A Matter of Life and Death...

The following opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Chisholm Baptist Church, it's members, board, or pastors. These opinions belong to Pastor Kevin and he is the one you need to complain to if you do not like this post....

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news! Romans 10:14-15

There are two events on my mind as I sit to write to you this month. The first is dinner last night. For several months, I have been trying to find a time to have dinner with Shawn, but the demands of my schedule has kept me from it. Finally, I picked up Shawn and we went to Jim’s bar for dinner. We had burgers and played a little bocce ball before I had to get over to the church for cantata practice. As is Shawn’s habit, he introduced me to everyone. I don’t have everyone’s names down as I ought, but I met more non-church people from Chisholm in the hour I spent there than I had at any single event since moving here two years ago.

For those of us who grew up in the church, we have an image of the bar as being a "den of iniquity." We can hardly imagine the evil that is going on behind those mysterious doors. And yet, what we find there is a lot of people. These people all have different issues in their lives. There were people laughing and having conversations together. There were others who looked to be very sad or depressed who did not look like they wanted to interact with anyone. There were couples and singles. There were older folks and younger folks. Most everyone seemed to be on a first name basis with one another. When Shawn ordered his dinner, the server was quick to ask if he was able to have that on his diet.

From my very limited experiences of hanging out in a bar, it was a pretty typical hour. There was music and fellowship. There were signs of pain and heartache and addiction, mixed with times of joy and victory and celebration. There were friendships and good natured ribbing. There were conflicts and struggles. At the center of it all seems to be a deep desire to connect with other people in some sort of a relationship.

In other words, it was a lot like being in a church without the Gospel. Actually, the similarities are staggering. The bottom line is that people long to connect with someone or some thing outside of themselves. For those of us who have learned of the grace of God through Jesus Christ, we understand that this longing is placed in us by God so that we seek Him and find Him. However, we also have the joyous privilege of sharing this good news with those who have not heard. So the irony of the bar is that it has many of the elements of church community that we work so hard to try to create in the church. The thing that is lacking is the Gospel. But how can the Gospel come to the bar if the Gospel preachers refuse to go there?

The other event that is prominent in my thoughts today was the report Sam brought home from work at McDonalds yesterday. One of the young girls who worked there didn’t show up. It turns out that she took her own life. As we talked about this event, Sam was obviously concerned about how he could have done or said something to have altered this situation. While the things already done cannot be changed, we were able to discuss some possibilities of how he can be a Gospel bearer to his co-workers at McDonalds.

There is no shortage of people who are desperately hurting and deeply longing for connection. The lack of purpose that people experience and their deep loneliness can only be met by their loving creator who has made their reconciliation possible through the blood of His only Son. The question then is why is there such a shortage of people who will go to them and tell them the good news of Jesus? On days like today I am reminded that it is a matter of life and death – both now and for eternity.

Spring has Sprung!

With today's temps well into the 50s, it is beginning to feel a lot like spring. I personally love the sound of water running as the snow melts away, but there isn't much of that since we had so little snow. I think I will take the girls out to fly kites before dark tonight. It was also good to get out the baseball gloves yesterday and play a little catch -- I have to get the arm loosened up before softball season gets underway.

What are your favorite things about spring? Join the conversation and let us know....

Honduras

Sorry For not posting in awhile. I was blessed to be tv and computer free for the last week and a half due to our trip to Honduras. We left 2 days early to avoid getting trapped by the snow storm. We hung out with family in the cities before flying out of Minneapolis on Friday night.

One of the highlights was worshipping with one of the families from the ranch at their church in Tegucigalpa. I took this next picture after church, overlooking the city. The house parents are a retired couple who have decided to invest their retirement in another generation of children who need their love and experience. God is working in this family and I look forward to seeing how God uses them over the coming years.

On Wednesday, we traveled to the small village of Quiscamote to do an outreach. Our hosts expected about 7-8 people, but we had 76 turn out. Scott Erickson shared his testimony and I had the privilege of preaching the gospel. We had been praying for this outreach and especially that God would bring "honorable men." We had two men and a couple of older teen boys show up. We were able to give the two men copies of the New Testament in Spanish. This day was by far the highlight of our trip. The next picture is one of me and some of my new friends from Quiscamote.
The school we were working on is half done and being used. We worked on the "new" half. We finished sheetrocking and taping the lower level, completed the framing and wiring of the whole building, and put in all the windows. We worked pretty hard for the week, but felt that the work was productive for the ranch. Here is a picture of the whole construction crew at the end of the week with the school in the background.

After a full week, you would think a guy could take a nap in peace! Oh well, at least the thieves returned the camera....