Last Lessons #21 – NEW YEAR 2021

 “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.” Ezekiel 36:26-27 

A new heart! And a new spirit! Isn’t that what you want this new year? I don’t really make New Year’s resolutions anymore. Didn’t work for me. I actually used to make New Year’s resolutions for my husband, but that definitely didn’t work! I learned a long time ago that anything I resolve to do on my own doesn’t last very long. I can’t change myself no matter how good my intentions or how hard I try. What I have learned is that only God can change my heart. So, when I read in Ezekiel that God says, “I will give you a new heart”, I say YES! Even though the context of the verse may not be a promise for January 2021, what I want in 2021 is a new heart. I need it! Don’t you?

Over the years I have found that the main way God changes hearts is through the study of his words in the Bible. When I say “study” I mean to really engage in Bible study, not just read the Bible (although that is necessary), or to listen to someone teach the Bible (that is good too), but to dig into the meaning, meditate on the words, and then put those words into action.

It is good to study the Bible privately, but I have found that studying face to face with others holds me accountable and causes me to think more deeply. After all, I don’t want others to hear any unthought-out statements about what a passage of scripture says. So, what is the best Bible study to use with others?

The Rafiki Bible Study (RBS) is by far the best study for adults available today. Why?

· In-depth, inter-denominational, printed lessons with questions for small group face-to-face discussion

· All lessons written by eighteen doctrinally sound and notable theologians and edited by Rafiki president Rosemary Jensen and theologian David F. Wells

· All books of the Bible are available and the number of lessons per book vary from 4 (Ruth or Esther) to 32 (Romans)

· Lessons are sold in packs of 5 and amount to $1 per lesson per group member to cover the cost of production and printing · The RBS is available through Rafiki’s website www.rafikifoundation.org

Why do I want you to start your new year using the Rafiki Bible Study with a few of your friends? Two main reasons: 1) Everyone who is using the RBS loves it. The RBS became

available in March 2019 and even with the coronavirus there are now more than 400 RBS groups and they continue to order more and more books, and 2) David Wells says, “It is the most extensive, thorough, and edifying Bible study that I know about. I am delighted to be able to commend it.”

Through the years I have witnessed more people coming to faith in Christ, maturing in their understanding of biblical truth, experiencing life changes, being able to teach others, and enduring as Christians through this kind of rigorous face to face Bible study than through any other means. Believe me!

Please let God give you a new heart this New Year by continuing or starting a RBS group in your church, neighborhood, or home. And you are not too old. If I can do it, you can do it!

Last Lessons #20 – CHRISTMAS 2020

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

We have every right to shout “Merry Christmas” because God gave us his Son to save us and to govern us as the true Prince of Peace. No matter what the news, I want to remember that the government shall be upon His shoulder – not on mine, and not on whoever is the president of the United States of America.

Speaking of presidents, I am so grateful this Christmas that God gave us a president who cares about religious rights and freedom of speech. We can joyfully say “Merry Christmas” because our president made sure that it was not cancelled from America’s vocabulary. I am also very grateful that besides Christmas Day, our president made Christmas Eve an official holiday by executive order. It is good to be with families (if possible!) for two days where we can honor the birth of the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

And I pray that you will be as grateful as I am for all the good gifts God has given you, especially his Son Jesus Christ.

Last Lessons #19 – JUSTICE

“You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous. Justice, and only justice, you shall follow, that you may live and inherit the land that the Lord your God is giving you.” Deuteronomy 16:19-20

One of the lessons I learned from my parents is not to show partiality – to be fair. God gave my parents six children. For my father or my mother to show partiality to any one of us would have caused a riot. We would have yelled, “It’s not fair!” That is not to say that we children all received the same rights or rewards. Our age determined what rights we had, and our accomplishments earned us our rewards. In those days, “allowances” were unheard of and we learned responsibility by working for the good of the whole family.

God has given me three daughters and I attempt to be as fair as I can with them because I know that showing partiality is perverting justice. I pray that my daughters are all equal in my sight. That does not mean that all three of them received the same rights or earned the same rewards for jobs done. The older the daughter, the more the rights. And the bigger the job completed, the greater their reward. That’s fair and just.

God, by his grace, gave us a country that was set up where all its citizens were to be considered equal under the law. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights were written to assure that no partiality would be shown to any one individual or group. Our founders knew that to show partiality is unjust. They knew that it is just to own property and goods that are earned by working. They knew that the rule of law is necessary for a country to survive. Lawbreakers must be justly punished or anarchy will prevail.

According to the Bible passage quoted above, citizens in any country are not to pervert justice if they truly want the right to live in the land God gives them. It’s “justice, and only justice” that should and does uphold a country. Up until this time and by God’s grace, the United States has been known as a nation of justice. However, if we do not punish wrongdoers, if we show partiality to some groups, if we accept bribes, and if we subvert the causes of those who are doing right, then we will lose our land.

Someday, God will come to judge the nations (Matthew 25:31-34) and our nation will be one of them. Until that time, my goal is to promote justice wherever I can. I want to stand for what is right. I want to give to just causes. I want to write to my congressmen. I want to write blogs that encourage others to promote justice in our land. But what I want and pray for most, is for God to save this land. We have made such a mess of it.

Will you pray earnestly with me every day that God in his mercy will show us how to live and act justly?

Last Lessons #18 – GIFTS

“It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Acts 20:35

How many times have you heard these words of Jesus? I have learned that they are true and nothing gives me more joy than to give. But I have also learned that I must give wisely, especially at Christmas time. Here are some things I will be giving this year with a couple of suggestions for you

1. Give what is true

Every year for Christmas (and birthdays) I give a Bible commentary to my family, co-workers at Rafiki and some friends. I give and recommend the REFORMED EXPOSITORY COMMENTARIES published by P&R Publishers (www.prpbooks.com). Since I have been giving these commentaries for a number of years, my family and friends now have a valuable library of the best Bible commentaries.

I give the RAFIKI BIBLE STUDY. The RBS consists of printed lessons on every book in the Bible and written by a number of noted theologians. It is for small groups of five or more and can be obtained through Rafiki’s website (www.rafikifoundation.org). There is no better gift than getting people to study the Bible. It’s where the truth is found.

2. Give what is good

I still have some money and I plan to give it all away before I die, but the best gift I have is my time. That’s why I still volunteer at Rafiki with my walker(!) and a few others from my assisted living facility each week.

Your time is the good gift you can give. If you are too busy to give time to volunteer somewhere doing something, then you are too busy. Have you thought of volunteering at a soup kitchen, or a school, or a library, or a pro-life pregnancy center?

Years ago, our family took in a number of foster children. Two of them became Christians and later led their own families to Christ. If you want to really help needy children you might check into an organization called Guardian ad Litem for children (guardianadlitem.org). This will take some time, but it is a wonderful thing to give children who have no one to stand with them in legal matters.

It may be hard to get out these days, but if you can hunt for gifts at stores, you can hunt for places to volunteer where you can do good for others.

3. Give what is beautiful

In the senior facility where I live, I have a small garden in which my daughter Kathy has planted camelias, gardenias, and other flowering plants so I can enjoy their beauty. I was also given a bird-feeder where from my windows I can see beautiful cardinals and other birds. Beauty can be found in many places, but I particularly like God’s creation of flowers and birds. Therefore besides outside, my apartment is adorned with paintings of flowers and birds. My professional artist daughter has painted them for me and gifted me with their beauty. If you want to give something beautiful you can order beautiful paintings from her website (katherinecookart.com).

I don’t usually recommend specific organizations or websites in my blogs, but this year doing so is the best “lesson” I can give you in time for Christmas.

Last Lessons #17 – TEACHERS

 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. James 3:1

Because people know that my husband and I were missionaries in Africa, they often ask me, “What is Africa like?” I think they want to know how hot it is, how safe it is, what the living conditions are, and what the people are like. Unless you have actually been there, it’s hard to imagine what Africa is like. I remember one young missionary, after arriving in Africa who said, “I didn’t know that all the people would be black!”

After I tell people what they want to know, then I tell them that for me, Africa was a teacher. God knew I needed to learn many lessons that only Africa could teach. I wanted to teach the Africans about God, but Africa taught me about God. And a lot of other things. For example:

1. I learned that the Lord takes care of his own through his own.

As soon as we arrived in Tanzania Bob and I and Annie (two and a half-years-old) were sent to Tanga on the coast (and on the equator!) to learn Swahili from an old Swedish missionary couple. Five days after arriving in this strange place, I had appendicitis which Bob diagnosed immediately. I was taken to the local hospital (no air conditioning) where I had surgery. The concern was that I was three months pregnant with Kathy, my second child. I won’t go into all the details except to say that it was not a pleasant experience. The British surgeon was not good or kind. BUT God had placed our Bumbuli Hospital nurse trainees at this government hospital in Tanga! They placed a fan over my bed and bathed me twice a day to keep me cool. Although we could not communicate well because of our languages, they were kind, loving, and gentle young women. They were Christians from my new home in Bumbuli! I learned that the Lord sends his angels wherever his people need his care.

2. I learned that my abilities are to be used, not wasted.

In Bumbuli we lived in a mud house (plastered and whitewashed) with a tin roof and no electricity. We had a wood stove and a kerosene refrigerator. I worked as hard as I could, but I needed help! It pained me to have to hire a cook, somebody to chop the wood, somebody to clean and do the laundry, somebody to plant a garden, and somebody to buy chickens and meat from the market. I felt so guilty having all those servants! That is, until one of the old missionary wives said, “If you want to do your own work then you should have stayed home. You are here to do what your servants cannot do.” She sure set me straight! So, I taught English to medical assistant students, taught five men to sew on treadle sewing machines, and acted as secretary for my husband as he planned for a new hospital at Bumbuli and also one in Moshi that he would build during our next term. I learned that God sets us straight on how to use what he has given us even when we don’t have enough sense to ask him.

3. I learned that God is enough.

This is the most important lesson I learned the whole time I was in Africa. When the big box of our things we shipped to Africa arrived, it had been soaked in water. All our clothes and bedding were moldy, all our pictures were ruined, but worst of anything, all our books were soaked. All I had with me was my Bible and one other book. We had no telephone, no email, and letters took two weeks to come. There was one other American family at Bumbuli, but that was all. Bob left for weeks at a time raising funds for a new hospital and I was left alone with my three children (who always seemed to get sick the day he left!). But that’s when I learned that I didn’t need things, books (except for the Bible!), or many friends. God took all those things away from me so that I would know that he is enough. No better lesson to learn than that.

Africa was a great teacher for me. God had plans for me to teach his Word in the future and Africa taught me that I had the essentials – his written Word and himself to be with me. God has plans for each of us and he will teach us what we need to learn wherever we are. The senior living facility where I am today is teaching me plenty! What are you learning where you live today?

One caution: remember that there are false teachers out there. You may not be able to choose where you live, but make sure you choose who teaches you. Go to a good church (even if you have to attend online), read a good Bible (I recommend the ESV) every day, watch good channels on TV (not those run by the liberal media), read good books (I will be suggesting some from time to time), and choose good friends (those who lift you up, not those who drain you).