Pertaining to Divine Power

The following is 2 Peter 1:1-11...

Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained a faith equal with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus or Lord. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desires. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of out Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

This passage, which is so full of wondrous promises, has yet left me with questions. I am curious to fully understand what all of this has to do with "the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord" (v2). Now, I understand that through the "knowledge of him who called us" is what leads us, via his divine power, but I don't really understand how all of this is related. Maybe because the language is complex and layered its hard for me to get it. And I don't know Greek. I guess my questions just leave me at, what is the role of knowledge in all of this? Is knowledge the foundation on which all virtue is built, producing in us the ability to partake of the divine nature (of Christ) by the working of God in us?

Perhaps, as Henry writes, it is the initial acknowledgement of the only true God and Jesus Christ as Savior unto salvation, which tends itself to having grace and peace multiplied to the believer. I am sure this is true, for there must be an acknowledgement of one's need for Jesus as Savior before we can enjoy the benefits of the elect of God.

Henry goes on to say (in his commentary) that all spiritual blessing - grace and peace & the divine nature - are ours only in and through Jesus Christ. He is the head of all blessings, and this is so through His divine power. He holds all authority to dispense all spiritual blessings as He sees fit. Henry goes on to say, it is because of Christ and His divine power which is His that effects all that is necessary for the preserving, improving, and perfecting of grace and peace.

The knowledge of God, which leads to faith ... these are the two avenues by which spiritual supports are conveyed to us. This takes me back to my earlier question, "What is the role of knowledge in all of this? Is knowledge the foundation on which all virtue is built, producing in us the ability to partake of the divine nature (of Christ) by the working of God in us?" I think my answer is yes, assuming that Henry's understanding is correct.

A Great Taste and a Smile

One of the best ways to see and experience a place or a people or anything a new location has to offer is to walk through an area.

I did that this morning. I am in St. Louis visiting one of my best friends, Nathan Lucy, who is in seminary here at Covenant Seminary. He woks at a coffee shop, which cannot be more than a mile and half from his flat. He left this morning for work at 6:30 am and I was not going then at that time of the morning, no way! So, when I did get up and was ready to do something, I decided I would walk to the coffee shop.

Only thing is, Lucy would not answer his phone & I didn't have the wireless password. I just left, not knowing my way, but knowing I could always ask. Thats what I did. I left depending on complete strangers to get me where I needed to be.

Turns out, people are generally friendly and helpful here in St. Louis. As I went I found people knew more and more about where I desired to get to. My first set of direction was, "Dogtown...um...its that way (pointing diagonally across the interstate)." My next directions consisted of 3 street names and 3 turns. The 3rd street and subsequent turn were not correct. So I asked again. The next directions followed the same pattern, until eventually I got the perfect directions and found myself sitting in Cairdeas Coffeeshop in Dogtown, St. Louis, with a huge breakfast quesadilla and coffee in front of me. The quesadilla was delicious and the coffee was extra-rich because it is all relationship coffee. Cairdeas is cool, as is Dogtown 'cause its this little Irish ghetto of St. Louis. Its awesome.

So, St Louis, thanks for leaving a great taste on my tongue and a smile on my face.

The food I have had so far has been good. I had fried ravioli on Thursday night, followed by some amazing Italian chicken dish! The food has been good. The drinks have been enjoyable. The people are friendly. Lucy and his crew are awesome, and its only my second full day here. Plus, during my walk to Cairdeas, I saw this beauty (1967, Stringray Corvette ... My favorite car of all time)!

Hebrews - Ch5

Who is Jesus Christ?

He is...

...the Son of God (v5, Ps 2:7)

...the Begotten of God (v5, Ps 2:7)

...a Priest forever (v6, Ps 110:4)

...pious (v7)

...the Son (v8)

...perfect (v9)

...the source of salvation to all those who obey Him (v9)

...designated by God as the High Priest (v10)

So, some of this is now starting to get repetitious, no? But I am totally in agreement that we/I need repetition, because I know how often I forget in my mind and in my heart the truths of God's word, the truths of who Christ is, what He has done, and why He has done it. And if I forget these things, then I don't stand a chance against "Satan's banter" (courtesy Daniel Dixon). If I forget who my Jesus is, then I cannot destroy the speculations and lofty things raised against the knowledge of God ... then I cannot take every thought captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ (2 Cor 10:5).

So, repetition? Yes please!

A Babe or Not?

Concerning [Jesus] we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.

Hebrews 5:11-14

So, I ask, am I a baby, an infant in the faith, or am I mature? I am not mature in the faith, I know that. I have matured in the years since Christ redeemed me, but I am not mature, there is much growth that is needed before I would ever say that of myself.

But if the author only gives these two categories, are they the only two classifications of disciples of Christ? If they are, then by default, my previous answer means I am a babe in the faith. An infant. The first inkling of understanding I had of my need for Christ to save me came when I was 8 years old. I have grown a lot since then, a whole lot. But if by default of not being mature in the faith, & I am an infant in it, what does that mean of the last 17 years?

I base my answer of not being mature on the last part of v14, "who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil." Now, I can discern good and evil, and often I do. But what are the consequences in terms of maturity if I choose the evil over the good, even if I know the good? Or plainly, what if I choose sin over Christ? What if I choose to disobey? Am I actually discerning between good and evil correctly, because discernment seems like a fairly black and white issue?

I am not naive to think I know how much I sin, but the extent to which I do know, makes it clear to me that I am not choosing the good or right thing enough! With this is mind, I make my assumption that I am not mature in faith. This makes me sad. There may be parts or facets of faith I am mature in, but there seems to be more of faith parts I am not. So, if I had to choose mature or infant, I would have to, by necessity, choose infant.

Now, this is not hopeless, although at times I feel as though it is. It is not, and can never be, hopeless, because "with man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible!" (Matt 19:26) But this also, "continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and act according to His good purpose" (Phil 2:12-13). So it is not hopeless.

So, even in the pit of despair (Ps 130) when I recognize sin in my heart and life, even when I am paralyzed in the thick miry, misery of sin, I can look up and see  "a great high priest who passed through the heavens, JESUS the Son of God, [so I] hold fast [my] confession. For [I] do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with [my] weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as [I am], yet without sin. Therefore, [I will] draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need!" (Heb 4:14-16).

So, am I an infant or not? I am. But I feel like I am walking now, maybe a bit shaky and unsteady at times, but I am walking ... and I desire deeply to run, yet I am just learning to walk. So when I fall, my great High Priest is going to always be there to lift me up again! And by practice, by denying myself, by taking up my cross, with fear and trembling, and by God working in me I shall someday be made mature, "complete, lacking in nothing" (James 1:4), just as Jesus Christ is.

In the meantime, I apply for mercy and grace to help in time of need. I have a lot of times of need. But I have an even greater sympathetic High Priest, Jesus the Christ!

It was so the works of God might be displayed

Alan Dennis

If you know this man, you know the blessing that his friendship is. He is a man of God among men, and that by God's grace. Its always by God's grace, & praise Him for that. Alan is serving the Lord in Africa currently.

Recently, Alan was involved in an "accident" whereupon a saw blade broke off the saw, flying straight into his face. It hit square on, chin to forehead. By God's protective providence & miracle-working grace, his eyes were not damaged and his nose is in good shape. He is going to have some facial surgeries to fix things up a bit and there is a good degree of healing that will have to take place. Yet,  I am positive, if you were to be around him during all this you would probably never hear him complain, but be continually glorifying his heavenly Father, who is worthy of all glory.

Keeping up with his recovery and progress, I am mindful of John 9:1-3, "As [Jesus] passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him." And I cannot help but to think of God is going to use Alan's "suffering" for His own glory. I already know that saints around the world are glorifying God, by interceding for Alan, because when we pray, we are confessing His lordship and worth via action and belief. That glorifies Him. Then there is Alan. His actions and attitude, which I only get in writing, are amazing, and God has given him such a peace and assurance of His goodness even in the "bad" of life.

Check out what Alan has to say about it HERE.

Please be praying for his recovery and for his parents and family back here in the States.

Stats...no, not that kind.

Call me a bit slow, but I just now saw that blogger keeps a record of all the activity on your blog. It tracks which browsers were used, from what countries a blog is viewed, what website acted as the referral site. You can look at everything in terms of "day," "week," "month," and "all time" stats. It shows which posts had the most hits and visits to your blog by day. Its actually pretty amazing and interesting. Maybe that makes me a nerd, but whats new?

Stats, these are interesting ones.

Hebrews - Ch3 & Ch4

Here is Hebrews chapter 3.

Who is Jesus Christ?

He is...

...the Apostle of our confession (v1)

...the High Priest of our confession (v1)

...faithful to God (v2)

...worthy of more glory than Moses (v3)

...a faithful Son over all of God's house (v6)

& Hebrews chapter 4.

He is...

...a great High Priest (v14)

...the Son of God (v14)

...a sympathetic High Priest (v15)

...One who was tempted in all things (v15)

...SINLESS!!! (v15)

Though these two lists are shorter than those from chapters 1 & 2, I submit they pack a heavier, weightier punch of truth! Chapter 2:10 says that it was fitting for God to perfect the Author of salvation for many sons through suffering. This is a curious statement to me. Certainly it does not imply that God had to punish Christ so that He might become perfect, so as to become a fitting Savior. We know this is not true, it is silly to even consider suggesting such a thing.

So what does it mean that Christ was perfected through suffering?

It means that through His sufferings - the desert temptations, His day to day life, the Garden of Gethsemane, the cross and death - Christ became the ultimate and perfect High Priest for helpless sinners, because through all the suffering He was subjected to, He proved to be SINLESS (4:15), "For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin." This is what makes Him the great High Priest who we have confidence in to draw near to the throne of grace so that we may be the recipients of mercy & grace in times of need (4:16).

His sufferings make Him sympathetic to our plight as weak-willed, weak-minded, & weak-hearted sinners! Because He became flesh, He too was weak as I am, as you are, as we are! Yes He remained 100% God, but He was all man too, & thus subjected to all that we are subjected to! He knows what it is like to be human & to be limited! Can you imagine it? He stepped down from the glories of His eternal position of honor next to the Father, from eternal strength and ability, from eternal & infinite glory & became man, flesh, clay, dirt, elemental! There is no way that anyone but Jesus alone knows what it means to be human, He knows better than you or I, for sure! Does this not make Him an even greater High Priest?! Just think of Philippians 2:1-11, which I wrote about HERE, think of the description used there & then let the outworking of that grow in your mind! It will blow you away, when it does, turn & fall on your knees with me & praise our eternally worthy and infinitely great High Priest!

Jesus be praised!

Hebrews -Ch2

So, I could not quite wait 'til tomorrow, so here is Hebrews chapter 2.

Who is Jesus Christ?

Jesus is...

...crowned with glory and honor (v9)

...the Author of salvation (v10)

...the One who sanctifies [sinners] (v11)

...He who gives help (v16)

...like His brethren in all things (v17)

...a merciful and faithful High Priest (v17)

...the propitiation for the sins of the people (v17)

...able to come to the aid of those who are tempted (v18)

Jesus is our merciful and faithful High Priest, who by God's plan, was perfected by the suffering He endured, that those who believe made be called His brothers. Praise Him.

Hebrews - Ch1

I have been reading Hebrews for a little while now, and after my reading today I feel compelled to share. I would suggest that the theme of this book is the Supremacy of Jesus Christ. If you are at all familiar with Hebrews, I think you'll agreed. I am sure there are other themes, but I think this is the overarching theme that makes this book what it is!

So, I have begun reading the book over asking, "Who is Jesus Christ?" Its not overly challenging to see how magnificent of an answer this book is going to produce, but it is really exciting and awe-inspiring. So, over the next several days or weeks, I am going to post chapter by chapter what the text gives as an answer.

Today is Ch. 1. So...

Who is Jesus Christ?

He is...

...God's Word (v2)

...Heir of all things (v2)

...Creator (v2)

...the radiance of God and exact representation of God's nature (v3)

...Power (v3)

...much better than the angels (v4)

...God's begotten Son (v5)

...worshiped by the angels (v6)

...the Firstborn (v6)

...the One who sits on the throne (v8)

...God (v8)

...the King (v8)

...the Anointed of God (v9)

...above all His companions (v9)

...Lord (v10)

...the One who laid the foundations of earth and formed the heavens (v10)

...everlasting (v11, 12)

...the same and unchanging (v12)

...over all His enemies (v13)

This is out Savior, the One and Only, Jesus Christ! Praise be to His holy name. Amen.

When?

When do you know that you know, that you know, that you know?

Thats my question right now. It is primarily my question for God. "God, when will you show me so that I know, that I know, that I know?"

If you know me, you know I am on the hunt, as it were, for where the Lord is calling me into full-time missions, and agricultural missions at that. The Lord is good, and I am confident beyond a shadow of a doubt that I will know what I am suppose to do. But its the waiting, the down to the last minute feelings when I start to feel the ... maybe pressure is not the right word, but thats what I will use.

The whole time since I have been home from Costa Rica, I have been excitedly pursuing where the Lord is calling me. I know how He is calling me, but I need to know now where He is calling me so that I can put the "HOW" into action. The waiting is fine. I actually have grown to a place where I am comfortable, and truly enjoy the waiting. Its like a grand adventure ... and my heavenly Father is leading the way. Its just, He knows how & where we are going, & I do not. So I trust. Trusting to an extent is easy and fun, its exciting.

Its exciting in the sense of hiking somewhere you never have before. You may not know how well the trail is blazed, or what the blazes even are? Is it trampled underfoot frequently, is there a clear trail all the way? How far is the first shelter? Are there scenic views to slow down and enjoy on the way, waterfalls to play in, spring-fed mountain creeks or ponds to splash in? How strenuous is it?  Am I prepared to be on the trail for the full length of it?


It think all those questions can be correlated to questions I have asked myself about following and pursuing God where He leads. First, this phase of life is something I have never done before, and thus its a new adventure with my God! Do I know and will I recognize the "blazes" God has set before me? Will I follow the blazes faithfully? Have others gone before me? Are they around to advise me on my journey? Are there times and places along the path God has me on to stop and take it all in? Are there moments to enjoy Him just for who He is? Am I prepared to follow God all the way to the end of the pursuit of my calling? The last question, if I get to the end of this pursuit, or trail, and it leads to a new & unknown one, will I again follow and pursue?

I will.

But right now, I feel like I have been hiking through the night, with the limited sight of a headlamp to find my way, but that I can see the first rays of the sun over the horizon ... and that perhaps, just maybe this trail is leading me to the new trailhead called full-time missions! Just maybe?

But in the meantime, while I can see the light coming, its the waiting and trusting now that gets hard for me. This is when the trusting takes on a more serious tone, its a time for me to see God, once again, move and act with the might I know to characterize Him.

So, when will I see the sun fully come up and reveal the trail to its end? I don't know. But I will continue to call out for His voice and when I hear it, I will go to it yet again.

Ministry Not Here, There

Go to the people, Live among them

Learn from them, Love them

Start with what they know

Build on what they have

This is an ancient Chinese poem, dated about 300 years before Christ was born. That alone makes this poem outstanding & amazing. But there is much more than a date that makes this poem as significant as it is becoming to me.

Joshua Project

Its as if I am having a sage pour incalculable amounts of wisdom into my mind, heart, & life. It is written to me, in that it is a poem of instruction, as if spoken for my enlightenment. But the subject is not me at all. It is them, the wonderful people I might go & live among! The Chinese got this right! For me, it is becoming a cornerstone to my personal model for missions.

When speaking of  "cross-cultural" missions, one of the predominant themes must, by necessity, be CULTURE! Culture is a huge factor for the effectiveness & efficacy of mission efforts. If we do not learn how to live in a culture, we might as well never have gone to that culture because we will never be able to advance the Gospel.

Culture is basically any human made environment (D. Whiteman), composed of ideas & behaviors. The ideas result in behaviors, which produce material products & non-material products (language, manners, form or worship, etc). Then, these same results influence & reinforce the ideas from which they came. You can see, it is a circular cycle.

But what if culture is primarily learned in the first 3 to 5 years of one's life? It is. What then have we to say for a would-be cross-cultural missionary entering into a foreign land with an entirely different culture than that in his home country?

He must enter into that land, country, people group, & culture as a baby, as a learner. He must never enter as a teacher, or all respect & potential gospel progress will be totally lost. He must enter a culture as a learner! That is to say, I must recognize that my culture is not the only culture, & that my culture, in & of itself, is not right nor wrong. Their's is the same. WHAT THEN? In one land or location one may be more appropriate, one may be right, making the other irrelevant & wrong. If I take my culture to another land, then it is wrong, because in that land, their culture is what is appropriate & ... right.

Thus, I must learn their culture, what is appropriate & inappropriate, what is acceptable & unacceptable, when to laugh or not, when to joke or not, how to greet someone, how to worship, how to SPEAK their LANGUAGE!

I must become INCARNATE in their culture!

Do you know anyone who has become incarnational in the culture of the world? I do. His name is Jesus, our ultimate model of incarnational ministry. Philippians 2:1-11 states,

Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interest, but also for the interest of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Christ came, & He came as a babe. He grew up in Jewish culture, & as He grew, I am thoroughly convinced He learned it. I don't think He was born knowing everything, if so, that makes Him more God than man and He was 100% both. He was found at the temple learning. He lived, worked, & was a learner for 30 years before He ever began teaching. You get my point.

I think we can follow His model & wait a while before we decide to be the "Great White Teacher," with our fancy educations, our advanced technologies, & our affluence. My fancy education, my advanced technologies, & my affluence. I am not calling out "you" or anyone in particular. I am speaking to all of us, myself included. And I, of all people, am liable to think too highly of myself  my education. The reality is that my education is meaningless if I cannot be a learner, because I can guarantee a Nicaraguan farmer of several decades know infinitely more than I about farming. His experience will always trump my education.

Does that mean my education is then made obsolete? I feel a little like Paul, BY NO MEANS! In fact, it validates my education. When I can become a learner and be incarnate in another culture, I will gain the respect of people of that culture. People love to be teachers, even if they don't know it. Go to another country & begin to ask questions. Simply make an attempt to learn their language & watch their faces light up with pride as they see the sincerity of desire to learn about them on your face. They will be more than willing to teach you or me, the learner! Thus they become a teacher!

Once I take the required time to earn respect by growing incarnate in a foreign culture, by making my utmost effort to learn their culture, then I can teach. Then my God given gift of education & and the gracious gift of my skill set in agriculture is then validated, as I get to share what God has given me.

How I go about being a teacher? Well, thats something I guess I will have to learn in due time. By God's grace it will be a well received impartation of knowledge and love, for God's glory.

News I Heard and Hate

Pastor To Proceed With Koran Burning

Terry Jones 

I had the unfortunate opportunity of hearing about the aforementioned story on the radio today.

I do not want to say much, but felt compelled to at least say something.

Mr. Jones, I am calling you out. You are not displaying the love of Christ to anyone. Not to your so-called congregation, not to any Christians in the world, not to those we are called to love. To no one.

Two passages stand out.

Matthew 5:44, "But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." and John 13:35,  "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love another." Mr. Jones, you are loving no one, and you are smearing the name of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the very One who came to die for those you hate.

Shame on you, and may God be merciful to you.

Not Today

I had lofty plans...

Labor Day Weekend, solo hiking, setting a fast pace, the solitude and peace of the woods, & it was a nice and cool weekend, 50's at night!

Scratch that.

I set out to hike the 17 mile Cheaha Falls Shelter Loop, starting at Adams Gap, Sunday and Monday. The trail is nice, one of the more highly spoken of portions of the Pinhoti in the foothills of the foothills of the Appalachian mountains! There is a nice shelter, two series of waterfalls, plus a little fall color is starting to show! To say the least, it was the perfect set up for an epic two days.

But all of that is for naught as I sit writing this post at my kitchen table while, I suppose, I would be lounging by a lightly roaring camp fire, and reading Philippians by fire/headlamp light, having just knocked out a backpacker meal!

I started out, attempting to set a 3 mph pace, when I was stopped dead in my tracks after an hour of hiking, with a haunting thought, "DID I PACK MY MEDICINE?" ... If you can imagine, I do not do many things without thinking of my transplanted lungs and what they require, this is especially true if I am "going off" so to speak, like into the woods! Note: These medicines keep me alive, one missed dose is vitally damaging and STUPID! So, the unhappy answer to questions echoing through my head was, "NO...?" But I wasn't sure, at least not until all of my backpack's contents were strewn along the trail as I looked briefly through everything. The medicine was no where to be found!

What do I do? ... I go home, back to Birmingham, an hour or so away. The immediate & only response is to cancel my trip and head home.

And I will confess, as one of my friends put it, there were a few choice words shared with the surrounding woods. But as the time went by and I managed to address my irritation with myself and the general sense of let down, I realized something...

God is good.

He is my Protector who continues to keep me safe (Ps 91:11). I had the even more haunting thought of, "What if I had made my 8 miles in to camp tonight? What if, only then, I realized I had not packed my meds?" ... The answer, I would've had to pack out at night and drive home. That would have been a much more loathsome hike out, than the single hour I had today, dring day light.

So I left after 2 or so miles, and I learned. In all things, God is good (Ps 84:11). Its not a new lesson, just a nice reminded. A mind and heart reorientation!

There were a few nice views!

This was taken from a corner in the trail, so you can see it meandering off to the left and right.

Fellowship

True fellowship is something that cannot be forced or faked. Guarantee it!

I had fellowship, a good, life-giving kind of fellowship when I lived in Auburn. I had good, encouraging, & a different form of fellowship while in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. It was international fellowship, and it rocked!

Now back in the States, I've had a difficult time finding my place of fellowship again. I have not lived in the Ham for six years and so I don't know people, in general. However, there have been little pockets of true fellowship that have been like water to my parched soul. I am confident that even the most steady, unwavering of Christians will be "dry" and on the verge of faltering if without fellowship. I know I have been and am.

The past several weeks I have been traveling and have had several bouts of good fellowship and I am so grateful for it, God is so good! I have been in Atlanta this week at The Mission Society, and it has been so good! God is great, to provide what we need - all of them - when we need it!

I needed it.

He gave it.

I just had the privilege to have four intensive days of training with TMS, for a potential opportunity to work with them. These days have produced things that only a bond forged by the blood and promises of Christ can produce! These experiences continue to be the on going highlights of my life! I sat in a room with men and women I now know to be stalwarts of the faith. Not only are we all like-minded - be careful not to read "all alike" - we are like-minded, and yet quite diverse! We are all passionate to see the Kingdom of God come, now and with brilliant, joyous force, as it is in heaven! We all see the hurt and pain of a sin-wrecked world in need of the Only Savior, the Man Jesus Christ, Son of God! We are all loved perfectly by Christ, and thus love Him back, but as of yet imperfectly. One day, one day my friends!!!

I feel if I go on it will just be repetitious, so I leave you with this ... "Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God." (Col 3:16) The word of Christ was richly dwelling in and among us. There was much wise teaching, and more admonishing of one another! We didn't really sing, but if the others feel as I do right now, they are singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with all thankfulness in their hearts to God for the great privilege and encouragement this week has been!

PS - Visit their blog!