Counting Loss

Last week marked the end of our second month in France.  Although it feels like six months crammed into two.  To begin this post, I want to say that God is good.  We are now settling into a good rhythm of life.  Hannah is enjoying school (even though she is sad to have a “boy” teacher).  Amelia is enjoying the constant stimulation of city life and her language is exploding (mostly English but French as well).  The girls and I just caught a Mr. Mime in Pokémon GO. Finally, Jen and I are active in both formal and informal language learning.

Next Update France!

Drum roll please!  We would like to announce that our next update will be, wait for it, in France.  Yes, we went down to the embassy yesterday.  Our purpose was to pull out our passports and give-up on this application, and reapply for our visas elsewhere.  We arrived at the time allotted for picking up passports, and the men working the gate said, “The visa section is closed today.”

ARRRGGGG! My internal dialogue said, “Why didn’t you put that on the website.  This is the advertised time to pick up passports.”  I just wanted to cut my losses and get my passport.

Don't Waste the Wait

I want to thank everyone for praying this past week.  Sadly, we still do not have our visas.  We are not in France (yet).  Still, God is good. For us this has become a season of waiting.  What we thought was a commission, to the front line of God’s will for us, is a season of sitting on bags in the assembly area (1 Samuel 30:21-25). 

To confess, I hate to wait.  Take for instance a 2-day shipment from amazon.  It takes too long.  During those two days I will check package tracking like 100 times just to see where my package is. 

Please Pray This Week

Today I ask for your help. As most of you know Jen and I experienced a clear call from God to serve him internationally.  So after a long season of prayer, we were called, by the Christian and Missionary Alliance, to serve our Lord in Mali.  This meant leaving our home in Wellsboro , PA and prepare for our new life as international workers. 

Over the past spring and summer we have been busily preparing for our first flight on the journey, to language school in France.  Here is where I am asking for your help.  We need prayer.  Classes at the French school start on Tuesday and we do not have our visas yet (we have been waiting for over 11 weeks).  If we do not get our visas by the end of this week, there is a good chance that we cannot attend the French school this term, drastically affecting our preparations. 

The Hands with the Nails

Listen to This Sermon Here

Imagine if you will, for a moment, you are in a market and you come across a vender who you’ve seen before.  You recognize this man because he was in the gathering of the new sect of Judaism called Followers of the Way.  What is more, despite the man’s old and wither exterior, he still carries himself as a veteran of the Army.  A soldier of the Roman guard never loses the stature.  There is an intangible way in which he stands and presents himself so that you know he served his country well.  But today he serves you by selling you fruit from his stand.

He Rides a Donkey

Listen to this message here

I want tell you a story.  Specifically, I want to tell you the story of when Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey.  I want you to turn on your imagination.  What would it be like that day?  What would you be doing?  Where would you be standing?  What would you be shouting?  What would the road feel like on your feet?  What would the crowd smell like?  What would the shouts of hosanna and crucify him sound like to you?  How would they sound as the came from your mouth? 

Peter is Sifted

In this specific moment we find Peter, wondering through back allies of Jerusalem.  Evening has turned into night. He is trying not to be seen. He is following a raucous crowd.

Ahead of Peter stood Caiaphas' house.  The high priest had summoned this mob, and they were returning with their prize.  Peter quietly stow away in the pack.  He had to see, he had to know.  What was going to happen to his Lord?  The one he declared to be Messiah, the Son of the Living God.

In this horrible turn of events, the Passover meal was supposed to end in celebration, deliverance, salvation.  How did this one turn into a lynch mob.  Surly no salvation can come from this. Peter still had the taste of bread and wine in his mouth, the body and the blood of Jesus Christ.  “But at the Passover the blood of the lamb is to be spilled for the salvation of the Jews.” Peter thought, “What did Jesus mean His body broken his blood, the new covenant, spilled out?”

God is Laughing at Me

God is laughing at me and my family.  They say the quickest way to make God laugh at you is to say, “I have a plan.”  I believe that this is very true.  Except, God’s laughter is not a mocking or jeering laughter.  It is the warm inviting laughter of a father who is watching his beloved child discover, for the first time, the delight of eating ice cream with sprinkles on a summer’s eve.  There is a joy and an invitation in God’s laughter. 

Proverbs 16:9 says, “The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.”

Reckless Treasure Hunters

Listen to this sermon here

What is your treasure?  What is it that you pursue above all else?  What your treasure is will determine how you live and give.  When we talk about The kingdom of God, giving looks a little different than what we tend to think.