Success in the face of adversity

One of my mantras over the years to encourage people has been, "Don't focus on your circumstances; focus on the Lord." I must admit that it has always been far easier to say than to do. We want to feel in control, don't we?

We have been at this support raising thing for some time now. For those of you just joining us, we have been somewhat in maintenance mode for a couple of years, taking trips to Ireland to get our ministry started.

So right about the time we decide it's time to focus our efforts on raising the remainder of our monthly financial support to enable us to move to Ireland and continue our work full-time, the economy sinks to an all-time low. "Consumer confidence" is suffering, previously elastic products and services (those that are in demand, no matter the price, such as cable TV, etc.) are suddenly being considered luxuries, charitable giving is down by up to 25%. Everyone is holding their breath to see what the results of and reaction to the upcoming election will be.

Here's the kicker. We've seen a greater increase in our support level in the past three months than we have seen since we started the process. This tells us a couple of things...

1 - There are still people who place their confidence in the Lord over confidence in their circumstances.

2 - God must be in it. This must be His timing.

I believe in miracles and I believe we are witnessing one right before our eyes!

The truth hurts...

I have to thank our good friend and colleague, Phil Kingsley for this quote from comedian / satirist, Mort Sahl, which seems sooo apropos right now:

"There were four million people in the American Colonies and we had Jefferson and Franklin.

Now we have over 200 million and the two top guys are Clinton and Dole. What can you draw from this?

Darwin was wrong!"

This should be interesting...

You know how it is returning to a former school or place of work and the mix of emotions it stirs? You tend to become nostalgic, yet it often seems like you are seeing this once familiar place through someone else's eyes.

I resigned from Calvary Chapel Gulf Breeze 4 years ago. It doesn't seem it's been that long and at the same time it seems an eternity. So much has happened in the ensuing years and now we find ourselves preparing to move overseas for the next chapter in our lives.

This weekend marks 25 years of ministry for Calvary Chapel. We were there 15 of those years. Beth and I were invited by Pastor John to join in a homecoming celebration Sunday morning and share a song with the congregation. We are having a hard time deciding which of two songs we should do. May have to flip a coin.

I'm really looking forward to it, although I know it will also be rather strange. Pastor John is a gifted teacher and it will be good to hear him again. It will be great to see old friends and to lead them in a worship song. At the same time there will be a large percentage of the congregation who will have no idea who we are.

Should be a really good experience overall, but it is going to be quite interesting...

Sticker Shock

Imagine our surprise when, as we were driving to band rehearsal this evening, we noticed that gas was at $3.17. Woo Hoo!

Then on the drive home, we were shocked to see that it had gone to $3.11! Crazy!

However, I remember 3 1/2 years ago seeing the price jump to $3.20. We were totally in shock and thought it was the end of the world as we knew it.

Last time we were in Ireland we were paying around €1.40 per liter. Doesn't seem too bad until you start to do the math and realize that's almost $8 per gallon!

Interesting what a little perspective can do for your outlook.

Wow - scary...

There is a segment of our society who look to the European Union as an example of how government should be run, and I've heard that there are those within our government that would like to see us move toward such a model in the US.

For those of us who cherish our religious freedom, the following is a little scary (understatement).

Here are a couple of excerpts from Parliamentary Assembly, Council of Europe Resolution 1580 (2007), which outlines the Dangers of Creationism in Education:

“2. For some people the Creation, as a matter of religious belief, gives a meaning to life. Nevertheless, the Parliamentary Assembly is worried about the possible ill-effects of the spread of creationist ideas within our education systems and about the consequences for our democracies. If we are not careful, creationism could become a threat to human rights, which are a key concern of the Council of Europe.”

“18. Investigation of the creationists’ growing influence shows that the arguments between creationism and evolution go well beyond intellectual debate. If we are not careful, the values that are the very essence of the Council of Europe will be under direct threat from creationist fundamentalists. It is part of the role of the Council of Europe’s parliamentarians to react before it is too late.”

Text adopted in assembly debate on 4 October 2007 (35th Sitting)
(see Doc. 11375, report of the Committee on Culture, Science and
Education, rapporteur: Mrs Brasseur).

The resolution in its entirety can be found here:
http://assembly.coe.int/Documents/AdoptedText/ta07/ERES1580.htm

In general, there is this prevailing attitude in Europe that anything to do with anything that might be construed as "evangelical" must be considered dangerous to society.

For those who would like to adopt the EU model -- let's not and say we didn't...