Friday, August 05, 2005

Thank You.

It is my duty in this short note of appreciation to convey our gratitude to you, for upholding the ministry and work of Missionary TECH Team. As supporters, you play an invaluable part in the immense orchestra that is world missions -of which TECH is likely to hold one of the least recognizable roles. Being somewhat behind the scenes can have its drawbacks, as we explain what it is, exactly that TECH does. But God seems to be gracious enough to let us see and hear the some of the benefits of our labor from the mouths (and pens) of grateful clients. I have been given this opportunity to express to you on behalf of the TECH Family, our thanks for your faithful contributions to that work.



(Consider the above statement (and following) a temporary alternative to actual, person to person expressions of thanks for all you have done to equip and encourage us, as individuals, as well as an organization. On top of the sheer impracticality of each of us thanking you face to face, I think a bit of our actual appreciation would have been lost in translation (so to speak), through the side-effects of what might be referred to as common, ordinary speechlessness. In most cases this would include the utterance of several short, stuttered, otherwise unintelligible word fragments... none in excess of three letters. Accompanied by any one or more of the following, depending on the individual: shaking of the head, contemplative stares -at you, or the ground (varies), momentary loss of cognizant functions, which may include, general confusion, excessive blinking, reddening of the face -especially in the region surrounding the eyes, often followed by mild to moderate tearing, intermittent slack jaw, rapid changes/no change in facial expression, sudden, uncharacteristic emotional responses, slight paroxysms, excessive fidgeting, tightening of the throat resulting in continual clearing, loss of feeling and mobility in the extremities, I could go on... Thankfully, most of us here at TECH have an observant spouse, who would likely have stepped in with a sincere, prompt, and heartfelt “Thank You”, -hopefully before the whole extremity thing ran its course. Although I am not included in the married bunch, I like to think that the rest of us might at least have the presence of mind to regain our faculties enough if at least extend a hand in a gesture of good will.)

All that to say, we send these letters out to all of you so that our Thanks and Appreciation for all you contribute is adequately conveyed (if, in this case a little wordy).



Probably before you started reading this letter, there appeared to be something different about the format of this, and the beginning paragraph. Along with a question of whether it was done on purpose, and/or whether it was in fact necessary. Well, for those of you polite enough to read this far, you have won yourself an explanation. As to whether the format was intentional, -indeed. To that of necessity, far from measurable. And as to the justification of this letter... I would go so far as to say that yes, it most certainly is, -Right Justified.




    -Now unto Him who is able to keep you from stumbling,
    and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy,
    to the only God our Savior, through Christ our Lord,
    be glory, majesty, and dominion and authority, before all time and
    now and forever, Amen.
    -Jude 24-5


Thank You





*par-ox-ysm: n- a sudden attack or violent expression of a particular emotion or activity.

Wednesday, August 03, 2005

In a recent email...

To start a bible study:
1. Bible
2. Study...
3. Involve others
4. Live what you have studied.
5. Repeat.

All rights conserved.
-JK

Friday, April 29, 2005

A Matter of the Heart

Here's something I just wrote on a (nearly 3 hour) whim, to a secondary acquaintance of mine, whom I have never met. And since I haven't updated in... "!" *realizes how much time has past* -And it was long enough (Sorry Grant) -And I guess that it needed to be let out anyway... Here it is.

*Note* Grant, his wife, and Vin (my friend from His Hill Bible School) have started a college ministry in Salem, Oregon called University Life. They could use your prayers and encouragement, as God grows their hearts and furthers their education and ministry there. Vin is working on a CD and has some of his music on the 'media' page of his website: www.vinthomas.com


(with a few things added that I didn't want to take up space with on his blog) Comment on Wed. April 20,'05 post.
Hey Grant,

I don't really have a good intro here, so I'll get to the point. Just to offer an encouragement to a fellow brother in Christ... I've found that I do not fully comprehend the 'mechanics' of prayer. This never seemed to be a problem until recent years. I heard one of my bible school friends say something similar to what you've expressed, and I remember being rather confused, until I experienced the same thing not too long after. Prayer had become such a natural and instinctive thing to me as a kid, that I never really thought about how to do it.

So... is it a question of growth in one's journey of sanctification to question how prayer is effectively carried out in the physical realm? I'm not quite sure I can answer that one yet myself. Although I find comfort... I can rest, knowing that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us when we don't know how, or what to pray...

(26)In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;
(27)and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.(Romans 8, esp. in context of vv.22 & following).


    (now read the previous context, I'd never noticed this... it makes a lot more sense -to me anyway) Here's a link... Romans 18-30. -Added


I can only share from experience, and one of my personal struggles is whether or not to pray only because of routine. And I have found I am more satisfied with my prayer life when I pray from the depths of my heart... not necessarily with words or 'spoken' dialogue in my mind, but with spiritual desires and longing (for lack of a better word) -ideas that I find here difficult to express. And, sometimes I have to examine what, if anything has slipped between my heart and the Lord, -which invariably, is the case.

All that to say I can relate to where you're at...

I've heard it said that "The more you know, the more you find out how much you don't know." Maybe that's something the Lord uses to keep us humble as we increase in our knowledge of Him.





The Lord knows our heart...
-JK
Jude 24-5; Ps.103,104; Is.55

Wednesday, April 27, 2005

Tuesday, January 04, 2005

I'm a little slow...

Seems I've been keeping myself more rushed than usual, and I get more and more frustrated that I have no time in the morning for my quiet time. I get up with little time to spare to get out the door and on the road, today w/o breakfast (luckily I've prepared, I bought a couple of yogurt breakfast shakes at walmart because I was tired of having nothing. (But obviously not tired enough to get to bed an hour or so sooner on a regular basis.)) I bring my bible to work w/ me just in case I remember and have time to read a little, but you can imagine how much that happens. My attitude is suffering quite a bit because of all this, I can tell because the drivers that I used to slow down for to stay out of their way, I now have little tolerance for, and have to keep myself in near constant check to keep them from getting under my skin. Also, when I stay after hours at work, -last night happened to be around 8:40 PM- I have noticed myself getting progressively louder towards the inanimate pieces of electronic machinery that surround me (New computer),(old computer),(printer) especially when they don't do what they are built to do, or have no earthly excuse to offer for not doing it in a timely manner. All of which affects the drive home as well. At first, these all can be a little funny and good-natured, but now it's just discouraging, because I feel like I'm a lot more edgy than I should be most of the time.

So If you wouldn't mind praying for me in these areas when you remember, it would be much appreciated.

And please remember the Tsunami relief efforts as well, I don't want to appear totally self absorbed. My little sleep problems seem pretty miniscule in light of such a disaster. -Such a numbing disaster...

From Apple.com's relief site:


-Joel K