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.

Shepherd's (not CEO) Conference

Very much enjoyed first day yesterday of Shepherd's Conference here in Sun Valley, California, however no sun and cold! Great to fellowship with many of the 3500 pastors worldwide. Convicting message by Phil Johnson, on chief responsibilities of a pastor, to shepherd the people of God, Acts 20. Not to change the word shepherd to CEO. The elders of the metropolitan city of Ephesus were no more familiar with sheep than some of us today, but it is the Word which best describes the biblical pastor/shepherd; to lead, feed, and protect! Not as CEO of the church, but as a shepherd.

It is best to get our instructions from the Word of God for the church, not from managerial experts.

Today Margaret will help me and 50 others pack 3500 canvas bags of 10-15 books each. A team starts at 5 am, but we will only work from about 7-8:30 am as it will be heavy work and both my knees are troubling me; getting old!

Meeting many Filipino pastors and leaders. Will speak at Filipino church here on Sunday.

Are Many of God’s People Thankful or Grumpy?

Recently Margaret and I had to take her 100-year-old father to the hospital Emergency Room for several hours on two separate days.  Even though Dad’s mind is not clear, it was amazing to see how thankful he was for the care he received form nurse’s aides, nurses, doctors, and others.

Even when he was in pain, discomfort, and being man-handled, he constantly gave appreciation.  “Oh, thank you for this warm blanket.” “Thank you for taking care of me.” “Thank you for this nice room.” “What is your name?” “Are you encouraged?” “The best is yet to come.” “Oh, thank you.  You are a great person.”

Margaret, as she thanked one of the doctor, in tears said, “Doctor, we were praying on the way to the hospital early this morning that God would give Dad a kind, caring doctor, and He sent you.  Thank you very much for your wonderful care.”  

The doctor was very visibly moved as someone thanked him for his expected services.  This is a wonderful testimony of the power of kind words, especially of thanks.

This week we had three guests for fellowship and dinner.  During this time, we discussed “thankfulness.”  One of our guests said he worked with a person that he had taken to lunch and paid expenses for many times, and had never heard the person say, “Thanks.”

We all agreed that we don’t reach out to others with kindness, help, and generosity that they might receive a “thank you”, but it is sure nice to hear once in a while.  The Word of God says it is good to give thanks.  May we thank Him for His loving kindness in the gift of His Son.  Let us also be people of thankfulness, constantly thanking others with the words “Thank you” on our lips.

A good question we need to ask ourselves, “Is it easy for us to say thank you?”

Is the day of sending missionaries over?

The answer to this question is, “Absolutely not!”

There is an estimated 3 billion without a Christian nearby to tell them the gospel. If you divided this 3 billion into groups of 5000, this would mean a need of 600,000 more missionaries!

Even in a small mission like ACTION, working in twenty-six countries with only 265 missionaries, has need for many additional missionaries: ministry to Seafarers; workers on the streets taking the gospel and compassion to street children, prostitutes and other children in crisis; vocational instructors for street children and prisoners; teachers in schools for missionary children; workers in prison; mentors for needy pastors; book publication and much more.

So, perhaps you would pray about possibility of taking the gospel to those who have never heard (or repeat it to those who have heard!).

Caring for Visiting Speakers

One thing I personally try to do when attending a conference, special meeting or seminar (even if I am not in charge or have anything to do with the details of the meeting) is to watch and see if the speaker is being cared for. I try to notice if he has water, coffee, juice, or whatever, after he speaks. It is amazing how many speakers of major events have nobody to personally see that they are cared for after the main service, meeting, talk or sermon.

Suggestion: Each church fellowship could have one or two men and women who are personally responsible to care for visiting speakers (it might be good to do the same thing for your own pastor!). Make sure that after the service (and between services if there are several services), the visiting speaker knows where the wash room is, has water, coffee, a plate of grapes, cheese and crackers, a granola bar, and so forth, for energy.

A Visiting Speaker Committee should be on hand to welcome the speaker and his family and make sure they are taken care of before, during and after the service with drinks, snacks and even a meal if need be. In other words, practice hospitality. …contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality (Romans 12:13). Be hospitable to one another without complaint (1 Peter 4:9).