I’ll be taking a break from blogging this week.   Just got back from Kenya last night, have to go to SC for Kim’s grandmother’s funeral, and I’m looking foward to the Men’s Weekend at Crosspoint this weekend.  I think 20 men from FBC have signed up, but we still have tickets–please come by the office and get a ticket.

I will leave you with a few funny statements from Kenya:

I knew it was going to be one of those weeks when one of our own Pell City educated young ladies asked me, “Pastor John, does the sun still rise in the east and set in the west over here?”

On Tuesday morning one of our nurses said, “I know I’m tired, I just said good moring to a goat!”

And finally on the ride over to the clinic on Tuesday, right after the good moring to the goat statement, one of our ladies called out to a group of children what she thought was “God bless you.”  The word for God is Mungu, but she used the word the children call when they see us–Mazongu which is “white man.”  I looked at her and said, “You just said, “White man bless you!”

I wonder what those children must have thought!

Have a great week and please pray for me tomorrow as I preach the funeral and for Kim as she sings.  See you Sunday!

This blog will post at 6:30 AM and when it posts it will be 4:30 PM in Kenya.  By the time you read this blog we will have finished our last day of ministry on Mt Elgon and tomorrow morning, that is tonight for you, we will leave the Mountain and head to a game park for a one day safari.

I covet your prayers as we travel down the mountain, but more than anything I covet your prayers for the people we will leave behind.  I am sure that many will have received Christ by the time you read this and the local churches will have much to do in terms of discipleship.  Please pray that they will make disciples!

You never know what might happen on a trip like this, but I do know this…I would rather die in the Mountians of Kenya with a spear through my heart, the Bible in my hand, and Jesus on my lips than to rust out here in America with a golf club in my hand and a stock quote on my lips. 

I fully expect to come home to my beautiful wife and my four beautiful daughters, but if something does happen just know this–I’m more alive than I have ever been.  If God doesn’t grace me with a trip Home than you need to know that I am more tired than I have ever been and I need your prayers!

On Monday we celebrated the birthdate of Dr. Martin Luther King, but there was another bithday that was celebrated that day. His name has been removed because many people wrongly associate him with racism, but he was not a racist and was in fact a profoundly deep follower of Jesus Christ. The man I am talking about, Robert E Lee said,

So far from engaging in a war to perpetuate slavery, I am rejoiced that Slavery is abolished. I believe it will be greatly for the interest of the South. So fully am I satisfied of this that I would have cheerfully lost all that I have lost by the war, and have suffered all that I have suffered to have this object attained.

Recently I read The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara and gained a new respect for the stuggle Lee and Longstreet had over fighting against the Union armies.  They had the faults, as we all do, but Lee was indeed a war hero long before the Civil War and a man to respect and a man for whom we can show respect.

He was offered the command of the Union Army, but turned it down because his home state was seceding.  He said this about his decision to stay with his home state,

With all my devotion to the Union and the feeling of loyalty and duty of an American citizen, I have not been able to make up my mind to raise my hand against my relatives, my children, my home. I have therefore resigned my commission in the Army, and save in defense of my native State, with the sincere hope that my poor services may never be needed, I hope I may never be called on to draw my sword…

Let me close with one more quote from Lee that we would all do well to remember,

We failed, but in the good providence of God apparent failure often proves a blessing.

I wanted to give you one more clip from Dr. Martin Luther King. Are you struggling? Are you wondering how much longer you will have to fight? Just remember the King is coming and heaven is just around the corner…How long? Not long!

Yesterday was a day we set aside to remember Dr. Martin Luther King. I found this clip of one of his speaches. It was the last one he made. Did he know what was coming? It seems like he did. I pray that God will give us that kind of boldness to do what is right even though we may die in the process.

I wonder if you have a dream.  We celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday today.  I couldn’t help but wonder at the thought that while you are celebrating today 19 of us will be living out that dream in the mountians of Kenya.  God gives us prophetic voices from time to time to remind us of the nature of our sin.  Racism is sill rampant today…may it not be in our hearts.

Today I lead a team of 19 people back to Kenya.  I cannot tell you how many times I’ve been to Kenya, but I do know I love going there.  We are going to work on Mount Elgon which is right along the Uganda border.
We went to the same area in April of 09 and will going back several times. The area has seen unbelievable tragedy. You can go to this link and download an article about the people to whom we will be ministering.   http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2008/07/27/all-men-have-gone
Please be in prayer for us and for our families while we are gone. Pray that we will be bold, that we will show grace, and that God will draw people to Himself through our work.
There will be 10 medical persons and 9 evangelists who will be sharing the Gospel. Lord willing, we will be back on Jan 25.

I have always heard about the “ends of the earth,” but never really understood the phrase until I went on a mission trip.  I know that there are places much more remote than Tanzania, Kenya, and Madagascar,  but for an ole Sand Mountain boy—it sure seems remote!  One of the problems we have is trying to get our arms around what God has called us to do in reaching people to the ends of the earth.

 I can’t get my mind around the earth’s population and I can’t grasp the fact that there are almost two billion people who have no access to the Gospel.  1.6 billion is a number that Bill Gates might be able to grasp in terms of dollars, but can we really grasp that in terms of souls?  How can we reach over five billion people?

Think about the population of India for a moment.  In India there is only one paid missionary for every eight million people.  Let me try to put that into perspective for you—that would be the equivalent of thirty seven people trying to reach the entire population of the United States!

 God has gifted us with the means that we need to be able to reach our world for Christ.  One of the greatest tools in our hands is the Cooperative Program of the Southern Baptist Convention.  Our church gives thirteen percent of its budget to the Cooperative Program and an additional six percent to other mission causes?  For every one hundred dollars you give to our church budget you will be giving a total of $19.20 to missions.  I grew up understanding that the Cooperative Program was a good thing, but after working with our missionaries overseas I know it is a good thing.

FBC has a team leaving for Kenya tomorrow and another team leaving for India at the end of the month.  I covet your prayers as I lead 19 people to Kenya (more on that tomorrow), but more than anything I want to urge you to hear the call of Jesus and to go.

I can think of no better word for me and for our church and for every child of God than the following quote from D Martyn Lloyd-Jones who said:

Our supreme need, our only need, is to know God, the living God, and the power of his might. We need nothing else. It is just that, the power of the living God, to know that the living God is among us and that nothing else matters…I say, forget everything else. Forget everything else. We need to realize the presence of the living God amongst us. Let everything else be silent. This is no time for minor differences. We all need to know the touch of the power of the living God.

Our only need is to know God, the living God, and the power of His might…wow!  Think about the truth of that statement.  He is indeed all that you need!

I watched this video and was amazed once again at the majesty of Jesus. Enjoy.