Archive for April, 2007

Still sobering

Published
by
Keith
on April 26, 2007
in Thoughts
. 2 Comments

Tuesday was our worldwide day of prayer. It was a good time to reflect on the tumultous preceeding week. The Virginia Tech tragedy. Deaths of 3 Christians in Turkey who were involved in ministry there. The arrest of 44 Christian workers in Indonesia. These are people with names, faces, wives, children, mothers, fathers.

Towards the end of our time together, Al Denson led us in the Matt Redman song…

Blessed Be Your Name
In the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name

Blessed Be Your name
When I’m found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed Be Your name

A staff friend in front of us had a hard time. They lost a baby a few months ago. But she stood there praising God singing, “Blessed be your name.” Redman’s song goes on…

Every blessing You pour out
I’ll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be Your name
When the sun’s shining down on me
When the world’s ‘all as it should be’
Blessed be Your name

Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there’s pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I’ll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name

Then today, I read the following on John Piper’s Desiring God site. Wow.

Karen Watson was a Southern Baptist missionary to Iraq killed by unknown assailants March 15, 2004. Karen left behind in an envelope that said “Open in case of death.”

Dear Pastor Phil and Pastor Roger,

You should only be opening this in the event of death.

When God calls there are no regrets. I tried to share my heart with you as much as possible, my heart for the nations. I wasn’t called to a place; I was called to Him. To obey was my objective, to suffer was expected, His glory my reward, His glory my reward . . .

The missionary heart:

* Cares more than some think is wise
* Risks more that some think is safe
* Dreams more than some think is practical
* Expects more than some think is possible.

I was called not to comfort or to success but to obedience. . . .

There is no Joy outside of knowing Jesus and serving Him. I love you two and my church family.

In His care,
Salaam, Karen

I can’t get the phrase “I wasn’t called to a place; I was called to Him” out of my mind. It resonates in my soul.

We can rest “in His care”. We can sign our lives, as Karen did, with “Salaam”. Peace. God’s supernatural peace.

Sobering week

Published
by
Keith
on April 22, 2007
in Personal and Stories
. 0 Comments

Today was kick-back-and-relax day. A week of conferences is over. We depart Thailand about midnight tonight. I spent time reading, including reading and watching some of the Virginia Tech stories.

Campus Crusade for Christ has a website relaying up-to-date information of what is happening at Virginia Tech through the Campus Crusade movement there. It is interesting to hear how students are responding.

My friend Shannon documents two amazing stories. You must watch these news clips from ABC and Fox. Their stories are amazing, but it’s even more interesting to watch the TV news commentators trying to grasp the spiritual solutions these two people are displaying. In the first one, Molly Donohue, the first to find the bodies, talks about the role her Bible study group is playing in her recovery. In the second one, Lauren McCain’s father talks about the importance of forgiveness.

There are also sobering news clips of interviews with Molly, a VT Crusade student who was the first to find the dead bodies on her dorm floor. In all, four Crusade students have died. Please pray for the VT students and for the Crusade staff as they minister during a time when they too are reeling from shock and sadness themselves. There are excellent articles that you might find helpful in ministering to your friends who are shocked and confused by the tragedy.

These are must-view clips.

We also received word this week that 3 Christians were found in eastern Turkey with their throats slit. The worked in a Christian publishing house.

At our MinistryNet conference, we were asked to pray for a large number of Christians in a Southeast Asia country who have been arrested for “defamation of Islam”.

I am excited to see our internet ministries learning to take advantage of opportunities that God gives us to interact with hurting, seeking people. At our conference this week, someone shared that crises are God’s opportunities to help people come to know him. During crises, people often realize that their worldview does not work very well. They become open to seeking how to make sense of the crisis, and it often leads them to God.

A little water on the floor

Published
by
Keith
on April 22, 2007
in Personal
. 2 Comments

Two days ago, we got an email from daughter Jennifer who is staying in our house. Even before opening her email, the subject didn’t look good. Can you call? Hummpph. I wonder what’s up? The first line didn’t help me feel better. hey dad and mom! I woke up this morning to the downstairs bathroom toilet flooding.

This is definitely not how I envision starting a new day in Thailand! Have you ever tried to fix a plumbing problem from 10,000 miles away? I’m pretty new at this kind of home repair.

So we called and learned that we had 2 inches of water in the bathroom and a soggy carpet in the living room and bedroom. Well, not all of it was soggy, just 2 feet or so around the door, and under the wall into the next room, and into the bedroom… You get the picture. Not terrible. But not good either!

Jennifer had turned off the water to the toilet and begun using towels and fans. I asked our next-door neighbor Scott to take a look. Also, my friend and colleague Doug came by to see what he could do to help. Everyone agreed that we could probably avoid hiring a professional. So Jennifer has fans going, the air conditioner on 68 or so to keep it dehumidifying the house, and we’re monitoring it for mold or any other problems. We’ve called Jennifer daily to keep updated. It seems to be drying.

This is a first – dealing with a soggy carpet from 13 timezones away. I hope it is also a last!

MinistryNet is over

Published
by
Keith
on April 22, 2007
in Ministry
. 1 Comment

MinistryNet participants100 participants. 26 countries. 5 continents. Together our internet ministries are seeing hundreds of thousands come to know Christ every year.

You’ll find it hard to locate Kay and me. We’re at the “way back” as our kids used to say.

Conference participants gave tremendous comments, like:

It’s been an eye-opening experience for me to attend this conference. I came not knowing what to expect but I’m learning with a greater awareness of what I can be doing in the internet. I am so excited that God has raised up so many talented, gifted, and passionate people like you guys to do something so ‘out-of-the-box’ creatively and courageously. Thank you for setting an example for us! I’m blessed by you guys!

I arrived feeling like a fraud because I am so technically challenged; but am leaving empowered. Thank you so very much!

You can read more on the MinistryNet:Bangkok 2007 website.

What’s on Kay’s mind?

Published
by
Keith
on April 19, 2007
in Personal
. 2 Comments

Abby and Lucy At MinistryNet: Bangkok, every table was given an assortment of pipe cleaners. Everyone was encouraged to create designs. Here’s some of Kay’s creations. Guess what is on her mind?

Lucy photos

Published
by
Keith
on April 18, 2007
in Personal
. 0 Comments

Kay and I are in Bangkok and are relying on our family for Lucy photos. And they are responding!

Little Lucy

Little Lucy. 8 pounds. 20 1/2 inches long.

Sisters

Sisters.

Michelle writes

Abby loves her sister…she often tells us to “get it” when Lucy cries. She seems to be adjusting well. Keep praying for her and for us to know how to best respond to her as all of us are going through changes! We love hanging out together with the girls, and watching them interact. So fun!

Daniel and Michelle have posted lots of photos online.

Uncle Jonathan and Aunt Meredith have visited and took photos also. Photos and stories are posted on their website.

MinistryNet::Bangkok has begun

Published
by
Keith
on April 16, 2007
in Ministry
. 1 Comment

MinistryNet::Bangkok 2007 has begun. 100 people from 25 countries on 5 continents.

We started last night with a brief session then opened up the coffee shop. And they came and talked. And talked. And talked.

MinNet_Wouter-MarilynA major outcome we’ve prayed for is that people will network with one another, share ideas, dream, and trust God together. We set up whiteboards. We hung huge pads of paper for drawing. We put crayons and paper on the tables. We set up computers around the room. We provided coffee, tea, and treats.

MinNet_FrancisAnd they networked. And they drew diagrams. They shared ministry processes and strategies.

It’s Monday afternoon here in Bangkok. We’re finishing our first full day.

I love international conferences. Our worship time was led by a Singapore and Thai praise team. Our devotional speaker Oumar from Mali spoke in French and his co-worker Daniel translated into English for us. Wouter from the Netherlands was the first main session speaker.

We heard about internet ministry activities and lessons learned in

  • Korea
  • Singapore
  • Taiwan
  • East Asia
  • South Africa
  • Mali
  • Zambia
  • Ghana

What a day! I can’t wait for tomorrow!

Welcome, Lucy Hope Seabourn

Published
by
Keith
on April 13, 2007
in Personal
. 0 Comments

Lucy Hope Seabourn was born to Daniel and Michelle on Friday morning in the early hours. She came a week earlier than expected thereby declaring that she may be daughter #2 for Daniel and Michelle, but she is her own person and will arrive when she is ready!

So Abby is a big sister!

It feels kind of strange to be half a world away.

I read Daniel’s email about 5:30 am this Saturday morning. Jet lag means I don’t always sleep solidly for the first night or two. So I got up and read email. When I saw Daniel’s “She’s here” email message, I opened it first! I debated whether to wake Kay up to tell her the news, or just wait another hour or two until she woke up normally. I debated about 2 seconds! So I went in, woke her up, and told her about her newest granddaughter! She told me I had better wake her up to tell her!

I’m glad I woke her up. I definitely don’t want to be on the wrong side of a new grandmother, in Bangkok!

We celebrated. We prayed. We rejoiced. We’re excited!

I’ll post photos as soon as Daniel recovers and gets some online!

Welcome to our family, Lucy Hope!

MinistryNet 2007: Bangkok

Published
by
Keith
on April 13, 2007
in Ministry, Prayer Requests and Travel
. 1 Comment

Kay and I have arrived in Bangkok to begin final preparations for MinistryNet 2007: Bangkok.

…a gathering for Campus Crusade for Christ staff involved in internet ministry (eMinistry). The conference will begin Sunday 15 April and end Thursday 19 April, 2007. The purpose of the conference is to connect people to people and people to God using internet technology so that everyone everywhere knows someone who truly follows Jesus.

Kay and I do several things to help promote increasing ministry fruitfulness through using internet communication tools. MinistryNet is one of them.

We’re expecting 100 people from 25 countries.

Kay traveled in Tuesday and arrived on Thursday morning just after midnight. I was delayed a day to make a presentation to Campus Crusade’s Global Leadership Team of the President and Vice-Presidents on the topic of measuring our ministry effectiveness in internet ministry. So 24 hours later on Wednesday, I began chasing Kay around the globe. I arrived Friday morning in the wee hours.

Prayer Request: Please pray for these 100 people as they are beginning to arrive. We start on Sunday evening. Please pray for my speaking as I welcome everyone on Sunday evening and set the tone of expectancy as we seek God’s blessings on increasing ministry fruitfulness.

Last year, hundreds of thousands came to know Jesus personally through our effective internet ministries. Each of these is personally followed up through hundreds of trained volunteers and Campus Crusade staff. MinistryNet is about doing more and better than ever before.

The problem of evil, pain and suffering

Published
by
Keith
on April 10, 2007
in Ministry and Thoughts
. 0 Comments

I receive about 10 emails a week for seekers who are exploring what it means to know and follow Jesus. Some have just recently received Christ. Some are still on their journey towards Jesus.

Some of the recurring questions I receive are in the area of “How can a good and loving God allow pain and suffering and evil?”

This is not an easy topic for mature Christians and is sometimes a stumbling block for those seeking to know our God of love and forgiveness.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer in Letters and Papers from Prison:

It is a good thing to learn early that God and suffering are not opposites but rather one and the same thing and necessarily so; for me, the idea that God himself suffers is far and away the most convincing piece of Christian doctrine.

I’ve found several things that help questioners address this important issue. Here’s an email I sent today to someone asking this question.

Dear ________,

Hi, my name is Keith and I wanted to thank you for visiting our web site.

I appreciate your desire to investigate Christianity and the claims of Christ. This is definitely not a decision to be taken lightly and if there is anything I can help you with on your spiritual journey, please let me know.

My hope and prayer for you is that you will experience God’s peace and plan for your life.

I do not want to trivialize your questions about God’s existence and the deep issues of pain and suffering. Here are some articles that I think might help you think through this very important issue. Would you read these and write me back? I would like to know what you think.

Why Would a Loving God Allow Pain and Suffering?

Is there a God?

Deliver us from evil (This website was developed by a friend of mine)

Father of mercy and love, I ask you to reveal yourself to ________ as he works through the deeply painful issues in his life. Would you please show him your love. Show him your desire to help him make sense of the pain and suffering in his life.

I look forward to hearing more from you.

On the journey with you,
Keith

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