Friday, January 07, 2005
No more blood PTL
There was SMALL amount of blood in the urine from 4 pm on Thursday to 6 am Friday.
Sent out the prayer request at 6:30 am Friday and ZERO blood since.
I BELIEVE God has answered prayers.
AND I will obviously monitor the situation.
I will NOT go to the clinic on Saturday to say for 14 hours two days ago there was a little blood in the urine.
I THANK God and praise Him for healing me. Maybe it was a miracle or just natural internal healing. Either way He is the source.
Amen?
John 1:38 PM
Thursday I first noticed some blood in my urine.
I feel no pain.
I have no health insurance.
My finances are nearly zero until the next paycheck on
the Friday the 14th.
I hope that the bladder and/or other cause will become
healed just by prayer.
I may go to a subsidized clinic on Saturday.
John 1:37 PM
WHY GOD ALLOWED THE TSUNAMI
1-6-05
I have been doing MUCH research on the web. I am gradually getting a good understanding of guidelines for a compassionate Christian response to the disaster in Asia for the short term and long term.
I have collected and organized many links that will serve others in both prayers and donations.
Along the way I bumped into this excellent article at Back to the Bible. It deals with why God would allow this tsunami or any other disaster. He quotes from various books. This may help you and those you know like relatives, coworkers, classmates, etc. How can a believer reconcile faith in an all-powerful God who is benevolence and such destruction?
Here is the article http://www.backtothebible.org/radio/south_asia.htm
If you come upon other such resources online in text, audio or video from then kindly forward the link to me. This will help us to better equip the saints over the web.
The plan is to continue gathering and organizing the information through Saturday. These are going into mind maps and PFD files. They will become the start of another beta web site. Also I hope to shoot a few short video clips during the middle of next week. These shall use Power Point slide shows to give an introduction and overview. The DVD will point people to the new web site with the working title of Compassionate Response. This will be used to enroll intercessors, advisors and donors.
I have not made any major changes in the direction of the ministry. The initial emphasis has shifted from presenting the general case for the Four Bridges www.fourbridges.org now it is on how we can seize the moment while the concern is at is height to put into place communication systems that will serve the short term and long term needs in the impacted areas. And by the way Four Bridges is a simple and powerful system that can get the job done.
I am very concerned that the needs over there will last much longer than the normal attention span of most Americans However by creating ways for individuals, small groups and churches to get into a two way communication with them it could last.
I will still go to the DTS major donors. But when I go I will have this also to demonstrate the practical and immediate applications.
THANKS again for ALL your prayers. As I reflected on the years 2004 there were many painful disappointments. It was mentally, emotionally and financially extremely difficult. But as I work on this massive challenge to connect the Body of Christ locally and globally to serve the millions who are displaced then I notice that what I am using the most are the lessons and insight I gained during last year.
I hope that soon a few major donors will recognize how God has been at work in my life for many years. They will bear witness that I have come into the kingdom for such a time as this. They will gladly donate several thousand dollars each. That will get the ball rolling to build the web platform. Then thousands all over cyberspace will begin to benefit for the fruits of your many prayers.
John 1:56 AM
Tuesday, January 04, 2005
HELPFUL HUB
I have begun to do extensive research on the web about the disaster in Asia and how Christians can best respond in both the short term and long term.
I have explored many dozen sites yet this one has been most helpful to me as a central hub. http://tsunamihelp.blogspot.com/
It is like my library catalog that lets me go into all kinds of directions from a common center. Then after I have made the initial jump I follow the links on those pages into all kinds of ways. When the trail runs cold then I just go back to the central hub.
I have been doing a copy-paste of the best sites and fascinating pages on those sites. I will use these for further investigation. Plus I will organize ways for intercessors and donors to wisely relate to this unprecedented opportunity for ministry.
This huge set of needs is a great way for me to illustrate how four bridges is a system www.fourbridges.org that can work at any level personal, small group, local church , denomination, mission agency et.
I have a meeting on WED at 1:00 with the director of missions at the seminary. I want to learn about his insights about this situation. Plus how relief efforts have also be coordinated with evangelism, discipleship and church planting. There is a natural human reaction to care about the physical needs. But how can we ALSO meet the spiritual needs. How can this result in souls saved and disciples made? How will what we do in the coming months impact eternity.
I am very concerned. The experts have not even begun to understand the full extent of the needs. The solution will require billions of dollars and many years. The attention and affection of most people will be drawn away sooner than later. There will be other headline of other disasters, wars, election, scandals, etc. So how can we leverage the current state of concern to create systems that will connect real people over there will real people over here. There needs to be effective and secure ways to do this. There needs to be many short and compelling stories recorded and distributed.
Then too there are many real needs locally and globally that are not associated with the tsunami and the aftermath. There are those in need physically and spiritual locally and globally. So my main focus is to first raise the 40K to get he web platform. Then from that then begin to meet the informational and educational needs immediately. But keeping the end in mind from the begining this is leading to the development of proprietary software that will be licensee to all kinds of individuals and groups for a very reasonable fee. That will empower them to become a meaningful part of the solution to those missionaries, church planters, evangelists, church programs, radio ministries, etc.
I have again postponed the presentation to the major donors of the seminary. They are the ones that can write the large checks quickly. When they go to the new web site just for them, they will soon learn that I care about the seminary students and graduate like them. I have plans for systems that will meet the long term needs. It turns out that during delays to compete the presentation for them the tidal wave hit. Now I am preparing a broader appeal to a larger audience of donors. Hopefully the core of that will be on the web soon. Then I will promote them both.
These are just some of the things going through my heart and mind lately.
John 8:40 PM
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