What It Was Was Football

More "In the Beginning"

Leanne Thomas has added a few more sections to her book on the first six chapters of Genesis. Check it out!

Friday Felicities - 3 October 2008

What makes me happy:

1. Hearing my children pray for their friends
2. Smell of autumn leaves on the ground
3. Tim Conway and Harvey Corman on the Carol Burnett Show
4. Realizing that it is later in the work day than I thought
5. Reading Psalms
6. Reading sermons by Alexander MacLaren
7. Green Tea
8. A new "old" book
9. Watching my wife sing
10. Listening to Keith Green sing
    

Another Ministry Update

I haven't given an update in a while. Last update was that out of 154 applicants for a job at my church, I was in the final 10, but did not make the cut down to 5. A person was selected and brought in over this weekend to meet and greet the focus groups that position would minister to and then he was voted on last night. He got the position. I have my own opinions and if you care to know them, you can email me. I won't share them publicly on this blog.

I am submitting my resume to church positions that have a missions/evangelism/outreach/discipleship/singles/young adult focus. Single focus or any combo of these is what I am looking for. There are 3 churches I have submitted my resume in 3 different states, but the one in SC is my number 1 objective.

I am taking two classes in seminary and plan on taking 2 more next semester.

That is it for now. If you know of any openings, point them my way. Baptist or non-denominational churches with a Baptist belief are my preference.

The Australian Green Party?

Here is a Friday Funny

Friday Felicities

This was created by my cousin, Natalie, who now resides in heaven. Her list today would be much better than mine. This is a list of things that make me feel good and blessings in my life.

1. Peeling a banana for Ian
2. Playing the piano
3. Looking at pictures of mission trips
4. Going to dinner with Lona
5. Listening to Madeleine sing
6. Reading my Bible

This was my first attempt. I will try to continue this each Friday.

The Heart of the Matter

I have been reading about Augustine and the Augustinian tradition. To Augustine, the heart represents our whole self before God. Thomas Martin, who wrote and compiled this book, Our Restless Heart, had these words to say:

From the heart I come to Christian faith, become a member of the church, the Body of Christ, and begin to recognize Christ in my brothers and sisters, with a particular openness of heart to the poor. Heart is that touch point where true integration of the interior and exterior, the spiritual and the incarnational, takes place. Heart is never the final goal, yet what does not start from the heart goes nowhere. Equally true is Augustine's insistence that if something is claimed to be in the heart but never manifests itself outwardly in love and community, it is nothing less than self-deception. His insistence upon the heart is thus not a self-serving escape from responsibility into interior religion and privatised faith. To come to the heart is simply to discover that we are God's work, that God does dwell within us, that at our deepest and truest level of self we are never alone - and certainly never unloved.

A Memory Stone

The Old Testament has several examples of when an altar was built or a stone was placed in memory of an event. I have a few of them myself. One such stone is actually a church made of brick in the small town of Santerem, Brasil. Santerem is on the Amazon River halfway between Manaus and Belem. Christian Missions Unlimited (CMU) built another church nearby and some team members were able to visit the one I built in 1993. Ray Welch was on both trips, 1993 and 2008. I wish I could have been there. Here are a couple of pictures.

Hurricane Ike Pictures

These are some incredible pictures of the power of a hurricane.

"In The Beginning"

I have a new addition to the blog roll. It is the new writer, Leanne Thomas, and she has written a great new book about the first 6 chapters of Genesis. She is putting some sections of the book online. Take a look!

Expect God and Nothing Else

Looking back at the two mission trips of this summer and there is one theme in common: God's plans are the best plans. Let me elaborate.

For the Croatia trip, we were expecting to play music at the coffee shops as a way to engage the locals in conversation. Part of the team was to teach ESL, but the rest was going to be at the coffee shops. We had our Youth Pastor, David, and 3 high school boys (Jacob, Kyle and Alex) who were the guitarists in the group and they had practiced several times leading up to the trip. Once we got there and visited the first coffee shop, we realized they were also bars, which made the 3 of the 4 musicians ineligible to enter the coffee shops. One half of the ministry team was cut out the first night!

The next afternoon, we went out to the park to play basketball and soccer. We started meeting some kids there and the coffee shop ministry became a park/sports ministry and we met several of the kids on a daily basis. These were kids that the church had no contacts with and were introduced to the church pastor whenever they came by. These kids started hanging out at the church each evening.

Then we realized that some of the kids attending the English classes were from a children's home about 3 blocks away. We started taking them to the park and playing with them and some of the older ones started hanging out at the church each evening, as well. Here were many contacts the church had never realized existed. This was God's plan to get these musicians (who also were athletes) to meet a lot of kids in the park.

The music ministry did exist but not the way we expected. David and the Boys played music every evening before the English classes started and they played one evening in the park. Next year they want to play more evenings in the park.

Down in Brasil, we went to build a church, we did a 3 day VBS program in 2 different locations and had planned to do some discipleship training. David and I were going to teach the sessions during the first week and some other men on the team were going to teach the next week. Through translation problems and misunderstandings, the Brasilians expected a church service every evening. The 2 hour training sessions ended up being 30 minute sermons (60 minutes when translated). David and I split the first 4 nights. Pastor Greg and Richard preached Sunday morning and evening. Two other men preached the next Monday and Tuesday and I preached for a third time on the last night. We preached 9 times in 8 days at 3 churches. Every pastor had great things to say.

Pastor Antonio Carlos from the church in Pedros II said that he had not felt this excited since he graduated seminary. The pastor of the church in Teresina said he greatly appreciated that every sermon was scripture proving scripture. Florencio, Executive Director of the Piaui Baptist Convention, commented that he wished every team would be as ministry minded as our team was.

In each instance, we had plans for ministry (and thought out, good plans, too) but God's plans were better. He wanted us to go and be prepared to do ministry, then He showed us what and how to do it. From now on, when I get involved with a ministry or go on a mission trip, I will expect God and nothing else!

An Awesome Summer

This has been a great summer. It started with a week in late May to visit my family in Indiana. After two weeks at home, Lona and I took 9 others from church to Croatia. We did a lot of ministry and I got to preach a couple of times. We were back home for 3 weeks, in which I got to preach on consecutive Sunday evenings. Then I was off to Brasil with 15 others from my church. We built a small church, did 6 days of VBS and preached 9 services in 8 days. I had the privilege of preaching 3 of those services. The greatest part of the summer was the chance to preach 7 times in 2 months. I am feeling somewhat of a let down now that I don't have a preaching opportunity scheduled. I am ready for the next chance!

This summer re-affirmed in my heart and mind that God has called me to full-time ministry. Whether it is in a church or on the mission field, preaching and leading people to Jesus is all I want to do. Seeing people come forward to accept Jesus as their savior during an invitation is an experience like no other. I find it so amazing that God could use a lump of clay like me to share His message and that people are able to respond to that message. That is proof that it is all God. I am not a slick commercial pitch man or TV evangelist. It is the Holy Spirit speaking to the heart of the individual despite my lack of eloquence.

When I was a kid and played outside everyday, I never wanted the summer to end. After all the ministry opportunities and preaching this summer, I don't want it to end either!

Glimpses of Croatia

There were 11 people from my church that went to Karlovac, Croatia to teach ESL at the Baptist church and other ministries. We planned on playing music at the cafes, but most of the coffee shops are also bars, and with 3 musicians being 15-16 years of age, this was not a viable option. But we did do a lot of sports ministry in the park with local kids and kids from the orphanage. These were connections that the church never had. We go with one idea in mind and God shows us what He really wants!

Preaching in the village church of Duga Resa
I was able to preach twice.

The Advanced ESL class
There were also classes for beginners and intermediates
We averaged about 35 students a night.

Pastor David playing with the kids
We played a lot of basketball, soccer and just hanging out with the kids

Croatia Update

I am way behind with posts and won't post much of anything until I get back from Brasil. July is basically a wasted month as blogging goes. Here is a blog concerning the trip to Croatia that my friend, Larry, created. This will more than cover for my lack of postings!

Back in Town

I am back. The trip was awesome! I will explain more in a later post as well as post some pics next week.

Croatia, ESL and the Gospel

Tomorrow afternoon, a team of 11 from my church will leave for a 2 week mission to Croatia. We will be working with the local Southern Baptist missionaries and the local Baptist church. The mission has two main objectives: to teach ESL and to do friendship evangelism in the small local cafe's.

The main reasons for the ESL classes is to help strengthen the English they have learned in school by practicing in a classroom setting at the church and to introduce them to the Baptist church and the pastor, Ladislov. Croatia is 99.9 % Catholic. They will tell you, "I am Croatian so I am Catholic." Catholicism has been the religion for about 1500 years. It is part of their culture. Anything else is considered a cult. Any sort of Protestantism is lumped with Mormons, Muslims and Buddhists. We will share Bible stories during the English lessons using the same Bible they use in their Catholic church. We have had some great discussions and some people have realized that they can have a personal relationship with Jesus.

The other ministry will be a first attempt to reach out to the young adults in their regular evening gathering place, the cafe. We will split up into groups and visit several cafes during the day, visiting with the cafe staff and the locals. In the evenings we will be playing music in the plaza and the park. There are many cafe's that face these two locations and we pray that God will bring people to listen to the music and engage in conversation.

I will also have several chances to preach. Please pray for me that God's words and not mine will be heard.

Please pray for our efforts, that we follow God's will and are faithful to the task. Also pray for travel safety and that we make all the connections. I look forward to posting the results of the trip in a couple of weeks.

A Better Day

Today is a better than any over the last week. Something I had hoped and prayed for is not available, yet my hope is still in the Lord. He knows my heart, my wants, my fears, my joys and my disappointments. Where I am lacking, He fulfills. Where I fail, He teaches. When I fall down, He lifts me up. When I fall behind, He encourages. My Redeemer is faithful and true. He has a ministry position for me and is still molding me and shaping me to His will. Father, I am sorry for doubting You. I am ready and willing to be used.

Hope in the Lord

Psalm 31:20-25

How great is Your goodness, Lord, stored up for those who fear You.
You display it for those who trust You, in the sight of all the people.

You hide them in the shelter of Your presence, safe from scheming enemies.
You keep them in Your abode, safe from plotting tongues.

Blessed be the Lord who has shown me wondrous love,
and been for me a city most secure.

Once I said in my anguish, "I am shut out from Your sight."
Yet You heard my plea when I cried out to You.

Love the Lord all you faithful.
The Lord protects the loyal but repays the arrogant in full.

Be strong and take heart all you who hope in the Lord.

Where Do I Place My Trust?

Psalm 31:10-19

Be gracious to me, Lord, for I am in distress;
with grief my eyes are wasted, my soul and body spent.

My life is worn out by sorrow, my years by sighing.
My strength fails in affliction; my bones are consumed.

To all my foes I am a thing of scorn,
to my neighbors, a dreaded sight, a horror to my friends.
When they see me in the street, they quickly shy away.

I am forgotten, out of mind like the dead;
I am like a shattered dish.

I hear the whispers of the crowd; terrors are all around me.
They conspire against me; they plot to take my life.

But I trust in You, Lord;
I say, "You are my God."

My times are in Your hands;
rescue me from my enemies, from the hands of my pursuers.

Let Your face shine on Your servant;
Save me in Your kindness.

Do not let me be put to shame, for I have called to You, Lord.
Put the wicked to shame; reduce them to silence in Sheol.

Strike dumb their lying lips,
proud lips that attack the just in contempt and scorn.

What Now?

The ministry position I have prayed about for over 8 years is gone. I know that God was preparing me for this situation and I was told I am not one of the 5 finalists. They cut their "short list" in half (10 is a big short list). To be honest, I am stunned. I have been awake since 1:30am. I am disappointed that I didn't even get a chance to interview.

I need a break to think this through. I do not want to continue working where I am. I need a day or two to pray.