10/15/08 FM Administrator's Blog

To: Pastors, Church Leaders, and other Friends around the world!
From: John Ruotsala, “Your Foreign Mission Administrator”

Hello Fellow Christians! God’s Peace!

My how fast these weeks go! I hope this note finds that all of you have made it safely and soundly through this past week. Last weeks message was about how God provides. The week that just passed is evidence to me as well as to you I am sure, that yes, God provides, and has kept us for one more week. His promises are sure, and he will keep providing! He even provided a home in heaven for another dear Christian whom my wife and I visited with last Friday night. Judy Somero passed away, but again, God’s provisions are sure, even if it means being moved from here to our final home in Heaven! What a joy to be a Christian! Things only greatly improve when we die! To God Be All The Glory!! Great things HE Has done!

This weeks message is from Pastor Orval Wirkkala. Orval is a pastor in the ALCA in Kingston Minnesota, USA and has been on many trips sponsored by The Foreign Mission. I will use his uplifting notes from time to time in these blogs! Here’s Orval!

Good Morning, Dear Brothers in Christ!

May the abundant grace of God be received and multiplied unto us today as we start a new day of opportunity to rejoice in the matchless giving of Himself for us, a thankfulness which can best be outwardly expressed through giving of ourselves in service to others in love. From the miracle of the feeding of the multitude by Jesus we are able to see in a practical way in which blessing received translates into blessing extended due to its abundance.

KJV John 6:11-13 And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.

Let us look at this in this way. Whenever we experience the joy of fellowship within the body of Christ, there is always more left over of that which we received from the hand of God through being around the Word of God, whether it was through the hearing/reading of the Word, through fellowship with other members of the body of Christ around the Word of God, whether it is in prayer with Him individually or corporately, whether it is through the enjoyment of experiencing of the beauties of creation, whether it is communing together at His table......,or however the Bread of Life is received and experienced into our mind, heart and soul. Is it not true that upon being strengthened by the various means of grace that we are so encouraged and so strengthened in the joy of the Lord that it is difficult to keep it to ourselves? Is that your experience? Has it been in the past? I think it is a common experience for all of us, for that is simply how the body of Chirst works today. There is no difference between how He ministered when He walked on this earth and how the body of Christ ministers today. Let us take at look at a couple verses in the scripture which would illustrate this. (Please read the surrounding passages so as to understand the context in which they were written, but they still are able to stand alone in order to illustrate this truth that grace received always gladdens us as well as empowers us to extend it to others).

KJV Isaiah 58:11 And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. KJV John 7:38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly(heart, innermost being) shall flow rivers of living water. I might add a little comment here: For years I understood this only from the standpoint to mean that as long as we believed according to the Bible (we were scripturally correct in our doctrine) we would be a blessing to others. But it has opened up to have a richer meaning, for now it seems that it means more in this sense that the Scripture has said that when we believe on Him, out of our heart will flow the blessing of life to others. The first understanding is certainly necessary and correct, but to me the further revelation opened up to me more joy in my heart and soul at the understanding that we are more like a conduit pipe than a reservoir within ourselves. Which is what Isaiah wrote when he described the life concerning of how blessing received causes us to be a blessing to others. How about one more example:
KJV Genesis 12:1-3 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

Through Abraham we have received the promise of the Blessing into our lives through Jesus Christ. Because we have been blessed in and by Christ and are in Him today, may we be a blessing to those who are placed in our paths today, beginning with those who are the closest to us, our families.

In Christ,

Pastor Orval Wirkkala


May God Truly Bless Your day and week! Be Always Found in Christ Jesus our Lord! Love, John Ruotsala (Please see below also)

Business Section:
In responding to last weeks email, some of you have said that you would like to be able to listen to sermons preached by pastors in the USA via skype. In order to start setting this up, please provide me with the following information. Remember, a cell phone works fine as well.
Do you have a working computer in your church or home (most do not, but a cell phone works) 2) what is your cell phone number? 3) Do you have a translator of English available for the service time? 4) What day and time is best for you to have these sermons? 5) What is your time zone? 6) How many people would be listening? 7) Do you have a microphone speaker system that you can put the cell phone near to people can hear well? If interested, please respond!