7 year old skips church.

Oh... I remember those kinds of feelings. Check out the drastic measure this 7 year old took to skip church:



My view of church has changed drastically since I was 7. I can relate to this kid. I used to hate going to church as well. It was boring, I didn't want to get up early and I didn't like all those uncomfortable fancy clothes. Why do we dress up anyway?

I said a prayer and got baptised at "church", but it meant nothing. I was born again 5 years ago and my outlook on everything (including church) changed. I began to look at the world through God's words found in Scripture.

According to the Bible, the church isn't referred to as a building, but rather the collection of all of God's children. Perhaps the church is a network, it's definitely not bricks and mortar.

Before I was saved I hated going to church, but felt guilty if I missed. Soon after I got saved, I enjoyed going to church, but didn't feel guilty if I missed. Now, I don't go to church, I've realized it's impossible. The church is Christ's body, not something you can actually go to. I know what people mean when they say church, but our terminology is messed up, and it isn't biblical. You can't go to church, it's impossible.

I do love and promote a good ol' fashioned gathering. It's what the Bible calls it when His children come together to edify one another with songs, teachings, revelations, prophecies and tongues.

Granted, 7 year olds might still be bored in a non conventional gathering. In fact, we had one sleeping last night during "barn church". Paul even had a guy fall asleep, fall out the window, and die, remember?

That video just brought back funny memories of being young.

Jonah's sick.

It's been 3 days now, and Jonah's still not his normal self. I feel sorry for him. He's got hand, foot and mouth disease. Although, that may sound terrible, it's merely a virus. However, it's a very painful virus that brings a fever and sores of the mouth, hands and feet. Thank God he's only got sores in his mouth.

As you can imagine, it's been a rough 3 days. The poor little guy is starving, but can't eat because of the pain it causes. He's super needy and grumpy and isn't sleeping well.

I told Rebekah that other day, our life is officially over for the next 10 years or so. Kids most definitely create a naturally selfless life. There's very little downtime anymore and I only expect to add to my quiver. Initially, it's just going to get worse, but the fulfilling prize these children will bring will be well worth it.

One day.

Years ago, I saw this World Vision Video, and it absolutely changed the way I eat out.

I was thinking about it one day recently. The premise is that we all have just one life. The idea message is 2 fold. They want us to value the least of these enough to consider their individual humanity. At the same time, it communicates an urgency for us to live our own lives to their fullest, by helping others.

As I thought about this video, I realized we're not even guaranteed just one life. We're not even guaranteed tomorrow.

We just have one day!

How would I act if I really believed this? What if I knew Jesus were coming back tonight or that I was going to die tomorrow?

I would give more, encourage more, pray more, forgive more...

I would worry less, argue less, complain less, bicker less...

Another Africa Camp Video!

There were two video teams filming Africa Camp. I've already posted Team A's. Here's Team B's: Is in 2 parts...

New web site!

For 2 years now, I've been thinking someone, one day, would come along and revamp our website for the Holler. That day is upon us and that person is Mark Lucas. He came to me several weeks ago and voluntarily submitted his web design services! I didn't even ask!!!!

Not only did he do the website, he put together a business card for us. And...not only that, he got someone to print 1,000 full color business cards for FREE! Are you serious? Thank you Lord! Thank you Mark!

Take a minute and browse around the site. Then come back in a few weeks, because he's not done (believe it or not).

I'm blown away! Check it out: HollerMinistries.com

so many stories.

Last night at Barn Church I was overwhelmed with all the stories in the room! I'm not talking about stories of the rude lady at the mall, I'm talking about dancing with nuns, making quilts with Muslims and ministering to unreached Indians.

I estimate we had more than 40 people show up and I'll guess that almost all of them have radical stories to tell. We "featured" 3 different missionaries, but there were so many others who are doing crazy things for the Lord.

Out of the 3 that spoke, we had Indonesia, Nicaragua and Iraq covered. All 3 of them are raising support and do not have the backing of a major mission board! Courageous souls, trusting in God's provision!

Out of the many that didn't speak we had youth ministers, elders, Sunday School teachers, missionaries to India and Haiti, Homeless ministers, radical business people, and all the young people ministering to the poor through the Holler.

I imagine it's one of the reasons we'll need to live forever. We'll have to hear every one's story. I just hope to have some of my own stories to tell. Once again, I'll quote Sarah groves in her song, When the Saints:

And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them

I see the long quiet walk along the Underground Railroad
I see the slave awakening to the value of her soul

I see the young missionary and the angry spear
I see his family returning with no trace of fear

I see the long hard shadows of Calcutta nights
I see the sisters standing by the dying man's side

I see the young girl huddled on the brothel floor
I see the man with a passion come and kicking down the door

I see the man of sorrows and his long troubled road
I see the world on his shoulders and my easy load

Raw Potatoes

In Sarah Groves' documentary she stated, "When you get an idea, just do it!". She's talking about being led by the Spirit, and not holding back. I love this attitude!

I saw it this morning in Ariana. We were working at the Storehouse and we had several cases of raw potatoes. Ariana had an idea: We should take a case down 7th too see if any of the guys want em.

I thought, they don't want raw potatoes because they're looking for work and many of them might not even have a way to cook em. She persisted saying, "my grandma eats potatoes raw". At this point I got it. God had given her an idea, and I had better not stand in the way. I said, "get Heather, and let's go". Incidentally, when Ariana asked the director, we were given an address for someone who could also use the potatoes.

We set out with 2 cases of potatoes!

After dropping off the 1st box at someone's house, we set out for 7th avenue. We pulled up to some of the Mexicans I recognized and they come running to the car, literally! They wanted work, but when I asked them if they wanted potatoes they were as equally as excited. I couldn't believe it! Boldness is now pumping through my veins, so I tell them that I want to pray for them. I lay my hands on both of the gentleman and beg God for work.

Ariana responded to Gods still small voice today and what a thrill it was to have that little mini adventure! Stay crazy, Ariana! When God gives us ideas we had better do them or He'll stop sending them our way. How boring!

13 most memorable moments at Poverty Camp.

1. Connie in the dumpster. If you knew Connie, you would understand the irony.




2. Connie's feet hanging out of her shoes (all weekend).




3. Ariana's giving heart (trading shoes w/ Connie and taking her under her wing as the homeless person).

4. Ryan was able to find his team more than enough food on Saturday. They had so much, they got to give stuff away.

5. The Campers generosity to the homeless man at dinner (he ate better than any of us).

6. At the 1st stop Tracy was a timid young girl, afraid of homeless people. At the last stop, she was butting into conversation, praying with the homeless and helping clean up.

7. The nervous giggles as I told the kids they would loose everything (accept for 4 personal items) and that they would have limited funds for food and lodging.

8. One morning 2 campers got to eat, and they actually threw away their access. Remember, they had hungry friends outside, but that didn't seem to cross their minds.

9. The 2 mommas on the trip who nearly broke down on Saturday in fear for their children. God proved His faithfulness and everyone walked away stronger in faith.

10. There was a drunk native American who accused me of judging Him. I just looked at him with love and searched for Jesus in his eyes.

11. Connie and Ariana got a kiss on the hand from Jesus (a homeless guys at the bus station) as we said our good bye's

12. On Sunday we saw a demonstration of the world's spiritually. Most missionaries are flocking to reached countries. It blew me away!

13. As we hate lunch at the rescue mission, I saw men eat like dogs as they scarfed their food down to ensure they got 2nds and 3rds.

poverty debrief

Anyone would have to known this wasn't going to be a regular weekend camp if they were to see all the holler peeps dressed in "thrift" shop attire. I had on sandals (no socks for crying out loud). Shoes and skirts were too big and we barely matched.

Once the campers arrived and we went over the "game" rules they oohed and awed with nervous laughter. They packed a ton of stuff, yet could only take 4 items. As the weekend progressed I saw 10 timid girls mold into bold and compassionate lovers of the least. Our 1st stop was the rescue mission in which they ate with the homeless, but did none or very little interaction. Our last stop was the same rescue mission in which the girls voluntarily interacted, prayed and helped clean up afterwards.

Over the weekend I saw unfit shoes, mismatched clothing, God's provision, sharing hearts, panicked mommas and hearts changed!

Walking away, I hope to keep these new lenses on. I'm seeing the world a bit differently now. A plastic grocery bag has more uses than just a spot in the trash can. Those left overs in the fridge are better than wasting money on "new" food. I would haven eaten anything that Saturday as we searched for food (without any money). On top of that, I'm hoping to keep my Kingdom lenses on, always looking for opportunities. What does a treasure in heaven look like? It looks like that homeless guy holding up a cardboard sign.

God, grant me the strength the kindle this fire.

1 day till poverty - busy

1st half of the day putting in 33 fence posts! That's a record. We did have my friend Jody helping, and of course Jody.

In the afternoon we got ready for camp cleaning up campus.

I'm too tired for details. I'm out. Pray for us, I doubt I'll be updating through the weekend.

2 days to poverty -

Another early morning (7am) loading locust posts to be transported to the saw mill. It rained all day, but it didn't stop Ryan and I from working. I hauled two loads of posts while Ryan weed eated.

In the afternoon Ryan continued to weed eat while I handled more of the logistics for camp.

We're going organic with our food service to campers, so that's added a new element. Praise the Lord, our caterer is more than willing to work with us on this. She's shopping at Amazing Savings (cheap source for organic food) and she's negotiating w/ Earthfare for discounts.

I'm more than amazed with chef. Not only is she going organic with us, she's catering our world banquet meal. That will require 6 different authentic national food (Africa, US, Europe, East Asia, West Asia and Latin America). On top of this, she blesses our hearts with extremely reasonable prices. There's no other like her!

As of right now our inner city kid project fell through. We don't have one, so we're going to "wing" it. We're going to prepare and train for it, as if the kids will be there. Then when it comes time to go, we'll hit the parks in the underprivileged neighborhoods.

We're just printing out all the forms, paperwork, meal tickets, inside passes, chance cards etc...

Tomorrow (if it comes) we'll continue work on the fence, prep the campus and pray together as a community.

3 days to poverty - balancing act.

Today started at 6am with a run to borrow my dad's truck. At 7am I had David and Ryan help me load 200 Ibs locust posts to go to the saw mill for splitting.

I spent the rest of the morning splitting the wood for fence posts. Ryan and David absolutely killed the work they had to do on campus. The fence is coming along nicely and the post work should be done this week!

When I got back it was a mad rush to get ready for the COC kids group. We had 25 1st through 5th graders come out to tour the Holler. They saw a homeless demonstration, visited Africa and toured the farm.

In the afternoon it was a rush to plan out the weekends meals and volunteers. We received all the confirmations in the mail today and everything seems to come together nicely.

Our friend from FL arrived at 5pm, so it's been social catch up time! It's definitely becoming a balancing act.

4 days to poverty - frenzy!

This morning I became a radio star! Well... kind of. My mentor Mark Lucas was hosting a show on our local AM station. We were in good company with Timothy Brown of FBC youth, Ricky Gessler of New Life Community and Seth Barnes of Adventures in Missions. We talked about discipleship and there was a good mix of perspectives (father/son, minister/youth, mission leader/college students, camp minister/camper and help and community leader/community member.

After the show, I went to St. James Episcopal to line up a wheel chair for this weekends poverty camp (10% of them will be disabled, reflecting real world stats).
It was closed, so I'll have someone pick it up tomorrow. After that I went to the local rescue mission and was happy to arrange a desired relationship. They'll allow us to join the homeless for Friday and Sunday's lunches. It will give the campers a starting and ending perspective on homeless people. Hopefully during the weekend their compassion will grow and some of their views will change.

In the afternoon I set up Ryan to work on the cow fence, while I felt the frenzy calling everybody and their brother. I was fortunate enough to get a hold of most people. I lined up volunteers (thank you Heather, Amy, Ryan, Pamela, Kathy, Mark and others who are donating much of your time to this). I then secured the campers. We'll have 10 girls ranging from 6th grade to college. On top of that we'll have 6 full time helpers and several other short term volunteers. I was also able to meet with our cook. By the way, we have an amazing source for food. Not only does she deliver, she's gives us a major break and is willing and eager to use all natural cooking ingredients!

In the late afternoon we welcomed our newest resident, Scott Bennett. He'll be rooming with Ryan in the boys house and going to school at BRCC.

In the evening the community got together for the Lord's supper. We had an amazing night of worship and fellowship. Ryan shared some unbelievable poetry and a song he had written. It was one of those evening where you want to pinch yourself to make sure it's real. It's definitely one of those days that make up the "good ol days", some day.

It's not over.... All the boys got the tractor and dug some more wholes (for the fence posts) to lay out tomorrow's fence work. Now, I'm up way too late, but such is the story the week before camp. It was almost pitch dark by the time we finished. I was sooo proud of those guys. It takes someone really special to come out here and farm, do ministry and live in community. I'm proud of the men these guys are becoming!

Stay tuned, and pray for endurance.

5 days to poverty!

Our 1st of 2 fall camps begin this weekend! This time we're going to experience what it's like to be poor. On top of our regular mission work and teaching sessions we're going to actually feel what it's like to be in poverty.

We'll loose possessions, go hungry, beg and sleep outside, among other things. The goal? To learn about God's heart for the poor, grow in compassion, and empower others to share what they have with the "least of these".

Today, we rest. We do absolutely nothing. Well, we type a blog, read some books, go on a walk, cook amazing meals and play with Jonah.

The rest of the week will be divided up half and half. Half on getting a parameter fence up for the cows and the other half will be getting ready for camp. I'll keep you informed on what it takes to get ready for such an undertaking. It's going to involve phone calls, site visits, wheel chair shopping etc...

I feel my stomach churning nervously as I know there's so much to do and so little time. Be in prayer with us this week as we prepare for a harvest.

On another note, I'm on the radio tomorrow with my discipler, Mark Lucas. We'll be on WHKP 1450 at 9am talking about.... Discipleship!

Africa Camp Video!

One of the Africa Camp videos is up for your viewing pleasure:

Food, Inc.

Rebekah and I went on a date Sunday to see this movie. You can imagine what the movie might be about, I'm sure. However, it's not just another gross food documentary. There's plenty of that, but they also go to show the politics and business behind the crap most people eat.

They could have showed more natural and organic farmers, but the couple they showed served to inspire for a new generation eating.

the real deal

When we were witnessing at Bel Chere last week I met some interesting fellows. At first they looked like Jews. They had long beards, dressed modestly and had signs that quotes verses out of Psalms. Upon asking what they were about, I noticed their New Testaments. We hit it off right away, and I couldn't help but notice their desire for living out Scripture, LITERALLY!

Upon asking who they were with, they insisted on calling themselves Christians. They felt like they needed to bring that name back. No division. Pressing them further, they'll quickly admit they just want to follow Jesus, by obeying the Bible. They'll liken what they do to the book of Acts. We've all heard that before. There's allot of people claiming to live out Acts. We all do to a certain extent.

However, I've never met someone who follows the Bible so closely. I've never seen so much faith in the midst of this modern culture. From long beards, to dressing modestly, to abstaining from debt, to living simply, to feeding the poor, to dedicating their entire lives to the Gospel, to never storing up treasures on earth, to living in community, to eating well, to disciplining children, to homeschooling, to maintaining order in the family and during church, and to earnestly seeking God.

The two guys we met actually called yesterday and came out for a visit. We enjoyed hanging out with them for most of the day. Although a bit uncomfortable (perhaps convicting), I enjoyed their visit. They came bearing gifts (2 boxes of organic goodness!) and they left a couple of encouraging notes in the house.

It was amazing to hang out with a couple of people who were so drastically different than this world. One of them was 39 and had never been online. They don't watch TV (at all). I don't think they read anything but the Bible, either. The other guy had used the dishwasher only once in his life. It was funny to see him try and load it. This was also amazingly refreshing to meet a couple of people so unique. It's not everyday you come across something like this.

Bad Apples.

On Friday, as we were working at the Storehouse (our local food pantry), a bunch of rotten produce came in. This was no surprise. Just last week I had to create a compost bin for 12 bushels of slimy, moldy, soft, old and brown green beans. This was someone's offering, and it made me sick. Who would eat these beans? Not I said the average man. Someone had definitely given their trashy left overs to Jesus.

"What ever you do unto the least of these, you do unto me." - Jesus

So whey give Him our trash. There was another incident in which we were making soup for the homeless feed. One of our helpers wanted to cut a corner. To justify the short cut he said, "It's not like we're cooking for Kings".

No, we're just cooking for the KING OF KINGS! We need to take our ministries to the poor much more seriously.

Yesterday's kicker had to be the green apples from Kelwin's. They weren't all, absolutely terrible. We could use them and they were something I would eat. I didn't feel too bad giving these away. However, I couldn't help but notice the drawing on one of the buckets they were in. It was a huge drawing of a frowning Apple and it read, "bad apples".

This was shockingly frustrating that someone would so deliberately give their bad and unusable stuff to Jesus. Granted, Kelwin's probably doesn't understand who really receives these Apples, but this story is speaking volumes into my own life.

What "bad apples" am I offering Jesus? Do I really give him my best? What about my best time? My best energy? My best money? Do I just give him my left overs? What about you?