moving from knocking to dwelling

luke 11 gives us a great passage on prayer. Jesus first gives the "Lord's Prayer" and then illustrates it to his followers. i am so glad he uses an illustration, for i often miss what He is really saying. Jesus gives the illustration of a person knocking and knocking and knocking at on a friends door to get food for an unexpected visitor. he also mentions that the Father's children are in the house with him. i have come to realize that since i am a follower of Christ, i am now living on the inside of the house. when i pray, i pray not from the position of being outside the house having to knock, knock, and knock again. i pray from a position of intimacy-of being with the Father.

tears of sadness

a few recent events have brought me to tears. i know pain is a real part of life, yet from time to time i am overcome with an incredible sadness as i witness God's goodness used for evil.

God gives each person an unlimited amount of influence. this influence is designed to be used to bring blessings to others. yet, so often the power of influence God gives others is used to bring destruction and cursing to others.

take for example the recent video of the teenage girls beating their classmate for over 30 minutes. as i watched the news report on tv, tears were brought out for the victim. i also had the thought pass through my mind, "what if the victim would of been my daughter?"

and now we are witnessing another cult that used religious influence and power in a very destructive manner for 100's of girls.

under these two accounts are emotions that stem from a very real and personal account from a family member that happened last week. she is a single mother and her ex picked up their 6 year old son and spent the next 36 hours at a crack house. the child was left alone in the crack house with no food or water. he witness the destructive power of crack. the child was left to protect himself in a world of adult crack users. his daddy abandoned him.

God gives us power and influence to bring blessings to others.

influence: redeeming the power

as i meditate upon the power God has given each person to influence others, i am humble and amazed. He has entrust each person with an endless supply of influential power. i am amazed that each of us can choose to use our God given influential power to bring life or death to others. i am humbled as i realize how often i use my God given influential power to bring pain and destruction to others.

proverbs 15:4, "gentle words bring life and health; a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit. when the truth of "a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit" is combined with proverbs 17:22b, "a broken spirit saps a person's strength," it is clear why so many people in our society have little to no strength. their spirits have been crushed by other people, and a crushed spirit saps a person's strength. will you join with me in redeeming your influential power by speaking words that bring life and health to others?

Finally Fish!!

After months of trying, Zhita-Lynne and her friend finally caught some fish. They each caught 3 fish.

Zhita and I have tried to catch fish on and off over the last few years. We have caught weeds, docks, Zhita's head (not a fun experience to have a fish hook embedded in one's head), and other non-fish items. So, as the mighty fisherman that I am, I resorted to a trout farm.

We went to Lintt Trout Farm
11751 San Mateo Rd / Half Moon Bay, CA 94019 / (650) 726-0845

A sure bet to catch some fish. The girls were not disappointed. It was a nice place where they even clean the fish for you. I know it is not the great outdoors, but the girls enjoyed themselves.

Nicaragua Team

The trip to Nicaragua was wonderful. The people and land are both beautiful. Each of the 19 people that went from Temple Baptist Church were blessed in special and unique ways.

Our daughter, Zhita-Lynne, did a great job on her first trip as a "missionary." The trip consisted of encouraging people, serving people through work projects and allowing for people to have a day off, translating for a medical team that served about 400 people each day, and many other servant type activities.

It is always a blessing to serve other people.

I thank God for the opportunity to partner with Him for His Kingdom purposes.

20th Anniversary Celebration

Wendy and I are celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary today! It has been a great 20 years. Thank you, God. Thank you, Wendy.

Nicaragua

We have been in San Francisco for two years! What an incredible two years it has been.

Zhita completed first grade at Sunnyside Elementary School in June. She was awarded perfect-perfect attendance again this year. Her favorite two school subjects are science and math. She is doing well academically as well as socially in the public school. She is full of life and adventure, and she is a real giver. She gave up her room this summer to a college student. She now sleeps in a small cubby off the kitchen. She enjoys reading and doing crafts with mom. She likes to get donuts with me and go on my crazy exploring adventures too.

Wendy was the PTA president at Sunnyside this year and is committed for one more year. She and her gifted team of volunteers did a great job of bringing unity and cooperation between the staff, teachers, parents and student body. Wendy continues to meet with and mentor several people. She really enjoys living in San Francisco, which was a great surprise to all of us. She was able to turn over our church’s children’s summer camp, which she started last summer, to a gifted woman this summer. The camp has grown to over 50 children with a host of volunteers. Wendy volunteers in a variety of ways at our church—camp, worship team, preaching, children. Her heart is still with raising Zhita during her school years.

I completed two years at Temple Baptist as their senior pastor. I am always telling someone that this is the least stressful job I have ever had, which is true. God really prepared me to be able to focus on Him and let Him lead the church. I spend my time and energy responding to God’s leadings. I really never worry about much, which is a fun and thrilling position to be in—living by faith is peaceful and amazing. I am thankful the church has grown, and continues to grow, in all aspects.

The three of us will be going to Nicaragua with 15 other people from our church this August. We are partnering with Sandy Carter, an established long term missionary, and her organization (www.childrenofdestinynicaragua.org). Zhita will help to care for babies in a baby orphanage. Wendy will play a dual role of overseeing Zhita and assisting the team leader. I will assist our team leader as needed.

Our team, as a whole, will provide translation for a medical team, assist with a feeding program that feeds 1,500 children daily, support the workers at a baby orphanage and at a children’s orphanage, provide a children’s adventure and Bible camp, help with building projects, and try to provide positive encouragement and partnership to Sandy Carter and her staff.

We have been asked to raise $1,100.00 each for the trip to Nicaragua.

If you would like to help financially, please send a check to Temple Baptist Church, 3355 19th Ave, SF, CA 94132 (http://www.templebaptistchurchsf.com/). All donations are tax deductible.