Shovelin' the Deck

It depends who you talk to...me or my wife.

Once we move to Texas...I will miss the cold (to a degree - pun intended).
While Kristi on the other hand wouldn't mind never being cold again.



When we got home after our wintry weekend away in Cottage Grove, WI, we arrived to a yard full of snow. We spent the afternoon with the kids outside on the deck.



The plan was to clear the deck of snow, but...well...it turned into just moving snow around.



Jordan and the classic "don't-shovel-snow-into-the-wind" trick.









My two favorite girls (Kristi & Kaylee)

While Kristi and I may disagree about whether or not we will miss the cold, one thing is for sure...it will be warmer in south Texas.

Cottage Grove, WI

Our time at Cottage Grove Baptist Church was truly a blessing. The church was started several years ago (7, I think), and the Lord has been doing some wonderful things in the hearts and lives of the members and community. What a joy it was to hear about God's wonderful works.

The fellowship with the pastor and family was uplifting and encouraging. They made us feel so comfortable and at home. Several Maranatha Baptist Bible College students attend the church on weekends and it was great to see several people we had met last summer at Camp Chetek.

The evening service was devoted to the children's Christmas program. Our children were invited to participate in the program, much to their joy. Last year we missed our home church's program.

Here are some shots from the evening:


Making new friends


The younger children's portion of the program. The boys knew most of the songs. It was quite amusing to watch them "mouth" the words to songs that they didn't know.











Kaylee and one of the twins "playing" the piano before the service.



We spent the night at the pastor's house and left for home on Monday late morning. Much packing, recording, and loading awaited us once we arrived home.

But before we started resumed packing, we spent time playing outside in the snow...more on that in the next post.

Thanks for your prayers for our family during these last weeks in MN.

Snow, Accidents, & Days Inn

The Plan was to leave our home around 11 am on a Saturday to drive the 5 hours down to the greater Madison, WI area for our final deputation meeting before we move to Texas.

The Reality was the following:

- We moved our departure time up one hour to 10 am to get a jump on the storm that was coming.

- It was snowing lightly when we left...not a problem.

- By the time we reached Eau Claire, WI, it was coming down pretty heavy. The roads were unplowed.

- Five hours after leaving our house, we were driving 45 mph in the slow lane and it seemed like everyone was passing us on the left going 60 mph. Some of those same car/trucks we saw in the ditch down the road.

- Just past Tomah, traffic turned into a parking lot on the freeway. Turned on the radio to try to find out what had happened.

- A semi-truck had jack-knifed and caught fire 12 miles down the road.

- All westbound traffic was halted and rerouted to the eastbound lanes (our lanes) thus causing for a long 13 miles of bumper to bumper vehicles.

- After getting past the accident sight it was getting close to dark and the weather had still not let up. We kept driving until our bladders couldn't hold out any more.

- We pulled off at Wisconsin Dells and barely made it into town due to the unplowed roads.

- After getting some gas, the gas attendant mentioned that the freeway was going to be closed.

- We spun our tires up the road several blocks and pulled into the nearest hotel (Days Inn).

- We decided to spend the night and take our chances in the morning to travel the remaining 60 miles to the church.

- We got up Sunday morning (early!) and got all the kids ready and were checked out by 7:30 AM (a miracle if you ask me). The roads were slick, but plowed.

- We arrived at the church 30 minutes earlier than expected and waited until the pastor arrived.

Praise the Lord for protection and safety on the road. Although spending some money for a hotel is not ideal, it was a great blessing and God's perfect timing.

Thank you to those who do faithfully pray for our family while we are on the road.

Come back again to read about our time in Cottage Grove, WI

Tis' the Season to be Packing

For the first few days after the container was dropped on our property we loaded around 30 items. Everything needs to be shrink wrapped, numbered, and recorded on the laptop. It takes time, energy, and usually happens after the kids are in bed.


Before


During


After

We had to halt all packing on Friday, due to our upcoming weekend away to south central Wisconsin (more about that trip in an upcoming post).

Please continue to pray for our family as we have many things to accomplish here in the next three weeks.

Let Your Heart Be Broken

Let Your Heart Be Broken
author: Brian Jeffery Leach
(sung to the tune: Like A River Glorious)
Original lyrics, Sheet Music, & Audio

Let your heart be broken for a world in need
Feed the mouths that hunger, soothe the wounds that bleed.
Give a cup of water and the loaf of bread
Be the hands of Jesus, serving in His stead.

Here on earth applying principles of love.
Visible expression God still rules above,
Living illustration of the living Word.
To the minds of all who've never seen and heard.

Blest to be a blessing, privileged to care,
Challenged by the need apparent everywhere;
Where mankind is wanting, fill the vacant place,
Be the means thru which the Lord reveals His grace.

Add to you believing deeds that prove it true,
Knowing Christ as Savior, make Him master too:
Follow in His footsteps, go where He has trod,
In the world's great trouble, risk yourself for God.

Let your heart be tender, and your vision clear,
See mankind as God sees, serve Him far and near;
Let your heart be broken by a brother's pain,
Share your rich resources, give and give again.

Refrain:
Stayed upon Jehovah
Hearts are fully blest;
Finding as He promised,
Perfect peace and rest.

(Acoustic guitar arrangement to the lyrics above)

New Missionaries Departure

This is a great day for our family and the GMSA family. Today, Kristi's younger brother, Dan Thompson (and family) flew to Chile for their first term!


Dan & Liz, Micah - green shirt, Matthias - Nemo blanket, and Morgan at the Miami airport this morning. (Photo kindness of Terry Thompson)

Praise the Lord for provision of their support. Pray for them as they adjust to missionary life and endeavor to minister in local churches and camping ministries.

We are looking forward to working with them as co-workers in the near future.

Manda fruta!

A New Generation of Missionary Kids

Gone are the days of records, 8 tracks, & cassette tapes.
Come on...don't you remember when Walkmans were cool?

Gone are the days of playing with GI-Joe guys, transformers, and tin cans.
These days, the new generation of missionary kids seem to have gadgets for ever room and situation.

-Handheld games

-Portable DVD players for the car

-Leap Pad learning games

I let Kaylee watch "Super Why?" on my IPod the other day and she loved it.

To give the whole context of the story...I was sitting at my desk overwhelmed by the ever growing to do list, when Kaylee came by and wanted to sit with me. Then the idea came to me.

Well guess what? Now here favorite place in the house is on the floor by my desk watching and listening to my IPod.

I see great potential for her and the boys to be our tech-savvy secretaries in the future.

Marks & Methods of the NT Church (Part 2)

Click HERE to read Part 1 of "Marks and Methods of a NT Church" series by Dr. Sam Horn & Dr. Les Ollila
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- The question comes then...How then do we avoid being pragmatic in getting these things done?

Answer: There is a difference between church growth and church swelling. If one runs their head into the wall, their head would increase in size, but it hasn't grown a lick. It had been externally caused. It will go back to normal after the pain goes away.

Are we growing our church by Attraction to personalities?

Or are we Attaching people to Biblical principles through the teaching of the Word and the Glorifying of God?

- If we are attracting people...they won't stay (for very long), but if we attach them to principles, then they become part of the body.

- Whatever it takes to get someone into the church (generally), is what it's going to take to keep them there. The genuine searcher is looking for a church that teaches and preaches God's Word. If they want entertainment, go to Vegas, not the local church.

- Attraction Ministries look like the following:
Their Goal is Production (Just get it done!)
Their Focus is How wide the ministry can become
Their Method is Promotion
Their Means - Forcing
The Result is Frustration
The Product is Wood, Hay, & Stubble (I Cor. 3:12)

- Attachment Ministries look like the following:
Their Goal is People (I Peter 5:2)
Their Focus is How deep the ministry can become
Their Method is Feeding (I Peter 5:2)
Their Means is Leading
The Result is Rejoicing
The Product is Gold, Silver, & Precious Stones

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Click HERE to listen to the entire series online.

These discussions have been very helpful to our family in building and expanding our philosophy and methodology of cross cultural church planting in Chile. Please pray that our family will follow the Biblical model of the Marks and Methods of a NT Church.

Marks & Methods of the NT Church (Part 1)

I have been filling my IPod with helpful preaching resources lately and I would like to share what I have been learning from one of the recent series.

Dr. Sam Horn and Dr. Les Ollila have a 15 minute coffee table discussion program called The Word for Life Daily and recently they tackled a 6 part series entitled "The Marks and Methods of the NT Church".

It was very helpful and I would like to share the highlights from my notes after listening to the entire series.

Click HERE to listen to the series online.
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- The purpose of the church body is to display the glory of God...causing people living in this world to see the wisdom of God, the power of God, and the grace of God.

- How then is the Father glorified? John 15:8 states, "that you bear much fruit".

- So then the question is: What is the definition of fruit? It depends on who you ask.

Some say fruit is soulwinning (Rom. 1:13)
Some say fruit is living a holy life (Rom. 6:21-22)
Some say fruit is the fruit of the spirit (Gal. 5: 22-23)

The answer is not found in one of the three, but all of the three in balance.


- What has happened is that we have taken the means by God is glorified and moved the purpose out and put the means in its place. So then the means become the point of glory and the point of reference.

- What happens if one takes a means to glorify God and makes that one's purpose?
Answer: The whole church gets orientated around that one thing. (i.e. soulwinning)

- If you make the means of converts your purpose, the tendency is to do whatever it takes to win them, even if you violate Biblical truth or holiness principles. If it works...then it is right (Pragmatism).

- Who then gets moved into the glory box?
Answer: The person who can do the means the best.
The person who has the biggest _______ .
He or she is the top speaker at all the conferences.
He or she is conducting the "How-To" seminars.


- God not only has a purpose, but He also has a means by which that purpose is to be fulfilled, and a method by which it is to be accomplished.

- If you make your purpose to live a holy life (conduct) and to study the Bible deeply, the result can be to ignore some things in ministry (i.e. the Great Commission command), and/or become legalistic.

- If the focus is how righteous I am, than who gets the glory for that?
Answer: The man of that means...so God's glory (again) is pushed out of the purpose box. (similar to the distorted view chart above, except conduct is in the purpose box).

- Whenever we move a means whereby God is glorified into the purpose box, the man of the means becomes the point of glory and God's glory is set aside.

- A balanced church ministry has to be a ministry that is winning the lost, that is teaching people to live holy lives, and that is causing people to reflect in their lives the fruit of the Spirit, whereby God is glorified.
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Click HERE to continue reading Part 2 of "The Marks & Methods of the NT Church"

Happy Thanksgiving

Now Thank We All Our God

"Now thank we all our God, with heart and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things has done, in Whom this world rejoices;
Who from our mothers’ arms has blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.

O may this bounteous God through all our life be near us,
With ever joyful hearts and blessèd peace to cheer us;
And keep us in His grace, and guide us when perplexed;
And free us from all ills, in this world and the next!

All praise and thanks to God the Father now be given;
The Son and Him Who reigns with Them in highest Heaven;
The one eternal God, whom earth and Heaven adore;
For thus it was, is now, and shall be evermore."

Have a wonderful weekend expressing your thankfulness and spending time with your family or friends.