Isn't there one person in Eugene who will help me with my orphans?"

“Isn’t there one person in Eugene who will help me with my orphans?”

The farmer and lumberman from Creswell listened to the speaker plead.  He had arrived late to the meeting and was forced to sit, with his large family, way in the front in the only seats left in the high school auditorium.  They watched as the guest speaker showed several films detailing the plight of persecuted Christians and thousands of illegitimate “GI babies,” turned out into the streets, in post-war Korea.  The farmer’s wife fought back tears as the movies depicted the slaughter of Korean pastors by a brutal regime.  The couple sat, tense and motionless, as they watched footage of desperate children.  The farmer’s wife knew that every scene had cut her husband “like a knife.”  Of that evening, she wrote years later:

There is so much we had never known. We had never thought of such suffering and heartbreak. We had never heard of such poverty and despair. We had never seen such emaciated arms and legs, such bloated starvation-stomachs and such wistful little faces searching for someone to care.

The farmer and his wife were Harry and Bertha Holt, from Oregon’s central valley.  They went on to found what would become Holt International, an organization that would be responsible for the care and adoption of thousands of poor children.  In her story, “The Seed From the East,” Bertha Holt recalls,

After we retired [from farming], Harry and I continued to talk of the shocking things we had seen..”You know, Bertha…when Dr. Pierce asked for someone to help, I felt like going up and saying ‘Here am I!’ I could hardly keep from doing it. But I knew he wouldn’t want an old wreck like me with a big scar on my heart. And… I have so many ties to keep me here…my family…my farm.  I know I can’t type, or so dome of those other things he mentioned, but I could carry out ashes.  I could help take care of those poor miserable babies.  Every picture I saw made me want to help.”  “I know,” I said.  “I had exactly the same feeling myself.

Who was that speaker?  Who was the Dr. Pierce whose speech, and whose movies, so motivated the Holts that the productive balance of the rest of their lives would be given to the care of “the least of these” (Matthew 25:40)?

It was the same Dr. Pierce who I described at the beginning of last week’s sermon.  The Bob Pierce who was used of God to found international relief organizations like World Vision and Samaritan’s Purse, even as his life – and that of his family – was destroyed.  Dr. Pierce’s vision for ministry clouded his priorities so that his marriage and children took a back seat to his work – never God’s plan – and the result was a dysfunctional family, a broken marriage, a daughter’s suicide, and more.

Nonetheless, God works.  That’s the way He is.  Graciously, patiently, He accomplishes what He wills, through people like us.  In spite of people like us!

This Sunday, as I continue the series on Endurance aimed at Dads and grads - but useful for everyone who walks by faith – we’ll look at what is perhaps the Bible’s second-best example of how God works in spite of our stumbling, and is always faithful.

Remember, it doesn’t matter what your start was like. It doesn’t matter how you’ve run thus far.

What matters is how you finish.  Let’s finish well. 

See you this Sunday, d.v.

Pastor Dale

Why we don't say we're "proud" of Bear Creek Church's grads

A NOTE OF CONGRATULATIONS TO BCC'S GRADS

We have quite a lot of graduates at Bear Creek Church this year.  Some of you are high school grads completing your “compulsory” education, while others are older scholars completing advanced degrees as you have juggled jobs and family in a way that leaves us weary just watching.  On behalf of BCC’s Elders, I am writing to say that we are very thankful to the Lord for you and for the hard work and discipline that you have displayed in completing your course work.  Your attention to deadlines, your study of fact, your scrutiny of theory, and your perseverance in your long academic program are all admirable displays of qualities that are essential in every thinking disciple of Jesus, and encouraging models to those of us not similarly taking a degree or diploma.  Looking ahead, our hope is that you “Commit your work to the Lord,” as it says in Proverbs 16:3, and then see “..your plans be established.”

We do not say that we are proud of you, because we believe that would be sinful, and reduce the goodness of your hard work to something vain and conceited or petty, when instead our aim is to honor the value of your work to the great glory of God and not a man.  And that is why we say, rather, that we are so very thankful to the Lord for outstanding students such as the crop with which our church has been blessed in 2011.

Here is our prayer for all of Bear Creek Church’s graduates:

Lord of heaven and earth, we thank you for the wonders of your creation, and for the minds with which you have blessed us for its examination, to the end that you be seen by all men and women to be as magnificent and fierce and gracious as you are.  We thank you for these graduates, who have applied themselves to a course of study to that great, life-redeeming end, and pray that the fruit of their labor will indeed result in the heightening of their delight in you for the application of their academic labor to your praise and honor. If this achievement is a stepping stone to the next credential, we ask that you would bless their future endeavor, and that as intensely as they humbly give themselves to new studies that these would serve always to elevate their understanding of you and trust in Christ Jesus, and never to relegate their relationship with you to a status subservient to any other discipline or field or pursuit or fancy or whim because of pride or arrogance.  Give great wisdom to the graduates of Bear Creek Church, that they prove to be capable and eager witnesses to you and the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ in the area of their endeavor, that you be honored above all people or things.  In the name of Jesus,  Amen.

Congratulations to all of you!

Pastor Dale, for Bear Creek Church’s Elders

The Glory of God in a Joyfully Serving Church

This last Sunday Pastor Dale encouraged us to use the gifts God has graciously given to meet a particular need at BCC. We might view this simply as a request for practical help, or thoughtful planning for our readiness to love family members with special needs, or even as a kindness to the current teachers and buddies who so often miss the preaching of God’s Word. All of these are worthy and good purposes for our greater involvement, but there is still an even better reason to serve.

When it comes to growing in the Christian faith, our tendency is to think individually. We have our personal devotions where we read the Bible and pray, and we can even come to church without joining in with the rest of the body as we passively listen, and then leave. Our culture gravitates to personal freedoms, privacy, and an appreciation for those who simply mind their own business. We have a problem. Though this may be our tendency, and even preference, it is not God’s will for us. We are not only saved as individuals; we are saved into a body with other members, and this salvation does not view our mutual love and unity as an add-on, a bonus, or icing on the cake. No, our actions as a corporate body are really a matter of our sanctification, and God’s glory. We are called to love one another. This is our glory as the body of Christ, even as Jesus prayer for us:

“[Father], as you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. [I ask] that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one.” – John 17:18-22

It is God’s desire to show His glory to the world. The mutual love and unity that exists between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is communicated to the world through the love and unity of Christ’s body, the church. This glory has been given to us! We exist for His glory, and so as God is three-in-one, so we are many who make up one body. We are saved into a body for the purpose of displaying what exists within the Godhead, and so this is the greatest reason for our service within the church. In light of this, shouldn’t we think of Pastor Dale’s appeal last Sunday as a matter of our sanctification, our spiritual growth, and the glory given to us for the sake of God’s glory? His appeal is a lot bigger than any old organization asking for help at the concession stand. This is really a significant part of our Christian growth. This is the glory given to us by God, for the sake of His glory!

So, don’t miss the spiritual significance of last Sunday’s message, or the purpose in my writing. It was not family business lacking spiritual nourishment, and I don’t write to simply gather more volunteers. Pastor Dale’s message was ultimately a call to our sanctification and God’s glory, and I write this to help us think differently about church and service. Why do we serve? If it’s for the display of God’s glory then there’s no room for guilt, arrogance, pride, jealousy, resentment, offense, or a grumbling heart. Service alone is not what glorifies God. What glorifies God is service that displays His love and unity, and He intends for this to be encouraged and practiced and visible within the body of Christ. After all, it is possible for us to give everything we have to the poor and sacrifice our very lives, and still not serve in a way that glorifies God. This is what we read in the love chapter (1 Cor 13). Our acts of service are important, but they are not beneficial or glorifying to God if they do not originate from the fountainhead of His love. We can serve for many good reasons, and some bad, but we ought to always think of our serving within the church as God’s will for His glory and our good.

So if we find ourselves so busy with life that we’re disconnected from Christ’s body, we ought to reconsider our priorities; not as a matter of guilt, but as a matter of our joy in glorifying God. Let’s resist a contemporary Christianity that settles for a life of individual, disconnected peace that only awaits Heaven. And if we find ourselves grumbling and unable to serve with joy, the answer is not to back away, but to repent, pray for God’s work on our hearts, and serve with a renewed expectation for joy. Don’t be discouraged if the joy isn’t there. Instead, thank Him for revealing, and sanctifying, and working His glory in you as you work toward love and unity in His body, the church.

Before it is blotted out forever, a thank you

BCC Family:

Here is something encouraging that I wanted to share with you, shortly before it is blotted out forever.

I am in the middle of planning another conference for pastors in South Africa this coming August 31-September 1. By God’s grace, it will be my giant privilege to travel there once more for the sake of encouraging my brothers in gospel ministry (something I believe God has built me to do). 

This year, I had the idea of hosting the conference through the seminary, the Evangelical Seminary of Southern Africa (ESSA).  That way the conference will both give me the opportunity to be of some small encouragement to my fellow Pastors, and also shine the light on ESSA and hopefully spur involvement/enrollment/support there. I have invited others to participate in leadership: Nkosi is a South African and an ESSA grad; Sam Machaka is a Zimbabwean and an ESSA grad; and Bud is an American pastor who has moved to South Africa and teaches at ESSA part-time. The Acting Principal, my dear friend Dr. Lubunga W’Ehusha from Congo, will also address the attendees.  And I am working with a fellow from Germany on the details of the conference.  So it is a real multi-national effort.

I was sent a trial version of the promotional brochure to review.  In it, the organizer included a paragraph that I thought would be a blessing to you, the givers of Bear Creek Church and its friends who make this possible:

“The Evangelical Seminary of Southern Africa wishes to express its deepest thanks and appreciation to Pastor Dale Meador and the Bear Creek Church who have made this conference possible. Bear Creek Church has been supporting ESSA for years in various ways, without any personal or financial benefits. This commitment is a shining example of Christian brotherhood (and sisterhood) reaching out across oceans and cultural, social and racial divides.”

I thanked the author profusely and told him I was very grateful for his kindness and that you would be blessed by the recognition.  I asked him to remove this paragraph, but I wanted you to hear it so that you would be thanked for giving money and sending me.  I asked him to remove the paragraph since I don’t want the spotlight on me or us, preferring instead to focus attention on ESSA, which is on the ground there and can be a help to these ministers year-round.  Further, I absolutely do not want to even hint at the need for us wealthy whites to get recognition for helping those “poor African people,” which I know is not on our minds or in our hearts but nonetheless a prideful pitfall and stereotype to be avoided at all costs.

Anyway, I think that the way you people of Bear Creek Church and its friends give is indeed a “shining example of Christian brotherhood (and sisterhood)” and am grateful to work with people who want to reach out “across oceans.”

Keep up the godly work!

Do this for me, will you?  Will you begin praying now that this trip, the Pastor’s Conference and all my other teaching opportunities will be productive in encouraging saints there?  All the work in organizing this will be for naught unless the Lord himself ordains the effort with Holy Spirit power.

God bless!

pd

Resurrection Life

Coming back from church I noticed our sidewalk covered with these and so I asked Jennifer if she’d do a little writing (much nicer than mine), add her touches of beauty, and take what turned out to be a very fun picture. Thinking of our regular time in Romans, and our wonderful Easter celebration, I settled on chapter 8, verse 11 – a perfect reminder of life after, and because of, the resurrection. And don’t you just love TULIP?

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

It was actually much harder to write these letters than I originally thought. We left our little sidewalk art, and I wondered if anyone would come across it and actually think that a combination of time, wind, and random chance created this simple message. Actual life is immeasurably more complex and yet men continue to suppress the truth; believing and teaching that the obvious beauty designed by God just happened. We have life, and the hope of resurrection, because the same God who spoke everything into existence indwells us by his Spirit.

Jesus' Triumphal Entry

Leading up to the celebration of Easter Sunday and the resurrection of Christ, we looked at Jesus’ triumphal entry from Mark, chapter 11.

Your conclusions about these events - and who Jesus is and what he was up to – are more important than any other decision you make, or ideology you adopt, or philosophy you embrace. One author wrote:

If there is only one God who is eternal, all-powerful, all-good, all-loving, all-knowing, and fully just; and He created us in His image, we would be completely fulfilled if we related to Him the way He wants us to, in harmony with His will. As the creator from concept to production line, he would know the most about the perfect purpose of his creations…

..No one else could compete with him regarding his creations' functions or destiny. If He were to say one's destiny is determined by how many hot peppers he can consume, no one could bring greater authority or knowledge to dispute him. If He were to say that one's destiny is determined by how he responds to His loving sacrifice of His Son on behalf of all who are separated by sin from God, He could not be disputed.

What was the background to Jesus’ triumphal entry? It was the week before Passover, Jerusalem was swollen with pilgrims, Jesus had recently raised Lazarus from the dead, the Pharisees planned to kill the both of them, and the Romans were on edge. So, the atmosphere as Jesus rode into Jerusalem was electric.

Concerning this, Zechariah 9:9 prophesied:

Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! Look! Your king is coming to you: he is legitimate and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey – on a young donkey, the foal of a female donkey.

And II Kings 9:13 (of Jehu)

Each of them quickly took off his cloak and they spread them out at Jehu’s feet on the steps. The trumpet was blown and they shouted, “Jehu is king!”

The anticipation of this day is expressed in Psalm 118:25, where we read:

“Please Lord, deliver! Please Lord, grant us success!”

In the triumphal entry we see that Jesus is no victim, but is in absolute control, even to the detail of sending his disciples to a place where they would find the donkey he would ride into Jerusalem. As we see from Scripture, this day was long anticipated, Jesus is Messiah and King, he receives their praise, yet nobody understood what was really happening – that Jesus came as a humble servant, ready to die, while the people praise him with wrong expectations.

What do we take away from this event? Jesus saves. He is the long-awaited Messiah; He is not what the people expect (even though Scripture was clear), and His purposeful entry was so that he might die and save us from our sins. Jesus is king. There are so many examples of kings in their history, our ours; ones that do not rule justly, ones that are corrupt, but Jesus is truly the king who deserves the applause, admiration, and praise of his people. Jesus loves the Father, and he loves you. As Jesus knowingly went to his death on the cross, he did so because of his love for the Father – “not my will, but Yours be done.” He was about doing the will of the Father, and his sacrificial death was out of love for His Father – to glorify His holiness and justice and mercy – and his death was to lovingly deliver us from the wrath we deserve. This willing sacrifice demands, and is deserving of our worship. This same Jesus who was in absolute control of the events surrounding this triumphal entry, and his eventual death on the cross, is the same Jesus who is in control of the events of your life. He has a plan and purpose for all who belong to him, and knowing that he is in control brings us great comfort and hope.

Jesus came as a humble servant, on his way to die, but his real triumphal entry is yet to come. He is coming again, and this time it will be on a war-horse instead of a donkey, and as a might king, instead of a humble servant.

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God.

And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, “King of kings and Lord of lords.” - Revelation 19:11-16

Bulletin - April 17, 2011

Click here to see the April 17, 2011 bulletin for BCC