It's Not What, It's How

 

[1]

Mark 12:43 Good News Translation

⁴³ He called his disciples together and said to them, “I tell you that this poor widow put more in the offering box than all the others.

 

Once, while I was teaching at Ikizu in Tanzania during the period 1967-1971, the Adventist churches in the whole country set aside the offerings on one Sabbath for Ikizu and its needs. I was excited that we would get enough money to fund some desperately needed projects.

When the money finally came, it was much less than $100. That came from some 20,000 believers. I inquired around and asked what had happened. Why did we receive so little? The members were very candid. Everybody is saying to themselves, “This is to build up the school. Let the Americans provide the money; they have lots of it! They have always done it before.” Tanzania had been independent for less than 10 years. They were still accustomed to the mzungu (white foreigner) providing everything that was needed. This included all that the church needed.

My heart sank. I had visions of the country, and especially the church in that country, taking off and doing great things for God. I used to tell my students that I was there to work myself out of a job. I told them that they shouldn’t be bringing a missionary to teach mathematics. There were lots of Tanzanians who were just as capable as I to do it. They shook their heads in disbelief. (As a matter of fact, I was the last missionary to teach math at Ikizu. When I left there at the end of 1971, we had two Tanzanians on the faculty who were qualified to teach mathematics.)

In 2003 we returned to Tanzania by invitation when the Adventist church was celebrating its 100^th anniversary of Adventism in that part of Africa. The celebration was held on the campus of Tanzania Adventist College (TAC). They needed funds to expand the college and to make it into an accredited university. I was privileged to observe how they had taken over fund raising in a very serious and professional way. Within a very short period of time. they had achieved the desired accreditation, and TAC became Arusha University. Last I heard they were seeking to build a second university. Since there are over three-quarters of a million believers, they desperately need more than one university.

We can all learn from the story of the widow’s mites. When we give as we are able—or step out in faith to give even what we think we cannot afford it, the Lord again multiplies as He did with the two coins the widow placed in the offering box.

Lord, expand our vision to encompass the fact that with Your help we can achieve far more than we can possibly imagine.

 

 

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[1] https://coinweek.com/ancient-coins/what-are-widows-mite-coins/

Sing and Shout

[1]

Psalm 95:1-2 World English Bible

95 Oh come, let’s sing to Yahweh.
    Let’s shout aloud to the rock of our salvation!
² Let’s come before his presence with thanksgiving.
    Let’s extol him with songs!

 

At Solusi in Zimbabwe and at Rusangu in Zambia and in many other churches in the newly independent republics in Africa, I had my soul transported into the grace and love of God by the singing. The people sang in full four-part harmony. They sang with deep spiritual joy that was entirely contagious.

As a kid I remember how we sang joyfully and forcefully enough to make the windows rattle. We loved those songs that were joyful, that had loud chords and praised the Lord.

Then I came to Ikizu in Tanzania. Most kids refused to sing. Those who did sang as though they were singing a dirge. It was as if they were forced to sing. They reminded me of the ancient Israelites who were marched off in chains to Babylon. They hung their harps on the bushes and sat and wept on the shores of the Euphrates.[2] Their captors expected them to sing, but, of course, they couldn’t

Then Pastor Mbwana joined the school. He evidently saw what I saw. However, he knew what to do to remedy the situation. He had a repertoire of Swahili gospel songs all set to the much-loved folk tunes of the people.

Suddenly the students came to life. Their singing was joyous and heartfelt. They made the walls reverberate. My heart leapt for joy. I must admit that the alien, to me, music made me do a double take. I felt alienated, strange. Was this really Christian music? This was music glorifying the gospel. It just wasn’t western type music. I decided to embrace it.

Many of my fellow missionaries, however, were shocked to their core. My music appreciation never has been very cultural or classical, so I didn’t resonate with their horror. They wanted to put a stop to it before it got out of hand. There was a distinct beat to the new music. Those who had long taught and been taught about the evils of Rock and Roll feared it might lead to that. I talked with them and pointed out to them the beautiful change that had come over the students’ singing and themselves. This finally got them to hold off their criticism and wait to see what would become of it.

Thank you, Lord, that Your salvation reaches all people in their own setting.

  

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[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=er1F8AvJBfk

[2] Psalm 137

GPS and theWisemen

 

[1]

Matthew 2:9 Holman Christian Standard Bible

⁹ After hearing the king, they went on their way. And there it was—the star they had seen in the east. It led them until it came and stopped above the place where the child was.

 

In the year 04 BC, electronic GPS was non-existent. It appears that many of the people never gave any thought to the shape of the earth they walked upon. Approximately 240 years previously, an African-Greek by the name of Eratosthenes, believing the earth to be round, set out to find its circumference. He knew that on summer solstice the sun was directly overhead in a deep well in what is now Aswan, Egypt. In other words, it cast no shadow there. By measuring the length of the shadow of a vertical pole in Alexandria and hiring some skilled surveyors to accurately measure the distance between Aswan and Alexandria, some simple mathematical proportions enabled him to calculate the circumference of the earth.

The U.S. has placed 31 Global Positioning Satellites in exact orbits around the earth so that each remains above a fixed spot on the equator of the earth. This way there are always at least 5 satellites within view of any point on earth—except the poles. Each satellite emits a distinct radio signal. Then a GPS device calculates the exact angle of four or five of these satellites. It then performs a series of very exact calculations and can tell the exact altitude, latitude, and longitude of the device. By pinpointing these “’tudes” on a map data base, we can see exactly where we are.

Think about the amount of knowledge and technology that is needed to perform this feat. Now imagine going back in time and trying to explain all of this to Eratosthenes! Undoubtedly, he would think that either you knew a bunch of magic, or you were stark raving insane.

If you have used a GPS to guide you to a place you were going, you know how it can occasionally actually mislead. One time, in the arid country northeast of Denver, Colorado, I asked the GPS to take me to the nearest Walmart. It got me off the freeway and led me along a dirt trail to a spot with no buildings in sight—just extremely dry grass and a few cottonwood trees. Another time, I was driving across a miles-long bridge in Louisiana when it demanded that I make a right turn off the bridge and into the bayou. A third time, while I was driving east across the Yukon in Canada, the GPS positioned me 50 miles north of the highway I was driving on. And I could go on and on.

The wisemen, or magi, were following a star—precursor to the GPS—to find the infant Christ. It led them directly to Herod’s office. They must have felt like I did on the occasions mentioned in the previous paragraph. It probably took them several days before the word came from King Herod that he blessed them on their way to Bethlehem and asked to be informed so he could come and worship the Christ, too. This showed God’s divine purpose to alert the Jewish equivalent of Washington DC to the birth of the Messiah. That evening, when they left the city, they rejoiced to see the star back in its place. Again, they followed it until it actually led them to the exact place where the Joseph of Nazareth family was living.

Father in Heaven, we are relying on you to lead us accurately into your kingdom.

 

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[1] https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/eco-catholic/seeking-synchronicity-star-bethlehem-story

Holier Than Thou!

[1]

Romans 14:10 Good News Translation

¹⁰ You then, who eat only vegetables—why do you pass judgment on others? And you who eat anything—why do you despise other believers? All of us will stand before God to be judged by him.

 

Mom hated meat of any form. She had grown up a vegetarian, and by default she brought her family up as vegetarians. She and Dad had a prenuptial contract: Dad would never ask her to cook meat for him, and Dad could bring home guests anytime he wanted to.

Over their early married years Mom started to grow warts on her hands. She would show them to doctors and they would joke about her playing with frogs—but nothing they did cured her. She became very self-conscious about shaking hands with people. No one knew what might have caused them on her. Eventually she had well over twenty warts on one hand some fifteen on the other. Many of them were very big.

Several people suggested to her that if she ate meat, the warts might go away. Mom didn’t believe them. She knew that there are plenty or meat eaters who also have warts, so she poopooed the idea.

Our family were missionaries in Africa and we had our first furlough back to the States in 1946 and 1947. On our way back to Africa we took the SS Vink, a Norwegian cargo ship from New York to Lobito Bay, Angola. There were only four families, all returning missionaries to Africa that were passengers on board. Being a cargo ship there was a limited range of food available.

“I think I’ll try eating meat, since our diet is so limited on board here.” Mom said. And for three weeks she ate a heavy meat diet—and hated every meal. However, by the time she got to Africa, the warts had begun to shrink. So for the next six weeks after reaching home in Africa, she continued to eat meat. The warts all shrank and disappeared, and never returned. Mom switched back to a vegetarian diet for the rest of her life. The warts never returned.

Good Adventists in most countries are also vegetarians. Mom got a lot of criticism from her fellow Adventists for eating meat. She would explain that 1. She hates meat; and 2. She ate it only to take away the warts. They would reply, with a superior look in their self-righteous eyes, “Yes, people will find any excuse to eat meat!”

As a matter of interest, Mom died when she was 66 years old. Dad married again. His second wife also cooked vegetarian meals. Dad died at almost 101 years of age. Both of his wives predeceased him.

Lord, preserve us from judging others by our own perceived standards of righteousness.

 

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[1] https://www.abelandcole.co.uk/veggie-christmas-feast-box-organic 

Enthusiasm, Even for Work

 

[1]

Colossians 3:23 Holman Christian Standard Bible

²³ Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically, as something done for the Lord and not for men,

 

In high school I was required to do somewhere between 4 and 8 hours of physical work a week. My first year there I worked for my math teacher Ken Thomas. He had created a little industry making honey frames to go in bee hives. With very primitive equipment he set up a mass production system that taught me quite a bit. He left at the end of the year, and I have no recollection of what I did for physical work my last two years. I assure you I had no enthusiasm for what I was doing. Part of that was that we got paid a tickey an hour. That was the equivalent of about 3¢ an hour. Even in those days that was a total insult to anybody. When my mother learned about it, she was furious, “I can’t even get you work clothes at that rate!” she fumed.

When I went to college at Andrews University, my whole attitude had changed. I shopped around at various work opportunities and found very little that would fit in my schedule. The head of custodial, Art Davis, saw me vainly searching for work: “I’ll give you work” he offered. I jumped for it. The next Sunday I reported for work. There was a call for all students to help reap ornamental gourds on the farm, so Mr. Davis sent a bunch of us over to help the university farm. They had planted a whole field of these pretty little fall decorative items.

I grabbed a bag and started picking all the good ones. It was back-breaking work because the gourds were all on small vines close to the ground. But I worked cheerfully and with enthusiasm. I didn’t realize that some people were watching the whole group of us who were doing this. Word got back to Mr. Davis. When I reported for work the next day, I discovered I had not only a job but also a friend in Mr. Davis. He told me he appreciated my enthusiasm and work ethic. He gave me the best paying jobs on campus and enabled me to pay my own way through college until I graduated.

I confess that the thought had not entered my head that I was doing this for the Lord. But over the next few years, I discovered that a lot of the bosses I had were not like Mr. Davis. They wanted to get the absolute most out of me and pay me the absolute least they could get away with. After the first year of full-time teaching and abuse, I said to my wife, Sylvia, “I have decided that I am working for the Lord, but humans are paying me. I will continue to work for the Lord.” She concurred with me. God saw to it that I always had a job and, although I never got rich, things went better and better for me and my family. I gained a lot of satisfaction from my work, and now we are comfortably retired. Praise the Lord!

Thank You, Lord, for prospering us and for giving us a satisfying life.

 

 

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[1] https://www.ebpsupply.com/blog/how-to-use-floor-buffer-vs-burnisher

Water on Mars?

 

 [1]

1 Peter 5:8-9

Holman Christian Standard Bible

⁸ Be serious! Be alert! Your adversary the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour. ⁹ Resist him and be firm in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are being experienced by your fellow believers throughout the world.

 

When the serpent (devil) tempted Eve, he had very little to go on. He used ventriloquism to make it appear that the serpent was actually talking and promised Eve that, as the serpent, had gained the ability to speak by eating the forbidden fruit, she, Eve, would gain precious knowledge by eating it. She was tricked, and all the evil in the world today resulted from her falling for it.

Likewise, the devil will stoop to any deviant, low, and mean device to capture us. Shortly after I got to high school, we had a discussion in a Friday night meeting about things to do on the Sabbath. Some students suggested that since God is love, and that he gave us love, including physical love, we should read novels about love. A lot of students thought that was a good idea.

I countered that since God is love and, in the commandment, He stated that the seventh day is the “Sabbath of the Lord Thy God,” therefore, we ought to be reading about our love for God instead of physical love. My reasoning sort of brought the discussion to a close.

Several of my fellow students approached me afterwards and told me that my reasoning was very convincing. They would appreciate it if I used it “on our side.” Their compliments fed my ego, and I began looking for places where I could support “our” side, and there were lots of places that I could. Some of those places actually supported what I considered to be the Lord’s side. On the other hand, it is also easy to use reasoning to support evil.

For example, just the other day, I overheard someone commenting that as scientists have examined some global structures on Mars, they have come to the conclusion that, early on, Mars was covered by water. Those same scientists examine the very same structures on earth and conclude that the earth was never covered by water. Why not? Because that would support the concept of a Genesis flood, and that is unconscionable.

Oh Lord, may my reasoning be guided by your Holy Spirit!

 

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[1] https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/what-happened-to-marss-water-it-is-still-trapped-there

Hurricane Elsa 2021

 

[1]

Psalm 20:1

Good News Translation

May the Lord answer you when you are in trouble!
    May the God of Jacob protect you!

 

This past summer we had an appointment at the Uchee Pines Lifestyle Center. We spent the week before our appointment visiting relatives in Florida—something we don’t get to do very often. While in central Florida we watched the development of Hurricane Elsa in the Atlantic. It moved steadily west and finally crossed the southern end of Florida. That slowed it down, and it degenerated into a tropical storm. But once it was over the Caribbean, it picked up extra energy and then whirled around like a snake and came back at us, like a vicious adder, to strike the northern part of Florida.

During the actual time it stuck, we had to drive through that northern part of Florida in order to get to our appointments on time. It had rained every day while we were in Florida, but that was simply kids’ play, compared to Elsa.

As we headed north that day, we prayed that the Lord would protect us in the storm. The wind was fierce and buffeted us relentlessly for four hours. It rained and poured as we groped our way north across the heart of the storm.

We have a cap on the back of our Ford pickup where we had a bed ready made for us to simply climb in and go to sleep. Driven by the wind, the rain came in around the edges of the cap and soaked the edges of our mattress and sleeping bags.

But the God of Jacob indeed protected us. Nothing we had was really damaged. We experienced no accident while driving up the freeway with its hurrying cars and trucks, some passing us or we passing them.

Finally, well into Georgia we stopped at a restaurant for some dinner. It was still pouring down rain. They were out of most of the items on their menu. We were served something and started to eat. Sylvia noticed water pouring down an inside wall of the restaurant. I said, “Don’t tell them, or they’ll drive us out!” Then the electricity went out. Probably the rain had short circuited the electricity. We finished the first part of our order. They couldn’t finish the other part because of the power outage.

The manager suddenly panicked at the developments. She phoned the owner who demanded that we evacuate the restaurant in case the flat roof caved in. She told us to leave. When I offered to pay her, she calmed down and told us they couldn’t charge us for all this. We left in haste, thanking the God of Jacob for His intervention.

We found a cozy motel in Cordele, Georgia, and spent a dry night with thanksgiving. Although Elsa had wet our bed in the back of the pickup, it dried out reasonably quickly within the next few days.

Thank You, God of Jacob, for protecting us from the storm and the hazards of freeway driving in it.

 

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[1] https://www.baynews9.com/fl/tampa/news/2021/07/05/tropical-storm-watches-extended-from-bay-area-northward  You can see the outline of Florida in white across the $1.2 billion damage hurricane Elsa. We drove across the main diameter of the storm in a northwesterly direction, from central Florida into Georgia.

God Thunders Marvelously

Job 37:5
King James Version
⁵ God thundereth marvelously with his voice; great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend.

 

God communicates with us in many ways. Sometimes He roars in such a way that everybody knows He is communicating with us. This happened with the Israelites at the base of Mount Horeb when God spoke the Ten Commandments out of fire and thick clouds of smoke. This happened when Christ was on the cross and darkness enveloped everything as the curtain between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place ripped apart from top to bottom.

When God spoke to Elijah after the marvelous appearance on Mount Carmel, some powerful events occurred in nature. But Elijah recognized that these were not God’s communications—they were simply sent to see if he was awake:

1 Kings 19:11-13 And he said, “Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord.” And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: and after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, “What doest thou here, Elijah?”

God was in the still small voice. God spoke to Abraham, maybe 4 or 5 times; sometimes only in a dream. When God speaks to us, it is usually in a still small voice—a voice that we can choose to ignore because it is so small—maybe to our eternal peril.

There’s an old story, probably apocryphal, that I’m sure you’ve heard. Everything had gone wrong for a man. Finally, he said to himself, “Let me see what God wants me to do.” He opened the Bible at random, put his finger on a text and it read that Judas “went and hanged himself.” (Matthew 27:5). “No,” he said to himself “God can’t be talking to me there.” He closed his Bible and opened it randomly again and read, “Go and do thou likewise.” (Luke 10:37). So, he committed suicide.

Consequently, how does one know whether this still small voice is indeed God’s voice? Or is it rather a suggestion from our own inner desires? Or, much worse still, is it the devil making a suggestion?

Isaiah counseled “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” (Isaiah 8:20) If it is against the direct commands in the Bible—it isn’t God speaking. That brings up the question:  How do we know whether it is against the direct biblical counsel?

We need to read the Bible daily to keep reminding ourselves what the Bible does teach!

Please, Lord, keep speaking to us, and help us recognize Your voice and do what You are asking us to do.

 

 

 

 

 

The Universal Conundrum

 

2 Corinthians 5:21

Holman Christian Standard Bible

²¹ He made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

 

I was talking with someone recently about sin in the world and our individual sin. The conversation came around to the fact that God made a plan for sinners. That plan was that Christ would assume our sin. Since He had no sin of His own, He was not alienated from God. Since we have sinned, we have earned exactly one thing—death. There was no way around this. Sin is simply rebellion against God. Since God has given us life, our rebellion means we automatically reject the life God equipped us with. We must automatically die.

Christ—Who is God—decided before there was any sin and before man was created, that man was His responsibility and that He would actually bear our sin and take our just reward—death—if man were to sin. Since He took our death, we don’t have to die.

Because of this gift, Christ—God—considers us to be righteous in His eyes. Therefore, this gift has actually made us righteous. We have only to accept the decision God made in our case before we existed.

My friend responded that there was no way he could accept this. It defied logic. He had sinned; therefore, he must reap the result, namely death. The Apostle Paul faced this same logical conundrum. He exclaimed in Romans 11:33:

³³ Oh, the depth of the riches

both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God!

How unsearchable His judgments

and untraceable His ways!

God, the cosmological supreme court, has made this decision. We cannot do anything else but accept it with gratitude and not die or suffer the consequences of refusing to accept His gift.

Thank You, Lord, for the infinite grace You extend to us!
 

 

Worry About the Future

 

[1]

Matthew 6:34
King James Version
³⁴ Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

 

We had a much-loved teacher of creative writing at our Goeske Senior Center. When the COVID-19 struck us in 2020 she started teaching us using Zoom. This continued through January of 2021. Since the class was virtual, the students didn’t have to be local, nor did they have to be older than 50. She gained several international students. She was having a bit of trouble with one of the international students trying to dictate what she should do. This added to her already stressful life. She was a cancer survivor, and her health was already tenuous. Then in February we lost all contact with her. Her landlord found she had passed away in her own apartment.

I chatted with several of her students, and they all wanted us to continue as a workshop. So, I got a Zoom account and contacted those I had e-mails for. Since then, we have met virtually. Inlandia Institute works closely to promote the fine arts in the Inland Empire—a group of inland suburbs of Los Angeles.  They have taken us under their wing and are helping support us.

My wife, Sylvia, is a gifted writer and poet and has also been a strong supporter of the workshop. Monday, amongst her many projects, she was worried that she wouldn’t have something written for our workshop. After the workshop on Tuesday, she came in to me and mentioned that her blood pressure was 199/68. Those numbers don’t mean a lot to me, but I do know that the 199 is way too high. We quickly dashed down to a local urgent medical care. They were extremely helpful and got her to a doctor who prescribed some medicine to, hopefully, lower that number.

I couldn’t help but think of this verse where Christ warns us about worrying about the tomorrow because tomorrow has enough worries of its own. In this case it certainly did. We covet your prayers for her healing.

Oh Lord, I pray for Your healing hand on Sylvia and for Your continuing support of our endeavors.

 

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[1] https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/high-blood-pressure-why-me-201605029288

Serengeti National Park

 

[1]

Psalm 104:24-25

King James Version

²⁴ O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.

²⁵ So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts.

 

We were poor. All of the other missionaries at Ikizu Secondary owned a car. We could not have afforded to put gas in it, even had we owned one. So, we had to hitch a ride anytime we wanted to go anywhere. From my meagre earnings I had managed to buy an SLR camera and a 200 to 400 mm zoom lens.

We lived on the northern edge of the great Serengeti National Park. Often on a Sabbath (Saturday) afternoon or a Sunday, I would talk with one of the other missionaries—never the Kings who had no sense of adventure—about what we might do. The only real entertainment within driving distance—the Serengeti.

I would almost always ride shotgun while Gary or Fritz or George or Dave or Bob drove. I seemed to have a sixth sense when it came to the trackless steppe county of Africa. Even though the grass was four feet high, and the bush and trees grew with no pattern, I always knew the most direct route to the only ford across the Grumeti River and the way home. There was no GPS in those days.

Upstream or downstream, the Grumeti housed the great crocodiles and even greater hippos. We would often risk life and limb by stealing on foot through the dense brush along the river to snap pictures of the crocs or hippos. Of course, this same thorn brush often hid the lions and leopards awaiting their prey. Hunters claimed you could always smell a lion from 20 feet away by the foul smell of rotting flesh caught between its teeth. I was fortunate not to have ever gotten that close on foot. Every year we got reports of someone’s having been carried off by a lion or disemboweled by a leopard.

Out on the plains we saw the great animals, 5-ton elephants flapping their ears to drive off the tsetse fly, tall giraffes delicately picking off the leaves from between the vicious thorns of flat-topped acacia trees. When we were lucky, we would arrive to experience the hundreds of thousands of wildebeest and zebra during their annual migration towards Lake Victoria. They left the plains totally denuded of grass and blotched with pungent manure. Then we could see the smaller animals: warthogs running with their tails pointing straight up, maybe the sneaky jackal. Always we saw various stately antelope that varied from the eland, as great as a bull moose, to the terrier-size tommy (Thompson’s gazelle) with its perpetual-motion tail. 

As the sun sank towards the lake in the west, we would drive back home, enriched by the vista of God’s varied handiwork. Back at Ikizu, missionaries gathered as Sylvia or Charlotte played hymns on the piano and we hand cranked vanilla ice-cream and popped corn, renewed for a new week of endless work.

Thanks, Lord, that we have never gone wanting and for the enjoyment we have received in spite of periods of poverty.

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[1] https://www.exploring-africa.com/en/tanzania/western-corridor-and-grumeti-reserve-western-serengeti/south-grumeti-river

Chris Oberg

[1]

Isaiah 58:10

Christian Standard Bible

¹⁰ and if you offer yourself to the hungry,
and satisfy the afflicted one,
then your light will shine in the darkness,
and your night will be like noonday.

 

Chris Oberg has been our lead pastor for 13 years. This is a long time for an Adventist pastor to remain at the same church. But where could she go? This church is one of the largest churches in the South-Eastern Conference of the Adventist Church. Most other conferences are not hiring female pastors.

She has long fought for the acceptance of women as equals in the sight of God and especially in the the church. One would expect that, of course, because of her gender. She has become more and more interested in helping the unfortunate, the discriminated against, the impoverished in our community. She took in the LGBTQ+ community and created a place for them to worship and be accepted. She assigned a pastor to foster a separate building for health and wellness.

Chris resigned her post as lead Pastor of the La Sierra University Church to promote the cause of the less fortunate in our Riverside area. The last count of homeless in Riverside County found 2,884[2] individuals. There are many more who are desperate for the bare necessities of life.

Now with this new move, she should be fulfilling the prerequisites of this promise in the book of Isaiah, and we should see her career blossom and her fame grow. Her work should become known everywhere, even in the dark places of this world. Go for it, Chris!

We pray for God’s guidance in pursuing her new mission. We also pray for the choice of a new pastor for our church!

 

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[1] https://www.adventistreview.org/141510-16

[2] https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/health/2020/12/28/riverside-county-homeless-point-time-count-canceled-2021/4066741001/

Pray for Our Government

 

[1]

1 Timothy 2:1-2

Good News Translation

2 First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, requests, and thanksgivings be offered to God for all people; ² for kings and all others who are in authority, that we may live a quiet and peaceful life with all reverence toward God and with proper conduct.

 

First of all, I want to thank God that we are living a quiet and peaceful life. This past summer we left our home for over two months and had no fear that anyone would break in and steal. We parked in Walmart parking lots all over this country, climbed into the bed of our pickup, and slept soundly in the full knowledge that God would look after us. I walk my dog, Katie up and down our streets near home at all hours of the night and day and fear no evil. We have been spoiled because we have done this all our lives. I remember walking from Nyamuswa to Ikizu in “the heart of darkness” of Africa at about 2:00 in the morning without fear.

We had a blatant liar as our president for four years. I followed him on Twitter and was stunned by the out and out lies he told. The first thing our Jesuit president did when he went to the climate conference in Europe this month was to visit the Pope. Now is indeed the time for every Christian, no matter what your denomination is, to pray for our government that we may continue to live a quiet and peaceful life.

We had our governor ban all meetings in churches in 2020. Our church responded without a murmur, shutting us out of the church and adjacent schools. I was stunned again. We have been championing religious liberty and yet knuckled under without so much as a whimper? There were several churches in our area, however, who continued to meet in defiance to the governor’s command. They filed a lawsuit against the governor that went all the way to the Supreme Court. Praise the Lord! The Supreme Court ruled that the governor had breached the separation of church and state clause of our constitution and exonerated the churches. The governor never apologized, but he quit mentioning churches in his lockdowns.

Again, it is getting more and more urgent that we do pray for our rulers “and those who are in authority that we may live a quiet and peaceful life with all reverence toward God.”

O Lord, in the face of global crime and corruption, grant us continued peace and quiet that we may share Your love with others and live with reverence for You.

 

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[1] https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2021/10/29/video-pope-biden-meeting-2021-241750

Joe Corson

 

Hebrews 11:1

Holman Christian Standard Bible

11 Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.

 This summer we stopped in to see my former college roommate, Joe Corson. I had last seen him about 2 years earlier. When we left him at that time, he was unable to walk due to his weight. It seemed that every organ was shutting down, but his faith was strong. He knew that Christ had died to save him.

 I said with sadness to Sylvia when we left: “This is the last time we will see him! He has deteriorated so much!”

 Then he got medical help. He received both physical therapy and occupational therapy. When we saw him this August, he had lost 93 pounds. He was full of vim, vigor, and vitality. He had plans to resume his quilting, at which he had to stand for fairly long periods of time. He showed me a movie he had taken of three bears—a mama and two cubs—attacking his backyard bird feeder.

 Then he got a urinary infection, and it took him. His son found him dead last Sabbath morning. But he died and full of belief in his salvation and the soon coming of the Lord!

 It is nearing our time now. I'll be 80 in January; but I too believe that in spite of all my inadequacies, Jesus has saved me.

 Thank You, Jesus Christ, for Your marvelous unexplainable love and mighty power. Come quickly, Lord Jesus!

 

Persons with Great Influence

 

[1]

 

John 3:20-21

Holman Christian Standard Bible

²⁰ For everyone who practices wicked things hates the light and avoids it, so that his deeds may not be exposed. ²¹ But anyone who lives by the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be shown to be accomplished by God.”

 

Christ spoke very straight to Nicodemus. He gently cut him down to size. When Nicodemus quibbled over being born again, Christ chided him for not understanding what He was saying. Now He is in effect saying, why did you come to me in the dark of night? Are you afraid that you’re doing evil by coming to me at night? Hey man! If you’re doing right then let everyone see you do it.

When the Jews wished to prosecute Christ without first giving Him a fair trial, Nicodemus brought them up short by reminding them that their own law insisted on their being fair. But Nicodemus didn’t reveal his belief in Christ in front of the critical Jews or show his true colors until Christ was hanging on the cross. When Joseph of Arimathea, another secret follower, took Christ’s body down to bury it, Nicodemus came along with 100 pounds of myrrh and aloes to embalm His body. After that he used his wealth to help the struggling new church survive during those first few years after Christ’s death.[2]

When I was falsely accused of defaming the Tanzanian flag, Thomas Lisso, a member of parliament and my former principal, “just happened to be” at each of at least four councils that considered the accusation and spoke up strongly in my defense. I was very thankful that this man, whom the church condemned for going into politics, was willing to stand up and show his true colors. He became a true force for right on a national level.[3]

Thank you, Lord, for having people of great influence ready to help Your work in times of great need.

 

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[1] https://bibleteachingnotes.blog/2018/10/19/john-3/

[2] E.G. White Acts of the Apostles p105; and Desire of Ages p. 177

[3] See my forth coming Ikizu—A Memoir

The Grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ

[1]

 

2 Peter 3:9

Holman Christian Standard Bible

⁹ The Lord does not delay His promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.

When I was 12, I was sent off to boarding school. Up until that time I had led a very sheltered life. I attended a preparatory school connected with a college where Dad was a very respected teacher. Over the next six years I picked up my “street smarts.” Originally I found it expedient to stand up for the opinions of the authorities. I regarded their rules, their opinions, their decisions as sacrosanct.

This submersion in boarding school was like taking large helpings of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Being a somewhat normal if nerdy teenager, I tried lots of forbidden things just for the kicks. I tried alcohol and tobacco, shoplifting, and other obvious sins. Worse, I learned subterfuge, deceit, and general distrust of the establishment.

The establishment had taught me the legal aspects of Christianity. They taught me to read inspiration their way. Their way supported church authority at all costs. Therefore I read the Bible with their interpretation. I read the Spirit of Prophecy with their interpretation. Everything I read showed me how evil I had become. Indeed, I quickly recognized that I was damned. Furthermore, there was no way I could change that status.  This led me deeper and deeper into a sinful, lawless life. My fellow students were quick to urge me on in my descent towards hell.

But God had decided to defeat the triumph of Satan and evil over my life. He led me to Germany. I went there to learn German—at another boarding school. This time my fellow students were all German. Knowing no German initially, I felt cut off from my fellow humans. To compensate, I attended a Sunday church on the American military base and joined its choir, merely for companionship. They spoke English, so we could understand each other.

These new friends came from all walks of life and all religious persuasions. Some came to church for exactly the same reason as I had—for companionship. They had as little Christianity as I did. Others came because they loved Jesus and wanted fellowship with other Christians. One of these made it his mission to introduce Jesus to me.

Yes, I knew Jesus. He carried around a big black book with all of my misdeeds in it underlined in red. He was seeking to punish me for all of my evil thoughts and actions. This new Jesus I now met was a savior. At first, I didn’t really know what that word “Savior” meant. But with long patience, this missionary taught me. He had a very simplistic understanding of Jesus, even childlike. But that’s exactly what Jesus had declared as essential to being a Christian. Finally I accepted this new concept of Jesus. Then I spent many years unlearning what my early training had so successfully drummed into every facet of my psyche. I was not doomed but, praise God, forgiven and a child of God.

Thank You, Lord, for working out things for good. Help me to communicate this with those You bring to me.

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[1] https://www.westminster.org.uk/school-life/pastoral-care/boarding/