God Known By Loving Him

We leave Tuesday for Paraguay. I'm looking to touch God's heart amid the building, painting, worship and fellowship, and to hopefully touch someone else's heart to seek Him and know Him better.

This is a poem by Jeanne Guyon.

'Tis not the skill of human art,
Which gives me power my God to know;
The sacred lessons of the heart
Come not from instruments below.

Love is my teacher, He can tell
The wonders that He learnt above:
No other master knows so well; -
This Love alone can tell of Love.

Oh! then, of God if thou wouldst learn,
His wisdom, goodness, glory see;
All human arts and knowledge spurn,
Let Love alone thy teacher be.

Love is my master. When it breaks,
The morning light, with rising ray,
To thee, O God! my spirit wakes,
And Love instructs it all the day.

And when the gleams of day retire,
And midnight spreads its dark control,
Love's secret whispers still inspire
Their holy lessons in the soul.

It's A Go!

The Paraguay trip is back on again for July 25 through August 4th. Turns out that Sao Paulo, where we would go to change planes for Asuncion, is in the grip of gang violence. We feel God spared us from that. We will be going from Miaim to Buenos Aires, then on to Asuncion.

Even if we hadn't learned of the situation in Sao Paulo, God is good in all His dealings. I was disappointed at first in the cancellation of the trip, but don't want to accuse God anymore of unfaithfulness in His dealings with me. He is to be trusted at all times.

It's a misconception of His innately good character to level accusations at Him in the form of worry, anxiety, anger, depression, and all the rest. Either He's in control or He isn't - and He is. Either He's good or He isn't - and He is.

3 Grands - Mike, Dan and Sarah

Almost Time

It's almost departure time for Paraguay. There will be 18 of us going to the Vineyard (Viña) church in Asunción, the capital city. We built a relationship last year with the church and we have that to link to and build on this year.

Last year we experienced an incredible move of the Holy Spirit in Paraguay; my hope and desire is that this fountain be opened again for all who are thirsty, not only in South America but in our local churches here as well. This was more than the Sunday morning blessing, more than a "touch" from the Lord; this was the manifested Presence of a holy and loving God fellowshipping with His people in power and great glory.

Our ministry focus will be on becoming men and women of God and on unity in the body. People in the church are mostly all very young - teens and very early twenties - with some 30-somethings scattered around. The only married couple is the pastor and his wife.

Please pray for open hearts and the ministry of the Holy Ghost. I'll surface again when we get back.


Nick

Still Alive

I'm still alive, and I haven't retired from globbing. If you've been coming by, then thanks a lot.

I've been biking and walking a lot, studying classical guitar (I need to get serious and learn all the notes on the fingerboard instead of just the first 3 frets), trying to revive my calligraphy, reading, and enjoying all this free time with my beloved. We were always best friends, and now it's even better. Some people ask if she ever gets tired of having me around and she says "Heck no, we waited 40 years for this."

We're busier than ever in our latino church since the pastor is away for 2 weeks on vacation. And we're preparing to return to Paraguay the last half of next month.

Went to Promise Keepers with my younger son. PK is a great thing for fathers and sons to do together.

Our youngest granddaughter is coming for a week, so we'll keep Charlotte's restaurant and movie industries gainfully employed during that time. I probably won't post during that time, and I won't post during the Paraguay trip. But I'll be back in August.


Nick