Rob & Martine Karch

Funeral Recap

2008-10-03T13:37:00Z

Last Saturday I was invited to preside over the funeral of Martine's uncle. It was the thickest emotional preaching experience I have ever had. About 100 people crammed into a small chapel as I shared a few thoughts from the Bible and sang a couple of songs (with Martine's sister Julie). Even though I had been invited by the closest family members to speak (who do not consider themselves necessarily to be christians, and who have heard me speak before), the tension in the room was palpable...(read more)

Human Trafficking: Call and Response

2008-10-02T13:57:00Z

Possibly the biggest, most invisible atrocity in the world today. !!WARNING!! This deals with difficult subject matter and will disturb you. (Though provocative, we cannot keep our heads in the sand concerning a very real crisis taking place all around us!). I ran into this review over at Tall Skinny Kiwi : We enjoyed a special screening of Call and Response on Saturday night, at our special summit in Tahoe. Filmmaker Justin Dillion was there and talked about what he was thinking when he made this...(read more)

Martine's Uncle's Funeral Saturday

2008-09-25T16:29:00Z

We had spoken several times of Jesus and the cross. Consequently, in our conversations, he returned again and again to the image of Jesus removing the sin from his shoulders and placing it on his own; thereby allowing him to enter into God's presence sans terror, completely in peace. The change was remarkable. No sacraments. No added burdens. Just peace. During his extended hospital stay (as a result of terminal cancer), his terror and anguish over the prospect of dying had greatly intensified...(read more)

American Invasion

2008-09-22T12:40:00Z

Last week two couples from our missions organization ( WorldVenture ) came to see what was going on. Jim & Corinne Thorp (who spent many years in Brazil & Mozambique) are the new Directors of the Americas , Andy & Nancy Spohrer (who spent several years in Ireland) are East Regional Directors of the U.S. Once every couple of years they swing by here to check up on us (to make sure we aren't dealing drugs, etc.) They came to our Sunday morning service. Jim sang for us in Portuguese...(read more)

Would You Kill Him?

2008-09-18T15:31:00Z

While driving the other day, Caleb asked me a jolting question (translated from French): “Papa, if a bad man came and killed me, would you go and kill the bad man?” Huh? Wow. After recovering from my initial suprise, I thought to myself, “how do I communicate that 1) I will do anything to protect my son, and, at the same time, 2) turn the question toward God’s love and compassion for everyone… especially bad people. Okay, point #1 : “If a bad person ever tried to do anything to you, call me right...(read more)

Preparing to Preach in French

2008-09-16T00:39:00Z

Since preaching on a weekly basis in French, I've been discovering what it takes for me to feel ready to preach Sunday morning. In an ideal week, between small groups, college ministries and church planting meetings, this is what I do to prepare: Tuesday or Wednesday: Gather as much information as possible on the text (from personal reflection, commentaries, Strong's and Englishman's Concordances, etc.) Wednesday to Thursday: Let it soak, pray it through, begin to organize the text in...(read more)

Video: One of My first French Sermons

2008-09-10T12:22:00Z

This video is from a coffee night a little over a year ago. (I've since preached this same sermon Lord-willing, soon, all of our sermons will be available as video and audio for download soon. Le scandale de la grâce (The Scandale That is Grace) L'amour radicale pour ceux qui ne le meritent pas (Radical love for those who don't deserve it)...(read more)

Child Slavery in Haiti

2008-09-08T12:03:00Z

I found this over at the DesiringGod blog : -By John Piper "It is a good thing that people from all ideologies are talking about the horrors of human trafficking. Don’t let the “trendiness” of it dampen your indignation. If a liberal champions a good cause woe to conservatives who put their head in the sand. Doug Nichols has been on the cutting edge of caring for street children since before some of you were born. He is one of my heroes. As Founder of Action International , Doug draws my attention...(read more)

Life of a missionary... or whatever

2008-09-05T03:40:00Z

After a couple of weeks to refocus, spend time with the family, and time listening to God (not simply studying and producing); we’re back and at it. For those who wonder what I do with my time (all 3 of you), it always changes. But here are the past three days: TUESDAY : Coming back always means (groan) many meetings 6:15am: Jacob picks me up… so we can save gas and use precious minutes getting caught up. 7-9am: Meeting with Jacob and Matthieu (sort of an intern) to pray, encourage eachother, and...(read more)

Vacation

2008-08-18T20:27:00Z

A typical week is between 60-80 hours for me. I love it, and it can be tiring: 9-12 hours: various planning & accountability meetings (3-4 a week) 12-20 hours: sermon preparation 8-12 hours: small groups (3-5 a week) 4-10 hours: small group preparation 5-7 hours: Sunday morning (set up and tear-down included) 4-10 hours: calling on various people in and around the church 4-10 hours: administration/e-mails/prayer letters/phone calls/etc. 3-8 hours: evangelistic related activities 10+ hours: Other...(read more)

How to Give a Man-Hug

2008-08-04T12:20:00Z

For all those confused guys out there, this should clear things up....(read more)

really, no R-E-A-L-L-Y frustrated

2008-07-21T16:20:00Z

Our good friends Titus and Stephanie, working with street kids in Guayaquil , are living through some CRAZY and FRUSTRATING experiences in Ecuador. (And to think I can get upset when someone steals my parking spot). I'd encourage you to check out their blog here (http://tsfolden.blogspot.com/) I'd also encourage you to send them money here ... then pray ( Matt 6:21 ). Can you remember the last time you were REALLY frustrated? I mean, really, REALLY frustrated?? Join us in the following (condensed...(read more)

Jesus the revolutionary

2008-07-15T01:28:00Z

This Sunday's message: "Jesus the Revolutionary" -Did Jesus really make a difference? We will look at everything from human rights, to women's rights, to the abolition of slavery, to child-labor laws, to the most significant; our justification before a just God. You may remember this theme from "le Lounge". I decided to re-use part of my notes from that discussion, expand on them, and present them Sunday morning. It will be great to partake of the Lord's Supper together...(read more)

Meeting Jesus

2008-07-11T11:20:00Z

This Sunday will be a blast. Jean-Louis will share his testimony and be baptized. Many visitors have already confirmed their attendance. Noël, a hard-hitting, construction-worker-type evangelist will preach. Zac will lead us in singing. Here is the flyer for this Sunday's sermon. Again, we passed out about 3,000 of them in several different neighborhoods. Please pray!!! TRANSLATION: "A meeting... Is it possible to meet Jesus in 2008?"...(read more)

100+... but we cheated

2008-07-10T02:14:00Z

Last Sunday we had over 100 people in attendance, with several first-time visitors, and even a couple of regular families missing. We sang. Sam recounted how Christ radically transformed his life a couple of years ago. We looked at "The Secret Message of Jesus" (which is NOT a secret by the way). Then we ate and sang until 2pm. Here's the catch: we had about 15 visitors from our mother church (that's how we cheated). The majority were part of a percussion worship-group that led...(read more)