The Anabaptist Voice 09

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The Anabaptist Voice
09/02/2009

Proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom of God: Love, Joy and Peace in Jesus.

Dear Friends,

       Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray all of us are with love, peace and joy in our Lord. We are all fine. We are blessed by our wonderful God our Father and his love for us. This past week has been some of the hottest days of the summer, with temperatures about 100 degrees. It makes us think of the days when we used to live on the tree farm at Fan Lake in northeastern Washington. There we fed the deer by our house in the winter (as you can see in the photo) and used to walk in the woods with our dogs (they are patiently waiting in the photo for permission to go out the gate).
       Last week on Thursday, we were printing the weekly newsletters as usual for Thursdays. After a while, the printer stopped working. Don is a computer expert, he has been working with computers since 1961 and was a computer software engineer at Boeing before he retired. He tried to fix the printing problem but could not. So he gave up, and Michi continued working on her songbook. When she wanted to print a song, the printer did not work. So she restarted the computer and when she tried to print again it worked! We were able to continue printing the weekly newsletter! Thank you, Lord, for fixing the printer.
       We see so many things that our God takes care of us. Yesterday, the Mexican Sage brushes in our front yard did not have any flowers, but this morning we see them full of blossoms again. It did not rain much, but it did a few days ago, and now the love of God is shining through the flowers to us in the house! We have never seen anything like that in another state, and we have lived in many different places (Japan, North Dakota, Minnesota, Ecuador, Maryland, Florida, Antigua, BWI, Washington state and now in Arizona).

Our oldest son Mike’s new job is very much time consuming because he has to drive such long ways to work. His wife Arlene is teaching school and their daughter Eryn is now at college in New Mexico. Our son David just started to work on his new job at Microsoft.

Our son Jim is scheduled to speak on mental training skills to some Seattle Mariners minor league baseball players in Phoenix on September 22. Then he is planning to come down to Tucson to be with us for a few days. We are making plans to fly with Jim up to Manitoba to visit our son Pat and his family on September 24^th. We will return to Tucson a week later and Jim will return to Vancouver, BC, where he’s been living. We’re not going to Washington just now.

Last night our grandson Titus, Pat’s son, called us just after he came into the house from working in the gardens picking fruit with other six year olds. He and his three year old sister Elizabeth sang for us. They are a joy! Their mother Betty is busy working outside in the gardens also, as are all the able-bodied women in the colony. The women also take turns spending a week in the kitchen cooking the community meals. All their meals are eaten together in the community dining room.

       Last Sunday at the Baptist church Sunday school class, all three of us gave our testimonies. We were limited in time but were blessed that we could share what our God has done for us. His love is so great. Who can give up their only Son to take the sins of all the people and die on the cross? We felt His love for us. We are under His wonderful care and guidance.
       Don’s testimony was very brief: born again in 1975, baptized in the Holy Spirit several months later, miraculously healed of an injured back in 1977, water baptized in 1978.

Michi’s Testimony given 8/29/2009 at the Baptist Church

      “I was born and raised in a Christian family in Japan where only one percent of the people are Christians. I thought I was a Christian, because I grew up learning the Bible, attended Sunday school and church. But, I had only head knowledge of God.
      “I married a teacher in the school where I worked, an American named Don Murphy. We were married by a Catholic priest in the chapel of Sophia University in Tokyo.
      “For a long time my life was rather meaningless even though I was raising five children. Still God was taking care of me and guiding me. I took up oil painting, and told myself that I am alive; because here is the painting I can see…
       “One day in spring of 1974 while I was preparing for a Sunday school lesson, I was teaching the 1^st grade. Just before the Easter, I was asked to become a Eucharistic minister at the church. I felt so unworthy and unclean. Still I had to teach. I was looking for a picture of Jesus I wanted to use for the lesson. When I saw a picture of Jesus on the cross, something wonderful happened. I began to feel God's love being poured out on me. I felt His cleansing power coming down on me, from the top of my head to the tip of my toes. I felt washed and clean. Then my eyes were opened to God. I was saturated in His love.
      “I felt the love of Jesus. I felt alive. I was water baptized by immersion about four years later with all our family. Now I want to live every minute under the love of our wonderful God and I want to be pleasing to Him.”

Naomi’s Testimony Given 8/29/2009 at the Baptist Church

       “My name is Naomi Murphy. We used to have a family prayer time in our home each day with my four brothers and my parents. I remember one day when I was 14 years old. My dad asked each of us if we wanted to live for Jesus, and we all said, “Yes” and that is the time when I opened my heart to the Lord.

“A verse came to me: Acts 16:31 “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you and your whole household.” That was an important time in my life. I was water baptized by immersion when I was 16.”

We Were Scammed!

       Last week we got caught in a clever scam that originated in the Philippines and cost us $340.00. They use Mennonite leaders as unwitting agents in their scams. In our case one of the leaders of the Korea Anabaptist Center (KAC) called and asked if we would help an American family stuck in the Manila airport trying to get to Korea to attend a funeral. They got our name and phone number from a fake Immigration agent in Manila and used as a reference a woman working at the Mennonite center in Elkhart, Indiana. We told the KAC that we would help and so they sent the money to Manila. However, we discovered the next day it was all a scam. We did pay back the KAC (also innocent victims of the scam) and wrote to the Mennonite Weekly Review newspaper asking them to publicize the scam as it involves innocent Mennonites.

Christ Within You, Your Hope of Glory (Colossians 1:27)

       In order to be saved, in order to enter heaven, we have to have Christ within us now. What does that mean and how can it happen? William Law, in his book “The Power of the Spirit” writes quite powerfully on this subject, a good reminder of what the Lord and His apostles have been trying to tell us.
       Jesus said to His disciples, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you." (John 15:5-7)
       So here the Lord is giving us an indication of whether or not a person has Christ within: “Ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.” If we truly have Christ within, if we are truly dead to self and alive in Christ, then we will be living and doing as Christ did while on earth, living a holy life, pleasing to God, our heavenly Father. 1 Peter 1:16
       This is why we need the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Jesus said when we are baptized with the Holy Spirit, we will receive power to be His witnesses, to do His will. Acts 1:8
       When the Spirit of Christ rules in our heart, there are no longer any hard sayings in the Gospels; but all that the Lord Jesus taught is eagerly accepted and followed. There is no greater joy than walking as He walked, and saying, loving, and doing that which He said, loved, and did. How could it be otherwise?
       May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you. (2 Cor 13:14)

Your brother and sisters in Christ,

Don, Michi & Naomi Murphy
Tucson, AZ, phone 520-297-1639
www.AnabaptistChurch.org

Jesus said, “People will know that you are my disciples by your love for one another.” (John 13:35)

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