Leading Toward a Biblical Culture - A & J

J and A lead an AIA STINT Team in East Asia at a Sports University. J is down front. A is man on the right and his wife S is in the red cap. K is their other teammate on top of the rock.

In the fall J met a girl and nicknamed her, “Stalker,” because she called so much. J says, "In our earlier conversations it seemed that Stalker wanted to be my friend for the wrong reasons, (to just learn English) and I really did not like her. After a conversation with her last semester, I had to confess to God my attitude toward Stalker, ask Him to help me see her like He does. I lost contact with her when I changed my phone number and then I left the country for a month. I thought I was free of Stalker. One day I was walking to the cafeteria a different way than normal and ran into her, she asked for my phone number, which I really did not want to give her, but my phone was in my hand at the time. So I thought, 'I will give her one more chance', even though I had brought up spiritual things a few times before and she seemed uninterested. When we met, I was able to share the gospel, and she prayed to receive Christ! I was surprised and wondered if it was a real decision. Time will tell if her decision is genuine, but after meeting with her again, it seems like it is. I asked her to buy a Bible, and the next day she attempted to do so. However, when I looked at what she bought, it was a book of stories about the Bible."

Earlier J and K led another friend to Christ. Over lunch J initiated spiritual conversation and asked this friend, "What do you believe in?" She answered, "I believe what my mom believes". "What does your mom believe?" J asked. She answered, "I do not know." J writes, "This example gives a taste of the culture in which I live." Since this girl received Christ made her mom will and they will in fact believe int he same thing.

I don't know if this is a smooth transition but since J mentions culture I will share with you part of an email I got last week. I asked some of our international partners to send prayer requests and I got one from an ICS whose team is handing the ministry over to students.

"For the ministry finances, that the students will be able to raise and sustain local funding for the weekly meetings (they have to rent a room and pay for the snacks)"

SOAP BOX ALERT!!!!!

Is this what we have succumb to that when we hand off ministry that our biggest prayer is that they have money for a meeting space and snacks? Not that they preserve and follow Jesus?

[A good friend pointed out that a very practical person wrote that prayer request and that there are people there who are concerned for the movement being like Jesus. This friend, who I totally respect, suggested I add more grace here and believe the best. I agree. The following is sarcasm which is not words that build up but its not meant so much to scoff the people serving in that location as much to point out we all in our best efforts may be building something that is too American in nature. I will keep it as is but note that I exaggerate the point to make a point. And I am just as guilty.]

I am sorry but I can't imagine Paul and Barnabas appointing elders in every town laying hands on them, encouraging them to remain true to the faith, and then saying: "We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God... so don't forget to raise money for snacks." When Paul was in Athens and he sent Timothy back to Thessalonica was he really worried if they had enough Baklava? Surely when he was kicked out of Philippi, he didn't worry about them needing to rent a weekly meeting space because the believers met by a river, in Lydia's house and a jail.

Does it sound like I am being too harsh? My soapbox is that I am afraid we have created a monster (or are in process in creating ones all over the world). We launch movements to leave them. Our whole diabolical plan is to turn them over to Nationals... whether staff, volunteers or students. It's a not a death when we finally leave, it's a celebration. It's what we long for.

But if we are launching something that is American in nature - a weekly meeting where you need to rent a room and buy snacks or anything of the sort - are we not setting them up to fail? Like where is it written we have to have a meeting every week? Are we thinking through what we leave behind?

I confess I did the same thing when I was on STINT. I remember we rented an apartment and in our first gathering of believers we had Western snacks that none of our disciples could afford. Then I noticed that only thing the East Asians ate were sunflower seeds and drank the tea. Little did I know we would be kicked out of the country in 5 months and leave this ministry to these young believers. I wished we showed them that they could follow Christ and help build His kingdom with the critical mass of a bible in their hand and the Holy Spirit in their hearts.

Learning a New World is a drive to a biblical culture. It might behoove us to think of anything and everything we are doing and ask, "If we left next week, could the national believers carry this on?" And not just in what we do but even in our discipleship. Are we really looking to entrust the movement to them? Are we thinking now of handing it off not just so far away time? Are we teaching them to be dependant on Jesus or us?

Okay I will get off my soapbox... have a good week.

8 Years

What can I say? I married up... way up!

My Mock Draft

(back to my original predictions as sounds like STL will take C. Long.)

1. Miami Dolphins - Jake Long OT Michigan
2. St. Louis Rams- Chris Long DE Virginia
3. Atlanta Falcons - Glenn Dorsey DT LSU 
4. Oakland Raiders- Darren McFadden RB Arkansas 
5. Kansas City Chiefs- Vernon Gholston DE/LB Ohio State
6. J-E-T-S - Sedrick Ellis DT USC
7. New England Patriots (from SF) - Keith Rivers LB USC
8. Baltimore Ravens - Matt Ryan QB BC
9. Cincinnati Bengals- Leodis McKelvin CB Troy
10. New Orleans - Branden Albert G/OT Virginia
11. Buffalo Bills- Devin Thomas WR Michigan State
12. Denver Broncos - Chris Williams OT Vanderbilt
13. Carolina Panthers - Derrick Harvey DE Florida
14. Chicago Bears - Ryan Clady OT Boise
15. Detroit Lions- Rashard Mendenhall RB Illinois
16. Arizona Cardinals -  Rodgers-Cromartie CB Tenn State 
17. Kansas City Chiefs- Jeff Otah OT Pittsburgh
18. Houston Texans -  Jonathan Stewart RB Oregon 
19. Philadelphia Eagles - DeSean Jackson WR California
20. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Mike Jenkins CB South Florida
21. Washington Redskins - Phillip Merling DE Clemson
22. Dallas Cowboys (from Cle.) -Felix Jones RB Arkansas
23. Pittsburgh Steelers - Lawrence Jackson DE USC
24. Tennessee Titans - Gosder Cherilus OT Boston College
25. Seattle Seahawks - Dustin Keller TE Purdue
26. Jacksonville Jaguars - Kentwan Balmer DT North Carolina
27. San Diego Chargers - Jerod Mayo - LB Tennessee
28. Dallas Cowboys - Limas Sweed WR Texas
29. San Francisco 49ers (from Ind.) - James Hardy WR Indiana
30. Green Bay Packers - Antoine Cason CB Arizona
31. New York Giants - Tyrell Johnson S Arkansas State

Turn Off My TV? Yeah, Right.

Whoever scheduled turn-off your TV week the same week that Lost is returning was crazy.

Watching Lost is like reading a book right?

Fearing God - Jill, Josh and Sarah

Jill & Josh Felix and Sarah Overmyer are leading in their second year of ministry in Wellington, New Zealand. Their team of 9 is a mixture of ICS (The Felixi), senior staff stint (Sarah), stint, national staff, and a national intern. Since it is only the second year for Student Life in Wellington, in a lot of ways they are still pioneering.

Sarah writes, "The school year started at the end of February, so action groups have only been going for a few weeks. One of the big praises this year is that the Lord has led us to students that do not have a relationship with Him but are keen to learn more about who Jesus is. One of the student women involved in one of these explorer Bible studies asked for a Bible so that she could read all of Luke over the Easter break! "

Josh adds, "As I move into my second year in New Zealand, I discover more or more how much I really don’t know about following Christ and yet God has called me to lead a staff team overseas! This year, I’ve seen a deep desire emerge in my heart and in the hearts of my teammates to truly live a missional lifestyle – where ministry is not our life, but our lives are ministry. Personally, I feel like I struggle far less with the conceptual side of following Christ than I do with the action side. And I’m not talking about the daily 'Ministry to Do' checklist, but really living out my faith day by day so that Christ would be seen and known through my life."

"As we’ve felt this tension in our hearts, we have hoped that students within our movement would begin to grapple with it as well while their own journeys to becoming disciples of Christ. To help facilitate this, we’ve formed a once-a-month gathering point (instead of a weekly meeting) to bring students together from all our campuses in Wellington to deeply explore their faith in the context of community. This evening (Fuse) entails a dinner together, a faith discussion, communion, and fellowship. Ultimately, as our student movement comes together at Fuse and other connecting times, our goal is that we are considering 'how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.' [Hebrews 10:24] We want Jesus to be known and the Gospel to be within arm’s reach of every student… everywhere."

Yesterday at the Day of Prayer, we opened by reading one of the penitential psalms, Psalm 130.
From the depths of despair, O Lord,
I call for your help.
Hear my cry, O Lord.
Pay attention to my prayer.
Lord, if you kept a record of our sins,
who, O Lord, could ever survive?
But you offer forgiveness,
that we might learn to fear you.
I am counting on the Lord;
yes, I am counting on him.
I have put my hope in his word.
I long for the Lord
more than sentries long for the dawn,
yes, more than sentries long for the dawn.
O Israel, hope in the Lord;
for with the Lord there is unfailing love.
His redemption overflows.
He himself will redeem Israel
from every kind of sin.

This Psalm is in the group from 120 to 134 that are postexilic and were sung on the annual pilgrimages to Jerusalem. Perhaps even Jesus as a boy of 12 sang these Psalms as his family took the pilgrimage for the Passover feast. Maybe he and the disciples sang them again before he went up the last time to Jerusalem. Kind of cool to think about.

I am struck by the oxymoron in Ps 130 that its because God forgives us that we should fear Him (or as this translation states 'learn to fear'.) It seems it may mind that I should fear God if I wasn't sure He forgave. And yet we should tremble before Him because He keeps no record of wrong... we stand in awe of a God who redeems us from every kind of sin... we learn to fear Him because in the depths of despair He hears us and with unfailing love redemption overflows. Amazing! Amazing!

When I think of 'fearing God', I am always drawn to the comparison/contrast in Exodus 20 when the assembly sees thunder, lightening and the mountain brimming with smoke and hear the trumpets and God audibly speak the 10 Commandments. Needless to say they are scared spitless.

That's how I am when I think of my sin and coming before a holy God. I would go further than Josh in saying 'I don't know much about really following Christ'. I am chief of sinners. Numero Uno. And yet from this depth of despair, I cry out to a holy awesome God!

The contrast is in Exodus 20:20 when Mose says "Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning." The Israelites (afraid) stayed at a distance but Moses (fearing God) approached the thick darkness where God was.

Here's some things I see from this:
~ Both look the same - throughout scripture fearing God is described as trembling before Him.
~ But being afraid of God keeps you at a distance.
~ While fearing God draws you to Him like a moth to the flame.
~ Being afraid of God, we make promises like the Israelites did to obey but with little real life change, certainly not a life worthy of Him.
~ Fearing God though brings about transformation. It keeps us from sinning.
~ Being afraid of God, we feel guilty.
~ Fearing God, we experience His mercy and unfailing love.

As Leaders we need to be like Mose. We need to fear God. We need to learn to fear Him. We need to wait on him like a sentry waits on the dawn. We need to lead others to understand His mercy in order to learn to fear Him. That's the gospel.

Traumatized

Easter Sunday all the kids at our church got a balloon with a bag of candy attached. When we got home and out of the van, Jack let go of his accidentally. As we watched it drift northward, Jack screamed bloody murder. Maybe for 15 minutes. He and Drew still talk about it and maybe a week after saw a hot air balloon and said it was Jack's.

Last weekend, we went to Mcguckin's and some nice old man working there gave us balloons. No helium. He blew up one for Drew and gave me extras for Jack and Drew who with Robin looking at seeds at the time. Jack and Drew's balloons have been in the car since then.

This morning, I spoke in Denver at a regional kickoff for our interns (8 am no less!) then went down to Englewood to buy a chair Robin found on Craig's List. I guess when we unloaded the chair this afternoon with the help of my neighbor, Noah, the balloons came out. The wind blew them into the backyard.

Jack freaked! The rest of the afternoon he laid on the sofa holding both balloons screaming if anyone opened the door in fear that his balloons would float away. Robin said he wouldn't even get up to get a snack.

I am thinking of buying him this.

Happy 79th Dad!

Building His Church at the Gates of Hell - M & M

M and M are in East Asia in one of the largest cities in the world. Their team of 5 is the first team to live out near their campus which is actually one of five universities built right next door to each other. All of the campuses were built in the last 5 years (lot of 5's) and they house primarily freshmen and sophomores although there are some upperclassmen. M (on right) writes, "Our team has loved the adventure of pioneering new movements among these campuses as well as guitar hero and the Lord has certainly surprised us even this semester."

Since the winter holiday, M (on the left) has spent time with a local house church. The pastor's heart is to equip and empower students to go share Christ with others on campus! "It has been great to see the Lord work in the body with and without us this semester. I even had a non-believing friend whom I was so burdened for, but whom I couldn't communicate with (her English was poor and my language is coming along) trust Christ at their church!", M goes on to say.

She concludes, "While we're seeing the Spirit move we have definitely felt the effects of spiritual warfare as well from illness to computer malfunctions to physical encounters with unclean spirits. Our city and nation has a dark past of worshipping foreign gods and the places we live in are not exempt from the repercussions. Although we've been surprised, as this degree of spiritual warfare has not been something we've faced in our lives in the states, I think we've all grown stronger in our convictions that the One within us truly is stronger than the one in the world."

Ceasarea Philippi was a city like this. It was a pagan city built at the foot of Mount Hermon by Herod Philip, a son of Herod the Great. It's history was rooted in worship of false gods. Before Joshua conquered this area, it was a place of Baal worship and later King Jerobam set up a golden calf on a high place in this area. During the time of Jesus, at the base of a cliff outside the city more than a hundred feet, the people of Ceasarea Philippi had built temples and shires dedicated to various gods. In fact at one time, the city was called Panias after the god Pan, the fertility god of mountains and forests. (Not the elfin boy that wouldn't grow up and liked peanut butter.)

The pagans believed that water represented the abyss and that caves were a door to the underworld. Caesarea Philippi stood near a cave with spring water flowing from it, and the locals thought of the cave as a gate to the underworld. This city was at the very Gates of Hell.

It was here in the shadow of this cliff of temples and the Gate to Hades, that Jesus asked his disciples, ""Who do people say the Son of Man is?" They answered with some crazy theories being tossed around, "John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah or another of the prophets". (All dead guys.) Jesus asked them the Kennedy questions, "But what about you? Who do you say I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

So Jesus, here in this pagan paradise, replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter (little stone) and on this rock (Petra) I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. " Jesus added that Peter would be given authority to bind and loosen whether in heaven or hell.

Here some key points I think for us as leaders from this passage and the verses that follow. (Matt 16:13ff ).

~ Jesus is building His church. He is doing it. It will happen. He will win.

~ It's upon this rock that He is building it. I guess this can be taken three ways.
a. A small peddle become a rock when filled with the Spirit. Compare and contrast, bold but scared Peter before Pentecost vs. 3,000 saved from his sermon, boldly speaking before Sanhedrin and 'rising up killing and eating'. (Though I don't think makes him Pope, sorry Benedict.)
b. It's upon a rock of confession. A declaration that Jesus is the Messiah, the sent One who came to bring justice to the nations. That's what the church is built on.
c. It's upon Satan stronghold's like this cliff at C.P. . Jesus isn't about building his church in wimpy places. He came to set the captives free.

~ The church is to be on the move and heaven the gates of Hell can't hold her back. It's like Jesus was declaring that there would be movements everywhere. We should be about taking new ground for the Kingdom... in cities with Satanic strongholds, in places of apathy, in crime-infested areas, in war-torn danger zones... everywhere. Wherever our foot trods, it is where the church is to advance and greater is He that it is in us...

~ It is by His death, burial and rez that He conquers the gates of Hell. The victory is already won. It's a foregone conclusion.

~ Jesus invites us into the plan of building his church by denying ourselves, taking up our cross and following Him. It's not a job, its a relationship. It's life.

May we walk in victory today!

Memorial to Esther Louise Baird Campbell

Five years ago this past Saturday my Grandmother went home to be the Lord. Five years ago today was her funeral. I had a part in the service with my Great Aunt (the adjective has duel meaning) and the same pastor/friend who married Robin and I.

This is a little long but I thought in her memory, I would post what I said at the funeral...

Thank you for coming. We are here to honor and remember my Grandmother. To eulogize means to extol, to praise highly, to speak well of someone. Sometimes that Greek word is translated 'to bless' in the New Testament. You know I think Grandma would be embarrassed by all this fuzz over her. But she is worth it.

I want to read a passage in Philippians. There are three commands, Paul gives to us on how to live as Christians, that I think exemplifies Grandma's life. They are found in Philippians 2:3 and following.

The first is in verse 3 "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves." This is so much like Grandma. Now she had some vanity. She would be embarrassed that her age was printed in the program. One time we had a 'discussion' on whether I should go out in public with a t-shirt that wasn't ironed. She felt it would reflect badly on the family. But she really did nothing out of selfish ambition and in humility always considered others better than herself. I see by your nodding that you agree that she was good, kind, humble. She was generous. I think that word characterized her life: she gave generously. I know she gave to the church, ministries and she faithfully financially supported my wife and I in our ministry. But she also gave of herself to everyone. There was not a greedy bone in her body. She took pride in others. I know she did of me, her grandson and my sisters and my dad but she did of all the family. She was an encouragement to us all.

The 2nd command Paul gives to "look out not only (or merely) to your own interests but also to the interests of others." That was so much like grandma. Now she was not weak or mild. She cared about herself. She always was well-dressed. She was beautiful. She had great joy and was funny. I loved to hear her tell stories and imitate others voices as she told them. But she really looked after others. She was caring, tender, compassionate. She was sweet and loving. She was affectionate to all. She always wanted 'to get some sugar" and when I got to be about Isaac's age at 10, I didn't want my grandmother always kissing on me. But I wish I could get some sugar again. She was devoted to her family and protective. Remember Laura and Belinda, what she would say when we got in the car to leave Rockmart? She would look at mom and dad and say, "Be careful. There's precious cargo in there." I thought she was a little over-protective sometimes. when we spent the night with her, she would always place a chair by the bed to make sure I didn't fall out. One time I was sleeping in that bed of hers that was high up off the floor, remember that bed? I had to be a teen-ager and she put a chair by my bed. When she left the room, I moved it. that night for the only time in my life... I fell out of bed. I never told her. I was afraid she would have come out to Colorado to make sure I had a chair by my bed at night or at least made sure Robin did.

The last command is 'to have the attitude of Christ Jesus...' This is Grandma too. She experienced a lot of hard times in life and I never heard her complain. I think her only regret was that she didn't get her high school diploma. If I remember it right, Aunt Ruth, it was because she had to quit school to get work and help the family. She always sacrificed for others. She worked hard. Mom, did you ever know a time when she came over and didn't say, "Gladys is there anything I can do to help?" She was a servant. Jesus said, "the greatest among you is one who serves". She was the greatest among us and we didn't even know it.

One blessing the bible gives is 'blessed are those who die in the Lord."

Now Saturday when my grandmother passed away she was getting dressed. I don't know why. She got a little confused about time these last few months: calling my dad in the middle of the night or forgetting what day it was. Maybe she was confused. I like to think she wasn't. I like to think that she was getting ready for a reunion... a Baird Family Reunion.

I picture a hillside with a huge picnic table with a large spread and a huge gathering with joy and laughing, rejoicing and singing. Great Grandma Baird is there welcoming another child who has joined the reunion. And there is also her papa, who I never knew, but she loved. She said he was a great man of God. And there's all her brothers and sisters who knew the Lord as their Savior and have on before. There's Grice, Willie B, Vera and Charlie. There's Mary and Leon who died at a young age. There's Tom and Jack. And there are others there. Ray is there and Uncle Charles. My grandpa Carl Campbell. Ane Dad, maybe your Dad is there. Perhaps in his last breath he cried out to Jesus to save him. There's a host of others there too. Family who have gone on before us: Bairds, Dicks, Masks. All those ancestors you have researched, Terry, who knew the Lord.

Sis has come home!

But there's someone else at the reunion. I know He is there to greet my grandmother. Someone she loved though she had never seen: Her Joy, Her Savior, Her Redeemer, Her Lord. The One who died for her. Oh, she knew His presence before but now sees Him face-to-face as He is.

I believe Jesus rose to greet my grandmother. I believe He said, "Louise I have been waiting for you. I have prepared a place for you. It's reserved in your name since you were a young girl and placed your faith in Me. It's your inheritance. Louise, be my bride. Walk down the aisle once again but this time with me. There is no death, or morning or crying or pain. That's all done away with. What was mortal has been swallowed up by life. Rest from your labor, your deeds have followed you." Oh what joy!

You see, in our weak faith, many have said "your Grandmother is better off now." But its so much more true. Sometimes I think we say this when older people die just because we can't imagine life being worth that much. But as a believer, heaven is always so much more greater than this life.

I believe Jesus said to my grandmother, "Well done, Louise. Well done, my good and faithful servant... come and share in my happiness forever. Louise, I see sugar running down your cheek, let me get some."

New Carpet, New paint, Old Paint

The first thing we noticed when we looked at house was ... the carpet has to go and it needs painting. Not because either was so worn (though the carpet has its share of stains from previous pet owners), just ugly.

Using some of our tax refund money, a few weeks ago we finally purchased some carpet for the garden level. Got a sweet deal from Sloane's Carpet Secret. I will share the secret for the local readers... just on weekends in the Spring they sale carpet out of a warehouse. It's supposed to have flaws but when they showed them to us, we were like 'that's a flaw?'.

The only flaw is that like a baby rhino, Drew marked his territory the first day we had it. We will wait on re-carpeting the upstairs until the boys are fully potty-trained.

Anyway they installed it a few weeks ago. We wanted them to wait until we had painted but there was some miscommunication. We did put all the downstairs furniture in the garage though. Today, Robin and I moved most of it back in. She started painting one wall in the big family room downstairs. Soon we will actually use that area that we haven't since the flood.

While Robin painted, I dealt with 18 gallons and 15 quarts worth of paint stored in our garage by previous owners. (This doesn't count a few more gallons which were oil based. I just dealt with the latex based ones.) Some was as old as from 1994. The vast majority were colors most people would have not found attractive even 14 years ago. Why buy quart-sized touchpaint on colors you have full gallons of? And why save them all these years? I digress.

I followed the instructions I found on a Google search...
1. Remove and discard lid.
2. Make sure paint is 1/2 full or less. Pour excess into empty milk jug(s).
3. Add clay-based kitty litter so can is 3/4 full.
(18 gallons and 15 quarts take almost 3 -20 lb bags of kitty litter.)
4. Stir mixture.
(I would add that if you add a quart cup, stir and then add in another quart-sized cup, it makes it easier to stir.)
5. If liquid paint remains, add more Kitty litter.
6. Let dry until hard.
7. Dispose of can in the garbage.

Luke helped me with the mixtures because I sold it as a science experiment over work.

Servants Entrusted with Secret Things - Jason and Adena

Jason Diaz (in the middle with a green shirt on) and Adena Mikkelsen are leading the STINT team in beautiful Costa Rica. They are only in week 5 of their STINT year. And despite the fact its only 75 miles at the most to a beach either to the west or east of them, they haven’t been just taking it easy for several months. The school year is just beginning at the University of Costa Rica.

Adena shared, "A spring break team from the University of Idaho arrived the first week of campus to help us get the school year launched. Partnering with them, we saw one guy come to Christ and we have 36 other students to follow up. We are blessed to be working with national staff who are giving us wisdom and insight into culture and ministry here."

The team has in 5 weeks has faced a few trials like a mugging. Adena writes, "It is with faltering steps that we are running this race. After bursting out of the starting blocks, our pace was halted by campus being closed down for the entire week before Easter. Emotional and physical difficulties, crisis back home, and a threat to our safety early on in the year have kept our team from hitting a stride with ministry. All we can say is that we are here. We are showing up and trusting in God to direct us in ways that we can't yet predict."

The Corinthian body were messed up church folk. They had this major immorality issue, lawsuits among believers, a huge lack of love in how they related to one another and no small quarrels among the churches that met in the households of Chloe, Gaius, Stephanus and Cripus Crèmes. Some were saying, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Peter"; while others took the high road and said, "I follow Christ." (Sort of like the American believers: "I’m of Calvin", "I’m of Louis Giglio", "I follow Matt Mikalatos", "I like Hurley", "I raise kids God's way" etc.) .

Paul tells them, "Dudes, (he likes Hurley too), you are acting like little babies so I am having to be your nursemaid. Grow up! You are as carnal as bricks with all this jealously and bickering about which camp you are in. Who cares?!? Apollos and I are merely servants. It's about God not about us."

Before Paul dives into the immorality issue in chapter 5, puffed-up knowledge in chapter 8 and showing them a more excellent way in chapter 13; in chapter 4 he says, "Men ought to regard us as servants of Christ entrusted with the secret things of God." He says that it is required of a servant to be found faithful and all that will happen in the end when God judges the thoughts and motives of the hearts. It will all be figured out then.

He tells them not to take pride in him or Apollos or anyone over against another. And Paul goes to write about himself in a not so lofty way: "For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men. We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world."

What does this have to do with us as leaders? Paul doesn’t write this to shame those Carnal Corinthians but to warn them and to let them know that the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. For us this is a reminder and a warning as well.

~ It’s not about us.
~ We are merely His servants entrusted with the secret things of God.
~ It's about showing up and trusting Him to direct us in ways we can't predict.
~ Whatever happens to us – campus being closed down for a whole week, emotional and physical difficulties, crisis’s back home, threats to safety, or whatever - is to the benefit of the glory of God, his gospel and those who hear.

~ It’s not about us… It’s about Him.

Zoo Day

Yesterday I took Luke, Jack and Drew to the zoo. (Luke is ducking from camera view on this 'train' pic.) See Robin is out of town at a Women's conference and I needed something to distract them.

The night before at a very out-of-control-crying-for-mommy moment, I let Jack and Drew know that we were going to zoo next day. I explained to them what we will see. They started to get shoes and jackets on right then. Jack even opened the door to go outside. I had to tell them that the zoo was closed for the night.

When they woke up in the morning, they started right away heading out the door to the van. I had to tell them that the zoo wasn't open at 6:30 am and besides Luke was still asleep and they needed more than just diapers to wear.

We loaded up the van with 3 boys, snacks, packed lunch, water bottles, and red wagon. Jack and Drew insisted on opening their water bottle right away. I warned them that I couldn't stop on the interstate if they spilled it. I drove down to Denver. Drew of course dropped his water bottle and screaming ensued.

We made it okay, refilled his water bottle.

Long day to tell every little detail. basically for we were at zoo for 4 1/2 hours and I pulled boys in a wagon for 4 of those. Most of the time Luke climbed in too because he was too tired to walk.

Sarcasm at It's Best

What's better than a Saturday morning with three sick little boys?

Matt Mikalatos Sermon

Link to a recent sermon given by Matt on John 11.

My Brackets

The Final Four is upon us and for the first time since I can ever remember I am still in this thing. My theory of filling out as many brackets as possible actually didn't hurt me this year. ... So far.

Like you care... here's a breakdown of where I stand...

1. My facebook - I have Memphis over Kansas. I am sitting at 7th place among 123 friends of mine playing. This bracket is in several groups. I think if Memphis wins, I win though someone close to me may have UNC instead of Kansas in the final.

2. Sleestack Madness - which is another CBS bracket group launched by Orange Jack. In this one I also have Memphis winning but over UNC. This is the 5th year in a row I have been in this group. I am 9th of 25 but no one above me has Memphis. And the other two guys who have Memphis also have UNC in the final game. So basically if Memphis wins, no matter who they play, I win.

3. On ESPN.com I have 4 brackets in two groups. In one group ('Hoops2008' run by a friend from HS and College) I have 3 brackets and then I have one in a Great Plains region group. My real one: 'Felton's Phenoms' - is sitting tied for #1 of 67 entries of Hoops2008. It's at 98% of what the overall leader in ESPN has. In this one again, I have Memphis over Kansas. I can say honestly that this bracket is the one I filled out first. The others are tweaks of that. One is a joke as I called it "1983 revisited' and put UGA in the final four.

I haven't totally seen what would happen in the ESPN one or Facebook one, if its Memphis vs. UNC but basically if this scenario plays out: Memphis and Kansas winning on Sat. and Memphis winning on Monday, I win this ESPN bracket, facebook (among friends and all of my groups except maybe the "John McCain" one) and the Sleestack one!

If Memphis loses... my only hope is doing 'better' in the other 3 ESPN brackets as one has UNC winning, one has UCLA winning and one has Kansas.... So go Tigers!!!!

Of course since my wife doesn't like watching sports or understand why I do... I probably lose no matter what.

New Era

Despite the April Fools joke earlier this week, we are officially out of the crib stage...

We held out as long as we could... Last Saturday Jack decided he was ready fro a big boy bed. Drew said he wasn't. So we dismantled Jack's crib and brought up a single bed mattress and box spring that Robin had since college I think. (It's really old and held together but duct tape.).

For a few nights Jack and Drew shared this mattress. We had a few nights where they kept coming out laughing and making excuses about not going to bed. But for the most part they have stayed there without the bars of the crib.

A couple of nights later, Drew decided he wanted his own big boy bed so we stacked the two crib mattresses on the floor next to Jack's. But it wasn't until two night ago that I officially took down his crib and styored int he garage next to Jack's while Robin read them bed-time stories. Drew kissed it good-bye.

Yesterday morning when I woke up they were out of their beds quietly playing. No more crying for mommy to come get them. No more having to wait until we got up. They are free. I think Robin is a little sad, though.

Building through Sending - Ann

Ann Hrivnak is on staff STINT leading the team in London for 2nd year. The team is a mixture of two 2nd year STINTers (Jill and Shelley), a Brit and two Koreans who finished their STINT in February. But before we get too deep into the goings-on in London, she should start with the biggest news in Ann’s life this year…

“I was at the STINT mid-year conference in Nerja. Before I left, Adrian gave me a DVD that he had made which had him talking on it and had music and photos of us over the past year. I also received two letters from him during the week via my roomies, Jill and Shelley. (Jill and Shelly are on their 2nd year of STINT with Ann in London.) On Saturday night at midnight I went for a walk with Jill and Shelley to this cliff that overlooked the Mediterranean. Jill handed me her iPod and on it was a song that Adrian had written for me. It was really dark out so as I was listening to the song I could see tons of stars and I was able to look down over the cliffs in to the water. After the song finished, I heard his voice from behind me and I turned around to see him! Then he said lots of nice things to me... though I can't remember any of them because I was totally in shock still that he was even there in Spain! Then he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him! I think I might have said ‘Are you kidding?!’ at first, but then said ‘YES!’”

Ann and her team work primarily at the London School of Economics. Right now Ann is actually in the US for a little bit (wedding planning?) while Adrian, Jill and Shelley are with 5 students in Rotterdam Holland on a weeklong missions trip to reach students there. Their desire is that while they are in Holland that they will get to see 10 people trust Christ into their lives and become lifelong multiplying disciples. One of the students from LSE on this Missions Trip is Lola. Jill has been discipling Lola since last year and this year Lola started discipling a first year student called Precious and another gal named Jerusha.

The apostle Paul was like Ann, Jill and the team in London. Luke writes at the start of Acts 20 about several men who traveled with Paul. If you follow the story this is near the end of Paul’s 3rd Missionary Journey. He just spent a 3-year STINT in Ephesus establishing the church there that would take the gospel to all of Asia and launch other churches/movements in cities where Paul will not personally visit like Colossae and Laodicea.

Paul at this point knew it was time to move on in order to let the Ephesian elders lead and decided to go back and revisit some movements he had launched on his 2nd journey. So he goes to Macedonia and encourages the folks in Philippi, Thessalonica and Berea. He swings south through Athens and then Corinth where he 3 months in Corinth and writes the Book of Romans. Afterwards, he swings back through Macedonia and send these seven men who were traveling with him ahead of him to Troas.

Luke tells us of these 7 men (I will throw in an 8th). Look where they are from…
Cities on 1st Missionary Journey: Lystra – Timothy. Derbe – Gaius.

Cities of 2nd Missionary Journey: Thessalonica - Aristarchus and Secundus. Berea - Sopater son of Pyrrhus. Corinth – Erastus (not mentioned here but is mentioned in chapter before where Paul sends him and Timothy ahead of him from Ephesus. We know from Romans that he is from Corinth and he is probably not mentioned at this point in the narrative because he stayed in Corinth to continue his daytime job as Corinth’s director of public works.)

Cities of 3rd Missionary Journey: Ephesus - Tychicus and Trophimus. (If they are not personally from city of Ephesus but other locales in Asia, they may have heard the message while he preached at Hall of Tyrannus and been discipled in Ephesus.)

What do we conclude from this? While Paul was on STINT planting movements in all these areas, he was entrusting what he planted to leaders in these cities to carry on the work. Sometimes these leaders would go out on their own like how the church in Colossae was established by Epaphras. And yet we see here that Paul also was strategically taking young men with him. He was getting them outside their comfort-zone and involved in the mission. He was training these guys in the context of ministry. ‘Build’ happened in the midst of ‘Send’. ‘Win’ happened while he was ‘Building’ and ‘Sending’ others. He wasn’t looking to do ministry alone. He was always killing two birds with one stone.

I don’t know the end of the story for all these guys. Timothy we know. Erastus, as mentioned before, stayed in Corinth. Aristarchus would later be imprisoned with Paul. Maybe this Gaius is the same one John addresses his third epistle to. I am not totally sure. But the gospel was furthered because Paul took it upon himself to send (or technically ‘bring and send’.)

May The Lord raise up for all oi you a Timothy, Gaius, Aristarchus, Secundus, Sopater son of Pyrrhus, Erastus, Tychicus and/or Trophimus.

Nemo Fossor

Can you believe it - Robin is expecting a kid next December?!?

We will call her April Felicity or Otis Lavay 'same as my Daddy'