Asia Travels

Asia - 10-24 through 11-12

We go to listen, learn, build, explore, coach, resource, network

East Asia #1: October 26-28

We had a rich time with the Loveland family (missionaries for 10 years in Taichung).  The picture is of our "Taiwanese family from our summer mission camp.  We had a reunion on a Saturday night.  In the picture is also Michael Mayor (blue shirt) from LSCC.  He is there for one year learning about missions.  

The Loveland's will be moving back to KC due to Pam's parent's health.  David will work with me with in cross cultural opportunities in the KC area. He also will continue to work with Taiwan, and travel with me as a trainer/coach as well.  

Peter (in the green) and his wife (next to him) will lead the house church and we will continue to work with them along with another missionary family that we have joined for many years in the summer for the American Life Camp. (in July).  I invite you to prayerfully consider joining next summer's mission camps in Taichung and be a part of making friends for eternity by living and sharing the Gospel with seventy to one hundred Taiwanese college students.  Contact me for more information: 

East Asia #2:  October 28-29  

Ching Yu and I traveled to another city for the next few days and met with two house church pastors ( Pastor Z & Y) whom we met last year.  Last summer we had a mission team partner with them.  This time we prayed and interacted on how we can go further in our partnership both with summer teams and also for leader training opportunities during the rest of the year.  

They are also interested in finding good private/Christian high schools in the U.S. to give guidance to some of their families who desire to send their children to the U.S. for their education. So, I promoted SCA -  a private school near us. 

China sends more students each year (235,000) to the U.S. for education. The next largest people group comes from India (96,000). South Korea sends (70,000) students.  We have many contacts with student ministries working with international students on U.S. campuses that we are able to recommend in sending their college kids to.  One of our objectives is to build a "bridge" as a two-way partnership from the U.S. to Asia where we can send Americans for a one year to two year term and also receive Asian students and connect them to good campus ministries and or churches.  This year we have have eight students studying abroad for at least one year in various cities and countries in Asia.  

East Asia #3:  October 30-31

We traveled to our next city to meet with Pastor P.  He is very interested in us coming back and speaking at a college student gathering on the theme of holy living — A life that please God, 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8.  We spent the day with him in listening to their needs and talking about ways we can join in partnership and participate in what God is doing through his network of churches.  

East Asia #4: Oct 31-Nov 1  

We are in transit through Hong Kong to our next destination. This is a picture of the massive crowd coming toward us in the MTR (the Hong Kong subway).  It still amazes me how efficient Hong Kong is in moving the masses of people everyday and it is very clean!

East Asia #5: Nov 1-2   

We conducted a one-day conference called: "A Colorful Life".  We focused on six episodes on Abraham's life as the example of a person living by faith.  We broke the seventy attendees into ten groups and then I shared from the life of Abraham.  I instructed the groups to talk about what lesson of faith they learned from each episode and to write it out in a sentence that started like this, "Faith is .............."   After they worked out their faith sentence, they drew a picture of their sentence.  The picture to the left is an example of one of the group's drawing.  It represents Abraham being called by God to leave his homeland and all that he was comfortable with to a land of the unknown.  Each group posted their drawing on the wall and gave a report of what their faith sentence was and how their drawing depicted their sentence.  It was a full day and a lot of fun!

East Asia #6: Nov 2-5

We then traveled to another city where an American family has been living for two years.  They have a small gathering of believers who worship on Sundays in their home.  This past August, we helped six American college students move to this city and enroll in the University to learn language and culture. They plan on being at this university for six months and then they will relocate to another city and university to continue their cultural and language learning.  The long term is for some of these students to be prepared for a longer term role in this country or return home and join international student ministry on U.S. college campuses.  

East Asia #7: Nov 6-7

On November 6th, we traveled to a nearby city and met for the first time a wonderful young couple the Lord is using to grow a solid fellowship of believers in their  home.  We had the privilege of sharing a message in the evening to about a gathering of 20 believers.  It was truly a rich time of Worship and Word.  We had a meal together and we also talked about future possibilities for us partnering and participating in what God is doing in them and with them.  This was one of the highlights for me in meeting this group of believers in sweet fellowship with the Lord!

East Asia #8 Nov 8-9

We conducted a core leader team retreat which we called, " Times of Refreshment".  Together we explored the first chapter of Ephesians with future retreats planned to continue to travel through the spiritual riches of this letter from God.  The picture illustrates some of our findings from the Book of Ephesians in answering the question:  "What is the Church?"  What metaphors did the Apostle Paul use in the Book of Ephesians to describe the nature and function of the church of Jesus Christ.  We added drawings (orange post it notes) of some of these metaphors as we discussed with each other what these mean to each one of us both individually and what these mean to us as a team.   
We also will be conducting various workshops on servant leadership, preaching, pastoral development and transformational theology.  Our American team of six will be moving to this city in a few months and enroll in a famous university to further their cultural learning experience. 

Headed to Chicago: Nov 10

I arrived in Chicago on Sunday and went to bed.

Chicago for a one day Doctrinal Ministry Team meeting:  Nov 10-11

On November 11th-12th, I participated with a jet-lagged head at a Doctrinal Ministry Team meeting. Even though I was not mentally sharp at this point, it was a tremendous time to listen, discuss, and dialogue on a variety of doctrinal topics for future articles and a seminar at our annual Pastors conference

Going Home: Nov 12

Home sweet home - yeah.  I get to be with my bride!

I thank God for you and your heart-felt prayers, for the Lord gave us strength every step of the way and allowed us to be used by Him, for Him, and through Him to bring Him glory and honor!  

Psalm 67,  doug

Discovering grace in unexpected places

God's grace discovered in unexpected places.

The Israelites are boxed in — "in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea"  Exodus 14:1-2.  The Red sea in front of them and the Pharaoh's army behind them.  They had no where to go.

In their unbelief, the Israelites imagined that God had led them here to be destroyed in the wilderness.  Yet, is was God who led them here to show them His great power and His glory.

Unbelief, "leads us to interpret God in the presence of the difficulty, instead of interpreting the difficulty in the presence of God.  Faith gets behind the difficulty and there finds God, in all of His faithfulness, love and power... If only we could look upon a difficult crisis as an occasion of bringing out, on our behalf, the sufficiency of divine grace, it would enable us to preserve the balance of our souls, and to glorify God, even in the deepest waters."  C.H. Mackintosh

It is this place  — where we are weak and with no other way — we can discover the grace of God.  For God says His grace is sufficient for us.  His power is perfected in our weakness.  2 Corinthians 12:9

The Israelites had no where to go but ... God made a way... through the sea on dry land and saved Israel that day.  If you are living in Pi-hahiroth between Migdol and the sea, read carefully Exodus 14, stand still and when the Lord shows you the way, walk by faith with Him and worship Him!

The 8R's of God's Calling

How do we discover God's calling on our life?  Ask the eight "R" questions to help you digest God's call on your life.


Starting point:
R1 — Responsibility: What are you responsible for to God and to one another?   (see Mark 12:28-31; 1 Peter 2:5,9; 1 Timothy 5:8, Hebrews 10:24-25)

R2 — Reward:  What gives you joy?  (see Nehemiah 8:10)

R3 — Return:  Where do you and or others see God at work in your life?  (see 1 Corinthians 12:4-7

R4 — Ruin: What breaks your heart? (see Nehemiah 1-2)

R5 — Repent:  What do you need to change?  (see Isaiah 30:15)

R6 — Risk:  Where do you need to step out in faith (see Joshua 1 / Hebrews 11:6)

R7 — Refresh: How and how often do you get alone with the Lord? (see Mark 1:35, Matthew 11:28-30, Acts 3:20)

R8 — Request:  Are you saturating all of these in prayer?  (see 1 Thessalonians 5:18

in weakness made strong

Paul’s Thorn in the flesh — 2  Corinthians 12:7-10

The Lord said to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness” 2 Corinthians 12:9a

Other than Paul’s radical conversion from his zeal for Judaism and for the Law of God  to embracing Jesus as the Christ, Paul’s experience with the “thorn in the flesh” is a defining moment in his life. 

The Apostle Paul could have very easily exalted himself with the vision of Christ at his conversion (Acts 9:3-9); the vision that he had of Paradise (the third heaven, 2 Corinthians 12:2-4) and the direct call as an Apostle by Jesus Christ (Galatians 1:1).  If he had boasted in these “credentials”,he would have been just like the false brethren and his accusers that were undermining Paul’s apostleship to the Corinthian believers.

So, God, in His mysterious mercy gave Paul a thorn in his flesh to keep him humble and dependent upon Him.  The word thorn is the Greek word skolops which means anything pointed or specifically a stake.  This stake in Paul’s body was painful.  At first, Paul pleads with the Lord with great urgency and petition to remove this painful infirmity.  He does so three times and would have continued but the Lord spoke to Him about the necessity of the “stake” in order to keep him humble and trusting.  

Paul learned a very important lesson from God about how to live the Christian life and how to be an effective leader building up the church of God and advancing the Kingdom of God to all nations.  The lesson is this: God made us as dependent people and it is our weaknesses that help us daily rely on God with favor and empowerment.  The calamities and the trials that Paul went through, (see 2 Corinthians 1:8-10, 4:7-12, 6:3-10, 11:18-12-10), did not suggest that his apostleship was faulty or that he was disqualified from ministry but they were actually credentials for his apostleship!  

It was through this thorn along with all of the other weaknesses that God made the man — Paul into the greatest missionary to the Gentile the world has seen!  

Paul embraced his “stake” and his weakness, (2 Corinthians 12:9-10), when he heard God’s words, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness instead of despising them.  He understood that these weaknesses were not enemies but friends in helping him to depend upon God moment by moment in order to experience God’s empowerment for his life and his ministry.  

In life and in ministry we have been “handicapped”.  We all have weaknesses.  God orchestrates these weaknesses in such a way to teach us that we are not adequate in ourselves but that He is our adequacy, (2 Corinthians 2:16, 3:5-6).   He is our sufficiency! He is the One who comes to our aid and our help to enable us to live out our conversion, to declare the good news and to build up the Church of Jesus Christ.  

Four Motivations for Ministry

Motivations for Ministry

2 Corinthians 4:1-14

To understand the concepts of this section it is helpful to get the big picture of 2 Corinthians.  In Second Corinthians, Paul is both describing his apostolic ministry to the Corinthian church and defending it against false apostles.  The book is divided into three primary sections: 

Paul’s apostleship and apostolic authority had been undermined and attacked by someone and or a group of false apostles in the church at Corinth.  They attacked his motives, his message and his credentials.  This of course troubled Paul and was greatly concerned about the welfare of the church plant.  In this letter he opens up his heart in a remarkable and transparent way for all the Corinthians to see his great love and godly concern for them, not for himself.  In this letter, he models what it means to be a true servant-leader of Jesus Christ. 

In chapters one and two, he explains his motives and in chapters three through five.  he describes his ministry.  In chapter three, Paul contrasts the Old Covenant with the New Covenant.  This can be seen as “in the face of Moses” contrasted with “in the face of Jesus Christ”.  He explains that the Old Covenant though it came in glory, it was a fading glory, (italics mine, 2 Corinthians 3:7).   Whereas, the New Covenant is seen in the face of Christ which remains in glory, (italics mine, 2 Corinthians 3:11, 14).  The major point that the Apostle Paul makes is that the New Covenant is superior to the Old Covenant and that he is a servant of the New Covenant.  

In the New Covenant those who behold the glory of the Lord are being transformed  from glory to glory through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, (2 Corinthians 3:18).  However, this does not mean that everything in life and ministry will alway be glorious or smooth sailing!  In fact the opposite is true.  This is why Paul shares his struggles with the Corinthian church in chapters 1, 4, 6, 11-12.  He models for them what a true servant of Christ is like and what a servant of Christ may go through.  As Helen Keller said, “Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet.  Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.”  

It is the fourth chapter that Paul unpacks the motivation for his apostolic ministry.  Here he describes four motivations for not losing heart in being a servant of God. 

First he says, “Therefore since we have this ministry, as we received mercy we do not lose heart”, (2 Corinthians 4:1).  Paul does not lose heart in ministry because the New Covenant is ministry of life, glory, righteousness and transformation, (2Corinthians 3:6, 8, 9, 18)! In the New Covenant the Christian has been given the indwelling Holy Spirit who is at work in each one to transform them from glory to glory into the image of Christ!  So, Paul does not through in the towel when things get rough instead he remains motivated to keep pressing on toward the upward call of God.  .

Secondly, Paul stays motivated because he understands that he is in a spiritual war.  He writes to the Corinthians, “and even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of the age has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they may not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, ( 2 Corinthians 4:3-4).

The implication of these verses is that Paul’s antagonists claim that Paul’s gospel message is veiled or obscure.  Yet, he understands that even if the hearers don’t get it, it is because of the spiritual blinders the god of the age has established.  Later in this letter Paul refers to weapons that are divinely powerful Christians have to do battle with the evil one.  One such weapon is prayer.  

A third motivation for staying motivated in ministry is because of the indescribable treasure that is entrusted to each believer.  Paul says, “For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness”, is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ”, (2 Corinthians 4:6).  

Paul realizes that he is carrying a divine treasure — the gospel of Jesus Christ.  He has a responsibility to reveal or to share the knowledge of this treasure and point people to Christ, not to himself.  Then Paul explains how God gets this awesome treasure to shine through our lives.  He says we have this treasure in “earthen vessels”.  And just as Gideon had his army break the “clay pots” for the torches to shine against the enemy when they attacked the Midiantes, (Judges 7) even so, trials and difficulties that the Christian goes through is not intended by God to wipe him out but to cause the “light of the knowledge of the glory of God” to shine out.  God intends this so that “the surpassing greatness of power displayed may be of God and not from ourselves” (2 Corinthians 4:7). 

And lastly, the final reason for staying motivated in ministry is seeing life through an eternal lens versus a temporal lens.   Paul writes, 

“Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day for momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).

The Apostle Paul went through unbelievable and excruciating difficulties but it was these very difficulties that gave Paul the opportunity to show the glory of the Gospel.  Paul was not living for comfort; or promoting himself as his antagonists were. He was living in the New Covenant and with the sure hope of eternal glory!  Notice how he views the personal crucifixions of this life from and eternal perspective: momentary contrasted with eternal; light contrasted with weight and affliction contrasted with glory.

These are some of the motivations that kept Paul on course so that at the end of his life he could confidently say, “ I have fought the good fight.  I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous judge will award to me on that day and not only to me but also to all who have loved His appearing”, (2 Timothy 4:7-8).