There's Only a One Letter Difference Between Idiom and Idiot

Recently, my family and I went out to eat with some of the young men in the church. We had a wonderful time of fellowship at Lucky Burger, the closest thing to McDonald's here in Cambodia. In the course of our conversation, we started talking about the fact that Khmer people for the most part are vertically challenged (short), and foreigners (white guys in this context) tend to be a little taller. As an example, one of the guys brought up a missionary here in Cambodia that we all know and love. This guy is about 6'5, which is exceptionally tall in Cambodia. As the guys speculated about this man's height, I felt led to say, "Yeah, he is a big guy, and he has a big heart also!" In Khmer, that goes something like this, "Baat....go-aht tom mairn, howy go-aht mee-un jut tom dye."

Pleasing God Pt. 3

I recently listened to a wonderful message on this topic of "Pleasing God." In the message, it was clearly stated that there are some in Christianity who adopt this line of reasoning: "God is pleased with me no matter what; so what is the purpose of living a godly life if He is pleased with me when I am ungodly?" Then, on the opposite side of the spectrum, there are those who believe that we as God's children live in a performance-based relationship with God- that our acceptance with God depends on our willingness to follow Him faithfully. As the preacher pointed out, both of these points of view are erroneous.

November/December 2011 Prayer Letter

What a blessing it is for me to write to you again and report about what God is doing in Cambodia. Over the past few months our faith has been stretched, which is quite an uncomfortable experience sometimes; but without this stretching of our faith we would not see the mighty hand of God at work in our lives and in the lives of others around us.

Adjustments Part Eight- Troubling Sights and Experiences

It is a common sight in Phnom Penh. Young boys, some as young as seven or eight years of age, walking casually through the streets holding a clear plastic bag filled with a light yellow colored liquid. Every few seconds they lift the bag to their mouths and inhale the fumes from the bag. That yellow liquid is glue, and the damage it does to these boys is devastating. It is just a cheap way for these children to escape their chaotic, tragic lives.

The Blessing of a Faithful Pastor

My wife and I were looking through some pictures from the past year, when I came across this picture from my ordination service. This is my pastor, Derik Lawrence, doing what he has done countless times in my life- giving me words of wisdom and praying with me. This picture captures the influence that Pastor Lawrence has had on my life. He was my youth pastor throughout my middle and high school years. During that time of my life, God used Pastor Lawrence to instill principles from the Word of God into my heart that have never departed from me. He modeled faithfulness, joy in the ministry, biblical preaching, and a genuine heart for God. And he is still modeling those things today. Today, most of those who grew up in Pastor Lawrence's youth ministry are still faithfully serving the Lord. I will never forget Pastor Lawrence's influence in my life, and I will continue to cherish the influence that he has on my life to this day as my pastor. I love you, Pastor Lawrence!

Learning to Lean

Here are some areas in my life that I am learning to lean on the Lord. More than any other time in my life, I am learning that apart from God's grace I am absolutely void of all ability to serve Christ effectively and faithfully. The following are areas in my life that I have had to throw my hands up in the air and say, "Lord, I don't know how to do this. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to say. You must guide me through this. In fact, Lord, You must do it."

Adjustments Part Seven- The Weight of Words

I am figuring out quickly that some words in the English language that are not so "heavy" actually carry quite a bit of weight when translated into Khmer. Unfortunately for me, the way that I have learned about this important aspect of the language has not been so much from my language teacher, but from my own ignorant usage of these words in public. I will just say that I have had a couple of "Well, stink!" moments in the past couple of weeks because of offensive things I have said unintentionally.