Teaching about the person and work of Jesus is one of the great privileges of being a seminary professor. Nothing thrills my heart more than teaching about Jesus and what He did for us. I had that privilege once again this month teaching Christology and Soteriology with Eric Oldenburg at Kiev Theological Seminary. The Bible is full of passages that remind us of His glory and the wonderful salvation He provided for us! Paul reminds us that “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). John reminds us: “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:19). Peter declares: “Christ dies for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18). In Revelation 5:9, the elders fell down before the Lamb and sang a new song: “Worthy are you to take the book and break its seals; for you were slain, and purchased for God with your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.” All of this makes us cry out with the angels: “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing…. To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever” (Revelation 5:12-13). What a wonderful savior indeed!
A Wonderful Salvation …
Eric Oldenburg taught the Christology section of our class and I taught the Soteriology section. Certainly there are difficult issues in Christology like explaining the trinity or how Jesus can be both man and God, but scriptures are clear about the truth of some things that we cannot comprehend. The same is true about many issues of salvation. In this class, we examine diffent views of the atonement, various terms and doctrinal approaches to salvation and many controversial issues. For example, we discuss the dual truths of God’s sovereignty over salvation and man’s responsibility. While we understand that salvation is of the Lord and that He brings us salvation, the Bible also affirms that we must share the gospel and call others to believe and that people must respond to the gospel.
During the week, we had many Biblical and theological discussions about many issues. But we also had opportunity to discuss many practical applications for these doctrines too. It was a great joy to share with these students and pastors in this class.
In October, I will head to Lviv to teach a class on the Theology of Prayer and Worship. I am excited about this class because I get to teach pastors and church planters about these two very important aspects of ministry. Be praying for my health and effectiveness as I teach this class in October!
God’s Wonderful Timing ….
Once again, I had some more medical issues. First, we had some car problems early in the week before my class. While nothing gets done quickly in Ukraine, this time the car was repaired and ready to go on Friday. All week, I was having more and more difficulty breathing and chest pains. By Saturday morning, I could hardly breathe at all and I assumed I was having some heart issues. So I took the car to the hospital (waiting on an ambulance or taxi would mean 30-50 minutes – I could drive to the hospital faster than that) and got there early in the morning.
They ran lots of tests – EKG, X-rays of lungs, CAT scans of chest, echos of the heart, lungs and upper abdomen, endoscopy of the abdomen. They also conducted blood tests. Really they could not find anything significant. My pulmonary hypertension showed no enlargement and my heart functions were good. They did find one more problem – I have a mitral value problem that might need surgery in the future. We will do more tests on this next week. They put me on various medications and my breathing improved enough to go home Sunday night. Monday morning, I headed out for class! The first few days were difficult but, after requesting prayer on FB, by Wednesday, I felt remarkably better.
After class, I was able to be home 1 day before heading out to Poland for a new visa. At the end of August, I submitted my visa for renewal and was told that I was late in getting the renewal. I needed to apply for renewal 15 days before my old visa expired. I knew this, but I misread the expiration date – 10.09.2018. I saw this as October 9 instead of September 10! Even though I have lived here for 8 years, I still forget that Europe puts the day first and then the month! SO I had to leave Ukraine and get a new visa in Poland so I could come back to Ukraine. I left on Sunday, got my visa on Monday and flew back at 5:30 am on Tuesday. The timing was close since I had to leave within 10 days of the expiration of my old visa. I could not leave earlier because of class so I had to hurry and leave right after class. Praise the Lord everything went well. I’ll be more careful when looking at expiration dates in the future – this mistake cost me over $1000 and a lot of time. But God’s timing to get everything fit into my schedule was perfect – as always!
Wonderful Harvests …
We are nearing the end of our harvest seasons here in Ukraine, but we are still working on conserving some fruits and vegetables for winter. We still have fresh tomatoes and green beans but they are becoming fewer and fewer. In September, we had a great harvest of pears and apples and walnuts. Pears are gone now but we should have apples for a few more weeks. We are getting everything canned or dried so we will be able to extend our harvests into the winter months.
Wonderful Time with Family …
Katya started homeschooling with the girls this month and they are having a great time learning about God’s wonderful creation. They love playing outdoors and baking cookies (for papa!).
We are also looking forward to heading back to the states in a couple of months to spend time with family and friends. We are a little nervous about travelling but also excited about getting back home for the holidays. Pray that we can get everything done here before we get ready to come home for a few months.
A Wonderful Opportunity …
Ukraine is a difficult place to minister. We see the struggles of the people of Ukraine as they try to live in a place with double digit inflation and a continual devaluation of their currency. Add to this the ongoing war with Russian-backed groups in Eastern Ukraine and you can see the difficulties the people face here.
But God has given us an open door for ministry and for preparing people for ministry here. And we are blessed to be part of this work here. 30 years ago, Ukraine was officially closed to the gospel. Now, we can see the results of the training we have done here since 1996. We see new pastors, new churches, youth ministries and chaplains serving in Ukraine. It is also a great joy to see that most of our faculty here (and some in Lviv) are former students of mine who are now teaching and preparing people for ministry now. And we have a wonderful opportunity to continue preparing more believers for the years ahead!
We are thankful for you and your prayers and support. Thank you for being our partners in prayer and finances. We would not be able to do this ministry without you and your support! But it is all because of Him! What a wonderful savior we have! To Him be all the glory, forever and ever!
By His Grace,
Jim and Katya
Kristina and Nadia
