First time team teaching

With in a couple of days   arriving in  DUMAGUETE    We hosted  our first team teaching PTA seminar on   Marriage and Family. It was candid very informative and  enjoyable for all the participants . Jim and myself comprised  the team,  below, we are photographed with dear friends. 

Death in Calvary Chapel Bishop brings travailing and difficult birth pangs

Death  in Calvary Chapel Bishop brings travailing and difficult birth  pangs . 

It would forever be the furthest thing from anyone's  mind. No, it would have seemed not on the improbable but nearly impossible to imagine. On the night of March 27th 2015 nobody would ever expected that Pastor Daniel McClenaghan would not wake up in the morning to greet his  wife  Barbara  in bed next to him. 

 While Daniel quietly slipped away from this life in his sleep leaving no trace of pain   Or  struggle it certainly   could  not be said of  Barbara  his wife  , his family    and the church  he left behind. 

 The existing leadership cloistered around Jim and I when we arrived that late morning on March 28. The necessary questions of priority and what came first and a sense of organisation were the primary jobs for the next 48 hours, under Jim's leadership.

   It  was evident that this Body was committed to each other, and committed to working through and supporting each other  in the  midst of  this difficulty. 

I personally  sat with those through the grieving process listening and offering my heart and in general being available any time for them, either at the graveside or in the service and on Sunday morning.

Jim has made himself available as  Interim   Pastor  assisting in the administration the phone calls to set up  visiting pastors and we have   stayed with members of the Body and found them very giving and loving. To us this feels like our own loving church family we are very close to them. 

New life has begun a  Calvary  Chapel  Bishop  it has been a  triumph beset by tragedy  but God is doing a work of healing and hope.

Photo by Rob Miller

ELEPHANT COUNTRY

Elephant country

The photos show  the place we are staying and the heat of the sun by 7:30 am

 may give you the sense it's blazing. I refer to this inescapable  heat as the, " Ill Tempered Sun " 

 In the shade we read 92 on the temperature gauge but have added  10 degrees more under the sun. I walked under the shade of  our  umbrella. 

  The local people living in this vicinity  live with the constant. ever present threat  of the  wild  elephants.  These  live under such risk to life and limb. Largely due to the lawlessness in the jungle borders with the armed militia. The elephant  reacts aggressively. 

The very  act of returning  home at night on the motorcycle is far from benign.  We have seen fires along the road for xtra light and as an attempt to turn away any oncoming elephants, but the alarm of sightings rise as the sun sets. The land  cools , the winds blow and the herds begin moving. 

Two months ago a young woman was coming  back  to her home here on her motorcycle and when dropping the package, she stopped to retrieve i   She  was then attacked and killed by the  elephant .  . 

Sad and tragic loss. In light of all the precautionS, these animals are largely unpredictable. 

These visits by the marauding. Hulks have come in the cool if the night and Jim and I hear only the short and rhythmic pops of firecrackers.  One mornings  we were shown a coconut tree , plummeted and pushed over for the coconuts. 

After dinner   We  left for the evening session  of the    marriage  seminar . 

As I listened  and joined in  with the   laughter , punctuated  appropriately during the sessions his  obvious enjoyment  with his  students , has become his signature style.  

It is recognized as a warm tribute to his method  of teaching, and the passion which has made his work so memorable through  these   Past 27 years . 

His knowledge  of random information , inserted with his customary expressions , finds  favor and easy assimilation . Through these years he additionally has acquired various cultural nuances and this has enriched the  work,

He is a gifted Missiologist . 

If you know my  husband  Jim,  you know he has  an unreal amount of information that he makes work for him. It is respectable.  He warms  hearts to himself .

 He remains equally interesting in every culture  to hear  and  watch. 

Just avoid trying to untangle the into nations of English once home. 

   . To sum it up, I like this quote . 

  

". The secret of success is to go through life   As a man who never gets used up . "

Dr Albert Schweitzer  

 

 Fully . 

Bamboo Camo

 This camp is built right at the jungles edge and the primary building material is predominately bamboo. 

I call this Refugee Camp,  the Bamboo Camp though it is known by its official name. 

  These Refugee   are Karen, having left the political Conflict and active  aggressive threats  still ominous and military action. Which took thousands of young and elderly Karen lives.  For Tribal    People as these, the  maiming, torturing and 

 Cruelty is not abstract but intensely personal and must be reckoned with retribution , 

This Camp was established in 1984. 

  There are 4000 Refugees that live here in a community , full with Church traditions , Youth Programs and Cultural celebrations. 

To the untrained understanding , life seems to be as normal as can be.  There is a sense of peace that pervades, yet there are active  restrictions so there are few coming into the camp. 

In short Tourists are not allowed.  

 We arrived via special permission on Friday Feb. 13 and began the Seminar in Inductive Bible Study method.  

Through introductions and through the translation from our Karen Pastor , we put together a scenario of life here. 

I found    our  brief time here to be very pleasant, accommodating and kind. 

The Karen are a noble people, very mindful of their heritage  and  place in this difficult  time in history . 

The children and adults were candid and  happy to be photographed. 

I have included the images here for you. 

The dirt road in and out is so deeply grooved that the driver 

 Went no faster than 10 mph. This was in his  4wheel drive. 

  Wewere jostled    bouncing  in our seats involuntary . Like body hiccups. 

Of course being  constantly pitched forward  and sideways was equal to air turbulence  in discomfort . 

For the hour long  journey , the slow accented ,  emphatic heavy stressed syllabic  language of the driver mesmerised  me.

So  punchy and tired  my  Thoughts    Came in and out like the tides, to  rise and fall with his spoken pattern .

In a  manner   of speaking , Jim and I were as seaweed brought in on those tides of thought. 

tired and ready for bed. 

We would return to the Camp and stay overnight to extend the Workshop into a  few   evening hours, 

 thought 

I kept my nose in my books preparing notes   our  marriage seminar. 

With stories I have heard and seen to be accurate I was very thankful for the resources I had  in my IPad   . 

Now to   cross the Karen Culture  barrier and  make appropriate  examples and application . 

The day was pregnant with instruction from Jim, classroom work and the ever present  heat of the " ill tempered sun" .  Of evening we all, in a great sigh, cooled off simultaneously. 

Children appeared in groups playing simple games , a few teens  wandered past in their  signature styles which included hair styled  in keeping with trend and the girls with friends  talking  and giggling. 

Mothers appeared in doorways cuddling their babies and children . 

After a pleasant dinner of rice, assorted vegetables and chicken , we  gratefully  slipped into sleep. 

 to the native and private room offered to us. 

The Elements Of This World , Reclaim

  

 Strangely enough ,    

The elements of the physical world take  .

Back  what is of their own substance in structure or edifice. It is called  decay.

This biological science is a law to itself. It happens without prejudice. 

This was once a beautiful home, but it has been abandoned to deteriorate from its former estate. 

Constant exposure to  conditions that degrade and stress will destroy the integrity and and eventually the very foundation . All this would take is care and attention unto restoration. 

Subsisting without care, interest , and or 

  guardianship  would further   encourage   The  rigours  of  deterioration . 

Tragically unnecessary. 

 There is the spiritual  Law. 

I could hardly ignore the  relevant and   truth in this dilapidated house. 

 Not only is the physical world subject to stress , also the Christians Faith.    

 James  4 versus 4 to 8

The Christian finds himself at constant 

 Strain and tension with worldliness as he or she juxtaposes themselves comfortably .  No one enjoys  being  ostracised for  their point of view including the  Christian . 

 But   engagement and romance with the ethics and elements of  worldliness, and not desiring to be identified with  CHRIST eventually wearies  down the believer. Compromise  is an affective game plan of the Christians enemy.  

James 4;4-8 makes me wonder about my 

  Own worldliness .

In other effective tool against the Christians    is  irrelevance

Believing that it is irrelevant  to  oft  repent   and appropriate the grace of God since He sees my weakness  and knows me  ultimately .  

  an infringement free appRoach  to Faith Management  seems to find more appeal. 

 

When I  was a little girl I   Memorised in VBS Ephesians 6: 11-18  

I did not grow out of or away from spiritual  truth,  instead I think of it  often  because it makes sense of things.    In connection to 

 the many things that I fight and struggle with in my life as a believer. 

So , the recourse , attention, response and  vigilance to the hope that lies within you. 

Considered   Jude  20 and 21

     But you  beloved building yourselves on your most holy faith praying and the Holy Spirit keep yourselves in the love of God waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ  to eternal life.   

In care of our fate we would do very well to practice spiritual disciplines. One is to give ourselves to prayer daily praying for others , and or forgiveness.  repentance asking the Lord to instruct our minds and prayers of thankfulness

 

Another discipline is to give  oneself to the reading of the word of God and to meditate on it so  making every effort applying it to   Ones  Thoughts and course of action.

 The Christian life is a very active life not only a life of contemplation meditation. 

It is a life of service to others. 

  My husband   keeps our personal  properties maintained. He practices maintenance. 

While this is mundane , it demonstrates commitment  and care and maturity, one that must be also practised in our spiritual  life here on Earth. 

Galatians 6:8

8For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.  

I came across this in my studies and  it  defines   part of today's spiritual condition  Very interesting and thought provoking.  Allow me to share with you  and I certainly do not mean to imply anything other than this a very good description of self love gone wrong

Lovers of Self – 2 Timothy 3:2

Posted in Word Studies | Comments Off

Dr. Dan Hayden •

Self-centered behavior is the most destructive influence upon interpersonal relationships imaginable. It eliminates concern for the other person’s welfare and sucks the life out of any meaningful communication. It is the first sin of the universe, when Adam and Eve chose themselves over God, and it tops the list of sins that God hates (“pride”—Prov. 6:16). Self-love is the cesspool out of which oozes every other perversion of the human heart, for ultimately everyone and everything else becomes expendable in the pursuit of its insatiable lust. Yet the thing that is most exalted in our society is the “self.” Self fulfillment, self-determinism, and self-image are highly regarded as the essence of life by our hedonistic culture.

Paul warned Timothy that the “last days” culture would be characterized by peril due to the loss of moral integrity (2 Tim. 3). The list of eighteen sordid dehumanizing attributes of this culture begins with “for men shall be lovers of their own selves” (2 Tim. 3:2). Actually, “lovers of their own selves” is one word in the Greek text—philautos. This compound word is built around the intensive pronoun autos which means “self,” and is translated variously—himself, herself, ourselves, themselves. This word has invaded our English vocabulary in a multitude of compound words—autograph, autobiography, automobile, autocratic, automatic, etc. In all of these words, the idea of “self” or “by itself” is dominant. For instance, “autobiography” is the biography of oneself—and, “automobile” is the idea of being mobile by itself.

Now in the Greek word philautos, the additional word philos is added to the notion of oneself (autos). Philos is the common Greek word for love and signifies the kind of love that comes from the emotions of the heart. When we are attracted to something or feel emotionally drawn to someone, we are experiencing philos. Basically, philos is what turns us on. Therefore, when added to the word autos, this compound word indicates that the thing which turns us on is ourselves—philautos. This, the Apostle Paul says, will be the most defining element of the last days culture—people will be “lovers of their own selves” (philautos). More than anything else, this is the reason we are seeing a major decline in goodness and a drastic increase in badness. People are acting selfishly. They are putting their own interests ahead of the needs and concerns of others

The Kindness of A Man

The kindness of a Man

In casual conversation we might hear on occasion 

  with  regard , the strength,  ingenuity or hard working  of a man. 

But in the making of a Man, there is that medallion of Godlikness that is kindness . 

Hosea   6:6

 The  very   act and mindset of kindness elevates  society and benefits all  . 

"Random acts of Kindness " was a term used nearly a decade ago  to show the  ready acceptance and blessing it  left in its wake. 

I have a friend who, though he is special needs and  profoundly  behind academically  of his peers , is kind. His first thoughts are of others  and speaks of their needs. 

One certainly must not be exceptional or intuitive to dial in to others and help, be thoughtful and kind on their behalf.oij

Such a wealth of kindness would diminish the poverty of  awkwardness and social isolationism. 

Far From The Civilised World

.MEDITATIONS                        

 The following entries will come  from my  study in the  Bible and thoughts resulting from such with reflections from our life's work.

 

                                                   Far From The Civilized  World 

                                    .                   November 18, 2014 

                            

At present I struggle with two Spiritual realities. The one, is my nature to do for myself what I  please  as I please. I understand the power of free expression and that driving need  that seeks to make itself known, and to be understood  and know,  I know my ego needs and  ambitions.  They do not require translation into any foreign language, as this nature is shared by all  mankind . 

Every face nears it's own humanity with hope and disappointment , joys , triumphs and pain. The human condition. 

Of the struggle then is the reality we are spiritual and there is certainly the truisms  we submit too,  convinced    Or otherwise, So we have our human nature , then we have a spiritual nature enlivened by the Spirit of God  Who  is bringing light toour minds through the Bible. Consider, the Scripture  , "... Our foolish minds were darkened"

So where is the conflict?

I liken  it in the setting of a Theatre. As I see it, we act out and involve, and are persuaded of our engagements first by  our  minds, the mind  is us,  what  we think becomes who we are and what we do and react too, in essence what we 

Dwell upon". 

Let's not leave it  there. The struggle  is a collision with the  Will. 

We all have one.  Can we consider who rules who? 

Does the Mind rule the Will?

Does the Will  indeed rule the Mind?

It appears to me from study we must submit our Will to the reinforced and enlightened Mind changed and made alive to God by His Light , see  John 10 Jesus is THE light. 

If I have the wealth of this world or a modest representation of it, why  yet does conflict  hamper  my  way   with shadows of discontent?

As I increase in learning, why yet does  the  insatiable desire for more  leave me wanton and beggarly?? 

I seek to know wisdom, but is spend countless hours on acquiring knowledge. 

In the summation of this  inquiry, 

I will submit to the reading of the bible  as an appropriate   Act of Wisdom and submission. 

For this moment of Time, the struggle of the Will becomes  quieted as a nursed child. 

Shonda Davis