At Megiddo, also referred to as Armageddon

The Holocaust Museum

On "Paul's Steps" at Caesarea by the Sea

Knicknacks in Jerusalem

At Masada

Our boat ride on the Sea of Galilee

(left to right) Stacy, Rob, Mike, Brett... all friends from my days at MissionLab. Robert is Rob's brother-in-law and Brent heads up the day camp at NOBTS.

Among the ruins of Bet She'an

For now, let me look ahead... as many of you have been asking "What's next?" If you haven't read this blog entry, start there. It gives a pretty good overall of my thinking for 2011, minus any specific details... since God hasn't yet filled in all of those details! :)

This morning, the theme of my devotional was peace. It referenced Colossians 3:15, "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts"... the amplified version includes "deciding with finality all questions that arise in your minds." Since God called me into full-time ministry nearly six years ago, it has been His peace that has led me throughout. I pray and expect that His peace will continue to lead me, and that He will give me the wisdom to discern between His peace and simply my desires. I don't stress much about that difference, however, because as I have matured in my faith, my desires and His desires have become more and more the same. Nonetheless, 2011 will be a year that will take me a bit out of my comfort zone. For many people, it is out of their comfort zone to think of crossing oceans to minister to those living in desperate situations. For me, that type of gutter ministry is what I love! In New Orleans, God had me loving men who struggled with homelessness and addiction. In Namibia, God had me loving on orphans and those affected by HIV/AIDS. Desperate people, in desperate situations.

If I had my way, I would be back on a plane, traveling to some place to get involved once again in that type of ministry. The thought of ministering in Haiti has tugged on my heartstrings more than once, or Sudan, a country torn apart by war, or Cambodia or India, two of many countries where 2 million children are being exploited in the sex trade industry.

But for now, as I listen to God and follow His peace for the coming year, He has led me back to Tennessee. A place I love, but a place that is out of my comfort zone in terms of ministry. I am not used to ministering inside an American church, or to middle-class Americans, or within the comforts of my American home. But I am trusting that God has plans for me here, and I will commit myself to Him, in this place, until He tells me to move elsewhere.

Thank you for praying with me as God continues to reveal His specific plans for me during this new phase of my journey. It is a very exciting time and I know that I can trust in Him to lead me in this time just as He led me in Namibia and everywhere else.

"Delight yourself in the Lord, and he shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and he shall bring it to pass. Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him" Psalm 37: 4-5 ,7