ITS A GIRL!!!

NEXT ONE???? Yes, Matt is definitely in DENIAL!!!!

Maggie Jobson
933 Pecan Street
Oviedo, FL 32765
407-232-0213
mjobson

ITS A GIRL!!!

You go MattJ

Praise God for your “super healthy active little GIRL”. Active, what else could a Jobson be??? J

Susie

ITS A GIRL!!!

We found out today, a super healthy active little GIRL is on her way to join us, Feb 16 due date! PRAISE GOD all is well, Matt is in denail and keeps saying the next one will be a boy.

Thanks for the prayers, love and support!

Jeremy M. Jobson
Site Minister, Oviedo
Northland, a Church Distributed
407-929-3053 c
407-937-1826 o
www.northlandchurch.net

Northland Oviedo Swaziland Video

Africa Sunday Success

We had been building up to Sunday, September 20th since we returned from our summer mission trip to Swaziland and apparently many of you were as excited as we were. We had the second largest attendance of the year, only behind Easter, and there were few dry eyes in the place. After the incredible message from Dr. Hunter on ‘being the church’ we shared with each of you what happened to a small group of people that started gathering to study God’s Word about 2 years ago and neded up ‘being the church’ in ways it never thought possible.

We shared how God had done a work in each of us as we began to experience ‘being’ the church together, as it says in Acts, by studying the Apostles teaching, having fellowship, breaking bread, having communion, praying, serving and even having a baptism in the group. This transformation culminated in our going to Africa together in July and building upon an already growing relationship between our Oviedo site through Northland, to Vredelust Church in Capetown, to this little school in Siteki, Swaziland. I briefly mentioned how each of us had incredible stories to share and testimonies of God’s power in, around and through our lives in preparation for the trip, while we were there, and even still now that we are back here processing it all.

Some amazing stories indeed like the story of a woman who never thought she would go at all, but still went, without her husband a year ago, only to return unsure of what it all meant and then to go back this year with 9 other people.  Or another woman who was positive she wasn’t going when the rest of this crazy group thought they might, but who went out of obedience to her husband and the Lord and is now contemplating not only returning, but what it would look like to be a long term missionary with her husband there? Or a guy who thought all he had ot offer was his strength, unaware that God would orchestrate meetings for him while there with Dr’s and at a hospital that had been unsucessful up until that point, and has through casual conversations since home been able to acquire the medical supplies most desperately needed by the hospital and Drs in Siteki. Or the guys who are incredible busy and successful businessmen who could not get away but went anyways and would never trade it for the world as they try to firgue out how to get back there as soon as possible. Or the couple who were so excited to go and found out only days beofre that they were pregnant and by putting their faith in God went anyways and did not let fear overtake their journey, instead going where He called them, which was into the homes and lives of the poor and sick. Or the couple who was just as excited to go but who felt the Lord closing the doors for their journey and instead of bailing out completely became an incredible source of strength and prayer for the team who did go, gathering supplies and prayers before, during and after!

Each of these stories and more were shared with many of you. Why? Because each of us is called to follow God wherever He calls us, to do whatever He asks of us, here, there and everywhere in between. I heard it said recently that you are either a Missionary or you are a Mission Field, there is NO third option! We are ALL missionaries, sojourners, and aliens in a foreign land seeking to tell everyone about the KING who is coming and how much HE loves every one of them, even if they don’t know it yet!

I was most humbled by the response you, the Oviedo congregation gave to the video, pictures and stories. Thank you! I challenged you to participate in the greater work of the Body of Christ, PRAYER! We had 400 prayer cards with the first names of kids, teachers and leaders of the work in Swazi and YOU took almost all of them! PRAISE GOD!  PLEASE continue to pray for and lift up these people that God loves so much and whose lives He has invited us into in a unique way! Get more cards on Sunday or at the NOCC and give them to friends or family that are prayer warriors, put them in your Bible, on your mirror, etc. We can NOT ever pray enough for people by name, even if you can’t pronounce it well, God knows who they are!

Blessings and THANKS for being you! We will keep you updated on the work in Siteki and the new ways we are invited into it as they become available!

Article 38: AA7 Running out of gas is…GOOD!

Today we are showing a short video and hearing a testimony right after service as a close to this series on our African Mission trip. We were being the church everywhere, everyday as Pastor Joel has preached today. Please stay after service and interact with each other as the body of Christ. It tells us to do this in Hebrews 10:24-25 (go read it)

The last story happened the last day, on our way out of Africa. We had been there almost 9 days. I learned a lot about being rather than doing. I watched people be led by the Spirit in a way I have rarely experienced. I observed that presence, listening and eye-contact were better than words at communicating. I uncovered just how much I don’t know, believe or have faith in yet. It was a revealing journey that I am still only now beginning to unravel. But it was all good. To know the Lord loves me so much, that He would gently nudge, woo and lead me to places I had not gone, or did not want to go, so He could develop in me something I did not have. A process I know goes on and on. I am reminded of one of Zoe, my 4 year olds, favorite songs, “Trust and Obey, there is no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”

Want a practical example? Sure! As we were heading down the long desert like road towards the airport, ready to head back home, I looked down at the gas gauge and realized we were almost on E. I noticed this the day before but a S African friend said, “You still have 100km when the light comes on, don’t worry you will be fine.” I am not worried, we are fine. The light goes on. I am still not worried, we are fine. I look around and know that we are in the middle of nowhere. I have 8 people in this van. There are NO gas stations to be found, nor are they readily present, and we need diesel. Still not worried, we are fine. 2 gas stations come and go, and by that I mean a gas pump outside a small shack, NO diesel. I look down and the gauge has, quite rapidly, dropped to the E line and is nudging below. I am a bit worried, not sure if we are fine? I mention this to my friend who simply says, “If we need gas and the Lord wants us to have it, then a station will appear with Diesel.” I think to myself, “yeah, that sounds great but…?” I offer a suggestion, “Please lean forward as we go down the hills, I am putting the car in neutral and coasting.” They do so and a hush settles in as they all start to process what running out of gas in the middle of Swaziland with a bunch of tourists might actually mean? Down a hill, up another. Again. We come up on a building with people outside and a green handled pump, DIESEL, a roar of cheers break out! I hit the brakes and the van following us nearly hits us. We both make the turn in and I pull up to the pump. Praises by all who have avoided whatever troubles they saw in that potential other ending to the story. “100 rand in fuel please!” The guy working walks back to pump and quickly returns requesting that we back up a bit so he can reach the handle. “Sure, no problem!” I turn the ignition and the van will not start! Silence falls over the van, then an eruption of cheers and praises even greater than before! God provided exactly what we needed, when we needed it, not before, and not more! We got our fuel, and headed home. A long journey with each other, with new people and most of all with HIM!

The last line in that hymn Zoe likes to sing says it all, “What He says we will do, where He sends we will go; Never fear, only trust and obey.”

TRUST AND OBEY!!!

Article 37: AA6 We are One Body

Now this is an interesting article to write as I continue the series of Africa Articles in reflection on the Mission trip 12 people from the Oviedo congregation took in July. Why? Well because the Pastor from South Africa who was the catalyst for this all being possible is here at Northland preaching this weekend. Pastor Leon is the senior pastor for Vredelust Church, our partner in Cape Town who has spearheaded the work at the Global School alongside Pastor Cleopas, the local pastor in Siteki, Swaziland that we have blessed to be a part of for the last 5 years!

I am sure his message will be great and more importantly that our relationship with him and his congregation, as well as the work we are all involved in there together will be strengthened. That is the amazing thing about the body of Christ, we are all so very different, yet so very much alike. In a country that seems so divided and segmented and focused on how different we all are I am recognizing more and more since flying half way around the world, just how alike we all are.

We all want to be loved, recognized, known, heard, valued, seen, counted, wanted, held, cared for, included and welcomed! Many of us have very different stories, circumstances, backgrounds, pasts, presents, and futures; careers, social circles, families, and friends; things, homes, cars, and musical interests BUT we all have one chance, one hope, one savior CHRIST! That is what makes us more alike than different, no matter what it may look, sound or feel like! In fact, the enemy wants us to believe we are all different because a main tactic he uses in his work against us is isolation. Satan came to Christ alone in the desert and he wants you to feel alone too. But what if we all knew that wasn’t true, ever, because you were already accepted and a part of something. What if we lived like it did not matter where you came from, what you wore, how you labeled yourself, what music you listened to because “In Christ” that is true, we are all one body!

Paul definitely felt this way, just listen to his words:

Romans 12:4-5 says it this way, “Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.”

1 Cor 12:12 “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.”

Ephesians 4:25 “for we are all members of one body.”

Colossians 3:15, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.”

I LOVE this last one, live in peace with one another as His peace rules in our hearts and be thankful! An attitude of gratitude is infectious. I am grateful for being shown by God that Pastor Leon and I and you are all much more alike than we are different, thanks to Christ’s completed work!

Article 36: AA5 Tension

I have been writing a series of articles in reflection on the recent mission trip to Africa that 12 people from our Oviedo congregation went on in July. This is the fifth such article. You can access the other by either going to the Oviedo blog page or the archived Northland newspapers found online, issues 32, 33, 34, 35. Why am I doing this? Because I believe more now than ever that God is active all over the world and He has invited each of us into His work, here and there. On Sunday Sept 20th we will share with each of you what God is doing there and here through each of us and our experiences, and how you can be involved from Oviedo in the Kingdom work in Africa, right now.

This is going to sound crazy but after about two days of being in the midst of the children, the school, the home visits, the South Africans and us I was reel between emotions of confusion, elation, excitement and despair. I had been in conversations with many different people about the reality we were facing and the minimal impact and effort we were having on any of it. I ended up with two verses, in tension in my heart and mind. Both Scripture and both true and both abused by many of us in the church to justify our behaviors either way.

The first verse is in Acts 3:6 a crippled beggar asks Peter and John for money, and Peter replies, “Look at us!” then says, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Here we see the response so many of us give with confidence to those who are in need, “they need Jesus, not a handout, food or clothing.” That is accurate; we all need Christ in our life. That is the ultimate need we all have, the need that has eternal implications. But they still need food and clothes, a job, a second chance, or a helping hand. They still have real physical, temporal needs as well.

The second verse is James 2:14-17 “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” This verse clearly says that only wishing well to our brothers and sisters who are in need, when we have what they are in need of is not the action of a faithful person.

Well there it is, TENSION! How do I do both and when? The conclusion I have come to lies in Romans 8 and Galatians 4 PLEASE go and read both of them this week. Be led by the Spirit in all that you do and remember what Christ said in Matthew 6 to those in need (all of us) “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Article 35: AA4 ‘BE’ versus ‘DO’

As we were being handed out our primary jobs in Africa I was stunned to see that I was on the Home Visit Team. This team would go out with the Community Health Evangelists (CHE) who were ministering to the families of the kids at the school. I saw that and thought, “Wait a minute I am good sized guy, aren’t they building stuff this week, isn’t there construction work to ‘DO’?” I thought for a moment and then remembered many conversations I have had with Pastor Dan over the last two years about ministry. He has shared with me that the ‘do’ part of ministry, the ‘make stuff happen, task oriented, check the box’ stuff of ministry was NOT what ministry was all about. It was somewhat easier for me, that is my gift set, but it was not what ultimately mattered. It was the ‘BE’ part of ministry that was the point. The ‘DO’ stuff really only had value as it pertained to its impact on the opportunity to ‘BE’. Well now it made sense, this was a ‘BE’, not a ‘DO’. It was ministry at its core. Go out with people you don’t know, who speak a language you don’t understand and just ‘BE’ present with them as they minister. That is as clear as mud. Where is the box to check? There wasn’t one.

I leaned over to Pastor Dan and said, “Did you do that? Did you put me there so I could work on the ‘BE’ of ministry and not the ‘DO’?” He just laughed and said, “Nope, didn’t have anything to do with it, that was all God!” Come to find out, he really didn’t have anything to do with it. God wanted me in a place of complete dependence upon Him, absolute certainty of only one thing, that I didn’t have a clue what to do or how to do it? See one of my lifelong lessons in the faith has been God’s relentless pursuit of me and His desire for me to simply desire Him, not what I can do for Him (as if there was such a thing?) or what I think He wants me to do for others (ditto), just my desire to ‘BE’ His.

I started to become overwhelmed with what I was seeing everyday, the apparent hopelessness and despair closing in all around me, the reality that I was not changing anything for anyone and I prayed, “Lord, I want to know what you want me to do? Father, I want to know what you want me to say?” I heard softly in my ear, “I want you to just KNOW ME, not the answers to any of those questions!” Ahhhhh, BE! Psalm 46:10 says it like this, “Be still, and know that I am God,” and in Exodus 14:14, “The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still,” and in Psalm 37:7 “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret…” Do you know and believe that He wants you to BE His, and in so doing He will DO all He wants in, to and through you?! Just like the thief on the cross in the main Scripture text today, we are to only ‘BE’lieve in Him and we will ‘BE’ with Him! It is like my favorite Oswald Chambers quote on prayer, “Prayer is not preparation for the greater work, it is the greater work.” Being is the greater work, and when correct results in powerful doing! BE a part of this with us here at Northland Oviedo!

Article 34: AA3 Reality

It has been about a month now since the mission trip to Swazi and I have to say it has been hard coming back for many reasons. It was hard getting good sleep again, hard not seeing the people I spent so much time with, hard not having such quiet and darkness at night, and hard not to hear the voices of the kids singing in the morning. And although that is all true I have been surprised at how quickly I have gotten swept back up into life here with emails, meetings, bills, deadlines, etc. Things that seemed so insignificant while there have somehow become overwhelming again. I am a foreigner in my own body and mind, a person who has been somewhere, seen something and wanted ‘this’, but is now being drawn to, sucked in and propelled toward ‘that’. A life that was being marked by compassion, empathy and prayer has already started being marked by tasks, efficiencies and accomplishments. I feel crazy inside, which of these perspectives is real? What am I supposed to do with this experience and the realities it exposed me to?

I, like so many of us, am experiencing disillusionment in a very personal and grand scale. I am disillusioned by me (my faith, my walk, my impact) and by the world I live in, the people I love and serve and the religion I am a part of. But there is so much good and love and positive, that doesn’t make sense. That does not sound like the work of the Holy Spirit who convicts in love and draws us in to all truth? For those who are in Christ, there is no condemnation (Rom 8:1). What is this then?

This is the life of an alien, sojourner, pilgrim passing through this fallen world. Both of these experiences, the one serving in Africa and the one living here in America, and all the ones in between are aspects of the life that God has allowed me to live, here for now. I do not decide which is more real than the others. They are all real. I am called to bring them together in myself and quilt them into my life as a soldier of love, servant to all and Son of God. That was actually the gist of the talk I gave the second day we were there as a morning devotion. I was asked the night before to do this which was probably good since it made it me more in need of the Spirit, not something I was able to craft and try to make great…Wait a minute…maybe that is the key! My life is not something I am crafting to make great, it is something I am asked to live in pursuit of Christ, by the power of the Spirit, open to whatever and wherever He takes me, confident that “He who began a good work in me will see it through to completion” (Phil 1:6) He does not need Africa to do this any more than He is limited by processing expense reports, He can and does use them all.

Beloved, do not be disillusioned by all the sin and failure, but be full of hope and prayer in the promises of God to make all things right. Do not let others tell you that their own, yours or anyone else’s failures are keeping them from God, He is using them all to reveal Himself to everyone! Scripture is full of stories (Joseph, the Prodigal son, Christ) that could result in disillusionment but instead show how evil and selfishness can be used to display greater acts of love than if they had not been allowed to happen. He is real, He is reality!