Family Time in California

One of the nice things about doing recruiting and fund raising in California is the opportunity to spend some time with family. After church last Sunday I was able to get over to my brother’s house and spend some time with him and his family before I headed down to Scotts Valley for a meeting with the Gateway missions people. It was good to see Doug, Diane and Taylor and meet their son-in-law and grandchildren (sorry no pictures). In Scotts Valley I met with Gateway missions pastor Dan Bowman and worship pastor David Enns. I also met with PIU Seminary Dean, Jim Sawyer and counseling teacher, Jo Romaniello to plan our seminary counseling program. Thanks to Jeff and Christy McKim for a place to stay there. It was good to spend some time with them. After the Gateway meetings I drove up to El Dorado to spend a day and a half at my parents’ place. I got a new phone to take the selfie picture. I am now in North Carolina getting ready to head down to Columbia South Carolina to do some teacher recruiting. More on that later. Do you see the deer in the picture on the right?

Reading in Exodus This Week (1-6)

This week begins a new book of the Old Testament, Exodus, along with a new commentary, Exodus: Saved for God’s Glory, by Philip Graham Ryken. I have been posting quotes from the book on my Facebook page on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday (NT is Mon-Wed-Fri) and we can discuss comments and questions about the passage there. As usual, quotes from the commentary are in blue below…

Exodus is the story of how God forms the family of Abraham/Jacob into the nation of Israel. They are the nation that is to be God's representative and bring his blessings to the world. God defeats the greatest nation of that day, Egypt, and all its gods to bring Israel back to its land and fulfill the promises given to the patriarchs. God provides them with torah, instructions on how to live to please God and the tabernacle, a palace in which their true king can live with them in relationship. However, the people will refuse God's presence and reject God's torah leading to the need for a future better savior than Moses.

As we study the Biblical history in the book of Exodus, we discover that the real hero of the story is God. God is the one who reveals himself to Moses as the Great I AM. God is the one who hears the cries of his people in bondage and takes pity on their suffering, raising up a deliverer to save them. God is the one who visits the plagues on Egypt, who divides the sea, and who drowns Pharaoh’s army. God is the one who provides bread from Heaven and water from the rock. God is the one who gives the law-covenant on the mountain and fills the tabernacle with his glory. From beginning to end Exodus is a God-centered book, a theological history. 22–23

The book begins with a genealogy to show that God is about to do something significant - create a nation. But he will creates the nation from a group of powerless, oppressed slaves. In a way God uses the racism of the Egyptians to keep Israel as a specific, unique people and a way to demonstrate his saving character and power. At the darkest moment when the forces of evil show themselves in the desire to murder and humiliate, God saves a baby who will become God's instrument to free his people and bring justice to Egypt. Israel will be reminded and called to trust in God who remembers his promise and will act to save. So "we are called to trust God the way a desperate mother once did when she put her heart in a basket and entrusted it to the God who saves." (55)

We are envious, ill-tempered people who stubbornly refuse to follow God. We fail to live up to his perfect standard every day. What we need is the God of Exodus. If he is our God, then he has performed for us a miracle of grace, and we can trust him to save us to the very end. Exodus 1.1-7, 27

Exodus is extremely relevant to us today because we struggle with the same issues the people of that day struggled with. We still live in a world of sin, oppression, racism and prejudice. We still need liberation from sin and its effects today.

Blaming things on ethnic minorities is always convenient because racism is part of our sinful human nature. This is what made it so easy for Hitler to promote anti-Semitism in Nazi Germany. It is why the Afrikaaners were able to use the “black threat” argument to such deadly advantage in South Africa. And it is why each new wave of immigrants—from the Irish to the Indonesians—has faced prejudice upon coming to America. Exodus 1.8-20, 32

Suffering helps us look for our Savior. If we never have any trouble along the journey, we would never have any reason to long for Heaven. Like the Israelites, we need the house of bondage to help drive us to the Promised Land. Exodus 1.8-20, 37

At the very darkest moment of Israel’s captivity—when evil was rampant and the tyrant seemed to triumph—at that very moment God was working in history to save his people. His plan called for a little child to be born in secret and then floated down the river right to Pharaoh’s doorstep. Exodus 1.21-2.10, 50

Exodus 2.11-4.31 describe the preparation of Moses to be the man God used to deliver Israel. First Moses has to learn that he must use God's methods to accomplish God's plan. By killing the Egyptian Moses intends to begin the process of liberation but God intends to do this in a much different way. God then gives Moses a "time out" of 40 years to learn to listen to God and do things God's way. He becomes part of Jethro's family and becomes a shepherd. He needs to learn that God's leaders are servants who are dependent on God and provide for His people in God's ways. Though the Israelites are still in pain, God is about to move to rescue them.

To emphasize the power of the living God, the Bible uses four active verbs: God hears, remembers, sees, and knows. God is really going to do something! Not only did he have a plan for Moses, even in the wilderness, but his plan for Moses was part of a bigger plan that would result in the salvation of God’s people. When people pray, God responds. Exodus 2.15-25, 75–76.

God's leaders also must meet God, be called and be transformed by God. At the burning bush Moses meets and enters into personal relationship with God as they, in a way, exchange names. As Moses is called, he is still thinking in terms of doing God's work by his own personal abilities. He rightly recognizes that this is inadequate. The signs are meant to show Moses that it is God who will do the work of liberation through Moses. The key issue in any ministry is "is God with you."

The point is that God not only knew and cared about the plight of his people but was also planning to do something about it. The story of the exodus is the history of how God rescued his people, working out their whole salvation from beginning to end. In this personal saving relationship God brought them out of all their troubles into a good and happy place. 3.1-9, 86

Moses says, ‘I cannot do this.’ Yahweh responds, ‘You’re not, I am.’ ” Therefore, whatever doubts Moses may have had about his own abilities were totally irrelevant. God had promised to be with him, and “with God all things are possible” (Matt. 19:26). Exodus 3.10-15, 93

It is interesting how easily the Hebrew elders accept Moses (at least at first, before things get difficult). All the issues that Moses was so worried about, such of which he was right about, were really insignificant when confronted with the power of God. God was about to free Israel in a way that would demonstrate to the whole world who he really is. He would not only defeat the nation of Egypt, but their gods as well as a testimony to all of creation as to who should be worshipped and where true blessing was to be found.

Yahweh was the God of the past who promised salvation to the patriarchs. He was the God of the present who sent Moses to save his people. And he was the God of the future who would bring them into the Promised Land. Exodus 3.16-4.9, 102–103

We do not serve God on our own, working from our own strength, but rather exercise our gifts in the presence and with the assistance of God. Notice that God never evaluated Moses’ speaking ability. He did not try to tell him that he was more eloquent than he thought he was. Nor did he admit that Moses really was slow of speech and tongue. Instead, he told him the only thing that mattered, which was that God would be with him. Exodus 4.10-17, 118

Israel was the son of God’s choice. At the very deepest spiritual level, the exodus is a story about sonship, about a Father’s love for his only son. Israel’s deliverance is the true history of a loving Father who rescued his children so they could be together as a family. Thus it is not simply a story of emancipation—the release of a slave—but also of repatriation, the return of an only son to his father’s loving care. Exodus 4.18-31, 129–130

The true hero of Exodus is not Moses, but God. This is true of the whole Old Testament. Moses had to learn that victory does not depend on our own abilities, but upon our faithfulness and reliance on God. It took Moses 80 years to learn the lesson well enough to lead Israel and he continued to learn it throughout the wilderness wanderings. It is all about knowing God and letting that relationship transform us.

If we have any questions about what God is doing, we should go ahead and ask! We should not ask impatiently or rebelliously, as Moses was tempted to do, but we should ask. It is much better to talk things out with God than to take them out on someone else. Whether or not God decides to answer our questions, he certainly is not afraid of them. Exodus 5, 166

Exodus is a God-centered book with a God-centered message that teaches us to have a God-centered life. Whatever problems we have, whatever difficulties we face, the most important thing is to know who God is. Exodus 6.1-12, 173

The reason Moses had the wrong expectation was because he misunderstood his calling as a prophet. Moses was a pragmatist. He had a performance-based approach to prophetic ministry. He assumed that it was up to the prophet to get results. If people listened to him, then he was doing his job; if not, he should find some other line of work...The only thing that matters to God is whether or not the prophet is faithful. Exodus 6.13-27, 198.

Sunday at New Hope, Vacaville

My first Sunday service on this current US Mainland trip was at New Hope Christian Fellowship. New Hope is pastored by my high school classmate Curt Miller. Curt and I reconnected at our 40th high school reunion last year and his church has been a supporting church since then. This was the first time I have ever been to the church and it was great to meet so many good people there who are serious about following Jesus and reaching the world. I was able to share in both services about how PIU is working to do its part to fulfill “the mission of God.” Thank you to our friends at New Hope for your partnership in ministry. I am looking forward to returning.

Fall Trip

I am sitting in the airport in Osaka, Japan writing this post. I am on my way to San Francisco to begin my Fall recruiting and fund raising trip for PIU. I will also be attending the TRACS conference in Dallas Texas at the end of the month. I will be spending time in the following states: California, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas. My main goal is to recruit teachers, especially teachers who can teach on line, or can come out to Micronesia and teach in the classroom. Of course, if I could find some long term dedicated volunteer teachers that would be ideal – we love retirees. My main goal is to find English teachers who can teach in both our academic and remedial programs throughout Micronesia. Also, I hope to meet with some interested financial partners. While costs are going up, scholarship money from the island governments seems to be going down. We are looking for God to supply scholarship funds for needy students and operating and capital funds for the school.

Here is my schedule for this trip. Would love to see you if I am in your area…

Arrive SFO  Oct 9^th

New Hope Church, Vacaville -  Sunday Oct 11^th

Seminary Meeting Oct 13^th

Gateway Church missions committee Oct 13^th

Two days at my parents’ place  Oct 14-15

Fly to North Carolina  Oct 16

Meeting with 2 friends of PIU Oct 17-18

Columbia International University – Teacher recruiting, meeting with potential teachers and speaking in several classes Oct 19-22

Forest City NC Oct 23-24

Fly to Dallas Oct 25

Dallas – Recruit at Dallas Seminary, Meet with potential teachers and a foundation Oct 26-27

TRACS Conference, DFW airport,  October 28-30

Fly to Scotts Valley, California

Gateway Bible Church, Sunday November 1

Fly back to Guam November 3

More Stuff We Do on Guam

Yes we do go to the beach. Joyce goes a lot more often than I do

We hold the new baby

More beach pictures

We work on our house. Joyce’s new project is widening the driveway at Mike and Samantha’s house

She has hired PIU students Renson and Jones to do the work. We get good reliable workers and they get money to help pay their dormitory rent for the semester

We take Titus out for a banana-strawberry smoothie for his birthday and the girls find a place to stay cool

We get to know our new staff at PIU. The Tomasellos (left) are now all here as Jackie and Eli arrived last Thursday. On the right is Nikki Heimbach with Joyce

Tuesday Chapel

Tuesday’s chapel featured an ever-popular speaker Ricke Harris. Ricke is a missionary-evangelist who spent time as a missionary in Nepal and India and is now stationed on Guam. Ricke keeps us laughing all the way through the message, but manages to get across the message. His focus yesterday was that Jesus is not only the God of the past and the future, but is the God of the present as well. We should be expecting him to be transforming us and doing miracles in our lives now. He gave us a good challenge to trust Jesus for today, not just for heaven someday. We also had the guys from the men's’ dorm lead us in singing and worship.

A couple more chapel pictures

Fishing Trip

Our speaker for the PIU Equipping Conference, Baxter Kruger, is also a fisherman. So we had to show him some Guam fishing. One of our church leaders, Randy Sablan, graciously took us out on his boat for a morning of fishing. True to form, Baxter caught all the four fish we caught and I caught nothing. Nevertheless it was nice to spend a morning in a boat out on the ocean with good company. It was something new for me. I think the last time I went fishing on the ocean was when I was twelve. We did (we is appropriate since I took the picture) catch a nice yellow fin tuna which was turned into some very tasty sashimi by the PIU students. The students also enjoyed a fresh fish dinner. Thank you Randy for a good day on the water and thank you Baxter for a great weekend conference.

That was a very tasty fish.

The scenery was nice too