Bangkok Bound!

I have big news to share about what God has been doing in our lives! As many know, Michelle and I have always pictured ourselves being on the mission field one day. Mission work and a passion for reaching the lost is something that has been strong on our hearts before we even knew each other. About a year ago we really began to see and feel God leading us in making the transition into foreign mission work. We started praying that God would give us wisdom and discernment and that He would lead us to the field that He desires us to be on. Now, after a lot of prayer, research and planning we’ve seen God leading us to do mission work in Bangkok, Thailand. 


This coming April we will be going to Bangkok on a survey trip to visit with the Somprasong 4 Church of Christ to see about working with their congregation for a year reaching out to the lost in their area of the city, primarily among college students. This will be a great opportunity for Michelle and I to grow in our experience in foreign mission work together. It’s our hope that these are the first steps in us doing long term mission work in South East Asia.


We are very excited about the road that God is preparing ahead of us! We've been so blessed by the love and encouragement shown to us by our church here in Mt. Carmel and our family and friends! Please keep us in your prayers as we begin raising support and as we continue to seek out God’s will. 

This is Discipling

Here's a short video I found on the Verge Network website that does a great job illustrating a church as a discipling community. Check it out!


This is Discipling from The Foursquare Church on Vimeo.

True Liberation: A 4th of July Poem

Redemption...

Reconciliation...

Restoration...

...All just simple words...

Mere nouns and “tions” without the defining point of Christ's Liberation they hold no sound.

You may say that the colors of the day are red, white and blue.

I say that the color of every Right day of a soul made white is Red.

Because through His Red spilled blood on the cross, Christ paid the price of the only True Freedom.  

All for helpless souls like me and you.

Today I thank God for this land of which I was born in the flesh.

And pray for help to always remember that it is not my home.

No!

My home is not of this world because I was born again from above!

So above all else this day my God I thank you for Christ and His Love!

Wooden Heart

Yesterday I heard this poem about a church making their building out of shipwrecked pieces of wood. The poem is about how as the church we come together as broken people and are made whole through the headship of Christ. This imagery is strongly portrayed in Scripture. Here are few verses that came to mind:     

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs."

-Matthew 5:3 

"He is before all things, and by Him all things hold together." 

-Colossians 1:15

"Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest." 

-Matthew 11:28 

"In Him you are being built together, creating a sacred dwelling place among you where God can live in the Spirit."

-Ephesians 2:22

WOODEN HEART 

We’re all born to broken people on their most honest day of living
and since that first breath... We’ll need grace that we’ve never given
I've been haunted by standard red devils and white ghosts
and it's not only when these eyes are closed
these lies are ropes that I tie down in my stomach,
but they hold this ship together tossed like leaves in this weather
and my dreams are sails that I point towards my true north,
stretched thin over my rib bones, and pray that it gets better
but it won’t won’t, at least I don’t believe it will...
so I've built a wooden heart inside this iron ship,
to sail these blood red seas and find your coasts.
don’t let these waves wash away your hopes
this war-ship is sinking, and I still believe in anchors
pulling fist fulls of rotten wood from my heart, I still believe in saviors
but I know that we are all made out of shipwrecks, every single board
washed and bound like crooked teeth on these rocky shores
so come on and let’s wash each other with tears of joy and tears of grief
and fold our lives like crashing waves and run up on this beach
come on and sew us together, tattered rags stained forever
we only have what we remember

I am the barely living son of a woman and man who barely made it
but we’re making it taped together on borrowed crutches and new starts
we all have the same holes in our hearts...
everything falls apart at the exact same time
that it all comes together perfectly for the next step
but my fear is this prison... that I keep locked below the main deck
I keep a key under my pillow, it’s quiet and it’s hidden
and my hopes are weapons that I’m still learning how to use right
but they’re heavy and I’m awkward...always running out of fight
so I’ve carved a wooden heart, put it in this sinking ship
hoping it would help me float for just a few more weeks
because I am made out of shipwrecks, every twisted beam
lost and found like you and me scattered out on the sea
so come on let’s wash each other with tears of joy and tears of grief
and fold our lives like crashing waves and run up on this beach
come on and sew us together, just some tattered rags stained forever
we only have what we remember

My throat it still tastes like house fire and salt water
I wear this tide like loose skin, rock me to sea
if we hold on tight we’ll hold each other together
and not just be some fools rushing to die in our sleep
all these machines will rust I promise, but we'll still be electric
shocking each other back to life
Your hand in mine, my fingers in your veins connected
our bones grown together inside
our hands entwined, your fingers in my veins braided
our spines grown stronger in time
because are church is made out of shipwrecks
from every hull these rocks have claimed
but we pick ourselves up, and try and grow better through the change
so come on yall and let’s wash each other with tears of joy and tears of grief
and fold our lives like crashing waves and run up on this beach
come on and sew us together, were just tattered rags stained forever
we only have what we remember