A Man's First Christmas Gift

 

In the picture is my friend Alli and we just presented him with a new pair of Addidas tennis shoes. This was the first Christmas gift Alli has ever received, he didn't even know how to unwrap the wrapping paper. We had to show him. We have adopted him and will be providing for his needs while we are in Egypt. He is our mission project! Alli is a Muslim and he have been praying that God can reveal to Him in a supernatural way that Jesus is the Messiah and the only way to the Father.

This is a Christmas neither, Alli or myself will ever forget.

 

Alli works for the MFO and cleans our Chapel daily. He is 37 years od, is married to one wife, and has one son who likes to watch John Cena wrestle.

 

 

 

Warnings that Lead to Death

This picture was taken at a small shop in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. As you can read smoking kills and causes serious harm to yourself and to others. While many people read this, it doesn't stop them from smoking or heeding this warning.
The Bible is the same way. Those who have read the Bible have undoubtedly come across Romans 6:23 which says "for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." If we continue in our sin, we will travel down a path which leads to death. But coming to Christ in repentance and faith, grants us the free gift of eternal life. Or how about Galatians 5:19-21, where Pauls lists several nasty sins which are so prevelant in the lives of people today, such as sexual immorality, outburts of anger, and selfish ambitions to name a few and Paul concludes by saying that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. God has provided us a warning of mankind's sinful nature, which continues even after a person becomes a Christian if they feed the sinful nature of themselves. These sins can never be tolerated in our lives.
Paul is saying that this type of behavior as a pattern of life proves a person has no relationship with Christ and will cause a person to not inherit the kingdom of God.

Smoking might kill your body.....but sin will kill your soul for eternity!

It pays to heed and obey warnings.

God Bless my friends

Worshiping in Egypt

Hey Everyone,

Our Worship services have been going well and the Lord has blessed us with an average of 11 people per service. While this doesn't sound like a lot, in this environment and the in the military this is considered above average attendance. Especially when you consider that half of our unit is deployed to Observation Posts. I have also just found a man of faith and a very talented musician and singer to become my Chapel Music Director. So this should increase our attendance and take a load off of me trying to prepare music and videos for worship.

I have preached four sermons so far, these are the scriptures and titles:

John 6:60-71 - Fan or Follower?
Luke 14:26-36 - How Much to Love Jesus?
Luke 1:26-38 - His Will, His Way, and His Timing
Galatians 4:4-7 - Why Did Jesus Come When He Did?

This Sunday I will be preaching the following sermons:

Luke 2:1-7 - The Birth of a King
Matthew 1: 21-23 - God Invaded

I usually preach twice each Sunday. We have a morning service at 10:00 and then an evening service at 7:00. I usually try to integrate the morning and evening messages.

Sorry no Podcasts.

Continue to pray for our unsaved troops, our Egyptians friends, and my ministry.

How to Pray for Sandy Hook Elementary

From an article by Drew Thorwall at Reasons for Hope:

In response to the Newtown School Shootings, Drew Thorwall wrote this:

It is a time when we cling to Romans 8:26 and know that our prayers are lifted to God by the Holy Spirit Himself on behalf of the lives that are destroyed.

“We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.” (Romans 8:26)

We experience an intense mix of emotions from grief to anger. Righteous anger towards sinfulness in our world reflects the character of God, yet we remember that vengeance is the Lord’s (Romans 12:9), and our primary efforts are to love those who suffer with the love of Jesus Christ. That same verse says, “leave room for God’s wrath,” a startling reminder that while God is merciful, He is also just. He deals with sin in His infinite wisdom and righteousness. We know that He is still sovereign, and we know that He is love.
We find powerful guidance in how to pray in times like this in the Word of God.

• Psalm 77:1-20 — Asking God difficult questions when we pray in distress
• Psalm 5:1-12 — Prayer for God’s help and mercy
• Psalm 69:16-18 — Pray for mercy, and deliverance from enemies
• Psalm 46:1-11 — God is our refuge and strength
• I Peter 5:7 — Casting our burdens on the Lord who cares for us
• 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 — Praying to the God of all comfort

Pray for:

• Comfort for those who grieve over the loss of a precious little one. Parents, siblings, grandparents, families and friends.
• The teachers and other students in their emotional and physical recovery.
• The First Responders: police officers, fire fighters, and paramedics at the scene.
• The churches and counselors in the area who will respond to the spiritual needs.
• Wisdom of those in authority at the local, state, and national levels.
• That the God of all comfort will turn hearts to Himself.
• Pray for hope through Jesus Christ.

“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’” (Revelation 21:2-4)

Why Christians Should Go To Church

I often come across people who call themselves Christians, but tell me they don't need to attend church.

Feel free to challenge those people with these three statements:

1) The church is a building and Christ is the foundation, who could say yes to the foundation and no to the building that rests upon it?

2) The church is His bride, who could say yes to the groom and no to the Bride?

3) The church is His body, who could stay yes to Christ, the head, and then no to the body?

New Photos

I have uploaded all of my Egypt photos into the album section of my blog. To access them, simply go to my profile and click on photos.

Playing with Patches

Here is another dog named Patches. Patches likes to chase cars, people, and people riding camels.
He ran out of the fence and watched this Egyptian man from about 20 feet riding a camel from until he was out of sight, then he came back.
Patches just wants to be loved and fed....I split my ham sandwich with him and Chicas.

He is a great dog.

Man's Best Friend

I love animals. At every Observation Post there are two dogs. The dogs are essentially there for force protection. Whenever any stranger gets too close to the fence around the OP, the dogs bark and alert the troops. They are well trained and provide a lot of comfort to the troops. Dogs always treat people the way we should treat people. They truly love unconditionally.

I would bring them all back to North Carolina if I could.

This is Chicas I am petting here.

Worshiping in Egypt

One of the privledges I have is to travel to the remote Observation Posts and lead worship services in the field for the troops. This occurred on 12/11/12 at our northern most OP. From the shores of this OP the coastlines of Jordan, Israel, and Saudia Arabia are clearly visible. At this particualar service I spoke from Matthew 20 and taught the parable of the Vineyard Workers. It essential says that in the Kingdom of Heaven the first will be last, and the last will be first. I was challenging them to think more eternally and less worldly, to keep their eyes and hearts focused on things from above and not on the things of this world.
I will continue to post pictures from my traveling ministry througout the Sinai of Egypt.
This area is should be listed on the unreached people groups list.

Working for Christ!

Arrival in Egypt

We arrived in Egypt on November 29 and it took about three or four days to get my sleeping adjusted. In the above picture my chaplain assistant and I are standing in front of the Chapel. There really is a natural beauty to this place. The Red Sea is beautiful and my back door overlooks the shoreline. It's perfectly clear and blue.
My first impression was how easy it's going to be for many of our soldiers to worship the creation, instead of the Creator. Just outside the gates there is scuba diving, golf, alcohol, bars, casinos, luxury hotels, snorkeling, etc... However, none of this will be accessible until after Christmas and as Force Protection measures dictate. While not all of these things are bad in God's eyes, some are, and they can certainly cause a person to drift away from God and neglect their relationship with Jesus Christ.

The food is great, the Egyptians are friendly and accomdations are sufficient.

My goal is to simply let every minute of every day be lived in the character of Christ and "to hold on the pattern of sound teaching..." 2 Timothy 1:13

Please pray for our unsaved troops....there are so many!