NewsNuggets Page 22

We have the idea that we can dedicate our gifts to God.
However, you cannot dedicate what’s not yours.
– Oswald Chambers

Years ago, I invited the conference stewardship director and good friend to be the guest speaker in the church I pastored. He spoke about the new budget for the conference and how each local church has to increase the giving so the new budget can be reached and the conference can meet its financial responsibilities. After his visit, I received many questions from the congregation regarding the steward’s responsibilities and whom we should have as the focus of our giving. In this reflection on stewardship, we will look at the object of the steward’s service as a foundation for giving and why it is essential to give only to the Lord.

There is no steward or stewardship without a lord or lordship. Biblical and Christian stewardship does not exist without the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the sovereignty of God. In other words, stewardship only exists in the context of God’s ownership, household, and economy. We will face these subjects in the upcoming articles. But, who is this sovereign Lord the stewards serve? David, the chosen of God, exclaimed: The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein (Psalm 24:1, NKJV). Asaph the Psalmist also acknowledged God’s ownership by proclaiming: For all the animals of the forest are mine, and I own the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10, NLT). Even as arguing with Job, The Lord declared: Who has preceded Me, that I should pay him? Everything under heaven is Mine (Job 41:11, NKJV).

The stewards are serving the owner of this world and of the universe. They are serving the Creator God, Elohim, and handling, increasing, and multiplying all that the owner has surrendered into their hands for the Owners glory and not their own. Blackaby wrote, “He [God] reveals what He is doing, and then we adjust our lives, our plans, and our goals to Him. We are to place our lives at His disposal—where He is working—so He can accomplish His purposes through us.” ¹ The stewards have only one purpose, and that is to make the name, the character, the economy, the property, the kingdom, and the realm of their Lord glorious. The stewards live for the glory of their Lord, Master, and King and not for their own. They can do this only because they know who they serve. They know their Lord.

In one of his sermons, the late S.M. Lockridge spoke of the Lord and King he knew: “My King is a sovereign King. No means of measure can define His limitless love. He’s enduringly strong. He’s entirely sincere. He’s eternally steadfast. He’s immortally graceful. He’s imperially powerful. He’s impartially merciful. DO YOU KNOW HIM? He’s the greatest phenomenon that has ever crossed the horizon of this world. He’s God’s Son. He’s a sinner’s Savior. He’s the centerpiece of civilization. He’s unparalleled. He’s unprecedented … I WONDER IF YOU KNOW HIM? He’s the key to knowledge. He’s the wellspring of wisdom. He’s the doorway of deliverance. He’s the pathway of peace. He’s the roadway of righteousness. He’s the highway of holiness. He’s the gateway of glory. DO YOU KNOW HIM? His life is matchless. His goodness is limitless. His mercy is everlasting. His love never changes. His word is enough. His grace is sufficient. His reign is righteous. His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. I WISH I COULD DESCRIBE HIM TO YOU! He is indescribable. He’s incomprehensible. He is invincible. He is irresistible. You can’t get Him out of your mind. You can’t get him off of your hand. You can’t outlive Him, and you can’t live without Him. The Pharisees couldn’t stand Him; they found out they couldn’t stop Him. Pilate couldn’t find any fault in Him; Herod couldn’t kill Him. Death couldn’t handle Him; the grave couldn’t hold Him.” ²

The stewards know their Lord and Master as he is. They see the service to the Lord and Master as most honorable, worthy, glorious, and wonderful. For this reason, they will never stop giving their utmost with borrowed time, talent, or treasure. The intensity of serving will never linger, and the commitment will never faint. Just as Isaiah said: But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint (Isaiah 40:31, NKJV).

In Part 4 of the series, we will look at what the waiting stewards manage, invest in, and multiply for their Master.

—Anton Kapusi is the lead pastor of Pueblo First Seventh-day Adventist Church. Photo by Pexels.

¹  Blackabe H., and Blackaby R. (2008). Experiencing God. BH Publishing, p. 188.

²  Martin, A. (2008, July 23). That’s My King Dr. S.M. Lockridge – [OFFICIAL]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzqTFNfeDnE

Kelly Loney, Emily Woodhull, and RMCNews – Denver, Colorado … Two Adventist teams ran the Colfax Marathon relay race in Denver, Colorado, on May 21 raising money for World Vision International, a well-known Christian humanitarian organization. The money raised was going to fund projects that would bring clean water to communities globally.

One relay team was from Newday Adventist Church in Parker, Colorado, and the other was from LifeSource Adventist Fellowship in Denver, Colorado. Each team supplied five runners to run/walk a certain portion of a full marathon of 26.2 miles. This was the ninth year a Newday team and the third year a LifeSource team had participated in the race.

One runner from Newday Church also completed her first marathon, and five other Newday runners finished their first half-marathon (13.1 miles).

Kelly Loney, director of communication at Newday Adventist Church, and Emily Woodhull, Newday team co-captain, remarked, “That is incredible … not only did they run/walk much longer than most of us would ever dream of doing ourselves … but they also raised funds with Team World Vision to bring clean water access to places that need it.”

At this year’s race, Team Newday raised $44,650 which provides clean water for 893 children. Team LifeSource raised $9,418 which provides clean water for 188 children. For the nine years that Team Newday has been involved with the race, they have raised an astounding $509,555 which provides clean water to 10,191 children!

Co-captain, and runner on the Newday Team, Steve Cochran said, “Being able to be a part of what God has done is incredible. It humbles you to know what we can do when we come together as the body of Christ, even if it is just getting off the couch.”

The church leadership thanks those who ran, who supported financially, and who cheered the group on from the sidelines. One hears that once you run one you want to run another!

Way to go Team World Vision Newday and LifeSource runners!

—Kelly Loney is the director of communication at Newday Adventist Church, and Emily Woodhull is a Newday Team co-captain and runner. Photo supplied.

By Mic Thurber

What are your earliest memories of camp meeting? For me it was Lynnwood Academy in Southern California where we were living at the time. I was very young, so the Academy grounds seemed massive and intimidating. There were tents everywhere—some huge and some small ones, all neatly pitched in rows.

We lived close enough by that we didn’t need to camp, and we were mostly there for the main meetings, though I do remember going to the tent for my age group and seeing a sea of faces that I’d never seen before. Somehow, I felt I belonged even though I didn’t know anybody there.

As I got older and went to more and more camp meetings, though the settings, of course, changed, many things didn’t. Tents, campers, people, meetings, singing, and preaching even a young person could understand and enjoy. And the sense that I was part of something larger than just me and my family. As I grew, I grew to understand that the others there believed like I did. They loved Jesus and wanted Him to come back soon. There was something that always encouraged my young heart that what we believed and held to was real. And seeing so many others with the same hopes and yearnings just cemented them in my heart.

Now, of course, I’m older. Gone are most of the tents, though there are still a few of those kind of camp meetings to be found. Though the times have changed, and the facilities as well as time and financial availability of families to attend has changed, the same need still exists. The same benefits can still be found today at camp meeting.

It’s an old story that was really about a man who had no longer been coming to his church, but I can’t help but wonder if maybe it might apply to our relationship to camp meetings, too.

The backstory is that he had gotten crossways with a few members of the church and, in a moment of frustration and disagreement, left vowing never to return. A new pastor was assigned to the church and heard about the man’s decision and decided to visit him. So, he showed up unannounced.

The man’s wife, still faithful in her attendance, ushered the new pastor into the living room where the disgruntled man sat in his favorite easy chair staring at the fire. He didn’t even acknowledge the pastor’s presence. So, the pastor settled into the chair opposite the man and simply waited quietly with him. Still with no words exchanged between them, the pastor got up from the chair and picked up the fireplace tongs and reached into the fire and drew out a single, large, chunk of ember and placed it on the hearth and then sat back down.

Still intwined in their silence, the two men stared at the red-hot glowing ember and watched as it slowly grew first hot, then tepid, then finally … cold. It had died while in its background the fire from which it was separated was still burning strongly and brightly.

A few moments after the ember had completely died out, the man finally looked up at the new pastor and said, “Ok, preacher, I’ll be back next week.”

It’s hard to keep the fire of our heart’s yearning alive when we feel like it burns all alone. I can’t help but wonder if perhaps that wasn’t in the back of the mind of the author of Hebrews when we counseled the not to give up meeting together.

Of course, we hope that you stay committed to the fellowship of your own church family. But camp meetings can be a help even beyond your local church. Worshipping and fellowshipping with others even outside your local church can help further fan the flames of your commitment to Jesus. Realizing that you are part of something larger than yourself and your immediate faith community can bolster you in so many ways.

That’s why I hope that when camp meeting comes to your area, that you’ll make a commitment to join with so many others in celebrating what Jesus had done for you and pray together for His soon return.

Click here to find the full schedule and program details for 2023 RMC Camp Meetings.

—Mic Thurber is RMC president. Photo by Rajmund Dabrowski.

We agreed and stepped back.

After inspection, it was determined that the alternator was failing. A black cap was missing, and sparks were flying. He mentioned that he had the exact truck, a Ford F150, but a year older. He offered to give us the alternator from his truck at no cost if it was the right fit. All we had to do was go with him to his house two miles away. My father agreed and we followed him to his house.

We arrived at his house and my brother, father, and the man all got to work. That Friday before, my mother had an insistent thought when loading up the truck: “Don’t forget the tool bag.” Those tools were needed to remove the old alternator, and, within a matter of minutes, the “new” alternator was installed. After starting the truck and using a meter to check the voltage, we were ready to go.

In exchange for payment, the only thing the man asked for was that we help another person. To pay back a good deed by being good to others.

It wasn’t until after we said our goodbyes and he wished us safe travels that we realized no names were ever exchanged. We don’t know the name of the man that God sent to help us, but we do know he was an instrument of God.

—Cyndi Tapia is the Greeley Lesem Pathfinder Club sub director. Photo supplied.

Rachel Williams – Cedaredge, Colorado … Ever since September 2022, a small group of church members has been attending PEWS class at the Cedaredge Seventh-Day Adventist Church almost every Monday.

This small group has one mission: learn how to be a good witness for the Lord in unexpected conversations.

PEWS stands for Personal Effective Witnessing Strategies and was developed by Patrick Williams.

Patrick says, “PEWS is a 59-page syllabus meant to be used in a group setting. It’s a course designed to help you become an effective witness for Jesus in spontaneous, informal settings by becoming more connected to the Savior.”

But this course wasn’t thought up on the spur of the moment. For months, Patrick and three other men from the church had been meeting at a local diner. The three men always seemed frustrated that they never knew what to say when God came up in conversations with people they knew.

This got Patrick thinking.

Asking God for help and inspiration, Patrick began creating the PEWS document with prayer, study, and research.

Having attended many witnessing classes before, Patrick knew that the main thing people were missing in “learning how to witness” was gaining a deeper relationship with Jesus.

As Patrick put it, “You can’t share what you don’t have. We talk about church doctrine, lifestyle differences, and then throw in a little bit of Jesus.”

One of the active members of the group is Rachel, Patrick’s daughter. During her sermon in February, she identified fear as something resulting from life’s “rough patches” and “everyday problems” as well as concerns about a future “time of trouble.” She said we must not minimize trouble but face it with the faith of Jesus.

The attendees would read through the syllabus and have a discussion.

There was some homework involved and attendees were encouraged to practice giving a short testimony, creating a list of skills and talents that could be used for witnessing, etc.

While there were only eight members present, the group ended up diving into a variety of deep topics and the struggles they faced sharing their faith.

Joe Saber, a class participant, said: “I have always had difficulty in personal witnessing. The PEWS class has given me the tools with which to approach this challenge more successfully. It leads one through the process step by step. The sword and shield concept encapsulates the steps in the process, so I never felt at a loss as to what to do next. Try it you’ll like it!”

The group hopes to use what they’ve learned to lead others to Christ.

Commenting on the serious involvement of church members in mission in Cedaredge, Pastor Steve Schwartz remarked, “We see examples of younger people lead by their elders, and we also see older people inspired in mission by young disciples.”

—Rachel Williams, a Gen Z young adult and a leader in the Cedaredge Adventist Church. Photo by Rachel Williams.