To See Clearly

To See Clearly

     I found a single track mountain bike trail along the Yellowstone River Rimrocks, not far from our apartment in Billings, MT, so I snuck away this afternoon for a ride.  Great fun, pretty easy, all good, until the mist started.  As I headed back under the rims, the wind and rain in my face picked up.  By the time I reached the streets, my sunglasses were more like windshields, but which lacked wipers.  I could see, sort of.  It occurred to me that I should really get that accident insurance form into Susan Collins at the Office of International Mission.  A few seconds later, I was almost proved right, as the nicely sloped ADA compliant corner curbs along the bike path abruptly ended in a good old fashioned right angle curb that I just barely saw in time.  My swerve into the road went unpunished, and I made it back home in one piece.  Being able to see clearly is kind of important. 

     As Shelee and I continue preparing and support raising in order to head to Spain, where I have accepted a call to serve as a Church Planter in Sevilla, the ability to see clearly is central.  It is central for us to see clearly the tasks before us, and to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of Faith.  If we lose sight of Him, we will soon be overwhelmed by the task.  And that task, ultimately, will be very much trying to help people to see Jesus clearly.  Going to a land first evangelized in the first century will, I think, very much be about helping people to see clearly, whether avowed atheists who have rejected Christianity, or church members whose faith is clouded with the errors of the centuries.  In every place, but especially in Spain, the goal of Mission is for people to have their eyes opened to the Truth of our sin and God’s grace, by way of putting the pure Gospel in their ears.  For it is the Word of Forgiveness given in Christ that allows us to see the Cross as the greatest act of love, and to see the present and the future to be full of peace and joy.  God grant us all to see Him clearly. 

     If you’d like to learn more about the Lutheran Mission in Spain, you can go to www.lcms.org/warner, www.godsreigninspain.org, or, (and there is an English section) www.luteranos.net.  Thank you for your prayers, and for those able, for your financial support.  If you have a question, shoot me a message at pastorwarner@outlook.com.  Hasta Luego, pw