McKeever: Two small articles that changed my life forever
By Joe McKeever
joemcckeever.com
The Commission magazine, the monthly publication of the SBC International Mission Board, exists now only online but for many generations it arrived in the homes and churches of Southern Baptists all over the country.
Two things in that magazine changed my life forever. They were so tiny, I’m confident that the people who dropped them in had no idea how powerful they were and no inkling of how God would use them.
We need a cartoonist!
The first was a tiny notice in the fall of 1976 announcing a cartoonist was needed by missionaries in Singapore. They wanted to produce an evangelistic comic book to distribute to teens all over that island nation.
They needed someone to draw it.
I read that in my office and thought, “I could do that.” The phone rang. Margaret was calling from home. “Did you see this little note in The Commission that they need a cartoonist to draw a comic book in Singapore? You could do this.”
So in May of 1977, I traveled to Singapore and spent two weeks with missionaries Bob and Marge Wakefield. The urban strategists who had conceived the idea — Ralph and Ruthie Neighbour — had returned to Houston, but they continued working with us on this.
I worked with the Singaporean believers on developing a workable script and sketched people and places all over the city. Then, returning home to Mississippi, I set about drawing the full-length comic book. Ralph Neighbour had the drawings transferred to acetate cels, which we — my family, my church members, my neighbors! — worked at coloring by hand over the next few weeks. It was a job!
My church members kicked in the money to print that comic in full color, and it was shipped to Singapore — 10,000 copies.
That was memorable and life-changing for me — I hope it was for some Singaporeans, but we’ll have to wait for heaven to find out — and it began with a tiny announcement in our missions magazine.
A church goes on a missions trip
The other thing was a small news item which I clipped and have used in sermon after sermon ever since.
The title of the article was “Volunteer learns to sing old song in a new way,” and here is an excerpt:
Pastor Jack Hinton from New Bern, NC, was leading music for a worship service held in a leper colony on the island of Tobago. There was time for one more selection. He asked for a request, and a woman who had been facing away from the pulpit turned around.
“I saw the most hideous face I had ever seen,” Jack says. “The woman’s nose and ears were entirely gone. Most of her lips had rotted away.
“She lifted a fingerless hand in the air and asked, ‘Can we sing Count Your Many Blessings?’”
Overcome with emotion, Jack left the service. He was followed by a team member who said, “Jack, I guess you’ll never be able to sing that song again.”
“Yes, I will,” Jack replied, “but I’ll never sing it the same way again.”
That’s the story — the finest story I ever read or used in a sermon.
Anyone can rejoice when life is good, the kids are well-behaved, the news from the doctor is great, the company is thriving, your job is secure and your team is winning.
But let’s see you count your blessings when you are at the bottom of life’s pit. This leprous woman in Tobago had nothing but who she was on the inside. Far from having her beauty, she didn’t even have her face. Far from having her nails done, she had no fingers.
And still she could sing.
Can you sing, “Count Your Many Blessings?”
If not, there is a leprous woman in the Caribbean who would like to know why.
This story and the last three verses of Habakkuk chapter 3 go together as though God in heaven intended it from the first.
If, at the end of my earthly life, they ask, “What was your best message?” this is the answer:
That story and that text.
It’s as good as they come.
Thank you, International Mission Board, for The Commission. Thank you, Pastor Jack Hinton for going to Tobago and for telling us that story.
Thank you, Lord, for your countless blessings.
Help me to sing your praises today and to do it regardless.
EDITOR’S NOTE — Joe McKeever is a frequent contributor to TAB and other publications. Read more from him at his website, joemckeever.com. This post was edited for space and used with permission from the author.
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Strength in working together
The heart of those who founded this nation and led us to our independence as the United States of America believed with great conviction, “out of many, one.” They knew their strength was working together and acting as one people. …
As followers of Jesus Christ, the Bible teaches us that the moment Christ transforms our lives, we become part of God’s family, the Church.
We are reminded that even though we are uniquely created in God’s image, we do not function as individuals, but we function as one. 1 Corinthians 12:27 states, “Now you are the body of Christ, and individual members of it.” The Church is the body of Christ.
Each of us has unique spiritual gifts and serves the Lord, not independently from one another, but depending on each other. 1 Corinthians 12:26 reminds us, “So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.” When we believe God and His word, we live this way.
However, when we choose our independence and autonomy away from our identity in Christ, we strut in pride, which always leads to destruction. This is when division and dishonoring one another happens even among the people of God.
I appeal to all of us who are followers of Jesus Christ: A divided Church cannot call a divided nation to unity.
Let’s determine to come together as one, cease the rhetoric, stop the finger-pointing, refuse the grandstanding and come together in Christian unity. In brokenness over our nation, the Church needs to lead the way repenting and returning to God.
Ronnie Floyd
President and CEO
SBC Executive Committee
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Though the fig tree should not blossom,
And there be no fruit on the vines.
Though the yield of the olive should fail
And the fields produce no food;
Though the flock should be cut off from the fold
And there be no cattle in the stalls,
Yet, I will exult in the Lord.
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.
The Lord God is my strength.
He has made my feet like hinds feet;
He causes me to walk upon my high places.
Habakkuk 3:17–19
Most Christians pray to be blessed.
Few pray to be broken.
Leonard Ravenhill
English Christian evangelist and author (1907–1994)
Nothing given generously for God’s kingdom will be lost, and no life poured out freely for the gospel will be wasted.
J.D. Greear
jdgreear.com
Lamentations 3:23 proclaims to us that His mercies are new each and every morning. And as we move into this new season, we have to look up and look out to see these steady reminders, reflecting on the truth that His goodness doesn’t look the way we oftentimes expect it to. But He is there, and He is good.
If His mercies are new each morning, then how much mercy awaits us in this new year?
While we must continue to make space for the pains and grievances of the last year that did not end on Dec. 31, 2020, we still have room to celebrate the new while so much of the old may still remain with us.
Collectively, as a people, we have experienced so much sorrow and grief within the last 365 days. However, our hope is eternal and tangible, and everlasting life is still ours for the taking.
So in this new year — as with each and every new day of any month of any year — we are new creations experiencing new mercies by the grace of our God who never, ever changes.
Sarah Caskey
brentwoodbaptist.com/blog
I never dreamed that on Christmas Day, I would get to share the reason Christ came with a student on another continent (after sending a simple “Merry Christmas” text). Just because we can’t meet in person doesn’t mean we stop sharing the gospel.
Beth Gardner
Baptist campus minister
University of South Alabama
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From the Twitterverse
@MattSmethurst
Do you know why there are a thousand fresh self-help books every year? It’s because they don’t work. — @jaredcwilson
@LutherQuots
Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection, not in books alone but in every leaf in springtime.
@EdLitton
The seduction of political power cannot compare to the power of God, of which His people can experience every day. Isaiah 40:17: All the nations are as nothing before Him; they are accounted by Him as less than nothing and emptiness.
@PaulTripp
Start the new year by reminding yourself that you haven’t outgrown your need for the rescue, protection and transformation of God’s grace.
@brocraigc
“Patience is the companion of wisdom.” — Augustine
@jenniferwilkin
“We are not saved *by* obedience. We are saved *for* obedience.” — @michaeljkruger
@JackieHillPerry
It’s the dead authors that I’ve learned from the most.
@tedtraylor
A hurried life damages relationships. — Lance Witt
@JoshuaCook1
God has a plan to reach our world. Our homes and workplaces are strategic assignments given to us by a God who longs to be glorified in the eyes of those who need His grace. Our churches are strategically placed by a God who has a heart for our communities.
#dontwasteit
@kferg16
God created my soul to be entirely satisfied in Him and never fully satisfied elsewhere. (Big idea from Psalm 33)
@Jeff_Iorg
Boldness means clarity about our message and conviction about its efficacy, not mean-spirited attacks demeaning other people.
@timkellernyc
Most leading urbanologists estimate that by 2050 the number of people living in cities will exceed 75% worldwide. The Church has not moved into cities at the same rate. How should we respond to this mission challenge?
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