Installation service

Although I've been serving here at Grace since the beginning of June, I was not technically her pastor until last Friday evening, when the service of installation took place. According to the rules of our denomination, the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, the minister is officially declared to be the pastor of a local congregation at this service. I made a series of vows to serve the congregation as a faithful pastor, and the congregation vowed in turn to be a faithful flock under the care of the pastor. It is a solemn occasion.

I asked two ministers in our presbytery, the Presbytery of the Northwest, to take part in the service. Rev. Richard Venema of Helena, Montana, preached a powerful sermon on the glory of the gospel message proclaimed by ministers of the new covenant. His text was Hebrews 12:25, in which the the proclamation of the law at Mt. Sinai is compared with God's voice now speaking "from heaven". It was humbling to be reminded that God himself speaks through the minister of the gospel when he faithfully proclaims Christ from the Scriptures.

I thought of a seminary professor who used this same passage to say that our worship in the age of the church is far more glorious than the worship at Mt. Sinai under the old covenant. Although they approached the mountain of God, with a "blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them" (Heb. 12:18, 19), in Christ we come to "the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering" (v.22). The latter is far more wonderful and glorious than the worship of Israel at Mt. Sinai. In the same way, the message of the gospel is the voice of God himself from heaven, not just his speaking from earth.

The other minister who came for the service was Rev. Mark Sumpter of Grants Pass, Oregon. He preached a great message from Acts 9, encouraging the congregation to serve with the pastor in the ministry of Christ. I was thankful for the reminder that we ought to serve expectantly, believing that Christ is able - and will - overcome the barriers of unbelief and agnosticism that seem, humanly speaking, like insurmountable obstacles to the advance of the Kingdom.

On Monday afternoon, Mark visited our house and we had a great time of fellowship together. His coming to Alaska was certainly providential, as he helped me greatly in thinking through some matters that have been on my own mind here.

Both of these pastors once served at Grace, so they also knew many in the congregation.

As I reflect on the call of a pastor to shepherd God's people, I am acutely aware of my shortcomings and weaknesses. I take comfort from the words Christ spoke to the apostle Paul as he struggled with his thorn in the flesh, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor. 12:9).

Moving Daze

It's hard to believe, but we are actually living in our new house now. It has been quite a week for our family. We picked up the keys to the house on Monday (the day after Family Camp ended), and I started moving things into it with the Suburban. In the meantime, Robyn lit up the phone lines making arrangements for babysitting. Moving and watching small children do not mix well.

On Tuesday, I rented a U-Haul truck to haul to the house the bulk of our possessions, which had been sitting in a storage unit ever since they arrived over the Alaska Highway back in early June. The poor woman who rented me the truck as a dealer for U-Haul was almost beside herself with frustration at the company for their ineptitude. The truck was not available for about 3 and 1/2 hours after the time I was told it would be ready. And even then, it was not the truck I wanted. It was a smaller one. But, with a trailer thrown in, it did the trick.

I am so grateful for the big crew that came out from the church to help load the truck (and their own vehicles) with all our stuff. The work went by very quickly with so many hands pitching in. The only damper was the rain, but having the U-Haul saved our stuff from getting too wet. Which is a point in favor of those who believe in renting trucks for such as move as this. On the other side are those who believe the best way is for everyone to show up in their pick-ups and make a lot of smaller trips. I've learned about these two schools of thought since coming here. I'm definitely in the rent-a-truck camp.

On Wednesday and Thursday, Robyn and I have been working feverishly to unpack and arrange all our belongings in the house. My main job is assembler, or I should say, re-assembler. I've put together two tables, three shelve units, two desks, one crib, two beds, and some other things I can't recall now. My other job is the utility-set-up guy. Between these two jobs, I've kept busy.

Things have been a little hectic. But we are so thankful to God for his wonderful provision for us. We love the house so far. Lord willing, we will be here for a while.

The neighbors came by today and introduced themselves. One interesting thing they told us is that the area between our two houses is a major thoroughfare for moose. We haven't seen any yet, but they should be a common sight during the winter months.

And we have been the recipients of the generosity of the folks in the church. They have made us meals and watched our kids, one family even taking on the three older kids for two and a half days. For these kindnesses we are also thankful.

Tomorrow is a special day for us. Two former pastors of Grace are flying up to take part in my installation service. This is a formal worship service at which I will be officially installed as the pastor of Grace OPC. My hope and prayer is that the service will not only be a great encouragement to all there, but will set the right tone for a fruitful season of gospel ministry here in Wasilla.

Family Camp

The first comment most people made when they arrived to the campground was about the weather, how perfect it was. The last time Grace OPC held this Family Camp, two summers ago, it rained more often than not. But this year, the clouds vanished and there was glorious sunshine all day Friday and Saturday. I'm still not used to hearing 75 degree days called "hot" by veteran Alaskans, but the summer Arctic sun does seem to bear down with unusual heat.

The highlight of the camp was the missionary family who spoke, the Proctors. Rev. Phil Proctor, his wife Meredith, and their four children live in Uganda and are presently on furlough. Rev. Proctor introduced us to the joys and challenges of preaching the gospel in Uganda. He works with a group of 12 churches there (of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Uganda) and his focus is on training future pastors. It was a wonderful encouragement to meet a family who has made great personal sacrifices out of obedience to the command of Christ to make disciples of all nations. And, I am thankful that we as a church now have a personal knowledge of the Proctors to encourage our prayer for them.

One of the traditions of the camp is the fishing contest for the kids. The rules are simple. Every child who catches a fish, or tries to catch a fish, or thinks about trying to catch a fish, or has been within 100 yards of the lake in which said fish live, gets a trophy at the end of the camp. And "fish" includes minnows. After lunch on Sunday, TC Wilson, one of our elders, presented the fishing awards to the children. Each child was able to choose their own prize from an impressive display of trophies, each topped with a golden fish. The winner was Naomi Proctor, who was the only child who actually landed a real, non-minnow fish.

I enjoyed the softball and soccer. In soccer, playing with mostly teenagers and younger kids, I noticed I seemed to be the only one wheezing after every run up the field. Taking several turns at goalie saved me from a possible heart attack (although I then became an easy target for the mosquitos).

For me, the worst part of the weekend was losing my voice. In God's perfect timing, though, it happened over a rare Sunday in which I had no speaking responsibilities at all.

It was a special time for Robyn and myself because we attended the same camp two summers ago. At that time, I came as the speaker. In the providence of God, I am now the pastor of the same congregation.

I've posted the pictures I took this weekend here.

Alaska update

Time, in good proverbial fashion, has been flying by for us here in Alaska. Yesterday marked the two-month anniversary of our new life in the Frontier State. We are still very new here, of course, and I won't even pretend that we are in any sense veterans of Alaska (it is something of a badge of honor to have grown up here, or have lived here for many decades). But, Robyn and I were just remarking the other day that we no longer have those moments where we say, "I can't believe we actually live here!" Instead, it is beginning to feel more and more like home.

Which leads to the first update on our life, the house. I have spent much time the last few weeks providing the loan company with all the details of our family finances. The degree of detail is amazing. I'm sure IRS auditors do not use a comb as fine-toothed as these people in pouring over all our financial records. In part of my explanation of bank deposits, I actually had to attest that $20 was a birthday gift from my grandmother!

But we are told the closing date may be next week. So, it looks like our gypsie lifestyle is nearing an end.

Today Robyn enrolled Meredith in an Alaska program called IDEA. I'm not familiar with all the particulars, but the basic concept of IDEA is that homeschool parents enroll their children in a public school district but do all the teaching at home as usual. However, the school district then helps pay for the costs of education - books, materials, music lessons, etc. We've talked with several families that have used it and like it. So, we are going with IDEA, too. Robyn is looking forward to getting 1st grade underway with Meredith.

Next week is our church's Family Camp. This was the camp at which I spoke two years ago, which was our first introduction to Grace. The speaker this year is Rev. Phil Proctor, a missionary from Uganda. His wife is named "Meredith", so I'm sure our Meredith will enjoy meeting her namesake!