It's Still February...

One last entry before the month disappears...
Let's be honest. Money (or the lack there of) is a source of much pain, hardship, uncertainty, anxiety, and joy. Joy? Yes. While money can buy us some things to bring us pleasure, that is not what I am referring to (for many reasons but I won't go into those here). But we will address the issues of money and joy later. First let's look at all the other "no fun" or "no good" issues associated with money.
Alright, still being honest here. While I have personally experienced and know God's hand of provision and meeting my needs quite well over the last half of my life (well, all of it but the last half was in the midst of not having money), the idea of raising support for missions has loomed in front of me. I'm not sure why really. I have lived on very little. I have had very little money coming in and witnessed time and again God provide for my specific needs. God has shaped me through these life experiences and circumstances. I am grateful. I have learned to trust in God in very real ways. I have grown to have a real confidence and peace (most of the time) in God's goodness and providence. Yet still, the idea of raising support somehow shakes that peace. As I began typing this, the thought occurred to me that I was still working. I had a hand in helping to meet my needs still knowing that God would take care of me. Maybe there is an element of a control issue here. Raising support as a missionary, you are pretty much altogether removed from having any control on the money coming in. I must be supported by others, by the body of Christ. Here's a sad testament. That doesn't give me much confidence. Maybe that's what is shaking my peace. While I have seen numbers give to help others less fortunate, I have also witnessed far more spend extravagantly on frivolous things while others in need may simply get a nod from them. Maybe part of what God is trying to do in me is to learn to not only trust him but to trust his body. I tend to be a pretty trusting guy but I guess I've seen much seeming neglect in this area.
(I am just being honest)
To add to the matters, the support level I have been quoted was much more than I had anticipated. While I knew it wasn't going to be cheap because the living expenses in Europe are much greater (not to mention the increasing rise of the value of the euro), I wasn't expecting it to be that expensive. Then what happens if/when one day I get married (Lord willing!) and the support level jumps... and then kids! We won't go there. :o) Add all this up... keep adding... :o) What do you get? An opportunity for God to work in me and around me to reveal his glory!
The idea of raising all that money still seems a bit ominous (especially since it is more than what I live on now). Yet, I am continually drawn back to the God I know and love that does care for me. So I can cast all my anxiety on him, trust him and experience his peace, goodness, and provision. Anxiety may try creeping up (Satan can be persistent too) but we/I can just cast it on my God again. He is good! Now, it doesn't stop there. I did mention joy earlier. Let's look at that again. There's a common phrase floating around that has a good source. ;o) It is more blessed to give than to receive. It's kind of ironic that in my concern about being provided for, God has been challenging me in my giving. Have I been one to give to the church and to others? Yes. But I have felt like I should give more at times but haven't because I didn't have much myself... wasn't sure that I would be able to even meet my bills and such... I am excited now about the opportunities to give to the church and to others. There are many challenging passages about giving in the Bible. There's the widow that Jesus praises for giving just a couple of coins in the offering in contrast to the wealthy who give more than her. They give some out of their abundance; she gives ALL out of her POVERTY! Then there are the Macedonians who also give out of their poverty... "even more than they are able!" They first give to God (tithe) then they give to another church in need on top of that... and eagerly and cheerfully. Paul discusses the idea of giving out of what we have not out of what we don't have. God has blessed us so that we can give. This is clearly stated in 1 Cor. 9 when they are challenged to give cheerfully. God will not only meet your needs but he will give you enough so that you can give back to him and to others. We will be blessed SO THAT we can be a blessing to others.
I actually taught on this in our College & Career meeting this past week. I'm hoping to get the basic thoughts of the talk online at our College & Career site soon. I'll let you know...
I am excited to be able to give... I am excited to be able to give out of what I have been blessed with... I am excited to be able to experience God's goodness and provision so that I can share it with others to His glory...
May we as a body... may I as his wealthy son who shares in his inheritance learn to grow in the grace of giving... in the grace of trusting...

My heart sinks...

Technology can be great... but it can also rip your heart out and make you want to cry... Why? Well, I just spent about an hour working on typing up a blog here and editing some things. When I went to publish it, an error page pops up and all is lost!
Which means, I must retype all (or more than likely part) of it again. :o(
Maybe you weren't supposed to know what I wrote before... or maybe it's an attempt to discourage me...
Well...
I will try again...
Here I am again. It's still February (barely). I had hoped and planned to have several entries this month but alas it did not happen. Time has a "funny" way of slipping away from you. Life keeps us busy, continually rearranging our schedules and priorities. Things also seem to often take longer to do than originally anticipated (ie. right now!). At any rate, February has been full... full of both ups and downs i guess you could say...
My mom almost died this month. Her appendix ruptured. Silly woman thought she just had the flu. After some research, my dad took her to the hospital. After surgery, the doctor told her that if she had waited any longer she would have been "headed south." After a number of complications, she is home slowly recovering and doing pretty well. Praise God! She would appreciate your prayers as she is still recovering.
I had been having some really intense pains in my head, mouth, ear, neck, & back off and on over the last several months. The pain would come and go (with much drugs and pain meds which barely touched the pain). Finally, I decided to have a wisdom tooth removed that had broken. The pain has not returned since the oral surgery. I am still recovering from the surgery though.
On a brighter note, the Lord has really been challenging, encouraging, and using me in many ways lately. The College & Career group has been going through a 4 week series that has been challenging all. The lessons were titled: "God's Mission, Our Mission," "Apostolic Passion," "Wartime Lifestyle-Living Simply," and this week's is "Wartime Lifestyle-Are You Fighting?" Please pray as I finish preparing for this week's lesson wrapping up this series.
The College & Career group is working on putting together some evangelistic outreach opportunities. We are planning a couple of events for April including a Coffeehouse and an "Open to Talk" Discussion Forum. These are some new strategic efforts and avenues for our group in partnering with God's Kindgom building evangelistic mission. I am excited about this and sense this is only just the beginning!
We are also trying to put together a team with our College & Career group to participate in the "Serve the City" summer missions program in Brussels. Our first official meeting will be this Friday. Please pray for "harvesters" to step up to be a part of this work. There are obviously other prayer requests and they will follow. This is the first step though so please pray that God will call and people will respond.
I've had some great times building relationships with people. I've really enjoyed living life as it should be: with others and God focused. I am excited at the work God is doing in me and through me. I am excited to be part of God's work both here locally and globally. I am excited to share in his ministry of refining and growing his children and bringing others into his fold. I am excited to have brothers and sisters in God's family. I am excited to be His!
God is at work. Let's join him in his Kingdom building evangelistic mission through prayer and actively loving others...

PS: There are no pictures in this entry (nor probably in the next). My apologies to those who prefer to read picture books. Thanks for bearing through. :o)
PPS: I was going to write two entries tonight but due to the technological difficulties, I will just write the one. Maybe (hopefully) I can get to another one tomorrow. We will see...
PPS: This entry wasn't quite as cleverly written as the first... such ashame... oh well... Let's just laugh about it anyways... :o) lol

Greece Revisited...

So I skipped a month in posting here. I think I may hit this a couple of times in the next couple of weeks. I wanted to share a bit more about the trip to Greece before I moved on to inform you about the future happenings towards Brussels.
While we were in Greece, not only did we have the opportunity to serve and to share the gospel in many ways, but we also were able to experience much in the way of Biblical culture.



While in Athens we were able to visit many of the historic ruins. There were many many temples and sacred places for the Greek gods. (Read Acts 17: 16-34 for context) We were camped about a 5-10 minute walk from the Acropylis. Right near the Acropylis is the infamous Mars Hill (Ares Hill). We trod upon the very place that Paul defended the one true God in a land of many gods to a people in fear of these gods. Oh, may we be so inflamed as Paul was here. (Did you read Acts 17 yet? If not, what are you waiting for?)


Recognize this stone artifact on the left? Well it wasn't this one exactly but there was one like it in a famous blockbuster movie... One day we had the opportunity to go to Corinth and take a tour of the ruins there. We had the priviedge of having a Christian archeoligist for a guide. He provided great Biblical insight and referenced the scriptures often as we toured bringing new perspectives to these scriptures. Ok. So I'll address this picture above now. You may have seen this in "The Passion of the Christ" movie. Remember when Jesus was flogged? He was bound to a stone like this. However, the movie had it wrong. It was placed in a courtyard that was somewhat isolated. It was much more likely that this stone would have been in the public marketplace where such judgements would have taken place. As we stood in the middle of the market, we saw this stone. It was very public. Now remember what you saw in the movie but place that in the middle of a crowd of onlookers... Thank you Jesus!
There were many other very interesting things we saw that day. Many things giving added insight. We were shown something by our guide that was outside the protected area in the ruins. It is very significant for Christians but disregarded by others. We saw a road that had the name of Epaphras etched on it as the one who paid for the road to be made. Without going into the details, this one discovery is one of the strongest proofs of the accuracy of the Bible. Epaphras was argued to be the weakest link until this discovery and then the issue was just dropped. It was pretty cool to see this evidence first hand. One last thing I'll mention is the common passage in 1 Corinthians 13:12. We saw an artifact of a mirror. It is much different than our mirrors we have today. Read this verse. Now imagine looking into polished brass as oppose to the clear mirrors we have today. Doesn't this verse make even more sense now. It also makes the contrast between looking at a mirror and seeing face to face greater. Oh, to see our loving and merciful Savior face to face!
Thanks again for your prayers and support. May we be blessed as we stand in God's grace... for His glory!


The bathroom is on the right. Public restrooms were very public!
PS: Don't shake their left hand! ;o)