God is Good

We thank God that we had great flights from Grand Rapids to Toronto, to Frankfort, to Abuja; we made all our connections, got a little sleep, and the food was good on the airplane. It started out a little rocky for Gremar, you know how she hates to fly. When she saw that 18 passenger Beech turbo prop that was to take us to Toronto she said: No way! She was ready to back out right then and there. All the time she was settling into her seat; “this is the last time” she said. I think she was really scared. For my part, not only was I ready to ride I wish I was flying the thing. The deicing procedure only added to her fear but as we departed and settled into the flight she calmed down. We arrived in Abuja cleared customs and were meet by Christopher. We have a long history; he was my assistant in the hanger at Takum in the seventies. He is now the main driver mechanic for the mission in Jos. We stayed at the Peniel Apartments; very nice, air, power all night, water, and a comfortable bed. We stopped for omelets along side the road on the way to Jos and we arrived safely at about noon. We are now settled in at Mountain View Guest House working on the manuals I will need for the courses I will be teaching; Stewardship, and Biblical Preaching. We hope to leave for Warari Bible School in Niger State on Sunday. Continue to pray for safety and that God prepares the way for us.

Waiting for our omelets
Mixing our Bournivita(hot chocolate)
Almost as good as Gremar makes them

New Community Church Commissioning Service

This Sunday the people of New Community Church, Newaygo sent us off with God’s blessings. We thank God for a community that is committed to pray for us, encourage us, and support us as we partner together to serve God in Newaygo, West Africa, and where ever God calls. We are blessed! Praise God!

"they placed their hands on them and sent them off" Acts 13:1-3

“live a life worthy of God’s Call”

10/31/10 9:30 AM, Grant CRC , I Thess. 2:1-12

God speaks to us: “Live a life Worthy of God’s Call”

INTRODUCTION: Paul; begins by claiming his trip to Thessalonica as a success. We read the account of his visit in (Acts 17) and we see that he spent only three weeks with them. This church has been here for  0ver 100 yrs but If you had only three weeks to present the gospel to your neighbor what would you do?  How would you do it? What would you say? This question comes to mind. How effective, how successful is our ministry?  How successful by God’s standards is our sojourn here at Grant CRC and on the street where you live?  On the street where I live? Not just for  pastors  but for all of you together because we are in this together. Amen.   What is important in this passage is what Paul said to them, and secondly, equally important is how they lived among them. Paul and Silas wanted to start a church turning people from paganism to Jesus Christ. That is our purpose here: turning people from secularism and from superficial religion to a deep personal relationship in Jesus Christ. We should be a church of new beginnings; because Jesus isn’t interested in our failures or our short comings or in our sin except to turn us from that bondage of sin and brokenness to a new life in Jesus Christ. He accepts us no matter what our situation is as long as we are seeking to move closer to him. That means bridging a cultural gap, a psychological gap, it means becoming like Jesus by identifying with the broken, sharing our lives with them, loving them and accepting them as Jesus did. He became like us so that we could be like him. Amen. Paul and Silas were men approved by God and I believe that not only are pastors approved to speak about Jesus but all of us are people approved by God. That is why God brings us to this church and why the church exists in the world.  Amen!

I.  Pure motives.

A. We speak as men approved by God

There must have been others going around promoting religion or new ideas because Paul makes a big point of not trying to deceive them or trick them for unjust gain but they came as men approved by God. That goes on today, turn on your TV. Listen to some, not all televangelists but some. It is no wonder many people are turned off by the church.

B. Not trying to please men.

No. Paul says our motives are pure we are not trying to please men. We did not come to you with flattery or to tell you what you want to hear. Along with Paul we say: No, we are approved by God and we bring you the Word of God.  Nothing but the word of God.

C. But God who tests our hearts

1. Paul and us as well say what is pleasing to God. We speak God’s Word, and more obviously we live God’s Word. God is the one who tests our motives, our words, and our actions because he tests our hearts.

2. Paul and Silas clarify their motives and now they turn to relate how they lived among them. It is instructive for us because we struggle with how to relate meaningfully to non Christians and with people who do not attend church.

II. Gentle among you

A. Not a burden

1. We where gentle among you; Lesson #1 gentleness, a fruit of the Spirit. Paul is speaking of the financial burden but I think it is more than that given the example he gives of a mother and a father.

We need to be gentle with people who fall into sin. 1/3 of the couples in America living together are not married.  Many are single parent households. Drugs and alcohol, and deviant sexual behavior are rampant and we also find it in the Christian community.

2. Should we be righteously angry about all that? Yes! We should be but condemnation gets us no where.  We as Christians need to be the examples for people to follow; we are the light, the salt, and the guide. And we cannot be that example unless we develop a relationship with the person or family God wants us to influence. Paul and Silas were facing what we are facing; Living as Christians in a broken world.  How did they do it?

B. Like a mother’s love

1. We treated you “like a mother caring for her children; we loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel but our lives as well because you has become so dear to us”That is a direct quote v.8.

2.  So now we have two principles of relating to our neighbors, Gentleness and love. In short sharing our lives with those around us.

C. Our toil and hardship

We worked day and night Paul tells them, “While we preached the gospel of God to you”. There we have a third principle; hard work and  perseverance, let’s call it faithfulness.  Be faithful! Keep praying for that person God put on your heart keep looking for ways to influence that person. That neighbor! That co worker!

III. Righteous among you

A.     Like a Father

Paul says we shared our lives and we lived among you as holy, righteous, and blameless. We were like a father dealing with his children. This whole evangelistic event in Thessalonica is rooted in parental love. The principle of love, “love your neighbor as yourself” keeps coming up and now we add a fourth principle, live holy lives.

B.     Encouraging

When we share our lives with others it must be based on parental love, because like a father we are to encourage those around us, not discourage by concentrating on faults but to encourage change, to encourage repentance, to encourage with the Word of God. We encourage people at New Community by hanging in there with them though the indiscretions, past the sin, and the shortcomings and encouraging people to move closer to Jesus by reading his Word as the answer to these problems. The word of God! Is the answer. Amen

C.     Live a life worthy

Paul acts like a father; he says we encourage you to live lives worthy of God” the one who calls all of us.  Paul and Silas exemplified living worthy of God’s call and they shared it with those who before they came did not know what that meant. God wants you to not only live a life worthy of God but to share it as well.

CONCLUSION: Paul thanks God because the Thessalonians accepted his words as the Words of God.  By this passage we see the Word of God at work in the hearts of Paul and Silas and the Thessalonians and today we see his Word at work in our hearts and in our fellow church members. These are the principles we need to practice if we are to be that example of a life worthy of God’s call on us. Generally: Share the Gospel and your life because people you get to know are dear to you. That means: One: gentleness with those overwhelmed with life, and overwhelmed with sin. Two: faithfulness; hard work and perseverance. Three: Live holy lives; righteous and blameless. Four: encouragement; concentrate on salvation and the life that is worthy of God and the quality of life that only God can give us. Fifth: Love; love God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself. Practice parental love, that deep caring for loved ones with your neighbors. I put Love last but in fact it comes first. Principle, 1-4 do not function outside of that kind of love.

This is the bottom line. It is not so much cultural separation from non Christians, It is not our church buildings with its steeple that prevents people from coming, It is not our worship services or our programs or the lack there off that keeps people away. It is our hearts; we need to change our hearts so that we delight in presenting not only the Gospel but share our very lives as well, to all people God places in our path. It is a mater of changing our hearts.

Ukraine Biblical Preaching conference

I arrived in Ukraine Sept 15th after 24 hr. of travel and two stops on the way; Cincinnati and Paris France. Flying over Ukraine is like any other place in Europe; Farms’ villages rivers and a few bigger cities. Once on the ground however things change fast. I was told we did not need a visa but I worried about it to no avail. Sure enough here was a “None Visa” line. They are building a new terminal and they do need it. The line was long but when I got up to the booth and presented my passport and filled customs slip, I was told to go ahead no questions asked and no luggage checked. Migel (Michel) was standing in the crowd holding a sign with my name and I was glad to see him. 

The church at Living Hope Church Camp
Our meetings where held here at the church
Living Hope Church Camp

We have been in Kyliv village for two days but with jet lag it seems like forever. We hope that tomorrow will be better in terms of sleeping and feeling rested. The food is great, not really very different except that we had pasta with a sharp cheese mix for breakfast.  Usually we have soup for lunch followed by a rice dish and hot tee, bread and cheese and some kind of baloney with almost every meal. Tonight we had potatoes for the first time and chicken. Hey, we are not suffering.

The mess hall

It is in some ways a second world country particularly away from the capital Kiev but that belies the character of the people. The Pastors are great people very friendly and open. This is obviously an eastern culture, people are very musical, out going .very expressive in speech. Every one gets to talk and not necessarily on the subject at hand. Everyone wants to talk as well.

The church service in Voronykive village. I preached a short sermon along with five pastors who also had short messages
The particapants at the conference

Our lectures and messages have been accepted well with a lot of good comments. These are very intelligent people but given the history of seventy years of oppression there was little opportunity for training yet the church survived and is now growing. Seminaries are allowed so people do have the opportunity to train more today than in the pastThey are intelligent, friendly and open and very musical.

 Yesterday we visited Kiev it is for the most part a modern city with good public transportation.

St. Andrews, Eastren Orthadox Church
Photos do not do justice to this magnificent building.

 In the village I feel very much at home; that may be our European or African background but I could see myself living here with little difficulty.

On The Road Agian

We are on the way to Seattle via Las Vegas. We thought it would be nice to fly to Las Vegas and rent a van to drive to Seattle with all the paraphernalia for Becky’s wedding, including all the vases and stem wrapping material for the flowers Tina planned to arrange for Jack and Becky. It turned out that driving our Honda Insite back and forth from Vegas costs  about half of flying.  So we are driving again, I say again because we have driven across the country close to 10 times. We never tire of driving; we live in a beautiful county, beautiful in so many ways. We cannot post every picture but we hope to share some unusual shots and some of our experiences. To be involved and to officiate at your own daughters wedding is a privilege few experience and Gremar and I are thankful.

Brave or foolish? Jumping from the Snake River Bridge

We could not believe these kids jumping off the bridge; risky and foolish perhaps but what a blast!  O, to be young again. I wish Icould have made a better video but it was great to watch. This happened on our trip from Vegas to Seattle in Twin Falls, Idaho. We also made a detour to see the horses at Vantage, Washington.

These horses are amazing
There are 16 horses, they are life size.

The monument is not complete, it was to have a man standing with a basket releasing the horses. It is titled: “Grandfather releases the horses”. The horses are in full gallop they remind me of life escaping from the womb and never slowing down. That is life for us as we serve God, there is no slowing down.

Nineteen years ago Gremar and I came back from Zillah just having passed my ordination exam, we stopped at Vantage and we sat on the deck of a restaurant overlooking the bridge and in sight of the horses. It was a completion of four years of hard work for us both and the completion of a 40 yr. aspiration to become ordained. We thanked God that all was right with the world for us.  Praise God! It was great to relive that moment on this trip. Since jack is from Arlington Washington and his family all live there Jack and Beck decided to have their wedding there.

The Lord Exalted

Gremar and I working on our Action plan

Gremar and I have recently attended the Timothy Leadership Training session in Grand Rapids.   http://www.timothyleadershiptraining.org  We participated in track two: Biblical Preaching and Teaching the Christian Faith. One of the passages we worked on is Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth” We do not need to wonder about the main idea: Here God is speaking

 Be still and know that I am God.   “How great you are, O Sovereign LORD! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you… 2 Sam 7:22 “. God is to be first in our lives; over our careers, houses or spouses.

 I will be exalted among the nations. “I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols Isaiah 42:8”. God is to be praised by all the people of the earth; every knee will bow. Philippians 2: 9-11.

  I will be exalted in the earth. “Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and let your glory be over all the earth Ps.108 :4-6” When we read the context in Ps.108:5 we see that what we praise God about: It is God’s love, his faithfulness, and his deliverance. Praise God!

 Be still and know that I am:  I am who I am; I always was, I am now, and I will always be, and I am here for you! Exodus 3:13-15. Being here for us includs the “7 I ams” of The Gospel of John.

 I will be exalted: God is exalted in Christ Jesus; God is exalted in the church; exalted in you and me, Philippians 1:19-21.    

 Be still and know:  How can we know, how can we know God? “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding”. A long life and righteousness are the fruit of wisdom Proverbs 9:9-11.

 Be still: Be quiet inside, both men and women, “a gentle and quiet spirit”; God’s beauty for us, submisive to God and to each other 1 Peter 3:3-5 .

 Be: Live by the Spirit of God: be loving, be joyful, be peaceful, be patient, be kind, be good, be faithful, be gentle, be self controlled. Galatians 5:16-26.

 God is speaking to us!

The Home Coming

The Prodigal Son, Rembrandt

06/06/10 Luke 15:1-2, 11-32;

God speaks to us: Coming Home  

INTRODUCTION: We need to keep in mind that while the parable of the Prodigal Son is about God’s grace as well as repentance and salvation, Jesus tells this parable and the two before it; The lost sheep, and the Lost coin in reaction to the criticism of the Pharisees. It is a familiar criticism “this man welcomes sinners and eats with them” The issue is that Jesus’ acceptance of the lost and down and outers is interpreted as accepting sin and tolerating decadent behavior. Some people interpret our church that way not only this church but church plants in general because we reach out to the hurting, to the broken, to the sinner, and it is seen as tolerating brokenness and sinfulness. I go on record today to say that we are against sin, sin is awful  as we will find out in this parable but the church is not only against sin the church needs to help the sinner, and that is all of us, to move closer to Jesus so that sin can be overcome in our lives. Amen.  It is for that perception of tolerating sin that Jesus tells these parables. The parable we read this morning is the most extensive of the three. God’s grace, man’s repentance, and God’s forgiveness is included as well as self righteousness and condemnations and lack of forgiveness. The highlight of the parable is the Father’s love; God’s grace, forgiveness, and God’s sacrifice in Jesus to bring us back to him. That sacrifice is what we celebrate every time we have communion.

I.  The son that went missing.

 A. Impatient, Temptation

We see that the younger son is impatient, he knows it all and he wants out of his father’s household. He thinks he is entitled to his inheritance early. Right now the freedom he wants is only a temptation it is not sin yet.

B. Impulsive, Giving in to temptation

Why didn’t the father refuse to give the money to him? God created us with freewill, he does not force his love on us, we can choose to love Jesus or not. The father gives him the money. The son impulsively moves far away to be free from the restraints of his family. He is not sinning yet but he has set himself up to fall. What you think about a lot is where you go. You are what you think about.

C. Inappropriate, sin takes over

Sin began as a seed in his mind, he did nothing to move it out of his mind and it grew until he is in a position to fall The results are predictable. You separate yourself from the people who love you. You refuse to take advice, you think you know better than everyone around you and Satan has set you up to fail.

II. Falling and repenting.

 A. Sin comes full circle

That is what happens, sin comes full circle now, it is not a temptation; he gives in and he starts to live a wicked life, and foolishly wastes his money until he is broke. Sin does that, it takes over the decision making process and people start to make bad decisions. 

B. God intervenes; He comes to his senses

As he is running out of money God intervenes and sends a famine into this area. Now he is broke and he is hungry, even if he had money food was not available. He starts to herd pigs, an awful thing for Jews and would never do if not for his need. Sin does that – people do things they would never do. He is at his wits end and turns to God; I have sinned against God and my father. Sometimes we have to come to a low spot in our lives before we allow God to take over again. The son now is able to make a responsible decision; he decides to go home, back to his father.

III. The Father

A. Looking for signs of his son, his children.

The father for his part walks out to the hill every day to see if his son is coming home. God is like that, he is patiently waiting for the people of the world to return to him. They are his people. Yet it is not a passive waiting, the Holy Spirit works in people’s lives, God intervenes into our lives, sometimes with difficult situations so that we turn our attention to him. Further, God gave himself in Jesus Christ so that we have a basis for returning to him.

B. He is ready to forgive, and rejoice.

When we come back to God or come to him for the first time the father is ready to forgive. It does not depend on our efforts. Before the son was able to say a word the Father had him in an embrace that he was never going to release again. The father accepts him back with no questions about his sin; the son had repented in his heart. God knows our hearts and forgives, never bringing up sins we committed again. They are gone, we are washed clean. The Father says restore my son to our household, “He was lost and now is found, he was dead and now is alive” All we need to do is turn back to God with a contrite and broken heart, have the desire to depend on him and to be close to him. That is enough! Praise the Lord!  Are you living a lost life, pretending to be close to God but far away from him in your heart? Turn to him today! He accepts all who turn to him.

The older son is someone we as Christians, easily identify with. We stayed close to God; we did not leave his people for the world. We did not live a lost lifestyle that jeopardized our health, our souls and our minds. We should be upset with those who leave the church for the world and with those who refuse to go to church and serve God with their lives but that is not what we are talking about. Jesus told this parable because he was criticized for acting like the father in this parable; the father has the attitude of Jesus.

IV. The older son.

  1. A. Anger, lack of forgiveness

So what is the problem with the older son that seemed to have done everything right?  1. He was angry not so much at his brother but at the father for taking his younger brother back.  He lacked forgiveness; he was not willing to forgive his brother even though his father had forgiven him.

2. He was jealous, “you never gave me a party like this and I’ve been faithful to you”, he tells his father. “But you are always with me and everything I have is yours” His father responds. Your brother is found, and is alive, we have to celebrate. 

B. Refused to enter the feast

The older son refuses to participate in the joyous reunion of father and son. He is suffering from selfish righteousness.  The parable does not tell us the older brother repented and went into the feast. We are left with the impression that he did not. What Jesus is doing is equating the attitude of the older brother with the Pharisees and comparing that with the attitude of the father.

C. The attitude of the father

The attitude of non condemnation, a high concern for the lost and willing to associate with them in order to bring them closer to God and away from sin is the attitude of Jesus.  And the purpose of this parable is for us to choose between the father and the older son. How are you going to live your Christian life? I encourage you as your former pastor to take on the attitude of Jesus, and do it on Sundays and every day of your lives.

There is great rejoicing in heaven when only one person is brought back from being lost and from being spiritually dead. Take on the attitude of Jesus and you will have life!

nccn in pictures 061410

Being thankful for what God has given us.

052310  Philippians 4:4-9; Being thankful for what God has given us.

 God speaks to us:  Rejoice               

INTRODUCTION: We are so blessed! That was our comment to each other as we came home last week in the middle of the night. After tens of thousands of miles traveled and three months in a new place we were home safe and sound. We continue to tell people how blessed we all are. One lady responded “how do we continue to be thankful”? What with a weak economy, no jobs available, sometimes we struggle with illness, with relational conflicts there is so much that happens in our lives that keep us from seeing God’s blessings much less be thankful. Our trip reminded us again how much God has blessed us, we missed our church, we missed the love shown to us, we missed all of you and our kids and grand kids. We missed the security of living without fear, yet God blessed us in Niger State as well as you read on our blog. Life in Niger State was intense, the heat, the travel conditions, the medical needs of the people and the spiritual needs all around. There are needs here as well but it seems to us we are not as concerned as we should be as Christians. One thing that stands out is our dependence on God was at a higher level over the three months while we worked in Niger State. Today is Pentecost; we celebrate the giving of the Holy Spirit to all who call upon the Lord. Think about it, we have the Spirit working in us. That is different than positive thinking or depending on ourselves as we tend to do. In the context of the Spirit in us do we answer the question?  

I.  How can we thank God for his blessings all of the time?

            A. Attitude, Honesty, Truthfulness, transparency.

I don’t know if you saw the interview with the Dali Lama on the Today’s Show this week. According to him people are getting better and more compassionate; he judges that by the response to Haiti and other natural disaster responses. From the Western world the response is good.

He said we all have to have a positive attitude. Begin with yourself and think positively about life and about the people around you   

            B. Think positively.

Not only think positive but act on it: like being honest with yourself and others. Be truthful about everything and be transparent, no hidden agendas. We can agree with all of that, we are much more likely to be thankful for God’s blessings all of the time if we have a positive attitude.

Paul gives advice like that  

            C. Paul’s advice.

He writes to the Philippians Ch. 4:8 “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things”.

Is it enough to be positive? No! That is not what keeps us being thankful for God’s blessings. What Paul suggests is a positive activity that flows from our attitude in Jesus Christ by the power of the Spirit. Amen.

II. Our attitude in Jesus is where Paul begins in the passage we read today.

            A. “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”

Not just rejoicing but rejoicing in the Lord. Paul repeats it because it is important; rejoice because Jesus has called you! Rejoice because Jesus has saved you and forgiven you; rejoice because Jesus gives us a new life now and eternal life with him in the future. Rejoice always! Amen! Rejoicing comes from within and has nothing to do with our external circumstances. When we have joy in our hearts because of what Jesus does for us every day, it shows, it comes out in our lives.    

            B. Be gentle and show it.

Paul again: “Let your gentleness be evident to all” Rejoicing in the Lord is the attitude of Christ Jesus and that includes gentleness, being kind, soft hearted and compassionate. A fruit of the Spirit. The Lord is near Paul tells us. Do you believe that God is near to you? If so why be anxious?

C. And do not be anxious about anything.

Rejoicing in Jesus allows us to face the most difficult situations, major loss, terminal illness, death of a loved one.  Joy is not only laughter but often as not, it is tears.  The fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Gal. 5:22 

            D. Pray with thanksgiving.

Do not be anxious and pray with thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving because we know that God will and does bless us, even if it is only salvation and assurance. That is everything! Amen.

 III. The Peace of God. My peace I give you Jn. 14:27

A. Incomprehensible

Rejoicing in Jesus has a result in our lives: it is the peace of God, a peace that we do not understand because it comes by the Spirit of Christ, but we have it and we are secure in it. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid”. God lives in our hearts, who can be against us.  

 B. God’s peace will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus

The evil one wants to lead your heart astray and set your mind on all the things of this life, on all the stuff we want. He wants you to dwell on problems, on our own shortcomings, on the shortcomings of others. It is easy to find fault with this church and with the people in this church but 

God’s peace keeps us from going there; we concentrate on what Jesus has done for us and the peace that he brings us.

CONCLUSION:  Put your Christ-like attitude into practice.

We do not need to worry; Gremar and I did not have to worry about how things would work out in Nigeria.  We had everything we needed, people accepted us. Matt and Laura, shared their lives with us, and we shared our lives with all those turning to Christ for salvation. Christ prepared us physically, emotionally and spiritually to serve him in that place; God is in control and he prepares the way ahead, we do not have to be afraid. Honestly, it all happens by allowing the attitude of Christ to flow through you by his Spirit.  

When we display Christ’s attitude then we can go back to Paul’s advice in verse 8. Now that we know that all that we are is by the grace of Jesus. All that we will accomplish is by the grace of Jesus. When we put on Jesus’ attitude; we rejoice always, we become gentle and compassionate, we are prayerful, thankful in all circumstances and we hold onto God’s peace because our lives depend on it. Only then are we able to think positively about; “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things”. And the God of peace will be with you.