EMPTIED TO BE FILLED

Philippines Trip Update: Here are some reports from the last trip to Digos City to teach this Pastor group. Reading these reports will help you to get a flavor of what I will be doing there and what the Training Leaders International mission is all about. I will send you the link for reports from our trip when we begin to post them.

http://trainingleadersinternational.org/trips/166/philippines-january-2017 

I continue to pray for this trip and to prepare.

Last Sunday in the Foundations class we listened to an overview of the Beatitudes in Matthew 5. One point that was made is that we are often too full of other things to receive the Christ life described in these Beatitudes which then prevents us from expressing this life to others. I have been thinking about that point in relation to the command given to us in Ephesians 5.18, "Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit".

The Beatitudes begin by saying "Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God". The whole process of receiving what we have been given by God in Christ begins with recognizing our own spiritual poverty. Often this poverty is recognizing the bankruptcy of our own "fullness" - living by our own strength, serving our own goals, focused on our purposes, using the world's methods, pursuing the world's treasures, conforming to the secular worldview and its cultural agenda. When the Holy Spirit exposes this "fullness" it leads us to spiritual poverty which leads to repentance, mourning over our emptiness. True repentance leads to a teachable spirit which grows in knowledge in Christ and then expresses the life of Christ in us to others, receiving from some the adverse reaction of the world. This is a process that must continue to be repeated as we grow in grace and in the fullness of the Spirit.
This is the process taught in Ephesians 5.18. We can be full of the world (be drunk on its wine), or we can say no to the world and be full of Christ in the filling of the Spirit. This command is a continuous present tense. We are to "be being filled" with the Holy Spirit. This command is given to the local church community even though it must be obeyed individually. The results can be found in verses Ephesians 5.19 to 6.9 - rejoicing, thanksgiving and submission to one another. This Christ-like attitude and activity which expresses Christ will be reacted to by the world and we need to be prepared for this as Ephesians 6.10 -20 teaches us.

Is this a metaphor for your life? Luke 10.38-42

 God our Father is at work to reveal to us where our hands are too full and need to be emptied to receive more of what we have been given in Christ. God has a blessed purpose of showing us our spiritual poverty in trials and circumstances. That is what Hebrews 12 is about and what James means when he encourages us to "count it all joy" when we face trials. God's purpose is our fullness in Christ.

 

THANKSGIVERS

Philippines Trip Update: I have purchased my tickets to fly to Manila and back, and also to fly to Davao on the island of Mindanao from which we drive 3 hours to our teaching site. I have began to study my curriculum on Interpreting and Preaching the Gospel of Mark. Just over 50% of those who pledged funds to this trip have contacted me that they have sent in those pledges. Let me know if you have done this so I can update my files. At the end of April I will get a financial summary from Reach Beyond Canada. For information on how to send funds see last blog entry Decision Made.

I am slowly reading True Spirituality by Francis Schaeffer, an old classic. I mean slowly in the sense of reading and rereading in order to follow Schaeffer's logic, savoring the biblical truths he presents like a tasty seasoned tender steak that melts in your mouth (I have not had any of those steaks but I have heard stories), letting the simple but profound truths sink deeply into my soul. Not that Schaeffer's logic is difficult to follow. Rather it is that he presents so clearly the essence of the Gospel - the depth of our sinful condition, the primary sin of coveting that is so deeply rooted in our being by the fall, and the fact that apart from a supernatural new birth the process of spiritual change cannot even begin. That spiritual change is rooted in the cross of Christ, not only because of what the cross allowed God to do in us, but how we are to allow the cross to change our coveting nature to a nature of love patterned on God's love.

Finally I rejoice afresh in how Schaeffer emphasizes one of my favorite themes, the thanksgiving of the Christian. Schaeffer shows how often thanksgiving is included in God's commands to us (Ephesians 5.20; Philippians 4.6; Colossians 2.7, 3.15, 17; 1 Thessalonians 5.18) culminating in Romans 1.21 were the reason for the wrath of God on mankind is that they did glorify God nor give thanks to God. He points out from Ephesians 5.3-4 how "but giving of thanks" at the end of the verse is a contrast to the list of sins mentioned there.
Genuine thanksgiving to God is not compatible with sin for genuine thanksgiving to God is nothing less than worship. God has called us as worshipers and workers until the day when our work will be fully eclipsed by worship.

DECISION MADE

On Friday, March 31st, I had no thought or desire of going on a Training Leaders International trip to the Philippines. Then came the email inviting me to return again to the Philippines for a trip at the end of May. They needed one more teacher. Since my last trip to Tanzania was not well supported I was reluctant to take another trip so soon and so left the decision in your hands by asking who might support this trip and deciding that I would go only if 80% of the funds were pledged. As of Sunday morning exactly 80% of the funds were pledged.
Here is how the pledges came in: By Monday night after my blog was sent 57% was pledged. I was very encouraged. By Tuesday night 58% was pledged. I was starting to doubt that this trip would happen. By Wednesday night 63%. This trip may be possible??!! By Thursday night 67.5%. I began to feel in my heart that I wanted to make this trip so what would I do if less than 80% came in? By Friday night no change 67.5%. Now I was starting to worry that I would no be able to go if I stayed true to my 80% goal. By Saturday night 73% was pledged. Oh so close. Sunday morning I received a pledge that took me to 80%. After church I emailed TLI to confirm that I would join the team and since that time have received pledges to meet the rest of the cost of the trip.

I want to thank all of you who have generously pledged donations for this trip to the Philippines and most of all I praise God for His goodness to me and to the Pastors we will be teaching in the Philippines. I am now looking forward to this trip and especially since I have reviewed the curriculum. We are teaching "Interpreting and Preaching the Book of Mark". The students have now taken Hermeneutics, Biblical Theology, The Attributes of God and the book of Ruth and Jonah. We will be reviewing and then taking what they have learned in all these courses as we study the book of Mark, helping them to put all the components together to form and preach a sermon. Each student will be preaching their sermon from various passages in Mark to the class. In this course we will be seeking to mesh the theoretical aspects of how to study and interpret a Bible passage, recognize its theology, see its place in the canon of scripture, and its application to our present culture and then form that into a preachable sermon. This course will be a challenge to teach so please pray for me and the other three teachers. There is much content to cover and practice to take place.

I would now ask you to please send your pledged donations in:
1) By mailing a check to Reach Beyond Canada, Unit 3- 44 Saltsman Dr, Cambridge, ON, N3H 4R7. Include a note which says for Ron Latulippe Philippines May 2017 trip.
2) Online at <http://reachbeyond.ca/> then click DONATE button, and then from the drop down menu select - "Donate to a missionary and indicate name below in message", then enter "Ron Latulippe - Philippines May 2017" in the "Message for Reach Beyond" box below, then fill out remaining credit card information.
3) Please send me an email <rtulip231@gmail.com> when you have sent in your donation so I can keep track of my budget for this trip. If you have any questions please email me.

Again I praise God for your fellowship (working as partners) in the training of Pastors and the increase of the Gospel. ron 

SHALL I GO?

I have not written a blog entry in a few weeks because I have been busy and also uninspired, but I did not expect to write to you today about what is below.

I received an email on the weekend from the team leader for the Philippines whom I served under last May on my trip to the Philippines with Training Leaders International (TLI). Here is the email:

Ron,

How are things going for you? It's been a while since we last communicated.

I just wanted you to be aware that we have a need for an additional teacher going to the Philippines (Mindanao) on May 26th to June 4th.  We are teaching the Gospel of Mark.  I know it's short notice but I thought I would check with you. 

There are three of us on the team and we need one more. Dick Albright from TLI is willing to go but he would have to fly directly from a trip to Ethiopia to the Philippine to join us and THEN fly back to Ethiopia for another week of teaching.

Let me know if you're interested in joining us.

Weymann

My last trip with TLI was not long ago to Tanzania in February and that trip was not very well supported by donors so I have taken this unusual step of asking you if you would support this trip to the Philippines if I was to say yes. I am willing to go on this trip if the support is evident. I am not asking you to send any funds for now. What I am asking you to do is to send me an email at <rtulip231@gmail.com> letting me know if you would support this trip and what your donation might be. If I receive commitments for 80% of the cost of this trip by next Sunday I will commit to go. TLI has said that I would not have to send in all the funds for my trip by departure date so your commitment would not need to be paid until the end of July.

I know these are difficult financial times for everyone and many organizations are asking for donations so I ask you to make a commitment to donate to this trip without feeling obliged in any way and only if you want to get involved. If you have a sense that God is leading you to support this trip to the Philippines that would be great. I will let everyone know next Monday if I shall go on this trip or not. ron