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God is Faithful…

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“He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.” (1 Thes. 5:24 ESV)


Recently I was asked to share what God has been teaching me as of late and I quickly replied with three words – GOD IS FAITHFUL.

There is nothing earth-shattering about this, is there? No. It’s a truth about God that I have seen and known for years, but in the midst of my life over the last couple of years I have forgotten this truth that is, indeed, earth-shattering! See in the midst of betrayal, slander, lies, disappointments, selfishness, people not holding their comments and the like (These are a few of the things that I have struggled through in the past couple years.), we forget that God is faithful. I’m not sure why, but I forget this and some how, some way, God always brings me back. Brings me back to the realization that He is faithful and all he requires of me, is that I am faithful back and He will take care of the rest!
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legacy – václav havel

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Since my grandfather passed last week, I’ve been considering legacy and what it means to have a lasting legacy. It’s been rather introspective and I think that it has been healthy for me. Asking yourself questions like, “What do I want my legacy to be?” or “If I were to leave this world today, what would be legacy be, how would people remember me?”, can produce change and resolve in your life. I had begun thinking about this as I sat on the 10 hour flight from Munich to Chicago on Wednesday, but yesterday waking up to the news of Václav Havel passing was another wave hitting me. (Havel was the first president of Czechoslovakia and then Czech Republic after the fall of communism, as well as a notable dissident that helped lead to the collapse of communism in then Czechoslovakia. Here’s a wiki page on him.)

I never met Havel, although I wish I could have met him, but his legacy and life impacted this kid from Lake Geneva, WI that lives, and calls home, Havel’s homeland. Sadly, some over look the impact Havel had and some question it. Or better, some question the man himself. I’m not claiming the Havel was a saint, he was a broken man like you and I, but there have been a few Czechs throughout history (another couple are Jan Hus and Jan Amos Komenský, or John Amos Comenius, to just name a couple.) that I admire and I pray that there would be more Czechs like them. Czechs that exhibit and embody the same values and qualities that made these Czechs heroes!

My director, wrote on Facebook last night, “Where are the Havels of this generation?” I would love to see “Havels” of this generation, “Havels” that aren’t concerned about themselves, but their countrymen and strive for higher virtues than “what’s best for me.” To my Czech friends, and non-Czech friends too, I would challenge you all to honor the legacy of Havel, by striving for, living out and embodying the ideas, values and virtues that made Havel the culture changer that he was! That is honoring his legacy! Yes, mourn and remember him, but remember him and honor him, by being the change that the Czech Republic so badly needs! By the way, my prayer is that the same passion that was seen last night on Wenceslas Square and throughout Prague, and the country, would be put into practice and lived out with passion! Here’s a moving video of last night’s celebrations of Havel, his life and his passing.

I have watched that video several times. As I watch it I pray for the country, I call home now, that something deep will happen. I pray that God would use the passing of this influential man to change the Czech Republic and ultimately draw more people to Himself. Please pray with me to this extent!

Here’s a couple of notable quotes from the man who helped change the course of history in the Czech Republic:

“Love and truth must triumph over hate and lies.”

“The tragedy of modern man is not that he knows less and less about the meaning of his own life, but that it bothers him less and less.”

“Man is in fact nailed down — like Christ on the Cross — to a grid of paradoxes . . . he balances between the torment of not knowing his mission and the joy of carrying it out, between nothingness and meaningfulness. And like Christ, he is in fact victorious by virtue of his defeats.”

“The only lost cause is one we give up on before we enter the struggle.”

“You do not become a “dissident” just because you decide one day to take up this most unusual career. You are thrown into it by your personal sense of responsibility, combined with a complex set of external circumstances. You are cast out of the existing structures and placed in a position of conflict with them. It begins as an attempt to do your work well, and ends with being branded an enemy of society.”

That’s just scratching the surface of the quotes you can find, click here to find more.

hello world, my name is zach

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Hello world, my name is Zach and I do have a blog! Recently, I picked up my phone and my father was on the other end of the line, he asked, “What’s up with your website?” As I have said before, when life seems to be getting the most of me, my blog is the first thing to go. I apologize profusely for this and as I wrap up the year that was 2010, I’m trying to think through how I can write more and keep this blog more updated in 2011. So here is a quick entry to end the year right on my blog and hopefully set the tone for 2011 (will it really be 2011?!?!? Crazy!)

So what had been keeping me busy this fall? These guys and everything going on around them! (By the way, F.A.M.I.LY. stands for Forget About Me I Love You. We disovered this from Rutgers University. I love what it teaches. To put my team and teammates before myself!)

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My fall was full of x’s and o’s, practices, game plans, conversations, games and lots of time with my team of 50+ guys (including coaches)! I loved it and more over I love these young men. I’m so blessed to be able to to be their coach and then some (or I least attempt to by more than a coach) to them. This season got off to a different start for us as we had our training camp outside of Prague, which included a leadership program we call “Srdce Lva” (“Heart of Lion”). In our leadership program, we discuss and ponder our team values – Tradition, Courage, Hardwork and Faithfulness/Loyalty. Beyond covering our team values, we talk about being a champion on and off the field, making a positive difference in our teammate’s lives and on our greater society and more! One of the greatest things about my fall, was that these young men bought into the plan and the program.

Them buying in carried us through our season and into the Championship game, which we won 34-23 over our cross-town rivals, the Prague Panthers. It was a hard fought game on both sides, but when it was said and done, our guys held on and we came out as Back-to-Back Champs! Here are a couple of vids. The first one, is our entrance to the field, which I happened to borrow from The Ohio State. It’s called “the Hive” and it represents that no one can divide us and we are a team to the very end. I hope this becomes a tradition amongst the Lions for years to come in some form, because I believe it is one of the greatest values we can teach the kids, that no matter what it is better to forgive and fight for unity than to divide! That’s character! The second video is our Championship Game highlight video!



I also said that we try to teach, and live out, that we want to be Champions off the field. I think I can, humbly, say that has happened this fall. Parents thanked me for an improvement in their sons grades (we did grade checks) and over all approach to life. How cool is that?! I received some of the most heart felt text messages and emails from parents and players! It’s worth it! They are worth it! In stressing being champions off the field, we also try to do good things for others. Recently, a few of us visited one of Prague’s main hospitals to bring some Christmas cheer, joy, gifts and motivation to children who are battling through cancer! Here is a short video from our visit.

If you are wondering what the Dominate shirts and bracelets are visit my friend’s, Phil, facebook page Cancer Kicker to find more information about how Phil is dominating Cancer! You can also join the domiNATION there!

There you have it, finally a new post and a new update! Thanks for all two of you that continue to stop by! Have a Revolutionary Christmas!

my tweet detox

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twitterI’ve caught lots of grief from friends, both in Prague and in the States, about my twitter (Don’t know what Twitter is? Where have you been living? Sorry for the sarcasm, here’s an explanation.) habit over the last year or so. It’s actually been pretty entertaining at times. I’ve been “defrieneded” on facebook (because I send my tweets to fb) due to my tweeting habit and then I’ve had others say they love it. Quite a contrast, isn’t it? In the midst of this, I’ve actually grown to enjoy twitter and the positives of tweeting and being on twitter. Here are some of the positive that come to my mind (I’m not trying to be a twitter evangelist, but you can read others for that.):

  • Feeling connected with friends that are an ocean away.
  • Being able to pray for those friends as they are doing life and ministry. I know I can do this without Twitter, but it’s a good reminder.
  • People standing with me in prayer. It’s cool knowing that when I tweet there are people that will read it and lift me or that request up in that moment.
  • Being challenged theologically, biblically and so much more. I love that I have such a difference people, whom I follow, that are constantly challenging me through their short 140 character messages.
  • It’s taught me to be brief, well briefer, or should I say getting to the point, if that’s possible! Those of you that know me, know that I’m not one who is lost for words ofter, and I struggle with being concise. Well 140 characters, let’s say, is a bit of challenge for me.
  • It’s entertaining. I follow some people that just make me laugh. Living in Prague and the challenges that it can present, I find myself needing to laugh more. Twitter brings laughs through some hilarious people.

Those are some great things, yeah? But I’ve also seen negatives of the world of tweeting and those are why I did my short week plus tweet detox. Here are the negatives for me:

  • It consumes my life. I find myself not wanting to miss a tweet and in not wanting to miss a tweet, I can live on on twitter (actually my iPhone). This is the main reason I said, “I need a tweet detox.”
  • With it being time consuming, I don’t want to look at a screen more than the faces of people in front of me! So it can rob me of relational time. I want to engage the person, who is actually in front of me, in conversation, with my heart and not stare as some well-picked profile pic.
  • Tweeting can lead me from my identity in Christ and who I actually am. I can fine, or have found myself, worried about being some of other guy – who will wow people, make me people roll laughing, make people ponder the deepest of thoughts and so on. I have found myself trying to reinvent who I am, because of others, instead of simply being me, Zach Harrod.

There is why I did my detox. Some of you out there, might think I’m needing some professional help. No worries, I don’t think I am addicted and I think where I am is actually very healthy. However, needless to say, I needed to step away. I needed to see, what life was like without twitter. If I could do it in a healthy and redemptive manner. I was led to asking this, because recently I’ve had good friends hang up there tweeting (or fb) cleats and have called it quits because social networking was consuming them. I give these friends credit that they acknowledged it was affecting them in negative ways. With that said, I think my week plus, was enough to strip me of the negatives of my tweeting, enough to me, to still do relationship with those around me and live in a way that is healthy, while still tweeting. It’s actually been more refreshing since the detox, I don’t feel the pressure to tweet or to read every tweet. I also can actually enjoy twitter redemptively now! Who knew that was possible?!?! No if I could only get back on the blog train and write regularly! We shall see… Thanks for stopping by!

humility and pride.

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humilityandpride

pride.

Do you have it? I’ll be honest, apart from Christ, I am a prideful jerk. I know it and it tears me up. I find myself daily wrestling with myself and the deep, selfish pride that I know I’m capable of. I’m thankful I wrestle with it though, because if I ever get to the point where I don’t, I pray earnestly that I’m no longer breathing and I’m in heaven. Why? Because I never want to be okay with the pridefulness that resides in me and/or the amount of pride I’m capable of, because when you are okay with it, the fights done. The pride wins. I refuse, as far as I am able, to let pride win!

But what is pride exactly?

Pride defined:

1pride \?pr?d\ n
1 : the quality or state of being proud: as
a : inordinate self-esteem : conceit
b : a reasonable or justifiable self-respect
c : delight or elation arising from some act, possession, or relationship ?parental pride?
2 : proud or disdainful behavior or treatment : disdain
3 a : ostentatious display
b : highest pitch : prime
4 : a source of pride : the best in a group or class
5 : a company of lions
6 : a showy or impressive group ?a pride of dancers?

Pride can have some positive definitions, but it can also have sicking definitions that reek of sheer arrogance played out in life. In fact, when you look at the Bible and what God thinks of pride, it’s not positive! I don’t want to share with an exhaustive word study on pride but I did want to share with you some things I’ve been kicking around and a couple of resources. The first resource, is simply a link on the word PRIDE in the Bible. (click here) I encourage you to click away, then read away, the pray away, and then repent away! Sit in some of these verses and ask God to work you and your heart over, thus exposing your pride!

The other resource is a talk from Mark Driscoll at Mars Hill Church, in Seattle, WA. I had the opportunity to visit Mars Hill Church a few weeks back and I happened to be there for the start of their new series and the first talk – HUMILITY! It was like a 2×4 board to the face, especially about 10 minutes in when I thought, “So and so should listen to this!” That is when God swung the spiritual 2×4 and hit me right between the eyes and I realized that I needed just as bad, if not worse than “so and so.” Here it is, listen to it, journal it and see what God might say to you….


Beyond that, I’ve pondered things like, “How do I know I’m living a prideful existence?”
PRIDE CHECK – here are somethings that I came up with, as “pride checks” to spot it in my life:

  1. Thinking something like, “I’m not ‘that’ prideful.” Denial, very often, IS the first sign we are suffering from “said” thing.
  2. An unwillingness to listen to the opinions and/or thoughts of others.
  3. Any, and I do mean ANY, from of prejudice in my heart. I’ll be real, I see surprising things come out of my own heart as I ask this one, living in a foreign country.
  4. Refusing to apologize, even if I know I was wrong.
  5. An absolute belief that “I’m always right.”
  6. Thus the inability and unwillingness to say the 3 words, “I was wrong.”
  7. Self-righteousness. Enough said.
  8. Lack of repentance towards God or anyone else for that matter.
  9. Isolating myself and not giving others the opportunity to call me out.
  10. Refusing to submit myself to godly leadership.

There are 10 PRIDE CHECKS that I’ve been asking of myself as of late. How did you do? If you think you made it through the list, you should probably start over and dig a little deeper in your soul and life! Ask God, by His Spirit, who give you eyes to see your junk and the courage to repent of it.

Before I close this entry (which again, isn’t attended to exhaustive, but to serve as a launching point) I want to share with you, what I keep coming back to as the solution to my own pride – the Gospel – the fact that “I’m more prideful, sinful, hated, despised by God, wretched and much, much more than I could ever imagine outside of Christ BUT (thank God there is a BUT here) in Christ I’m more loved, cherished, clean, pure, innocent and so on infinitely more than I can even begin to imagine!” It’s this that is the answer to our pride. It’s running to the Gospel of Christ – the only truly humble and pure person ever to walk this planet died in my place, even though I was a rebel against him and I was vile. He graciously hung there for me and my sins, so that I would be made right before God! It wasn’t anything I did, nothing I could contrive. Oh how beautiful this Gospel (Good News) is! It’s so beautiful and deep, and yet simple and to the point. So I will choose today, right now, to apply this Gospel to my life and allow God to gut me of my pride for my good and His glory! Will you join me? Will you fight the pride?

thanks vaclav!

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thanks_vaclav

I’ve said it before, I like former Czech president, Vaclav Havel. I’m not going to lie, I think the man is intriguing. Do I agree with everything he says, or has said, or does, or has done? Absolutely not! He is indeed a broken and imperfect man, like myself, but the man still intrigues me. Some time ago I shared some quotes and thoughts from Havel on Life Post-Communism and recently, courtesy of Bloomberg.com, we have some more thoughts from him. Last week I read an article over at Bloomberg.com, entitled, Havel Laments Czech Future as ‘Consumer Palaces’ Occupy Nation and I was once again intrigued and even encouraged by Havel.

palaces and the new cathedrals

Czechs are building “palaces of consumerism” that will occupy a third of the country in the next two decades, politicians can’t see farther than the next opinion poll and mobsters and money-changers have become the new economic elite, Havel said in an interview yesterday.

“Not many of us thought the door would be opened so quickly to all the mafiosi and back-street money-changers” who have now become “millionaires and billionaires,” he said. “We are living in the first truly atheistic society, and there’s no feeling that there is any kind of moral anchor.”

First off, it must be said, that in much of my reading and study of Czech history, that the cathedrals that you see all over the city of Prague or the country, for the most part were never full, but they served more as political statements of the ruling party, the Habsburgs (whom were Catholics), against Bohemian protestants. With that said, I won’t say that the malls have become the ‘new’ cathedrals replacing the actual cathedrals of this country, but I will say in many ways, Havel’s statement of “palaces of consumerism” is very true. I would even argue that, for the most part, these are the new cathedrals of Czech. They are places, where Czechs now find their identity, their meaning and more, and as the article says they are spreading and consuming the country at a frantic rate. This makes me wonder how the Gospel must be contextualized into this new trend.

It brings me back to something I’ve heard Keller say and I shared with our project this summer. A better way to communicate the need for the Gospel (sin), is in terms of idolatry. (Click here for a pdf from the Gospel Coalition from Keller on Idolatry in a Postmodern Age.) The essence of sin is idolatry when we elevate a good thing (a created) thing to an ultimate thing and thus we worship it. These new ‘palaces of consumerism’ that are taking over this country have been elevated to an ultimate thing, and at the end of the day they will leave the Czech people, and myself, left wanting.

How could I not find it intriguing when Havel said, “We are living in the first truly atheistic society” that lacks any moral foundation. Some might be critical of what ‘religion’ has done to the world, and I would agree. In the name of ‘religion’ or ‘God’ horrible things have been done and I lament over those many things, but something must be said of a culture that lacks “any kind of moral anchor.” When this happens, you see the things that Havel laments over – corruption, greed, lying and more. So my question to my Czech friends, or critics of ‘religion,’ is, “How is it working?” (NOTE: I say ‘religion’ because personally, I’m not fan of religion. Religion is man’s efforts to get to God to appease something above through doing so I will get out of this or that. I’m not down with that. I’m in a relationship with a God who has done what is needed, and in response to his doing, I give him myself.) I don’t ask this smugly, but brokenly, with a longing to see people here turn to something greater than the gods of consumerism, or even a presumed freedom of sorts (yes, even freedom, which is a ‘good thing’ can be elevated to an ultimate thing!). Is it working? And if it isn’t working, what must be done? Is there anything? I would not have relocated my whole life here if I did not believe in the depths of my soul that there is an alternative to all this!

it takes time

“When you have a beautiful table, or a piece of furniture, it can be kicked to bits in half a minute, but it takes weeks, months, to put it all together again,” Havel said.

It’s from this quote that I received much encouragement! Yes, Havel is referring to political change, and to a degree cultural change, but I can take heart in this quote. “Why?” Because it would seem as of late that I’ve been struggling with how hard it is to do “my job” or “work” here. In the midst of life – seeing people leave, being discouraged by not seeing results like I (we) would like to see, the difficulty of learning the language and more – I have felt discouragement creep in because ‘things’ don’t happen here on my ‘American timetable.’ I forget that it “takes weeks, months, to put it all together” and want to do it in a weekend. I was encouraged by this analogy, for this reason. It would be easy to tear the table apart or just throw it away because it would take too much time, or I could roll up my sleeves, get out my sander and other tools and go to work, realizing that it won’t happen in a day or a weekend but weeks or months – i.e. seeing lasting change here in this place isn’t going to happen in a short-term trip, or in a year of STINT, but years invested deeply, where I continue to trust God and roll up my sleeves, grab the lunch box and go to work.

Thank you Vaclav for your thoughts and encouragements! Even if you didn’t attend it (which I know you didn’t), or even if you think I’m a crackpot for what I believe and/or why I am here, my God used your words to give me some more insight on you and your countrymen, more ways to pray for you and your countrymen and also a heavy dose of encouragement. Thanks Vaclav!

religion? here? no thanks!

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religion_no_thanks

If you read my blog, with any regularity, I’m sure you have picked up on a theme about the spiritual climate of the Czech Republic – it claims to be one of the most atheistic countries in Europe, and even the world. Recently, I found a past link about the Czech Republic and religion that I found sad and interesting yet again. It was over at the ABC Prague blog, that I’ve blogged on in the past, but sadly it has gone quiet as of late. I thought this was worth blogging about as well, the post was Religion is not important for Czechs.

The Czech population belong to the five least religious nations in the world, it come from the research published by the Gallup company. Religion represents an important part of everyday life only for 21% of CR inhabitants. More unbelieving are only Norse with 20%, Danish with 18% and Swedish with 17% . Religion plays the lowest part in the life of the Estonians, where only 14% of the asked said it is important.

This research brought us the US company Gallup, they carried it out in 143 countries of the world. The most religious countries, on the contrary, are Egypt, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Those numbers are interesting, however from the point of view of an average Czech: If one comes to Moravia, which is the eastern part of the Czech Republic, there still might be some religious people, but in Prague, I personally met only two people who were active Christians in my entire life.

What I find interesting is that the countries they claim to be less religious than Czech – Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Estonia – all have something common about them? They are all in Europe! According to this poll the 5 least religious counties in the world are all European. I think that is a HUGE indicator about where things are in the world. I’ve said it before, that I think it can be argued that Europe may be the least reached continent in the world (see here also). I think this study from Gallup is further indication of this, but I do wonder how they conduct their studies, because 21% seems like an awfully high number for the percentage of Czechs, whom would say they are “religious.” It must be said, that even though the vast majority of people wouldn’t claim to be religious in any way, they, like all people, are deeply religious. It just isn’t directed to a deity, but to the presumed deities of self, beer, sex and/or the presumed identity of being one of, if not, the most atheistic countries in the world.

Sadly, the last sentence from the author of this post – about only meeting two active Christians in the whole city – is very accurate. Granted, being a Christian means I will know, and know of, many active Christians – both Czech and ex-pat. It’s still an interesting statement though. It makes me wonder. Wonder about the Church here in Prague. It makes me hurt – hurt for the author of ABC Prague, who has only met two “active Christians” in this whole city. Hurt for the many, many Czechs who might know a Christian, who might even be a ‘friend,’ who is a Christian and they may not even know it by word or deed of this Christian. Hurt that that church doesn’t seeming to be loving in word and deed in missional ways to this city. I hurt reading things like this, but I also pray, pray that God would break through it. Pray and long that God would stir the hearts of His people and they would turn to Him and in turn to Him they would be sent on mission, as missionaries, as every Christian is to be (John 20:21). I dream and long for the day that the Church of Prague, and Czech, would go out on mission from God. Some days would seem hopeless, but there is hope in the midst of it all – the resurrection and the empty tomb! I know you have heard it before, but I pray that it would never ever grow stale or boring to us! He, Jesus, conquered death, nothing would stop Him and His mission. So I pray and long in response to this Gallup poll and yet I also cling to the hope and promise of the truth of the empty tomb! Would you join me in praying and longing for this place? Would you join me in longing? Would you join me in pleading? Thank you!

slowing down…

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sick_zach_title

That’s me. That’s me learning a bit about slowing down. See the majority of this week I was quarantined to my house, and this particular couch is my favorite. You may ask, “Whom quarantined you Zach?” Simply put, God.

Yes, I said God. It wasn’t my boss, my coach, this culture or a co-worker, but God. God wanted to get my attention, he wanted me to slow down. See I’ve been going hard, like most of us, for quite some time and it would seem to have caught up with me. It was in this that God got my attention and caused me to slow down. This might make some people squirm a bit, saying that God has made me slow down, but I was reminded of it once again, as I read Psalm 23.

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake. vv. 1-3, emphasis added

I’ve always pondered and wondered about those verses I have in bold font. They are God acting statements, not me acting, but God acting. God makes me rest. God grabs my hands and leads me to quite places and into places of right standing before Him. God brings restoration to my soul. Why does God do all of this? For “His name’s sake.” So that He would be made much of in my life and in this particular situation, through my resting. Really? Can that be true? Can I rest in such a way that God is glorified?

He can be. Recently for the Czech Project I did a ‘foundations talk’ and I included some great stuff from my friends at Soma Communities in Tacoma, WA about our Gospel Identities and Daily Rhythms. You should head over to their site and check out what they are doing! One of the Daily Rhythms is (re)creating, and as I’ve been stuck in ‘my cave’ (i.e. flat) this week I’ve been reminded of what I heard Jeff Vanderstelt, pastor at Soma, share about the Daily Rhythms at a church planting conference here in Czech last fall.

“The Gospel also enables people to truly rest when not working, because they know that God is always working – they don’t have to worry that their lack of work will prevent the world from spinning.”

I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t say that Gospel always impacts the way I rest and I continually need it to. If I don’t believe this Gospel then I will falsely believe that I have far greater control than I can imagine, including far more control in respects to my salvation and the salvation of others. The Gospel should thus enable me to rest knowing that everything, everything is under God’s providential hand, thus enabling me to rest. There’s a bit more…

“Because God has accomplished everything necessary for our justification and is the one who will finish the work He started in us, we can rest. Whether working, playing, sleeping or creating – we rest in His work and His abilities and His power. Our rest then is not only a result of the Gospel, but a demonstration to the world not at rest in the gospel.”

I need not try to justify myself through ministry, work, maintaining an image or etc. Ultimately, if God has done the work of my justification I can rest and rest well. The question is, ‘Do I (you) rest well?’ Then by me resting well, I can demonstrate that I am not trying to save the world, that I’m not trying to work for my justification, but that I ultimately trust God. Of course, we need to be careful here and not take this to an extreme, becoming passive bystanders, that never do anything more than rest, claiming that God’s a work, therefore I need not do any more than rest. The Gospel calls us to rest and also act, but it impacts the way we rest and the way we act. Do you believe the Gospel this way? Do I believe the Gospel way? May we act with a deep love and boldness like never before believing this Gospel and may we also rest deeper knowing that God is on His thrown upholding “the universe by the word of his power” (Hebrews 1:3). Slowing down….

a cappuccino, a moleskine, and my esv bible…

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I love when God shows up! He surely did, while I was in Salzburg! As I headed out of Prague to Cesky Krumlov then Salzburg, on my short holiday I had a prayer that God would bring refreshment, encouragement and some peace in the midst of sight seeing, reading, train rides, caffeine, walks and life as of late. Surely, I wish I could have had some more time to work, process, pray, journal and more through the things that have taken, and that are going on right now, in life, but the moments I had were great.

The Saturday I was in Salzburg, I sat at the cafe capp&ccino (which was also the only place I could find WIFI) and over a cappuccino, my moleskine, and my esv bible app on my iPhone I had a sacred moment. It was almost like I should have taken my shoes off, for the place I was sitting felt holy to me. I love that my God isn’t a distant God that is aloof, but that is present and meets me! There at Capp&ccino the God of the universe met me. I sat there, reading through Colossians and writing page after page in my moleskine, God seemingly flooded me with the encouragement I needed.

The theme – love. Simply put, it was like God was whispering to my soul, “I love you. Relax. Take a deep breath. Through everything that has happened I love you. Did you hear that? I love you. I loved you, as you received criticism, as you made mistakes, as you wallowed in your pool of self-pity. In the midst of all of this – I loved you. Zach, hear this – I love you. I hung on a Roman cross for you, and punched death squarely in the jaw knocking him out, because I love you. Hear that Zach…” So, so good…. It was a couple hours of the Gospel being preached to me via the Holy Spirit, and also preaching the Gospel to myself. I once again, was reminded how badly I need the Gospel and why Paul said this to the Roman church (yes, the church, made up of believers, not simply nonbelievers), “So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. (Romans 1:15)” Oh, if I was eager to constantly preach the Gospel to nonbelievers, believers and myself, what would life look like around me? I’m not sure, but I’m grateful for another wake up call to the Gospel!

hope for the city, that I love, from the empty tomb

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“He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…” 1 Peter 1:3c

As Easter season was upon us, I returned to these words from 1 Peter once again for a fresh perspective in the midst of life and all that is going on for a large dose of hope. Especially in relationship to life here and also the prayer request of a dear friend of mine; it was simple – that God would give him HOPE in the midst of doing life and ministry here. Like my dear friend, I also find myself looking to God for hope in the midst of what appears to be a hopeless ordeal, situation, country, city and etc. After all, this country does claim to be the most atheistic country in all of Europe, and I would argue that per capita it might be the most in the world! In the midst of doing life and ministry, finding hope, and not just a plastic-wrapped, trite, pat super-spiritual hope, but a hope that is deeper than I could imagine. So here I am again, longing and looking for hope, in the midst of feeling somewhat hopeless.

I felt this sense of hopelessness once again a Easter weekend on our most recent road game (we are now 3-0) to the Eastern portion of Czech, Moravia. While on our way, we passed through the city square where there was a reading of the newest Bible translation in Czech. Actually, this is a very big deal. Let me explain this quick, as an aside of sorts. Quite, some time ago, I wrote about Sasa Flek and the new translation he was working on. Sasa’s work has been huge! This new Bible, Preklad 21. Století or 21st Century Translation, is in contemporary Czech, and it is very readable. Sasa’s heart is to get over a 1 million Bibles in the hands of his countrymen over the next 7 years! Please pray for this, please pray for him. Pray that God would use this to reach many Czechs, who might have never read the Bible before. From my understanding this is only the third translation of the Bible into Czech, in hundreds of years! Because of this, a Bible reading(s) commenced throughout the country and in many cities. While I’m excited that this took place, I also have a heavy heart about it, for the reason I’m about to tell you. While, it was admirable to set up Bible readings of the new translation in many town squares, I can imagine the challenge many Christians had with it. Christians and Christianity are very laughable to the average Czech, and from my understanding many of the churches, whom were asked to be part of this public reading were reluctant for several reasons, but the over riding two appeared to be – 1) this isn’t relevant to the Czech heart and/or 2) fear of being jeered at. It didn’t surprise me when a friend told me about the reactions of churches throughout the country; especially, when we drove past the square in Havirov and I witnessed this firsthand. As I said earlier, Havirov, is in Moravia, which is thought to be much, much more religious than Western Czech – Bohemia. This can be a debate for another time, but the scene in Havirov was very telling of the situation on a country-wide level. There were maybe four people on the big town square around the tent set up for the Bible reading – 4! All four, appeared to be there to help with the Bible reading. The square was so hopelessly empty, my heart sank for those four people and for other Czech Christians attempting to be faithful throughout the country, but my heart sank more from the reaction from within the bus.

Laughter. Jeering. And eyes on me.

The sad reality, that was the reaction inside the bus, was obviously very similar to the reaction outside the bus. Was it hard for me, personally? Of course, but that isn’t why I was torn up. I was torn up because of the sad reality of this country – apathy and indifference. Apathetic and indifferent are two words that most of my Czech friends would use to describe this situation/problem here. It is as if this apathy, or indifference, is so thick, so prominent, that you can just feel it, it’s palpable. As we drove past the reading and I listened to the laughs and the things said of the Bible reading, it was once again palpable. One of my teammates, looked at me and said, “Muses byt trpelivy tady.” (“You must be patient here.”) I nodded in agreement, but in my heart, my response to the indifference was hopelessness.

Palpable hopelessness. So thick I could cut it with a knife. I sunk into my seat and felt as if I had the weight of this country of 10.6 million pressing on me. Due to my personality, I often find my self swimming in the deep sea of hopelessness that can be found here in response to the person of Jesus, but this day, this day I speak of was different. I opened my Bible for encouragement and found it once again in 1st Peter. First Peter has been my source of finding hope, again and again over the last year or so. One reason is because of the very, very obvious verse from chapter 1, verse 3, but also because the churches that Peter was writing to were surely in very hopeless situations. Peter talked about suffering, submitting to authorities (whom were only adding to the suffering), living in community in the midst of suffering, and, um, did I say suffering?

Needless to day, the churches of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia certainly needed someone to convey the hope of the resurrection and the hope of Christ to them. Granted, I’m not fearing physical persecution and, by no means, is the jeering I receive anything on the level that the earliest Christians experienced, oh no, but I find hope in this book. I found hope in this book two weeks ago, while in the bus to our game.

“He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…” 1 Peter 1:3c

No matter, how bleak, no matter, how palpable the hopelessness may be, it will never be more than hopelessness expressed on the reverse side of the resurrection, the side that appeared to be only one of death, abandonment, ugliness, blood, scorn, and desperation. It is in this side, in this situation, that God moves. It is in the ugliness that God brought life, beauty, and redemption! As I read, 1 Peter 1:3 and reflected on things here, I felt a tidal wave of hope wash over me. Hope that the apathy and indifference, someday, at some point will find an end and God will bring beauty, life and redemption to this city and country I love so much. So now, for about two weeks, I’ve been praying ‘resurrection hope’ for my teammates, Czech friends, Prague and the whole of this country. I would encourage you to reflect on this ‘resurrection hope’ for your city, and for the ‘tribe’ (of people) that God has called you to.


May, as we plead for this hope, God bring resurrections to our cities, friends and countries, and when things are hopeless, may he fill our hearts once again with hope to love the city with all we have for His glory and the city’s good!

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