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.

Mexico

Enjoyed the Thanksgiving weekend with the fam, and another good weekend is coming up.  This coming Sunday our church will get to see Benjamin Loera and family.  Benjamin is one of the missionaries we support.  He lives in southern Mexico, and operates the "Alas De Dios" children's home.  I visited the Loeras last year and can testify that they work hard at what they do.  They've more than doubled their numbers since I was there, and have begun a construction project as well.  This is no mean feat, considering that the "staff" is made up of Benjamin, his wife Magvis, and their daughter.

Mexico is a little hard to understand, spiritually speaking.  It is still overwhelmingly Catholic, but evangelical churches are doing well in many places (and so are cults, by the way).  But believe it or not, there are still people in Mexico who have no meaningful access to the gospel.  Mexico is a big country, and some communities are well isolated from the others.  In practice this means that they don't have lots of outside contact.  Their religious views go way back, are fervently held, and are very tough to crack..

I've grown to love the country of Mexico over the past few years, with its pristine beaches, majestic mountains, and untamed jungles.  There are small, rustic farming communities, and mammoth, ultra-modern urban centers.  I love the food, the culture....everything.  In Mexico you'll find some of the warmest, most giving people anywhere.  But the plain fact is that there is much spiritual darkness there, and much, much work remaining to be done.

If you're interested, here is a good fact sheet about it.

DNA Test

How time flies.  It's been a year since I walked the aisle during the SBTC annual convention and committed our church to adopting an unreached, unengaged people group.  What followed was 12 long months of prayer, focused study, and in-depth conversations, and now we are finally seeing a path forward.  Some things are becoming clear to our FOCUS group, and the unity among us has been further confirmation that we are going about this the right way.

Part of this whole process has been identifying the "DNA" of our church.  What are our strengths/weaknesses?  Where might we best fit in?  And though we haven't decided where, exactly, we will serve, we all agree that we will serve, and that God will use us to accomplish His global purposes.

On another note, I've been spending lots of time lately planning the missions camp.  I just received my brochures that I had printed up.  If you'd like one (or more), let me know and I'll get it out to you post-haste.

As I write this I'm preparing for a little Thanksgiving merriment with my family.  I don't get to spend every holiday with them as I once did, so I cherish the times when I can.  There are very few things in this life that are more valuable than a supportive family, and I have it.  It's true: the best things in life are not things.