My friend, Dan Pennington, who I have grown the closest to in recent years, isn't so close these days. He is helping to lead a YWAM base all the way in Brisbane, Australia where he met his beautiful and Godly bride, Catrina. They will be getting married on the 27th of August and I have been asked to be the best man, of which I am incredibly privileged. I will be finished with my first year with George just before that and am looking for a cheap flight to Brisbane, so if anyone out there sees a good deal (even a good deal seems expensive but hey, it's Australia) on a flight, or boat or train to Australia, please send it my way. Weddings are incredibly important to me the older I get because I see the long term relationship that it establishes with those who are committing their lives to each other. If you have friends who are getting married, give yourself to the process and become part of the community of friendship and accountability from start to finish. These days, it is definitely more difficult to keep those precious vows, and it takes the whole community to help keep them, not just on their own. God bless all of you!

Supernatural vs. just natural?

In our recent visit to Nigeria, we were able to minister to between 4000-5000 Nigerian Church leaders. We also handed out between 4000 - 4500 free books, 1000 of which were titled, "AIDS and You" by Patrick Dixon. The crowd appreciated George's ministry but it was a slow start. Everything picked up though when just a second after he stepped off of the stage from his first message (a difficult message to hear), thunder and lightning, incredible winds and torrential rains immediatley errupted. It continued for at least 20 minutes and tore most of the banners hanging up around the colloseum while rain poured in horizontally through to the back. To those inside it was a physical affirmation
of the message and the messenger. They showed
this by erupting into spontaneous worship and prayer and the globe was taken all around the room and held by those there while they interceded for the nations and those greatest needs that lay on the side of the road for us as "good samaritans" to minister to. Those outside who were selling thier wares, mainly books, did not have the same sentiment as much of their merchandise was ruined. Our host returning from town, said that it hadn't rained in town and there was no lightning as she queried us for what happened. Is it possible for God to do something like this - to affirm a message with a physical manifestation? When God acts in such a way, if HE does, is it always going to benefit everybody or will it leave behind a mess for some to clean up. When God shows up, do we expect it to be neat and proper? In a culture that believes in the reality of the supernatural, Christian or not, on a daily basis, you most likely couldn't convince them otherwise. WOW! One more thing, George was just himself, nothing different, nothing altered, just himself, a man who is passionate about the globe, even to the point of wearing global pajamas.

Messianic or Syncretistic?

We are told to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and for the salvation of the Jews. There are so many views on what is and isn't supposed to happen in regards to Israel and the Jews. I was just interacting with a book the claims that present day Judaism is not really the direction that Messianic Jews should go in because Judaism is no longer Old Testament Judaism and has become something cultic and apart from the true Judaism of the OT. If this is the case, then those who claim to be Messianic Jews and form their religious order and worship after present day Judaism are actually in danger of crossing over into sycretism and are not "completing" themselves by calling themselves "Messianic Jews" and not "Christians". The author explains that he happens to be a Christian who is a Jew and is in favor of worshipping like a Jew but will not cross over into cultic Judaism in order to be "Messianic". Something new for me - any thoughts?

God bless you from Jerusalem where my friend (fellow Moody grad) and I walked down the trail from the Mount of Olives where Jesus would have historically walked down. It was a magnificent view of the city looking toward the "Golden Gate" and the temple mount. So much has taken place here over the centuries and it was a unique experience to be able to minister in the midst of it all.

Townships

I have just returned from Capetown, South Africa. My first experience after stepping off the plane was to visit a "township" Church meeting. This is where the poorest of the poor live in the area of the city. Local statistics were in the range of 1.5 million people live in six to 12 foot shacks (some bigger) that are thrown up in a day. I received a warm welcome and was shown some interesting music and dancing. It was an awesome experience. The Churches thrive in the townships. There are very few other faiths present there although there is a large contingent of Muslims that live nearer to the city. I haven't seen that much poverty in one single area ever in my life. AIDS has a growing stronghold there though. We were able to visit "Beautiful Gate", a division of YWAM that works with AIDS orphans there. It was amazing to see what is required to care for a single individual and then to enter back into the fray of need outside the gates of that compound. Overwhelming is the word that remains consistently on my mind - not impossible, overwhelming.