The process of Christian maturity is like making pottery.

We begin as Dirt with potential. We recognize we are sinners doing what dirt does. We have potential because while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. With the help of the Holy Spirit we receive Jesus & become willing to submit to being molded & shaped for the intended use of the potter.

We then become like Clay on the potters wheel. He begins to mold & shape us. This is a time of great intimacy & trust. We know He has a great plan for our lives. We begin to understand His love & He teaches us His ways. He also teaches us things about ourselves. We then begin to serve Him. Acts of service come from the desire to be with other Christians & part of what’s happening around us.

Then comes the First firing which is testing. The purpose is to cook out impurities. This then changes us from the inside out. Personal testing brings clarity of purpose, builds character, grows patience, & changes our behavior. Our new identity emerges. Family & friends may leave us.

Green ware, where the effort & talent of the artist is visible. There is evidence of Christ’s work & purpose in our life. We have been shaped & signed by the potter & the world recognizes the difference. This is where the fruit of the spirit can be grown. Beautiful, but fragile & not very useful. We can be broken & affected by the world. But also the potential for much service can be seen too. 

Glaze & final firing. 

Not to remove anything this time, but to protect from outside contamination. The Glaze is the baptism of the Holy Spirit, our second blessing. We now have power & purpose, & are equipped for all kinds of service. We are friends & co-laborers with Jesus & His mission. Though we may have evidence of suffering, & sacrifice in our service, we also have joy unspeakable & peace that passes understanding. Worldly things have less meaning & power. We are confident that when our purpose is complete, we will be with the Potter forever in Glory.

 Message - Welcoming the stranger 2.0

This is about not just welcoming Strangers to our worship space, but welcoming people to our country, into our community, & into a shared life experience.

Lately a lot of discussion about refugees & immigrants. Particularly the urgent need to place people from Afghanistan. 

Last May a person from world relief reached out to me wanting to learn more about the Community Assistance Program. He informed me that world relief, a Christian refugee assistance org. was anticipating a large intake of refugees into the USA this year. He also asked for assistance in connecting him with some church leaders in Blaine birch Bay Area.

State dept. just approved world relief Whatcom county resettlement office. 

15 Refugees this year & 60 next year. This is for the whole county

I want to be clear these folks are approved & vetted by the state department & invited. They are typically people who have put their lives in jeopardy by either helping the USA, or have been rescued from persecution for being associated with us.

My hope with this message is 2 fold.

1. Stimulate our thinking about whether we should or can help these refugees in some way? Don’t know if a cooperative effort between churches, individual effort, or if should be a BCF effort. 

1. Also that we consider as Jesus followers what we believe about welcoming strangers from other countries. Especially since we are a border town & such a missionary focused church. We had an immigrant pastor for 20 years. How are we as a church showing up as the foreign mission moves into our community? Much data & analysis shows that significant global migration will continue. It is projected to change the demographic profiles of most communities.

Lets look at the scope & scale of the movement of people.

Refugee classifications

Refugees that are invited - SIV, Refugees rescued , & Refugees seeking asylum.

How many refugees are there?

82.4 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced. They are either not welcome or can’t survive in their own country. 21 million refugees displaced out of their own country. USA usually takes in about 150,000 each year.

Immigrant classifications

Immigrants- a number approved for lawful entry.

Also Visas - Work - student- tourists 

Immigrants-Asylum seekers.

Immigrants - Undocumented. 

How many immigrants are there in the world?

Growth in the number of international migrants has been robust over the last two decades, reaching 281 million people living outside their country of origin in 2020.

35 million lawful immigrants in the us today. 1.7 million us born have moved out.

Almost a million received each year.

Why are they here?

The same reasons a lot of you ancestors came here. To escape religious persecution, escape dangerous, deplorable, & desperate conditions, or for economic opportunities.

Imagine what it is like to be not wanted by your country 

Is it hard for you to imagine why someone would want to try & leave Haiti, or Venezuela, or Somalia or Syria. And many places in the world.

There are a number of biblical examples of both refugees(baby Jesus into Egypt) & a lot of immigrant examples.

So what does it mean to be a stranger? Biblical times same as today.

A person we don’t know, A newcomer in our locality, An outsider, A person who is not a member of our family, group, community, or nation. A foreigner, An alien.

What does God care about the stranger? 

What is His expectation of us as His disciples & agents?

Deuteronomy 10: 19 You shall love the stranger, for you were once strangers in the land of Egypt.

Leviticus 19:34 The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

Romans 12:13 Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.

Hebrews 13:1-3 - Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. 2 Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.

Matthew 25:35 - 40 The Sheep & the Goats in context

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

What is Jesus saying with you’ve done it unto me?

I care that you do it & I care if you don’t. I believe it is actually an act of worship when we help people.

Would you agree that Christ cares about the stranger?

Should we be more intentional about welcoming strangers in our community?

Blaine 21%, birch bay 16% foreign born. County 10%

Blaine is up by 1200 people from 2010 to 20. I would estimate that a significant percentage of that increase were immigrants. 

So how do we respond? 

We should not let the media or politics decide for us. 

Does it seem pretty clear as to what Jesus expects from His followers in this matter? So let’s find a way to welcome, we will be blessed.

 Lazarus the story continues

“When all the people heard of Jesus’ arrival, they flocked to see him and also to see Lazarus, the man Jesus had raised from the dead. Then the leading priests decided to kill Lazarus, too, for it was because of him that many of the people had deserted them and believed in Jesus.”

John 12:9&10 NLT

This scripture was part of the message of a teacher on my truck radio this morning. His message was about Mary, but this scripture just hit me for another context. The events of recent weeks & the desperate plight of refugees. How the plot to snuff all evidence of lives raised up from eternal death to life in Christ is still active today. And not just the believers but anyone with the aroma of hope because of a more Christ influenced society. 

Have you ever met a refugee? Did you know that some of your neighbors may have been? Do you think they are someone else’s problem & responsibility?

We may soon have opportunities to help a number of these desperate folks in our community. So I’m processing In my mind what their experience will be like here?What will be my own effort to help? As a community church leader should I be encouraging others? 

“So you, too, must show love to foreigners, for you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt.”

‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭10:19‬ ‭NLT‬‬

““Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭25:34-36‬ ‭NLT‬‬

““And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭25:40‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The US has always been a place of hope for immigrants & refugees. I guess the question I have is, will it also continue to be a place where the Love of Jesus is experienced.

Paid in full

 

Paid in full

Many people struggle with believing that their sins were fully paid for by Jesus’ death. For some reason they must either believe that their sins are just too bad, or Jesus didn’t pay enough. The question then becomes what more could he have done? What higher price could be paid than to die a horrible humiliating death on a cross?

The truth is as Jesus said from that cross “it is finished” there is no other penalty, it is sufficient, complete. God has declared it so.

As we consider the cross today lets remember that Christ doesn’t have to do anything more for us. It is we who need to lay it down, we can then experience the purity & freedom that has been purchased for us.

Why this blog

 Hello Friends,

I think it was a combination of what I see in the current condition of our society & culture, plus turning 70 that has triggered something in me. Many things are changing all around us. A lot of them are quite concerning, but also there are many opportunities for the Gospel & our life on mission. I discern in these new times there is & will be a greater need for deaconworx, both in the church & in communities.

I am observing that the helps & care ministries of churches & para-church ministries are really being stretched. There is need for services because of the levels of anxiety, isolation, stress & needs in our communities. It will take Deacon equivalent motivation & capabilities for service to increase. This will require developing leadership in those who are called.

The Scriptures say that we are to proclaim His wonders & declare the goodness & faithfulness of the Lord from generation to generation. As an elder I am compelled to share whatever I have received from the Lord that may be of use to others. I don’t claim to know it all, or to be a writer, just an old guy trying to help, who happens to have many years of marketplace & church leadership experience. 

This blog is intended to help grow & strengthen servants, influencers, deacons, leaders, & elders in the church & in the community. However anyone who is interested is welcome to follow.

I do need to share a couple of disclaimers.

1. Even though I am an active elder of Blaine Christian Fellowship, and the  Board President of Community Assistance Program, I am not representing them here. These are my personal views, & understandings.

2. I ask challenging questions designed to stimulate thinking & exploration of topics. I welcome responses that can be shared, however I have no desire to engage in online theological debates. If anything really troubles you, please contact me personally.

3. Links & book recommendations are also designed for points to examine, not necessarily full endorsement of other ministries.

4.I learned a lot from others, will give credit where I can remember.