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A New Direction, A New Ministry 17 Feb 2015 1:55 AM (10 years ago)

There are certain times in life when we all face major changes, and major decisions.  It is in these times, we must follow the Lord where He leads.  My family and I did just that when we left Alaska for Papua New Guinea over eleven years ago.  Now, the Lord is leading us to return!  Mariann, Levi and I will be leaving Papua New Guinea in just a few short months.  The Lord has led us back to Alaska, where I will be serving as pastor of my home church, the Independent Baptist Church of Anchorage.  

I will leave behind in PNG two churches and one other man, whom I have helped train, who is pastoring in the capitol city of Port Moresby.  Both churches in New Ireland will have national pastors and be self-supportive.  I do not see this as an end to my ministry here in PNG.  Lord willing, I would like to return each year to be a help to the churches and continue to help the pastors I have trained. 

Below I have put down the details on how the Lord clearly led me to make such a major decision.  A decision which was months in the making:

Back in October of 2013, I began to feel a nudge that the Lord was leading us in a new direction.  I was not certain of anything at this point, and highly doubted within myself the Lord could be leading us to return to the States.  However, the nudging grew stronger and I began to pray about it every day.  I knew this tug on my heart as I had certainly experienced it in the past; a time when the Lord led us to leave Alaska and head to Papua New Guinea.  I told no one of what I was praying about, with the exception of my wife.  As I prayed, I kept asking the Lord to do just like He did when He called me to PNG, and make it very clear so I would be certain.  I prayed and told the Lord with the nudging I had on my heart; it was not enough to get me to make a decision to leave the field. Every day when I prayed, the nudging would happen and I would ask the Lord for more certain direction. 

Mariann and I also had several things going on in our life which we felt were circumstantial in leading us to return:  We had a daughter that would be graduating college; Mariann had a few health issues, as well as Levi, and two other items as well.  I did not see any one of these items as a need/must return, as I could also see the Lord intervening in each in different ways without us having to return. I continued to pray each day, telling the Lord I need to really know You are in this.  Without that, I could not make a decision to return. 

Then on January 22^nd, 2014, I decided to get counsel from my pastor.  I called and told him what I had been praying about. I talked about the things going on and the nudge on my heart.  I told him I was trying to determine if the Lord was leading us back, or if this was just me.  After I finished speaking, the phone was silent for a second or two.  Then pastor asked me, “So you are praying about coming back?”  I said, “yes”.  He then told me that the first week of January he met with the leadership in the church and informed them he was going to retire and go into evangelism in the next 12 to 36 months.  He told them he wanted the church to have the next pastor settled before he retired.  He believed this would be the best way to go about this type of major transition.  He started the church back in 1989, and has been the church’s only pastor.  At the meeting my name was brought up to come back and pastor the church.  Pastor, however, did not want to call me and ask me to leave the field.  The next week the church leadership met again, and it was decided that pastor would call and ask me to pray about returning to pastor the church.  After the meeting, Pastor Roach began to pray that he would not have to make that call, but that I would call him and let him know I thought the Lord was leading us to return, which of course is exactly what happened!  When he told me that, I knew clearly now the Lord was leading us to return. 

In May of 2014, we flew to my son’s graduation from college.  After that we headed to Anchorage, for three weeks.  On our last Sunday, I was voted in as the next pastor of the church. 

We plan to arrive in Alaska in late June or early July.  We have my son’s wedding and daughter’s graduation from college to attend first. 

It has been a privilege beyond measure to have served in PNG for more than 11 years!  This is what missions is about, planting churches and moving on.

Rejoice in thy Youth! 14 Aug 2014 3:02 AM (10 years ago)

Ecclesiastes 11:9-12:1

(9)  Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.

(10)  Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity.

(1)  Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;

(Four of my five children are 18-23 years old.  A great age to be, and yet an age that must be approached with wisdom.)

We live in a culture which places great value on youth.  This is a good thing, even the above Scriptures place great value on how you use your youth.  We live in a time in which the older spend their time and energy trying to be young again.  They are constantly seeking the fountain of youth.  A vast majority of advertising is done in the name of regaining or maintaining youth. People seeking for their youth try pills, exercises, creams and even surgeries, but the reality is there is no such thing as a fountain of youth on this side of eternity.  It does not matter how many pills, dyes, surgeries, or the fact that you are president of the hair club for men, your youth will vanish quickly.  Therefore, how you spend your youth is of great importance.

Your younger years are a great time:  A time of promise, strength, boldness, and excitement. If you use your youth wisely there is much you can accomplish with purpose.  In order to be successful there are truths in the above Scriptures which will direct your paths.  How you choose to spend your younger years, the Lord leaves up to you.  He will not force you one way or another.  He has given you free will to choose your path.  The Lord makes it clear in verse nine the decision is up to you as to what you do.  Choose wisely!

4 Truths from the above text to help you make wise decisions in your youth.

1   God wants you to enjoy your youth  “Rejoice… in thy youth”

-        Do not be fooled by pleasure in sin. The pleasure of sin will NEVER compare to the joy of the Lord.

-        Sin is deceitful – Many, “live for the weekend”, and miss out on enjoying every moment of life.

-        Let me discuss some lies about joy in our day:  

o   It is sad today as it seems people associate alcohol with a good time.  The bondage alcohol can produce is not worth the tradeoff.  I have counseled with people for years and witnessed the destruction of alcohol.  It leads to wives being beaten, children being beaten, adultery, fighting, sickness, families in great despair as a result of a drunk driver, etc.  These things are not the result of a true, “good time”, but of sin.  Most today fail to see the Creator in this life.  They think the joy they have is a result of the alcohol.  It is not!  The joy they have during these times is a result of the God given relationships.  The fellowship of family and friends!  These are relationships God gives us to enjoy, the alcohol simply ruins it, and many times just serves as a cover to greater problems.

   o   There is no joy in failed relationships -   People today are busy seeking their, “perfect match”.   Soon, they discover the person they are with is very far from perfect and they move on to the next, leaving behind pain, broken homes, guilt, despair, etc.  The key is to wait for the person the Lord has for you.  This person will not be perfect and will have faults.  As you draw close to the Lord, He will enable you to love them with grace even with all their imperfections.    

  o   Joy is not based on your possessions or worldly success.  You can have achieved great success in your career and have all the money you need and yet be full of despair and miserable.  How many have thought this to be the key only to be sadly disappointed when they arrived at this point.

  o   The key to joy is found in the Creator.  Therefore, the following truths the Lord gives are not to take away joy, but to help you find true joy. 

  o   Also, do not fall into what I call the, “miserable Christian syndrome”.  There are some who think you could not be right with God if you have joy!  They could not be more wrong.  They live to be miserable and want others to be miserable and somehow think this is godly.  You will burn out quickly with this attitude and your life will be like an engine running with no oil.  As verse 10 tells us, “Rejoice”!  I am glad the Lord desires that my joy might be full!  John 15:11.

2     Know God will judge you for your decisions and actions – 11:9   The Lord makes clear, that whatever you decide, He will judge you for it, so choose wisely!

-        I enjoy watching the Olympics; especially gymnastics.  The talent displayed from the gymnast is incredible.  They show strength, courage, discipline, etc. Yet everything they do, every move they make, is for the judges.  They know they are being looked at and judged and every move they make is important.  They compete knowing they are being judged.  Everything they practice they have the judges in mind as to what they might like.  What will impress the judge?  Well, we too have a judge for our life!

-        God is our judge!  We need to see we are being judged for what we do.  This helps us stay on course, and use our life with wisdom and not for vanity.  If you know there are consequences to your actions, you will respond accordingly. 

-        The Bible will show you what the Judge is looking for.  The Olympian gives his best before the judges, so he might get a medal and prestige that will fade, but we do it for an incorruptible crown.  (I must stress something here for those reading.  There are different judgments that will come.  One is for the Christian and how he lived his life for the Lord; I Corinthians 3.   However, there is another judgment called the Great White Throne Judgment; Revelation 20:12-15.  You do not want to be present at this judgment. Why?  Because we all have sin and are guilty before God.  All those guilty are cast into a lake of fire.  The Lord God has provided a way to avoid this judgment:  Because God loves us He sent His Son Jesus Christ to become a man.  He became a man so that he could fulfill the law, (live a sinless life).  He is the only one who could stand innocent at this judgment, but instead he took our place.  He took our guilt and punishment; II Corinthians 5:21.  When He went to the cross, He suffered the judgment of God, that you might be saved.  He died for you.  However, because He was God, He defeated death and rose again.  We must repent and place our faith solely in Jesus Christ for salvation.  He is the way, the truth, and the life!    If you would like to know more, email me.) 

  

 

3     Remove sorrow and put away evil    11:10

-        Make a conscious effort to remove sin.  Don’t play with it, laugh at it, or ignore it.  It will destroy you and take over your life.  Whenever it begins to creep in remove it!  It is there to steal your youth!  The key to removing sorrow is to put away evil.

4     Remember your Creator  12:1

-         Life is not about you! It is about the Creator!  Focus on Him in your youth.  You will find you have a purpose.  You are not here because of some random act in the universe.  This allows you to see the world in a different light.  You begin to live for a purpose!  A purpose to glorify the Creator!  Since there is a Creator there are absolutes.  There is a moral compass to life that is not based on current trends or cultures, but on the Creator Himself.  This will help you to discern what is right and wrong, in this ever confusing world.   A world trying to determine morality apart from a Creator.  It will not work.

-        Don’t wait to serve God.  Now is the time!

Desmond's Story 3 Mar 2014 4:16 PM (11 years ago)

Desmond in 2004 or 2005

Coming back from church two weeks ago, I heard a strange noise coming from my vehicle.  I was pretty sure something important just fell off my car!  I turned around and drove slowly down the road looking for some sort of vehicle part on the road. Then, I saw it, a large (22 metric) bolt, and I knew it must have fallen off my car.  I picked it up and drove carefully back home anticipating some type of trouble in my car.  There was nothing though, the vehicle ran just fine.  I wondered why the large bolt had fallen off.  Our road has been recently sealed so it was not from a rough road.  I hit nothing on the road that might cause damage.  I had no idea why.  I located where on the car the bolt fell off from and I decided to take to a mechanic to have him look it.  I could have easily put it back on myself, but I wanted a trained eye to look for what might have caused it to fall off in the first place.  I took the vehicle to the mechanic first thing Thursday morning.  He too was baffled as to why the bolt just fell off.  He saw no reason for the bolt to have fallen off when inspecting the car.  The reason, though, was about to be crystal clear.

At church the evening prior, we had our normal prayer meeting/preaching service.  One of the prayer requests was for a man named Desmond.  Desmond is 26 years old and during his teenage years he attended the Baptist work in Sohun.  However and sadly, as many young people do, he left church when he was no longer required to go by his parents.  Desmond simply came to church because he had to, not because he was converted to Christ.  (The answer to our issues with young people not wanting to serve the Lord is not  the youth pastor  with a "cool" youth department and great teen activities and "teen" music, but true conversion to Christ.  I think I will do a post later on this subject.)  I would see him plenty of times and always say hello and try to encourage him.  He always maintained a very kind disposition with me.  The prayer request was to pray for Desmond because he was sick.  I was told it was a swollen spleen, which is very common here due to recurring Malaria.  To me this did not sound like a major sickness since we see this all the time, but certainly something to pray about.

So again Thursday day morning I took my vehicle to the mechanic.  As I was leaving the workshop on Thursday morning, I had the urge to go and pray with Desmond.  Thursdays are usually days for studying for Sunday’s sermons, not visiting. I knew I was not very far from where Desmond lives, and felt strongly I should go pray with him.  I arrived at his house and his mom, twin brother, one of his two sisters, and one other brother was present.  We all went into the house and sat down.  It was clear Desmond was sick, and he told me it was not his spleen.  He said he just had pain in his stomach area and could not eat.  It started after a night of heavy drinking.  I was immediately concerned about alcohol poising or bad home brew, which is common here.  I know Desmond had heard the Gospel many times from his days at church, but I decided to tell him again of Christ before praying with him. After I finished presenting the Gospel he said he wanted to trust Christ and follow the Lord.  He then, without my help, with tears streaming down his face, prayed and put his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ!  We rejoiced and it was nice to see the tears of joy also flowing from his mother’s face.  I now knew why the bolt had fallen off!  The Lord used that to put me in a place to go and talk with Desmond.  The story is not finished yet, though.

 Desmond told me if he was well enough, he would be at church on Sunday. I was hoping to see him there, but I did not.  After I left him on Thursday, his Mom took him to see a doctor in Kavieng.  I was not aware they would be going to Kavieng.  Little did we know then, only his body would return.  I received a call at 6:00am the following Thursday.  Desmond had just passed and went to be with the Lord.  I preached his funeral that Saturday and hundreds more heard the gospel from the village.  Oh, how thankful I was he trusted in the Lord!  I have no doubt Desmond is doing great right now!  I am also thankful for a bolt that “just happened” to fall off my car and directly led me to go pray with Desmond on that Thursday instead of that Saturday.  I had no idea at the time, but that Thursday morning would be the last opportunity I had to speak with Desmond.

Are These Verses Really in the Bible? 22 Nov 2013 2:32 AM (11 years ago)

Matthew 10:37-39

(37)  He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

(38)  And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.

(39)  He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

(I am preaching through Matthew and these are some thoughts from these verses and part of the sermon for this Sunday.  In context, Jesus is giving instructions to the newly selected 12 Apostles as he sends them out.)

Are these verses really in the Bible!?

 Yes, of course they are, but we certainly do not hear much about them, or we hear them being explained away! 

These verses show us what it takes to truly follow Christ.  (The truth of these verses would be one of the keys to the success of the Apostles.) Christ is much more than just fire insurance. He is much more than just help in time of need.  He is much more than just encouragement during heart-ache or loss.  He is much more than just something to think about on Sunday morning for a few hours.  Although much of our preaching focuses on the above aspect of being a Christian, Christ demands much more of us. 

Matthew 10:37-39 begins to show us the true worth of being a follower of Jesus Christ.  These verses demonstrate how very important, and what a great treasure Jesus Christ is to all.  He is so valuable, he is worth more than our parents and more than our children.  He is so valuable, he is worth having to suffer for, and bear shame and reproach.  He is so valuable and important that he is worth losing your life over!  We fail to see this because we fail to see who Christ truly is! This is a result of being too focused on the temporal.  How then could we ever accurately portray Him to the world, or demonstrate the greatness of our God?

We are losing our country because we were not willing to put Christ above all; we were not willing to bear our cross; we were not willing to lose our life.  We were willing to give God our Sundays, but not our children.  We were willing to give God our tithes, but not carry a cross. We were willing to give God 10%, but certainly not 100%.  We had houses to build, cars to buy, careers to build.  All the while our country collapsed from a lack of light or a lack of understanding of the necessity for a fulcrum for morality.  The result ... people began trying to base morality without absolutes or base it on man as the starting point.  Christians were too busy with the things of the world or trying to make Christ acceptable to the world, so as to avoid bearing reproach. (Sadly, many times this was done in the name of evangelism and produced false converts, turning many churches into entertainment houses.)  Much of this was done in the name of, “bridge building”.  The fact is, the real bridge to the world is already built, and it is the Cross.  There is no escaping, it is a reproach to many.  It is the only bridge and the only means of salvation.  

We need Christians willing to give Jesus Christ the priority above all others; we need Christians willing to bear the shame and reproach of following Christ, bearing our cross;  we need to be willing to lose our life.  Then will we began to see true life.  Then we can proclaim “for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain”!

As to the context of the verses, and the fact that 11 of the Apostles obeyed the verses, others saw the importance of Jesus Christ and who He is!  Others saw Christ was important, by the example of the lives of the Apostles.  They saw men who, even though they dearly loved their families, Christ was the priority; they saw men willing to suffer for Him; they saw men willing to lose their life!  Many people wanted to listen to see what could be of so great importance.  Their words and their lives demonstrated the greatness of Christ!  Today we put money, careers, family, entertainment, and comfort well before God.  Then we wonder why we have trouble reaching the world!  Why should they listen?  We actually worship ourselves, money, and pleasure, just like any atheist!  Oh, how others need to see the greatness and value of God, not only in creation, but in our life!

May Christ be our priority, our treasure worth suffering for, and our very life!

  

Getting to the Root of the Problem 19 Nov 2012 5:26 PM (12 years ago)

If you have ever had to pick weeds, you know the importance of removing the weed with the root.  Not doing so is just vain work, as the weed will quickly grow back.  I am currently preaching though the book of Matthew, and I am in the middle of a three part sermon I called, “Getting to the Root of the Problem”.  The text is from Matthew 5:17-34.  In this section of verses you will find Jesus stating something like, “…It was said of them of old….”, and he then goes on to quote something from the law.  He then shows how the law was misinterpreted or used in an improper manner.  In the Sermon on the Mount, of which Matthew 5 is a part, Jesus was dealing with the Pharisees of his day.  The Pharisees, for the most part, only worried about outward actions and tradition, but cared little for areas of the heart.  They never got to the root of the problem!

I think we see the same problem in our day.  We concentrate on the outward but rarely get to the root of our sin problem.  As a result of this, our Christian life becomes a roller coaster going up and down, faster, slower, and still returning to the same place you started!  We need to get the root out or our sin will quickly return.  In our text, Jesus deals with what I call “root” sins.  Sins of the heart, i.e. anger, lust, lack of commitment, deceit.  All of these sins are “root” sins and lead to other sins.  Many times we concentrate our efforts on the “other sins”, which are simply manifestation of the root sins.  If we eliminate the root sin, the other sins which stem from them will die off. 

For some a root sin is unrighteous anger.  Jesus dealt with that sin first in our text.  We see how it leads to murder and other sins.  Jesus demonstrates how it affects our prayer life, walk with God; how it affects our relationship with others and our community.  If we get the root problem out, anger, it takes care of so many other problems in our life.  Anger will destroy your marriage, your walk with God, your relationship with your family and your co-workers. 

For some a root sin is lust.  Lust is another sin which leads to many other sins.  Lust leads to adultery, fornication, stealing, etc…  If you remove lust, adultery will not be a concern, neither will many other sins such as living for money, new houses, new cars, etc…  Stealing will not be a problem.  One horrible effect of this sin is it will cause the Word of God to be of no affect in your life (Mark 4:19).  The lust “of other things”, is what will consume you, and God will not consume you!  Is it any wonder the preaching does nothing for you, when all week long you lust to have things of this world, and then try jump to the Spiritual for one hour a week!  May we desire God and Him alone!  All else is vanity!

My point is, if you are struggling with your walk with God perhaps it is a “root” sin.  Maybe you have cleaned up the outside, but the root is still there.  If the root is not removed, the weed will grow right back! 

Back in Papua New Guinea! 15 Oct 2012 1:40 AM (12 years ago)

We are back in Papua New Guinea!  Although, there are only four of us now instead of seven.  My three oldest are all in the States attending Fairhaven Baptist College. We miss those three very much.  Well, I already have several stories I could tell and we have only been here a few days!  We have seen the Lord watching over us on our travels, and help us through our adjusting again to the field.

For this first post, I will go with a lizard story.  We have been very busy and have faced several battles since we have been back.  On our first morning back, Sunday morning, as we prepared to leave for church, Levi noticed our vehicle had a flat tire.  I am not back two days and I have my first flat tire!  We also have a short somewhere in our wiring in the house.  We currently have no ceiling fans working, the majority of lights are out due to the short and the fridge is fried!  Welcome back!

On our second night here, we all fell asleep very quickly.  We have been working hard all day long to get things back in order.  I woke up shortly before 6:00am.  Mariann was still sleeping and as I sat up and looked at her, I noticed she had a tattoo of a Lizard on her arm!!!  I was pretty confident she could not have snuck out that night and went to a tattoo parlor, so I decided to take a closer look.  As I looked  closer, I am still thinking, yep that is a tattoo of a lizard!  Mariann woke up and noticed me starring at her arm.  She looked at arm and freaked out, and then the “tattoo” fell off!  Only it was not a tattoo, it was a real lizard! Mariann had laid on the gecko and squished it, and the lizard became one with her arm!  It was in a perfect “S” format.  The poor thing suffocated to death!  I certainly hope that gecko had life insurance!

"...we know that all things work together for good..." 5 Apr 2011 2:47 AM (13 years ago)

This past Sunday morning we left for church or I should say churches. (I preach at two churches each Sunday.) We were only about five minutes down the road when my tire went flat and a horrible noise started coming from the back end! I turned around, went back to the house, changed clothes, and began to work on the vehicle. It was only 8:30am and it was already very hot! I discovered three of the four bushings went out on the rear equalizer/stabilizer bar! (How that happened all at once is beyond me.) I would not be able to use my Land Cruiser.

All was not lost, though, as I still have my old white truck. I only use the truck for short distances because the tires are completely bald, and I only have one spare. (One needs two or three spares here because of the condition of the road.) Also, the white truck needed fuel if I was going to take it all the way to Kudukudu for church. I managed to find some diesel in a container I have, and it did have enough to get me to the village and back. Even though the distance worried me with the tires, I decided to go ahead and use the white truck since the Lord did provide us with enough fuel. I took another shower and then we prayed and asked the Lord to watch over us, especially our tire situation. Keep in mind if we end up with two flats, which is common, we are stuck! There is no AAA to call or Goodyear store to go to.

By the time we got on the road, it was already too late for me to preach at the first church in Sohun. They would still have preaching, though, as a man I have been training in the Bible college is doing the work of pastor at that church. I knew I would be very late for the work in Kudkudu, but I was confident I could make it before any one started leaving. I still pastor this work, as I do not have a man ready to be pastor there yet. The trip was going fine until about 3 or 4 miles from the church. We heard a big BOOM, and I knew a tire just went out! (I have attached a picture of the tire.) Since we were just a few miles from the church, I changed the tire and then as we left, the truck started experiencing some fuel problems. Thankfully, it did not die. It was probably some bad fuel from my container. At that time, a man came out from the bush down to the road, and he was headed to the river to wash. This was Steven. About four years earlier, he came to church for about three or four Sundays, but he had not come back to church since then. When he saw me, and noticed I was in the white truck, he decided jump in the back and go to church instead of the river. We made it to church without any further delay, and no one had left yet! We had three visitors, including Steven. We had a very good service. I am preaching through Matthew and I was starting the Sermon on the Mount. I preached from the first 12 verses from Matthew 5 on how to truly be a blessed man. I showed how the verses are like steps which lead to salvation and then steps of what comes after salvation. After the preaching, three people asked for prayer concerning salvation. One of those three, then put his hand up to signify he wanted me to talk with him about salvation. That man was Steven! I took him aside and explained the gospel to him, and he put his faith in Jesus Christ for salvation! Steven left his house that morning to go to the river to get his body cleaned. Instead, the Lord took over and he went to church and received the “washing of regeneration”; his sins washed away!

Afterwards, we talked about all that God had done so he could hear the gospel that day! I told him all the trouble I had in getting to church: from tire problems, bushing problems, having to switch vehicles, etc… The fact was, without all of those hold-ups, I would not have been there on the road the moment he came out from the bush to go the river. Also, had I not been in my white truck he would not have stopped me and said he now wants to go to church with me. All that “trouble” I had was just the Lord putting things together because He loved this man and wanted him to hear the gospel! How true the verse is “…all things work together for good to them that love God and are called according to His purpose.”!!!

PS
By the way, I made it all the way back home with no problems, even though I only had one good tire, three completely bald tires, and no spare on a very rough road! Amen!!!

Working All The Bugs Out 31 Jan 2011 12:16 PM (14 years ago)

Having a church service in the jungle leads to interesting things happening. Our church is only about 40 yards from the ocean and we have no walls. Now, by this I do not mean we have no doctrinal “walls”, we most certainly do as does any true church of our Lord. I mean we literally have no walls! While preaching a few years ago, several dolphins came up to the shore and stayed there listening. I think they thought I was a great preacher! I have had a crab crawl up on me, and I have swallowed many bugs while preaching. I am just trying to be more like John the Baptist. :) I have even had to remove rhinoceros beetles from my girl’s hair during services! Those things are mean and big!

This last Sunday we had another incident. I was leading singing, and things were pretty normal, including my pathetic singing voice. Mariann was sitting in the front pew with the girls. All of the sudden, Mariann threw her song book backwards, hitting a lady four pews behind her! No kidding! (Thank goodness it was not a visitor!) She then stood up quickly and started heading to the back of the church. I thought my wife just went charismatic or perhaps she could no longer stand my great singing voice. She then returned to her seat telling me she was fine.

After finishing the song, I asked what happened. A grasshopper had jumped onto her song book scaring her, and caused her to throw the book! It was all she could do not to scream. Now this type of grasshopper is not like the ones in the States. I used to catch grasshoppers in my hand all the time as a boy. This type of grasshopper you don’t go near! It bites, and it hurts! When I first saw one, I did not even know what it was. It was large and looked mean. I was told it was a grasshopper and told to stay away from it because of its bite. I do not think it is poisonous; I believe it just hurts. So when a critter like this jumps in your song book during church it is not easy to remain all pious and church-like. Sometimes you just have to throw your song book without regard to who it will hit! Once we worked all the bugs out we continued with our service!

For the next song we sang, "When I see the bug, I will throw the book over you." :)

The Doritos Story! 21 Jan 2011 3:41 PM (14 years ago)

When my family and I first arrived on the mission field in 2003 life was much more difficult than we thought it would be. We were well aware, when we arrived on the island of New Ireland in Papua New Guinea, our life would become very challenging. My wife and I both came here for a survey trip. (As a side note, this survey trip was not to determine if this is where God wanted us, as is too often the case today, but to get acquainted with where God had called us to.) During the survey trip we recognized many of the challenges we would face, but it is something different when you arrive in a place like this and you do not have a return ticket in your pocket!

When we arrived we found ourselves without electricity, water, and in a culture vastly different then what we were accustomed to. We thought we would have 12 hours of power each day, as it was during our survey trip, but that changed by the time we arrived on the field. The place we made arrangements to live in had a water tank (our source of water is rain water), but we were not told it leaked, and was completely empty. We did not even know where there was a river for us to get water and wash. Needless to say, we all experienced culture shock! After a few weeks I did purchase a generator, and the owner of the place where we were staying purchased a small water tank, so we had running water in the house.

After four months, we were still figuring out how to survive in this environment. We had the help from a small mission work I was working with, and those people really looked after us and helped us. By March, we had our first of what would be many run-ins with Malaria. I was the first to get it, and it was very severe. I thought I was dying. We battled rats in the house and had confrontations with them nightly. (I have many rat stories!) I was not getting anything accomplished with language study or ministry-wise. I was just trying to get by. Then one day my entire perception changed, all because of a bag of Doritos!

About six months into our time here I went to our small trade store to pick up a few things. This store would be smaller than the convenience stores in the U.S. and not a quarter of the selection. We can get basic things there though, for which we are thankful. I just walked in, and as I passed by an aisle I noticed something. I quickly went down the aisle, and behold there was one small bag of Doritos! (As many of my friends and family know, Doritos are my favorite snack food.) I was shocked, stunned, surprised, and thrilled. There is nothing in this store from the States, and I mean nothing! I bought the bag and quickly walked back to our house, and Mariann was sitting outside. I hid the Doritos behind my back so she could not see them. I approached her and asked, “What is my favorite snack? She replied, “Doritos!” I then threw the bag on the table in front of her. (Our kitchen and dining room were outside at this time.) She was shocked as well. We both stood there amazed at this bag of Doritos! I was thrilled. I did not even want to eat it. I then returned to the store to talk with the owner of the trade store, who by this time was my friend. I asked if he had more of these, and he said yes. He told me he had one case of Doritos that came in. One case! I bought the whole case!
The trade store owner did not “order” a case of Doritos; they just came in with his other food items. The trade store has never again carried Doritos, but I knew exactly why that one case of Doritos arrived. Why? Because I knew when I saw the lone bag of Doritos on the shelf, it was the Lord telling me, “I know right where you are. I am here.” There is not a doubt in mind those Doritos were there for me and my family. The bag of Doritos did not change my circumstances one bit, but it did change my view of my circumstances. I learned how to have joy in the midst of hard times.

Oh how we need to heed the lesson of keeping our eyes on God and not on circumstances! It truly does change everything, even if nothing changes!

Fathers Day Present. 13 Jan 2011 3:30 PM (14 years ago)

From time to time I would like to write about different occasions where God answered my prayers. I will start with one my favorites in May/June of 1993. I was still in the Air Force stationed at Holloman AFB. I was very active in the ministry at Berean Independent Baptist Church. About one month before Fathers day, I was looking through my closet, and noticed I did not own a single suit. I had mix matches of jackets and trousers, mostly thrift shop items. As I stood there I asked the Lord for a suit, and then asked that I have it by Fathers Day in June. I was not demanding of the Lord, as if he owed me anything, but asked as a child would humbly ask his Dad.

I arrived for visitation /soul winning at church on Tuesday night, 5 days before Fathers day, and still no suit. As I pulled in, our song leader, Earl Faulkner, pulled in beside me. He said he had something for me and he went to the back of his car to get it. He pulled out a suit! I was thrilled and could hardly believe it. There was still a problem though: This suit used to belong to him, and we were not nearly the same size. I weighed 140 pounds fully clothed, at least 20 pounds lighter than Earl Faulkner, and I was shorter. The next day I took the suit to a tailor to have it fitted to me. The tailor called that Saturday and said the suit was ready. It was now the day before Fathers Day, and the suit was ready! However, there was still one more problem. The tailor said the price was $50, for all the work she did, and she did have a lot of work! I did not have $50 to give her, so I could not go and pick up the suit. Of course, the Lord already knew I did not have the money and He was already working.

Later on that day the mail arrived, and I had a card from my Mother in Ohio. I opened the card up and there was a $50 bill inside! I stood there amazed at all the Lord did from a simple prayer made while I was looking at my closet. Needless to say I quickly went to the tailor and picked up my suit, which I wore to church the next day, Fathers Day!

That Fathers Day was a special one for me; not because of me being a father, but because of my Father in Heaven, who always shows such grace and mercy. How true is the saying from the book of Matthew, "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?"

2010-12-31 10 Jan 2011 3:25 PM (14 years ago)

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A New Year! 31 Dec 2010 3:26 PM (14 years ago)

A new year is now here! New Year is a time when many set as a time to start afresh, to begin anew, a time to make resolutions on improving ourselves. Many people will set out this New Year seeking change for their life, but the fact is most will fail, while few will succeed. I wonder how many times I have been asked or have heard people ask, "Can I change?" When I hear this question, often what comes to mind are the words of Jesus Christ, "The spirit is indeed willing but the flesh is weak." Let's face it, in and of ourselves, it is hard to change. All of us, at one time or another has struggled with attempting to change.

The key to real change lies in God and not in our own strength. All the power to change is there: The power to turn a drunkard into a deacon; the power to turn a prostitute into pious person; the power to turn a struggling person to a rock. The problem lies not in God unwilling to supply the power we need, but in our willingness to humble and submit ourselves before Him. The fact is, the biggest item we need to change about ourselves is not our weight, or bad habits, but our selfishness, and lack of desire to lose our life for Christ. In our desire and submission to Him we find the power to truly change. May we say as the Apostle Paul did, "For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain."

Update and Post on Acts 2:38 7 Jun 2010 6:38 PM (14 years ago)

Here is an update on events this past month.


The past month I have led three people to the Lord. Two of whom were a mother and daughter. The daughter was round 25 and the mother in her 40's, I would guess. It is always nice to see family coming to know the Lord together. Mariann and I were out visiting in the village when we talked with both of them and they made a decision to put their faith Christ. The daughter has been attending church for several months now, and her mom was in the village visiting her. The mom lives on another island about three hours away. The other person was also in the village visiting family. She had not been back in her home village for several years. She works in the capitol city on the main island. While she was away, both her Mom and Dad received Christ, and come to church. She attended church faithfully with her family during her few weeks here with them. The Sunday before she left, she put her faith in Christ.

We also had two weeks where are water tanks went empty. This happens from time to time in dry season. (Last year we did not have one day without water in our tanks!) When the tanks are empty we head to the river for washing. Once you are used to it, it really is not all the bad. We have a river about 1 mile from the house that has fresh springs coming into from under ground. Very clean water! This past Saturday we had a big rain arrive and both are tanks are now about 3/4 full.

I have also received a new opportunity to put an article once a week in the main news paper for Papua New Guinea. It is called the Post Courier. My first article was published this last Saturday. I pray the Lord will use each article. My articles will deal with Biblical issues. I think it is a great opportunity, I hope it helps many! From time to time I will post on here the same article. The first one dealt with Acts 2:38 and Baptism. I will post below the article.

Acts 2:38 and Baptism
Baptism has been a divisive issue for centuries in the history of Christianity. One verse we hear a lot about in Papua New Guinea is Acts 2:38. I would like to examine a portion of this verse as it relates to baptism.
(Act 2:38) “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”


Acts 2:38 is a verse that is widely misinterpreted by well meaning people. The misinterpretations are leading to a false gospel destructive to true Christianity. Many groups today use Acts 2:38 to teach that in order to go to heaven one must be baptized in water. I am a Baptist preacher, and place great emphasis on baptism. I was baptized shortly after my conversion, and I have baptized many here in PNG. However, baptism is not the entrance into heaven, nor does Acts 2:38 teach any such doctrine. Those trusting in water to wash away their sins have missed the true gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Does Acts 2:38 say one must be baptized in order to have their sins removed? No, it does not! Acts 2:38 does not say “Repent and be baptized to receive remission of sins.” It says, “…for the remission of sins”. Many think the word “for” in the verse means to receive. That is incorrect. “For” in this verse means as a result. You could see this by studying the meaning of the word and in the 1828 Webster’s Dictionary as well. There are many different ways to use the preposition “for”. I think we should allow the Bible to determine the meaning. Let’s look at Revelation 16:10 to understand the English word “for” better:

(Rev 16:10) “And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,”

Notice the last two words “for pain”. Read the verse again and ask yourself, did they gnaw their tongues to receive pain or because they were already in pain? The answer is they gnawed their tongues because they were already in pain, or as a result of pain. Now, if you interpret “for” in the verse the way many interpret “for” in Acts 2:38, you would have to say they gnawed their tongues, because they wanted to receive pain. That is clearly wrong. Let me give another example from the common English saying, “He jumped for joy!” Does the person jump to receive joy or as a result of joy? The answer is as a result of joy!

When you understand the meaning of “for” correctly in Acts 2:38, you see it is teaching us as a result of the remission of sins, we need to be baptized. After a person has his sins removed by faith in Jesus Christ, he should be baptized. It is not the water that washes away your sin. It is the blood of Jesus Christ. We are saved by grace thought faith (Eph 2:8, 9). If you add anything to that, it is no longer by grace through faith. My friend if you are trusting in water to save you, you have been deceived.

Punam 3 May 2010 5:49 PM (14 years ago)

Last week, I was asked to preach a funeral for a 21 year old girl who died, when she fell out of the back end of a truck. I was told her uncle led her to the Lord one week before she died. The uncle was the one who contacted me and asked me to preach the funeral. The funeral would be in the village Punam which is about 5 miles from the work in Kudukudu. I was to preach twice in the village, first on Tuesday night and then again on Wednesday morning. In a village funeral, the whole village attends, so it is a great opportunity for the people to hear the Gospel. On Wednesday morning, I preached a strong Gospel message on Nicodemus. The people listened very intently. For most, it was their first time hearing a clear presentation of the gospel. (There is a church in the village. It is a “United church”, where the people hear salvation is by your works plus Christ. The United Church has strong Charismatic influence upon it. It also lacks much Bible Doctrine.) As I was preaching, it was clear the Lord was working on many hearts. When I finished preaching we buried the girl, and then talked. I came back to the village on Saturday to see if there was more who wanted to talk. A man stopped me, named Maswaton. He is in his 50’s and a member of the United Church. He wanted to know more about II Corinthians 5:21, a verse I talked about on Wednesday morning. I went over the Gospel with him, but he did not put his faith in Christ. This was all new to him and he knew it meant much of what he had been believing all these years was wrong. He wanted to consider what we talked about. He then came to my house on Tuesday morning to talk more. We talked about the Gospel for about an hour. He then said he wanted to receive Christ, which he did!

I have now been asked to come back and preach to the village again, which I will be doing tonight (Tuesday). There is no funeral or other event; it is just to hear the preaching. I am praying many more will turn to the Lord.

“…how shall they hear without a preacher?” Romans 10:14

Playing or Praying? 3 Feb 2010 6:32 PM (15 years ago)

Divine Appointment 12 Nov 2009 11:53 PM (15 years ago)

My wife and I decided to travel out for our anniversary. It was our 20th wedding anniversary! (I met her in high school and we have been together ever since. I am thankful for the wife God has given me. I look forward to the next 20 years with her.) We were going to go to Kavieng for three days, but that did not work out. I decided to head to Kokopo on the island of New Britain. Kokopo is about a 2 ½ hour boat ride away. Kokopo has a few nice places to stay there that are very western. As we were getting on the small banana boat, a Chinese man also got on the boat. This man works in Kavieng, and missed his plane, so he had to drive five hours south to get on this boat and head to Kokopo. His English was very good. We began talking about differences between America and China. (How thankful we Americans should be for the country God has given us!) I turned the conversation to the gospel. I learned this man had never attended any church of any sort. I asked him how he believed the world came into existence. He believed in atheistic evolution. He said he had heard of the Bible and that some were available in China. He had heard about some stories from it, but what he had heard had been portrayed in a fanciful light, as if it could not possibly be true. He asked me to explain some of them. I did and he listened very intently with great interest. I then started in Genesis and went through the Bible explaining the need for a Savior. As I began to teach him of Jesus Christ, I was hoping he would see his need for the Son of God. He was still listening intently and asking searching questions. I covered the gospel with him, explaining what it meant for him, that this man who died 2,000 years ago was his only hope. (Most church going people today do not have a clue and how the death of Christ actually helps them. This is evident by all the false doctrines. For example, salvation is in the church, or in good works, or in the waters of baptism, etc.) This man did not make a profession of faith during our two hour conversation, but the seed was planted on what appeared to be good ground.

We have agreed to meet again in a few weeks to talk and play basketball. (I will probably be beat by a shorter Chinese man, at my country’s own sport! He plays every day, and I have not played in years!) I explained to him how the fact he missed his plane was not a coincidence, but of the Lord, a divine appointment! I knew when he told me his missed his plane, the Lord had arranged this time. I truly found it amazing when I thought about the two different worlds both of us call home, and yet here we were in this ever so remote place, which neither of us grew up in, and God put us together. I found it no less amazing than Phillip and the Ethiopian eunuch. This, too, was put together by the Holy Spirit of God! Be prepared every day, Christian, as you never know who the Lord will put in your path. Do not think those you meet are just by chance. There is an Almighty God at work, and we need to trust Him!

You never know when God will give the increase 8 Jun 2009 1:49 AM (15 years ago)

I received a short email a few weeks back that was amazing. The person who emailed me, I have not heard from in over 20 years. We went to High School together. Here is the email:

Subject: Awesome God

You were right. Saved at age 31. Thought you'd like to know. Sorry for being belligerent to you in High School. Will you forgive me?


Wow! Amen!
Our responsibility is to plant the seed faithfully. You never know when God will give the increase! I have since emailed this person and he informed me that he was given the book, The Case for Christ and that shortly after reading that book he made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ.

We all need to stay faithful witnessing and living for the Lord. You never know who is watching and listening, but rest assured people are watching!!

The Face of Missions 4 Mar 2009 1:36 PM (16 years ago)

What are you willing to pay? 17 Feb 2009 7:28 PM (16 years ago)

In my reading a few days ago, I read this verse, (2 Samuel 24:24) “And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.”

Is not the opposite of David’s attitude true in so many of us today? We do not want our service to God to cost us anything. If we were in David’s position, I wonder how many of us would say, “Boy, did the Lord bless, I did not have to pay anything for the oxen for the sacrifice, I did not have to pay for the instruments, or the threshing floor! God is so good!” We do not want our service to cost us anything! We want the path of least resistance. Many today find it to much to attend church faithfully, and yet that is nothing more than a baby step. We want to be counted as servants of God, but not at any cost, or very little cost. After all, we need to be culturally relevant.
Too often when the Lord begins to change our life, we put the brakes on. We decide this is costing us too much. We fail to see how much it cost God to purchase us! How selfish we are today. If you do not want your service to cost you anything, there are many churches out there where you will fit right in. They cater to every need you have. They are “seeker friendly.” For them is not about God, it is about you. However, as I study the churches of the New Testament, I have failed to find a “seeker friendly” church. I see churches which heeded the teaching of Jesus concerning the high cost of discipleship, (Matthew 16:24, Luke 14:26, 27). A life where Christ is preeminent and not you! (Phil 3:1-8) Oh, how we need to get over ourselves and focus on God. Life is not about us it is about God!



(This is a double post on the blog. I am making changes and testing formats.)

What are you willing to pay? 31 Jan 2009 12:29 AM (16 years ago)

In my reading a few days ago, I read this verse, (2 Samuel 24:24) “And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.”

Is not the opposite of David’s attitude true in so many of us today? We do not want our service to God to cost us anything. If we were in David’s position, I wonder how many of us would say, “Boy, did the Lord bless, I did not have to pay anything for the oxen for the sacrifice, I did not have to pay for the instruments, or the threshing floor! God is so good!” We do not want our service to cost us anything! We want the path of least resistance. Many today find it to much to attend church faithfully, and yet that is nothing more than a baby step. We want to be counted as servants of God, but not at any cost, or very little cost. After all, we need to be culturally relevant.
Too often when the Lord begins to change our life, we put the brakes on. We decide this is costing us too much. We fail to see how much it cost God to purchase us! How selfish we are today. If you do not want your service to cost you anything, there are many churches out there where you will fit right in. They cater to every need you have. They are “seeker friendly.” For them is not about God, it is about you. However, as I study the churches of the New Testament, I have failed to find a “seeker friendly” church. I see churches which heeded the teaching of Jesus concerning the high cost of discipleship, (Matthew 16:24, Luke 14:26, 27). A life where Christ is preeminent and not you! (Phil 3:1-8) Oh, how we need to get over ourselves and focus on God. Life is not about us it is about God!

Preaching at the Market 19 Dec 2008 11:35 PM (16 years ago)

Good to be Back 23 Oct 2008 12:19 AM (16 years ago)

We are back in country now, and it is good to be back. We have seen the Lord do many good things for us since we have arrived. Our house was a complete mess from the rats when we arrived. I could not believe all the damage the rats did. Daniel and I first came over to New Ireland while the rest of the family stayed back on the island of New Britain. Daniel and I worked to get the house in order. Many of the people from the village came and helped us. We managed to get it livable and then last Wednesday I brought the whole family over. I have all the walls back up and painted as well as the cabinets. My office still needs a lot of work. Basically I have to redo the entire office. We are still waiting for our container to arrive, but it should be here by the first week of November. Please pray to that end.

We had to replace many items when we arrived, such as the stove, refrigerator, generator, kitchen table and chairs and washer. None of these items are the things in the container. The items in the container are mainly furniture items that needed replaced, such as boys beds, couch, living room chairs etc. The rats actually ate through the gas lines going to the burners on our stove! I traveled back to New Britain to get these needed items. When I enquired about a 6 or 7kva generator, I was informed there was not one in the country unless I was willing to spend K43,000 or about $18,000. While I was discussing this with a salesman, another salesman walked up heard our conversation. He then said there was a6 kva generator in country, even on New Britain! He said he sold it to a trade store, but they did not pick it up and payment had not been made. He said it has been sitting in a warehouse for weeks wrapped up and ready to go. He then called to make sure it was still there and it was! The Lord knew we would need that generator and He had it set aside for my family and me! We serve a great God! Almost the exact same thing happened with the stove we needed to purchase. It too was in a warehouse and unaccounted for! The Lord had it ready for us.

The boat ride over with these supplies was pretty exciting. Keep in mind I purchased theses items on the island of New Britain. I still had to get them to New Ireland. The means of transportation is a banana boat! The picture shows one of the two boats I used. It took us around 2 ½ hours for the boat ride. We made pretty good time all things considered. The Lord blessed! When I brought the family over on the boat, we had a chance to see several whales. When we were coming close to New Ireland, Levi asked, “Is this the wild?” I told him yes and this was his home. His eyes then grew big and with an excited voice he exclaimed, “I live in the wild?!”

We do have an important prayer request. We are in a drought, and our island has been dry since June. My family and I have to go the river for washing the clothes and bathing. The lack of rain is also hurting the gardens the people survive on. Please pray the Lord will send the needed rain.

Also, I already have a tire story but I will save that for the next blog.

September Prayer Letter 28 Sep 2008 5:47 PM (16 years ago)