Filed under: Theology
The pace of our lives and the blast of communication that comes our way in any one week is amazing. The amount of information that available to us on our tv screens, on the internet, through our cell phones, and just generally being transmitted in the air around us is overwhelming.
With that in mind, I am turning off or at least down for the next week. This week is our church’s week of prayer and fasting. It is a week set aside to seek God in prayer and in time meditating on His word. Fasting is a biblical concept that is simply denying yourself something for a spiritual purpose. For some it is food. For others it is media. For others its internet surfing. For others it might some delight or enjoyment that they normally engage in. But to not do whatever it is and to set that time aside for a pursuit of God through prayer and through His word is an excellent thing.
So in that spirit, this blog is going dark for the next week. I realize that this may kill traffic (we turned over 1000 hits not that long ago) but so be it. It is worth it. I want to encourage you to do that same. Just turn it off. It will be there when you get back and if its not what of significance did you really lose?
So if you are last one out please turn the lights off.
Andy
Filed under: Theology
On Sunday I mentioned some of the research that has been done into the “modern Jonah” story. At least from the perspective of the articles author it seems to be a bit of a “fish” story.
Filed under: Life
This coming Saturday afternoon (Sept 22nd) our worship team will be playing an outdoor concert at the historic Ford’s Chapel UMC. Come out, have some fun, and hear some great music.
Filed under: Nicaragua
As an culture America we have an incredible short attention span. While things like 9/11 was only 6 short years ago I know for me and others it passed by this year with little notice. But what I don’t want us to forget about is to pray for things that are important and which God has put in our path. With that in mind I would like to share with you an update that I have receive from some ministry partners in Nicaragua. The following e-mail was sent to me about the recent hurricane that hit Nicaragua:
As you must have heard Nicaragua was hit by huracane Felix exactly a week ago. The northern east coast was hit when Felix of category 5 made landfall near Puerto Cabezas on the Atlantic coast. I was talking to a pastor friend of mine and he was telling me about some christians that were killed including their children. It`s been a tough time for all the people in that area. There are women that lost their husbands. Children who will grow up without their fathers and some without their mothers. There are around 30 dead women and around 50 dead men and some children. We`ve been watching the news everyday and we hear all of the time about a Miskito lady (local indian tribe) who lost her teenage son while she was in the Atlantic water. Both were hanging on to a peice of wood that was left after their boat collapsed and saw how the waves took her son away. She kept fighting for her life but suffering and not wanting to live without her son.. She and many others were rescued 2-3 days later. They were out in the water fishing and did not hear of the danger of Huracane Felix. (As you know I was in a similar situation last year on lake Nicaragua and I think I understand what these people lived when their boat collapsed. Fear is a strong and permanent emotion until you get out of there.) But, the sadest thing is that the Nicaraguan army keeps finding more and more bodies on the coasts or still in the water. While ladies, children and relatives await for the military boats to arrive with good news. It is a tremendously painful scene when these people see only what is left of the bodies. Some recognize their relatives by the close they were wearing and most bodies are not recognized becuase of the flesh condition. But, in the middle of pain and suffering, people are showing their good hearts to us. Planes from Spain, USA, South America and many more are coming with humanitarian aid. The Nicaraguan people have organized a campain to raise more help inside the country taking place today in Managua. The number of destroyed homes is over 16,000 and 115,000 people greatly affected by Felix. 70 bodies found in Nicaragua and 21 bodies found on the coasts of Honduras but all Nicaraguans. There are still 105 people missing and as time goes on, the Hope is less. Please pray for our country as we try to recover from this catastrophe. We know that without the help of other countries it would be almost impossible because of our great level of poverty. We hope that other countries will be touched by God and will arrive with more help.
MINISTRY After talking to some pastors, we strongly believe that God can use this tragedy for his Glory and that we must take this great opportunity to share the love of Christ with those people which know very little about God. Some churches are getting ready to go and work for the Kingdom by sharing what they have but mostly by sharing the precious Gospel. Again, we ask you to pray for Nicaragua and the believers who are going to work in the damaged area. In advance, thank you all for your prayers and love!
Please continue to pray for our brothers ministering there. Pray that the gospel would be furthered!
Filed under: Theology
I have been ask recently by several people about the emergent church movement. If you are unfamiliar with that is, it is a movement within churches where people are asking questions about how we should change “how we do” church and sometimes even how we should change our theology because we now live in a post-modern, post-christian America.
If these ideas or this movement is new to you I would highly encourage you to read through the article written by Mark Driscoll on the movement. It is a great primer to what the movement is, how it started, who is a part, some of the dangers, and what are some of the differences of people within this very wide movement.
I will give bonus points to anyone that can identify the person pictured above and how he relates to post-modernism.
Filed under: Life
What could be better then a chair that doubles as a bookcase which also contains a reading lamp, storage for drinks, markers, and paper?
UPDATE: I received this yesterday from a ministry partner in Estili
This is just a quick update to let you know about the events of the day. Hurricane Felix came ashore this morning about 200 miles to the Northwest. For many, this will prove to be a tragedy, but thanks to God, thus far for us here in Esteli, we have seen nothing more from Felix other than a beautifully cool cloudy day with light rain. We hope and pray that this is all we will experience from the Felix.
I don’t know if you have seen the stories yet but a hurricane is hitting the coast of Nicaragua. While it is on the opposite coast from where we normally minister, I am sure the effects will be felt throughout the country.
The God that calmed the storm on the sea is in charge of this one too! Pray that God’s glory would be seen this wind and rain as it was in Mark 4.
