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October Church Presentation

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November Newsletter Text

Hey, it has been a few weeks since I last sent a newsletter, the last one I sent was in September. As you know, I was home for a visit during the month of October. I was able to travel to Vancouver, to Saskatchewan and to Pennsylvania in the USA. It was a good time to rest and to reconnect with my spiritual roots; something that is important when you feel a little isolated at times being so far away from home. I was encouraged and strengthened and enjoyed fellowship with many people. I did not send a newsletter in October because I figured that you would probably run in to me or see me when I was back. I have been back here in the Philippines for a few days now... still seem to be having trouble getting over jetlag and getting myself back into the swing of things though. While I was travelling I was able to visit and share with a handful of churches about what is going on here in the Philippines, which led me to put the verse at the top from 1 Peter. Just realized afresh that we are not each building our own house; that the church surrounded by corn fields in the middle of Pennsylvania dutch country is a part of what God is doing here in the Philippines and vise versa.

We have had a team here for a few days since getting back. There was about eight people visiting from another church on the east coast. They had some real insight into the ministry and were an encouragement and a challenge to all the leadership. The pastors that came on the trip have visited the Philippines several times and so were quite aware of all that God has been doing in Agdao in the past years and are aware of some of the real needs that we have.
It has been wonderful to come back to see things running quite well after being away for a month. I think that this is a testament to the quality local leadership that we have. There is a real spirit of discipleship and restoration right now. Today one of youth who had been having some real struggles returned from an internship program in the north. He had been working with a home for battered women as a grounds keeper and a guard. When he left he was really struggling with sin and with several other deep hurts in his life. Today when I saw him there was joy and there was peace in his eyes. As he shared in devotions I was just amazed at God's faithfulness in his life.

I guess the hilight of my return would have to be stepping in the gate and have some of the kids run up to me and give me a hug. I really missed that! Well, I am running out of space here. I'd like you to continue to pray for all of us here. Please pray for:

• God's annointing
• Wisdom for our leadership as we set the direction for the coming year
• God's continued financial provision for the 2008 budget
• For God to bring people to his kingdom
  

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Video from September 9th Sermon

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Sermon Notes from September 9th

My sermon from Sunday... check out Jean Guichard's fascinating photos at http://www.jean-guichard.com/ and make sure to watch the animation on the first page.

------------------------

REST:
We can find it at any moment.

September 9th, 2007

INTRO:

This morning I would like to talk about something that I think is very central to the Christian faith, but something that many of us... including myself... have not fully grasped... or really have in our everyday lives. I know it is hot in here and I know that most of us are probably looking forward to enjoying the afternoon off... but please try and follow what I have to say, I think it is something that could really change your life. As I said before, whenever I used to listen to a sermon, I would always ask myself the question. “SO WHAT? HOW DOES THIS AFFECT MY LIFE ON MONDAY?” I hope that what I have to say is something that will affect your everyday life. What I want to talk about today is inner peace. Something that all Christians should be full of, and yet many of us are as stressed out and sometimes even more stressed out then those who don't know the Lord.

How many of you have something in your life right now that worries you? Raise your hand and keep them up. Something that keeps you awake at night? Something that makes you feel uneasy or uncertain about your future. Something that steals your peace... raise your hand and keep them up? Things that make you feel afraid and that you don't know what to do about? Things that burden your heart and make you feel like you can't carry the load sometimes... things that make you feel paralyzed? How many are worried about money? Raise your hand and look around... did you know that Christ has an answer for each of us and that it is not his will that we live under burdens and under fear! .... and that the answer is not always to take away the thing or the situation affecting us... but to bring us his peace and his presence in the midst of the struggle. To comfort us and bring us peace though there is a storm around us. Scripture is very clear that struggles and pain and fear are normal:

1 Peter 4:12 says... surprised at a strange thing happening
1 Peter 1:6 says... distressed by various trials

Now those two verses talk about trials as a tool for God to develop our character, but I want you just to see the point that trials are a normal part of life. I want to tell you about something that I experienced this week that made me loose my peace... that made me worry and made me anxious.

--Tell story about the credit card and online banking thing.

Now most of wish that our lives were like this... SHOW PICTURE OF CALM OCEAN , but in reality most of our lives are something like this... SHOW PICTURE OF ROUGH OCEAN . Life can be rough... we can feel like we are sinking... there is no solid ground around... dark clouds are looming... things that we trust in can't seem to be found... they are floating away...

There is a famous french photographer named named Jean Guichard. If you are interested in some of his photographs, come talk to me after the service and I can help you find his website. He has a lot of fascinating photos. One of his specialties is light houses. He was made famous by a set of photos that he took of a lighthouse being hit by some huge waves off the coast of France I believe. SHOW PICTURES OF LIGHTHOUSE AND DESCRIBE WHAT IS HAPPENING.

I think that this is an excellent illustration for us. God does not always stop the waves, but provides us protection and rest from them. If you don't hear anything else today I want you to hear the fact that Jesus is your lighthouse. Though things around you seem out of control, there is a place you can run to and be safe. In the arms of the Lord. Before we open the word, lets pray together. Please stand with me.

-Pray!

SCRIPTURE:

1) Psalm 46:1-3:
-Though the whole world falls apart, we have no reason to fear because God is a very present help in trouble. God is present. Though the waters roar and foam... our lighthouse stands strong. Though there is turmoil in our lives... there is a secret and safe place that we can go to find rest for our souls... we can be with God. I remember when I was stressing out about the credit card, its like I had totally forgotten about all the times that he helped me before... like I had forgotten scriptures that I had read or testimonies that I have heard... of God's promises to help, of evidence of him helping me in the past and seeing God work in other people's lives. No matter what we are going through... GOD IS PRESENT. In fact it says in this scripture that God is very present.

I want you to be assured this morning that God is ready to comfort you whereever you are at. It does not matter what you are going through God is available. It may even be a sin you are dealing with in your life... God is ready to comfort you and keep you safe and to wrap his arms around you in the midst of whatever you are going through. Remember he may not always calm the waves... but he can be trusted to carry you through.

-Matthew 14:28-32
-Sometimes you just need to take your eyes off of the storm and look to Christ.

2) Psalm 23:1-4
-God is a God who can restore your soul. Have your struggles left you weak and broken... do you feel worn out. Sometimes the things we go through are beyond what we can deal with and they leave us broken... they leave us weakened... they seem to steal our strength. Read Psalm 23:1-4.
-God is a God who restores souls... There is something about the presence of God that brings life. Those of you who raised your hands... that thing that you are dealing with... it may be wearing you down, but God is available and ready to restore your soul. There is nothing like God's presence and his spirit to bring new life and restoration to your soul. You could take 5 months of holiday, but without God's presence... you will never feel rested.
-In North America there are people really into restoring old cars... but when they restore them...
-Ilustration with the shirt...
-God want's to bring a change from the inside out... are you trying hard to appear happy and that you got it together... there is a better way. God want's to get inside your heart and heal you. He wants to restore you. Now I am going to need a volunteer.

3) Matthew 11:28-30
-It's easy. Just let go of things and come to him. Read the first verse. Jesus did not make things complicated.. he just said come to me and I will give you rest. I think that sometimes we make the Christian walk too complicated... when all along Jesus told us that his kingdom belongs to little children. Why should we complicate or make things difficult. Jesus simply put it, come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you. What is a yoke? No caribou ever has two yokes on... in order to find rest you need to let go of your burdens... you need to take off your yoke. You need to let go of your burdens... stop hold onto everything so tightly. My credit card issue!... it was so stressful because I was holding onto it so tightly.
Jesus is gentle and humble in heart... his yoke is easy and his burden is light. I don't want to say much more because I believe that Christ's words are quite clear.

APPLICATION:

Since Patrick and Inneke left the burden of the responsibility of HFTN has slowly been falling onto me... and at times it has not been easy. There have been many issues and uncertainties to deal with as there have been some hard days and many changes with things here... it has at times been a heavy load. Every week there are concerns and issues that need attention... some of them serious, some of them not so serious. Last weekend I felt very overwhelmed by all that was going on and by some uncertainties that I see in our future.
And last Saturday I escaped to my secret prayer place that I found and can tell you about if you ask nicely... and cried out to God. As I prayed I heard God saying to me something that my mom and dad wrote in the bible that they gave me, something very simple, but very profound... you are secure and God is enough.
His love for you is greater then anything which you could ever experience and you cannot be separated from his love. Though everything falls apart, you are secure in his love for you. He will hold you close. His love is far more powerful then anything that you could ever imagine.

TAKE HOME:
--5minutes of silence (Psalm 91?)
--I exalt thee

BABY DEDICATION:

Call everyone forward.

Deut. 6:6,7
Proverbs 22:6

1) Address the church, have them stand.
This is a new member of our community and the body of Christ. We are all one body and responsible for Zephaniah. I want you all to commit to praying for Ana and for Zephaniah. There will be days when she needs us and needs our prayers. We must also commit to being examples to Zephaniah. Examples in our relationship with God, to be passionate and dedicated to the Lord ourselves and to be examples how we love and nuture the family members in our lives.

2) Address the extended people:
Ana asked you here today because she trusts you and wants you to play a part in her life and in Zephaniahs life. I would like you to commit yourselves not only to Zephaniah, but especially to Ana. There will be days when Ana will not know what to do as a parent, when she will come to the end of her rope. When being a parent is just too heavy for her. She will need encouragement. She will need you to ask how she is doing... and find out what is bothering her. She will need you to speak wisdom into her life and to challenge her when she is not doing things right. But most importantly, she will need your love. She will need you to tell her that you care about her and that you are thinking of her. Zephaniah will be relying on Ana and Ana will be relying on you and on the Lord.

3) Address Ana:
Deut. 6:6,7
These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

Proverbs 22:6
Train a child in the way he should go,
and when he is old he will not turn from it.

Ana, you are responsible to teach and train Zephaniah about life, about God, and about the person of Jesus Christ. You can only do this with Christ's strength. Ask any parent in here and they will tell you that it is not easy... but you can do all things with Christ strengthening you. We cannot forsee all that will happen, but Christ will be with you all the time. Commit to doing your best and to trusting God for everything else.

4) Annoint Zephaniah. Have all at front dip their fingers in oil and annoint each part...

-feet
-hands
-ears
-mouth
-eyes
-mind

5) Prayer


VERSE:
D G A D Bm
For Thou, O Lord, art high above all the earth.
G A D
Thou art exalted far above all gods.
D G A D Bm
For Thou, O Lord, art high above all the earth.
G A7 D
Thou art exalted far above all gods.


CHORUS:
D A G D
I exalt Thee, I exalt Thee, I exalt Thee, O Lord.
D A G D
I exalt Thee, I exalt Thee, I exalt Thee, O Lord.

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Newsletter for September

Things have been going good here in Agdao. The two weeks with three pastors from Harvest Church in New Jersey was amazing. This church had actually been involved in founding the ministry and so it was wonderful to get some spiritual guidance and renewal from some of our spiritual fathers. They held youth services, did personal counselling and conducted a seminar called “Walking in Freedom.” It was well attended by several of our youth, volunteers, staff, and surprisingly by several of the mothers who are involved in the Tabitha feeding program. They also did some teaching on unity and I believe it was a very fruitful and timely visit. I think that it really refreshed a lot of our staff, who have been feeling very burdened lately.

I have been meeting with three of the young guys who volunteer and work with us once a week. I have been encouraging them to in turn meet with three other guys themselves once a week. I hope that I can multiply the effort and time that I spend with them. The goal of the meeting is to share and encourage one another in our walk with God and to hold each other accountable. They are good guys and I see potential in all of them to become leaders in the community here and to reach others far more effectively then I could. Sometimes the language barrier can pose a problem, but we do our best to understand one another... hey it helps me to continue learning Bisayan (the language spoken here). My bible study is also going good. I have had about 7-10 guys coming these days and we are going through some material on how to be a Godly man and how to treat women in our lives. Every week I try and bring a woman in to explain how they like to be treated by men.

The church has been running really well. I am preaching again this Sunday. I think I will preach on the sufficiency and security of Christ's love for us. I really want our people to find rest for their souls in the arms of Christ. Our numbers have been steadily growing and by the number of communion cups that we went through on Sunday there was well over 100 people in our service... not that numbers tell the story but it is encouraging to see so many new faces in the crowd.

The feeding program has seen a steady increase in numbers and we are over a hundred. I think that the last count was about 110 kids. The staff has done a really good job reorganizing the way things are done to accommodate more kids. If there was one thing I would like to show you it is the Tabitha feeding program. It really is the heart of HFTN here in Davao. I guess I am out of space again... I love and miss you all! Please pray for the following:
For God's wisdom and annointing for all our staff
For Financial provision for the ministry for 2008

-That God's kingdom would come to Agdao and lives would be changed
-That God would raise up leaders to bring change to this community
-That God would bring his structure and plan to HFTN


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Sermon notes August 5th, 2007

HOPE: What is it and what does it do for me?
August 5th, 2007

The title of this mornings sermon is HOPE: What is it and what does it do for me?

I want to begin today by telling you a story. Its a story from a time when wars were fought with sword and shield and bow and arrow. There was once a great kingdom of people who lived on the open plains. They had no fortress or defense of any kind. They lived life in the open. They loved horses and would hunt for food and protect their land on horseback. However, a dark power began to rise up that hated these horsemen; that hated the fact that they lived so freely. So they began to build a huge army to go and wipeout the horsemen. In total the horsemen had only several thousand warriors and when they heard that the evil force had built an army of tens of thousands they knew that they could not win a battle with them in the open. So the horsemen decided to flee to a fortress that their ancestors had built for such a moment. They took up refuge their and waited for their enemy to arrive.

Although the fortress that they fled to had never been overtaken and although the people had never lost a battle in this fortress fear began to grip them. These people were horsemen, used to running free and fighting their battles in the open, but now they were cornered deep in the mountains in a fortress... and their enemy was approaching... they could hear the enemies drum beat and footsteps as tens of thousands of enemies soldiers came closer. Even scarier was the glow on the horizon from the enemies torches that they carried in the night. The courage of the horsemen began to fail.

At this moment, one of their leaders named Aragorn is sitting on a set of steps in the castle speaking with a young soldier and asks him how is doing. The young boy answers, “I am afraid sir, the men say that we will not last that night. They say that there is no hope.” Now Aragorn is a man who is rightfully their king, but he has always run from his destiny, but in this moment he rises up and answers... “There is always hope!” Now some of you may have guess that this is from the story the Lord of the Rings, which I am sure that you have heard about. But that line is one of my favorites... “There is always hope!” After Aragorn says that, it is like it starts a fire in his heart and in the men around him... although the battle is tough, they eventually win. Because they had hope that they could win the fight they continued on even though it seemed impossible. Because they had hope, even though many men were lost and the enemy kept coming they persevered. If there was no hope to win, what would be the point in fighting. If they had no hope they likely would not have fought as hard as they did and make the sacrifices that they did.

What I want to talk to you about this morning is Hope! Paul talks about faith, hope and love in 1 Corinthians. I find it interesting that we talk a lot about faith and a lot about love... but I have not heard many sermons or teaching about hope.

Please turn with me to 1 Peter 1:3 and 13. But before we read it, lets pray together.

PRAYER

What is hope?

Hope is a word that we use a lot in the english language, but I think that the hope that we use most of the time is not the same hope that Peter uses here in the bible. We often use hope in sentences like. I hope there is enough rice left over for me or Sanny might say I hope that Amor is not mad at me for not washing the dishes... that might be more like wishful thinking then its like hope. In other words, we often use hope for things that have a good chance of not happening or that we are not really confident about.

But the hope that Peter talks about here is entirely different. Peter is referring to hoping for the delivery of a promise of God... to the promise of salvation for those that believe in Christ... the salvation of our souls. “fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” The grace referred to here is the salvation of our souls. This is a hope in something that is sure. It is not wishful thinking. It is not a 50/50 chance that we will be saved. It is not even a 90% chance that we will be saved.

Story about Owen getting saved. Please turn to Romans 10:9.

::::Hope is an anticipation of the delivery of a promise of God::::

What are we hoping for?
1)Eternal Life (a home)
--John 3:16
--It is hard to think of eternal life here on earth. Everything around us seems to have an end. You buy a new shirt... it looks great at first but after a few weeks you notice its color begin to change and after a while you don't wear it much... eventually you stop wearing it and you throw it away. The load you just bought for your phone eventually gets used up. That big sack of rice you thought would last forever eventually runs out. But once we are a child of |God we have eternal life. We will live forever!
2)Life with Him (a home)
--John 14:2
--Not only do we have eternal life, but we have life with him, in fact he is preparing a place for us to live and to stay. The language here refers to the preparation that a husband would do for his wife before they are married. It refers to him preparing a house and place for her to stay. Like a husband, Christ is preparing a place for us to stay so that we can be near Him and with him.
3)No more suffering or pain
--Revelation 21:4
--This is really simple. There is no more pain and suffering in heaven. The pain, suffering, sadness etc that we experience here will be no more in heaven.

So lets review so far...

Hope is the anticipation of God's promise. It is more of a looking to then wishful thinking!

::::We are hoping for eternal life, a life with him and no more pain::::

How does hope change the way we live today:

1)HOPE GIVES US COURAGE: Psalm 27:13-14
-Someone told me that for Christians, there is always a tomorrow. There is always a next. There is always something to look forward to. I have not talked to Sanny and Amor about their mountain trip last week, but I can imagine what some of it was like. I think that they told me that it is a 6 hour hike to Pingalungin correct? I imagine that at some point during the hike that they started to get tired and that water started to run out. I imagine that at some point the hike stopped being as fun as it was at the beginning and they began to say to themselves, I will be glad when this is over.
-Can you imagine Sanny how you would feel if Mordegai turned to you and said during the hike, I am sorry but there is no end to this walk, we will just walk for the next three days and then go home. If there is no destination in something like that it hardly has a point. Nobody would want to go on and continue. Knowing that at the end of all hardship and work that there is a goal/destination makes it all worth while.
-When we go through painful or hard times we can continue and have courage because we know there is a destination. We have a hope that is sure that no matter how hard the road is that our destination is with Christ for all eternity.
-I know that in some of the darkest days of my life that all I have had to hold onto was God's promise of eternal life. I knew that no matter how bad I felt in the moment, that God still loved me and that if this was the end of me, that I would be with him until eternity. Psalm 27:13-14.
2)HOPE GIVES US PEACE:
-Having a secure salvation is like having a buy in a tournament. When I played basketball in High School some of the tournaments would have an odd number of teams. Therefore one of the teams would get a buy... meaning that they did not have to compete in the first round of the tournament. Sometimes this was given to the best team, sometimes this was given to a team randomnly... but whoever got the buy was at peace at least for that round because they knew that they did not have to perform... they did not have to worry about mistakes that they made.
-We hope in a sure salvation. There is no doubt in it. There is nothing that we need to do other then believe and recieve. We don't have to perform. When we make mistakes we don't say I hope God still loves me or I hope God will forgive me. The hope that we have is for sure. Even if we have sinned the worst possible sin our salvation is sure. Our hope does not rely on us... our hope relies on God!
3)HOPE GIVES US JOY: 1 Peter 1:8
-You know that I often pray that I would be full of joy. I often pray that Lord give me joy in every step that I take today. I think that joy should be the mark of a Christian. I think that in everything that we do in life should be done with joy... now that is easier said then done. Last week our pump stopped working and it really started to rain... and our whole building flooded. .. and Jerry and I tried working on the pump to fix it. Jerry did a lot more work then I did and I saw him working hard one day on it and I asked how it was going... he said with a smile... I am doing my best. It is not always easy to have joy but if we look to the future we have with God, I think that in no matter what situation we are in that we can be full of joy.

Let's review, hope is the anticipation of the delivery of God's promise. We hope for eternal life, life with God and a life without pain or suffering. Hope should give us courage, peace and joy.

Ask yourself today...
-Do I have courage in the face of adversity or am I full of fear?
-Am I full of peace about my salvation or do I think that I have to be perfect?
-Am I full of joy?

August Newsletter

Here is the text from my latest newsletter.

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This is not really related to the work, but a reality of life here and I just wanted to share something interesting with you. When it rains here it rains! I know in Vancouver we get those oppressive months of drizzles that force you into a life of coffee and raincoats, but here you get a months worth of rain in a couple hours! It really is amazing. Our ministry site flooded quite badly because our pump failed during one of these rains a couple nights ago. Oh well, all the kids still got fed and its always a bit cooler when it does rain that hard.

We have been experiencing some refreshing and rebuilding times here at HFTN in the Philippines. As I mentioned a while ago we had been experiencing some tough times and were really relying on God for wisdom and direction in our ministry. Well, I thank you for your prayers, God has been very faithful to us and has been bringing renewal to us and to those that we minister to. For example, we were really questioning whether or not the church that currently runs at our ministry site would really be able to continue and we had prayed that God would make the direction clear and begin to raise up new leaders. Well, God has begun to answer those prayers. We are seeing that the direction for the church is to move from being dependent upon HFTN to being an independent church. Lets face it, one day HFTN may not be in the Philippines, and if that happens God's church will need to continue here. We are also seeing a lot of the youth begin to rise up and take responsibilities in the church. Praise God, without these new leaders we would not be able to continue with the church ministry.

There is a team of three pastors coming on August 11th. They are from an American church on the east coast who have been supporting the work here for a while. They will be preaching in church, doing a two day seminar called "Walking in Freedom" and will be doing pastoral care/counseling with our staff and couples. I really look forward to having them here to be with us and bring some fresh perspective and life. I have had some great moments at my bible study these days. Two weeks ago I shared on God's grace to us as sinners and showed a scene from the beginning of the movie "Les Miserables." It is a really powerful story of God's overwhelming grace to us. Some of the guys could really identify with it. Two pictures below are from the latest Bible study and one is from Tabitha a couple weeks ago. I am preaching again on Sunday. I will be preaching in a few days but I still don't have a message yet in mind; maybe I will preach on Romans 8 and 9.

I have been trying to increase our numbers in the Tabitha feeding program from about 75 regular attenders last month. The goal is to be feeding 150 kids by the end of the year. Right now we are feeding about 100 kids (an increase of 25 in the last few weeks) and this has proven to put some stresses on our resources, but I believe that unless we press forward that we will not be able to expand.

France is doing well. The complications do not seem to be as bad as some thought; please keep praying for complete healing. Well that's all I have space for today, I am trying to keep this under one page but I hope this is a glimpse into what God is doing here. Please keep us in your prayers. God bless!

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A blast from the past...

Here is a website I made a couple years ago. Things have changed a bit since then, but you can see some of the stuff I used to be involved in.

http://davidwicks.50webs.com




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From the Heart

It has been awhile since I just talked about how I am doing on here... lots of pictures and sermon notes, but not too much about me. I have been back here in Agdao for just about two and a half months. Hard to believe huh. It sure feels like a lot longer then that that is for sure.

I have really enjoyed my time the last little while. Definitely been stretched in several situations and it has caused me to grow in my faith, in my dependence on God and has forced me to be more patient and graceful... well, just a little bit more hehe. At this very moment my heart is at peace, in spite of some of the hard things that the ministry has gone through in the last little while... but the dust has started to settle from all of those things and now is the time for us to start to move forward! All of us here sense that God is going to do new and wonderful things. I preached on prayer last week and we started a new weekly prayer meeting on thursday nights. I think that this will be an awesome thing... we had a pretty good turnout on our first night. I hope and prayer that our hunger for God's presence and annointing will continue to grow..

I have been leading a bible study at my home for the last month. I am getting a core group of about 8 guys every week. My vision for this is that we would grow closer to God and be the men that are needed in Agdao! It is fun and they are a great group of guys. We usually close with a funny or meaningful video clip from something. Seems to work well.

I have been so blessed by the support I recieve from my home church (Valley Church ROCKS!). They really are amazing. I miss and love them a lot. I just hope I can live up to the support and concern that they send my way. Well, I best be on my way. See you soon!

Dave


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Facebook photos!

Well, I just found out that facebook's photo uploading works a hundred times better then blogger's... so from now on I will put most pictures there... you can look at them here: facebookphotos. If you are not on facebook... its time to join.


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Sermon Note from Today!

My sermon from July 8th...

-----


Wrestling in Prayer
July 8, 2007

OPEN WITH PRAYER...

Manny Pacquiao. I doubt that there is anyone here who does not know who Manny is. His face is everywhere; on bottles, on posters, on billboards, boxes of milk and cereal etc... He has become a legend. I think that there has even been a movie made about him correct? As much as his career has become a series of media events and advertising campaigns, his boxing career did not start there. He started his career as a fighter...

Imagine what it's like for a moment to be a fighter. Imagine yourself standing at the entry into a
giant stadium... thousands are chanting your name at the thought of you about to enter into the spotlight. You have your hands tightly taped into fists and are wearing a large hood over your head. As you step into the light your face cannot be seen under the hood as you make your way to the ring. Music pounds in the background as you get closer and closer to the center of the stadium where your opponent waits.... but you can hardly hear the music because you are so nervous and you can feel your heartbeat pounding in your stomach and can hear it in your ears. Moments later the anticipation is driving you crazy as the fight almost begins. At that point, only one thing really matters... not luck, not your natural ability, not who is standing in your corner. not the number of promotions you have done through the year... nothing... but the amount of training and preparation that you have put into getting ready for the fight. Fights are won or lost by the amount of training that you have put into a fight.

I think that few people realize how much dedication and sacrifice it takes to be a successful fighter. The moments I just describe to you are what most people think being a fighter is but, few realize what goes on behind the scenes in the months before a fight begins. There was a time in my life when I was really interested in mixed martial arts training... similar to the fighting that the guys do in the Ultimate Fighting Challenge that has become very popular these days. I had the opportunity to spend a day training with a guy named Chuck Liddell. He is a very popular and successful figher and at the time was the Light-heavy wieght champion. He spent some time describing to us his training schedule... it is basically a full time job. I mean even his diet is closely monitored beginning 6 months before the fight actually starts. 6-7 days a week he is in intense physical and mental preparation. Everything that he does is to prepare himself for the upcoming fight. Hours are spent lifting weigths, running, sparring in the ring, practicing techniques. These guys dedicate their entire lives to the goal of winning a fight. Before they do anything they will ask themselves, is this going to help me win the fight? This is the real life of a fighter... the behind the scenes stuff. Before I go any further, lets open up God's word.

Please turn with me to Colossians 4:12-13

You know, I usually don't read the last part of some of Paul's letters. Kind of feels like what he is sharing is not really important. Its like he is saying good-bye to his buddies or sending his final regards or something. But I think that this was a mistake, as I found in this passage, there are still some great things to be found in such “final words.”

I want you to know this morning that I am not just preaching to you... I am preaching I think even more to myself then to anyone else. I mean even as I wrote this I realized how much I need to grow in the area of prayer. So I think what God has laid on my heart is for all of us. What I think God is doing is that he is calling us to passionate and powerful prayer. I cannot inspire you to pray, to pray more or to pray with passion. Only God can! But what I can do is invite you this morning to open your hearts and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you about your prayer life. If you get anything this morning from what I say I hope you get a greater passion to pray.

Paul wrote the book of Colossians while he was in prison. There was a fellow prisoner there named Epaphras who had been praying for the people of Colosse. Lets read verse 12 and 13 together.

I have to admit that when I read these verses that I was almost brought to tears. Reading about the prayer life in prison of this man named Epaphras really made me think and feel convicted about my own prayer life. Imagine him in prison... keep in mind that the prisons in those days are not like we imagine a prison to be like today. It was probably underground, dark, cold and no doubt little care or concern was put forth for the prisoners. In my imagination I see Epaphras wearing tatered clothing and pouring out his heart before God for hours during the day, day after day... perhaps some of the prisoners thinking he is some kind of crazy madman or something. There are a couple questions that I want us to ponder in our hearts this morning as we think about Epaphras.

1) Do I labor earnestly in prayer?

I want you to ask yourself right now where your prayer life is at. Take a moment right now and think about the last time you prayed. Was it an earnest prayer? Did you give everything that you had? As our friend Epaphras prayed were you laboring in prayer? If I think of my prayer life, I feel quite humbled. How many times have I just woke up in the morning and just said my simple 15 minutes of prayer, read a few scriptures, asked God to bless my day and then moved on.

In another translation it says that he was wrestling in prayer for them. Think back to our fighter friend who spends six months to a year preparing for his fight 7 days a week, dedicating almost every waking moment preparing for his fight... why don't I have that kind of passion and discipline in my own prayer life. These guys will dedicate months of training for a fight that sometimes only lasts 5 minutes. Sometimes a fight is ended by a single punch and only takes a matter of seconds. If they are able to put that kind of passion and training into something that only lasts a moment, then why don't we put more effort into prayers which will bring eternal change.

I mean when I pray I am praying to almighty God! The creator of the universe. The one who came to earth to die for my sins so that I could have eternal life. The only one who could ever give true meaning to my life. The one who I will spend all eternity with. The only one who can save people and bring healing, restoration and revival to Agdao. So why are my prayers so half-hearted?

My goal is not to make you feel convicted, but to have a realization of our deep need for more prayer here in Agdao. We are not fighting against flesh and blood here. The real enemy here is not a poor economy, the lack of jobs or a government that is not able to help everyone. Our enemies are in the spirit world and it is only through prayer that we will be victorious!

2) Am I deeply concerned for the people around me?

It says in verse 13 that he had a deep concern for the people in Colosse. I think the deep concern is what drove him to pray so passionately, to labor in prayer for them... to wrestle with God.
I want to ask you this morning how much you care for those around you. How much do you care whether your life is being lived according to the will of God? How much do you care for your brother who does not know the Lord? I think real prayer can only come out of a deep concern and passion for the thing that we are praying for. There needs to be passion in our hearts.
I remember my dad telling me his testimony before he became a Christian. My dad grew up in a strong Christian environment. His mom and dad were strong Christians and loved God dearly. However, my dad rebelled against God and did not become a Christian until he was in his mid-twenties... and he told me that his mother prayed for him that he would be saved basically from the day he was born... passionate daily prayer! Can you imagine 25 years of prayer. And yet God answered and my dad has been a preacher for the last 30 years... many lives have been changed through his ministry.

In order to pray passionately, we need to have passion. Why is someone like Manny P. able to dedicate 1000's of hours of training time? Sacrificing fun, time with his family, friends and probably many other things he enjoys. The answer is that he has a passion for it. He loves it. He is able to make the sacrifices because winning the fight holds value to him.
Are you deeply concerned about the people around you? When you see a person who is not saved what goes through your mind? Your neighbour down the street? I am deeply convicted in my heart when I think of how little compassion or passion I have at times. I think we need to ask God to soften our hearts and to give us a vision as to how he sees the lost. My pastor in Canada... the heart beat of God is anyone and everyone. We need to ask him to let us see people as he sees them... with His eyes.

Two things to keep in mind about prayer:
1) Luke 11:5-8: There is something to be said about persistent prayer!
Imagine this scenario. Your friends have travelled a great distance to see you. Imagine that they travelled all day from Cagayan and that they arrived late in the evening and are very hungry. When they arrive you realize that you have no rice! All the stores are closed and there is no rice available! So you head over to your friends house... maybe Benjie's house. He and all his family are in bed and asleep...
The squeaky wheel gets the grease. Talk about the landlord and the leaky roof.
Talk about my prayer journal.
How hard do we pray for something? I think that God wants us to pray persistently because it shows our resolve... our passion to see what we are praying for answered.
2) Luke 11:9-13: God answers prayer!
God is a loving, merciful father who answers our prayers in love. Prayer is not in vain. It is not a waste of time. Jesus promised that when we seek we will find, that when we ask we will recieve, and that when we knock it will be openend. Take away from this that when we pray... something happens!!! God moves when we pray!!! He does not answer our prayers in anger or in frustration and give us something that is anything other then our best. He blesses us!!!

Prayer takes sacrifice:
1) You have to sacrifice time:
You have to be willing to give up your time in order to pray. There is an old saying that says “there is no free lunch” which means that if someone buys you a lunch and says its on me... there is a catch. Most things of value in this life require a sacrifice, involve a risk or cost something. In order to pray we need to sacrifice our time... prayer takes time! This likely means we have to give up something that we enjoy. Watching tv, hanging out with friends, a movie, going to the gym, taking a nap... etc.
2) You have to make an effort:
Prayer takes our effort. You can't just sit there, you need to make a conscious effort to pray. Prayer takes our energy.

CONCLUSION:

After all that has happened here at HOJ we need to pray. If we want to see complete healing and restoration come to the lives here we need to pray.
How many of us want to see God`s kingdom come to Agdao? I think that we all do. But we have to make the effort. We need to pray. We need to pray. We need to pray. There is no other way.
If bringing long lasting change and renewal to Agdao could be done by following a plan of some kind or by implementing some program, it would have been done already. No doubt some politician would have done it because a more developed community means more taxes are paid and more benefits to the city as a whole... but bringing change here requires a change in the spirit world... the Spirit of God has to rush into this place and bring change...
The only way for that to happen is through prayer!
Remeber about training being the real life of a fighter.... well a prayer life is the behind the scenes real life of an effective Christian.... talk about Art Sheppard....
I want to challenge you to pray more...
Thursday nights we will be holding a prayer meeting here at HOJ at 7 pm. I hope that you will be there, you are all welcome to come. This is a regular prayer night and we would like to find someone who is willing to lead it and to be the facilitator... if anyone is interested please come speak to Sanny after the service.

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My birthday was last week!

June 28th... I turned 31 years old. Hard to believe as I still feel 18... well maybe 19. It was a great birthday, one of the best on record for sure. On the morning of my birthday I was hiking up a muddy mountain, carrying a 50lb pack in 35 degree heat... humidity almost killed me! But it was a hoot! We went up to the tribes to visit the little boy Mecole who we helped a few months ago. He is doing good and it was great to see him. Here is a few pictures from the trip.








































































Here is the link to a great song... and its free!!!

http://www.highestpraise.com/mp3/praisethelord_mp3.html

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Latest Newsletter...

Hey all, here is the text from my recent newsletter. Enjoy!

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Hello from the island of Mindanao! This past month has been eventful to say the least, but very, very good. The team from Denmark did a great job in everything they did. They left a mark on all of us as they just came to serve. The mural that they painted on one of our outside walls was very well done; on part of it they put handprints of some of the kids in Tabitha- it definitely brightens up the street. They plan on coming back next year and I look forward to seeing all of them again. There were several youth who either recommitted their life to the Lord or became new believers. This happened at the youth nights or open airs that the team did. Several of the new believers are attending a new believers bible study on Wednesday nights. Please continue to pray for them as they grow in their new relationship with the Lord. I am also holding a new bible study at my house on tuesday nights for young men in the community. So far it has been really good. They are a good group of guys and are hungry to get closer to God. My administration and finances work is going good. Not always the most exciting thing to do, but I enjoy doing it because in the end it means changed lives. Pray for me as I preach this Sunday... I think I will preach on prayer, being persistent and heartfelt in our prayers for others.

As I am sure you have heard, France has had his surgery completed. It was quite a fight to get it all done, but worth all the effort and frustrations. There appear to be some complications with the surgery, but I am not a doctor so please wait for the final word on what is happening. I believe a newsletter talking about France has already gone around so I won't repeat things here, but I can tell you a bit about the rest of the family. France's brother Bryan has been in church every week and is now coming to my bible study. Although he is a bit young for my study, he is very smart for his age and really wants to come so I don't mind. I think he has a lot of potential for growth and he is one I would like to see discipled more. His older sister Cheryl is often in church and comes to staff devotions in the morning; she is also volunteering in the Tabitha feeding program and often helps out with the hygiene station. It is nice to see the family so involved in our ministry. Please continue to be in prayer for France as he continues to recover.

I also had the chance to visit Mecole and the Matigsalug tribe in the mountains last week. If you remember him he is the little boy who we helped get cleft pallette surgery for. He will need another surgery in November which will involve reconstruction of the pallette inside his mouth; a much more painful and invasive surgery then the one he had a few months ago. The next few months look exciting so please pray for God's annointing to be poured out on all the staff and volunteers- we need God's Spirit to refresh us and guide us.

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May 13, 2007 Sermon

My notes from my sermon on Sunday...

A FRESH REVELATION OF CHRIST

May 13, 2007:

This morning I hope I am able to speak what I think God has laid on my heart for us. It is more of a feeling, more of a passion that I have in my heart, then a sermon which somehow lays out information or steps to follow in our lives. It is something that I have been meditating on based on a few scriptures that God has been laying on my heart. Some of these scriptures came to life to me as I spent time praying for you in Canada. It is not so much an idea, but a feeling. What I think God wants to say to us this morning is not something that I can portray to you, it is something that God has to reveal to you by the Holy Spirit.

Please turn with me to GALATIANS 1:11-12.

Paul tells the Galatians that the gospel he preached... meaning the teachings he gave about Jesus were not something that he had learned from someone else or had read in a book. But he taught them out of what he had experienced and seen. He had had Christ revealed to him... he had seen Christ in person. What I want to do this morning is to look again at the person of Christ and to at least give us a passion to seek out a fresh revelation of him. So I want you to open your heart and minds this morning and allow the Holy Spirit to reveal the person of Christ to you in a fresh way. I want you even now to begin to hunger for more of Christ, to build an excitement about knowing him personally. Jesus Christ is a living person who can be known. He is not a historical character that we hear stories about like Julius Caesar. Christ entered history and lived here for a while... but he lives on.

Instead of coming to the Philippines, I could have read a book or talked to people who have been here and then gone and told all my friends about what the Philippines is like... and although the information would probably be true, I would not be able to speak with passion, nor would it be coming from my heart. I would not be able to truly portray what it is like to be here. If I truly want to portray what the Philippines is like, I had to come here, to experience it, the sounds, the smells, the heat, the hummidity, the tastes... to feel what it is like.

In much the same way, that is what I would like us to at least hunger for this morning regarding the person of Christ; not to be satisfied with learning of Him through others, but to experience the person of Jesus Christ yourself. He is alive! He rose from the dead and lives on and is longing to have a relationship with us. You can know about Julius Caesar, but you cannot know him... Christ can be known.

PRAYER

This morning I want to have a look at some stories from the bible that portray something about Christ. I want you to do me a favor and as we read and look at these stories. Keep in mind that they actually happened and that the same Christ lives today and can be known. There is nothing magic I can say to make these stories come alive to you. The Holy Spirit needs to reveal the truth to you.

>>>>>The first story that I want to look at is found in JOHN 8:1-11
The women was caught in the act of adultery. According to the Old Testament and Jewish law at the time this was an act worthy of death. It says that they brought her into the center of the court, no doubt against her will. For who would want to go, she knew that she was likely to be stoned to death. Imagine being stoned to death... not a quick death. Imagine her fear, knowing that she had been caught and knowing full well that they were justified in putting her to death. As the men continue to question Jesus to get him to pass a judgement on her and make a decision, he says to them “Whoever is perfect can go first and throw their stone.” Eventually, all of the men who wanted to stone the women left, no doubt frustrated.

Can you imagine how that women must have felt. All her accusers left. Only Jesus was left. The one person on the earth who was without sin and who could have thrown that first stone... but he did not and simply asked her. “Women where are the ones who were accusing you? Is there no one left who wants to condemn you?” She tells him “No one.”

Jesus tells her that he does not condemn her and that she is free to go and that she should leave her life of sin.

i) Are you fearful of drawing near to Christ? Do you fear condemnation? Do you fear that your sins or your past does not make you worthy to know Christ. Have you distanced yourself from an intimate and personal relationship with him because of some sin which you are carrying. Have you kept yourself only knowing about Christ because of the sin in your life. Look at the story here. Christ does not condemn sinners. Although he hates sin, he does not hate sinners. He loves us! So I say to you do not be afraid to come to Christ. Truly he is the only one who could condemn you... but he does not. Remember the verse, there is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

When I was young I used to believe that I had to have my life in order to draw near to God. I only felt close to God when I was not sinning or when I was being strong enough to resist temptation. We can come to Christ at anytime or at any circumstance in our lives. So I say to you this morning draw near to Christ. He is waiting for you... not to condemn you, but to release you.

>>>>>The second story that I want to look at is found in LUKE 7:36-50
You can turn there yourself, but for sake of time, let me just give a synopsis of part of the story. A Pharisee has invited Jesus to his house and a prostitute shows up and begins to wet the feet of Jesus with her tears, wipe them dry with her hair and annoint his feet with perfume. The Pharisee is angry with the fact that Jesus would allow such a women to touch him. He thinks, Jesus must know who this women is, why isn't he getting upset, why isn't he repulsed. The Pharisee was no doubt disgusted by her and would never allow her to do the same to him.
Jesus knows the mans thoughts and tells him the story about two people who borrowed money from someone. One person borrowed 50 and the other borrowed 500. Neither of them could pay back the amount, so the person who lent out the money forgave them both. Jesus then asks the man who would love more... the person who was forgiven the small debt or the large debt. Simon answers, the one who was forgiven the larger debt. Jesus tells him that he is right.

Lets read LUKE 7:44-50

ii) Don't worry about what others will think. This women was willing to humilate herself and come to Christ, whereas the Pharisee would never. He did not annoint Christ... she did. He did not kiss him... she kissed his feet and dried them with her hair. This goes hand in hand with the previous story. This women had sinned much, but she had the courage to come to Christ and lay her sin at his feet. She was not concerned how she would look or how others would percieve. She was known by all as a women of sin... but she came to Christ anyway. Imagine wiping your own tears from someones feet using your own hair.

This women was full of sin, but she looked to Christ. She saw him as her only chance. She set aside pride and dignity and said Jesus I need you. He did not turn her away or condemn her, but freed her. We should not be afraid to draw near to Christ, regardless of the sin in our lives. Christs words are “your sins are forgiven” ... “go in peace.”

>>>>> The final story that I want to look at is LUKE 8:43-48
I have been meditating on this story a lot in the past few weeks. Reading it over and over again. I am not totally sure why this story stands out to me so much. Why is this story stuck in my head? I think there are a couple reasons why it is so significant to me.

The utter suffering this women was in. My stomach problem in Mexico. Desperation. I pray that we would have a sense of desperation to know Christ more and to reach out to him. This story does not just apply to physical burdens, but to emotional burdens, wounds in our life...
The shame she felt. She snuck up on Christ to get near to him and be healed. Wanted to go unnoticed. How many of us have done things or have had things done to us that we are ashamed of? We can come to Christ with those things.

Christ's insistence on making a personal connection with her. Christ had to know who it was who touched him and to connect with her. I think she was afraid that he would be angry for she came trembling. Christ could have left it... and let her go away healed... but he wanted to look into her eyes and say “Go in peace.”

iii) Just come. With just one touch we can be healed... how much more does God have for us. With all of her fears and all of her problems and desire to remain annonymous. This women came to Christ the way she knew how and the way she felt comfortable. I want to say to you this morning to come to Christ. With all your sin, whatever you are carrying, whatever has happened, whatever abuse, whatever mistake... Throw away fear of condemnation, do not be concerened about what others think, but come to Christ. Have you been bleeding inside... come, Christ will heal you.

We as the church should be alive in Christ! We should be bursting with excitement and energy because we know Jesus. I want to see fresh joy and passion in this place for the person of Christ. I want us to come to know him more and to be hungry to have a fresh revelation of the person of Christ.

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Newsletter and house

Hey all...

Here is the text to my May 5, Newsletter. Had a hard time getting the PDF to be uploadable... next time ok.

"Well I have been on the ground working for a few days now (strange to think that the Philippines feels like home now) and it is hard to describe the way that I feel. Guess there is a lot of anticipation, excitement, a little fear, but there is mostly a sense of joy in the goodness of God my life. So many little things fell into place that just confirmed that this is where I am supposed to be at this time in my life. But on top of that and in spite of any circumstances, I feel a great sense of peace in my heart about being here.
I have a sense of anticipation to see what God will do in the lives of the people here. I know that as we continue to love and serve them that Christ will be revealed to them. One of our interns was discouraged that she was not making a difference in the life of a malnourished child and her mother. I told her to keep doing unto one of the least of these. She kept trying to feed the young child and teach the mother about nutrition. A couple days later our intern was beaming and praising God. She had spent some time praying with the mother and the mom had been crying on her shoulder. This is quite a miracle in itself as this mother has been a hard case for us. Praise God. I have also had the opportunity to spend lots of time with our staff encouraging and building them up. Pray that God continues to use us all and that His glory continues to shine into the lives of the precious people we work with.
Well, that's about all I really wanted to say, being the first one and all. One my first newsletter... ha. Miss you all and please stay in touch. Thanks so much for all your prayer and support. God Bless!"

I am doing good. Been so busy these last few days, have not really had a chance to set up my house, but I have a hammock, a guitar, a bible, a laptop and a place to sleep. What else do I need right? Anyway, thought a good idea to put up a video of my house... where I live. Enjoy... it was raining really hard when I took it, so its hard to hear me talk... in fact it is still raining really, really hard. Miss home, but I am so glad to be hear. This feels like home now, there is no doubt. God bless!



Here is the video.

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Back in the freezer!

Well, I have not made a post in a while, shame on me. Sorry about that.

I am back in Canada now for a planned six weeks. Meeting with my church and stuff as well as hanging out with my family. It sure seems strange to be back in Canada. Definitely feeling a bit of culture shock/jet lag/readjustment to the climit. The last weeks since my last post in the Philippines were awesome. After the YWAM team left, we just got back to normal life in Agdao and we started to get really involved in the lives of a couple kids. France and Micole. I don't have time to update you on everything that has gone on, but needless to say God has led us to some neat opportunities and God has really worked in the lives of these kids and their families. For the story on Micole go to www.danemmons.com and have a look around. This is another missionary that we work with and he has some good pictures of Micole and some description of what happened with him. He is a kid from one of the tribes we had worked with who we helped get cleft palette surgery for with Operation Smile (http://www.operationsmile.org). They are a really cool organization. We had to take Micole away from his family for several weeks, so it was a wild ride, but God was faithful and everything turned out ok!

Here are some videos of Micole:
Micole reuniting with his mother: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SCDgPUIazI
Malikongkong church on Sunday: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTKscqUhGH0
Micole singing in church: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k19FwRVEckg

I am giving a short presentaion at my church tomorrow, for those that missed it, here is a simplified version:




Well, I am missing Davao and all the people there, but I am glad to be home for awhile and get some rest and meet with people who have been supporting me in prayer. Thanks again for being a part of things. God bless!

www.dawicks.blogspot.com

Malikongkong, Barobo and Gumitan

Wow, the trip into the mountains was incredible. Very eye opening! So much happened, I don't even know where to start, nor do I have the time to write it all down. I guess the hilight for me was seeing how much culture they have and seeing the poverty of the North American lifestyle. We think we have so much, but our busy lives and technology rob us of so much.

The first village we stayed at was Malikongkong which means "where the cloud sleeps."















This is a view from the village after morning devotions. The people in Malikongkong were very receptive and enjoyed us being there. I think our main ministry here was just encouraging the local church and trying to build some new relationships with the villagers. One of the clan's offered to build me a house... I think that God has laid a burden for this tribe on my heart and I will definitley be back. God has a plan for these people and I think that they will bring a blessing to our youth in Agdao. Our youth need to see where they have come from and the beauty of their own culture, as Kuya Pio said (the director of TMFI), "without a history you have no destiny."
















I really don't know what else to say... it was such a life changing experience, I am just lost for words. Squatty potty's, no running water, no electricity, soldiers escorting you through the jungle, plants that make your arms itch like crazy, giant spiders under your bed, rats running over your arm at night, bullfrogs the size of your head, and seeing God working in the lives of people who have lived a life completely different than you. I guess I will just let the pictures do the talking... click on the images to see a larger version...




















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My Preach

Well I know it's not near as exciting as being there, but here are my notes from my preach today!

The Condition of the Heart
January 19, 2007
David Wicks
















Maayong Buntag! This morning I want to talk to you about the condition of our hearts. I don’t mean our physical hearts, but our spiritual hearts, our motivations, our desires, and what drives us; the longing of our innermost being. But just as important as a healthy physical heart is needed for a healthy physical body, a healthy spiritual heart is necessary for proper spiritual life. But before I begin, I would like to just open in prayer.


PRAYER


What led me to speak on this?


Folks I must speak to you from my heart, something I have learned here in the Philippines while being with you, God has brought me thousands of miles from my home country to teach me something. I

On New Years day, I spent the morning praying, worshipping, and reading my bible. I was seeking an answer from God to a question that had been on my heart; something that had been bothering me for a while. My question to God was basically, why can I not experience you more and what is this barrier to me getting to know you more? Don’t get me wrong, God has been very real in my life and I have experienced his love, grace, and mercy in the past year probably more then I ever have… but I know there is more and as I have tried to press in it’s almost like there is something holding me back from knowing Him more. I read that the fruits of the spirit are love, joy, peace, patience etc…. but I don’t see them growing in my life. I am frustrated by the fact that I continue to do things that I don’t want to do.+

Even the last time that I preached here… I know that it was truth that I had experienced and that God had used to bless me, but when I spoke it out, it seemed flat and empty. It is as if God was not present in my words. I had prayed, I had prepared… but walah! I even had people ask me if I prepared. Why this emptiness? I thought about such things as: have I wronged someone and not sought forgiveness. I mean have I really offended someone somehow? Have I not forgiven someone else? Has someone done something to me and I have remained bitter about it and never really forgiven them. As I prayed and played the guitar, I asked God… what is it!

God spoke to me very clearly in a single word… YOU! I sat there and thought about this for a while.

God was telling me that I am the one who is in the way. It is me. As I thought more about this God began to reveal to me the condition of my heart. I wanted to bring glory to myself. I was selfish. I wanted to speak well and with an anointing so that people would come up to me after and say “Good job!” or “What you had to say really touched me.” I wanted more of God so that n

I began to see that the frustration I was having with ministry decisions and in wanting things to go well was not because I was concerned about God being glorified, but because I was concerned more about how I would look! I was worried that if things went wrong I would look bad.

So I need to apologize to you if by my motives I have hurt the ministry or anyone of you.

There is a story in the bible which is very similar to what I went through and which can help us to understand some of God’s principles in regards to our heart.


Background:


Philip had been forced to go Samaria because Saul had been persecuting the church. He led a large group to Christ and many were baptized. People were freed from demonic possession and healed of sickness.

There was a man there named Simon doing magic and he was amazing everyone. I can imagine him like a street magician doing tricks and such, perhaps on a street corner. People standing in awe! Some translations label him as Simon the Sorcerer. It says in verse 9 that he was “claiming to be someone great.” The people praised Simon and were amazed at his tricks. They even said to him “This man is what is called the Great Power of God.” Simon boasted about his abilities and on top of that people were praising him.

From what you read, it sounds like Simon was a proud man and enjoyed the praise of the people. He liked to look good and liked to hear about it.

But after Simon heard the good news about Jesus he along with everyone else believed in Christ and was baptized. He even traveled with Philip and was amazed by the signs and miracles being performed by the Apostle.

When the other Apostles heard about all those who had been saved in Samaria, they sent Peter and John to help. Peter and John began praying for the new believers that they might receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. As Peter and John laid their hands on the new believers, they received the Spirit …. Let’s pick up the story in Acts 8:18-24.


READ Acts 8:18-24


Things that I see in this passage:


What Simon was asking for was not necessarily bad in and of it self: Simon wanted the ability to fill people with the Holy Spirit. But because his heart was not right before God he was not allowed to experience this gift. Peter said to him you have no part in this because your heart is not right before God. Wanting the right thing is not necessarily enough.

All the things that I wanted were good. Wanting to deliver truth, wanting things to run well, wanting a deeper relationship with God; but there was a wrong motive in my heart. I was being selfish and thinking of myself. I was concerned about how I would look. I was placing my worth as a person in the success or failure of the things that I did. However, God needs to be the center. If things don’t work out or succeed… it is God’s work. My life is God’s.

There is a level of spiritual growth that we can experience… but at some point to go deeper requires that our hearts are right. Simon was able to enter into a relationship with Christ, he was even baptized, but in order to go deeper he had to get His heart right. Simon experienced a level of spiritual growth (i.e. became a believer), and wanted to also be able to fill people with the HS, but could not until he got his heart right.

Like I said, this past year has been a year of experiencing God more then I ever have before. But I had hit a wall, and could go no further. I think that I would have continued in frustration if God had not revealed to me the selfishness in my heart. But changing this is not easy and is an ongoing process. It does not change over night. We have a saying that states, old habits die hard. I can still sense for example that when a decision needs to be made about such things as finances in HFTN that immediately I am concerned about success or failure… not about God being glorified… I have to make an effort to trust the HS to guide me and that this is God’s work and my life is in God’s hands. Whether things crash or succeed, it is God who will be glorified.
I have seen that as I have released things to God and not worried about how I will look that I am moving closer to Him and that my spiritual life is growing in new ways.


Bondage! When our hearts are not right, we get trapped. Peter said to Simon “you are in… the bondage of iniquity.” I think that one of the signs of our hearts not being right is frustration; especially in our relationship with God.

I was frustrated… in wondering why I could not get closer to God. And with everything I did I was so concerned about the way I would appear, that I was stressed… worrying… and thinking is it going to work out?
However, once I began to forget about myself and release the ministry and the work to God… I had a light heart again… God has began to heal and free me from my pride as I humble myself and say, thy will be done!


Conclusion:


I think we all want a deeper relationship with God and to be used by Him more, but our greatest barrier may be the condition of our heart. Unfortunately seeing the condition of our heart is kind of like trying to lift yourself up by your own bootstraps. This is a work that God has to do. We cannot do it. We have to ask God to look into our hearts and shine his light upon it and reveal to us the condition of it. I think that unless God had revealed to me my selfishness that I would not have seen it and that I would have continued on. I would like to ask Jun or Odie to come and lead us in the song “Change my Heart oh God,” but first let me read…


READ Psalm 139:23-24


Where is the focus of your heart? What is the most important thing to you? Is it something other then God? Do you feel frustrated with your spiritual life? Do you want your ministry to be more effective? You need to get your heart right and the way to start is to ask God to show you the condition of your heart!


www.dawicks.blogspot.com

Been busy...

Wow it feels like a long time since my last post. Been pretty busy here with the YWAM team visiting us, but it has been really good. They seem to be really enjoying themselves and are doing a great job.

We were at a prison a couple days ago and got to do a service in the maximum security area. These guys were in for triple murder, multiple rapes, and other violent crimes... hard to beleive. I was able to just sit among them and talk. The "security" is very interesting. They don't really have guards, they just have groups of prisoners walking around who "keep the peace" (that is what one of the guys said when I asked him what the sticks were for) and carry around 1.5 to 2 foot long metal or wooden sticks. Apparently they are given a stick by the warden when they show good behavior, but I don't know how they control who is supposed to have a stick. Seems to work though, all of the inmates were well behaved. The worship was awesome, gave me goosebumps when I heard these guys singing and praising... they are so hungry for God.

Travelled back from a city called Panabo today. The bus we rode in was searched twice by the military. Apparently, there has been some bombings in the north and they are just taking precautions. These guys were well armed.

Still enjoying my time here. Tired sometimes and sometimes hard to feel like you are making a difference, but I guess you just trust that God is making the difference. Thinking about making a trip home in March to visit, but not 100% decided yet. From the 22-29 of this month I will be in the mountains on a tribal outreach with TMFI (http://www.tribalmission.org). They are a great group and it will be awesome to work with them. Please stay in touch, it is great to hear from you even if it is just a small note.

www.dawicks.blogspot.com