Late To The Party

I think most people would agree that the New York Times is reliably left of center when it comes to political opinion.  Not even the most deranged among us would ever allege that "The Old Gray Lady" is part of the vast right wing conspiracy.  Imagine my surprise, then, when I read this article today.  Seems like some people are just "discovering" what the Lord has been saying all along.

Monday Musings

Last Friday a group from the Houston area came down for a little reconnaissance.  They'll be bringing a team to the HMC this summer, so they wanted to have a look-see in order to plan better.  I took them to meet Pastor Roberto, whose bus driver salary doesn't permit a lot of frills.  It looks like the team will be helping with some renovations at his house/church.

I'll be doing something similar next Monday with a team from Corpus.

On a completely different subject, yesterday we started a 6-week prayer emphasis at FBC.  We are wanting to adopt an unreached, unengaged people group, and with about 3,800 of them around the world, it can get a little confusing.  (For definitions of the terms used above, go here).  Please pray with us as we try to discern the mind and heart of God in all of this.

Mythbusting

How many times have you heard someone say, "Christians divorce at roughly the same rate as the world”?  Turns out, it's not true.  For those who seriously practice their faith, there is a marked difference in the divorce rate, as compared with everyone else.  Check out this article.

Luke 24:5 - 8

“Why do you look for the living among the dead?  He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee:  ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’  Then they remembered his words."

Having an Impact

I just now received an e-mail from Jenny, who was one of the leaders for the outreach effort in McAllen (see post from March 19).  It's an update on how everything turned out, especially the Team Impact event that was held Sunday.  Here is what she wrote:

I hope this message finds you all doing remarkably well!  I just wanted to take the time to share the great outcomes of the Team Impact Event, held this past Sunday, April 1st, 2012 at the State Farm Arena, Hidalgo Texas.  During the event, there were over 100 working volunteers, the arena staff estimated 2,300 persons in the facility with 2,095 pure attendees through the doors. In addition, we recorded 403 professions of faith in Jesus.  In the month leading up to the event, there were 80 thousand tickets,  108,000 gospel tracts and local church Easter Invitations distributed in partnership with at least 15 local churches and 6 missions teams.  Lastly, in the week prior to the event Team Impact conducted 25 local school assemblies and connected with approximately 13,000 students. 

Aftermath

Yesterday Captain (our children's minister) and I went over to McAllen for a day of disaster relief work.  Last week a small section of town suffered a pretty bad hail storm.  There were lots of broken windows on cars and houses; the trees didn't fare too well either.  The roofs of houses in these neighborhoods were simply pummeled by the storm.  I am still sometimes amazed at nature's power, and how helpless we are when a disaster like this strikes.

We ended up helping a widow lady who suffered lots of water damage.  She was a bit of a hoarder, so you can imagine what our day was like. But even though DR work is always hard, and usually nasty, it's deeply gratifying to help those who, through no fault of their own, are having to cope with sudden tragedy and loss.

Let's Hope So!

Here's some good news.