Month: April 2023

April 25, 2023 Shofar Missions Cebu

Keep reading for an update from the missions field in the Philippines.

Team Prep

The second missions team of the year will arrive within hours of this post. We’ve been preparing for them to come by getting the word out about the upcoming Ministry Training Institute (MTI) classes and Street Level Summit. This will be the sixth MTI class since they began in 2019, and there are a lot of returning students, as well as a handful of new ones. A video promotion on Facebook has helped us connect with those we otherwise wouldn’t. The two-day class for pastors and church leaders will cover the topic of “Biblical Theology.” Please be in prayer for these classes… for people to sign up, that their hearts and minds would be prepared, and for Pastor Tim and Ryan who will be teaching the classes.

Street Level Ministries

Over the past few weeks, we’ve held regular dinners & Bible discussions in Toledo and Cebu, as well as Micro Bible Studies throughout the week. The goal of the 15-minute studies is to meet up with students between classes in a place close to their university. We’ve been meeting at Roadside Café, which is near a couple universities and one of the sponsors of Street Level Radio. No one new has joined us for a study (yet), but it has provided a good opportunity to be present there consistently. Some people sitting in the café have asked questions about Street Level and the radio station.

We’re also gearing up for the Summit on May 5-6, which will be held in Toledo. We will have teaching sessions and small group discussions about the topic of “AWAKEN!” Friday night will be for members only, and Saturday will be open to all. We also posted a video to promote it on Facebook and are praying that it will help us reach students that we wouldn’t normally run into!

Exploring Creation Science

Within days of returning to Cebu, we were able to reconnect with a couple schools where lessons were previously taught. A lesson was taught for students in grades 7-12 that asks the question “How Did We Get Here” at both schools. During the week of Easter while many schools had no classes an orphanage that we have worked with in the past invited us to share Exploring Creation Science lessons with the students at the school. A lesson “All About Photosynthesis” was taught. Students also got to spend some extra time looking at leaves under a microscope. Grade 4 students recently talked about microscopes and learned the parts so a few of them shared what they remembered. Lessons have also continued at both Nazarene Schools, Southern Bethany, and the Wesleyan School. We continue to hear from students that either watch lessons on Shofar TV or have friends that do.

There was also an opportunity to meet up again with a lady that teaches the creation story through art. It’s been neat to share what God is doing in each of our ministries. A trip out to Minglanilla also allowed for some time to share a quick cup of coffee with the school principal at Southern Bethany after we visited a Baptist Church some of the staff attend to share MTI and SLM Summit materials with them.

Prayer Requests

  • Please pray for effective ministry while the team is here… that we’d connect with the people God wants us to connect with and that it would bear fruit that would remain…
  • Safety and unity as the team travels around the island and to Bantayan Island
April 7, 2023 Pastor Justin Thomson - Duluth

Imagine being stabbed in the arm with a penknife. Not so much as to kill you, but enough to make you bleed. It was unexpected, unprovoked, and whether it was intentional or not, you aren’t certain, but one thing is clear: It hurts. Really bad.

Imagine then going to the doctor. You tell him everything: How deep it the wound is, how awful it makes you feel, and how you did nothing to deserve it. Yet the doctor isn’t half as concerned as you are. He tells you that he’s seen far worse. But, like a good physician, he does his job. He stops the bleeding, sews you up, and councils you on how to dress the wound for yourself. You leave the clinic feeling no better than when you arrived.

Now imagine coming home. With plenty of time to think, you recall every last detail of the incident to make sure that you’re not the guilty party. You play the episode over and over in your mind like a bad re-run. You even go so far as to remove the gauze so you can see once more, just how much of a victim you really are. They say “bitterness has such a sharp memory, because bitterness has good study habits: Review, review, review” [i], and you’ve become quite the scholar. It’s a trauma you can’t let yourself soon forget, so you pick at the stitches. It hurts and bleeds all over again, but it’s the only way to keep the memory fresh.

Insult to Injury   

This goes on for days, weeks, even months, until it finally gets infected. The care-sheet from your unsympathetic doctor went out with the trash long ago. And there’s no way you’re going back to the clinic now. Not in a million years. They’ll just minimize the pain again. You don’t want their help anyway, because once the wound heals, there’ll be no more proof of how guilty your enemy is! So you pick, pull, rip, and tear. The infection keeps spreading, and you don’t really care anymore. It’s destroying you, but you tell yourself, “That’s what they get!”

“In this life, you’re bound to get poked, pricked, and even stabbed”

After a year or more, your arm finally falls off. You weren’t responsible for the wound, but it was yours to keep clean, and you failed. You refused to dress it, you rejected the doctor’s advice, and you wouldn’t let it rest. Now it’s gone, and all you can think is “I still can’t believe they stabbed me!” Sure, they may have stabbed you, but they aren’t the reason you lost your arm. You are. And now you’ll spend the rest of your life blaming somebody else for the loss of a limb, even though it’s all in your imagination.

Time Doesn’t Heal All Wounds

The scenario above is a graphic illustration of unforgiveness. It’s the resultant injury we inflict upon ourselves by refusing to forgive the one who initially injured us. But it’s not beyond your imagination. It’s a painful reality for countless Christians.

“Picking at the stitches…is the only way to keep the memory fresh”

Unforgiveness is the wound that time doesn’t automatically heal. It’ll never go away on its own. The longer you wait, the worse it’ll get, and the more responsible you’ll be for the losses you suffer because of it.

Skin is Thin

The Apostle Peter had been “stabbed” once or twice, and wanted to know how many times he was required to forgive (Mt.18:21). In his mind, seven times would be more than enough. But Jesus informed him that the bandage might need to be changed hundreds of times. Whether “Seventy times seven” means we forgive 490 individual sins, or just one single sin 490 times, we aren’t sure. But Christ’s point is clear: Keep the wound clean, Peter.

Human skin is between 1 and 4 mm thin. In this life, you’re bound to get poked, pricked, and even stabbed. Words can be sharp (Pr.12:18), and the sinful behavior of a brother can hurt (Gen.4:8). Some of those wounds will be intentional (Pr.27:17), while others will be inadvertent (Pr.27:6). But the real threat to your future isn’t always from the original injury…it’s in your response to it.

“Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you” Colossians 3:13  

[i] Doug Wilson, “How to be free from Bitterness“. Wilson is also to be credited for the illustration of unforgiveness as an unkempt stab wound.