I’m writing this from my last flight home from my trip to the Philippines. I’ve been trying to think about how to summarize this trip. Quite a bit happened personally and in the work we’re attempting to do in developing Sovereign Grace Philippines. So, I think I’ll divide this post into those categories to help me write.
Personal Reflections
This trip went differently than I had personally planned. I arrived in Manila on Friday night, spent the day with Pastor Jeffrey Jo’s family on Saturday, and then preached three different times on Sunday. The first two sermons were in Jeff’s church, and then in the afternoon, we went to the area of Rizal, north of Manila, to preach for Pastor Caloy San Jose’s ordination service. It was a long day, but it was gratifying. As Jeff likes to say, we were “tired but inspired.” I laughed at that, but it was very true. I think what stunned me personally was the deep respect and receptivity to God’s word. The Filipinos are a joyful people. But they are also very respectful people. In both locations, when I preached, there was the sense that people were leaning in and very responsive to the Lord.
But something unexpectedly happened Sunday. I became very sick with the flu. As we were leaving Rizal, I began to feel awful. I was exhausted, for one thing. But combined with the amount of people that I had rubbed shoulders with and flu season going around in the Philippines, it nailed me. I slept the majority of the two hours back to the hotel. And I slept for the majority of the next two days. It was miserable. Finally, on Tuesday night, I felt like I was coming out of it, and it took all of Wednesday to recover fully.
I mention this in my reflections because I experienced a remarkable grace from God that I think it’s important to discuss. I had a lot planned for this trip (I’ll get to that in a moment). But God decided that I needed to sit out from Monday through Wednesday. For those who know me, I’m not the most patient person, and when I’m sick, I’m whiny. My usual response to something like this would typically be frustration and discouragement. However, I can honestly say that God’s kindness buoyed my soul for those three days. I was amazed that He was my God and not anxious about what He was doing. I sensed God’s care, presence, and grace. As I texted Jill, I pray this is a new place of peace and maturity that the Lord is doing in me.
But there is one other thought that ties to this that’s important. As I lay on my sickbed, I thought about how easily I “give into” sin or sinful thoughts rather than resist them by the power of Christ at work in me. The Lord has used this in my heart in the last few days to remind me that sin is a choice for the Christian, and so are sinful thoughts. We don’t have to keep falling to those sins, and we can resist the power of Christ at work in us.
One last personal reflection…when I was young in ministry, I wanted to see the world, make an impact for Jesus, and be a sought-after leader or preacher. I’m guessing this is like people in other lines of work who want to do well, get a promotion, and become sought after for their expertise. The difference is that in ministry, it can get weird. Self-promotion does not work with Christ-exalting preaching. I found that the harder I tried to ‘move up,’ the more ‘little’ I was in my world, or my opportunities were less than I thought they should be. When we started CLF in 2003, I struggled with this for a couple of years until the Lord began to help me see a misapplication of the gospel’s truth and helped me be content in the places He has placed me in His sovereign goodness. Through the years, as I’ve sought to be faithful where I’m located, the Lord has brought me to places I never envisioned. The Philippines is one of those. I never had this place in my heart and mind. But it sure is now, and I’m grateful that God has allowed me to play a small role with these dear friends.
Developing SGC Philippines
One of the distinctive qualities of SGC missiology that I love is that we believe that God is working around the globe. There are key Christian leaders in nations who want friendship and partnership. We don’t go into a nation to tell them what to do. We come alongside these friends and serve them in their contexts.
In the Philippines, the work of the gospel is exploding. They’re a few years behind the Latin American work. Because of the heavy influence of the Roman Catholic Church, the Philippines are at the front end of what seems like their first “Reformation.” It’s exciting to see and hear what God is doing.
This particular trip was to plan the next 3-5 years of SGC Philippines. My goal was to slow us down a bit so we could put some organizational foundations in place. Specifically, we needed to make a plan for ordinations and adopting existing churches because the amount of men and churches lining up at Jeff’s door for connection with SGC is overwhelming. We also needed to plan for the SGC Philippines conference structure and plans because the Filipinos do one conference per year, and Jeff’s church has done the lion’s share of this work. Finally, we needed to start working through the SGC Book of Church Order and make plans for the Philippines to become its own SGC nation. That means they become a functioning denomination regarding church plants, ordinations, and finances.
Since I missed the first two days of meetings, Jeff and two dear brothers, Rey and Francis, started to work through the BCO with questions and comments. When I was able to get back at it on Thursday, they had done a great job of preparing. We were able to “tap the brakes” a bit and put some excellent plans in place for the upcoming years. One main highlight is the goal of having the BCO completed by the end of 2024 and, Lord willing, having SGC Philippines launched in 2025 after the SGC Council of Elders approves, Lord willing. Pretty exciting!
To think that the Lord is allowing us to be a part of a new gospel-central denomination starting in the Philippines is truly humbling. There is a chance that in the next three years, SGC Philippines could have over 50 ordained elders and over 25 churches.
This coming Sunday
This Sunday, October 29th, we will continue our series called “Shaping Virtues of the Christian Life.” This Sunday, we will look at generosity from 2 Cor. 9:6-15. Perry and Seth have filled in for me admirably.
I am looking forward to preaching this week. I miss my church.
Local and Extra-Local Ministry
A few people recently asked me about the amount of extra-local work I’ve been doing for SGC and were curious if this represents a shift in my focus and concerns for CLF. Their questions were not from frustration but because they love having me as their pastor and enjoy regularly hearing me preach. It’s kind of them to ask.
The short answer is no; this is not a shift or is SGC asking me to do more than normal. Generally, August has an SGC-related leadership retreat, October is my annual trip to the Philippines, and November is the SGC Pastors’ Conference and our Elder/Wives planning retreat. However, this year, we combined this with a marriage retreat in Denver for SGC churches, The Gospel and Addictions, and the Life Together Conference. So, those things have taken me from the pulpit more than normal, making it feel like I’m being pulled away. In reality, it’s not.
In the long term, our elders do a great job of protecting me from overdoing it, and they know that there is no place I’d rather be than here. I love my church and our ’neck of the woods.’ It’s the sweetest place on earth to me.
From the Cheap Seats
- Well, it all comes down to Game 7 tonight. Rangers and Astros. It’s been a back-alley series with a bench-clearing moment in Game 5. And here we are. All of America, except those from Houston, is pulling for my Rangers. Here’s the hope that Max Scherzer is the Max Scherzer of old.
- The Diamondbacks’ celebration of their ALDS win was epic: https://bleacherreport.com/videos/470339-diamondbacks-celebrate-in-pool.
- UPDATE: the Rangers smashed the Astros to the great joy of most of the country and the Diamondbacks are their opponent in the World Series. The Diamondbacks are my son-in-law’s favorite team. So this truly is a “family” World Series! But let’s go Rangers😂!!
I found this blog post about being “lonely” at church very helpful. I hope you will as well: https://www.crossway.org/articles/feeling-alone-in-a-crowded-congregation/?utm_source=Crossway+Marketing&utm_campaign=8ed3fc2cf7-20231007+Counseling+-+Feeling+Lonely+Crowded&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0275bcaa4b-6668965a2d-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D
Have a great week!
In Christ,
Dave York
