No, Really--You First!

Mark 1:7 - And this was his message: "After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.

I must confess, I lack a certain level of culture. If it were not for my awesome wife, I would not have attended many classical concerts in my lifetime. There is one lesson I have learned from listening to classical music, though.

When the orchestra plays, it is important that every instrument plays its role. Not too fast, not too slow, not too loud, not too soft. Even the greatest violinest in the world still has to play with the group, or it will be a disaster!

Sometimes a single NBA team could beat the all-star team for the entire league. There have been Euro football teams who have more stars than any other team, but they can't win a championship!

What's the point of all these illustrations? It's not about how great or talented you are--it is the ability to listen to the one next to you that matters. Playing your role, and submitting yourself to that role produces the greatest benefit.

This is the greatest thing about John the Baptist--he could stay in his role. He demonstrated no jealousy, no entitlement, no demands--just humility.

In John's day, not even the servant of the house was expected to untie the sandals of a guest. John is saying that he is lower than the lowest servant of the household when compared to Christ.

So how are we doing? Am I simply grateful to be in the band of Christ, or do I keep waiting for a chance to toot my horn? Am I having trouble figuring out why no one is passing me the ball? Listen to the last--but greatest--Old Testament prophet.

Out of the 6 billion people on the planet, it's a miracle that you and I made the team! Let's be thankful--even if we get a chance to do the work of a slave--because we know that we are serving our Lord!

Pray for Prague!

Prague is the center of the Czech Republic, and there are many great thing happening in the Prague church.  Last fall we hosted a big singles weekend, with 20 single brothers and sisters from all over Europe. In December, we had a great Christmas service with 7 friends and family members in attendance. Even the kids prepared a nice theater piece about the little drummer boy!

Since the beginning of the year we are having regular invitation services every two months, and regular Bible discussions. The church is much more stable than before, and we are getting back to our mission. We had a marriage workshop in February, where Frank Grossklaus taught us about raising our kids. In the church we are mostly families with small kids, so this was great.

Our best is that one of a families who left the church two years ago is back in the church now. We are proud of how our brothers and sisters welcomed them back in the family. Overall the church is maturing, people are getting to be more excited about God and His church. We are becoming a real family, and we see lots of potential for God to add to His family in Prague.

Please keep us in your prayers! We are praying for maturity in dealing with life issues. Pray for open hearts and for more to come to Christ, especially relatives! Pray for our singles ministry, and for our parents to have wisdom in how to raise up their children. Pray for our up coming conference, and that we will have more preachers in the church!

See you tomorrow . . .