Truth Project Arabic Edition

Wow! Dr. Tackett and I had a chance to view a preview of The Truth Project Arabic Edition on Wednesday night and we were amazed at how our Egyptian team managed the process of translating TTP into Arabic.  It is humbling to know that God's truth claims will be spread throughout the Middle East by our Egyptian office and their trained staff.

Dr. Tackett will be in Egypt during the month of September, when The Truth Project will officially launch in the Middle East!  Praise God!

Please pray for protection for our brothers and sisters in Christ that are laboring alongside us in Cairo, and pray that the Lord will bless this effort in such a hostile environment.

Seeing the Truth Compass in Arabic brought chills to my arms, who knows what the Lord might do through this!

Memorial Day Remembrance

Today we all pause to reflect and remember the men and women who have served our country over the centuries.  Many of whom, gave their lives on the Beaches of Normandy, in the Ardenne Forrest, at Verdun and the Somme, along the Viet Cong Trail and throughout foreign lands everywhere.

Even today our men and women serve proudly in the Middle East, volunteering their very lives for the freedoms we enjoy.

As we pause to say thank you to all those who have gone before us to secure our liberties, I am reminded of a letter written during the Civil War to a Mrs. Bixby, who lost two of her five sons during our civil strife.  President Lincoln's words capture the grief and honor all must feel who have lost loved one's in service:

I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle.

I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save.

I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.

          Yours, very sincerely and respectfully,

A. Lincoln

Simulcast Update

Thank you for all our "Truth Champions" who joined us on our conference call Wednesday afternoon.  It appears the Lord is blessing our efforts as over 240 churches are signed up to host the satellite training in September.

One of the great things that came out of the call was the idea to hold a "pre-event" in order to share the content of TTP with various pastors and leaders in our respective communities.  After speaking with Del and CCN, we've agreed to host "Pre-Conference Satellite Downlink" on June 19th with Dr. Del Tackett and The Truth Project Team.

Visit our web site or contact CCN to find out more about this developing event.

Shoveling Snow

Each time it snows, which is quite often this time of year on the front range of Colorado, my three-year-old asks to help me shovel the driveway.  Twenty minutes later, after putting on her snow-pants, her purple snow boots and her pink jacket, she is ready to join me outside in the cold morning air.  She picks up her little three-inch green shovel and proceeds to throw snow in any and all directions.  She is so proud of herself, I really believe she thinks she is making quite a dint on the driveway, in her precious mind her efforts are quite impressive.

I don't need her help obviously, in fact most of the time her presence causes us to spend more time out in the cold than need be.  And yet, in the midst of such a mundane task as shoveling snow on a brisk March morning, Emma always makes me smile, she makes the entire process quite beautiful actually.  In fact, on those few days when she doesn't join me outside, shoveling snow just isn't the same...

I wonder if God looks at us the way I look at Emma.  He obviously doesn't need our help, in fact, most of the time He could probably get things done a lot quicker and less painful without us.  And yet, He allows us to labor alongside Him, helping to fulfill His kingdom on this earth through our meager efforts. 

I bet we sometimes even make Him smile, probably much more than we dare  realize...

Uniting the Body of Christ

On Tuesday and Wednesday, we had the pleasure of meeting with over 160 satellite host churches from all across North America.  Mainline churches, non-denominational churches and everyone in between gathered together to champion truth to their communities.  It was amazing to see a unified Body of Christ all committed to bring the truth claims of God into their own respective communities.

One pastor from Iowa just wrote us a note to say thanks for the conference, here's what he had to say:

Wow!!  I know you many be getting many e-mails after the conference asking for info or help or whatever.  This isn’t one of those. 

I want you to know that for me -- the most amazing part of the conference was meeting together with other Christians who all share a passion for the Truth of Christ and share a vision for taking that Truth into “all the world.”  God has used all of you at FOTF who are connected with TTP to craft a message that the world needs and now seems ready to hear.  His timing is perfect.  Each of you is gifted individually with so many talents and abilities – that God is using in harmony to accomplish His will.

I imagine that from your vantage point, the realization of God’s vision for this effort is hard to take in.  Yet, for us, in our local churches, we have so longed for a tool that would strike a chord or open a window or touch a nerve that would begin God’s process for transforming hearts through the renewing of minds.  TTP has been that tool.  We know that because God has used it to change us, too.  Personally, I have only been through the series 11 times so far – but I expect to be to 15 by December!!  The impact that this has had on my life and walk with Christ is more that I could have ever dreamed – our grown children and their spouses, along with so many in our church have experienced the same awakening.

God bless all of us in the months ahead – He is awesome.

Bucket List

Many of you have probably seen the movie "Bucket List" with Jack Nicholson.  In short, it's a timely and poignant look at what's really important in life, and going after those things prior to one's final day here on this planet.  I don't know about you, but I've got a "bucket list" of top priorities to do before I die.  They include:

    1. Making a hole-in-one in golf
    2. Traveling Europe with my wife
    3. Experiencing an African Safari
     4. Watching a Duke basketball game in Cameron
    5. Run a Marathon
    6. Giving away my two little girls at their Wedding

One of them is coming true this weekend.

On Valentines Day, an old friend called me out of the blue and informed me that he has free tickets to a Duke basketball game in Cameron Indoor Stadium for this Saturday. He asked if I'd like to fly out and join him.  At first, I dropped the phone, then stammered a response of...

"Holy Cow, are you kidding, it's something I've dreamed of doing before I die. Watching a game at Duke is on my bucket list!"

And while I'm elated to have the opportunity to cross this off my list, it occurred to me just how selfish my list is.  Most of the things I want to do before I die consist of things that benefit me, not so much others.  In short, I've bought the lie the world is selling that "It's ALL about ME."  Not one of my bucket list opportunities has much of anything to do with serving others or advancing the Kingdom.  Oh, they aren't bad things, but from an eternal perspective, they are all exceptionally temporal.

And so, in the word's of Derek Webb

 

  "I confess to my pursuit of the American Dream
    of living like I deserve Anything
    of my house, my kids, my wife
    in our suburb where we are safe and white."

I'm working on a new "Bucket List", one that, from a Biblical worldview, falls in line with God's eternal perspective on my life and the life of others.  Instead of collecting a list of things that would prove my worth and significance, I hope to create a list of things that will carry on far beyond my days here on earth.  A list that will resonate in eternity, a list that ties into God's Metanarrative.  A list consisting of giving vs. taking, of serving vs. being served, of loving vs. being loved, of denying self and taking up the cross daily.

As you journey through The Truth Project, we pray that your life will be transformed, that instead of seeking your own plans and dreams, that we would all have the courage to give our lives away to others in service and in love, just as Christ did.

I need to go create a new Bucket List!

Back From the Cold

Wow!  Minnesota in February is COLD!!!  It's hard to describe just how cold 40 below wind-chill feels, but trust us, it's cold.  And yet, in the midst of an arctic blast we experienced the warmth of new friends and the universality of acceptance and welcome from the Body of Christ in Hastings, MN. 

This Saturday, 540 people from all across the Midwest joined us at the Harbor Church in Hastings for our fourth Local Training Conference. 

We are blessed to travel around the country and meet so many amazing believers from all walks of life who are living out their worldview on a daily basis.  This weekend, we experienced this on a whole new level.  Pastor Jim Anderson, his staff and an army of volunteers from the Harbor Church welcomed us with open arms and warm hearts.  They modeled Christian love and community to us as they accepted us into their church and served our every need.

We are deeply humbled to partner with you and pray the Lord will bless your work in Hastings as you live out His high call in your community.

Christian Community

My Sunday School class is studying Acts, one of my favorite books in the Bible.  I think it's my favorite because of the historical context surrounding the birth and growth of the Church.  I am always amazed at how quickly the early Church wrapped itself around the concepts of living out what Jesus had taught and done in their midst.  Amazingly enough, they lived out their faith together, sharing life, experiencing intimate fellowship and caring for one another.  Their beliefs directly affected how they lived out life.  This new life they adopted was centered in community and fellowship.

Acts 2 reminds us once again about the importance of community.  I wonder if we miss it even in reading about it:

"When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place"
                                                                                Acts 2:1

And later on in that same chapter we read:

"They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching, and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer...All the believers were together and had everything in common...Everyday they continued to meet together in the temple courts."
                                                                            Acts 2: 42-46

I'm not sure where you are in the life of your Truth Project small group.  However, I pray that as you begin or complete your group, that you too will taste the joy and wonder of living life together with other believers and that The Truth Project will be a catalyst for continual community in the life of your church.

The Truth Project Team

Encouragement from II Corinthians

In our team devotionals this week, Marc Fey has been sharing words of encouragement from his studies in II Corinthians.  Starting in chapter 3, verse 18 we find:

"And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.  Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.  Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God.  On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God."  II Corinthians 3:18-4:2

These passages have proved to remind us that it truly is about what God is doing in the minds and hearts of believers world-wide.  Paul continues to exhort the church to continue pressing on toward the goal, that

"we are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed."  II Corinthians 4: 8,9

So, if you are experiencing hard-times, persecution or simply struggles in your small group and thinking about simply ditching this entire strategy, keep pressing on, knowing that the Lord is doing His work in bringing about this great transformation in the lives of all those who join your study.  Take heart, keep the faith and remember their is a great freedom knowing it's not about us, but all about Him.

The Truth Project Team

Scottsdale Bible Church Conference

This past weekend, we were delighted to have 1125 people from 33 states and two foreign countries join us at Scottsdale Bible Church just outside Phoenix, Arizona.  For those of you who joined us, thank you for making the event a great success.

We also had the privilege to travel down to Tuscon on Sunday morning and worship at Catalina Foothills Church.  Del spoke briefly in the service and then we were treated to lunch by friends of the ministry. 

Our team arrived back home to cold Colorado Springs on Sunday, with light snow falling throughout the day.  We sure do miss sunny, warm Arizona! 

Thank you again to Jeff Edwards at Scottsdale Bible, Cathi Herrod and her team at the Center for Arizona Policy and all our new friends in Arizona, it was a great weekend!