Rainey Days

A good friend and fellow missionary in France lost her mother in a tragic accident yesterday. Her mother was killed in a car wreck caused by ice in Illinois. Joy Davison has left France with her husband and should reach Illinois by tonight for the funeral arrangements. She has always been very close to her family, so please remember Joy, her father Ernie, and her younger sister in your prayers. This is a missionary's greatest fear: to get a phone call telling us news like this.

Yesterday, I spent my day at Trinity AG in Lanham, MD with the start of our sectional council season. As you may know, the Assemblies of God churches are divided into districts (regional) and then further into sections (also geographic). The Potomac District is divided into 12 sections, which have their own leadership and organization. Our sections meet usually monthly for fellowship and in the spring, the sections have their business meetings to vote in leadership and cast vision for the future. As a missionary, I travel to all the sectional councils; I like catching all the pastors at once. Apparently the other missionaries feel the same way, because there were at least 20 of us there yesterday. It was a bit over-crowded, actually. I met some new folks and got my foot in the door of a few churches. I had a few comments about the possibility of future support, which was very encouraging. In other news . . . I am going to return to France for a few days over Easter weekend to s...

I figure I've got to get a move on with this Galatians series or we'll still be doing in it in November! Galatians 4:9 and 10 says, "Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. But now that you know God --or rather are known by God --how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? " I've mentioned that a major theme of this book is the emphasis on salvation by grace--not by observance of the Old Testament law--even though some religious leaders were teaching these false ideas to the Galatian church. In continuing to defend the true teaching on grace opposed to law, Paul asks another of his razor-sharp questions (another feature of this book: the intensity). He uses the term, "know God" and then corrects himself to, "rather, are known by God" perhaps indicating that no mortal man can claim to KNOW God. We are too limited to make that claim, but we can claim the far m...

In the comments section of my previous post, Anonymous asked: "Having said all that about it being a gift and not something we can work for, how do you explain to these people why God didn't give it to them? Especially after having said that all the people in Corinth were given the gift, and they were great sinners. Can you see why people who ask for the Holy Spirit feel rejected if they don't receive it? I've never really thought about not being able to receive it, but I know if I hadn't received when I asked, I would have felt unworthy and ashamed, like I had done something to make God reject me." I wrote a quick answer to Anonymous, but I wasn't satisfied with my response. However, with our internet down for day or so and other problems, I wasn't able to get back to this post. My longer answer is this: I don't know why God chooses to move in certain ways and not others. God is God and He has His own timing. I can't explain why some people a...

Backtracking to Galatians 3:5, "Does God give you His Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law or because you believe what you heard?" gives us today's thought. When I was studying French, I was in a program designed for missionaries, which gave me the opportunity to meet dozens of missionaries going to many different French-speaking countries. Most of them were with various Baptist organizations, and very few of us were Pentecostal. I guess we stood out a bit, although none of us were obnoxious about it. One day, after a close friendship had developed with another young lady there, she mentioned that for a brief time, when she first got saved, she went to a Pentecostal church. Her family was completely unchurched, so she had no inhibitions about which church she attended. She told me that she really enjoyed the Pentecostal church and loved the people there. Then, she dropped her voice and said that her husband didn't know about it, because she ...

Today, as I prepared to make my usual round of phone calls to pastors, I was struck by the amount of churches with which I've had no contact. Out of curiosity I took my pencil and started counting. Here is my final tally. Of my total support, I am partnered with the following: 1 church in Florida 2 churches in New Jersey 1 couple in Georgia 1 couple in Washington 1 couple in California 42 churches (out of 101) in Maryland (42%) + 5 couples 23 churches (out of 146) in Virginia (16%) + 2 couples 7 churches (out of 61) in West Virginia (12%) + 1 couple If you're not aware, I am mainly focused on my local region (MD, VA, WV). I can get support from other areas, but they are more difficult, due to distance and the fact that I'm unknown there. I got my monthly paycheck yesterday, along with a current statement of support, and I'm excited to say that I'm over 72% on paper. I've got another couple of hundred dollars that's promised to me, and I hope that it...

This weekend I was in a church with a wonderfully attractive building. Their lobby was graced with this handpainted design about six feet tall. I was impressed with it, and commented on how professional it looked. As it turns out, the children's pastor is from Washington State and her mother painted it while making a visit east to visit her daughter. It's certainly a striking way to keep the Great Commission the primary focus of the church!

Today is election day here in Maryland, and I encourage all of you to vote. Help influence our country for a better future!

Galatians 3: 15 "We who are Jews by birth and not 'Gentile sinners' know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified." The spiritual crisis that faces every man is his separation from God. Because of his sin, he is separated from a holy God, who cannot tolerate sin and won't allow sin in His presence. When we die, we would be eternally separated from God because of our sin. Jesus Christ came to reconcile man to God, by taking our sin onto himself, so that we could be without sin, or "justified." When I was a kid, we learned a little trick to understand justification -- "just-as-if-I'd never sinned." To be made "just" in the eyes of God means that we are made pure, sinless and we can spend eternity in heaven with the L...

In my recent travels, I passed a car with this license plate: KARPE DM . I mentally translated, carpe diem , Latin for "seize the day." My brain fired through a string of related thoughts: carpe diem was the theme of the movie Dead Poet's Society , starring Robert Sean Leonard and Robin Williams. The major literary work supporting the theme was Henry David's Thoreau's book Walden , stating, "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately . . . and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." The teacher in the movie challenges the young men to live lives that are courageous, beyond the status quo . Thoreau also claimed, "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation," which contrasts sharply against the life of one who seizes the day! Who goes beyond the common. Who experiences something more powerful, somehow more worthy. As all that flitted through my brain in succession, I compared it to Paul in Galatians 2:2, who ...

Its been a while since I've given you one of my embarrassing-moments stories. I know how much you love them! This (mild) one happened to me last weekend in Georgia. I had packed a gray pantsuit for the weekend, hoping that it would be appropriate in two very different churches: one very laidback and one very traditional. The chief benefit of this pantsuit is not how I look in it, unfortunately, but rather that it is some version of stretch polyester so it is comfortable and resists wrinkles. I have to wear it for hours on end, so I want some measure of comfort and it has to still look fresh in the evening service across town. As long as the suit isn't obviously cheap or shiny, I'm willing to make it my "itinerating missionary" outfit. Added bonus: on sale at Kohls. Enough said! I wore it all morning while preaching and dining out for lunch with the church in Perry. In the afternoon downtime between the two services, I hung it up and changed into jeans for...