Chaplain's Corner  Like cool water to a thirsty soul is good news from a far country.  Proverbs 25:25

While our pastor is away on deployment, he will be sharing with us what is upon his heart and some of the ministry he is involved in overseas.  Pray for him and those he serves that the doors of the Gospel will be opened.

There are milestones and signposts in our lives that encourage us as we progress in our journey. One of those for me has been this page and the columns I have uploaded. After this column I am down to one left and then this will become the “Pastor’s Page.” We have reached the point in our deployment that we have stopped counting months and weeks and are down to “__days and a wake up.” I personally use the fingers and toes standard. When you can’t count the days on your fingers and toes it is time to start counting. We are not there yet but I have fallen into the temptation to count anyway and so I too have entered countdown mode. Ideas and plans for our fellowship in Joplin garnered through thought and prayer are moving toward the forefront of my mind and I am sure I will be battling impatience soon. One of the things that we had begun before I left and has intermittently continued is our emphasis on small groups. I am excited by the possibilities created by the use of the Experiencing God curriculum in morning Bible Study. I lead a group through a version of the study at our church in Oklahoma and God blessed. It is truly moving to consider what God is doing and how He would have you join in His work. I am hoping we can continue in that vain with the couple’s version that connects these principles to the marriage relationship in a home study format. I am also looking forward to stepping out of the box a little and creatively reaching some age groups and areas that we have not been as effective as we would have hoped in the past. It will require some assessment, pruning, and stepping out in faith, but that is what God’s work is all about. “…behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come, I will send you…” (Ex 3:9-10) God sees and hears the conditions of the lost and sends us as His representative in His great work of redemption. My prayer is that God will give all of us eyes to see His work around us and the discernment to accept His call to become involved as individuals and as a local church.

…the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them… Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” Ex 3:7-8, 10