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I have changed this blog to a new address, please visit chriswaye.wordpress.com

Happy Birthday Lawson

Today we celebrated the birthday of my son Lawson who will turn four on Monday. I thought I knew what the love relationship of a son and a father was before but until you have that first child, it is near impossible to really know the feeling. I am so grateful for the awesome responsibility God has given me to raise up a child for His glory. I pray that I am able to pass on a Godly heritage to him and that he grows up to do great things for the kingdom of God.

I love you buddy!!

Following The Shepherd’s Footsteps

From the BCWE quote of the day

“We did not come to China because missionary work here was either safe or easy, but because He has called us. We did not enter upon our present positions under a guarantee of human protection, but relying on the promise of His presence. The accidents of ease or difficulty, of apparent safety or danger, of man’s approval or disapproval, in no wise affect our duty. Should circumstances arise involving us in what may seem special danger, we shall have grace, I trust, to manifest the depth and reality of our confidence in Him, and by faithfulness to our charge to prove that we are followers of the Good Shepherd who did not flee from death itself.”

James Hudson Taylor (Missionary to China and founder of the China Inland Mission, now called Overseas Missionary Fellowship- OMF)”

When Doing Right Is Wrong

I read this today from a book “The Indwelling Life of Christ” and thought it was very eye-opening. We often do what WE think is right and feel that as long as the world views it as “right” then we are doing pretty good. Read what Moses said about doing right

Deut 12:8 “Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes.”

In the wilderness, Moses commanded the people of Israel, “You shall not at all do as we are doing here today, every man doing whatever is right…”(Deuteronomy 12:8). Why was he telling them not to continue doing what was right? Doing right is what we are always supposed to do, is it not? Listen to Moses’ words in full: “You shall not at all do as we are doing here today, every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes. “ The people were doing only what was right in their own eyes, without consulting the One who alone has the right to decide what is right and wrong. This continues to be the curse of Gods people today. We fail to seek counsel from the One who alone is King in His kingdom, and who alone has the right to call the shots. Why were God’s people in the wilderness unable to discern what was truly right? Moses goes on to say, “… for as yet you have not come to the rest and the inheritance which the LORD your God is giving you” (Deuteronomy 12:9). So long as Christians are busy doing for God what is best in their own eyes, they will never enter into His rest and the true inheritance that is theirs to enjoy now. They will only be sweating it out, and end up weary, discouraged, depressed. They will likely become deeply cynical. They will finally want to quit, and quit they must. They must quit depending on self-effort, and instead recognize the Truth: “I cannot—God never said I could; but God can, and always said He would!” True repentance says, “I cannot,” and true faith adds, “But God, You can!” Then you can reign in life as you let God be God, and you allow Him to show you that He is big enough for the job. Reflect again on this truth: Righteousness is doing right in God’s eyes, and God alone is the author of righteousness. For any activity of yours or mine to produce righteousness, God Himself must be the source of it. Are you allowing Him to do this in your life?

“Wanted-a man”

“And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.”

This is taken from a book that I am reading right now, Pushing to the Front. The men of this generation, as a whole, are not the men of yester-year. A true sense of manhood has been lost over the years and seems to be still on a downward slope. More and more it is the women of this country that are depended upon to be the spiritual leaders, discipline keepers and providers of many homes in America. Few and far between are the real men who would stand up for things that matter. Us men had better wake up and realize the responsibility that we have to be the leaders of our homes and raise up our children to be real men of God. There are certainly enough boys running around, were have all the men gone?

Never before was the opportunity of the educated man so great as to-day. Never before was there such a demand for the trained man, the man who can do a thing superbly well. At the door of every vocation is a sign out, “Wanted—a man.” No matter how many millions are out of employment, the whole world is hunting for a man who can do things; a trained thinker who can do whatever he undertakes a little better than it has ever before been done. Everywhere it is the educated, the trained man, the man whose natural ability has been enlarged, enhanced one hundredfold by superior training, that is wanted.

On all sides we see men with small minds, but who are well educated, pushing ahead of those who have greater capabilities, but who are only half educated. A one-talent man, superbly trained, often gets the place when a man with many untrained or half-trained talents loses it. Never was ignorance placed at such a disadvantage as to-day.

While the opportunities awaiting the educated man, the college graduate, on his entrance into practical life were never before so great and so numerous as to-day, so also the dangers and temptations which beset him were never before so great, so numerous, so insidious.

All education which does not elevate, refine, and ennoble its recipient is a curse instead of a blessing. A liberal education only renders a rascal more dishonest, more dangerous. Educated rascality is infinitely more of a menace to society than ignorant rascality.

Every year, thousands of young men and young women graduate full of ambition and hope, full of expectancy, go out from the schools, the colleges, and the universities, with their diplomas, to face for the first time the practical world.

There is nothing else, perhaps, which the graduate needs to be cautioned against more than the money madness which has seized the American people, for nothing else is more fatal to the development of the higher, finer instincts and nobler desires.

Wealth with us multiplies a man’s power so tremendously that everything gravitates toward it. A man’s genius, art, what he stands for, is measured largely by how many dollars it will bring. “How much can I get for my picture?” “How much royalty for my book?” “How much can I get out of my specialty, my profession, my business?” “How can I make the most money?” or “How can I get rich?” is the great interrogation of the century. How will the graduate, the trained young man or woman answer it?

The dollar stands out so strongly in all the undertakings of life that the ideal is often lowered or lost, the artistic suffers, the soul’s wings are weighted down with gold. The commercial spirit tends to drag everything down to its dead, sordid level. It is the subtle menace which threatens to poison the graduate’s ambition. Whichever way you turn, the dollar-mark will swing info your vision. The money-god, which nearly everybody worships in some form or other, will tempt you on every hand.

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Home From Northern Ireland

Austin Gardner and I got back around six o’clock on Monday evening after a great week in Northern Ireland with missionaries Travis and Teri Snode. I really enjoyed my time with them and was able to take away so many great things. There is nothing like taking a missions trip that awakens you to the real need to get the Gospel out to the world. It greatly challenged me to examine what I am doing to reach the world.

Travis and Teri are doing a great work, pastoring in two different cities about a half an hour from each other. At the moment, they have a very busy schedule with pastoring two churches. They have four services on Sunday alone and three others during the week. They stay very busy with all of the ministry work as well as raising a family with their three precious children. It was great to get to know them and see that missionaries are just real, normal people who just give themselves to the work of the Lord. I would describe them the same way Paul described himself as “to gladly spend and be spent for you”. They are “spending” their lives for a cause much greater than their own.

I can not thank them enough for their hospitality for the week, they were such great host. They are a sweet family with an ever sweeter desire to please God.

I encourage you to pray for this family, get to know them, visit them, support them and help them with their endeavor to see more Bible believing, Bible teaching and Bible preaching churches started in Northern Ireland.

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Meet my Pastor

For the past 13 years I have had the great privilege to study and serve under the ministry of my pastor and former youth pastor Derik Lawrence. He has a great wife and six beautiful children, which by his example has shown me a great deal on how to raise a family. He and his family has meant a great deal to my family and I growing up. As a matter of fact, it was he that would pick me up on an old white school bus and bring me to church when I was just 12 years old. All he was, was a willing vessel being used by God and picking up rotten little kids like myself. Man am I glad he did!

I grew up through his youth ministry, took many trips with him, hunted with him, played sports with him, and he has literally poured his life into mine and help me to be the man I am today. So much of what I do and know about ministry is because of him. We had some great times on youth trips, always having fun, but he was always teaching me how to live as a Christian.

Now for the past five years he has been my pastor. He is a young pastor, who took a church that he knew and loved and is doing some great things for God. The church is seeing growth like never before, we are in a new beautiful building, and he has taken his mentorship approach to training others to a whole nother level.

I just want to say that I love my pastor, his family and his influence that they have had on my life.

You can find out more about my pastor and my church here

Grianan of Aileach

Today we took a trip south into the Republic of Ireland between services to visit the Grianan of Aileach. From there we were able to have complete 360 view of three counties in Ireland and look out to the North Sea. It was truly a beautiful site. Below is some info about the ancient fort.

Grianan of Aileach is probably the best-known monument in Inishowen. Situated on a hilltop 800 feet above sea level the stone fort was probably built on an earthen rath. The view from Aileach is breathtaking. The glistening waters of Lough Foyle and Lough Swilly are clear, as is the form of the entire peninsula. A windy and exposed place, Grianan has been a silent witness to the history of Ireland.
The origins of the Grianan of Aileach fort are dated back to 1700 B.C. It is linked to the Tuatha de Danann who invaded Ireland before the Celts and built stone forts on top of strategic hills. They worshipped Dagda (the Good God) and he too is associated with the origins of Aileach. It was he who ordered the building of a stone fort to act as a burial monument to his dead son.
The round fort is built largely without mortar to remain close to the original building. The interior has three terraces and wooden structures were built against the terraces to provide accommodation. The outline of Bronze Age or Iron Age ramparts can be seen below the fort. Legend states that the giants of Inishowen are lying sleeping but when the sacred sword is removed that they will spring to life reclaiming their ancient lands.

Mr. Walter Bernard of Derry restored the stone fort or cashel in the 1870’s. It is the centrepiece of the site, 23m in internal diameter with walls measuring 5m in height and approximately 4m in thickness. The dry stonewalls contain two passages within them as well as terraces along their interior which would have allowed access to their summit. It is comparable to Staigue fort in Co. Kerry.

The remains of the three earthen banks, which surround the cashel, are still visible in places. They are heather covered with possible ditches located in between. In the east northeast a gap in the banks indicates the location of an ancient road, which passed through them. Petrie, who surveyed the site in 1835 showed settings of stones, no longer visible, between this gap in the banks and the cashel.

The tumulus, located midway between the inner and middle bank in the southeast, is no longer visible due to the covering of heather. It consisted of a low mound of stones. The well is located to the south of the cashel between the outer and middle bank. It is thought that St. Patrick visited the site in the 5th century and baptised the local chieftain, Eoghan (from whom Inis Eoghan gets its name), here.

Two theories are put forward as to its function, whether it was a defensive or ceremonial site. We do know that it was the royal site of the Northern Uí Neill between the 5th and 12th centuries A.D. According to the Annals of the Four Masters Murtagh O’Brien, King of Munster, destroyed it in 1101 A.D.

Take the main N13 road to Bridgend and the road left to Burnfoot, Buncrana and the Inishowen 100 Drive. On the approach to the village of Fahan, St. Mura’s Cross and Slab are situated in the graveyard of the old Abbey, which lies alongside the main Buncrana to Derry Road. This monument is well signposted.

Some things I learned…Day 3

Very busy day but still learning a ton…I know that most of you probably already know this stuff anyway but hey, it has been great for me!

Follow Christ as dear children – Ephesians 5:1 (stayed up till 3 talking about this stuff)

People don’t know God so they don’t preach the right stuff

All your sins are paid for, every last one of them (I know, knew this already but man this stuff is awesome)

Patience is endurance, work at it and keep it going

Patience is what it takes to be a follower of Christ

God is not out to hurt us

If my children felt about me, the way so many fell about God, they would be afraid of me and not want to be around me

All of Gods anger towards man was taken our on the cross

God does not punish us, He loves us

When you preach, do not make God look bad, God loves us

You get a better result with love that you do with rules

Preach through the Bible

Preach expository messages

Don’t be a show off

Just preach the Bible

People need to know the Bible

Preach a message that tell what the text says

Life is full of tragedy

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Ireland Day 3

Today we left out early and headed out to Belfast to meet a local pastor for lunch, Wesley Crawford. It was encouraging to meet others that share the same desire to spread the gospel to world. After lunch we headed into the city to pick up a few things and then had to race back to Derry for church. Before we went home to get ready we had to pick up the car from the repair shop and I was told that I would be driving it to the house, which normally is no problem, but driving on the right side of the car, in the left lane, in the dark, shifting with my left hand while going through roundabouts in the rain was definitely something unnatural for me! Nonetheless, we made it home safely and scrambled to get to church on time.

We were able to to Skype in with a missionary to Honduras sent from Ireland and hear about the work going on down there. It was neat to see a missionary, not from the States go to a Central American country. I think sometimes we get the impression that all the worlds missionaries come from America and that it is only our responsibility to reach the world with the gospel. It has been awesome to see the people that missionaries are being reproduced and are doing their part to reach the world.

This trip has really shown me the reality of being a missionary and that while it is very hard work, it is not only commanded by Jesus for us to go, but it is possible for us to go. So many people feel the call to be a missionary and never act on it because they are afraid and have no idea what to do. To those people, I say meet a couple of missionaries that are getting the job done and see that it is quite possible to do what Jesus has commanded us to do. Honestly, is it really that hard to get on a plane, set up camp in another country and tell people about Jesus? Are our lives too important to us to just sit around and live our lives for ourselves? If you fell like God is dealing with you about missions, follow the Lord and just do it! Don’t run, don’t waste your time, just go tell people about Christ!

Please continue to pray for the Snodes and the great work that they are doing in Northern Ireland. You can visit their blog here…http://travissnode.wordpress.com/