Monday Reflections

Wow - 14 baptisms yesterday!  It was so great to watch person after person being baptized at the end of both services, and even after the services!  That was our first attempt at a big baptism day and God moved in a great way.  We're going to try to do these maybe twice a year from here on out.  Stay tuned.

I went up to Munds Park with Chuck and Kenyon for a couple of days last week so we could do some planning work, and it was so refreshing to get out of town for a couple of days and to some cooler weather.  I could have stayed up there a little longer, and maybe I will next time.

Small group sign-ups are happening right now at www.fccphx.com.  Click on the Grow button, then the open the Small Group Catalog to find a group, then click on the sign-up button to get in a group.  Groups start the week of September 12, so now's the time to find your small group home.

Financial Peace University will begin on September 8, and my wife, June, and I will be leading the course.  We'll meet from 6:30 to about 8:30 each Wednesday night for 13 weeks to help you move towards financial peace.  We have been doing this plan for about 9 1/2 years, and we've had a great deal of financial peace.  We strongly recommend this course for anyone - it can truly be life-changing.  We're looking into providing childcare if that's a concern for you, so call Sandra in the church office to sign-up or to get more information.

Summer Reading

I'm in a couple of really good books right now.  (Yes, I usually have 2 or 3 going at once)  One is Wild Goose Chase by Mark Batterson.  He is also the author of In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day and Primal.  Wild Goose Chase is about reclaiming the adventure of pursuing God by listening, and responding, to the Holy Spirit as He is works, moves, and leads in our lives.  I like anything from Batterson, and I recommend any of his books.

Another book I'm currently reading is Truth and Transformation by Vishal Mangalwadi.  This was recommended to me by our friends at Disciple Nations Alliance.  This is a great book on biblical worldview, but from the perspective of someone who is a native of India.  He gives great insight on the gospel's power to heal Western society. Here's a portion from my recent reading:
     "Jesus and his new community were naturally and intentionally a threat to the kingdom of darkness.  Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem and precipitate a confrontation.  He forced Israel to choose between status quo and transformation.
     Generally speaking, the 'Sunday school Jesus' [of the Western church] confines himself only to the changing of people's hearts, but the Jesus of the Gospels aimed to change both human hearts and human society."

I'm intrigued by this thought because we haven't seen the church at large affecting much change in our society in the last 50 years or so.  I'm going to keep reading to find out what Mr. Mangalwadi says we can do about that, but I think we're moving that direction here at FCC.  As we seek to serve our community and bring real life change, we'll begin to see some of that change in our society.  Let's keep working to that end.

Summer - Hot Topics

It was so good to have Wallace and Fred of Missions of Hope in Nairobi with us last week.  They are such amazing men who are part of an incredible work in the slums of Nairobi.  They shared some great stories with FCC in the services on 8/1.

I love hearing what God is doing and how He is working through the great people serving with Missions of Hope.

We're about half way through our Hot Topics series for the summer, and we appreciate all of feedback we've been getting.  We still have 4 more weeks in this series and I hope you can attend when you're in town.

Leadership Summit simulcast is 8/5 and 8/6.  This is one of my favorite events of the year with so many great and inspiring speakers.  I'm really excited for this year because I couldn't attend last year.

Hang in there.  Summer will be over in another 2 or 2 1/2 months!

America the Great

Here's a recent entry from Darrow Miller of Disciple Nations Alliance that is great reading for this July 4th celebration.  Click here to read it on his blog.

Jesus, Beijing and Freedom

Posted on June 28, 2010 by disciplenations

What answer might you expect if you asked scientists in a Communist setting to account for America’s success?

That was the assignment given the Chinese Academy of Social Science in 2002. What they found surprised them, and stunned Western intellectuals, too.

Here’s their unforgettable statement, as David Aikman reports it in Jesus in Beijing:

One of the things we [Chinese scholars] were asked to look into was what accounted for the success, in fact the pre-eminence of the West [America] over the world. We studied everything we could from the historical, political, economic, and cultural perspective. At first, we thought it was because you [America] had more powerful guns than we had. Then we thought it was because you had the best political system. Next we focused on the economic system. But in the past twenty years, we have realized that the heart of your culture is your religion: Christianity. That is why the West is so powerful. The Christian moral foundation of social and cultural life was what made possible the emergence of capitalism and then the successful transition to democratic politics. We don’t have any doubt about this.

Thomas Jefferson, drafter of the Declaration of Independence, agreed.

“God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure if we have removed their only firm basis; a conviction in the minds of men that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever.”

Jefferson believed that freedom is a God-given right. He trembled for his country before the face of a just God. What would he say today in view of our moral and spiritual bankruptcy? Wouldn’t he tremble even more? Ought we not to as well?

Western scholars are rewriting the narratives of the U.S. and Europe, but history affirms that freedom is rooted in biblical theism. Only in the same context will it be sustained.

- Darrow Miller

Good stuff to ponder.  Have a good time as you celebrate the 4th, and make sure you thank God for this country.

Back Home

We arrived back home in Phoenix late on 23 June after a rain delay in Chicago and some flap problems while landing in Phoenix.  It was a great trip, though.

I'm so proud of our team.  The students and adults all did a great job serving and ministering in the slums.  Attitudes were good, minor illnesses were dealt with, and God was glorified in our work.

Our time in Nairobi began with a trip to Joska, the boarding school for middle school students from the slum schools of Missions of Hope.  We had an amazing welcome from the students and staff with song and dance, great worship, lunch, and our initial orientation session.

The sports team stayed in Joska for Monday and Tuesday while the VBS, medical, and Bring the Light teams began working in the Kosovo slum.

Emotions were high as team members experienced the slums for the first time.  The Bring the Light teams were in homes in the slums from Monday on, but the others didn't have that experience until Wednesday morning.  You can think you are prepared for the slums, but until you go in a home yourself you just can't imagine what it's like.

Team members got to meet their sponsored children on Friday morning, and the joy on the faces of team members and kids was very evident.  This was so fun to watch.

We received a huge send-off party on Friday afternoon, courtesy of the children and staff of Missions of Hope.  Yes, this is a picture of Chuck dancing.

Our partnership with CCV was a huge blessing as we had 88 people on the trip between our 2 churches!  I appreciate their leadership and willingness to serve alongside us.  They have some amazing pictures at their trip blog at http://ccvnairobi.wordpress.com/. 

We'll have many more pictures and a complete recap of our trip in services on Sunday, 27 June.  Make sure you're here.  Some important numbers from our trip:

- 215 skylights installed.  This, by far, shatters the record for Missions of Hope – the most they’ve ever installed in 1 week’s time was 60.  AMAZING!!

- 107 people accepted Christ for the first time through the work of the Bring The Light team.

- 500+ patients seen by our team of Doctors and Nurses.

- 100+ patients seen by our team of Dentists

- 88 lives changed forever by attending a trip to Nairobi, Kenya.

See you Sunday.

Kenya - 16 June

We've had a good couple of days.  The sports team that was out at Joska returned to Nairobi Tuesday night.  They all had stories of making new friends, having fun, and amazement at what God is doing in the lives of the students.  It was a stretching but great experience for them.

After the initial day of confusion on Monday for the medical and VBS teams, the going has been much better on Tuesday and Wednesday.  They got their processes figured out and things went much smoother as a result.

The Bring the Light team has had wonderful experiences of sharing God's love and also have been sharing some amazing stories of what God is doing in the slums.  We have some tired people, but we have a lot of fulfilled people.

We are eating at an Ethiopian restaurant tonight as a thank you from the Missions of Hope staff, so that will be a unique experience for many of the FCC team.

Please know that God is blessing our work and us as we work.  Thanks again for your prayers of support and encouragement.

Nairobi - 14 June

I'm finally getting to post!  It's been a crazy couple of days so far, but we are here!  The plane ride was pretty uneventful - just 1 not feeling well enroute, but we arrived safely (and very tired) in Nairobi late Saturday night (local time).  We were missing 3 pieces of luggage, but only 1 was personal items with the other 2 being ministry supplies.

We had a wonderful time of worship on Sunday out at the Missions of Hope boarding school at Joska.  This where the midde school aged children from the slum schools attend school.  The welcomed us with song and dance, and even got all of us into the dancing act!  We worshipped, enjoyed lunch, and toured the facilities.  The picture above is from our day at Joska.  The sports team stayed at Joska to do soccer clinics for 2 days, then they will rejoin the rest of the team back in Nairobi on Tuesday evening.

Some of you have heard that there was a bombing in Nairobi yesterday.  Rest assured that we are all doing well and are not affected by that at all.  In fact, as I write this, the VBS and medical teams are getting set up and preparing to serve, literally, thousands of children and adults this week.  Wow!

Hopefully the internect connection will be functioning again at our hotel so I can continue to post.  Thanks again for your prayers.