Since Cyndi is visiting family and friends, I had to go to church alone this morning. I chose Grove Avenue Baptist Church. It is a large church…much larger than I'm used to. Everyone I met was very friendly. The church service was different. Since they are on TV, they do things a tad differenly than I was used to. However, the pastor's sermon was excellent. His main text was from Genesis 28:11-22. It was a sermon geared towards graduates, but really hit me and moved me. If you are in Richmond and are into big churches, this would be a good place for you to go.
What I Believe
Today has been interesting. Well, I take that back…the entire week has been interesting. For those of you who don't know, Cyndi has been out of town since last Monday (6 June). She has been visiting family, etc… in West Virginia and Ohio. That has left me TONS of left over time to read. In addition to having more time to read, I have started a new job with the International Mission Board.
Prior to our move to Richmond, I had felt a desire to do something more with my life. A desire to use my skills for God. At the time, I didn't have any desire to be a pastor or missionary. Partially through my experience with new staff orientation at the IMB and partially through my job in general, I have come to see a different definition of a "missionary." In reality, a missionary is one who tells others of their faith. Think of it like this…we all are called to be missionaries and tell others of the Good News. How do we do this? Well, God tells us:
Go ye therefore
Esentially, we are called to go and tell others. As we live our lives, we can (and should) tell others. Ok, but as we are telling, people will have questions. How do we deal with those questions? The only way is to know what we believe and why we believe it. For example, I believe Jesus is God. Ok, but how do I back that up? That doesn't mean we all have to have doctorate degrees from a Bible school, but we should understand it. Here is an example:
If you ask me can airplanes fly, my answer will be yes. If you ask me why, I can give a brief overview of Bernoulli's Principle. Can I work out all the math on the spot? No, but I can explain it.
Why should our Christian life be any different. Do we believe things because the pastor tells us? How about our parents? How about society? How about a denominational structure? We need to personalize our beliefs and understand why we believe certain things.
So, my chalenge now is solidifying those beliefs. Where do I start? I don't know for sure. I'll take any ideas you have. I'll probably start by going through The Baptist Faith and Message looking up those scriptures. I'll probably memorize some of them. While I'm at it, I'll have some sort of method figured out for studying the rest of the Bible too.
Saudi Arabia and the Mid East
Recently, I became interested in the Middle Eastern countries. I have started doing some research, and have found out some interesting things. For example, there are only two ways to enter Saudi Arabia legally: 1)Obtain a visa to go on Hajj to Mecca as a Muslim or 2)be sponsored by a Saudi national. Usually, case number 2 applies if you are going there to visit or work.
I have done some other research, and other Mid-East countries are not much better. You have to get a visa. To get a visa, you must be sponsored. However, the major difference is that in the other countries, you can be sponsored by a hotel you are going to stay at.
Anyway, back to Saudi Arabia. There is no freedom of religion. This leads to stories like this (note the datelines…this MONTH!):
Massive Arrests of Foreign Christians in Saudi Arabia
Group: Saudis conduct worst crackdown on Christians in decade
Remember to pray for our Christian brothers and sisters in the Middle East.
Da Vinci Code
First, I haven't read the book. I don't have a real desire to read the book. I probably never will read the book. So, how can I learn about the book and how to discuss the book? Baptist Press has an article on the Da Vinci Code. It turns out that Midwestern Baptist Theological seminary has several lectures about the book. They are available online here. Below is a summary of what is presented:
Da Vinci Code Overview
Da Vinci Code and the Council of Nicea
Da Vinci Code and the Knights Templar
Logical Fallacies in the Da Vinci Code
Da Vinci Code and the Gnostic Gospels
Was Jesus Married?
The Deity of Christ in the New Testament
Ethical Implications of Dan Brown’s Worldview – Part 1
Ethical Implications of Dan Brown’s Worldview – Part 2
Sharing Jesus Christ with Our Friends Who Read the Da Vinci Code
Words from Eloise
In orientation, they showed us a clip of one of these videos. Eloise is awesome! Do download the videos, follow this link.
BTW, I saw them filming a new one today!
Missions Atlas Project
Have you ever wanted to know what countries have more a greater or lesser percentage of lost people? Take a look at WorldMap.org. According to their website, their
mission is comprehensive: To create maps of languages and people groups for each country of the world while linking appropriate missions related data. The status of each language and people group is evaluated with regards to the JESUS Film and Bible translation as well as their current level of exposure to the gospel message (also known as the "Status of Evangelization").
What Drives Us?
In this blog entry, I asked for ideas of how to witness to the lost when I am emersed in Christian Culture. At my new Job, I'm going through new employee orientation. In that, I was able to interact with lots of different people from lots of different areas. One of those areas was exactly what I was struggling with. Isn't God wonderful how He brings people together?! Anyway, back to the point.
In talking with this guy, he said that we need to be purposeful about it. We need to pray that God would make us sensitive in our daily life to the people around us. Because, while we may not realize it, we interact with a TON of non-believers all day long. Here is just a short list to prove my point (and his too):
the gas station attendant
our next door neighbor
the people across the street
the lady at the grocery store
That list could go on and on.
So, this morning, I'm reading today's My Utmost for His Highest and the title is "Don't Slack Off" and deals with this subject. The verse used was John 14:3
And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
This snippet was also in the thought:
…I must take time to realize what is the central point of power. Do I give one minute out of sixty to concentrate upon it? "If ye abide in Me" – continue to act and think and work from that centre – "ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." Am I abiding? Am I taking time to abide? What is the greatest factor of power in my life? Is it work, service, sacrifice for others, or trying to work for God? The thing that ought to exert the greatest power in my life is the Atonement of the Lord…. "Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do." The disciple who abides in Jesus is the will of God, and his apparently free choices are God's fore-ordained decrees. Mysterious? Logically contradictory and absurd? Yes, but a glorious truth to a saint.
So, we know that:
1. We must witness
2. God will do what we ask within His will
3. We need Opportunities
Therefore, if we ask God for opportunities to witness and the sensitivity to see those times, He will provide.
So, while I'm still looking for ideas on how to interact with people, I'm going to be asking God for opportunities to share Him with a lost world.
Lottie Moon Christmas Offering Closed
The 2004 Lottie Moon Christmas Offering totals have been announced. According to this IMB article, the offering totaled $133,886,221.58. This is slightly behind the record 2003 amount.
July 4th
Sorry for the delay since my last post. Cyndi and I went to visit my Grandparents over the 4th of July weekend. The drive seemed to take forever! We did some little stuff around the farm: messed with the horses, pitched horseshoes, messed with the horses, worked on a pond, messed with the horses…. Get the point?! We spent a ton of time messing with horses! I have some pics I'll post probably this evening once I get them off the camera.
Church Visit 2
This weekend, Cyndi and I visited Faith Baptist Church. Very nice church. The people were very nice. The Sunday School lesson and sermon were very good–well thought out, delivered, and good content. The church is going through a state of flux right now because the pastor is feeling led to move to California and start a new ministy (I don't know what…no one said). The congregation is small (probably 25-50 people in the Sunday Morning service), but seems to have a good heart.