FCWC in Haiti!

Return From Haiti November 2011

2011-11-22T14:11:00.000-08:00

We returned home safely and without event last week. This is the first chance I’ve had to sit down and write some of my thoughts. This time of year is what I’ve dubbed “the RED ZONE.” This is the busiest time of the year for us, so time is a precious commodity.

I’ve been reflecting on the recent trip to Haiti, and with Thanksgiving on Thursday, I just wanted to share something that happened to me and a couple of the other guys on the trip.

One of the deep honors of being a short-term missionary is-you become an ambassador of hope. When we Americans come to a land like Haiti, we are generally attempting to bring hope to a place that needs it. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that we don’t have great needs here in the US, but in Haiti, the needs are too numerous to count. The children at the orphanage are there because they have no place, or no one to take them in. For starters, that’s really hard. They live in an impoverished land where food and clean water are a challenge, at best. Then there’s the living conditions, it is a tropical climate, so they don’t have to worry about the cold. However, when it rains in Haiti, it turns everything to mud. In contrast, when it’s dry it’s extremely dusty. It’s an extremely hard place to live. The life expectancy in Haiti is about 45 or so, likely due to disease and living conditions.

As a short-term missionary/ambassador, we get to take supplies, gifts of food, money, medical supplies etc. into Haiti. It is indeed a blessing to be a blessing! It is also an honor of the highest sort, to represent Christ, the Church, and all of you that sacrificed and prayed.

We carried in several extra suitcases this trip. They were filled with hygiene kits, new undies, flip-flops, food, and some goodies too. We had not had a chance to give the supplies to Yvrose (the director of the orphanage) to distribute to the children. So, on Friday I asked if I could bring in the supplies we brought and leave them. Yvrose and I made arrangements for Friday after dinner. So, after we had dinner that evening, Ray, Ken and Terry and I, lugged the stuff across the street to Yvrose’s kitchen. Yvrose immediately started gathering up all the kids, about 72 of them, ranging from 18 months, to 18 years. The children all gathered around in a semicircle, smallest in front, and the older ones in the back, and most of them were seated. Yvrose placed her chair in the middle of them, told us to have a seat at the dining table, then she said, “this is Christmas for us!” She passed out the kits to the older children, then to the smaller ones. I could tell that some of them didn’t quite know what to think, maybe not sure what some of the items were, (shampoo and toothpaste would be an extreme luxury there). Then she opened up the next suitcase, and there were dozens of flip-flops. I saw some smiles, and I couldn’t help but notice a gentle push forward hoping to get a new, (perhaps first) pair of flip-flops. Yvrose calmly picked up a pair, checked out the size, then called out a name. The child would step forward, she would set the flip-flops on the floor and the child would try them on, usually a perfect fit. It took a while to hand them all out, there were likely 4 dozen pair. It was amazing just how orderly the whole thing was, not a tear, or a whine, but a gratefulness is what I sensed, I’m sure.

Then she broke out the undies, and much to my surprise, she handed a pair at a time out the same way. I think it might have embarrassed some of the older ones more than the younger ones, but I couldn’t even imagine how that scenario might play out here in America. “Black Friday” we’ll put away our “thankfulness” and knock anyone down who beats us to the best buys at 4am...(I digress).

After Yvrose finished handing out most of the stuff, she asked if there was anyone that didn’t get a gift, she made sure that everyone got something. Then she turned to us, and said, “Thank You.” She also said, “God Bless America, you’re the only nation that’s helped us. Thank you Church! God bless you!” As best I can, I pass that along to you! Thank you for praying, giving and making the sacrifice!

Then she quieted the kids down, and they sang for us. The first song they sang, was unbelievable! To think about what we just experienced, and the intense need there, here’s what they sang!

‘Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to take Him at His word,
Just to rest upon His promise,
Just to know “Thus saith the Lord.”

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!
How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er!
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust Him more!

I inhaled really hard several times, attempting to not go to pieces. They sang in Creole, but when they got to the chorus, I knew they were singing the same words, Jesu, Jesu...

I haven’t really taken the time to totally unpack all that we experienced in Haiti this trip. It is a lifetime of memories squeezed into a week. But, how do we let it change us? What difference will it make in us this year? My hope is to be thankful for the real stuff! The things that really matter. (Jesus, Jesus! precious Jesus!) Be thankful and find real ways to love my family and friends. To continue to grow in love for my God and savior, and to love my neighbors. I’ve got a ways to go, still a work in progress.

Have a Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving!

Back to Haiti!

2011-11-12T06:27:00.000-08:00

What a joy it is to once again be traveling in the name of Jesus to Haiti. Our team is actually being led this trip by Scott Warner of OMS/Men for Missions, and along with 4 other guys the six of us are attempting to put a roof on the church at St. Charles. St. Charles is a small village southeast of Jeremie, about an hour drive toward Port au Prince. Since arriving we’ve loved on some kids, been loved back, made new friends, prayed together, worked together and shared Jesus. We’ve also got quite a bit of work done!

We are all so grateful to God for our church, family, and friends that have made the sacrifice to make this work of grace possible. It is an honor of the deepest sort, to partner with you to do this kingdom work. One of my personal prayers is that God will richly bless you, pressed down and pouring over!

We arrived in Port au Prince on Wednesday afternoon and was met at the airport by Nadair, who works with OMS/MFM. One of his roles is to offer safe passage through Port au Prince. He is a great lovable man, with a whooping sort of laugh. (If that makes any sense!) But, I’m telling you when he smiles or laughs, a room will light up. When people show up at the airport with him, they are warmly greeted, and fellow Haitians know it’s likely a bunch of American Missionaries there to offer help! They’re glad to see us!

Before I go any further, I need to tell you who our team is. As I mentioned earlier, Scott Warner is leading the charge here. Scott and his bride, Debbie have recently joined the forces of OMS/MFM and are excited at what God is going to do in, and through them. Scott has done a great job getting to know some of the locals here in Jeremie, as well as up in St. Charles. He has also brought his considerable carpentry skills to use and leads us as we attempt to put a roof on the church. Also on the team this trip are: Ray DeSpain, Terry Ford, Ken Holland, and Rick Weigand. All of them bringing together their amazing talents for the glory of God!

On Thursday, we spent a considerable amount of time getting acquainted with the children at the orphanage. One of the things that still amazes me here is the deep level of poverty. The children are well fed and blessed to have roofs over their heads, good educations, and caretakers that love them and care for them. In the afternoon, we headed up to St. Charles so all the guys could get a look at the project we’re here to finish. We also needed to get some last measurements before we started building the trusses. With God’s grace, we’ll get it done, it is a lot of work, but we have a great God, whom we all believe has called us to this place and supplied our needs. So, we’re agreed as a team, we’re going to give it our all! What a great team!

Friday morning after breakfast, we waited around for our truck to arrive to go pick up our lumber supplies. Terry Ford and Ken Holland are both electricians by trade, and we’d been informed that the Solar Panel system was not properly working, so they spent a large portion of their morning troubleshooting that system. The “citie’s” electricity in Jeremie only comes on after the sun goes down, and then it’s prone to go out periodically. So, most of the daylight hours the electricity used by the orphanage is supplied by the Solar Panels. It’s very smart way to get energy, when it’s working right that is! They also have a large generator that is in the compound where we are staying. It kicked on Wednesday evening and it sounded like a train in our courtyard. It’s expensive, but sometimes necessary to run it, so getting the solar panels up and running is a priority too! So, while they were working on that, Adrien, Scott, Rick, Ray and I went to get our lumber. You know how when you go to Lowe’s or Menard’s in the states, they’ll actually load it for you in some cases, or at least help you get it to your car? If it’s a large order, which ours was, they’ll usually deliver it for you! Not so here! We walked into their warehouse and they pointed out the lumber we were to get our order from and we proceeded to load our own truck. 2x4’s in Haiti are actually 2”x4” so they look big, but it’ll be nice for building a roof. So, after we got back to the orphanage, we found that we also needed some bolts, so Adrien, Scott, Ray and I went on a hunt to find some bolts. After five stops we found none. We have a “b” plan we’ll need to break out. But, when we returned to the orphanage, much to our surprise, Rick and some of the kids had already unloaded the truck. Thanks Rick and kids!

We decided to build the new trusses here in the courtyard at the orphanage, then once they’re done, we’ll haul them up to St. Charles. We are praying for a lot of local help, because the trusses are heavy and the hill to the church is extremely steep. We spent the rest of the day figuring out exactly how we were going to build them, then we made our templates and proceeded to measure, mark and cut lumber. We finished our work Friday and will assemble them Saturday, ready to haul them up to St. Charles on Monday.

Friday evening after dinner, Ray, Terry and I got to share in one of the extreme blessings of doing a trip like this. We have brought your personal hygiene kits, new underwear, flip-flops, peanut butter, and other gifts you donated. And as we watched Yvrose, (who operates the orphanage), passed out the gifts...it was precious...precious I’m telling you! These kids sat, mostly quietly, wide-eyed, hoping there’d be a pair of flip-flops that would fit them, and maybe, just maybe, they’d get a pair that looked kinda cool too. It’s funny, the “looking cool” part is usually the highest priority for we Americans, but not so much here! They are thankful to have them! $1 flip-flops! Yvrose, was so patient with them, she’d pick up a pair, call out a name, the child would step forward, try them on, and she’d quietly call the next name. For those of you that don’t know, she has been struggling with recovering from malaria, that she caught about a month ago. She told me she thought she was going to die. But, said she’s feeling great now! I think she still has some recovering to go, she moves just a little slower than I remember and her voice is not full strength yet. Then the blessing of blessings, the children sang to us. They sang the old hymn “Trust and Obey” then a number of worship songs, and finished with a couple of Christmas songs! It was Christmas to them!

Thanks for participating in this journey! Thanks for praying for this team, the kids at the orphanage and the church at St. Charles! We’ll be attempting to post up some more of the adventures as we’re able! So stay tuned and keep praying for the grace, mercy and love of our Lord and Savior Jesus to be evident in and through us!

Going to St. Charles Haiti!!

2011-08-15T13:47:00.001-07:00

I am honored to be joining a crew of men from Fountain City Wesleyan Church traveling to Haiti, for the purpose of replacing the roof on a church in the village of St. Charles, Haiti. We will be travelling to Haiti on November 9th and will be there through the 16th.
Earlier this year Ron Ayers and I took the incredible trek up the steep terrain east of Jeremie to fix the roof. What we found was a sagging roof due to lumber that was infested with wood-boring bees. We were told that the Haitian that contracted the work took the money and ran. So, with the time and resources we had, we propped the roof up until a team could come and replace it.
Resources are so incredibly hard to come by in Haiti, and that is even more complicated by the lack of funds and skilled workers. Leading this team will be Scott Warner and myself, and with your help, we will raise a new roof on the church. We are looking for both PRAYER partners and FINANCIAL SUPPORTERS.
Currently, we are submitting an application to Christ For the Nations International to help with funding of the materials needed to finish the job. CFNI is an organization out of Dallas TX, that has a program to partner with other ministries to offer financial support for roofing materials. However, the total cost of travel, food, and housing for the trip will be around $2000.
What I’m asking you to do is to PRAY about it first! We are needing prayer partners, as well as financial partners to help with the cost.
If you feel God is leading you to help, just follow the instructions below!

Thanks for praying!!
If you decide to be one of my prayer partners, contact me and let me know so we can keep in touch. If you choose to help financially, you can make checks to Fountain City Wesleyan Church, and mark the memo “Haiti-NOV” and return it to me. You can also give online at: www.fcwesleyan.org
God BLess you and Thank You!
Steve Mathews

Last Day

2011-04-01T07:46:00.002-07:00

Photos and stories can never express the beauty or relationships found when you travel. I believe that is especially true when you're travelling in the name of Jesus. Even though photos and video can help, it's never as good as the real deal! Because you can't reproduce the smells, the air your breathing, the touch of a friend. That's the sad part. The good news is that at least you can indeed lock images away digitally, and in some strange way with just a look, months later, you can be transported back to that place.

Yesterday Ron Ayers, Giles and I set out to finish the job we started on Wednesday-to prop the roof up on a church that was collapsing. Seems that the Haitian contractor that did the job did a very poor job, using nasty lumber and low skill level. It was about to come down. We didn't finish the job on Wednesday, but went back yesterday morning. As we were travelling along the beach east of Jeremie, we came upon a road block! They were replacing a huge tile that allowed water to drain off into the ocean. In prior trips across there we had seen dozens of children swimming in the mud hole! Why not the ocean? Well it's likely for several reasons: the ocean is very deep off of this particular coast, maybe some pollution, and sharks! So, we turned back and decided we would come back after lunch, which we did. We had left some tools up at the church the day before and had to go back. The ride was a hair-raising 1 hour drive through the villages and construction zones to get to the top was quite a journey, not for the faint of heart. I told Adrian our driver/translator, this is better than any amusement park ride I've been on!

We managed to get the roof done as the girls stayed back at the orphanage and loved on kids and helped with a feeding project. I had mentioned a new "bud" I've met on this trip. His name is Sha-sha. He attached himself to me as soon as we arrived at the orphanage. And every time we went over there, it wasn't long before I was accosted by he, and two or seven of his friends. I think most of our time together was spent having him sit either next to me, or on my lap and squeezing him. I just sensed he needed that. It was precious, I'll never forget it as long as I live. I found out he is eight, and his sister Ginney also lives there and she's 14. She actually knew a little English, and with the tiny bit of French I know, we talked for a while. The life they live here is tough by any standard. Kids without parents in any world is difficult, but the needs here are even bigger in some ways because of the poverty. Sha-sha is a happy little guy, as most of the children appear to be. The orphanage here does the best they can with the resources available. But, as you can imagine another one of the things that they have a great need for is just human touch. They get some, but not enough for some. He's a typical little boy, gets in scuffles with his pals, tries to manipulate a situation by poking his bottom lip out and pouting. I asked Adrian what the policy was on adoption, and he said they'd really like to see their children grow up and be a positive influence on their nation. The will be! They educate them on sight, as well as show them the love of Christ.

Last evening, they put on a program for us as it was our last night here. Team #2 should be on their way here as I write this post. I pray for their safety today and throughout this next week. Anyway, the program featured their singing, and my can they sing! Then their band performed! What a hoot! They were excellent! It is all done right here on site! After the program, Yvrose Alexandre spoke to us, giving thanks for Americans and the Churches. They also spoke of the vision that keeps them going. It's a Christ centered vision to help those that can't help themselves, and it was started by Yvrose's father. They've also started many churches, one of which we put the roof on yesterday!

That's all for now! Stay tuned as we'll be attempting to post up some of the stuff from next weeks team. I hope to see you this weekend!!

Tuesday, 29th, 2011

2011-03-29T18:42:00.000-07:00

Yvrose, (a real life Proverbs 31 woman) runs the orphanage here in Jeremie. She's a beautiful, stately, Godly woman of God, with a passion for the lost. She's grown up in a hard place, but loved Jesus. She also loves His children, especially those with out a mommy or daddy. She is also a leader at her church, but we witnessed Sunday night, she affirms and supports the young men who lead her church. It is likely a cultural thing. If it were not for her vision, there is no telling where these children would be. As an affluent American, it is difficult to see clearly the powerful ministry that God has given her to lead. Because, I tend to look at externals... how clean is the floor, what do the kids eat, what are the conditions like? In this culture, we can't look at that through our American lenses. It's nearly impossible to see clearly what God is doing, because our tendency is to see the "unfit" conditions. That is called self-righteousness folks, and in order to see God's movement more clearly, I believe we need to repent of it! I have been! Pray for me!

The most heart pulling thing I've experienced here is a child's desperate need to be touched! Many of the children will climb up on your lap, hold your hand, or be squeezed until your eyes pop out! It's amazing to touch a child, pick them up, or poke them in the tummy, and they radiate a smile that would light up a city! Or expose coldness in one's heart, if one feels like confessing that! I've been especially befriended by a little guy, his name is Shasha. He came up to me as soon as we walked into the orphanage. I spoke my best Creole to him, which is actually pathetic, and he smiled and responded with a big hug. There'll be more about him on Thursday! Let me tell you he makes his way to me every day so far. So have several other boys, I think they think my large, pink, bald head is funny! Kind of like a lot of theirs...at least the shaved part!

Today the ladies, (Lisa, Brittany, and Debbie), stayed at the orphanage. Sorting some uniforms that had been donated and giving and placing some of the supplies we'd brought. There was an older homeless gentleman who hobbles into the orphanage almost every day, whom many people mistreat, so he'll come by for a scrap of food. and he'll sweep the driveway. He was given 2 hygiene packs and he was so proud of them. As he walked away I saw his lips utter, "merci" (Thank you!). They also spent and prayed with Yvrose, and had a sweet prayer time with her.

Ron and I headed up the same mountain we came in on with Gene Pollic and Adrian. We had a little difficulty getting there as our truck stopped running about half way there, due to water in the fuel. While we waited for help to arrive, dozens of school children passed by in bright yellow and blue school uniforms. Many of them stopped by curiously, to see what these strange looking white men are doing out here. On Sunday night, Gene Pollic, our team sponsor, initiated all of us as "fishers of men." We made bracelets out of fishing leaders, to wear as reminders. As the children were standing around looking us over, one of them tugged on my bracelet asking, as best as I can tell, what is this(?) So, in all my infinite wisdom started doing fishing motions and making sounds like a fishing reel makes. (because my creole needs a little work) They look at me like I was crazy! So, I saw Adrian, our driver, around the other side of the truck, and I hoped he could translate for me. I thought I'd better sieze this "divine appointment"! As I pointed to my bracelet, explaining to him that they were asking what it meant, he held up his hand, and held his wrist next to mine and took off explaining to them that we were both fishers of men. I couldn't tell you a word he said, but I knew exactly what he was saying! As he spoke, he reached out his hand and touched several of them on the cheek. I did recognize that he was telling them God loves them, and we were fishing for men. It was a beautiful moment, I don't know if any of them were "saved". but I do know that they heard a brief version of the Gospel that day!

After we got back on the road, we went up to a church in a village called St. Charles, to look at a roofing project to do. That will be tomorrow's work. Keep us all in your prayers, and stay posted!!!

We Finally Arrived!

2011-03-28T14:38:00.000-07:00

We arrived at our final destination Sunday around 1:30 pm. Our destination is a city on the north side of the southern peninsula called Jeremie. The views we saw today were absolutely incredible. It’s another one of those, you’d have to see it with your own eyes, taste, and smell it with your own senses!
We found out a couple of weeks ago that our team was going to have to travel to New York City’s, JFK airport by bus in order to catch our flight! Our trip had been cancelled and rescheduled several times because of political unrest, so by the time thing had settled, we were very close to the actual date we wanted to leave before our air tickets were bought. That was fine, except Port au Prince is the only airport receiving international flights and there were no connects going through Miami because all the flights were full due to spring break! So, the only flight we could find was a direct flight from New York. That meant we had to take the 12 hour bus ride to NYC. So, we had chartered a tour bus and driver to drive us there. Sweet! Not so fast!!! On Thursday, before the bus left on Friday afternoon, we found out the motor had blown in the bus we were going to use! So, we frantically called Covenant Motors, Tom Daugherty and got ourselves connected to two large vans. The thing that changed the most was we had to drive ourselves to NYC.
We left Richmond at 4:30 pm on Friday! We arrived at NYC’s JFK at 4:30 AM Saturday AM, and caught our flight to Port au Prince. When we landed in Port au Prince, we caught our next vehicle to take the next leg of our trip to La Caye, which is about a 5-6 hour ride.

To our surprise, the vehicle that picked us up was not very big, with 14 of us and all our luggage and a lot of extra luggage with supplies, we strapped most of it on top of the van and piled in for the hair-raising journey.
Port au Prince is still devastated from the effects of the massive earthquake some 14 months ago. Our eye saw absolute poverty like we’d never seen in our lives. Millions of people living in tents, or a couple of pieces of metal held together with some rope! Unbelievable! I asked myself, Lord, how is it possible to even make a dent in such massive destruction? I believe God told me to make the dent, the size of it is up to him, I need to be faithful to make the dent and lead others to make their dent.
I wasn’t able to take any pictures in Port au Prince because my camera was buried and frankly, there wasn’t enough room! But in the nest few days, I hope to get some of the cell phone pics we took!
Haiti is as “third world” as it gets in our part of the world. Their entire Infrastructure could not handle the massive mess. Around 300,000 lives lost, building after building flattened! You can see some of the efforts to help in action, but the need is so overwhelming, they’re barely making a dent with the poverty level so desparate. It was moving beyond words. My heart breaks for the people of Haiti. Pray fervently for them. Make a dent when you can. You know, God is bigger! Even bigger than this mess! He longs to do mightier things there! I know it! His word IS TRUE! The need is great, but our God is greater! I spoke to a social worker on the plane ride there, and asked her if she were to give Americans advice on how to proceed, she wisely said, “check your connections out, make sure they’re legitimate, the corruption is rampant and there’s a good chance your support never gets there if your not sure where it’s going.” She continued, “Human trafficking is at epidemic levels, do your homework, give as much as you can to people you know and trust!” And I would add, pray fervently about how you give, if you don’t know who or what you’re giving to, you might as well dump more trash in the streets, that is likely where it’ll end up anyway!
Back to our travels! We arrived in La Caye, around 6 pm, and were supposed to meet up with a tap-tap, (essentially a humans version of a cattle truck-more pics coming), to take us on to our final destination. We ate dinner, and waited, and waited.....and waited. Finally, at around 10pm we found a way to stay in town, the restaurant we were eating at had a hotel attached to it, so we settled in and got some rest.
Early Sunday morning, I heard a tap-tap on our door to tell us our tap-tap had finally arrived and we were leaving in about an hour. We thought the ride would only take about 2 hours. About 4 hours later, we arrived in Jeremie.
The children at the orphanage here are incredible, and the need is so great! But, more about that tomorrow. You'll find several pictures on my FaceBook with a little commentary!

Getting ready to go!!

2011-03-23T08:12:00.000-07:00

My pal Lee Behnken always had a great word of advice leading up to almost any trip, especially ministry oriented trips. He says, "make sure and get on the plane." Having become a fan of Tim Hawkins, I'd prefer to get in the plane now, but the point still remains. There are so many things that want to clutter our lives and frustrate us, and cause us to lose our focus. God has called us out! If Jesus doesn't come back by Friday, if he doesn't call me home, barring any major family catastrophe, we'll be in Haiti Saturday morning! The plan for team one is to meet up with the rest of our team on Friday afternoon and take a bus to New York City. Yep, you read it here! Because the trip kept getting postponed because of various political, health, etc problems, when we went to buy the tickets, there were no flights available to Miami. Most flights to Haiti go through Miami. Because of spring break traffic, we weren't able to get a flight through Miami, so we booked the next best available, drive to NYC and catch a direct flight to Port au Prince, Haiti.

Our prayer is that God will be honored and served through us while we are there! We will fly back to NYC on Saturday the second and arrive home some time on Sunday I'd guess. Then team two will be heading out. Their travel is not without challenge either. They will fly out on Saturday, and some of them will fly to Miami and some of them to Texas then Miami to meet up with them.

There are five of us from Fountain City Wesleyan going on week one and seven going the next week! Team #1 is: Brittany Pardo, Lisa Kinney, Ron Ayers, Debbie Warner, and yours truly. (Steve Mathews) Team #2 is: Lisa Bos, Miriam Vories, Kristen Adams, Katelyn Jennings, Jennifer Hudnall, Jennifer Bedel, and leader Nancy Pike. Team #1 will meet up with 10 others from a church in Indy, while team #2 will meet up with 7 from a church in Greenville, OH. Gene and Shelba Pollic of OMS (Men For Missions) will lead both teams and we will be mostly serving an orphanage in the town of Jeremie.

Hopefully, we'll be able to get internet service where we'll be staying, and you can follow along each day. But, should there be no internet, (which is a strong possibility) we'll post up when we get back! Either way, stay tuned here, and keep the teams covered in prayer!!

Surprised By Hope

2011-02-08T07:15:00.000-08:00

Occasionally, I come across a book, movie, or piece of art, that just rocks my world. I've been on a pretty good run of late! However, along with the busy holiday season, and otherwise crazy schedule, I've been able to keep reading, but not blogging. Today is a usual day off for me, and in my devotional time, I thought it'd be good to do some catching up.

Last fall, I had the opportunity to go to my bud Joel Heron's church in Greenville MI, to do a worship workshop with their teams. It was a blast! What a great church and great bunch of servants glorifying God with their art! Bringing heaven to earth! Somewhere in all the preparation, Joel had mentioned to me a book I ought to read. He always recommends only the best books, and I certainly wasn't disappointed this time. The book is: "Surprised by Hope" (Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church) by N. T. Wright. This book is not your average walk through a candy shop, looking for that special treat that will momentarily satisfy your sweet tooth. It is much more of a long, long walk through some of the most intense landscapes your eyes could ever behold. The cover of the book is somewhat unassuming, actually it's sort of like a plain paper bag. Inside, I found some of the most fresh thinking I've experienced in a while. N. T. Wright is the Bishop of Durham for the Church of England. Frankly, not where I would have expected to find a piece so rich. My mistake, it's where the likes of C. S. Lewis came from! (Duh!)

I highly recommend this book as not only a great read, but one of the most challenging books I've read in a long time. The premise of "Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church," was intriguing to me. Is this guy some heretical fanatic that is out to reorder God's word to fit his theology, or could he be on to something? This book messed with me! There are a lot of what I'd refer to as, traditional western thinking, that I've been rethinking since reading this book! Wright brings incredible biblical clarity to the ideas we have of Heaven, Jesus' resurrection, (and the implications of that), as well as how to proceed from here. It has restored a hope that I wasn't fully aware that I'd lost.

As a teaser, I'd just like to share a couple of paragraphs here. "The some of it's parts are greater than the whole" cannot be said of this work! It is the entire piece, taken in context that is so impressive. The some of the whole, in this case, is better than it's parts. Each "part", will lead you into a deeper place. But, I'd like to share this thought for today.

A couple of weeks ago, Linda and I we're able to go to Montana for a little getaway. One of the questions I was frequently asked was, "why in the world would you want to go there?" "It's so cold...so snowy...so blah...blah...blah!" "I thought you'd go south to someplace warmer."

Friends is one of the main reasons we go there. We have some beautiful Godly friends that are so gracious to invite us to stay on their beautiful ranch. They're amazing. (Thanks Randy, Kay and staff!) But, the other is largely beauty. Montana, especially Western Montana is incredible this time of year. It is any time of year, but especially this time of year when the mountains are full of snow. The natural beauty there is so stunning! The high prairies, the mountains, the rivers, the wildlife, it's truly an amazing place. Our time there was precious, and we hope to go there again and again. When I see beauty, natural beauty, I tend to think of God. He is Beautiful! I also believe we, the ones created in the image of God, reflect Him when we are creative.

In chapter 13, "Building for the Kingdom," N. T. Wright says this: "To make sense of and celebrate a beautiful world through the production of artifacts that are themselves beautiful is part of the call to be steward of creation, as was Adam's naming of the animals. Genuine art is thus itself a response to the beauty of creation, which itself is a pointer to the beauty of God." He continues later in that same chapter, "Art at its best draws attention not only to the way things are but also to the way things will be, when the earth is filled with the knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea. That remains a surprising hope, and perhaps it will be the artists who are best at conveying both the hope and the surprise"

What can you expect to take away from reading this book? First-Hope. Hope that there is purpose in this life. Hope of paradise, heaven, Christ's return! Hope of His coming judgement! Hope in the mission of the church, which I believe is the hope of the world. Secondly-Surprise. Surprise, that He is all around us, drawing us to Himself, pursuing us with a relentless love. Revealing Himself to us, in us, through us, in ways we'd never previously imagined.

Don't miss this one folks, it's hard to find in book stores. You can find it online!

Tribe vs. Crowds

2010-06-04T07:00:00.000-07:00

I'm just getting into a new book by author Seth Godin. The book is entitled, "Tribes" Just wanted to share a paragragh or two from the book. I'll no doubt, be sharing some more in the days to come. The book is a business minded book, but some of the principles apply to all of us. In lieu of church, ShadowLand, and much of what I'm involved with, these words had a strangely familiar sound to them. From page 32-34 in "Tribes"

How Many Fans Do You Have?
In an article posted on his Technium Web site, Kevin Kelly brilliantly described the world of “1,000 True Fans.” A true fan, he argues, is a member of the tribe who cares deeply about you and your work. That person will cross the street to buy from you or bring a friend to hear you or invest a little extra to support.
An individual artist needs only a thousand true fans in her tribe. It’s enough.
It’s enough because a thousand fans will bring you enough attention and support to make a great living, to reach more people, to do great work. It’s enough because a thousand fans, true fans, form a tribe.
A true fan brings three friends with him to a John Mayer concert or to the opening of a Chuck Close exhibit. A true fan pays extra to own the first edition, or buys the hardcover, instead of just browsing around on the web site. Most important, a true fan connects with other true fans and amplifies the noise the artist makes.
A corporation or a nonprofit or a church may need more than that-perhaps a million fans if your Starbucks, or fifteen million if you’re running for president. But, it’s beyond doubt that there’s a number-you can figure out what it is- and it’s probably fewer people than you imagine.
Too many organizations care about numbers, not fans. They care about hits or turnstile clicks or media mentions. What they’re missing is the depth of commitment and inter-connection that true fans deliver. Instead of always being on the hunt for one more set of eyeballs, true leaders have figured out that the real win is in turning a casual fan into a true one. (Emphasis mine)
Fans, true fans, are hard to find and precious. Just a few can change everything. What they demand, though, is generosity and bravery.

Your thoughts!?

You can take a look at Seth's blog here

I Will...Because He is...So That...

2010-04-01T07:54:00.000-07:00

Psalm 145:1-12
1 I will exalt you, my God the King;
I will praise your name for ever and ever.
2 Every day I will praise you
and extol your name for ever and ever.
3 Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;
his greatness no one can fathom.
4 One generation will commend your works to another;
they will tell of your mighty acts.
5 They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty,
and I will meditate on your wonderful works.
6 They will tell of the power of your awesome works,
and I will proclaim your great deeds.
7 They will celebrate your abundant goodness
and joyfully sing of your righteousness.
8 The LORD is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and rich in love.
9 The LORD is good to all;
he has compassion on all he has made.
10 All you have made will praise you, O LORD;
your saints will extol you.
11 They will tell of the glory of your kingdom
and speak of your might,
12 so that all men may know of your mighty acts
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

Easter’s a comin’! This weekend our churches will be filled with worshipers. Some of them on their annual trek to “their church.” Why do some folks come once or twice a year and stay away the rest of the year? I think there are many reasons (excuses). However, I believe one of the main issues is what I want to address in this entry.

I’ve been meditating on Psalm 145 over the course of the last two weeks. I shared briefly during worship a couple of weekends ago about what I believe God was showing me. I have written in the margin by Psalm 145 these words: “I will…because God IS…so that.” In my study, I found that King David likely wrote this Psalm and it is an acrostic. Using the Hebrew alphabet, he wrote an attribute of God from each letter. Pretty cool, I’m going to attempt that some time in the not to distant future, it’s a great idea to point our heart and head to God.

Verses one through seven are some things I will do to worship, honor, respect and praise God. These are the “I will” verses. They are highly instructive as to what to do. I think it’s important to note that verse 4 points out that we are to pass His glorious works on to the next generation, and they will talk about Him to the next, and the next.

Then in verse eight, it points to God. It starts the “because God is” part of the Psalm. God is! What a statement! Any time you make that statement along with one of His attributes, you make a statement of absolute truth that finds it’s foundations in the absolute of absolutes. It cannot and will not be shaken, compromised, torn down, or moved from eternity. He is! It’s so comforting to serve the God who is there.

Then in verse 12, it seems to turn another corner. The NIV translation renders it, “so that all men may know…” This verse in particular is rendered a number of ways. All the translations of the Bible that I looked at, struggle to say the same sort of thing, each one a little different. So, I decided to look it up as close to the original language as I could, and see what I could find out. The central word in the text seems to be a little word that has become a slang word in our day. I’ve used it, not fully knowing the meaning, and it’s popularity was probably stemmed from the Jerry Seinfeld show. The word is Yadah. Remember, Yada..yada..yada! It’s a great word in the biblical context. It means, “to know or make known.” That is so central to the whole deal! It is central to our very existence; to know and make known. To make God known! That’s a very powerful little word.

The Psalm continues on with more of the “I wills” and “Because God is” verses, but we can stop at 12 to make the point.

The point I’d like to make this Easter weekend is this: Our worship should be as exuberant and alive as ever on this day of days! It’s the celebration of Jesus resurrection from the dead! He’s alive!

My new paraphrased and version of Psalm 145 would read like this:

I will worship You with all my heart!
I will sing as loud as I am able!
I will play with the skill that you gave me.
I will sing the old songs that tell of Your greatness!
I will sing the new songs that bring hope to coming generations!
I will give my best portion.
Because God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son,
He was the perfect Lamb,
The perfect sacrifice for my sin,
His blood is the blood of the new covenant!
He fulfilled His perfect covenant through His Son!
He suffered, was crucified, died and was placed in a grave.
On the third day He arose from the dead!
He’ll come back for me someday!
He’ll come to judge all of us on that day.
Every knee will then bow and confess that He is Lord.
We will shout it from the rooftops..
So that all will know that He is God.

So in going to worship this weekend bring your "A" worship! Only your best! If you haven’t been to church in a while, why not this weekend? If you go occasionally, you might be a little out of practice, but go anyway. Bring as many as you possibly can, so that..

Ambition & Affection

2010-03-13T08:27:00.000-08:00

I’ve been reading/studying through a great study by Beth Moore called, “The Beloved Disciple.” The subtitle is: (Following John to the Heart of Jesus). It is about the life of the Apostle John. I highly recommend it.

A couple of weeks ago, I was reading in chapter 28 and as Beth was summarizing the chapter she made a statement that I haven’t been able to get off my mind. Here it is:
John forsook ambition for affection. Love became his absolute center. As we continue our journey, we also will discover that he was a man who pursued obedience when no one was watching.

In her teaching, Moore points out that after the ascension of Jesus we don’t hear much about John. As the story moves into the book of Acts, and on into the New Testament, Peter, Paul and many of the other apostles move into the limelight. James the brother of John is martyred for his faith, and Peter becomes the “Rock.” Paul comes on the scene and shakes things up, but John, (The Beloved Disciple) fades, until the writing of his epistles. It is thought that he wrote his Gospel, both the epistles and Revelation much later in his life, likely after all the other apostles were martyred. It was also likely that John was very young when Jesus called he and James his brother, the sons of Zebedee. He was very likely a teenager when he left the security of home to follow Jesus.

At the cross, John records some of Jesus’ last words to him, ‘“Dear woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that moment on the disciple took her into his home.’” It is highly likely that John spent much of his adult life with Mary, the mother of Jesus. John listened to Jesus, and very likely spent much of his time in and around Jerusalem, maybe he moved back to Bethsaida, or to Nazareth where Jesus had come from. I don’t think we know for sure, but we do know that we didn’t here from him much. His Gospel was also thought to have been written much later that the other three synoptic Gospels. Was he missing in action? What happened to him?

I agree with Beth Moore. I think his significance wasn’t measured by what he accomplished in those years we view as silent. He was very likely doing exactly as Jesus had instructed him to do. And in those years of quiet obedience, love flourished. He no doubt grew in wisdom and knowledge, but his obedience to His Lord birthed his ambition. I haven’t wrapped my mind around it totally, but I believe his ambition was to let the world know that God loves them. He sent his only begotten son for them. (John 3:16) It was birthed out of years and years of quiet obedience where a love greater than the world had ever known, (or ever will for that matter), saturated a man’s heart to the point of penning statements that change everything!

One of my favorite books of all time is “Wide Awake” by Erwin McManus. In that book he speak a lot of fulfilling your dreams and destiny. He also talks much about ambition and affection. He points out that ambition is a good thing. It compels us to dream big dreams and “live lives worthy of our calling.” However, when we confuse things by putting our ambitions before our affections, we risk running our dreams aground or chasing the wrong dreams. McMannus states, “God will never sacrifice who you are for what you can accomplish. We are in danger when “getting there” becomes the most important thing to us. Even when you have the right dream, you can make the wrong choices.” He also states, “I think that’s why community is so important.” One of the places that help shape our dreams is in a loving, and truthful community. (I mean a biblical based one) Be it a church, home group, whatever, it’s important to be in community and to be accountable to someone. People help shape our dreams. They’re the ones for whom Jesus came! I continue to learn that right ambition comes first from a love for God, then a love for others. It’s easy to get that twisted around, or backwards. "I" sometimes get in the way of my real self, the one God created me to be. The world is full of ambitious people (me included), who tend to look inward instead of outward.

So, where’s your focus? Are you ambitious? Where are your affections? Do you love when nobody’s looking? Lining up your affections will feed your dreams and ambitions. Loving when nobody’s watching is a true test of character, and is a large portion of the path to significance. I believe it’s the way God designed us to work.

When asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus reached into His perfect understanding and said, “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Put God first! Ambition flows best out of affection, especially out of affection for Him!

Contentment & Love

2010-02-25T06:56:00.000-08:00

Linda and I generally wake up in the morning to our clock radio, which is tuned to K-Love. This morning as I woke, Dr. Larry Crabb of New Way Ministries was speaking about his marriage and what makes a good one work. As I was listening in my morning stupor, a statement jumped out at me. He said, (paraphrased loosely) ”I’ve never disappointed anyone as much as I’ve disappointed my wife.” I snapped to on that one, thought for a second and said to Linda, “boy ain’t that the truth,” or something like that. (She wisely didn’t respond.) Then he (Dr. Crabb) started to speak of how his wife had let him down. (Thank you Lord, I didn’t touch that one!) Disappointment is a part of life, and particularly a part of human relationships. We let each other down. Quite frankly, we treat each other like crap sometimes. Sorry if that offends you, but it’s true; we all do it. We withhold truth, we manipulate, and we break our covenants! It’s a travesty how we treat one another.
So, how do some relationships rebound, and others can’t seem to get over it? How in the world have Linda and I made it 30+ years? First of all, I can by no means answer that question in one blog entry. But, here’s the revelation for today. And in that is part of the answer too. It’s that looking for new ways to love and care for one another on a regular basis. There’s a phrase that has been frequently coming to my mind lately. It’s this-“wife of my youth.” I knew I remembered reading it in the Bible, so I went to http://www.biblegateway.com/ and looked it up. Sure enough, in Malachi 2 it occurs twice in the NIV. God points out in the text how He can’t bless you when the covenant relationships you have are messed up, (Very loosely paraphrased) especially the covenant with the wife of your youth.

Today’s words are for me, but I hope they might be helpful in some way to you too.

Love is a choice. The definition I’ve chosen over the years is, “unconditional acceptance.” This simple definition covers it for me in the most simple yet profound way. I “CHOOSE” to love, or accept whomever, and whatever I want. I push aside conditions of acceptance to the object of which I decide to show love. When I decide to put conditions on others, I choose to not love them. That’s where a lot of relationships falter. I think we put conditions on one another in order to control each other, and that seldom works.
I’ll love you if…
If you wouldn’t click the fork with your teeth…
If you didn’t talk so much…
If you’d lose a little weight…
If you’d pick up after yourself…
The list goes on and on and on!
What a horrible way to live and love! Choose love, and in so doing you will choose life.

The second part for today is this thing called contentment. One of the letters the Apostle Paul wrote from prison is the little letter called Philippians. (You’ll find it close to the back of the Bible) In chapter 2:11b Paul says,
“…for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.”

Did you catch that? Contentment is a “learned” trait. You can learn to be content. No way! Yes way! I have to confess-I am not content in all things, so when I write about it, and point out observations I have of others discontent, I am looking in a mirror.
By nature, people are discontent. This is a simple illustration, but this has been a particularly late and snowy winter here in east central Indiana. Are people discontent? You bet they are! They are complaining about the snow and ice and weather, longing for spring. I’ll say, “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!” I usually get a hardy, “what’s so good about it?” One of the other common responses I get is: “I hate this weather.” It’s on the radio, the TV, it’s everywhere! Discontent!
How about relationships? Divorce rates are still off the charts; families are split up in alarming numbers. I submit that in most cases, it’s just plain old discontent. I believe it starts with the first part of this entry...It starts with love, unconditional acceptance. You can choose to love, in fact, it is a choice. We learn to be content from there. Real contentment can’t happen without loving first!
Here are some of the best-known words in the Bible about love, also penned by the Apostle Paul.

1 Cor. 13:1-8a:If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. I
t does not envy, it does not boast,
it is not proud. It is not rude,
it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered,
it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails.

You’ve maybe heard the old phrase, “live and learn.” I’d like to change that to Love and Learn! Choose to love others, especially those you are in a covenant relationship with. And learn to be content by loving them without conditions.

CHOOSE TO LOVE and LEARN TO BE CONTENT!

The Global Warming Religion

2010-02-23T10:03:00.000-08:00

In case you don’t know me, and haven’t caught some of the vibes on this blog, I am a lover of creation. All that is has been created for us, to enjoy and use to sustain life here on planet earth. Most importantly, I am a lover of the Creator of all things, the uncreated God, the great I Am, the Alpha and Omega. My creed is the same as the Apostles. He existed before all things and holds all things together. He is the very reason we even exist. I believe in Him. That, you might say, is my religion, faith, opinion, thoughts, etc. However, whether you agree with my thoughts, opinions, faith or religion, makes no difference to the fact that God is there. How I feel or think doesn’t change the fact that He is. It doesn’t matter what I think, it doesn’t matter what you think about it, He is.
All people place something on the throne of their life. Wow, as I wrote that, I thought, “that’s a dogmatic statement if there ever was one.” But, I believe that to be true. We are, (by design) prone to fill a void in all of our hearts with something. It is a “God-shaped” hole that can only be properly filled by God. But, we humans are funny creatures. We have minds to think and make our own decisions, so we take it upon ourselves to fill that hole up with something, anything. After all, if there’s a hole there, shouldn’t we fill it? Won’t we be happier and more fulfilled if we find something we love and put it there? The problem arises when we place something there that displaces what, by design, belongs in that spot. When we usurp God from the throne of our hearts, it becomes unclear as to where I come from. It becomes unclear as to why I’m here. It becomes unclear as to who or what dictates my life. It becomes extremely unclear as to who or what is in control of anything. Most of us kick into some sort of survival mode in order to make any sense of life and the things we see all around us, we place ourselves in the hole. We build the truth by which we live on what we see and are told by those around us, and our circumstances. We find truth on the streets, on the web, on tv, on the radio…you get the picture. Truth can be found in all of those places. But, there is also a lot of error.
How do you determine what’s truth and what’s error? Where do you go to get the stuff that you know is true? Where do you find answers that you can trust without reservation?
Do you surf the web?
Of course you do, you’re here aren’t you? The web is a good place to find truth. But, you also get all that other stuff.
How, can I say that some of it’s true and some of it’s not? Can I answer that in my own head and heart?
Sometimes.
How can I know I’m right? What if I’m wrong? Why are there some books you ought to read, and others you should stay away from? Who makes those rules?
Do you?
Do I?
“You’d better not listen to those guys…they’re a bunch of idiots.”
Really?
Do you think a persons ability to know truth is connected to the letters they carry behind their name?
Maybe?
Can I trust myself?
"I know what works for me and that’s all that really matters."
Really?
Does is still work for you when the report from the Doctor is terminal.
Does it still work for you when your child dies?
Do these questions make your head spin a little? They should, they do mine.
Can you be confident with your answers to the point of going to the grave with your decision?

Truth is a BIG deal! It is THE DEAL! There is a truth center, where all things found are absolutely TRUE. It is the Holy Bible. C.S. Lewis said of Jesus, either He’s who He said He was, (God) or He was a lunatic, or the greatest liar of all times. (loosely paraphrased) I believe it’s true of God’s word too. Either, it’s totally true, or it’s absolute insanity, the greatest pack of lies ever written, or it’s what it is self-proclaimed to be. (Prov. 30:5; John 8:32;Heb. 4:12)

So, is global warming true? You’ve been waiting for that, haven’t you? Get to the point! I’ve really already made the point! I struggle with “man-made” disasters like global-warming, that leave God out of the picture. Even those who believe it’s a hoax, rarely mention God’s role in the whole thing. The debate supporting, has come to the point of becoming a religion. You have to buy the whole thing, or nothing at all. They spout their science as “truth” and they guard it with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. It has taken on religious status. Man is on the throne and in control of his own destiny. He will ultimately destroy the world, (that he did nothing to create I might add). I believe that all the global warming hype is a hoax, but generally not for the reasons anti-climate change advocates give.

Want to know the absolute truth? God is in control! There are many, many more scriptures to support my view. But, more than support my view, I feel God will speak for Himself in these two places.

Psalm 33:6-8 says,
“By the word of the Lord were the heavens made,
their starry host by the breath of His mouth.
He gathers the waters of the sea into jars;
He puts the deep into storehouses.
Let all the earth fear the Lord;
let all the people of the world revere Him.”

Also consider Job 38:4-7,
"Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone-
while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels shouted for joy?

God continues to speak to Job and ask probing questions through chapters 38-40. It’s worth the read if you have the time.

To say that man can create an environment where he will destroy the earth is placing far too much faith in the size and scope of man’s ability to influence our climate, and exponentially far too little emphasis on how sovereign God really is. He is in control!

Now having said that, do I believe we need to be concerned about our environment? We are stewards, placed here for God’s pleasure. When we look at how something effects the environment, we should first look at how it affects our fellow man. We are the only part of His creation that is created in His image. Does that make us the most important? As a matter of fact, yes it does. Is he disappointed with some of our choices? I believe He is. Will my carbon imprint effect the melting of the polar ice cap? Doubtful.

He (GOD) is in control of ALL things, including climate change. Don’t believe me? Think of the great flood….there’s a climate changer for you! (see Genesis Chapters 6-8)

I’ve included a link to a video entitled “The Lies of Global Warming.” I believe there is more truth in this report than what I hear from those who support the climate change doctrines. Not necessarily because of the science, (which is interesting) but because the Global warming advocates have made their doctrine their religion.

The Lies of Global Warming (Part 1)

Following The Leader

2010-02-15T10:56:00.001-08:00

Numbers 9:15-23 On the day the Tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered it. But from evening until morning the cloud over the Tabernacle looked like a pillar of fire. This was the regular pattern—at night the cloud that covered the Tabernacle had the appearance of fire. Whenever the cloud lifted from over the sacred tent, the people of Israel would break camp and follow it. And wherever the cloud settled, the people of Israel would set up camp. In this way, they traveled and camped at the Lord’s command wherever he told them to go. Then they remained in their camp as long as the cloud stayed over the Tabernacle. If the cloud remained over the Tabernacle for a long time, the Israelites stayed and performed their duty to the Lord. Sometimes the cloud would stay over the Tabernacle for only a few days, so the people would stay for only a few days, as the Lord commanded. Then at the Lord’s command they would break camp and move on. Sometimes the cloud stayed only overnight and lifted the next morning. But day or night, when the cloud lifted, the people broke camp and moved on. Whether the cloud stayed above the Tabernacle for two days, a month, or a year, the people of Israel stayed in camp and did not move on. But as soon as it lifted, they broke camp and moved on. So they camped or traveled at the Lord’s command, and they did whatever the Lord told them through Moses.

Surprises are fun! I love unexpected snowy days, emails or FB messages from friends. I particularly love finding a surprise in God’s word, something I’d not noticed before, or something that jumps out because of circumstances I find myself in, or just God trying to get my attention and speak to my heart about something that I need work on. (There’s a lot of that when I’m willing to listen.)

I am a reader of the One Year Chronological Bible. Several men meet with me on Friday where we discuss what we’ve read over the past week. We all are learning to love God’s Word and to love one another. Every once in a while, I find myself almost laughing out loud after I read a section of the Word. It usually happens when I come to the reality of something God has been trying to tell me repeatedly, and because of my relatively thick skull, stubbornness, (you pick the malady), I have not scene it, until either the time is right, or the crusty soil of my heart is plowed down enough.

Over the past few days, I’ve been reading about the assembling of the Tabernacle (Exodus 25-40) that was to be the place of worship for the Israelites as they trekked through the wilderness to the Promised Land. It’s a fascinating read. It’s a section of instruction and incredibly great detail. It’s not a particularly easy read though. Sort of like reading a set of blue prints, or maps, both of which I enjoy doing. (Weird-I know!) God loves detail! I’m glad of that, to know that he is more than capable of handling the details of my life is such a comfort.

I couldn’t help but notice how the Lord was taking Israel on a 40-year journey of “Follow-the-Leader”. I know that is a very small, probably naïve view of what was going on. But as I read it through, I thought of “Simon says,” and other childrens games like that, games where you learn to do what the leader does. I know it’s simplistic, but hang in there with me.

In this scripture in Numbers 9:15-23, we have the game and how it works. Israel was to move when, and only when God said move, and to stay when God says stay. (vs.23) Why the need for the 40 year game? First of all, God determined the game length, in response to Israel’s lack of recognizing who is really in control. They had been set free from the oppressive Egyptians in a mighty display of God’s power. He had assured them they were His “special-possession” (His Bride). But while He was talking to Moses on the mountain about the vows they were to make to one another, Israel got restless. Frankly, their immaturity reminds me of a classroom of students that can’t control themselves when the teacher steps out of the room for a moment. Just how much do you think you can get by with is generally related to how much you respect (or fear) the one who’s in charge. They still didn’t fully get it. (Just like me sometimes)

So the game is simple, we only move when I (God) say move. I determine how far we’ll move, where we’ll stay, how your needs will be met as we move, etc. you get the picture. You’ll know what to do by this: cloud by day, pillar of fire by night. Got it? Got it!

Would you agree that it would be great if God would sometimes give us a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night? Wouldn’t that make life a lot easier? I would know when to move, how far to go, how to get the move funded, who to talk to, who to witness to, that would be SO cool! It would be fool proof…cloud by day, fire by night… That would be CAKE!!

Truth of the matter is, I have more info than they had in that day, and I still struggle to follow!

Why is that?

I believe it’s because His path doesn’t lead where I think I’m going! (Notice I said where I’mgoing.) He’s the leader, He calls the plays, He makes the rules, and He not only decides where we’re going, but how we’ll get there. The really beautiful thing is He LOVES me and knows the best way. His way is always more beneficial because He has my best interest at the very center of His heart!

Romans 8:28 says: “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”

So today I'll “follow-The-Leader”, and tomorrow I’ll “follow-The-Leader”, and the next day, and the next…

ShadowLand Is HERE!

2009-09-05T12:00:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to announce the arrival of ShadowLand's first project, "For The Beauty!" Earlier this year, I was given a four week sabbatical from my church. After much prayer, I decided one of the best things I could do with the time was to create a "solo" album. The thought of creating a solo bass album however, didn't seem that appealing to me. However, producing a recording along with my friends seemed like the absolute right thing to do! Thus ShadowLand was born.

Over the course of years, I have written a number of arrangements that are instrumental hymn settings. It has been a blast to perform them at church. But, it's one of the hazards of the job, you play them once, and when you're finished they can get placed on a shelf to never be heard again. This just seemed like the right thing to do! I am so blessed to have so many extremely talented friends, and I asked them if they'd be willing to help. All said yes! Thanks guys & gals! What a blessing you have been to me!

So, I packed up my stuff, and headed to Montana! My dear friends, Kay & Randy Creech have an incredibly beautiful ranch in the Bitterroot Valley, and some space that was perfect to start the whole process. I spent the first two and a half weeks writing, arranging and recording my parts.

When I got back home the process continued. I had done some consulting work for Optical Disc Solutions in Richmond, which I bartered for recording time in their studio. My buddy Jeff Ervin is the engineering genius behind the faders. So, we started calling in all the other players to record their parts. We started with drummer Kevin McDonald. Kevin and I have known and played together for nearly 30 years (ouch). What a joy for him to join up with the ShadowLand team. Jeff not only engineered the project but played electric guitar on many cuts. What a talented guy! Also joining the team was the entire Pike family. Barry joined on several cuts with his electric guitar, Jordan played keys on "Amazing Grace," and Nancy added her beautiful vocal stylings to an original tune I wrote called, "Phileo." The talented Kate Wogoman graced the ivories on several cuts. We we're also honored to have my buddy Jason Webb put his signature on a couple of tunes. My dear friend Pat O'neal added some saxophones, and the talented Heidi Thurston played flute. (By the way, the longest note in history is at the end of Piggy Tails & Puppy Dogs-check it out-no breath). My long time pal Chris Robinson played drums on Amazing Grace. (I say long time, he started playing with me when he was 13 or 14.) Amazing Grace was one of the most fun tracks for me to cut. First of all, I had an old arrangement of that great old hymn, but it just wasn't getting it done for me. So, for Easter this past year I decided to write a new arrangement. On the recording, it's three young guys and an old guy. I was the old guy, all the three other guys were under 25! I met and asked my now new friend, Casey Randall to play guitar on that one. All I can say is, Whew! What great young talented guys! I've been ministering with my brother Lee Behnken for over 20 years, and it would have been sad to not have him join us. So, he added his beautiful voice to "Faith of Our Fathers." (How appropriate is that?) I also got to do one of the things I've always wanted to do. I got t0 record my girls! My daughter Katie's husband, John flew her home for the recording session! My wife Linda, and daughter's Laurie and Stephanie added an incredibly haunting vocal to "For the Beauty!" We also were graced by the trumpet/flugelhorn stylings of my friend Don Smith.

As the project was being recorded and mixed there was another team putting together the other side of this project. It was apparent to me that it would be nice to do a recording, it would be great to do something that could be broader than that, and impact lives. So, per the advice of Derek Williams in his book, "Worship Revolution;" we structured a leadership team to birth a ministry. The ministry was recently born and is called, Shadowland Project Inc. Shadowland Project Inc. is the reason ShadowLand-For the Beauty exists. The early plan of the SPI is to help students with finding musical instruments. Hopefully, writing scholarships for music and art students. We believe that all real beauty comes from the Creator. We also believe that we-his creation are in part, created to be creative. It's in our DNA because we're created in His image.

There will be so much to come! You can now go to our web site at: www.shadowlandproject.com. The cd will soon be available on iTunes, CDbaby, and many other internet providers. You can also contact me or buy from our website.

Sunday, July 19th - Our last day in Bogota. PART ONE

2009-07-23T20:11:00.000-07:00

On Sunday morning, we got up and, after breakfast, took the TransMilenio rapid transit bus to the Iglesia Wesleyana del Norte for the 9:30 service. We walked from the bus stop on a bridge across the highway to the church.

This is the largest Wesleyan Church in the world. They have six services every weekend.

The worship service was great. We were treated as honored guests, sitting on the front row with our friends from the Bible Institute. Their music was very good, contemporary like ours, and we all really enjoyed that part of the worship service.

July 20th is the Colombian Independance day, so the church honored some of it's veterans.

Then they called our team up on stage. Rick West spoke briefly, introducing us, and Steve presented greetings from FCWC and a devotional. Then we led a song, "Open the Eyes of My Heart", which everyone sang, each in their own language...really cool. Nancy has a short, rather rough video clip of this which may appear on her Facebook page at some point.

Pastor Jose' Quintero, our host and friend, was the guest speaker for this service and he delivered a very dynamic message on the subjects of freedom and independance. In particular, he spoke about what it means to experience for eternity the freedom that we have from sin through the resurrection of Jesus. He is an excellent communicator and we were all transfixed by his message. The language barrier could not withstand his passion or the Holy Spirit's power to draw us in.

After the message, prayers, and benedictions, we exited out to a sunny open courtyard which featured...Coffee Wesley!!!

Here we made several new friends. Everyone was so friendly and welcomed us warmly.

Rick encounter some old friends, and these little guys want to make new friends.

After church, we were taken by car and van to a different and very large shopping mall. While there some of us purchased enough Colombian coffee beans to start a small export business. You can speculate as to who it is that might have done that.

Then we went to lunch at one of Pastor Luz Angela's favorite restaurants, The Crepe and Waffle. Okay, so that's not very South American sounding, we all get that, but the food was delicious and we had a great time of fellowship.

Here are various picture of food and friends:

A great time was had by all.

This is the end of Sunday, part one.

Saturday, July 18th

2009-07-23T04:59:00.000-07:00

It's Saturday and, contrary to our original plans, the team was back at the school early to work. Originally, this was to be a day off for sight-seeing and playing. But several jobs remained to be completed and everyone was determined to get them done.

For several reasons, our curtain-sewing department, in particular, and was feeling the pressure and were anxious about the success of their mission.

The sheer material was difficult to work with. The sewing machine on loan had some definite functional limitations. The number of windows that needed to be completed, 27, was substantial.

After 3 days of designing, measuring, and cutting, only 3 curtains had been completed. The girls were concerned, to say the least.

And then, Saturday morning, something happened. Something clicked and everything started to fall into place. By early afternoon ALL of the curtains had been sewn and hung!

And there was great rejoicing!

Meanwhile, Ron and Steve finished the tables and they look FANTASTIC, exceeding everyone's expectations:

The office remodel was coming together, too. The walls are finished and the guys were getting the doors hung. The biggest part of this was the sliding door on what was to be Mercy's office. It was designed by Scott and mostly built by him, Billy, and Andres, with occasional help from Ron and Steve, too.

Meanwhile, Barry and Carl had run into some trouble. Most of the computer wiring had been pulled, the router was installed, and the wireless was hooked up. Everything tested out and all of the components seemed to be communicating properly. There was just one problem - the internet didn't work! After several hours of troubleshooting and second-guessing, Carl had eliminated all of the obvious possibilities inside the building (our wiring was good!) and we had to conclude that there must be something wrong with the DSL/telephone line coming into the building, or some issue at the ISP provider's office.

So we had to call in an expert.

This is Camilo. He works for Microsoft here in Bogota, teaching advanced classes in various aspects of networking, online security, system design, and several other advanced areas of information technology. He is a for-real, super-smart, certified computer expert with extensive credentials to prove it. He was also an extraordinarily gracious and patient man and we couldn't have asked for any better help.

Unfotunately, after running his own battery of tests, Camilo couldn't find the problem either...which actually made Carl and Barry feel somewhat better.

So, after concluding that it was likely an issue with the telephone company, Carl, Steve, and Barry set out to finish all of the wiring as best we could and trust that the Lord would fix the internet on Tuesday, the next business day. (On Thursday, the 23rd, we received confirmation that the telephone company DID fix the problem and the Institute is online again!!!)

We then packed up all of our tools and headed back to the hotel. We were all going out to supper that evening to celebrate our last day of work at the school! Our hosts were taking us to one of Pastor Jose's favorite restaurants for the best hamborguesa in Colombia. So we got cleaned up quickly and reassembled in the lobby of Hotel Lord.

The restaurant, called El Corral, was in a very large mall in a different section of town. The burgers were truly huge and delicious, and a good time was had by all.

Friday, July 17th

2009-07-21T21:01:00.000-07:00

On Friday morning, the day began with Steve leading us all in a devotion about discipleship, drawing the lesson from some of the Old Testament traditions. Afterwards, some of our team shared about how the Lord had lead them to sign up to come on the trip to Bogota:

And then it's back to work. We've got a lot to do and we are starting to feel the pressure...we want to be done before we leave.

Above, Billy and Tina are about to start hanging curtain rods. Everyone thought it would be a good idea to keep Billy away from sharp, pointy objects for a while. Below, Ron is assembling the tables for the classrooms, fitting the removable tops to the frames.

Above, Brittany is measuring the light diffusor material which had to be carefully cut to fit to cover the windows in the classrooms. The purpose of this is to moderate the incoming sunlight, for security, and also to cut down on the distraction factor for the students. Below, Debbie is sewing the hems on the curtains. This, too, was a very big job.

Above, Scott is applying mud to one of the walls that he and Billy built while Steve is checking it out. Even though specific people had certain assignments, we all floated in and out of each other's jobs, helping as needed, sharing tools, offering insight and experience to one another. Below, Carl is working on the wiring in the computer lab. This is a job we wouldn't have even attempted without someone like Carl, who is very knowledgeable about wiring. It was great to witness God using each person's unique gifts, experience, and personalities to complete the work.

Here is a wonderful woman who, like the women in the Old Testament, has a name that matches her personality and spirit, Mercy Macias. She works for the Wesleyan Bible Institute and, as you can see she is bringing us a treat. Every day, all day, up and down six flights of stairs, these sweet ladies kept us fueled with food and lubricated with coffee, juice, and water.

This beautiful smile belongs to Xiomara Macias, and she is Mercy’s niece. She also speaks English very well and never missed an opportunity to encourage us. In English, her name is pronounced “sha-MAR-a”. On this day, she is bringing us this interesting refreshment, a kind of drinkable yogurt made by a Alpina, a big and important company in Bogota that exports a variety of food products all over South America.

Here are some of our other friends, again. Laura Macias, our chief translator, tour guide, Spanish teacher, and helper.

Andres Rodriguez, a tireless worker with a true servant's heart.

Pastor Felix (standing, talking to Ron), and Alberto, another young man with excellent translation skills. He is talking with Scott below and is also a worship leader at his church.

Several times during the week, in the early evening, there would be a class meeting in one of the classrooms and we would always try to be a little quieter about our work. On Friday night, after supper, we received a special surprise. One of the classes, in Apologetics, came upstairs to the top floor so that they could meet us. They thanked us for our efforts and we had a good time mingling and talking with them. They were happy to practice their English skills and we had a good time getting to know some of the folks who we hoped would benefit from our labors.

(Remember, you can click on the photos to view a larger version)

Afterwards, we all went back to work, the students to their classroom and us to our jobs:

And finally, here is a picture of Brittany's tool bag:

She got teased a bit because of it's girly look and color-coordinated tools. All week we called it either "Hannah Montana's Tool Bag" or "the Barbie Tool Bag". However, I think that all of us, at one time or another during our work, found that it held exactly the right tool we needed for whatever task we were doing at the time.

Isn't that just like the way the Lord works?

Thursday, July 16

2009-07-17T08:55:00.000-07:00

This morning Nancy led our devotional time and had everyone in tears as she spoke about the varied gifts and talents that each of our team members possesses and how the Lord is using us here so far from home. Then she spoke about the gifts that we have seen in our gracious hosts, the sweetness of their humility, their quiet devotion to serving us while we serve them, and their enthusiastic devotion to the kingdom of God. As we have poured ourselves into one another's lives, we have truly seen Jesus at work, mixing our personalities, our abilities, and our spiritual gifts in surprising and creative ways.

Work continues apace on all fronts. Scott and Billy made a lot of progress on the new office area, installing the metal studs, mounting most of the drywall, and figuring out how to mount a sliding door.

Billy provided us with considerable extra excitement when, late in the afternoon, while cutting his last piece of drywall with a razor knife, something slipped and he cut a deep, approximately 2" long gash between his thumb and forefinger. Immediately our hosts and team rallied, wrapping his hand and taking him to an emergency clinic nearby. Ultimately, he wound up at a local hospital emergency room, with Rick watching over him, where he received six stitches, a shot in his booty, and a prescription for ibuprofen. He reports that the medical treatment he receive was very professional and carefully done. Amazingly, the bill was only $35 US. And now, we are very happy to report, he really is in great shape. Of course, we had to promote him to a different work crew, one where he doesn't get to play with sharp objects for a while, but he is back to his lovable and highly capable self. On Friday morning, Luz Angela thanked him for shedding his blood for Columbia.

Having completed the painting on the first floor, Leigh Anna, Britney, and Tina are working on removing the old tinting from the windows so that new, better tinting can be applied. This is a big job, but they are getting it done.

Here is of one of our helpers, Laura Macias. She speaks excellent English and has been a great translator. She has also been helping with the work in several areas, here with Britney & Andres. She is studying psychology at a local college and intends to be a teacher upon graduation.

And here is Consuelo Martínez, who has cooked and cooked and cooked the most amazing meals for us. Typically, she prepares two meals each day for 16-20 people. Now that, folks, is ministry.

This is what we had for a midmorning "snack" today, a kind of puff pastry filled with chicken, served warm:

And speaking of lunch, this is what it looked like today:

That is a salad with fresh sliced tomato, carrots, sweet peppers, lettuce and cilantro in some kind of light lime-flavored vinaigrette. The main course was roasted chicken, what seemed to be a sweet-tasting ground pork with red peppers, and fried yucca wedges. The yucca is pan fried in butter with a little salt and, sometimes, a little garlic. It taste like a gourmet french fry. The desert was a small plate of mild cheese, probably mozzarella, with melted panella. Really, really good.

And here is "el Jefe," Pastor Jose Quintero, and his wife, Luz Angela. They are both very gifted leaders, and they overflow with kindness, graciousness and the love of Christ. It has been a joy and great privilege to get to know these people.

On Thursday evening, all of us except Rick and Pastor Jose, who were looking after Billy at the hospital, took a ride through northern Bogota in an open bus, complete with a live mariachi-style band. This adventure also involved some singing, sight-seeing, illegal driving, dogs in T-shirts, and "dancing", if that is what you can call this:

Below are some more shots from that evening. We were sooo happy that Billy was able to join us later, too, for the last half of our ride.

Remember, there are many more photos at the Fountain City Wesleyan Church's Flickr Website. Follow the link from here.

Wednesday, July 15th

2009-07-15T20:43:00.000-07:00

Today was a major work day. So after a good breakfast at the hotel, we traipsed over to the school, arriving about 9:30 AM. Steve led our devotional time and we sang "This is My Desire," a request by Pastor Jose. We first sang it in English, and then our hosts took over in Spanish.

The first jobs was to transport all of the building materials that had been purchased the day before from the downstairs foyer up to the floors on which they were to be used. There is an elevator in the building, however it has been broken for a long time and, in fact, would have been too small for most of our supplies. So, as you can see in the picture below of Ron and Brittany, we carried lumber (2x3's...the standard stud size here), metal studs, pre-cut tabletops, and sheet rock up several flights of stairs, handing it up "fire-brigade" style.

While Tina, Brittany, and Leigh Anna continued to work on the paint job on the first floor, Carl met with Eduardo and Pastor Jose (below) to finalize the plans for the relocation of the buildings IT equipment. Carl and Barry are pulling Cat5 cable so that tomorrow they will be able to move and install a new 16-port router, a professional-grade wireless access point, as well as install some additional power, computer, and telephone connections. Hopefully, this will enable the school to have wireless internet access throughout the building, improve office communications, standardize the computer lab setup, plus provide computer access in the library.

Steve and Ron had the big job of building 10 tables to be used in the classrooms. Here Steve is planing and sanding each table legs that Ron had cut. Yes, that's 40 table legs...that was a substantial workout and Steve is going to be sore tomorrow.

Here Ron is applying stain to one of the table braces. After that came the polyurethane finish.

Scott and Billy had the task of taking one office and making it into 3 separate office workspaces, building walls and hanging doors.

Nancy and Debbie, shown here at lunch, were stripping window treatment from some of the windows, as well as measuring and cutting fabric to sew for curtains. This, too, is a pretty big job. This building has a lot of windows.

And speaking of lunch, here is one of the main dishes, ajiaco bogotano. This soup is indescribably delicious. It is made of potatoes, chicken, corn, and indigenous herbs. At the table, we added crema de leche and capers. A thing of beauty...

Here we are, enjoying a great time of fellowship, with the city and mountains over behind Andreas:

Another special time is our meal together with our hosts at the end of the day. This is where we really get to know one another and our Colombian brothers and sisters. The work that they do and the beautiful way they serve us and one another is indescribably humbling. It is impossible not to love these people.

We were exhausted. Here, over our dinner later that night, Billy is getting the story from Brittany about how she got a little carried away with a putty knife earlier in the day. Evidently she was trying to dig her way through one of the walls...you'll have to ask her about it.

When we got back to our hotel rooms, we all found on our pillows a sweet note of thanks and a gift of frutas Colombianos from our hosts. Like I said earlier, it is impossible not to love these people.

Tuesday, July 14th

2009-07-15T10:00:00.000-07:00

Today was a day full of new experiences. After a hearty breakfast in our hotel 8:30 AM, Steve led a devotion from Galatians 2:20 and challenged us to surrender ourselves to the work at hand.

We then walked the couple of blocks to the Wesleyan Bible Institute, led by Rick West and Andreas, one of our hosts. After a fun, "get-acquainted" meeting, around 10:30 or so, we were served this:

Yes. Empanadas...it was like a second breakfast. They were awesome.

Then we sang a little "Your Love is Deep," with our new friends, Pastor Jose Quintero, Luz Angela, Roscio, and Mercy...some of the warmest, nicest people I've ever met.

After that we began to plan the work in earnest. Our key construction guys, Billy Ward, Ron Ayers, and Scott Warner, along with Rick West and Pastor Jose focused on the design and construction of 10 tables for classroom use. The rest of us took measurements and brainstormed ideas for a fairly ambitious curtain hanging project.

After that the building team above planned an office space renovation, Carl Dole began collecting info for relocating some of the office IT infrastructure, and everyone else started thinking about the painting project that was going to take place on the first floor.

In addition to the Wesleyan Bible Institute, this wonderful building also houses both the national and regional offices of the Colombian Wesleyan Church. It is an interesting, six-story structure with a great view. Here are a couple of shots taken from one of the upper windows.

So far, all of these blog photos have been taken by Nancy. She has many more and will be uploading them to her Flickr site soon, so be sure to check back there.

So that afternoon, after a magnificent lunch, the team split up. The construction team drove off to find and purchase supplies for their projects. The painting began on the lower two floors, a space which will, ultimately, be rented out.

There will be a number of photos of the wonderful folks who are taking care of us while we work here. But here is Andreas and Marie Elena Rodriguez. Andreas has been the driving force behind our construction projects and has been a gifted and determined Spanish tutor as well. His wife brings us refreshments throughout the day and is also a part of the team that prepares and serves our meals. These people embody the very idea of "el corazon de siervo," the servant's heart. Priceless.

Here is our first group picture:

On our way to Columbia! Monday, July 13th

2009-07-14T21:08:00.000-07:00

Monday was a day of many miles. Basically, we flew all day and into the night. But it all went very smoothly. We got to the Dayton airport in plenty of time, got our luggage checked and had plenty of time for coffee and snacks. Brittany Pardo had time to catch up on some reading.

The flight from Dayton to Atlanta was quick and easy, too. The Atlanta airport was considerably more crowded but, again, we had plenty of time for lunch before heading to our gate.

The flight to from Atlanta to Bogota was full, but the service was excellent and the flight really seemed to go quickly. Upon arrival, we deplaned and were bussed to the terminal. Here the one and only problem surfaced. Barry had forgotten to retrieve one of the carry-on bags from the plane, a garment bag belonging to Ron. Not good. Nevertheless, we were able to easily pick up all of our other bags and, before we were done, had managed to reacquire the missing bag as well.

Rick West (below), Pastor Jose Quintero, and the rest of our hosts met us exactly as planned and escorted us out of the airport.

They took us to our hotel, the Hotel Lord, got us set up, gave us a late-night snack of rotisserie chicken.

Tina and Leigh Anna (above) had a very big day. For both of them, this was their first airline flight AND their first trip out of the country. You couldn't tell it, though. They both acted like experienced world travellers and did great!

Again, we are so very grateful for all of you who helped us get here and who are, even now, faithfully lifting us up in prayer.

AND HERE WE ARE!

Leaving for Bogota in 2 Days!

2009-07-11T22:00:00.000-07:00

In less than 48 hours, our missions team will be winging our way to Bogota, Colombia. We leave on Monday afternoon, departing on Delta Airlines Flight #2043 from Dayton International around 1:30 and landing at the El Nuevo Dorado International Airport AT 9:00 PM.

We are so grateful for all of you who have supported us through generous monetary gifts and also for those of you who have committed to strengthen us through your daily intercessory prayers.

Our team members are:

Tina Ashcraft
Ron Ayers
Carl Dole
Steve Mathews (team leader)
Brittany Pardo
Barry Pike
Nancy Pike
Angela Powell
Leigh Anna Thomas
Billy Ward
Debbie Warner
Scott Warner

Right now, everyone's minds are full. Full of thoughts on what to pack, thoughts about the families we are leaving behind, on what the long flight will be like, on all of the unknowns that await us in the days ahead. Some of us are nervous, anxious, even wondering if we are doing the right thing. Some of us are eager, ready, but also concerned about the future.

There is nothing more exciting in this life than stepping into the unknown with the Lord.

My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right God, then there was no need of Christ to die. Galatians 2:20-21

Missions Team Going To Bogota in July!

2009-04-29T09:26:00.000-07:00

GO BOGOTA JULY 09

This summer a team of volunteers will be joining lifelong missionaries Rick and Clara West on a missions trip to Bogota Columbia. Bogota is the capitol of this beautiful mountainous country in the northwest corner of South America. It is a city of almost 8 million people. It is located on a plateau in the Andes Mountains and the altitude is over 8500 feet. The average yearly temperature is around 70 (F) for the high and 45 (F) for the low. The temperature doesn’t vary much even though Bogota is only a few degrees from the Equator. Pastor Bob Gray dubbed it, “the land of perpetual spring.”

There is tremendous growth of the church in Bogota, as well as throughout Latin America. It’s interesting to note that the largest Wesleyan Church in the world is Bogota North Church. God is on the move! A number of years ago, North Church started a training center on the church site. But because of tremendous growth, North Church asked the Training Center to move off site. Through the hand of God moving on their behalf, they acquired an unoccupied building not far from the current church site. The building is an incredible blessing to the School, but is in severe need of remodeling for use as a school.

The main mission of the Latino Bible School is to epuip future pastors for their call. The training center not only equips pastors in Colombia, but pastors for the entire Latino speaking world. Our role will be to come alongside them and offer our support in manpower, as well as supplies. On our last trip we demolished several walls, replaced the water tank for their water supply. We also cleaned and tiled a large portion of their student center, as well as, mudded and built a few walls.

So…here’s the two-fold opportunity...

We are currently raising funds for airfare, meals, accommodations, and supplies while there. As of press, we will need to raise $1500 dollars each to pay for the trip. Anything over and above what we raise will be used on the trip for supplies to continue in the work. Gifts of any size are accepted!

There is also an opportunity for you to join us in prayer! We are required to have no less than 25 prayer partners before leaving for the trip. The most powerful thing you can do is pray! Join our prayer team and pray for the team’s safety in travel, strength and stamina. The power of prayer is an amazing thing and is critical to the success of this mission

If you would like to join the team in financial support, make checks payable to Fountain City Wesleyan Church and mark the memo “Bogota.” All donations can be receipted if you so desire. You can give any funds to Sue Firth-the church office manager, or me. Please don’t put them in the offering, as they might get lost in the shuffle.

If you’d like to join our prayer team, please let us know so we can keep you abreast of all of our prayer needs!

Thanks and God bless you for any support you can offer!

If you have any further questions, you can contact the church by calling: 765-935-4353.

Until The Day of Christ...

2009-04-06T04:54:00.000-07:00

As I've been praying for the upcoming trip to Bogota, Colombia, I thought of a certain scripture that might help us in this season of raising support.

Philippians 1:3-6 says: "I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

I've heard the book of Philippains called the "Go get 'em" book. The team of 12 others and I are quickly approaching our first deadline. This Easter Sunday we hope to make our first marker by raising half our support, which is $750. In todays economy, that seems like an impossible amount to raise! I know I will be able to raise the funds, however I have moments where I ask God where it is all possibly going to come from.

The thought for today is this, God will indeed see what He's started in me (and you) to completion. It is His plan that I get to participate in and join Him in what He is already doing. All of us on the team are in the same boat. Trusting God is not always the easiest thing to do, as sometimes His silence is deafening. But, we can know without a shadow of a doubt that He will complete what He's started in each of us. He's an awesome God, and it's a sweet place for us to be.

I am totally convinced that prayer is the answer. When we talk to God, He will move on our behalf! He already has the plan laid out and our part is to connect with Him. So, as we continue to struggle with, "am I possibly going to be able to raise this money?" The answer is, "He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion!" (Emphasis mine)

So, for anyone that happens upon this, I would ask you to pray! How am I to participate in this ministry? There also comes a time to move, but I'll have more on that later! I've heard it said, "the funds are all there, it's in our wallets." It's already provided for us, prayer is the key! How's the prayer list coming!

Faithful To the Core!

2009-03-27T04:48:00.000-07:00

Read Joshua 14:6-15

I love the story of Caleb in the bible. Caleb was a classic model of how our faith should be lived out. His story starts in Numbers 13. He was one of the spies that Moses sent into the land of Canaan to explore the land. Out of the 12 there were only 2 that came back believing that with the help of God, we can take this land. It's ours for the taking! He knew it in his heart. Turns out he was absolutely right. At the time of their scouting mission, Caleb was around 40 years old. Now, fast forward 45 years to the scripture reading in Joshua. Along with Joshua, they were the only two that survived the journey from Egypt. Because of their faith in a God that's bigger than any giants, and is always good on His promises.

At this point in the scripture, the promised land is being divided into parcels for each tribe. Then Caleb shows up in verse 10-12 he says, "Now as you can see, the Lord has kept me alive and well as He promised for all these forty-five years since Moses made this promise-even while Israel wandered in the wilderness. Today I am eighty-five years old. I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent me on that journey, and I can still travel and fight as well as I could then. So give me the hill country that the Lord promised me, You will remember that as scouts we found the descendants of Anak living there in great, walled towns. But if the Lord is with me, I will drive them out of the Land, just as the Lord said."

Here he is, eighty-five years old and still knowing that God is going to make good on the promise He'd given them! And not only that, but he's ready to go in and take it, because he understood if God is for me, there is no man that can stand between me and that God given destiny! What a guy! What a faith! What a God!

What are you trusting God for today, right now! He's always good and loves you more than you can comprehend! Trust Him for that seemingly unanswered prayer!

Bogota Colombia 09

2009-03-23T06:18:00.000-07:00

I'm excited to announce the Bogota Colombia trip for 2009. I am deeply honored to get to lead this years team. There will be a series of posts for you to read and pray through with us, as we prepare our hearts, minds and bodies to go. I was reading in Joshua this morning and thought of our team and where we are in the preparation process. We are currently in the fund-raising phase. We all need to raise $1500 in order to pay air-fare as well as cover other costs while we are there. The mission will be a continuation of our 2007 trip. You can still see some of that team's time on this blog, as I've not taken them down. The images of the children and our friends that we made in 07 are an inspiration and reminder to pray for them as we prepare to go. You'll get to know some of the team, as I plan to post some pictures and introduce the team on this blog. It's going to be an exciting trip to see how God uses us to be His hands and feet.

The scripture I ran across is found in Joshua 1:16. "We will do whatever you command us, and we will go wherever you send us."

There are several images that are painted through this section of scripture. But, I'd like to focus on Joshua's task, it was gigantic. It was a behemoth of a task! He was to lead a nation into a land that they didn't know, but God had promised centuries earlier to their ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Moses their leader over the last 40 years was now dead. Now, it's Joshua's time to lead. I particularly love God's admonition to Joshua. He first tells him, "Be strong and courageous, for you are the one..." (Josh. 1:6) God had called him and he was God's man for the job. Next, He told him, "Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey..." God had laid out His plan for them through Moses. The admonition is to do the plan, God's plan. The third admonition sounds like the first two. "Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go!

If you are a team member reading this, you need to "BE STRONG and COURAGEOUS! It is easy to get caught up in the frustration of trying to raise funds and prayer partners and the fear of the unknown starts to creep in. I firmly believe God has called and set apart each and every person that has felt the call to go. He's also calling those whom will support us through prayer and finances. God calls us to trust Him. It's His mission! It's about Him.

So, if you happen upon this, and you are not a team member,first of all pray for us! We need your prayers! We also need the funds to do this mission. We need the faith to press on; to be strong and courageous. God has a mighty plan. Pray that we adjust to Him, and that He will receive all honor and praise!

Wide Awake

2009-03-18T07:51:00.000-07:00

I recently finish Wide Awake by Erwin McManus. I would consider this a must read. I got copies for the whole family for Christmas. It is such an encouraging book. The subtitle is: The Future is Waiting Within You. If you have unfulfilled dreams, or feel like God has forgotten you, you must read this book. Essentially, it's about dreaming the dreams that God has placed inside you, and dreaming them "Wide Awake." I've moved it onto my top 5 list for sure. Stay tuned here, as in the weeks to come I'll be doing some posts on it!

The Boy In The Striped Pajamas

2009-03-14T10:15:00.000-07:00

"The Boy In The Striped Pajamas" comes with a 5 star rating from me. To say I enjoyed this movie is somewhat of a mis-statement. It is set in WWII at the site of a Nazi extermination camp, where an eight year old German boy befriends an eight year old Jewish boy who lives on a "farm" behind their home. The subject matter is dark to day the least. However, the way the story is handled paints the picture of how hatred for others, in the name of national bravado, leads to the death, in this case, of millions of innocent people. Grab a box of kleenex and rent or buy this one! James Horner does the score, which is excruciatingly plain at times, pensive and beautiful in others. There are some startling images that might be too much for small children. But, can stir up some great conversation about how hatred and prejudice kills.

Understanding Holiness

2009-03-14T08:21:00.000-07:00

Read Deuteronomy 5:23-29

Along with two good friends, we're on our 4th lap of reading through the Bible in a year. I've grown to love God's work even more, literally can't wait to get to my daily reading time. I highly recommend it to anyone that has a desire to learn more about God, and themselves. I was reading yesterday in Deuteronomy and came across a passage that spoke to me in volumes. I'm going to attempt to condense what I gleaned in a couple of paragraphs, which could be tricky.

If I could use two words to write in the column of these verses, they would be, understanding Holiness. These verses come after Moses restates the Ten Commandments. Then he proceeds to tell the story of how these tablets came about. "He wrote His words on two stone tablets and gave them to me." In the verses that follow the "tribal leaders" came to understand that they had heard from God, "the heart of the fire" and lived to talk about it. We have experienced His awesome power and once is enough. Why should we risk it again? So, Moses was recognized as the leader/spokesman for Israel.

Starting in verse 28, God is pleased with their response. It's amazing, in their humility their came a great awareness of the Power (Holiness) of God. Their hearts were right and as long as they remained in a state of Awe, respect and holy fear, and obeyed God's commands, they would prosper. My translation says they would prosper forever!

The thought is this...how can I better understand His holiness today? What response should I have when I look into His holiness? Beblest!

Repenting of my slogging ways!

2009-03-12T07:15:00.000-07:00

It's time! It's time to get back to blogging! I confess that I have become a slogger! Now that I have repented, it's time to turn from my ways and get with the program. It is likely that nobody will see this particular post, but it is once again a new start point for me! There is an absolute need for me to get back at this. So, if you happen across this, keep an eye on it, I'm praying to grow this ministry!

New Song in My Heart

2007-08-25T04:47:00.000-07:00

Psalm 40:1-3
1 I waited patiently for the Lord to help me,
and he turned to me and heard my cry.
2 He lifted me out of the pit of despair,
out of the mud and the mire.
He set my feet on solid ground
and steadied me as I walked along.
3 He has given me a new song to sing,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see what he has done and be amazed.
They will put their trust in the Lord.

I love the Psalms! I frequently hear, (guys in particular) say things like, "I don't really relate to the Psalms, after all, it's just a bunch of songs!" It is somewhat implied that it is not for real men. Say what?! Many of the Psalms were written by a very "real" man named David. He was maybe one of the most manly men of the bible. He was a warrior, giant slayer, bear & lion slayer, expert marksman (sling), leader of a nation, he was no wimp! He was also a skilled musician, and wrote many songs (Psalms) to the Lord, as well as about Him. This morning's Psalm has a powerful word for ALL believers. The truth found in the whole of Psalm 40 is powerful, but I'd like to focus on verses 1-3. These words are powerful words of exhortation and encouragement.

I've heard it said, "never pray for patience," because in order to grow in patience you must go through trials. But, the real stuff of life is largely grown with trial fertilizer. When you go through a trial, you have a unique opportunity to grow. God turns to us in those times and helps us the Psalm says. (40:2) I love the picture that David paints here. First, he turns to me. I think of times when I've taken a walk through the woods with one of my daughters. The footing would get treacherous and they would call out, "dad, wait up!" I usually wasn't listening as intensely as our Heavenly Father does, but that is an image of how I see it. He leads us along life's path. When we call out, He turns to help. Not only that, He comes to us, pulls us from our trouble, sets us upright, and helps us walk until we are steady again. Now, that picture is part of the mysteriousness of God. The Creator of all, the Great I Am, Alpha and Omega, will turn to help me when I call. In my mind, I can't fathom how God would care for me, as insignificant as I am in the overall scheme of things. In God's plan, my troubles are important enough for Him to stop, turn and help me, not only help, but see to it that I am able to continue the path. That path is important to Him as we'll see later in verse 3.

Then comes my favorite part. Because of His help, because of His love for me, a song is born in my heart. A "New Song," if you will. I don't sing that song because I'm supposed to, I sing it because I'm glad to. He restores me to the path and I can see with clearer vision the path He has for me. It's a beautiful path, a path that leads me to sing this new song. This is where a lot of guys will check out. They say, "I don't sing, I can't carry a tune in a bucket." I really don't see anywhere in the Bible where anyone is excused from singing because of being musically challenged. (So much for my soap box.)

The beauty of what happens when we sing comes in verse 3. It's an amazing thing when the watching world sees God lift one of His children out of a pit, and they immediately begin to praise Him. Verse 3 says, "Many will see and...put their trust in Him.

No matter where you find yourself today, or whatever trial you are struggling with, turn to Him. Be encouraged, He is there to help you. The really beautiful thing is that someone might just move closer to God just watching you. God won't waste any hurt, and He will lift you out of that smelly pit and give you a brand new song. So SING!

Back Home Again!

2007-08-01T16:54:00.000-07:00

Psalm 100
1 Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth!
2 Worship the Lord with gladness.
Come before him, singing with joy.
3 Acknowledge that the Lord is God!
He made us, and we are his.
We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
go into his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the Lord is good.
His unfailing love continues forever, andhis faithfulness continues to each generation.
(Thanks biblegateway.com)

We owe such a debt of gratitude to our God for his protection, guidence, grace, mercy and the list goes on and on. He is so immeasurably good, mere words are not enough. We got into Indy at about 8:35 on Monday evening. I think all the guys shared my sentiments-it was a great trip, but it's so good to be home. I could tell by the squeals of the children when they saw their dads! This post will hopefully be shorter on words because I'd like to just show you a few pics and show you a little glimpse of the last couple of days of our mission.
This is some of the staff at the school where we were working. I'm just going to give first names rather than risk the embarrassment of butchering their last names. From l to r: Rick West (Global Partners Latin Area Director) Rick oversees all Global Partners Spanish speaking countries. Luz: (Assistant Director of the Bible school in Bogota) Her husband:Joel:(Director of the school) Mercy: (staff at the school) Rocia:(works for Wesleyan Foundation) Some of our new friends, pray for them!
Heres a shot of our crew in front of the school. And on the right is a picture of some of the students of the school of Theology. These are the future leaders of the Wesleyan church all over the Spanish speaking world!
It's all part of the ripple effect, the way Christianity has always worked. The family of God comes together to encourage, equip, exhort, engage one another to good works. Not to earn our salvation, but because we all love Jesus and that has to bear itself out in the form of fruit. God is on the move in Central and South America, we get to play a part in that.
On Saturday, we were honored to visit with Pastor Juan Pineros, the Pastor of the Bogota North Wesleyan Church. It is the largest Wesleyan church in the world. In the picture on the right, you can see the construction site. They hold 6 services, 2 on Saturday and 4 on Sunday. I asked Pastor Juan how many were actually in attendance at the 6am service, he said 600 to 700 faithful usually showed up. The church runs somewhere from 6000 to 7000 on any given weekend. The impact that the church is having can be scene in the faces of these children. Our small part, is developing leaders to go into the world to reach and teach them about Jesus. There is no higher call! There is nothing more important than giving your heart and life to Jesus. In our design is a God shaped hole it can only be filled by God. If we choose to not fill it with Him, we will fill it with something else. We fill it with pleasure, possesions, people, and many other things. Some times we fill it with good things, but that hole is designed for one thing, it's designed for God. We are created in His image, the hole in our souls can only be filled by the one true God. And He has a plan for your life. The bible says in the book of Jeremiah 29:11 that He has a plan for you. A plan to prosper you and not to harm you. A plan to give you a hope, and a future. These pictures are from the Bogota north church. They are pictures of God's most precious creation, people. He loves them! What an honor to serve the creator of everything. This trip was such a blast! To see how God is moving in Columbia, as well as to come alongside some brothers and learn to love them better and serve alongside them. If you are taking a spin on this blogpost, you probably played an important part in this mission. Because chances are, if you're looking here, you prayed for us, or financially supported, or are a spouse, child, or sibling of one of the crew. God bless You! We love you! Thank you for your prayers. We all appreciate you and your participation.
On Saturday, after a week of hard work, we went out to play. One of the places we visited was the Cathedral de Sol. (Cathedral of Salt) It was an old salt mine that was turned into a cathedral. An amazing piece of work. The catholic influence is strong in Columbia, as was evident in the 14 stages of the cross. But, someone did indeed think enough of God to build this beautiful work. It was beautiful, and one of the things that I enjoyed was the mysteriousness of the place. Our God is indeed mysterious. Why would the creator of all, the Lord of all, leave His heavenly throne, choose to come to earth, put on flesh and bones, live, breath, stub His toes; just live life the same as us, and choose to die a cruel death on one of the most brutal instruments of death ever made by a man? He did it because He loves us! Remember, we are made in His image. You are made in His image! He loves you, blemishes and all. The bible says that, "while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." The bible also reminds us that all his creation points to Him, that we will be without excuse when we come face to face with Him. Because His creation shouts forth His existence. He is, always has been, and always will be, God.
After church on Sunday we finished up our trip with some tourist activity. Bogota is backed up right next to a mountain range. As I mentioned earlier, the altitude there is between 8 and 9000 feet. So these mountains must be in the 12,000 to 13,000 ft. range. We took a cable car ride to the top to get a view of the city. Wow, what a view! These small pics can't even come close to exposing the awesome beauty. God's glorious creation! And nestled below, some 6 to 7 million of the ones He created in His own image. Breathtaking! Before we wrapped things up totally, our hosts had one more little surprise up their sleeves. We returned to Olivia's (our caterer for the week) home for some pizza and hanging out time. As we were sitting around and talking, we heard some music coming from the garage, most of us thought it was a stereo playing. Then, through the door walks two guitarists with a singer playing maracas. They were incredible! Singing Columbian folk music. It was a real picture of their culture and was a beautiful send-off gift for us. Then we had a time of sharing how God had blessed us this past week, we prayed together, laughed, shed a tear or two, said goodbye, and went back to our hotel to prepare for the trip home. You can never go on a mission trip and outgive those that you serve! I'm convinced, this was my sixth trip and I believe it just can't be done!

Maybe you've just stumbled across this blog by accident. And somehow you sense God speaking to your heart. It's not by chance, really. His Spirit has led you here! He Loves YOU! He is pursuing you with a passion that we can't understand in our humanity. He's preparing a place for you to live with Him forever! If you'd like to secure that relationship, and start on the journey for which you were designed, you can do that right now!

Pray this Prayer:
Lord, I know I've not lived my life in a very good way,
I've not been paying attention to Your calling out to me.
Forgive me God.
I know I'm not worthy of it, but help me to receive Your forgiveness!
Help me to better understand You and Your grace.
Jesus, come live in my heart,
Help me to shine your light in my life,
that other's might be drawn to You.
Help me to find others that believe in You,
so together, with You, we can change our world.
In Jesus Name,
Amen
If you prayed that prayer, would you please take the time to respond to this blog. I would like to pray for you! God loves you, and He wants only what is best for you! Me too!
So much for a few words!
Blessings!

Video Of the Guys in Bogota

2007-07-31T15:48:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we were heading out for our day off and we were able to catch this little video in front of the School in Bogota. The Mondongo is a special soup that we fell in love with, just ask one of us!

Moon Over Bogota

2007-07-28T04:46:00.001-07:00

The moon over Bogota looks the same as it does in Indiana. It rises in the east and sets in the west, just like back home. It can be difficult to be so far from home and not be able to have open contact with the ones you love. So, we try to find familiar points that we can connect. Something familiar, something everyone can see. The moon has been one of Linda, the girls and my check points. We ask, "did you see the moon?" Somehow it's comforting while being so far away that we can see the same point of reference. Our God is that way. His love, grace, and mercy never, ever change. His word consistently reveals to us who He is, and His incredibly passionate love for His creation (especially you and me). I wonder sometimes if he didn't spin the earth around the sun, and the moon around the earth, so we could see His steadfastness. His neverending mercy, His longsuffering?

God has been so good to us! We've had a great week, now today we get to relax. This post is dedicated to all of you back home that have prayed, supported financially and emotionally this experience in Columbia. God has showed Himself strong! We love you and miss you, but will see you soon! I thought I would post quite a few pictures. I apologize if I missed your guy. I wasn't able to capture everyone in action yesterday, but I grabbed a number of shots and thought you'd enjoy them.

Here's Mike helping to lay tile in what will soon be the cafeteria for the Bible School. You can see some of the other work behind him. They've only been in this building since February, it was a miracle the way it all came about. The Bible School was formerly located in the Bogota North Wesleyan Church, but when their building project started they no longer had a place to meet. Rick West is the Director for all Wesleyan churches in Spanish speaking countries. I spoke with him yesterday, and He was telling me that the way the district acquired this building had God's hand all over it. Form the funding, to the location, to us being able to bring this team down to do this work. It's great to join God in what He's already doing!

One of the more tideous jobs was taken on by several of the guys. The windows on the north side of the building in the cafeteria were painted over with black paint. I think it had sort of been baked on there by the intense sun. They cleaned cleaned them with razor blades, scouring pads, a putty knife, (that didn't show up until they were almost done) and paint thinner.

Man, those windows look great now, don't they? I think we all agree, the first day was the most difficult. It was a combination of altitude, fatigue, and the work was heavy. But, we were able to accomplish a lot in spite of the difficulties.
The weather has been beautiful, usually 70's in the day and 50's at night. In this shot I'm looking south , even though it looks like the downtown area, it's not the main area that's considered downtown Bogota, that is to our north. But I thought the mountains were a nice backdrop.

Friday was crunch time. Here you see Randy helping to cut the ceramic tile. We were able to tile the entire break room/cafeteria area and it turned out beautiful! In the other shot is Scott and one of our new friends Felix, a local pastor that came to help translate and just roll up his sleeves and work. Clay gave him a t-shirt and he put it on over his sweater because he was cold. Many of the people here were talking about the coolness of the air. To us boys from Indiana it felt really good in the end of July.

We'll have many, many more photos, and stories to share. So, stay tuned as there will hopefully be more to come

The Least Of These

2007-07-26T22:00:00.001-07:00

Today we started our day off by looking at Matt.25:31-46. We focused on “the least of these.” I believe when we think of missionaries and mission teams, we often think of ministering to the real down and outers of society. We somehow romanticize what a real missionary looks like and acts like. Mother Theresa is who comes to mind. And in many instances that is totally acurate. All of the missionaries that I personally know are just common folk like you and me. However, they generally have an extraordinary love for Jesus. A love that manifests itself in ways that causes them to forfeit their own agendas for a higher call. These 13 guys and their families are true blue missionaries. Ambassadors for Christ, yes that is who they are! They don’t think they are, and like me, they don’t fully understand it, but they are missionaries. They all have set aside their own agendas for a higher call. Something bigger than themselves, something that God is doing in their lives, something that will have eternal significance in the lives of those they serve. God’s doing something here! I know it and say it confidently, because that’s the way He is. When we offer up our lives as living sacrifices, we honor Him and He will bless us!

This brief journey has not been without struggle and challenge, but any journey worth taking should have some risk and the challenge is something to rise to. I’m getting to know better and love these brothers in the Lord. Something happens when you join together to do something for God. I think he does this knitting our hearts together. None of us as guys, really care to admit that, but I don’t think any of us would deny it either.
The mission we’ve been on has been high on task. It is a big job and again, God has assembled the right crew for this task. There have been some things I didn’t know before we came though. The largest Wesleyan Church in the world is now Bogotá North. They average over 6000 people per weekend! The Wesleyan Churches of Columbia are among some of the most thriving churches in the world. They have great leadership. That’s where what we’re doing comes into play. The school were we are working is where most of these leaders have attended or will attend. In a sense, we are helping the least of these by helping the school to better equip their students, and pastors through better facilities. We are partnering with some of the best leaders in this region of the world, to better equip pastors, to do what God has called them to do.
What an honor! Praise God and thank Him for His mighty works!
Included in this post are a few more pictures. Randy Davis has snapped some 150+ photos. I have quite a few too, but can only post a few at a time for space and time reasons. The first photo is the view from the 5th floor. There is a spectacular view to the east and all around for that matter. The mountains are amazing. God’s handy work at it’s best!
The next one down is our team, minus Robb Trapp who has become a great friend in these few days, and to whom we owe a great big thank you to for giving of his time to come along, work, and translate for us. Next is a photo of some of the guys doing some of what we all did a lot of, cleaning up messes. What's this, Kevin holding a gun to Clay’s back? Hey wait a minute! I think he might have been trying to keep him from falling off the edge!
This final shot is Scot with our new friend Zabdiel. He is the 14 year old son of a missionary. His english is excellent and he's been hanging out to not only help translate, but do some of the grunt stuff too. Last night some of our new friends, (of whom you will learn more of in tomorrows post) took us on an open bus tour of Bogota. The stop in the middle of the tour was near the top of one of the mountains overlooking the city. We had a great time singing praise songs and laughing 'til it hurt. God is so, incredibly good, all the time...by the way!

DAY 2 In Bogota, Columbia

2007-07-25T11:14:00.001-07:00

Hola from Bogota!
You might have found the title of the last post a little strange. I'll take time today to tell you a little more about the project and then it will make more sense.

We are helping to remodel the National Headquarters for the Columbian branch of the Wesleyan Church. Which is also a theology training center and school for pastors. This was Pastor Bob and Susie Gray's first assignment after they finished language school in San Jose, Costa Rica. So Bob's picture is on the wall as one of the former instructors.

The job is a hard one! We started on the fifth floor demolishing an old water tank that was made of concrete about 6 inches thick. I'll be careful to not single anybody out because everybody is working so hard. However, we are extremely thankful that we have some big strong guys on this team, because we need them. I believe God sent those he wanted to be here.
We also started work on a dropped ceiling that they decided that they didn't want to be dropped any more.

Did I tell you that the air is thin here. I think we all huffed and puffed up the stairs the first time. Then when we realized that we had to lug all the demolition stuff down 5 stories, but it also means we are lugging stuff up. Like 110 lb. bags of concrete and sand. Yikes! I think we all thought our hearts were going to come out of our chests! Needless to say, when we were finished last evening, we were extremely beat. But, everybody recovered nicely and the work today has been lighter.

We are meeting and making some great new friends, I'll share more about them tomorrow.

We had a great time of devotion last evening and this morning. God is answering your prayers and ours too. Stay tuned for more info!

The Thin Air in Bogota is for Real!

2007-07-24T18:55:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody! We made it safe and sound last evening about 10. Made it through customs, no problem. (an answer to prayer) We´ll post more tomorrow, so make sure to stay tuned! Continue to pray and we are praying for all of you!

FCWC Mission Bogota 2007

2007-07-20T12:07:00.001-07:00

Welcome to Our blog! This is actually the EIVW blog that is my personal blog. But, at this late stage I thought it would be easier to use my personal one than to try to recreate a new one for the trip. If you're new to blogging, enjoy! Surf around on old posts and take a look. You might want to become part of the conversation, I encourage you to do so!

This photo is of our team picnic. The only team The only team member that wasn't able to be there was Steven Frame. There is a total of 14 men on this team. We'll be leaving for Bogota on Monday the 23rd of July. Our mission will be to be the hands and feet of Jesus to our sister church in Bogota. We'll be trying to post more info and happinings as things open up.

Until the next post, I'd like to solicit your prayers for our crew, their families, The Bogota North Church, and the work we'll be doing while there. Pray for safety for all, good health and God's blessing and favor!

Stay tuned, this should be a lot of fun, and we'll do our best to keep the blog fresh!

Here's a list of the guys, their wives and children. When you pray, remember to pray for all of them! Having Daddy go off on a mission trip, might just have a profound effect on some of these little ones! No Doubt!
Ron & Loretta Ayers
Clay & Jody Bolser-Cailyn, Caily, Carly
Randy & Kim Davis-Chris & Fam, Stephanie, Eric
Mike & Hollie Day-Madison, Braeden
Kevin & Sarah Fouch-Emily, Elizabeth
Steven & Corie Frame-Heidi, Brandon
Stan & Jennifer Hill-Fayth, Zachery, Shelby
Steve & Linda Mathews-Laurie, Katie & John, Stephanie
Tom & Jama KcKee-Trent, Tyler
Don & Amy Pardo-Nathan
Greg & Mellissa Stephens-Chris, Andi, Andrew, Christopher
Scott & Debbie Warner-Jessica, Cylee, Joshua
Kevan & Katie Wogoman-Danny, Leah, Ryan
Also pray for Robb Trapp who is from the Global Partners office and is going with us as our translator.

Invoke His Blessings

2007-07-19T05:53:00.000-07:00

I am on my second annual read through the Bible in a year. I use to be one of the ones that took offense when others would say, I'm reading through the bible this year. It use to strike a jealous chord in me that I never really understood. But along with a few good friends for accountability, we’re on lap two. It has become my oasis every day to see what God would have to say to me today. I’ve been a student of the bible for a number of years, but somehow this discipline has taken me to new levels of loving and living in The Word. The challenge of course is to “read for transformation, not information.” When you seek God, especially in His word, you’ll find Him.

Having said all that, we are now in 1 Chronicles as part of our Old Testament reading. I love King David, (the man after God’s heart). I think because that is what I long to be. When I arrive in heaven, I hope to hear my Lord say, “well done my good and faithful servant.” I’ve been musing lately, how can some of this seemingly senseless flapping, be well done? And I’m reminded that God’s measuring stick is called “Grace & Mercy.” In Him is where anything of real eternal value happens.

In the book of First Chronicles 16:4 David appointed the following Levites to lead the people in worship before the Ark of the Lord—to invoke his blessings, to give thanks, and to praise the Lord, the God of Israel. (Thank you biblegateway.com) This passage jumped off the page for me. The Levites in this scripture were the ones to offer up sacrifices, the workers in the temple. They were also the musician’s for the tabernacle worship. They were gatekeepers, butchers, custodians, artisans, you get the picture. In this text, the Ark of God’s Covenant is returning to Jerusalem, one of the most glorious days of all time. Israel had squandered and wandered all over that region of the world. Because of sin, idolatry in particular, they broke their Covenant with God. The price they paid was separation from Him. (Sound familiar?) Over time, things became so bad, that they lost the Ark of God in which God’s covenant was placed. Finally after years and years of turning their back on God, they found the Ark, and King David rejoiced with the honor of returning it to Jerusalem-The City of David.

David’s charge to the Levites is threefold. Remember, the Levites were the worship leaders of the day, and this is what he charged them to do.
1. “…to invoke His blessings,
What a glorious honor! To call upon God’s blessing for His people. To speak words of truth over them, to love them as God loves them. One of the things I’m learning this trip through the Bible is that God loves to bless His children. He has blessings for us, and longs to give them to us. He IS good!
2. …to give thanks,
The worship leaders are to lead in having thankful hearts! Attitude is contagious! When we grumble about circumstances: why don’t the people sing louder, why can’t he or she sing in tune? It’s too loud! It’s not loud enough! I wish we’d sing more... And on and on it goes! Choose your attitude! It IS about Him, not me! Everything else pales in comparison to His glorious splendor. Focus on Him not those external things that can become distractions, if we choose to let them.
3. …and to praise the Lord, the God of Israel.”
With hearts filled with His blessing, and longing to give that away to others, and a thankful heart, the natural response is to praise Him. He is so incredibly good! How could we have any other response but, to praise?

So, if you happen to get to lead, heed these words spoken to the Levites, the lead worshipers of David’s day. If you are not, you still are, because you are the gatekeeper to your own heart. Speak blessings to others, be thankful, and give Him all the praise, glory, and honor that are due His name!

Aviom In Ear Monitoring

2007-06-14T08:32:00.000-07:00

Equipping is one of the “E’s” I would like to refer to from time to time. So, every once in a while I will recommend different pieces of gear that I or someone I know personally has used and found useful.

A little over two years ago some of our tech crew and I decided to do our own install in our then brand new Worship center. It was a big daunting task, but God had put all the right people in place to pull it off. It was amazing what our team was able to bring to the table with experience and innovation.

Our new worship center was an 800+ seat auditorium. We wanted the ability to use video image magnification and media. We needed a good sound system, lighting and projection system. We also wanted the ability to feed it to other parts of the building as needed. There were certain parts of the install we hired out, some of it turned out fantastic, other parts we wanted to change after being in here 2 weeks. It seems to be the way we techie types are, never satisfied with the status quo. Anyway, I won’t spend a lot of time on the task at this point, but would like to tell you about one of the improvements we made and how it is still working after two years.

In-ear monitoring with personal mixers is the berries! We made the move to the Aviom personal mixers over two years ago and absolutely love them. In the overall scheme of our install, the cost of buying the Aviom system was about the same as buying monitors and amps, not to mention the savings on cable costs. The install was a snap!

It has also cleaned up a lot of playing and singing. You can’t hide anymore! Sometimes less experienced players and singers will tend to hide in a band and hope that nobody hears any of the bad notes. As a leader, I can’t help them if I can’t hear them. When things get rockin’ quite frankly, it is hard to tell if we’re all tracking together using amps and floor monitors, or just listening to the sound in the room.

In general, most rhythm players love them, I think it’s because most players these days aren’t afraid of technology, and if I can hear everything more clearly that is extremely helpful. Singers however, have been a mixed bag. Most have grown to love them. Finding the right ear bud size and style is a challenge, but one that you can overcome with a little experimenting. Some training on mixing and panning, where to place their voice in their overall mix is a must. I think many singers are more accustomed to using floor monitors and blasting their voice over the rest of the band, or trying to scream over the top of the band not being able to hear themselves at all.

I play mostly bass when I lead. In larger rooms, bass can be one of the most difficult instruments to hear. The natural response when you can’t here is to turn up, and then it becomes that game…enough said. The Aviom allows you to hear what you want to hear as well as what you may not need to hear. I particularly like that I have actually started playing with much more finesse and can communicate better with my drummers.

I recommend you check them out if you’re looking at monitoring systems. There are several places to look for info. I recommend and use proaudio.com and if you would like further input, email me or call my main man, bud, Barry Pike @ 877-223-2221. He is extremely competent and won’t steer you wrong.

All this talk might sound shallow to the non-musician. But I believe we should always give our best offerings to the Lord! This is absolutely one tool that will help to offer up the most excellent offering possible.

Impress them on your children.

2007-05-25T09:45:00.000-07:00

Talk about your surreal experiences! Linda and I recently graduated our middle daughter from the University of Central Missouri. We are so incredibly proud of both she and her husband! We noticed when they announced her name the announcer didn’t get it quite right. They announced her as, Katie Paddock Coomlawdy. It seemed she had several relatives that day. Then it dawned on me that what they meant to say was, Cum laude. We wuz proud!

Katie and John are such quality kids. I know I suffer (as most parents do) from a case of the brags. But, please allow me to do so; I won’t make it too long. In talking with one of John’s Air Force supervisors, he told me he wished he could have a hundred John Paddocks. Then there’s our Katie, the Tech/worship director of their church in Missouri said similar words of her! I have to confess, my head swelled a little. God is unfolding His wonderful, exciting plan for their lives, and it’s fun and fulfilling to watch.

I believe most parents have a tendency to want to take at least some credit for our children’s successes. (present company included) But, I know that it is really by God’s grace that it goes the way it does. His everlasting love and tender mercy are where total credit goes. All we can do as parents is love them hard, point them in the right direction to the best of our ability and obedience, and pray for them.

As I’ve been musing about this experience, I thought of one of my favorite scriptures. Once again, it comes from Deut. 6:4-9. I especially love the first part of the verses know as the sh’ma, but when I went to my bible to look at this passage, I noticed something I hadn’t notice in a while. I have these verses highlighted so they will stand out, but something jumped out at me this time. I had on some previous occasion circled and set apart the word “impress” at the beginning of verse 7. The first part of this section tells us to love God with our whole being. The second half admonishes us to teach this to our kids. “Impress” it on them. Live your faith out loud, breath, eat, pray, play, do it all in that context. Give all you’ve got for God! I will be quick to confess that we haven’t lived it out all the time. I’ve had moments where I know I have failed miserably as a parent. But, God seems to apply His wonderful grace and mercy to all those failures too. It makes sense to me that when you read and study God’s word, you come to know it better; it will change your life. It is an encounter with God and we should come away changed in some way. Over time in that growing relationship, you come to understand His grace, mercy, and love better. It would also appear to me that we should come to be examples of His love, grace and mercy, if we indeed love Him with our all. As we grow in faith, it is taught and learned, and the cycle continues, for generations. It really is all about Him!

So, thank you Lord for our children. They are the most incredible of earthly blessings, and we love them and cherish them!

By the way, have I talked to you about our daughters Laurie and Stephanie?

Well, I’ll save that for another time!

Leveraging Your Talents

2007-05-09T08:44:00.000-07:00

This is the first installment under the category of Encouragement. It would be better described under the guise of exhortation, because in this particular instance the Word is so emphatic. The text is Matt. 25:14-30, the Parable of the Talents.

There are a number of reasons I love this text. I’ve always found it interesting that the word “talent” is the way this form of exchange translates. It is indeed talking about money, but if you think in terms of possessions or resources it really drives the point home. Especially, to those of us that are delusional enough to think we actually possess talent.

Point one: Talents are given to whomever the master pleases. In vs.14 it says the master, “entrusted his property to them.” They become ours in that we are stewards of them, nothing more, nothing less. That has been a hard one for me to grasp. I think our human tendency is to take hold of things, especially ones we work hard for, and excuse God from the picture. In most cases I don’t believe it’s intentional, but as we develop and grow, pride can start to seed in our hearts. I know... I’ve done it! I start to think far more of myself than is true. When that seed starts to take root, it comes up poison ivy. (That’s a whole other topic for another time.) It’s not mine... it’s His! It’s not yours either! (Sorry)

Point two: The Master determines the amount of talents given. The truth stings sometimes. My prideful self-perception might be that I’m a 5-talent dude. Reality points to the fact that I’m really a one or two. Reality shouldn’t stop me from investing though! Whatever amount I’m given, my part of the deal is investment. In a sense, I’m a broker. The beautiful thing is, I can’t lose on this investment. It’s the intent of my actions that counts. If the master has entrusted me with these talents, my job is to leverage them in the best way I see fit. I don’t necessarily have to be clever, just faithful. Remember, they’re His first. If I am faithful, how could my investment fail? In the first two cases, both servants doubled the talents they were given. That’s a 100% return! 100%! Did you catch that? How many investments do you know of where the return is 100%? The power of what we’re given to invest has the ability to grow far beyond our wildest imagination! As the broker, our job is to leverage our talents. He’ll supply the return on the investment.

Point three: Use ‘em or lose ‘em! It’s sad to come across someone who thinks that they have nothing to invest. Or because they are given a proportionately smaller amount of talents, are paralyzed by the fear of losing it all. Status quo is not acceptable! The One, who created you in His image, has imprinted your DNA with incredible potential to succeed in this type of investing. Faithfulness is the key!

No doubt, this particular text will be the source of many future posts. The summary for today is: if you can fog a mirror, you are a “talent” broker. You have a responsibility to leverage whatever God gives you, (that would be everything by the way) to bring Him glory. So, start investing, the return is unbelievable!

"For us..."

2007-04-24T12:00:00.000-07:00

I have been on a particular journey over the last 3 or 4 years. My brother Lee Behnken has taken on as a "Holy Hobby" the study and reading of The Song of Songs, or Song of Solomon. I have joined him in that journey, and have found it to be one of the most beautiful, enlightening, mysterious, books in the Bible. I won't say that I read it every day, but I do find my way there at least once a week, usually more. It is indeed the Song of all Songs. In some of my reading time this morning I discovered that in the first century, Jewish authorities almost excluded it from the Holy Scripture. It was the famous Rabbi Akiba that insisted, "the Song of Songs is the most sacred of them all." That is an extreme statement to make about a book that was at one time forbidden for some young Jewish men to read. However, as I continue to read and study this book, the depths that I plumb appear limitless. I know that God's word is alive, and all Scripture functions in a similar way, and the Holy Spirit reveals to us new truths when we are mature enough to handle them. But, there are some truths about God's love for us that are deep and rich with meaning embedded in this most holy of songs. I love Him even more because I believe He is revealing more and more of His love for The Church, but also this amazing love that He has for even a wretched low-life like me.

So, today I'm looking at Song of Songs (SOS) 2:15; "Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom." I have to confess, I never got this one at all. In fact, I probably blew past it more than a few times and didn't pay any attention to it. The Song is an allegory. It is filled with symbols and images that at face value, appear strange, and don't make a lot of sense. There is something inside of me that really enjoys stories, songs, allegories and colloquialisms. My grandpa Hall was a man who grew up in Appalachia, and he had a nickname for everybody and most things. He nicknamed me SAM; I think that has something to do with my initials. He spoke of "snipes" and "pig-tails" on ice cream cones. I love to listen to the Reds on the radio for some of the same reasons. When Marty Brenneman calls a "rocket" to left field, or a line drive down the third base line that "undresses" the third baseman, that peeks my imagination and usually makes me smile.

Most of the commentary I've read on these verses agree that the "foxes" are representative of sins. So, in essence He (being Christ) is asking Her (being the Church) to seize these sins, deal with them, because they will eventually destroy the vineyard. I think that particular truth will be a blog post all it's own some time soon. What strikes me are the two small pronouns, "us" and "our." He, (my Savior) is exhorting me to deal with sin in my life. It's important for me to deal with all sin in my life for "us." That would be His relationship with me and me with Him. It feels like the lover of my soul looking me square in the eye and lovingly letting me know, you've got to clean this stuff up. It's like He's saying, "I know nobody else but you and I know about this, but for the sake of 'us,' you need to deal with this." He calls me to Himself, and as I move closer and closer in an intimate relationship, the light of His presence will force sin out of the dark and into the light, and I must deal with it. To grow in intimacy, it must be dealt with, repented of, turned from, cleansed, and restored.

Later in that verse He refers to "our vineyards that are in bloom." My opinion is that we could justify vineyard as a metaphor for ministry, it could also be argued, "our relationship." In my mind, it is hard to really separate one from the other. With that thought in mind there is an amazing truth that God wants us to see. He, the Creator of the Universe; the Great I Am; The Alpha and Omega; The God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob; The God of Israel, wants to do ministry with me! He wants to do it with you too! He says, "our vineyards that are in bloom." It is a ministry that He has in mind for each of us, it is something he does in and through us and with us. Let us not be mistaken though, it is His deal, the vineyard is already in bloom because He's already done the work. It is what He has for us and offers to us to join Him in. Did you know that He has that for you? Part of the prosperity He has in store for you is the vineyard He is longing to give you.

I will choose to walk in intimacy with Him! And when He points out the "little foxes" in my life, I resolve to do the hard and sometimes painful work of getting rid of them. I'll do it for "US" and the sake of "OUR" vineyard.