travelmonkey4christ

The third and last servant was Onesimus, or the “non-believer working for a believer” . Here is a servant, a non-believer, who is working in the household of a Christian. Although the name Onesimus means useful he is the opposite of his name. Onesimus is quite useless! He doesn’t do his tasks with skill or dependability, he steals and he plots. Whatever Christianity he is exposed to at his master’s house seems to have no impact on his life. Eventually he executes his escape and flees to freedom – a path that coincidently leads him to Paul. We don’t know how he first heard Paul speak. Since this is around the time of Paul’s house arrest, it is possible Onesimus simply got curious about a crowd gathered at an open window and joined in to listen. The result of listening to Paul’s message about Jesus is that Onesimus becomes a Christian himself. What a transformation! He did not simply have an intellectual assent to the Message, Onesimus experienced a total life altering transformatio...

Last Sunday I spoke about the Lesson of the Three Servants. Jesus said in Matthew 20:28 “The Son of man did not come to be served but to serve!” In the Books of 2 Kings ch 5. We get a glimpse of two very different servants. The second servant was Gehazi, or the “believer working for a believer”. Gehazi was the servant of Elisha the prophet. He represented outwardly the faithful servant – putting on a show both for his master and others. He was an Israelite so he knew about the Living God. Gehazi had witnessed the power of God through Elisha. But in this passage in 2 Kings we see Gehazi’s reaction to his master refusing the incredible riches offered to him by Naaman after he received his cure from Leprosy. Gehazi was incredulous! To just say no to so much wealth was unthinkable to him. He immediately hatched a plan to gain some of the riches for himself without his master ever knowing. Of course Gehazi’s concept of God was fatally flawed. Sure he understood God’s vast, incredible ...

Last Sunday I spoke about the Lesson of the Three Servants. Jesus said in Matthew 20:28 “The Son of man did not come to be served but to serve!” The question is what kind of servant are we? Whether we are a believer or non-believer we are all servants of someone . In the Books of 2 Kings ch 5. We get a glimpse of two very different servants. The first servant is a believer working for a non- believer. When I get to heaven, this is one of the first persons I want to find. She was a girl captured on one of the Syrian raids of Israel. We don’t know whether her parents also were taken, killed or still living in Israel. What we do know is she was taken to a foreign country against her will and forced to work in the household of the commander (Naaman) of the forces that attacked her homeland. She is in this position when she overhears her mistress lamenting about her husband’s diagnosis of Leprosy. Her response is one of the most amazing I have ever witnessed. Most of us in the same pos...

• Open your heart for God to touch it. • Let Him bond your heart with His. • Evaluate what you can do but don’t be limited by your resources. • Share the “vision” by giving others an opportunity to experience it through a physical and emotional encounter. Believe The Impossible Every great achievement was once impossible until someone set a goal to make it a reality. Lewis Carroll's famous masterpiece Through the Looking Glass contains a story that exemplifies the need to dream the impossible dream. There is a conversation between Alice and the queen, which goes like this: "I can't believe that!" said Alice. "Can't you?" the queen said in a pitying tone. "Try again, draw a long breath, and shut your eyes." Alice laughed. "There's no use trying," she said. "One can't believe impossible things." "I dare say you haven't had much practice," said the queen. "When I was your age, I always did it for half...

One look at my tires shows we have covered thousands of miles this summer. We did more than 70 sessions for kids at churches and camps. Here are some photos of our summer memories. Another new venture for me this summer was started by one of the youth who sent me an sms "You need to be on FACEBOOK" "Well, here goes," I thought. It was really a God idea. The responses have been incredible and are still coming in everyday. For example here are a few: A girl who is a Law school grad "I was thinking today about how much I loved getting hugs from you as a kid. What wonderful memories!" A young man in Australia "G'day Rainbow!" A young youth pastor's wife in California "we're friends on facebook!!!! i'm so excited! how are you auntie sue? have i ever told you that you inspired me to work with kids?" Michael, a pastors kid who is now a youth leader wrote on his Facebook: This is a great ministry, touching thousands of Kids and ...

When I flew into Seattle the first of May I was able to see a rare sight. The daffodils that I planted several years ago always bloom and die before I return from Australia. This year was the exception. I arrived at my condo to find not the usual brown dead remnants of flowers but the bright yellow topped stalks themselves in full bloom!

Next week starts the 2008 USA summer ministry schedule. We will be at Mountain Kids Camp just outside Idaho City, Idaho. This is an old west town complete with a main street boardwalk, quaint stores, a cemetery for the 1800's and no cell phone reception. It's located about 40 minutes from Boise the capital of Idaho. Mountain Kids Camp is a day camp which starts Monday. Carolyn arrives in Boise at 10:30 that night so she misses the first day of camp. Pray she gets some rest on her long flight to the states. Pray for the kids attending to receive a touch of God's love in their hearts.

Family Pancake House Snoqualmie Summit Snoqualmie Pass Sue has wrapped up her missions work in Asia and Australia for this year and has returned to the United States to begin her engagements here. I received a text from Sue today and it reads: I got back to Seattle Wednesday night. My sister, DeAnn, flew over Thursday to help me drive back to Boise to see our parents. We were amazed at the snow pack still on the pass, twelve foot! Welcome home Sue and safe travels.

I checked my mobile phone this morning and was pleased to see I’d received a text message from Sue with her latest update. In her text, Sue writes: Our puppet stage being set for the Melbourne city outreach at Reach Community Church . Larry and Sue do a take off of the game show, Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grade . Sue and Larry, Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader sounds like a lot of fun. Maybe you’ll do it when you’re in States, please?

The Jones' are a wonderful couple that make it a point of blessing Sue and Carolyn. They will periodically plan secret adventures for Sue and Carolyn to provide rest and relaxation for them after they have been out on one of their mission trips. I received a text from Sue in which she writes: [The] Jones' stopped to feed us fish and chips @ Tooradin {more} on our mystery tour. This is our "Cannon Beach" sand competition at Tooradin Beach, Victoria. In her second text she writes: The B&B they took us to is [in] Janalli {more} . Graeme and Angela gave us cryptic clues months before the trip. As we were traveling we passed the Robin [Hood] Motel (our first clue from Graeme and Angela was Robin Hood and Maid Marion) and our room was decorated oriental style (Our second clue had been Japanese) and the 10 acres of gardens were apparently the reference of the clue Sir Joseph Banks (the botanist)! We pray that the Lord will give Sue and Carolyn a time of refreshment and...

Sue’s been good enough to provide an update for all of us. I was so pleased to hear from her. As we learned in Sue’s last text message, Carolyn and she are in Cambodia. Sunday morning Sue and Carolyn conducted a rooftop Children’s Church. In her text, Sue writes , “They have a great team and eager kids!” As I looked at the photo Sue sent, I am struck by the broad smiles and joy on the children’s faces. Clearly Christ’s love and the happiness he brings transcend the barriers of culture, geography, and language. We are thankful to Christ for his empowering Spirit and for the work he is enabling Sue and Carolyn to do.

Sue and Carolyn were in a place where they were able to send a photo and a text to let us know how their missionary trip is fairing thus far. Sue’s text states: Last week we did a seminar in 160 Bangkok for children’s workers. Now we are in Cambodia at Siem Reap for two days before starting the ministry time in Phnom Penn. Incredible history in this country . Intrigued with the photo and message Sue sent, I didn’t a little on-line search to learn more about the region Sue is visiting. Siem Reap English translation is Defeat of Siam. Siem Reap is the capital of the Siam Reap Province. The area was settled in 802. Once a small village, Siem Reap is growing rapidly as the gateway to the Angkor temples, a big tourist attraction. The town is clustered along the banks of the Siem Reap River. Although Sue doesn’t state the name of the buildings in her photo, the buildings shown in her photo resemble the monastic complex of Ta Prohm. The Ta Prohm monastery was Buddhist and was the monastery f...

Sue and Carolyn continue their missionary journey in Thailand. Sue was able to send the following multi-media text and photo: Yim and the lil' Zebra bond. It was lovely to spend the day with the child I sponsor. After their visit with the Compassion children they sponsor, Sue and Carolyn will be heading back to Bangkok where they will minister at a local church. On Monday, they’ll be traveling to Cambodia. We’re praying for safe a journey for both Sue and Carolyn. UPDATE: Click here to learn more about Compassion International

As most of may know, Carpenter’s Cross Ministries typically begins the year ministering in Australia and many nations in Asia. Sue’s missionary journey started in Australia and she’s now winging her way to Thailand. In the text message, accompanying this photo Sue writes: He’s a little worried about flying, but excited about meeting Yim (My Compassion Child). We pray that Sue and Carolyn’s journey will be safe and the Lord will use them to greatly bless his children.

When you are tempted to hold on to wrongs and offenses remember what a southern preacher once said: "Son, just because you CAN whip a skunk doesn't mean you'd want to."

I have a Matryoshka Doll (or nesting doll). I got it in Belarus. It is a doll in a doll in a doll etc. Each internal doll is an exact duplicate of the outside one. As I was looking at it a few weeks back I was thinking about my walk with the Lord. The Bible talks about our created purpose to be filled with the Spirit of God, to show His life to others – to reflect more of Christ and less of us. That’s an interesting concept “to be filled with His Spirit”. Joshua was described as ‘filled with the Spirit” because Moses had laid his hands on him (Deut. 34:9). Joshua was amazing in all that he accomplished with God. John the Baptist on the other hand was filled with the Spirit from his mother’s womb (Luke 1:15). He was used by the Spirit of God to prepare hearts for the Messiah. Peter being filled with the Spirit (Act 4:8-13) astonished the people who heard him speak because of the power and anointing of God. Paul was described as “filled with the Spirit” as he exposed Elymas dece...