So we finally made it. Turns out, it required Four Men and Two Trucks to move all our junk! They were great though. Nothing broken or damaged. Just piles of boxes. Joshua said before we left that it looked like "Lifesize Lego" in our little house with boxes stacked from floor to ceiling.
Moving into our much larger and renovated home [thanks Toledo First!!!] the boxes don't seem that overwhelming...especially since Jackie's dad met us here and helped us get organized. He also comforted his grown up daddy's girl who went through a box of Kleenex after we put the kids to bed. Major life changes [or Tom Hanks movies] always make Jackie cry. At least once. We'll keep you posted...
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9 comments:
Awww, my heart goes right out to ya, Jackie. Hang in there!
--Been there
Congatulations Fortune Cookie. This am praying this is a great move for your family and ministry. May God blessly bless rich you during this "honeymoon" time. peace,
We are so-o-o-o glad you're here! --Toledo First friends
Tears of memories past...
Tears for His sustained guidance...
Tears for the joys before you...
Tears because God calls whole families and has as much in store for Jackie and little ones as for Pastor Mike.
Toledo, fasten seat belts...the Fortunes of God are with you.
Duane
Didn't Ellen White say something about moving out of the cities in contrast to moving in to them?
You asked: "Didn't Ellen White say something about moving out of the cities in contrast to moving in to them?"
Monte Sahlin wrote a 2 page paper addressing this you may find helpful. Most if it follows...
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I found 107 periodical articles on city work. Of these, 24 give instruction about moving out of the cities or establishing institutions outside the cities, but 75 give specific instruction about moving into the cities for the purpose of reaching the cities. Another eight articles speak of the Ellen White's critique of urban conditions without indicating whether one should live in or outside the cities.
Obviously, it is clear from this survey that Ellen White did not give simple, absolute instruction that Adventists should never live in cities. Some specific quotes make it clear that there were times and conditions under which she instructed that some should live, and even move into, the cities. For example, in the Review and Herald of September 29, 1891, she writes, "There will be laymen who will move into ... cities ... that they may let the light which God has given them, shine forth to others."
Perhaps realizing that some people would see a seeming contradiction in her counsel in this article, she specifically challenges readers with the question,"Why should not families who know the present truth settle in these cities?"
In a November 25, 1909, Review article she specifically directs the placing of "capable men ... in these great cities." On April 21, 1896, again in the Review, she pleads that "there might be one hundred workers where there are now but one ... seeking to find pearls buried in the rubbish" of the cities.
In the August 12, 1902, Review and two later articles, she gives specific instruction to church members living in the cities to work the neighborhoods where they live.
If Ellen White believed that we were to do all of our work in the cities from outpost centers and that as soon as a person was truly converted he or she would begin to make plans to leave the cities, it is very curious that she was concerned that churches be planted in the cities.
In the Review of September 30, 1902, she took great pains to plead that in city missions the staff "continue working until a church is organized." If all of the faithful are to move out of the city and work it from outposts, what was to be the function of these churches?
It must be abundantly clear to the unbiased reader that Ellen White saw situations in which God calls people out of the cities, and other situations in which God calls people into the cities. I do not believe there is contradiction in the Ellen White writings nor in the plans of God. Because He is directing traffic in different directions does not indicate confusion on His part, although it may confuse us!
Ellen White clearly pointed out the necessity for some workers who move into the cities and work them from the inside. She pointed out in a Review article of October 14, 1902, that "the cities are to be worked, not merely preached to," and she knew that the "living preacher will often accomplish even more than the printed page" (or other mass media) in the city (ibid., April 7, 1910).
We cannot reach a community for Christ by standing outside of it. We would consider it foolish for a missionary to say that he was going to evangelize Africa without ever staying there overnight. Is that not the same case as suggesting that the cities can be reached without any of the missionaries ever living in them? Ellen White did not believe this. That is why she directed in the establishment of "city missions" which included apartments for urban ministry teams in the cities. She saw these city mission homes as "the foundation of missionary effort in our cities" (General Conference Daily Bulletin, February 6, 1893).
There are many very undesirable conditions in the large cities. That is one of the reasons why God wants His church to carry on an aggressive work there. It is a good idea for urban ministry workers' families to have retreat facilities where they can get away from the conditions of city work.
There is a role for the outpost center concept. But there is no way that God can be understood in the writings of Ellen White as never asking anyone to move into the cities under any circumstances. That is a myth that has been developed since Ellen White's death.
Perhaps Ellen White was, in fact, shown in vision that this myth would develop after her death. She writes, "I dreamed ... brethren were in counsel.... They thought it best not to enter the cities.... One who is present in all of our council meetings ... spoke with deliberation and perfect assurance. 'The whole world,' He said, 'is God's great vineyard. The cities.. constitute a part of that vineyard. These must be worked....' We must not hide the truth in the corners of the earth...it must shine in our large cities....Sow beside all waters.... The Messenger...said: 'Your ideas of the work for this time are altogether too limited.... You must take broader views of the work....'" (Testimonies for the Church, Volume 7, pages 34-36)
I originally wrote this research paper in 1980, then in 1982, while doing some research in the GC archives, I found a letter from Ellen White to A. G. Daniells which had never been published. It was written in 1902, right after the fire that destroyed GC institutions in Battle Creek, Michigan.
Ellen White writes that "the plagues of God are already falling upon the earth,sweeping away costly structures as if by a breath of fire from heaven," and she links it to "the long-neglected work in our cities, a work that has been looked at, and then passed by on the other side...."
She gives specific instruction, "Let all who can give themselves to ...work in our cities....Take up the work in the cities wholeheartedly,intelligently, unselfishly." (Manuscript Release #915)
Ellen White's heart for the cities, her vision for urban ministry, is a core element in her divine message.
With all due respect, the only help it gives me is insight into Mr. Sahlin's talent for justifying his own interests. Mrs. White is very clear on the subject if one takes the time to read what she said instead of reading other people's evaluating discourses on what she said.
i miss you already. sniff sniff. glad you made it ok. see ya soon. keep in touch....kevin
You said: “Mrs. White is very clear on the subject if one takes the time to read what she said instead of reading other people's evaluating discourses on what she said.”
Respectfully, we all have different work to do [cf.Rom12:4], but it is the Lord who will examine me and decide [cf.1 Cor.4:4-5].
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