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Hello brothers and sisters!
February 8th, 2010Hello brothers and sisters!
February 4th, 2010“And I will drive them out little by little, until you become
fruitful…and take possession of the land.”
Exodus 23:30
I find a great deal of comfort in this verse. This morning I clutched it to my bosom as the woman at the ticket counter flailed at me with speech vitrirolic! The crowd behind me was obviously torn between irritation with the delay…and amusement at the large fellow being flayed alive by the small, angry woman behind the counter. As it was indeed, my error, I endeavored to drink graciously from the bitter cup she proffered. This fateful blunder had cost me a verbal lashing, but when the dust had cleared…I discovered my paperwork approved, my eardrums relatively intact, and wonder of wonders…the co-worker of the woman who had flogged me…standing next to me at the mail-box outside. We talked about Jesus.
The Lord will arrange our paths. Given free reign in our lives He will do miracles! He will drive out the enemy of our souls….and give us the promised land! “Little by little.” Soul by soul….
He is able
Mike, Amberlea, Mercy and Zion Macy
PS Thank you again for your prayers! Adrian is a brave girl, and though she faces pain and sickness daily…the world watches her do so, holding tight to Jesus’ hand!!
Hello brothers and sisters!
January 28th, 2010
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Hello brothers and sisters!
January 28th, 2010
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Hello brothers and sisters!
January 7th, 2010
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Hello brothers and sisters!
December 30th, 2009
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Hello brothers and sisters!
December 9th, 2009“Therefore, since we have such hope…we use great boldness of speech!”
2 Corinthians 3:12
Chokgyurlingpa Urgyen Jigmed Palden Rinpoche…. one of the highest ranking Lamas in Tibetan Buddhism, a leading teacher in Europe, spoke last Friday at the park forum in Heidelberg. there was a crowd of Germans, a sprinkling of other nationalities, the Rinpoche, his attendant monk and, sitting in the back…me.
I had filched a poster off the bulletin-board at the market, and shortly afterwards; received an email from one of the church’s translators, asking if I planned on attending! ( Oh, be still my heart!! ) We prayed hard for a chance to speak with the Rinpoche…an opportunity to touch his heart! The group that assembled to hear the Lama was hushed, respectful.. .the fawning reverence that the westerner has for Eastern philosophy. When he called for a break, I went forward to talk with him. Ugyen had only a few words in English..so my somewhat sketchy Tibetan had to suffice. He was surprised to hear his own language, and more surprised still, to hear that Jesus loved him! After a moments pause, he tucked his robes about him and said:”Buddha, Allah, Jesus…there are many paths to God!”
“But Rinpoche” I said, “Jesus claims to be the only truth, the only path to God!” I clasped his hands in mine, he leaned towards me. “It is either true…or it is a lie….and you, Rinpoche, you…have to choose!”
He nodded several times, obviously ill at ease, his attendant watched us both intently. “I will pray for you, every day!” I said quietly. I placed an envelope in his hands. He glanced at it…took my hands again and thanked me. Pray for this man, that God will water the seed that was planted! I left him clutching the envelope, sealed with a bit of red wax, bearing his name in Tibetan script…and containing a tract in his mother tongue, holding the key to his salvation… and perhaps, through him…the salvation of his people!
Like our friend Darlene says:
Thrilled to be serving the King of Kings!!
Mike, Amberlea, Mercy and Zion Macy
PS Thank you all for praying….the terrifying ´cat-urine-frying- the-laptop- voiding-the- warranty- off-line- for-nineteen- days-without- communication´ ordeal has been successfuly brought to ´closure´….we received a great many emails in regards to our ´dire straights´, quite a few from fellow ´Apple-Macintosh´ users…who regailed us with their tales of Mac-tragedy and Mac-triumph, “Standing by us!” in our moment of loss!! ( we Mac users are a silly lot! ) You also sent the total replacement cost of the computer…in less than twenty four hours!! We don´t deserve you…but we are so delighted to have you looking after us. God bless you all!
Hello brothers and sisters!
December 2nd, 2009ashes to ashes…
I normally tend to emphasize the ecstatic, and downplay the morose…to fling into view the joyous thing…and ignore the tragic, the calamitous….but not at this pass. I feel compelled to share our burden with you, to offer you a place beside us at the grave…as we grieve.
Amberlea received the call this very afternoon….the voice at the other end did not quibble, nor disemble. The clipped vowels were un-mistakable: ”Zee apple laptop ist dead, ein katz hass peed on your mother-board.”
The cat belonged to the specialist my wife had visited in Berlin…apparently it had some issues with Americans…sigh…I’m afraid Berlin is too great a distance to travel…just to kill one cat.
Other than feline-based horrors, we find ourselves doing well ( your prayers, thank you! ) and our work here…well…it seems to leap about like some frenzied young golden retreiver! from the sqallid back-streets of Mannheim…to Heidelbergs proud city squares, from Tibetan monastery, to french graveyard…it is busy, it is often hard…and it is a great joy. Yesterday, the fog hung low in the river valley, we floated through it in our train, the kid’s noses glued to windows streaked with mist. Our ride is usually a noteworthy affair. Through these doors walk the reason that we are here, these lives into which the Father provides a portal. An old man we met months ago gets on…it is the ‘king’! ( He was so named by Mercy, who thought his heavy gold rings accorded him this exalted status. ) Greetings were exchanged, embraces given…and then something rather special happened. Ollie pulled out his wallet, ( as seamed and venerable as Ollie himself ), and slowly un-folded a much-handled square of paper….a picture Mercy had drawn for him half a year earlier! Ollie is sniffing the wind, as it were…and smelling Jesus!! I am discovering that our children are the Lord’s real missionaries here! When we reached the Bahnhof, I was arranging the luggage on our bikes…when I overheard my wife inviting a young woman to church, Amberlea pulls out a Calvary Chapel Heidelberg card…and so does the young woman! “A large American man already invited me!” she said. Amberlea just shook her head. What fun! You can’t begin to explore Gods limits….there are none! ( “wondrous are your works, O Lord! ) His mercy’s are new every morning….and every afternoon, for that matter!
Our Fathers business….nothing cooler
Mike, Amberlea, Mercy and Zion Macy
Hello brothers and sisters!
November 23rd, 2009 I was sitting again on our balcony, just a little bit of blue left in the sky, slice of moon…scraps of clouds scudding north up the river valley…I watched the barges slow for the locks, the cars wind their way through the cobbled streets that climb the banks…one year ago, in one of these narrow lanes, I met a young Moroccan man, Jaffar. I have spoken with him often, little snippets of conversation, pieces of hope…small dollops of truth. We prayed for our Muslim friend (as have many of you! ) and the Lord would lead him to our home…we’d talk a while…then Jaffar would leave suddenly, as things became to much to bear, the Spirit, knocking loudly at the door of his heart! We wrote not long ago, to tell you of his salvation, and his desire to attend church with us…and he has, several times now! Jaffars countenance has altered, there is a light in his eyes, an ease about him that is such a departure from the hunched shuffle that carried him about the village! God has worked another miracle, another transformation of the dead, bringing life once again!
I had promised a German bible to Jaffar. After yesterdays service, I noticed him looking though the bookshelves in the sanctuary, I went over to help him…and found him staring at the small, blue book in his hand. Jaffar looked up at me with wet eyes,”Es ist im Arabische!” he whispered quietly. ( “It is in Arabic!” ) I knew we had bibles in several languages ( English German, even Turkish! ) but this tiny bible had escaped my notice! I closed his fingers over it. God is good.
”Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”
Psalm 119:105
We are so glad to have you with us!
Mike, Amberlea, Mercy and Zion Macy
Hello brothers and sisters!
November 18th, 2009
It is surreal at times…how the hand of God comes suddenly into our lives, bringing blessing, answering prayer…ordering the days events to His purpose…at Calvary Chapel Gorltz we saw His hand. It was so evident in what occurred there!
Gorlitz sits squarely on the 15TH longitude, sprawled across the river Neisse on the east German/Polish border. In both its faces, a stark contrast…and a common need; the east German side is still beautiful, her stone…lovingly worked, her trees….dressed in gold and red, the drifts of fallen leaves seem almost arranged about the feet of her shops and dwellings. Her Polish sister, however….huddles in rags of poverty and decay. Despair blows cold and hard down her crumbling streets….but both need Gods love in a bad way.
Into this picture come Stephan, Dorit, ‘Timo’ and Nora Spielau; CC Leipzig…tough sheep. Missionaries. Their lights shine brightly….in a very dark place. Hannah Lawrence played a concert here, then wrote them suggesting I go up for an outreach…The Spielau’s prayed to that effect…and The lord tossed in another Evangelist ( Jake Davidson; Calvary Fellowship, Seattle ) for good measure….and it was wonderful! Crisp, sunny…and each person Jesus wanted to speak with, clearly marked for us! Encouragement to the Christians we met, the gospel to the lost. Parents with children, young people, old men shuffling about…even five Mormon missionaries at the bridge,( they didn’t say much…but they listened for close to an hour! ) …some people out of work… some just out of hope….but all directed into our paths! We talked to skaters and waiters and street-artists, ….but had the distinct impression that the real victory….was in the way Gorlitz seemed to watch us…and took note of these people who couldn’t wait to share their Jesus! In the strangely appropriate slang of my youth: It was Righteous!
We didn’t reach hundreds…but we touched the ones the Lord had ordained…and He bound us together in the process, like He has is so many other cities! As we become part of the fabric…the weave here….we decrease….Jesus increases, yeah? A year ago someone told us we were brought here for the Lord to work on us….they were right. We just want to belong to Him, and let God handle the rest! Please remember these churches…as you remember us….your prayers have set in motion what happened here! And we thank you…
in Jesus name
Mike, Amberlea, Mercy and Zion Macy
PS The ‘Ride-share’ you prayed for ? I spent a total of fourteen hours in a Volkswagen Golf with Yvonne, Veronica and some bundled-up creature that slept undisturbed in it’s seat the entire trip back….and the Lord opened the door….I spent most of the trip answering questions about God…most of them from the girl in the back seat….she is considering Jesus!