The Fall of Man (Gen.3; Part 1)

God created man to be his 'royal representative' and the steward of creation. The Lord God had formed the man from the 'dust of the ground' and breathed the 'breath of life' into him. The Lord God placed the man in the 'garden of Eden' to work it and to take care of it. Man was free to eat from any of the trees except for the 'tree of the knowledge of good and evil'. If he ate from that tree he would die. It wasn't good for the man to be alone so the Lord God made a woman from the man's side and brought the woman to the man. They were both naked and they were 'unashamed'.

¹ The serpent, the ‘craftiest’ animal the Lord God made, spoke to the woman mocking the limitation God had placed on ‘His image’. They were free to eat from the trees in the garden (2:9); they were only restricted from eating from the ‘tree of the knowledge of good and evil’. In fact, God warned them that if they did they would die! So the serpent mocks the prohibition and then suggests that God was jealously prohibiting them from acquiring the ‘knowledge of good and evil’.  

² The woman tells the serpent they can eat from the trees in the garden ³ but they’re not to eat ‘from the tree in the middle of the garden, or touch it or they’d die.’ So having mocked God’s prohibition, the serpent proceeds to question God’s good intention towards ‘His image’. They were not to eat from the ‘tree of the knowledge of good and evil’ but God said nothing about touching it. They were free and had some choices to make among the options available to them. They could eat from any of the other trees and live (2:9). They could even eat from the other tree in the middle of the garden, the ‘tree of life’ and live forever (3:22). Then, of course, they could eat from the ‘tree of the knowledge of good and evil’ but they would die!

Was God restricting their freedom and withholding good from them? The serpent claimed they wouldn’t die, but that they would be like God, knowing good and evil. But, everything God created was ‘very good’ and so to seek a source of knowledge independent of God and apart from God’s word was not good; in fact it was ‘evil’! To stand in judgment upon ‘God and His Word’ and align one’s self with the serpent was to rebel against God. So where was Adam and why was he silent? Why isn’t Adam intervening on her behalf? They needed to trust that what God said was good was good and what God said was evil was evil.

⁶ The woman sees the forbidden fruit is pleasing to the eye, good for food and now she sees the fruit as a desirable alternative source of wisdom apart dependence upon 'God and His Word’. Later, revelation would confirm that wisdom begins and ends with the ‘fear of the Lord’ (Proverbs 1:7, 9:10). Unfortunately, the woman aligns herself with the ‘word of the serpent’ so she reaches out and takes some of the fruit and she ate. Where was the silent Adam? Adam was with her and she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he also ate (3:6).

⁷ Now their eyes were opened, but what they gained was the knowledge of their own guilt before God. With their quilt exposed they sew fig leaves together in a futile effort to cover their shame and nakedness. They had been ‘naked’ before but ‘unashamed’ ⁸ but now when they hear God they’re afraid so they hide in the trees. They were supposed to ‘work and take care of’ the trees in God’s garden, but now the trees become a hiding place from God.

⁹ The Lord calls to Adam, “Where are you?” ¹⁰ Adam was afraid because he was naked and so he hid ¹¹ but God came looking for him. Surely the Lord God knows what has happened but He pursues Adam, and so the Lord God is graciously giving Adam opportunity to confess and repent. When the Lord God asks Adam if he had eaten the fruit, ¹² Adam blames it on the woman and on God who put her in the garden.  Adam fails to take personal responsibility; he fails to confess and turn back to God. ¹³ When the Lord God addresses the woman she says, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” She doesn't directly blame God or Adam, but she does blame the deceptive serpent.

¹⁴ God now turns to the serpent who was the agent of Satan (Rev. 12:9). God ‘curses’ the serpent to crawl on its belly and eat dust which symbolizes the ultimate destiny of Satan (Rev. 20:10). The Lord God will put enmity (hatred) between the serpent and the woman and between your offspring (those who will never repent, and demons) and hers (those elect children of Eve, excluding Cain and others. See 1 John 3:12); he (the singular saving seed, Messiah Jesus) will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

¹⁶ The Lord God tells the woman, “I will greatly increase your pain in childbearing; your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” The woman will continue with the privilege of bringing ‘images of God’ into the world but now with severe pain. ¹⁷ The Lord God ‘cursed’ the ground because Adam listened to his wife when she said to eat from the ‘tree of the knowledge of good and evil’. God would continue to provide food for Adam but now the ground would produce thorns and thistles. ¹⁹ Adam’s work would include ‘painful toil’ and would be the ‘sweat of his brow’. Now there’s a ‘struggle’ in childbirth, in relationships, and in work that ends in man returning to the dust from which he was made.

²⁰ Adam names his wife Eve because she would be the mother of the living. ²¹ Then the Lord God clothes the couple with animal skins. ²² Here we have a hint at Israel’s ‘sacrificial system’ that would find fulfillment in the ‘crucifixion of Jesus’; the only proper covering for the guilt of our sin. Now the Lord God now doesn’t want them to reach out in their condition and take from the ‘tree of life’ and live forever. Evidently, this would have sealed them in an unhappy state of separation from God. ²³ So the Lord banished Adam and his wife from the Garden of Eden and ²⁴ placed an angel with a flaming sword there to guard the way to the tree of life.

God and man at Creation (Genesis 2).

By the seventh day of creation, God had finished creating his ‘very good’ world. The Lord God placed ‘His image’ in his ‘very good’ world to be His ‘royal representative’ . Man was to do God’s will on the earth in submission to God and His word. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on it God rested from his work of creating. 

Now we ‘zoom in’ on in this story on God creating man. Some interpreters labor to reconcile the differences in the creation accounts we found in Genesis 1 and 2. Others, however, see Genesis 1 as a ‘poetic representation’ of creation and they see Genesis 2 as a more straight forward 'narrative’ account. Our concern is to let the story speak to us of a time when there were no shrubs, no plants, no rain and streams watered the ground and there was no man to work it. 

We are told that the Lord God had a garden in Eden that was full of trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden there were two specific trees, the 'tree of life' and the 'tree of the knowledge of good and evil'. The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living being. Then God put the man in His garden to work it and take care of it. The Lord God told the man that he was free to eat from any of the trees in the garden with one exception. Of the two trees in the middle of the garden man was not to eat from the ‘tree of the knowledge of good and evil’ for if he did so he would surely die (2:15-17). 

As 'God’s image’ the man was to fill the earth with other ‘images of God’ that would do ‘God’s will’ on the earth. Yet, this was a job that the man could not do alone and there was no ‘suitable helper’ for the man. This is the one thing that Genesis 1 and 2 tells us was ‘not good’. The Lord God brought all the animals to the man and the man named them. But, still no ‘suitable companion’ for the man was found. How could he be fruitful and multiply? How could he raise godly offspring and consecrate creation to God filling it with 'images of God' who would do God's will on the earth?

So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep and the Lord God made a woman from the man’s rib. The Lord God brought the woman to the man and the man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” We are told for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, as one flesh. At that time the man and his wife were both naked, and  they were unashamed.

Do you want to do God's will on the earth? We can learn about what God wants us to do from what Adam was supposed to do in that original relationship he had with God. Adam was to create a God-glorying world and culture in submission to God and 'God’s Word'. Yet, if we focus merely on the ‘test’ not to eat the forbidden fruit we will inevitably have a shallow view of what God wants from his followers in redemption. Adam had responsibilities beyond and in addition to 'not eating' from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Moreover, as the ‘redeemed’ followers of Jesus we have responsibilities beyond and in addition to evangelizing and going to church. If we focus on Adam’s general responsibilities at creation we will gain more of what we can say is a 'kingdom focus' in redemption.  In other words, Adam had work and rest, marriage and multiplication which he was to do in submission to 'God and His Word'. Adam was to imitate God’s creative activity by following God's pattern of work and rest and he was to multiple and fill the earth with ‘images of God’ that would do God’s will on the earth.

Adam failed this test by breaking the commandment not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Therefor in the fullness of time it would take a second Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ, to faithfully obey God even to the point of death on a cross (1Cor.15:45). Now because of Jesus’ death and resurrection which he accomplished on behalf of his people, God through Christ by His word and Spirit is now filling the world with ‘redeemed images’ of God who will do God’s will on the earth. Once we become a ‘redeemed image’ through faith in Jesus can serve His kingdom by ‘sharing this gospel’ but also by seeking to consecrate whatever sphere of influence we have been given before God in submission to 'God and His Word!  

In the beginning God...

This story is coming form  Genesis 1. God creates, by His Word and Spirit, a 'very good' world and He puts mankind in it to be His 'royal representatives' who were to do God's will on the earth. 

The Genesis 1 story tells us that God preexisted all created things, and that all created things are dependent upon God. In the account God is, God acts, God speaks and what God does is good and what God says is good is 'very good'. The story begins in the beginning and it tells us of an uninhabitable earth that was ‘formless and empty’ with the Spirit of God hovering over the chaotic waters. 

We then find God speaking the good ‘light’ into existence which He separated from the darkness; naming them ‘day’ and ‘night’. The next day God spoke an expanse into existence which separated the waters above from the waters below; and called it ‘sky’. On the third day God spoke and gathered the waters below the expanse together and dry ground appeared; which He called ‘land’. God spoke again and the land produced plants, vegetation, and trees. So on ‘Days 1-3’ God addressed the ‘formlessness’ of the earth by speaking the light, the sky and the land into existence.

On ‘Days 4-6’ God spoke and filled the ‘emptiness’ with the sun to govern the day and the moon to govern the night and He also made the stars. The next day God created the fish, sea creatures, and birds and God blessed them and told them to ‘fill’ the seas and ‘multiply’ on the earth. On Day 6, God created the animals and all the various creatures that move on the ground. Then God made mankind, male and female, as equally sharing in the image of God. They were to 'fill’ the earth with images of God, who would do God’s will on the earth. God blessed them and told them to “be fruitful and increase in number, to fill the earth and subdue it. They were to rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over all the creatures that moves on the ground.

The Genesis 1 story also tells us that mankind is dependent upon God and responsible to God. Man is who he is in relationship to the 'Creator God'  and man or mankind is also responsible to God. All people are to reflect God; to reflect God's character and His creative activity. All people, no matter their gender, race of economic status are made in 'God's image' . Therefore, all people have dignity and worth and are to be treated accordingly. On the other hand, people are not God, they are dependent upon God for we are only images of God.  

In the ancient world the various ‘kings and pharaohs’ were considered the ‘image of their gods’ who were called to do ‘the will’ of their gods on the earth. The image symbolically represents the land's true ruler or the land’s ‘true king’. The Genesis 1 story makes it clear that ‘all people’, male or female, poor or rich, are the image of God. Not just 'kings and pharaohs' but even those poor Israelite slaves were God’s image and were to do ‘God’s will’ on the earth. According to the story, everything God originally made was ‘very good’. Moreover, God made mankind to be God's 'royal representatives’ and they were to do God’s will on the earth as the ‘stewards’ of God’s good creation. So far, so good! 

Merry Christmas from the Stoms in South Africa!

Greetings and a Merry Christmas from the Stoms family in South Africa! All God’s best to our friends and family this Christmas season. Thank you for your gracious and prayerful partnership with us in the gospel. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all! Please pray for us as we are preparing to return to the states for furlough in January. 

With Love, 

Jay, Laura, Clara, Katherine and Lauren Stoms

"Carry each other's burdens" (Gal 6:2a) 

Please see the comment below from our friend DK Byun about the recent retreat for Internationals. International Gathering at Volmoed, Hermanus www.volmoed.co.za (Nov. 17-19/2017) 

23 people from 7 countries participated in this retreat for International students at Volmoed in Hermanus in the Western Cape (SA). Together we got to know God better as we heard and discussed stories from Exodus and from Revelation. We also got to know each other better by sharing conversation, meals, fun, hiking and worshiping God together. We especially enjoyed the Kenyan and the Korean foods which added to the multi-cultural flavour of the retreat. The retreat helped us realize how we long to taste the sweetness of the Kingdom of God in this world. We often live separately due to differences of race, culture, age and economic levels but there is ‘better reason’ to live together. There is one multi-ethnic 'Kingdom of God' which has been established by the conquering king and suffering servant, our Lord Jesus Christ. His sacrificial death and victorious resurrection enables all who have fallen short of God’s glory to join together ‘in Christ’ and enjoy the table together. Our differences need not divide us, but can enable us to form a beautiful harmonious multi-ethnic family! We hope that we can continue to taste this together in this world. 

Katherine, Clara and Laruen

 DK Byun (Korean Theological Student University of Stellenbosch)

Galatians 3:28–29 “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. “

The Resurrected Christ's Commission (Mt.28).

This is one of the most significance stories that anyone could ever hear. (Read Matthew 28).

What I really like abot this story is that it is so shocking. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to the tomb fully expecting to find the body of Jesus. What they didn’t expect was an ‘earthquake’. Then what was even more unexpected was a visitation from an angel from heaven who had rolled the stone away. His white clothes and lightning like appearance was so shocking to the Roman soldiers guarding the tomb that they shook with fear and fell to the ground as though dead. The women were also struck with fear after all there had been an earthquake and they’re visited by this radiant heavenly visitor. They see the Roman soldiers guarding the tomb collapse in fear and the dead body of Jesus is nowhere to be seen. But the most shocking thing of all is the claim made by the angelic visitor that Jesus is alive from the dead just as he had said.

This shocking story is also a bit ‘perplexing’. Jesus had clearly told his own disciples on a number of occasions that he would rise from the dead but none of them, including these faithful women, were expecting Jesus to be alive (See John 2:19, Matthew 12:39-40, 16:21, 17:22, 20:17-19, 21:38-39, 26:2, 12). Why were so incapable of hearing what Jesus had said and alluded to on several occasions? Now having received the shocking revelation regarding the risen Christ they are told to tell Jesus’ disciples to meet Jesus in Galilee. They leave filled with this strange combination of fear and joy. As they run to tell the others they meet the resurrected Jesus and fall at his feet and worship him. Jesus sends them on to tell his disciples to meet him in Galilee.  

The story has much to tell us about the character of men. We learn much from the various responses to this shocking revelation of the empty tomb and the angel’s message of the risen Lord. The soldiers are also filled with fear but they fall down as though dead. But what is perplexing is when they tell the high priest then they become part of a plot to cover up that has happened. The soldiers tell the religious leaders the truth of what happened but they are offered a bride to say that Jesus’ disciples stole the body at night while they were sleeping. The soldiers agree and they accept the bribe and they spread the alternative account. The high priest and the elders are not moved to repentance but seek to cover it up the truth of Jesus with their own twisted false account. What a picture of what we are all capable of apart from God’s grace. Left to ourselves we would rather lie than repent and admit the errors of our ways!

By contrast the women respond to the shocking episode by running to tell the disciples the ‘good news’. On their way they meet the resurrected Jesus and they grasp Jesus’ feet and worship him. The women tell the eleven disciples who go to a mountain in Galilee where they see the ‘resurrected Jesus’. Their response is also shocking because some worship and yet ‘some doubted!’ Perhaps they were just slow of heart to believe but maybe they were not yet able to grasp that Jesus is the appropriate object of worship and were not yet able to grasp what we know about the deity of Christ and triune nature of God.

So what does the story tell us about God and about Jesus?  The resurrection proves that Jesus really is God’s Messiah. Jesus really does fulfill all that was foretold about the Messiah who was to come. This shocking story and the varying responses to the ‘good news’ in Christ tells us that ‘genuine faith’ is the gift of God. Faith is not something that we can just conjure up in our own strength; it is God’s gracious gift to man. God must foretell, God must fulfill, God must reveal and God must grant faith and repentance and apart from his gracious intervention we simply will not believe. Then we see that God gives the resurrected Jesus (the divine Messiah) all authority in heaven and on earth so that all authority belongs to the resurrected Messiah Jesus; who is now revealed as the proper object of worship.

So what is the faithful, trusting and appropriate response to the ‘good news’ of the resurrected Jesus, who has conquered death, and who revealed himself to these first disciples; the women who grasped his feet and the eleven who meet him on the mountain? How should we respond to the one who has been given ‘all power and all authority’ in heaven and on earth? Having one’s eyes opened to the reality of the resurrected Christ should fill the heart with fear and joy. The resurrected Jesus has become the proper object of our worship. The true worshiper will worship Jesus with fear and joy even if others doubt, eve if we struggle with our own doubts. What is the appropriate response to the resurrected Jesus? We should respond with fear, with joy, with faith, and having fallen down in worship we are to get up willing to play our part in the fulfillment of the ‘great commission’. We are to respond by not being content until the nations are baptized into the name of the Triune God and are taught to obey everything Jesus has commanded. As these women clung to Jesus’ feet, we are to cling to the promise that all power and authority belong to Jesus and that Jesus will be with us even to the end of the age.

"Good Friday?"

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones once preached at a ‘good Friday’ service and afterwards a man came up to him and asked, “Why do you call it ‘Good’ Friday when that horrible thing happened? After a discussion Lloyd-Jones concluded that the man had misunderstood the cross! Evidently the man did not think that the cross was actually necessary.

Read Mark 8:27–33 (NIV84) So Jesus and his disciples were moving through the villages around Caesarea Philippi. Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Christ. After warning his disciples not to tell this to people, Jesus told them how the ‘Son of Man’ MUST SUFFER many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. But Peter rebuked Jesus, until Jesus rebuked Peter, saying, “Get behind me, Satan!

Jesus plainly told that the ‘Son of Man’ must suffer many things and that he must be killed (8:31). Jesus’ disciples didn’t understand this because to them and everyone else at that time, a Messiah who suffers and dies was a failed Messiah. Peter understood that Jesus was the Messiah but he didn’t understand the need for the cross. This is why Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him. When Peter rebuked Jesus saying, “this will never happen to you” but Jesus rebukes Peter, saying, “Get behind me, Satan! In other words, the denial of the cross is a satanic lie. The cross is absolutely necessary! This is also seen in the story of Jesus in the ‘garden of Gethsemane’ as well (Mark 14:32-42). 

The Story of Gethsemane from Mark 14:32–42 

Jesus and his disciples went to Gethsemane, where they sat while Jesus prayed. Jesus took Peter, James and John and he told them that he was so sorrowful that he could die. They were to keep watch while Jesus went a little further and fell down and prayed. Then Jesus prayed, “Abba, Father, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not my will, but your will be done!” Then Jesus returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. Jesus said, “Peter, couldn’t you keep watch for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” Once more Jesus went away and prayed that if possible his Father might take the cup away from him, but not his will but the Father's will be done. Again Jesus returned and found his disciples sleeping and they didn’t know what to say to Jesus. Returning a third time, Jesus told his sleepy disciples that now the hour had come for him to be turned over into the hands of sinners. That the Father did not respond tells us that it was impossible to avoid the cross. Evidently the plan of God to save the world and redeem sinners required the cross and there was no other way. Almighty God could not save sinners apart from the cross!

Mark’s Crucifixion Story (Mark 15:16–39).

The whole company of soldiers gathered around Jesus. These soldiers would have resented the Jewish revolutionaries and so they must have taken their frustrations out on the powerless Jesus. They mockingly put a purple robe normally reserved for nobility and a crown of thorns on Jesus’ head. They fell on their knees saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” They spit on him and beat him repeatedly. Then when they were done mocking him they put his clothes back on him and led Jesus out to be crucified. They forced Simon of Cyrene, a Jewish pilgrim from North Africa, to help the battered Jesus to carry the cross on which he would be crucified.  They took Jesus to Golgotha, the ‘Place of the Skull’. At nine in the morning Jesus was crucified. They offered Jesus a form of drugged wine but he refused. The soldiers stripped Jesus of his clothes and they cast lots for them. The charge written on the cross against Jesus said ‘KING OF THE JEWS’. He was crucified between two rebels, one on his right and one on his left. 

Those who passed by Jesus as he hung naked on the cross insulted him. They shook their heads claiming that if Jesus was going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days then he should save himself. In actuality they had misunderstood Jesus’ claims (John 2:19, Mark 13:2). Then the chief priests and the teachers of the law also insulted Jesus by acknowledging that he saved others, but that he couldn’t save himself. They claimed that if Jesus came down from the cross then they would believe that he was Israel’s king. But as the Christ he had come to conquer sin and death by embracing it on the cross. Even the thieves crucified beside Jesus hurled their insults at Jesus.

The story of the crucifixion is a sad story that is set in a dark place, Golgotha, the place of the skull. Darkness even engulfed the whole land from noon until 3 in the afternoon (Mark 15:33). The Roman battalion (600 men) mocked Jesus ‘hailing him as the king of the Jews’ while beating and spitting on him. Those in the crowd mocked him saying he claimed to destroy and rebuild the temple but that he was powerless to save himself. For the religious leaders he would have to come down from the cross and save himself if he was Israel’s true king. He was treated shamefully, and he looked like a weak and pathetic character that was ridiculed by those who were crucified beside him.  

It was a ‘sad day’ when Jesus who had been betrayed by a friend was abandoned by his disciples. Now only the women who followed him and cared for his needs were there watching from a distance. Ironically, it was only a Roman centurion who heard Jesus cry, ‘my God, my God, why have you forsaken me’ and confessed that he was ‘the son of God’. But the worst thing of all that Jesus faced was being ‘utterly forsaken’ by his own heavenly Father! Yet, despite all that he faced Jesus clung faithfully to his confession, “My God, My God”. That Friday was a dark day, it was a sad day, and it was an evil thing what happened there on that dark day! So why do we call it ‘Good Friday’? The reason we call Friday good is… SUNDAY! 

The Power of Story (Part I).

One of the biggest lessons I learned from Africa and from Africans began when my daughter Clara was about 4 or 5 years old.My daughter Clara loves stories and she always wanted me to tell her stories. So I told her all the stories that I felt were appropriate and I ran out of stories but she wanted me to tell her more stories. Now I could have given her various statements of what the Bible teaches on a various topics with proof texts and that may have put her to sleep but I wanted to engage her with God's word. I wanted her to know God and His will for her life. So I asked myself, ‘how many Bible stories have I internalized so that I could tell them accurately and naturally in my own words?’ My answer was maybe the same as your answer to that question might be… practically none!

Now I had been teaching a class on Daniel at a Bible College in Malawi so I started telling Clara stories from the book of Daniel. She loved it so I started telling those same stories to the prisoners at Maula prison in Malawi. I will never forget what happened when I told the story from Daniel 4 where Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that frightened him. Do you know that that story?

Nebuchadnezzar was the world’s most powerful ruler but his nightmare scared him. The king called for his council of Babylonian ‘wise men’ but they failed to interpret the dream. They may have been afraid to bring the explosive king the ‘bad news’ depicted in the dream (Daniel 2:12, 3:13-15). The king would need Daniel, the exiled Jewish prophet, to discern his dream. As a subjugated Jewish exile the king referred to Daniel as Belteshazzar after the name of Nebuchadnezzar’s god. Yet, Nebuchadnezzar understood Daniel to be indwelt by the ‘spirit of the holy gods’ and capable of interpreting the dream.

Nebuchadnezzar saw a tree that touched the sky that was visible throughout the earth. The tree had beautiful leaves, abundant fruit and the birds and the beasts sheltered in it. A holy one from heaven said that the tree would be chop down, stripped of its leaves and branches, its fruit would be scattered and the birds and beasts chased from it. This superior power commands that the tree be stripped of its authority and its abundance, but the stump would remain bound with a strap of iron and bronze. The tree is depicted as having a mind that is to be changed to that of a beast for period of seven times. The reason for all this is so that all may know that Most High God rules over the kingdoms of men (4:17).

Daniel was also upset by the dream, but the king insisted that Daniel interpret the dream. Daniel was genuinely concerned and told the king and wished that the dream applied to the king’s enemies. Then Daniel freely tells Nebuchadnezzar that he is the tree that touched the sky; visible throughout the earth. The decree of the Most High God was that the king, the personalized tree, would be driven from people to live among the beasts for a period described as seven times until the king acknowledged that the Most High God rules over the kingdoms of men.

Nebuchadnezzar had risen to prominence but his rule was oppressive so he would be stripped of his kingly glory. Evidently, the king had ignored the hardships of the oppressed and now the king’s authority and prosperity would be removed from him. Nebuchadnezzar was an inhumane king who used people like beasts. Now he would be given the mind of a beast and he would live among the beasts in the bush like a beast. He would remain in this condition until the time when the king acknowledged that the Most High God rules over the kingdoms of men. The remaining stump meant that Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom would be restored when Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged that heaven rules.  Again, concerned for the king’s welfare, Daniel exhorts the king to turn from his sins by doing what was right and by being merciful to the oppressed then the king’s prosperity might continue.

A whole year passes but Nebuchadnezzar is unchanged. We find him walking on the roof of his palace admiring his achievements. The king was boasting of the greatness of Babylon which he evidently built at the expense of the poor and oppressed. Nebuchadnezzar had urged Daniel to interpret his dream and having given the king the interpretation Daniel urged the king to change his ways. Unconcerned and unresponsive we find the boastful king is interrupted by the voice from heaven announcing the removal of Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom. He would be driven from people to live like a beast among the beasts. This would last for a period of seven times until Nebuchadnezzar learned that the Most High rules the kingdoms of men. Nebuchadnezzar had failed to heed Daniel’s warning but now a voice from heaven tells Nebuchadnezzar directly without any symbolic imagery that his kingdom is removed and that he would be driven from people to live like a beast among the beasts. Nebuchadnezzar would remain in that beast-like condition for a period of seven times until Nebuchadnezzar learned that heaven rules.

Nebuchadnezzar was driven into the bush to live like a beast among the beasts. He was given the mind of a beast, and his hair grew as long as eagles’ feathers and his nails grew like the claws of a bird. When the period of seven times was completed, Nebuchadnezzar lifted his eyes to heaven and came to his senses. Now being found in his right mind Nebuchadnezzar acknowledges that the Most High does what he pleases with the host of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth. As was promised Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom was restored the king praised God saying, ‘all God’s ways are just and He is able to humble the proud’. This Nebuchadnezzar knew by experience for in his arrogance he had lost his kingdom but then after confessing that ‘heaven rules’ his kingdom was restored.

Those prisoners at Maula prison loved that story. We had a great time following the telling of that story as we discussed how that story depicts the Most High God of Daniel (Daniel 4:17) as being sovereign over the kingdoms of men. The discussion was going well when one of those inmates stood up and said, “Guys, Nebuchadnezzar was the king of all the kings of his time, he had everything but he had to lose everything before he repented. Then he said this, “guys we have nothing, who are we not to repent!”

Now that relatively uneducated prison inmate really understood the implications of the difficult doctrine of the ‘Sovereignty of God’. When I taught at a Bible College in Malawi I used to tell my students what I had heard the Theologian John Frame say, ‘you don’t know or understand a doctrine until you know how that doctrine applies’. That relatively uneducated man in that Malawian prison understood the practical implications of the doctrine, the teaching of the ‘word of God’ regarding the Biblical doctrine of the ‘Sovereignty God’.  He responded to that clear and straight forward story from the Book of Daniel (Daniel 4) about the ‘Sovereignty of God’ by doing what Daniel had urged King Nebuchadnezzar to do, to turn from sins.  

Ministry to International Student (U of Stellenbosch).

Dear Friends and Family, 

This Post is an update regarding the Stoms Family in South Africa and it highlights events surrounding the minister to Internationals student at the University of Stellenbosch at Christ Church in Stellenbosch. On Saturday, April 1^st, we’ll be hosting a seminar at Christ Church with Richard Weston. Richard has 30 years of experience in pioneering international student ministry in the UK and around the world. He will discuss the role International students can play in God’s plan for the nations and how a local church can welcome International students. We pray this seminar will encourage local churches here to befriend the numerous international students living in Stellenbosch.

We had a great 2 week visit from Pastor Michael Kelly (GLPC, PNW Church-planting network). Pastor Kelly spoke at our ‘Retreat for Internationals’; where we had over 30 people representing 9 different countries from 4 continents. Everyone really worked together to make it a restful and joy-filled time. We hiked, enjoyed African and Korean meals and spent time together. Pastor Kelly presented four powerful messages on loving the church for a lifetime. The lunch for graduating international postgraduate students and their families and friends also went well. While there was some overlap, this was a different group than those at the retreat. This was a time to celebrate with family and friends of those who graduated where we presented gifts and heard another helpful message from Pastor Kelly.

The day after the luncheon the Kelly’s went on to Malawi. I stayed behind for Clara’s 12^th birthday which was nice. Then I flew to Malawi where I first stayed in Lilongwe with our friends the Braseltons and met Reverend Edward Tembo, a former student. I preached at his church, Kafita CCAP, to the over 1000 worshipers there who love to sing and are eager to hear Biblical preaching. Then we visited with our friends, Dr. David and Rebecca Morton from Green Lake Church, who work at Nkhoma Hospital which is about an hour outside Lilongwe. This is the same hospital where our daughter Clara was treated for a corneal ulcer when she was 2 months old. Since then the washboard dirt road has been paved and the drive is a lot smoother and faster than back in those days.  

Pastor Kelly and I spent a day teaching the 3^rd and 4^th year students at JMTI Theological College (CCAP Nkhoma Synod). When these students finish at JMTI they’ll be placed in churches with plenty of people but no pastors. A former student, Rev. Gracious Madimbo, was placed in a rural church with 2000 people immediately after graduating from JMTI.  We also met with the Principle of JMTI and the Academic Dean about setting up a workshop on ‘Narrative Preaching and Biblical Storytelling’ for a future visit.

We had a great reunion with the Morton’s and Rebecca Morton took care of us and David who wasn’t feeling well. The lush green foliage surrounding their house nestled just below Nkhoma Mountain was quite a contrast to the dry Western Cape. After a nice stay in Nkhoma we returned to Lilongwe where we caught our flights back to South Africa. Back in Stellenbosch, Michael and Ian stayed below us in a furnished flat owned by the University. We showed them some of the amazing scenery around Cape Town and then they treated us to a wonderful dinner for my 56^th birthday. At the end they were feeling a bit homesick and ready to return to the States and their family. 

Now with this M-Th in Homiletics and Narrative Preaching behind me, I want to get back to doing Biblical Theology through the Bible's own stories. Our goal is to story through the Bible and this is what most of our posts are all about. Special thanks to those who prayed for us; surely your prayers helped the retreat, the graduations, the luncheon, the Malawi trip, the flights, the meetings and messages during the Kelly's visit go so well. 

With Love,

Jay, Laura, Clara, Katherine and Lauren Stoms

'Light to Gentiles’ (Luke 2:32, Acts 9).

Luke 1:78-79 (ESV) … because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.  

Merry Christmas from South Africa 2016

Dear friends,

Zechariah, filled with the Spirit, spoke of the coming of the ultimate sunrise bringing light to those sitting in darkness, guiding into the way of peace. Later Simeon, also filled with the Spirit, would hold the baby Jesus in his arms calling him a light of ‘revelation to Gentiles’ and ‘glory for Israel’ (Luke 2:32).

We pray that you will be filled with the ‘light and peace’ of Jesus this Christmas season. This Christmas is bringing us another transition for in January we’re moving back into a University flat (apartment). We will miss having a spacious house to show hospitality to International students. I won’t miss the yellow jackets (a German invasion), the flies (we’re near a dairy farm) or the squirrel from the roof that recently got into the kitchen. Then there’s watering the garden and cleaning the pool. Yes, we had a pool but keeping it clean and free of frogs is a hassle. We’ll also miss the rental Belgian Shepherd, Maxie that came with the house.

Carol service w/ DK and Kefas.

When I walk with Maxie in the hills not far from the house we pass a house with a large German shepherd. As we pass the house the two dogs bark furiously at each other on either side of the security fence. Somehow this reminds me of the barriers between the various ethnic groups that still remain here in the 'Rainbow Nation’.  America is a different place but when I watch media clips and read Facebook posts somehow I’m reminded of those two dogs growling on either side of a dividing wall.

In South Africa there are Christian churches of every ethnicity but little interaction between them. Unfortunately it seems we in the church are just as divided ourselves. Our ‘story group’ has been working through stories from the Book of Acts and the theme of the ‘one multi-ethnic’ family of Abraham comes up again and again. The stories show how the Holy Spirit powerfully worked to form one unified people of God, the Church. The Spirit was poured out on the Samaritans at the laying on of the Apostle’s hand (Acts 8:14-17) and the Jewish believers were amazed when the Spirit was poured out even on Gentiles in the household of Cornelius the Roman centurion (Acts 10:44-48).

That God wanted one multi-ethnic people of the Messiah really hit home when we discussed the story of the conversion of Saul of Tarsus (Acts 9:1-19). While on his way to Damascus Saul was blinded by the light of the glorified Christ.  Then when Ananias placed his hands on Saul he could see again. After being baptized, Saul preached Jesus fearlessly until he had to flee for his life from Damascus through the city wall in a basket. Later Saul joined the Apostles in Jerusalem where he spoke boldly about Jesus until he was forced to flee for his life to Tarsus. We are told that the church (singular) throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened and encouraged by the Holy Spirit (Acts 9:31).  

When Saul, the churches greatest antagonist, fled Jerusalem as a persecuted proponent the church, the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria experienced a time of peace. The one unified church in Judea, Galilee and Samaria is depicted as having the presence and power of the Spirit upon and it grew in numbers (9:31). What a powerful witness of God’s new society they were! They even sold their properties to care for those in need (4:34-35) and they feed their widows daily (Acts 6:1). The one multiethnic people of God showed unity and exhibited charity before the world that Israel’s Messiah was the Lord of all the earth.

Getting to know students from Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa and South Korea over the past year has been just a small taste of the one multi-ethnic people of God. Being privileged to hear their diverse perspectives on the ‘Story and stories of God’ has been for us a taste of the ‘light and glory’ that Jesus has and is bringing to the world. Thanks so very much for your prayerful support of the ministry God has given us here in South Africa.

With Love / Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!

Jay, Laura, Clara (11), Katherine (10) and Lauren Stoms (7).

We invite you to partner with us in prayer. To give financially please send donations on behalf of Jay and Laura Stoms to the Africa Christian Training Institute. Your generosity is deeply appreciated. Send a tax-deductible donation in care of Jay and Laura Stoms to: PLEASE SEND SUPPORT TO: 

Africa Christian Training Institute (Stoms Ministry Fund).
P O Box 15621
Panama City FL 32406-5621

Many Thanks 2016

Dear Friends and family,  

Lauren (7) with Maxi

The grey mountains that once held the chill and damp winter, later welcomed the spring rains and wild flowers, are now bathed in the large South African sun. The dry heat of Stellenbosch summer is settling in. The Guinea fowl have had their chicks and already left our abode for wider grasslands. The undergraduate students have finished their year, the graduate and post graduates are submitting theses and finishing reading for oral exams.  A few of the internationals we have met will go home to Zambia, Nigeria, or Korea for Christmas, while others like Gilbert from Ghana, who is about to get his Master’s in Food Science will stay through to begin his PHD. The campus can be lonely for the internationals as they feel like they are “alone” in studying at this time. With limited scholarships’, financial constraints, and often having to move to find a cheaper rent, these students carry a lot of stress and pressure to succeed. 

'Braai' for Internationals

On Sunday we hosted an international student braai (barbecue) with friends from Zambia, Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Korea and South Africa. We had Nigerian rice and potatoes, Korean bbq, noodles and rice, as well as some American homemade ice cream, grilled chicken and salads.  Many helped and were encouraged by the fellowship of the many nations. A Korean friend, who has taught Katherine to watercolour paint, came with her husband.  She recently had shingles just as her husband’s Masters’ thesis was due, and we had not seen them out being social in quite a while.

On January 1 we move from our rental home. On 19 January we move back to the University of Stellenbosch housing flat on the campus.  The girls and I spent a couple of weeks cleaning, sorting and getting rid of stuff (the up side of moving) as they have finished their academic year. I struggle to get our black containers out yet, as I don’t quite want to feel in complete moving mode.  Clara has begun to grieve the loss of her own room, Katherine has photographed most of the garden, and Lauren sketches many pictures of Maxi, the Belgian shepherd “rental dog”, and I am expecting big tears. Meanwhile Jay is thrilled to reduce rent, as well as his facilities management and pest control efforts (squirrels in the roof, flies, sand fleas, tics, frogs, and wasps to name a few).  We hoped to secure a three week house sit (as most South Africans like to have someone in their home to prevent robbery while away). We have a week of house sitting, then will go to a pastoral retreat center with a Korean family and finally to a “basic house” belonging to a friend’s relative located by a river leading to the sea of great white sharks. This year Katherine has really enjoyed the ballet programs and Clara is swimming 4 days a week, trained by the University coaching staff. Lauren has joined ballet with Katherine and swims once a week. Both Katherine and Lauren received piano lessons from University of Stellenbosch students as part of the students’ requirements for study.   Katherine wants two birthday parties this year, one with her international student family and one with her two special ballet friends.

Please keep us in your prayers as we prepare to move again, to care for and transition the girls, each other and to seek to improve the care and encouragement in Christ to our international friends at the University of Stellenbosch.  I've struggled to communicate our situation, but I'm sending this update with thanksgiving and gratitude to each of you. We thank God for your generosity in both prayer and financial support this past year. 

Hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving and We Wishing you a Merry Christmas Season. 

With love in Christ, Laura (on behalf of Jay, Clara, Katherine and Lauren)