The Happiest Place

If someone told me two years ago that I would be leaving my home and my church in Davao City to serve the Lord some place else, I would have laughed. I was practically rooted in that place, and was prepared to spend my lifetime helping the church there as I always have.

But here I am now, up in the mountains somewhere in Ilocos Norte, virtually at the other end of the Philippine archipelago, still happily serving my Lord and excitedly asking where He would take me next, and when.

January this year, I took the six-month Health Evangelism course with a one-month Public Evangelism exposure here at LIGHT Philippines. Little did I then know that I would come back after one month, fully convinced that it is the Lord's will for me and my ministry.

So I've been here as a volunteer for a little over a month, and that period seems to have gone by in a blur. With preparations underway for the school's first Grand Alumni Homecoming (happening now) and 5th Annual Camp Meeting (happening tomorrow), I practically hit the ground running.

Much of the past month was spent going to and from the office/bakery, which is about a kilometer and half from the school, and sleeping over to prepare for the homecoming and camp meeting. Many late nights later, I find myself looking back to home and asking why God has brought me here.

And the answer continues to be an adventure unraveling.

I've met many people, made new friends, learned that God's family is BIG. I've taught my first class, and inevitably have had my first teacher heartbreak. I've been through my first volunteer struggles. I've also quite gracefully survived my first storm - Typhoon Mario - which slammed through our huts, uprooted our trees, and destroyed much of our farm. 

Walking from point to point inside of this campus, I often find myself looking down at my feet and wondering why they are walking this part of the earth.

And the answer comes to me in remembering the life of Abraham:

It was no light test that was thus brought upon Abraham, no small sacrifice that was required of him. There were strong ties to bind him to his country, his kindred, and his home. But he did not hesitate to obey the call. He had no question to ask concerning the land of promise--whether the soil was fertile and the climate healthful; whether the country afforded agreeable surroundings and would afford opportunities for amassing wealth. God has spoken, and His servant must obey; the happiest place on earth for him was the place where God would have him to be.  

{PP 126.3}  

We bloom best where God plants us.

So I take my place among the many who are here, both searching and settled at the same time. I endeavor to work with them, pray with them, learn with them, and serve with them. For as long as God wills that I remain here, I will. And when this new family sing Steve Green's "I Will Go," I know and understand in my heart exactly what they feel and mean:

I will go where there are no easy roads,

leave the comforts that I know.

I will go and let this journey be my home,

I will go, I will go.

And I will go, Lord, where Your glory is unknown;

I will live for You alone.

I will go because my life is not my own.

I will go, I will go.

Thoughts from Week 3

Written January 2014

It has been three weeks since I came to LIGHT Missionary Training Center. I notice that it’s a time when students and volunteers feel that they have adjusted to the schedule, to the amount of work and homework, to one another, and to the cold (yes, the cold deserves to be factored in).

Back home, I usually wake up around 5:00 am, all the while thinking that was early. Here, if I want to get anything done, I must wake up at 3:30. That will give me just enough time for my morning devotional, a bit of personal preparation, daily chores, morning worship, a bit of homework, and then work education (which I am loving so far). In the afternoon, there are the classes, supper, and evening worship. I get back to the dorm around 8:30 pm, pray with the girls at my dorm, do my homework, have my evening devotional, and sleep. There is no leisure time at all! But guess what, I love it. I love that my mind is always occupied, that it doesn’t have the time to wander, that it gets taxed and pushed to think constantly about work, study, and worship.

The classes are wonderful. So far, we’ve had classes on the Spirit of Prophecy, Health Talks, Health Expo, How to Study the Bible, the Plan of Salvation (by far my favorite), Gospel in Action, the Sanctuary, Mental Health and Mission Medicine. I am able to put to use the things that I have learned in my personal studies, and learn so much more. The reality of God’s Word is sometimes so moving that I would find myself in tears during classes. Still, all of the studying that I’m currently doing only serves to remind me of just how much I still do not know.

Then there’s Work Education – half the reason why I came here. After breakfast, we students go to work in different areas: Kitchen, Construction, Mushroom, Agriculture, Bakery, and Vermi-composting. I have been assigned to the Bakery, which is just so fun and informative. But I’m also very excited to learn from the other fields, especially Vermi and Agriculture. On one hand, I’m not used to heavy work and kneading bread is – believe me – heavy work. I can just imagine the exhaustion from tending vegetable gardens and digging for construction work. But I’m still really excited because it’s all useful labor and I know that it will help prepare me to fill my place in God’s work. Plus, I get better health while doing it. God really is wise in putting all that together in one package – work education.

Another thing that I love is the prayer atmosphere in this place. I find myself praying at least 20 times each day, and that’s excluding mealtime prayers and personal prayers! The people, too, are always encouraging one another to pray, study, and speak of spiritual things. It’s only been three weeks, but I’ve already found family in people who share my love for reading the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy. Whenever there’s a chance, like during meals or while waiting for classes or worship to begin, or even while walking to and during work education, I’d share with them what I have been reading. They’d share their devotionals with me, too. We swap books and quotations, pray together, discuss Bible lessons, share experiences. The exchange is so wonderful that it sometimes makes me want to cry. To me, it’s like a dream come true.

They say here that things usually go well the first two months, and then the real challenges begin. People will then tend to relax more, so they become less guarded and the true characters would surface. Add to that the increasing pressures of work, chores, class requirements and deployment, plus being away from home for so long already. To top it all off, there’s the struggle within against discouragement, personal weakness, and old habits. It’s actually the perfect formula for discord, but in my heart, I really do trust that God will bring us through if we only humble ourselves enough to let Him lead. In fact, I also am just realizing that those circumstances put together also make up quite a good formula for change and growth.

I almost can’t wait to get back home to my family and my church and share with them the things I am learning here. But I will wait. I will wait, work, pray, learn, worship, share, and grow, all by God’s grace. I will keep my promise to them and to God that I will endeavor in all my God-given capabilities to make my time here and my seven-month absence from home worth it because God is making a better co-laborer out of me.

True education means more than taking a certain course of study. It is broad. It includes the harmonious development of all the physical powers and the mental faculties. It teaches the love and fear of God, and is a preparation for the faithful discharge of life's duties.-- "Counsels to Teachers, Parents, and Students," p. 64.  {MYP 168.1} 

True education is the preparation of the physical, mental, and moral powers for the performance of every duty; it is the training of body, mind, and soul for divine service. This is the education that will endure unto eternal life.-- "Christ's Object Lessons," p. 330.  {MYP 168.2} 

  

Bible Sanctification Defined

Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. John 17:17.  {Mar 89.1} 

     Those who are sanctified through the truth are living recommendations of its power, and representatives of their risen Lord. The religion of Christ will refine the taste, sanctify the judgment, elevate, purify, and ennoble the soul, making the Christian more and more fit for the society of the heavenly angels.  {Mar 89.2}
   
     "And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth." John 17:19. "Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently." 1 Peter 1:22. "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." 2 Corinthians 7:1. . . .  {Mar 89.3}
   
     Here is Bible sanctification. It is not merely a show or outside work. It is sanctification received through the channel of truth. It is truth received in the heart, and practically carried out in the life.  {Mar 89.4}
   
     There is no Bible sanctification for those who cast a part of the truth behind them. There is light enough given in the word of God, so that none need err. . . . Jesus, considered as a man, was perfect, yet He grew in grace. "And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man." Luke 2:52. Even the most perfect Christian may increase continually in the knowledge and love of God. . . .  {Mar 89.5}
   
     Sanctification is not the work of a moment, an hour, or a day. It is a continual growth in grace. . . . Satan lives, and is active, and every day we need to cry earnestly to God for help and strength to resist him. As long as Satan reigns we shall have self to subdue, besetments to overcome, and there is no stopping place, there is no point to which we can come and say we have fully attained. . . .  {Mar 89.6}
   
     The Christian life is constantly an onward march. Jesus sits as a refiner and purifier of His people; and when His image is perfectly reflected in them, they are perfect and holy, and prepared for translation.  {Mar 89.7}

-Ellen G. White
Maranatha

Walk with God... to Work

The two hours I spent walking to work this morning gave me lots of time to think of reasons why walking to work is good:
   
     1. Saves me money (about PhP800 a month)
     2. Puts my legs to work, thus preparing them for more work (i.e. overnight mission trips to remote areas that cannot be reached by cars or even motorcycles)
     3. Improves my breathing
     4. Allows me time alone with God

How I manage that fourth one is by listening to a sermon that I saved earlier on my smartphone. Today it was "Tools for Perfection" by Pastor Patrick Herbert of the Gilead Institute of America and the International Association of Free Seventh-day Adventists. The message was too wonderful to keep to myself, so I'm sharing the highlights here for you.

The world today has been deluded into believing that humans can't be perfect. This is altogether contrary to Bible teaching which expressly asks us in Matthew 5:48, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." This is Jesus asking us to perfect and we know He would never ask us to do something that is impossible for us to do. All the Lord's biddings are enablings.

He didn't say the road to perfection would be easy, but He promises to be there to give us all the help we need to make it. He gives us tools:

1. Laws. The Ten Commandments. "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple." Psalm 19:7. To convert = change = transform. We can be like God, not in power, but in character. The laws have been provided to bring us back into the image and likeness of God.

2. Affliction. "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy."  1 Peter 4:12. Hardships, trials, temptations, difficulties are tools in the hands of God. Jesus learned obedience and perfection "by the things that He suffered." Hebrews 5:8,9. Afflictions help us realize our need for God and draw us closer to Him.

3. Work. Both our evangelistic effort and the performance of daily duties. "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any [man] will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." Matthew 16:24. Do your work with all your might as if doing it for God, take it up even if you don't like it. Deny yourself. Jesus was a Prince in heaven, but He worked at Joseph's carpentry shop many years. Adam and Eve were given work after they sinned because it was a way back to God. Work not just for yourself, but for the salvation of others as well.

4. Sanctuary. The church. Jesus wanted His children to be united under one name. "Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we [are]." John 17:11. Jesus wants His children to be together, to work together. "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some [is]; but exhorting [one another]: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." Hebrews 10:25. The church is to be a means for us to be exhorted and corrected, that we may be edified to perfection.  

5. Study. "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 2 Timothy 2:15. When you begin to study, you begin to understand the things that God reveals to you on a very personal level. So make time for study. 

6. Obedience. "If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land." Isaiah 1:19. Canaan on earth and Canaan in heaven requires the same thing: willing obedience. We have to do what we believe to be right. What you know could kill you or save you, depending on what you do with it. Ask the Lord for help to be obedient. Without the Spirit, it is impossible to obey.  

7. Prayer. "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed [is] willing, but the flesh [is] weak." Matthew 26:41. Praying is communion with God. By constant beholding we are changed.

There you have them. Seven tools. Seven - the Lord's number for perfection and completeness. And for Seventh-day Adventists, did you notice? the first letters of these seven tools form the acronym LAWS-SOP. Every tool we need God has provided. And when we begin to use and apply them, God will have a people prepared to meet Jesus when He returns.

If you want to hear the entire sermon, just leave a comment below with your email address and I'll get the sermon across to you. :)

Meanwhile, the walk also gave me opportunity to see the wonders of God's creation in the flowers along the way.

have a happy weekend! :-)

Stagnation

Many who have an intelligent knowledge of the truth, and are able to defend it by arguments, are doing nothing for the upbuilding of Christ’s kingdom. We meet them from time to time, but they bear no fresh testimonies of personal experience in the Christian life; they relate no new victories gained in the holy warfare. Instead of this you notice the same old routine, the same expressions in prayer and exhortation. Their prayers have no new note; they express no greater intelligence in the things of God, no more earnest, living faith. Such persons are not living plants in the garden of the Lord, sending forth fresh shoots and new foliage, and the grateful fragrance of a holy life. They are not growing Christians. They have limited views and plans, and there is no expansion of mind, no valuable additions to the treasures of Christian knowledge. Their powers have not been taxed in this direction. They have not learned to view men and things as God views them, and in many cases unsanctified sympathy has injured souls and greatly crippled the cause of God. The spiritual stagnation that prevails is terrible. Many lead a formal Christian life and claim that their sins have been forgiven, when they are as destitute of any real knowledge of Christ as is the sinner. {5T 264.3}

 

rain makes things grow

as i am writing this entry, i am enveloped in the sound of heavy rain pitter-pattering on the roof and splashing from the gutter.

earlier, this same rain stirred up a tiny war between two girls - one bigger than the other, both inside of me. the bigger girl thought, "rain. wonderful time to work on my layouts and catch up on my reading." but the little girl had other plans: "weeeh, rain! let's go out and play!" :D

for a while there, the little girl seemed to have won. in fact, she had gone out and gotten a little wet, but then the rain slowed down a bit. being outside became no fun at all. so she came back inside and went straight for the bathroom.

in there, the war waged full. outside, the rain beat down on the roof once more. tempted, the little girl went out of the bathroom twice to reconsider playing in the rain. but the bigger girl pushed her back in each time.  in the end, the big girl won.

so now, i am bathed and shampooed, dressed warmly and writing this blog entry - while still enveloped in the sound of pitter-pattering rain and thoughts of flowers and little girls growing.

P.S.
as a matter of fact, rain makes little boys grow up too. case in point: a rain-soaked brian scrubbing the floor all around the house. :D

In forgetfulness of self, they will grow in grace. -EGW