Update

Hey everyone! Well we're home and happy in our new tiny apartment. It's great to be home with our friends and family, and we're excited to get started with the next phase of our life. 

Right now we're looking for jobs and trying to get healthy again. We've got a fridge full of yummy veggies and doctor appointments coming up. 

Our little guinea pig, Abigail Bacon, is settling in well too and seems to like us. All in all we're doing pretty good and are happy to be home!

We're Adopting!!

We both love animals, and wanted to get some after we got back in the States and got settled. I (Rae) has a dog that is living with my parents, so we thought we would start with just that one, but recently my mom asked us if we would be willing to consider adopting a little Guinea Pig that needed a home. We talked about it a lot, and Cliff decided that having a little girl pig would be good for us, so we're happy to announce that when we get home we'll be adopting a one year old female guinea pig named Abigail, Abby for short.

She's a beautiful American breed pig,  with a sweet disposition, loves to snuggle, and is quite a chatterbox, I've been told. We'll get to meet her when we get home, we're so excited to have a little girl piggy in our family :)

Here she is!

Holy Spirit NoG13

We have been looking at the different names of God and thus Gods different characteristics. So tonight I wanted to look at the three big divisions of Gods character. We’re going to look at God in the Trinity. As I am sure we are all aware the Trinity is made up of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We are going to look at a few of the things that all three do and then look at a couple that that only one or two share. This way we can get a picture of what the different responsibilities and attributes of all three Trinity members is.

This idea of the Trinity, the idea that God has three parts that do different jobs is interesting. Because unlike most of the ideas we get from our Bible where the idea is spelled out in scripture and then supported with other scripture references there is no single verse that ties all three aspects of the Trinity together. It is an idea that we gain through studying scripture as a whole. It is the idea that God accomplished things in different ways. There are some aspects of God character that are so foundational that all three parts of Trinity do them to varying degrees but there are also some aspects that are done by only one or two members.

Let us begin by looking at a few of the attributes that all three members of the Trinity share.

Creator

Let us begin with the first instance of God being named in our Bible  Gen 1:1  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. So we are looking at God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit as a creator. We are all familiar with this passage about God creating the heavens and the earth. So I would say we are comfortable with God the Father as a creator. We will now move to an instance where our Bible tells us that Jesus is also responsible for creating.

John 1:3  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

Then let us look at the Holy Spirit in this role as well.

Job 33:4  The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.

Spirit of God is another name for the Holy Spirit. What these three passages together are showing us is that in the beginning when so much of the creation is taking place that all three members of the Trinity were there and they all had a part in it. What we must realize is that God is, was, and will be in all three forms all of the time. thus there are certain jobs or characteristics that all three do and we have looked at one of them but there are also jobs that not all of them do.

Resurrects

The next thing we will talk about is resurrection or raising people from the dead. This once again is another aspect that all three share. 1Th 1:10  And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.  

In this passage we are assured that God raised Jesus from the dead. Let us take a look at Jesus raising someone from the dead.

Joh 11:43-44  And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.   And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.

I am sure that we are all familiar with this story. But the big point here is that Jesus being fully God was  able to bring someone back from the dead. The Jews were not familiar with or didn’t know about people being raised from the dead. This was a display of Jesus’ power on earth. This was a sign given so that people would believe. So then the question for us tonight is does the Holy Spirit resurrect people?

Rom 8:11  But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

That word quickens means to bring back to life. so the Holy Spirit is able to heal the body physically in the same way that Jesus did to raise Lazarus and just as the Father was able to raise up Jesus in a physical body.

Searches Hearts

The next trait we will look at is how all three members of the Trinity search the hearts of believers.

 Jer 17:10  I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

Looking back into our Old Testament God is telling the Jewish people that he is looking at their hearts and why they are doing things.

We learn in Rev 2:23 that Jesus is looking into our hearts right up until the end of time.  And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.

1Co 2:10  But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

The Holy Spirit is also looking into our hearts. But he is looking into our heats to try and lead us to the correct decision.

We now get into the different thing that are completed by different parts of the Trinity. We are going to look at some of the different characteristics that are completed by one or two of the members of the Trinity. But we will be focusing on what the Holy Spirit does because the other lessons in this series have focused on God the Father and God the Son.

Indwells

The next part of God we are going to look at is how God is with us though we can’t see him. Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: this verse tells us that Christ is in us. Then let us look at the Holy Spirit because he too is in us.

John 14:17  Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

This is Jesus talking about us receiving the Spirit. And that Spirit being in us. What does that mean, what is the point why should we care. One of the major jobs of the Holy Spirit is to guide us and he only does that after he has come into our hearts.

Joh 16:13  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

This verse also confirms that fact that even though we are talking about the Holy Spirit, this is about God. You cannot separate them. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are three parts of one whole. 

The big thing about the Holy Spirit that makes him different is the fact that he was sent to us with the purpose of being with us throughout our lives. Meaning God the Father has been in heaven since the beginning and has never left. Jesus came down to earth for a time to offer the sacrifice that needed to be made and to direct people to God through his teaching. But the Spirit is in us always, he is always there. He is the one that once we have accepted the gift of salvation is guiding and directing us.  One of the most important ways that the Holy Spirit guides us is in understanding Gods word. Just like we just read in

Joh 16:13  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

Gifts

One of the big things that the Spirit does that is sometimes overlooked and I didn’t connect this until doing this study,  is that the Spirit provides us spiritual gifts.

Gal 5:22-23  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

 Let us focus for a bit on these. Because this is how we know if someone is truly a follower of God. Because once you accept Christ’s gift, the Spirit is in you. We’ll look at these gifts on an individual basis starting with love. The Greek word for love here is agape which is the love God shows to us and the love we show to God. So through the Holy Spirit it is reveled to us how much God love us; and how we are to love God.

I know this has hit me in the last couple weeks. God loves us so much that he has done everything for us, so we should strive to show him the same level of love in return. Once we have the Spirit we are joyful. Now this does not mean that we will always be happy or that bad things won’t happen but what it means is that we are to go through life knowing that God had our best interest at heart.

Jer 29:11  For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

We know no matter what happens that God is always there and he is always the same no matter what is going on so we should be going through life ready to face any challenge that comes our way with our head held high. Then we should also have peace because it doesn’t matter what situation we face because we have a promise from God that is fulfilled through the Holy Spirit

Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

We move onto looking at longsuffering, now what does this mean, it means that we are to have to fortitude to do what God wants. We all know that this life isn’t always easy, and that things don’t always work out the best but even when things are going bad, the Holy Spirit causes us to wait for the good and to be able to withstand the negatives that come up in this life.

Moving onto the next trait that Spirit causes in believers, that is gentleness. If you look up the Greek for this word it means moral excellence. Now this means that once we have the Holy Spirit it doesn’t matter what happens or what temptations we have in our life, we have a way to overcome them. The Spirit is in us and guides us or provides us a way out of bad situations.

Goodness is related to gentleness because the meaning for goodness is to be virtuous. That is we need to have conduct that is in line with what God commands us. Because all that God commands or says is virtuous. Our God will never steer us wrong. The Spirit is there to help us hear the voice of God and to understand what he is saying to us.

The next thing the Spirit does is to give us faith. Now this is faith in our salvation but it is more than that. It is faith in all of the promise made by God. It is a faith that God has our best interest at heart. It is a faith that no matter what happens we are children of God. The fruit of faithfulness is a faith in God alone. To be filled with the Spirit we must rely on God and God alone for our answers.  Meekness is not weakness. We are not to just stand by and let injustice happen in world. But we are supposed to be meek, this means that we do not think more highly of ourselves then we should.

The first part of  Rom_12:3  For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly… but we should not use this as an excuse, what I mean is I have heard people say that they can’t or wont don’t something because that would put them in the spotlight. So they are using the point that we are to be meek as an excuse to not do something.

We are called by the Spirit to bring glory to God and sometimes that takes putting yourself out there and in the spotlight, if that is where God is calling you. But we are to be meek, this is a heart issue you should not do something just for the sake of being noticed but if someone notices you because you did something you should have done then that is fine.

 Then finally we are to be temperate.  Now this means we are to have self-control. It means that we need to only be doing things that bring glory to God.

We have talked about a few different jobs that all three member of the Trinity share. Then we focused on one of the major jobs of the Holy Spirit and how we are provided spiritual gifts through that. The major point of this lesson is to get us to think about all of the different jobs that God has and all of the different things that he does. But also, to get us thinking about how he has chosen to complete those jobs through the use of the Trinity. I ask at this time that we all stop for a moment and examine our own lives and see if the fruits of the spirit are evident in each of our lives.

5 Months

Well everyone, it's been an amazing ride here and we've loved getting to experience all the new, different things in the Philippines! We're truly grateful for the opportunity, and it has definitely changed us and made us grow.

But... It's time to go home. We've thought and prayed for the last couple of months, and we've decided to cut our trip shorter than planned and come home early. It was really difficult to decide this, there were a lot of good reasons to both stay and leave, but ultimately we feel that it's best for everyone if we go home.

A big part of this decisions based on our health. Both of us are having problems, mostly due to the city smog and dirt, but I (rae) am having some more serious issues that I need to get checked out.

Another reason we're leaving is because it will be better for the bakers. Now, we try to help wherever we can, and they don't want us to leave.  But it would be better for Edith if we aren't here, simply because of the nature of her illness. She needs quite, calm, and a rock-solid schedule. It confuses her when we leave or do different things at different times each day, or talk about things she doesn't understand. Also, if we leave now it makes it a lot easier for Lloyd to decide what to do come the new year. He's thinking about taking Edith home for a medical furlough, but he hasn't decided yet. If he doesn't have to worry about us it will be easier.

We just really feel like it's time to move on, and start our life together. We're planning on getting a little apartment in Springfield and getting back into our home church.

We have really loved being here, but it will be nice to get home.

Qanna NoG12

Tonight we will look at a name for God that was the basis for the first two of the Ten Commandments. Let us take at look at the passage in:

Exodus 20:3-5  Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

Tonight we are looking at God as Qanna, which translates as jealous. I think it is interesting that this is one of the names given in this passage, because God is setting up the basis for all of his laws and we find out that he is jealous.

This relates to the first two commandments because God is saying in the first one that we need to keep him first place in our lives. That is we must have nothing that comes before him. the second command is similar because it is also about making sure that God is kept in his proper place and that we are not making things equal or even greater then God.

We don’t normally think of God being jealous, I mean jealousy is such a human trait, we would think that God being all powerful would not care what the most important thing in our lives was. But we must realize that God has invested a lot into this relationship. The bible compare the relationship between God as people to a marriage and that is pretty apropos, in both instances you are bringing together two very different personalities, and views but you are committed to making it work. But if one person in either relationship, the marriage of husband & wife or the relationship between us and God puts a person outside the relationship up as more important then the other person in the relationship feels jealous. That is why God has commanded us to keep him as the most important thing in our lives. God values us and our relationship with him and he wants us to value it so much that nothing can get in the way of that relationship.

Later on in Exodus it is reiterated Exodus 34:14  For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God: so this is not a one-time thing. If we read through our Bibles then we learn of so many instances where God’s anger burned against the people because they failed to respect him and he became jealous of whatever they were worshiping.

If we look into the context of these verses where God is called Qanna or jealous in the old testament we learn that they are all times that Moses is trying to prod the people back to God. Moses is saying that we need to look at what we are doing and think about how that effects God.

Let us take another look at another passage talking about God being qanna in Nahum. Nahum 1:2  God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies.

Verse two here tells us that God is jealous and wants to take out vengeance, but on who? If we look into the first verse then we learn this is a vision concerning Nineveh. God is angry because even after Jonah came and caused Nineveh to repent earlier they had once again turned away from God. And God was fed up, he was tired of doing everything to reach this group of people and they just kept turning away from him. God was jealous because even though he had sent them a messenger years before and given them a chance to come to know him they choose not to and had went their own way, so God was jealous of the other gods, he was jealous of what the people choose to do.

This chance they were given is spelled out in verse 3. Nahum 1:3  The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.

In the first part of this verse it tells us the Lord is slow to anger but he does not acquit the wicked, that is God cannot just let sin go unpunished. So these people had been given a chance to come back to God years before and had, but then they fell back into the same old patterns of behavior and God was angry once again.

Can we apply this story to our lives? Yes because God has provided a way for us to come into a relationship with him and we can be saved through that, but if we turn away from God and begin doing our own thing or not listening to God then he does have to punish us.

If we take a look at another instance in the old testament about God being jealous Zec 8:2  Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury.

In this verse it is specifically talking about God being jealous for Zion. That is God was concerned for the place where he was dwelling. Then the question becomes, well so what, because God no longer dwells in the temple because there is no temple. The point is God is in us today

Romans 8:9  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

So it matters that God was jealous for the temple and for Zion because we are now the temple of God. Thus God cares about us and what happens to us and also what we are doing. Using this picture of us as the temple we need to know that our God has set us apart for a specific purpose just like the temple was a building with a specific purpose. Our purpose is to show God to the world and to live our lives in a way that is pleasing to him. If we fail to do what he commands and start following after something else then God becomes jealous.

Another way to look at this name is in the picture of a marriage. I’m sure we are all familiar with this passage where Jesus likens the disciples as brides. Matthew 9:15  And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.

We can look at God calling Israel his bride long before this passage as well, so God is the same today yesterday and forever.

Isaiah 54:5  For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.  

We can apply this passage to us as well. We are in a relationship with God and Christ. So how does this picture of a marriage relate back to God as Qanna. I look at it from the perspective that God has done all of these things to bring us into a relationship with him. Just like when two people are dating and trying to get to know each other. So then what happens in our human relationships if the person that you have put all of this time and effort into then decides they don’t want to be w you and want to go see this other person? It is not something you would like and I know that would make me jealous. God is the same way. He has been doing his part to build this relationship and then when we turn away from him, he becomes jealous and upset with us. This is natural.

We can take a look in Revelation and see where this comparison is still being made Rev 18:23  And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.

We are called the bride of Christ all the way through the New Testament. We are to be the light to all people in the world. But if we do not do the will of God then he becomes jealous.

Taking the illustration of the church as Christ Bride a step farther 2Co 11:2  For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

We are called to be just like a woman on her wedding night. If a person truly loves their future spouse even if they do not know them then they will save themselves for them. Thus on the wedding they are pure. In the same way we are to be pure, we are to save ourselves for God. That is, we are to do his will and follow his leading. God becomes jealous of the things that take our attention away just like if you had sex with someone who was not your spouse, that causes your spouse to be jealous of the other person. Thus we need to remain pure for God we need to be following him and doing what he says.

Is it a bad thing that God is jealous, I would say no. It is not as if God needs us for anything. But God knows what is best for us. He knows what we need. He knows that when we choose things that are outside his will that we are not doing what is best for us. Thus Gods jealousy is not bad it is all about making sure that we do what is best for us. That is Gods jealousy is all about love. It is just like if one of your friends gets into a new relationship and that changes them for the worse, you might be jealous because they are not spending time with you as much. But you being jealous is also out of love because you want what is best for the person. In the same way God wants us to follow him and keep him first in our lives because he knows what is best for us and does not want to see us hurt.

God is jealous of things that we place before him and we must be sure that we are not simply saying that God is the most important thing in our lives because it says in Isaaih 29:13-14  Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.

This passage is a stern warning that we must make sure that God really is the most important thing in our lives or there will be consequences. Our God cares about us so much that he gets upset whenever we push him down our priority lists and he also does not want us simply saying that he is higher on our priority list then he really is. I know that I am guilty of pushing down the importance of God. I get busy I get stressed, I get worried, and the last thing I want to do is to take time and pray and read my Bible. God becomes jealous of all of those things that take me away from him.

This is a characteristic of God that is very important for us to remember. Not only is this the characteristic that is outlined in the first two of the Ten Commandments but it also is a picture of how much God care for us. God is jealous for us because we are his bride and are supposed to be in relationship with him first and foremost. This characteristic of God is good for us because it leads God to care for us and fight for us. But we must remember to truly have God first in our lives because God is Qanna that is God is jealous.

Medical Mission Pros and Cons

I know I'm not the most positive person; I tend to see the glass as half empty. But there have been some things that we (Rae & I) have observed around us that we do not feel are right. The first thing that comes to mind is a Saturday in August we went & helped at another church that did a medical outreach.

We did both really enjoy helping because to us that is what ministry should be, it should be down and dirty, it's meeting people were they are and changing their lives from the outside in.  The problem for us arose with the way the church conducted it. 

First off in order for a person to be seen by the doctors (its a free clinic) they have to be attending a church but not just any church it has to be an approved church. It must be a Baptist church but it must be very conservative, non-progressive church such as no music other then the piano no other Bible translation then KJV all women must wear dress/skirts to all services etc. For the people to be treated at the clinic they have to have not missed a service in the last month. They have a paper that their pastor or Sunday School teacher has to have signed with the date for the last three consecutive weeks.

I have nothing against church services and hearing people preach/teach; I mean heck that is what I'm doing here. But what I have a problem with is when you have the ability to help someone and you turn them down/wont help them because they read the wrong Bible translation. I feel that yes, we should be helping and taking care of the people that are already coming to church; but I also feel that something like allowing someone to see a doctor when they couldn't normally would be a great way to reach out and save someone who is lost. And isn't that one of the main jobs of the church?

To be fair there is good that is coming out of this ministry, people are getting medical attention when they normally wouldn't, and it is helping to ensure that they people are going to church. It is also neat because they had 5 doctors and a dentist who volunteer to give up a Saturday every month and come help people for free. One girl who was helping the dentist (shes a dentistry student), had recently been saved while studying here. She is from Iran, but the really cool part was her 2 sisters were also here studying to be dentists & she brought them along & they were helping out even though they aren't believers yet. So its nice because maybe it will help reach those two girls as well.

It was fun for me because I got to interact with different people and it was nice to be doing something real. Something that wasn't just sermon prep and preaching. I even got to use some of what I went to school for, cause they had me taking resting bp's so that was nice. Rae got to spend a lot of time sorting through pills and putting them little baggies for the people to take home. So that kept her out of trouble.


Before they allowed the people into the clinic it was required that they sit through a preaching service. Which i understand, but I also think is crappy. You have people who have come because they are sick and its a first come first serve thing so some people waited hours to see the doctor and before they will even start seeing people they are required to sit through a 90 min sermon (not kidding I checked the time).  Even though these people have been going to church every week for the last month. So its not like they haven't been in church.

As far as I know all of the pastors here (from the Baptist churches we have seen) go to bible college which there is nothing wrong with but I have decided that for whatever reason when they are studying preaching whoever is teaching the classes must hand out a crap ton of extra credit for whoever can talk the longest. Every sermon or lesson that I have heard goes on for 90 minutes or more. I'm not even counting the singing, offering, announcements etc, just the preaching part.

So there was some things I didn't like but overall I think its a good thing the church is doing. And we're going to try to go again this month.

The patients got to see a doctor and were prescribed medication if needed, which was filled in the pharmacy at the church, for free. They also got to see a dentist, and get any tooth problems resolved. A lot of people had their kids with them, to get shots and meds, and check-ups. The clinic gave out calcium pills and other vitamins to every patient, and take-home instructions for how to continue to help whatever problem they had.