The signs of war are no longer visible in the streets, of Sarajevo, but invisible heart-wounds remain.

I’ve avoided a report on Sarajevo in part because it’s so stinking difficult to capture it in a few short paragraphs.  My two week visit was prompted by a reunion of YWAM friends and co-workers who had spent time in former Yugoslavia.  We told stories, worshiped, prayed and shared meals together as we sought God’s heart for this beautiful nation and her people.  The time for me was a grab bag of sadness, joy, excitement and aggravation.

With it’s mix of Communism, nationalism, and sectarianism, Sarajevo is a troubled place searching for both peace and identity.  Whereas Herrnhut, (see my June 20th entry), exported hope to the nations out of a community of love, Sarajevo gave us World War One and the more recent Bosnian War from it’s historic foundations of anger and betrayal.

My emotions bounced around like a gum ball as I moved from conversations with young grace-filled disciples on the one hand to others suffocating in lies as thick as the cigarette smoke that hangs over the cafes.   My heart was encourage by one young friend who confided that he had begun “following Jesus, though I haven’t yet put my full trust in Him”, another who is actively sharing his faith, writing and producing music, and another who has started a family and a medical practice since I last saw him.   Still, hopelessness and passivity stalk the streets like mafia strong men, while the young continue to flock after the pied-piper of materialism.

I have to believe that one day…. ONE DAY.. Sarajevo will receive the sweet news that her warfare is accomplished, her sins are forgiven, and the light of the Glory of God is rising upon her.   Would you take a moment and pray for “my” city and my friends?

Herrnhut, Germany

I just arrived in Sarajevo from Herrnhut, Germany, sometimes known as “the little village that changed the world.”  It’s the home of Count Nicolaus von Zinzendorf and the Moravian Brethren.  These were the people who launched the modern-day missions movement with a legendary zeal that has seldom been equaled.   Sometimes even selling themselves into slavery for the Gospel, the Moravians packed their meager belongings into their coffins and set off for foreign lands from Labrador to Egypt, Suriname to South Carolina.   These were the same people who famously influenced John Wesley in his search for faith and who began a prayer movement that for 100 years maintained around the clock prayer for churches, missions and the advance of the Gospel.

In the early seventeen-hundreds refugees from numerous Protestant sects in Moravia and Bohemia, (present-day Czech Republic), fled to Saxony asking Count Zinzendorf for asylum from their persecutions.  The godly count welcomed them onto his estate and charged them to lay down their doctrinal differences for the cause of Christ.  He offered them a corner of his property and invited them to settle in what is now Herrnhut.

Zinzendorf was a broad-minded believer who championed the grace of God and the unity of believers above divisive doctrines.  So it was a perfect setting for YWAM to pioneer it’s first eight-week “School of the Kingdom.”   In the tradition of the Moravians, one of this week’s students shared his story of taking an outreach team into a rebel militant camp in Nigeria, and leading fifteen of the soldiers out of the camp and into faith in Jesus.

It was an amazing week of grace and learning in a setting that has earned a special place in history.  And now I’m back in wonderful Sarajevo, with a very different and almost opposite history.  More on that later.

A part of Zinzendorf’s Estate

I’m hearing an unbelievable amount of discussion this week about how the followers of Jesus ought to view the death of Osama bin Laden.   And since one friend just wrote and asked me to please comment, I will.   Please bear in mind that this is my personal conviction based on the Jesus I know in my heart as well as the one I read about in the scriptures.

I am relieved that a mass murderer is no longer able to manufacture further terrorism against innocent people.   A man who chose to live by the sword, has died by the sword.  Hopefully justice in some form has been served, and that of course is a good thing.  But it’s nearly impossible to know for sure with the various conflicting reports of the media and the Obama administration.

However, seeing my compatriots gloating and dancing in the streets makes me sad.  It feels like our hearts have sunk to the same level as the cold-hearted Jihadists who have declared us to be their enemy.   As a follower of Jesus, I want to be like Him, and try as I may, I cannot imagine the Servant-King dancing and gloating over the death of any man.  On the contrary, God says, “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked would turn from his way and live.”  (Ezekiel 31:11) It’s a well known maxim that if we persist in hating our enemies, we will become just like them.  And that, I fear, is exactly what is happening with many us.

Just a very quick note to mention that I’m on my way to Central Europe, and hope to update from there soon.   I’ll be teaching in Hungary, Romania, Macedonia, Hawaii, and Colorado in the next six weeks, and would appreciate prayers for effective communication, the freshness of the Kingdom message, and of course for all the issues of travel.

Hopefully this trip will be a respite for my spirit, which has been so heavy these past weeks.  There’s an unnamed fear that ambushes me daily in regard to America, and it’s been a constant battle to maintain hope in the midst of the “fundamental changes” in our freedoms, alliances, and national security.

Still… my confidence is in the promise of God’s Kingdom, and the Truth of His Word.   When everything else unravels at the seams, His promise and His Word remain.

Scarcely a day goes by that I don’t say something I wish I could take back.   I had to remind myself of that this week when, in the midst of the horrible tragedy of the Haitian earthquake, Pat Robertson told his listening audience that Haiti had – at one time – made a pact with Satan.  As a follower of Jesus I want to distance myself from that kind of posturing.   Whether there’s any truth in that story or not, it’s like telling your children that the neighbors house has just burned down, but “don’t forget, the old man has always been an alcoholic.”

I haven’t the right to either excuse or judge Pat Robertson.  He’s an imperfect man just like me.  And the Bible explains that “If we could control our tongues we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way.”  (James 3:2) But the fact that Pat is in the frightful position of having a microphone plugged into a worldwide television network presents a problem.

And it makes me want to clarify that Reverend Robertson doesn’t represent the hearts of most Christians I know.   This is not a time for sermonizing and theorizing about judgment.   It’s a time for grieving, giving, and prayer.  On the morning after the quake I found myself in a roomful of young people crying out to God on behalf of the Haitians and looking for ways to help.   That’s the kingdom response.

This past week in Denver was amazing.  It was one of the most responsive groups of students ever, and I fully expect them to change the world.  Next time I write I’ll do my best to follow through on that study of the “missing pieces.”  In the meantime lets keep our hearts, hands, and wallets open towards the Haitian people and our prayers covering their suffering and loss.

This week’s Discipleship Training School students in Denver.

PS:  Just a note to mention that CBN has issued a statement reminding us that Pat Robertson did not attribute the quake to God’s judgment, (as some critics have evidently charged), and that the humanitarian arm of CBN has been on the scene since the day after the quake with volunteers and millions of dollars worth of aid and medicine.