WOW...It has been a ridiculously long time since we last updated the blog. Stay tunned for more of these video news pieces as Jesus hooked us up with a great video camera when we were in the US earlier this year. Anyways, a radical team of 34 people with our ministry partners BURN 24-7, Living Waters, and Abbalove just left the island and man did they set it on fire! . 

This video is just a tiny fraction of the unbelievably wonderful things JESUS did here in Indo over the last thirty-one days. Sarah and I hope this rocks your face off! Stay logged on because there is a lot more of this to come!

Until the whole world knows,

Here it is...our first video blog. It took us over four hours to upload the next four minutes and fifty-eight seconds of your life! The joys of technology in developing nations. This is the first part of the video...the second is soon to come (it kept crashing on upload). Let us know if you like these productions and we will keep them in the production pipeline.

EPISODE ONE | part one

      EPISODE ONE | part two

       Until the whole world knows,

The heat is unbearable. Sitting at my desk starring out into the rice fields I can feel the perspiration leaking universally through the brown porous membrane covering my body. Man, I didn’t know that it was possible to sweat in some of the places that my body is now struggling to cool itself. You know that ridiculously repulsive feeling when your clothes begin to cling to your skin like freshly hung wallpaper on a bare naked wall and all you want to do is rip them off, take a shower and then relax in some serious air conditioning…yeah, welcome to the heat of the Indo monsoon season.

The last few weeks have been incredible. I am again discovering how dreadfully deep my heart reaches, how shockingly easy it is for distractions, diversions, and disorientations to apprehend its true wealth, even within the contexts of ministry and mission. This morning I was wondering why it is when we look intently into the face of death that life suddenly comes into brilliant focus. At that moment all of the objects, all the trinkets, all of the trophies, all of our primary pursuits abruptly become peripheries and lose alleged value. The true wealth of the soul is laid bare. All of the things that really matter most, instantaneously become most important.

I wonder if that is why Solomon, the undisputed champion of the American dream, when pouring out his soul to his children told them to guard their hearts above all else (PROV. 4:23). Thinking about this is so crazy to me. The richest guy in the history of the world…I mean his house took thirteen years to build with 186,000 workers…a dude that had more women than most guys would know what to do with in 700 lifetimes…he tells his children to watch and protect their hearts over anything and everything else. The guy has it all and he instructs his kids not to guard the house, the cash flow, their retirement investments but their hearts. Solomon in all of his boasts and splendor understood the wealth of the soul, the bank account of life. It is not what you have that makes you rich but Who you have. A wealthy soul makes other souls wealthy.  

Living in a developing nation and daily working with champions that have given all to making Jesus famous in this jumbled amalgamation of cultures, peoples, and tribes spread out over 17,000 islands in the Indian Ocean has taken Sarah and I on a journey to the edge and back. These devoted followers of Jesus give; not to give to get so they can give again…but out of the wealth of their soul, and in the midst of their material poverty they have made many rich.  

Until the whole world knows,

Sitting in the second story of our fluorescent lit church nestled in the downtown district of Denpasar listening to the owner of the largest chemical distribution company in Indo was far from business as usual. Controlling 70% of Indonesia’s chemical trade, two things struck me about the richest man I have ever met: his authentic deep-seated humility coupled with radiating love of biblical proportion, two characteristics that by a man of his influence are hard to come by. This business visionary turned a small family enterprise into a sprawling empire of global trade, lost it all through the testing of his life, pressed into God and made it all back. Now he is building a 100 million dollar real estate development on the island and is giving our church a place on the property to start an English service geared to reach the 1.7 million foreigners from around the world gracing Bali every year.

As the only bules (pronounced “boo-lays” and means foreigner) in our Indonesian church the senior pastor is looking to Sarah and I for significant support in the plant. As of now we have not committed to anything in particular on the project but are in serious prayer concerning our involvement.

                                                               looking for love | the unreached "Banjar"  

The nations are knocking on this island’s door and the church must be there to warmly receive those from every culture, language and country standing on its volcanic borders. Two thousand years ago, when the old gave way to the new, Jesus’ church was born in fire on the day of Pentecost and men from every nation under heaven were there to witness and hear the wonders of God pour out from Heaven. In the same way, the wisdom of God has placed Bali in the geographic center of the archipelago. It remains the only island not under the iron crescent of the Muslim majority. Millions of people from the four corners of the globe stream to this island every year. It is a thorn in the side of the Islamic agenda for the nation and has suffered the wrath of militants as they have targeted and killed hundreds of foreigners through multiple suicide bombings over the last few years.

The stage is set as a silent war rages for the souls of humanity in this nation, a country with more Muslims within its borders than anywhere else on earth. Bali is truly a gateway to the nations and positioned to be a regional switchboard for the highway carrying the gospel to over 220 unreached people groups within Indonesia.

If you have a moment please pray with me: 

Lord Jesus, we ask that your name would be made famous on this island and throughout the nation of Indonesia. We thank you for your church being established in Bali and ask that you would continue to empower your people to carry the Good News to the places that have yet to hear! Lord, you said we should ask you to send out workers into the nations, so now, we ask that you raise up an obedient generation focused on fulfilling your purposes in this nation at this hour! May Bali be a lighthouse to Indonesia and a blessing to the rest of the world!

Sarah and I are flying to Singapore on a visa run next week and will be out of contact for the next ten days. Please pray for us as our mission in Singapore is to find a Taco Bell and chow down!   

Until the whole world knows,