The Ten Paradoxical Commandments | Youth Convention | NAM Giving | Despise Not the Day of Small Things
The Official Magazine of the Oregon District UPCI
accent
February 2014
Oregon District Apostolic Accent Volume 50, Number 1
www.ORUPC.com Editor……………………..........…………….Kassie Meyer kassiemeyer@hotmail.com (503) 689-3589 District Officials Superintendent……………......……………Ted Graves Secretary/Treasurer……..........……..Dan Sargeant Presbyters Section 1…………………......…..…………Gary Gleason Section 2……………………........…M. Dennis Johnson Section 3………………………......……..Kevin Goodwin Section 4…………………………......Steven L. Johnson Honorary Board Member M. David Johnson North American Missions Director…………………………….......…..Steve Hanson Secretary…………………….……….....…Virgil Alldritt Global Missions Director…………………………….......David Reynolds Apostolic Man Director……………………………..……......Mark Edday Ladies Ministries Director…………………………......….Geanice Langley Secretary…………………...…….....…….Rachel Sparks Sunday School Director………………………….…......…Darrell Sparks Secretary…………....………………….....…..Joe Higgins Oregon Youth President………………………….......…Shane Graves Secretary………………………………......……Kevin Neu Spanish Ministries Director……………………………………......Fito Avenia Life in Focus Coordinator…...........Bill Tittsworth Prison Ministry Coordinator….....….Doug Lethin Media Missions Director……......David P. Johnson A.C.T.S. President………...….......M. Dennis Johnson Senior Quiz Coordinator.…......…..Brian Huffman Junior Quiz Coordinator.…......…Jonathan Toews
Editors Note Do you ever find yourself thinking or pondering on times past that were armazing times with God? So many times I have found myself basking in the presence of God as the sun beats down on me and it takes me back in time when I was a young girl in Alaska and I would be in a service worshipping God and felt God all over me. I can remember so many of these times in the short time I was in church up there. These times and many more, remind me so often of God’s love for me and His undeniable presence. One time I sat by a gentleman on the airplane as I was flying home and we began talking about the Lord and he shared his beliefs with me and they just blew me away. When he told me that only certain people will experience God’s spirit and that only certain people can have spiritual encounters with God I couldn’t believe my ears. I looked at him and said, I have recieved the Holy Ghost and I have felt His undeniable presence so many times. I told him that there is no way he or anyone else could discredit what I have experienced and that there is nothing greater than the power of my personal experiences because those times are real! He can not take away the times God moved in a mighty way in my life and filled me with His spirit. If he wants to believe that, I feel so sad for him because I know without a doubt that this is for all! Anyone who wishes can exerience His presence, can recieve the gift of the Holy Ghost As we got off the plane, I remember thinking I had some research to do and never before had I felt so passionate about the power of personal experiences. When times get rough, when we begin to wonder or doubt, it’s times with Him that will keep us. It’s times with Him that will encourage us and help us to press on. God’s children must never forget what it is like to be in His presence. I wonder how Job felt when so much disaster happened upon his life? So many people forget God and forget what it is like to be in His presence when trials and tribulations come their way but we must not forget. No matter how bad our situation seems, we must remember that God loves us and that He is there with us. There is no great place than to be in His presence...keep those times alive and remember the times you have spent with the Lord! These are the times that will keep you...these are the times that will be an encouragement to you. A song comes to my mind, “Take me back once more to Calvary, it’s been so long since I’ve broke within...Take me back once more where one more time, Your message moves me...” Remember those times where you were moved by God! Remember those times when you are filled with the Holy Ghost and His message moves you!!
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Kassie Meyer
Inside this Issue Articles/Columns 2 Editors Note KASSIE MEYER 4 The Ten Paradoxical Commandments M.D. JOHNSON 4 Church Planters: Despise Not the Day of Small Things VIRGIL ALLDRITT 10 I Know Abraham for He Will Command His Children DAVID REYNOLDS
Promotions
6 2014 Missionaries in Oregon GLOBAL MISSIONS
12 Youth Convention
YOUTH DIVISION
8 NAM Giving
NORTH AMERICAN MISSIONS
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THE TEN PARADOXICAL COMMANDMENTS By M.D. Johnson
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K
ent Keith was still a student at Harvard University when, in 1968, he wrote a pamphlet of advice for high-school student leaders. In this booklet he included a list of ten ways for finding personal meaning in the face of adversity. Those ten wise guidelines eventually found their way out of Dr. Keith’s pamphlet and spread around the world. They are known as The Ten Paradoxical Commandments. It is amazing to consider how these main points align with admonitions found throughout the Scriptures. In later years, the author followed this with a number of books including one (which I recommend) entitled Jesus Did It Anyway, in which he went to the Scriptures and wrote a chapter on each of these Commandments. The original list, written more than forty years ago, will be familiar to some, but let’s take time to share it in this challenging hour. 1. People are illogical, unreasonable, and selfcentered. Love them anyway. 2. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway. 3. If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway. 4. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. 5. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway. 6. The biggest men and women
with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds. Think big anyway. 7. People favor underdogs, but follow only top dogs. Fight for a few underdogs anyway. 8. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway. 9. People really need help but may attack you if you do help them. Help people anyway. 10. Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you have anyway.
in us and from us. Let’s make sure that we labor together in the church as one body and touch our world day after day with God’s love. Surely there is yet a great harvest to be reaped.◊ ____________________________ M.D. Johnson serves as an Honorary Board member for the Oregon District.
Again, it is amazing to note how well these ten points align with the Word of God. It is evident from Scripture that the Lord wants his born-again sons and daughters to be living examples of His nature and to bear the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-26). His Spirit in us should produce evidence of His indwelling. When we seriously and prayerfully study the admonitions in the Sermon on the Mount and consider how the Scriptures describe the fruit of the Spirit that is to be present and flowing from us, we are sobered! The profoundly insightful Ten Commandments Dr. Keith wrote while still a nineteen-year-old student at Harvard describe to a great degree the essence of the nature of Christ we are seeking to manifest to the world. Let us examine ourselves and make sure that we are in touch with God and that His Spirit is alive and flowing February 2014 APOSTOLIC ACCENT 5
2014 Missionaries in Oregon Stephan & Debra Summers Europe/Middle East & Cyprus April 22-27
Ken & Kay Burgess El Salvador & Central America/ Caribbean May 20-25
Bob & Judy Addington Pacific & New Zealand Aug 26-31 J.R. & Janet Black ABC Islands, Central America/ Caribbean & Spanish Caribbean Sept 16-21
Allan & Georgene Shalm Asia & Pakistan May 27-June 1
Chris & Paula Richardson Africa & Madagascar Sept 23-28
Paul & Stephanie Rivero Costa Rica & Central America/ Caribbean June 17-22
John & Susan Beek Europe/Middle East & United Kingdom Oct 14-19
Lonnie & Damarys Burton Venezeula & South America July 15-20
Marcus & Renee Brainos Europe/Middle East & France Aug 12-17
Darry & Kathy Crossley South America Nov 4-9
Eugene & Sherri Domingues Peru & South America Nov 18-23
News! Missionary Kirby Parker finished up his PIM’s here in Oregon Feb. 11-15 and the family is going back to the field of North Africa. Missionaries Nathan and Tanya Harrod have completed their Budget and will be heading back to Spain -Missionary Summers will complete the Harrods schedule here in Oregon
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Michael & Danan Benson Missionaries to Africa In Oregon March 4-9 Pastors hosting them are: March 4 -Pastor Hanson Portland March 5 -Pastor Stephen Johnson Bend March9 -Pastor Alldritt Beaverton March 9 -Pastor Eastham -Corvallis
Jack & Michiko Coolbaugh Missionaries to Asia & Thailand In Oregon March 25-30 Pastors hosting them are: March 26 -Pastor Langley Klamath Falls March 27 -Pastor D. Johnson Albany March 29 Pastor Ron Peterson St. Helens March 30 Pastor Brock Beaverton March 30 Pastor Gleason Oregon City
To Order Bro. David Reynolds new book, please email: apostolicfamilies@gmail.com February 2014 APOSTOLIC ACCENT 7
Church Planters: Despise Not the Day of Small Things
By Virgil Alldritt
In chapter 1 of Zechariah, the Lord spoke to the prophet in verse 16, saying, ‘Therefore thus says the LORD: “I am returning to Jerusalem with mercy; My house shall be built in it,” says the LORD of hosts, ... .” ‘ As the second temple was being built, it was obvious to those who labored that it could never reach the glamour or greatness of the first. This caused many to become discouraged and disillusioned. Nonetheless, in chapter 9, verse 9, the Lord continues, “The hands of Zerubbabel Have laid the foundation of this temple; His hands shall also finish it. Then you will know That the LORD of hosts has sent Me to you.” The message here is that God would prove His Word. In verse 10, the Lord goes on to say, “For who has despised the day of small things?” Building something for the Lord is one of the highest callings we could ever ascribe to. Yet in doing so, we can be daunted by the task before us. Peter Drucker was an Austrianborn American management consultant, educator, and author whose writings contributed to the philosophical and practical foundations of the modern business corporation. He is known as the father of modern
management, contributing many quips and quotes in the arena of business management. The one that most struck me was when he said “… the two most difficult jobs in the world are these—one, to be President of the United States, and two, to start (a church) then lead it …”. He was saying a church planter has as tough of a job as the President of the U.S.! Now even though I’m from a business background and have attended classes in business management where Drucker’s philosophies have been expounded, I recognize we as messengers of the gospel of Jesus Christ must take great caution in relying heavily upon modern-day business thinking. If taken amiss, it can lead us astray from what He has really called us to do – to be a light, to be a witness, to be a sower of the Word. Drucker’s advice to ministers has been to focus on attendees as customers to meet their needs as opposed (in my words) to see them as potential saints of the most high God to serve His needs. This focus has led many modern mega-church leaders, and the thousands who throng after them, astray. Yet even this business guru recognized aspects of the great task before
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church planters. Let’s face it – planting a church is indeed a tough job. Along with the great excitement, the new beginnings, and the great joy at seeing the lost come to salvation, there are the lengthened quiet times of loneliness without rewards, the tests of endurance, and the heart-wrenching disappointments at seeing those you’ve worked with so long decide they just can’t make it. A church planter experiences the highs of serving God’s purpose, but also must walk through the valleys that Jesus did as different ones left Him, denied Him, and even betrayed Him. After planting a church and seeing it flex upwards and contract downwards over the course of many years, there have been times when “the day of small things” seems to just continue on. If it wasn’t for the overriding purpose of serving God, despair could overtake. We are to build the kingdom of God, but the task at times seems elusive. Jesus strove to help His disciples comprehend the kingdom of God time and time again. They were so focused on the here and now, and upon their preconceived ideas of what this movement
was about, that they repeatedly were confounded by Him. Jesus addressed His disciples’ lack of understanding privately in Mark chapter 4, starting in verse 26, when he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” The job of a church planter is to sow the seed, the Word of God, faithfully, truthfully, and with great love and patience. So often, the planter can be enticed to accelerate the growth of the seed, but it just doesn’t work to grab the initial blade and begin to pull on it. Rather, the planter is to plant; without even the guarantee that he will also be the reaper. Paul said in First Corinthians, verse 6, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. “ The planter is to plant. Jesus explained further in verse 30 of Mark 4, “To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it? It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade.” The seed does the growing. We are to trust the
seed. In its time, it will grow. My father passed away last year at the age of 89, having been in church all of his life, most of it as a licensed minister. He experienced many frustrations at not seeing the fruit of the increase as he desired. He labored many years helping in churches, planting a church, and again helping in the church God called me to plant. He wanted to see the increase. But Paul spoke to the church in Galatia, saying, “let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” Believe me, I’ve often wondered myself when the reaping will occur. But lest I lose heart, I must continue doing good, continue sowing. We should know that much of what we will reap will not necessarily be known here below. We are to keep planting, keep sowing, and faint not! And if we see the increase, we must still not set our affections upon things here, lest they become a snare of the pride of life. The disciples returning to Jesus were not to rejoice that the spirits were subject to them, but rather that their names are written in heaven!! That is our ultimate joy! Going back to Zechariah, in chapter 4, verse 6, the Lord answered “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the LORD of hosts. ‘Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone With
shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”‘ This work is to be done according to the Spirit of almighty God. He will accomplish His work and someday the capstone will be placed. Let us rejoice in whatever role, whatever labor, God has called and strengthened us to perform! I’m reminded of a time years ago when discouragement was lurking at the fringe of my thinking. I tuned into a general conference session where Muriel Ewing came forth, and in his deep, mellow voice, began singing the old chorus that goes like this: Little is much when God is in it. Labor not for wealth nor fame. There’s a crown, and you can win it, If you go in Jesus’ name. So let us go, let us sow, let us do what God has called us to, church planters. But let us do it for God’s purpose, for His kingdom, and in His name. When (not “if”) the times are tough and it seems the rewards are few, remember, who can despise the day of small things? If God be for us (not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit), who can stand against us?.◊ ____________________________ Virgil Alldritt is the pastor of Apostolics of Portland in Portland, Oregon. He also serves as the North American Missions Secretary for the Oregon District.
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NORTH AMERICAN MISSIONS GIVING
DECEMBER 2013
Apostolic Worship Center $50.00 Apostolics of Portland - Alldritt $50.00 Bend, True Gospel U.P.C. $90.00 Corvallis, United Pentecostal Church $25.00 Cottage Grove, Hope Fellowship UPC $25.00 Florence, Apostolic UPC $60.00 Grace Point Ministries $25.00 Hillsboro, Bethel U.P.C. $50.00 Klamath Falls, United Pentecostal Church $50.00 Monroe New Hope Life Center $50.00 Oregon City, United Pentecostal Church $300.00 Redmond, Heights Pentecostals $50.00 Roseburg, Christian Life Center U.P.C. $20.00 Springfield, United Pentecostal Church $20.00 TOTAL $865.00
JANUARY 2014
Apostolic Worship Center $50.00 Apostolics of Portland - Alldritt $50.00 Bend, True Gospel U.P.C. $90.00 Corvallis, United Pentecostal Church $25.00 Cottage Grove, Hope Fellowship UPC $25.00 Grace Point Ministries $25.00 Hillsboro, Bethel U.P.C. $50.00 Klamath Falls, United Pentecostal Church $50.00 Oregon City, United Pentecostal Church $300.00 Redmond, Heights Pentecostals $50.00 Roseburg, Christian Life Center U.P.C. $20.00 Springfield, United Pentecostal Church $20.00 TOTAL $755.00 February 2014 APOSTOLIC ACCENT 11
I Know Abraham for HE WILL COMMAND HIS CHILDREN By David Reynolds
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“For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.” Genesis. 18:19
The family, under God, is not a democracy! We are all equal in worth but have been assigned definite and differing roles within the family structure. Contrary to modern day thinking there is a line of delegated authority and this authority is mandated by God Almighty. “ But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God” I Cor. 11:3 This scripture plainly shows that the family, as in the church, is designed to be a “Theocracy”. God is the head of the family and He has delegated this ‘head ship’ to the man within the family. With this responsibility comes the authority to command his own household. God expects him to provide benevolent leadership for his family in the major decisions. Man is the manager of the family. Good managers always ask for impute before making a decision, but the decision is made and the responsibility assumed; by the manager. Men today are uncertain as to their authority, thus they are not taking the lead. What greater authority do you need than God’s Word and God’s plan for the family? In holding with Bible Principles
the man is to protect and provide for his wife and children. This God given role is being challenged and turned upside down. Men today do not know how they are to act, they are uncertain as to their function as well as their role; this has lead to inaction and a vacuum has developed in place of family leadership. Any institution that has no leadership soon flounders. Any vacuum does not so remain for long, so the wife or even the children are in command in our homes today. Men, God expects you to be in command in your own family. To be a dictator? No! To take assertive leadership? Yes! Especially in spiritual things. God knew that Abraham would “Command his children and his household after him.” How? 1. ”They shall keep the way of the Lord” There was no question or debate in my home, growing up, as to the principles we were following or to the priorities within my family. God’s ways and God’s house took president. My father ‘commanded’ it so. There was no discussion as to where I would be at church time --I was to be in church. No high School function ever took me out of church. There was no negotiation as to where I was to sit in church --I would be sitting up front or with my parents. I had no problems with talking or ‘gum chewing’ in church --my father saw to that. Even today I have no problem determining where I will be on any given Sunday --I will be in church. Dad commanded then and I still hear his marching orders.
2. ”To do Justice and Judgment” There should be no question as what principles will be followed in your home. All justice and judgment must be based upon God’s Word, but, all judgment must also have an enforcer for there to be justice. Men -- God has made you the enforcer. Men, your children will never learn justice and judgment unless they see it modeled and enforced. Men, God will hold you responsible for commanding your children and your household. You need no other authority than God’s Word. Use your authority wisely, lovingly and prayerfully --but assertively assume your command. “In matters of taste, float with the waves. In matters of principle, stand like a rock.” Thomas Jefferson◊ ____________________________ David Reynolds has been the Minister of Discipleship at Portland Pentecostals since 2007. He is a graduate of Conquerors Bible College, Cascade College, Portland State University and post graduate work at the University of Oregon. He served as a teacher, assistant Principle & Principle. Since retiring from public education he has traveled extensively to over 37 countries preaching & teaching in Bible Schools and has written several books on Education, The Family & Parenting.
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