Opportunity To Invest

Loyal readers of this blog know that I'm a big fan of the Perspectives course.  It was instrumental in my life, and I've seen what it can do in others as well.  At the moment the honchos at Perspectives are trying to get all their materials translated into Spanish. When you consider that the Perspectives Reader alone is almost 800 pages, you can begin to appreciate what an undertaking this is.  Price tag: $136,000.  (details)

Wrap your mind around the idea for a moment.  What if the Lord were able to raise up thousands of believers from all over Latin America, committed to God's glory among their own people and among the unengaged?  Exciting, no?

Why, yes it is.  But being Christian missionaries, the good folks at Perspectives are not exactly flush with cash.  And that's where we come in.  By our donations to this most worthy cause we are playing a direct role in the spread of God's fame throughout the nations.  I'm going to do it.  Won't you join me by clicking here?

Idea: if you still have family members asking you for Christmas gift ideas, why not ask them to donate to this project in your name?

The Good Word

In addition to our support of Southern Baptist missionaries, our church also supports about a dozen other missionaries directly.  One such missionary family is Alan and Sarah Good.  You can read their latest newsletter here.

It's A New Day

                                                                                                                                                                                         

What do you think of when you hear the word "missions"?  Perhaps some famous names, like Moon, Carey, Hudson, or Elliot?  Or maybe you're imagining a short-term affair, complete with fresh-faced teenagers in matching T-shirts, painting a church building or playing with kids. But are you thinking of your local university?

The reality is that we no longer have to cross an ocean to find people who know next to nothing about Christ.  Some of those people are coming here, to study, to work, to build a better life.  Opportunities abound, and here is a good article about it.

  

Noah's Flood

This sentence comes from Yahoo News: "An acclaimed underwater archaeologist believes that he has found evidence that the Great Biblical Flood of Noah's time may have actually happened after all".  In that one sentence you find all you need to know about modern attitudes toward the bible: we can't believe a word of it unless it is proven by "science".

This is something to keep in mind this time of year.  Every Christmas (and Easter) season we are treated to magazine cover stories, cable TV specials and the like where some scholar or another is trotted out to pronounce on the likelihood of biblical events.  Wise men?  A virgin birth?  Star of Bethlehem?  We can't be sure............let's ask Dr. Snodgrass about it.

It's not, as some would have it, that Christians don't believe in science.   Personally, I don't think the Christian faith has anything to fear from a pursuit of the truth in any discipline.  But why all the skepticism?  Why must we assume that the biblical record is false unless verified by something outside of it?  We don't use that same standard for other ancient historical documents.  Why this one?

Charlotte's Web

Nowhere is good old-fashioned American excess on display any clearer than in our observance of Christmas.  Any though I am one of the many who complain about the spectacle it has become, I have to admit that part of me still loves it.  I've had 50 Christmases, and wouldn't take anything for the memories.

As a boy Christmas meant a trip to Granny's house.  It meant waiting in line at Sears or Dixie City to see Santa Claus.  It meant drinking Atlanta Dairies eggnog, and eating mom's fruit cake (no jokes - it really is delicious).  It meant watching Charlie Brown and Frosty and Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer (which I watched again last night).  It meant church Christmas plays, cantatas, and lots of pretty decorations.  And as a Southern Baptist, it meant Lottie Moon.

Charlotte Digges "Lottie" Moon was a SBC missionary to China, who died on Christmas Eve 100 years ago this year.  She was quite a lady, and it would do your soul good to learn more about her life's work.

If you'd like to know more about Southern Baptist missions, including Lottie Moon and the offering that bears her name, you can visit this website.