A nation fallen away from God

Whenever I think, "I've seen it all", it seems like I see more then what I could ever have imagined. When I became a born again believer in 1981 black was black and white was white. Right was right and wrong was wrong. But as I fast forward to today it's almost upside down. This week the Supreme Court is hearing arguments on why people of the same gender should be allowed to benefit from the commitment of holy matrimony. When I see the equal = sign all over the Internet among those who profess Christ I am shocked.

It is bad enough that the lost culture who does not even know about the power of the Gospel to save and sanctify has been so easily persuaded, but what does this foretell for those who associate and profess Christ? I refuse to digress here and defend what marriage is, because of what its obviously always has been, is and will be: (A permanent covenant between a man and a women instituted by God from the beginning.) If you don't see the simplicity of that institution I truly feel sorry for you. Oh how easily the prince and power of the air has deceived so many as he did Adam and Eve in the garden.

The concern I have today is the challenge this creates for the next generation. Lets just role play this out for a few generations. Imagine 20% of the general population being legally married to the same sex. Imagine how dysfunctional little children's lives and hearts will be? Imagine when men and women get bored with this level of sin? I mean how far away are we from legalizing other sins and abominations?

As I read and even debate with a few people it amazes me how easily the American mindset can be deceived and brainwashed, but it is more apparent in those who are in their 20's and under. This generation has grown up with gay TV stars, teachers in school, literature promoting two daddy's and so much more. This generation sees nothing wrong with immorality on every level. It's probably 20% of this generation that holds on to morals and values passed on, but what will the next generation look like?

If our nations last as it is another 15 years I will be shocked. Regardless of the laws of the land, it's the hearts of the people of the land that concern me most. The laws follow the hearts of the nation. The only hope in this country is the church of Jesus Christ. And even the church has been seduced to embrace so many hideous lies as well. We will either get a divine judgement or a great awakening soon, but I can't imagine that either can be very far away.

Tourist or Servant?

When I came to Christ I sensed within a year a call to the ministry. Through my young 20's as I prepared for ministry I experienced a walk of faith through the American church model. In 1992 I took my first ever trip out of the country and went to Russia. God truly transformed me in more ways then I can even begin to express. Of many of those experienced I was apprehended by a police officer and detained for sharing the Gospel. Not the kind of experience one would use to encourage others they should go on a missions trip too.

Then in 1998 I went on another missions trip to Kenya, Africa. It was transforming in a completely different way. The culture, the climate, the people and of course the safari and gospel of transformation in my life and certainly in many other lives as well.

In the year 2000 I went on a Holy Land trip to Israel. This was not work and witness, but it was truly transformational. I will not soon forget that we were the only tourist in the city of Bethlehem the day after the Israeli military blew up a Palestine owner car in the streets. We were the ONLY ones touring in what felt like a ghost town that next day.

between 2006 and 2008 I went on two different trips to Jamaica and another one to minister among the Arizona Navajo Indians. In these trips (beyond constructions and work) we as well experienced cultural differences, the gospel transforming other lives and some other assortment of adventures. I recall when in Kingston, Jamaica we were on the roof of the church building enjoying the cool of the evening when a shot out started in the street below. Our team took cover and nobody truly knew what was going on. We never did see what happened and nobody got hurt among our team, but it sure was interesting.

In 2012 I went on another trip to Ghana West Africa on a Jesus film trip. Now that took on a different spin of all the other trips in previous years. Riding a motorcycle took the cake for adventure for me in a foreign country. Truly it was an amazing team and adventure in every move. From a wild and crazy experience with motorcycle breakdowns and hundreds coming to Christ. It was wild, fun and high adventure every step of the way. Getting into a van wreck with a bad driver on a deserted road in the back woods of Africa was breathe taking as well. That trip was absolutely the best ever. Until this past one.

Then in 2013 I returned to Africa with the smallest team yet, but a totally harmonious and fun group of guysl. I started off that trip by flying into an unexpected country of Holland to ride a metro and a boat ride in the freezing European winter to the hot edge of the Sierra Desert of Senegal West Africa. We rode in a completely outdated and unsafe 70's slapped together cab held together with only God knows what. Then we rode in a carved out log boat to a remote disappearing island off the coast. I got choked up one morning and couldn't breath and thought I might suffocate to within hours still being able to share Christ to a group of missionaries on retreat.
We rode motorcycles on 60 miles of deserted beaches while avoiding the waves of the Atlantic. We passed donkey carts on roads, beaches and once took a double take when I passed a camel on a dirt road. I wiped out in a small village on an oil slick with a motorcycle and hurt my leg. Got to visit a foreign medical doctor in a high rise and so much more.

In Senegal I kept thinking I was doing the things I had done before until we spent two days digging out a well for water to no success. I also got to finally visit the inside of a village hut after to seeing pictures of them for decades. I witnessed people oppressed by witchcraft delivered by the grace of God and witnessed demons manifesting through animals in angry opposition to the showing of the Jesus film.

Getting to drive a truck for 4 hours from the remote villages to the massive congested city of Dakar will not soon be forgotten. It was as if I was driving in the Daytona 500 with interesting competitors on the roads. Seeing our missionary on his motorcycle in front me not able to over take a massive truck on the highway to being passed myself in traffic by a forklift was a contrast in what should have been the opposite. Truly the mission fields of the world are full of adventures. I've learned so many wonderful things over these past 21 years exploring the world through work and witness trips.

Just the thought of a regular vacation in any of these foreign countries sounds completely boring. When I think about going to a country of the world I would much rather go to serve The Lord and his kingdom and experience the land, culture and people as a servant then as a tourist.

The adventures of missions through the Jesus Film partnerships or work and witness expeditions is the most amazing way to see and explore the world. You can do it in America or anywhere. To serve others is a holy luxury reserved for the saints of the living God.

Anyway ready to serve through a missions trip in 2014?

Missions - Power in Weakness

I'm on my way home from my 7th work and witness trip in 23 years of ministry. Some of the places and experiences I have encountered I would not trade for anything in the world. The call of a pastor is to preach the gospel to the lost and make disciples. When I first received my call I was an idealist. I had my vision of what being in the ministry would look like and now some 23 years later I see how much more interesting and unpredictable ministry truly has been then what I thought.
Last year I went to Ghana on the first ever biker and a backpack trip. It was amazing. We saw so many different things and so many come to Christ in less then 8 days. This past week I took a team of 5 including myself to Senegal. We as well rode motorbikes, meet amazing and wonderful people and seemed to travel hundreds of miles throughout the time. After 6 previous trips and two of them in Africa I thought I had Africa under my belt. I was wrong, but yet still transformed by His amazing grace yet again. I truly learned more about grace in weakness then I could ever imagine. Myself and two others encounters motorcycle accidents that changed the dynamics of the trip throughout the week. Our plans changed each time a different man went down and got hurt, yet through the challenges God was working and moving in our midst.
If it were not for two of us needing some medical attention none of us would have meet more of the people we meet and learned more about the challenges our missionaries deal with when they encounter their own health challenges. I truly sensed that He used our brokenness for His glory more then our abilities. Steve broke his collar bone and a wrist. He was such a trooper. He went through all the motions with such grace and yet his accident only put us off a day in our schedule.
When one of the local pastors found out what had happened and that Steve was still planning on coming out to the villages he was impressed with how much love we had to come so far as we had and still willing to endure so much inconvenience and hassle just for them. as he spoke those words tears filled my eyes as I heard him share his heart. I realized how God was working more through our suffering, pain and perseverance then how I thought he would work through our abilities and skills.

My injury seemed so minor in comparison to how God has demonstrated His grace throughout our teams collective pains and momentary affliction. Even though my entire right leg from the knee down is swollen, I have yet to really feel pain. Even as I write this I am not so sure I can even get my shoe back on my foot as it is so swollen. Yet I would not trade the perspective and grace of what I have seen and experienced for a fully functioning knee for anything. The Lord gave me a new verse in January 2013 for the year and has allowed me to experience it first hand. "That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed unto his death.. Phil 3:10

Months before our trip the missionary told me not to expect as large of a harvest response in Senegal as I had experienced in Ghana. Because the people are animistic and Muslim they are harder to reach. I understood that statement and respected the experience and wisdom behind it, yet in my spirit I just sensed and trusted God for far more anyway. We had originally planned to show the Jesus film twice, but because of accidents and challenges we only showed it once. We prayed and were challenged to the very moment of showing the film. In summary before the night of the Jesus film showing we encountered plans delays, physical afflictions, 3 motorcycle accidents, witchcraft attacks and many other delays. Yet the night of the showing I believe there was approximately 500 people gathered to watch the film. We had sound issues and dead battery issues and yet the crowd waited at least 50 minutes for us to figure out the film and equipment.

We prayed a lot and looked to The Lord constantly and He always made a way. At the close of the film over 100 came to Christ that night. I was told if we had 1 or 2 converts we should consider it a successful mission. It was as if God works better through brokenness, weaknesses and challenges then we often give him space to work. As with most, I am not excited about suffering and challenges, but it does seem to be where His grace flows so wonderfully.
"But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair"; (2 Corinthians 4:7, 8 ) If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. (2 Corinthians 11:30 ).

Of all my previous missions experiences this trip was FULL of daily challenges. I thank God for accidents, weaknesses, delays and challenges - "But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (2 Corinthians 12:9 )



Peter Migner, Pastor

#HashTags & #Confessions

A few years ago a lady in my church who is my age nicknamed me "Pastor Gadget" and we both laughed.  Since from her perspective I was the most tech savvy pastor she knew or person she knew the label made sense . Jean & her husband lived in the county and their  world was hands on and manual connections for productivity. 

         That was about 8 years ago and just recently did I finally figure out what #hashtags were and how they worked. Being a late bloomer on this latest tech term i felt like my nickname was lacking. I mean I could have googled the phrase and just figured it out. But I didn't get it and did not see the need for whatever it was about until it kept popping up everywhere. With even increasing amounts of people referring to them, using them and posting with them I kept my wonder and ignorance to myself . After all it was not something that really comes up. Even though it was part of the technology web savvy social media world of communication that I use I still got by without #'s . 

            Several times within the last few months I heard hashtags referred to on the radio and sort of thought that it helped me get it, but it was still fuzzy as I was not connecting it to the search field aspect yet.  When the QR codes came out I felt pretty savvy on that one. I was even a pioneer user on that tech tool. Matter of fact I felt pretty savvy when my associate at the time being 20 years younger then me  and very savvy had not even heard of it.  

So over the years I've always been  #pastorgadget to one lady only to discover how quickly I can become behind and obsolete within months or weeks in the eyes of probably so many others. If you are among those still ignorant of hashtags don't sweat it- it's really no biggie.

      I know some folks who have never had a computer who live  in my community. They don't have one, do not want one and lived life pretty sweet. I also know folks who live in Africa who are connected with a cellphone in the midst of the slow moving technology culture compared to the west and they connected to the entire world. How can this be and does it really matter in the light of eternity? 

         What a simple world we have and yet also how complex world we have made it for ourselves. The people who are off the technology grid so to speak are probably the ones who could survive and live off the land far better than those who are wired to the 9th devise and try to keep up.  
     SO what really matters? Does it matter that you and I know about. hashtags and QR codes or that We know how to pray and worship the creator of us all? Does it matter that I can breakdown on the road and call for help to have the road service assistant find me with the GPS on the phone or that I could wait until a stranger comes by to assist who sees the need? They actually both can be good. 

      I use  hashtags and QR codes  , I got laptops, iPads  and smartphones. I've got color copiers and flash drives - I can use a Dropbox or Instagram app on about my life online- But what really matters is that I know Jesus and Jesus knows me. Yes #Jesus matters more than keeping up or lagging behind in cultural trends.  I can blog or pray- I can enter a prayer request on my prayer app or just get on my knees pray clear through without even a bible. 

I really don't mind that old title pastorgadget, but I'd rather be known as pastorprayer or scripture dude then to ever have to try to keep up with this world that spins so fast with all the latest tags , tech tools and toys that I can't even seem to keep up with.  

  When it comes to spiritual matters don't wait until its too late - ask the questions while you can. Google Him while He can be found. Jesus is one #hashtag question not enough people are asking about that makes the most eternal difference of all. Without him there is no hope. Without him you will never be found. Tag yourself with #Jesus this year so others find HIm too. 

  #lovingjesus
#prayingmore2013 #resolution2seekhimmore 
#salvation 
#savior #comingking