I'll be your friend, but not a very good one...

Facebook. Everyone is on facebook these days. It's been interesting to find people from the past - high school, college, early days in the ministry - and the present. If you know me and you are on facebook, please feel free to send me a friend request. But I will warn you ahead of time, I'm not a very good "friend".

If you send me a button or a piece of flair, I probably won't acknowledge it or send anything in return. You can invite me to your favorite events, ask me to join a cause, or hit me with snowballs and water balloons. I don't mind, but everything gets an "ignore". Automatically. I don't even think about it. I don't need to take a quiz to find out that I know nothing about music in the 80's, films in the 90's, or TV in the 60's. I don't care if my IQ is lower than Peyton Manning's or higher than Herman Munster's.

Life is too busy and too complicated in the real world; I don't have time for all that in the digital world. If you want to "friend" me, fine. But don't expect very much.

6 Things Everyone Needs to Know About E-Mail & Internet

1. No one in Nigeria is going to give you $12 million to help them transfer hundreds of millions of dollars into the U.S.

2. No restaurant or business is giving away free gift cards - not Target, not Applebees - none of them.

3. No bank is going to send you an email and ask you for your account information, your PIN number, or your social security number.

4. No password is completely safe. Strengthen your passwords by including upper and lower case letters, at least one number, and at least one punctuation mark, particularly for online banking or credit account access.

5. If you have a facebook or myspace account, don't post any personal information that you don't want the whole world to know, such as your email address, your real address, or your phone number.

6. Any email you are not expecting should be treated as suspicious, even if it's from someone you know. If you ever get an email from, for example, me, with a subject line of, "You've GOT to see this!" or "This is the funniest thing I've ever seen" - DON'T open it. (And by the way, don't be offended if you send me something and I don't open it - if I'm not sure it's safe, I don't open it. And neither should you.)

And always remember, if you want to check out a story before passing it along, just go to snopes.com and type what you are looking for in their search box. More often than not, you will discover the truth about that missing girl, the guy who is drugging ladies with perfume samples in parking lots, or the patient who will receive 3 cents for every forwarded email.

Stay safe!

Fight the Freedom of Choice Act Petition

There are so many phony petitions floating around the internet - everything from "Madelyn Murray O'Hare is trying to take religious programming off the air" to "x amount of signatures will help cure this sick child" - that I hesitate to even mention one. But this one is real, and I think it deserves our attention.

 

During an address to Planned Parenthood in July of 2007, then-candidate Senator Barack Obama said, "The first thing I'd do, as president, is sign the Freedom of Choice Act. That's the first thing that I'd do." Well, he's president now, and he is waiting on the House and the Senate to send him the Freedom of Choice Act, a lethal piece of legislation that has been floundering in committee for five years, but will possibly make it to President Obama's desk. This act will lift all federal restrictions on abortion, including partial birth abortions, and could possibly be used to force faith-based hospitals to perform abortions against their will.

 

The group Americans United for Life has started an online petition drive, and has collected over 600,000 signatures to date. Their intention is to have this petition ready to deliver to Congress as soon as the bill comes out of committee. I urge all of you who read this to go to their website, http://www.fightfoca.com, and add your name to the list.

 

Signing the Freedom of Choice Act, it turns out, was not the first thing President Obama did when he took office. But he clearly indicated his stance and his intentions by overturning the Bush administration's ban on using federal funds to subsidize abortions in other countries.

 

Please visit this site and sign the petition.

 

P.S. - Madelyn Murray O'Hare is not trying to take religious programming off the air - she's dead. But those who would seek to destroy the moral fabric of our nation, unfortunately, are still quite active.

A Really Weird Song...

Saturday afternoon I was making my third trip to the hardware store, and as I listened to the local contemporary Christian station, I heard this little ditty coming out of my speakers.

Britney, I'm sorry for the lies we told
We took you into our arms and then left you cold
Britney I'm sorry for this cruel cruel world
We sell the beauty but destroy the girl
Britney I'm sorry for your broken heart
We stood aside and watched you fall apart
I'm sorry we told you fame would fill you up
And money moves the man so drink the cup

I know love goes around the world we know
And you never see it coming back
You never see it coming back
I know love goes around the world we know
And you never see it coming back
But I can see it coming back for you
Yes coming back for you

Britney I'm sorry for the stones we throw
We tear you down just so we can watch the show
Britney I'm sorry for the words we say
We point the finger as you fall from grace

Wow... does this guy (Bebo Norman, a young artist from Columbus, GA) really think that Britney Spears' spending habits, addictions, and bizzare behaviors are OUR fault?? And that we owe her an apology of some sort? And in the grander scheme of things, THIS is what passes for legitimate Christian music? After hearing this meaningless tripe, what a contrast to sit in church not 24 hours later and hear this one:

I boast not of works, nor tell of good deeds,
For naught have I done to merit His grace.
All glory and praise shall rest upon Him,
So willing to die in my place.

My trophies and crowns, my robe stained with sin
Was all that I had to lay at His feet.
Unworthy to eat from the table of life,
Till Love made provision for me.

I will glory in the cross, in the cross,
Lest His suffering all be in vain.
I will weep no more for the cross that He bore,
I will glory in the cross.

I'm not knocking contemporary Christian music - but why do so many artists think the way to reach the world is to take God OUT of their music?

Just my two cents' worth...

What Have We Gotten Ourselves Into?

How well do you know the man who was just sworn in at noon on Tuesday?

*On economic policy: "We should be guided by what works."

*On minimum wage: advocates raising it to $9.50 per hour (do you really want to pay $9.50 for a value meal at McDonalds?)

*On education: opposes school choice vouchers, opposes the teaching of intelligent design as fact, and supports merit pay raises to teachers, with the standards being set by... teachers.

* On energy: opposes the construction of nuclear plants, called McCain's proposal for 45 new plants "not serious, not new" and "not the kind of energy policy that will give families the relief they need." (Meanwhile, his home state of Illinois has more than half of its energy produced by nuclear power plants.)

* On vehicle energy: wants to ban the production of any vehicle that does not get at least 50 miles per gallon by 2030.

* On health care: wants universal health care by 2012, and plans to fine companies who do not provide health care for their employees.

* On housing: proposes a 33% increase in capital gains taxes on the sale of homes.

* On immigration: opposes deporting illegals; supports giving drivers' licenses to illegals; voted against declaring English to be the official language of the federal government.

* On foreign policy: does not believe that Iran, Cuba, or Venezuela pose a serious threat to the U.S.

* On the military: supports growing the number of troops, but wants to kill our missile defense system and slow the growth of Future Combat Systems (the primary military modernization program). Also would make Selective Service Registration mandatory for women as well as men.

* On abortion: has consistently refused to label himself as either pro-life or pro-abortion; voted for funding to provide contraceptives to students.

* On marriage and sexuality: voted against the amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman; supports giving "civil unions" the same status as married partners; "I do not agree... that homosexuality is immoral." "I strongly believe that African-Americans and the LGBT community must stand together in the fight for equal rights." (LGBT is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender.)

Ladies and gentlemen, your president, Barack Obama!

No pressure...

I missed a phone call yesterday morning, and spent the day playing phone tag with the caller, Dr. David Wood. As we talked, I recalled how my phone number got into the phonebook of a world-renowned evangelist. Dr. Wood is the founder of several ministries - Operation Go, The Witness Project, and Faith in Action. After I was recruited to take a PowerPoint presentation and develop it into a video for Faith in Action, Dr. Wood has been steadily providing me with additional projects - some small, some big. I recently finished a 15-minute video on his 6-year strategy for reaching India with the gospel.

 

When the phone rang, I thought he was calling to discuss the latest project he had for me - a previously-discussed plan to update some of their older videos with newer information. "Bro. Ed, I love the India video, but I need to know if you can edit it down from 15 minutes to about 9 minutes. I need to show it at a church next weekend, but I need it to be shorter. Can you produce a shorter version of it and have it in my office by Wednesday?" "Sure", I said, and began working immediately after supper. At midnight, I was finished, and quite proud of my efforts.

 

He called me back today during lunch. "Bro. Ed, I really appreciate your work on cutting that video down to 9 minutes. I'm going to be presenting the India ministry during Sunday School next Sunday morning, and they suggested that we bring a 2-3 minute video segment to show during Sunday School, to whet the people's appetite for the entire presentation Sunday night. Can you cut it down to 3 minutes? This is for the largest church in Alaska (Anchorage Baptist Temple), and this will be shown during a live television broadcast. There is a lot of money for the India project riding on this... and I need it by Wednesday, too."

 

No pressure.......

 

"Sure", I said. I finished my lunch and began working. The fastest way to get this done was to start completely over from scratch, instead of trying to cut and paste a preview video together from the footage I already had developed. Trying to decide which 3 minutes of narration to keep out of a 15-minute presentation was no small feat. Dr. Wood had written the script for the original video, and here I was, leaving 80% of his message on the cutting room floor. I could only hope that the 20% I chose is the right part. I suppose I will find out when he gets the DVDs on Tuesday.

 

It is very humbling to realize that the videos I create will be used to help Dr. Wood share his vision with churches all over the United States. I'm grateful for the opportunity to help their ministry in this small way.

It's Been a While...

I haven't posted anything since Halloween time... I have been extremely busy with all things Christmas around the church.

I don't know how many will read this, but I want to express my gratitude to the choir at LRBC for their hard work on the cantata, and also for their generous Christmas gift. This year was our 12th Christmas cantata together!

I want to wish each of you a very Merry Christmas, and best wishes for the New Year. I don't know what your New Year's resolutions may be, but I really only have two: First, to lose weight. Again. A friend was commenting that they had struggled with their weight forever; they had spent their whole life either dieting, or needing to diet. I sympathize. Second, I want to have an impact and an influence on those around me. It saddens me that there are people that I have been rubbing shoulders with for years, and I know that I have not made much of a difference in their lives. I want God to change that in me this year.

What do you want to accomplish in '09?

P.S. - I obviously didn't make it to Augusta's Biggest Loser... but I did get a sales pitch from PHC to separate me from my wallet.

The Biggest Waiter...

Still haven't heard anything on Augusta's Biggest Loser... they said they had to push the notification date into early November.

The Biggest Loser

About 6 weeks ago, I threw my name in the hat for "Augusta's Biggest Loser", a weight-loss competition sponsored by our local NBC affiliate. I should know by Wednesday if I happened to be selected or not. I've never had professional help with weight loss, unless you count a short, parent-mandated flirtation with Weight Watchers in the mid 70's -- when all the W.W. food and drinks tasted like they were produced in conjunction with Jiffy Lube. I'll keep you posted.

Meanwhile, while doing a search for "Biggest Loser", I came across this classic newspaper headline: "'Biggest Loser' audition canceled due to large crowd." I had to laugh at the wording, intentional or not. Apparently they set up a casting call at a Dave & Buster's restaurant in San Diego. 1500 people who needed to be on "The Biggest Loser" showed up. A standard D&B will hold about half that many people, maybe less. Thus, the headline - audition canceled due to large crowd.

Collection-plate Protocol??

An article appeared about our church in the Metro Spirit last week - it seems a contributing columnist has been visiting local churches at random, and writing about each church based on one visit. Mrs. Angel Cleary visited our church the night that we had Jeremy Edens in our service, and because we took a separate love offering for him, she decided that we were all about the collection plate. You can read her article here.

While she did write that we were friendly, that was pretty much the only positive thing she wrote. Our instruments, in her view, are "an interesting combo"; our Sunday night crowd was in "full suits and high heels"; and she apparently wasn't happy that our guest pointed out that in spite of Patagonia being littered with Catholic churches, no one is preaching the gospel there.

In case you want to check out her other church critiques, they are listed on the side of her column with such titles as "Karaoke Church" (Glenn Hills Baptist) and "Churches and Dead Cats" (Woodlawn Methodist).

Apparently, we are not the only church that has been misrepresented by this writer - I found the following letter to the editor from a member of Oak Grove Baptist Church:

"To the editor:

AUGUSTA, GA - On Wednesday, Jan. 9, the Metro Spirit printed an unfortunate article by a troubled young lady named Angel Cleary. Cleary need not expect a Pulitzer Prize for her misguided, inaccurate smear of a small Southern Baptist Church.

Finding a Baptist church in Georgia made of brick with white columns and a steeple is a discovery worthy of national media attention. Cleary just described the vast majority of Baptist churches in the Southeast.

Her personal attack on the musical minister demonstrates her lack of unprofessionalism and underlying emotional problems. Twice, she referred to her disturbed childhood. I suggest that she focus less on Nostradamus and more on the words of any supreme being she chooses.

Cleary claims she had nightmares as a child, wondering if she would be here for the rapture. I hope she is here when it occurs so she can report on it afterwards. Most of the journalists and reporters of her ilk will still be here.

The prominent sign she refers to is actually a small sign in the very back of the church and does not mention anything about the steps. This is an outright falsehood.

Surely Cleary can find a more newsworthy story at one of the big, rich churches in the CSRA, but I don’t think she will. I do not believe intestinal fortitude is one of Cleary’s strong points. Perhaps Islamic theology is.

The pastor of Oak Grove Baptist does not promote any doctrine that is not set forth by the Southern Baptist Convention. All Baptists, all Christians, for that matter, should take exception to her scurrilous article.

How astute Cleary must be to deduce that the people inside the church seemed to know everyone else. Her keen powers of perception are apparently being wasted on the Metro Spirit. She could have a lucrative career as a psychologist.

Members of Oak Grove Baptist never realized that they belonged to a “farm church,” which is an ignorant phrase coined by Cleary. Actually there are no farmers in the church, but they would be welcomed. Cleary, on the other hand, is one Oak Grove can do without."

Just for the record, a couple of Catholics wrote in to complain about the manner in which she reported on their church, as well. Apparently Ms. Cleary visits churches, writes about them, and leaves some pretty upset folk in her wake.

Sunday Night

We're home... we've given our reports and testimonies... but I just wanted to say another "Thank You" to those of you who have given and prayed so much over the last few months. Hopefully I can catch up on my sleep on Monday!

Thanks for reading along as we travelled and worked - I hope it helped give you a little perspective on our trip.

I will continue posting things on this blog periodically about other things that I think you will find interesting. There will be a permanent link to it on the "Staff" page of our website.

Friday evening

Man, it's a long way home! We left El Paso a few minutes after 5 this
morning and went to Carlsbad Caverns. We have been driving ever since.
We will get to our hotel around 1 in the morning, leaving us about a
10 hour drive on Saturday. Last night Bro. Jarvis gave us one final
challenge to be willing to do anything for God, and to leave the
results to Him. See you tomorrow!

Thursday night

We had a two-hour testimony service this morning, and it was neat to see all the different perspectives on the week. Everyone had a different story to tell about their experiences. This afternoon we went to the market - because people aren't spending, the vendors are virtually dragging people into their stores and booths. We boarded the bus and headed for customs. After a few had gone through, the border guard simply said, "Are you with the church group?" When we said yes, he simply waved us through without checking our bags or belongings. As soon as we boarded the bus, the lightning and rain started.

 

After a big dinner, we are about to start our last service here. We will leave as close to 5 AM as possible, and we will be staying in Bossier City, Louisiana overnight. Parents, your teens will have their cell phones, so feel free to call anytime between now and our arrival back home. We hope to arrive home at a decent hour Saturday night, but we will take whatever time we need to ensure that we arrive safely. We will keep you apprised as to when we expect to make it home.

 

You should be very proud of your young people - for this long of a trip, this young of a group, and a very high set of expectations, they all behaved themselves very well. Hopefully God has touched their hearts in a way this week that they will not soon forget.

Wednesday Night

The day was every bit as exhausting as we thought it would be. Our first location this morning was not nearly as fruitful as we had hoped, but still a pretty decent turnout. Tonight's meeting was not quite as well attended as Monday and Tuesday, but it seemed that a lot more people were engaged in one-on-one witnessing situations, and a higher percentage of the crowd indicated that they prayed to ask Christ into their heart. Both neighborhoods were comparable to the first night - the housing was pretty rundown, but not to the level of the cardboard and pallet houses that fill some neighborhoods. We had been mildly disappointed that the weather had been so good, because we wanted to see God hold a storm off. Well, we got to see it tonight. The thunder started rolling before we even started visitation this afternoon, but we never got one drop of rain until we were on our way back to the compound after the service.

It was announced tonight that yesterday in the print shop, we assembled over 2500 John/Romans booklets, and nearly 15,500 New Testaments. We (the three churches here this week) are the largest group they have had all summer.

Thursday we will go to the market in Juarez and pass out literature, and shop for souveniers. Then we will return to the compound and start getting ready for our return trip home.

For you parents reading this, please know that none of your kids has fallen sick from eating or drinking too little. The worst issues we've had to contend with have been a mild headache here and there, largely due to sinus issues and simply being tired, and having sore feet. It has been a fantastic week all around.

Wednesday morning

Today we spend the entire day in Mexico - two meetings today, with a break at a store called Soriano (think Wal-Mart / Big Lots). Double the opportunity to share Christ with a people who so desperately need it. I told you about the Catholics who were praying for us to leave - Bro. Jarvis told me that even the priests are giving up. They are telling their own parishioners "You are too bad... you will never make it to heaven." That fatalistic worldview is making this spiritually dark city grow even darker, because people are saying to themselves, "if I can never make it to heaven, there is no reason for me to do right."

 

Just a thought for today - I was reading (skimming, actually), through the writings of Paul. I can only find Paul asking for people to pray for his safety 3 times. The first time, he asked for safety as he was carrying a love offering back to the church at Jerusalem. The second time, he asked them to pray for his safety, because there were still lost souls to reach. The third time, he asked them to pray for his safety, but only so the Word would have free course. We frequently pray for safety for each other, and for "traveling mercies", but the purpose of those prayers is usually for our own comfort, not for God's glory.

 

Pray for our safety today, but pray that prayer so that we will accomplish what God wants us to do. He is a good God, and He does good things!

Tuesday night...

We drove a long ways across Juarez this afternoon. We went to a neighborhood that was much more upscale than what we visited on Monday. These were tract homes built by American companies for their Mexican employees, and the companies provide security, maintenance, etc. It didn't seem like we talked to as many people today, but once again, with only an hour's notice, over 500 people showed up for the service, with at least 50 adults making a decision for Christ. Names and addresses were gathered, and the church will follow up with those people, as well as the decisions from last night.

 

Those of you who have been here in the past remember temperatures above 110, low humidity, and the threat of thunderstorms every afternoon. The weather here this week has been completely different from that. I asked about the weather, and they said that this region is now in monsoon season. Temperatures fall, humidity rises, and our weather here this week is almost identical to Georgia. Temperatures have been in the 90's, humidity has been in the 40 % range (except Sunday, when it was 84%), and we have not had to ask God to part any thunderstorms. We have been blessed with the most awe-inspiring sunsets you could possibly imagine. It has been incredible!

 

Tomorrow we spend the entire day in Mexico - there will be two different services in two different neighborhoods, one in the morning and another in the evening. It will be a busy day.

 

P.S. - I promised pictures, but the network here at BPS is not cooperating. We will have a great slideshow for you on Sunday night - be sure and be at church to see what God is doing in Mexico.

Tuesday afternoon

It is 4 pm in Mexico, and we are on the bus back across the border for
another afternoon of inviting people to the service tonight. I want to
tell you about Hector Jiminez, who is our bus driver this week. We
first met him Sunday when he translated the American pastor's message
into Spanish. Hector works in the print shop, works around the
compound, and conducts all the services for the nightly meetings. He
is a very quiet, gentle man, but it is clear that God has His hand on
this man. When you pray for us this week, pray for Hector as he
ministers this week. I mentioned in my post that a group of Catholics
had met to pray against us last night. Bro. Jarvis told us that had
never happened before. So pray, pray, PRAY for the services each
night. You, church, gave so much to help us come down here - this is
your ministry for this week. As visitors down here, we can't minister
to the people here. But the really cool thing is, they can't do it
without those who come here. It's almost like God is saying no one can
claim the credit for what He does.

Monday Night

This afternoon we went to Mexico to do visitation and help prepare for a meeting in the park. We broke up into 10 groups of 4 or 5, plus a translator for each group, and went knocking on doors for about an hour and a half. After that small amount of effort, around 400 people showed up for an evangelistic meeting at 7:30 PM. After a few songs, a skit, a puppet show, and a message with a chalk drawing, many of those who came made decisions for Christ - boys, girls, and adults. The only hitch that happened tonight was a group of about 15 adult Roman Catholics who were gathered in a corner of the park, praying the rosary and asking God to get us out of their neighborhood.

For those of you who are not familiar with what Bearing Precious Seed ministries does, each week during the summer they work in conjuction with a local church in Juarez (and sometimes deeper into Mexico). They visit the church they will be working with on Sunday night, and then on Monday thru Wednesday, they hold meetings in a park near the church. These meetings are designed not only to win souls and hand out literature, but the name and contact information of everyone who makes a decision is given to the pastor of that church to follow up with that person. This is a phenomenal ministry, and I can't wait to see what God is going to do Tuesday and Wednesday.

I promised pictures... I'm working on it!

Monday noon

We worked our first day in the print shop this morning. We assembled around 5,000 copies of the New Testament in Spanish - they have a very efficient setup in the print shop. If I get time tonight, I will post some pictures, but it won't be until tomorrow morning until they are online.

Contact number for us

This is for any parents who may need to reach us in case of emergency. Before 5:00 PM Augusta time, call my cellphone at 706-414-9173. After 5:00 PM Augusta time, please call Bob Reed, missions trip coordinator, at 419-610-4900. I am holding most of our group's cellphones, and they can get them and call home anytime we have some spare time (which isn't very often!)