Rebecca

I grew up in "three to thrive" IFB churches, plus as an mk, often attended multiple missions conferences a year. I was in church throughout the week all throughout my childhood and well into my adulthood. The church I attend now does not have Sunday evening services. They have a Bible study before the morning service and recently have started a Wednesday night Bible study service. It's a small church that has multiple ministries serving the community. The lack of a Sunday evening service doesn't mean they are serving God less, ministering less, or fellowshipping less. I read the article, which is just an opinion piece that doesn't Biblically explain why Sunday evening services are important. It seems to be a nostalgia-filled article on why Sunday evenings are special to him. I added my thoughts to his main arguments: "It was special because we were able to hear the preacher again. " "He spoke directly to us. He challenged us more. He exhorted a bit more." Why preach differently? Sunday morning services shouldn't be different than Sunday evening services. "It was a family meeting where he could be more candid with the members of the family." No, again, Sunday morning shouldn't be any different. Why should visitors cause someone to respond less, listen less, or fellowship less in the morning service? It's almost like once the visitors are gone, you can breathe after holding your breath. Are visitors really that much of an 'outsider' presence that it changes the atmosphere of the church service? "It was another chance to become closer to one another." "After all there was no one there that we were trying to impress." Impress? Really? Church services shouldn't be about impressing anyone. "It puts sports, football in particular, in its place." With streaming, this is a moot point. Any sports fanatic will find a way to watch their team in between services and stay up to date on that oh-so-very vital information, that's not putting sports 'in its place'. "It gave us another chance to do something for the Lord." This is probably the only point I agree with. For those in larger churches space for special music, or other in-church ministries is limited, so another service will give someone who desires to serve God in a church service an opportunity to do so. People who work or otherwise can't come in the morning have a chance to do so in the evening. However, these are not Biblical reasons for Sunday evening services, it's just a good point.

The girl in the school photo is pouring water all over the floor! She's going to be in trouble when one of those other kids slips and falls! Also, where's the towel, does she plan on drying the water with her hair? I didn't watch the Super Bowl - not a fan. However, this commercial is getting talked about so I stumbled across it in another forum, in which both the Christians and non-Christians discussing it disliked it. As the saying goes "Any publicity is good publicity", it is getting shared. John 13:12-15 - So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. I'm not sure if the makers of the ad are using these verses to mean Christians should literally go out and about washing random people's feet, or if it's meant metaphorically. Anyway, I was curious to see who wasted millions of dollars on this ad: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/faith/2024/02/12/dallas-based-firm-is-behind-he-gets-us-jesus-super-bowl-ads/#:~:text=The ads were created by,LinkedIn ahead of the game. "The ads ran for a total of 75 seconds and together cost an estimated $17.5 million" - from the article, emphasis mine. So, a question. If you knew for sure that if you paid enough money to get the gospel message out in front of millions of people, who would then share your message with millions of others, whether to praise, hate, or debate it, is paying that money worth it? Or would that money be better spent helping those in need in your community? Second question. If you decided the ad was worth it, would you accept donations from any and all faith-based organizations who wanted to donate towards your ad if it guaranteed you'd get that coveted Super Bowl spot?

That would be a great idea if I also had artistic ability! I do have a projector so I can trace a scene if I can find one I think will work. Thanks for the suggestion!

Just before Christmas, I repainted the Sunday school room. I have slowly started decorating the walls, and want to do a mural on one wall. I want something that all ages can enjoy, so nothing too childish/cartoony as well as not too boring for children to look at. The mural would be on the wall to the right in the picture. Any ideas?

For Father's Day, it's usually a plaque of some kind. For Mother's Day, in the past, it's been flowers. However, last year it was a jug of laundry detergent and a large pack of toilet tissues (which was appreciated, I don't know how well that would go over in the States! haha!).

Happy New Year!

聖誕節快樂！(Shèngdàn jié kuàilè!) - traditional Chinese Merry Christmas from Taiwan!

I use the Blue Letter Bible. It's easier to use on the desktop than the app on my phone, but it's still very helpful. I like that I can look up a word and find out which verses it's used in and the meaning of the word in Hebrew or Greek, as well as the commentaries and resources. I also use the "The Bible English Chinese Bible" app so I can look at both versions at the same time. I have a physical bilingual Bible, but the app is much faster and more convenient to use. It has extras such as bookmarks, notes, and highlights, but I never use them, I use it just to look up verses or passages.

Thank you to everyone who prayed for the service. It went well, we had 65 people show up, including 15 children! I had been told to expect only 5-7 children, so we ran out of chairs, thankfully a few of the older children didn't mind standing. I didn't teach the lesson this time. A Taiwanese family is going into ministry, so the wife taught the children and her oldest kids helped with the songs and games. She did an excellent job explaining the gospel story to the children, I'm thankful for her willingness to serve! Please continue to pray for the Indonesians who heard the gospel for the first time tonight.

His statement shows promise, and it was encouraging to hear that some members of the church plan to stand with the protestors. I still don't care for this church and school, but Pastor Wilkerson inherited a hornets nest and I pray he leads this church in the right direction. That is not the intent of this particular protest. Nobody is protesting or attacking First Baptist because they preach the gospel. They are protesting the abuse and coverup of abuses that have taken place at that church. If I lived in the area, I would be standing with them. Abuse is evil and should be called out. It's very sad that it's taking a documentary and protests to get this church's attention and for them to admit what had happened there was wrong and evil. We need to have the integrity to admit when something is wrong in our ranks and not just dismiss "the world" because they call us out.

We do not know what their daily lives were like while living on the ark during the flood. What discussions they had, what arguments they had, etc. I can't believe that not one of the people on the ark didn't sin one time in the 40 days and nights before the waters receded.

I know I'm guilty of teaching the sanitized Sunday school version of the story. But really think about it. The Flood was a time of absolute horror. Watch videos of places that were flooded after hurricanes and such and the massive cleanup jobs needed. Watch videos of the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami (227,899 people killed, mass graves were needed, the videos are heartbreaking). Now imagine it on the scale The Flood created. Dead people and animals everywhere. Do you think they just disappeared? There was a reason why Noah drank himself into a stupor afterward. There have always been evil and troubled times on the earth since man was expelled from the Garden.

I agree with the dangers of putting men on pedestals, leading to basically worshipping the pastor and not God. I'm not against having good role models, and a pastor should be one. However, if we are not careful, it can slowly lead to an unhealthy and ungodly obsession, which is what happened with Hyles. Also, the idea of rotating people out of/into their positions may sound good in theory, but that is what caused some of the abuses covered in the series. It's not how long a person has been in their leadership position, it's the state of their heart. What churches should be doing is very carefully vetting anyone who will be in a leadership position, including a background check, as well as having procedures in place to keep abuses from happening. And if God forbid, something wicked does happen, they should call the proper authorities and have the perpetrator arrested and/or kicked out of the church publicly. What a church should never do is cover up the sin and push the victim under the bus. Luke 12:2-3 2 For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known. 3 Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.

I've seen all four episodes. I'd have to watch them again if I were to give a proper review. However, I will say, I was already aware of the scandals that were covered in the series so nothing shocked me. These four episodes cover the scandals from Hyles, First Baptist, a few girls homes, and a few other churches connected to Hyles. This is why in that other thread about First Baptist/Hyles I said I didn't care about the church or college. The abuses, scandals, and coverups are absolutely disgusting and should never have taken place.

He went to churches in the States as other missionaries do to raise support. However, since becoming the pastor of the church, they haven't been able to just leave for months on end to raise more support since there is no one else to pastor the church while he's gone.

If anyone here is interested in supporting a local pastor in Asia, Luke Pan is a Taiwanese pastor, he doesn't take a paycheck from the church and doesn't work a job, all his income is through support and donations. Just this month he lost quite a bit of support. Taitung Bible Baptist Church is a small but very ministry-minded church and does so much to help their community. I have been blessed to be a part of this church and it is hard to see the pastor and his family face discouragement when they lose finances. We are in Taiwan but have also been reaching out to the Indonesian community. If you would like to help with purchasing Indonesian Bibles, that would be a huge blessing. https://cmcmissions.org/missionaries scroll through the list, Luke and Deana Pan.

Happy Thanksgiving! I spent the holiday with other missionaries I don't see very often, and met some new missionary families. We had a nice time of fellowship. I'm thankful for friendships and family, as well as a reliable car that got me over the mountain, haha! I got spoiled with a new road that cut through the mountains from one side of the island to the other, it cut off a lot of travel time and is much safer. It was closed for whatever reason and I had to take the old mountain road...

Please be in prayer for our church's annual Christmas program where we serve the Indonesian community. This year we will have the service on December 17th. We are learning a song in Indonesian and are preparing for a large crowd of adults and children. The pastor and some church members have built up a good reputation with the Indonesian community over the years and some came to the church barbeque back in September. Also please pray for us as we try to find more ways to minister to them throughout the year. For a bit of background, here in Taiwan, many people from poorer Asian countries such as Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, etc. come to Taiwan to work and send money back to their families. These foreign workers are often looked down on and derided because they work menial jobs. In our area, there are a lot of Indonesians, the men work on the fishing boats and the women are in-home caregivers. Their employers don't really give them much time off and their living conditions aren't that great. Recently, the pastor and some church members took thick blankets to the fishermen because although Taiwan is sub-tropical it does get cold here during winter and they just had thin blankets that wouldn't do anything to keep them warm. Most of the Indonesian community are Muslim, so the fact that they are going to choose to spend a rare day off in a church is a big deal.

I have no idea what's going on at First Baptist since I'm not a member nor do I care about that church and college in any way. However, just out of curiosity I clicked the link and was surprised to see that a "long-haired hippie" apparently includes hair that's covering the ears and not neatly trimmed and combed! I've met quite a few long-haired hippies (I live in an area frequented by surfer dude and back-to-nature hippy types), and the photo provided doesn't match that description. Messy hair, yes. Long-haired hippy, no. First Baptist invited the Creation Evidence Expo group to speak at their church about creation. From their website I found the speaker in the photograph, David LItty https://www.creationevidenceexpo.org/presenters (scroll down a bit to find him, his hair is a bit shorter in the bio photo). He's not a pastor, his bio doesn't say what denomination he attends, so I assume non-denominational. If they have speakers from this group in, unless told to use KJV only, then they're going to use whatever version they have already prepared in their presentation. Clearly, that's what happened here. Go to the home page of the Creation Evidence Expo and scroll to the bottom, this group has speaking engagements in a LOT of Baptist churches. This group aims to present creation as biblical, I would have to listen and watch their presentation to truly know if what they are teaching is biblical or not. Did First Baptist compromise on allowing a non-Baptist Christian group to speak from the pulpit on a Sunday? Apparently so if they've been against that in the past. But does this mean that First Baptist is on the track to start preaching from other versions, the pastor and deacons grow their hair long, and stop wearing suits? Who knows. However, if this was a church I loved and cared for, talking to the pastor of First Baptist would be my first step rather than immediately running to write an article condemning them for something I wasn't there to witness firsthand. Going by Allen Domelle's article, he and other pastors have been phoning each other and talking together about this. How many have talked to the pastor of First Baptist about their concerns? I think another article containing an interview with the pastor of First Baptist would be a good idea.

I'm not a pastor, but since we will temporarily have church services at my house for the next two weeks, technically the driveway is my assigned parking spot, haha! However, since my driveway is only one car space long, I will move my car down the road a bit so those on motor scooters can park there instead. The pastor will have to park down the road as well since his van won't fit in the driveway with the motor scooters. Honestly, I think this is a non-issue. I'm not going to judge a pastor for having an assigned parking spot or praise a pastor for not having one.

The church I attend doesn't have a parking lot, I usually have to find parking about a block away. If there's space, the pastor will park next to the church, but it's usually random cars there. The front of the church is roped off so random people don't park there, but that space is usually for bikes and motor scooters. I bought a bike the other day and plan on biking to church on nice days because the parking is so frustrating at times. One thing I do miss about the States is the luxury of parking lots, haha! ?

There's nothing inherently wrong with drinking coffee or other beverages at church, but if there are clear rules about eating or drinking in certain areas during certain times, it would be respectful to follow those rules. My church doesn't have such rules, but when I attend churches that do, I follow them.

I put mine in with the paper recycling, it wasn't in any shape for donation.

On Sunday Typhoon Haikui, a category 3 typhoon, hit Taiwan. This is the first typhoon to directly impact Taiwan in four years, and it has caused quite a bit of damage. The path of the storm went directly over the little village my parents used to live, and I currently live about 30 minutes south, so we got the brunt of the storm. Several praises: I'm fine and my house wasn't damaged too badly, the tiles from a neighbors house did some damage to my overhang and there is a leak in one of the bedrooms, but otherwise that's it. The pastor I'm working under, Pastor Pan and his wife Deana are living in the house my parents used to own. The house is fine (although without power, but another neighbor loaned them a generator!), and their family is fine, as well as all my friends. Praise God for his protection! Prayer requests: Cleanup is overwhelming. I don't have as much to clean up as the Pan family or some of my friends who live in that same village. The Pan family lost a lot of trees, some of which had sentimental value as they were planted by my dad. They're going to try to save some of them. Their chicken coop lost its roof, and the fence around their property was flattened. My other friend has had some damage to their house and will be a little difficult to clear away some of the larger debris, such as a water tower. Some missionaries on the other side of Taiwan have offered to come over to help with cleanup, which will be a blessing. Just pray for us as this process is exhausting, both physically and emotionally.

Thank you! Does the "ignore user" option block people from messaging me? I want to be prepared in case this person makes another profile in the future.