to open doors and connect us with others that share the same passion to see God’s Kingdom grow in Belarus.  More worship, in more places.   We’ve all witnessed and experienced a hunger in Belarus, a huge need that the traditional church seems either unwilling or ignorant towards.

Deb and I really like these young men – gifted, humble and ready to use their musical talents to engage their culture with the gospel.

More coming soon!

B&D

Guitar 101 on the 2nd floor of Lighthouse Cafe. These are just some of the guitar faithful.

During the first few years in Ukraine we were busy surviving.  New culture, language, processes, friends, all the natural rhythms of a Texas life were dumped into the blender of assimilation.   It was messy, confusing, but eventually by God’s grace we gained our bearings.

Deb has always loved to have music playing in the house.  It’s one of the things that has always attracted me to her – she loves to engage God in worship through music.  She’s not particularly musical (nicest way of putting it), but she, like all of us that have been touched deeply by God’s love, music helps us ‘react’.   Music is fascinating like that isn’t it?  It’s as though the fabric of our soul has some sort of rythmic dna, we engage the unseen elements of our person through this wonder of music.

Some of the students in the local college.  Many visit the Lighthouse Cafe during the week.

Ever try watching a suspenseful scene in a movie without the music?  Suddenly it’s just random moving pictures… the emotion is gone, the fear, or excitement vanishes in an instant.  “Movies’ should really be called, “Soundies” I think.  Music can calm, excite, create atmosphere.  If we really understood the power of music, I think we’d be more principled in what we allow ‘in’.

I heard it said many years ago, “There’s no such things as an evil chord.”  Music itself isn’t moral.  It’s what we attach to it that can have positive or negative effect – Music is like a train, and we need to value the cargo inside.

We can enjoy the beauty of music as believers, but it’s not something that only impacts those of faith.  If anything, religion tends to cookie cutter music, rendering it unauthentic and uninspiring.  Religion can go to the opposite extreme, believing that only the content or lyrics are important, destroying the wonder of creative expression and the emotion excellent music can produce.

It’s universal, we all are wired for this emotional engagement music brings.. every culture throughout history has reflected this.   Whether it’s our little Claire with her wobbly sway, or the grandparents being taken back to the days of youth, music is not age specific either. Music is simply a wonder to me.

I’ve never taken music lessons, but I can play a few instruments decently from years of practice, and practice and (poor Deb).  It was a fairly big part of my life before Ukraine – from playing in church, going to concerts, and digesting CD’s (tapes, go 80s!).  During our first few years here, I ‘died’ to music.  I don’t know if it was a conscious decision, or if life was just too overwhelming and it was sacrificed on the altar of survival.   Life became very arduous, dry and if I heard someone playing in church, or at home, I simply wanted it to stop.  It wasn’t important, it was frivolous noise.

In 2014, after a long dry spell, God broke into my life through times of corporate and small group worship.  A refreshing wind, a fresh spring of God’s grace.  His reality moved into the deepest parts of my soul once again – on the wings of inspiring and original music.  Things began to take place that would reshape our purpose and driving vision here through the Lighthouse Cafe as a result of this season, thought the outsider may not realize it.  God was re-awakening both Deb and I to the power of His Spirit, in ways we had almost forgotten could exist.

I began playing piano again, almost daily.  It’s as if musical rooms in my heart were being opened, cleaned out and I was finding secret new rooms inside those rooms.  As I would play, I would talk to God, and my soul was being refreshed.  I would read the Psalms and they became melodies, dirges, and victorious anthems instead of tired letters on a page.

Step by step, through initiating creative opportunities for students to learn instruments in our town, I began to realize that music not only was playing a revitalizing role in my own heart, but was a universal lure to draw people together, especially young people.

There are not only kids coming and learning guitar/drums every day at the Cafe now, but they are borrowing each others guitars (there are very few available) each evening in the dorms and practicing with fervency.  These kids have awakened a passion for something really cool, expression, originality, beauty – all of which are reflections of the God who made us all.

In closing, I believe God is going to awaken more and more young people to His love.  He will do this through the natural relationships built and for many, as we enjoy music together.  The Gospel is great news because it’s real, we live it, we feel it.  It’s attractive when Jesus is alive in us and old stale souls are stirred up.  Music somehow, particularly when God is involved, destroys barriers and opens caverns in the heart for the work of the Holy Spirit.

He will also do this through times of worship as we lead these young people into a real, spirit led engagement with their Creator.   The real power of music is what ‘message’ can be attached and carried with it deep into the soul.  The freedom that the gospel brings can be carried creatively on the wings of spirit-led music.

More of the crazy students learning to play as a band. Many come to Wednesday night 180 club.

When someone asks me ‘what kind of music do you like,” the answer is really, “whatever helps me focus and connect with Jesus Christ and all that He’s done for me.”  This is why we have started a studio here, and are looking to branch out into new territories through creative arts.

I believe 2017 will be a really cool season of bringing hope into hopelessness – Jesus is the One who leads us to the pastures of life and the refreshing streaming brooks.

Deb and I are off to Chernigiv tomorrow, a city close to the border of Belarus.  We are meeting up with some dear friends and gifted musician/leaders to spend time praying about this next year.   We are meeting by faith, no agenda besides to pray and believe God for direction – we want to be more effective fishers of this generation.

Together we believe God is going to continue awakening this next generation and we need to posture our hearts to listen and receive.  Would you pray for and with us this weekend?

Some of the guys we will meet and pray with this weekend – our friends from Minsk Andrey, Vikente and Yan.

I feel God is going to speak to us, I’m going with a lot of anticipation as though He’s pulling us into His work, we’re just to make ourselves available.   I personally think it will involve worship events, creative workshops, weekends, and youth across the FSU.  That’s what I have in my heart, whether that becomes a series of ‘Passion’ type events in 2017 or some sort of version of that, I have no idea – but these guys are amazingly gifted, and willing to serve and we must step out in faith.

I wanted to give a bit of a picture of why we are moving in creative areas the past couple of years, and perhaps why God is blessing us with such amazingly gifted teams and connections.  I believe God is weighing us down with His joyful easy burden – to long to see people open their eyes, see the crucified Jesus, the beautify of God’s sacrifice arousing a deaf world through all kinds of creative expression.

May we lift up a sound that awakens the dead to life!

Bruce & Deb