Jubilate Deo: A CTK-Dorchester Blog

Hello Friends

2010-10-14T15:47:00.003-04:00

We have not updated this blog in a long time, but since you have stumbled upon it, here are some links to explore for some insight into what we are currently doing.

1. The Christ the King - Boston Church Planting Network www.ctkboston.org/churchplanting

2. My Twitter feed - you can read the most recent posts above, and here is the direct link www.twitter.com/plantinboston

3. CTK-Dorchester Website - www.ctkdorchester.org

Thanks for checking in!

Hello Friends

2010-10-14T15:47:00.002-04:00

We have not updated this blog in a long time, but since you have stumbled upon it, here are some links to explore for some insight into what we are currently doing.

1. The Christ the King - Boston Church Planting Network www.ctkboston.org/churchplanting

2. My Twitter feed - you can read the most recent posts above, and here is the direct link www.twitter.com/plantinboston

3. CTK-Dorchester Website - www.ctkdorchester.org

Thanks for checking in!

Ironing out the Kinks of a New Location

2009-08-24T11:14:00.006-04:00

This week, we had our first sunday morning service in our new location: 48 Pleasant street. Overall, I think things went very well, but as with any first services, we had some technical issues we need to correct for future gatherings. Amongst those problems were some annoying sound board issues that kept us from getting the sermon recorded. We figured out what was going on after the service, but unfortunately our 3rd core value sermon will live on only in the memories of the congregation.

The 3rd Core value for our church is that we are Holy Spirit Empowered. This value more than the others needs explanation to avoid misunderstanding, and Dan did a wonderful job explaining it...you will just have to trust me on this one.

Future sermons should be recorded without a hitch, but if you are desperate for a good sermon I will personally recommend the sermons of the late Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones to tide you over. If you can get past the somewhat stuffy stylings of an old British preacher, you will thoroughly enjoy what this man has to say. Here is the link: Living Grace @ One Place. I should mention, they only post 1/2 of a sermon per week, so if the title says Part 1, it is only half of the sermon not Part 1 of a series. Make sure you listen to parts 1 & 2 to get the whole message.

Prayer Requests from Ephesians

2009-07-27T20:51:00.001-04:00

We just finished preaching on Ephesians, and we came up with a list of prayer requests for our church based on our sermons over the past few months.

Ephesians Prayer Request

learning to travel with ruby

2009-07-15T13:56:00.006-04:00

This summer has been full of learning new things as we seek to include Ruby in our lives. She is a great little traveler and content most of the time. However, she still struggles when she gets overtired! Logan and I are continually seeing the importance of being a team, helping one another in everything since there are ample things that can divide us. We are asking the Father to grow us closer together through Ruby and all of life's circumstances, even though the enemy would want to disrupt this. Praise be to God who alone is faithful and uses all things to bring about his purposes. We praise Him who will complete the good work he has begun in us.

In New York, we were overwhelmed by the size and density of the place with so many distinct parts. We did Chinatown, Little Italy, Time Square and Rockefeller Center, Central Park and other small areas. We experienced the culture of these places by eating at different places, our favorite which was a kosher deli downtown. They know how to make a sandwich! We also loved Chinatown b/c it was super nice to our wallets! What a huge need this city has for Jesus! Thanks be to God for raising up laborers to be witnesses and ambassadors for our Lord.

Understanding more of who I'm made to be!

2009-06-24T14:58:00.005-04:00

We're now 2 months into this whole parenting thing, and it's definitely been a ride that I know we've have only begun. Ruby was born on the 23rd of April, and she's growing so quickly. Though I couldn't quite figure out what it meant to be a mom at first, the Father is teaching me day by day in such a way that I can't identify myself in any other way. I'm not just talking about nursing, changing diapers with the spit-up and poop that accompanies those things! I'm referring to the way the Father is teaching me more about himself and his love for me as I grow as Ruby's mom. If you have children, either born to you or adopted, you know that the love you have for that child is unconditional and cannot change - actually it just continues to grow as the relationship grows. Regarldless of the way they fuss, we love our children. This is the way God loves us, and it has been sweet to reflect on that recently. I can't do anything to either earn or diminish his love for me. Despite my sinfulness and all the ways I neglect Him and His truth, He just loves me because I am his adopted daughter through Christ Jesus' sacrifice.

If you've been a Christian for sometime, it's easy to forget the steadfast love of the Lord that last for all eternity. We can get into habits of trying to do good, loving and serving God and others, all the while forgetting to enjoy the one who is the source of this love and desire. In the past 2 weeks, the Father has reminded me of the lost, dead place he rescued me from, the spiritual family he's given me, the husband and daughter he's given me, and the blessing of being called to be a wife, mom, and an ambassador of Christ in his kingdom. The joy, peace, and love from this understanding cannot be quenched. If you have never been a Christian, this is the love you've always longed for but never found. Only God can love like this, and only when we come to Him, the source, can we love others sacrificially and unconditionally. This is love, not that we love but that God first loved us (1 Jn 4:10).

I love watching my daughter grow and discover who she is and who I am. Is this not also the heart of the Father who made us and created us for Himself, to enjoy Him and worship Him forever? Thanks be to God the Father for loving us more than we deserve and more than we could ever imagine that He would send His only Son to die on the cross in order to pay the price for our sins (death).

I thank God, my heavenly Father, for giving me the blessing of my daughter and for using it to help me know more of who He is. Hope you are blessed by this post!

Twitter

2009-06-14T11:51:00.002-04:00

I opened a twitter account this weekend. Twitter can be pointless, or it can be helpful. I'm trying to use the "micro blog" function to send updated on prayer needs, and facts about church planting in Boston. Check it out. I promise I won't tell you what I'm eating for lunch or how long the line is at starbucks.

Obviously brilliant

2009-05-14T18:31:00.004-04:00

We gave Ruby her first bottle this morning and she took it out without any hesitation. I think it must mean she will be some kind of prodigy. At the very least it means she will be full.

I also think you can tell how much sleep we've been getting based on the way I look in this photo.

I'm a Dad!

2009-04-25T15:11:00.003-04:00

It's official, I am a Dad. I don't know exactly when it happened, but I am obsessed with this little girl. I can't stop looking at her. I've had the video camera on non-stop. This one is my favorite moments from the last couple of hours.

Baby Ruby's First Minutes

2009-04-24T17:46:00.003-04:00

It took about 29 hours, but our beautiful baby girl finally arrived at 7:25am on April 23. Here is a video of her first few moments. We will have more to come I'm sure.

No Baby yet

2009-04-19T22:21:00.002-04:00

We're still waiting on the baby to get here. She's a few days late...maybe tonight though. If the baby does come tonight it wouldn't surprise me. After church this evening, our road was blocked off because of a fire somewhere down the street. I asked the police officer to let us drive down to our house, but even after hearing my wife was 3 days past her due date, she still had no mercy. She ended up making Melissa walk down the street while I parked our car a few blocks away at a friend's house. So, if the Melissa goes into labor in the middle of the night, I will have some walking to do before I can get her in the car to go to the hospital. Even if that does happen, I will not complain, and neither will Melissa. We are ready for this baby to get here.

======
While I am here, I might as well mention that we have finished up our series on the sermon on the mount for now, and are picking back up in Ephesians. At Christ the King, we preach on a trinitarian schedule - Father, Son, Holy Spirit - Who is God? Who is Jesus? How do we live the Christian life? - Since it is after Easter, we are entering the Holy Spirit portion of the year. This week's sermon "A worth life" is the beginning of the second half of Ephesians.

Sneaky Snow

2009-03-09T09:23:00.002-04:00

I thought we were done with snow for sure. Yesterday it was 60 and sunny outside, Melissa and I went for a walk around the neighborhood, and during church the back of my neck had that warm itchy feeling you get after being out in the sun for the first time in a while. Last night we even went to bed with the windows open. Around 4am I woke up to the breeze knocking the blinds against the wall, it was chilly so I shut the window. Its 9:30 and we have a couple inches of snow. I am shocked. Not that it is snowing in March, that's normal, just not today. I had planned to run in 70 degree weather today and now I am thinking about when I should go out to shovel.

During clean up after the service yesterday, some of the guys from the music team were wrapping up cords. One of them unplugged a cord from the base of our sound system and then pulled it to find the other end. Unfortunately, that end was plugged into my computer where it had been recording the sermon on one of the shelves in the school library where our church meets. The computer survived the 4 foot fall for the most part - meaning most of the parts excluding the screen. So, I am off to plead my case at the apple store. I need a new screen and a new casing for the bottom half. If anyone has any inside connections please send them along.

The Beatitudes

2009-02-08T19:48:00.003-05:00

We're done with the "King and His Kingdom" series and we are moving into the Beatitudes. It promises to be a great series as we contemplate Jesus' teaching and consider what it means live with a new ethic as a new people of God.

Imputed and Imparted

2009-02-01T10:47:00.005-05:00

Over the past few months, I've gotten my first taste of an age old struggle regarding the preaching of the Gospel. For those outside the church, or those who have been inside churches where salvation by Christ is never taught, the most important message is the message that no one can earn righteousness before God. We can never measure up to the standards of the biblical law that says "be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect" (Matt 5:48), or "You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy" (Lev. 19:2). The good news of the Gospel is, because we could not do it, Christ did it for us, and now his righteousness is made available for all who believe on him. Christ is our Righteousness, and on his behalf we are welcomed and loved by our heavenly father as sons, daughters, and heirs to the kingdom.

Unfortunately, for some of us who have been blessed to hear this message regularly preached for weeks, months, and years on end the temptation towards license can slowly creep into our lives. We start to think, "I know I should not sin, but my standing before God is secure, and I know he will forgive me." Paul anticipated this in Romans 6:1 -2 when he asked "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? " The challenge of 'preaching to the choir' is the challenge of reminding Christians that the Gospel, when seen clearly, should motivate us to draw near to our beautiful savior: to respond to his limitless grace and forgiveness by walking in step with him, and allowing his grace to become, not a theological safety net, but a power in our life to transform us into Christ's representatives on earth.

Christian obedience does not earn God's love, but God's abundant love should cause us to respond with devotion to our savior. Charles Spurgeon put it beautifully in yesterday's reading from the devotional Morning by Morning.

Morning by Morning Or, Daily Readings for the Family Or the Closet By Charles Haddon Spurgeon

This morning

2009-01-22T07:25:00.002-05:00

A conversation I just had with Melissa who has a final exam this morning:

Me: Good luck on your test. Don't worry, you will be done with your class in just a few hours.

Her: Have fun at the Dinosaur museum.

Our lives have been pretty different this week. She is taking an intensive January term class, and I am doing the work of a church planter. My life is spent building relationships, making connections with the community, and doing administrative things for our small congregation.

Today I am going helping out a teacher in one of our local schools by chaperoning a trip to the museum of science. While its hard for me to come to grips with the fact that I am several years past the participant/chaperone transition point in my life, I must say, going to see museums for free is a great benefit.

A New Year of Sermons

2009-01-05T11:31:00.004-05:00

Happy New Year. We will continue preaching through the book of Matthew until Easter, something we began at the beginning of the Advent season. As we transition out of the birth narratives and into Matthew 3, Dan is begining a new series entitled The King and His Kingdom. The first sermon "Preparing the Way" is online and ready to be downloaded on itunes.

If you wondered why we were missing a couple of weeks of audio it is because we had a joint worship service with our sister church in Cambridge on Dec. 28th, so there was not sermon file from Dorchester that week. As for Dec. 21st, I preached that Sunday, and as has been known to happen when I preach, I messed up recording it and the entire file came out blank. Melissa questioned if I did it intentionally, but I promise I did not.

Links

2009-01-01T16:17:00.002-05:00

If you're like me, you probably have a few websites you browse frequently. Since I just linked to the bookstore in the previous post, I thought I should put a good word in for monergism.com. Monergism has a ton of useful information related to reformed theology, the church, and basic christian doctrine. The site is frequently updated with links to sermons and useful articles around the web. Today they linked to Keller's article on The advent of Humility from December's issue of Christianity Today. Check out both links when you have a chance.

Advice to Young Converts

2009-01-01T15:57:00.003-05:00

I hope everyone enjoyed the Holiday season. I spent a lot of the break reading after being convicted about my steadily decreasing study habits since the end of seminary. I highly recommend A Short Life of Jonathan Edwards by George M. Marsden. It is less than 150 pages long, and a relatively easy read. If you live in New England, you should put it close to the top of your reading list. It is a great introduction to the history of Christianity in the area, as well as an inspirational story of a man who faithfully pursued his calling, yet was by no means a perfect person.

After reading the biography, I've started working my way through some of Edward's writings that I should've read a while ago. Amongst them is a letter he wrote to a young woman that was later printed as a tract called Advice to Young Converts. Read through it if you haven't already. It's wonderful.

A Copy of a Letter Sent to Deborah Hatheway a young woman belonging to Suffield; by the Revdr Edwards of Northampton. M

Northampton June 3d AD 1741. Dear Child, as you desired me to Send you in writing Some Directions, how to behave your Self in your Christian Course, I would now Answer your request. The remembrance of the Great things I have lately Seen at Suffield, and the Dear affection for those Persons, I have there Conversed with, that give good Evidences of a Saving work of God upon their hearts Inclines me to do any thing that lies in my power, to Contribute to the Spiritual Joy and Prosperity of Gods people there; and what I write to you, I would also Say to other young women there, that are your friends and Companions and the Children of God; & therefore Desire you would Communicate as you have opportunity.

1. I would advise you to keep up as Great a Strife and earnestness in Religion in all parts of it, as you wou'd do if you knew your Self to be in a State of Nature, and was Seeking Conversion. We advise persons under Convictions to be earnest, & violent for the kingdom of heaven, but when they have attained to Conversion they ought not to be less watchfull laborious and earnest in the whole work of Religion, but the more; for they are under infinitely greater obligations. for want of this many Persons in a few months after their Conversion have begun to loose the Sweet and lively Sence of things, & to grow Cold and flat and dark, & have pierced themselves thrô with many Sorrows, whereas if they had done as the Apostle did Phil: 3. 12 13 14 their path would have been as the Shining light, that Shines more & more unto the perfect Day.

2. Dont leave off Seeking Striving & praying for the Same things that we exhort unconverted persons to Strive for: & a degree of which you have had in Conversion. Thus pray that your Eyes may be open'd, that you may receive your Sight, that you may know your Self, & be bro't to Gods foot, & that you may see the Glory of God & Christ & may be raised from the Dead: & have the Love of Christ Shed abroad in your heart, for those that have most of these things, had ned Still to pray for them: for there is So much blindness & hardness & Death Remaining, that they Still need to have that work of God wrought upon them further to enlighten & enliven them; that Shall be a bringing out of Darkness into Gods marvellous light. And a kind of new Conversion & Resurrection from the Dead. There are very few requests that are proper for a natural person, but that in Some Sense are proper for the Godly.

3. When you hear Sermons hear them for your Self: tho what is Spoken in them may be more especially Directed to the unconverted, or to those that in other respects are in different Circumstances from your Self. Yet let the Chief intent of your mind be, to Consider with your Self, in what respects is this that I hear Spoken, Applicable to me & what Improvement ought I to make of this for my own Souls good.

4. Thô God has forgiven & forgotten your past Sins, yet don't forget them your Self: Often remember what a wretched bond Slave you was in Egypt, often bring to mind your particular acts of Sin before Conversion, as the Blessed Apostle Paul is often mentioning, his old blaspheming & persecuting & injuriousness, to the renewed humbling of his heart & acknowledging that he was the least of the Apostles, & not worthy to be called an Apostle, & the least of all Saints, & the Chief of all Sinners: and be often in Confessing your old Sins to God & let that text be often in your mind Ezek: 16 63. That thou mayest remember & be Confounded & never open thy mouth any more because of thy Shame when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done Saith the Lord God.

5. Remember that you have more cause a thousand times to lament & humble your Self for Sins that have been Since Conversion than before, because of the infinitely greater Obligations that are upon you to live to God. And look upon the faithfulness of Christ, in unchangeably Continuing his loving favour, & the unspeakable & Saving fruits of his everlasting love, notwithstanding all your Great unworthiness Since your Conversion, to be as wonderfull as his Grace in Converting you.

6. Be greatly abased for your remaining Sin, & never think that you lie low enough for it but yet dont be at all discouraged or disheartned by it. For thô we are exceeding Sinfull yet we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous, the preciousness of whose blood, & the merit of whose righteousness & the Greatness of whose love & faithfulness does infinitely overtop the highest mountains of our Sins.

7. When you engage in the Duty of Prayer or Come to the Sacrament of the Lords Supper or attend any other Duty of Divine worship, Come to Christ as Mary Magdalene did Luke 7. 37 38. Come & Cast your Self down at his feet & kiss 'em, and pour forth upon him the perfumed ointment of Divine love, out of a pure & broken heart, as She pour5 out her precious ointment out of her pure alabaster broken box.

8. Remember that Pride is the worst viper that is in the heart, the Greatest Disturber of the Souls peace & Sweet Communion with Christ, was the first Sin that ever was, & lies lowest in the foundation of Satans whole building, & is most Difficultly rooted out, & is the most hidden Secret & Deceitfull of all Lusts, & often Creeps in insensibly into the midst of Religion & Sometimes under the Disguise of Humility.

9. That you may pass a good Judgment of the frames that you are in, always look upon those the best Discourses, and the best Comforts, that have most of these two effects viz: those that make you lest,6 lowest, & most like a little Child, & Secondly, Those that do most engage & fix your heart in a full & firm Disposition to Deny your Self for God, & to Spend & be Spent for him.

10. If at any time you fall into any Doubt about the State of your Soul, under darkness & Dull frames of mind, tis proper to look over past Experience, but yet Dont Consume too much of your time & Strength in poring & puzling thoughts about old Experiences, that in Dull frames appear Dim & are very much out of Sight, at lest as to that which is the Cream & life & Sweetness of them: But rather apply your Self with all your might, to an earnest pursuit after renewed Experiences, New light, & new lively acts of faith & love. One new Discovery of the Glory of Christs face & the fountain of his Sweet grace & love will do more towards Scattering Clouds of Darkness & Doubting, in one minute: than Examining old experiences by the best mark that Can be given; a whole year.

11. When the Exercise of grace is at a low ebb, & Corruption prevails, & by that means fear prevails, Don't desire to have fear Cast out any other way, than by the reviving & prevailing of love, for tis not agreable to the Method of Gods wise dispensations that it Should be Cast out any other way; for when love is asleep, the Saints need fear to restrain them from Sin & therefore it is So ordered, that at Such times fear Comes upon them, & that more or less as love Sinks. But when love is lively exercise, persons don't need fear, & the prevailing of love in the heart, naturally tends to Cast out fear, as darkness in a room vanishes away as you let more & more of the pleasant beams of the Sun into it 1 John. 4 18.

12. You ought to be much in Exhorting & Counselling & warning others, especially at Such a Day as this: Heb: 10 25. & I would advise you especially, to be much in exhorting Children & young women your Equals, & when you exhort others that are men, I would advise you that you take opportunities for it, Chiefly when you are alone with them, or when only young persons are present. See 1 Tim: 2. 9, 11, 12.

13. When you Counsel & warn others, do it earnestly, affectionately & thoroughly. And when you are Speaking to your Equals, let your warnings be intermixed with Expressions of your Sense of your own unworthiness, & of the Sovereign grace that makes you differ, & if you Can with a good Conscience, Say how that you in your Self are more unworthy than they.

14. If you would Set up religious meetings of young women by your Selves, to be attended once in a while, besides the other meetings that you attend I Should think it would be very proper & profitable.

15. Under Special Difficulties, or when in great need of or great longings after any particular mercies, for your Self or others; Set apart a Day of Secret fasting and Prayer alone; & let the Day be Spent not only in petitions for the mercies Desired, but in Searching your heart, & looking over your past life, & Confessing your Sins before God not as is wont to be done in Publick Prayer, but by a very particular rehearsal before God, of the Sins of your past life from your Childhood hitherto, before & after Conversion, with particular Circumstances & aggravations, also, very particularly & fully as possible, Spreading all the all the7 abominations of your heart before him.

16. Don't let the adversaries of Religion have it to Say, that these Converts Don't Carry themselves any better than others. See Mat: 5. 47 What do ye more than others; how holily Should the Children of God, & the Redeemed & the beloved of the Son of God behave themselves, therefore walk as a Child of the light & of the Day & adorn the Doctrine of God your Saviour; & particularly be much in these things, that especially be Called Christian virtues, & make you like the Saints of God; be meek & lowly of heart & full of a pure heavenly & humble love to all & abound in deeds of love to others, & Selfdenial for others, & let there be in your disposition to account others better than your Self.

17. Don't talk of things of Religion & matters of Experience with an air of lightness and laughter which is too much the manner in many Places.

18. In all your Course, walk with God & follow Christ as a little poor helpless Child, taking hold of Christs hand, keeping your Eye on the mark of the wound on his hands & Side, whence came the blood that Cleanses you from Sin & hiding your nakedness under the Skirt of the white Shining Robe of his Righteousness.

19. Pray much for the Church of God & especially that he would Carry on his Glorious work that he has now begun; & be much in Prayer for the Ministers of Christ, & particularly I would beg a Special interest in your Prayers, & the Prayers of your Christian Companions, both when your alone & when you are together for your affectionate friend, that Rejoyces over you, & desires to be your Servant In Jesus Christ.

Jonathan Edwards

Sermon Jam

2008-12-04T21:19:00.003-05:00

After three weeks, I have finally solved an issue I was having getting the sermons online. The second half of November is now posted on our sermons page, and available on itunes for your listening pleasure.

Prayer Requests

2008-10-29T15:27:00.001-04:00

New Prayer Requests Here.

Halloween and an Election

2008-10-29T12:44:00.006-04:00

We are pumped for our first Halloween in Dorchester. This will be my first opportunity to give out candy since I was in high school. I just asked Melissa about it and apparently she has never passed out Halloween candy. Wow. So, I think in our excitement we have over-prepared. We have five bags of candy and we live in a two-family home which means our downstairs neighbors will be passing out the goods too. Kids who show up at this door are going to leave happy.

(Side note: when we were at walgreens buying the candy we had a hard time choosing what we wanted, but at one point Melissa seriously suggested that we get those black and orange wrapper taffy candies. Am I wrong, or does every kid hate those things? Well, she pointed them out and was all excited about them, and I was shocked. I clearly had no idea who I married. I told her I refuse to be "that house," and we ended up settling for whoppers and Kit Kats.)

Although Halloween is still a few days away, Melissa and I have already been to our Halloween party for the year. We dressed as Dwight and Angela from the office, and I think we were with the only group of late 20's business people who did not watch the show. What had the potential to be a great costume instead became the impetus for a night of blank stares and "oh, yeah...I think I've heard of that."

Our costume may have flopped, but Obama costumes were a hit. Throughout the evening, there were several Obama's around the room, and judging by amazon.com there will be millions of Obama's and McCains on Friday night. If you are planning on going as one of them, might I instead suggest Zombama and McBrain? You can thank me later.

Big Weekend

2008-10-15T15:25:00.005-04:00

After preaching this Sunday, I finally got my first sermon online. I think this is a modern day pastoral right of passage. If you are interested you can hear it on our sermon's page.

Aside from preaching, Melissa and I also had a busy week because we went on the Christ the King Church-wide getaway. Glenn Hoburg, pastor of Grace DC spoke, and we both gained a lot from his messages. We spent the weekend in Rumney, NH at a Christian Conference Center. It was great to get out of the city for a few days, breathe some fresh air, and look at the beautiful colors of a New England autumn. Unfortunately, we forgot the camera, but I took a few cell phone pictures that will have to suffice (See the Photos page for more).

While we were away, the Shawmutts' season was tragically cut short due to a first-round playoff game that was played without one third of the normal team. There is always next season I suppose, but as you can imagine, we are hitting the recruiting trails hard in the off season (aka. working to grow the church through sharing the gospel).

Despite the disappointing performance on the athletic field we are enjoying the work of church planting, and we love being in Dorchester. In fact, we consider our unborn child blessed to one day be able to proudly display his/her OFD bumper sticker. Speaking of our unborn child, Melissa got her first maternity outfit this week, an event that sparked an unexpected modeling session. Here is one of the highlights:
As you can see, she has a ways to go before filling it out.

New Prayer Requests

2008-10-03T16:41:00.001-04:00

Check em out Here

By Request: An update

2008-09-17T18:00:00.003-04:00

Subject line of an email I just received: "Dude-you gotta update your blog"

So, by request, here is a brief update. The sermon from this week is up, as well as some pictures on the photo page of a recent cookout we had at Dan's house. There were probably 50-75 people there.

Tonight is our first community group meeting. I am leading it at our place at 7:30. We are going through a curriculum called Gospel and heart, but this week will only be an introduction.

Ok, so this is a pretty lame update, but I have to help Melissa clean up. Here is a recent picture of us celebrating the whole pregnancy thing.

Here Baby Here

2008-09-09T18:02:00.005-04:00

I don't think this has been announced on the Blog yet, so if you in case you have not heard; Melissa is pregnant. Our first doctors appointment is Friday, and we are waiting anxiously to hear what the Doctor has to say.

This past Sunday was our fall kick off, and things went off without a hitch. We have a new worship leader who did an excellent job, the podcast was recorded at a relatively high quality, and we managed have everything set up in plenty of time before the service.

I still need your prayers so that I can finish raising our support. Now that our church is up and running there are a lot of weekly responsibilities that take up my time. In fact, i wish they could take up all my time, but I still have about $15,000 to raise. We are praying to finish it this week, of course, that means miracles will have to happen, so pray hard.

As for the title of this post, it is a play on Dorchester's favorite movie "Gone Baby Gone." The movie takes place in our neighborhood and some surrounding areas, and it shows the grittier side of life in Dot. The intro (linked below) is great, but if you want to watch the whole movie let me warn you it has a lot of language and some content that is hard to watch.

End of August

2008-09-01T00:24:00.002-04:00

We had a few weeks of botched sermon recordings...including my own. I managed to get Dan's sermon online today, but the audio quality is not great because I was using some new equipment. We will be back to normal next Sunday when we start a new series on Habakkuk.

A man who understood his need for Christ

2008-08-13T15:26:00.003-04:00

Private thoughts upon religion, and a Christian life By William Beveridge

Bigger, Stronger, Faster

2008-08-11T10:04:00.005-04:00

It was an Historic evening at CTK-Dorchester on Sunday. We officially moved to the super sized communion cups. I know that to many of you this may seem insignificant, but it was quite an experience at the table. Coincidentally, or rather, providentially, we also had a huge loaf of Ethiopian flat bread to go with our large cups. Dan's sermon on Galatians 2:11-21 (Which you can hear on the sermons page, and you should) hit on the reality of our sinfulness, and our need for a big savior who could cover all our sins. The elements (bread/wine) were a great visual representation of what he was talking about. Instead of taking a thimble worth of wine or juice and a tiny crumb of bread, everyone got enough for at least a full gulp and a couple of bites as we recognized Christ as the only source of our righteousness.

Next week, I'm stepping up to the pulpit (or more precisely, the music stand in the school library). It's a little nerve racking, but thankfully the word of God is not bound to my oratory skill. Please keep me in your prayers, I'm still a rookie at sermon prep. While you're at it, pray that I could divide my time well. We still have about half of our support to raise and only a month to get it done. Melissa is also working 40 hours at the clinic, so it will be a busy week in the Keck household.

PS. Shawmutts are on a one game win streak.

We're Back!

2008-08-06T18:42:00.006-04:00

First things first - I am pleased to announce that i have finally figured out how to properly record a podcast. This week's sermon has great sound quality, so feel free to check it out. It was a little short because of some time considerations this week, so I included audio of the prayers before and after on the sermon for you to join it on.

Things are busy as we head towards our September 14th launch date. I am currently working on getting a few signs designed, redoing the bulletins, and I am preaching on August 12th, so that is on my mind as well. Not to mention the whole support raising thing which should be taking up most of my free time.

It has been an eventful week so far in Dorchester, we had a few new people show up at the service on sunday and at the Softball game on Saturday. I met a guy at the grocery store whose name tag said "Papi" (as in David "Big Papi" Ortiz ), and I knew he was a prospective ShawMutt. Despite the much needed assistance of Papi and his brother in law last weekend, we were obliterated by the opposition. Who beat us? None other than the perennial champions (a.k.a. the Yankees of the boston metro church league), our mother church CTK-Cambridge. What a bummer. After the game, I realized, we are only in our infancy as a church, our launch is still over a month away. Sure, it was a defeat, but it was like a child playing basketball their Dad when they are 7 years old. Dad has no problem dunking on the six foot goal and blocking shots when Jr. is only 4 feet tall, but eventually Jr. is going to grow into a spry young teenager. Those days will come for Dorchester-- hopefully before we meet again in the playoffs.

On another note, check out prayforthedot.com for the latest prayer requests from the church.

What's the deal?

2008-07-30T09:03:00.001-04:00

Sorry we have not posted in a while. We have been on a trip to Tennessee, but we should be back in a couple days. We will give a full update then.

finally an update from melissa!

2008-07-14T14:27:00.002-04:00

It's an awesome blessing to be involved in God's mission up here in Boston. It is impossible to do anything here unless the Holy Spirit is at work in it, which is comforting because "Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain" (Psalm 127:1). With this summer, Logan and I are entering a new chapter of life in ministry for our heavenly Father. As you know from reading Logan's updates, he is an official intern working for our young church plant, being humbled and growing into the man the Lord has created him to be. I have been working at the vet clinic a lot more, which is simultaneously a blessing and trial. The struggle lies in working long hours where my brain is required to function on overdrive, and there is no time to engage the people I work with about their lives, or about Christ. The blessing is that the Lord is using this job to provide for Logan and me financially, to grow my veterinary skills and help me understand the lives of those who work long hours 5-7 days/week, and he is drawing people to himself from this job. So far, Anne, a vet, has joined our church. Linda, a tech who no longer works with us, is a frequent attender. Jeanne, a tech from Cameroon, has come with her daughter once. And finally, Aurelio, a dog walker and all-around helper in the clinic, has come 3 times.

Logan has already told you about Aurelio, but I have to say more since the Lord blesses me through him so much. Aurelio is from Brazil and is in his 50's. He knows Jesus and understands the gospel. He came to eat dinner with Logan, me, Travis and Katie last night. We grilled out and talked with one another - Travis had to translate most of the time since Aurelio speaks all Portuguese and little English! I can understand some things, and my Spanish is growing stronger all the time! We are seeing a beautiful picture of the kingdom begin to form in our church that reminds me of John's vision, "After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying with a loud voice, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!'" (Revelation 7:9-10). It's beautiful to be a part of the Lord's plan as he builds his kingdom through our church in Dorchester.

Please pray that we would be clay in the potter's hands during this exciting time of transition as Pastor Dan Rogers leads us to reach out and serve the community of Dorchester, loving God and loving our neighbor, living incarnational lives for Christ.

The 4th of July

2008-07-07T18:02:00.002-04:00

I'm sure there are other cities that do it well, but Boston is the Capital of the 4th of July. Friday afternoon we had a church picnic at Castle Island along with a few hundred other Bostonians. We gorged ourselves with ribs, burgers, kabobs, baked beans, and a table full of deserts before heading over to the field to play baseball and bocce ball beneath a slightly overcast sky. I had a great time taking batting practice to sharpen up my skills for next weeks Shawmutts game (We are 1-0!).

Working out the bugs

2008-07-07T01:04:00.003-04:00

We recorded the sermon for the first time this evening, but I still haven't quite figured out how to host it. Here is the link:

July 6th, 2008 - Ephesians 2:19-22

Dan's ordination photos

2008-07-02T10:32:00.006-04:00

On Sunday we had a huge group of people come in for Dan's ordination. We were blessed to see a lot of people from CTK-Cambridge, and our friends from Berachah Church.

Sorry about the Blurriness of some of the pictures. They are slightly larger on the Photos page.

The Roger's family blog

2008-07-01T23:56:00.002-04:00

I've added a tab up top for the Roger's blog. Click on it and check out their perspective on everything going on in the Dot.

The Ordination

2008-06-30T15:18:00.003-04:00

Things are moving right along at CTK-Dorchester. Last night Dan was ordained, and he will preach his first sermon as our pastor next Sunday. Melissa took some great pictures of the event, and I will put them up on the pictures page tonight.

It is awesome to see what God is doing here, and all the changes have brought a new level of excitement to everyone involved in the church. We had over 120 people show up last night for the service, by far the most we have every tried to pack into the library where we currently meet. It was great to see the room so full, but it also made me realize that when the Lord starts bringing that many people on a regular basis we are going to be in trouble as far as space and sound equipment goes. Oh well, those are problems we'll be excited to have, and, honestly, they are problems we are praying to encounter soon.

As I am transitioning into full-time ministry, I am quickly learning of a new need - a church office. After wandering the streets of Boston looking for place where I could talk on the phone and find Internet access without disturbing anyone, I finally ran in a church member at the borders near downtown crossing. I told her of my plight, and she offered me a empty office in her building for the afternoon. I am currently looking out at the window at some area of Beacon hill daydreaming of one day having my own workspace with a view of field's corner some day.

First things first though, I need to raise our support and get to work. Please pray for me this week. I will be calling hundreds of people and setting up appointments to share our vision for church planting in Boston. God is on the move up here, and I am blessed to give others the chance to join with him. Pray that I will be diligent with my time, and that I would find new contacts - people around the city and throughout the country who have a heart for the growth of God's kingdom.

PS. If anyone from Google is reading this, could you please add "Dorchester" to the spell check list. It is an actual place, I did not mean to type "Rochester" every time. Thanks.

Local News Feed

2008-06-26T14:08:00.002-04:00

I've added an RSS feed of Dorchester news to the sidebar. The links are collected from several news sources. If you would like to read a full story click the headline and then click the link labeled "full story:" on the following page.

Knowing God

2008-06-25T10:37:00.006-04:00

Having attended CTK-Cambridge for three years, I am long overdue for my mandatory reading of Knowing God. I just started it a couple days ago, but it has some great stuff in it.

"Being Known

What maters supremely, therefore, is not, in the last analysis, the fact that I know God, but the larger fact which underlies it-the fact that he knows me. I am graven on his hands. I am never out of his mind. All my knowledge of him depends on his sustained initiative in knowing me. I know him because he first knew me, and continues to know me. He knows me as a friend, one who loves me; and there is no moment when his eye is off me, or his attention distracted from me, and no moment, therefore, when his care falters.

This is momentous knowledge. There is unspeakable comfort - the sort of comfort that energizes, be it said, not enervates - in knowing that God is constantly taking knowledge of me in love and watching over me for my good. There is tremendous relief in knowing that his love to me is utterly realistic, based at every point on prior knowledge of the worst about me, so that no discovery now can disillusion him about me, in the way I am so often disillusioned about myself, and quench his determination to bless me."

This is a crucial truth for us to recognize as we experience the inevitable mood swings of the Christian life. No matter how worthless we feel (as indeed we are worthless), God is not surprised by our sin. Likewise, God is unimpressed with our piety (although as those being sanctified, Gods grace will grant us increasing obedience).

As the relentless political ads continue during the election season, we will doubtlessly experience an ebb and flow in our perceptions of the various candidates. As the media reveals new scandals or tales of heroism, our opinions may slide up and down the scale between euphoric agreement and hard-nosed cynicism. In reality, nothing about the candidates will change, but as our knowledge grows our judgments of the persons will change.

The point is simply this: God does not act this way. There is no confession that will cause him to cut us off from his love, and no good deed that will win his favor. He knows us better than we know ourselves.

Dawning of a new day!

2008-06-24T10:28:00.005-04:00

Yesterday was glorious. After months of waiting, our lead pastor, Dan Rogers, and his family finally arrived. Dan will not officially begin until July, but it is great to have him up here getting used to life in the Dot.

The Rogers family have a great house only a few blocks from where our Church is currently meeting, but it has lead paint - a huge problem for their 3 year-old daughter (at least that's what the Boston Public Health Commission says). Consequently, the house will not be ready for them to move in for several more weeks. "But wait," you say, "didn't they move in yesterday?" Well, sort of. They put some stuff inside their house yesterday, but the family is staying at our place. As you can tell, there are plenty of Rogers' to take up all the rooms in our house. Rather than try and have 9 people living in our one bathroom apartment, Melissa and I began a 1-4 week slumber party at the Lee's house a few streets down. After one day, we are having a blast. Are house is cool and all, but here the Lee's have guitar hero, and - get this - and actual guitar.

Our support raising is coming along, but we are far from even reaching the halfway point. Please pray that God would lead us the people he is already calling to support our Church plant. Also, pray for the Rogers, especially their kids, as they adjust to life in New England. Dorchester is a great place to live, but it will take some getting used to.

A Neighborhood Celebrates

2008-06-19T08:25:00.002-04:00

I don't know what you were up to Tuesday night, but Boston was watching the NBA finals. As most people know, our town has seen more than its share of championship games in the last few years. It is awesome every time. The bars, restaurants, and streets overflow with people who are anxiously waiting to hug, chest bump, and high-five total strangers after the game. Tuesday was not the first time I have been a part of that, but it was by far the best.

After the game ended there was what sounded like one hour-long unified shout throughout Dorchester. People were still honking their horns at 1:30am. Obviously, there was a lot of partying. Melissa and I watched the game near Faneuil hall, and as we left, we passed by a group of police officers putting on their riot gear. Moments later, thousands of elated fans flooded into the streets. On Boylston, people got a little rowdy and threw street signs through the windows of several businesses, and I'm sure more than a few people had to post bail in the wee hours of the morning. Nevertheless, it was an amazing scene. Melissa had mixed feelings about the way people had gotten so excited over something as simple as a basketball game, but I thought the event had a silver lining for our church.

Sports teams (at least winning teams) have a great ability to bring people together. Folks who have nothing in common readily sit together, hug, and cheer together when they feel passionately about the same team. In Boston, this is more pronounced than most cities in America, and I think it is because the people genuinely want to come together. The problem is, sporting events are temporary, and on some level artificially produced. What brings people together on a Tuesday night cannot hold them together on a Wednesday morning. The memories produced by the great games, however, resonate in our minds as something special, something good.

The people of Boston have some great cultural, racial, and economic divisions between them, but the are not impassible. The NBA had advertising dollars and an entertaining product to help break down those barriers; We have a living God. The people here, myself included, want something to bring lasting unity to our broken city. Thankfully, the gospel is more powerful than the finals.

Just Getting started

2008-06-16T15:38:00.005-04:00

After a brief 8 month hiatus, I am back in the blogging saddle, and more importantly I am planting a church. That's right, Dorchester has grown on us over the past year, and we have decided to join up with Christ the King's church planting vision. Our goal is to see at least 20 churches planted in the next 20 years throughout the greater Boston area starting with CTK-Dorchester (for more info on the church click any of the tabs above).

In Dorchester, our congregation has been meeting for over a year now, but no one has been working full-time for the church. More importantly, no one with experience in church planting has been working full-time with the church. All that is changing in two weeks. Dan Rogers, our lead pastor arrives with is wife and 5 children to head up the church plant, and Christ the King has allowed me to come on as a church planting intern. My job will be 1. to do whatever Dan tells me to do, 2. To fulfill my Internship requirements for ordination, and 3. To prepare for church planting assessment in 2010. Melissa and I love the neighborhood, and we have already met a lot of people who are interested in what we are trying to accomplish here. As far as strategy goes, our first priority is loving our neighbors. Although there are great needs in our community, we hope to observe the city and network with other ministries rather than assume we know what is best from the get go.

Of course, we are creating one new ministry outlet this Saturday...church softball. The CTK-Dorchester Shawmutts (named after the Shawmut T stop where we are located) promise to be the bad news bears/little giants/mighty ducks of the Boston Metro Church Softball league. Our mother Church CTK-Cambridge has won the league two years in a row, but we hope to gather new ringers each week and eventually rise to the top despite being an expansion team.

With this internship I will be raising funds for the next few years. Please pray for me as I network and make contacts with people across the country whom the Lord is calling to support our vision.

New Developments

2007-10-14T01:22:00.000-04:00

When I wrote the previous post about the Atlanta Falcons, I didn't anticipate it being the only post for over a month. After sporadically blogging for years, you think I would have learned this lesson by now. Since that last post, a lot has happened in our lives. For one thing, classes started which partially explains why neither of us have bothered to blog. More importantly though, we began attending Christ the King's church plant in Dorchester (I've added a link up top). Although most people refer to it by the neighborhood name, Dorchester is actual part of Boston proper. It is an economically and ethnically diverse area on the southern side of the city.

The move to Dorchester is the first step in church planting training program that will hopefully begin next summer. Right now, about all I do is unlock the doors to the school where we meet and I bring the bread for communion, but throughout the year I will be doing different things while we search for a full-time pastor. In fact, on October 28th I am making my US preaching debut with a sermon on the 6th commandment (You shall not kill). We feel very strongly that the Lord has brought us to this place, and we have been confirmed many times since starting there in September. If things continue to work out, we should be looking for an apartment down there once our lease runs out.

The difficult life of a Falcon's fan.

2007-08-28T14:55:00.000-04:00

In case you don't know, the Atlanta Falcons redesigned their website this summer and they put up tons of video and pictures after every game. I have been watching Harrington's post-game interviews and other media stuff, and he is a very likable guy. As a result, I'm on the Harrington bandwagon. It will probably be a bumpy ride, but what the heck, it can't be worth the last bandwagon I got ripped off of by a pack of vicious pit bulls.

Sunday Morning

2007-08-05T09:45:00.000-04:00

I'm sorry about the lack of pictures thus far, but I didn't bring a camera. As soon as I have a chance, I will upload some of the pictures others have taken.

Today we went to New Covenant Baptist Church for worship. It was our first opportunity to meet the body we will be working with. The service was really neat, there was a lot of spontaneous singing and dancing and the service was in both English and their local language. 10 people gave their testimony about coming to faith in the last year, and several people were very emotional. We all felt the presence of God strongly amongst them, and we are anxiously awaiting getting to do some significant work tomorrow morning.

One group will hit the road at 7am to drive out to the township to help the terminally ill residents, the other group will leave at 10am to prepare the meal for the many orphans in the area. Please pray for the Lord to give us strength as we experience emotionally difficult situations, and pray that we would have boldness to point them towards the love of Jesus Christ.

In South Africa

2007-08-03T08:29:00.000-04:00

It seems like this could be my only opportunity to use the Internet while I am here, so I will let you know everything I do at this point.

I am in South Africa leading a group from Christ the King, and we are here visiting Dana Mahan, a missionary we support. Dana is not the typical missionary. He graduated from Harvard Divinity School with a focus on fundraising. Now, in South Africa, his objective is to connect the indigenous African Christian ministries with the abundant resources in the US. He spends his time meeting leaders from different groups and seeing how their ministry is run, then he helps them to prepare formal support requests and information packets. Another big part of his job us using short term missionaries to provide labor for these various ministries, and hopefully develop partnerships with them when they go back to the US.

This week we are working with New Covenant Baptist Church and helping with their home care/community feeding programs. Each morning, a group of volunteers from the church visit the homes of those who are sick and dying in the local township. Many of these people have aids, and few have the financial means to buy food or medication. In the afternoon, the church opens its doors to the dozens of orphans living on their own within the township. Most of them come from homes where the parents have died or abandoned them, and they have been forced to provide for themselves in a Child run household. Since most of them are too young to work, this is nearly impossible without the help of the local church. While we are here, we will accompany the home care volunteers, cook meals at lunch time, play with the children, and help them with their school work.

So far, the trip has been exciting. 12 people and one shower has been a challenge, but we seem to be getting along alright after one night. Please pray that the Lord will give me what I need to be a spiritual leader for a diverse group, and pray that each person on the trip will grow in their relationship with the Lord as they minister to others and spend time in the word. Tonight we will begin our bible study on the speeches in Acts and talk about how we can better share the gospel in different contexts.

Yet another flight around the globe

2007-07-26T10:30:00.000-04:00

This time next week I will be landing in South Africa. It's amazing how this whole trip came about. In case I haven't told you, the Missions committee at Christ the King, which I am a part of, planned the South Africa trip throughout the year. Early on, we found out Melissa couldn't get off of work for another 2 weekend (she took 6 for our Thailand trip), and because we didn't want to be separated I decided not to go either. As we recruited for the trip, lots of people signed up, but no one was ecstatic about leading it. The church asked the deacons and the elders to go, but every single one of them had already made plans for that week. It finally reached the point where our head pastor realized there were only two people in the church available to lead the trip: him and me. We talked for a while and realized, it makes way more sense for me to go than to take our head pastor away for ten days right when people are arriving in town for the upcoming school year.

So, here I am, ready to go and honestly excited. It will be rough to be away from my new bride for 10 days, but it's clear God wants me to go. That fact became even clearer when I managed to raise almost all of my support in two weeks. Someone who I had not even consider writing a support letter to ended up sending me $1300 just a few days ago. All that's left for me to do in the next 5 day is finish Harry Potter and start packing.
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Melissa and I have been reading through the Mcheyne Bible reading schedule this year. I highly recommend it for everyone who has trouble keeping regular time in the word. Reading the entire plan will get you through the Ot once and the NT and Psalms twice every year. Reading the first two columns one year and the second two columns the next will Get you through the same amount in 2 years. Anyway, we are doing it half speed this year and right now we are reading through Acts. It is a great book to read through when thinking about evangelism. Today I read Paul's sermon in Antioch from Acts 13. What a masterpiece, everything is in there, and it has a great conclusion. "Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses." then the next week "almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord." a lot of them got upset, but "all who were appointed for eternal life believed."

Paul new the gospel was a message worth sharing and he wasn't concerned with stepping on people's toes. I know there is an element of sensitivity that must be present when we speak to non-believers, but by and large, Christians err on the side of hypersensitivity/timidity when it comes to sharing the life-giving truth of the Gospel. Why do Christians care so much about offending others with their agenda when the majority of political and social activists run in your face awareness campaigns. Why can most Americans elucidate the finer points of pro-choice/pro-life debate, but have no clue the difference between being saved by Grace or by Works? It's time for us to actually tell people what we believe rather than blogging and talking about telling them. Be bold, walk up to our friends, classmates, parents, siblings, and co-workers and say like Paul in verse 16 "listen to me!"

Another Busy Summer

2007-07-11T15:04:00.000-04:00

During the school year I always imagine that the summer will be a wonderful time to kick back and relax, but it never is. I am scrambling to write support letters for my trip to South Africa with the church. We are leaving in 19 days and I have exactly $0.00 towards the trip. This weekend we are headed to Washington D.C. for my first veterinary conference. Melissa has already informed me that I won't actually get to operate the ultrasound, but there's always a chance I can scrounge up a lab coat and perform some minor surgeries or something.

Melissa's never been to D.C., so this should be a fun trip. I'm practically an expert on the city after spending 5 full days there in sixth grade. As soon as we get some free time I'm taking her to see the Lincoln memorial, Washington monument, the white house, the stairs from rocky, mile high stadium, dollywood, and all those other things D.C. is famous for. In addition to fun site-seeing, the vet conference has some great events planned for the families in attendance including a goo goo dolls concert and a stand-up show from a former cast member of mad TV. At least we get free lunch.

We're still alive

2007-07-03T13:57:00.000-04:00

Just in case you were wondering, we made it back safely about 10 days ago. In that time, I have completed (for the most part) a semesters worth of preaching class, my parents came to visit, and Melissa started back work. I have this idea in my head that someday we will get time to rest, but I'm beginning to think it's time to let go of it. Praise the Lord for the sabbath, otherwise we'd be dead.

Tomorrow is a day off though, the 4th of July. We're heading over to the Charles river to join the best fourth of July celebration in America. I want to say it is the biggest, but I have no idea. What I do know is that riverside at the esplanade is the only place you can hear Steven Tyler from Aerosmith singing in front of a symphony orchestra. That's what happened last year anyway. Maybe this year they can swing Rod Stewart or Billy Joel...here's hoping.

T-minus 48 hours

2007-06-17T12:54:00.000-04:00

It's about midnight on Sunday, and I just finished writing the July devotionals for the Thai church service. In almost exactly 48 hours, our plane will be taking off to go back to America. The last few weeks have been a great experience for Melissa and Me. We have both learned a lot about our gifts for ministry, and a lot about being married. I think both of us would say that leaving after six weeks is a bittersweet experience. It seems like we are leaving just when we are starting to get the hang of things: learning which bus to take, how to order food, figuring out the city a bit. On the other hand, life is waiting to sweep us away as soon as we return. I have class on Thursday (I will miss the first day on the airplane), Melissa has to work on Friday, my family is coming to visit this week, and I've yet to prepare for the trip to South Africa I'm leading in August. Nevertheless, when we get back, there are many things we will miss about Thailand. As it is whenever we work alongside fellow laborers in Christ, we have developed some great friendships. In fact, I am surprised by how close Melissa and I have grown to the team in such a short stay. Since we can't communicate in Thai, most of or ministry has been serving the long-term staff, but in whatever work we may have done, they have also served us a great deal through their encouragement, advice, and example to us. I think when I reflect on the trip, that will be what I cherish the most.

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There is a one-week team from Pittsburgh visiting this week. We are actually leaving in the middle of their trip. While we are still here though, we are trying to help out in whatever way we can. On Saturday, Melissa and I led them on a two hour prayer walk around the city and shared some of the history we had learned while writing our research papers. Talking with some of the men, I found out their pastor, who's also here, is a Gordon-Conwell grad from three years ago. I spoke with him a little bit about how he discerned his call to Pittsburgh, and it was nice to get his perspective on things. He moved to Pittsburgh so his wife could finish her degree. While she was studying, he found a temporary job as a youth pastor, and pretty soon the senior pastor retired and the church chose him as the new leader. It wasn't exactly a word from above as he finished his final classes in Boston, but God clearly brought him where he was supposed to be. I am not sure what the future has in store for us. I have definitely enjoyed being with the people here, but I haven't gotten that sense that this is 'where I'm supposed to be.' We will keep praying through it and talking about it as the decision time draws near over the coming months, but I'm not worried about it. God knows the plan, I will keep walking the path and looking out for that next step.

catch up time

2007-06-16T05:26:00.000-04:00

Please forgive my negligence to you, our faithful readers and prayer warriors. Logan and I can't believe time has flown so fast that we are leaving in about 3 days. Recently he posted some new pictures and promised I would talk about what's going on in them.

First, the pictures of lots of Thai kids. Those are from "Joy Kids," a gospel outreach program we do every Saturday to share the gospel with the kids in their language. We begin with singing some praise songs in both Thai and English. We play some games. We learn a Bible verse in both Thai and English, and then we make a craft together. These kids are the same ones we reach out to at the Mahatthai slum. On Friday afternoons, we make flowers and jewelry with the girls. Sometimes their mothers come also. Please pray for these kids, that the Father would draw each one to himself by opening up their hearts to receive the truth of the gospel as they hear the word of God in their language, and that they would experience and receive the love of Christ through our relationships with them. Please notice a couple of the pics with a few of the girls and me. The Father has given me the blessing of really having a special heart and burden for them. Their names are Deau, Bang, and Fern. I'm hoping to have a chance to visit them at their homes before I leave and share Christ personally with them by giving my testimony. Please pray for them and for this.

Other pics show Logan and me with one of the missionary couples, Andrew and Becky, and with a Thai couple. The Thai couple are Chawacheu and Jirapon, my Monday night English students. Praise be to God for answering our prayers to enter a deeper relationship with them. Thank you for praying with us. Not only did we have a great time at a great Thai place where they serve the whole shrimp and not just the tails (see pics - there is a good one of Logan looking at the shrimp!), but Andrew and Becky got to know them which means the relationship will likely continue when we leave. It just so happens that Jirapon works in advertising here, and that is what Becky used to do when in the states. They hit it off and traded phone numbers with future plans to go shopping and hang out. Another cool thing is that they are a newly married couple (only 10 months), and Andrew and Becky are newly married. Both couples have no kids. So please pray that God will cultivate this relationship for himself, that he will give Andrew and Becky boldness to share with them the gospel of Christ, and that Chawacheu and Jirapon will come to a knowledge of our Lord and have a hunger and thirst for the living God. From what I understand, they are nominal Buddhists - meaning that they see the good in believing something, and they have grown up and live in a Buddhist culture. They are very western though, which I think will help Andrew and Becky as they spend more time with them and share their lives with them.

Let me think. Oh, the vet talk did happen. The vet, Din, the pet shop owner and his girlfriend, and one other young man came. Can I just say that it was hard to lecture!! But praise be to God for bringing them to the place where we hold English classes and worship. Dave got to meet the vet and engage him and the pet shop owner. Please pray for these relationships and the work the Lord is doing in and through them.

Some of the other pics contain the missionary women here - we got together for a brunch one day. I'm so thankful for them and the way the Father has used them to speak into my life.

I must say the biggest thing I've learned just this week is that God has made me a wife so that second after my individual walk with him comes my ministry to my husband. One thing the Father has used to teach me this truth is a book by Martha Peace called The Excellent Wife. I encourage each of you who are already married or those of you approaching marriage to check it out. Their are some great biblical references to meditate on.

Hopefully we will get at least one more chance to blog. The current stuff going on includes Logan and I trying to finish the material for a Thai devotional for July. Please pray for our discipline, focus and endurance as we prepare this daily devotional to leave. There is also a short-term team from Pennsylvania here. They arrived last Tuesday night. Logan and I led them on a prayer walk Thursday, and we are trying to help out in any way possible with them. Please pray that the Father would reveal himself to each member of the team (there are 7), and that he would use their time here for his glory.

Thank you all for your continued prayers and encouragement. Looking forward to talking to you soon.

New Photos and Baseball in the Park

2007-06-12T13:08:00.000-04:00

Just an FYI, we put up an new slideshow for the first part of June on the photos page.

We are doing fine heading into our last week. The pace has really picked up because a supporting church is here to visit the team for the next ten days. I got to preach my second sermon last Sunday, and by the grace of God avoided heresy and kept everyone awake.

The past two days I've had a chance to take Dave(our team leader)'s two youngest sons out to the park and play baseball with them. (They really love the Baseball (especially the Brewers), but they didn't have a bat of their own to play with. Amazingly, we located a sports store with pretty decent supply of baseball equipment and bought them a bat and some extra baseballs last weekend). It is about 100 degrees here on any given day, and during the scorching midday heat we have the whole park to ourselves. Melissa came with us today and hit a couple of nice liners into right field. They were nothing compared to my inside the park homers though.

Melissa gave a pet care seminar this evening and she is exhausted, but she promises that she is going to post soon and give some background for all the photos we just put up.

Snack food

2007-06-02T03:41:00.000-04:00

Every time I go overseas, I discover new foods that I unexpectedly enjoy. So far, my favorite snack in Thailand is "Fisho Fish Snack." Although, I must admit that it is difficult to say diffinitively that Fisho is superior to Taro Fish snack. What exactly is Fish snack? We may never know. What I have gathered from the numbers and scattered english words on the packaging is that fish snack is made of some type of processed shredded fish skin with flour or starch to harden it. It comes in barbecue, soy, spicy, and original flavors. Last night I went out on a limb and purchased fish snack "twists" which appeared to be shorter but thicker fish strips. Turns out they were actually squid strips, a little spicier and about twice as fishy.

Speaking of Fisho's, the other night Melissa and I were planning on watching a DVD, but we wanted something to snack on. Naturally, I decided to go out for some popcorn and fish snacks. On my way across the street though, I got a little side tracked...by a baby elephant. I know I wrote that blog about elephants in the street, but that crisis was averted. Up until this point I had not seen any elephants, and I especially didn't expect to see one sauntering though the little road by my apartment. After staring with my jaw on the ground for a few seconds, I ran back to the apartment to grab my veterinarian who I was sure would not want to miss this opportunity. Here is what transpired:

L: "Melissa, you've gotta come see this, there is a baby elephant in the street"
M:"What?!? I don't believe you."
L: "I'm serious, why would I make this up?"
M:"I don't know, you just do stuff like that. What is really going on?"
L: "There is an elephant outside. I saw it by the 7 Eleven. It moves pretty fast, and if you don't hurry we are going to miss it."
M: "I don't know what you're trying to pull, but this better be good."

Clearly, we need to work on our trust level.

Eventually we got out there, and after searching for a few blocks we found him (or her. I didn't check). Two Thai guys were walking with him selling sugar cane for 20 baht a bag and letting people feed the elephant. I had never realized this, but elephants have very creepy eyes. I felt like he wanted to kill me or something, but maybe that's just what happens when you walk around all day eating raw sugar. Melissa thought the elephant was pretty cool though. She fed him, got elephant snot all over her hands, and still walked away happy.

In other news, I am preaching this Sunday on taming the tongue. I looked at several texts for my sermon, but I have decided on the traditional choice, James 3. Harsh words about power of the tongue in there. To see what I am talking about try this excercise: Complete this sentence: "The tongue is..." now go look at James 3:6 for the biblical perspective.

Holiday

2007-06-01T03:11:00.000-04:00

We went to Bangkok after all. Originally, we'd planned to see the palace yesterday, but because of the dress code (pants and close-toed shoes) we opted to stick with the Buddhist temples. As it turned out, yesterday was the Buddhist Holiday Visakha Bucha. It is the most important date on the Buddhist calendar because it commemorates Buddha's birth, enlightenment, and death-- all of which are believed to have happened on the same date.

The first temple we visited was the temple of the reclining Buddha or wat poh. There, we saw the enormous statue of Buddha lying on his side. The actual statue didn't have many worshipers, but in other areas of the temple, there were a lot of people praying to smaller statues and burning incense. We prayed as we walked around the area, and left through one of the back gates. When we were about to get a taxi, we met a guard who encouraged us to see some the other smaller temples since it was a special day where we could visit them all for free. He ended up marking their locations on our map and hooking us up with a Tuk-Tuk driver to take us there.

We saw the Lucky Buddha, a small, 700 year old statue with in a very small temple, and then we went to the Golden Mountain. The golden mountain is a temple made of wood and concrete that spirals up a few hundred feet in the shape of a mountain with a golden spike on top. On the top, there is a large worship room with places to pray to small Buddha statues and burn flowers and candles to them. There was also a dresser with numbered cubbies filled with prayers and fortunes. People were shaking cups of numbered sticks in front of it. Whichever stick fell out; they would read the corresponding note for guidance. The Golden spike was on the roof of this room. We followed a monk up the stairs and found dozens of people praying and walking in circles around the spike. It was decorated with chimes and bells that had specific prayer requests written on them.

While we were up there, the scene got me thinking about the proper Christian perspective of such a place. If Christ were to return today in eschatological judgment, those places would be wiped out instantly right? It really made me upset to see so many people praying to what were obviously chunks of wood, metal, and plastic covered in chipping gold paint. There is no chance that their prayers will be answered. Part of me wanted to do anything I could to stop them from wasting their time and money on those idols. One of the men we met at the lucky Buddha admitted that he had read the bible, and even received an education from a Christian school, but he was still a Buddhist. Buddhism is an easy faith to believe in. Give money, be good, and receive your reward. It is the same with every other religion outside of Christ. It's always tough when I'm reminded what the rest of the world is like. People are lost and perishing, and there are few who are able to show them the way to salvation.

Sorry if that was depressing. I'll end on a positive note. I found out today, that one of the girls who has been coming to New Community refused to go on the Buddhist retreat with the rest of her class. The teacher made her translate 100 words into English as a punishment. I don't think I know many 12 year-olds who are so bold in their faith. It is pretty exciting when the truth of Christ begins to take hold in someone's life.

UPDATE: "Eschatological" refers to the end of all things when Christ comes back to bring God's kingdom to earth as seen in the book of Revelationn. Sometimes I forget about seminary jargon.

Democracy in Action

2007-05-30T01:34:00.000-04:00

I'm plenty busy this afternoon, but when I heard about this I had to blog about it ASAP. Tomorrow is Thursday (AKA our day off), and Melissa and I are planning on going into the City to see the palace and some of the major Buddhist temples. Afterwards, Melissa is supposed to meet up with the other women on the team to hangout in the downtown area. As of 12:30pm, these plans are facing a possible interruption...elephants. That's right, there is a possible elephant jam tomorrow that could potentially bring all traffic in Bangkok to a standstill.

The reason behind all this is because tomorrow the interim government will decide whether or not to dissolve the top two political parties in Thailand. Thai Rak Thai (the party of the ousted Prime minister) and the Democratic Party (the party of the current Governor of Bangkok) are both looking like they will be terminated tomorrow. In protest, supporters of Thai rak Thai have planned on leading 100 elephants into the heart of Bangkok. The traffic in Bangkok may already be the worst in the world. When we went downtown the first time, it took us an hour to go 12 miles to the skytrain stop. So, with a slight chance of elephants in the forecast, we are looking into new options for our day off.

Seeing fruit!!

2007-05-28T02:36:00.000-04:00

So, cool update to report on. Yesterday at the Thai worship service, Chai (the Thai who has been preaching) asked if anyone knew they were sinful and needed Jesus Christ for their salvation. 5 young teenage girls and 1 boy raised their hands and responded that they wanted to pray to receive Christ in their hearts. What a huge answer to prayer and a confirmation that the Father is working in his way and in his time. We gave them all Thai New Testaments and they sat with some of the Thai believers talking. Now the wonderful dilemma before us is how to disciple them. Please pray for wisdom and discernment as Dave, the team leader, seeks the Lord regarding the next step.

A bit of background: the MTW team began the ministry in downtown Bangkok 7 years ago to reach out to young professionals in the city but moved out here to Ram 2 about 2 years ago after much prayer. The Father has provided much ministry - which we have been writing about in previous posts (English classes, the Mahatthai slum, relationship building in the community here, etc.) No one who joined the team ever felt called to work with children's or youth ministry. But guess who the Father is bringing to the church? These kids. Please pray for strength for the missionaries as they trust the Lord and seek his will for the next step in ministry. We have all committed this week to a team fast for this purpose - to seek the Father and his wisdom regarding decisions to be made for the ministry (for his kingdom to grow here in Ram 2).

Thanks for your prayers for Logan's sermon preparation. The Father anointed him to deliver his message to all of us regarding the importance of Pentecost today as the Holy Spirit lives in our hearts and transforms us. Logan loved preaching, and he did a wonderful job. Please continue to pray for us as we seek the Lord about discernment for future ministry after seminary.

Well, this is a lengthy post, but I hope you are blessed by reading about what the Father is doing!

PS - my good friend Alica got engage this past Friday to Logan's good friend Matt - they caught the bouquet and garter at our reception!!! Praise be to God who alone is in control of every moment of our lives.

This week, please pray for us to continue to be humble servants of the Father here. Pray we will continue to build up this MTW team - Logan and I are continually recognizing that the Father wants us to spiritually build them up that they may minister to the Thai out of the overflow of the Spirit that is in them. Please pray for the team fast as we seek wisdom, for the English classes we will teach and follow up for the kids who prayed to receive Christ. Also, please pray for the Thai students I'm teaching tonight - Jiropon and Chawacheu - that our relationship will be deepened and the Father would enable us to go with them to experience Thai culture on Thursday so we can share Christ with them.

Thanks for faithfully praying. Peace and grace be to you all.

past few days

2007-05-24T21:57:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the delay in blogging, but internet is sometimes hard to access!! So this week has been clarifying to a degree. Logan and I have continually been seeking the Father regarding our time here and how we can serve and give him glory. We had our first meeting with Dave, the team leader and mentor. It seems like part of our purpose here is to spiritually build up the MTW team here. Currently, Logan is preparing a sermon to deliver this Sunday and I am preparing a guide for a 2-week team fast. We are so thankful that the Father is faithful to give us direction, even if we only know the few steps right in front of us!!

On a lighter note, we took our Sabbath yesterday - Thursday's are our day of rest. I can't tell you how important it is to rest 1 day of 7 from working. The Father really gave us a wonderful gift when he established the Sabbath after creating the world in 6 days and made the 7th day a day of rest - which he later commanded his people keep holy. The Father frees us so that we are not enslaved to our work!! I miss Sunday's as being our Sabbath, but we are adjusting to having it another day of the week.

Yesterday, for our Sabbath, we left our area in Raam 2 and went into downtown Bangkok. We took a taxi to the sky-train, which then took us into the city. It was a great adventure, and the Lord took care of us all day. We enjoyed him and each other, and we watched Pirates of the Caribbean 3.

Check out the pics that we added to the photos page - some good ones of downtown Bangkok, the roads and skytrain, the king, a large spirit house with a woman praying in front of it and more!

Oh, the significance of the pic of the older couple is this. They are Fred and Jean Depp, a 70-year old couple who came to serve with the team for 5 months. Anyone can serve overseas!! They have 10 full-grown children in the states. They taught English and were extreme prayer warriors during their stay here. They adjusted to the culture and didn't worry about their inability to communicate. Their relationships were so special that the people from Mahatthai brought them a going away present, which is very significant since the people from Mahatthai have nothing. They gave out of their poverty.

Please pray for Logan as he prepares to deliver a word from the Father on Sunday. Pray for us to serve humbly, work hard to prepare for our English classes, build good relationships for Christ and pray lots for the Lord to accomplish his plans through us. Pray we will speak his truth and build up this MTW team while we are here. Thanks for checking the blog and for praying.

Monday Morning

2007-05-20T22:04:00.000-04:00

We are well into our second week here, and our ministry is in full swing. So far, the weekends have proved to be the busiest time here. Saturday is "Joy Kids" an outreach where children from around the community come to learn skills and hear short gospel lessons. Sunday, we have English worship in the morning, and then at 1:00 we have Thai worship. In recent weeks, a bunch of the children from Joy Kids have been coming to the church service. It's a great development, but it is also adding some difficulties as we're figuring out how to accommodate 30 small children during an adult service that typically has 10 or so in attendance. This week, the Thai staff entertained the smallest ones during the worship hour, and then in the bible study/prayer hour Melissa and Jan (the pastor's wife) taught the first children's Sunday school lesson at New Community church. [Unrelated side note: while they taught the class, I stayed in the office area to work on some English class materials. Some of the kids were not in the classrooms because Thai children tend to wander a bit. There was a small toddler that has been coming with his older sister. He kind of played around the office the whole hour, and then when he went home I found a mysterious yellow puddle under a desk. Turns out a lot of Thai babies don't wear diapers.] Things went well on Sunday, but it was anything but a sabbath for us. I think we will have the day off on Thursday, and I can't wait. Please pray for the Lord to sustain us in the next few days, and provide us with time to intentionally seek after him through prayer and meditation every day.

Working Hard

2007-05-19T03:28:00.000-04:00

It's Saturday, but we are still working hard. One of the major outreach ministries of New Community Church is their English teaching program. This week, new classes start and Melissa and I are teaching Beginner's english. English is great and all, but the real reason we are teaching is to build some relationships with Thais that would not normally come to a church. We're also trying to get a pet care outreach seminar going in the next week or so. With the expert knowledge of Dr. Melissa Keck, reknowned published veterinarian, New Community hopes to provide a service to the area pet shop owners and introduce them to the church. Ok, it's class time, gotta go.

Photos Page

2007-05-16T01:39:00.000-04:00

The photo page us up and running.

Rain Delay

2007-05-15T23:06:00.000-04:00

Apparently the rainy season has started a little earlier than normal this year. The people who live here tell us that normally the heavy rain comes in July, but so far it has rained every day that we've been here. Last night, we went to meet some friends to go see Spiderman 3, but when we left the house, we found that the roads had been mysteriously replaced with rivers and lakes. Melissa and I debated the possible ways to circumnavigate the muddy waters for a couple of minutes, but we couldn't figure anything out (at least not anything that would work without any ability to speak Thai). So, we rolled up our pant legs and waded through. Now, I'm not exactly sure about the cleanliness of the average Thai street, but I'm guessing it's is not a good idea to spend too much time in that water. All in all, I think we made it through alright, but I did notice a distinct burning sensation on the bottom of my left foot for the next hour or so.

First Day at Mahatthai

2007-05-14T09:38:00.000-04:00

Saturday we officially began working with New Community Church. They took us to their ministry site in the Mahatthai slums where we had a chance to hang out with the children and teach them some English. New Community has been going to Mahatthai for about a year now, and although the kids have learned a little English, the ministry is really about loving the kids. To the left, you can see one of the boys hanging onto the edge of the building where we taught. You can see behind him the murky green water that surrounds the building. Their entire neighborhood is build atop a polluted marsh. Most of the homes are held up by termite ridden pillars that can hardly support the load they bear.

One of the big hopes that New Community has for the kids of Mahatthai is that they would cling to the hope offered by the gospel. This Sunday, we had over 20 of them come to the worship service, and they were genuinely excited to be there. Of course, the little ones weren't exactly focused during the message and prayer times, but we took them upstairs during the service and taught them a short bible lesson and played games with them.

day 1 - travel

2007-05-11T10:05:00.000-04:00

The Lord has already shown us his presence with us and faithfulness to us on this day of travel. Logan and I, although we didn't finish our papers, left on time this morning from our apartment and made it through the subway to the airport. See the pic!

The trouble of the day came when our Boston flight was delayed almost an hour which really concerned us since we had little time to connect in New York to Bangkok. Needless to say, we prayed a lot on the plane. Upon arriving Logan, myself and Adam (more about him later) rushed through JFK airport to Thai Airways. We had to get a new boarding pass. However, the Father enabled us to do all that in about 25 minutes. Then we made it through security check and onto the nicest plane I've ever flown on. We pretty much planned on not getting our luggage on arrival. I have a long track record with this one. But the Lord had other plans - to show us his faithfulness in provision in all circumstances. Thanks be to God.

Adam, is a 39 year old guy who lives in the greater Boston area. He was traveling home to Laos (country adjacent to Thailand) to comfort his mother because his 21 year old brother died from a motorcycle accident a few day ago. Adam hung with us as we navigated through JFK airport and as we got through in Bangkok. He gave us his contact info. Please pray that the Lord would comfort him and his family through their time of loss and that he was able to experience the love of Christ through us. Pray for continuing relationship with him when we return.

We'll give you more info about Thailand tomorrow, but now we have to crash!

Sawat-dii kha! (means goodbye or hello)

Thanks for checking in. Pray for our rest, integration into the culture, relationships with the missionaries, learning Thai and giving glory to God in all things. We will give you more specific prayer requests soon. Peace in Christ!

We made it!

2007-05-11T07:40:00.000-04:00

We made it safely! We're about to head out for dinner, but we'll put up more info when we get back.

T-minus 16 hours

2007-05-09T14:18:00.000-04:00

We are down to the wire. Leaving in less that 24 hours, and our papers? Well...they are less than finished at this point. As you can see, Melissa is hard at work beside me, and I am posting a message on our blog.

Hopefully we can be done by dinner, but if not, this is the perfect time for an all nighter. I mean, there is a 12 hour time difference in Bangkok right? If we go to sleep tomorrow morning, we will be right on schedule.

In other news, Praise the Lord for working out the details of the South Africa trip. I was able to purchase the tickets about an hour ago, and two more people signed at the last minute. Please pray for that group too if you get a chance. The trip will be in early August.

OMP

2007-05-04T18:02:00.000-04:00

Melissa and I leave for our Overseas Missions Practicum on Thursday May 10th. Our semester at GCTS officially ends on the 7th, but we will probably be working on papers until the night before we leave. Things are very hectic right now. In addition to trying to get ourselves ready for Thailand, we are also in the process of finalizing the details of a trip to South Africa later this summer. I figure we will both be kind of stunned when we finally arrive in Bangkok.

Jubilate Deo

2007-05-04T14:28:00.000-04:00

Jubilated Deo means be joyful in God. It is also the formal name for Psalm 100.

1 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! 2 Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! 3 Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! 5 For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.