During the past few weeks the finishing touches have been put on the new extension to our building. It will be ready for use on 25th May. When we merged our two churches together we started out with five main goals and the building project was number 2 on the list. From the past six months we are well ahead of our set goals.
Goal 1: was to make a successful transition between the two churches and combine the unique talents and spiritual abilities of each man on the leadership team. This goal was accomplished and our leaders in the congregation have successfully blended together as one. Deacon appointments were made in April as leaders from both churches now serve together. They have set a new budget for the church and implemented several new policies with clear goals of bringing more people to Christ.
Goal 2: was to build the new extension to our existing church building and do this debt free. Wow... we are talking about $350,000! This past Sunday we had a special "Offering Sunday" in which we have been preparing the congregation to give in hope to pay-off the new building. For the past four weeks we have gathered every Saturday morning to pray about this special offering and what the Lord would have each of us to give. Finally the day had come to receive this special offering. One by one on Sunday morning the people filed past the large box prepared just for this event and each person dropped into the box the offering they had been praying about. We handled this as a special worship time with soft music playing in the background. The congregation was silent and some spontaniously came to the alter to pray while others gave hugs to various people in the congregation. We didn't plan it this way... it just happened as the Spirit of God moved people in an unusual way. Spontanious singing broke out while more and more people left their seats to place their offering in the box. The box was decorated by several ladies in bright gold colored paper with the words "I trust God" written upon it. What an amazing testimony to the planning, sacrifice and heart of the congregation. When everyone that wanted to give had come forward we simply sat wondering... what did God just do! Amazingly on this day the special building offering on Sunday exceeded $100,000! In fact it was $108,000 plus a few notes of intension to give more next week! Which means that we can pay off the new building as well as some small existing debt. The church will be debt free in less than six months with a new building capable of meeting our needs. The leadership team set this standard and believed by faith that God would honor a well thoughtout plan subjected to much prayer. We have four godly men on our leadership team with great spiritual and business skills in addition to myself and Ken. The new building extension provides class rooms, fellowship hall, kitchen and new office space.
Goal 3: was to grow the congregation to the 300 people. This goal was not supposed to happen until the building was completed and we could start an evangelistic thrust with the congregation. But we have been having over 300 people in the worship service for the past six weeks. The congregation is so excited they can hardly contain themselves and the growth is taking place naturally....no evangelistic program can outmatch a good dose of the Holy Spirit filling of God's people.
Goal 4: is to begin two morning worship services. I know this not always the best situation but our building cannot legally seat more than 300 people at one time. We have been exceeding this most weeks but the city counsel is understanding and they know we have a plan in action to accommodate the congregations growth. We plan to start two worship services within the next two months. The only other option was to buy land and build another building but that is nearly impossible with all the city regulation which would cause us to have to move locations into a business industrial park. Our leadership team decided against that which is why we built the new extension.
Goal 5: is to grow our congregation to 500 and begin a new church plant next year near the University area of the city. This is the area that I am currently putting much of my time into. My role at International Baptist Church right now is to follow-up on new believers with discipleship and prepare believers for useful service within the congregation. I spend most of my days in a discipleship role with men's ministry and small groups. Some of these men and women will be used to start the new church. We already have one man prepared to lead this new church... he was saved at IBC many years ago and now has completed his training. He is working here with Ken and myself and plans to do this until next year when he goes to lead the new congregation. We will be sending him some of our best men and women that are prepared to serve in support roles such as music, teachers, and deacons for the new church.
Wow... so much happening so fast. We also have seen a new aspect of ministry started up recently at IBC called Christian Business Men's Committee. We have the only such group in Auckland and host this out of our church. I am leading this group for now but plan to turn this group over to "Doctor Theuns" in the near future. Our area is loaded with business professionals so we are planning to have several seminars about leadership from a Christian perspective and invite our local business professionals.
In the past four weeks eight people have trusted the Lord so we are planning a Baptismal service next week. Just keep praying with us, as we seem to be experiencing so many positive things happening right now.
Ciao,
Michael
Monday, May 19, 2008
Monday, April 28, 2008
A Tough Two Weeks
Yes, it's been a difficult couple of weeks with a mixture of emotions... from peace and comfort to sadness and grief. Two weeks ago late on Tuesday night our normal routine of "Life Groups" was completely shattered. Joshua and Faith had come home from the teen life group among rumors that some students from a local Christian school were missing. Some of these students were also from our church teen group or known of our church teen group so the news was met with a mixture of fear yet at the same time complacency that all would be well. The twelve honor role students from this Christian school were on a "Leadership Building" camp in a National Park Forest about four hours South of Auckland. This National Park is a rugged area with rocky mountainous terrain framed by the ever present Mt. Ruapehu volcanic cone. The twelve students and two teachers were accompanied by a guide from the Sir Edmund Hilary Outdoor Center where they were to hike into a canyon and then follow the river through the mountains for the day. It's a popular camp with professional staff and many groups do this same trek every year.
Late Tuesday evening the call had come in that the students, teachers and guide were all missing followed by another call after midnight that seven had been found and seven were still missing. During the hiking expedition an unpredicted weather system had quickly moved in and produced a torrential rain storm. The six students and one teacher that was found described getting separated from the other teacher and six students during the rain storm. They told of how the knee high river they were to follow turned into a raging river over 10 feet high in just a matter of seconds. They had no idea what had become of the others in the group.
Later, just before daybreak, tragic news came from the camp that seven bodies had been recovered from the river. Now reality was setting in, seven lived, seven perished. As the day progressed the names of the students slowly were confirmed. One of the students was Tom. Tom was a close friend of Joshua and Faith and had attended our teen group for almost three years. He spent many days and evenings at our house and his family had become close personal friends to us and also attended our church. Faith was especially devastated with Tom's death... Tom had cerebral palsy and walked with a noticeable limp and his right hand stayed close to his body and did not function well. Tom also had a speech impairment due to his condition. Faith took it upon herself to help Tom in many ways... she loved to assist Tom and Tom loved the special attention. He was a real character with an outgoing personality and enjoyed making people laugh. His favorite introduction line in our teen group for the new members was to say "Hi, my name is Tom, but don't confuse me with Tom Cruise, because I'm better looking". Everyone would roar with laughter when Tom said this. Tom also was a practical joker that could turn a bad day into a fun filled evening. His physical disability in no way kept him from excelling in academics as he was chosen from a large group of capable students for this canyoning expedition.
The day after the tragedy the news media was everywhere in our community looking for a human angle to the story. Someone had given Faith's name as close friend of Tom so she was interviewed by the news organizations.... and proudly she was able to be strong and proclaim that Tom had placed his trust in Jesus so we know where Tom is. The news reporters continually commented on how this Christian school and church community seemed to face death in a different way than most people. The story was played on the nightly news for most of the week, another interview with another student, yet the same story... Jesus is good and we will be reunited with the students and teacher who perished. I think the news media heard this story so many times that they began to beleive.
The teacher that lost his life was found with Tom strapped to his body. Because of Tom's cerebral palsy it is surmised that the teacher must have somehow reached Tom before being swept away. Tom didn't stand a chance of escape to outrun the raising water.... the teacher must have strapped Tom to his own body to try to save Tom. The teacher was also a local youth pastor and his father was the pastor of our neighboring church. Perhaps all the students who died did so to stay with the one who could not get away from the flood. I guess we will never know until Jesus tells us. But if they did give up the chance to escape and stay behind with the one who could not run it would not be surprising since they were all leaders among their peers and they were all believers in Christ. I guess the thought of sacrificing one's life for another and trusting God all the way was not a strange idea to them.
Our entire church family and especially our teen group has changed since this event. Life in Christ seems to have an even more significant meaning than before. Our teens are determined more than ever to live for Jesus and share the "Good News". Joshua's new friend came to church with him on Sunday. After the message Joshua accompanied his friend to the altar where this young man placed his trust in Jesus. Life is funny...strange! Someone dies, someone lives. I'm glad that God is in control.
Ciao
Late Tuesday evening the call had come in that the students, teachers and guide were all missing followed by another call after midnight that seven had been found and seven were still missing. During the hiking expedition an unpredicted weather system had quickly moved in and produced a torrential rain storm. The six students and one teacher that was found described getting separated from the other teacher and six students during the rain storm. They told of how the knee high river they were to follow turned into a raging river over 10 feet high in just a matter of seconds. They had no idea what had become of the others in the group.
Later, just before daybreak, tragic news came from the camp that seven bodies had been recovered from the river. Now reality was setting in, seven lived, seven perished. As the day progressed the names of the students slowly were confirmed. One of the students was Tom. Tom was a close friend of Joshua and Faith and had attended our teen group for almost three years. He spent many days and evenings at our house and his family had become close personal friends to us and also attended our church. Faith was especially devastated with Tom's death... Tom had cerebral palsy and walked with a noticeable limp and his right hand stayed close to his body and did not function well. Tom also had a speech impairment due to his condition. Faith took it upon herself to help Tom in many ways... she loved to assist Tom and Tom loved the special attention. He was a real character with an outgoing personality and enjoyed making people laugh. His favorite introduction line in our teen group for the new members was to say "Hi, my name is Tom, but don't confuse me with Tom Cruise, because I'm better looking". Everyone would roar with laughter when Tom said this. Tom also was a practical joker that could turn a bad day into a fun filled evening. His physical disability in no way kept him from excelling in academics as he was chosen from a large group of capable students for this canyoning expedition.
The day after the tragedy the news media was everywhere in our community looking for a human angle to the story. Someone had given Faith's name as close friend of Tom so she was interviewed by the news organizations.... and proudly she was able to be strong and proclaim that Tom had placed his trust in Jesus so we know where Tom is. The news reporters continually commented on how this Christian school and church community seemed to face death in a different way than most people. The story was played on the nightly news for most of the week, another interview with another student, yet the same story... Jesus is good and we will be reunited with the students and teacher who perished. I think the news media heard this story so many times that they began to beleive.
The teacher that lost his life was found with Tom strapped to his body. Because of Tom's cerebral palsy it is surmised that the teacher must have somehow reached Tom before being swept away. Tom didn't stand a chance of escape to outrun the raising water.... the teacher must have strapped Tom to his own body to try to save Tom. The teacher was also a local youth pastor and his father was the pastor of our neighboring church. Perhaps all the students who died did so to stay with the one who could not get away from the flood. I guess we will never know until Jesus tells us. But if they did give up the chance to escape and stay behind with the one who could not run it would not be surprising since they were all leaders among their peers and they were all believers in Christ. I guess the thought of sacrificing one's life for another and trusting God all the way was not a strange idea to them.
Our entire church family and especially our teen group has changed since this event. Life in Christ seems to have an even more significant meaning than before. Our teens are determined more than ever to live for Jesus and share the "Good News". Joshua's new friend came to church with him on Sunday. After the message Joshua accompanied his friend to the altar where this young man placed his trust in Jesus. Life is funny...strange! Someone dies, someone lives. I'm glad that God is in control.
Ciao
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Ordination Service
Hi Everyone,
It's been quite hectic over the past few weeks, but in a good way! Two weeks ago our church hosted the ordination of a New Zealand pastor. Myself along with three other pastors was on the ordination committee for Steve who was ordained out of our church and has since started another church. It was a great day as we met with Steve and then later his congregation. The new church has now been released into Pastor Steve's care and they are a growing church.
Our building project at International baptist Church is nearly completed with the first phase... should be finished by the end of April. Next we are doing some upgrade on the current building to make a larger kitchen and nursery for the babies. Have have so many young families that our baby section in the church is growing fast... we usually have 10 - 15 babies under two years old each Sunday. Faith works in the nursery along with Nicky, she loves helping the babies.
Last week a man came into the church on Tuesday in a desperate situation... he has occasionally attended the church services but is not very regular in attendance. But his situation was evident that he needed a change in his life. He needed to have salvation but was not ready, so he is going to come back later in the week and continue our discussion about his real need in his life.
Joshua is preparing for his trip to Australia next week. He was selected to play on the New Zealand international team for a tournament in Australia. Joshua is a pitcher, and a pretty good one, but the teams that he will be facing in Australia are men teams so not too sure how he will do against the men. Did I mention before that we are now the parents of a teen driver? Anyway, a few weeks ago Joshua got his driving permit which is the first step before getting a full drivers license. He has to have the permit for six months then can apply for a driving test to get the full license. In NZ a learner driver has to display a yellow sign on the front and back of the car with a big "L" which indicates to all other drivers that you are a learner. Since Joshua and I share the same car, our old 1992 Chariot, I get a lot of strange looks driving around with a big "L" displayed.
Big news in NZ about a major economic deal signed with China. NZ signed a "Free Trade" agreement with China last week becoming the first westernized country to do so. Most countries like the USA will not sign a Free Trade deal with China due to their history of sub-standard human rights treatment. So, NZ has broken the mold and forged new ground. Most economist in NZ are skeptical that this will do any thing except create more overseas immigration into NZ. certain our local companies are complaining because it makes them less competitive in the market against the cheaper Chinese goods. So it will be interesting to see if our NZ companies move their operations over-seas as they are threatening to do or if they ride out the policy and get used to the more competitive market. Maybe this will bring prices down in NZ.... speaking of which the housing market here is in the beginning of a real downward spiral. Most houses have lost 10% of their value in the past three months and experts predict that the downward spiral could cause a further 20%-30% drop in the value of the average house. Get this, and average size house in our neighborhood with four bedrooms and two baths is currently selling for $600,000. And most houses are built on less than 1/5 of an acre of land! No point to try to buy a house here the prices are simply too expensive.... that is why the average income family rents a house to live in but they may own two or more houses in less expensive places in the country and rent these houses out.... by owning two houses that are low budget houses and renting them out they can afford to rent a house for their family in a nicer neighborhood. It's not the ideal situation but most "kiwis" are quite inventive in their investing.
Ciao
It's been quite hectic over the past few weeks, but in a good way! Two weeks ago our church hosted the ordination of a New Zealand pastor. Myself along with three other pastors was on the ordination committee for Steve who was ordained out of our church and has since started another church. It was a great day as we met with Steve and then later his congregation. The new church has now been released into Pastor Steve's care and they are a growing church.
Our building project at International baptist Church is nearly completed with the first phase... should be finished by the end of April. Next we are doing some upgrade on the current building to make a larger kitchen and nursery for the babies. Have have so many young families that our baby section in the church is growing fast... we usually have 10 - 15 babies under two years old each Sunday. Faith works in the nursery along with Nicky, she loves helping the babies.
Last week a man came into the church on Tuesday in a desperate situation... he has occasionally attended the church services but is not very regular in attendance. But his situation was evident that he needed a change in his life. He needed to have salvation but was not ready, so he is going to come back later in the week and continue our discussion about his real need in his life.
Joshua is preparing for his trip to Australia next week. He was selected to play on the New Zealand international team for a tournament in Australia. Joshua is a pitcher, and a pretty good one, but the teams that he will be facing in Australia are men teams so not too sure how he will do against the men. Did I mention before that we are now the parents of a teen driver? Anyway, a few weeks ago Joshua got his driving permit which is the first step before getting a full drivers license. He has to have the permit for six months then can apply for a driving test to get the full license. In NZ a learner driver has to display a yellow sign on the front and back of the car with a big "L" which indicates to all other drivers that you are a learner. Since Joshua and I share the same car, our old 1992 Chariot, I get a lot of strange looks driving around with a big "L" displayed.
Big news in NZ about a major economic deal signed with China. NZ signed a "Free Trade" agreement with China last week becoming the first westernized country to do so. Most countries like the USA will not sign a Free Trade deal with China due to their history of sub-standard human rights treatment. So, NZ has broken the mold and forged new ground. Most economist in NZ are skeptical that this will do any thing except create more overseas immigration into NZ. certain our local companies are complaining because it makes them less competitive in the market against the cheaper Chinese goods. So it will be interesting to see if our NZ companies move their operations over-seas as they are threatening to do or if they ride out the policy and get used to the more competitive market. Maybe this will bring prices down in NZ.... speaking of which the housing market here is in the beginning of a real downward spiral. Most houses have lost 10% of their value in the past three months and experts predict that the downward spiral could cause a further 20%-30% drop in the value of the average house. Get this, and average size house in our neighborhood with four bedrooms and two baths is currently selling for $600,000. And most houses are built on less than 1/5 of an acre of land! No point to try to buy a house here the prices are simply too expensive.... that is why the average income family rents a house to live in but they may own two or more houses in less expensive places in the country and rent these houses out.... by owning two houses that are low budget houses and renting them out they can afford to rent a house for their family in a nicer neighborhood. It's not the ideal situation but most "kiwis" are quite inventive in their investing.
Ciao
Friday, March 21, 2008
Lord's Supper at IBC
The Thursday before Easter was a special time of Communion for us... we did a live re-enactment of the Lord's Supper. The auditorium was set with tables for about 150 people with all the tables decorated to represent what a traditional Passover table and meal may have looked like in Bible days. Our deacons an life group leaders dressed like Jesus and the 12 disciples kind of like the famous painting of the "Last Supper". All the lights in the church we turned low and candles on each table set a somber but somewhat cozy mood. I read a narrative describing what may have happened in the events of that day intermingled with the verses of scripture that gives us more detail. Genia, Erwin and Amy sang special songs at various points through the narrative reading. Then Pastor Ken had a short message and challenge before leading the congregation of about 160 people through the remembrance of the Lord's Supper. Our goal was to give the congregation a sense of what it may have been like to be present with the Lord on that day before He went to the cross. Our disciples left the table where they were sitting and served the tables for the congregation. Everyone seemed to enjoy the evening and the special event had a delightful atmosphere.
I haven't written in the past few weeks simply because of a lack of time. We have been full on from the holidays and church activities as well as helping to host a few visitors from the USA that came to help with the Bible distribution... speaking of which I met a Korean man and Chinese man while I was waiting on Mt. Eden. Our Bible distribution team was finishing up their day of handing out Bibles when I came back to the car to wait for them. These two men curiously approached me to ask what we were doing as they noticed we were giving packets out to people. When I told them we were handing out the Bible they eagerly wanted to know more... eventually the Chinese man wanted me to pray for him. And I did after I explained the gospel. I'm not sure how much he understood since his English was only about 50%, but he does have a lot of information in his language to read.
Last week at the church office I was working late with a counseling session when a strange somewhat deranged man came into the office and demanded money. Pastor Ken and the Church secretary had already left for the day and it was just me and my counselee in the church. I didn't think the stranger was actually trying to rob us although he did demand that we go to an ATM machine and take out money for him to have gas to put in his car. I offered the man $10 to help him in his situation but he wanted more. I refused to go with him to an AMT and asked him to leave the building to which he made several threats but did leave. Come to find out that this man was wanted by the police in our area for several robberies. My counselee was going through a bad situation to which this only added new stress but the Lord seemed to work in his heart on that day and used the stranger to help break the heart of my counselee... talk about God working in strange ways!!
Last Sunday Pastor Ken brought a great salvation message in the morning service... then later, in the evening time after my Hot Topics class I was approached by a girl that introduced herself as Lily. Lily was born in Taiwan and is 16 years old. The Sunday morning service was the first time that she and her family had come to church... apparently the morning message had been working in her heart all day and she came back in the evening wanting to know more. My daughter Faith and I took Lily into the church office where we explained the gospel in more detail... Lily was ready and eager to trust Jesus. What a blessing to see this beautiful young lady humbled and professing in Christ.
The church building is coming along well... but a few snags with city council may delay things a bit. The city council made us put in an emergency fire exit at the back of the building which was not in the original plans. Now that same council has received complaints by the neighbors about the door. So what does city council do? They inform us we are in violation of our resource consent to build now because the emergency door was not in the original plans! In NZ the government red tape is outrageous. We have been trying to work out with the council about the conflict but now each branch of the city council is in disagreement with each other... one says we can continue the building because the fire exit is being put in by the council and the other branch is saying we cannot continue until we work out a possible solution with the complaining neighbors. We're not sure how it's going to work out but for now the contractors say to keep going forward, so I guess this is not too surprising for them since they deal with city council regularly.
Have a Happy Easter.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
300 and growing
It finally happened... we broke the 300 number in our worship service attendance. While we all know that numbers are not the most important thing, it is a goal that Ken and I set to get the congregation to 300 before we start looking at the possibility of having two morning worship services. We had 310 in the worship service last week and several new families that will be joining our fellowship. The new building is coming along at a fast pace and may be ready for use in late April or early May... so we definitely will need the extra space. We'll soon start the planning of reaching out into other areas of the city as our current building cannot seat more than 300. Maybe some of our current congregation can be used to start the new church plant.
The bible studies are still being well attended with an average of 20 people in each of the men's groups and ladies groups that Genia and I lead. Plus our Tuesday night life group has 12 people. This week Genia and I visited several families with spiritual needs and we also have two serious counseling cases that are in progress. On Friday afternoons we are having a blast doing pre-marriage counseling with a young couple from the congregation... they are a lot of fun and committed to the Lord. We can hardly wait for the wedding to take place at the end of May.
Genia and I went to the city last weekend for our 22nd anniversary. We spent the night and had a great dinner... got up Saturday morning and had breakfast together before going back home. And as expected we were gone only 24hrs. but had an emergency call from a church member whose close friend had taken a lot pills to end their life. The friend didn't accomplish the suicide and was admitted to the hospital over the weekend and now seems to be doing better but will need lots of spiritual help to get their life back on track.
We are helping Mark this weekend with a group from the USA to distribute more bibles to the Chinese people. A team of ten people from Texas will arrive tomorrow and one of the men will be staying at our house. Over the weekend and Monday/Tuesday we will be helping them distribute bibles and driving them around Auckland.
The weather here is beginning to show signs of turning to Autumn.... we have had a great summer with warm days and less rain than normal. Not too good for the farmers I guess but great otherwise. This morning I went out for my morning walk/run (less run than walk nowadays) and had to put on a light jacket. It was good and refreshing but the day usually still gets warm with about 70 degrees.
Joshua, Faith and Catherine are all doing well and busy with school, church activities and Life Groups. Faith is planning to attend a Baptism service over the weekend for a close friend in Hamilton about an hour drive out of Auckland... she is still trying to work out transportation as the weekend is not convenient to do a lot of driving. Her friend is a missionary daughter to our colleague that is pastor at the church in Hamilton. I'm glad the children can build strong spiritual friendships, sure helps to keep things right!
Genia has been slightly under the weather with a cold... so has most of the congregation. Tonight is one of our rare free nights to stay home. I started a weight lifting routine with our neighbor a few weeks ago so we'll continue with that tonight... it's something that I enjoy and used to do regularly but my mid-life body don't respond quite so well. But I'm now past most of the soreness and feel pretty good. I also use this time as a time to disciple him as he is a newer believer... we usually get a good conversation going about spiritual things. He is quite an athlete and played a lot of NZ pro sports and is about ten years younger than me. So, the deal is he mentors me through the weight training sessions and in turn I mentor him through spiritual issues. We've built a good friendship and can push each other to the limits in the right direction both physical and spiritually... do you know how many illustrations work well between the physical work-out and the spiritual work-out? More than I could have ever thought of...Man, we find almost every new exercise leads into a spiritual application! So, I guess its all good... the pain and the gain, right!
Ciao
The bible studies are still being well attended with an average of 20 people in each of the men's groups and ladies groups that Genia and I lead. Plus our Tuesday night life group has 12 people. This week Genia and I visited several families with spiritual needs and we also have two serious counseling cases that are in progress. On Friday afternoons we are having a blast doing pre-marriage counseling with a young couple from the congregation... they are a lot of fun and committed to the Lord. We can hardly wait for the wedding to take place at the end of May.
Genia and I went to the city last weekend for our 22nd anniversary. We spent the night and had a great dinner... got up Saturday morning and had breakfast together before going back home. And as expected we were gone only 24hrs. but had an emergency call from a church member whose close friend had taken a lot pills to end their life. The friend didn't accomplish the suicide and was admitted to the hospital over the weekend and now seems to be doing better but will need lots of spiritual help to get their life back on track.
We are helping Mark this weekend with a group from the USA to distribute more bibles to the Chinese people. A team of ten people from Texas will arrive tomorrow and one of the men will be staying at our house. Over the weekend and Monday/Tuesday we will be helping them distribute bibles and driving them around Auckland.
The weather here is beginning to show signs of turning to Autumn.... we have had a great summer with warm days and less rain than normal. Not too good for the farmers I guess but great otherwise. This morning I went out for my morning walk/run (less run than walk nowadays) and had to put on a light jacket. It was good and refreshing but the day usually still gets warm with about 70 degrees.
Joshua, Faith and Catherine are all doing well and busy with school, church activities and Life Groups. Faith is planning to attend a Baptism service over the weekend for a close friend in Hamilton about an hour drive out of Auckland... she is still trying to work out transportation as the weekend is not convenient to do a lot of driving. Her friend is a missionary daughter to our colleague that is pastor at the church in Hamilton. I'm glad the children can build strong spiritual friendships, sure helps to keep things right!
Genia has been slightly under the weather with a cold... so has most of the congregation. Tonight is one of our rare free nights to stay home. I started a weight lifting routine with our neighbor a few weeks ago so we'll continue with that tonight... it's something that I enjoy and used to do regularly but my mid-life body don't respond quite so well. But I'm now past most of the soreness and feel pretty good. I also use this time as a time to disciple him as he is a newer believer... we usually get a good conversation going about spiritual things. He is quite an athlete and played a lot of NZ pro sports and is about ten years younger than me. So, the deal is he mentors me through the weight training sessions and in turn I mentor him through spiritual issues. We've built a good friendship and can push each other to the limits in the right direction both physical and spiritually... do you know how many illustrations work well between the physical work-out and the spiritual work-out? More than I could have ever thought of...Man, we find almost every new exercise leads into a spiritual application! So, I guess its all good... the pain and the gain, right!
Ciao
Monday, February 25, 2008
Rugby 101
Rugby season is in full swing. It's a great game to watch and all the professional games in New Zealand are televised on the local t.v. channels. Each major city in Nz has a professional home team that plays in a league called Super 14. Super 14 includes 14 rugby teams from the countries of Nz. Australia and South Africa. Our local team pro team in Auckland is called the Auckland Blues (in the picture, thanks espn).
It's relatively inexpensive to attend a pro rugby game at about $1o per person. A rugby field, called a pitch in Nz, is about the same size as an NFL field. Most of the stadiums are outdoor stadiums and seat between 30,000 to 60,000 people. It's best played in winter which is just around the corner. Each team puts 15 men on the field and no pads are needed except some of the linemen will wear a leather head-gear that looks like a throw-back to the NFL in the 1920's. The rules are simple... get the ball to the other end of the field. The catch... you can only pass the ball backwards unless you kick it. Any player can advance the ball and any player should be prepared to switch from offence to defense in the blink of an eye. If the ball crosses the end-zone line and is touched down to the ground while a players hand is on the ball it is called a TRY and scores 5 points. The proceeding kick through the upright post will gain an additional 2 points, like and extra point attempt in the NFL. We enjoy watching rugby and cheering for the Blues... later in the year the best Nz players will be selected for the International team called the "All Blacks". Now that's a big deal when the All Blacks play... it's like the entire country stands still to watch the All Blacks.
Speaking of the price of things in Nz... petrol or gas here is at 1.74 per liter. That's about $7 NZ per gallon and with the exchange rate over .80 right now that equals nearly $6 US per gallon. WoW! Housing prices in our area now average in the mid $500,000 for a four bedroom house. Dairy prices are sky-rocketing upward with one pound of butter now costing $5 and a one pound block of cheese at $10. Yeaow!
Church services went well this past Sunday.... I brought the morning message and then taught the discipleship class afterward. We were in the midst of a storm Saturday night and Sunday morning so our attendance was way down. The building project is getting done in record time. I can't believe how fast the construction is moving.
Genia and I will celebrate 22 years of marriage this weekend.... yes, we are getting away just the two of us. We have reservations at a nice hotel in the city with a romantic meal on the water way.
Joshua, Faith and Catherine are full-blown back to school now... Catherine received an honor to work in the office as a student staff. She's excited about helping and likes the attention that it brings. Joshua and Faith are still doing home-school years 11 and 9.
Ciao
Monday, February 18, 2008
Progress on the Building
This past week I didn't post anything on the blog.... no other reason than just too busy to think about it. Last week I had four teaching classes to prepare for: (1) Tuesday night Life Group where we are going through a study from the book "Changed Into His Image" by Jim Berg. (2) Saturday morning Men's Prayer Breakfast where I did a study on "The Danger of Deflecting Responsibility". We had 23 men for the morning breakfast and accountability meeting. (3) I am teaching a series called "Divorce Proof Your Marriage" (not from the book of the same title). This teaching series is held after our morning worship and kind of like doing a group marriage counselling session. We had 35 people attend the first session on Sunday. (4) My Sunday evening study called "Hot Topics" for young adults was on "Integrity". I usually have about 30 for this class. So I was pretty busy last week trying to get all the preparation done.... plus I had three counselling appointments last week that required quite a bit of time through the week.
Our worship services have been well attended for the past two weeks with 288 and 293 people in attendance... 300 people would be a new attendance record for a regular worship service. We've had 300 people to attend when something special is happening but our new norm for regular attendance is near 300.
The building project is moving quickly now that the foundation has been poured and the roof on the old building is completed. We can hardly wait until the building is finished and we definitely need the extra space. One possibility to put the new space to work through the week is to allow a Christian school to use the facilities.... at this point we don't have any definite plans for that but it might be a good idea for the future.
Genia and the kids are all well. Joshua and Faith reached a milestone with their help to the Chinese Bible distribution.... the team led by Mark has given out 1500 Bibles this month. Joshua, Faith, Joy and Gretchen have a song planned for this weeks worship service. It's the first time they have sang together as a group in front of the congregation. Catherine will be trying her hand at teaching tonight. We are having our Life Group at our house tonight and Joshau and faith will be away at their own Life Group so Catherine will be in charge of the little kids that come tonight with their parents. Genia had her first Ladies Bible Study of the year on Thursday afternoon. She had 17 ladies that came to the study and they all met in the church fellowship hall.
We have a man from IBC that went to the USA several years ago and now has returned to New Zealand and offered a two year work visa through International Baptist Church. We are hoping he can make an impact in the teen ministry for a time... so far he has shown interest to work with the teens. But ultimately he wants to plant new churches and we hope that if things works out well he will be able to help led one of the new churches we hope to plant through IBC. He is a great guy with a wife and three young daughters. They just arrived in NZ last week and originally he is from Indonesia while his wife is from Wisconsin. He was saved at IBC in 1995 soon after arriving in NZ and a few years later went to the USA on a student visa for Bible school where he met his wife. So, it looks like one of the church plants we have planned may be planted by a man originally saved at IBC and now ready to lead a church plant himself.
Ciao
Our worship services have been well attended for the past two weeks with 288 and 293 people in attendance... 300 people would be a new attendance record for a regular worship service. We've had 300 people to attend when something special is happening but our new norm for regular attendance is near 300.
The building project is moving quickly now that the foundation has been poured and the roof on the old building is completed. We can hardly wait until the building is finished and we definitely need the extra space. One possibility to put the new space to work through the week is to allow a Christian school to use the facilities.... at this point we don't have any definite plans for that but it might be a good idea for the future.
Genia and the kids are all well. Joshua and Faith reached a milestone with their help to the Chinese Bible distribution.... the team led by Mark has given out 1500 Bibles this month. Joshua, Faith, Joy and Gretchen have a song planned for this weeks worship service. It's the first time they have sang together as a group in front of the congregation. Catherine will be trying her hand at teaching tonight. We are having our Life Group at our house tonight and Joshau and faith will be away at their own Life Group so Catherine will be in charge of the little kids that come tonight with their parents. Genia had her first Ladies Bible Study of the year on Thursday afternoon. She had 17 ladies that came to the study and they all met in the church fellowship hall.
We have a man from IBC that went to the USA several years ago and now has returned to New Zealand and offered a two year work visa through International Baptist Church. We are hoping he can make an impact in the teen ministry for a time... so far he has shown interest to work with the teens. But ultimately he wants to plant new churches and we hope that if things works out well he will be able to help led one of the new churches we hope to plant through IBC. He is a great guy with a wife and three young daughters. They just arrived in NZ last week and originally he is from Indonesia while his wife is from Wisconsin. He was saved at IBC in 1995 soon after arriving in NZ and a few years later went to the USA on a student visa for Bible school where he met his wife. So, it looks like one of the church plants we have planned may be planted by a man originally saved at IBC and now ready to lead a church plant himself.
Ciao
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