Great trip! On the way there (14 hours in the car), we came upon the start of the world-famous Dakar rally. We loved it! Upon arrival, we saw beautiful mountains as usual. We traversed many challenging roads, and even saw dolphins and seals on the way home! Teaching “Intro to Greek” in a week-intensive course was very rewarding…

10 years ago yesterday we arrived in Peru!

Thanks Lord, for the privilege of serving here…

In July, 1992, a year out of college, I was back in Minnesota, having just returned from a winter of being a ski bum in Colorado. Life was good.

Yet on the 16th of that same month, here in Lima, Peru, a couple of trucks turned down this road late at night (It has now been made into a pedestrian mall. The street was called “Tarata”). Each truck had over a ton of explosives each. The massive explosion took dozens of lives.

In my own lifetime, less than 20 years ago, while I was completely oblivious to the spasms of hate and injustice here in Peru, terrorists were attacking the Peruvian government. The perceived greed, discrimination and partiality of the government fueled the terrorist’s fight. 

Incredible the needs of this world….

Jonathon looking at the monument near where the trucks exploded

Monument in the distance

Restaurant (to the left) at exact place where trucks exploded

“If a man should give me a diamond worth one hundred thousand dollars, I think I would make bold to ask him for a little piece of brown paper to carry it away in.”

D.L. Moody, after speaking of Romans 8:32 (“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”), and that “When God the Father gave Christ, the Son of His bosom, He literally gave up all that heaven had. He gave the richest jewel that heaven possessed. And if He has given us His Son, is there anything too great for us to ask? If a man should give me a diamond…” (Moody, “The Eighth Chapter of Romans,” in Moody’s Last Sermons (Chicago: Moody Press), quoted in The Deep Things of God: How the Trinity Changes Everything, by Fred Sanders, chapter 3 (Don’t know page number—how can you with the Kindle version?). Great book so far by Sanders…

Adventures down at the ocean…

I sure miss the crisp, fall season of the Midwest –but it is great to be near the Creator’s handiwork of the Pacific Ocean!

Fascinating to read one of my students commenting on how as an adolescent he interpreted Galatians 5:1 (“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery”). He grew up as an unbeliever in the early 90s in the mountains of Peru in a context of frequently listening to “Shining Path” (terrorist) propaganda: “This was one of the first texts that I read…when in my city there was much defense of terrorism…and I thought the verse was saying that we shouldn’t be subject to a government that was making slaves of the people only to satisfy political and economic ambitions. What a mistake to interpret it that way! Thanks be to God who opened my spiritual eyes and gave me understanding.”  

Peru is a fascinating place to be teaching!

Arrival in Lima, Peru!

Quiet study while preparing to teach my classes tomorrow interrupted by very loud truck outside:

It has been a great week and a half here in Peru! We are so blessed to be here…

We leave for Peru on Monday, Aug. 15, arriving in Lima around midnight. Can’t wait!

Hiking with the kids…

Sophia hanging out…

Hiking #2…

Hanging out in Wheaton (reason for Sophia’s scowl unknown)…

Tickets have been purchased! Lord willing, we will arrive in Lima, Peru at midnight, Aug. 15.

We are excited! It has been, however, a great year and a half in the US…

Apparently so…

Matthew 26:27 states: “And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you.’” (NASB).

Grammatically speaking, the “all” of the verse does not modify the wine–it modifies Jesus’ listeners. Yet the KJV says: “And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink ye all of it.’”

Big difference!: drinking “all” the wine, or “all” persons drinking the wine…

An important Greek grammar textbook mentions how this “unfortunate” (note: bad!) translation of the KJV resulted in a humorous, though sad application. A country pastor had only a few members in his church. The church’s denomination had a tradition of using a full pitcher of wine for the Lord’s supper (you can see where this is going…). Thinking Jesus commanded him to drink all of the wine, he would drink the remaining portion of the pitcher on Sunday afternoon after everybody had left–with the obvious result of him getting drunk (Daniel B. Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics, 372). 

Other lessons…

Important reminder for pastors (from Grant Osborne):

On the way home from a sabbatical in Germany in 1985, my family and I had a stopover in Iceland and took a tour through the lava fields and hot springs of that fascinating island. As we were passing through the desolate countryside the tour guide pointed to a series of stone cairns, erected in the last century to direct travelers to the firmer pathways over the soft ground. “We call these cairns ‘priests,’ ” she said, “because they point the way but never go there themselves.” (Grant Osborne, Hermeneutical Spiral, 437).

Basic requirement of Gospel workers:

As regards 1 Cor. 4:2 (“…it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy” (NASB)): “…God seeks of stewards ‘faithfulness…not eloquence, nor wisdom…nor ‘initiative,’ nor ‘success’-our standard requirements.’” (Gordon Fee, in David E. Garland, 1 Corinthians, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, 126).