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10 The Lord has made me very grateful that at last you have thought about me once again. Actually, you were thinking about me all along, but you didn't have any chance to show it. 11 I am not complaining about having too little. I have learned to be satisfied with whatever I have. 12 I know what it is to be poor or to have plenty, and I have lived under all kinds of conditions. I know what it means to be full or to be hungry, to have too much or too little. 13 Christ gives me the strength to face anything. 14 It was good of you to help me when I was having such a hard time. 15 My friends at Philippi, you remember what it was like when I started preaching the good news in Macedonia. After I left there, you were the only church that became my partner by giving blessings and by receiving them in return. 16 Even when I was in Thessalonica, you helped me more than once. 17 I am not trying to get something from you, but I want you to receive the blessings that come from giving. 18 I have been paid back everything, and with interest. I am completely satisfied with the gifts that you had Epaphroditus bring me. They are like a sweet-smelling offering or like the right kind of sacrifice that pleases God. 19 I pray that God will take care of all your needs with the wonderful blessings that come from Christ Jesus! 20 May God our Father be praised forever and ever. Amen. Monday Morning 2-18-2008 - Letter from Pastor Mike
I think that if we are honest- we all have questions. We have questioned the fairness of God - the love of God- why He allows terrible things to happen in our world when He could have stopped them - why some are born in abject poverty and suffering and some of us have been born with the proverbial silver spoon in the mouth- why some grow-up in Sunday Schools and homes where Jesus is learned about from day 1 and some are born and never hear a voice saying that "Jesus loves me, this I know". Real questions - and real people are asking them. Do we have any answers?
Last Thursday a young man walked into a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University and began shooting students. After killing 5 of them, he turned the gun on himself and committed suicide. So many questions. Most of them begin with "why?. When the news first began to filter into my world, it got my attention. I have been to the campus of NIU many times. My son, Chad, graduated from NIU and our nephew is a senior there right now. So while many of you reading this may not have heard about what happened on Thursday on a college campus in a small farm town in Illinois, you can all fill in your own events that pull out of each of us that cry of - "WHY?"
If you are waiting with baited breath for me to unravel the mysteries of God and give you that all-satisfying answer that will suffice for the questions of why- you are going to be sorely disappointed. But I will share some thoughts with you that I have found helpful in my desire to get a grip on the world that I live in and to help others along the way.
When God said- "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways" (Isaiah 55:8) - He wasn't kidding. When we embrace Jesus as our Savior, we begin a life of faith. Faith that God is who He says that He is. Faith that He will act according to His nature. So - often that question of "why" brings us to that principle of faith. God doesn't ask us to understand, He asks us to trust Him by faith. You will remember our friend Job's struggle with some of these issues as he questioned God. When God finished answering him- all he could say was ok Lord- I retract all that I said- just teach me and I will listen ( Job 42).
It is always amazing to me that God knew all the pain that we would create for Him before He ever created us and yet He still went ahead! He could surely have avoided a lot of holy heart ache and holy suffering if He would have just passed on the idea of our creation. But He didn't. Why?- well because He is God. He is a creative God- a loving God - a sacrificing God- and yes- a sovereign God. He did not create robots who would be programmed to do just what He wanted like some silicon valley game programmer. If He would have, you and I would not be able to experience real joy, real love, and a real relationship with Him. The presence of evil and all that it gives birth to were not created by God but allowed for by God as necessary for the relationship that He longs to have with us.
If God were to intervene like a loving grandparent and constantly stop evil and its results- you and I would be doomed to a life just like we see today. A life filled with the heartaches that sin and evil brings without a victory to bring them to a halt. Yes, He can stop the evil, but that would not change our hearts and we would be doomed to live like this forever.
Jesus grappled with the question- is there another way? in the garden. But there wasn't. Sin, evil, the devil need to be defeated in order for us to have this wonderful, personal relationship that God longs for. And so He simply said- "Not my will be done but yours." God watched His Son, taunted, tortured, humiliated, mocked, spat upon, laid on a cross, nailed to it, and died. Could He has stopped it- of course. But He didn't. Do I fully understand this- no- but I believe. And it works.
Habakkuk struggled with these questions. God said to him- Habakkuk, I am doing things in your day that you wouldn't understand even if I told you! (Habakkuk 1:5) The same is true today. God is working in our world, in your life and ministry- in my life and ministry- in my country and yours- in ways that we wouldn't understand even if He told us!
So- we live by history- we look back and see all that God has done. How He has led us through the valleys and over the mountain tops. Through the fires and the quiet times of peace and joy. And we live by faith and the promises of His Word.
No, I don't have all the answers. Sometimes my world and life are shaken. But I have a place to run to. And I do have an answer to share with a world that has lots of questions.
Just Something to Think About
Pastor Mike
PS- Perhaps you have thoughts that have helped you with the questions- share them with me and I will
share them with you all.
Praise the Lord- Laura and Radek Kolarik have welcomed David John to their family. Everybody is doing
great. 
for the doctor to have wisdom to bring relief and healing before our trip to Romania this April.
Pray- Continue to pray for our missions trip to Romania this April as plans are still being made.
Pray for contacts that I will be making this week to share the ministry of The Philippian Fellowship with.
Pray for Pastor Gyorgy Varga and his wife Aniko. They are planning to come to visit their sister church
in Waldoboro, Maine this April. Pray for the paperwork that needs to be completed so that they can
get the needed documents to come to the US.
Have a great week- we are praying for you,
The purpose of The Philippian Fellowship shall be to solicit and provide various means of support and encouragement to Evangelical Pastors and churches who are currently ministering in various countries, and who meet the criteria for sponsorship as established by The Philippian Fellowship. This will be accomplished by fostering a sister-church relationship between the sponsoring church and the congregation being sponsored. This support shall include, but not be limited to: the financial support, prayer support, technical assistance, counseling, training, and encouragement, as required to allow a pastor to either initially pursue or enhance his ability to effectively minister to a local congregation within the developing nation.
We believe...
...that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are inspired of God and that they are without error in the original writings. They are the supreme and final authority for faith and life.
...in one God, Creator and Sustainer of the universe, Who is eternally existent in three persons - Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
...in the Deity of Jesus Christ, His virgin birth, sinless life, His death to pay the penalty for our sins, His bodily resurrection, and His exaltation at God's right hand.
...that all men have sinned and are therefore guilty before God and are under His condemnation.
...that all who by faith receive Jesus Christ are born again of the Holy Spirit, therefore becoming children of God, and that the Holy Spirit baptizes every believer to enable them to live a life according to Christ's example.
...that God gives spiritual gifts to all believers for the building up of the body of Christ. We believe that God hears the prayers of His people and meets their needs according to His purpose.
...in the bodily resurrection of the saved and unsaved, and the redemption of the saved to eternal life with God through the sacrifice of Christ.
...in the imminent return of Christ to rapture His church.
...in the everlasting conscious punishment of the damned and the everlasting conscious blessedness of the righteous.
Copyright 2006, Philippian Fellowship
