A godly man

What does it take to be a godly man? Pray every day? Read the Bible every day? Go to church? Take care of widows and orphans? How about abstaining from cussing and drinking and all that kind of stuff? All these are good deeds but do they make you a godly man, a man that does the work of God?

Good deeds are not what makes you a godly man. Good deeds are just the consequences. A godly man is one that does the work of God and the work of God is just this, believe in Jesus.

John 6:29 Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent."

What's the Point

The family and I went to Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Houston to celebrate Memorial Day and visit my Dad’s grave. As I was looking at all the tombstones in the cemetery, I got to thinking…

What’s the point?

If you believe in God and eternity, then this life is just an unrecognizable speck on the eternity timeline. During this one vapor in time do you need to make the right decision or live the right life to determine the rest of your eternity? It hardly seems fair, does it?

My Proverbs 31 Woman

Sunday we celebrate Mother's day. I have an awesome mom. I know my brother and I gave her way more grief than she deserved, but she never failed to continue to love us, and guide us, and even bail us out a time or two.

Knowing what my Mom had to deal with is what amazes me even more about my own Proverbs 31 woman, my beautiful bride, my queen, my Amanda.

For the Love of the Orphan

Warner Bros. new horror movie Orphan proclaims that it must be hard to love an adopted child as much as your biological children. Let me tell you about how an orphan changed my life...

The Tau Connection

What a fine looking group of young men…  I lost touch with many of these guys until recently on Facebook.  Now I see random status updates from time to time.  Amazing as it seems, most of us grew up.

What’s more amazing is how God has used a part of my life that was way off the Christian path for his good purposes.  There are many past experiences and life choices (good and bad) that make up who I am today.  God has used them all to mold me and grow me and he is still at work.  The job often looks hopeless to me but with God all things are possible (Matt 19:26).

This story however is about how God has used my past not just to mold me, but to dramatically change the life of 57 orphans in Liberia and a suburban Baptist church in Cypress, Texas.

Faith of Costello

Have you ever felt as lost as Costello in “Who’s on First” when trying to figure out this whole Christianity thing?

It all seemed so simple when I first said that short prayer as a ten year old boy.  Just believe that Jesus is the Son of God that died for my sins and ask him to be in my heart.  At that point, my sins consisted of being mean to my little brother and sometimes not obeying my mom and dad.  If believing in Jesus would save me from hell and the devil then I was all for that.

It started to get a little more complicated when puberty hit.  As a teenager, suddenly my sins started mounting up and I began this endless cycle of guilt and confession.  Finally, at some point I found it was easier to justify my behavior than feel guilty about it.

Christianity became real easy once I just ignored it all together.

Who’s on First? I don’t care.  It wasn’t very complicated at all.  I had my prayer done and my eternity ticket punched.

Fortunately for me, it was not just up to me.

Romans 8:29 (ESV)
²⁹ For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

God pursued me and would not let me cast him aside.  You can read my story in detail under My Damascus Road.

This however, is when Christianity started to get much more confusing and I started to find myself frustrated with what I call the “faith of Costello”.  What I mean by that is Christianity is simple, but my expectations had made it very difficult.

I know we are saved by faith.  There is nothing we can do to save ourselves.

Ephesians 2:8 (ESV)
⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

However, just a few books to the right, we read that faith without works is no faith at all.  And Jesus tells us those that belong to him will bear good fruit.

James 2:17 (ESV)
¹⁷ So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

John 15:2 (ESV)
² Every branch of mine that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

So what are some of these good works that I need to be doing or maybe my faith is dead?  Oh, nothing much…Just lose your life, crucify your life to this world, consider everything worldly as crap.

Matthew 10:38 (ESV)
³⁸ And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

Romans 6:6 (ESV)
⁶ We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

Philippians 3:8 (ESV)
⁸ Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ

I’m saved by faith alone.  Ok, but I’m still living a pretty comfy life.  I’m not sure where my cross is to carry even if I was willing.  I sure don’t feel that crucified and while some of my stuff is crap – some of it I really like!  I can’t do this.  This is too hard God.  I just want to know what it takes to be a Christ follower.

Who’s on First?

I don’t know.

No, he’s on Third.

Who?

No, Who’s on First

Is it really that difficult to grasp?

Not really.  It’s no more difficult than when I was ten.  Only now, I understand it better because I understand that my sin is much more than just being mean to my little brother and not listening to my parents all the time.  My sin is in my very nature.  However, the answer is still the same.  Jesus died for all this sin.  And the power that resurrected him from the dead is the same power that will allow me to overcome my old nature that fights against my new nature.

The reason this seems so complicated to me sometimes, is because I forget that the gospel that saved me in the beginning is the same gospel that rescues me everyday.  When I come before His cross each day, I want to pick up my own, I want to crucify myself to this world, and everything else does become rubbish.  Not because of what I do, but because of the power of his grace that gives me the faith to do the works.

Who’s on First?

Jesus.

The Theology of Adoption

My wife and I attended the Christian Alliance for Orphans conference held in Dallas this April.  On the way to the conference my wife was excited about the conference and about getting involved in this ministry.  I was looking forward to the conference but I had other issues that God had been working out in me.  I was not completely sure that orphan ministry was where he wanted me right now.

I tried to share my concern with my wife but I did not do too well.  I tried to explain that God has been working on pride issues in me and telling me to focus on Jesus first above all else.  My struggle is that I don't think I do the basics right.  I’m still wrestling at making sure Jesus is glorified in all I do and that my life needs to be about living out the gospel and telling others about Jesus.

This may sound weird to some, but something like orphan ministry actual sounded easy compared to my first responsibility of living the gospel and sharing it with others.  It’s easy to have a broken heart for the orphan.  But I need to have a broken heart for my neighbor.

I teach a Sunday morning bible study.  I enjoy it.  God’s word excites me and teaching it excites me.  But when I am at my job or with others that don’t know Jesus, I stay quiet.  This is what God has been working out in me.  Orphan care ministry needed to come after the gospel ministry.

As I tried to explain this to my wife on the trip up to Dallas I think I frustrated her.  I sounded like I was looking for excuses but I wasn’t.  I just was not explaining where I was coming from very well.

The first breakout session we attended at the conference was a lesson called “A Theology of Adoption”.  It was presented by Daniel Bennett, the Senior Pastor at Bethany Community Church in Washington, Illinois.  God is so good.  He took the very first session and within the very first five minutes, let me know that AdoptionOrphan Care ministry starts when the church’s heart is first desiring to know and glorify God.

You see, I was concerned about orphan care ministry being focused on the orphan.  Don’t get me wrong, we need to love and care for the orphans and that is the point of the ministry.  But here I am struggling with glorifying Jesus above all else and I knew a heart-breaking ministry could tempt me to focus primarily on the injustice.  My focus would be what “I” could do or encourage “others” to do.  Any ministry has to be about what “God” will do.  My heart needs to be about glorifying God, and through glorifying Him loving others – orphans in orphan care ministries, but also my co-worker and my neighbor.

So what is the theology of adoption?  Here are the six points that Pastor Bennett laid out:

1. Our adoption was accomplished despite our condition.  (Romans 3:10-23; Romans 5:6-11)

2. Our adoption was an act of God. (Romans 3:24-26)

3. Our adoption was accomplished through the suffering of our savior. (Romans 5:6-11; Romans 6:1-11)

4. Our adoption makes us part of a new family. (Romans 8:14-17)

5. Our adoption can never be revoked. (Romans 8:14-39)

6. Our adoption is for the glory of God. (Romans 9:22-29)

The theology of adoption is about glorifying God and about the gospel.  What God has been working out in me these past six months and still today, is preparing me for this ministry.  I don’t know if he has me ready yet, but I’m placing one foot in front of the other and we’ll see where he takes me.

Philippians 2:12-13 (ESV)
¹² Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, ¹³ for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

A Time to Pray

This is quite a year in front of us.  We’re in the midst of a financial mess in our country.  We’re still fighting a war on two front in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Our new president is telling us we can make it through, if we all do our share.  I’m skeptical about what he means by that.

In any case, what our country needs is God but we’re a country that more and more does not want God involved in our business.  Separation of church and state has become much more than freedom of religion for individuals.  It has become, keep God out of government at all cost.

If you’re a believer in God, what is your hope if your country turns its back on Him?

I’d love to blame the ACLU and other liberal political factions for pushing God out of our country.  However, I think the blame belongs with me.  Of course non-believing individuals and organizations will strive to eliminate any dependence on God.  It’s all foolishness to them (1 Cor 1:18-31).

The blame belongs on me because all too often I sit back, watch, and shake my head in disbelief and disgust.  What can I do but watch our country spiral down a godless path?

I can pray.  I can pray like never before.  I can pray like I really believe God can and will do something about it.  And most importantly, I can pray for my own heart before I begin to worry about my country’s heart.

Psalms 19:12-14 (ESV)
¹² Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. ¹³ Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. ¹⁴ Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Pray for revival in our country, but pray prayers of praise as well.

God rules our land.

Regardless of what those who do not know him plan.

Psalms 47:6-8 (ESV)
⁶ Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises! ⁷ For God is the King of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm! ⁸ God reigns over the nations; God sits on his holy throne.

The Christmas Story

This is the Christmas story we started telling as a family together last year.  I wrote it because I wanted to share the gospel with my brother and his girlfriend.  However, I shared it again this year with just my wife and kids after we lit the Christ advent candle and sang some carols as a family.  I look forward to this being a tradition each year.

______________________________________________________________

What is the true meaning of Christmas?

Most people if asked can tell you that the Christmas tradition started as a celebration of the birth of Jesus.

Luke 2:4-14 (ESV)
⁴ And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,
⁵ to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.
⁶ And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.
⁷ And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
⁸ And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
⁹ And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.
¹⁰ And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people.
¹¹ For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
¹² And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger."
¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
¹⁴ "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!"

What does this really mean? Why celebrate the birth of a Jesus, 2000 years ago.

“I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people”

Was this birth really good news and a great joy for everyone?

“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people He favors!”

Where is this peace on earth and who are these people God favors?

The birth of Jesus is only part of the story. The story begins at the beginning of time and the story ends everyday, with each of us.

In the beginning:

Genesis 3:1-7 (ESV)
¹ Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?"
² And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden,
³ but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.' "
⁴ But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die.
⁵ For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
⁶ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
⁷ Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

One day, while still in paradise, while there truly was peace on earth and goodwill towards all men, Adam and Eve made a choice.

Their choice was to believe a snake, the snake, Satan. The lie was that they could be like God. Adam and Eve, innocent from creation, chose sin over God. They chose death over life.

God told Adam and Eve they could have anything they wanted, just not the fruit of this one tree. Just one rule, one decision and they chose to disobey.

If God knows everything, why did He give them this one rule He knew they could not follow?

Because God is love and God desires love from us. However, love is a choice. We cannot love if we do not have a choice.

So what does Adam and Eve’s mistake have to do with you and me?

We too have choices, everyday. We too make the wrong choices.

Romans 3:9-18 (ESV)
⁹ What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin,
¹⁰ as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one;
¹¹ no one understands; no one seeks for God.
¹² All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one."
¹³ "Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive." "The venom of asps is under their lips."
¹⁴ "Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness."
¹⁵ "Their feet are swift to shed blood;
¹⁶ in their paths are ruin and misery,
¹⁷ and the way of peace they have not known."
¹⁸ "There is no fear of God before their eyes."

Romans 3:23 (ESV)
²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

We all know we’re not perfect. However, most of believe that we’re not all bad either.

One mistake and we’re out?

The truth is God is a God of judgment. He is holy and perfect and he cannot accept anything that is not holy and not perfect. However, God is also a God of mercy and love.

From the beginning, God made a promise to Adam and Eve that he had a plan to undo their bad decision.

Genesis 3:15 (ESV)
¹⁵ I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."

God’s curse of the snake is His promise to us that one will come that will crush the head of Satan, the deceiver.

Adam and Eve messed up. However, we all mess up. None of us are perfect. We all fall short of God. We all have the same consequence given to Adam and Eve.

Death. Not a physical death, although we all physically die, but a death of our spirit. Death by separation from God.

However, the God of mercy and love has a plan.

Romans 6:23 (ESV)
²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

John 3:16 (ESV)
¹⁶ "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

The baby’s birth we celebrate on Christmas is this Jesus. The Son of God sent to undo our bad choices and allow us to once again be good with God.

However, this is only half the story.

Who is this Jesus? What is it about him that makes us good with God?

John 14:6-11 (ESV)
⁶ Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
⁷ If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him."
⁸ Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us."
⁹ Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?
¹⁰ Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.
¹¹ Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.

Who was this Jesus? He was and He is the Son of God but even more that that, He is God.

The wages of sin is death. God is a God of mercy and love, however, the price of sin must still be paid.

The rest of the Christmas story is how God paid the price for us.

Jesus, the Son of God, Jesus, God in the flesh paid the price for the sin of Adam, for your sins, for my sins.

Matthew 27:27-35 (ESV)
²⁷ Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor's headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before him.
²⁸ And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him,
²⁹ and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!"
³⁰ And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head.
³¹ And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him.
³² As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross.
³³ And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull),
³⁴ they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it.
³⁵ And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots.

Jesus was not just killed. He was tortured and mocked, whipped and nailed to a cross.

Why?

Because of me. Because of you.

Why is it we celebrate the birth of Jesus, the Son of God who we then tortured and nailed to a cross?

Mark 16:1-7 (ESV)
¹ When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him.
² And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb.
³ And they were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?"
⁴ And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back— it was very large.
⁵ And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed.
⁶ And he said to them, "Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him.
⁷ But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you."

Why do we celebrate Christmas?

We celebrate Christmas because in spite of our own selfishness, God had a plan.

We failed but Jesus paid the price.

How do we know it is paid? Because He conquered death and rose again.

This is the Christmas story.

Love is a choice.

Adam and Eve chose to believe the devil over God.

We choose everyday to do things our way rather than God’s way.

God still chose to die for us.

Now the choice is ours again.

We can choose to believe this Christmas story and choose life. We can choose to believe the good news and have God’s joy and peace. We can choose to be favored by God.

And we can choose not to believe.

I choose life. I choose Jesus as Lord. I choose to believe the good news and accept God’s joy, peace and favor.

What do you choose?

Merry Christmas!

The Christmas Song

My son wrote another song…I need to get this recorded so I can share the tune as well.

You’re beautiful.

You’re Glorious.

You’re Wonderful.

You came to save us.

You’re the Prince of Peace.

Above all things,

You’re the Lord of Lords.

You’re the King of Kings.

You’re the mighty God.

Emanuel.

The Messiah.

You make all things well.

Born in a manger,

With shepherds at your side.

Three rich kings,

On December twenty five.

Frankincense so sweet,

Gold so bright,

Myrrh in a box,

Under that big star’s light

You’re beautiful.

You’re Glorious.

You’re Wonderful.

You're Jesus!

Bowl Season Blues

I love college football.  I think it’s because I went to school at Texas A&M and it’s hard not to fall in love with the spirit and rich tradition there.  I’ll watch pro football as well.  I’ll root for the Houston Texans but it’s not the same as the Aggies.

Election Victory Guaranteed

On Tuesday our country will elect a new president.  Some think that this election will be a landslide. Some predict a closer election and maybe even an upset.  Whoever wins, about half the country will be upset.

We live in a state between discontent and fear.  Discontent because gas prices are too high, stock prices are too low, and the war in the middle east has gone on too long.  Fear because change is not always for the better.

I once had a discussion with a co-worker over whether or not religion and politics should be mixed.  I think as a Christian, you cannot compartmentalize your faith and separate it from your political decisions.  More important than foreign and economic policies are the spiritual policies that matter to God.

This makes voting for a president very difficult.  As a Christian, you want a president that seeks God's heart but in American politics, the game is about rhetoric, not about things of the heart, especially things on God's heart.

There are political issues that Christians rally around, such as abortion and same sex marriage.  In that respect, many Christians vote for the candidate that takes a stand against these two practices.  Personally, I use this same litmus test, particularly in regards to abortion.  However, does a candidate's stand on abortion really mean they have more of a heart for God's heart than the other candidate?

My point is that a candidate's public stance on political issues, including political moral issues, is usually based on solidifying their political base.  A pro-life, pro-traditional marriage candidate may have no more desire to seek God's will than the pro-choice, pro-gay marriage candidate.  Only God knows their heart.

The good news is that while it is our duty to cast our vote and do our work as Americans and Christians, we don't really choose our next president.  God chooses.

Psalms 135:6 (ESV)
⁶ Whatever the Lord pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.

On November 5, regardless of the election outcome (although we may not know the outcome for months if it is close), celebrate the victory.  Praise God who is sovereign over all.  God chooses the kings and God chooses the presidents.  Praise God but also pray for His mercy.  Pray for our country.  Pray for our new leader.  Pray of a Nineveh style revival (Jonah 3:6-10).

Out of Africa: Vision and Hope

Romans 15:13 (ESV)

¹³ May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

I am not sure what I expected in Liberia.  I had seen some pictures of the orphanage and I knew it was a vastly different world than my home.  I knew Liberia was one of the poorest countries in the world.



On one hand, I was not surprised.  The poverty in Liberia was as extreme as the pictures.  On the other hand, there was something beyond the pictures that God wanted me to see.  It was the people God wanted me to meet.

Anthony had started working for Fairfield Baptist Church Liberia in May.  He was hired as a teacher at the school.  However, the head pastor, Pastor Bill, had quickly realized that Anthony was a man that could not only teach the children, he could preach the Word.  Actually, Anthony had been preaching for various churches for ten years, since he was seventeen.

Pastor Anthony and I spent most of my first day in Liberia together.  He took me around the school and introduced me to the kids and the teachers.  He and Pastor Bill drove me into town to check-in with the embassy (which ended up being closed).  I got to see Monrovia and Painesville in the daylight after driving through in the dark the night before.

After our errands, I joined Pastor Anthony for a bible study.  Actually, he had prepared a bible study for his adult bible study class and wanted to practice it on me.  It was just me and Anthony and God's Word.  That's what the bible study was about, God's Word and God's vision.

Pastor Anthony has a passion for God's Word that is contagious.  He also has a vision.  A vision for taking God's Word to a community desperate for hope.  A vision for taking God's Word to a country devastated by war.  A vision for taking God's Word throughout an entire continent.

This is a big vision for an assistant Pastor in a small church in Liberia.  An assistant pastor that had his formal education cut short by a civil war.  A small church with about fifty active adult members.

This is vision reserved for big American churches, isn't it?  Churches with money. American churches with with a mandate from God to spread the Gospel throughout the world.  Missionaries are supposed to be sent to Liberia, not out of Liberia.  Right?

Brother Johnson is a former superintendent of one of the counties in Liberia.  He's a deacon at the church.  I'm not sure of Brother Johnson's age.  If I had to guess, I would say he's in his late seventies.  I don't guess this age because he looks like an old man.  I guess this age by the wisdom in his words.  Sometimes you can just feel the wisdom of the years from people as you visit with them.

Brother Johnson has a vision as well.  He has a vision for a rebuilt Liberia.  I sat on the porch with Brother Johnson and a man named Frank and learned of his vision.  A vision for starting a community farm so that the community, and eventually the country, can start producing it's own food.  He tells me anything you plant in Liberia will grow but that the country imports most of its food.  If the ships don't bring the food, the people don't eat.

Frank attends the small Liberian church and he is the owner of a small construction company.  His company won the bid to install the $12,000 security fence that the government required around the orphanage.  One of our purposes of our visit to Liberia was to inspect their work and make the final payment.

Frank has a vision for his country recovering from the catastrophe of war.  Frank is living out that vision with the fence building project.  A dozen young men had work putting in this new fence for the orphanage.  I don't know when these men will have a job this big again.  However, they are living with hope with men like Frank leading the way.

Of course there was also Pastor Bill and his wife Maude.  A couple that has given the last ten years of their life to this small church, school, and orphanage.  Bill and Maude also have a vision.  Their vision is to educate the children and to teach them about the hope in Christ.  They're not looking to have seventy orphans adopted and sent to America.  Their vision is for seventy orphans to receive love and hope and grow up to help rebuild their country.

As I sat there listening to Pastor Anthony teach me my second bible study, the sustenance of God, I understood why God wanted me in Liberia and why he wanted me there for two days by myself.  God wanted me to meet the people.  He wanted me to meet His people.  He wanted me to meet brothers and sisters in Christ with His vision and His hope.

I've lost about a third of my 401k this year.  Most of that in the past week.  I'm not alone.  Many Americans are seeing their vision and their hope diminish before their eyes.  It does not take a lot of imagination anymore to see what could happen to our own country, whether by divine punishment or just reaping what we sow.

The good news is the Good News.  No matter what happens, Jesus is Lord.  No matter what happens, Jesus still died for my sins and rose again.  No matter what happens, like my brothers and sisters in Liberia, I can have a vision and hope focused on on the cross.

Out of Africa: The Journey Begins...

Proverbs 19:21 (ESV)
²¹ Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.

There is so much to write about my trip to Liberia.  Yet I am finding it hard get everything out that has gone on inside me during my trip.  I thought one way that might help is to chronicle my trip over 2-3 posts and see where that leads me.

Three of us from our church made the trip to Liberia.  Pastor Jim, our head pastor, Charlie, an engineer to inspect a fence that was being built, and me.  My role on this trip was to escort Moses back.

Moses and I had to take a different route than Pastor Jim and Charlie.  We had to travel on Moses' return ticket route that would take us through Chicago and a 8 hour layover.  The others had a more direct route with just a short hour layover in Frankfurt before Brussels.  The plans were to meet up in Brussels and all fly on the same flight to Monrovia.

In Chicago, Moses and I took a train downtown to kill some time.  I needed to buy an extra pair of pants for the trip so we found our way to Macy's.  We were quite a pair walking around Macy's carrying backpacks and a small duffel bag.  I'm sure there were plenty of security eyes following us around the store.

The trip downtown did manage to burn the layover time for us.  For me, it was a lot of walking and riding in a crowded Chicago train and not a great site seeing adventure.  To  Moses it was a blast.  He mentioned through out the trip how much fun he had on our excursion into Chicago.  His joy in the trip made the layover worth it.

From Chicago we flew directly to Brussels to meet up with Pastor Jim and Charlie.  It was a packed plane but we were able to settle in for a non-eventful flight.  I had plenty of time to read the book I had with me, Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper.

Don't Waste Your Life is about living your life for the glory of God.  There were some challenging chapters in this book as you can probably imagine.  One of the more challenging topics was living for the glory of God during trials and testing of your faith.  I was soon about to have the opportunity to live this challenge out.

In Brussels Moses and I found our connecting gate and started our wait for the others.  Their flight was about 2 hours behind ours.  Their flight landed on time at 10:30am.  At 11:00am Moses and I started eagerly staring down the terminal corridor waiting for our friends.

Our flight from Brussels to Monrovia was scheduled to leave at 12:30pm.  At noon, Moses and I started boarding our plane, with no Pastor Jim or Charlie in sight.

Here I was about to fly to Liberia with Moses but all by myself.  It was obvious Pastor Jim and Charlie had missed a connection somewhere.  I had no idea where and no way to find out.  My cell phone did not have international access.  As I got on the plane I prayed, "Lord, I have no idea what you have planned here but I glorify your name."  This was a prayer of faith, not feelings.  My feelings were more like, "Lord, what are you doing here?  This is not what we had planned!"

I was not too concerned at this point.  I figured Pastor Jim and Charlie had missed a connection and would be on the next flight down.  What I did not realize at the time was that the Brussels to Monrovia flight is only every other day.  I was about to get two whole days by myself in a Liberian orphanage where the only person I knew was Moses.

There was that thought again...God wants to show me something and he wants my undivided attention.

Things got a little dicey when we arrived in Liberia.  I did not know the address or phone number for the orphanage.  Moses did, and people from the church were at the airport waiting for us, however this did not help me as I sat in the customs office by myself.  Customs officials aren't too keen when you arrive without any idea of where you are going to visit.

Fortunately, God was good, as always.  The Customs officials eventually took pity on me and let me go.  The prayer going through my head while I waited my fate was, "to God be the glory...wherever this leads".  Again, it's not what I felt but it was what I prayed.

Once I made it out I found Moses and we found a bus load of orphans outside the airport ready to give Moses a hero's welcome.  His friends were excited to have him home and excited about his new hand.  It was a great welcoming.

It was about an hour drive from the airport to the orphanage.  On the way we passed through streets that were so packed with people that traffic was often stopped trying to make it's way through the pedestrians.  The folks I was with seemed nice enough but they were strangers nonetheless.  Here I was thousands of miles from home, by myself, and no way to call home.  It was quite an E.T. experience.

That night as I laid in a very nice guest bed, in an orphanage somewhere in Liberia, reality was creeping in on me.  I had found out by now that the others would not be arriving for two more days.  I'm by myself.  Alone in Africa.  I felt nauseous as the stress began to weigh in.  "God, what are you doing?"

Out of Africa: Behind the Scene

Revelation 21:1-4 (ESV)

¹ Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. ² And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. ⁴ He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away."

I was sitting in a small church in Maude Town, Liberia this past Sunday wondering what I would say if I was asked to speak to the congregation.  I'd been in Liberia for four days.  My head was full of thoughts, most of them disjointed.  What if they asked their American visitors to share a few words?  What should I say?  What could I say?



The thought that came to me as I was sitting there was God's promise of a new heaven and a new earth.  This is a wonderful promise from God.  Yet to this point in my life, I'd had a pretty shallow appreciation for this promise.  After all, this current earth has not been that bad for me.  I certainly have not been in a hurry to leave it.

However, as the images of this war torn country ran through my head, I could really appreciate the beauty of this promise.  This new appreciation was much more than just seeing the tin shacks and dirt roads full of craters that made up the landscape.  It was the potential beauty that you could see behind the scenes.  In my minds eye, if I just took an eraser and erased the shacks and the garbage and the craters, what was left was a landscape that looked like a paradise.

Well, I was asked to speak to this small congregation of brothers and sisters in Christ.  I started to talk about my time with Moses and how much my family loved him and then I started crying like a baby.  I cried because I not only loved Moses but because I loved all these people.  However, these were not necessarily tears of sorrow for my new friends.  These were tears of love and tears of pride for my new found family in Christ.

I composed myself and shared Revelation 21:1-4 with the church.  I wasn't sharing anything they did not already know.  What I was sharing was that now I know what this promise means.

There is much more to write about my trip.  Many of my thoughts are still disjointed.  I'll share more in the days and weeks to come.

Y-IKE-S!

Hello world... We're still hanging in there. We had one large tree come down but it landed in the driveway and missed our house. I have many co-workers that were not so lucky. Ike was not nice to the trees around here.

We don't have any power. However, our local power company expects to have us up this week. Those further east in Conroe could be without power for 2-4 weeks.

We have one generator that we switch back and forth from the well pump to the refrigerator. It's like camping all over again.

We thank God that we're doing well and praying for those close by that are not doing so well. Keep the Houston area in your prayers.

Grace and peace y'all.

Tony

Hospitality, Stewardship, and Link Love

 

I want to thank Carol from A Second Cup for honoring me with the "I Love Your Blog" award.  I have mixed emotions about these meme-type awards.  On one hand it is an honor for someone to appreciate your blog enough to post an award for it.  On the other hand, I know through experience that it can be daunting to find additional bloggers with whom to pass on the award.

Finding other great blogs is not an issue.  I have a list of favorite blogs just from the Entrecard community alone that I follow.  The problem I've had in the past is finding great blogs that have not just recently been presented the same award or ones that don't decline the award when I tell them about it for various reasons.  I had such a hard time finding enough bloggers to take the first award that I was presented that I passed on one myself the next time I was offered the privilege.

I decided this time to rethink how I think about these types of awards.  An award like this from a fellow blogger is like a neighbor bringing you a gift and telling you what a great job you're doing in your community.  I should receive such a gift with honor and humility.  I should eagerly show hospitality by joining in the community of bloggers and pass the gift along.

1 Peter 4:8-10 (ESV)
⁸ Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. ⁹ Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. ¹⁰ As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace:

Of course Peter wasn't talking about the blogging community or blog awards.  However, this award is a great reminder of how God wants us to live - loving each other, sharing with each other, and building each other up.

In this spirit, I gladly recognize the seven Entrecard blogs below.  However, I want all these bloggers to know that there's no expectation on my part that they post this award or forward it on.  Carol provided me with this "out" when she passed this award to me and I really appreciated that.  This is a free gift of on my part with no strings attached. 

If you are not familiar with these blogs I encourage you to take a peek.  They have certainly helped me as I seek the things above both on their blogs and with their contributing comments here.

A Godly Woman
Ima Blogger - Where False Doctrine Gets PWND
Random Thoughts - International Blog
Sound of a Soft Breath
Sheepleblog
Sojourn
The Plunge N2

And of course, although she does not like the recognition, if your looking for a good blog on family, home schooling, and all the joys and trials involved, I always highly recommend:
Hipp is My Middle Name

P.S. I'm supposed to include the rules for this award so here they are:

1. The winner can put the logo on his/her blog;
2. Link the person you received your award from;
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs;
4. Put links of those blogs on yours; and
5. Leave a message on the blogs that you’ve nominated

Game Day

I took my two sons to opening day at Texas A&M on Saturday.  Another college football season kicked off this weekend.  Rabid fans all over the country have high hopes for their teams.  Everybody (but LSU fans) believes this year will be different.  This year, their team will be the last to stand, or at least not look as bad as last year.

The Aggies, like most of the larger schools, started the year off with a gimme.  A game against a smaller opponent to work out the kinks and get ready for the tougher games on the schedule.

Kyle field was packed.  Fans all clad in maroon sang praises to their team.  I think it is fair to say that many were worshipping their team.  I know, because I used to be a worshipper myself.  I've grown past that in my Christian walk.  I still enjoy Aggie football and enjoy the atmosphere.  But it's just a game.

The Ags were upset by Arkansas State.  As fans, we waited patiently through the first half, expecting a blowout but barely holding the Red Wolves at bay.  We all expected that in the second half our superior size, strength, and speed would wear them out.  At the end of the fourth quarter we all shook our heads in disbelief.

As we listened to the passionate disappointment and anger of some of the fans close by, I thought of a biblical upset (at least an upset in the minds of the home crowd).  I imagined what it might have been like to a typical Baal fan when Elijah's God, our God, trounced Jezebel's 450 prophets of Baal.

1 Kings 18:20-40

Just before kickoff...

It is another balmy but dry fall.  Rain has not fallen in over two years.  This year will be different however.  Ahab and Jezebel have 350 returning prophets and 100 new 5-star priests this year.  This is the year we bring home the mythical national trophy of the gods for Baal.

The biggest event of the year kicks off the season.  Jezebel's team of 450 Baal prophets are set to wipe the desert with our old God.  The God of childhood stories that a few are still silly enough to follow.  Well, today, we'll send those small fry followers of a childhood God running for the hills as the fire of Baal falls from the sky.

I can't believe this fool Elijah was crazy enough to schedule this opening contest.  Oh well, at least when Baal proves Elijah is living in a fantasy land, maybe we'll get the rain we've been seeking these last two disappointing seasons.  This is finally our year.  I can feel it.

We've won the coin toss and Baal gets to strike first.  I hear we're setting out our best bull.  That will certainly satisfy the appetite of our great Baal.  All the experts say that our prophets are ready for a big year.  This will be a great blowout victory to savor.  What a way to start the year of Baal festivities.

First quarter...

Look at the size of that beast out there on the alter.  I can feel the thunder coming in my bones.  I can almost smell the offering before the fire has even started.  Listen to the voices of our prophets call out to Baal.  Wow, the season I've been anticipating is in full swing.  "Go Baal! Go Baal! B-A-A-L Baal! Baal! Baal!"

Second quarter...

Ok.  Patience.  This is taking longer than I expected.  It's the first worship festival of the season.  I guess there are still some kinks to work out in the game plan.  I'm sure our prophets will get in a rhythm soon, then watch out you pesky little Yahweh followers.

Half Time...

Listen to that guy Elijah talk his smack.  Did he really just shout out that Baal was on the toilet or asleep?  Ok guys, next half let's wipe this guy and his so called God off the planet.

Third quarter...

This is no good.  If you let this guy Elijah hang around, he and his God will gain confidence and then there's no telling what will happen.  Who are these bozo prophets that Jezebel has run out here anyway?  All this talk about this year being different.  Maybe we should put a few of those prophets on the alter.  Why'd we change up our priestly staff from last year anyway.  This group is worse.   What a bunch of losers! 

At least this joker Elijah has to go next.  Once we're done laughing at his show I'm sure the judges will award us the victory.  It may not be pretty but a win is a win.

Fourth quarter...

Our prophets may not be very good today, but look what this guy Elijah is doing.  He drenched his alter with water.  In fact the trench around the alter is full of water.  Why did we even schedule this event against this small time, childhood God worshipping nobody.  We should only do these events against the Egyptians and Babylonians.  If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best.

What's that guy down there chanting now?  How can his God hear one lone voice.  450 of the best prophets in the land could not tempt our Baal to act.

"O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word.  Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back."

BOOOM!!!

Game over...

Wow!  That was awesome.  Forget Jezebel and her prophets.  Elijah is the man.  Yahweh is the God!  Make room for me on this new bandwagon!!!

The Lord's Prayer - Daily Bread

Matthew 6:11 (ESV)
¹¹ Give us this day our daily bread,

This part of the prayer lesson is often difficult for me.  We're not taught by this world to just ask for what we need today.  What about all my inevitable future needs, like medical expenses, retirement savings, and college tuition for my four children?  How can I only be concerned about just today with all of tomorrow crashing down on me?

Clearly, one of the principles Jesus is teaching His disciples is to focus on today and not to worry about tomorrow.  He makes this point more directly just a few verses further down.

Matthew 6:34 (ESV)
³⁴ "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

The other difficulty I have with this lesson however, is the principle of total dependency on God.  I'm often not too concerned about my basic needs today.  Today I have a full pantry and refrigerator, I have a job, and I know I have a safe place to sleep tonight.  As I come to the Father with my needs, what I need just to survive is not on my mind.

Sure, there may be times where that day is in crisis.  However, once the crises passes, I quickly fall into a self-sufficient mind set.  It's this self-sufficient mind set that causes a majority of my prayer life problems.  In fact, it not only hinders my prayers when I pray, it often leads me to not pray at all.

I know that the very air I breathe each day is a gift from God.  I know that anything but total dependency on Him for my daily spiritual, mental,  and physical needs is idolatry.  I know that depending on myself and the circumstances around me is building my house on sand.  I just need to get that knowledge from my brain to be ingrained in my heart.

Deuteronomy 6:4-6 (ESV)
⁴ "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. ⁵ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. ⁶ And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.

I can't get this knowledge from my head to my heart on my own.   This is why we need to pray for our daily bread.  Not only for our daily physical needs, but for our daily  Bread of Life.

John 6:35 (ESV)
³⁵ Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

We have the promise, that if we pray for this Bread, our Father will move His word from our head to our heart.

Luke 11:13 (ESV)
¹³ If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

The Lord's Prayer - Your Kingdom Come

Matthew 6:10 (ESV)
¹⁰ Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Jesus gives the disciples a very interesting instruction in His lesson on prayer.  He tells them to pray for God's kingdom to come and God's will to be done on earth just like it is in heaven. What does it mean to pray for God's kingdom to come?

The Pharisees in Jesus day were also looking for God's kingdom to come but they did not recognize it when it arrived.  They were looking for an earthly kingdom and a king to throw out the evil gentiles.  I think we Christians today often fail to see the kingdom in our midst as well.  We can be just as wrapped up in our "religion" as the Pharisees in Jesus' day.

Luke 17:20-21 (ESV)
²⁰ Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, "The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed, ²¹ nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!' or 'There!' for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you."

When we pray, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, we're not asking for God's kingdom to come down to earth, as it is already here.  Maybe this prayer is asking God to open our spiritual eyes and see His kingdom in our midst. How would my prayer life be affected if I really believed and lived like the kingdom of God was here and now?