July 18-19, 2020 GOSPEL WORK IN MAASIM MUNICIPALITY, SARANGANI PROVINCE

Dear Brother Joe Wessell, A Deacon and the Elders Mike Latimer, Terry Melton, Greg Benson, Kurt Benson, Curtis A. Carter and the members at Village Creek Church of Christ, 390 Greene 721 Rd, Paragould, AR 72450

 

"I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper

and be in health even as thy soul prospereth" (3 John 2)

 

Grace Mercy and Peace be with you

From God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.

Thank you so much for all the love through prayers and financial support through the years. Your fellowship with me, dad and the gospel preachers through financial support has been a great blessing to augment the Philippine work in the Lord.

The Village Creek church of Christ is well-known of being a sound local congregation of our Lord that always strive to do things according to the revealed word of God. I and dad are always thankful to God that Grandpa Jim Mcdonald had introduced us there in your heart brethren.

It is a privilege for me and dad, Siamen D. Tumandan Sr. that we are included in monthly financial support of the Village Creek church of Christ and also in day to day prayers of every saint there.

Thus, I rejoice in the Lord and always thank God in every remembrance of you dear saints in Christ.

I and dad have received today our August 2020 Financial Support in the amount of $400.00 sent by Brother Kevin Gill and notified to us by Brother Joe Wessell. Thank you so much.

 

I am happy to share with you that I had an opportunity to preach the gospel in a new open work in Sitio Lamsaging, Barangay Nomoh, a remote area of Municipality of Maasim last July 18-19, 2020.

Brethren such as Gorio Pelon and Manolang Diamalo invited me in the area. Prior to this, Brother Manolang Diamalo had brought brethren such as Rommel Dazon and Edward Diamana to preached in the area and thanks to God there were souls added to the kingdom through their preaching.  Thus what we had done is what Apostle Paul had said to the Corithians “I planted and Apollos watered but God gave the increase” I Cor. 3:6. Items such as Communion Cups and Grapes for Lord’s Supper were given to help in complying the need to worship in spirit and in truth. Thank you so much including Communion Cups when sending BalikBayan Boxes.

 

The road going there is rough; thanks to God that I had able to borrow the motorcycle of dad Yamaha 125 XTZ.

 

We traveled using motorcycles around 9:30 PM July 18, 2020 then arrived in the area round 10:30 PM. 

 

11:00 PM, we had a meaningful Bible Study wherein I shared about the simplicity of worshiping God in spirit and in truth. Brother Wowie Diamana, son of Brother Edward Diamana also shared many things concerning the kingdom of God, then Brother Gorio Pelon, a preacher in Pepe Ranch church of Christ had concur to the brethren the things we were preaching to them. It is also a blessing to have fellow Christians like Diamalo Manolang and a certain Julie (though Julie is not a preacher) but have the desire to reach more souls for Christ. Julie and Diamalo kept on telling them the important of following the truth.

 

July 19, 2020 around 6:30 AM, we started our worship service in Sitio Lamsaging.

My lesson was "Back to the Bible", John 17:17 a sermon outline of Brother Ron Halbrook. Back to the original plan of Salvation in the Bible and Back to the original pattern of worship should the desire of everyone who loves the Lord.

After the worship, we immediately went back to the respective local churches where we have been preaching through the years.

Sitio Lamsaging is more than 20 kilometers from Sitio Libas where I am serving as preacher.

Around 10:30 AM, I arrived back in Libas church of Christ and by the grace of God had able to preach "Two Attitudes Toward God's Word: Conservative and Liberal", sermon of Brother Ron Halbrook. Man should conserve the word of God, not to be liberal. Brother Luciano Sanguan, my partner as preacher in Libas preached a lesson about “The Letter of Apostle Paul To the Elders of Ephesus”.

1:30 PM, After the worship in Libas, I and my fellow preacher Luciano Sanguan went to Pepe Ranch church of Christ and therein we had Children Bible Study. Brother Sanguan served as song leader.

The lesson was "Ezra: Prepared His Heart For God". The children were so happy because they had ballpen and papers. Thank you so much because through your financial assistance I had purchased those items.

Then considering that there were young men who first expressed that they desired to be baptized, I lectured a lesson about "Baptism".

From Pepe Ranch we went then to the river of Kyumad, it is more or less 3 kilometers distance.

Thus the four young men humbly obeyed the truth through immersion in water yesterday, July 19, 2020. Thanks to God for His loving providence in mercy and kindness; Salvation has been brought down by Jesus Christ.

These four souls have been listening the word of God through the preaching of Brother Gorio Pelon.

Thanks to God for their salvation after our Bible Study with Brother Luciano Sangoan, they obeyed the form of doctrine of Christ.

Thank you so much for all the love by prayers, encouraging words and by way of financial help.

May God continue to bless each one.

In Christian Love,

Men Mark Tumandan

marktumandan@yahoo.com

marktumandan121992@gmail.com

dad's e-mail samtumandan031756@yahoo.com
http://gospelwork.blogspot.com

PROVERB 19:22 "The desire of a man is his kindness: and a poor man is better than a liar."

2 Cor. 8:21 "Providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men."

"The naked truth is always better than the best-dressed lie! Ann Landers

 

GIVING ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK (1 COR. 16:2)

Ron Halbrook, 3505 Horse Run Ct., Shepherdsville, KY 40165-6954 (halbrook@twc.com)

GIVING ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK (1 COR. 16:2)

Introduction:
1. Sacrificial, unselfish, cheerful giving–vital part of our faith & Christian life
2. 1 Cor. 16:1-2; 2 Cor. 9:7 God’s plan for giving:  Bring in hand what is in heart!
3. Acts 2:41-45; 4:32-37; 5:1-11; 6:1-7 Fellowship of giving part of worship from beginning

  I. How the New Testament Church Was Taught to Give (1 Cor. 16:1-2)
   A. “Upon the first day of the week:” Periodic, Regular
     1. As Ex. 20:8 & Acts 20:7, observed every time that day came
     2. “On the first day of every week” (Marshall’s Interlinear Greek-English New Testament), “every Sunday” (New English Bible)
     3. Word translated “upon” (kata) in 1 Cor. 16:2 used by Greeks with measures of time to indicate regularity & repetition:
        a. With day: every day, daily (Lk. 16:19; Acts 17:11)
        b. With month: every month (Rev. 22:2)
        c. With year: every year (Lk. 2:41)
        d. With Sabbath: every Sabbath (Acts 18:4)
        e. With the first day of the week: every first day of the week (1 Cor. 16:2)
   B. “Each one of you:” Personal, Individual
     1. Salvation & worship personal
     2. Acts 5:1-2, 9 Man & wife may agree, give together
     3. Remember to teach our children to give
   C. “Lay by him in store:” Provident, Providing for the Needs of the Church
     1. “In store,” in the general fund or common treasury of the church:
        a. Tithes put in “treasuries,” storehouses (Neh. 13:12)
        b. Gifts put in temple “treasury” (Matt. 27:6; Mk. 12:41)                       
        c. Disciples with Jesus had common “bag” (Jn. 13:29)                                                               
        d. Believers laid in store at “the apostles’ feet” (Acts 4:35; 5:2)
     2. “That there be no gatherings when I come:”
        a. Common fund result of “collection,” “gathering,” “liberality” (1 Cor. 16:1-3)
        b. Not private funds held at home (which would require collections when Paul arrived)
   D. Church Dependent on Love & Sacrifice of Members, NOT Carnality:
     1. Entertainment: concert, play, dance, movie, carnival, alcohol
     2. Solicit from sinners
     3. Auction, yard sale
     4. Gambling: raffle, bingo, casino night
     5. Sell meals, candy, trinkets, etc.
     6. Business investments

 II. What Was the Money Used For?
   A. Mission of Local Church Ordained by God:
     1. Evangelism to lost world (2 Cor. 11:8; Phil. 4:15-19; 1 Thess. 1:7-8)
     2. Worship & edification by saints (Acts 2:42; 1 Cor. 14:26)
     3. Benevolence to needy saints (Acts 6:1-7)
   B. “Let Not the Church be Charged” (1 Tim. 5:16)
     1. Social functions, social welfare services: parties, showers, psychology, day-care, job training, legal services, adoption agency,
         social meal after funeral sermon or reception after wedding sermon
     2. Secular education: K-12, college, G.E.D.
     3. Recreation: picnic, ball team, youth center, gym, puppet show, movies, camp, sight-seeing trips, “fellowship hall”
     4. Medical services
     5. Economic, social, or political reform

III. How Should We Give?
   A. Measured by Spirit of Love for God
     1. 2 Cor. 8:1-5 Macedonians “first gave their own selves to the Lord”–exceeded normal expectation
     2. 2 Cor. 9:6-10 What we bring in our heart, we bring in our hand
     3. Lk. 21:1-4 Poor widow gave her heart, sacrificed “more than they all”
   B. What Standard or Percentage Required?
     1. 1 Cor. 16:2 Personal decision: “as God hath prospered”
     2. 2 Cor. 9:7 “As he purposeth in his heart”
   C. Consider How the Law of Moses Taught the Spirit of Giving
     1. Lev. 27:30-33 Tithe (10%) of all fruit & flocks–Levites & poor shared in this bounty–
         if we made a personal decision to use this standard as an average, a benchmark, a starting place, or a goal, how much money would it be? 
        a. If 400 pesos income per week, give 40 pesos; if 500 pesos income per week, give 50 pesos; 
            If 1,000 pesos income per week, give 100 pesos.
     2. Ex. 13:1-2; 23:19  First fruits, firstborn male of everything (some of latter could be redeemed with money; Num. 18:12-18)
     3. Book of Lev. Many sacrifices & offerings of animals, food, & drink: some daily, annual, & freewill
     4. Lev. 27; 1 Sam. 1:11 Vow special gifts for use of sanctuary–persons, animals, houses, land
     5. Deut. 15:1-2 7^th year release all debts
     6. Lev. 25:1-13 50^th year release all debts, slaves, & land back to original owner
     7. 1 Kgs. 17:8-9; 2 Kgs. 4:8-10 Support prophets on freewill basis
     8. Deut. 15:7-11 Care for destitute, widow, orphan
     9. Ex. 25:1-7; 30:11-16; 2 Chron. 24:4-10 Voluntary gifts plus atonement tax to build & maintain tabernacle, temple
    10. Estimated total: 25-30 % of income
   D. With a Better Covenant & Better Promises (Heb. 8:6), What Is Our Spirit of Giving?
     1. If sacrificed to give to false religion before, what is our decision now that God opened a door for us to find the true Savior,
         true gospel, true baptism, true church, true way of salvation???
   E. Whatever We Give, Let Us Determine to Grow!
     1. Jn. 3:16 God’s perfect love: Provided plan, sacrifice, & revelation of salvation
     2. 1 Thess. 1:8 What the church can do to spread the gospel to a lost world: Limited or expanded by our giving
     3. 2 Cor. 8:7 Should set individual & church goals: “grow in this grace also”
   F. Our Giving: Rob God (Mal. 3:8) OR Lay Up Treasures in Heaven (Matt. 6:19-21)?

Invitation:
1. Sacrificial, unselfish, cheerful giving by Christ (2 Cor. 8:9)–truly he seeks to make us rich: promise of sins forgiven, fellowship with God, heaven.
2. To receive his riches:
  a. Acts 2:38 Alien sinner, obey gospel
  b. Acts 8:22 Erring saint, repent & pray

ALL BY MYSELF (By Jim McDonald)

ALL BY MYSELF (By Jim McDonald)

Elijah faced 850 false prophets and “called them out” on Mt. Carmel. He called for a face-to-face meeting with one of Israel’s worst and weakest kings: Ahab. He challenged a widow of Zarephath to trust in God and give him the last food she had, and in so doing her meal and oil would never be completely exhausted as long as the drought continued in the land. He chided faltering, compromising Israel, “How long go ye limping between the two sides? If Jehovah be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him …” (1 Kings 18:21). But when his life was threatened by Jezebel, he fled, going back to the mount from which God’s law had been revealed by Moses.

Twice God asked Elijah, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” Both times he said, “I have been very jealous for Jehovah, the God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword: and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away” (1 Kings 19:10, 14). Elijah had given up and was ready to die. But God wasn’t quite ready to take him. He still had work for Elijah to do!

He was to go to Syria and anoint Hazael king of that country. He would then return to Israel and anoint Jehu king of that country. Finally, he was commanded to anoint Elisha who would ultimately replace him as a prophet of God (1 Kings 19:15-17). Even after all of this, God still had more years of work for Elijah to do, which was illustrated by his interaction with Ahaziah (2 Kings 1:1-18). Then, Jehovah addressed Elijah’s complaint: “Yet will I leave me seven thousand in Israel all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal and every mouth which hath not kissed him” (1 Kings 19:18). Had Elijah really reflected on that, he would have known that truth as well.

Elijah forgot that Obadiah, who was over Ahab’s household, was a servant of the Lord (1 Kings 18:3). He forgot about the 100 prophets whose lives Obadiah saved for Jehovah from the evil designs of Ahab and Jezebel (1 Kings 18:13). Then there was a man named Shaphat who had reared a God-fearing son named Elisha who would become Elijah’s servant and who also would become a mighty force in defending truth in Israel (1 Kings 19:16). And, somewhere in Israel, there was a couple who would have a daughter in whose heart they grounded faith in Jehovah and who, despite the fact that she was stolen from her land and carried captive to another, carried her faith with her. Had that little girl not lived, we might never have heard of Naaman the leper, for it was she who introduced him to the true God (2 Kings 5:3). Elijah wasn’t alone, God had preserved a remnant of His people: “But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have left for myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to Baal. Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace” (Rom. 11:4-5).

We’re not alone. God is with us, and we ask, “… If God is for us, who is against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not also with him freely give us all things?” (Rom. 8:31-32). We are not alone, but there are things we can do, even if it is only to give a cup of cold water to a “little one” (Mt. 10:42). Jesus took a little boy’s lunch and fed 5,000 (Jn. 6:9-10). He used a man who never wrote an inspired letter, nor from whom we have an excerpt of a sermon, but who heard Jesus, believed His claims, then brought his brother Peter to Jesus (Jn. 1:40-42). The list is endless of simple, small things that were the means through which God wrought many great, good things.

We are not alone. So do what you can, as Mary did when she anointed Jesus (Mt. 26:9-12). Make a call. Send a card. Extend an invitation. Bow your knee and pray. There may be some potential ones “out there” whom you may touch who will also become part of 7,000 who will not bow their knee to Baal.

I and dad had a meaningful Bible Study with one Denominational Pastor.

Dear Brother Joe Wessell, A Deacon and the Elders Mike Latimer, Terry Melton, Greg Benson, Kurt Benson, Curtis A. Carter and the members at Village Creek Church of Christ, 390 Greene 721 Rd, Paragould, AR 72450

 

"I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper

and be in health even as thy soul prospereth" (3 John 2)

Grace Mercy and Peace be with you

From God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

Thanks to God always that through the recommendation of Grandpa Jim Mcdonald I and dad have been in the heart of the Village Creek church of Christ.

By God's loving providence one soul was baptized last Saturday, July 4, 2020.

Salvation belongs to the Lord. Man can't saved himself by his own initiative thus he needs to be right in the sight of God through God's own righteousness.

 

God's righteousness is therein the gospel of Christ in which man must believe and obey.

It is always great opportunity to extend the true gospel to the lost; with thankfulness last Saturday at the house of dad, I and dad had a meaningful Bible Study with one denominational pastor.

After the Bible Study, he decided to be immersed in water for salvation of his soul.

It is also an open door to establish a local church in the area where he is a native there in Malapatan Municipality, Sarangani Province.

 

Dad is also a native of Malapatan and the said newly convert is relative of dad.

His last question during our Home Bible Study was "Why is it that instrumental music not allowed to use in worship when in fact it was used by King David?"

When I answered that it does not mean King David practice one thing then it is the basis in the New Testament. David had many wives yet it is not authorized today to have many wives and it can't be the basis to authorize it today.

I thank God that he is satisfied with the answer.

Thank you so much and may God continue to bless each one.

In Christian Love,

Men Mark A. Tumandan

marktumandan@yahoo.com

marktumandan121992@gmail.com

dad's e-mail samtumandan031756@yahoo.com

http://gospelwork.blogspot.com

PROVERB 19:22 "The desire of a man is his kindness: and a poor man is better than a liar."

2 Cor. 8:21 "Providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men."

"The naked truth is always better than the best-dressed lie! Ann Landers