Its A Miracle!

God wants to birth a miracle through you. “What? I’m not qualified. I don’t know much about the bible and I have lots of doubts about how all of this God thing works. There has to be someone more worthy and qualified than me.” Don’t sweat it. God doesn’t need your ability. God simply needs your availability so God can work the miracle through you.

Jesus said….”Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” Jesus was speaking of the Holy Spirit, the same Holy Spirit that conceived the miracle of Jesus in Mary’s womb indwells in every devoted Jesus follower. God births miracles through ordinary people.

Jesus was ordinary. Isaiah said…”He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.” Does that sound like the profile of a world movement leader to you?

Most of us can relate to being ordinary. From the time we are children we become cruelly proficient in developing a social pecking order. Who is cool, smart and beautiful and who is not is often determined in the first weeks of kindergarten by the natural leader and the class clown.

Jesus himself was at the bottom of the pecking order. He came from the lowest socioeconomic class and a speck in the road community called Nazareth. Jesus would have never made People’s magazine list of top fifty beautiful people in the world or been listed in his high school year book as the most likely to do anything.

Throughout Scripture God chooses ordinary unqualified people to do miracles like the ineloquent Moses, child David, barren Elizabeth, a teenager named Mary and a day laborer named Joseph. God unleashes his extraordinary power through ordinary people to perform miracles that change the world. I don’t know about you but that is great news because I am about an ordinary as they get!

But to be used to birth a miracle, we must be willing to be used and to pay the price. Grace is free but it is not cheap and the birth of a miracle is always costly. Ostracism, rejection, changing your plans are just some of the costs of birthing God’s miracle. Becoming pregnant with God’s son was not the miracle for which Mary and Joseph had been hoping and certainly not before they were married.

At Christmas we celebrate the birth of a Messiah who was born not only to die sacrificially on the cross but to show us how to live sacrificially. Sacrifice is not a pleasant word. It makes some of us uncomfortable and most folks would rather have a holly jolly Christmas than to give themselves as a “womb” for an honest to God Christmas miracle, and yet we cannot separate the manger from the cross.

I received an email several years ago that said…”I cannot take another Birthday Gift to Jesus Christmas so our family is going to search for another church home that celebrates Christmas more like the traditional Christmas we know.”

How biblical is the “Christmas we know?” Most of our Christmas traditions start with little biblical truth. Even our Christmas Carols are sanitized versions of a rather traumatic event….”The cattle are lowing the baby awakes, the little Lord Jesus no crying he makes.” Yeah right! Who can relate to a newborn who doesn’t cry? The biblical Christmas was a snapshot of poverty and anxiety not good warm fuzzies. I don’t blame the former member, because we have all grown up with those feel good Santa Claus Jesus Christmases where we are oblivious to God’s heart for those who suffer in our own backyard and to the ends of the earth.

The miracle of Christmas is about a sacrificial gift. It is easy to get excited about a newborn warmly wrapped in a manger bed of straw but the cradle comes with a cost. You cannot separate the cradle from the cross. The cross is the center of the entire Christian message including the message of Christmas.

Jesus call to follow him in the way of the cross challenges every Christmas tradition and value we hold to be truth. Miracles do not appear out of thin air like magic. We will not receive and deliver God’s miracle unless we are ready and willing to pay the cost.

Christmas is about a miracle and miracles don’t just happen. They are born through the pains of labor. Pain is not comfortable, but if we are willing to go through it, God will conceive and deliver a miracle through us. If we do all that we can, God will do what we can’t.

One week from today we will assemble for Christmas Eve worship. Have you stepped out of your comfort zone yet and invited someone to join you for Christmas Eve worship? Two Christmas Eve’s ago I was pulling out to get ready for worship when I stopped to speak to one neighbors while they were checking their mail box. As I drove off I did the uncomfortable and invited them to Christmas Eve worship. Their response: ”I thought you were never going to ask. We would love too!” People are waiting for your invitation.

And have you set aside or yet determined the offering you will bring to celebrate Jesus birthday? Have you sacrificially down sized your own Christmas so that God can use you to birth a miracle? Are you prepared to give a financial gift to Jesus that at least matches the value of the gifts you are giving to family and friends? Are you ready to take the next step and acknowledge by your sacrifice that Christmas is not your birthday?

Yes, God performs miracles through ordinary people like you and me, but like Mary and Joseph, we must be willing to commit to the pains of labor so that God can do the impossible through us.

Invite your family, friends, neighbors and bring your sacrificial offering, Birthday Gift to Jesus, on Christmas Eve. Then get ready for the miracle God will perform through you into the lives of people you know and love and even to those who dwell in Ethiopia, Nicaragua and Mexico.

Are you ready for God to birth a miracle through you? I am!!

Christmas Eve Worship

3:00 PM Contemporary, Family Friendly

5:00 PM Contemporary

7:00 PM Traditional

Merry Christmas,

Rick

Come Home for Christmas

“Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go and love your wife again, even though she commits adultery with another lover. This will illustrate that the Lord still loves Israel, even though the people have turned to other gods and love to worship them.” (Hosea 3:1)

Christmas is the anticipated time of year when family members gather from different corners of the country and beyond to celebrate the best of what we hold dear in our relationships. Yet for some, it can also represent the ominous presence of past hurts and even current relational pain, making Christmas depressing or lonely.

Dallas and I see Christmas as a great opportunity to celebrate the gift of family. All three of our boys will come home and join us in the parade of Christmas celebrations. Dallas and I are blessed to have parents who are flexible when we can show up for Christmas so we take turns from year to year who we are with on Christmas Day but over a three day period we will be in three different homes praying, eating, telling stories, laughing and exchanging gifts.

One of our favorite Christmas traditions is to huddle up like we used to when the boys were small and watch a movie together. Christmas Vacation is the annual movie of choice on Christmas Eve but in the days to come we will watch one or two others. Last year we watched the DVD “He’s Just Not That Into You.” The movie is about a young single woman named Gigi who is caught up in the cycle of superficial serial dating. Gigi repeatedly misreads comments and actions from her male dates as authentic interests. After each date, which tends to culminate in a brief bedroom encounter, Gigi returns home and obsessively sits by the phone, waiting for the call that never comes.

Everyone wants to know that he or she is important to someone. Remember how kids passed notes back and forth in grade school? “I like you. Do you like me” Check yes, no or maybe.” That’s because God created us for intimate, authentic relationships.

Unfortunately, we are all capable of compromising our most fundamental beliefs to make such intimate connections. Why else do people stay in abusive relationships or commit to others who have conflicting belief structures?

At some time in our lives, each of us will experience rejection. Whether we are young or old, rejection is painful. Whether it be on the school playground, the board room or the bed room, rejection makes a huge imprint in our development as persons. Is it any wonder that we learn early on to portray ourselves as being someone other than who we really are and create layers of emotional defenses to protect ourselves from relational pain?

Worse, our esteem deficiencies carry over into our relationships with God. Most of us have no problem believing in God but we struggling being secure of God’s belief in us. Do you ever think…”How can God believe in me? How could God ever possibly desire me?”… Most of us are pretty adept at hiding our imperfections and deficiencies from others while being fully aware that we can’t hide them from God.

So what do we do? Like Adam and Eve we run and hide from the sound of God’s approaching footsteps because we are ashamed. We create an emotional barrier between us and God. God is not emotionally detached or running from us. We run away from God.

Christmas is the heralding of God who comes to be with us. God is the one who pursues us. The Incarnation is the revelation of God’s scandalous love affair with humanity! Father God sends Jesus to invite us to come home for the family celebration!

One of the most passionate illustrations of God’s love affair with humanity is in the book of Hosea. God’s chosen people, Israel, had wandered from the Lord. Hosea described their wandering as the worse kind of infidelity and compared it to prostitution. God was saying “cheating” on him was killing the relationship. Jesus himself said…”You can’t have two lovers. You will always favor one over the other.” (Matthew 6:24)

But God demonstrates his unrelenting love for Israel by telling Hosea to go and marry a wife of “whoredom” and have children of “whoredom.” Can you imagine marrying someone you knew would be unfaithful and spending the rest of your life wondering if your children were really your own? Who would knowingly set themselves up for such a life of hell? God.

God’s love is not rational. God’s love makes no sense. Thank goodness beauty is in the eye of the beholder and when God looks at you, God’s heart pounds like a mom witnessing her son walk through the door at Christmas even though he has just spent days in jail for some heinous crime. And when that daughter shows up, the Father smiles from ear to ear even though she spurned his values and is living as a concubine with an ungodly man. That is what you call crazy, scandalous love.

And that is what you call Christmas. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.” (John 3:16) I don’t know how you are being unfaithful to God or how far away you have drifted, but this I do know, with a scandalous love God is relentlessly pursuing, inviting you through his Son to come home, come home for Christmas.

Christmas Eve Worship

3:00 Family Friendly

5:00 Contemporary
7:00 Traditional

Rick

Who Does God Look Like?

Too often we view God like Santa Claus, a genie in a bottle here to fulfill our three wishes. All we have to do is name it and claim it, believe it and receive it. We have created a Santa Claus Jesus in our own image, a golden calf messiah who promises to fulfill all our earthly wants and wishes, an idol of consumption who supports the human quest for meaning and purpose in material things outside of a relationship with God.

Think of how we describe Santa…”He sees you when you are sleeping……He knows if you have been bad or good.” Our popular notion of Santa reflects the way we have reduced God to a mythical watchdog who judges our niceness or naughtiness and metes out rewards and punishment accordingly.  

This is not the God we see in Jesus. Jesus was not the messiah most people were expecting and hoping for. He did not come shimming down the chimney bearing gifts for good boys and girls.  God’s gifts cannot fit in a stocking but must be received in our hearts.  Neither does God leave a lump of coal  for those who have erred off the plan. “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn but to save.” (John 3:17)

This is important because the picture you have of God has everything to do with the shaping of your faith and values. If your picture of God is distorted, your life perspective will be skewed.  With this faulty image of Jesus as magical gift giver, it is no wonder our expectations of the Christmas season have become distorted. God doesn't do magic. Magic is an illusion, meant for entertainment and not for transformation. God came to work miracles in broken lives that live in a broken world.

The ideal magical Christmas experience is unattainable. We stress ourselves out and even go into debt to create that warm fuzzy feeling for both ourselves and our families, but that feeling doesn't last. The real meaning of Christmas gets lost in the chaotic clutter of shopping, spending, escalating debt, making exhausting preparations and building stacks of gifts that most of don’t want, don’t need and or will never use.   Anyone besides me have items in their closet from Christmas past that have never been worn?  In the chaos of the holiday season we miss the true gift, Emanuel, God with us.

Enjoy all of your family Christmas traditions, decorate, shop and bake. Take your children to see Santa and delight in the blessing of gift giving and gift receiving. At the same time, remember to teach an accurate and clear picture of who Jesus really is to your family.  Here are a few teaching points.

Everything about a Jesus life stood in stark contrast to our worldly priorities and values.  He arrived on the scene not in strength but in weakness.  He was born among an oppressed people, living his early years as a refugee in Africa eluding political genocide. He grew up in a working class family. As a man he lived in tension with organized religion.  He resisted the world’s obsessions with wealth, pleasure, power and recognition.  He identified with the weak, the powerless, the widow and the orphan.  He did not condemn but defended the sinner.He came to show us God as the perfect parent who offers us unconditional love and the encouragement to live a godly life. 

So who does God look like, Santa or Jesus? Like Jesus!  Jesus was the embodiment of God’s values and priorities.  He is Emmanuel, “God with us.”  In Jesus we see not only the face of God, but all the fullness of his humanity, who you and I are created to me. I can believe in a God who looks like Jesus.

Can you?  Santa does.

Peace,

Rick

Christmas: Revolutionaries of Hope

I love the Lord of the Rings trilogy by J. R. Tolkein. The three books are not only exciting adventure stories but also demonstrate what it means to be the people of God. The third book of the trilogy, The Return of the King, always reminds me that we are living in that “between” time right now, the time between Jesus first appearance on Planet Earth and the moment of his return.

Sam and Fredo, the two hobbits of the trilogy know they must leave the safe comfort of their Shire to become revolutionaries for good. Against their better judgment and peace loving, risk averse nature, they set off for the evil land of Mordor, risking hearth, home and even their very lives to move against the forces of darkness. In one particularly bleak moment deep in the enemy’s territory, Sam is able to spot a single star shining out of the darkness above the heavy clouds of Mordor.

Sound familiar?  “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:5) Even in the darkness the true light has come into the world and the darkness can never eradicate it.

Within the Church, especially in the past century, we have reduced Christmas to pageants, presents, candle lighting and carol singing. We converted Saint Nicholas into Santa Claus and then rolled both into our picture of Jesus. We have memorialized the birth of the Savior through fun yet expensive family Christmas traditions and familiar watered down comfortable Christmas Eve worship services instead of following him into battle against the kingdom of darkness. We forget, or ignore entirely, that we are to be kingdom operatives, like Sam and Frodo, serving as Christ’s revolutionaries of hope in the world.

This year, let it be a different kind of Christmas. Instead of simply preparing for Christmas, prepare for Jesus to do a new thing in your own life. Instead of  spending all of your time and energy preparing your house for Christmas, prepare your heart to be the manger where Jesus can be born anew.  The miracle of Christmas looks nothing like the materialistic Christmas of our culture. Instead of getting sucked into the false promises of wall street advertising, be drawn into the real miracle, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” (John 1: 14)

Expect the miracle, be the miracle, share the miracle, until the return of our King and the full restoration of his Kingdom, until his will is done in you and on Planet Earth as it is in heaven. 

Peace,

Rick

Thanksgiving or Black Thursday Night?

We are only two days away from Thanksgiving, a holiday that now simply seems to herald the arrival of Black Friday. In fact this year, the Big Box Retailers are getting a jump start on the competition with an opening volley of “door buster” deals starting at 8 PM Thanksgiving Day soon to be known as Black Thursday Night. By the time you factor in the two hour early arrival lot many of us will reduce Thanksgiving Day with our families to “Thanksgiving Afternoon.” How ironic is it that we will cut short a day intended to count our blessings in order to accumulate more stuff we certainly don’t need and really can’t afford?

I am challenging you this year to join me and my family in having a different kind of Christmas, one that abdicates the over spending, overeating and the materialism typically associated with the Advent Season and focusing on the life changing impact of God arriving on planet earth in the flesh as a baby.

To help those who accept this challenge, I will blog five short Advent Devotions on successive Monday mornings beginning Monday November 26. Advent does not begin until December 2 but I am afraid that the power of marketing and “Blockbuster” sales will have already sucked you in so we will start a week early. I will also pause Thanksgiving Night and again early “Black Friday” morning with your weekend prayer requests in hand. Dallas and I will be praying for you even as you strive to resist the temptations of our gluttonous world.

We love you and yearn for you to this year have a different kind of Christmas, a Christmas where you are able to enjoy Christmas traditions without consuming more than you can afford or need, a Christmas where you experience the reality of the “Word Became Flesh” and are so transformed that God will be able to use you to change the world, one person at a time with the incredible life changing love of Jesus.

“The Word became flesh and lived among us.” John 1:14

I am praying for you. Please pray for me.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Rick

We Are Growing!

When my dad was three or four he would often follow his own dad into the corn fields to check on the crop. Regularly my papaw Owen would hunker down in the middle of the field, draw my dad between his knees and say….”Mather……If you get real quiet….and listen…..you can hear the corn grow.”

The more I listen to you worship, watch you serve, read of your small groups, hear of your increasing passion to be in the Word I have become starkly aware that you, we are growing….spiritually! We just passed the halfway mark of 2012 and the harvest has been plentiful in many ways.

- 11 have professed their faith in Jesus, 22 have been baptized, 74 adults have joined the church

- Your are engaged in worship from beginning to end and most of you are even showing up at the beginning! Our summer worship attendance is at all time high and new attenders walk in our doors EVERY weekend.

- We have a greater percentage of the body engaged in Small Groups than ever before in our history. Thus far 43 new groups have formed in 2012 and more are being birthed right now. You have become a disciple making machine!

- A group of 50 plus are reading the bible together in a single year and are dialoguing via the internet.

- Your tithes and offerings to the Lord have been generous. Thus far our general fund income has been $946,685 , expenses $ 857,180. You gave $140,000 last Christmas for our Birthday Gift to Jesus and the funds are making a huge impact in Ethiopia. ( more on Ethiopia at a later date)

- $100,000 has been given to start a new scholarship fund for high school seniors and several other second mile gifts have been received to honor and celebrate loved ones.

- You are serving at the Night Shelter, the Johnson County homeless lodge, the Patriot House, the Harvest House and countless other benevolent organizations. In April you invested over 500 man hours in our area communities on Change the World weekend. Thus far in 2012, you have sent two mission teams to Ethiopia, one to Mexico and we are exploring a partnership with Orphan Network in Nicaragua.

- 2,000 people enjoyed the community Easter Egg Hunt you hosted.

- Anne Terry and Becky prince recruited, trained and empowered 234 Vacation Bible School servants to serve 333 different children while sharing with them the Good news of Jesus.

- Our Family Ministry efforts are bearing fruit as more and more parents are buying into making their homes the center of their life with Christ.

- Our Wednesday night Children and Youth ministry is making such a huge impact that we are quickly running out of space to meet the growing demand for all that are attending. Thanks be to God!

- Around 200 children, youth and 30 adults will attend Summer Camp.

- Our Ministry to Men is making progress in challenge men to step up and act as the spiritual leaders in their homes.

- We have a growing and impactful singles ministry and a surging interest in a ministry to post high school young adults.

I woke up early this morning to begin the day walking in the footsteps of my heavenly Father. After we arrived deep into the vineyard, he hunkered down, drew me between his knees and said….”Rick,…if you get real quiet….and listen…..you can hear the people called St. Matthew growing.”

Thanks be to God!
Peace,
Rick

Dads: Let's Set Our Children Free

Week after week I visit with men and women, young and old who are battling the demons inherited from their childhood of origin. No adult when discovering they are going to be a parent dreams of their child’s future being impeded by family baggage and yet that is exactly what happens generation, after generation, after generation.

Each and everyone one of us are products of the families in which we were raised or not raised. God does not hold children responsible for the sins of their parents, but the sins (baggage) of the parents often hold children hostage and cling to their souls like barnacles on the bottom of a ship. They create drag thus reducing the speed of travel and over time slowly erode the ability of the vessel to stay afloat.

Day after day, our sons and daughters sail into the headwinds of life, seeking to find and fulfill the reason for their birth but their journey is pirated by the DNA of their family tree and many of them are sinking fast. If our nation and world is has any hope of righting the ship called humanity, we must return to the foundational principles that launched this ship in the beginning, faith, family and friendship.

The teaching of these three values must begin at home and where there is a man in the house, it is paramount that the father lead the way. Surveys, psychologists, adult children and the Bible all agree, as goes the dad so goes the family.

Men, we can change the destiny of our children, by changing the legacy of our family tree. Take the next step men. Invite men into your life circle who share your hopes and dreams for family. Dare to engage in our Family Ministry efforts to make Christ the center of your home. We will teach you, but you have to get involved. Make worship your priority and see how your children respond. Let your children see you pray, read your bible and or a devotional book on a regular basis. Reserve time to play with your children, listen, tuck them in at night, pray over them as they drift to sleep. Establish boundaries for them and know where they are going. Be aware of their life activities and friends. Get involved! Show up when you are expected to show up!

Most of all, honor the mother of your children in their presence with words of praise and expressions of affection. If you are divorced, still speak well of her in the presence of your children, regardless of how she speaks of or treats you.

Do you still need guidance? Go to stmattcpc.org and check our family ministries and ministry to men web pages. Contact Leslie Lummus or Jeff Gehle if you want need a coach or mentor. Contact Our Pastoral Care center if you need counseling. Changing the family legacy is not easy, but wanting to for the sake of our children is the first step.

Together, let’s set our children free from the baggage of our past so they might freely sail into their future and claim the abundant treasure filled life God has in store for each of them.

Happy Father’s Day,

Rick

Ethiopia: 9:00 PM February 8, 2012 - Texas: 12 Noon February 8, 2012

Before a closing prayer, these were the last words spoken to us and to you as we left the sight of our final training and began the transition back to home.

“God is not unjust and will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.”     Hebrews 6:10

As we made the long drive back to Addis my mind wandered as I viewed the beautiful African landscape and wildlife.  God gave me a dream where hundreds of our St. Matthew family was taking mission trips all over the world every year. I have a dream that every small group will engage in some type of local mission outreach. I have a dream that a group of men will join me on a mission trip to Hattie or a state side disaster site and get our hands dirty working side by side for the Lord. I have a dream that families will reserve vacation time to engage in some type of mission from Jerusalem to the Ends of the earth.

I have a dream that 25 years from now we will look back and see God’s finger and foot prints all over the world through the people called St. Matthew. I have a dream that one day Ethiopian leaders will send someone to our place of worship to tell you “Thank you for helping preserve our country as a Christian nation. Thank you for helping and inspiring our rural communities to create fresh water and an attainable educational path for all children. Thank you for showing us how to build missional churches and setting our women to free to win our county and surrounding countries for Jesus.”

Kilometer after kilometer we drove and I dreamed. While I was dreaming we literally saw thousands of donkeys and goats, hundreds of camels, who knows how many animal powered carts and their little three wheel blue taxis, scores of birds with six foot plus wing span and camels. There were mountains, valleys, lush forest, and desert plains with 12 foot cactus and 7 foot termite mounds. That’s right, you heard me and we have the pictures to prove it!   And right in the middle of the diverse county side were Mosques, more plentiful than a Baptist church in Burleson Texas. 

Most of all, we saw tens of thousands of people. They were everywhere!  Walking!  In the country, in the towns, in the desert, on the mountains, near the rivers, in the City, thousands and thousands of people.  As I dreamed I wondered, do they know Jesus? Do they know they are unconditionally loved by God? Do they know that God has a plan for their life? Do they know they are not limited by the country in which they  live or the family which they do not have?  Do they have a God dream that is bigger than anything they ever thought possible?

As we moved closer to Addis, traffic, human and auto, grew thicker than the smog that daily hangs over the city and again my thoughts drifted to you. I am proud to serve as one of your pastors. I am humbled to serve in the role as Senior Pastor. I am excited about the spiritual growth that is finally taking place in our midst. And I am more sold out than ever on our purpose statement.  Are you?

“We exist to glorify God by sharing the love and grace of Jesus Christ with as many people as we can.”  I don’t know how many “as many people as we can” is, but we are making progress and you are making it happen church. You are really making it happen!

We have many God stories to share and hundreds of pictures to show but for now know that you are making a difference. You are helping God change the world in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth one person at a time.

“God is not unjust and will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.”     Hebrews 6:10

 We, Lisa, Claudia, Melissa and I will see you this weekend in worship. Until then……………….

Peace,

Rick

Ethiopia: 9:54 PM Tuesday February 7 Texas: 12:54 PM Tuesday February 7

Hello Church Family! We left our home base this morning at 7:40 AM and did not arrive back until 8:55 PM.  Needless to say we are very, very tired, but it is a good tired.  Many seeds have been sown on the soil God has provided and we trust some will fall on the Good Soil. And those that fall on the hard path or the rocky or thorny soil will one day bear fruit itself.

We have to get up every earlier tomorrow morning so I will be brief. I will compose my last blog tomorrow night, the evening before we depart.

Today we completed the second day of training in a city called Ugalan. It was once the capital of the southern region of Ethiopia.  Over the course of the year they receive more rain than most regions, so even though it is now summer  it is  green and lush compared to the other areas we have traveled. They have avocado trees as tall as one of our two story houses. Ferns grow to be five feet tall. Poinsettias are not plants, they are 10 to 12 foot trees and the cactus are  out of this world in shape and size.  Starbucks harvests much of their beans from this region. That says it all!

We had an evening meeting with ECF, the Ethiopian Evangelical Fellowship. They are doing a great work in the southern region and would very much like our partnership.  Their presentation was very impressive and could open some doors to broaden our influence. We left with more questions than answers but we did leave with the confirmation that we are in the right place in our “ends of the earth” mission. The Muslim movement is pumping millions of dollars into the country and is making a significant dent in this once dominant Christian nation. They are surrounded by predominant Muslim nations and they are acting as the funnel for Arabian and Middle Eastern influence into Ethiopia. 

We have much to pray about and consider as we seek God’s future direction for our presence here.

Thank you for all of the prayers, emails, and face book messages. They mean more than you know. We are counting the days until we are back home. It is time to make a move towards my room and finish packing. We have to load up and head out early so we can finish our training by 11 am. The drive back to Addis is over five hours and it is imperative we are off the road before dark. There are tons of animals loose on the road way so night time driving is extremely dangerous.  We will spend Wednesday night in Addis and then tie up some loose ends on Thursday before flying out at 7:30. Home Friday 9 ish PM.
Praise be to God!

Peace, Rick

Ethiopia: 8:17 PM Monday February 6 Texas: 11:17 AM Monday February 6

Thus far today has been the hardest day of all. Everyone is tired, even a little weary. No one is hurt, sick or totally worn out, but the toll of long, tedious days and short nights are beginning to show. We left our living quarters at 7:35 AM and did not arrive back until 7:50 PM.  Everyone has work to do for tomorrow and some of us have work to do for back home and then it is repeating the process tomorrow.

As well, the training today was more arduous than previous sessions. Translation from English into Amharic was more complicated than usual and I believe some of the material was over the educational level for a few pastors. On the other hand, several pastors spoke very good English and asked questions that called for a deeper answer than most of the pastors could comprehend. Add to the fact that our pre arranged translators never showed up and we had to quickly recruit and debrief. I think you get the drift of how the day has gone.

Claudia, Lisa and Melissa are doing a fabulous job.  Their witty teaching approach is fascinating to the more reserved women of Ethiopia.  Besides their excellent teaching, their very presence has empowered their female trainees.

Besides any hotel we have used before, the church at which our current trainings are taking place are by far the nicest. The church compound was constructed by Norwegians some 75 years ago as a mission outpost. Over time they handed it over to the local Lutheran church body.   The style of the structure can be found in many same aged churches in the Europe and the States.   The furnishings are typical of Ethiopian churches but it is very, very nice and it is obvious that they are proud of it. The Ethiopians are a very proud people and take great delight in telling us their history and displaying their unique and exquisite attributes.

I have much to do so will call it a night for this blog. We thank you very much for your prayers and  Facebook words of encouragement; we thank  God for the hope of being untied with our families in five days; and we thank God that we will be  with you in worship this weekend.

Lisa, Claudia, Melissa and Rick

Ethiopia: 5:39 AM Monday February 6 Texas: 8:39 PM Sunday February 5

Ethiopia is a third world country. That means the Super Bowl is being played as I write this and Ethiopians are oblivious.  They do not know that Josh Hamilton, the greatest baseball player on the face of the planet, crashed and burned again. I tried showing a few of them pictures on my I phone of the Rangers playing in the World Series and when the Super Bowl was played at Jerry World and they had no clue.  And perhaps that is one clue why they worship the way they do.

From my perspective their lives are not filled with worldly things because they are not accessible. Everybody does have a cell phone and they do know what face book and the internet is, but access is sporadic and compared to our broadband very, very slow.  Less than 1 % in the whole nation own a car. Most walk, some use a donkey, others use mass transit such as busses, vans and remember the little four wheel motor vehicles postal carriers used to drive? There are thousands of those blue things all over the country.

I was invited to preach in a local Hawassa church yesterday.  Over 1500 people crowded into a L shaped building located in the middle of densely populated residential area.  As the celebration began at 9:30 AM, I was ushered into a small side room to meet with the elders and local pastor. They greeted me and explained the worship order.   The elders have much input as to what takes place in worship.  They literally “run” the church.  The pastor told me I would start preaching at 10 and would have about 40 to 50 minutes and then the youth would present a 3 minute skit.

We ceremoniously walked into the worship space and the whole tenor of the congregation changed. They had already been singing and praying for 15 minutes but the intensity dramatically picked up with the pastor and elders entered the room. I had no clue what they were singing and yet I understand every word. It was deeply moving and in some ways indicting of we Christians in America.   Everyone sang. Everyone prayed. Everyone engaged in the praise of God, with body, mind and soul.

I started preaching at 10:20 AM and went till 11:10. I will never forget looking into their attentive, eager, encouraging faces. They were hungry for the Word. Most had a bible and the majority took notes even though there was no message outline and no PowerPoint. They were engaged. I could have preached longer and no one would have left.   Over 1500 people had been crammed into that little L shaped building for almost two hours and no one left for the door. The pastor stood up and prayed for another ten minutes and then they took up the offering using these long poles with a bag strapped to the end. Afterward the youth came in and did a drama. Their 3 minutes presentation lasted 15 minutes.  They had planned the drama earlier in the week but it mirrored the theme of the message preaches. Everyone was attentive, believing the Holy Spirit had planned and orchestrated the message and drama theme.

Children, youth and adults worshipped for over two hours and they could have stayed for more. I could have done the same. There was rush to beat the restaurant crowd. No rush to get to the Super bowl party. No rush to get to that video game. No teens complaining about worship lasting to long. Nothing was more important in those two hours plus than being together in the presence of God.

Think about it and while you are thinking, open your Bible and meditate on I Chronicles 17:7-36. That is where I started my morning, before writing this blog, and I could have stayed there all morning long.

And by the way, who won the Super Bowl? I haven’t heard a word about it. Hmmm…..

Ethiopia: 6:25 PM February 4 Texas: 9:25 AM Saturday February 4

The drive from Wolisso to Hawassa took 7 ½ hours.  We took one van for our luggage and six people so we are cramped as sardines in a can. Leigh Ann Roy did not make the journey to Hawassa with us as she will be heading back to USA on Sunday with Brendy Kirkland and her mom Diane. They have been Addis working the legal system for a hopeful adoption. Glad to report that they leave Addis optimistic about their  adoption being successful.

The team will be visiting and worshipping at one church while I am preaching at another. To that end I am blogging Saturday night because I have a lot of preparation to do that will spill over into early morning.  We will be praying for you as you gather for worship tonight and in the morning and we ask you do the same for us.

Though we are staying in a very nice hotel with all the amentias of home, I am still having trouble getting on line. I hope to have all of my  blog  writings posted by this evening,  Note to self and anyone else to whom it might concern, nothing goes exactly as expected or planned when embarked on international travel. J

Ethiopia: 5:45 AM Saturday February 4 Texas: 8:45 PM Friday February 3

Yesterday was a long full day. It began the way it ended with a two hour drive known to everyone  who has ever been to Guncheri  as “The Road of Hell.”  Without an all terrain vehicle, it is a bone rattling, brain shaking, teeth grinding, glut bruising ride. It is exhausting.  It is punishes the body, the mind and if the fruit of the visit to Guncheri  wasn’t so rewardingly sweet it would also punish the soul.

But Praise Be To God the visit to Guncheri was a God inspiring visit!  We participated in the dedication and ribbon cutting of the library which is now the most beautiful and functional building in the whole community.  We then had a meeting with community leaders about the plans for the girls Hostel and was hosted to a typical Ethiopian lunch.  After a time of feasting and fellowship, we walked the city with the community leaders and a caravan of local citizens visiting the well kept site of the Kindergarten you  built, the future site of the girls Hostel and considered the future need of another city water reservoir.

Our time in Guncheri began in with a town hall meeting in what looked like an old School auditorium. As soon as we emerged from the Van regrouping after two hours on “The Road of Hell” we were ushered into a room already full of local citizens and taken to the front row.  It didn’t take long to discern that the previous two hours might have been a piece of cake compared to what was potentially looming.

Many in the community have been celebrating all that St. Matthew has done in the past three years along with the Adera Foundation. The city has been revitalized, grown and the services have improved the quality of community life.  The rub was all of the good work has been by a church in the name of Jesus.  Some of the local Muslims had been stirring the pot using political persuasion and legal rhetoric to diminish the esteem we had gained among the community and her leaders and put an end to any future work.

They stood up in the town Hall meeting to express their views and the tension began to mount but they were efforts where quickly dashed by several local citizens and  community leaders including one prominent regional leader from the juraetta who also happened to be Muslim. The crowd cheered the rebuttals and quickly the mood shifted as the meeting transitioned to ceremonial recognition of the completion of the library and appreciation to St. Matthew. Melissa spoke on behalf of St. Matthew and did a masterful job of strengthening our bond with the community.

You are not only making a difference in an impoverished community, giving hope the least and the lost, you are strengthening the cause of Christ in a land where the Muslim movement is picking up steam. Besides the community redevelopment work in a dominantly Muslim community, the area Christian pastors attended the training session and are now more equipped to build misional churches in Guncheri. 

Who would have thought that a “little ol church” in Burleson Texas would make a dent in the cause to rid Ethiopia of Christianity? Again, Praise Be To God! I am so proud to be part of what you are doing in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the Ends of the Earth. You are making a difference. You are helping God change the World.

“He who receives you receives me. And he who received me, receives the one who sent me.” Matthew 10: 40.

We leave for Hawassa at 8:00m AM to prepare for our second round of training. It will be a five hour road but on a paved road. Hip, hip hooray!  I pray you experience the power of God as you assemble for worship this weekend. We will land at DFW next Friday on the 10^th and will be eager to see you as we gather again to worship our awesome God.

Ethiopia: Friday February 3 6:15 AM Texas: Thursday February 2 9:15 PM

We sat around the dinner table last night for over 2 hours telling stories, laughing, discussing politics, the tragedy of the human condition and the impact of the training upon the pastors and their wives. Much like a family who has been scurrying about taking care of business all week long and then when the stress of deadlines made is over,  connect at the table with a time of family sharing. The conversation was all over the place, no order, structure or plan but it was rich. We reconnected. We bonded.  We grew as people, friends and Jesus followers.

Again I was reminded of the importance of being in a small group and sharing life together. The Jesus transformation we experience in our lives will be limited if we resist serving on mission or in ministry with others with like faith. Likewise, unless we assemble in small groups from time to time for fellowship, prayer, life discussion and time in the word, our spiritual growth will be stunted.

In life we will have lessons but so many of us never learn them because we choose to live in isolation. Take the initiative. Take the risk. Join a small group. Join a serving team. Join an outreach group. Get involved, serve connect and grow in the Lord.  Besides drawing closer to God, being transformed in your faith, becoming a better person and making some dear friends, you will experience joy, peace and have lots of fun.

Too many Christians don’t know how to have fun.  I miss Dallas, my sons , my family and my church family very, very much, but I am having fun serving, growing, serving, working and sharing life with our mission team. God is good.

Today we travel to Guncheri, our community development project, to examine work done, to be done and have fellowship with the lost and found. Who knows, maybe the Holy Spirit will use this day to show a Muslim how much they are loved by Jesus.  That will be fun!

Ethiopia: Thursday February 2, 5:30 AM Texas: Wednesday February 8:30 PM

While reading the Psalms this morning, the Holy Spirit led me Paul’s charge to Timothy in his second book. I thought I was led there for the perfect scripture to read to the men and women at the closing of our last training session. But as I read further I discovered a verse that each of us on the trip can relate to.

“I have been poured out like a drink offering and it is time for my departure.” II Timothy 4:6

 I do not want to be melodramatic because I am not announcing our imminent deaths as was Paul.  But I and the entire team have poured out all that we have at this location. Each of us has had an out of body experience where it seemed that God was speaking through us at will. Last night we all testified that the trainings were going better than we hoped or imagined and that God was touching and transforming lives, but every one of us were drained, wiped out.  It was like we were depleted and full at the same time.

 I wish and pray for each of you such an experience.  That the Holy Spirit move through you to use you on some occasion to the extent that you are both empty and full, exhausted and energized.

The work you are doing here is mighty and important. The Muslim movement is becoming more aggressive and abusive. We have heard stories of verbal threats, actual stoning and the taking over of people’s property because they have spoken outwardly about their faith in Jesus. Land bought and designated for churches have been marked by Muslims with a star and a crescent moon serving as a threat to Christians to not gather or build on that sight.   While the Evangelical Church was sound asleep, aggressive Muslims moved in paying the poor to attend church, infiltrating the  government in justice positions and gaining enormous influence in what used to be known as a Christian Nation. Ethiopia is surrounded my Muslim Nations, and this last Christian Strong hold for African nations is under siege.

The work in Gunchri, ministering to all citizens, even the Muslims has given us entry into a battle zone that is critical for the cause of Christ. I praise God for your generosity and commitment to this cause. It is important, necessary and impacting. 

So though we have been poured out like a drink offering and it is time for our departure, it is not for the purpose of fear or death that we move on, but to be poured out again to another group of pastors and wives that they also may continue the good fight on the front lines for Christ.

Today we wrap up our time in Wolisso and prepare for the next leg of our journey. We are praying for you and I trust you are praying for us.

Ethiopia: Wednesday February 1 4:55 AM Texas: Tuesday January 31 7:55PM

I have been praying through the Psalms this trip, this morning chapters 113-118, lingering this morning in that will known verse from the last chapter. “This is the day that the Lord has made, let us be glad and rejoice in it.”  118:24

The sun has not yet crept over the horizon and the night sounds of Africa linger in the air….hundreds of monkeys scampering through the trees with nimble quickness……over 1,000 different species of birds preparing to greet the first rays of daylight with chirping songs of praise….in the distance jackals howl in celebration after capturing breakfast…. A hyena walking up the steps of my hut nudges the door of my cabin with  its nose hoping to find an open door quickly darts back in the forest when hearing the footsteps of an security guard making his final rounds of the night……Soon the imam will climb the tower of the mosque chanting through a microphone that sends his beckoning call over the countryside for Muslims to wake up and pray to Allah. ……A single mosquito buzzing in my hut, herself seeking substance.

The night sounds of Africa are much like the sounds of our own lives as we awaken each morning. Both our souls and bodies yearn for food to fill the emptiness in our rested bodies. We crave substance. We hunger and we thirst for more than what we experienced the day before and the day before. We long for the first rays of daylight to burst through the darkness of our souls, giving hope to a grief stricken heart.  And when we do discover the food we so desperately need and the first rays of hope do penetrate our dark night of the soul, we want to sing, we want to celebrate…”This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

Though we are 8400 miles apart I am find myself praying for you with even more intensity.  Perhaps it is the distance that fuels that desire, but I have noticed that as I age I realize that prayer is the greatest work.  As your pastor and friend, more than preaching, teaching or counseling, God has called me to pray for the body. So as you wind down your Tuesday and prepare for a good night’s sleep, now that the God of Africa, Texas and the entire Cosmos is aware of every yearning hunger in your body, mind and soul and when morning comes, he will surely satisfy. Be ready to awake tomorrow and every day this song on your lips….”This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

So today, God use our team to feed the pastors and their wives who come hungry to learn how to help you build your church.  Today will be day two of the first of two Training sessions. 

Ethiopia: Tuesday January 31, 5:15 AM Texas: Monday January 30, 8:15 AM

We are in Woliso, a small rural community in the Guragy Zone, like a county, in the western region of Ethiopia. There is no wi-fi  and cell phone service is extremely sporadic. The electrical voltage fluctuates from zero to great surges that creating havoc and great risk for any sensitive technological equipment. Lisa plugged in a surge protector and it was instantly fried.  There are limited television stations, including the familiar CNN, but their broadcast has a much different slant, focusing on Europe, China, the Middle East and Africa.

It is strange not being able to turn on my computer and instantly connect with the world. I tried sending Dallas a text but it would not go through.  My I powerful I phone has  been  reduced most of the time to a watch.

Being unplugged has its virtues. I laid in bed reading the Word and listening for God’s voice for over an hour. I received confirmation from the Holy Spirit while reading Psalm 111 that I was exactly where I needed to be at this point in time and so was the entire St. Mathew team. It is hard being away from the family and church body that you love so much and I greatly miss being connected to you, but I remain steadfast in my conviction that God has sent us to this land for a purpose. I do not have a clear vision of the Big Picture, but I trust the One who does and just want us to be obedient to him today.

Today, we will begin training 50 rural pastors and their wives in the concept of being a Missional Church.  Claudia, Leigh Ann and Melissa will teach the women,  I will share with the men, Lisa Latham will record the sessions and interview various participants so we can share what God is doing through your Birthday Gift to Jesus.

One story.  We visited the training sites yesterday afternoon and was a little taken back. Last years training was in a hotel, not what you and I are used to, but there were bathrooms with running water and class room facilities with power to support computer power point presentations. That is not the case at this site.  All of our planed teaching aids were quickly deemed useless. We were not discouraged, but each scrambling to discern how we were going to communicate the lessons God had laid upon our hearts. About that time a sea of children engulfed us. They spoke no English. We spoke no Amharic.  But in less than a minute we bonded. They played with us, laughed with us, took our hands and walked with us. We bonded. We communicated. Each of us walked away knowing that power point or no power point, God would provide the Holy Spirit and everyone would understand. Not what we wanted to say, but what God wanted them to hear.

We have an amazing God. 

On Mission - Monday, Janurary 30, 2012

"Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all and in all. Therefore as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues, put on love which binds them all together in perfect unity." Colossians 3:11-14

As I read Paul’s letter to the Colossians this morning the above passage stood out.  While traveling to the "ends of the earth" as your ambassador I was intrigued by unique sea of faces that we encountered.  There were different shapes, features, colors and sizes.  The appearance of every person triggered responses in my own nervous system, caution, curiosity, interest, indifference.   Some were inviting others standoffish, some engaging but most had a wall up that said "don't talk to me."  Many laughed, smiled and moved about with a confidence but the majority looked, moved, spoke as if on auto pilot.  Aimlessly marching through life.

As I observed the broad spectrum of humanity, I became aware once again that despite all of our differences, we are all the same. We are all made in the image of God. We are all broken people. We are all members of a sinful humanity. We all  have the same Father, the same Creator.  And that Jesus, the Son of our Father, died on the cross for every single one of us.

 I have known and believed that for a long time,  but it struck me in a quite different way as I observed the sea of humanity all traveling to various parts of the "ends of the earth."   And as I now reflect now upon the wide range of people that I bumped into, sat beside, raced past, stood in line with, flied with, did I see them through the eyes of Jesus and did they see Jesus in me?

It is easy to come to church and love the people sitting around us, at least most of time it is, but it is a whole other thing to love the broad spectrum of people that make up the world like Jesus did and does.  Today, will try to live out Paul's charge to the Colossian church and  I invite you to the same.  With the help of the Holy Spirit, maybe we really can help change the world, one person at a time.

Peace,
Rick