Getting more of Jesus through it all
By K.J.
IMB representative, Southeast Asia
On the morning of Oct. 15, 2008, I got on an airplane in the U.S. I got out of it in another world.
What does a decade of overseas life entail? More joys and heartache than I can express in words.
Weariness that seeps into your bones and leaks out through your emotions.
Adventure that makes you wonder how you were so blessed as to be given this life.
Language blunders that are hilarious, and language blunders that lead to problems (sometimes one in the same). Language victories, even minor ones, that you celebrate!
Culture mistakes that are graciously forgiven, and culture mistakes you can never live down.
Being truly grateful for showers and toilets and Dr. Pepper and clear communication and any number of other things I took for granted in my previous world.
Dirt. Geckos. Mosquitoes. Traveling via dump truck and canoe and motorcycle and foot (or sky train and canal boat and pickup truck and motorcycle) all in the same day.
Packing clothing in a Quechua blanket or a backpack or a suitcase with equal fervor.
Herding sheep and herding people (same, same but different).
Love and laughter and pain and dark nights of the soul. Emotional highs and lows like you haven’t experienced since middle school.
And through it all, you somehow get more of Jesus.
You can understand Elijah and Paul and Moses so much better because you’ve lain down under your own juniper tree and have sung praises while torn and bleeding and have taken off your own shoes on the holy ground where God is.
And you are ever so slowly learning to count all of this temporariness as loss and to consistently choose the One who is better than all of it.
These last 10 years have been a gift. If, in the next 10, Jesus graciously allows me even more of Himself, I can’t imagine a better way to spend a decade.
(From a 2018 blog post. Name has been changed for security reasons.)
‘I want to be part of the change I want to see’
While I do not speak for all black pastors, I desire first and foremost to be obedient to what the Lord has called me to. I want to be a part of the change I want to see.
We face problems as a nation and as a denomination.
Our black brothers and sisters are hurting and fatigued by what we’ve had to endure simply because we were born black in this country.
And while I intentionally will not name specifics regarding discord in our denomination, words have become the bricks that are building a wall.
How can we preach from Ephesians 4:1–16 and 1 Corinthians 12:12–26 and continue to use our platforms and voices to cause division?
Do we believe Galatians 3:28: “There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female; since you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
We serve the Jesus who tore down the wall of hostility to bring us to Himself — all of us — in order for believers to be unified, to be of one mind and of one accord.
I believe our convention should be a place of refuge and rest from the fighting.
It is my heart’s desire for the Holy Spirit to convict each and every one of us about our conduct and our speech.
I pray that repentance becomes the cry of our hearts.
Pastor Belafae Johnson
Purposed Church, Mascoutah, Ill.
‘Thou shalt not kill’
Throughout history, killing has been a constant.
The killing of the earliest followers of Jesus and of religious reformers in the 16th century. The killing that accompanied the American Revolution and the Civil War.
Lynchings and other acts of white supremacist terror.
The genocide of 6 million Jews and 5 million others by the Nazis — and the overall loss of more than 60 million lives in World War II.
The genocide or massacre of millions in Armenia, Russia, China, Cambodia, North Korea, Rwanda, Syria and northern Nigeria.
The drug cartels’ murderousness in Mexico and Central America. The escalating plague of murders in our cities.
Ponder it all for a few minutes; think of the horror felt by the person facing imminent death and the gut-wrenching sorrow of family and friends.
Governmental measures have been taken to abate our killing affliction, along with efforts by national and international agencies, institutions and organizations. … What about our churches adding their voice?
From the pulpit, during worship, in prayer gatherings, at home Bible study groups, we can declare God’s elevation of the human soul.
This redemption of our humanity happens when, in our openness to Jesus Christ, He is imparted to our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
Beyond mere words, we can become Christ’s presence in places of human need, suffering and tumult to reduce the loss of life.
Our churches, in fact, could lead the way, reminding our collective soul, “Thou shalt not kill,” and declaring anew the age-old adage, Jesus saves.
Art Toalston
Nashville, Tenn.
(Originally ran as an opinion piece at baptistpress.com.)
“Endurance is not just the ability to bear a hard thing, but to turn it into glory.”
William Barclay
Scottish theologian, author and professor (1907–1978)
Prayer is powerful! It’s communicating with the Creator of the universe … an opportunity to spend time with God, developing a deeper relationship with Him. Prayer is sharing what’s on your heart and mind with a God who longs to hear from you.
Matthew 7:7–8 says: “Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”
Linda Cooper
National WMU President
wmu.com
A local church without updated information online is almost completely invisible to a majority of the community.
No one who isn’t personally invited will darken your church’s door if you don’t have a web presence of some kind. Frankly, many won’t even visit a restaurant without looking it up online first.
Likewise, make sure that your sign has accurate service times.
I advise an inwardly focused church to place an empty chair in all leadership meetings; put a sign on the chair saying: This chair represents the person in our community who isn’t here yet and needs a voice at this table.
Chris Crain
Executive director, Birmingham Metro Baptist Association
Yesterday, I got to visit two precious widows without fear of giving them COVID. That alone was worth getting the vaccine for me. Thankful to God for modern medicine and the headway we are making against the scourge of COVID-19.
Pastor Mat Alexander
First Baptist Church, Gadsden, Ala.
Telling the truth must not be couched in cruel deliveries. We must be careful not to seek ways to tell the truth when it is inappropriate to say it. The principle of honesty must be carried out in ways that are not brutal.
Morris Murray Jr.
Jasper, Ala.
From the Twitterverse
@BarnabasPiper
Prayer is the best response to hatred. —Charles Spurgeon
@PaulWorcester
“It is possible to move men, through God, by prayer alone.” —Hudson Taylor
@geigermuller
You can’t have part-time faith and expect a full-time victory —@drtonyevans
@dandarling
80 years after the Holocaust, it’s sad to see anti-Semitism still so prevalent, so acceptable, so mainstreamed. It’s like we don’t read history.
@jeremypierre
Suffering makes us want to give up, be passive. But when we entrust ourselves to God’s faithfulness, we find strength to keep doing good. “Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.” 1 Peter 4:19
@MattSmethurst
Wondering if there’s enough forgiveness for your sin is like a child wondering if there’s enough water in the ocean to fill his sippy cup. —@EricGeiger
@shane_pruitt78
Our opinions don’t change the Bible. The Bible should change our opinions.
@Rgallaty
Every ministry leader needs to ask themselves: Do I want a great following or a close friendship with God?
@pastorjgkell
“There are no closed countries. Only places where it is more difficult to preach your second sermon.” —@MarkDever. Lord, give us the courage to risk everything to reach those who do not yet know You.
@jt_english
One of the most stunning and beautiful phrases in Scripture: “Then the people of Nineveh believed God …”
@davidjeremiah
The God who made heaven and earth knows you by name.
@ricklance
“A disciple is a person who has decided that the most important thing in their life is to learn how to do what Jesus said to do.” —Dallas Willard
@claysmith79
Jesus offers an inner joy that can be found nowhere else.
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