Another one joins the team...

Today we got up and had another meeting about our upcoming schedule (which it looks to be pretty crazy and every minute is planned out with something for the next few weeks). Then we went to the airport to pick up Jolie. She’s an intern that has been coming back year after year for a long time. She has also applied to be a Missionary Associate and was accepted. She’ll be itinerating starting this Fall.

We got to go to a coffee shop today to check email for an hour or two today. It was good to see the comments that were left on facebook even though we haven’t had the opportunity to respond to anything yet.

It’s very cool to have the old group of friends back together again. I knew Faith, Jacob, and Jolie before and Josh knew Jacob and Jolie before, but it’s very different to be here as a married couple and see how some things have changed. It’s been awesome catching up on everyone’s lives though.

Finally home...

Finally, after months of raising funds, traveling, speaking, stressing, doubting, fighting, planning, packing, storing, sorting, moving, and every other possible action associated with preparing for and getting to the mission field, Lisa and I are finally here. 

We woke up at 3:30 am in Oklahoma City yesterday, May 26th, and arrived at the airport at 5 am. Somehow God apparently caused our luggage to get lighter and all of our bags were under the weight limit, well one was exactly 50 lbs, but the others cleared the limit by about 2 pounds. After a tearful goodbye with my parents, Lisa and I walked through security to begin our first major adventure as a married couple. After a brief layover in Houston, we arrived in El Salvador at 11:10 am, tired and weary from weeks of living like nomads, long days, and short nights. Once again it appears that God was making His hand evident because from the time we got off the plane, it took a total of about 15 minutes to get our bags (all of which arrived!!), get our tourist visas, and go through Immigration/Customs. Now, how in the world 2 gringos with a cart full of luggage cleared Customs without getting searched I'm not sure, but God has his way, even in foreign customs. 

We were met by some good friends who are also MA's here, Jacob Noel and Faith Bates, and enjoyed the day getting back in touch and getting settled in our home for the next 2 months. We are staying at the Castle Camp on the beautiful Lago de Coatepeque, a lake that is in the crater of an active volcano. It is quite the beautiful sight, particularly as the sun comes up over the mountains and fog rests on the waters. It is amazing how a country so full of such beautiful vistas can at the same time be home to some of the greatest acts of violence and unthinkable attrocities. 

We have hit the ground running and will be going steady until August 3rd when we board the plane to head back to Orlando for General Council. Can't wait to get started and see all that God has in store for us. 

We're here!

Last night I forced myself to go to sleep at about 12 midnight only to be awoken by the rattling fan at 2:30 a.m. I laid in bed for an hour and eventually got up and just started eating breakfast and getting ready to leave. We had to be at the airport 5 a.m. where we met some missionaries on their way back to Mexico. After a few tears, 5 hours or so of traveling, and a showing of “Marley and Me,” I looked out the window to see the beautiful mountains of El Salvador. Josh was feeling a little nervous and had some anxiety about leaving family so leaving arriving seemed exciting yet bittersweet in the other.

We decided to do our first podcast video to post on our blog. I don’t know how well you can actually hear us though as we were starting to descend on the airplane. After waiting for the last round of baggage, we finally got our luggage and headed out to see Faith and Jacob waiting for us in the crowd of Salvadoran faces.

Oh, one thing about our luggage is that all 4 bags ended up being exactly 50 pounds or just under. Praise God!

Well, in true Castle fashion, we jumped straight into work for a lunch meeting about the summer with Jacob, Faith, and Kristal. We ate at a place called Go Green which I’m just about positive will be Josh’s favorite go-to restaurant here in El Salvador as all the serve are wraps and salads. Oh, and they’re delicious!

Jacob did take us to his favorite spot to have coffee which I must say was also delish! Then we went shopping for phones and came back to the camp late enough to hang out for just a few minutes in Faith’s apartment then make it down to our room to unpack and crash. It was an exhausting day but we are super excited to see what God’s going to do this summer!

Cursed and Crucified: The Snake and the Savior

"An as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life." ~ John 3:14-15

I've never actually considered this verse to mean more than what the notes say in my Bible. The Israelites angered God and He sent snakes to bite and kill them, but He told Moses to make a bronze snake, put it on a pole, and everyone who looked at it would be saved from death. What a clear-cut foreshadowing of the Cross. Pure and simple, look to Jesus and be saved from death by sin. Period. But wait, that's not all...

As is often the case with Scripture, there is more behind the apparent meaning if we only understood the nature of Christ's words and world. I'm not talking crazy Da Vinci Code or Bible Code crap, but the truth and power of the Word of God. Flashback to the Wilderness. The Israelites are complaining about everything, including Manna, God's Heavenly food supply, and so God sends snakes, which bite and kill. Moses prays and God relents, saying to make a bronze image of the snake, put it on a pole, and then everyone who looks on the snake won't die from venom; however, there is something behind this that I have always missed until listening to John Piper's recent sermon. The snake was a cursed, unclean, reviled animal. God cursed the serpent in the Garden and it is the embodiment of sin, death, corruption, deception, etc. Even in our society today it is the embodiment of evil and deception. So, when God said make a bronze serpent and that would be source of salvation from death, there is some crazy meaning behind that. The embodiment of sin would become the source of salvation from death.

Now, fast forward to the night meeting between Jesus and Nicodemus. The talk turns to eternal life, new birth, etc. Then Jesus, choosing a symbol to convey the meaning of His death as He always did, chose an odd example to describe the nature of His dying. Instead of using the lamb metaphor, as would later be used, He chose the snake in the desert. Just like Moses posted the embodiment of sin and death on a pole so it could serve as the source of salvation, so the Son of Man would be lifted up. He compared Himself to the serpent, the very symbol of evil. Do you see the power behind that? God lifted the snake up to save the Israelites, and in the same way He would raise up Sin to bring salvation. Jesus would become the embodiment of sin, corruption, death, etc. so that mankind could be saved the death that comes by sin. He became unclean, cursed, and reviled so that I could be saved. "He became sin who knew no sin." He didn't just die in our place, but became the embodiment of all mankind's sin, the symbol of the curse and the fall, and was lifted up so that all who look to Him in faith could be saved from death. The Savior became our Snake so that we could be saved.

I'm not comparing Jesus to Satan or saying that Jesus is in anyway evil, but He became the embodiment and the symbol of sin, death, and the curse so that we could look upon His defiled, broken body and find salvation. Every time the Israelites looked at the snake I wonder if they remembered not only their sin in angering God but also the curse, as this unclean animal became the image of salvation. We are the snake, not Jesus, and yet He became snake-like to remove the poison of sin and the destiny of Hell, so we could stand redeemed. Now we, as Christians, how do we view the Cross? A nice charm to wear? A great story? A reason to hide eggs and eat chocolate? No, the cross is not a beautiful piece of gold jewelry, not a nice decorative item, but it is as the old hymn says, "the emblem of suffering and shame"

So I'll cherish the old rugged cross, where my trophies at last I'll lay down. I will cling to the old rugged cross, and exchange it some day for a crown. Thank you for the Cross, Lord Jesus the Christ!

Pride: The Assassin of Purpose

"But the LORD said to me, 'Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles!' The crowd listened until Paul said that word. Then they all began to shout, 'Away with such a fellow! He isn't fit to live!' They yelled, threw off their coats, and tossed handfuls of dust into the air." ~ Acts 22:21-22

Now, I have to admit that I find this quite comical. Here is Paul in chains in Jerusalem after being carried off and beaten by the Jewish leaders because they ASSUMED he had taken a Gentile into the Temple grounds since they had seen him in the company of a Gentile, Trophimus of Ephesus. They beat him and then the Romans come rushing in because of the uproar and now Paul is addressing the Jews, giving testimony of what had happened in his life to turn him from Jewish enforcer to Christian evangelist. Things are going well until it gets to the word Gentile. At this word the Jews go bananas. I get the image in my head of an Animal Planet show about monkeys. Something happens and the group of apes goes berserk, pounding their chests, howling, and kicking up dust, creating quite a ruckus. Now back to our DIGNIFIED Jewish leaders, dressed in robes, tassles, turbans, etc. Calm, quite, and civilized one moment and then Paul says the magic word, Gentile! Suddenly they are screaming, throwing their clothes off, and tossing up dust. What a sight! I wish I could get a clip of that on the Soup. I could make money with a video like that. Prettified rabbis and leaders one moment, rampaging apes the next. And what's the cause of this? Pride, pure and simple.

The Jews were selected by God centuries ago to be His chosen people, a nation that He chose from among the rest of the earth through whom He could display His power, love, grace, mercy, justice, and sovereignty over all creation. Not only did He choose them, but he protected them, gave them a homeland, blessed them among the nations, miraculously displayed His power in and through them, all as a witness to the earth that the God of Israel is the One and Only God. He placed them in Israel, positioned perfectly along the major trade route for all the nations. Any nation traveling North or South or to the sea had to go through Israel. They were set up to be a light to the Gentiles, displaying the glory of the Immortal God. Instead of seizing the opportunity afforded them and humbly allowing God to do His work through them, they became prideful in their position. They saw themselves as superior to the Gentiles, the very people they were supposed to be providing light to. They became so prideful that they adopted an air of separatism and exclusivism, arrogantly detesting all non-Jews, so much so that the very word Gentile would send them into an uproar. Their pride in their position, one that was not based on their merit or worth or importance but on God's choice, in effect killed their effectiveness in achieving God's purpose in election, to display His power and sovereignty to all nations. The coming of Messiah was the climax of His interaction with them and yet they missed the point because of their pride.

Now, before you start amening all this talk of Jews, point the finger back at the Christian church. Have we become the same? Have we allowed our pride in being "saved" to kill our effectiveness? Have we forgotten that we are only ingrafted branches, not superior to any other person, especially the Jews? We have been given grace and they have rejected it. Jesus is the Jewish Messiah and our Savior because He died for all men, not just one nation. Often I believe that our pride in our rituals, rites, ceremonies, agendas, doctrines, and traditions assassinates our purpose, we exchange the purpose of God for the way it has always been. We're afraid to even discuss the lost because they might dirty our sanctuaries, curse in our pews, smoke in our foyers, and come strolling into our services wearing leather, short skirts, ratty clothes, covered in tatooes and piercings. At the very sight of someone not like us we have the tendency to cause a ruckues. Instead of realizing our purpose in election, to share and display the love and mercy of an Immortal God, we get riled up because someone wants to invite the bikers into service or go out to minister to prostitutes. We have been saved by grace, not because of anything we have done or because we deserve it. God chose to save us, God chose to forgive us, God chose to display us in the world to display His glory, not so we can build our traditions and churches. We are God's trophies on display for the world, contingent upon His grace and not a necessity. He doesn't need us but He wants us. Paul says it best, "We are paraded in front of the world, as slaves in a procession. To some we are the smell of life and to others the scent of death."

Dear God, forgive me for my pride in my position of election. I'm not worthy of your grace, but thank you for it. Use me as a light to the lost and keep me from being a road block for them to enter.

Reckless...the way I wanna be!

"But he said, 'Why all this weeping? You are breaking my heart! I am ready not only to be jailed at Jerusalem but even to die for the sake of the LORD Jesus.' When is was clear that we couldn't persuade him, we gave up and said, 'The LORD's will be done.'" ~ Acts 21:13-14

Paul, a man who was passionate about everything he did. One who, as a Jew and Pharisee, zealously persecuted Christians and then after an encounter with Jesus he became even more zealous about sharing the light of the Gospel with everyone, no matter the cost. Here is Paul, at Caesarea by the Sea, on his way to Jerusalem. Several of the believers there sensed in the Spirit that danger awaited Paulin Jerusalem and tried to persuade him not to go. Then a prophet, Agabus, arrives and prophesies that Paul would be bound and mistreated by the Romans and once again everyone pleads with him to stay. What does Paul do? He says, "Stop it! You're breaking my heart! But there is nothing that will keep me from fulfilling my purpose, not even death. I embrace suffering and death if it means that I can build God's kingdom!"

WOW! What a man of passion! Nothing in this world could stop Paul once his course was set. Just look at his list of experiences: received 39 lashes with a whip 5 times, beaten with rods 3 times, stoned once, shipwrecked 3 times, spent a day drifting in the open Sea, etc. etc. The words unstoppable come to mind, as well as reckless. Whatever the cost, whatever the distance, whatever it takes, Paul was willing to lay it all on the line and considered joy. How I wish and pray that my life would be the same! I pray that I too would have a reckless faith, a sense of calling and purpose, a burning passion and burden to share the love of Christ no matter what it takes. No one enjoys pains, but a faithful disciple of Jesus wants above all else to please God. Our desire to please God should overshadow our desire to avoid hardship and suffering. When we really want to do God's will, we must accept all that comes with it, even pain and death. Lord may it be so, not only in my life, but in the life of every true disciple!

Catalyst Week 2

This week's games were interesting, but it was SO hot outside! Spring has definitely come to Florida. The pictures are from New Breed vs. Armaggedon, Flash vs. Stealth, and Run DMC vs. Ground N Pound.

After a sack, getting hyped up for the next play

Wide Receiver, David Attaway
Dave and Justin, team mates on the field, officers in daily life

Franklin is fast!

MJ - He's the STAT MAN!

Ladies and Gentleman, I give you my photo of the week!

Big, beautiful sky

Jerrod, he's a quick little man!

From the stat man's viewpoint

Sasha

Brian Banks is the league's quickest player

He leaves people in his wake

Roby is Banks' number one fan!

John Krall, Youth Pastor and Quarterback extrodinaire

I couldn't resist this sky!

The kids play on the sidelines

Oh, almost!

Catalyst Week 1

This week was the first week of Catalyst Flag Football but it was SO much fun! I was there to photograph Meerkats vs. Rabid Lemurs and New Breed vs. Ground N Pound.

Nice hair Edmar!

Uh oh! MJ got a touchdown!

Now that is one handsome man!

Franklin is awesome!

Ground N Pound got a touchdown!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today Josh and I took advantage of the fact that Valentine's Day was on Saturday this year. We spent the whole day together and then had the opportunity to also share it with our friends at Trinity Assembly of God where we ate, played games, competed in the Newly-or-not-so-newlywed game, and took pictures of some of the families that came.

I hope you had a special Valentine's day this year and were reminded of just how much Christ loves each one of you!

LeNita did a great job decorating

Lisa won the jellybean count. She actually guessed the exact amount!

Pastor Wiese and his family

The Draft

Sunday marked the beginning of the Catalyst Flag Football season as they held a combine and a draft. There are 10 teams of 10 which should make for a great season! They will have 7 weeks of games and then playoffs. Here are a few pictures from this week's combine.