Month: November 2006

I haven’t followed the Ted Haggard story much, as you can probably tell by my lack of entries on the issue, as Reba Baskett asks, “How do we as a church respond?”

That is me in the fact that he is part of the body of Christ. Am I happy with that? No, I have a list of Evangelicals that I wish I could put in a boat and send out to an island never to be found. I think they give Christians a bad name, but every time I sin I am giving the body of Christ a bad name.
Why is sinning such a knock on Christ? I am starting to realize that it has everything to do with the way we, as Christian, have presented ourselves through the years. It is an us and them mentality. We are in the right and if you are not with us, you are wrong. We set this impossible standard for ourselves, one that we can not even keep.

How should the church respond to “high profile sinninng?”
Do we ignore it? Do we cast them out to the swine?
The words of a great friend still ring through my ear after he heard about a fight breaking out at a church softball game here in Waxahachie, “I could rant and rave about how they make the church look bad, but I’m the guy who got a speeding ticket driving the youth home from church camp.”

As one of the many survivors of the UMHB journalism program, who aren’t working in journalism, Brandi and her friends in Nashville have started a new blog community, The Corner Table. Brandi’s first entry gives her review on Studio 60, which I still haven’t seen. Gripes. But she writes a good article and I’m just dying to finally watch the show to see if I really agree with her.

I’m about an hour late now… doh… I have a habit of doing that… but four months ago I got this e-mail in my inbox from a beautiful woman I had yet to meet in person:

…I went to Phoenix last year too and it’s fun there, Hot but fun! That’s cool that you just had to go downstairs to watch the parade. I take it that Matt took down the border because he didn’t like it
and not because he was standing on the counter top and fell and when we went down he took the border with him. Let’s hope it wasn’t. Waxahachie sounds nice, since it’s pretty quiet after 5pm….it’s never really completely quiet around here, there are usually people driving fast down our street, even at 2 or 3 am. I wouldn’t mind checking it out sometime.
Would you be up for meeting for lunch or dinner one day? Just let me know. Well, have a great night or day depending on when you get this…I have to get up early for work tomorrow….

Wow. Four months ago! We’re now planning our wedding and Matt still hasn’t fixed the trim/border in the living room 🙂

I love you Laurie! I’m still waiting for those wedding gown photos 😉

We started our new series on Storm Chasers this week at encounter. Wow. God is good. Take an hour and listen to the podcast from this week’s service. It will rock your world. Granted, it may have just had a greater impact on me since I’m just recently engaged and we’ve just started planning our wedding, but it’s worth a listen for any and all.
Here’s a description from the podcast:

Life is filled with storms. They come mysteriously and without warning. Storm Chasers put themselves in harm’s way in order to learn more abou them. Listen to the story of how one couple at encounter survived the ultimate storm in marriage – an affair. Discover what they found in the storm and how their marriage was restored better than it was before.

You can click to listen to the file, or visit the encounter podcast page and download the file and other services, or subscribe to the podcast through your favorite podcasting software.

A verdict was reached in the trail of Saddam Hussein earlier today. The Iraqi court sentenced him to hanging.
According to the AP, Saddam shouted “God is great! Long live the people and death to their enemies. Long live the glorious nation, and death to its enemies!”
But I’m gonna guess that he really yelled, “Allah is great!”
Either way, fighting broke out in parts of Iraq after the verdict was announced.
Is that any surprise? We had riots after the Rodney King verdict and according to Saturday Night Live, the whites in L.A. also rioted after the OJ Simpson verdict was announced.
But I digress.
It makes me wonder if this verdict will do anything to change the war in Iraq, will people start realizing he’s really not coming back now, or will the fighting continue in hopes of a new leader?
Is anyone surprised by the verdict? Does this in anyway change anyone’s thoughts about the war?

Erin Rigsby is a 2000 graduate of UMHB and has spent the last two years in Nigeria working with the boys at Guerro, TH and Gidan Bega. She’s currently on furlough in the US and I plan to post her updates as I get them.
Please keep her and the boys and missionaries in your prayers.

“The kids have such joy in their faces.”
“How is John doing, the boy with depression?”
“What do I do to become a missionary?”

These are a few of the things I have heard during the past three months.
— After seeing my DVD about Nigeria , numerous people have been touched by the joy in the eyes of the boys in Nigeria . These kids have every reason to be angry and bitter, yet they choose to be free and to trust in the Lord.
— Prayer warriors have been interceding for John, who I told you all about 5 months ago. John is OK. From what I have heard, he still battles depression, yet has not been suicidal. I have been so blessed to know that people really pray for the boys by name. Check out the attached November prayer calendar! (If you have trouble viewing it, click ‘view’ and ‘print layout’)
— How thrilled I am when someone shows an interest in serving God’s people overseas! One goal of being back in the States is to plant seeds of interest into people’s hearts.

September was an incredible, abundant, God-filled month! He just LOVES those kids in Nigeria ! He wants hundreds of people to hear about them and I get to be the spokesperson! I spent three weeks in Chicago and was able to share with a Chinese youth group, the Moody Church congregation, ten Sunday school’s, house groups, Moody Graduate School, individuals, kids in inner – city Chicago –- it was SO much fun!

PLEASE NOTE: At the end of November I will wrap up formal speaking engagements, with the exception of being available to speaking in Sunday School classes. I love sharing and being an advocate for the kids, but I am also getting tired and need some rest. 🙂 If you were planning on asking me to speak in December, please understand. I have some open days in November and you are welcome to contact me.

I still plan on returning to Nigeria in January.

Check out the pics from the past 6 weeks: www.webmissions.net/erinrigsby/photos.html

Your partner in ministry,

Erin Rigsby
www.webmissions.net/erinrigsby
“I cannot change the world, but I can change the world for one person.”
Mother Teresa