Category: Tour Guides and Pilgrims
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As she lay dying, I was watching The Lord of the Rings. Somehow I just knew… I started the journey from the Shire at 7:50 p.m. (Beijing Standard Time). By 11:30 p.m. Frodo and Sam were on their way towards Mordor, Merry and Pippen were captives of the Uruk-hai, and Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli were…
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As I looked out of the train car at the familiar urban landscape, Karen Carpenter’s voice crooned softly over the train’s loudspeakers–and I smiled to myself–because I knew I was back "home" in Xining. Of all the places this train had chugged through in the past 34 hours, the landscape in Qinghai and Gansu province…
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A few hours ago I put my good friend, Josh, on an overnight train from Shanghai to Beijing. He only knows a few words in Chinese (i.e. he can say "hello/thank-you/I’m stufed" and has nearly mastered his numbers from 1-10.) He is alone in a strange country, left to fend and find for himself, for…
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My friend Pete’s second son, Taylor Davis, was born just recently. Congrats, Pete and Nicole and family! Taylor was born with a pretty severe cleft palate. He will be having a few surgeries to correct this condition. Since learning about Taylor, Anna (my oldest) at bedtime has been asking to pray for him every night. …
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I’m not sure why, but lately I’ve been thinking of an old acquaintance of mine. His name was Meatball. I don’t even know his real name, but everyone called him Meatball so in my mind that’s what his name will forever be. I met him, of all places, at the Southern Baptist Church I grew…
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"Incline Your ear to me, rescue me quickly;Be to me a rock of stength,A stronghold to save me.For You are my rock and my fortress;" Psalm 31:2-3a I was reading Psalm 31 today and when it started talking about God being like a fortress and stronghold I immediately thought of one of my childhood interests: …
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There are a lot of sounds here in Xining. Car horns, cell phones, musical tunes that emanate from garbage trucks or signify the start of classes at schools, firecrackers, and voices–to name just a sampling. Today as I walked home from school I heard a "new" version of the song that goes, "Knock, knock, knockin’…
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I just finished a chapter in Lesslie Newbigin’s The Gospel in a Pluralist Society entitled, The Logic of "M" (you’ll have to fill in the blank). In light of my post below, "are we having fun yet?" I think Newbigin’s position and statements regarding what we are all (as believers) called to is pretty insightful.…
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While chatting with a friend on Skype not too long ago, I was struck by one of his statements. He told me, "It seems like you guys are having a lot of fun…" Sure. It sounds innocent enough. I’m sure my friend intended absolutely no harm by suggesting it. He’s been reading the blog and…
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When the revenant came down We couldn’t imagine what it was In the spirit of three stars The alien thing that took its form Then to Lebanon Oh, God The flashing at night, the sirens grow and grow Oh, history involved itself Mysterious shade that took its form Or what it was, incarnation Three stars…
yeti speak... 