May has arrived and basketball is over (final party tonight). Janna is painting our house with the help of Kaya (after she gets home from School at noon). Jalen is doing well in school and is currently working hard on a book report for his class.
Not sure if you have heard but there were some problems in Sentani this past week in which some military personel were fighting against themselves. Just please continue to pray for this island of Papua. There are so many things that are going on here that only God will be able to heal and deal with. Thanks for your prayers.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Kids continuing to grow up
Janna and I continue to be amazed at how quickly our children are growing up. The other morning Kaya got dressed and brushed her teeth by the time we had got up. Amazing! The other day Janna and I were arguing a little about something and Jalen came up to me and said "Dad I think you need to apologize to mom." I said why do you say that? "Because what you said was not nice to mom and God wants us to be a close family." Wow talk about a hit in the teeth. So I had to apologize to Janna, Jalen and Kaya and of course then ask God for forgiveness as well.
Then last night we watched an excellent movie called Fireproof. Now if you have not seen this movie you really need to. It is written by the same people who made Facing the Giants. A Christian based film company that is making movies that touch on issues in our society. Fireproof touches on the fact that marriage is a covenant and that it needs to be taken seriously. Powerful movie. Switching from a selfish culture to a selfless marriage can only be done once we understand Love. The only way to understand love is to realize how Jesus loves us. Without this realization of what Love actually is it is difficult for our marriages to survive. Over Easter we realize that Jesus gave his life for us. Doing nothing wrong he paid the ultimate price for our sins.
Love others as you love yourself. May we learn to do this by studying the love Jesus has.
Then last night we watched an excellent movie called Fireproof. Now if you have not seen this movie you really need to. It is written by the same people who made Facing the Giants. A Christian based film company that is making movies that touch on issues in our society. Fireproof touches on the fact that marriage is a covenant and that it needs to be taken seriously. Powerful movie. Switching from a selfish culture to a selfless marriage can only be done once we understand Love. The only way to understand love is to realize how Jesus loves us. Without this realization of what Love actually is it is difficult for our marriages to survive. Over Easter we realize that Jesus gave his life for us. Doing nothing wrong he paid the ultimate price for our sins.
Love others as you love yourself. May we learn to do this by studying the love Jesus has.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
To live is....
To live is _________. A speaker this morning challenged us with this question. To live is Basketball?? To live is wealth? To live is paying off my mortgage? To live is safety? To live is justice? What would you fill into the blank? TO live is _________.
We know the Bible says to live is Christ and to die is gain. Now we can not say the second part without the first. If to live is athletics then dying is not gain because we are taken from that which we live for. If to live is Christ then to die is gain. What a thought! Who/What am I living for?
Another interesting thing he said was that he distinguished between "Call" and "the Lord's leading". God calls us to present ourselves as living sacrifices Holy and acceptable to Him for this is our spiritual act of worship. That is the call that He gives us. After we have wholly given ourselves to him then we are led by Him to where He can use us. But the call on our lives is to sacrific our own desires and give in to what He wants.
To live is Christ and to die is gain. Serve Christ by serving others. Love the Lord and your neighbour. Powerful statements that we can choose this day to do.
We know the Bible says to live is Christ and to die is gain. Now we can not say the second part without the first. If to live is athletics then dying is not gain because we are taken from that which we live for. If to live is Christ then to die is gain. What a thought! Who/What am I living for?
Another interesting thing he said was that he distinguished between "Call" and "the Lord's leading". God calls us to present ourselves as living sacrifices Holy and acceptable to Him for this is our spiritual act of worship. That is the call that He gives us. After we have wholly given ourselves to him then we are led by Him to where He can use us. But the call on our lives is to sacrific our own desires and give in to what He wants.
To live is Christ and to die is gain. Serve Christ by serving others. Love the Lord and your neighbour. Powerful statements that we can choose this day to do.
Saturday, March 07, 2009
Hillcrest Basketball
Hillcrest Basketball is now mid-season and we are out of the King Town Tournament. The girls were 3-2 and the boys were 2-2. In our pool the teams were very evenly matched and we had 3 of our games within 4 points. One team we beat by 3, then lost one by 4, and lost one by 3. Heart breakers but great games and it was fun to see the team respond in the crunch. Unfortunately we did not get the wins but we played extremely hard and in the end it came down to inexperience and making bad mistakes. Turn overs, turn overs, turn overs.
Janna and I are also playing in this same tournament with Indonesian teams and both of our Indonesian teams are moving into the playoffs. The girls into the semi-finals and the boys into the quarter finals. Should be interesting. It is fun to once again play on teams with refs and the crowd and the whole bit. It has been awhile.
In all of this basketball it has been hard to find time for family and so we need prayer during this time. Satan just seems to use any thing that he can to get in between couples. As Janna and I prayed last night together we just prayed that all the marriages (in our families especially) would just remain focused on God and his love. May God fill us this Sunday and may He richly bless all of you as you serve Him.
Janna and I are also playing in this same tournament with Indonesian teams and both of our Indonesian teams are moving into the playoffs. The girls into the semi-finals and the boys into the quarter finals. Should be interesting. It is fun to once again play on teams with refs and the crowd and the whole bit. It has been awhile.
In all of this basketball it has been hard to find time for family and so we need prayer during this time. Satan just seems to use any thing that he can to get in between couples. As Janna and I prayed last night together we just prayed that all the marriages (in our families especially) would just remain focused on God and his love. May God fill us this Sunday and may He richly bless all of you as you serve Him.
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