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WEIRD
05-10-2011
Yes "WEIRD" that's the name of the book I'm reading by Craig Groeschel. The first few chapters are about the use of time. Most people are normal and spend 28 hours a week in front of the TV and 16 hours additionally each week in front of their computers. That is an enormous amount of time. Craig says believers should be "weird" and use their time more wisely.
Craig wrote " we have enough time to do everything God wants you to do", wow! When I complain about not having time maybe my priorities are all messed up with computer time and TV time?
This book is convicting because he talks about how I can be so very busy and not get done the important things necessary. Sometimes I wonder how I can get it all done in a day or a week. But Craig is reminding me that my use of time is out of balance.
God says to me "Be very careful, then, how you live-not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is" Eph. 5:15-17
If I am careful I will not run out of time! If I am careful I will not make foolish choices! If I am careful I will be aware of the evil which is out there every day waiting to assault me! If I am careful I will know the will of God and use my time to honor Him.
I recommend this book to read and there is no time like the present.
Now I know what you are going to tell me. "I wish I had time to read it!"
~ Pastor Ron
RESULTS OF RESURRECTION
04-20-2011
1. The writing of the four gospels including 30 chapters on the last week of Jesus life.
2. The boldness of the apostles to preach the gospel everywhere inspite of persecution.
3. The beginning of the Christian church which spread very rapidly.
4. The proof that Jesus is who He claimed to be.
5. The miracle of multitudes of transformed lives throughout history.
6. The promise of our own resurrection in the future which may be soon.
7. The joy of experiencing Jesus promise to now live inside each believer.
8. The blessings of knowing His power on a personal basis.
9. The assurance that Jesus can now be trusted in everything He says.
10. The knowledge that we have a great life beyond the grave for all eternity.
What a wonderful life we have because of the resurrection. Enjoy every minute of it each day of your life.
~ Pastor Ron
LOOKING BACK ON HAITI
04-06-2011
We had so many blessing of that trip. I wanted to detail just a few
Working with the Haitian Pastor Marc was great . Seeing his dedication and diligence. He started the church from zero and now five years later has approx 100 faithful believers including some who left the Voodoo cult.
Meeting Haitian villagers as we visited from door to door and seeing how they actually live their lives on a daily basis. Several of them were ill and just lying outside on a mat spread out on the ground. Life is so simple for many people.
Observing the joy of Christians who also live in the dirt but have Jesus and an eternal perspective on daily living. We all could learn from them.
Seeing Haitian believers make real decisions of commitments to trust God for healing, teach their children the Bible, keep Satan out of their houses, improve their marriages and in some cases get married in a Christian manner. We also prayed with Simone a 19 year old youth who came to Christ on our last day before leaving.
Watching all our team members sacrifice and serve wherever needed on long days of visitation and ministry. They were great and practiced the motto " can't get tough enough to complain ".
Also knowing our team members Nina and Justin Fischer have felt the call of God to prepare for full time ministry possibly in Haiti in the future. Now that is the ultimate blessing of service.
You can see our video and photos on our website. Click on Media to access the pictures.
~ Pastor Ron
BACK FROM HAITI
03-21-2011
It was another world. We traveled outside the city of Port au Prince, about a one and half hour drive. It seemed like we were on another continent. It felt like a different cosmos. Our experience was totally new from last year where we lived in the earthquake ravaged capital city.
Our trip to the village of Merceron was a total shock. This is what we saw. I will just give you a list of things and let you absorb it the way we saw it when we were there.
Women carried water in buckets on their heads. The burros in the village carried rice, beans, bananas, potatoes, sugar cane from the fields. Children played naked all around the village. Women and children bathed in the gray ditch water where they also washed their clothes, let their pigs wallow in the same water, and cleaned their bicycles or anything else they thought could use a good dousing. Women cooked over open fires, burning sticks and bushes gathered from the fields. Villagers ground their corn in the same manner as people did in the Bible days. They also beat their piles of bean bushes with a long stick until the pods split open. Then they collected the beans after they had fallen to the ground. They scooped them up and separated them from the dirt and prepared to cook them later on or whenever needed.
Some of the villagers openly worshiped the religion of witchcraft and followed the high priest of Voo Doo. Their village life took us back hundreds of years to any primitive civilization you would read about in an anthropology book. However, among the villagers we surprisingly found a few people with cell phones and a solar panel like the 80 year old gentleman who seemingly knew how to use it as he held it in his hands when we visited him in front of his house.
Our team visited from house to house in the village and became acquainted with these very gentle and congenial Haitian people. Even the family of the high priest of Voo Doo welcomed our team into their home. Christian believers in the village were well-mannered and carried huge smiles on their faces. (Except when being photographed they put on their best sober look ). The genuine believers in Christianity dressed with cleanliness and admirable demeanor. These Christians lived in sharp contrast to those who were still in Voo Doo or those with no faith in the living God.
Our team came to the village bearing gifts of medicines, soccer balls, clothes for children and adults, self-generating flashlights, and great hope as we shared God's love with everyone in their bamboo with mud-covered homes. The team also shared stories of faith at the worship service outside under an awning that was ripped and torn. On the family day of activities many villagers from all of the area showed up to see and hear from the unusual Americans.
There were a surprising number of Christians in this outcountry village but some were clearly not interested in the message of Christianity or a hope for a new way of life. One stern looking man after hearing about Jesus said "What will you pay me to become a Christian?' Pastor Ron responded that Christianity is not about money, it's about faith. He told him that faith in God would change his life and solve his problems including money problems.
The members of the Cornerstone Mission Team included team leader Dale Grenie, Justin and Nina Fischer, Pastor Ron and Pam Payne. Team members on this one week venture stayed in a very nice guest house (motel) on the outskirts of the capital city of Port Au Prince. They enjoyed wonderful meals which consisted of Haitian delicacies such as goat meat, sea food from the conch shell, white fish from the bay, chicken prepared Haitian style. They were also treated to tropical fruit juices of six different kinds of trees which grew in the area. The freshly squeezed treats were guava, papaya, mango, passion fruit, and an unusual citrus drink offered up each morning for breakfast.
The owner of the motel, Gerard Chatelain often said to his guests "when you go home if you weigh less than when you came, I will refund your money." He was joking of course but all of the meals were very excellently prepared so that Americans with delicate stomachs would not get the dreaded "tourist disease."
Cornerstone plans to send a team again to the same area this time next year. They will be under the excellent supervision of an experienced Haitian national Pastor Marc Hancey of the Merceron village. It is a trip of a lifetime for those who are willing to experience the power of God in a very primitive culture. God is alive and well and clearly stronger than the Voo Doo high priest or his temple in the Merceron village.
~ Pastor Ron
GETTING CLOSE
03-02-2011
Only a week away and our Haiti Team leaves for an exciting adventure with God.
Thank you for praying. Please continue to pray. God is answering prayers for the team. Our team members Justin and Nina Fischer are now only a few hundred dollars short of the needed amount.
Our airfare went up at the last moment and each member of the team had to come forth with another 300. dollars. But all money has come in except the last 300. dollars for the Fischers. Please pray and God will hear no doubt!
We have a very eventful trip just days away. I heard from the Pastor Marc-Hancy of Merceron. This is the village where most of our outreach will take place. He said they have a new believer. He received Christ and now will be getting married when we are in the village along with another four couples who are and have become believers.
The newly committed Christian after being saved burned his down to the ground on purpose. Here is the reason. It was built and dedicated to Satan. He was into the ways of witchcraft. When he found Jesus he got rid of all things belonging to Satan and the demons. This was a very bold step of faith but it freed him from sleeping in Satan's house. God is powerful to free the prisoners of Satan.
His new life prompted other family members to accept Christ also. What a blessing and challenge to totally give everything up and start over with God.
We will have an opportunity to meet this bold man and congratulate him on putting God first.
Please plan to join us on Sunday March 20th 10AM at Cornerstone when our team gives a report of what God did through our ministry. Come see our slides and rejoice with us over victories in this village.
We are bringing sermons, testimonies, stories of faith, children's crafts and games, soccer balls, blankets, flashlights, N.T. Bibles, gifts for visiting in the village, medications and most of all God's love to pass out to everyone we meet.
Our faith is strong and we are prayed up and ready to go serve and learn how to bless others. Will you stand with us this special week of March 11-18.
Thank you for all the supplies, finances, gifts and prayers you have already given. We will bring back many blessings to share.
~ Pastor Ron