Life is going well here in sunny Floriday (it’s currently 72 and sunny out!).  I’ve been here for just over a week, and I’ve been incredibly busy.  I’ve learned all sorts of stuff about OneHope: history, philosophy, big picture type stuff of what’s going on the world.  I’ve been involved in brainstorming sessions, product development meetings,  and the like.

The main thing that has been going on is gearing up for our big annual conference called Hope Celebration.  It’s actually our 25th anniversary, so it’s a really exciting time.  We’ve got about 70 partners and representatives from all over the world here, so there is a lot going on.  We (the European division of which I’m a part) have folks in from England, Italy, Albania, and France, so on top of the conference we also get the pleasure of hosting our guests (making airport runs, which I actually enjoy; dinners; meetings, etc).

Hopefully this quick update at least fills in some gaps and gives you all a picture into what is going on down here.  I’ll probably be in Pompano Beach until March 13th-ish, and then I’ll fly out to England (we start filming for a program we’re developing there on the 15th).

I’ve got some more thoughts to share sometime soon, but duty calls, and I’ve got things to do!

Grace and peace,
Bear

Really. weird.

There is this inescapable bittersweet feeling; sadness at leaving what you know and love, but excitement at greeting the new and unknown.

For example, today I said goodbye to the house I’ve grown up in.  My parents are looking at potentially moving in the upcoming year, and so I have no idea if I’ll ever set foot in that house again.

Even nearer and dearer to my heart, I had to say goodbye to my family today as well.  After 22 years of being near them, it came down to a bunch of hugs and kisses in the airport, and then…just like that, they’re gone.  Here’s where it really hits home though: There is an absolute possibility I’ll never see them again.  Life is short, and the next time I’m counting on being home is Christmas–but neither I nor them are guaranteed the next ten months.

It’s at times like these when the promise in Mark 10:29-30 becomes all the more precious:

“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. 

I’ve had a great life.  There’s no other way to describe it.  I was blessed to be born into one of the most privileged countries in the world, into a loving family.

So why the heck am I leaving?

Well, here’s the thing:  I’m dead.  Or, to put it more eloquently: “I have been crucified with Christ.  It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” (Galatians 2:20)

Why did I choose to leave the great life and the family I love in Chicago-land?  Because this isn’t my life anymore; I’m dead.  My life is Christ’s life now, and get this:

Jesus loves the young people of Europe, so much so that he left the perfect life he had in heaven to die for them.  

And now I get the privilege of telling them that, seeing the looks on their face when grace hits home, and  welcoming them into the Kingdom of God.

I wouldn’t trade this for anything.

Grace and peace,
Bear

Here is the Cliffnotes version of what goes down (although I highly recommend reading it all for yourself):
-A God-fearing centurion from Caesarea named Cornelius  has a vision in which an angel tells him to send men to Joppa to find and bring back a man named Peter (10:1-8)
-The following day (as Cornelius’ men are en-route), Peter is praying and has a vision that is repeated three times.  The vision consists of a sheet being lowered from heaven, filled with all kinds of animals, and a voice saying, “Rise, Peter, kill and eat.”  However, there’s a slight problem: The animals on the sheet are of the kind that traditionally the Jewish people (of whom Peter was one) considered to be “unclean” based on the Mosaic Law.  Therefore, Peter’s response to the voice is negative: “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.”  Not to be undone, the voice from heaven responds, “What God has made clean, do not call common.” (10:9-16)
-Immediately afterward,  Cornelius’ men arrive at the place Peter is staying, and the Spirit instructs Peter to go with them without hesitation. (10:17-23)
- Peter and Cornelius’ men return to Caesarea, where they find Cornelius eagerly awaiting their arrival, along with all of his friends and family.  (10:24-33)
-Peter preaches to the party about who Jesus was and what he accomplished. (10:34-43)
-As Peter is still speaking, the Holy Spirit falls on the hearers.  They are then baptized, and Peter stays with them for a few days. (10:44-48)
-Peter returns to Jerusalem and is criticized by the Jewish Christians for fraternizing with the Gentiles (non-Jews) of Caesarea (a big no-no according to Jewish law). (11:1-3)
-Peter explains all that has happened and the Jerusalem believers are silenced, and then glorify God for including the Gentiles in his plan of salvation

Here’s why this event was so huge: Up until this point in time, God had been busy redeeming a people for himself–the Jewish people.  The Jews were fine with that plan.  Being God’s chosen people on the earth is a pretty good deal.  However, the truth was that God didn’t just plan on redeeming the Jews; he just hadn’t revealed the whole plan yet.  Here, in Acts 10 & 11, he reveals the final part: God is not bound by nationality (or ethnicity or geography or language or career choice), and he desires to redeem people for himself from every nation, tongue, tribe, and people.

There’s a reason I’m drawing this to our attention now.  I’m afraid that now, 2000 years later, we’re a lot more like the Jewish Christians than we like to admit.  Let me pose a question to you:

Are there groups of people whom, if you were to make it a point to frequently associate with, build relationships with, love, and care for, people within church would say, “How dare you!” or criticize or condemn you for?

I think there are.

Don’t you see?  That’s exactly what happened to Peter in Acts 11.  He returned to his home church in Jerusalem, and people there criticized him for associating with people who weren’t Jewish.

Hypothetical time:
-Rumors surface that your pastor has begun frequenting a gay bar, and in the ensuing months, multiple known, outspoken homosexuals from the area begin showing up at church.  What do you do?  What goes on in your head?  What do you think of them?  What do you think of your pastor?
-One of the young adults in your church sublets his apartment to a friend and proceeds to “move” into the inner city, where he befriends and lives with the homeless people there.  On Sundays, he arranges for a van full of them to come to church–dirty, smelly, cursing, sometimes hungover–and he grabs your teenage kids and introduces them to his homeless friends.  How do you respond?  What’s going through your head?
-A young lady starts to bring women to church whom, to put it nicely, dress “a bit scandalous.”  In the following weeks, you find out that these young women are actually prostitutes whom she has invited to live with her.  One of them has since come to know the Lord, but the others have not, and are still actively involved in prostitution.  What do you think?  What do you tell your kids?  How is your view of the young lady affected?

If I’m honest, when I think through the above scenarios, I hate the way I know I would respond.  I don’t like to admit it, but I know that I wouldn’t respond positively.  I know that I would judge them.  I know that on the outside, I would be all smiles and full of encouragement, but on the inside I would be afraid of getting my nice little “American Christian” hands dirty.

So…what now?  Where to go from here?

First off, I’ve found I need to repent, and if you’re in the same boat, you do too.  If Christ came for the lost and the sick and died for sinners (1 Tim. 1:15, Luke 5:31-32), then there is clearly something wrong in my head for not wanting to associate not caring about those people.

Secondly, life must change.  Repentance has to be followed up by life change, or it’s not true repentance.  Repent essentially means “turn;” it’s a 180-degree turn from the way I was living to the way I ought to be living.  It’s wrong of me to judge homosexuals.  It’s wrong of me to judge homeless people.  It’s wrong of me to judge prostitutes.  None of the above (and none on the planet) are worse sinners than I am; my self-righteous judging of them reveals something about the state of my heart.  If I had earned God’s love and forgiveness, than judging them would be alright–I had earned my standing, and so they could to, if they’d only try.  But if I’ve been saved by grace–given God’s love and forgiveness, freely, in spite of what I’ve done–than I have zero room to judge.

Lastly, here is my challenge to you:  Who are those people (or groups of people) that you would be criticized for associating with and trying to love and share God’s grace with?  Where can you find them?

Go and find them.  Go and befriend them.  Go and love them.  Go and show them boundless grace.

Chances are that if someone in your church would be criticized for associating with those people, so would people from other churches; and so odds are those people aren’t being loved at all.

So go.  And don’t be afraid to ruffle some feathers within the church.  Don’t ruffle feathers for the sake of ruffling feathers; but absolutely ruffle feathers for the sake of showing grace and introducing lost people to their Heavenly Father.

Peter did it.  Jesus did it (Matt. 9, Luke 5).  It’s time for us to do it.

Grace and peace,
Bear

Being home is good.  Very good.  I’m the type of person who tends to get so caught up in what I’m doing while I’m gone that I don’t think about home too often, but being home makes me realize once again what a blessing my family and church family and friends are.  God has been so good to me.

One other nice thing about being home after two incredibly full and fast-paced weeks in Italy is that I now have a bit of time to think and reflect on things.  Italy was fast-paced, but really the past month and a half have all been a crazy blur.  It’s exciting to start a new chapter of life, but because everything happened so quickly, I feel as if the reality is just now catching up with me.

On another note, I was reading in Matthew 10 today.  Matthew 10 consists of Jesus giving his disciples authority over diseases and evil spirits, and then sending them out with the charge to: “go…to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’  Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons…” (vv. 6-8)

That first bit sounds great, doesn’t it?  The Lord of all creation gives you his authority and tells you to go work miracles and preach.  Awesome.  I’d sign up for that. However, Jesus goes on with his instructions throughout the rest of chapter 10, and the picture gets a little less glamourous.  He goes on to say things like this:

“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves” (v. 16–not a good thing.  Wolves kill sheep.)

“Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues” (v. 17–Doesn’t sound like much fun anymore, huh?)

“Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake.” (vv. 21-22–Yikes.)

Maybe I’m all alone here, but at this point if I’m one of the twelve disciples, I’m raising my hand and asking about alternative plans of action.  The working miracles bit sounded great, but the flogging and being hated is a bit rough.  Surely there was another way?

But Jesus isn’t done with his speech yet.  I think the most striking part of Matthew 10 is verses 26-31:

“So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.  And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.  Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.   Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.  But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.  Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.“

It’s interesting here, because Jesus has just clued his disciples into the fact that they are going to be hated and beaten and possibly die for him, yet he follows that up by telling them repeatedly not to be afraid.  How can that be?  How does that even work?

I think that in verses 29-31, Jesus is sharing with his disciples the remedy for fear: knowing what their Father is like.  You see, he’s told them not to be afraid, but why shouldn’t they fear?  Because God cares for the sparrows, and not even one of them can be harmed without his leave.  Jesus then shares a mind-blowing nugget of truth with his disciples: “…you are of more value than many sparrows.”  That’s an astounding statement.  If a sparrow cannot be harmed or die without God allowing it to happen, how much more would that principle ring true in the case of a person, who is much more valuable than a sparrow?  Don’t miss the incredible two words in verse 29–Jesus is talking to the disciples about God, and he says, “Your Father.”  God is not just “the” Father or Jesus’ Father; no, he is the disciples Father.

Wow.

So then, what is the remedy for fear, and what does it mean for us?  The remedy for fear is an assured knowledge of the fact that God, my Father, has set his affections upon me and made me his child, and he is in absolute control of whatever comes my way.

What does this mean for me and for you?  Not only does Jesus show the remedy for wrongful fear of those who can kill the body but not the soul, but he also shows his disciples an appropriate fear–fear of the one who can kill both body and soul in hell (that would be God, in case you missed it).  Just as Jesus was sending his disciples out with the mission to take the Good News to people (some of whom would inevitably respond negatively and hurt or kill them), Jesus is sending you and I out today to bring the same Good News to the ends of the earth.  Similarly, people will inevitably respond negatively to the Good News, and it will result in hatred, beatings, and possibly death.  But regardless of the possible negative consequences, it’s the mission our King has given us, and knowing his love and healthily fearing Him above all else means that we will take completing our mission more seriously and important than any potentially adverse consequences.

Also, remember the flip side–yes, negative responses are inevitable.  But, if we are faithful to the mission, positive responses are also inevitable, and lost people will find their much-needed Savior.

So what’s this mean for me?  In short, it means this:  I’m responsible to God alone for being faithful to the mission he has given me.  If he gives me an opportunity to go to Somalia or to Iran or to Burma (all highly dangerous places) to share the Good News, I must go, despite any danger or possible harm.  If Christ calls me to harm or death in his service, then so be it–it is enough for me to be like my master (v. 25).

When I came to Christ and pledged my allegiance to him, I left my “claim” or “right” to safety and comfort behind.

And so, my friend, did you.

Grace and peace,

Bear

One Hope has a live-action (part animated, part live) film that they produced five years ago known as “The Godman.” It’s available for free on iTunes if you want to check it out. The Godman has been translated into a number of different languages so far, and our project this week has been to adapt it into an Italian version. We basically had a two-fold mission: 1) Film the live scenes with an Italian actor; and 2) Recruit a cast and dub the entire animated portion with Italian voices.

Myself, Adam, and a few others did the majority of the filming. We were able to get a clear presentation of the gospel into it, which is totally awesome, considering it will be shown to younger kids in schools all over Italy. Our narrator/actor Jonathan is from Milan and was a great sport.

My main man Matthew Reed was our sound engineer extraordinaire (he’s also a great musician, check out his cd “Come and Drink” on iTunes). He and a couple of the great girls on our crew headed up the dubbing project, which they will wrap up tomorrow.

The work here is coming to an end; it’s been an incredibly busy and productive couple of weeks. We’ve still got the potential of going to Naples (fun fact: Naples is the birthplace of pizza) on Friday to film up to ten more La Mia Storia interviews/testimonies, which I hope we’re able to do. Beyond that, we’ll mostly just spend today and tomorrow finishing up some odds and ends and packing up equipment and things like that.

More pictures and the like to follow!

Grace and peace,

Bear

As I believe I’ve mentioned before, the short film we’ve been filming is called La Mia Storia. It’s geared towards Italian youth, and will hopefully be shown in pretty much all Italian schools as part of their religious education classes.

I’ve learned absolute loads this week…a bit of audio stuff, but mostly lighting and camera work. We wrapped up filming on Thursday, then had a little “behind the scenes” interview session (picture below) and a big cast dinner (aka “wrap party”).

However, La Mia Storia is much more than a short film; it’s actually more of a massive campaign we’re doing in partnership with Italy for Christ. It includes a website (which all of our other resources will direct people to…it’s lamiastoria.tv if you’d like to check it out, but be forewarned, it’s in Italian!); it includes a short book which lays out the hope we have in Christ; and the newest bit includes interviews which we’re filming this weekend.

The interviews we are doing are phenomenal. They are set in the style of “I Am Second” and “The One Campaign” (you can google either one). We filmed our first one yesterday and gave it a really quick edit job so that we can show it at the conference…and I can’t believe it’s something I filmed.  It absolutely blows my mind.  The potential here is unbelievable…let me explain.

As I just mentioned, we did our first interview yesterday and quickly edited it.  It looks great, and it was of Jen, the daughter of one of our main Italian contacts.  All of the interviews consist of people telling their stories; most of them deal with people struggling with things our research has shown is typical among Italian youth (drugs, promiscuity, materialism, etc.).  They’re all mind-blowing, we’ve currently got seven done.  Nothing like this has ever been done in Italy before (that we can find); we’ve got young people being raw and honest about their highs and lows, their victories and successes, and how Jesus Christ and the Word of God have given them hope and changed their lives.  But here’s the kicker:

Lo and behold, yesterday, who should show up at our little 70 person conference but the secretary of the presidency of the Italian Senate, Senator Lucio Malan.  He’s a Christian and good friends with a guy we partner with, so he came out for the night.  Some people believe he may be the next President of Italy, if he decides to run at some point.  It’s a poor picture, but he’s the guy in the middle here: (his wife is on the right, and our friend, Guy Sotille, is on the left)

I was upstairs filming interviews and came down late for dinner, and just so happened to find the only open seat in the room, right next to the Senator.  We spent an hour and a half discussing politics, history, and religion–he gave me some really neat insight into the current state of the church in Italy.  I also got to hear his story and share with him my story and my hopes and dreams, which was so neat.
After dinner, he volunteered to be an interview candidate while he was there, and so I got to film an interview with him; well, actually it was more like two interviews–a stylish one in Italian for the website, and a pretty simple one in English for our One Hope partners.

All in all, absolutely incredible. God is doing some amazing things.  The interview with Senator Lucio will be used to make a huge impact not only in Italy, but also with people he is well known to and has relationships with in Belgium, Germany, and other European countries.  God is good…so good.

Tomorrow is the last day of our conference, and then on Monday we have a “free day” on which we’re supposed to explore Rome (all while shooting B-roll footage for various things, so it’s only sort of a free day).  I’ll try to update again shortly, I’d like to share with you guys about the cast of La Mia Storia (along with some prayer requests), so be looking out for it!  Ciao for now!

Grace and peace,
Bear

I’ve successfully arrived in Italy and begun working (and learning…lots of learning!)!  My first flight out of O’Hare to Atlanta was delayed on Sunday, but after getting re-routed via New York City, things went off without a hitch (although a middle seat on a 7 1/2 hour flight might be a hitch to some).  I arrived in Rome and successfully met up with the team in the airport, and then we headed out to our new home for the next few days!

We’re staying at the lovely Villa Fiorio in Frascati, Italy.  

Fun fact #1–the villa we’re staying in was formerly the house of Mussolini’s personal physician.

Fun fact #2–Frascati was one of the Nazi strongholds in Italy; on Monday we spent an hour or two in the center of town and saw from afar what I believe was the old Nazi headquarters (see below).

Today (Tuesday), we started filming!  We’re filming an Italian short film called “La Mia Storia” (“My Story”).  We’ve got four brilliant young Italian folks as our lead characters, and today went really well.  The film basically addresses issues that our research have found to be prevalent among Italian young people: drugs, pornography, etc.  However, what’s really neat about it isn’t just the fact that it’s being done incredibly well–we checked out some shots we got today and they look phenomenal–but that Lord willing, this film is going to be played in every public and Catholic Italian school.  If everything pans out, it essentially means that all every Italian school kid for the foreseeable future will be impacted by our message; it really does have eternal ramifications.

On another note, I think I’ve become the unofficial “lighting director.”  The role kind of got shoved on me, but I’ve already learned a lot.  I’m also assisting in the audio department.  Lastly, I got to play both an Italian adult at a funeral, and an Italian teen in study hall today (as an extra)!  It probably goes without saying, but it’s been pretty incredible.  At some other point I’ll try to include photos and brief descriptions of all of our team, so you can meet the gang.

Oh…it’s also pretty cool having my brother here with me on the other side of the world, working to make the good news of Jesus known.  God is good.

Check out a couple pictures from filming today:

As mentioned in the post below this, I’m flying into Rome, Italy. I’ll be staying in a town called Frascati, which is about 40 minutes outside of Rome. By no means is this a vacation–a typical day on our schedule includes working from at least 9 AM to 6 PM. There will be more details on what exactly the work is (along with some pictures) coming shortly.

However, despite all of the work we’ve got to do, I’m still holding out hope that we’ll get to do at least a bit of walking around Rome, enjoying the beauty of the old city, and so on. Therefore, I wanted to pose the question to anyone who may be reading this (particularly if you’ve been to Rome):

What ought to be priority to do/see while in Rome? What’s a must-see?

Obviously Rome is an incredibly old city with all sorts of history and beauty…but it doesn’t look like we’ll have a whole lot of time for running around and having fun, so suggestions on what is most important to check off the list would be greatly appreciated

Grace and peace,
Bear

With that being said…I’m back at it, with good reason!

It’s currently 11:00 PM on Thursday, January 12.  At precisely 12:00 PM on Sunday, January 15, I fly out of O’hare to Atlanta and then to Rome, Italy.  (That’s approximately 61 hours from now, for you “mathematically challenged” folks)

Brief background, in case you haven’t heard why I’m going: I’ve been offered a position with a non-profit organization called One Hope (onehope.net).  Their goal is to get the gospel to every kid in the world by 2030, which is an absolutely fantastic goal.  Part of One Hope is a team called Creative Lab, which is based in England and works around Europe (and whom my brother Adam is currently interning with).  Essentially, Creative Lab goes into different countries around Europe, conducts research to see what the country-specific needs are, and then helps create country and context-specific products and programs that churches and other organizations can use to get the gospel to young people and to impact communities as a whole.  In June of this year, the couple currently leading Creative Lab will be stepping down, and One Hope has offered me the chance to come on board and (assuming all goes well and it’s a good fit) take over for them in some sort of leadership role with Creative Lab.  Effectively, it’ll probably mean leading teams of interns working around Europe doing the kind of work described above.

So there you have it.  That’s the opportunity I’m facing, and although it has been a quick and hard decision, I believe it’s a good opportunity from the Lord, and I’m going for it.  Where things will end up, I don’t know–but God is faithful and sovereign, and I’m excited to play whatever role I can in helping the gospel of grace go to the ends of the earth.

Now then, there are really several purposes for this blog:

Firstly, it’s to keep all of the people I love up to date with what is going on.  To that end, I’ll try to frequently update this thing with stories and picture.

Secondly, it’s because I need help.  Above all else, I need prayer; the task that lies ahead is huge, and the completion of it is totally dependent on God.  Through this blog, I hope to be able to pass on specific prayer requests–for myself, my team, and the mission.  However, in addition to that, it looks like I’ll be needing to raise my own support (i.e. I won’t be getting a salary), and so if you have the means and would like to contribute either a one-time gift or a monthly gift, it would be a great blessing (please either leave a comment on here, or email me at larrybarker2@gmail.com).

Thirdly, I’m a thinker.  I like to take ideas and questions that I have and turn them around and around in my head until I can make sense of them.  Oftentimes I find that writing them down helps me to process through them.  Typically, that happens in the privacy of my own journal, but I greatly appreciate the thoughts and questions and opinions of others, and so from time to time I plan to share thoughts or ideas I may be wrestling with and working through.  When that does happen, I would so love to hear from anyone who may read this about their thoughts on the issue at hand.

I so appreciate the fact that God saves people, but doesn’t leave them on their own. He saves us and draws us into a community, what we commonly call “the Church.”  As I leave to move across the world and explore whatever God may have in store for me there, this blog is my little attempt to, in some small way, keep that community going with all of the friends and family members I’m leaving behind in Chicagoland, the States, and all over the world.

I love you all, and am so blessed it blows my mind.

Grace and peace,
Bear

“A life lived in fear is a life half lived”

That may or may not be true, and I’m not here to debate that statement.

The question I would ask is this:

Is a life half lived truly living at all?

Jesus said he came that people (referring to his “sheep”) may have life, and have it abundantly (John 10:10).  From what I’ve heard and read and know, this abundant life is to be found in knowing and enjoying a relationship with our Heavenly Father, which is what men and women were ultimately created to do.  I believe that to be true…but I don’t always feel like I’m “living abundantly”.

Half of the time, I feel as if I’m half living.