I handed my digital camera to Isaac Saturday. At first most of his pictures had a partial finger in each one, but after we showed him how to hold it he did fine. It was so cute to see him walk around taking pictures of everything while holding the camera like an English tea cup with his fingers spread out. I thought you’d enjoy seeing his pictures. Of course, he gets his talent from Grammie.
We have been given a great gift from God this week – a new mini van. We have been saving since Christmas last year, looking for a great deal on a mini van to save gas (Our big white van is a hog!) The picture below is for those of you that we pass on Sunday mornings. Don’t just look for a big white van or a red car any more. Look for a navy blue Chrysler mini van with a cheesy looking, grinning man in the driver seat. And BTW Keith & Nancy…we’ll still be swerving in front of you to get your attention! Elizabeth, flash those lights so I know it’s you! I’ve clued in Jonathan to let me know when he sees all of you – I tend to be oblivious!
I’m not supposed to tell, so keep this under your hat! My mom, pictured here at Christmas with Katie and Isaac, turned 80 years old today. It’s my favorite picture of her because she so adores Isaac! She’s on my Facebook friends listing if you’d like to send her a b’day wish.
Her favorite things to do are read, be with her great grandkids, quilt and sew, visit with family, and go to church. She’s in the process of writing a cookbook at the request of her dentist featuring meals that can be eaten by those who have just had dental surgery. She lives in the basement apartment just below us and plans to move with us to Wausau, Wisconsin. She’s been our greatest support during all our ministry years, including participating in the raising of our special needs children. God has given her so many years because she’s dedicated her life to serving others.
Happy birthday, Mom!
The Jones family was successful in finding a house in Wausau to rent. It was a reasonably priced brick house, with four bedrooms, a nice large basement, and located very near the church. Please continue to pray that the Lord will continue to make their way straight. Change is hard but exciting! And, while you have the Lord’s ear, please bend it just a little longer and ask that He sell ours quickly so we can embark on our own hunting expedition!
It’s stuff like this that makes my day just a little sweeter. Below is an email I received from Jillian tonight.
It is a good thing to be proud of your daughter.
Mom,
I met a girl from Japan today that is in my keyboarding class. She was amazed that I didn’t treat her differently like other students did. She said it was like I didn’t see her skin or hear her accent. I laughed at her and told her that I was different too and that I knew what is was like to be different. Then I showed her a picture of the boys and me. She was ecstatic, and had to show all her Asian friends. So now I have an Asian family. 🙂
God has seen fit to plant our family at Fundamental Baptist in Battle Creek for the time being. And, once again, God did good!
Not only are we enjoying, and I MEAN ENJOYING a time of rest, but we’re soaking up some wonderful Bible preaching! Over the past couple of weeks we’ve heard some messages about human nature that have allowed me to categorize experiences I’ve had with some people in my life. It’s easy to see that people aren’t living right, but it’s not so easy to put Scripture to it other than just using verses that talk about how people don’t love God. Here’s some of the analyzing I’ve done this week with the help of Pastor Ron and his wonderful grasp of the Scriptures.
Read Mark chapter seven. There are three types of people that Jesus spoke of in this passage: (1) the scorners, (2) the simple, (3) and those with understanding. There are many passages that tell us to smite the scorner so the simple will learn and reprove those who have understanding, or those who wish to learn. In Mark chapter seven, Jesus talks about the Pharisees who were hypocrites, or scorners (vs. 1-13), the crowd who were unlearned, or the simple (vs. 14-16), and the followers of Jesus who were students of the Scriptures (v. 17).
The Pharisees were scorners, not accepting what Jesus had to say. They saw their traditions as being a spiritual necessity. They were clueless as to what spiritual maturity was. They thought they were the only ones who were spiritual, which was very far from reality! They looked down on others as being less than themselves and lived the “Performance Based Christianity.” Rules and traditions were their forté.
The crowd fit into the category of the simple. They followed Jesus because everyone else did. Jesus spoke to them in parables because they had no understanding. Some believed, some walked away confused or unconcerned. Small children could be labeled as “simple.” I’ve known many an adult too who would fit here. These are the folks that don’t reason well or have trouble applying truth. They typically wander through life unconcerned about spiritual things.
The disciples were those with understanding. These are the ones who questioned Jesus, seeking the truth and applying what they learn. These are the people that most Christian workers love to spend time with teaching and guiding. They’re the easy ones – the ones we don’t have to motivate to seek out God’s truth. In my experience, these folks are the ones who get most of the attention in churches. I’ll leave it to you to decide if this is as it should be. I will also leave you to decide which category YOU fit into.
Proverbs 19:25 “Smite a scorner, and the simple will beware: and reprove one that hath understanding, and he will understand knowledge.”
Pastor Randy King preached on faithfulness the Sunday we visited his church in Oshkosh. He made many good points, but the one that made an impression on me was based on Romans 3:1-4:
“What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God. For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.”
Basically, these verses are asking why we are so affected spiritually by others and their failures. If we look to man, we’ll always be disappointed. But even so, if someone close to us falls into sin, do their choices make the faith of God without effect? Is God’s truth negated by their behavior? God is Truth. Does that change by what man may or may not do?
Pastor King said,”You are smaller than a hypocrite if you hide behind him.” If we stop serving God, get sidetracked or become unfaithful because of another person, then our object of faith is a person and not God.
1. The behavior of others ought not stop us. (vs.3)
2. We are given the gifts we need to be faithful.
3. Those with the truth are held to a higher standard and expectations. We have a duty and more opportunity to live for Him. (Luke 12:48)
4. Even if others fall, especially if they were in our sphere of influence, we need to remain faithful anyway.
I have seen many people fall into sin. I’ve seen teachers, pastors, friends, children, etc. choose to live outside of God’s will and pursue the world. If my faith was built on people, I would have quit a long time ago. Besides, how will those who wander away from God ever find their way back if I’m not up there on the hill holding up the lantern?
Adam has been called to be the pastor of Harvest Baptist Church in Wausau, Wisconsin. He was unanimously voted in without any formal candidating. In a couple of weeks they’ll be traveling back to look for part time work and a place to live. Please be in prayer as they make their way into their new ministry. So many exciting things have been happening in our family! We are in awe of our wonderful God.
I am always apprehensive when going to a new church while on vacation. I watch and wait to see what uncomfortable thing is going to happen next. But it was different this time. The people were friendly. The music was God honoring and very enjoyable. When we stood to introduce ourselves as visitors and we told them why we were in Wisconsin, they all clapped for Andrew and several after the service thanked him for his service in Iraq. The pastor’s sermon was amazing and just what I needed to hear. He was down to earth and used lots of Scripture to make his points (I love that). I wasn’t planning on taking notes, but I was compelled to not let it go. I will definitely use what he taught today to help others along the way.
On the way out I was going to tell him that I appreciated him and his church but when we walked out, he was distracted by someone and we walked right past him. But true to form of a pastor who truly has God’s hand on his life, when he saw us, his visitors, walk by without being greeted, he stopped his conversation abruptly and chased us down so he would not miss the opportunity to make us feel welcome.
Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about!
What an encouragement to me to see that there really are other churches out there that are doing what they’re supposed to do. Here’s the web site of Wyldewood Baptist Church. If I lived in Oshkosh, WI, I’d go to this church.
“God reserves His best for those who leave the choice to Him.” Pastor Randy King
I just spent about a half hour reading through a site that was set up as a parody to a supposedly independent Baptist church. It was pretty shocking that anyone could be so bitter, bitter enough to devote an entire website to such a thing. They had also set up a message board. When I started reading it, at first I thought it was just a church that was extreme in its beliefs. But then after reading more, I realized it had to be a spoof, a parody, on an actual church. Wikipedia had quite a long description of the fake church and gave the name of the actual church it was spoofing. Even though the actual church called itself Baptist, anyone could see they were not the Baptists that we all know. They were indeed extremists – perhaps you’ve heard of them? They’re the ones who were picketing funerals of US soldiers who died in battle in Iraq.
The thing I find sad is that these people, both sets of extremists, are giving so much energy to their “causes.” I find it sad that the so called “Baptist Church” that this site is spoofing is actually out there furthering their own agenda and inflicting pain on those they are supposed to be pointing to Jesus! I also find it sad that the parody on this church is focused on slamming this false church rather than working to get the truth out themselves. I do agree such churches are against all that we as Christians believe. How do you prove a stick is crooked? Lay it next to a straight stick and our eyes will tell us the truth. You can talk until you are blue in the face, outlining the many heretical beliefs of this church, but if we would just show the world our Jesus, then the they would see the truth and it would identify the false churches for us all, unsaved and Christians alike. The world isn’t fooled – they can identify a true Christian. Isn’t it strange that the world can identify who are true Christians, but the Christians themselves are not sure?
We are the only Bible many people will read. We need to make sure it’s a good read! We need to show people our Christ, the One who is the answer – not just how to dress or discipline or conduct ourselves, though these things can be God honoring. It’s about Him, not our rules, agendas or even preferences. It’s about Him. Performance based Christianity is sending many people to hell. The unsaved and even Christians look at the rules and standards and judge them to be superficial and a religion unto themselves. This is not what we’re to give to the world. Let’s just give them Christ! It’s about Him. He will build a person’s character, standards, and even preferences. Yes, it is good to teach proper Christian behavior. The Bible has many precepts and guidelines to tell us how to act, speak, and present ourselves. But our focus must be on Christ if we’re going to minister to a lost world. It’s about Him.
Please don’t think I’m telling you to throw out your standards, certainly not! If they are based on pleasing God and a desire to represent Him, then keep them! Make sure your lifestyle is one that is God-honoring and points to Christ. I’m the first to be discouraged when I see a fellow Christian adopt a worldly lifestyle or begin to love the things of the world. But let’s make sure what we do, who we represent, what we say and think, are OF GOD, BECAUSE OF GOD and OUR OFFERING TO GOD. It’s all about Him, not us. Our efforts must be in glorifying Him, not ourselves. To do anything else is purely self-glorifying.