The team arrived safely last night and after being welcomed by some folks from the church, made it to our hotel for some much needed rest. Please pray for quick acclimation - most folks are feeling some affects of mild altitude sickness.Tomorrow morning we travel several hours by bus to Caranavi where we will be serving 86 orphans. We will be there for 3 days before returning to La Paz on Tuesday. Our route both days will most likely include what is termed by some as the world’s most dangerous road. (You can punch that in on youtube to see some clips - WARNING - I don’t recommend doing this till after you hear of our safe return if you have family members on the trip!!! For everyone else, it will provide ample motivation to pray for our safety!)This morning the team had a wonderful time marveling at the privilege of enjoying God and serving him with joy. May that be our testimony during our entire trip!
One of the views from our hotel in downtown La Paz
1500 feet above La Paz on our way down from the airport.
At 4am today 17 folks met in our lobby to being their trip to Bolivia. After an early morning flight out of Richmond we will be in Miami for a few hours and are scheduled to arrive in La Paz, Bolivia a little after 9:30 tonight.
Please pray for safe travel and smooth sailing through customs (and that we will get all our bags!)
Tomorrow we hope to acclimate and get our bearings with the help of the church there.Thank you!Aaron (and the Bolivia Team)
Bolivia Team:
- Aaron Campbell
- Robert Campbell
- Chris Deloglos
- Maria Deloglos
- Christina Deloglos
- Stephenia Deloglos
- Christopher Deloglos
- Stephen Deloglos
- Kelsey Dixon
- Anna Emerson
- Kristin Green
- John Ognibene
- Rich Rogness
- Anna Rogness
- Colby Rogness
- Elisha Tran
- Remie Verougstraete
Applications for this summer’s mission trip to Bolivia are due this Sunday. The first team meeting will also be held this Sunday at noon in the Seminar Room. If you haven’t turned in your application yet and you hope to participate, please bring your application and the registration fee to this week’s team meeting.
The Goldsworthy Trilogy is an outstanding collection of three books on Biblical Theology by Graeme Goldsworthy. Each book looks at a specific genre of Biblical literature in order to see its place within the whole of Scripture by seeing Jesus throughout each one.The Gospel & Kingdom examines the Old Testament history of Israel, The Gospel & Wisdom examines Job, Solomon’s writings, and some other wisdom writings sprinkled throughout Scripture, and The Gospel & Revelation looks at Scripture’s final letter.I heartily commend the Goldsworthy Trilogy for a deeper study of seeing Jesus throughout the various parts of Scripture. (I also recommend God’s Big Picture for a basic introduction on this topic and The Big Picture Story Bible for an excellent treatment of this at the most basic level.)
Matthew and I recently traded office spaces and quite honestly the biggest task involved for me was packing and reorganizing my library (thanks Mike Parrish for moving all the boxes and furniture!) This gave me the opportunity to again leaf through and hit highlights from some of my favorites (which considerably slowed the packing process!)
Fortunately I’m not limited to one author, but if I had to pick the one that I think I have benefited the most consistently from Jerry Bridges would almost instantly rise to the top of the list. He writes about rich eternal truths that impact practical realities but always does so in a down to earth and easily accessible manner (which is what enables me to benefit!)
Three of his books that I have been most helpful over the years:
Transforming Grace - This one was initially lent to me by a friend 13 years ago and really opened up my understanding of grace. The chapter on the generous landowner in particular turned me inside out and is still one I revisit from time to time.
The Discipline of Grace - I read this one for the first time while at the Pastors College in 1998. Combined with Mr. Bridges teaching of that PC class this book gave me a framework for God’s part and my part in both my standing before Him and my growth in being like Him. The first 3 chapters alone are life altering - I’ve reread (and highlighted!) this book more than any other.
Trusting God - I think this was also a Pastors College read, but whenever it was I’m not sure that there has been a more influential book for me regarding God’s sovereignty and His care for His people in suffering than this one. The reality of God’s character in 1) Sovereignty, 2) Goodness, and 3) Wisdom has provided me a structure that has served me in many difficult circumstances (both my own and caring for others) and I’m simply not sure I would have the same clarity and handles apart from this resource.
I have certainly benefited from other of his works, but these stand out from my vantage point. I have another small one, “The Bookends of the Christian Life”, sitting on my “next books” pile that I may be telling you about soon as well…
Written by Aaron Campbell
I’ve heard nothing but great reports from the folks who attended NEXT over the Memorial Day weekend! The messages from the conference have recently been added to the NEXT website for free download or listening online.
The person of Christ was the theme of the main sessions and speakers included D.A. Carson, Sinclair Ferguson, Kevin DeYoung, C.J. Mahaney, and Joshua Harris. I encourage you to join me in adding these messages to your summer playlist…
MP3 Christ’s Preeminence - Joshua Harris
MP3 Christ’s Incarnation - D.A. Carson
MP3 Christ’s Life - Kevin DeYoung
MP3 Christ’s Death - C.J. Mahaney
MP3 Christ’s Resurrection - Sinclair Ferguson
MP3 Christ’s Return - Sinclair Ferguson
MP3 Panel Discussion - Mark Dever, Sinclair Ferguson, Justin Taylor, Kevin DeYoung, C.J. Mahaney, and Joshua Harris
MP3 Just Do Something - Kevin DeYoung
MP3 Radical Womanhood - Carolyn McCulley
MP3 Entrust: The Transfer of the Gospel - Dave Harvey & Jared Mellinger
MP3 Church Planting Information Meeting - Dave Harvey, Mark Prater, and Rob Flood
Written by Aaron Campbell
Colleen and I 
had the privilege of attending the Sovereign Grace Ministries Pastors College graduation this past Sunday evening. In the decade since my own graduation we have been able to make the trip to Gaithersburg, MD for the ceremony more years than not.
Each year we attend I experience a flood of memories and a fresh gratefulness to God for what we received there - and what the current crop of graduates has been blessed to be a part of. We’ve celebrated with several friends from KingsWay and other regional churches over the years.
As far as schools go, it’s a unique experience: nearly 40 classes, weekly fellowship groups, care groups, research papers, Greek, and a lot of relationship building - all within the context of Covenant Life Church, and all jammed into one very packed year.
This year was a special celebration for our family in particular as my younger brother Adam took his place among the graduating class. After interning several years at CrossWay Church in Charlotte, they sent him to the PC last fall. He and his family will be moving to Fredericksburg to serve alongside the Delages, for which I couldn’t be more thrilled.
Thanks for your prayers during our time away this week! Please continue to pray that the Lord would give us clarity, insight, and wisdom into how He desires His church to be led.
Also, that God would help us to accomplish all that He desires for us during our time away. For instance, you can see in this picture that Doug has some deep rooted anger issues that we’d love to get to the bottom of. You can’t imagine the tension and angst this brings to the whole group dynamic. Keep praying!
Please pray for your pastors this week as we take Tuesday through Thursday for a retreat. We’ll be using the time to pray for the church and evaluate various aspects of our life together.
In addition to studying and discussing Charles Bridges “The Christian Ministry” and our overarching goals and calling as pastors, we will be assessing and evaluating specific ministries that we have been charged with and seeking to discern better ways to serve all of you.
We’ll also be examining and game planning various responsibilities in light of our recent changes in staffing. In all of this, we are very aware of our need of wisdom and discernment and ask you to join us in praying for this strategic time away.
This post was written by Aaron Campbell.
Conduct this quick experiment - think of a song that those close by would know and have them guess what it is while you tap it out (no singing, no humming, just tapping it.) Did they guess it? Now try switching roles with them tapping and you guessing…
What you most likely experienced while tapping was the “curse of knowledge”. The frustration of knowing something that is obvious to you (the song you were tapping) while the person you were trying to communicate it to had no idea of the actual tune. Taking the “listener” turn can give new insight into how un-obvious that role really is.
I just finished “Made to Stick” by Chip and Dan Heath, where they seek to help undo the curse of knowledge by giving basic counsel to help get ideas across. Most of their advice is in the range of what could be termed “uncommon-common sense” - it isn’t difficult to understand or see the value of, but that doesn’t mean we regularly put it into practice.
The illustrations skew toward a business and academic audience but the principles can be useful for any setting/relationship. Though not a book I expect to be on everyone’s short list, it’s interesting and engaging enough to make it worthwhile for those that are interested.
