Saturday, January 21, 2006

End of the Spear

Have you seen End of the Spear yet? You don't want to miss this movie. It's showing at movie theaters all over the Twin Cities and is the story of Steve Saint, son of martyred missionary Nate Saint. Imagine, being a missionary's kid, watching your dad fly off one day to minister to a tribe of people known as the most violent people on the face of the earth. You dad never comes back because he and four other missionaries have been killed. Then imagine going back and living with the tribe that killed your father. You befriend the man who killed your father. That is radicall love. That is the story. You can view the trailer at www.endofthespear.com.

Off to Central America

I'm heading out to Central America tomorrow with three leaders from our Operation Guatemala/El Salvador team. This is our scouting trip for the 2006 trip that takes place June 11-25, 2006. It looks like we'll have a large team with 52 people signed up to go so far.

This prep trip is always such an exciting time as we meet with pastors, missionaries, and church members in a variety of settings. The days of this next week will be long, often times working up to 18 hours a day. We leave for the airport at 3:45 a.m. and arrive in Guatemala City at about 1:00 p.m. From there, we'll drive four hours to a ministry location, where we'll meet with pastors to talk about how the OGES team can assist their church in accomplishing their purposes.

Going into this prep trip, we're already sure that we'll be working in the communities of Campur, in the rainforest region of Guatemala, and San Marcos, on the western side of the country, high up in the mountains. On this trip we'll be scouting two new possible ministry locations. One of those spots is in El Salvador, and another is in Honduras. This will be my first trip ever to the country of Honduras. I'm excited to see what is happening in this country.

I'd appreciate your prayers as we seek God's wisdon and discernment for which communties we should minister in this summer. Pray for our missionary, Jaime Lopez, who will be driving us over 1000 miles in the five days we are in Central America, interpreting for us in our communication with nationals, and giving us his input on where the needs are highest.

Drop Dead Sledfest

The Drop Dead Sledfest scheduled for today has now become the Drop Dead Pizza Party due to the lack of snow at Staring Lake Park. We're still meeting at Greta's house from 6:30-9:00 for pizza, music, and more. Don't miss it! If you need directions to Greta's you can e-mail me at brian.schulenburg@wooddale.org.

Super Bowl Outreach



Wooddale Senior High is going to host the mother of all Super Bowl Parties on Sunday, February 5. Our hope is to have over 200 students, most of them not Wooddalers. We're praying that the party, which is designed to be evangelisitic, will draw dozens to faith in Christ. Tony Dungy, the coach of the Indianapolis Colts, who tragically lost his son earlier this year, will be our halftime speaker. His talk was recorded prior to his son's death and will be shown on a powerful video. You can order a Super Bowl Outreach kit for your home, church, or youth ministry at: http://www.sportsspectrum.com/powertowin.

We're going to be giving out a ton of incredible prizes at our party, in hopes of seeing students who might spend the night somewhere else, spending with us. Prizes include an X-BOX 360, a video Ipod, Spa Gift Certificate, Portable DVD Player, AMC Movie Gift Cards, CD's, Movie Passes, and more.

The room will be divided into two sections, representing each team playing in the game. Bleachers will be set up for the hard core fans in front of the two giant screens that are displayig the game. And, we'll have between 500-750 hot dogs, nachos, pop, cookies, and more. If you a high school student in the Twin Cities, don't miss this party. It's going to be in stinkin' credible.

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Jesus and The Da Vinci Code


We're talking about Jesus and The Da Vinci Code tonight at The Garage. I'll be using a sermon that John Ortberg preached on the subject a couple years ago as my base for the lesson. I don't normally do that, but this sermon is so good. If you're struggling with issues about the Christian faith in the Dan Brown's book, I'd recommend you read this sermon by Ortberg. You can find it at: http://www.mppc.org/e_sermons/esermon_2003/dec_03/12_7_03.html.

Significant Conference for Evangelical Free Church Starts Today

I'm ordained as a pastor in the Evangelical Free Church of America. The church I presently serves is not a Free Church, so as part of my requirements to keep my ordination active, I am required to attend a Free Church conference every other year. I'll be going to the Evangelical Free Church Midwinter Ministerial over the next three days. It's nice because it takes place really close to my home, at South Suburban Free Church in Apple Valley, Minnesota.

This conference is very significant for the denomination. We are taking a look at the Evangelical Free Church Doctrinal Statement, a statement which has not been updated in years, and refreshing it. That word may sound scary to some, but it is really quite interesting. The most significant change comes in the area of eschatology. If you're interested, you can check out information on the conference at: http://www.efca.org/pastoralcare/media/2006_Midwinter_brochure.pdf.