It's been quite a while since I posted anything. So I figure its time to get back in the swing of things.

I want to go back to the roots of this blog and the reason I named it gone fishin in the first place. Other than my passion for fishing, the analogy quite aptly describes the work we are doing down here in Argentina. We cast the nets wide; reel them in patiently; the mature fish stay in the net while small fries go free to grow larger; we keep the edible fish and toss the other ones back to where they came from.

Casting the nets wide ~ we share the gospel many times per day while we're on campus.

Reeling them in patiently ~ we show people respect, dignity, and value them as we share the love of Christ with them...it's not a race to see how fast I can finish my little gospel tract.

Big fish, small fish ~ some people just aren't ready to accept the gospel. They need time for God to soften their hearts and prepare them for the truth of His love.

Harvest the edible ones ~ In ministry, this factor usually happens on its own. Not everyone who says, "I'm a Christian now," really means it. Not everyone who declares to have faith will live a life of faith until the end. I've seen far to many people go back to living EXACTLY how they lived before they supposedly put their faith in Christ. When true faith begins a person is TRANSFORMED. This process of transformation lasts a lifetime, but its evident that change is occurring.

This year we are casting the nets even wider. As a movement we have adopted a catalytic strategy that will allow us to saturate each of the 14 departments of the UNLP system. Our goal is to plant movements of believers who capture the vision Jesus left his disciples in the Great Commission...in short, go make disciples.

We want to lead people to Christ, and find people of faith in each department who will jump on board with the commandment to go make disciples. If they are committed to doing so, and we can provide them training and encouragement, then we don't necessarily need to be physically present with them all year long. This frees us up to reach other parts of the university we've never set foot on.

So this year as a team, we're putting down the rod and reel and picking up the nets. We're going to throw them far, farther than before and patiently bring them in. The people who are ready to be discipled and disciple others are staying in the boat with us. Those who aren't ready yet, we trust that in God's perfect timing, they will one day understand and believe.

I shall not forget Your word...

I'm still on a quest to memorize all of Psalm 119, but in the last few months I've come across a roadblock. The last verse in stanza 2 of the psalm says, "I shall not forget your word." I've tried my best to live up to that. In fact, verses 1-32 are ingrained rather well in my memory.

My problem has been, "I shall not remember your word." I can't seem to progress past the first 32 verses. As many times as I read 33-40 they don't stick. I've been wrestling with the possible sources of this stand-still and believe it might be due to a new goal the Lord has for me...to memorize it in Spanish as well.

Perhaps I became proud in how easy it was to memorize the first 32 and God decided to remind me who's in control. Or perhaps He just wants me to know it in Spanish since that is the language I speak down here in Argentina. Perhaps its a little bit of both reasons.

Either way, I'm going to start memorizing it in Spanish now. I haven't settled on which version in Spanish I'll go with, but it'll probably be La Biblia de Las Americas (NASB) or Nueva Version Internacional (NIV). Both of these versions are similar to how we speak here. The King James versions in Spanish use very formal spanish that I haven't learned yet, and aren't similar to the version I'm memorizing in English.

So this marks the beginning of a real test. I know for sure that I will need to pray more over the memorization of scripture in spanish. I'll have to make supplications before God for the verses to stick in my memory...and I imagine that's what God wants. This will not be a casual adventure to occupy my time and make me feel like I've spent sufficient 'quiet time' with God each day. This will be a true battle for my attention, my desires, my surrender to His will.

Looking Back at Old Times has Caused me Great Sorrow

I've been looking back at pictures from my first and second years in La Plata while I was an intern with Campus Crusade and the pictures I saw just made me more and more bereaved. Bereavement, by the way, often refers to a great sadness associated with the death of a loved one or dear friend.

Death is the very thing I've been mourning, but not the physical death of anyone I know, rather, the many spriritual deaths I've witnessed in only 2 years of ministry.

I've watched people walking around lost, empty, depressed, hopeless...Jesus isn't even on their radar. They have no idea of the beautiful relationship He desires them to enter into with Him; how He longs to save them by His faithful love.

Even more sadly I'm reminded of those who have appeared to walk with God for a time, and then have departed from fellowship with other believers, stopped seeking God, and have returned to the habits and sins they were prone to before they heard about Christ.

I'm left wondering what happened to these folks. Is it just like the parable says and they've been choked out by the temptations and pressures of the world? Did they never really entrust their lives to Christ, the author and creation of their very existence? Might they have truly trusted Him and are in deep rebellion...in need for someone to lovingly and graciously lead them back to a life of faith?

As I get ready to head back to Argentina I'm not comforted by memories of who I'll see when I get there...I'm saddened by the reality of the absense of the people who I used to worship with, minister with, and study the Bible with...many of whom do not do those things anymore.

times of joy, times of trial

Last Sunday I had some time on my hands in the afternoon. I was praying as I waited and got around to praying and meditating over Psalm 119. That marked the first time I was able to say 119:1-32 word for word fluidly without great pauses. Well, without unintentional pauses. There are some places in the psalm that cause me to pause and think and reflect on whether or not I can truthfully say the words of the psalmist apply to me. I can usually identify with him on the repentant aspects when he implores God to revive him according to His word. I have a harder time saying 'I cling to Your testimonies' because its not always true. Furthermore the action of clinging shows a necessity and desperation of the action that has drawn me to think about my desire for God and His word more than just my actions. My actions will never be marked by consistent obedience and the ability to say "remove contempt and reproach from me for I observe your testimonies" if my first desire isn't God and His word.

The speed of my progression has slowed down somewhat, but its allowing me to reflect more on what I'm reading. The pace of life has picked up too, so that's made it more difficult to devote as much time to memorization. But the key is I'm still moving forward...as long as I don't forget what the Lord has allowed me to store in my brain, and don't stop making SOME progress each week I'll be happy.

A few of the verses have actually come in handy in conversation lately, so that's definitely a praise. I don't think God wastefully urges us to know the Bible...He has plans for the scripture we store in our hearts and heads. He desires for us to use that knowledge for His glory. Just imagine how much more effective our lives' testimonies would be if we all read from the Bible daily and shared some of that truth with people who need to hear it daily. Imagine what God could do through that...ok, now stop imagining and make it a reality :)

Your Testimonies Also are My Delight, They are My Counselors: a Psalm 119 update

Fitness experts often use the resting heart rate as a measure of health. Quoting a Runner's World online article, "one of the best barometers available to runners and coaches in determining both health and fitness is the resting heart rate."

I've found this to be the case with memorizing this psalm as well. The most accurate memometer readings I'm getting are in the waking moments of my day. As soon as I'm coherent I try to recite the passages that I've already memorized and the new verses from the stanza I'm working on. This has been the best way for me to tell if what I'm trying to memorize is being retained.

I'm also finding that I have a harder time remembering the earlier stanzas if I don't consistently read through it and say it each day. So, the key for me is consistency.

So far the first 3 letters have been stored. This week I'm working on the fourth letter, Daleth.

I took this picture in downtown Dallas, Tx.

From the Cover of LIFE Magazine: "Americas Coolest Churches"

I read a depressing article this morning from one of our nations prominent magazines. The title was "America's Coolest Churches." This is now their second annual edition of the topic. I hope, I pray, the article is more a reflection of The author's perspective than the churches' perspectives on the purpose of the church.

My immediate response to the article was "how do you list and describe the ten 'coolest' churches without mentioning the name of God or the Bible?! The word Christ appears twice...but only because its in the name of the church.

There were a few redeeming points. I know some of those ministries are earnestly trying to carry out God's will. For instance, they included a write-up about Cross Brand Cowboy Church in Tyler, Texas. I've been to a Cowboy Church and I know they preach the gospel and stick to biblical teaching. I was excited they made the list! Transport for Christ, International, a mobile ministry based out of 18-wheelers, was also featured. It was started by former truckers who realized the great spiritual need that wasn't being met in the transport community... awesome!

Then there were some disturbing ones. The Dog Chapel stands out in my mind: A chapel built not to revere our relationship between mankind and God, but mankind and dog. In his own words, the designer and builder of this structure, "wanted to build a chapel, one that celebrated the spiritual bond we have with our dogs." www.dogchapel.com ...I'm done talking about that one. It hurts my heart to see how lost this person is. He's traded the guide, protection, and leadership of God for that of dog. But, so as not to knock him over with the plank in my own eye, I'm going to reflect on how I do that in my life. I know I'm not exempt from idolatry...it lurks even in my life and needs to be erradicated.

So, after I've had some time to simmer I'm glad I read the article. Hopefully my indignation towards the skewed view of what the church is, since the church is actually the members of Christ' body (people not buildings) who are called to worship Him (not nature and dogs), will lead me to expose areas of my own life where I'm distorting the Truth about God, and not giving Him the honor due His name.

Your Word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You...

I heard an average sermon in the car the other week. The preacher wasn't delving into a difficult text or tackling challenging theology, but he made a point that rang home. And that is precisely what I needed to hear at the moment.

To paraphrase, he said, "too often we Christians say, ' I oughta read my Bible more, or 'I oughta pray more, or 'I oughta help someone in need today,' but then we never actually do it." Far too often our good intentions, if they're even good, get tossed to the wayside by the pleasures and distractions of the here-and-now.

Upon hearing this I remembered a dream, a goal rather, of mine which I hadn't realized...yet. Many times I've said to myself, I want to memorize Psalm 119. Not to impress people with my amazing holiness or anything like that, but because I know it would take an immense amount of discipline to do it. It would require me to be very disciplined, and to desire to know God's Word enough to sit down and each day memorize a chunk of it for at least a year probably.

I came up with this goal because I've known for a while that I lack discipline. And as a result of lacking that, I hadn't begun to memorize Psalm 119 until I heard the sermon the other day ;)

So I'm finally starting into this journey of memorizing the longest chapter in the Bible. How long will it take? I have no earthly idea! But I feel like I OUGHTA do it, and so I'm GONNA do it.

The psalm is naturally divided up into segments; each segment pertaining to a letter in the Hebrew alphabet. I'm currently up to verse 12 which is under Beth...the 2nd letter of the alphabet. So I have my work cut out for me to reach verse 176. But it sounds easier if I think about it as only having to memorize 20 more letters.

I'll post some progress reports here and there. I think this is going to be a fun adventure!