ME WITH AARON BURNS IN HONG KONG

This picture was taken just 3 weeks ago the day after my plane arrived in Hong Kong. The city sky line and Victorian Harbor is in the background. Our youngest son, Aaron lives about two hours away from Hong Kong and goes there often. He has been in China for six years. It was such a blessing to see him again and awfully hard to say good bye when we returned home last week. But, God's grace is always sufficient when we are in His will and living out His plan for our lives.

OUR CHINA CHRISTMAS - NEW YEAR'S TRIP

(Pictured above: Me with my son Aaron Sunday night down a dark narrow alley standing in front of a "closed" registered church in China).
My wife and I are presently on our final two days on what is my second visit to China. It was not that we just had a bag of extra money and tons of free time on our hands that brought us here. Basically, there were two main motivators which caused us to borrow money and come to China for the Christmas and New Year's Holiday. First, we have a son who was commissioned to come to this country six years ago, and he lives here. We have not seen Aaron for a year, and he could not come home for Christmas. Secondly, God gave us peace that we were to make this trip.

The truth is that even though Aaron is surrounded by millions of Asian people, he still gets home sick for his family and friends from the States. If the Lord ever moves one of your children or grandchildren half way around the world to serve Him, I know you would want to do the same thing we did.

Although these are the main reasons Coletta and I went to China, God used this trip in many other ways to really grip our hearts. I have seen thousands of needy people. A few days ago was New Year's Day. Our son took us to a nice restaurant, a foot massage, then, we walked to a huge supermarket up town about 3 stories high to pick up a few groceries. Every ounce of the escalators' both going up and coming down were packed shoulder to shoulder with Asian people. When we left the store to cross the busy city streets of Dongguan City (population, 7 million), It was like the whole town of Van Wert was all crossing the same road at the same time. As our side of the "crowd" hit the street at the flashing of the green light and "walk" sign, so did the other side. Most all of these people need the Lord, have never heard about salvation, and most have never seen a Bible.

The adrenaline rush (to me anyway) New Year's Day was what I would think the Knights in Shining Armor must have felt when they were meeting in the center of a battlefield with their enemy. Only here, we just all walked right by each other. Hundreds at the same time! Everyone we meet here seems very gentle, and non-violent. When we walked forever trying to find a taxi on this first of the year Chinese Holiday, I told Aaron, "I would even ride a city bus to get back to your apartment!" Until I looked up and saw a city bus and it looked so full I would think one would be squeezed to death inside. We walked the city streets all the way to our son's apartment. This is the place God has placed our youngest son. He has been here six years now.

And then, there's the "Fellowships." Last Wed. night I was asked to give my testimony of salvation at the fellowship where Aaron attends. With the help of an interpreter, I also briefly explained some principles from the Bible. I asked if any desired to know the details of these principles for their lives to stay after the service was dismissed and I would stay at the building to talk with them. 18 young adults stayed for over an hour, and when Aaron had to turn the lights out, the people didn't want to stop hearing the Word of God.

This past Sunday, Aaron took us to an ALL KOREAN Church, where the whole service (music and message was all in the Korean language. (about 300 people). Sunday afternoon, we went to the Fellowship where our son lives, and listened to someone else preach. The song service was in both English and Chinese, and Coletta and I stand there crying as we watched and listened and sensed the sincerity of faith in their singing.

At the conclusion of the service (they stand around and fellowship for about an hour after church is dismissed). I listened to 2 boys and 2 girls who are university students who started coming going to this "Fellowship" as the result of the English Corner Class Aaron's group goes to every Tues. night at the University. The two girls I Interviewed just received HIM, one in Nov and the other on Christmas Eve while we were here. One night I want to show our church these brief testimonies. They ride a bus one way over an hour from another city to come hear the Word of God, and they are thrilled to do it!

Anyway, I think my wife and I needed this trip much more than Aaron did. In church ministry, the sinful depraved nature in all of us as believers (especially in the American culture) seems to constantly gravitate towards being "inward centered." I struggle with this constantly. At church, it's all about "what we want." It's "our church, our class, our teacher, our pastor, our building, and it's all for us!" If "our agenda" gets derailed, we pout and want to take our toys and go home!

I get so drained and empty after trying to help people with life's problems and the every day stress of the ministry, that getting away to get a fresh vision and fresh oil from the Lord is a must for me. This trip was my "Pastor's Seminar" and "Continued Education Course!"

So, God used our 2009 - 2010 trip to China for all of the above. I will return to Van Wert and to Liberty with more spiritual fire and passion. I have been firmly reminded of "why I am here" and why the "church is here." So once again, Jesus has brought me back to a proper balance with a Christ centered focus. Now, due to this trip, our church, class, teachers, pastor, and yes, the building is all about Jesus and others.

Thank you Jesus for letting Coletta and I go visit our son and see his city and place of service. I hope Aaron and his "Fellowship Friends" were as encouraged in our coming as we have been in visiting them!

Today, we weathered the subways, went across the border, looked back after crossing into Hong Kong and saw a tall barbed wire fence and a long "mote" which divides Communism from "Freedom." I could see a red Communist flag waving in the distance flying over a tall building. Aaron took two days off for some R and R, and to bring us to the Hong Kong Airport. We are staying in a hotel close to the airport. Aaron will see us off Wed. night your time, send us to the airport, and take the subway back to China, (alone).

Please pray for his safety as he returns to mainland China, and ours as we fly home.

Thanks for your love and support.

Sincerely,

Jim C. Burns, Sr. Pastor
Liberty Baptist Church
(Typing from Hong Kong)

SHE IS WATCHING FOR ME!

The picture above was taken by Miley's Mom with her cell phone. Although it is probably quite meaningless to the average on looker, to Papa Burns, this image is PRICELESS!

This Tuesday evening, I was invited to my son Matt's house to have a nice quiet, quaint little Christmas with he, his wife, Jenny, and our only grandchild, Miley. Nanny Burns is in China, so I was feeling a little "solitary" last week and thus far this week, and looked forward to my evening with my granddaughter (and her parents). As I was about one mile away from their town here in Ohio, I received this text from my daughter in law which reads, "She is watching out the window for you!" Tears of joy swelled up in my eyes as I approached their house. "My granddaughter loves me and wants to see me tonight! Praise God" I thought.

I called Miley and let her know I was pulling up. She jumped off the couch and ran to the picture window in their dinning room looking with glee, and believe me when I say, "The smile on Miley's face and the twinkle in her beautiful blue eyes was one of the best Christmas gifts any "Grandpa" could ever get from a two year old! A big thanks to Miley and the rest of my family for making me feel so loved. It was an evening I will never forget! Soon, I'm off to the other side of the world to see the "rest of my family," my youngest son, Aaron and my wife, Coletta. Please pray for a safe flight to China, and our return home. Merry Christmas everyone!

That's something to think about! Email: jimmycburns@aol.com

SCOTTS & BURNS OHIO THANKSGIVING 2009

From left to right: Don and Jenny Scott, Coletta and Jim Burns

The Scotts have been long time friends of ours who are members of the Westside Baptist Church, Hutchinson, KS. This was their first Thanksgiving away from their kids and grand kids. This picture was taken at the Carlisle Village Inn at Sugar Creek, OH. We did not stay here for Thanksgiving, but just before our dinner, we walked into the lobby and had our picture taken together.

I met the Scotts when I was in between churches. I went to Don's place to give him an estimate with a builder on doing dry wall work at the Scott's new country home. (Don't laugh building committee)! Little did I know that I would soon after join the pastoral staff at the Scott's church, and just five years after I met Don and Jenny, I would become their Pastor for the next nine years. When I resigned the church in Kansas in Nov. 1994, the Scotts bought our family Sunday dinner and brought it to our home to cry with us and hug our hearts. What a blessing to still have friends like the Scotts in Kansas and other places around the world. Thank you Don and Jenny for making our Thanksgiving so special this year. Come again! Burns' Bed and Breakfast and Coletta's Kitchen will always have the door open for you and your family!

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT! Email: jimmycburns@aol.com

Pheasant Hunting 14 Years Later!

Pictured above are: Bill Greene, Matt Burns, and Jim C. Burns.

Last Saturday, I was privileged to go pheasant hunting with my oldest son, Matt and Bill Greene, our former Van Wert Fire Marshall and his dog, Archie. You know time is zooming by when you come home from a day of hunting and calculate that it has been 14 years since I went pheasant hunting with my son, Matt (near Meade, Kansas), and it has been 40 years since I had hunted with a bird dog! Bird hunting is quite different in Northern Ohio compared to Kansas. Here, you buy how many birds you want to hunt, the game bird owner releases the birds in a field (covered in tall wild grass), and it's kind of a "hide and go seek" hunting. It was much more difficult and challenging than I thought it would be. We were in a fifty acre field about five hours, and my gun only went off twice! (I missed). But Bill and Matt got four pheasants between them.

The weather could not have been better, and the real hero of the day was Bill's hunting dog, Archie, who found and pointed out all of the pheasants. It was good exercise, a lot of fun, and a huge blessing to me to have the health, strength, and ability to go walk in a field, enjoy the Lord's great outdoors, and have a friend that would take us and a son that took time out to spend a whole day with his "old man." The pheasants were cleaned out on the field, and Bill gave all the birds to the Burns! The icing on the cake for our day of hunting was to come home to Coletta's kitchen and enjoy a wonderful home cooked meal together.


Thanks Matt, Bill, and Archie for a wonderful day in the great outdoors!

KEDGING

Webster's Dictionary defines "kedging" as: to move (a ship) by means of a line attached to a small anchor dropped at the distance and in the direction desired. An example of this would be if a sailing vessel was near a harbor, and lost wind, a crew member could place an anchor in a safety boat with a rope tied to the sailing vessel, row into the harbor, drop an anchor and "kedge" the sailing vessel into the harbor by pulling it in with the rope. The process of "pulling the ship in" is very difficult, but the reward is the sailing vessel or "ship" comes to you safely in the harbor.

How can "kedging" help you in your personal life? To me, "kedging" to improve my life or the quality of my life would be to find some activity or event that I absolutely love, and do things to make that dream (event or activity) come true. Most of us only get to go on vacation once or twice a year if any. But if you can find something that is an absolute delight for you to do, you can look forward to that event several months in advance. Any of you that are in a high stress situation in your education or work know that if you don't get away from the pressure every now and then, you will likely snap or "burn out."

A dear Pastor friend of mine in Kansas who is now in his 70's loved golfing. Thus he went golfing sometimes twice a week, weather permitting. He would exercise, practice, take golf lessons and meditate on how he could improve his golfing techniques as he would be "looking forward" (kedging) towards his next golf game with other Pastor friends. Although some might criticize my Pastor friend for being out on the golf course twice a week, it was this time of fresh air, fellowship with other Christian men, exercise and "stress relieving" that very likely helped keep him in the ministry for now over 35 years. He is still serving in a church today even in his 70's, relatively healthy, and I might mention, he still golfs!

I do not like to exercise. My "flesh" does not want to get out of bed on a cold, rainy morning, wrap up and go jogging or hit the gym! But I absolutely love to snow ski! If you have ever been snow skiing when you were really out of shape, you know how miserable you were out on the slopes, and how sore your muscles were the week after your ski trip! Thus, as winter approaches, I jog, go to the Wellness Exercise Center in our town, and do aerobics and weight training with my first "ski trip" in mind as I work out! (I don't have a trip scheduled yet, but, I do hope to go skiing sometime this winter)!

It's the "kedging" of the weekly body work out routines that makes my skiing safer and more fun. The side benefit of my "kedging" is that I feel better mentally, emotionally and physically. These three things help me minister better spiritually. All of this "kedging" also helps fight discouragement and some feelings of depression that (yes) sometimes even pastors deal with. It gives you a feeling of accomplishment and well being. It also helps you stay alive and adds much "quality" to your life. (Have you ever noticed that when you get out of town and do something to get you mind off your pressures and problems you come home refreshed and ready to face the battles again)? This is why I believe "kedging" is so important.

So get out there and discover some good, healthy, wholesome fun! Discover an event or activity that you can aim towards and look forward to all year long. From the time you start "dreaming" about that trip, what you do to help reel that trip in is called, "kedging."

I'm Jim C. Burns, and that's something to think about! Email: jimmycburns@aol.com

OUR HOUSE IN OHIO, FALL 2009

This is where Coletta and I live. I took this picture today. When we arrived at Van Wert fourteen years ago, we asked the Lord to give us an old house with trees, on a quiet country road at the edge of town. We bought this home that fall in 1995. It is a block and a half from our old church building, three blocks from downtown on Main Street, across the street from the City's Police Station, Fire Department, and ambulance service! God has a wonderful sense of humor! Under the direction of Mr. Bill Keith, a former trustee of our church with many church members helping, this 115 year old Victorian was turned into an almost completely new Victorian! It seems like the Lord was saying, "Here's your (big) old house and your tree, but, I'm going to save you a lot of gas by putting you close to your church!" We are still only five blocks from our new church!

I'm Jim C. Burns, and that's something to think about!
Email: jimmycburns@aol.com