“We finished up our retreat in Malaga on Sunday afternoon with a bit of sharing. If you’d like to see some pictures from our time with a smaller group under a fig tree, you can see it here. This discussion began with a small group of women under a fig tree who wanted to ask more pointed questions about how to help people who have suffered great abuse or pain connect with the reality of a Father’s love they had never known. I reminded them that this is God’s job not ours. We can encourage, we can help share the Truth, but it is God’s to reveal his love, even through periods of great pain. And he does it so well. I encouraged them to ask the people they are helping in turn to ask the Lord to show them his love. This is God’s work, not ours to prove by logical arguments.

As we talked the discussion grew as more people joined in. Eventually we started debriefing from the weekend. They wanted to hear Sara’s story and how God brought her into a new place of freedom. It was wonderful and connected with so many. Then we talked about how each of us can relax more into God’s freedom every day.

As is the case with so many stops I make, it is difficult to leave those God knits our hearts to even over a weekend. On Monday our hosts took us to Gibraltar and some time on the mountain with a group of monkeys. On Tuesday we flew to Rome to meet up with our friends from Switzerland to spend some days in fellowship as we explore the city of Rome. Yesterday we saw the Spanish Steps and the area around Trevi Fountain. This morning we wandered around the Coloseum together and explored the Roman Forum and archeological digs on Palatine.

Tomorrow we are headed to the Vatican. I’m looking forward to it, even though it will bring a number of conflicting emotions to bear. Breathtaking art, amazing architecture from long ago, and all of that provided for by an often-oppressive religious institution that accomplished these things with so-called offerings to God. Tomorrow ought to rock!

Yesterday we drove from Madrid to the south coast near the city of Malaga for a weekend retreat. (The picture at left is from our tour in downtown Madrid.) We are on the Mediterranean Sea, and even got to dip our feet in last night. This morning we had one of those amazing discussions about the cross, and eyes were opening around the room like I rarely witness. People were in tears, and even my translator could hardly contain himself. God just dumped an amazing amount of his grace into the room.

I sat there amazed, knowing that this was a very special moment in some people’s lives and that it had nothing to do with me, but what God wanted to share with some people. When we dismissed at the end not a soul moved. Finally one person said, “We are undone!”

And it was true. I am amazed that God lets me be part of stuff like this. But we have truly been taught an inadequate view of the cross that makes God the angry judge, rather than the loving Abba. Some people love it that way and will fight to the death to preserve what they believe to be an adequate view of God. The cross was not God crushing an innocent victim, but substitutionary atonement in the truest sense. Jesus took our place in the healing of our sin and shame, so that we could draw near to his Father, our Father, without fear and without shame. It is truly the most amazing story.

Sara and I landed safely this morning in Madrid, Spain. This is our first trip here and yet we got off the plane to familiar faces—people we met in the States a little over a year ago. We’ll be gathering with people tonight and tomorrow in Madrid, even though people have come from all over Spain, Portugal, and even France. Oh, yeah, we’ll also be working through jet lag since we only got a couple of hours sleep on the flight in.

Tomorrow we are going to see a bit of downtown Madrid and then Friday morning we will be driving five hours south to Malaga on the south coast. We will be gathering for a weekend Then for the weekend we will be gathering in Malaga on the south coast. If you’d like to join us you can get the details here.

Then next Tuesday we’ll be moving on to Rome, Italy to meet some of our dear friends who will arrive from Switzerland and to sample the sites and sounds of the city, it’s history and nearby Vatican City.