October, 2007
Okay, tell the truth. Doesn’t this guy look like Rudy. He’s not as good looking as Rudy - but doesn’t he just slightly favor Rudy? I hope Rudy doesn’t find that comparison an insult. This guy by the way was playing Beatle tunes on the accordian.
In terms of weather, our last day before returning home turned out to be the most beautiful day. God was very gracious to us. We get up tomorrow at 5 A.M. to head off to the train station and a two hour trip to Germany (Dresden) and then a flight to Munich and then back to good old Liberty Newark Airport and the reassuring transportation of Mr. Benny Stamper.
This guy, on the left was one of the many musicians we heard playing on the Charles Bridge in Prague. The bridge is a wonderful pedestrian crossway filled with local artists, craftsmen and musicians. We enjoyed this time and just leasurely strolled accross the bridge browsing and listening.
A little further down from the cat playing the accordian was this New Orleans Jazz band. These guys were great. The old dude in the white hat was their lead singer and he used the cone in his hand to “mic” his voice (Note to self, when sound system fails at church, have one of these for preaching and for ben to lead worship).
He sort of sang like Louie Armstrong. And the old dude on the wash board was like slick as snot on that thing. He would break out in these extended washboard solos that were really cool.
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Posted by Scott on October 28th, 2007 in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Gail snapped the picture, and here we are with new friends Jonathan and Pam from St. Paul. They came with Ned. We really dug them. They “escaped” out of a tough church situation, and are only now beginning to walk in freedom and the grace of God. The church they came from was pretty heavy handed. But as you can see we baptized them into the society of sipping saints. (Always in moderation….)
America is Better!
I now want to tell you why the U.S. is better than Europe. Now Europe does have the most beautiful buildings you can possibly imagine. We can’t compete. They also have the most glorious church buildings, I mean absolutely amazing. We saw St. Stephens today in Vienna and it just blew my mind. They have the coolest city layouts, really fun to walk around and just look. So on that level we are not even close. But there are five things which keep the good old USA number One in my book. Here they are….. (more…)
Posted by Scott on October 27th, 2007 in Uncategorized | 5 Comments »
I don’t know if Auschwitz is the most horrible place on earth, but it must certainly be one of the most horrible. On the left is the sign arching over the entry to Auschwitz I “Work makes you free” which was in fact that opposite of the truth. At Auschwitz work only prolonged the agony of your certain death.
We made our way to the camp on Monday, and needless to say it was a staggering, emotionally overwhelming experience from start to finish. We were led through the tour by a passionate young polish girl, Agnes. She was committed to telling the story of Auschwitz and took her job very seriously. 1.7 million people were in the Auschwitz complex. Of that total number 1.3 million were murdered and burned in the crematoriums. It is almost beyond comprehension. We stood in the same places where gypsies, Polish, Russian prisoners of war and Jews walked, and ultimately perished. The magnitude of the wickedness is almost unimaginable. There were moments when I could barely restrain my tears (actually I didn’t restrain them). One moment in particular stands out above all others - gazing into a display case where children’s clothes, really baby clothes were displayed. There were 200,000 children in Auschwitz. Only 670 survived. When I looked in the case, at the clothing of sweet little children I began to weep at the thought of the brutality, and their final moments in the gas chambers. It fractures the mind and devestates the heart. It almost makes me ask “Where is God?” (more…)
Posted by Scott on October 23rd, 2007 in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Saturday morning at the ARC conference in Poland. Here we are beginning to worship, and shortly after this I gave a talk on Sonship and revival. People seemed to really be blessed by it. We took a short break and then began again with Ned giving an absolutely glorious teaching on the Cross of Jesus. Everyone was blessed and we shared the Lord’s Table with our new Polish brothers and sisters.
The Polish are a really hospitable, very warm and welcoming people. They have treated us so kindly and have really expressed gratitude that we would come and be interested in what their lives are like. I think Vinnie and Maryanne have also enjoyed themselves. Vinnie, along with other went on Friday afternoon to a local prison. There each of them shared their testimony and at the end of the time of sharing 10 men came forward to give their lives to Jesus. Rumor is that Vinnie gave a stirring talk & testimony. (more…)
Posted by Scott on October 21st, 2007 in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Here is the view from the memorial area of Herrnhutt, in Germany (Part of old East Germany). The village of Herrnhut, “The Lord’s Watch,” came about because on June 17, 1722 a little band of religious fugitives from Moravia (in the modern Czech Republic) asked Count Ludwig von Zinzendorf if they might settle on his land. The Count agreed.
Herrnhut had become a gathering place for many religious exiles. These spoke different languages and had differing customs. Creeds varied. Lutherans, Schwenkfelders, Separatists, Reformed and Brethren lived side by side. Squabbles developed. Zinzendorf found himself moving from home to home speaking with families of their spiritual need. The people began to study the Bible, hold all-night prayer vigils and confess their sins one to another. Zinzendorf established “bands,” groups of two, three or more who would encourage each other spiritually. Plans were drawn up to reorganize and unify the community. A sense of expectancy grew.
On August 13, 1727, at a baptism and communion service, the Holy Spirit moved through the room. Differences dissolved. All embraced one another in forgiveness and a spirit of love. Christ became central to their thinking. They established a twenty-four hour around-the-clock prayer vigil which lasted one hundred years. The fervent prayers resulted in the sending out of missionaries to many lands–the first Protestant missions outside Europe and North America. Thus Herrnhut reached out and touched other lands. Moravians influenced John and Charles Wesley. Moravian missionary zeal prompted William Carey’s efforts to reach India for Christ. “See what these Moravians have done,” he said in his appeal to have missionaries commissioned. (more…)
Posted by Scott on October 18th, 2007 in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Hey, check out sweet Eddy. You might notice a slight lazy eye - probably a scar from hard days gone by. 11 years ago Eddy was in a car accident where the driver was killed and he was pronounced dead on the scene. But, as you can see he is among the living.
What a guy, Eddy runs the ministry center with his wife, Renada. He has made our time here so far really wonderful.
Last night Mary Anne, Vinnie, Gail and myself along with Ray and several other Americans visited a ministry called New Hope. This is an outreach to homeless people, drug addicts, and ex-cons (and some not so ex cons.) Sitting with us were about 13 people all of whom had been saved from some of the most horrific lives you could imagine. 17 years of alcoholism, 14 years of alcoholism, 12 years of alcoholism, broken marriages, prison time and so on. One by one around the room we went, each person telling their story. Each person rehearsing how Jesus had broken in to their lives and gotten hold of them and how He had completely transformed them. There was nothing to do but weep. Nothing to say by thank you Jesus, thank you for your mighty saving power.
Tonight we went to the Wednesday night service at Marek’s church in Gryfow. It was a small group of about 30 or 40. Bishop James Everett from Irvington, N.J. was here preaching (he came at our invitation). He shared a really simple gospel message of encouragement to this very simple group of Christians. He ended his message in tears, appealing to our great God and Savior for the lost. It was wonderful.
I will send more information, stories and pictures in the days to come. This place is a blessing, and Lamb of God needs to invest in this great work! Elders be ready - we need to come here for a time of refreshment and to see the work that God is doing here!
Posted by Scott on October 17th, 2007 in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Dag… I hate airplanes! The trip from Newark to Frankfurt was like a torture chamber. I was in a window seat with the seat width made for 150 lb. man. (You can guess how much more I check in at). Anyway, it was worth it.
We arrived in Dresden and were greeted by Sweet Eddy. A little over six years ago Eddy was a member of the Polish Mob, a drug dealer, a drug user and a self described “very bad man.” He said - “Jesus, took hold of me and now I love Him.” He had us laughing and crying. What a sweetheart. At one point he looked over at me, and then around the van and said “I am so happy to be meeting new brothers and sisters. Before today we did not know each other, but now we are family.”
We are in very comfortable rooms at Pastor Marek’s ministry center. He has a vision of a ministry center in Poland that will reach into all of Eastern Europe, touching the lives of pastors and encouraging churches. We leave in an hour for a ministry to down-and-outers run by the church where Marek is a pastor. We are doing our best to stay awake so that we can get a good nights sleep (right now its 10:30 A.M. our time and 4:30 P.M. their time). We’ve been up since Monday evening at 5 P.M. when we boarded our plan for Germany. So we are pretty beat. Anyway, just thought I would touch base with Lamb. Peace, and pray for us…
Posted by Scott on October 16th, 2007 in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
In a few days I (along with Gail and the Dahmen’s) will head off for an ARC conference in Poland. During that time I intend to try and post entries for the Black Dwarf to give you some idea of our experience in Poland. I will be teaching on 3 different occassions (once at the conference, once before the youth of Pastor’s Marek’s church and once in a Polish church associated with the ARC Conference). We will also visit Herrnhut (the place of the 100 year Moravian Prayer meeting). We will pray at that spot for the work of God in Europe. We will also visit Auschwitz, the largest of the Nazi death camps. Following the conference the Pursley’s and the Dahmen’s will visit Budapest, Vienna and Prague and then back to the Garden State.
Christianity has recently come under some very critical attack. This radical atheism is being fueled by several books: Sam Harris’ book entitled: The End of Faith and Richard Dawkins book - The God Delusion are prominent. Here are some helpful and well thought out responses to these books. Check them out.
I am a huge fan of Paul Johnson. He wrote my favorite history book, called “The History of the World from 1920 to
1990.” His prose is wonderful, and reading his history is very much like reading a novel, rather than a text book. Check out his thoughts on the so-called “New Atheism”: Militant Atheism and God - Paul Johnson on the rise of militant atheism. Militant Atheism
I would also direct your attention to two books - “What’s so great about Christianity by Dinesh D’Souza. You can read about it here. (it is worth taking a look). Also Alister McGrath’s book - The Dawkins Delusion?. You can read an interview with Dr. McGrath here.
Another interesting article by George Barna study entitled: A New Generation expresses its skepticism and frustration with Christianity. Click here for the full article.
Finally, here is a site which is dedicated to keeping Christians informed about the suffering church in the World. Check it out and clik the link for the ten minute video.
Posted by Scott on October 10th, 2007 in cultural relevance | No Comments »
This article was reprinted with permission of Leadership Journal Web Site
So Many Christian Infants
Why are we so good at leading people to faith and so bad at prodding them to maturity?
by Gordon MacDonald, Leadership editor at large
I have been musing on the words of Martin Thornton: “A walloping great congregation,” he wrote, “is fine and fun, but what most communities really need is a couple of saints. The tragedy is that they may well be there in embryo, waiting to be discovered, waiting for sound training, waiting to be emancipated from the cult of the mediocre.”
“Saints,” he says. Mature Christians: people who are “grown-up” in their faith, to whom one assigns descriptors such as holy, Christ-like, Godly, or men or women of God.
Now mature, in my book does not mean the “churchly,” those who have mastered the vocabulary and the litany of church life, who come alive only when the church doors open. Rather, I have in mind those who walk through all the corridors of the larger life—the market-place, the home and community, the playing fields—and do it in such a way that, sooner or later, it is concluded that Jesus’ fingerprints are all over them.
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Posted by Scott on October 3rd, 2007 in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
