Back to India!

For those of you who do not know, I am headed back to India on Monday, November 26th. Phil Duncan and I will join my friend and ministry partner, Sindhu Pani in Calcutta. We will travel from there to Agatalla, Tripura, which is about a 90 minute flight east from Calcutta. The plan is to do several village camps throughout that region. These will be opportunities to teach and train the people in the villages. They will bring several villages at a time together each day. We will travel to a different area each day. We will, most likely, do evangelistic meetings in the evenings. This will be a great opportunity for these precious baby Christians to invite their neighbors to hear the Gospel, right there in an neighboring village.

After a few days in Agatalla, we will fly back to Calcutta and board a train for a 12+ hour ride to the Orissa region. There we will conduct a three day leadership training conference. We expect 200 to 300 local pastor and leaders to join us for the conference. The core teaching revolves around evangelism, discipleship, and leadership. We are excited that we will also have the opportunity to share about a Biblical view of the sanctity of human life.

Many of these leaders are fairly recent converts. They are full of enthusiasm and desire, but sorely lack training and resources. They embrace us as dear Christian brothers and eagerly await the training we bring.

One thing we have a large need for is prayer partners. I would very much like to know that we have several people who are committed to pray for at least 5 minutes each day while we are gone. If you are willing to be a prayer partner for those 14 days, please respond and let me know. I will share specific needs with you and I will try to keep you posted every few days (whenever I can find an internet café) throughout the trip.

A secondary need is for financial partners. It cost about $20 for us to put up and feed each pastor for three days. We are taking care of all of our own travel and personal expenses and the Lord has blessed us with quite a bit for the conference as well. However, Sindhu can only invite as many as we can provide for. So, if you feel lead to help by supporting a few pastors or a whole bunch, that would be welcome. Please let me know what your intensions are, so I can pass the info on to Sindhu. You can send a check to me, or give it to me made out to Global Training Network. That is the charitable organization we are working with. GTN will send you a receipt.

Part of Their Heritage --- My Life

"You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to each others. " 2 Timothy 2:1,2

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When I first met Steve and Patti Antin I was a college student at the University of Rhode Island (URI). I had just come to know Christ a few weeks earlier. That was about 31 years ago. I had an opportunity to reconnect with them for lunch today in Peabody, MA (that's pronounced Peebdy for you non-New Englanders). It was a very rich blessing to have a couple of hours with them.

So, like I said, I was a brand new baby Christian. They were Pastors of a little church not far from the URI campus. For the next year and a half I was their spiritual child. I progressed pretty rapidly from baby to teenager to young adult during that time. And we spent a ton of time together.

They taught me in several ways, what it meant to be a man of God. I was with them as they struggled through some very difficult times financially. Their faith in God through these times was an anchor to me. They had two small children and had almost no income. They never seemed to question that God would take care of them. And, of course, He did.

I got to see them dealing with each other and with their children under these trying circumstances. I learned, first hand, what it meant to be a husband and a dad, and to love others unconditionally. I saw them give of what they had to needy people in the community, when they didn't know from where tomorrow's meals would come. I was certainly not surprised to learn that their sons grew up to be good solid men of God, serving in differant capacities, but just like Dad.

I learned to do ministry right along side them. I joke sometimes that I did everything from scrubbing bathroom floors in the church on Saturday to preaching the sermon on Sunday morning. That really was the truth; and more often than not Steve did that as well. They gave me ministry opportunities that were absolutely amazing. I was a Christian for such a short time, but Steve recognized my gift and calling. He often invited me to preach in the church and he and I would go over the message beforehand to make sure it was all sound. After a while, he had me filling in for him, and even sent me off to other churches to cover for some of his friends who were Pastors. We also did street evangelism, Royal Rangers, etc. It was challenging to be stretched beyond my previous experience, while I always felt safe because he was there to back me up.

He taught me the Word in a very powerful way. First, I could see him and Patti living it. Then, we did many one on one Bible studies, as well as the small group studies through the church. I know that my love for God's Word and my commitment to it were born and became rooted during that time.

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They seemed very encouraged to hear about the fruit God has born in my life. It is always great to hear that someone we invest in goes on and bears fruit for the Kingdom. One day, I believe, we will be shown the impact our lives have had on others. We will know about the people who are even touched by the people we touched. That will be a very special day indeed, if you have invested your life in the lives of others.

If you have not made a habit of investing in the lives of others in a way that makes a real difference, let me challenge and encourage you to do so. If you have, I will encourage you to continue. It is one of the most direct ways we can live a life of abundance. I am sure glad this special couple did it in my life.

By What Measure?

Have you ever imagined winning a big lottery, or finding out you inherited a gob of money from a rich unknown uncle?

Let's suppose you won and were lucky enough to get $1 million - how would you feel about that? You could certainly increase your personal financial security. If you tithed on it, you could bless quite a few people with that. But, what would be the limits to what you could do?

Now, suppose it was actually $10 million. You could really do some good with that - and you could probably buy a pretty nice home. Maybe even a vacation home. There are still limits on it, though. You probably wouldn't have enough to say, cure a disease or something like that.

OK, so as long as we are dreaming, let's dream big. Let's make it $100 million. Wow! That's a lot of money! Now you probably could help cure a disease, feed a small country or something like that. But, if you asked some of the wealthiest people in the world they would probably tell you that there are limits to what you could do with even $100 million.

Consider the wealth of some of these wealthiest people. They are able to do some pretty amazing things for themselves, their families and for the world. People like Bill Gates or Tiger Woods can own their own islands and ships the size of a cruise ship. They can fund research projects to end diseases and programs to educate entire nations of children. But, in spite of this incredible wealth, there are still some limits to what they can do.

Now consider a couple of Scripture passages:

"that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be
strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, " Ephesians 3:16

"And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. " Philippians 4:19

God wants us to be "strengthened with might through His Spirit in the
inner man" and He wants us to have that strengthening in a measure that is "according to the riches of His glory". In other words there is no limit to how much of Him He will give us in order to strengthen us.

He wants us also to have confidence that there is no limit on how He will supply all our needs. He wants us to dream big dreams of what we will do for Him. He wants us to have big visions of reaching our world for Him. He does not want us to limit these dreams by anything short of His supply.

“Member”ship

"For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole
body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God
arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. "

Are you a member of the Body of Christ? I’ve been thinking lately about how our understanding of this is affected by our present cultural definition of the term “member”.

We are called members if we join a club. It might be a social club, a philanthropic club, or even a country club. To some degree, we share an identity with the other members, because we have some common goals and / or values. But, we continue to carry our own separate and distinct identity. Our “member”ship will only last as long as that separate and distinct identity continues to be compatible with that of the group. In other words, for as long as the club serves and reinforces that separate and distinct identity. Is this what the God means when He calls us members of the Body?

We can also be members of a team. This is a little less of a separate and distinct function. The team can be far more successful if all of its members work together and contribute to the team. When one member is hurting, other members can step up and compensate. Again, though, we have a separate and distinct identity. When the team no longer meets our needs, we will find a new team.

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I think we are all aware that the Biblical concept is very different. It is presented in comparison to the human body. The term used by the Apostle Paul in this passage is the Greek word “melos”. It literally means: “limb; a member of the human body.” Jesus used this same word when He talked about a part of our body perishing to save the whole from hell (Matthew 5:29). Paul used it in his letter to the Romans in regard to not presenting the members of our body to sin (Romans 6:13) as well as our being members in one body (Romans 12:4,5). In Ephesians, he says we are members of one another (Ephesians 4:25).

It is also used by Paul to tell the Colossians to consider the members of their earthly body as dead to immorality (Colossians 3:5). James uses it to describe the tongue as a small part of the body that is among our members (James 3:5,6). Again, he uses it in his conclusion on quarrels and conflicts to say that the source is their “pleasures that wage war in your members”.

So, what happens when part of our physical body (a member) is really hurting? Sure, other parts may step up and compensate for it, but they also feel and share the pain right along with the hurting part.

"The eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you, nor again the head to the feet; I have no need of you. On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together."

There is a very strong interconnectedness among our
body parts. Look at your hand for a moment. Can you tell the exact spot where your finger stops and your hand begins; how about where your hand stops and your arm begins? Don’t they kind of meld together as if they were one? The members of our body also have a strong commitment to each other. The finger doesn’t just decide one day that its needs are not being met by this body and go attach itself to another body. It takes some pretty serious conditions for part of the body to be removed. And, it is usually
not a decision made by the body-part to be removed.

Our physical body does not have All-Stars and role players quite like a team. Sure, there are some parts that are critical to sustain life, but even they cannot function without other parts. What good is my heart without arteries and veins? If my lungs are healthy, but my liver shuts down – what good are the healthy lungs? To be fully healthy and functional, all of the parts must serve their unique role and work together for the good of the body.

So, clearly the Biblical concept of “member”ship is one of being an interconnected part of a body.

Maybe we should start to hold body part classes instead of membership classes in church!

A Matter of Trust

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Well, for about 6 years now, Lauren and I have been talking about how we are going to go sky diving together when she turns 18. (Actually, Dennae was always part of that but for some reason she has been distracted lately). I have to admit, in the back of my mind I kind of hoped she had forgotten, but she did not. Not long after school started Lauren started to remind me of our plan.

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When she was home from college for the Christmas holidays she mentioned it again, and I knew she meant it. We weren't able to make arrangements prior to her return to Boston, so I was off the hook until Spring Break. But, I promised her I'd make the arrangements and we would go when she came home. It seemed like a long time away, so I made the arrangements and just sort of filed it away in my brain.

Over the next couple of months, as I thought of it from time to time, I would vascilate from being excited to being really nervous. All I knew was my 19 year old daughter wanted to go on an adventure and she wanted to do it with me. There would be no way I would miss out on that! So, I kept mustering up my courage and looked forward to sharing the experience with Lauren.

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Then the fatefull day arrived. It was hard to sleep the night before. It is really hard to describe exactly what I was feeling: Yeah, honestly, a little nervous, also really excited, but also very honored that this young lady would want to share this experience with her Dad. I tried to keep my mind off of what we were planning to do as we drove down to Casa Grande Airport that morning. It was almost like a dream the whole time.

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When it came time to go and I was paired up with my instructor, Paul, I felt really at peace. This guy has done this thousands of times. He really enjoys himself. He is not going to let anything happen. As we climbed to altitude in the little plane, I was fully enjoying the experience. I had this indescribable peace in trusting that Paul was going to do this right. After all, his life was on the line along with mine.

The peace lasted right up to the moment when Lauren scooted over to start her jump. Then, I looked at her hanging out of the plane and I thought: Oh my gosh, my baby is jumping out of an airplane!

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I reached over to squeze her leg before she jumped, and before my hand got there she was gone. Then, we started to get in postion for my turn. The peace and trust returned. It is very hard to describe how I felt. It was a total dependence like I have not felt before. I was glad I didn't have to remember much other than "arch your back". It was all in Paul's hands.

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I have been thinking a lot about that the past couple of weeks. Here was a guy I didn't even know a couple of hours earlier. He was a falable human being. He didn't really care much about me. He did five or six jumps the day before; five or six that day; and the same number the next. Yet, I developed, a level of trust and confidence in him and a feeling of dependence that I have not experienced with anyone before.

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So, I have a Father, God, who loves me infinitely and unconditionally. He cares about me to the point where all the hairs of my head are numbered [ a bit easier for Him than it was when I was younger :) ]. He is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omnicient. He created me and knew me in my mothers whomb. He knows how many days I will spend on this Earth. So, do I truly trust Him, the way I trusted Paul, my dive master? I mean do I REALLY trust Him? When I go through a trial, do I "count it all joy", because I know He is in control and is working it for my good? Seriously?

Trust in the Lord always, and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5,6