Post-Thanksgiving Ramblings (or maybe 'waddlings')

We had a great time with family and friends these past 5 days. Its never truly relaxing to drive all over the state of GA and living out of a suitcase, but we really were able to get a little rest. Holidays are a time for us to catch up with old friends, see family, and now, to meet with our partners. But, all in all, this was surprisingly laid-back and it was a very special time for us. In what was possibly our last Thanksgiving in the US for a few years, Kiki's family, my dad and step-mom, and other extended family met at my mom and step-dad's place for an afternoon of gluttony and fellowship. I know that the previous sentence may strike some of you as being very strange...yes, my parents and step-parents are godly people who are not only civil, but genuinely loving and friendly to each other. God has really done great things...that is what I was most thankful for this year.


Also, we worshiped at The Vine Community Church and got to see and spend time with many of the people that we love from our 3 years in North Atlanta. To my surprise, Caleb Click (the middle school pastor who served while I was the high school pastor and a close friend) preached both services...what a gifted guy. I definitely recommend going to the Vine's website (linked above) and finding his sermon. If God ever calls us back to the US, I hope He calls us to work with (or at least near) Caleb.

So...excuse the ramblings. It was just an overwhelmingly good holiday. I think that the possibility that this could be one of our last for a while made it that much more precious to us.

I love Parody.

Let's go to Macon....Mississippi!

Pray for us this weekend...we're heading over to Macon, MS to share our story at a friend's church. I'm preaching on 1 Peter 3:8-17 and on how our hope in Christ allows us to live our lives as ambassadors of the Gospel even in the midst of trouble.

We'll also be staying tomorrow night in a cabin belonging to one of the elders of that church...we're long overdue for a day away to ourselves.

Extremely Long-armed children scare me...

OK...this falls squarely into the "and Other Places" category, as we snapped this photo in Merida, Mexico, but I still thought it was humorous (and a little scary).

I'm not sure what it takes to get children to read in Mexico, but this might have kept me away from books had I watched this truck rumble down my street as a kid.

Missions as Fasting

Michael Oh is an MTW missionary in Japan with an amazing story. Please, please listen to this sermon about his way to view missions...it is an encouraging, sometimes shocking way to look at missions and to think about our involvement in global missions as the people of God called to be ambassadors of our great God.




Listen here: Missions as Fasting

The Hope of Nations...

We're heading to the Global Missions Conference in the morning...it'll be a nice break from school and Jackson. Though we'll be working the whole time and probably not getting a lot of sleep, it'll be so nice to be with our team and to be able to tell our story as a team.

Pray for us and for MTW Thailand as we meet with potential partners this weekend.

Book Recommendation: CrossTalk

Not all of my assigned books at RTS are helpful. I have read many only to ask myself afterwards, "Now what was the point in reading that?". Michael R. Emlet's CrossTalk: Where Life & Scripture Meet, however, was not one of those books.

Several times this year, I've wondered why we don't have more counseling classes in the MDiv curriculum. If a pastor spends most of his time with people, and if most of those people have pain and real issues, shouldn't we have more than 3 hours of instruction about counseling? Of course, we certainly don't need more hours added to our degree program, but I do envy the practical, "hands on" bent of the Marriage and Family Therapy Degree at RTS (Kiki's degree).


Taking a few hours on Saturday morning, I read through CrossTalk: Where Life & Scripture Meet for my Pastoral Counseling class. If you have ever wondered how to use Scripture well when talking to hurting, broken people...then pick up this book. Though Emlet doesn't give specific, step-by-step instructions for every situation, he provides good principles for using Scripture well in counseling...in other words, using Scripture thoughtfully, in its context, and in a way that doesn't make a "proof text" out of your favorite verses. His basic premise is that Scripture is a story of redemption and that all of it points us to Christ. Also, all people are part of a story and must learn to see themselves as part of the Great Story of God's redemption. The counselor, therefore, isn't someone who should quote proof-texts at people from a list of topical verses, but someone who helps broken people connect their own stories to the Story of the Bible, in which people are broken and need a Savior.

This is one of those books that I will definitely need to revisit and it is one that will keep me thinking for a long time to come.