Making Heart Decisions

I noticed something in Exodus 28 about Aaron's priestly garments. It says something to me about leadership in the body of Christ and our responsibility as Christians to hold one another up.

Aaron had three things next to his heart: stones that represent the 12 tribes of Israel, the Urim and the Thummim, and the the breastpiece of judgment. The idea was that he was to remember these three things as he came before the Lord.

Now I don't want to spiritualize this beyond reason, but it does bring to mind three things. As we come before God we should remember that we were judged for sin, but that payment for that judgement was born by our Savior Jesus Christ. This keeps us humble.

We should remember that all decisions for our lives belong to Him, not to us. This keeps us dependent on Him.

And we should always remember our fellow brothers and sisters to lift them up in prayer. This keeps us "other focused."

Humble, dependent, loving towards others. Hey, that's the character of God! How about that.

Pastor Tom

Why don't I have Total Victory?

The Bible says we are "more than conquerors" through Jesus Christ. If that's the case, the why don't my problems disappear as soon as I claim victory in Jesus' name? Why does it seem I still have temptations and trials and things don't always go my way?

I think the answer is found in Exodus 23:29.

God is talking to his people about when he brings them into the Promised Land. He says something very interesting about the process of victory over the enemy:

23:29 I will not drive them out before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild beasts multiply against you. 30 Little by little I will drive them out from before you until you have increased and possess the land."

I think there is a bit of a spiritual principal here. You may simply not be ready for complete victory right off the top. God may have some work to do to prepare you to handle taking full possession of the land. Putting an immature Christian in charge of a large church would be completely overwhelming and wrong. The body would suffer and so would the young believer.

Sometimes God gives us small victories so we can learn to trust Him, learn His ways, and learn His plan. Over time the victory is complete, but have patience.

Pastor Tom

Back From Africa

Thank you for all who prayed for us while we were in Kenya. Our journey back was very long - 42 hours travelling. We returned to Newberg on Friday night the 26th. Here it is Monday and we are still very tired and in the wrong time zone!

The Lord really did some amazing things while we were there. The Lord's Ministry is a wonderful organization, doing the work of the gospel. Before we left, Pastor Gideon Mudenyo shared his missionary strategy with us.

Basically he and a few other pastors go into an area where the gospel has not penetrated. They stop people on the road or go house to house and tell them about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Some get saved and they then start a house Bible study. From that churches get started and they hold open air crusades where hundreds get saved.

After the ministry is established another group comes in under the direction of Gideon's brother: Jonathan. This ministry is designed to disciple the young Christians and support the church that has started. Meanwhile Gideon starts over in another area.

Please continue to pray for this vital ministry and for the Lord to direct how we can support them.

Oh, it may be a few days before I resume my regular postings to this blog on our journey through the Scriptures. Please be patient!

Pastor Tom

Kenya Report 1-24-2007

We have just watched a beautiful sunset on our last night here in Kenya. God has been so good. Our sickness of the past few days has left us, thanks to the Cipro and many many prayers. We are finishing this work strongly.

On Tuesday we visited a small church in Mayanja pastored by Evans Mututa. They have a very large and exuberant worship and praise team and we enjoyed ourselves greatly. Both Margaret and I shared from the Word with them and they seemed very appreciative. Our host, Gideon, scaled back our schedule for that day so we could gain back our strength.

We also had the opportunity to present Pastor Gideon with his laptop that was donated by some folks in our body. He was so appreciative and caught on right away (he is very technically savvy). We had put a free Office and Bible Study program on the laptop and he was busy figuring out how to use it. He plans to use a car battery and an inverter to run the laptop from his house (remember he has no electricity).

Wednesday was a busy but very fruitful day. We went back to Kitale to speak at a worship symposium of some pastors and worship leaders from Kitale. Margaret shared from Psalm 95 and then Tom shared some insights into worship and how we worshp at Calvary Chapel Newberg. The group seemed appreciative of the encouragement and exhortation to make worship God focused and a sacrifice of praise.

We shopped a little bit in Kitale and lunched at a beautiful spot on the second story of a building looking down on a square. It was truly enjoyable.

After lunch it was off to Tulwet to Pastor Nickson's church. Pastor Nickson was with us during the conference in Busia and for several days after that. He is truly a humble man of God that we have grown very close to. Margaret shared her testimony and ended with Galatians 6 where we should bear one another's burdens.

Tom then shared a special word God had given him the night before from Matthew 11:28-30 encouraging the people to let Jesus be the stronger bull and them be the little bull, letting Jesus bear their burdens. All seemed to enjoy the words spoken by the two of us.

The pastor then asked us to dedicate three babies, which we were glad to do, laying hands on them and praying.

We shared an emotional goodbye with Pastor Nickson and his wife Lynnet and off we went back to Webuye. On the way we enjoyed beautiful scenery and again the great African sunset.

This will likely be our last report. On Thursday we speak at a small Bible school, then enjoy worshp with Evelyn (Gideon's wife) and her worship team. Lord willing we will teach them "With All I Am" in Swahili.

We are going to bring back with us two Swahili worship songs that we can learn both in English and Swahili. We then head to the airport in Kisumu where we fly to Nairobi. We then have a four hour layover and leave for Zurich at 12:20AM on Friday Kenya time.

We thank you so much for your prayers during our trip. We asked that you pray for the Holy Spirit to give us words to speak when we needed it and He has answered those prayers.

Blessings to you and we will see you again this weekend.

Pastor Tom and Margaret

Kenya Report January 23

Greetings from Kenya Africa. Getting on the Internet from Kenya proves to be difficult. It's taken me an hour and half just to get to this post, so I apologize.

Thank you for all of your prayers. Margaret and I have gotten quite ill over the past few days. We finally took the Cipro that our doctor prescribed and are on the mend.

On Monday we went to the orphanage in the large city of Kitale. Kitale is the first place we have seen outside of Nairobe that could be a U.S. town, but with many many differences.

The orphanage is outside of town in a setting that reminds me a lot of Oregon: many trees, a lot of grass, cows grazing, etc. The orphanage itself is a nicely built structure that had been envisioned by Gideon Mudenyo's father as a hospital. When that could not happen they remade it into an orphanage.


There were 23 kids there the day we visited, three surprise additions. They were all very friendly and seemed happy with the little whistle/recorders that our electric guitarist David provided. We unloaded the rest of the clothing and toys for the staff to distribute. They seemed very happy and blessed for the help. We are hoping to get shoe sizes and purchase shoes for the orphans on Wednesday.

They showed us where they are giving sewing lessons to neighbors as a way to raise money. We also saw the rooms of the children and watched as they cleaned each others feet.

The orphanage has cows and chickens to help supply food and even some money as they can sell the excess milk.
Today I am going to visit another town and teach at a church. Tomorrow they have created a worship symposium (as they call it) back in Kitale. When they found out that Margaret and I are worship leaders they wanted us to teach them about worship. Oh well, blessed are the flexible.!

On Wednesday we are also doing some sessions (as they call them) for the church of Pastor Nickson (pronounced Neek-sohn). He has been traveling with us over these past days and is a wonderful man of God.

If possible I'll update again before we leave back for the U.S.

Pastor Tom (and Margaret)

Kenya Report January 20

Greetings from Kenya! Hamjambo!

We greet you from East Africa. Sorry it has taken us this many days to give an update. We have been "out in the bush" and away from Internet access but wanted to give a brief update on what God has been doing.

We'll start from tonight. Margaret and I have just returned from an open air crusade in a market in the Kenyan region known as Busia. The churches in the area set up a sound system, held wonderful praise and worship African style, then I shared a simple gospel message. One of the local pastors, Pastor Boniface, translated into the local dialect of Swahilli. Praise God, about 100 responded to the message and came forward to accept Christ. There were also several healings that took place.

The trip has been very different than our expectations. We drove in a rented van from Kisumu to Webuye to Pastor Mudenyo's home. We were there only a couple of hours when we packed up again and drove into the very rural parts of this region near a town called Busia. The conference we were teaching at was held in a church with mud walls and a steel roof and a mud floor. The road to the area was dirt and in places more like a Jeep trail.

This is truly something we had not expected but we have fallen in love with the people in these villages, many still live in grass and mud homes. They love the Lord, love to praise, and love to share the gospel. I shared several messages with the group of pastors, pastors wives and church leaders about studying and teaching the Bible verse by verse. They were very well received.

Margaret shared powerful messages about how important it is that the Lord who shapes our lives and that we let His life live out through our lives to bring others to faith and strength in God.

We have had the pleasure of dining on authentic African food prepared in love and served in the traditional African way. The Kenyan people are very hospitable and friendly. They have accepted us with open arms and love. The conference is now complete and the pastors have headed home to teach Sunday morning.

We are happy for what the Lord has done, while pretty exhausted from the travelling and busy schedule. Pray for strength to do what remains. We look forward to visiting the orphanage Monday and bringing the many gifts our body has provided.

Life for many of these people is very hard. Many walk or bicycle many kilometers each day and earn less than a dollar a day. They suffer from famine and drought and disease. Yet they have a love for Jesus. We so much enjoy their singing and praise as you can see from the photo. We look forward to returning home soon to give more details!

God bless you!

Kenya Here We Come

Greetings. For those of you who regularly read these posts I wanted to give you an update of what's happening.

Tuesday, January 16 my wife, Margaret, and I will be jetting off to Kenya, East Africa. We will be there for about 10 days. The purpose of our visit is to 1) Teach about 150 pastors and church workers at a conference in Webuye, a small town north of Kisumu near the border of Uganda. 2) we will visit churches and see the tremendous move of God in that region. 3) Visit an orphanage run by The Lords Ministry and Pastors Jonathan and Gideon Mudenyo (our hosts). 4) Hold open air crusades the preach the gospel. 5) Teach at a Bible school run by Pastor Patrick Amutala.

We will be very busy during the time we are in Kenya but hope to see some of the wildlife and definitely get to know the culture. Your prayers are requested. You can get our Kenya Prayer Guide here.

I will be posting on this blog (hopefully) each day with photos and accounts of our trip. If you get these posts via email then the images may not come through, but you can check this space if you like. Once we return I will once again use this space for our journey through the Scriptures together. Look for the first post next week.

Pastor Tom

What If Nothing Pans Out?

For those of us who belong to Jesus Christ, we want to do God's will. So we pray and think and meditate on what that might be, then hopefully we start doing something. Perhaps it is teaching Sunday school or leading a Bible study or just sharing coffee with a friend that is in need or maybe donating to a missionary.

Sometimes when we do things, nothing happens. I mean nothing. We don't get money ringing into our bank account when we give, we don't see the end of our friend's need and perhaps we don't see any fruit from our endeavors at passing on God's truth. Does that mean we stop?

Joseph found himself in that situation in Genesis 40. Joseph has had it hard. He was just trying to be honest and found himself left for dead, sold into slavery, then falsley accused and thrown into prison.

There he had a chance to make things right for himself. Two guys had dreams that he knew God could interpret. His one request was that these guys remember him when they got out. They didn't

Joseph could have been pretty sore about his, but instead he just kept doing the excellent job he always had. Eventually the chief cup bearer of Pharaoh remembered him, he interpreted Pharaoh's dream and became Prime Minister of Egypt.

Joseph, you see, wasn't being excellent for what he could get, it was simply in his character to serve God diligently no matter what. How about you?

Colossians 3:23-24 Whatever you do, work heartily , as for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. ESV

Pastor Tom

Being Cheated

When you read the account of Jacob in Genesis 30 and 31 you really feel sorry for the guy. His uncle took real advantage of him (not that Jacob didn't deserve it after he swindled his brother out of the birthright and the blessing).

But Jacob's trouble with Laban was only part of God's plan to help Jacob realize that he no longer needed to depend on his own wits to succeed, but that he needed to depend only on God. We need that lesson too.

It's like God took Jacob through a series of unmanagable situations to prove how incapable he really was, then showed Jacob through a series of miracles that God could provide where Jacob could not. An example is with the flocks. Jacob agreed to take the spotted and speckled sheep. Then all the sheep started being birthed spotted and speckled. Genesis 30 seems to suggest that it was Jacob's plan of showing the sheep the streaked stakes that made them streaked. That's unlikely, for it was really God who was making Jacob a success.

For us it is the same way. We get cheated and taken advantage of and we want to strike out and get back at that person. In reality we need to trust that it is God who will provide for us, not matter how much other people take advantage.

Focus on God as your provision, and not on how unfairly others treat you.

1 Corinthians 6:7 Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated? NKJV

Philippians 4:19-20 And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. 20 Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen. NKJV

Pastor Tom

"It's All About Me"

What is the purpose of the Old Testament? There are actually a few, including setting the state for God being the Creator of the universe, and setting the stage for what the character of God is like through the Law.

But there is one main purpose of the Old Testament that we must always keep in mind or we will misunderstand the whole thing.

That is, that the entire thing - from Genesis to Malachi is about one thing: Jesus Christ. You won't find the words Jesus Christ in the Old Testament - but if you look for the Hebrew words Joshua and Messiah you will. Jesus is the Greek word for Joshua and Messiah changed to Greek is Christ - they both mean "Anointed One."

All the stories and prophecies and Psalms - they are all about God's Messiah: the Savior who came to redeem the world from the fatal disease called sin.

Think about it like a "V". On the left side of the V everything looks forward Jesus' life, death, burial and resurrection. On the right side everything looks back at what He has done. Jesus Himself said this too:

Luke 24:44-48 "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled." 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. ESV

So if you have a hard time with the Old Testament, it may simply be that you have the wrong focus. Think about it in terms of God's Messiah and it'll all make sense.

Pastor Tom

Two Mistakes That Rock Our World

In Genesis 16 and following Abram and Sarai each make a mistake that cost them dearly and had repercussions all through the ages and today are a cause of world turmoil and affect things in our country like elections, the economy, and the war in Iraq.

God promised Abram that he would have a son and that this son would be the first of descendants too numerous to count. Years went by and the old man Abram and his equally old Sarai saw no signs of the fulfillment of that promise.

So Sarai tells Abram: Genesis 16: 2 "Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; It may be that I shall obtain children by her."

That was the first mistake. Instead of waiting on God to fulfill his promise she took matters into her own hands and suggested a way that they could help God out a bit.

The second mistake follows: "And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai."

Abram had heard the voice of God giving him the promise on more than one occasion. But he decided to listen to Sarai instead of God. He took Sarai's servant as his wife and she had a baby: Ishmael. Ishmael became the father of the Arab people.

He is described as being a "wild donkey of a man" who will always be fighting with his brothers. Sound familiar?

Now I'm not knocking the Arab people or anything like that. My point is very simple: God has given us great and very precious promises - promises like He will never leave us nor forsake us - promises that all things work together for the good of them that love God and are called according to his purposes - promises like no temptation will come upon you that you cannot bear by finding God's way of escape.

How often do we figure out ways we can get out of difficult situations instead on relying on God. How often do we listen to the voices of others who want to offer shortcuts rather than obedience?

Each decision has a consequence. We know Abram and Sarai's decisions did. How about yours?

Pastor Tom

But It Looked So Good!

How often do we make decisions based on our senses and our environment? "If it feels good, do it!" is a popular saying in our culture today. The problem is that often times our senses and our environment fool us.

Take Lot, for instance. In Genesis 13 Lot contends with Uncle Abraham. Instead of fighting, Abraham (Abram then) tells Lot to pick and he'll take the leftovers. Lot "lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zoar" (Genesis 13:10). Also in that direction was Sodom and Gomorrah.

Lot was after getting the best for himself by his own wits. Abraham was after getting God's best by God's promises. Lot quickly got into trouble as he moved closer to wicked Sodom. He got kidnapped in a battle and Uncle Abram had to rescue him. Not learning his lesson, Lot ended up living in Sodom and even becoming a city leader of sorts.

The "well watered" plain of the Jordan was also rife with sin. That internal rottenness did not manifest itself in an external desert. Quite the opposite in fact. It looked good on the outside but was rotten on the inside - where it really mattered.

In our lives we need to be careful making decisions based on what appears great. Madison Avenue makes us think that new expensive car will be a chick magnet and will get us on the road to happiness. Now that doesn't mean that we shouldn't have a car or even a new car. The difference is, are we like Lot looking out for our own best interests based on what we see and can do, or are we trusting God that He will provide our needs and is in the business of changing us on the inside into His likeness?

So when presented with "well watered plains" just make sure you include God in the discussion and ask for His guidance and then do things that will benefit your walk with Him, draw you closer to Him and lead you to act more like Him.

Pastor Tom

Why The Rainbow?

Today I wanted to talk about rainbows. In Genesis 9 after the flood God said to Noah: "I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth."

The agreement was that God would no longer destroy the earth by water (He will destroy it by fire, but that's another study).

In order to have a rainbow you need two ingredients: the sun and rain. I'm sure for Noah and his descendants when they saw storm clouds and rain approach they were probably frightened given what they had either experienced or heard about. They were to gain comfort from seeing the rainbow in the midst of the storm: God's promise of safety.

We face storms too in life. If God has a covenant with you through Jesus Christ then you have a promise of safety as well:

2 Timothy 4:17-18 "The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen." ESV

So how does the rainbow fit in? The rainbow is created when sunlight hits raindrops in midair. You have to be looking at the rain with the sun sort of behind you in order for the effect to work. The light shining on the storm actually changes its appearance from your perspective. You see instead of threatening rain and doom an incredibly beautiful scene that takes your breath away.

That's how God works through your difficulties. God takes the storms in your life and actually creates beauty in you through the transformation of your character into His character. Yes it is difficult, but the next time something looms on the horizon as a terrible storm in your life, try letting the light of God's love and promises shine on that problem so you can see the beauty He will make out of it.

Jeremiah 31:13 "I will turn their mourning into joy ;I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow." ESV

Romans 8:28 "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." ESV

Pastor Tom

Satan's First Line of Offense

Have you ever wondered where attacks from Satan will come first? Don't think that he'll appear as a guy in a red suit with a pitchfork, or even as some hideous looking demon. No, Satan will disguise himself as an angel of light (in fact his name: Lucifer, comes from a Latin word for 'light bringer').

There are many lines of attack: our own flesh, temptation, lies, and even sometimes frontal assault. But I think some instruction from the first book of the Bible is revealing:

Genesis 3:1 "Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?""

You know the story from there - Eve got in a theological argument with the serpent and ended up making a mistake that has cost each one of us a great deal. But I want to notice how the attack came - and make no mistake - this was an attack.

Satan questioned God's Word. "Did God actually say ..." He wanted Eve to doubt something God had said. Satan still does that to this day. I hear people all the time claim that the Bible is not the Word of God. I reject that for a number of reasons, including the fact that Jesus Himself validated the Old Testament, and His apostles (eye witnesses) validated the New Testament as Scripture.

While there isn't space here to debate that topic I just want us to be aware that when doubts are brought up about the validity of the Bible as God's Word, the source of the doubt may not be an honest intellectual or spiritual pursuit of truth (that's great when it happens) but a diabolical attempt to get you to do like Eve: doubt the word of God. Don't make that mistake, it can be fatal (in more ways than one!).

Pastor Tom