Engage the Nations

This last Sunday September 27th I spoke to the International congregation of Destiny Faith Ministries in Brooklyn Park, MN.  In a message titled, "Grow, Become, Increase," drawn from the "silent" years of Jesus' life (Luke 2:40-52), I highlight the fact that the so called silent years were in fact not that very silent for Jesus.  Luke informs us that Jesus was occupied with three things during that period of his life: growing, becoming and increasing. Being fully and perfect man, a pre-occupation of Luke, Jesus grew physically.  Most significantly, He grew spiritually, emotionally, intellectually and socially. It would be a sad fact of life if a 30-year old man stayed on the lap of his mom suckling away at her breast.  Sadly, many of us do exactly that in the church.  Year in and year-out we stay put, afraid to venture out into God's zone of faith and favor. The apostle Paul says in 1 Cor 13:11, "When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, t

This week in a New York Times article published on September 27th , I am quoted commenting on the recent Airlines’ habit of charging extra fees for baggage. I reflect on how this impacts those of us who are involved in International missionary travel and often need to carry lots of stuff around. The concern is not only the fact that this heightens the cost of doing missions. The lack of uniform standards on the part of the airline carriers in terms of baggage limits and fees becomes a very taxing ordeal for the passenger. For instance, when we left the United States for Nairobi on KLM/Delta we were allowed two pieces of luggage with cumulative weight of 70 pounds per person. But on reaching Nairobi and needing to transfer to Kenya Airways a partner carrier for KLM/Delta, to Bujumbura and for return to United States, we were told we would be allowed two pieces not exceeding 23 pounds each. Moreover, if you have one of the two bags weighing 10 pounds and the other one 30 pounds, yo