Bishop, István Csűry, giving the opening devotion at the conference held by TSI

Opening Thoughts

Once, concerning the Ten Commandments, a disciple of a wise rabbi asked his master, why, upon hear‐ing the Ten Commandments, the people all answered together, in one voice and of one accord “yes, we will do it, we will listen to Him.” This disciple wanted very much to know why they did not each say “yes, I will do it, I will listen to Him.” He asked his master, how is it that they spoke as one when it is only the individual who can speak for himself? The wise old master answered his disciple by saying, my son, it is like the desperate thirst that is felt by a large crowd of prisoners on a hot, dusty summer’s day. Each prisoner shares the same thirst as all the others. All members become one in their great need. It is one heat, one imprisonment, and one thirst. Likewise, if someone were to suddenly appear and ask the throng of prisoners if they wanted something cold to drink, they would cry out “yes, we do” as one body, in one accord, and in one voice. So it was at Mt. Sinai – each man and each woman was one in their longing for the Ten Commandments. As each felt the thirst of the other, in one voice and in one accord, they too cried out “we will.”

So, you ask, what is it that I need in order to obey the Ten Commandments? These two things I answer you – thirst and fellowship. By fellowship, I mean fellowship with other followers of Christ who are almost dying with the desire to serve God. True fellowship with one another can only take place when each one of us knows intimately the thirst of all the others. That is to say, how desperately we all need God’s amazing grace which nothing other than Jesus’ death on the cross could have accomplished.

At this point, I would like to draw your attention to what God says to His people as He gives them the Ten Commandments. He says: I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Exodus 20:2,3 (KJV)I find it quite interesting that God uses the past tense to express His people’s deliverance from Egypt, the present tense to describe His relationship to His people, and He uses the future tense to give the commandment itself, inherent in which is His chastisement for any violation thereof. I would also like to add that through these Scriptures, faith may be linked with the past, love with the present, and hope with the future.

By faith, I am able to accept that my redemption, deliverance, and the forgiveness of my sins have already been accomplished on the cross at Golgotha. In much the same way that the Israelites had to build their faith on the knowledge that their deliverance from Egypt had already taken place, so must I build my faith on the knowledge that my redemption is complete and, is based, not on anything that I have done, but by what Jesus did on the cross. Likewise, those who have been redeemed through their faith in Christ cannot help but love God as there one and only Lord. For it is only to Him that they owe their deliverance and it is only by the gift of His Holy Spirit that they confess Him as Lord. 1 Corin‐thians 12:3

If He has delivered me in the past and is my Lord and God in the present, why then must I be in‐structed not to have foreign gods in the future? It is because, without chastisement, hope remains fragile and transitory. Additionally, it is only one who has been saved that will take this chastisement seriously and will understand what a grave danger it would be to exchange God for the worship of foreign gods. On the other hand, for one who has once known God as his Lord, but has been seduced by foreign gods, it is impossible that he should go so far astray that these foreign gods would appear anything but distant shadows. For it is the Lord Jesus Christ, who alone, stands so very close to the man which is wrestling with misery and sin, whereas to a mere idol, the thirst of a human heart re‐mains distant and foreign.

We also require chastisement because we ought not to believe that deliverance from the bondage of sin is sufficient to guarantee that our hearts will not be inclined to return to sin. For just as the Israel‐ites were held captive in Egypt, so were we held captive by our sins. And just as the Israelites often longed to return to Egypt, so do we often long to return to sin. Remember that a believer is not the Lord of his own soul. It is not even possible to keep one’s self in grace. We need the Lord even for this. This is why the Lord Himself says “You are not strong enough for this, but I am the Lord your God and if you constantly call upon my name, I will bring you into the Promised Land. Your strength is not enough for this, but my grace is sufficient for you.”

We were able to begin our new academic year devoted to this first commandment by holding fast to the redemption by faith as accomplished by Christ on the cross, following the one Lord in love, and by receiving the jealous chastisement of our God in respect to foreign gods with the certainty of hope. It was with these thoughts that we asked the Lord to bless this year.

Levente Horváth

Retrospective

Tünde Balogh, third year student at our institute wrote a short report about our week long seminar in Magyarózd:

Every summer this seminar is held in Magyarózd. This year it was held from July 22‐28. The schedule is the same as every weekend seminar, the only difference is that here we get up earlier and go to bed later. We had to get up early each morning not only be‐cause prayer time began at seven, but also because we met at a quarter of seven so that we could do some physical exercise together – this way we could be fresh and alert for morning prayer. Nothing is obligatory, rather it is a privilege. We had the experience of meeting together every morning in a prayer chain so that we could pray and struggle to know God’s will in matters concerning our service positions, for revival ,for the restoration of Israel, for our responsibilities, for guidance, for unity, and for our mission. This prayer chain didn’t end when the camp ended, it continues at home. After
prayer chain didn’t end when the camp ended, it continues at home. After breakfast, it was time for Bible study. Each day, a different student read a passage from the Bible and led a discussion based on that selection. Afterwards, we gathered in a circle for group therapy. Here, we were able to share our personal problems with each other in such a way that the group could offer feedback, courage, and a sense of unity. Each day a different teacher came in order to teach the subject in an enjoyable and many times interactive style. We listened to lectures on addictology, spirituality, ethics, the Old and New Testaments, Christian community and development, missiology, and stories from mission work in Latin America.

We also met twice that week with resident therapists from the treatment center for a Bible study which were always uplifting and special.
But the camp was not just about following a strict schedule and attending lectures, it also provided many opportunities to enjoy delicious foods that were well prepared by two nice women who served as our cooks. There were movies in the evening, walks, and lively discussions. There were also those who used their free time for studying or sleeping – as we weren’t able to sleep peacefully in the castle in Magyarózd due to all the bats. In short, we were provided with everything that we needed to truly become a real community and, so we trust, good missionaries.

October 17 – The Third World Missions Conference of Transylvania began the new school year. A lecture was given by Dutch missionary Simon van Dijk who serves among refugees. A lecture was also given by Enikő Ferenczi, an employee of The Reformed Mission Center’s synod, who is also the coordinator of the refugee mission project in Budapest. The titles of the lecturers given by our Dutch guests in‐cluded:
‐ You Must Practice Hospitality
‐ Christian Life in the Near East
‐ Refugee Missions in Holland
Enikő Ferenczi (shown in the picture) gave a report on refugee mis‐sions in Budapest. In addition to thirty‐four students, five visitors also attended the lecture.

October 18 – On Sunday, Enikő Ferenczi continued to lec‐ture at The Tóköz Reformed Church. After the service, the institute’s students spoke with a Muslim girl who had ar‐rived from Holland. Asmay (shown in the picture on the right) gladly responded to the student’s questions who asked about her culture and her relationship with God.

November 7 – Saturday, at the Koinonia House, we held a training seminar which was open to all students. Lectures were given on Dogma, the New Testament, Christian counseling, and mission history. Our speakers included: György Papp, Lehel Lészai, Márton Fekete, Levente Simon, and Foka van de Beek.

November 8 – On Sunday, Lehel Lészal, Csaba Balogh, and Levente Horváth gave lectures on the New Testament, the Old Testament, and mission history. The service was led by Csaba Balogh, pastor.

November 20, 21 – It came time to introduce the optional subjects. Choices included: Eng‐lish, Hebrew, and Greek, world Christianity and the postmodern worldview, music, handi‐crafts, and design.

November 27, 28 – The Romanian CE Union, the Genézius Association, the RMDSZ, the Trans‐Silvanus Institute, together with the Dutch Reformed Party (Staadkundig Gerefor‐meerde Partij) collectively organized a conference which was entitled: “What Will Become of our Fellow Man? – In What Position Will the Politicians and the Church Place the Disad‐vantaged?” Attendance was open to all students as an optional course.

December 5,6 – We held the Fourth World Mission Conference in the CE House in Nagyvárad which was entitled, The Past and Present of the Hospital‐ity of our Church: Our Resources and Opportuni‐ties. Dr. Ábrahám Kovács, Assistant Professor at the Reformed Theological University of Debrecen, Károly Czibere, the Director of the Hungarian Re‐formed Mission Office, and László Dani, Minister and Coordinator of the Diaconical Mission in Hun‐gary were invited to give lectures at the conference. It was a pleasure for all 50 participants to hear the introductory devotion based on Romans 7:24 which was given by István Csűry, the recently elected Bishop of Királyhágó‐Melléki Diocese.

News

• There are 16 new first year students who are a great joy for us.
• Starting this year, we will offer our third year students the opportunity to specialize in the fields of pastoral care, home and foreign mission, relationship and marriage counseling, and addictology.
• The permanent location of our courses is the Koinonia House. Any courses held at other locations will be emphasized in our newsletter.
• We invite everybody who has supported TSI in prayer, donations, or volunteer work to our Thanksgiving Day which will be held on March 14th.
• Our most recent idea, is, that starting next fall, we will start a year 0 in which we will offer both intensive English courses and optional subjects. Also, starting from fall 2010, only the mandatory subjects will be included in the third year, but any student who is not experi‐enced in English will be able to participate in the concurrent 0 year.

Praise Points

We are grateful that the bishop and other leaders of our church are also interested in both missionary and charity work.

We are grateful to God for our newly enrolled students, for the work done by our teachers, for enthusiasm, and for the help of our volunteers.

We are grateful for Csilla Varga and Kati Fóris who work for us as volunteers.

Prayer Requests

We pray for the official recognition of our institute, and also, that our plans with the univer‐sity will be in accordance with God’s will.

We pray that starting next year we will be able to start the BP‐TSI common training project with courses and conferences on addiction and that we will be able to integrate into the university system which will enable us to teach on addiction in Trans‐Silvanus in the same manner as it is being taught in the West.

We ask that God would send us volunteer workers who will help in the good operation of our institute.