Full Count

at church or in church?

2010-07-13T12:22:00.000-07:00

so its been a while since i last blogged for real, like seriously wrote my thoughts down or ranted about something. basically i just have not had time or really anything worth writing about.
as we have been traveling i have been able to listen to some different pastors do what they do on Sunday morning. if you have never been to different churches or ventured out to listen to other pastors you are really doing yourself and (in my opinion) your pastor a disservice. if you dont know different techniques or different preaching/speaking styles then you are lulled into this idea that there is only one way of doing things. now i dont love change but i know that it is important for me to experience if i want to grow to be a well rounded person-intellectually not physically-ive got that under control. but as i have been traveling, some of the places we have been we have been under people we know and people we have just met and every pastor had a different approach to their presentation of the Bible to the congregation they are in. either they walked around and talked with people in the congregation or they stood behind the pulpit and never moved, some spoke without refering to their notes while some frequently referred to their notes and all of these were well done but here is the thing i am taking away from our experiences is that if i follow along it doesnt matter what the pastor does or how he does it i will still get something out of it, but if i expect to be entertained or dont bring my Bible i probably wont get as much if anything out of it except what i think i heard. the possibility for what is being said can easily be misconstrued because i am not following along or tracking with the pastor and the passage of Scripture. now you probably think that a missionary should not be figuring this our at this point in the game and i didnt just figure this out, i was reminded that i need to follow along and try and make the my own connections between the dots as the pastor is speaking and if they match up-great and if they dont-guess what-the Bible is living and active and is why i keep reading this "gateway to God". So i want to encourage you to follow along try and find the three points of the sermon either with the sermon notes that are passed out or withoutp; challenge yourself to get something more out of the sermon. God isnt going to ask how many time you were at church, I think He is going to ask you what you did with the information you learned in church. You can be one of two things: at church or in church! Which are you?

blogging

2010-06-22T18:11:00.000-07:00

so i havent posted a blog lately!

End of the Spear

2010-02-25T18:35:00.000-08:00

I recently showed End of the Spear to my freshman classes and no matter how many times I see this movie I am always moved with emotions, not solely because of the loss of life. I am moved at the level of sacrifice not just made by Nate Saint, Jim Elliot, Pete Fleming, Roger Youderian and Ed McCully, but by their wives and children. My favorite verse is Philippians 1:21-“For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Their story is a direct example of this passage and as we move closer to getting to Guatemala I often wonder what God may ask of me and my family. My prayer is that I am able to live out Philippians 1:21 not once we get to Guatemala but everyday leading up to and beyond. It is really hard sometimes to explain (without getting emotional) to my students the level of respect that I have for those families for their commitment to Christ and the Great Commission. I am sure that people grieve while watching this movie but I find I get a lump in my throat when I try to give a bit of commentary during the movie. Maybe this is because I am a missionary and I have accepted what God may ask of me, but shouldn’t that be true for all Christians…and not just missionaries? This story has so impacted the way I think about missions and being a missionary-hence the blog. Sometimes, no often times; I feel like I am inadequate to be a missionary but I know God has called me and my family to Guatemala and the truth of Hebrews 12:1-2 rings loudly in my heart, with not just the people listed in the previous chapter (Heroes of Faith) but with all those who are in Heaven.

home sick

2010-02-09T10:56:00.000-08:00

I am home sick, so what better opportunity to catch up my blog than now. We have a pretty full schedule traveling to churches to talk about Guatemala some local some as far as Houston. We are trying to stay within the Southwest LA and Southeast TX area so that when we come home on furlough we don't have to travel from sea to shining sea.
Do you have some contacts in our area? We would really like to stay in Louisiana and Texas as a whole with some contacts in Alabama. Let us know by going to our website: www.thelastrapes.com and if you go to the contact us page you can leave us a message. Our website was created by a church member of ours who has done a phenomenal job and we are very appreciative.
We also have a goal to reach by the end of May, we are wanting to hit the 50% mark or an additional $1200/month. You can help with a partnership of $25, $35, $50 or more per month. You can visit www.caminternational.org/give to sign up online or drop us a line via email, facebook or a phone call.
We hope all is going well for you all who read this and hope we can see you soon.

Peace of Christ to You,

Jerry

Christmas

2009-12-24T21:52:00.000-08:00

Joy to the World

The Lord has Come

Let Earth Receive Her King

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

back burners

2009-12-22T06:55:00.000-08:00

when you are busy things take a back seat, I have finished reading Numbers and would like to share with you the pictures or types of Christ...they are found in chapters 20 and 21 and is one of those "oh yeah, that's where that story is" moments.

It is the story of when the chosen people Israel are wandering in the desert and begin complaining because there was no water. They were so embittered against Moses and Aaron that they wished the could have died back in Egypt.

The type of Christ is found in chapter 20 verse 10- "Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock and he said to them, 'Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?' And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly and the congregation drank and their livestock." The type of Christ is the rock that brings forth water for life.

The second story is not far from this story and is just after Aaron has died, the Israelites begin complaining about Moses and this time God. They begin complaining about the food God provides them to eat, so God sends fiery serpents that begin to bite the Israelites and some of them die. The Israelites begin to cry out to God and Moses to do something about the serpents. Moses goes before God and from here I will quote the Bible...
The second type of Christ is in chapter 21 verse 8- "'Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.' So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if s serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live." The type of Christ is the bronze serpent on a pole.

Like the bronze serpent on the pole brought life to those Israelites bitten by a serpent we too can have life after being bitten by the serpent of sin. As we look to Christ on the cross we continue in the story of his burial, resurrection and ascension into Heaven and can know that we have life.

I hope you have enjoyed your time with your morning devotions and if you want to continue on with me and my readings I am in Hosea, this is an interesting book in the Bible but the symbolism is quite evident. If you don't remember what Hosea is about, verse two lays it all out there. I am currently on chapter 10 and like I said at the beginning some things take a back burner like blogging.

Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year!
Peace of Christ to You!

fonts or templates

2009-12-02T14:35:00.000-08:00

for some reason the font I have been using or the template I am currently using does not allow for capital letters, which after reading a couple of my previous blogs occurred to me when I was reading God as god. as a Bible teacher I usually correct this mistake on my students papers and here I am nearly doing the same thing, so be looking for a new template or font type from me. that is all.

PS. in the off chance that Murphy's Law goes into effect and the capitalization of words is correct then I don't know what to think.

Giving Thanks

2009-11-26T14:35:00.000-08:00

What a wonderful start to a holiday season. We spent Pre-Thanksgiving with Sarah's parents and siblings, all the nephews and nieces were able to spend alot of time together playing and doing cousin things, while the adults were able to talk, cook and watch Punkin Chunkin among other Thanksgiving shows. Today we celebrate Thanksgiving at our house where we cook a turkey and other dishes but Sarah has a special recipe for turkey but nonetheless we have a great time and give thanks for our family members that are not with us or that are traveling. We miss our family not here and hope they are all doing well. We hope you have a great Thanksgiving and that you are able to spend it with those you love.

Peace of Christ to You,

the Lastrapes

numbers and football

2009-11-07T19:44:00.000-08:00

I am still reading Numbers, don’t think I had an idea blogged about it and forgot about it. I like to take my time reading and with my inconsistency it is a project that will take some time but in reality I am not on a time frame. Up to this point my sister has chosen to walk with me on this journey I’m sure that many of you are doing so you just didn’t say anything and honestly it’s no biggie. I hope you are finding little hints of a pre-incarnate Christ or events in the lives of Israelites that reveal a bigger picture of salvation.

Football season is over and it was a hard long fight, we suffered with numerous injuries that eliminated some of our starting seniors but as a referee friend so resolutely stated “Well, you can’t win em all!” I felt like he punched me in the stomach with that statement but as I thought about he was right; but when you are part of a program that is used to winning and doing well losses come bitterly, very bitterly. I know its part of the game and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Isn’t life like that sometimes? We desire to be on the mountain top with the amazing things that God does in our lives and rightfully so but sometimes we need the valleys to grow. If all we ever see were the mountaintop view we may never know what it is to be someone who is in the valley and that is important to helping people, to relating to people. The trials in my life were there in part if not mostly because I chose to do something without asking God for His direction but He uses those experiences for His Glory. Because I seek to bring God the glory he deserves He helps me understand the importance of those valley times but doesn’t that make the mountaintop experiences better. So I will take my losses and choose to learn from them.

a picture of Christ

2009-10-12T20:57:00.000-07:00

have you ever been reading in the OT and found a picture or a type of Jesus? this is not something that I seek after; it is one of those enjoyable experiences when reading an OT book. an example is Noah’s ark…you know the story! the picture of Christ is the ark, Noah’s family put their faith in what God had told them and there was a time when no one else could get on the ark because God sealed the door. just like salvation there is a time when accepting of the gift is available but then there will be a time when no one else will be able to accept the free gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ… I find the concept really awesome…not the fact that people will be headed to hell but the fact that there are pictures of Jesus in the OT. so I have been reading different OT books and currently I am reading Numbers because I remember stating in a Bible study that even in the book of Numbers there is a picture of Christ, I think I found it but I am not going to say for sure until I finish reading the book. it may be an off the wall reason to read the OT but hey I am reading it! I really enjoy it too, now don’t think that I am going to Scripture with a preconceived idea that I will find a picture of Christ in a book and then making verses fit the idea that I have because I am not trying to prove anything here…I am just using an idea to help me read OT books that I probably would not read. so let me know what you think, read along and together we can see if we find a picture of Jesus in an OT book. and if you think I’m crazy or blasphemous you can tell me but the crazy part I already know that and as for the blasphemous part….really!!!!!!!!

happy reading!

why i love Guatemala #5

2009-10-04T15:59:00.000-07:00

the final but most important installment of why i love Guatemala. below are a collection of pictures of indigenous Guatemalans. Guatemalans that need to hear the message of hope that only our Lord and Savior can provide; and that is why i love Guatemala because this is where God has called us to minister. We cannot wait to get down there but we know God has His timing and we are learning patience and perserverance.

Peace of Christ to You.

Why i love Guatemala #4

2009-10-03T16:31:00.000-07:00

because of some great people that we have known for a long time and some we have met since we have been with CAM, nonetheless we are excited to be apart of what God is doing in Guatemala with them all!

Why i love Guatemala #3

2009-10-03T14:32:00.000-07:00

Another reason i love Guatemala is the food, as a Cajun we will eat just about anything and so far we have been able to attribute some of the typical Guatemalan meals to cajun meals so enjoy and maybe this will give you a good reason to visit us in Guatemala! :)

Why I love Guatemala #2

2009-09-29T15:39:00.000-07:00

i love Guatemala because it is absolutely beautiful! i have included a slide show of some pictures from around where we have been in Guatemala and i cannot wait to take my own pictures...er well for Sarah to take pictures of Tikal! Anyway, here you go!

Why i love Guatemala #1

2009-09-28T19:31:00.000-07:00

i have to give credit to my brother in law from Washington state credit for the idea...sorry guys my imagination gets used up by my kids at school and my kids at home! for instance Coleman and i found that he starts laughing really really hard when we Kung Fu in the shower...in answer to your question why not? my bro in law started a series of blogs entitled Why I love the Pacific Northwest and i have to say some of it is pretty funny, socks and sandals that sort of thing! Here is the address if you are bored with my blog and want something different: http://www.raisingebenezer.wordpress.com/

moving on...

Why i love Guatemala #1--------Campaign Promises better be kept

The United States could take a lesson from this third world country. When i was in Guatemala this summer i was staying with amazing friends who are also missionaries ( Hey Brandon and Jenny) we were caught in traffic that didn't move for a while, i think two days. i was on my way to see another set of amazing missionary friends (Hey Danny and Daph). Apparently the newly elected president had make campaign promises to give the farmers fertilizer for their farms...seems easy enough but he reneged on the promise and the farmers got together and used their equipment and trucks to block major roadways all over the country...yes all over the country resulting in a two day traffic jam. I was worried i wouldn't get to see my friends or make it home. Needless to say i made it home without incident but after i arrived at home the farmers decided to block traffic again because not all of the fertilizer had been delivered. Eventually it all was worked out

Website action

2009-09-22T18:23:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my amazing creative and ever learning wife we now have a website. On our website you can read our newsletters, have your questions answered...the frequently asked questions...how to partner with us, a link to learn more about Guatemala and slide shows. We thank all of you who are praying and partnering with us, we need your prayers now more than ever. The address before i forget it is: www.lastrapeslegacyguatemala.blogspot.com

Please go check it out and let us know if you have some skills to help us out! Thanks!

Peace of Christ to You,

Jerry for all

i have a question, well....

2009-09-22T18:12:00.000-07:00

i have a question, well i have a lot of questions but this is one that i have thinking on for a while.

When we commit sin, does it have the ability to heap more suffering and pain on Christ at the cross?

i know we are talking worm holes, time displacement, etc but and this here is a thought from a colleague "wouldn't one sin be enough suffering and pain to pay for?" i have always thought that because Christ paid for all sins, the pain and suffering was in itself complete. but for some reason the thought crept into my mind, "what if when we sin, we are heaping more pain and suffering on Christ?" (i would guess that this thought is a "feeder branch" that is sucking life and food from a main branch...the thought about my sins on Christ at the cross.)

i have tried to work this thought process out in my doctrine class, when we are studying the doctrine of sin. it was probably in an effort to emphasize the importance of thinking before we act; because in reality when we are presented with an opportunity to sin or fall into temptation we are making a conscious choice! i want that thought of Jesus Christ on the cross in the forefront of my mind so that when faced with sin, temptation, etc i will run, sprint (even at this size i can sprint), flee from sin!!! well hopefully some of you who are more intelligent than i am will comment. even if it is to say that i am crazy!

i had to reset my password

2009-09-16T19:20:00.000-07:00

you know you havent blogged when you forget your password and have to reset the dang thing. anyway, i have been busy with the start of school and beginning to fill our calendar with speaking engagements at churches. football is in the air as well as cool (well cool for southwest la) weather. things are different for me this year at school, i dont know if its having two planning periods (i have taught 6 of 7 hours for the past three years) or if things are beginning to change for us. we are incredibly excited about what God is doing in our lives as we move closer to Guatemala. i know what God wants us to do in Guatemala but i am beginning to get so much more of a clearer picture of what it will all look like for the life of the Guatemalan churches we will be in contact with. i am so much looking forward to time spent with pastors as we build relationships and help them with their churches. if you would like to partner with us please contact us. i have an email address attached to this blog site. we would greatly appreciate your support of prayer or finances or both! for those that are supporting us in prayer and finances we thank you very much. hopefully we will be seeing you soon. well my password is changed and hopefully i will be blogging more consistently again. i do hate that this blog is not funny, ill have to find a joke or something...it is exciting though!

i should really learn to take before pictures!!!

2009-08-18T19:37:00.000-07:00

my last blog was at the end of june and i have not been doing a whole lot a noteworthy activities. we have been to texas twice once to LaMarque and once to LaPorte both times to spend with great friends in ministry, i am truly grateful for both families and the wisdom therein. i know you are wondering why i should learn to take before pictures and no i have not lost some crazy amount of weight and now look like a greek god...i already did! you know its funny! i have over the past year somehow become interested in bonsai, i have posted pictures on facebook of what i thought was bonsai but in reality i was a poser, still am but after the arrival of this years birthday present from my beautiful wife and wonderful kids i think i am actually beginning to understand the beauty. understanding the beauty and viewing the beauty are two different things hence the reason i need to learn to take before pictures. i received a juniper already potted by the "bonsai man" here in lake chuck...i really like this particular species because it is easily shaped, pruned, etc. the great thing about this particular plant is that i has this crazy bend in the middle of the trunk almost like it has been growing around a big rock or something. another great thing is that because of its bend it lends itself to be directed a specific direction. which for a beginner like me makes pruning easy. so without further adieu here are the

pictures! The white spots on the second pic are where limbs were removed to help in direction and the long "finger" will eventually be pruned back but not until other new buds have taken off. Anyway, i enjoy it and it helps take the stress away so...comment if you like. thanks!

my home church

2009-06-29T13:50:00.000-07:00

this past weekend out little family went to BR for a mini vacation/church visit at my home church. i wont steal Sarah's thunder about going to the Louisiana Arts and Science Museum so i will skip that part. I do want to talk about our visit to my home church and what is going on there.

they recently (well over the past few years) built a new building and held their first full church service. this is incredibly awesome to me because i grew up in this church and can remember when the church met in a trailer-house type building that suited us just fine until attendance grew. To which we moved to a store-front location in downtown Denham Springs, which is not the antique section of town (i am glad the church moved before it too became a part of the antique section). The church then moved to an actual church building where we have been for the past 20 years +/- a year or two; i remember VBS, youth group meetings, AWANA, and Sunday school meetings (in the pastors office b/c of lack of space). And now there is a new building with classrooms and a really big auditorium.

i have to say that i am really excited for my home church, the pastor and all the friends and family members who attend, its a new chapter in the story of what God did with what first began as a Bible study in our first pastor's home. looking back over the years i am pretty amazed at one thing that has been quite amazing to me is that this church with 25+ years of ministry in the Denham Springs area has only had three pastors in this time. Now some of you are thinking whats the big deal some pastors have been in churches for over 25 years...but it is a big deal.

in doing some research for our present church's 75th Anniversary we came across some data that showed that in the 75 years of this church's existence that the average amount of time here was 3.5 years. This does not include the 10 years our former pastor spent here building relationships (so maybe i should say in the 65 yrs before our former pastor) but seriously 3.5 years!?!?! that is why i think it is a landmark for my home church; the present pastor has been there 4 years which means that the previous two pastors had been there for 11 years (on average). i love my home church, the changes, the people (old and new) and the feeling of home i get when i am there.

a verse in the first chapter of a book i am reading really fuses the way i feel about my home church and my presnt church into one great church experience...the verse is from Jeremiah 6:16 and it reads:

This is what the LORD says: "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.

The rest of the verse goes on to say that the people would not follow the path and that they were given a watchman to sound the trumpet but we will not listen...then watch all you nations and witnesses see what will happen!

i don't want to think about what will happen if i seek out godly wisdom and don't take it especially when people say take this path, heed this warning! we know what happened to Israel, so with that i want to say that there are men (and women for Sarah) that i know i can seek godly counsel from and do seek counsel from.

this verse has really been on the forefront of my mind for a couple weeks now and i find that it fits in a lot of different scenarios and have even used it to encourage friends but i think it is really powerful. seek those who have gone before us.

Adoption...its fantastic!

2009-06-21T20:12:00.000-07:00

at the time i didn't know but my dad (step-dad but he raised me so he is honored with the title) had attempted to legally adopt me as his own, which is funny because i can remember a time when i told him that i wanted to be a Guerin. today takes on a very special meaning for me on two levels, the first being my adoption into the family of God with all that entails but on this day i want to focus on my physical father, the man who raised me; taught me how to tie my shoes, shoot a gun among other important aspects of growing into a man.

even though his endeavor to adopt me was thwarted by my biological father, i have never felt anything but his child, his flesh and blood, his son, his pride. last Christmas my grandparents were writing checks for the grandchildren and ours came: To the Order of Jerry and Sarah Guerin, which to me is pretty cool and was just one more example of my "adoption". my grandparents have done nothing short of making me feel like their own, from the age of 5 they accepted a scrawny, often times toothless grinned little guy and here i sit nearly 29 years later and still feel the love they all bestowed upon me' all of his brothers (3 younger) and their wives accepted me into the family as one of their own.

this day means so much to me as a son because i was "lucky"...i say "lucky" because so many kids these days and even back then didn't have a father figure like i did, didn't have someone who accepted them as their own and drew them into their family. "lucky" is a term that i use with a tinge of sarcasm (i know i know big shock coming from me) because God in His infinite wisdom put people in the lives of my parents that God would use to draw them to Himself and through my parents draw me to Himself. Fathers Day means something important to everyone but i thought i would reveal a little about myself and how even though my dad and i don't have the same last name and not for lack of trying we are still father and son.

Thanks Dad, I love you!

so i have been pretty busy

2009-06-13T15:42:00.000-07:00

the past two weeks have been busy, last week i was in Guatemala missing my family a lot but spending time with great friends in Xela and Santiago Atitlan. The trip was a blur of activity and understanding that when you promise something to the poor people (en masse) you better make good on the promise (or in our case) they close off all major entrance/exit roads to major cities. I somewhat enjoyed the experience and my true laissez fare attitude presided. {Note to reader: i am hoping that my use of Spanish colloquialisms abounds as i begin to learn Spanish, but for now the French ones are working.} It was an interesting opportunity for me to see that sometimes plans don't always work out the way we think. It was a great trip meeting a lot of new people, some American, most Guatemalan. I was truly happy to see my family and be able to hug and hold my wife and kids. So now we are home we have gotten busy, i have started a paid internship at the church that is just a continuation of the internship out pastor has started with me to be better prepared for ministering to pastors. I absolutely love doing what i am doing, writing content for our website, researching curriculum, etc. I have also started working with one of Sarah's cousins (mowing yards in the cool Louisiana summer) who i have worked with in the past. All of this and we are still visiting churches as missionaries. Recently we were asked to be VBS missionaries for our friends at Indian Bible Church in Elton. This church is amazing and have been doing ministry with the Coushatta Indians for over 100 years! Check Sarah's blog for pics and her perspective. We had a great time and were wonderfully received, they even wrote a cheer for us, the video is probably going to be on Sarah's blog but because she is incredibly busy i will put in on mine for you guys to see. All that in two short weeks. Our church's VBS starts on Monday and we will be the missionaries for that as well, our seemingly open calendar is starting to fill up quickly which of course is perfectly okay with us, we love traveling and speaking about Guatemala and especially meeting new people. So, to recap, Guatemala, farmers needing promised fertilizer, church internship, wowing grass in 90+ degree weather (its only June!) and representation. Would i change anything, probably not and i definitely cant wait to see what God is going to do this summer!

Ahhhhhh, Finals!!!!

2009-05-22T19:17:00.000-07:00

I really enjoy this medium of blogging but all too often I find myself wanting to talk about something but end up talking about nothing…I know Sarah is nodding in agreement! I read peoples blogs about what they are reading or doing and honestly sometimes get envious of things that are happening in their life.

So not every day at school is blog worthy but there are days when the students are really interested in the subject matter and I get to answer the questions that they have… I really like having discussions in class because my students have great questions and sometimes I get to impart some knowledge to them but what is even better is that I can see these students (I hate calling them kids) thinking and trying to wrap their brain around the discussion.

As we were preparing for our final exam, the students in my all girls (there is one guy, but I let him sleep because unless you are trained to deal with that much estrogen its best to keep your brain low and intact with your skull) asked if it was going to be another weekly test just counting as a final grade or would it be cumulative.

Of course the maniacal teacher in me is screaming to be let out, but he is somewhat deterred by the fact that we just talked about sins not being on different levels but that society has deemed some sins acceptable and others not. I am not going down that road here, it’s too late, I am nearly burnt out and that is not the point of the story. The point is that we had just finished talking about “even white lies” being a sin…give me some leeway here.

The maniacal teacher says that the final will be cumulative and they should be studying notes from each doctrine we studied this year. By the way we pretty much covered every doctrine you would find on your churches doctrinal statement. I tell them this and they start launching questions and I barely get through class with a straight face.

The next day the whining begins and they start into the question barrage again and I can’t stand it, so I let them know that the final will be just like the weekly test they have been taking since week one. They of course are sort of upset but I tell them now aren’t as apprehensive about the final and will do well, which most actually scored A’s.

The final which is made up of memorizing (throughout the week) then writing out the weekly Scripture verse (for the final it was Hebrews 12:1-2) and testing over information from the chapter. This makes two tests that for finals sake are averaged. I guess the point of my story is that it is finals and I am trying to make my high school students feel at ease. I know long story that is meant to be funny and really falls short.

Finals can be a crazy time; I don’t remember any of my finals. I guess I repressed the memories. So if you find yourself thinking about it, pray for the students in your life as they deal with finals… and the teachers, we have to grade the test we write which reveals itself only when it is late and grades are due!!

Another great weekend

2009-04-20T17:55:00.000-07:00

this past week has been really great, i was able to spend a lot of time with my wife and kids as we were off for Easter Break. during this time we were able to spend some time with some great friends, spend time together as a family and get some much needed things done around here.

the weekend before going back to school was just as good. we were able to return to a church where we have spoken before and this time around we were able to speak to the congregation again. the church we spoke at is in an Army town and frequently has a change of congregation hence speaking again. have i ever told you all out there how much i enjoy representation? we were able to make deeper connections with people we met the last time we were there as well as create new relationships; it is amazing the people that God puts in our paths as we travel...i know i know big shock!

in the spirit of keeping you all up to date on our goings, within the past two churches we have been blessed with 5-6 people talking with us about partnering/supporting us, i have to say it is very exciting talking with people who are excited about the ministry God has put on our hearts and to hear them talk about wanting to come visit and minister with us in Guatemala. if you are out there and are wanting to partner with us financially we have a short term goal for this month: to partner with 10 individuals for at least $20/month to help us reach our long term goal of 85-90% of monthly support by December.

we are wanting to accomplish our long term goal for two reasons: the first is pretty obvious, so we can get to Guatemala but before we get there we will be attending a three month school in North Carolina. i may have made mention of this in previous blogs but i will just give a quick purpose behind the school. the training we will receive in NC will be to help us learn conflict resolution between missionaries and multi-cultural's, we will also learn to Teach basic English as a Second Language; during this time our kids will be learning some Spanish and the teachers there will continue any home school curriculum we are using. I think that was quick?!

if you are wanting to partner with us financially or prayerfully please email, call or facebook me. we look forward to seeing you all when we are passing through and know if you are passing through our neck of the woods (yeah right, nothing but rice/crawfish fields around here) let us know, we would love to see you, drink some Community coffee (the only real coffee) or just chat.

Peace of Christ to You

one hour and 30 minutes north

2009-04-17T12:06:00.000-07:00

we have some friends that moved an hour and a half north of us. i have traveled the road near their house numerous times as it is on the way to my father-in-law's hunting camp, but amazingly enough there are rolling hills, mixed hardwoods amongst a massive pine tree national forest. we live in southwest Louisiana where there are flat, rice field/crawfish fields/ cattle pastures, bogs, swamps, bayous, etc.

we here in Louisiana (for those of you who are not from here who read this) do not have mountains, at least none that are really mountainous; but not far from us our friends moved to a 18 acre plot of land situated on top of a ridge with two really nice valley's on both sides. we went there yesterday to spend some time with then as we have not seen them since they moved around Christmas time and we were in a truly mountainous area of northern California.

we had a great time visiting and walking around their house where there are so many different trees, i was green with envy...no pun intended! they have an awesome assortment of hardwoods, evergreens, flowers, etc. it was really great spending some time really close to our house but feeling like we were miles away! we really miss our friends but know that God led them there to be closer to family and we are OK with that. while there we went to the Alexandria zoo which is awesome by far and probably one of the best zoo's we have been to and we didn't even get to walk the whole thing.

we had a great time and the kids did not want to leave at all and of course we didn't either but all good things have to come to an end but the great thing is that our friends are only an hour and a half north and also smack dab in the middle of the most nurseries i have ever seen in my life, which is good for an up and coming bonsai "artist".

i think i learned some things today...operative word is think

2009-04-13T19:33:00.000-07:00

i woke up this morning with a terribly nauseated stomach and after numerous trips to the bathroom i finally took some Imodium which within seconds sent me to the restroom once more where i got anything but rest (i am amazed that some people can go years without [inner monologue has filtered all conversation on this subject]). anyway, Sarah told me to go lay down and i jumped all over that figuratively of course!

as i lay in bed with a couple books nearby and the remote to our television i began scanning the channel guide to see if anything worth watching was on. the key word here is worth, ill give you a rundown on shows that i watched and then try and justify to myself that they were worth my time.

i began watching a show about Indiana Jones and archaeologists and how some of them were actually inspired to be archaeologists by Indiana Jones! i finished that show only to switch between two shows of dangerous jobs Ax Men and Deadliest Catch. To be honest i prefer Deadliest Catch to just about anything but was interested by the show about loggers and the helicopters that brought the felled trees about of the forest. Of course i watched these shows while Sarah ran off to Wal-Mart to do some light grocery shopping without the kids!

the kids were in the living room watching Bolt which seems incredibly short for a movie and then Princess Diaries (Maddy watched, Coleman made a mess in the bedroom with his trains).

this is where my learning began...as i gingerly got up to check things out to find the bedroom a total mess and both kids having began to eat an apple and a banana both of which were not finished. I cut the apple and let them know they wont be eating anything until the apple and banana were eaten! i choose not to use the starving people mantra of old because that really doesn't come into the life of a 6 and 3 year old; and knowing Coleman he would began his minimum of 3 why's!

so what i learned today, some people are influenced by movies to become doctors in their field; crab fishing looks like an adventure i would have enjoyed as a younger guy, heli-logging is absolutely nothing i would enjoy, unless i got to work the chainsaw; and never think that (even if your wife says she laid the law down) your kids are quietly watching a movie and being the perfect angels everyone else thinks they are. i did read some but that was fictitious knowledge so it doesn't count!

i guess i did learn some things today but the most important and really applicable in my life i already knew...quiet kids = mess to clean up.

busy spelled backwards is ysub

2009-04-07T17:10:00.000-07:00

well i am glad the title was eye catching because here you are or there you are reading! i could say that we have been busy with school, traveling to churches, etc but in reality we are living and ministering. the past few weeks have been a blur of pine trees, the Atchafalaya swamp, state troopers, and other driving scenery. some people say this is the hardest thing about being a missionary and honestly i wont know until we are in Guatemala but until then this seems like an exciting part of our journey. i really don't find it hard work, it may be somewhat tiring but then again what job doesn't have its late nights, early mornings or long days. the point i guess i am trying with little success is that we love speaking in churches and being an encouragement to other people.

this past Sunday we were in Baton Rouge and Denham Springs (a suburb with two Starbucks!!! it used to be a hick town) but i was able to speak in my home church, the church i grew up in, was exposed to missions and upon one of those mission trips was called into ministry. speaking there was a great time of reflection and thanks (on my part) for the families that impacted me in the Christian faith from friends who have known me since i was Coleman's age to family members who have known me my whole life and have been a part of my love for missions and ministry.

representation for me is not having to go around and petition churches for support but a time where i get to speak about what God has done in my (our) past, is doing in our present and will be doing in our future! we look forward to spending time with pastors, sharing the knowledge we have so graciously been given, we look forward to discipling these pastors to they may be able to better serve their congregation for the sake of the Gospel!

so back to the title, and you thought it didn't have a meaning....busy spelled backwards is ysub.
y sub....why sub....why substitute something in your life, i know i know its a stretch but so many people put things in their lives that have no meaning in the end, eternally! we are busy, but we love traveling to different churches and getting to talk about Guatemala and what God has done in our past, is doing in our present and will be doing in our future!

visitation

2009-03-18T18:53:00.000-07:00

as a part of my internship with our pastor i was invited to go with him on some visitation calls this afternoon after work. for those of you who are reading this, i am updating you on what i wrote about last week. anyway, i had a great time of conversation and getting to get an insight into the life of a pastor while on visitation. no great moments of profundity occurred while out but our pastor did ask me after both visitations were over what i thought were the expectations of a pastor when on visitation and without much thinking on my part i responded...listening! that seemed to be the best thing we could offer the two women we spoke with, they just wanted to tell us what they were going through and how amazing it is to see God use them in this situation. This was from a woman who was in the ICU. she was an amazing person of amazing faith. she was an encouragement to our pastor and i. i am greatly inspired and motivated to attend more visitations as i am invited to do so. this was just one step in my internship and it was great, this especially being something that i thought i had an aversion to but as i told our pastor...its just having a conversation! so i look forward to listening and conversing with other opportunities of visitation in the future.

being an uncle

2009-03-12T08:48:00.001-07:00

i know what your thinking, wow two blogs in one day, he must be showing movies instead of teaching! not the case!

i just visited my bro in law's blog site and looked at more pictures of my neice and i cannot wait to see her for the first time. i love babies, always have always will! she is so cute and reminds me of what Melanie (my sister) looked like when she was a baby, the great thing is that she also looks like Jonas (my bro in law). He has been warmly welcomed into the fatherhood club, warmly because he is still wet with warm spit-up! I remember both our kids and the inordinate amount of spit up they both produced and when they moved beyond that stage i missed it, along with the warm baby breath that soon gave way to plain ole morning breath. Coleman has since made this passage and has left his baby smell for a little boy aroma. Why am i talking about all this, i dont know, i have yet to hold my little neice but anticipate doing so. I love babies! We dont plan on having any more and God would have to do a Abraham/Sarah, Zechariah/Elizabeth miracle for that to happen. Anyway, i saw those pictures and felt compelled to write about it, have i said that i am excited about getting to see her for the first time? Surely i have, anyway, if you want to see the pics go to www.raisingebenezer.wordpress.com

Internship

2009-03-12T08:19:00.001-07:00

With the arrival of our new pastor a lot of things have taken place concerning Sarah and I as missionaries. A missions team has been developed to help take the reigns of fund raisers for mission trips, to be prayer partners and a host of other responsibilities. Along with that our pastor has invited me to do an internship under him as I prepare for the mission field. I honestly did not think of this aspect of our ministry to, with and through pastors in Guatemala, but he did and I am very grateful.

We began last night before church and talked about visitation in hospitals, nursing homes, etc. I thought I had an aversion to nursing homes, I remember going to them as a young person and singing Christmas songs and bringing decorated shoe boxes to different people, but that was a long time ago and the thought of it made me quite nervous; until our discussion.

My thought was that it was about me and how would I respond in the situation. Which was all wrong! It wasn't about me, it was about the people I would be visiting, now you may think "well duh!" and rightfully so! The thought process I had "cooked" up in my head was that everything hinged upon me, not the case. I am there to talk to them, to connect with them, to be a listening ear to them, not vice-versa.

The aversion so I thought was nothing short of selfishness and how I would respond to the situation so what did our pastor do? He wants to set up a time to visit a member of our church who is residing in a nursing home! Can I tell you how excited I am! If not its too late because I already did!!

I love older people, i love hearing stories from their past, when Sarah and I go to my grandparents house we stay up until midnight listening and talking to my grandmother as she tells stories from "back when". It is amazing and I look forward to it every time, as I now do for my first visit.

The amazing thing is that this is all preparing me not just for life but for ministry as well. I don't know if there are nursing homes in Guatemala, i seriously doubt it, but it will help me when with a pastor and we are visiting a member of their church who has been sick for a while and is not expected to make it.

This is just the first of many steps in this internship but it is an exciting step, and sadly a practical step to the ministry in Guatemala that God has called us to do that I simply overlooked. And one I am very glad that our pastor did not overlook. I will let you know how the visitation went as it is tentatively scheduled for next Wednesday!

Not in the blogging mood!

2009-03-01T15:18:00.000-08:00

I just dont feel like talking about anything. I know, not very bloggish of me, but i really dont feel like talking about anything. Nothing is getting me frustrated or riled up enough to talk about so i have not blogged in a while. i read your blogs, comment sometimes but i just have not had anything to say, im pretty sure i have already said that and now that i am repeating myself ill close. but atleast i can be comfortable in knowing i blogged about something even if it is nothing.

Butterfly Season

2009-01-25T19:20:00.000-08:00

It is butterfly season....at least for me it is. We just kicked off our year by speaking in our church today, where we made missions an emphasis! Have I told you how wonderful our church is? They are an incredible group of people who are committed to getting us to CIT (Center for Intercultural Training) www.cit-online.org in North Carolina by January 2010 (Lord willing of course)! We have some speaking engagements on our calendar and are looking forward to speaking with pastors as we fill up our calendar. The reason I entitled this blog Butterfly season is because with the upcoming speaking engagements I will be spending my Sunday mornings with them, enjoying their presence but accepting their departure! I enjoy knowing that they are fluttering in my stomach (figuratively) reminding me that I don't have it all together and that I need to depend on the working of the Holy Spirit as I speak. With that I have some prayer requests that I would like to share. Please pray for our spiritual life as we will be missing some Sunday morning messages as we speak in churches. Pray for us as this can be a very busy time as I also have other commitments with school and church. Thank you for your prayers and your encouragement, I know you are out there!!! I want to leave you with a quote from a very well seasoned pastor friend of mine: "I would be afraid of someone who was not nervous before they stepped up to a pulpit!" With that I remind myself to enjoy those fluttery friends and why they are there!

New Addition...Olivia Grace

2009-01-18T20:18:00.000-08:00

my baby sister finally gave birth on Friday to a 7 lb 1 oz, 19 1/4 inch baby girl, Olivia Grace! things like this absolutely amaze me, i knew i loved that little girl even before we knew who she was going to be and now that she is here i am reminded of both times i welcomed into this world our two beautiful children. i love that little girl (and her parents of course) so much it seems impossible to have or be able to produce that much love, especially for someone i have only seen pictures of...to not have held her in my arms and kiss her chubby cheeks. i love my sister and her husband and now that love is getting multiplied not divided! (i know cheesy math joke) thank you Lord for my family and what they mean to me! even though we are separated by prairies, mountains and desert my love is transcending all of that. thank you Lord for the new life that you bring to this world to bring Yourself glory! thank you Lord for the healthy birth of me niece and for the health of my sister and brother-in-law. Amen and Amen!

Baseball season begins!!

2009-01-11T17:23:00.000-08:00

Baseball season has begun for me, this is a 25-30 game blitz. Our games don't start until mid-February and in the mean time our playing field is being refurbished thanks to Cal Ripken Jr. He restores old baseball fields where baseball legends have played. Lucky for us Babe Ruth played at our Legion Field and subsequently it is getting a face lift. I look forward to coaching on this field as I have for the past two seasons. Our motto this year after losing 9 seniors, 7 of whom started is "We aren't rebuilding, we're reloading!" I am really looking forward to this baseball season as we try and win our third straight district title. I guess you could say I am as "giddy" as a Florida Gaytor football fan who is looking for another crystal ball, by the way LSU led the way winning their two first! But nonetheless baseball is my sport, always has been. I can remember seeing the 84' Detroit Tigers win with Kirk Gibson hitting a three run homer, I can remember Kirby Puckett stepping up to the plate (literally) and doing what he said he was going to do with the Minnesota Twins in 87' and 91'! I love baseball, Field of Dreams: memorized; The Rookie: watched every season; Catcher and the Rye: is not about baseball! As I look toward this season, I anticipate it being my last with the HCA Warriors. Sarah and I anticipate (with the help of our church, supporters and future supporters) to be in North Carolina in one year, January 2010 for our intercultural training. This is way more important than baseball as important to my well-being as it is! We look forward to this with fear and trembling but with an equal amount of excitement and elation. Pray for us this year as we get back into the swing of visiting churches after the holidays. Fittingly our first engagement this year is with our home church, Iowa First Baptist. Sure I look forward to this baseball season but more importantly I look forward to seeing what God is going to be doing to get us closer to Guatemala.

Peace of Christ to You.

Sitting and being still

2009-01-05T18:20:00.000-08:00

I have returned from my annual New Years Eve/Day hunt with my father-in-law. We spent four days in northeast Louisiana hunting white tail deer to which we only saw two from our stands (one each). I am writing about this experience because for three days i had the opportunity to sit, be still and think....yeah right for an ADD adult. Let me set the mood for you all that have not hunted deer. We wake up at about 430 am get dressed, eat breakfast in the truck (two honey buns each-I think the sugary breakfast has something to do with walking and climbing), get out and begin walking into the woods in pitch black well we have flashlights but i think you get the point. This is a very interesting feeling, hearing animals moving around and running off, wondering if it is a deer, hog or bear. Then once arriving at a predetermined tree picked by previous deer slayings and "sign"-(poop, tracks, etc). At this point the deer stand is attached to the tree and then the climb begins, which is basically a crunch done vertically with 30 extra pounds, and clothes to keep warm once in the tree, a gun, etc. Once high in the tree, still very dark outside i find myself settling down and trying to relax and cool off, yes even in 20 degree weather you can work up a sweat doing all that walking and climbing. After a restless nap of constantly waking up hoping you aren't falling out of the tree, you begin to see dawn and what was once a dark void of light is now a slowly brightening array of trees, palmettos (at least where we hunt) and fallen trees. Nature begins to slowly wake up and begin its ritual survival and search for food. It is in this moment that i find myself needing to be most still, most quiet but very alert. But this is also the time where i find myself looking in the direction of every sound, it gets annoying when you hear something moving in the leaves only to find out it is a very large fox squirrel.

Isn't life like that, when you are in the quiet place for solitude and you are earnestly seeking God in the quiet, sounds that you would never hear in the normal pace of life suddenly sound extremely loud and unfortunately gain your attention. I fought this for three days in that stand, of course isn't that what i have set out to do is to see nature, had i set out with only my bible, a notebook and the deer stand i probably would not have been distracted by the very nature that i sought. So what am i trying to say....i think when we seek to spend time with God it is as a result of having that time presented to us as a second portion of the agenda, i wasn't seeking God as my first agenda, i used the time of solitude while waiting for that deer to appear and in the meantime i might as well do some praying and thinking. I wonder what would happen if i only brought my Bible, notebook and an earnest and sincere desire to spend time with God? I guess i will have to let you know next season! Just kidding!!

snow day

2008-12-13T20:04:00.000-08:00

so it snowed here on Thursday, i was pretty excited until i turned on the news to find that our parish and school who follow the public school policy of days off were not closed to to incliment weather! peaved until like 4th hour and we were outside at 6am! so that is like 5 hours of peavishness?! anyway, check out the fun times my kids has at my wifes blog; www.lastrapeslegacy.blogspot.com she took some great pics and i have to say that i am pretty happy my kids got to see some snow even if it was .40 inches compared to the 8" that southeast la recieved! anyway, snow is fun and cool to see on your car esp when within one week of said snow day, the temps are in the upper 70's! snow yeah, snow day yeah, snow day and go to work boo!

Quotation Monday

2008-12-08T17:27:00.000-08:00

I could not decide on which one to post so I posted two!!

"Like all major religions of the world, Christianity is more than a set of devotional practices and a moral code: it is also a way of thinking about God, about human beings, about the world and history. For Christians, thinking is part of believing. "

Robert Louis Wilken
The Spirit of Early Christian Thought

Which led to this next quote:

"No one believes anything unless one first thought it believable....Everything that is believed is believed after being preceded by thought....Not everyone who thinks believes, since many think in order not to believe; but everyone who believes thinks, thinks in believing and believes in thinking."

Augustine
Predestination of the Saints

I am not exactly sure how I feel about the first quote --for some reason it just does not sit right with me; I think it is his use of the phrase "like all major religions of the world". I might be a little gun shy of post modern thought and how it seeps in where we least suspect. Anyway if you have a thought on the first quote let me know what you think, if you think I am loco let me know that too!

New look

2008-12-06T19:02:00.001-08:00

I have been in the market for a new layout for this blog and after actually reading some of the directions on how to use them i have been able to change my layout to something that i really like. Let me know what you think or if you have a better picture that you think would look better let me know. For crying out loud, let me know something, that your out there reading or something! Anyway i hope you enjoy!

Quotation Monday!

2008-11-30T19:54:00.000-08:00

I know it has been a while but if you read the blog below it may explain some of why i haven't posted a quote and try and put your own quotes down; anyway here goes:

"This obsession with personal autonomy has now been enshrined in law, specifically, in the 1992 Casey v. Planned Parenthood decision. In words written by Justice Kennedy...,the Court handed out the following: 'Liberty is defined as the right to define one's own concept of existence, of being, of the universe and of the mystery of human life '(emphasis mine). This passion for personal autonomy has brought modern life to a depressing state, a condition that was never more eloquently described than my Richard Neuhaus, who wrote in the Wall Street Journal that we are like hers of independent minds marching toward moral oblivion with Frank Sinatra's witless boast on our lips, 'I did it my way.' This obsession for autonomy has created utter chaos."

Charles Colson
Erasmus Lecture
Institute for Religion in Public Life
New York, New York
1999

Feeling the need to blog!?!

2008-11-30T18:35:00.000-08:00

Have you ever found yourself wanting to write a blog and really not having anything to say? I often find myself in this position hence the question. Its not that things aren't happening in my life but some are just not blog worthy, can i say that? Well if not oh well...its better to ask forgiveness than permission! I could talk about the book i am reading, well one of the books i am reading and when i picked it up i read with the voracity of an upper level Bible college student who is late on his reading assignment but as i went into this Thanksgiving break from school, i found myself day dreaming, reading the newspaper, playing with my kids, etc. All good things, but as i have tried to finish this particular chapter/speech (The book is Charles Colson Speaks...its a "collection of twelve messages delivered in recent years to groups and organizations worldwide") so nonetheless good reading, deep reading, messages that engage our post modern culture and how to approach the culture in terms of apologetics. The crazy thing is that the message i am reading is about CS Lewis, who i absolutely love reading, i guess i have this sadistic streak that enjoys reading with book in one hand and dictionary in the other. I think that i should be enthralled to read his perspectives on the man who helped him (Chuck Colson) come to his own realization and understanding of his need of God, but honestly i find it begrudging to read, i read a page and flip to see how many more pages there are read some more and count again...there are twenty pages of this message and i am half way through. I guess maybe i built up within myself an idea that what was going to be said would be earth shaking but in reality don't. Well i guess i should get back to reading so i can finish the rest of the messages, i still have 5 more after this one to read, of which i am looking forward to reading but maybe without the built up hype. I guess i did have something to say after all. Peace of Christ to You!

Iraqi troops donate money to fire victims!!

2008-11-24T12:50:00.000-08:00

I was catching up on my paper reading and finally getting to Saturday's paper today! I love reading the paper but often get fed up when finding something incredibly positive tucked away on the back side of a section, which leads me to todays post. My interest was peaked just by the title of an article about Iraq. The story is about a group of Iraqi soldiers that have donated $500 to help California wildfire victims. This was done to send a message to us the American people that "we are a family" states Iraqi Colonel Abbas Fadhil. Per the article the military says it is the FOURTH donation sent by the Iraqi's to Americans hit by tragedy. Thursday's statement says they also raised $1500 for victims of hurricanes Gustave and Ike and donated $500 to the National Sept. 11th Memorial. This in incredible because the wonderful media we have will never speak about this information what is more incredible is that right next to this article is another article with a picture showing the American flag being burned and a huge article about an efigy of Bush being burned in an anti-US protest. I am not naive by any means, but the good that is happening in Iraq is so ignored that it is sad. But you read that article...sure I read it on the back page of a sub-par newspaper in Lake Charles, Louisiana. If someone out there in a big city gets to read positive articles by NEUTRAL writers who report all news please let me in on the bounty! I am encouraged by that article and I do also want our troops home, they are tired and lonely. But this weekend I was at a Third Day concert and they were actually on the USO tour and were able to perform for our troops and they were very appreciative and they wanted us to know that regardless of the media good things were going on in Iraq. How sad that even the military feels its voice is squelched! If anyone can suggest a balanced, media please let me know, I am dying for some positive news and right now we need it, we are about to go into four years of look how bad Bush screwed this all up!!! Yep, I'm synical, yep I'm pessimistic but at least I know it and am trying to do something about it!

After Veterans Day

2008-11-12T18:47:00.000-08:00

The day after Veterans Day is still the same for me, I still love the fact that both my grandfathers served our country in the US Navy and US Army and actually one of my grandfathers served the Navy in WW II and the Army in Korea. I am quite humbled when considered to be in the same "fraternity" as these two men. For the past couple days Maddy has been asking me "Did you serve our country Daddy?" Of course my response is a proud and grateful "Yes!" She then said, "Daddy, your a veterinarian!!!" If only my service would have resulted in being an animal doctor!! Nonetheless it made my heart warm, to hear that her Kindergarten teacher was telling them about the service veterans did for our country. Dont let Veterans Day be the only day you tell a vet how much you appreciate their service and dont just forget the ultimate sacrifices that some soldiers and sailors made and are making. Thank your grandparents, parents, brothers, sisters, random older men who still wear their ships crew hat, or that bright red Marine Corps ballcap, etc! Sure Veterans Day is about sacrifice, duty, honor and country but how much more should we appreciate the one Sacrifice that makes our lives even worth living, the one Sacrifice that gives us all hope...hope when faced with the most dire of circumstances...like being away from family for another tour in Afganistan or Iraq, or on patrols in the Pacific, pray for those men and women who will one day be counted veterans, pray that they find solace and peace in the one Sacrifice who is part of the freedom they serve for!

busy is an understatement

2008-10-21T19:46:00.000-07:00

ok so i am busy right now, like seriously busy! i do have time for mi familia but honestly that is about it. we went to BR (Baton Rouge) to visit my grandfather who recently had his hip replaced, my grandmother and my dad who is in for three weeks to help with my grandfather. While there my dad took us (Sarah, the kids and myself) to Bass Pro Shop outside of BR. Can i tell you how crazy huge this place is, needless to say i was able to relax, think about nothing but the enourmity of this place. Dad and I drove against each other in the NASCAR simulator with the kids which was pretty cool, until both kids pushed the emergency turn off button...anyway we had fun and cant wait to go back to look some more! Anyway, i have not been in the kingdom of blogdom but like MacArthur "I will return!"

Quotation Monday

2008-10-06T11:59:00.000-07:00

Fifty-three percent (53%)...Americans who say they do not need to know a PRESIDENTIAL candidate's position on abortion before deciding their vote.

Twenty percent (20%)...Americans who say they would NOT consider voting for a PRESIDENTIAL candidate whose position on abortion is different from their own.

Forty-four percent(44%)...Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 who agree "that in questions of religion, my own religion is right while other religions tend to be wrong."

Twenty five percent (25%)...Americans over 60 who agree!

GO FIGURE, pg 18
CHRISTIANITY TODAY
Compiled by Ted Olsen

Quotation Monday

2008-09-29T19:11:00.000-07:00

I don't have cancer, something inside of me has cancer and they removed it!

Ronald Reagan

So often I wish I could remove my cancerous heart that is "more deceitful than all else. And is desperately sick; who can understand it? I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds." But I am reminded that that is where I hide God's Word, that is where Christ, the Holy Spirit reside within me and I am so excited about the truth of verse 10 of Jeremiah 17, the italicized section from above!

Quotation Monday

2008-09-22T05:13:00.000-07:00

It follows as a matter of course that this must be with us, as with Jesus, the essential element in our petitions: the glory of the Father must be the aim and end, the very soul and life of our prayer.

Andrew Murray

We bit the bullet!!

2008-09-12T09:59:00.001-07:00

We bit the bullet and headed to Birmingham for the second time in two weeks! We had an offer from one of my uncles in Baton Rouge but after passing over
I-10 in Iowa and saw all the traffic from the Houston area we decided to go north passing by Sarah's parents house to drop off some things from our freezer and pick us some things. We continued on our trek from Iowa north on Hwy 165 all the way to Monroe which was not a bad trip, the kids did well and slept most of the way there. Oh iI forgot to tell you that we left at 7pm...for Birmingham...8 hours away...can I tell you we are up for any adventure!!!! Anyway we made to Bham in 10 hours, I think somewhere around Vicksburg Sarah and I started to play the alphabet game to keep me awake and for me to torture her by using her competitive spirit against her!! :) Anyway, we never found an X or Z until Alabama and on the last leg of our journey. Those two points of location are about 5 hours apart. We played the game two times through, we made it here at 515am so not too bad. We promptly went to sleep without unpacking and were joyfully awakened to the sound of our son saying "Wake up, Daddy; Wake up!!!" A few un-Bible teacher, un-Christian thoughts flew through my head but instead i groggily woke up and began to persuade him to wake up mommy! Needless to say we got up this morning at 10am, unloaded the car again and now I sit at our gracious friends, the Ingram's, house using their wireless Internet to connect to all you out there who still read this rag. let us know how you are, what you are up to and other random points of interest. we love Louisiana but we really hate hurricanes. a friend provided Psalm 46 for me this morning uh afternoon, to which I am very grateful. I would comment about that passage but right now I am just pleased with myself for being able to read and comprehend, much less blog!!! Peace of Christ to You!

Ok so Quotation Tuesday!!!

2008-09-09T10:07:00.000-07:00

"Since the ultimate purpose of our salvation is to glorify God and to bring us into intimate, rich fellowship with Him, failure to seek God in prayer is to deny that purpose."

John MacArthur, Jr.

Alone with God

Quotation Monday

2008-09-01T07:23:00.000-07:00

"To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best day and night to make you everybody else, means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting."

E. E. Cummings

Mr. Rubik and his stupid cube!!!!!

2008-08-27T17:00:00.001-07:00

for my birthday my wife bought me a Rubik's cube Revenge, it is a 4x4, not the sissy model you see to my your left. i have been working on this thing since my birthday which was mid August and have finished one side only to have it totally destroyed while finishing another. the directions are pretty helpful because they give you algorithms to use to solve pieces to the puzzle but that is just the beginning. so i wondered who else out there that reads my blog (the two of you) ever had a Rubik's cube or currently do have a Rubik's cube and do you still play with it or has it sat collecting dust somewhere? let me know!!! oh yeah good luck!!

Quotation Monday

2008-08-24T18:59:00.000-07:00

I stole it....the idea that is from a friend of Sarah's from college whose blog i frequent quite a bit! I am going to try to post a new quote from something i read, heard or made up and ascribe to someone who is also made up (not really). I will not always give an intro but i did feel it necessary for this first one and yes the quote is from a previous blog but as i sat in a local BBQ restaurant and read this quote that was actually hanging on the wall, i was moved even more by what it states!

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”

Theodore Roosevelt

School days...school days!!

2008-08-14T18:42:00.000-07:00

Every and I mean every first day of school my dad would come into my room and i would assume my sisters and sing the school days song. i don't know where the song came from or who even sang it but i think his dad sang it to him and from that point i don't know. anyway, today was my first day of school and i was very optimistic as i met new students, saw students from years past, etc. have i ever told you all how much i love being a teacher? well if i have not, i do! but this is not about that. tomorrow is Maddy's first day of school, our little girl is going to spend all day at school, now Maddy is tremendously excited, she loves school and learning and was very excited about the Promethean board in her classroom (her teacher gave us a demonstration and let some of the kids use it at orientation). If you don't know what a Promethean board is, ask a teacher or go to www.prometheanworld.com and you can go to video showcase. ok... ok ill tell you that it is a tool for teachers that uses an interactive video board and video projector but allows teachers to perform all kind of functions from extensive and advanced math problems to simple pattern and logic problems for Kindergartners. i am very much looking forward to Maddy's first day and would love to take her to school but because we are not at the same school her mom will get to take her. i know what is going to happen, Sarah is going to bring her in and Maddy will run off to play or talk to her new friends, i thank God everyday she is able to make friends with someone she does not know! Sarah will want to linger as most first child parents do when their first goes to school. Pray for us both, i know my mind will be wandering to what Maddy will be doing instead of where it should be....in my classroom. i am so excited that Maddy is getting this opportunity before we head for Guatemala and if our timing is matching God's this may be her only year in American elementary or schools for that matter. we don't know what God holds for us as to a time-frame in Guatemala and are not really concerned with it either. pray for Maddy as she makes new friends, and more than likely talks about Guatemala. pray that she will be able to tell her friends and teacher why we are going to Guatemala. thank you ahead of time for your prayers. peace of Christ to you! oh yeah, i still don't know if i will sing this song to Maddy tomorrow morning, i want her first day of school to get off an a good start and not with her daddy "singing" to her first thing!!!!

am i seriously ready for school?

2008-07-27T18:43:00.000-07:00

in our church are quite a few teachers who all teach at different schools and teach different grades at public schools. overwhelmingly the feeling is unbelief that school is about to start again; what is interesting to me is that i am ready for school, and actually was not really ready for school to end. for those of you who don't know when school is over i usually do "lawn maintenance"---cut grass---during the summer months. a lot of you are probably putting two and two together and thinking well that's why he does not want school to end but in reality i love being outside in the sun (even 100 degree weather with 100% humidity); no the sun has not fried my brain, i wear a hat to keep mr. sun from blistering my oh so hairless head. the point i am taking forever to get to is that i love teaching, i love spending time with teens, i love teaching the Word of God and i love seeing my students talk to me about what God is doing and being willing to stand up in front of class to talk about it. for those of you who are Christian school naive, not every student is a Christian and not every student is living a life worthy of Christ and as sad as it is to hear students sharing with their peers what God is doing in their lives makes me so humbled to be called to teach God's Word. i love teaching because i get to stumble through God's Word and make an attempt to bring my students along. i get to teach not just the Word of God, but surviving lifes curve balls (8th), old and new testament survey (9th) and doctrine of Christianity (10th)! so much of teaching for me is using my life as an example of things not to do and i know in the back of my mind which students are going to walk that path but i also know which students will see me for my mistakes and choose a path led by Christ. i love school, teaching and for someone who skated by on C's,that's crazy talk; but in all honesty i cannot for the life of me see me doing anything else except maybe taking this knowledge to Mayan churches in Guatemala. i love teaching and am totally ready for school to start!!!

CAMP PEARL

2008-07-21T09:33:00.000-07:00

Today we are headed to Camp Pearl as camp missionaries and I am absolutely excited. If our (Sarah and my) calculations are correct we met at Camp Pearl when we were in middle school and then 10 years later re-introduced. Camp Pearl is very dear to our hearts as we have both served as Summer Servers (Counselors) and spend summers there as campers. We love Camp Pearl and the safe environment it provides for Christians and non-Christians. We are very much looking forward to spending time with friends as we are there. Please pray for us as we talk about what God has laid on our hearts in Guatemala. We will update you after we get back but in the mean time show me some love and comment....please! My ego is on super low, i know you are visiting the site, just leave a comment! Talk to you soon.

Peace of Christ to You

Speaking not preaching!

2008-07-20T17:24:00.000-07:00

So for the past two weeks, well really since before we went down to Guatemala i have been preparing for service at Woodlawn Baptist Church. Pulpit supply is something i never thought i would be doing, much less being part of a rotation. All i have to say is...................i love it! At this point you are wondering what the title means and to be honest its what i do, i dont know if i have ever preached a sermon what i prefer to do is share with the congregation what i have gleaned from Scripture and make a connection with real life. Preaching to me is something that you are telling the congregation, i am very much a relational person so i want to communicate with the congregation and share with them. I know i have already stated this but preaching has such a stigma attached to it...i guess it does, i prefer to tell people i am speaking in churches instead of preaching in churches. I dont know let me know what you think!

I know.....its about time!!!!

2008-07-13T21:50:00.000-07:00

Ok Ok, so I know it’s about time I updated my blog and let you all know about our ten days in Guatemala! We had a great first week with the Footes seeing how things work with everyday life of Danny in language school and Daph running things around the house, going to market, etc. It was a great time for Danny and I to talk to each other about plans once Sarah and I are down there and ideas that Danny himself has. We really spent some time talking about everything…literally!!!

After meeting up with our team from Iowa First Bapt Church we headed to the lake and to Danny and Daph’s house and it is beautiful. Where Sarah and I slept we could look out the window in bed and see Volcan San Pedro!! Absolutely beautiful and amazing, Things went well with our team doing VBS at a Christian school in the town of San Pedro, everyone did well establishing friendships and relationships with the kids and teachers at the school.

I know that this is very nebulous and not very detailed but even after a week of recouping (if that is possible) I am still searching for the words to describe our time in Guatemala. We are incredibly excited about getting down there and we pray that our time frame is the same as Gods. Please pray for us as we move closer and closer to getting to Guatemala, currently we are at about 17% and move closer with each speaking engagement. We received great responses at Dry Creek Bible, Grace Bible and Lake Charles Bible and look forward to continuing speaking within the Camp Pearl Ministry churches. Pray that an opportunity to speak at Camp Pearl next week will work out for all of us.

Thank you all for your prayers for our mission trip this year and the lives we have impacted as well as the lives that were impacted by the mission trip. A year from now seems way too long before our next trip so if you attend a church that works out multiple mission trips please let me know so we can talk. Thanks again and I tried to upload the video/movie from this year’s mission trip but you will have to go to our blogspot at lastrapeslegacy.blogspot.com to see it.

PEACE OF CHRIST TO YOU.

Guatemala 08!

2008-06-22T19:14:00.000-07:00

So tomorrow we are embarking on our trip to Guatemala! We are incredibly excited and cannot wait until we are down there. So with that said I will be away from the world of blogging, not that i post something every other day but anywho, i wanted all to know who reads from this blog, for those who sup from this fountain of knowledge, that we have temporarily turned the fountain off. Peace of Christ to You and we cannot wait to let you know how things went!!!

Too Many Words

2008-06-09T17:22:00.000-07:00

Ok so my beautiful wife told me the other day that I need to shorten my blogs in order for people to comment on them. Let me know what you think of this perposterous and short on words thinking!!! Egad, my blogs too long, I have things to say and if people are interested in reading what I am thinking then they will read and if by the time they have forgotten what I have written and dont leave a comment well then poo on them, thats right poo on them! So here goes!

I Might Be Losing My Mind!

2008-06-05T20:15:00.000-07:00

I love reading, so much so that I will often go the library to get books to read within a specific amount of time at the exact same time I am reading books that I own but have yet to finish, why is this? Did I say I love to read! Currently the books (yes plural) on my nightstand are The Five Love Languages, The Journal of Jim Elliot, America’s Hidden History and Abba’s Child. Now sure three out of four, three quarters or three-fourths of the books are Christian in essence but it is the non-Christian book that I sought out in the midst of these four books and mind you I put back on our shelf three other Christian books (Jesus Christ Disciplemaker, Let the Nations Be Glad and God Planted Five Seeds). I love history and I love to read so that is a pretty good marriage but this incessant desire to read books from the library instead of reading my own books. Some of you are thinking that I have spent way too many hours in the sun, the bright, hot and impenetrable sun of Southwest Louisiana but I have not, I am simply trying to understand my logic, my thought process, my addiction?!? You see this is not some new fangled thought in this gleaming cue ball of a head I have, this has been something I have fought against since college, where the love for reading was instilled or rather dictated! Nonetheless I still love to read, so for the next couple of weeks I will be reading America’s Hidden History and hope that I can finish it before the idea of lengthening my keep of the book becomes a reality instead of the result of procrastination. I don’t think I have a problem but then again it is not until we are well far gone before we realize we do right? I guess I should probably let you know at what stage I am at in each of the afore mentioned books and if you really don’t care where this blog is going you’ve stopped reading anyway so…The Five Love Languages is in chapter 8, and well I haven’t started the other three. The reasoning behind the other three books are as follows: The Journal of Jim Elliot-mainly because I am very much intrigued by those five men who gave their lives to God for the Waodani Tribe; America’s Hidden History because I love movies like National Treasure, Indiana Jones, etc and yes I know archeology is not that interesting and mysterious but it is my perogative ok! (sorry) and Abba’s Child because it was mentioned by a counselor with whom we met with while in Candidate Orientation with CAM. I know you are thinking does everything you write about have to be about CAM, Guatemala or missions…I don’t know I’m talking to myself and unfortunately my fingers no longer move as fast as my brain anymore, or has my brain began to slow and my finger motion is incredibly s l o w! See what I mean, my complex brain is working on levels people only dream of! Dang right I said that! Well off the rabbit trail on back onto the main path…I love reading and will probably never stop and honestly at any point I will have at least two books going at the same time and all this in the midst of studying for the Sundays we are speaking in churches…about CAM…Guatemala and missions! :) So I love reading, I have admitted it and will probably never look back, at least until I set a book down and cant remember what I had previously read! To books!!

I See Light

2008-05-22T16:08:00.000-07:00

I added the picture (to the right) to my blog because the title is I see light and somehow found its way into our collection of pictures from Guatemala. I say somehow but truly believe it is a symbolic picture (as well as a real picture) of the spiritual condition in Guatemala. I love this picture because of the light not simply slipping in a crack, but pouring in a major opening, God is working in Guatemala, He has been working in Guatemala and He will continue to work in Guatemala long after we are gone. We are humbled by the calling of God to Guatemala! For so long the people of Guatemala have been trapped in a life of worshipping inanimate gods that they hoped would bring fertilization to their crops, health to their bodies and joy to their life. They have often given in homage, things they cannot afford to give away for nothing in return.

In the area of Lake Atitlan, the local deity is Maximon, an actual wooden carved idol, who is dressed in a suit and fedora, he also wears about ten ties for some reason, I can’t stand one much less ten, but then again this idol is not alive so…

Anyway, before a person’s conversion to Christianity, most indigenous Mayans have incorporated this idol worship with their faith in Catholicism. The above mentioned picture reminds me so much of the darkness that these people are in as a result of the syncretism of their faith. I wish I could say that when a Mayan converts to Christianity that they have a full understanding of God being all they need, but unfortunately that is not the case. It seems that the Christianity (I dare not state a percentage) they engage in is just one more thing they can add to a life of faith.

Sarah and I have wonderful friends all over Guatemala who are engaged in the ministry with Mayans, and as a result have shared with us the vision God has given them. We look with anxious nervousness to the time God has set for us to be in Guatemala full time, we are presently working with churches and individuals who will partner with us to help us engage in this vision. The great thing about the vision we have been given is that God Himself has seen what the Guatemalans need in their life of faith and put that vision on our hearts.

When you think of that picture remember the spiritual darkness of all people who do not know Jesus Christ, foreign and here in the states. Pray for the missionaries that are sharing their faith and the churches who are reaching out to the lost. As missionaries, we are not bringing God to these places, and I am quoting Rob Bell here, “If love is in these places, if laughter is in these places, if joy is in these places then God is there!” We are I guess (revealing) God to them through these things. Pray for us as God prepares us to do His will.

Will equal rights really be equal?

2008-05-12T21:24:00.000-07:00

Will equal rights really be equal? I am posing this question with about a thousand follow up questions. The question is posed in light of a conversation I had with my deeply intelligent wife the other night. How we got to this conversation I will never know, but I think it was a rabbit trail off of the question I had regarding atheists/antitheist and why they cared if I chose to believe in a higher power. The question dissolved into the thought that in light of atheists/antitheist (i will call them a/a from now on) may get what they want in politics, education, marriages, etc. If they get what they want we will be left with our beliefs in our hand and wondering what happened. If we look back to history, ahh history, we find that when the original colonies were established, the reading of Scripture was a hallmark of education, if they learned nothing else they learned to read and what book was most owned by people moving to the new world in search of RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, the Bible. I understand a/a thoughts in that the "Christians are takin' over", but why are so many people (politicians) so fired up about getting our vote, why do politicians have such a hard time passing laws that are opposed to moral/ethical ideals. Sure a/a are a minority, but they are a minority that is fighting against people whose beliefs in their mind don't exist. Was that statement clear? I know I may be setting up straw man arguments for myself, but at this point in the game "Can this many people be wrong?" Is it possible that people for thousands of years have gotten it all wrong and the few people among those years who thought and believed that no god existed had it right? Don't get tied down with popular vote vs delegates won, this is not about Al Gore!! Although I think that I have strayed from my original premise about equal rights ever being equal, and honestly the answer is no! At some point someone will disagree with the amount of CO2 released into the air by cattle in Texas and blame someone for it, just as quickly as some will disagree with the phrase "one nation under God" in the pledge or the fact that religious groups have to meet as a school group and not just an unscheduled meeting of teens who love Jesus. I remember my mother telling me about Jesus Freaks in her high school in Baton Rouge, whatever happened to those days, weren't those the days of civil rights!!!!!! Wow how things have changed, I wonder what would happen if a young man/woman sat outside their school, or even in the quad, with a guitar and some close friends and started singing praise songs? Would their civil rights be infringed upon, because someone who is opposed was offended? I think our hippy parents would wonder what happened and did all the work they did in bringing civil rights awareness about really help or hurt the American landscape? I have question after question and sadly no answer, but this: I still love Jesus, regardless of who is in office, I know that God is in control and so what if I do! I know that God placed people positions of power (Daniel 4:17, Romans 13:1-2). I leave this blog as it began with questions and if you have read Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell, that might be a good thing, questions are what keep us from stagnating. So, will equal rights ever be equal? Ask me when my body is perfected and we are standing in the presence of the Almighty and He judges those who just as equally chose not to serve Him.

Daring Greatly

2008-04-30T20:16:00.000-07:00

I have been really motivated to read up on some history lately, as a result of watching Night at the Museum way too many times with our children. I looked on our library’s website for some books about Theodore Roosevelt. The book I am currently reading is called Lion in the White House. At this point in my reading I am thinking, that based on the scientific reasoning Roosevelt applied to life that his Christianity was limited to Sunday in church but on the page after the dedication I read a quote:

“It is not the critic who counts…The credit belongs to the man
in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood;
who strives valiantly…who knows the great enthusiasms, the
great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who
at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and
who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.”

These words seemed to ring out to me as we continue down the path of becoming missionaries to Guatemala. We are in the trenches before the trenches and honestly these seem to be the hardest but they are the most rewarding…seeing individual people respond to what God has laid on our hearts is amazing, to see them excited and actually desire to come down to Guatemala is only something God has done. Now while the above mentioned quote gives “credit…to the man in the arena” we all know that God alone can receive the credit, even while our faces are “marred by dust and sweat and blood” we still give God the glory because He alone gave us the heart to serve another culture and as I Timothy 1:5 states: “The aim of our charge is love that comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” Even in the midst of slow representation we still believe that God has, is and will provide the financial, prayer and emotional needs that we have in this journey.

This year in our high school baseball season we made a very slow start winning only 2 games out of 9. We were district 5-1A champs last year! However, last night we won our district title again and currently are 7-0 in district with two games remaining. We took the failures of the past games and learned from them and have been on a 7 game winning streak. Our young men, whose faces are marred with dust and sweat and blood, know the great enthusiasms and the failures. We too know that same feeling in our representation process and we believe that only through God will we leave the states for a new title: Missionary!

Blog of my own

2008-04-23T18:32:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I needed a blog of my own because my wife has overrun our "missionary" blog with artsy fartsy things (albeit they do make some cash for us) but nevertheless, when I post something I think is really profound it does seem to loose some steam when my beautiful wife posts something about jewelry or even something cute about Maddy or Coleman. So this first blog will be short and sweet and within a few days I will post my previous post from "our" current blog turned Sarah's! So let me explain my blog title, I know most of you know what full count is as referring to baseball, my favorite sport of all time, and the sport I get to coach where I teach. We are headed into the first round of playoffs for the state championship and have a very good chance of going far if not all the way. The reason I chose full count instead of some awe inspiring baseball lingo is because at the lowest point in my life I felt I had a full count against me; living completely for myself, totally against everything God wanted for me! Luckily, I got to first base and cannot wait to round third to head home. Now I know this is stretching the lingo a little far but as I sit here with numerous blisters after hitting two hours worth of outfield practice that is what is on my mind. I will say that I am super excited about where God is leading us and the things he is doing in our life, but I will always look forward to the Blessed Hope or at least my home going. I know I said this would be short but I guess once you get me going well you see...I pray that all is well with you and yours and that God is rocking your world with His will for your life!!!!