TAK Article: On Freedom

On Freedom

Well in all honesty I really tried to not start this post in such a way, but I failed.

I was going for a scenic opener, maybe one that talked about how beautiful the drive is from Craigmont to Cascade, Idaho.

Or perhaps lament at the great heat that I passed through on my way down that same way, though, I then remembered the far more lamentable things along the road and felt my whining would be a bit inappropriate.

At this point all of those things are true, the drive is beautiful, meadows, fields of grain, mountains in the background, rivers with rapids and calm water, canyons, wildlife. It was also terribly hot for me, the high point on the Jeep’s thermometer was at 102 degrees Fahrenheit (thankfully not the 117 just a couple of days earlier). And, there are a great many lamentable scattered along the way as well.

A few of these include a massacre of Chinese miners along the Salmon River way on back in history. I’ve been to one of their houses, what was left of it at least, on our way down that river on a raft trip. At White Bird Hill the first battle of the Nez Perce war was fought as well.

Yes, truly a sour note to start an article.

A Mixed Up World

All of that sourness aside (or alongside of it, perhaps) we still see great joy among people, all people, and perhaps somewhat less as we get older.

I remember a moment in Mexico watching several children race down a hillside inside of or on top of some small toy cars. It was a good steep hill, definitely something I would have been doing had I been ten years younger… or not working. Homes of Hope International It was a small house, but a start. Amidst rather great poverty the children were able to enjoy themselves and, after we completed the house, their mom was able to enjoy herself a bit more too.

Much of the time nothing is truly all well or all terrible, and in a moment either could overcome us if we gave ourselves over to it.

Where does freedom fit into this?

Right, the article is about freedom isn’t it… well, here it goes.

In the case of our family in Mexico what did a house mean? To the kids, it was a place to call home. To their mom, it was also a place to call home, but also a place that provided safety. It had a door that could be locked. It looked like it would certainly keep out mosquitoes. It would be a place her family could keep warm.

I am from the United States and, right now, I am also living in the United States. I have traveled to other places in the world as well. I can assure you, we take freedom for granted.

The basic measure of freedom is not indulging ourselves in video games and cable, any amount of fast food that we desire, or letting ourselves get caught up in an attitude that is rude toward other people or nations. We are free to do so, but it is freedom at great cost to our mind, body, and relationship with others. This is the freedom that has caught so much criticism from people who think to people who are just plain offended.

One of the values of freedom is that we are free to do good and be joyful.

How many of us will leave our homes as a family this 4th of July? Or on another occasion?

I specifically know of families who have not left their homes as a family in India for over a decade for fear that it will be broken into.

Think about that. How free are we again? This isn’t personal freedom, we are free in whatever circumstance we are living in, though, this is about the freedom to do good and be joyful.

I know of many beautiful chalk drawing in front of Indian homes, though, it wasn’t until I read of Vishal Mangalwadi’s work on society that I realized why they were there. Once upon a time, there was so little safety for women in India that none of the girls left the family home for fear that they would be abused by men outside. Chalk flowers would communicate how many girls were in the family and if anyone was of marrying age.

On the drive down I also heard a similar story of youth in El Salvador.

The report was that if a young person wanted to go to high school they would need to go to the city, though, the gangs were practicing extortion. If you could not pay the gang every month you would be killed.

Have you ever heard of anyone down talking safety?

In Conclusion

Let’s try to get our head back in the real world for a moment.

This world really does suck in a lot of places and circumstances, it has for as long as we’ve been here as well. At the same time joy has also been present.

I strongly believe that freedom is something that God gives us. I also strongly believe that with God-given freedom there is a great need for God honoring character. At any point in time there may be a person with freedom, but what will we do with it?

Is there a passion in your heart for something?

Apply yourself to it in a way that honors God and see what He will do. Homes of Hope International is one example of this. There are many as there needs, yet, there are also many passions that can make a good difference.

This 4th of July, think about that sort of freedom.

In Christ,
The Abiding Kingdom

TAK Article: The God Who Moves People

Intro

In the world today we get to live through a very interesting time. Some call it “multi-polar”, not referring to global warming, but a time in which the question of who is the world’s greatest power may be asked. As this question is being asked peoples and nations have so far seemed to have a tendency to tighten up their borders, define people as “us or them” more than usual. As a mission we are already seeing this in places like Britain and similar feelings across Europe, as well as, America.

It is not that it only happens during a multi-polar environment, but it can happen more openly and with greater justification.

Now in Acts…

As we read what Paul says here, in Acts 17:16-34, it sounds like God does have a hand in the forming of nations, when and where they exist, and that He does have a purpose in doing so. God’s purposes are not about being a dictator or an absolute story writer, but rather He does so that perhaps the nations can learn even more about Him.

I don’t think that Paul is just coming up with ideas here.

As we read the old testament we can see where God did this very thing.

After the flood God dispersed the people at the tower of Babel, giving them different languages, and creating nations out of them. Now it could be easy to point a finger at this moment of history and claim that differing nations are a bad thing. I don’t think so. Even if this is the first place that nations are mentioned it is not the last. In Revelation John writes of a great multitude of all nations, peoples, and languages gathered around the throne of God, worshiping Him.

With Abraham we see God calling him away from his own nation and into another nation so that all nations would be blessed.

After this we see Rebekah leaving her family and joining Isaac in Canaan. Leaving her family to join another. Leaving other gods and learning of God the Father.

During the lives of Hagar, Jacob, and Joseph we see hostility pushing people away. We also see God revealing Himself in their trouble. God shows Hagar that He sees her and promises to make her son Ishmael into a great nation. In returning to his home Jacob becomes Israel, seeing God face to face. Joseph in all of his trouble sought after God and found Him, becoming a ruler in the process and moving with God to save both Egypt and the children of Israel from famine.

During that famine God brings the children of Israel to Egypt and while they are their makes them into a nation as He calls them out of the same land. Through this He also makes His name known to all the nations in the land.

He also makes His character clearly known to the Children of Israel who then begin to write their stories with God down and so pass their understanding of God’s character on to us.

Our difficulties with all this…

God doesn’t stop here, but He keeps on revealing Himself to the children of Israel and to the nations around them. God desires to be known and as He moves in the nations He makes Himself known.

With all this said, as nations and people, we don’t usually respond well to being moved around.

When new people come into our lives who look different or do things different than us we generally call them names. We refuse to give them thought. We find what we want is more legitimate than what they want.

This isn’t a new thing.

In your spare time do go there, but for now remember back to the story of how sin entered our world. It’s all in Genesis chapter 3.

We see Adam and Eve in a good place, in good relationship with one another, but in a vulnerable place as well. Their vulnerability wasn’t in God’s lack of protection, but in our lack of action. God had called mankind to both protect and develop. To be both warriors and gardeners.

Adam and Eve did not defend the garden, but listened to the serpent’s lies.

As soon as we see sin in the life of mankind we see anger, accusation, shame, an incredible and immediate separation of relationship between two people who were not before separated and separation with relationship with God as well. This was just after only one sin!

Since that point, immediately and over the thousands of years we see our story of relationships with each other getting worse. The very next story in the Bible is about murder. One generation from the first sin we see murder and jealousy in the picture. As we go on stories keep on getting more numerous and greater until we are where we are at today.

The only way out of this mess is through Jesus Christ, the way, the truth, and the life.

As we give ourselves over to His grace and His Lordship we can actually make a difference, we can actually change. We have no excuse to be stuck in this same rut while Jesus is standing on the side willing to pull us out of it.

Moving onto Daniel…

In the book of Daniel we again see God’s commitment to make Himself known.

In disobedience the kingdom of Judah is exiled to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar is there and he recruits some of the princes and well off kids to become his magicians and wise men. Daniel was among them, as well as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They served the king and testified to him of who God really was and what He is like.

Over and over again God makes Himself known to King Nebuchadnezzar. Through many dreams, visions, and experiences God does seem to win over the King’s heart near the end of his life too.

Again, at a later time we see God showing Himself to King Darius. And again, we see the King responding to the experience of having to throw Daniel, his friend, into the den of lions by running back to the den the next morning asking desperately, “Daniel! Was your God able to deliver you?” If you don’t know the story, Daniel called back with, “Yes.”

In both of these situations the children of Judah were not where they wanted to be and yet God was using them to make Himself known. They were uncomfortable and the people around them couldn’t refuse the power of their God.

Eventually God called them back to Jerusalem and they were able to go, and still God made Himself known in brand new ways during the lives of Ezra and Nehemiah.

Still, the best was yet to come, Jesus was still yet to come!

In our days…

Just the other day I was trying to find something good and educational for Jay Edward to keep himself busy with. So I looked through Netflix for some nature shows and I stumbled on an episode about the Frank Church Wilderness. A biologist and his wife spent a year in the wilderness following wolves, elk, deer, salmon, etc…

At one point they spotted an injured elk and saw that the wolves had started following it. They had their cameras ready and thought they were about to capture some excellent footage of the wolves hunting, but that didn’t happen. As the elk was separated from the herd the wolves started getting closer and then another elk showed up. A perfectly healthy elk came to help protect the injured elk.

The biologist was flabbergasted. He said, “everything I read about in my textbooks tells me that this shouldn’t happen. This is incredible! This isn’t the survival of the fittest that I read about.”

Some people have the idea that nations are about survival of the fittest.

Again, this probably isn’t a new idea, though, we can see that this is the worldview through which many of the world’s nations have been making decisions. I have at least listened to others say that this is how the world works and in some circles it is a popular view. However, this isn’t how God designed the world to work. It may work itself out in such a way, though, only as long as we are obedient to such a way of thinking.

My father helped me understand this better when I was young and said something silly or asked a question, I don’t remember which.

He told me that when he was young he believed that the Germans weren’t very bright. In his recent history they had lost both World Wars and half of their country was occupied by the USSR. Then, he found out that our space program, one of the most significant things that he knew of, was staffed by many German scientists.

His thoughts of the German people changed as he learned more about who they actually were rather than relying on what he had picked up from his generation’s culture.

I’ve found myself in my father’s shoes many times as I’ve traveled around the world. I’ve learned that lesson in eastern Germany, in the Netherlands, in the Middle East, and South Asia.

On my second trip to South Asia I was busy writing things down when a young boy asked me a question which I didn’t take the time to listen to. He repeated himself and I still didn’t give him much thought. The third time his mother translated what he was saying. “Uncle, may I have some water.”

I realized something about myself at that moment, remembering what my own father had taught me about his experience with the Germans was the same lesson I needed to learn now. I hadn’t paid attention to what my young friend had said not because he was speaking in a different language, but because he was different and I didn’t think he had anything important to say.

Yet, he did have something to say, and said it in a way that was honoring.

What may be our response?

In life I think we really have two choices. We may dishonor God’s character and His calling on our lives by choosing to honor ourselves above others in sin. We are capable of this path. I have seen it at home, in my life, in the governments of nations, etc.

While I was in the Netherlands such an event happened.

A government had been elected that chose to be tough on immigrants and refugees from other nations. As far as I could understand what was going on and as it was told to me, the principle of interaction with refugees was to make this place as uncomfortable as possible so that they would not get attached and want to leave.

That is one way we could look at immigrants and refugees coming to the United States.

The other option is for us to honor God’s character and His call on our lives through obedience to Him. Refugees and immigrants are people on God’s heart, people that He wants to have greater relationship with. In our obedience we can facilitate that. Again, while I was in the Netherlands, the people of the church saw what was happening to the refugees and many of them turned to  God in prayer. They believed that God’s heart was toward them just as it says in the Bible. Within only a little time the government fell apart.

When we act in accord with who God is and what He has called us to do, giving place in our hearts for Christ’s grace and lordship, we can change the way things are going in the world and bring people into relationship with a God who wants to make Himself known.

This is what He has called us to do, what do you say?

Pioneering in a Day

It really is a privilege to work with so many people who are focused on starting new things!

My wife and I do a lot of ministering here in Idaho through the School Of Apostolic Pioneering. We bring together people who are looking to start a new works in the mission, bring together really cool people who have already pioneered new things to teach, and then pull it all together in a three-month school where everyone (students, staff, and speakers) can learn from each other.

Our next school will be this coming September, by the way.

Hopefully, by the end of three months, a team is ready to pioneer.

Though, that isn’t always the case.

The process that a person walks through in order to pioneer a new ministry is a long one. Most of it is wrapped up in preparing a person’s character. More time is spent on learning new skills that will be needed once the pioneering starts.

Once a person’s character and skills are in order you start to see healthy teams form around a vision of what God wants to do.

I am not sure how long that process is for most people, but I am certainly in the “character and skills” part of that process. It certainly isn’t a bad place to be, it is simply an honest one. This part of the process admits that I need more experience before I go further.

Gaining Experience

Once in a while gaining that experience is a lot of fun!

The other day was a good example of what I’m talking about.

It all started as I drove out early on October 31st, I was headed out to a spot in the mountains to sit down and wait for deer. It was the last day of deer hunting season and, since I was still going out, I still didn’t have a deer. It was dark and the sun hadn’t risen yet, though, as I looked out into the eastern sky I did see a very beautiful crescent moon. It was very bright and you could somehow see the rest of the moon too, though it was very faded.

For a moment time slowed and I could feel God’s stirring inside of me.

It is so difficult to describe God’s voice. Hundreds of emotions, thoughts, and memories were inside of me, though, God’s voice was much clearer than all of them, contrasting them all.

From childhood I was told October 31st was a bad day. It was Halloween, a devils holiday. It was a dark day. It was a day to have your own parties away from everything and everyone else.

That all said; I could feel that God wanted to do something on this day. It had plenty to do with prayer and it had to do with families.

More about what it would look like and the courage go through with it would only come later, but the seed had been planted. I could tell that there was something God wanted to do and He had already brought me into it. This isn’t to say that God forces people to do things, but rather that God knows where we are at, where He is taking us, and what we need to learn along the way.

God is very willing to bring us into the things that He knows we are ready for, though, the primary measure of that is our obedience. Will we do what He asks?

Today, that was a resounding (and sometimes wavering) yes.

As I drove back from a lot of thinking while I was in the mountains, without a deer, I might add, I heard a song on the radio that came at just the right time. “Fall, Goliath, Fall,” was the name of the song. If you enjoy the rock music that Christian bands sometimes make I recommend listening to it. If not, then just know that it spoke to my heart at the moment and I was encouraged.

Immediately after I got back into town I ran into another friend who was also out hunting that morning. He told me about a great spot he ran into for deer. I knew in my head that if I headed out to that same spot tonight I may get a chance to take a deer… and I knew in my heart that God had told me to do something very different with my evening.

No, I would not head out to hunt deer. I was going to be in town praying for families.

That is what obedience sounds like.

Rarely is obedience loud, showy, or troublesome, though, sometimes it may. Today it was a quiet resolution in my heart that there was something God had told me to do.

Previous Preparation

After that morning it was all a rush.

The morning’s vision had to be communicated, team members had to be given a purpose, emails sent, signs made, money spent, hot chocolate to be made and served, etc…

Step one was telling my wife about it; aside from sharing your plans, hopes, and dreams with your spouse (which is sort of in those vows and a foundation of marriage) it is very important to share your vision with others who can hold you accountable to it. I think that’s important with any idea, but even more so when you are dealing with something God gives you.

Give permission to others you trust to hold you accountable and move in the confidence that the vision is God’s and He will be faithful to see it through!

From that point on I noticed that a lot of what I was doing had been built up from previous tasks in the mission.

The basic goal was simple enough; pray for families at the parking lot of the local grocery store where everyone would be handing out candy for Halloween (which is called “trunk or treat” in Cascade). We could set up our own spot with hot chocolate and cookies, make a sign advertising free prayer, and after that see what would come of the evening.

In order for that to happen we had several things to get in order.

In, like, three hours.

The biggest need was people… given time was short I went for a walk and invited everyone I found. At the end of my walk there were two people who could help serve hot chocolate and pray. Not everyone I had expected to come was able to come. Yet, what was interesting was that, of the five people helping with the prayer stand I was the only American.

That was a benefit to us since it showed off our ministry’s diversity and made us a little more interesting.

The second biggest item on task was how to supply our stand with hot water.

Rather early on I scrapped the idea of serving fresh hot chocolate right out of our thermoses. We had enough space in those thermoses for a gallon of liquids. Serving straight hot chocolate would have been really cool, but way too time consuming. By only refilling hot water we were able to make each cup individually and only make the runs as long as it took to boil new water.

With two of us making chocolate it also gave us a happy medium of time in which we could build relationships and offer prayer.

The other bit of logistics was one of resources.

We checked our own finances to see if we could personally cover the costs of the prayer stand supplies and we could. We were also able to supply the table that we served everything on and our Jeep to get everything to the parking lot.

After all the work… ministry!

So right!

Believe it or not in the middle of a good heart to do ministry you will often get swamped by all of the extra stuff around it. The extra stuff isn’t bad, of course; it is simply there and needs to be addressed at the appropriate time and way.

Eventually all of us were over at the grocery store parking lot with all of the stuff we needed (with a couple extra runs for spoons and sign making materials). The first several kids showed up. They wanted something warm since they were waiting there before everyone got there. One of boys said that we could pray for his grades in school.

After that several other families came and took hot chocolate. Some of them said we could pray for them and others chose not to be prayed for. Most of the families wanted prayer for their families; sometimes through God’s protection or God’s provision.

One of the older men said that he would like prayer for his sanity, as he laughed. He said that he was taking care of his three grandsons on his own. We prayed for him right there while we gave them all hot chocolate and cookies. We thanked God for giving his grandsons someone to look up to and prayed that he would have both the sanity and strength to bring them up well.

It was a great night of ministry!

In Conclusion

In the SOAP these are some of the questions that we try to encourage when students are working through their pioneering projects.

-What is the vision that God has given you?

-How will you communicate the vision to other interested and available people?

-What needs to be done logistically for the vision to be accomplished?

-What will the results be when the ministry is finished?

At times we have people and teams who are very ready to start pioneering, sometimes we have people who have some ways to go before they get to start pioneering (like me). In any case we hope that we can bring our students closer to completing the goal that God has given them.

For the last several years I have been on the learning end of many experiences like these. As I’ve walked through them God has continually brought me closer to seeing the vision that He’s put on my heart become a reality.

Though, this is what it could look like in a day.

In Christ,
The Abiding Kingdom

Weekly Update: October 11th, 2013

Hello everyone!

This week’s main activity has been closing our camp for winter. Well, that has been my main activity; my wife has been taking extra care of the kids while I’ve been gone.

Since we didn’t have anyone to rent the camp this fall we decided to shut down the camp early this year. Even though we’ve been renovating the camp, a lot of our water lines will still freeze during the winter if they are not kept warm. It is an old camp with a lot of quirks like that, but still a wonderful place.

This year’s process was made a lot easier as the new water system is simpler than the old one. Just a few years ago I remember the guys turning on random valves trying to figure where the pipes went, then running around trying to find the water, and then hearing hollers from the other guys disassembling the shower heads in a nearby bathroom as the pipes started gushing with water again.

It was all pretty funny… as long as it was a warm day and you weren’t the one to get wet.

We also bring down all the ministry supplies, things that would freeze, and junk we’ve accumulated over the summer. This one was probably the most we’ve stuffed two trucks with, but still not near the record.

Then, once all the heavy lifting is done, we get to enjoy one of the best parts of camp shutdown!

These hot springs are just seven miles up the road from our camp. Every year, during spring, the stream will be flooded from the melting snow and wash away the pools. Though, before long, some really committed locals will head back up and rebuild them.

It seems that the pools keep getting better every year!

We pray that this finds you very well!

In Christ,
The Abiding Kingdom

Weekly Update: May 5th, 2013

Hello everyone!

We’re a couple of days into our 10th week of the School Of Apostolic Pioneering here at YWAM Idaho. This week’s topic is on strategic missions and understanding the world in which we live. We’ve heard a lot of stories about what God is doing in the world and it is all very exciting!

Last week we had Michael Brodeur, who works with the band Jesus Culture, author of the books Revival Culture and Destiny Finder, speaking on creating and maintaining a corporate culture within churches, organizations, and ministries. He also spoke quite a bit about the 5-fold gifts of the apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher (found in Ephesians 4:7-16).

Our family is navigating the school’s schedule pretty well. Our sixteen-month old son likes to get outside as much as possible (even if his skin will become sunburned), so my wife will take him out to play in the volley ball court’s sand or I will give him a ride on my shoulders along the river and through the pine trees. All of this is right next to our training center and it makes the situation very livable.

Thanks for keeping up with us through our updates and encouraging us through your prayers!

Other Announcements:

– Last Friday we’ve had our first bible study with a group of local high school students. We partnered with a friend who is going to the school and, in total, nine students came to our first night! This Friday will be our second of four Bible studies before we travel to Michigan to visit with our family there.

– Since we’ve arrived we have been trying to get more connected in the community and it is certainly working! My wife is involved in several ladies’ groups and just this week our family has been given a vehicle to use for getting around Idaho this summer. Not only that, but our friends are also lending us their gas-efficient car so that we can drive to Michigan too!

Scripture:

It’s been really nice to have the bible study going on at our house! Last week we read about Philip, mentioned in the book of acts (the same as I wrote about a couple of updates ago), and how his life was lived out to become a legacy.

This week we are going to read about Rahab, spoken of through the Bible in Joshua 2; Joshua 6; and Mathew 1:5 (called Rachab). It is a story of tragedy, though, in the midst of it, there is victory. It seems an appropriate thing to share. Much of our experiences in the world could be seen through the lenses of loss, failure, and strongly questioning God’s presence or activity. However, there are victories that we often miss when we look only through these subtle (perhaps bold) lenses.

The victory of the story is Rahab.

In the middle of a destroyed city, full of questions, filled with thoughts of failure, certain and unquestionable loss, you see two men racing in and saving out Rahab and her family alive.

This is a common theme throughout our history — though it becomes bleak, God is working to bring all things together for the good of those who love God (Romans 8:28). It will not work out good for everyone, but for those who love God, it will. That said, it will almost always be clouded by our limited ability to see given what lenses we see it through.

Praise God that He reveals Himself to us! So that we may see bits and pieces of Him and the good He wishes for us!

Praise Reports & Prayer Requests:

– Praise God that He has provide for us during a wave of needs this month!
– Praise God for the students He has given us for this school and their growth!
– Praise God that all of us are healthy and well!
– Please pray for our time in Michigan, that all would go well and our paths would be made clear!

In Christ,
The Abiding Kingdom

Weekly Update: April, 23rd, 2013

Weekly Update: Tuesday, 04/23/13

Hello all!

Few! The weeks have been flying by!

We are more than half way through the school now and the visions of our students are getting bigger and bigger! This week our YWAM base founder is back to talk about what really gets things done when our visions get bigger than what we can do by ourselves.

Four things shared yesterday were the principles of having a biblical foundation (are we walking in the promises and paths of scripture), relying on our intimate relationships with Jesus to keep us going through difficult times, continually hearing God’s voice, and visioning with God (seeing what is not yet present). Here’s a quick question, has anyone reading this found any of these principles especially important? Leave a reply in the box below if so!

Another exciting development of our school is that our excellent cook was able to take a couple of weeks off and head down to Bethel in Redding, CA, today. I will be filling in until she gets back and am really looking forward to the opportunity, though, she will be a hard person to fill in for!

Our family has also been able to become more involved with the community here in Cascade too. My wife is going to a “mom and tots” get together, a local Bible study for women, and serving with the emergency pregnancy care center that is just starting up as well. I’m still finding my place among the other people in Cascade, but I’m hoping to make a big impact too.

We pray that this finds you all well and that God blesses you very much!

Thanks for keeping up with us!

Other Updates:

– We’ve had several people visit the Cascade/McCall are recently and they are saying that the place feels different. I’m not sure what this means yet, but we have been praying for the people in the valley and that the place would be a place where God is welcome. The visitors are all bringing good reports.

– One of the local youth is interested in the Bible study idea! I’ll be meeting with him today to talk more about the possibilities of having a Bible study night at our house.

Scripture:

Just this last Sunday, the Pastor at the church we attend gave the announcement that the next series of sermons will be on the book of Ephesians. Upon hearing this I glanced through the book and came upon chapter 4.

In this chapter Paul is bringing together a strong argument that, as followers of Jesus, who were saved by God through His love for us, we should love each other. A character of this love is our unity. It was God who brought us together and in His love he equips us and changes us into new people. As a new people this needs to be our own model as well.

How can we love others in such a way that builds them up and unifies them?

Leave your response in the box below!

Praise & Prayer Report

– Praise God for His provision!

– Praise God for our wonderful friends!

– Please pray for our finances as a family!

Thanks for all your prayers!

In Christ,
The Abiding Kingdom

Weekly Update: February 22nd, 2013

Weekly Update: Friday 2/22/2013

Hello again everyone,

Well, if anyone has been following these updates since I left for South Asia last December, that sandwich I ate at the airport in Helsinki was as amazing as it looked. You can probably find them in the big nice looking place to eat about half way through the international terminal, if you’re transiting through the air port in Helsinki, of course.

If you’re interested in all the happenings of what my 9 weeks in South Asia looked like, hang on, I’ll be writing that up in due time.

For now, our family Is getting settled into our nice little apartment here in Cascade, Idaho. It is a very comfortable cold outside and a decently comfortable warm inside. The air is much dryer than either the Netherlands or South Asia, which I am very thankful for; dry cold air helps my health to no small degree. We still have a couple of bags to unpack, some furniture to rearrange and replace, still a little bit more cleaning to do, and with that we should be all settled in.

It has been really exciting to see many of our old friends again! The winter in Idaho isn’t always the easiest time for finding our friends in YWAM. The vast majority are either in Asia or back with family raising support. Still, we’ve been able to visit four out of the five families that are still around.

Within the next couple days we’ll also be ready to get started on the School Of Apostolic Pioneering that will be running from March 10th though May 31st. We are going to have a great line up of speakers, students, and staff (which of course includes us)!

If you know anyone who really wants to start a new ministry or YWAM location, please, let them know about the SOAP!

Thanks for partnering with our family!

Other Updates:

– Our son is an excellent traveler! After a slightly troubled night of sleep in Amsterdam, He managed to sleep half of the time on our flight from Amsterdam to Chicago and lounge around for the rest! From the look on his face it seemed that he found it the lamest thing ever done, though, he wasn’t cranky bout it at all!

After the first flight, he played around in Chicago O’Hare airport for another eight hours; following that, slept through the next flight, the entire night in Boise, and arrived in Cascade without any jet lag at all!

– Last Saturday I was able to talk with my friend in Enschede about the prayer meeting that we had started. It was a fun time, but we won’t be able to continue it. I was a little sad about that, but when I prayed about it I felt that God was saying that seeds were planted in Enschede for another prayer meeting and that the prayers we have prayed for the city will be effective.

Thanks for praying for us!

Scripture:

Since coming to Cascade I have been feeling the need to read the Bible and receive what I need from God through it. It isn’t that unusual, of course, many times after I travel I get off track with reading my Bible and haveing my quiet times with God.

This time, though, the need has been much greater.

After being gone for so long and just returning from my time in South Asia it is easy for me to become withdrawn. I suppose you could say I am a bit culture shocked.

Yesterday, I asked God if there was a book in the Bible that He would like to start revealing Himself to me through and help me through what I was dealing with. It felt like He wanted to go through Psalms with me again and to start with the first psalm.

It was a very special time with God!

The first psalm is about where you set your mind and what you do; do you put your trust in ungodly things? Do you walk in the way of sin? Do you sit around in scornfulness? As I read it I started to see how selfish I was for not looking beyond myself – in a way, scornfulness. It says that the person who is blessed is the person who sets his mind on the law of God. Jesus Himself says that the greatest commands of the law is to love God and to love others.

It helped me to start my day with a new perspective and new confidence.

You all should try it out too!

 

Praise & Prayer Report:

– Praise God for our time in the Netherlands!

– Praise God for my wife’s visa!

– Please pray for our family’s finances and continued support!

– Please pray that our family would adjust well for life and ministry in the United States!

Thanks for all your prayers!

In Christ,
The Abiding Kingdom

TAK Article: Living

TAK Article: Living

It is good to be back in the Netherlands again!

There have been many good things that have happened to us in the last two months, though, I promise I will not share all about them right now. Today, on Valentine’s day, my wife and I are celebrating our three-year relationship anniversary! As of today my wife and I will have been in a relationship for three years!

While the last two months may be quite outstanding with things to share the last three years have been even greater!

During these three years we’ve been able to learn how to live out our lives together in a way that brings glory to God and shares His love with those around us. After all, that is what we do.

Love God and Love Others

What do the greatest commands of the law mean to you?

When a man asked Jesus what was the greatest command was in the entire law (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy of the Bible) He replied that it was to love God through everything that we aspire to do, everything that we think about, everything that we are, and everything that we actually do – as well as showing love to our neighbors as we would wish to be loved.

What do these commands mean to you? Are they on your mind? Do you think about them before you act?

As followers of Jesus Christ we are all called to expand His kingdom. There are no safe zones in our hearts where we may hide from God or off-limit places in the world where His kingdom and His law (the greatest commandments of the law) will not go.

How do we wish to do that? Where do we want to go?

It is far too easy for us to become entangled in cares of this life that do not matter; also, if they are cares that do matter, we spend too much time worrying about them. Everything that we need we can trust God to give us.

I want to see this happen through discipleship.

Over the next while my wife and I will be settling down in Cascade, Idaho. We finally have our visa, which God has made possible in perfect timing, and we can now move back into our apartment. That said, I’m no longer only looking forward to a place to settle down anymore. I don’t care for it and I pray that my heart would not grow overly fond of any comfortable apartment. My heart is fond of Jesus Christ and I wish to turn as many hearts to Him as possible!

Cascade is a good place to do this, I know the language of everybody there for a change and I have a place to live where I can invite people over for dinner with my family. Yes, that may not seem like much, but I am a follower Jesus Christ – He will provide me with anything else I need.

I want to talk with people, I want to encourage friends, I want to meet in groups, I want to discuss the Bible and Jesus’ life, I want to gather around food, etc…

Throughout our history these are the things that God has used to change people from who they were to who God desires them to be – to sum it up, this is living out discipleship with Jesus and others.

We need to realize that the greatest medium of God’s grace is our lives.

Every aspect of our lives is another way in which God can reach somebody who does not know Him yet! Further than that, every aspect of our lives is another way we can encourage each other to love God even more!

Valentine’s Day

Today, many people are celebrating the emotion or feeling of love – I admit that I know very little about this specific holiday, but for my wife and I it reminds us of the day that we began our relationship. It was a very special day for us.

We committed ourselves to love each other and seek out marriage together.

Three years later we are married and have a beautiful little son that is walking around and threatening to tear apart the entire house!

That process has taken a lot of God’s grace and committed love from both of us as well. It is the same way when we consider our relationship with God – He will give us the grace that we need to become the son or daughter that He desires us to be and we need to commit ourselves to loving Him. We do this with our entire lives.

I pray that each of us would reach out to others with our entire lives as well!

In Christ,
The Abiding Kingdom

Weekly Update: December 4th, 2012

Weekly Update: Tuesday 12/04/2012

 

Hello everyone,

First update from Helsinki, Finland!

Well, I’m in the international section right now, but I did walk on the ground outside of the international section on my arrival, so I’m counting it.

My travels have started out really well; played with our son last night and kissed him goodbye this morning, my wife was able to travel with me to the airport, and the flights so far have been very peaceful. I’m a little hungry, of which anyone with my appetite and wallet will understand if they’ve been to an airport too. All the food on airports is really expensive; however, I just saw the biggest, cheapest, and best looking sandwich I’ve ever saw on an airport – so, if I have time, and they don’t dash my hopes by cutting a sixth of it of it off and serving only that to me, I’m going to go enjoy that after I’m finished writing!

Thanks for partnering with our family!

 

Other Updates:

– We had our second prayer meeting for Enschede last Thursday and had a really good time too. My wife volunteered to set them up while I am in Asia. Keep praying that we run into some more people who would like to lead it in the future!

 

Scripture:

The last bit of scripture that I read was Ezekiel 20-23.

It’s a hard bit of scripture to read and the images it gives are very hard to forget. It’s also loaded with God’s character. It shows everything of what God has to do with sin, what it is like for Him to behold terrible sins and what happens when nobody cares about them anymore.

I would recommend praying a lot before reading it – if it isn’t something that you are ready for God to speak to you then wait until you are ready.

Reading the Bible before we are ready to do what God speaks to our hearts through it isn’t the best idea… we will learn a lot, but that tends to stay in our heads. When the Bible stays in our heads it doesn’t do what God designed it for. When it is received into our hearts then it achieves the purpose that God gave it.

I can’t say what this passage of scripture will do in your hearts, but when I read it my heart is troubled at the severe effect of sin. It takes people from being God’s beloved, not that God stops His love toward us, and turns them into doers of evil. All the gifts God has given us are turned into ways of doing more evil, against ourselves and others.

This is how much of the world operates, almost all of it. However, God promises to come and redeem this world and its people through Jesus, the one “who’s right it is” to receive the diadem.

And, it is in this that we are set about as His followers to do!

I hope that you will find this encouraging!

 

Praise & Prayer Report:

– Praise God for our time in the Netherlands!

– Please continue praying for my wife’s visa application!

– Please pray for our family’s finances and continued support!

– Please pray that our family would receive everything God has for us during these months together in the Netherlands!

 

Thanks for all your prayers!

In Christ,
The Abiding Kingdom

Weekly Update: November 21st, 2012

Weekly Update: Wednesday 10/21/2012

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

We pray that God will bless all of you and show you all the things that He has done for you this year!

Our time in the Netherlands is going well.

We have an understanding of how the next couple months will look for us and God is providing for all of our needs to accomplish them. Within the next months we are hoping to see the Enschede Prayer Team continue, we are having a missions fair at our home church here in Enschede, and I will be off to Asia from December to February.

We are looking forward to a very busy and exciting time!

Though, I don’t want to miss what has been happening in the last month since I last updated our weekly update… I see the irony.

My wife is the one heading up the missions fair for our church’s  missionary members, which means she is very busy emailing, writing, and visiting people. She is also sorting things out for the immigrations sale that we will have at the same time.

While my wife works at this, our son likes getting into bookshelves and plants, and cabinets that he shouldn’t – of which there are plenty of each.

I’m reading through my fourth book dealing with early church history and trying to understand the implications it has on us today. It is really important for me to keep learning and sharing what I learn with others. Writing things down here on the blog is one way, talking about them with my father-in-law over coffee several times a day is another that I particularly enjoy.

So, with that, my mind is often caught up in several different places at the same time. What happened at this time, who said what when, Jay Edward trying to pull down a great big potted plant  or playing with his grandpa’s books now, etc.

In all this I am preparing to travel to Asia; I have the opportunity to teach at a discipleship training school, help a couple of outreach teams, and learning/showing how to make water filters out of clay pots, sand, gravel, and water.

Out of those three, doing the research and showing people how to filter water will have the most impact on my time there.

It is a project that comes out of our prayers for Asia.

During my first trip to Asia we learned how terrible the water there can be. As we prayed about what to do we felt that God wanted us to bring water filters, but we never found a way how. Since then, our outreach have been focused on helping people learn about basic hygiene and preventable sicknesses.

Yet, we’ve still had the problem that most people do not have access to clean water.

Earlier  this year I learned of a water filter that may fit our unique demands. On this trip I’ll research them more, see if I get sick when I drink the water, and do my best to share them with my other friends who will be able to share the water filters with even more people.

Be praying for my time away from family, success in the water filter project, and safe travels!

Thanks for partnering with our family!

 

Other Updates:

– We had an update this past week that the National Visa Center, in the US, has all of our documents again. Please pray that the process will go smoothly from here!

– In order to use my time well in the Netherlands, I’ve begun pioneering a prayer team for the various ministries in Enschede. This project is going well and I’ve sent invitations to other ministries to see if more will join the prayer team.

 

Scripture:

The last time I wrote here I had just finished Isaiah and was in Jeremiah, now I’m finished with Jeremiah and am in Ezekiel.

The two books are very similar; it seems that Ezekiel is written even more like a journal than Jeremiah. Ezekiel writes about the amazing visions and experiences he has with God and the strange and very persistent ways that God has him speak to the people who have been taken captive by the Babylonians. They speak at the same time, to the same group of people, about most of the same things, but in completely different places.

Jeremiah speaks from Jerusalem and later from Egypt, Ezekiel speaks from Babylon after being taken there as a captive himself.

You need a really good imagination to see the things that Ezekiel writes about. He writes about God’s throne sitting on towering angels, being spiritually taken to Jerusalem and digging through walls, and hearing God tell him to do dig a hole through his own house’s wall and act like he’s going into exile – just so people will ask and give God an opportunity to speak to them!

It’s an interesting and challenging read!

 

Praise & Prayer Report:

– Praise God for our time in the Netherlands!

– Please continue praying for my wife’s visa application!

– Please pray for our family’s finances and continued support!

– Please pray that our family would receive everything God has for us during these months together in the Netherlands and after we are apart!

 

Thanks for all your prayers!

In Christ,
The Abiding Kingdom