Pray for Japan

Here's a quick little morning plug for my homepage, Operation World. I've recommended the "Pray Today" feature before; it highlights a different country of the world each day and gives specific direction in how to pray for missionaries, native Christians, and the lost. Last week Japan was highlighted, and it's been helpful in reminding me of specific ways to pray for Japan.

Check it out here. (And if you want some motivation to pray for the need that's in the world, make it your homepage!)

Pls txt me l8er

My most recent article for myMISSIONfulfilled.com, an opinion/how-to piece on texting, has been posted to the website. Read it here. This one won't go down in history as my favorite assignment, but I love the concept Mary and the other editors had for this issue: How can we use the technologies available to us to further the Kingdom?

Texting, Facebook, and the blog sphere all require a certain thoughtfulness on the part of Christians, and I love that myMISSIONfulfilled has taken on the role of prompting young women to consider the impact of these everday things.

What about you? How do texting and other technologies affect your everyday life? Your ministry?

Real Sex

I got to spend the holiday weekend in Richmond for my sweet friend Goodie's wedding. Y'all know how I love Richmond. I feel blessed to the sky each time I get to go back and visit my alma mater, spend time with dear friends, and dwell in rich community at Third Pres (and Tikvat Yisrael, though, sadly, not this weekend). I love it, love it, love it!

On Sunday night I got to fellowship with a wonderful couple from church (and their four sweet kids--my cup runneth over!). They mentioned a sermon given several weeks ago by Corey Widmer, a pastor at Third and truly the best teacher I've ever had the privilege of learning from on a weekly basis. (Serioulsy, y'all--he rivals some of my favorite famous Christian teachers, and he teaches at my little church in Richmond!) The sermon is titled Real Sex: Biblical Wisdom for Sex and Sexuality, and you can listen to it here. It's part of a sermon series on the book of Proverbs, and each of the messages in the series are outstanding.

I wondered throughout the sermon if perhaps the message was named with Lauren Winner's book Real Sex: The Naked Truth About Chastity in mind, and Corey did mention the book toward the end of the sermon. What a concept for our Christian culture--where sex is often diminished in Christian circles as something to be avoided and even despised! That we could "get naked" (read: honest) about the topic of chastity (sexual purity by the standards of a given culture, ours being dictated by the gospel of Christ) is pretty revolutionary. And it's needed.

Lest you listen to the message and say I didn't tell you...this sermon is not for the faint of heart! It is actually a little graphic, but it's a holy sort of graphic, fitting for those who desire to be chaste. And what I love is that Corey not only addressed married people and single adults, he seized the opportunity to speak to teenagers very candidly about their bodies and sexual desires. Winner's book is much the same. It addresses the sexual issues of single and married people and offers a Christian ethic to glorify God in and through sexuality.

So here's my little plug for my very favorite pastor/teacher and my very favorite writer on a subject that is taboo in many Evangelical circles. Check them out--and don't be surprised if they make you blush :)

Help IJM Abolish Child Trafficking

Recording artist Sara Groves and husband Troy Groves meet with their Member
of Congress to Advocate for the Child Protection Compact Act.

I received an interesting e-mail yesterday afternoon from International Justice Mission. It's an organization that I'm passionate about, so I try to keep my readers (all 10 of you, haha) abreast of current IJM happenings and specifically, to let you know how you can be involved with this amazing ministry.

IJM's Justice Campaigns Department is currently coordinating an effort to pass a bill called the Child Protection Compact Act of 2009. According to the IJM website, the legislation is "designed to increase U.S. support to eradicate child trafficking in countries that have the will to end the crime but lack resources." (You can read the bill summary here.) Those of you who are familiar with IJM's work abroad know that this is one of the primary ways IJM seeks to bring the Biblical concept of justice to the two-thirds world. By providing foreign government and police officials with the necessary training and support, IJM has successfully begun a revolution of justice in Asia, Africa, and Central/South America. Additionally, equipping foreign nationals to lead the efforts maximizes IJM's influence and resources.

But the point of yesterday's e-mail wasn't just to inform supporters about the bill or to ask for their prayer support. Rather, it was to mobilize action on the part of the Western Church. IJM is asking Christians to be willing to speak personally with members of Congress. Boldness is called for. Sometimes being part of the justice revolution can feel so painfully out of reach, but IJM is taking the steps to make this small act of courage accessible to the average-Joe Christian. They'll schedule the appointment. They'll even train you (over the phone unless you happen to live in D.C.) how to speak candidly with your Member of Congress about the modern day slave trade and how this bill can help eradicate it in our generation. Sign me up!!

If you are moved by the plight of thousands of young women and girls sold into brothels every year, or by the widow and her starving children whose land has been seized by someone more powerful, or by Indian children in bondage at a brick factory, then I urge you to join with IJM (and with me!) in this endeavor. You can sign up for a meeting here. To read IJM stories of liberation, check out the casework bulletin. (A note of forewarning: these stories are not for the faint of heart! They will leave you moved and deeply convicted to get involved.)

"I take courage—I determine to forget all my other fears, and I march forward with a firmer step in the full assurance that my cause will bear me out, and that I shall be able to justify upon the clearest principles, every resolution in my hand, the avowed end of which is, the total abolition of the slave trade."
William Wilberforce, British Parliamentarian, slave trade abolitionist, and Christian hero
1759-1833

Lenny Kravitz and Celibacy

As I was listening to the radio on my way to work this morning, I heard a plug for an article about Lenny Kravitz. The DJ mentioned that Kratvitz's father, an agnostic Jew, came to know Christ toward the end of his life (y'all know I love a story that includes a Jewish family loving Jesus). What's amazing about the article, written for a UK based paper, is that the reporter was able to talk candidly with Kravitz about a decision he made in 2005 to abstain from sex until he remarries. Obviously, this is a radical choice for anyone, celebrity or not, but especially for this rock icon known for plenty of drug use (he's resolved to quit that, too...).

Here's the hook:

"No one nailed the rock idol act like Lenny Kravitz. Love god, guitar hero, wild thing, he lived the life – multiple women, homes and Grammys. Then he revealed last year that he had been celibate since 2005. The Telegraph visits him at his Bahamian retreat and discovers the roots of his newfound purity."

You can read the full article here.

myMISSIONfulfilled Bible Studies, Part II

The second part of my two-part Bible study for myMISSIONfulfilled has just aired. You can read it here. (Read Part I of the study here.) Writing Part II was a convicting adventure for me--I hope the passage challenges you as well!

Thanks for reading and for supporting the site!

With love,
Chelsea

Food for the Hungry in Myanmar

Since I've often mentioned Food for the Hungry here, I thought I'd point you to a post Matt shared with me on John Piper's blog about FH's involvement in Myanmar. Desiring God ministries is helping to mobilize FH support in the area devastated by last year's cyclone, and you can be involved by contributing financially (and by praying!). Read the post.

As a side note, I thought it was interesting that Piper mentions the rat population in Asia as one of the contributing factors to hunger and poverty. I have just finished reading founder of Gospel for Asia K.P. Yohannan's book Revolution in World Missions. (I kept remarking to myself in the margins that "Brother K.P." and Piper would be bff...) Yohannan explains that the problem of hunger in Asia is, above all, a spiritual one. He writes:

"Most people know of the 'sacred cows' that roam free, eating tons of grain while nearby people starve. But a lesser-known and more sinister culprit is another animal protected by religious belief--the rat. According to those who believe in reincarnation, the rat must be protected as a likely recipient for a reincarnated soul on its way up the ladder of spiritual Nirvana. Although many Asians reject this and seek to poison rats, large-scale efforts of extermination have been thwarted by religious outcry. Rats eat or spoil 20 percent of India's food grain every year...Clearly, the agony we see in the faces of those starving children and beggars is actually caused by centuries of religious slavery."

(A tangent to my tangent: I remember having a similar thought about Japan when I wandered through a temple with my host family four years ago. Suddenly I realized that for a nation that claims it is not religious, Japan is actually steeped in idolatry. The presence of Shinto and Bhuddist temples and household shrines prove it. But in Japan, this bondage has brought a harvest of materialism and nationalism rather than poverty...)

I'll be writing more about Yohannan and Gospel for Asia in a coming post...but I thought I'd leave you with that lovely vision of Asian rats today. It has made me, for one, prayerful about how I can contribute to the spiritual and physical needs in Asia. And I'm so thankful for men like Piper and Yohannan who expose the needs to our materially and spiritually saturated American culture...and cause my heart to be a little heavy over my addiction to the saturation.