Back Home
We are back from our visit to Florida and it sure is good to be home. There is something about these mountains that draws me to them. Perhaps it is the fresh air. Maybe it is heritage; I was born here. Scripturally, the mountains are a place of refuge and safety–maybe this is my place of healing and respite for now. It is home.
By the way, we are in need of help here for teachers, a librarian, maintenance, and more. If you are called to a mission here in the United States, please let us know.
As a ministry, we are preparing for school to start back up next month and working to facilitate small group worship. Our vision is to take our family meetings and open them up once per week to faculty and neighbors. It is a way to create a tighter extended family bond and to encourage one another. We are using an adaption of the old Friends (Quaker) style of gathering: First is a period of welcoming Christ into our midst and reflecting upon the Word. Participants are free to speak out what is on their heart or to remain silent as the Spirit leads. Next is a time of worship in song, then a teaching or discussion. Following that are announcements and a family meal. Please pray for us as we move towards a deeper sense of community and an expansion of our capacity for Christian Love.
Tent-making online
In the post entitled Will Blog for Shoes, I said the following:
Whenever someone discovers that I have a blog, you can be sure that one of two questions will follow: “What’s a blog?” Or, “Are you making much money from it?” I love both questions, because they help me to introduce the questioner to something that I believe is an integral part of the Great Commission in these last days.
I went on to say that If bringing in an extra few hundred dollars a month would help keep you afloat, then blogging may be a good way to make that kind of money and work from home doing it. Read more
Revival report
The week of revival services here has ended. Thank you all for your prayers. All in all, we did see a movement of God, with folks coming to Christ for the first time and others rededicating their works to the Lord. Not only that, but a new ministry is being planted to help those who are dealing with chemical addictions. God is good and He takes care of His people.
I’m still pondering the whole thing…from conception to now…and will have more to say as that all works out. I will mention, though, that I sense a component of spiritual opposition to the project that hindered us more than we realized. To do it all over again, I would concentrate less on scheduling and more on the battle.
The Word says: Without God it is utterly impossible. But with God everything is possible (Mark 10:27, TLB).
Will blog for shoes
Whenever someone discovers that I have a blog, you can be sure that one of two questions will follow: “What’s a blog?” Or, “Are you making much money from it?” I love both questions, because they help me to introduce the questioner to something that I believe is an integral part of the Great Commission in these last days. Read more
Heading towards Revival
With the week-long revival meetings about a month away, the pastor leading the charge has called for prayer and fasting. Here we go. Like he told me today, “It’s just good to have a prayer partner.” Men and Women of God arise! Join us in the prayer for, and movement towards, Revival.
Poetry and Healing
With National Poetry Month (April) just around the corner, I have been leaning the children’s literature instructions in that direction, and I have been surprised at the results. My students are eager to bring and read poems for group discussion. They love it. The parents, though, are another matter–isn’t poetry a bit too frivolous? Shouldn’t we be discussing more serious matters? I don’t think so. Poetry has the ability to speak the language of both Psuche and Psyche (Heart and Mind.) Poetry is neither irrelevant nor irresponsible. It is one more way to seek and glorify God.
So…let’s open up a space on Hosanna Blog for poetry. No holds barred, any form you wish; let’s celebrate National Poetry Month and encourage one another in the process. Send your posts and we will open up a Poet’s Corner.
Come, Holy Spirit
There is opposition at every turn. Pride, fear, and ignorance abound. I am speaking of myself, yes, but also of you. We are a people pretending to be fine, but we are not. We are a people acting as if we have all the answers, but we do not. The enemy is tearing us apart and picking us off. But, we are “fine.” We need to change, to repent, to put on the armor, to fight back. Who can save us? Who can help us? Who can lead us to freedom and victory? The Father is in Heaven. Jesus is at his right hand. We are to join them in Glory, soon. But, what about now? There is a Comforter, sent from Heaven, who is with us in our struggles. Come now, Holy Spirit. Embrace us in our time of need. Fill us, lift us up, give us the words to glorify the Father and the Son. Teach us the Gospel, the Good News, that we may share it with others.
Plenty of drugs, but no recovery…
Addiction problems are more of a factor, here in Appalachia, than I expected. Even though we are in a “dry” county (no alcohol sales allowed), many of our families still suffer the effects of alcoholism. Amphetamine use is epidemic. The gaunt faces of young people who have fallen for the allure of “feeling good” stare back at me on every trip to town. What can we do to combat these horrors? I checked to see if there are groups of Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous in the area. These have been the most successful programs for getting people sobered up and showing them how to live successfully sober. I can find neither group active here. So it is that I and another teacher are meeting soon to see about getting our own group started. We have contacted Overcomer’s Outreach, a Christian ministry, for materials. Please pray for us in this regard.
Field trip to Israel…
Hosanna kids want to visit Israel. That’s right, this little group of Appalachian children is not afraid to think big. And I’m not about to tell them that the goal is impossible. What can God do? Anything. One thing for sure, having a big dream gives us a real-life teaching on how to head towards that which you desire. If the Lord God wants us to go, we shall. If not, He will use our momentum to take us where He wants us. Either way, the effort is not wasted and God gets the glory. Wow! What could be better than that?
Teaching, preaching, and growing…
Our primary assignment, right now, is to one of the original Kentucky settlement schools. The Lord God carved out a special place for himself and his work, over 100 years ago, on this site…and the work goes on. We are teaching in the English department, helping to establish a reading development program, shoveling coal into the furnace…and anything else we are called upon to do. We love it here and know that it is right where we should be.
Once per week, we travel to a congregation about eight miles away, to work with the kids there. Also, we are working hard to establish a Hosanna Kids group, right here on Troublesome Creek. Please pray for this work.
