"Josh & 'His People'"

So "Josh & 'His People'" were back at the Upper Room Soup Kitchen this evening, serving macaronni and cheese with hamburger and hot dogs mixed in. A simple meal that is hugely popular. All in all we served up 45 meals; good times. I consider it such a joy to be able to serve others at my own expense. What a blessing that entails. Once again I want to thank my 'people'; tonight my cooks were Lindsay and Carinne, and my servers were Dave and Brooke. What awesome saints of God I am privileged to know.

I only had to kick one guy out. He was terribly intoxicated and threw up all over a table. I escorted him out, but about 15 minutes later he stumbled his way back in and threw up all over the floor again. I escorted him back out, and made it clear that he was not to be seen back at the soup kitchen that evening. He complied. I gave him a little grace considering I've 'been there, done that' a few times in my day.

And there you have it; practical Kingdom work, it's not so hard everyone................

FunkFactory Drums Rules!!!

My buddy from long ago, Amiel Leblanc, has just rolled his first drum kit off of the assembly line, and I must say, it is surely awesome. He started making djembe's about 9 or 10 years ago (I think), and he has progressed amazingly since then. If any of you want to check out his drums and stuff here is his website: www.funkfactorydrums.com. All you need to know should be on the site. I still regularly play one of the first djembe's he made. It's still rockin'er'out at FaithWorks Center.

As a side note, Amiel and spent many a nights on that ole Kelly's Wine. I'm not sure if many of you are familiar with that poison, but if you're not familiar with it, you are very, very lucky. Lets just say 1.5L for $8.95 makes for a horrible next morning. We did many other things which are not appropriate for the public to read. Everyone from Montague will surely know, and has surely participated in the events implied. Also, for anyone who has heard some of my stories of Arizona/Mexico '97, Amiel was my friend who came along. Crazy times t'were.

Anyways, check out Amiel's website, and buy some stuff from him. He also some wicked Hot Sauce, enjoy.

Matthew 10:38, Mark 8:34, Luke 9:23

We here in the west don't encounter persecution. We may feel like we do at times, but, we don't. Above, is a map of where in the world Christians are still imprisoned, beaten, rejected, etc for their faith in Christ. It is good to take time to think of these dear saints (foreign and national) who have forsaken their very lives to "pick up their cross and follow Him" who laid down His life for the very world that killed Him. In Pemba, the Holy Given class underwent the least of persecution; maybe 15 of us were either robbed or held up at knifepoint. The media tore us apart at any given opportunity. At the time, it was difficult to accept it all as 'joy'.

Here in North America, there is no cost to follow Christ. We have altar calls with the admonition to "give Jesus a chance" or "you've tried everything else, why not try Jesus?" Sounds like we aren't really sure on the certainty of accepting Jesus. I know people who have been abandoned by their families for turning to Christ, people who have been told that if they ever return to their village, they would be beaten to death, etc. They counted the cost, and deemed Christ worthy, and left everything they had ever known to trust Him with their very lives. The Apostle Paul wrote what it was like for him to follow Christ in his first letter to the church in Corinth, chapter 4 verses 9-14. Seems a little far removed from what I experience here on PEI in regards to the ministry.

Awareness; it's a good thing. Click on the map above to enlarge it, then pray for these people who are daily giving up their lives to bring the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

tuesday thoughts

Minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, and life; they are all flying by at an incredible rate of speed. A friend recently asked me, "Is there any scriptural proof that says that in the end times, time will speed up?" Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think there is. I believe it's just that, as I grow older, time starts to mean something different to me. I'm confronted with the fact that I'm here for a purpose. Am I realizing that purpose? What am I really looking forward too?

As a born-again believer, I should have my sights fixed solely on heaven. A Kingdom mindset, if you will. In every circumstance I should ask myself, "What will be the fruit of my actions 500 years down the road?" Where am I building up treasure? The Bible is abundantely clear as to where I should be storing my treasure, and it is NOT here on PEI, or wherever. There is a better way. Most of my friends and family do not know what to think of this new life of mine. The words 'phase', or 'cult' probably enter their minds often. It bothers me little. I've but just tasted the truth. If they think I've changed thus far, they are in for a major treat down the road. I don't know what that involves, but I see it clearly. It's funny how you can be totally miserable, and wanting out of this life for years, but everyone sees it not, because you're still conformed to this world; but when you find Christ, become truly happy, find purpose, accept basic truth, then, people start to think you've been brainwashed. My own definition of brainwashed involves my once filthy, blackened brain being washed and cleaned by an impartial Lover of all mankind. If thats brainwashed, then praise be to God!!

So then, who will be the arms, legs, hands, heart, of Christ to the rest of the lost, broken, hurting world? If not His Body, then who?

Stories from the field #6: Kruger National Park

O.K., so this is not a 'missions' story, par se, however, everybody likes African animals. Am I wrong? I didn't think so. These pictures were all taken at the Kruger National Park in South Africa. This park, I've been told is about the size of Israel!!! So it's fairly big, eh? Anyway, I had the priveledge of being at this park twice; in Mar/04 and Apr/05. I recommend a trip to Kruger, t'is good times indeed.

Click on the animal name to see the pic. Zebra#1, Zebra#2, Zebra#3, Warthog, Giraffe#1, Giraffe#2, Giraffe#3, Elephant#1, Elephant#2, Elephant#3, Elephant#4, Elephant#5, Impala, Rhino, Monkey things, Hippo (I waited a long time for this hippo to surface so I could get this shot. He just did not want to come out of the water!), Leopard#1, Leopard#2, Leopard#3 (This pic was taken shortly after the Leopard had killed this Impala. It drug it up the tree so she and her cubs could eat it without the threat of lions and hyenas, which were close by. To see a Leopard is quite rare, cause they are extremly shy animals.), Leopard cub#1, Leopard cub#2.

So these are most of the pictures I took from those two seperate days on the reserve. I'd have to say the giraffes were my favorite. They are so awesome when they are up, close, and personal. I hope to get back there one day and spend a couple of days just hanging out. The overnight safaris are supposed to rock!!

The question of.....TATTOOS

So here it is; the tattoo I have etched upon my back. Sweet!! But, many, many, many Christians I've met seem to be awfully anal on the question of tattoos. It's a definite 'NO' answer; no and, if's, or but's. When I was in Malagash a couple of months ago, this buddy comes up and sits down beside us and starts looking around the table for wedding rings to see who was married and who wasn't. He got to a fellow FaithWorks'er who, by chance, didn't happen to have his ring on. The guy started telling my friend about how the ring was 'covenant', and on and on and on, blah blah blah. As a sidenote, I don't know anyone more devoted to his wife than this man who was being reprimanded. So I pipe up, "Well I think everyone should get their wedding rings tattooed on their fingers. End of problem. It involves a major decision than just a ring, and you can't take it off."

"Not to be all lawful", he began, "but the Bible says we shouldn't get tattooed like the heathen do." (There are two things first off that are extremly 'off' about that statement, but I'll continue on as planned.)

"Oh", I replied, "Where does it say that?"

"In Leviticus", he victoriously stated.

So I couldn't hold back any longer. "Well it sounds an awful lot like Jesus is gonna have a tattoo on His thigh when He comes back for us." See Revelation 19:16. That shook him a bit, but I finished him off with, "Oh and if you use Leviticus 19:28 (I quoted the often misquoted scripture) as the basis for not getting tattooed then you also have to stop shaving."

"Where does it say that", he said, not too confidently.

"Go back one verse and read Leviticus 19:27", I said. "You see, in context, the reason God gave this command to not tattoo themselves was that the pagans surrounding Israel were doing this in recognition of the false gods they were serving. He didn't want His people doing these same things."

Anyway, I have heard many good-intentioned people preach against tattoos, but not against shaving. I had read Leviticus 19 one day and really delved into the subject cause it bothered me, most likely because I happen to like tattoos. I will end on this though. The cross on my back took 5.5 hrs to put on and cost me $100/hr, at a total cost of $550. I had it done a year after I became a believer. After that, when I went to the mission field and seen the overwhelming need of finances in the Third World, God asked me, "Regarding that tattoo on your back and paying $550 for it (which, in all honesty, was done out of vanity; hmmmm, I won't go there, maybe). Do you now think there are other places that could've used those resources in a more desperate way than what you used them for?"

OUCH. The point was well taken. There is nothing wrong with tattoos, but the expense that is needed to get them could be better spent in advancing the Gospel, in my opinion. Cause, when it gets right down to it, tattoos are all about vanity.

So........yes/no. Here's my answer. If you are thinking about getting a tattoo........"Just ask Jesus what you should do."

stories from the field #5: Zimpeto

O.K., after an hour of almost letting loose a barrage of cursing, and pulling my hair out, and beating my laptop to death!!!!, I think I've finally figured out how to post video. Hallelujah!!! This better work for you all, or I'll FREAK OUT!!!!!!

Ever wonder what kids in Africa and other Third World nations do for fun when they have little or nothing? Well, now you can have a little look into how kids entertain themselves when they don't have the money to buy the latest toys, etc.

This video was taken in Zimpeto; just outside of the Mozambican capital of Maputo. I thought these kids were crazy, and going to kill themselves!!! But they are quite adept at this game they play. You won't however, see me taking a turn. I value my health too much for that. I also have been at the Maputo General Hospital, and I prefer to be the one going in there to pray for people, not the other way around.

back in the Fall of '77

I was out at Mom's on Mother's Day and started scanning some old photos onto the computer. I thought they were interesting enough to share with you all, so, I may as well start at the beginning. Here I am shortly after birth. I was born on Aug 31/77, at 10:45am. As you can see, I made a pretty relaxed transition from the womb to the earth. I think I'm planning how to run as far away from God as quickly as possible. Didn't work though.

proof the Easter Bunny is DEMONIC!!!!!!!

Here it is. Us Christians always knew there was something 'not right' with the idea of some giant insane bunny breaking into people's houses through the night, leaving insane amounts of chocolate to destroy kid's teeth and steal their health, and taking glory away from a holiday that celebrates the victorious event of Christ's triumphing over death. Now we have proof the easter bunny is demonic. Look how he instills TERROR into these kids. They are confused, scared; tyring to run away, but his iron grip holds them back from their loving mother!!!

Yeah, so, anyway, this picture was taking at Easter (obviously) by my step-sister. These are her kids; too funny. Looking at this, they seem to be NOT too excited about getting a photo taken with the 'lovable' Easter Bunny. Sorry, I just had to share this. It sooo cracked me up.

The Upper Room

This evening "Josh & his People" were back at The Upper Room Soup Kitchen for another round. It was more good times, but it was way more busier this time. My cooks were myself and Shannon; my servers, Dalton and Carla; and on coffee and dish duty, Claude. I did PR and other assorted duties that people with responsibilities have to do :(. All in all, we served 81 hot meals of macaronni and cheese, with hamburger and hot dogs mixed in. A side of bread and some cookies to top it all off. It went off well; people enjoyed it. Once again I want to say a great big THANK YOU to "my people" for voluntering their time and effort to this well-needed cause. It's a blessing hard to find words for. The total number of hot meals "Josh & his People" served this week round off at an impressive (I guess?) 129. Way to go guys!

It was sad though. Many came up for seconds. The reason; there is no meal there on sundays unless volunteers do one. Tomorrow, no volunteers are signed up so most of the people are going to go without a meal till monday afternoon. So people were eating as much as possible tonight to get them through till monday.

I said to one of "my people"; "I would like to do this more, cause it seems the rest of the Body isn't really interested in doing it, and the need is quite evident." The reason I don't do it more is cause it costs quite a bit (more than I can afford) to do these meals, and I just can't afford it with what I have on my plate right now. "The Body", I said, "is disabled." When someone is disabled, that disability affects the rest of their body even though parts of the body may be well. A disability in one part of the body affects it as a whole. So it is with the church. There are people willing to do practical Kingdom work out in the community, but they don't have enough resources to meet the needs they encounter. The rest of the Body (who make up the needed resources) are too indifferent about serving the lesser fortunate, so that everyone suffers. The willing, the needy, and the indifferent all suffer consequences by not obeying and following Jesus' example. It weighs on me, it really does. And the people go hungry for another day...........................

a shout out for my homey

I just got off the phone with whom may be the closest friend I have. Paul Adams is returning to Africa later today; to Pemba, Mozambique via Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. He is returning for an undetermined amount of time, and will be taking an active roll in the 2nd Holy Given Intl School of Missions. Paul and I bonded almost instantly when we met last May/05 on the plane trip from Dar to Pemba. We were seldom seen without each other in the 3 mths that followed. I know that some day down the road (most likely back in Africa) our paths will cross again and we'll do some serious Holy Ghost ministering!! It was a common occurance to see Paul and I sneaking up on some poor unsuspecting believer, only to forceably lay hands on them and send them into a terrible fit of anointedness!! T'was good times indeed; many, many laughs were had.

Anyways, pray for Paul; for provision, for divine appt's, for like-minded people to hang out with, etc etc etc. Africa isn't the easiest place to devote yourself to, and missionaries there do love to be prayed for. It's rather crucial. Here is a scripture we were discussing a few moments ago on the phone. Talk about YEAH!!!:

Through Christ, God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing that heaven has to offer. ( Ephesians 1:3 GWT )

Matthew 25:35

This evening "Josh & 'his people'", as we were called by one lady, fed 48 people down at the local Soup Kitchen. Good times indeed. "My people" consisted of, my cooks, Kristina and Carinne; and my servers, Lindsay and Brooke. A great big THANK YOU goes out to these dear saints whom were desperately needed to accomplish this task. The meal was chili, with a side of rice (bland rice pudding, one woman thought), with cookies for desert.

Getting people outside the walls of the Church and into the practicality of Christian service is something that excites me greatly. Hopefully it means as much to them as it does to me. And hopefully it means more to the people whom we serve than it does to us. As I said before, everyone should volunteer at least a couple of hours a week to something they feel contributes to the advancement of their communities. Amen.

Here..........in my head

I do not have many peers; but it seems their is a concensus among us. We are not happy with the status quo Christian life! We want to see more of God manifesting in and through us. Their is a hunger that will not be sated. Normalicy (I don't even know if that's a word or not?) is an attribute to our lives that we must hate with a Holy passion. Intimacy with God is crucial. His life flowing out of us is all that's important. The world doesn't want Josh, or Dave, or Lindsay, or Brooke, or Carinne, and to be honest, why would they? The world wants something it doesn't even realize it wants.........fellowship with Purpose (God).

At cell group last night we got on the topic of 'evolution vs. creation'. I tipped my hat off to those who believe there is no God and that everything we have today is all by chance. If you think about it, it takes way more faith to believe in that concept than to believe that some All-Powerful Creator just created everything. I mean, c'mon world, how hard are you looking for excuses to not believe in God. If it were any more obvious, He'd be sitting in downtown New York (or wherever) just hanging out! The human body is a primary example of the existence of God. But like I said, I have much respect for people who believe everything is by fluke. That's some major belief goin on. Here's an interesting Scripture on the subject:

Romans 1:19-20 (GWT)
What can be known about God is clear to them because he has
made it clear to them. From the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly observed in what he made. As a result, people have no excuse.

Before I got off on that rant I was talking about hungering after God; which is what we are doing. I pray that God will give us creative ideas and stuff to do this summer. And that at the end of this summer we won't be like, "Damn, we should've did what we thought God was telling us to do." When you are hungry, you eat. There is an action that follows the impulse. FaithWORKS. It's an active thing. Giv'er. "All go, no whoa!!"

Priorities/values in the First World

Here comes the Bugatti Veyron. The 16 cylinder, quad-turbocharged car, that reaches speeds of up to 400 kmh, and 100 kmh in just 2.9 seconds. And just what is the price for this modest and humble means of transportation; a meager $1.2 million USD; that's right, million! O.K. world, are u joking?!!

Having a 'missionary mindset', and seeing things, more often than not, in relation to easing peoples suffering in the rest of the world, and such; this is a brutally honest truth about what we strive for in First World Nations. Bugatti is struggling to keep up with orders from wealthy men here in North America as the pressure to keep one step ahead of the competition nears a climax. The idea of having the best, of sticking it to the ones who are in the same sphere of influence of us, is getting out of hand. When we are willing to buy (not alone, make) a car worth so much, we have to take stock of where we are in life, and what is coming in the next life. With all these luxuries, we deny the Maker, and His Love for the downtrodden of this earth. What is important in this life? Is it First World comfort and luxury? or is it.............something else? Israel was caught up in things that weren't important, in the grand scheme of things, once or twice. The prophet Micah was given a beautiful message about 'what is really important to God'. T'is found in Micah 6:8:

He has told you, O man, what is
good;
And what does the LORD require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God?
(NASB)

Prom '96

I was out at Mom's a while back going through some of my old 'stuff' when I came across a picture. This picture was taken on Prom Night 1996; which would've made me 18. Crazy times. My date and I walked to the dance in the rain, cause we were both way too intoxicated to drive. Keep in mind that this was about 6 yrs before I got 'saved'. A lot has changed since then, to say the least!! Anyways, just wanted to share this with you all. I wasn't always the awesome man of God you now know and admire ;). And speaking of transformation...............

The question of Job.

So, I was at the daily Harvest House Prayer Meeting, and our daily scripture came from the book of Job. This, of course, opened up a discussion of 'why did God afflict Job ?', and so on. Having studied 'the question of Job' in detail, I shared some Biblical truths that aren't necessarily taught by the Church in most circles today. It's a fascinating study though. So let's look at the "righteous" Job for a moment, shall we.

First off, although Job may have been righteous, but he was in no ways 'perfect':
- He didn't discipline his kids for partying. (1:4-5)
- He didn't make a great choice regarding a wife. ( 2:9 ) Scholars have made the suggestion that this woman must've been extremely good-looking. This seems to line up with the whole study of Job. In other words, Job made bad relationship choices!!!
- Job lived in 'fear', which is the opposite of faith. ( 3:25 ) This implies that even when Job had the 'righteous' title ascribed to him, he had been living in fear.

Because of these things, satan not only had a right to afflict Job, but he actually had a right to kill him. Because of man's free choice (which resulted in the Fall, and the giving over of our dominion to satan), Job was fair game. God prevented satan from killing Job. And Job, it seems, was not even aware of the existence of satan. Nowhere does he acknowledge the existence of such a being. Relates a bit to Hosea 4:6. The afflictions towards Job were caused by satan, not God ( 1:12, 2:7 ). In Job 1:16 God doesn't say He sent the fire, only a servant (who apparently has no idea of satan either) says so. We must always be aware of who is saying what, when we study scripture. From Job's point of view, God took things away ( 1:21 ), but the preceeding verses suggest otherwise.

In the totallity of his book, Job seems to blame God for his misfortunes. He even calls God a terrorist at one point!!! ( 6:4 cf. Eph 6:16 ) Anything taken from the book of Job before Elihu starts to speak should be studied with extreme scrutiny. Job himself repents of all his past opinions about God when He is revealed fully to Job at the end ( 42:3-6 ).

The study of Job leads to many questions about Divine Healing, the Goodness of God, Suffering, the Will of God, etc. Getting into these subjects would take a loooooong, looooong time. If you have any questions regarding Job, let me know. I might not have an acceptable answer for you, but maybe I might? What I do know is this:

The central theme of the Bible is REDEMPTION/GOD'S GOODNESS.

The question of Job in no way contradicts this.

Where's Hextall when you need him?

Well, the Flyers got pounded by the Sabres and have been eliminated from the playoffs in the first round. Not cool! And the question arises...........Where's Hextall when you need him? Not that I'm totally blaming Robert Esche for the loss. Not completely anyway, but he sure didn't help much! I kind of like what one of the TSN commentators said after the game regarding Esche:

"If Robert Esche had to go post-to-post one more time, I would've pulled a groin
watching him!"

My Philly MVP was Sami Kapanen, without a doubt. He's a hard working defensive MONSTER!

So now I defect to the Martin Brodeur's (sorry, I mean the New Jersey Devils). Mark it down, Brodeur is too good to let any of these other inexperienced goalies out-duel him.

Speaking of Ron Hextall, it's his birthday tomorrow; May 3rd.

Poll of the week

O.K. all; here are the week's results:

Is it o.k. for Christians to partake of alcohol?
Depends on the situation. 45%
Yes, without a doubt. After all, we're under grace. 27%
Sociable drinking is o.k. 27%
Absolutely not; no excuses. 0%
I'm too confused about the subject. 0%

45% of you (including me) think it depends on the situation. Myself, I believe I am free from the Law and so the occasional glass of wine, or whatever, is no big deal. However, if I am in the presence of a former alcoholic, or a weaker brother, etc, then I should refrain from drinking anything, so as to not become a stumbling block to them. I'll leave it at that. There is much to say on the subject, but, like I said; I'll leave it at that.

The Poll of the week will now take on a new aspect untill after the NHL playoffs are over. Instead of having weekly polls, I will have playoff round polls. Starting.....................now. The first round is almost over but there are still a couple of series to go, so let me know who you think will win. There are no prizes, but PRIDE is on the line! Oh yeah, GO FLYERS!!!