Category: Encouragements and Exhortations

Right now, in the North American church, there is a huge emphasis on Christian community, small groups, and doing life with other believers. I think this comes as a reaction to a culture that becomes more and more individualistic by the minute. So, instead of withdrawing from others who are different than we are, the church is saying that “in Christ” there is no longer black, nor white, rich, nor poor, male nor female. We are all one and thus we ought to live in a community that demonstrates this bond. I think this is a beautiful and biblical message….

We are currently out on our American Tour, and are talking to people about what it is like to be a missionary. We have found that there is a very common perception that certain people are “called” to be missionaries in a unique way. While I certainly have met a lot of unique missionaries, I believe that there are some misunderstandings undergirding this belief. Below are four of these misconceptions I hope to clear up in this post. The first misconception is that… 1. Normal people are not “called” Stacey remembers hearing a song in her church where she grew…

Dave and I were asked to speak at a missions conference at Kaleo church in San Diego, CA last weekend. We were praying that the Lord would use us to encourage others towards missions, but we had no idea that we ourselves would walk away as encouraged as we did. The conference started out with an African choir leading us into the courts of Heaven through their four part harmonies, bight dresses, and dancing unto the Lord. However, this time of joy was accompanied by some moments of sobriety. It’s “On Us” The pastor of Kaleo Church, Tim Cain, preached…

I will not make you raise your hands, but I want you all to consider a question. How many of you have ever questioned the wisdom of God? Perhaps it was in a personal situation: “Why did God let my sister die?” or “Why is God not answering my prayer for the salvation of a friend?” I recently read an atheist mocking the God of the Bible by saying that the idea of creating an exclusive way of salvation is foolish. Even more, he said that God’s choice to send out his foolish message by word of mouth was absolute…

Walking into one of the first church services we attended in France in 2013, I saw a large bearded man holding the door open. As I approached, he grabbed my hand and moved his face directly next to mine so that our hairy cheeks almost touched. I learned later that this is an intimate greeting that the French call the “bise,” a small air-kiss on each side of the face (although with one man it was straight up a kiss on each cheek). I had heard of such greetings in France, but I was not expecting to receive the bise…

When considering employment, we often look at all the benefits and make a choice based on what job has the most to offer us. We take into account the salary we would receive, how much vacation time we would be allotted, how well the job would work with our family life, and things like medical benefits. We put all the variables side and by side and then choose a job based on what bests suits us.For those considering missions, our list of variables is a little different. Even though things like vacation time or medical benefits may not make it…

If you knew some of the things that happened here in Cameroon, you would be so angry. There are injustices here that, just to be honest, we would never see in the US. And if they did happen, it would be in the news and people would go to jail. I doubt that this is particularly surprising to most of you. We tend to think that unjust things happen in third-world countries. But have you ever considered that the practices of your nation are shocking to someone in the third-world? I am not talking about just culture shock, but real…

The joy that comes in serving others is grossly underrated.It is true that Lord has created all things for us to enjoy. Spending time with family, enjoying the beach, hearing children laughing, playing with your pet bunny, or seeing a great movie are all things that bring joy and refreshment. God deserves praise for these gifts and we should not feel guilty in experiencing them. And yet, I would say there is a different type of joy that comes from self-sacrificing service that can only be tasted by those who lay themselves aside. I would imagine that the exhausted fire-fighter…

2017 is off to an extremely sober start here in Cameroon. Our friend and brother in Christ, Nestor, the only elder-qualified Baka man in our area, lost his wife this morning. She, still a very young woman, has battled sickness off and on, but I do not think anyone was expecting her death. We went to her funeral this evening and listened to the wailing cries of her lost family members. We reminded Nestor of the fact that, as she is in Christ, she is already doing much better than we are. But we reminded him with tears in our…

Missions is a lot like marriage. Marriage is not a one-time commitment at the altar. Marriage is instead lot of little daily commitments and recommitments to love one’s spouse. In the same way, I thought missions was a once-and-for-all sign on the dotted line, get the visa, get on a plane commitment. But I was wrong. Missions, like marriage, is a day in and day out decision to stay where you are, to keep learning the language, to cherish the name of the Lord, to love people who are difficult, and to honor the Gospel. It is a life of…