“The joy of the Lord is my strength”—this is a familiar praise chorus inspired by Nehemiah 8:10. And if you read the verses surrounding this passage, you’ll understand why the people were overjoyed … through translation and interpretation they finally understood the message of the Scriptures.

Nehemiah 8:8 and 12 serve as the bookends for this great theme. Verse 8 describes the process of bringing God’s Law into the language of the people. “They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read.”

Many Israelites who were under Babylonian captivity no longer understood Hebrew, the original language of the Old Testament. They needed to be taught the meaning of Scripture in their own language, Aramaic, before they could apply it to their lives.

Their immediate response was to weep, but Nehemiah exhorted God’s people to let the joy of the Lord be their strength. Their joyful reaction is recorded in verse 12. “Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.”

The Joy of Translation and Understanding

Nehemiah 8:8 has been our motivating verse, most especially as it relates to the digital radio ministry (DRM). We praise Him that He is bringing the project along towards this goal!

Did you know? (Source: Joshua Project)

*For every dollar of Christian giving to all causes less than one penny goes to financing pioneer church planting among unreached people groups.

*North Americans spend about the same on Halloween costumes for pets as they do on outreach to unreached people group.

*Over 90% of long‐term missionaries work in already Christianized groups. Less than 10% — some researchers suggest less than 3% — of all missionaries work in unreached people groups.

*Over 40% of the world does not have internet access. Unreached peoples tend to be in countries with below average internet access.

• You can sign up to receive information on an Unreached People Group to pray for every day on the app or via email: https://joshuaproject.net/pray/unreachedoftheday/app
• Today’s Unreached People Group is: Chauhan Rajputs in India: https://joshuaproject.net/pray/unreachedoftheday/today

The students have responded really well to games during events or small gatherings. They seem to like the break from their heavy studying schedule. The interaction is helpful for getting to know each other better in a relaxed situation. I have been able to use a lot of the games I collected for last summer’s Guam youth camp project.

Three simple questions back in 2022 that have stuck with us. We had shared our vision for the large project we were considering embarking on with a respected Christian.

“Is it needed?” Yes, we said. We believe it is.

“Is anyone else doing it?” Why no, they are not and we don’t understand why!

Then came the response. … “Then Go For It!”

And that we did. And we are.

…Even the pennies!

It has been our desire to raise funds for our international student ministry locally and we are so pleased to see this beginning to happen.  Local interest in supporting and helping the ministry is growing! 

Last weekend’s fundraising yard sale was very successful. But, even before the yard sale we were given a generous gift in the EXACT amount I had been praying for over several months, in order to fund this ministry so that we don’t have to borrow from other accounts. This was a totally unexpected gift from an unexpected source. It’s often the way God works through others as He leads them to give.

 As for the yard sale itself, over 20 people donated lots of really  great stuff.  It was a lot of fun to fellowship with church friends who came to support us, to get to know our neighbors better (they helped with donations and tables), and meet some new neighbors.  A few students helped with set up and take down.

A friend from our church, who also has a heart for these students, held a simultaneous sale one of the days for the same cause. She had wisely suggested a goal for the sale. And, together, we made EXACTLY the goal to the penny! 

Soon after the sale was over another friend from our church knocked at our door with a donation that covered the required admin fee for the deposit into our account, also in the EXACT amount!

Yet another friend gave us their coin jar and this covered all the signage and supplies we needed. So, you see God is in the details all the way down to the pennies!

We have set aside some of the funds for emergencies the students might run into and in the meantime have started to meet needs with gift cards for food and other necessities, textbooks and housing costs.

Thank you, Lord, for these very specific answers to prayer – confirmation that we are walking in Your will!

Having lived overseas for much of our lives and now finding ourselves living in the community around a university, naturally we wanted to reach out to the internationals students. Outreaches last year included a Welcome Dinner to start the semester, followed by Christmas snacks, providing meals during Christmas break, and in spring, a game time on campus. More recently we were able to become an informal host family to one student. We consider this a privilege. The natural outcome of all of this was to organize into a more formalized entity.

Alongside Students Ministries is a Christian-based ministry that seeks to come alongside international students at Stetson University to offer practical support in various ways.  International students find themselves in a foreign culture, often causing unforeseen stress and they need support to navigate these challenges. As members of the local community around Stetson University, we at Alongside Student Ministries endeavor to be helpful, welcoming neighbors to these international students who need encouragement and support. Activities include welcome dinners, socials, prayer support and assistance with securing housing. 

Can you guess where some of the students are from by the foods they are missing?

This new ministry is “hot off the press” but you can now give a charitable donation to help support this student ministry: Alongside Students Ministry

Alongside Students Ministries is administrated by Doug and Denise Gregson of Para Tech Ministries and they welcome volunteers!  For more information, contact:  [email protected]

What we are doing at PTM as we come alongside mission agencies and churches to enhance the good work they are already doing shouldn’t seem strange. To answer the question that has come up, spoken and unspoken, What’s in it for you?… we say, “The joy of serving the Lord through serving others!”

We all should be cheerleading for each other. It’s a hard time to do ministry what with the spiritual, social and political climate of our world, combined with limited resources. Why, it is even a hard time to “do life” as a believer with pressures at work and challenges at home!

In contemplating Hebrews 10:24: “..let’s consider how to encourage one another in love and good deeds,” (NASB) we see that we should think of others long enough to get to know them and what they need most in order to keep pressing on.

As other versions put it, we should be motivating or stirring up others towards love and towards doing good.  How can you encourage other believers in your life to stay the course? Have you put thought and prayer into it? Each of us is unique and therefore is encouraged differently. Each is struggling with our own besetting issues.

So often It is the “small things.” An example was given in our church’s morning prayer and fasting time today as our pastor shared how one of the pray-ers had sent a quick text to the person they were praying for and how that was received  “as a hug” from God.

Give it some thought today. Let’s get in the habit of rooting for each other. Be a cheerleader for Christ today!

 

 I truly have no business even broaching this subject. Honestly, I feel a little silly doing so. I am not a theologian or philosopher, nor am I a technologist.  In fact, I am less adequate to discuss this now than when I first started my rough draft of this blog post a while back. And perhaps even less so today than just last week. Every day more information, both praises and warnings, are coming out about AI. Man’s relationship to technology is changing at a breathtaking pace! Still, this is a subject we should consider as we minister and as we recognize changes in the way media is delivered up to consumers.

We have observed the pattern of automated radio taking the place of live broadcasts. A small local station with a talented announcer who is in touch with the pulse of his local community is replaced by a national feed. Spontaneity is killed and the personal touch has disappeared.

A long-distance radio station with pre-produced programming chooses to automate recycled programming without much thought or consideration of the needs of the audience. Programming can easily be set to automatically repeat.

In the future, is it possible AI-generated sermons and teachings will be commonplace?  Recently ChatGPT was used to write a sermon that simply connected correlating information into a message. The conclusion?  The “sermon” was merely adequate. It lacked the depth of human reasoning and spiritual insight. This is not a surprise since robots do not have a soul, nor personal experiences to put information into a context. Imperfect outcomes are unlikely to discourage designers, however. Instead, they are likely to improve the sophistication of their design in order to increase acceptance.

 As society evolves technically, will God use automation and robots to bring people to Himself?  Surely God can use any means to reach a person. He has used both animate and inanimate objects to get a message across and to reveal His glory. However, Would He prefer to use an inanimate object that man has contrived rather than working through His children? This seems inconsistent with God’s character and ways. For He has always given His children the privilege and blessing of working with Him as His instruments to accomplish His purposes.

God works in ways that are consistent with His character and value. He greatly values people, and we should too. If there is a person available and willing to do a job, we shouldn’t devalue that person by rushing to replace them with a machine. God created us to work using the talents and gifts He has given us, both in our vocation and in our personal ministries. As His servants, called to minister, some of the fruit occurs within those serving as we participate with Him in His work. Let’s not rob ourselves nor others of the blessing that comes from walking with God and watching Him work through us.

For quite some time now, robots have been tested to aid in religious activities by either increasing spiritual interest or standing in when clergy are otherwise not available. In 2017, India introduced a robot to perform Hindu rituals. Also in 2017, in honor of the Protestant Reformation’s 500th anniversary, a robot in Germany offered preprogrammed blessings to thousands of people.

In Japan and Beijing, over a million dollars was invested in robotic Buddhist monks in an effort to revive a fading interest in the religion. The robot was programmed with information to disseminate, but with a goal of increasing in sophistication over time, through AI learning. 

Not to be left out, robotic Catholic saintlike figurines “counseled” elderly and others who couldn’t get to the priest, using automated responses to their concerns. Roboticist Gabriele Trovato, who designed the 17-foot SanTO (Sanctified Theomorphic Operator), wants to move now to designing devices to support the Muslim religion.

Apart from God’s hand, the slippery slope of artificial cognition knows no bounds. Some have gone so far as to suggest that robots can get to the point of having a free will and thus needing a catechism of their own. I guess they better talk to God about that! Christians can’t even agree on the doctrine of man’s free will. However, you can be sure there will be those who will try to get as close as humanly possible to replicate this belief.

Then there is the legitimate concern of AI becoming an object of worship in and of itself. God has given warning against worshipping that which our own hands have made. Oh! the irony of the created worshiping his own creation.  Could this not lead to a modern-day Babel situation where man self-destructs?

 Spiritual usage aside, many experts are warning of the dangers of AI. How much more must we be cautious of the traps and temptations in the Christian realm. We should be concerned as to Who? or What? is the source of “truth” as purported by AI.  AI would choose to homogenize answers to queries according to what it considers and perpetuates as “truth.”  

God works in mysterious ways and His Spirit’s moving cannot be predicted, boxed in, nor controlled. His Word is living and active. Without soul nor spirit, and ignorant of the future, how could a robot ever deliver a personalized, Spirit-filled, and life-changing message? For God has said, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways…For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isa. 55:8-9) 

It’s truly remarkable the intellect God has put in man. Let’s be responsible to put our minds to good use in considering the ramifications of sliding down the dangerous slope into robotic “ministry.”  As powerful and time-saving as AI appears, we can take comfort that it is impotent to do anything outside of the sovereignty of God. One thing we know for sure is that God will always accomplish all that He desires, and He intends to use His children as His instruments in the process. It behooves us to cooperate with Him and not try to run ahead of him.

“God calls us, not to success, but to faith-obedience and trust and service-and He bids us to be unconcerned with measuring the merits of our work the way the world does. We are to sow; He will reap as He pleases.” –Charles Colson

While we may gain some ideas and practical methods from the world of business, we should not seek to emulate the world’s business and marketing practices.  God’s ways are far superior than man’s ways.  Surprisingly, He uses weak and simple things to “confound the wise.”  (I Cor. 1:27 )  In God’s “business” of drawing people to Himself and changing lives, we need to “get used to different.” (The Chosen) Our part is to step out in faith according to God’s leading no matter how foolish we may appear. 

Consider some of the bizarre-seeming methods God used to glorify Himself:

-He asked Noah to build an ark for… flooding rain. Whatever that is..?!

-He used a talking donkey to get Balaam’s attention. Say what!?!

-He had Joshua instruct the people to march around the city for seven days, blow the trumpet and shout.  How’s that for a sensible business plan?

-Naaman wasn’t exactly thrilled when Elisha told him to go dip himself in the muddy Jordan to be healed. But it was God’s plan and it worked!

-And shrimpy David was no match for a Philistine giant! Or so it appeared.

The list is endless. Indeed, God works in mysterious ways! Certainly these practices wouldn’t be considered sound business applications by most. From a natural perspective, they sound ridiculous, and yet, through the eyes of faith, God’s way is the only way to true success.

In the New Testament, Jesus had the servants fill jars with water and give some of it to the master at a wedding instead of wine. Risky! but it turned out just fine.

He instructed His followers to give up everything to follow Him, and His disciples to go out to minister without any money or food.  Eek!

With just 5 loaves and 2 fish, He and the disciples fed 5,000 people!  Doesn’t add up!

He taught about loving your enemies and turning the other cheek. The first shall be last. He ate with sinners and tax collectors, entered Jerusalem on a donkey, and, although innocent and sinless, He willingly gave up His life for the sinful.

This all seems upside down. Indeed, it is, because God’s values differ greatly from the world’s values.

So, I ask myself, Why would we think that we can figure out precisely how God will work, and narrow ministry down to a neat, worldly business model or formula? For we would see no need for God if we can simply follow the effective business plans of intelligent men and woman. Of course, we can glean some ideas from other churches and ministries. But we can’t expect what would work in one place to necessarily work in another.  For the Holy Spirit works as He wills, first one way and then another.