I'm not cheap -- I'm just drawn that way

So I finally went to buy a Christmas tree tonight. We had been waiting for no particular reason except that we've been so stinkin' busy lately and wouldn't have had a chance to decorate before now anyway.

Beth was out and about today and checked out the stores to see what was left. She called me to let me know that Lowe's had all their trees 50% off. Woo hoo! Nothing like saving a little dough. So once I quit my work for the day, I made my way to pick one up.

However, when I go there, the trees were no longer half price. No, in fact, the sign read, "All live trees $10."

That's what I'm talkin' about! A beautiful 7' balsam fir for 10 bucks!

Tomorrow night our gorgeous daughter Molly will be here to help us trim the tree and decorate the house.

That'll be nice.

a poem

inspired by a drive across the bay...


fluid glass
shardless breaks
as deltoid appendage
arches skyward
with natural grace
with wet spray
slips below again
as band strikes
and familiar words are heard...

"They call him Flipper, Flipper..."



hehe

Small successes

Last night, our church sponsored a benefit dinner and concert for us and our work in Ireland. Tables were set up and huge amounts of spaghetti, garlic bread and salad were prepared.

As we were planning for this event, the thought crossed my mind that we were getting a bit close to Christmas and our attendance could be affected. Well, it was.

But here's the deal: Although the crowd was small, it was such a sweet evening. After dinner, Beth and I did a mini concert, then we shared about our ministry followed by Q&A. We then finished up the evening with a time of worship.

The whole evening was a win in my mind. It was like sitting around with family and having a good time together. There was a common spirit there and God remained the focus of the night.

For as small as the crowd was we were amazed at the response we received in financial support. Not only did we have a healthy amount raised from the event itself, we also have been able to add several Ministry Partners (monthly supporters) to our list.

If you weren't able to make it, we will have another event in a few month's time.

"You're not Superman..."

You know what? She's right.

I got up early yesterday for my quiet time and quickly realized that I was going to be fighting off drowsiness the whole time (does that ever happen to you? Probably not.) so I decided to go for a prayer walk.

As I got dressed, I thought that I should grab some candy on my way out to carry with me (I'm a diabetic). All the while, I'm trying not to wake Beth. I write her a note, knowing that she'll most likely wake up before I return and quietly head out the door.

It's a beautiful morning -- warm and foggy -- and it feels good to be out walking along with the Lord at my side. The circuit I'm taking will end up being close to three miles. Nearly a mile in, I realize that I'm going to need to find a toilet. Then I remember that about a block ahead is the construction site of a new house. Whew! Viva la port-a-potties!

I continue on and the skies begin to darken. Before long the clouds release their bounty and I find myself walking in a downpour. I'm about two-thirds on. About that same time I feel as if my blood sugar level is dropping, so I reach into my pocket for the candy that is still sitting on the kitchen counter. Oy!

At this point I'm listening to my body with great intensity, trying to determine if I can make it home before I bottom out, or if I need to call Beth to come rescue me. You see, (if you don't know this) when an insulin-dependent diabetic like myself experiences low blood sugar, it quickly becomes a matter of life and death.

I pass a friend's house and think, "Sure would be nice if they happened to come out of the their front door right now and I could ask for some juice or something." But it's 7:15 Saturday morning. What are the chances? Maybe knock? Nah.

So I slog on. When I reach the next intersection, I realize that I need to call Beth to come with candy to get me. "Bring a towel, too."

As I'm waiting, my friend, whose house I just passed, drives past. He doesn't see me. Oh well.

A minute later, Beth pulls up and I lean in to arrange the towel so that I don't soak the seat. As she turns the car around and heads back towards our house, she asks me what I was thinking, not having eaten before my walk and not having brought any candy with me. At that point she reminds me of the lack of similarities I possess compared to said superhero.

Next time I'll keep in mind the motto of the Boy Scouts: Be Prepared.

Our Thyme in Rosemary

This past Saturday, Beth and I drove to Rosemary Beach, which is about 2 hours (depending upon traffic) to the east of us here on the panhandle.

It's one of those communities that was nonexistent 10 years ago. The land was purchased, plans were made, building was begun and before you knew it -- poof! -- there was a new town. It's really a cool place. Cooler still is the fact that there is a new (a year-and-a-half) church that meets in the town hall.

We were invited to come there and lead worship, as well as to share with the church body about our ministry in Ireland.

Just after Thanksgiving, I had a bad cold and stayed home to rest for two days straight. Doing so I was able to knock it out and by a week ago I was feeling much better. Then Beth got it (it's nice to share) and we were afraid that she might lose her voice just in time to lead worship at Rosemary Beach. We activated our prayer team and she made it through fine.

Really enjoyed our time with the pastor and his family, as well as some of the members of the body and look forward to a long friendship with them.

What the...

Did you ever have anything happen to you that was completely out-of-the-blue, absolutely unexpected,leaving you to query, "Why me?"

Okay -- you have to first realize that I went all the way through my adolescence with nary a hint of acne.

Now, less than a week from the 46th anniversary of my birth, I have no less than 7, count 'em -- SEVEN -- pimples. PIMPLES! Zits. Pustules, blebs, carbuncles... Call 'em what you may, I have 'em.

So if you happen to see me soon, please don't stare.

After Thanksgiving Special

Yesterday afternoon I was miserable. Everyone at our house was just sitting around groaning. One of the best Thanksgiving meals ever.

It was a wonderful day with family and friends. Yes, I'm very thankful for all of them. There is soooo much that we have to be thankful for. I don't know where to begin and wouldn't know where to end.

Then again -- it all begins and ends with God. The Bible says that all good gifts come from God. That succinctly describes our life -- non-stop good gifts.

Sure, there are those things that at the moment we think aren't a good thing. In fact, today the sore throat that I've had the past few days has evolved into a full-on head cold.

But then we remember that "all thing happen for the good of those who love the Lord." I've been needing a day off and God made it so that I had to. Yes Lord, I hear you.

What will it take?

There is a theme that is taking hold throughout Greater Europe Mission these days.

"Whatever it takes..." is ringing out as a rallying cry for the work that we are doing across the continent.

Europe is one of the most unevangelized, unreached societies in the world. Even with thousands of missionaries working for years, still less than 1% of the population are what would be considered Bible-believing Christians.

It's long, hard work. It's frustrating at times. It's going to take a lot more effort, a lot more support, a lot more workers.

What else will it take? Well, in addition to all the work that is currently being done, GEM has a new initiative that begins today. We're taking it back to the basics -- the foundation.

Prayer.

Today begins "50 Days with God" -- a time for all GEM missionaries to really engage with God in a fresh way on a daily and weekly basis; to reignite the flame within and empower us to effectively continue our work. It's all in preparation for "The Day of Prayer for Europe", which is January 8.

Yes, it's for GEM missionaries, but if you have a heart for the peoples of Europe and desire to see God's work break forth across the continent as never before, I would invite you to join with us in this effort.

It's only 7 weeks. Heavens, I've felt the effects of the flu that long before.

Let me know if you will stand with us for the sake of the missionaries as well as the expansion of God's Kingdom in Europe.

Super Salad

We've joked about it for years. Now we've actually heard it in real life...

Eating out recently, we overheard someone at the table next to us ask the waitress, "Now, what is a Super Salad?" To which the waitress responded, "That's Soup or Salad."

Then we were expected to sit there straight-faced as if we didn't overhear.

To everything, turn, turn, turn...

We feel the season changing. Okay, yeah the air is cooler. We're having those gorgeous autumn sunsets. The bay is often glassy.

But that's not what I'm talking about. We've been in a season of waiting. Sure, we've been able to travel quite a bit to Europe to get our ministry off the ground. But we have a goal -- to move to Ireland full-time so that we can conduct our work in the way it deserves. This goal has seemed somewhat elusive. For one thing, we've been working to raise our support for more than 2 years now. For another thing, the exchange rate between the dollar and the euro has kept us at the same percentage of needed support for a while even though we've taken on more pledges.

God's timing has been perfect from the beginning of this process, and we know that up to this point we wouldn't have been ready. God had some work to do to prepare us and our daughter Molly for our relocation. Molly is in her second year as a violin performance major at the University of West Florida and actually living out on her own now!

We are so proud of her -- her resourcefulness, her levelheadedness. She is much more focused than I would have imagined a child of mine would be. Just look at her parents. We weren't anything like this in college. She must have got it from my dad.

Yep, we're a little proud.

So... the change of seasons...

We are starting to sense that things are about to begin moving ahead for us. Nothing concrete -- just small indicators and inklings really. It's like the wind is shifting and a new season is underway.

We are so stoked (is that so 90's, or what?) about getting to Ireland full-time and have a lot of people in Ireland rooting for us. Just gotta keep our nose to the grindstone and get the rest of our support raised.

We'll do our part and then stand back and watch God do His thing. It's His baby, after all. We're just along for the ride.

God's grace

Everyday is a lesson on God's grace. I often miss it. I'll let a day go by without really cluing into how His grace shaped my day. And then every so often something big comes along and suddenly I'm awakened once again to how gracious He really is.

We're at a point now where we need to hold off on any more trips to Ireland until we get more money raised. At first, when we were faced with it, I was pretty bummed. Ireland is where we are supposed to be and every time we go the connection grows stronger, so the thought of staying away for a longer time than usual pained us.

But here's the thing. What is really needed is for us to get moved to Ireland full time. In order to do that we need to have a certain amount coming in every month and have a certain sum in our account to cover all the costs of relocating. So God's grace has come through by helping us to focus our attention more acutely on that goal.

And His grace will see us through as we continue the climb up Mt. Fundraising. We shall reach the summit and what a view it will be!

There and Back Again

We've now been back in the States for a couple of weeks. We are sooo ready to actually be in Ireland full time. This backing and forthing is growing tiring.

So one thing I'm really bummed about is the fact that we have very few photos from our events from this, our most recent trip. With the best intentions I always had my camera with me, ready to hand it off to someone who could snap a few images during the workshop. Or if we were meeting with someone, to set up my little tripod and get some shots.

However, my intentions seldom played out and I would remember about the time we were packing up.

Oy.

Internet!

Sorry again for being incommunicado over the last while.

I find that as these trips progress, and especially if we are traveling (as we were last week) it gets harder and harder to keep up with all that we're doing. Since we didn't have reliable access to the Internet for about a week while we were "down country", I didn't get any blogging done and then, as with other trips, by the time we're back to Dublin, there is so much to tell that it is overwhelming to try and recap it all.

That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

We finished up in Cork in good order, having met with contacts, old and new, as well as conducting our workshop at Grace, which went very well. Michael O'Donovan, the Worship Pastor has asked us to come back again and do an intensive with their key worship leaders.

Our new contacts made in County Kerry were very worthwhile. We met with the key leader of Listowel Christian Fellowship and an American missionary who works with him. It seems that they are at a crucial point in their church's development wherein they need some help in the area of worship. We plan to return on our next trip to see what we can do in that endeavor. We also met with another leader from that same fellowship who in full-time ministry. He divides his time between several concerns, including, among other things, Focus-on-the-Family, Evangelical Alliance Ireland (EAI) and the church in Listowel. I think he will pan out to be a strategic contact to have.

We returned to Dublin on Friday. Since then we led worship at City Gates Church and have had "bits and pieces" of business and personal things that demanded our attention.

Today we drove up to Dundalk (about half-way to Belfast) to meet David Porter, who we were with the first weekend here, to discuss ongoing issues being faced in the area of worship at his church.

We have meetings the next couple of days and then a rather comprehensive workshop with worship team members from the three Trinity congregations in Dublin.

Then it's back to Florida (and the heat - yuck) on Monday.

I'll be sharing some of my impressions, reflections, ruminations, etc. over the next while, so stay tuned...

Wow, a whole week and nary a word

Sorry for the lack of keeping up. It's been a really busy week and unfortunately I don't have a lot of time right now to fill in all the details or post any images.

We are now in Blarney, which is near Cork. We've a had a few meetings here so far and went to church at Grace Fellowship this morning. We'll be at Grace again tomorrow night conducting our second workshop for their worship team, the first being in January.

We have another meeting Tuesday with a new contact in Cork before we head out west to County Kerry where we'll be meeting with a couple of other new contacts. Yea! We have been hoping that tings would open up for us in that part of the country and now it seems they have.

Yesterday was really our first true day off since we've been in Ireland so we took advantage of it and did a little sight-seeing.

More details and pics to come soon!

Seem like old friends

Two-and-a-half years ago we made a trip to Dublin. It was our first ministry trip.

While in Ireland, we met a fellow GEM missionary (and former GEM Ireland team member), Durand Robinson, who had come over from Germany. We really hit it off with him and found many common experiences and interests.

This past March, Durand and his wife Ruth were in the US and stayed with us overnight. Once again, we really hit it off with Ruth as we had with Durand two years previous.

In the mean time, they have moved back to Ireland.

So now, in the past week we have been to Durand and Ruth's house twice and it just feels like we've known them forever.

Just another way that God is knitting our hearts to Ireland.

One down, a bunch to go

Today was our first workshop of the trip at Swords Baptist. This is our third workshop that we've done for Rory McDonald and his worship team members. We focused on the role of the Holy Spirit in worship leading, both in the planning and "in the moment".

It's interesting that there was slim turnout, but it seemed that the Lord hand-picked who should be there. I think that given the subject matter, having the key people in the worship ministry (which is who showed up) was perfect, as we dealt mainly with the subject from the perspective of the one "in charge".

Rory and his wife Mindy have been such gracious hosts (did I already say this?) and we have been so blessed by their hospitality to put us up all this week and on through this coming Friday.

Yesterday we had a GEM Ireland meeting. It was good to see everyone again and get caught up with what's been going on and where things are heading. The surprise was that Tim Garrett was there. Who is Tim Garrett? He and his family lived in Greensburg, KS, (which is located 30 miles from my hometown, Pratt) when it was flattened by a Cat. 5 Tornado in May. We have been in contact with him and tried to work out meeting them when we were there in July. But instead we meet in Ireland. Weird.

We then had to drive to Laragh, out in the Wicklow mountains a ways south of the city, to set up our sound system for a symposium sponsored by the Evangelical Alliance Ireland. It was a nice drive. There we happened to meet a guy from out west that we had been in contact with and had been trying to get together with since January. We'll be having lunch with him and his wife in a fortnight (two weeks) in Adare, Co. Limerick.

Last night we watched our first Rugby match (on TV). Unfortunately France trounced Ireland in the run for the World Cup. Neither of us are big sports people, but I rather enjoyed it and realize also that to survive in Ireland, I've got to keep up with not only rugby, but football (soccer) and Gaelic Football as well. So last night was a good start.

Tomorrow we're off to Clondalkin on the west side of Dublin to New Life Christian Community Church. It should be a good day as we attend church in the morning, have lunch with the Carrolls (Michael and his wife Trish oversee the worship ministry) and then spend the afternoon with their daughter Rebecca who is leading worship for the second time tomorrow.

This week we have a whole slew of meetings slated, so it should prove to keep us busy.

On the philosophical side of things...

So far this trip has been about encouragement, both for us and through us. While we have had our share of unexpected... uh... surprises, shall we say... we have also been greatly encouraged by so many that we've met with. God is doing something and it's exciting to be a part of it. At the same time, we've been given many opportunities to be the encouragers.

Quite fun and challenging.

Good day, bad cold

Our meetings today went really well. It was All-American day. We left out this morning to take the train into the city and met with Rebecca Pfortmiller who is an American who was hired 7 months ago to as worship leader at St. Marks, a very Irish church in Dublin.

Then later we met with Jim and Laura Pettit, a couple from Chattanooga who are over exploring the possibility of becoming missionaries in Ireland. They are considering a couple of different organizations to hok up with. He is a musician and she an artist, looking to work in the arts should it work out for them to come. Through them there are possible connections for our work as well.

Both meetings were encouraging and we look forward to possibility of working with either or both. In fact, we may be helping Rebecca with St. Marks' sound system while we're here.

Then we had a new experience -- the Dublin bus. Fortunately we were able to take one bus from the City Centre to within two short blocks of where we're staying in Swords. We sat in the front (well, second row) on the top level of the double-decker. Rather thrilling at times -- especially when the bus appeared to swallow a bike rider, then a small car!

The only bummer today is that I have a cold coming on strong. Been consuming the vitamins and trying to stay hydrated.

Okay, one other bummer. We're trying to open a bank account here and expected to have it accomplished today after beginning the process in April, but we never heard back from the bank and we may not be able to get it done tomorrow as we probably won't have a chance to get into the City Centre.

Maybe Monday.

Back South

Tonight we're back in Swords with our friends Rory and Mindy McDonald. Yeah, we were supposed to have stayed with the Gasons, but here's the funny thing...

Once we planned to stay with the Gasons, I called the landlord of a house that we were going to rent for the week to cancel our arrangements with him. He had mentioned to me that the house was available for the time we needed and then they were going to do some minor renovation work on the property. So I looked on my computer (I use Skype to call overseas) looking back through my call history for his phone number, calculating what time and how long I would have talked to him and dialed the number.

When he answered, (I was calling from our computer in the airport) he was on a busy street and we had a hard time hearing each other, but I was sure that he had understood that we wouldn't be staying with them after all. He seemed okay that we had pulled out. In fact he said that he could then have family who were going to help do the renovating come early and start. No worries.

So today I called the Gasons and left a voice mail to tell them when they should expect us. Alex called a short time later and said, "Now, I'm really confused. I got a call a few days ago from a guy who said he was Gary Hodges and that he and his wife wouldn't be staying with us as planned. I thought it was kind of strange how you acted like you didn't know me, but then..."

So, come to find out, I hadn't called the landlord, but instead had been talking to Alex. So they now have their house torn up doing renovations. Yes -- both the landlord and the Gasons were planning to have renovations done after our stay with them. What are the chances?

So we're back staying in Rory and Mindy's "prophet room". They have been more than gracious and have given us a key and the freedom to stay with them whenever we like or need while we're in Dublin. Gotta love these guys.

We took a scenic route back here to Dublin and had a nice day together recovering from a busy weekend. We did, though, have a wonderful Sunday afternoon with the Porters in Belfast, taking a walk around a nearby lake and exploring an old fort and church.

Our time in the North seems to have opened up a few potential churches to work with. We may, in fact, before we leave next month, take another jaunt up to Belfast to meet with our new contacts there. We also didn't meet with William Olphert in Ballymena this morning. He just returned from Hong Kong yesterday and we wouldn't have had a lot of time at our disposal, so we decided to try and meet up later in our trip.

The next few days will find us connecting with a lot of people, setting up meetings, going to meetings and finishing plans for our workshops.

Check back shortly for pictures...

Nice Weekend

Well, we made it through all our rehearsals and the concert last night with New Irish Arts. We really never felt jet-lagged as we got a good night's rest Friday night.

It was quite an experience for us on several different levels. First, Beth and I hadn't sung with a formal choir for some time. Second, it had been at least as long since I had to sight read vocal music, so I was a bit rusty. Third, just singing with a group of 130 or so people and being the only non-Irish in the group was exciting. Fourth, I had much empathy for the director, as the whole event reminded me of the many times I was in charge of a large group of performers, coordinating them for dress rehearsal, with all of the challenges that holds.

The best part of the evening wasn't when we were singing fully with the orchestra and band, but instead it came at the end when the director told the "audience" (following a standing ovation) that we weren't there to "put on a good show", but to lift up the Name of the Lord. He then had all stand and we sang "Holy, Holy, Holy" a capella (without instruments). The place erupted in such wonderful 28-part harmony that it would have given me chills had it not been so stifling on the choir risers. I did have to stop singing a couple of times as my emotions welled up within.

We're having a wonderful time with our friends David and Pearl Porter and their kids Joshua, Jeremy and Carys. We met David in the Czech Republic in April at the Europe Worship Link Conference and it was he who invited us to come up to Belfast and join in the NIA choir for the day. We're very glad he did.

Tomorrow, we are hoping to meet up with William and Rebecca Olphert, who we met in January on our way through Balymena, just a bit north of Belfast. They are Calvary Chapel people with a church plant that they started.

Then it's back to Dublin to stay with our good friends Alex and Linda Gason for a few days and get some planning, meetings and phone calls done.

Arriving...

We're now in Dublin, ready to sleep. It was kind of rough getting here, as usual. It is so difficult to get good sleep in coach. We looked into redeeming Skymiles to upgrade to business/elite class, but it wasn't worth it. We can hang onto those miles to help fly Molly over for a visit once we actually move.

Tomorrow -- Belfast. Should be a very interesting day. We will be participating in the choir of New Irish Arts' "Ireland in Praise" tomorrow evening after rehearsing throughout the day. Looking forward to seeing what God has up His big sleeve for us.

One thing I love about the Atlanta airport: On Concourse E (international flights) they have a grand piano in the food court area, often manned by a pianist providing a nice atmosphere for weary and frazzled travellers.

I'll quit rambling and let you... no wait... let me get to bed.

Good night.

Three... Two... One...

Just a bit more than a week now before we set out on our next journey to Ireland. A year ago when we were preparing for our departure, we had what we refer to as "The Big Scary List". On that were things like: Pay for Molly's School, Buy Molly a Car, Buy new luggage, etc.

This time it's: Buy Shampoo, Download some TV shows and movies, etc.

Not nearly as daunting a list. But we're still going to be gone for almost 5 weeks!

So what's going to happen in that 5 weeks? Not much, really aside from:

Sept. 13-14 travel to Dublin, rent car
Sept. 14 drive to Belfast, stay with friends
Sept. 15 Go to all day rehearsal with New Irish Arts and sing in choir for that evening's "Ireland in Praise" worship concert
Sept. 16 go to church with friends
Sept. 17 meet with pastor and wife in Ballymena, north of Belfast, drive back to Dublin
Sept. 18-20 various meetings with friends and colleagues
Sept. 21 drive to Laragh (south of Dublin) to set up sound system for conference
Sept. 22 drive to Swords (north of Dublin) to conduct Worship Workshop at Swords Baptist Church
Sept. 23 go to church at New Life Community Church in west Dublin, have lunch and do workshop with band that afternoon
Sept. 24 breathe
Sept 25-27 various meetings with friends and colleagues, scope out potential areas of residence (for when we move)
Sept. 26 take train to Bray (south of Dublin) to meet with 2 new contacts
Sept. 28 drive to Cork
Sept. 29-30 various meetings with friends, colleagues and new contacts in and around Cork
Sept. 30 attend church somewhere
Oct. 1 do Worship Workshop at Grace Fellowship, Cork
Oct. 2 breathe
Oct. 3-4 Travel through Co. Kerry, meeting with several new contacts, ending up in Shannon
Oct. 4 do evening Worship Workshop with Jamzone youth band, Shannon
Oct. 5 do Worship Workshop at Abundant Life Church, Limerick
Oct. 6 do all-day, area-wide Worship Conference hosted by Abundant Life
Oct. 7 die... then breathe... then go to church in Ennis (maybe)
Oct. 8 drive back to Dublin
Oct. 9-12 various meetings with friends and colleagues
Oct. 13 do Worship Workshop at Trinity Church, Dublin
Oct. 14 go to church, prepare for journey back to US
Oct. 15 Fly back to FL

Boring, I know, but there you have it...

Weird

Okay, so in the last 24 hours I've heard the iconic disco intrumental "A Fifth of Beethoven" twice.

What's up with that?

Roadside Memorial

For some reason, as I drove past the cyclist who was waiting to cross the street, I was reminded of her. Something about the serenity on this lady's face brought back the feelings of warmth and security that came from being with her.

But one thing struck me. You would never see her on a bicycle. She was too much of a lady for that. In fact, you would never find her in pants or slacks of any kind. She always wore a dress or skirt. And practical shoes. She took great care to always carry herself with propriety and to live a quiet, upright life.

She was maybe the most beautiful woman I have ever known. I never knew her to be unkind, rude or in any way offensive. She exemplifies what a Christian should look like.

She always took time for us kids; and when she was with us, she was with us. For some odd reason, I don’t remember it ever being a drag to go spend time with her at her house. Going there after school, she would play the hostess and serve us our favorite snack, Sugar Brot (white bread, spread with butter and sprinkled with sugar) with a glass of cold whole milk. This was providing that there were none of her amazing sugar cookies in the shiny chrome cookie container embossed with penguins.

I can smell her house even now – a house that was well-kept, yet not so sterile that it lacked coziness.

I remember the way she smelled of Dove soap as I sat in her lap and she gently ran her fingernails across my back. I remember what it sounded like to hear her voice through her chest as I lay my head there, pretending to be asleep while the adults carried on their conversation after Sunday Dinner (of course, not until after everything had been cleaned and put away).

When I was older, there were cutthroat games of Scrabble with her and Aunt Esther.

I’ll never forget her laugh, her smile, her humility, her love.

I’ll never forget the last time I saw her. I sat at her bedside and we talked about life; about my upcoming move away from Kansas; about old times and fond memories. I wanted to stay longer. I knew this would be the last time I would see her “on this side”. As I stood to go, I leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. I noticed, for the last time, the velvety surface of her hand as I squeezed it and released it back to her. I stopped at the door and looked back. “Keep the faith,” she said. It was the last thing I ever heard her say, and those three simple words still ring in my ears.

She was my grandma.

Bertha King Hodges
1894-1982

They don't make 'em like that anymore...

I hop in the car to run an errand and put the XM on one of my favorite channels -- Fine Tuning -- and what do I hear? Yes! I mean, the group Yes -- Rick Wakeman, Steve Howe, Jon Anderson, Chris Squire -- that Yes. One of my all-time favorite bands. Yes' Fragile was the second album I owned.

So driving along listening to a live recording of "Ritual", complete with drum solo (yes, young people, drum solo) followed by "Roundabout". What a band. I had forgotten just how utterly astounding they were. There are a lot of great bands these days, but Yes was one-of-a-kind. They just don't make 'em like that anymore...

Let me explain "Fine Tuning". It's a station on XM satellite radio that plays the most interesting mix of music. Immediately following Yes, they aired Aaron Copeland's "Appalachian Spring". Listen long enough and you'll hear The Moody Blues, Mozart, The Beatles, Pat Matheny, Sting, Tangerine Dream, The Chieftains, Alan Parsons, Al De Meola, and Yanni, just to name a few. It's a rather intriguing channel to listen to.

Podcasts 101

Podcasts are the greatest things. It's amazing the variety of information and entertainment that is available through these audio and video productions. And the best part -- they're free!

If you haven't discovered podcasts, you're missing out on a wonderful, tasty slice of modern culture. You don't even have to have an iPod to enjoy them. All you need to do is download iTunes to your computer (free) and begin browsing the selection of podcasts in the iTunes store, download a few and listen to them from your computer. Of course, an iPod or MP3 player makes the shows portable.

Many of you may ask, "What is a podcast?" Well, it's kind of like a radio or TV show, produced by anyone who can record on their computer (or if you feel it neccessary, you can go all out with professional audio or video equipment). Some are very professional and others not so much. Some are simply reformatted TV or radio shows. They cover pretty much anything you can think of that might be of interest to someone somewhere.

So what kind of pocasts am I listening to or watching on my iPod? Well...

- Several travel podcasts highlighting various parts of the globe.

- I regularly listen to "Morning Ireland", the morning drive show on RTE Radio (the NPR of Ireland).

- Lots of sermons from various pastors.

- Several worship-oriented podcasts -- discussions and interviews along with reviews of new music.

- Discussion-oriented podcasts about modern church movements and ministry philosophies.

- Various radio programs.

That's about it. I love my iPod. Thank you Steve Jobs.

peanuts

Deep thoughts like this overtake my mind from time-to-time...

How do you like your peanuts?

Plain roasted?

Salted or un-?

Redskin?

Raw?

Dry Roasted?

Honey Roasted?

In the shell?

Boiled?

Baked?

Boston baked?

As Peanut butter?

In M&M's?

In Asian foods?

In brownies?

On sundaes?

In GORP?

In peanut brittle?

In turtles, clusters, Snickers, Reeses, etc.?

For those of you who may be allergic to peanuts, I am so sorry. For me -- I love me some peanuts.

Our journey so far

In a certain sense, Beth and I would love to have been living in Ireland by now. Traveling back and forth isn't the most ideal way to carry out our ministry effectively. However, we have found God's timing to be perfect and He's showing us that yet again.

When we started down this road -- the one that will eventually take us into full-time service in Ireland -- it caused us great consternation regarding Molly. You see, when we first began thinking about moving to Ireland we thought that Molly would want to go with us. She loves Ireland and it seemed like a no-brainer. But then, as we were in the midst of the process to raise our monthly financial support, Molly finished High School and decided that she wanted to become a violin performance major. She had been working with Dr. Yanovskiy at University of West Florida and realized that she wanted to get her Bachelor's degree there.

So then we were faced with this dilemma: We knew beyond doubt that God had called us to Ireland, but we also knew that Molly was not ready for us to leave her in the U.S. on her own. But as I blogged about last year, God made a way for us to begin our ministry by taking regular trips to Ireland, while remaining based in the U.S., continuing to raise pledges for our current work as well as our eventual move overseas.

All the way through the process up to now, I have maintained that God was working out His best plan for all of us. There were times when I wasn't very convincing, even to myself, that we were on the right path and it caused a lot of soul-searching. But, bit-by-bit we see His plan unfolding.

Yes it has taken longer for us to raise our monthly financial support than we had anticipated, but we have, in the last several months, come to this conclusion: when the money is there, Molly will be ready and we will also be at peace about leaving her.

God is good. Here's how He is at work...

Since last September, every trip we have made, Molly has become more confident and self-sufficient. She has become one of the most focussed 19-year-olds that I have ever known -- very serious about her carreer path. The decisions she is making now are all guided by her plan to pursue a Master's and probably a Doctoral degree. She loves what she is doing. She loves UWF.

Last school year we decided (after much prayer and discussion) that it would be a good thing for Molly to live in the dorm at school. It would be kind of a halfway-out-on-her-own experience. It was good on many levels and was worth the extra money spent.

Now, as I write this entry, Molly is preparihttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifng to move into a rental house with some friends. Between her scholarships, grants, orchestra contracts, teaching, playing for weddings, etc., she is in the position to support herself completely if need be. (BTW -- she turns 20 in November -- can you believe it?)

So lately, instead of feelings of abandonment, she is anxious for Beth and I to move to Ireland so that she can come visit us there.

Meanwhile in Ireland -- our ministry continues to grow and we are seeing more demand for what we have to offer the worship ministries of churches throughout the country. Our upcoming trip in a few weeks will most likely prove to be our busiest to date.

It seems that the ship has turned and we're on a direct path to Ireland. Now, obviously the big task at hand is to gain the Ministry Partners we need to get us to our monthly goal of financial support.

Want to know how you can become a Ministry Partner and support God's work in Ireland financially? Go to our website and check out the page.

Coming quick!

Three weeks from today we leave for Dublin!

For some reason (although I always get excited before we leave on a ministry trip) I am beside myself this time. I am so looking forward to this trip. I don't know why, but I have the feeling that this is going to be even more significant than any of our previous trips.

We definitely have more events planned for this time in Ireland than we have had any other time. We'll be connecting with more people and churches with which we haven't yet been in contact. We're hoping to open up some doors in the southeast and southwest parts of the island where we haven't yet ventured.

Oh, to actually be living there. That's what we really need. We just need to trust that the Lord's provision and timing will have us there within a year's time. As our friends in Dublin may say -- Now dat'd be gran! It's only money, right? What's a few thousand more per month to the One who holds the universe in the palm of His hand?

For now, plan to visit here often to keep up with our doings while we're overseas and otherwise.

Success in life...

Got this list from a fellow missionary. Thought you might enjoy it...


* Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue.

* Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.

* Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.

* Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can be recalled by their maker.

* If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.

* If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.

* It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply be kind to others.

* Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won't have a leg to stand on.

* Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.

* Since it's the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.

* The second mouse gets the cheese.

* When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.

* Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.

* You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to
one person.

* Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once .

* We could learn a lot from crayons... Some are sharp, some are pretty and
some are dull. Some have weird names, and all are different colors, but they
all have to live in the same box.

*A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

-- Author Unknown

On the lighter side...

This morning Beth, Molly and I are heading out of town for about a week of va-cay. Woo hoo!

This summer has been so busy that even though Molly has been at home, we haven't had a lot of time with her. This will be our last fling before school starts again and before Beth and I head to Ireland in 4 weeks. Just the three of us -- it'll be good. Did you know that Molly will be 20 come November? Man, that's just not right. But then again, it's very right.

Back to the matter at hand. It's getting rather tiring basically working from the time I get up to the time I should be going to sleep. As many of you know, I am working framing pictures for a friend who has a wholesale business to decorators. I'm also teaching voice lessons. Then, I am putting in full-time hours doing ministry work for our Ireland missions (Gotta get our financial support raised ASAP). Yeah, I need this vacation more than I realize.

Refiner's Fire

We get regular emails from GEM with prayer requests that come from GEM missionaries. Lately there has been a series of prayer requests highlighting the plight of a pastor in Azerbaijan, a small country nestled between Russia, Turkey and the Caspian Sea.

Pastor Zaur was arrested May 20 while conducting a worship service in his home. He has been convicted of preaching (yes - illegal) and is also accused of attacking and beating 5 police officers (he is in poor health with a heart condition). His sentence is 2 years in prison and the police continue to harass his family and the other church members.

We are praying for his release and for his family and church. At the same time, the members of the church family are growing stronger, their faith is increasing -- they are not despairing, they are not dismayed.

The whole scenario playing out in Azerbaijan has caused me to once again examine the western church, and specifically the American church.

We cry "foul!" when prayers are banned from public gathering such as ballgames or when our kids can't write about their faith when composing a school essay. We think we are being persecuted. Ha.

It stems from the consumer attitude that people have toward "church". I was speaking to a good friend who leads worship at a new church plant here in NW Florida. They are still very small and have had a number of people visit and say they liked it, but that they wanted something a little bit bigger. If all of those had stuck around, the church body would now be more than a little bit bigger!

When our pastor, Robert Pooley first planted Coast he had people telling him that they liked what was happening, but would wait and see if the church survived and then they might consider returning and becoming members.

So it brings me to the question - how did we get to the point that the majority of America views church as somewhere you go, something you do, and not something you are? The goal in the search for "the perfect church" seems to be to find the place that you get the most out of, instead of, "where can God use me the most?"

Of the fat and happy chosen who grace the pew each week, how many would be there should their gathering for worship be outlawed?

In some sick way, I would like to see real persecution break out against the church here on our own soil, as we see in China or Azerbaijan. I would like to see the church filled with the power of God, moving ahead in faith and being the Body of Christ, not continuing on with the fortitude of the Stay Puft Marshmallow man. But I'm afraid that we won't see that happen until the church in America is refined -- and refining happens only with extreme heat and pressure.

Am I wrong? Please prove me wrong.

Tempus Fugit

Gee, it's only another 4 weeks and we'll be packing to return to Ireland. Crazy.

We continually hone our methods and are always on the lookout for things that can make our travels more efficient, more comfortable, more practical. Lately it's been a hunt for God's perfect shoes. We would both like to find a pair of shoes that are, A. comfortable, B. versatile enough to wear every day for weeks on end, and 3. cute enough to enjoy wearing (okay, so "cute" is not my stipulation, but I do want to like the way they look as well).

You see, it's all about reducing the amount of stuff and the weight of our luggage. What we don't want to have happen is what happened when returning from Dublin in January. We knew one of our suitcases was overweight, but we were willing to pay the extra $25 or so. (We had done this in the States before) When we told this to the agent who was checking us in, she curtly told us, "No, that's not an option. You simply cannot have an overweight article." So there we were, huddled around our open suitcases, surrounded by other travelers waiting in line, transferring this and that to our carry-ons and throwing away a good bit of cosmetics, shampoos, etc.

So back to the shoes. I think what we're looking at now is wearing one pair of shoes on the journey to Ireland and heading to the shoe stores as soon as we arrive. That should be fun. Jet-lagged. Looking for God's perfect shoes. Paying through the nose.

Oh well...

Pastor in Chief

Came across an interesting article based upon a series of interviews with Billy Graham.

Check it out.

The Gospel of Convenience

Why is it that at times, especially when I'm on "ministry trips" or whatever, that I can flow naturally in the Spirit and follow His leading, have His compassion, share His grace with anyone and everyone He puts in my path, and then totally ignore my next door neighbor or the homeless guy hanging out near my workplace because it's not convenient?

Too much of the time, when a ministry opportunity presents itself, I immediately rationalize it away and look for a "better offer". The sad thing is that the better offer is usually of benefit only to me, and only in the immediate, with no lasting merit.

What does that say to others about this Gospel I tout and upon which I stake my life? Is another person not worth of my sacrifice of convenience? My life is worth Jesus' much more costly sacrifice, is it not?

How does this happen? How do I get to this point? Now that I'm here, will it change me?

The jury is still out.

My better half

Is this not remarkable?

Beth and I -- we have these times, especially when we are working in Europe, that we are together for weeks on end with no break from each other. It's rather remarkable that I cannot recall one time when we wouldn't choose to be together. We simply don't get tired of each other.

I am truly blessed with my soulmate.

Reflections on the weekend

As you know, Beth and I traveled to Kansas and Oklahoma this past weekend. It was a really good trip, although it was very busy and tiring. Here's what we did (adapted from our weekly email last week):

Thursday:
- Flew to Wichita, picked up rental car, drove to Pratt (trivia: Pratt has been home of the Miss Kansas pageant since the beginning of time and my mom was the "voice of the Miss Kansas pageant" for many years, broadcasting the event live on the radio.)
- 7 PM - gathering of old friends at Pratt United Methodist

Friday:
- Breakfast with friends who couldn't be there Thursday PM
- "Pop-in" visits on friends throughout the day
- Drove over to Greensburg to see the devastation from the tornado
- Visited my parents graves

Saturday:
- Traveled to Tonkawa, OK to my sister Dianne's home
- Set up for Sunday AM
- Had a nice time with our niece, Stacey and her two kids

Sunday:
- Shared at early service (more of a Bible study type gathering)
- Main service - we led worship and I preached
- Did a workshop that afternoon with Dianne's worship team at her church
- In the evening - dessert party at Dianne and Ken's with a few of their friends to share about our ministry in greater detail

Monday:
- Drove to Tulsa to meet with friends there and shot some video footage to be used in our own videos (our friend does that sort of thing professionally)
- Drove back to Tonkawa in the evening

Tuesday:
- Drove to Wichita to fly home, stopping through Winfield, where I went to college a couple of years. (trivia: the character Mary Ann on Gilligan's Island was from Winfield)

So that's why we're so tired!

Heading home (the current one)

In the Wichita airport, getting ready to return to Gulf Breeze. We've had a good weekend and I'll give the highlights in the next day or so.

I've been saving up quarters and I only need about 792 more to get that iPod out of the machine in ATL.

Hmmm

Home

Yeah, when I travel home to Kansas, it just feels so comfortable. As we drive through the countryside (this may sound really weird) I hear music. Maybe it would be more accurate to say I feel music. It's a deep expression coming from within me that's hard to explain.

BTW - I thought I might buy a new iPod or set of headphones from that vending machine in ATL, but I didn't have enough quarters. Oh, well...

Traveling again...

So we're sitting in ATL waiting for our flight to beautiful Wichita, KS. Tonight we are going to be in Pratt, where I grew up.

We're going to be meeting with old friends to tell them about the work we're doing in Ireland and trying to raise some financial support. We'll hang around Pratt until Saturday morning and then make our way to Tonkawa, OK.

Sunday morning we'll be leading worship at my sister and brother-in-law's church and I'll be preaching.

After visiting friends in Tulsa on Monday, we'll make our way back to Wichita and home on Tuesday.

Whew!

We just saw the craziest thing. A vending machine in ATL that sells iPods and all sorts of accessories. It's a new day. Nothing stays the same.

If you're into art...

Came across a really cool website. It's a place where missionaries who are artists can sell their artwork to help benefit their work.

I get somewhat frustrated with the whole "Christian art" scene, in that much of what's out there is - pardon me - crap. Unfortunately, there is a whole slew of Christians who think they are artists, but really don't have that gifting. I respect the fact that they are doing it for the Lord and trying to use their art as an evangelistic tool, but sometimes I wonder what non-Christians who view their work think of their substandard attempts at art.

What I've found at MissionArt.com is anything but lame. Truly gifted artists using their talent for God's Kingdom. Check it out.

Update overdue

Okay, so before I delve into my reviews, it dawned upon me that it has been a while since my last ministry update here on the blog. I've emailed a newsletter recently and I send out our weekly prayer update, so I tend to forget that this venue is also for keeping you up-to-date on our journey.

A few weeks ago it seemed the right time to begin planning our next trip to Ireland, so I sent out an email to a number of our friends throughout the country to let them know of our impending visit. We hadn't yet set our travel dates and thought we would start by seeing who wanted us to what and when (within a certain scope of time which we defined roughly as the last half of September and the first half of October).

Now, when it comes to getting plans laid for events in Ireland it is often a struggle for us Americans who have this insatiable need to "get it on the calendar - the sooner, the better". We have found that we usually complete our schedule after we've actually arrived, although we always have most of our events planned before then.

Imagine our surprise in that we already have four workshops on the calendar and at least three others planned, but not pinned down yet. Crazy -- I know, right?

It looks to be another trip like our January trip -- lots and lots of traveling. We actually really enjoy that, so long as our rental car has good seats. If I don't have good support for my lower back, my hip really gives me grief. It's the pits getting older - at least physically, I mean. We've had good luck (is there really such thing?) so far in getting good deals on vehicles that suit our needs cargo-wise and comfort-wise.

We still don't have our exact travel dates nailed down, but we'll be doing that soon.

We had several people ask us this morning at church how the recent terrorist events in Glasgow might affect us. I can't imagine that it will cause us any real problems, as long as we go into the trip with the attitude that any extra security precautions, while maybe a pain at the time, are really only meant for our protection.

We're going to be traveling to Oklahoma and Kansas in a couple of weeks to visit my sister and her family and do some MPD (Ministry Partner Development, a.k.a. "fundraising"). We've been invited to lead worship at my sister's church (United Methodist) in Tonkawa, OK and I'll be preaching that morning as well. Really looking forward to that. We're also trying to get something set up at 1st United Methodist Church in Pratt, KS, which is the church I grew up in. We'll be visiting old friends while we're in the area the rest of our time there.

So that's a, well, not-so-quick Ministry Update for you. Let us know if you aren't on our email list(s) and we can add you. There's our regular list to which we send periodic updates and newsletters and then there is our weekly prayer list that goes out, um, weekly, sort of.

TTFALTNCOH!

Sorry...

Okay, so it's been like, oh I don't know, forever since I posted.

Sorry 'bout that.

Here's the deal. I have several grand ideas that I have started to write about and they each have become so involved and complicated that I have been unable to finish any of them.

So I have an idea.

For the next couple of posts I'm going to do reviews. Never done a review before so this should be fun. What am I going to review? Well for one, I just listened to Sinead O'Connor's newest release, Theology. I've also just downloaded Tim Hughes' latest. Plus I've seen a couple of movies lately that I may cover.

Stay tuned...

Life made easy

Did you ever think about how much easier life would be if you didn't have to deal with people? I jest, of course, but one of my old adages is - "Ministry would be a piece of cake if it weren't for the people."

Yes, yes, I know -- ministry is about people. But there have been many periods in my ministerial career that have frustrated the snot out of me because of the human factor. People can be such jerks!

Now when it's me who is under attack, it's difficult. But when it's a friend or especially a family member -- that's the time when you just want to flank the attacker and take him out, or at least divert his attention from his intended target.

I can't go into details, but it's happening. It's distressing when you see Christians attacking their brother or sister. It saddens me because there is no good that comes from a broken relationship that is left unmended. Are we not one body? "The eye cannot say to the hand, 'I don't need you!'" (1 Cor. 12:21)

It angers me because I see the enemy accomplishing his purposes without having to do a thing but sit back and watch.

Too often, the first thing to be tossed aside is the love that we are expected to have for one another -- that which Jesus Himself says we need for the world to know we are His disciples. "Speak the truth in love." Okay, a paraphrase, but is this not a command for us as followers of Christ? First - "the truth"...

Know that what I am saying is the absolute truth and not assumption or speculation. Second - "in love"...

What is love?

Patient
Kind
Doesn't envy
Doesn't boast
Not rude
Not self-seeking
Not easily angered
Keeps no record of wrongs
Whew
Doesn't delight in evil
Rejoices with the truth
ALWAYS:
Protects
Trusts
Hopes
Perseveres
Never fails
(1 Cor. 13)

Yeah - we're human. We won't always get it right. But that shouldn't keep us from trying, and allowing each other the grace to fail us.

Again, Paul:

"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." (Eph 4:2-3)

Christ is our example. Did He hold anything against any of those whose rumors nailed Him to the cross, or those who carried out the execution? No - it was for them and each and every one of us that He died.

His only motivations were love and the desire to glorify the Father.

All of our actions must be to this end.

Period.

Boldness

Listening to Erwin McManus the other day, I was blown away by a statement he made. It had to do with boldness in personal witnessing. You know -- that thing that causes most of us to get hives when faced with it.

I don't recall his exact words, but if I may paraphrase...

The boldness that is most important is not the boldness to share the Gospel with another in the moment that the opportunity presents itself.

What is most important is the boldness to live one's life in such a way that those who observe it want to know more about what makes it different and special. That's what opens the door to natural conversations in which one can then share one's faith without the pressure of "witnessing".

Simple.

Left behind

So in the past 6 weeks, two families from our orientation class have moved overseas to their respective fields of work with GEM. I'm thrilled for them, but it makes us long all the more for that day when it will be us.

Of course, as most of you who read this know, part of our delay in getting to the field full-time is out of deference to our daughter Molly, as she has only finished her first year at university and, while getting closer all the time, isn't quite ready for us to move overseas.

We are also still in the midst of raising the funds that we need to live on while we're there and to cover all of the costs associated with the move. We have this feeling that the pledges of support will be there at the same time that Molly is ready. So far, God's timing has been perfect, although not exactly what we had planned. He sees it all, beginning and end, and knows what's best for us.

But the one really cool thing is the fact that He has made it possible for us to be in Ireland several times during the year and begin our work. In fact, this method will make our transition to life overseas much easier, as the groundwork is being laid and relationships are being formed. Now, when we do move, we'll just pick up what we've started in our work and won't have to worry about that while we're trying to acclimate ourselves to a new culture and way of life.

The truth of the matter, however, looks us squarely in the face. The sooner we have the money, the sooner we will be moving. So now it's just a matter of connecting with those who are supposed to be supporting us financially on a monthly basis and having them begin their giving. It's simple -- just not that easy. God knows who they are and it's our job to find out.

So we haven't really been left behind by our colleagues. God's plan for them was a little different than for us.

We'll get there soon enough.

Doolittle did a lot

So Belinda Doolittle was voted off American Idol last night. Sad to see her go, but I must say that the top three are all deserving of their standing.

Belinda is an amazing singer and performer, but the really cool thing for me dawg is that Christ shone through her throughout the competition. In fact, it was great to have several committed Christians in the top ten and to observe the grace with which they handled themselves in the midst of what must be tremendous pressure. Of course Jordin is a strong believer and I'm guessing she'll end up in the top slot, but we'll see.

Who knows, maybe Blake will end up getting saved as a result of his close relationship with some good examples of genuine Christian faith. Wouldn't that be cool!

I'm looking forward to watching Belinda's career develop - as it's sure to do.

You go girl!

final Ireland entry...

Picking up where I left off a couple of posts ago, we made our way to Carlow, traveling through some beautiful country.

We enjoyed supper with Seamus and Jenny O'Callaghan and their three kids. Seamus is the pastor of Carlow Community Christian Church and Jenny oversees the worship ministry. After we had eaten, the worship team members began to show up.

Until recently, CCCC had been going through a season without a worship team and Jenny led worship on her own. They are now blessed with a group of people who have committed to the worship ministry and they asked us to come and do a workshop with them for vision-casting and to help them to focus on their task as worship leaders.

It was a great evening and we really enjoyed our time with everyone.

The next evening, back in Dublin, we got together with some friends of ours who have started a church plant in the Blackrock area. They are traditional Irish musicians and we try to meet up when we're in town for an evening of music and worship. We love sitting around the living room, instruments in hand, playing and worshiping together. It's always a highlight of our trip.

Friday it was off to Galway on the west coast of Ireland for our conference with Aontis, formerly known as The Association of Evangelical Irish Churches. We were a bit concerned that the turnout may be low, in part because Galway is in the midst of a water crisis and you can't drink the water. This is all due to a little critter called cryptosporidium, a nasty parasite that has contaminated the entire water supply from an unknown source.

This conference was to include people from churches from across Ireland. We ended up with about 15 people from about 4 different churches -- not quite what we had hoped for. But even though we were few, it was a really good weekend, none-the-less.

It was great to have Jay and Rachel with us to help lead worship and Jay was still able to do a guitar workshop which ended up being a big hit with those who participated.

We finished early enough for us to make it back to Dublin at dusk. Sunday morning we went into the City Centre and attended services at Core Church. Ravi and the team did a great job leading worship and we enjoyed the rest of the service as well. Core is very unusual as Churches of Ireland go. The Church of Ireland is Anglican and generally very conservative regarding liturgy and worship service forms. Rarely, if ever do you find a CoI congregation that is as charismatic and progressive as Core.

We made it home safe and sound Monday evening. Molly picked us up and she ended up spending the night.

Good to be home with Molly, but our hearts are still in Ireland and we look forward to returning this fall.

busy

Sorry that I haven't yet finished the second half of my post from earlier in the week. As I think I may have mentioned (or maybe not, and I'm too lazy to go into my past posts and find out) Beth and I have been attending a missions conference at 1st Baptist here in Gulf Breeze. It's been a very busy since Wednesday evening and today is full as well.

At the same time, it's been a great week. The people at 1st Baptist have been so loving, generous and supportive, plus it's been great to get to know some other missionaries and church planters.

We were also asked to lead worship tonight at the evening service, so we feel honored to be able to do that.

I should be able to get caught up on the rest of the trip report in the next few days. Same Bat channel -- same Bat station.

One final, crazy week

We're home now, but I have to get you caught up on the remainder of our trip...

After returning from the EWL conference late Saturday night, our luggage and guitar didn't arrive until Sunday afternoon. Our connection in Frankfurt was extremely tight as our flight out of Prague was delayed. We had all of 10 minutes from one gate to the other.

Sunday, we met with Alan and Sheryl McElwee, friends of ours who have begun a new church plant on the south side of Dublin. It was good to get caught up with them, talk about the struggles they are dealing with starting a new work and gain some new insights into the church culture in Ireland.

It was another beautiful day and we enjoyed a walk with McElwees on the Dun Laoghaire (Dun Leary)pier and lunch following.

Monday morning we drove to the airport to pick up Jay and Rachel Johnson, good friends of ours from our church who came over to meet us in Ireland help us with the conference we were doing in Galway Friday and Saturday. They were wrecked from jet lag and it was our job to keep them awake until bedtime. We started out with fish and chips at Beshoff in Howth. It was raining for the first time since we arrived in Ireland, other than a few overnight showers. But soon the light drizzle cleared and the remainder of the day was cool and bright.

That evening we went to Bennigan's (no, it really is an American institution) and met Ravi Gidoomal, who coordinates the worship at Core Church in Dublin City Centre. This is the church where Eoghan Heaslip used to lead worship before he went to take a position at a church in the UK. We had a very interesting time with Ravi, who has been in Ireland only about 2 years now. He shared with us how the worship ministry at Core operates and we shared with him about what it is that we do.

As usually happens, the first part, in fact the good majority of the conversation, there was a reserved, non-committal attitude from Ravi. This happens when we make a cold call to someone who has no idea who we are and try to set up an appointment with them so that we can share about our work, find out about what they do and see if there might be some mutual advantage in developing a relationship with them.

It's tricky. The other person often wonders, "What do you want from me?" I assume that they may think that we are in Ireland to either show the Irish how we Americans do worship, or that we think they have something that will benefit us in some selfish way.

However, once they discover that we are only there to offer whatever we may possess to help worship ministries grow throughout Ireland, no strings attached, there is a dropping of the guard, a visible change in their countenance and they open up to us. This happened with Ravi and although Core may or may not ask us to work with them, we gained insight and perspective.

Tuesday held one canceled appointment due to a funeral that the pastor had to do. We were able to get together with Alex Mosely, who we first met at Swords Baptist in January. He is the worship leader at Ballyfermot Community Church in Dublin. Unfortunately we couldn't work out getting together with Alex and his wife, Keely, so we settled for a quick lunch with only him.

Wednesday it was off to Carlow to meet with a newly-formed worship team at Carlow Community Christian Church. But this entry is getting lengthy, so I'll continue another time.

Reflections

We're back in Dublin now. While we arrived late last night, our luggage didn't make it here until this afternoon. After our plane from Prague was delayed we had all of about 10 minutes from gate to gate for our connection in Frankfurt. That included having to wait in line for a security check while the Lufthansa agents held the plane for us.

The past three days at the Europe Worship Link conference were some of the richest we've had to date. All-in-all there were about 28 individuals from across Europe and from very divergent backgrounds and musical styles who gathered together to explore worship. We had some who work almost exclusively with hymns, including the professor of worship studies from London Theological Seminary. We had others who have used only contemporary music and are very expressive in their worship.

The most incredible aspect of the entire time together was the unity. We were all there because we love to worship and love to do what we can to facilitate worship within the church in each of our particular spheres. I never once heard anything that came close to resembling even a disagreement between any of those attending. There was only mutual encouragement, respect, and admiration.

We all came away with not only new acquaintances, colleagues or "connections", but new friends committed to one another in prayer and support.

The other great thing is that the theme wasn't "The Latest Greatest Thing in Worship" -- it was "The Word of God in Worship". In these days when the emphasis in worship is more weighted toward the spirit over truth, it was refreshing to be with worship leaders and trainers who value the application of truth as the foundation of our expressions of worship.

Czech it out!

We made it to Prague yesterday and took the bullet train to Ostrava today. We're here in Malenovice (Mal-in-o-veet-seh) in the heart of the mountains of Moravia meeting with Europe Worship Link. It's somewhat of a convocation of "worship people" from across the continent. We have met individuals from France, Latvia, Croatia, Holland, Ukraine, US, Ireland, England, and a couple of more I can't recall at the moment.

These next few days should be very interesting and challenging. We've also been asked to lead worship on Saturday morning. That holds interesting challenges in itself -- selecting songs that will easily cross cultural and language boundaries yet be heartfelt and significant.

Travel through the Czech Republic proved to be a bit of work, but it was a lot of fun as well. Fortunately there are many Czechs who know Anglicky (English) and many of the signs within Prague have English. Once outside the city, however, it got to be a bit dicey. But here we are, thanks to the diligence of our non-English speaking taxi driver who was sent to find us at the train station and get us to our hotel.

It was quite a ride. I noticed at one moment in an area marked with a speed limit of 70 km/h we were creeping along at 140. That's like 90 in a 45 in the States.

It's been a long day, so I guess I'll make my way up to our room for the night.

Later...

A Good Weekend

Yesterday we moved to Phil and Cheryl Kingsley's house since we were never able to get on line at the flat in Rathmines. We will stay here for the remainder of the month when we're in Dublin.

Phil left today for meetings in Germany and Cheryl flew to the US last week, so we have the house to ourselves for a few days. It's good to stay here. We are saving a lot of money and Phil and Cheryl are very sensitive to our need for time to ourselves, which is the main reason we had booked the flat.

Now on to our weekend happenings. Yesterday we met with Alex and Linda Gason, whom we have known for a couple of years now. They are the youth leaders at City Gates in Cabinteely. We were expecting to simpy get caught up with friends and find out if there was anything we could do to help them in their minsitry. What we didn't expect was to find out about their plans to join with Operation Mobilisation (OM) Ireland as missionaries to theirhttp://www2.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif own land. In an interesting twist, we found ourselves giving advice to an Irish couple as to how to raise support and minister to their own countrymen.

Today, we were in Clondalkin at New Life Community Church. Their youth band was leading worship this morning and then we met with them over lunch and through the afternoon, discussing worship leading and spending time in a practicum. It's a challenge when you're working with a talented group of musicians that only need a little encouragement and not a lot of direction. They were very good and did a nice job leading worship. It's also a challenge working with youth in particular, as you don't get a lot of feedback. You wonder if you are getting anywhere and if they are enjoying the workshop at all. The answer came in the form of a question, when we asked them if they had anything that they wanted to ask us. The first question was, "Will you be coming back?" What a wonderful thing to hear. They like us - they really like us!

We're looking forward to working with them more in the future and Michael and Trish Carroll, who are the main worship leaders and at whose house we were meeting made it clear that they want us to return in the future.

Tomorrow we'll be in the city centre for a meeting and then spend some time preparing for our time in the Czech Republic. We've been asked to lead a set of worship while we're there, so we are looking forward to that.

I have no idea what our Internet access will be like while we are there, so if you don't hear from us for a while, you'll know why.

More Somewhat Tolerable Weather

So the weather is still remarkable here in Dublin. Quite sunny and high temperatures around 70F. We had family with us over the course of the last week or so and so now it's going to be difficult to convince them that, yes, the weather in Ireland is usually dreadful and completely unpredictable. No really -- it is!

Easter morning we hauled our family to Trinity Church in the city centre for a nice celebration. We were somewhat of celebrity status -- first, because there were 9 of us from Oklahoma, Florida and Hungary -- second because Beth and I were introduced to the congregation as ones who are bringing a group of volunteers from the States to work on Trinity's renovation project later in the fall.

The flat we have rented for most of the month is very nice, in a good location, quiet. It has everything we need -- except for the one thing that was the selling point for us. We were told that wireless broadband was available. Well it is. Just not in our apartment. We're thinking that we will need to get out of our lease and move as we really need consistent Internet and not have to rely upon driving to the mall to find a hotspot like I'm using right now, or duck into one of the hundreds of Internet cafés, which are usually quite sketchy.

Also, we were told that there was parking available, which I took to mean free, off-street, secure, private parking. Well, it's free if you time it right to get one of four spaces across the street, or find a spot along another street about a block away. Off-street, secure and private, it's not.

Work is going well. We've made contact with a number of people in the Dublin area and have begun meeting with them. I think it will probably get more and more busy as the month progresses.

We'll be in Dublin until next Tuesday, meeting with several people with whom we have been or hope to be working. Sunday we will attend New Life Church in Clondalkin on the west side of Dublin and then conduct a workshop with that morning's worship team in the afternoon.

Tuesday we fly to Prague with a friend who leads worship at Swords Baptist north of Dublin, and will be in the Czech Republic for the rest of the week attending a conference of Europe Worship Link in Malenovice, near Ostrava. We will be meeting with other worship leaders and trainers from across Europe to strengthen and grow a network of such people to more effectively do what we do in this post-Christian culture. We will be able to connect with some of our GEM colleagues working in other countries while we are there.

Hopefully I'll be able to be more consistent with the blog from now on once we get moved to where we can be online.

'til then...

Easter In Dublin

We have now been in Dublin a few days and the jet lag seems to be subsiding. Tomorrow is Easter (duh) and we are planning to go to Trinity Church. Hopefully all of my family will go with us. We are having somewhat of a family reunion here in Dublin with my (Gary's) sister's family from Oklahoma and brother's family from Budapest.

Walking around the city the last couple of days, I have been thinking about something that some missionary friends of ours told us they do when speaking to a group of North Americans to illuminate them on the spiritual plight in Europe.

Say you're in a room with 100 Americans. In the US, depending upon the poll taken, roughly 1 in 3 are Bible-believing Christians. So you have 33 of the 100 stand and tell them that their task is to go and speak to 2 others about their faith. Somewhat daunting, but manageable. This is meant to display what we as believers are up against if all of us were sharing our faith regularly.

Now, you tell them all to sit and have one person stand. That person's task is to go and speak to each and every one of the other 99 in the room about their faith. This is what Irish believers are up against. The actual figures show that less than 1% of the population of Ireland are Bible-believing Christians -- and that number has increased dramatically in the past 30 years that GEM has been working here (not to imply that they are the only or even main cause of the increase). You can read more about this here.

One of the main focuses in our job as GEM missionaries is to help equip the Irish to reach their land with the Gospel. Much, much work to be done.


So back to the streets of Dublin. As I stood there watching all the people from all nationalities scurrying past, I couldn't help but be somewhat overwhelmed at the realization that maybe one person in every 150 that passed by has a relationship with Jesus Christ.

The whole purpose in celebrating this weekend is because of the greatest single event in history -- the God of the Universe coming to earth in the form of man and, as a sacrifice, making it possible for everyone who chooses to have a close, loving relationship with Him.

Yet how many are there worldwide who don't have a clue? There is still much work to be done. In the neighborhoods of America, on the streets of Dublin, in the bush of Africa. We must press forward and not allow ourselves to sink into despair of the odds that are against us. Taking up our crosses, we can operate in the assurance that if it's good news to us, it's good news for every other person around us.

Yeah right...

So we get into Dublin, gather our luggage and don our jackets to brace ourselves against the cold that is awaiting us. We wheel our luggage to the terminal doors, walk out and it hits us full in the face.

It's sunny and in the mid-sixties. Gorgeous by any standards -- especially Dublin's.

I know I was complaining about leaving Florida for the forbidding climes of Ireland.

I take it back with all humility.

My family (sister, her husband and two boys; brother, his girlfriend and her daughter) all arrive tomorrow for our little Easter/brother's b'day/family reunion.

We are exhausted and trying to stay awake long enough to get a good night's sleep.

Check back and we'll keep you posted as to our doings.

The weather report...

Gulf Breeze: 79 and scattered thunderstorms

Dublin: 51 and partly cloudy

Hmmm.

Well, looking at the positive side, I get to wear my sweaters a little more.

We're off this morning and will arrive Dublin tomorrow morning.

Stay tuned!

Meet the Robinsons

Sounds like a good movie title...

Durand and Ruth Robinson are missionaries with GEM. We met Durand two years ago on our visit to Dublin. He oversees a ministry called Creative Works that is in the business of helping fellowships in Europe think creatively in their approaches to ministry. Ruth is I guess what you would call GEM's current affairs expert. She writes monthly the "Ambassador's Briefing" and "In Context", which highlight what's happening in European society and brings it into perspective from a Christian viewpoint.

Durand and Ruth are in the States near the end of a year of Home Ministry Assignment (HMA), which is sometimes called "furlough". In short, this is time spent away from the mission field, reconnecting with friends and supporters and bolstering one's financial support.

They were in New Orleans over the weekend and decided to visit us on their way back to Birmingham. So they showed up midday Monday and spent the night before driving on.

When we first met Durand, the thing that stuck out was how much he and I have in common. We now have discovered that Beth and Ruth have an awful lot in common as well.

We had a wonderful visit with the Robinsons and now can look forward to spending much more time with them once we move to Ireland, as they recently realized that God is calling them back to Ireland. It will be exciting to see how God uses us in ministry together over the ensuing years.

St. Paddy

Here's to the man, humble as he was, who changed the face of Ireland forever by simply living an uncompromising life of faith before the people of that island nation. Ah, the power that is found through weakness!

Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig!

(Happy St. Patrick's Day)

Challenged by a bumper sticker

"I like your Christ.
I don't like your Christians.
They are so unlike your Christ."
Ghandi

It hit me as if I had stepped in front of the F150 to which it was attached.

Ghandi's theology and any errant ideas as to the true nature of Christ aside, I had to do some soul-searching when I read it. Was there a possibility that this could apply to me? Absolutely. It was a stark reality I was facing.

I have encountered this attitude from non-Christians time and again. It must be founded in truth to a certain degree, don't you think? How did it get to this point? How is it that enough individuals who have professed faith in Christ and claim to be His disciples have engaged in such activity so as to persuade so much of the rest of the world that they would rather not have anything to do with Christianity?

I get so frustrated when I see Christians tactlessly dealing with non-believers with this attitude that somehow the non-believer is on a lower plane -- that "I have it and you obviously don't", self righteous, unloving, (dare I say it?) judgemental position that is so off-putting that there is no hope that they will ever convince the non-believer of the validity of a loving, gracious God who humbly chose to be the servant of all by laying down His rights as King of the Universe and becoming a sacrifice for all humanity.

Then I look to myself. How often have I been motivated by self-gratification or self-righteousness or some "Christian" tradition that has nothing to do with the love of Christ? How many times have I turned a blind eye to someone in need, just because it was inconvenient at the time?

So how do we overcome this perception of Christians? How do we approach someone who possesses the philosophy that if someone claims to be a Christian they must not be much like Christ?

It must begin with each of us individually. We must each make a conscious effort to live out a life which honors Christ in all that we do -- to allow our words to be peppered with grace and our attitudes bathed in humility. We need to purpose in our hearts that we will treat each and every person with whom we come in contact as Christ would, and allow the Holy Spirit to guide our thoughts, words and attitudes.

Let's start now to change the mind of the skeptic and show him Christ, shall we?

If you agree with this and want to make this your goal as a follower of Christ, leave a comment on this blog as a sign of your commitment.

Dangers of Disparaging Religion

This is an interesting article found in the Irish Times this week. The Teoiseach ('Tee shuk) is Ireland's prime minister, Bertie Ahern. It's rather surprising to find this kind of discourse in the public forum these days.

Dangers of Disparaging Religion

Mon, Mar 05, 2007

Probably the most interesting speech by a politician for years was delivered last week by the Taoiseach when he warned of the dangers of "aggressive secularism", writes John Waters

Speaking in Dublin Castle at the opening of a "structured dialogue with churches, faith communities and non-confessional bodies", Mr Ahern touched on the most dangerous trend in modern societies: the tendency of public discourse to sideline or disparage religion as something outmoded or dangerous. "So much of what is happening within our society and in the wider world is bound up with questions of religion, religious identity and religious belief," he said, "that governments which refuse or fail to engage with religious communities and religious identities risk failing in their fundamental duties to their citizens." This, considering the secularised nature of the discourse into which the Taoiseach was seeking to advance his analysis, was radical stuff. Usually when we hear talk in the public square about a "right" to religious belief, it is in the context of the need for public "tolerance" of faith and religious practice.

The implication is seldom far from the surface of such platitudes that, of course, whereas those who engage in such superstitions are to be "tolerated", they are also to be regarded as engaging in a near-obsolescent and unmodern activity. Our society seems merely to put up with people who believe in God because such "tolerance" is part of our liberal ideology .

It is some time since I heard a public figure identify precisely why this is such a dangerous trend. We are suffering at present, the Taoiseach said, from "a form of aggressive secularism which would have the State and State institutions ignore the importance of the religious dimension. They argue that the State and public policy should become intolerant of religious belief and preference, and confine it, at best, to the purely private and personal, without rights or a role within the pubic domain. Such illiberal voices would diminish our democracy. They would deny a crucial dimension of the dignity of every person and their rights to live out their spiritual code within a framework of lawful practice which is respectful of the dignity and rights of all citizens. It would be a betrayal of the best traditions of Irish republicanism to create such an environment."

Mr Ahern here expressed something that no politician or public figure has articulated for a generation, and few clergymen have managed to say so well. Usually when the subject of religion is broached in public it is either by way of pious invocation or derisory dismissal.

Catholic bishops, for example, frequently speak about the importance of religious faith, but they tend, in doing so, to suggest that faith and religion should be embraced as a kind of duty, perhaps even a duty to them and their church, or, in the personal context, a guarantor of goodness. The Taoiseach was saying something altogether more interesting and profound: that human beings have a deep need for what religion offers, and that the right to practice is therefore a fundamental human entitlement. Although the current fashionability of atheism, agnosticism and secularism tends to convey that religion is merely a hangover from outmoded tradition, there is considerable evidence that it is, in fact, a natural and essential element of the human psyche.

The mood of the present tends to dismiss what our forebears took for granted: that we are born with a longing for what is "beyond", and that this longing is as real in us as the sexual instinct or the sense of smell.

Disparaged it may be, but tradition knew something about us that we seek to deny: there is a religious dimension inherent in the human being, faith comes from within, and without these we are less than human. This surely tells us that the importance of religion goes far beyond issues of morality and identity, extending also to hope, meaning and freedom.

The world on its own does not offer sufficient hope to carry the average human being through an average life. The baubles of the marketplace do not for long serve to quiet the longing in the human heart. And the promise of earthly freedom fails to address the issue of how we are to free ourselves from our instincts, our weaknesses, our egos and our selfishness.

As we observe our society plunging into the secular paradise promised by the liberal ideologues who triumphed over the custodians of tradition, we observe also the manifestation of the many baneful symptoms of this shift. Alcohol, drugs, rampant consumerism, sex crimes and countless related phenomena tell us that there is something in the human being that is voided by secular, material society.

Increasingly, our society manifests an erosion of hope, a misdefinition of freedom and a collapse of meaning, and all of these phenomena are directly related to the disappearance from our culture of what we know of as religion.

This is not simply because the Catholic Church has lost the authority to tell us what to do, but because, in the absence of a religious consciousness, there is, ultimately, no hope, no meaning and no freedom.

© 2007 The Irish Times