KyleGoen.com

Mint.com

Interesting article on the Most Expensive Cities in the World.

Another interesting blog about missions and expenses.

HT: [Kevin Mullins]

Team Belgium has started group French lessons each week. We are having a great time attempting to learn a new language since French is a vital part of our church planting process. I have to laugh sometimes thinking about a transplanted Texan living in Middle Tennessee trying to learn a European language. One of my ministry partners once said that I could “butcher the King’s English.”  He was probably right as evidenced by my blog post. But, it is so important that our team learn to speak the language of the people we are trying to reach and influence. Pray for us as we gather each week, laugh at each other and ourselves, as we learn to speak French with a southern accent and grow closer as a team for His glory.

The Goen’s are always looking for ways to make family memories. I believe memories are gift from God.  In times or hardship and heartache great memories are often the things that help us make it through to the other side of our difficult situation.

On December 31, 1999 my family put together a time capsule that contained pictures, tracings of our children’s feet and hands, prices of the day and a letter detailing what our family was involved with at the time. I wish we could take credit for this idea, but in reality we probably read about it in a magazine. We did follow through with the idea though by sealing the tube and writing on the capsule “do not open until 2010.”  Our children were 9 months old, 3 years old and 5 years old at the time we assembled our little offering of memories. For the first couple of years our kids begged to open the time capsule around the new year and we would refuse to give in to the desire. My wife eventually put the capsule out of sight and away so we would not run across it often. The whole “out of sight and out of mind” phenomenon took over. In fact we actually forgot about the capsule until our recent move  when we ran across it and realized this is the year we get to open our surprise.

All of us had forgotten the articles we inserted into the tube so the opening was accompanied with anticipation. Last week after our Sunday lunch we opened the time capsule and laughed extremely hard at the little objects we carefully shoved into the tube. We remembered old stories about that particular time in our lives and couldn’t believe how time had flown. After a few minutes the kids gathered everything up and started toward the trash can to throw away ten years of memories. Amy and I both yelled “Stop!”  The little pieces of paper where full of memories we couldn’t part with as easily as they could.

Our kids are wanting to create another time capsule, but not for ten years from now, maybe three to five years from now.  I am thankful this little memory maker has meant something to them like it did for Amy and me. Get started creating memories with your family.

Goen Family Time Capsule

The anticipation…..

Who is this family?

Times have changed…so have prices.

Beautiful drawing of birds…very simple

Family Letter from the time capsule.

Session 3 – Interpretation

A.  Three Keys to Interpretation

1.     _________________– raw content of the passage

2.  __________________ – what comes before and what comes after

Several types of Context

a.  ___________________

b.  ___________________

c.  ___________________

d.  ___________________

e.  ___________________

3.  __________________________– Scripture with Scripture

Resources

1) Study ______________________

ESV

HCSB

NAS

NIV

2) _______________________

Use same translation

3) Bible ___________________

Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Revised and Expanded

The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary, Revised and Expanded

4) Bible _____________________ – smaller version of a Bible dictionary

The Holman Bible Handbook

Halley’s Bible Handbook

The MacArthur Bible Handbook

5) __________________– book of maps

Holman Bible Atlas

Nelson’s Complete Book of Bible Maps & Charts, Revised and Updated

Holman Book of Biblical Charts, Maps, and Reconstructions

6) Bible __________________________

Holman Old and New Testament Commentary Boxed Set, 32 Volumes

The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Set, 28 Volumes

The NIV Application Commentary, New Testament Set, 20 Volumes

7) _______________________ – Greek and Hebrew words

Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words

The Complete Word Study Old Testament Spiros Zodhiates Amg Publishers / 1994 / Hardcover

The Complete Word Study New Testament

Websites

http://www.biblestudytools.com/

http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/Bible.org

http://www.desiringgod.org/

http://www.gty.org/

http://www.ligonier.org/

To listen to the teaching click here.

A. What is                                         ?
Introduction

1. The primary task of any teacher of Scripture is to explain the text. (Psalm 119:34)

We received this from our Team Bangkok leader Bret Cox yesterday. He has asked that we pass the note along to the church.

Dear LifePoint Church,

I am sorry this has taken so long to get to you. We have been balancing reading, class time, ministry, and personal time with our Lord. That really isn’t an excuse though as you dropped everything to rise up and meet our needs. Team Bangkok was completely and totally amazed at the response from our church when we had to relocate to unfurnished apartments. The body went above and beyond by supplying all our needs right down to forks and spoons! This was a picture of how Biblical community is fleshed out as modeled in Acts 2. Since we don’t know who made all the donations, maybe this can be posted on the website. We truly want everyone to know how much we appreciate our Church and their heart for missions.

A special thanks to Pat, Tim, Leslie, Jason and Witt for their sacrifice of time and energy to make the trip to Atlanta and work tirelessly to get the furnishings from the truck to each apartment, then make the late night drive back to Smyrna. What a long day for them! As we are learning in our training, we are blessed to be a blessing and you have certainly been a blessing to us. We LOVE each of you and look forward to all the glory God is going to receive through our faithful body of believers. With sincere love, Team Bangkok

Team Bangkok

Bret and Susie Cox

Seth Hood

Brandon and Crystal Hathcock

Steve and Tiffany Van Dyke

Brett and Beth Clark

Kyle Tanner

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of “interposition” and “nullification” — one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; “and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.”²

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day — this will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim’s pride,

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

Once again I will post this video of one of the best speeches of all time. It was given by a man who tirelessly fought, marched and spoke out so his children and thousands like them could have a better life, a life of equality.

You have heard by now or read the utter stupidity that flowed from Pat Robertson’s mouth this week concerning Haiti. I would like to point you to the statements of Dr. Albert Mohler. He is a fine spokesman for believers in this instance. Here is an extended excerpt from his article entitled “Does God Hate Haiti?”

Does God hate Haiti? That is the conclusion reached by many, who point to the earthquake as a sign of God’s direct and observable judgment.

God does judge the nations — all of them — and God will judge the nations. His judgment is perfect and his justice is sure. He rules over all the nations and his sovereign will is demonstrated in the rising and falling of nations and empires and peoples. Every molecule of matter obeys his command, and the earthquakes reveal his reign — as do the tides of relief and assistance flowing into Haiti right now.

A faithful Christian cannot accept the claim that God is a bystander in world events. The Bible clearly claims the sovereign rule of God over all his creation, all of the time. We have no right to claim that God was surprised by the earthquake in Haiti, or to allow that God could not have prevented it from happening.

God’s rule over creation involves both direct and indirect acts, but his rule is constant. The universe, even after the consequences of the Fall, still demonstrates the character of God in all its dimensions, objects, and occurrences. And yet, we have no right to claim that we know why a disaster like the earthquake in Haiti happened at just that place and at just that moment.

The arrogance of human presumption is a real and present danger. We can trace the effects of a drunk driver to a car accident, but we cannot trace the effects of voodoo to an earthquake — at least not so directly. Will God judge Haiti for its spiritual darkness? Of course. Is the judgment of God something we can claim to understand in this sense — in the present? No, we are not given that knowledge. Jesus himself warned his disciples against this kind of presumption.

Why did no earthquake shake Nazi Germany? Why did no tsunami swallow up the killing fields of Cambodia? Why did Hurricane Katrina destroy far more evangelical churches than casinos? Why do so many murderous dictators live to old age while many missionaries die young?

Does God hate Haiti? God hates sin, and will punish both individual sinners and nations. But that means that every individual and every nation will be found guilty when measured by the standard of God’s perfect righteousness. God does hate sin, but if God merely hated Haiti, there would be no missionaries there; there would be no aid streaming to the nation; there would be no rescue efforts — there would be no hope.

The earthquake in Haiti, like every other earthly disaster, reminds us that creation groans under the weight of sin and the judgment of God. This is true for every cell in our bodies, even as it is for the crust of the earth at every point on the globe. The entire cosmos awaits the revelation of the glory of the coming Lord. Creation cries out for the hope of the New Creation.

In other words, the earthquake reminds us that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only real message of hope. The cross of Christ declares that Jesus loves Haiti — and the Haitian people are the objects of his love. Christ would have us show the Haitian nation his love, and share his Gospel. In the midst of this unspeakable tragedy, Christ would have us rush to aid the suffering people of Haiti, and rush to tell the Haitian people of his love, his cross, and salvation in his name alone.

Everything about the tragedy in Haiti points to our need for redemption. This tragedy may lead to a new openness to the Gospel among the Haitian people. That will be to the glory of God. In the meantime, Christ’s people must do everything we can to alleviate the suffering, bind up the wounded, and comfort the grieving. If Christ’s people are called to do this, how can we say that God hates Haiti?

If you have any doubts about this, take your Bible and turn to John 3:16. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. That is God’s message to Haiti.

Here are a few Relief options that I trust you could go utilize for helping the people of Haiti in their time of need. We need to be involved at a time like this.

Baptist Global Response The International Mission Board…100% of all dollars go to relief efforts.

Long Hollow Baptist Church – Crazy Love Campaign The Church has an active ministry presence in Haiti. They are currently building an orphanage in the country of Haiti. All dollars that are given at this time will go toward relief efforts .

Real Hope For Haiti – Former members of LifePoint Church, Aaron and Jaime Ivey,  have adopted a child (Story, girl) from this orphanage in Haiti. They are in process with another child (Amos, boy) who is still in the country. He is safe at this time. Scroll to the bottom of the home page and click the donate button.

Compassion International Haiti Relief very reputable organization

New Missions

Get involved.