August 2008

PS. Great news. After being in Coker for a week with the Davis family we had to leave and come back to Joplin MO.
There was much discussion that the reason MCKINLEY DAVIS was delaying her arrival. It was decided by Papa (me) that she didn't have the right shoes to match her dress.
However Tuesday morning August 12th she arrived natural birth (not the mother's choice of pain control) at 8 lbs 12 oz, 20.5 inches short. Mom and dad are doing well the other kids are in a daze.
Pictures to follow when we get them.

(that makes 8 total grandkids but who is counting)

Dear Family, Brethren and Friends

Greetings in the name of Jesus.

We are back in Joplin where we are preparing to leave and return to Fjij on Wednesday (Sept 10th) . We are flying out of Tulsa to LA.

Since our last report we have travelled over 1,600 miles more. We were able to get down to Coker this past week and see the new grandbaby, McKinley Dee Davis. She looks just like her mother, Terasa, did 37 years ago. The kids had a birthday party for both Kathy and me. Kathy's birthday (59 years young) was the 4th and my 60th will be the 17th. I have also been able to register with the VA so that I can get treatment for my knee the next time we are back. Right now the knee is healing after recent inflammation but it is a time-bomb due to damage in Vietnam. Kathy was able to get her permanent crown put on her teeth and I have a final appointment Tuesday morning to get two permanent crowns installed. (Again thanks to the generosity of a Christian dentist brother in Joplin who felt I should have a biting surface when chewing food!)

Over the past months we have spoken to many congregations and the response to our plans for a located Bible school in Fiji to service the South Pacific Islands with trained Christian workers has been hardily received as a very practical application to a very real situation where we need to be training local people to reach and teach to their own language groups in the Pacific islands. Even though we were received enthusiastically by everyone we spoke with we have not raised any major funds for the building of the school, to date. We do know of some who are considering some support but they have not notified us yet as to definite amounts.

However we still feel the need to return to Fiji as we had planned, on Sept 10th. Some might think that we should stay here and go around and secure the funds we need to build the school before we go back. But we have contacted as many contacts as we have been able to and will leave it in the Lord's hands to provide the funds. We do not feel we are equipped to be full-time funds raisers but need to be back in the field working where we can for the furtherance of the Kingdom. Many have expressed that times are tough and that funds are in short supply. We do not believe this and believe the Lord will provide in His time. (See my lesson down-below!)

If you or your congregation are still considering how much you are going to help, please pray on it and then let us know or send to the address at the end of the email. We are praying and hoping to have $60,000 by the end of the year to purchase land and to get crops planted.

Until then we will get settled again in Fiji and start planning some courses for the local brethren.

At the Global Missions Conference in Dallas in July we heard a great message which I was able to present to our sponsoring congregation recently. I have attached it at the end of the report and hope that it makes sense to you.

WE NEED YOUR HELP TO MAKE THIS SCHOOL A REALITY.
Please, first pray and then sit down and email (or call) your contacts and ask for their help for this need.

Your prayers are appreciated.

Please pray about this and contact any and all you can on our behalf. We have no doubt that the Lord wants this school in Fiji for the training of island men and women who will then teach their own people. We know the Lord has blessed His people for this need and are asking at this time for your help in meeting this need now so we can get this school started in February 2009. Can you help - will you help?

God bless your work in the Kingdom and your personal life as you live as the "salt" and the "light" on a daily basis.
Thank you to all the people who have provided shelter, food, support and gas money on this our recent travels.

Your servants because of the cross of Jesus
Tobey & Kathy
*****************************************************
My recent lesson:
A light shining in darkness - The paralyzing effects of fear.
This is a testimony. We don't testify enough so that others will be encouraged by what God has done through our lives. Many think missionaries are special. We are not but we have allowed the Spirit of Christ to multiply our efforts. (example Paul)

One of the first steps to being a good missions church is be a good church. Its something natural as the spirit works in the lives of His people. (A hen lays eggs by nature.)

When missionaries are asked ¨"why". We respond by saying, "We are just Christians doing what God wants us to do." This is evidence of the fruit of the Spirit.

There is a feeling of hopelessness when one sees the world clocks. (6,688,934,410 12 pm Sat Aug 30th.) We are losing ground. A sense of anxiety (panic). How much money there is to go around, how many churches who support world missions, etc.

There are real problems happening out there in the world.

John chapter 6 Try to see how the disciples felt on this great day

Disciples and the feeding of the 5000. (men)
shows up in all 4 gospels so it must be an important lesson for us to learnsomething special

When Jesus speaks to Philip, Jesus has something up his sleeve. He knows the human proclivity to look around and respond to scarcity in a special way -the scarcity mentality vs the mentality of abundance in this story.

Jesus is going to see this as an opportunity for Philip and the others to grow spiritually.

When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. Philip answered him, "Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!" Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up, "Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?" Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish. When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted." So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

"How are we going to feed so many with so little." Doesn't this sound familiar. Kind of like a missions ministry meeting. See the whole scale of the problem. A whole stack of requests - you see the chasm opening between what is requested and what is available- missions day - "Will we get enough!"

The disciples sense like most of us would that there is just not enough to go around. And they are right - to an extent.

World hunger - not enough to go around. We see it this way NOT because we don't believe in God but because the order just seems so tall. We worry about problems because we see the gap between what we see needs to happen and who we are and what we have to address the problem.

The disciples look around and see a countryside full of people who about to go hungry and they are concerned because they are aware of what they've got and what is needed to meet the need. Scraps! Scraps - On a scale - Take world hunger! Billions of dollars seem like dimes. In face of the overwhelming needs billions just seem to be dimes! Many millions have been given to global missions and it seems that barely a dent is being made. The challenge grows everyday or so it seems according to the world clocks

The disciples wanted to send them home. Jesus said "you feed them." Of course their response is "Jesus have you checked the bulletin?" we've got 5 loaves and 2 fish. You know what Jesus said? Jesus said, "give them to me."
They probably thought, our point is going to be made very shortly. Not enough for the need!

But once again the miraculous happens. Suddenly 5 loves and two fishes are more than enough. Suddenly for some unexplained reason everyone has plenty. Suddenly that which was not enough is more than sufficient. So much so that 12 baskets of leftover are taken up after everyone has their fill. 12 baskets full more than what they started with.

In the hands of the apostles what they had was 5 loaves and 2 fish. In the hands of Jesus what they had was a lot more than enough.

In this is one of the most amazing truths of scripture - one that is absolutely vital when we look to the whole task of global evangelism. Because what we have is very very very limited - and very very very finite when it is in our hands. However when what we do have is put into the hands of Jesus He is able to take that and break that and feed many with it.

Jesus is a multiplier. The earth comes from nothing! A speck of dust becomes humankind! I mean bam, boom! Through the life of one carpenter! Quite a carpenter I will admit, boom- all of this! 12 of his followers whoosh- 5 loaves 2 fish whoosh! God has the ability to multiply exponentially, miraculously, even if you will.

And that is why it is so important for the church, and for each and every Christian to resubmit themselves to the reign of God's spirit at all time and in all places.

Because in the act of doing that the scarcity mentality,

that there isn't enough,
we'll never be able to do it,
whoa is us, goes away and something changes.

God awaken our memory. Our ability to remember that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The God who spoke the whole world into existence THAT'S OUR GOD. He hasn't ask us to do more than to place everything in his hands and to allow Him to take it and break it. When this is done amazing things happen.

God is somehow able to take

our limited capacity,
our limited amounts of money,
our limited amounts of compassion,
our limited amounts of mercy and multiply its impact.

When all we are and all we have is laid at Jesus' feet, He takes and breaks it and multiplies it. And all of a sudden, people are full and the ground is full of leftovers.

Jesus can do infinitely more than I can do without Him.

Evangelism has fallen on hard times recently. Many churches are grappling with why they are ineffective in reaching the lost for Christ. Statisticians say that for any given year, for one conversion it will take 85 Christians. 85-1.

Are we happy with that?
Is this how it is suppose to be and what can be done about it?
Why is it that for every 85 Christians that only one person will be brought to Christ? Some would say apathy, I'm sure there is some of that. Some would say ethnocentrism, too many are too concerned about what is happening at home. Or just good old Selfishism!

Here is what I think - scarcity mentality - increasing cowardice and discouragement. Scarcity - the feeling that there isn't enough to go around.

That we can't afford it!
That we can't do it!
That we will never be able dah dah dah dah!
That the resources are finite!
That the people willing to go are finite, in terms of quantity!
That mentality is what you see here in the apostles before the bread is broken and before they see the miracle that Jesus performs.

Listen to what Jesus says. This is what He calls us to do and my hunch is that Jesus never calls us to do something that he does not empower us to do.

Matt 5 (READ)
"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."

It is discouraging to me to see this surrender to scarcity.

That there is only so much.
This lack of hope.
This lack of vision, because they really doubt in their heart of hearts whether God can turn their church around.
They see that they lose a few more members every year.
They see the budget trickling down and there is not a real sense of hope that things are going to turn around.
And so all they can do is be good stewards of that declining balance and people and funds and all that kind of stuff.

That's one of the reasons, I believe that the air supply for missions and evangelism is being choked off.
Scary movie - someone comes up to someone camping out in the woods cooking a hotdog saying "someone is trying to kill me". What does the weenie cooker do? Do they say "great can I join you?" No, they usually run away from the person. Because they were only sitting there doing their deal.

I think one of the things going on is that when people encounter today's follower of Christ

They can smell the fear on them. They can smell it.
They can smell it in the church building, when they visit.
This sense of low dreams, declining balances.

And one of the great things about the gospel is, this story says - go ahead and pass out what you whatever you HAVE because he can always make more! He can always make more!

Now if God is one who

that has just given you what he has given you and He won't give you anymore.
His pockets are empty.
He's all out!
There isn't anymore!
Like a magician he's going to put his hand in his hat and there won't be anything there.

Nobody will put it in those terms but in reality this idea that the church is just going to get worse and worse until some day we will do what everyone else does and kind of drift off to sea somehow. THAT HAS GOT TO STOP! THIS HAS GOT TO STOP!!!!

Because one of the things we learn is that when we are baptized into Christ is that the Holy Spirit takes over our lives. And as Paul would say to Timothy "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." (2 Timothy 1:7) And so those are a part of the fruit basket that come out of a church and a person who is really at work, not just packing the pews!

So if we really want

the church to turn around,
to really become a real missions church.
Want to see the day when the church gets back to taking big risks again, "God risks.

Do this: fan the spirit into flame again. And courage will do this. FAN THE SPIRIT!

So many churches never reach their full redemptive potential because

they are just afraid.
They're scared.
They are afraid of upsetting someone.
Or someone might leave.
Afraid of the work it will require to make lofty goals a reality.
Afraid that people might not give.
Afraid of sending or going.

When mom (I am one of 13 kids) used to make dinner, piled high in the middle of the table, after the prayer (holding hands gave everyone a fair go) the game was on - we would dive in and I was always worried when I didn't get enough of what I liked and I wanted. Mom used to say, "don't worry I can always make more." I CAN ALWAYS MAKE MORE! Do we really believe that God can MAKE MORE????
Remember the wedding at Cana?
Oh, well we are all out of wine.
Sorry!
Or you know what - since we only have one vat of wine everyone should get
.......say a couple of drops!!!!
Oh come on - we know that was not what happened. Here Jesus performs his first miracle. MAKING MORE!!!! MAKING MORE!!!! And would it be too much to say, "God give us enough courage that we can actually envision the day that not only does our church turn around but we are out there multiplying churches in your name. Sending our people out overseas." That transition from the scarcity to abundance mentality that God can always make more has the power to transform churches faster then any other thing. Just helping them understand. We don't have a problem that there isn't enough money. We probably have a problem that there isn't enough giving. But even there, helping people understand if you're afraid that if you give "X" that God will bless you for that and take care of you. Consider the lilies brethren. The Lord will take care of you. If you follow Him he will bless you - he will take of you.

The feeding of the 5000 needs to be told over and over and over. That is our story. The apostles were breakable. They were multiplied to feed the many.

Too many are trapped in this scarcity mentality that causes us to operate on sheer logic rather than faith and to play defense all the time rather than offense.

We focus on how we will feed ourselves, as the apostles did, rather than on how God can feed everyone.
And when that mentality is one of scarcity rather than abundance

we can't dream big dreams,
or set world changing goals.
or really can't see past the end of our nose because we feel that people and resources and ministry are limited and finite.
We can't move forward because we are afraid to take a step.
We can't feed anyone because we are afraid we will starve.

And so many churches spend their time playing defense rather than offense. And so my question is this, if Jesus said we are the light of the world,

How are you going to be light if you are afraid of the dark?
And how are you going to be the light if you a afraid of how how the electric bill will be if you turn it on? YOU CAN"T!!!!

Light happens with some supply of power. And it's the Holy Spirit! And you can see it from the early church on - that the more Holy Spirit indwelled the followers of Jesus become the bolder they get. It starts in the upper room and goes to Acts 4 were they are told not to speak in the name of Jesus anymore. They pray and what happens - here comes the Spirit - BOOM - and they all get up and speak the word of God with boldness. Too little evangelism is often more a symptom of too little spirit then too little money. So the ability to continually resubmit ourselves to the rein of the spirit of God makes all the difference in the world
Remember our brother Peter who couldn't preach a gospel sermon to a camp fire girl in Luke 22 can get up and do it brilliantly at Pentecost - WHY? because the Spirit sets him on fire. The Spirit empowers Peter and now the church has a leader and off they go. A risk-less church presents a risk-less gospel absent of the heart-cutting truths of the gospel because we are afraid that if they present it that way nobody will come. SCARCITY SCARCITY SCARCITY!

One of the evil one's greatest weapons is the need for certainty. The "need to be certain" is what keeps people from believing in God. Unless I see Him - I can't believe in Him.

We are the light of the world and the only thing that is going to hide it under a bushel is us. When one goes to other places we are reminded how God cares for EVERY SINGLE person. That is what thinking global does. It gets our thinking out of the Webb City/Joplin area. And we should, that is what thinking globally does. Over time if you lack the ability to go outside the USA or be reminded what God is doing throughout the world you lose your perifiel vision. And over time your whole sense of what God can do shrinks. That's one culprit in the whole "let's play defense rather than offense". We call that "being good stewards" often which is surprising to me because the Biblical view of stewardship is actually maximum generosity. In the parable of the talents it is not the guy who buries the money in a mattress who is commended. It's taking whatever God has given you, as a church, as a Christian and saying, "Father, let's break it and let's turn that clock around. And we believe by faith that you can do it."

In deed if we just sit back and we just take what you have given to us and chop it up into equal pieces and try to pass it around like little communion crackers that's not going to happen. What we need is God to jump in here and take His people and break them and use them to feed the many.

You know what amazes me. We need to get this right. We need to know that God loves each and every human person more than we can love any human person. That's why it matters that we get this right. Because God is the great multiplier!

When we see the crowds we have a few choices.
We can say there isn't enough!
We can stand there in shock!
We can look after ourselves!

But really none of those are an option
when we consider the call of Christ to let our light shine before men.
to people who are filled with the power, love and self discipline within them.
when we remember that God loves each human person more than we can love any
human person.

And so he puts us here to be light! To be taken and broken for them just as His son was broken for them.

In those times when we feel that there just isn't enough to go around we go back to John chapter 6 and remind ourselves to Jesus what we have for He can always make more HE CAN ALWAYS MAKE MORE.

God can multiply what we don't have if we will just lose ourselves in Him.