Making a Run for the Border! Mexico Mission Trip

Yesterday thirty-eight of us loaded up in three church vans, a mini van, and a pickup truck pulling a trailer headed for the Texas border town of Fabens. We are on a mission trip comprised of individuals from various different churches in the North Canadian Baptist Association of Oklahoma. Our plans are to take the gospel to the people of three separate communities just across the border in Mexico. We will be participating in Bible Schools, evangelistic revivals, and various other ministry endeavours in the local baptist church of each of these three communities.What anticipation there is regarding what the Lord plans to do!

Right now as I write I am sitting in the hotel lobby of the La Quinta Inn in Sweetwater, Texas. Sweetwater is about halfway between Henryetta, Oklahoma (our departing point) and Fabens, Texas (our destination). Soon we will be having breakfast, a time of devotion, and hitting the road again to make the final half of the trip. Thus far the trip has been relatively uneventful, except for the two flat tires we experienced on the trailer yesterday. This was a minor setback that caused five of us to arrive at the hotel a few hours later than the rest of the group. However, no real damage was done. In fact, we are just "pressing on"!

In addition to keeping everyone informed of the inns-and-outs of the trip and offering a few photos to illustrate them, I want to offer an interesting thought that has been on my mind thus far on the trip. You see we are a group of Christians from America headed to a foreign country to take the gospel to people in need of a Savior. This sort of activity is certainly not unusual practice for American churches. In fact, it has become as common an item dawning church summer calendars these days as Vacation Bible School and Camp. I am quite confident that this sort of activity is not at all uncommon for our foreign neighbors to receive as well. After all, American churches have been taking mission teams to foreign soil for decades. So the thought that has regularly been infiltrating my mind stems from this question, how long will it be until it becomes common practice for churches of foreign countries to send mission teams to our American communities on a regular basis?

I am aware there are already foreign mission teams that regularly come to the U.S. However, though the number of these groups is growing annually, most of these endeavors remain so few that we Americans hardly notice. To the contrary, what I am envisioning is a day when our communities are inundated with various foreign mission teams here on our soil simply to share the gospel. To think about this occurring in the Unites States seems ridiculous. After all, we are the mighty US. We are the one's who are considered the most dominant Christian nation in all the world. We are the one's who, for all intents and purposes, created the modern short-term mission trip. How could this ever happen here?

It is sad to consider such possibilities. Some may even consider it far fetched. To those who doubt, allow me just to remind you that there was once a day when our British neighbors "across the pond" considered it absurd to think that they would one day be so dominated by Secularism and Islam that American church mission teams would turn their focus toward the British Isles as a hotbed for gospel preaching. All signs point to a U.S. that is headed for the same sad predicament. It may still be several years or even decades before we see this come to fruition. Regardless, the day is coming. Let's just hope that our Christian neighbors around the globe care as much or more about the souls of Americans as we have about theirs through the yeas.

Read more...

Christians and the Etiquette for the Road

We have all seen the fish emblem on the trunk, the cross decal on the rear windshield, the "Honk if you love Jesus!" bumper sticker, or any number of other religious automobile placards intended to make a distinctive Christian statement to roadway onlookers. Unfortunately, we probably all share common experiences that have found us observing these symbols as the vehicles dawning them whiz by us vastly exceeding the speed limit or cutting us off. To be honest, every time this has happened to me I have initially thought, "what a hypocrite". Admittedly this is the wrong attitude. But if I as a Christian am reacting this way, I can not help but wonder how unbelievers receive such rude behavior. Although I and many other Christians are not choosing to state our faith on the roadways by driving vehicles clad with Christian symbols or bumper stickers, such behavior has caused me to do some evaluating as to what sort of statement, if any at all, Christians should be making on the road and what should be the proper etiquette for the road.

Since all Christians have been given the Scriptural mandate to be "salt and light" to the world in which we live, the question as to whether or not we should seek to demonstrate our faith on the roadways is certainly obvious. The greater question then is, how can we most effectively do this? As previously mentioned, many choose to do this by displaying distinctly Christian emblems or stickers on their vehicles. While I am not suggesting that this is a wrong thing to do, I simply am not sure this is the best way of accomplishing the goal. While the stickers and emblems do tend to identify us as Christians, I am not convinced anyone has ever effectively been drawn to Christianity because someone they knew identified himself as a Christian (much less someone they have never met). I actually think there is a more effective way. I believe we can demonstrate the love of Christ simply by practicing the proper road etiquette.

Please allow me to suggest three major points of emphasis in regard to etiquette for the road:

1. Obey the traffic laws. As Christians we are called to obey the laws of the land. Therefore this should be an obvious point. However, many of us have developed bad habits through the years such as floating stop signs, not turning on blinkers at appropriate times, etc. Remember the laws exist to keep you and others on the road safe. Showing the love of Christ on the road starts with loving people enough to seek their safety.

2. Slow down and be courteous. I know this can be extremely difficult given the "rat race" we live in today. Regardless, we need to seek to live at a moderate pace of life so that we are not rushed, causing us to make poor and selfish decisions that are rude (This means no more hotrodding fellas). It will also be helpful if we stay off the cellphones and find another time to do our make up (ladies).

3. Avoid road rage at all costs. Given what we are trying to accomplish here, this seems rather obvious. However, if you do find yourself becoming angered by the actions of others on the roadways seek to channel that anger into a loving response rather than an outburst of rage.

Perhaps none of these actions alone is ever going to cause any individual to say to herself, "wow! I think I want to become a Christian". But, if enough Christians become dedicated to showing the love of Christ to others on the road perhaps we can demonstrate that we do take our faith seriously and we are not simply a bunch of hypocrites. This could help some to become intrigued by the uniqueness of the Christian faith, or at least prevent many from being completely turned off by it.

Read more...

God still hates evildoers!

"For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers." Psalm 5:4-5 (ESV, emphasis added)

It certainly is not popular today to suggest that God hates anything, much less anyone. However, if we are going to stay true to Sacred Scripture and effectively deliver the unadulterated gospel, we must be willing to accept that there are numerous things that God despises and a specific category of individuals that God, in the final analysis, will simply not tolerate.

Because God is holy He absolutely finds no pleasure in wickedness and will not allow even the slightest hint of evil to enter His presence. All wickedness, and consequently all of those who practice such evil, stand in clear violation of God's righteous law and character. Therefore, God's wrath is demonstrated against such iniquity.

Romans 3:23 (ESV) teaches us that "all have sinned" and because of this we are all deserving of God's divine wrath and justice. Even the writer of the Psalm, King David, was guilty of violating God's law and was himself an evildoer. So how is it that David sees himself separated from the category of individuals that God is against? And, if we have all violated God's law, how are any of us to escape God's wrath? Is God just some cosmic killjoy?

The answer is simply no! You see in the Old Testament God gave the sacrificial system to Israel whereby the High Priest would enter once a year on the Day of Atonement into the Holy of Holies (in the Temple) to sprinkle the blood of a spotless lamb upon the altar of the Mercy Seat. This sprinkling of blood held back God's wrath from being poured out against the sins of His people Israel for another year. The focus of God's wrath was shifted from the sinful people to the spotless sacrifice. This very system had to be continued until God provided the ultimate sacrifice that was an offering "once for all" (Hebrews 7:27, ESV) when Jesus, the Spotless Lamb, shed His blood on the cross of Calvary. In this great sacrifice all of God's wrath that was intended for sinful mankind, you and me, Jesus assumed. Because of this, all who repent of their sins and put their complete trust in Jesus Christ as their Saviour and Lord are placed under the blood of Jesus and are protected from God's wrath.

You see, God still hates evildoers. And one day the fullness of His wrath and judgement will be against those who have rejected His Son's sacrifice and refused to put their trust in His Son for salvation. God will one day deal with wickedness and all evildoers. This message is offensive and harsh to many today. But, nonetheless, it is the foundation of the gospel. Dear friend, if you have not trusted in Christ's atoning sacrifice for your sins and have not accepted Him as your Saviour. I urge you to wait no longer, come to Jesus!

Read more...