Story4All Podcast

On November 17, 2009 Bryan Thompson interviewed my friend Ben and me. Listen to the 24 minute podcast from the link below:

story4all.libsyn.org

Friday Night Theology

Instructions for a Perfect Birthday Weekend

1. Wake up the morning of your birthday to the first snow fall of the year blanketing summer flowers and green leaves.

2. Slush over to Caribou Coffee to read your Bible and enjoy your free birthday drink.

3. Beat the sunshine before it breaks through the clouds to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. Take pictures of the juxtaposition of seasons.

4. Receive phone calls from countries like Nepal, Indonesia, Singapore, Liberia, Ghana, and three different states in the United States.

5. Enjoy a steamy and creamy bowl of turkey soup and a freshly Baked Apple Pastry smothered with warm carmel.

6. Cover your pallet with acrylic paints and transform that canvas that has been collecting dust into a burst of color, texture, and life.

7. Snuggle among pillows on your favorite couch and read the latest young adult fiction novel.

8. Wake up on a crisp Sunday morning and worship God in a community of peop

le that make you smile.

9. Head over to Amy Grady's kitchen for the party, where close friends and family have gathered to celebrate God's blessings over the past 30 years, where there is no shortage of food, where laughter echos in abundance amid games, gifts, and conversations.

10. Fall asleep in a soft, warm bed in a home where you are safe, blessed, and loved.

Thank you to everyone who made my 30th memorable. To God be the glory.

Newsletter Time

Every three months I prepare a newsletter to send to my support team. I enjoy writing, designing, and creating these publications, but, let's just say I have a hard time doing them in one sitting. Here's how it works.

I have a reminder set up on my calendar that lets me know I should at least begin thinking about a newsletter. Over the course of that week I assess the last three months: what has happened, what have I learned, what are those monumental moments that rise to the surface of the memories? I brainstorm trivia questions, jot down random thoughts and look ahead to the next three months.

At this point, at least a week has gone by and I'm ready to begin writing. Like that first day of school when a teacher should really be most concerned about lesson plans and instead they organize and decorate the entire classroom (that's me), I have to get the format, the trivia, and my tidbits all in place before I write the main body of my newsletter.

This is when writer's block usually hits.

Once it's done I revise it too many times and send it to the Van Sickles for editing and publication. You would think I never edited it myself. I'm thankful to Heather Van Sickel, my second pair of eyes!

While Dave and June Van Sickel print them off and stuff and stamp the envelopes, I log into constant contact and begin creating the electronic version. Most of the work is done at this point and this goes pretty fast. When I hit send, within ten minutes it's in over 300 people's inboxes and half that many paper versions are flying from Minnesota to Virginia, California, and a few states in between, with one even landing across the pond in the United Kingdom.

Since the whole process ends up taking about a month, I'm glad I don't have to think about it for another quarter of a year.

The Bible Is Sufficient

The annual ION (International Orality Network) Conference this year was hosted at my home church, Grace Church. A week ago, I wouldn't have been able to tell anyone what orality was, but now I am flooded with a wealth of exposure to it. Using the method of storytelling to convey God's Word opens up the door to providing the gospel to people who have an oral way of thinking. Resources and materials aren't necessity to communicating the truth in God's word. There is such a simplicity to it, it is something I can use anywhere. And what do you know, it's exactly the method Christ used to catalyst life transformations. This is not a new thing. I was just making the gospel story more complicated than it is. God's word can stand alone. It doesn't always need my cultural filters to garnish it. God's word transforms lives.

I'll Be General Mills and You Can Be Hershey's

Have you ever stared into a cereal box as your jaws rhythmically crush and slurp your breakfast?

One particular morning as I enjoyed General Mills Reese's Puffs, I had a revelation. I was experiencing the beauty of a partnership. Growing up in Golden Valley, Minnesota, I knew well of General Mills products like Cheerios. And I have spend many summer nights near a camp fire roasting marshmallows sliding the gooey golden brown mass upon Hershey's Chocolate bar and graham cracker. Here before me sat a box of cereal combining the best of General Mills and Hershey's.

General Mills would have done just fine if they chose to continue to manufacture their Cheerios, and Hershey's wouldn't suffer if they continued to just manufacture their chocolate bars. In the same way, families here in the US would do just fine raising their families in the Lord, and I could manage overseas, getting a job, and splitting my time between employment and ministry. But a beautiful thing happens in a partnership.

As I venture overseas to disciple and mentor kids and their teachers, I will be forming a "Reese's Puffs" partnerships with the families that support me. Business for General Mills and Hershey's both benefit as a result of the combined effort of their cereal. As families support me financially and prayerfully, their ministry will expand and their perspective will grow. I will be free to spend more time discipling and mentoring kids and their teachers too. We will all benefit!

As I trust God for my funding, I get to see these beautiful partnerships form. I'll be General Mills and you can be Hershey's.

Burmese Lesson #1

Preparing to move to Asia requires some preparation. Join me in learning Burmese.