Blogging So the World May Know

MISSED OPPORTUNITIES

2011-11-07T20:46:00.003-05:00

Well, I would like to report that since my last blog post that I have been setting the world on fire with the Gospel message. Sadly, as the Spirit convicts, I have not. It is for this reason that I have greater admiration and respect for those who daily risk their lives for the sake of the Gospel. My life reads as a series of missed opportunities. I don't know how many times I've had the chance to tell someone the good news of Christ, and for whatever reason, have held back. Fear, embarassment, general dislike of the person, (hopefully not the latter) all perhaps have played a part, or perhaps more worrisome is the thought that, maybe I don't really believe what I claim to believe. If it was really true, wouldn't I be compelled to share? As I write this, my spirit is downcast. All I can do is cry out to HIM who is merciful and say, "I'm sorry." I trust that God's grace, which is sufficient to cover a multitude of sin, will once again cover my transgression, and I pray that the next time the opportunity presents itself, I won't miss it. It is my hope that this will encourage you to do the same should you find yourself passing on opportunities as well.

God's Megaphone

2011-09-13T22:04:00.002-04:00

“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world” -- C.S. Lewis

Have you ever had one of "those" weeks. Recently our church family experienced a tremendous tragedy. A young life was taken from us. I don't claim to know why and can say nothing that will really provide any comfort to those who are mourning, apart from the fact that through Christ we have hope for reunion in Heaven. It's times like these that make ministering to and with others a great burden, but it is also times like these when God's presence can be most actively experienced.

I don't know if it was just the jolt of the tragedy or a culmination of factors, but God chose, once again to reveal his heart to me. Through my sadness and frustration, I was able to catch a glimpse of God's heart for the nations.

I can't imagine the pain of losing a child, but God can. He gave up his child on our behalf. And he invites all children of the earth to be reunited to him through this sacrifice. Unfortunately, some of his children chose to reject him, others never receive the opportunity because not enough of his "accepted" children share their joy and Good News with others. This thought hit me like a hammer. I felt the raw pain in my heart and then tried to imagine what God must go through when I realized just how many of his earthly children are needlessly suffering a spiritual death. It was overwhelming.

To borrow an idea, God had used his megaphone, and for now, it's got my attention. How about you?

Where Does the Time Go?

2011-08-02T21:14:00.002-04:00

Once again I sit at my blog wondering the age old question, where does the time go? My children have gone through another round of birthdays (well almost), my school year finished and is now getting ready to restart, and I never even managed to post once since mid-May. It wasn't that I didn't want to, it just wasn't a priority. In the world of blogging this might not be so important, but in the world of global evangelism time is critical. Avoiding a long-winded commentary about time in other places around the world, all I will say is there is no wonder why we are instructed to be ready in and out of season to proclaim the Gospel. We don't know when Christ will return, but we do know that it could be any day. The Bible says the day of the coming of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. We should plan accordingly. We don't want to be waiting for the bridal party and find that we have run out of oil at the wrong time. Also as I think about the potential shortness of time before Christ's return I have to remind myself of the urgency. How many of my friends, family, or other loved ones will not get to experience the benefit of Christ's redemption b/c I couldn't find the time? How many souls around the world will miss out on the great eternal party with the Father b/c the time wasn't right? I guess I'd better take my own advise and make the most of the time I am given.

Little People

2011-05-15T19:45:00.003-04:00

Today I was inspired to spend a little more time with my children. So we brought out the Little People. I was amazed at the depths of imagination that little plastic horses, unicorns, farms, dinosaurs, planes, and zoo trains could unravel. It caused me to marvel at the creativity of our heavenly father a little more as well.

The thing that really got me though was the amount of joy on my children's faces as I, their earthly father spent a little time with them telling stories, putting cities together, and acting out their favorite scenes. I realized just how important it was that we spend time with our heavenly father. HE is always there, ready to share in our victories, our sorrows, and the day-to-day of life.

Our heavenly father is also at work constructing a heavenly city for us. One we will be called to through faith in Christ Jesus. How much joy this thought brings to my face. I hope that it will do the same for you.

On Jesus and Bin Laden

2011-05-03T21:48:00.003-04:00

I found a picture of Jesus washing the feet of various world leaders, including Bin Laden. This made me stop and ponder a few things. Namely about justice, heavenly grace, and my need for the latter.

The death of Osama Bin Laden caused me to think a bit today on the notion of justice. I believe a bit of justice was served with Bin Laden's death. Perhaps, (as I believe) the role of temporal government is to insure that justice is granted to those who have been victimized under legal statutes. The wrongdoer punished as they say.

But what about the role of heavenly justice? For me, I have chosen to believe in a faith that offers both absolute mercy and absolute justice. For me, this "contradictory" fulfilment is found in a relationship with Jesus Christ. Those who do wrong including myself can be forgiven because Christ has paid the penalty for our transgression. If this is true then hopefully the way I relate to others reflects this belief without hypocrisy, malice, or falsehood.

This led me to another thought. What would my reaction to this news have been if I had learned that Bin Laden had converted to Christianity before his death? Would I have looked forward to seeing him in heaven as the heavenly father would have? Would I rejoice over his conversion as the angels certainly would have? The fact that I cannot answer definitively "yes" on these questions reminds me that I am still in need of God's grace and mercy.

The Right Tools for the Job

2011-04-19T23:15:00.003-04:00

I recently had to do a brake job on my truck. It was long overdue. The rotors were trashed and the pads were almost non-existent (another blog topic I'm sure). In my defense it was a used truck and I had been extremely busy since I bought it and hadn't really noticed any major problems with the brakes. After all they stopped me when I needed them to.

As I prepared to change the brakes and rotors I discovered that I did not have the necessary tools to do the job right. I did some investigating and discovered that I needed a "T45" socket to loosen the caliper pins, so off to Autozone I went. Imagine my dismay when I got back put the socket in the pin only to find out that it was too small! The set it came with didn't work either as the next size up was too big. I thought I was Goldilocks for a moment. I returned to Autozone and picked up the next smallest "assortment" set of sockets I could find and fortunately this time it worked. After about 4 hours of work all was back together, running and stopping smoothly.

The next day I reflect on this and realized there were some implications for spreading the Gospel message here. Too often we attempt to witness with the wrong tools. We bring a knife to a gunfight so to speak. The apostle Paul points out that ALL Scripture is God-Breathed and useful, likewise the book of Hebrews tells us the word of God is alive and active, yet despite these affirmations, frequently we fail to see the truth of these words. I believe this is because of two reasons, one the hardened heard of sinful man (something only the Spirit of God can change), and two the ineffective use of God's word.

The Bible is our toolbox for witnessing to the World, yet we have not trained ourselves with the content. Others don't hear the Gospel message clearly because we have presented it incorrectly, out of context, or without a proper understanding of the culture/background of those to whom we present it. (A missionary friend of mind highlighted this issue by telling of a culture where Judas was actually celebrated as the hero of the Gospel story because in that culture guile and trickery were a respected talent to have.)

I once heard an joke about how not to use the Bible and it went something like this: A preacher was teaching his congregation on how to use the Word and he told them they should open it up and do whatever it said. One member read from the scriptures, "and Judas went and hung himself." This was quickly followed by another voice reading from a different passage, "now go and do likewise!"

So the question becomes what should we do? My answer, go back to Autozone (or the toolbox) and get the right part. We need to become familiar enough with God's word that we can use it effectively and be able to pull out the right "tool" for the right job.

Spare Tires and the Gospel

2011-04-04T18:06:00.004-04:00

I was recently reviewing my Internet activity and realized that I hadn't updated my blog in quite some time. "What good's a blog if you're not going to use it?" I said to myself. I discovered that it, like a few other things, had been marked with the distinct signs of inactivity, my waistline for example. My blog had become an old spare tire, hanging around with no useable purpose. This also got me wondering about how I share the Gospel message. Was I letting the Good News turn into an old spare tire? Was I keeping it all to myself like a spare tire tucked away in a trunk or underneath a car? Was my gospel message undersized like those emergency spares you hope you never have to used? Or perhaps was my gospel message too flamboyant and over-the-top like those huge super-swamper spare tires you see hanging from 4x4s that will never see the mud? I don't know the full answer to these questions, but I'll bet that each of them are true to some extent. What should I do? Perhaps the best solution would be to change tires altogether. I need to quit relying on Gospel "spares" and settle in for the long haul with a fresh set of "Godyears," tires that will take me to the people and places I need to share the Gospel with most effectively. Happy Traveling Photo by Agnardan Danielsson found on Flickr

A Little More Time with Daddy

2010-07-11T21:57:00.003-04:00

I had the chance to visit Colorado recently and was awe struck once again by the majesty of all of God's creation. During my visit though something even more significant happened. It went something like this.

I was playing with my son and daughters after a day of hiking, still mesmerized by the natural beauty. I was missing something even more significant. The next day when asking my son what he enjoyed most about the day, his response was not the hike or the playground, but rather he said it was his "time with Daddy".

What an awesome thought. So often we experience time with our heavenly Father and miss out of the true significance of the moment. We fail to practice what Brother Lawrence referred to as the Presence of God. Our time with "Daddy" is not the most significant time, and it should be.

Our missionary friends around the world seem to have a better understanding of this. For them sometimes "time with Daddy" is the only thing they have to sustain them. They have bought into the promises of God as our Abba - Father. Isn't it time we did the same?

Gifts

2010-06-13T22:13:00.003-04:00

I've been studying the book of Romans with my Sunday morning caregroup/Sunday School class. We've be dissecting Romans 12:1-10 for about three weeks now. Good times! Seriously though the book of Romans is truly an amazing work. So much meat and potatoes on the one hand, and yet filled with the basic milk of salvation on the other. I have enjoyed our study and look forward each week to its continuance.

Our study this week focused on the "manifestation of the Spirit" and spiritual gifts. The Holy Spirit working in me and through me to accomplish God's purposes in ways that I could not on my own.

What a great picture of mission work. Our partners in the field recognize the fact that the call to reach every tribe, tonuge, and nation is impossible on their own, but "with God all things are possible." Note that little work all. Not some, not most, but all! What an encouragement!

Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift[s].

Grace and Peace

chris

Heroes

2010-05-30T00:56:00.003-04:00

It has been a while since last I wrote. The end of the school year always seems to be a hectic time. But hopefully I can be a little more consistent for all of you who follow these meandering thoughts of mine.

Today I would like to simply think about heroes. As we approach Memorial Day in the United States, I would like to say thank you to America's heroes. Those who give of their time and efforts in order to promote the safety, security, and peace we enjoy in this great land. Thank you to all those serving in the Armed Forces. Thank you especially to those who made the supreme sacrifice. Thank you to our veterans as well.

Thank you to our civil servants as well. Our police, fire, emt, and other medical persons who work tirelessly to keep our cities, towns, villages, blocks, and streets safe and our family, friends, and neighbors healthy.

Thank you to those government officials, teachers, and public attorneys who still strive to do what is best for us as a people not just for themselves.

Finally thank you to all who have served under the banner of Christ, for the sake of the advancement of the Gospel. Many of you have made the ultimate sacrifice and given your own lives for HIS glory's sake. May I rejoice in heaven with you soon.

All of you are heroes, and this blogger thanks you greatly.

Responsibilities

2010-04-23T20:56:00.002-04:00

As an educator, many of the things I am asked to do in my job are mandated from sources outside the classroom. The state and federal government place requirements on educators that do not always provide for effective classroom instruction, however because they are mandated, I must comply. Sometimes I am even asked to participate in programs that aren't fully developed or explained. (Race to the Top for example.)

In the field of missions, there lies some comparison. Like education, missionaries (and all Christians for that matter) are called to do something that may not make any sense. They are given a mandate that they are compelled to follow. The missions mandate of making the Gospel know to every tribe, tongue, and nation (ethnos) seems impossible at worst, and impractical at best. Also like the education field, the missionary going to the field also must "go to work" and participate in programs yet unseen or understood. To the casual (or non-believing) observer this seems like a recipe for failure, not success. But this "reality" of the missions mandate could not be further from the Truth.

You see, unlike the human-directed field of public education, the mission field as mandated in the Bible is God-directed. God cannot lie and he does not do anything to discredit HIMSELF. If HE has directed it then it must be good. Likewise the difference between education and missions is also apparent in moving forward into the unknown. With education uncertainty and doubt may abound because we know the plans are human created and quite possibly, are still being formulated. With God's plan for missions, the plan has been set from the beginning, with faith in Christ being the key to understading and completing the plan. The uncertainty and doubt, give way to confidence and purpose through Faith built in a relationship with CHRIST.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

2010-04-09T23:55:00.003-04:00

I recently attended a baseball game at Great American Ball Park - home of my beloved Cincinnati Reds, or was that "deads"? Whatever the case, on this particular night it seemed that the team went from being dead to being alive all with one swing of the bat. Drew Stubbs hit a grandslam homerun to put the team up for good. It was a great night to celebrate, especially after it seemed that the Cubs might be able to come back in the 9th. Things got tense, a narrow putout at first, a homerun, a long flyball out, a walk, two errors and the bases were loaded, but a ground out ended it. The Reds fans were happy!

This game got me to thinking about celebrations and the resurrection of Christ. Easter was this past week and it was a great time to celebrate something really important. Christ was crucified and was dead, but he was raised to life through the power of God to reign as Lord Over All for good. The ultimate comeback story was played out in the Gospel of Jesus Christ! We can all celebrate.

The fact that we know the outcome of eternity's "game" should be a blessing to us. No matter how much pressure life throws our way in the later innings of life, we can still celebrate because the final victory is assured. Even when we make errors or when our lives are loaded with suffering there is an undying hope that never fails -- our faith in Jesus Christ.

"Now faith is the promise of things hoped for, the assurance of things unseen."

Now get out there and play some ball!

The Church: Social Benefit or Missions Mandate

2010-03-22T22:08:00.002-04:00

I read a well-intended article in the newspaper today (Cincy Enquirer: "Church gives kids secondary support. B8) that really started to make my mission-minded blood boil so to speak. The author began to explain the value of sending her children to church. I was interested in the article but became alarmed when I ran across the statement that said the author, as a parent, he/she "absolutely would not have stayed at a church where teenagers were pressured to believe, witness or preach." The author went on to state how he/she had benefited from the church and his/her children would as well because of the way the church had treated him/her when young and would do the same for his/her children. I'm not fully sure how the author defines "pressured to" but it almost sounded as if he/she would encourage her children to attend church for its social benefits only. There was no investigation into the reason(s) why these benefits existed in the first place, and no mention of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

It was at this point in the reading that I realized what was really happening here. This author seemed to be expressing a common trend amongst church-goers today. Too many individuals are attending church for what they can get for themselves. It is the same self-centeredness that lies dormant within many of our own hearts. Church becomes something done for selfish reasons.

This of course would not be a problem if it were not for the fact that the Church exists to promote the Good News of Jesus Christ. It exists (to borrow a phrase) for the benefit of its non-members. If a church does not proclaim the message that Jesus Christ, became man, dwelt with men, was crucified, buried, raised from the dead, and now sits at the right hand of God -- reigning over all as Lord so that we might received forgiveness of sin and the gift of eternal life -- then I would have to argue that it isn't the Church at all. Furthermore, I would also have to question why anyone could expect to be in the Church and not be asked to witness, after all isn't this what Jesus commanded his body, the Church, to do, fulfill HIS missions mandate? Recall the apostle Paul once wrote that he was "compelled" to share the gospel. It was an irresistible force he could not say no to. If an individual is not able to accept this then perhaps the Church is not the place they are looking for.

On a final note, it is possible that the author was simply stating that a person's expression of their faith should be genuinely their own not something forced upon them by persons in the church. If this is the case then I kindly ask the author's forgiveness in misreading the matter.

Keep the Faith
chris

A Dusting

2010-02-24T21:52:00.002-05:00

Two weeks since the big snow and subsequent dig-out. Its beginning to snow again. What a sweet reminder of the cleansing power of Jesus Christ. Just when we feel we have been soiled and dirtied by our engagements in the world, HE comes along with a gentle reminder -- a kind word from a believer, a meaningful devotion, a powerful verse of scripture, or a gentle snowfall. We are compelled to fall at the feet of Jesus in confession and repentance, and once again the Spirit begins dusting us again with the sanctifying power of HIS sacrifice, and HIS presence.

White As Snow but Hard as Ice

2010-02-09T15:20:00.002-05:00

Recently I had the "opportunity" to go out and shovel/plow my driveway and sidewalks. I don't really mind doing this, except for on those unusually cold windy days, so the time spent outside can be refreshing.

This time however I finished my work and realized that even though the snow had been removed there were still patches of ugly gray ice that did not want to be removed. It seemed to have a mind of its own and only relented after a lot of hacking, scraping, and salting.

That reminded me a lot of what it can be like to follow Christ. His blood covers us and makes us "white as snow" but often we don't allow this covering to replace the ugliness underneath. We like to cling to our hold habits, customs, cultural norms, and sins. To the world we may look clean, but to Christ we are works in progress.

This is the beauty of following Christ though. He doesn't quit. And although it can be quite painful for us, He continues to gently scrape away layer after layer of sin and debris. Finally to make sure the ice/sin doesn't return, the salt of his word is administered regularly through the work of the Holy Spirit.

I guess this puts shoveling into a whole new perspective for me now.

God-sized Moment

2010-01-27T23:52:00.004-05:00

I had the opportunity to experience God this evening. It wasn't through some pious action of my own doing, nor was it in a great praise and worship event, rather it was in the fellowship of God's people seeking to participate in something much greater than anyone of them could accomplish on their own. Something none of us could accomplish on our own, even if we were working together. A God-sized task had revealed itself to some members of the church and I was privy to the revelation. We believe that we have been called to help with the disaster relief in Haiti.

At this point many of you may sound skeptical. You might be saying to yourself, why all kinds of people are doing this. To which I reply you are correct. But just because a number of folks are already doing it doesn't mean that God hasn't asked us to join in too. As our group discussed, and planned, a sense of purpose and clarity emerged. But also a sense of how large the task at hand truly was. If this activity is going to work, then God will have to be in it. It was as if God laid the challenge out there and said, take up the challenge and then watch me go to work. The vast sway of ideas progressing forward only served to build my confidence in the One who I had just experienced.

Now comes the hard part. The transition. God has been seen at work in Haiti and has invited us to join Him there. We have taken the step in faith to begin the process, I like others in my team must continue stepping toward where God is in order to be successful in accomplishing HIS purpose for Haiti and for us.

Prayers for Haiti

2010-01-17T21:32:00.002-05:00

Recently I had a friend ask me what she could do to help with the crisis currently going on in Haiti. Of the responses that I offered one was incredibly underrated. I told her to pray. Too often in the course of missions and ministry we simply let these words roll off our lips as if they were another thing to be checked off our "to do" list for the day. We fail the grasp the significance of this tremendous access to God's unlimited power. You see in prayer, real prayer - where we listen to what God has to say, we come into direct contact with the Divine Will. These encounters cannot help but leave us changed for the better. Prayer encourages us, it empowers us to do what we thought we coudn't, and finally it helps us to understand the Father better. When we are able to understand the Father, we are able to respond in obedience to his commands because we know fully what they are and we hear them directly given. We listen and obey, much is accomplished because God is glorified. So please don't discount the value of prayer, especially in this time of international crisis. Remember, its not when all else fails, but rather before all else, pray, pray, and pray some more.

Grace and Peace

Just Like Dad

2010-01-04T19:41:00.002-05:00

Recently, as I was recovering from the Christmas blitz and trying to put our house back in order, it was brought to my attention that I needed to hang some pictures on the wall. This is not a particularly exciting event, but an incredibly poignant event sparked my attention. As I had my hammer out ready to hit the nail, I turned around and noticed that my 4-year old son had found his toy hammer and was mimicking my every move. He wanted to be just like his daddy.

What a perfect picture, pardon the play on words, of what it means to be a follower of God. We should strive to be more like our heavenly DADDY each and every day. A part of that effort must come in the form of missions. You see God left his place of comfort. The scriptures tell us He became both God and man in the form of Jesus Christ here on this earth. HIS purpose, simple, to seek and save the lost.

Let us ponder this and try to be just like DAD.

Resolutions

2009-12-26T22:57:00.002-05:00

As 2009 comes to a close I thought it only fitting to make some "want-tos" for the upcoming year. Notice I did not say "resolutions". This is because normally whenever I make a resolution if fail to follow through with -- especially the New Year's type. So for what its worth, here are a few of my New Year's want-tos.

1)love God more
2)love my wife more
3)love my children more
4)love my friends more
5)love God's family more
6) love my students more
7) love those in my minstry team more
8) love my missionary partners more
9 love those who don't know God more

Notice the trend here? Finally my want to #10 for 2010:

10) love my enemies more.

"Beloved, let us love one another, for Love is of God. Anyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He that loves not, knows not God, for God is Love, so Beloved, let us love one another." 1 John 4:7-8

Contextualization of Christmas

2009-12-14T21:44:00.003-05:00

Recently I had the opportunity to engage in a discussion over the merits of celebrating the birth of Jesus as a special day. The opponents of celebrating Christmas had some valid points, most dealing with the tendencies of Christians to turn Christmas into a day of rampant commercialism or tradition, devoid of any significant meaning. Furthermore the argument of the early NT church not celebrating the day does hold some merit. As the discussion wound its way around our group, it became apparent that no clear cut persuasive arguments would end the discussion in favor of one side or the other. It was at this point that I took the time to interject a simple missionary thought. Christmas, or the celebration of it has become a part of our culture, good or bad. The key I believe is to accept its presence and use it as an opportunity to contextualize the gospel message. Too many Christians fall into the trap of syncretization when it comes to this "holy"day, leaving nothing of worth or value to its real meaning. We need to see Christmas for what it is a day on the calendar where we remember that God became flesh and dwelt among us. Immanuel became a physical reality. But more than just celebrating Christmas on one day a year or in one season, I think it would be better to live out the significance of Christmas daily throughout the year. Doing this while recognizing the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, makes a proper celebration.

Hark the Herald Angels Sing

2009-12-02T22:32:00.002-05:00

There are many Christmas hymns which celebrate the advent of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Many contain awe-inspiring lyrics requiring dynamic vocals to capture the full essence of the song. (Oh Holy Night, for example) Others such as Away in a Manger for example, describe the various events surrounding the event with child-like clarity. But for me the essential message of the birth of Christ is contained within a couple of powerful lines found in the hymn Hark the Herald Angels Sing.

Veiled in flesh the Godhead see,
Hail, the incarnate deity
Pleased as Man with men to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel.

You see Christmas is exactly that. The exact moment in time when the WORD became flesh and dwelt among us, HIS creation. This is the message being heralded by the Angels in the song.

This is the message we must herald to those around the globe who have yet to hear!

Merry CHRISTmas and keep singing!

Thank Goodness for Grace!

2009-11-16T22:00:00.003-05:00

As I sat down at McDonald's with my three children tonight, I saw someone who reminded me of an event in my past. An event that I am not too particularly proud of. It felt weird to be dwelling on this event, because I knew that I had been forgiven and had been set free from the sin and guilt of it. Still the memory was there. Then, just when I needed it, Jesus showed up. He arrived in the presence of my wonderful wife. Her arrival reminded me of the life I have in Christ and the victory of sin he provides! He saved me from a past of bad decisions for a life of purpose and fulfilment. He longs to do that with many of you reading this blog as well.

Some of you may be wondering what this has to do with missions. Well, nothing and everything. You see my personal experience is not really related to missions, but the message it brings is the reason why missions exists. Our missionary friends share the love of Christ to those who have yet to receive it. For this they need our prayers.

Grace and Peace

Thoughts from Yoda

2009-11-09T21:10:00.003-05:00

Try not. Do or do not, there is no try.-- Yoda

Recently while speaking with a missionary friend of mine, the preceding quote came to mind. Often while trying to be sensitive, the western church uses words and phrases which do more harm than good -- especially when it comes to making commitments to missionary partners. When we say things like, "we'll see what we can do," or "maybe there's a chance we can help," our missionary partners are filled with hope. All too often as I was reminded, these words turn out to be mere lip service and provide only false hope. The missionary and his plea are forgotten as soon as he/she leaves the meeting it would seem.

When I asked my friend if this was an example of cultural/linguistic misunderstanding, I was firmly admonished with the acknowledgement that many of our partners in the field have a better grasp/understanding of our language and its usage than we do. Hard to swallow for sure, but I believe this idea has its merit. We forget that our partners in the field are pastors, leaders and experienced teachers that hold great sway and esteemed reputations in their respective fields. We treat them like inferiors sometimes when they arrive and solicit our partnership and/or support. This should not be!

As I rant, I must confess that a lot of this comes from a Spirit-driven conviction in my own personal experience and is only posted for your consideration, not necessarily any condemnation. So lest I overstep my bounds, let me finish with one final convicting point. Sometimes we think we are doing great things with our support, only to find out that we really should be doing more. I have been led to believe that maybe we short change God and limit what he wants to do, because too often we rely on our own plans and calculations. A three-year church plant for example seems great, but when you look at the numbers per capita our "generous" plan worked out to be only a small amount per person per month over a three year period. Don't get me wrong, I praise God for the fact that we are planting a church, but hope that we will learn to allow God to work through His people more in the future.

So remember the words of Yoda -- Try not. Do or do not, there is no try.

Grace and Peace

Miscellaneous Updates

2009-10-28T21:34:00.003-04:00

This is a simple blurb to give everyone an update regarding the missions Mt. Carmel Christian Church is currently supporting.

1)Mid-India Christian Mission/Bethlehem -India -- Church Planting and Discipleship

2)Southwest India Christian Mission -- Orphanage and Discipleship

3)Christ Reaching Asia Mission -- Discipleship, Evangelism, and Social Welfare

4)Lecce Christian Mission -- Discipleship, Evangelism, and Restoration

5)Pakistan Christian Evangelical Services -- Church Planting, Discipleship, and Christian Action

6)Pioneer Bible Translators - Vanuatu -- Bible Translations, Evangelism, and Discipleship

7)Mulberry International - Ukraine -- Foster Services, Street Evangelism, and Social Relief

8)Living Water Christian Mission - Haiti -- Education, Church Planting, and Discipleship

If you have specific questions about any of these, please don't hesitate to drop me an e-mail.

Grace and Peace
chris

Sweet Submission

2009-10-21T22:47:00.003-04:00

The term "submission" is a cause of great concern to many who hear it and for many rightly so. Those who have submitted to someone only to have themselves abused, abandoned, or taken advantage of definitely would seem to have a legitimate argument against submission in any form.

But recently borrowing an idea from Richard Foster regarding the discipline of submission, I realized that God deals with this all the time. The perfect act of submission, demonstrated through the act of Christ on the cross, has been abused, abandoned, and, yes taken advantage of (in the negative sense) by all of us at some point in our lives. This realization caused me to understand submission in a whole new light.

Submission as many of my missionary friends would tell you, is essential to experience all the sweetness of life that God has to offer. Submission you see takes us to the place where we no longer have to be burdened by our own selfish interests and desires, but where we can tap into the Beloved and derive our satisfaction and worth from the knowledge that we have been found pleasing in HIS sight. Truly sweet indeed!

10 INDICATORS

2009-10-12T22:09:00.006-04:00

10 Indicators That Your Missions Program Has A Problem

1) The church "mission guy" always allows his emotional desires to override the Spirit's direction, failing to extend grace to others. (A lesson this blogger needed to be reminded of recently.)

2) The missionary field easily becomes a topic for the latest round of political posturing.

3) Missions is always someone else's call or gift.

4) The mission field is always somewhere I am not.

5) We can't believe that God would really want to save "those people".

6) Saving Muslims, Hindus, Atheists, Buddhists, etc. where they live is a missions opportunity, but if these same individuals come here to our country and our churches they are somehow a threat.

7) Everyone seems just too busy for missions.

8) "We support that one guy, right?"

9) "Missions? Oh right, that's where we send checks to those foreigners who seem to always hound us for money."

10) "Look at us we support 100 missionaries at $10.00 per month!"

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near. -- Hebrews 10:23-25

Restoration Movements

2009-10-01T22:39:00.002-04:00

Coming from a Restoration Movement church, I found the following life analogy to be quite interesting. It deals with a "little" project dad and I have slowly, VERY SLOWLY, begun in his garage -- the restoration of a 1972 Toyota FJ40 Landcruiser.

Much like the frame pictured here, the frame on our cruiser was in pretty good shape, solid and ready for use, a good foundation to start from. The body on the other hand was quite a different matter altogether. The hull was so rusted in places that it simply lifted off the frame mounts. The two of us removed it quickly after somework with a sawzall. This body was in need of some major work.

This reminded me of some simple truths that many of our missionaries in the field already know:

1) Restoration is good for the church because it allows us to discover a usable frame -- the New Testament -- solid, designed by God.

2) Restoration is good for the church because it removes the rotten parts that have been attached to the frame, often for too long -- removing the hypocrisy that Christ warned against.

3) Finally restoration is good for the church because it allows us to examine the body in context of the frame, it allows us to see if our "mounts" are in good shape and in the proper places -- alligned through God's Spirit.

Good Fishin'

2009-09-14T21:43:00.004-04:00

It has been said that a bad day fishing is better than a good day at work. Under most circumstances I would have to agree with this. I can remember as a young man, sitting at the end of my grandfather's boatdock on Lake Cumberland casting, reeling, casting, reeling, and casting again. More often then not I didn't catch a thing. That really didn't matter though. I was outdoors enjoying life. I can remember not wanting the day to come to an end, but it always did, so I would pick up my pole and tackle box and head back for the lime-green single-wide trailer that could have easily been dubbed the Jabez Hotel.

These memories got me thinking though. What if my job is fishing? Not the Bill Dance kind of fishing but the kind that Jesus laid out for us in the Gospel, the "I will make you fisher's of men" kind. If I have a bad day in this type of fishing, the consequences may have terrible eternal consequence! How could any good come out of this? To this I reply I don't know, only to say that God's grace covers a multitude of bad "fishing" days. He can turn the worst evangelistic efforts into something for his glory and the worst angler into the next Billy Grahm. So Keep On Casting and Good Fishin'.

Important Things

2009-09-04T10:10:00.002-04:00

Every so-often there comes a moment when we are forced to take inventory in our lives. We are forced to answer the question, "What is important?" The recent passing of a young person I know has caused me to do this once more. Here are the things I wish to do a better job of:

1. Walking a little closer to the Lord.
2. Hugging my wife a little tighter.
3. Playing with my kids a little longer.
4. Providing a little more attention to my students and friends in mission.
5. Taking better care of myself.

Missed Opportunities

2009-08-29T16:48:00.002-04:00

Quite often when we think of the mission field, we tend to think that we need to be the great evangelist/missionaries of yester-year. We rationalize to ourselves or others that the Lord has not called us because we are not the Taylors, Livingstons, Moodys, or Grahms of the world. We argue that we don't have the fortitude for missions like an Elliot or a Staines. While doing all of this we miss the obvious -- opportunities for mission that God has placed right in front of us. Opportunities that rarely require us to speak at all. We miss the everyday opportunities to evangelize through acts of kindness, service, and love. We fail to take the time to play with our children. We don't stop to listen to a co-worker or neighbor who's having a rough time. We don't don't offer a helping hand with a non-Christian spouse who is cleaning the house. These opportunities are all around us. We don't always have to go to the "field" to be a missionary, quite often the "field" comes to us. Don't miss the opportunity to be a part of the greatest act of love in the history of the world!

CAMPING FOR CHRIST

2009-08-23T21:49:00.004-04:00

Often times in the world of Missions there are two camps. Those who define missional work as those events and activities taking place in and around their own community, or what I like to describe as the "Jerusalem" camp. The other camp are those who view this type of work as local evangelism and tend to focus more on the global community -- the "ends of the earth" camp. Are these two camps incorrect in their thinking? Well no, and yes. You see, traditionally, the commission of Christ to go into Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth, has often been viewed as a linear command, i.e. 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. This way of thinking often causes a conflict between the groups mentioned earlier because it prioritize the "mission field" in a chronological order. A second view of this commission has traditionally split the camps above into "my job" vs. "your job" roles. Either way the conflict still exists. And what shall we say about the middle of the road, the "Samarian" camp? This has its own unique issues. The missional community can continue to be divided on this issue, or we can recognize that as the Church we are called to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ -- using whatever gits and talents HE has euipped us with to whomever he brings into our sphere of influence. If Christ has only equipped a church with the gifts to minister to people just like them in the community -- great! They should do that. If HE has equipped them only to minister to people in their community not like them great! They should do that. If HE has equipped them only to minster to people not like them and not in their own community -- great! They should do that. And for those rare few -- if HE has equipped them to minister to all at the same time -- even better! They should do that.

Happy Camping!

chris

CELEBRATION OF DISCIPLINE

2009-08-20T22:38:00.001-04:00

MCCC MISSIONS WANTS YOU!

Come join in Mt. Carmel Christian Church's "Celebration of Discipline" -- A course on spiritual disciplines beginning Wednesday September 16, 2009 at 7:00pm. You may come early for a good meal at a great price. This class is ideal for those wishing to grow further in their faith and in their leadership potential. Class runs through 11/4. For more details contact me via e-mail at cvanhuss_@hotmail.com

Grace and Peace

chris

Sunset -- "Son"rise

2009-08-14T21:19:00.003-04:00

As I was driving home tonight I saw a beautiful sunset. Red-orange sphere highlighting clouds with streams of gold, red, and purple hue coming forth. Then all of a sudden I came to an intersection and a traffic pole blocked my view of the sunset. This got me thinking, what kinds of "poles" block my view of God's Son Jesus? Is the Son rising or setting in my life on a daily basis? What about people around the world? How can I allow them to see the "Son"rise and not the "Son"set?

On another the note, the website for Mid-India has been updated, check it out.

Grace and Peace

Some Recent Happenings

2009-08-09T23:31:00.003-04:00

Praise be to our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus! He has made the following possible:

1) The missions team has been able to assists individuals hoping to go to Romania, and Chicago for short-term trips. We also provided help to a family from Zimbabwe now living here in the U.S.

2) CRAM has a new team member. "Thomas" has joined the ranks of this great ministry. We were able to assist with the "Jacob" fund. Also "Gabriel's" flashlights are providing a new way to share the Light of the World in NK.

3) Our friends with PBT our finally residents in Vanuatu. Pray they received their work permits.

4) Our partners in Southwest India hosted a VBS for over 1500 students. Also God has added to their numbers in both people and physical structures.

5) Our friends from PCES will be visiting with us in November. I will be representing them in Owensville in October. Pray for me and pray for the persecuted church in Pakistan.

6) Work continues on the school in Haiti with our partners at Living Water.

7) We hope to strengthen the ministry efforts of Mid-India through capital campaign contributions.

8) Our friends in Italy and Albania hosted a wonderful VBS for children in Albania.

9) We continue to experience success in our efforts to plan for a visit to the Ukraine in 2010.

10) God has provided many educational opportunities for his people at Mt. Carmel. The National Missionary Convention is in November. Urban Missions Conference in December. Perspectives Classes this fall and spring. Lake James Mission Camp in July of next year.

11) Individuals hoping to get involved in missions locally at Mt. Carmel may do so through a Samaritan's Purse outreach, person to person ministries, and by becoming a missionary partnership champion. Contact me for more information about any of these.

You said what? -- The problem with global communication.

2009-08-02T20:27:00.002-04:00

Recent events in missions at Mt. Carmel have made me realize how terribly important communication and understanding of culture is. When communicating with those from a different culture let me offer a few random thoughts:

1) Try to anticipate potential delays in reply. The person with whom you are communicating may not always get/give you a reply in the time frame you think is acceptable.

2) Recognize that honesty is still the best policy. Rather than try to alter your original comments, admit what you said and then work to explain.

3) Speak the truth in love. ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS!

4) Don't be afraid of confrontation. That which seems confrontational may in fact be a search for clarity, or may be necessary.

5.) Speak with humilty and extend grace whenever possible. Remember we all say things from time to time we shouldn't or wish we hadn't said.

The Cost of Following Christ

2009-07-27T23:24:00.002-04:00

If you're reading this then you've either already glossed over the title or have read through the article linked to in it. Either way I encourage you to reread the article. Often times we forget that following Christ should be costly. In North Korea, picking-up your cross and following Christ has an almost literal meaning. That made me stop and think about costs.

What has following Christ cost me? Sadly, or gratefully, I'm not sure exactly which, I've not had to sacrifice too much. I've been blessed to live in a country where religious freedom is (or at least used to be promoted) and where there is a distinct separation between state and church. Quite a comfortable position. Yet this comfort has a cost as well. It has led me to a state of weakened faith, one that often lacks luster, a faith that at times seems to border on the kind of luke-warmness Jesus often warns about in Revelation. I don't always hunger and thirst for God's Word because it is so readily available here. Also because of my comfortable state, I often shy away from doing what is right.

Perhaps then this should be my outlook, if I am to be a faithful follower of Christ here in the U.S. I must be willing to give up comfort. Can I pray, Lord make me uncomfortable so my faith and love for you will grow strong? Am I willing to do this? Are you? Christ was and Christ did!

Updates from the Ukraine

2009-07-25T00:16:00.002-04:00

Many of you are probably not aware that Mt. Carmel supports a ministry in Ukraine known as Mulberry International. Mulberry is actually the name of the U.S. body that governs three ministries in the Ukraine. The photo at left is take from one of those ministries Project Sasha which primarily works at finding and helping street children. What follows is personal reflections from national field directors of these ministries. Charles McKibben is the stateside director mentioned in the updates.

Camp Report
(This is a report from Galya. Hopefully, we will get pictures later.)

Piece to you, Charles and everyone there!

This is the time when I can write to you about our life here. So the first shift of our camp has been finished and it was a great time when God has shown His mercy and His blessings to us all, it was not just good time, it was also difficult time. There were 65 kids that went the whole time with us.
The kids are all different and our sisters and brother from the US were helping us with them. The kids were crying when they had to leave and were thinking and talking about them all the time afterwards. Those kids who received letters from Christa, couldn't wait to get home to read it. Everything was great! We thank You all for everything.

When we came back to Simferopol we were met by the government officials and parents - they were so much happy that started buying the tickets to the camp next year! Both children and the government officials are thinking good about us!
The second shift of camp has started! There are 60 kids now.
So, this seems to be all. We love you and bless you!

Ministry Update from Kostya

We have got a few good news that I would like to share with you. We've made the tables for SImferopol hospital and the chief of the department has asked us to thank the brothers who have donated money for this. We have installed the window in Sevastopol hospital in the baby's ward and the chief of the department is also telling thank you to the brothers.
Pilgrim staff is still working in the camp. The second camp is going much easier for them. Probably, it's because of the experience they've got in the first camp. We are doing some small renovation in the building of Pilgrim, with our own strength. The room above the garage is slowly turning into a big storage room for clothes, with a lot of shelves and hangers.
Chernov family is so thankful for the construction to keep going and very happy about the family ministry that they are a part of right now. Respectfully, Konstantin. We are doing fine. We thank you for the encouragement and the support in the ministry. Our families are doing great. Galina Gudwill went to the Crimean mountains, to the lake area with the kids for a week. She is planning to send children to the summer camp this month. She had a trip with Vanya to Kiev, a month ago, where they had additional examination for Israel. They have planned another trip to Israel but haven't dated it yet. Right now they are thinking of Yana - she's got a heart disease and needs a surgery in Kiev. She has had a medical examination in Simferopol and she will be getting ready for a surgery in September.Families of Macevich and Goryainov and Chernov are arranging the vacation time for their kids by themselves and are also having computer lessons in the lab. The construction keeps moving. We will try to direct all the work to the finishing works(walls and the ceiling). These are the most expensive works. The price for the finishing work is the highest. We will do everything possible to keep the expenses down. The time will show the results. We all are so thankful to the Lord for the movement that has been done in construction and for the temp. Dear brother Charles, you and your family and all our helpers are in our prayers.Respectfully. Konstantin.

Clapping Hands

2009-07-21T21:36:00.005-04:00

Children from VBS in Albania.

Just tonight while reading Bible stories with our children, I experienced an amazing moment. We were reading about the women going to the tomb and finding, (or should I say NOT finding) something amazing. Jesus had risen! When I read the part about the angel's announcment to the women, my oldest daughter sat up in her bed and started to clap. She loved the happy ending! Don't we all. In Christ, there can be a happily ever after to all of our lives, and this is something we can sit up and clap about!

Also I wanted to share with you some news about work currently being done by friends in Italy and Albania:

LECCE CHRISTIAN MISSION
(Italy and Albania)
CASELLA POSTALE 36 (73100) LECCE, ITALY
Mission E-mail: chcr.lecce@tiscali.it;

July, 2009
Pino Neglia – Jessie Lee Troyer

Special Albania
Again this year we had our usual VBS in Albania in the city of Elbasan and in the village of Gostime. It began only a few days after the conclusion of our annual Italian Churches of Christ convention , the details of which I gave you in our June newsletter. In this VBS Chuck Schmidt, from Wichita, KS., was to have participated but because of continuous delays and flight cancellations of Delta Air Line he was blocked at Atlanta on standby for some days and finally was compelled to return home. He felt both embittered and frustated. He was to have accompanied our singing in VBS on his guitar, was to sing solos, and planned to bring with him the portable baptistry which his church had donated to the Church at Elbasan. On my next mission trip to Albania in September, I’ll take the baptistry with me . (providing it arrives in time.)

The first stop of my trip to Albania was at the Christian clinic at Durres where I took the usual supply of medicines . In the first photo to the left are the doctors and nurses who run the clinic. Much to our dismay, in the period when I was in Albania there were extreme climatic conditions; in fact, on Albanian TV they said such storms had not occurred in more than 100 years. The roads turned into torrents of water and mud. Water was in our church location at Gostime. We managed to keep the water from flooding the location by digging trenches.

In spite of the torrential rains the young people came to our VBS. We had a maximum number of 31 at Gostime and 29 at Elbasan. The team of teachers were: Arian Kosta, evangelist at the Durres Church; Koli, member of the Church at Elbasan, Mondi Gjoni, our native evangelist at Gostime and Elbasan; and I. At Elbasan we used the usual elementary and middle school building. The theme was: “Conversions in Acts of the Apostles.” Due to the bad weather we prolonged VBS for a few days. The road from Elbasan to Gostime was a disaster. I never before saw so much mud.

Sunday, July 5th, the only day of sun and no rain, we had the inauguration of the new center and church location at Elbasan which we had rented on my preceding trip in April. There are four rooms and removing the dividing wall between two of them will give us our worship room. One other room will be used for Bible study and the fourth will have a ping-pong table. A sign like that at Gostime reads: Youth Center – Church of Christ. Under the name is Mark 16:16. I had taken chairs bought in Italy. The bath is very small…but at least…there is a bath…!!!

I had taken balloons for VBS which we used also in this occasion. Koli was baptized several years ago and his wife, from Muslim background, is studying the Bible. Another person present for the first time at Christian worship was Genny, economics teacher, who is also of Muslim origin. I had the privilege of sharing at length the Word of God with her. She promised to continue attending services and to study the Bible.

Don’t forget to pray for these children that the seed of the Gospel that we have planted will produce the spiritual fruit of conversion to Jesus Christ Lord and Saviour and re-birth of water and of the Spirit.

Pino Neglia – Jessie Lee Troyer
Lecce Christian Mission

W-mart -- Picture of Heaven?

2009-07-20T23:21:00.004-04:00

Recently while travelling, the wife and I made a stop at a certain well-known super center to pick-up some necessities for our journey. I was amazed at the sights, sounds, and smells of the this facility. Persons of what seemed like every tongue, tribe, and nation seemed to be out in the aisles looking for cereal, deodorant, fresh fruit, etc. I couldn't help but think that maybe this was what heaven would one day look like. No not the discount racks and the fake jewelry, rather the buzz of excitement that fills the air because persons of every tongue, tribe, and nation will be there, praising GOD the Father, and his Son Jesus Christ. Then a sad thought crossed my mind, how many of these W-marters will not be there? How many will not be there because I was too busy in my own W-mart quests not to notice the tired, the poor, the hurting, etc. How many will not be there because I believed language to be too big a barrier to sharing God's love. How many will not be there, simply because I was too concerned with my own needs, desires, and wants, and did not do the right thing?

Interesting Video

2009-07-08T00:00:00.002-04:00

A friend sent this to me today. The video is powerful. It was taken from a missions conference somewhere in Knoxville.

http://www.tangle.com/view_video.php?viewkey=8742977b76e3475fae47&sp=1

Photos from Pakistan

2009-07-05T22:08:00.002-04:00

From time to time the information we hear about the persecution on other lands seems so far-fetched that few would believe. My friend from Pakistan recently sent this photo of a young Christian girl who was involved in an attack against Christians there. Acid was thrown on this girl.

Trouble in Pakistan

2009-07-02T21:39:00.002-04:00

Friends,

I recently received an urgent prayer request for Christians in Pakistan. My friend writes: Two days ago in Mann Village, Kasur, a mob of fanatic Muslims attacked 117 Christian families. Powerful Muslims claimed that Christians were standing on their way--like standing in the street. They started a quarl and start beating them and burnt their houses of 117 Christian families--total 155 Christian families live in that village. Christians suffered a lot. Please pray for them.

Please keep these families and my friend in your thoughts and prayers.

So the world may know.

Welcome Back!

2009-07-01T12:45:00.000-04:00

Wow! It's been a really long time since I've been here. What seemed like a good idea 3 years ago has now found time and fruition (sp?). I am still new at this blogging stuff so please be patient with me. Today I wanted to simply encourage you all to share the fact the Jesus loves you, he died for you and rose again,and he wants a genuine love relationship with you.Find out more next time.Blogging so the World May Know,

MISSIONS MINISTRY

2006-06-20T12:47:00.000-04:00

This blog has been created for the sole-purpose of promoting the Missions Ministry of Mt. Carmel Christian Church. We are an non-denominational Christian Church who strive to live out the commands of Christ as viewed through the biblical scriptures. We strive to love God with Passion, Love each other with Joy, and Take this Love to our neighbors whoever they are.

Currently we support ministries in several continents including least reached peoples in the 10/40 window. We also support local ministries as well. For more information about the Missions Ministry at Mt. Carmel Christian Chuch visit our web page at www.mtcarmelchurch.org