Mom and Dad to China Today, March 28, 1947

Dad and Mom (Walter & Helen Jespersen) left from San Francisco to Shanghai, China today, March 28, in 1947.  Margaret was a year and a half and her sister Carol was almost three months old.  The ship was dormitory-style, men in one section and women in another, with little children with the mothers. 

Communism was on the move so there was much concern.  The Communists took over China in 1949.

Our Grandson and The Rock Solid Bible

To help them with savings, Margaret and I have given passages of Scripture and speeches to our four grandchildren to memorize.

One is the very moving and excellent five- to six-minute monologue “The Rock Solid Bible.”

Our 14-year-old grandson Douglas Nichols, recently placed first among 20 finalists) in his school, Faith Academy in the Philippines.

You can find this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMNkm__pq-w&feature=youtu.be

We trust you will be encouraged and challenged as watch and listen to Douglas.

Hang Up the Phone!

Enjoying lunch with a few pastors and leaders, a co-worker received a call on his cell phone. Rather than simply not answering, or excusing himself for a few minutes, he answered and rudely carried on a conversation interrupting all.

Later I tried to politely speak to him about this lack of manners but he disagreed.

It is interesting that none of the men we were meeting with seem to think much of our organization and ministry. Could it be because of our lack of manners and proper respect for others?

As Christians we need to remember that manners are Christ's kindness and respect for others.

“So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other …” (Colossians 3:12-13a, nasb).

 

Despise Not Small Things

Recently in Harvest Fest, a major city wide missions conference,  it was very interesting to meet the directors of very small missions of only two to ten people -- missions in Mexico, Peru, and  Haiti.

All were started as a result of a passion for the gospel and compassion for a certain aspect of society or need. As I spoke with each director, it was exciting to hear of their vision!

Some of us have been in ministry for many years. Do we still have the glow, the passion for when we first started our work? Is there not any new area of ministry of need you should not consider starting? Is there not anything still waiting for us to do? Have we forgotten what is to step forward in faith, even though it would be considered small?

"For who has despised the day of small things?" (Zechariah 4:10 nasb)

Casual and Sloppy or Casusal and Neat (sleeping with the dogs)?

There is nothing wrong with being casual, however, when one dresses sloppily it speaks volumes about lack of discipline, disrespect and lack of manners.

Christian should never dress in a sloppy way that causes a lack of proper respect for others and discipline in lifestyle.

On one occasion I arrived early to speak at a large church, and was finally met by the pastor who was extremely sloppy; grubby dirty jeans, winkled shirt, uncombed hair, unshaven face, needing a bath and wiping the sleep from his eyes. Jokingly I asked if he had a fight with his wife and she had made him sleep in the car with the dog all night? He answered with a smile admitting that he did look really bad.

As God's people let us dress in a way that will not bring disrepute to the name of Christ.

Global Diaspora Network (and Filipinos)

For several years I have served on the International Advisory Board of the Global Diaspora Network with an interest for evangelism, compassionate care, and discipleship to all peoples and with a special love and interest for Filipinos (Filipino International Network-FIN).

I am writing this on a flight from Seattle to Saskatoon, Canada to speak at a city- wide missions conference which will be attended by many Filipinos. Next weekend I will fly to Edmonton, Canada, to conduct an all day leadership seminar in a Filipino church and speak Easter Sunday.

The Philippines has a population of about 100 million with an estimate of 5-8% being evangelical leaving over 90 million without the gospel of salvation by grace through faith alone!

There is an estimated 500,000 Filipinos in Canada, 3,500,000 in the US, 1,160,000 in Saudi Arabia, and over 600,000 in the United Arab Emeritus.

Many of these diaspora Filipinos are believers actively sharing the gospel, and faithfully disciplining and planting churches.

Pray as some missions are actively recruiting evangelical Filipinos to serve internationally as well seeking to reach those without Christ with the gospel.

Look at Your Heart

 by Andrew Murray  

 With the heart man believes. It is with all the heart that we are to seek, serve, and love God. It is only with the heart that we can know God or worship God in spirit and truth. It is in the heart, therefore, that the divine Word does the work. It is into our heart God has sent forth the Holy Spirit of His Son. It is the heart, the inward life of desire and love and will that the Holy Spirit guides into all the truth.

     The Bible says, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding.” Do not trust your own understanding. It can only give you thoughts and ideas about spiritual things without the reality of them. It will deceive you with the thought that the truth, if received into the mind, will somehow surely enter your heart. It will blind you to the terrible experience which is universal: the practice of daily Bible reading, listening to God’s Word every Sunday and yet becoming neither humble, nor holy, nor heavenly minded because of it.

     Instead of trusting your understanding, come with your heart to the Bible and trust Him. Let your whole heart be set upon the living God as the teacher when you enter your prayer closet. Then you will find good understanding. God will give you an understanding heart, a spiritual understanding.

     With every thought from the Word that your understanding grasps, bow before God in dependence and trust. Believe with your whole heart that God can and will make it true. Ask for the Holy Spirit to make it work in your heart until the Word becomes the strength of your life.

     Persevere in this, and the time will come when the Holy Spirit, dwelling in the heart and life, will keep the understanding in subjection and let His holy light shine through it.

A Call for More Civility

by Michael Josephson of Character Counts

When George Washington was 16, he discovered a booklet of 110 maxims describing how a well-mannered person should behave. He was so convinced that these maxims would help him become a better person that he set out to incorporate them into his daily living. Among Washington's many virtues, his commitment to civility marked him as a gentleman and helped him become a universally respected and enormously effective leader.

By today's standards, Washington's notions of civility seem quaint and old-fashioned, but the purpose of manners and etiquette is to soften relationships with respect and to treat others graciously.

Instead of updating our concept of manners to accord with modern lifestyles, we seem to be abandoning the notion of civility entirely. We're exposed to heavy doses of tactless, nasty, and cruel remarks on daytime talk shows, dating games, and courtroom and reality programs.

As a result, we've produced a generation that's comfortable being brutish and malicious and a society that's increasingly coarse and unpleasant.

In a tense world full of conflicts, frustrations, and competition, civility is an important social lubricant that helps us live together constructively. If we care about the world we're making for our children, we need to be less tolerant of mean-spirited, discourteous, and impolite remarks and do a better job of teaching and modeling civility.

This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.

(c) 2013 Josephson Institute of Ethics; reprinted with permission. Michael Josephson, one of the nation's leading ethicists, is the founder of the Josephson Institute of Ethics and the premier youth character education program, CHARACTER COUNTS! For further information visit www.charactercounts.org.