Philemon, 1:7
“Your love has given me much joy and comfort, my brother, for your kindness has often refreshed the hearts of God’s people. “
Philemon was not a pastor, an evangelist, or a missionary. However, he had great faith in the Lord Jesus and for all of God’s people. In addition, he was able to renew and restore his fellow brethren in the faith. So that he brought great refreshment to the hearts of God’s people.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today I would like to challenge you in this word. There are many nations that need restoration and transformation from the Lord. They are living in great darkens, extreme poverty, backwardness, drought, civil war, HIV/AIDS, and more. God is looking for someone to be a conduit to bring refreshment to His nations.
May be you are not a good preacher like Paul or Peter but you can be like Philemon by your love, encouragement, and helpful approach.
Please feel free to ask questions or comment on this message, I look forward to hearing from you.
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
Pastor Phillip
Monday, September 15, 2008
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Myanmar - You Can Help! We have approval from the government
It is about time I update this blog and I apologize for not doing sooner. Just a few minutes ago I got off the phone from my primary Myanmar (Burma) associate who just this evening was able to fly out of the capital city Yangon. He reported to me on the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis that hit the country last Friday and Saturday, destroying 95% of the buildings in its path and taking the lives of tens of thousands.
Never before has this country of 57 million people been hit with such a devastating storm. Pastor Aung met with one of the General Secretaries of the Junta as well as the Minister of Health before leaving and was able to obtain unprecedented permission to bring in literally plane loads and ship loads of provision and finances to help.
The General Secretary reported that 47 regions have been damaged and to give you some idea of the scope of the devastation, in one region alone, 65,000 people have been confirmed dead. The numbers are growing by the hour and there are at least 41,000 people unaccounted for, which has led the US government and others to estimate that the final death toll will exceed 100,000 people with 1.7 million people left homeless.
The country has been under military rule since 1962 but very interesting, has allowed the church to function with little restriction and grow. In this case, major aid agencies and countries are standing by to help but understandably want their personnel to accompany the aid, distribute it and assess further the damage and best way to help. Well, as of right now, the foreign personnel for the most part are parked in Bangkok, Thailand waiting for permission to enter and so far have largely been denied entrance. They have the goods just not the way yet to get in.
The government of Myanmar prefers it’s government and people give out the aid. I believe the best short-term solution is to use the avenue of the Church in Myanmar. We can get finances and goods in to the church, with full government permission, and then the church will be giving the aid and comfort in the most devastated areas.
On another front, we have been asked to help in providing Scriptures at the same time. For many years we have been distributing the evangelistic booklet entitled “the Most Important Story Ever Told” in at least 10 different major languages in Myanmar. We have been asked by the church to immediately provide, 100,000 copies of this booklet for the church to distribute along with the food, medicines, water and other aid given. We approved this request and we thank the American Bible Society for it’s equal partnership in providing these materials. As the Christian public feels led to help and give, we will simply continue to add to the print run. The need is probably closer to 500,000 copies with a cost per copy of .50 cents.
We are sending $10,000 today that will be in the hands of church leaders in Myanmar in the next few days, buying up as much rice, oil, medicines as they can. One bag of rice has doubled in price in just one week to about $35 US but that is something nearly every family in the US, Canada and in so many other countries can help purchase for them.
We commit that 100% of what is given will go immediately into Myanmar. Not one cent will be taken for overheads, wire fees, salaries, or anything but the need on the ground.
This is a great tragedy but also an opportunity for us to show the love of Jesus Christ to the hundreds of thousands in need right now. I am reminded of a similar cyclone hitting neighboring India a few years back and when the massive waves came in, they also sucked up everything and everyone in their way and people I know reported that Christians there heard people sitting on the remains of their roofs or hanging on to limbs of trees crying out, “save us, save us” as they were swept out to sea. Now in Myanmar we can answer at least some of the cries for help.
In that same storm, I heard of one family now that as they tried to escape the waves, the father, mother and two kids tried to hang on to a tree but the father watched in horror as his precious wife and children were swept out to sea.
These are tragic stories but we can make a difference as they face these terrible days and we can help them survive and through the church members who help them, learn that we care but there is only one who can heal their broken hearts and revive them with hope and comfort through Jesus Christ.
Please help as you can and spread the word. You can help. We can get the help in. One person, one family, one community at a time for His sake. We can help.
God bless you.
David
Sunday, April 6, 2008
China: Persecution - "A Plea for Understanding"
For countless hours over the years, I have sat with pastors and leaders of different underground church groups in China. One of the greatest frustrations they have repeatedly expressed is the seeming lack of understanding of Christian leaders in the West to their situation in China.
They have told me the two most trying things they have had to deal with is first, the treatment of their families when they are incarcerated and when their families are finally able to come for one of their rare visits, they are shocked to see their children in tattered clothes, bare feet and ribs showing because they have not had enough nourishment and what pains them so deeply is that they can do nothing to help them.
I find it remarkable that number two on their list was is not the beatings in prison, the hard labor they endure, or any number of items you and I might think would make a prison stay unbearable. Instead, they expressed their frustration with how the truth of their plight is so unknown to the other part of the Church – those of us in the West. They are angry at the deception that is perpetrated upon them. They also wonder why we don’t take a closer look when the Chinese politicians tell us about ‘religious freedom’ there.
After airing their frustrations with the “system”, they are so quick to express their deep appreciation for the brothers and sisters from afar, as they call us and the prayer and practical help – the gifts - that so encourages them and helps them endure in their darkest hours. They cannot even find words to express how they feel about their families being cared for by others who don’t even know them.
Part of the problem, I think is that believers in the West so seldom see the “hard evidence” of the abuses, the beatings, the imprisonments, the lack of basic freedoms. When I saw the events begin to unfold in Tibet in March, I realized that the handling of the protests and protestors by the communist government revealed the nature of what so much of the Chinese public endure, day in and day out. I ask the Christian public - pay close attention - as this is how our brothers and sisters in Christ are treated every single day. Not because of protests however, but simply for their stand for their Lord and the proclamation of the Gospel. May it stir us to pray, stand with them, and help them financially.
The leaders in the underground church have no plans for any public protests and neither are they asking you to mobilize and march on Capitol Hill. They simply want you to know the truth. The truth is there is not religious freedom in China! However, since when has that ever stopped the Church? From the early days of the Church, there was great hardship and persecution. In fact Jesus Himself stated in John 15 that just as he was persecuted, those who followed Him would also be persecuted.
The Church in China is alive and well not because they don’t have difficulty. But rather in the face of difficulty and because of their perspectives - they stand - tall, joyful and victorious. They have chosen to follow the Way of the Cross and to walk the path our Lord Jesus walked, one full of suffering; but a path full of purpose, meaning, victory and joy.
As we look at China and the Church today, let us seek to understand. Let us also be bold enough to stand with them. Sometimes it may require us to speak but always, it requires us to pray for them and as we can render assistance to these faithful servants and their families as they serve on the front lines as we also share with them.
Thank you for caring!!
They have told me the two most trying things they have had to deal with is first, the treatment of their families when they are incarcerated and when their families are finally able to come for one of their rare visits, they are shocked to see their children in tattered clothes, bare feet and ribs showing because they have not had enough nourishment and what pains them so deeply is that they can do nothing to help them.
I find it remarkable that number two on their list was is not the beatings in prison, the hard labor they endure, or any number of items you and I might think would make a prison stay unbearable. Instead, they expressed their frustration with how the truth of their plight is so unknown to the other part of the Church – those of us in the West. They are angry at the deception that is perpetrated upon them. They also wonder why we don’t take a closer look when the Chinese politicians tell us about ‘religious freedom’ there.
After airing their frustrations with the “system”, they are so quick to express their deep appreciation for the brothers and sisters from afar, as they call us and the prayer and practical help – the gifts - that so encourages them and helps them endure in their darkest hours. They cannot even find words to express how they feel about their families being cared for by others who don’t even know them.
Part of the problem, I think is that believers in the West so seldom see the “hard evidence” of the abuses, the beatings, the imprisonments, the lack of basic freedoms. When I saw the events begin to unfold in Tibet in March, I realized that the handling of the protests and protestors by the communist government revealed the nature of what so much of the Chinese public endure, day in and day out. I ask the Christian public - pay close attention - as this is how our brothers and sisters in Christ are treated every single day. Not because of protests however, but simply for their stand for their Lord and the proclamation of the Gospel. May it stir us to pray, stand with them, and help them financially.
The leaders in the underground church have no plans for any public protests and neither are they asking you to mobilize and march on Capitol Hill. They simply want you to know the truth. The truth is there is not religious freedom in China! However, since when has that ever stopped the Church? From the early days of the Church, there was great hardship and persecution. In fact Jesus Himself stated in John 15 that just as he was persecuted, those who followed Him would also be persecuted.
The Church in China is alive and well not because they don’t have difficulty. But rather in the face of difficulty and because of their perspectives - they stand - tall, joyful and victorious. They have chosen to follow the Way of the Cross and to walk the path our Lord Jesus walked, one full of suffering; but a path full of purpose, meaning, victory and joy.
As we look at China and the Church today, let us seek to understand. Let us also be bold enough to stand with them. Sometimes it may require us to speak but always, it requires us to pray for them and as we can render assistance to these faithful servants and their families as they serve on the front lines as we also share with them.
Thank you for caring!!
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Greetings!
In all my years of being in ministry I am doing something new today... I must confess this is my first blog. For weeks I've been mulling over ideas on what to say and how to say it; because again, I'm a beginner in this world of blogging, instant messaging, iPods, and just about 'virual' anything and everything.
Getting past my struggle with technology, I am very excited to have a forum to discuss matters of Christianity and the Church worldwide with you. Please feel free to ask questions or comment to anything you find here - it can be directed to other readers or myself.
In ministry and personally, we have been so blessed. I truly don't understand God's goodness in this, but so often, we find ourselves on the front row of world events and breaking events relating to the church.
For example, only a few weeks ago I was in Havana for President Fidel Castro's last day in office and we, along with Christian leaders waited with baited breath to hear if in fact his brother, Raul, would be named President. He was of course, and now we look to the effect on the country but especially on the Church. I was honored and amazed to remember that only 10 years ago at the Cuban Evangelical Celebration in Havana, I practically stood in the same spot - only that time I was just a few feet from this now, former President. Being in the same spot while both of those marked national events transpired has caused me to again be amazed at the steps the Lord has ordered for my imperfect feet. Why the Lord has chosen me to be here - for this time, I cannot say exactly. But I can affirm that He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think. (Taken from Ephesians 3:20, NIV).
Now we turn our sights to China regarding the Olympics and the heated persecution there. I am working on my next entry regarding these issues, I hope you will stay tuned!
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