Here at First Baptist Aledo we spend a whole lot of money trying to reach the world.  We do so in our cooperative giving.  We do so in giving beyond our cooperative giving.  We are spending lots of money presently in Cambodia.  We are feeding, teaching, reaching and building in Cambodia.  We see the Lord making plans for orphanages in Cambodia.  We are spending lots of money going to Portugal, Haiti, and various places in the world.   Every once in awhile I receive the question of .... what about the people around us, why not here, why do we go so far away and spend so much money beyond our borders when we have so many lost people around us.  Just recently I was charged with this comment.  "Now preacher just whose idea is it to be doing all this traveling.  It sure is a waste of a lot of money". Matthew 28:18-20  And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son...

2 Corinthians 4:7 We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.

Empty Tomb Living means that we understand that we are fragile clay jars but that doesn’t keep God from shining in our hearts.  Actually because we are fragile clay jars He shines brighter.  So don’t let your fragile condition hold you back from serving Jesus.    

The fact that we fail, we are weak, we aren’t strong enough to handle simple problems is a reason to celebrate because Jesus shines bright in our broken state.

1 Corinthians 1:18 (NLT) The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. 



John 5:24 (NLT) “I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life. 



I still remember thinking that the cross was foolish.  God, Jesus, the story of the bible was foolishness.  I can remember arguing with my Aunt when I was a young lad that the Bible was just mans creation.  That is is foolish to believe in anything but evolution.  I never even considered the possibility.  Life was basically yours to do with as you...

Last week at one of the churches we visited in Cambodia a mother walked up to me holding her child.  He looked to be 4 or 5 years old.  He was asleep in her arms.  She said in real broken english, “boy hot, boy hot”.  She was rubbing his head for me to understand.  I touched his forehead and sure enough he was really hot.  I hunted around for the others who were with me to see if any of them had any tylenol or aspirin.  No one did.  I went back over to the mom and realized it wasn’t going to get explained that we didn’t have any medicine to give.  Kyle (interpreter) was outside and I couldn’t locate him so I just placed my hand on his head and began to pray.  I began to pray the  prayer that I have prayed hundreds and hundreds of times.  In hospital rooms, at prayer meetings, etc.. I have prayed for the sick a lot in...

I already miss my new Cambodian friends.  I pray that God will allow me to return soon.  



When we arrived at LAX I went hunting some of the eye glass cleaner tissues.  I was waiting to ask a lady behind the counter at one of the little convenience stores.  There were two dolled up young ladies in front of me.  I over heard this conversation, [insert your valley girl accent] “if we don’t get upgraded to first class I will just die, I can’t survive coach”. 



Wow.  I am home.  



...

We left this morning early and drove within a few miles of Vietnam.  We had to cross the Mekong River going and coming on another ferry.  Long lines and it was really hot waiting.   Lots of orphans begging and people trying to sell everthing from water to fried crickets.  Really sad to see so many orphans at these places.  



When we arrived at Grace of Christ Jesus Phorn Wat Church we were welcomed with another huge, welcoming, hospitable crowd.  I don’t have much doubt that I am the first big, bald, hair on the chin, white guy that most of them have ever seen.  The church had prepared a feast for us. The food in Cambodia is the best Chinese Food I have ever had.  That sounds kind of funny but this is what we call Chinese food at home but its really Cambodia food.  I guess its all the same but this food is really amazing far better than PF Chang’s and I guess that is the best I have had at home.



We had mud fish, papaya [cole slaw ?] fried rice, and three or four other things that I...

Today has been a very difficult day.  It is has been a day of tremendous joy and great anguish of spirit.  In Matthew 9 Jesus saw the people as helpless and harassed like sheep without a shepherd.  His emotion was one of intense stomach cramp.  The kind of hurt in your gut that takes away your ability to think, speak or function.



Many of you have heard the story of the brick factory three families that were enslaved to the brick factory.  First Aledo collected the money and paid the debt.  We had them at the church further north that has pigs, fish and chickens.  The agreement was that they would live there and work and be cared for.  For reasons that I shouldn’t mention here and because [anger doesn’t produce the righteousness God desires] I will just let that go.  Anyway we had them taken here to Battambang and we found them.  They are living beside a rice field under tarps.  These tarps aren’t brand new from Home Depot.  All three families are together and still trying to make it through.  We...

We spent the morning visiting three churches.   Two of the churches met under homes.  Because of the rain that happens from June to September most of the houses are on stilts.  We are seeing a pattern.  Lots of people in the churches in small spaces.  Lots of children in all these churches.  They are always well behaved and really interested in our voices and our different looks.   I have enjoyed sharing the gospel in each church.  In doing so I describe all of our differences:  [language, looks, ways of life etc...] but then we have the most important thing in common ... that being our Savior Jesus Christ so we are all family... so I am glad to meet my Cambodian Family ....  each time they really light up.. 

Our Cambodian friends are extremely friendly.  Most of the people we have met are really poor. They live very different lives than we do.  Most of the homes are wood or bamboo structures with no glass in the windows.  They sleep on bamboo beds or hammocks.  If they are fortunate their transportation...

The Miracle of the Tuk Tuk



All over this city are very small motor bikes they have a 5th wheel set up with a trailer that has benches.  Tuk Tuk’s are the Cambodian Taxi Cab.  There are gazillions.  They weave in and out of traffic.  The Traffic in Phnom Penh is basically without rules.  It is totally nuts.  Gazillions of small motorbikes, toyota’s, and Tuk Tuk’s weave in and out.  There is no Rules.  You just go where you want to go and it just seems to all work out.  There is no regard to anyones right of way, there doesn’t seem to be a particular side of the road you drive on.  You just go.  It is a miracle that there are not gazillion wrecks.  



Today at the Pastors Conference one of the Pastors told us about his job driving a Tuk Tuk in the city.  He was given a bible and he started reading it.  He said everyday it would open up to John 3:16 and he would read it.  He would read the bible waiting on customers.  One day there were 50 Tuk Tuk’s waiting outside a hotel for customers. ...

Check out our mission trip pictures on the mission page. Click Here The Pastors Conference got off to a great start today.  Along with the four of us from First Baptist Aledo we had 11 Cambodian Pastors.  I really enjoyed teaching today.  The opportunity to share some things with Pastors was tons of fun and very energizing.  I did learn a few things myself.  One lesson being a well crafted John Wayne illustration doesn’t work very well in Cambodia.  I started talking about West Texas and what it would be like to Pastor in a place like Justiceburg or Valentine or Comstock and ....well it just didn’t fly very well.  Not one of the Pastors had ever heard of John Wayne and the had never heard of West Texas and the blank stares told me real bluntly that they didn’t care either.  So I didn’t bring up any more of my heroes for illustrations.  I also didn’t use  a couple of my favorite phrases during the conference.  Green...