Merry Christmas

As the year winds down and we pause to consider the incarnation I am reminded of the fact that Mary and Joseph had no place to stay in Bethlehem. Sometimes we forget the impact of certain details of a familiar story. Mary was pregnant and gave birth in a stable! The natural, yet phenomenal process of bringing the Son of God into the world was not an easy event. Why would Mary have hardship in bearing Jesus if she was in God's favor? Didn't the angel say she was "blessed among women?"

I think anything worth having is worth struggling for, and I think that is often the way of God. Mary was blessed to be the mother of the incarnate Almighty God, which also meant she suffered! She had to endure: scorn and rejection as a pregnant virgin; pregnancy and labor pains; uncomfortable, humble circumstances for birthing; and then fear for her child's life as they fled to Egypt to escape Herod's decree to kill all male babies that year.

It is worth noting that anytime the Kingdom of God is expanded it is done through suffering. Consider the Israelites entering the promised land--what blessing to be those who take possession of centuries-old promises to the patriarchs! However, to take the land they must face their fears of the "giants" who live there and wage war. People suffer horrid wounds and die in warfare. Blessing and turmoil go hand-in-hand and I could site countless examples (read Hebrews 11.)

I am encouraged to know that the most pivotal people in history who played major roles in God's agenda, who are considered the most blessed people ever, had to take the suffering with the blessing. Be not afraid of the pain, rejection, uncertainty, and risk! Nothing ventured, nothing gained! As I plan to launch a church I must keep this perspective. I do not throw wisdom to the wind and I try to live a balanced life, but I also know that if we never risk going "all in" we can expect little reward.

Jesus was "all in" as he left his Father's side to become a helpless babe; to grow up as a hard-working laborer while keeping every aspect of God's law. He endured the curse of God on the cross and lay down his life for the lost sheep. There was no half-stepping or short cuts for Jesus even as he anxiously awaited the wrath of God in the garden of Gethsemane. Jesus is the the greatest victor of all time and the most blessed man in history. Great gain at great risk and great suffering.

I hope you have a Merry Christmas and remember that it is not about elves, cookies, consumerism, or even merely family, but the beginning of the most important life of all time... the celebration of the point in history when God would venture into the fallen world as a man and redeem it with his own pain. Praise the Lord Jesus Christ!

Franklin Institute

Last week I was blessed to attend a home-schooling enrichment field-trip with the YMCA to the Franklin Institute. The Boys and I had a great time together with the "hands-on" exhibits. Fatherhood is rewarding. Please keep us in prayers as we discuss future education options for our kids.

Fall coming to a close

Here are a couple pictures from October. I continue to coach in the Boys Club, we just started Basketball and wrapped up a very successful soccer season. The kids are getting better all the time and it is rewarding to watch them grow. Looking at this picture of Halloween pumpkins shows me how fast time is moving since Thanksgiving has come and gone already. Advent is here and before we know it the New Year will be upon us.

Exporers? Anyone?

Well, after 1500 fliers have gone out on pizza boxes, two postings in local stores, an ad in the newspaper, a couple ads on Craigslist, and many personal invites, we have had very few attendees to Christianity Explored. Free pizza has not shown to be powerful enough a draw! Last Monday night fell on a Phillies playoff game, this Monday night was during the Eagles game, and next Monday night might be game 5 of the world series (Phillies again.) Thankfully, by God's grace, we have met 2 people who haven't already come to our Sunday night fellowship in this Christianity Explored class... only one of whom was a "cold call." Who knows how God might use this class throughout the rest of the fall. Please pray for a few more fish in the net! I am excited about the few we have met and the class material has been impressive. I think it would be quite effective if we could get people in to see it. Several people from our fellowship have mentioned what a good "brush-up" it is proving to be. God is in control!

Christianity Explored

Here is the flier we are using to advertise this evangelistic outreach. The description of the class is right off of the Christianity Explored website. You can do a similar class as well, just go to the website and order materials. I hope this has a mighty impact. To see the flier up close, just click on it.

We have decided on the name!

So, after several sessions of deliberating as a group and thinking through some criteria in picking a church name, we have decided on... Redemption Fellowship. Thank you Briton, for suggesting this name be considered. We wanted to be somewhat unique, but not weird... a quick Google search indicates that it is not a widespread church name, but not unheard of either. Now the graphic designer (Chip) has lots of work to do creating a logo, website, etc.
Keep her in your prayers! Also check out our updated prayer and praise section.

Scratching dry ground

"I'm Irish, I'm Catholic, that's the end of it!" This was the response of a man I spoke with about church after building a relationship over the course of several months. I was sure I had earned the right to be heard, but the church traditions and family heritage of my neighbors are proving to be a powerful force. Most of the people I have met in East Delco do not read their Bibles, do not like their church enough to attend regularly and otherwise do not know what they believe. I would say the Catholic faith of my neighbors is not so much a faith as it is an identity. Despite being disenfranchised, a fierce loyalty that seems to exist at the center of their person will not allow them to consider church options that might provide greater abundance than what they currently experience. Jesus wants us to know him, not just know about him. He desires a relationship, not merely an association. Our identity needs to be wrapped up in the gospel and not so much our church traditions, styles, ethnicity, nationality, philosophy of ministry, etc. God places us in a new family and an ancient tradition when we trust in Christ and that must inform the very core of our person. Will you pray that hundreds of people who think they are right with God, but do not know the gospel of grace would be transformed by God working through our efforts? Do you have the courage to pray for even more than that? I am not capable of scratching dry ground forever, nor do I have any power to save; I am only a beggar trying to show other beggars where to find food, but God will answer your prayers for the sake of his name and his kingdom. Please remember this ministry in your times of intercession. May God be glorified and let us thank him for all he will do even before we ask!

In need of a diet

There is a reason why Philly was rated as one of the worst cities for diet and health related issues. There are cheesesteak, pizza, and burger joints everywhere and a Duncan Donuts on every corner. However, there are also excellent ethnic restaurants of any flavor, and that also gives me a problem. I need to go on a diet! I continue to slam freezer pops (high fructose corn syrup) left over from last weeks Kid's Summer Club. BTW, the Club was rained-out twice and dwindled after a very successful opening day. Perhaps some of the people we met will come out to Bible study. Anyway, back to the diet... I have taken several short trips recently and seen many visitors and friends and that always lends itself to eating too much. I just bought some new running shoes and hope to see some improvement soon. The only problem is after you buy the shoes you have to use them. Be sure to see our ever changing prayer list on the side. Thanks to all you supporters!

Prayer Update

Please check out our new prayer requests!!

Street Hockey

A while ago, before we got the flu, we went to the birthday party of one of the kids in our Bible study group. I took on the lot of kids at a game of street hockey. Boy did I turn into a sweaty mess; I am way too out of shape! The good news is that I still have a serious slap shot after all these years. We had a blast and I made sure each of the kids got to score. Then it was off to stuff cake, ice-cream and more soda into my fat face.

Healthy Again

We are back to feeling normal now, except for a remnant cough. My wife said that was the sickest she has been in a very long time. Thank you to those who prayed for us! The kids are feeling good and we are ready for the summer. We have our Kid's Summer Club 2009 next week at a local park. It is put on by Child Evangelism Fellowship and hopefully will be a way for us to meet lots of new people. I printed a flier and me and a buddy dropped 200 of them this evening. I will post after it is over and upload some photos.

Sickness

Please pray for us, as we have the flu. The twins seems to be done with it, but it can also strike back with pneumonia. Chip is down right now and I have been fighting it for 8 days with few symptoms other than moments of extreme fatigue. Elena seems to be a holdout...we shall see. We have had to cancel our group and we are tired. Thanks for your support and prayers!

Updated Prayer and Praise

A huge thanks to all of you who regularly check this blog in order to pray for us! The thought of many people praying encourages me to keep going, trusting that God will bring fruit.

Wedding

Well, I did my third wedding back in Virginia for a guy who grew up on my street. He was one of the youngest kids on the block and I teased him a lot. Then he grew up to be bigger than me! It was an honor to do the wedding and I made sure everybody heard the gospel. I did however, forget to tell everyone to sit down, so eventually the congregation just sat down on their own. Whoops! can't win them all.

Prayer & Praise

Our prayer list on the upper right side of this page has been updated!

Momentum

Sorry it has been awhile! Here's what has been going on lately.
I am trying to gather a launch team so that we can begin to prep for a potential first service next year. I will likely have several pre-launch services to try and generate interest in the new church. This may happen as early as this fall depending on how much momentum we can gain. I have gone to several local churches looking for willing helpers, but so far it has been slow gathering folks. However, a buzz is beginning, and perhaps this fall we will be gaining speed and back on schedule to start some pre-launch services. Our Sunday night fellowships have been relatively small but strong. I am really enjoying the people who are "regulars" and we are binding our hearts together more and more. So far, we have been studying Colossians and enjoying our fellowship with one another. We are beginning another prayer meeting too. The children are loving their devotion time and do not want to stop singing and keep making requests until dinner is ready. Very cute. In other news, I have secured a place to have some public discussions (that do not require rent or food purchases) and I am looking into an Evangelistic curriculum. I am still involved in several local Bible studies trying to meet new converts, and bouncing around town, coffee shops, stores, YMCA, etc. I've been reading a few helpful books too. I'll try to upload the covers.

Coffee Shops

I have been hanging out in several different locations trying to meet people out in the public. Here is the local Borders were I have had some lengthy and interesting conversations. This is largely possible due to a great supporting church providing me with my very first laptop computer so I can do office work out of my house. I got the low-end macbook (which is now below 1k) and so far so good. I am still low on the learning curve, but I feel like a coffee shop person (even though I publicly hate coffee! It is the most bitter non-sense I've ever tried!) So, what do I drink in these coffee shops? Green tea or bottled sugary products. Mmmmm, sugar, now that is something worth drinking. Now I just need this supporting church to help pay my dentist.

Guatemala HD Documentary Teaser

Do you remember my trip to Guatemala a few months ago? Well, the film teaser is now posted on the internet for your viewing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1OQwR1_Krk

I cannot wait to see the whole film and still feel very privileged to have participated in the filming process.

Prayer and Praise

Please see our updated prayer list on the side!

Ordination

I was finally Ordained last Saturday to the call of church planting in the Philadelphia region. Here is the "laying on of hands" part of the service. 7 Commissioners from my Presbytery drove down to Fredericksburg in order to perform this Ordination. Bagudekia and Suzanne Alobeyo helped my wife sing a special song during the service. One of my former pastors, Bob Becker, (New City Fellowship) preached the sermon.

My friend and fellow PCA pastor Jack Howell gave the charge and it was very personal and pertinent. This was probably my favorite part of the service.

We had a reception immediately afterward that was thrown by the people of New City Fellowship...complete with chocolate fountain, Deejay, finger foods and a huge cake seen here.

Everything went well and I enjoyed seeing people from different areas of my life gathered together. It was almost surreal. Thanks everybody for all your work and support!!

Prayer and Praise

Please note that I have updated the Prayer and Praise section of the blog on the upper right side.
Thanks to all those who pray for us and support us!

Guatemala Trip

After the Holidays I took a nine day trip to Guatemala to help some friends on a short term missions trip in which we began filming a documentary. The film is called Athentikos Guatemala

http://www.athentikos.com/

and will tell several stories about what God is doing in some of the poorest areas of Central America. Despite difficult circumstances there are people following Jesus into hard-core ghettos, gangs, prisons, garbage dumps, and drug-infested streets in order to love hurting people. I was very privileged to be a part of this group and hear some of the incredible stories of redemption! God is full of mercy and compassion and those who have spearheaded these ministries know that better than anybody else. I was blessed to hear them describe the goodness of God in their own personal stories. You can see some of the pictures of this trip here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/athentikos/

My responsibilities on the trip were to help in any way I could...I carried equipment, set up lights and screens, interviewed people, directed some interviews, and led a discussion group about our trip. (I think my chief responsibility was to beat everybody at the card game "Nertz" and continue to carry the JMU banner of aggressive card-playing excellence...HA!) It was a great change of pace and opportunity to work with a young fun-loving crew. The weather was to die for--sunny and warm everyday with clear skies and smoking volcanoes for a skyline. I am sure I will return one day, Lord willing.