Update from Team Macedonia

The trip so far is going extremely well.  It is a different mission trip in the aspect that we are not doing a "project" but rather we are meeting people.  Most times we think of mission trips and we think of building a house or accomplishing a project that at the end of the day we can look back and see tangible things we have accomplished.  This is not the case with what we are doing.  Our primary goal is the engage the locals here and build relationships with them leading to the gospel of Christ Jesus.  Everyone in the group has made connections with at least one, and yesterday was really the first day we were out to where we could do this.  Be praying for us as we continue to engage these people, and pray we can be faithful to walk along side Brian and Charlie as they reach these people with the gospel of Christ.

I hope to be able to write more later today, but I at least wanted to touch base and give everyone a brief update on our status.  Thank you all for  your prayers and we can't wait to get back home and share what God has done.

We have arrived

Well we are here.  It is 3pm Monday local time now but this is the first opportunity I have had to connect to the internet.  Just wanted to post and let everyone know we have arrived safely and things are flowing nicely.  I will post more later today when the opportunity comes.

Macedonia Mission Trip

Well the time for departure has arrived.  Tomorrow, Saturday, July 16, I leave for my first overseas mission trip.  There are many emotions stirring in me, but mostly anticipation in what the LORD is going to do while we are there.  I covet the prayers of you all in the specific request below.

1. That the LORD will lead us to those in whose heart He is stirring.
2. That the LORD will open their hearts to pay attention to the gospel we
     proclaim (Acts 16:14)
3. That we will see at least one submit to Christ as Savior and will be able to plant the seed of the gospel to many more
4. For our families as we are away
5. For our safety  (pray over the planes, the pilots, the 4 hr. van ride, etc)

I will be updating the website with information regarding what we are doing and hopefully upload some pictures/videos, so keep checking back for information on the trip.  Thanks for your prayers.

Phantom of the Opera or the local church?

As much as I love a good western or war movie, if I'm honest I love the occasional musical as well.  The other night Jess and I were having an at home date night and decided to watch The Phantom of the Opera, which I must say is one of my favorites.  As I was watching there was one scene in particular that reminded me of how the local church acts at times.  No, this is not a reference to how there is often one or group in the church who would rather see the place burn down than operate differently than they think it should.  The scene to which I am referring is the scene during the party where everyone starts singing the song "Masquerade."  The lyrics of this song I fear ring true in the minds of church goers as they hang around the "church friends" or prepare to attend the corporate worship gathering on Sunday morning.  Some of the lyrics that stood out to me were:

Masquerade! You can fool any friend who ever knew you!

and

Masquerade! Hide your face, so the world will never find you!

I am concerned as I serve in the church that the members of the congregations which we attend, and at times even I myself, sing this song inadvertently every time we gather as the church.  We come to church and we hide behind our smiles and every time someone ask us how we are we say some cheesy Christian answer like "I'm blessed" or the generic "I'm fine" when in reality we are facing something horrible or we are struggling in sin or just plain having a bad day.  But we dare not let our mask down, for after all, if people knew who we really were there is no way they would still love us.  This is one of the major problems I see facing the church today, especially in the south.  We are so fake in our love for one another and in our relationships that we just stay behind our mask, and so when new people come, they feel they have to get their own mask if they are going to fit into a place where everyone seems to have it together.

No wonder people are sitting in their sins and stagnant in their relationship with God and with their Christian brethren, because if they cry out for help their facade will be exposed.  If we are the church are truly going to display the gospel of Christ and effectively walk along side our brothers and sisters in Christ and reach this community, we have to throw down our mask and be real and genuine and make ourselves vulnerable.  After all is the gospel not about a God who loves us and died for us in spite of our sin and offers us forgiveness and sanctification through Christ Jesus?  Why then does the church relate to each other in a way that says unless you have everything together you are not welcome here.  What if we dared to truly be the church in this?  To truly open up to one another and share ones burdens with the body.  What if we were open and honest about our struggles in our relationship about God and our sins with which we struggle and stopped acting as if we have everything together.  Would this not make God look more glorious?  Would this not display to the world His unconditional love through Christ?  If we are truly going to be the church we have to start with this, being in genuine community with one another through an open, transparent relationship.

Church, it is time we left the Masquerade party and starting being real with one another.  Let us love one another through the lens of the gospel and not the lens of false religion.