Joint meeting in Salem

Salem Iglesia Worship Team

     On February 12, most of our OLE Church Planters congregations gathered at Court St. Christian Church for a joint meeting.  Court St. C.C. is where Iglesia de Cristo, "Ciudad de Paz" meets for their Spanish services every Sunday at 1:30 p.m.  Sunday School starts at 12:30 p.m. and Thursday Bible study and prayer time is at 6:30 p.m.
     At the joint meeting, or culto unido, we had somewhere between 250 and 300 in attendance.  Every church participated in the service in some way, and the Salem congregation had spent Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning preparing a delicious soup called Pozole to share with the visiting congregations after the worship service.
     Our speaker this time was the 2012 president of the National Hispanic Christian Convention, which will take place at Clovis, CA, this coming July.  Our brother, Frank Flores, is the minister of the Christian church in Clovis, and brought not only an excellent message for our group, but also brought information about the convention in July.  He also brought along his wife and three sons on the trip north, and we enjoyed getting to know them as well and sharing some Oregon hospitality with them.
During the worship service, each church also brought special music and the Salem worship team did an excellent job of leading all of us in congregational singing.

Special speaker, Frank Flores, of Colvis, CA

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Special Music

Worship Time

Court St.Christian Church Sanctuary

Fellowship around the table...Pozole!

The RAINS have come....

Winter started in full swing in mid-January, 2012, with heavy snows in the mountains, rains in the valleys and evacuations from several Salem area small towns because of flooding.  Sand bags were seen everywhere and folks were scrambling to get to high ground after attempts to "stem the tide" failed in many areas.

This is a typical street scene from a flooded area near the airport in Salem.  Turner and Scio residents had much worse flooding as both towns have "streams" running through them...literally!

Driving through the areas that were flooded just last week and seeing all the sand bags still stacked in place where the water was running previously, I am reminded of Ezekiel 22:30, "I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none." 

In the ministry of OLE Church Planters among our Spanish-speaking residents, God is providing men and women to build walls and stand in the gap.  I have written on this aspect of our ministry before, but it needs repeating.  It has been a tremendous blessing to see training programs start up in our various Hispanic congregations.  Most of our churches are now involved in some form of "advanced discipleship" or leadership preparation.

Some of our students are branching out from their home congregations and the training programs there to now minister in other congregations as well as in their home churches.  This is proving to be another opportunity for mentoring to these faithful disciples as they seek to prepare themselves for serving the Lord in a full-time ministry.  The churches themselves thus become the training field for future pastors, worship leaders or Sunday school teachers.  What a novel idea!  These "Timothys" are receiving practicum on a local church level in the areas of ministry that God has called them to. Please continue to pray for these faithful servants and their teachers/mentors as they juggle their schedules of full-time secular jobs, their families, their biblical studies and their ministries.

Referred to sometimes as "the farm system" of raising up church leaders, we believe it to be a valid method of preparing servants for the harvest both here locally as well as "overseas" in other fields.

The program that most of our churches are using now is in coordination with Colegio Biblico in Eagle Pass, Texas.  In this way, as our students progress through our local programs here, those that desire to further their preparation for ministry in a more formal manner, can get credit toward a Bible college degree.

Even as those sandbags are piled up to curb the raging waters of the storm this winter, so too, God is preparing men to build walls and to stand in the gap in the spiritual storm that is the battle front of extending God's Kingdom.  Please uphold them in prayer.

Thanks you for your interest, your prayers and financial support of this ministry.

Que Dios les bendiga ricamente!

Have a BLESSED Christmas (all year around)!

 

The wonderfully warm image above evokes a strong sense of nostalgia and seasonal marvel amongst the young-at-heart as well as the older folk.  Interestingly, it contains very little if any indication that the imaginary owner of such a scene in the home has any actual clue as to the real meaning of Christmas.

As believers in Jesus Christ, there are as many points of view regarding the Christmas celebration as there are traditions of the same.  We range from one side of the question to the other as far as our particular participation goes at this time of year.  Some do not celebrate Christmas at all, saying that it is something we need to observe every day, and quote the pagan sources of many of our Christmas traditions.

Still others point out that those same images (the tree, the "yule log" or the mistletoe, etc.) can be used to teach spiritual truths surrounding the birth of Christ, if one enters into the seasonal events "advisedly" and with eyes wide open.

Still others in our midst insist that these same traditions are not pagan but rather, merely family traditions which are harmless  in themselves as long as we realize they are what they are and do not try to add religious significance to the items or the traditions themselves, and instead just enjoy them for the natural beauty they add to the home, such as in the nostalgia-steeped image above.

Whatever your point of view, we do know that Christ was born in a lowly place in a humble manner and that the Scriptures tell us the story, from the words of the prophets to the Gospel account.  Also, we know that He was born with a singular purpose, to reconcile men to God.  

As C.S. Lewis wrote,  "The Son of God became a man to enable men to become the sons of God."

My point here is not to resolve the question of whether we should have a decorated tree in our home or even in a place of worship as some congregations do, or to give gifts to one another, but to simply remind us that we need to focus on God's singular purpose, and to do what He has called us to do in the fulfillment of the Great Commission as written in the last chapter of the Book of Matthew.

Matthew 28:18-20

New International Version (NIV)

 "Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Perhaps one of the clearest statements made recently regarding this season was written by Stuart Briscoe, who stated the following:

"The spirit of Christmas needs to be superseded by the Spirit of Christ. The spirit of Christmas is annual; the Spirit of Christ is eternal. The spirit of Christmas is sentimental; the Spirit of Christ is supernatural. The spirit of Christmas is a human product; the Spirit of Christ is a divine person. That makes all the difference in the world."

On another note, this month another saint has graduated from this life and has entered into the presence of His Creator.  Our brother, Gordon Thompson, passed away in his home recently.  Brother Gordon served the Lord in the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and here in the the USA, ministering for many years to the Latin populations in those places.  Brother Gordon and his wife, Erma, also served on the OLE Church Planters board of directors for a number of years.  He was a constant inspiration to us all and left many disciples, results of his long ministry, to continue on in the fulfillment of  the Great Commission, a responsibility that brother Gordon dedicated his life to.  We will miss you brother, and will see you soon!

May God richly bless you and yours, all year around, and may you know the grace and mercy of our Lord in abundance!

Thanksgiving, 2011

     The Thanksgiving traditions for many families and individuals, during times of economic crisis, may be trimmed down some in regard to what is set on the table, but more important things will hopefully remain in practice.  In this country we are blessed with much more material abundance than in some others, but there is more to be thankful for than just that.
     On the Sunday before Thanksgiving, I reminded the Hispanic congregation in Salem of this point, reminding us all of the liberty we have to worship and the wonderful location that our Anglo brethren at Court St. Christian Church host us in.  God is good, as our elder constantly reminds us.

 

     Recently the congregations from Tigard and Newberg joined us in Salem for a worship service and to share a meal afterward.  The fellowship was rich and Hno. Pancho, from the Tigard and Newberg churches, preached from God's word and hearts were blessed in many ways.
     We count these blessings and many others as we as a congregation celebrate what God is doing in our midst, and are thankful for the opportunity to worship freely in this country, to join together with fellow disciples and to be together with our families and loved ones.
     The congregation in Salem is running from 40 to 50 adults in attendance now on a normal Sunday, and God has blessed us with some new ministries in the last six months.  We now have a youth leadership team to work with our young people, an outreach/visitation team with a mentor, and a ministry team that is overseeing the function and finances of the church.  God is good!
     We have a lot to be thankful for, so much more than just the material things, and this Thanksgiving Thursday, the Salem congregation will meet, as will most of our other Hispanic congregations, to fellowship over a meal together.
Que Dios les bendiga!

Father's Day, 2011

He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers.  Malachi 4:6 NASB

Though "Father's Day" is not a "Christian celebration" as such, the principle of honoring our parents is indeed well covered in the Scriptures.  If for whatever reason you are a father that has become estranged from his children, or if perhaps you are estranged from your own father, please consider doing whatever it takes to restore that relationship.  Life passes far too quickly to allow important family connections to fall by the wayside until the point that "reconnection" in the relationship is no longer possible.  Important things left unsaid, differences not discussed and then resolved or burnt bridges still not rebuilt within the family structure have a way of affecting future generations for years to come.  This Father's Day, why not take the steps needed to make right that which has caused a separation within your family...do what it takes to renew that link that is stressed or even broken by past differences.  Do it while you still can!  Our Creator will be pleased and your heart will be mended, so make that phone call, send that E-mail, open that door to reconciliation within your family...you can be the one that takes the first step.  May God richly bless you and yours in your efforts to be that instrument of healing!

"Father's Day is a celebration of fathers inaugurated in the early twentieth century to complement Mother's Day in celebrating fatherhood and male parenting. Father's Day is celebrated on a variety of dates worldwide and typically involves gift-giving, special dinners to fathers, and family-oriented activities.
The first observance of Father's Day actually took place in Fairmont, West Virginia on July 5, 1908. It was organized by Mrs. Grace Golden Clayton, who wanted to celebrate the lives of the 210 fathers who had been lost in the Monongah Mining disaster several months earlier in Monongah, West Virginia, on December 6, 1907. It's possible that Clayton was influenced by the first celebration of Mother's Day that same year, just a few miles away. Clayton chose the Sunday nearest to the birthday of her recently deceased father.
Unfortunately, the day was overshadowed by other events in the city, West Virginia did not officially register the holiday, and it was not celebrated again. All the credit for Father's Day went to Sonora Dodd from Spokane, who invented independently her own celebration of Father's Day just two years later, also influenced by Jarvis' Mother's Day.
Clayton's celebration was forgotten until 1972, when one of the attendants to the celebration saw Nixon's proclamation of Father's Day, and worked to recover its legacy. The celebration is now held every year in the Central United Methodist Church – the Williams Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was torn down in 1922. Fairmont is now promoted as the "Home of the First Father's Day Service".
A bill to accord national recognition of the holiday was introduced in Congress in 1913.  In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson went to Spokane to speak in a Father's Day celebration and wanted to make it official, but Congress resisted, fearing that it would become commercialized.  US President Calvin Coolidge recommended in 1924 that the day be observed by the nation, but stopped short of issuing a national proclamation. Two earlier attempts to formally recognize the holiday had been defeated by Congress.  In 1957, Maine Senator Margaret Chase Smith wrote a proposal accusing Congress of ignoring fathers for 40 years while honoring mothers, thus "[singling] out just one of our two parents" In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson issued the first presidential proclamation honoring fathers, designating the third Sunday in June as Father's Day. Six years later, the day was made a permanent national holiday when President Richard Nixon signed it into law in 1972.
In addition to Father's Day, International Men's Day is celebrated in many countries on November 19 for men and boys who are not fathers."

Source: Wikipedia

Resurrection Sunday Thought...

~ This Easter-time brings us the assurance that when He comes and shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God, believers who sleep in Christ and those then living will be caught up together to meet Him in the air, and all will be, as in the twinkling of an eye, transformed and transfigured and possessed of bodies as perfect and as glorious as His own and in these glorious and resplendent bodies we shall reign and rejoice forever. ~

 E. P Goodwin

There is a Season...

A Time for Everything

 "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing...."   Eccl. 3:1-5

This past Sunday, Mar. 27, 2011, we celebrated the birthday of our youngest grandchild, Maddilyn Rose.  There were over 50 friends and family members present at our local Pietro's Pizza and we all enjoyed helping the little gal celebrate her special day.  The pizza was good too!

As we sat and watched this youngest family member tear into her first birthday cake, my thoughts turned to the celebration we had attended just the day before.  It too was a celebration, but of a different kind.  It was the Celebration of Life for my oldest brother, John, who had just turned 60 on Jan. 23.  He passed away quietly in his sleep 2 weeks before, as a result of multiple health issues.

Almost 19 years ago, John received a donated kidney to replace his two which were failing, and at less than 7% function.  The kidney was still functioning fine, but other issues had cropped up in recent years and ultimately took his life.

In recent years, John had become increasingly aware of his own mortality.  In many discussions with him, often around a campfire or in the truck making the trip over the mountains to hunt or shoot, it became apparent that he had not forgotten the Bible teaching he had received as a youth.  His path in life wandered to and fro, exploring avenues that caught his attention or even waylaid him for a period of his life.

However, in his final years, I think that John acknowledged that most of the wandering about was his own meandering and not the path that would lead him to a final eternal destination in the presence of his Savior.  He did not make a big fanfare of his realization, in fact found it difficult to talk about, but there were windows into his thinking now and then that revealed his heart's direction.

The last such conversation on the topic was back in July of 2010.  We had been camped with a group of fellow outdoor related sports enthusiasts.  At the end of the long weekend, folks loaded up gear and headed home.  John and I were the last ones in camp, doing the final clean-up detail of our location on the edge of a beautiful meadow situated in the Ochoco Forest.

As we cleaned up the area and made sure that the campfire was indeed out, John brought up the topic of spiritual things.  We talked for well over an hour and then some more on the way home.  What became apparent in the conversation was that John had been thinking seriously about his afterlife.  His daughter, Kelly, approached the subject more directly, however.

She very pointedly ask him if he had made peace with God.  John was a bit flustered, stating that it was a highly personal question, but eventually affirmed that he had indeed done so.  He further stated that he thanked God every day for the life he had been given.

As we celebrate both new beginnings, as in the birthday party of our youngest grandchild, Maddi, and the closure of an earthly sojourn, as in John's Celebration of Life, all in the same weekend, the circle of life becomes complete.  We once again remember the words of the author of Ecclesiastics when he wrote,
"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot..." 

Incidentally, Saturday, March 26, the day we said good bye to John for a time, was also the 2 year anniversary of my father's passing in 2009.

So...  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Maddi, and John, we will catch up to you later, on down the trail a ways....