Yesterday was a very nice day temperature wise so Angelica and I decided to go for a walk. It was a very enlightening walk that I don’t want to forget.

We started out and it was lovely. It was about 60 degrees outside and I was walking with Angelica.  Angelica and I always have great conversations, one of the many reasons why she’s one of my favorite people in the world. We started talking about everything from true community, world missions, troubled friends, and then we landed on the topic of justice.  She is reading Isaiah right now and it is rocking her world. She said that the people that Isaiah was trying to speak to lacked justice in their lives, they lived by the rules yet lacked justice.  The question she then posed is how do we do that? How do we seek to live out justice? We talked about it for sometime about this topic. Then it hit me, the only act of true justice is Christ.*** Yet, thankfully that is an act of injustice. It is unjust because I deserve death, the wrath of God should be poured out on me because of my sin. I am not worthy to stand before a holy God HOWEVER I don’t receive death. I don’t receive God’s wrath. Christ does for me. That is truly an injustice. But where is the justice? Sin has to be punished. In the same place there is injustice, justice is found. How is that possible?  Romans 3:26 says “It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” The ESV Study Bible note for this verse says ” In the cross of Christ, God has shown himself to be just (utterly holy, so that the penalty demanded by the law is not removed but paid for by Christ) but also the justifier (the one who provides the means of justification and who declares people to be in right standing with himself) and the Savior of all those who trust in Jesus. Here is the heart of the Christian faith, for at the cross God’s justice and love meet”  Because of the cross of Christ, justice is served. Sin is paid for in full for all of those who will believe. The question still remains. How do we live out justice? I would say that it is pointing people to Christ, the only One who can provide justice. There are other injustices that need to dealt with as well like feeding the hungry and clothing the poor. My prayer is this:  “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” James 1:27. I believe that if we have truly been justified, we will seek to help others. We will not forsake the Gospel in doing this. These two go hand in hand as James so cleverly puts it. These thoughts just came to me as I sat and began journaling this today. I only discussed with Angelica up to where the  *** are. Well and the pointing people to Christ part-I just filled in the gaps today.

Next on our walk we encountered two lost people and by lost I mean they just simply needed directions to a location. One was headed to Starbucks on Old Fort and the other to a post office. But as Angelica and I were talking after helping these people this thought hit me-this is a picture of how life should be done. We should be doing life in such a way that we encounter lost people. It may not be pretty (remember we were out walking in the rain) but it still must be done. Mike Lee, pastor of Third Baptist Church, said at church this morning that our purpose in life is to glorify God and make His Son known to the nations (including our nation). I will talk about the glory of God more in a moment, but I’d like to focus on the latter half of that statement.  “And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”” (Mark 2:17) Jesus came to save sinners, therefore we must encounter the lost on a daily basis. I was in that place, but thanks be to GOD who saved me. In God’s eyes, I am no longer a sinner, but I’ve been declared righteous. I talked plenty about that in the previous paragraph, so I won’t go on any more (but I’m hoping that we can see how these things are woven together).  Because God has saved me, I should tell others what the Lord has done in me….no matter the cost.

At some point during our walk between helping the Starbucks person and helping the post office man, we ended up at the Murfreesboro Square. It really is a neat little place, but I learned something new about the square yesterday. At two o’clock on Saturdays, well at least this Saturday bells ring from the courthouse. This could happen every hour, but I was only there at two so I can’t say for sure.  These bells didn’t just pointlessly ring, they rang to the tune of familiar songs. It took us a few songs but we realized that these songs were hymns.  The only hymn I can remember  being played yesterday was “To God Be the Glory” Then I had this thought, “What would Murfreesboro look like if believers lived out “to God be the glory”?  The song is ringing from our courthouse, why is it not ringing from our lives? As I stated earlier, our purpose, to quote Mike Lee, is to GLORIFY GOD and make His Son known to the nations.  How do we glorify God? Here is where it all ties together, we glorify God by exalting Christ (or in other words by making His Son known to the nations). “Therefore God has highly exalted him (Jesus) and bestowed on him (Jesus) the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philipians 2:9-11)  God himself exalted Jesus-at the His name, every knee will bow and tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. Why? To the GLORY OF GOD.

May our lives be about justice, the lost, and the glory of God.

When I began journaling about this walk in the rain I myself did not realize how the three of these things are woven together, but I am thankful for the Holy Spirit who reveals these things to us.

Thank you Angelica for asking me to go for a walk in the rain, although it wasn’t raining at the time you asked me because that would be dumb to walk in the rain. Little did I know the life lessons that God would teach me through our walk in the rain.

I never knew
Death could be so sweet
I never knew
Surrender could feel so free
I never seen
Such meekness in majesty
That the blood of Jesus
Was bled for me

And now I sing
Freedom for all my days
It’s only by
The power of the cross
I’m raised
The King of Glory
Rescued me

How beautiful the blood flow
How merciful the love show
The King glory poured out
Victorious, I’m weeping

Never knew through these nails
Would love unfold
And never knew these wounds
Would heal my soul
I’ve never seen
Such beauty and sorrow meet
The blood of Jesus
Was bled for me

And now I sing
Freedom for all my days
It’s only by
The power of the cross
I’m raised
The King of Glory
Rescued me

[Repeat Chorus]

Now I’ll sing
Freedom for all my days
It’s only by
The power of the cross
I’m raised
The King of Glory
Rescued me

[Repeat Chorus]

How beautiful you are
How merciful you are
How glorious you are
Christ the Savior
How beautiful you are
How merciful you are
How glorious you are
Christ the Savior

This is my new favorite song! Think about these words…

I just wanted to drop a line to say that I am still alive, but it has been a crazy couple of weeks so I haven’t had a chance to sit down and collect my thoughts.

Coolest part of the day today was seeing Southern Seminary’s bluegrass play “I Saw the Light” in a pub and hearing everyone in the pub sing “Praise the Lord, I saw the Light.” They may not know exactly what they were saying, but I’d definitely say that seeds were planted there. 

Don’t worry more to come hopefully soon.

I love you all!

Saturday

Saturday morning I got to sleep in till about 10:30 am (it was glorious!) The Dorsey’s took me to Mount Pearl (a little outside of St. John’s) to a community event. Janie, Alyssa, and Matthew were already there so I just met up with them. It was so good to hang out with them, especially Janie because I really love her. I really did miss those kids. Anyhow, they said that pretty much everything had died down so we did cartwheels. Yes, there is video of this (not of me of course because I was videoing). Then we grabbed some dinner and Steve took us back to MUN. We then decided to go see The Dark Knight and it was INCREDIBLE! As Jacob would say, “OH my GOODNESS!” Haha. We got back to campus in time for Steve to pick us up to take us to the airport to pick up the team that is coming in this week. We got them all settled into their hotel then got back to MUN around 1am.

Sunday

We ALL went to church then the Grissoms, Dorseys and summer missionaries all had lunch at the Grissoms. It was good to spend some time with them. After that we went to the MUN Bible Study. We talked about the 2nd half of John 11. It was so good! Then we go to this community softball game and BBQ. When we get to the field there were people already playing. It turns out that it is a recovering addicts fellowship group. And they play every Sunday and Tuesday from 4-6pm. I’d really like to get together with them. Please  pray that this will be a good contact made. I got the lady’s card that is in charge of some of the fellowships and I also gave her my e-mail address. I hope to hear from her. 

After the community game, we came back to MUN and hung out. We each took the time to share how we came to know Christ and our call to ministry. It was a very sweet time of fellowship. Now-night time.

I got to sleep in a little today. It was great. I absolutely love the team that I got to work with this past week. Anyhow, we started the morning off as usual with a group devotion but today was a little different because Benny came to join us and pray with us. What a sweet spirit he has. After our group devotion, we got the van packed up and ready to go. Annabelle wanted to have one last goodbye and prayer with us before we left so that’s what we did. What a woman of God she is! 

We headed to CBS to eventually meet up with Adam for dinner. We spent some time as Topsail Beach to meet people. The first lady I met (I can’t remember her name) said she used to go to the United Church and her husband used to go to the Salvation Army Church. Eventually they both just lost interest in it. I shared the gospel with her but again she was just not interested. She also didn’t understand following Christ as a daily thing. Then, I’m sitting on the beach and the other North Carolina team that Matthew was working with showed up at Topsail Beach too. Eventually, Matthew and I teamed up to hand out bottles of water. We ended up talking to two elderly couples just out enjoying the day. One couple was Anglican and the other was United. I only talked to Helen Hamlyn while Matthew talked to the other three. I asked her what she believed about salvation and what not and obviously living a good life came into the conversation. I laid out the gospel for her too and she just didn’t get it. We were going around and around (not arguing) trying to explain ourselves to each other. She said she was too old to leave her church and I told her she’s never to old to follow Christ. I left her with a track and told her that’s what we believe. I pray it sinks in. 

Then I met another lady on the beach and explained that good works was not the key to salvation and that Jesus is. The United Church really gets under my skin at the moment. After Topsail Beach, we went to Adam’s while Tami got her tooth fixed. Then we went to dinner and the mall for a while. Them the team checked back into MUN where we had a mini-concert/debriefing with the team and Adam. Oh! And I got to see Matthew, Janie, and Alyssa today-oh how sweet that was! I am really going to have a hard time leaving them come August 10 (well that’s when they leave me). Now I’m back at the Dorsey’s in a comfortable bed. Good night!!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2149868&l=206bc&id=38412373

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http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2151911&l=7a62a&id=38412373

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2153291&l=f23a0&id=38412373

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2153294&l=0f588&id=38412373

All together there are about 480 pictures there within 7 different albums. Have fun!

We had our morning devotion and prayer time as usual, and we were getting ready to leave for the day BUT we couldn’t find the van key. We looked everywhere and I finally found in one of the couch cushions. We finally headed out for Norman’s and Long Cove. This area of Newfoundland was beautiful! I have pictures that will amaze you. Again, my verse for the week has been Psalm 19:1-WOW! We ended up in Chapel Arm at this  little wood shop. There were some amazing pieces of art there. By the time we got to Norman’s Cove it was lunch time, so we stopped for lunch at Charlotte’s Take Out. We met Leslie there. She had just graduated from high school and was  going to attend MUN in the fall. I asked her what church she attended and she says that she’s Catholic but doesn’t really like church. I told her, well, I basically shared the gospel with her. I told her there was no way that we can keep the law, but Jesus did and died for us and all she need to do was believe in Him. She didn’t seem really interested but I gave her my e-mail address so she could find me on Facebook.

After lunch, Frank, Tami and I prayer walked through Norman’s Cove. It was beautiful. There is a real harvest in that area. I saw kids playing, teenagers out and about, and adults.  It was the most variety of ages that I’ve seen in these rural areas. Then we came back to Bellevue Beach for some R&R. Frank, Bill, Kendra, and I went to Bellevue Beach Park to go play in the ocean. I didn’t get in on one side because I would’ve become and ice cube but the other side was warmer so I made it up to my belly button. Then we came back and had dinner.

Bible study started around 7pm and it was very enjoyable. Reg taught and I just love him. He and his wife, Diana, are my new favorite people of the week. I could see them retiring in Newfoundland. After Bible study we just talked/fellowshipped for a while. Now bed time

First thing we do as a group (other than eat breakfast) is read from the devotion book, discuss the day, then pray for our day to come. The discussion of the day took a lot longer than expected so we got to a late start. Bill, Kendra, and I stayed in Bellevue Beach to tell people about family fun day while Frank, Tami, Reg, and Diana went to Bellevue. Yes, they are two different towns. Both are very very small. Anyhow, we walked up and down the road and didn’t really get to talk to many people. Lots of the houses seemed empty. Annabelle says they are like summer houses. Then we came back for family fun day set up. I would say that family fun day was a huge success. There were about 35 people there (children and parents combined). That is a large number when you look at these tiny communities. After fun day clean up, some guys decided to go swimming in the very cold ocean. I just watched. Then Steve, Reg, and Frank went to get dinner. We had lobster. Annabelle let me put them in the skillet but I was too slow so she had to take over even though  she didn’t want to do so. It was so good. Now it’s time for bed.

Annabelle brought us over some freshly made muffins for breakfast. Of course, they were great! We started out the morning with a group devotion and prayer time. I am really growing to love this North Carolina crew. We started out the day in Chance Cove. It was a bigger town than the others we visited yesterday. We simply knocked on doors to remind people about the family fun day that this North Carolina team had planned. The first few doors that Kendra (from the NC team) and I knocked on didn’t look too promising. All the men said they were headed out to fish and they didn’t have any family that would come to fun day. We kept going anyway.

Somehow, Frank, Annabelle, and I ended up together knocking on doors and we ended up at the house of Tony an Hazel Rye. This was one of the highlights of my day. They invited us in to sit and chat. Frank laid the gospel out for them but they said the were good people and he explained that wasn’t good enough. Then Hazel spoke up and told us she has a pinched nerve in her back and it was giving her some pain this morning. She says she usually has to lay in bed for a few hours but this time she prayed about it and was able to get up and move around right away. Then, we come to the door. She even said that she felt like God sent us to her house.

Frank left her with a copy of the Bible with some verses highlighted for them to read. These people could very well be interested in the things of God. After this we decided to go visit Benny and Joy from the Thursday night Bible study. They are such a joy to be around! Benny gave me some mud trout that he was cooking and it was very tasty. After leaving their house we came back to our cabins for lunch and discussed our day in Chance Cove. After lunch we headed out to Thornlea. I only really met three people here: Mr. Best (the lobster guy), Grace and a girl she was babysitting, Chyenne. I saw some of the biggest lobsters ever at this man’s place. Pictures to come. Then Grace invited us in but didn’t really give us a chance to talk. That’s okay-she just wanted to chat. I mostly played with the little girl, Chyenne, anyway. After this we went to the water and saw capeland and skipped rocks. Capeland are little tiny fish that bring in the whales. After our visit in Thornlea we came back to the cabin and rested. After a little R&R, we went to dinner. The only place in town to eat is Opsrey’s Nest. I ate some cod tongue but not as my full meal. Apparently, it’s not really cod tongue, it’s more like the neck. It wasn’t bad. After dinner, we came back and discussed family fun day plans. They have me doing the registration table. I don’t really know why but I’ll enjoy it. I love meeting people-especially when they have to come to me! Haha! Now I’m tired, goodnight!

Monday, July 14

My team and I checked out of MUN this morning to load up for Bellevue Beach. We had to stop at Conception Bay South for groceries and lunch. It was at lunch that Adam received a phone call that his step-dad will have to have open heart surgery very soon (I think the date is now July 30th). Please keep him and Adam in your prayers. I can’t imagine dealing with that being so far away from home. 

After lunch we came out to Bellevue Beach and met with Annabelle. (I will tell Annabelle’s story soon, just know that there is a bible study that meets in her hair salon and that she is an amazing woman of God). We had some scouting training with Adam and an intensive prayer time for the people in this area. Then we went out to the surrounding towns to see what they look like. I use the word town loosely because there are barely any people there. I’ve never really seen such small towns.  Annabelle says this area is heavily Catholic and they have a skewed view of the gospel. And again, we saw some absolutely beautiful areas. Then, we came back to Annabelle’s house and saw her wonderful back porch view. After that we went to eat at the only restaurant in the area. I had some incredible pan fried cod fish. We came back to the cabin and now I’m going to bed.