Monthly Archives: April 2010

To all of you in the Dallas/Fort Worth area who are still looking for a great Mother’s Day gift, we have just the thing! Our friend Chanz at Phose Studios is selling giftcards for family photo sessions and 50% of the proceeds are going to His Voice for Sudan! Also ALL of the profit from online prints will go to His Voice for Sudan ALSO!!

CLICK HERE for more details!

All mother’s love pictures of their children. So stop by Phose Studios online and order now! This is also a great way to bless single mom’s you know this mother’s day.

Allison, Justin, Vernon and I will be running in the 1st Annual 5K Memorial Run in Forest Park here in St. Louis on May 30th. We would like to invite you to join our team! We are running to raise support for the Orphanages as well as awareness. While running for the Orphans we will be supporting our city by running in a city sposored event. If you are in the St. Louis area or would like to drive in to run, its not to late to sign up! Just click HERE and registar. Then click HERE to sign up for I RUN FOR ORPHANS!

Amber

I am reading a great book by Donald Fairbairn called Life in the Trinity which is well worth your time.  Here are a couple of quotes from Ch. 1:

“Assuming the authority of Scripture is in many ways a greater act of submission to God than seeking to demonstrate the Bible’s uniqueness and accuracy.”

(In response to the question “Do you believe in the doctrine of justification by faith?”) – “The correct answer to the question should be a qualified no, because Christians do not believe in the doctrine of justification by faith per se, but rather in God alone who has justified us through faith.”

“I am convinced that part of the reason we tend to regard theology, doctrine, as being somewhat irrelevant to Christian life is that our theological discussions focus on the doctrines rather than on the God to whom those doctrines point.  Theologians have unintentionally given the impression that doctrines, the ideas about God, are the subject of our study.  As a result, students and others unwittingly substitute truths about God for God.”

“…the problem is that at the heart of Christianity lies something that is deeply mysterious and perhaps hard to explain.  And Christians tend to describe this mysterious center using certain words and phrases that have a lot of emotional resonance for us, even though (I am convinced) we cannot articulate what they mean.”

“…the longer we assume something without explicitly stating it, the more likely we are to forget it.”

I know the quotes are sort of all over the place but they were my favs from Ch. 1 and you should go read it so you can put them in context.

Have a great week

Justin

I was hangin’ out with my sister and brother-in-law this weekend up in Illinois because I was preaching at the church he is a pastor.

When we were at their house I saw a book on prayer that I think was my grandpa’s.  It was written in 1936.  The name of the book is Taking Hold of God by Samuel Zwemer.  He was a well known missionary in the early to mid 1900’s.  As I was reading the book I came across this prayer by George Matheson that I thought was amazing.  Here ya go…

My heart needs Thee, O Lord, my heart needs Thee!  No part of my being needs Thee like my heart.  All else within me can be filled by thy gifts.  My hunger can be satisfied by daily bread.  My thirst can be allayed by earthly waters.  My cold can be removed by household fires.  My weariness can by relieved by outward rest.  But no outward thing can make my heart pure.  The calmest day will not calm my passions.  The fairest scene will not beautify my soul.  The sweetest music will not make harmony within.  The breezes can cleanse the air; but no breeze ever cleansed a spirit.

This world has not provided for my heart.  It has provided for my eye; it has provided for my ear; it has provided for my touch; it has provided for my taste; it has provided for my sense of beauty – but it has not provided for my heart.  Provide Thou for my heart, O Lord!  It is the only unwinged bird in all creation; give it wings.

My prayer is this would encourage you today.  I pray you would find hope in the reality that your heart is deceitful above all things, yet He can and wants to cleans your heart in Himself.

Love Truth
Vernon

We wanted to let you all know about an organization called I Run For Orphans. Brian Evans of Columbia, MO combined his love for running and his passion to see The Gospel spread and started I Run for Orphans. IRFO is “dedicated to enabling runners to raise money to support orphanages in providing faith, hope, and love to every orphan.” It is a simple way for anyone, and I do mean ANYONE, to raise support and awareness for Orphans all over the world.

Our Orphanages in Sudan are some of the orphanages that IRFO contributes to. There are so many ways that you can get involved with IRFO and support the His Voice Orphanages in Southern Sudan. Here are just a few::

1) RUN. (or walk). Simply sign up for a race in your area (any race 5K, 10K, Marathon, whatever suites your style), then go to www.irunfororphans.com and click GET STARTED. Follow the process and set up your very own giving site. Then set your goal and spread the word! Then after the completion of your race IRFO will donate the amount you raised to His Voice in lue of the Orphanages!

2) GO TO A RACE AND CHEER. Maybe you cant run or dont want to run in a race, but know people who do run. Get a cheering section together and go to the race. At the Race wear an IRFO shirt or make your own fun Sudan shirt and tell people about what is going on in Sudan and why your friends are running.

3) GIVE TO A RUNNER. If you know someone who is running for IRFO or just want to support someone from the IRFO site, go to their giving page and give! Then tell all your friends that your friend is running for orphans and show them the giving page. (this is a shameless plug but if you are looking for a runner to give to HERE is my giving page! hehe!)

4) PLAN A RACE. If you are an event planner and want to have an entire race dedicated to His Voice. DO IT! It has been done and it was a great success! Contact us for more info on this and we can point you in the right direction.

Vernon, Justin, Allison and I are all going to do the Memorial 5K at Forest Park on May 30th. If you are in the St. Louis area, YOU SHOULD TOO! More on that to come….

I am not sure how you feel about religious satire or twitter but if you find yourself anywhere between “neutral” and “all about it” you might consider reading this article and /or following @XIANITY on twitter.  If, on the other hand, satire is not your cup of tea or you have no use for twitter I hope you will still read the article and post your thoughts.  I would love to get your take on the issue and this particular individuals rationale for why he created the account in the first place.

Have a great week.

Justin

Well, as you might see from my recent post on my personal blog, everything in Sudan is up in the air as far as the elections are concerned.  Everyone is confused — half of the country is boycotting while the other half is wondering what exactly is being boycotted.  I won’t go in to detail here, but now that the elections are getting closer, a few of my favorite news sources have finally picked up some good coverage:

The Economist 4/8/2010

The Economist 4/8/2010 in-depth

NPR 4/9/2010

So check those out, they provide a good background and insight about some of the deepest issues in these elections. Meanwhile, I think one area that is helpful to understand is the ICC indictment of Sudan’s president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir.  You might be wondering…”if this guy’s indicted by the International court for war crimes and more, how in the world is it that he is still in the country, still running for re-election, and at this point, actually going to win the election?!”

You were wondering that, right?

Well here’s why.  The International Criminal Court was created in 2002, by the ratification by 108 countries of the “Rome Statute”–the treaty that formed the court, its laws and policies.  According to the Statue, only the countries who have signed on to the treaty are subject to its laws.  This was no problem for a while, because the first handful of indictees were all from countries who had ratified the Statute, therefore they were immediately arrested and/or handed over to the court by their own countries.  When the ICC indicted President Bashir (after indicting two other Sudanese leaders), it was the first time they had dealt with a country that was not signed on to the treaty.  Therefore, the nation of Sudan, its government, and the indicted members themselves, have no legal obligation to turn anyone over to the court.

The only way that the ICC is going to get their hands on Bashir is if the Sudanese government decides to hand him over (not going to happen), he hands himself over (definitely not going to happen), or he travels to a country that is party to the treaty, and they hand him over (he may be bad, but he’s not stupid).  Basically, our only hope is for someone in Sudan’s government to get their act together and oust him and give him to the ICC.  And there lies the rub–the way these elections are going, no one else is going to step up in the government to do so, because he will probably be re-elected and remain in power, and the rest of the country will honor that in an attempt to have an agreeable and peaceful referendum for Southern secession in 2011.  Sigh.  (I’ll cover more on the referendum soon).

Make sense?  If you want to dig a little deeper, you can read this research paper I wrote while Bashir was being considered for indictment. It covers a lot of the policies of the ICC and some of their other Sudanese and African cases.

Coming soon – election updates, perspectives from people on the ground in Sudan, and explanations (okay…and maybe opinions) of the CPA and referendum for secession.  Keep praying for peace in Sudan.

I have been up since a bit past 3 AM this morning.  It isn’t because I am being pious in any way, but has been from my friend Jet Lag.  He is a beast sometimes, yet during these times the Lord teaches me so much.

I have been thinking through something one of my friends said to me yesterday in a phone conversation.  Jarrett said that when he was reading Acts 7 the verse that stuck out to him was v. 39.  ” Our fathers refused to obey Him, but thrust Him aside, and IN THEIR HEARTS THEY TURNED TO EGYPT.”  What a powerful verse!

I find myself doing this many times a day still, unfortunately.  Here is part of a journal entry I wrote while I was in India.  It was based out of some thoughts from Ps. 94:18-19.

Papa, please constantly remind me of Your steadfast love and consolations.  I need You.  I seem to so quickly run to Despair and Stress as a battered person in a relationship!  I hate the abuse, but almost find a strange “peace” in the consistency of the battering.  I often wonder who I would be or even what I would look like if the relationship with Despair and Stress were shattered.

Papa, please supernaturally obliterate this relationship with my unhealthy companions!

Despair and Stress have been my Egypt.  I run to the slavery.  Notice, it is my effort to run.  God has already provided a way out (1 Cor. 10:13).

Now look at the mentality of Joab in 2 Samuel 10:12. “Be of good courage, and let us be courageous for our people, and for the cities of our God, and MAY THE LORD DO WHAT SEEMS GOOD TO HIM.”  Joab’s trust in the goodness of God caused him to fight valiantly and leave the result up to God.  Joab knew that in life or death he won!  I pray I will learn more and more every day to have the same mentality as Joab did in this situation.  I pray Romans 8:37-39 will become more and more a hope filled experienced reality in my life.

What is your Egypt?  What do you run towards when times get difficult?  What has the Lord taught during these times?

Love Truth
Vernon

Rom. 12:1-2

Intense. This is the one word to describe our day.

Our friend Manoj was our driver and also showed us around. Manoj spent over three years in the Howra Train Station after he ran away from home. If you look at the other pictures on a blog we wrote a couple of days ago you will see how Manoj undoubtedly looked. The Lord saved him almost twenty years ago and now he runs a car company that takes people around. He is brilliant and a blast to be around.

We started out by going to the oldest cathedral in Kolkata. It is older than when the US first became a country!

We journeyed on to a Mosque and were able to go in and take some pics…

After the Mosque we went to William Carey Baptist Church. We had a chance to stand in the pulpit that William Carey used, which was incredible. Also, the baptistery they use was the place Adoniram Judson and Corrie Ten Boom were baptized. The place is rich in history and they also have a great pastor. After we were done talking, he asked if I would be interested in coming to teach for some time at the Bible College they have.

After William Carey Baptist Church we went to Mother Teresa’s Home for the Dying. It was unreal to see so many people serve those who would just be left on the road for dead. One of the thoughts that ran through my head was how millions of people are in the same state spiritually. Who I am referring to are Christians who have Life, but are not living to the fullest. I have been praying that the Lord would teach me how to live the abundant life and also to come along side of many who like the people we saw at the Home for the Dying.

Next we went to one of the darkest places I have ever been. Kali Temple is a huge Hindu Temple. We saw goat sacrifices where people have them slaughtered as a family, dip their fingers in the blood, and then put it on their forehead. They do this for the hopes of forgiveness of sins, according to Manoj.

We then went to a part of the temple where they burn dead bodies. It was one of the most stunning realities to see incense burning and flowers draped over the dead bodies as they were lined up to be burned. I told Justin that the weight and finality of seeing someone laying dead in front of you and knowing they went to Hell is breath taking.

Papa, give me a heart for the lost, not mainly because they are going to Hell, but because they are separated from their greatest joy in life, You.
Here is a picture of one of the bodies on the way to be burned.

As we were leaving to head to lunch, Manoj took us down a road that has dozens of brothels. To see all of these women out on the street and to know what they are forced to do is heart wrenching. Manoj told us how a girl that is a minor costs ten times the amount of a girl who is of age. Devastating.

Please pray for the people of Kolkata. They are so beautiful. Please pray for wide open doors of effective ministry for all Christians.

Love Truth

Vernon

Is. 26:3