Hello and God's Peace!
It is time for the weekly email and blog of encouragement! Please enjoy this article which was written by Pastor Orval Wirkkala. Orval is also on the Foreign Mission Board and I have shared his writings with you in the past. May God Bless your week! John
"Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. (Ephesians 1:15-21)"
As we bask in the joy of the knowledge as well as the experience in our hearts of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, we continue our journey through life, thanking our God for the visitations of His Spirit that He showered upon us during this time of remembering and reflecting upon His great love for us. A love that John describes in his first epistle: "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." 1 John 4:10 During these refreshing times in our lives, we come to better understand the words that were spoken by Nehemiah long ago when he told his people, " The joy of the Lord is your strength." As we are refreshed as well as renewed in strength, we receive new motivation and power to plant and water the Word of grace to others.
Recently we had a missionary speak at our church and he spoke of this matter. Referring to one of the Psalms, he mentioned that those who traveled through the dry country in the ancient world would dig wells so that they could drink, not only for themselves, but so that those coming after them could also drink of the thirst quenching water. He then compared this with Christ, Who is the Well of Living Water, relating of the blessing that we receive from the previous generations who have drank of the Living Water and have faithfully looked to bless the next generation through providing for the opportunity for them to drink of Christ. In like manner, as we drink from the wells that have been provided for us, may we also be mindful to continue to make provision for the future generations who will come after us, beginning now.
In the verses which are at the beginning of our writing today, the Apostle Paul wants to help us to "see" the blessing of being called by grace; the glory that we have today as well as in the future and of the immeasurable power of grace that He wishes to "be" in us so that we may bring the Gospel of Christ to others. Lord, please give unto us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of You through your Son Jesus Christ.
Pastor Orval Wirkkala
"Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." Isaiah 55:1
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Real Change!
Todays article is writen by the Dean at the Inter-Lutheran seminary who is also a pastor in our ALC church in Painesdale, MI. I hope you enjoy this article! John
So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your
labour is not in vain in the Lord. (I Corinthians 15:51-58)
Have you ever consideredthe duration of the twinkling of an eye? (Twinkle, as it is used here,is a synonym for “blink.”)
How long does it take to blink? However you may measure it, it’s very fast. When Christ returns to the earth again it will take that amount of time for us to be In the Twinkling of an Eye changed to be like Him. This is how complete His victory is over sin, death and the devil; there’s no agonizing or prolonged process but a change in a moment. The victory is Christ’s and when He returns we will receive the full benefit of His victory in an instant.
The ancient church fathers understood this reality and they lived their lives in a reflection of it. In their awareness of the finished work of Christ they had a clear sense of eternity, that everything would change in a moment but once the change was complete
there would be an eternity of unchangeableness. Right now times in our world are difficult: budgets are strained, political situations are in flux, there are conflicts all around us, and the future, in the estimation of many, is bleak and uncertain.
Sadly, that simply shows that the world has the wrong view of reality. The fathers had the right one; they knew that the times were always in God’s hands and they also knew that they themselves were held preciously in those same mighty hands. They lived in the assurance of the promise of a day that would be brighter than the finite mind could imagine and, with that day in mind, they persevered through tribulation.
May God grant that we sense the power of His hands that uphold us even now, the hands from which no man is able to pluck us (John 10:29). And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds
through Christ Jesus.(Philippians 4:7)
God’s peace,
Pastor Jay Weidner
Painesdale, Michigan
So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your
labour is not in vain in the Lord. (I Corinthians 15:51-58)
Have you ever consideredthe duration of the twinkling of an eye? (Twinkle, as it is used here,is a synonym for “blink.”)
How long does it take to blink? However you may measure it, it’s very fast. When Christ returns to the earth again it will take that amount of time for us to be In the Twinkling of an Eye changed to be like Him. This is how complete His victory is over sin, death and the devil; there’s no agonizing or prolonged process but a change in a moment. The victory is Christ’s and when He returns we will receive the full benefit of His victory in an instant.
The ancient church fathers understood this reality and they lived their lives in a reflection of it. In their awareness of the finished work of Christ they had a clear sense of eternity, that everything would change in a moment but once the change was complete
there would be an eternity of unchangeableness. Right now times in our world are difficult: budgets are strained, political situations are in flux, there are conflicts all around us, and the future, in the estimation of many, is bleak and uncertain.
Sadly, that simply shows that the world has the wrong view of reality. The fathers had the right one; they knew that the times were always in God’s hands and they also knew that they themselves were held preciously in those same mighty hands. They lived in the assurance of the promise of a day that would be brighter than the finite mind could imagine and, with that day in mind, they persevered through tribulation.
May God grant that we sense the power of His hands that uphold us even now, the hands from which no man is able to pluck us (John 10:29). And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds
through Christ Jesus.(Philippians 4:7)
God’s peace,
Pastor Jay Weidner
Painesdale, Michigan
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Holy Week
Hello and God’s Peace to all!
….Continued from Last week….
The stone was moved away! Jesus was no longer on the cross. He was no longer in the grave. Our Lord had won the victory for us over death, hell, and the power of the devil. What a joy it is to know that we have a living Saviour who overcame all things for us.
As we spoke last week about how the events of this week affect our lives here on earth, notice what day we now worship on. We worship on Sunday, the Lords Day. This is because it was a the greatest event that He arose from the dead. This event was far greater even than the rest that God took after creating the entire world in six days. When we experience the living Lord Jesus in our hearts by faith, we have entered into His rest. We have a living hope of eternal Salvation because He is alive!
It is interesting that the women were the first ones to the tomb that resurrection day morning. Women still today play a very prominent roll in the church. Women often understand relationships better than men, and their hard work and dedication in the church is surely a blessing.
When our Lord showed himself to the disciples after his resurrection He said Peace be unto you John 20:19 (KJV)
Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
Jesus did not want the disciples to be afraid. We hear this phrase so often in the Holy Scriptures. Fear not was told to the angels at the time of Jesus birth. Many other times we are instructed to not be fearful. Fear is the opposite of faith. Do not let the devil tempt you with fear or unbelief. You will not find in the scriptures that God wants us to fear.
The work of our Lord here on earth was complete when He fulfilled all for us in His life and in His death, and the earth could not contain Him. He arose, therefore we live. However all the promises were not fulfilled.
Jesus made this wonderful promise in John 15:26 (KJV)
But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
Now all those that are partakers of the complete work of Jesus for our redemption and salvation, have the comforter the Holy Spirit of God living within their hearts. He said he in John 14:18 (KJV) I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
This wonderful comforter is with us today, leading and guiding, comforting us, and also convicting us of sin and wrong. This is how we live our life today, by the great power of His Spirit. What a wonder, how amazing!
What a joy to know and understand that this period is the period of rest. Rest in Him and life lived by the power of the Holy Spirit! A life at Liberty in Christ! For 2 Cor. 3:17 (KJV)
Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
Partake of and Rejoice, dear reader in the Suffering, Death, and Glorious Resurrection of our Lord Jesus this Easter Season!
….Continued from Last week….
The stone was moved away! Jesus was no longer on the cross. He was no longer in the grave. Our Lord had won the victory for us over death, hell, and the power of the devil. What a joy it is to know that we have a living Saviour who overcame all things for us.
As we spoke last week about how the events of this week affect our lives here on earth, notice what day we now worship on. We worship on Sunday, the Lords Day. This is because it was a the greatest event that He arose from the dead. This event was far greater even than the rest that God took after creating the entire world in six days. When we experience the living Lord Jesus in our hearts by faith, we have entered into His rest. We have a living hope of eternal Salvation because He is alive!
It is interesting that the women were the first ones to the tomb that resurrection day morning. Women still today play a very prominent roll in the church. Women often understand relationships better than men, and their hard work and dedication in the church is surely a blessing.
When our Lord showed himself to the disciples after his resurrection He said Peace be unto you John 20:19 (KJV)
Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
Jesus did not want the disciples to be afraid. We hear this phrase so often in the Holy Scriptures. Fear not was told to the angels at the time of Jesus birth. Many other times we are instructed to not be fearful. Fear is the opposite of faith. Do not let the devil tempt you with fear or unbelief. You will not find in the scriptures that God wants us to fear.
The work of our Lord here on earth was complete when He fulfilled all for us in His life and in His death, and the earth could not contain Him. He arose, therefore we live. However all the promises were not fulfilled.
Jesus made this wonderful promise in John 15:26 (KJV)
But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
Now all those that are partakers of the complete work of Jesus for our redemption and salvation, have the comforter the Holy Spirit of God living within their hearts. He said he in John 14:18 (KJV) I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
This wonderful comforter is with us today, leading and guiding, comforting us, and also convicting us of sin and wrong. This is how we live our life today, by the great power of His Spirit. What a wonder, how amazing!
What a joy to know and understand that this period is the period of rest. Rest in Him and life lived by the power of the Holy Spirit! A life at Liberty in Christ! For 2 Cor. 3:17 (KJV)
Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
Partake of and Rejoice, dear reader in the Suffering, Death, and Glorious Resurrection of our Lord Jesus this Easter Season!
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Stone Removed
Hello and God’s Peace to all!
Holy week is fast approaching. This is the time of year that we focus on the suffering, death, and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! It is good that we focus extra time on this most important series of events. However, these events are not just historical events for a Christian. The have a much deeper meaning than this.
We must realize that these events shape who we are. These events cause us to be who we are today. This is our reality now! And if we miss these events in a spiritual way, then we suffer in this life and will for all eternity.
We as Christians live by the events of Holy Week, but not in a historical way. We live by them in a day by day journey as a child of God. Here we get our salvation and our strength to live day by day.
These events also need to become real to all who are not yet believers. It is these very happenings that allow people to become saved! Remember, Isaiah 53:6 (KJV)
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. All have sinned, but Jesus bore all!
When Jesus entered into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, he was hailed as a king. He was cheered on as he rode on that donkey. In less than one week people turned on him. This is the way man is. Without the power of God, we cannot resist temptation or sin. We cannot be consistent. Man goes this way and that. This is a sad truth of how men are when left to their own ways.
On the night of the Last Supper, Jesus went into the garden alone to pray! The Lord of Lords, went alone to Pray! This is such an example for us. We can and should turn to God in prayer often. The burden of our sin came upon Him. Read about this in your bible!
He was betrayed, yet He was like a lamb before the shearers, he was dumb (silent). He was scourged, He was beaten, He suffered so much bodily pain, and the pain of the sin of all mankind that was on him was immense.
They nailed our Lord to the Cross. They hung him there between Heaven and Earth between two thieves. Our sins were nailed with Him there. All of our doubts, our fears, our lying, stealing, bad behavior in every which way, was nailed with Him there to the cross. He could have called ten thousand angels, to destroy the world and set Him free. Instead, He died alone, for you and me! No man could take the life of Jesus. He laid his life down for fallen mankind. This is not just the other person. It is for Me! For you! This is who He died for. He died so that we would not have to die.
Jesus was then put into the grave. He was there until the third day. What did those that were first to arrive at the tomb find? The stone had been rolled away! O dear reader! God had moved the stone because of what Jesus had done. Jesus had completed all and had won the victory. The Stone was rolled away. Do you have any stones that need to still be rolled out of the way in your life? Any sins, doubts or fears? Is there anything that is weighing you down today? Remember, due to the complete work of Jesus, the stone is removed. All these things in your life were nailed to the cross with Jesus. The stone was removed!
He wants all of our stones to be removed because He died for them. Believe this! By His name and by the power of His Blood, all sins are wiped away. Believe this by faith unto the salvation of your soul!
Jesus is alive! Praise God today and always that Jesus Lives! Halleluiah!
(to be continued next week, as this is too long!) Yes Jesus is Alive! There is so much more to write that pertains to our living by the power of the Holy Spirit which made possible because of the Redemptive work of our Lord Jesus!
May God Bless your week!
Holy week is fast approaching. This is the time of year that we focus on the suffering, death, and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! It is good that we focus extra time on this most important series of events. However, these events are not just historical events for a Christian. The have a much deeper meaning than this.
We must realize that these events shape who we are. These events cause us to be who we are today. This is our reality now! And if we miss these events in a spiritual way, then we suffer in this life and will for all eternity.
We as Christians live by the events of Holy Week, but not in a historical way. We live by them in a day by day journey as a child of God. Here we get our salvation and our strength to live day by day.
These events also need to become real to all who are not yet believers. It is these very happenings that allow people to become saved! Remember, Isaiah 53:6 (KJV)
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. All have sinned, but Jesus bore all!
When Jesus entered into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, he was hailed as a king. He was cheered on as he rode on that donkey. In less than one week people turned on him. This is the way man is. Without the power of God, we cannot resist temptation or sin. We cannot be consistent. Man goes this way and that. This is a sad truth of how men are when left to their own ways.
On the night of the Last Supper, Jesus went into the garden alone to pray! The Lord of Lords, went alone to Pray! This is such an example for us. We can and should turn to God in prayer often. The burden of our sin came upon Him. Read about this in your bible!
He was betrayed, yet He was like a lamb before the shearers, he was dumb (silent). He was scourged, He was beaten, He suffered so much bodily pain, and the pain of the sin of all mankind that was on him was immense.
They nailed our Lord to the Cross. They hung him there between Heaven and Earth between two thieves. Our sins were nailed with Him there. All of our doubts, our fears, our lying, stealing, bad behavior in every which way, was nailed with Him there to the cross. He could have called ten thousand angels, to destroy the world and set Him free. Instead, He died alone, for you and me! No man could take the life of Jesus. He laid his life down for fallen mankind. This is not just the other person. It is for Me! For you! This is who He died for. He died so that we would not have to die.
Jesus was then put into the grave. He was there until the third day. What did those that were first to arrive at the tomb find? The stone had been rolled away! O dear reader! God had moved the stone because of what Jesus had done. Jesus had completed all and had won the victory. The Stone was rolled away. Do you have any stones that need to still be rolled out of the way in your life? Any sins, doubts or fears? Is there anything that is weighing you down today? Remember, due to the complete work of Jesus, the stone is removed. All these things in your life were nailed to the cross with Jesus. The stone was removed!
He wants all of our stones to be removed because He died for them. Believe this! By His name and by the power of His Blood, all sins are wiped away. Believe this by faith unto the salvation of your soul!
Jesus is alive! Praise God today and always that Jesus Lives! Halleluiah!
(to be continued next week, as this is too long!) Yes Jesus is Alive! There is so much more to write that pertains to our living by the power of the Holy Spirit which made possible because of the Redemptive work of our Lord Jesus!
May God Bless your week!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Yoke
Hello and God’s Peace Dear Readers.
As Dennis Hilman and I are still traveling through the USA doing Mission Education and Preparation Seminars. Lord willing in two weeks from today I will be at home. I am having a wonderful time traveling, doing the seminars, and seeing the Christians around the USA. However, it will be surely nice to get home to my wife and family!
As we go through this life, we have both good and not so good days. We have mountaintop experiences, as Dennis and I have had so many of lately both in India and in the USA, and we have those times in the valleys of life. I am so very thankful that the same one true God that is the God in the good times, He is also God in the bad times. When we feel we are truly in the valleys of life, having a hard time, we can be assured that our God knows our situation is by the side of all those that believe in Him.
Remember our Lord Jesus said: Matthew 11:29 (KJV)
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
Rest in Him. Many of you in foreign countries understand what a yoke is better than us in the USA do. A yoke is used for oxen or cattle, or horses, to tie them together so that a team can be used to get the work done that needs doing.
The believer’s team consists of our Lord and us. Each of us that believe by faith, our Lord helps us, leads us, carries our load, protects us, and is our all in all. Notice that verse says, Matthew 11:30 (KJV) For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. If we are truly yoked to our Saviour by faith, we can understand how our burden is light. It is because His yoke is easy. The earthy yoke makes two animals work the same amount to share the load, making it lighter. With Jesus, He is able and willing to carry our whole load, making our burden very light! Turn to Him at all times. Stay in tune to your Saviour, lay all your burdens down before him, and your life will be joyous.
If we go on our own we have tremendous burdens that we cannot bare. Do not attempt to go up the mountains or through the valleys of life alone.
It is so wonderful how the entire bible works together to bring this message of Salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord, and the benefits and gifts that are given through it when,
… by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Ephes. 2:8 (KJV)
I leave you this week with this wonderful words!
Isaiah 61:1-3 (KJV)
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 2To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; 3To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.
May the Lord Bless your week! John
As Dennis Hilman and I are still traveling through the USA doing Mission Education and Preparation Seminars. Lord willing in two weeks from today I will be at home. I am having a wonderful time traveling, doing the seminars, and seeing the Christians around the USA. However, it will be surely nice to get home to my wife and family!
As we go through this life, we have both good and not so good days. We have mountaintop experiences, as Dennis and I have had so many of lately both in India and in the USA, and we have those times in the valleys of life. I am so very thankful that the same one true God that is the God in the good times, He is also God in the bad times. When we feel we are truly in the valleys of life, having a hard time, we can be assured that our God knows our situation is by the side of all those that believe in Him.
Remember our Lord Jesus said: Matthew 11:29 (KJV)
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
Rest in Him. Many of you in foreign countries understand what a yoke is better than us in the USA do. A yoke is used for oxen or cattle, or horses, to tie them together so that a team can be used to get the work done that needs doing.
The believer’s team consists of our Lord and us. Each of us that believe by faith, our Lord helps us, leads us, carries our load, protects us, and is our all in all. Notice that verse says, Matthew 11:30 (KJV) For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. If we are truly yoked to our Saviour by faith, we can understand how our burden is light. It is because His yoke is easy. The earthy yoke makes two animals work the same amount to share the load, making it lighter. With Jesus, He is able and willing to carry our whole load, making our burden very light! Turn to Him at all times. Stay in tune to your Saviour, lay all your burdens down before him, and your life will be joyous.
If we go on our own we have tremendous burdens that we cannot bare. Do not attempt to go up the mountains or through the valleys of life alone.
It is so wonderful how the entire bible works together to bring this message of Salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord, and the benefits and gifts that are given through it when,
… by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Ephes. 2:8 (KJV)
I leave you this week with this wonderful words!
Isaiah 61:1-3 (KJV)
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 2To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; 3To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.
May the Lord Bless your week! John
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
He First Loved us!
God’s Peace!
Dear Readers around the world. (this blog is written especially for all the friends, associates and fellow laborers in the Lord’s vineyard of the Foreign Mission abroad) Anyone else who runs across this blog are most welcome to read it as well.
This week I must tell you about a little child that came to our mission seminar in South Carolina. When she was asked why she came, she said “because I love Jesus.” How can it be said better than that? Is this not why we come to church? Is this not why we minister in His Kingdom? Is this not why many of you risk your lives for the Gospel?
Scripture tells us in 1John 4:19 (KJV) We love him, because he first loved us. We could not love Him, unless He first loved us. This is the way it is for believers today. He came to earth as a lowly babe so all can approach and come to him. He lived as a man here on earth so that He could know what we go through and are tempted with. He fulfilled all in our behalf, yet without sin. He went to the cross and gave up His life. There he bore our sorrows, paid for our sin, laid down His life. He was there alone. Our sins were nailed to the cross with him. He could have called 10,000 angels to destroy the world and save His life, but no, He died alone for you and me! This is how much he loved us.
Then on the third day, after winning the battle over death, hell and the power of the devil, our Lord Arose! He lives so we can have life and have it more abundantly. He then fulfilled another promise, He sent the comforter, the Holy Ghost to dwell in our hearts. This is how much he first loved us! This is why we are able to love him! This is why the believers today can have the peace and joy that passeth all understanding. Philip. 4:7 (KJV)
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
The best news of all for those that love Jesus is that one day He will come to call His own to be with Him in heaven! Luke 21:27 (KJV) And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
We shall see Him, and go to be with Him forever in Heaven above!
This is why this little girl and all true believers today can say that they love Jesus! Because He first loved us! This I know for the Bible tells me so!
May the Lord Bless your week!
John Ruotsala
Dear Readers around the world. (this blog is written especially for all the friends, associates and fellow laborers in the Lord’s vineyard of the Foreign Mission abroad) Anyone else who runs across this blog are most welcome to read it as well.
This week I must tell you about a little child that came to our mission seminar in South Carolina. When she was asked why she came, she said “because I love Jesus.” How can it be said better than that? Is this not why we come to church? Is this not why we minister in His Kingdom? Is this not why many of you risk your lives for the Gospel?
Scripture tells us in 1John 4:19 (KJV) We love him, because he first loved us. We could not love Him, unless He first loved us. This is the way it is for believers today. He came to earth as a lowly babe so all can approach and come to him. He lived as a man here on earth so that He could know what we go through and are tempted with. He fulfilled all in our behalf, yet without sin. He went to the cross and gave up His life. There he bore our sorrows, paid for our sin, laid down His life. He was there alone. Our sins were nailed to the cross with him. He could have called 10,000 angels to destroy the world and save His life, but no, He died alone for you and me! This is how much he loved us.
Then on the third day, after winning the battle over death, hell and the power of the devil, our Lord Arose! He lives so we can have life and have it more abundantly. He then fulfilled another promise, He sent the comforter, the Holy Ghost to dwell in our hearts. This is how much he first loved us! This is why we are able to love him! This is why the believers today can have the peace and joy that passeth all understanding. Philip. 4:7 (KJV)
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
The best news of all for those that love Jesus is that one day He will come to call His own to be with Him in heaven! Luke 21:27 (KJV) And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
We shall see Him, and go to be with Him forever in Heaven above!
This is why this little girl and all true believers today can say that they love Jesus! Because He first loved us! This I know for the Bible tells me so!
May the Lord Bless your week!
John Ruotsala
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Reservation
God’s Peace!
This week I am traveling again for the Foreign Mission. Dennis Hilman and I are conducting FM seminars around the USA. I do have full cell phone and internet coverage on this trip so you can continue to email me as usual. I have very little time to write a blog, but I still want to share something with you!
I was reminded of this thought again yesterday as we traveled by air to South Carolina. One thing that is common with all travel by airplane and perhaps on most trains is this. You must have a reservation. This is shown by a ticket or boarding pass. Your reservation assures you that there is a place for you on that airplane or train.
On the day of your trip, you could do everything properly. You could wake up on time, east a good meal, remember all of your luggage, travel safely and on time to the airport, and wait patiently for the time to come to get on the airplane.
However, if you do not have a reservation (ticket or boarding pass) you are not going to be allowed on the airplane.
This to me is such an important lesson for us all! Unless we have a reservation made for heaven, we will not get there. Even if we live our life perfectly we cannot get there without the reservation. If we have a reservation, we surely will get to heaven. 1 Peter 1:4 (KJV)
To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
This reservation is only made for us by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and His complete redemptive work done for us! 1 Peter 1:3 (KJV) says
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
Jesus arose, therefore He lives! And because of this we Live and we have our reservation set in heaven! How wonderful! Believe this by faith for Ephes. 2:8 (KJV) says
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
This gift of God is offered fully and freely. The reservations are made for the believers and it is without money and without price! Praise the Lord!
This week I am traveling again for the Foreign Mission. Dennis Hilman and I are conducting FM seminars around the USA. I do have full cell phone and internet coverage on this trip so you can continue to email me as usual. I have very little time to write a blog, but I still want to share something with you!
I was reminded of this thought again yesterday as we traveled by air to South Carolina. One thing that is common with all travel by airplane and perhaps on most trains is this. You must have a reservation. This is shown by a ticket or boarding pass. Your reservation assures you that there is a place for you on that airplane or train.
On the day of your trip, you could do everything properly. You could wake up on time, east a good meal, remember all of your luggage, travel safely and on time to the airport, and wait patiently for the time to come to get on the airplane.
However, if you do not have a reservation (ticket or boarding pass) you are not going to be allowed on the airplane.
This to me is such an important lesson for us all! Unless we have a reservation made for heaven, we will not get there. Even if we live our life perfectly we cannot get there without the reservation. If we have a reservation, we surely will get to heaven. 1 Peter 1:4 (KJV)
To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
This reservation is only made for us by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and His complete redemptive work done for us! 1 Peter 1:3 (KJV) says
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
Jesus arose, therefore He lives! And because of this we Live and we have our reservation set in heaven! How wonderful! Believe this by faith for Ephes. 2:8 (KJV) says
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
This gift of God is offered fully and freely. The reservations are made for the believers and it is without money and without price! Praise the Lord!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
TRUST
Greetings of God’s Peace to all of you around the world!
Well, it has been a few weeks since we have had this chance to look into God’s Word together. Many of you have said that you were in prayer for my trip. I really appreciate this. We could feel the prayers. My traveling partner was Pastor Dennis Hilman. Many of you know him as he is a full time missionary with The Foreign Mission of the ALCA.
Since I did not tell you where I went before the trip, I can tell you now. We went to India. It is a special place and we really enjoyed the trip. I am especially thankful that we were able to share God’s Word with so many Christians. I also am so thankful that so many non Christians were able to either come to the services, or hear them broadcast by speakers over the villages.
I learned so many valuable lessons on this trip. These included lessons about dedication, sacrifice, caring, sharing, and much more. This was shown by the Christians in India. The single most important thing I learned was about trust. So many things have happened since early December when I was first asked to go on this trip, until the trip was over, that this issue of Trust has become clearer to me. This is what we will look into scripture about this week.
Psalm 62:6-9 (KJV)
He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved. 7In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. 8 Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.
You can see that verse 8 says Trust in him at all times; This does not mean, trust in him only when convenient, or when we have money, food, or all the good things. This does not mean only in the large things or in the good times. TRUST in Him at all times.
I first did not want to go to India. This is because I had already planned to go to the Philippines. Also, I had heard of the terrorist attacks, and about the persecution of Christians in certain parts of that country. I am so glad now that God appointed me to go to India. I needed to learn about trust. Many things along the way happened perfectly that I was worried about. Some where small things like, would I be able to eat the food? No problem, in fact I enjoyed it. Things like would the travel go smooth and safely, how will they find me at the airport since we had never seen each other? Also I worried about many other such things. Then there were also big things I worried about. Would God be able to use such a one as I to minister His Word in this far off land? Would He supply me with words to speak? Would He provide me with texts from the Bible to use? Again and again He provided for all. It was revealed to me that I had not been Trusting in Him enough.
I even had a physical injury to my leg to teach me this lesson further. After many days of pastors training and services, we decided to take the children from the orphanage to the river. There I was running with the boys and I injured my leg quite badly. I had torn a hamstring. If you know what this is, it is quite painful. I had never had this injury before so I was concerned. I had to hobble back home which was quite a long walk. Once there for only a few minutes, a medical Doctor walked into the house. He was not called; he just came to visit because he had come back to town from where he now lives. He looked at my leg and treated me. This is the first time a medical doctor walked into the house where I have been in my life. See, God was teaching me to Trust. After only a day or two, our visit at this place was over. The next place we went to was the home of a Doctor. I have never in my life stayed with a Doctor. This Doctor also treated my ailment faithfully. See, I needed to learn Trust, and teach me the Lord did. He was with me at all times!
Dear reader! The Lord is also with you at all times. Have total Faith in Him. Trust in Him always. His Word promises that He will never leave or forsake us! Hebrews 13:5 (KJV)
Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
God wants us to know, that even the small things are in His hands. He also wants us to know, that since He is watching over even these small things, He will also for sure watch over the big things in our lives.
Sometimes the answers He gives us do not feel good at first. Sometimes we think He did not hear our prayers. Remember, James 5:16 (KJV) says this way!
Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
God does hear our Prayers! TRUST in HIM at all times!
In Christ’s Love and Care! John
Well, it has been a few weeks since we have had this chance to look into God’s Word together. Many of you have said that you were in prayer for my trip. I really appreciate this. We could feel the prayers. My traveling partner was Pastor Dennis Hilman. Many of you know him as he is a full time missionary with The Foreign Mission of the ALCA.
Since I did not tell you where I went before the trip, I can tell you now. We went to India. It is a special place and we really enjoyed the trip. I am especially thankful that we were able to share God’s Word with so many Christians. I also am so thankful that so many non Christians were able to either come to the services, or hear them broadcast by speakers over the villages.
I learned so many valuable lessons on this trip. These included lessons about dedication, sacrifice, caring, sharing, and much more. This was shown by the Christians in India. The single most important thing I learned was about trust. So many things have happened since early December when I was first asked to go on this trip, until the trip was over, that this issue of Trust has become clearer to me. This is what we will look into scripture about this week.
Psalm 62:6-9 (KJV)
He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved. 7In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. 8 Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.
You can see that verse 8 says Trust in him at all times; This does not mean, trust in him only when convenient, or when we have money, food, or all the good things. This does not mean only in the large things or in the good times. TRUST in Him at all times.
I first did not want to go to India. This is because I had already planned to go to the Philippines. Also, I had heard of the terrorist attacks, and about the persecution of Christians in certain parts of that country. I am so glad now that God appointed me to go to India. I needed to learn about trust. Many things along the way happened perfectly that I was worried about. Some where small things like, would I be able to eat the food? No problem, in fact I enjoyed it. Things like would the travel go smooth and safely, how will they find me at the airport since we had never seen each other? Also I worried about many other such things. Then there were also big things I worried about. Would God be able to use such a one as I to minister His Word in this far off land? Would He supply me with words to speak? Would He provide me with texts from the Bible to use? Again and again He provided for all. It was revealed to me that I had not been Trusting in Him enough.
I even had a physical injury to my leg to teach me this lesson further. After many days of pastors training and services, we decided to take the children from the orphanage to the river. There I was running with the boys and I injured my leg quite badly. I had torn a hamstring. If you know what this is, it is quite painful. I had never had this injury before so I was concerned. I had to hobble back home which was quite a long walk. Once there for only a few minutes, a medical Doctor walked into the house. He was not called; he just came to visit because he had come back to town from where he now lives. He looked at my leg and treated me. This is the first time a medical doctor walked into the house where I have been in my life. See, God was teaching me to Trust. After only a day or two, our visit at this place was over. The next place we went to was the home of a Doctor. I have never in my life stayed with a Doctor. This Doctor also treated my ailment faithfully. See, I needed to learn Trust, and teach me the Lord did. He was with me at all times!
Dear reader! The Lord is also with you at all times. Have total Faith in Him. Trust in Him always. His Word promises that He will never leave or forsake us! Hebrews 13:5 (KJV)
Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
God wants us to know, that even the small things are in His hands. He also wants us to know, that since He is watching over even these small things, He will also for sure watch over the big things in our lives.
Sometimes the answers He gives us do not feel good at first. Sometimes we think He did not hear our prayers. Remember, James 5:16 (KJV) says this way!
Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
God does hear our Prayers! TRUST in HIM at all times!
In Christ’s Love and Care! John
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Cloud of Witnesses!
Hello Friends! It is that time of week to drop you all a note. First of all I am very happy that some of you have come responded that you would like to hear sermons delivered to you via Skype. This is wonderful, because if you have the capability to receive sermons this way, it is at no cost if it is computer to computer. If not, we can still do them, as we can call your cell phone for very little cost to us, and no cost to you. Also, there are many of our churches here in the USA that have archived sermons that you can listen to. I realize there is a problem if English is not a familiar language, because there are no pauses to be able to translate through. However, if this works for you, please go to any of these websites, and then you can link to others from there. www.themissionsite.com www.aalchurchma.org www.alclakeworth.com www.apostoliclutheran.org/
Please feel free to visit these sites often! You can contact me at anytime at jthree16@comcast.net or foreignmission@comcast.net
In the past couple weeks, I had a personal issue that was bothering me. I did not know how to handle this situation. I prayed about it, asking God to give me an answer. Well, a verse was given to me, and it was Hebrews 12:1 (KJV)
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
God’s wonderful Word has been given to us to help us in every time of need in our life. Not only in time of need, but also as our regular daily food. God is so good that He wants to feed us and care for us. This verse at this time to me said, John, you have a great cloud of witnesses all around you. You know many of the witnesses of Jesus Christ here on earth. Turn to them for help in this situation. I am so thankful that I did. Each Christian with whom I shared this situation with gave me a different yet caring answer. What a blessing to hear that first of all they cared, and secondly, that they were able to assure me that God is overall and will help me with even this situation. I prayed again after taking to them, and what do you know, God gave me a total peace and an answer to my situation. It was solved! Why am I surprised? I should not be, because He has been faithful to me to this point in life, this was just another incident that He can handle so easily! Oh that I would not be stubborn and always remember to turn to my Lord for help in all of life’s situations. Also Lord, allow me to turn to the cloud of witnesses that you have placed around me in the form of Your believers here on earth, to help me in time of need.
Our verse in Hebrews also says, let us lay aside every weight and sing that so easily beset us. This is such a precious opportunity. When we are surrounded by this cloud of Christians, we can ask for forgiveness for our sins. We can ask for forgiveness for our weights, our burdens, and our weaknesses. Christians who are the ambassadors for Christ here are earth, are more that happy to assure us that all of our sins, burdens, and all of our other bad ways, have been paid for and are forgiven by and through the Precious Name and shed Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ! 1 John 1:9 (KJV)
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Believe this by faith dear reader! Our Lord does not want us to carry burdens that He already has paid for! Believe all your sins forgiven in Jesus Name and shed Blood, and go forth by the power of God! What a joy it is to be a freely believing child of God, knowing that there is a spot reserved for us in heaven above, where all is joy and gladness, where we will forevermore to be with our Lord!
In Jesus Holy Name! Amen!
Please feel free to visit these sites often! You can contact me at anytime at jthree16@comcast.net or foreignmission@comcast.net
In the past couple weeks, I had a personal issue that was bothering me. I did not know how to handle this situation. I prayed about it, asking God to give me an answer. Well, a verse was given to me, and it was Hebrews 12:1 (KJV)
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
God’s wonderful Word has been given to us to help us in every time of need in our life. Not only in time of need, but also as our regular daily food. God is so good that He wants to feed us and care for us. This verse at this time to me said, John, you have a great cloud of witnesses all around you. You know many of the witnesses of Jesus Christ here on earth. Turn to them for help in this situation. I am so thankful that I did. Each Christian with whom I shared this situation with gave me a different yet caring answer. What a blessing to hear that first of all they cared, and secondly, that they were able to assure me that God is overall and will help me with even this situation. I prayed again after taking to them, and what do you know, God gave me a total peace and an answer to my situation. It was solved! Why am I surprised? I should not be, because He has been faithful to me to this point in life, this was just another incident that He can handle so easily! Oh that I would not be stubborn and always remember to turn to my Lord for help in all of life’s situations. Also Lord, allow me to turn to the cloud of witnesses that you have placed around me in the form of Your believers here on earth, to help me in time of need.
Our verse in Hebrews also says, let us lay aside every weight and sing that so easily beset us. This is such a precious opportunity. When we are surrounded by this cloud of Christians, we can ask for forgiveness for our sins. We can ask for forgiveness for our weights, our burdens, and our weaknesses. Christians who are the ambassadors for Christ here are earth, are more that happy to assure us that all of our sins, burdens, and all of our other bad ways, have been paid for and are forgiven by and through the Precious Name and shed Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ! 1 John 1:9 (KJV)
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Believe this by faith dear reader! Our Lord does not want us to carry burdens that He already has paid for! Believe all your sins forgiven in Jesus Name and shed Blood, and go forth by the power of God! What a joy it is to be a freely believing child of God, knowing that there is a spot reserved for us in heaven above, where all is joy and gladness, where we will forevermore to be with our Lord!
In Jesus Holy Name! Amen!
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
God’s Peace be with each of our readers today. I really look forward to hearing from you as often as I do by email, since that way we can get to know each others heart more and more. Mainly, we want to learn of the Heart of Jesus for each of us! This week our article is written by a childhood favorite pastor of mine. He has passed away many years ago now, but God’s word is always true and never gets old!! Please enjoy!
Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel. (Luke 2:29-32) The first thought revealed to us in this text is this: Simeon was ready to depart in peace for he had seen the salvation that God had prepared before all the people. What greater blessing could befall man than to be ready to depart in peace from this world of sorrow and sin and to dwell in the land of the righteous forever? This was the goal that Simeon had sought, and it is the goal toward which all true Christians are striving. Is this the goal toward which you are also striving, dear friend? If it is, let us examine how Simeon reached this goal. The Holy Ghost had revealed to him that he would not see death until he had seen the Lord’s Christ. When he saw the Savior, on whom all the promises of the Word of God hinged, he was ready to depart in peace because he had believed those promises. This is what happens to all who see the Lord as He is: full of grace and truth. They find the peace of God that drives away the fear of death. Have you seen the Lord in this manner? You may think this is impossible because He is not in the flesh as He was in the days of Simeon. But does not the Bible say, Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people? Therefore all may see Him. But do all know Him as their Savior? Great multitudes saw Him when He was here on earth, but did they know Him as their Savior? He performed miracles and wonders that never had been seen before and He spoke as no one had ever spoken before. But Simeon knew Him though he only saw a babe in the arms of His mother. This teaches us that some requirements are needed in order to come to know the Savior when He appears to us. The Bible tells us that Simeon was just and devout, and the Holy Ghost was upon him. The definition for just and devout is one who is upright and impartial, devoted to studying and obeying the Word of God. Those requirements are necessary; namely, that we honestly and impartially study and obey God’s Word in the light and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Then we shall know the Savior whenever and wherever He appears to us. The natural eyes may see only a babe, or a Christian mother or father, sister or brother, but to the humble, sincere soul the Spirit reveals the Savior in and through them. The rationalist says that is foolishness. The atheist says that is superstition. The intellectualist brushes it aside as ignorance. Apostle Paul says, The foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. (I Corinthians 1:25) Let us take St. Paul as an example. The Bible introduces him to us as Saul of Tarsus in the eighth and ninth chapters of the book of Acts. He had seen the Lord with Hisdisciples, but did not know Him as his Savior because at that time he was not upright and impartial, although he may have entertained such thoughts about himself. He no doubt was sincere in his belief that he was serving God when he persecuted the Christians, but the Holy Ghost was not upon him, enlightening and guiding him. Not until the Lord appeared to him on the road to Damascus in such brightness that his natural eyes were blinded did he know the Lord, and that not by sight for he was blind. He knew Him through the words of introduction revealed in His response to Saul’s question, Who art thou? when the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. (Acts 9:5) Now, though Saul was blind, he received spiritual light and guidance to become upright, impartial and submissive,
asking, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? (Acts 9:6) Jesus commanded him to go into the city and that he will be told what he should do. Why did Jesus Himself not tell Saul what to do? Because He wanted Saul to know Him through His
followers and His Word. Had He justified Saul on the way, he would never have come to know Jesus in His followers and would have taught men to seek and find the Lord in secret, as many teach today. This experience taught Saul to seek the Lord in His followers and to find Him in His Word. When he received the blessing of the Lord, he received his sight and the Holy Ghost by believing that the words which Ananias spoke to him were just as authentic as if they had been spoken by the Lord. Therefore, Paul teaches, Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God, (II Corinthians 5:20) and To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ. (II Corinthians 2:10) Note that Paul says, forgave I it in the person of Christ. Thus from experience he says, So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Romans 10:17) The light that shines from Jesus first enlightens the heart and conscience of man to take note of his utterly lost and condemned condition. Then it shows man what he must do to be saved. Therefore, Paul says, For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God, (Romans 3:23-25)
and also these words, In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to
the riches of his grace. (Ephesians 1:7) Now the sinner becomes aware of the grace of God in the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace. Dear friend, has the light of Jesus enlightened you in this manner? If so, you are
indeed blessed and you have the peace of God, which is the peace of a good conscience. My new year’s wish for you is
that you keep faith and a good, peaceful conscience to the end of your journey. On the other hand, if you have not been enlightened, pray to God that the light of Jesus may shine into your heart and that He would give you strength to repent of your sins and to believe them all forgiven in the name and blood of Jesus. Then you also will have peace in the new year that has just begun, and the Sun of Righteousness, which rose to its glory on the cross of Calvary, will warmyour heart to sing His praise for the salvation of your soul throughout the new year. May the peace of God bein and with you all! Amen.
The late Andrew Mickelsen
Submitted by Joan Johnson
Astoria, Oregon
January 1962 CM
Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel. (Luke 2:29-32) The first thought revealed to us in this text is this: Simeon was ready to depart in peace for he had seen the salvation that God had prepared before all the people. What greater blessing could befall man than to be ready to depart in peace from this world of sorrow and sin and to dwell in the land of the righteous forever? This was the goal that Simeon had sought, and it is the goal toward which all true Christians are striving. Is this the goal toward which you are also striving, dear friend? If it is, let us examine how Simeon reached this goal. The Holy Ghost had revealed to him that he would not see death until he had seen the Lord’s Christ. When he saw the Savior, on whom all the promises of the Word of God hinged, he was ready to depart in peace because he had believed those promises. This is what happens to all who see the Lord as He is: full of grace and truth. They find the peace of God that drives away the fear of death. Have you seen the Lord in this manner? You may think this is impossible because He is not in the flesh as He was in the days of Simeon. But does not the Bible say, Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people? Therefore all may see Him. But do all know Him as their Savior? Great multitudes saw Him when He was here on earth, but did they know Him as their Savior? He performed miracles and wonders that never had been seen before and He spoke as no one had ever spoken before. But Simeon knew Him though he only saw a babe in the arms of His mother. This teaches us that some requirements are needed in order to come to know the Savior when He appears to us. The Bible tells us that Simeon was just and devout, and the Holy Ghost was upon him. The definition for just and devout is one who is upright and impartial, devoted to studying and obeying the Word of God. Those requirements are necessary; namely, that we honestly and impartially study and obey God’s Word in the light and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Then we shall know the Savior whenever and wherever He appears to us. The natural eyes may see only a babe, or a Christian mother or father, sister or brother, but to the humble, sincere soul the Spirit reveals the Savior in and through them. The rationalist says that is foolishness. The atheist says that is superstition. The intellectualist brushes it aside as ignorance. Apostle Paul says, The foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. (I Corinthians 1:25) Let us take St. Paul as an example. The Bible introduces him to us as Saul of Tarsus in the eighth and ninth chapters of the book of Acts. He had seen the Lord with Hisdisciples, but did not know Him as his Savior because at that time he was not upright and impartial, although he may have entertained such thoughts about himself. He no doubt was sincere in his belief that he was serving God when he persecuted the Christians, but the Holy Ghost was not upon him, enlightening and guiding him. Not until the Lord appeared to him on the road to Damascus in such brightness that his natural eyes were blinded did he know the Lord, and that not by sight for he was blind. He knew Him through the words of introduction revealed in His response to Saul’s question, Who art thou? when the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. (Acts 9:5) Now, though Saul was blind, he received spiritual light and guidance to become upright, impartial and submissive,
asking, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? (Acts 9:6) Jesus commanded him to go into the city and that he will be told what he should do. Why did Jesus Himself not tell Saul what to do? Because He wanted Saul to know Him through His
followers and His Word. Had He justified Saul on the way, he would never have come to know Jesus in His followers and would have taught men to seek and find the Lord in secret, as many teach today. This experience taught Saul to seek the Lord in His followers and to find Him in His Word. When he received the blessing of the Lord, he received his sight and the Holy Ghost by believing that the words which Ananias spoke to him were just as authentic as if they had been spoken by the Lord. Therefore, Paul teaches, Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God, (II Corinthians 5:20) and To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ. (II Corinthians 2:10) Note that Paul says, forgave I it in the person of Christ. Thus from experience he says, So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Romans 10:17) The light that shines from Jesus first enlightens the heart and conscience of man to take note of his utterly lost and condemned condition. Then it shows man what he must do to be saved. Therefore, Paul says, For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God, (Romans 3:23-25)
and also these words, In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to
the riches of his grace. (Ephesians 1:7) Now the sinner becomes aware of the grace of God in the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace. Dear friend, has the light of Jesus enlightened you in this manner? If so, you are
indeed blessed and you have the peace of God, which is the peace of a good conscience. My new year’s wish for you is
that you keep faith and a good, peaceful conscience to the end of your journey. On the other hand, if you have not been enlightened, pray to God that the light of Jesus may shine into your heart and that He would give you strength to repent of your sins and to believe them all forgiven in the name and blood of Jesus. Then you also will have peace in the new year that has just begun, and the Sun of Righteousness, which rose to its glory on the cross of Calvary, will warmyour heart to sing His praise for the salvation of your soul throughout the new year. May the peace of God bein and with you all! Amen.
The late Andrew Mickelsen
Submitted by Joan Johnson
Astoria, Oregon
January 1962 CM
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Jesus Calms Our Storms!
Greetings to all in the Name above all Names! Jesus Christ our Lord!
It is a beautiful day here in New Hampshire. It is cool this morning. About zero degrees Fahrenheit, which is -17.7 Celsius. However, this is warmer than it has been and the sun is shinning on the snow beautifully! God is so good! I will put a couple of pictures taken from my office so you can see! I know that many of you have never seen snow or ice. Do not feel sorry for us; just be in awe at what God can do. A month ago I was writing about the fierce ice storm we had that did so much damage. Today, life is back to normal and except for destroyed trees, you can hardly tell it happened.
Such are the storms of life. They too are passing.
This Sunday the text for my sermon in church was when Jesus and Peter walked on the water. What a wonderful Lord we have that He gives us these stories in His Word that we can rejoice in over and over. I am sure you are very familiar with this story in scripture. It is recorded in many of the Gospels. Here are a couple lessons that the Lord showed to me in this text. I was comforted again by Him, so I will attempt to share these with you. Due to lack of space on this blog, I will have to be very short.
Jesus constrained the disciples to get into the boat. He told them to get aboard. They obeyed. They were in His will. If they had disobeyed, they would not have gone into the boat; therefore they would have been outside of His will.
Now they were out in the middle of the sea. A storm came up! It was fierce, and the disciples were afraid. We also have storms that come up in our lives. We have fear, we worry. The sea here was the big problem the men in the boat were having. The sea was raging. It was a huge problem for them. What happened? The Lord Jesus came to them walking on the sea! He walked the problem that they were having. He had their troubles and problems under His feet! He is able to do the same for us. Scripture says: Psalm 8:6 (KJV)
Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:
This is stated in Ephesians and Corinthians as well in similar words.
All things are under his feet. The disciples in the boats problems were under His feet. When we turn to him in faith, our problems are also put under His Feet! What a joy that is! Our worst problems, fears, doubts, troubles, turmoil, everything, He is able to put under is feet. He is in control! Dear Reader, lay hold of this by faith. Put all your trust in Him for he cares for you!
Remember that the disciples got into the boat because Jesus told him to go. Let us also be obedient to His word! Jesus went up into the mountain to pray. Even when we are Christians, we will have storms in life. We all do. But does Jesus forget? Did He forget the disciples in the boat? No never! He was in the mountain praying for them! He cared for them so deeply. He also cares for us so much. Today He is as it were up on a mountain. He is up in Heaven on the right hand of God praying for us! He sees us. He cares for us! He is listening to our prayers. He knows how we are doing, and He wants the best for us! Let us remember to turn to Him in prayer often. He taught us to Pray by example even as we see in this story. Also, He is inside every believer today in the form of the Holy Spirit! What a comfort to have Him that close when the storms of life rage. Hebrews 13:5 (KJV)
……for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. What a wonderful Savior we have! I wish we had room for more from this wonderful portion of scripture. You can find it in Mathew 14:22-33 and other places!
May each of us allow our Lord Jesus to calm our storm this week!!
It is a beautiful day here in New Hampshire. It is cool this morning. About zero degrees Fahrenheit, which is -17.7 Celsius. However, this is warmer than it has been and the sun is shinning on the snow beautifully! God is so good! I will put a couple of pictures taken from my office so you can see! I know that many of you have never seen snow or ice. Do not feel sorry for us; just be in awe at what God can do. A month ago I was writing about the fierce ice storm we had that did so much damage. Today, life is back to normal and except for destroyed trees, you can hardly tell it happened.
Such are the storms of life. They too are passing.
This Sunday the text for my sermon in church was when Jesus and Peter walked on the water. What a wonderful Lord we have that He gives us these stories in His Word that we can rejoice in over and over. I am sure you are very familiar with this story in scripture. It is recorded in many of the Gospels. Here are a couple lessons that the Lord showed to me in this text. I was comforted again by Him, so I will attempt to share these with you. Due to lack of space on this blog, I will have to be very short.
Jesus constrained the disciples to get into the boat. He told them to get aboard. They obeyed. They were in His will. If they had disobeyed, they would not have gone into the boat; therefore they would have been outside of His will.
Now they were out in the middle of the sea. A storm came up! It was fierce, and the disciples were afraid. We also have storms that come up in our lives. We have fear, we worry. The sea here was the big problem the men in the boat were having. The sea was raging. It was a huge problem for them. What happened? The Lord Jesus came to them walking on the sea! He walked the problem that they were having. He had their troubles and problems under His feet! He is able to do the same for us. Scripture says: Psalm 8:6 (KJV)
Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:
This is stated in Ephesians and Corinthians as well in similar words.
All things are under his feet. The disciples in the boats problems were under His feet. When we turn to him in faith, our problems are also put under His Feet! What a joy that is! Our worst problems, fears, doubts, troubles, turmoil, everything, He is able to put under is feet. He is in control! Dear Reader, lay hold of this by faith. Put all your trust in Him for he cares for you!
Remember that the disciples got into the boat because Jesus told him to go. Let us also be obedient to His word! Jesus went up into the mountain to pray. Even when we are Christians, we will have storms in life. We all do. But does Jesus forget? Did He forget the disciples in the boat? No never! He was in the mountain praying for them! He cared for them so deeply. He also cares for us so much. Today He is as it were up on a mountain. He is up in Heaven on the right hand of God praying for us! He sees us. He cares for us! He is listening to our prayers. He knows how we are doing, and He wants the best for us! Let us remember to turn to Him in prayer often. He taught us to Pray by example even as we see in this story. Also, He is inside every believer today in the form of the Holy Spirit! What a comfort to have Him that close when the storms of life rage. Hebrews 13:5 (KJV)
……for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. What a wonderful Savior we have! I wish we had room for more from this wonderful portion of scripture. You can find it in Mathew 14:22-33 and other places!
May each of us allow our Lord Jesus to calm our storm this week!!
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Trust in the Lord
Hello and God’s Peace!
I pray that this Blog finds you all in the safe keeping of the Lord! No matter what our circumstances, His promises True and they are for each of us. Lean on the Promises of God throughout this week! Our message today will be by Pastor Rod Johnson. Before we get to that, I would like to remind you to visit our website often at www.themissionsite.com There you can view this blog, as well as the Latest FM News Blog. You can also go to links and work you way to some of our churches and you will be able to listen to sermons on line. For instance www.aalchurchma.org and www.alclakeworth.org are a couple of our churches, and from there you can link to many others. You can listen to live or archived sermons at most of these sites. Also, please sign up for skype sermons. Just email me at jthree16@comcast.net and I will put you on the list. We can deliver these over your cell phone which you can put by a microphone so your whole group can hear. In Christ! John Ruotsala FM Administrator Now, pastor Rod’s message!
Love and Trust The lord!
“Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:37-39
“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
Proverbs 3:5-6
There are many lessons to be learned as we study the Holy Scripture. They all begin with TRUST and Love toward God. For us to rely upon the Bible, we must believe and thereby know that it is the inerrant Word of the Lord! Trusting the Word is essential to obtaining wisdom, for by it we know ‘The Christ’! Thus we see from the Proverbs above that when by God’s grace we come to love and trust the Lord, we can rely upon the result; He shall direct our ways!
The Lord knows that we often have worries and fears that make us anxious about many things. So, Jesus said, “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or Wherewithal shall we be clothed? But seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself” Matt. 6:31,33-34
What is it to trust? It is simply to rely or depend upon! To ‘trust in the Lord’ is to commit your way unto Him, taking refuge in Him. “In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame.” Psalm 71:1. In the text proverb, we are shown the blessing of the Lord as He directs us in His paths, when we acknowledge Him, not leaning upon our own understanding. Life becomes very simple -- the basics bring contentment because of godliness, as the blessings of God’s grace.
Trusting in the Lord’s guidance and wisdom results in “health to your body and nourishment to your bones.” ProvERBS 3:8 The blessing of the Lord to those who live in love, peace and joy with contentment, is health to both the body and soul.
One of the most difficult areas of trusting the Lord in our lives is to commit our tithes and offerings to Him. This, we often think, may affect acquiring our daily bread, our ability to have what we want, and therefore it will diminish our pleasures of life. So we ‘lean upon our own understanding’ and attempt to manage our money according to our own wisdom. BUT the Lord says: “Honor the LORD with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine”. Proverbs 3:9-10 and it is also written: “Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days. Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth.” Ecclesiastes 11:1-2
With our limited understanding, or ability to see into the future, we are prone to worry and fear. BUT the blessing of the Lord promised here is that He will provide for our needs even as we pray, “give us this day our daily bread”. He is faithful! What blessings do we lose when we untrustingly rely upon our own judgment? We will never know, because we did not receive them!!! 2 Cor. 9:6-10 “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously”. “God loves a cheerful giver.”
The Lord Jesus teaches us: “The world will know that you are My disciples because you love one another.” Our willingness to share with others is a vivid display of love. Providing the financial means to minister the Gospel of Jesus Christ to others is a key expression of love, as it clearly displays to them the loving concern for their needs of body and soul. What we often hear from recipients of The Master’s Mission grant awards in their letters of appreciation is gratitude for the love of God shown to them. Thus the Psalmist wrote: “Let them (the redeemed) sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare His works with rejoicing.” Psalm 107:22
· “As ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. For if ye love them who love you, what thank have ye? For sinners also love those that love them.” Luke 6:31-32
· Isaiah 26:3-4 You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal.
· Psalm 84:12 O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that trusts in Thee.
In the Love of God
In His Service,
God’s Peace!
Pastor Rod
I pray that this Blog finds you all in the safe keeping of the Lord! No matter what our circumstances, His promises True and they are for each of us. Lean on the Promises of God throughout this week! Our message today will be by Pastor Rod Johnson. Before we get to that, I would like to remind you to visit our website often at www.themissionsite.com There you can view this blog, as well as the Latest FM News Blog. You can also go to links and work you way to some of our churches and you will be able to listen to sermons on line. For instance www.aalchurchma.org and www.alclakeworth.org are a couple of our churches, and from there you can link to many others. You can listen to live or archived sermons at most of these sites. Also, please sign up for skype sermons. Just email me at jthree16@comcast.net and I will put you on the list. We can deliver these over your cell phone which you can put by a microphone so your whole group can hear. In Christ! John Ruotsala FM Administrator Now, pastor Rod’s message!
Love and Trust The lord!
“Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:37-39
“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
Proverbs 3:5-6
There are many lessons to be learned as we study the Holy Scripture. They all begin with TRUST and Love toward God. For us to rely upon the Bible, we must believe and thereby know that it is the inerrant Word of the Lord! Trusting the Word is essential to obtaining wisdom, for by it we know ‘The Christ’! Thus we see from the Proverbs above that when by God’s grace we come to love and trust the Lord, we can rely upon the result; He shall direct our ways!
The Lord knows that we often have worries and fears that make us anxious about many things. So, Jesus said, “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or Wherewithal shall we be clothed? But seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself” Matt. 6:31,33-34
What is it to trust? It is simply to rely or depend upon! To ‘trust in the Lord’ is to commit your way unto Him, taking refuge in Him. “In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame.” Psalm 71:1. In the text proverb, we are shown the blessing of the Lord as He directs us in His paths, when we acknowledge Him, not leaning upon our own understanding. Life becomes very simple -- the basics bring contentment because of godliness, as the blessings of God’s grace.
Trusting in the Lord’s guidance and wisdom results in “health to your body and nourishment to your bones.” ProvERBS 3:8 The blessing of the Lord to those who live in love, peace and joy with contentment, is health to both the body and soul.
One of the most difficult areas of trusting the Lord in our lives is to commit our tithes and offerings to Him. This, we often think, may affect acquiring our daily bread, our ability to have what we want, and therefore it will diminish our pleasures of life. So we ‘lean upon our own understanding’ and attempt to manage our money according to our own wisdom. BUT the Lord says: “Honor the LORD with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine”. Proverbs 3:9-10 and it is also written: “Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days. Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth.” Ecclesiastes 11:1-2
With our limited understanding, or ability to see into the future, we are prone to worry and fear. BUT the blessing of the Lord promised here is that He will provide for our needs even as we pray, “give us this day our daily bread”. He is faithful! What blessings do we lose when we untrustingly rely upon our own judgment? We will never know, because we did not receive them!!! 2 Cor. 9:6-10 “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously”. “God loves a cheerful giver.”
The Lord Jesus teaches us: “The world will know that you are My disciples because you love one another.” Our willingness to share with others is a vivid display of love. Providing the financial means to minister the Gospel of Jesus Christ to others is a key expression of love, as it clearly displays to them the loving concern for their needs of body and soul. What we often hear from recipients of The Master’s Mission grant awards in their letters of appreciation is gratitude for the love of God shown to them. Thus the Psalmist wrote: “Let them (the redeemed) sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare His works with rejoicing.” Psalm 107:22
· “As ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. For if ye love them who love you, what thank have ye? For sinners also love those that love them.” Luke 6:31-32
· Isaiah 26:3-4 You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal.
· Psalm 84:12 O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that trusts in Thee.
In the Love of God
In His Service,
God’s Peace!
Pastor Rod
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Time is Passing!
Dear Readers!
God’s Peace and God’s Blessings to you in this New Year!
In our first conversation for this New Year, I will reflect upon the passing of time. It surely seems as though time is marching on so quickly. These years move by so quickly. I am now 48 years old. I can remember my childhood and growing up years as if it were yesterday. We each are getting older one day at a time. It will not be long before we will be of an age where we will be facing eternity for certain. We know we could face this day today or another other day. However, we know from experience that in this time, our Lord has seen fit to limit the age of man to usually no more that 100 years. Mostly though, it is between 70 and 90 years. This is if we are not stricken with all the numerous diseases, afflictions or accidents that beset man because of the sin that entered the world with Adam and Eve. These are the realities we face.
Probably the reason I am reflecting on this is because this week I will be attending two funerals of dear beloved elders. One of these that went to glory was the mother of Paul Somero, and mother in law of Pastor Jim Maunu and Pastor Orval Wirkkala who are all on the Foreign Mission board. She was 87. The other one is the Father of Pastor Colin Kinnunen who is also on the Foreign Mission board. He was 80. In both cases, it is very sad to see our elders pass on, but it is with great joy that we have the assurance that they are today in Glory in Heaven above. In Heaven there is no sorrow, no sadness or pain. There is no parting over there! They have joined even my earthly father in the singing and rejoicing that goes on continually before our Lord in Heaven. What a joy this reality is! I am sure they would not want to come back to this sin cursed earth. Rather, they will enjoy the presence of the Lord forever!
I am reminded of a song that we often sing here in the USA. Maybe you know it as well. The chorus goes, He could have called ten thousand angels, to destroy and world and set him free. He could have called ten thousand angels, but He died alone, for you and me.
I am rejoicing that the Lord gave up his life here on earth, after He had fulfilled the mission and tasks at hand. He did not call the angels down from heaven to help him. No He died alone for you and me. He gave up His own life, so we can have life eternal. He gave up His own life, so that He could win the victory for death, hell, and the power of the devil! He gave up His own life, so that now while He is in Heaven, He can send those angels to bring our loved ones up to Him for all eternity. This is what happened this week for our two beloved elders here in America. This is what happens to all those Christian everywhere that are believing by Faith in the complete Redemptive work of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Let us praise and thank God that in His perfect plan, that through the eternal life giving work of His dear Son our Lord Jesus Christ, that there is a hope beyond this life. 2 Tim. 4:8 (KJV)
Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
In the Eternal Name of Jesus
Yours in Christ! John Ruotsala
God’s Peace and God’s Blessings to you in this New Year!
In our first conversation for this New Year, I will reflect upon the passing of time. It surely seems as though time is marching on so quickly. These years move by so quickly. I am now 48 years old. I can remember my childhood and growing up years as if it were yesterday. We each are getting older one day at a time. It will not be long before we will be of an age where we will be facing eternity for certain. We know we could face this day today or another other day. However, we know from experience that in this time, our Lord has seen fit to limit the age of man to usually no more that 100 years. Mostly though, it is between 70 and 90 years. This is if we are not stricken with all the numerous diseases, afflictions or accidents that beset man because of the sin that entered the world with Adam and Eve. These are the realities we face.
Probably the reason I am reflecting on this is because this week I will be attending two funerals of dear beloved elders. One of these that went to glory was the mother of Paul Somero, and mother in law of Pastor Jim Maunu and Pastor Orval Wirkkala who are all on the Foreign Mission board. She was 87. The other one is the Father of Pastor Colin Kinnunen who is also on the Foreign Mission board. He was 80. In both cases, it is very sad to see our elders pass on, but it is with great joy that we have the assurance that they are today in Glory in Heaven above. In Heaven there is no sorrow, no sadness or pain. There is no parting over there! They have joined even my earthly father in the singing and rejoicing that goes on continually before our Lord in Heaven. What a joy this reality is! I am sure they would not want to come back to this sin cursed earth. Rather, they will enjoy the presence of the Lord forever!
I am reminded of a song that we often sing here in the USA. Maybe you know it as well. The chorus goes, He could have called ten thousand angels, to destroy and world and set him free. He could have called ten thousand angels, but He died alone, for you and me.
I am rejoicing that the Lord gave up his life here on earth, after He had fulfilled the mission and tasks at hand. He did not call the angels down from heaven to help him. No He died alone for you and me. He gave up His own life, so we can have life eternal. He gave up His own life, so that He could win the victory for death, hell, and the power of the devil! He gave up His own life, so that now while He is in Heaven, He can send those angels to bring our loved ones up to Him for all eternity. This is what happened this week for our two beloved elders here in America. This is what happens to all those Christian everywhere that are believing by Faith in the complete Redemptive work of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Let us praise and thank God that in His perfect plan, that through the eternal life giving work of His dear Son our Lord Jesus Christ, that there is a hope beyond this life. 2 Tim. 4:8 (KJV)
Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
In the Eternal Name of Jesus
Yours in Christ! John Ruotsala
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
New Year Blessings!
Hello and God’s Richest Blessings to all!
Well, we have gone through another year. What a year it has been. There have been many changes and many interesting things that have happened, not all of them good. However, our Lord has kept us! Whatever came, he did not leave us. His word promises, Hebrews 13:5 … for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. We know from this promise, that he is going to be with us throughout the coming New Year! My prayer is that each one reading this would continue to believe by faith in Our Lord Jesus Christ. He word says in 1 Peter 1:5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Such amazing words! Who would you rather be kept by? There is no other power on heaven and earth that can even come close to His power. We have His Word saying that He will keep us! Through faith unto salvation! And this faith is given by God. Ephes. 2:8 says
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: No beloved, there is nothing we can bring of our own that will merit us anything. Everything has been done, the victory is won. Let us go into this New Year knowing and understanding that ... in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. Romans 8:37 We must give all honor and glory to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Thank You Lord for watching over us again!
I pray that each of you will stay in His Word during the upcoming year, and lean entirely upon Him by Faith! I pray for your families, churches, congregations, loved ones, and especially for the masses that do not yet know Jesus. I pray that you would be able to minister in a way that they would be able to come to know and understand that If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 (KJV)
Oh that many new souls could believe the saving Gospel of our Lord Jesus in this coming year. Oh that they could believe with all believers that as in Philip. 4:7 the promise is..
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
May this Peace be yours this New Year!
In His Service
John Ruotsala
Your Foreign Mission Administrator
Well, we have gone through another year. What a year it has been. There have been many changes and many interesting things that have happened, not all of them good. However, our Lord has kept us! Whatever came, he did not leave us. His word promises, Hebrews 13:5 … for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. We know from this promise, that he is going to be with us throughout the coming New Year! My prayer is that each one reading this would continue to believe by faith in Our Lord Jesus Christ. He word says in 1 Peter 1:5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Such amazing words! Who would you rather be kept by? There is no other power on heaven and earth that can even come close to His power. We have His Word saying that He will keep us! Through faith unto salvation! And this faith is given by God. Ephes. 2:8 says
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: No beloved, there is nothing we can bring of our own that will merit us anything. Everything has been done, the victory is won. Let us go into this New Year knowing and understanding that ... in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. Romans 8:37 We must give all honor and glory to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Thank You Lord for watching over us again!
I pray that each of you will stay in His Word during the upcoming year, and lean entirely upon Him by Faith! I pray for your families, churches, congregations, loved ones, and especially for the masses that do not yet know Jesus. I pray that you would be able to minister in a way that they would be able to come to know and understand that If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 (KJV)
Oh that many new souls could believe the saving Gospel of our Lord Jesus in this coming year. Oh that they could believe with all believers that as in Philip. 4:7 the promise is..
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
May this Peace be yours this New Year!
In His Service
John Ruotsala
Your Foreign Mission Administrator
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Blessed Christmas!
Dear Readers! Merry Christmas and God’s Richest Blessings to each of you! I am praying that God gives each of you a very joyous Christmas season, one in which you can focus on the awesome gift of Life that God has given us through the gift of His Son. Our message today will be by Pastor Orval Wirkkala. Please enjoy! In Christ! John Ruotsala
Shall we open the Gift? 12/23/08
Good Morning, dear family.KJV 1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.KJV 2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.In the the Christmas narrative accounts found in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke there are four “fear nots!’
To Zacharias KJV Luke 1:13 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.
To Joseph KJV Matthew 1:20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
To Mary KJV Luke 1:30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
To the shepherds on Christmas eve. KJV Luke 2:10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. Let us look at one of these people to whom the messenger spoke the comforting words, “Fear not.” According to most theologians, Mary was around 13-16 years old when the message of the Lord came to her through the voice of the angel, Gabriel. In Luke’s gospel, chapter 1, verse 27 we meet Mary for the first time in the scriptures and in the book of Acts, chapter 1, verse 14 we read the last mention of her. Here are the two scripture verses:KJV Luke 1:27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.KJV Acts 1:14 These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. A brief study of her life reveals to us that she was a girl of faith, in that she believed that which God had said. In her song of praise which begins in Luke 1:46, it is evident that she knew the scriptures and had memorized them. How do we know this? We may conclude this by careful examination of the words that she was given to speak by the revelation of the Holy Spirit, for the bulk of her song of praise of the Lord is taken from the Old Testament scriptures. Therefore, because she believed she spoke, speaking from the abundance of her heart, speaking that which was grounded upon the truths of the Holy Bible. As I prayerfully spent some time in the Word with the prayer in my heart to get to know Mary better than I had known her before, the Lord was gracious to me and through the scriptures enabled me to do so. And consequently, through her life and testimony, I was able to see that she knew and loved Him, Whom she was to bear into this world. She was a prepared vessel of the Lord through whom many would come to be blessed and that “ he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.” (Luke 1:48)Through all this, she remained a humble child of God, recognizing that the Lord, who is mighty, had done to her great things, and holy is his name. (Luke 1:49)Have we not been able to call her blessed ourselves, because of the example of faith and trust that she modeled, in that she believed the message from the messenger, which was sent from the portals of Glory? Yes, we have come to understand the blessing of having been granted the favor of grace that was bestowed upon her. It is the same favor that was poured out into the life of Joni Erickson Tada, which she herself spoke of in a couple of seasons of her life. After her diving accident which paralyzed her from the neck down, leaving her with only the use of her arms and not her hands, she wished that she could die. When she realized that this was not a possibility, she spoke to the Lord: “Lord, if I cannot die, you are going to have to show me how to live!” At this point she begin to work toward living and a number of years later as she was speaking to a large crowd, these words were spoken by her: “I would rather be in the wheel chair, and to know Jesus Christ, than to be a normal healthy woman and not know Jesus Christ!” In between these two times of her life, she had become acqainted with a young man, through whom Christ and his saving grace was revealed to and experienced by her. Mary trusted God to fulfill in her life that which was humanly impossible and that which would require divine intervention in order to come to pass. Joni trusted God to fulfill in her life that which was humanly impossible, which required the divine intervention of the Holy Spirit to enable her to live a life that was a blessed life of peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Can we not say, that Christ was born into her heart and that she is called blessed by all those who have come to understand what the real blessings of Christmas are. For it is in the receiving and the opening of the gift that God has provided that the blessing is experienced. It is not experienced without the opening of it. A gift is not a gift until it is opened. Just this morning I spoke with my daughter who is in Morales, Guatemala, where she will be spending Christmas with a family that invited her to be with them for Christmas. She told me: “When they receive a gift from the States, they do not wait until Christmas to open it, but they tear into it right away.” May we do the same with the gift that the Lord has provided, tearing away the outward wrappings so that we may be able to see Him!!!Merry Christmas!
Pastor Orval Wirkkala
Shall we open the Gift? 12/23/08
Good Morning, dear family.KJV 1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.KJV 2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.In the the Christmas narrative accounts found in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke there are four “fear nots!’
To Zacharias KJV Luke 1:13 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.
To Joseph KJV Matthew 1:20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
To Mary KJV Luke 1:30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
To the shepherds on Christmas eve. KJV Luke 2:10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. Let us look at one of these people to whom the messenger spoke the comforting words, “Fear not.” According to most theologians, Mary was around 13-16 years old when the message of the Lord came to her through the voice of the angel, Gabriel. In Luke’s gospel, chapter 1, verse 27 we meet Mary for the first time in the scriptures and in the book of Acts, chapter 1, verse 14 we read the last mention of her. Here are the two scripture verses:KJV Luke 1:27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.KJV Acts 1:14 These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. A brief study of her life reveals to us that she was a girl of faith, in that she believed that which God had said. In her song of praise which begins in Luke 1:46, it is evident that she knew the scriptures and had memorized them. How do we know this? We may conclude this by careful examination of the words that she was given to speak by the revelation of the Holy Spirit, for the bulk of her song of praise of the Lord is taken from the Old Testament scriptures. Therefore, because she believed she spoke, speaking from the abundance of her heart, speaking that which was grounded upon the truths of the Holy Bible. As I prayerfully spent some time in the Word with the prayer in my heart to get to know Mary better than I had known her before, the Lord was gracious to me and through the scriptures enabled me to do so. And consequently, through her life and testimony, I was able to see that she knew and loved Him, Whom she was to bear into this world. She was a prepared vessel of the Lord through whom many would come to be blessed and that “ he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.” (Luke 1:48)Through all this, she remained a humble child of God, recognizing that the Lord, who is mighty, had done to her great things, and holy is his name. (Luke 1:49)Have we not been able to call her blessed ourselves, because of the example of faith and trust that she modeled, in that she believed the message from the messenger, which was sent from the portals of Glory? Yes, we have come to understand the blessing of having been granted the favor of grace that was bestowed upon her. It is the same favor that was poured out into the life of Joni Erickson Tada, which she herself spoke of in a couple of seasons of her life. After her diving accident which paralyzed her from the neck down, leaving her with only the use of her arms and not her hands, she wished that she could die. When she realized that this was not a possibility, she spoke to the Lord: “Lord, if I cannot die, you are going to have to show me how to live!” At this point she begin to work toward living and a number of years later as she was speaking to a large crowd, these words were spoken by her: “I would rather be in the wheel chair, and to know Jesus Christ, than to be a normal healthy woman and not know Jesus Christ!” In between these two times of her life, she had become acqainted with a young man, through whom Christ and his saving grace was revealed to and experienced by her. Mary trusted God to fulfill in her life that which was humanly impossible and that which would require divine intervention in order to come to pass. Joni trusted God to fulfill in her life that which was humanly impossible, which required the divine intervention of the Holy Spirit to enable her to live a life that was a blessed life of peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Can we not say, that Christ was born into her heart and that she is called blessed by all those who have come to understand what the real blessings of Christmas are. For it is in the receiving and the opening of the gift that God has provided that the blessing is experienced. It is not experienced without the opening of it. A gift is not a gift until it is opened. Just this morning I spoke with my daughter who is in Morales, Guatemala, where she will be spending Christmas with a family that invited her to be with them for Christmas. She told me: “When they receive a gift from the States, they do not wait until Christmas to open it, but they tear into it right away.” May we do the same with the gift that the Lord has provided, tearing away the outward wrappings so that we may be able to see Him!!!Merry Christmas!
Pastor Orval Wirkkala
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Greetings of God’s Blessed Peace!
Well, this week has been very interesting. Where I live in New Hampshire, USA, we got hit by a severe ice storm last Thursday night. This ice on the trees became so heavy that very many of them broke and fell on the power lines, causing very much damage. We have been in the dark every since this has happened. We are not used to living without electricity in the USA. However, it has been a blessed time as well. In a disaster such as this, people have helped one another with whatever need they have had. The communities have come together and the huge job that was placed before us by the storm is being completed quite quickly because so many are willing to help. It may still be possibly a week or so more before we get electricity back, but Lord willing all will be well!
This experience has shown us so many spiritual pictures. First of all, at this time of year, our trees are all without leaves. They are bare and quite unattractive. However, when covered by ice, they all became beautiful to look at. This to me is a picture of being covered by the Blood of Jesus. He is our total covering, so therefore, all of our unattractiveness due to sin is covered. When we believe by faith all of our sins forgiven in and by the Name and Shed Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are all covered. In Rev. 7:14 His word says,
And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
What a blessed thought that all those who are believers are alike when covered by the Blood of Christ! All of these icy branches looked equally beautiful when the glorious light of the Sun of the day came and shone upon them. They were dazzlingly beautiful. This is how the Redeemed look to God in Heaven! When we are covered by Jesus’s Blood, he sees only that beauty and no longer looks upon our sins.
Also, the working together to get so much work done in our area, reminds me of how as Christians we must work together for the furtherance of HIS Gospel. This is HIS word that we need to spread. These are God’s children that we desire to feed, to help, and to comfort. All of us need each other both spiritually and naturally. Remember, we are all in this battle together. We need each other.
There are many more lessons learned from this big storm, but I will just share on more with you. That is, things can change very fast, and even when we least expect it. Last Thursday night, we had lights, heat, food, and all that we needed. Suddenly it was all taken away by natural event. Things can change very fast. Whatever condition we are in during this life, we can remember according to God’s word that it is temporary and it shall surely pass! But there is one thing that will never pass, God’s word says in
Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. God’s word in eternal and we are so secure in this fact. If we stay in His Word and stick to His promises, we will be safe and secure in the storms in this life, and we will be safely on our way to eternal bliss and joy in Heaven above, where we will all be in one community together worshipping our Lord eternally!
In The Precious Name of Jesus
John Ruotsala
Your Foreign Mission Administrator.
Well, this week has been very interesting. Where I live in New Hampshire, USA, we got hit by a severe ice storm last Thursday night. This ice on the trees became so heavy that very many of them broke and fell on the power lines, causing very much damage. We have been in the dark every since this has happened. We are not used to living without electricity in the USA. However, it has been a blessed time as well. In a disaster such as this, people have helped one another with whatever need they have had. The communities have come together and the huge job that was placed before us by the storm is being completed quite quickly because so many are willing to help. It may still be possibly a week or so more before we get electricity back, but Lord willing all will be well!
This experience has shown us so many spiritual pictures. First of all, at this time of year, our trees are all without leaves. They are bare and quite unattractive. However, when covered by ice, they all became beautiful to look at. This to me is a picture of being covered by the Blood of Jesus. He is our total covering, so therefore, all of our unattractiveness due to sin is covered. When we believe by faith all of our sins forgiven in and by the Name and Shed Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are all covered. In Rev. 7:14 His word says,
And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
What a blessed thought that all those who are believers are alike when covered by the Blood of Christ! All of these icy branches looked equally beautiful when the glorious light of the Sun of the day came and shone upon them. They were dazzlingly beautiful. This is how the Redeemed look to God in Heaven! When we are covered by Jesus’s Blood, he sees only that beauty and no longer looks upon our sins.
Also, the working together to get so much work done in our area, reminds me of how as Christians we must work together for the furtherance of HIS Gospel. This is HIS word that we need to spread. These are God’s children that we desire to feed, to help, and to comfort. All of us need each other both spiritually and naturally. Remember, we are all in this battle together. We need each other.
There are many more lessons learned from this big storm, but I will just share on more with you. That is, things can change very fast, and even when we least expect it. Last Thursday night, we had lights, heat, food, and all that we needed. Suddenly it was all taken away by natural event. Things can change very fast. Whatever condition we are in during this life, we can remember according to God’s word that it is temporary and it shall surely pass! But there is one thing that will never pass, God’s word says in
Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. God’s word in eternal and we are so secure in this fact. If we stay in His Word and stick to His promises, we will be safe and secure in the storms in this life, and we will be safely on our way to eternal bliss and joy in Heaven above, where we will all be in one community together worshipping our Lord eternally!
In The Precious Name of Jesus
John Ruotsala
Your Foreign Mission Administrator.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
"Go ye into all the world..."
Hello Readers!
God’s Peace!
This week I have been very busy, since the Foreign Mission had their bi-annual meetings. These are over now, but now there is a lot of work to do to catch up on, as well as to act upon those decisions made at the meeting. There was one common thought that ran throughout the meeting. All of the Foreign Mission Board members have a common goal and desire. That is to be obedient to the words of our Lord when He said in Mark 16:15 - Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. This is state stated goal, desire and purpose of the Foreign Mission of the Apostolic Lutheran Church of America.
However, since the world is so large, and there is so little time, we realize that a few pastors cannot do all this preaching. In Romans 10:14 it says …… and how shall they hear without a preacher? The Foreign Mission is so grateful to our Lord that He has provided many preachers in their own lands, to share in this work. We desire to continue and expand the process of using qualified preachers with a true understanding of Living Faith in Christ Jesus our Lord, to help us spread this Gospel in the various countries.
The Foreign Mission holds regular pastors and church leader training seminars in many places. For instance, there will be these training sessions coming up within the next few months in India, Guatemala, Togo, and some other West African countries. Also in January 09 we will be having seminars in The Philippines. If you are interested, just ask me for exact dates, and I will provide them as soon as possible. Please dear reader, if you can attend these conferences and seminars, please do so.
I am sure it is your desire, as it is our desire, to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ in Truth and Purity. Let us not go forth on our own power, but go forth by the power given to us from God in Heaven, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
All of this Foreign Mission work is very expensive. However, this is the Lord’s work, and we are trying to be obedient to His call. Pray earnestly that our donations will increase in this very poor economy that we now have. Unfortunately it takes a lot of money to be able to do all these tasks, and right now we are very short on funds. So please PRAY for us in this regard also.
The battle for Souls rages on in this dark world. The devil wants to win, but we have nothing to fear if we are in Christ, for scripture tells us in Romans 8:39 (KJV)
Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
May you be always found in His Love!
In Christ, John “Your Foreign Mission administrator.” jthree16@comcast.net www.themissionsite.com
God’s Peace!
This week I have been very busy, since the Foreign Mission had their bi-annual meetings. These are over now, but now there is a lot of work to do to catch up on, as well as to act upon those decisions made at the meeting. There was one common thought that ran throughout the meeting. All of the Foreign Mission Board members have a common goal and desire. That is to be obedient to the words of our Lord when He said in Mark 16:15 - Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. This is state stated goal, desire and purpose of the Foreign Mission of the Apostolic Lutheran Church of America.
However, since the world is so large, and there is so little time, we realize that a few pastors cannot do all this preaching. In Romans 10:14 it says …… and how shall they hear without a preacher? The Foreign Mission is so grateful to our Lord that He has provided many preachers in their own lands, to share in this work. We desire to continue and expand the process of using qualified preachers with a true understanding of Living Faith in Christ Jesus our Lord, to help us spread this Gospel in the various countries.
The Foreign Mission holds regular pastors and church leader training seminars in many places. For instance, there will be these training sessions coming up within the next few months in India, Guatemala, Togo, and some other West African countries. Also in January 09 we will be having seminars in The Philippines. If you are interested, just ask me for exact dates, and I will provide them as soon as possible. Please dear reader, if you can attend these conferences and seminars, please do so.
I am sure it is your desire, as it is our desire, to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ in Truth and Purity. Let us not go forth on our own power, but go forth by the power given to us from God in Heaven, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
All of this Foreign Mission work is very expensive. However, this is the Lord’s work, and we are trying to be obedient to His call. Pray earnestly that our donations will increase in this very poor economy that we now have. Unfortunately it takes a lot of money to be able to do all these tasks, and right now we are very short on funds. So please PRAY for us in this regard also.
The battle for Souls rages on in this dark world. The devil wants to win, but we have nothing to fear if we are in Christ, for scripture tells us in Romans 8:39 (KJV)
Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
May you be always found in His Love!
In Christ, John “Your Foreign Mission administrator.” jthree16@comcast.net www.themissionsite.com
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Serving the Lord!
Hello Readers!
God’s Peace! As I sat down to write this article this week, I decided to check over some of the other articles given to me to include in this blog. I came across this one by Pastor Rod Johnson that I thought very fitting, as so many of you are faithfully in the service of the Lord in your own countries. I trust that you will be encouraged by the message and in your service in HIS KINGDOM! In Christ, John “Your Foreign Mission administrator.” Jthree16@comcast.net www.themissionsite.com
Serving the Lord!
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Romans 12:1-2
Our Christianity is expressed in love toward God as well as in love toward our neighbor. These working together are spiritual acts of worship because through them we are serving God. This should not to be considered as a heavy demand, but rather those done with a willing heart, mind and spirit in love. Christianity requires living it, not only believing and thinking about it, but Faith expressing itself in love and obedience to the Word of God with Jesus Christ being Lord of every area of our life.
The Apostle Paul in this chapter gives guidelines for living as a redeemed people in a fallen world. Therefore: As a result of the work of grace, having received the gift of faith, it is expected that we become living sacrifices because we possess a new life in the Holy Spirit. That we may be able to follow Jesus daily laying aside our own human desires This we endeavor to do out of gratitude that our sins have been forgiven through the Blood of the Cross of Jesus Christ. A living sacrifice of love without hypocrisy!
Our ‘reasonable service’, which is a spiritual act of worship, is not a mere ritual activity, BUT the involvement of heart, mind and will. NOT a pronouncement of a great spiritual dictate or command, BUT rather an encouragement to so live life as Jesus Christ directs us in “Loving our neighbor as we love ourselves”. “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” Romans 6:4
We are led to become a ‘transformed people by the renewing of the mind’, living to honor and obey the Lord Jesus. Being transformed is to exhibit a markedly changed nature; of thought and will relating to morality, God’s Word, our neighbor and our attitudes. Changed from: self-serving, selfish, greedy, lustful, vengeful, angry, sinners -- To: Those who are under the control of the Holy Spirit endeavoring to live by the Spirit in love to God and man. Why? Because He gave His Son to make this new live possible. Therefore, we should with joy give ourselves for His service.
The threefold enemy, the devil, the world and our flesh, constantly project the world’s immorality with its corruptive ways into our lives. Therefore, NOT conforming to this world's values must go deeper than the level of behavior and customs--it must also be firmly planted in our minds--"by the transforming of the mind." We recognize that it is possible to avoid many worldly customs and still be proud, covetous, selfish, stubborn, and arrogant. Only by the Holy Spirit’s renewal, can we be truly transformed. “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.” Romans 8:5
By so living, “…Ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” and that Jesus Christ is Lord because “The world can see we are Christians by our love.”
Serving the Lord together with you,
In Christ Jesus,
God’s Peace!
Pr. Rod
Please let me know how you are doing! I wish to pray for each servant that is the work of the Lord! Thanks, John
God’s Peace! As I sat down to write this article this week, I decided to check over some of the other articles given to me to include in this blog. I came across this one by Pastor Rod Johnson that I thought very fitting, as so many of you are faithfully in the service of the Lord in your own countries. I trust that you will be encouraged by the message and in your service in HIS KINGDOM! In Christ, John “Your Foreign Mission administrator.” Jthree16@comcast.net www.themissionsite.com
Serving the Lord!
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Romans 12:1-2
Our Christianity is expressed in love toward God as well as in love toward our neighbor. These working together are spiritual acts of worship because through them we are serving God. This should not to be considered as a heavy demand, but rather those done with a willing heart, mind and spirit in love. Christianity requires living it, not only believing and thinking about it, but Faith expressing itself in love and obedience to the Word of God with Jesus Christ being Lord of every area of our life.
The Apostle Paul in this chapter gives guidelines for living as a redeemed people in a fallen world. Therefore: As a result of the work of grace, having received the gift of faith, it is expected that we become living sacrifices because we possess a new life in the Holy Spirit. That we may be able to follow Jesus daily laying aside our own human desires This we endeavor to do out of gratitude that our sins have been forgiven through the Blood of the Cross of Jesus Christ. A living sacrifice of love without hypocrisy!
Our ‘reasonable service’, which is a spiritual act of worship, is not a mere ritual activity, BUT the involvement of heart, mind and will. NOT a pronouncement of a great spiritual dictate or command, BUT rather an encouragement to so live life as Jesus Christ directs us in “Loving our neighbor as we love ourselves”. “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” Romans 6:4
We are led to become a ‘transformed people by the renewing of the mind’, living to honor and obey the Lord Jesus. Being transformed is to exhibit a markedly changed nature; of thought and will relating to morality, God’s Word, our neighbor and our attitudes. Changed from: self-serving, selfish, greedy, lustful, vengeful, angry, sinners -- To: Those who are under the control of the Holy Spirit endeavoring to live by the Spirit in love to God and man. Why? Because He gave His Son to make this new live possible. Therefore, we should with joy give ourselves for His service.
The threefold enemy, the devil, the world and our flesh, constantly project the world’s immorality with its corruptive ways into our lives. Therefore, NOT conforming to this world's values must go deeper than the level of behavior and customs--it must also be firmly planted in our minds--"by the transforming of the mind." We recognize that it is possible to avoid many worldly customs and still be proud, covetous, selfish, stubborn, and arrogant. Only by the Holy Spirit’s renewal, can we be truly transformed. “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.” Romans 8:5
By so living, “…Ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” and that Jesus Christ is Lord because “The world can see we are Christians by our love.”
Serving the Lord together with you,
In Christ Jesus,
God’s Peace!
Pr. Rod
Please let me know how you are doing! I wish to pray for each servant that is the work of the Lord! Thanks, John
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Thanksgiving!
To: Pastors, Church Leaders, and other readers around the world!
From: John Ruotsala, “Your Foreign Mission Administrator”
Please note: You can find this article at www.themissionsite.com scroll down the home page and notice Administrators Blog on the left side. Click and you have it. Please let me know if it would be helpful to have this in your language, as I am able to translate it into several languages
God’s Peace! Since this article is quite long, I will not make further comments this week. This will help you all get to know us American Christians more. It is about our Thanksgiving beginnings and blessings! This article was republished recently by Pastor Orval Wirkkala.
A TWOFOLD HERITAGE (by ALCA Pastor Alvin Holmgren)
"The ravages of winter took a heavy toll on the newly-formed pilgrim colony in New England. The first winter was severe and they were ill-prepared for it. The long ocean voyage of more than two months had been taxing. Some of their number died enroute, and the lack of proper diet had weakened many others. It had been the middle of November 1620 when land was sighted at the tip of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. After exploring the coast along Massachusetts bay, the Pilgrims chose Plymouth as their site for their colony. By the time the Mayflower dropped anchor in the harbor at Plymouth, it was December. By the end of March their number of 102 had been reduced to only 51, and almost half of them were children. Only 20 men and 8 women had lived through that dreadful winter. In spite of the rigors of this first winter in the new land, not one of the remaining pilgrims chose to return to England when the Mayflower sailed again for England in early April. Before long, their leader Governor John Carver also died. The pilgrims elected William Bradford as governor. Although he was only 31 years old, Governor Bradford proved to be a good leader and was elected governor 30 times.Even though some of the natives were as inhospitable as the first winter, in time the pilgrims developed a friendship with them. When the harvest was over that year, for the first time since they came to America, the pilgrims had all the food they needed. They had ample wood cut for their fires, and their house were readied for winter.Governor Bradford declared it was time for "thanksgiving," A feast was prepared and the Indian friends were invited to join the pilgrims for this festive occasion. God was to be thanked for sparing their lives, for their freedom in this new land, for the abundance of the harvest, and for their Indian friends. As so began our day of national thanksgiving.We, today, can learn anew from the pilgrim forefathers. They knew that their very lives depended upon the blessing of the Almighty God, and they were not forgetful in acknowledging this. Our nation and its people have traveled far from this first "Thanksgiving Day" in 1621.But have we traveled in the right direction? Have we, as a people, been mindful of this early example?It is important that we as Christians walk the pathway of thankfulness. God is good and sends countless blessings upon the earth. Jesus explained the goodness of God by that our Father in heaven makes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust KJV Matthew 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.May we not be forgetful to return thanks to God, who is the source of our many blessings. We need to be grateful for this good land in which we live, and also to share in the responsibility to pray for kings and for all that are in authority. KJV 1 Timothy 2:1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; KJV 1 Timothy 2:2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. Our national heritage is a great blessing, but it is second in importance in comparison with our Christian heritage. Harvest was the time of the pilgrims' thanksgiving. We join in thanking God for his promise that while the earth remains, seedtime and harvest will not cease. KJV Genesis 8:22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. (Genesis 8:22) But we also look to a greater harvest--the harvest of souls. This harvest is the primary purpose for living and should be the goal of our lives.KJV Matthew 9:37 Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;KJV Matthew 9:38 Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.Today we are still surrounded by a cloud of witnesses of which we read in the book of Hebrews, chapters 11 and 12: 29 By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as if on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned.30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets-33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.35 Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two,1 they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated-38 of whom the world was not worthy- wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised,40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.ESV Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.They have passed this way before us. We are urged to remember them, for they have spoken to us, the Word of God, and we are encouraged to follow their faith, mindful of the end of their lives.KJV Hebrews 13:7 Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. Original: Remember those who have led you, who have taught you the Word of God, observe, reflect upon the results of their lives and imitate their example of faith.""Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today and forever. By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise unto God continually, that it, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name. (Hebrews 13:8, 15)Pastor Alvin C. Holmgren Reprinted from 1984
May God Truly Bless Your day and week!
In Christ, John Ruotsala
Your Foreign Mission Administrator (Please see below also)
Business Section: Starting soon! Additional sermons on Skype!
Please provide me with a cell phone number that can be used for these sermons. Also, please let me know the best time of the month to have your special service. We will try our best to have services at least one time per month for all parties interested, as long as the technology works and the funding is sufficient.
Also, if you would like to get on our mailing list for our Christian Monthly, please provide me with your physical address. I could also give you the website where you could read it at. You can get to it also through our website, www.themissionsite.com Feel free to visit here often as well.
From: John Ruotsala, “Your Foreign Mission Administrator”
Please note: You can find this article at www.themissionsite.com scroll down the home page and notice Administrators Blog on the left side. Click and you have it. Please let me know if it would be helpful to have this in your language, as I am able to translate it into several languages
God’s Peace! Since this article is quite long, I will not make further comments this week. This will help you all get to know us American Christians more. It is about our Thanksgiving beginnings and blessings! This article was republished recently by Pastor Orval Wirkkala.
A TWOFOLD HERITAGE (by ALCA Pastor Alvin Holmgren)
"The ravages of winter took a heavy toll on the newly-formed pilgrim colony in New England. The first winter was severe and they were ill-prepared for it. The long ocean voyage of more than two months had been taxing. Some of their number died enroute, and the lack of proper diet had weakened many others. It had been the middle of November 1620 when land was sighted at the tip of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. After exploring the coast along Massachusetts bay, the Pilgrims chose Plymouth as their site for their colony. By the time the Mayflower dropped anchor in the harbor at Plymouth, it was December. By the end of March their number of 102 had been reduced to only 51, and almost half of them were children. Only 20 men and 8 women had lived through that dreadful winter. In spite of the rigors of this first winter in the new land, not one of the remaining pilgrims chose to return to England when the Mayflower sailed again for England in early April. Before long, their leader Governor John Carver also died. The pilgrims elected William Bradford as governor. Although he was only 31 years old, Governor Bradford proved to be a good leader and was elected governor 30 times.Even though some of the natives were as inhospitable as the first winter, in time the pilgrims developed a friendship with them. When the harvest was over that year, for the first time since they came to America, the pilgrims had all the food they needed. They had ample wood cut for their fires, and their house were readied for winter.Governor Bradford declared it was time for "thanksgiving," A feast was prepared and the Indian friends were invited to join the pilgrims for this festive occasion. God was to be thanked for sparing their lives, for their freedom in this new land, for the abundance of the harvest, and for their Indian friends. As so began our day of national thanksgiving.We, today, can learn anew from the pilgrim forefathers. They knew that their very lives depended upon the blessing of the Almighty God, and they were not forgetful in acknowledging this. Our nation and its people have traveled far from this first "Thanksgiving Day" in 1621.But have we traveled in the right direction? Have we, as a people, been mindful of this early example?It is important that we as Christians walk the pathway of thankfulness. God is good and sends countless blessings upon the earth. Jesus explained the goodness of God by that our Father in heaven makes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust KJV Matthew 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.May we not be forgetful to return thanks to God, who is the source of our many blessings. We need to be grateful for this good land in which we live, and also to share in the responsibility to pray for kings and for all that are in authority. KJV 1 Timothy 2:1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; KJV 1 Timothy 2:2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. Our national heritage is a great blessing, but it is second in importance in comparison with our Christian heritage. Harvest was the time of the pilgrims' thanksgiving. We join in thanking God for his promise that while the earth remains, seedtime and harvest will not cease. KJV Genesis 8:22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. (Genesis 8:22) But we also look to a greater harvest--the harvest of souls. This harvest is the primary purpose for living and should be the goal of our lives.KJV Matthew 9:37 Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;KJV Matthew 9:38 Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.Today we are still surrounded by a cloud of witnesses of which we read in the book of Hebrews, chapters 11 and 12: 29 By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as if on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned.30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets-33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.35 Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two,1 they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated-38 of whom the world was not worthy- wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised,40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.ESV Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.They have passed this way before us. We are urged to remember them, for they have spoken to us, the Word of God, and we are encouraged to follow their faith, mindful of the end of their lives.KJV Hebrews 13:7 Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. Original: Remember those who have led you, who have taught you the Word of God, observe, reflect upon the results of their lives and imitate their example of faith.""Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today and forever. By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise unto God continually, that it, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name. (Hebrews 13:8, 15)Pastor Alvin C. Holmgren Reprinted from 1984
May God Truly Bless Your day and week!
In Christ, John Ruotsala
Your Foreign Mission Administrator (Please see below also)
Business Section: Starting soon! Additional sermons on Skype!
Please provide me with a cell phone number that can be used for these sermons. Also, please let me know the best time of the month to have your special service. We will try our best to have services at least one time per month for all parties interested, as long as the technology works and the funding is sufficient.
Also, if you would like to get on our mailing list for our Christian Monthly, please provide me with your physical address. I could also give you the website where you could read it at. You can get to it also through our website, www.themissionsite.com Feel free to visit here often as well.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
God's Natural Pictures!
To: Pastors, Church Leaders, and other readers around the world!
From: John Ruotsala, “Your Foreign Mission Administrator”
Please note: You can find this article at http://www.themissionsite.com/ scroll down the home page and notice Administrators Blog on the left side. Click and you have it. Please let me know if it would be helpful to have this in your language, as I am able to translate it into several languages
God’s Peace!
Greeting from New Hampshire USA! Our weather had cooled down quite a lot in the last few days. Winter is right around the corner.
From: John Ruotsala, “Your Foreign Mission Administrator”
Please note: You can find this article at http://www.themissionsite.com/ scroll down the home page and notice Administrators Blog on the left side. Click and you have it. Please let me know if it would be helpful to have this in your language, as I am able to translate it into several languages
God’s Peace!
Greeting from New Hampshire USA! Our weather had cooled down quite a lot in the last few days. Winter is right around the corner.
The leaves have withered and fallen off the trees. I often like to see the comparisons between the natural and the spiritual. Maybe the reason for this is that our God is great, almighty and powerful, but I know that his desire is that we would be saved. He created us, and does not want to lose us. He loves us! Therefore he gives us little pictures along the way in life so we can get glimpses of what his salvation plan and the wonderful eternal life that awaits us.
I had some trouble fitting the pictures of how the leaves falling off the trees fits in with the picture of salvation. Then one day this portion of the scriptures was opened up for me to see. It is in Psalm 1:3-4 (KJV)
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. 4The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
See, it is only the ungodly that are pictured by the leaves falling. The believer lives forever! It is so amazing how there is an answer to all our questions in scriptures if we would but just look and study! God wants us to be sure of our salvation that HE has provided through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
I will share one more word picture that helps me. I know many of you have never seen snow, but I am sure you all know what it is. When it snows in our area, sometimes the snow becomes very deep. When snow is deep, no matter how your yard looks in the summertime, whether it is a very nice lawn or an unfinished one, with the snow they all look alike. They all look beautiful. Think of the snow as the pure white covering offered to us by the precious atoning work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Scripture says that when we are covered by his blood we are pure white. No matter what we were, what we have done in the past, when we are covered by His blood, we are perfect! Isaiah 1:18 (KJV)
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
Just like the yards of both the rich and poor people in our area. They both look perfect under so much white snow.
What a special Grace that God give us when he allow us simple pictures to see his Almighty hand working all around us every day. Stop and Be still and know the HE is God! Our God wants each to be saved!
If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: Isaiah 1:19 (KJV)
His promises are sure for each of us today!
May God Truly Bless Your day and week!
In Christ, John Ruotsala
Your Foreign Mission Administrator (Please see below also)
Business Section:
Please provide me with a cell phone number that can be used for these sermons. Also, please let me know the best time of the month to have your special service. We will try our best to have services at least one time per month for all parties interested, as long as the technology works and the funding is sufficient.
Also, if you would like to get on our mailing list for our Christian Monthly, please provide me with your physical address. I could also give you the website where you could read it at. You can get to it also through our website, http://www.themissionsite.com/ Feel free to visit here often as well.
I had some trouble fitting the pictures of how the leaves falling off the trees fits in with the picture of salvation. Then one day this portion of the scriptures was opened up for me to see. It is in Psalm 1:3-4 (KJV)
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. 4The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
See, it is only the ungodly that are pictured by the leaves falling. The believer lives forever! It is so amazing how there is an answer to all our questions in scriptures if we would but just look and study! God wants us to be sure of our salvation that HE has provided through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
I will share one more word picture that helps me. I know many of you have never seen snow, but I am sure you all know what it is. When it snows in our area, sometimes the snow becomes very deep. When snow is deep, no matter how your yard looks in the summertime, whether it is a very nice lawn or an unfinished one, with the snow they all look alike. They all look beautiful. Think of the snow as the pure white covering offered to us by the precious atoning work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Scripture says that when we are covered by his blood we are pure white. No matter what we were, what we have done in the past, when we are covered by His blood, we are perfect! Isaiah 1:18 (KJV)
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
Just like the yards of both the rich and poor people in our area. They both look perfect under so much white snow.
What a special Grace that God give us when he allow us simple pictures to see his Almighty hand working all around us every day. Stop and Be still and know the HE is God! Our God wants each to be saved!
If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: Isaiah 1:19 (KJV)
His promises are sure for each of us today!
May God Truly Bless Your day and week!
In Christ, John Ruotsala
Your Foreign Mission Administrator (Please see below also)
Business Section:
Please provide me with a cell phone number that can be used for these sermons. Also, please let me know the best time of the month to have your special service. We will try our best to have services at least one time per month for all parties interested, as long as the technology works and the funding is sufficient.
Also, if you would like to get on our mailing list for our Christian Monthly, please provide me with your physical address. I could also give you the website where you could read it at. You can get to it also through our website, http://www.themissionsite.com/ Feel free to visit here often as well.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Gratitude! Thanksgiving!
To: Pastors, Church Leaders, and other readers around the world!
From: John Ruotsala, “Your Foreign Mission Administrator”
Please let me know if it would be helpful to have this in your language, as I am able to translate it into several languages
From: John Ruotsala, “Your Foreign Mission Administrator”
Please let me know if it would be helpful to have this in your language, as I am able to translate it into several languages
God’s Peace!
That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. John 1:9 (KJV) Jesus is that light! Some men have neglected the Light and rejected it. The light has gone out! Oh that it could be rekindled, and re ignited in the hearts of men! Thank the Lord that the day of Grace is still with us, and we pray that this Light will shine brightly so that men will be drawn unto Him, Jesus Christ our Savior!
This month our nation celebrates the Thanksgiving Holiday. Each year on a certain day, (the 4th Thursday every November), we stop and give the Lord thanks for all He gives, IS, and allows us to be! The message below reflects this!
Our message today will be by Pastor Rod Johnson of Laurium, Michigan, USA.
Gratitude!
In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. 1 Thessalonians 5:18
Annually as a nation we celebrate the holiday of Thanksgiving. The importance of this holiday cannot be overestimated. We as humans, because of our sin nature, seem to spend more time and energy dealing with the negative aspects of life. Complaining about the government, the ‘next-door-neighbor’, the lack of money, too many bills, our ill health, we have, our spouse’s shortcomings, and on and on it goes…
We somehow think that everything should always ‘come-up-roses’ for us and that troubles should always flee away. However, the reality of life is that which Job experienced, “Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. Job 14:1. When we keep this in mind, we will be joyful when we have good days and thank God for them. People who have been in bondage, either spiritual or physical, rejoice in their freedom. Those who do not have enough to eat rejoice in having food to eat regardless of the quality of it. Those who are seriously ill rejoice when they feel well again.
Above all if we are burdened with the guilt of sin, we rejoice in the blessed assurance of the forgiveness of sins, thanking God for our Savior Jesus Christ our Redeemer. It is a simple thing to say “Thank You” for a blessing of some sort, whether a gift from man or a gift from God. However, a true sense of gratitude is more that a momentary giving thanks. Giving thanks is more than a quick prayer or word of grace before meals. It is an overall continual _expression in life of praising God for His mercy, love and grace. When we so live, our attitude in life and is a blessing to others, thereby serving both them and God!
Gratitude is: A moment-by-moment heartfelt gratitude to God for life and all that it contains. It is an appreciation of life in body and soul, the gift of God in Christ Jesus of the forgiveness of sins, the gift of faith to believe it, and the promise of eternal life. Therefore it is written, “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” The emphasis here is “In every thing” and “in Christ Jesus”, whether we consider it good of bad. Knowing the Hand of God is upon us and that His promise is that “All things work together for good to those who love God”! How could it be wrong? This is what FAITH accomplishes in us and why the Lord teaches us to be grateful and GIVE HIM THANKS!
Serving the Lord with Thanksgiving,
Thanking Him for Jesus,
In the Peace of the Lord,
Pastor Rod
May God Truly Bless Your day and week!
In Christ, John Ruotsala
Your Foreign Mission Administrator (Please see below also)
Business Section: Starting soon! Additional sermons on Skype!
Please provide me with a cell phone number that can be used for these sermons. Also, please let me know the best time of the month to have your special service. We will try our best to have services at least one time per month for all parties interested, as long as the technology works and the funding is sufficient.
Also, if you would like to get on our mailing list for our Christian Monthly, please provide me with your physical address. I could also give you the website where you could read it at. You can get to it also through our website, www.themissionsite.com Feel free to visit here often as well.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Translation available
Please let me know if you would like messages posted here in your first language. I am able to translate into several languages so that you are able to read the aritcles more easily! The note posted below is in Telegu. Just email me at jthree16@comcast.net and I will try to arrange this for you! In Christ! John
తో చ్రిస్తిఅంస్ ఇన్ ఇండియా!
తో ఔర్ ఫ్రెండ్స్ ఇన్ ఇండియా! గ్రీటింగ్స్ ఇన్ ది నేమ్ అఫ్ ఔర్ లార్డ్ జీసస్ క్రైస్ట్! దోఎస్ థిస్ వర్క్ ఔట్ గుడ్ ఫర్ యు? ఐ విల్ టైపు ఇన్ తెలేగు ఈఫ్ ఇట్ విల్ బె తో యౌర్ అద్వంతగే! ప్లీజ్ లేట్ మే క్నౌ బి ఏమైలింగ్ @కంకాస్ట్.నెట్ ఐ డో నాట్ క్నౌ యౌర్ లాంగ్వేజ్, బట్ ది కంప్యూటర్ త్రన్స్లతెస్ ఫర్ మే. ప్లీజ్ బె ఇన్ టచ్! ఇన్ క్రైస్ట్! జాన్ రుతోసల
This Blogger recieved this message from India.
Dear John Routsala
" Greetings to you in the name above all names "
We are so blessed to receive your encouraging messages which are so much blessing to all our congregations . Thank you so very much for the blessed time you take to pass on the messages. we are so thankful to you for giving us the opportunity to share your blessed messages in all the villages we go through . we are so glad to testify that we see many hardened hearts receiving HIM as their Lord and savior.
ps: i request you to keep in your prayers as our Lord Almighty put in us the thought to share the blessed messages you forward to us via FM broadcasting or via TV so that we may reach many more unsaved/ unreached souls through broad casting.
please pray for our small ministry working in the rural part in India. AS there are many yet reached villages where the Word of God is to be reached. please encourage us in this precious assignment to share His gospel in the yet reached villages .
await to your gracious reply and your prayerful answer regarding to the request .
Thank you
yours in His service,
Sis Evangeline AShok
INDIA
Dear John Routsala
" Greetings to you in the name above all names "
We are so blessed to receive your encouraging messages which are so much blessing to all our congregations . Thank you so very much for the blessed time you take to pass on the messages. we are so thankful to you for giving us the opportunity to share your blessed messages in all the villages we go through . we are so glad to testify that we see many hardened hearts receiving HIM as their Lord and savior.
ps: i request you to keep in your prayers as our Lord Almighty put in us the thought to share the blessed messages you forward to us via FM broadcasting or via TV so that we may reach many more unsaved/ unreached souls through broad casting.
please pray for our small ministry working in the rural part in India. AS there are many yet reached villages where the Word of God is to be reached. please encourage us in this precious assignment to share His gospel in the yet reached villages .
await to your gracious reply and your prayerful answer regarding to the request .
Thank you
yours in His service,
Sis Evangeline AShok
INDIA
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