Thursday, January 23, 2020

After a good night’s sleep I enjoyed breakfast with Yap Kim-Sin of Singapore and Thomas from Germany.

I then walked to the venue with brother Keith McCoy from the Bible Presbyterian Church in Collingswood, NJ.

After a devotional was a message on “eternal love and life eternal” by Rev. David Huamantinco. I appreciated his emphasis that as unbelievers in our the old life we sought desires in accord with the old life. As believers with new life we must mortify the old nature with its desires, and pursue the desires of the new nature and the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Lest anyone think I suddenly became able to understand Spanish (I can hear Mark Perry now saying, “riiiiiiight, heh heh”), translation is provided via our phones. I’m sharing a phone here with Mrs. Dekker, who made the trip down here and she’s in her 90’s!

Rev. David Lewis brought a message on “Love your enemies.” We must remember that God loved us before we loved him, while we were yet His enemies. Sadly, hating comes naturally to us. We must love them and pray for them, but that does not mean approving their actions.

I had my first experience riding in an Uber afterwards, with David DiCanio and Keith McCoy. It was definitely easy so I got the app we’ll see how many Uber rides I can get in Orwell when I get home 😁 I was also trying to think up a joke, something along the lines of, “a Baptist and two Presbyterians were in an Uber car and….” Heh heh

The closing message of the day was given by Rev. Dr. Swee-Hwa Quek on “God’s delight: Loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness–God’s love in light of his holiness and justice. He had three points, 1. God finds delight in his people; 2. God’s people find delight in God; 3. Only God’s love can help us conquer our sinfulness.