BONIFACIO GLOBAL CITY, PHILIPPINES. Woke up early this morning. Jet lag makes me feel real spiritual, for a few days anyway. I watched the sunrise. Beautiful sight from my 16th floor apartment. Once the jet lag wears off I won’t see the sunrise anymore. I’m not really a morning person.

While sipping hot Earl Grey tea and reading my Bible in what used to be my son’s bedroom, Deborah walked in, hugged me, pointed to the clock, and said, “It’s 6:18, April 5th. William was born 27 years ago. Remember fighting in Makati Med over who would hold him.”

I remember like it was yesterday. One of our best fights ever.

Twenty-seven years ago. Wow! (Technically it is still the 4th where he is in Nashville, but since he was born here, we are already celebrating.)

I serendipitously ran into one of William’s t-ball coaches yesterday. Hadn’t seen him in years. We chatted briefly about our sons. My mind was flooded with good memories the rest of the day.

Twenty-seven years ago. Really?

Every parent knows that the birth of the first child marks the end of life as we know it. Marriage changed my life, but the birth of our first child ended the life I lived up to that moment, and gave me a new one. A better one. A life filled with adventure. And joy. And a lot of other stuff.

William was born 5 weeks after a revolution, the EDSA Revolution (aka the original People Power revolution) that ousted President Marcos. The third week of February 1986, it seemed that all Americans, except us, were fleeing the Philippines. We stayed because there was no way they would allow a passenger as pregnant as Deborah on a plane. And, we had no money to purchase a ticket anyway.

Those were exciting times to be in Manila. Hard to believe that one of the key players in the revolution, Senator Gringo Honasan, is now a friend who is growing in his walk with the Lord.

Twenty-seven years. Can William really be that old?

Looking back, there is one decision Deborah and I made that we will never regret. There are certainly plenty to regret, but we got the big one right. Here is it: We decided that family would be first. Not ministry. Family. We decided that we would do family and ministry in a way that our kids would know that they are more important to us than ministry. Not sure where we got an idea like that, but I am glad we did.

If you are starting out in ministry and have a young family, I hope you will make the same decision we made twenty-seven years ago. I hope your kids grow up knowing that they are more important than your ministry.

Twenty-seven years ago. Happy birthday, William Stephen Murrell, jr.

Here are a couple of family/ministry blogs from deep in the archives.

The Problem with Preacher’s Kids

Is It Possible to Balance Family and Ministry?

Green rivers, green beer, and goofy green hats, is that all there is to St Patrick’s Day, or is there more?

Fifteen hundred years ago Ireland was an idol-worshiping, slave-trading nation of savage pagans. In just one generation Ireland was transformed into a godly nation known for its scholars and missionaries. In his best-selling book, How the Irish Saved Civilization, Thomas Cahill writes that this national transformation was primarily the work of one man—Patrick.

When Patrick was a teenager in Britain, he was captured by pirates and forced into slavery in Ireland. During this time he had a life-changing encounter with the Lord.

After six years of cruel slavery, he escaped and returned home, but he soon received a divine call to return to minister to those who had enslaved him. In a vision, he heard one of his captors say, “We beg you, holy youth, that you shall come and walk again among us.” Can you imagine being called to minister the love of Jesus to the very people who had enslaved you for six years? Patrick responded to that vision and returned to Ireland to preach the gospel.

Shouldn’t disciples make a positive impact on their communities? Is it actually possible to disciple a nation?

During his 30 years of missionary work in Ireland, Patrick helped establish more than 700 churches and schools and trained more than 3000 ministers, many of whom went as missionaries to Scotland, England, France, Switzerland, Germany, and Italy. Patrick’s schools became some of the most important learning institutions in Europe during the Middle Ages, but his ministry went beyond just church work. He also helped transform government and reform laws that brought the end of slavery in Ireland.

The real St Patrick did more than wear green hats, drink green beer, and sponsor parades. So, instead of merely wearing green, why not celebrate St Patrick’s Day the way Patrick would, by MAKING DISCIPLES?

Happy St Patrick’s Day.

Exerted and edited from WikiChurch.

Last night I had the privilege of introducing my good friend, Rice Broocks at the official God’s Not Dead book launch.

After reading 1 Peter3:15, I thanked Rice for living the 4 R’s and for writing a book that will help prepare the evangelistically challenged among us to live the 4 R’s.

What are these 4 R’s I speak of?

“But in your hearts REVERE Christ as Lord. Always be prepared (READY) to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the REASON for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and RESPECT” (1 Peter 3:15)

1. REVERE. The starting point of evangelism is to have our own hearts right with God, in other words, to revere Christ as Lord.

2. READY. Once we get our hearts right, then we need to get our heads right. We need to be prepared. Trained. Equipped.

3. REASON. To get our heads right and ready, we need to understand the reasons for our hope. The God’s Not Dead subtitle explains the contents of the book: “Evidence for God in an Age of Uncertainty.” The 10 chapters explain 10 reasons a rational person should believe in God.

4. RESPECT. A right heart and a right head should result in treating people with respect as we engage them with the gospel.

Heartfelt thanks to Rice Broocks for providing such a great equipping tool.

To purchase your copy of God’s Not Dead, click HERE.

HELPING OTHERS NEVER GOES OUT OF STYLE. That’s the motto of the Real Life Foundation, and that’s the battle cry of the Real Life staff and volunteers.

Over a decade ago, Victory pastor Dr Joey Castro, quietly paid the tuition of numerous poor Filipinos students so they could stay in school and stay off the streets. Doc Joey had walked away from his medical career to plant a Victory congregation among disadvantaged Filipinos. The fact that he did not have deep pockets did not stop him from paying tuition out of his own pocket.

In time, Doc Joey’s lifestyle of generosity became the Real Life Foundation,  a Christian non-profit NGO that is passionate about “transforming lives, families, and communities through hope and education.” The primary Real Life programs include Life Scholarships, Life Coaching, and Life Line. For info about helping a Real Life Scholar, click here.

Several years ago Doc Joey and his family moved to a restricted nation to serve as cross-cultural church-planters. Since then Real Life has expanded its programs under the leadership of executive director, Lynn Nawata, who has mobilized an amazing team of volunteers and staff. For me, serving on the Real Life board is a one of life’s great privileges.

One of the highlights of every year is the Race For Life that helps fund scholarships for disadvantaged but deserving Filipino students. Here’s a video summary of our recent Fun Run that included 6000 runners and walkers.

TAIPEI, TAIWAN. After five days of ministry, today Deborah and I became tourists, and as tourists we were surprised by a profound discipleship lesson from the famous Jade Cabbage. No, the Jade Cabbage is not a character from Kung Fu Panda. It is the most famous piece of carved jade in the history of jade carving.

Here’s how our Jade Cabbage encounter came to be. We were told that if we want to see the architecture of ancient China, then we should visit the Forbidden City in Mainland China. But if we want to see the art and treasures of ancient China, then we should visit the National Palace Museum in Taipei. Since we are in Taipei, we chose the art and treasure tour.

Oddly enough, the National Palace Museum in Taipei is the national museum of the Republic of China (Mainland China). It houses over 650,000 pieces of ancient Chinese art and artifacts covering over 8000 years of Chinese history.

We were surprised and somewhat puzzled to discover that the most revered artifact in the whole museum was the famous Jade Cabbage. A close second is the Jade Pork. The Chinese do love their food.

Compared to all the amazing artifacts, I could not understand the fascination with a piece of jade carved to look like a cabbage. I had to ask. Here’s the story.

The piece of jade chosen by the artist was a second class grade of jade with many visible imperfections. Despite the numerous flaws, the artist saw the potential and started carving what would become a famous and priceless stone vegetable.

I’m still not sure why thousands line up to view the Jade Cabbage, but an important discipleship lesson was reinforced. Even if we are working with people who have visible flaws, discipleship always focuses on the potential, not on the problems. The discipleship process helps carve away the imperfections so the human version of the Jade Cabbage can emerge, for the honor of God.

I’m sitting in he Dubai airport on my way from Cairo to Manila. A three hour and forty-five minute layover to reflect on my first trip to Egypt. Here are the top 10 thoughts bouncing around my exhausted mind.

1. THE POWER OF KINDNESS. While boarding our Dubai to Cairo flight, Pastor Shaddy Solomon and I were behind a burka-covered woman who was struggling to herd three small children onto the plane while dragging four oversized carry-ons. As Shaddy helped her with her heavy bags she said, “you must be a Christian.” The obvious implication was that no man from her religion would lift a finger to help a woman. The kindness of God leads people to repentance (Romans 4:2). I hope we do a better job of demonstrating his kindness to our “cousins” in the Middle East.

2. THE PAIN OF POVERTY. I hate to admit it, but I think I have gotten used to the poverty in Manila. It doesn’t bother me like it did 25 years ago. Cairo takes poverty to a whole new level, and my eyes and heart were reopened to the brutal pain of poverty. I hope I never get over it. God’s word has so much to say about the poor. And most of it is about what we should do to help them.

3. THE PROSPERITY GOSPEL. Many prosperity preachers do more harm than good. Most Egyptian believers are poor in material goods but rich in faith, and there is much the wealthy West can learn from them.

4. SAUDI ARABIA FLAGS AT TAHRIR SQUARE. Difficult to understand how Egyptians can tolerate Saudi money meddling in their national politics. I can’t imagine foreign flags at a political rally in DC or Manila, but they are ubiquitous in Tahrir Square.

5. NO PRIVATE FAITH. Muslim men are not ashamed to publicly express their faith. They kneel and pray five times a day in offices, malls, restaurants, sidewalks and every other place you can imagine. They don’t do the personal private religion thing. All public. No shame. I wish Christian men would be so bold.

6. THE BEST BREAD IN THE WORLD! Man should not live on bread alone, but if he does, it should be fresh Egyptian bread.

7. A MOSQUE ON EVERY CORNER. Cairo has Mosques everywhere. And many were built with Saudi oil money. This fact reality tempts me to trade my wife’s gas-guzzling truck for a Prius. (I’ll keep my VW.)

8. CHRISTIAN SUPORT OF ISRAEL. Christians in the Middle East don’t understand the Western church’s blind support of the state of Israel, especially when Israel consistently persecutes Arabic-speaking Christians. I don’t understand it either.

9. CHURCH AND STATE. When the church becomes more political than prophetic it loses it’s voice.

10. THE POWER OF PRAYER. When Catholics, Coptics and Evangelicals pray together, something good is bound to happen. On our last night in Cairo, we attended a 2-hour prayer meeting at a Presbyterian church in Tahrir Square, along with 1500 believers from every church flavor in Egypt. This prayer meeting has been happening every Monday for over 10 years. All this prayer probably had something to do the original revolution, which seems to have been hijacked by the Muslim Brotherhood. But prayer is more powerful than protest and while thousands of Muslim Brotherhood supporters were outside protesting, 1500 believers were inside praying for their nation. Who do you think ultimately wins that battle?