I've had the pleasure of showing a team from Bethel Baptist Church in Strathroy around for the past few days. They are traveling through the DR looking for ministry opportunities, especially among the Haitian community.

This morning we met with Pastor Chery, a young Haitian man who is leading a new congregation. They are meeting in the shell of a house they had hoped to purchase one day, but it is in the process of being sold out from under them. They meet several times a week, and on Saturday mornings Pastor Chery leads a class for children in the community. He has several years of Bible school training, but must work in a local resort to pay his bills. He receives no income from the church.

Pastor Tom Hunt asked him for a doctrinal statement, simply wanting to find out what his theology was like. A fair question these days.

Pastor Chery reached for a Bible, opened it to James 1:27, and passed it to Tom. "That is my belief", he said.

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

He had never been asked to produce a doctrinal statement before, something that we North Americans practically carry with us in our wallets. It's how we tell the sheep from the goats, the liberals from the conservatives. Pastor Chery likes things cut and dry, and in his world, this is a statement that makes sense and defines his beliefs.

That was good enough for us.

Click here for info on helping Pastor Chery and his church

|

From a Dog's Diary:

8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing!

9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!

9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!

10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!

12:00 pm - Lunch! My favorite thing!

1:00 pm - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!

3:00 pm - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!

5:00 pm - Milk bones! My favorite thing!

7:00 pm - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!

8:00 pm - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!

11:00 pm - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!


Excerpts from a Cat's Diary:

Day 683 of my captivity:

My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength.

The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the floor.

Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates of what I am capable. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a "good little hunter" I am. The audacity!

There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of "allergies." I must learn what this means, and how to use it to my advantage.

Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow -- but at the top of the stairs.

I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released - and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded!

The bird must be an informant. I observe him communicating with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe ...for now.

|

APEX, N.C. (AP) - About 30 sheep being kept at a suburban home were euthanized Tuesday after some of the flock were found grazing on floral arrangements in a cemetery, authorities said. Animal cruelty charges were pending against the owner. David Watts kept about 80 of the animals in his crumbling house in this Raleigh suburb, police said. "He lives upstairs, and the sheep were living downstairs," police Sgt. Robert Towell said. "He considered them pets." Lambs were apparently kept inside, while grown sheep were kept outside in debris-filled pens, Dr. Kelli Ferris, a veterinarian who examined the sheep. Workers found sheep eating plastic bags and artificial flowers from the cemetery. Skulls and carcasses were found in compost piles, she said. "We're always saddened when we see animals kept in this kind of state," Ferris said. "It could have been prevented."

About 30 sheep were euthanized because of poor health, said Michael Williams, director of the Wake County Animal Care, Control and Adoption Center. Some had severe hoof rot, paralyzed limbs and prolapsed uteruses," Williams said.
Watts even walked some of the sheep around the neighborhood on a leash.

He has cooperated with investigators, said Police Chief Jack Lewis. "A lot of times well-intentioned people get in over their head," Lewis said. The Associated Press could not locate contact information for Watts. Neighbors have long complained about the sheep. "All I want is to be able to sit on my front porch and not smell sheep poop," said Angie Fowler, who lives across the street. Mayor Keith Weatherly said the town council considered a proposal last year that would bar residents from keeping livestock, but it was never passed.

Up to 30 healthy sheep could be available for adoption, officials said.

|

We've just had a few weeks enjoying the company of vacationing friends, twenty in all, making sure they all got picked up from the airport, dropped off at their villa, entertained while they were here, and returned to the airport. They were even here to help us celebrate our official entrance into mid-life on the 21st!

For the most part the weather was great, right up until a week ago when the afternoon and evening torrential rains began. It is rainy season (coinciding with the northern winter) so none of us should have been surprised, but the sheer volume has been remarkable! I'm sure we've had four to six inches every night (12 feet of snow if it had been a bit colder).

One casualty of the water has been my main video camera. I have had it in damp places before (Costa Rica and New Zealand), but last Thursdays trek into the rain forest was too much for it. Five days of hair-dryers and silica pouches have not brought it back to life. So I'm looking for a repair center in the DR that can get it taken care of quickly. I need it for a major shoot in Australia in less than a month! This may have been the "push" I needed to get into a high-definition camera.

Fortunately, I have my trusty little Handicam to complete some pressing projects, but the tropical climate finally got the best of me!

|

We're wrapping up our study of the virtue of "responsibility" this week. Over the past few weeks we've looked at ways to become more responsible - with our time, talents and resources, and even the truth.

This week we're are looking at the responsibility of being a follower.

In truth, this is where most of us live. In my life I have met relatively few truly gifted leaders. They exist, but you will have to admit they are few and far between, and we have all met our share of "wanna-bes", right?

But when you find a leader, the attraction to follow is nearly irresistable. This was especially true of Jesus. You don't get the sense that folks followed Him because they were being coerced into it, or out of guilt. They followed him with wide-eyed fascination, soaking as much of him as they could. And the fact that Jesus led as a servant made him even more "followable".

We all know that leaders have responsibilities, but have you ever thought about the responsibilities of a follower?

Elisha was tapped to be the prophet Elijah's successor. But before this could happen, he would be Elijah's apprentice - he would follow closely and learn all he could. When he left his family, it was permanent. He burned his plowing equipment, BBQ'd his oxen, and kissed his parents goodbye. (see 1 Kings 19:16-21). He was unswervingly loyal to Elijah, literally following him to the ends of the earth. Three times he said, ""As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you." (2 Kings 2:1-15) Before Elijah was taken to heaven (remember, he didn't actually die - a cool quality in a leader!), Elisha asked for "a double portion" of Elijah's spirit. Elisha took the responsibilty of following seriously!

How about you? Are you not only content to follow, but willing to sacrifice to follow? Jesus disciples each died much like Jesus did. All of them became leaders like Jesus, evidenced by the crowds that followed them, and by the fact that we are here today as part of their legacy.

Leadership has it's responsibilities, but so does follow-ship.

|

Thanks to my friend Marion for sending this to me today. You may have seen it already, but prepare to be inspired.

|

AHMADABAD, India (AP) - Soothing rose or tangy lemon? If all goes according to plan, people in the western Indian city of Ahmadabad should find themselves confronted by those two scents by the end of the year when they are stopped by police.

The city's police department is working with a team of designers to provide 8,000 officers with new uniforms that will be made with specially scented, lightweight fabric designed to keep the police officers sweet smelling and sweat free. "We think that by end of the year, you will notice a new fresh look when you are intercepted by one of our men," said J. Mahapatra, the city's police commissioner.

Ahmadabad is brutally hot for half the year and its policemen, especially those directing traffic, can spend as many as eight hours a day outdoors. It also doesn't help that a large number of the country's policemen are said to be overweight, a result of long work hours, poor eating habits and high stress.

In related news... HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Police followed a trail of doughnuts to find a stolen Krispy Kreme delivery truck. "It has a happy ending," Swatara Township Sgt. Robert Simmonds said. "The evidence was brought back to the police station, and the cops are eating the doughnuts." Read more.

|

Those of you who have followed us over the past few years will know things have been a little less than focused. We spent our first seven months with Dominican Crossroads, helping bring teams in to serve Haitian refugees. The next ten months were spent with Island Impact doing similar work, only among Dominicans. As we sought God's direction, a few commonalities emerged.

First, we love working among the poor and improving their lives in tangible ways - physical and spiritual. The ministries we served did this in uniquely different ways, and we are grateful the things we learned from them both.

Second, we love helping others in their work. Both ministries we worked with were directed by "lifers" - people who have committed most of their lives, past, present and future, to their work. We knew that our tenure was relatively brief - five years. This would bring us back to Canada in time for Shaniah's first year of high school in 2010. We never planned to be career missionaries in the traditional sense, though we would always be in ministry. Church planting is definitely on our radar, and if that is not missionary work in this day and age, I don't know what is.

But "Mullins Mission" was beginning to languish somewhere in between what we were doing and what we felt God truly calling us to do. We began to pray about what our unique ministry would look like, and it suddenly occurred to us that perhaps we had been doing it all along.

In both ministries - indeed, even back to our days at Victory Baptist in Newmarket - we had sought to use media to bring ministry to life. In 2003 I had was given the privilege of traveling to India and Nepal with Partners International, and to film the work that God was doing through several different ministries. We even produced a video about our church to give to new residents in the neighborhood. With both mission agencies here, we filmed various teams, who then took their DVDs home to show those who had sponsored them what they had accomplished.

So "Mullins Mission" has taken on new life as "Mullins Misson MEDIA", complete with a new website to help you see where we are going. We have several projects in the works which will help missions and ministries maximize media - video and internet - for Great Commission work. If you visit the site and click on "projects" you will see the ministries we are seeking to raise funds for, again, for the purpose of producing high quality media that will help them increase their impact.

We're excited! We have begun the process of registering as a charity in Canada, and will seek to do the same in the US in time. Stop by our site every now and again and rejoice with us! And don't stop praying. That's what's carried us this far.

|

MONROE, La. (AP) - Chicken fat clogged a major traffic artery Tuesday, a day after a leaky truck left a stinky, slippery trail along a one-mile stretch of Interstate 20.

The vacuum truck crossed the Ouachita River before it was pulled over about 3:30 p.m. Monday. The truck's owner, Dixie Hydro-vac Specialist Co., an industrial cleaning company from West Monroe, tried to clean up the mess with a chemical, but then it started to rain, said John Kelly, district administrator for the state Department of Transportation and Development. Crews spread sand over the gunk, which was mainly in one eastbound lane, and worked Tuesday to scoop up the mess and keep it from oozing farther on the concrete bridge deck, Kelly said. Traffic was able to use the second lane.

"The stench was overpowering," Kelly said. He said the crews couldn't just turn fire hoses on it because that would have sent the smelly pollution straight into the river. The time for finishing the cleanup depended on whether it rained again, he said. A second truck was brought in to transport the remaining fat. The spill was considered noxious but not toxic, according to a hazardous materials officer, Monroe fire officials said. It wasn't immediately clear where the fat originated.

In a related story, Regis Philbin is recovering nicely following his bypass operation.

I guess we found the origin of the fat ;-)

|

The way some people talk about Jesus, you would think he was a milk toast, don’t-rock-the-boat, kind of wimp that just drifted around trying not to make waves. A thorough reading of the gospels, however, reveals the exact opposite. Jesus was not afraid of mixing it up with his antagonists, and sometimes he even seems to enjoy it.

In Matthew 21 Jesus applies a smackdown of Old Testament proportions. He is teaching in the temple courts, and the chief priests and elders ask him who gave him the authority to do what he had been doing - the triumphal entry (21:1), throwing our the money changers (21:12), healing the blind and lame (21:14), withering an uproductive fig tree (21:18). Now they ask him,“what or who gives you the right?”

“I’ll answer your question if you can answer mine”, Jesus replies. “Was John’s baptism from God or man?” Seems like a simple question that these guys ought to be able to handle. They huddle – if we say “God” than he’ll ask why we didn’t believe John. If we say “man” the people will revolt because they believe John was a prophet. What to do, what to do? They go for the safe answer – “We don’t know.”

Since they don't want to answer his question, he gives them something else to think about…

A father asked his sons to work in his vineyard – a common word picture for the Kingdom. One son says “No”, but later changes his mind and goes. The other says “Yes”, but never goes. Which did what the father wanted? Obviously, the first. Once they answered the question, Jesus applied the truth, and this had to hurt. “The tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the Kingdom of heaven ahead of you” (it’s interesting that he uses the present and not the future tense). John came to show you the way of righteousness and you didn’t act on it. The tax collector and prostitutes did. Even after you saw that radical change of life, you didn’t believe it.

Jesus told another parable about the vineyard, this time portraying the Pharisees as wicked tenants who killed the son of the owner, and then were removed from the vineyard themselves and replaced by people who would actually produce fruit. The Pharisees were ready to arrest Jesus at this point, but they were afraid of the people, who were beginning to see Jesus as a prophet.

Jesus is on a roll, and He tells another parable, followed by more hard teaching directed to the Pharisees, Sadducees and teachers of the law. So much for a milk-toast Jesus, afraid of confrontation, eh? Jesus was diagnosing a type of heart disease in the Pharisees. They talked a lot about repenting, but never truly proved it with their actions. The tax collectors and prostitutes repented and proved it by their actions. Tax collectors and prostitutes initially pushed back when challenged to repent (like all of us), but eventually they did. The Pharisees gave lip service to repentance, but never followed through.

This Sunday we will be talking about responsibility with the truth. Frankly, talk is cheap. Action is what God is looking for.

|

I recieved a nice e-mail this week from a client who was grateful for something I had done. To me, it represented a fairly small investment of time, but to the client it was huge. He told his friends, and some of them have called me based on his recommendation.

In hindsight, it would have been easy to do the minimum, but I would have fallen, or rather slipped, into the trap of apathy; simply not caring enough about the needs of my client. It's sad how many companies and even churches are guilty of this. In this country some companies (especially the utilities) enjoy a monopoly, and they know you have nowhere else to go. But other businesses, like restaurants and hotels, do not, and apathy kills.

Apathy kills relationships and churches, too. Ignore people long enough and they really will go away. (Poster courtesy of Despair)

|

It all started with an innocent newsletter to MBAs Without Borders. I thought maybe they might like someone to film their work in developing countries. Their CEO, Tal, was intrigued enough to respond, and while they weren't in dire need of my services, they were interested in having me film if I happened to be in the neighborhood of one of their volunteer MBAs.

But Tal did something else. He invited me to join his network at LinkedIn, and I have been sucked in! Basically, you network with people you know to find people they know who share your interests, especially related to business and ministry. Through LinkedIn, I have made a few solid connections with others who share my passion for communication and technology and using both to expand God's Kingdom. It didn't hurt that Darryl Dash, Jordon Cooper and Guy Kawasaki were also "linked".

It has reignited my belief in the power and necessity of collaboration, the conviction that we can accomplish more together than we can alone.

Go to LinkedIn and look me up. Just search for my name.

|

Nothing, in my book, is as disappointing as potential that is never realized. Whether it be a childhood dream that never materializes, a business idea that never gains traction, or an extremely gifted person that never did anything with what he or she was given - the frustration of thinking about what might have been often keeps me (and my wife) awake at night!

It's no secret, at least to anyone who has known me, that I tend to be a dreamer. I have registered at least a dozen domain names in the hopes that I might so something with them someday. I have started two businesses that achieved modest success. In ministry terms, I was willing to try almost anything. Lynn and I walked to the edge of the earth (well, the continent, anyway) and jumped. All because I had this gnawing, Spirit-driven sense that if we didn't, we would look back with regret over what might have been.

I have recently been trying to raise funds for a specific project. The investors I have talked to are very interested in the ROI, or "return on investment". If they put in "x" dollars, what can they expect to receive for their investment?

This gets to the heart of our look at "responsibility" this week - God has given you and I skills, gifts and resources, and has said, "Go. Do something with it. I'll be back to check on you." His great expectation is that we will indeed do something, that we won't sit on the opportunities for the usual reasons - fear, nervousness, faithlessness - but that we will make Him glad by being good managers.

In a sense, God has made an incredible investment in you - He created you, gave you specific gifts and talents, and blessed you with resources. At great personal expense, He sent his Son to redeem you and give your life purpose. What will be the return on that investment?

Try answering the following questions...

1) What has God entrusted to you? Talents, abilities, time, resources?

2) What are you doing with that investment?

3) Think of a few things that God might commend you for when he returns to check on his investment.

|

It's not often that you'll here the words "gift" and "work" used in close proximity, but Nancy Ortberg does so here. When you have twenty minutes (not at work), it would behoove you to listen or watch, preferable watch, as she uses a rather entertaining video clip partway through. After you've been thoroughly encouraged, visit Guy Kawasaki's blog to see the response he got when he posted the message.

|

From a friend...

UPDATE: I received this from a friend in Australia tonight around 8:30. One hour later, my wife received it from her sister in Toronto. Talk about viral e-mail, eh? (bad choice of words... this one is clean!)

|

UTICA, N.Y. — Pastor Bob Templeton wanted to goose sales of his slow-selling DVD sermon series, so he began shoehorning more than four hours of bonus material onto each disc, including audio commentary, "Easter eggs" and a blooper reel.
"You get more on the DVD than you would by just attending on Sunday morning," says Templeton proudly.
His Pastor's Cut series includes bonus teaching and word studies by Templeton, clips of him preparing his sermon and an audio commentary he gives over his own sermon.
"It's a pretty big dose of the pastor," says one viewer.
The most popular feature is the blooper reel which includes flubbed moments in the sermon, funny outtakes and foyer interviews with people who sometimes poke fun at the sermon they just heard.
But some in the church worry that Templeton is caught up in making the DVDs and is neglecting his primary duties.
"The sermons have been a little thin, and he's really hyping the DVDs," says one church member who notes the movie-style posters around the foyer, and the prominent plugs for the DVDs in the bulletin and at the end of every sermon.
Secretaries who deliver phone messages to Templeton during his study time sometimes find him engrossed in editing.
"We kind of wish the tech guys hadn't shown him how to use iMovie," says an associate.

From Lark News

|