Why Taiwan?

Hey y’all-

            Just wanted to drop a note and tell you a bit about the upcoming trip to Taiwan. Plus, I thought I might be able to answer some common questions I’ve been getting about the trip. So, here goes…

            Last summer I went to Newfoundland, Canada with a bluegrass band called The Long Run Players. We were part of a mission team sent there by Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and the North American Mission Board to assist church-planters with evangelism efforts. It was a great time and seemed successful.

            Some of you might remember my updates from there regarding great food, beautiful scenery, fun concerts, and whale-watching. A great, great trip.

            While there, we (the band) started discussing the possibility of doing a similar trip with the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. This trip would be longer, somewhere across the “great pond,” and most likely involve a new language. We were all game so we applied. And got accepted!

            The acceptance was cool because the program that we are under has an age-limit. The IMB had to waive that requirement to let ‘ol Uncle Jeff hit the road with The Long Run Players. So, we were accepted…now, where would we go?

            The missionaries in Taipei, Taiwan had been praying for years to get a music team to come and help them with evangelism. We hope their prayers have been answered….

 

LRP at a band workshop with Jim Hurst

 

 

            So, we are off to Taiwan for five months. We leave in July and come back in January of 2010. We will be taking seminary classes while there. Studying the culture. Learning Mandarin. Serving with the missionaries. Playing music. And trying to honor Christ with our words as well as our music.

The ultimate focus of this trip is to make the name of Christ known among the nations. Without Him, this trip would be unnecessary…even foolish. So, that’s the quick inside skinny….

 

Here are common questions:

1. Where will you live? Not sure just yet. We may rent an apartment for the guys and the girl (Sarah) will live elsewhere. The team in Taiwan is getting us a place and we’ll just live there.
2. What will you eat? McDonald’s. Doesn’t every American missionary live on McDonald’s?
3. Will we hear from you while you are there? Yes. Gonna take my laptop and hit Starbucks for Facebook and blog updates. Plus, there’s always Skype.
4. Do the Taiwanese like bluegrass? Don’t think so….well, not yet…but they will.
5. What about your ministry in Kentucky and your house and stuff? Gonna keep renting my place while gone. And I’m resigning from my church so they can find a new guy. It’s only fair.
6. How can we help? Pray. A lot. This is a spiritually dark place that needs the light of the Gospel. Pray.
7. How else can we help? Money is always good. This is going to cost me several thousand dollars and financial support is always welcome. If you want to help in that way, shoot me a message and I’ll send my address. No hard sell here.

  Drop a line. Livin’ the dream….

  Uncle Jeff

The Courier Queens

  My Grandpa, Wade Gayhart, served with the U.S. Army in World War II. He was a truck driver stationed with an infantry unit in Europe. This is his story:

  In January 1945, he was cold, discouraged, and looking for a new steel helmet. Why? Well, it was snowy, he was missing his wife and newborn daughter back home, and his truck had caught fire. When he was putting out the fire, he lost some of his gear. A man needs a helmet in a war.

  He went to the supply area where the supplies were removed from dead soldiers and recycled for use. Feeling dejected and despondent, he began to look around. Among the mess of the stacked gear, there was a bunch of scattered playing cards on the ground like someone was playing a game of “51 Pickup.”

  Grandpa said he was drawn to one “like a magnet.” With the card lying face down, Grandpa thought he’d try to guess the card. Then he had an idea…he prayed and asked God to make this a sign to him that he would make it home safe to his wife and daughter. He decided on Queen of Clubs. He paused, bent down, picked up the card, flipped it over….Queen of Clubs. A promise made by God is a promise kept and sure enough, Grandpa was discharged and home by the end of 1945.

  Years pass. Grandpa and Grandma had my Dad, Quenton Wade. Work was plentiful and life was good.

  In 1955, Grandpa was walking down the street in Cincinnati and saw a playing card lying face down by some railroad tracks. One card. Face down. Grandpa said he had been doubting his relationship with God and His Son, Jesus, and thought this might be a sign. He prayed and asked God to re-assure him of their relationship. To ease his doubt. To reveal Himself.

  He guessed the card-Queen of Clubs-and bent down to pick it up. Queen of Clubs. 

  In 1975, Grandpa was walking down the street in Blanchester, Ohio on his way home. Life was really good. He now had six grandkids (me!) and a nice home. Most everyone was happy and healthy. And he sees a single playing card lying face down on the side of the road. He says he prayed again and asked God to make this a sign. If the first two cards were the real deal, make this a Queen of Clubs. He bends over to get the card. He pauses (O ye of little faith!) and grabs the card.

  Queen of Clubs.

  Grandpa wrote down this testimony to God’s faithfulness in 1994. He said he had kept those cards all that time. Twelve years later, he was home with Jesus waiting on the rest of his family to join him. I often wondered what ever happened to those cards?

  My Grandma gave me a sportcoat of Grandpa’s. I put it in my closet and never gave it a second thought. A few weeks ago we had a special Sunday service at church and I broke out that sportcoat. While standing in the church office, I reached into an inside pocket to see what was in there.

  A few business cards, a piece of scrap paper with some doodling, and an envelope…..with the cards. Was God reassuring me of His call on my life? Maybe. Maybe not.

  Either way, thanks, Grandpa. I needed that.

  Uncle Jeff

This is good for a laugh…

This made me smile. Speedos and pastors just go together….click here. 

 

http://www.irishcalvinist.com/?p=2447

Snow Day Devo – Evangelism

Hey y’all-

             It’s another snow day in tropical Trimble County, so I thought I’d sit down and drop a line—and a few devotional thoughts. We’re not having youth group tonight at church (it’s too dangerous to run the buses with the roads so slick), so take this and use it as the opportunity to open the Word and ponder the truth of God’s revelation to us.

             I’m taking a class in Personal Evangelism this semester. It’s required, but I’m excited to be taking it. Why? Because I believe Christians are to live for Christ and tell others about Him. Unfortunately, I fear we too often try to live for Christ, but shy away from telling others the truth of their sin and their need for a Savior—and that the Savior and Redeemer of the world is knocking at the door of their hearts, if they would just open the door and welcome Him in (See Revelation 3:20).

             Why are we so shy if we have the glorious Gospel message of Jesus? Many reasons. Fear of rejection, ridicule, appearing stupid, questions we cannot answer, etc., etc. There are many reasons to not share your faith. However, there is a command from Jesus to share with others. To whom wilt thou listen, dear hearts? Yourself? Or the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6)?

            The President of SBTS, Dr. Mohler, preached in chapel yesterday (get the message here) on Acts 1:1-8. The main thrust of his message was the command of Jesus to his followers to be witnesses of Jesus to the entire world. This command is an imperative that reaches across time and space to the modern-day Christian. There is no getting around, or by, or over, or under this charge from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is a must.

            However, many Christians I know are just like me. We love the Lord Jesus. We pray to the Father. We expect the Holy Spirit to indwell us and help us. Yet, we ignore the command of Jesus to share. Is ignoring the message of Jesus the action of one who calls himself a Christ-follower? No, sadly, it is not. Hence, this little writing…

            What shall we do?

            Will Metzger writes in Tell the Truth, “The airplane of Christian witness has two wings: our lives (conduct) and our lips (conversation)” (Metzger, 2002, 25).  He realizes an airplane with one wing missing cannot fly. Neither can the life of a Christian that is missing one of the “wings” of their life—either their conduct or conversation.

            How does this work? Let’s think it through.

            How many of us know a person who is a good Christian? Lives right, loves the Lord, loves their neighbor, moral, giving, good, loving—yet they never speak of their faith to anyone—ever. They think, “I’ll live my testimony and show the love of Christ. That’s enough.”

           How many of us know people that claim to be Christian yet live lives that are far from the commands of Christ? They come to church, know the lingo, carry a Bible, but Monday through Saturday they live like a sinful pagan with no thought of Jesus. Do you know anyone like this? Is this you?

          Metzger is reminding us what Paul taught when He said to “repent and turn to God” (Acts 26:20). We are to marry our actions and our words into one message that proclaims the excellencies of Jesus Christ.

         Are we agreed that we need to live for Christ and tell others about Him? If so, then let’s figure out a plan. The best way to witness about Jesus to others is to just start….this is on-the-job training at its best. Just do it. Speak up. Tell. Proclaim.

        However, this may seem daunting at first. So, we will help you along this path. One introduction to evangelism will be our March 1^st push to “be the church” in Trimble County. The youth group is planning a servant evangelism project for that morning that will enable and empower you to start sharing your faith. This will be fun, scary, exciting, frustrating, nerve-wracking, exhilarating, and obedient to Christ. It will be a good day.

        Pray about the planning and the people we will meet along the way. More details will come forward as they are firmed up.

        Thoughts?

        Uncle Jeff

Snow Day Devo 2

Hey y’all-

            I’m sitting at my table (where I should eat, but it’s piled with papers, books, a Bible, my laptop, pens, highlighters, and other necessary stuff) watching the falling snow (again) and thinking a bit. Here’s what I’m thinking….

It's a mess

            The snow is beautiful. It covers everything. It gives an appearance of beauty. Even my nasty, ten-year-old Jeep looks better with a coat of snow. I love to watch it fall. Heavy flakes swirling and drifting and coming to rest…very peaceful. Kinda like watching a fire burn or a creek run….God’s creative beauty given to us to enjoy.

            I was recently re-counting to a friend my snow day rituals when I was a kid growing up—and acting up—in Pleasant Hill. We had a lot of woods around and I would walk down Yonside Drive and explore the woods. The snow dampened all sound and there were few people out early in the morning. The early residents of Pleasant Hill had built some cool things in the woods for celebrations, weddings, picnics, etc.

There was a stone bench by a lake (perfect for weddings), a stone shelter (picnics), and an old amphitheater (where my sisters and I decided to put on a show one summer…it was a hit…at least, to us). All of these structures were beautiful in their own right, but they seemed to be a bit more mysterious, beautiful, and elegant in the snow.

All of that brings me to this—Isaiah 1:18:

Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; they are red like crimson, they shall be come like wool.

God is speaking to us through the prophet Isaiah that He will remove the redness of our sin, the nastiness, the filth, and the death associated with our sin and turn it all “white as snow.” That is amazing. God’s mercy shines through when He speaks to us like this.

David writes in Psalm 51:7,

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

How is one washed to become whiter than snow? There is only one way—by the blood of Jesus Christ.

Paul writes to the Corinthian church,

But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God (1 Cor 6:11).

And he writes to the church in Rome,

Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God (Rom 5:9).

So, how does one become “washed in the blood”? By repentance of sin, faith in Christ, and following Christ until God calls you home. It’s taking God at His Word and trusting in Him—not yourself, your religion, your pastor, your ability, or your goodness. You can only come to Christ after abandoning yourself (Luke 9:23) and trusting in Him alone. See Ephesians 2:1-9, trust in the Lord, follow Him.

God bless,

Uncle Jeff

Winter Wonderland

 

Hey y’all-

  Here’s casa del Jeffro this winter season….frigid!

 

Chilly!

  Later…Uncle Jeff

Snow Day Devo

Hey y’all-

            Since there is no youth meeting tonight (due to snow, ice, danger, etc.), I thought I might drop a line via the blog with a devotional thought—something to ponder, study, and respond to….are you ready?

            One of my classes this semester is Personal Evangelism and there are 40 Bible verses/passages we have to memorize for a test (and for use in ministry). While looking through these verses, I decided to focus on one this morning, share it with you, and offer a few thoughts on its significance.

            In Acts 4:12, Luke writes, “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” There are a ton of rocks to look under in this verse, so let’s start.

            First of all, let’s define a term—salvation. This is a Christian technical term that non-Christians may not understand. So, if I share this verse with a non-believer, they would have a fair question in saying, “What do you mean by salvation?” Well, Christians, youth, regular attendees of Bedford Baptist Youth Group…what do I mean?

     Better yet, what does God mean when He uses a term such as salvation in His Word to the world?

     I think Paul gives us a good look at the idea of salvation in his letter to the Ephesians when he writes,

In him [Jesus] you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory (Eph 1:13-14).

     Salvation is a belief in God’s promise through His Son, Jesus Christ, that we are forgiven of our sin and able to live in right relationship with God in this world and the world to come. This is a free gift that is initiated and given by God. We do not save ourselves. Trust me, if you could save yourself, then it would not be worth doing. (Personally, I know I jack-up so many things in my daily life [i.e. relationships, finances, cooking, etc.] that I would not trust my eternal soul to myself; rather, I gladly trust it to Jesus.)

     It is a realization of immediate (and a hope of everlasting) relationship with Jesus. There is a faith in the promises of God. In Ichabod Spencer’s A Pastor’s Sketches, he tells of meeting with a dying woman from his congregation. Written in the mid-1800’s, Spencer recounts how he went to her bedside and asked about her health. She responded she was dying. He asked if she was ready. She affirmed she was well prepared by saying, “Sir, God knows—I have taken him—at his word—and—I am not afraid—to die” (57).

     He writes, “ . . . that expression of her faith has been of great benefit to me. It has aided me in preaching, and in conversation with inquiring sinners very often. It gave me a more simple idea of faith than I ever had before. . . . Everybody could understand it: ‘God knows, I have taken him at his word’” (58).

     For further study on salvation, look to Romans 10:9-10; Ephesians 2:1-10; Revelation 3:20; Isaiah 1:18, and, really, the whole story of the Bible is one of redemption.

     Now that we have talked of salvation let’s discuss the name by which men must be saved. Not, might be saved…but must be saved. There is no other name under heaven, except the name of Jesus Christ by which men can be saved. It is not possible. This is what one would call the exclusivity of Jesus Christ.

     This is a part of the Christian message that irks those of other faiths or of a more liberal bent who wish for many doors into heaven. However, Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through Me” (John14:6). This truth is really clear. Jesus lays it down and you can pick it up or ignore it, but you cannot be angry with the Christ-follower who tells the message as Christ preached it.

     Now, I could spend the next few minutes typing up a list of other faiths that do not believe in Jesus. But, I shan’t. Rather, I challenge those who claim to follow Christ to do so. Read His Word. Study His teachings. Do what He says. And lovingly tell those who do not follow Christ (you know who they are) that Jesus is the only way.

Enjoy the snow.

Uncle Jeff

     PS – I linked earlier to a band website for No Other Name. This is a gospel group I’m friends with from Nashville. They’re great. Check them out. Hit their website. Buy their CDs. They love Jesus…trust me….they do.

Called out and on the news

Hey y’all-

  Amy from Texas called me out and said I’ve been cruising too long and need to write. Here you go, girl.

  School is cool and I’m surviving Hebrew. The youth group at church is going well. Lois (my next-door-neighbor) continues to bake pumpkin bread and is fattening me up….not good. By the way, she made an apple cake I’m taking home for Thanksgiving (they freeze really well), so y’all come over to Mom and Dad’s in Crossville for some cake and coffee.

  The election? No thoughts. Not scared, but I don’t really comment a whole lot on politics. Now on music I can talk all day….however, there is one neat thing from the election. ABCNews did a story on evangelical voters and shot some video here on campus. Guess who’s in a shot from chapel rubbing his chin pensively? you got it….’ol Uncle Jeff. Go here to see it. Opps….it be off the website. Bummah!

  Just know I looked good…..

  Talk to me,

  Uncle Jeff

Where you been?

Hey y’all-

  Crazy busy lately, but still alive.

  How are y’all?

  Uncle Jeff

Bedford Baptist Repair Affair

  Hey y’all-

  The youth of Bedford Baptist participated in the Trimble County Repair Affair this past Saturday. We had 18 people helping total.

  We had breakfast and were ready to work.

 

BBC ready, willing, and able!

  We started by splitting up. Some went to start on a handicapped ramp for a lady in town. The rest went to clean up a porch that had been demolished by a work crew. Why? ‘Cause they were building a new porch, of course.

  Check this dumpster!

 

Fill it up!

  Some bad news: the girl in the red Louisville sweatshirt ended up getting injured later in the day. Her name is Domino and she fell into a concrete wall. The fall caused her to bite through her bottom lip and damage her teeth. End result? 19 stitches and a whole lot of pain. Pray for her recovery.

  Nice overalls, dude.

 

Denim is in for fall

 Finally, we made it over to help with the ramp and met the Marshmallow people.

 

Take me to your leader

  More bad news: Alecia (the Marshamallow person on the right), her mom, and her sister had a car wreck later that night after Repair Affair. They are all okay, banged-up, but okay and need our prayers.

  The porch needed to be stabilized, so I crawled under there with the Marshmallow people and helped jack a new 2X6 into place for support. After that, the ramp was completed and attached. It was a long, good day.

  Here are a few more shots.

 

Ramp under construction

 

Finished....and ready for use.

  These kids love helping and serving other people. I’m blessed to be their youth pastor.

  Take care,

  Uncle Jeff