Don't Buy Me Any Gifts This Year

I'd rather not receive any gifts this year. Seriously.

God has provided everything we need, and work to cover future needs. For now, we have no unmet material needs. That might not always be true, but this year, it is. And we're grateful.

For this year, I would rather my friends and relatives bought some rice. Or maybe a soccer ball. Or little shoes. Or just some ugali. What would thrill me more than a gift-wrapped box is donation to hungry4HIM Ministry (http://hungry4him.com), which supports the Friends of Christ orphanage in Ahero, Kenya. There are almost 300 orphans at FoC, and little donations go a long way. For example:

• You can provide a 5 lb. bag of rice or beans for about $3.
• You can provide a 5 lb. bag of maize for about $5 (20 lbs. would feed the entire school for one meal).
• You can provide a chicken for $5 or a fish for $3.
• 6 pair of socks cost about $2, and a blanket for $6.
• Toiletries? 15 bars of soap for $3 or 10 toothbrushes for $5.

If you would like to provide a Christmas gift in this way, just write a check to "Hungry4Him", put "Christmas fund" in the memo line, and send it to:

  Hungry4Him Ministry
  427 Airport Road
  Dublin, GA 31021

Hungry4Him is in process of putting together a Christmas "catalog" to promote this kind of giving, but I'm just getting the word out early.

Or, there are many other ministries that have the same kind of fundraiser - giving gifts to their ministries in lieu of giving one another gifts (often times, gifts we really don't need anyway). I encourage everyone to think about this as a gift-giving idea, for whoever you would buy gifts for.

I would love it if this practice eclipsed "Black Friday" in the amount of money raised.

Thanksgiving

I love all the ways that we try to rethink Thanksgiving. Every year, we try ways to make sure that the Thanksgiving holiday is about something more than food and football (as if there was something more than food and football...). We make sure we ask, "What are you thankful for?", remind one another to "Count your blessings," and sometimes, we even ask, "To whom are you so thankful?"

I was recently at an event where I thought someone might ask me to say something about Thanksgiving. Wanting to not be caught speechless (like I too often am), I thought through these kinds of ideas again, but didn't want to sound trite. So, a new question popped into my head - one that I'm trying trying to figure out how to answer.

Given that we are in fact thankful to God for what He's done for us, in this Thanksgiving week my question is this: "How do we express that thanksgiving to God?" If we're aware of our blessings enough to be thankful, how is it exactly that we are to express that gratitude to the One who has blessed us?

Certainly, we can say, "Thanks." And we certainly should. We can verbally, or in quiet prayer, tell God that we are in fact thankful. We can list the things He's done that we're thankful for, and then tell Him we're thankful. Many psalms do exactly that (e.g. Psalm 50).

But is that the extent of it? Is that all that we can do to express our thanksgiving?

We can work on our "attitude of gratitude" - intentionally checking our attitude and make sure that we replace bitterness and demandingness with gratitude. That's certainly a good thing that God must surely appreciate - thankful attitudes among His people. Certainly, a bunch of whiners is less pleasing to Him.

What I really want to explore, though, is how to remember the things that I'm thankful for and give God my thanksgiving by using those things for His purpose and His glory. Take that list that we generate when we count our blessings, and then for each item on the list, be thankful by using that item for God.

Thankful for your health? How will you use that health you're thankful for to serve Him? Thankful for your job? How will you use that job for His glory? Thankful for your family? How will you offer up your family to Him as an act of thanksgiving? Thankful for a car to get you around? How will you use that car to advance God's Kingdom? Thankful for your salvation? How will you use the new life you have in Christ to glorify Him?

The idea is this: We have so much to be thankful for (yes, even the material things). To be deeply thankful for the things God has done for us and given to us, use them for His glory as an act of thanksgiving. Not only to express your thanksgiving, but as an actual act of thankfulness - appreciating God's blessings by the very act of using them for Him.

That, to me, is becoming the idea of Thanksgiving. Yes, we should tell Him we're thankful. Yes, we should have a thankful attitude. I think we show the ultimate gratitude by refusing to hoard God's blessings, but rather use them for His sake.

How to Get Involved

The feedback from Pastor Benard's visit with us has been thrilling. I'm pleased to see such interest in ministry to Kenya. If you missed the luncheon after church, you missed Pastor Benard sharing what God has been doing 5000 miles from here, and answering a lot of good questions.

Some of you may want to find out what you can do to help out. Here's a quick list:

Sponsor: You can sponsor an orphan for $15 / month to provide that child with two meals a day, school supplies, and a new school uniform every year. See http://hungry4him.com to find out more and to sign up.

Read: There is a book about Pastor Benard's life - an amazing story of his own salvation, plus God building in him a vision for an orphan ministry. See http://benardsvision.com or just drop by the church office to get a copy. Every penny or your $15 (or more) donation goes straight into the orphanage.

Build: We have a "Brick by Brick" campaign to raise money for new buildings - more classrooms, dormitories, and so on. You can "sponsor" as many bricks as you want at $2 a piece, which pays for a brick and the related materials and labor. Again, the information is found at http://hungry4him.com .

Multiply: Contribute to the funds to support orphanage teachers and Bible college students. As we support these workers and students, we multiply the effect, since they each are able to touch so many more people. Contact me personally if you'd like to find out more.

Go: Lord willing, I plan on going to Kenya next summer. If you're interested in joining me, let me know as soon as you can. What we do will depend on who goes and what skills we have, but possibilities include: construction, children's ministry, youth ministry, prayer, visitation, and evangelism - the list is fairly endless.

Pray: Add to your prayer list: Pastor Benard and his family, the Friends of Christ orphanages (one in Ahero, one in Wachara), the teachers and pastors of the orphanages, and the Ahero Evangelical School of Theology and its students.

Please let me know how I can help you get more involved.

Gratitude

I'm thankful for Bob. Bob worked hard so that men could take a rest.

I'm thankful for Jack. Jack turned an idea into a weekend.

I'm thankful for Bill. Bill makes time for me every month to ask me tough questions.

I'm thankful for Benard. Benard has given his life for the least of the least of the brethren, and invites others to join him.

I'm thankful for Jim and Linda. They enable an army of others to teach and love children.

I'm thankful for a couple of Susans. One of them volunteers so hard it hurts. The other adds creativity on a daily basis.

I'm thankful for Christina. Christina helps others think I'm organized.

I'm thankful for Bruce and Jon and Bob and Jill and Gregg. They do stuff that only gets noticed if it's not getting done ... stuff that rarely gets noticed, by the way.

I'm thankful for Ryan. Ryan writes encouraging emails several times a week.

I'm thankful for Nancy and John. They made a meal appear out of thin air.

I'm thankful for Doris. Doris is a shepherdess for several nations.

I'm thankful for Cliff and his cohorts. They flexed without breaking for who we will be three years from now.

I'm thankful for Dan. Dan keeps leadership fun. And serious.

I'm thankful for Lynne. Lynne traded sleep for removing ink stains from Kenyan shirts.

I'm thankful for the body. They received a friend of mine as a friend of theirs.

And that's just in the last week.

Real Men Don't Retreat

It's been a few years, but the men of Grace are having a retreat. In this case, real men do retreat. We have paintball on Friday afternoon, dinner and a team competition Friday night, plus some time to just hang out and talk. On Saturday: breakfast, more teaching, more food, and some unscheduled time. After lunch, we'll have time for straight talk about what men's ministries needs next.

Great thanks to Bob Simmons for all his work on getting the logistics together. Clearly, this is a far better retreat because he did this and not me. If I had done it, we'll be eating PB&J off of paper plates and sleeping on the porch. Thanks, Bob, for bringing your skills.

Also thanks to Jack Finley for getting this whole idea off the ground. He got the right people in place, got us pointed in the right direction, and sorted out big picture decisions. Again, if it had been left up to me, I would have announced the idea just three days before it was supposed to happen.

Our teaching will not consume the entire retreat. The main feature is not the teaching, but the fellowship. We want this retreat to be mostly about the men of Grace building stronger friendships ... and shooting each other with paintball guns. Somehow, those are supposed to go together. Manly men make friends by shooting each other ... something like that.

Ladies, thanks for making it possible for us to peel away. I pray that your investment will reap dividends. Would you support us even more by setting aside time to pray for the retreat?

And at the retreat, I'll explain what this picture means:

Karibu!

I am excited about a special guest coming to visit us in less than two weeks. Pastor Benard Ondiek from Kenya will be with us to share about his ministry in Kenya. Pastor Benard is the man I work with when I have traveled to Kenya in 2006, 2007, and 2008. Pastor Benard is a good friend and a man of inspiring faith.

Pastor Benard has started two Christian orphanages among the Luo people to help meet the dire need that exists in Kenya today - the "Friends of Christ" orphanages. Because of malaria, AIDS, and a variety of other health issues, there are orphans literally every where you turn. Almost every adult we know in Kenya has at least one orphan in their home. One orphanage is in Ahero, with about 300 orphans. The other is in Wachara, with around 50 or so.

Pastor Benard has also started a Bible school to train pastors, elders, and Sunday school teachers, called the Ahero Evangelical School of Theology (AEST). When I travel to Kenya, I spend my time at AEST. This ministry is strategic, because it multiplies. Most pastors are pastoring several churches at once, which spreads them too thin. AEST helps put more trained pastors and elders in these churches.

When Pastor Benard is here Oct 24, he will speak to the children's Sunday schools, share from the pulpit, and then on Sunday evening at 6pm, we'll have a potluck dinner to get to know him better, show some pictures and video from the orphanages in Kenya, and have a question-and-answer session.

There is a book about Pastor Benard's life called Benard's Vision. We will have copies available for you - we ask a minimum $15 donation per copy. Every penny of the donation goes straight into the operation of the orphanage. See also http://benardsvision.com for more about the book.

The organization I'm a part of is called "Hungry4Him" (http://hungry4him.com). We are responsible for finding sponsors for orphans. Just $15 per month provides all the school supplies and school uniform that a child needs, plus two nutritious meals per day. I'll be sharing more about this when Pastor Benard is here.

Also, I'm praying that the Lord would raise up a team of people that I can take on a short-term mission trip to Kenya next summer to work with the orphans, the teachers, the Bible school students, and the villagers. We'll talk about this when Pastor Benard is here, too.

If you would like to provide a meal (in a restaurant or in your home) to get to know Pastor Benard more fully, he would love to meet you. He will also be available to speak to your Bible study or group, any time from Oct 24 through the morning of Oct 27.

I'm anxious to get to share with you something that's been so important to us.

Karibu! (That means "welcome" in Swahili.)

The Easiest Voters' Guide

The elections are coming up quickly, which always raises the question of what I should say. The law allows me to say some things, but not others (and generally speaking, these are guidelines that I think are pretty good). It would be inappropriate and unethical (more than just illegal) for me to use my privileged position to unduly influence the process.

I can endorse causes and principles. I can inform on particular issues. I cannot endorse particular candidates. Nor do I want to.

But I like to take a different angle on the issue of elections. (Why should I start being normal now?)

Ecclesiastes has a lot to say about wisdom and politics. In 7:19, the "Teacher" (1:1) says that "Wisdom gives a wise person more protection than ten rulers in a city." In 9:13-16, he shows how wisdom in a ruler is better than power. And in 10:16-17, he compares a land that has a foolish ruler with a land that has a wise and noble leader - the difference between "woe" and "blessed."

The blessing for the land comes through wise rulers. Biblical wisdom is the most important quality in a political leader, in my opinion. I have personal opinions about left v. right politics, but I am more interested in having a wise ruler than a ruler who shares my political views. "Wisdom," of course, in terms of God's wisdom, not worldly wisdom. When I choose between candidates, my first thought is not on which letter is in parentheses after their names on the ballot. My first thought is, "Who do I think will display more of God's wisdom?"

Instead of voting along party lines, I want to vote along wisdom lines. I believe it will fair far better for our land if our rulers are wise by God's definition.

Some of you may say, "Well, if they are really wise in God's eyes, then they will be from the XYZ political party - since that's what is wise!" I can easily point to exceptions to this rule from any party you want to pick. Whether or not one party is more or less likely to produce a biblically wise person is not my point - I simply want to consider biblical wisdom when choosing for whom to vote, and to make sure that all other factors are less important in my decision process.

I would say, however, that choosing not to vote is unwise more often than not. Please exercise this rare privilege. And imagine what would happen to our land if more and more of our leaders displayed biblical wisdom.

(Congratulations to our new American citizen, Julie, who will be able to vote for the first time!)