Larson Letter

Larson Letter
We have just celebrated our third anniversary here at Bethany Church and it’s amazing to see the changes that have occurred in that time. Our family has drastically changed, first with our adoption of Ethan nearly two years ago, and also with the birth of Ember this February. We’ve seen changes in the church and changes with Village Missions. However, we are encouraged by our God who does not change and remains faithful.
I’ve been enjoying being a missionary/pastor for this area of north-central Kansas. I’ve learned a lot and continue to love ministering to the people of this area. Being a Village Missionary is quite interesting because you never can tell what you will be doing from one day to the next. One day I’ll be riding in a combine with a young man about to head to college and the next I’m directing a Bible camp for the youth in the area. From funerals to baby dedications, my life is busy, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world!
Misty has been busy as the homeschooling process has begun for our family. Ellie is entering 1st grade and Misty’s been learning about how to keep things organized with four kids, ministry, and trying to find time for herself, which is a rare thing indeed. She is looking forward to another year of teaching Cubbies in Awana.
Elise (Ellie) is a vibrant 5 year old who loves to play with her friends and absolutely loves to read. Her love of dressing up makes things interesting where it’s not uncommon to see her walking through the living room as a princess, minutes later dusting as a servant girl, and then jumping around as Tinkerbell. She is excited about joining the Sparks group in Awana and learning more in piano lessons.
Ethan is an extremely energetic boy who never stops moving unless it’s to sleep. (Although he doesn’t sleep for long!) Turning four in September, he is going to be starting with Cubbies and gets to join Mommy this year. His adoring, almost smothering love for his little sister is both sweet and scary to watch. He has adjusted well to our family over the past two years and is making great strides in his speech. We thank you for your prayers over that adoption process and also for his previous diagnosis with hydrocephalus which actually turned out to be a cyst which will not require surgery.
Evan is a bright and imaginative 3 year old who is looking forward to being 4 in October. He has learned to talk, and practices all of the time. His sense of humor is a force to be reckoned with. His punch line to all jokes, “because he died.” He enjoys playing with his brother and sister, and has done quite well starting to learn verses for Cubbies which he also starts this year.
Ember Lanae Larson, born February 10th of this year is an answer to prayer. With a rough pregnancy, her birth has brought us much joy. At six months, her smiles and noises are a delight. Ellie had prayed for a little sister for many months before we were even expecting another one. We tried to prepare Ellie for maybe having a brother, but with her faithful prayers, I don’t think we needed to even bother. God answered her childlike faith with a sweet little sister.
We want to continue to thank you for your support, both in prayers and financially over the past three years. Without your support this area would be without a Bible preaching church. It is amazing to see Him working in the lives of the people here.

We ask for your continued prayer in these areas:
Praise:
Ember’s health
A large number of children in the church
The servant’s heart in this church

Request:
Awana to reach the youth and their families in the area
Continued outreach
A greater love for the people
Our family


Thank you and God bless,
The Larson’s

Elections, Leaders, and the Hearts of Men

I must admit that I am sickened by the attitudes of many people today. I've read articles from people both disappointed and elated by the election of Barack Obama and most of them have extremely wrong attitudes. There is bitterness and anger directed at those who voted for "the other guy", whoever you would consider him to be. Ladies and gentlemen, this should not be the attitude that we have after the events of this election.

Regardless of my own personal political views, I am grateful to live in this nation. No other nation in the world has the same rights and freedoms that we enjoy. One comment in particular has been going through my mind repeatedly. During the election coverage from the American Family Association they had a live blog where people could post their thoughts throughout the evening. After it became apparent that Obama was winning, one person wrote, "If Obama wins I'm leaving this country. Maybe move to England or something." This is an attitude that absolutely drives me nuts! We are living in a nation where people have the right to choose their leaders and to make their opinions known through our votes. If you don't like what's going on, don't leave, but do what you can to change what you are able to.

I've been planning on using Romans 13 as my text for this Sunday's message for awhile now. The message itself wasn't going to change regardless of Obama or McCain's election. It doesn't matter. The message of this passage is the same regardless.

We are to submit to the authorities that God has placed over us.
Rom. 13:1, 2 (NIV) "Everyone must submit himself to the govening authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels agains the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves." (Italics my own.)
Regardless of who you voted for, Barack Obama has been placed into the position of authority over those of us who live in these great United States of America. I will not rebel against the authority that God has placed me under. As long as this nation continues to uphold the freedoms that we celebrate, we will continue to be a great nation. As long as there are Christians down on their knees praying for our leaders, there is hope. As long as we have the right to worship God freely, I will submit to that authority. Why? Because God said so!

Romans 13 continues on in verses 6 and 7 about how we need to give to the authorities what they are due: taxes, revenue, respect, and honor are the examples used. Regardless of my opinion on Obama, I will give him the respect that is due a person in his position. I will not withold my taxes. We need to continue to respect the leaders of this nation. We don't have to agree with everything that they do and stand for, but let's at least show them the respect of their offices.

Please post your comments. I would love to hear your thoughts.

Resting before I Go Again

I'm sitting in my office in between our potluck lunch and our afternoon service. Once a month we move our evening service from 7pm to 2pm after our potluck so that those who travel don't have to every Sunday. I enjoy these days, but they make for a long Sunday. It's also hard to stay awake. Our bellies are full and we sit in a warm sanctuary... *snore*

Sorry. As I said, it makes for a long day. It still amazes me how much I love this church that God has seen fit to place us in. Today was a good day. In addition to my mom and grandma staying with us this weekend we had several families join us this morning who hadn't been here in months due to circumstances beyond their control. It was great to see them and reunite with them in fellowship.

On a personal note, our family is doing really well and the baby continues to be healthy. Ellie was writing the names of our family down on a paper the other day, "Ellie, Mommy, Daddy, Evan, Ethan" and then there was something I couldn't quite read. I asked her and she said "That says, 'Baby Whatever-Your-Name-Is". I got a pretty good laugh out of that. She's really excited for this new child to enter our lives.

As I leave I just want to thank you all and your support for us in this ministry. We deeply appreciate your prayers and look forward to seeing you again.

Busy Life and Other Stuff

Hey everyone, sorry about not posting since April. I have slacked in this area, but maybe I'll be able to get back into it a little bit.

We've started our second year of Awana and are really enjoying it. We've had around 25-35 kids each week. That's taken a lot of prep work for both Misty and I. It's been interesting trying to fit the church schedule into something that remotely looks feasible.

We're still studying John on Sunday mornings. We had our first anniversary in the book at the beginning of September and we're enjoying just taking our time and seeing how things fit together.

In personal news... we are expecting baby #4 in March. Not sure if we'll have a boy or girl at this point, ask us in a few months. ;-) We haven't done a lot of announcing about this, originally because we just wanted to see if we could keep it a secret. After that though, there have been some complications and we weren't sure a number of times if we had lost the baby. As of this past Monday though, it seems that the baby is doing extremely well. Ellie was even able to feel the baby kick.

Well, supper is about ready, so I should get going.

A View From the Pulpit

So, what does a pastor see on an average Sunday morning? Well, obviously churches differ, but this is what I see. The people that I love and care for. The people who are here to hear the Word of God spoken.

One Sunday morning we were packed. A couple had celebrated their 50th anniversary the day before and all of the family decided to join us on Sunday morning. We could barely fit any more people in. One woman asked if Iwas nervous. My response, "Yes, but not because of the number of people. I'm enough of a show-off that I enjoy being in front of people. I'm nervous because of the responsibility that I have in properly preaching the Word of God."

I love public speaking. College speech class was one of my favorite courses. I get a thrill from it. I rarely get nervous if I'm just giving a speech. However, once you add the responsibility of accurately preaching God's Word, I get nervous. It is a great responsibility that I should never take lightly. Once I do, then I am in the wrong position. God, help me never to take that responsibility lightly.

Village Missions

Well, for those of you who don't know, Misty and I are part of a group called Village Missions. Click on the link for more information on them. One thing I love about VM is the fact that once I'm placed on a field as a missionary/pastor, I am NOT left to go it alone. Starting this past fall the other Village Missionaries in the area have met together once a month for prayer, encouragement, and of course lunch. Misty and I have absolutely loved getting together with them. It encourages us personally and also spurs us to have a better ministry where we are.

During this last meeting the men in the group decided we needed to get together as men. Our goal is to build our friendships and also pray for each other during this time as well. Last night was our first meeting. This was a great time and we are already trying to figure out what we'll do next time.

Left to Right: Jim Karg, Steve Matthews, Riley Wilson, Jon Hansen, Gene Little, Chip Farnsworth

To other Village Missionaries, if you live even two hours away from the closest missionary, make a point of getting together with them. We've been meeting once a month but would love to do it more. It is more than worth your time and even more valuable than the gas it takes to get there. (Regardless of how much it is.)

Musings from a trip to Vietnam

Interesting pictures... these were taken in a Buddhist temple in the Chinatown section of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. In the first picture you can see an idol that is worshipped as part of the religion, and in the second you see a large urn that holds incense whose smoke supposedly carries the prayers of the petitioners to heaven.

What does a Christian pastor do when he enters such a place? He prays. I saw the people who firmly believe in their religion. Yet, they are destined for hell. I realize that seems harsh and arrogant on my part. How can I put my faith ahead of theirs? How do I know that I'm right and they are wrong? Interesting topic, for another post. For now, just go with my thoughts, rambling as they are...

They have no hope. There is no guarantee in their religion that they will enter heaven such as they believe it to be. This is not true for a Christian. I Jn. 5:13 says that we can know that we have eternal life if we believe. That is true hope. I love that word "hope" in the Bible. It doesn't mean, "I hope this will happen." There is no guarantee in that hope. The word used actually means a guarantee. That our hope is sure. It is guaranteed. Our blessed hope is in Christ Jesus.

There are those in Vietnam who believe. We were unable to visit one of the government run churches while we were in Vietnam, but these churches are unable to teach the full truth of the Gospel because of the Communist government. Each sermon must be approved before given. Underground churches are able to teach the full truth at risk of their freedom and even their very lives.

I was able to meet one man and his family whom I believe to be true Christians. Due to language difficulties I was unable to understand exactly the circumstances. From what I could gather, this family wanted to immigrate to the US, but were unable to because of their Christian faith. The government wouldn't allow it. I saw and prayed as I saw this man and his family weep at their possible loss of freedom (maybe more, especially hard when looking at their young son). Was this what the man asked me to pray for? No. His prayer was not for himself, but for the salvation of Vietnam. This selflessness has struck my heart. There is a nation that, save for a remnant of believers, is lost and destined for hell. This isn't the only nation. Around the world people are lost and dying. They are heading for an eternal destiny away from God, love, and anything that is good. They are destined for eternal death. I have never been struck with that reality so profoundly as I had that day.

Join me in prayer for this lost world; for this lost country...

Long breaks...

I apologize about the long break that my wife and I have had in blogging. Adapting to another 2 year old boy in the house is a lot harder than we thought. It's amazing how busy those kids have been keeping us.

To update you all on our situation, Ethan, at this point at least, does not need surgery for his hydrocephalus. That may change after our opthamologist appointment, depending on how much pressure there is, but for now at least he seems to be fine. It definitely doesn't slow him down. Ethan and Evan are constantly running around and picking on their big sister. He's slowly picking up a few English words, and is understanding most of what we say.

My plan at this point is to post a few things from our trip in the next week and then try to convince Misty to do the same on her blog, which I know everyone wants.

God bless,
Parson Larson

Personal Note

Hey I just wanted to give everyone an update on what's going on with our adoption. We finally got "The Call" and we are leaving on Friday for Vietnam to go pick up our new son!
Please keep us in your prayers. We will be taking Ellie our 4 year old daughter and Evan will be staying with his Grandma. (She needs a lot of prayer!)

We'll be updating my wife's blog while we're in Vietnam. It's at mistyandtyler.blogspot.com

God bless,

Parson Larson

Beautiful Living: Older Men Part 3

Good morning (yes, I realize that it may not be morning where you are right now as you read this, but it's always morning somewhere). Update on things going on here before we get back to Titus. Awana has been going really well. We've gained a couple of kids, but at this point I'm not sure how regular they will be, and potentially lost one of my T&T girls due to a family situation. Please continue to keep these children in your prayers. We want to make sure these children know our Savior and as they study the Word of God will be living it out in their lives. Remember to check out my wife's blog for information on the adoption. The link is to the right.

Ok, now back to Titus. We're discussing the qualities that the older men in the church are to have. The next is that they are to be "self-controlled".

The opposite of self-controlled is to be "other-controlled". This is something that we need to be cautious about. What is it that controls you? There are many things that can cause you to lose your self-control. Alcohol is the first thing that I think of. It's common knowledge that drinking too much can lead to loss of control. I've been to wedding receptions where the booze has flown freely. Everyone had fun, even those who didn't drink, yet those who had been drinking were doing things that they never would do without the influence of alcohol. Self-controlled, they were not.

How about anger? I know people who become very angry. They lose control. When this happens, it is a scary thing because you don't know what's going to happen. If you look into their eyes, you don't see them, it's almost like looking into the eyes of an animal. Something that should definitely be avoided.

Being self-controlled is also one of the requirements for the leaders of the church in Titus 1:8. They should be self-controlled, or temperate in their desires. The question that this all comes down to is simply, "do your desires control you and force you to live in order to fulfill those desires?" Unfortunately, the desires that tend to control you are the desires that are sinful. What should happen, is that your desires change to become God's desires. Psalm 37:4 deals with this. “Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart.”
This does not mean that God will simply give you whatever you want. This is really dealing with your heart. When your delight is in the Lord, you delight in what He delights in. You desire what He desires. When your hearts desire is for God's hearts desire, then you will get the desires of your heart.

So, do your desires control you, or do you allow God's desires to lead you?

Beautiful Day

Have you ever woken up in a really good mood? I'm like that today. I had a good breakfast, the kids are playing happily, it's a beautiful day, Misty's having a good day, and I just finished one of the best cups of coffee I've had since I finished working at Jax, a coffee shop in Scottsbluff, NE.

Something I've noticed about coffee is that once you have had really good coffee, you become spoiled. You've had what is excellent and anything less becomes a disappointment. Earlier this summer I flew up to Michigan for the wedding of a friend. In one of the airports I stopped by a rather well known coffee place. (You know the one.) I have a particular affinity for a dry cappuccino. What this is for those who are not as well versed in coffee lingo is a cup of thick foam (preferably thick enough to hold a spoon upright in the glass) with a good espresso poured down the middle. I ordered a very dry cappuccino at this place and became extremely disappointed when I received a drink with no foam at all, just milk that had been steamed to a temperature that ruined the flavor of the drink.

Now, believe it or not, I do have a point to this post beyond showing that I'm what some call a "coffee snob". Those of us who have tasted of the grace of God have experienced what is greater than anything this world can offer. What seemed to be wonderful to us before, now tastes ruined at best; or at worst, like a second rate knock-off. All of the pleasures that this world can offer may be fun and enjoyable for a moment, but we know that it doesn't last and doesn't compare to what we have received in Christ Jesus.

If you have questions about this grace, leave me a comment with your e-mail address. I won't post it for all to see, but I will write you back explaining what this grace is and how to receive it.

God bless

Awana

Please keep us in your prayers. Tonight is our first night of Awana and my first night of being an Awana commander. I am so thankful for my wife who has pretty much gotten this whole thing organized single-handedly. She's excited about her Cubbies group and I'll be taking care of games, T&T (Truth & Training, the 3rd-6th grades), large group time, and whatever else needs to be done.

Our prayers are that we will have a lot of kids, that the Gospel will be presented clearly in a way that they can understand, and that the parents will be affected by the work of God in the lives of their children. We really desire this to be an outreach to the families in the area.

God bless!

UPDATE: After our first night has been completed... I believe this night was a success. We had a pretty good group of kids (25-30, not quite sure yet on the exact number) and it just went really well. We were able to have a lot of fun and the kids were able to learn about God's Word. It was great. Thanks for your prayers!

Things that make you go, ugh...

Hey everyone, things are pretty crazy here in the Larson home. 3 out of 4 of us are sick, leaving only sweet little 3 almost 4 year old Ellie to take care of the rest of us. (Ok, not really, but Misty, Evan, and I are quite miserable today.

Be praying for us, the adoption process may speed up for us here. There are two families traveling to Vietnam in about a week that were either behind us in their schedule or dead even with us. Read Misty's blog for more information on that.

Also, Awana is going to be starting here next Wednesday (the 19th) and we were supposed to have our basic training on Saturday. Unfortunately, the guy who is doing the training is delayed on a work trip to Texas and won't be back in time. We are going to delay the training, but still have our kick-off parents night on schedule.

We've also finished up the book of Titus in Church a couple of weeks ago and are beginning to go through John. I think I'll wait to do Hebrews 11 until later. I'll still update with notes from Titus as we go along here though.

God bless,
Parson Larson

Beautiful Living: Older Men Part 2

As we continue in this study of "Beautiful Living" we see that the next characteristic the older men are to have is that they should be worthy of respect. The King James Version words this as "grave", but in today's wording "grave" just doesn't quite have the same meaning that it should. Remember this is written from the perspective of a 26 year old. The Greek word is "semnos" which could be translated as honorable.

Paul is saying here that the older men should live lives that are honorable, or as the NIV puts it, "worthy of respect".

This is something that all of us, not just the older men although they are the focus of this particular verse, should strive for in our lives. As we age there is more reason for respect. There is a lifetime of experience that gives wisdom. (As long as you learn from your experience.) It's very sad that in our society the elderly have become ridiculed rather than respected. Younger people often have little to no respect for their elders, including me at my rather ripe old age of 26. (Just kidding... sort of.) That lack of respect causes them to miss out on so many of the lessons and relationships that are just waiting to be taken advantage of.

The challenge is this: are you living a life that is honorable? Is your life worthy of respect? We should live our lives in such a way that causes others to respect us. Make good decisions, use your experience to teach others, and avoid the troubles that you know are out there.

I think of many men in my past that I can say have lived honorable lives. These men have been used by God to change who I am from who I could have been. For that, I am grateful.

The Boss!

Just a quick thought from our Village Missions conference this last week. It was a great time of encouragement and refreshing. It is truly one of the best things that Village Missions can do to help the churches they serve. If their pastor is discouraged and worn out, he won't do any good where he serves. Thank you, Village Missions!

Brian Wechsler, the director of Village Missions, was there and gave me a bit of a panic. He said, "I've been reading your blog." My response, "Oh, uh..." My thoughts, "What have I been writing? Am I in trouble? What now? What do I say? Uhhh..." :-) Well, sir, I hope you enjoy what I write. Thanks for your message this past Thursday night. It was an encouragement to me.

God bless,
Parson Larson

Beautiful Living: Older Men -Part 1

The first group Paul focuses on in this passage is the older men. He commands them first of all to be temperate. What does this mean? Two different meanings came up as I studied this, moderation and vigilance.



Moderation:

This would be the idea of keeping things in balance in your life and not allowing yourself to do something excessively. Too much of even a good thing can be bad. So, we see that we must be moderate. This includes food, drink, and other activities, or even mindsets.



Far too often we go to extremes and don't have balance in our lives. I like video games... a lot. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but when it becomes the only thing I think about during the day, then there is trouble and the rest of my life starts to suffer. The key is to be moderate and keep it in balance.

Vigilance:

Combines the thoughts of being watchful and endurance. One dictionary describes this as "being sleeplessly watchful". I like this because of a sense of protection from older Christian men. This is important because of the life experiences that these men have. They have experienced many of the things that those who are younger (including myself and my mere 26 years of experience) are going through now.

These are two things that we all should strive for in our lives, moderation and vigilance.


Keep reading Titus, and I'll be back later with some more thoughts. Please leave comments and let me know your thoughts!

Beautiful Living: Old Men

When I was growing up, my parents had two pictures hanging up in the kitchen. To me, these are great examples of, as my last post described, beautiful living. In one picture, there is an old man with a gray beard praying over a table of food. In the other, an older woman who is apparently the wife of the man, praying over her meal. A brief glimpse into the lives of these two individuals... In my own mind I imagine their lives. I can see both joy and pain, hope and sorrow, laughter and tears. The gnarled hands of the old man show the work he has done his entire life. At this meal you see their priorities and their love. In prayer they show their thankfulness to the Creator for the blessings He has provided. There is love, gentleness and hope in their lives. Truly, beautiful lives.

In the next posts I will discuss what Paul commanded Titus to tell the people of Crete, specifically the older men and women.

For those who interested in reading ahead, read Titus 2:1-10.

Thoughts, Ponderings, and Ideas... (almost sounds deep, huh?)

I wanted to give an update on what we've been doing in church for the past few weeks. As I've posted previously, we're studying through the book of Titus. As I was studying for a sermon on the first part of chapter 2, I came across something at the end of verse 10 that really stuck in my mind. Up to this point Paul is telling Titus about how the people of Crete should be living. Then at the end of verse 10, right after talking about the lives of servants and slaves he says, "so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive."

This phrase really got me to thinking about one of the reasons we should be living out the commands given to us in the Bible. Our lives are testimony to the world about Christ. The way we live should make the teaching about God our Savior attractive to the world.

Can we say this about our own lives? Do our lives cause unbelievers to say, "I want a life like that. What makes them different?" My father-in-law recently had an experience like this while stationed in Kyrgyzstan. Some soldiers noticed the difference between his life and the life of another person who does not live a Christian life. These soldiers have now been asking my father-in-law about Christ and His grace.

The question we should be asking ourselves then, is this, "Am I living an attractive life?" The way I have posed this question at church the past two sermons has been, "Is your life beautiful?" So... is it?

More to come on this topic later.
God bless,
Parson Larson

Long time, no writing...

Sorry about not updating this blog more often! Things are going really well here in KS and as an excuse about why I haven't written read this: http://mistyandtyler.blogspot.com/2007/05/our-son.html

We've been a little busy with the adoption, with Ellie and Evan, with weddings (1 down, 2 to go), and just life. However, I should update more. We'll see if I can stick with it. :-)

As far as church is going, we've had ups and downs. We recently had a couple resign from their positions on the board. We kind of saw this one coming, but were doing what we could to avoid that. However, all things are in God's hands, we just may not like them.

For ups, well... we have started a new sermon series in the book of Titus which is a really interesting study. I'm getting a lot out of it. The frustrating thing is that only about 75% of what I end up studying gets into my sermon. I'd be preaching 2+ hour sermons if I put it all in there.

We also are starting an AWANA program. Village Missions and AWANA are starting a pilot program to get rural churches active in youth ministries and Misty and I will be heading to Chicago in August for a conference on this. I must admit that I'm excited about the flight more than the conference at this point, but that's mainly because Misty and I haven't had the chance to fly together yet. She also has relatives near Chicago, so we might try and get together with them for supper some night if we have the time.

Please continue to pray for us and for the church as we continue in our ministry here. There have been several health problems among people in the church (all of them are doing fine now), for the couple that has resigned their positions, and for the AWANA program. We need to have enough leaders for all of the kids in the area that are likely to come!

God bless,
Tyler

Life In General

Hey, people do read... and comment. Well, at least three of you.

Ok, enough of my more than slightly odd sense of humor for the day. (Thanks to Rob Jordon for the pic.) We are home from Michigan as of 9:00 last night. After that I'm home for a month, then I'm back to Michigan for another friends wedding. Home for a month, and then we're off to Colorado for our Village Missions conference! A month after that, we are going to a conference in Chicago with Village Missions and Awana. (Which is right after a likely trip to Nebraska for the wedding of another friend.)

Wow. I'm out of breath from just typing this... Ok, not really.

We have finished Judges here in Kansas. Off to the wonderful book of Titus, and then after that we'll do a series through Hebrews 11's "Hall of Faith". We're continuing to work on our doctrine study on Sunday nights, and after that... I'm not sure. I have a couple of ideas that I'm thinking about doing, but I'm unsure as to what we will do.

Thank you to all of our friends and family who are supporting us as we work in rural (very rural) Kansas. We love it here and are excited to see what God is doing. Look for a prayer letter coming to a mailbox near you soon!

God bless,

Parson Larson (this name is even engraved on a pocketwatch now. Thanks, Phil and Jen. Congrats!)