Original Glory

In the book of Exodus, God instructs the priests to wear the names of the tribes of Israel on their garments. As you go to God in prayer and praise, what kind of memorial do you bring?
28:9 "Take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel in the order of their birth-six names on one stone and the remaining six on the other. Engrave the names of the sons of Israel on the two stones the way a gem cutter engraves a seal. Then mount the stones in gold filigree settings and fasten them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel. Aaron is to bear the names on his shoulders as a memorial before the LORD....v29 "Whenever Aaron enters the Holy Place, he will bear the names of the sons of Israel over his heart on the breastpiece of decision as a continuing memorial before the LORD.

It seems that some today want to bring their sins and political agendas.

Could the Sudan Peace Deal be another answer to prayer?

Thoughts for the week from Alan's sunday sermon on the great commission.
What am I filling the hole in my heart with? Examine it daily.
I am an eternal being, how then should I live on this earth?

2 Corinthians 4:16-18
"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away,
yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and
momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far
outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on
what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is
eternal."

Another pic from the worship retreat: Sean, myself, and Alan sporting flowers in our hair, a gift from our worship leader Angel.
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I've got a friend Aubrey who's a missionary in Malawi. It seems there's some trouble because of recent elections. You can read about Malawi: Flawed Voter Registration Casts Doubt On Poll Results and pray that she gets home safely in a month or two when her work there is finished.

Our visas for Ethiopia came back over the weekend. They're 2 year multiple-entry visas, valid for 3 months at a time. Really it's just a big stamp in the passport, unlike the Indian and Italian visas that are big stickers with fancy security features.

From our worship retreat: Sandy, Khaleed, Ramon, and Sean returning from a hike. I think Ramon was afraid of snakes, that's why he's carying a stick...
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Last friday I had a little birthday party for Raymond and Sandra!
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This weekend I'm going on a retreat with the worship team from VX. It's at a ranch a bit north of Magic Mountain. It looks pretty nice, a good place to relax for a few days. I hear the guy who owns it and will be teaching us some things used to play with Bob Dylan, and was instrumental in getting Bob saved. Bob's quoted as saying, "Don't matter how much money you got, there's only two kinds of people: there's saved people and there's lost people."

Anti-conversion law scrapped in Tamil Nadu... 'Discarding the pro-Hindutva stand and claiming to be the "strongest champion of the rights and welfare of every minority community", Jayalalithaa said: "It was only with the good intention of further promoting religious harmony among all religions that my government enacted the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Forcible Conversion of Religion Act, 2002. This Act was never intended to be used against the minorities. However, as leaders of some minority communities have requested withdrawal of this law, I have ordered that the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Forcible Conversion of Religion Act 2002 be repealed at once. An Ordinance for this purpose will be brought immediately. This government will always be the true friend and champion of minorities."'
Full Story Here.

Check this out...India's Christians hopeful as Hindu nationalists lose elections - (BP)

And then it was friday-
I'm about on-track with Ethiopia money, thank the God of All!
I'm behind in preparing my message for Saturday, thank God for Grace
and the Spirit of wisdom and revelation!
I'm praising God for friends' birthdays, engagements, and encouragements.
I'm praying for the power of evil to be broken from my brother, other
prodigal brothers, and in Iraq.

Today is 2 months before we depart for Ethiopia. I'm mailing in our
visa applications today. I still need to get some shots, and finish
raising the rest of my support. I'll be speaking about cross-cultural
evangelism to the team this saturday. Am I qualified for that? I've
certainly crossed cultures, but don't think I've done much evangelism.
So it's training for me as well.

Looks like Blogger's got a new interface, and allows posting from
email. This is just my test post from email to see how it works!

Ramon just pointed this out to me; a grenade attack at the university in Ethiopia where we'll be in July. allAfrica.com: Ethiopia: Grenade Attack Kills One, Injures 3 Other Students
Your prayers are appreciated!

Tim-A-Chronic is in the HousE, the g-mail house that is...
I've got a test email account on gmail, with 1 gig of free storage. So if you've got anything really big you can send it to timachronic [at] gmail [dot] com.

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Just got back from the '4th annual National Day of Prayer in the South Bay'. I'm a big fan of city-wide prayer gatherings. I think the first ones I attended were in Wales, while I was at the City Temple. It's great to see people from different backgrounds and worship and prayer styles coming together.
Tonight I prayed with my friend Sean, 2 motherly women, and a grandmother; quite a bit more diverse than my normal prayer times.
Pastor Steve from Calvary Chapel South Bay spoke at the beginning about his morning meeting with President Bush. He stressed Bush's humility, passion, and honesty. Our president asked for our prayers for himself, his wife, and our nation. How will we respond?
If Christianity could transform Rome, why not Los Angeles and San Francisco?

An Infinite God
Impossible to comprehend alone
Only glimpses and shadows in myself
Another brother reflects a different hue
And that sister sings a sweeter song
Each a unique representation of God's glory
Together the sum, the body of Christ,
The fullness of God.
May our gifts be visible so others can see you God.

-4/28/04 for VX team meeting