Hello Palawan!

Well, we have arrived safe and sound to Palawan. We are in the city Puerto Princessa for a night and did some shopping today and will be headed to Brooke's Point and then up the mountain tomorrow. We are very excited and the people are SO friendly here. We stopped at a Seventh Day Adventist church tonight (a few blocks from our hotel) and had a Wednesday night service with them, then ate at this wonderful (and I mean wonderful) vegetarian restaurant. So good. All is well with just one glitch. I (Danelle) lost a credit card, debit card and a few other little things like a calling card.... :( VERY much a bummer, but not the end of the world. My mom was able to cancel them and we have Kevin's still. Just another trial to teach me how to be calm in stressful situations. :) I felt like I did really good (and Kevin will say so too;) but it helped that the other missionary Michelle was with us, and I don't know her well enough to have blown a gasket. :) So, I got to learn a nice calm way that staying calm really is better! Freaking out does NOTHING except make it worse. So, we did what we could do and hopefully I'll remember to be calm next time something stressful comes up. Pray for me there!!!

We are loving being here though. The feel is foreign, but even more than I'm used to compared to other countries. Hopefully we'll have some pictures to post soon of our first arrival days.

Much love to you all and thank you for your continued prayer. We'll be keeping in touch!

The Name of the Lord is a Strong Tower

Do you know my King? This short video is an amazing description of the names of Jesus. Well worth the 6 minutes it takes to watch. Danelle and I are at the Seattle Airport waiting to board our 12 hour flight to Tokyo. I don't mind waiting ... I actually find airports and flights fun because of how much time it allows for reading.



Bill Poole, showed this video last Sabbath... and I thought it was worth sharing again. There is power in the name of Jesus. In Proverbs 18:10 we are told that, "The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe."

Something Danelle and I found that was really interesting yesterday was reading Prov 18:10 and then Judges 9:50-53 and applying it in terms of bible prophesy... if you have time check that out.


Well we are enjoying the downtime at the airport. We will love to here from everyone, and we love you guys. The time in Port Hardy and in Pomeroy was amazing!

Love Kevin and Danelle

Another Packing Day

This time, our packing day doesn't consist of packing up boxES, but of packing up box. We are loading up all of our belongings into the size allowed by the airlines for our year. 

We are tying up any loose ends that remain, entrusting any buisness that comes up to our wonderful parents. Our parents are so amazing.

We've done some fun stuff with them right before leaving. Port Hardy; even if you are not necessarily doing something in Port Hardy, it is still fun because it's so pretty! And taking walks and having fires on beaches and canoe rides are all some of my very favorite things to do. 

And then who doesn't like to go zooming along a very bumpy road in 4 wheelers and starting from the timber and then making our way down to the Salmon River to enjoy a very cool refreshing swim and a nice spot on a beach, then zooming back up, all to end the day back at home with a nice soak in the hot tub. So moms and dads, we love you very much and enjoyed our time with you!

Starry Starry night

The last couple of nights have been amazing. It is DARK and CLEAR. The perfect recipe for a sky blasting with little tiny lights. I love stars. I've always loved stars. Looking up to them is mezmerizing like watching a camp fire. I love it when you find a satalite speeding along or better yet those shooting stars! It's alwasy a surprise! I remember when Kevin asked me to marry him, he set off a sky lantern (picture below of what one looks like) and as it was going up into the perfect starry night on Storys Beach in Port Hardy BC, 2 shooting stars went off behind it one right after the other. What a wink from God.

Palawan supposidly has AMAZING starry nights. It is DARK up there, probably darker than anywhere I'll have ever been. And up in those rugged mountains, mmmm! Palawan, here we come!

Next week we will...

• Next week we will be buying a few last supplies to take up to the mountains.


• Next week we will be in a very hot and humid place.


• Next week we will be in Malaria zones.


• Next week we will gaze at a beautiful rugged jungle mountain backdrop.


• Next week we will begin the famous hike "The Trail to Kematian" with soccer cleats on.

• Next week we will move into a hut.


• Next week we will be sleeping under mosquito nets.
  

• Next week we will begin the process of learning a new language.


• Next week we will hull our own rice and prepare it on our one burner propane stove or over a fire.


• Next week we will begin an adventure of a lifetime.


• Next week we will have been married for 9 months.


• Next week our only source of electricity will be by generator or solar power.


• Next week the sky will be so free of light polution, at night we will see stars like we've never seen before.


• Next week we might be sunburned.


• Next week we will probably be sore from our hike


• Next week we will meet a people that will become very close to us.


• Next week makes me excited, and anxious, and scared all at once.

We'll update you on how next week goes.

Righteousness by Faith

Danelle is at work today, so I am finishing up some of my projects and thought I would contribute to our blog. I would like to start of by saying I am very appreciative of our South Hill Church family. It was truly a blessing to spend last Sabbath with a body of believers that offered such encouraging support. I am also going to miss the "Arise" team. I love you guys, and I will really miss our talks and worship time, this last Saturday night was especially special.  

... There is a hymn that I love and often find myself humming called "Come thou Fount of Every Blessing" I recently looked it up on youtube and in the comment section came across a discussion on Righteousness by Faith. I was drawn into the conversation and decided to add some of my own comments to the mix. The video had over 1000 comments, and I am sure my additions will be quickly drowned out and forgotten, but it is fun to imagine that my comments and contributions might matter... at least for someone. The following is where I picked up on the conversation:

The Gospel of Works is a false Gospel, to this I agree. But it is wise to account for all the gospel, to have a true Gospel. James (the brother of Jesus) explains that faith and works go hand in hand. James 2:19 says, “You believe there is one God, you do well, the devils also believe and tremble”. Vs 20 faith without works is dead. And in Vs 24 concludes, " You see then how by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.”

The book of James is very clear that Faith and Works are interlocked. Basically what James is saying in Chapter 2:14-26 is that, faith without works cannot be called faith. Often times people will use Paul to emphasize faith, while others use James to stress the importance of works. But here is the thing...James and Paul are not arguing different gospels, they are fighting back to back against the issue of legalism (Paul) and shallow belief (James) which both account to a dead faith. 

Furthermore, Paul proves he is not an advocate of a faith that is shallow. He repeatedly says, "what then shall we continue to sin so that grace may abound? Certainly not! (Romans 6:1,2,15; 7:7,13... Works Paul says, do not make one righteous, it is a gift that is given because of faith. (paraphrase Romans 9:30-33). Righteousness by faith, is not a shallow belief because as James explains , "You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe-and tremble." (James 2:19).

We are advised by Jesus in Matthew ch 7:13,14 to enter by the narrow gate because “narrow is the gate and strait is way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Because the “way” is strait we should be careful of swerving from side to side... and into the ditches of legalism or shallow faith. Faith is the foundation that light’s the way

The apostles were known as those who follow the way. They were called this because Jesus called himself the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6). It is believed that all the disciples who followed "The Way" died a martyrs death except for John... and even if this was not 100% factual...the bible from Acts on, makes it clear that they were willing to do so.

So when we follow "The Way" our faith is such that we are willing to die for it. The gift of Grace is so profound that even in our trials and tribulations we count it all Joy... I don't want a dead faith, I do what I do only because I believe, I can't help but want to share the Good News of Grace with others. The thief on the cross was assuredly saved! This proves two things. 1. We don’t get to Heaven because of what we do, and 2. faith is the starting point and foundation upon which we build. If the thief on the cross was to continue to live, I don't think he would have continued to be a thief... he would have joined those who follow the Way! Righteousness by faith is more than belief, Judas after all believed...but his understanding of the mission of Christ was blinded by an egocentric world view. 

Is it possible that as Christians we can take on the mindset of Judas. Judas wanted Christ to set up his earthly kingdom and he wanted the glory from that. Today we want to be apart of the heavenly kingdom and experience the glory that comes with that. Both sets of belief are a form of self centered faith. Righteousness by Faith is faith that produces fruit, not only do we long to be in Heaven, we long for all to be in Heaven. This faith is a willingness to take up our own cross and Follow Him. Luke 9:23,24. However the only way that we can walk into heaven is by grace and the shadow of the cross.