Missions at Home

“But I have trusted in your mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation. I will sing unto the Lord because he hath dealt bountifully with me.”

These words of David from Psalm 13 have been a great encouragement to me the past couple of days. Much needed encouragement, as I am still housebound with sickness. David writes these verses after several verses which describe a horrible plight. At first he questioned what the Lord was doing and felt that God had forgotten him. While self described as “having sorrow in my heart daily,” David concludes the Psalm with a joy and a confident trust.

Sickness continues to cause the neglect of ministry. Ralph and I were not able to go out and meet city leaders tomorrow. To make matters worse, a blizzard is expected for tomorrow and Saturday. It looks as though visitation may have to be postponed. My tendency is to shout out, “Lord, what are you doing?” Why is God never in as much hurry as we are?

When we finally are able to get out into Lorain to share the gospel, may there be many others who will have a chance to rejoice in God’s salvation.

Blog Day 3

Sick, sick, sick. No fun, no fun, no fun. All I could tell myself today was, “God is sovereign.” The prayer letter can wait. Catching up on e-mail can wait. Calling some missionaries that have been on my heart can wait. Office work at Baptist Church Planers can wait. It seems as though God wants to remind me that doing is not as important as being. For being sick forces me to BE content despite the unwelcome inactivity. No schedule allows me to BE meditating on God’s Word. Accomplishing absolutely nothing productive challenges me to BElieve that God is greatly at work even when I am not (this is a hard one for me).

I pray that the body heals tomorrow as Ralph Palmer (our Apollos co-worker) and I plan to visit city leaders in Lorain to talk about the new church plant.

Tonight was our first team meeting for the Lorain Church plant. It is great to have a team! We planned out our week as to the many people and places we want to visit. The big day will be Saturday morning as we knock on the doors of about 25 people who have expressed interest in a Spanish Bible Study. We will see what the Lord does!

Yesterday was the commissioning service of our other co-workers, Herb and Wanda Taylor. It was a precious service! Many shared heartfelt and tearful testimonies about the godly example and life-impacting ministry of the Taylors.

One of the testimonies came from a man in the church who is a former FBFI agent. He worked in New York City during the terrorist attacks on 9/11. He said that during the morning of the terrorist attack, when the first tower was falling, he was moving towards the tower to help people. Everyone else was running away from it. Many yelled at him as he went by, “You are going the wrong way!”.

“This is what I think of when I see the Taylors,” the man said. Most everyone else at their age is thinking about retirement and taking an easy in life. They are beginning a brand new ministry as missionaries that requires them to learn a new language. It would seem that they are going the wrong way.” He continued through tears, “Thank you Pastor Herb for your example in this.”

January 2, 2009 – 10:54 PM

Greetings from Front Royal, VA. I am on a trip with my son Tyler to attend and preach at the commissioning service of our new co-workers, Herb and Wanda Taylor. This blog is a new undertaking for me. More truthfully, it is a renewed resolution to journal everyday. This year, it is a resolution that I intend to keep. So, here goes a meager effort to express what God is doing as He leads and guides each day.

What did God do today? Beginning with my Bible reading this morning, many things, but the most impacting was the conversation with our hosts for the evening, Gustavo and Carina. Gustavo and Carina are Hispanics that the Taylors lead to the Lord a couple of years ago. The conversations with them were very humbling and encouraging as they shared about their past and how God has changed their lives. God continues to change them as they are passing through several trials including health scares and financial difficulties coupled with unemployment. How refreshing to see new believers who are still as new-born babes, hungering for the pure milk of the Word (1 Peter 2:1).

Tonight’s late-night conversations over coffee have left a couple of impressions on me: First, they have grown my appreciation of Taylors. They have patiently befriended and faithfully taught many precious souls in their ministry here which is now coming to an end. Second, God has used the conversations to increase the hunger in me to see Hispanics in Lorain (where our new church plant begins on Monday) saved and discipled. Oh, May God give us many like Gustavo and Carina to see converted and radically changed. May their be hours of living room conversations, with Bible’s open, where dozens are strengthened in their new-found faith. May God use His Word exactly as Paul described it in my Bible reading this morning in 2 Thessalonians 3:1 which says, “Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run and be glorified, even as it is with you.”

This morning, the following passage impacted me:

“As you do not know what is the way of the wind, or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child, so you do not know the works of God who makes everything. In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening do not withold your hand; for you do not know which will prosper, either this or that, or whether both alike will be good.” – Ecclesiastes 11:5,6

These verses tell us of the divine/human cooperative. It tells us that both God and man have a responsibility. This truth is both humbling and encouraging.

First, the humbling reminder, “You do not know the works of God who makes everything.” This morning this becomes a humbling reminder. In January small team and I begin the process of reaching souls and planting a Spanish church here in Lorain, OH. We do the demographics, we gather the team, we plan out our strategy. The fist week of January we plan to follow up on 30 contacts we have. We plan on beginning an ESL class. We also will begin to meet community leaders and to scope out sights for a meeting place when public meetings begin. Our vision goes far beyond this one church plant as we plan to train men to plant other churches as a movement of church planting begins in this greater Cleveland area. Indeed, we dream, plan, and toil only to be reminded that we have no idea what God, the creator, is doing. This truth drives us to our knees and renews our passion to pray with the attitude that cries, “God we cannot do anything. Please be at work and accomplish your will in any way that you desire.”

The second verse provides an encouragement, “In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening do not withhold your hand; for you do not know which will prosper.” This is encouraging because it tells us to work because, after all, you never know what will prosper. What a neat projection to ponder that some or all of the work that we put into our church plant could prosper! Furthermore, Galatians promises that we will indeed reap what we so. What an encouragement to know that God will prosper our work when we toil for Him in this church plant.

I’ve often heard the divine / human cooperative applied in the following way: “Work as though it is all up to you; pray as though it is all up to God.” I understand the intent of the statement but to me it falls a little short in-light of God’s unsearchable sovereignty as expressed here in Ecclesiastes 11:5,6. A better statement might be this: “It is ALL up to God therefore I recommend that you pray and ask Him to work; and I pray that you work in the way that He has asked.”