Beautiful things in an ugly world.

I have been preaching on and thinking about 1 John 2:15-17. John writes about hating the stains of worldliness. The reason behind this necessary hatred of the world (that is, the world system which is stained with sin) is that it is not from God and will not last forever. The things of this world are shadows or fool's gold compared to the splendor and riches of the things of God. In other words, the things of this world are vulgar and cheap, and the things of God are elaborate, eternal, and beautiful.

In a day-to-day attempt to set the compass of my heart toward God, I have tried to seek after what is truly beautiful. I have tried to take into account more of my surroundings, which if you have ever been to the Caribbean, you know are quite beautiful. I have been on a steady music diet of John Coltrane, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Bob Dylan's "Saved" and "A Shot of Love" albums, and ancient hymns remade by modern artists. I have even been reading a large dose of fictional yet substantial stories: The Hobbit (Tolkien), Out of the Silent Planet (Lewis), and Perelandra (Lewis). Listening to, looking at, and doing beautiful things has been a great exercise in spiritual discipline.

How? Well, as we face the daily temptations to settle for the world and the things in it, I find that on my own I cannot fight the battle. However, when I see Jesus as more beautiful and fulfilling, the "things of this world grow strangely dim." Hating this world (the system) is not simply an attitude, but it is a reorientation of our focus to see things as they really are. This happens as we are "transformed by the renewing of our mind" (Romans 12:2).

The great struggle and work we have before us (and Christians everywhere) is not simply to advocate a change in behavior but a change in vision. To proclaim the one, true gospel that man is freed by grace through faith in Christ is to set his mind on beautiful and eternal things above and not things of this fleeting, decaying world. Pray for us as we seek after beautiful things of God in our own lives while holding up Christ as the most elaborate demonstration of God's beautiful grace, mercy, justice, and love to those in Buff Bay that they too may see what is truly beautiful.

God over all.

Sunday was my birthday. I preached 3 times throughout the day, received calls from the family, messages on Facebook, a very juicy 1/2 pound of jerk chicken, and a surprise cake from my wife! It was a good day. However, God saved some really great gifts to share with us this weekend that we were not expecting!

Rewind a couple weeks... Kirsten and I had been feeling like the wheels are spinning, but we are not really going anywhere. As you can imagine, this led us to feel frustrated and confused about the work. We kept plugging along, though, throughout the weeks of camp and then through our normal routine. It was this week that God allowed some great beams of light to shine through that have given us new energy and hope. That said, back to real time...and a list worth reading to the end!

1. Our trip to the boys' home with the Youth Fellowship (YF) was very good. We were able to see some growth and maturity in the young people.
2. A movie night at YF went really well. The film engaged the youth and has them asking good questions about what it means to live out their faith in everyday life.
3. This past Sunday I was asked by two people to write letters of recommendation for their granddaughter/daughter to get into the local high school. This is significant because people are beginning to trust us and are allowing us to share their lives with them.
4. Kirsten and I were approached by a girl in YF who asked us to hold her accountable in her faith as she goes back to school and to support her in prayer. Again, this was a total shock as we believed the girl intended to keep her distance from us. We thank God that she desires to walk together with us in her faith. Please pray with us for her as well.
5. Kirsten has a dear friend and peer in a woman named Shauna. Shauna and Kirsten are cut from a similar cloth, and they have formed a great bond. We praise God for this friendship as it has been a great encouragement and blessing in some of these frustrating weeks!
6. The YF threw a surprise party for me yesterday! We also celebrated Kerri-Ann's birthday (another missionary that has been here for 2 months now) at the same time. It was a really great night of food, cake, fun, and more food! Some words of blessing spoken to me, and indirectly to Kirsten, were incredibly encouraging because many members of the YF see us as the spiritual leaders of the youth fellowship. We again praise God for this and thank Him for establishing us beyond what we could hope or think!
7. Lastly (at least for this week), as I was preaching Sunday in the Tranquility church, a man named Brenton gave his life to Christ. To be honest, this is a first for me. What a truly fantastic birthday gift from the Lord! Pray for Brenton that his faith is sincere and that the Lord strengthens and draws him to Himself!

It has been easy to think that nothing is happening because we are only seeing the surface, but we have been reminded that God is always at work. We were turned onto this song the other day, and it is an important reminder of this very principle. The song reminded us that God is God of Buff Bay, and there are great things to come! Pray for us to remember this and work for the glory of His name well! Enjoy the video and remember that God is indeed God over ALL!

Back to Normal

Well, after four weeks of being really busy, we are settling back into our regular schedule, kind of. This week Kirsten began an English Camp, which is for 4 hours a day through this week. The camp is small, but I think it will be really helpful for those who are attending. Although English is the official language of the country, Jamaicans speak a dialect called Patois. Patois sounds something like creole in that it uses English words strung and squashed together. If you want a sample click HERE to hear the Gospel of Luke spoken in Patois. All this to say, the grammar and structure of Patois is very different from standard English. Therefore, when students are in English/literature class, many have difficulty making the leap. Please pray for Kirsten and the camp as she hopes to give the high schoolers various study aids to help them in English.

In other news, Youth Fellowship is beginning to branch out and do some more service ministries. One of girls that Kirsten has been disciplining arranged a visit to the local hospital where the youth prayed with, read Scripture to, and sat beside those who were ill or recovering. The students did a great job of ministering there. We will have another opportunity to serve this upcoming week as we are going to visit a boys' home two hours away. We will most likely be serving by way of devotion and song at the boys' home as well as cleaning and other needs they may have. Please pray that the Youth Fellowship may gain a greater understanding of the love of Christ. Pray that this may be the beginning of lives of service in Christ's name and by His power. Also, we ask that you will pray that the youth both at the home and serving with Youth Fellowship may hear the call of God's grace and be saved!

Grace and peace be with you all!

For your learning pleasure...

Our Crazy Month Part 3

As soon as we arrived back in Buff Bay, Kirsten and I were on the move again out of town to attend Youth Camp 2010! Youth Camp is the highlight of the Youth Fellowship calendar. The camp is not only for youth from Buff Bay but also from several other areas around the island. This year our camp hosted about 85 young people for 5 days at a college campus about 30 minutes away from Buff Bay.

Throughout the week of camp, two chapel services were held each day based around the theme of "Reflecting the Image of God." About 8-10 people surrendered their lives to Christ!!! Please pray that they may continue to pursue God in their daily lives away from camp. Jamaica is a very culturally Christian country. As a result, there is strong belief on simply being good and following Christ's example as the means to salvation. However, the emphasis of the teaching was that apart from God's saving grace and work through Christ, no one can reflect the image of God! It is not by ourselves but the work of God alone. Please pray for all the young people that heard these messages. Pray that they will completely surrender their lives to Christ while leaning on the Holy Spirit to guide them in their lives.

Camp games and activities were a blast; we hung out at the beach, had a massive water war fight across the campus, and competed against each other in various competitions. We were able to build relationships with some young people from other youth fellowships as well as deepen some with our own students. Because of the close quarters, we were able to observe and identify some of the needs of our students for future ministry. Pray as we try to speak the truth in love in ministering to these young people.

A couple specific prayer requests from camp follow. One of our own Youth Fellowship students (and Kirsten's star piano student) heard the call of Christ in her life over the week and was saved! After hearing about God's grace she realized that it is an irresistible grace that could not be passed by! Pray for Diedre as she begins her Christian walk. Also pray for Javi. Javi is a great young man that is lost. After a couple conversations in our small group time after the chapel services, Javi's mind pricked, and I believe is reevaluating some things. Pray that he may see his need for Christ and will be drawn to the Lord and be saved!

Lastly, pray for a Peku, an extremely kind, polite, and gentle young man. During Saturday night's chapel service the director of the camp received word from Peku's mother that his brother had died suddenly while abroad in Europe. Peku's brother was 29, his mother's only other child, and the main supporter of the family. Myself, the director, and one of the chapel speakers told Peku the news on Saturday night. Needless to say there were tears and confusion when Peku heard the news. Earlier in the week I had delivered a message concerning God's sovereignty over all things and His goodness in all that He does. In these situations it is hard to understand how these are true, but pray that Peku will be drawn close to God (even unto salvation) and that God's peace and grace will be a support in the family's life through this difficult season.

Pray for us as we hit the ground running back in Buff Bay. And while you do, enjoy some of the pictures from Youth Camp 2010 by clicking here.

Our Crazy Month Part 2

In between children's camp and youth camp, Kirsten and I were back in the States for an incredibly fast 5.5 days. We did get to see some of you but certainly not all. Much of the week in Ocean City was filled with family events surrounding my brother's wedding on July 31.

It was great to see, smell, and taste the flavors of home even for a short time. We were blessed to worship with our home church, Ocean City Baptist! Due to the quickness and full schedule of the visit, we were unable to check out our other supporting churches. Although it was great to be "home," it did not entirely feel like "home." God has done a tremendous work in our lives as we have become very accustomed to and comfortable in Buff Bay. Sure, there is not an abundance of pizza, sidewalks, or traffic lights, but it is certainly our home. Therefore, when we arrived at 2 East Avenue, Buff Bay late at night after a long day of travel back to Jamaica, we were excited to be back home!

For those we missed on the trip, we will hopefully catch you next time!

Our Crazy Month Part 1

As for the past month, Kirsten and I have not fallen off the map but have been going at break neck speed. Much of the time over the past weeks has been spent away from the computer so updating was not much of an option. However, it was an eventful time, and we want to share the work with you, while not overburdening you with too much. So, over the next three days you we will be filling in the gaps. Here is Part 1.

Our long month began with children's camp. The original plan was to go away to a rustic camp site with no showers for a week of overnight camp! However, because there were too few campers to cover the cost, we ended up staying in Buff Bay to have day camp at the church. As a result of the decrease in price and location, camp attendance went from 8 to 45 kids in no time!

Due to the change, many of the original camp preparations were in need of alteration or were thrown out altogether. However, the other counselors and campers made the most of it, and we ended up having a fun yet tiring week. I was in charge of teaching at the camp. The lesson theme was "A Special Son" looking at the life of Joseph as a way to look to the finished work of Jesus Christ. Kirsten was in charge of the music of the camp. The campers learned several Christ-centered songs, which they still walk around singing!

Despite foiled plans of overnight camp and one day stuck inside due to heavy rain, the camp went pretty well. We were able to get our feet wet in the camp scene (as neither Kirsten nor myself were ever real campers) and build relationships with some of the smaller children of the church and surrounding neighborhoods. We were blessed to help some children answer and struggle through great questions about Jesus and forgiveness; 3 children desired to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior!

Please pray for these boys and girls. Many do not have any infrastructure at home to follow up what has been taught in the church, therefore, it is easy for them to be distracted and led away. Pray for Trey, a boy who is very bright and has tons of questions. Pray that he will trust in Christ for salvation and grow into a godly young man. Also, pray for Anthony. Anthony is a stubborn, angry bully. Throughout the week of children's camp, we saw the hard shell begin to crack (at least around us). His heart was pricked by the end of camp as he became increasingly more interested in his need for Jesus to save him.