Let me start by say-ing that I am having

so much fun being your pastor. You have shown such incredible hospital-ity towards my family and me. Plus, I have been so impressed by the commit-ment that has been dis-played at this church. For example, this year’s VBS was a complete success all because of your joyful service in making each par-ticipating child feel valued and loved. We had neigh-bors that came and shared

with me how accepted and comfortable they felt here. I believe we made some new friends for life. Thank you all that had volunteered so much of your time for such an incredible week.

That being said, don’t forget about our next big event. As we finish up August, remember our Luau themed “Parking Lot Party.” It will be a night filled with island style music, games, activities and food. Plus the social will be another opportunity to

serve our family, friends, neighbors and community, and show that our doors and hearts are always open to those around us.

Did you know that according to research, ninety-six percent of people that do not attend church of any kind would go if they were simply invited? That is a remarkable statistic, and shows that there are people in our lives that are just waiting to be asked. No wonder why Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful

continued on page 2

Inviting Eternity by Cary Fisher

A Prayer for Guidance

Lord, take me where you want me to go; Let me meet who you want me to meet; Tell me what you want me to say, and keep me out of your way.

—Rev. Mychal Judge, FDNY chap-lain and the first official casualty on 9/11

INSIDEBless You or Bless Me? page 3

A Vibrant Palette page 4

Taste & Inspiration on page 5

What’s happening? see pages 6 & 9

Where Should I Pay My Tithe? on page 7

Our Church Family page 10

Kid’s Page on page 11

For the members, family and friends of the Downey Adventist Church

Friendship Day

F riendship Day is September

21st. This is the perfect day to invite your friend to church. If you brought someone to the Parking Lot Party, this is a great opportu-nity to invite your friend to a wor-

ship service.

There will be a free luncheon after church and every friend will receive a gift.

Don’t miss this opportunity to make a difference in eternity! =

THE LATEST WORD

2

but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the har-vest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”(Matthew 9:37-38). I believe Jesus asked his disciples to pray. He knew that the disciples couldn’t do it alone, and that we all have a part in harvest-ing his fields. That message is a great reminder because on the Sabbath of September 21st, we are going to have a “Friendship Day.” On that day, we are encour-aging you to invite your friends to church. Afterwards, we will have special luncheon for all of our invited friends.

Finally, we are starting

our small groups minis-try in October, and while you will receive more information regarding the

groups on a later date, it is time for all of us to start preparing for it. We can start by asking ourselves these questions. If you haven’t been involved in the past, how can you give yourself the opportunity this time around? If you are involved, how can you

include others by getting them connected with a small group? My prayer is that during this small

group session we will develop deeper relationships with each other and with our God.

As far as our ser-mons for the month, I will continue my series on “What Makes a Church?”

In August, I will have preached on worship, discipleship, and service, and on September 7th, my message will be about evangelism. The title will be “Changing Everything.” During the pentecost, they were “praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:47) On the 14th, I will wrap up my series with a sermon called “Breaking Bread.” I will hopefully show how early Christians continued to meet with each other, and how important fel-lowship is for our spiritual growth.

On September 21st, we will have our “Friendship Day” and my sermon will be titled “Why We Need Each Other.” Everyone needs support and a church community should always be the greatest source of strength for all. Do you remember what Jesus told

Peter on how the church would be built? Jesus said because of your faith “on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not pre-vail against it.” (Matthew 16:17) As we make Jesus our foundation, we can’t help but feel strengthened and supported.

Finally, our last wor-ship service of the month (September 28th) will be communion. Communion is always a time to reflect on your walk with Jesus, so I pray that it will be a special time for all of us.

See you when the church gathers. =

WE

D

ID

IT

The Latest Word V 25 N 09

BILL AUMACKresponsible for this

LINDA AUMACKcopy editor

HATZUKO AISPUROpaper distribution

CARY FISHERpastor

address mail to: Downey Seventh-day Adventist Church9820 Lakewood Blvd.Downey, CA 90240office: 562.869.6013fax: 562.622.1691 downeychurch@gmail.comwww.downeychurch.com

distributed monthlyissue date: Sept 2013 copyright 1992-2013

96% of people that do not attend church of any kind would go if they were simply

invited...

“

”

Inviting Eternity (cont. from pg 1)

September 2013

3

lenge for me, this quarter’s lessons have been a big blessing. Spending time in God’s word always brings peace of mind, comfort and strength! This morn-ing, though, I noticed something that struck me as odd or at least note-worthy. One of the texts was Exodus 12:29-31 which describes the last of the plagues in Egypt. Scripture says, “. . . the Lord struck all the first-born in the land of Egypt . . . and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead.” Following this plague, Pharaoh finally decided to allow Moses and God’s people to leave. But here’s the part of the story that struck me: When Pharaoh told Moses to leave, he

added, “and bless me also.”

Really? Now that’s bold, if you ask me! How could someone so ruthless and hard-hearted, someone who treated slaves with callousness and cruelty, ever think that he deserved a bless-ing? I’m afraid had I been in Moses’ shoes, I might have wanted to say to Pharaoh, “Are you kidding me?”

But Pharaoh’s bold request got me thinking about people I run across each day. Maybe their lives and actions, like Pharaoh’s, appear unde-serving of blessing. Yet Jesus would have me bless them with my words and actions without judging their worthiness. In fact, isn’t it a little bold to think that any of us is worthy of God’s blessings? If I’m

searching to find someone worthy, truly worthy, of God’s blessings, I will be searching for a long, long time. Paul says, “. . . for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely in his grace through the redemp-

tion that came by Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:23-24.) The truth is I am a recipi-ent of undeserved blessing from God and dependent upon His grace. That’s a truth I can’t afford to for-get. =

September 7Pastor Cary

Changing Everything

September 14Pastor CaryBreaking Bread

September 21Pastor CaryFriendship Day

Why We Need Each Other

September 28Pastor Cary

Communion

Worship Schedule

The Word & You

by Linda Bewley Bless You? Or Bless Me?

God’s word says, “Praise the Lord, O

my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. . . For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:1, 11-12.)

During my quiet time this morning, I was read-ing the Adult Sabbath School lesson. Even though the last couple of months have been a chal-

THE LATEST WORD

4

Before the Father is on hiatus while Linda fights cancer. Your prayers on her behalf are appreci-ated.

In the mid-’90s, David Crowder was a student

at Baylor University, a Christian college in Waco, Texas. When he and fel-low student Chris Seay realized how few students were attending worship, they launched University Baptist Church. Crowder became the worship pastor and started writing songs for the services.

The result was David Crowder Band — and many passion-filled wor-ship songs. Of the group’s inventive musical style, Crowder says, “I think if we’re going to try to tell the story of God or paint the story of God, we ought to use as many colors as we can find — or at least try to add them to our pal-ette.”

How true this is! God is a big God. We can’t begin to comprehend everything about him. We try, but usually that ends poorly. I’ve read and heard a lot of different Christian leaders say they know this about God, or that about God. They try to make God understandable. In an attempt to understand and explain God, they end

up putting God into little cubby holes so we can understand.

There is some value in trying to comprehend God. And the Bible does give us some glimpses into God’s character. But I think when we consider the big picture, there is more we don’t know about God than what we do know about God. We try to understand as much as

possible, but on this side of eternity we are just too limited.

That’s why it is impor-tant to be inclusive when we are talking about God. We need to use broad strokes. We need to add as many colors to our palette as possible. This includes our wor-ship music like Dave Crowder talked about. We do this by singing differ-ent songs, and different styles and continually learning new songs. But

it’s more than just wor-ship music. This should affect how we show love and grace to those around us. This should affect how we choose to bless those around us who sin dif-ferently than we do (see Linda Bewley’s article on page 3). In short, this should affect everything we do.

When we examine Jesus’ example in the New

Testament, he seems to be very inclusive. There are no examples of him turn-ing away someone who was seeking truth. No one had sinned too much. Even people who were outsid-ers, like the Romans and other foreigners, were helped.

What are you doing to paint with broad strokes and use lots of colors to reach everyone for Jesus? That’s worth pondering about. =

by Bill Aumack A Vibrant Palette

“...if we’re going to try to tell the story of God or paint the story of God, we ought to use as many colors as we can find...”

- David Crowder

There is more that we don’t know about God than what we do know about God.

September 2013

5

Once again, we refer to Isaiah 28, verses 24-26. In it the mention of wheat, caraway, barley and spelt was made. Also, what the farmer must & mustn’t do to yield an abundant crop. Spelt, I’ve learned through a bit of research, is an ancient wheat. Very uncommon, hence ancient. I’ve yet to find it available in the market or specialty stores. We hope you’ve enjoyed the recipes sub-mitted using these ingre-dients. This months recipe contains caraway, which is a very flavorful and aro-matic spice.

Victor, Pilar’s son, has been a huge inspiration for Pilar and myself as we continue promoting a healthy diet by trying to use food ingredients more in their natural state. Just

the way we believe God intended. In the backyard, he’s planted kale, basil, Swiss chard, red-leaf let-tuce, parsley, tomatoes as well as a banana, peach, plum, persimmons and lime tree. It’s very rewarding to be able to walk back there and pick what we want for a nice garden-fresh salad. We do it often! And what a huge difference in taste!!!! We hope this inspires you, our church family, as well.

God be with you!!

Ingredients1 head cauliflower

6 cloves garlic finely minced

1 Tbls coriander

1 tsp caraway seeds

1/2 tsp kosher salt

zest of half a lemon

1 Tbls fresh chopped Italian parsley

3 Tbls olive oil pinch chili flakes

InstructionsPre heat oven to 450 F.

Trim leaves off cauliflow-er, leaving stem intact, and slice into 3/4 inch slices. Slice garlic. Place both in a bowl and sprinkle garlic, coriander seeds, caraway seeds, salt, pepper, chili

flakes, lemon zest and 2 T olive oil. Toss to coat well. Grease baking sheet with 1 T olive oil, spread out cau-liflower mixture and roast in oven for 20-25 minutes, or until fork tender and lightly browned. Arrange on a platter and sprinkle with chopped Italian pars-ley and a little more lemon zest.

Details: Prep time: 5 mins. Cook time: 25 mins. Total time: 30 mins. Yield: 2-4 servings

Enjoy! =

Roasted Cauliflower with Garlic and Coriander

Taste & Inspiration

Be sure to keep up with the latest news by signing up for the Wednesday email. You can sign up here www.downey-church.org/Signups.html or send us an email at DowneyChurch at gmail dot com and we’ll add you.

Pilar & Phillip

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

2 3 4 5 6 7

8 10 12 13 14

16 17 18 19 20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

29 30

7:04 pm sunset

6:54 pm sunset

6:44 pm sunset

9:30 am S.S.

9:30 am S.S.

9:30 am S.S.10:50 am Worship Pastor CaryFriendship Day Fellowship Luncheon

9:30 am S.S.10:50 am Worship Communion

Visit www.downeychurch.orgS.S. – Sabbath School

C.S. – Community Service

1

11

10:50 am Worship Pastor Cary

10:50 am Worship Pastor Cary

9

7 pm Band Practice

15

Downey Adventist Church

7 pm Women’s Prayer Group

7 pm Band Practice

7:13 pm sunset

7 pm Band Practice

7 pm Women’s Prayer Group

7 pm Band Practice

7 pm Women’s Prayer Group

7 pm Downey Church Board

3 pm Pathfinders & Adventurers

3 pm Pathfinders & Adventurers

9 am Pathfinders & Adventurers

9 am Pathfinders

September 2013

7

I watched my computer screen with great inter-

est as a large orange octo-pus slithers across the deck of a ship. “Keep watching,” a voice says, “you won’t believe what you are about to see.” “No way!” another voice chimes in as the octopus approaches a very small slit in the side of the ship. The opening is barely large enough for water to run off the deck and back into the sea but once the octopus discov-ers it, it becomes freedom. The videographer moves to observe from various angles so you can see the amazing feat as the octo-pus squeezes its large mass through a very small open-ing. Once it falls freely to the ocean, it disappears quickly, swimming away from the ship and danger.

Not having a skeleton is fine if you are an octo-pus. But for us, without a skeleton, we couldn’t walk, stand, sit, talk, or eat. Our skeleton is not to be seen but is critical for us to live. In the July issue of Stewpot I talked about the spiritual nature of tithing, emphasizing how tithe is all about our trust in God and how our control of where it goes

undermines that trust. Now I want to address the practical implications of where you pay your tithe.

My main point is that tithe and local church budget provide the skel-eton for

ministry. Without them the church is like an octopus, limited in movement and not very practical in our environment.

The Need of a Foundation

Every building needs some kind of foundation or it will eventually fall. Jesus made that point in the parable of the houses built on the sand and on the rock. We all recog-nize that principle. However, it has become popular today to only give to that which shows. The foundation of a building or the skeleton in your body doesn’t get much attention. Many say they want to see where their money goes. We are addicted to the gratifica-tion of feedback on what

we do. That is great but every pastor will tell you that no one wants to give to the electric bill.

Recently, my pastor talked about the grateful-ness of a family from our community. A 34-year-old father died, leaving his wife and two young boys. They didn’t have a church and asked to use ours for his service. They needed a pastor too. It was the result of faithful members returning tithe and giving to the local church budget that made the ministry of a building and a pastor a reality for that family.

Independent ministries are able to be so targeted in their focus. Maranatha Volunteers International takes groups to other places to build churches. Canvasback Missions, Inc.

provides medical teams to Micronesia. These are important ministries that are close in proximity

to where I live and deserv-ing of our support. But they didn’t minister to that family in a time of need. Without tithe and local church budget, Maranatha and Canvasback would not have the foundation or

Where Should I Pay My Tithe? Part 2: Practical Reasons

Stewpot

by Edward W. Fargusson, M. Div.

continued on page 8

“Give to God what’s right—not what’s left.”5

“I have observed 100,000 families over my years of investment coun-seling. I always saw greater pros-perity and hap-piness among those families who tithed than among those who didn’t.”6 —Sir John Templeton, Chairman of Templeton Funds

THE LATEST WORD

8

skeleton to keep operating. It is not a competition for the dollar but rather we are all part of the body and need one another to keep functioning as a whole.

Temple Corruption

I hear people talk about not paying tithe because they don’t agree with what the church is doing. How well do you think the temple was run in the days of Malachi? Do you think God was happy with the priests of that day? Read Malachi, the whole book! “To you priests who despise My name. Yet you say, ‘In what way have we despised Your name?’ You offer defiled food on My altar.”1 The temple in Malachi’s day was corrupt and yet God instructed His people to keep returning their tithe to that corrupt temple.

“Read carefully the third chapter of Malachi, and see what God says about the tithe. If our churches will take their stand upon the Lord’s word, and be faithful in paying their tithe into His treasury, more laborers will be encouraged to take up ministerial work. More men would give them-selves to the ministry were they not told of the deplet-ed treasury. There should be an abundant supply in the Lord’s treasury, and there would be if self-

ish hearts and hands had not withheld the tithes, or made use of them to sup-port other lines of work.”2

How should we address problems in the church? Not by withholding tithe! We should pay our tithe to the church with-out hesi-tation. Then we should become active in the church to exercise our influence on its operation. As active church members, board members, and rep-resentatives at conference constituencies, we should make it known that we expect our church to fol-low after God. Then we should leave it in God’s hands.

Ellen White’s Use of Tithe

There will always be those who claim to follow Ellen White’s example when they divert tithe. I find most people have never actually read for themselves what Ellen White did with tithe. You can read about it yourself on the White Estate web-site.3

Let me share with you my conclusions after studying for myself:

• Ellen White was directed specifically by God to do what she did. If you wish to follow her example, make sure that it is God’s voice you are following.

• Ellen White indicates that her prac-tice was because no system existed at that time to accom-plish what needed to

be done. Once the church established such a system, she ceased her practice.

• None of the tithe she gave or collected went out-side the church structure. Instead it was directed to parts that were not getting what they needed due to the lack of the above-men-tioned system.

• Ellen White stopped her own practice and urged others not to follow her example. “I would not advise that any one should make a practice of gather-ing up tithe money.”

Conclusion I see a weakened

church because we have developed a form of osteo-porosis. Our skeleton is being weakened because funds that should be avail-able are being diverted or withheld. Without a strong skeleton, the church is weak and cannot be the

healthy, vibrant bride of Christ. I appeal to all of us to support God’s church by returning a faithful tithe and giving liberally to the local church budget. =

References

1 Malachi 1:6&7 (New King James Version).

2 Ellen G. White, Gospel Workers, (Review & Herald Publishing, 1915) 227.

3 http:www.whiteestate.org/issues/egw-tithe.htm.

4 Ellen G. White Letter 136, August 14, 1898.

5-6 Fred Lambert Ministries, Tithe and Giving Quotes. Retrieved from http://www.fredlambert.org/media/Tithe%20and%20Giving%20Quotes.pdf

7 Tony Cooke Ministries, Great Quotes and Thoughts Regarding Stewardship, Tithing, and Giv-ing. Retrieved from http://www.tonycooke.org/free_resources/articles_leadership/pastoral_helps/quotes_thoughts.html

Where Should I Pay Tithe? (cont. from page 7)

“A religion that gives nothing, costs nothing, and suffers noth-ing, is worth nothing.”7 —Martin Luther

September 2013

9

September Birthdays Yazmin Williams – 2 Abraham Guevara – 3 Pilar Centeno, Jr. – 5 Pat Novinski – 6 Destinee Macias – 8 Kean Aispuro – 9 Elora Chavez – 9 Shelby Jackson – 11 David Guerrero – 12 Mario Delgado – 12 Dolores Gamboa – 13 Amber Macias – 15 Mitch Williams – 19 Hector Archila – 21 Enoch Aispuro – 22 Matthew Macias – 22 Patricia Jackson – 23Eloy Luna – 23 Dessirey Torres – 24 Dennis Navarro – 26

If your birthday is left out in the monthly newsletter, please contact the church office so we can put it in.

Upcoming EventsThursdays - 7 p.m. Women’s Prayer GroupFridays - 7:00 p.m. Band Practice

Sept 2 - Labor DaySept 7 - Pathfinders & Adventurers 3pmSept 8 - Pathfinders & Adventurers 9amSept 21 - Friendship Day & Fellowship LuncheonSept 21 - Pathfinders & Adventurers 3pmSept 22 - Pathfinders 9amSept 26 - Church Board 7pm

The Latest Word deadline is the 5th of the month.

Coming Soon

October - Small Groups BeginOctober 26 - Fall Party

THE LATEST WORD

10

The Latest About

Our Church FamilyCongratulations to

Yolando Ortegon who transferred her mem-bership to Downey. Also to Alberto Melenciano who joined by profession of faith. Welcome to the family!

If you have any Church Family news, please con-tact the church office so

we can get it into the newsletter. = Thank you to everyone who has been saving Box

Tops for Education. That is greatly appreciated.

For the Box Tops for Education, please save the Box Tops coupon.

Please give your labels to Linda Aumack. Thank you for your support! =

I ’m an avid player of Yahtzee, in which you

roll five dice to collect different number com-binations. It’s a game of both chance and strategy. Because it seems less problematic to accept a roll that’s short by one point rather than a roll that’s short by, say, six, every so often I’m disap-pointed to discover I’ve missed winning by only one point.

We do something similar in church and other parts of life: dismiss a child’s idea as less impor-

tant than an adult’s; worry more about pleasing the “big givers” at church than the ones who contribute less; check in on the long-time member who misses worship once but forget about the newcomer who attended twice, then didn’t return.

Jesus, the Good Shepherd, leaves 99 sheep in order to go after just one who is lost. May we learn from his example that everyone — every one — counts. =

—Heidi Mann

Every One Counts!

In words attributed to Mother Teresa, “Many

people mistake our work for our vocation. Our vocation is the love of Jesus.” As we celebrate Labor Day, what does such a distinction mean?

Vocation comes from Latin for “calling.” Christians understand vocation as that for which God created you, involv-ing activities you do well, enjoy and feel good about doing, and that serve oth-ers. If you’re blessed to earn a paycheck doing something that fits those categories, then your pro-fession or occupation — your work —likely is your vocation.

Other people work a paying job because an opportunity presents itself and the income is needed, even if it isn’t their favorite thing to do. Perhaps they live out their truest vocation during non-employment hours: singing with a choir, rais-ing children, building houses with Habitat for Humanity.

Christians in any capacity, paid or not, can live out Jesus’ calling to love God and neighbor with our whole being (Luke 10:27). When God is “CEO” of our lives, it shows in how we treat our fellow laborers.

=

A Radical Decision

September 2013

11

September 2013

12

Downey-Florence Seventh-day Adventist Church9820 Lakewood Blvd., Downey CA 90240

Return Service Requested

DATED MATERIAL

Ponder This...

= “Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.” —George Eliot

= “Education is learning what you didn’t even know you didn’t know.” —Daniel J. Boorstin

= “The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and for deeds left undone.” —Harriet Beecher Stowe