It may seem strange to some that Nathanael’s graduation took place before some of his final exams. But – be that as it may – Nathanael’s graduation ceremony is over, even though the exams are not! (Is that why they say, “It’s all over but the crying”?)
Anyway, Nathanael graduated with some of his class (“some” because, being at an “alternate status” school, many of the students were not from the area) on the 10th of June, at a special event at Zion Evangelical Missionary Church in Didsbury, Alberta.
Nathanael was on the grad committee, so he worked all through the year on various projects to make the grad a success. The committee came over the day before to work on the decorations for the banquet, and Nathanael in particular worked on PowerPoints and a unique banner for the event (which we ended up bringing from Mexico!).
The program was very Christ-honouring, and of course student-congratulating!
All four of us were there, along with Nathanael’s three grandparents.
Nathanael and the FamilyThrowing the mortarboards!
We enjoyed a delicious banquet afterwards. Nathanael – great job on the grad committee – oh, and on many years of school! And thanks to all the teachers and staff who worked so hard as well. 🙂
When we originally did our series on Biblical Anthropology, we didn’t include the segment on The Authorities – we ended up talking about it because we were going through Romans, and we arrived at chapter 13. 🙂
But now this segment has properly become an important part of the study.
So what did we learn? Well, we know that all authority is instituted by God, and that God gives each authority its own responsibilities, and its limits.
When we think of authority, we often focus on government. But there are others as well – authority in the family, authority in the work world, authority in the church, and – often left out – self-authority.
Because authority comes from God, we respect our leaders, we pray for our leaders, and we submit to our leaders.
But in my study of Scripture, I believe that there are two situations in which we should not submit, or obey (but even here there are exceptions – read the full study for details!).
When we are asked to do evil, or when we are asked to stop doing good (according to Scripture).
When the authority is operating outside of its God-given sphere.
What is their “sphere” of authority? Well, God gives people authority over specific areas of life, right? If the government decides to tell our church what we should preach on, we don’t have to submit to that. The government doesn’t have that kind of authority over the local church. If your pastor tells you which school you should send your child to – maybe it’s wise counsel worth listening to, but you don’t have to submit to such an order. That is the decision of the parents, not the pastor.
We ended up with a list of seven applications from the Bible to help us as we navigate these issues. This is an important issue in a society where our leaders regularly praise the evil and prohibit the good. A culture in which governmental powers seem to be regularly expanding far beyond what God intended.
The next topic was technology. Like authority, technology ultimately comes from God Himself. And it has a purpose in time and space, because God Himself entered into time and space as a human being.
And it was fascinating to realize that the cross itself was human technology, invented for a cruel and evil purpose. But God used this human technology to bring us salvation.
Sadly, as human beings, we tend to use technology to exalt ourselves and rebel against God. But technology can also be used to alleviate suffering, promote life, and glorify the Creator.
We talked specifically about transhumanism, posthumanism and antihumanism, and the different types of artificial intelligence. You can go through the study itself to review all of that.
The final question was: What are you doing to my heart? Why do I really want this device (keep in mind that there may be many reasons, both good and bad)? Is this a potential idol in my life? Or does it increase the power of an idol in my life?
That brings us just past the halfway point of our review – come back next time as we look back at our studies on justice and partiality.
This past Saturday, we joined together with the youth group for a special birthday party and goodbye party for Nathanael! As you may know, he’s planning to work in Canada for a while, so this is one of the last youth events he’ll be at.
Above is the banner we printed, showing the theme. Chess! And making the next move, of course – to Canada. Our theme verses were Joshua 1:8-9.
Of course, one of Mom’s cakes was involved…
Those chess pieces are homemade chocolate, by the way.
There were some games…
And a potluck meal. Yum.
There was also a Bible study time (part of the normal youth group schedule), and a time of sharing and encouragement for Nathanael, and a time of prayer.
There was even some actual chess playing!
We’re so thankful for these wonderful friends – and brothers and sisters in Christ!
We’re continuing our whirlwind review from last time. The next topic we studied was “the Image” – otherwise known in Latin as the Imago Dei.
We were created in God’s image – the animals were not. We’re very special. And as we learned, this is a reality that persists even after the Fall. Even in sin, we still maintain an incredible value because of the imago dei. Every human being.
We also learned that human want to change this image – they “exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things” (Romans 1:23). Instead of becoming more like the true God, whose image we bear, we became more like blind and powerless idols.
But Jesus Christ came to show us the true image of God – the exact image – as God in the flesh.
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
Hebrews 1:1-4
That’s the story of Christmas! Everything in time and space truly matters, and has a purpose, because God Himself entered into His creation. And now we see the true and pure Image of God, sinless. And those who put their faith in Christ are being transformed into His image. “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son…” (Romans 8:29). “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18).
From there we went on to talk about God’s design for the family. According to the Lord Jesus, God’s pattern for the man and the woman and marriage and children in Genesis is the pattern that we are to follow today.
When the man rebelled against God, human beings began to experience shame and confusion about their own bodies. This is part of the fallen world. But God has given us commandments for the family and its gender roles. Those roles are different for men and for women.
We all experience sin and brokenness in this area. But God gives forgiveness and healing to those who turn to Him.
All of this information about the man and the woman and the image of God also related to our next study, “The Borders of Life”. We went through the various types of murder that the Bible talks about, relating them somewhat to modern law. We talked about the attacks that we’re seeing on life today, especially on the “borders” – the murder of babies in the womb (often called “abortion”), and the murder of our precious seniors through negligence and euthanasia.
One of the most important parts of that lesson for me, apart from some questions about specific kinds of murder, was the Bible’s teaching on suffering and death.
In Scripture, death is the enemy. A consequence of sin. Yes, for a Christian, death is a path to being with the Lord. But this comes at a time chosen by God, not by us. We are here on earth to serve as long as God permits, even if we can only serve through brief moments of prayer on our sickbed.
Suffering, for us, is full of purpose. It is not something to be avoided at all costs. In fact, we are even commanded to suffer for Christ. “Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 2:3). Listen to Romans 5 –
Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Romans 5:3-5
Every life has purpose and value, even a life that is deep in suffering. “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison…” (2 Corinthians 4:17).
Of course it’s impossible to delve back into all these topics again – but that’s a summary of “The Image”, “The Family”, and “The Borders of Life”. Remember to check here for a more detailed discussion. We’ll continue starting with part 6 next time!
Drive about an hour into Mexico City, and you’ll come across the beautiful Xochimilco Ecopark. Actually, we just went again this past March, and I was a little sad. What had been a somewhat “wild” overgrown place was now very developed. Yes, developed as a park – it’s still beautiful, but to my taste it isn’t quite what it was.
Ten years ago today we were there with Hannah and Nathanael. I think this is when they were doing some “wetlands” research for school. We had the place almost to ourselves – except for the many kinds of birds and bugs and plants.
Here’s one look – click the picture for a bigger version.
We were so thankful for the leadership recognition service on the 30th of April – so why didn’t we post anything about it? Well, for those who know us well, we could just say “it’s May” (hence crazy busy) and that might be enough. But we were also trying to get the news out to our Support Team first, so hopefully many of you have already heard the news! If not, there is probably a letter on its way to you. 🙂
(left to right) Ezequiel, Esther, Viri, Oscar
Anyway, yes! On the 30th of April we had a special service to recognize the first national leaders of the Path of Life Bible Church Las Palmas (Iglesia BĂblica Sendero de Vida Las Palmas)! Ezequiel and Oscar have already been doing the work of elders, but this service was a time to specifically honour them and their wives, to talk about leadership in the church, and to lay hands on them and pray for them.
I (Jim) had the privilege of leading the music, with Nathanael as one of my fellow musicians, and all the songs were chosen by Oscar and Ezequiel. It was neat because the songs all emphasized their desire to look to the Lord and put Him first. In fact, every song except one was directly a prayer – and the one that wasn’t was instead a testimony. (I don’t know which songs have English versions, but you might recognize songs such as “Psalm 5 (Give Ear to My Words)” and “Yet Not I But Through Christ In Me”.)
Oscar shared a little bit about our friend Edgar, who passed away this past November. It was important to us that he be remembered in this service, because he had had a leadership role as well. We miss Edgar, but look forward to seeing him again soon.
Rod preached about the role of pastors in the church from 1 Peter 5, and other texts. MartĂn, pastor of the church in the community of Santa Barbara, gave the charge to the congregation.
Next the two couples were presented with various symbols representing different aspects of the ministry…
Shepherd’s staff, representing pastoral leadership (1 Peter 5:1-4).
Basin and towel, representing humble service (John 13:3-5).
“My house is your house” decorative plates, representing hospitality (Titus 1:7-8).
Framed verses – 2 Timothy 3:16-17, representing the Bible as our authority.
Shari and I presented the last one.
Then we laid on hands and prayed, along with other elders and pastors and their wives from the area.
Time of Prayer (photo courtesy Nathanael)
Of course, no special service would be complete without some food and a time of celebration! And some cakes! Maybe even some impromptu games!
A cake featuring 1 Timothy 3:1-7
No one really wanted to leave, so I think it was evening by the time everything wrapped up. 🙂
Thanks so much to everyone who was praying – and who is praying! We’re so thankful for these men and their families, and for many other men and women who are already helping with the ministry of this congregation. But the work of this young local church is only beginning – may God grant that it would be a light here in Ixtapaluca and around the world! Please continue to pray for this church, and especially these leaders, who are finding their way into the service of this growing congregation.
