December 24, 2005

2005 Katrina Year End Report - Yeah God!

I know that some of you love to be told hard numbers and facts, so here is our 
report as of 12/10/2005 after three months of Christ-centered labor: 

Volunteers 1,309
Man-hours 51,498
Work orders 1,069
Work Orders done 487
Work orders not started 550
21% of churches have sent 4 or more teams
52% of churches have sent 2 or more teams
Volunteers have come from 29 states and Canada

I know some of you love stories of God, so I will include a few:

1. One of the teams got to help Angie with her home in New Orleans. Angie is 
black, and the team members were white. Angie said her only experience with white people was to 
see them shooting at her neighbors … until the team showed up. Isn't it great that walls can come down 
and love can be shown? Angie showed up at church Wednesday night and we rejoiced with her.

2. One team was so impacted by the team ministry in the community that they said that they were going back home and organize their own Compassion ministry.

3. One woman said to me, "I have no hope." She lived right near the church, with a home 
devastated as well as many family issues. Her words were understandable. The next day a team 
was at her house. She was at the Sunday service and now sees things changing in her life.

4. One person said, "I just want to end my life." Please realize how many people are saying 
these words. Pray for them. Showing practical love and praying with people makes a huge impact.

5. We received an e-mail the other day from a group of churches in Czechoslovakia. They heard 
about Katrina and our plight and took up an offering for us and sent it. This is a modern day retelling of 2 Cor. 8-9. The generosity of God's people is amazing.

6. Here is an e-mail I got from a brother in Christ at Trinity after telling him I was going to 
spend a week at Christmas with my family. It shows the awesome kind of people we have at 
Trinity who are sold out to Jesus and want to take up their cross and follow Him:

Where you are going....
I hope the air is crisp
The fire is warm
The company is enjoyable
Your battery is recharged
Your spirit is overflowed with rejoicing
And you can't wait to come back and help us set impossible goals for
recovery, renewal and revival, then push us like heck to achieve them.

7. Remember the $50 gift cards we gave out at Trinity the last two Sundays to empower our 
membership to go out in the name of Jesus and bless hurting people? We purchased 370 cards and 
gave out about 330. A couple of days later, Grace Community Church in Columbia, MD called me 
and said we purchased 360 $50 gift cards and will bring them to you on December 18. Amazing. 
We give out gift cards and God replenishes them so that we can give them out again. The Manna Principle!

8. Stories are being written how the gift cards are making a difference. Here are a few:

"My daughter and son-in-law took in a homeless person. Their budget is rather tight and I sent 
them this card to help with groceries. They live in VA, and the person they helped was a 59-year-old woman from LA."

"Took two cards and gave them to two different single mothers, one who doesn't even have a 
job. They both cried and wanted to know where Trinity Church was. I invited them to attend."

"… is in her mid-twenties and remarried 4 months ago after a very bad first marriage. I have 
witnessed to her for 2 years. 3 weeks ago, she confirmed that her new husband was/has been 
having relations with another for months. She has 2 small children and no family in the area. 
This card gave her a renewed view of Christian love and caring no matter what your "holiness" is. Maybe soon she will give her life to God."

"My mom and I both took a Walmart card. I didn't know who I would give it to. I didn't want 
it to be someone I thought of. I wanted it to be someone God wanted to have it. I prayed for God to put someone in front of me. I talked to my friend I had not spoken to in a while and she told me she was going through a divorce. She has 4 children and had not bought one present yet because her husband won't work and continued to spend their community money. I told her how I had been praying for God to show me a person in need of a $50 gift card donated by my church and she was the one. She got very emotional and said all I can say is "thank you." I told my mom the story and she wanted to give hers also. Thank you Trinity."

9. Here is a story from our Trinity Mother's Day Out (MDO) Director:

"I wanted to let you know how God is blessing the MDO program in so many ways. It is truly answered prayers! For the past few months, there have been some ups and downs in running MDO. We hit a real low at Thanksgiving time when I had no teachers working and it was just me. It was not easy to keep the faith in Him at all times. I was constantly praying for God's help and asking others to pray for MDO, as well. My human side was trying very hard to keep things running smoothly. But I just finally put everything in God's hands. I said, "God, I will be your servant leader, but, You are running the show". Well, it's all about God's timing (not that I didn't already know this!). Almost overnight, He blessed our program with 3 new teachers. One of our new teachers lost everything in St. Bernard and now she is 
buying a home in St. Tammany. She was in need of a job while her 8 year old son attends 
school. Another teacher lost her home in Lakeview and was in need of part time work. We've been 
able to give her a job in the infant room where she can be with her grandson who will be 
attending MDO. We have been able to bless several moms who have been displaced by offering a 
temporary day care option while they are handling housing issues during the day. It brings such joy 
to my heart knowing how God has blessed this program and how the program has blessed others. 
After the holidays we will be opening the infant room with 3 new children. There will be 8 
children in our toddler room and 8 children in our 3 & 4 year old class. I am getting calls everyday from 
moms interested in placing their children in MDO. Since these moms are mothers 
of preschoolers, I am also inviting them to attend our MOPS group at Trinity and several have expressed an interest in coming. I pray for these moms and their children that they will be able see Jesus' love through us. Hopefully, you may have a chance to visit MDO so you can see all the wonderful things that God is doing, all in His timing!!!"

I hope you can see why I appreciate the Big "C" Church across and world and the little "c" church at Trinity. God's plan for the church was pure genius. There is nothing like the Church when the Church is working right under the leadership of Jesus!

In closing, I wish you all a blessed Christmas. There is nothing like the support of family and friends. I pray you experience in full measure the Shalom of God. This Christmas we can remember that Jesus was the greatest of all "first responders". He chose willingly to be born in the eye of the storm. He experienced danger, hunger, rejection, homelessness, pain and even death. He left the safety of heaven for the pollution of earth. Why? To seek and to save! He died for you and me and gives spiritual and eternal life to all who trust in Him. What a gift! That is Christmas!

Betting the Farm on God,

Michael

December 20, 2005

Dear Friends,

Michael asked me to share a few thoughts this Christmas season:

Merry Christmas to each of you!  It's hard to believe that Christmas is in less 
than a week.  I guess that's because we really didn't have a fall here.  Did we 
really have a September - November?

This has been a long year, but God has been faithful.  We have been blessed with 
friends and family who have shown their love in so many ways!  Thank you so very 
much for your kind words, support, and especially your prayers.

When we took our only child, Jonathan, to college on August 17th, I totally 
expected that the "empty nest" was going to affect me greatly.  I was 
preparing to lead a women's Bible study by Beth Moore entitled "Believing 
God."  I can remember sitting in a hotel room after we dropped him off 
thinking about how I needed to believe God's promises now that I had released my 
son to college life.  Little did I know that in less than 6 days we would be 
preparing to evacuate our home and our lives would be forever changed.  I would 
now also be "Believing God" for what He could do in and through our 
lives as a result of Hurricane Katrina.

God has shown His faithfulness over and over since August 29th.  I continue to 
be amazed.  This year has not been easy.  I have shed many tears.  We have all 
been weary, but I know that we have a God who never allows anything to happen in 
our lives without His knowledge.  When we got back into town after our 
evacuation we stayed a night with friends who had a generator.  In the morning I 
saw an open Bible on the table and tried to read these words:  

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.  Therefore we 
will not fear, though the earth should change, and though the mountains slip 
into the heart of the sea; Though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains 
quake at its swelling pride. … The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is 
our stronghold. Selah.  Psalm 46:1-3, 7.

God is our stronghold.  Thanks be to Him for His unspeakable gift of Jesus 
Christ.  May each of you have a very Merry CHRISTmas (and I'm not afraid to say 
it)!

Love to all,

Donna,
as well as Michael,
Jonathan & Fluffy (the dog)

December 10, 2005

A New Motto

     I think my new motto should be "Unless God Shows Up, I am in Big
Trouble." We remain a group of Christ followers in over our heads.
Conditions in the New Orleans area are still excruciatingly painful for
many. I don't know one person, not one, who isn't up to their eyeballs
in stress, pressure and the demands of life. I can identify - between
pastoring and relief work, my days are full. Donna has the unending (so
far) task of coordinating painters, construction workers, tree guys and
fighting the insurance company. Yet, we are learning, or in some cases,
trying to learn, to moment by moment depend on the Holy Spirit.

     He continues to be faithful, often in ways that cannot be
explained apart from the supernatural.

1.     A man named Steve prays in the Trinity office for maps of
Slidell. A few minutes later a work team returns to the church office.
"Hey, as we were leaving the work place today a guy gave us 10 maps of
Slidell. Anyone need them?"

2.     Gene from Montana needed certain tools. A few minutes later
someone walked in with the exact tools.

3.     A fireman from Illinois wanted to bring a "Sawzall" to Trinity
with their team. They didn't have one. The next day he was driving
down Main Street and found one in the middle of the street. Apparently,
it had fallen from a truck. He put an ad in the lost/found section of
his local newspaper, but since it wouldn't appear in the paper for a
week, he figured that God was letting him borrow the tool for a week to
use in Louisiana! When he got back from Trinity the owner of the tool
called and came to pick it up. When he heard the story of how his
"Sawzall" was used in Louisiana, he was delighted. He gave the fireman
twenty dollars and told him to send it to Trinity. He was amazed his
tool went to help with Katrina. If you don't know what a "Sawzall" is,
don't worry, neither do I. However, I rejoice in God.

4.     A pastor gave me this account:

     There was a sixteen-year-old girl named Elizabeth. Her family
was completely wiped out by Katrina. She came in with her dad and her
sister. Their home was gone. She had no clothes. And so, she was
taken to a team that helped her get some shirts, but there were no pants
there. A woman who was working there said, "My daughter gave me a pair
of pants when she heard that I was coming to New Orleans, and I'll give
them to you." They were just the right size.

And then this woman, Karen, looked at the girl's feet and saw that she
had no shoes. She had a pair of sandals that had been ruined by all the
muck, but no shoes. Karen asked Elizabeth, "What size are your feet?"
They were the same size as Karen's feet, so Karen took off her boots.
She had a really cool pair of boots. She knelt down, took a basin and a
towel and she washed the feet of that sixteen-year-old girl. Then she
said, "Here, you take my boots."

     Elizabeth knew that the workers were church people who were
there working in Jesus' name, and she said afterwards, "I'm an atheist."
The workers told her, "That's OK. Atheists need shoes too."

5.     At our Wednesday night sharing service, it was our delight to
hear one of the team leaders tell about leading someone to Christ on
Wednesday. Later, the young man sitting next to him got up and shared
the revolutionary things that Christ had been doing in his life. He got
out of jail six weeks ago. He clearly communicated that while he was in
jail he had passed from darkness into the light through the power of
Jesus Christ. He was so excited to be a new creation in Christ. Prior
to his salvation, he says that he never would have served anyone. Now
in the Lord, he was finding great joy in serving others in our
community. His heart's desire was to return to this area early next
year and serve again. Pray for Tom, that God continues to do great and
mighty things through him.

6.     Many of you have interacted with Jenn who coordinates all of the
teams who come to Trinity. Jenn shared recently how she has learned to
trust God for His supply of cooks for the teams. She told about how at
first a man from Texas named Jay came out of nowhere to cook for us.
Jay said, "I have to leave next Wednesday and Jenn said, "No, you can't
leave." Everyone was wringing their hands saying, "No, you can't
leave." Jenn was told, "Don't even worry about it. God is going to
give us cooks. You just believe it. God will give us cooks. You just
believe it. It's God's deal."

     After Jay left, Crystal came and then God provided another and
another. By then, Jenn had it in her job description to schedule cooks.
Last week, she wondered who would cook. Thursday, no time to look. No
cook coming next week. Friday, no time. Saturday was her day off. She
thought the world would not stop revolving if she took her day off.
Sunday, no cook. Sunday afternoon Jenn played the piano and had a quiet
time with the Father and God provided a peace that He would provide a
cook. Sunday evening Jenn was calling churches to confirm some
information and had temporarily forgotten the need for a cook. She
contacted a Virginia church and got the information she needed and the
person said, "By the way, we have a guy who would love to cook." Jenn
replied, "Of course you do." The cook was at Trinity the day he was
needed. Jenn says, "This is God's gig, not my gig. It wasn't my job to
figure it out, only to put it on the calendar."

     I love what God is doing! He is awesome! So far we have had
about 1,200 volunteers work out of Trinity from 15-20 states and Canada,
resulting in about 40,000 total volunteer work hours. Please know that
you can always check our webpage at www.trintiychurchonline.net for
updates and you may want to look at the pictures of our new building
that is now scheduled to be completed by April 1 (no joke).

Betting the Farm on God,

Michael
     

December 6, 2005

Weary, Yet Getting Excited in Louisiana

Anyone that really knows me knows that I love the Christmas season.  There is 
not much I don’t enjoy – the sights, smells and sounds of Christmas, glittering 
trees, the squeals of children’s excitement, good food, giving of gifts, 
traditions, extra time with friends, the opportunity to re-establish ties and 
reminisce with family and the message of the Christmas story where I am 
reminded, “I matter to God.”  I love all of that, and usually my sense of 
anticipation starts early.  However, I think my internal calendar has been off a 
little bit this year and my expectation for Christmas didn’t start being turned 
on until this last Sunday.  This may have been for several reasons:

1. Maybe I’m just kind of weary from the workload.

2. Maybe it’s because I haven’t really operated off of a calendar in 3 months.  
It’s hard to believe that Thanksgiving is over and December is here.

3. Maybe it’s because my home is still a wreck with construction, painting, 
trees being cut down, and piles of debris lining the road in front of my house 
awaiting FEMA to pick it up.  There are no decorations up, only dust.

4. Maybe it’s because my parents recently moved to a distant place and I no 
longer will return to my boyhood home and the place I celebrated Christmas for 
the last 43 years.  Christmas plans are still up in the air.

Yet, last week, a suggestion from one of my staff members started to change my 
perspective and get me thinking about Christmas.  Tuesday night I made a mental 
note that at my Wednesday staff meeting we needed to start planning for 
Christmas at Trinity.  When I arrived early on Wednesday, Liz, our bookkeeper, 
had already stopped by the church even though it was her day off.  She thought 
she had a stirring from God the night before and told a staff member to pass an 
idea on at our staff meeting.  If it was from God, we could use it, if not, we 
were to discard it.  The staff loved the idea!  I sensed it had the fingerprints 
of God all over it and expressed the outrageously generous heart of Jesus.

The idea was to purchase 370 fifty-dollar gift cards from Walmart and have them 
available in envelopes on Sunday morning to give to Trinity members.  Trinity 
members would then pray and ask the Holy Spirit to prompt them who to give the 
cards to.  In this way, the Trinity family would be empowered to go out in the 
name of Jesus and express the love of God to someone who was needy or needed 
encouragement.  People could be creative if they wanted to and buy a turkey for 
someone, or buy Christmas presents for needy children.  If they wanted to, they 
could cook a meal and invite someone over to express love at Christmas.  Others 
might just give the gift card to someone to select what is needed.

For me, the Sunday service was energizing and thrilling to watch teenagers and 
families pick up an envelope.  Some immediately knew who to help and others 
would wait on the Lord for direction.  Each person was given a blank letter to 
record the story of how God used the free gift.  I can’t wait to hear!  I am 
ready for Christmas now.  Jesus was right.  It truly is more blessed to give 
than to receive.

Betting the Farm on God,

Michael

P.S. Many thanks to the churches and individuals who have given to us so we 
could purchase the gift cards to help the needy this Christmas.  You are 
appreciated.  Please pray this week that Trinity people will have 370 divine 
appointments!

November 26, 2005

Thanksgiving

It was Thanksgiving and Snoopy was sitting on his dog house.  He was upset 
because Charlie Brown and his family were in the house celebrating with a huge 
turkey dinner.  Snoopy was stuck in the doghouse with dog food.  He reflected 
upon this and said, “It could be worse … I could have been born a turkey.”  What 
true words, “It could be worse.”

Robert Hughes, in his book, The Culture of Complaint, writes, “We live in a 
society where people perceive themselves as entitled to have all desires 
fulfilled.  When that doesn’t happen, we see ourselves as victims.  It is the 
culture of complaint.”  It sure is easy to expect more and more and more and 
experience less and less and less of good old fashioned gratitude and 
thanksgiving.  I don’t want to miss out on this opportunity this special 
Thanksgiving week.

I love the story of Jesus in Luke 17:11-19.  Remember ten lepers got healed, 
yet only one made a U-turn and went back and expressed gratitude.  It made all 
the difference in the world to Jesus.  He said, “Where are the other nine?”  
Reading between the lines, I think he was saying, “I wish they would have come 
back.”  Surely they felt thanksgiving but they didn’t express it.

This year I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the amazing grace of God.  I 
cherish my wife, Donna, and son, Jonathan.  I am overwhelmed with thanksgiving 
for my family and friends.  These past three months I have seen miracle and 
miracle.  Here are a few more accounts.  You may find it hard to believe so many 
stories are happening, but I assure you these are true:

1. Last week we had someone contact us at Trinity Church asking if we could use 
a church organ.  That was an incredibly generous offer; however, we are more of 
a praise team style church and couldn’t use the organ.  Following the call, 
someone walked into our free store.  The woman was a pastor’s wife from the 
little town next to ours.  Her husband had died in the aftermath of the 
hurricane along with two other family members.  Their church suffered from 
Katrina and she casually mentioned what they really needed was ... Guess … An 
organ!  That led to a time of praise like you wouldn’t believe.  These new 
friends were “praising God” just like they did in Acts 2.  God is God, and He 
cannot be stopped or contained.

2. You may remember the dear saint who made $130.00 a week (with no hope for 
advancement) who sent us a $5.00 gift card.  After mentioning this generosity to 
the Trinity family someone gave me $100 to pass on to this woman.  I sent the 
money to her and in her thank-you letter she indicated that she was totally out 
of money and this $100 was God’s miraculous supply.  This time she sent us a $10 
gift card to be used in the relief efforts.  I mentioned this to the family at 
Trinity this past Sunday and after the service people kept putting $20 bills in 
my hand saying, “send it to the $5 lady.”  By the end of the 2nd service I had 
$1,040 in my pocket.  You can’t out give God.  In Genesis 12 we are reminded 
that God blesses us so we can bless others and the whole world gets blessed in 
the process.  I would love to see the expression on the face of this new friend 
when she opens up the envelope.  I’ll keep you posted on what God does next.

3. At our services we normally have a sharing time before Thanksgiving.  What a 
thrill it was when a member told how she had shared Christ with her Mom for 10 
years and she just trusted Christ as her Savior!

4. God continues to provide in other astounding ways.  Last week we found out 
that Family Life ministry will put on their Marriage Conference for free right 
in our town of Mandeville.  I talked to the leader of this ministry and he asked 
Trinity to help sponsor this early 2006 special conference for hurricane 
victims.  Last Sunday, we had a special concert at Trinity sponsored by Music 
for the Soul.  This team of gifted song writers and musicians out of Nashville 
sang for us songs written to those who had been through Katrina.  A couple of 
days ago, I found out that Franklin Graham will be in our area in March and 
would like Trinity to join with other churches to sponsor a crusade.  On 
December 11, Bill Hamel, President of the Evangelical Free Church of America 
will speak at Trinity.  These are all gifts from God.

I trust you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  I appreciate your prayers, 
friendship and partnership with us in New Orleans.

Betting the Farm on God,

Michael

November 19, 2005

NASCAR Living or Soul Rest

Writer Dallas Willard states, “You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your 
life.”  This is true because we cannot live the life Jesus intends without 
entering into the rhythms of life Jesus designed for us.  This, of course, is 
challenging when our lives are a whole lot more like NASCAR than rest.

Just before Hurricane Katrina hit, I got hit between the eyes that my RPM’s were 
set a little too high.  Driving across Lake Ponchartrain via the Causeway to New 
Orleans one day I distinctly remember approaching the end of the 24 mile bridge 
and noticing the speed limit change from 65 to 35 MPH.  I had a choice – tap the 
brake or coast.  Seeing no other cars around, I decided to coast and let my 
speed decrease. Within moments I was being waved down by a police officer and 
was given a ticket for going 22 miles over the speed limit.  My 18-year old son 
enjoyed hearing every moment of this occasion.  He reiterated to me every 
lecture he had ever received from yours truly.  I was reminded several times 
that he had never had an accident or ticket.  He loved to tease me, “You are 
supposed to be a pastor.”  Even my dear wife, Donna, had a little snicker and 
some words of instruction.  Ouch, yet not the end of the story.

A few days later, our family was traveling to Texas.  Donna was driving and I 
was asleep in the backseat.  All of a sudden I sensed that we were slowing down 
and heard Jonathan say something like, “He’s coming after you.”  Sure enough, a 
police officer was soon at Donna’s window asking her about her speed.  She had 
accidentally missed a sign in this little town.  The officer kindly gave her a 
warning.  Of course, my son had a field day with this infraction as well.  He 
loved every minute of this.  Pretending to be asleep in the backseat, I confess, 
I couldn’t help but at least smile a little … but yet not the end of the story.

A few days after we returned from Texas, I was looking out the window of our 
home as Jonathan pulled into the driveway.  Behind him was … you guessed it, a 
police car.  I walked outside and the policeman informed me that my son had not 
fully stopped at the stop sign next to our house.  The officer said to me, “Do 
you want to give him the medicine, or do you want me to?”  Everything in me 
wanted to say, “After all I’ve been through, you give him the medicine.”  Yet I, 
somewhat begrudgingly, said, “I will.”

I don’t know if these things ever happen in your house, but these things really 
happened in ours.  The men in blue with badges had certainly gotten our 
attention and the common thread was, “slow down.”  Then came Katrina!  I have 
moved at the fastest pace during these past two and a half months than I ever 
have in my entire life.  The needs are great and the demands seem endless at 
times.  There is a constant juggling of competing time demands in the midst of 
great opportunities: Pastor/Shepherding, community outreach, prayer, preaching, 
building teams, Capital Campaign, new building, staff oversight, radio 
interviews, communication, administration, networking, family, etc.  Though my 
body is occasionally weary, my spirit has been vibrant, fresh, alive and 
exhilarated throughout the entire endeavor.  I have been working 12, 14, 16, 18 
hour days week after week.  I was created for such a time as this and I am 
amazed by the grace of God that is mistakable.  The strength I have had to 
persevere has come from God.  Yet, I also hear the Spirit now saying, “Slow 
Down.”  My calling in life is not to be a NASCAR driver, zipping in and out of 
the lanes of life to gain some elusive checkered flag this world offers.  There 
is a better RPM level that will create a right rhythm for my life and 
fulfillment of my calling.

As Thanksgiving week approaches, I plan to take a few days off and do three 
things.  Maybe you need to do the same.

1. Pull over

Jesus said, “Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give 
rest for your souls” (Matt. 11:28).  Jesus is saying, “God is not 
pro-exhaustion.”  I am going to pull over and take some time for:

Solitude
Sleep
Wonder
Meditation
Thanksgiving
Recreation
Revitalization
Good Food – turkey and pumpkin pie
Time with family and friends – Jonathan is coming home Wednesday, yea!

I am choosing to pull over for a time and tune up for the next leg of a very 
important journey.  Do you need to do the same?

2. Pop the hood

It is always good to pray, “Search me, Oh God, and know my heart.”  Ps. 
139:19.

Fast people, from time-to-time, need to pop the hood and ask good questions.  I 
got a good list of questions from Mike Breaux yesterday to contemplate:

What’s making me idle so fast?
What am I chasing?
What am I running from?
Why is my body running so rough?
Why is my mind constantly racing?
Why can’t I say “no”?
Am I addicted to approval?
What is fueling my competitive drive?
What part does procrastination and clutter play in my life?
What part does perfectionism play in my life?
Why am I a perfectionist?
Why do I work so hard to be accepted when I already am?
Why do I work so hard to be someone when I already am?
Why do I feel distant from you, God?
Why when Jesus says, “Come,” I won’t?

Great questions, aren’t they?  Many of these questions don’t apply to us, but 
maybe some do.  Those of us who at times suffer from the “Hurry Syndrome” should 
not be afraid to ask them.

3. Change Lanes

I am choosing to build greater sanity into my schedule.  I have finished the 
“first response” stage of Katrina and now need to enter into a rhythm of life 
that will sustain me for the entire race.  It will be a 500-mile race for sure 
and will go on for several years.  Pray for wisdom as I plan for a new rhythm 
for my schedule in the coming months.  As Rick Warren puts it, I need to Divert 
daily, Withdrawal weekly, and Abandon annually.

How about you?  Are you hearing the same words of the Spirit to “slow down?”  
Have you been driving far too long in the fast lane, swerving and honking 
through life?  Author Richard Swenson helps Americans see ourselves as he 
writes, “Take a look at our lives.  We send packages by Federal Express, have a 
long distance company named Sprint, manage our personal finances on Quicken, 
schedule our appointments on a Day timer, diet with Slim Fast, and have swimming 
trunks by Speedo.”  That says it all!  If your life is like mine … Pull over, 
Pop the Hood and Change Lanes!

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, we know that living at NASCAR speeds continually
• Causes our hearts to grow small and our joy levels to diminish
• Causes a heaviness of heart, a weariness of body, and an inner erosion of 
strength
• Causes us to skim on prayer and causes us to miss the still, small voice of 
God
• Causes our relationships to be superficial and our families to be crippled
• Causes soul fatigue, worry, exhaustion and feelings of always being behind

Jesus, help us to ruthlessly eliminate hurry from our lives.  Help us to enter 
into the life of Jesus by entering into the ways and rhythms of Jesus.  Jesus, 
we choose to come to you and find rest for our souls, thanksgiving for our 
hearts, awe and wonder in our minds and the joy of the Lord as our strength.  We 
choose to live under the rule and reign of God in our life.  Amen

Betting the Farm on God,

Michael

P.S. The traffic court D.A. dropped my speeding ticket because it was a first 
offense.  Isn’t GRACE amazing in all its forms – big and small?

November 11, 2005


Katrina Fatigue

It’s midnight and as I sit down to write this letter with the television on in 
the background, the commentator on CNN is doing a story on “Katrina Fatigue.”  
The case was made that Washington has already forgotten about New Orleans and 
has moved on to other events:  Iraq, tornado’s, elections, deficits, etc.  
Politicians aren’t so sure that they want to fund a levee system or help New 
Orleans in ways that were initially promised.  The new coined phrase is “Katrina 
Fatigue.”

I write to you tonight confident that our network of volunteers and partners has 
not been affected at all by “Katrina Fatigue.”

1. Tonight I spent 2-1/2 hours with 120 volunteers who are being deployed from 
Trinity.  These servants of Christ are fired up, dedicated ambassadors of 
Christ.  Their work ethic is extraordinary and their compassion is unmistakable. 
 We are most blessed because of the “Katrina Faithful.”

2. Many people shared tonight how God was profoundly transforming their own 
lives as well as others.  One young woman told of a struggle she personally had 
with God.  An extended conversation with another woman and an unexpected hug 
from a team member helped produce a significant breakthrough.  It reveals the 
power of a listening ear and the power of a touch.

3. Another team member reported how their group was helping a member of the 
community.  Some were commenting that the Katrina crisis had not produced 
recognizable heroes like the firefighters and police in the 911 crisis.  The 
local person begged to differ, concluding that church teams are the heroes in 
Katrina.  Wouldn’t it be nice if the national news discovered the significance 
of this phenomenon?

4. I discovered that one man led three different individuals to Christ and many 
groups had the opportunity to pray with people in the community.

5. You may recall the dear woman who sent us a $5 gift card despite only earning 
$130 a week.  When I reported this in a Sunday service, someone gave me $100 to 
send to this dear saint.  This week I received a letter back detailing how 
surprised she was at the donation, but how needed it was.  She was totally out 
of money for her living expenses.  God is good.  In fact, this woman sent us a 
new $10 gift card!  When I announce this on Sunday, I wonder if anyone will want 
to bless back this generous woman with the two mites and keep this cycle of 
blessing going.

6. Trinity received a letter and gift from a man who leads worship at a 
Christian home.  One-third of the participants are in wheelchairs and most are 
on Medicaid.  He assured me many had very little money, yet their generous 
hearts produced a check for $550.  What a blessing from those with so little.

7. One of our work teams has a woman who is blind.  Yes, blind!  I’m told she 
goes out and guts homes with the best of them.  Yea God!

8. One of the team members noticed a Trinity person come into the worship center 
and closely eye all of the commotion, look down at the stained carpet, and 
survey the myriad of sleeping bags.  She thought, oh my, this woman must be 
upset with all of the change in the church.  She approached the woman to comfort 
her.  She discovered, rather than being upset, the woman had great joy and was 
going from spot to spot praying for those represented by the sleeping bags.  The 
“church of the stained carpet” continues on.  We have the best people in the 
world at Trinity.  (Sorry, I am absolutely and unapologetically biased on this 
area.)

9. One team member explained how she was assigned to go door-to-door in New 
Orleans getting work orders.  She was informed that she was in a neighborhood 
with gangs.  A number of young men were sitting nearby and when she walked by, 
she quickly realized that they were not just smoking cigarettes.  Later in the 
day, after her team had finished their work in the community, she was walking 
down the street and one of the men approached her.  He threw his arms around her 
and gave her a great big hug.  He expressed great thanksgiving that someone 
would unselfishly care for his community.  If God can break down walls between 
gang members and middle aged women from a different part of the country, can’t 
He do anything?

10. Every day, more and more teams are scheduling to come and make an impact.  
These teams, who come to give, end up receiving.  They find it is more blessed 
to give than receive and proceed to go back and fire their churches up.  It is a 
victorious cycle that gets played out day after day.

I am humbled to serve with people who love God and His bride so much … to serve 
with people who take risks, pay the price, sleep on floors, ride in stuffy vans, 
shed the old, embrace the new, understand their callings, celebrate the fruit, 
and do it all for God’s glory.

Rather than “Katrina Fatigue” I think the pattern more closely parallels 2 Cor. 
8:1-5, “Now, brethren, we wish to make known to you the grace of God which has 
been given in the churches of Macedonia, that in a great ordeal of affliction 
their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their 
liberality.  For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their 
ability they gave of their own accord, begging us with much entreaty for the 
favor of participation in the support of the saints, and this, not as we had 
expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of 
God.”

Betting the Farm on God,

Michael

November 5, 2005

Empty Nest/No Nest/Messy Nest/No Nest

            As I write this letter it is hard to process all that has happened in recent days.  One week prior to the hurricane we dropped our only child, Jonathan, off at Baylor University in Waco , Texas to begin his freshman year.  We experienced the “Empty Nest!”  A week later we fled Katrina and found ourselves as refugees in Birmingham , AL .  We experienced, “No Nest.”

Tonight I write from the “Messy Nest.”  Internal construction of our home is underway.  Five rooms and a hallway are being repaired because of water damage after the tree hit our home.  Furniture has been moved into a small area and a large electronic scaffold is sitting in my living room.  The carpet has been removed, the walls and ceiling are being repaired, and dust is everywhere.  We anticipate that we will need to move out during the reconstruction phase leaving us once again with, “No Nest.”

Despite all of this, God’s hand is powerful and unmistakable:

1.      On Wednesday, a young woman, maybe 20 years old, came into the office and said, “I want to pay my tithe.”  We didn’t quite understand, so she explained, “My church in New Orleans was totally destroyed.  This morning I said to God, ‘The first church I see, I am going to give them my tithe.’  So, I was coming down Hwy. 190 and I saw the Free Food/Free Water Trinity sign and I came in to pay my tithe.”  God provides!

2.      Later that day a brother and sister drove 1,100 straight miles from Wisconsin to Trinity.  They heard about a need we had to house key staff volunteers and decided to donate their fully-furnished travel trailer to us.  With joy they dropped it off and headed home.  God provides!  (A staff member is very glad  to not have to sleep on the worship center floor every night with all of the team members who have come to serve.)

3.      Today, a man came down with a beautiful new truck with a sign on it saying, “Trinity Disaster Relief.”  We have been needing transportation for longer-term volunteers.  He gave us the new truck.  Amazing!  God provides!

4.      One of the team members said today, “I’ve grown more in 3 days than I have in the last 5 years.  It’s all because of the people at Trinity Church .”  God provides!

5.      God has opened up opportunities through radio to tell the story of what God is doing in New Orleans .  This has included three national radio programs broadcasting from the Moody Broadcasting Network in Chicago , a radio station in Ohio , and one in St. Louis .  A Milwaukee newspaper is also writing a story on Trinity Church .  These are great opportunities to tell about the real needs of New Orleans and recount the deeds of the Lord.  God provides!

6.      On Wednesday, Pastor Doug Anderson of Bethel Evangelical Free Church in Fargo , North Dakota flew down to speak at our mid-week service and to lead a staff retreat.  Bethel ’s elders commissioned their senior pastor to care for me and our staff in any way that would help.  It was perfect timing!  God provides!

7.      Teams of great servants continue to stream in from all over the United States .  Trinity will be up to 120 workers by the end of the week, and more will be working out of Castlerock Church in New Orleans .  God provides!

8.      A ministry called “Music for the Soul” has recorded seven songs for a new CD to minister directly to those who went through the devastation.  They will hold their first New Orleans concert at Trinity on November 20^th at our Sunday services.  They will be giving out 500 free CD’s.  God provides!

9.      President Bill Hamel, of the EFCA, will speak at Trinity on December 11^th.  God provides!

Please pray for all we have to juggle at this time:

1.      House repair

2.      Insurance issues

3.      Marriage/Jonathan in college

4.      New Children’s Building under construction

5.      Capital Campaign

6.      Furnishing a new building (no money for this)

7.      Care for the flock

8.      Team ministry in the community

9.      Leading ever-expanding staff

10.     Preaching

Please pray.  The needs are great but the opportunity is greater.  Trinity is certainly the target of the Dark Kingdom .  I’m certain that my staff each have a target on their backs.  Pray for protection, unity, holiness and perseverance.

Pray that our church family and the teams be known as a “people who have been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13 ).  Pray we focus on the size of our God, not the size of our problems.  Pray that God builds mighty men and women of God through this suffering.  This is an opportunity to put our spiritual roots down deep and hear God call us to a whole new kind of relationship with Him.  Once people taste this, most will never want to go back to the old way.  It is happening.

Personally, I wouldn’t wish this catastrophe on anyone, but likewise, I wouldn’t trade what God has been teaching me for anything.  I am getting to walk with Jesus and experience His supernatural presence, power, and provision.  Despite being weary, I have a joy beyond what I have ever known.  Just as Moses could only handle life so long before he had to go up to the mountain, so I am discovering the refreshment of meeting with God.  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  I love the heart of Paul in Philippians 3:7-14, “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.  More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from {the} Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which {comes} from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.  Not that I have already obtained {it}  or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.  Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of {it} yet; but one thing {I do}  forgetting what {lies} behind and reaching forward to what {lies} ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Betting the Farm on God,

Michael

October 29, 2005

The Backside of the Hurricane

This week one of the team members told me about one of the families that were 
helped a few days ago on the Pearl River near Slidell.  The family decided to 
ride out Katrina in their sturdy, raised home.  Despite the ferocity of the 
hurricane, they thought that they had thankfully survived.  The violence of the 
storm subsided and they went outside to enjoy the calm and survey the damage.  
For a few moments they experienced euphoria but that soon game way to fear.  
They realized that they were in the “eye” and the backside of the hurricane was 
coming with vengeance.  The water started rising a foot every few minutes.  Soon 
their boat tied to the lower level was up 12 feet or so and they needed to get 
in it fast or the water would overtake their home.  In the middle of the 
hurricane, they maneuvered up the river.  The only problem was when they got to 
the first bridge, the water was almost bridge high and the boat could not go 
under it.  So, they docked at the bridge and got onto the bridge.  After a few 
minutes they noticed something big coming downstream.  It was their house!  It 
shattered into a million pieces at the bridge.  They realized that the water 
would soon be over the bridge.  Their only hope was a mad dash to the boat and 
try to maneuver to the other side of the river and onto a sturdy looking 
tugboat.  As they got close, they didn’t know if it was possible to make it.  
They can’t explain the last leg of the journey, but in their words, “God got 
them on that tugboat and they rode out the storm.”  The man said, “I never 
thought about God before Katrina, but now I think about Him all of the time.  I 
have been in church every Sunday since.”  I ask you, if a hurricane gets a man 
connected with God, was the hurricane God’s justice or His mercy?

I tell you that story to ask you not to forget us because the backside of the 
hurricane is coming.  If you hear reports of progress (and there is some), the 
truth is we are only in the eye.  The rest is coming, and I sense the water is 
rising a few feet everyday.

1. Some churches have been shut down or badly hurt.  One church staff person 
reported that out of a church of 127, they had only been able to talk to two 
people.  The rest were scattered.  One man told me that their church attendance 
was down by 2,000 (not a misprint).

2. Counselors have written me to warn me to watch for Post-disaster stress 
syndrome.  Another reported the statistics on divorce one year after a disaster 
are off the charts.

3. Greater numbers of people are dealing with discouragement, sickness and 
weariness.

4. Many report to me the guilt they experience.  “False guilt” from my 
perspective.  Some feel guilty that they aren’t serving more.  Others feel 
guilty because they didn’t get hit as hard as someone else or that they still 
have their job.

5. The newspaper reports daily the next round of corporate layoffs, how broke 
the city and state is, or who is blaming who today.

6. Many are simply sick of the debris.  Others are mad at FEMA or have the 
headache of fighting the insurance companies.

Yes, the backside of the hurricane is coming, and it will be worse than the 
first wallop.

Why the information?  Simply a call for you to not forget us and a call to 
pray.  I am making a habit of Asking, Seeking and Knocking (Matt. 7:7)  I ask 
you to do the same.  Pray for:

Marriages
Teenagers
Children
Jobs
Spiritual breakthroughs
Strength
A church that is weary
Elders/deacons/staff – see trinitychurchonline.net to pray for each by name
Revival
Unity
Wisdom

God is answering prayer.  The stories still come in daily.

1. I met a new man at church on Wednesday night.  A team had removed a large 
number of trees from his property that day and he showed up at service to give 
thanks.  I asked him if he had a home church.  He said, “No, but I’d like to 
make Trinity my home.”

2. Our free store still operates.  There is a continual stream of guests who get 
food and hear about the good news.

3. The police headquarters called this week.  Many of the officers have been 
working such long hours that they haven’t been able to dig themselves out.  They 
wanted to know if we could help.  The answer was “yes.”  That’s why we are 
running teams.

4. Mark Lewis, along with his wife and three young children, is moving from 
Pennsylvania to Louisiana within a few weeks.  Mark will head up the ministry of 
teams.  Amazing.  An engineer/project manager gives up the “good life” to come 
to the disaster.  Crazy, yet the Bible says, “If you save your life, you lose 
it, but if you lose your life for Jesus’ sake and the gospel, you find it.”

5. Today I bumped into a guy I haven’t seen in 4-5 years.  I didn’t recognize 
him, but he reminded me of the one time we met.  It was through a mutual friend. 
 He told me that friend (whom I hadn’t seen in a long time) was not attending 
church anywhere.  I sensed a “divine appointment.”  I got the phone number and 
took a shot.  It was a “God thing” – perfect timing.  He said his whole family 
had been thinking this week about coming to Trinity.  Yea God.

I hope you can tell we are moving forward though we limp.  We see His grace in 
the midst of our weakness.  We identify with Paul’s words in 2 Cor. 4:7-18:

“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of 
the power may be of God and not from ourselves; {we are} afflicted in every way, 
but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; 
struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of 
Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.  For we who 
live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, that the life 
of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.  So death works in us, but 
life in you.  But having the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, 
"I believed, therefore I spoke," we also believe, therefore also we 
speak; knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus 
and will present us with you.  For all things {are} for your sakes, that the 
grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks 
to abound to the glory of God.  Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our 
outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.  For 
momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far 
beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at 
the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but 
the things which are not seen are eternal.”

Thank you for not forgetting us!

Betting the farm on God,

Michael

October 22, 2005

The Fellowship of the Burning Hearts

Two years ago Trinity Church went through “40 Days of Purpose.”  It was 
excellent and many grew but that time doesn’t compare to “50 Days of Katrina.”  
Christian pollsters have asked believers to look back on their lives and 
identify what has caused them to grow the most.  The number one response was 
“suffering.”  We might not want to hear that, but is often true.  It’s amazing 
how this crisis has created simplicity and purity of devotion to Jesus in me.

The Jesus I am encountering is very different from the flannel graph Jesus 
holding a lamb that I learned about in Sunday school.  He is different from the 
Mr. Rogers figure I met as a teenager, and even the “doctrinally precise” facts 
of Jesus I encountered in seminary.  He is not the political Jesus (have to be 
part of the right party), social Jesus (his only care is social work), Rambo 
Jesus, CEO Jesus, or the “nice guy” Jesus.

He is certainly not the Jesus the church has tamed - in Dorothy Sayers’ words, 
“very efficiently pared the claws of the Lion of Judah, certified Him as a 
fitting household pet for pale curates and pious old ladies.”  The Jesus I am 
walking with is not boring or predictable.  In fact, He surprises me everyday, 
yet invites me to live in His power, presence and rule.  He is inviting me to 
walk in a Kingdom that is not of this world.  It is an invisible kingdom but is 
one that is on a collision course with all the kingdoms of this world.  Jesus 
says, “Start living your life differently; do it My way!  Your way won’t work.  
Choose mine instead!  His message is the most compelling thing I’ve ever heard 
and I have a burning desire to invite others into the company of Jesus.  Listen 
to a few notes from people on how this is happening:

“…it became apparent that you and your church had an incredible impact on our 
lives. To see Trinity rise up out of the ashes of such a tragedy and respond the 
way you have has changed my personal ministry forever. Even while writing this 
e-mail I hold back tears of joy, knowing that God is moving so powerfully 
through you and Trinity. As a young man looking forward to a life of ministry, I 
feel beyond fortunate for having stayed just a few days with you. While your 
congregation might have lost some or all of their physical possessions, they are 
to me the richest people in all  the world. Their daily dependence on God and 
passionate worship in spite of tragedy is an inspiration that I cannot express 
in words…”

“…I just returned from N.O. working with Urban Impact Ministries…The Lord has 
deeply burdened my heart for the victims of Katrina.  I have been consumed with 
His call to "give ourselves to the hungry and to satisfy the desires of the 
afflicted then your light will shine in the darkness...to be repairers of the 
breach and restorers of streets to dwell in!" (Isaiah 58) My wife and I 
(and 4 kids) are prayerfully considering selling our home and moving to do full 
time relief/ministry in some capacity.  I don't know what it would look like but 
I know the Lord has given me much vision…I have such a deep love for the Lord 
and for people and want to be faithful and obedient as He leads me.”

“…I have been longing for the Acts 2 church.  Upon coming home, I have been 
telling everyone I have finally found and got to participate in an Acts 2 
church…I told one person ‘if my life was my own, I’d move in a heartbeat’ to 
join with you all…I’m praying that God would show us how we can move into this 
type of ‘doing church’ apart from a disaster having to happen.”  

“After a week at Trinity it was like Jesus taking my face in the palms of HIS 
hands, holding my face in front of HIS face to where I could "see" HIM 
like I never have before. I was looking into the face of a Man whose heart and 
passion was for people. His face revealed His heart for the lost people today. 
For a split second His life on earth passed before me.... His purpose was to 
seek and save the lost.”

Please pray for two things:

1. Pray for the ever deepening needs of people.  Some are recovering, some of us 
are probably not even fully aware of how this is impacting us and some are 
desperate.  Yesterday I had to deal with two incidents where people had suicidal 
issues.  The week before, someone wanted to talk to a pastor because her son was 
threatening to kill her.  She wouldn’t call the police unless a pastor or priest 
told her that it was ok.  The week before my secretary looked into her rearview 
mirror and saw the man in the car behind her hitting his dashboard.  Then he got 
out of the car and started hitting the hood.  She feared he would start hitting 
her.  Some in our congregation have had coworkers and friends commit suicide.  
These incidents just show the despair that can come from being overwhelmed.  
Pray for the ministry of comfort that comes from the Comforter.

2. Pray for us to be alert against the schemes of the devil.  I told my wife 
last week that the devil will not let zeal get into a congregation without him 
trying to steal, kill and destroy.  Sure enough, I sense his attacks.  Pray for 
us to be strong and courageous.  Pray we do not wilt in our resolve to persevere 
for Christ.  I have received three separate reports of churches that have chosen 
to get out of the relief business and get back to church as normal.  Maybe that 
is God’s calling, but I fear there will always be a drift to comfortable.  Pray 
for us that we will listen and obey God’s callings, even when they are hard.  
Pray we will continue to serve Christ as we serve our community.  Pray for 
hundreds of decisions that need to be made to sustain outreach and in-reach.  
Pray we remember always our first love, Jesus.

I continue to be a wide-eyed dreamer that the church can change the world.  This 
is happening, one person at a time.  The risen Jesus of Revelation 1 is the Lion 
of Judah who makes us more than conquerors.  Thank you for your support, 
encouragement and prayers.  I daily experience the feelings of Luke 23 when the 
disciples said, “were not our hearts burning while we walked with Him on the 
way.”  I rejoice in being part of the fellowship of the burning hearts.

Betting the Farm on God,

Michael

October 19, 2005

The Church of the Stained Carpet

A perplexing phenomenon is happening over and over with our work teams at Trinity that has me absolutely dumfounded, not knowing quite what to think.  As the groups leave, many profusely thank me for the opportunity they have had to serve and for the impact Trinity has had in blessing their lives.  This seems so backwards.  After all, we are the ones limping, crushed, hurting, desperate, and the recipients of the help.  It seems to me that we should be thanking the teams one hundred fold for all that they are sacrificing for us.  Yet, despite my best attempts at expressing gratitude and appreciation, groups thank me.  Here is the pattern that emerged this week:

1.         One woman, a church staff member of one of these churches, said, “The people of Trinity are my heroes.”  She explained that most churches, including hers, wouldn’t turn their buildings into a Kingdom Mobilization Center with a free store in the worship center and people sleeping all over the building.

2.         Another leader nicknamed Trinity, “The church of the stained carpet.”  He found delight that the church was manifesting an Acts 2 ministry and wished he didn’t have to leave.

3.         Another group leader exclaimed for the first time in his life that he was seeing a church “all used up.”  He thought that is the way church ought to be done.

At Trinity, we are finding a new “normal” for doing church.  Our building is not tidy, sanitized, or formal anymore; in fact, at times it may appear trashed from so much use.  There is a constant buzz, and decisions flow out of kingdom availability as opposed to creating a “church look.”  The building is in constant use from the constant flow of people into the free-store, work teams, and the reengagement of our church ministries.  Our calling is to “die daily.”  As we surrender to Jesus, He energizes the ministry and makes a way.  It may not all be pretty, but it is beautiful to behold.  Lives are being transformed and that makes everything worthwhile.  This is harvest time and so we choose not to shine-up the tractor, plant the flowers in the garden, or paint the barn now.  There may be a time for that later, we hope, but for now we choose to bring in the harvest.

Sharing time during the Sunday service was as electrifying as in past weeks.  The stories of God’s new mercies are exceedingly good and we choose to recount these “burning bush” experiences publically.

1.         One man, named Gene from Wyoming, told of his team’s experience this week helping a senior woman by clearing a long driveway that had so many trees down upon it you couldn’t even tell where the road was. With great labor, a bobcat, and chainsaws they labored over 2 days clearing a path.  The woman was clearly overwhelmed but encouraged that someone would come to her rescue.  The last day she had a doctor’s appointment and upon her return they asked her to experience the pleasure of once again driving down the driveway to her home.  What she didn’t know was that while she was at her appointment the team lined her driveway with balloons and her porch contained a big sign that read, “Love, Trinity Evangelical Free Church.”  Tears of sorrow the day before turned into tears of joy.  Isn’t the Kingdom of Jesus worth celebrating?  There is nothing like it!

2.         We had college groups of 110, 36, 30, and 101 in this week from Trinity Seminary, Moody Bible Institute, Washington Bible College/Capital Bible Seminary, and University of Tennessee.  These were among the finest young adults you could find anywhere.  They were hardworking, Christ-honoring and servant-hearted.  Their enthusiasm was contagious and we would delight in having them return.  Many testified to God’s work in their lives.  One group got diverted from their work assignment because someone landed on a bee’s nest.  Yet, the hospital became their divine appointment.  In the waiting room they got to share Christ with several in the hospital.  Nothing can stop the work of Christ, not even a hornet’s nest.  Yea God!

3.         I read the letter in our service from a woman from Michigan who sent us a $5.00 gift certificate though she only makes $130.00 a week with no hope for career advancement.  She wanted to help the people in Louisiana who have far less than she has.  This modern day woman with “2 mites” blew us all away with her extreme generosity and desire to send more when she can save another $5.00.  After the service, someone left me with an envelope to send to this dear saint of Christ.  It contained $100.00.  You cannot out give God.  He is moving among His people so that people are seeing the “manna” of God.  I thank God that He is redeeming people’s lives and pocketbooks. Yea God!

I preached from Revelation 3 on the church at Philadelphia.  This was the church of the “open door.”  We are that church as God has opened a door for us.  This is the opportunity of a lifetime.  The fish are biting and conversations of eternal consequence are occurring constantly.  This is a great work of the Spirit of God.  Pray for darkness to be pushed back and lives to be changed forever.  There is no endeavor that has higher stakes than the work of investing in people’s lives, souls and forever’s.  Pray for our leaders who are at the helm of the most important ship in the ocean.  Pray for our people who yearn to give their best despite brokenness at every level of life.  Pray for those despairing from a magnitude of loss that is almost indescribable.  Pray for the church to have her finest hour as Jesus Christ is lifted up and people are driven to him.  Pray that God sustains our unity, minds, bodies, hands, feet, so we do not dishonor Him.

Still Betting the Farm on God,

Michael

P.S.  Sometimes our communication vehicles are not working, so continue to check out www.trinitychurchonline.net for new information.

October 13, 2005

New Mercies:

This morning fifteen staff (Trinity and Katrina) joined together for a couple of 
hours to plan for ministry that is sustainable over the next year or two.  The 
structures we have now cannot accommodate the size of the project so we are 
seeking God on how to super-size everything (offices, phones, communication, 
transportation, equipment, staff, computers, etc.)  Pray!  We all need to pull 
together for the next few weeks to make this work, and after that, we hope to 
have additional staff, equipment and structures to get past “organized chaos” to 
“organized for the long run.”  With all the struggles, we are daily amazed what 
God is accomplishing through our inadequacies.

We started our staff meeting by focusing on celebrating the good work of God.  
If we go too fast we will miss modern day burning bushes and the fingerprints of 
God.  We are choosing to identify the sacred places and His divine imprints.  If 
we only choose to live at a frantic speed, we will miss out on awe, wonder, 
celebration, and the peace that transcends our circumstances.  I believe part of 
the revolution of our souls is to move us out of being superficial consumers to 
a people who celebrate.

In our case, the question is not if God is present, it’s simply a matter of our 
awareness of Him.  We choose to see the divine in the ordinary and sometimes 
glimpse the extraordinary.  Our sharing and prayer time was filled with boasting 
in the new mercies of God.

Last night, during our sharing service, God showed up again.

1. One work team had cleaned up a home and got to lead a woman to faith in 
Christ.  She was introduced at the services as a new believer.  What joy!  We 
all celebrated.

2. Another business man revealed how God has revolutionalized his life.  He has 
been helping a person who lost everything.  He humbly admitted that a few months 
ago he would not have given a person like this a second’s thought.  Now he looks 
at people through the Father’s eyes.

3. I read a letter from a modern day “woman with two mites.”  The letter read, 
“I heard you on Open Line tonight and enclosed is a $5.00 shopping card also 
good for gasoline use.  I wish it could be more, but I’m only netting $130.00 
per week (approx.) with no hope for advancement or wage increase.  I’m sure I 
have much more than those in your area.  I have some bread machines, pots and 
pans, a slow cooker, etc. I’d like to send to you when I have postage, if you 
want them...I’m also a pet groomer and if I was down there, I could help…when I 
can add money to it (the card), I will.  I will do the best that I can to add or 
send another card.”

I am blown away by the generosity of this dear saint.  She lives on $130.00 a 
week, yet is sending what she can to us.  Please pray for God’s abundance to be 
lavished on her.

4. Another woman shared how God has emboldened her to be open and authentic with 
the baggage in her life.  She shared powerfully how God is at work and how 
living in truth and not in lies is freeing.

5. Another couple in our church boasted in God’s provision of a free fifth wheel 
to live in.  Their home was destroyed, yet God provided.

6. One team member was amazed and undone by God’s ability to provide.  He had 
come to Louisiana without the cord to recharge his cell phone and couldn’t 
locate the right cell phone store in the area to get a new one.  After his team 
completed a major tree clearing job, the team went deep into some bushes/tree 
area and oddly, there was a cord hanging from a bush.  As they took a closer 
look, they were dumbfounded that it was the exact cell phone recharger that this 
man needed.  Coincidence or divine appointment?  Had it gone through the 
hurricane?  How did it appear in the middle of nowhere?  The fingerprints of 
God?  I say “yes”!

7. Our office staff needed an additional staff person immediately and prayers 
went up to God.  Unbeknownst to them, a volunteer broke his foot in several 
places and at the moment, all he can do is “office work.”  He called his 
employer back home and the boss said that he had full disability coverage, and 
he could stay here six weeks and work in our office.  God provides.

I trust you, too, are looking for the fingerprints of God.  As you see His 
fingerprints, boast in God almighty.  If you get a chance, let me know your 
story.  I’m convinced God is all powerful and is strongly working among His 
people.  Be strong and courageous.  Be looking for His miracles.

Please pray for us:

1. Pray for the expansion of our ministry structures.  We have a 14-inch skillet 
right now, and we need to get a 36-inch skillet to handle our enlarged “fishing” 
business.

2. Pray for a new children’s pastor for Trinity Church.  My wonderful part-time 
children’s director, Suzanne Cole, informed me today that she will need to 
transition off the staff by the end of November.  Suzanne will stay fully 
engaged in ministry at Trinity, but recognizes that a full-time pastor is needed 
for the next season of ministry.  She built the ministry upon the foundation of 
Jesus and made Sunday the best part of the week for many kids.  Pray for Suzanne 
and for Trinity as we look to God’s direction.

3. Pray for provision for our new children’s ministry building.  This building 
is going up right before our eyes and is desperately needed for ministry.  The 
completion date is early next year.

The building will be used for our children’s ministry, but God may have known we 
would also need to use this to house our Katrina staff and volunteer sleeping 
quarters.  Our pledge system has collapsed since the hurricane hit, and we will 
need to pay the bank about $750,000 over the next few months.  This amount seems 
huge to me, but I am trusting God for His direction.  I’m convinced we were led 
to build this building, so we are pushing full-speed to finish it.  Pray hard!

4. Pray for revival.  This means renewal in hearts and repentance where needed.  
Luke 13:4-5 in part addresses the question of how to respond to natural 
disasters like tsunami’s, tornado’s, or Katrina’s.  The passage says, “Or do you 
suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, 
were {worse} culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem?  I tell you, no, 
but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."

Jesus’ response to this disaster may seem shocking.  The amazing thing is not 
that a tower fell on 18 sinners, but that it didn’t fall on all of us.  We tend 
to put God on trial when calamity hits rather than putting ourselves on trial.  
God is calling the world to humility, surrender and repentance.  The truth 
is…God is holy, and it is a miracle that I am breathing.  I deserve separation 
from Him because of my sin, yet the good news is that Jesus did something for me 
that I never could have done for myself.  Because of His substitutionary work on 
the cross, I can stand forgiven and reconciled to God.  This is called, 
GRACE…God’s free gift that is extended to an undeserving person.  The gift of 
peace with God and forgiveness is offered as a free gift to anyone who is 
willing to humble themselves and trust Christ.  The words of one man in 
scripture was “Be merciful to me, a sinner.”  If you have never prayed to 
receive this gift of grace, sincerely pray this prayer to God:

“Lord Jesus Christ, I know I am a sinner and not deserve eternal life.  But, I 
believe You died and rose from the grave to purchase a place in heaven for me.  
Lord Jesus, come into my life; take control of my life; forgive my sins and save 
me.  I repent of my sins and now place my trust in you for my salvation.  I 
accept the free gift of eternal life.”

If you prayed that prayer, let me know.  It will absolutely make my day.

Betting the Farm on God,

Michael 

October 10, 2005

Stories:

I have marveled for a long time at how the book of John ends:

“And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were 
written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the 
books which were written.”  ~John 21:25

Wow!  What are those stories?  What a life well lived.  There is no one like 
Jesus and I’m finding He is still creating story after story in the lives of 
people.  In the service yesterday at Trinity Church, you couldn’t help but sit 
on the edge of your seat wondering what God would do next.

1. The first man, a church member, shared how he had so many trees fall on his 
property, it took two and a half 18-wheelers to haul away all of the debris.  
The company he hired was from Texas and over the three days that they worked, he 
shared with the owner Jesus and God’s way of living.  At the end he bowed his 
head and prayed to receive Christ.  When it was time to pay the man, he 
declared, “You have hauled away more debris from my life than I have from your 
yard.  You owe me nothing.”  Yea God.

2. A woman told her work team that when they go back to Chicago they were to 
tell their friends that “You saved a life and a marriage.”  This person told the 
story of how a work team had labored over days to dig out her family from the 
devastation.

3. A woman boasted of the love of God which was being shown through the people 
of Trinity.  She told a story of one divine appointment after the next.  I felt 
like I wanted to come out of my seat and cheer.

4. One team helped a man who was a Jehovah’s Witness.  He declared his 
affiliation and one team member asked, “But are you saved?”  He admitted wasn’t. 
 They took the time to share the gospel and God opened his eyes.  He was saved 
by the power and blood of Jesus.  Yea God!

5. Remember Spiderman?  The tree trimmer who fell 650 feet out of a tree and 
lived?  He has more broken bones than Evil Knieval and is in great pain.  His 
family and extended family were at Trinity on Sunday.  They declared that they 
want to be baptized and join the church.

6. Another church member told about leading a person to Christ last Sunday 
during the 2nd service.  He started with these words, “You came in here thinking 
you have lost everything, but you are about to gain everything.”  She did 
because she met the pearl of great price – Jesus!

7. Seth was the first volunteer we had at Trinity.  Just after the hurricane 
hit, when things were really bad in Covington, Seth and his buddy, Ryan, left 
Trinity Seminary and headed south.  They arrived when there was no electricity 
and the city looked like it was hit by a nuclear explosion.  They pioneered the 
work and now hundreds of people have followed in their steps.  Seth was back 
this week with a work team from Chicago…all valiant workers for Christ.  Seth 
had to leave Sunday but told his parents, “All I want for Christmas is a plane 
ticket to Trinity Church.”  His heart is to come back and help us again.  I told 
that story in the service and a member of Trinity Church said, “I will buy his 
plane ticket.”   Seth, if you are reading this letter…God provided!!!

I preached yesterday on Rev. 2:1-7 and commended my staff, Trinity Church, and 
the teams on their toil, labor and perseverance.  They are an awesome group of 
people who deserve a great “Well done.”  The caution in the passage was to make 
sure we don’t lose our first love.  Ministry that flows out of devotion to Jesus 
is potent, but if we drift in intimacy with God and simply go through the 
motions, we become like travel agents passing out brochures to places we’ve 
never visited.  To put it another way, the church that doesn’t passionately love 
Jesus is like decaf coffee…smells like coffee…tastes like coffee…looks like 
coffee…but has no punch.

Pray that Trinity Church remains a place head-over-heals in love with Jesus 
Christ and serves out of that strength.  I can tell you that at age 48 I’m 
finding Jesus more compelling, more interesting, more awesome, more surprising, 
more fulfilling, more attractive than ever.  I pray that will be true of you as 
well.

Betting the Farm on God,

Michael

October 8, 2005

Dear Friends, 

     Let me start with an offer to help you visually see what is going on here. Wayne Rogers, our worship pastor, has produced the first in a coming series of DVD’s to chronicle God’s work here. You can order a copy at Trinitychurchonline.net. The DVD will help you understand things that could never be communicated with words. 

    Tonight I just finished addressing a large group of our volunteers. We almost hit the 200 level! These are the best people you could ever meet. Let me tell you about a few: 

    1. One man came to serve even though his stepson died last week in a car accident. His stepson wanted to come with his stepfather to serve in New Orleans. Though grieving, he and his wife decided God had called them here. The stepfather brought his stepson’s boots and laid them before the cross located at the front of the church. It is amazing how this family is sacrificing for us and our community. This man, a career military man, said he stood in shock and awe when he saw New Orleans. It is worse than anything he has ever seen in battle. He is making a difference. 

    2. Another man stood and shared that he was from Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago. Through his tears he shared that he had learned to trust the Lord daily at the intercity mission for food and life sustenance. He could see that we were doing the same and tears came for the overwhelming need here. Here was a man with so little, giving so much to us. 

    3. One group from Illinois cancelled their “men’s advance” (retreat) this month and brought their men here to serve us instead. They forfeited money through the cancellation, but felt this was a great opportunity for their men to give of themselves. 

    4. Church after church verbalized that they were committed to us for the long haul. This is so encouraging, for the needs are so great. My observation is that life is getting harder for people, not easier. Power is coming back on, schools opened Monday and FEMA is clearing the debris, but I am seeing the magnitude of the problems growing wider and deeper by the day. The props that got us through the first month are going away (Red Cross, National Guard, delayed mortgage and credit card payments, etc.). Very soon we will face the realities of life and in many cases it will not be pretty. Job lay-offs are reported every day and this will have a spiral effect. Bills will come due soon and many will collapse under their weight. Many homes have 2-5 families living in them. Imagine the pressures living with several of the families who have lost everything. I predict a tidal wave of human devastation in the next 4-8 weeks as pressures mount. I met with a family yesterday who lost their 14-year old in the hurricane. They had two trees crash through their home, yet three families were now living in it. $60,000 worth of tools were stolen and the man’s employees were gone. The tears that flowed could have formed a puddle by the time we finished praying and helping them out financially. It will take years to put the community back together and see lives rebuilt. 

    In the middle of all this chaos, people are being helped one-by-one. That is the way of Christ. Hundreds of people have come into the free store. They are helped both spiritually and physically. Some of those helped in the free store now also work in the store and have begun attending church. Some have come to Christ within the last three weeks and have given testimony in our services. At least 52 new families have signed our visitor book at the church over the last few weeks. Opportunities abound to share the message of the love of Christ. Good rumors about the church are circulating everywhere. Wouldn’t it be great if people didn’t think of Christians as angry people carrying placards of protest or as self-righteous finger-pointing people? What if they saw a new humanity that displayed the fruits of the Spirit? What if Christians displayed both truth and grace in a way that reflected the real Jesus who came to seek and to save those who are lost? This is what I long for and am seeing. Please pray for a great revival. 

    Last Sunday I encouraged Trinity church in three ways: First, prayer…no revival has ever taken place without surrender and dependence upon God. Second, consecration…no revival in scripture or church history has occurred without repentance and coming clean with God. Third is love…we need to practically practice a supernatural kind of love so that there is not a needy person among us. Pray for revival and renewal in our lives. 

    On a personal note, Donna and I had our roof rebuilt this week. The skylight from where the tree hit the house was huge. One day soon, three rooms in the house will need to be rebuilt, along with new carpet, and a new kitchen countertop. A new fence is being built tomorrow and FEMA just removed the debris from our 10 trees. Pray for Donna. As someone observed, Donna went from the empty nest to no nest in a week’s time. She is back in her nest, but it has been messed with greatly. Donna continues to be a choice servant of Christ. Daily she ministers to others and enables me to focus on ministry. Her love for Christ and for me is outstanding. I am very grateful. We are bringing Jonathan back from Texas for a three-day weekend in two weeks so that he can get a firsthand look at our house and his room! 

    Well, the clock just struck midnight, so I’d better wrap this up. The Lord is good. I’ve got a great staff and a loving church. My wife is the best, and we cherish our son. I’ve got the best friends in the world who are all over this country. I’ve got a purpose to live for, enough problems to keep me dependent on God, and enough joys to keep me going. As I go to bed tonight, I realize that there is nothing I’d rather do than follow Christ. 

Betting the farm on God, Michael

October 3, 2005

Friends,  

A friend of mine wrote the following words to me:

            “Gather in all that has happened since August – would the mighty wind of the Holy Spirit be seen like it is right now without the disaster?  Would you have witnessed the mighty unstoppable Hand of God like you have without the hurricanes?  Would Trinity Church have become ‘Jesus with skin on’ without a community desperately in need of His arms, His strength, His love?  A community that suddenly had nothing but Him?”

 “Nothing but Him” …. What a great statement and an apt description of who we are.  Prior to Katrina, I had been meditating on an old C. S. Lewis statement, “The man who has God and everything has no more than the man who has God and nothing.”  Could C. S. Lewis be right?  I can tell you that many of the props to my life have been kicked out from under me over the past month – tap water, home to live in, electricity, newspapers, phones, computers, friends scattered – yet in a mystical sort of way I feel more alive, fruitful, and focused than ever before.  Jesus really is the One who gives life and life abundant.

 The service yesterday at Trinity was so inspiring.  God is showing up in ways that leave us inspired and encouraged.  

1.                  “Spiderman” showed up at Trinity.  Let me explain.  Just before the hurricane major newspapers carried the story of a local tree trimmer, nicknamed Spiderman who had amazing agility over the years working at great heights in tall trees.  He fell 65 feet from a tree and barely survived.  Unknown to me, Spiderman’s wife wandered into our free store last week for groceries and got an invitation to Trinity.  During our sharing time, “Spiderman” from a wheel chair introduced himself and told his story.  He has more broken bones in his body right now than Evel Knievel had in a lifetime.  He gave glory to God for being alive and said he has found a new church home for his family at Trinity.

2.                  A team of 21 students from the University of Georgia went out on a work team Saturday.  They met a woman in Slidell who had lost everything.  Her house was flooded, 3 trees destroyed the frame and she had been displaced.  While living at a shelter, she was robbed several times.  They helped her gather some belongings from her ravaged house and brought her to Trinity.  At the first service her story was shared.  One of our families made provision for her to live at a home in Slidell .  Others met with her during our 2^nd service to pray and care.  At the end of the 2^nd service the word came to the auditorium that she had just prayed to receive Christ as her personal savior.  We rejoiced!

 I could tell story after story – they never seem to end.  God is so good to us.  As has been said, “You never know Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you got and then you know Jesus is all you need.”

 Betting the farm on God,

 Michael

 p.s.  During the service we showed a 10 minute video production that highlights visually God’s work over the past month and the devastation from Katrina.  Pray that this would be used all over the country to “Glorify God” and express the need.  If you would like a copy, let us know.  We haven’t worked out yet how to cover costs but we will soon.

September 29, 2005

Prayer:

 What strikes me once again today is what an incredible “God Thing” is happening at Trinity Church .  We did not make this up!  We are not the one doing the internal “heart transformation” work.  He is!  We are amazed and thankful.

 Here’s a sampling from today:

1                    In the hallway today a Trinity family returned to church after being a refugee family for weeks.  Trinity is cluttered with people everywhere.  The son said, “This isn’t our small cozy church!”  The mom said, “No, isn’t it beautiful!!”

2                    Seekers are showing up at our free store and are helped.  This week some came back.  They started offering, “What can I do?  I just want to do something to help.  I’ll mop floors, anything.  I am so grateful to you for your help.  Please put me to work.”  Another said, “I’m just at home during the day.  What can I do to help?” (Her husband is away from home days at a time due to his work.)  Yet another said, “We can help while we are here.  Put us to work!”

3                    Another woman who came back to the free store was also introduced to the “bridge illustration.”  She affirmed faith in Christ, wants to be part of the church, have her child dedicated and get married.  Pray.

4                    In the services this past week a family walked in who had never been in a church before.  They asked, “What do we do?”  They had no idea.  We helped them on their first day with God’s people.  Pray.

5                    At the service last night the sharing time was electrifying for me.  The first man to share stated he was from a different religious background but people from Trinity had helped him, encouraged him, and prayed for him.  He was trying to understand what God was all about and doing in his life.  Pray as we follow up.

6                    Another lady from Ireland was here last week just after her husband died.  She and her son had nowhere to go and nowhere to sleep.  She saw the sign for Trinity and has now moved in with a family at Trinity.  They are amazed by the love of God’s people and they are hearing about our beautiful Savior.

7                    Another man last night shared how his home flooded and a Christian got him a 32 foot trailer to live in.  He praised God.

8                    People are e-mailing us and telling us God is changing their lives by hearing the stories of God.  Others come and work and go back and tell the story.  Only God could do this.

 I could go on and on…….

 I would like to ask you to pray for us.  Remember in Exodus 17: 8-16 Israel was attacked by the Amalekites.  Moses’ strategy was to deploy Joshua to lead the troops and Moses would pray.  Moses went up on the hill and prayed.  He raised his hands signifying dependence on God.  When Moses’ hands were raised, Israel prevailed in battle.  When his arms got weary and he put them down, the enemy made gains.  All this happened before his eyes.  Prayer turned the tide and Israel prevailed in the end.

 The point, I think, is that God’s power comes through prayer.  Prayer is not the preparation to the battle but it is the battle.  The prevailing power of God flows not through our wisdom, strength, or riches but through people who pray (Zech. 4:6).  In fact, in Moses’ situation he had two prayer partners to hold his arms up – Aaron and Hur.  We need Aarons and Hurs!  I would like to read to my staff some e-mails or letters tangibly allowing them to know they are being prayed for!  My e-mail is MDSprague00@bellsouth.net.  My staff’s pictures can be viewed on the web at trinitychurchonline.net.  Would you do that for us?

 Please pray for:  

1.                  A great outpouring of the Spirit of God upon our region.  Pray for revival and a new New Orleans .

2.                  Pray for the gospel to be spread more powerfully than ever and for thousands to walk through the doors of faith.

3.                  Pray for breakthroughs in marriages, wayward children, and with addictions.

4.                  Pray for finances and organizational wisdom.  Teams are coming and 200 people will be here next week.  This will tax us to the limit.  Pray for the support systems to deploy these good, zealous, wonderful servants.

5.                  Pray for Wayne Rogers, my worship pastor, who is producing a video to capture what God is doing and what the opportunity is.

6.                  Pray for stamina, strength, and wisdom for my staff.  They are courageous heroes who God will reward in His due time.

7.                  Pray for the people of Trinity Church .  Every person’s life has been impacted.  Things will never be the same.  Imagine the hundreds of different responses and emotions that people are wrestling with.  Pray for people’s jobs, families, and finances.  Pray for kids as school finally starts in our community on Monday.

8.                  Pray that we honor Christ.  This is a time where great honor can go to Jesus or great dishonor.  Pray that this will be the church’s finest hour.

 Betting the farm on God,  

Michael

September 28, 2005

An Army of Love

 Love is “the final apologetic.”                             
Francis Schaeffer

 “90% of evangelism is love.”                             
Seminary Professor

 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”                                
Jesus (John 13:34-35)