Day 1- Going to Uganda (Journal Writing)

7/29/2012 21:00ET
Hunter and I left for Atlanta @ 5:15 this morning.  My heart was full of excitement and yet at the same time a sense of sadness because I was leaving 10 of the most precious things to me on this Earth.  God was a great help to us as we made extraordinary time by getting to Atlanta by 10:30.  We decided when we were about an hour out that we would try to make it to Passion City Church where Louie Giglio is pastor and Chris Tomlin leads worship on occasion.  We got in there at 11:10 for an 11:00 service because parking was CRAZY!   When we got in, we were immediately blown away because on the concourse monitors outside the sanctuary I saw that Matt Redman was leading worship.  He is one of my favorite music writers and sings incredible songs.  He even led 10,000 Reasons (one of my favorite songs right now from Psalm 103).  Bless the Lord Oh my soul and all that is within me, Bless His holy name! Bless the Lord o my soul and forget not all of His benefits.  Psalm 103:1-3.

Matt Redman

God has done so many incredible things over the last few days as we got ready to leave that I am just in awe of His supreme worth and majesty.  He has shown us time and again His greatness and His love toward us.  The song and the Psalm both remind us that there are 10,000 reasons to praise our God, for now and forever more!

Louie Giglio

The message we heard was based on John 11 about the story of Jesus and Lazarus.  I was floored when he chose the text because it was the exact passage that I read to the family yesterday in our family devotions around the breakfast table.  He is constantly reminding me that He is with us and HE is sovereign!  John 11:25 says " I am the resurrection and the life.  Whoever believes in me, though he dies, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall live and never die."  HE is the resurrection; HE is the living water; He is the bread of life;  HE is the gate; HE is the door; HE is the only way!  So today, Louie reminded me yet again that He is with me!  That wherever we go and whatever we do, as a child of the most high, Christ is with us and in us!  Matthew 28:20 says "And behold I am with you always, to the end of the age."  He is with me, not just in 42 J (the plane seat beside me) but in MY seat, in ME!  So the challenge in his message was to live with eyes wide open.  JESUS, the Creator of the Universe is with me!  Right here! Right Now!  He knows my weaknesses and He knows my struggles and He is still with me.  So Louie boiled down his message in 6 points.

WHEN YOU WALK WITH JESUS:

1.You walk in the presence of divine affirmation. ( you are loved by a wonderful Savior)
2. You have all you need (He supplies all of our NEEDS according to His riches in Glory)
3. The highs and the lows of life are tempered (He brings us a peace to walk on an even keel)
4. You will end up in the right place! (He will have you where he wants you)
5. You will never pass those people who are broken (Jesus came to seek and save that which was lost and when we walk with Him, our goals and purposes are His and He came for needy, broken people)
6. You know he will walk with you every step of the way until the last step on this Earth (see Matt 28:20)

These were all reminders of truths that are backed up time and time again that He will never leave us or forsake us.

Meeting the team in Atlanta 

So now we have made it to the plane and are in the air; Headed to UGANDA!  My first, and my son's first mission trip.  What a privilege it is to share this experience with him.  He is a special young man who I love dearly.  I pray as we start this journey, that God would use us to glorify His Name!  He is worthy of all glory and He will get a name for Himself.  I am thankful that He walks beside us and uses us as He does it.    ~end of writing

Here are some more pictures from our first day, which was the travel day to Uganda.  We left from Atlanta at 5:25pm and flew into Amsterdam at 6:30 their time.  We had a 2 hour layover there and flew out around 9am Amsterdam time.  We flew from there and landed in Entebbe Uganda at 10:30 at night their time.

Hunter had never flown so this was his window seat view

Wholly Follow the Lord!

   “And the LORD heard your words and was angered, and he swore, ‘Not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land that I swore to give to your fathers, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it, and to him and to his children I will give the land on which he has trodden, because he has wholly followed the LORD!'"  ~Deuteronomy 1:34-36

How much can it be said of American Christians that we wholly follow the Lord? How often do we take a stand against the world, or speak out against the status-quo? Are we too afraid of critique, punishment, or ill-repute? Let us be few among many in a stand for truth and the Gospel. Let us be aliens among our home town, and despised by the world. Are we going to stand idly by frowning upon the corruption of this world of ours, or are we going to stand up and present the glorious alternative that has been made available to all? Let us wholly follow the Lord.

Food and Clothing?

How many Christians are satisfied with food and clothing? 

"But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction." ~1 Timothy 6:6-9

At the same time,

"As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life." ~1 Timothy 6:17-19

Are we satisfied with godliness and contentment, or are we seeking our best life now? Are we pouring our comparatively superfluous resources into things that matter or are we storing up treasures on this earth that we lose when we die?

Bronze Serpent

Upon seeing this post some may fall into a state of shock after thinking for so long that I must be dead :). I could give a whole bunch of excuses of why I haven't been writing (i.e.. "I've been too busy"), but in reality I have actually just been a lazy writer. After looking through my past posts I began to miss recording and noting things in my web log, so here is the first of (hopefully) many.
   I was reading this morning in Numbers chapter 21 about when the Israelites "spoke against God and against Moses" because there was no food or water. This situation is seen a lot; the people rebelling and looking back to the false refuge of Egypt, and forgetting God's past and present deeds. For example, they did not think about how God had just supplied them with the miraculous waters of Maribah. One need not imagine the Lord's frustration towards the people's lack of faith, as he promptly disciplined them by sending "fiery serpents" among them. However, an interesting thing about this incident is that the Lord provided a succor in the form of their oppression. All the people needed to do was look at a bronze serpent that God directed Moses to erect on a pole, and they were healed. Such a simple alteration of a mortal problem. Millions today are in the same boat. Christ, also raised on a pole (cross), has given every sinner (all of us) a chance of healing and forgiveness from our mortal problem (the penalty of sin). Just as with the bronze serpent, one need only to look to Christ as his only salvation and Lord, and he will be saved (Romans 10:9). So let us mull on this truth for a little while, and perhaps you will realize sinner what deliverance is yours, and realize Christian what news you have to bring! Are you going to sit still and leave your savior upraised? That is what we were created to do. And remember, I am totally speaking to myself as I am anybody. I have realized how inadequately we have worshiped and dissipated the name of our Savior, and I hope that this post will be the means of conviction to someone, somewhere, as it was for me.
~ Hunter Hardwick

The core of the Gospel - Paul Washer - Quote

"The core of the Gospel is absent from too many pulpits:
God's justice, man's depravity, the atonement,
true conversion, and assurance."
- Paul Washer

Religion and Resurrection - David Platt

The Love of God

"Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above,
Would drain the ocean dry.
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky."
~ From the hymn The Love of God by Frederick M. Lehman

A Young Man's Invitation to a Life of Sacrifice - Paul Washer

A Young Man's Invitation to a Life of Sacrifice from HeartCry Missionary Society on Vimeo.

True believers & Missions - Archibald Alexander

“True believers earnestly desire the whole world to come to the knowledge of God, and it is their habitual determination to do what in them lies to bring mankind to a saving acquaintance with Him”
- Archibald Alexander

Psalms 47:1-9 - "King of all the earth!"

 (1) To the choirmaster. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy!  (2)  For the LORD, the Most High, is to be feared, a great king over all the earth.  (3)  He subdued peoples under us, and nations under our feet.  (4)  He chose our heritage for us, the pride of Jacob whom he loves. Selah  (5)  God has gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.  (6)  Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises!  (7)  For God is the King of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm!  (8)  God reigns over the nations; God sits on his holy throne.  (9)  The princes of the peoples gather as the people of the God of Abraham. For the shields of the earth belong to God; he is highly exalted!