Back to Mexico!

Hello everyone!

It's been about three weeks since my last update - I'm sorry! I said I would do better but it's been hectic! However, I did want to do just a QUICK update about our upcoming mission trip to Mexico!

Lori and I, along with our daughter Joy, will be headed to Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. We will be joining Joel and Angel Dyke, and their daughters for the 20 year celebration of the founding of the Agua Viva church in Coatza!


On August 8, 1988 (8/8/88) the Dykes and the Martins moved from Matías Romero, Oaxaca, where we had been working with various indigenous tribes, establishing churches and training leaders. We moved to Coatza to begin a new type of work, one in which we would not use "religious" terminology - we were being very intentional about trying to establish a fellowship of believers whose sole purpose was to know and follow the teachings of the historical Jesus.

God granted us much success! We were only there a few weeks when we started our first Bible study, then Sunday morning meetings in our living room. In October we rented a building to begin having services in - we held our Grand Opening services with just a handful but soon the 75-seat building was at capacity. We rented the house next door for children's services to free up more room for adults.

Soon we had to rent another building, which would seat a couple of hundred. Over time Agua Viva rented another, larger facility and then bought their own property and began having services in a theater. Lori and I had returned by this time but we were blessed to get to visit them from time to time. Joel visited more frequently and kept me in the loop on the progress.

Now they have purchased several acres outside of town and have built a large building that will seat several hundred - and they don't owe anything on it! In addition, they have started 3 other urban churches in nearby cities and continue to provide oversight to the rural churches that we began in Oaxaca.

It's a great honor to be invited to join Joel and Angel for the 20 year anniversary of the founding of Agua Viva Coatza. We fly from Houston on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. Here is our schedule:

• Saturday - Meetings with leaders
• Sunday - All day celebration in Coatza
• Monday - Travel to Zacatal for celebration with the rural churches of Oaxaca
• Tuesday - Minister at Agua Viva Acayucan
• Wednesday - Minister at La Casa del Alfarero, Agua Dulce
  
• Thursday - Minsiter at Agua Viva, Las Choapas
• Friday - Return to the States

We definitely covet your prayers. While this is a tremendous honor to be a part of this and to see the remaining fruit of our ministry, it will also be somewhat grueling with a good bit of travel. I'll do my best to update you on our activities through this blog as I have access to the Internet.

BTW, if you're interested, below is the presentation I made at Christian Challenge this past Sunday, sharing some pictures of our time in Mexico, to help everyone understand what our life was like when we were missionaries:



Please keep us in your prayers. I look forward to updating you!

Blessings,
Nathan

Barack Obama is My President

Hello friends,

Like many of you I stayed up to watch the election returns. And it appears that in the future no one is going to want my support since NO ONE I supported ended up winning!

I'm sitting here listening to President-elect Barack Obama give his victory speech, having listened to John McCain give a gracious concession speech. My cousin who lives in DC just texted me that the people are taking to the streets to celebrate. I'm also receiving text messages of concern from people who fear this selection, not because of Obama's race but because of the platform of the Democratic party.

I must admit to mixed emotions. On the one hand, Obama has a tremendous ability to inspire. He is a very charismatic figure and a captivating speaker. I have been inspired by some of the things he has said. And I'm grateful that a whole new generation was motivated enough get involved in a process they usually feel doesn't have a place for them. I think it speaks well for our country to that we did not make a choice based solely on the color of his skin. That encourages me.

I remain seriously concerned about the planks in the Democratic Party platform that oppose the values and morals of a world-view that is based in Biblical teachings. Will life be cherished? Will the sanctity of marriage be upheld? Will secular humanism be the promoted religion of our land? These are questions and concerns that only time will reveal the answer.

So, I do have mixed emotions. I want to join the crowd saying with confidence, "Yes we can." I want someone to speak up for the down-trodden, the oppressed, the poor and hopeless. And at the same time I worry about the values that will now be promoted by the new powers that be. Values that are 180 degrees opposite from the values I have tried to teach my children and exemplify to those the Lord has trusted to my care as a pastor.

But when it's all said and done, we didn't select Barack Obama for our President, the Lord did. Romans 13 begins this way:

Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. (Romans 13:1 NIV)

So Barack Obama is my president, put in that office, not by voters, but by God Himself! And I must follow the biblical command to pray for him and for all who are in authority:

I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:1-4 NIV)

I urge everyone who reads this to join with me in praying for President-Elect Barack Obama and all those who were elected today, whether you supported them or not. And remember, God is in control. He made this choice. He has a plan that He is working after the counsel of His own will. And He is GOOD. I can trust Him that He has a plan and a place for me in it. I can trust Him as I pray for the ones He selected to be our leaders. My confidence is that my life is in His hands. So I can go to sleep tonight and sleep well, not worried or bothered, but assured that God is in control.

So I pray for my president, Barack Obama. He has a huge job on his hands. He will need all the help he can get. Will you join with me in praying for him?

Blessings,
Nathan

Election Recommendations

Hello friends,

Well, once again I've slipped into the bad habit of not posting on a regular basis. For that, I apologize. Nevertheless, I'm back and hopefully this post will at least spark some thinking, if not dialogue!

I've been asked by several friends and family members for my recommendations during this year's election cycle. I have become increasingly reluctant to offer my recommendations because each person's vote is sacred and something they should exercise with the utmost of care. However, I also recognize that my interest in politics causes me to take more of an interest and perhaps be somewhat more informed on some issues. I definitely don't claim to be an expert, but with the greatest of humility I offer my recommendations on some of the upcoming choices you'll face in the voting booth tomorrow.

Before I do so, let me recommend that you go to the following website - http://www400.sos.louisiana.gov/cgibin/?rqstyp=BLTINQ&rqsdta=start - select your parish and voting precinct, and you will be presented with a sample ballot that you will vote on when you go vote. If you don't know your precinct number, there is a link to another site that will tell you your voting precinct after you input your address - https://pollinglocator.sos.louisiana.gov/ - that's a helpful tool. OK, without further ado, here goes:

President: John McCain/Sarah Palin
While Barack Obama is an attractive candidate in many respects, his positions on abortion, embryonic stem-cell research, human cloning and other moral issues, such as same-sex marriage, are simply incompatible with my core, basic beliefs.

U.S. Senator: John Kennedy
For the same reasons as above. Mary Landrieu has been an effective Senator. But her opposition to my core beliefs keep me from supporting her.

Judge, Court of Appeal: Triston Knoll
I supported Loren Lampert in the primary because I know him to be a man of integrity and values. I don't personally know either of the other two candidates, but people I respect who do strongly support Knoll. From what I've read of their backgrounds, I believe he is the better choice.

District Judge: Rocky Willson
Again I find myself in the position of having voted for another candidate in the primary, Greg Beard. I have met both of the remaining candidates in the runoff and they are both fine people. However, I have more personal experience with Rocky and know him to be genuine. His experience in many areas of the law will serve us all well.

And now for the seven constitutional amendments. Let me preface my recommendations by commenting that our constitution is the most amended of all the states. We seem to have to keep "fixing" it. We are continually providing additional amendments to protect things from political shenanigans, which is less than laudable. However, my complaining about it won't change anything, so here go my recommendations, with a brief explanation:

Amendment No. 1 - FOR
Establishes term limits for members of certain state boards and commissions. The fresh intake of ideas is often healthy. The downside is that term-limited boards often become "staff driven" because it always takes awhile for new members to "learn the ropes." However, I feel fresh ideas are always needed, so I support this amendment.

Amendment No. 2 - FOR
Requires two additional days of notice (7 instead of 5) before calling a special legislative session. In addition this actually defines the word "day" for those legislators who aren't sure what the word means. We shouldn't need this amendment - but there are LOTS of laws we shouldn't need, so maybe this one will help.

Amendment No. 3 - AGAINST
Allow a temporary successor to be appointed for legislators called to active military duty. This only affects one current legislator - not sure why we need to amend our constitution for one person. This also raises the question of accountability - basically a person not elected would be making laws, but would not be held accountable during reelection. Bad idea, in my opinion.

Amendment No. 4 - FOR
Redistributes state severance tax revenue, giving more to the parishes. I'm all for more local control of spending. Too often "unfunded mandates" get sent down where the local governments have to enforce laws, but aren't given the resources to do so. This would put a few more resources in the hands of the local governments, which hopefully will know better how to use them than someone sitting in an office in Baton Rouge.

Amendment No. 5 - FOR
Allow the transfer of the special property tax assessment level for homeowners over 65 if their property is expropriated. Senior citizens have the option of "freezing" their property tax assessments because of their typically fixed incomes. If the government expropriates their property for public use and they have to move, this would allow them to keep their frozen tax assessment on their new dwelling. Sounds fair enough.

Amendment No. 6 - AGAINST
Changes the requirements for public bodies to re-sell expropriated property. We have a big problem with abandoned properties ending up with tax liens on them higher than the value of the property. This allows a local government to sieze "blighted" properties that are a threat to public health and safety and place them back into use by selling it through a public bid process. This is especially helpful for communities devestated by hurricanes and many of the properties have simply been abandoned. However, this also diminishes the rights of property owners and could be abused. Even though I am a city councilman and understand the need of municipalities to have a way to put adjudicated properties back into use, I recommend voting against this amendment simply on the basis of protecting the rights of property owners.

Amendment No. 7 - FOR
Authorize certain post-retirement benefit funds to be invested in stocks. This is a pretty technical amendment because it deals mainly with accounting standards and their impact on pension funds. The new accounting standards (known as GASB-45) create enormous burdens on governments to comply without claiming huge unfunded liabilities on their balance sheets. This amendment would allow the creation of trusts that can grow at a fast pace on the stock market, to keep up with the pension funds obligations. Otherwise many local governments may choose to discontinue benefits altogether rather than violate obscure accounting standards. It's more complicated than that, but since most IRAs, 401ks, etc are vested in the stock market, this would make public pensions more competitive and would comply with the law.

If you're interested in a more in-depth explanation of each of the amendments, check out the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana's online guide at: http://www.la-par.org/Publications/PDF/ConstAmends2008.pdf - it's very comprehensive and presents the information in a non-partisan way.

I hope this information is helpful. I'm certainly not the expert on any of this. I encourage you to do your own research and come to your own conclusions. We can even disagree agreeably! Just don't forget to excersize your sacred right (and duty) to vote! Too many have shed blood to give us this right and too many other countries envy us this right for us to take it for granted. See you on the other side!

Blessings,
Nathan

I Didn't Get Selected :( - But not all was lost!

Hello friends,

Well, the bad news (for me) is that after sitting in the court room all day, I *didn't* get selected to serve on the Jury. They seated a jury of 13 (12 plus 1 alternate) before my name was ever called. I had to sit there through the process, which oddly enough, I really enjoyed! Since I had never been called for Jury Duty before I didn't know what to expect. It was definitely an eye-opening experience. I thought you might enjoy me walking you through steps.

The night before you're supposed to go you call a phone number to get your instructions. I was told to report to Courtroom 3 on the 4th floor by 9:00AM. I got there a little early and mingled with some of the others. I had brought some reading material along, just in case. (Later we were told reading material wasn't allowed, but I think that's during the trial itself, not necessarily during jury selection - although I'm open to correction on that.)

Around 9:00 two bailiffs began taking roll. They had everyone's name and address individually on a slip of paper. If you were present when they called your name your slip was put into a box that they would later randomly draw names from. People who drove more than 10 miles were told to tell them how far they had driven, as they would be reimbursed for mileage. If there were any address corrections, you simply informed the bailiff. Some people had changed their name since they had registered to vote (marriage, divorce, etc) - they were instructed to inform the judge of this in the event they were selected.

Finally the roll call was finished and the box had about 40 names in it from the people who had shown up. (I don't know what happened to the people who didn't show up - maybe nothing?) We waited a little longer and the attorneys for the two sides trickled in and then we were instructed to "all rise" as the the judge came in.

After we settled back in he began by thanking us all for coming and shared how serving on a jury is one of the responsibilities of citizenship that is a bedrock of our democracy. He shared briefly what would be expected of us, if we were selected, and confirmed that this was a civil trial, not a criminal trial. (Apparently being on a criminal jury is more difficult for some people.) At some point during this process he had us all stand, hold up our right hand and swear (or affirm) that we would answer any questions truthfully if our names were drawn as potential jurors. (More on that in a minute.)

Before the jury selection process began he asked if anyone felt like they should be excused from serving. A few people made their way up to the front and spoke with him individually. A couple of people were excused, but most came back to their seats, obviously not having convinced him of the legitimacy of their excuse!

Then the selection began. Slowly 14 names were pulled from the box and announced, calling the individuals to go sit in the jury box. After they were all seated the group was called up once again to swear, or affirm, that they would answer truthfully. The the judge began asking each individual a series of questions, some longer than others depending on their answers. This took a long time as each person was asked the following:

• What is your full name?
  
• What do you do for a living? How long have you done that? Who is your employer?
  
• Before that what did you do? And for how long?
  
• Are you married? Who are you married to? What does he/she do?
  
• Do you have any children? What are their ages?
  
• Ever served as a juror before? What type of jury was it? Did you have to make a decision in that case? Did the jury decide for the defendant or plaintiff? Did your experience in that trial affect your ability to render a fair verdict in this case?
  
• Have you ever been involved in a lawsuit? What type of lawsuit? Was it litigated to a judgment? Would your experience affect your ability to determine the facts of this case and offer a fair finding of fact?
  
• Is there any reason you could not or should not serve as a jurror?
  

Obviously it took a LONG time to go through 14 people, asking them individually these questions. Then each of the attorneys got up in turn, briefly stated their summary of the case and proceeded to ask follow-up questions of the potential jurors, obviously trying to determine the kind of juror the person would be, and if they would have a leaning towards their side of the case. As the people answered you could sort of get a feel for if an attorney "liked" that juror or not. In my mind I figured at least three of the potential jurors would not be selected.

After each lawyer had asked their questions the judge called a brief recess to meet with the attorneys in his chambers. After about 10 minutes they all returned and the judge began with the first person, telling them they were either accepted or dismissed. Of the 14 potential jurors, 8 were accepted and 6 were dismissed, including the 3 I thought wouldn't make the cut, for whatever reason.

By then it was close to noon so they drew 14 more names and then told everyone to break for lunch and come back at 1:15. When we met back we were told they needed 6 more jurors from the next 14. (Apparently during lunch one of the attorneys had used his discretion to dismiss another of the previously accepted jurors.) So we started the process all over again - the individual questions from the judge and then each attorney. By this time, I knew a lot more about the lives of 27 strangers and 1 acquaintance than I ever imagined!

Finally the questioning ended, the judge and attorneys recessed to chambers and when they came back the judge began going down his list. Again I had correctly predicted who would be dismissed and they made it all the way to number 11 when they decided they had gotten the additional 6 they needed. The judge then thanked the rest of us and told us we were all dismissed and were free to leave. The bailiffs stamped the parking garage permits for those who needed it and we began filing out, most happy to be free - except for me! I never even got my name drawn to be considered! But I enjoyed the process.

The day was not a complete waste, though, because it was the first day of "early voting" and I decided to excercise my other "sacred duty" and vote. I had pretty much made up my mind who I was going to vote for and had previously glanced at the 7 constitutional amendments so I was somewhat familiar with them. I used my trusty Treo 700p to go on the Internet to PAR's website to read their synopsis of the amendments and marched into the voter's registration office. Earlier the line had stretched way down the hall, snaking back on itself, but by now there were only a few people in line in front of me. The ladies working there told me over 800 people had voted so far that day, which indicates a pretty heavy turnout! After I voted, I proudly put on the "I Voted 2008 Presidential Election" sticker they were giving out, which I later attached to my Jury Duty summons as a momento of the day I participated in TWO of the most important responsibilities of any citizen - jury duty and voting!

Hopefully this synopsis of the jury selection process will help someone else who gets one of those lovely notices in the mail. It's not a scary thing - and it's a wonderful opportunity for you to serve your country. It's important for the continuation of our freedoms. So don't forget to vote, even vote early (but not often! [G]) and when called upon to serve as a juror, do so with a sense of pride and patriotism. Not many nations enjoy the freedoms we have, that are continued by our participation in these important institutions. Until next time!

Blessings,

Nathan

Jury Duty!!!

Hello friends!

Do you see the green card? A lot of folks don't like receiving them because of the message contained therein:

"You have been selected to serve as a Civil juror by the Rapides Parish Jury Commission. You are summoned to appear at the Rapides Parish Courthouse, Alexandria, LA, on the date and time indicated on the reverse side. FAIL NOT UNDER PENALTY OF LAW"

Now a lot of folks don't like this green card because it means your life is about to be disrupted. But I guess I'm odd. (You didn't need this blog post to tell you that, now did you?!) I super excited about jury duty!

Ever since my high school civics class I've been fascinated by government. And believe it or not, I've longed for the opportunity to participate on a jury! To me it's one of the bedrocks of our free society, ranking right up there with the sacred right to vote.

Two weeks from today we have the opportunity to help shape the future of our nation. And today I'm sitting in the courtroom, hoping my name gets called. It's a small price to pay to live in a country of such freedom and opportunity!

See you on the other side!
Nathan

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Sent from my Treo(r) smartphone

I'm a GREAT uncle!!!

It's true! I'm a "great" uncle (no matter what my nieces and nephews may think) because my niece, Wesley, just had a beautiful daughter, Cadence Amery Lamoureux at 8:53 last night! She was 7 lbs 12 ounces and measured 20 1/2" - definitely a "keeper"! She's already ruling the roost, being waited on hand and foot, as true royalty should be treated! Congratulations Wesley and George! Welcome, little lady, to a loving family. And thanks for making me "great!" :-)

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Posted from my Treo(r) 700p smartphone

Joy's Home!!!

Hello friends!

After three months, my daughter Joy has returned from Mexico! At the end of our July missions trip to the Benito Juarez orphanage in Reynosa, Mexico, we left Joy to serve as an intern at the children's home for three months. While we've had ongoing contact with her via phone calls, text messages, etc, we haven't seen her since July. After three months Mark Russell, the orphanage director, brought her to McAllen, TX where Lori's dad lives and he put her on a non-stop bus to Houston where we picked her up. It was great to see her. On the way home I asked her where she wanted to eat and the answer was easy for her - Johnny Carino's! So we stopped on the way home and had a nice supper. 

I'm really proud of Joy. She graduated from high school in May and has plans to go to beauty school soon. But in the meantime she wanted to spend some time as an intern at the orphanage. She feels a real connection to Mexico since she was born there in 1990 when Lori and I were missionaries. She has dual-citizenship - two birth certificates, one from Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz and one from the US Embassy in Mexico city. She has a US passport and next week we'll go to the Mexican Consulate in New Orleans to get her Mexican passport reissued since her old one expired. She has all the rights of a citizen in two countries - that's pretty cool! (I could preach a sermon about how our citizenship is in heaven while we live on earth, but I'll save the sermons for Sunday mornings! [G])

By the way, on our way home from Houston I stopped for gas in Baytown, TX because I saw gas prices so low I couldn't believe my eyes. I just had to take a picture - look there on the left - yes, that $2.97 for a gallon of regular unleaded gas! We paid $3.59 earlier the same morning when we filled up before going to Houston. Hard to believe a price difference of 62 cents in one day! Of course, what's even more amazing is that I'm excited about paying $2.97 for a gallon of gas - a year or two ago I would have thought that was high-way robbery! Maybe that's the game they play - shoot it up real high, get us mad but used to it, then bring it back down a little bit and we'll be happy to pay 50% more than we were paying not that long ago. Argh!!!

OK, back to my pleasant thoughts about Joy being home! I want to invite our friends and family to a little "welcome home" celebration this Thursday, October 9, at 6:00PM at Christian Challenge. We'll have some light refreshments and just a time of visiting. This isn't a formal setting, just "come and go" - so drop by to say hi to Joy on your way home from work. She'll be glad to see you! (And for our Christian Challenge family, don't forget our Christmas parade planning meeting at 7:00PM Thursday!) I look forward to seeing you guys! And, boy howdy, am I glad to have Joy in my house again!!! [GRIN]

Blessings,

Nathan