Welcome

Hello, and let me bid you an official welcome to my engineering endeavor in Costa Rica with Engineering Ministries International.  


I want to start with the name of this blog.  Two days ago, a couple of friends and I were discussing the picture of rock climbing and how it relates to clinging to God our rock that David mentions in Psalm 18 (the word is actually crag), but is also everywhere in the Bible.  It was rather an amusing and fun game, but the parallels are numerous and awesome.  I encourage you to do the same - chew on it a while and see how many metaphors clinging to a rock while climbing you can connect to clinging to God a midst everything.


So, to name my blog, obviously you want a name that is short and easy to remember.  I wasn't sold on the term "clinger," until I saw this on (and I hesitate to name this) Urban Dictionary, "that one that just wont let go."  And then Webster reassured me that it's in his dictionary, so it's a for real, non-crass word meaning to never let go.  And that's what I want to be - that guy that just wont let go of God our rock, won't ever let my sight turn from him, and never ever let go of his solidity.  Which is awesome cause it goes right along with my recent discovery of rock climbing (I've always liked climbing, but I bought the shoes in September, and for those of you who don't know, that is when you can really start climbing consistently).


Because I'm learning and loving the language of Hebrew right now, this word 'cling' reminds me of a Hebrew word, 'chutzpa' (the ch is the really raspy sound that we're all really embarrassed to make).  


חֻצְפָּה


It's a word that means essentially audacity in persistence.  In modern Hebrew, it is used as a negative description, but in ancient and Biblical Hebrew, it is a very positive word.  The widow who persisted in front of the unjust judge asking for justice had this chutzpa.  The phoenician woman who said "yes, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that the children leave behind."  Jesus responded "I haven't seen chutzpa like that in all of Israel" (I stole this paraphrase from Ray Vanderlaan).  They kept at it - never let go - clung to the hope that they would receive justice and mercy if she kept at it.  Jesus loves this.  Isaiah set men to pray on the walls of Jerusalem to beg him all the time to restore Israel and he himself hardly quieted.  Isaiah 62


"1 For the sake of Zion I will not be silent
For the sake of Jerusalem I will not be still...
6 Upon your walls, O Jerusalem,
I have set my watchmen,
Who shall never be silent
By day or by night
O you, the LORD's remembrancers,
Take no rest
7 And give no rest to Him,
Until He establish Jerusalem
And make her renowned on earth." (JPS)

By God's gift, may I cling tighter to the rock every day, so that he may prove to His glory that He is steadfast, He is trustworthy, and He will never release you when you cling to Him.  Thanks for listening, and check the support page here in the next few weeks.  Some friends are planning some fundraisers you may be interested in participating in.  

God Bless,

Brad