Guest Writer

Guatemala Mission Trip – September 2023

“For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’  How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed?  And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?  And how are they to hear without someone preaching.  And how are they to preach unless they are sent?  As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’” – Romans 10:13-15
             

My daughters and I just came back last week from a mission trip to Guatemala with our brothers and sisters from Redeemer Stafford.  Our brother Justin Woodruff led this trip of twelve folks and the group consisted of members from Redeemer Spotsy, Redeemer Stafford, as well as a brother in Christ from Charleston, South Carolina.  We spent a week in and around the city of Chiquimula, Guatemala where we had the incredible opportunity to work with a missionary and his wonderful team.  Daniel and his family have lived in Chiquimula as missionaries with Eyes Wide Open Ministries for approximately 15 years.  It was apparent soon after our team got to the mission center that the Lord has been working mightily through Daniel and his team.  The Lord has provided Daniel with the ability to build a network of local pastors who preach the good news of Jesus Christ in the surrounding towns and villages in the lowlands and the mountains around Chiquimula.
             
We spent four days driving to four different villages within an hour to three hour drive over a mixture of paved and narrow, rocky mountain roads to meet with pastors of local churches with whom Daniel has built lasting relationships over several years.  Upon meeting with these pastors, we split our team into several groups in order to visit the homes of both believers and non-believers within these towns alongside members of these local churches.  Whenever we visited these homes, we always took a package of an assortment of food to try to meet some of the essential needs of the people and their families.  However, the food was the least that we could share with them.  More importantly, we had the humble honor of encouraging other brothers and sisters in Christ with the sharing of verses in Scripture and with prayers to the Lord concerning the very real hardships that many of them faced on a day to day basis.  We also were able to thankfully share the gospel of Jesus Christ with those who never knew our Lord.  In several of these instances, the Lord worked the miracle of salvation in the hearts of individuals, both young and old, by the power of his Spirit.  It was an absolute time of celebration and joy each and every time we saw the Lord work in this gracious manner!
             
We also had the opportunity to visit the local hospital in Chiquimula where we were able to hand out clothing, toiletries, and pillows to men, women, and children who were being treated there.  As we spoke with and prayed over these folks, of whom many were in bad condition, we had the privilege of seeing the Lord call several individuals to repentance and salvation right there in their hospital beds.  Once again, it was an incredible time of joy for God’s goodness!  And finally, the men of the mission team were able to meet with a group of police officers who Daniel and his team meet with regularly to conduct Bible studies together.  We were able to give our testimonies and share about the pre-eminence of Jesus Christ from Colossians 1 with the group, many of whom were yet to be followers of Christ, before we prayed over them for the Lord’s hand of protection and blessing.
             
For me, what was so unique about this mission trip from the others that I have been on in the past is that the spreading of the gospel was at the forefront of the entire effort.  The gospel was preached in local homes.  The gospel was preached in the local church on two occasions.  On one of these occasions, our very own brother Justin was asked to lead the baby dedication of two local families.  The gospel was preached by the bedside of patients in the hospital.  And the gospel was preached in Daniel’s youth ministry, the local elementary school, and the local police Bible study.  In all of it, the saving grace of Christ was proclaimed and the Lord, in turn, manifested his loving grace by calling several to be his children.  This trip was a reassurance of the critical importance of Jesus’ command in Matthew 28:19-20 to “make disciples of all nations.”  I hope that we all may be able to go together as brothers and sisters in the near future to spread the good news of the gospel, for Jesus abundantly revealed that “all authority in heaven and earth has been given to [him].” (Matthew 28:18)  May we serve and follow our good Lord fervently!
 
 
May the Lord Bless and Keep You,
Paul Sok

Samaritan’s Purse
 

“… But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” – Acts 1:8 ESV

On December 10, 2021, Jessica (not her real name), a single mom in her late 30’s, with 3 boys, was in Paducah, KY, 27 miles north of Mayfield, for job training. She had left two of her sons at home, one staying in her house in Mayfield and the other down the street at his best friend’s home. Her oldest son was out of town that night. She was struggling about whether or not to return home early because weather forecasters had been warning of potential dangerous tornadic conditions which would be present in the area that evening. Forecasters at the National Weather Service became increasingly concerned as the day wore on due to the worsening conditions.

Early that evening, as tornado warnings began being issued for the region, Jessica decided to drive the 27 miles back home to be with her sons, praying for their protection all the way. As she left, a warning had just been issued for all people in the Mayfield area to seek shelter immediately, a massive tornado was on the ground and headed directly for the town. She called her son at home who said that everything was fine, currently. A few minutes later he called her back and was scared, saying he could see the tornado coming and it was really bad, moments later the phone went dead; Jessica was still miles from home.

Later, as Jessica got closer to Mayfield, she was passed by scores of emergency response vehicles headed to Mayfield. As she pulled into Mayfield, she was shocked and terrified at what she saw. The once thriving town was no more. The tornado had completely demolished or damaged every structure in the downtown area. Debris, downed electrical lines and emergency vehicles blocked her path to her home which was in the path of destruction. Jessica then received a call from her son that he was ok and that his brother was ok as well. The family her other son was staying with lost their entire house and their pets; the only room remaining was the room they were sheltering in.

That tornado was one of the most destructive in U.S. history. It was on the ground for 165 miles, with a death toll of 90, including 24 in Mayfield, hundreds injured, thousands left homeless and over 1.5 billion USD in damage. Jessica’s story is not unique, thousands more like her lost everything – houses, cars, belongings, jobs and loved ones. In a matter of minutes, everything was gone. Within hours Samaritan’s Purse was on the scene providing disaster relief and temporary shelter for those displaced. Once the disaster relief phase was over, Samaritan’s Purse began a rebuild operation to begin rebuilding scores of homes lost in the storm. Their purpose is not just to bring physical relief but to provide spiritual relief as well. During the rebuilding process, numerous victims of the tornado came to salvation through the spreading of the Gospel by Samaritan’s Purse staff and volunteers.

In January of this year, we began planning a mission trip for our youth, and we wanted to instill in them that Jesus gives a definite order of focus for our missionary efforts in Acts 1:8. First, we must be missionaries in our own homes, then our communities and nation, yet, not neglecting other nations. We were able to partner with Samaritan’s Purse for the Mayfield, KY rebuild project, and in July we sent 14 students and adult chaperones to Kentucky to help rebuild the town of Mayfield.

The experience made a tremendous impact on all who went. The work was hard and most days the heat index was well over 100 degrees, but none of the students or adult leaders ever complained. In fact, our group left a profound impression on the Samaritan’s Purse staff on site. Our kids were constantly engaged, respectful and always going above and beyond what was asked of them. The work also provided a tangible sense of accomplishment whether it was building steps to the house, painting, doing trim work, installing railing or moving dirt from one area to another, we got to see and experience what it takes to actually build a house.

It was always a blessing when the future homeowners would show up to see the progress on their new house. All work would cease and we were encouraged to fellowship with the visitors for as long as they were there. You see, Samaritan’s Purse’s main mission is relational. They don’t want the work, while very important, to take precedence over the souls for whom they are serving. We were encouraged to share the Gospel with them or just listen to them while they were on site.

The locals would frequently express their gratitude to us for being there when out and about. At one construction site in town, a local man rode up on a bike and commented to a Samaritan’s Purse foreman that “these people don’t deserve these brand new houses you are giving them.” The foreman replied, “I agree with you, I didn’t deserve the grace that God gave me either,” and that was the end of the conversation.

Our group wanted for nothing the minute we showed up on site. Samaritan’s Purse covered everything except the expense to get us there. Their logistical operation was impressive and their staff, even more so. From the minute we arrived we were treated as family and not as just another group of people here this week and gone the next. The staff took time to get to know us and made us feel welcomed and a part of their “family” while there. It did not matter that none of us really had any construction skills, their foremen were very skilled in their craft and, also, very good teachers full of grace and patience. Every morning before starting work, we would pray for each other and during lunch, we would all share our testimonies with the foremen and staff, so by the end of the week, we really got to know each other well.

I know that Kimberly and I will be returning to another rebuild trip or disaster relief trip with Samaritan’s Purse, and I would encourage you to look into it also. You don’t need to be a part of a group or church to go on missions with them, you can go as an individual, if you’d like. If you are interested in participating, want more information on what Samaritan’s Purse does or just want to donate, please visit them online at samaritanspurse.org.

I will leave you with the rest of Jessica’s story. She was renting to own the “house” she was living in. I put the term “house” in quotations because her landlord led her to believe that it was a house she was buying. The tornado had picked up her house and rotated it on its foundation, breaking apart most of the floors inside. When a crew came out to assess the damage, they told her that she wasn’t, in fact, living in a house, but that it was a double wide trailer which had siding and underpinning put on to make it look like a house and that it was a total loss. The landlord refused to repair the damage or provide her with another place to live.

She still lives in that damaged trailer and the week before we arrived that area experienced the biggest flood in history, 11 inches of rain in a day and a half. Her whole street flooded and all the houses around her experienced flooding on the ground floor. Jessica, who loves the Lord, as she saw the waters approaching her ground floor, called Marsha, a Samaritan’s Purse staff member whom she was friends with and asked her to pray for her. Marsha got the other staff members to immediately pray that the waters would not flood her house. Jessica showed me pictures and video of the water that night and as the houses around her flooded, the water at her house never rose above the threshold of the top step. Her place was spared but her only car was washed away, a complete loss.

As Jessica recounts this story to me, she is full of joy, with no bitterness or sadness apparent. In just a short time, she will be receiving a brand new home, in a new neighborhood and handed a bill for the house which includes the total construction cost for the home. Stamped across this bill in large letters will be the phrase, “Paid In Full.”

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.” Rom 8:28 ESV

In Christ,
Mark

The Need for Meaning in Life

The ever present search for meaning in life is something that scholars and philosophers have debated and searched for seemingly as long as written communication has existed.  Philosophers of old like Socrates and Plato believed that the pursuit of knowledge was the meaning of life while Aristotle held to a belief that simply being a good person was sufficient. He believed that virtue was the goal but there was no list of virtues because that knowledge should be instinctual. 

Modern philosophers have grouped the varying ways of defining meaning into three main views:  Supernaturalism, Naturalism (3 forms), and Nihilism.  Supernaturalism is the view that god (small “g”) exists in some form and we derive meaning from knowing and relating well to him/her/it.  Naturalism is the belief that meaning can be derived from seeking and obtaining various goals in life without the need for a god to define what meaning is or is not.  The final view, Nihilism, is a form of Naturalism. It states there is no god, but is distinct in that it holds there is no meaning to life.  Life simply is … and then you die.  We see the influence of each of these views in our lives today though usually not identified in a proper philosophical fashion. 

The Supernaturalist view makes its way into our world by holding to a vague acknowledgement of a god and to the principles laid out by the religion that is associated with that god.  These would include Eastern Mysticism (all roads lead to god), various forms of New Age thought (speak positivity into the world and it will return to you), Islam (earn your way to god), as well as the vaguely Christianized yet undefined moralism that has plagued our western society for centuries, referred to by Vic as “Country Music Jesus.”  Philosophers include biblical Christianity in this viewpoint, however, I will argue that it is entirely different.  The problem with the viewpoints outside of biblical Christianity is they are seeking after a “higher power” who is impotent and powerless to affect this life or the next.  This generally results from following a god of their own making who, while cloaked in divine descriptions, more closely resembles the golden calf created by the Israelites while Moses was on Mt Sinai than it does an omnipotent, sovereign Lord. 
   
The Naturalist views have been prevalent for about a century and usually take the form of statements like: “The meaning of life is different for each person.” “Do what makes you happy.” And the too often used, “You do you.”  The slightly more objective viewpoint may sound like “loving and caring for others provides meaning,” “contributing to the betterment of the world,” or possibly, “we have a duty to help others and that gives meaning to life.”  The problem that the Naturalist has is the word “meaning” has no meaning.  If there is no god, then anything goes. Morality and meaning are defined in a thousand different ways leading to utter confusion and the breakdown of a common understanding of concepts like marriage, family, right, wrong, or even what a man or a woman is with specificity. 
  
The Nihilist is the easiest, and to me most intellectually honest (albeit wrong), viewpoint.  There is no god, there is no meaning.  Life simply happens for some reason or no reason.  There is no morality.  You live it however you wish.  When you die that’s it.  While intellectually honest, the Nihilist has one glaring problem. With nothing governing the thought processes or actions, life becomes entirely about self.  This results in vile, wretched, miserable humans devoid of anything that looks like hope, love, peace, or goodness. 
We see this progression in our own country.  What started out as a strong influence of biblical Christianity in the early years of the US, evolved into a “man upstairs,” higher power,” “the big guy” view of God.  Little meaning or foundation could be gleaned from this fake god, so people began seeking meaning in viewpoints not associated with God.  Since the Naturalist view has no power and is based solely on what the individual deems most important to them, the societal norms eventually break down.  What is left is chaos and Nihilism.     

Each of these viewpoints promises to provide meaning in this life, or at least show that it doesn’t exist.  None of them, however, answer the basic question: “Why do I search for meaning in the first place?”  Why do all humans desire to live a life that rises above that lived by the animals?  To answer that question we need to go to Genesis.

As God formed the universe and everything in it, He made Adam and Eve as his crowning achievement in creation. They, and only they, were created in the image of God. 

“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness …’”  -Gen 1:26

It is in our nature, as image bearers of God, to desire to live a life that means something.  Everything in creation has a purpose for its existence but it cannot provide meaning to something or someone else.  Since God is the creator and life giver, then, as the only sovereign, it is from Him that we derive meaning.  That comes from the one true God alone. 

If this is true, then what is mankind’s purpose or meaning?  God reveals to Isaiah speaking of the faithful remnant in Israel:

“Everyone who is called by My name, and whom I have created for My glory, Whom I have formed, even whom I have made.”   -Is 43:7

“There is no one like You among the gods, O Lord, Nor are there any works like Yours. All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord, And they shall glorify Your name.  For You are great and do wondrous deeds; You alone are God.”     -Ps 86:8-10

 “Whether therefore you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”   -1 Cor 10:1

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”  -1 Cor 6:19-20

We see in these verses, and throughout scripture, that our main purpose in this life is to submit to the lordship of God and seek His glory in all things.  Paul stresses that our very bodies are His temple.  A temple has but one purpose and that is to house and facilitate the worship of the one to whom it is dedicated.  The Westminster Shorter Catechism states it plainly, “The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.”              

As we continually seek meaning in our lives, and those of our family, we must believe and be committed to understanding that our very existence has one purpose, and that is to glorify the One to whom all glory belongs.  As we struggle with sin (ours and others’) we must remember that we battle against our flesh because it does not bring glory to God.  We fight and work for every ounce of obedience and maturity we gain, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to live a life that at its end renders the most desired response of all, “Well done good and faithful servant.”  That is our purpose. That is the true meaning of life.  There can be none higher.
 
-Clay

As you may recall, I was blessed with the opportunity to attend the Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting in Anaheim, CA this past summer as a Messenger representing Redeemer Bible Church. While there were many topics discussed at this event, the main focus was determining how the SBC was going to respond to the findings of the Guidestone Solutions Report detailing years of improper handling of sexual abuse cases by cooperating churches and SBC leadership.

What I will remember as one of the most meaningful moments of my life took place on the second day of the vote when I raised my ballot in support of the recommendations of the Sexual Abuse Task Force. 
Throughout the weekend I had the chance to meet with survivors and those who have been working to make churches a safe place for survivors and a place safe from predators. These experiences caused me to realize that merely raising my hand was an empty gesture without working to implement change on a grassroots level.

Upon my return, I drew up a list of recommendations for our elders which included implementing the Caring Well Challenge here at Redeemer Bible Church––a recommendation with which they unanimously agreed.

To address the issue of abuse in the SBC and its member churches two things need to happen. One, there needs to be a systematic change of policies and procedures. More importantly, we must change the culture that has allowed predators to flourish.

Here are a few staggering statistics from the SBC of Virginia:

• Child check-in systems are good, but only 4% of cases result in abductions.
• Background checks are important, but less than 10% of abusers encounter the criminal justice system.
• Policies are beneficial, but they must be contextualized and take into account how sexual predators commit their crimes.

But prevention is just one part of addressing abuse in the church. We must also meet the needs of survivors. One in four women sitting in our pews and one in six men have been victims of abuse.

For those of you asking how the Gospel fits in with all of this, I will share survivor and advocate, Rachael Denhollander’s words, “Trauma survivors are the unreached people group of our time. We expect missionaries to contextualize their people groups. We must do the same for the one in four and the one in six.”

The gospel calls us to champion the dignity of all people, including the vulnerable in our midst that have experienced abuse.

You will be hearing a lot about the Caring Well Challenge over the next year. At last Sunday’s Business Meeting, I gave a brief presentation explaining the history of the program and what it means for our church going forward.

At the 2018 Southern Baptist Annual Meeting, a motion was made to form a presidential task force to address the issue of abuse. In the fall of 2018, SBC President J.D. Greear, in partnership with the Ethics and Religious Liberties Commission (an SBC entity), appointed a Sexual Abuse Advisory Group with the purpose of evaluating needs in this area and addressing opportunities to strengthen and enhance churches’ care for survivors, prevention, and response to abuse. 

During the first phase of this process, the SBC Sexual Abuse Advisory Group interviewed hundreds of survivors, advocates, outside experts, and pastors to hear their stories and learn from their viewpoints.
From this, the Advisory Group sought to develop resources and recommendations to equip SBC churches with the tools, strategies, and partnerships to more effectively care for survivors and to prevent abuse before it occurs. It was out of this effort that the Caring Well Challenge was birthed.

The Caring Well Challenge is a unified call to action on the abuse crisis in the Southern Baptist Convention. It provides churches with a simple, adaptable, and attainable pathway to immediately strengthen their efforts to prevent abuse and care for abuse survivors. 

Committing ourselves to being a part of this initiative provides our church an opportunity to link hearts and arms with, and to continue to learn from, other churches as we strive to be vigilant in caring for one another, particularly those who have been or are being abused in our church.

Over the next year, we will be implementing the eight steps of the Caring Well Challenge. The first of which will be building a Caring Well Team that will coordinate this ministry. They will lead our efforts to equip our leaders to care well for the abused and to enhance our policies, procedures, and practices related to abuse. This team will be introduced to the entire church body on The Caring Well Challenge Launch Sunday and will be available as a resource for our members.

I’ll close by sharing the words of Immediate Past SBC President Ed Litton. He began by reading Matthew 9:35, “‘Jesus continued going around to all the towns and villages, teaching in the synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness. When he saw the crowds, he felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.'”

He continued, “The word for compassion translates to a ‘moving of the intestines.’ Jesus experienced what we would call a ‘punch to the gut’ when he looked upon the crowds. If you see someone who needs something, don’t let your eyes look away. If we are not moved to action we will become indifferent. We need to also see the harvest of those that are burdened and broken down by their past trauma. We need to bring them to the only One who can truly heal their pain.”

I am honored and humbled to be able to serve our church body by coordinating the implementation of the Caring Well Challenge at Redeemer Bible Church and look forward to sharing more details in the weeks and months ahead.

Heather Ablondi–SBC Messenger

A Call to Prioritize Unreached People Groups

[Romans 10:14-15 ESV] 14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

[Romans 15:20 ESV] 20 and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation.

As of today, approximately 7-10% of the world’s population professes to believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. Approximately 33% of the world’s population are non-evangelical Christians. “Non-evangelical” Christians profess to believe in Jesus but reject or do not follow the core teachings of Jesus. This leaves approximately 57% of the world’s population who do not believe in Jesus (Remaining Missions Task).

As evangelical Christians, we believe that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation. The only way to be saved from the wrath of God is by God’s grace alone through faith in Jesus Christ alone. Jesus said that those who don’t believe “are condemned already.” (John 3:18) Because humanity is lost without faith in Jesus, we devote our time, prayers, and resources to reach the lost around us and abroad. We send ministers to Bible college to equip the saints to bring the good news of salvation to his or her families, workplaces, neighbors, or any other situation that would call us to “give a defense for the hope that is within us.” (1 Peter 3:15) This is great news for the unbelievers who have access to the gospel through the witness of the local church. However, there are more unbelievers today in places where there is no possibility of meeting a Christian, than the population of North America, South America, Central America, Western Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East combined. (Frontier Peoples Overview)

Imagine being an unbeliever and having no believing Christians in your city. Now imagine that among your whole nation, there are no Christians that speak your language. Now imagine being that person who lives his or her life without hearing the good news and dies in his or her sins without the saving hope of Jesus Christ. This is the reality for unreached people groups (UPGs) all over the world. “An unreached or least-reached people is a people group among which there is no indigenous community of believing Christians with adequate numbers and resources to evangelize this people group without outside assistance.” (Unreached Peoples Overview)

Furthermore, this is the reality for one in four human beings on the planet today. India alone holds 1.3 billion souls who have no access to the gospel. There are approximately 1.8 billion Muslims who have no access to the gospel. These are not people who have churches down the road, in the next town over, or the next city over. These are people who don’t have any person who knows Jesus Christ anywhere near them who speaks their language or understands their culture.

Therefore, we need to send missionaries where they’re needed most. There are many missionaries throughout the world today. For the purpose of this article, I will define missionary as someone who has the gift of teaching or evangelism who is sharing the gospel with people of a different language or culture than his or her own. As of today, for every missionary that the church sends to the unreached of the world, she sends 30 missionaries to places who have a Christian witness. (Remaining Mission Task) If we are going to accomplish the Great Commission, we must establish the unreached people of the world in our hearts.

Although this may seem like an impossible task, nothing is impossible with God. The wisdom of man or fleshly strength alone cannot accomplish this task. God has already established His church in places previously thought impossible by man with far less technology and resources than those that are in our grasps today. We are seeing this reality today as the global south (the countries south of the equator) are sending out more missionaries than America. (Sutter, 2021) These brothers and sisters live in abject poverty yet are answering the call to travel sea and land to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Therefore, let’s go where the gospel has never gone. Pray that the Lord would open the doors for believers to go into all the world. Pray that God would raise up a generation of missionaries who would recover the original calling of a missionary: “the call to die.”1 Pray that God would prepare the way by His spirit for the obedient missionaries from all over the world who will pioneer the gospel among UPGs. Pray for current cross-cultural missionaries who are serving in locations that are geographically convenient to reach UPGs, that they would equip the indigenous churches to send out missionaries to places that westerners have no access to.

Jacob Foster-ministry intern

Hyperlinks
Remaining Mission Task (joshuaproject.net)
why-still-unreached.pdf (joshuaproject.net)
frontier-peoples-overview.pdf (joshuaproject.net) (Unreached Peoples Overview, n.d.) https://joshuaproject.net/assets/media/handouts/unreached-peoples-overview.pdf
  _______________________
1 Call to Missions: A Death Sentence – BMW (biblicalministries.org)

Lottie Moon Christmas Offering

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Matthew 28:19

As Christmas is fast approaching it is time to remember the sacrificial mission work of one of Southern Baptist’s early female missionaries. She was a pioneer in many ways but most important was her love for our Savior and the people she was called to minister. Lottie Moon was passionate about people knowing Christ. She didn’t hesitate to speak her mind. If you have been around Baptist churches, you have heard the name, but maybe you don’t know the story behind the name. This is a summary of Lottie Moon’s beginnings in Albemarle, Virginia, and her missionary work.

She was born Charlotte Digges “Lottie” Moon in 1840 to a family of affluent tobacco farmers in Albemarle County, Virginia. In December 1858 she dedicated her life to Christ and was baptized at First Baptist Church, Charlottesville, Virginia.

Lottie attended Albemarle Female Institute, the female counterpart to the University of Virginia. In 1861, she was one of the first women in the South to receive a master’s degree. She stayed close to home during the Civil War but eventually taught school in Kentucky, Georgia, and Virginia.

Edmonia Moon, Lottie’s sister, was appointed to Tengchow, China, in 1872. The following year, Lottie was appointed and joined her sister there. Lottie served 39 years as a missionary, mostly in China’s Shantung province. She taught in a girls’ school and often made trips into China’s interior to share the good news with women and girls.

When she set sail for China, Lottie was 32 years old. She had turned down a marriage proposal and left her job, home and family to follow God’s lead. Her path wasn’t typical for an educated woman from a wealthy Southern family. God had gripped her with the Chinese peoples’ need for a Savior.

For 39 years Lottie labored, chiefly in Tengchow and P’ingtu. People feared and rejected her, but she refused to leave. The aroma of fresh-baked cookies drew people to her house. She adopted traditional Chinese dress, and she learned China’s language and customs. Lottie didn’t just serve the people of China; she identified with them. Many eventually accepted her. And some accepted her Savior.

Lottie wrote letters home detailing China’s hunger for truth and the struggle of so few missionaries taking the gospel to the 472 million Chinese in her day. She also shared the urgent need for more workers and for Southern Baptists to support them through prayer and giving.

She once wrote home to the Foreign Mission Board, “Please say to the [new] missionaries they are coming to a life of hardship, responsibility, and constant self-denial.” Disease, turmoil, and lack of co-workers threatened to undo Lottie’s work. But she gave herself completely to God, helping lay the foundation of what would become the modern Chinese church, one of the fastest-growing Christian movements in the world.

Lottie frequently sent letters back home detailing Chinese culture, missionary life, and the physical and spiritual needs of the Chinese people. Additionally, she challenged Southern Baptists to go to China or give so that others could go. By 1888, Southern Baptist women had organized and helped collect $3,315 to send workers needed in China. Lottie Moon died at 72 — ill and in declining health after decades of ministering to her beloved Chinese.

In 1918, Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU) named the annual Christmas offering for international missions after the woman who had urged them to start it.

Today’s China is a world of rapid change. It’s home to 1.4 billion individuals – one-fifth of the world’s population. Village dwellers flock to trendy megacities with exploding populations. It’s very different from the vast farmland Lottie Moon entered in the 1800s. But one thing hasn’t changed: China’s need for a Savior.

Her legacy lives on. And today, when gifts aren’t growing as quickly as the number of workers God is calling to the field, her call for sacrificial giving rings with more urgency than ever.

Walking in Unity
Ephesians 4:1-3In the book of Ephesians, Paul writes about the believer’s position and practice. The first three chapters of Ephesians speak of the believer’s position and the last three chapters speak of the believer’s practice. Both are required to be understood to walk in obedience to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I want to share with you about walking in unity, Ephesians 4:1-3.

Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

In verse 1, we are told how important it is to “walk in a manner worthy of our calling.” Paul is imploring us to live our lives in a manner that illustrates our obedience to the Word of God. Our daily walk “manner of living” should mimic that of Christ and correspond to our position as children of God. Walking worthy means that we are to balance our behavior with our position. God has “adopted us as sons through Jesus Christ in Himself” and we should live as someone who has been adopted by God’s great mercy.

We are also to walk in “all humility.” Humility is one of the key foundations of Christian living. Humility must permeate our lives and influence all we do. The word means to think or judge with lowliness and to have lowliness of mind. In Romans 12:3 we are reminded to not think more highly of ourselves but to think of ourselves with sound judgment based on the measure of faith God has given us. Paul, in Philippians 2:7-8, reminds us of how Christ humbled Himself even to death on the cross. He is our example.

When we are walking in a manner worthy of our calling, and in humility, we are to do so with gentleness and patience. Meekness and forbearance are some of the signs of a person who is humble. Many in our culture view meekness as a sign of weakness, someone who is a pushover, or lacks courage. This is not true of a Christian; this word means to be mild-spirited or self-controlled. King David was a great example of this type of inner spirit when he refused to kill Saul even though he had the opportunity. We should forbear in God’s love based on His graciousness and kindness toward us to achieve unity.

Lastly, we are to work “diligently” to preserve unity. This is not talking about ecumenical unity among different religions. This speaks of inner unity and unity within the body of Christ. We as Christians are to strive to be unified with other followers of Christ. We are to wrap ourselves in the “bond of peace” to glorify God in attitude and practice. Peaceful unity can be achieved by exegetically (the process of discovering the original and intended meaning of a passage of scripture) studying and meditating on the Word of God and applying the precepts of His Word. I pray your Christian walk will be with humility, patience, unity, and gentleness.

Rodney

Revival Follows The Honoring, Reading, and Obedience to the Word of God

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.” Hosea 4:6 ESV

These words are prophetic words given by the minor prophet Hosea. Hosea was called to a prophetic ministry in a time of rebellion described earlier in the chapter under the reign of the wicked king Jeroboam II. The people of Judah were described as faithless and without an enduring love in verse 1. Throughout the chapter, Judah’s culture is described as a land full of “… swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed” (verse 2). After reading this, one can’t help but think of how this describes our nation today.
 

Israel was chosen by God as a special people, chosen above all the nations of the earth (Deuteronomy 7:6). “They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen” (Romans 9:4-5). God passed over every other mighty nation, full of all the world’s wisdom and military might, and chose a small nation to reveal Himself. It was to the Israelites, and them alone, whom God chose to reveal His ways. It’s important to note that God was not obligated to have this kind of mercy on any nation, but, in His love, He chose Israel.
 

Let’s fast forward about a century after the utterances of Hosea, to the reign of King Josiah. Please read the full account of Josiah’s reign and reformation in 2 Kings, chapters 22 and 23. To summarize, during the reign of Josiah, the law of the Lord was recovered after a century of the raging rebellion described above. After Josiah read the Book of the Law, likely the book of Deuteronomy or another book from the Torah, he tore his clothes in anguish and did away with the idolatrous practices. This was arguably the greatest reform done by any king in Israel. In fact, he was the first king who ordered Judah to keep the Passover described in the law since the time of Israel’s judges (at least 400 years).
 

Today, we find ourselves in a nation and culture very similar to ancient Israel. Our churches are being shuttered because of an epidemic of moral failures that comes from a disregard of God’s word and His law. We’ve been blessed with affordable and accessible bibles, as well as, arguably, the greatest Christian writings from people like Jonathan Edwards. God doesn’t owe America, or any nation the gift of having accessible bibles. Study the history of the middle ages, when having a Bible was unheard of, and to be found with one was a death sentence. Because God doesn’t owe us His mercy, and He is not a respecter of persons, we must take heed to the prophecy “since you have forgotten the law of the Lord your God, I will also forget your children.” Jesus said to whom much is given, much is required (Luke 12:48).
 

I believe God is calling those who have reverence and adherence to His word to sound the alarm like Hosea did. God has blessed us with a church that exalts the Word of God above everything else. My prayer is that this letter would move us to gratitude for the blessing of our church, and we would be moved to pray for Redeemer Bible Church, other local churches, and our nation to remain standing on the Word of God; and if not, to repent and not take for granted what we’ve been given, lest it be taken from us and our children. 

Jacob

“This, then, is how you should pray:  Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”  Matthew 6: 9-13

At Redeemer Bible Church, we believe in the power of prayer and a God who deeply desires to fellowship and commune with his people through prayer.  For many, however, prayer can be an intimidating mystery … when and where should I pray and how should I pray?  Fortunately, we do not have to manufacture answers to these questions ourselves because God provides us with encouragement and guidance through his inerrant Word.  In response to the when and where question, the apostle Paul encourages us to “pray in the Sprit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.  With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people” Ephesians 6:18.  Elsewhere, the scriptures remind us to “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. Although there is not one universally accepted right or wrong way to pray, for those who still wrestle at times regarding how to pray, we can again take our cues from the scriptures and the words from our Savior found in Matthew 6: 9-13:

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed by your name, …” Our prayers should acknowledge the awesome, holy and righteous God to whom we are praying while simultaneously exhibiting a robust reverence towards our heavenly Father.  Acknowledging God as our Father can help us remember that he is our creator and the source of all life and truth.

“[Y]our kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. …” We should be praying for the coming of the New Jerusalem and the return of our savior, and ‘oh what a happy day’ that will be!  Until that day comes however, our prayers should focus on the will of God and the accomplishment of his will here on earth.  The lives we then lead here on earth should be in accordance with the will of God as it is outlined for us throughout the scriptures.

“Give us today our daily bread. …” As we daily look to God to meet our physical needs, we can also be confident that he will meet us regularly in prayer to supply our relational, emotional, and spiritual needs because he is Jehovah-Jireh (“the Lord will provide”).

“And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. …” As we confess our own sin and debts, our God is faithful to forgive us from our transgressions. Just as God promises forgiveness to us, we are also called to forgive those who have sinned against us. Beyond just simply confessing our own sin and forgiving others, it is God’s desire that we be reconciled and restored to him and to one another as we acknowledge our brokenness and need for a Savior.

“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” Since God is our shield and protector we ought to call out to him regularly to protect us from any and all attacks directed at us from the evil one who continues to roam the earth like a roaring lion looking to devour and destroy God’s people.

For those of you that may not already be aware, or are new to Redeemer Bible Church, we have a prayer team that faithfully and regularly prays for the needs and various ministries of our church, our local community, and the world around us.  We also meet corporately once a month to pray for these things as well as simultaneously seeking the blessing and favor of God.  If you would like to partner with us in the ministry of prayer here at Redeemer Bible Church, we are always interested in welcoming new people to the prayer team.  Please feel free to contact me (my email) with prayer requests any time or to be added to the prayer team.

As you pursue an intimate relationship with our heavenly Father and daily seek to draw near to God, may Christ reveal himself to you in new and fresh ways through the power of prayer!

Joyfully in Christ,
Michael

Praising God, No More Moments of Silence!

Sometimes I feel like I don’t praise God enough. After all, He is the one and only true God. But if I believe that, which I do, then why don’t I speak of Him more and give Him praise for all things in my life.  He brought the world and all its fullness into existence by simply speaking His Words (Gen. 1). He certainly is almighty, sovereign, and worthy of the praises of all creation. I could write a book about the sovereignty and holiness of God, but the Bible already does that. The point is, that we are here for a purpose in this world. We are the creation of God and Him alone. Praising Him and thanking Him in all things should be a natural response to who He is. Praise is important to God, and He is worthy of it.  From His people, it is the testimony of His greatness, goodness, and sovereignty to the people around us. When we praise God great and mighty things happen! People are changed.

 What happens when we praise God? The Bible tells us “You are Holy, enthroned in the praises of Israel.” (Psalms 22:3) God inhabits the praises of His people. When we begin praising God He joins us, and His presence is with us, and He becomes more real to us and others. Did you know that God moves into action when we praise Him! This verse actually when translated in Hebrew means “God dwells in the praises of His people.”

 We should never take credit for what God does in our life or in the world. He alone is worthy of praise, and He dwells in this acknowledgment that is due Him and Him alone. We live not of ourselves, but we live because God has created us and sustains us through His goodness and Grace. (Psalm 100:3) We belong to Him and Him alone. God hates a proud look and a deceitful heart (Prov. 6:16-19), but He is pleased when we acknowledge Him in truth and praise.

I love the passage in Acts 16:25 when the apostle Paul and Silas were arrested and locked up in the dungeon of a prison. Instead of crying and cursing their situation, they began praising God and singing hymns. It was then at the midnight hour the jail shook, and doors were opened. God began to move in the midst of their praise and worship. In that same verse, we also see the words “The prisoners were listening to them.” As a result of their praises during difficult and unbearable times, others heard them, observed them, and believed in the Lord Jesus Christ for their own salvation.  

There is no time in this world for “Moments of silence!” It is time for the church to stand up in boldness and acknowledge God in praise and worship. Not just on the good days but also in the midst of our worst circumstances.

On this side of heaven, we will never understand why bad things happen to good people in this world, but we know one thing. God is good, He loves us (John 3:16) and there is a purpose for everything that happens in life. We must remember “The earth is the Lord’s and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein.” (Psalm 24:1)

I hope that today we will praise God more in all things. Even when life is hard and difficult to understand. Trust God with all your heart and give Him praise! The world is watching the church. The world is listening. No more moments of silence! Let there be boldness through praise and worship from the Church to Jesus the Messiah. The one and only true God. Amen

Rev. Dalton Lilly