“but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you.”
~ Jeremiah 7:23
Hi James and Ellen,
If you had the chance to preach today, what would you preach? Would you preach on the unmerited mercy that God – as God the Father, has blessed the guys, gals and kids who He elected to be His adopted kids or would you preach on the merited anger that God – as God the Father, has against guys, gals and kids who are knowingly living sinful lives? When your grandpaa is given the opportunity and blessing to preach, your grandpaa tries to encourage guys, gals and kids to reflect on how God is leading them to live Christ-like lives versus admonishing guys, gals and kids to live better Christ-like lives by praying harder, reading the Bible more, giving more money, doing more good works, etc. Jerry Davids was the Field Director for the Bolivia South American Mission field missionary team when your grandmaa, grandpaa, dad and Aunt Lynn arrived in Bolivia near the end of August of 1978. Jerry Davids did something that taught your grandpaa that he needs to be always prepared to preach. Your grandpaa had been in Bolivia less than a year when Jerry Davids asked the guys on the church planting team – which your grandpaa was on, to take on a minor allocation. Your grandpaa’s minor allocation was to go every six weeks or so to Chochís. Chochís – a railroad town, is eighteen hours away from Santa Cruz – where your grandpaa was living, via a rápido. Your grandpaa would take with him a leader – such as Jesús García or Raúl Pedraza, of a Christ-follower fellowship of guys and gals in Santa Cruz or an expatriate missionary on each trip that he made to Chochís. Your grandpaa would take with him films that he would show against the outside front wall of the church where the Christ-follow guys, gals and kids who were living in Chochís met and different Fuente to Luz or Source of Light studies – which your grandpaa would give to and collect from the guys, gals and kids who had completed studies that make up the three series of studies. After your grandmaa had corrected the answers in completed Fuente to Luz studies, your grandmaa would fix up diplomas for the guys, gals and kids who had completed one of the three Fuente to Luz study series. Your grandpaa would give the diploma to the guys, gals and/or kids in Chochís during a Christ-follower fellowship time. The guys, gals and kids would put the diplomas in frames and hang them on a wall where everyone could see them. Shortly before he left on a scheduled furlough break, Jerry Davids decided that he wanted to go along with your grandpaa on your grandpaa’s next trip to Chochís to take photos of the area. As your grandpaa and Jerry Davids were planning to be in Chochís over a Sunday and because Jerry Davids is a very good preacher who could speak Spanish while your grandpaa barely could speak Spanish, your grandpaa asked Jerry Davids if he would preach. Jerry Davids told your grandpaa that he was fine with preaching. Right before Jerry Davids was to begin to preach, Jerry Davids leaned over to your grandpaa and with a low, hoarse voice told your grandpaa that he did not know what had happened but that he had just lost his voice and that he would not be able to preach. Jerry Davids then suggested that your grandpaa preach. Your grandpaa tried to get his thoughts together in order to say something intelligent during the scheduled communion service but . . . your grandpaa knows that he did terrible. Right after the service ended, Jerry Davids told your grandpaa that a miracle had happened; that he had his voice back again. Your grandpaa knows now that Jerry Davids set him up to preach that Sunday morning in Chochís. After that Sunday morning in Chochís, your grandpaa is always ready to preach in a church something that he has been thinking about preaching if he is given the chance to preach.
Jeremiah was a preacher who preached at times in the temple of God that was located in the city of Jerusalem. Jeremiah never hesitated to confront God’s specially chosen guys and gals who persisted in trusting worthless deceptive words, treating each other – especially foreigners, orphans and widows, unjustly, stealing, killing, being involved in illicit relationships, lying, worshipping Baals and burning their kids alive as sacrifices that they had provoked God’s anger button to where He was very close to rejecting and abandoning them. One of Jeremiah’s warning messages that he preached in the temple of God in the city Jerusalem to God’s specially chosen guys and gals is found in Jeremiah 7. Jeremiah knew that God had had it with the Israelite people group of guys and gals who He chose to be His specially chosen guys and gals because they had defied the mandate that He gave to them as a new worship paradigm while they were camped at the base of Mount Sinai during their exodus to the land that He was giving them to always to have to live in as their very own land if . . ., which verse 23 delineates, “but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you.” Instead of carefully listening to and dutifully heeding the warnings that one of God’s prophet spokesmen – Jeremiah, was relating to them from God, God’s specially chosen guys and gals became more and more stiff-necked and disobedient.
Your grandpaa thinks that it is time for preachers to preach warning messages versus messages that focus on God’s mercy. Do you think that God is okay with guys not preaching warnings against babies being killed who He is forming and His marriage charge being besmirched which He has clearly explicated? Sixteen years have gone by since your grandpaa wrote this missive. Your grandpaa now wants a Christ-follower guy, gal and kid to reflect on what God has done and is doing in his or her life. What has God done and is doing in the lives of your dad and ma?
Jeremiah 7 (703)