October 2010 Archives:
Forgiveness by Barbara Patton
10/29/10
"Because of this study on forgiveness, I have been able to have some compassion for a person in my life who continues to do the same hurtful things.
In the past, I tried to make amends, but never received any response. I tried to put it behind me, but two years later, she told someone close to me that I had thrown her under the bus. That filled me with anguish. Now, I am more at peace with forgiving than I was before the study.
If I were in a position to be in contact with her, I would treat her with kindness because I believe these studies have taught me that I don’t have the right to be unforgiving.
I always wondered if I had to keep trying to have a relationship with someone who continues their hurtful behavior. Again, through this study, I’ve learned that I don’t have to go out of my way to have a relationship, but I can forgive."
Forgiveness Story by Kathleen Harvey
10/29/10
"Forty-one years ago I was an attendant at my brother/sister-in-law’s small private wedding. When they were preparing to celebrate 25 years of marriage with a much larger celebration, we received our invitation…omitting our children. Taking offense, knowing other children would be included in the celebration, I responded that we would not attend. My sister-in-law called, sincerely apologizing and tried to make things right. I would have nothing to do with it. We did not attend.
The sixteen years to follow left us distant. A brick wall had been formed, and I guessed that was just the way it was going to be.
In celebration of what would have been my mother’s 100th birthday (10/12/10), our daughter planned a weekend family reunion celebration for everyone.
This past summer I found the box containing flowers and other memorabilia I had saved from my brother’s wedding. Then God went to work in me. I remembered how I had been offended; but for the first time, my heart was opened enough for me to remember my part. My sister-in-law had apologized; I chose not to forgive, but to hold a grudge.
Along came the “Forgiving One Another” message series, followed by study and discussion about forgiveness at our small group. I realized I had been wrong and prayerfully prepared to apologize to my brother and sister-in-law during the reunion weekend.
When the time was good, I took my brother and sister-in-law aside where we could speak privately. Without bringing up how I had been offended I went straight to apologizing for the pain I had caused by being stubborn and not participating in their celebration.
And then came my surprise…they said they did not remember the incident. Oh! I continued, telling them, for the first time in many years that I loved them and was so sorry. We all three cried. To honor them and their marriage, I presented to them the box of items from their wedding. They had not saved anything from their very simple wedding so joyfully received it, along with my apology.
For sixteen years I had carried this invisible baggage, impacting our families’ relationships. They didn’t need me to ask for forgiveness. I had been the brick wall builder. I needed to own the pain I had caused; I needed to ask them for forgiveness so I could be free of the incident, have healing, and relationships could be restored."
Interview with Pastor James
10/22/10
Q: Why did you go to Africa?
A: Over the past few years I’ve had the privilege of going to East Africa several times to train Pastors in both Tanzania and Rwanda. On the last trip I met a group of Pastors from Tanzania who had all been kicked out of their churches for preaching the Bible. When their denomination required that they teach from their traditional books and not the Bible they made the commitment to pull out and start their own churches.
Back in January my friend Steve Van Horn from ITEM ministries and I spent time with them reminding them of the sufficiency of the Scriptures and their high calling as Pastors. They asked me to come back and teach them exactly how to study the Bible. I couldn’t say “no.”
Q: What did you teach these Pastors?
A: On this trip I followed up the January training with a four-day workshop called, “Bible Study Methods” which focuses on Inductive Bible Study where you Observe the text, Interpret the text, and then Apply the text. I taught this to the Sonrise Seminary class in the spring of this year and was excited to see these Pastors receive the same training.
Q: Why did they need this teaching?
A: One of the big struggles with African Pastors is that they are confused about the role of “context” in their study and preaching. Simply stated, they will take any verse–or part of a verse–and apply it anyway they want. They will always look for the “deeper” more “spiritual” meaning. Because they don’t know many of the basic rules of Bible study, they teach their congregations error and don’t even know it.
Q: What was a highlight for you on this trip?
A: I had two moments that made it all worthwhile for me. On the last day I was teaching them to Apply the Scriptures to their lives and then to their congregations and there was all of a sudden a rapid-fire discussion amongst them and then a moment of silence where I could tell they were sad. Because I don’t know Swahili, I had to ask my interpreter what was going on. His response moved me. He said that they had just realized that they had not been preaching God’s Word, but their own desires. They were repenting because they realized that they had not taken the Bible seriously enough. Wow!
Also that day I gave them all a copy of the African Bible Commentary that had just been released in the Swahili language a few months ago. This one volume commentary is the only Bible study book that most of them have ever been given. They are luck to have a Bible with a concordance and notes in the back, let alone a Bible commentary. They were incredibly grateful for the gift.
Q: Are you going back?
A: I hope to go back in April or May and teach a class on “Bible Doctrines.” Only two out of the 23 Pastors have any formal Bible education and they need to know that the Bible teaches so they can not only strengthen their congregations but also know how to fight the errors that are prevalent in the African Church.
Q: What about the church roof and the grinding mill you mentioned in your blog?
A: Over the next few months I’m trying to raise $1,000 for an electric grinding mill for grain for one of the Pastor’s wives to start a business for the ladies in her church. This will not only able to help them get their work done quicker, it will enable them to bring in money to support the needs of their families and the church.
I also am raising $1,500 to put up a metal roof and supports for Joseph’s church in Mwanza. They have their property, but would like to begin meeting there under the cover of the sun and rain. Currently their church of 40-50 meets under a shade tree, but with the rainy season they have to rent a classroom from a local school and it costs quite a lot for them to do this. If we can come together and provide the roof and supports, they can build the walls and floor with mud bricks. Every family will make bricks during the week and each Sunday bring them to the church as an offering. I’ll be sharing more about this beginning in November at Sonrise.
To read all of Pastor James' blog about his trip to Tanzania, go to jamesgleason.wordpress.com.
Interview with Kim Bellwood, Salvation Army, Christmas Program Coordinator
10/15/10
You may know Kim as the Director of Sonrise's Food Pantry, but she's also putting on another hat! Read her story of the exciting opportunity God gave her...
Q. What were you doing before your position with the Salvation Army?
A. I volunteered and still do as the Director of the Food Pantry and I help out with Youth. I had been looking for a part-time work in a position that would allow me to serve people.
Q. How did you happen into this postion?
A. Salvation Army called me. They had heard about Sonrise Church's Food Pantry through the Oregon Food Bank. The Salvation Army loves Sonrise Church so they called me and asked me to coordinate their Christmas Program for them. And of course, I accepted because this opportunity to serve people is exactly what I want to do when I grow up. And I feel like this is the beginning of a whole new path for me that still allows me to stay involved with the Food Pantry and Sonrise Youth.
Q. So what exactly will you be doing as the Christmas Program Coordinator?
A. I’ll be coordinating all aspects of the Salvation Army’s Help for Holidays program being hosted right here at Sonrise. This includes: developing corporate partnerships with organizations like Nike, Intel, and other community-minded businesses; coordinating collecting of food, toys, and gift cards through local churches and schools; recruiting up to 600 volunteers for the sign-up process and distribution event; and managing all aspects of the Christmas outreach program.
Q. So what about this job really connects with you?
A. There are so many families in our own backyard who are struggling right now. The 1500 families we will serve are only a small portion of the families that need extra hope this Christmas. This is a huge task, but it’s the best task I can think of. There’s nothing like being there for someone who doesn’t know where to turn and showing Christ to them in that moment.
For more information on how you, your family, or your work team can get involved, please contact Kim Bellwood at salvationarmyhillsboro@yahoo.com or 503-640-4311.
Meet Rudy Tinoco
10/08/10
You may be wondering about this new face back in Youth and Children's Ministry. Read this quick Q&A with Rudy and learn more about this guy!
Q: Hey, who's this new guy hanging out with my kid in Youth?
A: Meet Rudy: 37-year old husband to Charlene and dad to Kristina (19), Elaina (14), Rudy (12), and Ayva (6). He's also Sonrise's new Youth Director.
Q: Where does he come from and what's he all about?
A: After 6 years as the part-time Worship Director at Wapato Valley Church in Gaston, Rudy felt as though God had realeased him from ministry to that congregation. As the featured magician at Out Of This World Pizza, he moved into management there after being laid off from his full-time position at Intel. Many Sonrisers already knew of Rudy and his magic before he and his family joined Sonrise. His position in Children's Ministry and Youth is a natural fit not only from him parenting experience and his amazing talent engaging kids, but his heart is to "build relationships with Sonrise students, being a Godly example of a Christ follower".
Q: Where does Rudy hangout and how can my student connect with him?
A: Rudy enjoys hanging out with students in small groups and one-on-one and can often be seen at OOTW Pizza, Starbucks in Orenco and Jamba Juice on Cornell. This really keeps him in touch with the heartbeat of Sonrise Youth. Of course, he's an awesome musician and connects with kids in Children's Ministry and Youth as the worship leader. He'll also be leading worship this weekend in the main service, so don't miss him! His gifts extend to Sonrise Kids as he's partnering with Pastor Eric to teach and share in the 9am kids' service. Students can also connect with Rudy at rudyt@isonrise.com, via Facebook, or catch his magic act at OOTW Pizza every Friday at 5:30pm. What an energetic guy!
SCTNOW Walk
10/08/10
Sonrise Growth Groups made an impact in the community to bring awareness to child trafficking by participating in the SCTNOW walk in downtown Portland on 10/02. Over 40 Sonrisers joined forces with more than 500 people from around the community in response to Gunnar Simonsen sharing his heart for this cause during our weekend services on 9/25-26. Sonrise Growth groups are changing lives and changing our community. To become a part of the growth group community, contact Pastor Michael at michaels@isonrise.com or sign up during one of the weekend services. To learn more about SCTNOW, go to www.sctnow.org. Yeah God!
Corn Story by Pastor Eric
10/01/10
“I got an email from my friend, Pastor David Cheni of Busia, Uganda stating that they are in need of funds to purchase corn for their 200+ orphans.
So I Facebooked the youth letting them know we were going to take an offering at our next youth meeting. We took the offering on Wednesday night, and the following day I wired the money to Pastor David. I got a thank you from him last Friday. Then this past Tuesday, I received some amazing photos of the kids already receiving the corn we purchased. This goes to show that our youth working together can literally make a TON of difference in our world!”
Offering............................................$175
Corn purchased........................1,925 lbs.
Changing lives..........................priceless
Click here to view all the photos!
