Funny

Funny how when we step out and make a decision that has the potential of changing your life, it seems that very decision is then tested.

So my post from last night, about "...all things are possible"...

This morning it's being tested.

Two big disappointments within an hour.

Funny, huh?

But here's the really funny thing. I still believe it!

I'm not giving up.

Ha!

Revolution

What's our excuse?

Why do we hold fast to some Scripture and believe it so fiercely, and act as if other Scripture doesn't apply to us, or couldn't be entirely true? What if we were to believe it all and live our life to that extent? Would we be setting ourselves up for ridicule? Perhaps.

But in the end it wouldn't matter. When you stand before your Creator, wouldn't you like to be able to say, "I thought you meant it"?

This week I was faced with this verse again:

"...with God all things are possible." (Matt 19:26b)

Beyond this being Scripture, these are the very words of Jesus. I mean...

Let's analyze this verse...

First -- what is possible? All things.

Second -- All things are what? Possible.

What's missing here? Well...

"Some." "A few." "Not." "Im-."

Don't you get it?



ALL

THINGS

ARE

POSSIBLE

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



That dream of yours. That's possible.

That situation that is just beyond your reach. That's possible.

That thing that you don't feel equipped to do. That's possible.

That "unsavable" person saved. That's possible.

That broken relationship healed. That's possible.

That overwhelming financial situation no longer an issue. That's possible.

That bondage in your life left far behind you. That's possible.


Believe me now or believe me later...

"With God all things are possible." (Don't forget the first part. Very important.)

Can we make a pact together? Can we agree that we will start living as if we believe this simple truth? What then?

Revolution.

Revelation

The small group that I lead each Wednesday is just beginning a study of the book of Revelation. What was I thinking?

It wasn't my idea. Really. They made me do it. I simply asked, "So do we want to study through another book of the Bible?" and someone (I won't mention names) suggested the Revelation. Before I knew it, the whole room was backing the idea. So then optimistic me went along with it.

But here's the deal. No other book of the Bible says anything like this:

"Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near." (1:3)

How can you ignore that?

So last week we, as a group, read through the entire book in about an hour and twenty minutes. I've done that many times. In fact I once produced and directed a, shall we say, production of the Revelation wherein we had 6 narrators, a group of musicians providing a soundtrack and multimedia elements being projected.

I think the most enduring image(s) from my encounters with God's final written word is the worship. To begin with we have many fabulous descriptions of our risen Savior. Those in and of themselves offer sufficient reason to worship Him.

Then there are the descriptions of those worshiping. In chapter 5 we see worship beginning at the throne of God with the 4 creatures and the 24 elders. They are soon joined by "the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand."

Our author continues: "Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:
'To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!' The four living creatures said, 'Amen,' and the elders fell down and worshiped.

Wow! I've been in some worship services where it seemed that everyone was really into it, but man, I look forward to experiencing heavenly worship, don't you?

There are several other mentions of worship that stick out to me. One is where John twice tells us that after seeing the fantastic things that he saw, he fell down at the foot of an angel to worship him. I love what the angel tells him. "Don't do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers the prophets and of all who keep the words of this book. Worship God!"

The other aspect of worship that sticks with me is the worship of the counterfeit. John speaks of those who worship demons, idols, the dragon, the beast and its image. Satan is seeking worshipers just as God is. For him it matters not whether people worship him or some idol. What matters to him is that people don't worship God. He wouldn't even mind if we were to worship godly angels.

When you see all the alternatives there are in world of religion, one thing becomes clear to those who know the truth. There is the One True God and there are the counterfeits. No gray areas. No "other" paths to God. Jesus himself says, "I am the way the truth and the life. Nobody comes to the Father except by me." He didn't say "a way, a truth and a life."


Selah




So - I'm glad we're studying the Revelation. It will be a challenge and will take commitment from the whole group, but it will be good. In the end, it is a book of hope. We all need that today.

History Repeated

How many times have you heard it? History repeats itself.

I've just started reading A Global View of Christian Missions by J. Herbert Kane. In his chapter "Encounter with Islam" Kane describes the demise of the church in Northern Africa during the seventh century. While there were many contributing factors to this displacement of Christianity with Islam, it would seem that one of the primary reasons is that "Church members had long since left there first love and were Christians in name rather than fact." (pg. 53) This came about not only because the Christians didn't have the Scriptures in their native language, but the practice of the faith had been reduced to ceremony and form and not the relationship and discipline that should be at the center.

In Europe today, there are reminders that the Christian faith was once the driving force in society. These reminders, built with stone and mortar are aging and crumbling -- echoing the collapse of the spiritual house of living stones in the last century. The church in Europe has now suffered the same fate as that in Northern Africa. In this case, however, the change was precipitated by the machinations of atheistic thought in politics, philosophy and science (as opposed to the alternative theistic thought brought about by Islam in N. Africa).

So now my thoughts turn to the North American church. The influence of the Scriptures and the Church has been nearly eliminated from the "politically correct" public forum. In many congregations, form and ceremony has replaced relationship and discipline. The U.S. has been known from its inception as a Christian nation and is still regarded by many as such. But has it become a Christian society in name rather than fact? The implications are sobering.

However...

"...if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." This promise from God to Israel in the seventh chapter of 2 Chronicles refers to a physical healing of the land from drought or famine. Yet, might God do the same for us in a spiritual sense, if we were to humble ourselves and return to being the living stones that we are called to be - committed to rebuilding the spiritual house that was once at the center of American culture?

Could it not also happen for Europe, which is much further down the path than the U.S.? Greater Europe Mission is committed to seeing this post-Christian society return to its first love, long since abandoned and mostly forgotten.

We have seen first-hand in Ireland the ambivalence, lack of hope, and at times hostility when talking with nationals about God. There is much work to do. The national churches are doing what they can, but it takes a concerted effort with those from other nations (i.e. the U.S.) who have dedicated their lives to help build the church overseas.

You can make a difference. In your neighborhood. At work. At school. And even if you aren't called to take it to foreign shores, you can pray and financially support those who are called to go.

Be a living stone, not a dormant one.

Here we are then.

So, as of Oct. 1 we are now "officially" commissioned as missionaries to Ireland with Greater Europe Mission!

What that means is that that we are now eligible to receive a salary for our mission work. At the moment, we are on a part salary. As our support level grows we will be able to increase that salary until we are on a full salary, which we hope will be in the next few months. As it is, Beth and I are teaching piano and voice lessons, respectively, I am still doing furniture restoration and the odd carpentry job AND we are putting in many hours with ministry work. Whew!

If you want to know about what all our ministry work entails, see my Oct. 5 post.

We need your prayers as we work to raise up Ministry Partners, those who are part of our ministry through their faithful financial support. If you would like information about becoming a Ministry Partner, simply drop us an email at garyandbeth@gmail.com.

I think this will be my shortest post so far, unless of course I continue to ramble like I often do and just fill the page with meaningless words because I like hearing myself type. Or I could just stop here.

What is a "Worship Workshop"?

We keep talking about doing these worship workshops in Ireland and it occurred to me that there are probably many that have no idea what that is all about. So if you have been wondering what a worship workshop looks like, here's my best effort to describe it...

Beth and I meet together with worship leaders, worship teams and anyone else who might happen to be interested, and have an open floor discussion about Biblical and practical issues regarding worship and worship leading.

We have had as few as four and as many as a couple of dozen so far. We don't lecture. There are several reasons for this. First, we feel that learning is best done interactively. When one actively participates, rather than passively absorbs, one will remember what has been discussed. Second, participants will stay awake. Third, discussions are dynamic and unpredictable, so participants enjoy the process and are stimulated to learn. Fourth, we (Beth and I) nearly always come away having learned something. One thing we learn is how the group thinks and feels and we can make modifications to our plan on the fly. We also might actually gain new insights into the topics discussed by way of comments and observations by the participants. We are also learning about the culture and its prevailing attutudes and viewpoints.

Our discussion times, while free flowing, are directed and focused. We have an outline to follow that is tailored to each particular workshop as suggested by the worship leader. If we use the entire outline, our discussion times may take up to about 6 hours. That doesn't include a lunch break, or any type of practicum with the worship team.

A practicum might be allowing the band to do a few songs and then giving constructive criticism and pointers as to musicality and presentation. Alternatively we might divide the group into vocalists, keyboardists, etc. and give practical insights in the use of particular instruments or vocal harmonies. We also may teach a new song and demonstrate effective rehearsal techniques. The thing we try to stay away from is style. Our style may not be that particular fellowship's style and we don't want to put up any walls because of it. I'll get into musical styles in worship at a later date.

I'm sure by now, you're wondering why in the world I'm boring you with all this. I don't know. Just felt like it. Thought there might be a couple of people who might think it was interesting.

I'll finish up with our basic discussion outline:

The Theology of Worship
- How do we define worship?
- Why do we worship?

The Philosophy of Worship
- Why is the worship of God important?
- What else seeks our worship?
- Why does God seek our worship?
- Forms of Worship
- The Role of Music
- The Music/Spirit/Worship Connection
- What is the right music for worship?

The Practice of Worship Leading
- What does it mean to “lead” worship?
- Who needs a worship leader?
- Who is the ultimate worship leader?
- Why have a worship leader?
- What are the requirements of a worship leader?
- How is one enabled for the task?
- What are the worship leader’s responsibilities?
- Planning Times of Worship
- Planning the Rehearsal

Practicum – Working with the team
- Effective Rehearsing
- Effective Arranging
- Playing as a unit
- Yes, even the bass player is a worship leader (Leading From Your Instrument)
- Developing Flow
- Q&A/Discussion

What does it mean to be a missionary?

So I've been thinking, and Beth and I have been talking about this whole thing of being a missionary. What does that really mean?

When you say the word "missionary" to someone, it usually conjures up images of stalwart Christian men and women giving up their Western lifestyle, selling everything they own and moving to the remotest parts of the earth to work among the "natives" who have never heard the Gospel. They work for years with the indigenous tribes, gaining their trust, learning their language, teaching them about Christ and how to sing "Amazing Grace" in their own language...

(the sound of screeching tires is heard)

In walk the Hodges. They live in a regular home in Florida. They drive a car. They don't look like missionaries. They don't even live in Ireland yet. (Does Ireland really need missionaries?)

"Now what is it you're doing in Ireland?"

Well, we're Worship Trainers!

"But I thought a missiona..."

I think it's time for a new definition. Now don't be alarmed at the following statements:

We aren't going to Ireland with the primary focus of evangelization.

We don't have an agenda to do tent meetings and large outreach events with altar calls.

We aren't setting out to save a whole village.

That said, this is in no way intended to belittle the ministries of those whom God has called for the purposes mentioned above. God has all sorts of people in all sorts of roles -- all of them important.

Here's the deal. Europe is what is referred to as a "post-Christian" society. There are many churches, cathedrals and other religious structures throughout the continent and into the British Isles. However, the church as a spiritual institution is languishing. In fact, in Ireland -- which was once the center of Christian scholarship and evangelism -- less than 1% of the population are Bible-believing Christians. That means that greater than 99% are NOT Bible-believing Christians. This figure holds pretty close throughout Europe.

Our organization, Greater Europe Mission has as its purpose statement:

"...to assist the peoples of Greater Europe in building up the Body of Christ so that every person is within reach of a witnessing fellowship."

For GEM, it's not about invading a country with an American model of how to do church. Instead it is working within the belief that God has people within the cultures of Europe whom He is raising up as the leaders of the church in those cultures. GEM is there to come alongside those individuals and assist them in establishing fellowships that are indigenous. This method establishes a grassroots foundation that is not then dependent upon foreign leadership.

Do we evangelize? Of course! In the same way that the vast majority of Americans are evangelized -- through one-on-one relationships over time. (And every now and then an outreach event is organized.)

So Beth and I have an interesting role in that we are coming alongside worship leaders, worship teams and pastors to encourage, mentor, train, resource -- in short, to equip those whom God has called to lead others in worship in the local church setting. It just so happens that the focus of our ministry is Ireland.

"How does that work now -- long distance?"

I'm glad you asked.

For the next year or two, until we make a permanent move to Ireland, we will be traveling to Ireland and Europe several times throughout the year. During those visits we will be conducting workshops, retreats and training seminars, as well as developing relationships with local church leaders -- providing whatever assistance we can to enable local fellowships to develop the most effective worship ministry possible.

During our time at home in the States, we will be developing curricula for said events, planning and scheduling those events, making contacts with new people via email and phone, maintaining relationships with those with whom we are already working, building our website (to be used as a clearinghouse of information and resources for worship ministry), developing other ministry tools for training, maintaining our own musical skills and ministry, working for GEM in the area of recruiting, etc., and anything else that happens to become a part of our ministry.

It's a full-time job, despite the fact that we won't yet be living in Ireland.

Which brings me to my final point.

The definition of what it means to be a foreign missionary is not quite as clear-cut as it once was -- especially in our case. Our ministry is focused on Ireland. That makes it foreign. Yet we live in Florida -- for now. Our ministry also doesn't quite line up with the traditional definition of "missions", does it?

There is another full-time missionary with GEM that I know who lives in Memphis. Tennessee, that is -- not Egypt. His children are at that critical age of transition from high school to college (sounds like us), so he and his wife made the decision to be based in the States for now. However, his ministry is ongoing to Europe and beyond. It is an effective ministry that impacts hundreds each year.

All that to say -- if there is confusion, try not to think of our work as missionaries in the traditional sense, but instead as more of a multinational ministry working in the area of developing worship ministries in the local church.

Yeah, I think that's it.

Thanks for listening.

The Good, the Bed and the Ugly

Okay, really corny title.

This is the story about the awful Bed & Breakfast in Cork, Ireland to which I alluded in my post on 9/7. We had booked a room at Edelweiss House online before we left on our trip. We were intrigued by the pictures and description which made it sound really nice and quaint so we took a chance and booked it for the three nights that we would be in the Cork area.

We left Shannon late Saturday afternoon for the drive to Cork. The directions that we had printed out from the website were very confusing so we decided to call the B&B to get directions. The lady with the rich brogue on the other end of the line seemed to be quite a character and I thought we would probably enjoy our stay in her lodge.

The directions were roughly thus:

"Ye have to teek de exit fer Blarney. Y'go troo de town, pass de castle and go 5 kilometers out frome de town center. You'll tern left just pass de Huntsman, teek de next left and go for 7 kilometers. At de garij (garage) teek a right and we're just dere on de right." Sounded easy enough.

It was dark when we came to the exit for Blarney. We made our way through the town and soon found ourselves at the Huntsman Pub. We turned left just past the pub (actually, the road made a sharp curve to the left, so we had no other choice), took the first left and after a couple of blocks found ourselves in the midst of a housing development with a small shopping center.

I called the lady at the B&B and told her our predicament. Obviously irritated with us she gave me directions from there and we found ourselves right back at the Huntsman. Hmmm.

So we thought, maybe we would try again from there. When we found ourselves back at the Huntsman for the third time (this was getting old) I realized that the only thing to do was to call again.

I heard the lady's voice, "What!"

"Uh, well it seems we've found ourselves back at the Huntsman again. I'm sorry."

"Okay, now lissen. Go left pass de Huntsman, go to de end of de road and turn left..."

Ah ha! It dawned on us that when she said, "teek de next left," she didn't mean, turn left at de next road, but turn left at de end of de road.

She ended the conversation with, "Don't call me again!"

It was getting late and I was getting drowsy. It was a good thing that we were so close. A few minutes later we were pulling into the driveway at Edelwiess House. The lady(?) of the house greeted us at the door with a scowl, and showed us to our room.

The first thing we noticed as we entered the house was the unmistakable lingering aroma of old cigarette smoke. The room was, shall we say, cozy and decorated in early rummage sale. The brass canopied bed looked stunning next to the wicker lawn loveseat with its faded floral design cushions, which set off the pressed wood wardrobe beautifully. To complete the look, the floor was tastefully covered in green indoor/outdoor carpeting. There was a wonderful selection of Irish glossies to read.

Like a good hostess, she followed us out to our car as we unloaded our luggage. "What time would ye like breakfast in de marnin'?" she queried.

We had to be at church in Cork in the morning so we said, "Eight o'clock would be fine."

"Ye can't have it then. Cook doesn't arrive until 9."

We smiled and said, "Nine then."

We decided then and there that Edelweiss House would be the perfect B&B to stay at for one night if you'd made the mistake of booking it online and arrived there late at night. We agreed that we would check out in the morning. After breakfast.

It was prudence which told us to keep our suitcases closed overnight, lest all our clothes absorb the cigarette-laden atmosphere.

When I told the lady of the house that we would be checking out, she was none too happy. "I could charge ye fer de full tree nights since dat's what ye booked. But I'll just charge ye fer de one." Her charity warmed my heart.

As we made our way through the dining area with our luggage, there was nervous silence from the other guests. You could almost hear them thinking, "Lucky stiffs. We wanted to check out early, but how would that look now that you've jumped ship?"

After church that morning we made our way to an internet cafe and found a few possible B&B's and began calling them. The first one we called, Rivermount House, had a vacancy, so we booked it. We were intrigued by the pictures and description. Yeah, I know, but this time it was different. Really! It was a bit further out of Cork near Kinsale to the south. We told them to expect us in the late evening.

We ate dinner in Kinsale and made our way to Rivermount House, arriving just at dusk. The man of the house greeted us and told us as we climbed the stair that we got the last room -- they were fully booked -- so they had to put us in the family suite. It seemed to us the Taj Mahal. It was beautifully decorated and not so "cozy" as the previous night's accommodation.

The next morning we were not only stunned by the view from our room, but "Claire's Special Porridge" was out of this world. We never realized that oats could taste so good.

Our hosts were very gracious. They were dead set against smoking. We had breakfast at eight o'clock. It was just what we needed after our night in hell -- I mean Edelweiss House.