Dear Church Family, an update for the week of June 20, 2010…
Happy Father’s Day! Thank you to all who brought delicious food for the special potluck lunch that was enjoyed by all.
Thank you to Rev. Ernie Kilbourne and his wife, Yoko, for joining us from Fresno. It was also a great surprise to have Ernie’s daughter, Karen Kilbourne-Young from Seattle, Washington come and join us as well. Karen is one of our regularly supported missionaries with CRM who is planning on coming back to SanLo sometime in March 2011 to give us an update on her ministry. Ernie was the first English speaking pastor to serve in our OMS Holiness Conference at the Honolulu church in the 1950’s and is a living historical treasure of our roots. It was a blessing to celebrate his 90th birthday with him.
Rev. Ernie shared from first-hand rememberances of his grandfather, Ernest Kilbourne and co-founders of our Conference, Charles Cowman and Juji Nakada, and how their obedience and trust in the Lord with prompting from the Holy Spirit was foundational in their work. These men, also committed to serve the Lord as did Joshua and the Israelites in Joshua 24:14-18 (Living Bible), 14 “So fear the Lord and serve Him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord alone. 15 But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.” 16 The people replied, “We would never abandon the Lord and serve other gods. 17 For the Lord our God is the one who rescued us and our ancestors from slavery in the land of Egypt. He performed mighty miracles before our very eyes. As we traveled through the wilderness among our enemies, He preserved us. 18 It was the Lord who drove out the Amorites and the other nations living here in the land. So we, too, will serve the Lord, for He alone is our God.” Please read about our conference history from our website, and imagine it being brought to life by Pastor Ernie’s personal remembrances: http://slzjcc.org/about/our-history/ We were challenged to make a personal (re-)commitment to seek the Lord’s direction for our lives and to understand how this decision impacts our children and those about us. Pray to have a heart of compassion for Jesus Christ.
Have a blessed week in the Lord,
Stan, for SLZJCC