Adam Barnett

The Origin of the Swine Flu

This is funny, but not funny at the same time.  But, funny.  Well, I can't decide!!

Discerning the Voice of God

I just finished Right People, Right Place, Right Time by Jentezen Franklin and really enjoyed the book! It is about discerning the voice of God, which honestly is something that I could use a good dose of help with in my own life!  Let me share a few things in this book that stood out and challenged me:

A U.S. Treasury officer who had the job of identifying counterfeit dollar bills said, "The key to identifying a false bill is to spend hours and hours handling the real thing."  Jentezen makes the point that it is the same with the Lord - we can become so familiar with his voice that we are able to immediately recognize the counterfeit voice of Satan when we hear it.

He also writes about how the Spirit of God thrives on solitude... we must quiet the noise around us so that we can hear Him and respond to Him.  This confronts my lifestyle head on - I live a busy, loud, hectic, crazy life - always moving. (Not to say that it's a terrible thing... I enjoy what I do very much and am confident that God is using me, but...).

The most challenging concept in this book is when he talks about the key that unlocks discernment: Prayer.  He tells us that when we pray, God dispatches angels.  No matter what you're going through, they stand by you.  If this is true, then one of the greatest tragedies of prayerlessness on our part is the scores of unemployed angels just waiting to be dispatched by God.  What a thought!  What a challenge! 

Jentezen also talks about protecting your marriage, standing up for your family against the schemes of the enemy, discerning sexual temptation and creating a legacy through the way you live.  I highly recommend this book to those of you that are looking to discover more about God's voice and direction for your life!!!

Buckle Up!

Our team going to Uganda in a few weeks had a creative idea for a fundraiser - find a donated car, paint it up and charge people to destroy it.  Here's the funny thing... for some reason, men find it very exhilarating to beat a car with a sledgehammer (including me).  I must admit, watching some of the girls swing the sledgehammer was pretty entertaining.  I think they made close to $500.00 (the windshield, painted with a Texas Longhorn, went for $150.00). Well worth it, if you ask me.  Well done, Team Uganda!

The Death Penalty???

Notice the red letters at the bottom of this Custom's form.  Wow.  I guess if you don't like your travel partner, you could pull a mean prank by slipping some drugs in his/her back pocket.  Revenge would never be an issue. 

Pay for Prayer?

This might be difficult to believe, but there is a new website out that you can actually pay to pray.  It is called Information Age Prayer and they have a variety of prayers for a variety of religions available to purchase.  For example...

• Pay $3.95/month for the Lord's Prayer to be prayed daily on your behalf.
• Pay $3.95/month for a daily prayer for peace in your life.
• Pay $9.95/month for 5 "get-well" prayers each day for anyone in your life.
• Pay $45.95/month for the Full Rosary Package
• Pay $25.95/month (Special Discount Package) for morning and evening Jewish prayers (5 get-well prayers each day and prayer-for-peace package).
• Pay $3.95/month for prayer for financial help (what?).

I'm not even sure WHO prays for you.  I also wonder if the Bible has anything to say about charging people for prayers.  Interesting. 

Here's my Special Discount Rate for today - if you leave a prayer request as a comment on this blog entry, I'LL PRAY FOR YOU TODAY FOR FREE. 

Clutter-Free Christianity

I just finished Clutter-Free Christianity by Robert Jeffress (also wrote Outrageous Truth).  When I was first offered this book to read, I couldn't resist - it deals with a very common cancer to our faith - clutter (or busyness).  The back of the book even says, "As you strive to fulfill a never-ending inventory of requirements for being a godly parent, spouse, voter, employee, and more, you feel increasingly disconnected from the God you're trying to serve."  So true.

Jeffress focuses on how to completely transform the heart in order to transform our lives.  He writes on 7 different topics of the heart:

1. A Forgiving Heart: Clearing away Anger, Bitterness & Emotional Knots
2. An Obeying Heart: Saying Yes to the Impossible
3. A Trusting Heart: Allowing Peace to Rule Your Life
4. A Content Heart: Finding More in Less
5. A Serving Heart: Discovering the Key to Greatness
6. A Praying Heart: Communicating with the One who Loves you Most
7. The Transformed Heart: Creating a Plan to Change Your Life

I love what he says about salvation: "Salvation involves more than the assurance that one day we'll be in heaven.  In its fullest sense, salvation is our complete deliverance from patterns of thought and behaviors that prevent us from experiencing the kingdom of God right now."

One of my favorite chapters is the one on contentment.  Jeffress says, "Sometimes the bait Satan dangles in front of us to satisfy our discontent is inherently sinful (sexual immorality, dishonest financial gain, substance abuse).  But I believe that every temptation we consider can be traced to our basic lack of contentment with God's provisions."  I can appreciate how Jeffress gets back to the truth about this subject - contentment only comes through the Father, and when we don't experience it, it could be because we aren't fully satisfied or rooted in the Lord. 

I highly recommend this book to any of you who want a strong reminder of the kind of heart we must have in order to live in a way where Christ truly is the center of our lives.  It is a battle that we will all continue to face (daily!), but one that we can win!

What's in a Name?

A few months ago, my oldest nephew, Alex, said something that I'll never forget!  After he found out that his mommy was pregnant with their 3rd son, they asked Alex what they wanted to name his little brother.  He responded, "I want to give him two names - the first one is Josteph, because he's Jesus' dad." (the "t" is there on purpose)  Then, they asked him what the other name was and he responded, "I want to name him Cornbread." 

Philippines Pictures

 

1. Teaching with Bishop Bendoy in his church in Cebu.
2. Coconut for breakfast - it was really delicious and fresh!
3. My friend, Elbert, who was recently brought off the streets.
4. Pastor Joy's son, Eljoy - such a great kid with great smile!
5. Factory that supplies pottery to Home Depot and Lowe's.
6. With Biship Bendoy and a family in the slums of Cebu.
7. Standing at the shore on the island of Ozamis.
8. As always, with a guard holding his "small" weapon.

Ozamis, Philippines & Craving Chicken

We are leaving the island of Ozamis in a few hours.  Our time here has been very fruitful and we already miss so many of the kids that attended the conference here.  The ones from Cebu got back on the ferry last night and arrived early this morning.  We might be able to see some of them tonight when we get back to Cebu.

It has been such a blessing to have Mark travel with me.  I suffer to this awful thing called lonliness.  I love people, and hate to be alone.  Especially when I'm away from Andrea, I need someone to be nearby at all times so lonliness doesn't creep in.  He has been such a gift this trip - not to mention, he has done a wonderful job of teaching these kids and edifying the pastors here. 

We woke up early again this morning and went to visit a church outside of the city.  We enjoyed coconut water for breakfast and sat around talking with the pastors.  These are the moments that I miss most when I go back home - enjoying each other's company.  It helps me when I'm home to remember that the main cancer to community is busyness. 

Because of how much we are sweating and the energy we are using each day, all I can think of is chicken!  There is a Jollibee here (a fast-food restaurant that I've never heard of but supposedly there are Jollibee's in California) - we are going there for lunch and I cannot wait.  I need the protien and energy... I might order 8 chicken breasts.

Hope all is well for you on your side of the world.  Friday morning we leave early for home... we have a decent layover in Japan and then on our long flight to Dallas.  Can't wait to see my sweet wife and daughter-to-be... family, friends and dogs.  (By the way, this is such a foreign concept here to have dogs that you love as much as we love ours - when I told the pastors about Molly and Lily, they've been trying ever since to get me to eat dog.  I'm trying to stick with chicken... at least for now!!!)

"How many wives do you have?"

We arrived safely in Ozamis a few days ago.  We took the overnight ferry here which was fun/crazy.  It was very crowded and hot.  It was definitely one of those nights that you never let go of your luggage.  We woke up around 5:00am and watched the sunrise over the ocean as tons of little fishing boats made their way out for a day's work.  It is a beautiful island and it is much quieter and calmer than Cebu. 

We have been helping lead this conference here for teenagers.  One of the most enjoyable things for me is to spend time with the pastors that work with these kids each and every day.  They are full of the Spirit and serve, love and encourage relentlessly.  Bishop Bendoy and his sons are such blessings to their church, community and city.  It has been an honor to serve with them. 

I was teaching earlier today and had to grab a different microphone.  The one I was using kept shocking me.  Other than that, the conference couldn't be going more smoothly.  We have been teaching them a bunch of fun games from back home.  In one game, as part of the relay, we had them do jumping-jacks.  Watching kids who have never done jumping-jacks try to for the first time is hilarious! 

I was sitting with one kid, Elbert, and showing him pictures of Andrea.  I said, "Here is my wife in Africa.  Here is my wife in Italy.  Here is my wife in India..."  He looked up at me with a really confused look and said, "How many wives do you have?"  I nearly fell over in laughter, but it was a precious moment with a very precious kid.  He was brought off of the street a few months ago and gave his life to Christ.  He is still learning the difference between right and wrong, but I see a ton of good in his heart.  When we talk, sometimes I don't hear what he is saying because I am secretly praying over his life and his future.  He is a wonderful boy and I love him very much!

We found a hotel here that is nice.  It has very cold AC and I woke up this morning with a sore throat and have been sneezing all day.  I don't think that my body is prepared to handle the 90 degree heat (and 90% humidity) and then lay in freezing air all night.  Everything is short here (because the people are short)... and fragile.  To explain, I barely touched the sink in my bathroom and it fell off of the wall and broke.  I thought I was going to die - it scared me that bad.  What scared me more was the Philippino Hotel Management.  We still haven't reconciled and decided the verdict.  The pastors here keep calling me, "Paul," because they say I'm going to jail for breaking the sink.  I later tried to visit the roof of the hotel to get a good view of the city and almost knocked myself unconscious on the metal door frame.  I hit my head so hard that my ears were ringing.  Ticked me off, but a typical move on my part. 

We have another full day here tomorrow and then take a small plane ride back to Cebu on Thursday afternoon.  We will wrap things up Thursday night and fly home Friday morning, bright and early.  I can't tell you how much I love these people - it has been a great trip to see this country and scout it for future trips.  The only down-side is that we've missed the Final Four - I'm headed to espn.com right now to see who won!!!

All is well - please keep praying for us here.  I look forward to updating you upon our arrival home and fill you in on our last few days here.  God bless you!!!