Cherub

Look at this angel.... "fallen" a bit, but still cute :)

Nem-2-dom?

Tonight we are packing our bags for a trip down to Vajta. Where? Vajta, a small village in Hungary. If you ask most Hungarian's they might be as clueless as you may be about Vajta. Anyways, in Vajta is Calvary Chapel's European Conference Center / Bible School. It's basically the only thing worth visiting in Vajta. CC has done a really great job reconstructing this old Zinchy manor house into a awesome center for raising up young people to share the Gospel here in Europe. We are going down for “Speakers Week“, which is basically a week where they bring in a bunch of great guest speakers. We will update how it went at the end of the week. If you are not familiar with CCBCE check them out at: www.ccbce.com

Testing 1, 2, 3

This is a test... and only a test. Hopefully a fun one. I'm trying to see how this Blogger video function works and how well. So, help me out and click on to the video of the boys doing their normal antics. If it works for you let us know....

Caped Wonder

Is it a bird, a plane, or superBaby? So who is this caped boy wonder? What's up with the crimson red cape anyways? Well, recently little David has been sick. Ivetka had wrapped this lite scarf around his neck to keep it warm, which is a common practice here in Slovakia when one has a sore throat. Usually it helps. Well, of course David didn't understand that, nor did he like it. That is until we told him that he looks like a cowboy with a scarf on. And of course that was great since everyone knows (even little David) that cowboys ride horses... which is the current epic adventure that David longs to join in on. Yet, somehow in the course of the week the scarf turned into a cape and David is no longer sick... yet he still insists upon the cape. So, enjoy these pics of the Cowboy Kid. (BTW - the Gilligan hat is not a Gilligan hat... it's a "cowboy hat".... so don't laugh or you will have to deal with the wrath of a very small roughrider!)

Walk On.... a 300yr journey to Heaven

Have you ever walked so far that your feet ached?

Think about that day at Disneyland and you will know what I mean. If the walking doesn't kill you the waiting in lines will. It's a bit like Christmas shopping....yes, it's that "wonderful" time of year again!

Anyways, this last week I told a story about a man who simply took a walk. And he walked on, and on, and on for 300 years until he literally walked right into Heaven. That man was Enoch. We don't really know too much about Enoch other then what is revealed in a few passages of the Scriptures (Gen 5:18-24, Hebrews 11:6, Jude 14). Yet, the little we do know about Enoch is amazing and encouraging to me.

The Bible tells us that at age 65 he had his first son - Methuselah. Talk about family planning.... but I guess it was proportional to his lifespan of 365 years?! Anyways, for some reason unknown to us Enoch begins from that point on to walk with God. This journey of faith lasted for 300 more years (here on earth). We also see (in Jude 14) that Enoch was a prophet. He walked with God, listened to God's opinion on life, and began to share that outlook with those around him. After the 300 years of "walking on" Scripture says that Enoch was "no more" because God "took him". The idea being that he didn't actually die, but simply entered into Heaven. Now that is basically all we know about the life and man Enoch.

Yet, the Holy Spirit has a bit of commentary on this guy. In fact He sets Enoch up as a model for all of us. We see it in Hebrews 11:5-6. The writer of Hebrews tells us in reference to the example of Enoch that "without faith it is impossible to please God..."

Enoch was a simple man of faith who walked with God, listened to Him, and shared what he heard with others. Enoch wasn't in full-time ministry. He wasn't anyone special. But he was a man of simple faith who in the end pleased God. So much so that God "took him" Home. Hebrews 11:6 continues on like this "...anyone who comes to Him (God) must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him." That was Enoch's life and legacy - believing in God, seeking God, and expecting from God.

Enoch's life invokes a few question for us:
Are we pleasing God? or are we just pleasing our selves?
Do I really believe He is real? The Living, Active God?
Why don't I always seek or come to Him?
Why don't we expect anything from Him?

So... think, pray, and live.

Then Walk On.....

Irresistible

Aren't these two irresistable?

SoulFood: Thanksgiving

So, while most of you in the USA are working off yesterdays TurkeyFest (or at lest coming up with a strategic diet plan), we here in Nitra are cooking up a storm. You see, Slovaks don't celebrate Thanksgiving. But they do like to party for almost any occasion. So, we decided to throw a Thanksgiving dinner, but on Friday since it works better for us all. This will be the first of many of our dinners connected to our in-the-works project - SoulFood. Also this is actually the first Thanksgiving dinner Ivetka & I have made in our 7yrs of marriage! We really didn't know where to start. So, we Googled up some awesome recipes for a "Herb Roasted Turkey", "Awesome Sausage, Apple and Cranberry Stuffing", and a "Pilgrim Pumpkin Pie." So far it smells great! Anyways, be on the lookout for our SoulFood Review.

Kitchen love

Lots of love going on in the Higgins kitchen...

PAOLO PELLEGRIN

This last week I was able to catch a few individual & group shows. This one featuring PAOLO PELLEGRIN was held at the "Hose of Art" on SNP in Bratislava. Paolo has some very compelling work documenting major areas of suffering in the world. The photos were large format, high contrast and "rough". What I left thinking about was - "how is it that we as humans can create so much suffering in this world?" This is a documentary of our falleness and of what Saint Paul calls a world groaning for joining into "the glorious freedom of the children of God." (Romans 8:21).

Check out PAOLO PELLEGRIN's work at the MAGNUM link below:

http://www.magnumphotos.com/Archive/C.aspx?VP=XSpecific_MAG.PhotographerDetail_VPage&l1=0&pid=2K7O3R13CHLN&nm=Paolo%20Pellegrin

What Revolution?

Revolution? What Revolution?

That was almost the answer to the some survey questions I gave to my students today. You too may be asking - "What revolution?" Well on Nov 16, 1989 Bratislava and the rest of Slovakia was alive with revolt. The next day these student protests spread to the more know uprising in Prague.
This "Velvet Revolution" turned out to be a blood-less overturning of years of Communist oppression.

Now back to the given answer - "What revolution?" It turns out that at the firm I am working the average employee age is 25. Most of my students were between the ages of 4-9 years old when the revolution happened. For them it's a memory, but a vague one. They knew something "big" was happening, but unclear as to what. One of my students recalled at the age of 4 being in the streets with his father in the student marches and rattling keys in youthful rebellion. He spoke of meeting now famous figures of the revolution in his family home. For him they were his father's guests, but for a nation they were quite something else.

Of course everyone here in Slovakia knows about the Velvet Revolution either from these vague patchwork of memories or at the very least from history class. Yet, for me it's interesting that such a significant event has lost it's significance to the emerging generation of Slovaks. What issues will the culture face as it presses forward without the context of what it is emerging from? Time will tell.

To learn more of the history:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velvet_Revolution

Impossible to Please

We all have "impossible" people in our lives at some point. The kind of people who are never happy with anything you do. They are impossible to please. Do you know what I mean? Now I don't know about you, but have you ever felt like that special someone was God? Be honest.

We have faced certain challenges and "tests" since our return to Slovakia. Being a normal guy I've taken a "we can fix it!" attitude. (I'm sure some of this is the result of subliminal messages from my boys' "Bob the Builder" cartoons...) Anyways, the truth is most of the time we can't just "fix it." Then the emerging questions is - what am I doing wrong? Any ideas God?

Coming to the realization that claymation construction workers are not the best place to find the meaning of life from I turn to the sacred Scriptures. God has an interesting way of revealing Himself and what pleases Him. Very "randomly" I was reminded of Hebrews 11:3, which reads -

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him."

I take from this that if I want to please God (which is a amazing concept) that I simply need faith... a simple trust in Him. I need to be on the lookout for Him to save the day (possibly at the last moment!) God will do the "fixing" and He will reward those who come honestly and humbly to Him for help. Amazing! So, the new motto is - "He can fix it!"

Since this "revelation" the Holy Spirit has been more like the Holy Ghost - hunting me down and haunting me with those words. No really, it's not that bad. He is just doing what Jesus promised (John 14: 18, 26)- to not leave me as an orphan and to teach/remind me of what Jesus has said.

He is possible to please.... and it's pleasing to do so!

Boys

Here are a few pics of the Boys... enjoy!

David is learning how to save us millions in diapers - finally!


Gabie is waking up to the day at the breakfast table with Wolf.

Sulancegraphy

We've added a few extra pics from the last Sulance-fest. Mmmmmm, this is making me hungry.
Enjoy!

Impatient Rebels

Would you ever describe yourself as an "impatient rebel?" Probably not, but if we examined ourselves (and I mean honestly) we would find a touch of that description in us. A quick glance at God's interaction with His special people (the Hebrews) shows us that the qualities of impatience and rebellion have plagued believers for centuries. We are no better then them.

Jaro Minar preached on this a few weeks ago at the Nitra home fellowship. The basic message was this: God had promised His people a land of Promise. They didn't get it right away, the sun was hot and the food was a bit too campy for them after a few days of traveling. So what did these impatient children of God do - rebelled! They didn't trust in God's promise. They didn't think He could or would do what He swore to do. Scripture tells us they had hard hearts as a result (Hebrews 3:7-19, also see Exodus 17:1-7).

The writer of Hebrews warns us of having similar "hard hearts." That's a scary warning because it assumes that it CAN happen to any of us. How many times have you prayed for something and God was simply taking too long to answer? How many times have we taken the situations of our crazy lives and tried to take control? How many golden claves have we formed? How many faithless spies have we sent out? How many times have we complained about the simplest of inconvenience simply because we do not feel God is keeping up His end of the deal?

If you are like the Hebrews (and most of us are... including me!) we give up on God. We begin to rebel. We join Sinatra in doing it "my way." And like the Hebrews we end up wandering around aimlessly with hardened hearts towards God. There is a solution to this impatient rebellious streak in us - REVOLUTION! That revolution is the radical transformation of Jesus entering into your life and proving Himself to be all that He claims to be. He doesn't ask you to blindly trust in Him. He earns that trust and proves Himself faithful. The question is - will I let Him soften my heart? Will I choose to yield? Will I remain a common rebel or raise with Him as a reconciled revolutionary?

"Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts." - Hebrews 4:7b

5 Big Questions

Recently I spoke at the VBH (InterVarsity) meeting here in Nitra. It was a great time to connect with the students and just pastor them. They had invited me to teach, but it was more like a brain-picking session. I was given 5 very general questions with very little context. The only connection between all the questions was essentially - how do we best serve each other? The great thing about this session is that all the questions were honest and they students really wanted to live out the teachings of Jesus.

Below are the questions & outlines of the answers... however, the Holy Spirit provided many more “on the spot” answers during the evening.

1. How do you organize a big group?
Acts 2:41-47; 5:12
- H.S. empowered and obedient to.
- Devoted to right things in a balanced way
- Helped one another
- Large group + smaller groups (more intimate)

Remember, if it's God's work He will take care of growth problems.

2. How to feed mixed groups of newer and mature believers?
Acts 2:42 - use this as your model gathering
2 Tim 3:16-17 - simply teach the Word.
- Stick to the Word, believe it, live by it.
- Study & teach expositional and inductively (O,I,A)
- Direct people to find their answers in the Word
- Hype and "relevancy" will fade, God's Word remains!
- Be taught by the Holy Spirit (John 14 & 1Cor 2)

3. How to spiritually council?
Spiritual counseling = Biblical counseling + H.S. discernment

4. Practical needs: when to help, when not?
James 1:27 - True religion is serving the oppressed
Jn 13:34-35 - Disciples love one another
Acts 2:44-45 - Starts in the gathering of Believers
Gal 6:2-5 - Carry burdens, learn to carry your own.

5. Outreach?
(This was asked in the context of their recent outreach - see my Nov blog ‘Merchant of Death”)
Now go from preaching the Gospel to making disciples.

Nitra Ministry Team

For me the Nitra home group is just getting better and better. It’s hasn’t growing significantly in size for a long time, but in depth it’s gone miles in my estimation. Over the last few weeks we have restructured the leadership into a ministry team that is in reality a pastoral team - Rado, Jaro, and myself. I takes a bit of faith to co-lead, but we have all earned each other’s trust over the years. It all hinges on a common relationship with Jesus which has produced a real joy when serving together (a bit like 1 John 1:1-4). The roles are loosely divided as such- Rado is the lead pastor/teaching, Jaro is a teaching pastor and hosts the fellowship, and I am advising Rado (as I quickly move away from being the lead pastor) and teaching. The rotation in teaching looks like it’s going to be great as each of us brings to the table something fresh and different from the others. It’s the beauty of the Body of Christ actually acting like a body. And even though we all have different personalities and styles we all seek bring others into worshiping Jesus in both Spirit & Truth! Pray for us as we move forward into an exciting new path.

Month of Photography

It's that time of year again... no not football, not Thanksgiving turkey or even post-Thanksgiving diet time. It's the Month of Photography in Bratislava. Every November (this is the 17th year now) practically every gallery, museum, and available space is displaying excellent works of photography from around the world. Last year I swore I would visit a few shows and unfortunately it didn't happen. This year I got smart and bought the program. Now armed with my guide to the best of the best I'm making the rounds.

The first exhibition I saw was the Pawel Zak, a Polish artist (one of the free shows). He had some very interesting photos with great lighting, soft focus and astounding printing. I particularly liked his picture of a snail that had motion blur. Who would think to make a snail look like he is speeding across the frame... and do it in such a natural and artistic way?

Anyways, if you are in Bratislava take time to check out a show or two.

Check it out yourself at: http://www.sedf.sk/default.aspx?c=20

Sulance

Lately there has been a lot cooking in the Higgins kitchen. The current craze (or was that craving?) is Sulance (pronounced, "shoe-lawn-say"). Which in our house is basically potato based dumplings topped with a generous amount of poppy seeds, powdered sugar, and melted butter... and a whole lot of loving that only "mamicka" can cook up. It's great! Come on over for a try... we are whipping it up all the time now. If flying half way around the globe is a little much even for Sulance (...trust me they are worth it) drop Ivetka an email for the recipe. You wont be sorry! Mmmmmm!

LeeLand

Have you checked out LeeLand yet?

If not, do it now: http://www.leelandonline.com/

LeeLand is a great little band. Good music, good ministry, good hearts. They recently served with Greg Laurie during the Harvest Crusades:
http://www.harvest.org/crusades/

Listen, buy, download.... today!

Inspiration

"Never concede to doing something so small that it could be accomplished entirely in your lifetime. "

~~~Dr. Ralph Winter

Martin's White Horse

It's Martin. That is another way to say that it's Sunday, November 11th here in Slovakia. Each day on the calendar has a name attached to it. Some of them are associated with the saints, others are contemporary names. All of them have meaning.

Gabriel was asking Ivetka this morning on the way to church when he could play in the snow. It has only been raining here, so no apparent luck for a little guy with aspirations of sledding and snowball fights. Ivetka's answer was simple - "Martin comes riding on a white horse." Makes sense - right? Well, it does if you are Slovak. For the rest of us it's like mystic haiku.

After the worship service to our surprise it was snowing! What happened? "Martin comes riding on a white horse." Which is another way of saying - "at this time of year, usually on Martin, it snows." Gabie's was of course thrilled about the snow, but still had one question - "where is the horse?"

It's amazing to me that this culture has (at lest in the past) had such a intimate connection to it's environment. Within its language and proverbs there is a connection that reflects a very precise understanding of the rhythms, cycles, and tempo of the world around them. "Martin comes riding on a white horse" is just one of many of these almost mystical time-tested sayings.

Missions Interview

I recently received a email from Kimberly White, a freshman at LeTourneau University in Texas. We meet briefly last year during a speaking event I had at Calvary Chapel Santa Maria, CA. Kim is taking a class called Contemporary World Missions and was required to conduct a missionary interview with a missionary presently on the mission field. She has been exploring the different principles and perspectives of cross-cultural missions and was wondering if I would be willing to answer some questions about our missionary experience. I said YES of course and discovered that Kim had some very good questions that possibly some of you might also like to know the answers to.

Questions:

1. How did God lead you into missions?
From a young age I was introduced to missions and have taken part in it. When I went to Slovakia God clearly gave me an attraction to the people and place. He confirmed that calling with a peace and provision to actually go. He has been keeping up that process for some years now.

2. Why did you choose to serve with your mission board GO! Ministries?
Go! was basically a financial decision. They are simply managing our donations and taxes. However, after making the decision I also found out that they have a good pastoral support and have been very helpful to us in a number of unexpected ways. We are also connected to Shepherd's Staff (for 7 years now!) which provide the same service and are great. Either organizations are worth checking out.

Shepherd's Staff: http://www.shepsstaff.org/
Go! Ministries: http://go.ccnorco.org/

3. In Slovakia, to what people group do you minister (I know you minister to the Slovaks; are there any others?)? What attracted you to Slovakia or this specific people group?
Aside from Slovaks, also international people - from Arab states, Norway, France, Hungary, UK, Asia, Canada, etc.
What attracts me to Slovaks is that they are very "real" people, down to earth. However, our collective of friends and people we minister with is quite cosmopolitan. We enjoy the mix.

4. What is your main focus of ministry among this people?
Right now - prayer, personal witness, outreach that encourages people to think about spiritual issues. Also, I work with a University student group (VBH) and assist in leading one home group. All that in Nitra. We are also laying the groundwork for a church plant in Bratislava.

5. What is your vision for the ministry in Slovakia or among this people group?
We want to plant new churches and encourage Slovaks in reaching out to their communities.

6. What strategy or strategies are you using to accomplish your vision?
Teach the Word, be real, be relational, be relevant, give room for the Holy Spirit to work.

7. How would you evaluate your progress towards finishing the task in Slovakia or with these people?
We are far from done. In fact most the time we head down one path and God does something else with it. Yet, it the end He is glorified. That's the ultimate goal anyways -right? The best way for me to evaluate is simply ask - was I obedient. If yes, then its good.

8. What kind of exit strategy do you have?
Take an airplane..... no really, it depends on what part of ministry we are talking about. For example our work in Nitra is an kind of "exit strat". We used to lead the ministries, but now we have transitioned into assisting Slovaks who are in charge. The plan is to fade out slowly. Actually, I don't see many of the New Testament leaders setting out much of an exit strategy unless it was how to avoid getting killed by an angry mob!

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If any of you readers have some specific questions you would like to know about Slovakia, us, or the ministry here please don't hesitate to ask!

Nov 07 Update

Greetings once again from Slovakia! We are finally back after a long, but fast paced summer spent in California. It was a great time spent with our family, celebrating birthdays again after a long time, a camping trip, and a few trips to the beach. Gabie learned how to swim and David enjoyed his time playing with grandpa's dogs. Little David also had an all day annual check-up after his surgery last year. The Dr. says David is doing great - God gets all the credit for that! Despite all the fun, this trip also had a ministry focus. We were able to meet with many of our supporters and cast a vision with them for our next steps here in Slovakia. Additionally, I was blessed to be able to fill the pulpit on many occasions during our time in CA. It's always great to have a chance to preach the Word!

Aside from all the activities of the summer, the Lord was also teaching us many things. The most foundational lesson was - "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding." (Proverbs 3:5) With that comes the discipline of simply walking forward in the things God has laid out before us (Eph 2:10) out of obedience. Sometimes there may be opposition (and there was this summer), but it's more important to please God then man (Acts 4:18-20). Please keep us in your prayers as we try to live this out in our life in practical ways. We haven't "arrived" and sometimes the path of obedience is paved with many doubts, brokenness, opposition, and, yes, even joy!

At the moment we are living and ministering here in Nitra again. It's good to be back and now in a different role. For many years we were leading the ministry here, but now it's been a time of simply supporting the Slovaks who are doing the work, primarily Rado Svarda. Rado has been heading up the weekly home group for a year now and is doing a great job! This support has involved mentoring, lots of practical planning, and teaching the Word. Currently I have been teaching through Joel, Jesus' "7 Woes", and topical on the Holy Spirit. We recently reviewed the vision for the group based on Acts 2:42 - to be a Body empowered by the Holy Spirit and devoted to the Word, fellowship, prayer, and remembering Jesus! There was some great feedback from the group that these times spent in His presence are really strengthening their spiritual walk, real community is being built, and that they now have a greater passion to reach the lost here in Nitra! So, we thank God for these "blossoms on the trees" that we hope will grow into even more spiritual, lasting fruit (John 15:8).

Another supporting role we have assumed is with VBH, the Slovak version of InterVarsity. Basically, it is a student lead ministry on the local university campus. Rado has been mentoring the student leaders and has asked me to assist them in pastoral / mentoring care. So far it's been great! The VBH group meets throughout the week in the dorms and has their main meeting on Wednesday nights. On the first meeting of the semester they had 25+ students and are growing larger each week! Their focus this term is to study verse by verse through Romans! They also have a passion to reach out to their fellow students. Check out previous & upcoming posts for VBH updates.

When we were back in California we were able to review the vision and direction for the ministry with our home church. We would like to bring you up to speed as well:

Nitra: Simply to support the Slovaks we have co-ministered with in the past. And to help them, especially Rado, to finish up a good foundation for their further ministry here in Nitra.

Bratislava: The ultimate goal in Bratislava would be to plant a new church. We see this happening in three stages: 1. Prayer & exploration, 2. Outreach & discipleship, 3. the actual church plant.

We are simply in the Prayer part right now. Bratislava is full of opportunities and offers to minister, but we want to only walk through the things that God has prepared for us. As far as the "exploration" part I am traveling to Bratislava 4 days a week for work. I teach at AIG & DELL. This provides a great opportunity to meet a lot of unbelievers and share the Gospel with them via my personal witness. What I have encountered in Bratislava is that there is indeed a spiritual hunger, but it is being filled with everything but Jesus.Please pray for divine opportunities to be a light in Bratislava. Pray that the Holy Spirit would open the hearts of my co-workers and students. Also pray that God would provide us the finances to be able to move back to Bratislava in His perfect time. We can’t wait to get back!

Lastly we want to announce that we have a few changes in our contacts, as well as a Skype account to stay better connected with all of you. Additionally, we have joined Go! Ministries which will be handling our finances in the future.

Thank you all for all the love you have sent our way expressed in so many ways. Please continue to hold us up in your prayers!

Much love in Christ,

Patrick, Ivetka, Gabriel, and David



Go! Ministries
Mailing Address: GO Ministries P.O. Box 651 • Norco, CA 92860
Phone Contact: Phone: (951) 272-WORD (9673)Fax: (951) 272-4046
E-Contact: info@go.ccnorco.org
Web: http://go.ccnorco.org/index.htm

Give me your best shot!

Gabko joined me at the hockey stadium over the last weekend to see his cousins play. We got to go into the box and he tried out some gear. He loved it! Why not? He's 1/2 Slovak and hockey is the biggest sport here. Gabko managed to find a stray puck which has now been added to his collection of boyhood treasures. Enjoy the pics!

Kickin’ back in Kubin

Over the past weekend we hung out in Dolny Kubin where Ivetka is from. It was a great chance to visit family, eat a lot of awesome (but very unhealthy) traditional Slovak cuisine, marvel at the beauty of God’s good creation, and catch a couple of hockey games. BTW - our team won (Dolny Kubin 2 : Bardejov 1)! Here are some pics - enjoy!

Day of the Dead

Day of the Dead - sounds spooky doesn't it? Well, it's not as dark as it sounds. In Slovakia every November 2nd is a day of remembering loved ones who have passed away. This is following the Catholic holiday of "All Saints Day" (Nov 1st) which as it suggests - celebrates the lives of all the saints. Anyways, the Day of the Dead (D-day from here on out...) is a time of families getting together, tidying up the graves and then honoring their loved ones with fresh flowers, candles, and short prayers or moments of silence. For sure this holiday has it's roots in pre-Christian pagan practices, yet the contemporary practice of the whole thing is quite nice. How cool is it to have a day where you take time to reflect on those who have come before us, invested in our lives, and ultimately what is our own eternal destiny.

I had the opportunity to speak with many of my students about D-day, most of whom are agnostics, atheist, and one self-professed pagan. Surprisingly the majority of them viewed D-day as a very meaningful and "spiritual" day for them. This opened up many doors to speak about their own "spiritual world-view", what they live for, and ultimately their own eternal destiny. Pray that these soul-talks will be seeds in their hearts that can be watered by the Holy Spirit.

While we were in Dolny Kubin over the weekend we also celebrated D-day. We visited the grave of Ivetka's mother - Anna Chmarova. It's good to know that even though her body lies here in this land, her spirit is celebrating with her Lord and Savior!

Calling All Saints

On Nov 1 was "All Saints" Day. I basically couldn't find many people (my students that is) who could tell me much about how this holiday is celebrated in Slovakia. I suppose that there are some special masses celebrated that day. I was celebrating as well since it is a state holiday here - another day off of work! Speaking of state holidays - Slovakia has one of the highest number of state holidays in Europe! I love this place!

Anyways, I don't know how Catholics celebrate All Saints, but after reflecting a bit about the whole thing I think we could do well to celebrate this holiday.

Let me explain:

The Bible makes it clear that all believers are "saints". And I wouldn't be included in this long list of saints if those who had treaded the path before me hadn't showed me the way. My spiritual journey is not a journey alone. I've been introduced to the adventure by others who have marked out the trail so to speak. The road to heaven is narrow, but I imagine it's well worn and a bit rutty (is that a word?).

So how do we celebrate All Saints?
I don't know, but I think Hebrews 12:1-2 gives us some clues:

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses (to see who they are read Hebrews 11), let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith...."

Consider and celebrate. Then run!

The Merchant of Death

Last week the VBH (InterVarsity) did an outreach at the university dorm using film + discussion. The film that they showed was "Lord of War" with Nicholas Cage. In Slovak it was roughly translated as "The Merchant of Death." My first though was, "how are they going to put a spiritual twist on this one?" To my surprise the whole thing went great! Why should I be surprised - God is working! The film was shown in the conference hall off of the main lobby, so a great people catching location. And it caught about 120-150 students! After the film the VBH students invited the crowd to stay for small group discussions. About 1/3rd stayed - which is great for a typical outreach here in Slovakia. And surprisingly enough the VBH students were able to make some clear bridges between the tough issues presented in the film to the spiritual issues of our lives. The natural to the supernatural. Pray that the students who stayed for the discussions will honestly consider their need for a Savior that can not only heal a broken world, but even their own personal brokenness.

See the trailer: http://movies.about.com/od/lordofwar/a/lordwar072805.htm