Limestone College

Saturday we played at Limestone College in Gaffney during their new student orientation. It was fun to do mostly all original tunes for a change. Andy Cherry did some of his originals as well. Fun times were had by all.

Photos Galore

Tasha sneaks a photo opportunity











Tummy time











Tasha's mom (Nonnie) getting in some cuddle time









Tasha and Cai the day after he broke into our world










Zeke loving his little brother










My mom (Meme) loving her 7th grandbaby









My sister, Joy, coming in for a visit














Tasha's dad (G-Daddy) steals a kiss










Not a whole lot to do in the hospital except cuddle a lot

Tasha Beasted It

Interview with Tasha shortly after delivering Micaiah

Micaiah Joel

We had our baby!! Micaiah Joel. He's a little guy weighing in at 6 lbs. 14 oz. and perfectly healthy. He and Tasha are both doing great. We couldn't have asked for a smoother labor and delivery. Tasha will give you more details on her blog, since she's the detail person in our family. Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement over this past week. Now begins the tricky part of assimilating him into our family life, but a task that we're eager to take on since we view this little guy as an added blessing to our growing family.


His name means, "Who is like Yahweh?" Micaiah was one of the obscure prophets in the OT, one who stood for truth at the risk of his own life. In 1 Kings 22, when commanded by the servants of King Ahab to prophesy only good things about the king, Micaiah said, "As the LORD lives, I will say whatever the LORD says to me." (v.14) Those words happened to be words of death and destruction regarding King Ahab, the King of Israel. And his words came to pass. He declared the truth, knowing that it could cost him his life. When false prophets were everywhere declaring victory and prosperity for the King, Micaiah spoke the truth.




And that's the prayer for our son, that he will be a man with strong convictions. A man with a strong backbone to stand for truth regardless of what the rest of the world is doing. To preach the truth of the Gospel whether it is convenient or not and whether people want to hear it or not. That the truth and power of the Gospel will be written all over his life, and that when people observe his life, they will ask in wonder, "Who is like God?" "Who is like Yahweh?"

Why I Don't Have an iPhone, and Why My Life is Better Because of It

I just came across a great article by Chris Haw, a writer for Relevant Magazine and co-author of Jesus For President with Shane Claiborne. The article is called "Just a Phone?" (you can read it here on p. 27) and in it he explains why he has held out this long in refusing to purchase an iPhone. He lists some compelling reasons.

He explains that "for many, the iPhone easily answers this: the problem with the world is lack of information and entertainment, and the Internet conveniently (and slickly) located in one's pocket is the sacrament of the eschatological answer."

He goes on to reference Elizabeth Schussler Fiorenza, a Catholic theologian who explains that "in the least, the Christian should often be a late or slow adopter. They should not be magnetized by the hype. Many technologies are not created out of a genuine need but a profit motive. These inventions are followed by advertisers telling us what we need--and they just happen to have it on sale! And these technologies often harry us with promises of how they are solutions to our problems."

Haw's article has made me think about my own reasons for not purchasing on iPhone. And as I processed this article, I came up with four reasons of my own:

#1 - I can't afford it!

#2 - I know my own proclivity and preoccupation with fluff and time-wasting activities, and the iPhone would be one more tool in the belt of idleness, futility and vanity. (For this reason I have, up to this point, also refused to involve myself in Twitter, though I'm quickly discovering that Facebook's status function accomplishes the same purpose. Furthermore, to think that people really care about what we're doing at every possible moment only fuels the narcissitic flame that is enveloping our culture. God help us! If you can convince me of any redeeming value for Twitter, I'm listening, but I've yet to discover it.)

#3 - I also know my inclination toward idolatry. God knows I already struggle with checking out Craigslist multiple times a day to see if there are any great deals on guitars, guitar pedals and music gear. I don't need another gadget to capture territory in my heart. Nor do I need to listen to the lies of the advertisers telling me that I have a particular need and void in my life that I didn't know existed in the first place and can only be filled by the iPhone.

#4 - Finally, there's the instant gratification factor. And I don't even need to say anything about how internet pornography has grown exponentially with the onslaught of the iPhone. Porn in the pocket. How convenient. Why should I willingly submit myself to yet another temptation when I'm already bombarded on every side?

At this point, you iPhone users are already organizing yourselves in haste ready to burn me at the stake. But before you do that, you need to know my heart. Am I only picking on the iPhone? ... Of course! ... No, I'm kidding. I've made the application in my own heart in areas not involving the iPhone. And I encourage you to do the same. Make the application to whatever gadgets or ideologies have taken up some area of residency in your heart. What is it that you think you need? What is it that you just have to have?

I've heard numerous people in my circle of friends speak of how they need an iPhone. And it makes me laugh inside. No, it actually makes me sad. Especially when I spend a few hours with them and in the course of that small amount of time, I rarely see their face because it's buried in their phone. That's sad. That might be idolatry. Or is it just multi-tasking? You make the call. (no pun intended)

The Wait

We're still waiting. Tasha's actual due date is tomorrow, but there's still not a whole lot of action to speak of. So, we wait ... and wait some more.

In other news:
Sunday was an awesome day. I led worship for the Richland Creek Community Church in Raleigh, NC where two of my bros serve on staff. RCCC is a biblically-solid, growing church and doing incredible things to reach that area with the Gospel. I led with their house band, a really solid group of players, Tim, Josh and Arianna.

We played:
1. Awesome is the Lord Most High (Tomlin)
2. Center (Charlie Hall)
3. Be Thou My Vision (Via version)
4. Yours Alone (Via - a new track that will be on "All That Glitters")
5. How Deep the Father's Love (I love this hymn - Stuart Townend is the stinkin' man!)

Humility: The Journey Toward Holiness

Let this be your next read. It's rockin' my world.

Here's a teaser:

"Let us consider how our lack of love, indifference to the needs and feelings of others, even sharp comments and hasty judgments that are often excused as being honest and straightforward, are thwarting the effect of the influence of the Holy Spirit on others. Manifestations of temper and touchiness and irritation, feelings of bitterness and estrangement, have their root in nothing but pride."

Another

We're about to have another one of these!!

Acoustic Guitar Invasion

Laid down the acoustic overdubs yesterday at Jake's. Borrowed a Freshman guitar from Kevin and Sarah DeShields from Renovatus Church. It sounded amazing!! Borrowed a 12-string Taylor from Allen Brunson from Crosspoint Church. And it also sounded incredible. Thanks guys for the borrows. Blessings to you and your ministries.

Tracking "All That Glitters"

Last week we began tracking for All That Glitters, our latest CD project. This is my Dad's brain-child. The idea behind it is for it to be a musical journey of the Gospel. There are 7 spoken-word pieces narrated by my Dad, Rick. Following each narration, there is a song that portrays a bit of the theme from each section. Each song is pretty unique, offering a slightly different genre of music so as to appeal to a greater number of people to reach them with the Gospel. Pray for the final stages of this project as we finish up overdubs in the next 2 weeks and then move on to mixing. Pray that the Lord will use it to reach people with the Gospel who normally wouldn't step foot in a church. And if you'd like to order some discs in bulk for your church or ministry, please feel free to contact me anytime. Once they're ready, we'll be offering them super-cheap because we just want to get them into the hands of people who need Jesus Christ.









Jake Hunter and Rick Via getting set up to record some sweet spoken word.










The ever-smiling Stuart Clark on bass











Timmy Tim Tim Morrison on drums - buries the click every time













"Sick-riffs" Andrew Cherry on lead electric













Scotty Spruill - the gift and the ministry of the pad!

Uganda Journal Entry #5

July 4

Last leg of the journey home. Waiting at the gate here in DC to fly into Charlotte. I don't know how it will be for me coming back to life in America--particularly the church in America. It's frustrating to see the lukewarmness of the American church, and the increasing pressure and stifling of conservative values by the left. But it's so much more than politics. It's a heart issue. It's a spiritual problem--just like Uganda has corruption running through every level of government, America is no better. Because it's a spiritual battle. We need revival.

I agree with much of what Shane Claiborne argues for, but I think he's slightly off-focus. (In Irresistible Revolution Claiborne recounts some of his stories of reaching the homeless and hurting of Philadelphia, Calcutta and Baghdad. I poured over it during my time in Uganda and gleaned much from it, especially his concern for and practical ministry to the poor, which was perfect for my context in Uganda. However, much of his focus leans toward social-Gospel and social justice with a frustrating absence of the proclaimed, spoken Word of the Gospel. In other words, if we meet physical needs but give the person no hope of eternity with Christ, we've done a disservice--the United Way can do that. But ministers of the Gospel must do more than meet only physical needs. Not that Claiborne is only meeting physical needs, I just think he leans that direction more. The pendulum should be kept in the middle.) The Gospel must always be the main thing. When the Gospel is kept the center and proclaimed with boldness, the rest takes care of itself, I believe. The socio-political realm of regeneration with take place, but not until we deal with sin. Not until we preach the Gospel of repentance. This is the hope of every nation. Not United Way programs. Not anti-war protests. Not even abortion protests. Because when the Gospel truly takes effect, these things follow.

In the First Great Awakening, Edwards, Whitefield and others did not roll up into a town and shut down the bars and pubs. No, they preached the Gospel, the bar owners and patrons gave their lives to Christ, and the bars shut down on their own. This is the power of the Gospel in a society. The human heart is always the first and primary target.

God, help me to always keep that perspective and not get side-tracked. Help me to see that a society is made up of people, of individuals, faces, people with families, with hopes and dreams. People for whom You gave Your life and whom You know intimately. Every hair on their head You count. Every tear from their eyes You collect in Your bottle.

Uganda Journal Entry #4

July 1

Finished the final day of ministry. It was great! I helped Alice, Jillian, Taylen and Tanya (shown here) at both the primary and secondary schools, which brought me back a little bit to 2001 when Smooth and I stayed here all summer primarily doing school ministry. It was a long way out there to Busia (close to the Kenyan border) and a long way back (I guess that's how it works), so it made for a long day--but a great one. Altogether we treated over 4,000 people and we saw over 1,000 people profess faith in Jesus Christ for the very first time. Thank You, Jesus. What a fruitful trip! Thank you for using this team. Thank you for the team unity. Thank you for Your guidance and protection.

Uganda Journal Entry #3

June 29

Finished up Day 5 of ministry. It was a really fruitful day. I was honored to pray with about four people who wanted to receive Christ going hut-to-hut and about five people in the medical clinic. In the morning, I was with the pastors and did a talk on discipleship from Titus 2:6-8. I've really enjoyed hanging out with these godly men. I'm overwhelmed with the amount of need, though. So many of them have approached me with needs. Charles Tiondi, one of Godfrey's assistant pastors at Bukayah Baptist Church, needs 60,000 shillings (about $30) to fix his motor bike and 130,000 for a sewing machine for his wife to begin a sewing business from their home. These are just a few examples. So much need everywhere. I can't do it all, but there are some things I can help with. I just need wisdom.

Fireworks with the Kids

After having just arrived back onto US soil last Saturday and still suffering from jet-lag, I tried to explain to Rainy how fireworks are started. I think I did a pretty good job myself, considering the circumstances.

Uganda Journal Entry #2

Thursday Night - June 25

Malaria is still the leading disease-killer in Uganda. In a country of 25 million people, 70,000 - 110,000 children die in Uganda each year from malaria. That's about 400 people per day. Dad and I posed a question to Godfrey (the president and founder of Arise Africa International, the evangelical ministry we partner with in Jinja, Uganda). The government of South Africa claims they have now practically eliminated malaria by spraying with DDT and other insecticides. So why can't the Ugandan government do the same thing here?

His response:
There was a recent push to begin spraying, and it started in the north. But then it began to ruffle feathers and cause no small stir among several higher-up politicians and officials. Since Uganda is a major source of organic vegetables, coffee, tea, etc. to the U.K., the U.S. and other G8 nations, the president of Uganda issued the spraying to stop. In other words, if spraying were to continue, their organic produce would cease to be organic and exportation would stop. Apparently, organic produce is of more value than human life. The mean to eliminate malaria exists, yet the big-wigs risk losing their organic crops to sell to the West. Thus, the Ugandan people continue to die off by the thousands.

It saddens me. It sickens me. I also can't help but think that there's more money to be made by pharmaceutical companies creating medicines to cope with the symptoms of malaria than if were to be eliminated altogether. At the end of the day, it's all political and the almighty dollar rules out.

Uganda Journal Entry #1

I thought I would recap some of the things that happened on the Uganda trip and some of the things that God taught me by simply copying here on the blog a few selections from my journal. Rather than attempting to recapture or reexplain what happened, this will likely prove more valuable and let you in a little closer to feel and experience what God did on this trip.

First Day of Ministry - June 25

On our way to the first village for ministry. Just passed a sign about an internet cafe. It reads, "Where people connect with people." What an ironic thing! In a nation where people very much rely on real flesh-and-blood inter-personal relationships for their survival, the marketing game now is to try to make them feel like online, social networks are the real thing. When, in reality, they already have the real thing. The superficial is being paraded and packaged as the real thing. Crazy times these are!

Pics from Uganda

w/ Pastor Charles Tiondi, a pastor/leader/soldier/worship leader









Alan Collier leading the Pastor's Conference








Alan, Josh, Pastor Timothy, Geoff Hubbard, and Pastor Robert at the Pastor's Conference









School ministry










Sunday after church with Carolyn Thomas - she was a kid-magnet










Outside the medical clinic where we shared the Gospel with everyone who was treated








w/ Pastor Robert - an evangelist to Uganda











w/ my friend James. It's hard to tell, but we are covered in dust from the drive to Kaliro riding in an open laurie









John Black, myself, and Riley Sturgill leading a school ministry

Ugandan Pastors' Training Worship

This was the first day of the Pastor's Training in Bugiri District, Uganda - June 25, 2009. This is the way the pastors opened up the training time every session. Incredible! Their love for Christ and their enthusiasm for the Gospel is contagious, to say the least.

Ugandan Worship Service

This was the first day of ministry in a remote village in Bugiri District, June 25, 2009. The sound system died on the first day, but it needn't stop this team of radical Christ-followers from getting their praise on!

Uganda Recap

Finally made it back. Though I made it home on Saturday, the combination of catching up with my family, jet-lag and my brother having his little baby girl, blogging has been low on the priority list. But I'll try to do a quick bullet-list here of some of the awesome things that happened on the trip with our team of about 35 people.

• Over 1200 souls came to faith in Jesus Christ - every name was written down so that the local churches in each village can begin to do follow-up.
• Treated over 4500 people medically, ranging from cases of malaria, typhoid, syphilis, wounds of various sorts, abnormal growths and cancers, malnutrition, etc.
  
• Trained over 150 pastors in the surrounding three villages that we ministered in
• Showed the Jesus Film in each village
• Held outdoor evangelistic crusades
• Shared the Gospel with locals going hut-to-hut
  
• Shared the Gospel in about 12 schools and about 6 prisons
• My sister Joy and her friend Jillian Stewart worked with Arise Africa International to help get their first orphanage off the ground by choosing 40 orphans out of over 500 candidates from surrounding villages to be the first group of children. Joy spent 7 weeks there and said it was the hardest, yet most-rewarding time of her life.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support for this trip. It was such a refreshing time--time to get a fresh perspective on the world and what God is doing--to get my eyes off of myself for 12 days and fully immerse myself in serving other people, in a different culture, sharing the Good News of the Gospel.

My Dad leads teams every summer to this region of East Africa to spread the Gospel in these unique ways. If you'd like to be a part of a trip, please don't hesitate to contact me. It will change your life.