Bible College - SONBI

So it's been a few days since a posting... sorry about that. Yesterday was a great day! I got to speak (and see) w/my WHOLE family over SKYPE! Two days ago was my nephew Eli's birthday! Big UNO! He's growing up so fast..haha. And yesterday (well I guess today back in the states) is my sister, Desi's Birthday! So lots of exciting and sweet times to be in joy for sure. Praise God for technology! It was great and a huge encouragement to speak w/my family! Here I am physically in the Philippines, serving as a missionary, and my family is back in the states keep me alive in Christ, through prayer! I am not the only one a part of this ministry! All of your prayers are the backbone, and for your prayers, I am eternally thankful! The past few days have been study days. Dave is getting ready for a lot of messages to give, both here and back in the states. I have been studying a bit for the week that I'll be teaching. Keep me in prayer for that, because there are 9 studies per week, and only by God's grace, I'll make it through.. haha! But seriously!

SONBI is the name of the local Bible College here in Himamaylan. This morning I had the opportunity to actually teach the missions class, and as I studied a good portion of the day yesterday, God led me to learn more and share about True Worship. I wanted to let them know that worshipping God is so much more than picking up a guitar and singing a song. And praise God worship doesn't end there, because if so, I'd be an Awful worshiper of the Lord. So, though I did not nearly cover the totality of worship, and probably just spoke heresy the whole time (only partially joking, haha), I chose to dig into John 4. It's a great chapter, speaking of Jesus meeting the Samaritan woman. She had her eyes focused on the physical, while Jesus spoke to her about the Spiritual Realities. Of course, in the flesh, she did not understand, for she did not have Godly wisdom. She did quite the opposite of what Colossians 1:2 tells us to do. Jesus reveals her sin, bringing her in the light, and then tells her she does not know what she worships! Then continues by telling her that God seeks for TRUE WORSHIPPERS of the Father, worshipping in Spirit and Truth. So as class we got to look at what it meant to be a True Worshipper of Jesus Christ, and what it means to Worship God in Spirit and Truth! It ended w/the question, "What/Whom do you worship?" I emphasized that everyone, believer or not, serves a god, and worships that god. Like the Samaritan women, Jesus tells us that "we worship what we do not know". We think we are worshipping God, but often Christians worship church, or the ministry, or even the Bible (reading it as a text book to gain intellectual knowledge and be puffed up) rather than worshipping the Creator, worshipping not the Bible but whom the Bible points to and speaks of: Jesus Christ.

Now, I was pretty nervous, and bit scared, but I guess thats normal for me when stepping out. I know the Lord wants to bring me out of Complacency and streeeeeetch me to do things I never thought I'd be doing. Before I left this morning, knowing that I was a bit nervous and unsure of how the teaching will go, Pastor Dave prayed for Jesus to just fill me with the Holy Spirit - guiding, calming, and directing me. It was such a blessing to watch the Lord be in control of the study. It's amazing to feel the Holy Spirit teaching and guiding me as I share what I learned about Worship with the students. Again, it was such a blessing, and encouraging to be reminded of how great and faithful He is to me.

After the study, we worshipped God in song, and then I helped the girls put new string on their guitar at the bible college. They have a pretty old guitar, and they told me that they have had the same strings for 5 years!!! And you can definitely notice the wear on them. So, we helped them re-string, get in tune, and now they can continue worshipping in song on their own. Overall it was a great time worshipping God in the study, in song and in the fellowship!

Jesus is Good. Thanks for the prayers so far. Really, they mean a lot....

Specific Prayer Requests:

- For God to continue to poor out His Spirit in me, emptying me of myself.

- Godly Wisdom, to be in tune and sensitive to His voice.

- My family back at home, to continue to run the race, seeking Jesus.

- Dave and Jen as they prepare to head back to the states next week

- Bembem (Jen's Bro) to be guided and directed by the Holy Spirit & for Children's Ministry.

- Lives to be changed here in Himamaylan (National Disciples raised up by the power of Christ)

Love you much,

-Nick