Category: Christianity

Late Summer Cold and Christmas Music

Post author By Shay
Post date September 15, 2014
1 Comment on Late Summer Cold and Christmas Music

Well that didn’t take long. Last night I wrote that the family had all gotten sick, except for me. But today I was sneezing and sniffling the latter half of the day and I can feel my throat getting a little sore. When I told someone at the Josiah Venture office today that I was worried I may be getting sick, he said, “Well, it’s perfect weather for it.” He’s right. The weather hasn’t been much of a help as it’s been warm and cold, and often rainy. Today it was mostly foggy (photo above) and we saw the sun shine for just a bit around 3pm. It rained on and off throughout the day, but I guess it’s the kind of weather I would expect when we’re not feeling good.

Now don’t judge us, but we had McDonald’s for dinner. The Golden Arches are about twenty minutes from our place and I pass them every day when I go to Josiah Venture. Bethany texted me late in the day and said, “I have no energy…can we have McDonald’s?” She felt worse today than she did yesterday and so of course I said, “Sure.” I brought all the food back and we actually ate outside because I think we all just needed some fresh air and it wasn’t raining so we enjoyed that. Hey, sometimes a little American fast food can make you feel better!

For a week or so I’ve had on my calendar to pre-order a Christmas album that I’m really excited about it. It’s from Sovereign Grace Music (SGM) and it’s called “Prepare Him Room: Celebrating the Birth of Jesus in Song.” It reales on September 29 and it’s only $5 if you pre-order it today or tomorrow (9/15 – 9/16). SGM puts out wonderful music for the church and I’m sure this Christmas album won’t disappoint. Music has always been something Bethany and I have enjoyed together and our kids love music too. So skip the Starbucks today and get some Christmas music that will exalt the Savior and bless your own soul. You can listen to a preview song below and click here to pre-order the album.

<a href="http://sovereigngracemusic.bandcamp.com/album/prepare-him-room-celebrating-the-birth-of-jesus-in-song">Prepare Him Room: Celebrating the Birth of Jesus in Song by Sovereign Grace Music</a>

Tags Christmas, music, sick

365 Christianity

Sunday is For Sickness

It finally happened. The first round of colds have hit the Thomason family and so far it has claimed three victims. Bethany, Titus, and Avery have had coughs, sneezes, and some sore throats the past two days with today being the worst. I was going to go to church by myself this morning but Bethany wasn’t awake and I didn’t have the heart to wake her to watch the kids while they’re all not feeling great. So I stayed home, started some dishes, and hung out with Titus and Avery. Unfortunately, I missed a special morning at our church here in Czech where they meet at a different location. Friends here texted us a hand drawn map so we would know where to go, but of course I wasn’t able to use it. I’m still a little confused as to why they change locations sometimes, but I guess I’ll find out next time.

This evening I ended up seeing a movie with my friend, Zach, who had invited me earlier in the day. I had debated all afternoon whether I should go with the family under the weather, but Bethany said she would be okay for a few hours so I joined Zach and a few Czech guys at the theater. Mainly I was there for the fellowship and the popcorn. Movie popcorn just sounded really good and I basically skipped dinner to be there so I guess that was a meal. But while in the theater my friend in the States was texting me about some of the goings on at our home church in California. Apparently they are going through some changes and my friend was kind enough to point me to this morning’s sermon which I was able to listen to the end of tonight at home (isn’t technology amazing?). It sounds like the changes will be good for the church but we’ll be sure to keep praying for them during the next few months.

Below is a photo I got at the mall where the movie theater is. The ceiling changes colors like this and goes up for what feels like a mile.

We got a big week ahead as we prepare for the JV Fall Conference the following week. There’s still a lot to do and the entire Josiah Venture office is busy with preparations for the 300+ attendees. Please pray for all the work that will go into that and for our little family to feel better!

Tags church, movie, sick

365 Christianity Czech Republic

Jesus and the Kids’ Bible

It rained a lot today so Bethany got creative with the kids in the house. Titus and her played tennis in our living room and Avery lined up her wooden cookies on a box. We have this kind of second living room where our desks are and there’s a lot of open floor space so hey, why not a little game of tennis?

That cat from yesterday came back today right during dinner time. We were again sitting at our table and it popped up only this time our window was close so it glared at us (like cats do) and was gone as quickly as it came.

There have been a lot of “firsts” since we arrive and today was no exception. My team at Josiah Venture had our first official, everyone-in-person, meeting! It was fun to be together in Czech, but we didn’t waste any time with the pleasantries. We have a lot of projects right now and we’re really just trying to stay afloat. I stayed up late this evening trying to finish up one of them because tomorrow we’re off to Bratislava to work on items related to our short-term visas. It’s a 4-hour one-way trip so it’s going to be an 8 hour driving day tomorrow. Not something I’m super excited about but it’s necessary for us to continue to live and do ministry here.

Tonight as I was reading the kids their Bible, I was just reminded of the gospel. I don’t know if you can read the story of Christ on the cross without it realigning your heart. It makes no difference to me if it’s in my regular Bible or the kid’s storybook Bible, the cross of Christ is so important to the Christian faith. While reading I tried to tell the kids, “This is a sad and happy part of the Bible.” Our kids have commented on the pages before but when Avery saw the thorns in Jesus’ head she said, “He has ouchies.” Yes, he does. And it was my sin that caused it.

These pages (shown above and below) are actually very powerful and I could tell our kids got more quiet as I read. This page below is especially interesting and moving to me. The vantage point from above the cross to the people below is new and the page only says, “On a small hill outside the city of Jerusalem, Jesus was nailed to a cross and died.” Again, it doesn’t matter if it’s a kids Bible or not…how can you not stop and ponder the cross in that moment?

The chapter actually ends right there in the book, and normally I would only read them one chapter a night, but tonight we kept reading. We went on to see the tomb, the then empty tomb, and then Christ revealing himself to the disciples. Avery and Titus’ faces lit up and Titus actually started jumping up and down on the couch in excitement because Christ came back from the dead. I know he’s just a little kid, but I want that excitement. Shouldn’t I be the one jumping up and down? Shouldn’t all Christians be so blown away by Christ’s work on the cross that we’re just ecstatic about it? Oh, I realize that’s not realistic in many ways, but in other ways it absolutely should be. We should be so thankful that Jesus rises from the dead! Because if Christ isn’t raised, then what does Paul tell the church at Corinth:

[17] And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. [18] Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. [19] If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

(1 Corinthians 15:17-19 ESV)

But he does rise! He does overcome sin and death! He declares victory over sin and wipes my slate clean! That’s why I should be jumping up and down on the couch like Titus. And that’s the thing I want to be thinking about as I go to bed tonight. I’m thankful for the work of Christ!

Tags Bible, Christ, kids

365 Christianity Czech Republic Videos

Special Delivery

It’s here! It didn’t fall into the Atlantic and amazingly everything was just the way we packed it when it left the United States. Our container arrived today!

As our friend Rachael said, “Getting your container is like Christmas, only better because you already know you like the stuff.” She’s right. It was like Christmas and it’s really fun to see all that stuff you painstakingly loaded into the container 48 days ago. What’s hard to believe is just how far our stuff had to travel from Long Beach down through the Panama Canal and up to the German port. Then it was trucked over to Czech where just this morning we signed the customs documents and they brought our container to our new apartment.

We were overwhelmed by the support of the local church here and our friends and teammates from Josiah Venture. I’m especially grateful to Mel Ellenwood who helped us translate for an hour and a half at the customs office and even Connie Patty who took the photos you will see below. So without further delay, here’s the story in photos (captions below each photo).

Connie actually caught this picture of the container about 20 minutes before it arrived. This is just down the road from our place. He couldn’t fit under the little train bridge so ended up having to drive the container around some tiny streets just to get it to our place.

Bethany was taking care of making sure we had food and refreshments so she was only actually there for the truck’s arrival and departure. There was a sale on boxed milk at the grocery store and the lines were crazy. Bethany said people had multiple carts full of this special milk and so she missed the unloading. Welcome to Czech, I guess!

Here’s what the container looked like right when it was opened. It’s almost identical to what it looked like almost 50 days and thousands of miles before so I was already amazed.

Our container had 3 sections which we separated by walls that our friend Justin built when we loaded it. The first section went pretty quick because it wasn’t packed as tightly. This photo is all of us unloading the first wall.

Titus’ tricycle was in the first section and he was so excited to ride it around our little driveway.

Here’s Rachael and Mel carrying boxes in.

This is Amy muscling a box to the apartment. Everything was color coordinated which hopefully made it easier for people to know where stuff went!

The whole unloading took about an hour, and I was on the truck the entire time. It was incredibly fast and we couldn’t have done it without all the help. This photo is of me helping unload the final box.

Here’s me signing over the final container paperwork.

Pizza for everyone! The local pizza shop couldn’t believe we were ordering 10 pizzas.

Also, if you’re wondering, George Clooney apparently makes all the pizzas here in Czech. When he’s not making movies, he’s making thin crust goodness!

Back in the apartment we had people building the kids new IKEA beds. Such a blessing.

And finally a little shot of all of us after we were done unloading.

What a great day! The only thing we don’t have photos of is inside our new place and that’s mainly because we didn’t really spend a ton of time unpacking today. The kids were tired and so were we so we made it a shorter day and we’ll head back tomorrow for some serious unpacking of boxes.

Finally, this evening we had the joy of having Zach and Kara Zegan over for dessert. They only live about 20 minutes away and we haven’t had time to really catch up with them yet. It was really fun have them and their little dog Hobbes over and just catch up and say hi. It’s really special to serve the Lord alongside your friends. They have been serving at camp all last week and will leave tomorrow for another 11 days of camp. This week is a special week for Josiah Venture as the 1000th camp begins on Saturday. You can see this short video below which gives a piece of the story. Even while we have big, life changing days in our lives with the arrival of our container, God is doing things in the lives of young people in this part of the world. What a joy to serve the King. To Him be the glory!

Our 1000th Camp from Josiah Venture on Vimeo.

Tags container, unloading

365 Christianity Czech Republic

Our First Sunday at Church

Today we had the pleasure of worshipping at the church we will be part of here in Czech. The church was actually significantly larger than we had originally expected. In fact, we were told it’s the 3rd largest church in Czech with about 250 people. For the most part, the worship service ran very similar to what we might experience in the States, and we were super encouraged by the music and teaching of God’s Word. Obviously, everything was in another language, but our friends Mel and Amy were helping translate for us to keep us in the flow of the service. It’s especially sweet to hear Czechs sing in their native language and it’s actually a really helpful tool for language learning as it slows down the words and you can clearly hear the annunciation.

We sat upstairs because we were a little worried about our kids disrupting the service. There was no Sunday school this morning because many of the moms and kids were gone at a camp so we had the kids with us during the entire service. Avery was especially tired this morning as she was up really early, so we were trying not to be a distraction. At one point the pastor called our family to the stage and Amy introduced us to the entire church. It was fun to stand up there and see people smiling. I wish I could’ve taken a photo. The pastor shared a few encouraging words to us while we were up there which Amy translated into English. He was so gracious and kind and Bethany and I thought we were going to cry.

In the photo below the pastor was actually talking directly to the couple you see in the front row. This was a baby dedication and they are holding little Daniel. One of the things that struck me was that the pastor was sharing with them how they are raising their son in a very dark and evil world, but that they need to be an example to him and show him Christ on a regular basis. He emphasized teaching and being an example and that both had to be at work in their parenting. It was fun to watch the pastor care for this young couple and he had the congregation stand and had the couple pray. What a blessing to participate in that.

The sermon this morning was around the book of Daniel in honor of the baby’s name who was dedicated. The emphasis was on the character of Daniel and how he served the Lord faithfully. One quote that I thought was interesting was that the pastor said, “The Bible says nothing bad about Daniel, even though Jesus was the only one who lived a perfect life.” He charged the congregation to live like Daniel in this wicked world and serve the Lord faithfully. Who doesn’t need to be reminded of that?

After church we drove to our other teammate’s house, John and Erin Kloosterhuis. Even though Erin is basically full-term with their first child, she was kind enough to cook us a great meal and have us over for the afternoon. John and Erin serve on the Creative Communications team with us and they are a joy to be around. Thank you, John and Erin, for your hospitality and for sharing a meal with us. We’re praying that baby comes soon!

As I close my day here in Czech all I can think about right now is worship. I don’t just mean the act of singing songs, though that’s definitely part of it, but just the idea that we are all created as worshipers and will by our nature seek to worship something. The Bible teaches that we were created to worship the one true God, but so often we don’t and we worship our own idols and false gods who will never satisfy. Oh sure, I may never worship a literal golden calf, but I’ll bow down to the god of comfort in a heartbeat.

All of that to say my heart needed to sing with my brothers and sisters this morning the simple chorus to the song Here I Am To Worship. “Here I am to worship, here I am to bow down, here I am to say that You’re my God. You’re altogether lovely, altogether worthy, altogether wonderful to me.” That may be a simple truth, but it’s a great reminder that we exist to worship a worthy and wonderful God.

Here’s a little video of the chorus from this morning’s worship service.

Tags church, Czech Republic, worship

365 Christianity Czech Republic Family

This Is The First

We’re here. It’s ten minutes to 1 AM local time here in Czech Republic, our plane landed around 10:30pm and…we’re here. We have spent the last 16 hours traveling from Los Angeles, dragged about 12 pieces of luggage from the Prague airport to the hotel across the street…we’re here. We just had a literal midnight snack, and the kids are awake watching a movie on Bethany’s laptop, but we’re here.

Maybe it’s the jet lag, but in many ways it doesn’t feel real. I know I am sitting here many miles from all I’ve known as home, but we’re here. God has moved and used many incredible Christians to come alongside us to pray for us and to financially support us and now everything we’ve been praying for begins. I know every day won’t be like the first day, but there many new things to experience and to engage in. There are still a lot of “firsts” left to experience–that’s why I plan to write it all down.

This is the first. This is the first of what I hope to be an ongoing journal of what transitioning life to a new country and culture looks like. Lord willing, it will be daily. My hope is that for a year I can maintain some thought, long or short, from our days in Czech Republic. I hope it will be a testament to the Lord’s grace in our lives, what He is doing, how He is working, and just how our lives are being transformed into the likeness of Christ.

So to start things off I want to simply show you a few photos from today. Here’s how our first day traveling to Czech played out, in just a few photos (captions below each):

Driving to LAX

Here we are on our way to LAX. Our friend John was kind enough to drive. Thanks John!

At LAX with the family

Here we are outside of the international terminal at LAX. I truly rejoice that both of my kids are looking and attempting to smile for this!

Titus stared a huge wall

Titus stared at a huge digital wall of awesomeness.

We flew to Heathrow

We flew to London!
Our plane to Czech

And this plane flew us to Czech!

The kids slept a lot

These kids slept a lot…thank you for praying!

All our stuff arrived!

Every single bag arrived. I accidentally carried the wrong car seat from the airplane all the way to baggage claim, but I was happy to hand it off to another young family. Unfortunately for them, two of their bags were still missing…

Praha

Finally a photo of the Prague (Praha) airport from our hotel. Ok, now time for bed!

Tags 365, Czech, travel

Christianity Family Friends

Thomason Tour: Stop 1

Just yesterday we left Kingsburg where we spent four days (Friday – Monday) serving at Grace Church of the Valley (GCV). We stayed with a great family, the Andersons, and our kids loved playing with their dog Remi and their kitten Boots (pictured above).

I (Shay) have begun helping lead music for GCV every other weekend. It was a joy to serve with their music team and sing songs that exalt the Savior. Our previous pastor at Placerita Baptist Church (PBC), Scott Ardavanis, is now the senior pastor at GCV and it’s always fun to see him and spend time together. A few of our friends from PBC came and help with guitar and percussion which was a wonderful blessing.

GCV Comm Meeting

In addition to leading music, Pastor Scott has asked me to help in the area of communications at GCV. Above is a photo of their first communications team meeting. There’s a great group of people there who really want to serve in that area and I think it’s one of the most vital teams in the church. They are the people who will help communicate to the body on a number of events, programs, prayer requests, etc. and help reach the lost world using the tools God has given us in technology and the Internet. This is almost identical to the role I will be assuming with Josiah Venture in the Czech Republic and I truly believe God has given us many wonderful tools to communicate His message.

Now I’m sitting here in Walnut Creek, CA at a friend’s house just enjoying some rest as we prepare for a few meeting with churches today and tomorrow. Please pray that we would communicate clearly our story and what God is doing overseas and that we might gain some new partners in ministry in the next few days.

Tags Kingsburg, stop 1, Thomason Tour

Christianity Videos

Knowing vs. Feeling in Worship

Post author By Shay
Post date August 22, 2013
No Comments on Knowing vs. Feeling in Worship

Tags feeling, worship

Christianity Quotes

The Highest of All Missionary Motives

Post author By Shay
Post date June 10, 2013
No Comments on The Highest of All Missionary Motives

John Stott on missionary motives:

If God desires every knee to bow to Jesus and every tongue to confess Him, so should we. We should be ‘jealous’ for the honor of His name—troubled when it remains unknown, hurt when it is ignored, indignant when it is blasphemed, and all the time anxious and determined that it shall be given the honor and glory which are due to it.

The highest of all missionary motives is neither obedience to the Great Commission (important as that is), nor love for sinners who are alienated and perishing (strong as that incentive is, especially when we contemplate the wrath of God), but rather zeal—burning and passionate zeal—for the glory of Jesus Christ.

Only one imperialism is Christian, and that is concern for His Imperial Majesty Jesus Christ, and for the glory of his empire or kingdom. Before this supreme goal of the Christian mission, all unworthy motives wither and die.

(via Of First Importance)

Tags John Stott, missions, motives, Romans

Christianity Quotes

Wholly of Grace

A great little reminder from John Newton:

Salvation is wholly of grace, not only undeserved but undesired by us until God is pleased to awaken us to a sense of our need of it. And then we find everything prepared that our wants require or our wishes conceive; yea, that He has done exceedingly beyond what we could either ask or think.

Salvation is wholly of the Lord and bears those signatures of infinite wisdom, power, and goodness which distinguish all His works from the puny imitations of men. It is every way worthy of Himself, a great, a free, a full, a sure salvation.

It is great whether we consider the objects (miserable, hell-deserving sinners), the end (the restoration of such alienated creatures to His image and favor, to immortal life and happiness) or the means (the incarnation, humiliation, sufferings and death of His beloved Son). It is free, without exception of persons or cases, without any conditions or qualifications, but such as He, Himself, performs in them and bestows upon them.

(via Of First Importance)

Tags grace, John Newton