Photographers Invited to Go On Mission

This post was about a meeting on August 2. It has been updated to tell you about a meeting on October 4 at 3:00 in the choir room at the main campus of Hilldale Baptist Church.

You can get to the meeting by going through the ugly metal doors on the East side of the building.

This invitation was sent out today to everyone we could think of at Hilldale that does amateur or professional photography. But, of course, we didn't think of everyone. 

Do you have friends at church that are good photographers? 

Will you tell them about the meeting on October 4 at 3:00 in the choir room

 or send them here to this blog post?

Thanks!

By the way..... all of the pictures here were taken by those of us who went to Portugal this year. 

YOU can take cool pictures next year if you go with us!

Page 1 of the invitation

Page 2

Page 3

Pages 4 and 5

Page 6

Page 7

Page 8

8 things that may surprise you about Divine Appointments

I just saw that my last post was in February just before our football mission trip to Portugal. That's interesting because it was a mission thought that prompted me to post here tonight.

Oh, and I've noticed that people love reading those bloggers who post "9 things about this that will surprise you" or some other list - so I'm going to number the paragraphs below so you'll want to read all of them. hahaha. Then I'm going to change the title of my blog from "Divine Appointments" to ____ things that may surprise you about Divine Appointments. hahaha

1. When we go "on mission" we talk about "divine appointments." I've always noticed such things, but it may have been Andy and Michelle Milam who helped put the term "divine appointments" in my vocabulary. I don't really remember... but we do talk about that each time a take a group with me to Portugal.

2. We're fixin' to (for my friends in Colorado, that means "getting ready to" here in the South) anyway, we're fixin' to go on mission in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I've talked a little about this to my mission team, but will more as we arrive and make preparations for each day.

3. A "divine appointment" is what we call it when someone comes your way and you strike up a conversation and are able to have a spiritual conversation of some sort. Hmmmm. Writing it like that doesn't sound very interesting or like it's any big deal, but it is! Your just sorta talking to someone when all of the sudden you realize that God sent this person your way just so you could mention that one thing that got their interest in spiritual things and they respond in a positive way and you can just tell that God is working in their life and you got to be a part of that.

4. The cool thing about divine appointments is that they don't just happen in other countries. God is at work everywhere - all of the time. We just pay better attention when we are on mission.

5. I had a divine appointment (a DA) tonight - at Food Lion (a grocery store chain in this part of the world). It happened in an odd, unexpected way - which is often the case with DAs. I had stopped for some ingredients for supper, gathered them up, checked out and on the way to the car remembered that I needed some sour cream. "I think I have some at home and I can get by without it." but I thought of my lovely wife and how she likes sour cream, so I put my groceries in my car and went back in.

6. I checked out for under $2. A lady that works there and knows me from TV and often says something was next to the girl checking me out. "I may bring mom to Hilldale this week. When she can't get to church she always watches you all. I think she'd like to see you in person." We talked a little about how we didn't check your card at the door and it was OK for a Methodist to come to a service. I told her I was playing the violin this week and she said her mom would love that. Nothing grand or exciting. But then the girl who checked me out said, "I may come to church Sunday too." And I said, "that would be great. I'll look for you Sunday."

7. Now that probably doesn't seem like a DA, but I know that it is. For me to suddenly care about sour cream and end up in this girl's line and for the other lady to mention Hilldale and tell the girl where the building is and who I am and all of that is just the kind of thing God does to get His message to someone.

8. Why would I blog about such a boring meeting in a grocery store? God doesn't only speak through burning bushes. He speaks in gentle ways too. We just have to follow His lead. Pay attention this week and see how many DAs you have. You'll probably be very surprised!

It Looks Like Rain - a Football Update

I suppose that if you are here reading my blog that you probably already know that I am taking football players and coaches with me to Portugal next month. (If you haven't read how I ended up with my own football team you really should read this post How I ended up with my own football team! We'll be working with the Lumberjacks football team.


Plans are coming along great. My team has worked on football things and we have talked about how there are some great parallels between football and living life as a follower of Jesus Christ. And I've already become "friends" on Facebook with one of the Lumberjack's players.


I am learning - well, no, let's just say I'm reading - a new foreign language. No. Not Portuguese. Eu falo bastante Português para minha viagem para Porto. Na verdade, eu diria que o Português é mais fácil de aprender do que jargão do futebol americano.

For example - here are the titles of some of the videos I could watch as I prepare to go to Portugal.

"Defending the Wing-T out of the 3-4"

"GJHS No huddle power pistol"

"Transitioning From Under Center to the Gun in the Wing-T Buck Sweep Package"

Sério? Português é muito mais fácil de entender.

Now all I need to finish getting ready for my trip is to find some good rainwear. This is the rainy season in Portugal! Oh my!

Post by Paredes Lumberjacks.

Bro. Lyndel's Football Team

I am writing some devotions for football players. Some of you who have known me for many years probably just fell over laughing. But I really am. I had several ideas for football player devotions last night and will be writing them over the next few days or weeks.

 How does a totally non-sports person write devotions for football players? And why write them anyway. It seems that someone who knows about sports and about football players and the things that they do to get themselves ready to play or how they exercise or something should be the person that would write such things.

 Hmmm. Well, perhaps I should begin with the story of how I ended up with my own football team.

 Last summer (2013) I took a group of High School handbell players to Porto, Portugal. While there, my friend, Andy, told me about how they are coaching football as a means of developing relationships with Portuguese men and how many of them are responding to the Gospel and coming to Bible studies and many are now followers of Jesus.

 Awesome!

 My dad was a big football fan. Back in the old days of the 70s families only had one TV. I know that sounds rather remarkable today, but that’s just how it was. Monday night football was a big deal in most homes, I suppose, and it was in our house as well. My dad and my brother would watch every game. It wasn’t a time that you talked about school or church or how the roses were growing in the backyard. It was just football. I usually spent Monday evenings upstairs in my room. I just didn’t care who was playing or who won or if their running back did a fancy whatever and got the ball down to a certain place and then someone kicked the thing and it got them points because the other guys wouldn’t let them run the ball all the way into the end zone……

I did watch some football in my H.S. days. I played the baritone horn in the marching band. Violins didn’t really fit with the whole marching thing. Perhaps the bows are too scary for the woodwinds – thinking you will poke their eyes out as you march by sawing away with your bow. There were actually two football games each week – one just before the band show and one just after the band show. Ha!

This would have been awesome!

I remember the name Bart Star, but I usually wonder if he is Ringo's brother. Oh, and I remember Joe Namath wearing pantyhose but I don't know why he did and I don't know who he played football for.

Please tell me those aren't Joe's legs!

Fast forward to 2013. My interest in football is about the same as it has always been. I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, but I just don’t care…. I do watch a tiny bit of the Broncos because my son, Andrew, LOVES the Broncos. We lived in Denver during some important formative years apparently. So I like to know a little about the Broncos because they are important to my son. But to be honest with you, I don’t even know who their quarterback is. I know John Elway still has something to do with them as an owner or something. When I lived in Denver I had lunch with someone that played for the Broncos. I don’t remember his name. Seems like he was a defensive something-or-the-other. Andrew probably still remembers who it was.

If I haven’t lost you with this little trip through my football background, here’s how I ended up with my own football team. (I thought you needed the background to see how this is a God thing.)

Our church has a men’s supper/worship time/Bible study one Tuesday night a month. We call it “Man Church.” We kill our own food, sit around a campfire cooking our wild boar with our shirts off and beat on drums. Hahaha. OK. We have burgers and sit around tables at our Family Life Center (gym). At our August “Man Church” I noticed two twenty-something guys sitting by themselves at a table so I invited myself to sit with them. OK. You’ve read my football bio. Don’t really have one. And about the first thing I heard coming out of my mouth was “Do you guys play football? Or did you?” Seriously?! I’m going to start a football conversation with two people I don’t even know! What if they started talking about last night’s game? (Oh, I guess there might not have been one in August.) But if they had, what would I say? “Oh, sorry. Didn’t mean to bring up football since I’m a football idiot. You two just talk about the game and I’ll just nod my head.”

They said they did (or had played in HS or college) and I just kept going “Really? What position did you play?” and they said something about hiking and running and tackling… Then, without hardly skipping a beat I heard myself say, “Well, you know, while we were in Portugal we heard how football players from the States had gone there to do football things and share the Gospel and I’m thinking of taking some football players over there next year. Would you be interested in going?” Seriously?! I just said that?

I know God was at work that night because I had NOT thought of that before then. I would NOT plan a mission opportunity that included football. I have used vocal and instrumental music, art, ESL, Bible clubs and more, but football. HAhahaha!

The eyes of those two guys lit up. “You mean we could play football and tell people about Jesus? We could do that!” Then God grabbed my heart. I could just hear Him say, "Look at football missions through the eyes of these two." And long story short – they are the first two guys on my football team!

A few weeks later after our 9:45 service I walked over to the guy that sits right there on the second row every week and I heard myself say, “Can I ask you something? Did you football?” Boom! My third player.

I’m now up to 5 players – possibly 6 – and I haven’t even advertised for mission team members yet. If you’re at Hilldale this Sunday you’ll see this in the bulletin “Join Bro. Lyndel’s Football Team.” My dad would NEVER have believed this. I'm not sure either of my brothers will believe it either. They are both big football fans.

God is up to something with this. I can hardly wait to see what all will happen in the lives of these young men and in Portugal. He will have to do it because I keep slipping and saying “football rehearsals” and things like that.

Here's the end of the story for now.

I don’t really care much about football, but I care VERY much about missions and about investing in the lives of young men. If you care about missions and want to invest in the lives of some young men then God may lead you to help send them. Twenty-somethings don’t have money to send themselves on mission: they are at the beginning of their careers, they have young families, they have student loans... Call me and see how you can help.

A New Blog

Hilldale's High School Handbell Choir is going to Portugal in June. We'll be playing in schools and churches and using those events as opportunities to share our faith.

One of the things we will be doing is handbell flash mobs. How fun is that?! We'll enter a courtyard or plaza from several directions "randomly" ringing bells and then when we all get to the center and have a good-sized crowd we'll play "Amazing Grace." This should draw a big crowd. Then we will give away CDs we are going to make (I'll give you all an opportunity later to help pay for them.) and give out fliers advertising an evening or next day concert.

I'm VERY excited about the CDs. We are going to record several songs. The missionaries in Portugal (Andy and Michelle Milam - you may have met them at our On Mission Conference last May if you attend Hilldale) are going to have people from the churches around Porto record either the Roman Road or some sort of Gospel presentation that we will include on the CD in between the songs. This way, if a person accepts a free CD they will not only hear beautiful handbell music, but he/she will then hear the Gospel in Portuguese and will have the address of a local Baptist Church that they can contact.

The CDs will be free to give away because you all - for a simple $15 gift - will get a CD for yourself but will also pay for three or four more.

Last night I had this thought - I figure it was the Lord speaking to me because I don't really do much thinking at 3:30 AM - that I should include on the CD a website for people to visit. So today I began a blog. You can see it at http://rezoundingpraize.blogspot.com/ This blog will have posts by our handbell choir where they will talk about the music or give their personal testimony or something like that. This is simply another way to get the Gospel out to the people of Portugal. There is already a link on that blog that gives you "The 4 Spiritual Laws" in Portuguese. I will add other similar links.

The first post on the blog is how our handbell choir got our name "Rezounding Praize."

Check it out, begin praying for our mission trip, buy a CD when they come out and we'll share blog posts before we go and then report back on the great things God was able to do in Portugal.