Dear Friends:
This past month, we held our annual summer celebration of another successful school year with the students, it was held at a local pool/park area, where the kids played in the water, prayed, worshiped, were encouraged, got to participate in games, and food! Our volunteers put on a great celebration! One of them, Mitzel Juarez, prepared a video for us to watch! Please click on it to see all the fun things the volunteers and kids did!
https://fb.watch/mbLRq-fkFR/?mibextid=Nif5oz
As we prepare for the new school year, I believe the Lord has given us the theme of “Discubriendo mi propósito” (Discovering my Purpose) as our theme for this school year.
I think there are 3 major world views today.
The most common is: People created themselves, we are in control of this world, and what we do will ultimately lead to its success or its failure. Success is keeping the world going without hurting or destroying it. We get to figure out what that means and then try to make it happen. Failure is causing our world to implode, which will happen unless we take drastic action. We see this in various themes, but usually it is things we are claimed to be doing, like over-populating, or causing global warming that will destroy us all). Under this philosophy the responsibility for the saving of the world is on our shoulders. We are God in this view. The story of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11:1-9 illustrates where this view leads, which is confusion and as many different points of view as there are people.
The second world-view is that God created the world and everything in it, He is in ultimate control, and His purposes will not be set aside by mankind. Under this view, we need to be responsible and nurturing, but we are not in ultimate control and the fate of the world does not depend upon us. We look to God for His intervention in our lives and in our world. In Genesis 4:1-13 we see God first explaining that we are caretakers of one another and our world in the story of Cain and Abel.
The third world-view involves people who don’t really care one way or the other, we really don’t want to think about any of this. In this view, usually we are all about whatever seems to be the most “fun”, or the “easiest”, or that will bring us the most “benefits.” It revolves around whatever makes us happy, our own ideas of right and wrong, and we just want to live our lives and let everyone else live theirs. This often results in a self-centered life. It may be summarized in the attitude of Pontius Pilate when he stood in judgment over Jesus: John 18:37-38 "You are a king, then!" said Pilate. Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me." 38 "What is truth?" Pilate asked. NIV
From Pilate’s point of view, truth could be manipulated to be whatever a person wanted it to be. This allows a person to make whatever is convenient for them become their “truth.” This is in contrast to Jesus stating that He is the embodiment of Truth (Jn. 14:6). If He is the embodiment of Truth, then his standards are the standards for determining what is good, what is evil, what is helpful, what is harmful, what is valuable, and what is not.
Sometimes people move between these spheres, depending on the situation confronting them. As Christians, it is our goal to avoid the first and third world views and to live a life of value in the Kingdom of God. Common Scriptures that remind us of this are:
Esther 4:14 For if you keep silence at such a time as this, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another quarter, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" RSV Here, Esther was reminded the God will fulfill His purposes in the world, but that He raised her up to be a princess to save her people, and she should not want to miss God’s plans for her.
Jer 29:11-13 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. NKJV. Here, Jeremiah and the people were reminded that their lives and times were in God’s hands, and that His plans extended to them individually as well as nationally.
Jer 1:5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." NIV God told Jeremiah that he was uniquely created for a unique purpose.
The Bible is full of reminders that He is the one who controls, and not us, but that in His over-all plans, He loves to use people to accomplish them! It can be easy to make our ideas, our plans our belief of “truth” more important than what the Bible teaches. But, as the Bible warns, that attitude leads to death.
If you think about it, many people go through life without ever discovering the reasons God created them. This can be just as true in the church as outside of it. If we don’t consider why God has created us, then we miss the importance of our value to God and to others. So, as we focus on this with our students this coming school year, we invite you to take the journey with us---God, what are you doing? How does it involve me? Will you empower me with your Holy Spirit to accomplish your purposes? Experiencing God and His leading in our daily lives leads to the greatest joy we can know.
On August 12, we will be in Palomas taking shoe sizes and uniform sizes for all of our kids in the program. We will be giving them their backpacks of school supplies for the coming year. We will encourage them as they get ready to take on all of the challenges of a successful school year! You are welcome to come with us and meet your students!
We still have a few elementary students who need sponsors, so if you haven’t chosen to sponsor a child yet, it is not too late! Give Pat a call at (505) 670-5659. Or email her at dpatnoble@gmail.com
Blessings,
Jim and Pat