I've been convalescing at home the last couple of days with an upper respiratory infection. I'm fine and that's not what I want to talk about.
I've been reading a bit, sleeping a lot. But in between, in my boredom I've been watching a lot of cooking shows. Yeah, whatever.
But here's the thing. Some of the gourmet chefs who host these shows often talk about "comfort foods". Now for me that means fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, vegetable or tomato soup, mac and cheese, peanut butter and crackers... Right?
So here's Paula Deen cooking her "comfort food" -- chicken chowder with hot poblano chili peppers.
And then there's Rachel Ray cooking pasta with sardines sauteed in olive oil and making mashed sweet potatoes with mint and rum and telling us that these are her "comfort foods".
Maybe my upbringing was more boring than I thought.
Mar 2, 2007
Feb 24, 2007
The blessing of the grind
No, this isn't about Starbucks...
We all have this daily grind in which we find ourselves. It differs from person to person, family to family. Our grind -- Beth's and mine, that is -- is not what most people experience. It's not even really a "daily" thing for us. But it is a grind nonetheless.
Now "grind" usually evokes something negative. Once again, that's not really the case with us. Our grind can be a challenge, and usually is; but challenges can be beneficial, right?
So what is this grind and where is the blessing? Our grind is fundraising.
The blessing comes in the realization that as we labor away at fundraising, what we are really doing is giving others the opportunity to be a part of what God is doing in Ireland in a very practical way. Those who are our financial partners often express how blessed they are to share in the joy and excitement of our ministry.
One of our very faithful supporters enumerated for us how she has been blessed by being a ministry partner with us. She writes:
"1. 'Where God guides, He provides,' and I have always found that when I give as He leads, He is faithful to meet every need that I have.
2. God answers prayer and it builds my personal faith to hear how He answers my prayers regarding the ministries I support.
3. It is exciting to play a part in a ministry that leads others to Christ and deepens their relationship with Him. When I give to ministries that do that, I am fulfilling the Great Commission and spreading the Gospel in places I cannot go personally.
4. It blesses me to know God is using me to bless others through your ministry.
5. When I give as God leads, I am saying "thank you" to Him in a tangible way for all He does for me.
6. All my resources are from Him and I have a responsibility to be a good steward of all He gives me. I want to glorify Him through my giving and I think I do that when I support your ministry.
7. When I give to your ministry, I feel that I am an encourager for you and Beth and when my financial gift is added to that of others, we enable you both to use your God-given talents and abilities to do God's work and bring honor to Him."
I would like to publically thank all those who are a part of our ministry team, through financial and prayer support.
Hmmm -- that felt like an acceptance speech at an awards show. But in a way, Beth and I are receiving a reward everyday greater than we ever would have imagined -- the joy of knowing, without question, that we are doing what God has called us to do. Sounds corny, but it's the truth.
We are still plugging away at this and hope that we can reach our monthly goal soon. Maybe you like reading about what we're doing in our ministry and get excited when you find out how God is using us in the churches across Ireland.
If that's the case, maybe God would have you be a part of it. If so, let us know. Email us or leave a comment on this post with your email (it won't be published) and we can guide you through the very painless process and answer any questions or concerns you may have.
And so we grind on...
We all have this daily grind in which we find ourselves. It differs from person to person, family to family. Our grind -- Beth's and mine, that is -- is not what most people experience. It's not even really a "daily" thing for us. But it is a grind nonetheless.
Now "grind" usually evokes something negative. Once again, that's not really the case with us. Our grind can be a challenge, and usually is; but challenges can be beneficial, right?
So what is this grind and where is the blessing? Our grind is fundraising.
The blessing comes in the realization that as we labor away at fundraising, what we are really doing is giving others the opportunity to be a part of what God is doing in Ireland in a very practical way. Those who are our financial partners often express how blessed they are to share in the joy and excitement of our ministry.
One of our very faithful supporters enumerated for us how she has been blessed by being a ministry partner with us. She writes:
"1. 'Where God guides, He provides,' and I have always found that when I give as He leads, He is faithful to meet every need that I have.
2. God answers prayer and it builds my personal faith to hear how He answers my prayers regarding the ministries I support.
3. It is exciting to play a part in a ministry that leads others to Christ and deepens their relationship with Him. When I give to ministries that do that, I am fulfilling the Great Commission and spreading the Gospel in places I cannot go personally.
4. It blesses me to know God is using me to bless others through your ministry.
5. When I give as God leads, I am saying "thank you" to Him in a tangible way for all He does for me.
6. All my resources are from Him and I have a responsibility to be a good steward of all He gives me. I want to glorify Him through my giving and I think I do that when I support your ministry.
7. When I give to your ministry, I feel that I am an encourager for you and Beth and when my financial gift is added to that of others, we enable you both to use your God-given talents and abilities to do God's work and bring honor to Him."
I would like to publically thank all those who are a part of our ministry team, through financial and prayer support.
Hmmm -- that felt like an acceptance speech at an awards show. But in a way, Beth and I are receiving a reward everyday greater than we ever would have imagined -- the joy of knowing, without question, that we are doing what God has called us to do. Sounds corny, but it's the truth.
We are still plugging away at this and hope that we can reach our monthly goal soon. Maybe you like reading about what we're doing in our ministry and get excited when you find out how God is using us in the churches across Ireland.
If that's the case, maybe God would have you be a part of it. If so, let us know. Email us or leave a comment on this post with your email (it won't be published) and we can guide you through the very painless process and answer any questions or concerns you may have.
And so we grind on...
Feb 22, 2007
Serving in Europe
As I mentioned in a previous post, our church, Coast Community Church, will be taking a team of individuals over to Dublin to work on the Trinity Church renovation.
What I failed to mention is that GEM's EuroTeam is going to be taking care of all the logistics and overseeing the work while we are there. Here is a quick video recently produced for EuroTeam.
Sorry, I was unable to embed it, so you need to go to YouTube to see it.
Click Here
What I failed to mention is that GEM's EuroTeam is going to be taking care of all the logistics and overseeing the work while we are there. Here is a quick video recently produced for EuroTeam.
Sorry, I was unable to embed it, so you need to go to YouTube to see it.
Click Here
Feb 17, 2007
Death and Dying
I have a long-time friend who is dying of cancer. He was first diagnosed in August with a brain tumor -- one of the most aggressive and deadly types there are -- and has now lost his sight and isn't responding too much to those around him. It has been such a long, hard road for his wife and their young daughter, as well as his parents, siblings and close friends.
I, along with probably everyone throughout history, have to ask why.
Why must people suffer so? Why can't death for God's children always happen quickly, painlessly, gracefully, and with dignity?
I don't really have any wise words in answer to this. Even David, in his psalms would wonder about this.
But here is what we have to realize. This life is not all there is. This life is, in fact, a very insignificant period of time. Not that what happens within the scope of our mortal years is insignificant -- don't misunderstand me. Indeed, our eternal fate is determined while we walk this earth.
Instead, when we consider eternity, this life is a drop-in-the-bucket, to borrow a cliché. When a person is four years old, a one year period is one fourth of his whole experience. But for me, looking back some forty years to that age, it is nothing.
But that little diversion does nothing to ease the pain we experience while bearing the mortal coil. To say "time heals all wounds" does nothing to make the present any more bearable.
No, more importantly, we should hold our secular experiences up to the light of the experience of eternity. By that I mean what our eternity holds for us. When we consider the joy, peace, comfort and love that will encompass our lives eternal once we shed the cares of this world and discover the end result of God's grace towards us, the earthly experience pales.
Not only is heaven beyond anything we could ever imagine, we are told this about our time there:
"And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." (Rev 21:4 NIV)
Paul puts it this way:
"I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (Phil 3:10-14 NIV)
And then:
"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." (Rom 8:18 NIV)
Maybe this offers little comfort for the present. At best perhaps I can only wish for it to give perspective and therefore hope.
Through the process of our friend's illness, I have witnessed another serendipitous aspect. It seems that his wife is experiencing the grace of God in a very real way. It is so apparent in her undying faith she expresses even in the toughest of times.
A number of years ago, another friend of ours, as she lay on her death bed said this, "I thank God for this cancer. I'm not sure I would have come to know Jesus otherwise. Even though I'm dying, it was worth it."
I had the privilege of conducting the funeral for a man who came to a saving knowledge of Jesus during his last stay in the hospital. Laying there in pain, unable to do anything, he told his wife, "These last few days have been the best days of my life. Why didn't I come to Jesus before now?"
God's grace is sufficient -- in all and through all.
Hope will not disappoint.
I, along with probably everyone throughout history, have to ask why.
Why must people suffer so? Why can't death for God's children always happen quickly, painlessly, gracefully, and with dignity?
I don't really have any wise words in answer to this. Even David, in his psalms would wonder about this.
But here is what we have to realize. This life is not all there is. This life is, in fact, a very insignificant period of time. Not that what happens within the scope of our mortal years is insignificant -- don't misunderstand me. Indeed, our eternal fate is determined while we walk this earth.
Instead, when we consider eternity, this life is a drop-in-the-bucket, to borrow a cliché. When a person is four years old, a one year period is one fourth of his whole experience. But for me, looking back some forty years to that age, it is nothing.
But that little diversion does nothing to ease the pain we experience while bearing the mortal coil. To say "time heals all wounds" does nothing to make the present any more bearable.
No, more importantly, we should hold our secular experiences up to the light of the experience of eternity. By that I mean what our eternity holds for us. When we consider the joy, peace, comfort and love that will encompass our lives eternal once we shed the cares of this world and discover the end result of God's grace towards us, the earthly experience pales.
Not only is heaven beyond anything we could ever imagine, we are told this about our time there:
"And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." (Rev 21:4 NIV)
Paul puts it this way:
"I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (Phil 3:10-14 NIV)
And then:
"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." (Rom 8:18 NIV)
Maybe this offers little comfort for the present. At best perhaps I can only wish for it to give perspective and therefore hope.
Through the process of our friend's illness, I have witnessed another serendipitous aspect. It seems that his wife is experiencing the grace of God in a very real way. It is so apparent in her undying faith she expresses even in the toughest of times.
A number of years ago, another friend of ours, as she lay on her death bed said this, "I thank God for this cancer. I'm not sure I would have come to know Jesus otherwise. Even though I'm dying, it was worth it."
I had the privilege of conducting the funeral for a man who came to a saving knowledge of Jesus during his last stay in the hospital. Laying there in pain, unable to do anything, he told his wife, "These last few days have been the best days of my life. Why didn't I come to Jesus before now?"
God's grace is sufficient -- in all and through all.
Hope will not disappoint.
Feb 10, 2007
The last weekend
Saturday and Sunday we had plans to be in Swords, which is just north of Dublin. Swords Baptist Church was having us do a vocal workshop for their worship team. They had decided, after the general worship workshop we did for them in September, that they wanted us to return and do one focused on vocals. So that's what we did. For 6 hours.
We had anticipated the workshop lasting about 4 hours, but in the end it was better to have the extended time, as we were able to work more with them singing on microphones and deal with issues regarding singing in ensemble with others, etc.
Saturday night we were wrecked, but fortunately didn't have to drive all the way back to Shankill (the Kingsleys' house) as we were staying with Rory and Mindy McDonald. Rory is the main worship coordinator for SBC and he and Mindy have become good friends of ours. It was so nice to be able to stay with someone that just let us veg and fall asleep in front of the TV. We really needed that.
Sunday morning, we were given the opportunity to lead worship at SBC. You never know what kind of situation you're getting yourself into when you are asked to lead worship at a church that you have never attended. However, this particular fellowship was a true joy to lead in worship. It only took a small amount of time before they got past the unfamiliarity of strange worship leaders (no derogatory comments please) and really engaged in worship.
One particularly moving moment was during a time that Beth and I were playing softly while people were sharing scriptures and prayers. Rory stood up and began singing a psalm to what we were playing. It was definitely one of those moments where the Holy Spirit was in control and it was so moving and powerful.
After service, we went to Jesse and Joyce Northcutt's for dinner. They are part of the GEM team and are in leadership at SBC. We had a great time with them and their family sitting around the table sharing stories and laughing together.
Then it was back to the Kingsleys' to pack our things and prepare to return home.
Monday's travels were basically uneventful. It was so good to see Molly waiting for us at the airport in Pensacola. She and her boyfriend William got us home and then Molly hung out for a while.
We slept 13 hours and woke up late the next morning. I am so used to being up before 7 AM that it was strange having half the day gone by the time we awoke Tuesday morning.
All-in-all this was our best trip so far. Never boring, for sure. Met some very interesting people, got a lot of encouragement, but most importantly, found God using us in many different ways in the lives of those with whom we were working. We are finding that our ministry is something that many feel is important and needed in the life of the Irish church.
This is exemplified in the following response we got from our evaluation that we send via email to those who have participated in our workshops:
Q - Did you find this workshop to be what you expected? Please explain.
A - I'd never been to anything like this before anyway, so really I didn't know what to expect to begin with...so I can't really say.The one thing I was afraid of was that the workshop would involve a lot of "musician speak" that would go over my head, discussing octaves or something! But I'm happy to say it wasn't like that at all and I found it perfectly easy to follow.
Q - What did you find most beneficial in this workshop?
A - I found it very easy to understand, and the advice you gave was very reasonable and easy to see the value of. Your experience in the area was very obvious, and I was glad that your advice had a nice balance between putting the focus on God's spirit working through you and also the more practical elements, perhaps, or worship music, such as musical competency, sound quality, etc.
Q - What did you find was of little or no value and why?
A - I think I can honestly say there was nothing I found of little or no value about the workshop...
Q - What else would you like to say about your experience Monday night?
A - Just that I think it was great! I don't think I have any criticisms, constructive or otherwise, about it, and it was a real encouragement and a learning experience for me, so thank you both and I look forward to seeing you again!!!
So now we have a mere 7 weeks to prepare for our next trip. We have 8 or 9 churches that want us to do a workshop for them. We will obviously not be able to accomplish all them in this next trip, so I guess we'll just have to keep going back. Bummer. No, not really. We love it.
Next time: this doppelganger existence.
We had anticipated the workshop lasting about 4 hours, but in the end it was better to have the extended time, as we were able to work more with them singing on microphones and deal with issues regarding singing in ensemble with others, etc.Saturday night we were wrecked, but fortunately didn't have to drive all the way back to Shankill (the Kingsleys' house) as we were staying with Rory and Mindy McDonald. Rory is the main worship coordinator for SBC and he and Mindy have become good friends of ours. It was so nice to be able to stay with someone that just let us veg and fall asleep in front of the TV. We really needed that.
Sunday morning, we were given the opportunity to lead worship at SBC. You never know what kind of situation you're getting yourself into when you are asked to lead worship at a church that you have never attended. However, this particular fellowship was a true joy to lead in worship. It only took a small amount of time before they got past the unfamiliarity of strange worship leaders (no derogatory comments please) and really engaged in worship.
One particularly moving moment was during a time that Beth and I were playing softly while people were sharing scriptures and prayers. Rory stood up and began singing a psalm to what we were playing. It was definitely one of those moments where the Holy Spirit was in control and it was so moving and powerful.
After service, we went to Jesse and Joyce Northcutt's for dinner. They are part of the GEM team and are in leadership at SBC. We had a great time with them and their family sitting around the table sharing stories and laughing together.
Then it was back to the Kingsleys' to pack our things and prepare to return home.
Monday's travels were basically uneventful. It was so good to see Molly waiting for us at the airport in Pensacola. She and her boyfriend William got us home and then Molly hung out for a while.
We slept 13 hours and woke up late the next morning. I am so used to being up before 7 AM that it was strange having half the day gone by the time we awoke Tuesday morning.
All-in-all this was our best trip so far. Never boring, for sure. Met some very interesting people, got a lot of encouragement, but most importantly, found God using us in many different ways in the lives of those with whom we were working. We are finding that our ministry is something that many feel is important and needed in the life of the Irish church.
This is exemplified in the following response we got from our evaluation that we send via email to those who have participated in our workshops:
Q - Did you find this workshop to be what you expected? Please explain.
A - I'd never been to anything like this before anyway, so really I didn't know what to expect to begin with...so I can't really say.The one thing I was afraid of was that the workshop would involve a lot of "musician speak" that would go over my head, discussing octaves or something! But I'm happy to say it wasn't like that at all and I found it perfectly easy to follow.
Q - What did you find most beneficial in this workshop?
A - I found it very easy to understand, and the advice you gave was very reasonable and easy to see the value of. Your experience in the area was very obvious, and I was glad that your advice had a nice balance between putting the focus on God's spirit working through you and also the more practical elements, perhaps, or worship music, such as musical competency, sound quality, etc.
Q - What did you find was of little or no value and why?
A - I think I can honestly say there was nothing I found of little or no value about the workshop...
Q - What else would you like to say about your experience Monday night?
A - Just that I think it was great! I don't think I have any criticisms, constructive or otherwise, about it, and it was a real encouragement and a learning experience for me, so thank you both and I look forward to seeing you again!!!
So now we have a mere 7 weeks to prepare for our next trip. We have 8 or 9 churches that want us to do a workshop for them. We will obviously not be able to accomplish all them in this next trip, so I guess we'll just have to keep going back. Bummer. No, not really. We love it.
Next time: this doppelganger existence.
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