the heartbeat of the remnant - ephrata ministries · the heartbeat of the remnant. 2 the heartbeat...

March / April 2001Volume 7 Number 2

. . . is the Heart of a Servant

The Heartbeat of

The Remnant

2 The Heartbeat of The Remnant ! March/April 2001

The Heartbeat of The Remnantis published bimonthly byCharity Christian Fellowship.Copyright ©2001 by CharityChristian Fellowship.Subscription is available at nocost upon request. However,there is considerable costincurred by printing it. It isfinancially supported by thegifts of God’s people as theyrespond to the promptings of His Spirit. We request your prayerful consideration of this need. Send sub-scriptions or contributions to: The Heartbeat of The Remnant, 59 S. Groffdale Rd., Leola, PA 17540-9533U.S.A. You can call 1-800-227-7902 or (717) 656-4155.

JOHN & CHARLES WESLEY’S HOME LIFE

" by Denny Kenaston "

A CHIP OFF THE OLD BLOCK" by Dave Esh "

THE UPPER ROOM FELLOWSHIP" by Mose Stoltzfus "

Sharpened Words for Little Ones

STRANGERS AND RESIDENT ALIENS" by Donna Wojcik "

The Blessing CornerTHE HIDDEN POWER OF A

HUMBLE ACT – Feetwashing

A CHOSEN VESSEL

- A Spiritual Exercise -STUDYING A BOOK OF THE BIBLE

Book ReviewABIDE IN CHRIST" by Andrew Murray "

HOLY SACRIFICES" by Ross Ulrich "

SNAPSHOTS OF THE

KONKOMBA CHURCH" by Daniel Kenaston "

Precious Lettersfrom Our Readers

Charity Christian Fellowship59 S. Groffdale Rd.

Leola, PA 17540

Mose StoltzfusMyron Weaver

Denny Kenaston

Andrew WeaverDuane Binkley

Eric Wenger (Layout)

Lisa WeaverKate Rutler

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John and Charles Wesley: who doesn’t knowthese names? Most of us reading this article arenot Methodists; however, we all know these

two names. I was speaking to a Methodist man ona plane some time ago about John Wesley. I said tohim, “I’m not a Methodist, but I want to love and

serve God the way that John Wesley did; he is oneof my heroes.” In the early years of the 1700’s,England was at one of its lowest places, spiritually,in all its history. Sin abounded of the rankest sorton every level of society, and it seemed that therewas no hope for the Church to revive itself and

March/April 2001 ! The Heartbeat of The Remnant 3

H o m e H i s t o r i e s

John & CharlesWesley’s

H o m e L i f e

by Denny Kenaston

John Wesley Charles Wesley

turn the tide of evil. However, as there was byprovidence a Hannah in the days of Israel, so therewas an “elect lady”, Susanna by name, who wasbrooding over her children in Epworth, England.Unknown to her, she was being led by God to raisea prophet and a psalmist, who would together beused by God to shake a nation, and influence theirworld. It is now three hundred years later, and stilltheir voices speak loudly to the Christiancommunity of 2001. What preacher hasnot used an example or word out ofJohn Wesley’s life? What assem-bly of believers has not sungsome of Charles Wesley’ssongs? The impact of thesetwo men is immeasurable.Surely God in his fore-knowledge was leadingand watching over theirtraining. My desire inthis article is to lookdeeply into the homeand the heritage thatproduced these vesselsof honor.

As I ponder the her-itage of these two men,my heart is drawn to oneof the promises given byGod concerning our chil-dren. It is found in Isaiah59:21. Written in the con-text of our adversary attackinggodliness, we find this promiseto those who turn from transgres-sion. “My Spirit that is upon thee,and my words which I have put in thymouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth,nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of themouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the Lord.” Whata beautiful way to fight against the enemies of ourGod. Three generations of people who will notcompromise the things of God. This is hard for theenemy to deal with. If only we could get a glimpseof the power of this strategy. You can be sure thatthe devil is well aware of it and fights with everymeans to keep this from happening.

We find the previous generations on bothsides of the family to be of noble character.Samuel Wesley’s relatives and SusannaAnnesley’s relatives were both living on the cut-ting edge of what God was doing in England intheir time. This had a profound affect on themand on their children. Controversies about highchurch practices, nonconformity, and the low

estate of the church were hot issues. Thetalk around the table was constantly on

the right and wrong of the issues ofthe day. Samuel’s grandfather

went to his grave in utter griefover the persecutions

released on him and some ofhis family. Samuel had anuncle whose name wasJohn Wesley who waschased about like a dog,imprisoned severaltimes, and finally diedat age 34 of sicknessbrought on by his perse-cutors. It was said bymost that young Johnwas the image of hisgreat uncle John, in fieryzeal and energy. On

Susanna’s side we find itthe same way. Her father

was a very well knownPuritan preacher. Dr.

Annesley served in severalAnglican churches until the

controversies on nonconformitycame to a head. He withdrew at

great cost and persecution, and becamea Puritan. He served for thirty years in the

heat of the battles under constant troubles. Hewas considered by most to be a second ApostlePaul and one of the most influential Puritans ofhis day. So we can see by these things, thatCharles and John’s parents inherited a great bur-den for the church to return to purity and power.This burden was then passed down to these twoboys as they grew up. It is easy to see why, oncethese two men realized they were on top of a



“...Charlesand John’s parents

inherited a great burden for thechurch to return to purity and

power. This burden was then passeddown to these two boys as they grew up.

It is easy to see why, once these twomen realized they were on top of a

major wave of change, they rodethe wave with all their

heart and soul.”

major wave of change, they rode the wave with alltheir heart and soul. Now lets look at the parents.

FF AA T H E RT H E R WW E S L E YE S L E Y

Samuel, the boys’ father, was the preacher inthe village of Epworth in the Church of England.He held several other positions before this, butthis was where life unfolded for the Wesley boys.He was a man of discipline and energy. As wasmentioned already, he had a lot of strong opinions.It seems that at times this brought him and thefamily some persecutions that probably could havebeen avoided. However, the boys grew up in anatmosphere of periodic persecutions, which pre-pared them for endless attacks from the enemy ofour souls. Father Wesley’s patient endurance inthese many trials was a beautiful example to them.A pastor and a writer, he was kept very busy in thestudy, as well as constant visits to his people. Hewas tenacious when it came to compromise, andhis sons caught a good bit of this quality from him.Even though Mrs. Wesley is known for the meth-ods of her household, it is interesting to note thatSamuel was of the same character. An orderly,methodical life of good habits was his rule. He wasa man who from his youth was known for his com-passion on the poor and his constant visiting ofprisons. He paid his own way through college liv-ing at poverty levels with contentment. FatherWesley was a poet. All through his life he wasworking on poems and prose. Nothing of anyimportance ever came out of this work, except oneof his sons wrote a few songs. Yes, this is whereCharles undoubtedly received talents and exercisein these areas. All through his years in the home,Charles constantly saw his father working on therhyme of some poem. Oh, the wisdom of God ispast finding out. It seems that Samuel had manydreams and visions that he longed to carry out,and was a bit of a prophet also. He drew up a mis-sionary plan to reach out to China, India, and allthe British territories, and then offered to go him-self with his family and see it through. He also

prophesied on his deathbed of the coming revivalin England, telling his sons, “you will see it, but Iwill not”. In conclusion of father Wesley’s influ-ence, let me say this yet. He was not the dominatefigure in his home. He was not the active fatherthat I feel God would have had him to be. Yet hishome was known far and wide as one of the god-liest there was in his day. I know he had much todo with this.

MM O T H E RO T H E R WW E S L E YE S L E Y

Susanna, the boys’ mother, grew up in a verygodly home. Her father, being a man greatly usedof God, brought multiplied blessings upon the chil-dren. It is said that there were 22 children born tothe Annesley household. The days were serious,and Susanna matured early in life as she listenedto the many debates about spiritual issues. She wasan ardent student and was well acquainted withGreek, Latin, and French while still in her teens.Her books were the Bible, theology, and the writ-ings of the early church fathers. Because of thetimes she grew up in, she was wrestling with deepspiritual issues while other girls were still playingwith dolls. Mother Wesley was without a doubt anunusual young lady—devout, thoughtful, and fullof the virtues of a Christian woman. Many histori-ans call her the mother of Methodism because ofher clear methods of training the children.Balance was the word that best describes her char-acter—a beautiful blend of kindness, discipline,sobriety, and joy. She consecrated an hour everymorning and evening to entire seclusion for medi-tation and prayer. As a mother she bore eighteenchildren for her husband Samuel. Eight of thesechildren died in infancy. It is hard for us to imag-ine the agony of having to bury eight precious lit-tle ones. As I studied the home, it seems that someof her strong opinionated nature made some prob-lems in her relationship with her husband, butoverall, she gave herself to the training of the chil-dren and to managing a very busy pastor’s house.



MM O T H E RO T H E R WW E S L E YE S L E Y ’’ SS

MM E T H O D SE T H O D S

There are many testimonies written about theWesley home. These records give the idea that itwas almost the perfect Christian home.Biographies can be a bit one-sided, especiallywhere you have so famous a person as John Wesley.Although human respect tends to be this way, wis-dom is justified by her children. The proof is in thepudding, and we all must admit that many thingswere done right and the world has benefited fromit. All the records that are written about theWesley home indicate that Mrs. Wesley was thedominant figure in this home. Her education, giftsof organization, and strong personality, as well asSamuel’s busy ministerial life, all worked togetherto lay the stage for this. Even though this is not asbiblical as we would want, this woman poured herlife into her children with purpose. We want toturn our attention now on how these holy purpos-es worked themselves out into practical methodsof child training.

An Orderly,Scheduled Life

Susanna understood the deeper implications ofa disciplined life. Because of this, shortly after thebirth of a child, she began to direct the infant intoa well-ordered schedule. There was a time to eatand a time to refrain from eating. There was a timeto sleep and a time to be awake. She worked atdeveloping these habits into the life and memoryof each child. This was applied down to the hoursin the morning and afternoon when a new babywould take a nap. Careful attention was devotedto this till the child would quietly go to sleep whenlaid in the crib. Then, of course, this also put thetimes of feeding on a regular schedule. These dis-ciplines were developed with more order andschedule in mind. The child must fit into the nor-

mal segments of her orderly household. Risingtimes were punctual; family prayers, breakfast, andschool hours were all by the clock. Quiet times foreach child, evening prayers, and bedtime were thesame time every day. There were times, as in allhouseholds, when providence disrupted this order,but she would always turn the family back to awell-ordered life. The stability and security thatthese principles bring into the life and develop-ment of a child are immeasurable. Mother Wesleypursued these goals with unwavering persistence.It is clearly evident: she saw the hidden wisdom,the affect that this would have on her children.

She GuidedTheir Appetites

Susanna knew that if the child did not learn tocontrol its appetites, the appetites would controlthe child, possibly all of its life. Because of this,there were strict rules concerning eating. Shetrained the children to eat foods that they did notcare for and to drink things that were distasteful.Medicines were given with dual purpose—to aidthe child in health and to help them in discipline.Eating between meals was forbidden and seen as adestructive habit to be feared. Sweets wereallowed in the house, but this luxury was super-vised with much care.

The HomeMust be Quiet

The children must not control the atmosphereof the home. There was much to be done each day,and for all to profit from these many activities itmust be quiet. I think it is also good to bring inhere that Susanna knew the benefits that eachchild would gain if it mastered this quality ofquietness. “Always talking, never learning,” as theold proverb goes. By the time a child was one yearold, it was trained to cry softly. This was done byboth positive and negative measures. The noise ofa crying child was seldom heard in the household,and others would testify that you would hardlyknow that the house had children living in itbecause of the quiet atmosphere that prevailed.The children were taught to be quiet at family



prayers and even to ask a blessing at the end bymaking a sign rather than speaking a word.

The Child’s WillMust be Conquered

Here I will quote Mother Wesley’s very words,which are powerful and full of deep insight. “I seekto bring the child’s will into subjection at an earlyage, and then endeavor to keep it there until thechild gives its will to God.” She continues, “This isthe only strong and rational foundation of a reli-gious education, without which, neither precept orexample has any effect.” Man’s will is at the centerof a true religious life. If there is no surrender ofthe will to the parents, it will be much more diffi-cult to surrender that will to God when he calls. Ifthere is no surrender of the will to the parents, alltraining in spiritual and domestic areas is frustrat-ed. This is of utmost importance and must beacquired before other progress can be seen. A lov-ing relationship wedded with the proper use of therod will give the desired end if you persist.

A Very OrderlyHousehold School

This is the term used by Susanna to describeher method of educating the children. For twentyyears, she invested six hours a day in this mostholy task. We can see her goal for this school soclearly expressed in words she wrote to her sonJohn later in life. She wrote to him: “There arevery few who would devote twenty years of theprime of their life in hopes of saving the souls oftheir children.” By these words and the way sheordered the school, we can see that she was not seton a mere academic education. Each childreceived a passion for learning and a passion forrighteousness through her influence. The familyschool was opened and closed with singing eachday, and each child learned to read using the Biblefor their primer. Mother Wesley wrote three booksfor the soul purpose of use in her home school.They were, A Manual of Natural Theory, AnExposition of the Apostles’ Creed, and AnExposition of the Ten Commandments. At 5:00each evening she divided the children into groups

of two. She would put a child who could read, witha child who could not read. They then proceededto read the Psalm of the day and one chapter inthe New Testament. Every evening she spent sometime conversing about spiritual things with one ofher children, so evaluating the growth of the child.Beloved, this is an awesome revelation of thegreatest secret behind the fruit of these two men.What an example of a devoted mother. She did lit-erally waste her life on her children. She blockedout twenty years of normal society to pour herselfinto this most honorable profession. Ten of herchildren lived to adult age. All of them becamedevoted Christians, and they all died “in theLord.” There is much we can learn from this exam-ple. It is true that Susanna had a couple of maidsto help her keep the house running while she con-ducted the school, however, we must rememberthat everything was done by hand.

Molding GodlyCharacter

Character, that is moral and ethical strength,was one of the reasons for all this training. Theremust be in each child a practical, operational visi-ble outworking of the Christian faith. As I gazedinto this godly home, it was easy to see that Mrs.Wesley planned and carried out many activitiesthat would place virtue into the fiber of the chil-dren. What were the tools that she used to do this?The old English country setting was a tool in herhands, as there were many chores to do. Caring foranimals, milking cows, and caring for the gardenwere a few of them. Poverty was also wisely used toform life-long attitudes about money, time, andcontentment. A promise was never allowed to bebroken, and lying was a vice to be feared. She eventaught the children that if they had done wrong,they would not be spanked for it if they wouldquickly confess with a broken heart, before theywere caught. We have mentioned the orderly,scheduled life of the Wesley home already, howev-er, it is worthy to bring it up again as we ponderthe area of building character. Repeating goodactions over and over again forms good habits.Thus, having those good actions set in order by aschedule is a tremendous aid. There is a time for



every purpose under heaven. Each day there is atime when the child reads the Bible, puts away hisclothes, and milks the cow. A child grows up doingthese varied activities without thinking about it.Do we see the value of these?

A Loving Atmospherein the Home

All of what is written above may seem a bittoo grave and mechanical as we look at them bythemselves. But we should also stop and meditateon the oil that made all this machinery run sosmoothly. Love—agape love, sacrificial love—wasthe prevailing spirit in the home. Susanna was avery affectionate mother. She was not a drill ser-geant, demanding strict obedience or else. Manysaid in her day that her home was one of the mostloving homes they had ever seen. The childrennoticed all of her sacrifices, and some of themalmost idolized her. The discipline coupled withlove created a bond between them that was abeauty to behold. Her kind and gracious charactermixed with the hours she spent with them turnedtheir hearts continually to honor and respect.Susanna had times of fun and games, where thechildren were allowed to wrestle and laugh andjust make noise, as children must do. These lastpoints are last but not least. You cannot have therigor and discipline in the above-mentionedpoints by themselves. It must be wedded with alove that flows from heart to heart and backagain. Let us keep the right balance.

MM O T H E RO T H E R WW E S L E YE S L E Y ’’ SS

FF RR U I TU I T

It is written in many of the history books,“Susanna Wesley was the mother of theMethodist Church”. When I began to read andresearch for this article, I read these words morethan once. I must admit, I reacted a bit to them,thinking that the biographers were stretchingthings as they often do. I have spent hours study-

ing this remarkable woman, and I have repentedabout my reactions. There is much truth in thisstatement. Why do I say this? As you study theMethodist movement you will quickly see thatthere were several distinct characteristics of thismovement. The areas of distinction were the verythings that caused it to be such a force inEngland and America. Let me list a few of themfor reference:

• A practical sanctified life• A personal devotional life• A hatred for sin and unrighteousness• An orderly life• A revival of the Christian disciplines

We could increase the list by several morepoints, but these are enough to make my pointand the point that most historians make aboutMother Wesley. As we look over the list we caneasily see that these are some of the very methodsthat Susanna used in the training of the children.The early Methodists were given their name bytheir many critics. They looked on and saw thepeople exercising methods in their pursuit of God.They mockingly called them methodists. John andCharles Wesley were simply encouraging themembers of the societies to excel in the thingsthey had learned at home. John was the organizerand administrator of the societies. Where do youthink he got those abilities? Charles was a preach-er, but was most widely used in his continuousproduction of godly hymns. Where do you thinkhe got that ability? So, what about MotherWesley’s fruit? Was she just a busy mother whospent her days on activities that wouldn’t count?The answer is no, she was being directed by Godto raise a godly family in a day when ungodlinessprevailed. God mysteriously put His hands on herhands to prepare for Him two vessels of honor,meet for the master’s use. She yielded to Hishands and by faith she sacrificed twenty years,training, spanking, reading, praying, and loving.The results are still being felt on many sides, andin many places her voice and her son’s voices arestill being heard. ❏



by Dave Esh

There is a little shadow that follows after me,And he imitates my actions, often to a tee.

It can be quite amusing or embarrassing at times;I see my many weaknesses as he recites my lines.

He’s constantly mimicking the way that I talkAnd even tries to duplicate the stride in my walk.

When friends see this shadow, they, likely as not,Will laughingly call him “a chip off the old block”.

“A chip off the old block”, an extension of self–It’s more than training or teaching or giving of wealth.

But I’m cloning and building a likeness of me,For as the seed that is planted, so grows the tree.

And the fruit thereof, whether it be good or bad,Depends much on the actions of my little boy’s Dad.For our lives are as books, with each day as a page,And so often our children can be used as a gauge.

Are they bright?, happy?, do they live without fear?We can see much the same things looking into a mirror.

So, behold your children, look deep into their eyes;What they are, or become, should be no surprise.Then rejoice, or repent, whatever you need to do,Because you will be looking at an extension of you.

“A chip off the old block”, “made from the same mold”–Our legacy will continue, as the future unfolds.

So, are we like our Father, if our Father is God?Do we walk as he walked when on this earth He trod?

Are we loving and faithful, gentle and kind?Giving food to the hungry and sight to the blind?If we are Godly examples and build on the Rock,

We’ll be honored to hear “he’s a chip off the old block”.


In this message, we are going to focus on thebeauty of our Lord Jesus and upon some of thetruths that surround Him. We want to medi-

tate on the power and the effect these truths canhave in our lives. In Luke 22:12 we have a mostprecious verse with much deep significance. “Andhe shall show you a large upper room furnished; theremake ready.” In this meditation, I would like totake us on a tour of the upper room. Come andjoin me, as we travel through some of the thingsthat happened in that upper room. I do not knowhow many of you have ever taken notice of theunique things that happened there, but there aremany messages that could come out of what tookplace in the upper room. I sense that there aremany things we can learn from what happenedthere, things that are very special and necessaryfor all of us. I am going to assume that the upperroom was the same in the Gospels as in the bookof Acts. So, let us start our journey now.

The Room was Large

I would like to emphasize the fact that theBible says the room was large. It was a place that

would hold many people. In the book of Acts, 120gathered in this place. There was plenty of roomthere. It was as heaven will be; there will be plen-ty of room there. It was not a place where youwould go to be alone with God, though that is animportant part of our Christian lives. This was aplace where people can meet together. That iswhat the Church is about—people. That is whatheaven will be about—people.

The Room was an UpperRoom

It was not down on the street level. It was notearthy but it was heavenly, separated, and otherworldly. It was upstairs and it was a place wherethere were no partitions or walls—one largeupper room, above the noise and din of thestreets and the people selling their wares. It was aplace of quietness, it was a place where you couldhave a meeting and you would not be disturbedby the things that were going on down on thestreet level below. Oh, may our assemblies be likethese—heavenly places, where deep and intimatethings happen.

The Upper Room

by Mose Stoltzfus


The Room was Furnished

Everything was cared for here. All the furni-ture and all the necessary things needed for theoccasion were provided. All they needed to dowas go there. They could go there and rest. Theycould go there, pray, feast, and learn. Truly, that isthe way it is with the beautiful things that happenin an assembly. Jesus has made all things ready.The price has been paid, the blood has been shed,and he is seated at the right hand of the Fatherpraying for us. For us, all we need to do is haveour heart prepared and the rest will happen, bythe mercy of our God.

The Room was a Place ofFellowship

Rather than a place where we might go to bealone and meet with God, this upper room wasunique in that it was a place for fellowship. It wasthe place where Jesus met with the twelve andwhere the Last Supper was eaten. It was the placewhere they ate the Passover lamb and where thefirst communion was served. A large upper roomwas made for close intimate fellowship. All thesethings are done together. They were locked outfrom the world, locked out of the busyness, andlocked out of the noise of an active world below. Itwas an upper room away from all that was earthly.The door was shut, and people could gather, opentheir hearts, and learn. That is what happened inthe upper room. May our churches be the same—a place where we can leave everything behind, andhave fellowship.

Disciples were There

This is a beautiful thought, but also a defini-tive thought. First of all, let us consider the beau-tiful. What is a disciple? He is a follower of JesusChrist. He is committed to Christ, committed toHis ways, and committed to leaving all to followHim. This is true divine fellowship. This brings alovely one-mindedness that is strength to all who

enjoy it. Secondly, let us consider the definitivenature of these words. What a mixture resultswhen every kind of half-hearted person is there. Iam not saying it should be the fellowship of theperfect. However, it should be the fellowship ofthe consecrated ones, those who love God with alltheir heart.

Jesus was There

He was without question the center of every-thing that was happening there. Jesus withdrewthere with the twelve. I would guess that perhapsone of the most valuable paintings in all of art’shistory is the one of “The Last Supper” with thetwelve. Jesus was the center of attraction there,and He sat in the middle (at least the picture givesit that way, and the disciples were all aroundHim). He was the center focus of all attractionthere. Yes, there were twelve disciples; Judas wasthere, but Jesus was the central figure. He is whatmade this upper room fellowship so sweet. TakeHim out of the room, and what do you have? Youhave nothing but religion. It is the same today inour assemblies. We can have the people there. Wecan have all the furniture there. We can put every-thing in place, but if Jesus is not there, we do nothave anything.

Love was There

It was a scene of love. In John 13:23 we havean account given by John, the disciple whom Jesusloved, that he had his head laid on Jesus’ breast.So we have a picture here of adoration and love.Maybe John sensed that they were near the end.The disciples had been given enough instructionthat he could have known. Whatever histhoughts, we have a scene of intimate love and fel-lowship. This is a picture of how it should be withus today. In the upper room there should be closeintimate fellowship with Jesus Christ. We arespeaking spiritually here. We are two thousandyears down the road, but we still need to lean ourheads on Jesus’ breast. The love feeling that Johnhad for the Master is to be the same in our hearts.There needs to be an intimacy, a depth of love thatspiritually we trust Him and lay our head on His


breast. In the upper room it happened, and it willhappen for you and me if we dwell in the upperroom—that sweet intimate adoring love for theMaster where he is everything, and we pour outour hearts to Him.

Humanity was There

There were some things that happened therethat were not the best. Some rivalry over whowould be next to Christ in His Kingdom wasexpressed in the upper room. We must rememberthat this was before Pentecost. It is also good for usto be honest and acknowledge that things like thiscome into our lives. Peter made the strong decla-ration that he would not leave Christ, that hewould not forsake Him. But Jesus said that “thisnight, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny methrice.” (Matthew 26:34) Peter also said “though Ishould die with Thee, yet will I not deny Thee.Likewise said also all the disciples.” (v. 35) That allhappened sitting at the table in the upper room. Itwas a place where the news of a betrayal was madeknown. I do not think that any of the disciplesknew that until they were there in the upper room.But there shut away from the world, Jesus brokethe sad news to them that one of them wouldbetray Him. Let us be honest and say that manytimes humanity gets in the way when we are tryingto have fellowship.

Self-Examination was There

Jesus said to them, “One of you will betrayme.” Very quickly, as it lighted upon the ears of allthat were present, self-examination took place inthe upper room. Men began to lay their hand ontheir breast and say, “Lord, is it I?” Self-examina-tion is a principle that we all need to learn aboutthe upper room, about communion, about sweetintimate fellowship. “Lord, is it I? Have I donesomething to grieve You? Would I betray You?”That all happened up there. They began to exam-ine themselves one after the other. I think that allof them said, “Lord, is it I?” Paul said, “Examineyourselves” (2 Corinthians 13:5), and, “For if wewould judge ourselves, we should not be judged.”(1 Corinthians 11:31) Finally Jesus revealed that it

would be the one who would dip with Him at thesame time in the cup. I would guess that they wereeating the Passover meal at this time.

The Communion of the Crosswas There

It was the place of the first communion, upthere in the upper room. In Matthew 26:26 we seethese words, “And as they were eating, Jesus tookbread, and blessed it, and brake it and gave it tothe disciples, and said, ‘Take, eat; this is mybody.’” Though we say these words 3 or 4 times ayear as we participate in a communion service,here was the first time it was done in a service.These were not new words to the disciples, forthey heard them in John chapter 6. However, thisis the first time the symbols of the bread and thewine were used with those very deep words. InJohn 6:53-57 we have these words, “Then Jesussaid unto them, ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, exceptye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink Hisblood ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my fleshand drinketh my blood hath eternal life; and I willraise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meatindeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eatethmy flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in Me and Iin him. As the living Father hath sent Me and I liveby the Father, so he that eateth Me, even he shall liveby Me.’” Now here the doctrine of communionwas given, and it was acted out there in the upperroom through the symbols of the bread and thewine with the eleven. We must eat and drink ofChrist. For over 2,000 years since that meeting inthe upper room, men and women have been par-taking of Christ in spiritual communion withHim. The communion service is a picture of thatlife of feasting on Christ. As we partake of Christspiritually, eating of him and drinking of him, wereceive nourishment from Christ. His life makesus able to overcome the powers of sin in our livesand the powers of darkness in the world. Brothersand sisters, we must learn to be eating and drink-ing of Christ all our days. This is what commun-ion is all about.


Servanthood was There

Feet washing was initiated there in the upperroom. After supper was ended He took a towel,girded himself, and proceeded to wash His disci-ples’ feet. It seems that Peter was indignant. Hesaid, “Lord, dost thou wash my feet?” Peter knewthis was out of order and tried to stop Him.However, Jesus was giving them an example inlowliness and servanthood. So after He had fin-ished washing all of their feet, He began to teachthem what He was doing. Christ explained to themthe principles of true greatness. Let the greatestserve the others. Humble yourselves and wash oneanother’s feet. He said to them, “Do as I havedone to you.” This is how it should be in thechurch. It should be a brotherhood of servantswho with lowliness of mind serve one another. Aswe wash each other’s feet today, this pictures howwe should be all the time with each other. It is partof the Upper Room Fellowship. Lord, teach us toesteem our brother higher than ourselves.

Teaching was There

I do not know if you have ever thought of itbefore, but there was some very powerful teachingin that upper room. John 13-17 were spoken in theupper room. I do not know how precious andmeaningful these words are to you, but they arevery precious to me. Let us consider just a few ofthese life-changing revelations.

• I am going away, but I am comingagain.

• The promised Holy Spirit.• An intimate spiritual relationship

with the living God.• The key to an abundant fruitful

life was abiding in the vine.• A deeper understanding of love—

sacrificial love.

These many truths take on richmeaning when you remember thattheir whole world is going to beturned upside-down very shortly.

Preparations for Calvary wereThere

That is what it was. He had them all there;they had their meal; He had washed their feet inchapter 13. Then He proceeded to give them someof the most profound truth in the whole NewTestament, and finished with a beautiful closingprayer. Then He went to the garden, and on tocruel mockings, and then to the cross. Let me tellyou, when we have an upper room, we can take aCalvary much easier. When we have the upperroom with that sweet intimate fellowship of abrotherhood, when we hear from heaven andunderstand each other and the presence of God isthere and love is there, then we can take themocking and the scourging a lot more easily.However, so many people do not have an upperroom. There are many Christians out there—andnot through any fault of their own—who are in sit-uations where they do not know what an upperroom fellowship is like.

Prayer was There

Our Lord prayed the prayer recorded in John17 in the upper room. It seems like it flowed out ofHis heart after He finished teaching them in thesame manner that a prayer flows out at the end ofour sermons. I have often wondered what it waslike to be there when that beautiful priestly prayer

continued on page 28

“Let me tell you, when we have an upper room, we

can take a Calvary much easier. When we have

the upper room with that sweet intimate fellowship

of a brotherhood, when we hear from heaven and

understand each other and the presence of God is

there and love is there, then we can take the

mocking and the scourging a lot more easily.”


WW H A TH A T KK I N DI N D O FO F

MM O S E SO S E S ??

In this modern day, everyoneseems to think that thesilly and the cute is the

best way to teach children.Please stop and ponder what we

are doing. What kind of Moses doyou want your children to remem-

ber? Which one is most biblicallycorrect? Are we diluting the power

and example of Bible characterswhen we put them in cartoon form?

Let us strive for the things that are excellent.

Spreadingthe LIGHT

We at Charity Gospel TapeMinistry want to take amoment to give a heartfelt

thank-you to all the many contributorswho faithfully support this ministry. Weare rejoicing, as we realize that the tapeministry has been able to supply170,000 tapes during the past year. Theletters continue to come in almostdaily, containing testimonies ofchanged lives. It seems that a tape min-istry is becoming one of the most effec-tive means to reach people with theGospel. This is a general listing of thetape ministry income and expenses forthe year 2000.

God Bless Youfor Giving!

01/01/00 Beginning Balance . . . . . . . . .$9,396.32

ReceiptsTape Ministry Donations . . . . . . . . . . . . .$175,572.86Remnant Subscription Donations . . . . . . .$13,462.50General Fund Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$46,420.56Total Receipts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$235,455.92

DisbursementsPayroll Expense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $30,715.00UPS & Postage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $21,627.96Tapes & Albums . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $137,119.75Computer/Equipment/Supplies . . . . . . . . . $12,518.37Telephone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$3,920.01Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$1,294.28Miscellaneous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $525.00Publications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $11,884.10Remnant Publishing & Mailing . . . . . . . . .$23,953.77Total Disbursements . . . . . . . . . . . . . $243,558.24

12/31/00 Ending Balance . . . . . . . . . . . $1,294.00

Difference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -$8,102.32


Dear parents,

W elcome to Sharpened Words for L i t t l eOnes. In Proverbs chapter 4 we get agl impse of a father, s i t t ing his chi ldren

down before him, and giving them good doctrine. Weknow the whole of the book of Proverbs was used to instruct

schoolboys, and the old Jewish fathers used i t to train their sons.It is a very pract ical book . Please note, this book , which is very pract ical ,

is f i l led with analogies, object lessons, and i l lustrat ions to help the students learn more quickly.These teaching methods also help the students to remember what they learned. We know that thegreatest teacher that ever l ived used these same methods to teach the people when He was hereon earth. These methods were tr ied and proven by the Master Himself. I think i t is r ight to sayGod inspired these methods of teaching. This is the same God who told us to train our chi ldren.We give you these ideas with a hope that you wil l use them and f ind more l ike them on your own.When you come across a good one, let us know. We would love to print i t for others to use.

--The Editors

God bless you as you teach!

Sharpened Wordsfor

Little Ones

This devotional should be done at night, as we will be dealing with light and its effect in the darkness.Bring several candles with you to your family time. After you have finished singing, turn out all the lightsfor a few moments. Then turn them on and read the verses that pertain to this lesson. Talk about being thelight for a short time, and then turn the lights out again. Just keep on teaching the concept to them as youall sit in the dark. They will love the change in environment and they will be listening. Then get one can-dle out and light it with a match. Make sure you all note what just one candle does to the darkness. Youcan also get some kind of a bushel and put the light under it so the children can see how much this affectsthe darkness. After discussing light and darkness for a while relating this to the lost world around us, passout all the candles. As you light them one by one you will see how much more the darkness is affected bymore candles. Family testimony can be brought in here. You should tell them how important it is to be inunity with each other, and how this makes the light shine more brightly. This is also a good time to talkabout your church. How many more lights you have and how much brighter the light is when the churchstands together. Finish your time in the dark, with all the candles lit, singing that little children’s song,“This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine.”

Ye are the Light of the World


The Bible clearly teaches us that Jesus is coming again and we don’t know exactly when. We are warnedmany times that we should be watching for His return. We are to be expecting Him to come, and be pre-pared at all times. Faithfulness to God and His word is our responsibility while we wait for His coming. Hereis the object lesson. As you start your time with the family, get up in the middle of the first song and walkover to the window and look out as if you are watching for someone to come. This always stirs interestbecause we all like visitors. Do the same thing during the second song, maybe even twice during this one.As you sing the third song, do it again two times. They will probably be asking you why you are doing thisby now but just put them off. There are many portions of scripture where this principle is taught, so chooseone and begin teaching. Somewhere at the beginning of the teaching, get up again and go look out the win-dow. They should understand by now, why you were doing this all through the singing. Now you can teachon what it means to be watching, waiting, and being prepared.

Jesus is Coming

This is a very important concept in a child’s life. We know that our Lord Jesus loved righteousness andhated iniquity, and we want to learn to respond in the same way. Your children will never forget this lesson.We will be looking at Ezra Chapter 9. You want to wear an old shirt the morning that you plan to teach onthis. Start by giving them a little background for what happens in this text, Ezra’s burden for God’s glory,and how they traveled back to Jerusalem to establish the destroyed city. The testimony of God is an impor-tant one. Then explain what the people did. When Ezra came to the city and heard about the evil they haddone, he rent his garment. At this point in the story stand up and act the whole thing out. Ripe your shirtopen with your hands like he did. The buttons on the shirt will go flying everywhere. You will even havethe attention of your wife if you don’t warn her ahead of time. There is much in this chapter that Ezra didbecause of his grief over their sin. Spend some time on all of it, and then spend some time on the holinessof God and why it is so grievous to sin and compromise.

Hating Sin

Here is a good way to teach the children how strong bad habits can be if you don’t deal with them. Anappropriate verse for this lesson is found in Ro. 6:16, where it talks about becoming a slave to sin. Bring a spoolof thread to family devotions and start by showing the children how easily you can bread one strand of thethread. You can usually get one of the boys to break it also. Then get a volunteer to help you teach the lesson.You need to set him in a chair and start winding the thread around and around, many times. Make sure it isenough that they will not be able to break loose. It is best to tell a story about a boy or girl who started outdoing something wrong one time. Explain to them that this child should have dealt with their wrong actionright away, but they didn’t. This might even be a story out of your own life. As the story goes on, you shouldbe wrapping the thread around them many times. Tell the children how it becomes easier and easier to do thewrong again and again, the longer you put off dealing with it. Eventually you can not stop. Try, as you will, ashard as you can, you are not able to stop. When you get to this point in the story, you have a child sitting therewho is all wrapped up in thread. Have them try to break loose of the binding. He will not be able to do it. Givethem a little pep talk and let them try again. They are bound and they know it and all the rest of the childrenalso know. Now you can read the verse from the Bible and explain that this is a principle in the Word. He thatcommitteth sin is the servant of sin. There are many ways that you can go from this point. You can take anoth-er family devotion time and teach them how Jesus Christ is the only way to get loose once they are bound. Youcould take another time and teach them the whole lesson on the positive side. Good habits are also gained thesame way one at a time. The same verse explains this. It also speaks to us about becoming a servant to right-eousness. Any action done sincerely twenty-one times in a row will become a habit. This has tremendouspotential for children who want to develop character in their lives. So there you have three ideas for teachingtimes which all come from the one illustration of using thread to bind them. You can encourage them to openup and tell you about areas of their lives where they see the threads getting stronger. You can also stimulatethem to choose some good habit that they need to bind into their lives, and offer to help them do it.

Bad Habits


“Dearly beloved, Ibeseech you asstrangers and pil-

grims....” (l Peter 2:11a)Several years ago, I began tomeditate on this verse. For mepersonally, it had both earthlyand spiritual meaning and so

this verse has become very spe-cial to me. I was born inCanada, and maintain anearthly citizenship there; how-ever, I hold a United Statesimmigration green card orResident Alien card that per-mits me to live here.

I was not raised in aChristian home, and I was wellinto my mid-twenties before Ihad any real experience withchurch. Unfortunately, thisexperience was not in agree-ment with the scripture in mat-ters of dress, jewelry, makeup,hair length, etc. As a newbeliever, I felt sure that the lead-ership of the church wouldnever steer me down the wrongpath. And since I had not beendiscipled, and was kept busy“working” in the church, I didnot know that in order to grow Ineeded to read God’s Word.How wrong I was to place mytrust in the leadership and notin the Lord Jesus. For eightyears, I blindly followed them—too busy to read the Bible andfind out what God really says.Oh, how the Lord must havegrieved over me those eightyears, yearning for me to readHis Word and truly follow Him.Near the end of that eighthyear, I began to sense that allwas not as it should be. I justknew that there had to be morethan what these people weretelling me that there really was aholy life that believers couldlive. As I began to read theWord and search it for myself, Ibegan to see that I had indeedbeen led down the wrong path.My life was not giving glory tothe Lord, and I was grossly igno-rant of His Word. As a result ofthe Spirit’s prodding, I withdrew

Strangers and Resident Aliensby Donna Wojcik

Otto & Donna Wojcik

from the church, and began anintensive study of the Bible.And what I found was bothshocking and amazing. I foundthings within its pages that I hadnever even heard before.

In 1991, the Lord sent me aBible believing, God fearing hus-band who loved the Lord withall his heart. I know now thatthe Lord had His will in bringingus together, but at the time I didnot know this. I was NOT thepicture of the godly woman. Ihad extremely short hair, andwore pants, jewelry, and make-up. Yet as my husband looked atme, he did not see these things.Otto saw me with long hair, indresses, and without all of theother things. The Lord let himsee me as a godly woman thatthe Lord knew I would becomeonce He got a hold of my life ina deeper way. I am truly thank-ful that the Lord brought ustogether. For it has been Ottowho has pointed me to the scrip-ture as the final authority in allsituations. As I began to searchthe Word, I also began to makethe changes necessary in my life.This was not because Otto saidthat I should, but because it wasin God’s Word. As thesechanges began to be made, Ibegan to see myself more like astranger and alien in this world.

Have you ever seen someonethat you just know is fromanother country? What was itthat first let you notice that per-son? Was it their clothing? Wasit their accent (speech)? Was itthe way that they did things, orthe things that they occupiedtheir time with? As a Canadian,I have had to learn to speak dif-ferently. I must remember that a

bag is called a sack. I mustremember that the letter “z” ispronounced “zee” not “zed”.And I must remember to try notto say “eh” so much. My speechreveals that I am from anothercountry. I am an ALIEN here.

As I reflected on the verse in1 Peter 2, I began to see that Iam indeed a Resident Alien inevery sense of the word. I beganto ask myself these questions: “ifI am a citizen of heaven, do peo-ple of this world notice that I aman alien here? Can they sensethat ‘this world is not my home,I’m just a passing through’ as thesong says? Do I dress as though Iam an alien? Does my speechidentify me as an alien and astranger? Do my actions, thethings I doand theplaces I goreflect that Iam an alien?Does ALLthat I do as Ijourney herein this worldshow that Iam not comfortable here, andthat I long to return to my realhome—my spiritual home?” Youcan see that there are a lot ofthings to consider when we arealiens. We are living here, butwe do not have to adopt thehabits, language, and dress ofthis world.

My husband and I recentlymoved here to Las Cruces, NewMexico. I am praising God thatHe has called us here, for it hasserved to reinforce my thoughtson being an alien. With a popu-lation of over 70,000 I havefound that I am the only one(that I have seen to date) who

wears a veiling all the time. Yes,people do stare at me like I aman alien. And all that I can do issay “PRAISE GOD!” They arerecognizing that I am an alienand stranger. Some people getup enough courage to ask mewhat religious order I belong to.Praise God that I can testify forHim! Many ask if I always weardresses. Praise God again—I aman alien! Many ask if we havetelevision or go to movies.Praise God—I am an alien!

Many times, we meet peoplewho call themselves Christian,yet do not in any way reveal thatthey are any different than thosein the world around them. Theydress the same as everyone else,they go the same places as

everyone else, they follow thehair styles as everyone else, andlisten to the same things aseveryone else. Can anyone seethat they are an alien andstranger here? I’m afraid not!

How I praise the Lord whopulled me out of the clutches ofthis world, and has set me up asan example and witness forHim. I am thankful that I can bea resident alien for Him. I praiseHim that people can observe mylife and know that I am analien—know that I am onlypassing through on my way toheaven to be with my Lord. ❏


“Yes, people do stare at me like I am an

alien. And all that I can do is say

“PRAISE GOD!” They are recognizing

that I am an alien and stranger.”


by James Cunningham

Iwas not brought up in achurch setting where feetwashing was practiced as an

ordinance. Because of this,when the Spirit of God began todeal with me, it was life chang-ing. My first thoughts were typi-cal thoughts of unbelief. I rea-soned, “Surely it couldn’t meanthat for real.” My only experi-ence with feet washing was at aBible School fun night. Thewives of all the professors weremade to wash their husbands’feet in front of the entire crowd.It was a time of tremendouslaughter, jesting, and applause. Itremble at the thought of it now.With this background, I contin-ued to reason, surely, thisancient practice has passedaway due to major culturalchange. I thought that to spiri-tualize the passage is the properapproach for our day. Jesus is

THE HIDDEN

POWER OF A

HUMBLE ACT

Feet

Welcome to the Blessing Corner. In this Issue of theRemnant, we have chosen to feature one of the prin-ciples from God’s Word that may be a bit controver-

sial. We have no desire to contend with anyone, but only toinform and give testimony. This is the purpose for The BlessingCorner. If you have discovered a beautiful blessing hidden inone of God’s many precepts, we would love to hear from you.Write to us and share your testimony so we can pass it on toothers. We all need to grow in our understanding of the Bible.

The text where this principle is found is John 13:1-17. Thescene of the text is the upper room where the Passover supperwas eaten, and where the first communion service was held.Sometime during this deeply intimate time with the disciples,our Lord took a towel, girded himself, and began to wash theirfeet. This came as such a surprise to them that Peter said,“Dost thou wash my feet?” In other words, “I should be wash-ing your feet.” After Jesus finished, He sat down and began toteach them in His usual manner. He taught them the principlesof servanthood and humility, and finished by tell ing them thatHe has given them an example, and that they should “do as Ihave done to you.” For those believers who take the practiceliterally, His last words are very meaningful. He said to them,“happy are ye if you do them.” In our local fellowship, we prac-tice the ordinance of feetwashing at the same time that we par-take of the Lord’s Supper. Some of my fondest memories ofbrotherhood fellowship are those sweet times when we allbowed down and washed one another ’s feet.

teaching us to be humble andthat is what we should be. Toserve others would be today’sequivalent of what Jesus did.These were my initial thoughtswhen I first faced this truth.

As time went on, I began totake a more serious look at thesubject. I had been taught adeep respect for the Word ofGod, and I knew I must addressthis issue with a responsibleheart. I cannot just pass over itand say it is not for our day.God wrote it in His holy Word,and I must accept this withoutquestion.

After I came to thisfirm conviction in myheart, God surprised mewith the way He made it ablessing to me. At thetime of my ponderings, wewere meeting with a fewbrothers of similar back-ground and some prob-lems had arisen. I wasleading out in the fellow-ship, and my first reactionwas to be swift and deci-sive and “take care” ofthe issue before theassembly. I had studied up onmy duties as they related to theassembly and had complete con-fidence that I would be acting inaccordance with Scripture. Afew short minutes before wewere to meet, I mentioned tomy wife the action that I feltwas to be taken. Cautious, butsupporting, she encouraged meto do what God was telling meto do. I bowed my head onefinal time, and the Lord clearlyspoke, “Wash his feet”!

Wow, I just knew the Lordwas mistaken, and I began toreason with Him that the prob-

lem had to be taken care of, andwhat would this accomplish?

“Wash his feet”! I knew I was wrong to argue,

so I filled a bucket with water,and grabbed a towel.

That evening, unknown tome, there were some visitingbrothers among us. (Can youimagine the example I wouldhave been, if I were left to myown ways?) We opened in songand greeted each other, then theLord said, “Now.” I began toweep as I asked all in attendanceto take off their shoes and socks,

and explained that I was told ofthe Lord to wash their feet.

The fear I had of beingrejected was immense, but Iknew God had spoken to me.They all began removing theirshoes (to my relief), and Ibegan. The place was silentuntil one of the other brotherswhom I had only met recentlyspoke up. He said that it would-n’t be right for him to have hisfeet washed, and not be able towash someone else’s feet. So hebegan, then another followed,and then another followed.Heaven opened up over us.

Someone sang Isaiah 52, and wehad a sweet victorious meeting.I have often wondered whatwould have been the outcome ofthat meeting, had the Lord notintervened.

◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆

Through the years in myministry, I have come across tes-timonies similar to this onewhere someone simply stumbledon this blessing. It began as asimple prompting from the Lordand ended in an overwhelming

experience. I know of ahusband who was led towash his dear wife’s feetat the height of feelings ofgratitude. They were bothtouched deeply throughobeying this principle.

Some time ago, I wasreading a missions period-ical, Asia Harvest, an out-reach to the unreached inAsia. There was a testi-mony of a young sister ona short term missions tripto some of these hiddenunreached people groups.

She found herself among thesesearching, hungry people. All ofa sudden, she was prompted towash their feet. Now this was apeople who wore sandals, sothey knew what feet washingwas all about, and they knew itwas the lowest of tasks. Mindyou, she did not speak their lan-guage, but in her act of humilityand love, she spoke the lan-guage that touched their hearts.Revival broke out, and theSpirit of God swept into themeeting. Several souls were con-verted that day, many otherswere touched by the practical


“Heaven opened up over

us...and we had a sweet

victorious meeting. I have

often wondered what would

have been the outcome of

that meeting, had the Lord

not intervened.”

expression of the Gospel, andthe sound of her humble act wasspread abroad to many others. IfI remember the story rightly,there is a church there becauseof this beautiful encounter.

A few years ago, I had theprivilege of witnessing a mosttreasured blessing in a feet wash-ing service. A small fellowship ofbelievers had been led together,out of a sincere desire to followthe Bible in every way theycould. Most of the families werein a Methodist Sunday schoolclass together, and had stumbledon the principle of obeying whatthe Bible said. “Let’sdo it,” they said, “andsee where it takesus.” Well, that choiceled them into start-ing a small assembly,and this was theirfirst communionservice. One of thebrothers said, “Weshould wash eachother’s feet while weare together; it is inthe Bible.” So theydetermined to try itand put their wholeheart into it. I was there, and Iwill never forget what happenedin that meeting. Men wereweeping on each others’ necks,and many words of love andhumility were flowing from heartto heart as they washed oneanother’s feet. There was no rit-ual in this little meeting of thesaints, but love and sincerityflowed. The sisters also had adeep meaningful time together.One sister who had ought withanother was arrested by God. Asthe sisters paired off to begin,God put the two of them togeth-

er. When the one sister who wasstruggling stood before theother, she broke and began toweep tears of repentance. Theyliterally washed each other’s feetwith their tears. This meetingwas heavenly, and I thought tomyself while I was there, “Thereis power in this ordinance if it isdone with sincere hearts.”

Some would say that feet-washing is only to be done inspirit. We are to serve our broth-ers and sisters in Christ, and thisis all Jesus was teaching. It is truethat Jesus was teaching them toserve one another, but is that all

He was teaching? I think not;there are some sweet exercises inhumility hidden in the act of lit-erally washing my brother’s feet.The act of feetwashing encour-ages the spirit of servanthoodthat should prevail among uscontinually. It is the same whenwe partake of communion. Weare to be living in fellowshipwith God and with our brother,yet from time to time we eat theelements together as a remem-brance to the Lord.

Historically, there have beenwhole denominations who take

the verses literally, and wholeones who feel it is to be doneonly in spirit. The early churchpracticed feetwashing on a regu-lar basis, as they always haddirty feet from walking. What ajoy it would be to see theAfrican Christians practice thisordinance, as they also havedirty feet from sandals and walk-ing. Some of the Protestantinfluence in missions hasobscured it from their eyes.There are many churches inRussia who keep this ordinanceand Orthodox and Catholic alsohave it in some small form in

their rituals. TheAnabaptist brethrenhave practiced it fornearly five hundredyears, and severalother denominationswho came from them.The primitive Baptistand MissionaryBaptist also have reg-ular times where theywash one another’sfeet. I’m sure thereare other groups thatI am not aware of,but this list is suffi-

cient to help you to see that itmay not be as weird as youthought it was.

In conclusion, we want toremember, that God is way moreconcerned that His people learnto humbly serve one another asthey walk through life together.Micah 6:8 comes to my mind,“He hath shewed thee, oh man,what is good; and what doth theLord require of thee, but to do just-ly, and to love mercy, and to walkhumbly with thy God?”

-Bro. Denny❏


“...there are some sweet

exercises in humility hidden

in the act of literally washing

my brother’s feet. The act of

feetwashing encourages the spirit

of servanthood that should

prevail among us continually.”


The Master was searching for a vessel to use;Before Him were many, which one would He choose?

“Take me,” cried the gold one, “I’m shiny and bright.I’m of great value, and I do things just right.My beauty and luster will outshine the rest,

And for someone like you, Master, gold would be best.”

The Master passed on with no word at all,And looked at a silver urn, narrow and tall.

“I’ll serve you, dear Master, I’ll pour out your wine,I’ll be on your table whenever you dine!

My lines are so graceful, my carvings so true,And silver will always compliment you.”

Unheeding, the Master passed on to the brass,Wide-mouthed and shallow, and polished like glass.

“Here! Here!” cried the vessel, “I know I will do,Place me on your table for all men to view.”

“Look at me,” cried the goblet of crystal so clear,“My transparency shows my contents so clear.

Though fragile am I, I will serve you with pride,And I’m sure I’ll be happy in your house to abide.”

The master came next to a vessel of wood,Polished and carved, it solidly stood.

“You can use me, dear Master,” the wooden bowl said,“But I’d rather you use me for fruit, not for bread.”

The Master looked down and saw a vessel of clay,Empty and broken it helplessly lay.

No hope had the vessel, that the Master might chooseTo cleanse and make whole, to fill and to use.

“Ah! This is the vessel, I’ve been hoping to find.I’ll mend it and use it and make it all mine.I need not the vessel with pride of its self,Not one that is narrow to sit on the shelf.

Not one that is big-mouthed and shallow and loud,Not one that displays his contents so proud.

Not one that thinks he can do all things just right,But this plain, earthly vessel, filled with power and might.”

Then gently he lifted the vessel of clay,Mended and cleansed it, and filled it that day.

Spoke to it kindly, “There’s work you must do—Just pour out and serve others, as I pour into you.”


There are very few spiritu-al exercises with suchlife-changing potential

as the study of God’s Word.Most believers readily agreethat the Word is necessary fortheir growth and even for theirsurvival, but it is far too easy tomechanically read a chapter ortwo every day, without everdigging below the surface forthe hidden treasure. Maybeyou think that in-depth studyof God’s Word belongs toscholars who can analyze andcompare obscure Greek words,and have never disciplinedyourself to carefully study anypart of it. If so, I hope toencourage you to try studying abook of the Bible, using a verysimple but effective method.

Many people are surprised tolearn that over half the books of

the New Testament can easily beread in less than twenty minuteseach. For your exercise, chooseone of those short but meaning-ful books, such as Ephesians,Philippians, James, or an epistleof Peter or John. Incidentally,this study should not replaceyour regular quiet time. Rather,it is something extra, a specialexercise that will greatly deepenyour love for God’s Word.

The only things needed forthis exercise are a Bible, a pen, anotebook, and an open heart.Other books or commentariesare helpful sometimes, but inthis study you will use only thepure Word of God. The goal isto hear what God is speaking toyour heart, and not to read whatHe has revealed to another per-son. Begin each session byexpressing in prayer your desire

to learn, and inviting God to beyour teacher.

For example, let’s supposeyou choose to study the book ofPhilippians. For the first week,you simply read throughPhilippians every morning andevening. Don’t spend time ana-lyzing individual verses at thispoint. Just read it from start tofinish each morning andevening and feel the heartbeatof the book. Think of Paul writ-ing from his prison cell, and tryto feel the reason why he wasmoved to write this letter. Whatis the main theme? What aresome important recurring wordsand thoughts? During this firstweek, learn to appreciatePhilippians as an inspiring book,instead of just focusing on a fewof its well-known verses.

Having read Philippiansfourteen times in the first week,you will find each verse becom-ing so familiar that you may betempted to read too quickly orcarelessly. Instead, as you beginthe second week, disciplineyourself to read even more care-fully and slowly and begin mak-ing notes of outstanding truthsand promises. Compare yournotes with your mental impres-sions of the first week. Do youstill see the same main themes?Can you sense the ‘heart’ of thisletter? Continue reading it slow-ly each morning and evening,making notes of any new truthsthat inspire you.

During the third week, youwill only read Philippians once a

continued on page 25

- A Sp ir i tua l Exerc i s e -

Studying

a Book

of the Bible

by Andrew Weaver


Abide in Christ byAndrew Murray isone of the greatest

Christian classics availableto readers today. While it is true that no book bya human author can compare to the Bible, it isalso true that God still can and does inspire thepens of His godly servants. As you read Abide inChrist, you will realize that this is one of thoserare books where every page seems to give evi-dence of the Holy Spirit’s inspiration and guid-ance. The message it contains is one that nobeliever will ever outgrow, and is one of the fewbooks that I believe should be in every Christian’slibrary. This deeply challenging book addresses asubject close to the heart of everyone longing forspiritual growth- the need to abide in Christthrough unbroken communion.

Abide in Christ has thirty-one chapters, allow-ing the reader to study and absorb one chaptereach day during the course of a month. Theauthor uses Jesus’ own example from John 15 ofChrist as a vine and believers as the branches tomake thirty-one specific applications of this truth,each with an accompanying Scripture text. In the

first chapter,Andrew Murrayexplains his pur-pose in writingthe book: There isespecially the ques-tion, with its vari-ous aspects, as tothe possibility, inthe midst of weary-

ing work and continualdistraction, of keeping up, or rather being kept in, theabiding communion. I do not undertake to remove alldifficulties; this Jesus Christ Himself alone must do byHis Holy Spirit. But what I would…by the grace ofGod be permitted to do is, to repeat day by day theMaster’s blessed command, “Abide in me,” until itenters the heart and finds a place there, no more to beforgotten or neglected… So we shall gaze on itsblessedness, until desire be inflamed, and the will withall its energies be roused to claim and possess theunspeakable blessing.

In the chapter “Abide in Christ: And YouShall Find Rest to Your Souls” he writes: But, alas!I hear someone say, it is just this abiding inJesus…that is so difficult, and the very effort to attainthis often disturbs the rest… What a mistake to speakthus! Is it a labor to a little child to rest in its moth-er’s arms? Do not the arms of the mother sustain andkeep the little one? And so it is with Jesus… Oh, it isbecause the blessing is so great that our little heartscannot rise to apprehend it; it is as if we cannotbelieve that Christ, the Almighty One, will in verydeed teach and keep us all the day. And yet this is justwhat He has promised....

In speaking to those who have been frustratedby their own human efforts to abide in Christ, Mr.Murray writes: Could they but understand how justtheir own efforts are the cause of their failure, becauseit is God alone who can establish us in Christ Jesus…Their first need is to cease from striving themselves toestablish the connection with Christ more firmly, andto allow God to do it… What they need is the simplefaith that the stablishing in Christ, day by day, isGod’s work- a work that He delights to do…if we willbut trust Him for it… Faith is confessed helplessnesscasting itself upon God’s promise, and claiming its ful-fillment; faith is the putting ourselves quietly intoGod’s hands for Him to do His work.

Abide inChristby Andrew Murray

BookReview

by Andrew Weaver


day, but you will take more timefor this reading each morning.Read slowly and meditativelyand make notes of how chal-lenges or promises apply to youpersonally. For example, whenyou read Philippians 2:5, “Letthis mind be in you, which wasalso in Christ Jesus,” make verypersonal applications. How willthe mind of Christ affect theway you relate to your family?How will it change your prayers?How will it change the way youdeal with temptation?

As you slowly readPhilippians each morning, letGod speak to your heart. Make

notes of things you believe Hewants to change in your life, andwrite about experiences or trialsGod brings into your life toeffect those changes. Make a listof the goals you have beeninspired to reach as a result ofyour study, and claim by faiththe promises that will help youreach those goals.

By now your mind should becontinually filled withPhilippians, and you will discov-er that your life is slowly beingtransformed by the constantrenewing of your mind.Furthermore, your mind will beso occupied with God’s Word

that the devil will have a hardtime finding an idle moment toinsert a temptation. I believeyou will be eager to keepstrengthening those once-flabbymuscles and dig right into thenext book, and the next, andthe next! By the time you comeback to Philippians, you willhave grown so much that yoursecond study of it will thrill youwith all new insights and inspi-rations! And hopefully by thistime, what was once a specialspiritual exercise for you willhave become a daily habit. ❏

In a faith-filled chapter titled “Abide in Christ:Every Moment” we find a response to the mistak-en idea that Christ cannot keep His followers fromsin. This day’s text is taken from Isaiah 27:3,where God says of a branch in His vine, “I theLORD do keep it; I will water it every moment:lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.”Christians are so accustomed to look upon sinningdaily as something absolutely inevitable, that theyregard it as a matter of course that no one can keep upabiding fellowship with the Savior: we must sometimesbe unfaithful and fail. As if it was not just because wehave a nature which is naught but a very fountain ofsin, that the abiding in Christ has been ordained for usas our only but our sufficient deliverance! As if Hewould give us the command “Abide in me,” withoutsecuring the grace and power to enable us to performit! As if, above all, we had not the Father as theHusbandman to keep us from falling!

Speaking of the need to die to self in order toabide in Christ, the author states, Come away outof self and its life, abide in Christ and the Christ life,and Christ will be your life… Try and realize thatthough self is not dead, you are indeed dead to self…Your death in Christ has freed you completely fromthe control of self…except as you, in ignorance… orunbelief, consent to yield to its usurped authority.Come and accept by faith…the glorious position you

have in Christ. “And now, little children, abide inhim, that, when he shall appear, we may haveconfidence, and not be ashamed before him athis coming.”

Other inspiring chapters speak of abiding inChrist and in His love, abiding that our joy may befull, abiding in stillness of soul, and abiding in trialand affliction. I believe that every chapter andeven every page of this book will inspire you withsome blessed truth that you can apply to your walkwith God and your desire to grow in Him. I strong-ly urge every believer to read this book and praythat God will use it to open a beautiful new depthof communion with Him as you Abide in Christ. ❏

This book is available through almostany Christian bookstore, often for $5.99 or

less, or you may wish to contact the publisherdirectly.

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New Kensington, PA 15068

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Continued from page 23, Studying a Book of the Bible by Andrew Weaver


“The Lord is my light and my sal-vation; whom shall I fear? The

Lord is the strength of my life; ofwhom shall I be afraid? When the

wicked, even mine enemies andmy foes, came upon me to eat upmy flesh, they stumbled and fell.Though an host should encampagainst me, my heart shall notfear: though war should rise

against me, in this will I be confi-dent. One thing have I desired ofthe Lord, that will I seek after;that I may dwell in the house of

the Lord all the days of my life, tobehold the beauty of the Lord,and to enquire in His temple.”

Psalm 27:1-4.

The Offering Up ofThe Offering Up ofMy LifeMy Life

Iwould have thought thatDavid, a man of war, mayhave desired above all else to

annihilate God’s enemies. Butno, above all he desired to see

the beauty of the Lord. I believethis is the right priority. All trueservice for Christ must flowfrom a heart enraptured withHim. How I need more of this“Mary” heart, choosing the onenecessary thing, sitting at Jesus’feet. It seems to me, that thiswas the only thing and the mostimportant thing, even in themidst of enemies and battles.Oh, for a heart that is so set onmy God, that I will not lose sightof Him or my desire for Him nomatter what the troubled cir-cumstances might be.

The Offering Up ofThe Offering Up ofthe Ythe Youthouth

The youth team from theStates is here in Ghana sinceJanuary 13th. They will fly homeon this coming Tuesday, Feb. 13,Lord willing. What a joy to seethem offer up their lives forservice to the King! They havebeen such a blessing to all themissionaries here. Sacrificialservice describes them so verywell. They gave my family theweek off while they stayed withus and took over so many of thehousehold duties. I don’t knowhow we would have made it atour missionary retreat if theyhadn’t stepped in and carriedmuch of the load.

They are now in the North,so I don’t hear much of theirexploits there. But God really

used them during the week theywere here in the South. Theyshared programs in 4 differenthigh schools. One school was agirls’ school and about 1,500girls came to the service. Thegirls on the youth teampreached at that school. We’vealready received a letter fromone of the girls who was at thatservice and was encouraged.

The last program was at aMethodist boys’ school in CapeCoast. The electricity was offand we nearly canceled the pro-gram. We finally decided toshine the car headlights in theback door, and the team usedflashlights to see their song-books. The program went onfairly well. Even without a p.a.system the 600 to 800 boys whoattended could hear because theacoustics in the huge old chapelwere good, and the boys wereattentive. After the service theynormally give about 15-30 min-utes for interaction with theschool students. But because theelectricity was off and the stu-dents couldn’t go for eveningstudy time, we had a two-hourquestion and answer session.The youth team broke intosmall groups, each surroundedby a mass of curious students,asking serious questions like,“What do you think of Gospelrock?” and “Is it right for aChristian to have a girlfriend?”and “How can you tell if aprophecy is from the Lord or

Holy SacrificesHoly Sacrificesby Ross Ulrich

not?” What seemed to be a hin-drance (the light outage) wasreally a great blessing! At firstwe were pleading with God torestore the power so the pro-gram could go on well. After itwas all over and we saw God’sbetter plan, we thanked Him forkeeping the lights off! PraiseGod for His sovereign design inall events of our lives. I’m surethe youth will have many morestories to tell of God’s workingin the Northern Region.

The Offering Up of aThe Offering Up of aSonSon

Our missionary retreat atKumasi turned out much differ-ent than we had planned. Ourall-wise God had some very spe-cial exercises of faith forCynthia and me. It was a bless-ing to have Bro. Denny with usagain, hearing our hearts andsharing God’s Word. My brotherRoy was also here, which was aspecial treat, though our timetogether was short. Ah, somedaywe will say good-bye no more, aswe sit down together in theglory of His kingdom and sharefor all eternity.

Back to my story, whichstarts even before we went tothe retreat. Our youngest child,Adriel (19 months), was sickwith malaria. We treated himwith chloroquine and went infaith. When we got to theretreat he was still very sick, sowe took him to a private hospi-tal for blood tests and treat-ment. He did indeed havemalaria, so they gave him twomore chloroquine injections.He was not looking very good

that evening, very pale andlethargic.

The following morning, Bro.Denny preached on not beingoffended in Christ, on going onwith the Lord even when over-whelmed with circumstances wedo not understand. Immediatelyafter the message, Adriel wentinto convulsions! We had neverhad such an experience before.Quickly, I asked Bro. Denny topray, then we let our childrengive little unconscious Adriel akiss goodbye. Then Cynthia andI hurried across the city towardthe hospital, while the rest werehaving an earnest prayer meet-ing. I have never had such adrive in an African city as thatday. The traffic was backed up,as usual. I didn’t know how Icould wait for this traffic tomove, so I drove up on the side-walk with my lights flashing.How we cried and prayed toGod as we drove!

It broke our hearts to see hislittle body twitching and hiseyes blinking involuntarily, star-ing as if blind. We told God thatAdriel belonged to Him, andthat if He would get more gloryby healing him, then He shouldheal him. But if it would bringmore glory to God by takinghim, He could take him,because Adriel was His. It wastruly heart-rending, but we feltthe peace of God even as wewere rushing across the city withtears running down our cheeks.We didn’t know how God wouldanswer. As others have said, “Amissionary buries his childrenmany times in his heart.” Well,we praise God, for he gave usback our “Isaac”. We marvelagain and again at God’s mer-

cies! That time, the hospitaladmitted Adriel and gave himseveral quinine IVs and a pint ofblood from our oldest son,Michael. As I write this, littleAdriel is doing fine. He is ahappy little boy full of sparklesand smiles. God bless all of youwho received the hot-line mes-sage and interceded for usthrough this difficult time.

The Offering Up ofThe Offering Up ofthe National Leadersthe National Leaders

Please continue to pray forthe leaders and the church atWawase. We are having indige-nous growing pains, and it ishard to know what to do attimes. The financial implica-tions of the church here and ourmission being two separateorganizations is discouragingthem. We have been trying toback away from financial sup-port (building church buildings,financing crusades, etc.). Itseems to have taken the windout of their sails. It is the oldmatter of unmet expectations.We are much to blame by initial-ly doing these things and thussetting a precedent.

Pray that the church atWawase, especially the leaders(Elders Joseph Enti and CharlesOtoo, and Deacon Alfred) willnot be bitter toward the mission.Pray that they will put theirtrust and expectations in God,and that they will take courageand “rise up and build” God’sKingdom. I know that thechurch here can go forwardwithout financing from the mis-sion, but the whole prospectlooks very bleak and long and



was prayed. The greatest thrill of all is that theprayer has been answered. Oh, for prayer, anoint-ed prayer in our churches.

The Upper Room was aPicture of the Church

As we end this meditation, we realize thatchurch life is being expressed all through thesepoints and all through the disciples’ experiencewith Christ. Oh, how beautiful all of this is. Thewhole thing is fellowship, communion, and otherwords that also describe togetherness. Jesus wasthe center of the upper room fellowship. All ofthese varied experiences flowed out of this onefact. God wants our assemblies to be just like this.When Jesus is the center, and all are looking toHim, lovely things happen. Honesty prevails andservanthood is a common expression. Love flows

among the brothers and sisters, and God’s will isrevealed. We could go on and cover all the pointsof this message. They all flow out from Him. Putthe Lord Jesus Christ in the center of your churchand keep him there. You will never be sorry, andyou will have an Upper Room Fellowship. ❏

tiresome to those who wereexpecting the mission to under-write the projects. Pray also thatGod will give me wisdom to dealhumbly, patiently and withunderstanding. These men arereal Christians, but this is agreat disappointment to them.Pray that the adversary, theDevil and his wicked spirits,would be defeated as they try touse this situation to destroyGod’s work.

The Offering Up ofThe Offering Up ofThanksgivingThanksgiving

God bless and eternallyreward those of you who inter-cede for us and the souls here.Many times we feel the warfare.I get the feeling that the sundialof time has nearly run out, andSatan is redoubling his efforts. Icannot begin to find the words

to express how we all feeltoward you who pray. I can sayas Paul did, “that thanksgivingwas rebounding to the glory ofGod.” Only eternity will revealthe effect of your prayers on themany circumstances here.

I praise God and drawstrength from promises such asIsaiah 59:19, “So shall they fearthe name of the Lord from thewest, and His glory from the risingof the sun. When the enemy shallcome in like a flood, the Spirit ofthe Lord shall lift up a standardagainst him.” And Isaiah 41:10,“Fear thou not; for I am with thee:be not dismayed; for I am thy God:I will strengthen thee; yea, I willhelp thee; yea, I will uphold theewith the right hand of my right-eousness.” And again, Isaiah43:2, “When thou passest throughthe waters, I will be with thee; andthrough the rivers, they shall not

overflow thee: when thou walkestthrough the fire, thou shalt not beburned; neither shall the flamekindle upon thee.” All these sacri-fices, holy sacrifices, and forwhat? For the souls of men weall do these things. In eternitythe many offerings will seem sosmall as we gaze upon “the Lambas it had been slain, in the midst ofthe throne”. We will meet ourlabors there, our works do followus. Brothers and sisters, let ushold fast, being unmovable, andalways abounding in the work ofthe Lord.

Servants of the soon-returningKing of kings, the Lord Jesus, ofwhose kingdom there shall be noend,

Ross & Cynthia Ulrichand family

❏

Continued from page 13, The Upper Room Fellowship by Mose Stoltzfus

For the audio cassette tape from whichthis message was taken, ask for “The Upper

Room” by Mose Stoltzfus, Index# 1367,from:

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Oh give thanks unto the Lord; call upon his name:make known his deeds among the people. Sing untohim, sing songs unto him: talk ye of all his wondrousworks. Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of themrejoice that seek the Lord. Psalms 105:1-3

Praise the Lord, call upon his name, declare hisdoings among the people, make mention that his nameis exalted. Sing unto the Lord; for he hath done excel-lent things: this is known in all the earth. Isaiah12:4b-5

Greetings, dear brothers and sisters in thename of our exalted Lord! I trust that asyou read these verses, your heart will ready

itself to bring an offering of praise to our dear

Saviour. May our hearts ever be “tuned to sing hispraises”! As I meditated on what to write aboutthis month, God impressed upon my heart therealization that the fulfillment of my responsibilityin keeping you informed about the work hereshould not only take the form of a prayer list of theproblems and difficulties we are facing, thoughthat is also appropriate at times. I also have a Godgiven mandate to ‘make known his deeds among thepeople’ and to ‘make mention of the ways and placesin which his name is exalted’ so that ‘the hearts ofthose who seek the Lord can rejoice’! We all know‘that he hath done excellent things’ but the only waythat you are going to know the excellent thingsthat he is doing here is if I tell you! Simple truths,

Snapshots of theKonkomba Church

by Daniel Kenaston


indeed, but God brought them home to me in anew way in preparation for this article and it is thisburden that motivates the direction of my writing.Our desire is definitely not to paint a fake or rosypicture of what is happening here, nor is it ourheart to make this a list of our accomplishments.Rather, we hope that as you read these writtensnapshots of the Konkomba church your heart willswell with praise for what God is doing here, andthat your heart will rejoice once again in theexcellency of our Savior!

It is Sunday morning, and a hot dry wind isblowing across the fields kicking up a score of lit-tle whirlwinds as I sit waiting for church to beginin a village a couple of bush miles from where welive. It is time for the service to begin and from themany surrounding huts people are beginning tostream into the little church. I say into the church,but in fact there are no walls. Just a couple of trees(which don’t provide much shade since the leaveshave fallen off in this dry winter period), and a fewstick benches arranged in a square are the onlyelements of the church building. O yes, and thebell! The call to come to the morning service isaptly carried out by an old discarded disc bladewhich hangs from one of the nearby trees.

So that is the setting. A very simple oneindeed, but one that becomes hallowed ground bythe fact of the people who fill it every week. Foryou see, this is one of the newest villages inwhich we are working, and the people who gath-er here are hearing the stories of creation, etc.and eventually the gospel, many of them for thefirst time. The hunger created by having neverheard the clear bible message is evident in theireyes as they sit in rapt attention listening to thestory of creation. Particularly the old men sit withquizzical looks on their faces, every now and thennodding in agreement or turning to each other toexplain some point more clearly. After about anhour of telling the creation story, part of it by meand part by others, we explain the application ofthis story to these idol worshippers. We tell themthat the God who created everything (they

already have a cultural belief in the creation) isabove and more powerful than anything that hemade and that he desires us to worship himdirectly instead of through animals or other cre-ated things. We go on to explain through a storythat God feels insulted and angry when we wor-ship the things he made instead of him. We closeby encouraging them to keep coming to the class-es to learn more, and give a special thank you tothe older men who came and showed such inter-est, encouraging them to lead their people ontoGod’s path by their example.

The response to the teaching was not long incoming. As soon as I sat down, the old men beganto ask questions relating to their own animisticpractices which include the worship of idols,crocodiles, etc. Upon hearing my answer, theyburst into a buzz of discussion, saying to eachother, ‘If this is true, then in fact, we have beeninsulting God by the things we have been doing’.We thrill to hear their quick application of thetruth to their own lives and pray for them to fol-low through with what they are saying. This isthe Konkomba Church!

Let’s move now to another Sunday morningservice, this time in Bilisinga which is at the cen-ter of our work. Once again I am perched on asimple log bench, and it is time for prayer. We doour services a bit different here and we have justfinished singing and we are ready to have ourprayer meeting. One of the men gets up andleads the prayers by stating what or whom we aregoing to pray for and then we all pray in unisonon that subject for a minute or so before he goeson to give another item to pray for. Today theman who is leading the prayers forms a veryquaint picture with his son who also came to thefront with his father and is now standing holdingonto his father’s trousers. The man leadingprayers commonly comes to church in an old suitcoat he bought somewhere, only he wears itwithout a shirt underneath, and today is noexception! To complete the picture, his little sonis dressed in, well, exactly nothing, and I had to


chuckle to myself as I gazed upon these two dearuninhibited Konkombas.

But there is more to it than just a cute mentalimage. My mind turned to the story behind what Iwas seeing, and my chuckle turned to sincerethankfulness for what God has done in this man’slife. I remembered the time when he told me abouthis life before Christ, the life of drunkenness andimmorality, the sacrifices to idols and fear of theevil spirits. And now there he is, one of the bud-ding leaders in the church, with a life testimonythat becomes clearer everyday as he continues tofollow God’s word. When he opens his mouth topreach, the words don’t come fast and when hereads it comes even slower, but his sermons arefilled with meaning and experience and theyounger believers around him are encouraged.Because of the work of God in his father’s heart,that little boy who clings to his daddy’s leg is grow-ing up in a home where idols are not worshipedand daddy does not drink. Praise God! That littlethree year old recently turned down an offer fromone of their neighbors to share in their meat feast,a rare treat that all of the children look forward to,because he knew that they had just offered it toidols. The change in his father is being reflected inthe life of this innocent little boy who clings to hisdaddy’s knee during prayer time!! This is theKonkomba Church!

On Friday afternoons I often spend some timestudying for the leadership training classes that wehold all day Saturday, and today was no exception.I was pouring over my topical bible when Christyannounced that one of the church brothers wascoming up the lane to the house. Upon going outmeet him, I was surprised to find one of the lead-ers from Bilisinga—minus his bicycle. After invit-ing him onto the porch and getting him the cus-tomary, and evidently much needed, drink ofwater, we asked what brought him to see us. Hevery calmly reminded me that this is Friday, theday that he holds services in a couple of villageswhere we do not have a church yet but have somebelievers. When I asked about his bicycle, he sim-

ply stated that it was ‘spoiled’ this morning so hehad to walk. A quick mental calculation of the dis-tances between the villages he had already gone tocame to a total of about 16 miles so far with 7 yetto go before he would be home!

I tried not to appear shocked as I did not wanthim to think that this kind of dedication to God’swork is anything unusual, but in my own heart Iasked myself whether I was as dedicated as he was.After a few words of blessing and encouragement,he was on his way, ready to walk another 7 mileson his thin sandals! This man, and others like him,are regularly making these kinds of sacrifices intheir effort to reach out to the many villages oftheir own people who do not have the gospel.Every week, on foot or bicycle, these men arepreaching, not only in their own villages, but alsoin about 5 other villages who have asked them tocome. Though young in the faith and still lackingunderstanding in many areas of Bible doctrine, thededication of these young men is a constant sourceof both encouragement and challenge to me. Thisis the Konkomba Church!

It is not uncommon for me to arrive at a vil-lage for a service and have to wait awhile for thepeople to gather, especially if the night was ‘cold’,which is anything around 75 degrees!! This wait-ing is particularly true of the training classes wehold for leaders on Saturdays because the menwho gather in Bilisinga for those classes comefrom 4 other villages some of which are 4-5 milesaway. Trying to use this time wisely one recentSaturday, I looked around me and saw one of ourchurch brothers sitting under a nearby tree tyinghandfuls of grass in the way that they do for roof-ing. I knew that he had been building a new com-pound (a series of rooms in a circle) so I walkedover and told him I would like to help, though mygrass weaving skills are about nil. He was anxiousto show me his new house so we walked over andhe pointed out where each family member wouldlive, including the location of the hen and pighouses. It was a typical Konkomba house withabout 1 square and 4 round rooms, so very similar


to the many other houses I’d seen being built dur-ing this building season.

But this was not a typical Konkomba man andthe reasons behind the building of this new housewere anything but the common aspirations thatmany Konkombas have to build a new house. Thisbrother’s original house stood just 100 meters fromwhere we were standing, and that compound,though it was shared by 5 families, was largeenough and nice enough that I thought he musthave had a specific purpose in mind when hebegan building. It was not easy to communicate,but between his limited English and my very limit-ed Likpakpaaln he explained what I knew to bethe deepest motive of his heart. In the sharedcompound, 2 Christian families lived along side 3families of idol worshippers, but this house wouldbe different. He said to me, “That house no be myhouse, this house be my house, and my housenobody go make pito (local beer). My childs is nogrow up to taste pito!” Hallelujah! His motive forthis construction project was so that his childrencould grow up in a Christian environment, notsurrounded daily by the things that had enslavedtheir parents! This is the Konkomba Church!

It is a typical Northern Ghanaian afternoon,and we are sitting on the porch trying to escapethe sun’s searing rays. The ‘we’ is three of us:myself, my translator, and our leading Konkombapastor. We are counseling together over the issuesand problems facing the church. This dear mansitting in front of me is by far the most matureleader we have here, and his tireless dedication to

the work of God among his people has been a joyto behold. Yet what is it that he is now saying? CanI believe my ears? “Daniel, God has been speakinginto my heart that I should farm less and preachmore.” It is true, during the farming season whichjust past, much of his time was taken up with farm-ing, but I know that they must farm if they aregoing to eat, so I’ve tried not to put too highexpectations on them. But it is clear from whatfollows that in the quiet of this brother’s heart,God has been speaking to him, asking him to let goof his desires to ‘get ahead’, and asking him to bewilling to be just a poor farmer and preacher of thegospel. He continues by saying, “You know thebusiness that I wanted to start, God showed methat I was making my choices by what would begood for the business instead of what would begood for the church. I want to turn away fromthese business thoughts and preach more.” Irejoiced to hear these words, not because the busi-ness was big (it was tiny), or because I had reallysensed that it was taking his heart away, but ratherI rejoiced in the fact that God was at work in thisman’s life, calling him to the work of God, and hewas responding to that voice. I rejoiced alsobecause of the need that we constantly have forpeople to go to answer all of the crying voicesaround us. This is the Konkomba Church!

I am on the motorcycle riding double withMatthew, our dear friend, helper, and translator,and we are winding our way through a little bushtrail that is the Bilisinga road. Matthew sometimesjokes to me that it is ‘Highway #1’ as we cross

“He said to me, ‘That house no be my house, this house be my house,

and my house nobody go make pito (local beer). My childs is no grow up

to taste pito!’ Hallelujah! His motive for this construction project was

so that his children could grow up in a Christian environment,

not surrounded daily by the things that had enslaved their parents!”


streams, dodge trees that are in our path, and fightto maintain that upright position which is mostdesirable when crossing a mud hole. Up ahead onthe trail we see a man on a bicycle signaling to usto stop. The man is very happy to see us and hasbeen hoping to meet us for awhile. But he stoppedus to ask for something, and I will just record hiswords here, basically as they came to me through atranslator. “I am coming to you from a nearby vil-lage, but I am not alone, many of my people sentme. We have seen that people who have receivedGod’s book are very changed from the way thatthey used to be. We have seen the life of the peo-ple in Bilisinga, that it has changed since theyheard God’s words, and we want to be like them.We, the young men and women (35 years anddown) of my village, want to follow a new path,that is God’s path, and we are begging that youwould come and begin teaching us from God’sbook”. Then, as if to indicate to me the fact thatthey are really serious, he finished up with thesewords, “We have already built our church and areonly waiting on you to come”! This is theKonkomba Church!

Dear brothers and sisters, I hope that as youhave read these few written glimpses of theKonkomba church your heart has been drawnupward in praise to God as mine has as I’ve sathere writing them, and that you have a bit bet-ter understanding of the work that God is doinghere among our people. These stories are real,and though I have clarified a few details to makeit more understandable to you, each one actual-ly occurred and there are real people behindeach one of them. I hope that you can tell thatwe love these people very much! God has givenus just a bit of his dying and yet still undyinglove for them, and as we pour our lives intothem, our investment in them grows, and thatlove grows also. We continue to need yourprayers, both for us as young and needy mission-aries and for the young Konkomba church, andour desire would be that many of you would alsoask for and receive a little of that love that wementioned earlier. As you spend time in prayerfor us and for the Konkombas, your investmentand love will grow also, until you can truly say,“These are my people”! If we all stay faithful,

you in praying there and us in working here, wewill all one day stand around a group of ran-somed Konkombas in the throne room of God,and Oh, can words ever describe the joy thatwill be ours to stand in that day and say alongwith our dear Saviour, “These are our people”!May this vision fill our hearts in such a way thatit motivates us to prayer and action!

We are, committed with you to this end,Daniel & Christy, and Abigail Kenaston

❏

“I am coming to you from a

nearby village, but I am not

alone, many of my people sent

me. We have seen that people

who have received God’s book

are very changed from the way

that they used to be. We have

seen the life of the people in

Bilisinga, that it has changed

since they heard God’s words,

and we want to be like them.

We, the young men and women

(35 years and down) of my

village, want to follow a new

path, that is God’s path, and we

are begging that you would come

and begin teaching us from God’s

book . . . we have already built

our church and are only waiting

on you to come!”


Dear brothers in Christ,I would like to thank-you

because you send me the twomagazines you publish.

Also, I like very much thenew REMNANT magazine.Congratulations! I read all arti-cles with great interest. TheREMNANT is a very good spiri-tual food for the children ofGod. Thank-you again.

With Christian love,Manolis CalomirisAthens, Greece

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Christian greetings to allthose who have so richly blessedus and others through your tapeand magazine ministries. TheRemnant and Mission

Newsletter have give us astronger determination to keepwalking in the way that the Lordis leading us and the confessionand faith and practice of yourfellowship is an inspiration andguide for is. It had laid before usscriptural standards which wewere aware of but have not seenor heard of as being practiced inAustralia. No doubt there aresome who do not like us. Theywould be isolated couples orindividuals. And more then any-thing, your standards have givenus the courage to go on knowingthat we are not alone in ourbeliefs and practice.

We cannot express ade-quately the joy and spiritualblessings your ministry is bring-ing us especially through theaudio tapes. It is a blessing

indeed to have them because wecan replay them anytime wewish and we are also able to usethem in reaching others. This isnot a Christian society eventhough many, many call them-selves such and it is of greatcomfort to me (Joseph) to knowthat there are men out therewho truly love the Lord and areopen about their faith. It is diffi-cult for me to find any man whois prepared to talk openly aboutscriptural truths. Most in fact,do not want to know at all.

We live in a rural part ofNew South Wales—mixed farm-ing—very small towns especiallycompared by your standards andconsiderable distances to travelfor anything. Briefly my wifeCarolyn and I have been mar-ried 37 years are now aged 60

Precious Lettersfrom Our Readers

We have been so blest these past two months by your overwhelming response to our plea towrite to us. There are so many letters coming in, that we cannot possibly print them all.Please keep them coming. We have chosen to focus a bit more on international letters in this

issue. These letters are so typical of the heart that beats in this group of people we are calling theRemnant. I don’t know how else to refer to them. It would make a good article sometime: Who is theRemnant? Where did they come from? Is it a new denomination? These are all very good questions thatshould be answered.

We have chosen to feature the letters from the international front for two reasons. First of all,because the letters and testimonies in the letters read like a scratched record. We hear it over and overagain. They love the truth deeply and long to be in fellowship with others who also respect and obey theBible. They are having a hard time fitting into the departing churches around them. The second reasonis to encourage all of us. This drawing of the hearts by God is not an American phenomena only, butwe are constantly finding others scattered around the world who long for a closer walk and a clearerwalk with God. Oh let us all be strengthened to go on. We are not crazy, we are not being extreme, wehave not gone off the deep end. God is always, in every generation, calling his people to leave all andfollow Him fully. Let us join our hearts with the number of those found in Revelations “who keep thecommandments of God.”

--The Editors


and live in a small village of 24homes. We have been commit-ted to Christ for most of ourmarried life and in the lasttwelve months have been led bythe Lord to came and of thechurch we were in because oftheir growing worldliness anddesertion of scriptural stan-dards–there are no churchesnear us which we could possiblyattend because of the standardsthey have. The nearest would beover 70 miles away. As a conse-quence we have chose to fellow-ship at home on a regular week-ly basics and have the atten-dance of other believers on airregular basics. We would dear-ly love to correspond with some-one in your fellowship or a likeminded fellowship, so that wecan have someone to expressour faith to and be guided by,being on our own one can easilyslip into error. Seem to have runout of room so need to run.

May the Lord bless you andyour ministry and fellowship.

Yours in Christ Jesus,

Joseph & Carolyn Van LoonShimaraGarland StreetLeadville, NSW 2844Australia

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Dear Remnant,A sincere thank-you for the

materials (catalog and maga-zine) that you sent to our home.

The Heartbeat of theRemnant…is an exceptionalpublication and the sample thatyou sent to us has become atreasure in our home. My hus-

band and I were so blessed bythe Christ-centered articles andwould ask that you please add usto your mailing list. We are soexcited to get this material outto our Church family.

I am including our orderform for tapes. Praise God forsuch a ministry as the one Godhas led you into. We hope tocopy these God-honoring mes-sages and pass them on to asmany others as we can and mayGod use them for His glory inthe lives of others. I must admitthat we have had such a hardtime deciding what to order—everything looks SO good andthere are so many hungeringafter God and His ways here inSelkirk. We thank-you again foryour generosity and faithfulnessto God—you have blessed ourhearts by your example of faithand trust in God for provision.

May He continue tostrengthen you in your servicefor Him!

Jeff & Jani GoudySelkirk, MB, Canada

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Dear Editors of the Remnant,A heartfelt thank-you for

the effort you are putting intothe Heartbeat of the Remnant.May the Lord bless you as richlyas you are blessing others withyour effort—your work.

I really love the HomeHistories, we can learn so muchfrom them on raising GodlyFamilies. Thank-you for addingthe places where we can get thebooks that you review. There issuch a need for good solid read-ing material.

Thank-you Brothers andSisters in Christ for the encour-agement you are to my life. Maythe Lord be honored and praisedthru your ministry. Amen!

Mark & Delia WollmanHenderson, Minnesota

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Dear Remnant,This is my first attempt to

respond to any magazine or arti-cle I have read. This magazine isnot sent to my home, yet, but awonderful fellow Christian ladyin my church has sent themhome with me many times in thepast year! WHAT A BLESSINGand INSPIRATION they havebeen in reaching my husbandsheart as well as my own in somany ways!

The reason for this short let-ter is to say: THANK GODFOR YOU ALL AND YOURMAGAZINE!! We have enjoyed10 years of marriage, and havebeen abundantly blessed with 6children and another one due inMay! GOD IS GOOD!! ALLTHE TIME!! Throughout ourmarriage, these last few monthswith the help of your articles onHumility and other people’shomes, our relationships in ourown home are becoming “deep-er” and more Christ-centered.Our children (ages 8, 7, 6, 4, 2,and 1) enjoy Bible Time, any-way, but now wait to hear“something” from the Remnant!GOD BLESS YOU as you con-tinue to serve our MightyCreator! We are praying for youdaily!!

Misty Charboneau

Afraid Of What?

To feel the spirit s glad release

To pass from pain to perfect peace

The strife and strain of life to cease

Afraid Of That?

Afraid Of What?

Afraid to see the Savior s face

To hear His welcome, and to trace

The glory gleam from wounds of grace

Afraid Of That?

Afraid Of What?

A flash, a crash, a pierced heart

Darkness, light, O Heaven s art

A wound of His, a counterpart

Afraid Of That?

Afraid Of What?

To do by death what life could not

Baptize with blood a stony plot

Till souls shall blossom from the spot

Afraid Of That?

~Rev. E. Hamilton

Afraid Of What?

To feel the spirit s glad release

To pass from pain to perfect peace

The strife and strain of life to cease

Afraid Of That?

Afraid Of What?

Afraid to see the Savior s face

To hear His welcome, and to trace

The glory gleam from wounds of grace

Afraid Of That?

Afraid Of What?

A flash, a crash, a pierced heart

Darkness, light, O Heaven s art

A wound of His, a counterpart

Afraid Of That?

Afraid Of What?

To do by death what life could not

Baptize with blood a stony plot

Till souls shall blossom from the spot

Afraid Of That?

~Rev. E. Hamilton

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the heartbeat of the remnant - ephrata ministries · the heartbeat of the remnant. 2 the heartbeat...

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