Anabaptist Voice
04/23/2008

Warm greetings to you, dear friend,

       How are you?  How is the weather for you?  We were surprised to hear that it snowed a couple days ago in Washington state, and Alberta, Canada.  We are having beautiful warm weather, and the flowers are beautiful.
       Don had a four hour episode of atrial fibrillations yesterday but praise God, he is well today.  Michi had her 75th birthday on April 18; she was blessed to have birthday cards, phone calls and gifts, such as the flowers from son Jim shown here on the right and from our neighbor Lorraine Fraser.  Every one of them precious and she felt loved.  Thank you, everyone. 
       Michi felt God was telling her to write letters to relatives and friends in Japan to encourage them to accept His love.  So she did prayerfully.  We pray God can use the letters to touch their hearts.
       A couple Sundays ago at the evening CDO church service we sang a song titled ‘Revive Us Again’.  Michi was specially blessed, and sang with tears in her eyes.  The song was a favorite hymn for her grandfather, and she could imagine him singing it.  There are only less than 1% Christians in Japan, yet God chose Michi’s grandfather to be His.  She is grateful.
       Naomi is doing well.  Her brother Jim gave her a cell phone several months ago.  She enjoys sending text messages to her brothers.  They encouraged her to exercise on the treadmill, which she did yesterday.  She is busy doing that and taking care of her birds; also she makes good desserts and lunches.  She is going to physical therapy twice a week for two hours each time.

Doves, Quail and Lizards

       Setting out on our back patio this time of the year is a pleasant experience.  We enjoy the beautiful weather, the wild birds in our back yard and even the small lizards that run around.  Today there were a number of doves, several quail and a number of small birds such as finches eating the bird food that we put out for them.  If we sit still they will eat near us but are easily scared.  The gentle wind and the cooing of the doves make a very peaceful, relaxing atmosphere.  It is interesting to watch the male doves chase the female doves around in the yard.  The quail are a bit rowdy as they push the doves out of their way to eat.  We are waiting for the baby quail to start showing up.  They follow their parents around on the ground and are a joy to watch.  Even the lizards are interesting; most are rather small, about 5 or 6 inches long although once in a while we see a big one, maybe 10 or 12 inches long.  Our wild rabbits are generally seen only early in the morning or late in the evening when they come to eat the carrots and rabbit food that we put out for them.  We used to enjoy our peaceful location up in Washington state and now the Lord, out of His love, has provided a peaceful place for us here and so we thank Him for that.  It is wonderful to rest in His love.

A Family Affair

        The Wednesday evening Canyon Del Oro church meeting was mighty unusual.  The 7 pm weekly meeting started promptly on time at 7:15 pm with Pastor David telling us about the serious health problems of four couples who attend the CDO church.  So we spent the evening praying for these and other CDO people, for Betty Hansen and her daughter Terry Kroll, who are leaving in the morning on a two week missionary trip to Africa, for Rudy Kroll who, because of his health, needs to give up his occupation as a truck driver, for Melody Welton who is recovering from a knee surgery, for Cecil and Ruth Thorpe, snowbirds from Idaho, who are leaving in the morning on a 1,700 mile drive up to Idaho to visit their family there.
       As we left the meeting, Dave Henderson described the meeting as a ‘family affair’ that unites us together in bonds of love.  Fifteen people attended the CDO Friends Sunday lunch at the Jerry Bob restaurant (photo at left) and five men attended the CDO men’s bi-weekly 6:30 am Monday prayer meeting at the Coco’s Restaurant.  We are the Body of Christ and God has created us for fellowship so that is an important part of our life.

Psalm 112

       Yesterday being April 22, we read Psalm 112 after our noon meal:  “Praise the Lord.  Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who finds great delight in His commands.”  In the New Testament we find Jesus saying several times, “If you love Me, you will obey My commands.”  (John 14:15, 21, 23, 15:10)  In our daily 5 pm church service, we’re reading in Acts where Peter says that God gives His Holy Spirit to those who obey Him.  (Acts 5:32)  This brings to mind the teachings of Jesus at the end of the Sermon on the Mount where He says that even if a person prophesies in His name, drives out demons in His name and perform many miracles, they are still going to be rejected by Him if they have not lived in obedience to His commands.  (Mt 7:21-27)
       We read in the Great Commission where Jesus tells His ministers to teach their people to obey all of His commands (Mt 28:20).  This is quite a challenge for His ministers who consider the entire Bible to be the word of God.  Are they to teach their people to obey all the 613 Laws of Moses as the Jews in the Old Testament were told to do?  Even those who hold that the commands of Jesus are those recorded in the four gospels have a challenge.  Are they to teach their people not to store up wealth on earth?  (Mt 6:19-34)  Are they to teach their people to sell their possessions?  (Luke 12:33, 14:33, Mt 19:21, Acts 2:44-47, 4:32-5:11)
       The results of this dilemma is that few of the actual commands of Jesus (such as ‘Do not swear oaths’, ‘Do not resist an evil man’) are actually taught in today’s Christian churches.  Instead the focus on Jesus tends to be on His death on the cross and on His resurrection, yet the lifestyle taught by Jesus is called the Way of the Lord a number of times in the Bible.  (Acts 18:25, also Acts 9:2, 18:26, 19:9, 23, 22:4, 24:14, 22.  In 2 Peter 2:2 it is called the Way of Truth.)

Everything Must Change

       That is the title of a challenging book by Brian McLaren that addresses the issues confronting the Christian church today in regards to the ‘economic, environment, military, political and social dysfunctions that have overtaken our world’.  It is similar to Greg Boyd’s book ‘The Myth of a Christian Nation’ in that it points out some of the differences between the general lifestyle and beliefs of the American Christians of today and the teachings of Jesus and His apostles.
         The effects of the present Middle East war on Americans reflect much of this difference.  About 300,000 U.S. troops returning from the war suffer mental illness and an average of 18 troops kill themselves every day.  The cost of the war in dollars is tremendous, many times what the U.S. sends overseas to help the poor nations.  The sad fact is that many of the American Christians support the war.  What will Jesus say about this on Judgment Day?
       Now consider what the apostle Paul stated:  "God commands all people everywhere to repent.  For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the Man he has appointed."  (Acts 17:30-31)  There will be thousands or millions of people of Iraq there on Judgment Day who have been killed, wounded, harmed, and/or displaced by the American invasion of their country.  They will be seeking justice, will they not?
       There will be present on Judgment Day the thousands of young Americans soldiers who are causalities of the war, the 4,000 dead, the tens of thousands soldiers physically injured, the hundreds of thousands mentally injured.  They and their relatives will be seeking justice, will they not?
      Who will be the defendants in this cry of justice on Judgment Day?  Will it not be all those who supported the war?
       The apostle John told us, "God is love.  Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.  In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the Day of Judgment, because in this world we are like him."  (1 John 4:16-17)
       So we are presented with two ways of life:  the way of the righteous and the way of the wicked.  The key is the centrality of God’s Word to the life and fruitfulness of the righteous who truly love His Word.
       Now, dear friend, may the God of all grace who has called you join Him in His eternal glory with Christ, may He continue to make you strong, firm and steadfast.  To Him be the power and glory for ever and ever.  Amen.  (1 Peter 5:10-11)

your brother and sisters in Christ,

Don, Michi & Naomi Murphy
Tucson, Arizona, phone 520-297-1639
"We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”  (Ephesians 2:10)

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