One of the unique things about this place is the collection of short-term, high-quality, content-heavy classes we offer each semester.

We call it Passage -- as in a "passage" of the bible, but also a "passage" through which you walk.

Our spring 2011 slate starts this Wednesday, and I believe it features our strongest lineup ever.

I'm particularly interested in Professor Steve Klipowicz's class on the Psalms and Proverbs. I took Dr. K's fall class on the Post-Exilic Prophets, and if I wasn't teaching myself this Wednesday (our First Step membership class), I'm sure I'd be learning at his feet yet again.

You can find out all about Passage, as well as sign up for a class you'll love, by clicking here.

Yesterday, I posted that my colleagues and I were on our way to Phnom Penh, Cambodia and ultimately to the state of Orissa in India.


So why would we want to travel such great distances to spend 12 days in cultures that are so unfamiliar?



Turns out there are at least five answers to that question. It's Tuesday, after all.

5. The followers of Jesus in both places have much to teach us about walking with Christ with resilience, determination, and faithfulness.

4. We want to leverage some of the things we do well and the resources we have to help churches in Asia.

3. We have existing contacts in both places. Good Shepherd's founding pastor, Claude Kayler, worked closely with Methodists in Phnom Penh back in the late 1990s. Our congregation also funded construction of a church building in the Cambodian village of Tram Khnar. In India, we have been long time supporters of Advancing Native Mission, which has a vibrant presence in Orissa. So we'll be able to strengthen old ties while making new ones.

2. We want to do long-term work in a land where Christianity is not a majority religion. Cambodia is predominantly Buddhist, while Hinduism dominates India. In both countries, Christianity is a minority faith, and, on occasion, a persecuted one.

1. We are making a strategic shift in our approach to international mission from "wide and shallow" to "narrow and deep." For years, we've had 8-10 different partners around the globe who receive significant financial support from the church. However, we're attracted to a model we've learned from other churches in which we would work with indigenous pastors and leaders in one area, harnessing our resources and spirit for maximum impact. This trip is to help us answer the question: would God have us go narrow & deep in Cambodia? Or in Orissa? Or does he have something else entirely different in mind?

As you read this, I am somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, travelling with these three friends of mine.

From the left, it's Mike Dey, Ron Dozier, Brian Braunschweiger, and well, you know.

All of us are part of the Good Shepherd family.

We are flying into Phnom Penh, Cambodia, which will be our base of operation for the first five days of our trip.

Then we'll travel to Bhubaneswar, India for the final five days of our journey.

Why are we spending so much in Cambodia and India? What does all that have to do with Good Shepherd United Methodist Church and its approach to international missions?

Check back tomorrow, and I'll answer some of those questions.

It'll be Top Five Tuesday, Asian-style.

Can a pastor really say something like "forget about God's will for your life!" and still be a Christian?

I think so.

And I love the reasons why.

Come this Sunday and you'll find out.

And then to reinforce that message, we have a beautiful event planned for Sunday evening at 5 p.m.: the Reading Of The Red Letters.

The words of Jesus, experienced out loud and in community.

Sunday.

8:30. 10. 11:30.

And again at 5.

It's going to be a great day.

We have an event coming this Sunday that is a first of its kind for Good Shepherd.

The Reading Of The Red Letters.
From 5 - 6 p.m., we'll gather as a people being shaped by the Holy Spirit and we'll listen to the words of Jesus. Out loud. In community. Without interpretation.

Here are top five reasons to come on Sunday night:

5. Your Pathfinders group will be there.

4. It's the way the bible was designed to be encountered. The bible was written more for the "ear" than for the "eye" -- it is a library written for a largely illiterate people.

3. We'll read the words of Jesus -- you know, the ones in red in a lot of your bibles.

2. You may just hear the voice of God.

1. More than anything else, you might find help in figuring out God's will.