We're Famous! Round Five!

Next Thursday we will be sharing at Anderson University as part of the Brown Bag Luncheon Series!

Click HERE for that invite!

Thursday April 25th--Noon

*Thursday April 25, NOT the 26th...

We Love Our Living Links: February 2013

Although we haven't written much by way of "news," this Spring has been b-u-s-y continuing to connect with pastors and congregations. Especially exciting is the opportunity to get to know several of our Living Link supporters.

In February, we spent a day with the East Side Church of God, here in Anderson. This is a fine congregation that we have been loosely connected with for the entirety of our lives in Anderson. East Side does so many things very well! One thing in particular is their ability to connect with local college students! East Side has a program for members of the congregation to "adopt" a college student, and intentionally get to know them and support them during their school years. About once a month, after worship, East Side has a meal for college students. This is free and consistently dee-licious! Trust me, I've attended my fair share of these meals. :-)

Another thing East Side does well is support of Missionaries. We are thrilled to be included in this list!

See our giant picture: Left column, 2nd from the Top!

And our brochures in the MIDDLE of their wall of info.! 

It is very strange to walk into a place and find information and pictures of you that you did not bring!!!!

We do, of course, bring some information with us. Here is our East Side display, complete with two tables of goodies!

And, FINALLY, Baby Kihm met Baby Goldman!!!

Our day at East Side was long, as we were introduced in both morning worship services, and shared with two Sunday School classes, and then returned in the evening for their Missions Banquet!

And yet, while exhausting, it was also so refreshing to run into so many familiar faces--people we used to worship with, people who have served as our professors, mentors, colleagues, or just friends over the years, and people who we haven't seen in years (even though we've lived within miles of one another!).

OKLAHOMA (let the singing commence...) -- The very next week, I (Daniel) drove to Tulsa, Oklahoma to speak at the Red Fork Church of God on February 17th.

A few observations: From Indiana, Oklahoma is a LOOOOONNGGGG drive! On the bright side, as I progressed westward, I was treated to better roads. I-70 and then I-44 both kept getting better. I noticed as I crossed into Illinois that the road was nicer than Indiana. Some hours later, I crossed into Missouri, and (in addition to the scenery getting way better!) the road got better too! THEN I was amazed when I crossed into Oklahoma! Not only did the road get exponentially better, but the Speed Limit increased to 75!!! :-)

However, I learned that the Oklahoma highway is a TOLL-ROAD! Boo! Oh well, I guess you get what you pay for, and nicer roads costs money!

I spent my 33rd Birthday with these folks, as I stayed with their pastor, Troy Hires (Wife Jen, Son Jaden) Saturday through Monday. Troy and I were in seminary together, and have journeyed together as our callings have developed and gotten more clear over the years!

My time with this congregation was short but intense. I spent Saturday evening with the Missions Committee, and then gave a presentation during Sunday School and preached in Morning Worship, and then fielded Q & A during a catered (BBQ!) lunch.

I know I'm a nerd, but I got to wear one of those really cool mics that hangs off your ear. It's the little things, folks...

And the lunch, of course...Yum Yum.

I'll end this with one brief story: When I arrived at the Hires' home, Troy came out to greet me. As he did, a few neighbor kids came running out of his house excited to meet me. Upon seeing me, they quickly went back to playing. Later I learned that Jaden had marketed me to his friends as "his guest" who was coming to visit! So all the neighbor kids thought that a new kid was coming to join the neighborhood games! Sorry, kids. :-)

Red Fork, East Side, THANK YOU for supporting us. It means the world to us, and we genuinely look forward to partnering together for the Kingdom!

****

If you are interested in supporting us (as a congregation or an INDIVIDUAL), here is a LINK that will give you all the info. you need. All support, little or big, is needed and appreciated!!!

A Cloud of Witnesses: An Introduction

Rather than make this one super-long post, and since I'm a preacher now preaching with a limited horizon of sermons, this post will become a short series, unraveling our ongoing story in light of the stories of various Biblical characters.

Cloud of Witnesses

As we raise support for the Netherlands, one thing is painfully obvious. We need a lot of financial support. :-) 

Equally obvious: We need a lot of PRAYER!

As I read the 12th chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews, I am stopped at the magnitude of verse 1. “Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses....”

This is a summary of chapter 11 and it is meant to encourage us that we are not the only ones who’ve sacrificed to follow Jesus. Nor are we the only ones who’ve suffered to follow Jesus--imagine the disciple who was “sawn in two!” Gads!

I’ve been struck by this passage in a different way, though. The Dutch Church is small: 200-300 members total. And yet the Lord has worked in amazing ways in their midst.

WE are inviting you to WITNESS THAT !

Will you commit to PRAYing and/or PAYing for our ministry?

Don’t look at this as strictly a business transaction or another feather for your Prayer-Warrior hat.

See yourself as a WITNESS for this Church! Think of the amazing ways that God can use you to help encourage this small body of believers in the Church of God!

Through these efforts, I look forward to someday being able to paraphrase this verse:

“Therefore, Dutch Church, since we are surrounded

by so great a cloud of witnesses, 

May we not forget the Lord is a big God! 

He provides for his children and He loves his Church,

no matter her size or geographic locale!”

To support us, please click the Global Missions tab on the right side of this site.

Or visit chogmissions.org/kihm

Project # 42.10041

We're Famous! Round Four!

No sooner had I announced Round Three of our "We're Famous!" installments than I was given fodder for Round Four! So here it is:

Round FOUR!!!! (Pg. 20)

God bless Christian Women Connection!

We're Famous! Round Three!

After a crazy period of busyness, coupled with good old-fashioned writer's block, new ideas are rising to the top and will be published soon. But for now, our most recent blast of stardom:

WE'RE FAMOUS!!!! (Pg. 8)

If you are curious about earlier rounds, visit these links:

Round Two Here!

Round One Here!

If you are interested in supporting our ministry in the Netherlands, VISIT THIS LINK:

Global Missions Page

Beau[ni]ty

For those unfamiliar with the Church of God Reformation Movement (Anderson, Ind), let me give a brief overview of our history.

In the 1880s in the Midwest (USA), a preacher by the name of Daniel Sydney ("D.S.") Warner discerned the voice of God leading him to reform an established Church movement through promotion of Holiness (Ref.: Wesleyan Holiness Movement) and Unity.

The clarion call became: "It's not Luther's Church, or Wesley's Church, or ....Church, It's God's Church!" Hence the name, The Church of God (1 Corinthians 1:2).

In the 125 years that have since passed, though, The Church of God has not always demonstrated and practiced Unity all that well. I think any honest Church of God man or woman would confess that we have failed. Don't get me wrong: We can probably all recite some examples of Unity from our collective past and from our own experiences. But unfortunately that has all too often been the exception rather than the norm.

In our desire to fulfill the words of Jesus' prayer (John 17:11), we have allowed selfish motives, stubborn pride, and little 'petty' differences to get between us. This has resulted in separate congregations choosing to do their own thing, rather than come together under the banner of the Holy One in whom we are reconciled (Colossians 1:20). [If I was preaching, at this point I would say 'Amen?']

The reality is: Unity is a beautiful thing. I first experienced the beauty of unity ("Beau[ni]ty") as a 12-year-old boy in Wanblee, South Dakota, as my youth group came together as one to work at putting a new roof on a Church building on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. I learned this again a few years later at Brownsea Junior Leading Training as a dozen random Boy Scouts were paired together to function as one cohesive unit for the week, determining amongst ourselves who would fill each of the needed positions to guide us, and to take care of building and maintaining life at camp.

I have since learned this lesson over and over, whenever Christy and I have led a short-term missions trip, or whenever our congregation has partnered with other area congregations even just for times of fellowship or worship.

It is a BEAUTIFUL thing to see God's Church UNITED!!!

In the hymn, "The Bond of Perfectness," D. S. Warner penned these words:

Oh, mystery of heaven’s peace!

Oh, bond of heaven’s union!

Our souls in fellowship embrace,

And live in sweet communion.

It is a BEAUTIFUL thing to see God's Church UNITED!!!

Over the years I've been in ministry, people have apologized to me for having to deal with unpleasant issues/situations, to which I have responded: "That's OK. It's par for the course. The Church is supposed to be messy because the Church is comprised of people."

And yet, we do ourselves and our Lord a disservice when we allow differences to get in the way of the Unity that we are mutually called to through our shared faith in Christ.

The Netherlands is no exception to this common practice (dis-unity).

And yet, when we were there for our site visit (READ HERE), the Church came together as one.

And it was indeed a beautiful thing.

Such holy moments are not only a foretaste of eternity. They are also a sample of the beauty and joy that can be ours here on earth.

Here are a few questions for us all to chew on:

How can the LORD use our gifts to fill our brother's weaknesses?

How can the LORD use our sister's talents to overcome our shortfalls?


How can we better draw together with other believers in Unity?

Missionary to EUROPE?!?

In October, I was on a riverboat in Cincinnati, OH, celebrating at the wedding reception of my childhood best friend, "Bucky." I voiced a prayer of blessing over the meal and the newly-married couple. A lady (whom I didn't know) asked my friend who I was. He responded that I was his friend, I was a minister, and I was a new missionary going to the Netherlands.

This lady came over to me and introduced herself. She wanted to know more about what we were going to be doing, and she was really taken aback that we were commissioned to serve as missionaries to the Netherlands. "You normally think of people going as missionaries to Africa or South America. I've never thought of someone going as a missionary to Europe..."

This wasn't the first time I had heard such a comment.

Why the Netherlands?? When I present our ministry to congregations, I tell them that we are only going to the Netherlands because that is where the Lord has directed us to go. Clearly, we've got nothing against missionaries being sent to other parts of the world, or ministers staying in their home culture and ministering there (wherever "there" is). However, that is not what the Lord has directed us to do.

A second question to confront is "Why Europe? Is that necessary?!?"

As I have written previously (HERE), the very nature of what we will be doing in Holland is obviously quite different from the stereotypical missionary to sub-Saharan Africa, i.e. However, it is of equal importance in the Kingdom of God.

Consider this quote I just came upon:

"In reality, Europe is a mission field today, and should be regarded as such. There are pockets of vital Christian life and work, leavening centers. But that is about all, for most of Europe has been de-Christianized to an alarming degree.

And what about America? Are we traveling the same road? Is our Christianity becoming too superficial to deserve the name? Is secularism in the saddle? Will genuine revival come, or are we destined also to become a mission field, perhaps one served by the more fervent and younger churches of Asia and Africa?"

---Harold L. Phillips (1913-2006), published in The Gospel Trumpet on November 19, 1955.

1955...

Harold Phillips was a long-time editor of Warner Press, and specifically The Gospel Trumpet, a publication of the Church of God (Anderson, IN). While I never knew Harold, I attended his funeral in 2006 at Park Place Church of God along with many others who in some way are who we are partially because of the way his life was lived as a Follower of Christ.

He wrote those words (quoted above) in 1955, almost 60 years ago. And yet, they still ring loudly true today.

"There are pockets of vital Christian life and work....[but] most of Europe has been de-Christianized to an alarming degree."

In 2013, in Three Worlds, we use the term "Post-Christendom," not "de-Christianized." But Harold Phillips hit the nail on the head with his assessment. He prophetically saw the hand writing on the wall when it was maybe the 7 o'clock hour (1900 hrs). Now, 6 decades later, the spiritual status of Europe is more or less at the 11 o'clock hour (2300 hrs).

That is why it is not just good, but necessary and vitally important that we serve the Church as missionaries in Europe. Physical needs may not be lacking, but spiritual needs certainly are.

In the diverse worlds of Europe, one thing is almost universally true: Secularism.

For the congregations of believers who have remained faithful down through the ages, they are majorly swimming against the stream, proclaiming Faith in Christ in the midst of an overwhelmingly secular society.

One of our primary responsibilities is simply to strengthen these congregations and help them as they strive to be the Light of Christ in a very dark world (Matthew 5:14-16).

Additionally, one of the reasons why this is so important is referenced in the second paragraph of Harold Phillips' quote: "And what about America? Are we traveling the same road?"

It is pretty easy to see that the cultural shifts occurring in North America are leading these countries evermore towards Secularism as well. The Post-Christendom World of Europe today is the Post-Christendom World of the US tomorrow.

The experience we will soon gain navigating ministry in secular Europe will serve as guidance for Church leaders in North America in the coming years (Read prior blog post HERE).

O, may Harold Phillips' quote from 1955

be laughingly irrelevant in 2055.