Christmas thoughts: What you are

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
Matthew 6:13 (NIV) 

Christ follower...don't lose what it is that God made you to be to serve the world in the way only you can.  If you do, then you lose your sense of purpose and you lose you momentum, and it's likely that you'll get trampled by those that don't get it.  Don't just quit being what God has called you to be and "lay down" waiting for it to happen.


How do you lose it?  By taking your eyes off Christ daily...by putting your judgment ahead of God's...by listening to those naysayers who are rarely party to the conversations that you and God had.

Stand up...be what God called you to be...let Him worry about that results of that.  It says later to "let your light shine before men"...that's YOUR light.  Not someone else's light that seems to have it more together or to have it figured out, it's YOUR light, the light that God placed in you, the gift that God gave you...the light that is fueled by hanging around the true Light of the world, Jesus.  Light it up!

A closer explanation of the translation of John 1:1 issue re: "the Word was A god" vs. "the Word was God"

In John 1:1, is one of the strongest declarations that Jesus is God.  Here is what it says:
 ¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Some religions who use the Bible as part of their basis have translated that verse incorrectly from the Greek to say this:
 ¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a God.


It's a simple change, but is it a big deal?  Yes.  As I alluded to yesterday at Bay West, it opens the door, that we will all be Gods, like Jesus one day, to which many concurrent beliefs have been built on in some of these religions.  That premise has been superimposed on other expressions of Jesus in the Bible and you can see where that leads.  Conflicts with God as the one true God... conflicts with the unique nature of Jesus (Him being the ONLY Son of God in the nature that He is Son)... introducing a polytheistic essence to the monotheistic faith of Christianity (not one god, but many)...loads of issues.

You can see that this interpretation doesn't synthesize John 1:1 with other Scripture, such as Deut. 6:4 (God is one) and the loads of other similar passages throughout the Bible, but instead it tries to elevate this mistranslation above other verses, by using it to "trump" them so to speak, not to  understand what Scripture, as a whole, together says.

I wanted to provide a more complete explanation than what I was able to get into yesterday, so that you can understand it.  Here is a good, concise one below.  It isn't too technical, so if you aren't a Greek scholar, you can understand it and get the point.  All you really have to have is an understanding of that boring subject that we all had to take in school...grammar, subject, verb, predicate (or predicate nominative, as I was taught in English grammar), etc.  Bet you thought all that would be useless, didn't ya? :D 

Here is a good concise explanation from Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Commentary.   I could reword it. but he did a great job here in explaining the Greek translation issue

This confused position falls on at least two grounds. Such a view is polytheistic, the belief in more than one god. Second, it betrays a misunderstanding of Greek grammar. Verse 1 of the first chapter of John reads, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The last portion of 1:1 is the major point of contention. It reads in the Greek theos en ho logos, or literally, “the Word was God.” God, or theos, occurs in this verse without the Greek article ho, so that some have contended that the lack of the article in the Greek text should cause the statement to be translated “the Word was a god.” The best understanding for the translation, however, as recognized by Greek scholars, is that since theos is a predicate and precedes the noun logos and a verb, it is natural for it to occur here without the article. Greek scholars are agreed that the verse should be translated as it regularly is in modern and ancient translations, clearly affirming that Jesus is indeed God.

Radmacher, E. D., Allen, R. B., & House, H. W. (1999). Nelson's new illustrated Bible commentary (Jn 1:1). Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers.

Christmas STUFF coming on us at FBC & Bay West

Christmas is here and it's crazy, because another year has just flown by.  When we look back at this year, we've been
- "radical" in new ways, serving in ways we've never served before.
- started new directions in our lives, studied God's Word differently, expecting a difference in our lives.
- started a partnership in another country to reach an unreached people group, and help support the building of a clean water system in Nicaragua that has been instrumental in leading over 30 people to Christ.

So far, good year, but it's not over...and there are lots of Christmas things to benefit us this year.

Our Christmas Schedule at Bay West will be as follows.

We'll meet at Heritage High School on Sunday, Dec. 4, 11, 18 and then on the 25th and January 1st, we'll meet in combined services at the Melbourne Campus...returning to Heritage the next week on January 8th with a GREAT new series, so be ready.

For the "Who is Jesus" series at Bay West, we have some interesting and impacting services planned, so do not miss them.  If you have someone who battles with Who Jesus is, this is a good series to invite them to come...we'll tackle that question.

On December 10-11, we have the Adult Christmas Concert at the Melbourne Campus...it's a great FREE Christmas offering of music and fun.  You will need a ticket and they are GOING fast.  There are only a few left and they are at Bay West this Sunday.  After that, it's overflow and hope someone doesn't show up.  These are tickets, not just invite cards, so only take them for your immediate family and someone that you've already invited and know they are coming.

On December 18, we'll be having the Children's Choirs Christmas Concert at the Melbourne Campus.  Our little ones are always cute and talented and it's a fun time for all...I'm there with the video camera to watch mine!

As you know, Christmas Day falls on a Sunday this year, so we get to celebrate Christ's birth at church this year!  As awesome as this is, we realize that it does present challenges for those with large family traditions, and we are trying to be sensitive to that.  God ordained that His name be praised always, but each church picks the times under His guidance and we feel we've done so this year as well.  We will be offering two services this weekend at our Melbourne Campus...a Christmas Eve service at 5pm and a Christmas Day service at 11am.  Both services will be identical in construction, so you can choose to come to one or both, whatever God leads you to do...no guilt from us.  :)  Childcare is preschool only.

New Year's Day will be a very special time with our two campuses.  Randy and I will be working with Scott on leading the service time...  It will be a special time, very laid back and a time for people to share what God's doing in their lives.  It's called a "Catacomb service" at FBC.  We put the chairs "in the round" on the floor and we lead worship and speak from the floor.  It's really interesting and a special time.

Looking forward to what's going on at Bay West and FBC Melbourne.

Please continue to pray for us as we attempt to be a Jesus- following church in Palm Bay, Florida as a the Bay West Campus of FBC Melbourne.

Holy Radical T-shirts, Batman! Pray for the work of the Water Project in Nicaragua!

When last we left our caped crusader...sorry, couldn't resist that, but seriously, wanted to pass along an update from Daniel Richeson at Viera Water Network on the work on getting a clean water system to Las Lajas, a village in the mountains in Nicaragua.  If you remember, we are helping to sponsor this project with the sales of our Bay West T-shirts.

Daniel emailed me and sent some pictures and I'm going to copy the email report from Maynor Curtis, who works with us in Nicaragua as a translator when we go.  Maynor is heading up the project onsite with the Mennonite Church that is working with the villagers to build the water system AND sharing Christ with them as they work on the project side by side.  GREAT NEWS and GREAT needs of prayer for the people and for Maynor personally.  You can read it below.

"Hello Brother Daniel! I return to Grenada on Thursday afternoon and Friday at 4:00 am, I was taken to hospital because I had high fever, cough, body aches and my blood pressure was down, 90/70. I was in the hospital until Sunday afternoon. I am serving as his interpreter, but with some difficulty, because I still coughing. For the last 5 weeks we could not work on the water project, but we had advanced a little, and the reason is the heavy rains in Nicaragua.

The rivers have plenty of water and we have to stay in Panama for 37 days, without returning to our homes because we could not cross the river that is on route to Los Panama and the Caribe.

On October 18 collapsed part of the hill, where we were and the water entered into the house at night, when we were sleeping, but thank God, we suffer losses of 20 bag of cement. The Mennonite church, going to buy others 20 bag of cement, (100 pound per bag); but the owner of the house, he lost some rabbits and some chickens. Next week, I returned to finish the work of the water tanks and then I will send the full report.

In Christ,

Maynor Curtis

The unprofitable bondservant of our Lord Jesus Christ"

 Our job is not through with the sending of the money to Nicaruagua...we need to PRAY! 

Here is specifically what I am charging you personally to pray with every day.

1)  For Maynor's health as he continues to try to run the project at far less than 100%

2)  For the weather to be conducive to finishing the project

3)  Praise God for the many who have accepted Christ in working on the project (over 23 at last count)

4)  Praise God the loss due to the damage of the hill collapsing was minor, but also pray for the owner who had losses, that God will bless him for helping with this project.

4 things...pray every day...this is part of our Radical Experiment and it's not done yet!

Pictures from the "T-shirts for Nicaragua" project with Viera Water Network!

  

The truth about wolves and Proverbs 18

¹⁵ “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. ¹⁶ By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
Matthew 7

You know...this is a well-quoted verse in Scripture, but misused by many people...Christians and non-Christians alike.

For so many, they believe that this verse is pointing at people who are in their limited estimation "bad" pastors or tele-evangelists or someone like that, but that's a very limited scope of what this verse is about...it speaks to just about anyone who would choose to speak in God's name.

In the Old Testament, it was easy to find the true prophet...if a prophet ran his mouth saying "thus sayeth the Lord" (because we know they didn't speak Hebrew, they spoke King James English - :)  ) and his prophecy didn't come true, the people just stoned him to death  and no more prophet.  Pretty simple.

Well, today, most people don't agree on prophecy as something that just tells the future, but prophecy is one who takes the Word of the Lord and expounds it with application and expediency to the people in a specific situation.  Basically, you take something from the Bible and speak "for" God into someone else's life and tell them what that means for them.  The problem is that without a fortune telling element, how do you know who to stone and are you really even supposed to do that?

That's why God put this together in Matthew 7...he said "by their fruit, you will recognize them."  In other words, they'll be true to the entirety of the character of God as expressed in the whole of Scripture.  Their message won't hold water or they will be exposed when they deliver it by their life not matching with what Scripture says.  For example, when someone brings the "truth", but spouts in in an unloving way or in violation of Scriptures such as Matthew 18...they are a false prophet at that moment.  Don't listen to them.

Or if, for example, out of fear and cowardice they hide in the bushes or scream their message from afar in a cowardly manner, you'll know they are false because Joshua 1:8 tells us that when God speaks through us it isn't through a spirit of fear, but of power and of love.

Or if, they do it in an ugly and disrespectful manner, obviously not trying to bring someone in sin to resolution with God, then they are violating Galatians 6, in which is clearly defines the proper way to approach someone who is caught in a sin...the proper way to view that person, not as an enemy, but a fellow co-laborer in Christ who needs help.  Maybe they violated Ephesians 4 by not being humble or gentle or patient or valuing unity with their fellow believers, feeling that somehow their message has given them leave to violate the rest of the Scripture...Then, well, you see by the fruit that you don't listen to them.

There are loads of examples here, but the truth is when someone delivers a message in an unChristlike manner, then you just heard all you needed to know about that person and what they had to say, because they just denounced their "prophetic message" with the way they lived out the "Gospel" in front of you. 

"But Jim, what if they quote Scripture (or part of one) or say a couple of things that sound good...shouldn't we listen to them then...what if only PART of what they say is wrong?"  That's cool, but there's more to it.

Here's why you don't want to listen to them...

Proverbs 18 puts it a little more bluntly about those who aren't following God in their speaking "for" God.  In the Bible, fools are characterized as those who don't follow Christ, because as Psalms 111:10 (or Proverbs 9:10) says "the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom"...but Proverbs 18:2 lays it pretty clear here..."Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions."  One, the person not following Christ isn't interested in the truth, it's just their opinion...their fruit tells you so. 

Proverbs 18:7 takes it further and tells you more..."The mouths of fools are their undoing, and their lips are a snare to their very lives."  First, their own words and message will cannibalize itself eventually.  Even further, their mouths and lips will be their OWN undoing and it will be a snare to their lives and if you participate in that, you'll be snared by the same things that ensnare them...because as you allow them access and influence over you, their snares, just like their words, will become yours as well.

Beware the wolf in sheep's clothing...they look like they know what they are doing, but pay close attention to them...."so we can STONE THEM, right, Jim?" 

No, we don't stone them.  We see them as people who are caught in sin just like anyone else.  It's not our job to take vengeance on anyone doing wrong (Romans 12:19), we leave that to God.  He's a much more strict, harsh and effective disciplinarian than we could ever be any way.  We are to be God's agents of mercy, grace and love (even love that says the hard truth, but never done without love or we violate Scripture again).  Doesn't mean we sacrifice the "truth" to love people, any more than we commit the sin of sacrificing "love" as our motivation of truth....and people know. 

Sometimes, it's hard to see them as what they are, because usually, to reference Proverbs 18, "fools" who just love to air their own opinions just annoy the daylights out of you...usually it's their self-aggrandizing arrogance that is really hard to love and that's only natural.  While that's natural, it's not God-controlled and we must always attempt to follow Christ, even more closely in the moments where we are in the presence of someone who is sin-controlled.  Not for our sakes, but for theirs and my interaction with them is about helping them, not pumping up myself (Phil 2:3).  It's not to down them or judge them or in some false humility moment insinuate how much better we are than them...not at all, because that's not remotely what Christ wants us to be...if we succumb to that, we become them, not help them.  No, we must pray for them, care for them and use the strength that Christ gives us to endure what they have to say, however misguided, in hopes that some day, we can "restore them gently" to full fellowship with Christ. 

So love the wolves, pray for the wolves, but just don't listen to them or get caught up in their mess.

Thought about brides

Just a thought...  If you say you are all in with me as a person, but you keep ragging on my wife, keep acting like you are too cool for someone like her (not that you ever would) and aren't sold on her having a pretty immovable place in our circle...we're gonna have issues, because she's my #1...they'll be some weirdness.

I was just thinking...Jesus called the church "His bride"...how you think that flies with Him if a) you keep ragging on her, b) think you are "above" hanging out with her and c) aren't really sold on her having a pretty immovable place in your circle....well?  You think that's gonna fly any better with Him?

Just sayin'...you might find out that you and Jesus have some weirdness there.  Might be a good idea to clear that up.

Unity is pursued...not fallen into

In this series "ONE", we are talking about some basic foundational concepts and as we talked about on October 2, UNITY was something that Jesus prayed specifically for YOU, as a Christ follower to have.

That means two things...one, it is important enough to pray for you to God about and two, it's something that needs God's help to achieve.

It's important because at the foundational identity of a Christian is a love that unifies the body of Christ...we won't be who we are or accomplish what we should accomplish OR be identified with Jesus without unity among the body of Christ.

Two, we need God's help to achieve it because it's not achieved by accident.  You have to be purposeful in achieving it.  When it is threatened, you have to put on your "big boy pants" and protect it...even if it puts you at risk of being made fun of or insulted or being hurt again or whatever, because Jesus never prayed that you'd never be made fun of or that you'd never be insulted or that life would never be hard...in fact, He told you all those things would happen and those things won't damage the church, but broken relationships and disunity will.  The reason we hang ourselves out on a limb to protect it is because it's THAT important to maintain.

If you, yes you, don't pursue it, it's not going to happen.  Matthew 18 gives us steps to deal with conflict that threatens the unity of the body and in the KJV, it says if your brother has wronged you...take care of it, in private.  I believe it says that so no one else will be tainted or tempted to take sides or be effected by the disunity...it's that important.

In Matthew 5, it says that if you bring your tithe to the altar and remember that your brother has a problem with you...as in there's problems between you two, and it's your fault...then go immediately and take care of it.  It even says just leave your tithe and take care of that broken relationship immediately...why?  Because it's THAT important.

What these two verses show you is that it doesn't matter who's at fault...all that matters is whoever knows it exists, hurt-ER or hurt-EE...they should be leading the charge to eat their pride and get it taken care of.  We should be falling all over ourselves to make it right...

Church in the Park was cancelled today due to weather, so we all worshipped at Melbourne Campus today and a quote from the sermon stuck out...

"Every broken relationship is a crack in the foundation of the body of Christ."

Think about that... Do you KNOW about a broken relationship between you and someone in the body of Christ that you aren't actively pursuing resolution to?  Then you are watching a crack in the foundation of the church grow wider each minute and Jesus says, "drop what you are doing and take care of it....NOW."  Why?  Because you HAVE to be willing to chase it and sacrifice for it and grasp it...and that doesn't mean that, even if someone has wronged YOU, it means "wait until they wise up and figure it out"...no.  It says it's important enough to drop all that you are doing, even if it's the worship of God and go chase unity down until you catch it...swallow your worthless pride and humble yourself to do it...it's that important...pursue it.

The Story of "The House That God Provides"

The story:  A wonderful story of God’s faithfulness in Panama rests in the “House that God Provides”.  As you know, we have a young couple from our church that felt called to full-time missions in Panama when we went there earlier this year.  They made an incredible step of faith to quit their jobs, and put their house on the market.  Without knowing where God’s provision for this calling was coming from, they stepped out in faith and began moving where God wanted them to be.  God has provided every step of the way, but one way that God has provided for them, for our church and for the mission of reaching the Chinese in Panama is through the “House that God Provides”.

During this time, a married couple in our church (who have asked for their names to be withheld) was moved by God to make a bold step as well…to buy a house in Panama.  The plan was to buy the house, let the couple (the Ervins) live in it rent free, and then it would be used to house the mission teams that come down to work with the Chinese.  The problem was…how to find a house that’s big enough to do that?  The couple gave the Ervins a number to shoot for and then they began looking for a house.  They looked at many houses, but many were too expensive.  They found one that would be perfect…it was newer than the more expensive ones, it was bigger than many of them and the design of it would lend itself perfectly to housing our teams when they came down…unfortunately, it was over the figure given.

While praying in Melbourne, the couple buying the house felt a calling of God to increase the number and God gave them one.  Mind you, they had no knowledge of the house the Ervins had found at all.  They called the Ervins and gave them the new number and yes, this is a God story, so it was the asking price of the house.  In addition to a place for the Ervins to live, allowing them to put more time into reaching the Hakka Chinese, this makes the cost of the Panama trip more economical for the teams that come by only adding a fraction of the normal housing cost for a Mission Team to stay in Panama (to upkeep the house).  While that is incredible, that’s not all, because this house also opens up a place to house teams from colleges and other churches that would join us in this effort.  Amazing, huh?  I’m not done.

The house itself came with a story.  The owners of the house go to El Dorado Baptist Church, one of our primary partners in ministering to the Chinese in Panama.  The husband had just become a Christian recently in the last year or so.  Upon becoming a Christian, he lost his job.  Nalo had been resistant to accept Christ, but when he did, he went at it for real.  His job required him to be untruthful periodically about certain figures about his company and after becoming a Christian, he would no longer lie about the production, so he lost his job.  Nalo, Marta and their two children remained true to God, even in the face of this seeming disaster. Not being able to find more work, the lack of income was forcing them to lose their house.  Imagine finally accepting Christ and integrity to that decision leading to the loss of your job, and now you couldn’t keep your house …but they remained true to God.  They had been searching for someone to buy the house before they would lose it, but, not just anyone, they had been praying for something special.  They have a heart to reach the Chinese of Panama and they had been praying for a Christian couple with the same heart to buy the house.  They were one month from losing the house completely when God led the Ervins to the house through the Pastor of El Dorado Church’s son, Richey, who is a lawyer in Panama.  They trusted God and He was there.

It doesn’t end there.  Now the Ervins had to find a way to stay in Panama legally.  The previous most-economical way to stay in Panama would have been to apply for a Missionary Visa which would cost the Ervins between $5000 and $10,000.  The Missionary Visa would last for a few years and then they would have to pay it all over again to renew it.  Richey informed them that with the price of the house, if the house was put in the Ervins’ name for a time that they could then apply for a permanent visa under a little used statute in Panamanian…for free.  This provision would also allow them to gain citizenship in just a few years.  It’s all perfectly legal.  That’s God.

So, God provides…but understand this…
…if the Ervins had not been faithful to just go with no concrete support for the future, just a promise from God…
…if the couple in Melbourne had not been faithful to what God said about the crazy notion of buying a house in Panama…
…if Nalo had not been faithful in his integrity to God in the face of unemployment…
…if Nalo and Marta had not been faithful to God to pray and wait for God’s timing…the mission to reach the Chinese in Panama wouldn’t have received this incredible confirmation/blessing/tool, and they wouldn’t have seen God’s provision in their lives in this amazing way.


The lesson: (DON'T miss this)

Faithfulness to God is a chain reaction and if I am unfaithful because I don’t see the resources in my hand, I refuse the hand of God and His provision in my life.  That’s my choice…that’s your choice...that’s our choice as a church as well…it’s the choice of being unfaithful or faithful and we make it every day.  We choose to reject the hand of God when we don’t tithe, when we don’t give our time, when we don’t risk our reputation to share …at each decision big AND small, we refuse the blessings that God has pre-arranged for us and for others and we choose destitution over blessing again and again.

While we were in Panama, the paperwork for the house was processed and the business done.  Part of that
business was the making of a plaque that would be affixed on the outside of the house.  In Chinese, Spanish and English, a sign exists to be a testament to the God that is faithful…it reads “The House that God Provides”.

Nalo, Marta and their two children

Saturday recap - Panama, mostly a rest day, but finishing strong

We started Saturday by taking the morning off and going on a boat trip to Monkey Island.  We rode a boat through a lake into the Canal on the way to some islands to observe the wildlife.  The lake was manmade out of a valley....it took 4 years to flood.  Under the lake were 23 former towns and a railroad.  At one of the islands a few monkeys jumped on our boat and tried to steal Pastor Larry's food (that he wasn't supposed to have out  -- lol), but it was great.  Saw a lot of good wildlife.

That afternoon Jenny met for over 2 hours with El Dorado church's children's workers and leaders and that could have gone on forever.  She was able to give a lot of feedback and wisdom to their children's area.

When she was through Larry taught for 3 hours on discipleship that evening.  There were 150-200 people that showed up for the conference and it ended with about 80% of them walking forward to commit to disciple someone one-on-one to Christ...It will be interesting to see how that goes.

We were really tired when we got in...but it was a profitable day.

Friday Recap part 2

Picking up at lunch...I won't be as long winded here.

We went to El Dorado Baptist Church's Christian radio station "La Voz del Istmo" (I'll be meeting with a secular Chinese radio station during the week here).  Apparently, their AM station has been operating for 60 years and the FM station has been operating for 40 years.

We met a couple from the church that works at the radio station, Gunther and Frida and several other folks from the station.  Larry and I were interviewed on the radio station about the mission in Panama and for our speaking this weekend.

We left here and went back to get ready for the evening service at El Dorado.  Ben and Caitlin sang and so did Katye and I and I preached.  After the services we were pretty tired, but God had a productive Friday for us.

Friday recap - Panama

Friday started early...Katye, Caitlin and their translator, Anna, had to be at Sun Yat Sen (a very large and influential Chinese school - not the Christian one we've worked with before) at 8am to meet about having an Music and Arts Camp in January.  They are not a Christian school, but are very connected and influential among Chinese society here in Panama City.  They left about 30 minutes before the rest of us left, and after their appointment, we all were going prayer walking in a Mall and surrounding businesses in the "new" China town in Panama City.

Katye, Caitlin and Anna met us at the church with very good news.  Pastor Ricardo also went with them and they had great success.  They were able to meet with the Head Principal, not just an assistant, and she was very open to the Music & Arts Camp.  The college group from FBC Melbourne that came in July that did the basketball camp had done a good job with their end of things and had left us a great opening and reputation with them.  Pastor Ricardo and the principal hit it off and she actually said that they have "summer school" (December - January is their "summer" time) going on and they would like to incorporate our camp into their existing program in the morning.   That worked out very well and it was a slamdunk to really start the trip.

We met at the church...heard the great report and left to go prayer walking.  Instead of going to the Mall in "new" Chinatown, Pastor Ricardo and Anna, our translator, took us to "Avenue B", the old Chinatown.  Apparently, it is a dangerous place.  We found out that Anna had only been there for the first time a couple of days ago and in 25 years of living in Panama City, Pastor Ricardo had never been.  He said this was "no tourism" and believe you me, there were no other white people around here...definitely no tourists.

We prayer walked each side of the street, split into two groups, Larry and Pastor Ricardo headed the group and Ben Norton and I guarded the rear of the group as we walked.  We had to take off our electronics and most jewelry and leave them in the van (another great praise story, btw...the van or busito, I mean) because the place was known for thieves that would snatch and run to steal things apparently.  We stopped in a shop and Pastor Ricardo struck up a conversation with a shop owner about the location of a Buddhist Temple that was supposed to be near there.  Pastor Ricardo walked off, telling our group to "aqui" (stay here) while the guy he was talking to showed him directions down the street.  As we were standing there, a policeman in bulletproof gear and a few guns came up and starting asking us questions in Spanish.  I was reaching to pull out my copy of my passport, but Katye understood that he was asking us if we wanted to go see the Buddhist temple.  When Pastor Ricardo came back, he talked to the policeman and he said that he would guide us to it.  We called the other group and headed out.

We started going down alleyways and side streets and then came to a door that led up some narrow stairs.  If people would lag, our translators would call out for us to catch up and stay close...Some of us really didn't think things were too scary, but then others of us noticed that another policeman had circled in and was bringing up the rear of our party.  We went upstairs and saw the Buddhist Temple, praying for the people as we went.  it was a beautiful place, but honestly, for me, it really hit me how hard this was going to be...for an ornate place to be built in this tough area and to be kept so well...other religions really had a stronghold on the people here.

The policeman led us down the stairs and out into the street and told us he and the other policeman would take us down another street (Pastor had told them what we were doing and I don't know if they were believers or not, but they were very helpful).  The policeman said that the name of the street meant "Leave if you can" (that's comforting)...it was extremely narrow and was filled with little shops a continuous row of huts with tin roofs in the middle of the street...there was only enough room for one person to walk between the buildings on the street and the shops in the middle of the street.  We continued to pray and the policemen led us out on the other side and back down the streets to the market when were had parked the van a few streets away.  The policeman said never come down there on Sunday, because Sunday is the day there are no police in the area...but we were safe.  We really believe that God has big plans for that area and we are confident that He's already working in Panama.

Right now, it's late, and this blog entry is really long, so I'll stop here and I'll get back to you later on the next set of recaps...there's plenty more...good night.

Thursday recap - Panama

I've been kind of limited in my WiFi down here this time, so I haven't blogged like I meant to, so I'll try to catch up tonight a little and keep it going tomorrow.

Thursday was a LOOOONG day.  We have to be at the church at 5:30am to go to Orlando to fly to Panama...not bad, 1 layover in Miami and out of the country.  It was a smooth trip.

When we got to Panama and cleared customs we met with Chris, Pastor Ricardo and his son Richey and they got us back to PVQ (where we are staying).  We got to hear about the awesome way that God has been working already to piece things together.  The Mission House story is another crazy one...that's huge.  A story for another day.

We went to eat and then right back to PVQ to meet with an IMB missionary, Kavin Cawfin (sp?), who is actually from Enterprise, AL (30 minutes from where I grew up) and knows a lot of my relatives in the Enterprise area very well.  He talked to us about the work in Panama and after a LOOONNG meeting, we finally got to bed...good day, but a long day...and we had to be ready for Friday.

Misunderstood passages in the Bible, a little study never hurts

"Where there is no vision, the people perish..."  Proverbs 29:18 (KJV)

For a long time, I jumped on this verse...sounds AWESOME doesn't it and it is.  I heard it preached and used in bible studies and it was presented with something like a building program or a future plan for a church and it just works.  Where there is no vision, the people perish.  It's a great verse to inspire people to a cause...and I'm sure there's an element of that interpretation that is true, but after looking at it and studying the Bible around it, I'm not sure that's what the verse is talking about here.  If we take the verse simply as that, there are some weird shoots that can spring off the plant and give us some trouble down the road.

Funny, but a lot of people who would quote this verse might balk if someone said "I just had a vision".   "Vision" has become a term for an ability to see where things must go, such as what an project, organization or movement could be when it hasn't even started yet and then making it happen.  Is that what the Bible is saying here?  If you can see where things are supposed to go, then you have a vision and if you don't, those involved will perish?  

It makes sense...I've seen lots of aimless people with no plan just wander around and waste their lives away, so there's some wisdom in that area...but you have to come back to this.  Is that what the WORD is saying there?  If you are going to quote something, even if the principle you pull seems wise, the passage you quote needs to say what you are attributing to it...good or bad.  I think of it like "showing your work" in math.  I was GREAT at coming up with the right answer early on in Math...hated showing my work, but sometimes, my "processes" only worked for the problem I was on and if I had not been made to show HOW I was coming up with something, so the teacher could correct my logic, then I would have not solved many other problems.  The point is, life is not about just getting the right answer all the time and neither is studying the Bible.  What is the WORD saying here?

If I say, "Look out!  It's a dog!", that means LOTS of things from "hey, take a picture" to "run for the hills", depends on the context.  Let's look at the context of the verse...a lot of the time, you sharpen the point of a verse when you understand the rest of the "conversation".  I usually choose things before and after.  Here is the same passage in the NIV...

¹⁵  The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.

 ¹⁶  When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increaseth: but the righteous shall see their fall.

 ¹⁷  Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul.

 ¹⁸  Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

 ¹⁹  A servant will not be corrected by words: for though he understand he will not answer.

So we've got "correction" for a child, how the "wicked" thrive in going against God and breaking His law (sin)...how "discipline" is good for your son to give him peace...and then we have "no vision" and "people perish", but the end of the verse doesn't really talk about a plan does it?  It says "he that keepeth the law, happy is he."  Then it's about correcting again...

Let's look at another translation of the Bible...NLT...here is what it says...

¹⁸ Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint; 

   but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction.

Or the NIV...

¹⁸ Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; 

   but blessed is he who keeps the law.

That sounds a little different, none are contradictory, but together explanatory.  "Revelation" doesn't carry the same weight as "vision" does in our contemporary society, but it still fits, right?  "Cast off restraint"...that's a very different connotation to "perish"...same thing and both fit together, because of the word choice, so what is the deeper meaning here?

Before we go on, you might ask:  Why another translation?  That's because as you translate something, a lot of the time, there's not a "one word" in the other language that carries the EXACT same meaning.  Sometimes a concept in one language is communicated in another language by a series of words...so let's take a look at another one...one of my favorites.  When you look up a Hebrew word or a Greek word (the languages the Bible was written in), you find several words (like our dictionary) to give the full nuance of what is trying to be communicated.  Because of grammar or context or because it's a recognized colloquial phrase or some construction/textual clue, you choose the meaning.  The Amplified Bible (AMP) is a bible that tries to throw all those words in...sometimes, it can be confusing, but most of the time, it helps focus us in on "what the writer is trying to say"...let's read this verse here.

¹⁸Where there is no vision [no redemptive revelation of God], the people perish; but he who keeps the law [of God, which includes that of man]--blessed (happy, fortunate, and enviable) is he.

Without the revelation of God to people of who He is, His law that shows the need for mercy and grace and Jesus, people will cast off all restraint...and ultimately, that way will lead to death and they will perish....that's what the writer is trying to say.  It's the validity of following God, not the microcosm of having a grand plan for something.

Now hear me out here...STUDY the bible
1)  Yes, purpose is good for people and an unfocused people DO not fare well in life...but we have a purpose and that purpose is folded into the fact that we are looking emulate and honor Christ in everything we do (1 Peter 2:21-24), we are to make disciples as we go through our lives (never off mission - Matthew 28:19-20)...that's our purpose.  We should not need to supplement that with a building program.  Remember the micro is the brush with which God paints the macro picture.
2)  It's not bad to have a plan.  God gives plans and "visions" all the time...all I'm saying is to use this as the proof-text for any plan you state is wrong, because that's not what it says.  We see life prove out God's plan all the time....God is a planner, he planned all my days before I was born (Psalm 139) and God has had a plan for the world since before He ever created a thing (John 1, 1 Corinthians 2:7 - all over the Word)...good grief, plans are fine.

What I am saying is that when you handle the Word, handle it with care... strive to understand it, when you read it, read it again and again, then in another translation that is GOOD (some aren't), read about the historical context in which the passage was set and above all, do this...read the Bible as a WORK...one Work...it doesn't contradict itself, it expands upon itself, it helps explain itself...sola Scriptura is a Latin term that means "the whole of Scripture" and that is where you see the conversation with God grow...don't miss it.  Show your work...read the context...talk to other believers you trust and most of all, listen to God as you read...have a conversation.

I hope this little Bible Study helped.  Please pray for us as we continue to try to be a church in Palm Bay that shows Jesus to all around us.

The "last" weekend of an era

This weekend, we'll take another step in the changing of an era...we'll say "goodbye" to FBC's Senior Pastor Dr. Larry Bazer and his lovely wife, Gayle, in their role as "first couple" (so to speak, you know what I man) of FBC Melbourne.

For 25 years (he became the pastor here the year I graduated from high school and honestly before a lot of folks who'll read this were even born), Larry has been the leader of FBC Melbourne. He has baptized, counseled, married, buried, effected, launched into vocational ministry, taught, visited and cared for a boatload of people in his time here.

God has blessed and multiplied Larry & Gayle's influence to reach over county lines, church lines, state lines, country lines, denominational lines, philosophical lines and governmental lines in this area. Many of the churches in the area have been either started or guided or directly effected by his desire to teach, mentor and make disciples...which is shown by his reassignment to continue doing that fulltime in the US and the rest of the world by devoting himself fully to training/mentoring pastors from Melbourne to Ecuador to Panama to Romania and beyond.

We should be especially thankful for Larry's determination in following what God has set before him in Palm Bay. After many short-lived works in church planting, the Bay West Campus began in 2009, under his direct influence and work and we will hit 2 years next month....two months of being a church in Palm Bay, Florida. That's two years of continuous steady growth, leaving us poised to continue the growth of God's kingdom in a historically tough place to grow.

I think that as we celebrate the God who Larry follows with a different spin this weekend, we shouldn't ever forget that MANY churches have been started in Palm Bay (many in conjunction with FBC Melbourne during Larry's tenure), that have not made it as long as Bay West has. A lot of these churches struggled, but all of them were collectively part of God's work to get us to where we are now...just as Bay West is another link in the chain of God's work in Palm Bay, along with 63 or so more churches in Palm Bay currently trying to reaching 103,000 people approx.

Bay West is truly blessed and a lot of that has come from Larry's faithfulness in the midst of what the world would mistakenly call "failure". The truth is that we are as ill-qualified to pronounce the judgment of "failure" on something as we are ill-qualified to definitively say that all scientific discovery is over or that we have measured the Universe to the inch. God works and plans far beyond the scope of our analysis....so what does that mean for us personally?

Here is what it means. Do what you know honors God with every decision...no matter how small or how great, then let God judge the failure or success. Live this consistency in belief and in 25 years, maybe you'll look back at your journey and be pleasantly surprised at the trail that God has left in the wake of one God-honoring decision at a time...just like we are doing at the end of this era with Larry & Gayle, as they move on to a new thing in God's journey for them. Thanks, guys.

Response to the "Urgent Prayer Need" yesterday

Yesterday, I posted an email sent to one of our LifeGroup members, sent from a missionary couple that they support in Papa New Guinea, asking you to pray for a dire need in their lives.  Here was the response and the result of that situation.  I hope you'll be encouraged.

My God sent his angel to shut the lions’ mouths so that they would not hurt me, for I have been found innocent in his sight. Dan 6:22 

This is exactly what the Lord did again today! He protected us and saved us from the lions! Literally, the accusations made against us were like a lion’s roar but the roar was worse than bite. We are very safe and all is good, know it’s better! 

This morning after a not so good night sleep I looked outside and saw men walking around our houses to protect us. I couldn’t see all the angels that were fighting for us J Then the plane came in with the leaders and left to go get the police men. We all met together and prayed and reminded each other to respond as Christ would respond. 

The police arrived at the same time as the delegation. So we gave to floor to the religious leaders and they accused us of all kinds of falsehood and that they said we had to leave and gave us a 2 month deadline to get out. The police men then gave us (around 120 people) the floor and they listened to testimony after testimony of how God has changed their lives and that Jesus is the only way to God. I literally cried as a listened to them give God all the glory. The police man had to stop people as hand after hand went up wanting to give testimony! It was AMAZING! 

After these men heard the testimonies one man proposed that we can stay until we finish the translation and all of a sudden the lions turned into kittens. They literally changed their demand and said, “We never said they had to leave.” Can you believe it – listen to the purr! The testimony of God’s working in the lives of these people silenced them! 1 Cor 4:20 says that the kingdom of God is living by God’s power and God’s Kingdom is here! 

So they even apologized to us and we shook hands and left. Our houses are still standing and we are safe, but more importantly our faith is stronger! This served to unify the church here in an awesome way. 

We are exhausted but exhilarated. Our mission leaders said they’ve never seen a heavy like that get settled so peacefully. They too give all the credit to God. 

To God be the Glory! 

Thank you again for fighting with us. We love you all so much. 

Gary for all us Smith’s and the Dinangat Church.

Please continue to pray for Bay West Church as we continue to try to be a church in Palm Bay that shows Christ to all around us.

URGENT Prayer Request for today (Monday, August 8th)

Gary Holland, one of the members of our Osterholm LifeGroup at Bay West, sent this email in asking for prayer for some missionaries that they help support in Papa New Guinea.

"We just got an email from the missionaries that we support in Papua New Guinea.  I will try to make it short but it is urgent.  The denominational leaders of their area are coming in to question them and challenge them in the areas of church practice.  They are treatening to remove them from here if they do not comply with their demands.  That was the email from yesterday.  Now we just got one saying that they were in another village yesterday and their tempers boiled over.  One of the believers from there (Gary's village) was with them and came back with the report that they are going to burn their houses down and force them to leave.

When this villager was telling this there were about 100 listening and said that they would stand around them and not let anyone touch them.  One old man shouted that he now knows the truth and you can not get rid of these missionaries, they are God's work men!

They contacted there leadership and they are flying in with the police early this morning.  This should all take place around 6pm EST.  They are rejoicing with the verse from Acts 5:
Thanks so much,

Gary and Beverly Holland"

As a part of our Radical Experiment commitment for this year, we've been praying for the World and here is a personal request that is tied directly to people at Bay West that we need to pray for today.

Continue to pray for us as we continue to try to be a church in Palm Bay, attempting to honor Jesus at Bay West Church.

GUEST BLOGGER today: Rebekah Lorenzo

Rebekah Lorenzo is one of our students that participated in one area of the Radical Experiment (click here for info on that) this summer by stepping out of her comfort zone and going to West Virginia to show Christ's love to the people up there.  I asked her to blog a little about her experience and here is what she wrote.  Enjoy how God is speaking to and through our students...you might learn something.  I did.

In Luke 9:23, Jesus tells the disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” I’ve almost always felt something like guilt or anxiety when I’ve come across this verse, although I’ve never completely understood it. What did Christ mean by “come after” and “take up his cross daily”? I never realized how much of this verse’s message I had just been glossing over before until we started to read the book Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman on our way to West Virginia. The book was basically about what it means to be follower of Jesus rather than just a fan of Jesus, and Idleman explains that this is what He’s telling us about in Luke 9:23. Idleman also explains that the Greek term that was translated to “come after” really means to pursue, almost as a boy would pursue a girl. So what Jesus is saying is that if we want to pursue a relationship with Him, we need to deny ourselves and take up our crosses daily and follow Him. I also learned that “denying myself” and “taking up my cross daily” means denying my own needs and any other selfish causes so that every day I can “take up” God’s cause, instead.


Another thing addressed in the book that stood out to me that week was that one way people sometimes “cheer” for Jesus as fans would instead of following Him as real disciples should is by putting on masks and hiding behind rituals and boundaries so that others can’t see their weaknesses. I felt really convicted about holding back from my friends in that way, especially the ones who weren’t Christians. My group at the camp spent a few days visiting a birthing center for female prisoners, which was basically a place where women came from prisons all over the country when they were six months pregnant and stayed until their children were old enough to go up for adoption. On the first day there, I met a mother who told us that she had spent a lot of time in prison, and that some of the best and most interesting people she had ever met, she had met there. She said that this was because, when someone is incarcerated, they can’t be identified anymore by money or status or even their old friends. We heard similar ideas when we went to visit a men’s prison, and heard testimonies from some violent offenders who had formed a support group. Prisoners in a way are stripped of their resources so that all that remains is their character and the memory of what they’ve done to get where they are, and so their character is what defines them. I think now that this is what Christ wants from us as followers. He wants us to be totally open and genuine, and not to worry about people holding our faults against us, because really only He can know and judge us, and His forgiveness is all the justification we need. If we just let go of the past and focus on God, we’ll stumble less often and we’ll be able to find peace and satisfaction.
 
Thanks for sharing your experience, Rebekah...nice job.

Generosity and Water skiing

I've really been thinking about generosity and I just have been thinking of the imagery of water skiing...follow me.

If you've ever waterski'ed, you know that in getting up on the skis for the first time, it's a bit of fight and trust.  There's a tension of being pulled, and straining yourself to keep your body straight enough to get pulled up.  I'm not an expert or anything, but you'd see people just get pulled over, or bent over, sunk in the water just taking a lot of water in the face.  That's exactly where a lot of Christians are in being generous, in both tithing and giving to others.  They can't trust that if they keep a little stiff against the philosophies of the world that you will actually "pop" up on top of the water.

Then when you get up, you've got to trust that what you are ski'ing on is right.  I remember getting up the first time, but falling after a few minutes because I thought that the tension and effort I was putting forth wasn't right, so I pulled to the place of no tension without thinking and found myself falling face first, getting yanked out of my skis and cutting my heal.  Some Christians try it, but when it requires some push and strength from them, they feel they are doing it wrong and reach back for the comfort of not trusting God to provide and they fall...hard.  I was lucky enough to get back up and get rolling again...but some Christians never do.

Then there's the bliss when you trust the gliding across the top of the water...you get it, you are doing it and it's AMAZING.  you are flying and you can turn and pick up speed and it's extremely fun.  That's when you have finally trusted God...turned your back on the failed philosophies of the world as far as finances and resources and sharing goes.  You look back at when you were being drug around by the boat taking the water in the face and you think "that's nuts".  Others that are getting dragged around or those afraid to give it a shot, think you are amazing and they wish they could do that...when they CAN...you know that, but they won't believe it.

There are those who never try and let go, never enjoy the bliss of just absolutely gliding across the top of this world, being pulled along by the Father.  They think they have to generate all the motion and they sink in the waves.  The great part of ski'ing is that I don't generate the motion or the energy...not my job, that's the boat...I don't have to decipher the direction...that's the boat driver.  I'm just supposed to hold my ground and trust the boat...same as with Christians.

I really hope that we, as a campus, can grasp these principles of generosity in our lives.  I feel that it is ABSOLUTELY crucial for all of us here.  This is a watershed moment for most of us and it will mean the difference between being stuck in the drudgery of water in the face or the excitement of water under your feet.  Whether anyone of us stays at Bay West for the next 10 years or the next 10 days, that WHEREVER any of us goes, my prayer is that we can just fly and just tear this life up...that's God's plan for us, for you.  Please don't miss it. 

Generosity all over the place.

The famous King Solomon of the Old Testament was widely known because he was the wisest man alive at his time...ever wonder how he got His wisdom?  The story goes in 2 Chronicles that He became King and took a "firm control" over his lands because God was with him and he got his leaders together and went to worship at a temple.  After burning a 1000 burnt offerings to God, that night, God appeared to him and told him to ask for anything...ANY thing...he wanted and he would have it.  He basically asked for the wisdom to lead God's people properly....and this was God's response.

¹¹ God said to Solomon, “Because your greatest desire is to help your people, and you did not ask for wealth, riches, fame, or even the death of your enemies or a long life, but rather you asked for wisdom and knowledge to properly govern my people—¹² I will certainly give you the wisdom and knowledge you requested. But I will also give you wealth, riches, and fame such as no other king has had before you or will ever have in the future!”

It was said after that time that silver and gold were as common in Jersualem as stone...

Learning about Radical Generosity

-  Generosity begins and ends with God...it is FOR God.  


- Generosity is not about the needs that we meet, and all about the God we serve.  It's not even as much about the lives we touch, as it is about the honor we deflect to God.


- One of the things that's apparent in this series on Radical Generosity is that generosity is utterly imperative for the Christ follower, so much, that if someone is truly following Christ, it is impossible for them to remain not generous.


Christ is the most generous person to ever live.
God is the most generous being that has ever existed.


If those are your examples and you really follow them, it is IMPOSSIBLE to do that without being generous, first to God and then even more to God by giving to others.


-  It's also apparent to me that for the church not to talk about money is almost criminal from a spiritual standpoint.


-  What if we met challenges in our life with the predisposition to GIVE and not the predisposition to hold on to what we have?  In other words, rather than talk myself INTO being generous, then we should talk ourselves OUT of being generous.


- What if we first budgeted what God gets, then what others should get and then we lived on the rest, rather than doing exactly the opposite?


- I've never seen anywhere in Scripture that we have been given the blanket right to dictate the use of what God has asked us to give...not to others and not to God...yet, we still feel the need to dictate that, yet call ourselves generous.  If a purpose is dictated, it is dictated by God.


Before we can be truly generous, we have to understand something.
Generosity is not merely about the relinquishing of possession, but also about the relinquishing of control.

Integrity and Insanity

Here's a little idea that I've been toying with some lately.

I shared a quote that I heard this last week in a sermon by Francis Chan, pastor of Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, Califiornia.  He had heard it from a missionary couple that they were "commissioning" to the ministry field, and they'd heard it from a guy that spoke at Cornerstone who was on staff (sorry, I can't remember his name.)..but anyway, the quote is this:

"We should live a life that DEMANDS an explanation."

I'd been thinking on these lines for my article, but expressing it in another way.  I think that there are two characteristics that should mark every Christian leader...and every Christ follower for that matter....Integrity and insanity (to the world at least).

First, we all should have the highest integrity to the Word of God and His direction.  That should mark EVERYTHING that we do.  Due to the nature of the Bible, if you read it fresh, looking at the chances that people took...they really believed what they did.  It was life-altering, it was common sense-overriding, and it was baffling to those around them....always to the world, sometimes to other Christians.  When you follow a God who has thrown the truth out in Luke 9 that if we want to save our life, we must lose it, that just doesn't track if you don't have a trust in or a framework of understanding for an Almighty God...just the facts there.

Second, that integrity to following a God who has more info than everyone, who engineers an endless stream of "once in a lifetime's" and knows the exact schedule of when they happen within the course of His plan, will take you to a place where your next move can only look like "insanity" to the world.  If the world looks at what you do all the time and goes, "well, exactly, that's exactly what I would do", then you've got a problem...a big one.

Why?  Because if you possess the integrity to God's Word, that integrity to an uncompromising following of Christ will absolutely lead you to a place of "insanity" to those around you at some point.  The greater the task, the greater the risk, the more pronounced the insanity to those around you.  You won't actually BE insane, but people around you will question your sanity because the thought "that will never work" or "why would you ever do that" will be all over their minds...and rightly so, because without an Almighty God personally directing what you are about to do, it's going to be an EPIC fail.

Check the Word...check the leaders written about in the Word...you'll find the majority of them, minus a framework of a God who runs it all, looked absolutely insane...and they had too much integrity not to look that way.

Please continue to pray for us at Bay West Church as we attempt to be a church in Palm Bay sharing Christ with those on the folks in West Palm Bay and beyond.

Bay West Church is a satellite campus of First Baptist Church of Melbourne, a Southern Baptist Church, meeting in the West part of Palm Bay, Florida.

Facebook and affairs? What's the real problem here?

For some time, Facebook has become more popular as a communication and social media tool.  With the rise of that popularity and usage, the concerns of Facebook increased.  Addictive games, addictive info supply, and massive time wasted leading to lack of productivity are among the list. 
While these seem more controllable and harmless, more dangerous games are "played" like marital affairs.  John connects with Jennifer from high school and driven by strong early emotions and a lot of rose-colored glasses about the past, John and Jennifer begin a relationship online that leads them to connect emotionally again...one problem, John and Jennifer are married and not to each other...and they end up leaving their previous soulmates to be together in some sort of "we found our real soulmate...no, REALLY...not like the other soulmates, but the real only one for me" moment. 

There's a growing trend to outlaw Facebook in business and religious circles, and, from ministers to counselors, to "demonize" it.  So is Facebook a marriage killer?  I don't think so.  The pattern of online affairs usually seems to follow the same pattern as any affair...connection, emotional attachment, improper contact, secretive continuance, adultery and ultimately, announcing that you've found "the one" to "the one" you've already found.  Facebook isn't the problem, it's an opportunity for connection and at ANY opportunity for connection people can stumble.  Without discipline and transparency and honesty, anyone can sin.  I think the Bible shows us how sin happens in James 1...

14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.

15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.  16 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters.

This passage is talking about the subject of whether or not God tempts us to sin and while the answer is "no", this passage gives us the pattern by which sin...ALL sin...happens.  There is a desire that tempts us, we linger with that desire and hang around with it...then it takes hold of us and we act on it (gives birth to sin) and then that sin leads to death.  Sounds a lot like the process of an affair...online or otherwise.

I've thought rather than demonize Facebook, maybe we should look at the real problem which is ourselves and put our guards there.  There's no denying that Facebook gives more occasion for connection, that's why it's popular, but just like any other area of connection, it shouldn't give us some "free pass" to throw off all safeguards and just act however...that's where the real problem comes.

In real life, I don't ride in a car by myself with a member of the opposite sex that isn't family, if I can help it...I don't tell things to members of the opposite sex that I haven't told my wife.  I don't have personal conversations with members of the opposite sex, but if a conversation turns that way, I talk about it with Katye.  She is privy to all parts of my life...and loads of that are things that I tell NO ONE but her and vice versa with her.

I don't violate those things on Facebook either... and then there's other guards as well, if I don't know you, I'm probably not going to accept your friend request.  I stay off private chat, if I can help it...if I do get on and talk with someone, I'll let Katye know what we said.  That's transparency...that's a big part of safety.  If I'd feel weird telling Katye about an interaction, then it's a safe bet, I don't need to take that connection opportunity...that's a good safeguard for me.

The truth is that affairs start at ANY connection point...too many affairs start at work, so should we stop working?  or make work segregated sexaully?  No.  Work isn't the problem...and neither is Facebook.  The problem is the lack of discipline of the people who use it...and to an experience, that's exactly how sin works...regardless of the medium.

Last day recap - leaving for the airport in 5 hours

Well, the last day was whirlwind to say the least.  We began by heading out to the church to meet with Pastor Ricardo of Iglesia Bautista El Dorado.  We talked through a lot of the things that we had learned so far and bounced ideas off of him and his team.  It was very encouraging and very promising.

First, this is a MOMUMENTAL job...300k of Panamanian Chinese, very few believers.  The language that most speak, Hakka (pronounced "Ha-KA'"), no one does ministry in because of the stigma attached to the language.  The preferred language is Mandarin, the more respected language...why would anyone speak Hakka, even if we do, we won't own up to it and why would you attempt to communicate in it, even though that is the most communicative language to the 1st generation Chinese?  See what I mean...a barrier.  The other barrier is their work schedule...they are all workaholics.  They rarely leave their shops, even for kids programs at school.  School is the job of their children and working at their shop is their job.  A 14-16 hour day is not unheard of and to keep that up for 7 days a week is normal.  Big task.

We are looking at sending teams of people at least 4 times a year, possibly more...the opportunities are endless...literally.  We have a lot of good ideas and have learned a lot, but this is just the beginning...and it is a beginning.  Here's the thing...FBC Melbourne has NEVER done anything to this extent before.

Let this sink in...

We have adopted 300,000 people that don't know Jesus...let that sink in...300,000 people.  We aren't part of teams that go to Romania or Nicaragua or Haiti...not part of other churches that help.  In large part, as far as outside mission resource and support, we, as ONE CHURCH, are IT.  Only us.  That is a monumental responsibility and focus.  We have NEVER done that before.

We have plans...we will need YOU.  (don't look around, I'm talking about you...)

WE met an immediate outreach need by buying 2 ping pong tables to use in the activity outreaches to the Chinese students.  Pastor Ricardo, Rick Furtney and I went to buy the tables...Pastor Ricardo doesn't speak much English...me and Rick, almost no Spanish.  We took the time to "practice" on each other.  I learned a lot...I habla mucho es Spaniol than the Po Quito me habla earlier....okay that's it.  They were very appreciative, both Tomas and Ricardo.

While we were gone, the students from the school came over for an awards ceremony.  This was special because there were actually parents that came...this is unusual.  We made some good contacts and got some good info.  We spent some time with the administration of the school and made some plans for next January.

We left there to meet the Tim Louderback (IMB missionaries), Audrey Tucker (IMB to college students) and Tina (another missionary with the ISC).  They are mainly focused on Panamanian people, not Chinese, but it was a good lunch.

From there we went to the Crossroads Christian School to meet with Frank and Kelly Lee, who have some considerable experience with the Hakka and worked with John Mark, the previous missionary that did a lot of work here...his research has helped us a lot.  It was VERY informative, but also troubling, because while we uncovered some opportunities, we also had some difficulties reinforced...it's not impossible by any means, but it will not be easy...so it must be God.

We are all reeling from the week...so much information...so much need...so much we need and CAN and SHOULD do as a church.  It's all wonderful to "say" you adopted an unreached people group and to get a certificate, but now you actually have to take on the heavy burden for reaching them.  This will be a LARGE change for our church, philosophically and resourcewise, in my opinion...but, we signed on, we got the paper and they are our responsibility.

Recap for Thursday, Day 3, from Panama

Well...I'm just sitting down to blog, after a really good day.  Not a long one, but a good one.

Most of the rest of the team is checking out the rain forests, but I decided to stay behind and have some much needed, quiet and alone time...I'm a hermit by trade, so what can I say.  The Panamanian Rain Forests...or...time completely alone...yeah, I choose alone.  :)  Awesome team, nothing like that...I'm just a hermit at heart who needs him time of quiet to energize.

This morning, (after another Mavs win over the Lakers last night), we struck out early to share our testimonies with some 6th-8th graders.  I shared with the first group of 7th and 8th graders at 7:45...I broke out the tennis balls and juggled a bit to help tell my story (tried it once last year and then it had been a while).  It was "faith juggling", no practice just go and God was faithful...it worked.  Jenni Irvin and Darren Wolfe shared their stories (I enjoyed hearing them) and then Larry gave an invitation.

Jenny, Kevin and Larry shared with the 6th graders in another class and had to use an interpreter in Spanish.  About half way through Jenny Goodson's presentation, the principal came in and stopped the presentation.  Apparently, he recognized that some of the students only knew Chinese and knew neither Spanish nor English...at that point he asked Sharon Chaio on our team to translate for this group and the rest of the time, our team would speak, the teacher would translate in Spanish and then Sharon would translate in Mandarin for the other students.  That was interesting.

We went back to our apartment and then we talked for about 2-3 hours putting together all that we'd seen and heard.  We will have to plan at least 1 other trip this year besides the trip we have coming in June. 
Tomorrow...SPECIAL opportunity...it's nearly impossible to get to Chinese adults, they work 7 days a week and many for 12-14 hours, but tomorrow morning there is an awards ceremony at the Panama Christian School and many parents will come to see their child.  We'll get to share with them tomorrow about Christ...big moment.

After that we'll be meeting with some IMB missionaries that work with Panamanians and a couple who focuses on college students in Panama...hopefullly we'll also catch up with a church planter in the area who is looking to reach the Chinese as well...that will be about EVERYONE who is working specifically with the people in this region.  Part of our team will also be talking with someone who plans medical missions into the jungles of Panama.  They have yet to go to the Chinese, but we'll look for them as a long term contact for our trips.  Some of those will be gone next year...it's a good time for us to be here and to take up the work.

We had a good dinner last night with the Joberts (the IMB missionaries being reassigned to Costa Rica) and with Tomis (and his wife, Melissa) and Cliede Cooper, a great resource person for us here in Panama.

This endeavor will be unlike any other partnership that FBC has taken on with Romania or Nicaruagua or Haiti...this is a new level of commitment for our church.  Not only will we need more people to come to Panama, but we will need people to lead and coordinate the effort, because this effort alone will be massive.  We have a lot of ideas of how we can help short-term, mid-term and long-term. Of course, we'll be dialoguing continuously with the contacts that we've made here to see what we can do and what will fit in with, undergird and multiply their efforts currently. We'll be sharing a lot of our findings when we get back, but here's my challenge to you (yes you, not him...not her either, you):
1) Get your passport
2) Shots for Panama (TDap, Hep A, Hep B, Typhoid, etc...) - look on the Brevard Department of Health website...
3)  Start saving to come.

Here's the Radical Experiment right here...you gonna do it or not?

Wednesday recap - Day 2

Well, we started early.  Most of the team took an early trek to the top of a hill where you can see the whole city, but not yours truly...I slept in.  Felt a little like a slack, but I got to fire off the blog, spend some extra time in prayer and QT and still be comfotably ready and waiting when Steven, Lao and Tomis got here to pick us up.


Interesting personal note:  When I was a child in rural Alabama, a missionary from Paraguay named Ken Watkins came to my church...I was 3.  He took a liking to me and I latched onto him and called him "My Missionary".  Ma has a picture to this day of Ken and I.  I never kept up with him after that much (had Ma write a letter, I think).  Steven mentioned being in Panama and I casually mentioned Ken and Steven knew him and his family had stayed in his house.  He said Ken pioneered much of the mission work today in Paraguay and shared a story about how one time Ken was preaching and men rode up on horse back, horse whipped Ken and broke all his equipment...but he stayed.  "My Missionary" is the bomb...  Steven also knew a friend of mine that went to school with him and his wife at the University of North Alabama and again at Mid-American Seminary in Memphis...small world.


We went to Iglesia Bautista El Dorado today and met with Tomis and Lao and a few others who work with the Panamanian Chinese students out of El Dorado (I remember some of their names, but not all...Claudia, Mauricio, and a few others). 


From there we went to Panama Christian School, which was a very short walk across a parking lot from El Dorado.  There we met Willy, a chaplain at the school and Eduardo, a school official...they are working hard using the school as a very efficient tool to share Jesus to Chinese students.  It's a private school and it's been here for 10 years (adding a grade each year -- they have retained 10 students from the original 1st grade class of 27).  The school has garnered such a great reputation so far, that all types of Chinese want to come to their school...some travel 2 hours one way.  They pay tuition to come and 75-80% of the students ARE NOT Christian.  The school requires them all to take mandatory Bible class and they all have to memorize Scripture for a grade...parents get to hear them practicing...pretty cool, huh?  The school has a serious mission and have a great vision to reach parents.
Larry, Jeff and Sharon got to speak to an assembly of 9th-10th graders...good times.  They speak English, Spanish and Chinese.  The school administrator believes that Central America will be the sending ground for the next major force that will TRULY reach the whole world.  The main 3 languages here are English, Spanish and Chinese and those will carry you throughout most of the world.  They don't have the stigma that Americans do across the world...so we'll see.


We went to eat at a hole in the wall Chinese restaurant and it was great and we talked a LONG time how we could get plugged in to ministry here in with them.  LOTS of ideas, lots of brainstorming and some concrete short-term projects, long-term projects that are possibilities...now we have to put them in gear...GET READY.


We prayer walked (but honestly, mostly continued brainstorming with Tomis, Lao, Claudia, Mauricio and others) about how we could help them or be a resource or whatever.


Good productive day...we leave in 20 minutes to meet the Joberts, Cliede Cooper (a local church planter and HEAVY resource for us), Tomis, Lao and others for supper (or whatever they call it down here).  Thanks for praying...don't quit.


*** We need to have at least one more trip this year...we have a college aged trip coming in July, but we need to probably look at another trip in later in the early Fall...FULFILL YOUR RADICAL COMMITMENT HERE.  Get ready.