Odd Compliment

This week has been busy. It started with a funeral and sharing the Gospel with some people and ended with a field trip with my daughters. In between, I taught at our Bible College, taught some High School, and wrote a sermon. I also did the glamorous missionary work of picking beer bottles and trash out of the churches' flower bed, all the while being careful to not to encounter hypodermic needles that are found all to often on the ground.

Today, Sunday, I preached about Christ being with us in our ordinary days. After the service I went to shake hands with a church member and he said, "Hey, give me a hug. That was a great sermon!" I usually don't expect an after sermon hug, so that was a new one for me.

On the way home my wife said, "I only got 3 hours sleep last night because of a sewing project. But your sermon was so interesting, it woke me up and kept me awake all the way to the end!"

Well, if you get hugs and can keep your wife awake during your sermon, that means you had a good day. They come by once in a while. I'm sure glad they do.

Getting More Then Expected

We had a good service Sunday. Among the 31 people in the service were a couple I had been visiting for years and finally came. Not only that, they came back for the next service. When I introduced the couple to the congregation, they spoke up and said they planned on being with us on a regular basis!

There was a surprise waiting for me after the service. One of our lady members asked to speak to me after the church service. She is an older woman who cleans the church Saturdays, and recently we decided to give her some financial help. I expected her to talk to me about some financial need. Instead she gave me something.

She said, "You were with my father when he died. I found this when I was cleaning out his things. I would like you to have it." She handed me a small guitar case. Inside was a Puerto Rican Cuatro, an island instrument that is like a cross between a guitar and a mandolin.

I was stunned. I have wanted one of these unusual instruments for years, but could never afford one. And here was a woman we were helping, who in turn gave a totally unexpected gift. I went home smiling that Sunday!

Working and seeing results is great. But getting a nice surprise once in a while isn't bad either!

My Half of the Orange

In Spanish "my better half" is expressed by "Mi media naranja" or "my other half of the orange." It sounds odd, but oranges are sweet, nice looking, smell good and people squeeze them...I probably should stop here.

My "media naranja" Tina is really doing wonders at keeping things going down here in Puerto Rico. I am able to work as a church planter and teacher because she works to keep our home, cooks at our Bible college, plays piano and clarinet in the church, all while homeschooling our two daughters and taking care of me.

Wow. How does she do it? Maybe it's all that chocolate I keep in the refrigerator. Whatever it is, she is doing it and do it all well.

BUT she is going to go to Pensacola, Florida for FOUR weeks to be with our daughter Rachel when our first grand-baby arrives, about the first week of May. I am happy she can go and enjoy this time, but permit me to feel a little sorry for myself thinking of a month missing that important half.

In the meantime, we will be preparing for a visiting team of teens from Alpine Baptist Church so I will have that, Tina's return and grand baby pictures to look forward to! OK I feel better now!

Please pray for Rachel's delivery, expenses, Tina's trip, and the expanding ministry here in the months ahead.

Tina Cornered by Charging Iguana!

My wife Tina was in the kitchen at the college preparing a meal while the students were in chapel. A good sized iguana lizard, about 4 feet long, chose that moment to wander onto our small Bible college campus. When chapel was over, the students headed to the cafeteria for lunch and scared the iguana. It ran into the kitchen, straight towards Tina, cornering her by the sink.

Terrified, she ran out of the kitchen screaming. She had to run toward the charging iguana, to reach the only exit. The students came in and some tried to catch it. The iguana scrambled behind the stove and up onto the pots and pans shelf, rattling and banging them around as it tried to hide itself.

The surprises were not over yet! Some of our tough looking guys were standing on chairs. One of my female students came in calmly and got a sports jacket from someone and headed over to the kitchen. This girl is about 5 feet even, if that. She is so quiet that after a semester teaching her, I am not sure what her voice sounds like. This same girl threw the coat over this hideous, sharp clawed, spiney-backed, whip-tailed thing and carried it outside like it was nothing!

You know, you think you know about people, but you just never know!

Well, everybody had a good laugh and Tina got back into the kitchen and we got the kids fed. We considered adding Iguana to the menu (Puerto Ricans have been known to barbeque the tails) but Tina said we had had enough iguana for one day and had to draw the line somewhere!

A Preacher gets on a bus...

A friend sent me this story. It tells a great truth about being successful in working for Christ:

===
A preacher from out-of-state went to a church in Houston, Texas to begin a new ministry. Some weeks after he arrived, he had an occasion to ride the bus from his home to the downtown area. When he sat down, he discovered that the driver had accidentally given him a quarter too much change.

As he considered what to do, he thought to himself, 'You'd better give the quarter back. It would be wrong to keep it.'

Then he thought, 'Oh, forget it, it's only a quarter. Who would worry about this little amount? Anyway, the bus company gets too much fare; they will never miss it. Accept it as a 'gift from God' and keep quiet.'

When his stop came, he paused momentarily at the door, and then he handed the quarter to the driver and said, 'Here, you gave me too much change.'

The driver, with a smile, replied, 'Aren't you the new preacher in town?'

'Yes" he replied.

'Well, I have been thinking a lot lately about going somewhere to worship. I just wanted to see what you would do if I gave you too much change. I'll see you at church on Sunday.'

When the preacher stepped off of the bus, he literally grabbed the nearest light pole, held on, and said, 'Oh God, I almost sold your Son for a quarter.'
=

I think this is a scary example of how much people watch us as Christians, and will put us to the test! It makes me fear that personal failings will hurt our work as missionaries.

On the other hand, there is a great flip-side. When we pass tests like this, allowing God to change us, God may work through us to bring about change in others, their communities and their churches.

The story suggests there is a "Win-Win" strategy for evangelism. It might be summed up in a slogan like: Building Better Churches by Becoming Better Christians.

Let's try it and see if it works!

The Non-Suicide Surprise

I was preaching Sunday and saw a man lingering around the front door of the church with a big smile on his face. I recognized him as Mike, a man who I had helped 3 years ago when he was struggling and in danger of committing suicide. I had invited Mike to church, he promised he would someday, but never did.

I motioned for him to enter and he came in. Mike said, "Pastor, Today I am keeping my promise." I stopped my sermon and introduced Mike to the church. After the service, we had a time of food and fellowship and spoke to Mike. He had a church bible under his arm and said, "The Bible really is interesting, isn't it? I would like to learn more about it." I knew Mike was raised in New York and could read in English better, so I took him aside and gave him an English bible and a mini-course on how and were to start reading.

Mike left the church Sunday with a bible tucked under his arm and a big smile on his face. It was encouraging to see the visitation we did three years ago made for positive and surprising results so many years down the road. It encouraged me to see our efforts in the past were not wasted, but continue working changes in the lives of others while we were unawares. It also makes us hopeful that other good things are on their way right now!

That smile Mike has on his face was contagious. I saw that it spread around our church. I still have mine!

Big Change in 2009?

I found a great picture of a totally destroyed Dog Training Video Program that had been given as Christmas present to a dog owner whose dog obviously needs it. It made me wonder if the dog said to himself, "I am NOT going to be trained! No! No changes for me this year!"

I hope we deal with change better than that. We might have to. We saw a sign, literally, a sign, that may mean a change for us this year.

Last Sunday, a lady in our church said, Hey! Look! There is a "For Sale" sign on the church!

I went out and looked. I saw a sign on the left front corner and then saw another on the top right corner. We learned that the owner had some reverses and hopes to sell soon.I prayed for a sign from the Lord regarding our church this year. I got two!

We talked about this with our church members and the conversations more or less said one or the other of the following:

A. Better to jump than be pushed. Let's find a place and leave when we can instead of when we have to. Who is going to come to a church that has a "For Sale" sign on it!

B. We have a good deal here. They might not ever sell this place. And if they do, we can save money till then and have enough to get a better place.

Please pray with us. We see the wisdom of moving but the banks want a 20% down payment for property down here in Puerto Rico and our church has eight thousand in the bank. We would need twenty thousand for a down payment on a moderate home we might be able to make into Church later. There is a great ex-tavern that we would love to get, but it is $500K. It seems way out of our reach.

We have faith, but Jesus said that a builder should also make sure there is enough to finish the job before he starts. (Luke 14:28). We will keep checking to see how much help comes in. Maybe help is on the way right now.

So...Change or stay the same? We may have to graciously deal with a big change this year, ready or not. We hope we will found ready.

Luk 14:28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?

Family time

One hard part of being a missionary is being far away from family. Our newly married daughters, Bethany and Rachel cheered us up a lot by bringing their new husbands, brothers Abe and Max Kennedy to spend Christmas and part of the New Year with us down here in Puerto Rico.

We went to church together, then took the ferry to Old San Juan and later hiked in the rain forest, but mostly we played board games, ate Christmas cookies, watched old movies, ate more Christmas cookies, opened presents and played with them (we made a video of our dog Cookie with a new camera) , and then had some more Christmas cookies.

The kids have flown back to Pensacola, Florida and we are now eating Grapefruit, but it was fun while it lasted!

Sometimes the Old Way is the Best Way.

Remember the Radio Flyer little red wagon? It was simple, sturdy and fun. The new model appears comfortable but looks as much fun as dragging around an Igloo plastic picnic cooler. I think "modernizing" it just defeats the purpose of a little red wagon: Simple Fun that Lasts a Long Time.

This new model is called the Cloud 9. It has an MP3 player and speaker system, for your child. When he gets tired of that, he can strap himself in to one of the two bucket seats using a five-point racing harness. At his fingertips will be a digital display panel, complete with temperature readouts, odometer and speedometer. Got a Juicy Juice Sippy cup handy? No worries. The Cloud 9 has cup holders too!

But after spending about a thousand dollars, is your kid really better off or more in tune with the outdoors? A wagon that is this expensive probably will never be allowed to leave the side walk or yard. So, if the purpose of a wagon is getting your kid to play outside and like it, that very purpose is defeated by the modern version of the same product.

The same thing happens in church work. As a missionary, we have seen a lot of so called "modern methods" for doing the work of evangelism and church planting, which in reality are methods that avoid doing the core work of missions.

We find there is nothing that beats knocking on a door, asking to come in and reading the Word of God in a person's home. Sometimes the old way is really the best way to get the job done. Besides, it's really more fun that way once you get started!

Please pray as we do it the old way. It is not the easy or most comfortable way, but it is really the only way to fulfill the central purpose of missionary: Sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, a message that has the power to change a persons life and destiny. There is no better way!

Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth

Umm! Roast Guinea Pig!

Mission trips: We give as well as receive!

Here are a few pictures I got from some of my students, Nancy and Marta, who went to Peru and helped a pastor in the Lima area.

We like it when churches and individuals come on down and give us a hand on the mission field. Now we are passing on that idea: our students at Puerto Rico Baptist College take some of their vacation time to help in missions around the world.

These students helped a church in Peru and had some fun too. They built a snowman out of bricks and got to see a Peruvian treat: Roast Guinea Pigs!

Well, these trips are very educational!

Merry Christmas, Sad Christmas

Our Merry Christmas: My newly married daughters and their husbands arrived in Puerto Rico at 2:30 AM Sunday morning. It made for a long Sunday, but we are enjoying some great family time: good food, dumb jokes, old movies and good conversations. They will be with us for two weeks.

Sad Christmas: "Heb 13:3 Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them."

One of my college students was flying home for Christmas and was stopped by immigration and taken to jail. It seems that he is a Mexican that has been in the USA since he was three, but that his papers were not in order. They took him from the airport and put him in jail, where he was dressed in an orange suit and handcuffs.

It was a real shock to all of us. He has studied with us for 3 ½ years and is only a semester away from graduation and becoming a Christian School teacher. He is definitely not in the same class as a "border crasher" or the kind of intentional illegal that the government tries to catch. He is just the opposite: a responsible and productive student who loves the Lord and helps others. We are praying and working to get him the help he needs to get out of jail and back to preparing for that productive future he was workings towards.

We give thanks for our blessing, and invite you to rejoice with us. But we also ask you to please remember and pray for this student and his sad situation this Christmas.

Things Missionaries Miss The Most

I visited Community Baptist Church of Bradenton, Florida for a missions conference this last week. Pastor Wayne Golson and people were just great! I found I miss some things in the USA. One is just hearing the Star-Spangled Banner sung, like the "Cactus Cuties" did so well at this basketball game.

I left Florida and returned to the work of missions here in Puerto Rico. I love the work and the people here, but it did cost me something to leave the USA.

The bumper stickers say, "Love it or Leave it" But what if you DO love it but MUST leave it? It is hard to do! But the Lord left a better place than the USA when he came at Christmas to do his Fathers perfect will. I guess you can't have a better example to follow than that!

How to Be Happy and Support a Missionary at the Same Time

People stay home from church and watch TV, but I just found this article in the NY TIMES that states being in church will make you happier!

"Happy People Watch Less TV, Study Shows

By RONI CARYN RABIN
Published: November 19, 2008

"Researchers at the University of Maryland found the one activity unhappy people do more than happy people is watch TV. The New York Times reports:

"We looked at 8 to 10 activities that happy people engage in, and for each one, the people who did the activities more — visiting others, going to church, all those things — were more happy,” Dr. [John] Robinson said. “TV was the one activity that showed a negative relationship. Unhappy people did it more, and happy people did it less.”
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I think a good application of this would be to: Cancel your Cable TV, Go to church and Use the money you save to support a missionary!

Too hard? How about...Your missionary giving should be at LEAST as much as much as you spend on cable TV and video rentals. Still too hard? Well, nobody said being happy was going to be easy!

Obituary: Mr. Common Sense

A friend sent this to me today about the death of an important person. I suspected he was going downhill for a long time. I hope you will keep his memory alive in our churches and we hope to follow his teachings to improve our missionary service here in Puerto Rico.

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Obituary: Mr. Common Sense

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.

He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: knowing when to come in out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm, why life isn't always fair, and how, on occasion, maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you earn) and reliable parenting strategies (adults, not children are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a six-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job they themselves failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer aspirin, sun lotion or a sticky plaster to a student; but could not inform the parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when people became afraid to defend themselves from burglars in their own homes because the burglar could sue them for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is survived by three stepbrothers; I Know my Rights, Someone Else is to Blame, and Ima Victim.

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.

¨He won´t get by me, Pastor.¨

Unlikely Guardian Angel

Last week, I found Miguel sitting on the front steps of my church and wanting to talk. Miguel is 50 something, but muscular and marked by evidence of a pretty tough life. He usually just nods when I invite him to church, but today he had something to say.

¨Pastor, you know that guy that tried to assault you with a stick in the church a few weeks ago?¨ he began. "I want you to tell me all about it."

I told him the story (mentioned earlier in this same blog) and he nodded his head.

Miguel put his arm on my shoulder and said quietly, "The police won't do anything about a guy like that. Let me tell you how to handle it. Take a bat and go for the ankles, shins, knees and the lower two ribs, until he can't walk. Then drag him out to the curb side and call an ambulance. They will take him away like yesterdays garbage."

I told Miguel I appreciated his concern but that we had a testimony as a church to uphold and probably shouldn't be in the knee breaking business.

He thought about this for a minute and said, "Don't worry about it Pastor. That same stick he tried to hit you with, he used it to break a window on my pick-up truck. I am waiting here to see if he will come by again. Don't worry about a thing,...", said Miguel as he patted me on the back, "he won't get by me."

Wow, with friends like that....should I be grateful, happy or afraid? Anyway, I haven't had trouble with any street people bothering us for the last month.

Please pray for our protection, from the street criminals and also from overzealous guardians!

Two different Suicide Attempts Makes for a Stressful Week

Carlos, the Knife and I

"I am going to kill myself" sobbed Carlos, as he pulled out a pocket knife, opened it and put it on the table between us,"And I am going to use that knife." He grabbed his head and moaned and rocked back and forth.

Carlos had just told me his wife left and would not allow him to visit his daughter. He handed me a huge, framed picture of his teenage girl that was hanging on the wall, saying, "Take this picture. I give to you my daughter to pray for and to look after. I won't be able too."

I was afraid for Carlos. I felt that taking the picture from him would somehow make him feel that he had taken care of his daughter and then he could go ahead with his suicide. I prayed quickly for wisdom and then spoke, trying to give him as many reasons to live as possible.

I kept an eye on him and I put my arm on the table by the knife and said, "You shouldn't give me that big picture. Hang it by your bed so you can pray for her. She will need your prayers. Remember, in a few years she will be a young woman, and have her own home and then will come the grandchildren. She will think of her father when she is on her own and you can visit her then. You will see her again, and with grandchildren to rejoice over. Imagine how sad she woud be if you hurt yourself. You don't want to make her cry. It would make a sad story for her to tell to her children. You don't want to bring grief to her heart and tears to her eyes do you?" I said,

Carlos nodded is head, and slowed his rocking a bit and we talked a little more about hope, a better life and reconcilliation, especially from God's word. After talking and praying together, I took the knife and closed it, saying, "Let's put this away now. You won't need it. I won't take that big picture. Your daughter needs your prayers, but I will take a small one and help you pray for her."

I left him then. He was still sad, but seemed a lot calmer.

The College Girl, the Pain Killers and Our Church

A girl I will call "M" is a member of our church, was living with her mother and attending a Vocational College. One day she didn't come home and only a few days later did we all find out that she had left to run off with a boy friend. We were all pretty sad. About a month ago, M returned home and came to church with her mother. I spoke to her and it looked like she was coming back home and to church, without the guy.

I am not sure of all the details, but this morning we heard that she was in the hospital after overdosing on pain killer pills her mother had in the medicine cabinate. M sent a text suicide message to her sister. The sister called her husband and he rescued M, carrying her to the hospital in time to save her life.

Our hearts and prayers are with this family. They represent three different households that attend our church. When one suffers, we suffer with them. We ask your prayers for them. They have helped us grow in the past. Now it is our turn to help them heal.

Drink This!

Tina went to the hospital today and took some Radioactive Iodine to treat her thyroid problem. It was not as spooky as the picture or what we imagined, but she was a bit nervous. She seems to have relaxed a bit since then.

The doctor says Tina is not allowed to have anybody within 10 feet of her for three days and must abide by a long list of precautions, such as eating with disposable materials, washing her clothes separately, etc. So we had to make special arrangements.

The twins are staying at a fellow missionaries home. I was going to stay in the guest room at our Bible College, but with the twins gone, I figured I could stay in their bedroom and be withing call if Tina needs anything. I didn't want her to feel abandoned during this stressful time. We rented some videos tonight and watched them together, her at one end of the living room and I at the other. We were able to laugh together, just not sit together.

Tina seems to be in good spirits, but I am sure this is stressful. Please continue to pray for her health.

Bite the Bait, or Just Keep Swimming?

The church building we use was formerly an Assembly of God Church. They moved about a ½ mile away and built themselves a new building and now rent the old one to us.

A few weeks ago, their pastor stopped by and asked, "Would you like to buy our building? We will lower the price from $160,000 to around $100,000."

We got excited, but then had some doubts. It sounded too good to be true. We prayed, sought advice and took stock of our situation.

Sunday morning I announced, "Let's give this situation a week of prayer and next week have a discussion. We need to see if we SHOULD say "yes" or not. We can also have a "Faith Promise" service, and see if we are willing to raise our offerings. This will tell us if we CAN say "yes."

I thought the church would like to buy the building, but the next Sunday, everyone wanted to continue renting. The reasons: poor parking, a bad neighborhood, too close to a river and a bad roof. The clincher was when we discovered the owner never got permission or filed papers for a church at our location. So, on any whim, the government could disallow us to meet there anymore.

We then decided to spend our offerings building the congregation through visitation and meeting members' needs, rather than looking for a permanent place.

The good news in all of this is we did raise almost $200 more a month in giving for this next year. We hope to offer this to one of our Bible college students, and in turn, get more help in visitation. Today, I spoke with a young man named Julio, who is a new pastoral major at our Bible College. I scheduled him to preach Sunday and really hope that he will come and help us build up our congregation.

We do hope someday to have a place of our own. Right now, we hope to be helped by someone who has a heart for missions, and in return, be a help to them.

Everybody Said (But Nobody Did)

I heard a silly, upbeat, Caribbean type Acapella song this week that has a great message for missionaries, pastors and churches. It would be fun song to sing at Bible camp I think.

Here is a Youtube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTqqSMzT8h8

Everybody Said (But Nobody Did)

CHORUS:
Everybody said that anybody could do
The important things somebody should do
Everybody knows that anybody could do
All the good things that nobody did

Well the preacher came to me and said what I ought to do
If I wanted to make my religion true
He'd do it himself but he really didn't have the time
He said that the duty was mine

(CHORUS)

Well the deacon came by and said give me a hand
If you want to be going to the promised land
Here is something that I don't have time to do
So I better give it to you

(CHORUS)

Well I'm too busy so I tell everybody
The work's got to get done by somebody
It could be done by anybody
But nobody, nobody, nobody did

CHORUS(2x) All the good things that nobody did (2x)

Flying in For the Love of Missions

I love flying into a Missions conference. Everyone is anticipating a blessing, and it is a joy to share with others our passion for missions. Thanks to Pastor Wayne Golson of Community Baptist Church, I am going to get to do this in November.

I had the privilege of meeting Pastor Wayne Golson, who attended a missions conference I participated in when I visited another church in Bradenton, Florida. Pastor Golson graciously invited me to speak in his church from Wednesday, November 19th to Sunday, November the 23rd, 2008.

I hear the church has a Christian school, which is great. We are church planters, but we look to the Christian schools to train leaders for the churches we start. We ourselves teach at Puerto Rico Baptist College and at times have taught at Levittown Baptist Academy, a K-12 Christian School. We hope to get a Seminary going, so the circle of discipleship can be completed here on the island. Because we have no Seminary, our young people go to the US for Masters' Degrees, where, unfortunately for us, many never return to pastor the newly found churches that are waiting for them. I look forward to learning things from their ministry that can help us here in our schools.

We look forward to a good time in Bradenton this November. We hope that you will drop in and see us there and get in on the fun.

Tina's Choice: Surgery or a Radioactive Pill

Tina has been having trouble with hyperthyroidism off and on for the past eight years. The doctor said she has "Graves' Disease" which means her immune system is attacking her thyroid making it overactive. She will likely have to have her thyroid out or take a radioactive iodine pill to destroy it since the medication hasn't solved the problem. We found out something scary: because she also has some nodules (bumps) on her thyroid they say that about 10% of these cases are related to cancer.

On September 9th, Tina had a biopsy to determine if the nodules are cancerous. We have to wait about 10 days for the results. If it is cancerous, it will be removed by surgery and the cancer treated. If not, we can choose between surgery or the radioactive pill. The pill treatment costs seven hundred dollars and is NOT covered by our insurance. The surgery would be covered, but leaves a big scar on the neck and could have complications.

Either way, Tina and I need your prayers. We have faith in the Lord, but we are also comforted by your prayers. Please remember your missionaries are often far away from family and friends and appreciate your words of encouragement.

Scary Sunday: Almost Attacked

I called 911 Sunday morning. I was alone in the church early with Sarah and Kristin cleaning and setting up. Twenty minutes before Sunday school was to begin, in walked a street person and moved toward one of my daughters. I intercepted him and asked if I could help. He smiled and put his arm around my shoulder but would not let go. I offered him some water or coke and he let go for a minute. I brought him the water, and said, "I offer you this water in the name of the Lord." He then spat it out on the floor. He made faces and cursed, but kept drinking it.

He then looked me in the eyes and began cursing and threatening. The street person then grabbed my shirt sleeve and raised a walking stick as if to strike. Without thinking, I started to go into a wrestling stance, but a thought came to me, "No. Don't fight. Even if you win, you will lose. The church will suffer for it. And if you lose, who will be here to protect Sarah and Kristin?"

So, I walked toward the front door, with him a hold of my shirt and kept talking. I was thinking, "If I can just delay him for 10 more minutes, some church members will show up and help." I spoke to the man, "So, that is how you are going to be. Why are you treating me like that?" He dropped his stick and bent down to pick it up and I stepped back, got my cell phone off the table and called 911. When the street guy saw that he smiled and ambled out of the church and walked slowly down the street and circled back as if to see what would happen. Two policemen came in time for me to point the guy out.

The police said the man was known to them as a vagrant who was on medication, but often did not take it. The officer said I could press charges, but the man would likely be on the street the same day with a warning not to forget his medications.

A new thought struck me during this conversation. Maybe this happened so that I could meet the police and witness to them. I responded to the officer: "You are a professional and know how to speak to people like that. I will leave this situation in your hands and trust your judgment and experience. After all, we are on the same team." He smiled and his deputy nodded his head and off they went to round up the guy who was still lingering around about a block away from the church.

The church members arrived at the end of this, and it made for a quite interesting sermon illustration and after service conversation. Praise the Lord no one was hurt. Next Sunday I guess the first person that comes will have to knock to get in. We don't plan on leaving the doors unlocked even 5 min. before service starts. It's a shame, but the situation could have easily been a lot worse.

Don't forget to pray for those of use out here on the front lines!

Recipes for Good Kids

Many of our college kids were involved in ministries this summer. Marisa, in the photo, went on a summer missions trip to Bolivia, where she worked as a councilor at Camp Tiger. It is winter in Bolivia, so I guess it was a winter retreat from their point of view.

We had opening services Friday night. We had a show of hands of how many led someone to the Lord over the summer and over half of the students raised their hands! That sure is a lot higher percent than I remember from my Bible college and Seminary days! They are great kids and we look for some quality pastors, missionaries and Christian school teachers to come from this group.

We are preparing for classes to start. Tina is the new cook and is learning how to cook for over 50 people. She loves it, but this first week has been hard on her. I have to teach Chemistry this semester and that is fine, but finding chemicals for experiments is really hard nowadays. With all the fear of terrorism and Meth-Labs, it has become almost impossible to get a decent chemistry set or chemicals. But our churches need educated pastors and our Christian Schools need teachers so we will press on and do the best we can.

You can help. There is a place for you! Can you peel potatoes, attend classes or get us some hard to get supplies? Well, OK then, join the team and let's make it happen!

Grilled Computers

We aren't quite as primitive as the guy in the photo, but our computer department was set back due to a lightning strike. We have power strips and UPS power supplies, but they weren't sufficient. We lost 5 computers and a router.

We are thinking of replacing them with laptops. The desktop or tower computers are cheaper, but after you buy the screen, power supplies, wifi-adapters and make space for them, they end up costing more. Laptops come with all these things. They are also cheaper to send through the mail.

The problem is, we don't have the funds to acquire them. If you have a laptop that is in working condition, but have felt you want an upgrade, look no further for a good reason to do so! All kidding aside, we have Bible college students coming in for the fall semester and e-mail and other such comforts we can offer them make a big difference to their emotional well being as well as their educational success.