Prayer

From the Spiritual Formation Committee, here are some suggestions to guide you as a pray for the campaign:

Praise God:

• for the good turnout (over 100 people) at our first "Praying Tours" last Sunday.

Pray:

• for God to use the soon-to-be-mailed 30-day devotional guides in the lives of the congregation to help them make prayerful campaign commitment decisions.
• for upcoming events, specifically the quarterly day of prayer and the second of the praying tours, both on March 2.
• that the Lord will multiply the efforts and money directed toward church plants, as part of the campaign's city outreach efforts.

We have also had an encouraging update from the Band of Gideons. George McFarland reports that there are now 40 people who have signed up for the Band of Gideons and are praying daily for the Campaign! If you are interested in joining, please send him your name and email address at gmcfarland@dccs.org. You are also encouraged to share any particular blessing from the Campaign. Here are a few encouraging quotes that the Band considered in a recent email update:

"Prayer is the slender nerve that moves the muscle of omnipotence." Charles Spurgeon

"Jesus did not pray about things, he brought things about by prayer." Armin Gesswein

Survivor

Survivor with new ball

The capital campaign contains designations for global outreach. One of the projects that the funds would support is the continued construction of the Rafiki Village in Monrovia, Liberia for orphans. Ed Bland, a missionary to the Rafiki Village, shared the story below in his February newsletter. It is easy to start to think of some of these projects and fund designations as bullet points in a list, but as the story below demonstrates, this is about supporting real people with real stories. Our contributions and prayers will bring us alongside people like Ed Bland as they participate in and witness the powerful work of God.

"Survivor." No, not a television show. A child. The people caring for this little boy gave him that name when he survived infancy. No one thought he would.

It was in the last years of the long Liberian civil war. Some people fleeing to Monrovia found him in the "bush," tied to his dead mother's back and brought him along. Everyone said he wouldn't survive. He did. Barely.

Several people kept him for a while and, finally, one woman agreed to care for him. She didn't think the baby would make it, but with some emergency feeding at a Red Cross center, "Survivor" continued to live. In fact, he has made it to his fourth "birthday." (No one knows his actual birth date.)

When the Red Cross and the Ministry of Health asked us to consider him for placement with Rafiki, we went to his home to meet him and talk with the family who had cared for him. The house was very humble. Many people resided there. These people had done what they could, but they wanted him to have an opportunity for a better life and for education.

We knew "Survivor" might be close to five years old, so we were surprised at how tiny he is. (He is wearing size 2 clothing.) He sat quietly, his large brown eyes taking in everything. The family assured us that although he wasn't saying anything while we were there, that he would be full of questions after we left. Initial interviews and medical testing were done and, soon, Home Office approval came to accept him.

Last Saturday, we went to bring "Survivor" to his new home at Rafiki Village Liberia. The old grandpa of the family told us that Survivor had been waiting every day for us to come. He said, "Every time Survivor saw a car drive near their home, he would say, 'Those are my people!'" (Yes, we are now definitely "his people"!)

As we were leaving, I asked the grandpa if Survivor had any little favorite toy that we should take. "No, " the grandpa said, "he doesn't have any toys, but I'm sure if someone gave him a toy, he would play with it!"

So Survivor came home to Rafiki Mother Charlesetta's house (Ephesus cottage). New clothes, new toys, medicine for the usual problems (malaria, worms, ringworm, etc.), lots of good food, and lots of love.

God is good. And He is able.

Thank you for standing with us.

Survivor age 4+ with Anna 18 months

Survivor at his old home (Yes, that is a chicken at the lower right!)

A few days later came this update about Survivor from Ed Bland.

Just thought you might enjoy a little more on “Survivor’s” new life at Rafiki. Last Saturday the President of Liberia and her entourage traveled down the road in front of the Rafiki Village to a town nearby. The Rafiki Mothers and the children were in the dining hall, having a snack, and heard the sirens. The mothers took the children outside to wave at the motorcade. Upon seeing the children, the President ordered her driver to stop, got out of her vehicle, and entered the Village to greet the children. So, at the end of his first week in his new home, little “Survivor” (we are calling him Benjamin here and he is pleased with his new name) met the President!

“Who is like the Lord our God? ... He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes…” Psalm 113:4-8

Sneak Preview

On March 1st you will have the opportunity to attend the Managing Your Money seminar at Tenth. (Contact Nancy Hala at nhala@tenth.org to register.) One of the speakers is Bryce Bartruff. Bryce has attended Tenth since 1980 where he has taught regularly on personal finance and has also served as the treasurer of the diaconate. He recently provided me with some more information, provided below, on the content of the seminar. I also asked him for his thoughts on what the purpose of the seminar is. He shared the following with me:

The idea is to provide Christians of every age and economic level the insights they need so they can be confident they are making wise financial decisions and lifestyle choices. The balance between saving for the future, living a nice lifestyle today and being able to contribute to the church in the way the Lord desires requires insight and wisdom. We will provide appropriate tools to be able to do just that.

Here are some of the talks you can look forward to hearing as Bryce, Dr. Ryken, Gary Morris and others work to equip you to achieve the balance that Bryce mentions:

• Understanding God’s Financial Plan for Your Life
• Establishing a Foundation for Making Financial Choices (designing a budget)
• Simple Steps for Making Wise Lifestyle Choices (building a personalized budget)
• The Beauty of Giving
• Biblical Principles for Navigating Modern Debt Choices
• Transportation
• Alternative Ways to Give
• Tightwads Guide for Frugal Living
• Recovering from Debt Bondage & Living Debt-Free
• Fundamentals of Investing for Retirement

Items for Prayer

From the Spiritual Formation Committee, here are some suggestions to guide you as a pray for the campaign:

Praise God for

• a good beginning to the children's program and the enthusiasm it's generating.
• the 25+ members who have thus far signed up to be part of the "Band of Gideon" prayer team.

Pray that:

• upcoming events--particularly the praying tours on 03/02 and 04/06, and the quarterly "Day of Prayer" on 03/02--will be well-attended.
• upcoming communications--especially the devotional guide to be mailed out in late February--will help members determine their level of campaign participation.

FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS--Our Journey in Faith

Today's post is a piece written by Elmer Snethen, Capital Campaign Chairman. While many of you may have heard him share this before, such as at the January congregational meeting, I encourage you to read it as it serves as a reminder of why this campaign is much more than a fundraiser or list of projects to check off.

“It is January 20, 1852. Dr. Henry Augustus Boardman has invited several gentlemen belonging to Tenth Presbyterian Church to his house to discuss plans for founding a daughter church. They believed the time was right and by June had purchased a lot on 17th and Spruce. Then everything went wrong. They raised only half the money they needed. The help from other churches fell through. And within a year, Dr. Boardman seemed to be heading to Princeton. Then, the country entered a full financial depression that began developing in 1854 and did not let up until 1859. What did the people do? They thought it was the right time to move forward. In 1855, they laid the cornerstone, and in May 1856, the colony of thirty-six people began worship. See the sanctuary they built in 1857. You can’t see the steeple that towered 250 feet as the highest structure in Philadelphia. What vision they had!

Now think about this: their vision was too small! The sanctuary cannot hold half of Tenth’s membership and associates. And the only reason we can crowd the numbers who come for worship and study and fellowship and ministry is that one generation bought the Delancey building. Reception Hall was the office facility. The pastor’s study was up by the choir loft. What would we do without Delancey, which doubles as Sunday school classes? What would be have done if that same generation had not dug out the basement and created the classrooms and worship space of the Catacombs? What would we have done if our own generation had not purchased the 315 Building to fill up with more classes? And we still do not have enough space! Our vision has been too small!”
- Pastor Marion Clark

But let us go back to the end of the first paragraph. What vision they had. Yes, they truly had vision, but what they demonstrated the most and what they brought to 17th and Spruce was their tremendous faith. They were the first generation to fill this incredible place with faith and all the following generations have compounded it. That is what you feel when you come into this building and that is what makes this place so special – their tremendous and uncompromising faith in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You can feel it, can’t you? I know you have either brought people to Tenth and have had them share “There is truly something special here!” It is so so true. You can have a beautiful building, which it is, but it is only a building. But, to have a building filled with faith, that is a treasure given by the hand of God.

To me, this is not a Capital Campaign, but a Journey in Faith. Our session has spent a great deal of time and especially prayer discerning the Lord’s leading in His vision for the next generation. They unanimously believe in the Lord’s calling at this time in our church’s history to move His vision forward. His call, our response. What is Faith? We are clearly told in Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

How do we get faith? Once again, the bible clearly gives the answer in Romans 10. “Faith comes from hearing and hearing from the word of God.”
There is no other place that I know that teaches the word any clearer and more consistently, for almost 179 years, than here at Tenth Presbyterian Church.

Hebrews 11:6 reads, “Without faith it is impossible to please Him…” Oswald Chambers shares, “Yet faith must be tested and tried before it becomes real in your life.” Faith always works in personal ways, because the purpose of God is to see that perfect faith is made real in His children. The life of faith says, “Lord, you have said it, it appears to be irrational, but I’m going to step out boldly, trusting in your word.” “Faith is the entire person in the right relationship with God through the power of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.”

This is His call and His gift to each and every member and regular attendee, as well as the corporate church, to grow in faith. He is offering this amazing gift to all; no one is to be left out. This is our time, our turn. His call, our response to pass on to the next generations our filling of His church with our generation of faith. If we accomplish everything on the Capital Campaign list - renovations, organ, elevator, etc., and as individuals and as a church have not grown in our faith, to me we have truly failed. Through faith all things are possible. Through faith we will accomplish both. But most importantly is to pass on our faith to the next generation. We are here for such a time as this. His call, our response.

This and That

There is a lot going on so here are a few quick updates to keep you in the loop.

• So far, 34 people have signed up for the Band of Gideons! It’s never too late to join, so don’t hesitate to email George McFarland (gmcfarland@dccs.org) in order to sign-up.


• In the next few days, you can expect to receive an e-newsletter. Be sure to check it out, especially if you’d like to hear Gresham Smith’s story, pictured above during the first collection of the children’s program.


• Don’t forget to sign up for the Managing Your Money Seminar on March 1! Brochures are available at Tenth and you will be able to find more information on the blog soon.


• And finally, some food for thought recently shared with me by a member thinking about the campaign: “Keep always before your mind the greatness of your calling, that is to say, these two things: the immensity of the task before you, the infinitude of the resources at your disposal.” Benjamin Warfield, a professor at Princeton Theological Seminary, to his students on October 4, 1911.

Praying Tours

If you’re like me, by the time the 11am service ends breakfast seems a long time past and after a few quick hellos you’re on your way out. But, this Sunday eat an extra granola bar and think about sticking around for another thirty minutes to participate in one of the praying tours. This is an opportunity to hear more about the campaign projects, participate in some Q & A and pray for the campaign. The tours will start at 12:30 and will last about thirty minutes. Here’s the list, so start thinking about which session you want to attend and some good questions for your host! By the way, if you find it difficult to select just one session, the praying tours will be repeated on March 2 and April 6.

Project, Location and Hosts

• Facility Improvements - Catacombs - Ron Ferner and Kim Dengler
• Digital Organ - Choir Loft - Dr. Paul Jones
• Property Acquisition - 18th St. Amen Pews - Frank Harder
• Elevator - Nursery - Rev. Carroll Wynne, Bob Sharrar and Darv Dombach
• Global Outreach - 1 West - Dr. Bruce McDowell and Bill Langford
• City Outreach-church planting - 2 West - Dr. Phil Ryken and Michael Hatem

Aix Marks the Spot

Seminary at Aix seminarians

As part of the commitment to global outreach, some of the funds raised during the campaign will be contributed to the endowment for the Dr. James M. Boice Chair of Practical Theology at the Reformed Seminary in Aix-en-Provence. William Edgar, professor of apologetics at the Reformed Seminary in Aix-en-Provence from 1979-1989 and current professor at Westminster Theological Seminary, recently provided me with some history and news from the Seminary at Aix, including the impact it’s having on the spread of the Gospel in France. As I read, I was struck by how the history of Tenth is intertwined with that of the Seminary at Aix. It’s exciting to think how this longstanding relationship will be continued through the campaign. We will have the opportunity to hear more about the Seminary at Aix in the services on February 17 when a guest from the seminary will be visiting us.

St-Quentin is a growing suburb of Paris. Although some inhabitants are commuters, most live and work right there. The town has excellent schools and cultural activities. Twenty years ago a group of dedicated church planters, studied the demographic trends and concluded that the real population growth was in these hamlets, neighboring the large cities. They took note of the Renault car company’s plan to locate their technology center there, alongside many other new French enterprises. Thus, a new church was born. Between January, 1990, the date of their first worship service, and today, there has been significant growth in the town and in the church. Today, they are a thriving community. Their strengths include, preaching, pastoral care, outreach to the surrounding population, foreign missions, and evangelism. Much of the early development in the church can be credited to the work of Gérard Bos, the dynamic pioneer who tirelessly preached the gospel and gathered leaders around him. Where did he train? Aix-en-Provence. As did his successors, Yannick Imbert, an interim, and Marc Toureille, the current pastor.

The Reformed Seminary in Aix-en-Provence was originally founded just before World War Two, with the considerable help of Donald G. Barnhouse of Tenth Presbyterian Church. Dr. Barnhouse preached regularly in France and was able to help purchase the property on which it now stands. In 1974 the Seminary changed its charter and became an independent, confessional institution. The purpose was and is to train gospel ministers, as well as other leaders in Kingdom work. Originally the hope was to revitalize the Reformed Church of France with evangelical leadership. While that still remains a goal, today the Seminary has a broader purpose, namely to train leaders both for church renewal and for church planting. Through the James Montgomery Boice Chair of Practical Theology, an endowed chair whose occupant, Frédéric Hammann is currently visiting the United States, the Seminary is assured of an enduring program not only to train leaders but to reflect on the whole endeavor of starting new churches. Targeting mostly urban areas in France and throughout Europe, the Seminary is aiming for nothing less than a European renaissance.

Though relatively small, with six full time professors and about 100 students, like the children’s story, this is the little Seminary that could! Its brilliant professors speak all over the world. They write books and articles that are unique and strategic. They not only teach but pastor the students through their years at Aix. The student body is French, but also international, with Africans, Spaniards, and even Koreans. When I was there in the 1980s we had a Waldensian student from the remarkable movement begun in the 12th century and eventually led by Peter Waldo. Persecuted, they survived till the 16th century when they embraced the Reformation. There are still numerous Waldensian churches in Southern France and in Italy.

The Seminary at Aix is the only historically orthodox Reformed institution of higher learning in the French-speaking world. It is a great testimony to the God who loves taking small things and using them for great achievements. Whether it be David’s sling shot, the widow’s mite, the ineloquent apostle, the Lord enjoys showing his power through weakness. The Seminary at Aix is fragile but has been a seedbed, producing some of the most important leaders in the church today. It is a privilege to partner with them in their marvelous mission.

Pictured is Nelly Vos, a Tenth Member and supported global partner, who is involved with student recruitment at the Seminary.

Library at Seminary at Aix

Items for Prayer

From the Spiritual Formation Committee, here are some suggestions to guide you as a pray for the campaign:

Praise God for Dr. Koop and his gift of a digital organ; the spiritual encouragement he and this gift are to the church.

Pray for:

• broad participation from the congregation in prayer and in financial giving.
• the Lord to provide some large gifts that will help us meet our overall campaign goals.
• Tenth's children to grow in faith as they trust God to provide ways for them to contribute to the campaign.

Band of Gideons

As you may have seen in the bulletin insert on Sunday, the Spiritual Formation Committee is looking for people to join the Band of Gideons to encourage daily prayer for the capital campaign. I had the chance to ask George McFarland about his vision for the group and below is his response. I hope that some of you who read this are motivated to join the group!

My real vision for the Band of Gideon is that we would capture the excitement to "pray without ceasing" for God's good spiritual purposes in our lives during the time of the campaign. I like the idea of intentionally committing ourselves to prayer each day for the needs of the campaign. "The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availith much." Our "fathers" in the faith prayed this way and we should to. I honestly believe that we "have not because we ask not" and what better time in the strategic life of our church than now to make our appeal to our heavenly father to see what he desires for us. The Spiritual Formation Committee has been meeting regularly each Sunday morning JUST TO PRAY. It has been a very rich experience for all of us to "make known our requests" to our Lord. The Lord has given us a sense of unity through prayer, but as well, a confidence that he hears us and is working out good plans for Tenth through the campaign.

The following is the text from Sunday’s bulletin insert. If you are interested in joining the group and did not fill out the form available in the bulletin, you can contact George McFarland at gmcfarland@dccs.org.

When God chose to deliver the Israelites from the hands of the Midianites, he chose to use Gideon and a small band of men (“With the 300 men . . . I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands”—Judges 7:7–8). God could have chosen to supply many men for the work; instead, he chose to use a small number to demonstrate that the real victory comes from him.

Like Israel of old, Tenth is at a critical juncture in its history. When the Session approved the plan for a capital campaign, the elders determined that the campaign would be foremost a time for seeking the Lord’s direction and to grow in faith and obedience. Thus, prayer is the most important activity in which we engage.

The Spiritual Formation Committee of the Capital Campaign would like to invite people of all ages to consider being a part of the “Band of Gideon.” This group will commit to pray daily for the campaign from February 15–April 20. E-mails, along with praise/prayer items listed in the church bulletin, will be available to assist you through this process. If, after carefully considering this commitment before the Lord, you wish to participate, please fill in your name and email address below. Through weekly emails, you will receive updates, matters to pray for and encouragements to pray.

Music to Our Ears

As you may have heard at Tenth last Sunday, Dr. C. Everett Koop committed to the campaign funds to purchase a new 4-manual, 90-rank equivalent Walker digital organ. In a forthcoming e-newsletter, you will have the opportunity to read more about Dr. Koop and what motivated him to make this commitment to Tenth.

To whet your appetite, below is a picture of an organ similar to the one that will soon be gracing the choir loft. If a picture is worth a thousand words, I think it’s safe to say a song will be worth a million—just wait until we get to hear the new instrument!

Capital Campaign Gets Crafty

This weekend, a few Tenth girls undertook the creation of a treasure chest to be used in conjunction with the Children’s Capital Campaign Project. They took ownership of the project from start to finish and planned, painted and decorated it. Word has it they used the hot glue gun to its full advantage! This coming Sunday if you venture down to the Catacombs during the 9 a.m. service you can see the chest in person and hear more about how it ties into the program.

Pictured from left to right are Moriah, Priscilla and Mayim

The Children of Tenth

This Sunday during the 9 am children’s program Dori Baggs will share details of how the children of Tenth can be involved in the capital campaign. As her testimony below demonstrates, Dori has thoughtfully considered why these programs are integral to the campaign. So, before you hear about what is in the works, be sure to read Dori’s piece and consider why it is so important for the children of Tenth to be engaged in the campaign.

As many of you were, I too was motivated by Dr. Cassidy’s sermon during the Global Outreach Conference in November. [To link to the MP3 of this sermon, click here.] The quote he used from Martin Luther… “There are only two days…today and that day…” what a thought! What fresh energy for the task before us. In my own reading in scripture I too have been challenged recently by a passage in Psalms that Dr. Cassidy referred to in his TenthPress article. The article was a charge from Psalm 71 for those of us in the “second half of life.” Verse 17-18 reads, “O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come.”

This verse has also given me a deeper desire…by God’s grace I want this to be the verse our children are quoting 30-40 years from now! How does that happen? By being a living word now in front of them…living out the gospel in our families, in our ministries…in our communities. Carefully teaching them from the Word during the few short years they are in our midst before they graduate from high school. Many people discount the impact children can bring to a campaign like this. I’ve been dismayed by comments I’ve heard from people who find the idea of “shaking up little kids for a few pennies” laughable, saying it really won’t do anything! If some adults think this is true, how many children will believe so too?

My goal in this committee is to teach the children from scripture that children are important to God! That God has used children (and continues to do so), to teach important spiritual lessons. God has asked children in the Bible to make sacrifices…not just the adults around them. This is a concept many parents avoid. We may suffer, but we want to insulate our children from it. We all know the very familiar verse in Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Teaching our children the spiritual discipline of stewardship and sacrifice is part of that training. How can we expect our children to sacrifice as adults if we’ve shielded them from it all their lives. We need to teach counter-culturally to our children who hear from the world around them, that the very best life is the accumulation of “stuff and things.” We need to teach them from the Word, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Luke 12:34

I look at the biblical example of the child Samuel in 1 Samuel 1. We tend to look at Hannah’s sacrifice, what she gave up…but I want the children to see that Samuel sacrificed too. He sacrificed growing up in his parent’s home in order to serve the Lord. You have to believe, even though its not spelled out in scripture, that Hannah spent those early years with Samuel before he was weaned, telling him over and over again about the goodness of God and the joy of obeying him and serving him. Now…I do a good bit of babysitting and I can tell you that most young children cry when their parents leave…for a few hours! Do you marvel like I do that Samuel did not pitch a fit when his mother left him with Eli? Why not? He knew literally from his mother’s knee, that God was good, that His plan was perfect.

Look also at the biblical example of the boy with five loaves and two fishes in Matthew 14. We look at the miracle of how Jesus multiplied the meager meal into a feast for 5,000, but I want the children to see the sacrifice the little boy made. I mean…here he is…the only one in that vast crowd who thought of packing his lunch! Next thing you know these men, the disciples, are sniffing around for food and find him! Can you imagine how he may have felt initially? “You want my what?!” But, when the disciples told him it was for Jesus the boy willingly gave it to him, not knowing the miracle that was to come. Why did he do that? Do you wonder if he heard his own mother and father talking about Jesus at home…was he learning from them to love him, to trust him…trust him enough to give him his food?

I want to teach the children to give joyfully, as it says in 2 Corinthians 9:7, “Each one must give as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” Contrast this mindset to the fictional character Charles Dickens portrays in “Bleak House” in Mrs. Pardiggle. She showcases her five sons to Esther, proclaiming their overwhelming generosity in giving to the poor and to various charities…however, as she recounts what they have “sacrificed” the boys all make angry, irritated and insolent faces. You can see from their body language that the “sacrifice” was made for them…not by them willingly.

God can use our children to teach us about faith…real faith, believing that he will do that which he has promised. I want to encourage each of you, along with myself, to commit ourselves in spending the “the last half of our life,” as Michael Cassidy puts it, by obeying the directive in Psalm 78:4, “…to teach the next generation the glorious deeds of the Lord and his might, and the wonders that he has done.”