A Big Day for America

Tomorrow is a big day for America. In all reality, no words can really express the weight of what will take place on the 6th of November 2012. I believe there is more riding on the choice America makes tomorrow than ever before in the history of our country.

We have two completely contrasting worldviews to choose from.

One is a progressive view with intent to  extremely reform our founding documents, based upon liberal interpretation.  The Constitution was penned by men who loved God and Country, born out of prayer,  and absolute truth as its foundation. Also with this view comes a definition of life and marriage in direct opposition of Biblical values and God's design, and a laundry list of many other troubling policy views that contradict what this Nation was founded upon.

There are always consequences to compromise. Our country is reaping the consequences of moving away from what truths it was originally founded upon. We're dealing with a debt crisis as a result of out of control spending because of our continual expansion of big government. Our resources are being crippled because of the power of special interest groups. We are creating a future for our children where they will have no incentive to succeed!

Our respect has been dwindled to an all time low around the world, even among our allies such as Israel. Taxes are high, cost of living is high, gas is high, debt is high, and our spirit and morale is low. Consequences.

On the other contrasting worldview, we have a candidate that is much closer to a Biblical value system, yet far from perfect. I believe Mr.Romney is a man with leadership ability that can stay the tide of compromise in our Nation. If we will return to our founding principles, then we will see true positive change. If we don't, we will face critical and devastating consequences far worse than we've ever seen.

I really believe that God is going to give us a reprieve for the sake of Redemption and the furthering of the Gospel in this last day, but your vote tomorrow is crucial!

The same dilemma we are facing as the body of Christ in this postmodern church world. The consequences are inevitable. Will we compromise and move away from God's unchanging standard because of liberal interpretation of our founding documents? Or, will we take a stand for the truth with unwavering confidence that God is still God and He is Truth and Truth never changes?

A big day tomorrow, but regardless of the outcome God has prepared a way through His Son Jesus Christ for you to be free from your sin, and to function according to His design!

Never leave the blueprint of His plan for your life!

So as you walk into that voting booth to exercise your right to impact your country for good, you know there's only one choice to make...VOTE FOR THE RIGHT!!

#Runninga5K

Yep that's me and my wife Naomi after we ran a 5k this past Saturday. You can't see it in the picture but the ambulance is pulling in to take me away. I'm trying to act like I'm ok, but my inside I really wanted to curl up in a fetal position and just die! Ok that's a little bit of exaggeration but not far from the truth.

Way back when,  Naomi mentioned that it would be fun to run a race together, and for whatever insane reason at the time I said, "Sure!" I thought to myself "I'll have plenty of time to prepare....." 
And yes there was more than enough time to prepare, but I failed to ACT.

So as the time got closer, I realized this is not going to be good...I'm gonna die! But because I'm not much of a quitter I followed through and ran anyway. I wouldn't recommend trying to run your first consecutive 3 miles or whatever it was without having some preparation, especially when it was like 30 degrees that morning!

Everyday I get better and soon I may be able to walk again....but what I didn't tell you is that I placed and even won a medal for my lack of preparation! I placed 2nd in my age group (over the hill maybe?) and received my prized proudly as they wheeled my stretcher up to the winner's circle.

Here's a picture of me and my 2nd place medal:

But here's my point: This doesn't happen in the Spiritual race that we are running!

And in all reality, there was only one person who won the race, and though they made me feel good giving me second in my age group, I wasn't even close to winning. Why? I wasn't prepared.

Paul tells us in  1Co 9:24  "Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain."

If you're not prepared at the finish line of Life, you will not obtain a prize. Simple as that. So you better get ready, and you better run like your life and all eternity depends upon it, because it does.

Missions Trip to Africa 2012

 Just returned from another trip to Africa 2 days ago. This trip we took a group of students as well as four instructors for the teaching in the Pastor's school. With a group of eleven it had its challenges, but we are thankful for a successful and safe trip.

The goal of this trip was to teach a pastor's school in both Wanyjok, South Sudan, and Enkorika, Kenya. Also part of the goal was to have children's ministries going on each day during the pastor's schools. The Children's ministry was the responsibility of the students and they did a wonderful job.

Here are some pictures of the trip with captions to explain each event.

 We had to charter this "bush plane" to take on part of the journey to South Sudan. This was a unique experience especially for those who had never flown before this missions trip. This picture was taken at the Aweil, South Sudan, airport. As you can see, the runway is dirt and the airport "terminal" is a grass hut!

                       This is a Pic of part of the group walking around downtown Nairobi.                                                                                

 Video of the rain in South Sudan.

 Water is one of the biggest problems in South Sudan. These boys are filling up the "water cart" at the well and then taking it back to their village. There are only a few wells in Wanyjok. With a population of 3 to 5,000 people you can imagine the difficulty of acquiring water. In fact, most times there is a line of women at the wells to get water.

 This is the group of 118 Pastors who finished the course on Romans this trip.

 Me preaching in the open air in Enkorika, Kenya. A man and his family just moved to a new home and were having a celebration. The pastor dedicated the home to the Lord and then asked me to preach. What an opportunity it was to preach to several hundred people from the village!

 The group of pastors who finished the course of Principles of Purity in Kenya.

 Here they are roasting lamb for us to eat....

This is a man they call "Professor" who was saved several years ago while we were there on a trip to Kenya. He came in drunk to service one night and prayed through after listening to the preaching. He has since starting preaching the Gospel and has won his family to the Lord, as well as many others!

Please continue to pray for the work in South Sudan and also in Kenya. The Lord is moving among the people in a mighty way. We are excited to see what the future holds while we have this window of opportunity to minster in these places.

How do you deal with Stress?

Stress is a buzzword that is racking up the retweets. Stress about job, stress about marriage, stress over relationships, stress because of life's pressures....to infinity and beyond. Stress, stress, stress.

2 days ago a good friend of mine added to my overloaded inbox a simple question that went something like this; "Have you ceased to use your blog?" Which prompted me to sign in and see how long it had been since my last post. Roughly 5 months. Unacceptable.

So I replied to this inquisitive friend, "No....just an extra long pause?" While in my mind I also wanted to ask if he was so interested why was he not following my blog? Anyway, but what peaked my interest was the question mark that I was compelled to end the sentence with. Then I realized It was a guilt mark. A passive way out of saying "Yeah I'm a slacker."

Then another thought occurred to me, should I feel guilty for not promptly providing reading material for my 7 (yeah that's not a typo) followers?

Which in turn created yet another question in my mind, which should be the last and the primary theme of this blog, how many people are stressing over things that really don't have much weight in the light of eternity?

I'm thinking that its a good possibility that we create much of the un-needed stress we complain about...i.e. even to the point of something as silly as social networking stress!

I know it's almost impossible in this ridiculously busy world we live in to avoid stress altogether. And many deal with extremely difficult circumstances of life every single day. In Job 30:27 he is voicing what many probably do every day, where he says basically "the churning inside me never stops; days of suffering confront me."

But now the remedy. Matt 11:28-30 "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find REST unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."






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The Battle for the Home

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson went on a camping trip. After a good meal they crawled into their tent and went to sleep. In the middle of the night, Holmes awoke and nudged his friend. “Watson, look up and tell me what you see." Watson replied, “I see millions and millions of stars." “What does that tell you, Watson?" Asked Holmes. Watson pondered a moment and then replied, “Astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is within the Leo constellation. Chronologically I observe it’s nighttime 3 a.m. on June 14th. Meteorologically, the air appears dry, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day. Why did you ask? What does it tell you?" Holmes says, “Watson, you idiot! Someone has stolen our tent!"

The moment you are not watching, the moment you let your guard down, the enemy is waiting to take your home!

Gideon was the 5th of 15 Judges of Israel in the Old Testament. We can learn three things from the life of Gideon about the battle for the home.

I- It takes a warrior not a wimp!
Judges 6:12- And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.
- The Angel found Gideon threshing wheat. But because of the oppression of the Midianites who would plunder the Israelites at any given moment, he was doing his job in secrecy. He was not using the oxen, and he was out by the tree threshing the wheat on the ground instead of the threshing floor to prevent the Midianites from hearing and stealing his families provision.

Gideon was providing and protecting his family. He was doing his job even under great oppression of the enemy. This is where we are at as the leader of our home men! We are in a battle for our home!If you don’t stand up as a warrior in your home no one will! Leaderless, warriorless homes leave broken, dysfunctional family legacies. Really the foundation of the church, the future of the church, the future of this nation, rests in the hands of the man of the house.

Satan hates stable, healthy and Godly homes! If you have one you are his enemy – His #1 target!

II – You must destroy things that are destructive to your home.

Judges 6:25-26 God told Gideon the altar to the idol Baal his father had built had to be destroyed and replaced with a renewed commitment to the One True God. When he destroyed the altar, then victory happened! After 7 years of defeat/famine we see Gideon march Israel into a place of victory

You have the authority and the power to change your family by destroying anything that may be spiritually destructive to your home. We have a powerful influence over not only our immediate family, but every generation to follow.

III – You cannot allow ANY room for compromise
Judges 8:22-27 Gideon had been so courageous in obeying the Lord and destroying the altar to Baal, but then he makes one mistake makes the ephod of gold and the people begin to worship it and it became a snare to Gideon and his family. We must not let compromise enter our homes! Be careful what you allow in your home it could become a snare!Satan only needs a small opening to get a foothold in you family. Eph 4:27-Do not give a place or foothold to the devil...

It's time that the man of the house steps up to be a warrior and fight in the battle for the home!

The Power of Truth

On April 14th I had the privilege of speaking at a purity conference in Bentonville, Arkansas. There was around 250 teens and adults there! It was a power packed evening with a message of salvation and sexual purity. This topic of purity is not an easy subject to tackle, but it is extremely important for this generation! There were 3 that accepted Jesus in Salvation, and many others lives were changed by a commitment to purity. It was exciting to see the Power of Truth even for those who have never heard!

Don't Miss Your Flight!

I briefly looked at my itinerary email on my phone on Saturday night. 9:40 a.m. Flight departure time. At least that is what I thought I saw...you would think that I would have learned by now to double check such important things. Nope. I stayed at Dad and Mom's on Saturday night after the Fire Conference, and was to fly back to Missouri on Sunday morning.

So I woke up early enough to get to Indianapolis airport an hour early...so I thought. I said goodbye to my Father and went in to check-in and print my boarding pass. I swipe my passport through the kiosk and it prints out a paper with these words; "This flight has already departed."
My heart sinks, but only momentarily. I think to myself, "surely there is a mistake, I looked at my itinerary last night and the flight leaves at 9:40." So in my arrogance I approach the smiling agent at the airline desk. "I need to get a boarding pass for the DFW flight at 9:40." I say with confidence whipping out my passport and handing it to her. She begins tapping on the keyboard and then a frown appears on her face...
"Um..Sir? We don't have a 9:40 flight to DFW, the only flight is the 8:20 which has already just left"
Now my heart sinks...all the way. I whip out my iPhone and pull up my itinerary email to look at the flight time again, (which I should have done the night before) Departure time flight 5050 to DFW: 8:20 a.m. Junk. Yet another HUGE oversight!
So I was able to get the next flight through Chicago and get home just half an hour later than originally. And it turned out to be a God thing anyway because I sat next to a woman from India! So I was able to share Truth with her on the flight home.

But as I was waiting for the flight to Chicago to board, I began to ponder this thought. There is a much more important flight I don't want to miss coming up one day. Many times in our stubborn arrogance we think we have been thorough in our preparations, but even one small mistake can cause you to miss your flight. At that point no amount of blaming someone else or excuses for our failure will be of any affect.

We cannot afford to miss THE flight!

Be ready, not according to your definition of being prepared, but according to HIS definition. Ephesians 5:27 "That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish."