Philippine Trip

Hey everybody, good evening here from Manila, Philippine. Our journey started on Wednesday early morning. I went to Fairfield to join Jim McGaffey to drive to Chicago to catch out first flight that was scheduled to leave at 12:35 in the afternoon. Well believe it or not we were all loaded and leaving for the runway at 12:35, unbelievable as it may seem. This began our first leg of our trip that would last for 13 1/2 hours. The plane was a huge Airbus with two stories, which by the way I had never been on before. The plane was packed from stem to stern with people from all places and races. As much as I might have tried I wasn't able to sleep a wink. The night before was pretty shy on the sleep side as well and I began to experience the effects. I tried so hard to sleep but to no avail, it escaped me and I was beginning to look like someone who had been beatdown and I couldn't remember who had done it.

After arriving at Seoul, Korea we had about 3 or 4 hours of lay over and I curled up on several seats and got some shuteye. What contact I had with those at Seoul they seemed like a very gracious people full of life. They do talk fast so it's hard to follow them in conversation but they didn't mind slowing down a little for our sake.

After boarding the plane for Manila at 7:35 in the evening we finally made it about 12:30 and meet Jim Wilson and he graciously took us to our hotel, which by the way is a beautiful hotel owned by a Christian group and if you can believe it only 21.00 a night plus tax. Try to find that in the US and you'll probably be sharing it with the bugs. Anyway, we were just exhausted when we got to the hotel and went right to bed. I think we were all so tired that we just fell into bed, basically we had gone without sleep for about 48 hours and after you cross the international date line and have time changes we are actually 13 1/2 hours ahead of you. So right now it's 6:05 PM.

Tomorrow we will leave for Butuan at 7:30 in the morning and arrive about 9. We aren't fully sure what we'll be doing yet but know for sure that we will be working at the AHON Orphanage in the afternoon. This is an orphanage for boys and some of them are supported by the International Child Care Ministries through the FM Church.

Well that's it for now. I'll write more in the next day or two. Pastor Jim McGaffey and I will be preaching at two different locations on Sunday and possibly Sunday night we'll be preaching as well. Please pray for us that God would use us to preach His Word powerfully and with purpose. Below you're see some pictures of our plane, the others on our trip and the hotel where were are staying in Manila. Enjoy.

Miracles and Majesty

After the message yesterday, for those who weren't able to attend, I preached on the Miracles and Majesty of the Lord Jesus. We found ourselves in Acts 9:32-43. This is the time that Peter is in the limelight, so to speak, for the next several chapters. In this specific passage, Peter finds that he is called upon to heal two people. Aeneas who is a paralytic and Tabitha/Dorcas who has fallen ill and died. In both cases without a miracle these people would have suffered like crazy. Aenea because of not being about to get around and Dorcas, well not much happens in this life after you're dead.

What I'd like to say to those of you who are reading this today is that just because you can't identify a miracle that may have happened in your life doesn't mean they haven't happened. Likewise, it doesn't mean that you won't experience a miracle for whatever the reason. It could be that without a miracle your business will fold, or without a miracle you won't be able to conceive or without a miracle you'll never find real lasting love. Not so!! God's ability to provide a miracle is not limited to what we can see, think, feel or believe. Yes we do have to exercise our faith and trust that God will make a way.

However, we shouldn't be looking around the corner for our next miracle. It will happen when we least expect it to. As I've said to each of you so many time before, God knows what is best for us and will provide it at just the right time. Trust in Him to do just that, to provide in just the right time and who knows, the next time you round that corner your miracle may be waiting their for you.

It is then that God's Majesty is displayed. It is then that we have to realize that it could only have been God who could have done whatever it was that we needed. Maybe you need a miracle because you've got some sort of addiction, or perhaps you need a miracle to be delivered from a deep dark pit of depression. Remember, God cares about you as a whole person, with all of our problems, with all our sin, with all our deceptiveness and manipulation tricks. Whatever it is, He can handle it. Nothing surprises Him. He loves all of you and me and only wants His very best for us.

Mark's idea of reaching one!

In yesterday's message I talked about the importance of sowing good seed. Most of us if we are willing to admit it have sowed our fair share of bad seed. Most of us have spoken words that can't be taken back. Most of us have taken action against someone that we later regret. Most of us have even indulged in activities that we now look back on with a bad taste in our mouth and wished that we had never done it. But of course the kind of seed that Mark is referring to here is the Word of God. What are the kind of words that God would want us to share you ask? Words of love and compassion. Words that build up others instead of tearing them down. Words of invitation to church and to fellowship and to getting know some of these crazy Christian's in their environment and home. Words of encouragement and grace. These are the kind of words that should come from us. But most of all we should extend to our friends and family words of forgiveness that only Christ can offer. So just keep up the good work.

Before I go I wanted to share with you some of the books I am currently reading and some of the websites that I frequently visit.
Books:
"Bonhoeffer" Written by Eric Metaxas just this year. His work has been on the New York Times Bestselling list. And I can see why. The author takes an almost bigger than life individual, at least in the Lutheran and the Christian academia world, and gives a wonderful historical account of his life from birth to his tragic murder in 1943. It is a large volume to read but well worth it to see how he came to the theological, moral, and ethical position that guided his life.

"Essential Church? reclaiming a gneration of dropout
Thom Ranier has connected with his oldest son, Sam, in writing about an all but forgotten subject and group of people. It is full of statistical data about why and how to reclaim these lost souls. It is inspiring, but don't kid yourself, it can be a depressing book as well. Depressing in the sense that it makes you wonder what you could have done to prevent this exodus and now that it has happened is there anything that we can do to reverse it. All in all, a very good read with lots of ideas.

Websites:

Most of these websites are church websites that I watch their services on. None of them are close to Des Moines but it is great to see how others come before the Lord.
www.parksidechurch.com--This church is in Cleveland, Ohio and is pastored by Alistair Begg This is one of my favorites.
www.vineyardcincinnati.com This is a very contemporary church and they also address issues of the day on a weekly basis. They are very topical in their preaching.
www.pclive.org This church is in Nashville, Tennessee. Many of the "famous" singers and songwriters of the country music world attend this church. But I've never seen any on tape. The pastor Rick White has been their pastor for at least 20 years and for the most part his messages are expositional as opposed to topical. Good stuff here.

One final note about these websites is that generally you need to locate the media button on the webpage and this will take you to the archives and you can choose what you want to watch. The other thing is that if you don't have high speed internet access, the best way to watch these is to download them and then watch.

Have fun and let me know what you think.

How's the plan coming?

After I finished my message last week I got to thinking that some of you may have wanted to throw everything I said out the window. Those of you who are retired and do just about whatever you want whenever you want maybe were thinking that this doesn't apply to me. I'm living in my golden years and my plans are beginning to wind down. Sometimes as the scripture teaches that "our thoughts are not His thoughts neither are our ways His ways." (Isa. 55:8) In other words I would encourage you to give God another chance to work in your life. Our destination may be secured but we don't always know the direction that life will take us as we move toward that destination, heaven.

For those of us middle aged folks we too need to realize that God isn't finished with us yet either. What new journey will He lead us down, what new path will He carve out for us. What new challenges will He place in our path that will spur us on to do more for the kingdom of God than we might not of done otherwise.

Finally for all you young adults just beginning your family and career I would encourage you to step out in faith to do something great for the Kingdom of God. Like what you ask? I'm glad you did. Like going on a missions trip to a place far away from what's familiar and easy and comfortable. Why you ask? Because it is there that God is doing a marvelous work among people that He has chosen from before the foundations of the earth were laid to know Him personally just like you do. The country they come from is immaterial. The color of their skin doesn't matter. The language they may speak is a language that God speaks and communicates in very well. They need His word as much as we needed God's Word at the outset of our country in the 1600's when the pilgrims first came to America. Thy need the Holy Spirit to move in revival power just as He did in the 1800's and 1900's all across this land and in Ireland and Scotland and England and all across Europe. And they need to hear the song "Just As I Am" as much as we did the day we responded to the Holy Spirit's wooing our heart to Jesus our Savior and sometimes even today we need to hear that song to remind us that He's still there for us, wooing us, pursuing us. Why? Because He has a plan for us and desires that we follow that plan for the sake of His Kingdom.

So...how goes the planning session?

Okay, I know I said alot about Stephen this morning. But his legacy stays with us to this day. It is a reminder of what kind of legacy he left for the church and what kind of legacy he has left for us. Remember I spoke about the crucible that existed in the early church? It is the crucible of life that we deal with. It is this life that we are changed by our experiences both good and bad. I often hear people in the world say, "Life Sucks"! I suppose that it depends on your point of view. There are some pretty wicked, awful things that can happen to us, things that are our fault and things that are not. Whenever life hands us lemons, do we make lemonade? We cannot, no matter how hard we try, avoid the pitfalls of life. It will suck sometimes. We lose our jobs, we offend our friends, we make stupid financial decisions, we say things that we later regret, we get mad at the people of our church, family members die. You name it and it can happen to us. How do we respond to it? How did Stephen respond to the members of the Sanhedrin? He continued to talk about the man from Nazareth, Jesus. As a matter of fact he couldn't stop talking about Him and it ultimately led to his death. But his death was not in vain. As a matter of proof that his testimony mattered and that people were listening, those so called religious leaders of the day said that he had the face of an angel. So I ask you once again, can others tell that we have been with our Heavenly Father?

Did you reach one yet?

This is just a checkup, for my own comfort I suppose. I wanted to refresh your memory about each of us reaching one person for Christ. So, how's it going? I have meet some interesting people and have started to build a relationship with them. I'm waiting for Holy Spirit to open the door for me. I believe that he will! At first sharing our faith seems so scary and sometimes even foreign to us. It's one of the things that God saved us for, to lead others into the Kingdom of God. Don't get impatient if things don't go exactly as you planned. It may be that God has other plans, but never underestimate the Holy Spirit and what he can do through us. It is a great feeling as well as a sense of accomplishment to know that God wants to use us to introduce others to the King of Kings. It's humbling to know that a King desires to use me, just a lowly human who is seen through extraordinary eyes. So have you started that relationship yet? If so, work as if everything depends on you and pray as if everything depends on Jesus, because it does.

I love you all and know that you can do it with His help.

Giving it all up?

For the last several weeks I have been taking us through the book of Acts. On several occassions Luke, the writer of Acts, makes mention of how many who were endowed with lands and wealth would take the time to sell their land and give the proceeds to the church so that those without could be provided for. Along this line I said that we should not allow our possessions to control us, rather we should control our possessions. Now granted we are living in a materialistic world and the temptation is great to acquire land, nice houses, newer cars and money in the bank. But at what cost? Many allow family and friend relationships to flounder or go by the wayside in order that we might be able to acheive our financial goals without considering the ultimate cost. Which is, loss of family and friend relationships, health, ability to care for others which by the way, for those of us who are followers of Jesus Christ is more of a command rather than a choice. Anyway, my rambling on isn't intended to make anyone feel guilty or morose, or intended to generate any bad vibes. I simply am trying to help open our eyes and hearts to the importance of obedience when it comes to our possessions.

I stumbled across a small booklet the other day called "The Radical Question". It is really a summation of the full book by the same name. His premise is in asking the question, "What is Jesus worth to you?" Rather than me try to explain it's content I have provided you with a copy at the church free of charge. I guarantee that after reading it you will either a, think the author is full of hot air or b, allow yourself to consider what Jesus really is worth to you. Happy reading.