H. Henry Williams

"From Here to Haiti" - Part 1

A couple of mission teams from Pennsylvania were accompanied by a news crew on their trip to Haiti. The All God's Children orphanage is featured in all the videos. I'll post one per day all week.

 

Free Audio of The Hole in Our Gospel

I can't recommend this book enough. I am thrilled that the unabridged audio is available for free. I already have the audio version and it's narrated well. Get the word out on this. Here are some highlights of what I wrote about the book last fall:

Just finished The Hole in Our Gospel today, by Richard Stearns, President of World Vision. The subtitle is "What Does God Expect of Us? The Answer that Changed my Life and Might Just Change the World." How's that for mouthful.

The Willow Creek Association sent a copy to all WCA churches and Willow Creek handed out 10,000 copies one weekend after their church services. So it comes quite well recommended...and it did not disappoint. If I could recommend only one book to someone to help them get a biblical perspective on compassion ministry in the context of local and global missions (what the P.E.A.C.E. Plan is about), this would be the book.

It's a very personal story, Richard Stearns story (remarkable, inspiring and one that most of us can identify with), but it's also like a comprensive textbook. Maybe too textbookish at times, but worth it if you want to learn and go deeper than normal. Reading this book was like taking all I've learned on this topic my whole adult life (a subject I've devoted tons of time and interest) and pouring it into one book that's filled with great stories. It should be required reading for everyone in our P.E.A.C.E. ministry leadership and in our church leadership. I really can't recommend it enough.

Lois and I both listened it. We were deeply moved and challenged. Some good conversations grew out of it, as well as some soul searching in both of us. I'd recommend listening if you struggle getting through long books. I downloaded it from Audible. Some of the stories he tells will undoubtedly be working their way into my messages over the coming weeks. Please read this book.

Get it at ChristianAudio.com. You can download a study guide there too. Could be an interesting study for a small group to take on since the book would be free and you could listen to it between sessions.

PA TV News Crew at the Orphanage

A Pennsylvania news crew joined two mission teams on their trip to work at the All God's Children Orphanage. Five Oakers Adan Casas was their finishing the painting of the building which had been interrupted by the earthquake. He is interviewed about his experience in the earthquake. I'll post the rest of the videos next week, also featuring the orphanage.

 

Haiti Bound

I'm headed out to Haiti May 24-30 with Trent Redmann, pastor of Valley Creek Church. Trent and I will again be teaching a group of about fifty pastors affiliated with our partner in Haiti, GVCM. In spite of the earthquake, these guys want and love to keep learning. Our missions fund will pay for their travel and food. This is a time of refreshment for them and their evenings are spent in fellowship, preaching and worship. We will be teaching a course on "Bible Study Methods," on of my favorite subjects to teach.

Justification and Justice

At a recent gathering, Tim Keller talked about evangelism and social justice. There seems to be an eruption of debate on this subject lately. Mormon Glen Beck's recent foray into this has created quite a stir, warning people to flee from churches that talk about social justice. Here are highlights of Skye Jethani's summary in the Out of Ur blog. (By the way, The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns is still, in my opinion, the most comprehensive and compelling biblical presentation of this whole subject.)

The Q gathering kicked off in Chicago today. ...Keller used his 18 minutes...to talk about the polarization in the church between the “justification people” and the “justice people.”

As Keller describes them, the justification people are all about justification by faith alone. Only after being justified can a person live as he/she ought to live. While Keller was in full agreement with this doctrine, he said the unfortunate implication for many of the justification people is the belief that “we are mainly here to do evangelism” and they view “justice as a distraction.”

The justice people, on the other hand, tend to downplay or completely ignore the doctrine of justification by faith. Instead they can focus on language about “defeating the powers” or seeking the renewal of communities. Also good ideas, but not if justification is lost in the mix.

Keller believes this rift between justification and justice is completely unbiblical. “Justice and justification,” he said, “are joined at the hip. They are a seamless cloth.” He spent much of his time arguing from scripture that the doctrine of “justification by faith leads inevitably to justice.” Citing passages like Isaiah 58, Mark 12:38-40, Matthew 25, and others, Keller said that if we truly believe that we are saved by grace alone we will care about the poor.

The doctrine of justification by faith emphasizes that “God’s justice matters,” he said. We are perpetrators of wrong. We are sinners. We are poor in spirit. But God has had mercy on us. If we understand our spiritual poverty than we cannot ignore the material poor who are presented to us. If our belief in justification does not manifest itself in care for the poor, then our faith is dead as the Epistle of James says.

This is what Keller calls the “both/and” gospel...it’s about justification and justice, not justification or justice. And when we get this right, not only do we see justification lead to more justice, but doing more justice leads more of the lost toward Christ and justification through faith.

Faith Story Video from Easter

Feed Event Results

In case you didn't get to see the video or you missed the last couple of weeks or you just haven't written it down, our Feed My Starving Children event resulted in:

• Over 2000 volunteers
• Packed 413,424 meals
• That will feed 1,132 children for an entire year!

Way to go Five Oaks and friends.

Five Oaks and Feed My Starving Children 2010 Video

Salt and Light In and Through the Marketplace

I love to see our members using their business interests for kingdom investments. Last year one of our members persuaded his company to donate $30,000 to Feed My Starving Children after experiencing it for the first time at Five Oaks.

Right now, Five Oaker Dave Jarvis is helping head up an effort to raise funds to build an orphanage in Haiti through Hope in the Light Ministries. Dave is president of Afton House Inn, Afton/Hudson Cruise Lines, 
Catfish Saloon & Cafe and Afton House Catering. He and dozens of other restaurants, B&Bs, hotels, and other businesses are selling gift certificates online and 100% of the money spent on the certificate goes to building the orphanage! Check it out at Dine, Fly, Stay for Haiti. Great deals and many of the gift certificates are discounted.

Along the same lines, Peter Christenson, owner of the Plump Chef and executive chef at Woolley's Steakhouse, has created a rub called The Haitian Love Rub. Peter is not a Five Oaker but he was on our team that was in Haiti during the earthquake. A portion of the proceeds from the sale goes directly towards feeding the children at All of God’s Children Orphanage. 

Love these kind of efforts!

Help Feed Hungry Children and Have a Blast

We have all the slots full for packaging food at our Feed My Starving Children event March 4-7, but you can still make a big impact by filling a non-packing role during one or more shifts. 

• If you can help as an usher, greeter or check-in table volunteer, contact Kari Ennulat (kennulat@fiveoakschurh.org or 651-459-7485).
• If you can help as a child care volunteer on Saturday or Sunday morning, please contact Kristin Whitley (Kristentoby@yahoo.com or 651-459-7485).

Check out the fun below.