9/10/06

NO MATTER WHAT !
PERSEVERANCE
OF THE SAINTS

http://z.about.com/d/goireland/1/0/Q/5/-/-/saint_patricks_cathedral_catholic_armagh_stained_glass_o1.jpg

September 10, 2006

VanderKOK &
Mustard Seed Ministries:

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 Sunday Morning Message
"No Matter What...!
Perseverance of the Saints !"
 
Good Morning !
 
I'm Pastor Kok III and you probably already
received my pre-message "It All Started with a
Phone Call from James Zoetewey". The morning
message and worship service is a continuation
from the pre-message. Let's begin with a prayer
and a song.
 
Dear God,
 
It's so great to be alive! I thank you for this day
and I thank you for my E-congregation. They have
been so great in responding to me and telling me
their thoughts and feelings. God bless them. And I
am especially thankfully for the Zink family--Don &
Shirley--for the support and encouragement they
have given to me. Protect them God, and keep
leading them.
 
And now give me the words to say, the thoughts
to think, the feelings to feel as I deliver today's
message and as we worship together

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electronically. Thank you Lord for Your Presence.
IN the Name of Jesus. Amen !
 
Song:Hail the Day that Sees Him Rise !
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/h/d/hdaytshr.htm
 
Yes indeed, we can be sure of one thing--Jesus
Rose Again ! And He will Return--victorious with
us by his side--the employees of the Kingdom of
God ! Praise His Name !
 
Song: Make Christ King !
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/m/a/makcking.htm
 
Christ is the King ! There's no doubt about that.
And during time of troubles and times of
blessings we can remember that and Honor Him--
our Lord & Savior !
  
Song: My Country Tis of Thee !
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/m/c/mctisoft.htm
 
And how about a good oldie to get us in the mood
for today's message. Whatever country you may
be in (I know some of you are not in America) you
can be proud of your country if they are  trying to
do good--and keep them doing good--help them
become better.
 
For those in countries with troubled pasts--or
under the dark cloud of communism or where

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there is no religious freedom--your "country" is
the Kingdom of God--and that's true for all
Christians--our "country" is the Kingdom.
 
 Scripture: Romans 5: 1-5; 
 
          Faith Triumphs in Trouble

"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we

have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ, through whom also we have access by
faith into this grace in which we stand, and
rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

And not only that, but we also glory in

tribulations, knowing that tribulation
produces perseverance;  and
perseverance, character; and character,
hope.  Now hope does not disappoint,
because the love of God has been poured
out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who
was given to us."
 
In my pre-message I gave you details about my
experience teaching at Coachella Valley High in
Coachella, California. I talked about what led me
there, how things went in the classroom (some

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specifics about what I taught, who I taught, and
the surrounding setting and people).
 
As you can tell the experience is still very fresh in
my mind despite being over ten years ago. Why?
Because nothing has changed. If I were to go back
there and teach again I would teach the same way
—which was good—and I would likely encounter
some of the same “politics”—a nice word for
corruption in this case.
 
I had just completed my teaching degree at Calvin
College and was living for a few months at my
Aunt Martha’s house in Jackson, Wyoming,  when
I got the phone call from Jim Zoetewey in
Bermuda Dunes, CA (right next to Coachella &
Indio) (but go back and read it for yourself so I
don’t have to repeat it all here)…
 
And as you can tell despite the victories I had in
the classroom –especially completing Year 2 with 
beautiful student portfolios—showcasing the
work they accomplished and what they learned,
there was trouble and difficulty.
 
And some of the corruption is still being
uncovered by yours truly. Yet despite the troubles
I continue to “sail on”—I don’t ignore the troubles,
I don’t pretend they didn’t happen—in fact I
address the corruption as much as I can—but I
keep going forward in other ways.
 

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I do so because I
live by faith, with all my
HOPE placed in Jesus Christ  knowing He
will carry me through and empower me with the
Holy Spirit—NO MATTER WHAT !
 
And if the end comes for me physically—i.e.
physical death—I have no fear because that is a
NEW BEGINNING –in fact it is a time of BIRTH—
the beginning of ETERNAL  LIFE ! Actually, we
have already begun that life if we are living as
Christians. Death is just graduation.
 
 And that is something that I look forward to more
than anything else. Meanwhile, I have a job to do
here on earth as a follower of Jesus Christ—I will
be graded not so much on how well I do ( in terms
of statistical success i.e. how many "souls I
save") but more so in how hard I tried and the
process in which I go about doing so. 
 
 And that goes for all of you, my fellow Christians,
as well. God is interested in your sincerity. And
action is at the top of sincerity---what you are
actually doing.
 
Are you helping others? Are you encouraging
your fellow brothers & sisters in Christ? Are you
showing the fruits of the Spirit: “Love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, & self-control” (Galatians 5:22) . I
hope so. These are the fruits of God’s people. And

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we do our best to exhibit such holiness at all
times.
 
And that was how I responded to the persecution
I experienced at CV High and the wickedness of
Foch Pensis--by exhibiting the FRUITS OF THE
SPIRT ! 
 
As You can tell for yourself, a lot of wicked
corruption & evil happened outside the
classroom; and I name a few particular names in
my pre-message –and at whom I point the finger
and say “SHAME ON YOU !”
 
Your time of reckoning will come. You will be
judged accordingly. You can run, but you cannot
hide. In fact, ten years later—some of these same
characters remain at CV High and at CVUSD. And
they are epitome of corruption and greed and
have no place being in education. They ruin it for
the good people and for the students. They are
like cancerous cells.
 
And what do we do in response? We walk the
extra mile. We hand them our cloak. For some
reason God has given us tribulations in order to
produce in us perseverance and character—and
ultimately HOPE !
 
Had I not experienced the negative things at CV
High I might not be here today—bringing you the
Good News of Jesus Christ as Savior. That’s not

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to say I was not a Christian when I was at CV High
—in fact just the opposite—I was very much so—
and that’s part of the reason I was persecuted. I
actually had to set aside a lot of my emotions for a
while just to get through some of the persecution.
And I’ve come out on top –PRAISE THE LORD!
 
This does not mean I don’t have moments of
anger and feelings of disappointment with certain
persons at CV High and at CVUSD, but they don’t
overwhelm me. Just the opposite—I am
overwhelmed with the goodness of
God.
 
Matthew Henry, one of my dependable
commentaries, says this:
 Rom 5:1-5
1. The saints' happy state. It is a state of grace,
God's loving-kindness to us and our
conformity to God; he that hath God's love
and God's likeness is in a state of grace. Now
into this grace we have access prosagogen -
an introduction, which implies that we were
not born in this state; we are by nature
children of wrath, and the carnal mind is
enmity against God; but we are brought into
it.
2.
3. We could not have got into it of ourselves, nor
have conquered the difficulties in the way, but

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 we have a manuduction, a leading by the
hand,-are led into it as blind, or lame, or weak
people are led,-are introduced as pardoned
offenders,-are introduced by some favourite
at court to kiss the king's hand, as strangers,
that are to have audience, are conducted.
4.
5. Prosagogen eschekamen - We have had
access. He speaks of those that have been
already brought out of a state of nature into a
state of grace. Paul, in his conversion, had
this access; then he was made nigh.
6.
7. Barnabas introduced him to the apostles
(Acts 9:27), and there were others that led him
by the hand to Damascus (v. 8), but it was
Christ that introduced and led him by the
hand into this grace.
8.
9. By whom we have access by faith. By Christ
as the author and principal agent, by faith as
the means of this access. Not by Christ in
consideration of any merit or desert of ours,
but in consideration of our believing
dependence upon him and resignation of
ourselves to him.
(from Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible: New
Modern Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1991 by
Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)
 
 What is this “state of nature” about which Henry
speaks? It is that “natural man” within all of us that

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wants to think we are totally self-dependent, and that
we can survive on our own instincts and physical ability
and stamina. God gives us extra physical power at
times--that's true, but more of our fruits lie in powers
that are not totally physical.
 
And this false notion of self dependence leads to a bitter
focus on self that takes advantage of others. We’ve all
met the :”natural man” on the road—always roaring
around town in their vehicle—honking way too much at
people at the slightest annoyance, and always tail
gating.
 
Every day they think they are the most important
person on the road with the most important things to
accomplish. I remember an African American fellow
behind me some time ago who thought I was driving too
slowly and then we came up to the red  traffic signal .
 
At the signal he pulled up to me and said to me from his
window, “You piece of white trash” and then
zoomed away. He didn't even have the courage to step
out of the car and say it, and stay there and let me talk
to him. He ran away--a hit and run of sorts. What a
coward.
 
Anyways, it  didn’t make me feel very good---but I’ve
had enough experience in setting aside my emotions and
feelings to get through the moment.
 

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I assume he didn’t like my car—an older model. And
it’s a shame because I’ve had so many great experiences
with the African American community—it’s too bad
that one African American couldn’t see beyond color—
exactly what we are striving to do as a country every
day—to see beyond color.
 
And so we all experience little grievances every day—
somebody offends us intentionally or otherwise,
somebody cuts us off on the road, somebody doesn’t do
their job right—leaving us unattended—whatever it
may be.
 
And now you’re expecting me to say “but we persevere
and move on” right? Wrong. Yes –we do persevere and
don’t let the little grievances bog us down but we
also try to correct the problem.
 
If we don’t try to correct the problem we aren’t any
better than the person wronging us. The whole essence
of Jesus saying “give the man your cloak” and “walk
the extra mile” is about correcting the problem.
 
And if someone wants to sue you and
take your tunic, let him have your cloak
as well.  If someone forces you to go one
mile, go with him two miles.  Give to the
one who asks you, and do not turn away
from the one who
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 wants to borrow from you. “
(c.f. Matt 5:40-42
 
In the case of the man you called me "white trash" I
couldn't do anything about it--he ran away too quickly. 
But if I knew who he was or had his address or knew
where he worked I might write a letter to him or his
employer or in some way make contact to let him know
that what he did was offensive to me and wrong of him.
Even if I just had his license plate number I might try to
track him down (but I didn't get it).
 
Here’s where my dad as a pastor and
myself as a pastor have differences. He
thinks he is preaching the Gospel by saying , blankly, let
bygones be bygones. Forget about the past. I disagree.
 
I say that if we have been wronged in the past we keep
trying to correct it—and by correcting it we
are doing the Christian thing. He says to me
“Forget about CV” and “Forget about Halford” (a city
attorney in Pasadena who treated me very badly), etc.
 

But I say just the opposite—I say walk with them the
extra mile—and here I am ten years later doing so. And
I intend to make things better—not just for me but for
others, and especially students (in the case of Halford
that will be addressed later).

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 And when I say “address” things I am always talking
about doing so in a proper, civil, manner---not as a
“natural man “ would respond—maybe with violence or
destruction. No sirree—I will do things right.
 
“…Because the love of God has been
poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit
who has been given to us !” It is this love and it
is this power of the Holy Spirit that gives us
incredible power and dignity despite
outlandish persecution and terrible treatment from
others. And I’ve experienced that—both the power of
the Holy Spirit and the persecution from others (go
back and read my pre-message).
 
And so I am here to tell you my friends to not only
persevere but as you do so to grow in
character and make a difference in the
world. Don’t become a floormat. Respond to
problems & difficulties with assertiveness. Use your
ingenuity—the spark of creative thinking  and action
that God gave to us all. And use our government
systems—we can and should expect our own
government to help us—because our government is
basically good, and was created as such by mostly Bible-
believing Christians !
 

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And let me make you aware of  a high point that has
already resulted at CV High since I left and partially
because of the troubles back there from 1994-96. As
mentioned in the pre-message—subsequently Chauncy
Veatch was voted National Teacher of the Year for
2002.
 
He had just started teaching for the district around the
same time I did. I have no doubt in my mind that word
got around about the troubled CV High and that there
was a push to give the school an emotional lift by voting
for Veatch.
 
While some of the bad characters still remain at CV
High, by making one of the teachers a symbol of
excellence it helped the morale at the school—for the
good people who needed it. That's a form of a "body of
believers" (albeit believers in education maybe more so
than in Christ)  working together for good.
 
And that’s my message for today. Together, we,
the Body of Christ, will prevail. I need your
encouragement and prayers and support and you need
mine. We are the same body, taking care of each other
wherever we may be. Pray for me as I pray for you, and
stay in touch. God bless you all.
 
Prayer: Dear God, That's the message for today. Thank
you for giving me the words to say and help this
message to have an impact on the hearts & minds &
souls of others--so that good might come from it.

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And I pray for Kent Braithwaite & Foch Pensis at the
CVUSD. I could have anger in me towards them, but
Your Spirit gives me LOVE. These two fellows need
you, Jesus, more than anybody. I lift them up to you,
Oh Lord. They are lost without You. Take the natural
man out of them and give them the Holy Spirit !
 
And thank you for my supporters---God bless them all,
and especially the Zinks who have been very
encouraging to me. Thank you.
 
Song: People of the Living God
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/p/p/polivgod.htm
 
Now Stay Tuned for the Post-Message !
 

 vanderKOK
J.P. Kok
Pastor Kok III

CHIEF BIG FAITH

Tags: BERMUDA DUNES, ZOETEWEY, AUNT MARTHA,
INDIO, SHAME ON YOU, CHAUNCEY VEATCH,
PERSEVERANCE, SAINTS, Galatians, PRESENCE, COUNTRY,
SHAME, CORRUPTION, KINGDOM, greed, white trash, extra mile,

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