Just married!

A few days ago... Lisa and I married this past weekend in Friedrichshafen by Lake Constance in Germany! It was a really wonderful day for us and we were blessed with great weather and lovely fellowship with guests from near and far!

Here is a first wedding photo...

Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:10)

The Black Forest in white

At the beginning of this month, I moved to a small village in the Black Forest close to Freiburg. The Black Forest is a very beautiful part of Germany and with all the snow we have had here recently, the Black Forest has turned white! And this makes it all the more beautiful!

Below are some photos taken today just outside my new apartment.

The Black Forest has turned snow-white and all the more beautiful. This has reminded me of a spiritual truth from the Bible. In His word, God tells us how He can transform our sinful hearts to make them clean and white as snow:

"Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." (Isaiah 1:18)

 

The Bible tells us that we all are sinners and because of this, we are separated from God and His glory (Romans 3:23). As sinners, we are condemned to death (Romans 6:23). But God loves us and sent His only Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross in our place for our sins (Romans 5:8). Those who turn away from their sins and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ are saved and made new (Romans 10:9).

 

After David sinned greatly, he prayed to God:

"Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." (Psalm 51:7)

 

You, too, can believe in Jesus Christ today and receive forgiveness for your sins. Only Jesus Christ can change your sinful heart into one that is clean and as white as snow.

 

No continuing city

Happy New Year from Weiterstadt, Germany!

As we start out 2013, my thoughts are directed to the Bible verse for this year:

For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come. (Hebrews 13:14)

The name of my hometown Weiterstadt actually means "continue city" or "further town". Simply the name of my town can remind us that there is more to life on this earth and to life in my town.

 

This is why I called my blog Here today and gone tomorrow. It is the story of my life. One day here, another day somewhere else. Having grown up in Germany, I then went to study in the USA, then studied in England, then worked in Ireland, then worked in Germany, then studied in England again and now am back in Germany, preparing for service abroad. This month, I am in my hometown Weiterstadt and next month, I plan to move to Freiburg to live closer to my fiancée and be involved in the ministry of our sending church before we get married in June. We will then find a new place to live but only until we are ready to move to our next home in Mexico.

 

And yet, all our living and being in towns and places on this earth is only for a short time and serves as preparation for where we will spend eternity. Those who have trusted in Jesus Christ and lived for Him can look forward to leaving this earth and living with Christ in the city that is to come, the heavenly Jerusalem.

 

This is how the apostle John describes the future city God has prepared for His people:

 

And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. (Revelation 21:2-7)

 

This is the wonderful future and everlasting city for God's children. A place where all things are made new. No more death, no more sorrow, no more crying, no more pain. A place where God dwells with His people and wipes away their tears and gives His children water from the fountain of life. A place where life never ends - a continuing city. This is what God has prepared for His people. Now is the time for us to prepare and get ready for the continuing city that is to come.

 

For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come. (Hebrews 13:14)

A Whispered Yes

The following short poem is not my own creation but expresses my feelings following my engagement to Lisa earlier this month:

A Whispered Yes

Stunning sometimes to ponder

that all my future knowing

and all my future doing

will be a knowing-with and doing-for;

that you love me enough,

and love me yet,

to whisper me a Yes with your life.

The poem is one of many written by John Piper for his wife Noël, some of which have been collected in his book Velvet Steel: The Joy of Being Married to You.

We're engaged!

Some of you have seen this coming for some time, for others this may come as quite a surprise... I am now engaged to the love of my life, Lisa Sauer!

How God brought us together



Lisa and I first met at the end of February last year when she came to visit a friend at the Bible school in England where I was studying. As she stayed there for several weeks, we were able to get to know each other a little and also like each other. But neither of us realised at that time that the interest was mutual. After Lisa left, we communicated a little via Facebook, but when one message was not delivered, both of us thought that the other was no longer interested. Besides that, I didn't think I had much of a chance with her anyways as I was in England training to serve God in Mexico and Lisa was studying in Germany. So there was no more communication between us for the rest of the year...



But all the while, both of us were hoping to find that special person to love and be loved by, a person who loved Jesus above all else. I was praying that God would give me a wife who would want to join me in serving God in Mexico. Unbeknownst to me, Lisa's prayer to God regarding her desire for a future husband was that he would be someone who wanted to serve God in a foreign country.



In recent years, there have also been other young women who I was interested in, but those relationships never came to anything. I never had a girlfriend. I knew that marriage was good because it was instituted by God and I knew that He had given me a desire to be married, but I could not understand why God never seemed to bring that person into my life. I prayed earnestly to God that He might give me a wife and that He would make me into a man after His own heart, a man who would be able to love his wife “as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.” (Ephesians 5:25) I also prayed that God would take my desire for a wife away if His plan was for me to remain single. As I got to know God better and as I learned more about Him in the Bible during that time, He gave me an unshakeable confidence in three of His wonderful attributes:
 

1)      God is all-powerful and completely sovereign.

“For with God nothing shall be impossible.” (Luke 1:37)

I rested in the fact that it was not beyond God’s power to give me a wife. He was completely in control of all things and could do so anytime and anyway He pleased.

 

2)      God is all-loving and completely good.

“How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God!” (Psalm 36:7)

I rested in the fact that God loved me and desired my good. I had already experienced His love and goodness to me in so many other areas and I knew that He was hearing my prayers.

 

3)      God is all-knowing and completely wise.

“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” (Romans 11:33)

I rested in the fact that God would answer my prayer in the way that was best for me and that would give Him the most glory. In His wisdom, God would know best why it would be better for me to wait. And if He did not intend for me to marry, then I knew that He knew the reasons for that.

All in all, the more I learned about God through His word and the experiences I was going through, the more I learned I could trust Him, knowing that He would do and give me what was best.

In the words of Charles Simeon,

Infinite wisdom has arranged the whole with infinite love; and infinite power enables me – to rest upon that love. I am in a dear Father’s hands – all is secure. When I look to Him, I see nothing but faithfulness – and immutability – and truth; and I have the sweetest peace – I cannot have more peace.

As time went on, I believed more and more that I would not marry before going to Mexico. And I was content with that because I knew my God and I knew He loved me and was sovereign over all of my life’s circumstances. I had placed all my hopes and desires and my life into God’s hands.

And then, at the beginning of this year, God showed me again just how sovereign and good and wise He truly is…



On 16 January 2012, I received an e-mail from Lisa in which she asked me if I could correct an English paper she had to do for one of her classes. The paper was about Mexican immigrants to the USA and she knew me as a native English speaker who was preparing to go to Mexico. She had no other intentions or ulterior motives in sending me that e-mail – just hoping to find someone to correct any spelling or grammar mistakes in the paper.



Well, I was delighted to hear from her after such a long time and, of course, very happy to help her with her paper. It also then gave me the opportunity to ask her how she was doing and what her future plans were etc. And so our communication became more and more frequent and extensive and we learned more and more about each other and found that we had a lot in common. I prayed that God would make it clear to both of us if He intended to bring us together. And God answered prayer. Our communication was very much focused on God and on what He was doing in our lives. I also learned and was very pleased to hear about her interest in having a part in bringing the gospel to other parts of the world. We quickly found out that we were interested in one another. During a long phone conversation, in the early morning hours of 15 March, after much prayer and with much nervousness on my part, I told her that I loved her and I was pleased that God had answered my prayer and my declaration of love was well received. What followed was a series of short visits – often only on weekends – during our school year until Lisa came to my graduation on 19 July. Since that day, we have enjoyed a time period of over a month in which we were able to spend every day together, visiting family and friends in England and Germany and celebrating our birthdays on 6 and 12 August.
 

Our engagement



After celebrating my birthday at my mother’s house, we had arranged that the three of us would travel down together to Lake Constance to celebrate Lisa’s birthday at her parents’ house with her two older sisters and their families and her younger brother. At the beginning of June, I had the opportunity to see Lisa’s parents in private and ask them for her hand in marriage. I was so thankful to God to receive their permission and their blessing.



On 11 August, the day before Lisa’s birthday, I told her that I wanted to take her to Lake Constance in the early morning of her birthday so that we could enjoy the sunrise together. So we left the house at around 5.25 a.m. and we found a nice spot by the lake. Before the sun had risen, at about 5.55 a.m. on 12/8/12, I asked Lisa if she would marry me and she replied, “YES!!!” :-)

After I placed the ring on her finger, we enjoyed the sunrise together, which was at about 6.15 a.m. We were the happiest two people on earth in those moments.

When we returned to the house for breakfast, we found the entrance decorated with flowers and the family was ready to congratulate us. As it was Sunday, we went to church in the morning and then also were very pleased to announce our engagement there.

We had a lovely afternoon together with the family and then went out to the lake again in the evening where we saw a beautiful sunset. What a special day this had been! We started the day as an engaged couple watching the sunrise and ended it together with our family watching the sunset.

We want to join the Psalmist in saying,

Praise ye the LORD. Praise, O ye servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD.
Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time forth and for evermore.
From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD'S name is to be praised.
(Psalm 113:1-3)

Apart from giving thanks to our family for making it such a special day, we want to thank and praise our God, not only for that day, but for all that He has done for us and for how He brought us together and how we can look forward to a life together with Jesus in the centre.

This is the LORD'S doing; it is marvellous in our eyes.
(Psalm 118:23)

Learning Sicilian

Recently, I have been very busy in my studies in linguistics (and I still am!). We are now working on our final big project before we finish the linguistics course at the end of July. For this project, I am now learning Sicilian together with two other students. We have a Sicilian language helper named Daniele who has been meeting with us every day for two hours for the past 5 1/2 weeks.

During those meetings, we ask him to say various things in Sicilian while we make an audio recording of what he says and try to write it down for ourselves using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).

I have now collected 1,149 utterances (these can be either individual words or whole sentences). Our assignment is not to learn to speak the language, but rather to analyse it and hand in a write-up of the phonetics and grammar of the language. And this takes much longer than you might think!

Thankfully, we have a week-long break coming up shortly, but after that I will spend many, many hours trying to make sense of Sicilian and present my findings on paper!

Why study the Bible?

As some friends of mine have just started a weekly Bible study in Uxbridge (West London), I was reminded again of how important it is to read and study and obey the word of God.

But why is studying the Bible so important? There are many good reasons: the Bible teaches us the truth about God, it tells us the good news of Jesus Christ and what He has done for us, and it shows us how we can be reconciled to God and receive the forgiveness and eternal life that Christ offers. These are not just peripheral matters - they are life-and-death matters! The apostle Peter once famously said to the Lord Jesus,

Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. (John 6:68)

Perhaps one of the best statements I know about the Bible and why and how we should read it is found in some editions of New Testaments distributed by The Gideons International, such as this one:

The text reads as follows:

The Bible contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers. Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its histories are true, and its decisions are immutable.


Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, and practice it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you.


It is the traveler’s map, the pilgrim’s staff, the pilot’s compass, the soldier’s sword and the Christian’s charter. Here too, Heaven is opened and the gates of Hell disclosed.


Christ is its grand subject, our good its design, and the glory of God its end. It should fill the memory, rule the heart and guide the feet. Read it slowly, frequently and prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure.


It is given you in life, will be opened at the judgment, and be remembered forever. It involves the highest responsibility, rewards the greatest labor, and will condemn all who trifle with its sacred contents.

Why not take some time now to read the Bible?

The Bible:
Pray it in. Read it through. Live it out. Pass it on.