Sunday, June 22, 2008
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
see His glory !
“Neither the one who plants, nor the one who waters, is anything,
but God who gives the increase.” I Cor.3:7
These words were ringing in my head as I worshipped our loving
Savior together with all the friends who had come to honor
Pastor Stevens’ ministry in the face to face service in Baltimore.
This all came from nothing.
God loves doing things this way.
He calls the things that are not as if they were. Rom.4:17
If it doesn’t come from nothing, it is nothing.
God has always used people who are unknown, unable and
weak. These human limitations are not a problem for him.
After all, is the air that we all so naturally breath, a human invention?
It is He, who keeps this vapor together walking on two feet,
thinking with brains made of dust.
All leaders in the Bible had this in common.
They were ordinary men whose dust didn’t stop them.
They were available. They saw the glory of God beyond
the failures of man.
Somebody from Uzbekistan wrote me a letter after the memorial
service. He said,” I understood that if Pastor Stevens didn’t train
pastors to train pastors, I would still be on my way to hell.”
Heaven in our hearts is the gift of God that will never pass away.
but God who gives the increase.” I Cor.3:7
These words were ringing in my head as I worshipped our loving
Savior together with all the friends who had come to honor
Pastor Stevens’ ministry in the face to face service in Baltimore.
This all came from nothing.
God loves doing things this way.
He calls the things that are not as if they were. Rom.4:17
If it doesn’t come from nothing, it is nothing.
God has always used people who are unknown, unable and
weak. These human limitations are not a problem for him.
After all, is the air that we all so naturally breath, a human invention?
It is He, who keeps this vapor together walking on two feet,
thinking with brains made of dust.
All leaders in the Bible had this in common.
They were ordinary men whose dust didn’t stop them.
They were available. They saw the glory of God beyond
the failures of man.
Somebody from Uzbekistan wrote me a letter after the memorial
service. He said,” I understood that if Pastor Stevens didn’t train
pastors to train pastors, I would still be on my way to hell.”
Heaven in our hearts is the gift of God that will never pass away.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Friday, June 13, 2008
Monday, June 9, 2008
we don't fit in
The kingdom that God has placed in us is so much
bigger than this world.
It cannot be measured by the visible standards.
It cannot be stopped by man’s unbelief.
It’s a real adventure to find out the treasures and principles
that were given to us in our new birth.
We can rejoice in trials, sleep in the midst of storms and
laugh at the days to come.
Most probably we are not using even half of the opportunities
that salvation has brought to our disposal.
It’s so easy to get entangled with the natural and
miss the supernatural.
So much of our time is used for the management of our
own history of failures.
Faith helps us to see beyond the borders of the visible world.
From God’s point of view the world looks smaller than
a little grain of sand.
From the dust it looks like a monstrous machinery that
no man can overcome.
I’m excited to see what else God has prepared for those
who love him. I Cor.2:9
bigger than this world.
It cannot be measured by the visible standards.
It cannot be stopped by man’s unbelief.
It’s a real adventure to find out the treasures and principles
that were given to us in our new birth.
We can rejoice in trials, sleep in the midst of storms and
laugh at the days to come.
Most probably we are not using even half of the opportunities
that salvation has brought to our disposal.
It’s so easy to get entangled with the natural and
miss the supernatural.
So much of our time is used for the management of our
own history of failures.
Faith helps us to see beyond the borders of the visible world.
From God’s point of view the world looks smaller than
a little grain of sand.
From the dust it looks like a monstrous machinery that
no man can overcome.
I’m excited to see what else God has prepared for those
who love him. I Cor.2:9
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
History
God called Pastor Carl H. Stevens to preach over four decades ago. At the age of 23, Carl H. Stevens Jr. read a Gospel tract and became a believer in Christ. From that moment on, Pastor Stevens dedicated himself to learning about Jesus and to the study and the ministry of the Bible. A farm boy born in West Sumner, Maine, in 1929, and raised by his widowed mother from the age of 3, Pastor Stevens approached Bible study and Christianity the way he approached everything in life - with intensity and concentration.
Pastor Stevens began ministering in a very small church in Woolwich-Wiscasset, Maine, in the early 1960s.After a particularly intense time of prayer,
Pastor Stevens communicated the vision that the ministry would be dedicated to seeking the lost in all parts of the world. Toward that end, he led in the establishment of Bible colleges, where academic and practical training in the Word and the ministry would be fostered.
Northeast School of the Bible was founded in Maine in 1972. Its first graduating class, in 1975, included Thomas Schaller, now the Presiding Elder and Pastor of Greater Grace World Outreach.
With the growth of the Bible college, there came a need for more space. That space was found in Lenox, Mass., where The Bible Speaks World Outreach relocated in 1976.
There, Stevens School of the Bible was founded and what followed was a period of great activity. The students of the college proved instrumental in establishing New England’s largest bus ministry and Sunday School. Also, waves of teams headed out to various countries.
In 1987, the ministry moved to Maryland and became Greater Grace World Outreach. The diverse urban center located between Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia proved a fruitful ground for more growth. Maryland Bible College and Seminary was founded and continued the training of pastors, missionaries, and servants to go into all the world.
In 2005, the elders of GGWO unanimously elected Pastor Schaller as the ministry’s Presiding Elder and Pastor.
Pastor Stevens began ministering in a very small church in Woolwich-Wiscasset, Maine, in the early 1960s.After a particularly intense time of prayer,
Pastor Stevens communicated the vision that the ministry would be dedicated to seeking the lost in all parts of the world. Toward that end, he led in the establishment of Bible colleges, where academic and practical training in the Word and the ministry would be fostered.
Northeast School of the Bible was founded in Maine in 1972. Its first graduating class, in 1975, included Thomas Schaller, now the Presiding Elder and Pastor of Greater Grace World Outreach.
With the growth of the Bible college, there came a need for more space. That space was found in Lenox, Mass., where The Bible Speaks World Outreach relocated in 1976.
There, Stevens School of the Bible was founded and what followed was a period of great activity. The students of the college proved instrumental in establishing New England’s largest bus ministry and Sunday School. Also, waves of teams headed out to various countries.
In 1987, the ministry moved to Maryland and became Greater Grace World Outreach. The diverse urban center located between Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia proved a fruitful ground for more growth. Maryland Bible College and Seminary was founded and continued the training of pastors, missionaries, and servants to go into all the world.
In 2005, the elders of GGWO unanimously elected Pastor Schaller as the ministry’s Presiding Elder and Pastor.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Pastor Stevens, the founder of GGWO, has been promoted to glory!
We have just been informed that Pastor Stevens has passed from his mortal body into the presence of God this evening June 3rd at his home as a result of congestive heart failure.
We will continue to reflect on the great privilege to walk with a true man of God. How much have our lives been enriched? How much have we learned that perhaps we would never have learned? The fruit around the world speaks of God's great grace towards all those that delight in His word. Pastor loved His Word.
Thank you Pastor!
Pastor Thomas Schaller
The date and time for the Greater Grace World Outreach Face-to-Face Memorial Service is to be announced at www.ggwo.org
"For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."
Philippians 1:21
We will continue to reflect on the great privilege to walk with a true man of God. How much have our lives been enriched? How much have we learned that perhaps we would never have learned? The fruit around the world speaks of God's great grace towards all those that delight in His word. Pastor loved His Word.
Thank you Pastor!
Pastor Thomas Schaller
The date and time for the Greater Grace World Outreach Face-to-Face Memorial Service is to be announced at www.ggwo.org
"For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."
Philippians 1:21
Monday, June 2, 2008
His voice
Peter had followed Jesus too long to turn back.
He knew too much to be just an ignorant fisherman.
He had seen too much to close his eyes again.
When Jesus reminded him of his full freedom
to go and do something else, he responded,
“To whom shall I go? You have the Words of
eternal life.” John 6:68
Yes, there are zillions of things to do in the world,
but why to “spend money for what is not bread”
Is.55:2
Limited options are a blessing.
Narrow places are good challenges for precise
thinking. Dark tunnels are excellent opportunities
to learn concentration.
If you are looking for a reason to thank God today,
thank him for not giving you more money.
The more money you have the more you have
to guard yourself from it’s influence.
It will give you more excuses not to wait for His
“still small voice.” I Kings 19:12
We cannot afford to miss His voice.
He knew too much to be just an ignorant fisherman.
He had seen too much to close his eyes again.
When Jesus reminded him of his full freedom
to go and do something else, he responded,
“To whom shall I go? You have the Words of
eternal life.” John 6:68
Yes, there are zillions of things to do in the world,
but why to “spend money for what is not bread”
Is.55:2
Limited options are a blessing.
Narrow places are good challenges for precise
thinking. Dark tunnels are excellent opportunities
to learn concentration.
If you are looking for a reason to thank God today,
thank him for not giving you more money.
The more money you have the more you have
to guard yourself from it’s influence.
It will give you more excuses not to wait for His
“still small voice.” I Kings 19:12
We cannot afford to miss His voice.
not tired of the truth
In George Orwell’s book 1984, the totalitarian
government had established a “ministry of truth”.
They would come up with propaganda labels such
as “War is peace! Freedom is slavery! Ignorance
is strength!”
This ministry was defined as concerning itself with
news, entertainment, education and fine arts.
Orwell was so right in many of his observations of
a totalitarian society.
That is man’s best model for the mankind.
However genuine his desire to do right might be,
he cannot master himself.
It’s obvious that whoever tries to gain the monopoly
over truth will either have to do everything extremely
honestly or permit himself to determine how truthful
he wants his truth to be.
Man’s inability to be perfect in honesty and his
continuing temptation to twist the truth to his own gain,
produces dictatorships and concentration camps.
History is full of evidence of man’s dishonesty.
Man continues to be a good liar.
In his moral history there is no progress.
Truth means security.
It is always exclusive. Everything cannot be true.
If everything is true, then nothing is true.
One of the greatest characteristics of truth is that
man cannot change it.
He was and He is and He always will be.
Only in Him can we be secure forever.
government had established a “ministry of truth”.
They would come up with propaganda labels such
as “War is peace! Freedom is slavery! Ignorance
is strength!”
This ministry was defined as concerning itself with
news, entertainment, education and fine arts.
Orwell was so right in many of his observations of
a totalitarian society.
That is man’s best model for the mankind.
However genuine his desire to do right might be,
he cannot master himself.
It’s obvious that whoever tries to gain the monopoly
over truth will either have to do everything extremely
honestly or permit himself to determine how truthful
he wants his truth to be.
Man’s inability to be perfect in honesty and his
continuing temptation to twist the truth to his own gain,
produces dictatorships and concentration camps.
History is full of evidence of man’s dishonesty.
Man continues to be a good liar.
In his moral history there is no progress.
Truth means security.
It is always exclusive. Everything cannot be true.
If everything is true, then nothing is true.
One of the greatest characteristics of truth is that
man cannot change it.
He was and He is and He always will be.
Only in Him can we be secure forever.
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