The Rescue

This is a copy of my sermon notes from the other day. It might be kinda jumbled because it was

just my personal notes, but I think it might still be useful.

Big Idea: God saves in a way that only he gets the glory.

• inability of humans
• power of God

Background

• As we learned last week Abraham has been given the covenant and in just a few generations the hebrew people moved to Egypt grown in number and we find them in Exodus one in bondage to the Egyptians. The Egyptians are so afraid of the Israelites growing to powerful that Pharaoh has issued a decree that all of the new born Israelite boys are to be killed. Here we already see that satan is trying to thwart the hereditary line of Christ; who is the fulfillment of the covenant of Abraham; more on this later.

• Okay so here we go, four scenes make up this initial story of the Exodus I will recount them to you today.

Rise and call of Moses:

part 1

As Pharaoh is trying to kill all of the Hebrew baby boys, a baby boy is born to a Hebrew family. The direct hebrew translation says that when the boys mother saw the child she saw that he was good. Now this is significant because it is the same word that is used in Genesis when God views his creation. This is symbolic and hints that this child will do something significant in God’s plan. Many of us might recognize this story as that of Moses.

Now as Moses grew his mother was no longer able to hide her child. So she devised a plan. She put together a little boat for her child, and what is curious about this boat is that it referred to as an ark in the Hebrew. Now most of us remember that God saved Noah and his family in an ark, and here we find it again. God is going yet again use an ark to serve his purpose in preserving his people. So as we might remember Pharaohs daughter comes to the waters edge and finds the boy and adopts him as her own. Moses, is then educated in the home of Pharaoh and boy is he educated. He gets the equivalent of a degree from harvard or yale. This man is now ready to roll! Or so we would think.

Now after Moses had grown up, and was about 40 years old, he was out amidst the Hebrew people and he saw a Egyptian beating a Hebrew man. Moses then deciding to act killed the Egyptian man, in hopes of showing his fellow Hebrews that he was on their side. However a few days later he encounters two Hebrews fighting and he asks why are you fighting? and the respond with an afront, what are you going to do kill one of us like you killed the Egyptian? This stung Moses, for now he knew he must flee. He had no hope now of leading his people, and Pharaoh wants to kill him. Yikes. Not a good situation. So what does Moses do? He runs away. He goes off into the desert.

-This is the first documented midlife crisis! everything Moses had based his life on has washed away and he is a man without a mission, a very dangerous place to be in. But we are about to see how even though Moses thought he knew how to get things done, God was about to lead him into an epoch of his life that would prepare him for the next 40 years of his life.

Part 2

Moses life in the desert consists of him wandering around as a shepherd until one day he notices something odd; a bush that is on fire but is not consumed. Moses thinks, hm, that’s weird lets check it out. Then out of nowhere the bush talks to him. Whoa. “Moses! Moses!” This has to be one of the most chilling moments in Moses’ life. A bush is talking to him. God speaks out of this bush and tells Moses: I have heard the cries of my people and I am sending you to rescue them from their oppression. Now what is Moses’ response... Oh not me Lord, who am I that you should send me? Under what authority do I tell them I am coming? God answers his question. Moses’ first attempt to get out this fails. So Moses tries again, What if they do not believe me or listen to me? God yet again answers this question. At this point Moses is getting a little desperate and instead of offering excuses he flat out refuses God, he says, God, I have never been good at speaking and well you know, just please send someone else! At this point God lays down the final reply. “

Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now, go I will help you...”

And with this Moses finally departs for Egypt.

- so now here we have moses with a mission again, but now he is full of fear. He is about to return to the country that once was his home ask the most powerful man in the world to let his slaves go. He has learned that he does not have things figured and even though he does not immediately agree with God choosing him, we see that ultimately he cannot reject God’s will.

Plague/confrontation of Pharaoh

So Moses returns to Egypt and comes before Pharaoh and tells him the God of Israel says Let my people go.

Now we must remember that Pharaoh considers himself to be a God, so it’s no surprise that Pharaoh refuses. Yet again we see that God is going to have to do something special to save His people, which in turn will bring Him more glory.

This commences a series of ten plagues against the Egyptian people. What is curious about these plagues is how they correspond with the disgrace of an Egyptian God. For example the first plague turns the nile into blood. The Egyptians worshipped the Nile as their livelihood. So when it turns to blood that is a big blow to the Egyptian’s pride and belief system. Yet, Pharaoh still says no. So God sends frogs. Still, nope can’t go. Then Gnats. Nope. Flies, no. Death of livestock? Nope. Horrible boils? Nope. Flaming hail? eh... no. Swarms of locusts? Heck no! Plague of darkness? Alas... no. So it comes to one final horrible and tragic plague. The Passover...

- Before we move on to the next scene I want to point out why there are so many plagues. God is using each of these plagues to prove that he is in complete control of all things. He has power of animals, the universe, weather, and as we are about to see life itself. This serves a double purpose, one it shows all the nations of the earth that the God of the Hebrew people is not to be trifled with and second it proves to the Hebrews that their God is all powerful and that He will stop at nothing to fulfill his promise to His people.

passover

So now here we are at one of the most significant points of our story. God has saved His most severe plague for the end. God tells Moses that he is going to send the Angel of Death to kill the firstborn in all of Egypt. Something different about this plague is that God wants this moment in Israelite history to be significant. God has every Hebrew family sacrifice a their best lamb and spread it’s blood across the door frame to signify allegiance to the Lord, because then God will see the blood and know that the lamb died instead of you, and if they do this the angel of death will passover that home. The night that the Angel of Death comes is a tragic night. Death is seen everywhere in Egypt and with this Pharaoh decides, finally, to let the Lord’s people go.

All of these plagues have been the result of God’s mighty hand rescuing his people in such a way that they can claim none of the credit. In fact most of the time the Hebrew people doubted God. So now that the Israelites are leaving Egypt it is curious that God does not have them take the main road. Instead he has them move towards the banks of the red sea. We now move to our final scene.

Red Sea

Once the Israelites left Egypt and are long out of site, Pharaoh again regrets his decision. He draws his army around him and the go after the Israelites. So we have the Israelites with their backs against the Red Sea and the impending fury of the Egyptian army staring them in the face. The Hebrews now reach panic mode. They are groping for the panic button. Moses why did you save us! Our lives were rough in Egypt but not so bad that we would rather die in the desert! And what does Moses tell them? He says be still. Be still? Do nothing??? What!? So God tells Moses to raise his staff and the Sea parts! The Israelites then begin to cross on a dry sea bed. As they are crossing the Egyptian army begins to pursue them across. It as this moment that God releases the waters to their natural course and the Egyptian army is destroyed. The Israelites are safe! God has established his nation in a way that gives only Him the glory! Praise God!

• the Israelites were so excited to gain the freedom. They had been delivered from bondage! But yet we see that when things get tough the Israelites want to give up, they want to go back they lose sight of God’s promise so quickly just like we do, but thankfully God shows great patience with them and still delivers them from there predicament. So we see here at the red sea that God brought the Israelites to a place where they could not have saved themselves if they tried, here God showcases yet again man’s inability to save himself and claims glory for himself by proving yet again that he is all powerful and deserving of praise.

Discussion Time

1. Are someone who thinks they have it all under control and they know how to do things (like Moses when he kills the Egyptian and Pharaoh who thinks he is a god).
2. Are someone who thinks who has tried to figure life out, but now feel lost because it did not work out. And now are not sure who you are or what you are good for. (Like Moses wandering in the desert.)
3. Are someone who got excited about letting God save them, but it got harder or took longer than they expected and they are not sure why they thought following God would help. (Like the Israelites after Moses confronted Pharaoh)

Which type of person do you most identify with? Why?

You

So what is the answer? Are we asking God to rescue us but unwilling to give God control? Do we have faith that God can rescue us? Let me share with you another time I was rescued.

So here I am 4 years old again, this year was just not my year, I am sitting in the living room of my house and I am watching rescue 911 ironic huh? well as I am sitting there I am contemplating the idea of asking Gd to come into my heart. And I weighed the pros and cons.

go to hell or go to heaven

hmmm... even to a four year old this is a no brainer. So I thought I had it all figured out. Awesome okay here Goes, “ God please come into my heart.” I thought that was all I had to do. I thought to myself I’m in! sweeet!!! I was just like Moses in his first 40 years. I thought I had the whole system figured out. However... big surprise.... I was wrong.

It was not tell seven years later that I all of the sudden realized that I might have not had everything all figured out like I thought I did. The idea of sin had really started to sink into my life. I kept hearing people say that my sins were what kept me from God. and I was like ugh oh, I just asked God to come into my heart, I never repented of anything. I had never acknowledged my slavery to sin. It was after this realization that I was no longer able to sleep well at night. Worry crept in and kept me from seeking help, my pride was keeping me from reaching out. Finally the pressure became to much and I approached my father who was and is a pastor and told him all of the things that were running through my mind. I remember the Love and grace he showed me that day. My father sat and prayed with me and I felt as if a burden was lifted. I no longer carried a burden of slavery! I was free I had renounced the sin in my life that was holding me down, and I was now free to pursue a right relationship with God. I now knew that I could nothing of my own power and that I had to trust God completely to get me through every day. I had come to the same realization that Moses had when God had approached him from the burning bush. God is great and I am not.

SO in light of this I Sadly have to say there is still slavery today. It’s everywhere around us in fact. Sometimes we see it, but most often we feel it. The craziest thing about this slavery is that it is self imposed! I know it is I lived with it for years. So today I am going to implore you to come out of slavery.

Now some of you may already know where I am going with this, just wait I have something for you too.

Okay so just as God sent Moses to rescue the Hebrews, God sent His son, Jesus on the cross, to rescue everyone. Just like the lamb that was killed to provide blood to protect a household during the passover the Lamb of God had to spill his blood to wash us of the bondage to sin.

This rescue is right at your fingertips. Repent from the things in your life that you know are not satisfying and embrace the freedom that comes from Jesus Christ! Confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is God and that he was sent to save you from your sins.

SO many people think that the Bible has restrictive rules and regulations designed to take away all the fun that the world offers, this point of view is wrong. The Bible shows us how to find real joy on this earth, and that joy comes from a right relationship with Jesus Christ.

More often then not there is always something we are unwilling to give up for God we want to hold on to the things that we think give our lives meaning: our jobs, family, a feeling of superiority over others, pursuit of power and wealth, the list goes on and on. We are unwilling to give these things up because we do not trust that God has something better for us.

Now for those of you who have made a decision to follow Christ I have and exhortation for you. Are you sharing the joy of your rescue? or are you hoarding the joy you have for yourself? Brothers and sisters it is imperative that we glorify God by sharing the ultimate message of redemption and deliver people from the bondage to sin that they are in.

closing

Today we have covered a lot of ground. We have seen God fulfill the promise he made to Abraham that he would make his descendants into a nation. We also have seen God exercise his glorious power to save us while highlighting the fact that we humans are completely powerless to save ourselves.

The though that life could be better is woven indelibly into our hearts and our brains

Can anyone name that quote? Even more impressive if you can name it without googling it.
I’ve been thinking about this idea a lot lately. Contemplating its implications on my life and projecting it to other people’s lives. I know I’ve had this discussion with some of you before. For the better part of our lives we have been fed ideas such as “you can do anything that you put your mind to”, or that “you just got to believe in yourself”. I hear it time and time again. As I’m watching the Olympics I continually hear stories that go “I just believed in myself”, “I had this dream and I wasn’t going to let anyone tell me I couldn’t do it”, yada yada yada…. I’m really interested to see where this thinking leads our generation. Maybe there have been more optimistic / hopeful generations before ours, but I don’t think any of them have really had the opportunities that we have. Especially when you consider the internet and the ease of global communication / travel, in a day when it is easy to believe that anything is possible, what about the impossible? Do we ever consider that? This year, for the first time in my life, I have realized that I won’t be able to do everything that I want to do before I die. Yes, I realize that probably means I have spent 22 years living this incredibly arrogant dream that I’d be able to do everything that I wanted to. I’m just wondering if this is something universal, or if it is something that is specific to the society I was raised in (affluent America). That is, this thought that life should be good, or at least, “the thought that life could be better”. Or is the more representative quote, “You gotta fight for every breath and tell death to go to hell.” It seems like so many of the previous generations (or even so much of our current world) has lived in a society in which there is a set duty, or maybe not even a duty but an economic / social standing that allows for only one life path and they legitimately had to “fight for every breath and tell death to go to hell”. I see the apostle Paul wrestling with this idea in his famous proclamation that “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” Solomon said, “The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord….The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” And then he also said, “For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.” I’m coming to the grips that opening one door, inevitably means that you are closing the other hundreds of other doors that were standing there, but I guess “in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them.”

I’m just realizing the faith that is required to live life, and I’m glad that my faith is in Jesus Christ and not in myself.

A Theology of Cussing

I was talking to one of the guys I disciple this week and he asked me this fairly straightforward question: "Kyle, do you think it's wrong to swear?" It was a good question, and one, in the past, I would have all too hastily answered in the affirmative. What I want to do here, albeit far too briefly, is develop a theology of cussing.

As with all issues of biblical ethics, we are best served by looking at the governing principles rather than for specific examples (i.e. how many cuss words are in the Bible vs. what does the Bible say about the use of language). Many of our ethical norms are informed more by our Christian subculture than by justifiable biblical exegesis.

Ok, let's dive in. Rather than starting with the classic Eph. 4 text, let's instead begin in the gospels with what Jesus says about language: "Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks" (Mt. 12:34). This particular proverb seems simple enough. It makes the point that what we say (our behavior) is a reflection of our hearts (our affections). Nothing terribly groundbreaking right? But let's push the proverb further by looking at another of Jesus sayings: "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Mt. 6:21). Ok, now a connection seems to develop. It goes something like this: What we treasure (value, desire) determines where are hearts (affections) are at and therefore what we say (behavior). Our desires determine our affections which are reflected in our behaviors.

Let's apply this to language. What we say (behavior) reflects our hearts (affections) and therefore what we treasure (desire). So the question with any particular language or words should not be, were those wrong or right words, but rather, what was the heart behind those words--what was their purpose? I believe that someone can speak harsh language which some might categorize as offensive in order to make a point or draw necessary attention to an argument. I believe that someone can speak harshly of there own sin using language that reflects God's abhorrence of sin. The essential question is, are you using your language to the glory of God? Is your heart's inclination to glorify God with what you say? That seems to be what Jesus cares most about.

But wait! Wait! you say. Ephesians 4:29 says "Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear." Right exactly. No problems here. My problem comes when people take this verse and paraphrase it like this: it is sinful for Christians to cuss. That's not what the verse says. That's a (weak) attempt to apply the verse in a broad, generalized and reductionist manner. Instead, God gives a principle (our language should give grace) and flexibility (as fits the occasion). The flexibility here is not to change or twist the principle, but simply to apply it as seems fit in various circumstances. Thus, yelling, "those ****** refs"(I'm guilty) at a sporting event will probably not give grace to those around you. However, speaking in harsh language about Satan's attempts to deceive or our sinful flesh might actually give grace to the hearer. Grace doesn't always come in a nice package with a bow on top. Sometimes it comes as a punch to the gut. Or in a harsh word.

We who are followers of Christ have been given new hearts (Ez. 36:27) and therefore new desires and affections. Those new desires ought to be reflected in our words. Often mine are not. But thankfully, by God's grace, he is using my words for his glory as surely as he is changing me into his image. It might be slow and hard to see at times, but I swear, it's happening!

I hope you see here that I'm not defending cussing in particular--and I am certainly not defending its use in every (indeed most) situations. But I do want to show how, rather than making new laws where the Bible does not, we can apply biblical principles to our lives so that we can pursue loving God and others in freedom from the bondage of law. We ought not use our liberty for its own sake--that would be sinful, foolish and selfish. Rather, we ought to act as Paul exhorts us in Galatians, "For you were called to freedom brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another" (Gal. 5:13).

American cities (or lack thereof)

I just hung a beautiful picture of the skyline of Chicago in my all too depressing cubicle. It had the effect that I was afraid (or hoped) that it might have. I wasted plenty of time today day dreaming about Chicago and contemplating the deficiencies of most American cities. Then I spent my whole lunch break touring some of the cities of the world on google earth. Of course I stopped off in Buenos Aires for most of that time. After doing some traveling of my own, and conversing with numerous classmates from other parts of the world (China, India, Chile, Iran, and Turkey to name a few), I have repeatedly heard there disappointment with America's cities and I must agree with them.

What is it about America that makes us want to spread out so much? I think first we should consider this conspiracy http://www.lovearth.net/gmdeliberatelydestroyed.htm but I'm also wondering if there are more philosophical reasons for this, or if it is truly just the greed of General Motors that has caused the American cities to turn out the way they have. Sure there are exceptions (New York and Chicago are the only two that I have personally experienced). Why don't we live closer together? Why are we stuck with Costco (and BJ's in the south?) instead of the neighborhood corner store? This has been a huge frustration for me in moving to Raleigh. I really expected more out of an American city. I really miss not being able to walk places. One day I decided to walk to the Home Depot (to buy some light bulbs) that is less than a mile away, but where I live it is so unusual to see people walking down the street that I literally had a car stop me and ask me if I needed a ride!!! I laughed it off, but seriously America?!

So this blog post was mostly just me venting, and I'm too tired to try to make it better, so here it is. and man I am upset with GM...

It is always funny to me going in to a new class. You might have entered the same building hundreds of times, but this time something feels different; today I am here for school. Maybe this is instilled in us as children as we intrepidly march of to our first day of kindergarten the under watchful eye of Mom or Dad. I do not know the exact source of these feelings, but I do know this they motivate me to learn. And Learn I have over the past 5 weeks.

There have been two main areas that I have grown in:

One: I have gained a much better grasp of the Bible holistically. From creation to revelation I now feel at ease discussing the big picture of the Bible with someone. This is an awesome feeling. To know that I can sit down and take someone step by step Old Testament to New Testament and show them how God was and is at work is a blessed thing that I will treasure.

Two: There has been for many years now some lingering questions that I have had about certain passages of scripture that are now, praise the Lord, answered!!! For example I have always wondered what it meant when Jesus said that the kingdom of heaven is near. I mean seriously thatcould mean so many different things, but to hear it lucidly described as Jesus heralding the the impending destruction of sin and invasion of a corrupt world was inspiring and has further given me hope that I may find answers to other things that bother me.

In light of these recent discoveries I think it is safe to say that the next 10 or so weeks of class are going to be a real blessing. It is my hope that I do not hoard this blessing but that I would pour out this new found knowledge on all the ears that are willing to listen.

Coffee Connoisseurs

Disclaimer: I had to look up how to spell connoisseurs on dictionary.com.

So I'm chilling at this awesome new coffee shop in Muncie. It opened last month and is run by a local church who is part time church, part time coffee roasting business (or I suppose they'd say full time church and full time coffee roasting business).

Now I'm going to get a bit coffee-technical with you all for a minute but bear with me. The picture shows what is called the "chemics" style of breweing coffee. Supposedly it retains the flavor of french press coffee but has the smoothness of drip coffee (that is no coffee ground particles). All that to say I love how much care these guys put into their craft. Vecino's is like the anti-Starbucks. It is my favorite place to write and study and read. I can only hope St. Louis will have something similar.

And since this blog post is stream-of-consciousness, I'd like to let the folks know that in all likelihood I will be heading to St. Louis to Covenant Seminary next year. Consider this my verbal commitment. Not binding, but quite likely.

Anyway, this post was an excuse to take a picture of my crazy coffee pot and to update you all on my life. Mission accomplished.

P.S. If you look closely in this picture you can see Mike Frost's twin brother Carl.

A Poem about Prayer

Heads bowed and eyes closed,
Or at least staring down one's nose.
Thoughts run wild, focus is scant,
But appearances kept, backs remain bent.
Lists of concerns of great import
Fall on ears numbed by the weekly report.
Tired eyes find good excuse
To remain closed and unused.

A Call to Arms

I also wanted to say that we can do better than this.  

We've been pulling down one or two posts a month for too many months now.  Between the six of us that's ridiculous.  When I initially had the idea for this blog, I imagined it as a place that we could all go to be encouraged, to be strengthened in our resolve to keep fighting the Good Fight (so they say).  As inconvenient as it is sometimes to sit down and write something (I'm extremely guilty of this sentiment), it is worth it for the everyone that is reading this (whether that is us or others).  I personally commit to picking it up and being much more open about sharing with you guys.  I hope you're all on board with me.  

I'm not calling you out Kyle - you've been keeping this ship afloat.  

p.s. How about the Chicago Bulls?

A New Year's Resolution

I've never been one for new year's resolutions.  In fact, I've never made one before.  Being the cynic that I am, all I can do is scoff whenever someone tells me their "new year's resolution".  The problem for me is that it has always seemed like betterment for betterment sakes.  If you really wanted to change your life, you would just do it.  The coming or going of a year shouldn't have to control that.  I realize it's a good time to start, but the people that have the motivation and willpower to change their lives won't wait for a date of convenience.  That being said, I've decided to make a change this new year.  I've decided to become a vegetarian.  Muffle your groans, I have real reasons.  

As some of you may or may not realize, I'm somewhat of a hipster.  I wouldn't say I'm a true convert, soaking in the pools of blind faith, and fervent worship - but I'm definitely interested enough to stop by a couple Sundays a month and hang out with the crowd.  I even have the cloth shoes, black trimmed glasses, and Animal Collective discography to ward off anyone that would question my loyalty to the movement.  As of late, vegetarianism has a popular topic in these circles.  In an environment such as the United States, it's a very effective way to be counter cultural and draw attention to yourself.  That is very annoying.  I knew a good number of people that when I'd ask them, "Why are you vegetarian?", they could produce nothing more than vague ramblings.  That is not to say everyone was like this.  There are several, prominent examples in my life of people that have wholeheartedly made the life-choice for great, logical, Godly reasons.  Each of them taught me that's its a personal decision that one needs to make for personal reasons.  Ever since then, I've known the mounds of statistics and all the formal arguments against meat consumption (primarily in the United States).    But for all the facts, there was never a reason that emotionally resonated with me.  


Eating is one of the most social things we do as a society.  That means that becoming a vegetarian is not only about you.  You're bound to run into countless, awkward situations that start with you gingerly saying, "I'm actually a vegetarian." and then ending with an awkward silence.  For me, statistics, no matter how convincing, couldn't motivate me to make the leap.  [They are pretty good statistics though.]  For the past couple of years it has remained in the back of my mind.  Even this past term in India it had come up several times.  I'm a obsessive Google Reader user and these were two of the more memorable articles I read - one an interview for a book from the author of Everything is Illuminated and then a crazy response by Natalie Portman to the book.  Yet even these weren't enough.  But alas, last term I found my personal reason. 

One of the churches here in Mussoorie (the town I live in) has a reputation for particularly dance-happy youth.  My roommate and I decided to throw a dance party at our house before he went back to the states.  We approached their proverbial leader and proposed the idea.  He was ecstatic.  We made plans for everyone to come over next weekend on a Sunday afternoon.  We could all make momos (a labor intensive tibetan dumpling) together, eat, and then dance into the night.  We said, "Bring 15 to 20 people.  We'll provide the food."  Not too surprising, by the time the next Sunday rolled around, there weren't 15 to 20 people in our house, there were upwards of 60 to 70.  Word spread all around the church community in Mussoorie.  So pretty much anyone under the age of 25 that attended a church in Mussoorie was in our house.  We clearly weren't prepared for this, so we had to leave and get more food.  We had buff (which is buffalo meat, since you can't get beef 'cause it's India) from a town down the mountain.  Buff is actually unofficially illegal in Mussoorie itself.  I was going to go get more chicken but then someone said they knew where to get buff in Mussoorie.  I said ok, knowing it would probably be good knowledge to have.  Anyways, we went down to the market on his scooter and parked it.  There was a small stairwell between two store fronts that we descended down.  The sun was setting, making the whole scene even more sinister.  We were in tight residential area, smashed behind the market.  The paths were so narrow and the buildings so narrow, that the only light came from haphazardly strung up lanterns every 100 feet.  We were walking around and around in places that seemed almost completely indistinguishable when suddenly he stopped and knocked on a door.  It was just a house.  A  man opened the door.  They both exchanged Hindi greetings and we walked in.  It was just a man's living room.  We asked for 2 kg of buff.  The man went behind a curtain and brought out a gigantic piece of meet that was easily as tall as he was.  He threw it on the floor and started cutting it.  You might think this is the moment I wanted to become a vegetarian.  It wasn't.  I actually thought it was really cool to see the physical meat and to see him physically cutting it.  Anyways, we took our meat, paid the man and returned to the party heroes.  

The party was a lot of fun.  There were squads of people tackling different parts of the momo making process.  Everyone was engaged and having fun.  Eventually, after many hours, the momos were officially done cooking.  We had made over 400 momos.  There were two large buckets full of momos to show for it.  The sheer amount of momos was absolutely overwhelming.  Yet during the delicious gorging of momos that commenced, I noticed a small pot on our stove pot.  I thought, "What is this?  We have enough momos to feed a small village."  I stepped out of line and walked over to see a pot of Maggi noodles (the equivalent of Ramen noodles here) boiling.  I looked around trying to find the owner.  Suddenly several individuals that had been invisible before stood out.  They were standing in the corner talking amongst each other.  They weren't hiding.  They weren't sad.  They had smiles on their faces.  They were just the only people in the room that weren't eating momos.  I knew some of them so I walked over and asked them what was going on.  One of the simply responded, "We're all vegetarians."  I was shocked.  Then immediately, I was shocked that I was shocked.  You may think it not very odd for an Indian to be a vegetarian.  You'd be right most of the time.  But it's very odd for an Indian Christian to be a vegarantian.  I  had never made that connection before I came here, but in 5 short months I associated Christian with meat eating.  They each went around and told how they had come from Hindu families (that still remained largely Hindu) and how important diet was to their families.  It may not have meant much to anyone else in the room, but to their families it meant a lot.  Their families, like me, associated Christianity with eating meat, to the point where many people around India think that people convert to Christianity so that they can eat meat.  All of a sudden, my chicken and buff momos weren't so appetizing.  

It just dawned on me that diet is such an important issue all around India.  People's lives revolve around it.  People's lives are judged by the choices they make in this circle.  I can understand  how this can be important, but it's not.  Diet is not something of eternal significance, at least not anymore.  That's something that Christianity teaches us.  Yet not everyone else feels this way.  For me it all suddenly became clear.  The best way to fight this notion isn't to do whatever I want, because it means nothing to me, but to respect other people's beliefs since I know it will mean something to them.  That's why I decided to become a vegetarian, because I'm venturing to show people that Christianity isn't about meat but about Christ.  

The statistics are also helpful.