Praise the Lord!

Yesterday, Erline gave a message about the armor of God.  She did a wonderful job on it.  I hope to use it and steal it from her one day :)  Today Blake spoke about boasting in our weaknesses.  We learned about ethnomusicology.  From psalm 150, we were able to see that all of the instruments that are used fulfill all the segments of ethnomusicology.  Basically, we can worship the Lord with anything! Praise the Lord also means to rejoice.

Music is so important because it is mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual.  The music we listen to is so important because of all of these elements.  We need to feed ourselves with the right music.

We then watched a debate that Georges was in with Jay Smith against two Muslim scholars.  It was cool to see that we could also tackle the arguments the Muslims brought up with truth.  We can all do this, we just need to be rooted in the Word of God.  The topic was salvation, and basically, the Muslim has no concept of Salvation outside of good works, which is the same as all other religions except for Christianity. 

One other thing that stuck out was something our last teacher said we should remember in missions: Don't ask what I can do, ask what needs to be done.  This basically means wherever we go, although God can use our strengths and talents and pass, we need to engage in what work needs to be done.  We gained lots of good insights about how to get from the believer to the church.

Well,  it is just about dinner time.  We are all going out bowling afterwards!  Should be fun.

The Last Monday

Today is the last Monday of the Sims training.  It has gone by so fast.  I am really thankful for everything that God has been doing in our lives through this, and encouraged about the future, not just ours, but in all the people we have met and the ministries the Lord has and is giving them.

This week, the focus is on discipleship and church planting.  There are three stages of training.  1.  Receiving food, helping them to feed themselves, and then teaching them to feed others.  Just as Jesus looked at the people and said the field is ripe for harvest.  He saw that among the harvest would be future harvesters.  This is how we must look at the Church, our small groups, and the people we are ministering to. 

We also learned about eastern discipleship, as in someone who is Muslim or from an eastern background.  It is important to be honest.  Suffering may come, and we cannot hide that.  Jesus didn't hide that at all.  Also, it is extremely important to be relational and share life with someone.  People need to see us live the Christian life, be encouraged to do so, then duplicate that in the lives of others.  This is what it means to make disciples. 

There was more role playing.  We saw Georges talk to Pierre (playing the role of a Muslim).  It was very helpful.  It is important to take control of the conversation, establish repore with them, and to leave room for mystery.  Georges asked if he really wanted to listen or just argue.  It is important to filter people who have ears to hear and ears to mock or to not listen.

Lastly, we are on co-mission with God.  The great commission (get it, co-mission) means that we are joining in what God is already doing.  It is a divine-human relationship.  We must work like it depends on us, and pray like it depends on God. 

Well, it's dinner time!  Gotta run. 

Olympic Thoughts

Last night, we watched the opening ceremony of the Olympics.  It was amazing to see, not only the lights and shows and excitement, but the part when all the countries came in.  Many countries I hadn't heard of, and wouldn't be able to tell you where it is on a map.  Others were familiar to me.  Some countries had high populations and oplympc participants, others had smaller numbers.

They all came in to the middle of the stadium.  It was beautiful to see.  It made me think of Heaven.

The Bible says that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord to the Glory of God. God wants every people group represented, which is why we must make disciples of all nations.

 I imagine every people group coming in, but not waiving their countries flag, but waving the banner of Jesus Christ.  There may be many from some countries, and few from others.  But every nation and tounge will be represented.  We will all gather around the throne and worship the Lord.  What a beautiful sight that will be!

Missions exists because worship doesn't.  The Lord is being so patient because He wants so many to be represented around His throne.  Unlike with the Olympics, we do not have to be professionals to participate.  We may need to work hard, to train, and to remain disciplined.  But above all, we must need to be willing to go.

T.G.I.F

This is a very early post, because we finished early today.  The day ended with an exam (open notes :) which was a good way to review all that we have been learning the past three weeks.  Emily, one of the other students, gave an excellent devotional this morning on prayer.  God answers prayer in extraordinary ways.  He answers the big prayers, and even the small ones.

After that, we had some more role playing, in which we had certain scenarios that we had to respond to.  We had our teaching from Tat Stewart a bit earlier today.  We learned about discipleship with Muslims, and practical things that can work for anyone.  For example, since most muslims come from a shame and honor culture, it is very hard for them to forgive.  They are used to sweeping things under the rug and just waiting a while to get over issues.  They may offer a gift, or out of the blue start talking in order to establish peace, without ever talking about the issue.  Actually, that sounds like most men.  Maybe it's not so foreign after all.

He said a quote that I thought was memorable. : Unforgiveness is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die.  

It is important to be transparent in discipleship, and also to approach it as a team instead of just a one-on-one discipleship.   We should also focus on the attributes of God in Bible study and discipleship.  The many attributes of God are usually not given much attention, and it is important to.  Another quote: Worship is not about singing, it is about knowing the God we are singing to. 

I am very encouraged by all we have been learning, but also ready for the weekend.  Last night went well.  Erline and I talked to an Indian couple, and were able to give them the Gospel of John.  They are from Kansas, and live in one of the places we will visit when we go.  Maybe the Lord has something more in store.  We'll see.

Well, now off to relax and watch the opening ceremony with the Johnsons!  Today is my dad's 50th birthday by the way.  I wish I was there with him, but I'm very happy to be here. 

Until next time...
-Tony

What an insult!

The Lord is gracious to us.  He goes above and beyond to show us His love.  There was an excellent devotional this morning by Jordan. 

After that, we learned more about folk Islam.  Muhammad was posessed by a demon, and so are other muslims.  For many, it is second nature for them to acknowledge that.  What darkness!  Even when Muhammad received that command from the Angel Gabriel (so he thought) he acknowledged that he believed it was a demon, until his wife told him otherwise. 

Pierre Housney helped us to role play in speaking to Muslims.  I went today.  It went pretty well, and it was cool to use what we've been learning.  It is so complex.  Their world view is so different from ours.  We have to trust the Holy Spirit in those situations for the words, and for Him to move in the heart of whomever we speak to. 

I was able to use the illustration about the spit in the cup.  If someone spit into a cup of coffee and offered it to you, would you drink it?  Really, you wouldn't?  What if I added some sugar and cream (o leche si tu quiere)?  No you wouldn't, because it would be an insult to drink that.  Well, our sin is an insult to God.  We cannot expect God to accept our lives with sin in it.  We can't expect to just add good works to cover it either.  Only Jesus can do that. 

We learned more about how we can witness to them, and stories to illustrate different things, because they love stories.  It would be complicated to explain through writing, so just take my word for it.  In Islam, Allah is the source of all evil.  Can you believe that?  Scary thought.  Muslims even believe that they cannot control their sin or lusts, therefore women need to be veiled, or they can have multiple wives in order to not have to control themselves.  What a contrast from one of the fruits of the spirit of self control. 

One thought that stuck out to me today was that in the Old Testament, God was very specific with the sacrifices that needed to be made to atone for sin.  The animal had to be of a certiain age, and without spot or blemish.  He determined the terms, and He determined whether the sacrifice was acceptable or not.  In Jesus, God has offered a sacrifice to us for our sin.  He was spotless and without blemish.  Yet now, God wants us to accept the sacrifice that He is providing to us for our own sin.  What an insult to deny His sacrifice. 

Anyway, we are going to have dinner and then off to Pearl Street.  Please pray for us. 

God does the impossible

Ryan did the devotional this morning.  What stuck out to me was a question: do I trust in God to do the impossible?  I do.  And now that I think about it, I'm sure He is testing me on that as I write this.

We learned about folk Islam this morning.  Islam is so complex.  There's a lot of mystycism, veneration of saints, and other things that we would not expect.  Also in Islam, Allah is nowhere.  He is not even good.  He does good and evil, and is even manipulative and decieving. 

A young lady from Saudi Arabia gave her testimony after that.  It was very encouraging.  Her parents basically told her that they are dead to her for becomeing a Christian.  Her mom is coming around, and the dad loves to skype with the grandbaby. 

Later on, we learned from Tat again.  He spoke of the importance of being relational with Muslims, but being open and clear about our faith.  It is easy to be relational, and expect them to ask about Jesus, but we need to also be up front about our faith in Jesus, while loving them in sincerity all the way through.  We should get them to taste and see that the Lord is good.

Also, we need to trust the work of the Holy Spirit to move in the heart and mind.  In the end, it is He who will draw them to Jesus, and regenerate them.

As another speaker said this morning, when we recognize the depths of our own sin, it is easier to have compassion towards others.

Dinner will be starting soon.  I'm looking forward to it :)

-Tony

God goes before us

This morning I was privileged to do the morning devotional.  It was called "John the Baptist: The Jesus Driven Life."  I think it went well.  I hope it encouraged them.

Andre taught us about contextualization.  This is very important that we have a Biblical view of this.  Contextualization is fine, as long as it does not change theology.  Our approach in missions needs to be Christ centered, not culture centered.  For example, some who air on the side of the C6 spectrum basically are telling Muslims who come to Christ to remain Muslims.  The whole C1-C6 spectrum is based on a broken model.  It is really compliated.  Those who took the Perspectives class have heard of this.  It is important to make a Biblically informed decision instead of culturally informed.  Christ transcends culture.

We did some role playing about talking to Muslims with Georges' other son, Pierre.  That was fun and interesting.  It is important to have a diagnostic approach when approaching anyone, including Muslims.  They are more diverse than we think.

Lastly, we had more teaching from Tat Stewart.  He spoke of the many ministries that the Lord uses to reach Muslims, suuch as planting the seed of the Word of God, prayer, Christian witness, etc.  He also talked about the means that the Lord has used to draw Muslims to Him, such as dispersing Muslims out of their home countries, disillusionment with Islam, suffering, etc.  God is also using dreams.  When we approach any person, ministry, or situation, we need to know that God has already gone before us. 

In between all of that, it has been fun connecting with people.  I even got to throw water balloons at Rylan (they were in swim gear, and really enjoyed it).  God has really blessed us by bringing us here, especially for the month.  I didn't know if we could even go, but once again, the Lord went before us and placed it on your heart to give or pray.  I can't express how much that means to us.  We are still early on in this process, but we trust that the Lord is already going before us. 

-Tony

Monday

Today started the third week.  Time is going by pretty quickly.  We had an awesome weekend.  Lots of fun and lots of laughs with the Johnsons.  We went to the farm saturaday morning, and helped Andre with his turned over tractor, and we put two tons of feed into whatever you call the giant feeder.  Literally two ton.  We ate with them, then went to Eldorado Springs.  We actually went to the mountains area.  My crazy wife and crazy friend got into the water completely.  Then we had burgers at the RV camp.

Sunday we went to church, then lunch.  Then Ryan and I saw the Dark Knight rises, and then I saw the Dark Knight rises again with Erline.  Yes, I'm a bit of a fan. 

We learned a lot today, but it seems like a bit of a blur.  I've had a lot on my mind lately.  Only twice in my life I've made a list of questions I have for God.  It's usually questions about the future.  I made a list last summer in Peru, and today I made another one.  It is great to look back at that list from last year and see that God has answered all of those questions.  He will do the same with my new list, not in my timing, but when He wants.  I look forward to seeing that.

Jesus had a three-fold ministry: Teaching, preaching, and healing.  The best model for ministry is Jesus.  Other sources may be good, but Jesus laid out everything in His three year ministry.

Our new speaker this week is Tat Stewart.  His focus is on evangelism.  We learned about things that God wants us to have in order to use us. 

Life is but a Vapor

Life is just a vapor.  Man is fallen and sinful.  These days are evil.  The type of thing that happened in that theater shouldn't even be surprising anymore.  But it is, and it is still hard to swallow.  We think we have so much control.  We are so small.  Things like this are sad because people use this to try to show how evil God is, when this really shows how sinful man is.  God is grieved, and we should be too.

My morning started with a text from my mom wondering if we are doing fine.  We are 40 minutes away from that place, and didn't go to the movies last night.  Thanks for your concern, if you were concerned.  All is well with us.

Today was a light day.  Steve, the one going to Tijikistan, gave the devotional this morning.  We then had Andre's teaching interrupted by a woman who gave her testimony.  Her husband, who converted from Islam to Christianity, was martyred with two others around ten years ago.  He was so fervant for the Lord and served people well.  In fact, she met him through trying to share Jesus with him on a bus.  The most amazing part about this woman is that she was there to encourage us!  She kept saying that she encourages us to live well, to be willing to pay any cost, and to stand firm in our faith.  It was humbling. 

Life is but a vapor.

We then had a time of looking through the library here, and talking with Georges in his office.  After lunch, more apologetics.

What I loved about John Gilchrist is that his approach brought everything back to the Bible.  The Bible is its best defense.  We focused today on the claim that Muhammad fulfilled a few prophecies from the Bible (Deut. 18:18), which he did not (Deut. 31:10 confirms that).  Muslims even claim that when Jesus spoke of a counselor that would come, it was not the Holy Spirit, but Muhammad.  So...Muhammad would come to convict the world of sin (he committed many) and come to live within us?  Scary thought, but sad that people believe this.  Gilchrist just used the Bible to refute this. 

He also used the Bible to prove that Jesus fulfilled the old testament prophecies.  One really cool thing we learned was that Jesus was referred to as the suffering servant and the king whose reign would go on forever.  This was shown through his two fathers, Abraham and David. 

Abraham was the father of Jesus, spiritually.  Abraham's son, Issac, paralled Jesus in many ways, including the sacrifice that the Lord provided (a ram for Issac, and Jesus for us).  Abraham was Jesus' spiritual father in His first coming, and His suffering.  David was Jesus' spiritual father as well.  Solomon, a king with much success, is a type of Christ.  This points to the second coming of Christ, when He will reign forever.  Many people didn't understand this, and still don't.  They believed that since Jesus didn't set things right in Rome and establish an earthly, He was not the Messiah.  Muslims believe this as well.  But they do not understand that Jesus embodies both of these stacks of prophecies, as the suffering servant and the everlasting King. 

Good stuff, right?  Like I said before, the best part was that Gilchrist relied totally on the Bible, and not on logic, reasoning, and smooth arguments to defend the Bible.  God is big enough to defend Himself in His word.

Now for the weekend.  It looks like lots of fun with the Johnsons this weekend.  :)

Know and be known

This morning, a few of us went to Andre's farm to help him put down mulch for apple trees.  It was an early morning.  I'm not a morning person at all, so I probably wasn't very pleasant to be around.  I did enjoy it.  It is amazing that The Lord through nature has provided so many functions for everything.  His fingerprints are everywhere.  He holds everything together!

Class today seemed long, because I was basically battling to stay focused, since I had so little sleep.  What stuck out today were a few things.  For one, Islam is failing.  The numbers may be deciving, but within Islam, it is so divided.  So many people are searching for hope.  They are searching for a God as Father.  They are searching for assurance of salvation.  They are serching for the one true God.  This is encouraging.

We learned much more from Gilchrist, about the Trinity and the Muslim view of God.  God, according to them, cannot be know.  One cannot have a personal relationship with him.  Yet we serve a God who dwells within us.  He wants to be know, and wants to truly know us.  Just think about Matt. 7:21-23.  Jesus said depart from me...I never knew you.  He wasn't impressed with what the people did, even if it was for Him. 

We went to pearl street to worship and witness.  It was great singing praises to God in the middle of a dark place.  That really checks your heart.  It draws a crowd, and it is great to just proclaim through song, yes, we follow Jesus.  Some Christians joined us, which was really cool.  I talked to a couple who seemed interested in our singing, why we were here, and what I was doing.  I was very open with them, but they weren't interested in anything else.

 There was also a drunk guy, who put his arm around me.   He was really wasted.  I could barely understand him, but he kept saying "I don't know how I got here."  He was talking about his situation, not pearl street.  He kept slurring, while talking about the Bible, and I kept listening.  He then asked for cigarettes.  It's pretty hard to talk to drunk people.  Anyway, I know how he got there...He stopped abiding, and he stopped repenting, somewhere along the way.  That isn't beyond any of us.  God wants to know us.  Oh that we would long to know Him.

The Lord is with us

This morning during one session we learned about boldness.  It was more of a devotional then teaching time, but still very encouraging.  In our breakout group before lunch, one of the other guys talked about taking risks.  He said risk taking keeps us from being bold because we are afraid of failing.  I can relate to that.  Sometimes I am timid because I am afraid of the possible response.  I even fear our future sometimes because I don't know the steps in between.  I think people will think that I am crazy, or making bad decisions.  This matters because it is not just about me, it is about Erline and our future family (don't worry...that wasn't a hint about anything...just thinking long term.)  It will be much easier to just say no.

I remember hearing on the radio once during a sermon that James Mcdonald gave about a man who wanted to be a missionary.  He felt called in such a big way.  He was the first missionary their church was sending out.  He raised his support, and was on his way.  They had a big going away celebration at his church, in which he was showered with love.  He then went to the airport. 

That evening, they had another service at the church, and to their surprise, the missionary was there.  When he was asked about why he was back at the church, he said "today I realized how much people care about me here at this church.  I can't leave." 

The Lord is with us.  There may be hardships, people who disagree, doubts or fears along the way, but the Lord is with us.  He goes before us, with us, and behind us.  It is encouraging to know that others may have some of the same fears, but seeing that the Lord is with them. 

The ending session was John Gilchrist about apologetics.  We learned so much about how the Qur'an tries to deny Jesus, but through some passages, it actually affirms His deity.  These passages can be good stepping points to lead Muslims to read the true word of God to see the truth. 

We even learned about all of the scholarly attempts to try to deny Jesus' deity, resurrection, death on the cross, etc.  Sometimes it seems like, man, why do so many people hate Jesus?  Why do people deny Him so fervently?  Well, He said that this would happen. He said that people would hate Him (John 15:18).  He said that He brought a sword that would divide.  We should expect this.  People are fine with anything in an attempt to be accepting and "open minded" except for Jesus.  Why?  Because accepting all that Jesus said He was, said that He did, and said that He would requires a response: deny Jesus or deny yourself.  It is easier for most to deny Jesus.

Erline and I, along with some others, are going to go to Andre's farm tonight.  We are not going to slaughter this time, but to enjoy the fruit of our labor :)

Eat and Speak

This morning our devotional was about raising support as a missionary, but extending love towards people who support us.  Prayer precedes giving.  I'm thankful that through our church I have seen this modeled through the missionaries we support.  Every time someone is home, they make sure they invest into us.  Sam gave a whole William Carey Seminar, even though he was just here a few days.  I'm so thankful for our church.

We learned more about biblical symbolism.  The purpose of symbolism is to reveal the glory of Christ.  They should also strengthen our theology, instead of changing it.  Andre mentioned something towards the end that he once spoke with someone who was a monk.  Andre asked him "what are you studying from the Bible"?  The man was confused by his question.  He answered in saying that he was not studying the Bible; he was reading the Bible for nourishment.  He said it was his daily bread.

 This really hit me.  It is easy to read the Bible to study and to learn more, and then feel when we learned enough (as if we ever could) the Bible could become boring.  Sometimes I read to find a verse that jumps out to me and inspires me, then I can learn it and then move on.  But we can't move on from nourishment.  We need it daily.  In Ezekiel 3, the Lord told him to eat His word.  Ezekiel said that he ate it and the taste was sweet like honey. I pray that I can say the same after reading God's word. 

I encourage you, the next time you feel you are not getting anything from reading, pray for the Lord to nourish you through His word.  God wants us to feed on His word, so we can grow then share that with others.  Ezekiel was told to eat, but then to go and speak to the people of Israel.  We need to eat and speak. 

Erline went after lunch to pick fruit (can't remember the name, but she had fun) while I stayed to help with the dishes, then I did our laundry [yeah I know, she's blessed to have me]   :)

Later on, we learned about the different roots of the Qur'an.  Basically, the Qur'an is not a pure book as Muslims speak of.  There are plenty of places that Muhammad derived his theology from, which includes gnostic sects, Jewish folk stories, Buddhism, etc.  In fact, he didn't write it.  It was written after he died.

Anyway, I'm not sure how to end this, since it is still sort of early here.  Thanks for reading, and thanks for helping us get here.  Until next time...

-Tony

Monday, Monday, Monday

It was a great Sunday being with Ryan, Sarah and the boys.  I'm so glad that things are back to normal.  Erline and Sarah took the boys to the pool while I helped Ryan with the septic tank of the trailer, and then had good conversation after.  We then had pizza hut for dinner and lots of laughs.  It's been good to laugh after the last few days.

Today we started the second week of classes.  We learned a lot today, well just like everyday.  This morning's devotion was encouraging as usual.  I'm really glad that they care about us spiritually as opposed to just trying to fill us up with information.  We learned from Andre Housney (the one with the farm) about typology.  For example, Moses is a type of Christ.  There are so many explanations to why this is the case.  It's amazing how detailed the Lord is.  The one that blew me away was Gen. 3:21-24 and Rev. 22:13-14 (read it!).  God is into the details. 

We then learned about the Student Volunteer Movement about these young people who helped to change the face of missions.  Our group is filled with young people who desire to see the nations reached with the Gospel.  Some are in college.  Others are married, and one couple has three crazy boys.  God is using us to do great things in His name. 

Our guest speaker this week is John Gilchrist.  He teaches about apologetics.  We learned a lot.  It was much to process.  Did you know that there are Muslim apologists?  Yeah, I didn't know that either.  It's amazing the deception they are under.  The speaker was very adamant on using the Bible to interpret the Bible, instead of going to so many outside sources.  The Bible speaks for itself. 

In the evening, we had a time of prayer.  We prayed for each other, the countries we are going to, etc.  It was a great time of prayer and unity. 

By the way, I beat Erline in ping pong twice today, and twice the other day.  Doesn't seem like a big deal, but that means that I've only beat her four times...ever!

A Full Experience

Yesterday, Erline wrote a very insightful post about what she has observed about the people in Boulder.  Her thoughts were spiritually insightful.  Sadly, something happened and the computer lost it.  I really hope she rewrites it.  She has a great perspective of the people here. 

We made it to the end of the first week.  We learned more yesterday.  It is very important to quantify things when talking to Muslims.  They do not have much of a concept of sin.  Their idea is more of Haram, which means forbidden.  Forbidden doesn't mean sin.  In fact, the things that are forbidden on earth are permissible in paradise (not Heaven, in fact God does not even dwell there).  Allah is not bound by anything, which means that in spite of good works outweighing the bad, there is no assurance of your salvation.  There is no hope.  I would argue that they do not even trust Allah, but sadly they trust the example of Muhammad, who himself was involved in countless sinful things.

It has been a great journey so far.  I'm looking forward to the Johnsons joining us at full strength, and so thankful that they are doing much better. 

This morning, we went to a farm.  Yes, a farm.  Georges Housney's son owns acres on a farm, plants, harvests, grows and sells from there.  He asked if we wanted to come and slaughter some chickens.  I reluctantly said yes.  We went with Jeanne, because afterwards we took her to the airport.  The other people in the class are somewhere in the mountains hiking and will be back Sunday.  Slaughtering chickens sounds better than that.

Under Russell's encouragement to get a full cultural experience, I participated in every aspect of taming the chicken.  I slit the throat of two, put them in steaming water to get the feathers off, pealed the feathers and cleaned them, cut them open and gutted the insides.  I even captured one from a small hen to lead to its slaughter.  It was a blast!  Their method of killing is very kosher, by the way, and the chicken do not eat any hormones or antibiotics.  It's good to know what you are eating.  

If this bothers you, don't worry...Chick Fil A is closed on Sundays anyway. :)

-Tony

Can't think of a title, so here it is

Another long day.  The day ended with more of an adventure. Ryan was rushed to the hospital as you should know.  He is fine.  No heart attack, though they are not exactly sure as of now what the problem is.  Pray for Ryan's strength and health, the boys and Sarah.  She is so strong.  Never seemed flustered.  I admire that.  Ryan's attitude is great as well.  I'm thankful we are here to be able to help.  That's what the church is for.  That's what family is for.

Today's study went very well again.  Lots of information.  they really care about our spiritual well being, not just our doing.  I like that.  We had a great devotional, then lots of great teaching.  What me and a few others were challenged by was reading of the Old Testament.  It's easy to stay in Psalms and  Proverbs and not go anywhere else.  I'm glad we are doing The Story, but I also need to make that part of my personal reading.  It's amazing that we have the Word of God.  We really need to value it more, myself included.  Muslims believe our Bible is corrupted.  Do we believe that?  Do we believe it's reliable?  If so, we should live like it, and live by it.  To do this we need to know it and know it well.  The speakers here, especially the older ones, have a deep understanding and love for God's word.  That's challenging and contagious. 

We learned about strategic ways we can engage Muslims.  We talked about being diagnostic.  Not everyone is at the same place.  We need to be willing to find out where they are in order to properly prescribe what they need to hear about the Lord.

Ryan wasn't feeling well, so he didn't come with us to Pearl Street.  (And you know the rest).  We were there for a bit.  Erline talked to a woman who believed that her religion was love.  I spoke to a couple of people (who were already Christians), then had to leave.

Be in prayer for this young lady, Ashley.  There are many other people here like her. I hope to find out in the morning that the night was fruitful. 

Time for bed.  I'm listening to the latest But in the  I Know But series on the Church.  I'm thankful for our church family getting us here and praying for us.  I'm thankful that we have family here in Boulder...or actually in Golden. 

The Door

This morning we went on a run around CU...which is the University of Colorado.  Yes it's CU, not UC.  Anyway, Erline did well with her asthma.  She has not had to use her breathing machine or pump.  Thanks for the prayers.

It's hard to believe today was only the third day of the SIMS conference.  We have learned so much thus far.  The set up has been informative, but also spiritually refreshing.  In case you were wondering, the schedule has not been until 8:30.  We start at 8:30 with worship and then a devotional.  We go until around 12 with breaks in between.  We start again at 2:30 and then end around 5:30.  It hasn't been overwhelming.  We learned this morning the importance of being wholehearted with following and serving God.  If it is not done wholeheartedly, it will not honor the Lord.

We have also learned more about leading Muslims to the Lord through the stories in the Quran that have been basically corrupted.  It is great to hear from the speaker.  He tells lots of stories, which I love.  We learned more about the difference between western and eastern thought.  Jesus approached things from an eastern method.  He asked questions with questions.  He became in command of the conversation.  He spoke with authority.

Lastly, Georges taught through the Cosmic Drama, which is the story of the Bible.  We went from the beginning.  The interesting thing is that things are not different than before.  Satan got Eve to look at what was prohibited, while ignoring all that God had provided to them.  She was concerned about the forbidden, instead what was given so graciously.  This is the same with us.  So many fall away because their concern is with living on their terms, which is usually about their favorite sin.  When we focus on that, we ignore all that the Lord has provided, and that He wants the best for us.

Also, we learned that Babel in Arabic means door to God (Bar= door, El=God).  The people wanted to make their own door to God, which God did not allow.  In John 10:9, Jesus says He is the door.  God does want us to get to Him, but His way.  Jesus is the only way.  If we believe this, we should live like it.

There is another birthday today.  Today is Susie's birthday.  We are at a yogurt shop celebrating.  Tomorrow will be a longer day.  We will be going to Pearl Street to share the Gospel with people.  There are lots of people down there usually.  Please pray for us.  One of the guys out there when we went yesterday had a sing that read "Need money for supplies for zombie apocalypse."  I would have taken a picture, but I didn't have money to give to him.  Pray that we are able to show that Jesus is the only door; the only way to God.

-Tony

Foreign and Familiar

So apparently, Erline has a foreign name.  Everyone we meet needs her to repeat her name in order for them to get it.  Today was another long day, but in a good way.  This morning at worship, there were notebooks of a long list of songs and lyrics of things I actually knew.  We sung "Amazing Love" and Draw me close to You.  Felt like home. 

The training today went very well.  We learned about the differences in the way of thinking between the Greek world and the Hebrew world.  We are part of the greek world, since we are so heavily influenced by them. Most of the world is influenced by Hebrew thought, which means while we think logically, they think alogically.  They are more story oriented, while we are more formula oriented.  This is important, because someone from the Hebrew world of thinking will not draw conclusions from a logical and formulaic Gospel presentation.  We need to know our audience.  But as 1 Cor. 1:18-25 says, God makes logic seem like foolishness and miracles a stumbling block.   The battle is not intellectual, it is spiritual.

Throughout the day I have had great conversations with the people we are taking this class with.  We have had great discussions about the material and applying it, but also learning about each other.  One thing Ryan pointed out was that there are many cultural similarities between Muslims and hispanics.  For example, Arabs are known for their tardiness (sounds familiar...).  Arabs are also very big on the family being the center of a person's life.  One of our speakers even pointed out that the spanish language has at least 6,000 words from Arabic origins!  That's comforting because God will use all of my background with Hispanics and my broken Spanish somehow for His glory.

The more I learn about Islam, the more I see the bondage that these people are in.  There are so many lies that they believe.  So many truths that are twisted and perverted.

Today was one of the guys' birthday.  His name is Josh.  We all went out and had a great time together.  In talking to him and a few others, the burden for the Muslim world is a recent one with many in our group.  One of the guys with us, Steve, is leaving next month to go to Tajikistan!  Others are going next year, while others are still in college, seeking God's will.  It is amazing that God would seek to use people so undeserving and so ordinary to do extraordinary things in His name.  That is what makes Him so good.

Along with Tajikistan, there are people in the group planning to go to London, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan, Philadelphia, and another place I can't remember. We were reminded to not only pray for those who go, but pray for those they are going to.  Please pray for the unreached among these groups.

-Tony

Hymns and His Love

7/9/12:

                Erline and I woke up this morning and went to the gym! We never do that! I hope we can keep it up.  Today we started the training.  Ryan and I were asked (because Erline through us under the bus) to lead worship.  That was fine, but they were singing out of a hymnal.  I should really learn some hymns.  I can probably count the number of hymns I know on one hand, but would be unsuccessful at it because I don’t know most of their names.  So instead we sung How great is our God.  It went well, but the pianist (bless her heart) played it faster than I ever heard it.  It sounded more like a rap.  The looks of our faces were priceless. 

                Our sessions were informative.  One was striking.  We learned about the reactions that many Christians have towards Muslims.  These are either of Fear, fury or fascination.  Neither is Biblical, and neither will help them come to Christ.  I discovered that my fear was not of something happening to me or Erline, but of offending someone in a conversation.  I have given that to the Lord.  As 1 john 4:18 says, there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts away fear.  Jesus has perfect love.  If I lead with His love, I have no reason to fear anything. 

                Fear also leads to secrecy, as in being secretive about our faith, or attempting to be a silent witness.  Where would I be if people were silent with me?  Instead, with the Love of God, it should lead us to boldness, being confident in the Lord for whatever His will is. 

We also learned, which we should already know, that the Bible should be our filter.  In missiology, many times the culture or other experiences become the filter in which we look at and approach people groups.  The Bible should be.  If we believe that God has chosen to reveal Himself to us through His Word, and that His word is inspired and inerrant, our actions should show it.  My actions should show it. 

                Other things were interesting as well.  For instance, we learned that Muhammad has been exalted to the place of an idol in Islam.  They pretty much worship him as God, since they believe God cannot be known, and wants nothing to do with us.  I’m so thankful that He can be known through Jesus Christ, and He wants to be known.  It has been great to meet the people part of the conference.  Many know where the Lord is leading them.  Some are unsure, but all want to be used by God.  There are other college students living here too.  Living here will give us a full experience. 

                On another funny note, Georges Housney led us in singing a hymn at the end of our meeting.  Everyone jumped right in, with the exception of 3 out of the 4 IBBers.  I’m sure you can guess which one of us knew it. 

Long Days

Long Days: 7/8/2012

                For some reason the days seem longer here.  I don’t know why.  Maybe it’s because of the slow pace, or because the the sun doesn’t set till around 9.  I don’t know, but I like it.  It has been great to have Ryan and Sarah and the boys here.  We went to a farmer’s market in Golden yesterday, which was a lot of fun.  We spent most of the day with the Johnsons.  Having them here means a lot.  Today we went to the gym twice! That’s amazing.  We really want to keep up eating right and exercising.

                Church service was nice.  I would like to go there again.  So was the mall area.  We met the other people who will be part of the SIMS conference.  It should be interesting.  The people seem very nice.  We even picked up a guy and took him home because it was raining.  His name is Brad.  Apparently he is a Hindu/Buddhist and he is getting his masters in Contemplative Religions.  It was a short car ride, so the conversation didn't go very far.  I heard this is a liberal place, so we may meet more like him.  I pray that we can be useful while we are here to serve and love the people.

                I pray this trip binds Erline and I closer together and closer to God.  This is our first missions trip together.  And we are on a long and exciting road ahead of us!  I pray we can get closer to the Johnsons, and that they can use this in a great way in London.  Maybe this will be the first of many ministry opportunities with them.  I pray the Lord will show Erline and I where He wants us to go, whether that is London or somewhere else. 

                On another note, the town is very nice, and the mountains are just icing on the cake.  It’s beautiful here.