by Jason Joyner | Jan 30, 2008 | Blog, Kenya, missions, prayer
I have a pastor friend teaching at leadership conferences and training seminars in Uganda. He sent an update regarding the violence breaking out in Kenya. I’ve always considered Kenya a stable country, but obviously the last few months have shown a lot of tribal hatred and strife boiling to the surface.
Christians have a unique opportunity to pray into these situations in a concerted manner. I encourage everyone out there to keep this tragedy in mind.
As you may know I am presently in Uganda, East Africa teaching at Next Generation Ministry’s Leadership Training Institute. Attending this training are two pastors from Kenya; Kennedy from the Kitale area and Wycliffe from the Eldoret area. We received a call from Wycliffe’s wife saying that the violence is increasing and that the killers are now attacking churches and in particular Pastors and their families. Both of these men have 14 to 20 families who are in their personal homes seeking safety. My guess is that the American press is paying very little attention to this violence which is increasing across Kenya. I am urgently asking you to get on your knees and intercede for, not just the Christians in Kenya, for the nation as a whole. Kenya is the pivotal nation for the peace and security for all of East Africa. As I write this, innocent men,women, and children are being killed, raped, and mutilated.
Both of these men are men of great faith, but this situation is beyond their faith alone. All Christians in every nation must join our faith for them ad with them and ask our God to intervene in a powerful way and end this violence.
by Jason Joyner | Jan 30, 2008 | Blog, Kenya, missions, prayer
I have a pastor friend teaching at leadership conferences and training seminars in Uganda. He sent an update regarding the violence breaking out in Kenya. I’ve always considered Kenya a stable country, but obviously the last few months have shown a lot of tribal hatred and strife boiling to the surface.
Christians have a unique opportunity to pray into these situations in a concerted manner. I encourage everyone out there to keep this tragedy in mind.
As you may know I am presently in Uganda, East Africa teaching at Next Generation Ministry’s Leadership Training Institute. Attending this training are two pastors from Kenya; Kennedy from the Kitale area and Wycliffe from the Eldoret area. We received a call from Wycliffe’s wife saying that the violence is increasing and that the killers are now attacking churches and in particular Pastors and their families. Both of these men have 14 to 20 families who are in their personal homes seeking safety. My guess is that the American press is paying very little attention to this violence which is increasing across Kenya. I am urgently asking you to get on your knees and intercede for, not just the Christians in Kenya, for the nation as a whole. Kenya is the pivotal nation for the peace and security for all of East Africa. As I write this, innocent men,women, and children are being killed, raped, and mutilated.
Both of these men are men of great faith, but this situation is beyond their faith alone. All Christians in every nation must join our faith for them ad with them and ask our God to intervene in a powerful way and end this violence.
by Jason Joyner | Jan 29, 2008 | Blog, books, fiction, miscellaneous, work
Wow! How often do we get snow days anymore? Growing up, it was always the best day when we had a snow out, keeping us from class. I grew up in a rural community, so there were always kids who would get snowed into a farm or ranch even if we had school. I, on the other hand, had no excuse.
I lived a block from school.
I thought about trying to call in saying I was stuck, but they’d probably say something like, “I’m looking out the window and I can see your driveway. Nice try.”
Today had a bit of a black cloud in the otherwise bonus day off: I have to travel an hour into the high mountain desert on a bus, catching it at 5:30 am. So first, they didn’t cancel right away, so I had to get up early and trudge (more like skate) to the bus stop. Then, they sent us home at 10 am, but we sat at the bus depot for an hour before heading out so they could be sure they got everyone. Ah well. I still got six hours at home I wouldn’t have had otherwise. Well spent paying bills and playing G.I. Joes with my 3 boys. Yo Joe!
This gave me plenty of time to dive into the latest book I chose for the CFBA blog tour: My Name is Russell Fink by Michael Snyder. So far it is an interesting read, and I’ll have more in a couple of weeks. However, I just had to share this quote from it today. The main character is a hypochondriac, and is getting a mole biopsied by his doctor. Of course, he is sure it is cancer, so he is a bit nervous doing the procedure:
I begin to speak but have to stop and clear my throat. “Please tell me you’ve done this before, Doc. That you’re not reading the instructions as you go.”
“Actually, I’m using this paint-by-numbers kit that came with my mail-order medical license.”
The wit of Mike Snyder, ladies and gentlemen.
by Jason Joyner | Jan 29, 2008 | Blog, books, fiction, miscellaneous, work
Wow! How often do we get snow days anymore? Growing up, it was always the best day when we had a snow out, keeping us from class. I grew up in a rural community, so there were always kids who would get snowed into a farm or ranch even if we had school. I, on the other hand, had no excuse.
I lived a block from school.
I thought about trying to call in saying I was stuck, but they’d probably say something like, “I’m looking out the window and I can see your driveway. Nice try.”
Today had a bit of a black cloud in the otherwise bonus day off: I have to travel an hour into the high mountain desert on a bus, catching it at 5:30 am. So first, they didn’t cancel right away, so I had to get up early and trudge (more like skate) to the bus stop. Then, they sent us home at 10 am, but we sat at the bus depot for an hour before heading out so they could be sure they got everyone. Ah well. I still got six hours at home I wouldn’t have had otherwise. Well spent paying bills and playing G.I. Joes with my 3 boys. Yo Joe!
This gave me plenty of time to dive into the latest book I chose for the CFBA blog tour: My Name is Russell Fink by Michael Snyder. So far it is an interesting read, and I’ll have more in a couple of weeks. However, I just had to share this quote from it today. The main character is a hypochondriac, and is getting a mole biopsied by his doctor. Of course, he is sure it is cancer, so he is a bit nervous doing the procedure:
I begin to speak but have to stop and clear my throat. “Please tell me you’ve done this before, Doc. That you’re not reading the instructions as you go.”
“Actually, I’m using this paint-by-numbers kit that came with my mail-order medical license.”
The wit of Mike Snyder, ladies and gentlemen.
by Jason Joyner | Jan 26, 2008 | arts, Biblical worldview, Blog, books, culture
Getting Christians to a consensus on a lot of things can be interesting. However, T.M. Moore from Breakpoint and Chuck Colson’s Centurions project thinks he may have some suggestions on how to do this regarding Christians engaging the culture. This is along the lines of my Seven Spheres series from a week or two ago.
Breakpoint talked about it this week and had this great quote:
How do we do this? Our task is two-fold. First, we must participate in culture at the same time that we are engaged in a biblically based critique of culture. For too long, Christians have ignored the arts and have, thus, failed to realize that culture and the arts can be conduits of God’s truth, grace, and beauty.
Second, as the body of Christ, we need to support those among us who exercise their God-given artistic gifts. When we join together “for creative engagement in culture matters,” T. M. argues, we can “create a greater sense of unity in the body of Christ,” as well as increase our impact on culture.
Read the whole article here. I haven’t read the book yet, but I’ll be interested to check out Culture Matters down the road.
