by Pastor Ron Miyake

The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus. (Acts 4:13)

Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me.” (Isaiah 6:8)

What are your thoughts about this new season of our church regarding the next Senior Pastor? Maybe there is excitement as to how the Lord revealed the person to Pastor Cory.  Maybe you are sad thinking that Pastor Cory will be retiring in the next 2-3 years. Maybe you might be thinking of the character, qualifications, and background of the new Senior Pastor-to-be.

During the March 12 worship service when Rocky Seto was introduced as the next Senior Pastor of Evergreen SGV, we also got to hear what happened around 40 years ago when Pastor Cory was selected as the new Senior Pastor of Evergreen Baptist Church. Some of the same words that were used for Pastor Cory were also used for Rocky… called by God, yet, in the eyes of some people, unqualified to be in that role.

Yet in spite of not having the background and qualifications that some people felt are important to be a Senior Pastor, both Pastor Cory and Rocky were obedient to pursue what the Lord was calling them to do.

As I’ve thought about this process of finding a new Senior Pastor, this thought kept coming to mind: This isn’t just about the new Senior Pastor. This is also for all of us. Feeling unqualified, yet being willing to say “Yes” to God.

Do we wait until we are super spiritual, almost perfect, finished with our plans for our lives before we are even willing to do something that the Lord is asking us to do?  Or are we willing to say “Yes, Lord. Here I am. Send me.” Are we willing to step up, out of obedience to the Lord calling us to do something? Are we willing to do this even though we don’t seem qualified in the eyes of some people… or even in our own eyes.

In Acts 4:13, I’m reminded of Peter and John. In the eyes of some people, they were seen as ordinary men, unqualified, ones who had no special training. And yet, they were willing to say “Yes” to the Lord when He asked them to follow and serve Him. We see that one of their greatest assets was that they were ones “who had been with Jesus.”

In this season of our church, I feel the Lord is asking us, among other things, to do these three things:

1. Grow in our relationship with the Lord. To be with Jesus.
2. To say “Yes” to serving the Lord, even if we don’t feel we are super spiritual, almost perfect, or totally qualified.
3. That we become participants in the work of God’s Kingdom. We aren’t just supposed to be spectators, watching what the current or new Senior Pastor will do or say. We get to be involved.

As we enter this new season of our church, are you willing to say “Yes” to the Lord?

“Your faithfulness continues throughout all generations…” Psalm 119:90a

As per our arrangement, the man who came to dinner contacted me on December 31, 2016. After a time of sharing, it was determined that it would be wise for him to have an extension until the first week of January.

On Friday, January 6, 2017, the man who came to dinner called me with his answer. He and his wife believed that the Lord was calling him to become the next senior pastor of Evergreen SGV.

The answer had come and the answer was yes.

After years of waiting, listening, and then acting, the man who is to become the next senior pastor of Evergreen SGV confirmed his calling to become our next senior pastor. The identity of the man who came to dinner is Rocky Seto along with his wife Sharla and their children, Kaylani (11), Mia (9), Troy (7) and Timothy (5).

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

The next step was to get the affirmation of the saints through a vote of our church membership. It was decided to wait a few months before calling a meeting to vote on Rocky’s candidacy. The time table was pre-empted by a story printed in the Seattle Times.

As a result of the story and all of the questions that followed, the church membership was called together on Sunday, February, 19, 2017 to present Rocky Seto as the next senior pastor of Evergreen SGV. All of the votes were cast and counted by February 26, 2017. The decision to call a senior pastor required a three quarter majority of the votes cast.

At 1:00 PM on Sunday, February 26, the votes were counted. The results were 296 yes, 4 no and 3 abstentions, which equaled an affirmative majority vote of 98.6%. I cannot remember a vote over a major decision being so decisive.

And so, the waiting was over, God’s faithfulness was revealed and we were able to rejoice and give glory to God.

God has always been so good to our church family and now He is blessing our next generation with His goodness through the calling of their senior pastor. Indeed, His faithfulness continues throughout all generations.

If you would like to read more about Rocky, there has been a follow up article in the Seattle Times that is worth reading.

We now begin the transition.

It gives us more to think and pray about…

by Kay Carey

As Holy week and Easter are fast approaching, I have been reflecting on the meaning of suffering once again. According to a dictionary, to suffer means to feel or bear what is painful, disagreeable or distressing, either to the body or mind.  

Jesus experienced incredible physical suffering and extreme mental and spiritual suffering so that those who believe in Him could have eternal life and become God’s children and co-heirs with Christ.  We too on earth go thru some degree of suffering in our lives although it’s a tiny fraction of what Jesus went through.  Although no one wants to sign up for the school of suffering, one may know and experience that suffering can be a powerful instrument of spiritual growth.  

The Bible teaches us, “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.” (James 1:12) If we fail to experience suffering and difficulties in life, our fallen hearts will become more affectionate toward the comforts and pleasures of this world.  John Piper said:  ‘‘Suffering is appointed to us in this life as a great mercy to keep us from loving this world more than we should and to make us rely on God who raises the dead.”

It took me a while to discover that there is a purpose for our afflictions.  The following scripture reminds me of that point over and over.  “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our afflictions, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. ” (2 Cor. 1:3-4)  I learned over the years that our personal suffering gets our attention.  C. S. Lewis wrote, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains; it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

I used to question God: “Why?” in times of suffering.  But I learned from various trials in my life that those times have been the shaping classes of my soul in order to understand and let him break and mold me for His greater purpose.  The correct response would be “What can I learn from this?” 

Back in 1999, God taught me a great lesson through Elizabeth Elliott who happened to be the keynote speaker of an event I attended.  She spoke about how God shapes us as our Sculptor.   She stated that the sculptor’s necessary tools are the hammer/mallet for hard blows, the chisel for softer blows and the file for taking off rough spots.  That’s how our Master shapes us through trials and sufferings in order to make us more like Him in order to fulfill His perfect purpose in each of our lives.  I personally can testify to this truth in my life.  That’s why I define “suffering” as “blessing in disguise”.  Regardless of its cause – and despite its discomfort – suffering remains a gracious gift from the hand of God, who loves and disciplines us in order to purge us from our sin and sanctify our hearts.

Recently I ran across a note which I wrote a couple years ago around the Easter season.  I wrote down a text message from a friend that morning.  It goes like this: 

“Good Morning Kay! I read this today and I thought of you –

‘My dear God, I have never thanked you for my thorns. I have thanked you a thousand times for my roses but not once for my thorns. I have always looked forward to the place where I will be rewarded for my cross as a present glory itself. Teach me, O Lord, to glory in my cross. Teach me the value of my thorns. Show me how I have climbed to you through the pain of pain. Show me it is through my tears I have seen my rainbows.’

As I told you I wanted to pray over you for physical healing some time ago.  The Lord told me it was your thorn that kept you close to him... May we rejoice in what keeps us close to Him even when it is painful. Have a blessed week!”

This message blessed my heart and assured me that my suffering is being used for His purpose in shaping me daily.  In spite of my journey with my physical challenge and its related issues, God has been my source of encouragement and strength because he gives me joy and hope through Jesus Christ who lives in me.  My hope and prayer is that we can begin or continue to thank God for our thorns and suffering and realize they are the sculpting we need. We can learn from them because He is our Master Sculptor and we are just his masterpiece.   

May you be encouraged as He is risen and alive!  Happy Easter! 

“There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven”. Ecclesiastes 3:1

My successor had been identified. A window of opportunity opened up when the man who came to dinner shared with me that he was between contracts.

Was it time to approach the man who came to dinner?

I believe that it was providential that the Lord had me preach a message on Moses making excuses for not responding to God’s call on his life. I believe the message was as much for me as for anyone else.

I decided that it was time to act.

On Monday, August 8, 2016, I made a preliminary contact with the man who came to dinner to inquire about his employment situation and to set up a phone appointment for later in the week.

Then on Wednesday, August 10, 2016, at 10 pm, I asked the man who came to dinner to pray about becoming the next senior pastor of Evergreen SGV after a period of transition and my subsequent retirement.

The man who came to dinner was overwhelmed but open to God’s potential call. He needed time to inform his wife and, together, pray for God’s will to be done in their lives.

My wife and I spent time with the couple during the week of August 15, 2016. We answered all the questions laid before us as best we could. It was a blessed time of sharing about a life of full-time ministry.

After much discussion and prayer, a third season of waiting began.

I informed the man who came to dinner that he could have a substantial amount of time to make his decision. We agreed to wait until the end of 2016 for an answer. We were about to enter into a four and half month period of engaging in the activity of waiting; knowing full well that “There is an appointed time for everything.”

One of things I have learned over the years is that God’s timing isn’t our timing and His plans are not our plans. His timing is perfect and His plans are seamless.

His timing always gives us lot to think and pray about…

“Wait for the LORD; be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the LORD.” Psalm 27:14

My successor had been identified. The Lord is faithful and good. As shared in the two blogs, I had a condition that I would not call my successor out of his employment situation and the man who came to dinner was employed.

So a second season of waiting began.

During this season of waiting, something interesting began to happen. Whenever this man who came to dinner and I met, he wanted to talk about preaching, ministry and what it was like to be a pastor. He began teaching and preaching God’s Word as a layman more and more at different venues. He began to take seminary classes to learn theology.

The Spirit of God was doing His work of preparation. As for me, I did nothing, but pray and wait.

Then in August of 2016, the man who came to dinner requested a meeting. As he shared, I discovered that he was between contracts and that his next contract had yet to be tendered. His employment had yet to be renewed by his employer and he was technically unemployed for 2017.

Complicating matters he also had multiple offers and opportunities within his chosen career path outside of his current employment. I asked him not to make any commitments without calling me first for counsel and prayer (which was not an unusual request). He agreed.

I then sought the Lord over what I should do. I had an agonizing moment over whether or not I should inform the man who came to dinner that I believed he was to be the next senior pastor of Evergreen SGV.

An agonizing moment happened on Sunday, July 26, 2016 from 9:30 AM through my time of preaching during second service. The message entitled, “Excuses, Excuses, Excuses” was about Moses giving God a host of excuses as to why he could not fulfill God’s call on his life.

I believed that the time had come to ask the man who came to dinner to consider becoming the next senior pastor of Evergreen SGV, but I was afraid of not being in God’s perfect timing regarding the matter. I did not want to make an error in timing.

I spoke to our Church Moderator for counsel during the 9:30 AM hour and he gave me his blessing with the caveat that it was up to me. I had a difficult time preaching a message about Moses giving God excuses for not obeying God’s call.

It set the stage for what was about to happen.