Question

Hello Pastor. At home we do not believe and we do not go to church so I always listen to your sermons online. I was wondering if you will broadcast the whole sermons when you will move to the USA. I love the sermons, but I also love the singing and the prayers. When I listen the sermons on this website (thanks anyway for having a web site! ) I can listen the whole sermon. But at sermonaudio.com I can only listen the sermon without singing and praying. So I wondered if it would be possible to listen the whole sermon including prayer and singing when you are in your new congregation.

I also struggle with the question why God would take young life out of a family. (Like the story about that young girl who lost first her mother and then her father.)

I am not a native English speaker so I hope you can understand my question. (I'm Spanish).

Answer

Hello Esther,

What a wonderful gift is technology.  The devil uses it often for his dark purposes. When the 'book printing technology' was invented or perfected, God used it greatly to extend the Reformation.  Of course, the devil also used books to further his kingdom. So also with the internet.  There is much evil on this 'digital library' but also much good and profitable.

Once I move the States I will have to abide by the current rules of that denomination. They have until now not permitted their churches to use the internet for broadcasting sermons or for their churches to have a website.  I hope that will change eventually.

I agree with your comment about sermonaudio.com.  Their rule to cut out the 'singing and prayer' is too bad because that's one half of the church service. I always feel that it is misrepresentation of the service to omit the worship in prayer and singing.  But for space limitations they don't allow it.

Maybe you can someday leave me an e-mail address and I could forward the messages to you once I am in Waupun so you can still listen to them in your personal situation.

The question about God's providence isn't possible to answer in specifics.  God's goes mysterious ways His counsel to perform.  The clouds we so much dread often break with blessings on our head.  Those words of a well known hymn sum up the wisdom of faith in dealing with God's providential dealings. Having faced a variety of crisis in my life, and looking back at them, I can see good in all of them while I couldn't see them at first.  We hope and pray that for the family you referred to in your question this will also be the case.

Well, Esther, Espero que tengas un buen día!  I think that says "I hope you have a good day!'

Warmly,

Pastor Vergunst