Friday, January 11, 2008 at 1:01am
A quick whirlwind
Column: For His Glory
I am officially now in the state of Texas as the pastor of the College Station and Waller Seventh-day Adventist church. We are excited to be here, excited to work with our members and definitely enjoying the weather, which hovers close to 70 almost every day. We already have had a couple of days in the 80s. It is wonderful.
Catherine and I arrived on Wednesday, Jan. 2, on the one day of winter Texas has a year. It was actually colder upon on arrival than it was in Michigan when we loaded the truck. We actually had to wear gloves, because the wind was biting and bitter. But that's over now, and I praise the good Lord for the weather we have been having. We had three church members help us unload and they were wonderful, but there were some complications.
We were promised a downstairs apartment with a backyard and were given an upstairs apartment with no backyard. We voiced our displeasure (in a kind manner), yet thank the Lord that we are upstairs and that the rent is $10 cheaper. Then we had a hard time with our high-speed Internet that is included in the rent. It worked wonderfully the first two days; then it was down until yesterday. We tried several different modems and nothing worked, and that made it more frustrating. The customer service reps over the phone were not very helpful and failed to dispatch a technician at the proper time. It took several days just to find out that the power cord was damaged, although it made the lights turn on. Hence we tried other modems. It never dawned on us to switch the power cord; hence none of the new modems worked. What a bummer!
Saturday I preached at Waller, the smaller of the two churches, and the Lord blessed. I preached on the power of prayer, and I solicit your continued prayers on our behalf. Because "prayer doesn't prepare you for the greater work, prayer is the greater work!" (Oswald Chambers)
I have also experienced my first workers meetings as I spent two nights and three days at the conference office catching the wonderful vision God has for our churches here in Texas. I feel very much at home here in Texas, and I praise the Lord for His leading. He knows best.
God knows best, which is why I know that in this very first week He got me through my very first funeral. I had to bury the father of two church members before I even preached at the College Station church. I learned so much this week about their father and about them. The Lord, our wonderful Savior, is sustaining them in this their hour of need. He sustained me as well and I praise Him for it. He can sustain you too if you cast your anxieties upon Him.
"Whatever your anxieties and trials, spread out your case before the Lord. Your spirit will be braced for endurance. The way will be opened for you to disentangle yourself from embarrassment and difficulty. The weaker and more helpless you know yourself to be, the stronger will you become in His strength. The heavier your burdens, the more blessed the rest in casting them upon the Burden Bearer. ...
"Worry is blind, and cannot discern the future; but Jesus sees the end from the beginning. In every difficulty He has His way prepared to bring relief. Our heavenly Father has a thousand ways to provide for us, of which we know nothing. Those who accept the one principle of making the service and honor of God supreme will find perplexities vanish, and a plain path before their feet." ("The Desire of the Ages," pages 329, 330)
— — —
Gio Marin is the pastor of the College Station and Waller Seventh-day Adventist Church in the state of Texas. He graduated in December 2007 with a master of divinity degree from Andrews Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary, with a dual emphasis on systematic theology and church growth & evangelism. Send him an email at {email GioMarinColumn@aol.com}GioMarinColumn@aol.com{/email}. © Copyright 2008 by Gio Marin.
Catherine and I arrived on Wednesday, Jan. 2, on the one day of winter Texas has a year. It was actually colder upon on arrival than it was in Michigan when we loaded the truck. We actually had to wear gloves, because the wind was biting and bitter. But that's over now, and I praise the good Lord for the weather we have been having. We had three church members help us unload and they were wonderful, but there were some complications.
We were promised a downstairs apartment with a backyard and were given an upstairs apartment with no backyard. We voiced our displeasure (in a kind manner), yet thank the Lord that we are upstairs and that the rent is $10 cheaper. Then we had a hard time with our high-speed Internet that is included in the rent. It worked wonderfully the first two days; then it was down until yesterday. We tried several different modems and nothing worked, and that made it more frustrating. The customer service reps over the phone were not very helpful and failed to dispatch a technician at the proper time. It took several days just to find out that the power cord was damaged, although it made the lights turn on. Hence we tried other modems. It never dawned on us to switch the power cord; hence none of the new modems worked. What a bummer!
Saturday I preached at Waller, the smaller of the two churches, and the Lord blessed. I preached on the power of prayer, and I solicit your continued prayers on our behalf. Because "prayer doesn't prepare you for the greater work, prayer is the greater work!" (Oswald Chambers)
I have also experienced my first workers meetings as I spent two nights and three days at the conference office catching the wonderful vision God has for our churches here in Texas. I feel very much at home here in Texas, and I praise the Lord for His leading. He knows best.
God knows best, which is why I know that in this very first week He got me through my very first funeral. I had to bury the father of two church members before I even preached at the College Station church. I learned so much this week about their father and about them. The Lord, our wonderful Savior, is sustaining them in this their hour of need. He sustained me as well and I praise Him for it. He can sustain you too if you cast your anxieties upon Him.
"Whatever your anxieties and trials, spread out your case before the Lord. Your spirit will be braced for endurance. The way will be opened for you to disentangle yourself from embarrassment and difficulty. The weaker and more helpless you know yourself to be, the stronger will you become in His strength. The heavier your burdens, the more blessed the rest in casting them upon the Burden Bearer. ...
"Worry is blind, and cannot discern the future; but Jesus sees the end from the beginning. In every difficulty He has His way prepared to bring relief. Our heavenly Father has a thousand ways to provide for us, of which we know nothing. Those who accept the one principle of making the service and honor of God supreme will find perplexities vanish, and a plain path before their feet." ("The Desire of the Ages," pages 329, 330)
— — —
Gio Marin is the pastor of the College Station and Waller Seventh-day Adventist Church in the state of Texas. He graduated in December 2007 with a master of divinity degree from Andrews Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary, with a dual emphasis on systematic theology and church growth & evangelism. Send him an email at {email GioMarinColumn@aol.com}GioMarinColumn@aol.com{/email}. © Copyright 2008 by Gio Marin.