OPEN BIBLE BULLETIN
VOL.55 NO.06 JUNE 2014
New Brunswick
Bible institute GOD’S PURPOSE
OUR PASSION
FOCUS
BY JOHN HOAG
Psalm 56 is called the “Golden Psalm of David.” 1. David was a man in trouble. Psalm 56:1-2: David is clearly being overwhelmed by all he faces. J. Vernon McGee calls it “a clear case of overkill.” The setting of this Psalm is not exactly a high point in David’s life (see 1 Samuel 21:10-15 for the background story). In fear, David flees from Saul. During the flight, he is responsible for 85 priests dying because they helped him. He ends up in Gath pretending to be insane because he fears the Philistine King Achish. This Psalm clearly shows how a man overwhelmed by fear calls upon God to help him in time of trouble. Psalm 34:6 is a parallel Psalm and David refers to himself with these words, “This poor man cried and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles.” 2. David was a man who trusted in a time of trouble: “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee” and “...in God I have put my trust: I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.” Delitzch calls this the “cheerful courage of a fugitive.” When we are in trouble it is good to remember that God knows where we are (56:8); God knows how we feel (56:8) and God hears when we call (56:9-13). 3. David was a man who, when in trouble, expressed his trust through tears: David prays, “...put thou my tears
into thy bottle, are they not in thy book?” John Bunyan says of this, “God preserves our tears so He can wipe them away when we meet Him.” J. Vernon McGee read that thought of Bunyan’s and responded, “I wish I had cried more...” Sometimes when we weep there are no words to express how we feel. There can be no justification for our actions. Our tears may flow because we simply do not understand. Neither Job nor his friends, understood as Satan was persecuting Job “without any cause in him.” (Job 2:3). My son said to me recently, “as a young man, I saw men of God and read about biblical heros but in reading Job I have come to learn it is not about Job, it is about God.” The tears that many who read this article might be shedding are being “sealed among God’s treasures.” Your tears will lead to a triumphant walk, if they are shed as testimony to your faith and trust in God. 4. David was a man who triumphed through faith: “When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: THIS I KNOW FOR GOD IS FOR ME.” Paul responds for all of us when he says, “If God be for us then who can be against us.”
CYIA JUNE 29 - JULY 8, 2014
For the past couple of years, NBBI has partnered with Child Evangelism Fellowship to bring their CYIA program to our campus. Christian Youth In Action provides an opportunity for those ages 15 and up to come to our campus and be involved in an intense eight day training program. You will be challenged from the Word of God and learn how to effectively minister to children. C.E.F will help teach you how to lead a child to Christ, prepare Bible lessons and how to face paint. The program will give you practical opportunities to put what you learn into practice through organized outreach in nearby communities. CYIA will train you so that you can help make a difference in the lives of children. For more information go to nbbi.ca/cyia or go to cefofmaine.org/training.html. Hope to see you there!
VacationVision with a
June 29-July 4 & July 6-11, 2014 nbbi.ca/vacation 1
ASSOCIATE DIPLOMA OF BIBLICAL AND THEOLOGICAL STUDIES top: Bradley Bruce, Samuël Piché, Nathan Doran, Caleb Groff, Andrew Violette, Jesse Myers, Jonathan Brewer, Amos Grant middle: Kailey Shaw, Abigail Sproul, Rebecca Boyd, Laura Caron, Andrea Ulriksen, Jenneniah Olmstead bottom: Ashley Grenier, Emily Olmstead, Tara-Lee Banks, Melissa Whitters, Beatriz Silva, Sarah Bishop, Megan Rushton
DIPLOMA OF BIBLICAL AND THEOLOGICAL STUDIES
back: Christoph Hribernig, Bryce Goupille, Ryan Legere, Joseph Thibault, Andrew Paterson, Jessica Smith, Caleb Kelly front: Charissa Whittington, Emily Luddeke, Christina Johnston, Éloïse Roy, Jamie Reid, Kimberly Cummings, Martha Grant
DIPLOMA OF ADVANCED BIBLICAL MINISTRIES/BACHELOR OF THEOLOGY
Thomas Williamson, Devin Groff, Alisha Ardern, Ryan Farrell, David Archambault 2
FIELD TRIP
TO KAMPALA, UGANDA WITH RUTH HAYNES
Raised in a Christian home in New Hampshire, Ruth trusted Christ as her Saviour as a child. As a pre-teen she sensed God’s call to full-time ministry, and eventually enrolled at NBBI, graduating in 1975. From there she worked with CEF Atlantic Provinces for seven years. Looking back, she sees how her NBBI training and CEF experience were “perfect” for what God had planned. In 1984 she and Laura Bonney, from New Brunswick, went to the Philippines where they served together for 28 years, most of those years under SEND International. Each term saw them involved in various aspects of Christian education including curriculum development. In 2003, they returned for their 6th specific ministry. But within a few short months, God opened up a totally unexpected and huge opportunity—helping churches/ Christians to teach weekly Biblical values classes inside the school classrooms. The new ministry became known as VOICE Philippines. Eventually 16 12-week modules of curriculum were published covering godly values such as honesty, forgiveness, respect, humility, responsibility, diligence, self-discipline, patience, courage, moral purity, etc. The ministry is now under Filipino leadership and reaching about 250,000 students in about 850 elementary and high schools with students and even families being saved.
2012 and settled in Kampala, Uganda, in 2013. The spiritual needs of Uganda, where the average age is 14, are great, matched only by the opportunities. Soon they partnered with Scripture Union Uganda to establish VOICE East Africa. To date, one 6-week module featuring truth and Biblical self-identity, has been test-taught and, Lord willing, will be published on three age levels (Kindergarten through Secondary) by the end of this year. The effectiveness was confirmed when the very first Values Education Class (VEC) resulted in more than 20 students professing faith in Christ! Currently Ugandan writers, artists, and musicians are readying the next module on Honesty. Many expect the program will also spread to other East African countries. Praise the Lord of the Harvest for this amazing opportunity to “show to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and His strength, and His wonderful works that He hath done.” (Psalm 78:4).
One September morning in 2009, God surprised Ruth and Laura by individually stirring their hearts to be open for a change. That evening, an email from Uganda arrived asking if they would consider beginning a similar ministry there. God confirmed His leading and they bid a sad farewell to the Philippines in 3
FAMILY FILE
KEEP UP WITH OUR GRADS
WEDDING Rachel Goode (Assoc. ’09) to Gerald Buchanan (Assoc. ’11) on April 19, 2014. BIRTHS April 12, 2014 - to Gabriel (’04) and Melanie (Bossé, ’04) Paquin, a daughter, Hannah. April 14, 2014 - to Nathan (ABM ’06/B. Th. ’10) and Shirley (MacDonald, ABM/B. Th.’10) Beebe, a son, Benjamin Eli. April 16, 2014 - to Jeff (ABM/B.Th. ‘11) and Jessi (Childs, Assoc. ‘08) Swartzentruber, a daughter, Ellie Beth. April 22, 2014 - to Jeremy and Heidi (Ward, ABM ‘99) Mullin, a son, Nathaniel Bruce. April 27, 2014 - to Brent and Kelsey (Betts, Assoc. ‘04) Edwards, a daughter, Evelyn Grace. April 28, 2014 - to Chris and Kristen (Dickison, Assoc. ‘08) Hatt, a son, Charlie George. HOMEGOINGS Philip Elliot Webster, NBBI graduate of 1960, went home to be with his Lord on April 5, 2014. Over 50 years, Phil pastored a number of churches and was involved with iternational Students, Inc. For the last 25 years, he served ministering to international students at numerous college campuses with ISI. Pray for his wife, Erna, and their children, Paul P. Webster (Mary), Elisabeth Gray (Dana), Esther Logovsky (Luke) and the extended family.
STAFF ITINERARIES JOHN HOAG May 30-31, June 1 First Parish Congregational Church Pownal, ME Extension Classes June 27-29 Living Water Baptist Church Sheet Harbour, NS Extension Classes MATTHEW LITTLE May 30-31, June 1 First Parish Congregational Church Pownal, ME Extension Classes June 18-27 Camp Good News Livermore Falls, ME Christian Youth in Action 4
PRESIDENT’S CHALLENGE
BY MATTHEW LITTLE
Prayer! The Missing Ingredient. Someone once said, “The secret of being a saint is being a saint in secret.” There are not too many Christians who would not readily admit that prayer is the missing ingredient in their lives. They may be actively involved in their church, serving on numerous boards, teaching a Sunday School class or leading the worship team or choir but their efforts are not being fueled by a praying heart. It has been said that if you wished to humble anyone, just ask them about their prayer life. I can tell you firsthand that it is so easy to become engulfed in our labours for the Lord, and so consumed with our service for God, that we do not commune with the One who can infuse those efforts with His very power. Recently, I was reminded of a statement by Oswald Chambers that challenged me to evaluate this very thing. He said, “There is no greater threat to our devotion to Christ than our service for Christ.” When I first heard that statement everything in me wanted to challenge it, deny it, discredit it and downplay it, but the more I thought about it, the more I concluded that it is
LADIES’ RETREAT OCTOBER 17-18, 2014
New Brunswick Bible Institute 2335 Route 103 Victoria Corner NB Canada E7P 1C7 Phone: (506)375-9000 Fax: (506)375-1800 Website: nbbi.ca Email: nbbi@nbbi.ca
true. We can become so wrapped up in what we are doing for God that we forget that prayer is the moving away from ourselves, our worries, our preoccupations, our self-gratification and our service and directing all that we recognize as ours to God in the simple trust that He will take them and do with them what we could never dream of doing on our own. As Pat Johnson once said, “When man works, man works. When man prays, God works.” No wonder David said, “As for me, I will call upon God... Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.” (Psalm 55:16a-17) David knew what it was to feel helpless and to know that his only help would come from God. In the book, “The Kneeling Christian” it says, “Prayer is our highest privilege, our gravest responsibility, our greatest power God has put into our hands.” Believer, prayer is not an option; it is a command. It is not a lucky rabbit’s foot we pull out of our pocket and rub when things get a little overwhelming; it is the meat and potatoes of our spiritual lives. We will not succeed in our labours advancing on our feet, but only on our knees. “I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.” (1 Timothy 2:8).
KIDS’ QUEST NOVEMBER 7-8, 2014
editor........................................Larry Rushton writers........NBBI Faculty, Staff & Students typist.........................................Brenda Cabral layout & design................................James Goode copy proof..................................... Rose Meed printer....................................... Merritt Press