KyleGoen.com

In a few weeks I will be traveling with our Mexico team to minister to the Totonaca people group. I am really looking forward to working with Dr. Rick Russell and the medical and dental team that go each April and October minister to physical and spiritual needs.

My assignment with the team will entail setting up and running the eye glass clinic. Each place we will work there will be an area for sight testing. Following a basic sight test people will be able to get a pair of over the counter reading glasses to help them in their daily task.

I would like to ask you to help me gather the glasses that are needed for this ministry. If you would like to be a part of this trip in a tangible way you can stop by any Wal-Mart, Dollar Store, Dollar Tree, Big Lots, or any other retail store that sell reading glasses. The amount they cost doesn’t matter, the style doesn’t matter, but the lens magnification does matter.

We are in need of men’s and women’s reading glasses that are +1.0 through +2.25. Basic colors will probably work the best. I am hoping to take 400 – 500 pair of reading glasses when we travel. Please drop them off at the office by April 8th.

If you would like to donate money toward the purchase of the glasses you can send your check to LifePoint Church, 506 Legacy Drive, Smyrna, TN 37167 (attn. Mexico reading glasses).

Belgium is a mix of old culture, old traditions, old buildings, and new international people, new government entities, and new religious thoughts in a small country the size of Maryland.

This little country is home to over 10 million people, with 90% of the population living in urban areas. Many of the estimates that I have read say less then 1% of the population are evangelical Christians (submitted life to Jesus). This holds  true for most of Western Europe.

The largest religious bloc is the Catholic Church, though few practice the faith or attend and type of religious service. Every city and town has empty Catholic churches littering the landscape. They are now housing pubs, condos, museums, and whatever a creative mind can place in a huge gothic structure. There may be a very small group of people gathering for a Catholic mass in one of the church buildings, but they are elderly grandparents at best.

Many of the people we met on our recent trip to Belgium told us that the “church” was old, cold, lifeless, dying, and didn’t matter to them. Most of the college students we spoke with had not attend a church other than for a wedding or a funeral. Church has no meaning, purpose or value to their lives.  But, everyone was very open to discussing religion, God, and other faith questions.

The Church had lost all influence within the culture, but people are still open and ready to talk about spiritual things.

I am back into my reading routine. I have found that I get in a rhythm with my reading and accomplish my goal if I can ever get started.

#7. Serve God Save The Planet, A Christian Call to Action by J. Matthew Sleeth, M.D.

This was a good read. I didn’t know if I would be able to get into the subject matter or not. The issue of creation care has really been intriguing to me over the last several years so when the book was recommended I thought I would give it a shot. Well, to my surprise it turned out to be a book that I will recommend. Whether you think the Earth is heating up or not, we all have a responsibility to care for the Earth that God made and gave us to work.

editor’s words – Serve God, Save the Planet by former emergency room doctor Dr. J. Matthew Sleeth is a deeply personal book with far-reaching ramifications for Christians and all those who take their devotion to God seriously.  The book presents a gripping account of Dr. Sleeth’s personal and spiritual journey to environmental stewardship.  It lays out sobering rationale for life changes, and a “how-to” guide for lifestyle changes that will help care for others and protect the earth.

#8. Tribes, We Need You to Lead Us by Seth Godin

Small book, but powerful reading. There are no chapters, just quick burst of paragraphs. There doesn’t seem to be a reasoning behind how he links subjects together sometimes, but he definitely gets his points across. Worth the time to read.

editor’s words – Tribes is a book about marketing, apparently, except it’s actually about leadership. We see Tribes behind every successful brand, organization, politician, non profit and cause. And yet it seems almost impossible to attract a tribe. In this book, I try to explain that the challenge is leadership, not marketing or hype.

#9. Strengths Finder 2.0, Tom Rath

Very easy to read. Short book that gives insight as to why many people are unfulfilled by there work. Purchasing the book entitles you to take an online Strengths Finder inventory. I really enjoyed getting the results. I would recommend this book.

editor’s words -To help people uncover their talents, Gallup introduced the first version of its online assessment, StrengthsFinder, in the 2001 management book Now, Discover Your Strengths. The book spent more than five years on the bestseller lists and ignited a global conversation, while StrengthsFinder helped millions to discover their top five talents. In StrengthsFinder 2.0 Gallup unveiled the new and improved version of its popular assessment, language of 34 themes, and much more. While you can read this book in one sitting, you’ll use it as a reference for decades.

The blog has been down for a while, but we are back in business. I will be back in blog mode in a day or two with post about the Belgium trip.

Few things…you may want to update your RSS feed for my post and comments. Click the buttons to the right to update. If you aren’t connected with me on Facebook or Twitter you can be by clicking the widgets to the right. There will be a few more changes to the new blog in the coming days…but we are off and running again.