August 18, 2019th Year of Our Lord

Dear family, brethren, and friends,

To catch the plane flying from Auckland to Whakatane in the Gulf of Plenty region, it was necessary to arise at 5:30 A.M. on Friday, August 16.  The small prop-jet made the trip fine and brother Abner Salanguit was waiting to greet me when we landed about 9:30.  After we had a short visit at his house, I ate breakfast and took a nap, then studied my lesson for tonight.  I also had some good discussions with Cat (Kyle Salanguit’s fiancé, a recent convert) and a Filipino named Patrick who is living here while seeking a job.  After lunch I walked on the beach for about 45 minutes which helped me get geared up to preach.

We drove about 30 minutes into the countryside where 27 Filipinos gathered in a house on a dairy farm.  Most are Christians but some are visitors.  I began preaching on “God’s Truth VS Satan’s Lies” about 7:00 P.M.  After 50 minutes we took a break to eat supper, then resumed for about 20 minutes to complete the lesson.  Since I covered alcohol intoxication as one of Satan’s tactics to deceive people, there was a good discussion in the open forum about so-called “moderate” drinking which is allowed and defended by many religious groups today.  I pointed out that intoxication begins with the first drink and 1 Peter 5:8 teaches us to be sober minded, not intoxicated.  1 Timothy 5:23 as well as Proverbs 31:4-7 show that alcohol was at times used for medicinal purposes but not for “moderate” social drinking, the same as any other drug such as morphine.

We dismissed about 9:00 P.M. because the dairy workers must arise at 3:45 A.M. to start their long day of labor and this is their busiest season because the cattle are calving.  Our group could not have been more attentive including the visitors.  When we exited the house, the full moon was brighter still against the country sky away from the lights of town, so I took a picture of it to share when I return home.

Saturday turned out to be a very busy day.  After I studied for tonight and intensely worked on a mountain of emails, I took a short walk to relieve the pressure.  We went to a small restaurant along the seashore for lunch and I ordered salmon potato cakes out of curiosity – it was similar to salmon croquettes and was delicious.  We drove out into the countryside to a macadamia orchard and the Salanguits bought a supply of macadamia spread made from the fresh nuts for Donna and me.  We came home, got ready for the evening service, and left at 5:45 P.M.

Our meeting was held out in the country in the house of another dairy farm worker and about 30 attended including Christians, visitors, and children.   As soon as everyone arrived, we started before 7:00 with a sermon entitled “Born of Water and the Spirit” (Jn. 3:5) to show that the new birth is the result of the Holy Spirit’s message in the gospel of Christ leading to water baptism for the remission of sins.  The lesson took about 45 minutes, but we did not break for supper until 8:00 because there were spontaneous questions creating a helpful open discussion.

After a 30 minute supper break, our study resumed and I preached on the subject “Trust God Till the Danger Passes” (Ps. 57), showing that God is ready and able to help us in the storms of life. At the end I called attention to the beautiful and powerful song “Jesus Savior, Pilot Me” – it was new to them and they wanted to learn it.  The wife of our host commented afterward that she had been baptized into a denomination years ago and is now beginning to understand that she needs to submit to Christ in true Bible baptism.

A visitor who drove two hours to attend stayed after the dismissal asking how to get her life right with God after a twisted marital situation.  We guided her to the principles given by Jesus in Matthew 5:32 and 19:3-9. The brethren will follow up with her.  It has been another profitable evening of study.

After our arrival back at the Salnguit’s house, good Bible discussions on a wide range of topics arose with Abner and Lani, with Cat, and with Patrick.  Patrick’s background was with Catholicism and then an evangelical denomination, and my study with him continued until 1:00 A.M.  After sending requested information on emails and talking with Donna, I collapsed into the bed about 2:30 and slept soundly!

It is uplifting to see such hunger to study God’s Word, but there is a sad note.  All who attend these studies are Filipinos, but, sadly, when they invite Kiwi’s there is no interest in studying the Bible.  This nation is secularized like Europe, Great Britain, and Australia.  It is certain that these brethren will not stop inviting their Kiwi friends and contacts and we pray that there will be some who are open to learn the truth of the gospel of Christ.

Our weather on the Lord’s Day was cold and windy but without rain.  I prepared the lessons for our worship but had no time to work on email.  I managed to squeeze in time to walk and took some pictures to show the brethren at home a little of the flora and fauna of the region.  Here we are far south of the equator in winter, and the lush green grown and varieties of plant life appear to be in the Amazon rainforest!  It is beautiful yet perplexing.  No wonder the British seaman Captain James Cook named this area the Bay of Plenty when he came here in 1769.

For our worship 37 souls gathered in a small house on one of the dairy farms where a Filipino and his family live and work.  A rare Kiwi visitor who often attends with a Filipina was present, and also a couple who recently arrived from South Africa.  This man is married to a lady from Ethiopia and he has preached for Baptist churches and other denominational groups.  Every precious soul was warmly welcomed.

As the people arrived they heard singing of the song “Jesus Savior, Pilot Me” on the laptop and saw the words projected on the sheet hung over the curtain at the front window of the house.  I led them in singing it several times because it is new to them.  They have only a very limited number of songs available from the Salnguit’s past association with an errant group called International Churches of Christ, an offshoot of the old Crossroads and Boston movements.  I told Abner about the digital version of Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs which would be very helpful since these saints meet from house to house.  He very much would like to obtain it with some CDs to learn the songs.  I plan to contact Lance Taylor at the CEI Bookstore about this.

My first lesson was entitled “Why Saints Assemble” (Heb. 10:24-25), a textual study of Hebrews 10.  After we shared the Lord’s supper, I preached on “The Bread of Life” (Jn. 6:35), a textual study of John 6 showing that Jesus Christ came to save us from our sins, not to provide a feeding ministry, a financial ministry, a fun and games ministry, or a social gospel of any kind.  The church of Christ is not a social welfare state.  He came to cleanse our souls from sin and to prepare us to spend eternity with God in heaven – he will not return to set up an earthly political kingdom based in Jerusalem as is proclaimed in rampant premillennial doctrines and theories.

Carnal minded people in John 6 missed the lesson that Jesus himself is the bread of life because they focused on the belly not the soul, and they finally turned away from Jesus when they realized he was not going to give them what they wanted.  We struggle against the same fundamental error among carnal minded people today.  Peter got the point when Jesus asked the 12 if they would also turn away from him.  Peter responded, “Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.  And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God” (Jn. 6:68-69).

We arrived back at the Salanguit’s house about 10:30 P.M. and Lani prepared delicious hot chocolate. Patrick was very tired because he had worked at a restaurant during the day and then joined us for the worship, but he wanted to ask “just one question” before we went to bed, which led to one more, and then another.  I came to bed at 1:30 A.M. after we thoroughly discussed questions involving Bible history, science and the Bible, the origin of nations, why people fall into certain sins, and various lies of Satan.  Patrick has a very intelligent mind and is a quick learner.  Everyone person interested in the Bible’s message will go through a learning curve and then finally reach the point of weighing the cost of following Christ – that is when people either submit to Christ or turn away from him.  Let’s pray for Patrick!

I do not have time to worry about being tired (thought I admit at times I can feel it), but, truly, it is energizing and uplifting to be with people who are so honest and so hungry for the bread of life.  What a high and holy privilege it is to study and worship with them.   I thanked the brethren from the bottom of my heart for helping me get to heaven while I also am striving to help them get to heaven.  Again and again I thank God for all the saints who support this work with your prayers, financial help, and words of encouragement!

In Christian love,
Ron Halbrook

P.S. I spoke with Donna and learned that Laymon Byers (an elder of the Hebron Lane church of Christ in Shepherdsville, KY where I live and preach) was bringing Danny Dennison (a blind brother) to church Sunday when another vehicle ran a red light and hit his truck directly on the driver’s side.  All of Laymon’s ribs on one side are broken, his neck and back are fractured in several places, plus several cuts on his face.  Danny had three fractured ribs and an ankle injury.  Please pray for these dear saints as they recover.

To see good Bible study material, go to:
http://www.HebronChurchOfChrist.com
http://www.biblework.com
http://www.truthmagazine.com
http://www.truthbooks.com