Have you ever read a familiar passage in the Bible, and then one day you read it and you say, “I’ve read that a hundred times, and I never noticed that before?” It’s like someone added something to the Bible, because you never knew that was in there. It may be just a phrase or even one word that you never noticed before. It is a great discovery. It’s like realizing the clerk at the check out counter just handed you a quarter that’s older than your Grandmother. You treasure your find.
Recently, I had one of those eye opening experiences. It came from the Great Commission. Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you . . . I never noticed the word everything. Does everything mean everything? Does God want us to teach everything to those we are reaching? Can we do it? I had to ask myself, have I been teaching “everything” to those I am ministering to, or do I just tell them the part that they want to hear? Do we teach them about being servants, being humble, being honest? What about giving, forgiving, and making restitution? What about the cross and suffering for your faith? Was that just for the first century Christians?
Jesus taught his disciples everything. For three years, He never stopped teaching. Even after His resurrection He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the Kingdom of God. In the early Church the normal routine was they devoted themselves to the apostles’s teaching . . . Everyday they continued to meet together . . . Acts 2:41,46. They met together not just on Sundays, but everyday. They devoted themselves to the apostle’s teachings. I wonder if that’s why they had such a powerful impact.
It’s easy for us to assume that people know what the Bible says, because we live in the information age. People can get on the Internet and cruse down the information superhighway at lightning fast speeds. Many have their own address. One youth minister I know even has his own “home page.” With the click of a button you can find just about anything that you can imagine, from Africa to Zirconium. It’s all there, but all the information combined won’t help people as much as being taught the Word of God. We must teach them Everyday. We must teach them Everything. We must be determined to never Quit.
Yesterday I was counseling people who are in jail. Some of them have been sentenced, and others were awaiting their trial. The last two people that I counseled said that they had been to jail and had become Christians while in jail. Both of them asked me the same question, when I shared my testimony with them. They each asked me, “How do you stay out of jail?” “Why is it that I was unable to make it?”
So many people are like these two. They truly “gave their heart to the Lord,” but they failed to allow Jesus to be the ruler of their lives. They wanted the benefits of being a Christian, but were unwilling to give up their old life totally. They wanted Christianity, but on their terms. I told them both the same thing.
I said, You are like I was. You’re in jail, you need help, and you need the Lord. You cannot just add Christianity to your life. You must allow Jesus to totally change your life. If you backslide, you will be coming back to jail. You came here this time, because when you left the last time you had the same habits you had when you got here. Your habits determine your character. What you do on a regular basis determines who you really are. Your character will determine your destiny. Unless you allow God to change your habits, your destiny will remain the same, and I will see you again in this office. One began weeping. The other just stared at me somber faced.
Because one started crying and the other did not, I did not assume that the one crying really heard what I said, and the other didn’t. I have learned to just tell people the truth, make it as plain as possible and leave the results to the Lord. You cannot tell what is going on in someone’s heart, but God knows.
Those in our leadership class are beginning to do more one on one discipling of the other men in a maximum security prison. Please pray for these leaders. So often it is difficult for one inmate to submit to another. Pray for the leaders that they will not be intimidated and will be faithful to train others. The test of real leadership is not what you know, but is anyone following you?
1. With an increase of the temperature comes an increase in tempers, which results in an increase in violence. Last week I was delayed in getting into one of the prisons, because of all the fighting that was going on. Pray for our safety.
2. Pray for me as I develop a way to have daily discipleship training classes.
3. Pray for our Board Meeting.
4. Pray for our family.
When I read our newsletter from last month to see where to bring you all “up to date”, I was amazed at how long ago that seemed! One day in our lives can contain so much, that it’s always so difficult to choose what to write about. This month, instead of a narrative, I’ve decided to list some events that have shaped our lives lately. Although many of the details will be missing, it will give a glimpse into our daily lives this past month.
After 6 baseball games the beginning of June, the season ended for the boys. (Jonathan’s team came in 1st place in their division.)
We drove our family of 7 from Pensacola to St. Louis in one day arriving at the Arch Monument in time to ride the shuttle to the top and look out over the city.We spent 2 ½ days in Kalona, IA where Jim ministered at an Amish-Mennonite church there. While in IA, we stayed on a farm and learned much about the hard work involved in farming. Our 14 yr. old twins learned to drive a tractor and how to till the ground of a turkey barn, while 5,000 turkeys were running around in it! (Maybe mowing the yard won’t seem like much of a chore, now.)
We said goodbye to our dear friends, the McManuses, as they left for the opposite side of our world to serve as missionaries. (Bangladesh & India)We were informed that due to some major changes at the hospital where I work, I will need to go through some training classes beginning in August.
After offering to do some laundry for friends that had no access to machines, our washing machine broke down on the first load, and we had to take it all to a laundry mat.
Upon waking from a nap that I had taken with our 2½ year old son, I was dismayed to realize that I was the only one that slept. He had found pink and green felt tip markers and performed art work all over his legs! (We found out later that he had also colored on Jim’s black exercise bench, because it came off on him the next time he used it.)Jim celebrated his 40th birthday.
We have started planning our Home School Curriculum for this next year.
Our little girl, Rachel, turned 4.
It is impossible to adequately express our gratitude to all of you who help us with your prayers, finances, and encouragement. We could not do it without your help.How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you. Thessalonians 3:9