The version used is KJV
Dear Brothers & Sisters in Lebanon I wanted to write this letter as a testimony to todays celebration and worship, as I missed attending in person. I was under the weather suffering the bug making rounds and had called Jerry last evening. Although the PA system was not connected, Jerry was able to place his phone on the podium so I could enjoy most of the service today. What follows is a simple synopsis of what I heard, what ministered to me and my own reflections.
I have never been part of anything like the church house dedication. I was really looking forward to being there, but God's will was different. I have seen from when the ground was cleared and broken to cement being poured and structure stood up. Even though I was not there for the valleys Joe and Wayne shared, I could only imagine what you all as a body endured to be at the joyous time this morning.
Needless to say, I appreciated Joe's opening dedication with a mix of admonitions, directions and encouragements. The sanctity of the house of God, knowing that the house of God is us as the bride of Christ and not a building, is still a testimony to the world, as the physical structure embodies the trial, sweat and efforts along with patience that y'all have been thru, to be apt as a gathering place for the saints. I am just thankful to have known you in our limited sojourning here on this earth. Until our Messiah returns and dwells amongst us, I will try to enjoy the church fellowship in the new church house, as much as our Most High wills.
What I appreciated about dedication was that it was simple, apt and biblical. There was no fan fare, no major call to attention on this day or hour, but a simple message to honor our God before we started the service. What a joy it was to hear the sounds of the infants in the new building and the audio (even by just the phone and not PA) was perfect, or so it seemed to my ears. Praise the Most High for this day.
I couldn't make much of what Cornell shared, other than trying to follow the questions. I cant wait to study the rest of this book in the new house and the many lessons God has in it for me.
Wayne's message hit home in multiple dimensions and was emotional as well. Although he hit the core message of the disciple as his Master, with following scriptures - John4:1-2, Matt10:24-25, Matt8:20. I am sure I missed some more as I was not taking perfect notes.
The message about debt and am I free to do what God has called me to do spoke to my needs and challenged me in where I am at today. Its always hard to balance what God wants me to do, vs what God has expected me to do. If all I do is what he has expected and fails at what He wants, I hope the Holy Spirit and His body of saints will convict me towards repenting and moving to satisfy my Creator by faith. To this end the testimony of Jolene was convicting hearing it from the voice of a loving father. I hope I am as worthy as Jolene that Holy Spirit will deliver me of whatever attachments I have to make me freer to serve my Lord that much more freely and in joy.
The message around how the world is watering down what the standard for Christianity is, also is something I have observed and hence chosen to distance from several so-called christian fellowships. I think this is by design of the prince of the power of the air, who controls most of what the world system is and as he did during the early anabaptists when there were other pious catholics and early protestants asking them to be reasonable and concede, to where we are now with world setting the standards for what a church ought to be. In the end, what Wayne stated about only using God's standard as the standard for holiness is where we must be striving every day. Its especially needed in my life as I make the transition. Would appreciate your continued prayers for my walk.
I wanted to ask one thing. If its out of place, please forgive me. It stems from something Joe stated on making sure our children and their children know how God was faithful to his servants in completing the church house and what has gone into getting to this far.
I know publishing and writing major books for money or rewards is worldly. But I think there is a balance. I really appreciated the testimony of Sanko in written form. I also know that I want to understand some of the ordinances and protections in the form of standards that many of the plain people churches have. When I have asked many amish folks on this lately, they just are not sure the logic that went into making the current standards. The reason this is important is because as we look to our children, the snares that will be thrown to them from the world might be different or look like its from God, but giving them a view of why we made certain choices based on what was present at the time, will be a good guide instead of trying to follow a tradition we set in our current setup. For example, I see many Amish settings are comfortable with use of electronics for non-farm use but not for farm use. Although, this in itself is not important. What would be helpful is to go back in time 20,40,100 years ago when the fathers or grandfathers were making the decision on what to adopt for farming and what challenges they were faced with and the decision they made, adding to it any church splits or changes that happened. Then if one of their children or grandchildren wrote an addendum how that decision has been ministering to them in the current context, it will provide that much more written admonitions needed for our children and their children. This is the only way I know how we will keep this perpetuating within the body. As I know within each families yall might, but with me not coming from your background, I would personally appreciate this and also think the children and grand children might as well. This idea comes from two recent events. One is my readings of an Amish Bishop David Troyer, whose grand children published it as his writings was saved. The other was a dialog I had with an elder brother at Unionville, who was reminiscing about his grandfather's sermons, and when asked if I could get access to his writings, it was said the preaching was done from memory.
To me this written form (may be via sermon messages or otherwise) of choices we are making now and the context we are faced with and past decisions that have lead us astray, will be a good in terms of principle applications, as these principles will be timeless as the way I have seen yall live will embody that and will be a source of knowledge for the children and grand children. May be its a small set of writings in printed or hand written forms just circulated within Lebanon. But something written from a historical decision making point of view around challenges we face using biblical principles to make decisions. So that, when the next subtle or major threat comes, I (or one of the children who join in newly) can use the walk of the saints as additional testimony with the Word of God as the sword to ward off the threat that is looming.
God bless and looking forward to the ordination proceedings and seeing God work His will in Lebanon.