"El estado Grande"--Chihuahua

For the next few days I'm in Chihuahua, "the big state" of Mexico. It's still kind of amazing that I can leave Puerto Rico one afternoon and 24 hours later be in N. Mexico, having spent the night in Arizona. I'm preaching a Gospel meeting in Nuevo Casas Grandes.

The church here is different from many in Mexico--they have around 100 in attendance on Sunday and have 3-4 generations of the same family as members. Brother Angel Palomares preached here for 50 years or so, before health problems forced him to "retire". I was concerned what would happen once he could no longer preach, but the brethren have stepped up and although they're in something of a transition, so far it seems to be working. Several take turns preaching, a month at a time, which has pushed them to mature. Others have risen to teach classes, etc. So far this year they've had 7 baptisms.

Let us continue to pray for these brethren as they work together.

Privately funded fellowship halls

Now that I have your attention--"privately funded fellowship halls" is not a household phrase, let me explain. I've encountered several situations through the years where some of the members of a local church, ranging in number from 1 to many, have pooled their money and built a fellowship hall. Someone in the group, whether many or few, was not comfortable with building such a building with money from the church treasury. Is such a building scriptural or unscriptural? After all, the "Lord's money" was not used to build it, or in one case even to maintain it.

I do NOT believe the church is in the entertainment business, whether it's a simple potluck or a full blown gymnasium, with all the paraphanalia that goes into a gym. If that's true, then obviously the church could not spend it's money to build and maintain such a place. I'm not going to address the old argument that "Christians need to fellowship, so anything that helps with that is okay". Certainly Christians need to spend time together, but is that the work of the church?

In the neighborhood where the church meets (Caparra Terrace) the houses were built in the 50's. They were all built with at least one carport, even though almost no one had cars back then. What do you do with a carport when you have no car? In the tropics it becomes outdoor living area--most of them now have a TV, chairs or couches, etc. Once the carport became the family room people seemed to forget it was once supposed to be a place to park your car--now that everyone has a car, all of them parked on the street, it's hard to drive down the street, much less find a parking place. We've finally got most of our neighbors to leave the 2 parking spots in front of the building for us on Sun. and Wed.

I find the same thing happening with "privately built fellowship halls". In the beginning everyone remembers that they are NOT the work of this particular local church, but rather of various members. But as generations pass what they were supposed to be, like the Puerto Rican carport, is forgotten and not only does the church maintain them, but it expands or replaces them with a much larger one. After all, "we've always had a fellowship hall".

Tol

Crossing the Equator

I've been in Bolivia a few days now and it´s been an adjustment. It has been cloudy ever since I got here, with temperatures in the 50's. Since I forgot to pack a jacket I had to go shopping for one right away and I've had it on most of the time I've been awake since then. I'm not accustomed to being cold in 2nd world countries--quite the opposite. A southern system blew in Sat. AM which here is cold, not hot.

I have spent 3-4 hours at least every day with the 1 or 2 brethren there are, studying as their knowledge is very basic. There were 11 of us for worship Sunday, including the 2 kids. They need lots of prayers, as they begin meeting again after 4 years or so. There are a couple of young ladies who are contemplating baptism. Please remember the church in Santa Cruz, Bolivia in your prayers.

Tol

Who's in charge????

I'm in the Miami airport. I should have arrived in Bolivia about 8 hours ago, but many flights to/from Miami were cancelled yesterday, so instead of arriving here last night I arrived at 5:30 this morning. Miami had really bad weather yesterday, so at least 3 flights to San Juan were cancelled. From the reaction of my fellow passengers, I got the impression some were thinking, "Who's in charge here, anyway?" As Christians we know who's really in charge, and it's not mankind. God is the one who not only created us, but the one who keeps it all going.

When we really come to understand that God is in charge, it makes it so much easier for us. We have all heard that "our job is to sow the seed. God will give the increase." yet if we're not careful, when someone rejects God's Word we take it as a personal rejection. When we fully accept that God is in charge, we understand that it's not me they're rejecting, but Him.

We can also give our best and let it go at that. It is said that during the darkest days of Martin Luther's break with the Roman Catholic church that he became very depressed. It got so bad that one morning his wife dressed all in black and went about the house obviously mourning. When Luther finally inquired who she was mourning, she said it was God. "What do you mean, you're mourning for God?" She replied that since he was so depressed because his efforts to reform the church didn't seem to be having much success, she assumed that God MUST be dead, since the success or failure of truth depended solely on Luther's efforts (or so he seemed to think).

This dramatic gesture had the desired effect--Luther remembered that God was still in charge and he let God defend His Word. Brethren, we need to remember the same thing. By the way my flight to Bolivia is now delayed 40 minutes, but I won't worry about that--God is in charge of that, not me.

Tol

Telling the "truth"????

CNN exclusive exit polls of voter in Puerto Rico were broadcast today and since I live in Puerto Rico I was curious to see what they would say. They did get right that Hillary would win the primary, which she did handily. From there on out it was very interesting.



According to those polled, 40 % attend church once a week and another 47 % attend regularly. If you add these numbers up, that means that 87 % of all those surveyed here attend church at least once a month and half of that number attend every week. We live on a typical street in a typical neighborhood in Puerto Rico, in Bayamon, a city of 224,000 that is part of the San Juan metro area. Our street is small--only 35-40 houses, but out of those 35 houses we are the only ones who attend church regularly, much less once a week. From my dealings with others in the urbanization (neighborhood to you) I don't think the numbers would be much different on other streets. So according to my unscientific, but real observations, I would say that only 13 % attend church even regularly, which is the opposite of the polls.

Why, you ask would people lie about something like this? At the risk of being annoying, let me say that "It's a Caribbean thing; you wouldn't understand". Very few people in the Eastern Caribbean will refuse a Bible study--they may not "have time" or "I'm a bit busy right now" but you just don't reject God or "church". The poll question was quite impolite in the first place, so do you really expect most people to acknowledge something that is culturally inexcusable. I don't remember the exact setting last week, but I was in a group of people discussing "church" and "christianity" when a lady remarked to me, "We're all Christians, aren't we?" Only in the sense that "we all" acknowledge there is a God. Years ago I asked a woman in Mexico if she was a Christian. Her reply is still with me, "What do you think? That we're animals? Of course we're Christians." She wasn't, but her definition of Christian was all those who acknowledge there is a God, no matter how they live.

We laugh about people "lieing" like that, but haven't you lied to yourself about your actions? I say to yourself because God knows what the real reason for our actions are. We can justify our actions, dress them up pretty, or even flat out lie about them, but the God of heaven is not deceived. He will judge us fairly, knowing the truth.

Tol

Politics as usual

I know you´re all ready for the Nov. election to come, but you just think you have it bad. Here in the Dominican Republic not only is the TV saturated with political ads, so are the radio and the streets--everywhere you look there are billboards, signs on posts, signs on walls and fences, even signs on drain pipes (they´ve been there so long they´ve been painted over several times now--at least 2 years that I know). Each political party has their own color, or set of colors, harking back to the days when many were illiterate, just mark the color of your party and that brings up a whole array of other political propaganda--banners, T-shirts, hats, even buildings painted the purple of the governing party.



Of course no political campaign in the Caribbean would be complete without the political caravan. The candidate gathers together as many cars, trucks, and other vehicles as they can (here they even pay them so much a head to be in their parade) at various points and over the course of 3-4 hours drives around collecting them all, so they end up with a caravan stretching several miles long, which can tie up traffic for hours. In the Virgin Islands they drive from one end of island to another, here they drive from one side of the capital to the other. Of course there must be music in the caravan--this truck is one of many and some suggest that liquor is also involved at every stop.



Dominicanos were glad when the president was elected with 53 % of the vote--that meant there would be no runoff, which would have meant another 45 days of this nonsense. Yes, the morados won.



I am fascinated where people will turn looking for a purpose in life, or just some excitement. The president of a country has an effect on the lives of the citizens, but the most far reaching consequences can only affect us while we live on this earth. People will turn out in droves to watch their candidate pass by but don't "have time" to study God's Word.

Do we have our priorities out of whack, or what?

Tol

Depending on the circumstances

I was just in St. Lucia with one of the largest churches in the lesser Antilles—counting the children of members, they number 200, with 165-170 most Sunday mornings. When Brother Solomon began this work some years ago he made the decision to work primarily in areas in and around Castries, the capital. His goal was to have one strong church, rather than 4 or 5 small churches that were barely hanging on and it has turned out well. Besides the brethren with their personal vehicles who pick others up for services, they hire a taxi bus ($375 a month) to bring the rest.

This week I’m in the Dominican Republic, a country of almost 9 million people. The capital, Santo Domingo, is home to over 4 million, so you can imagine what the traffic is like. As brethren move farther away from downtown, to be able to afford housing, it can take them an hour or more to get to services downtown. The obvious result is that big downtown churches are losing members to what were once smaller churches on the outskirts and new churches are being started often. In the area where I’m staying there are at least 20 brethren, who presently attend 3 or 4 different churches. They now have a Bible study on Mon. night and are discussing whether to begin a church in this area. This is the norm here, where transportation is always an issue—not only the money, but even more the time.

Some people would be very upset, because if there’s only one way to do things right, one of these two methods is wrong. But these two different methods both work in their respective cultures, because the circumstances are different. As Christians we need the flexibility to do whatever is scriptural first, and then whatever works best in a particular situation. What works in St. Lucia may not work nearly as well in Santo Domingo, and vice versa.

Is it any different with people? Jesus condemned the Pharisees harshly yet was gentle with the woman taken in adultery. Why? He knew one was a hypocrite and the other was weak. Did the woman not know that adultery was a sin? Didn’t she realize that she could be killed if caught?

Today it’s tempting to let brethren who are weak “have it”. “They should know better than that. I KNOW they’ve heard that before.” Maybe they should know it, maybe their body was present when it was preached, but their mind was out golfing, or fishing, or working. If they didn’t get it in a group setting, why not try to teach them one on one? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been told, “they know that” only to talk to “them” and realize, no “they” don’t know that.

When dealing with those who are weak we need to look beyond the symptoms and get at the heart of the matter—their faith is weak. Since faith comes by hearing what they need is study, not necessarily lectures. On the other hand those who are strong, but rebellious need another kind of treatment—they need to be reproved so they will change.

We all have methods and ways we’re comfortable working with others. But those methods may not work with everyone. We have to adapt ourselves to them, not force them to adapt to us—“I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.”

Tol Burk

Santo Domingo--The way we were

Every time I return to Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic I’m reminded of the “good old days” as some are wont to say. Every morning the water truck comes through the neighborhood—it has about a 2,000 gal. tank of purified water and will sell it by the gallon. A little later come a couple of different vegetable trucks—local potatoes, carrots, cabbages, tomatoes, some kind of peppers and of course plantains—the saying goes, “In Santo Domingo they’re never short on plantains.” On the main roads you’ll see horse drawn wagons with produce, mangos, cherries, bananas, etc. Many go to the supermarket for their major grocery shopping but every block or two there’s a little grocery shop that stocks the basics— rice, beans, coffee, salt, milk, etc. Some of them still sell on credit, although most of them now require a deposit. And yes, there are still vegetable markets as well as some meat markets like that in the picture.

I don’t remember those “good old days” but I remember well some of the other joys of island living—the power is off at least a few minutes every day and last night we ate supper by candle light—no romance intended. We ran out of water today before the water truck came, but it was only for a few hours. The “joys” of bathing out a bucket, flushing the toilet with a bucket take me back to St. Croix. Here you know your neighbors—they come to visit, or you go there.

Yet it’s not all “old” most people have cell phones, at least one TV, there are internet shops everywhere, and many have their own car. In a strange mix of old and the new yesterday I saw a horse pulling a wagon and noticed the “blinders” it had were Styrofoam food boxes. And of course they were on the highway with the rest of us—there are not too many bridges across the River Ozama.

While many things are different the brethren are the same. I was received as a family member, even by those I’ve never met. To those I know I’m more like a long last family member. Everyone wants to feed you, or at least give you juice or coffee. They want to know about “the family” and the church where I preach. Some brethren are very serious about the Gospel, while others are just there. Some sing well and some not so well. There are good brethren and there are some not so good.

The Gospel works just as well in Santo Domingo as it does anywhere else—it fits in every culture and every time.

Tol Burk

A matter of perspective

On your right are some of the most famous landmarks in St. Lucia--The Pitons. These two mountain peaks run straight down to the ocean and are quite impressive--I've seen them from the north side of St. Vincent 20 or more miles away (I thought I would see them on my trip to St. Lucia, but it didn't happen. I was promised that next time we would make sure.) From this photo can you guess the distance between the two pitons?

In reality they're something like 10 miles apart, with a large bay in between them--if you were to take a land route from one to the other it would be well over 20 miles. But from this perspective they don't look that far apart.

The fairly obvious application is that often times our perspective causes us to misjudge things--other people's motives, actions, etc. Even more damaging spiritually is our tendency to overvalue the things of this world and under value heaven. We must be in the Word so we keep our perspective clear.

Tol Burk

Sweet but short

I was in St. Lucia a couple of weeks ago and the mangos were just ripening--there's nothing like a good, tree ripened, native mango. It's a taste like no other--sweet, kind of creamy, the only thing near its taste is kenep, which doesn't help most of you, since you don't know it either.

I noticed on one of the trees the remains of a mango--it has a huge seed and that was about all that was left, but it was still hanging there. The birds had gotten to this one before the people and it had been picked clean. I've seen hornets do the same thing, although it takes them a couple of days.

Now what's the point, you ask. There is nothing sweeter than a mango, but it doesn't last long--someone will eat, whether man or beast. It's "life" is only a few days once it matures. In the same way James compares our life to a vapor--here today, gone tomorrow.

Are you ready to meet God today?

Tol

The greatest temple of all

Above are renderings of the inside of Solomon's temple, as well as the outside of the temple of Diana (at Ephesus). Both of them are acknowledged to have been magnificent structures, but which was the greatest? Although there were other temples, these are certainly among, if not the most beautiful. Diana's is better known--it wasn't destroyed until travel was easier and more people had seen it, but Solomon's must have been awesome--everything overlaid with gold, of the finest woods, decorated to the n'th degree.

But in spite of the great beauty of these and other houses of worship even today (think of the "crystal cathedral" there is a temple that eclipses them all--the church of the Living God. No, I'm not talking about the building, of course, but rather the people. The people that Eph. 2 describes as "growing into a temple". The people called from every nation, tribe, and tongue under heaven. The people from every culture you can imagine and probably some you can't. The old, the young, the middle-aged (like me); the rich, the poor, those who travel extensively, those who've never been more than 50 miles from where they were born.

Together we all make up the mosaic that is the temple of God. Would you want to damge the beauty of Solomon's temple? Of course not, so why should we not then preserve the purity and beauty of the temple of God?

Tol

What makes a good prospect?

In Grenada, the Isle of Spice (that's cinnamon bark drawing in the photo), particularly in Mt. Granby, it is not hard to get Bible studies. We spent 2 morning and another aftertoon and had all the studies we had time for. That has happened consistently, so after I got home I tried to analyze why people there will so readily listen--after all, if honest people will study the Bible the majority will become Christians. So if we can identify "what" we're looking for in prospects, it would make our job simpler.

What I noticed in Mt. Granby were several points:

1) They had time to at listen for 30 minutes to an hour. Some of them were older, but others had small children, work to do, etc. But they didn't have 2 appointments for themselves, soccer practice for one kid, piano lessons for the other, and . . . This is not true in all the islands--you couldn't find that much in Puerto Rico or Barbados, but in the more rural islands it is still common.

2) They believed God was important, whether or not they went to church. Some of them attended a church regularly and most had at some point been "faithful" to their church. If God is important, then one can always spare a little while to study His Word. Now this means they accept all comers, so may study with the Jehovah's witnesses one week, the Adventists the next, etc. Are you surprised when I tell you they're a bit confused?

3) They were not lazy people. Yes, they took the time to listen, but it wasn't because they had nothing else to do. One of the ladies we studied with worked spices the whole time we talked--one day the nutmegs and the next tamarind. Others had to shush the kids, give them a snack, etc. Lazy people see quickly that the Gospel is too hard, so most never begin, but if they do, they don't usually last.

4) They were not wrapped up in materialism. If you want things, you don't stay too long in the islands--you go on to England, Canada, or the US so you can work and buy "things". If you're still in Grenada you are satisfied with less--you'll have clothing, food, and housing, but you won't have your own car, many clothes, etc. God cannot be second to things and to so many Americans He is second. We're looking for people who realize God is more important than things.

Tol

"The simple life"

I preached Sunday in Mt. Granby, Grenada—33 present in the morning, 18 that night. As I drove back to the hotel after 8 PM people were sitting on the side of the road the entire way. They were groups of young boys, men, women, women and children, all just liming (relaxing).

They were on the road because outside is cooler than inside, but also because the road is “where it’s happening”. You see your friends there, the taxi buses pass, a friend may pass in his car, etc. The highlight of their day is the evening, relaxing with friends.

During the day life is also simple—working in the garden or cooking and caring for the children. Most people will take the time for a Bible study. You know when the bus comes up and who got on it, who got off, etc. We passed the granddaughter of a man we were going to see and our “guide” knew he had gone to town, but that the bus had come up and he should be home—he was. The granddaughter wasn’t sure whether he was home, but our guide was.

Now on the flip side, you must realize that this kind of life also means you have a few clothes to wear, enough food to eat—mostly what you yourself can grow in your garden, and not much cash money. You don’t have your own car, so you must wait for the taxi bus and squeeze in with the other 15 people already inside it. Travel is to the city in your parish, or maybe to the capital. It may be an easy life, but it has its drawbacks.

If this life is too boring for you, sooner or later you will immigrate to England, the US, or Canada. You know what that rat race can be, but the physical rewards are quite attractive to many. How many people work long, hard hours to have the cars, the house, and all the other trimmings?

There is a third life—a life in which, yes you must make a living, whether in Grenada or the US, or anywhere else in the world. In this life, the most important thing to you is whether or not you make it to heaven—everything else revolves around that. What you have of this worlds goods is not so important, but rather what treasure you have in heaven, “where moth does not corrupt, nor thieves break through and steal”.

Which lifestyle are you pursuing???

Tol

"There is a way . . . "

Grenada is an island 21 miles long and 12 miles wide—not very big as countries go, but a typical island in the Eastern Caribbean. There are only a few main roads, with reasonable signs—there are those junctions or roundabouts where there is nothing, but generally speaking you can figure it.

David and I set out this morning to a certain place. We got on a road we’ve traveled one other time, so that part was easy. From our previous experience on this same road we’d learned that the map was only a guide—what it showed as a “main road” might look like a street, be closer (or farther) than it appeared, and might have no sign at all. So when we got to Grenville we headed north and quickly came to a roundabout. Two of the roads were obviously not the one we wanted, but that left two other choices. One of them led in the direction we wanted to go, so we took it. Within a couple of miles it brought us back to the road we had been on earlier. Now we could have asked directions—there were plenty of people liming (relaxing) on the side of the road, but we had time. So we went back to the first roundabout and took the 4th road. In a mile or so we reached another intersection and before all was said and done we traveled on all 3 of them, only to circle around (one a 5 or 6 mile circle) to some point on our original road. On several of these false paths we felt fairly confident because they seemed to be going in the direction we were seeking. After about an hour or this, we retraced our steps on one of the first roads we’d taken, made a left (away from our destination) instead of a right and very quickly reached our destination.

As I was reflecting on our journey, I remembered the passage in Proverbs (14:12 & 16:25), “There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.” There were a number of roads that seemed right, but weren’t in our search today. Interestingly enough, those that felt “wrong” usually turned out to be right. Although they didn’t lead where we wanted to go, they didn’t lead to death, or even damage.

But such is not true of false doctrine or moral decisions. To borrow a phrase from an old song, “It feels so right, it can’t be wrong” is used to justify things from fornication to alcoholism, but this way “that seems right” leads to death. Emotional pleas against plain Bible statements fall into the same category: “I don’t believe God would send someone to hell for such a little thing.” “I don’t see anything wrong with it”.

The only sure path is the one God has commanded—I may not understand why, but the fact that God has said it should be enough. We may later understand why or in this life we may never understand why, but the fact remains “there is a way that seems right unto a man, but its end is the way of death.”

Tol

Those "Christians"

To the right you will see a costume for Carnival in Trinidad, and I can tell you this is NOT one of the more revealing ones. Usually in Feb. Trinidad has their equivalent of Mardi Gras and everything you associate with Mardi Gras is there double.

When slavery was outlawed in the British Empire many from India were brought to Trinidad as indentured servants--they worked for X number of years, then were freed. Today the population of Trinidad is about half Indians and half West Indians--Trinidad is the largest concentration of Indians outside of India itself. Most of the Indians are nominally Hindu and the West Indians are nominally "Christian"--you know what sense I'm using Christian here.

On many levels the 2 cultures have mixed and coexist more or less peacefully--curry and roti are now endemic in West Indian food. But there is always a contrast drawn between the two cultures and one of these areas is in religion. In reality most of the people on both sides are not anything religiously--they don't attend worship, pray only occassionally, but if asked would acknowledge being ________ .

In talking with Hindus and former Hindus, frequently they bring up the disconnect between "Christian" morality and Carnival, which usually lasts a couple of weeks and is a time of hedonism--drinking, partying, dancing, prancing nearly naked through the streets to the accompaniment of music, liquor, and open sex. These "Christians" claim to be the moral ones, who worship the one true God, but look how they act.

In contrast, the Hindu festival of lights, Divali, which takes place in Dec. is quite different. It is touted as the largest alcohol free party in the Caribbean and is well organized with fashion shows, flea markets, etc. None of the debauchery associated with Carnival is part and parcel of Divali.

What a sad commentary on "Christianity"--it is known for it's immorality while Hinduism is known for the lack of alcohol. Is it any wonder most Hindus in Trinidad won't even consider Christianity? With what they see of it, why would they? Like many others all over the world they reject Christianity, without having ever seen the real thing.

It's no different in the United States, or anywhere else for that matter. As people see the hypocrisy or just the simple foolishness practiced in the name of Christianity, it's no wonder they reject it--I do to. I was talking to a lady yesterday whom I see about once a week. Something came up that I was studying with our neighbors, whom she also knows and something was said about "church". Dana and I have been trying to find an opening to talk to her, but nothing, until yesterday. "I'm liking what I'm hearing about your church more and more" she told me, then related why she stopped going to the Roman Catholic church--the priest was falling asleep during his sermon, drunk from the "wine" of the Lord's supper. And she is not alone--people just like her are everywhere. They're looking for fulfillment, know they need God, but haven't found Him in "organized religion".

There is nothing we can do about other churches, but let us never be the one someone points to as the reason they've rejected Christianity. The devil provides them with enough excuses, let's don't give them any more.

But we also need to understand where people are coming from and approach them from this point of view. When people tell me about abuses in other churches, I will agree with them that that is not right and talk about that we try to do ONLY what the Bible says. At least in the Caribbean most people feel you should do what the Bible says, so we get away from "churchanity" and get back to real Christianity.

Tol

Signs of Spring

Ah yes, the signs of Spring are everywhere in Puerto Rico--the sea almond tree is losing all its leaves, the mosquito fogging truck was out tonight, and the bugs are crawling. Living in the tropics you're much closer to nature--too close Dana would say. We don't have window screens and we're getting sweeps on the bottoms of the doors, well one of these days, so bugs don't have too much trouble getting in. We spray for them, so the roaches never make it more than about 10 feet inside before they turn on their backs, but the dead bodies are still there. I was at the neighbors tonight around twilight and they had to turn the lights off--the flying termites swarmed in. We don't have lizards in the house, as is sooo common in St. Croix, which is not always a good things--at least they ate some of the bugs.

Is this not what you think of when you think of Spring? People in the deep south probably have much the same feeling we do--"Is winter already over? Here comes the hot weather!" The next 3 months are probably the hottest of the year--it's hot, humid, and sticky, but it does get slightly better in June or so.

I still look forward to Spring, but I just wish it would wait a few weeks more.

Tol

20 babies

About a month ago a member of the English speaking church at Caparra invited some friends, co/workers, in-laws, etc. for the next Sunday morning's service in Spanish. Well about 20 of them showed up and most have been there for the last 3 Sundays. This is a photo of the 2nd Sunday they were there. In one Sunday our attendance jumped from 6 to 30.

Of course we are very excited, but also a little concerned. Most of these visitors didn't even own a Bible, much less know anything about how to get around in it. Imagine 20 babies and 3-4 Christians (one of which is preaching) to help them find the Bible passages. We gave them all Bibles, so they all have the same Bible, which simplifies finding the Bible books--the preacher gives out the page number, then the chapter and verse.

Singing is another thing--since most of them's exposure to religion has been the Roman Catholic, they don't know many hymns, so you have a room full of people, but only 4-5 who are really singing.

For me the thing I'm most concerned about is handling the problems that babes in Christ so often bring. Yet I'm confidant the Lord will provide all that we need in this area as well. He gave us the contacts, He will also give us the means to teach and ground them.

We thank God for these contacts and ask for your prayers on their behalf as well.

Tol

Global warming, 2--or will man destroy the world?

Human beings seem to love disasters, are more properly the hanging specter of impending disaster. How else do we account for the recurring dates of the "end of the world", our fascination with the "effects of overpopulation", The Weather Channels what if disasters--I forget the name, but what if a major tornado struck downtown Dallas, another major earthquake struck San Francisco, etc.? I think our sudden fascination with global warming falls into the same category.

Is the world warming? The evidence is clear. Why is it warming? Is it a natural cycle of the globe, similar to the Little Ice Age, or is it the product of man's burning of fossil fuels, etc.? Since climatological records only go back 200-300 years, they aren't much help as to if there have been similar "warmings" before. Whatever you believe the cause is, your conclusion is based on faith to some extent. We cannot prove that greenhouse gases caused the hole in the ozone layer--we can theorize from certain experiments, but it cannot be proved.

What I really want us to think about though, is whether man can destroy this world? I believe that mankind, as stewards of God's Creation, should use wisely what God has entrusted to us. I recycle and even have a hybrid car, but that said, does mankind have the power to cause the end of the world?

The Scriptures state clearly that such knowledge and therefore the power needed to accomplish resides only in God. Man can no more destroy the world than he can create it. This is a humbling thought for many people, who think mankind can do anything. Such is not the case, and we would do well to remember that. God is not only the Creator, but also the Sustainer. He did NOT create the world, then walk off and leave it. He set in place the cycles of nature, whether the yearly seasons or the multi-year periods of "good" weather as well as those of "bad" weather.

Tol

Global warming???

There is no doubt the world is getting warmer--the evidence is in and is clear. What is not so clear is the why? Is it just a normal cycle that we're going through, or is it caused by man and his activities? Is it like the "Little Ice Age" that occurred from the 1500's to early 1800's?

While the jury is out as to its cause, at least in the scientific community, there is one thing I AM sure of. The Bible predicted long ago that the world would suddenly get warmer, in fact so warm it would actually be burned up.

One of the many places this prediction is made, and probably the most easily understood is 2 Pet. 3:10, "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat: both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up." At some future point the world will be burned up, along with everything in it and all mankind's efforts will not change that.

Since this is true, what should our response be? Should we stand around wringing our hands? Or perhaps set up something to "put out" the fire? Again Peter advises us, "Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God . . . " (2 Pet. 3:11-12)

Tol

Becoming all things to all men

Any language, in any area, has its idioms (modismos en espanol)--things that don't mean what they seem to say, or ways of saying things that are unique. I've never heard "you'un's" anywhere but in E. Ky, and the only ones who know what "I'm fixin' to do _____" means are usually Texans and some Tennesseans. In Puerto Rico, there are some things you can't commonly find here--like brisket, hominy, etc. When you ask for it, they will tell you, "no trabajamos esto aqui", which would be translated literally "we don't work that here". Obviously, the idea is better stated "we don't sell that". Where ever you are, the language is a little different from other places.

Of course the differences extend beyond just language--the way some things are done, what is polite or impolite, the food they eat, how people can be reached with the Gospel, etc. When a person moves to a new culture it can be very uncomfortable at first. You have 2 choices--to adapt to your "new culture" or to refuse to adapt.

The apostle Paul traveled into many different cultures in just a few years, spending a couple of years in Galatia, then returning to Antioch, only to leave again to travel through Galatia into Macedonia, then Achaia, not to mention later Asia, and even Rome. Paul was raised a proper Jew, which involved not only religion but his way of life, his dress, what he ate, etc. In 1 Cor. 9:19-22 he talks about how he became "as a Jew" when around Jews, but "as a Gentile" when in their company. He sums it all up by saying, "I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some." Was Paul a hypocrite? No, I understand this to mean that he tailored his speech and perhaps clothing, his mannerisms, and actions to reach those he was with.

We must learn to do the same thing. Illustrations about racoons, wolves, bears, and buffalo mean little to people in the Caribbean--many have never seen them, not even on TV, so by the time you explain the illustration, the point you wanted to make gets lost. When you learn that a certain phrase means a certain thing here, use it that way. Dana tells me that when I preach in Spanish I'm much more animated, speak louder, and use my hands even more than usual. My only defense is that's the way you're supposed to preach in Spanish. "I have become all things to all men".

This extends to many areas--the way we dress, the food we offer others, etc. But the point of all of it is "that I might save some". Are you willing to step out of your comfort zone to save others? The apostles were.

Tol