Antidote to Idiocy

If you are as tired and disgusted and sad as I am to hear about the stupid and lewd behavior of our supposed leaders, here are some suggestions:

1. Go to joniandfriends.org and read any (or all) of the articles. Joni's story is unfailingly inspirational (and usually convicting!) and the various outreach ministries are busy doing wonderful things.

2. Google Robin Mark and listen to any of his songs on youtube. They all glorify God.

3. Go to the Orthodox Presbyterian Church's main website (www.opc.org) and read about our missionaries in Sendai, Japan, who have survived the earthquake and tsunami and are now working tirelessly in the relief efforts.

4. For something completely different, check out the Itty Bitty Kitty Committee and get a big dose of cuteness. (The link is on the sidebar.)

5. Turn off the TV and the computer and go eat a BIG piece of chocolate!

God is at work in our sad old world, but most of the time, His workers are under the radar screen of celebrity and publicity. Of course, we are all sinners and all need grace and mercy and forgiveness. I'm certainly thankful that no one is following me around and plastering all the dumb things I do & say all over the news.

Just for a while, let's focus on something other than bad news.

Missions & Ministries - Part 5

Back in the dark ages, when I was 12 or 13, I read "The Cross & the Switchblade" by David Wilkerson. I was captivated by how the Lord used him to minister to gang members and drug addicts and ultimately, start Teen Challenge. The Lord also used these books to touch my heart and put within me a desire for a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Over the years I have heard presentations from individuals whose lives have been transformed by God through the Teen Challenge program, and it has always remained a favorite ministry of mine.

I used to wish that I had a dramatic testimony. I've grown enough in my faith to know that any testimony is dramatic, and that any time God touches and redeems a life, it is a miracle of grace. Sometimes I forget that and get weighed down with the cynicism of the world. At such times, a report of a life saved from crime, drugs & despair reminds me that God is still at work and that no life is beyond the hope of salvation.

Sadly, there is as much of a need for a ministry to drug addicts as there was when Teen Challenge was started. Also sadly, the center in Rochester, NY was financially unable to stay open and recently had to combine with Buffalo, NY. Hopefully if the economy improves, the center in Rochester will be re-established. Meanwhile, Teen Challenge remains a ministry that does wonderful work with minimal resources. (www.tcwny.org)

Missions & Ministries - Part 4

Today's focus is The Rochester Family Mission. (www.rochesterfamilymission.com) I met the director, Barbara Thomas, a few years ago when our church hosted a missions conference. The mission's outreaches include food distribution, youth programs, tutoring and educational programs, and RICE (Rochester Institute of Christian Education). A couple from our church has volunteered there for years, so I have confidence that this is an organization that is doing the Lord's work with integrity and responsible stewardship.

Missions & Ministries- Part 3

Today's focus is a radio show aimed at working women, "The Christian Working Woman" with Mary Whelchel. (www.christianworkingwoman.org) In addition to her daily radio show, every summer Mary and her assistant Lucinda travel to Africa for 2 weeks to minister to women there. Part of that trip involves taking gifts and materials to distribute. Additionally, as opportunities arise, the ministry will do special aid projects. An example is Haiti. After the earthquake, TCWW located a couple of families in Haiti that had been seriously affected by the earthquake. All the special donations went directly to those families. TCWW combines evangelism and discipleship in down to earth ways that are biblically sound and easy to understand and remember,

Missions & Ministries- Part 2.

Another organization high on my list is Logoi. (www.logoi.org) The founder, Les Thompson, was born in Cuba to missionary parents, and lived there until they were asked to leave in the 1960's. He is a missionary, pastor, and author. The ministry is based in Miami and their main goal is equipping Spanish speaking pastors and believers with sound Christian materials. They hold pastor's conferences in Cuba, Latin America and South America. They also have a newly developed website where Spanish speaking pastors can make a wish list and English speaking believers can make those wish lists a reality. I have not explored their new site much yet, but it seems to have great potential and to be using the power of the internet to link believers around the world, to the glory of God.

Missions & Ministries- Part 1

Yesterday, Little Man's Father & I went to a missions conference. At first, I wondered why it had been scheduled in December, when everyone is accelerating toward Christmas. After listening to the speakers, my thoughts and attitude had been re-aligned. Missions is all about glorifying God and telling people that they can have peace with God because of Jesus. Hearing about various mission endeavors in various parts of the world was such an antidote to the commercialization of Christmas that starts before Halloween and increases until everyone is sick of the holiday before it even gets here. How sad. Don't get me wrong - I love all the tradition and trimmings and I'm busy shopping and decorating and moving through the various celebrations of the season. But in the midst of it, I'm trying to keep a place of peace and stillness and trying to take time to focus on the incarnation of our Lord and all its implications.

As part of that, I thought I would focus on some of the mission & ministry endeavors that I've become aware of, in no particular order. The first one is "Come Over and Help", which I heard about for the first time yesterday. Their website is www.coah.org. Their area of work is Eastern Europe and countries that were formerly communist. They don't have missionaries - instead, they partner with churches and ministries that are already established and help them in whatever way is needed to carry out their work. The areas the speaker highlighted yesterday are pastor training, prison ministry, orphanages, church building and humanitarian aid.