CCF Men Mission Belize 2010

In January 2009, six CCF men went to the village of More Tomorrow in Belize to repair the roof and wire their community building for electricity. I'll let you guess who they were. Randy made our number seven as we headed out each day to meet some of the men of the village to do the work. We found the people warm, friendly, and most appreciative of our investment in their community and lives. We were glad to serve them, and grateful they had invited Randy & Sheila to use their community building for church services and children's Sunday School until a church building could be built.

A short time later, a medical mission team was shown land in the village where Randy hoped to build the church. A hat was passed on the spot, and the land was purchased. Then an Eagle Scout from Central Church Fort Smith organized and mobilized his church to build the church in More Tomorrow! All this in less than a year!
The men of CCF are feeling it's time to plan our next trip to Belize and get it on the calendar so more of you have the chance to go. We intend to go to the same village, build on our relationships and complete some interior work on the church, build a bathroom, and wire for electricity.
December & January are booked solid. Dates still open in February are 19 thru 26. So let me hear from you if you want to go, and these dates won't work for you! Let me suggest February 19-26, that's eight days, two travel days and six days in country. We'll work 4-5 days, or till we're finished, then be tourist for a day or two, visiting Mayan ruins, the beautiful coastal waters, the national zoo or other such delights. You'll love the people, serving the King, and the time together. Hope you can come experience the adventure!
-=Dwayne=-

Draw Close and Support Mission Belize

Greetings All, Please check out this free music download opportunity based on the popular, 3000 year old, Psalm or song of David, Psalm 23. You'll find it easy and intimate to worship with, as it draws you away to a real place of peace, quiet and rest.

Pass this along to your friends, especially those seeking to know the Lord in a deeper way, or those who need a quiet place of rest and peace in their lives. You'll be blessed. They will be blessed.

Shalom, and enjoy the Ancient Path! Dwayne

Keep The Main Thing The Main Thing!

Fix Your Eyes on Jesus

May he enlighten the eyes of your mind so that you can see what hope his call holds for you.

EPHESIANS 1:18 NIV

“What [does] it mean to be just like Jesus? The world has never known a heart so pure, a character so flawless. His spiritual hearing was so keen he never missed a heavenly whisper. His mercy so abundant he never missed a chance to forgive. No lie left his lips, no distraction marred his vision. He touched when others recoiled. He endured when other quit. Jesus is the ultimate model for every person .... God urges you to fix your eyes upon Jesus. Heaven invites you to set the lens of your heart on the heart of the Savior and make him the object of your life.”

from “Just Like Jesus”

Max Lucado

Needed: Men of Prayer
"What the Church needs to-day is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use -- men of prayer, men mighty in prayer. The Holy Ghost does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men -- men of prayer."
-E. M. Bounds

same kind of different as me

Every once in a while a book comes along that “stops you in your tracks.” “Explodes into your life,” might be more accurate. For me, this is that. same kind of different as me, by Ron Hall & Denver Moore is a true story of life, love and friendship. And, for reasons you’ll discover for yourself, one that men will like and find intriguing.

Without pain of study you’ll glean a lot of valuable truth, philosophy, and theology by engaging in the simple thoughts and complex lives of these authors and story tellers.

It’s an easy and enjoyable (for the most part) read. That is if you’re not afraid of life or death or friendship? Even if you are, the brevity and truth of these stories and these lives will draw you in. Besides, if you’re honest with yourself, these are big issues to your human soul, and you know it. Why not take a break in life, and walk this short path of someone else's pleasure, pain, and friendship? It’s a textbook on friendship! If you buy it and don’t like it, I’ll gladly purchase your copy. Happy living and reading! Enjoy and enrich your life in the pause!

It’s probably just me, but even the one-page “acknowledgments” at the end brought tears to my eyes, and joy to my heart. -=db=-

Contentment and Busy Lives

"He who follows righteousness and mercy finds life." Proverbs 21:21 NKJV

"In our world, contentment is a strange street vendor, roaming, looking for a home, but seldom finding an open door. He moves slowly from house to house, knocking on doors, offering his ware: an hour of peace, a smile of acceptance, a sigh of relief. But his goods are seldom taken. We are too busy to be content.

"Not now, thank you. I've too much to do," we say. "Too many marks to be made, too many achievements to be achieved...."

So the vendor moves on. When I asked him why so few welcomed him into their homes, his answer left me convicted. "I charge a high price, you know. My fee is steep. I ask people to trade in their schedules, frustrations, and anxieties. I demand that they put a torch to their fourteen-hour days and sleepless nights. You'd think I'd have more buyers." He scratched his beard, then added pensively, "But people seem strangely proud of their ulcers and headaches."

[From NO WONDER THEY CALL HIM SAVIOR, and reprinted in the devotional, GRACE FOR THE MOMENT, by Max Lucado. I highly recommend this book to you as a start or enhancement to your daily habits of reading the Word, prayer, and meditation to get on the path where you can hear the voice of God and have daily input from your relationship with Jesus. I saw a funny bumper sticker yesterday, "We're not human beings with a spiritual side - we're spiritual beings with a human side." :) May he bless you as you seek him. May he bless you with peace - shalom - שלום.] -=db=-

Jesus and the Lawyer . Jesus and You

Contrasting Ministries

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." Luke 10:27

A lawyer came to Jesus with an important question: How does one get to heaven? It is the test of orthodoxy for all religions, and the lawyer wanted to test Jesus. He didn't want the correct answer; he wanted to see how Jesus would answer. Jesus referred him to the Law, and the Lawyer correctly responded with the summary of the Law. When Jesus agreed with him, he asked, "Who is my neighbor?" That question prompted the Parable of the Good Samaritan.

The Levite and Priest are vocational religious workers. They were professional ministers and they didn't love their neighbor. The Samaritan, a layman not in the ministry, loved his neighbor. He who was in the ministry wasn't ministering, and he who wasn't in the ministry was ministering. The vocational religious workers saw ministry in terms of programs, the layman in terms of people. The Levite and Priest said, "My meeting is more important than that man's needs, and if he wants my help, let him come to where I minister and I will meet him on my terms."

The Samaritan met the stranger on the stranger's terms. In all probability: 1 – The Samaritan had a schedule he was willing to interrupt for the sake of this need. 2 – He probably never saw the stranger before or since. 3 – Getting involved was messy resulting in blood all over his clothes. 4 – The stranger was never able to repay the favor.

How do you view ministry? Are you a Levite or a Samaritan?

From "Thoughts From the Diary of a Desperate Man" Walter A. Henrichsen -=db=-