For I am about to do something new.
See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?
-Isaiah 43:19a (NLT)
Sometimes that which is most obvious is hidden. Take Adam and Eve as prime examples. In His infinite wisdom and power, God lovingly creates the two and places them in paradise. Not only do they have all that they need but more than is necessary. “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden—except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die” (Genesis 2:16-17). How easy it was for the enemy of our souls to draw Adam and Eve’s focus away from the obvious blessings that daily surrounded them to a deadly decision. John Milton’s Paradise Lost depicts a scene where the slithering serpent Satan draws Eve’s attention from God’s providence with lies:
Why then was this forbid? Why but to awe,
Why but to keep ye low and ignorant,
His worshipers; he knows that in the day
Ye eat thereof, your eyes that seem so clear,
Yet are but dim, shall perfectly be then
Opened and cleared, and ye shall be as gods,
Knowing both good and evil as they know.
-Book IX, 703 – 709
We know that Satan can distract us from obvious blessings, but so too can our own minds through shortcomings and errors. It’s ever the more reason we need one another to first understand what the Holy Spirit is doing and then to act. We need to regularly talk to our brothers and sisters in Central California.
It’s a need.
And we do well when we prioritize discussions with one another. Look at it this way:
Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.
-Ephesians 4:11-13
As individuals, we often interpret this passage with the conviction that it’s up to us as a pastor over a congregation to “equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church”. We’re often not completely alone in this en devour – for the apostle type hangs out with the apostle, the prophet type with the prophet, the evangelist type with the evangelist, the pastor type with the pastor, and the teacher type with the teacher – but we will miss out on “the body of Christ” if we fail to talk to one another regardless of our preferences. When we pastors prioritize to regularly meet in Central California, we share in the gifts that God has graciously given us and the untold blessings that daily occur. God is doing something new in places like Parler, Hanford and Porterville. “Do you not see it?”
It’s a New Day in Central California. We have monthly fellowship calls through Zoom and at this year’s Dream Meeting, the pastors are invited to a special time of fellowship and equipping, September 26th, 3pm at First Church of God, Tulare. We’re also doing one of the most California things that you can do; that is, attend a surfing competition in Pismo, November 15th. More details to follow.
Let us live into the new day that God has given! Don’t be shy with one another. Reach out. Call, text, email . . . don’t remain alone. We are here for you for we are the Church of God in Central California.
It’s A New Day,
Pastor Aaron
