My son Luke comes to me every full moon to remind me of "Poya" in Sri Lanka. Poya is a monthly buddhist holiday where thousands go to temples to worship the idol trying to obtain Nirvana. Don't ask… anyway each month has its only Buddhist teaching flavor and the month of May is called Vesak… Vesak, or Visakha (pronounced way-sak), is a celebration that commemorates the Buddha's birth, enlightenment, and death, and his passing into nirvana. It is named for the month of May and is celebrated on the full moon, when the Buddha's mother is said to have given birth to him in a garden in the Himalayan foothills while en route to her parents' home. According to most Buddhist calendars, he would be 2,548 years old this month. Amazing how religion tries to counterfeit Christ death, burial and resurrection… the difference is the RESURRECTION! Jesus bones can't be found on this earth. Anyway we know the beating of the drums, the chanting of thousands, the firecrackers going off in bomb like proportions as they try to ward off evil spirits… Poya days are amazingly dark days in buddhist countries and especially Vesak. Yes I am not scared to tell the good news that Jesus is Alive! Romans 1:14-17
Monday, May 19, 2008
Counterfeit…
Monday, May 12, 2008
Home for a few days then off to Memphis and another Bible School classmate (Class of '91 MTI), Pastor John Siebeling. John and Leslie Siebeling launched The Life Church of Memphis (http://www.thelifechurch.com/) over 10 years ago. What an incredibly unique job they have done as this church has such an excellent approach to Life! The Life Church of Memphis is one cool church with a deep love for Christ and a culture distincitvly designed to reach Memphis. John's fresh approah to life (StarBuck's anmial) with a unique twist of mission field blend is a refreshing experience in worship and intentional Word. John and Leslie are some of my personal heroes as they have been always encouraging and believing in us and the vision we have for the 1040 window. Check John's blog out, http://www.johnsiebeling.com/ , as he is one of my top 5 great communicators but an even greater friend.
The past two weeks has found me traveling in the US. Wow it was awesome to spend a few days in prayer at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, MO (IHOP... not pancakes). I had no idea this prayer movement has been going on since 1999. Check it out on the web, http://www.ihop.org/. Going to IHOP allowed me to connect with my Bible school classmate, Keith Major. Keith's family (www.majorchangeacademy.wordpress.com ) has been @ IHOP for four years and it was awesome being with them. God's hand is deep into their lives from the "wait upon the Lord" intensity in their lives. Keith serves in the media department at IHOP and Keith "trained" me to run the TV video program that is shown on God TV regularly.
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
The Wail in Myanmar...
Myanmar Cyclone
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- Hungry people swarmed the few open shops and fistfights broke out over food and water in Myanmar's swamped Irrawaddy delta Wednesday as a top U.S. diplomat warned that the death toll from a devastating cyclone could top 100,000.
Signs of the times... the beginning of sorrows!
Thursday, May 01, 2008
National Day of Prayer...
2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV): "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."
On April 17, 1952, President Harry S. Truman signed a bill proclaiming the National Day of Prayer into law. It was in 1972 that the National Prayer Committee was formed. It went on to create the National Day of Prayer Task Force, with the intended purpose of coordinating events for the National Day of Prayer. In 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill into law decreeing that the National Day of Prayer should be held on the first Thursday of May.
Take time today to thank God for America and to touch our land!
