Farewell Letter to Salem

Salem Pastors and church family,

We would like to first off express our thanks to Salem and to you for everything you do. We have really enjoyed our time at Salem, but now we feel that it is our time to move on. This coming Sunday will be our last. We have felt for a long time that Salem was a temporary home for us, and recently as we have seen the church heading in a different direction than we are being led, the Lord has made it clear to us that it is time to go.

Salem has been such a wonderful home to us these past few years. First to me as I was alone in college, I always felt at home on the weekends at Salem and I praise the Lord for the gracious folk at Salem (specifically Glenn & Sheri Harris) who took me in and gave me the home base I needed during that time. Then when Hannah started coming, she was welcomed with open arms just like me.

I have great respect for Salem and the wonderful ministries in place there, but most specifically I love the evangelistic fervor at Salem. From the bus ministry to the large number of missionaries to the consistently presented Gospel in the services Salem’s heart for the lost is seen. We are honored and thankful that we got to be a small part in that.

But now we are going to be looking for another church in the area. God has not given us a specific location yet, but we are confident He will lead us there soon. We will be looking for a smaller congregation and a church with meaty, expository preaching. We have seen Salem over the last few years move toward a Rick Warren style “Purpose Driven Church” model that is very different from what Hannah and I are looking for. We are also excited to find a church where we will be asked, “How have you been doing?” rather than “How have your parents been doing?”

We have put lots of time into praying over this and it is clear that this is God’s will for us. We want to thank you for everything you do and we pray that God will continue to bless the church and its ministries.

Thank you and the church body for everything,

Ryan & Hannah Burgett

Praise, Praise, Praise God!!!!

I have felt the Spirit working mightily these last few days... and now I have seen that work manifest itself! My friend Ed from work just accepted Jesus as Savior!!!! I have felt God working in him for quite some time, but it all came together over this weekend and today he accepted Christ's atonement for his sins and he wants a relationship with Jesus!!!!!!!!!!! I told him to pray and tell Jesus what he was doing, so he basically said, "God, I believe in You, that You exist. I believe that You came and died on the cross for our sins. I want a relationship with you, I can not do this life on my own."

Praise to God!!!! Thank You Spirit for the incredible things You have been doing!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"The Commission"

I found this at:
http://www.persecutionblog.com/2008/09/the-commission.html

The Commission
by G. Shirie Westfall

I asked the Lord to help my neighbor,
And carry the gospel to distant lands,
And to comfort the sick, but he said to me,
If you love me, be my hands.

I asked the Lord to go to the dying,
And the orphan in the street,
And visit the prisoner, but he said to me,
If you love me, be my feet.

I asked the Lord to look to the poor,
And watch over each babe that cries,
And see each man’s need, but he said to me,
If you love me, be my eyes.

I said to the Lord, I want to serve you,
But I don’t know where to start.
To love is the answer, he said to me.
If you love me, be my heart.

Environmentalists Crying Over Dead Trees! Hilarious!

I Need To Write

My brain is spinning right now. God has been doing so much in me that I don't know quite what to do with myself. I sit here during break, and while I used to always have reading or something I wanted to do, I now just feel restless and out of place. I love working here, but at break time I just feel so pointless and lost. Same with home. I get on my computer, but just can't think of anything to do on it. Then I put in a dvd, and get bored watching it. Then I go to read, and my brain starts spinning so fast I can not focus. What does this mean? It is quite annoying.

I have recently started getting involved in the Voice of The Martyrs ministry and am really enjoying it. They are such a neat and essential ministry. They give normal people like me practical ways to be a blessing and help the "least of these." It is so incredible to think of the millions of persecuted Christians worldwide. I was so angry while during the Olympics China was parading around acting as if they were some great nation, while at the same time arresting Christians and anyone who might say something to the news about their oppressive government. I just sent a letter to a 76 year old woman through voice of the martyrs named Shuang Shuying who with her son was hosting a house church. The police found out and beat them in the street near the site of the Olympics and then arrested them both. So now this 76 year old woman with all sorts of health problems (some doubtless related to being beaten by the police) is serving time in prison for her crimes. I have also read about a girl just recently in Saudi Arabia who believed in jesus and when her father found out, he beat her, cut out her tongue, and then killed her. Then the press picked it up and put it in the news across the country as a warning to what happens when you convert. There are so many stories like that of things that happen every day. It really blows my mind. But when I am doing something to help these people and minister to them in some small way, I feel perfectly at peace. I just wish I could feel this peace all the time :-).

Why Obama is Terrifying

This video shows why Obama is the WRONG choice. He will reduce and handicap our nation's defenses worse than even Bill Clinton...

Dear Mr. Obama

A very powerful video...