So here’s something new…

So my buddy Jay Shacklett…

He’s the College Counselor here at Crossroads Christian Academy and he also teaches Foundations of Personal Finance and Worldviews classes.  Seeing as how we share an office, we tend to talk a lot…and that’s a good thing…that is, right up until he makes a CRAZY suggestion!

We have great talks all the time…about education, of course, and theology and apologetics and cool stuff like that!  In fact, sometimes students might come in to talk with one of us about something, hear what’s going on, and think better of it and leave!  Hahahaha!  Just kidding, we would never ignore a student like that!

😉

Anyway, so I’ll make this fairly short…I get an email from Jay the other day, and inside it is a short argument about something HE THINKS that I should do…and a link…the link is below.

http://www.liberty.edu/online/doctoral/philosophy-theology-apologetics/

So I click on it, and I’m struck dead in the face with an online Ph.D. program from Liberty University in Theology and Apologetics.  We laugh a bit and of course Jay tries to talk me into it.  I find it so extremely amusing that I send the link to Allison…you know, sort of a “hahaha” kind of thing.  Well, she has the AUDACITY to merely shrug her shoulders and say, “Alright, I think you should do it!”  Can you believe that?  The one person who I figured would definitely talk me out of it is supportive.  Oh well…guess I can’t win.

Anyway, I’d need a gaggle of letters of recommendations, a short 300+ word essay on why I would want to pursue this and how I would commit to it, and a short 30 page writing sample in the Turabian format preferably on a topic regarding Theology and Apologetics…of course…

So, what do you guys think?  Should I bother talking to the University about it at all?  There is one requirement for admission that I don’t think I fulfill, but should that dissuade me from pursuing it?  Why indeed would I want to do this?  Why now-ish (…I say, “-ish,” because it likely would not start this August by the following since I’m taking on more responsibilities at CCA and Pepper will be starting his first year of college and I’d need time to put together a 30 page writing piece on some Theology and Apologetics topic, etc.)?

So, leave a comment!  What do you guys think about when you here the possibility of me pursuing a Ph.D. in Theology and Apologetics?

Thanks, y’all!

Soli Deo Gloria!

No Regrets

I’d like to tell you that I have no regrets…but I can’t.  I can tell you, however, that I have less regrets today than I had, say, 5 years ago or 10 years ago.  My thoughts on regrets have changed over time as my view of God’s sovereignty has climbed and climbed.  Let me explain briefly.

In the past, I could look backwards to previous events and previous decisions made and I would feel guilty for being so stupid, feel bad for doing what I did, and have regrets for whatever situation was upon me.  But things began to change the more I read the Bible because the more I read the Bible the more I began to understand that God was proactive and not reactive.

I used to think that I made my bed and so I had to sleep in it…and to some degree it is true as there are consequences for sin.  However, my thoughts have changed over time.  I began a relationship with God and began reading His Word.  I learned that “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).  Clearly, God must love me because I chose to love Him and He was reactionary in giving me love and in taking my stupid, sinful, corrupt, childish, idiotic actions and somehow re-working what I had done such that it was for my benefit and that I might learn from it and grow from it and become a better man and better Christian because of it.  (sorry for the long sentence)  But then I read Job.

In reading Job I learned that Satan and God talk to one another!  How crazy is that?  I thought they were these arch-nemeses like Superman and Lex Luthor who were always battling for the souls of mankind and sometimes the pendulum swung towards God and sometimes the pendulum swung towards Satan.  But then I read the Bible some more.

And after reading some more I learned that God created Satan.  I don’t recall Superman creating Lex Luthor.  How could a created thing be better than or even on par with the Creator?  Easy answer…it cannot!  So I was tossed into a theological and philosophical tailspin as I attempted to remove the reality of God from the comic book fantasy of it that I had formulated in my own imagination.  I began to see Satan, from reading Job, as being like every other created thing in that Satan can only do what God allows him to do.  Just go read the first chapter of Job right quick and and you’ll see what I mean.  You’ll see God’s hand of suppression doing the work of keeping sin down.  He doesn’t allow Satan to kill Job but He does allow Satan to perform his free will of nastiness upon Job, yes?  And Satan has a field day!  But keep reading through the whole book.  Job is da bomb!

So my thoughts on my own failures began to change.  My regrets seemed almost ridiculous as I noticed that I was regretting something that, in the end, made me a better man and a better Christian.  I began to see that God arranges things before they happen such that the experience that I learn, even in my failures, can bring me to the point where I am today.  I would be a different person today if it were not for the situations where I failed miserably in the past…or the situations where I succeeded in the past. The book of James tells us to “Consider it all joy…when you encounter various trials.”  Notice there ain’t no ifs ands or buts about it!  “When” you face various trials!  Christian, the trials are a comin’, you can be well assured of that!  And God knows exactly why.  I don’t know why.  And if you ask me why I’m going to tell you to ask God about it because all I can do is quote Romans 8:28 back to you and that’s not what you want to hear from me at that moment, right?!  I know it’s not what I want to hear!

But if our past failures and successes were driven by God to specifically mold us into the men and women we are today such that we can do a mighty work for the Lord and for the Kingdom, then should we regret them?  I don’t know.  Maybe some of them.  But I’m noticing that over the years my regrets have decreased and my thankfulness for my stupidness in the past has increased as I’m less of a spiritual dolt today because of my God-driven past.  Thank you, Lord, for putting me through the past so I can be useful in the present and I promise, Lord, that I won’t attempt to steal your glory!

And I promise you this…If you’re a Christian, and you’re going through some tough times, and you come to me for whatever reason, I promise to do my best to NOT be to you what Job’s “friends” were to him (or even his wife).  We’re supposed to “Bear one another’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2) and not add to the list of burdens.  I don’t know how to bear your burden unless you give it to me or I take it from you, and that’s a scary proposition for all parties involved, right?  For some reason, we like our own burdens.  We don’t want to give up our burdens.  It was my wife’s grandmother, Nanny, who said, “If everybody threw all their problems out in the middle of the road, we’d all run out and grab our own” (paraphrasing).  There’s truth to that.  Our own burdens are somehow…comfortable…

So anyway, I’d like to “fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2) by bearing your burdens.  Heck, maybe you can bear mine!  Let’s toss our problems out into the street of Christian community and pick up someone else’s problem and help out. If we go pick up our own problems it won’t get fixed.  We have proven that every time we attempt to fix our own problems, amen?  So it’s time to obey God and do 2 things…Ask for help.  And be a help.  That keeps us from being focused on our selves, even in the midst of problems, as we entrust one anther with our burdens and help one another to bear said burdens.

So, Christian, as the problems and burdens and situations arise in your life that just aren’t no dadgummed fun, understand that we still have joy, that we need to ask others for help and be in relationships with fellow Christians that are deep enough for us to ask for help, and that we need to be a help and not an additional burden.

Father, let us not be Job’s friends.  Let us not heap extra burdens upon those that are heavy laden.  But let us, in love, attend to those that are hurting.  Remind us on a consistent basis where we get our strength…that we are weak in ourselves and we get strength from you.  Help us to understand that guilt and regret ties us down to a godless past without the hope of the future of Heaven.  Let us remain in our joy even in the midst of trials and allow us to bear one another’s burdens to fulfill the law of Christ to love one another.  Thank you, Lord, for your provision.  Thank you for the refining fire and for the removing of the dross of our lives.  Thank you for placing me in a community where I can be a burden bearer and others can help bear mine.  I love you.  We love you.

Soli Deo Gloria

Addendum:
The above is not to be a license to continue in your sin, not at all!  It’s just a glimpse into my journey of understanding God’s sovereignty and how He allows us to go through certain situations because you will be a better soldier in His army because of it.  You will be a better, more well trained, well seasoned, experienced battler against sin and for God!

“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,  knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;  for he who has died is freed from sin.”-Romans 6:1-7

Update!

Howdy!

Well here we are in the midst of ending 1st quarter and beginning 2nd quarter and there’s a lot going on!  You might say we are finally getting into the swing of things ’round here…but of course that just means it’s time to complicate the issue just a tiny bit, yes?  I tell my students that all the time…that once they’ve mastered some aspect of Chemistry or biological process it’s time for me to turn up the heat and give them more details and make it slightly more complex!  Well, such is the case for our lives as missionaries in Panama as well.

This year I’ve moved “onward,” if you will, in my position at CCA.  I’m one of the High School Coordinators.  I teach “only” 4 different classes now and am now in some sort of official capacity a liaison between the staff and administration…right where I love to be!

We have some awesome new high school teachers this year!  I’m proud to work with both our new Math teacher, “E. Bru” (woot woot!) and new English teacher, Da Nay Naaaaay!  Or at least that’s what I call them…

I love working with new teachers who happen to be on their first or second foray into teaching…it’s so awesome to be able to share all the stupid mistakes I’ve made in the classroom so they don’t have to do them!!!  Hahahaha!  I’m also very proud to call them my friends.

I’m so very glad that God called us to Panama, and we are in the midst of stepping fully into that calling from God as He so wills it to be revealed to us.  The Pills are here in Panama and we’re working as missionaries teaching at the school, but there’s always more…

PAAM training officially starts Sunday after church!  For those of you keeping tabs on us, we’ve been talking about this for some time now.  Well, it’s finally going to happen!  We begin the missionary training this Sunday after church!  I’m extremely excited!  I have no idea where it will lead…

Maybe it leads us to be right where we are at CCA with a better understanding of what being a missionary actually is…

Maybe it leads us back to the States for some reason or another…

Maybe it leads us the interior of Panama for increased lengths of time…

Maybe it leads us to open a CCA branch somewhere else…

Maybe it leads us to a completely different country as educators…

Maybe it leads us to a completely different country as missionaries but not educators…

Maybe it scares the mess out of us and we run back to corporate America…(doubtful)…

Anyway, there are likely lots and lots and lots of other possibilities out there for us and for others.  As I learn about the opportunities for service, I’d like to be able to bring them to you guys as well in case something strikes you as well.

Anyway, the bottom line is that we are on God’s good humor…and we’re just glad He’s got one!  Hahaha!  Anybody that would send the Pilliod family as missionaries must have a sense of humor…and so we will simply see what happens.

And now that we know when PAAM training is taking place I’d like to begin another high school Bible study out of our apartment.  I don’t know what we’d cover, but whatever it is, I’m sure it will be really good!  And I’m sure we’ll have good conversations and God will be glorified.

Be praying for Drew as he is still making the transition to middle school…homework is tougher, getting assignments from the classroom to the house is different…you know, it’s middle school!

Be praying for Pepper as he is playing football right now and is pretty heavy-laden with work from school these days.

Pray for Allison since she has to live with me…(nuff said, right?)

Pray for me as I have been sick with a head cold for over a week and it’s just wearing on me a bit.

But we are energized!  Allison will be coming home from a women’s retreat in a few hours and we’ll have the opportunity to pick up a good friend of ours tomorrow morning and bring him to church and youth Bible study and to PAAM training with us as well…so all is well!

Also be praying that our transition to RCE International (Resourcing Christian Education International) actually pans out and proves to be a good move for all parties concerned.  This is the group we moved to that will handle all of our supporters’ financial giving and get it to us…they also provide training on various missionary topics, etc…If you get a hankerin’ to support us financially, you can click on the Support page of this blog and there should be links pointing you in the right direction.

Anyway…I just wanted to make sure that you knew that we are really now settling in to our 2nd year here and that things are beginning to pick up pace in regards to our service at the mission school and our missionary training and how we will minister to the students here in Panama that we see all the time.

I appreciate you guys…I appreciate you reading this…I appreciate it more when you pray!

If you feel the need to come to Panama for a visit, please contact us!  You could stay with us…we love playing tour-guide to all the cool stuff here!  We could also likely hook you up with places to serve if you want to do that.

Time to run!

Soli Deo Gloria

Publix…oh, and other things too…

Hello all…

It has been some time since I posted here, and I am sorry for that.  The end of school is always a busy time.  Combine that with getting ready to leave Panama, coming back to the States for some time with family and friends eating at restaurants we miss, and strutting through the frozen food aisle at Publix…and then actually coming back to spend time with family and friends and restaurants and Publix…and, well, you get a pretty good excuse in my book!  Hahahaha!

Anyway, the school year ended in usual style…you know, hurrying up to finish curriculum, reviewing for exams, writing exams, administering exams, grading exams, cleaning up the classroom, etc…

It was a good time.  The seniors graduated and went on their way.  Many are either at or soon will be at their college of choice soon.  I’m thankful for having been able to spend time with those seniors and in particular for being able to teach some advanced level biology to 4 brave individuals!  And I pray that God grabs hold of them mightily and increasingly conforms their will to His will.

The rest of the school was happy to leave and most of them will be returning next year so I will see them shortly!

We flew out of Panama on June 19th and landed in Atlanta.  We got our bags and brought them over to the conveyor belt to put them on our next plane.  After that we had a couple hours to kill before our flight to Orlando departed…so we bought lunch…Chick-fil-A!!!  The funny thing was that since my Spanish is a little bit better than Ali’s, she began telling me her order and the kids’ orders as well.  I said to her, “You do realize that they can understand you here, right?”  So that was funny.

We took off and landed in Orlando.  My parents came to pick us up and we made it back to Orange Park.

We have been housed with Ali’s parents and the boys with my parents.

Coming back here after a year I really noticed how much Spanish I had actually learned.  So that was very cool!  Oh, and Target is even better now than what I remember.  Oh, and Publix is still the BEST!  I’m just saying!

It has been an ongoing joke that I pretty much lived at Publix when I lived in Florida…and it’s sort of true.  I simply got into the habit of buying whatever we needed for the day as opposed to buying a lot of stuff for a lot of days!  So, yes, I was always there.  And then, of course, there’s the frozen food aisle.

I love the frozen food aisle at Publix!  They have these motion sensor lights that come on when anyone walks by.  Anytime I was feeling “blue” I would make sure to get to Publix early in the morning so the crowds were small…why…because with too many people around the motion sensors were keeping the lights on in the aisle all the time!

Anyway, I would go to Publix in the mornings when the crowds were small, and STRUT!  Yes, you read that right…strut!  Just bring up your memory banks of the Travolta movie, “Staying Alive” and you’ll remember “the strut” at the end!

So to pick yourself up when you’re feeling blue, simply go to your local Publix, find the frozen food aisle, and wait for the lights to go dark in the doors.  Then strut and watch all the lights turn on to shine on you while strutting your stuff!

If you’re interested, yes, there actually is video now!  It’s on Facebook and I’m not smart enough to know how to save it to put it here, so send me a friend request and then go to the following link!

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=475277289151507&set=t.1059015038&type=3&theater

We’ve also been eating our way through our visit here.  Cheesecake factory, Rosy’s, Outback, O’Steen’s, Cantina Laredo, Don Juan’s, Bonefish, Crispers, Columbia, Ale House, Sushi House, Lime Leaf, Bowl of Pho, Farrah’s, Yum Yum Tree, Sonny’s, Everybody’s Restaurant, G’s BBQ Hut, Ming Moon, Pizza Hut, McDonald’s, IHOP…you know, standard fare…Oh, and eating at people’s houses as well!  Yumm!!!  I do appreciate the hospitality, that’s for sure!

Oh, and I think I’ve put on 10 pounds!  Yikes!

We also got to go to Crossroads Family Worship Center, Christ’s Church-Mandarin, Old Providence Baptist Church, and Harvest Bible Church-Jacksonville.  Wonderful places of worship!

We even go to speak a couple times and explain what it is we do in Panama…so many stories to tell!

I am tired at times from all the running around…and eating and strutting…but I am very much rejuvenated and ready to get back to Panama.  I thank all of you here for putting up with me and being hospitable to me and my family so we could get some rest and have some fun and see some faces and catch up!  ‘Twas wonderful!

We head back to Panama on the 19th.  I’m going to have to take another trip to Publix, I think, to get my strut on one more time before departing…

So what’s coming up?

• Well, let’s just start with the fact that we are still looking for at least one teacher to fill a spot…two teachers would be better.  Math?  Science?  Math/Science?  If you know of anyone that fits that bill, let me know…{wink}
• Classes begin August 9th, so pray for me and for the other teachers at CCA and for all that goes into getting students into desks and information into minds!
• Pray for the office staff and the administration and the board so that things can run smoothly in the classrooms and Jesus can be glorified.
• Ali and I, along with a handful of other folks, will be attending PAAM training this Fall.  PAAM stands for Panameños Alcanzando al Mundo…Panamanians Reaching the World…and trains people in Panama as missionaries so that they can go elsewhere and work.  So we’ll have that going on.
• We are also going to be facilitating a marriage small group study through Crossroads Bible Church called “Love and Respect”…I suggest you “Google” it and check it out…it’s awesome!
• We will possibly be doing another study of “The Truth Project” with high school students again…maybe in the Spring.
• I’ll be working with the youth at Crossfire again this year.
• We also have some families (friends of ours) coming to Panama to visit and to do short term mission work, so that’s cool!
• Lastly, Ali and I are signed up with RCE too.  What is that?  Well, it will make more sense if you read our Support Page…{wink wink}!  Basically, for those of you that support us financially or want to support us financially, this group will replace what you have had to do before with actually writing paper checks and mailing it, etc…Bleh!  Things will be able to be done online and automatically if you so choose!  Yay!  But more to come on that issue later on!

Lots and lots going on!

Oh, and I’ll be pushing El Rey to get motion sensor lights for their frozen food aisle so I can “strut!”

Thank you for reading…thank you for praying…And I’ll be back soon!

Soli Deo Gloria!